by Aidan Wayne
Marcus grinned. “Yeah?”
Taemin nodded. “And so I… I haven’t heard much about movies, especially noncontemporary movies, where the main romance isn’t….”
“Does it bother you?” Marcus asked, sounding hesitant.
“No! No, not—just the opposite. It’s pretty amazing. And it’s nice to see it normalized. That it isn’t a big deal.”
Marcus nodded, looking relieved. “Yeah, uh, I fought pretty hard to be able to work on scripts that didn’t have a completely heterosexual dynamic.”
“That’s… well, that’s incredibly impressive. You’re doing a good thing.” Taemin’s gaze flickered down to the table. “I’m sure you already know that and don’t need to hear it from me, but—”
“No, no, I—thank you.” Marcus curled his fingers around his coffee mug. “It means a lot to me that you think so.”
They drifted into silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was loud.
“So,” Taemin said after a moment, nudging Marcus under the table with his foot, “you promised Roger’s girlfriend a blooper reel, hm?”
Marcus sat up a little straighter and smiled. “Oh yeah. I’m thinking that when we have our passionate kiss at the end, I might drop him during a take.”
Marcus had obviously meant Taemin to picture something funny, but the image that sprang into his mind was one of Marcus holding someone—a man—and kissing him. It was startling in its clarity. And—what? Where did that even come from? “Maybe don’t drop him,” Taemin managed. “It’s probably bad form to hurt your coworkers.”
Marcus laughed, rich and deep. Taemin wasn’t going to get tired of hearing that sound anytime soon. “You’re probably right. I’ll have to brainstorm about what else I can do.”
“I’m sure Anita will appreciate your efforts. Though what about you?”
“Me?”
Taemin nodded. “Do you have anyone special in your life right now?”
Marcus went quiet, and Taemin immediately worried. “I’m sorry if that crosses a line. Of course you don’t have to talk about that with me if you won’t want to.”
“No,” Marcus said hurriedly. “It’s fine. And no, not at the moment. I’ve dated off and on over the years, but it’s never really been anything serious. Just waiting for the right person I guess.”
“I’m sure you have the chance to meet all sorts of interesting people in your line of work.”
“Yeah, definitely. I’ve made a lot of good friends.” Marcus leaned back in his seat. “I’ve got some great stunt guys who are usually contracted to work with me. Though we argue a lot about what I want to do for myself. It’s all in good fun, though. And I mean, you work for people for months at a time on a project, you’re probably going to end up really close or hating each other. I’ve been lucky enough that it’s usually the former over the latter.”
“That’s great. I’m glad you’ve got that.” It was wonderful to hear about Marcus being surrounded by friends now. He’d been able to open up at Choi’s as he’d gotten older, but he’d also stuck to Choi’s mostly, not really able to take the steps to talk to people at his school. This was a change, but a good one.
“What about you?” Marcus asked.
“What about me?”
“You know. Anyone in your life right now?”
Taemin huffed a laugh. “About five hundred students.”
“Really?” Marcus asked, expression unreadable. “No one else?”
Shrugging, Taemin said, “I work long, weird hours. And it’s not as if I’m about to go to a bar to try to meet someone.”
“Not even through Choi’s?” Marcus asked, sounding tentative.
It was nice of him to be so considerate, but the answer to that was easy. “Oh no.” Taemin shook his head. “Not while I’m Master Choi. No matter what, my relationship with my students comes with some sort of power dynamic. That’s no way to start anything romantic.”
“Oh.”
“But I keep myself busy,” Taemin added. “It’s all right.” It was lonely sometimes, especially when he was home by himself. Coming back from a long day and… having no one. Sometimes he was exhausted and simply wanted someone to talk to, to curl up with. But his life was full and, for the most part, he was happy. He could deal with loneliness, even if he did hope that one day he wouldn’t have to.
