Page 109 of Septembers

The line got deeper for a second, then Dae’s face smoothed, and he laughed. “There is no punchline, dummy. You got the name when we were ten, and I wouldn’t stop talking about this boy I saw in the school musical. He was so confident and funny, and he couldn’t sing, but he did it anyway. His costume was ugly, but he didn’t care.”

Theo had loved that hideous costume so much. It was so heinous, it swung back around to being cute.

“I kept saying, everyone loved him; they all loved him so much. Finally Eomma said, I think you love him. She told the story to our relatives for years, like it was this adorable anecdote, how my first crush was a boy I saw in a terrible school musical.”

First crush. Theo. He thought of the speech competition, of the way Dae had stared at him. He wished he could go back in time and tell Young Dae to confess. Just tell me, Dae. But unfortunately time travel didn’t exist (yet), so instead, he said, “Terrible? That musical was a masterpiece.”

“Your hook was made of pipe-cleaner.”

“It was a statement on my character’s inner turmoil.” Someone outside was whistling, a sound so utterly content and cheerful that it was hard not to think everyone in the world was having a perfect day. “And she remembered that story ten years later?”

“Oh yes.” He chuckled. “When I told her who my roommate was, she gasped so hard she choked and said, your first love? That’s what you remain to this day.”

To this day. In his bed. Dae’s hand casually resting on his hip. “If only she could see us now.”

“If you’re about to video my eomma, I’m calling this whole thing off.”

Theo reached for his phone. “I would never.”

“I know you’re joking, but a part of me actually isn’t sure.”

“I’m joking. About joking. I’m calling her.”

“Theo.”

He laughed and put the phone down, then settled back beside him, lacing his fingers through his because he could do things like that now. “So I was your first crush. That’s stupidly cute.”

Something took over Dae, like he was that guy again, the one who pushed Theo against a wall and dove into his soul, demanding to know if this was real. It was all so much, not too much, but still a lot. It had been an intense twenty-four hours, and the reality of it was making him sweaty. He slid his hand away and turned onto his back, taking a long breath.

Dae’s voice was flat. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

“Why?”

“You’re freaking out.”

A smiling huff. “In a good way.”

“You have a good way of freaking out?”

“Yeah, it’s new, and it makes me all sweaty. I know we’ve been friends for years, but we’re in a romance now. I don’t want to gross you out with my freak-out excretions.”

“Calling them excretions was a great start.” Dae couldn’t hide the smile in his voice.

Theo turned again, burrowing into the crook of his neck. “You asked for it.”

“Gross.” But he wrapped his arms around him and whispered something that Theo couldn’t make out.

He pulled back to look at him. “Hmmm?”

Dae’s eyes were so vulnerable that Theo wanted to put his heart in a padded room to protect it. “We’re in a romance?”

“Aren’t we?”

His lips twitched and then pressed together.

“Stop that.” Theo put his hands on Dae’s face and used his thumbs to push his lips up.

Dae laughed. “Okay, stop.”