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Taeyong wakes up with a grunt as the sunlight shines all its glory into his small room. The incessant pounding at the back of his skull made him wince the moment he opened his eyes and his throat feels like sandpaper every time he tries to swallow. His entire body is so sore that he feels like he's just one ball of lactic acid laid on a very, very alcohol-infused bed. God, he's so hungover.
He groans as he blindly reaches for his phone which he had miraculously managed to throw on his bed haphazardly last night. It's 11:45 am, and thank heavens it's a Sunday because God forbid if he has to go to class today, he's practically fucked.
There are about 15 messages from Jungwoo, 11 missed calls from Johnny, and another 8 missed calls from Taeil who accompanied him last night to the club. He wonders if his friends also feel like shit, the same way he does at the very moment, but knowing those three, they probably even managed to cook themselves a very nice and helpful hangover meal for themselves. What tough luck, Taeyong thinks to himself.
"Fuck," he curses under his breath when a "Low Battery–5% remaining" banner pops up on his screen and mutters another "Fuck" when he realizes he had left his charger at Jungwoo's unit before they drove to the club the night prior.
Taeyong defeatedly plops back into his bed and attempts to swallow hard just to alleviate the dryness of his throat, though he knows it would be a futile attempt. What the hell has gotten him so drunk last night, anyway? It's not even his first time getting wasted, but why in the world does he have the worst possible hangover ever?
Must be the tequila, or the Bourbon, or the margarita, or that fucking Jeppson’s Malört Johnny had forced him to drink (Goodness, Taeyong could still feel the gnawing burn at the back of his throat when he took a sip of that God-forsaken liquor), but whatever it was, he does not remember. And Lord knows he isn’t willing to recall the remnants of what transpired last night.
"I should make coffee," he forces himself out of bed, body too sore to stand up straight, and lousily walks outside his room with an obvious frown plastered on his face. He almost trips and falls to the floor however, when a tall figure welcomes him the moment he opens his door to his room, "What the hell!"
The man instantly gets a hold of his arms, helping him to regain his ability, or lack thereof, to stand properly, "Are you alright, hyung?"
Taeyong replies with a huff, "What do you think, Jaehyun? I have a really bad headache right now, my throat is dry, and my body feels like shit. What's your diagnosis?"
Taeyong suddenly felt the urge to slap himself. He's hungover and he feels like shit, yes, but that doesn't mean he can just act like a bitch to his roommate, not when his roommate has practically done nothing to warrant the treatment he’s been giving him so far.
The man, who seems to be more amused than offended by his rude disposition, smiles and flicks Taeyong on his forehead, "You did this to yourself, you know. And you have no right to act like this on me, I practically helped you last night."
Upon hearing what Jaehyun had to say, his eyes immediately shifted to his body. He isn't wearing the clothes he used for partying last night, he realizes, instead, he's now wearing his pajama set with llamas printed on it, and guesses that Jaehyun probably helped him change. My God, what hell has Jaehyun gone through last night with him?
Mortified, panic rises to his cheeks. He got drunk and Jaehyun took care of him. He got drunk and his crush took care of him.
God knows what he's capable of whenever alcohol takes over his system.
Before he could say anything to save himself from embarrassment, his stomach turned upside down and he felt the urge to head to the toilet immediately. He shoves Jaehyun out of his way and runs to the shared bathroom in their apartment. He hears Jaehyun's faint "Taeyong, are you alright?" before he reaches the toilet and hurls everything he had consumed last night. There are tears pooling in his eyes as his body regurgitates all the things he couldn't digest, and his throat feels even more like sandpaper now.
Taeyong feels the presence of his roommate beside him, careful not to take too much of his needed space, and he realized that he wasn't able to close the door. Oh my God, how many more times does Jaehyun need to see him in this state?
"Let it all out," Jaehyun says softly, stroking his back.
Taeyong flushes the toilet before rinsing his mouth and face with cold water. He turns to Jaehyun who has now retrieved his hand from his back and with a glass of water on his other. Taeyong quickly accepts the offer without a word, relief washing his insides at the first gulp of water down his throat.
