Chapter Text
It all starts on a Tuesday.
“Really, Jen, I’m telling you. They look fine.”
Jeno wrinkles his nose, trying to get used to the weight of his new glasses on his face. “I don’t want to look fine, Hyuck.”
Donghyuck, his dutiful best friend slash roommate slash sort of boyfriend (it’s complicated, okay?) bites back a sigh. “I’m sorry, I think that you misheard me. I didn’t say that you looked fine. I said that you are fine. Like, a fine piece of ass. Gorgeous. Otherworldly. Ten out of ten would tap that. Hell, Ten-hyung probably even would, if you asked him nice enough. You’re Lee fucking Jeno, remember, babe?” He punctuates his words with a firm slap to Jeno's ass, lips curled into a mischievous grin.
(See what I mean about complicated?)
Jeno sighs. It’s honestly just his luck that he would break his glasses on a Friday, the day of three of his final exams and just before his optometrist leaves for a two-week holiday. He had just managed to get to the office before it closed- all thanks to his exasperated hyung Doyoung, who picked him and Donghyuck up and drove them after Jeno barreled into Donghyuck's room after his workout, a panicked look on his face and the broken glasses in hand, rambling about how he was on his last pair of contacts and he needed his glasses for the holidays, especially going to see his parents who already think he can't take care of himself-
Thankfully, they'd made it in time. The very kind lady working at the reception desk even let them stay late as Jeno tried on dozens of pairs of glasses, turning to Donghyuck for his commentary on each one, always finding something he disliked about them. They finally settled on a pair that was just okay- a pair with black frames across the top, frameless on the bottom. They looked alright Jeno figured- and he was too tired from finishing his classes for the semester to keep looking.
Now though, he feels self-conscious and far too aware of how they sit on his face, even with Donghyuck hyping him up.
"You're ridiculous," Jeno decides to say at last, elbowing Donghyuck in the ribs. He sighs and plucks the glasses off his face, putting them away into his glasses case. “I’m just not gonna wear them until we get home.”
A blurry Donghyuck blinks at him from where he’s stopped on the pathway, maybe an arm’s length away from Jeno. “Jen, I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, but you’re blind as a bat.”
Jeno tucks his glasses case back in his backpack, zipping it up carefully. “Actually, that’s a misnomer. Did you know that bats actually aren’t blind? While some bats use echolocation to hunt, other bats, like fruit bats, actually have really sharp vision. Some of them can even see ultraviolet light.”
Donghyuck snorts. “You’re blind and a nerd. You really make it hard for me to not make fun of you, you know that?”
“You make fun of me all the time,” Jeno counters. He shrugs, slinging his backpack over one shoulder. “And don’t act like you don’t love watching Planet Earth with me, Hyuck. Every time I fall asleep watching it, I wake up and you’ve made yourself at home cuddled up underneath me on the couch and you’re getting emotional about the baby buffalo again.”
“They’re bison, you buffoon.” Donghyuck huffs indignantly, attaching himself to Jeno’s arm as they walk. It’s cold- the winter air is fresh as they walk, nipping at their faces, and of course Donghyuck’s not wearing a proper coat. At least it stopped snowing this morning. “It’s terrible because I don’t want to watch them die, but if they don’t die then the baby wolves will starve. It’s really a lose-lose situation.”
“Circle of life.” Jeno grasps for Donghyuck’s hand when he just about trips on a crack in the sidewalk that he can’t see.
Donghyuck doesn’t bite back his laugh this time. “Don’t come crying to me when you fall and bruise your pretty face, okay, Jeno?”
Jeno rolls his eyes, playfully shoving Donghyuck away from him. “Like you’d let me.”
“Oh? You wanna bet?” Donghyuck grins, wiggles his eyebrows and takes off into the park.
Normally, Donghyuck wouldn’t try to run away from Jeno- Jeno’s on three different sports teams, not to mention the track team is still trying to recruit him- but he’s got the advantage here and he knows it.
While Jeno’s definitely not entirely blind, his vision is very much Not Good. He takes off after Donghyuck, trying his best to not fall on his face as Donghyuck dodges him by spinning around some trees, laughing as he leaps through the snow.
Jeno finally gains some distance on him when Donghyuck takes off towards the play structure, empty as it is with the poor weather, and he has to take a running jump to leap over a snowbank.
