Chapter Text
“ oh my god doyoung please I beg you ”
“ten, how many times do I need to say this? My answer is no.”
Doyoung furrows his eyebrows in annoyance as his roommate, ten, an international student from thailand begs him to be a stand-in booster for the next basketball game. Ten belongs to the university organization who cheers for student athletes during competitions and he is in charge for the basketball department. The blonde has been rambling on how one of their members got a surgery and won’t be available for the next month. They need someone who would substitute because being one person short means one voice less than the other team.
The thing is, the proposition brings a lot more cons to doyoung more than it's pros.
Cons; one, his study time would be lessened. He’ll need to attend practices and of course the match itself. Two, his dignity would be compromised. Not that he’s popular or something, he just wants to keep it lowkey in college. He had been in too much exposure in high school, and what happened in high school needs to be left in highschool.
What doyoung fears the most though, is he’s not just cheering for the whole team, but he needs to cheer individually for jersey number 14. Which is his all time crush, the resident dimple boy next door, jung jaehyun of engineering.
Pros would be; one, he’d get inside the court for free. Which is quite a splurge for a broke student like him. Two, he can’t think of any anymore.
“as far as I know, you have a crush on jung jaehyun,” ten says as a matter of fact, which in return received glares from the other.
“and what about it?”
“then it’s your time to shine!” ten kneels on the sofa beside doyoung, just so he can be taller to doyoung who is comfortably sitting on the sofa. The blonde holds his shoulders and shakes him. “Cheer for the love of your life instead of pretending you don’t care about him!”
“look, ten. I can’t do it.” doyoung breaks ten’s hold on him.
“I'm not as bubbly as you, i bet it would be boring if i do it. And I don’t think he deserves someone to cheer for him like that,”
“Oh sweetie, that can be managed. You don’t need to perform the whole routine with us! I’ll talk to them! You will just need to shout his name and that would be it!”
“I'm sorry ten, I made up my mind. My answer is really no” ten sits back on the other side, slumping his back and pouting his lips.
Of course though, ten doesn’t give up easily. What he wants, he gets. Even if it means targeting doyoung where he is vulnerable.
“okay that's it, i don’t wanna pull this but i will just so i can drag you out of here. I’ll pay you!” doyoung’s eyes goes wide. Ten knows he’s been struggling these days. His family’s business has been in bad condition, so even though his allowance is about to run short, he never tells his family anymore. He lives off doing part time jobs, and it's honestly been tiring him out.
“or maybe i’ll just pay next month’s rent in full! You don’t need to worry about it anymore! Please please doyoung i beg you!”
Doyoung breathes.
“why do you want me to do this so much?”
“because! It will be fun! And you can meet the boys after! I’m doing this for you doyoung, believe me. you can thank me after”
“okay, I'll do it,” doyoung finally gives in. Sinking back in his seat.
“yes!”
“but! I’ll pay you back next month when I get my allowance, you don't need to pay me,”
“okay!”
“and you’ll need to be patient with me!”
“yes sir!”
“okay?”
“okay.”
-------------------
Instead of his usual spot at the corners, which is when he’s lucky to score some tickets, doyoung finds himself sitting on the VIP side of the bleachers in their university indoor gym. It's the semis for the collegiate basketball league and their team is in home court advantage so that spot for the finals is within a reach of a hand.
The gym is almost full so drummer team is starting to warm up their drums together with the boosters warming up their throats. Ten is by his side shouting to the other boosters some pointers about their cues. Doyoung only hears muffled sounds though, because the players, dressed in all their basketball jersey glory have started to come out of their locker rooms to warm up the court.
First to come out is the team’s center, the tallest of the group. He comes out and the blaring of the drums drags to the fullest. This immediately catches Ten’s attention, shifting from screaming at the club’s members to jumping up and down cheering for his one and only, Seo Youngho.
“Oh my god he’s so hot ,” ten says dreamily.
