⇹cafe

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: supernova - aespa

　　Theo huffs out a laugh, entertained by the way Taehyun moves closer even while he verbally backpedals. "I'm only pulling your leg, you're hardly threatening." He reaches out to pat the alpha on the head again, ruffling his hair. "You really do give me too much credit."

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ Taehyun moved closer with fear etching into his features. "No! No! I didn't mean it like that! I just... I worry that you might hurt yourself to 'get perfect' when you're already so amazing at it." He chews on his bottom lip. "I'm really sorry Theo... I'm sorry..."

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: make up your mind - florence + the machine

　　"You should be more careful about the way you talk, sometimes. That almost sounds like you're threatening me," Theo says, his tone light. He doesn't feel threatened in the slightest, but someone who didn't know Taehyun and how nonthreatening he was might not feel the same.

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ "Still say that if he didn't have the silly rocks that he wouldn't have gotten stabbed." Taehyun looks away, "If you try to push yourself too hard then something might happen. ...No one wants stuff to happen to you Theo."

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: make up your mind - florence + the machine

　　"Somehow I think if someone would end up stabbed, I'd be the one with the knife. But I welcome someone to try and stab me, bleeding out sounds festive." Theo shakes his head. "I'm not that bad, I just have high standards for my own performances."

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ Taehyun nods his head unsure why Theo was making that face at him. "But you're close enough already. You shouldn't strain yourself too much. You might end up like the weird guy in my mom's old building. He thought these weird rocks would make him play games better." Taehyun scrunched up his nose as he spoke again. "His girlfriend stabbed him."

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: praying - isabel larosa

　　"Mmm." Theo sips his coffee again, smirk not leaving his lips. "Sure, I sing well, that's the only thing you're saying." Presumably, his teasing has gone right over Taehyun's head, so Theo doesn't latch onto it for long, instead waiting for the next thing he can make a remark about. "But I don't want it to just sound good. I want perfection."

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ A soft smile grows on his face. Taehyun assumes this is a chance to say nice things to boost up Theo. He leans forward and nods his head. "You sing really well. I'm just saying that. ...You do." He wished that he had another person to say similar things too. It might have more of an impact then.

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: eyes don't lie - isabel larosa

　　Any thoughts of mercy are forgotten, the twinkle of Theo's eyes more than wicked. "You like my voice that much, huh?" he teases, leaning back in his chair. He's said it before, but Taehyun makes it so ing easy. At this point, it's like batting a yarn ball more than it is trapping a mouse.

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ He tilts his head thining it over. "But aren't all songs good with your voice?" Taehyun blinks not sure what song would sound bad with Theo's voice. He tried to think of any songs but he still thought all songs would sound good.

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: favorite - isabel larosa

　　Though his lips twitch like the tail of a cat that saw a red dot skittering across the floor, Theo chooses to have mercy and not pounce on the poor phrasing. "Mmmm. No, I haven't decided yet. I'm trying to think of what would suit my voice and style best." He sips his coffee, lips pursing. "Aside from Taeyeon."

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ Taehyun nods his head to show that he heard Theo. "Did you decide what you were going to do? S-song wise... I mean." He made sure to add the last part to make it sound less weird. "You said you were doing Taeyeon and mentioned somethingabout adding in more songs from others."

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: burn it down - taeyeon

　　"I shouldn't think that a crush is such a weird thing to be teased about," Theo says with a wicked twinkle in his eye, "but we can leave it at that." For now. Until he next decides he wants to see Taehyun turn the color of cherries. The alpha's cute when he's embarrassed, at least. And while perhaps it's a bit cruel of Theo to mess with him for his own entertainment, the omega almost can't help it.

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ Taehyun nods his head repeatedly. He didn't want to completely remind him. If Taehyun did then Theo might about it all over again. He didn't know if he could survive blushing that hard again. Even though Theo has about a crush that Theo thought he had. Taehyun didn't have a crush though. He hadn't met enough people to even know what he liked just yet. All he knew was he liked the time he's spent with Theo so far. Even if he did more than others did.

@Shim Youngjoonᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: dancing with your ghost - sasha alex sloan

　　Youngjoon's face flushes, and it's not the pink cheeks and shy smile that Yunho remembers so vividly from days tinged gold with sunlight, something that often felt too perfect to be real. No, this isn't the rosy complexion of someone bashful, but a redness that speaks of something closer to a more serious embarrassment, something that could edge closer to humiliation. And Yunho....

Yunho hates it.

For one moment, he lets himself think that this was a mistake. That perhaps, they would have both been better off if Yunho had never showed his face here, after that fateful encounter. It hadn't been like the movies, where two characters reached for the same thing and their hands had brushed. It had been... It had been Yunho standing in the aisle, seeing movement from the corner of his eye and meeting eyes with someone that he hadn't seen in the years since their parting.

And Yunho's a lot of things, filled with fire in a lot of ways, but he's never been good at confrontation. Maybe, if Youngjoon had wanted to pretend that he hadn't seen him, they wouldn't be here now. But maybe Youngjoon's stronger than Yunho — after all, they've both moved on, but Yunho still finds himself with a lump in his throat and a pit in his stomach like the kind of guilt that should have eaten him up inside all those years ago.

Maybe it's true that distance makes the heart grow fonder.

Maybe it's time that reveals mistakes.

And maybe it's awful that Yunho feels no semblance of relief at the next words that slip across Youngjoon's lips, an assurance that — 'it's not as big as you think it is'.

But it is, he halfway wants to scream.

It is, because it's Youngjoon, and Yunho made promises and it feels like he's kept none of them.