He doesn’t hold back- tackles Donghyuck right into the fresh pile of snow, laughter brimming out when Donghyuck squeals as they hit the ground. He tries to roll away from Jeno, but as soon as Jeno gets a grip on his arms there’s no way he’s getting away. Jeno grins, effectively pinning him down with his body weight.
“Okay! Mercy!” Donghyuck’s eyes are watery from laughter and it just feels right for Jeno to tug off one of his gloves, wiping away a single tear with his thumb.
Jeno’s eyes move from Donghyuck’s own down to his lips and he feels the moment shift.
Beneath him, Donghyuck goes slack as he lets Jeno cradle his face. He looks even prettier like this, Jeno notes- a little flushed from the cold and the laughter, lips pulled into a smile, gaze soft and affectionate.
“You’re a menace, Jeno,” Donghyuck says softly, reaching up to brush some of Jeno’s hair off of his face. It’s grown longer and it’s been a little while now since Donghyuck dyed it for him, dark roots starting to grow in, obvious against the blonde. Something grabs his attention to the side and he glances over, but Jeno’s far too focused on the boy in front of him to see anything else.
“You know Donghyuck, I’ve been thinking-”
“-Jeno, you should really-”
“-No, no, just hear me out a second, okay? I want you to know that I-”
A snowball hits Jeno directly in the face, cold and wet and fast, effectively shattering the moment and cutting off Jeno’s train of thought.
Brushing snow off his face, Donghyuck peers up at Jeno, his expression blurry through all the moisture. “I hate to break it to you, but you definitely would have seen that coming if you’d been wearing your glasses.”
Jeno blinks. Tries to process what’s happening, fails to compute. Donghyuck pushes on his chest and he sits up reflexively, Donghyuck’s brushing the rest of the snow off his face, drying him as best as he can with the sleeve of his coat.
“Oh my god I’m so sorry!!” Thundering footsteps have Jeno turning to his left where a boy wearing a bright white jacket with a big moon pin on his front is furiously running towards them. He just manages to stop before barrelling over, putting his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath. “That snowball was not supposed to hit you, it was meant for my idiotic friend-”
“Hey! I take offence to that.” Another boy- must be the idiotic friend, Jeno’s brain helpfully supplies- jogs up to moon boy's side. He has bright pink hair, pushed up and off his forehead. He just gives off the aura of a very pretty person. (Sometimes you don’t even need to be able to see any details of their face- you can just feel it, you know?) "I don't know if I'm more offended that you called me an idiot or that you called me your friend."
"Idiot," moon boy repeats, shaking his head. He turns back to Jeno, taking a step closer to him to offer him a hand. "Here, let me help you up."
Jeno's brain to mouth filter fizzles out right about here and he doesn't even nod as he takes moon boys hand, letting himself be pulled up. Moon boy is surprisingly strong, easily getting Jeno to his feet; once they're standing side by side, Jeno notes how small he is. Petite, dainty, and pretty.
Moon boy takes a step back before Jeno gets a good look at him, his features blurring out as he gets further away. "I'm so sorry. This is exactly what happens when I let this idiot talk me into a snowball fight."
"Hey," Pink boy pouts, "it's actually all your fault Injun! You're the one who got us watching that stupid sad movie about the sled dogs-"
"-excuse me, Togo is not stupid and the tears you cried were real-"
"And then we needed some fresh air before I broke into the holiday wine stash early." Pink boy snorts in laughter, poorly hiding it behind one hand. "Plus, dude, when that snowball hit you? Oh my god, it was hilarious-"
Another snowball whips through the air, this time hitting Pink boy right in the chest. He looks down, the snow still clinging to his coat and then up, eyes wide.
To Jeno's side, Donghyuck grabs his arm, laughing cheekily. "Run!"
They just manage to escape the barrage of snowballs tossed by Pink Boy, Donghyuck tugging Jeno to the ground to hide behind a snowbank.
"What are you doing?" Jeno ducks to avoid a snowball, laughter ringing out from the boys across the field.
"I was defending your honour!" Donghyuck pops up to launch a snowball, ducking just in time to miss getting hit again, nodding towards a pile of snow until Jeno gets the hint and starts crafting more snowballs. "He hit you with a snowball then Pinkie Pie laughed about it!"
