Blue Lake Academy discussion
Boy Dorms
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Taeyun and Jonas's Dorm
He sniffed and let another tear slide down his face. He wished it was true. He could’ve been a star, if she would’ve just stayed. Smile, smile, smile.
Taeyun smiled weakly at the photo, taking a good long look. He blushed a little as he scooted off Jonas’s lap - he hadn’t realized what a compromising position he was in. Tae wiped at his eyes with his shirt sleeve and put the photo back in his drawer. “Thank you.” He said softly, sitting on the bed next to Jonas with his feet hanging over the edge.
"I'm not lying to you. I think you're going to be a star. For real." He said softly. Tae was an amazing dancer. The way he moved told a story and if he could just get his big break, he could definitely go somewhere with his talent. One more look at the photo told Jonas that Tae's mom would have been so proud if he became a real dancer. He blushed too when Tae slid off his lap, ducking his head slightly before watching the picture be put back onto the drawer. Down below there was the clang of a pan and then someone shouted up the stairs."Dinner time!" Jonas glanced over at Tae before getting up.
"Shall we?" He asked gently, taking the other boy's hand.
Taeyun studied Jonas’s face for any sign of untruth. He wasn’t surprised to find nothing; he knew by now that Jonas was wonderfully honest. He leaned his head against the other boy’s shoulder, weaving their fingers together and placing their clasped hands on Jonas’s thigh.
Tae jumped up, a bit started, at Alice’s voice from downstairs. He nodded with a small smile to Jonas, following him down the stairs and into the dining room.
Leading Tae down the stairs, Jonas couldn't help but sneak a glance back at his boyfriend every so often. Taeyun had been through too much for someone his age and Jonas was sort of just waiting for the moment that he broke beyond repair. He was waiting for Tae to disappear into his far-away land and never come back. But every time he seemed to be able to pull himself back in time to stop himself from letting go forever. Jonas planned to make sure that Tae always came back. In this short amount of time he had begun to rely on the other boy's presence. Just waking up in the morning knowing that Tae was lying in the bed across the room was enough to make him smile like an idiot even if it was early in the morning and he was tired. He couldn't go back to the constant loneliness and hatred of BLA he had felt before meeting Tae. "That smells amazing!" Jonas said with a bright smile, pulling the chair out for Tae and then sitting down beside him.
"I haven't had homemade food in ages." There were steaming bowls of rice and greens along with an amazing smelling stew. He seriously hoped that Tae had warned them of all the allergies so that he could actually eat all the stuff in front of him.
Taeyun noticed Jonas’s secretive glances, smiling softly to himself. He realized - Jonas was really the only thing keeping him sane right now. Tae was one of those broken pieces of pottery and Jonas was the golden paint that held it together and made it more beautiful. Without Jonas, Tae would probably fall apart. His happiness, his sunshine, his loyalty - Tae loved everything and quite possibly couldn’t live without it.
He kissed Jonas’s cheek softly before going into the dining room, his action spurred by his recent thoughts. He smiled softly when Jonas pulled out his chair for him and sat down, looking across the table at Alice with a surprised - but happy - look. She’d managed to make a whole entree that excluded anything Jonas was allergic to - which was too long of a list. “Jonas,” Tae hummed quietly, looking sideways at him. “I don’t think there’s anything you can’t eat.”
With that, he reached across the table and heaped rice onto his plate, getting just a little bit of everything else.
"Really?" Jonas exclaimed with surprise. He was stunned that Mark and Alice would have put in the work to find a way to make a meal where he could eat everything. Most of the time families would make him something else, or buy a prepackaged meal because they weren't willing to put in all the time and research to make sure he could eat it all. He wasn't judging the people who did that, it was just a fact. "Wow... you guys are amazing!" His smile was as bright as a beacon when he looked up at Alice and Mark. It wasn't the food that made him so happy, it was how thoughtful they had been. If they were willing to do all that work for someone else's kid then they would be a great foster family for Taeyun. Passing around the bowls of food, Jonas let himself be quiet for a moment. He loved to talk but sometimes it was better to just shut up and watch for a little while. He kept glancing over at Tae and then with a soft smile he took a little mental photo for himself. It was a photo of a happy family with happy kids in a cozy happy house. He tucked that mental photo away into the back of his mind and then finally picked up his fork to taste Alice's amazing cooking.
