Chapter Text
Chapter 1: First Date
Jaejoong stared at his genetics practice problems, trying to read the question to himself and understand what was going on. A certain percentage of these hypothetical flies were going to have both red eyes and short wings, and he needed to figure that out based on the previous two generations of flies.
His phone rang. Caller ID informed him it was coming from My Jung Yunho <3 and he picked up before the first ring even ended.
The person on the other end spoke first. “Hey, how was your exam?”
Jaejoong sighed. “I don’t think it was bad, exactly. I just don’t wanna talk about exams until after they’re graded. How was your day?” Yunho made a pensive sound.
“Good, I just finished with the kids and Sangwoo ordered fried chicken.”
Sangwoo was one of Yunho’s two roommates. Jaejoong shook his head. “One of you should learn how to cook, seriously. Even like two actual meals.”
“Do you want me to try cooking or do you want me to have an apartment to live in? Are you ready for Saturday?”
Their first official date was Saturday. Two days away. “Wow, smooth subject change,” Jaejoong said sarcastically. “I’m ready… tell me what you planned, please.” When Yunho insisted he was paying for the first date on account of Jaejoong confessing first, Jaejoong had set a price limit. In return, Yunho was now insisting on maintaining the element of surprise.
“Hmm. Nope. Just have patience, please,” Yunho teased.
Jaejoong leaned back in his chair, thinking. “At least tell me what I can wear.” He changed tactics. “What if it’s something I don’t like doing? Or food I can’t eat?”
“Dress casually and nice try, but don’t worry. I promise I have it figured out.” Yunho’s voice took on a tone reminiscent of press conferences. “Dinner has arrived. I will be taking no further questions.”
Somewhat pacified, Jaejoong’s voice softened. “Okay, see you Saturday. Good night, Yunho.”
“Good night, Jaejoong.”
On Saturday, Jaejoong forced himself to finish his assignments. He was tutoring some freshmen tomorrow, and Yunho had told him to be ready by four this afternoon for the date. He spent a little too long trying to figure out how to look good and be casual and then told himself to calm down.
So now here he was, meeting Yunho at the front of his apartment in his nicer sneakers, light blue jeans, and a black t-shirt. He was buzzing with excitement. They’d been following their usual routine at the café, avoiding being too couple-y because they were both working. At some point, while putting on lip balm, it had sunk in. Jung Yunho was really his boyfriend, and they were going on a real date.
Yunho greeted him with his cute mini wave, and Jaejoong’s heart did a little flip. They caught the bus and sat with their shoulders and arms pressed together, talking about school, friends, and work. Then Jaejoong got a notification from the café part-timers’ chat. That led to Jaejoong showing Yunho the collection of science memes on his phone. Yunho looked up architecture memes, surprised and delighted to learn that a huge amount of them existed. Then he motioned to Jaejoong that they were getting off at the next stop.
Jaejoong squinted in suspicion. “I know where we are.”
“Hmm, do you now.” Yunho led him off the bus.
He jumped a little in excitement. “Oh my God! It is! It’s the arcade!”
A few months ago, Jaejoong, Jiyeon, and some of their friends were supposed to visit Break Out Games. Half of it was a board game café, and the other half was stuff like air hockey and bowling. Unfortunately, Jaejoong had gotten sick earlier in the week and had to take a makeup shift at the café, so he hadn’t got to go. He’d mentioned it to Sooyoung.
“Sooyoung helped you pick?” He asked, surprised. If this was later on in their relationship, that would’ve been different. But Sooyoung liked making men put in effort for things at first, just to make sure they deserved to be involved with her friends.
Yunho chuckled. “That’s a good friend you’ve got.” He shook his head, bemused. “She told me dating is a test and she wasn’t helping me cheat. Then I told her I found where we’re going for dinner on my own and just wanted help with an actual activity. Also, I said it wasn’t like she was taking the test for me, she was just giving me a study tip.”
“She’s so great,” Jaejoong said, beaming. “Also she’s just making sure you actually try, that’s all.”
“I know,” Yunho responded, grabbing Jaejoong’s hand and pulling him into the building. “Come on.”
They played several rounds of air hockey, until they forgot who had won more games. Jaejoong told Yunho about how his sisters and him used to play it. They used at least three of the pucks at once, a tactic which Yunho was currently describing as free noise pollution.
Jaejoong had a tumultuous history with sports involving balls. He was always open to trying them, but previously he’d been hit in the face with both a soccer ball and a basketball. Bowling with Yunho was different, though. At first, he was just admiring Yunho’s form and in return providing free entertainment to Yunho by resorting to weird bowling techniques, with varying levels of success. So far, the one that was working the best was standing with his legs apart and just rolling the ball with two hands. Yunho laughed at this for a while. Then he came up behind Jaejoong, sliding his arms around his waist and whispering into his ear. “I can show you how to do it right, you know.”
