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Becoming a Lyft driver was something no one in Jaehyun's social circle would've expected of him. He didn't need the money per se; being the son of two neurosurgeons had its perks. It was just that at the age of 19 Jung Jaehyun had never had a part-time job, and being bored out of his mind in his sophomore year of college was enough incentive to change that.
The job was simple enough. Being a trust fund baby, as Jungwoo liked to refer to him every time he acted "cluelessly upper crust," meant he already had a nice car. Gas was never an issue, and the work hours were surprisingly flexible. Jaehyun could drive when he wanted for however long he wanted, and it was that freedom that convinced him driving suited him better than making lattes.
What he loved the most about his job was definitely the people. Jaehyun would meet all sorts of characters during his runs. Businessmen, fellow students, club-goers, the occasional posh owner and her poodle. Lots of them were perfectly normal, others enthusiastically friendly, and some just plain weird or rude.
Regardless, Jaehyun enjoyed chatting with his customers. He liked conversation, and a good number of them turned out to be quite entertaining.
There were downsides of course. He'd get the occasional creep here and there, or someone just so blatantly shady that it made his usual want for small talk all but disappear. The number of times Jaehyun had to turn down crack wasn't a lot, but it was still enough to make him suspect that a drug cartel was blossoming in Neo City.
The worst thing though (in his humble opinion as a Lyft driver of 9 months) was the drunks.
Tipsy people were fine. Tipsy people could be reasoned with. But someone completely smashed?
His job as chauffeur would all of a sudden include babysitting.
There were many types of drunks, mind you, and not all of them were bad. Sleepy drunks were well-behaved, at least. But then they’d reach their destination, and Jaehyun would have to convince them to get out of his car, sometimes even carrying them up to their homes. Sad drunks were floodgates just waiting to burst and overshare, and queasy drunks activated a flight instinct in Jaehyun every time they gagged.
Loud drunks, however, were the final boss of the Lyft passenger cast. Because loud drunks made it their mission to stop Jaehyun from doing his job.
And from the looks of the man in front of him, his next customer was one of them.
It was a little after 11 PM when Jaehyun had received a request for a ride from a nightclub. He’d accepted without much thought and placed the address in his GPS, pulling up to the club about 5 minutes later.
Jaehyun could see that a man was sitting at a curb near the club entrance, peering at all the passing cars. When he notices Jaehyun’s vehicle pull up he holds his phone to his face and squints down at the screen, looking back up at Jaehyun and then back down to the screen again. This repeats a couple more times before the man’s eyes widen and he quickly scrambles to stand. He stumbles at the action, his arms doing a sort of helicopter motion, but luckily steadies himself. Jaehyun watches the man stagger towards his car, rolling down his window as he neared.
“You Jaehyun?” the man slurs, squatting down beside the car and cocking his head to properly look at Jaehyun. The man’s face is flushed a bright red, and Jaehyun’s nose wrinkles slightly at the smell of booze.
“Uh, yeah. I’m your Lyft.”
The man hums, seemingly pleased by the news, and reaches for the side door before suddenly freezing. He swivels back towards Jaehyun, startling him a little.
The man grabs the roof of his car and shoves his face through the driver window, peering into Jaehyun’s eyes suspiciously. Jaehyun leans back a bit, uncomfortable at the sudden proximity.
“What’s my name?” the man questions, hiccuping a little.
“Um,” Jaehyun glances over at his propped up phone, the screen displaying the details of the Lyft request, “Taeyong?”
“Oh.”
In what is probably only a second the man’s face shifts from distrustful to shocked to blinding friendliness.
“So you’re the real deal then!” Taeyong laughs, loud and boisterously into Jaehyun’s ear.
“Yup, the real deal…” he responds, sinking back further from the man.
What was with drunks and their lack of spatial awareness?
“Sorry about that kid,” Taeyong giggles, finally moving away from the window and instead propping his arm onto the roof to slouch against the car. “Ya can’t be toooo careful out here, y’know?”
Jaehyun nods slowly, and an awkward silence follows with Jaehyun tapping rhythmically on his steering wheel while the man smiles serenely up at the night sky.
“So are you--are you going to get in?” Jaehyun asks.
Taeyong blinks down at him slowly, and Jaehyun can practically see the loading icon floating above his head. When it clicks the man’s mouth drops open, his large eyes widening.
“You’re right! I have to get home!” Taeyong shouts, slapping his hands to his forehead. Jaehyun watches him open the back seat and--for lack of better word--dive inside, scrambling into a sitting position and shutting the door quickly.
While Taeyong attempts to put his seat belt on Jaehyun sighs quietly to himself, putting the man’s drop-off location in his navigation.
