Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
༉‧⁀➷
Taehyun wakes up in the hospital, which tells him that he must have lost consciousness on the street. He's lying in a bed and his mother is sitting next to it. "So this was more important than your father? Getting beaten up?"
He tries to sit up and hisses in pain. He's bandaged all over and his body hurts like hell. "No! This was certainly not my plan!"
The boy knows it isn't his mother's fault, but that question just hit him right where it hurts. She sighs and Taehyun looks at her for the first time since he woke up. Her eyes are red and swollen, obviously from crying. Taehyun can see the dried tears on her cheeks. "I-I'm sorry..."
"It's too late for that, Taehyun. You probably won't care but your father died last night, shortly before you were brought here by the ambulance. We told him the news about the transplant and...I guess he...he just gave up trying-"
Her voice breaks and she puts her face into her hands. Her shoulders tremble as sobs leave her mouth. "He was already sad enough because his only son isn't bothering to pay him a visit. Are you happy now? He's gone, Taehyun!"
He stares at her in shock. Tears roll down his cheek against his will. Taehyun lets out a cry and buries his face in the pillow. He doesn't understand why it hurts so much to know that his father is gone.
He had just said hours ago that it was okay if he died. He has said he doesn't care, that he's not his father, but now he can't stop crying. Taehyun wonders if the beating incident was his punishment for leaving his father and even telling him to die.
"He should've gotten the next transplant since he needs it desperately. But someone else was suddenly moved to the top of the list today. Do you know what the doctor said? That the other guy could've survived a few more months without it. Someone must've paid a lot to steal your father's transplant." His mother says quietly and Taehyun just cries harder.
He wonders who said that shit: You don't need money to be happy.
He was probably rich and never suffered like Taehyun or other people.
+×+
His clothes are drenched by the time he reaches the address Beomgyu gave him. He yanks the door to the small café open. The ground below his feet is immediately swimming and Taehyun feels people staring in his direction.
He doesn't pay them much attention though. His eyes are looking for Beomgyu anxiously. A tissue suddenly touches his cheek and Taehyun turns his head. The older man is standing right next to him, trying to dry him somehow.
"Are you an idiot? Don't you have an umbrella somewhere in your wardrobe?" The black-haired man scolds him.
Taehyun wants to hug him, but Beomgyu is so wonderfully dry and he doesn't want to make him sick. He wants to say something but he notices his lips are trembling too strongly. His whole body is shaking from the cold. A worker steps closer and hands Beomgyu a towel. "Thank you."
The older man pulls him to the side. "Let's try to get you dry. What were you thinking?"
Beomgyu puts the towel on his head and starts rubbing his hair dry. "I...I didn't have your number."
"That's not reason enough to leave your house without an umbrella. Your clothes are ruined too!"
Taehyun knows he should be furious about his clothes. They won't be the same even if he dries them, but strangely enough he feels okay with it.
Maybe because Beomgyu is so close that he could make their lips touch by leaning forward.
Maybe because Beomgyu is looking at him with so much care that he forgets how much money is on his skin right now.
"Y-You s-said you won't wait." It's hard to talk with chattering teeth.
Beomgyu flicks his forehead and Taehyun flinches. The older man shows him a pout. "I know what I said! Aish...what am I supposed to do with you?"
The younger man stays silent and just lets him dry his hair. He just uses the time to study Beomgyu's perfect features. He is wearing the glasses again that make him look even cuter. The waiter returns with a bigger towel which he hangs around Taehyun's shoulders.
He looks like he would rather throw him out than help him - well, he is spreading a huge puddle of water on the floor - but for some reasons he doesn't.
"Thanks, Kai." Beomgyu says and it clicks in Taehyun's mind. They know each other.
"Does this café belong to you?" He asks and the black-haired man gives him a confused look.
"Me?" He laughs. "How did you get that idea? I don't have the money to buy this shop."
But your family is rich. You are rich.
Beomgyu lets go off the towel and leads him over to a table at the back. "We are roommates and colleagues. You slept in his room last time."
Oh. Oh! No wonder that waiter seemed kind of mad at him for more than one reason. Wait- colleagues? "You are working here?"
He stares at Beomgyu with wide eyes and the older man laughed shortly. "I didn't mean to trick you. It's just the place where I'm most comfortable."
He wants to ask Beomgyu why he's working at a café.
Why are you living in such a 'normal' apartment? Why are there no pictures of your family?
So many whys but he doesn't ask out loud. In theory, he shouldn't know about Beomgyu being from a rich family. He hasn't said it himself yet.
"It's fine." Taehyun mumbles absent-mindedly.
Huening brings them two hot chocolates to the table and Beomgyu thanks him. The waiter only rolls his eyes and gives Taehyun a glare before walking away. "He doesn't like me, does he?"
The black-haired man chuckles. "He thinks you're taking advantage of me."
Taehyun blinks. "How so?"
Beomgyu grabs his cup and turns it between his fingers. "I had a lot of people following me around for the wrong reasons in the past. You've probably heard of Choi Corp., right?"
"Y-Yeah. Do your parents own it?"
The other man suddenly laughed. "Used to own it - past tense. You didn't check the news much the last few years, huh?"
Indeed he didn't. Taehyun doesn't own a TV or radio and he has never bothered to check any news besides celebrity gossip. "I was a little busy. Sorry, I didn't want to touch any painful spots."
"It's fine." Beomgyu shrugs. "It's all in the past. The company went bankrupt and my parents...they didn't handle the loss well. How important do you think money is, Taehyun? Do we need it to be happy?"
"Yes." He blurts out without thinking.
The black-haired man takes a sip from his chocolate. "Why?"
"Because we need it for things like food or a home or transportation or-"
"Wait, let me rephrase my question: Do you think you need a lot of money to be happy?"
"Well...the more money, the better your house is and everything else. You can travel anywhere you want and-"
"And that's happiness?" Beomgyu folds his arms and Taehyun gulps because he seems to be on the wrong path.
