"this tastes like heaven." youngjae smiled once he had a spoon of the chocolate sundae with chocolate chips on it. taehyun chuckled lightly and smiled, "said so. honestly, it looks like i'm treating you to ice-cream instead of the other way around."
youngjae stopped eating his sundae and looked over at taehyun, "huh, you're right. eat your dessert! it's my treat, remember? you can order more if you want."
taehyun looked at his dessert and then looked back at youngjae, "eh, i'll just have this. i don't want to waste your money nor do i want more sugar in my system. thank you though, youngjae ssi."
taehyun used his fork to cut his chocolate lava cake apart and the chocolate syrup within oozed out, making taehyun gulp. he loved chocolate because of beomgyu. before beomgyu came, taehyun only enjoyed vanilla desserts. i should stop eating chocolate then, he told himself. but he quickly contradicted his thought as he actually loves chocolate. you don't have to get rid of anything beomgyu likes.
he ate the little piece of chocolate cake and smiled at the sweetness of it. the cafe was great at their chocolate cakes, they are all at the correct sweetness. the sponginess was at the correct rate as well, making the chocolate lava cake perfect in all.
"you seem to like this place a lot, i can see why," youngjae said as he glanced around the little cafe. taehyun smiled and didn't say anything as he continued to enjoy his cake.
the two boys sat in silence for the next half an hour or so, enjoying the comfortable silence between them. youngjae occasionally made comments on how scrumptious his ice-cream is and taehyun chuckling at how youngjae is enjoying his dessert.
about an hour later, youngjae ordered another dessert, making taehyun laugh. "you have a big appetite for desserts," taehyun commented, making youngjae crack the classic "i have another stomach for desserts" joke.
"yeah, yeah, whatever." taehyun rolled his eyes in a jokingly way and smiled at youngjae. youngjae basically lit up when his little mocha muffin came in front of him.
taehyun really enjoyed this, just to be with someone who doesn't know him and spending his time relaxing in this comforting cafe. youngjae, throughout the entire time, didn't ask taehyun once about why he was down, or why he had his head buried in his hands in the park.
and that's why taehyun feels so relaxed. no one to ask whether to ask him if he's okay or not, no one to ask if he needs to talk. yes, taehyun knows he should be telling someone how he feels, but he doesn't want to. and soobin always said that it's better to tell someone how you feel when you feel ready because that's when you'll feel like that weight has finally been lifted off.
"do you want another dessert? it's on me, remember?" youngjae asked, cutting off taehyun's train of thought. taehyun chuckled, "you asked me that an hour ago. no thank you, youngjae ssi. just tell me about you and i'll be happy, yeah?"
youngjae shrugged, nodding slowly. "well, what do you want to know about me?"
"anything," taehyun said, leaning back as he drank his iced latte. beomgyu always said it's way too tasteless for him. stop thinking about him, taehyun told himself.
"huh, okay. well, i'm two years older than you. i have a younger sister and brother, i'm the oldest and my mom is, well, gone. my dad has been raising us since i was five. jurin's two years younger than me, but she's not in our school. my dad thought it would be better to put her in a boarding school. she left us to go there when she was only seven. it's in australia. sujae is three years younger than me. he's in a year lower than you, i'm pretty sure you've heard of him before." youngjae lightly chuckled. he ate a chunk of the cupcake before continuing.
"he's been into a lot of trouble even as 15 years old. my dad and i tried to tell him that it brings him no good being a trouble maker, but he never listens. he just goes back to school and has dad go to the principal's office every two or three days. sometimes i end up going because dad is unavailable. but it's understanding why sujae is like that. his mom left him when he was two, it's understandable why he is acting out like that. i would have acted out if my mom left me when i was two."
taehyun was left agape at youngjae's mini life story. he knew it's not all, but all this made taehyun's problems look so minimal and irrelevant. how can someone so caring and happy come from a family with so many problems going on every day? but then again, it's always the people you least expect to have issues going on have the worst of them. taehyun felt sorry for youngjae, but he knew the older wouldn't want him to pity him. if taehyun was in his situation, he wouldn't want anyone pitying him either.
"that's... something." were the words that came out of taehyun's mouth, which made the younger look and sound so, so stupid. youngjae looked over at the other and smiled, "i know. thanks for listening to me rambling on and on."
taehyun shook his head and took a sip from his coffee, "it's nothing. you're here because of me, i should be thankful you're still here and not fed up with me not telling why i'm sad nor why we're here."
youngjae raised an eyebrow, "well, are you ready to tell me the answers to either of those questions?"
taehyun stopped sipping from his iced latte and thought of youngjae's question. he shook his head.
youngjae leaned back and nodded, "thought so. and that's why i'm not asking. i know how it feels, taehyun ssi, i really do. i understand how it feels like no one in the world understands how you're feeling, nor what you're going through.
"but just know that i'm here for you. i know we just met and you really shouldn't be trusting someone you just met," — a light chuckle — "but here's my number. i'm here to talk whenever you're ready. i should go get sujae now. it was nice meeting you, taehyun ssi."
taehyun scrambled up from his seat to bow politely at youngjae as the older chuckled and put down the correct amount of money on the table for the bill. taehyun waved as youngjae left the cafe. he sat back down and let out a sigh.
he makes me feel so... safe. why is this?