"Just...freshen up first," Jaehyun trails off. "You can go back to your room if you want. The soup is almost done."
"Soup?"
Jaehyun flashes a timid smile and scratches his head, "Oh I...I prepared you some soup. You got so drunk last night so I knew your hangover will be really bad. The soup always helps."
Taeyong gives him a questioning look, "But you can't cook."
"Oh, Doyoung said some soup helps a lot with hangovers. I didn't know what kind of soup to make so I asked my grandmother for the recipe earlier this morning. I thought I should try it out for you."
Taeyong almost implodes at the idea of Jaehyun fumbling with the stove of their small apartment. He finds it so endearing to realize his concern for him, even if he knows he had been a handful last night. A blush covers his cheeks with a faint pink tint, barely noticeable.
Taeyong and Jaehyun had been roommates since the latter started college. Taeyong had managed to find an apartment just five minutes away from university that's twice as cheap as the regular dorm rooms in his college. Only when he had first moved in, he was welcomed by a fourth year medical school student who was just too eager to graduate. He didn't hate his roommate that time per se, but they definitely weren't friends. He blames it on the age gap.
Taeyong is only ahead of Jaehyun by a year, so it wasn't very difficult for them to get along when he first moved in. He studies fine arts while Jaehyun studies law, something that Taeyong always gushes about to himself and to his friends whenever he catches Jaehyun trying to practice for his oral recitation the next day with his hair pushed back and his rimmed glasses sitting at the tip of his nose.
He had always found Jaehyun good looking, more good looking than the guys trying to hit on him at parties, and wonders why he isn't in a relationship. He tried to convince himself that maybe Jaehyun doesn't have the time considering his course, but when Jaehyun had once vaguely told him that the reason why he's still single is because "I think my crush doesn't like me back" he just stayed quiet.
Who the hell is Jaehyun's crush and why doesn't he or she like him back? He basically has everything one could ever ask for. The looks, the brain, he has a good heart, and the willingness to cook for someone when they're hungover despite his lack of cooking skills! Taeyong thinks that his crush is an idiot, whoever they are.
Jaehyun steps outside before Taeyong could even utter a reply. He sighs upon seeing his reflection in the mirror. His hair looks like an absolute bird's nest, bags sit heavily under his eyes, and his lips look crusty as fuck. Screw that Malört, I better not see a bottle of that little devil again in my life.
He washes his face once again before ultimately deciding to return to his room. He takes a short glance of Jaehyun browsing his phone, probably reviewing his grandmother's recipe and doesn’t even notice his lips forming into a smile. His chest flutters at the idea of his crush cooking hangover soup for him despite being a stranger to the kitchen himself.
Taeyong feels as if he won at life. Jaehyun's crush must be punching the air right now.
While waiting for Jaehyun, he thought watching some Netflix would be a great idea. But as he's too lazy to look for his power bank in his mess of a room, he settles for his laptop instead. What movie should I watch today, he asks himself.
But before he gets the liberty to choose a movie, his bedroom door opens and reveals Jaehyun with a tray of soup and a glass of water perched atop of it. "I also got you some pain relievers to take for your headache after you eat."
Taeyong’s lips form into a smile before he readjusts his position. He reaches for the tray in Jaehyun's hands while the latter hands it to him with a cheeky grin, "Thanks, Jaehyun. And I'm sorry for being rude to you earlier, do you want to eat something specific? I can cook it for you once I'm mildly sane."
"No problem. Also, no need to cook something for me. Although I think you owe me some explanation," Jaehyun says, a snigger creeping up his face.
"A what?"
"An explanation," he repeats. "You confessed to me last night."
What.
What the fuck.
Thank God Taeyong hasn't started eating just yet, because if he were, he would've spat the soup Jaehyun had prepared, and it’d be another embarrassment for him to forcibly bury in his head.
He confessed? When? How? Why?