Tailing Youngho was the whole basketball team and it feels like an hour to doyoung waiting for that one player he anticipates to see. Doyoung waits until he spots the Jung Jaehyun, team’s Power Forward, wearing his signature smile that showcases his deep dimples which doyoung can clearly see even though he’s 30 ft. away from him. His white pale skin complementing their red and white jersey, the jersey which also exhibits the player’s toned muscles. His arms flexing as he picks up a ball to shoot, which goes straight into the basketball hoop.
Minutes after the players started to warm up, the game started. The first and second quarter went on smoothly although the scores didn’t differ much, their team is still winning. Ten and his club was constantly cheering for the team, together with the beat of the drums, they constantly lift the atmosphere among the crowd. It amazes doyoung how their shouts create a ripple to the audience which makes the crowd wild and excited.
The halftime is composed of the school’s cheerleaders which is supposed to cheer the team but in doyoung’s perspective, all they did was flash their little skirts and cleavages. Their cheerleading club needs a better uniform designer to be honest.
Doyoung’s eyes travels to the players which are clustered to their coach’s command. He sees jaehyun drenched in sweat, getting a bottle of water from a girl from the crowd before returning to his seat after their coach finishes discussing their strategies.
Is that his girlfriend? Which doyoung didn’t know about?
Doyoung just let his shoulder shrug since Jaehyun's personal life isn't really not his business.He's here to help with ten's club. Nothing more, nothing less.
Third quarter came and the other team is about caught up with their team’s score. Which of course meant the cheers and the banging of the drums to be louder.
DEFENSE!
The ball is on the opposing side and jaehyun unleashes his powerful footwork by denying position to his opponent, #7, Kim Seok Woo, another power forward.
DEFENSE!
Jaehyun is shorter than Jersey #7, which puts him at a disadvantage, yet his speed and agility made it harder for seokwoo to attack. At one point, Seokwoo has to bump his shoulder to jaehyun’s in order to make his way, but jaehyun is a 6 feet full of power so he didn't budge at that.
Seokwoo has no choice but to pass the ball.
DEFENSE!
Which of course jaehyun manages to intercept and put the play on his team’s hands.
Everything happened so fast yet doyoung sees it almost in slow motion.
Maybe it's because it's Jung Jaehyun .
“Doyoung!” ten puts a hand on his shoulders and breaks his trance on jaehyun.
“Doyoung! It’s time! You need to cheer on Jaehyun now!”
Oh my god.
Doyoung’s breath comes to a hitch and he can feel his heart pounding on his chest.
He needs to do what ten taught him to do. He needs to shout Jaehyun’s name as loud as he can.
Doyoung closes his eyes.
“you just need to inhale. Gather all your strength. Then shout as loud as you can. You just need to shout the first line as a cue and my team would follow you”
“Okay. Okay.”
Doyoung inhales as deep as he can. The banging of the drums fills doyoung’s ears.
“JUNG JAEHYUN!!”
“JAEHYUN, JAEHYUN, GRANT MY WISH”
Just like how ten said, his team followed him on the second line.
“LET US HEAR THAT BALL GO SWISH”
As they chant that line, Youngho passes the ball to jaehyun who jumps light and smooth, and shoots at a perfect trajectory to the basketball hoop.
Cheers roared loudly, the loud sound bounces across the indoor gymnasium creating echoes.
What Doyoung didn’t miss though, is that jaehyun turns around and looks at their bleacher section, looking for something or someone.
Jaehyun then roams his eyes through bleachers just as where the boosters are seated.
And at the end, where Doyoung is seated,
Jaehyun settles his eyes on doyoung,
And just as doyoung was about to open his mouth to ask what’s the matter,
He winks,
Jung jaehyun winks at him,
Jung jaehyun, the one who got the whole school wrapped around his fingers winks at him and proceeds to play the game just like usual.
“Ten, ten, did you see that?”
“See what?”
“j...j..jaehyun… jung jaehyun...h-h-he…” doyoung can’t stop blinking his eyes to see if he was dreaming.
“he scored, yeah. And with Youngho’s assist. They really have a good chemistry inside the court,”
“n-n-no no ten, h-he…”
“focus on the game, will you?
