Blaine ends up telling Mike about what happened with the audition and Kurt and Mike turns out to be a real good listener, which is quite pleasant, he's got to admit. Not to say that Kurt doesn't listen to him, but it often seems like Kurt just waits for Blaine to finish what he's got to say to change the subject and talk about he wants. Mike doesn't interrupt him, just look him straight in the eye and listens. If it was anyone else, Blaine would find irritating the way Mike looks at him sympathetically—Blaine hates being pitied—but Mike seems so genuinely concerned that Blaine can't help but feel better.
"He'll come around," Mike tells Blaine when he's done talking, lying down on his bed. "Kurt doesn't seem like the kind of person that intentionally hurts someone like that."
"I hope so," Blaine mutters noncommittally and joins Mike on the bed, feeling unusually comfortable, considering he and Mike haven't been friends for that long. It's weird, how natural it is for them to be friends, it's like they've been kept away from each other for years and have only now been reunited. "All right, enough said about my dramatic teenage life, what's going in your life, Michael Chang? Are you auditioning for the musical?"
"Err...I don't know."
"So you've been thinking about it," Blaine inquires, turning his head to the side to look at his friend. "What role would you audition for?"
"I was thinking Riff, but I'd have to sing…"
"That's perfect!" Blaine stands up too fast and feels lightheaded for a moment before he turns around to face Mike. "I'll help you with the singing part! Come on, get up."
"What? No," Mike gets up as well, looking conflicted. "At least, not here."
"Why not? Singing doesn't require a lot of space, and we have time to kill," Blaine argues.
Mike paces around his room nervously, running his hands in his hair, worrying over his lip for a few seconds before he finally turns to face Blaine again, releasing a long sigh.
"My parents don't know I'm in glee club," he whispers.
"Why not?" Blaine whispers back and just like that, they end up whispering almost the entire time.
"It's…complicated," Mike starts explaining. "My parents are typical Asians, they're putting a lot of pressure on me, academically speaking, and they wouldn't be all too happy to find out I've been spending time doing something other than studying."
"But you're on the football team," Blaine points out.
"My dad thinks that can be beneficial for my college applications," Mike replies. "Speaking of which, I'm even seeing a consultant for them."
"Wow, I wouldn't have been able to tell, I mean, your mom—"
"My mom isn't that bad, actually, my dad is the one who's really pushing me," Mike heaves a sigh and slumps back down on his bed. "I mean, everything he says is true, I won't make a career out of dancing."
Blaine almost comments on that, but he stops himself just in time. Is it really his place to interfere in Mike's life, especially interfering between him and his parents? Blaine doesn't know them, who is he to judge them, considering his own parents aren't award-worthy either?
"Just because you don't make it your career doesn't mean you can't dance," Blaine offers as a consolation. "I mean, dancing's what you love, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, what better hobby than dancing could you possibly have?" Blaine says. "I know I won't make a career out of singing and I don't really want to—I mean, I don't know yet, I want to weigh out all my options, you know? And that's what college is for, right?"
"Right," the corners of Mike's mouth lift up, his voice back to a normal volume and Blaine feels like he just achieved something great, making Mike Chang smile. "You're right."
"I'm always right," Blaine says. "Except when I'm not, but that's rare, so…"
Mike chuckles and the sound is so delightful Blaine feels bubbles in his chest popping up. It feels like an even greater accomplishment to have made Mike Chang laugh. He wants to be the one who makes Mike laugh like this all the time; it feels like such a privilege.
"Come on, I've got some homework to do," Mike says, standing up again to grab his schoolbag. Blaine heaves a sigh and decides he might as well get some work done too.
"Such a spoilsport," Blaine mumbles and gets a pillow thrown at him for that.
"So, Blaine, what brought you to McKinley High?" Mike's dad asks Blaine as they sit down for dinner. "Where were you studying before?"
"Dalton Academy," Blaine answers and Mike sends him an apologetic look for his father's inquiring. They're sitting next to each other and Mike's siblings are unusually quiet this evening, for obvious reasons: Blaine. They're all trying to get to know him better.
"I hear Dalton Academy's an excellent school, I can't get Michael to go there but Gregory will surely be attending," Mike doesn't miss the reproach in his father's tone and sends a glare his father's way. His younger brother isn't as interested in the arts as Mike is and as his father said, Greg will most likely go to Dalton Academy. Every member of this family has perfect school records, as expected by his parents. Mike is no exception. He just really didn't like the idea of boarding school, he's always been in public school and didn't want to go through the trouble of making new friends.
"What made you leave?" his father asks curiously while serving everyone a piece of veal roast.
"Personal reasons," Blaine replies uneasily and Mike clears his throat, hoping this will be the end of the questioning. He doesn't want Blaine to feel uncomfortable and associate that feeling with him.
"Blaine's had a rough day, Dad, could we talk about something else?" Mike said, looking to his mother for help.
"So, Blaine, what do you like to do in your spare time?" his mom asks, taking a sip of wine.
"I enjoy singing, I'm in the glee club, actually," Blaine says and sends a quick glance at Mike, his lips pursed into a thin line as though he feels guilty for letting that piece of information slip out. Mike gives him a reassuring look. There's no reason his parents would suspect anything just because Mike's got a friend in glee club. Several friends actually, but they don't know that.
"Oh! Can we sing karaoke after dinner?" Helen asks no one in particular, she just looks around the table with excitement painted all over her face. Even if she does get to sing quite often with her friends, she never gets tired of it. Mike doesn't sing at home. Not in front of anybody. And his brother most certainly does not sing. His mother does enjoy karaoke, has a full karaoke set with both American classics and Chinese songs.
"No, Helen, this is a school night, we don't have time for that," Mike's father says, as expected of him.
"But I did all my homework!" she argues in vain because their father's silent scowl is always final in any debate.
"So! Blaine, sweetie, where do you live exactly?"
"I just wanted to apologize for my family, they can be overbearing sometimes," Mike says as he puts on a vest and opens the front door for Blaine. The rest of the evening went as smoothly as it could've been, Mike thinks, but still. His father did insist to ask more questions about the classes at Dalton, sneaking some snarky remarks about Mike into the conversation. He really hated how awful his father could make him feel sometimes but weirdly enough, Blaine's presence somehow made it all more bearable. This is their first time hanging out as friends and yet Mike feels already closer to Blaine. So far they'd only conversed through texting since they had few opportunities to see each other at school save for glee club.
"No, it's fine, really, your family's never as bad as you think they are," Blaine offers him a smile, walking out to the cold autumn air. "I had a great time, actually, and I wanted to thank you for…you know, cheering me up and stuff."
"I'm glad I could," Mike grins and unlocks his car.
"And thank you, for driving me home, I really feel terrible for being so much trouble," Blaine adds quickly and grabs Mike's forearm, stopping him in his tracks.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Mike says, gripping Blaine's shoulders and smiling softly. Before he knows it, Mike takes Blaine in his arms, hugging him awkwardly until Blaine returns the hug. Mike's not much of a hugger, but it just came to him naturally and he's got to admit, it feels kind of nice. And Blaine really smells good, he realizes somehow embarrassingly. "You're my friend, Blaine, okay? You'd do the same for me, right?"
"Of course," Blaine returns before pulling away. "Thank you, Michael."
"You're welcome," Mike responds and pats Blaine's arm. "Now come on, let's get you home, it's getting late."