This was definitely going to be his last drive for the night.
“Ah it’s a good thing I have you here, Jaehyun-ah,” Taeyong sighs out, now relaxed against the back seat and grinning at nothing as Jaehyun began to drive. “I probably would’ve stood out there all night! I do so love the stars…”
“You said you were headed home?” Jaehyun ignores the familiar honorific Taeyong had given him, instead trying his usual effort in making small talk.
“Eyup! A good thing too. My bunny probably misses me.”
“Oh, you have a pet?” Jaehyun asks as he turns a corner.
“Nope!”
Jaehyun looks up at his rearview mirror and meets Taeyong's eyes. His confusion must show because Taeyong giggles, seemingly at a joke only he was privy to.
“I don’t mean an actual bunny, silly,” the man explains, his words airy and slurred. “I’m talking about my Dongyoung.”
“Your...Dongyoung, sir? Is he your son?”
This question is absolutely hilarious to Taeyong, because the man breaks out into a fit of laughter as soon as he asks it.
“Oh how terrible,” Taeyong wheezes out, wiping at his watery eyes. “Imagine being the man who has to raise that old meanie.”
“I’m not following, sir.”
“Cut that sir stuff out, will ya? Makes me sound old. I’m only 32!”
"Okay Taeyong-ssi," Jaehyun complies, feeling a flicker of amusement in his chest. This guy was loud, but he was funny.
"That's more like it!" Taeyong whoops. He relaxes against the seat again.
"Anyways, Dongyoung probably misses me a tonne. I can't wait to see him," Taeyong giggles out.
"Has it been a while since you've met up?"
"Nope!" Taeyong chirps again, popping the 'p'. "I saw him before I left tonight. I just miss him a whole lot, y'know?"
At this point, it was probably safe to assume that whoever this Dongyoung was was a romantic partner. Jaehyun glances at his GPS, noting that they still had 15 minutes until they'd reach Taeyong's destination.
"How long have you been together?" Jaehyun questions, jumping on his hunch, and he's rewarded with a blinding smile from Taeyong.
"5 years going strong," he declares happily. "We're actually engaged."
"Oh, congratulations."
"Thank you!"
Taeyong sits up straighter, an eager look on his flushed face.
"Gosh, I can't wait till I get home," he sighs dreamily. "Home is always the best, because home is where Doyo is. Did you know that he gives the best cuddles ever, Jae? Of course you don't, you've never cuddled him. But I promise you it's like, like, like holding a teddy bear!"
"I'd imagine so," responds Jaehyun, making a left. A smile creeps on his face as he listens to Taeyong ramble on more about his lover.
"He's so stingy sometimes though! Like I'll ask for a kiss and he'll say no. "We just woke up, Hyung, your breath stinks,"" Taeyong mimics, lowering his voice and squinting his eyes into a glare. His huffy attitude is short-lived, however, because that lovestruck look comes back almost immediately.
"I can't stay mad at him though. He always kisses me after I brush my teeth. And he makes me pancakes whenever I ask. Did I tell you that Doyo can cook? He makes the best pancakes. How can I stay mad at someone like that?" he sighs out, seeming to be in a genuine dilemma.
"Can't argue with that," Jaehyun agrees, prompting Taeyong to respond with an "I know right?"
"I can't give all the credit to his cooking skills though," Taeyong huffs. "He's so cute, Jae. Like, stuuupid cute. It makes me wanna cry sometimes."
Jaehyun hums, sensing that the man would continue regardless if he responded or not, but Taeyong seems to take it as doubt towards his fiancé's visage.
"Oh you don't believe me, do ya? Hold on, let me get a picture--” Jaehyun can hear Taeyong shuffling around, probably to retrieve his phone. What alarms him is when Taeyong begins to climb into the front of the car.
“Taeyong-ssi, what are you doing!?”
“Well I can’t show you the picture if I’m back here, now can I? Also, call me Hyung. You’re too stiff, Jae.”
“The car is still moving!” Jaehyun exclaims, switching frantically between watching the road and his drunk passenger climbing clumsily into the seat beside him.
“Agh I’ll be fine. You’re a great driver Jae, I trust ya,” Taeyong waves off. The man shimmies on his front and crawls into the passenger seat, flipping onto his side and kicking his legs above the headrest. His head bumps against Jaehyun’s shoulder as he spins and manages to get his legs in front of the seat, sitting up with a self-satisfied sigh. He grabs the seat belt and buckles himself in, turning to Jaehyun with a grin.
“Safety first!”
“Please don’t do anything like that again,” Jaehyun breathes out between hunched shoulders. “You could have at least waited until we got to a light.”
