Taehyun goes back to the dorms when visiting hours are over. He feels bad leaving Kai alone at night and he did try to bribe the nurse with the cookies he wants to bake for tomorrow's visit.

She was awfully strict.

The two said their goodbyes and now Taehyun parked in the campus parking lot and dragged his way over to his room; with a mind filled with thoughts about Kai.

Me: Goodnight, Kai-ah. Sweet dream <3 >^-^<

Kai😊 : Will I see you tomorrow?

Me: of course!! Rest well...

Kai: rest well, Taehyun.

.............................

"I come bearing a new surprise!" Taehyun smiles widely in front of the hospital bed. He clutches a silver pan to his body and waddles to the bed while shedding his bag off of his shoulders.

His energy causes Kai to smile shyly. He intertwines his hands and waits patiently; his eyes are full of expectations.

Taehyun removes the cloth from the pan and lowers it to the mattress with a proud face. "I baked those with Soobin-Hyung," he explains; presenting the almost-too-brown, brown butter cookies with chunky chocolate chips. Taehyun looks around. "I thought Beomgyu-Hyung would be here... "he questions his sense of hearing.

Beomgyu did say he'd stop by in the morning.

"Hyung Had a meeting to attend to; alongside Mr. Tadashi," Kai answers.

"Oh." Taehyun nods in understanding.

"He is to return in a few hours I suppose."

His eyes zero on a bento box left open in the bedside drawer. "Beomgyu-Hyung dropped off breakfast?" Taehyun smiles. "That's kind of him."

Kai nods.

"You must not have an appetite, then... "he realizes his timing may have been off. He's slightly bummed. "It's okay, I'll leave those here-"

"I can have one." Kai intervenes. His eyebrows knit together. "You have made them for me, correct?" he asks to make sure he's not reading the kind gesture in a wrong way.

"No, I made them for the little ant trail outside." he jokes; scratching the back of his neck. He gets shy when Kai looks at him like he has his undivided attention just on him. Blush tints on his cheeks. "They are for you."

Kai reaches his hand for the silver tray; picking out a weirdly-shaped cookie out of the bunch. It leaves a butter mark on the baking sheet.

Taehyun washes with shiny eyes as Kai bites into the cookie and his eyes widen in delight. "These are delectable." he compliments after he swallows the food; giving Taehyun a convincing, charming smile.

Kai takes another bite and Taehyun claps his hand enthusiastically, bouncing off the bed. "Really? I wasn't sure, because I never baked before but Hyung helped me. Do you like them?"

"So very much. Thank you."

A thought pops into Taehyun's head. He really wasn't sure about the cookies because he left them in the oven for a few extra minutes but if Kai liked them, there was no harm in tasting one himself.

He reaches for the tray but Kai holds his wrist in a movement faster than light and stops him. "Don't," Kai exclaims.

Taehyun looks at him; confused. He giggles nervously. "Why not?" he tilts his head.

Out of the handful of times he had seen Kai at a loss for words; this was probably the most comical of them all. He blinks and lets go of Taehyun's wrist and it falls on the blanket.

It is obvious he's trying to find an explanation. "Well," Kai begins; looking down at the cookies. "I-..."

Taehyun's face falls. "Are they bad?" he asks in a soft voice.

"No."

"Then, let me have a bite of yours-"

In one bite; Kai gulps the whole cookie in his hand. "Gone." he muffles; following Taehyun's actions with an alert face.

"They can't be bad, I've-We've followed the recipe p-perfectly." Taehyun pouts. He grabs a cookie from the tray and before Kai can stop him, he is biting into the saltiest thing he had put in his mouth.

It instantly dries the moisture out of his tongue and he freezes and makes eye contact with Kai who seems both amused and sorry for Taehyun. "Oh... my god," Taehyun says with a mouthful; he's not able to bring himself to slide it in his throat.

Kai brings his hand, palm up under Taehyun's chin. "Spit it if you wish," he says while suppressing a low laugh. Taehyun gladly takes up on Kai's offer and spits the dry; salt-filled cookie into the dark-haired hand.

"Interchanging the salt for sugar is a common mistake," Kai smiles. "I cherish the thought more than anything." he takes a black pocket cloth from the nightstand and wipes his hand clean.

Taehyun scrubs his tongue on the roof of his mouth. He pulls a face. "Oh god, I am so sorry for making you eat those." he apologizes. "I should have tasted them before-" he face-palms. "It's probably the last thing you needed right now-"

"I love you."

He pauses with his face buried in his hands and after a second of his mind processing and analyzing he whips his head up and his eyes are as wide as of a baby. He opens his mouth to speak but Kai's emotion-filled eyes block his air-ways.

He is as alluring and bewitching as the day he first saw him sitting up on the gym's roof. "What?"

"I do love you, Taehyun," Kai repeats himself. "It is simple-minded of me to say, as I do not have much recollection of how love feels like." his voice dips lower and Taehyun thinks his brain might just burst and splash on the walls of the hospital. "If it is indeed love that I am experiencing; I would like for it to last."

