Chapter Text
Waking up with a hand stuck in his pajama pants wasn't what Taeyang expected after a dreamless night. He didn't pay much attention to what might have caused it, though, too busy preparing to leave for classes.
Every single day at the university was spent in a hurry. One thing Taeyang loved about his daily routine was that it would tire him just as much as an intense workout; he'd always start a little restless having to be stuck in the building, then move onto his work at a cafe or dance practice, only to end up delightfully exhausted, unable to drive himself into reminiscing on past or overthinking. No time to stop even for a second, which was so convenient in his situation.
He opted for a quick bathroom break during a boring Monday lecture he attended only for extra points, even though it didn't really bring anything valuable to his curriculum.
Despite his best efforts, Taeyang couldn't spend the entire lecture secluded in the bathroom, but luck seemed to be on his side that day: just as he was turning to exit the stall, someone rushed to the neighboring one. The plan was to stay quiet and leave only when the other person was gone.
Then, a realization hit him: there were two pairs of feet shuffling on the floor.
Taeyang heard a hushed shh , followed by some barely audible protesting, then the sound of a belt being unbuckled in hurry.
Oh, shit . So he was stuck in the stall until the couple was finished.
Taeyang pressed his back against the tile wall, as far from the neighboring stall as possible, and covered his mouth and nose with his hand in case anybody could hear his anxious breathing. He wished he had a way to plug his ears as well, because the next thing coming from behind the thin partition were the slick sounds he recognized immediately: someone was getting blown. And to make things worse, among all the breathy moans of the guy receiving, muffled choking followed. It repeated a couple times, which wasn't really that weird, until the coughing became borderline violent. Taeyang started wondering if he was witnessing some kind of abuse, and if yes - if he should intervene.
The slippery sounds stopped as the person who was being choked took a long, audible breath. Unfortunately, that didn't help much; they coughed some more, only for the coughing to turn into dry heaving.
Quick rustling on the floor could be heard again. The person heaved a couple more times, clearly on the edge of throwing up. The sound alone was making Taeyang nauseous, but he assumed the situation was calming down enough for him to be able to stay in his hideout.
Indeed, the person in the next stall, now breathing heavily, seemed to relax a little. At last, they let out a deep sigh.
"I was sure you would go all the way this time."
The voice came roughly from Taeyang's level, so it must've been the person standing. Taeyang could swear he'd heard it somewhere before.
Some more rustling followed, then sounds of clearing one's throat.
"I'm sorry… Not today. I'll do better next time. Just… not today."
Taeyang's face went pale in a second; the person who was choking a moment ago was none other than Inseong from the day before.
"I guess I still have to do something about this… " Inseong continued, his voice hoarse.
The other person - Taeyang connected the dots and realized it was Jaeyoon - laughed quietly.
No, that was enough. He couldn't possibly stay there anymore. Not caring whether he was going to be heard or not, Taeyang rushed out of the stall; he had to get back to the lecture and get his mind busy with something else; forget about what he just witnessed. He had to slip back into his routine.
He was doomed. Meeting the odd couple at his workplace irreversibly warped the comfortable fabric of his reality.
*
Another late evening shift flew by in a blink of an eye. Although Taeyang insisted on taking more complicated orders, leaving the easier ones to Youngbin, his mind simply wouldn't let go of what he saw earlier that day. The memory would hit him randomly during the day, making him freeze for a couple seconds each time. He hated it so much; hated the way his body reacted to things that were out of his control.
As usual, Youngbin would leave first on Thursdays, leaving Taeyang alone for the last two hours of the evening shift. Taeyang, obviously, didn't mind, given his tormented mind. There weren't many customers at the time, but there was always something to do in the old cafe building - he'd easily find something to get busy on his own. That is, until the bell announcing new guests entering rang an hour before closing. Taeyang emerged from the staff room.
He felt like passing out when he saw two familiar tall figures appear in the doorway.
Jaeyoon, with his eyes set only on Inseong just like last time, didn't pay attention to his surroundings when they took their seats. Inseong, though, kept throwing side glances towards the counter instead of approaching to place the order.
Taeyang took a few deep breaths. He was falling into their game again. There were no other guests in the shop; it was just him and those two. He had no other choice if he wanted to land one more order that night, so he put on his best stoic face and walked towards their table by the window.
"How may I help you?" He asked, his voice slightly shaking. "We're closing soon, but…"
"Aw, cut it," Inseong interrupted him. "You sound tired. Do you think anybody else will come here today? What if I get something for all three of us and we talk a little?"
Inseong stared straight into Taeyang's eyes. The boy felt his will breaking more and more with each second. Well, it wasn’t like he expected any more customers, and he's been on the run the entire day. He deserved some rest.
"Okay."
The couple quickly placed the order, courteously getting an extra smoothie and a piece of cake for Taeyang. The barista didn't question a thing until the moment he was done preparing the food. He put it all on a tray and felt the familiar freezing sensation. Inseong and Jaeyoon were the reason behind his extreme distress, yet there he was, about to sit and chat with them, and all of that for a smoothie and a piece of cake .
