by Aidan Wayne
“Thanks, Billy,” Marcus said, touched.
“Mm-hm. I’d like to meet him, at some point. See for myself why you think he hung the damn moon.”
Marcus laughed. “I already told him that I’d like you two to meet.”
Billy blinked at him. “What, really?”
“Well, yeah, of course. You’re both, you know, important people in my life. If nothing else, you can both complain about me.”
“Oh,” Billy said. He tapped his fingers on the table. “I guess I don’t have that much to complain about.”
“Love you too, Billy.”
Billy rolled his eyes. Marcus was very used to that from him. “I’m happy for you. I look forward to meeting him. Back to work now, please.”
FRIDAY WAS the usual busy-busy-busy for Taemin. A few weeks ago Fridays were actually one of his more restful days, since he didn’t have anything to do but his own training and errands until the homeschool co-op at one. But now he had morning meetings in Ann Arbor to deal with too. Trials were getting closer and closer, so Taemin was scheduling as much extra practice in as he could.
It did mean that working with the homeschool co-op was a little more difficult, since he was so tired by the time one o’clock rolled around. He usually ended up going home to squeeze a nap in before heading back to the academy to get ready for classes, though, which helped.
Also, he and Marcus exchanged texts throughout the day. They were sporadic, as both of them were busy, but that just made each new one a nice surprise.
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, Marcus had sent around eight o’clock, while Taemin was in class. It was a good feeling to check his phone after class was over and find that.
Looking forward to seeing you too, he replied before heading home to shower and get ready for bed.
Under the covers, he couldn’t help but think about what Saturday might bring. He’d get to see Marcus again, for one thing. Train with him, too, which would be fun. After—he didn’t even care what they did. Even just sitting and talking together at the café on Sunday had been a wonderful time.
It was strange to think of Sunday. Not that long ago at all.
And now he had a date. With someone who understood him. Who got why he was so focused on his school, his work, and the volunteering that made up his life. Who didn’t begrudge the hours he spent training. Who even offered to be a part of them. It was all he could have hoped for.
He had to rein himself in, with that thought. It had only been a week. Even if he could already see himself wanting something that would last, that was a little much—and very soon. The last thing he’d want to do was put any pressure on Marcus regarding a relationship.
Take one thing at a time. He knew he was bad at that; he tended to throw himself into things. But that wouldn’t be fair to either of them. Better to just enjoy the moments and see how things went.
“HEY!” PREETI said, coming over to him as Marcus bowed into the dojang. She was holding her bo. “You’re back!”
“Couldn’t stay away,” Marcus said easily. “But what are you doing here? I thought you didn’t work Saturdays.”
“I don’t. But I was asked to do a last-minute demonstration for a Girl Scout troop tomorrow. Wanted to just go over my bo routine in a place that had mirrors.”
“Gotcha.” He waved to Taemin and Mr. Avi when they glanced over at him. Mr. Avi nodded before turning back to the students he was working with. It looked as though they were practicing poomsae, the forms that required exact steps and careful movements. Taemin, though, in full sparring gear already, came over to him.
“Hey,” Marcus said, smiling softly.
“Afternoon,” Taemin said brightly. God, he looked amazing. “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course. Looking forward to giving you a run for your money.”
“And I’m very much looking forward to seeing you try,” Taemin replied with a grin.
Preeti glanced back and forth. “Oh,” she said at last. “You’re why Master Choi is in sparring gear, huh?”
“Yep. Said I’d show him what I could do.”
“Okay, cool. Well, uh, you guys have fun.”
“Don’t worry.” Marcus grinned.
She gave him a funny look but went back to an empty part of the mat to do her bo practice.
“Preeti seems suspicious,” Taemin said quietly, as they walked over to grab Marcus’s gear.
Marcus had to laugh. “No kidding. Pretty sure she knows what’s up. Mr. Avi already does.”
“He does?”
Marcus nodded. “He didn’t, uh, quite give me the shovel talk Wednesday night before you and I figured things out, but it wasn’t too far off from that.”