Jaejoong shivered at the sudden closeness, then teased back, his voice a little shaky. “Excuse me, sir. This is a family-friendly establishment.” Yunho snort-laughed into his shoulder and Jaejoong giggled automatically, leaning back into his solid warmth.
He does teach it effectively, Jaejoong admitted to himself ten minutes later. Yunho’s teaching process involved touching Jaejoong’s arms and hands a lot, which he did not mind at all. And now he was bowling somewhat correctly. They played three more games because Jaejoong was determined to get at least one strike. When he finally got it, he jumped in excitement and then kissed Yunho, catching him by surprise. He kept his arms wrapped around Jaejoong though, so he could pull him in for another, much slower kiss.
Jaejoong pulled away, blushing. There were so many people around them. “There are families here, Jung Yunho,” he whispered in a scandalized tone.
Yunho stuck his tongue out at him. “It’s very dark here… how much are you going to blush if I kiss you at dinner?” Jaejoong flicked his forehead. “Also, uh, one of us set a budget, so we should just play board games until we leave.”
“Alright. Whoever wins rock paper scissors picks the game?”
Yunho won, and picked a deck of cards, which Jaejoong had not seen coming because cards are not a board game. But there were several decks at the café, and Yunho had won, so that was fair.
Both Jaejoong and Yunho could be quite competitive. Despite being honorable in other aspects, they both cheated in the card games. In the end, neither of them minded much, probably because they were resting their shoes against each other under the table. When Jaejoong trailed the toe of his shoe up Yunho’s calf, Yunho leaned forward.
“Can I take you to dinner now?” Jaejoong nodded, and they set off.
Yunho had picked a small Korean barbecue place that he had clearly been to before, since the owner seemed to know him. They sat down in a small, somewhat intimate booth, and Yunho took the menu. He seemed a little bit flustered.
“I know this place isn’t very big, but everything tastes really good. I usually get this when I come with my friends, if you want to take a look,” he said, pointing out a combo special to Jaejoong.
He registered the words “beef bulgogi” and “thin pork belly” and nodded in agreement before smiling at Yunho. “You know I’m not very fancy, right? I’m not from Seoul or a big city or a rich family either.”
“I know, you just… you look expensive. And-” He cut himself off, and Jaejoong had to know what that was about.
“What?” He asked, letting his shoe bump Yunho’s.
Yunho shook his head swiftly, but Jaejoong asked again, and he gave in. “Nothing, it’s just… remember your birthday? When I bought you the macarons?”
Jaejoong blinked, a little confused. “Yeah, why?”
“You were really happy. I… I don’t know how to explain this. I like making you happy, okay?” Yunho looked down, his lips turning up at the corners. Jaejoong barely had time to process this because at that moment, their waiter appeared. After they took Yunho’s order, they brought glasses of water, bowls, and condiments. They would come back in a minute with the side dishes and meat, so Jaejoong started drinking water now. He noticed Yunho watching him, elbow on the table and chin in his hand.
“Ah, see, like that.” Yunho said, still looking at him. The smile was still there, and something in Jaejoong’s chest fluttered.
“What?” He asked, feeling shy. Being the sole focus of Yunho’s attention was… intense.
“You did it again, you put your pinky up when you’re drinking stuff, it makes you look fancy.”
Ah, I’ve done it in front of him before? Jaejoong thought, busying himself with arranging the side dishes that had just arrived. The fluttering grew at the thought that Yunho noticed it and remembered it. It made him want to fuss over Yunho, take care of him. Besides, Yunho had planned this whole date.
Jaejoong started grilling the meat when it arrived a few minutes later, and Yunho briefly put his hands together as though praying before joining in. Jaejoong swatted him away a little, not sure why this was so important to him. It wasn’t like Yunho was unable to grill for himself.
“Shh, you sit. I’m feeding you. By the way, are you religious?”
Yunho was blushing for some reason. “Alright, alright. Yeah, I am. You?”
Jaejoong shook his head. “Not really, my whole family isn’t.” He picked up some of the meat with his chopsticks and started making a lettuce wrap, trying to ask his next question casually. “Don’t answer if you don’t want, but… your family. Would they be okay? With us?”
Yunho bit his lip and leaned back. “I don’t know, I haven’t told them about… well. I haven’t come out to them, I had no reason to, before.” He smirked, his tone turning teasing. “Why, are you thinking that far ahead already?”
