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“It’s here again!” Donghyuck screamed down the phone to Jaemin as he slowly inched forward in his car and watched the stupidly pretty, tall prick get out of his car which he had conveniently parked right in front of Donghyuck’s apartment, in Donghyuck’s parking space. The boy walked around to the back of his car and popped open the trunk, grabbing an over packed duffle bag and slamming the trunk shut before disappearing into the apartment next door to Donghyuck’s.
“Tell him to move his damn car!” Jaemin’s voice came through the speaker phone as Donghyuck grumbled, being forced to circle the block to find a new parking space.
This was well beyond the 10th time Donghyuck had come home to find his parking space taken by an unfamiliar car parked in front of his apartment, no other spaces being free that late at night had forced him to park his car a few streets over and walk the 10 minutes back to his apartment, in the dark, where predators were just waiting to catch him off guard and kidnap him; he just knew it.
“I can’t do that because I don’t know him or who he visits.” He sneered unintentionally at Jaemin just as his eyes landed on a free parking space at the end of his street. He quickly pulled into the space before the other car, which had just come around the corner, could steal it away from him.
“Sorry,” He quickly mumbled to Jaemin before turning off his car and picking up his phone, turning off the speaker to put it to his ear instead as he exited his car. He grabbed his backpack from the backseat and locked his car, double checking to make sure it was locked.
“It’s alright, Hyuck,” Jaemin said calmly. “Did you find a parking space?”
“Yeah, thankfully it’s not too far away this time but I’m about to beat this kid’s ass if he doesn’t stop fucking parking in my spot!” He replied as he reached his apartment. He was about to walk up the stairs to his front door but turned back and headed towards his parking space, kicking the tire of the car occupying it out of frustration and annoyance at this inconvenience he was being forced to live through time and time again.
“What was that?” Jaemin asked worriedly as a loud thump was emitted from his kick to the tire.
“Um, nothing,” Donghyuck quickly headed back towards his apartment, jogging up the stairs and hurriedly opening the front door. “I may or may not have kicked his tire.”
Jaemin’s laugh erupted through the phone and straight into his ear. He flinched and moved the phone back a bit until he was sure Jaemin had stopped laughing.
“You’re so fucking petty.” Donghyuck sighed as he walked into his room, dumping his bag by the door and collapsing on his bed, gazing up at the stars displayed on the ceiling.
They continued talking for the next half an hour about their weekend plans and how glad Donghyuck was that he had three whole days off from his stupid TA job where people expect and expect and all he gets is a couple of bucks, which just makes his bank account laugh at him more, before he forced himself off the bed to go make food.
Upon entering the kitchen, he heard music coming from somewhere and groaned out loud, throwing punches at his neighbours on the other side of the wall. He put some leftover lasagna, which his mother had dropped off a couple days ago, into the oven and hopped in the shower to hopefully destress a bit.
Donghyuck spent dinner in the confines of his room, the only soundproofed room in his apartment, watching random episodes of The Office and afterwards finishing any work he had for the next week so he didn’t have to do anything over the weekend.
In the morning, Donghyuck woke to a phone call from Jeno asking him to bring extra snacks and plastic cups to the barbecue. He agreed and went back to sleep for an additional 30 minutes before finally dragging himself out of bed and getting ready for the busy day. He picked out a summery outfit, flowy and cool - a simple short sleeved silk button up and shorts that showed off his tanned thighs, something he was really proud of - to get air in as the day was forecasted to be very hot. He combed his hair to get the knots out then ran his fingers through it to give it a dishevelled look, intentionally messy but still cute.
In the kitchen, he picked up an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter and grabbed his bag containing swimming trunks and spare clothes, knowing that at least one of them will insist on a water fight and get his clothes all wet and gross.
Walking over to the front door, he dug his keys out of his bag and put on his shoes, chaco; he was hoping to get a nice patterned tan on his feet today.
Outside, he was met with an obnoxiously white car parked where his car should be and scoffed in disgust as he angrily walked down the steps of his apartment to the sidewalk. He strutted past the car then suddenly stopped, a thought running through his mind.
He took a tentative step towards the car and looked around carefully to make sure no one was around to witness this crime. When he was satisfied that no one could see him, he took out his keys and placed them in between his fingers in his hand closest to the car and casually started walking next to the car, a tiny squeaking noise following behind him as his keys dragged along the side of the car, scraping off the white paint from the metal. After walking the length of the car and turning around to see his handy work, he nodded and transferred the keys to his other hand, walking back, the keys dragging on the side of the car once again.
