Taeyong's hands, tightly gripping his bookbag straps for the past 2 minutes, shake out of anxiety. He has been walking with Ten to his house in the breezy fall day. Taeyong doesn't remember the last time he was this nervous, maybe when he met Jonghyun, his idol.

"Are you okay, Tae?” Ten looked over his shoulder. "You have been very quiet and distant." There was worry in his voice and Taeyong immediately felt bad. "Oh no, its nothing. I'm just trying to get my mind back into this project stuff." Ten let out a small laugh and nodded.

When they arrived, Taeyong noticed the house look the same as it did weeks ago, but Ten's room changed a bit. "Sorry, it's a little bit of a mess. I didn't know you would come over 'til lunch." He picked up the stranded clothing and trash. Taeyong hoped there was no bad reason for the mess. "Here I am finished, you can just sit on my bed," Ten said while taking his backpack off his shoulders. They both pulled out the materials needed and reread where the left off on their report. 

"I feel like we should write about some of the victims' stories." Taeyong nodded and let Ten search things up while he was typing. They kept up this for a bit, about 30 minutes until Taeyong looked over at Ten. He always knew Ten was attractive. Anyone with a good taste in people would know, but he looked especially adorable today with his overalls and a striped long-sleeved shirt to compliment his now curled black hair. Ten was also wearing a tinted lip balm which made his lips stand out.

I must be going insane. Taeyong couldn't help but stare at the younger male. Ten, himself, seemed to notice it too. He turned to look over at Taeyong. "Is there something on my lips?" Ten asked while wiping his soft, pink lips. Taeyong shook his head vigorously. "I-It's nothing, sorry." Why was I even looking at his lips in the first place? 

Ten leaned in, way too close to Taeyong's face, enough to feel his hot breath. "Or is it something else," Ten whispered against Taeyong's ear. He shivered at the seductive voice. Ten chuckled quietly and pulled away. "I am just joking, sorry~." He went back to searching up more stories for their report.

Before Taeyong could process what happened, a little cat crawled onto Taeyong's lap suddenly and purred. "That's my cat, Rin," Ten said while petting its orange and white mixed fur. "She never really does this to people. You know crawl onto them, except for me, so I am honestly appalled at this." Taeyong felt Ten's gaze on him while he was looking at Rin. It felt warm and sweet. Taeyong took his direction towards Ten and placed his hand on Ten's cheek lightly. He dragged it upwards to ruffle his hair. 

"Hey! What was that for?!" Taeyong just chuckled, music to Ten ears. They stayed quiet for a bit, letting each other be comfortable with one another. Instead of just staying frozen, he knows he would have to apologize for everything. He placed his hand on Ten's shoulder, which caused a gasp from the younger and a light pink tint across his cheeks. It was like he wasn't being so confident a second ago.

"I think it is time for me to apologize. The way I just ignored you, and causing us to rush with our project was a ty thing to do." Taeyong rubbed Ten's shoulder soothingly. 

"It's fine, Taeyong. I mean, me finding out personal information that you obviously didn't want to tell me is something worth ghosting me for." Ten's gaze met Taeyong's until he immediately looked back down to his lap. There was no way Taeyong could let Ten forgive him that easily. God, Ten is such a caring person, too sweet for this world.

Taeyong gently lifted Ten's chin so their gazes could meet once again. "There has to be some way I can repay you. Even though you said it was okay, Ten, I can see past your lies." Their faces were coming closer than they should and Taeyong did the unexpected. He swiped his thumb against Ten's lips and immediately regretted it. "Uh, wait, I'm sorry," Taeyong said, thinking he was taking this too fast. They just made up after a fight and neither one of them had shown a romantic interest. 

"I-no, it's okay." Taeyong took a quick look over to Ten, to see him once again sporting a pink blush, a bit redder this time, traveling towards his ears. Did he get a new piercing?  Their moment seemed to be intimate so Taeyond decided to ask a question. "Have you ever," Taeyong proceed to say looking at the poster down on the floor and saw how their bodies were closer than awhile ago, "had feelings for someone, Tennie?" He said making sure to add the nickname.

He didn't look at Taeyong right away but was frozen in place. He began fiddling with his thumbs, obviously nervous. Taeyong didn't want to put him in that situation, but when he was about to speak, Ten interrupted him.

"I don't know. Feelings can be complicated. But I've never been in a relationship before if that kind of answers your question," Ten said while ruffling his own hair quickly. "I just haven't found the right person yet."

Taeyong nods. "That is understandable," he states while gazing into Ten's eyes. There is something just so beautiful about them that Taeyong can't put a finger on. All he knows is that they are easy to get lost in. Taeyong hears the door to Ten's bedroom open and sees dread fill Ten's gorgeous eyes while staring at something behind him. The older boy turns around in the soft bed to meet eyes with a middle-aged male. He had some gray hairs, but most of his hair was black and was wearing a gray button-up shirt with baggy dark blue jeans.

"Who's this person, Chittaphon?" the man said.

"I-I he is just a friend.." Ten scoots away from Taeyong, his hand that was on his thigh leaving with him, the warmth filling in with coldness. 

"Chittaphon. Then may you please explain why you two were so close together." The man steps closer causing Ten to stand up and step away. 

"We were working on a history project, that's it, dad."

Ten's dad? It made more sense to Taeyong, but why would Ten seem so scared by his dad is all Taeyong could think about. 

"What causes you to be here. Mom didn't say anything to me about you coming to visit, " Ten said, noticeable angry in his voice, yet still trembling. This sent a red flag to Taeyong. He doesn't notice a good tension between the two.

"May we finish up our project? Our deadline is soon," Taeyong said while standing in front of Ten, protectively.

Ten's dad chuckled, "You have no right to speak to me that way, young man. This is between Chittaphon and me." He came closer to Taeyong, staring right into his eyes. Taeyong felt something would happen if he didn't do anything.

"A step closer and I call the police."

That seemed to scare him a bit, seeing that his mocking smile dropped. Taeyong could feel Ten's body pressed against his out of fear. He can feel his heavy breath on his neck and Ten's hands gripping his shirt wetting it as well from his tears, possibly wrinkling it in the process, but who really cares.

"I have not done any physical harm on you boys though, what could they do?" the older man said after a while. 

Taeyong scoffed, "Even with no physical damage to us, the police can kick you out of this house and we can file a restraining order against you, so I would leave now while you can." Taeyong wrapped an arm around Ten, even though it was somewhat uncomfortable for him since Ten was behind him, it seemed to calm him down.

The dad spoke no more and stormed out of the bedroom, shutting the front door soon after. Ten immediately hugged Taeyong. "Thank you so much, Yongie. I am sorry for all of this..." 

Taeyong embraced the hug. He could tell Ten was no longer shedding tears yet still letting out tiny sobs. He rubbed the younger's back while slowly lowering them to sit on the bed. After a couple of minutes of the two hugging, Taeyong heard soft breathing from the other boy in his arms. He slowly tried to lift Ten's head without waking him up, just to see him sleeping soundly in his arms.

Taeyong chuckled, "I believe the project can wait a little while."