There are a million different questions running through his head at the moment, and a million different more as to what other things he did last night that would be enough reasons for him to move out, fly to a deserted island, and get himself a new identity for being a disgrace.
With his nape burning and his heart thumping hard in his chest, Taeyong looks to Jaehyun nonchalantly, "Are you sure? Because how could I possibly confess to you when I'm drunk? I don't even remember anything."
Jaehyun crosses his arm and leans smugly against his dresser, his biceps taut and tight against the sleeves of his shirt, "That's the point. You were blackout-drunk. You really won't remember anything."
Taeyong gulps. Confessing is really something he'd do while drunk. He glares at the poor soup laid out in front of him. Fuck that Malört.
Now that his secret's out, his mind scrambles out poorly-worded excuses as to how he'd convince Jaehyun that he was bluffing last night, because there is no way in hell he'd admit his unrequited love when his crush is literally pining over someone else.
"It wasn't me."
Jaehyun chuckles and settles back to his feet, "It's a shame you can't remember anything, hyung. Do you want me to tell you the things you did?"
Taeyong gazes to him in a snap, "What? No! Besides, how will I know that they're true?"
"It's up to you if you'll believe it, hyung."
Taeyong rolls his eyes and reaches for the spoon sitting beside the bowl of warm soup. He doesn't say anything, and Jaehyun hints it as a signal to proceed.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Jae," Taeil regretfully says as he watches Johnny and Jungwoo help (read: force) Taeyong sit on the old couch of their apartment.
Jaehyun shakes his head, "It's fine, hyung. I'm not that busy anyways."
Once Taeyong is sprawled lazily onto the couch, his two friends turn to them, "We'll be going now, Jae. Sorry again for the hassle. Just tell Taeyong to take some painkillers tomorrow. I'm sure his hangover's going to be shit." Johnny says.
Jaehyun guides them to the door as they slowly exit their apartment. Taeyong must be such a light drinker when his friends look like they could still take a crate of beer before they can even compare to his state.
He lightly nudges Taeyong who’s mumbling incoherent nothings against the leather of their decade-old furniture, "Hyung? Taeyong hyung? Are you alright?"
But to no avail. Jaehyun sighs before carefully grabbing Taeyong's arms and forces him to sit up, "Hyung, you need to change."
Taeyong blinks lazily, "Jaehyun?"
"Yes?"
"Where am I?" Taeyong drags while trying to figure out his surroundings from his blurred vision.
"You're home. Your friends brought you here. What's gotten you so drunk?"
"Mmm. The alcohol."
Jaehyun clicks his tongue and looks at Taeyong in disbelief, "Hyung, you're so drunk. Come on, let's get you changed."
Taeyong doesn't say anything and lets himself get dragged by Jaehyun to wherever. The latter helps him get to his room (after almost five minutes due to Taeyong's flails and unnecessary twists and turns) and sits him on the bed where he plops himself immediately. Jaehyun rummages Taeyong's dresser and grabs the first pair of sleeping clothes he sees: a pajama set with llamas scattered all over.
He settles the pair on the bed beside a squiffy Taeyong and runs to their bathroom. He grabs a towel and fills a small basin with lukewarm water before returning to the older’s room.
"Jaehyunnie…" Taeyong trails off.
"What is it, hyung?" Jaehyun asks as he kneels down beside the bed, figuring out the first step he should take with his drunk roommate.
"Jaehyunnie...I have something to tell you."
Jaehyun soaks the towel in water before squeezing it to drain the excess liquid and lathers it onto Taeyong's face with the utmost gentleness, "Hmm?"
Taeyong flashes an idle smile with his eyes closed, "I like you, Jaehyunnie. I like you a lot."
Jaehyun freezes, "What?"
Taeyong, still oblivious to his roommate's stupefied look, lifts his arms and reaches for Jaehyun's face, "I like you a lot. So much! Soooo. Much."
"You...you like me?"
“Yeah.” Taeyong's arms drop to his stomach, "But you don't like me back."
Jaehyun smiles knowingly and proceeds to clean the expanse of Taeyong's skin, "How do you know that?"
