Passionate Silence

The room was quiet; dim and peaceful. After spending many minutes raking his eyes over the room and lightly touching the crisp bed sheets, a whirlpool of thoughts amalgamating in his head, Ae turned over. He gazed at the other boy, with his plaid pyjamas and hands clasped quaintly over his waist like some kind of slumbering prince. His eyes were gently closed, framed by thick lashes, and his hair fell lightly across his forehead as though it had been styled by a summer breeze.

Ae regretted stirring him, but knew sleep would be far out of reach until he had drained the water from his mind.

"Are you already asleep?" He asked, softly, but with a hint of need. Pete's eyes cracked open as he turned his head toward the other boy.

"Not yet. What's up?" Was his gentle response. Ae frowned. He feared he was about to cross a line, but his mental want for answers overpowered his doubting feeling.

"Do you hate your father?" He held his breath, anticipating being told to stay out of other people's business – maybe he should have. Pete cast his eyes down for a moment, pausing. The taller boy could understand his question, he just wasn't sure how to answer it. It wasn't often that he spoke about his father.

"No, I don't hate him." He began, "Despite what he did to us, he's still my father." Looking up at Ae, he saw the concern in his boyfriend's eyes; it was comforting.

"Besides, if I hated him, my mother would be very sad." Ae was unsurprised to hear this kind of attitude from Pete. Just from seeing how he interacted with his mother earlier that evening, he could tell their relationship ran very deep. The truth was, however, that this question was just the precursor to his real point of interest; DeLi.

"And..." he returned Pete's gaze, "does DeLi know about your family?" He tried to make himself sound only vaguely interested, but Pete wasn't stupid. The taller boy paused for a moment, trying to assess the situation. Did he like her?

"Why do you ask about her?" He said, slightly defensively, keeping his eyes strongly on Ae's, whose eyebrows stitched together.

"I just want to know," was the shorter boy's response, and Pete's heart sank. So he does like her...

"Yes," Pete began, reluctant to say too much and too focused on not trying to sound emotional. Now was neither the time or place to break down, "She knows everything about our family." He glanced back at Ae, "why do you ask?"

It was then, in Ae's eyes that Pete saw an emotion that wasn't love, but he couldn't quite lay his finger on it.

"I'm just curious," Ae stated, bluntly, and a small smile crept onto Pete's face as his heart returned to his chest.

The emotion was jealousy.

Ae turned his head away from Pete, staring up at the ceiling and breathing steadily, not wanting to give himself away; unfortunately for him, Pete was too clever.

"Are you jealous?" Pete smiled, his tone lightening. Ae, noticing the taller boy's change in emotion, felt like a child being patronised by their older sibling. It was annoying – but more because Pete was correct than anything else. Is this what Yim feels like when he teases her? No, she's too young to process such things... right? He looked at Pete, his tone laced with salt.

"I don't want your friend to know more about you than me," he huffed, turning over away from Pete, who, finally seeing the bigger picture, couldn't help but tease him further.

"Ae!?" He exclaimed, quietly, reaching out and tapping Ae's side, "Ae... Ae, are you really jealous?" He grabbed his shoulder lightly and shook him with playful force, his voice childish, "Ae! ... Ae."