He had just reached the back door when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He whipped around so fast and the apple he was munching on leisurely as he vandalised the car, fell out of his hand upon seeing the person who had made the noise.
Donghyuck scrambled to get up and step in front of the writing on the car. He hastily pocketed his keys, looking up at the stranger in front of him with innocent eyes.
“What are you doing by my car?” he asked, eyeing Donghyuk suspiciously.
What are you doing parking in my spot? Donghyuck wanted to ask in reply but decided against it.
“Oh, this is your car?” He asked and the stranger nodded with squinting eyes. “Oh, er, I, I was admiring it, it’s such a pretty white colour. What’s the shade?” Right after he said it he wanted to step out of his body and beat himself up.
The stranger looked as though he was fighting off a smile and looked down at his shoes. When he looked back up again, his eyes focused on something behind Donghyuck and he turned to see what it was before mentally facepalming over his impulsive stupidity and bad memory.
Donghyuck quickly composed himself and decided the best course of action would be to feign ignorance.
“Oh no,” he exclaimed, taking a step back and covering his mouth with his hand, you know, to show that he was shocked. “Your car- what have they done?”
The stranger looked like he was about to cry as he took small steps towards his car, hands reaching out to touch the cold surface of the machine and tracing over the key scratches Donghyuck had made just moments earlier.
A thought occurred to Donghyuck as he watched the owner of the car trace the keyed lines on his car.
“Oh my god,” he said in mock shock again. “Is that what those horrid kids were doing out here?” He looked towards the end of the street for further effect.
“What kids?!”
“There were some kids out here when i came out of my apartment but they ran away as soon as they saw me.” Donghyuck finished, walked closer to inspect his masterpiece.
The stranger suddenly stood upright, shoulders back and fists clenched. He breathed out angrily.
“Assh will pay for this,” He said, Donghyuck furrowed his eyebrows.
“Assh?” He asked the stranger, snapping him out of his thoughts. He pointed to the sharpie markings above the key scratches on the drivers’ side door, Donghyuck tried to contain his laughter. He had attempted to write ‘asshole’ with his keys but it had required too much effort to complete so he had left it as ‘assh’.
“I don’t thi-” He started.
“What idiot marks their name on their crimes?” The stranger asked looking off into the distance, revenge glistening in his eyes. Or tears. It was most likely tears.
“I-” Donghyuck was interrupted once again, this time by his neighbour poking his head out of his kitchen window.
“Yo, Yukhei,” Jaehyun shouted out to the stranger who turned towards the sound at the speed of light. “What’s going on? Why aren’t you coming back in?” He asked, brows furrowed and eyes landing on Donghyuck.
“Oh, hi Donghyuck,” He said, confusion clear in his voice.
Donghyuck nodded towards his neighbour in greeting before turning back to the stranger, Yukhei, to try and excuse himself.
“So hey, er, I need to go…” he trailed off hoping Yukhei would catch his drift.
“Oh, yeah sure,” Yukhei nodded, still saddened by the attack carried out on his car. He fumbled for something in his pocket, eventually taking out a phone and opening the camera. He started taking pictures of the slaughter done unto his car as Donghyuck awkwardly stood by watching, his phone blowing up like crazy in his back pocket.
When he finished taking pictures, Yukhei held out his phone towards Donghyuck, waiting for him to take it. Donghyuck stared at it in confusion then looked at Yukhei, asking with his eyes: what the hell do you want me to do with this?
“Can i have your number?” He asked, “It’s for my insurance claim, they’re going to want to ask you questions since you saw it happen.”
Donghyuck was about to protest and say that he didn’t really see anything but figured he might as well do this little thing after vandalising his car and took the phone held out to him. He briefly considered giving him a fake number but then remembered that he knows where Donghyuck lives and it’ll be too awkward if he finds out its a fake number so he typed out the digits of his phone number and quickly handed Yukhei his phone back. He scrambled to pick his bag up from the floor near Yukhei’s car where he had left it so he could vandalise more comfortably.
He waved his hand in goodbye towards his neighbour and nodded knowingly at Yukhei before turning to walk to his car.
He had just stepped off of the sidewalk when he heard Yukhei call out to him. Fuck, he thought, he fucking knows.
“Here,” Yukhei said, holding out an apple in front of Donghyuck. “You dropped this earlier. Don’t litter, man.”
Oh. Donghyuck lifted his bag onto his shoulder so he could take the half-eaten apple from Yukhei. However, Yukhei, seeing him struggle with his bag, retracted his arm and took one of Donghyuck’s bags from him.