"Because!" Taeyong hiccups. "I just know!"
Jaehyun laughs, choosing to not say anything further. He orders Taeyong to sit back up and pulls the pajama set closer. "Up," he says, lightly tapping Taeyong's arms, telling him to raise them.
Taeyong obeys quietly. However, as soon as Jaehyun was about to lift his shirt up, Taeyong swats his hands away before crossing his arms across his chest, "What are you doing?"
"Hyung, I'm helping you change. You can't sleep with alcohol-infused clothes."
Taeyong shakes his head, "You can't! This is reserved for my crush! You can't do this!"
Jaehyun almost laughs, but refrains himself when the other is looking at him very, very seriously. Didn't Taeyong just tell him he likes him moments ago?
"Who's your crush again, hyung?"
"I'm not telling you!"
Jaehyun sighs and steps back, "Well, can you change on your own?"
Taeyong replies with a "duh" before pulling his shirt up, struggling to figure out which hole goes with which. Jaehyun grabs the dirty shirt from Taeyong's hands and hands him the fresh set of clothes he had grabbed from the latter's dresser a while ago. He disregards the way his eyes fell onto Taeyong's torso, reminding himself to respect the older’s vulnerability because of his current state.
Taeyong half-heartedly takes the bottom part of the pajama set and strips off the rest of the clothes he wore to the club. Jaehyun is impressed and grateful that his roommate voluntarily changed the latter part of the set himself, because the back of his neck is burning and he can't afford to be embarrassed further.
"Are you alright now, hyung? Do you need anything? Water?" Jaehyun asks while sitting up with a basin and towel in his hands.
Taeyong lies back down with a grunt, "Jaehyun-ah. Jung Jaehyun. Jaehyunnie," he calls.
Jaehyun scoots closer and pushes Taeyong's hair away from his forehead, "Hyung?"
"Go on a date with me."
"Fucking hell," Taeyong mutters under his breath.
Taeyong's not one to embarrass himself in front of people. As a matter of fact, it's rare for him to get flustered. He's smart, calculated, and always at the top of his game. But why, why , did he manage to fall into this predicament with Jaehyun? With his crush?
"So, is it true?" Jaehyun prompts.
Taeyong eyes him, "What?"
Jaehyun smirks, "That you like me."
Taeyong shuts his eyes hard, patience slowly depleting in his system, "Shut up. It wasn't me."
"Who was it then?"
"It was the alcohol talking."
Jaehyun laughs once again, "That's a pity. I was actually about to accept your offer for a date."
Taeyong stops eating before looking at Jaehyun in surprise. Did he hear him right? Is he hallucinating?
Is this what it feels like to have your crush like you back? Taeyong is elated. If Jaehyun was only putting up an act just to mess with him, he thinks it's a good one.
With butterflies in his chest, he speaks, "Please, Jaehyun. Whatever I said last night just—just forget about it, okay? Forget it ever happened. Please."
"Hyung—"
"Jaehyun, I'm serious!"
Jaehyun gazes at him resolutely, "I'm serious too, Taeyong hyung. Has it not occurred to you that I like you too? I thought you'd get the hints all this time," A pause. "Or even if what you said last night was just purely because of the drunkenness, please know that I really like you. I really, really do."
Taeyong couldn't process the words that just came out of Jaehyun's mouth. It's ridiculous, he thinks, that too much alcohol intake would eventually lead him to his crush telling him he likes him back. It's like a fever dream—too good to be true—and the fluttering in his stomach is doing nothing to help him stay composed out of this crazy situation.
He'd rather have his head pound in pain than feel the stupid butterflies in his chest.
"Just...wait. Let me think."
Jaehyun sighs and gestures to Taeyong's door, "Sure, hyung. I'll be outside if you need anything." He smiles before turning his back on Taeyong who's still as dumbfounded as before.
