fluid: haobin

26

"thank you for the ride, bye!" ricky gets out of hanbin's car, waving before running up the steps and into his house.

"damn, i knew ricky's parents have their own business and stuff, but i didn't realize they lived in the freaking white house!" hao exclaims while just staring at the big building in front of him. it took them 5 minutes to drive up the isolated hill the house was on and another minute to go around the fountain to the driveway.

"we came here once for a sleepover, the guest room is the size of my whole dorm," gunwook recalls.

"speaking of which, what time is it? we gotta hurry so we can drop you off before your curfew," hanbin starts up the car.

"it's 7," hao checks his watch.

"the curfew is 11 so we got tons of time," gunwook tells the adults.

"better to be safe than sorry. gunwook, can you put the address into my phone?" the instructor passes the device to the backseat.

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"he seems so tired these days," hao looks to the back, where the younger is passed out, quiet snores escaping his mouth.

"i've noticed that too. i tried to ask him about it but always got dismissed," hanbin furrows his eyebrows. "even his friends don't know what's up....i just...i don't know. i'm just hoping he's taking care of himself."

"it's gunwook we're talking about, i'm sure he knows what his own limits are," hao says but deep inside, he was also worried about if his own words were right. "what did you think of today?"

"i'm just glad matthew finally got his happily ever after. although i'm still gonna be the only single one of the group, it's fulfilling to know that my two best friends are with their soulmate."

"i still can't get over matthew's smile," the older smiles in a daze. "he looked so in love and so...content."

"have you ever been in a relationship hyung?"

hao almost chokes from the sudden question. he still couldn't get used to the younger's bold actions and how shameless he could be when asking these kinds of questions.

"well, just one but it was back in china. we broke up after a month cause we didn't have time. how about you?"

"i've only had one serious relationship in my 2nd year of college," hanbin pauses so he could make a turn into an exit. "we were together for 9 months but he had to leave for military service so we decided to end things."

"he?" the manager unconsciously blurts out the question but immediately covers his mouth when realizing what he did. "i'm sorry, don't answer if you're not comfortable."

"don't worry, i don't try to make it known or anything but it's not a secret either," the dancer laughs at the other's actions. "yeah, i'm gay so he was my first boyfriend."

"oh..."

"i'm sorry, are you ok with me telling this to you...?" hanbin gives a side glance to see hao's reaction.

"of course, don't worry, i was just caught off guard, that's all," the latter comes back to his normal state. "for some reason, i expected you to be straight or something."

"really? what makes you say that?"

"i don't know, there's just some vibe from you that gives me that impression."

"hyung, i was literally the only boy in an all-girls crew for a year. i don't think you can survive that kind of environment if you're not fruity in some way."

"excuse me for my gaydar not working," hao rolls his eyes. "i don't know, i'm kinda disappointed i didn't notice until now."

"how about you? was your relationship with a girl?"

"nope, i'm also a rainbow. ok but like, the guy was someone i met at a bar after exams. we weren't gonna go anywhere with that kind of first meet."

"you don't know! we always meet the most unexpected people at the most unexpected times! i met my ex when i was putting the trash out and his cat escaped his apartment."

"ah, the classic "i fell in love with my hot neighbor" romance trope. only one of the most generic plots for any story."

"hyung, what the hell?!" hanbin exclaims as hao just starts to laugh. "ok so, you're also fruity. labeled or unlabeled?"

"i'm 100% gay. trust me when i say girls can only be friends to me."

"wow hyung, we're so alike, we even have the same taste in people," the instructor jokes. but internally, he was celebrating his victory. it meant one less thing to worry about while having his crush on hao. "also, could you wake up gunwook? we're about 3 minutes away from the school."

"yep," and the manager takes the opportunity to take the chilled bottle of water they "stole" from the reception, which was still cool from the air conditioning, and place it on the sleeping student's cheek.

"ack, what the hell?!"

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once hao enters his apartment, he immediately opens his phone and calls a familiar number.

"hey hyung, are you finally back home?"

"yep, how was the conference taerae?"

"ugh, so boring," the chinese could hear some rustling in the back. probably the other getting comfortable on the bed. "remind me why i decided to volunteer as an instructor?"

"because it's good publicity and could attract new customers, meaning more money and i wouldn't have to pray to god to give me a sugar daddy."

"tmi, and couldn't you just ask hanbin hyung for that kind of money? he seemed to be loaded."

"kim taerae!" hao shouts from across the room as he changes out of his outfit for the wedding and into his pajamas.

"what?! it's getting so awkward feeling the tension in the air when we're in the same room. like please, just kiss and move on with the day. or date after that. i don't care, just do something about your crush."

"yah, did you know he's gay?"

"yeah, it was obvious from the first meeting. he came in wearing a black patterned aloha shirt and waist chains; that said enough."

"oh..."

"hyung, how can you say you're a part of the community and not know how to identify others?" taerae makes a "tsk tsk" sound from the other line.

"shut up! anyways, kuanjui says hi and he misses hanging out altogether."

"we gotta plan a trio day really soon! preferably before the competition."

"...crap!" hao shouts as he buries his head into his pillow and rolls all around the bed.

"what? what happened?"

"i'm sharing a room with him!" he wails in despair. "what am i gonna do? he's gonna see me with my swollen cheeks in the morning and my bare face!"

"i doubt hanbin hyung actually cares about that stuff. he's too whipped for you that even your horrendous eye bags couldn't stop him from thinking that way."

"you know what, when you come back, you're gonna wish you hadn't."

"i'd like to see you try. anyways, i gotta sleep cause my session starts at 9 am tomorrow. good night hyung! and try not to dream of hanbin hyung too much!"

"i'm hanging up," hao hears the last bit of laughter up until he cuts the call.