“Well, considering all you’ve done for Tae, it’s the least we can do,” Alice replied warmly with a small smile. Tae giggled at Jonas’s excitement, and also to partially hide his feeling of awkwardness. He hadn’t really said much about his past, but he assumed either the social worker had told them everything or it was very obvious how close he was to collapsing inwardly if he didn’t have Jonas.
Tae started eating his rice quietly, not smiling or laughing, just listening to his new family’s easy banter, their rapid-fire English. He slid a hand into Jonas’s under the table and ate carefully with his other.
"Well you sure know how to get to a teenage boy's heart." Jonas replied with a slight shrug. As though it was second nature he felt Tae's hand touch his he interlaced their fingers casually. He loved how easily they had melded together. Like they were meant to be. Jonas didn't believe in fate but the way that he and Tae just complimented each other perfectly seemed to be destiny. They were like apple crumble and vanilla ice cream. Perfectly matched. Dinner went pretty uneventfully and very nicely. The family seemed wonderfully cheerful and they all seemed extremely kind. Jonas could tell that Tae was in good hands in this new house. After a while though, the talking and the people was beginning to overwhelm him a little. Jonas loved to talk and he loved to have conversations but eventually he began to withdraw into himself. He couldn't talk to so many people at once for such a long time. It began to just hurt. As much as he loved being roommates with Tae, it meant he didn't get a lot of time alone and he was a little worse for wear because of it.
Taeyun ate in silence, mostly listening to his family’s conversation and occasionally nodding and smiling. He didn’t let go of Jonas’s hand the whole time, still slightly unsteady from before.
He’d been around Jonas for long enough to know when something was off, so when he started to feel the tension in his palm he rubbed soothing circles with his thumb and leaned in to his ear, trying to be discreet. “Do you need a break?” He asked in a quiet voice.
Jonas knew that Taeyun was only trying to help as he felt small circles being drawn along his hand but really it was only making things worse. Jonas's social panics came and went without obvious patterns. Basically the more time he spent with other people, regardless of how much he liked them, the closer he got to breaking down. Everything would be fine one moment, and the next he felt like he was going to scream if someone asked him something or even just touched him. That included Tae. Trying his best to keep the anger bubbling up in his chest he nodded shakily. He had been so preoccupied with Tae and Noona and after that the new family that he had never really told his boyfriend about his social issues. "Yeah." He clenched his fist tightly and stared down at his plate. He didn't want to look at Tae, or Alice or anyone else.
Taeyun bent his head to look at his plate, finishing his rice as he nodded slowly. “You can go up to my room,” he said softly. He could see Mark looking over at an attempt to gauge what they were talking about, so he plastered a small smile onto his face as if they were conversing pleasantly. “I won’t come until -” he glanced at the clock. “Forty minutes.”
He didn’t know at all what was wrong with Jonas. But he was good at reading people and could tell by his lack of eye contact and anxious appearance that it probably had something to do with company of some sort.
"Sorry... I just uhm forgot that I was supposed to call my mom tonight. I always have to call once a week, so sorry." He forced a sheepish smile onto his face and tried to push down the tense fluttering in his stomach. Abruptly pushing back his chair he tried his best to remain somewhat sane looking as he went up stairs. The last thing he wanted was for them so see him completely break down for seemingly no reason. The worst thing about it was that Jonas didn't know how to explain what he was feeling to anyone even if he had wanted to. It was like anger but there was no reason to be angry. He just suddenly got annoyed at everyone for just existing and for talking so much and it was like he could hear everything they were thinking through the walls and their thoughts were hammering into his head and he couldn't shut them out. It was like that, but the real feeling couldn't be described in words. He stumbled almost blindly into Tae's room and shut the door just in time for the tears to start rolling down his face. The idea of having to see a human face again was enough to make him want to scream.
Alice, dense as always, watched him go with an endearing smile. Mark however, seemed just as worried as Taeyun. “He’s fine,” Tae assured them, although he really didn’t know if he was. He glanced worriedly at the ceiling above his head as if he could jump up and crash through it to help Jonas. He couldn’t of course. But it was worth a thought.