“okay…okay,”
Doyoung tries to focus on the game even though his hands are shaking and his heart is about to jump out of his chest. Doyoung likes to think that it wasn’t intended to him, what happened was so fast that ten didn’t even managed to see it, but a bigger part of doyoung is screaming at him that jung jaehyun really winked at him.
Don’t assume so much doyoung. Jaehyun probably does it to everyone else. That’s the reason everyone loves him.
The game went on intensely as the opponent tried hard to score shots but Johnny and Jaehyun always manages to block their shots, intercepts, and turns the table back to their team.
Nonetheless, the game is still the semi-finals. So the other team is just as eager as them since they are a step away from this year’s championship.
Soon enough, time outs after time outs, shouts and cheers becoming louder and louder just as the game becomes more intense, the game ends with the score in their favor. The ending shot was made by the team’s shooting guard, a 3-point shoot by their smallest #2, Mark Lee from International Studies.
Everyone stood up from their seats and started to flee out the gymnasium. Ten on his side, bid goodbye to his members, pulls doyoung’s hand, and makes their way down the court. Where the players are being congratulated by everyone because they finally secured their place to the finals.
“Johnny!” Ten lets go of doyoung’s hand as Youngho notices his presence. Ten then proceeds to talk to Youngho leaving doyoung standing there in the middle of the court, looking around for someone he knows. Doyoung does socialize, but he instantly regrets not socializing to someone related to sports so he can have someone at times like this.
“Hey!”
Doyoung’s eyes almost comes off it's sockets as he knows whose voice that belongs to. He’s also slightly sure that it's directed at him.
“Hey, Doyoung?”
Doyoung turns around and see a sweaty jung jaehyun, with a typical after game look, a towel on his shoulder, hands on his waist, making his way to him.
“hey! Congratulations! You did...great!”
“yeah, thanks to you” oh god. jaehyun flashes his smile at him. His eyes are turning into crescents and those whiskers on the side of his nose are showing. Doyoung just want to melt then and there.
“huh? Me?”
“Yeah, I heard your voice all the way there” the player puts a hand on his nape. Oh my god. Is he shy?
“oh that? Really?” Now it’s doyoung’s turn to get shy. Well, this conversation is getting awkward.
“Jaehyun!” doyoung turned around to see a group of girls each holding different slogans.
“Jung Jaehyun #14 Fighting!! Heart” ?
“Power Forward Jung Jaehyun I Love You heart heart” ??
“Marry Me Jung Jaehyun heart heart heart” ???
Doyoung wants to roll his eyes and puke but he’s interrupted with the girls holding their smartphones out to him
“Can you please take a picture of us?”
“oh, sure. Of course” doyoung fakes a smile. bitch.
So doyoung reaches for the smartphones and opens the camera app. He counts one to three but he didn’t miss jaehyun putting his hand on shoulders, but not around them like the usual
The girls then bid goodbye to them, taking their smartphones from doyoung and thanking him.
“Sorry about that,”
“it’s okay,”
“Oh right, there will be a barbeque party tomorrow night at Coach’s house, can you come?”
“Me? Isn’t that exclusive for basketball boys?” Doyoung curiously asks, tilting his head while pointing to himself
“uh do you see me talking to other people right now? Of course you,”
This time, doyoung didn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes.
“Just kidding. well, we can invite friends, just like how johnny always invite ten. Are you in? Do you need a ride?”
“you’ll what?”
“what? We’re friends. You live with ten right?”
“we’re friends??”
“you know what, in a conversation you need to make statements too. You can’t converse with questions alone it won’t make sense ” jaehyun smiles his signature smug smile.
Doyoung looks over at ten and Youngho. Ten would probably drag his ass up to that party too, so he literally has no choice.
“okay,”
“okay...what?”
“okay, i’ll go”
“okay, so, do you need a ride? I can pick you up”
“no...no, i think i’ll just ride with ten. He’ll be there too, right?”
“of course, he’s practically a part of the basketball team too,”
“yeah right,” doyoung nods in agreement.
“Jaehyun!” they hear a voice again but this time, it’s not fans but actually jaehyun’s coach.
“I guess that’s your cue to leave?”
“yeah… yeah. See you later, okay?” jaehyun nods but his face shows he’s apologetic to leave doyoung alone.
