it was close to lunch when jaehyun woke up. it's been a few days after the party. he was back to taking orders.

for those days, he didn't get to see taeyong regularly. taeyong would leave early or be late just so he could avoid jaehyun. the bartender shrugged it off because he thought taeyong's just probably busy. but when it reached to when jaehyun wanted to talk, and he'd slam the door to his face, it's gone suspicious.

he hasn't talked to taeyong since then. not properly, not once. he thought what he could possibly have said before that made him ignore the man. he did think of some but what stood out was the night of the party. he couldn't possibly be mad about that, right?

for the 4th day after, he stood up from his bed and went to take his shower. weirdly, he didn't hear anything from his walls unlike the days before. surely, because taeyong is alone in his own pad but the other side of his room seemed to be awfully quiet.

after he took his shower, dressed himself and took his breakfast--or lunch, he went straight out his room and out the building.

like the other days, he didn't have anyone with him when he went walking to his first shift of the day. surprisingly, he thought he can live with this kind of day everyday, but it was getting pretty dull, to say the least.

it's all he does from lunch to midnight. he's go make coffee, then leave the cafe at 7, enter the bar at 7:30 and leave at 1 in the morning. it's getting boring for him. but he chose to stay in korea because it's better than america.

as he entered the glass doors of the huge coffee shop, he was greeted by smiles from his workmates. "hey, jae!"

suddenly, his boss gestured him to come closer and grabbed a paper from under the counter. "jaehyun, come here."

as jaehyun came closer, he saw the paper being held by his boss. "a woman came by last night after you left. she told me to not to describe her but she told me to leave this to you."

the paper was handed to him and he accepted it eagerly. "thanks boss."

"hi jaehyun. i finally found you, call this number and we will meet. you'd be delighted to know who i am, you'll see. (+82xx-xxxx-xxxx)"

it weirded him out. he felt like it was a scam, but it sounded real at the same time. he folded the paper and kept it in his pocket before getting ready for his shift.

after he finished his first job of the day, he went straight to the club. the crowd was already wilding at 7:30 but he didn't mind them and went straight to change clothes. and so he walked going to the staff room with his bag in hand.

once he was done, lucas called him as he was about to enter behind the counter. "yo jae!"

he can see there was also a paper grabbed by lucas' hand from under the counter. "some lady came in this afternoon and told me to give you this." jaehyun accepted the paper and pulled out the first one from earlier.

"hi honey, i finally found you again. give me a call from this number and let me know to meet you soon. (+82xx-xxxx-xxxx)"

this is weird. he thought. it's different from the one before. he kept both papers inside his pocket and proceeded to pull out different glasses and a shaker. "what's with the frown?" lucas asked as he made different cocktails.

jaehyun shook his head and sighed. "it's the second time today that a woman left numbers for me." he said.

"really?"

"yeah. by the way, what did the woman look like?" he asked the younger.

"well, she's aged. she ate a salad and an omelet and she looked kinda rich. like those wealthy grandmothers who raise socialites in the city." lucas said and turned his attention to the drink he made. "grandmother?"

"yeah, she looked like she's worried about something when she told me to keep the number and made sure to give it to you." he added.

now, this is convincing. he thought. but who would give such a thing? this can be a scam too. that's not impossible, right?

suddenly, there was a knock on the wooden counter from the end of the bar. it was taeyong holding a tray. out of nowhere, his heart thumped inside his chest. he quickly felt the chills like nothing before. why am i feeling this way? it's just taeyong.

but he couldn't help it. and so he awkwardly walked towards the stripper, who is actually a waiter right now. "yeah?"

"i need a royal fuck."

all of a sudden, jaehyun's eyes went wide as the moon. his brain stopped working and he just stared at the man with full confusion. that's an odd way to initiate sex. he thought.

quickly, taeyong thought he acted weird and so he snapped his fingers right in front of the bartender's eyes. "royal fuck. my customer's waiting." he whisper-yelled.

jaehyun felt his face blush as he got flustered. he immediately walked back and grabbed different bottles and a rocks glass. he swiftly prepared the drink in front of taeyong and taeyong could've sworn he looked so fucking hot in front of him now.

once jaehyun was done, taeyong took the glass and placed it on his tray before walking away.

jaehyun just stared at how taeyong walked away. with his cute little non-existent ass swaying around covered in tight latex shorts, jaehyun heaved out a heavy sigh before deciding to turn back around and entertaining other guests.

it was almost 1 in the morning when the circle ended their shifts and went out the club. it's been a routine for them to finish altogether and walk with each other going to their building.