He kept eating and after dinner played a few games and watched television with Bella, assuring his family that Jonas was very close with his mother and their calls usually lasted hours.
Forty five minutes after Jonas had left, Tae slowly went upstairs and knocked softly on his door. “Jonas?”
Jonas spent the next 30 minutes pacing back and forth in Tae's room. While his room was nice it was also small and Jonas could only take a few small steps before having to turn around and go in the other direction. The movement helped to release some of the tension in his chest and he could breath a little bit better after a few minutes of walking the anger off. Once his legs got tired he managed to slip between Tae's desk and his bed and curl up there for the next 15 minutes. He needed to get outside. Even though he was alone in the room he could still hear people talking downstairs and he could feel their presence closing in on him. He couldn't leave though, this was Tae's family, he couldn't just walk out the door like that. His shoulders tensed up again when he heard light steps coming up the stairs. He could tell right away that it was Taeyun. "Yeah." He called out softly, scrubbing furiously at his eyes with his palm so it didn't look like he had been crying.
Taeyun pressed his ear to the door. “Do you need anything?” He’d originally planned on asking to come in, but that seemed invasive - like he was lice or something, just a clingy koala who was impossible to get rid of. So he settled for that - nice and neutral.
He desperately hoped Jonas was okay, his face still against the cold wood of the door. And he realized - this is probably what Jonas felt that day when he locked himself in the bathroom, and didn’t talk for a month. God. He was a horrible boyfriend. And he’d do anything to make it up to Jonas.
((I'm think that Jonas disappears for a night. Just finds somewhere else to sleep until he figured out how to deal with this))"No. I'm sorry." Jonas replied stiffly. He didn't want to sound rude but he wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now. Even if it was Tae, who obviously just wanted to check on him. He knew that he should explain what was happening to Taeyun but the thought of facing another human being made him almost nauseous. He promised himself that he would explain it to Tae after he spent some time alone and regained some control over his emotions. Getting up from his curled position he padded over to the door and opened it slowly. He knew he looked like a total wreck but he had seen Tae at his worst, it was only fair that Tae saw him at his worst.
"Um, I need to go. I just... I have to go." He stammered out, slipping past Taeyun before the other boy could say or do anything. In a flash he was down the stairs and out the door. Mark and Alice were in the kitchen so he could only hope that he had slipped out without their noticing. He felt horrible, leaving Taeyun to explain all this but he just couldn't handle it right now. He needed to be alone. Truly alone.
{sounds good!}
Taeyun shook his head. “No, it’s okay.” He didn’t understand what was going on, but he could grant Jonas some leniency - it wasn’t like it was his fault. Who was he kidding - he’d always give Jonas leniency. It wasn’t a choice.
When Jonas finally opened the door, Tae’s mouth hung open for a few seconds, his hand reaching out - but it was too late, Jonas was already past him and he felt like he was holding a handful of water. But it would be okay. It wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t done anything wrong - he hoped. He hoped so hard it hurt his heart. He hoped Jonas was okay.
He watched him go without a word, eventually laying down on his bed and falling asleep without saying goodnight.
Jonas spent most of the night tossing and turning and staring up at the ceiling trying to figure out what to say to Taeyun when he woke up the next morning. The room was dark and it felt empty knowing that the bed on the other side of the room was empty. Despite his constant ache to be alone for just a few minutes it felt strange finally being so alone in the room. He had gotten used to Tae's constant companionship and the room felt like it was missing something. After an hour of thoughts thundering through his mind, Jonas picked up his phone and went to the text messages he had with Tae. He stayed just like that for a long time, staring at the contact but not writing anything. He didn't know what he wanted to say. Eventually he just put the phone down and slid back under the covers. He would just have to think of something to say in the morning. When he finally fell asleep, he slept with an exhausted relief. For the first time in months he felt beautifully alone and he could finally relax, even though it felt a bit wrong for Tae not to be sleeping in the same room.
((Wanna time skip until the morning when Tae comes back to the dorm?))
{mhm}
Taeyun stumbled to the door, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He didn’t know about Jonas, but last night had been exhausting for him - and he hadn’t gotten much sleep without Jonas. A lot of it had been insecurities saved for 2 am.