Chapter Three
HE MIGHT have been able to keep up an easy conversation through breakfast, but inwardly Marcus’s mind was whirling. Taemin was single. That was both great and terrible news. Marcus would have had a much easier time working to keep a lid on how attractive he found Taemin, coupled with his emotional feelings for him, if he’d known he had no chance.
Now, though, he had a glimmer of hope.
He’d been worried, when Taemin had struggled to talk about Marcus’s character having a male love interest. He hadn’t thought it’d be a big deal at all. After all, Taemin knew Marcus was bi. He’d been one of the first people Marcus had confided in, when he was learning about his own sexuality and struggling with certain aspects of it. Worried about being judged, about being considered a faker, about straight-passing privilege and why some people told him to just choose. Taemin had been accepting and compassionate through all of it. Marcus was glad to know his opinions hadn’t changed.
And Taemin going on to talk about how much a male-male romance on the big screen meant to him didn’t exactly keep Marcus’s hopes from growing.
It was fine. He’d… see how things went. He kept having to remind himself that they were both different people now, with new experiences underneath their belts. Besides that, Marcus knew he had a very particular version of Taemin in his head. He couldn’t help but look at him through rose-colored lenses.
Even so, Marcus knew he wanted to get to know Taemin again. After meeting him now, he wanted him back in his life, however that happened to be. Everything else would just come as it did.
Right.
Sure.
“We should probably head out,” Taemin said ruefully, after their waitress came by yet again to refill coffees and waters. “I think we might have stayed longer than was polite.”
“Good point,” Marcus said, sliding out of the booth. “And I’m sure you have things to do today, aside from talking to me.”
“I’m enjoying talking to you, though,” Taemin said with a smile as he got up too. “That’s how I lost track of time in the first place.”
“Would you like to meet up again?” Marcus asked, snagging the check. And trying not to sound too eager.
“I’d love to. What is your schedule like?”
“I told you, I’m pretty free for the next few days. My PA, Billy, doesn’t even get in until Sunday night.”
“PA?”
“Personal assistant. I’ve worked with Billy for about three years now. He’s great. Really makes sure my life runs smoothly.” Including booking Marcus an early flight into Michigan and coordinating with the film’s producer so Marcus could get settled in his short-term apartment before the rest of the cast arrived. He hadn’t even asked too many questions—not that he needed to. Marcus hadn’t exactly kept much from him when he’d learned the filming location. Billy was two years older than Marcus to the day, and Marcus, twenty-two and tired, hadn’t really believed that some guy around his age would have been as good as Billy was. That opinion had certainly changed.
“Oh, I see. Very interesting. As for that, then, well… the invitation to come to classes sometime this week still stands.”
Marcus nodded before he turned to pay, thinking about it. Once he stowed the receipt in his wallet, he said, “I wouldn’t mind seeing Preeti and Mr. Avi again.”
“Technically, if we’re going for honorifics now, it’s ‘Ms. Preeti’ and ‘Master Avi,’” Taemin said with a grin. “Though I’m pretty sure they’ll both tell you that you’re being ridiculous. Especially Preeti. Then again, I can’t call him anything but ‘Mr. Avi,’ so I think it’s your call.”
�
��I’d love to see Preeti call me ridiculous. I’m sure Preeti now is kinda different from Preeti when she was ten.”
Taemin pinched his fingers together. “Just a bit.”
As they were leaving the restaurant, two teenage girls ran up to them. “Um, I’m so sorry, excuse me, um,” one of them said. “But are—are you, um, are you—”
“Oh my god, Sarah,” the other one hissed, before saying to Marcus, “You’re—you’re Marcus Economidis, right?”
Marcus glanced at Taemin before turning to them, all smiles. “Yeah. Hi there.”
“Oh my god. Oh my god.” Not-Sarah pulled out her phone. “I—sorry, can we get a picture?”
“Sure,” Marcus said easily.
“Oh, I could take it,” Taemin said, holding out a hand.
Not-Sarah gave him her phone, and the three of them posed while Taemin took a few different shots, holding the phone out to not-Sarah when he was done. “How’s that?”