"I don't think you give yourself enough credit," he says instead, once he's listened to Youngjoon. Let the words, and their implications, sink in. Even if Youngjoon doesn't think it's all that impressive, it's — it's something, and it doesn't soothe the ache in his abdomen, the familiar dull throb of a guilt unspoken.

It's something Yunho can't help but feel as though he should have been there for. Maybe not as a partner, but as the friend he'd said he'd be. The friend he hasn't been. They went their separate ways and that had been that, and Yunho used to think that there had been no one to blame.

(He thinks he knows better, now.)

Following Youngjoon's eyes to the napkin, the omega takes a moment to realize that he can't read Youngjoon's smudged handwriting — especially upside down — before he registers what the alpha has asked. "You—" he starts. Stops, looking from the napkin to Youngjoon's face, studying the way he looks down at the napkin he had scribbled on before the omega's arrival.

When Youngjoon smiles, it's like being punched in the gut. It knocks the wind out of Yunho, and he flounders for a moment, lungs filling with cold sea water.

He tries not to let his smile tremble, unmoored by emotions he can't put a name to. "I'd love to," he replies, soft. "Read them, I mean."

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: gimme - banks

　　"Weird stuff?" Theo repeats. He pauses to sip at his coffee and leans back, an eyebrow raised. It takes a lot more than this to bother him --- he puts up with Yoosung, after all, and he likes to think he has the patience of a saint where Yoosung is concerned --- but saying that wouldn't be a very Theo thing at all. "You're not."

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ Taehyun blinks. He thinks it over for a bit before shrugging. "You're not bothering me. You tease me about weird stuff but that's not bothering me." It was the truth. He didn't think Theo could make him upset. Beyond seeing the bracelet or his eerie similarlarities to his old friend. "I'm bothering you."

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: dangerous - ten

　　"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Theo asks, his tone light. He curls his hand around the new coffee with a soft utterance of thanks and pulls it closer to him, eyes never leaving Taehyun. "I was the one who's been bothering you."

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ Taehyun got up and ordered another coffee for Theo and a hot chocolate for himself. He puts the coffee in front Theo before sitting down. He sips on the hot chocolate. "Should I leave you alone?"
He peeks at the laptop that's still working through updates.

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: i'm ok - taeyeon

　　Theo could give Taehyun this one, and he probably should, given the way he looks away and plays with his hair to avoid answering. Theo's sigh is light, looking at his almost-empty coffee and then the laptop slowly working through updates. It hasn't been a productive morning outside of bothering Taehyun.

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ Taehyun looks up at Theo when he heard him say something. He looks down at his lap and wipes his eyes a bit more. Taehyun tries to fixes his hair. He tries really hard to act like he didn't hear him. He didn't think he could blush anymore anyway.

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: on ten - ten

　　Theo's lips curve, amused by the sight of the boy in front of him, rumpled and drowsy. Perhaps there's something endearing about Taehyun's disheveled appearance, stutter notwithstanding. Theo watches him and leans back in his chair, hands securely on his side of the table. "Cute," he remarks, just to see Taehyun fluster all over again.

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ Taehyun sits up and rubs at his eyes. He tries to stretch as if that would keep him awake. He hangs his head. "S-sorry. I did that b-before." It was one of the few things that had remained the same since his turning. He brushed some crumbs off his lap onto the floor.

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: fallen star - kingdom

　　When Theo realizes, watching Taehyun's eyes droop but fight to stay open, that the other wolf is fighting sleep — and undoubtedly by cause of the fingers that run through his hair, reluctantly the omega gives him one last head pat and then withdraws his hand. He doesn't exactly want Taehyun asleep and drooling on the table in the cafe.

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ After a bit of time Taehyun looks up at Theo. His eyes half closed. He wasn't sure what to do now. Taehyun decided to try to watch him. His eyes trying really hard to stay open. He hadn't felt like Theo would discover the thing about playing with his hair.

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: late night calls - p1harmony

　　Admittedly, Theo doesn't need the confirmation and has already gathered as much, and he only asked to tease, but there's still a strange sense of accomplishment when he picks his coffee back up and is quiet for a few moments to enjoy the rest of his drink, petting the alpha like one might a sleepy puppy. Hmmm, a puppy... actually, if Theo thinks about it, that seems accurate. Taehyun /is/ sometimes rather like a puppy chasing after the omega.

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ Taehyun nods his head but kept his head down and hidden. He was already giving Theo plenty of ammunition against him. Taehyun would have to speak up if Theo kept playing with his hair. He always fell asleep if someone played with his hair for awhile.

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: hideaway - el7z up

　　Theo giggles, seeing Taehyun burrowing his face into his arms as a way to hide away from him. "Cute," the omega smirks, his fingers resuming their track through the other boy's hair. "Do I make you shy?" If he can't resist furthering the teasing even now, it's because he's a bit of a menace through and through, and there's no one there to rein him in.

@Theo Choiᵒᵐᵉᵍᵃ Taehyun uses both arms to hide his face. He only responds by nodding or shaking his head now. He couldn't even form thoughts. Taehyun fidgets staying hidden like this. He couldn't bring himself to look at the omega. If he again, Taehyun felt like he might pass out.

@Kang Taehyunᵃˡᵖʰᵃ 　　⤿ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: hideaway - el7z up

　　For someone so obviously bashful, Taehyun makes it far too easy to needle him. Theo's smile turns mischievous, a glitter to his eye that anyone owning a cat would recognize as a sign of ensuing trouble. His fingers pause where they're threading through Taehyun's hair, fingertips resting on the alpha's scalp. "My energy's not the only thing that's big," he murmurs, entertained.