Taehyeon wonders whether anybody can see it on him, his first kiss. He can feel himself smiling. He feels like a whole new man. If anything, this is a lesson that he shouldn't ever have wished for someone at school to like him. If he kissed somebody at school and would be this obvious about it, he would frankly deserve to be bullied out of education. He can't help it though.
Butterflies take flight every time Woobin cautiously glances towards him. His face is pink too, something he clearly realises during a moment when Taehyeon lets his gaze linger. Woobin feels his cheek with the back of his hand and seems to silently tell himself off for indulging in the memory, or however someone as handsome and charming as Woobin would think about it.
The four of them who remain contemplate seeing a film at the cinema. They make their way on the bus but between the awkward film schedule and the fact that nothing really interests all of them, they decide against seeing anything. If the tickets were cheaper, Taehyeon would have just gone to see anything. He will have to wait a while longer before he gets to experience the thrill of secretly holding hands with his paramour in a darkened theatre.
Parting ways isn't so bad. Taehyeon is too shy to text Woobin to say anything for now but he can build up his courage for later. The problem is he can't just keep quiet about this. Even if Woobin himself isn't an option for now, Taehyeon needs to talk about this with somebody. Talking about this with Bada feels overtly insensitive. When prodded for an answer to why he is being so weird, the words just… spill out of Taehyeon's mouth.
"I had my first kiss."
They're on a bus. The engine rumbles loudly but there are people around. The passengers Taehyeon glances at have their eyes glued to their phone screens but going into detail here surely wouldn't be a good idea. Bada tilts his head as though he will see a different side of Taehyeon that way. Then he quietly shuffles around to face forward and he doesn't say another word until it is time to get off the bus.
The horrible awkwardness of the journey doesn't help Taehyeon think of desperate ways to salvage his friendship if this is enough to make Bada mad. Taehyeon's singular idea is to beg for forgiveness, though he isn't yet sure what he did wrong. Aside from having something wonderful happen to him on the same day that Bada had to see the boy who broke his heart.
They get off the bus together in their odd little silence. They walk a while down the street towards the bus stop for the next ride towards Taehyeon's house and Bada suddenly stops.
All of the air whooshes out of Taehyeon's lungs when Bada squeezes him tightly.
"That's amazing." Bada's glee threatens to spill beyond the control of his secrecy. He pulls away briefly to grin at Taehyeon before hugging him just as tightly as before. Apparently Taehyeon doesn't have any grovelling to do at all. He feels even more sorry about it. He shouldn't have anything like this to make a fuss of considering how Bada must be feeling. Sinking into the embrace, Taehyeon keeps his arms locked around Bada.
Walking the rest of the way to Taehyeon's bus route is a cheerful, if quiet, journey. Seeing Bada smiling so much is a surprise. In totally normal circumstances Taehyeon would expect Bada to be happy for him. If Taehyeon had the same day Bada had, he isn't sure he is good enough to smile so much about somebody else's happiness. Considering all he knows about Bada it stands to chance that he simply has an easier time of treating other peoples' happiness like his own feelings, not just the bad things.
"I know we have something to celebrate," Bada says, "but I feel a bit bad about this whole thing too."
"Yeah," Taehyeon agrees. "Sorry."
Bada grins and squeezes Taehyeon's arm close. "What are you sorry for? You can't help what happened. It's just, I think that Woojin is like us too."
That isn't anything close to what Taehyeon expected to hear.
"What do you mean?"
"Woojin was a bit odd today. Quiet. I asked him about it when I was trying to cheer him up. He told me that he saw the person he likes kiss someone else. I thought it was a really random time to bring that up if it happened before, and I didn't see him acknowledge anybody else around. It must have been you and Woobin that he saw."
That is some compelling evidence. It seems like Bada's prediction about finding someone like them came true after all.
"That's a shame for him, but it might be good in the long run," Taehyeon says. Strolling arm in arm like this is silly. All the same, Taehyeon likes that he can do silly things with Bada. There is a certain smile Bada gives at times like this. It makes Taehyeon want to walk around like this all the time in full view of the world. It makes him want to see this smile for more reasons and occasions that actually happened to him. "I think you could win his heart if you tried a little bit. Do you want to try it out? You said you think he's handsome before."
Bada laughs. Not quite a scoff. A more embarrassed sound than that.
"I don't think so. He is handsome but I don't think I'm his type. He must like someone more like Woobin. He's sporty and cool. Or he might like someone more like you. You're…"
"What am I?" Taehyeon asks quickly.
Bada giggles and tries to hide his face despite how close together they are.
"You're obviously handsome, more handsome than me. You're funny too." Taehyeon thinks his list of attributes will end at handsome (a white lie) and funny (the objective truth). Bada only takes a pause. "You're really nice to people too, but you act like it's a secret."
"That's obviously not true," Taehyeon grumbles.
They reach the bus stop but Bada doesn't go anywhere. Looks like he'll be coming home with Taehyeon. Shuffling as though they could stand any closer in the path of the brisk wind, Taehyeon sees Bada failing to hide his satisfied little smile. He's cute in ways that make Taehyeon want to look out for him. He has more good points than simply being endearing.
"There is nothing that you've said about anybody else that doesn't also apply to you. Forget the sporty thing. But you're really handsome. My mom says you're even more handsome than me and that must be true because parents are supposed to think their own child is best. You're a genuine and kind person. You're really selfless and—"
"Can I change 'nice' to 'selfless'? That's what I meant about you but I forgot the word."
"No," Taehyeon says firmly. He doesn't want Bada to become a liar so that this list of qualities needs to be amended. "It's my turn now. I'm here for you, you know. You're heartbroken and I will be a shoulder for you to cry on whenever you want. But the second you're over this, I'm going to find you, like, ten boyfriends."
Bada laughs almost nervously as he glances at the elderly couple sitting in the bus shelter. "Did you want to say that any louder?"
"Sorry," Taehyeon offers quickly.
Bada shakes his head. "It's fine. Maybe they didn't hear anything anyway."
Regardless of whether or not the old couple holding hands in the bus shelter heard anything, Taehyeon makes an effort to make things up to Bada. They'll watch some movies and eat a bunch of snacks.