Jeno halts mid-snowball. “Pinkie Pie? That’s the best you can do?”
“There’s no time Jeno, just go with it!” Donghyuck grabs the snowball from Jeno's hands and jumps up to huck it across the field, shrieking in victory when it hits its mark.
From then on, it's war.
If there's one thing Jeno's good at, it's action. He might not get in all the right words but he's quick to form a handful of snowballs. He peeks up from above the snowbank and thanks the gods that Pink boy has that bright-ass hair- it works as a beacon, albeit a fuzzy one, and he manages to land a few good shots, if Pink boy’s shrieks of horror are anything to go by.
“Jeno, duck!” Jeno hits the ground just in time for a snowball to whizz past the top of his head, but Donghyuck squeals when one hits him square in the shoulder. He reaches down to grab a hold of Jeno’s arm, tugging him up and to his feet. “We need to move! We’re way too exposed here, they’re gaining ground on us!”
Quick to move, Jeno looks around and squints, trying to figure out where to go- but everything is just white and fuzzy. “Where?”
“I was thinking maybe over- shit, why the hell am I asking you?” Donghyuck clicks his tongue. “Freaking idiot, not wearing his glasses-”
“Where are they? Uh- Pinkie Pie and Moon boy?” Jeno crouches a little lower to the ground, feeling too exposed where they are.
Donghyuck tugs on Jeno’s arm, puling him along. “Moon boy? Oh, you mean Twilight Sparkle?"
Jeno halts, squeezing Donghyuck’s arm until he looks over and can see the incredulous look on his face. “Hyuck, now is really not the time to admit to me that you're a My Little Pony fan."
“I am not!’ Donghyuck shakes himself out of Jeno’s hold, reaching down for two big handfuls of snow. "You try surviving an entire summer nannying twins who insist on watching it
every single day
after lunch! We couldn’t even watch one fucking episode of Pokemon, Jeno, not even one! You know how many times they lectured me for calling them unicorns and not ponies? Too many fucking times!”
A snowball whizzes past Donghyuck’s chest and he hucks a crudely-made one past Jeno, sighing when it misses one of their foes. “They’re over there! Quick- this way.”
Jeno follows Donghyuck as they move through the field, doing their best to dodge as much snow as possible. Donghyuck gets hit once in the leg as they slide behind a large snowbank, only a few feet away from where Pink boy and Moon boy have taken refuge.
“We need to do it, Jeno,” Donghyuck says, dropping down to his knees as he furiously pats together more snowballs. “It's time to unleash the Falcon."
Time stills. "Hyuck. Are you sure?" Jeno chews on his lower lip. "Once you unleash the Falcon, you can't take it back."
"I know." Donghyuck finishes making a fifth snowball, lining them up within arm's reach. "But we need to win, Jen. It's time to fly."
Thirteen and a half minutes later- exactly the amount of time needed for a perfect Falcon- Donghyuck laughs as Pink boy calls for a truce, frantically waving his white scarf in the air. Donghyuck whoops in laughter, slapping Jeno’s back in celebration as they ditch the remainder of their snowballs, all four boys trudging towards the middle of the open field. As they get closer Jeno can see that they all look quite the same- laughing, flushed and covered in snow, stopping just a foot or so away from each other.
Jeno looks up and meets Moon boy's eye and- they both burst out in laughter.
They’re absolutely soaked. Jeno can feel the snow in his boots even, squishy when he falls to his knees from laughter at just how absolutely ridiculous all of this is.
He doesn't even know these boys but they've spent the better part of an hour trying to best each other, tossing dozens of snowballs, falling into the snow and laughing.
“I’m- I’m sorry?” Moon boy wipes away a tear from laughing so hard. “I don’t know what to say now, but that was really fun.”
Jeno nods uselessly, swallowing back whatever words he was going to say because Pink boy is smiling, walking up to them and now both boys are close enough that he can actually see them and- yeah.
They're pretty.
“You guys won fair and square." Pink boy brushes a big chunk of snow off his shoulder. "You’ve earned your prize.”
Moon boy turns to him, eyebrow raised. “Prize?”
“Yes, Injun." Pink boy nods very seriously, tossing an arm around Moon boys shoulder. "We have no choice but to kiss them."
Jeno blinks. Looks up, from Moon boy to Pink boy to Donghyuck and back. “What?”