"You got all of that from salty cookies?" Taehyun croaks. "Are you having an allergic reaction?" he questions; scooting closer to Kai with a worried expression, feeling his forehead with the back of his hand. Checking for possible fever.

Kai's hand envelopes his own and brings it down. His eyes twinkle with the closest emotion to hope Taehyun has seen from him. "I love you, Taehyun," he whispers, locking Taehyun's eyes with his own.

He can't look away.

"Stay with me," he pleas. "If that is not a whole lot to ask."

"... Kai." Taehyun's eyes water.

"It was foolish of me to forget having said it the first time; I am deeply sorry for that."

His thoughtful words hit Taehyun like a train going at full speed. He feels like someone has reached to his heart and pulled his most sensitive strings. He finds himself unable to say anything; do nothing but continue to look into Kai's beautiful eyes.

He's too captivating for Taehyun's good. "I-" he begins but there is not something he could say that would amount to how much he loves Kai too. Nothing that could amount to how much those words meant to him.

Stay with me.

Taehyun would; it's the only thing his heart desperately wants if to keep being with Kai. Keep being around him. He can't not to. He can't distance himself from the dark-haired boy with the black long coat even if it means death.

Little by little; he gets close again. It is nearly impossible for him not to stay with Kai.

A singular tear rolls on his cheek and Kai reaches out and wipes it with his thumb. "Have I said something out of place?" he asks.

Taehyun shakes his head vigorously; he chokes up. "No-A-absolutely not. Not at all." he rushes to say. His eyes dance on Kai's face; tracking his high cheeks and sharp nose. His deep eyes and moles on his skin; resembling a constellation of stars.

He goes back to Kai's eyes; as deep as the bottom of a sea when it's at most stormy state. Roaring and dark; but it belongs to Taehyun.

Inch by inch they come closer; without even knowing it. Taehyun hovers over the tray of cookies. He exhales shakily from his mouth; his warm breath lands on Kai's cheek, sending shivers throughout his body. It's electrifying.

All that he can smell is the scent of peaches he grows to love more than any scent in the world. It's sweet and warm and utterly dream-like.

If there is a heaven on earth; it's adorned with a lot of peach trees and purple cookies. Brief stolen hugs and spicy turmeric shots.

Rain.

Wind.

Kai closes his eyes; his thumb traces Taehyun's jaw. The kiss is slow as if they are each savoring each other thoroughly. Dragging every moment longer; every drift of the lips and their reconnection.

It is a transformation to another dimension where nothing bad happens; where only good memories lie.

Pure as the driven snow. Whiter than white. Godly more than God himself.

If he ever existed.

Taehyun never thought something as trivial as a kiss could ever make him feel like he was soaring through the skies amongst the birds. As if he's flying across fields with no worries.

A kiss that amounts to all good in life.

He feels in a daze; all time has stopped or perhaps sped up so fast it feels like it's standing still. He doesn't know when the kiss started or when it ended but as they part, he sees blurry. He blinks his eyes if only to get a better look at Kai's face and the other appears in an elongated bliss.

He drinks Kai's world through his eyes and it feels like Kai does the same. Not a single movement from their eyes.

If anyone walked in, they'd think the two are wax statues. Modeled and sculpted only for each other. For eternity meant to look in one another souls.

"I love you," Taehyun whispers. Not I love you too. A simple yet hard-hitting I love you.

Kai nods. He cups Taehyun's cheek with his bandaged hand; holding him like a delicate follower. His eyes speak a thousand words but he speaks only two of them.

"I know."

..........................

At a Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Tadashi walks into the police station holding a black briefcase. He greets the workers on the reception desk. His black loafers knock on the cheap floors.

He narrows his eyes and looks around. His posture is nearly perfect.

"Mr. Troy." he finds the person he is looking for. Nathan Troy sits at his desk drinking a cup of coffee and fills a crime report of the person sitting in front of him; cuffed to the table.

He looks up from his computer to the sound of a familiar voice calling him. He stands to attention. "Mr. Tadashi." he bows to the older man. "What can I do for you?" he leaves his desk and the person he arrested in favor of talking to Mr. Tadashi.

Mr. Tadashi only opens his briefcase and pulls out a few brown envelopes. "Nathan Troy, Kim Gina, Lo Hima, Jiyong Park, and James Black." he reads the names on the five addressed envelopes. "These are court orders." he gives the stack to Nathan.

The officer's eyes widen. "Court orders?" he asks with an exasperated exhale. He looks at Mr. Tadashi as he waits for an explanation.

"For the unlawful and false arrest of my client Mr. Huening, an obscure and purposeful hostile questioning and use of unnecessary force. You are facing a suspension from work along with your co-workers."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Nathan's face twists. He holds the envelope in his hands. "This is ridiculous-"

"I am only the messenger, Mr. Troy. I advise you to be at court or else there will be dire consequences. More details are in the file. "Mr. Tadashi straightens his suit. "I'll see you and the other four in court."

Nathan opens his mouth but Mr. Tadashi already walks away. "Good day."