surely, it's awkward for taeyong to walk with jaehyun. days before, he didn't walk with them and stayed another hour in the club to work. he kept making stuff up just to excuse himself from walking with them home. but tonight, it seemed like he couldn't make anymore stuff up as ten told him to go home with them. 

he's been avoiding jaehyun but he wouldn't let his other friends know that. although he knew jaehyun was feeling it, he still kept going. he just didn't want to talk to jaheyun with his feelings hurt. he couldn't face the man without feeling the heat and pain crawl up his face and produce tears on the spot.

he sighed and shrugged his thoughts away. he kept his hands deep in his coat pocket and walked silently behind the gang. he was quiet for the whole time that his friends didn't even notice him anymore. of course, they'd be busy with their boyfriends. he rolled his eyes at the thought.

he watched as ten and johnny were cuddly together. yuta and sicheng acted the same and lucas held jungwoo's hand tight. although the others may not have seen it, taeyong pretty much did how lucas' grip went tight on jungwoo's hand. they are hiding something, huh?

mark and donghyuck, on the other hand, fed each other with donuts while the younger was on piggy-back behind mark. since their other friends were either left in the club or already home, there's no one else single to walk with other than jaehyun and taeyong.

suddenly, his hand was held from inside his pocket. he looked beside him, and there he was disappointed. he nearly thought jaehyun would come and hold his freezing hand for him.

"you've been awfully quiet." yuta said with a smile.

he looked from behind yuta and sicheng accompanied jaehyun instead. it wasn't weird holding his friend's hand. they've been friends for years, it wasn't a big deal for sicheng too. what's weird for him was being disappointed that jaehyun didn't hold his hand for him.

it happened one time. why am i getting upset? he thought.

"yeah, well i have no one to canoodle with." taeyong smiled slightly and let out a snicker.

"really? you're using that word now?" yuta raised an eyebrow at the man and they both laughed. to say, it's been a while since they've been this close again. yuta has been busy with work and his attention mainly focused on sicheng since they've been together. considering that was years ago, taeyong felt left out in their circle.

yuta and him was supposed the be the one to stay single. they were the only ones single. not until sicheng came and got introduced to his friends. he didn't have anyone with him when he moved to korea. luckily, taeyong had chinese friends and they helped him through it.

taeyong became jealous when yuta began to cling to him. they were two different nationalities who met in korea. but taeyong got over it when he started to accept that yuta needed someone to love too. he couldn't possibly like yuta and yuta wouldn't like him because they were already existing friends to one another.

and now, only taeyong was left to canoodle himself. he heard it himself--sex with jaehyun was one time and one time only. it became pretty clear to him that he didn't want anything to do with him.

"so why are you avoiding jae?" yuta suddenly asked. taeyong stopped his thought when yuta brought up the topic. he didn't know yuta knew about it. was i that obvious? he thought.

"how'd you know i was avoiding him?" he asked quietly.

"it's pretty obvious. you made up excuses when we go home. and you don't look at him in the eye like you used to. i don't know if i was the only one who noticed and sicheng but i already know you. what is going on?" he eyed the older on the side. he was seriously asking if he was okay, and taeyong would usually dodge questions like this.

"nothing is going on." taeyong replied timidly. "and that's a problem, because?"

"that is the problem."

taeyong sighed and let out smoke through his mouth from the cold air enveloping their warm bodies. "nothing is happening. i want something to happen but nothing is happening."

yuta quickly furrowed his eyebrows. he looked at taeyong beside him and blinked a couple times if what's happening was real. "you're mad because nothing's happening between you two?"

taeyong, the stupid guy he is, kept quiet instead. he didn't want to talk anymore. he knew he's be in some big interrogation when he let out some of his secrets more. and once ten hears about his, it's gonna be over for him.

when they all reach the building, they all said their goodnights and went inside their separate rooms. taeyong laid down his couch and began staring at the ceiling. he wasn't feeling sleepy so he thought maybe he'd humor himself with his dull ceiling.

he was almost about to fall asleep when he heard talking from the other side of his wall. it was most definitely jaehyun's side. the voices were muffled and it sounded like jaehyun was in a call.

wow, i paid for this thin walls? he thought. no matter, he stuck his ear out against the wall and tried to listen to his conversation.

from inside jaehyun's room, he sat on the couch against the wall. it was why taeyong could hear his conversation. with jaehyun's deep voice, it was obvious.

taeyong just frowned when he heard what jaehyun was saying.

"okay, i'll meet you tomorrow. morning in the cafe, i don't want my friends to know."

(A/N: sorry i was watching boa kjshdjhdjfhds have u seen the nct concert in mama LMFAO and winter tooooo)