If Ten could describe his relationship with Johnny he would say it was like being in the same city and yet being in a long distance relationship without there being an actual relationship. Because if Ten was head over heels in love with Johnny, he w...
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"Everything alright?" Taeyong asked, quietly.
Johnny raised an eyebrow, looking into the distance.
They were backstage waiting for their Regular stage as another group performed.
Taeyong placed a comforting hand on Johnny's shoulder. "You look...preoccupied."
Johnny didn't respond and Taeyong had to repeat. Johnny finally looked at him and said sheepishly, "Sorry. I guess I am. Don't worry I'll pay attention onstage."
Taeyong rolled his eyes. "You know I'm not worried about that."
"There's really nothing to worry," the taller one said.
"Everyone noticed Ten and your awkward breakfast conversation or lack thereof, or the even worse doorstep tension you two had."
"Sometimes I want to scream so bad."
"At Ten?"
"No, god, no. Of course not." Johnny huffed. "I meant scream as in Troy Bolton singing and screaming across his school in High School Musical 3."
"I knew I shouldn't have allowed Jaehyun to marathon High School Music with you once again. Seriously, that series can mess people's minds."
Johnny laughed. "I grew up on that series. And Camp Rock. And Zack and Cody. Disney, basically."
"Sooo," Taeyong started again, "do you want to talk about what you want to scream about? Or we can go scream later together, all over the terrace. I'll even bring Chenle along. We can have a whole banshee session."
"He brought up the letter last night," Johnny said.
Taeyong looked stunned. "He did? Just like that? At dinner, in front of the others?"
Johnny nodded. "Well, he didn't say it explicitly. He mentioned how I'd given him Crime and Punishment for his birthday. He laughed about it, Tae. Like he doesn't even care that I spilt my heart out in the middle of one of those pages." He took a deep breath. "He was so nonchalant about it. Dude, what were you thinking? That's what he said. Like it was some stupid joke to him. I know it was but I wish I wasn't reminded of it every now and then."
"Johnny." Taeyong didn't know what to say. He was shocked at how good Johnny was at hiding when he was hurting. He had thought maybe over time the sting would lessen for his friend but it looked like nothing had changed. "I'm sure he didn't mean it. Maybe there was some misunderstanding. Did he really say that?"
Johnny shrugged. "He saw I was reading Fathers and Sons and he was talking about Russian literature and I suppose that reminded him of what I did for his birthday. I wish I could turn back time and just..."
Taeyong listened as Johnny narrated the whole thing but he couldn't help but think how his friend had suffered, how angry he had been and how much Johnny had pleaded him to not say anything to anyone.