He knocked slowly, not wanting to disturb Jonas but also too lazy to get his keys from where they were at the bottom of his bag.
He didn’t know what he’d say when he saw him. He was always so bad at winging it. Maybe he should apologize. That usually worked; it would probably work. That’s what he’d start with. Then he’d hug him. And probably kiss him for a minute or thirty. And then they could talk.
Maybe.
Despite the hours of tossing and turning before falling asleep, Jonas was remarkably awake the next morning. He had seriously needed some time alone with his thoughts and now he felt refreshed and normal again. That didn't stop the butterflies from fluttering in his stomach at the thought of talking to Taeyun though. He felt terrible for how he had acted the night before and he wasn't exactly sure how he was going to fix this. When the inevitable knock on the door came, Jonas stood up from his bed and padded over to the door hesitantly. "Hi." He said softly before breaking out into a big smile. Tae didn't seem angry, that was good. That was very good. Although Jonas knew that Taeyun wasn't a person who got angry, he got sad and that was even worse because Jonas didn't know how to fix that.
"Hi. Sorry. I'm sorry." He repeated over again before pulling Taeyun into a kiss. He didn't know what to say so he just wanted to say it all with that kiss. He wasn't sure exactly what he was trying to say, but he just hoped that Tae would feel just how sorry he was. Words weren't always the best way to explain something.
Taeyun’s mouth opened hesitantly at Jonas’s immediate apology, about to refuse and say it was his fault for dragging him into a situation he wasn’t comfortable with.
Taeyun stiffened for a moment, surprised at Jonas’s sudden action, but soon relaxed in his arms and kissed back as he pushed Jonas gently backwards into the dorm.
He finally pulled away and crossed his arms lightly, feeling exposed as he bit his bottom lip. “Um. Hi …” He said, wincing slightly at his awkwardness.
Stepping back into the safety of the dorm room, Jonas’s frown deepened as Tae drew away. He felt wrong being so close to Tae but not touching him or holding him or kissing him.“Hi.” He agreed with a soft smile. Nervousness threatened to take over him but he forced his fears back down into his stomach.
“I guess I should tell you about last night... what happened.” He said gently, moving back to sit on Taeyun’s bed. Unlike other roommates they weren’t so exclusive with their stuff, Jonas wasn’t afraid to climb over into Tae’s bed and they shared a lot of their stuff. Grabbing onto a pillow he held it tightly to his stomach before speaking again.
“It’s hard to explain... it’s just a feeling I get sometimes.” He stopped again, staring at the floor nervously. He had never really tried to explain the feeling before to anyone and he couldn’t find the right words for it.
Taeyun nodded, threading his fingers together so he didn’t feel so alone - even though he was mere feet away from another human being.
Tae followed Jonas’s lead. He sat on the the edge of his poofy bed, crossing his legs and looking down at his sock feet - he’d kicked his shoes off at the door.
He listened to Jonas try to explain, and when he paused, Tae looked up, offering him a small smile. “Overwhelmed?”
"Yeah I guess." Jonas still looked unsatisfied with that answer though. Overwhelmed was part of it but that wasn't everything he felt when he had those sudden moments of needing to be alone."It's like.... it's like I can feel everyone's thoughts in my head and I might just scream if I can't get away from them. Like just them being there hurts me." He shook his head and chuckled slightly. Not the funny type of chuckle, the nervous type of laugh that had a bitter edge to it.
"Sorry. That doesn't make any sense." He sighed and flopped down on Tae's bed, still hugging the pillow to his chest.
Taeyun nodded. He didn’t really understand, but he was okay with that. He knew he’d never really understand what Jonas was going through - his own struggles were so different. But he could stop being so distant if Jonas didn’t need him to be. Distant, that is.
Tae crawled closer to Jonas and tugged the pillow out of his grasp, putting it gently at the foot of the bed. He laid his head on Jonas’s chest. “I missed you.” He said softly.
Jonas smiled softly and looked over at Tae. The amazing thing was that he knew that Taeyun didn't know what he meant but it didn't matter. All the mattered was that he was here anyways. Even if he didn't understand, he was here."Yeah... I missed you too." Jonas replied, stroking Tae's hair absentmindedly.