“Perfect,” she breathed, staring at the screen.
“Thank you so, so much,” actually-Sarah said, voice wobbling. She looked a little like she was about to start crying. Marcus hoped she didn’t. He didn’t mind it when fans cried, per se, but it was always a little awkward and uncomfortable. “I love your movies. Oh my god.”
“Thanks,” Marcus said. “I really appreciate the support. You both have a good day now, okay?”
The girls nodded frantically, and Marcus took the opportunity to keep walking to his car, Taemin close behind him.
“Sorry about that,” Marcus said as they got in. He was kind of embarrassed. He had fans come up to him often enough that it wasn’t startling anymore, but he wasn’t sure how Taemin would feel about Marcus getting fawned over by two random teenagers.
“Does that happen a lot?” Taemin asked, curious.
“Uh, some.” Marcus started his car and pulled out of the parking lot. “It’s weird. You’d think that it’d happen more often in California, but I’m recognized more when I’m filming at other locations. I think it’s because people know to look for me?”
“Does it bother you?” Taemin asked. “Having so many people… know who you are like that?”
“It’s okay. I like it more than I dislike it. Not the attention but—being who I am, I can really mean something to people. That means everything from making an anti-bullying statement on Twitter to doing a Make-A-Wish appearance.”
“That’s pretty noble.”
Marcus flushed. “Not really. It’s just something I can do. Someone I can be for other people. I… you know. I was lucky that I had some really positive influences right when I needed them.” Like you, he didn’t say. “If I can do my own part in helping other people out, I want to do that.”
Taemin nodded thoughtfully. “Yes. Noble.” He smiled. “I was right the first time.”
Marcus cleared his throat. “So, uh, yeah, I’d be down to swinging by the dojang tonight.”
“Tonight?” Taemin sounded surprised.
“I mean, if you’re not sick of me yet,” Marcus quickly amended.
“No, no, please come. I’m sure everyone will be excited to see you.” A short pause. “In more ways than one, considering how well-known you seem to be.”
“I was going to ask about that,” Marcus said. “I think it might be better if I came in at the end of classes, you know? I don’t want to, like, make a scene by accident, in case some of your students recognize me.”
“That’s a good point. Okay, well, the four thirty class is our kid’s class, and the five thirty and six thirty classes are family-style. The seven thirty class is adults only, if you wanted to come to that one? Preeti and Mr. Avi will both be there today. Or if you didn’t want to actually attend the class, it’s over at eight thirty, so you could come around then to at least say hello.”
“I don’t want to disrupt the class,” Marcus said. “But I would like to see you again, and see them. I could do eight thirty. Maybe a little after that, just to give your students some time to leave?”
“Sure, please do come by. I’d love to see you again so soon. And Preeti and Mr. Avi will be in for a treat.”
“Okay,” Marcus said. “I’ll be there.”
They said goodbye at Choi’s. Taemin disappeared inside, presumably to get his own things, and Marcus headed over to the short-term apartment complex he was being put up in for the duration of filming.
Once he was “home,” he emptied his workout clothes into the laundry bin and stripped down to jump in the shower. As he methodically soaped himself up, his mind wandered. Tonight. He’d be seeing Taemin again tonight. I’d love to see you again so soon. Of course it was said platonically, but Marcus could dream.
Fuck it, he was a grown-ass man. While Taemin had said he took issue with dating students (which did, Marcus had to admit, make some sense regardless of how old a student might be), Marcus wasn’t a student anymore. Taemin was single, attractive, and interesting. They already knew each other. Kind of. Had a history. It wasn’t weird that Marcus liked Taemin now, old enough to really be able to act upon it. If Taemin wanted.
Christ, he knew he was going in circles. Though it was honestly a little hilarious how knotted up he was about this; this was the type of stuff that went on in his movies all the time.
Then again, according to those scripts, he was absolutely supposed to follow his heart and make a play for his guy. He made a living off wooing people, and he certainly knew how to apply those skills where they mattered.