“Okay…” the player turns around and walks to his teammates as instructed by their coach. Doyoung stares at his retreating back.
What the hell just happened?
------------------------------------------
Saturday night, Doyoung rides at the back of Youngho’s Maybach. Doyoung feels bad for third wheeling but what can he do, he’s broke. He didn’t want to push through anymore and completely regretting agreeing to jaehyun. What a scumbag . How can he say no to that smile?
They arrive with almost everyone from the basketball team present. Most of them are huddled on the sofa drinking some beers while talking, while some are already outside the pool area getting the food and drinks ready. As expected these jocks are so loud doyoung feels like his ears are about to burst. Don’t get him wrong though, doyoung knows he’s talkative at times too but these people are just loud.
Ten and Youngho found their seats on the sofa making a team member scoot away and make a place for them.
“Hey, you came!” Jaehyun shouts as he enters the living room from the veranda. The player is in his college hoodie and sweatpants, looking like a typical college boy at home but he looks so good .
“Yeah… I can't say no to ten. You know he’s pretty persuasive” Doyoung puts a hand on his nape as he tries his best not to stare at jaehyun’s face.
“Oh, right. By the way, let me introduce you to them!” jaehyun turns to the other players scattered around the living room.
“Uh guys...guys! GUYS!” doyoung’s eyes went wide as the entire team turns to him.
“Guys, this is Kim Doyoung, he’s from…”
“Music.”
“Music. Be nice with him okay, or else you all are dead to me.” the player says as if he’s the team captain. It doesn’t surprise doyoung though that they all nod and started introducing themselves to doyoung.
“Hey doyoung! I’m Yukhei! You can also call me Xuxi! ” A tall one with wide eyes puts his knees on the sofa and turns to doyoung’s direction to shake his hand and wink at him.
“Hey! You made me call you lucas for half a year! You just met doyoung and you’re already telling him your name in Mandarin? What the hell man!” Jaehyun interjects.
“Not my fault you’re gullible dude”
“Oh you’re chinese? I remember my mandarin name! I think, it’s Dao ying!” Doyoung beams at yukhei.
“Oh really man? That’s so cute! Let me call you Doying!”
“If you think it’s cute then why did you butcher it! Hi! I’m Yuta! And this is my boyfriend, Taeyong. He’s a senior from music too!”
“Oh! Yeah, i know you i think we had classes together. Hi, i’m doyoung”
Everyone welcomed doyoung warmly. They were all curious as to why jaehyun suddenly brought someone to their weekly barbecue nights, because apparently, he never brings someone. Jaehyun is quick to dismiss their questions though, changing topics as soon as he knows where the questions are headed to.
“Everyone! Go out now! The food is almost ready!” Their coach enters from the veranda to call them and everyone went out like hungry beasts. Jaehyun also introduces doyoung to the coach and his wife who also welcomed him warmly.
Doyoung looks around the coach’s place. It’s not big but it's not small either, it's spacious enough to make a place for the whole basketball team. Most of the walls are occupied with basketball trophies, medals, and photo memorabilias of basketball games. Doyoung isn’t a big fan of basketball so he shrugs as he doesn’t recognize anyone.
One thing about the place is that it feels like home. He can already smell the smoke of barbecue, the sound of the loud jocks as if they are born sons of the household, and the sight of them being close to one another as if they are brothers by blood.
The coach’s backyard is set up with music and portable dining tables fit for the whole basketball team and their friends. It’s an intimate setting with mood lights all around the grass walls surrounding the outdoor property. Jaehyun pulls Doyoung straight to the seats, gives him one and sits next to him. Ten and Johnny sits opposite them and doyoung kinda wishes they sat beside him so he has someone to talk to.
The dinner is like a typical get together of long lost friends, except they haven’t even parted yet. They’ve been together for the whole day, practicing even after their win the previous night. It amazes doyoung how these kids are wholeheartedly passionate with what they are doing, despite the fact that people sees them as nothing but jocks. They’re all happy with what they are doing, and I think that's the most important.
