Chapter 104 - Making Plans

Ten walked over to the bed, Heart looked at him, wondering if he should ask for the phone back.

Ten noticed what he was still holding and laughed awkwardly.

"Ah, sorry, I was distracted." he said holding it back out to him.

Heart smiled softly and took it back.

"It's okay, I understand, I guess it feels like your friends are having fun without you. And you feel nervous that they might not be missing you. Right?" Heart asked.

Ten nodded. "I spent a lot of my school days working hard at studying or on my career. So I was always just around them, once I joined a group I was there, whether it was Kit and Saint or H.M>L. So I guess I have never really felt that little twinge inside me."

"It's not like I have lost something, or that I am even being left aside. It's just...you know… it feels strange to hear they are doing things without me." Ten said.

Heart pat his leg softly. "It's a hard feeling, that worried feeling of being left out and left behind a perfectly rational fear if you ask me. I used to worry about it all the time, what if Tone and High get tired of me? What if they find someone else? What if we change and no longer share interests in the same things. What if they leave me out of things on purpose just because I can't have fun with them at something they like, just because I don't like it." Heart said.

"They are all very rational thoughts and worries… I know you better than I know myself, at what point will we drift away from each other and how can I prevent that from happening. How do I show you I am worthy of your friendship and time? It's a simple self doubt that happens deep inside us and keeps us from stepping forward, from letting ourselves understand it's okay if we give each other a little bit of breathing room. That the feeling of fear is a rational and normal part of being human, but it will go. It always does… with a little bit of space and a little bit of time, it always does."

"So...How about we head back out, hmm?" Heart asked.

Ten jumped up from the bed and gave him a big smile and a curt nod of agreement. "Sure. I would like that." 

"What do you think they were doing while we have been gone?" Heart asked.

"Probably drinking and chatting about something boring. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if they know what the word fun means."

Heart chuckled. "I getchu they are only like a few years older than us max, not even in Saint's case, and yet they can act so old sometimes." Heart agreed, smiling at Ten.

Heart held out an arm and Ten smirked at him and looped his arm through Heart's. 'And in those moments away, we may discover we have something new to add, and someone new to spend time with. They don't take away from our other relationships or the other things that we have but rather they add to it, creating a bigger circle of completion.'

'Stepping back from someone so that they can have a good life does not always mean stepping away. Sometimes it can simply mean, waiting on the sidelines for a moment in time where you can smile together again.' Heart thought.

The two of them walked back out into the main area, and Ten stopped.

"Kit, are you done talking cars? Do you want to go sit over there with the girls and talk for a bit?" He asked.

"Because if you don't then just know that I am going to go hang out over there until it's bedtime and you won't get to talk to your sweetie all night, while I am over there having an amazing time with my friends." Ten said playfully.

Kit smirked. "Okay honey, you go have fun with the girls. I am going to keep talking about cars. I spent eight hours on planes and in airports dotting and talking to you all day." He blew him a kiss then took a sip of his drink.

Ten turned to look at him. 

"Damn demon spawn, spending too much time with demon lord gives your loved ones heartburn." He said loudly before sticking out his tongue and pulling Heart away from them and heading back to where he had been before.

Heart looked over his shoulder at Kit and Saint who had both gone back to their convo as if Ten had not just thrown a little mini tantrum.

"Wow, they are not even going to come after you. I am so sorry Ten." He started to apologize before he realized Ten was grinning ear to ear.

"Was that all play?" He asked.

Ten nodded. "Mmmhhmm, sometimes the nasty brats just need to be verbally spanked you know. And they know it, so they instigate trouble so they can get a good licking." Ten said.

He pulled Heart along with him and belined for the chair that he had vacated before. He let go of Heart and pat him on the arm gently.

"You stay here I will be right back I gotta grab a drink." Ten said.

Heart nodded then obeyed, sitting himself down firmly back in between both girls. He looked around and saw that Changwook was asleep now, and the girls were whispering and talking about something between themselves. It took a moment but then they noticed he had returned.

"Oh, hey, what are your plans for tomorrow?" Mina asked him, and it all felt so natural. Miran held out a drink, and he took it nodding politely, and sucked it back. They filled his glass again.

"I don't know, I'm not sure if Saint will need me for his stuff with Seungwoo? And if they start to talk about cars again... well."

"It's not very fun, is it?"

Heart laughed. "Am I that transparent?" He asked.

Mina held up her glass and looked through it.

"Yes, about this much, maybe."

Heart chuckled even harder, and the two girls laughed too.

"If you are not busy doing anything with them, would you want to hang out with us? We can take you to see places you wouldn't think to see on your own."

Ten flopped down on the arm of the chair next to him.

"Can I come too?" He asked.

The girls nodded.

"The more people, the better," Mina said.

Heart held up his thumbs, giving them the thumbs up, and smiled at the two girls who started to converse in Korean excitedly again. Mina reached over and grabbed the Tablet that Changwook had been playing on and opened up something the two of them put their heads together and started pointing at the screen and speaking animatedly. He figured they must be picking places to go with how they seemed to agree, then disagree on things before swiping the screen and trying again. 

He watched the two of them feeling instantly warm in his heart. He didn't know why or how, but it just felt lightning fast. He had this moment where his brain and his heart just fired off at once, and he had thought. "Ah, yes these two if I lived here would easily be my best friends." His heart and head just clicked at once and gave him that feeling like first love, love at first straight, but with friendship. Friendship on a deeper level.

Heart reached forward and grabbed the drink they offered him and took another cup, and swigged it back, copying what the others seemed to be doing. The tiny glass was filled to the rim with clear liquor, but it was sweet and not very bitter at all.

"What is this stuff?" Heart asked, holding it up. "I like it."

"Oh, really?" Miran exclaimed.

"It's Soju, lots of people try it and don't like it, but here in Korea we kinda drink it a bit religiously." Mina said.

"I am glad you like it." Mina added.

"And if you really like it's flavour then you should have some more." She said. Offering him another glass, he was about to raise it to his lips, when the world started getting foggy, and the fog slapped it out of his hands.

"No!" Heart heard Saint's voice and turned to look at his man.

"He is an easy drunk." He heard Saint say through that nasty fog that was eating at him.

"No, I am not, don't listen to him... never. I am not easy, I am hard, hard all over. I am good. God... good."

"Heart what are you even saying right now. What's hard? Hmmm." Saint asked, his voice echoing inside Heart's skull.

Heart blinked rapidly, his eyes feeling suddenly very thick and heavy.

"I'm words. All of them. Are you mad? You can't be mad, you become a demon lord, bad demon lord." He said.

His words slurred and he blinked then Saint was suddenly in front of him and wrapping his arm around his back and pulling him up into his chest tightly.

"What are you doing? People might see us." Heart whispered.