“Where’s your car?” He asked. Donghyuck was too shocked to protest and simply pointed towards the direction of his car and Yukhei nodded, crossing the street and walking towards the car. Donghyuck ran to catch up to him after disposing of the Apple in a neighbour's trash can and they walked quietly to the end of the street. When they reached the car, Donghyuck opened the trunk and told Yukhei he can just throw the bag in there as he did the same with his other bags before slamming the trunk closed again.
“Thanks,” Donghyuck said looking up at Yukhei. “I’m sorry about your car.”
“It’s okay, bro, you’re not the one who hurt her.” He said. “If anyone should be sorry it’s Assh.” Donghyuck resisted the urge to laugh again and felt horrible for lying about everything but he wasn’t about to go to jail because this, unfortunately nice, asshole didn’t know where to fucking park.
Donghyuck muttered another thank you to Yukhei and got in his car. Yukhei was still waiting on the pavement and clearly not leaving until Donghyuck left so he started his car and slowly pulled out of his temporary space then sped off, quickly stopping by at the grocery store to pick up more supplies before he went to his friends’ house.
“You did what?!” Jaemin asked incredulously after Donghyuck had explained why he was late.
“I fucking keyed his car and lied about it okay,” he said, raising his arms in defense. “I’m impulsive and stupid leave me alone.” He grabbed a beer from the cooler and stood up, walking over to Renjun to steal some food.
“Hyuck, what if they find out you’re lying? I don’t want you to get in trouble.” Jaemin said, following behind him.
“They won’t find out,” he said. He grabbed a burger from the tray in front of Renjun and shoved it in his mouth hoping Jaemin would take the hint and stop talking about his Idiotic Act of the Day.
He didn’t. However, shortly after, the rest of their guests arrived and Jaemin got busy talking to them, leaving Donghyuck to socialise with the food a little more.
The rest of the barbecue went fairly well. They had intended to plan their yearly study break to the countryside but when there is free food and beer no one actually does any work. Donghyuck got a brief idea of what they wanted from the break while talking to them at the food stations and decided that was enough; the planning was now a problem for another day, hopefully someone else’s problem too. Donghyuck decided he would drink freely and forget about the day’s events in hopes of wiping it from his memory completely.
Around 9pm, when most of the guests had left (and after Jaemin made them clean up, bitch) and they were lazing around in the living room, all four of them squeezing together on the tiny couch, limbs on top of one another’s, Renjun got a text and jumped up from the couch, effectively knocking Jaemin off in the process.
“My cousin’s here with the food!” He announced excitedly, heading towards the door to let his cousin in. Jaemin huffed as Renjun walked away, shaking his head and getting up. He was about to sit back down when Renjun walked back into the living room, a tall figure following behind him holding several white plastic bags. Donghyuck turned to look at them as Renjun spoke up and abruptly stood up knocking Jaemin, who was just about to settle back on the couch next to Donghyuck, back down again with a loud thud.
“Guys,” Renjun started, throwing a confused look at Jaemin, huffing on the floor. “This is my cousin, Yukhei.” He pointed back towards Yukhei who raised a bagged hand in greeting. “Say thanks and ignore him, he’s hungry so I said he could eat with us.” Renjun left to go grab plates and cutlery from the kitchen and Yukhei laughed a little saying hi and awkwardly putting the bags of food down on the coffee table in front of the couch. When he looked back at the trio in front of him, familiarity rushed across his face as his eyes met Donghyuck’s who was still standing up in shock.
“Oh,” Yukhei starts, causing Jeno and Jaemin to look at Donghyuck. “Hi, again!” He said, beaming smile showing off a row of perfect, white teeth.
Donghyuck, clearing his throat and loosening up his body to appear more casual and relaxed, nodded his head in acknowledgement. “Hello, again.” He says, casually, just as Renjun walks back into the living room, eyebrows once again furrowed in confusion. Find a different facial expression, dude, Donghyuck thought.
“You two know each other?” Renjun questioned to which Yukhei smiled brightly, opening his mouth to speak but Donghyuck cut him off before he could get a word out.
“Yes!” he exclaimed. “Haha, small world right?” He asked Yukhei but didn’t wait for his answer, instead turning to talk to everyone at once. “I have to go upstairs… for something haha. Jaemin come on you said you needed to go too!” He grabbed hold of Jaemin’s wrist and dragged him towards the stairs, stopping him from settling back down on the couch once again. Jaemin shouted in protest but let himself get dragged up the stairs nonetheless.
