Page 43 of Septembers

No problem.

༻𓆪 𓆩༺

“Here.” Theo handed Dae a twenty dollar bill, which Dae made a face at and didn’t take. They sat near the back of the bus, Theo’s right shoulder pressed against the cool glass of the window. Everyone was quiet, either staring at their phones or at the landscape racing by. “It’s for the ticket.”

“I told you,” Dae said, his voice low, “this whole day is our treat.”

“Your family is about to feed me. They don’t have to pay for me to get there.”

“No, it’s—” He gasped as Theo shoved the bill into his jeans pocket. Pink washed his cheeks. “The ticket was only fifteen.”

“Consider it a tip.”

Toronto was left behind for the suburbs: fewer skyscrapers and more movie theatres and outlet malls interspersed with open fields and neighbourhoods.

“How do I say, ‘It's nice to see you again,’ in Korean?”

“My parents speak English.”

“Dae, just.”

Dae sighed, placating, twisting in his seat towards him ever so slightly. “Dto bangapsimbmnida.”

Impossible. “That’s not real. You're messing with me.”

The tiniest of smiles. “They don't expect you to speak Korean.”

“Say it again.” He did. Theo tried the words. Dae corrected him. Again. And again. Then he chuckled adorably, which was very rude.

“You're nervous.”

“Am not.” He was. This felt too important, too intimate, too against-the-rules, even though Theo still wasn’t sure what the rules were. But what he did know was that he didn’t belong on this bus getting dirty looks from strangers for talking, his shoulder gently rocking into Dae’s. He shouldn’t have been able to smell the sweet tea on Dae’s breath when he lowered his voice and leaned in, repeating the words again. Dae watched Theo’s lips carefully as he practiced, then swallowed hard. Was Theo imagining that?

Dae’s eyes slid up to his, his voice a whisper of a whisper. “Thanks for coming, Theo.”

Theo couldn’t look away. He was drunk on Dae, on feeling open and unguarded in a way he hadn’t in almost a year. Maybe the rules could be different today. What happened in Hamilton stayed in Hamilton.

“I’m happy you invited me.” The hopeful joy pulling at Dae’s lips almost undid him, but then the bus hit a pothole, their bodies knocked together, and Theo pressed himself against the window again. “I mean us. All of us. I’m glad you took that step.”

Dae settled back in his seat. “My eomma wouldn’t give up on the idea.”

“I can’t imagine your eomma has ever given up on any idea.”

He huffed in agreement. “It’s how I ended up in horse camp.”

Theo latched onto this glorious nugget like it was a piece of driftwood keeping him afloat. “Do tell.”

He shook his head. “That’s all you get.”

“Dae.”

“Theo.”

“You’re not this cruel. You can’t tell me you went to horse camp and not elaborate.”

His squashed smile was laced with barely contained mischief. “Later, if you behave.”

The rest of the ride was quiet, but most of the tension had dissipated, and Theo finally un-stuck his shoulder from the window and allowed himself to relax. It meant his arm occasionally brushed Dae’s, but that was fine. Things were different now.