GLOW-UP

01 | moon taeil

It was like the world had taken a shit on Moon Taeil and forgotten to tell him about it.

No kidding.

Every situation he was put in seemed to go horribly wrong, to the point of clinical embarrassment. The worst part? It was all his fault. It was like he couldn't control the awkwardness at all, it just came out as-

"Peel that banana!"

Taeil wondered if Extreme Awkwardidity was a real medical condition.

"God, please shut up before I die of second hand embarrassment," said Kim Doyoung from behind him. Even he wanted the ground to swallow Taeil up at this point.

Taeil spun around on his heel. One side of his hair was sticking up and his sweater clashed with his pants. "Why are you here?" he hissed. "You never talk to me outside of Labs."

"Calm it, Karen, I'm getting a snack," said Doyoung dryly. "The cafeteria is open to everyone, you know."

Taeil opened his mouth to shout a random insult at his lab partner, but ultimately decided against it and shut his mouth again. He turned back around so he was facing the right way, not even realising his shoelace was untied.

They were currently in a queue in the university cafeteria, and Taeil was buzzing - with a fractional amount of excitement, but mostly because of a quivering set of nerves. The boy in front of him in the queue was none other than campus heartthrob Lee Taeyong! He was the most attractive human specimen anyone had ever set eyes upon, and the fact that he was a Fine Art major only made him even finer. Taeil almost wanted to pass out.

He stared at the banana on Lee Taeyong's tray and sighed, face palming himself - hard. He hoped Taeyong hadn't heard him say that. Peel that banana. Fuck. Taeil would be absolutely mortified.

Suddenly, Lee Taeyong was looking at him, like right into his eyes. Taeil's mouth gaped open as he stared back, entranced. Lee Taeyong had such big, beautiful eyes, it was like he'd walked straight out of an anime.

"Um, sorry, did you want that?"

Taeil blinked. Lee Taeyong was moving his mouth but it was like no sound was coming out. "Huh?"

Lee Taeyong gave an awkward smile. "Uh, I kinda wanted that muffin?"

That's when Taeil realised they were both reaching for the same muffin at the same time, as if they'd entered the magical world of K-drama and all of his romantic protagonist dreams were coming true.

"No!" Taeil yelped, loudly enough for the assistant working at the cafeteria to flinch. "I mean... you can have it!"

"...Thanks," said Lee Taeyong, and he put the muffin onto his tray, alongside the banana and a hot caramel latte from the serve-yourself-bar.

Taeil couldn't tear his gaze away. "Those muffins are really nice," he blurted before he could stop himself.

"Are they? I haven't tried them," Lee Taeyong admitted. "Which flavour's the best?"

Taeil wanted to kill himself. Han River Bridge sounded like a decent option. Obviously he'd never tried the damn muffins. "Uhh... all of them!" he answered, laughing nervously.

Lee Taeyong laughed a little too then. "And the bananas are good too, right? I'll be sure to peel mine before I eat it."

Oh fuck, he did hear it.

That's when Taeil felt compelled to pick up the banana from Taeyong's tray, which was a big mistake. "Yeah, it's really bad to eat the skin," he said, miming as if he was eating the banana whole. "Too much potassiu-"