Lucas started taking out the beers for all of them to enjoy, putting bears in front of everyone.
“Do you drink?” Jaehyun whispers to doyoung as he puts an arm at the back of doyoung’s chair.
“What makes you think i can’t?” Doyoung smiles proudly as he chugs on his beer. Jaehyun mirrors him and drinks...juice.
“You’re from music, you’re probably preserving your voice or something,”
“Nah, I do preserve my voice but it’s nice to release stress from time to time” Doyoung raises his eyebrows as reassurance. It didn’t miss doyoung’s attention that jaehyun’s arm is still on the back of his chair.
Doyoung sees himself laughing from their conversations which ranged from serious talks to childish banters. The boys never forget to include doyoung in their conversations too, asking if doyoung does this and that which doyoung adored. They all tried so hard to infuse topics that even their non player friends would understand, although sometimes the topic automatically goes back to basketball.
“Are you having a good time?” Jaehyun suddenly whispers in his ear which made doyoung flustered as hell. Gosh, why is he suddenly blushing like a 12 year old girl?
“I'm good, I'm...fine” Doyoung says.
“If you feel like going home, just tell me i’ll sneak you out of here. They can last drinking until morning”
Doyoung gets surprised at how things have changed within the last few days. Yesterday, he was just someone crushing on jaehyun, and now, jaehyun is concerned about him and even offering to get him home.
“No, it’s okay, I'll go with ten and johnny,”
“really?” okay, but why is jaehyun’s face so close to his?
Doyoung turns to look at the door to see a glimpse of the two sneaking out of the house. Doyoung doesn’t even want to think about what they’re about to do.
“Okay, fine. Take me home. But let me make it up to you okay? I don’t like owing anyone” doyoung raises a hand to make a point only to come close to jaehyun’s cheek. Why is it still so close?
Before doyoung’s brain registers that jaehyun’s skin is so soft and smooth, he quickly retracts his finger.
“how about you accompany me to a road trip right now?”
“What? Aren’t you drunk? Besides it’s late jaehyun,”
Jaehyun raises his glass of juice.
“I wasn’t drinking because i know i’ll drive you home”
“okay, but it's late. Where are we going? Everything is closed already,”
“You’re no fun,” Jaehyun replies as he leans back in his chair while combing his hair through his fingers.
Why is he so hot?
Did he just say i am no fun?
“I am fun! Just...not the way you think.”
“just trust me, okay? I won’t let you down tonight,”
That is what doyoung did. The next thing he knows he’s riding Jaehyun’s convertible, in the middle of nowhere. He doesn’t know where they are but he feels like jaehyun knows it like the back of his hand so he feels somewhat secure.
“oh my god,” Doyoung utters as he closes his eyes. He raises a hand on his side to feel the wind brush on his skin.
“oh my god as in I can't believe I have a hot driver with me or oh my god as in he might be a kidnapper taking me somewhere I don't know and might kill me?” jaehyun replies as he drives with one hand and leans on the windowsill with his arm. His hoodie is now pushed up to his elbows, his hair being swept by the wind. Typical hot driver you see in movies.
“oh my god as in the latter,” jaehyun chuckles as he shakes his head.
“I can’t believe this, i can’t believe i’m on a midnight road trip with the jung jaehyun. And it’s my first time being out and about at this time of day, or night, whatever”
“ the jung jaehyun?”
“oh, you know, the man of dreams of all the girls in our college, the basketball team’s power forward, the boy next door guy every parent wants their daughter to marry. The jung jaehyun”
“You think too highly of me, it’s embarrassing. Yet, somehow, endearing coming from you,”
Doyoung for infinite time of the day, can’t believe what the hell is happening. It’s like his whole world turned upside down the moment he accepted jaehyun’s invitation to his team’s weekly barbecue session. What he can’t understand is how does jaehyun feels so unfamiliar yet so close to home?
It feels too good to be true.
Maybe because you’ve been crushing for him since forever, doyoung.
