It\u2019s Korn who picks up the habit first. He had never smoked in university, as far as Wai could tell\u2014but a year after graduation and two after purchasing the bar, Korn\u2019s coming out of the break room with a package of cigarettes and a lighter and says to Wai, \u201cI\u2019m going for a smoke break.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know you smoked,\u201d Wai says, from where he\u2019s cleaning the bar. It\u2019s early afternoon, so it\u2019s completely empty, and their staff are watching videos on their phone in preparation for the inevitable evening rush. At least, that\u2019s what Wai tells himself. He likes to think of Korn and himself as cool bosses who don\u2019t get on their employees for not doing anything when there\u2019s nothing to do.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s still strange, sometimes, to think of Korn like this. Korn who shrugs and says, \u201cYeah,\u201d then gestures at the back door and asks, \u201cAre you coming?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wai didn\u2019t realize he was invited. \u201cI don\u2019t smoke,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Korn shrugs. \u201cSuit yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
He starts heading out. Wai second guesses himself, then puts the rag in the sink and says, \u201cHold on.\u201d He washes up his hands, then comes around the bar to join Korn.<\/p>\n
Korn grins and waves his lighter in his hand. \u201cAllured by the unknown, weren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAllured by nothing. I should break, too,\u201d Wai says, wiping his hands on his sweater. \u201cAnd shitty company like you is better than no company at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Korn laughs into the autumn air as he and Wai make their way outside. The polluted overcast sky hangs gray above them, but Wai finds himself more interested in seeing what Korn looks like when he smokes. Somewhere between deciding hating each other was pointless and working to hide Pat and Pran\u2019s relationship, Wai\u2019s found that Korn isn\u2019t actually all that bad. Stupid and makes crass comments, but always meets Wai at a level that no one\u2019s ever sunken to with him before. Wai can be an idiot around Korn. Mostly because Korn is always an idiot.<\/p>\n
Korn taps the pack open and takes one out. \u201cWant one?\u201d he offers.<\/p>\n
Wai shakes his head. He scowls at the cigarette in Korn\u2019s hand. \u201cSmoking is bad for you,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, well.\u201d Korn lights the cig, sticks it into his mouth. After an inhale, he puffs out a grey cloud, unsaturated against his dark eyes and brows, the bright blue of his windbreaker. \u201cSitting next to someone smoking is also bad for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wai shrugs, without a response. He stands with Korn, and says he\u2019ll give a good eulogy at his funeral when Korn dies first, after.<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
Korn doesn\u2019t ask him to come along next time. He says, \u201cBreak time,\u201d while waving his lighter and pack, and Wai, at the bar, says, \u201cI\u2019ll be out there in a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s two a.m. Their friends had come earlier, getting along now longer than they had been enemies. Sometimes when the current Architecture and Engineering faculties come in and barely stop themselves from ending in an all-out brawl, it makes Wai nostalgic. This is better though, he knows.<\/p>\n
Pat and Pran had escaped together sometime during the night, which meant that Wai and Korn had to call for a rideshare to get their friends home safely. Now with the bar mostly empty and the floor to be made less sticky, Wai figures he deserves a break too as he takes his apron off and joins Korn in the cool air.<\/p>\n
Korn\u2019s already smoking, leaning against the wall. The cherry burns bright, making Korn\u2019s dark features even darker in the night. \u201cYou didn\u2019t have to come out with me, you know,\u201d Korn tells him, amusement in his voice.<\/p>\n
Wai exhales and leans against the wall with him. The smell of smoke isn\u2019t too bad, at least when it\u2019s coming from Korn. \u201cYou didn\u2019t have to invite me,\u201d he replies.<\/p>\n
Korn laughs. \u201cGood point,\u201d he says, even though he hadn\u2019t. His cigarette dangles from his fingers. He flicks off the ashes at the end to the pavement beneath their feet. Wai watches him.<\/p>\n
They stand in silence for a few minutes. Then Korn asks him, \u201cWhat are you staring at?\u201d<\/p>\n
Caught, Wai turns away. He\u2019s glad it\u2019s so dark out, so Korn doesn\u2019t have to see the pink running up his pale cheeks. \u201cNothing, asshole,\u201d he says without any heat.<\/p>\n
Korn grins; Wai can hear it in his voice when he says, \u201cWhat, you want a cigarette?\u201d<\/p>\n
On instinct, Wai crinkles his nose and scoffs. \u201cNo. It\u2019s unhealthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sure?\u201d Korn waves the pack in Wai\u2019s face. \u201cYou can try if you want. I can tell you want to,\u201d he sing-songs.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s teasing, but Wai can hear a challenge in his voice, too, maybe. It won\u2019t make a difference if he doesn\u2019t, but it wouldn\u2019t be all that bad if he did. They\u2019re alone; Wai doesn\u2019t have anyone to impress here. The street isn\u2019t too quiet, but barely anyone knows they\u2019re out here like this.<\/p>\n
