13. Golden Boys #2
Apparently the comfort Theo had been feeling since Chuseok hadn’t transferred to Dae yet.
Which was completely understandable, and a thousand percent Theo’s fault.
Of course Dae would think this way. Theo had pushed him away for almost a year.
Did he really think a week of not pushing him away was going to reverse all that hurt?
They arrived at their house, and after Theo paid, he lifted Dae up to a sitting position, securing his arms around his neck and pulling him out of the car.
He considered a piggyback, but without Dae’s complete cooperation, that could’ve gone Very Wrong, Very Fast. Instead, he wrapped his arm around him and they three-legged stumbled inside and up the stairs, then Dae fell onto his bed, pulling Theo down with him.
“Stay with me.”
“You need water.”
“Just this once.” Dae’s lips travelled into a lazy smile. Shit, those dimples killed Theo.
“Be right back, I promise.”
“He promises,” he whispered into his pillow like it was a confidant. “Promises, promises, promises...”
By the time Theo returned with a glass of water, Dae was standing in the middle of the room, his hands out as if surfing. “Everything’s moving.”
Theo had never understood the term ‘cuteness aggression’ before, but now he was sure he’d been hit with a severe case. Drunk Dae was just so cute, he wanted to squish his cheeks. “Yes.”
“Why?”
“You don’t remember? We turned our house into a tilt-a-whirl.”
Dae’s face slowly morphed into pure, sassy judgement. “That was dumb. We don’t even live in a circus.”
Theo laughed and held out the water. “Drink this.”
Dae finished it in one go. “Ah, nectar of the gods. I’m gross.
” He slammed the glass down and barrelled past Theo to the bathroom.
Theo followed, not sure what amusing adventure awaited them but wasn’t disappointed when Dae stepped into the shower and turned on the water, fully clothed, curtain open, the yellow Golden Boys shirt plastered to his torso.
“That’ll do it.” Theo stripped to his boxers and stepped in with him, then adjusted the water so it wasn’t freezing.
Dae hummed low and rumbly as Theo wiped his hair off his forehead and held him steady.
It wasn’t how Theo had expected the evening to end, but it was refreshing after the sweaty club.
Sure, the boys might wonder why his wet underwear and all of Dae’s clothes would be hanging to dry in the shower, but whatever. It was college.
“Come on, arms up.”
Dae obeyed, giggling as Theo took hold of his soaking shirt and lifted it over his head. “Tickles.”
Theo paused while undoing his pants, his fingers on the button, his knuckles on the heat of Dae’s stomach. This was nothing. He was helping a drunk friend out of his wet clothes. He’d seen him in various states of undress before. This wasn’t unusual.
Except Dae’s skin was so close, and the water ran down his torso, hitting the grooves of his muscles and changing course to follow them. Lured in. Trapped.
Shit.
Theo took a step back, trying to find the breath he’d lost, but Dae swayed, reminding him why he was there in the first place. Theo caught him and Dae put his chin on his shoulder, his fingertips travelling up Theo’s back.
And Theo ceased to be.
Breath gone, heart paused, brain vacationing on some island somewhere, far, far away from his actual body.
Every point where their bare skin touched sparked an inferno, sending heat racing to his stomach.
Dae turned his head and nuzzled into him, and then his lips were against his neck. Theo could’ve written it off as an accident, but his kisses were persistent and unmistakable.
Theo’s every molecule was reacting to Dae’s skin against his, to his lips on his throat, to his hands firmly on his back, pulling him closer.
But then all the parts of Theo—his heart, his brain, his soul—came crashing back at once, screaming: Best friend! Drunk! Wrong! Drunk! Dangerous! Not in his right mind! Disastrous! Really, really, fucking drunk!
“Dae, stop.”
Dae turned to stone, suspended in time. Theo gently pushed him back, keeping hold of his arms in case he slipped.
Maybe, by some miracle, Dae had mistaken him for someone else. Or maybe not a person at all—just a body. Just…anyone. “Hey, it’s me. It’s Theo.”
“No. Fuck.” His eyes went wide, and he gagged, throwing his hand over his mouth. Not the most flattering moment of Theo’s life, but not the worst reaction he’d received after a drunken mistake.
“You shouldn’t swear. It’s unbecoming of a gentleman.”