“Ouch, Hyuck, what the hell?” Jaemin said, finally pulling his arm free from Donghyuck’s grip. “Why did you drag me up here? The food had jus-”
“That’s the guy.” Donghyuck stated, sighing exasperatedly, hands flying to hold his head.
Jaemin didn’t understand what Donghyuck was talking about and continued looking at him without saying anything and rubbing at his wrist.
Sighing in exasperation again, Donghyuck explained to Jaemin how he had keyed Renjun’s cousin’s car just that morning.
“HE’S THE G-” Jaemin started before Donghyuck slammed his hand on the boy’s mouth, silencing him and stopping his loud ass from exposing him.
“Say it louder I don’t think he heard you, Jaemin.” Donghyuck hissed. Jaemin mouthed a sorry and opened the door on his left - Renjun’s room - before walking in and motioning for Donghyuck to follow.
“So what are you gonna do?” He asked once he was settled on Renjun’s bed, opening his bedside table draw and rummaging through it distractedly.
“I don’t know,” He paused, thinking. “Maybe I’ll cut off all ties with Renjun and move to a different city before he finds out and kills me.” Jaemin sighed and closed the draw, giving his full attention to Donghyuck who had started pacing around the room.
“Okay, first of all, calm down,” He said as he got up from the bed and walked over to the pacing Donghyuck. He put his hands on the other boy’s shoulders to steady him and locked eyes with the boy. “Breathe in,” He said, demonstrating his words, “and breathe out. Deeply, in and out,” He did this with Donghyuck until the boy had calmed down a bit then pulled him over to sit on the bed.
“Sorry,” he started. “I sometimes hate how impulsive and stupid I am- I can’t believe I jeopardized my job and my degree over a fucking parking space!” He exclaimed, close to another breakdown.
“Hey, hey,” Jaemin soothed. “It’s not a big deal, okay?” He was sure to maintain eye contact so Donghyuck understood. “You’re not going to lose your job, you’re still getting your degree.” He assured after which a look of relief washed over Donghyuck’s face. “No one saw you do anything so just keep pretending it was those kids and deny any accusations.” Donghyuck nodded slowly. “You just need to get through tonight then the call with Yukhei’s insurance company and that’ll be the end of it. So big smile,” He said, smiling brightly causing Donghyuck to mimic it. “And let’s go eat, I’m fucking starving!” Donghyuck laughed as his stomach growled angrily. The two boys stood up and exited the room, going back down the stairs to the living room where the rest of their friends (and a certain someone who’s car was wrecked this morning) were eating take out and watching a comedy movie on the TV.
Upon their entry, Renjun eyed them suspiciously but didn’t say anything, instead shuffling to the side to let Jaemin and Donghyuck sit on the couch next to him. Jeno, who had migrated to the floor next to the coffee table with Yukhei, handed them a plate of food as soon as they had settle down. Bless him.
The rest of the night passed fairly well. Yukhei, as it turned out, was quite funny and had them cracking up every few minutes. Donghyuck would briefly feel worse about the car until a glance to Jaemin had him dismiss such thoughts from his mind.
They laughed and ate and drank more until everyone was almost knocked out. Donghyuck vaguely remembers someone dragging him upstairs and helping him get in bed before he completely passed out.
The next morning Donghyuck woke up with, surprise surprise, a headache, throat aching and dry. He turned on his side, away from the light coming in through the window and slowly tried prying his eyes open. He felt Jaemin turn beside him and groaned at the noise made by the scratchy bedsheets he refused to throw away. Upon successfully opening his eyes, he searched the room, assessing where he was and how he got there. He remembered someone helping him get into bed and deemed it enough of an explanation. His eyes scanned the room further, looking for his overnight bag so he could get up and try to get the first shower before those bitches finished all the hot water but was confused when he couldn’t find it. Instead his eyes landed on a glass of water and two white pills placed on the bedside table with a little note reading drink me. Donghyuck didn’t question it as a sharp pain shot through his head and he grabbed the pills, throwing them into his mouth and downing the water. He lay back down and stayed in bed for an additional 15 minutes before deciding it was time to try to steal a hot shower and went searching for his bag.
He slowly opened Renjun’s door and poked his head through the opening, scanning the room quickly and finding a sleeping Jeno next to Renjun, surprise surprise, but no overnight bag.
