Lovesick // TOMORROW X TOGETHER [TaeBin / SooKai]

Chapter 14 - I should've kept my mouth shut

The next monday Soobin got greeted with a beaming smile from Taehyun as he waited outside for the two to go to school together. Since their confession at the sleepover, Taehyun seemed less tense than before, which possibly originated from the uncertainty if Soobin reciprocates his love for him as well. Which sounded absurd, because Soobin loved him from the inside out. He felt like there wasn't even a time where Soobin didn't love Taehyun.

But Soobin felt more relieved too now, even though he never doubted the love Taehyun had for him as much as Taehyun did. Soobin knew from where Taehyun's fear came from and he didn't blame him for any misconception he may have caused. Not one bit.

"I told my parents about you." Taehyun exclaimed as Soobin walked across the front yard over to him.

"Really? What did they say?" Soobin asked and clutched Taehyun's hand. According to the shining smile on Taehyun's face, he already guessed that they reacted positively to it.

"They congratulated me, whereas my Dad straight out asked me about your whole life story."

"My whole life story?" Soobin chuckled and looked at Taehyun in amusement.

"Yeah, my Dad is as nosy as you are. You will get along well."

"I'm not nosy, I just care about other people's lives." Soobin tried to defend himself, but Taehyun knew it better.

"Yeah, sure you do."

As they walked down the sidewalk, Soobin felt Taehyun's thumb rubbing against the back of his hand. It was a calming gesture Taehyun mostly did when he was worried about Soobin, but now he did it because he was delighted about how good their relationship was going. It was so obvious that Soobin had to smile at himself. Usually, he couldn't see through people well, but Taehyun's disturbingly exaggerated cheerfulness showed what was going inside of him like he was an open book.

Soobin could only squeeze Taehyun's hand in awe of the boy's mood right next to him.

"Did you show them the picture too, if you were so eager to tell them about me all of a sudden?" Soobin teased him. To preserve Taehyun's dignity, Soobin allowed him to take the polaroid, with his radiant smile on it, with him so as to avoid being laughed at. Soobin knew that it was just because Taehyun normally didn't have such a big smile on his face and it made him feel embarrassed to get laughed at for that.

"Oh hell nah. This picture is just for me to look at."

"But they surely wanted to know what I look like."

"I've got plenty of other pictures for that."

Soobin fixed his eyes on Taehyun at that. He couldn't remember any more pictures Taehyun could have had on his phone or somewhere else. They didn't really take pictures together often, but that was just because of the missing opportunities. As of the pictures Soobin knew about, there were only the polaroid picture Taehyun didn't want to show anybody and the picture of Soobin sleeping in the motel back then. At that, a horrible thought occurred to him.

"You didn't show them the picture of me sleeping, did you?"

"No, don't worry." Taehyun answered, but quickly became too quiet for Soobin's liking.

"Taehyun? What picture did you show them?"

"Just a picture I got from Kai."

Soobin abruptly came to a halt.

"Were you all taking pictures of me secretly?!"

"Not secretly. You were just too occupied looking at me."

Soobin felt embarrassed. Not only because Taehyun noticed his staring and teased him now with it, not that his staring got noticed by Kai as well and that he took a permanent picture of it as well, but also that Taehyun's parents probably saw a picture of Soobin creepily staring at their son in adoration and utter cowardness. Why is it that Soobin could never live a day without making a fool of himself? He sighed in frustration.

"Ahh, they think I'm stupid."

"No." Taehyun assured him and poked his cheek in awe of the tall boy in front of him.

"My mom said you are cute. And she's right."

Soobin made a weird face at that, blushing because Taehyun called him cute but also still being unsure of how his parents perceived Soobin.

"Did you at least tell them that you look just like my cat?"

"I don't look like your cat." Taehyun said with an unnerved tone of voice, because he had to say this sentence far too often than it was necessary.

"If I held a picture of the two of you side by side, they would agree. Totally."

"If you believe that." Taehyun only said to that, rolling his eyes in secret.

They continued walking along their way to school, putting away the embarrassing topics and chatting about random stuff again. They always had some kind of topic to talk about and it seemed that they would never run out of them.

Arriving at the school gate, Soobin and Taehyun made their way through a bunch of bundled up groups of students, who used their little time before the start of classes to linger before the school gate and gossip about trivial school stuff.

From afar Soobin could already recognize Yeonjun being at the school entrance, having his eyes already fixed at them. Normally, Yeonjun didn't bother to look at him at all so Soobin thought that maybe there was some progress showing and that Yeonjun finally tried to open up a little bit.

But the closer Yeonjun got to them, the more Soobin realized that Yeonjun wasn't looking at them both but only at Soobin. And then he realized that Yeonjun wasn't walking, but angrily stomping over to them. And when Yeonjun almost got to him, Soobin realized that he wasn't at all happy, but enraged. Really, really enraged.

When Yeonjun was close enough, he lifted his hands up to Soobin's chest and pushed him harshly. Immediately, Taehyun went between the two and held Yeonjun away from Soobin with one hand to avoid any more actions like that.

"Hey, hey! What's wrong?" Taehyun exclaimed but Yeonjun completely ignored him.

"Why did you tell them about him!?" Yeonjun screamed at his face at which Soobin only looked at him with fear in his eyes.

"I-I just..." Soobin tried to speak, but the whole situation overwhelmed him so much that he couldn't spit out a word, let alone air to breathe.

"Why do you always get in my way!? I told you, you should leave me alone!" Yeonjun's voice became louder and louder with every wrathful word that he threw towards Soobin and his heart beat rapidly at Yeonjun's growing anger.

"I just wanted to help. They were worried about you, I just wanted them to be there for you."

"YOU don't get to decide what I need and I don't want your f*cking help! Get that in your little shit head and leave me the f*ck alone!"

Yeonjun's yelling echoed through the whole schoolyard and bystanders were already glimpsing over to them, wanting to know what caused the chaos to flame up in the first place. At any other time, Soobin would have felt uncomfortable by all the staring eyes that laid on him now, but at this moment he only felt Yeonjun's anger tearing him apart as if he was just a little boy.

He never would have imagined that telling Yeonjun's friends the reason why Yeonjun acted that way, would have made Yeonjun that angry. He could have guessed that he would be annoyed by it, but that it was bothering him that much perplexed Soobin. He immediately regretted what he had done, even though he only did it with good intentions in mind.

Soobin heard the mumbles of the people around them getting louder. He wanted this to end. He didn't want to be there anymore, being the center of attention. Again.

"I'm sorry, Yeonjun." Soobin whispered with trembling words, searching for a little softness in Yeonjun's eyes but there was none. His gaze was cold and furious.

"Everything you do is ignorant, dense and completely irresponsible. If you ever come near me again, I swear you will leave with more than just a little bruise next time!" Yeonjun spat out and yanked Taehyun's hand from his chest before he stomped past them and through the school gate.