Archive of Our Own

     “Alright, I’m gonna need you to step in just a bit closer.” Johnny instructed. He had been giving similar instructions for the last half hour, trying to ensure that everyone got a good picture to remember the wedding. The older woman stepped closer to the girl in the white gown, careful not to step on any of the fabric pooling at the floor. Afterall, no one wants to be the one to ruin the bride’s white dress. “That’s perfect, you all look great. Now give me big smiles.” Johnny smiled at them before positioning the camera and taking the shot. “Beautiful, beautiful. You all look lovely.” The woman in the white dress gave the older couple hugs and walked up to Johnny. 

     “Is there anyway we could take a quick break from this and come back in a bit. I wanna walk around and talk to everyone again.” She asked, putting her hand on Johnny’s shoulder. He gave a little nod.

     “Of course. This is your big day, you should enjoy it. Just have someone come find me whenever you’re ready to take more pictures.” Johnny told her. He could see her shoulders relax as she let out a small sigh of relief. 

     “Thank you so much. And please, if you want to have a drink or anything feel free to. You’re doing a lot of hard work.” The bride offered. 

     “I appreciate the offer but I probably shouldn’t be drinking right now. Wouldn’t want your pictures to come out all blurry. Go have fun.” He told her. She gave him another small smile and the group of wedding attendees all left the small corner where they had set up the backdrop. Once everyone had cleared out, Johnny made sure his equipment was out of the way and took his camera to get some more shots around the banquet hall.

     He had made his way around a few times, snapping pictures of people laughing together at tables and the bride and groom thanking everyone they came across, before finding his way to the bar. It’s not like he was planning on drinking, but he definitely needed to sit for at least just a moment. He had ordered a glass of water when another man came over and sat next to him. 

     “Can I get a piña colada?” He asked the bartender who in turn gave him a small nod and started working on the drink. Johnny laughed before taking a sip of his water. The man turned to him. “And what do you have against piña coladas?” He asked Johnny who looked startled at the man’s question. Johnny set his glass down and turned to properly face him. Something about him was familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it.

     “Nothing at all. They’re nice to drink when you’re lying on the beach in the summer. I guess I just wasn’t expecting someone to drink one at a wedding in October.” The other man shook his head.

     “See, that’s where you’re wrong. There’s never a bad time for a piña colada. Seeing my sister get married, about to start a new life with her husband, now that’s a time to have a piña colada.” The bartender set the drink down and the man thanked him. Johnny now remembered why the man had looked so familiar. He was the bride’s brother and had been in many of the pictures Johnny had previously taken. 

     “I don’t think I quite got your name earlier.” Johnny said, raising an eyebrow. The man smiled. 

     “I’m Taeil. And you’re Johnny, right?” He asked, picking up the round glass his drink came in. Johnny nodded. “Well, I’m glad there’s someone I can talk to while I enjoy a nice drink. Cheers.”

≈≈≈

     Johnny looked at himself in the mirror, questioning whether he should change for the third time today. He had his seventh (but who was counting? Trick question, he was.) date with Taeil and he wanted to make sure he looked alright. He fixed his hair and fixed it again, trying to make it better, only to make it worse.

     “You look fine. Kinda hot even. But lose the top button.” Johnny’s roommate said from the bathroom doorway. Johnny turned to look at him and sighed.

     “But if I asked you to be my boyfriend would you say yes?” Johnny asked, tugging at the sleeves again.

     “I’ve lived with you for 6 years. Hell no I wouldn’t say yes. But he probably will.” His roommate offered. Johnny immediately felt his body flood with nerves again. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was this anxious. He was far from what you would consider shy, and he had been in a few relationships before. 

     “God, Sehun, you’re no help.” Johnny said, giving up and pushing past him, flipping the light off as he passed. Sehun followed him as he made his way down the hallway and into his bedroom.

     “Well, what do you want me to say? You’ve been wining and dining him for months. Do you honestly expect him to say no?” Sehun asked, falling back onto Johnny’s bed before he could protest. When Johnny opened his mouth to speak, Sehun cut him off. “You better come home tonight a taken man.”

     “I’m gonna try.” Johnny took one last look in his closet and slid the door closed. He unbuttoned the top button and turned to face his roommate. “Don’t wait up for me.”

     “Oh, as if. Chanyeol is coming over so I’ll be very busy.” Sehun wiggled his eyebrows and a look of disgust made its way across Johnny’s face. 

     “Just keep it out of here,” Johnny gestured around his room. “Okay?” Sehun just sat up and shrugged. There was a noise from the other room, signaling that someone was trying to buzz in. Sehun stood and walked out of Johnny’s room. 