Taemin blinked, eyes wide. “Oh.”
“Does it bother you?” Marcus asked hesitantly. “That they might know?”
Taemin shook his head. “Not really. It’s a little odd, I’ll admit. But I have no intention to hide the fact that we’re, um….”
“Going to try going out,” Marcus finished. Simple and no pressure, which was exactly how he wanted things to go.
Taemin smiled at him. “Yes.”
“All right, then. We’ll just take things as they come, yeah?”
“I think that sounds very good.” Taemin held out the chest protector. “Now, I think you said something about giving me a run for my money?”
Marcus laughed and geared up, and then he and Taemin headed to an empty part of the mat. “How do you want to time it?” Taemin asked.
“Your call. Want to just go for points? Stop once one of us reaches twelve?” He was confident they’d both be able to keep track in their heads.
“Works for me,” Taemin said. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
They both put in their mouth guards, bowed, and began.
It was, Marcus realized almost as soon as they started, no freaking contest. He was pretty good; great shape, decent stamina. But Taemin was a machine. It was all Marcus could do to block half his hits and circle to stay in the ring. He tried to keep it up for as long as he could, but it was almost sad how quickly those twelve points added up.
Taemin hopped back and then held up a hand, signaling that he’d totaled the match. Marcus dropped his hands and took out his mouth guard. “All right,” he said. “One, you’re incredible. Two, when we sparred last Thursday, exactly how easy were you taking it on me?”
Taemin took out his own mouth guard. Grinning, he said, “Not too easy?”
Fucking hell. “Well, there’s a reason you’re an Olympic hopeful.”
“Ready to go again?”
Yes, yes he was. Seeing Taemin move in his element like this? He was amazing. “Of course. I promised you a workout. Got to at least keep you moving.”
Taemin chuckled and popped his mouth guard back in.
They went hard for what must’ve been a good ten minutes before Taemin called time for them both to grab some water. Marcus definitely appreciated the breather, but at least—to his credit, he felt—he didn’t need to tap out completely.
“Are you sure?” Taemin asked, when Marcus said he was ready to go again.
“Yup. Can’t count me out just yet. Even if I can’t score on you, I can damn well make sure to keep your cardio up.”
Taemin beamed at him. “Sounds good to me.”
Chapter Nine
MARCUS HAD definitely worked hard over the years; Taemin could tell. He had fantastic reflexes and was able to block a good majority of Taemin’s hits, even if it was clear he wasn’t as used to being in the ring. Marcus had mentioned a lot of real-world practice. Taemin would have to ask him about that. If Marcus had the time, maybe he could even be a guest at a specialty training hour.
For now, though, after nearly forty-five minutes—with a fifteen-minute break in between—Taemin called full time so that they could both cool down. Marcus staggered a little when he went over to a corner to remove his gear. “I am definitely going to be feeling this tomorrow,” he groan
ed.
Taemin had to laugh. “You were the one who said you’d give me a workout.”
“Ugh.”
Taemin laughed again and went to start class cooldown, Marcus joining in as soon as he put away the last of his pads. He was feeling a little shaky himself, now that the adrenaline had worn off some, but it was nothing some rest and a meal wouldn’t fix.
As the class said their goodbyes, a few of them—Jamal and Roshen included—went up to Marcus. Taemin wasn’t able to hear their questions, but Marcus nodded along to them. When Taemin went over to see what they were talking about, he caught the tail end of “—picture? My friends don’t believe me.”
“Sure,” Marcus said easily. “Now?”
“If that’s okay?”
“Are you being hounded again?” Taemin asked, stepping forward.
Roshen turned to him, eyes wide. “Sorry, sir. I’m just—he said it was okay—”
“It’s all right,” Marcus said, waving a hand. “You wanna get your phone?”
“Thank you!”
“And no more after this,” Taemin said sternly. “This is a dojang, not a fan club. He’s a student just like you. Understand?”
