“I don’t know that he sees it quite like that.”
“Still, I bet he’s proud as punch.”
I hesitated, the automatic agreement stalling on my tongue like the words had hit a stop sign.
Tae seemed to pick up on my lapse.
“What? What’d I say?”
“Nothing,” I hurried to say, giving myself a little shake.
“Is he not happy about this?” He probed.
I let out a little breath, not quite a sigh.
“Honestly, and I don’t know why I’m telling a total stranger this-”
He snorted.
“But we’ve barely talked about it.”
“What? Why the fuck not? I was kidding about you being the enemy, I wasn’t being serious.”
“Tae, chill, it’s fine. It’s just… not been a big deal. Y’know, in the scheme of things.”
Now it was Tae’s turn to fall silent, the slight crackle on the line taking on the feeling of a pair of narrowing eyes.
“Kaiya Thompson, it is a big deal,” he insisted. “Your life matters, too. Don’t make it smaller just because his is big.”
“Wow,” I chuckled, nervous. “That was almost wise, Min Taeyang.”
“I’m serious, mate. I’ve seen so many people in our line of work lose important people in their lives just because they didn’t know how to fit in anymore. I… I’ve lost people along the way. You are a priority. You should talk to him about your course. Trust me, he’ll want to know. Sometimes it’s hard to see past the bullshit, you know? There’s always something, some new routine, a show to do, company politics, or sometimes we’re just so bloody tired all the time that it gets really easy to forget about the rest of the world. Believe me, you’d be doing him a favour by making him focus on you. Which he should be doing anyway.”
His tone changed to a more playful one so fast that I blinked, trying to catch up. “You know what? Your boyfriend sounds rubbish. Forget everything I just said. Get a new one.”
I burst out laughing.
“Is that your professional opinion, Min Taeyang?”
“Absolutely, Kaiya Thompson.”
There was a moment of silence that followed, like dust settling in the gaps of our conversation, floating comfortably down in the stillness.
“But seriously,” he insisted, switching tracks. “That’s amazing. Kudos, Pom. So, this is it for you, huh? Being a journo?”
I resisted the urge to bite my thumbnail again, trying to think of the right way to articulate my response.
“I think it could be,” I said, slowly. “Writing about music, it makes me feel like how I always thought making music was going to make me feel.”
Tae was silent for a moment, and I’d have thought the line dropped, except I could still hear his soft breaths.
“Ky, I’m happy for you. Really. That’s brilliant.”
I flushed again, his words making the tips of my ears warm.
“Thank you.”
“I’ve gotta go, but… this was nice. Thank you for… I dunno, being a normal person.” He laughed, a little awkward.