He was wealthy. He knew he was attractive. For the next few days, he also had nothing but time. There was nothing stopping him from asking Taemin out on a date except himself.
And the fact that doing so literally twenty-four hours after meeting him for the first time in ten years was probably a bit much.
Okay, so he’d wait a week to ask about an actual date. And use that time to scope things out, too, see if he should do the asking, as opposed to leaving well enough alone.
“MASTER CHOI, is everything okay?”
Taemin looked up from where he was cataloging the day’s attendances. As usual, he had been thinking about why he didn’t simply bring in a computerized check-in system, like so many other schools did now. But his father had taught him this method, his students were used to it, and if nothing else, he really was abysmal with technology. “Of course, Preeti. Why?”
Preeti shrugged from where she was standing in the office doorway. “No reason. You just usually aren’t in here this long, for the last class.” Which was true. Taemin ran the adult class himself, but if he really couldn’t for some reason, he at least popped in and out: overseeing Mr. Avi and Preeti, correcting stances, giving advice, talking to the students. But today he had everyone bow in and then retreated to his office, intent on getting his evening paperwork done so when Marcus came by, he’d be able to spend more time with him.
He had to grin at Preeti. “I’m a little bit set in my routines, huh?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Sir, I’ve seen your schedule. You allot for practically every minute.”
She wasn’t wrong. “Oh?”
Preeti nodded. “And you do attendances after everyone bows out for the night. We chat until the class leaves, and then we all put away the bags. We don’t need to sweep or mop, because I sweep Mondays, and Mr. Avi sweeps Wednesdays before you mop Wednesday night, and then I do social media and stuff while you do attendances. And sometimes Mr. Avi stays to talk.”
“Someone’s been paying attention.”
“Yep. So? What’s going on?”
Taemin smiled at her. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Uh. Okay. Good news?”
“You could say that.”
“Oh! Does it have anything to do with your upcoming tournament?” The taekwondo national championship tournament for Olympic qualification was coming up in about a month. Taemin was competing and had been doing a lot of additional training and traveling to prepare for it.
Taemin shook his hea
d. “Nothing like that. You’ll just have to see.”
Preeti sighed. “Fine.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Looks like it’s time to bow out.”
Taemin stood up and followed her out of the office. The evening sparring had finished, and Mr. Avi was conducting the cool down.
“Gyeongrye!” Mr. Avi commanded when he caught sight of him. The class bowed in respect to Taemin as he bowed onto the mat, and he walked to the front of the class, underneath the flag, to conduct bow-out.
Just as he led the command and finished the class with everyone reciting the tenets of taekwondo, the bell over his door jingled.
He turned to greet Marcus, who was bowing into the building.
Taemin quickly strode over to him. “You made it!”
“I said I would.” Marcus grinned down at him. “Hey.”
Taemin, a naturally tactile person, held out his arms in invitation, and Marcus wasted no time stepping forward into the hug. When they parted, Marcus looked up just in time to see Preeti almost barrel into him. She didn’t quite, stopping just before she stepped off the mat.
“Marcus!” she said, pointing to him. “Marcus, right? Economidis?”
“Uh, yeah,” Marcus said, looking a little startled. “Preeti?”
“One and the same. Just a little bit older. Oh man, I’ve been following your stuff for years!” She paused. “I mean, like, not in a creepy way? But, you know, you used to train here and then you got all famous, and it’s not like I was going to try to friend you on Facebook or anything, but it was cool to see how you were doing and stuff. So. Uh. Yeah. Hi!”
“Hey,” Marcus said again, now grinning. “It’s good to see you.”
Some of the other students had clearly taken an interest in the newcomer. Preeti and Mr. Avi were the only people who would probably remember or recognize Marcus from when he had trained at Choi’s. Most of the other students who attended Choi’s around the time Marcus did had moved away like he had, or gone off to school, or had otherwise stopped coming.