Taeyang shook his head. There was just a little less than an hour left. Not to mention he really needed that goddamn cake before he would drop dead not just because of stress, but also because of the fact his last meal was twelve hours ago.
The tactic of focusing on the food in front of him worked for a while. The three of them had barely managed to formally introduce themselves before Taeyang dived into his meal. The rush of energy he felt from the hefty dose of carbs easily outweighed the heavy feeling of being sandwiched between Jaeyoon and Inseong, but the plate became empty way too fast, and sipping on a smoothie wasn’t an excuse to not engage in small talk.
Inseong’s eyes were on him all that time, the man patiently waiting for his chance to strike a conversation.
“We see you often on the campus, although only from a distance” he stated, gaze fixed on Taeyang, who replied with a dumbfounded stare. “Would be funny if we ever actually stumbled upon each other.”
Taeyang’s eyes went wide, still at a loss of words. Right, that would be funny , indeed, unless they stumbled upon each other in a bathroom during a lecture.
Inseong let out a breathy laugh that caused the familiar, glitter-like sensation to appear in Taeyang’s head once again.
“You’re not a talker, are you?” Inseong chuckled. “Physiotherapy, right? What’s your major?”
Taeyang took a sip of his drink and swallowed it slowly, giving himself time to prepare mentally for the conversation.
“Dance therapy,” he replied quietly. “I want to work with children in the future.”
He didn’t like admitting openly to his plans, as he’d often get ridiculed for it; however, with all of his filters turned off at this level of exhaustion, he didn’t care.
“That’s lovely!” Inseong exclaimed. He threw a quick glance towards Jaeyoon, who seemed to be equally giddy. “I wish I could work with children too, but in the end, mature ladies are easier to work with.” Once he got a puzzled look from Taeyang, he quickly added, “Beauty massage.”
“He’s got hands of gold,” Jaeyoon mused, pushing away his empty plate. “And he’s an absolute ace at his course.”
“Come on, stop it,” Inseong giggled. “Jaeyoon’s major is sports therapy. We’re quite a pair, aren’t we?”
“Indeed,” Taeyang said in a hushed voice, trying to not sound sarcastic.
A moment of uncomfortable silence fell upon them.
"You want some?" Inseong suddenly asked his boyfriend, moving a fork with a bit of cake on it towards him.
"No, you need to eat more!" Jaeyoon whined, trying his best to sound cute.
Taeyang hoped his face didn't show the sick feeling in his stomach. This man forced himself on his partner just a couple hours earlier, yet he dared to pretend like that in public. Absolutely disgusting .
He took a moment to collect himself while the couple bickered about the last piece of dessert.
"Anyway, are you free this weekend?" Inseong's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. Curious eyes stared at the boy with suspicious intensity.
Well, he had homework to do, there was a big test coming next week, it'd be nice if he managed to get some quality sleep before his Sunday shift at the coffee shop…
"Yup, I am."
The intensity in Inseong's eyes might have been a cry for help, after all.
"Great!" Inseong replied cheerfully, although the tone didn't match his blank facial expression at all. "We're going for a walk by the river on Saturday morning. Wanna join us?"
Taeyang nodded, forcing himself to smile.
Jaeyoon almost jumped out of his seat at the news. Once again, Taeyang felt like he was being tested, having to observe the man act so affectionately for his boyfriend; he didn't understand it at all, neither Jaeyoon's behavior, nor how happy they were to hang out with some guy they barely knew and who clearly wasn't showing as much enthusiasm as they did.
At some point Jaeyoon, still babbling about the upcoming weekend, reached out to put his hand on Taeyang's thigh. Taeyang instinctively backed off. He regretted it the next moment, when Jaeyoon stopped in his tracks to give the other guy a surprised look.
"Jaeyoonie, why don't we grab something for dinner on our way back home?"
Relief washed over Taeyang's body. Luckily, Inseong asked the question with his attention fixed on the phone screen, unable to notice the awkward pause. Jaeyoon furrowed his eyebrows for a second, only to switch back to the lovesick mode and discuss the dinner options with Inseong.
The two left after they all exchanged phone numbers. There were still ten minutes until closing time, so Taeyang rushed to wash the dishes and finish cleaning the tables without much thinking. Once he was done sweeping the doorstep, he stepped back inside, closed the door behind him, and shivered when the warmth coming from the air conditioner reached his skin.
The shivering wouldn’t stop there, though.
Taeyang noticed he was holding onto the broomstick like his life depended on it. His breathing got heavy to the point he couldn’t breathe through his nose. Trying to stay calm, he cautiously walked back to the nearest wall and slumped against it. He decided to sit on the floor for a minute or two to regain his composure. Slowly, his breathing got back to normal, although his fingers seemingly wouldn’t let go of the broomstick, as if they had a mind of their own.
This day was too much of everything .