Taeyong forces himself to finish Jaehyun's soup (which isn't bad in his opinion) so he could take his painkillers because his headache is still not going away. It's not long before he turns his laptop back on, and goes to his messaging app. With shaky hands, he manages to open his friends' messages before scoffing in disbelief at the first message he sees.
Seo Johnny: TY! how are you? you were pretty wasted tbh. you said you're planning to confess to your roommate last night. how did it go? finally got a date? ;)
Taeyong almost yanks his phone away. Fucking Seo Johnny and that fucking Jeppson's Malört. How is he going to face Jaehyun now? Aside from shamelessly confessing to him drunk last night, he even had the guts to deny his words a while ago!
He looks at the tray sitting on top of his bed, thinking he needs to wash these dishes immediately. But if he decides to go out, it's inevitable that he'll see Jaehyun outside. He unconsciously bites his nails, a habit he picked up from childhood. He weighs his options: does he go out and deny everything that had happened? Or should he just suck it up and tell his crush that he's still up for that date?
Jaehyun's words from earlier ring inside his head.
"Please know that I really like you. I really, really do."
Before he changes his mind and before he regrets his actions, he picks up the tray from his bed and courageously steps outside of his room where he sees Jaehyun fiddling with his phone in their small living room. Their eyes meet, but Taeyong turns away so quickly that he fails to see the hopeful look on Jaehyun's face.
Taeyong breathes in, and breathes out. He places the tray on top of the kitchen sink but leaves it there before facing th younger, "Jaehyun."
The man walks over, not too near that Taeyong feels uncomfortable, but near enough that he could almost see the faint shade of pink coloring the tips of his ears as he toes himself closer.
"Are you serious about what you said earlier? Like really, really serious? And you're not just making fun of me?"
Jaehyun's face contorts in horror, "Hyung, it's not like that. It will never be like that. I'm serious."
"Since when?" Taeyong says, barely a whisper. He's not even sure if Jaehyun heard it, but his uncertainty was answered when the latter walked closer until he was right in front of him.
"Since last year? When you were the one who cooked a hangover meal for me when I got really drunk. I mean, I've always found you really good looking, but when you took care of me when I was wasted, I realized that I've liked you for so long but I was too much of a coward to acknowledge it."
Taeyong's breath hitches, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I," Jaehyun looks down, fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. "I don't know how."
Taeyong smiles. His headache is long gone, and only a surge of glee and euphoria is running through his veins. He steps closer towards Jaehyun, holds his hands and wraps them around his waist. His hands cradle Jaehyun's face delicately, like it's the most precious thing he has ever laid his hands on, and kisses his nose, "Well guess what? I like you too. I really, really like you."
"Is it still the alcohol talking?"
"No, it's me. Lee Taeyong, who's hopelessly, completely, honestly into you."
Jaehyun smiles, dimples on full display, and his eyes forming into crescents. He brings his face closer, but halts when he's just an inch away from Taeyong's face, unsure whether he's allowed to continue what he was about to do. Taeyong gets the hint and smiles, nodding lovingly. He pulls in closer until their lips meet. Taeyong's lips are warm against his, and he feels the other smile into the kiss.
Taeyong places his hand on Jaehyun's nape, bringing him closer, and for what seemed like forever to both of them, they eventually pull apart, catching their breaths.
"Are we…" Jaehyun trails off.
"I want to do this the right way," Taeyong chuckles before kissing Jaehyun's dimple. "Are you still up for that date?"
Jaehyun smiles once again and kisses Taeyong deeper, sweeter. Taeyong takes that as a "yes" so he just pulls Jaehyun in and takes note of something he needs to do after this.
After managing to convince the latter that they could continue whatever they were doing later because "I reek of alcohol, Jaehyun", Taeyong goes back to his room with a smile on his face. He sees his laptop on top of his bed and remembers he still hasn't replied to any of his friends from last night's escapade.
He turns it on once again and quickly sends his replies to Johnny.
Lee Taeyong: Yes, I'm more than okay. And yes, got myself a date
Lee Taeyong: And by the way
Lee Taeyong: Thanks for that Malört ;)
_____