He walked across the hall to Jeno’s room, the room he was supposed to be asleep in right now, and opened it wide, strutting in and looking around the room. His eyes landed on his bag and he walked over to it with a sense of accomplishment. Rummaging through it, he pulled out a change of clothes and his toiletries before turning around and dropping them on the floor as he sees Yukhei standing on the other side of the bed, white towel covering the lower half of his body and water droplets sliding down his torso, wet hair falling onto his face.
He scrambled to pick his clothes up again, mumbling apologies of not knowing he was using this room and informing him that he’ll be out in a sec.
Yukhei simply laughs, Donghyuck freezes and looks up in confusion.
“It’s okay, man,” he said, waving a dismissive hand in the air as he walked over to Donghyuck and helped him pick up his scattered toiletries from under the bed. “Renjun told me to take this room last night, said you’d bunk with,” he paused trying to remember the next detail. “Jaemu?” It took everything he had in him not to laugh at the butchering of Jaemin’s name as confusion contorted Yukhei’s face, the name sounding off on his tongue. “Jaem… Jaemin!” He exclaimed when he finally remembered. “He said you’d bunk with Jaemin so I took you to his room but I forgot to take your bags too, sorry.” He apologised and looked at a stunned and embarrassed looking Donghyuck who was still processing having been told that Yukhei was the one who took him to bed last night and imagining all the embarrassing things he must have done in his drunken state.
He cleared his throat and stood up, putting his belongings back inside his bag and picking up the bag to take with him instead of just his clothes and toiletries. He looked up at Yukhei, cheeks flushed, and tried maintaining eye contact, not letting his eyes wander to his exposed chest where the water droplets were slowly drying up.
“Thanks,” He said. “I have to go now…” he said, hoping to hell Yukhei would let him leave without further conversation.
“Oh, okay,” Yukhei said, sounding the slightest bit, Donghyuck didn’t want to say it but, disappointed. He stepped aside for Donghyuck to pass but fell in step with him as he walked past him, walking him to the door, ugh a gentleman, Donghyuck thought as he thanked Yukhei again and walked to the bathroom at the end of the hall.
Breakfast passed with Jaemin giggling in Donghyuck’s ear about how pretty Yukhei looks with his unstyled, fluffy, air dried hair, which was still slightly wet at the tips, and Donghyuck trying not to stare at him too much. Jeno and Renjun were arguing about a term paper they had due next Friday which worsened Donghyuck’s headache and he hurried through the rest of his breakfast and excused himself soon after, heading towards the garden to hopefully get some peace and quiet.
In the garden, he lay on a sun lounger and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the neighbours birds mingle with the rustling of the leaves as the sun shone on his face and exposed thighs.
Donghyuck was close to slumber when suddenly his world got darker and colder. He scrunched up his face and grumbled in annoyance, slowly prying his eyes open.
He was met with a tall, silhouetted figure blocking the sun. Yukhei was smiling triumphantly but the smile disappeared as soon as he saw Donghyuck’s open eyes.
“Oh,” He said. “You’re awake. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up, I was just blocking the sun, I didn’t think you were wearing sunscreen and the sun is really harmful to you if you’re not wearing any. You should really put on sunscreen. Even if you’re just going out to the corner store. Did you know that the sun is the number one way to age. It’s terrible!”
Donghyuck stared at him, not so much taking in his words as he was staring at the way his lips moved and how the wind blew strands of his hair in his eye, which he was quick to remove, still in a sleepy post nap daze. He sighed, almost nap.
“I’ll make sure to wear sunscreen, thanks.” He said, lifting himself higher so he was sitting on one side of the beach chair. He patted the space next to him and Yukhei hesitantly sat down.
Donghyuck had intended to speak but he opted to stay silent and look up instead. He stared at the bright blue sky behind a screen of fluffy clouds of all shapes and sizes. He studied the white balls of fluff trying to decipher what each one looked like and could see Yukhei doing the same from his peripheral vision.
The pair continued staring at the clouds, Yukhei still shielding Donghyuck from the sun, albeit unintentionally. They mainly observed in silence, occasionally pointing out a funny looking cloud to each other and laughing.
Just before Jeno was due to call him in for lunch, Yukhei’s phone buzzed and he took it out from his pocket, checking the message he had received. Donghyuck could see him frowning from the corner of his eye and turned his attention towards him, wordlessly asking him what was wrong with a title of his head and a raise of his eyebrow.
“I gotta go,” He announced sadly. Donghyuck’s face fell but he composed himself quickly so Yukhei didn’t notice.
The pair stood up and slowly walked back into the house, cool air greeting them. Donghyuck slipped out a little ‘bye’ and separated his path from Yukhei’s, walking over to the couch and throwing himself down next to his friends while Yukhei said his goodbyes to Renjun. He waved a quick hand towards the pile of bodies on the couch before exiting the house. Donghyuck sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Jeno asked, sounding concerned.