They both nodded. “Yessir.”
After the pictures had been taken and Jamal and Roshen left for Jamal’s car, Taemin turned back to Marcus. “I’m really sorry. It’s not right.”
“It’s okay,” Marcus said. “I’m used to it. I’m more sorry that it disrupted your environment. Um. It’s been great this last week, but with Roshen most likely posting that picture all over social media, it’s possible that you might get some people coming in just to see if they can spot me.” He sighed. “It’ll probably be better if I don’t come to any more actual classes.”
Taemin nodded. “I’ll be sorry to miss you, but I understand. We can still make time for each other outside of classes.”
Marcus’s lips quirked. “Even though you live here?”
“I make time for what is important to me,” Taemin said, matter-of-fact. His life was busy, it was true, but Marcus was worth making time for. If Marcus didn’t mind spending some time with him before or after a workday, of course Taemin was willing to stay up a little later or get up a little earlier. And he still had pockets of time on Saturday after classes and Sunday around training. He could do it.
“Oh.” Marcus blinked. “Yeah. Okay.”
“Okay.” Taemin grinned.
“Um,” Preeti said, from where she was standing a few feet back off the mat, bo in hand and shoes on. “Sorry to interrupt?”
“You’re fine,” Taemin said, turning to her. “What is it?”
“Nothing! I just wanted to say goodbye before I took off.”
Taemin smiled at her. “Have a good time at the demonstration.”
“I will. Oh, and do you have any more flyers? I can take some with me to pass out.”
“Sure. Come on. They’re in my office. Marcus, I’ll be right back, and then we can go?”
“Sounds great.”
Taemin waved goodbye to Mr. Avi and then headed to his office, Preeti following him. As soon as they were inside, Preeti asked, “You mind if I close the door?”
Taemin looked at her in surprise. That meant she wanted a private conversation. “Of course. Is something wrong?”
She shook her head, twisting her fingers together. “Nosir.”
Taemin raised an eyebrow at her expression. “But?”
“It’s not any of my business,” Preeti said quickly. “I’ll, uh, I’ll just take the flyers. Never mind.”
“All right.” He went over to his cabinet and riffled through it, pulling out a little bundle of flyers, which he handed over to her. “Anything else?”
She took them, shaking her head. “Nosir. Thank you.”
As she shifted from foot-to-foot, Taemin took pity on her. “Preeti?”
“Yessir?”
“The answer to your question is yes. I trust that’s not going to be a problem?”
Preeti burst into a grin. “No, sir!”
He matched her smile. “Good. Anything else?”
She shook her head again.
“All right, then. Why don’t we get going?”
Once out of the office, Preeti made a beeline for Marcus, slapping him on the shoulder. “See you around!” she said cheerfully before she hurried out of the dojang.
Marcus blinked after her, then turned to Taemin. “Anything I should know?”
Taemin chuckled. “I think she’s happy for us.”
“Oh, you told her?”
“She pretty much guessed. I just confirmed her suspicions. Was that all right?”
“Sure. I mean, they’re your people. The ones on my side already know too.”
“Oh, yes?”
Marcus rubbed the back of his neck. “Might not have been able to really shut up about it. Though, uh, Billy is already talking about looking at it from a publicity standpoint. I—I hope that’s okay with you.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
Marcus shrugged. “I, uh, I’m going to do my best to keep things quiet, but it’s going to get out. That’s just how things work. It’s going to be a lot. I wanted to talk to you about it.”
“Okay. So we can do that over lunch.”
“Okay,” Marcus said, sounding relieved.
“But for now, I think I’d like to go home and shower. You’re welcome to one too.”
“That’d be great, yeah.”
“Then we can head out. Sound good?”
“Yeah.” Marcus looked at him, then grinned wide. “Hey.”
“Mm?”
“Could I get a kiss for the road?”
“Oh,” Taemin said, flushing with pleasure. “I’d like that very much.”