“I’m going to…”
“Come on.” He helped him out of the shower, dripping all over the bathroom floor as they lowered to the toilet and Dae started retching.
“Don’t watch,” he gasped between gags. “Go away.”
Theo wrapped a towel around him and rubbed his back until it seemed the worst was over.
Then he took him into his room and turned away as Dae peeled off the rest of his wet clothes and crawled into bed.
Theo didn’t want to leave him, so he got his phone and claimed the other half of the bed, googling the position he’d learned in high school to prevent someone from choking on their own vomit.
Once he was sure Dae was safely slumbering, he just stared. He’d seen him sleeping before, of course, but there was something so beautifully vulnerable about it that he couldn’t look away: his cheek squished into the pillow, his lips slightly parted, the muscles in his face slack.
“Dae,” he whispered, knowing full well he was unconscious and wouldn’t hear him, “I’m sorry I was so stupid. I trust you. Of course I do. I don’t trust me. But I won’t pull away anymore. I won’t do that to you again, I promise.”
Dae answered with a light snore that Theo decided to take as acceptance. Then he snuggled into the bed, wrapping himself in the blankets and falling asleep surrounded by Dae’s smell, knowing he likely wouldn’t get the chance again.
??? ???
“Theo.”
He was half awake already, adjusting to waking up next to Dae, feeling the warmth of his body and now hearing his scratchy voice.
He squinted against the sun assaulting him through the window as Dae sat up and swung his legs off the bed, his back to him.
Theo wanted to rub the tension from his muscles, but something about the way he’d said his name held him back.
“How’reyoufeeling?” Ugh, words were hard in the morning.
Dae stood and pulled on jeans and a t-shirt. “Embarrassed.”
“You don’t have to be.” Theo stretched, arms over his head, toes wiggling. “We’ve all been ther—”
Dae let out a strange sound, halfway between a grunt and a sigh. “Sorry, but I’m going home this weekend, so I have to get ready. Do you mind…?”
“Sure, yeah.” Dae hadn’t mentioned that this was a Hamilton weekend.
And hadn’t he said when they were there for Chuseok that he didn’t know when he’d be home next?
Was he avoiding him? Shit. Being on the receiving end of this weirdness was awful, and unlike Dae had the past year, Theo refused to accept it.
“Um, you know, Min did say I should visit for a weekend to experience Hamilton in all its splendour. Want some company?”
Dae finally looked at him, the surprise on his face cutting Theo open. “You’d want to? Even after…” His cheeks flushed.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Everything was normal if they said it was normal, and Theo was ready to write a declaration in blood that everything was very fucking normal.
The tension drained from Dae’s muscles, and he grinned. “Okay, yeah, I’ll text Min. Actually, I think there’s an Art Crawl on right now. We could—” Theo’s phone buzzed and Dae stopped, watching him as he leaned to the bedside table to pick it up. “Who is it?”
“Rob from last night. The question is, which one was Rob? Handsy Booth Guy or Stubbled Lumberjack?” He sighed dramatically. “I really have to start learning names.”
“You’re going to message him back?”
“Sure. Both of them were intriguing in their own ways.”
“Right, yeah.” Dae’s voice was far away, and his eyes left the stratosphere completely.
“Hey.” Theo waved both hands from the bed. “You with me?”
“Min’s gone.” Not what Theo expected to come out of his mouth, especially with such force. “I just remembered.” Dae’s blinks were rapid, as if he was coming out of a trance. “She’s away this weekend at some fashion thing. She’ll be pissed if I bring you home when she’s not there.”
“Oh.” Lie. Blatant, obvious, weird lie. Fuck, fuck, fuck. There was nothing Theo could do but extract himself from the sheets and get up. “Okay, well, next time then.”
“Yeah.” Dae nodded, studying the floor with flawless focus. “Next time.”
Theo should’ve left, but something kept him standing in Dae’s room, staring at him just as he had the night before. The contrast between relaxed, sleeping Dae and this tense, pained Dae was excruciating. Maybe he’d been na?ve to think they’d solved everything in a week. “Dae, is something wr—”
“Be careful please.” His voice was cold, like the walls that protected him were covered in frost. “With that guy, I mean.”
Theo forced a half-assed grin. “You know me.”
“Yeah.” He turned away. “Which is why I worry.”