“Like that one?” Taeyong shouts excitedly, thrusting a finger at the traffic light ahead of them.
“Yes,” Jaehyun agrees, sighing when the light turns red and bringing the car to a stop. “Like that one.”
Taeyong taps him on the shoulder. When Jaehyun turns his head to look at him a phone is shoved into his face.
“My bunny, as promised!”
The screen in front of him shows a picture of a man. He was sitting on what looked to be a sofa with a book in his hands. His head was turned towards the camera, a scowl on his face and ill-content in his dark eyes. Overall, Jaehyun could see that he was pretty, but nothing about Taeyong’s fiancé seemed remotely “cute.”
“Isn’t he adorable when he pouts?” Taeyong coos, bringing the phone away from Jaehyun to look at it himself.
“That’s...one way to put it,” Jaehyun responds slowly, letting the car roll forward as the light turns green.
“I know! There are so many ways to say how lovely he is,” Taeyong breathes out, slumping back onto his seat and bringing his phone to his chest. “My Dongyoung…”
Despite still being a little shaken by Taeyong’s earlier stunt to show him his “bunny,” Jaehyun can’t help feeling touched at the gentleness in the man’s voice.
“You must love him a lot, huh?”
“So very much.”
Jaehyun glances over at Taeyong again, seeing that the man is looking ahead at the road with an easy smile on his face. It’s probably the calmest he’s been since Jaehyun met him.
“I dated a lot of people before we met,” Taeyong continues pleasantly. “And all of them were precious to me, still are precious to me in some way. But no one ever completed me perfectly. And ya wanna know something? Dongyoung doesn’t even complete me perfectly.”
Jaehyun stays quiet, listening carefully to the man’s soft slurred words.
“That’s not to say that it feels wrong being with him. Gosh, it’s heaven being with him. But we're two different people, with different ways of being. Not everything about us is gonna fit like a glass slipper. That talk ya hear about soulmates? That’s baloney. It’s wonderful, having another half, but there’s no such thing. You’re already whole as you are, y’know?”
Taeyong sighs contentedly, that easy smile never leaving his face.
“There’s no “The One,” but rather people that make you happy. And by God, does Dongyoung make me happy.”
The man turns to him then, a twinkle in his eye.
“Ya feel me?”
“I--I think so,” Jaehyun answers, sort of at a loss for words. He hadn’t been expecting any of that.
“Good, good,” Taeyong nods sagely. The man’s phone chimes and he unlocks it, looking down at the screen and likely reading a text. Jaehyun looks at his GPS once more, seeing that they had 2 minutes to go.
“Oh dear,” Taeyong says, seeming to be troubled by something. “This isn’t good.”
“What’s up?” Jaehyun asks, confused at the man’s worried tone.
“Doyo is upset with me,” Taeyong pouts. “I can tell. He’s using proper spelling and keeps ending every text with a period. He’s probably mad that I’ve been out for so long.”
“What are you going to do?”
Taeyong shuts his phone off and breathes in deeply, closing his eyes. “The only thing I can do, Jae. Take me to the nearest Taco Bell.”
“What? Why?”
“I can’t go back empty-handed. Dongyoung loves their Cinnamon Twists, so I’ll have some leverage.”
“Uh, okay.”
The detour to Taco Bell takes an extra 5 minutes and an additional 3 because of the drive-thru. Taeyong insists on getting Jaehyun something as well, and of course Jaehyun caves because it’s near impossible arguing with someone so intoxicated (“I’m really okay Taeyong-ssi--” “Nonsense! I’m getting you a crunch wrap!”).
They pull up to Taeyong’s apartment building a whole 15 minutes after they were supposed to arrive. Jaehyun isn’t sure how being even more late is going to sit well with Taeyong’s fiancé, but he figures it’s best not to bring it up with the man.
Taeyong pays for the ride on his phone and clumsily steps out of the car, though he seems much soberer compared to when he’d first gotten in. He doesn’t close the door immediately, instead turning around and looking at Jaehyun.
“Thanks for the ride, Jae! I gave you 5 stars,” Taeyong grins, winking over at him.
Jaehyun smiles back. “Thanks, Taeyong-ssi. And no problem.”
“Send me some prayers, okay?” Taeyong playfully shakes the bag of Cinnamon Twists in his hand. “It’s off to battle for me.”
Jaehyun laughs, genuinely delighted by the man. “Goodnight, Taeyong-ssi.”
Taeyong sends him a salute and shuts the car door, jogging over to his apartment building. When he's safely inside Jaehyun pulls his car away from the curb and drives off.
He opens his wrap and takes a bite from it, smiling to himself.
One more drive wouldn’t hurt.