“It’s only right,” Pink boy says with a resigned shrug. Jeno can already feel his face getting flush.
“Okay, how about we start off with introductions because I can literally feel Jeno’s brain shutting down from over here." Jeno thanks every deity that he can possibly think of that Donghyuck is here and that he's always looking out for him as he steps into Jeno's space, rubbing the back of his neck comfortingly. "Poor baby's always been hella weak to pretty boys."
Jeno winces. Scratch that, he's a menace and Jeno should have ditched him back in fifth grade when Donghyuck admitted that he likes pineapple on pizza after claiming to be Jeno's best friend.
All men do is lie.
Moon boy smiles warmly. "I'm Renjun, and this is Jaemin." Pink boy- Jaemin- smiles charmingly, waving with two fingers. "It's nice to meet you, Jeno."
Jeno can feel his heart rate pick up, pulse thrumming so loudly he can feel it in his ear drums. "Hi," he says, averting his gaze down towards the snow.
"I'm Hyuck." Donghyuck squeezes Jeno's nape soothingly, the feel of his warm skin and the scent of his cologne soothing. "It's nice to meet you guys."
"Likewise." Jaemin smiles, pulling Renjun closer to him, his chin resting comfortably against Jaemin’s neck. Their casual display of skinship makes something strange bubble in the pit of Jeno’s stomach coupled with the way that Jaemin’s looking at them. “It’s been a while since we’ve been bested in a snowball fight.”
“This was literally our first snowball fight ever you dork,” Renjun laughs, rolling his eyes. “Don’t try and act cool.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, babe. I’m definitely cool.” Jaemin wiggles his eyebrows in a decidedly not-so-cool way, prompting Donghyuck to burst into laughter.
“You are the pinnacle of cool,” Donghyuck confirms, nodding very seriously. He pinches the back of Jeno’s neck lightly. “Wouldn’t you agree, Jen?”
Jeno nods. Whether they’re doing it on purpose or not, the casual banter helps to soothe and settle his nerves, which had been wound up tightly in his chest. “I happen to be an expert on coolness, so I can definitely confirm it.”
Renjun’s eyes crinkle when he laughs, shaking his head. “Don’t feed into his ego, it’s already too big to fit through regular doorways.”
“Good thing our apartment has an arched entryway!” Jaemin laughs, dodging when Renjun goes to hit him in the shoulder.
It’s simple, natural. Sometimes you just figure out right away that you fit together well with someone- that they’re your kind of weird.
Leave it to Donghyuck to push the limits. “So, Jaemin, what was that you were saying about a victory prize?”
Renjun looks up and he and Jeno share a look. Cautious, maybe? Nervous.
Jaemin however, doesn’t seem phased. “A kiss. One for each victor, obviously. We’re doing it like the Romans did.”
“I can guarantee you that the Romans did not do that,” Renjun butts in, but it falls on deaf ears.
Donghyuck hums. “What kind of kisses are we talking about here? Because like, Jeno’s raised my standards pretty high. He really kissed kind of like an overeager puppy back in high school-”
“-Oh my god I am literally going to kill you-”
“-But he’s really improved his game. That rags to riches story, man, it’s good. Anyway, what was I saying?”
“You were asking what kind of kisses Jaemin meant,” Renjun helpfully supplies.
Jaemin unravels himself from around Renjun and takes a step forward, right up into Donghyuck’s space. “How about I show you?”
(Jeno doesn’t miss the way that Donghyuck grabs Jeno’s hand and squeezes. Maybe he’s
finally
met his match when it comes to bold skinship. Jeno definitely wouldn’t mind seeing him taken down a few pegs when it comes to that, that’s for sure.)
Not one to back down lightly, Donghyuck nods. “Alright,” he says, turning his face just a little bit to show Jaemin what he wants.
Okay, so- yes, Donghyuck is Jeno’s boyfriend. It’s been that way for quite a while too, ever since their senior year of high school when their school soccer team won nationals after Jeno scored the winning goal and when Donghyuck wound up on the court to help celebrate (because his coach had long accepted that Donghyuck just can’t be controlled), Jeno accidentally swept him up in his arms and kissed him.
(Accidentally.)
That’s when they found out that basically everyone they went to school with already thought they were dating and the only ones caught unaware were themselves.
