Ignorance is a bliss/Tyunning

It's getting cold

"It's getting cold" Taehyun states the fact when Kai's fingers brush through the strings one last time, the end note lingers and for some reason Taehyun wished it wouldn't. he wished the song would last forever, it feels too comfortable in the music. in Kai's voice, in the way he stretches his accent on some part, perhaps on purpose to give the song the uniqueness it deserves. it keeps the song alive, Kai's voice rides the string melody like it was meant to do just that. and without noticing, Taehyun stays for the rest of the song. and it feels like mere seconds when it finally ends, and he returns back to his reality. it's cold.   

Kai nods, getting up slowly and offers his hand to Taehyun, asking him to get up as well. he sweeps the golden curls away from his deep brown eyes and gives Taehyun a bright smile.

"hmm, you should head home then, Tyun"

"huh?" the older looks perplexed upon hearing the new nickname he had acquired. he lets himself get pulled by Kai's gentle hand. eyes unable to look away from the way the younger's nose gets gradually redder, his eyelashes fan over his cheekbones and for the first time, Taehyun finds himself quite mesmerized. 

"see you around!" Kai says cheerfully, his growing smile morphs into a small, more intimate one, and he takes his time to study Taehyun's face before letting go of the hand in his palm. he turns around, guitar in one hand, another in his hoodie pocket, and before Taehyun knows. 

he's alone in the park.

..........

Taehyun thinks of everything and anything when he gets on the bus, and does his meaningless little routine of getting home, shower, eat, maybe do a little workout. then go over cases from work. and repeat. 

but now, he feels different. and he's not quite sure why. if he's being honest, he was always the type of person to aim for the skies when it comes to his career. but when it came to his personal life, there was nothing he wanted more then settle for the minimum. the lesser, the better. and it's as if nothing was missing from his life. he ate alone, slept alone, walked to work alone and lived his whole life like that, he was fine. 

so why? why is he having mixed feeling while brushing his teeth, why does he feel like there's something missing, and he does not even know what it is. so he turns the heat higher, maybe his apartment is too cold. it is, the start of winter after all. 

after that, he takes a burning hot shower, but that does not help either, so he gets out after a while, feeling the pit in his chest get bigger, as well as his frustration. 

he dressed up warmly, and for some reason. it feels bad. he feels guilty. 

he shakes the feeling away quickly, no reason to feel bad for having those things. no point in feeling guilty for living well in his well heated home while others might be outside waiting for the sun to come up again,

he turns on the stove, resorting to his go to dinner combining kimchi fried rice and some sunny side up eggs. 

he cooks mindlessly, but not relaxed like he normally is. it's the weird feeling in his stomach that won't let him breathe. his brain gears move fast to back up to where it first started. all he can come back to is the case. was that the reason he's feeling so off nowadays? maybe he's just burned out, too tired. he just needs a good sleep before the meeting tomorrow.

yes, all he needs is a warm meal and a good sleep, the feeling will pass eventually.

.............

"to what do I own the pleasure? two visits in one night?" Yeonjun asks while shaking the cocktail in his hands, Kai laughs it off like usual, and takes his reserved place on the counter. "the same thing?"

"yes, please!"

Yeonjun looks over at the almost full bar, his eyes search for his two co workers who too seem busy with tasks.

"just one minute" he says and Kai nods while spinning mindlessly in his chair. if a stranger were looking, he'd assume Kai has practically nothing going on in his mind, or maybe he just has too much that he chose to turn it off.

Yeonjun goes over to the tall server, eye creasing when a smile grows on his face just by the sight of his boyfriend's charming dimples.

"hey baby.." he comes from behind Soobin and tightens up his apron. the latter turns around, tray filled with finished drinks and plates with half eaten appetizers. Soobin smiles nervously, his eyes too, scan the bar for any table that might need him, but when he sees none, his expression finally relaxes.

"I know business is always great, but isn't it a little too much?" the younger asks and Yeonjun might have to agree, the bar has never seen more people at once then tonight. of course, they had their busy days, but this has got to be some sort of a record.

"don't stress out Binnie... you know we can always close if it gets too crowdy. plus, I'm right here and Beomgyu is a great waiter, you know he'd be able to run the place by himself if he needed to" Yeonjun calms the jumpy server down and finishes off with a joke both of them know has half truth in it. Beomgyu is as energetic as a 5 year old on 16 Ferrero Rochers and as professional as a owner with 50 year of experience.  

"that sounds about right" Soobin replies with a smile and Yeonjun feels satisfied. 

"I'm gonna be at the counter, wave if you need something. okay?"

Soobin nods and Yeonjun finds it easier this time to leave them to do their thing while he deals with the kid spinning in his stool.

"so, what brings you here again?" Yeonjun asks and for the first time he gets a nice look at the younger face and his moves slow down. "what happened?"

Kai stops the chair, a foreign emotion plays on his face while he taps the counter.

"what do you mean?" he asks, his lips pouting outward slightly towards the end of the sentence.

Yeonjun sets aside the long glass he saves just for Kai and Kai only, the glass he usually only takes out once every few months, not every two days. that should've been his first red flag, he thought. Kai's expression should've been the second. 

the younger smiles like always, eyes shining playfully. anyone else wouldn't give that smile a second look, but not Yeonjun. despite the few time he's actually spent time with Kai, he's able to tell the distress showing in his eyes.

"you're not in trouble again are you?" Yeonjun asks, and he hopes for a negative response, he hopes he's not right on the money. 

"where's my mint milkshake hyung?" Kai asks, disregarding the question completely.

Yeonjun shakes his head, crossing his hands on his chest while looking up and down the younger for anything that would tell him more than what Kai's letting on.

"answer my question, then you can have all the milkshake you want"

Kai looks down.

Yeonjun feels almost hopeless in front of Kai. as far as he's concerned, Kai's family, but he's not sure if the younger thinks of him the same way. he's not even sure the younger thinks of him like someone he can open up to, because he certainly hasn't in the past 4 years they've known each other. and Yeonjun knows they haven't spent that much time together, but he cares for him like a little brother.

Kai looks up again, and he has this exasperated, annoyed expression he had never seen on the younger before, and for a few mere seconds, he feels almost scared that Kai's going to yell at him. guilt washes over him and he feels bad for even pushing it in the first place.

"it was good seeing you Hyung." Kai says and jumps off the stool. 

..........

author here.

double update? I think so!