"It felt so weird last night... not having you in the room." He admitted softly. It was nice to know that things were still going to go back to normal. Jonas had gotten used to having Tae around all the time and while he did need time alone sometimes, he had missed Tae last night.
Taeyun smiled. “I didn’t really sleep either.” It was a combination of stress and sadness and not being in his usual bed with his usual blankets - he didn’t much like to change.
He remembered briefly that he hadn’t danced in, like, six days or something. His schedule had been really hectic. Today would be a good day to get in some practice, since it was Sunday. He sat up slowly, scooting off the bed to go get dressed - he was still wearing his clothes from yesterday.
((Sorry for taking so long))Rolling over onto his side, Jonas watched as Tae padded off to go get dressed. He knew that he should get up too and with a sigh he got up and tried to fix the mess of hair on his head. After standing in front of the mirror for a minute he grabbed his phone and took a bunch of photos. He looked like the stereotypical teenager, but in his case this was his job. People liked to follow their favorite actors. It was the same with models or really anyone in the entertainment industry. He wasn't against social media but it had always seemed like more of a necessity to his work than something he enjoyed to do.
"You going to do some dancing?" He asked Tae after putting his phone away. He loved to watch Tae practice his dances. He was amazed at how the boy's body could move in ways that he hardly thought possible. He liked to take his camera sometimes and get some photos in. Tae always looked like an angel, but when he was dancing it was like he could truly fly.
Taeyun nodded at Jonas’s question, opening one of Jonas’s drawers and tugging on one of his shirts. It was too big, but soft and warm and smelled like Jonas, so Tae didn’t mind. He went to the door to put on his shoes. “My team has a competition on … Sunday. In Orlando.” He smiled softly - he didn’t used to be able to go to these competitions, and his team had always been mad at him for losing one of their best dancers. But he hadn’t had enough money. Alice and Mark, however, promised him they would always support his trips. He was kind of overjoyed, but also sad, because he’d be gone for a week and that was a really long time to be without Jonas.
He glanced over at Jonas as he tied his left shoe, taking in his features. He was really so lucky, to have such a wonderful boyfriend.
Jonas smiled softly when he realized that Tae was wearing one of his shirts. He didn't know why that little gesture made him feel so happy, it just did. Plus, even if it was a bit big basically everything looked good on Tae in his opinion. "No!" Jonas pouted like a puppy and walked over to Tae. Of course he wanted Tae to go to the competition. It was a great opportunity for him and Jonas wanted him to have every opportunity in the world to dance. But a whole week without Tae was going to suck, he would have to sleep alone for a whole seven days. Slinging his arms around Tae's shoulder from behind he kissed Tae on the neck and then on the cheek.
"I'm gonna miss you. Orlando is too far away!" He mumbled but his eyes were sparkling with excitment that Tae got to go to a competition.
"Can I come watch you? I'll bring some work or something." He honestly just wanted to be in the same room as Tae.
Taeyun blushed at Jonas’s kisses, turning his face to rest his head in the crook of Jonas’s neck. “I know.” He sighed. “I’ll call you every day and send a lot of pictures,” he offered, and then closed his eyes for a minute, just basking in the contentedness that hadn’t been there before.
He pulled away after a few moments and went back to his bed to grab his school bag before reaching for Jonas’s hand and nodding. “Yeah, you can always come,” he said softly as he pulled Jonas out the door.
"I know you'll call me, cause if you don't I will personally walk over to Orlando to tell you off." He joked with a grin. He was sure going to miss Tae but it was all so exciting. He knew that this was one of the first competitions that Tae could actually go to. Following Tae out the door he grabbed a binder on the way out. He had a biology test that he had to study for that was next week. Tae was in the same class but biology was more important for Jonas. He wanted to be a doctor so all the science classes were really important to him. Once they reached the dance room Jonas spread out all his work on one of the benches. He was pretty comfortable in the dance room now since he spent so much time there. There was another dancer there though was unusual but she seemed content to keep to one side of the dance room.
Taeyun giggled, his spirits radiated by Jonas’s enthusiasm. It wouldn’t be so hard to be away if people were happy for him.