TAEMIN INSISTED Marcus get to have the shower first. Marcus did his best to jump in and out as quickly as possible, without thinking too much about the fact that he was naked in a place that Taemin was routinely naked.
He was not, altogether, too successful, and ended up turning the water cold to finish up before throwing on deodorant and his clothes and leaving the bathroom to let Taemin take his turn.
As he waited (and again, tried to avoid thinking about Taemin just a few feet away, under running water) he pulled out his phone and looked up places to eat. He had a couple in mind but wanted to see what Taemin was in the mood for.
Luckily he didn’t have too long to wait and stew. Taemin emerged from his room, dressed in shorts and a fitted shirt—another Choi’s one, Marcus thought with amusement. He wondered if Taemin had any other T-shirts at this point. He then proceeded to plop down on the couch next to Marcus and scoot in close. Marcus immediately put his arm around him, ridiculously pleased with this turn of events.
“Okay,” he said. “I don’t know about you, but I worked up an appetite. What are you in the mood for?”
“I picked last time,” Taemin said. “It’s your turn. But….” He bit his lip.
“Yeah?”
Taemin seemed to consider his words. “Would you like to maybe stay here and order in?”
“Sure. Any particular reason why?”
“I just feel bad about how often you get approached in public,” Taemin said after a moment. “I thought that maybe it might be nice if it was just us for a little while. And you wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else.”
Touched, Marcus said, “I—yeah. Yeah, that’d be really nice. And this way I get you all to myself too.”
“All right.” Taemin smiled. “That’s a plan. What would you like to get?”
Marcus laughed. “Okay, this is going to sound completely cliché, but would you mind pizza?”
“Not at all.”
“Great! Have you heard of Cottage Inn? It’s got great reviews.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They decided on what to order and Marcus placed it. “We’ve got some time ’til delivery,” Marcus said, angling in toward Taemin.
Taemin smiled shyly at him
. “I have an idea of how to pass the time.”
Marcus smiled back, hopeful. “Yeah?”
In answer, Taemin moved forward to kiss him. Marcus eagerly pulled him closer to kiss back. They moved with each other until Taemin was practically in Marcus’s lap, and Marcus reveled in the feel and taste of him. God, being able to trade kisses was incredible.
He pressed a kiss to the corner of Taemin’s mouth and then moved to kiss under his jaw. Taemin’s fingers flexed against him, and he made a high, thready sound that made Marcus go hot. Fuck. “That okay?”
In answer, Taemin surged forward to catch his mouth again, and Marcus shifted, changing the angle just a bit, to get a little more contact, hands roaming over Taemin’s back. He brushed a sliver of skin at the base of Taemin’s spine as his shirt rode up and Marcus couldn’t help stroking that spot, feeling Taemin’s warmth. He pulled back, just enough to ask, “I—can I—” Touch you. Take just a little more.
“Please do,” Taemin murmured against Marcus’s lips. His hand trailed down, hovered over the hem of Marcus’s own shirt. “May I—?”
“God, yes,” Marcus managed, even as he moved a hand fully underneath Taemin’s shirt, taking in the feel of all that warm skin. Taemin moved impossibly closer, one hand gripping Marcus’s bicep while the other slid underneath Marcus’s tee, stroking over the planes of his stomach. Marcus couldn’t help his gasp, and he accidentally nipped Taemin’s lip.
Taemin moaned into it.
Which—just—
Marcus licked into Taemin’s mouth before nipping again, tugging a little, exhaling shakily when Taemin made that noise again, before he shifted away. “Wait—”
Marcus froze, eyes widening. “Taemin?”
But Taemin only smiled at him. Darted in to kiss him, light and quick, before he leaned to pull off his shirt. “Okay?”
“Fuck, look at you,” Marcus whispered, reaching for him. Taemin made a pleased noise and went.
They both shifted again, until Taemin was on his back, Marcus above him, and it was so much like Marcus’s fantasy from before that he had to take a second to marvel, staring down at Taemin’s beautiful, flushed face.