Doyoung steals a glance from jaehyun and sees him smiling wide. Like he can’t place the feeling of happiness he feels and can't help but just, smile. His eyes are like crescents mirroring the moon that’s becoming more and more bright as they drive to somewhere unknown. (Well, in doyoung’s perspective. He likes to think jaehyun actually knows where they are going)
“Do you like the night?” Jaehyun asks suddenly as he steps on gas, speeding through the highway.
“Aren’t we speeding at this rate?”
“First of all, nope. It feels faster because you can feel the wind. Second, you really love answering questions with another question, no?”
“Can’t help it, I don’t want us suddenly disappearing if we have an accident. Ten doesn’t even know where i am right now. He’ll break loose if i die with you tonight,”
“Don’t worry, i won’t kidnap you” jaehyun replies as he looks at doyoung and winks. What an asshole. A cute asshole that is.
Doyoung’s face grimaces. But his inside? Dancing with joy.
You see, doyoung doesn’t get many nights like this. Nights where he doesn’t worry about tomorrow. Nights that somehow fuels his heart into beating a whole lot faster than normal. Nights when he can’t feel his nerves anymore because he’s just…
Happy.
Contented.
Ecstatic.
But then again, out of all the nights, doyoung feels sleepy the most right now. Maybe it's the beer he drank earlier at the coach’s house, maybe it’s because it’s past his bedtime. Doyoung doesn’t know which. Maybe both.
“Whatever, can you please close the roof? You won’t even tell how far we are from where we are going so, might as well get some sleep”
“You are really, no fun” jaehyun replies as he shakes his head but easily obliges as he presses a button and the roof draws back in. Whipped .
“Thank you,” Doyoung says as he reclines the passenger seat and closes his eyes.
---------------------
Doyoung wakes up with a blanket over him.He sits up to see the place jaehyun brought him to, and also to stretch since sleeping in a car isn’t really comfortable.
The car is stopped in the middle of what looks like a park, full of trees carefully placed to create a harmonic ambience. The whole place is dark with only the moonlight present to illuminate the large open area they are in.
Jaehyun is sitting on the driver’s seat. His seat is now identical to doyoung’s, reclined to it’s full laying potential. He’s staring upwards which piqued Doyoung’s interest as to what has been keeping jaehyun company while he’s sleeping.
The roof is again retracted so his eyes are greeted with one of a kind, breathtaking view of stars.
Countless stars.
It's the kind of view that won’t be seen in the city, so they must be far from seoul right now. But who cares? The view is so majestic doyoung takes a deep breath.
“Oh my god,”
Jaehyun turns to look at him. He smiles at doyoung, his dimples proudly showing off.
Can this night get any perfect?
“you’re awake. Didn’t want to wake you up, you looked like you needed the sleep. You like it?”
“oh my god,” doyoung looks in the vastness of the night sky, in awe of his view right now, his mouth is opened wide he doesn’t even care if jaehyun can his organs.
“oh my god i can’t believe this,”
The stars light up the sky so beautifully doyoung thinks he could die right then and there.
“I see you’re a fan of a sky full of stars”
“is that a joke?” doyoung finally looks at jaehyun, who is staring at him with a playful smile on his face. Seriously doesn’t he ever get tired of looking so cute?
“Whatever just stare at the beautiful view will you?”
“So, how’d you like the stars?”
“I don't like it, I freaking love it. Seriously i don’t even know where we are but i wanna live here already,”
Both doyoung and jaehyun can’t take their eyes off the magnificent view in front of them. Although doyoung’s view is a million years away for him, Jaehyun’s view is just a seat away.
“I love it too, I love the nights actually”
“Really? I thought you like mornings better?
“What makes you say that?”
Doyoung shrugs.
“Just...whenever I'm on my way to morning classes which i hate by the way, the basketball team is already there warming up, besides i thought all athletes like morning because why do you all exercise so early in the morning?”
“Athletes just don’t have a choice. We need more time to practice and hone ourselves so we need to get ahead and start early.”
“oh well, never born to be an athlete. Need my sleep so I can preserve my voice, or else i won’t stop talking.”
“I don’t mind you talking,”
“You don’t? Really?”
“Yeah, I can hear your voice all day, I won't mind”
“You’re just saying that because you haven’t heard me talk all day,”
“well, we’re talking now.”
