GLOW-UP

30 | american idiot

there weren't a whole lot of things that could make moon taeil angry. he wasn't the sort to blow up in your face in pure outrage, and he wasn't the sort to hold a grudge for long either.

but the day of the first ice hockey game of the season would be the day to tip him over the edge.

"taeil!"

snapping back out of his thoughts and into reality, taeil turned his head to see sooyoung gesturing for him to come over. so he shoved the rest of his books into his bags and followed the tall girl out of the math lecture room.

"wanna get lunch together?" sooyoung suggested, linking arms with her fellow classmate and skipping ahead down the stairs.

"uh... sure," taeil agreed, though slightly confused.

he had become closer to sooyoung recently, especially in johnny's absence, and she'd sort of almost wiggled her way into the math buddy spot johnny had previously occupied. of course, nobody could ever quite shove johnny out of that spot, but sooyoung had certainly given it a good go and was now someone taeil might even consider a close friend.

"i'm not trying to freak you out or anything, promise," sooyoung laughed in apology, "it's just with the game on today, most of my friends are on the cheer team, and i figured a lot of yours would be playing."

taeil shrugged and nodded, offering her a grateful smile. "yeah, they are," he confirmed, not that he had a large number of friends to begin with. "should we sit inside?"

"for sure," said sooyoung firmly, "now that it's november, it's getting so cold..."

taeil kept his arm linked with hers all the way to the college cafeteria, sticking his hands in the pockets of his bomber jacket. despite sooyoung's words, she didn't seem to feel the cold, as she skipped happily along in ripped jeans and a cropped shirt.

if taeil wasn't hopelessly gay, he would probably have the biggest crush on this girl, and he wasn't even ashamed to admit it.

"man, i have been so tired this week," sooyoung yawned as they entered the cafeteria, "i guess going to a party on a sunday doesn't exactly help..."

every time someone mentioned that goddamn party, taeil got a weird feeling in his chest. his mind was still foggy, not quite connecting all the dots, and it was like he needed some sort of trigger to put everything into place.

"mhm," he said, also fighting off a yawn now that he'd watched sooyoung yawn widely before him.

"my housemates don't care about my health either," sooyoung sighed dramatically, glancing at taeil with a look of irritation, "they're too busy fucking each other to care, i suppose. you get where i'm coming from?"

taeil blinked. "who do you live with?"

"yerim and joohyun," sooyoung grumbled on her way over to the queue for hot food, "at first they did it when they thought i was out, but now it's like they just forget i'm there. sometimes they don't even close the door.... do you live alone, taeil? 'cause if you do, i'm fucking jealous..."

taeil was having a hard time trying to follow what sooyoung was saying and process it all, whilst also being wrapped up in his own thoughts and memories of the halloween party that still lingered. "uh... no, i have two housemates... too. yuta and sicheng."

"i'll have the lasagne please," sooyoung said politely to the server, before turning back to taeil. "yuta and sicheng, huh? are they loud at all?"

"no," taeil said, at which the server lady refused him a serving of lasagne, and he quickly backtracked, "i mean yes! yes, i'd like the lasagne please..."