Taeyun knew the had a test that Jonas was intent on studying for. Tae knew the material pretty well, but his mind was on other matters, and the teacher had excused him multiple times for bad grades if his mental health wasn’t so great one day. So he would look over his notes later with Jonas, and that would probably be the extent of his studying.
He turned on his music and tried to block out the girl on the other side of him who had a different song, but it was kinda hard until she left. Then he really got into the flow of things and even tried to add his own touches to the choreo - after all, he was the center.
Jonas had to actually try really hard in his classes. He wasn't particularly great at any classes and he had to work his butt off to get good grades. He was going to get into med school even if it killed him. Some people found it weird that someone with a successful acting career set before him would want to go into something else, but Jonas just wanted to do something that was truly his. He wanted to be able to at least say that he could have become a doctor, without the help of his mom or his fame or anything else related to his life back home. So he studied hard for tests and projects while Tae danced. They had settled into a good routine of that. Him working, Tae dancing and then maybe going to the cafeteria to eat something. Browsing through his notes he picked up where he had left off last study session and opened his text book. As usual, he got distracted by Taeyun's marvelous dancing though within the first few minutes. "Are you excited? Or more nervous for the competition?" He asked as he watched the dance.
"Oh, also I was thinking, you know that like.... leg lift thing? Maybe you could do one of those in that music beat at the beginning." He added. He had gotten more comfortable suggesting little bits of choreo or stuff to Tae when he was watching the dances.
Jonas’s determination and individuality were two of the things Tae loved most about him. Other than his dimples and sweet brown eyes. Taeyun had always been the opposite of ambitious, only doing things that would help him and his grandma at the moment. He admired Jonas’s drive to do something on his own.
Taeyun knew he should do well at academics, but it was hard to focus on his grades with all of the dancing he was doing. He was doing decent, mostly B’s in all of his classes. But he was focused on dancing - that was the thing he was going to try to get a scholarship for. If he could.
He glanced over at Jonas in the middle of a spin and smiled softly. “Nervous.” He replied quickly. “I’ve never been before … and I feel like I’m going to mess up. I’m the center.” It was all on him to have a good performance, and he’d never danced in front of such a crowd. It would be alright though. It would have to be.
He stopped his dancing and tilted his head quizzically at Jonas. “You mean this?” He demonstrated quickly, not sure if that was what Jonas meant or not. There were a lot of leg-heavy moves. He nodded, pausing his music and rewinding it. He added the move and nodded again. “Yeah, okay. Thank you.”
"You are not going to mess up. You've been practicing this for ages. Just think of it as another practice... with more people watching." Jonas shrugged slightly. Even he got nervous at movie auditions, he figured even the most famous actors got nervous at auditions. He always tried to just convince himself that it just like practicing in his bedroom except this time a few people were just going to take a quick look at his work. That tactic probably wouldn't work for everyone since each person in the world had to figure out their own way of getting rid of nerves, but Jonas figured he could at least suggest it. Jonas had no doubt that Tae was going to do absolutely amazing. He seemed to be able to perform well under pressure and Jonas was sure he could take whatever the judges threw at him. "Yeah like that. I saw you do it one of your other dances." Jonas replied absentmindedly, his brain preoccupied again with a biology questions. He didn't understand why he had to know about plant cells, he didn't want to be a gardener, he wanted to be a real doctor. Eventually he gave up and put the book down.
"I'm bored... teach me how to dance!" Jonas's ability to concentrate on things he didn't like wasn't great and suddenly he was eager to try and learn a few dance moves. He looked at Taeyun hopefully, giving him big puppy eyes.
Tae nodded, the skin above his eyebrows creasing in concentration and nerves as he started the song over yet again. He was going to dance this so much that it felt like second nature. Then he wouldn’t mess up. It would be so much fun, though. He was excited and nervous and it kept sending waves of butterflies down into his stomach and made him feel slightly sick. At least he had a good friend in the group, even though everyone else was critical and kinda rude.
Tae added the first leg-move into his next two rehearsals, putting his complete all into it - so he was panting and sweaty when he went to sit down next to Jonas and get a drink. Tae glanced sideways at Jonas when he asked to dance, smiling widely and giggling a little. “You’re cute.” He said dreamily, leaning in to kiss him softly. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing homework?”