“He’s cute,” Donghyuck replied sadly, groaning and pressing his face into Jaemin’s arm.
Renjun came into the living at that exact moment, curiosity peaking after seeing the state Donghyuck was in. “Who’s cute?” He asked, plopping down in the middle of the couch and squashing everyone’s bodies with his bony butt.
Donghyuck panicked, not wanting to admit to Renjun that he finds his cousin cute. He exchanged worried glances with Jaemin and Jeno and stutters out a reply.
“M-my professor!” He exclaims suddenly, mentally kicking himself over his stupid impulsive answer. He could have said literally anyone but nope that’s what he went with.
Renjun was confused, as far as he knew, all of Donghyuck’s professors were old, ugly and wrinkly bastards who didn’t grasp the idea and importance of mental health days and made Donghyuck attend their lectures and seminars even on his worst days or he’d be marked down in his assessments. They all sucked ass, wrinkly old bastards except for-
“The guy you TA for?” Renjun asked incredulously, smacking a hand on Donghyuck’s knee which now rested on Renjun’s lap.
Donghyuck nodded, choosing to go along with it. Renjun mouthed a ‘wow’ in half agreement and half disbelief then turned his attention to the TV, watching Michael freak out about Pam going into labour on The Office.
The four boys ate lunch while finishing off the current season of The Office. Afterwards, Donghyuck lay face down on the living room floor, too tired and sleepy from having drunk too much the night before and the abundance of food he had consumed that day to move let alone drive all the way home. He decided to stay for the night, falling asleep right after eating dinner, smelling roses and… something else, familiar but difficult decipher, on the bed sheets.
The next morning he woke to the sound of his phone buzzing off of the bedside table. He groggily turned on his side and reached down to pick up his phone, opening up the text message he had received.
Today 07:41
Unknown: hey, this is yukhei.
Unknown: I’m going over to the insurance people today, if you’re free would you mind coming along to give a statement of what you saw please, it’ll really help.
Unknown: let me know :)
Donghyuck groaned, looked at the time and groaned once again, stuffing his face into the pillow which still smelled of roses. He sat up in bed and checked his calendar despite knowing he had nothing going on that day before replying to the messages.
Me: oh hey, sure, I have some time today
Me: when are you going?
His eyes started drifting shut as he waited for the reply but sleep was far away as his phone buzzed in his hands.
Unknown: oh thanks man
Unknown: I have a meeting from 10-12 but I’m free after that, shall we say 1?
Donghyuck let out a sigh of relief, grateful for the lateness of the event, before typing out his reply.
Me: sure that works
Me: send me the address and I’ll meet you there?
The reply came as soon as Donghyuck had hit send.
Unknown: alrighty
Unknown: [location]
Unknown: I’ll wait for you outside
Unknown: see you later :)
Me: see ya
Donghyuck quickly saved Yukhei’s number then locked his phone, putting it back on the bedside table and finding a comfortable position to fall asleep again.
“Donghyuck,” Yukhei called out from the other side of the parking lot. “Over here!” He motioned for him to come over and Donghyuck started walking towards him.
Once he got to the boy, he briefly greeted him before falling in stride with him as they walked into the building, cool air blowing on their faces from the air con above the door.
The meeting itself passed quickly however the time he spent in the waiting room while Yukhei was talking to the insurance agent was excruciatingly slow. Donghyuck worried about the agent not believing his fake story and Yukhei finding out that he lied and pressing charges for vandalising his car. Thankfully, none of that happened and Donghyuck left the meeting with a smile on his face, glad that the whole ordeal was over.
Yukhei walked him to his car then headed out of the parking lot, phone in hand to call an Uber. Once inside his car, Donghyuck breathed a sigh of relief and headed out of the parking lot. Donghyuck drove in peace and with a smile on his face which abruptly fell when he saw Yukhei walked on the side of the road, gym bag slung across his body. Donghyuck cursed himself before pulling over behind Yukhei and honking his horn to make Yukhei aware of his presence. He rolled down his window as Yukhei walked over with a confused expression on his face.
“Hey?” he greeted, bending down to look inside the car.
Donghyuck stifled a giggle at his adorableness, stupid giant, and leaned over so Yukhei could hear him better over the piercing sound of traffic.