Wai says, \u201cOkay,\u201d and then Korn is sliding out a cigarette with deft ease, sticking it into Wai\u2019s mouth, igniting the end with a flick of his lighter. He\u2019s so close, Wai could count his eyelashes. He watches the flame near Korn\u2019s thumb as it burns, then he\u2019s tasting the strange, sour heat that he always imagined smoke would taste like.<\/p>\n
\u201cBreathe in with your throat,\u201d Korn instructs. Wai doesn\u2019t know what that means, so he breathes in anyway.<\/p>\n
His throat immediately fills, too thick and foreign all at once. \u201cFuck,\u201d Wai coughs out, gagging at the force of the smoke. Beside him, Korn is laughing. \u201cThat\u2019s vile. How do you do this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPussy,\u201d says Korn, but he\u2019s taking the cigarette away from Wai. \u201cIt\u2019s not that bad once you get used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGet used to something like that? No thank you.\u201d Wai coughs a bit more in his hand, and tries not to retch. Korn continues smoking and watching him, a smile on his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got a little\u2014\u201d Korn reaches out to him and wipes at a bit of spittle around Wai\u2019s mouth.<\/p>\n
Wai glares at him. \u201cThanks,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Korn shakes his head and smokes again. Looks at Wai again. Chuckles to himself. Wai asks, \u201cWhat are you laughing at, idiot?\u201d and Korn says, \u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
Korn invites him out for smoke breaks, anyway. Sometimes he offers Wai a cigarette, but usually he doesn\u2019t. Wai knows he was right, that sitting around someone smoking can be just as bad as smoking itself. It\u2019s worth it, he thinks.<\/p>\n
Wai usually says no. Sometimes he says yes, because Korn makes it look so easy, and the haze in his eyes makes Wai think he can try it again. The taste is still awful, still makes Wai cough. Korn always laughs at him and finishes his barely smoked cigarette off each time.<\/p>\n
He gets a new pack. \u201cI went through that whole pack so much faster because of you,\u201d he teases Wai. \u201cYou owe me one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wai rolls his eyes, but makes a mental note in the back of his mind. \u201cYeah, yeah,\u201d he says, and resolves to say no to Korn\u2019s inevitable offer today.<\/p>\n
Some days, they talk. Some, they don\u2019t say anything at all. Korn says, \u201cWanna smoke today?\u201d except this time instead of offering Wai a new cig, he offers up his own, already lit at the end.<\/p>\n
Wai swallows. Korn fiddles with it in his fingers. \u201cSure,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He takes it. Korn told him he hadn\u2019t been smoking long, just something he picked up from his cousins during a holiday. Wai told him that his cousins were a bad influence. Korn had shrugged and said, Now you know where I get it from.<\/p>\n
Wai sticks the cigarette into his mouth and tries not to breathe. Tries not to think about how Korn\u2019s lips were here just a few seconds ago, how he can still feel the dampness of Korn\u2019s saliva on the paper underneath his lips. He smokes once and Korn looks impressed. Then again, and pulls away, hacking and wheezing.<\/p>\n
Korn takes the cigarette from him and laughs. \u201cYou suck,\u201d he tells Wai.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou<\/em>\u00a0suck,\u201d Wai retorts, as the grey escapes his mouth. Korn pats him on the back as Wai coughs and soothes his throat, and doesn\u2019t really hide it, this time, when he watches Korn exhale into the city air.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n When Korn kisses him for the first time, he tastes like ash and paper and his lips are dry. Wai opens his mouth against Korn\u2019s; Korn blows smoke down Wai\u2019s throat, and Wai doesn\u2019t cough.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to kill me one of these days,\u201d Wai says against his lips. He doesn\u2019t think of the cigarette pack sitting in his bedside drawer, waiting for Korn to run out so he has an excuse to give it to him.<\/p>\n Korn says, \u201cJust as I planned.\u201d Wai laughs into him, and against the taste of nicotine as he kisses him again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wai, Korn, and smoke breaks behind the bar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[98],"fandom":[476],"rating":[675],"ship":[709],"relationship":[606],"minorfandomships":[],"class_list":["post-1674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-default","tag-smoking","fandom-bbs","rating-teen","ship-wai-korn","relationship-slash"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1674\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1674"},{"taxonomy":"fandom","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fandom?post=1674"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=1674"},{"taxonomy":"ship","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ship?post=1674"},{"taxonomy":"relationship","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/relationship?post=1674"},{"taxonomy":"minorfandomships","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aroceu.com\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/minorfandomships?post=1674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}