“Shut up,” Jaejoong said quickly, flushing and pretending it was from the grill’s heat. He held out the lettuce wrap. “And open your mouth.”
Yunho leaned forward and accepted the lettuce wrap, closing his eyes and making appreciative noises as he ate. Jaejoong watched him, thinking about what he had said. It was too early to start imagining things, but… he wouldn’t mind more of this, that was for sure. Besides, how did one figure that out? If they wanted a person forever? And… there was something else he worried about. How did you know that they wouldn’t tire of you either?
He could puzzle through that later. Probably after asking the sister that had just gotten married. Yunho opened his eyes and resumed eating. Jaejoong worked his way through his portion of the grilled meat.
“Jaejoong. What’re you thinking about?” Yunho asked, holding a piece of lettuce in his hand. He was looking down, picking toppings to stuff in the lettuce. Some of his hair had fallen into his face.
Jaejoong shook his head to clear it. “Nothing, just overthinking.” Yunho looked up and Jaejoong reached out on reflex, fixing his hair before he realized what he was doing. Yunho smiled, holding out his assembled lettuce wrap.
“For you,” he said, and Jaejoong opened his mouth. Yunho gently stuck the lettuce wrap inside.
Later, when they were on the bus back to Jaejoong’s apartment, Yunho put his head on Jaejoong’s shoulder and he leaned against it a little, thinking about what he should do for their next date. He pulled out his phone and earphones and Yunho stirred, evidently still awake. He held out his hand and Jaejoong obliged, handing him the left earphone.
There was a minute of silence and Jaejoong panicked a little, realizing his playlist had a lot of rock music in it, and they were on a quiet bus at night. It didn’t exactly match the mood.
Yunho shifted and mumbled, “Pick anything, really. I won’t mind.” Then he snuggled into Jaejoong’s shoulder.
Okay, this is your fault, Yunho.
Yunho jumped a little when the song began, but true to his word, he stayed resting on Jaejoong’s shoulder and didn’t make a single comment, even though the song wasn’t even Korean. Jaejoong felt a burst of warmth in his chest at this and slid his hand into Yunho’s. His long, elegant fingers wrapped around Jaejoong’s immediately and he smiled, pleased.
When the song ended, Yunho squeezed Jaejoong’s hand, moving his thumb along it in thought. “Hmm. Had no idea you liked J-rock.”
“Yeah,” Jaejoong responded, suddenly feeling exposed. He nudged Yunho a little, holding his phone out. “Here, you pick the next one.”
Yunho typed slowly into the search bar, using only one hand so that he could keep holding Jaejoong’s hand with his other one. Jaejoong recognized the song. Though I Loved You.
It was slow, and sad. He whispered, “Jeez, Yunho, who broke your heart?”
“Nobody, I just like songs like this for some reason,” Yunho said, and Jaejoong marveled for a second at how close they were sitting, and how if he turned his head just a little, Yunho’s hair tickled his lips.
They spent the remainder of the ride like that, alternating songs even though the transition from rock to ballad back to rock again was jarring. He’d learned a lot about both of them today. Yunho liked slow, sad songs, and was good at sports, and wasn’t out to his family yet. And Jaejoong liked feeding him, liked looking up and catching him smiling, liked complaining about school to him, liked making him laugh, liked holding hands with him. Would probably like cuddling with him too.
When they reached Jaejoong’s apartment, he quickly pulled Yunho into a kiss before he lost his nerve. He couldn’t help it. No matter how relaxed he felt around Yunho most of the time, dating still felt a bit like a test he hadn’t studied for.
Yunho was watching him, and now he moved his fingers slowly, stroking along Jaejoong’s waist. “You’re worrying about something, aren’t you?” Jaejoong started shaking his head, but Yunho brought his hand up so he could brush his thumb against Jaejoong’s cheek. Then he leaned forward and gently kissed him on the forehead. “You worry a lot, don’t you? And you don’t tell anyone? Or maybe you do, just not me. I know it’s early to ask, but… I hope you’ll share it with me.” Jaejoong inhaled sharply in surprise.
“A lot if it’s just silly, I don’t know why I do it… I’ll tell you the serious ones…” He trailed off, not sure what to say. He wanted to apologize for overthinking things on a perfect date. He wanted to thank Yunho for… noticing? For understanding?
Yunho held up his pinky. “I won’t make fun, promise.” Jaejoong’s slight frown softened into a smile, and he brought up his own pinky to complete the promise.
He knew he couldn’t know for sure if that was true, or that Yunho wouldn’t find his anxiety burdening in the future, but when Yunho bent a little to kiss their intertwined fingers, eyes closed, well. He couldn’t help melting a little.