“Need a ride?” he asked. Yukhei stared, contemplating his options; spend an hour walking home in the 23 degree heat or sit in an airconditioned, comfortable car for 30 minutes. He asked if Donghyuck was sure and agreed only after he made sure Donghyuck wouldn’t stray far from his route home so he wouldn’t be an inconvenience.
The ride was awkward at first; Donghyuck almost collided with the car behind him while pulling out to get back onto the main road and then asking how Yukhei knew Renjun.
“Um, he’s my cousin?” Yukhei answered, confused at the question. Donghyuck mentally facepalmed and made a note to scream into his pillow as soon as he got home when he realised the stupidity involved in asking that question.
“Right,” he chuckled, face flushed, also the same colour as the flashing gas light. Oh shit.
After they got gas and got back on the main road, a Britney Spears song came on and Donghyuck unknowingly started singing along, only realising he was doing so when he heard Yukhei join in on the chorus. They sang the rest of the song together and enjoyed other nostalgic bops that played afterwards until Donghyuck pulled up outside Yukhei’s fancy looking apartment building. He eyed the building in wonder as Yukhei gathered up his belongings and exited the car. He bent down again to see through the window, smiling at Donghyuck gratefully.
“Thanks for the ride, man,” he said, looking back at his apartment behind him then turning back to Donghyuck, a hesitant look on his face. “Do you, er,” he paused, rethinking his words. “You wanna grab some food sometime?” he asked hopefully.
Donghyuck was surprised to say the least, here was this guy whose car he had just keyed two days ago, asking him out? Donghyuck was unsure of what was happening… and why.
“S-sure?” he asked to which Yukhei laughed loudly. He assured Donghyuck had he doesn’t bite so relax, man and that he’d text him the details later tonight.
“See ya, Donghyuck!” Yukhei waved before disappearing inside the building. Donghyuck sighed and headed home to scream into his pillow.
Two months later
Donghyuck locked his front door and hurriedly ran down the steps of his apartment. Once he made it down, he noticed Yukhei’s car wasn’t parked outside waiting for him and took out his phone to see if he had missed any texts. He had.
Today 12:05
yukhei: stuck in traffic
yukhei: be there soon <3
Donghyuck sighed, pocketing his phone and sitting on the steps. He couldn’t be bothered to go back inside and then lock up again when Yukhei arrived. So, he took out a book and started reading, not paying much attention as his thoughts were consumed by other matters such as whether he was going to get that job he had interviewed for last week, the candidates were supposed to find out today if they had gotten the job and Donghyuck had obsessively checked his messages and emails every five minutes from the moment he woke up.
Sighing once again, he put the book away again too distracted to even pretend to be reading and looked up to his neighbours porch where Taeyong was sticking out his head, smiling at Donghyuck who smiled back and offered a weak wave in greeting.
“Waiting for Yukhei?” he asked. Donghyuck nodded. “Come inside,” Donghyuck wasn’t one to argue, especially in this heat and when he knew a cold glass of lemonade would be waiting for him as soon as he stepped inside. He made a show of getting up, exaggerating the annoyance and walked up the steps and entered the house where Taeyong handed him a glasses of Jaehyun’s Out of This World Lemonade (Jaehyun’s words but Donghyuck wouldn’t dare protest), obviously, and guided him to sit at the kitchen table as he continued chopping up ingredients for lunch.
“I don’t know how you make food every day,” Donghyuck said once he had downed half of his lemonade, almost getting a brain freeze in the process.
Taeyong laughed and shook his head. “Oh to be young and have mommy come over once a week and cook my meals for me for the entire week…” he tutted to which Donghyuck laughed and threw a balled up paper towel at him.
“Shut it, you’re not even that old,” he said, taking another swig of his lemonade. “Plus, I see your mother coming over a lot too!”
“That’s Jaehyun’s mother and she comes to check if he’s alive,” Donghyuck couldn’t argue with that so he opted to stay silent and continue drinking his lemonade.
A few minutes passed with just the sounds of Taeyong chopping up vegetables and Donghyuck’s loud gulps from his second cup of lemonade until Taeyong spoke up again.
“So, how are you and Yukhei?” he asked.
“Good, why?”
“Just wondering,” he paused to grab a pan out of the cabinet. “I still can’t believe he ended up asking you out, I was so sure he was gonna beat your ass for keying his car that day.” Taeyong laughed.
Donghyuck put down his drink, in shock over what he had just heard.
“W-what did you just say?” he asked.
“I thought he was gonna beat you to a pulp, kid. He was so furious when he left to go confront you,” Taeyong was shaking his head in disbelief.
