Kingdom of Knuffel

Lain didn't argue with him. He got dressed in comfortable clothing, dark jeans and an oversized sweater. He brushed his hair before going out to he kitchen. He saw the breakfast sitting on the table. Part of him wanted to not eat it, knowing Lain had made it for him. However, that would be really rude. Plus, he needed to eat breakfast and he couldn't really make anything healthy on his own.

He sat down at the table and ate the oatmeal. The tea wasn't his favorite. He didn't really like ginger, but something told him Lain had done that for a reason. So he made himself finish the mug. He was done before Lain was out of the shower.

He went to the sink to wash his dishes. He didn't want to leave a mess. Plus, if he moved around he wouldn't fall back asleep.

Lain crossed over to the balcony, hanging his towel on the stand. Then he came to the kitchen. He was happy to see Tae had finished the tea as well as the oatmeal. And even happier to see him dealing with the dishes, because it was something so normal from Tae. For a moment, watching him at the sink, he could imagine things were normal and he could even go flick him with a dishtowel if he felt like being silly.

Lain blinked, then emptied the pot of ginger tea into his mug. He looked at the time. Just enough time for finishing up the rest of oatmeal without the seeds before they'd be given a heads up about the day's activities.

Finally Haneul and Ju-Kan emerged from their rooms. "We'll have to hurry," said Ju-Kan.
"You two will have to hurry," corrected Lain, sliding the box of cereal over to them.

Lain came out of the bathroom. Tae felt himself stiffen just slightly when he felt like he was being watched. It wasn't enough to be perceptible, but he was very much aware of being watched. Now it wasn't so much because he was mad at Lain. It just felt weird now.

Lain had kissed him. Tae still had no idea how he felt about it. Forcibly taking it, he hated. But what about the kiss itself? He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thought. He didn't want to think abut it.

Eventually Ju-Kan and Haneul emerged from their room. "Morning." He said quietly, turning to look at his hyungs. Then he went back to finishing his dishes. Seeing as he had some time, he even dried them and put them back away. He went to the bathroom to wash up. Then he was ready for the day.

He sat on the couch to wait for their manager to show up. He pulled his legs up like always. He started to think about the kiss again. His cheeks grew red and his buried his face behind his legs. Was he going crazy?!

After breakfast, Lain fetched his backpack and went to lounge about in the living room. He stopped when he saw Tae there, his legs drawn up in the same position he had when he slept in the van.

So whatever he had said about being fine, Tae was asleep? Of course he needed the rest whatever he might say, Lain thought. He should really sleep more comfortably now though. Since he'd have to sleep sitting like that in the van to and fro anyway. Lain settled softly on the couch and held his shoulder gently. He wanted to try and lower him gradually on his side on the couch while trying not to wake him.

Someone walked into the living room. Tae told himself that it was just Haneul or Ju-Kan. It felt better that way. Then his hyung sat next to him. Maybe they were just going to flick on the tv for the few minutes they had?

A hand landed on his shoulder and Tae stiffened instinctively. His head jerked up and he looked over. He was startled even more to see that it had been Lain. Why did he do that?!

Tae seemed to freeze. What was he supposed to do? His cheeks turned pink once more. Lain was so close again. After a moment, he moved away as much as he could, despite being against the edge of the couch anyway. He didn't want to seem weaker than the others. He was fine. If he lied to himself enough, maybe everyone would believe it.

Lain's mouth fell open when Tae woke up all of a sudden just for that slight touch... or maybe he'd been awake all along. Tae scuttled against the side of the couch, pink-faced, and Lain found it cute even while struggling with how to react now.

"I-I thought you were asleep," he said, wanting to bonk himself on the head. "So I was going to push you into a sleeping position. Um. I'm sorry." Then, unable to help himself, he spluttered, burst out laughing at the situation. "Sorry," he gasped, trying to stop laughing.

"I'm f-fine, hyung." Tae said quietly. Sure, he was still tired, but lain didn't need to know that. Or, well, have it confirmed since he probably knew that already. Then Lain started laughing. What was so funny? "Why're you laughing at me?" His voice was barely audible as he stared at the floor in front of him. It certainly felt like Lain was laughing at him. Tae didn't like that feeling very much.

"I'm laughing at the situation," said Lain sweetly, "Not at you. We're not all condescending all the time towards you, you know. I mean, you're the maknae, so we treat you like a little kid a lot of the time... I know that must be annoying." He paused and added, "But I don't laugh at you." He couldn't say the same of the other two.

"I know I probably misunderstand you a lot though," he admitted, running a hand through his hair sheepishly. "I'm sorry." He looked up, directly at Tae, and said it seriously. It wasn't just one or two things he was sorry about. He couldn't count because he didn't understand all instances of where and when he'd gone wrong.

Tae felt worse when Lain said he wasn't laughing at him. He pulled his legs tighter to his chest, if that was possible. "I don't like being treated like a kid." He wast a kid anymore. But he felt stuck in the 'kid' role because of everyone else.

Lain apologized for misunderstanding him and Tae looked up at him. He seemed to mean it. Tae bit his lip for a moment, internally debating whether or not he should say this. "I...I don't wanna be angry at you anymore, hyung...I don't like it." It made him feel horrible all the time.

'I'll do my best not to treat you like a kid anymore, then,' said Lain seriously, then shattered it with a grin. 'Even though you're frickin' cute.'

'I...I don't wanna be angry at you anymore, hyung...I don't like it.'

For a moment Lain was completely blank, his emotions catching up with his brain. Then he was smothered by a wave of many, many mixed feeling- relief, because it was really unpleasant having a messed up relationship with someone he cared about; guilt, and a healthy dose of self-hatred, for obvious reasons; and foremost, hope. He wanted things to smoothen out between them, too, and go back to normal, and he was glad Tae was willing to try and forgive him. It'd be easier said than done. And maybe when something was broken the cracks would always be visible. But this was a huge leap from where they were just a sentence ago, and there was a part of him that believed that because he wanted it fixed so badly, things could be fixed. For a few seconds he was speechless because he was overwhelmed and he also didn't want to say the wrong thing.

'Thank you, Tae,' he said, and even though his voice was quiet it was strung taut, betraying a hint of how overwhelmed he was. 'And I'm so sorry. I... you'd be completely justified if you were to cut me off for good, but if you want to try to fix this with me... I care about you and about our friendship, and I want to salvage it if I can.' He clasps his hands in his lap nervously, then finally pushes himself to look Tae in the face. 'It's not going to get back to normal overnight, but I'm going to give it all my effort, if you are.'