"Mr.Kang!" Kai buzzes on the door. Glancing at his wristwatch. "We must leave in two minutes! What's taking so long?"
He hears the water turning on in the bathroom, slow steps dragging around the house. Kang Taehyun is one lousy guy. They're about to be late and he doesn't seem to care one bit.
Kai paces around the terrace, tapping his feet on the floor impatiently. His phone buzzing with multiple messages from Kang Taehyun's company about their whereabouts.
From what Kai knows, despite Kang Taehyun's work being mostly remote, there are days where he needs to be at the lab to help his team with whatever it is they are trying to do over there.
Honestly, Kai doesn't know what Kang Taehyun's job is exactly. Only that its government supervised and extremely discreet.
Purely out of his own amusement he toys with the possibilities for what Kang Taehyun does for a living. Perhaps they are working to cure cancer or inventing a new virus to wipe out the population. Or maybe just like in the movie Kingsman they are trying to leave only the elite population alive and kill all the simple people, like Kai himself.
"Mr. Kang!" he yells louder now. He doesn't even know why he's bothering so much, it's not like it's his job to make sure his client gets to work on time, only that he'll get there safe and in one piece.
Finally, Kang Taehyun emerges from the front door wearing a white lab coat with simple clothes underneath and his big black glasses.
His hair is damp, showing he washed it. While he's cleaner than what Kai saw last night, his appearance is still rather messy for someone who's clocking into work.
Kai wonders if that is just how Kang Taehyun is.
With his hair slightly tamer and the morning sun shedding light on him, Kai can see Kang Taehyun's face more clearly. To his demise, Kang Taehyun is much more attractive than what Kai had thought him to be.
"Doggy? Let's go." Taehyun snaps his out of his thoughts.
Doggy?
Kai grips the car keys with his fist. Offended. "Excuse me?"
Kang Taehyun walks to the car parked in front of his house, unresponsive. Kai runs to catch up with him and yanks his shoulder. Refusing to let Taehyun's words pass by him. "What did you mean by that?"
Taehyun turns to look at him, his expression is calm and unbothered, as if he doesn't know what he said wrong. "isn't that what you are?" His tone is annoyingly posh underlying with mild malice. "Walking behind others, like a guard dog. I can practically see the tail on you, Doggy." He gives Kai a stiff, condescending smile and opens the door to the back seats of the car.
There's a bad taste in Kai's mouth, sour and bitter. He stands there at the access road completely speechless for a long moment.
Taehyun already fastens his seat, waiting for Kai to come in as well. "I'm late, hurry." He reminds Kai.
Kai swallows the disrespect stuck at his throat. He's not a sensitive guy, usually. But who wouldn't be hurt by such a comparison?
He puts a professional front, walks to the car and starts the engine.
The drive from Ansan to Seoul is deadly quiet. Kai would start a lighthearted conversation by now, if only Taehyun wouldn't put him off before they begin driving.
He replays Taehyun's words in his head. Unable to let go. The longer he thinks about it, the more upset he feels.
What has he done to warrant such hostile behavior?