“He knows I keyed his car?!” Donghyuck almost yelled.
Taeyong turned around, realisation dawned on him that maybe Donghyuck didn’t know that Yukehi knew that he keyed his car and not those made up kids. “I thought you knew…” Donghyuck, still in shock, continued looking at him as if he had just told him that the moon landing was real. “We saw you out of the window walking next to the car with a key scratch following you, you weren’t exactly being subtle,” he said apologetically and… disappointedly? “Yukhei was ready to smash your head into the fucking sidewalk but we convinced him to just take your details and have the insurance company sort it out. To say we were surprised when he said you guys were dating would be the understatement of the decade.”
Donghyuck looked at Taeyong blankly before muttering a wow and clearing his throat.
“So… he knew?” he asked stupidly, obviously he knew he fucking saw you!
“Yep,” Taeyong answered, too excited. Donghyuck put his head in his hands, fingers threading into his hair - ruining it - and squeezing tight. “Hey, it’s alright, kid.” Taeyong came over to rest a hand on his shoulder, comforting him. “Everything turned out great so don’t stress,”
Donghyuck removed his hands, turning his body towards Taeyong ready to argue but his phone buzzed and he opted to check the message.
yukhei: outside :)
Donghyuck wrote back a quick reply and sighed.
“He’s here,” He announced.
“Oh,” Taeyong he said as Donghyuck stood up, grabbing his bag from the floor. “Listen, Donghyuck, he likes you, I’m sure he’s not holding any grudges so just forget about it, okay?” He asked, looking Donghyuck in the eyes.
“Thanks,” Donghyuck replied back with a reassuring smile and headed out.
“Say hi to Yukhei!” Taeyong waved from the top of the stairs and headed back inside just as Yukhei got out of the car to greet Donghyuck.
He enveloped him in a tight hug and Donghyuck sighed into his neck, breathing in a rosy scent he now associated with Yukhei.
Yukhei pulled back suddenly to look at Donghyuck. “What’s wrong?” he asked, visibly concerned.
Donghyuck considered lying but thought it was better to just tell the truth since he already knew what the truth was.
“Why didn’t you tell me you knew it was me who keyed your car?” he asked, a pout on his face to soften the accusation.
Yukhei’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion before remembering what Donghyuck was talking about after which he laughed, throwing his head back and shaking Donghyuck a little with his hands that rested on Donghyuck’s shoulders. “Because I liked you and thought you must have had a reason for keying my car because from what I knew about you from what Taeyong and Jaehyun told me, you wouldn’t have done it without a valid reason,” Donghyuck didn’t look convinced, eyebrows knotted his disappointment due to the explanation. Yukhei rolled his eyes and pecked the pout on his lips. “Plus you looked really adorable all flustered and trying to lie about it.” He pulled Donghyuck in for another hug, squishing his face into his chest to which Donghyuck let out noises of protest trying to push Yukhei back but eventually giving in and hugging him back.
It wasn’t until Taeyong was screaming shoo at them from the kitchen window that they broke apart and got inside the car.
And it wasn’t until Yukhei was pulling out of the street to merge onto the main road that Donghyuck noticed the email notification on his phone.
“Stop the car!” Donghyuck suddenly declared. Yukhei, worried that something was wrong, pulled over to the side of the road and looked at Donghyuck with a concerned expression. Donghyuck glanced at him briefly, bottom lip held between his teeth, Yukhei had come to learn that it was a nervous tick he had.
“Interview results are out,” he stated, grabbing hold of Yukhei’s hand before opening the email which will determine the rest of his life. He read over the email and gasped, squeezing Yukhei’s hand really tight. Yukhei ignored the pain and asked Donghyuck what it said.
Donghyuck turned towards him, a look of wonder on his face. A smile spread across his face and his eyes sparkled. “I GOT IT!” He screamed, throwing his hands around Yukhei’s neck, bringing his body down closer to his own. “I GOT THE JOB, YUKHEI! I FUCKING GOT IT!” He screamed, still hugging Yukhei tightly. Yukhei said congrats between Donghyuck’s shouts then proceeded to cheer with him.
Once Donghyuck had calmed down, Yukhei pulled out to join the main road and continued on their way. Donghyuck sighed a content sigh and looked out of the open window at the passing traffic.
“Today is a good day,” he said while looking at Yukehi, a soft smile on his face that grew bigger when Yukhei quickly glanced over at him with a wide, bright smile of his own as they drove down the highway, ironically under a billboard that had a picture of a sunset on it advertising a beach - they drove off into the sunset.