"Mm." Jonas hummed happily as he kissed Tae back. Every time he kissed his boyfriend, butterflies erupted into his stomach. No matter how many times a day he saw Tae, nothing could stop the fluttery feeling inside him every time they touched, or even just stood together."And you're sweaty... and still manage to be handsome. It's not fair." Jonas joked back, kissing Tae again before the boy could pull away. He had found in recent days that one kiss simply wasn't enough. In order to satisfy his "daily boyfriend time" he needed more than just one kiss at a time. Luckily Taeyun didn't seem to mind that much. Rolling his eyes he finally drew away and shook his head with annoyance.
"i've done enough work." He said in a pouty voice.
Getting up he took Tae's hand and dragged him back up to the dance floor.
"C'mon, I can't be a dancer's boyfriend if I don't even know how to dance a little bit." He gave Tae another pleading look. He knew that most people couldn't resist his puppy dog eyes and he didn't think that Tae was any different in that sense.
Taeyun blushed slightly as he pulled away - no matter how much he did with Jonas, it would always made him feel exposed and raw. That wasn’t a bad thing, not with Jonas at least.
He grinned happily at the compliment, pushing his sweaty (handsome) hair out of his eyes.
He kissed Jonas back briefly before glancing in the mirror and realizing he was standing incredibly close with his hands on the other’s chest. He pulled away with a startled giggle and took Jonas’s hands, pulling him further forwards and closer to the mirror. “Fine. Simple stuff first, though. And you can’t get … frustrated.” He snapped his fingers when he found the word, proud of himself. “It takes a while.”
He showed Jonas how to do the very base of the moves in his choreography, explaining loosely how his body should move and what order to do the spins and drops in. He danced rather lazily when it was an example for Jonas, only because that was what was expected of his first time. It was actually, unexpectedly fun.
"I couldn't get frustrated! Not when i'm around you." Jonas exclaimed with a smile. His eyes were glazed over with the special look reserved for love-sick teenagers. The sort of look where you follow the other person's movements as though they are the most important thing in the world. It turned out that the so-called simple stuff wasn't really that simple. What Tae made look easy was actually incredibly hard for someone who had never danced before. Jonas had done a few dance classes when he had been younger but eventually dancing had to go to make way for acting classes and auditions. His movements were clumsy copies of Tae's smooth beautiful ones but he was having a lot of fun. Stumbling over his own feet as he tried to follow the dance steps, Jonas found himself laughing loudly at his own mistakes, eyes bright with happiness as he stumbled around like an idiot. But a happy idiot, Tae's happy idiot.
Taeyun grinned and blushed a little. He was sure he had the same look as Jonas (in love), with sloppier hair and a slightly sweaty shirt.
Every time Jonas fell, he giggled and helped him up, eventually falling into a complete laughing fit at the other’s attempt of a spin. He laid on his back on the wood floor, reminded of his first kiss with Jonas - the soft photos and the bug and the laughing. He leaned over and kissed Jonas on the lips impulsively.
{short eh}
((Thoughts about where to go next? I'm totally blanking))"Hey don't laugh at me!" Jonas pouted at Tae but he was laughing too. He was completely hopeless at this and he knew it. That didn't stop him from having some fun with it though. After slipping and falling and tumbling many times he eventually gave up and just lay down on the dirty dance floor. He was smiling like the sun and every time he looked at Tae his heart just expanded a little bit more with happiness. He had always been a happy person in general but he seemed to be in a better mood than normal when he was with Taeyun.
"If you start..." Jonas paused to return Tae's kiss before continuing to speak.
"Start to kiss me... i'm not gonna be able to stop." He finished before going in for another kiss. He was addicted, totally and utterly addicted to Taeyun.
{lmao me too .......... maybe we could skip to after tae’s competition or smth}
Taeyun wrapped his arms around Jonas’s neck and kissed back, murmuring softly. “Is that such a bad thing?”
Just then, he heard the door open and leapt up with a squeak, straightening his shirt hurriedly. He glared at his friend - the only friend on his dance team - and reached down a hand to help Jonas up. His glare failed, though, when he saw the amused look on his friend’s face - Tae obviously couldn’t have a very good angry face.