“for a week” Jaehyun gives out a hearty laugh and doyoung feels like he’s hearing angels sing.
“To be honest I hate nights,” Doyoung sits up straight and turns to the side to face jaehyun. He brings up his legs, curling them in front of him.
“it’s always a time when i worry about all things possible, so, i don’t like nights. Plus, we don’t get to see this view often in seoul. I don’t like mornings either, maybe I just don’t pay attention to them, see I'm blabbering!”
“It’s alright don’t worry. Let’s play a game then! So you don’t have to do all the talking.” Doyoung rolls his eyes at jaehyun, as the other boy sits up and mirrors his position.
“20 questions! Game! I’ll go first. What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?”
Jaehyun looks at doyoung expectantly. His eyes are looking at him as if he’s about to say something so trivial, yet doyoung can’t think of any. Because doyoung is someone who doesn’t do spontaneous. Doyoung is someone who likes to plan ahead. Except when Jaehyun is involved, his sense goes to sleep at that.
“This one. This whole going out on a road trip with you even though I went to sleep. But this one, in the middle of the night. My first in ages”
“We’ll have more spontaneous adventures in the future, then. Now your turn, ask me questions!”
“uhh...favorite color?” doyoung swears he saw jaehyun’s excited face deflate for a minute. But he doesn’t tell him that.
“Neutral ones, i guess”
“And you have the audacity to call ME boring?”
“whatever doyoung, my turn! What’s one mistake you’ll never ever do again?”
“Why are my questions harder?”
“not my fault you wasted your chance,” jaehyun shrugs and doyoung rolls his eyes.
“Okay, mistake? I don’t...really know” doyoung says as he looks down, skimming on his past memories.
Jaehyun reaches for his hand and squeezes it reassuringly.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready-”
“No” doyoung interrupts jaehyun.
“it’s just, i’ve always lived by the book. I’ve always lived my life in order to please someone. My parents, my family, my friends, teachers, the dean. I guess that’s the biggest regret of my life? Not having a regret is also regret, right?”
“I think you’re great doyoung, I think we need to live a life without any regrets so we can breathe and sleep peacefully at night,”
“But why do i feel like it’s wrong?” Doyoung takes a deep breath and puts a hand on his chest.
“Why do I feel like I’m missing the chances of making mistakes? Why do I feel like it will all come back to me one way or another?”
“There’s no wrong or right with how we feel. Never ever doubt your feelings. Allow yourself to feel. It’s hard but once you get the hang of it, you’ll feel better, trust me.”
Jaehyun smiles at doyoung.
And Doyoung feels like he’s being struck by lightning. His heart beats so fast he doesn’t know if it’s still even normal. Oh, and he didn’t miss how he felt like there are tons of butterflies in his stomach.
So Doyoung smiles back.
“You see, you aren’t so bad to talk to after all,”
“Why? Did you think I’m a jock who has only one brain cell and only know how to make himself handsome?”
“Well, those are not my words…”
Jaehyun launches at doyoung and tickles him until he can hear doyoung’s hearty laugh. They both immediately regrets it as they realize they literally just met. It’s not something you do with someone whom you met in less than fifty-six hours, but Jaehyun makes him feel like they have known each other all their lives. Conversations flow so naturally with him and minutes of silence throughout the night didn’t even bother them at all, well, to doyoung at least.
When Doyoung wakes up from his trance, jaehyun’s face is a little too close to his. He doesn’t know when jaehyun started to lean in, much less when did he himself start to lean in?
Doyoung thinks of all the times he held himself back. Those times he wanted to skip class because he feels sick of his daily routine, the times he wanted to reject tasks given to him because his hands are so full of the he just wants to cry. That time he wanted to buy new shoes but held himself back because he should prioritize his needs before his wants.
Doyoung knows he’s gonna regret what he’s about to do but this time, he doesn’t mind not holding himself back. This time, he allows his heart to beat so fast it's almost coming out from his chest. He allows himself to be spontaneous enough to lean in and close his eyes.
He allows himself to kiss jaehyun’s soft, plump lips.
He allows himself to feel.
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