But Jeno’s always sort of known that they’re not… finished. Not complete. They’ve always been open to more, to opening up to other people. They talked about it pretty early into their relationship, when Jeno opened up about how he thought he might be polyamorous. It was weird and new and foreign, but they sat down and figured it out together.
That’s one thing Jeno loves most about Donghyuck: he’s not afraid to talk about what he’s feeling and he makes Jeno not feel like he can too. He’s his safe space.
The idea of bringing more people into their relationship is terrifying, but- Jeno feels a whole lot more secure being brave when he knows with every fiber of his being that Donghyuck isn't going anywhere. That’s one insecurity that Donghyuck refused to ever allow him to breathe into, letting the embers fade away almost instantly.
(They’ve tried a couple of times too- the first was Yangyang, but they figured out pretty quickly that they’re better off as friends. They liked Lucas, but he had a hard time wrapping his head around the whole polyamory thing- the longest-lasting try was Mark, but it just didn’t work out.)
It’s good being just the two of them too, but they both have a lot of love to give, and Jeno can hardly feel the cold with how much warmth is spilling into his heart.
Renjun bursts out laughing when Jaemin presses a disgustingly loud kiss to Donghyuck’s face, Donghyuck wailing in betrayal as he wipes off his cheek.
Jeno smiles watching, somehow taken a little by surprise when Jaemin steps up to him next. They’re about the same height, and up-close his smile is even brighter. “What about you, Jeno? Can I?”
All it takes is a nod and Jaemin’s leaning in, pressing a soft, barely-there kiss to Jeno’s cheek.
“Oh, why does Jeno get a nice one, but I got that?” Donghyuck whines, Renjun throwing his head back with laughter. Donghyuck calms down only when Renjun steps up to him next, pressing a kiss to his other cheek.
“There you go, whiner.” Jeno’s known Donghyuck too long to not see the flush on his face- it makes Jeno chew on his lower lip, warm, fuzzy feelings overwhelming him from the inside out.
Jaemin ruffles Renjun’s hair, playfully teasing him about how red he’s gotten. Renjun shoves him off, grumbling to himself as he moves to stand next to Jeno.
Donghyuck and Jaemin playfully argue, Donghyuck complaining until Jaemin gives him a proper kiss on the cheek as well.
“God, I thought just Jaemin was bad enough.” Renjun crosses his arms, leaning close enough to Jeno that Jeno can feel his warmth. “This is like there’s two of them.”
Jeno laughs. “Good. They can entertain each other.”
Renjun’s quiet for a moment, until Jeno looks over and catches him staring. “Jeno, can I kiss you too?”
These boys are going to be the death of him, aren’t they?
Jeno chews on his lower lip and nods, heart in his throat when Renjun has to push himself up on his tippy toes to reach.
Yeah. That’s a full-on KO just waiting to happen.
Jeno’s brought back to reality when Donghyuck presses his palm to the small of Jeno’s back, nestling his hand under Jeno’s jacket against his bare skin in an attempt to warm up his icy fingers. He leans in close, nosing beneath Jeno's ear just the way that he likes, leaving him a small kiss there. Grounding him down and reminding him of how much affection and love they share. “Okay, so as much as I truly love all this obvious flirting- I’m literally freezing my ass off out here, so could we maybe like I don’t know- exchange numbers and rain check this shit so that we can go home and change?” Jeno puts an arm around Donghyuck when he realizes that he’s shaking, his soaked jeans and definitely-not-waterproof jacket doing next to nothing to shield him from the cold. Donghyuck leans in to him, snuggling against this chest.
Renjun shrugs. “Or if you want, we live really close? Come over? I put on some food before we left, and we can lend you something dry.”
“You can borrow something of mine to wear,” Jaemin cuts in, tossing one arm around Renjun, the other around Donghyuck. “Because obviously, Renjun’s stuff will be way too small-”
“What was that, Jaemin? You’re not hungry and you don’t want any of the soup I started making especially for you because it’s your favourite?” Renjun elbows Jaemin in the ribs, knocking him out of the way to instead put his own arm around Donghyuck, reaching for Jeno to link their arms together and tug him along too. “That’s fine, more for us, I guess. Jeno, do you like jjampong?”
Jaemin gasps, scandalized. “Injunnie!”
From that moment on, Jeno’s entire world starts to spin on its axis.