#fooleds

it wasn’t like tae was against traveling as a whole — he just didn’t really want to go there. even mere mention of it had his face souring and his tone falling, which obviously opened the door for questions. but surely it was within his rights? like, his family was from there and the ex lived there and the idea of even catching a glimpse of the guy had his jaw tense. let alone the idea of lucien seeing him. and it wasn’t just the ex — it was lucien and all his goons. tae just … knew it wasn’t easy to stay under the radar there? and the last thing he wanted was for alex to be spotted with him and suddenly become a target for that fools psychopathic tendencies. maybe if they weren’t looking for him it could be fine, but that fell to the chance of not running into anyone — why risk it? there were plenty of other beaches!

tae was more stuck on alex’s words, though. why did he have to tell alex all of it? it was a lot, and most of it was his own fault anyway! he also couldn't wrap his head around how it was a lie? he suddenly had a lot of thoughts and questions and tae could feel his skin getting hot as his annoyance bubbled into anger, even if he was sort of holding his tongue. maybe he wasn’t watching his tone, but he was watching his words. “i told you about whatever you fuckin’ asked about, that’s not lyin’.” tae wasn’t sure the other man wanted all the details, anyway. sure, he was missing some key bits of tae’s relationship history — but he would tell him if he asked.

“y’asked why i look like this and i fuckin’ told you—“ not that it had been asked so crudely, but the point stands! tae wasn’t trying to keep secrets or lie … he just didn’t think alex needed to hear all that. or more so if he wanted to he would have thought to ask the question? “i told you why i don’t want to go—“ well, tae might’ve literally said ‘and some other fuckin’ stuff’ after explaining, rather simply, he wouldn’t go because his ex lives there. it was just a lot! did alex really want him to get into it here, now, in the car? they could, but — it was a lot.

besides all that?

tae found himself actually scoffing after a moment, “do i even fuckin’ look like someone that would like the beach?” well — maybe, actually. if he dressed appropriately, and maybe someone gave him those arm floaties. or a life vest. and if alex stayed very close to him the entire time. and there were no children around. god knows the closest he got to swimming was the shallow end of jisung’s pool, one arm on the wall or securely wrapped around one of the other men. tae definitely could not swim, thanks. and that thing didn’t have waves or sharks or crabs or his crazy ex or sand—

x / x / @fooleds

from the moment alex had walked through the door there had been alarm bells going off — jisung could all but sense something was off before even seeing each piece of the puzzle. obviously something bad had happened and alex had gotten into some sort of altercation, that much was clear. jisung simply wanted to know what kind of altercation, and if the aftermath of said altercation would be following alex home or not. alex’s safety, whether he liked it or not, was on jisung’s list of priorities. so should he be on high alert or…?

and okay — jisung didn’t simply want to know if anyone would be stalking alex. it was a big concern, yes, but he would be lying to say his mind wasn’t reeling with question after question. what happened? where has he been? did someone die? what is that book — all questions that could wait, he supposed. he’d do his best not to let any slip out before breakfast.

one of the best things life had to offer was, well, this exact moment. the clear night sky, the warm weather, and the love of his life against his chest. what more could ares ask for? he was happy to watch the stars as he slowly carded his hand through seunggi' hair, though he'd be lying to say his gaze didn't keep dropping to the other man. he just couldn't help it, he'd never be able to get enough.

ares almost didn't want to ruin the moment, either. but he also didn't want seunggi to actually fall asleep before he had a chance, you know?

"you awake, baby?" he was shifting a little as he spoke, doing his best not to disrupt his boyfriend as he slipped his hand under one of the pillows. ares didn't say anything else right away, wanting to make sure he wasn't actually talking to himself as he brought the wrapped gift over to his side in silent offering. only when he caught a glimpse of those eyes did he go on, a smile curling his lips as he did. "you might not even remember," or maybe he did? it felt like it was a lifetime ago at this point in their relationship, ares would completely understand if this present made no sense to seunggi. in which case ... well, he didn't know. maybe seunggi would still like it even if it meant nothing to him?

you know what — it probably took tae a few long moments to actually realize what was happening. like. he was too busy editing away on his laptop to notice what was going on across from him. sure, it smelt great and there were lots of sounds — but something felt off. or sounded off, rather. tae had no real idea how long alex had been messing around with the jar, but it was long enough that he was grunting about it. grunting and apparently on his way to the sink, for whatever reason — tae hoped he wasn’t about to bash the jar in quiet anger, or something.

if alex wouldn’t have had to pass tae to get to the sink, he wouldn’t have bothered. or maybe he would have — maybe tae would have said something, at the very least. but seeing as the other man was actively walking past him? his arm shot out to snag the jar as he straightened up in his seat, brows furrowing ever so slightly as he brought the stupid little thing closer to himself. “what’s the deal—“ was muttered with not so much as a glance to the jar. no, tae was more interested in looking at alex as the telltale pop sounded out and signaled that the jar was, indeed, open. and then he was tossing the lid (dirty side up, he wasn’t a monster) onto the counter and holding the jar out for alex. “d’you want me to do anything else? m’done with this.” with his video, that is.

jisung loved to cuddle, what could he say? especially on a saturday morning after just waking. he didn’t have work looming over his head and that made it even better. the sun didn’t seem to be shining yet, but that was fine — it meant he had even more time to enjoy the peace and quiet (no offense, tae).

not that tae was awake. or alex.

not that it mattered to him! he was happy to pull them close, to snuggle in, and to enjoy what he could while he could.

there was no other reason as to why tae waited this long other than he’s stubborn. he saved his name in alex’s phone knowing there was a little more effort going into not scrunching his nose at the idea of crawling into bed beside zach, and yet? he refused to acknowledge it. the whole first day tae didn’t acknowledge the night on the rooftop, he didn’t acknowledge the new contact conveniently saved under the eye rolling emoji (🙄), and he almost didn’t even acknowledge his boyfriend! which, in hindsight, might have added some unnecessary tensions. surely it couldn’t have been that surprising that within a week tae was cutting things off. tae was kind of surprised that zach was even upset! but some people just didn’t like to lose, whether it was a fight or a person, and he didn’t make parting ways as easy as tae would’ve liked. personally, he would have loved to have just deleted the guys number and never talk to him again. zach gave him a whole lot more than that, but tae’d consider it a parting gift. one that made it much easier to get over himself and send alex a text. he’s never been one to sulk around or hold onto something, anyway.

crazy to think it only took a little over ten days from their reunion (twelve, to be exact) for him to be walking up to alex’s door, but here he was! and just as he was hitting send on a here text? well — if tae was going to pick a way to be greeted from here on out, it would definitely be this. hand on his throat and all.