"Well if you don't mind, than I don't." Jonas replied with a smile, shifting so he was closer to Taeyun. He was so utterly entranced by the other boy that he didn't even mind that they were lying on a disgusting dance floor and both of them were sort of sweaty. But it didn't matter because he was with Tae and that was all that mattered. Before a little while ago, Jonas wouldn't have ever thought that he would care so much about someone going away for a week. He was pretty sure that he wasn't going to be able to sleep for the entire week that Tae was gone though. He had gotten so used to falling asleep to the deep breaths of his roommate and boyfriend. It was going to be weird being alone in their room.He gave a little start when Tae jumped up and away from him. Propping himself up on his elbows he glanced between Tae and the new boy with a raised eyebrow. Tae's reaction had seemed a little bit big for just another person walking into the studio. Jonas couldn't help but wonder why Taeyun had been so quick to jump away from him, it wasn't like they were doing anything wrong. Grabbing Tae's hand he got up too and brushed off his pants.
"Well I guess I should get back to studying then..." He mumbled softly.
Taeyun hadn't meant to make Jonas feel bad. He just wasn't used to having such deep, serious feelings for someone, and he didn't want to ruin it with gossip or drama about them kissing in a dance room. Also ... he wasn't really that openly gay. The people who were close to him knew, but the whole school didn't. It wasn't a problem, he supposed ... he just didn't really want everyone up in his personal life. He wouldn't have minded if he'd known it was his friend, but he'd thought it was a stranger.
Taeyun wrapped his arms around Jonas's waist. "I'm sorry, I thought it was someone else." He kissed his boyfriend's cheek and then sighed before going to turn his music on again. He knew Jonas was mad at him and he felt really bad.
{so ... should I skip?}
Jonas wasn’t mad exactly, he could never be mad at Taeyun he just didn’t understand the other boy’s embarrassment. Jonas had been out for as long as he had known he was gay. Right after he told his mother, it seemed like the entire world knew too. His mother took his sexuality and basically used it to hype up the family’s fame. Regardless of the controversies that went on after his coming out (as they always do when an actor or celebrity shares a “secret”), the conversation about him and his family brought up their popularity. The more people talking about them, the better. It didn’t matter if the conversations were positive or negative. Jonas understood that for some people, it was more private. They chose carefully who to tell or when to tell them. He understood that but he had never really been given the option himself.“It’s okay. You surprised me is all.” He responded softly with a gentle smile. He didn’t want Tae to think that he was angry at him or anything like that. Returning to his spot on the benches he watched Taeyun practice over and over again. He had practically memorized the entire dance by just letting watching his boyfriend do it so many times.
((Yeah skip!))
The day evolved into a flurry of packing, hugging Jonas (a lot), and fidgeting with nerves. Not only had he never been on an airplane, but his first time would be without Jonas.
He eventually left, driving to the airport with his group and boarding a plane. The whole flight was horrible, nerve wracking. Once he saw the city, though, he was in awe. They spent their first day bumming around and basically being tourists. Tae took pictures of everything for Jonas, and sent them every night. The next two days were more strenuous, with two competitions each in the morning and afternoon. The third day was only one competition, and that was the last one. Tae sent every video and picture to Jonas, face timing whenever he could at the hotel.
- time skip -
Taeyun was struggling up the stairs, pulling his heavy suitcase. It was the middle of the night in Orlando. And he had some serious jet lag. He was so tired, but he'd refused to sleep in the taxi. He wanted to be awake and conscious when he saw Jonas. Funny how when you're in love, a week feels like a year. He got up to the door and realised his room key was down at the bottom of his suitcase. He groaned and knocked on the door instead.
He let Tae talk, trying to coax out the details about the beautiful woman in the picture. Just her smile was enough for Jonas to see their relationship as mother and son. They both had the same far away look in their eyes when the smiled. Like they were smiling at something far away rather than whatever was in front of him.
"Yeah." He mumbled to confirm to Tae that he got the right word. He had also gotten used to helping him out with English. He was fast learner but once and a while Jonas had to help him out with a word or two.
"Well I guess she was right. You're going to be a star" He said softly.