     “That’s probably him now.” Sehun bounced his way down the hallway with Johnny close behind him. He pushed the button to speak to whoever was waiting in the lobby. “Johnny’s leaving soon, hurry your ass up here.” He pushed the button to unlock the door and turned to face Johnny. “You better get out of here soon or you’re gonna witness some shit.”

     “I’m just waiting on Taeil.” Johnny responded as he grabbed his jacket from the back of the couch. “Trust me, I don’t wanna be here to witness you guys go at it.”  There was a knock at the door and Sehun reached to open it. He pulled it open and put a cheesy smile on his face. To his surprise, the person on the other side of the door was much shorter than he expected. 

     “You’re not Chanyeol.” He looked at Taeil.

     “I’m not. I’m Taeil.” Taeil said, giving Sehun an amused smile. Sehun sighed and threw his head back.

     “Johnny, your boyfriend is here.” He shouted as if Johnny wasn’t just a few feet away. 

     “Yeah, I see that. Thank you.” Johnny said, slipping his arms through the sleeves of his jacket. He turned and looked at Taeil. His hair was pushed back and out of his face and he had a dark brown turtleneck. “You look really nice tonight.” He said. Taeil blushed and smiled.

     “You don’t look so bad yourself.” He said, reaching his hand out. Johnny took it and gave one last look to his roommate. “I’ll be back whenever.” Sehun just gave him a half-hearted wave as he walked off to the kitchen. Johnny turned back to Taeil and smiled. “Ready to go?”

     When Taeil nodded, Johnny felt his heart speed up. Despite his nerves, he tried his best to look as calm and relaxed as possible. Johnny had been planning this night for weeks and tonight, he was going to ask Taeil if he wanted to make things official.

     At least that’s what he told himself. Despite his long and detailed plan, nothing came to fruition. He had gotten the date wrong on the dinner reservation he had made and they had to settle for some small place down the street from their original choice. Taeil had insisted that he hadn’t minded, but Johnny was still incredibly embarrassed. And don’t even mention the mild case of food poisoning he had woken up with the next day. 

     After they ate, Johnny was going to take Taeil to the river to watch the sunset but by the time they actually got out of the restaurant, it was much darker out than he had planned. They made their way to the river anyway and it wasn’t until they had found a bench away from everyone that Taeil realized he had left his wallet behind. They had gone back to the restaurant, but at that point, the two of them were tired and decided to call it a night. 

     Johnny drove Taeil back to his apartment. He had walked him up to his door but he was almost too embarrassed to look at him. Taeil took his hands and gave them a light squeeze.

     “Hey, I had a good time.” He insisted. Johnny forced a half smile.

     “I thought I had everything set for a perfect night but I messed it up. I mean I’m the dumbass who wrote down the wrong date.” Johnny said.

     “And I’m the dumbass who left their wallet behind. Either way, I’m glad I got to spend this time with you.” Taeil looked at Johnny, waiting for him to say something else. Johnny couldn’t bring himself to say anything else. “Goodnight, John.” Taeil unlocked his door and went inside, leaving Johnny a mess on the other side.

≈≈≈

     It had been about a month since the failed date and despite the fact that the two had been seeing each other nearly every day since, Johnny still had yet to propose going steady. It wasn’t like he decided he didn’t want to anymore. In fact, he very much did. He just now decided that he would need to do a lot more planning before he asked.

     It was a Saturday morning and the two had decided to spend the day together. Having met up a little later than they had discussed the night before, the two had gotten brunch and wandered around town, eventually finding their way to the park located a few blocks from Taeil’s apartment. The spring breeze was blowing through, rustling the leaves that had just recently begun to grow back. Johnny said nothing, but his heart fluttered every time Taeil had to push his hair out of his face. Neither of them knew how long they had been there but it was long enough to see three or four different families come and go from the small playground near the pond.

     “Hey! Hands off my boyfriend!” Someone shouted behind them. Neither of them thought much of it and continued to wander down the path, watching the branches sway above them. “I’m talking to you, you big giraffe. That’s my boyfriend!” Johnny looked at Taeil who had turned to look behind them. Johnny watched as Taeil’s shoulders sank and his face morphed into one of embarrassment.

     “Is he… talking to us?” Johnny asked, worry settling in his stomach. Taeil opened his mouth to respond, but closed it before he said anything. There was a guy running at them. “Taeil, is he talking to us.”

     “Yeah, I’m talking to you. Who else here is 7 feet tall?” The guy stopped just a few feet away and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. After a second, he reached for their intertwined hands and broke them apart. “He’s a taken man.”

     “I’m sorry?” Johnny asked, incredibly confused at the situation. Taeil put his hand over his face, visibly cringing away from what was happening. “Taeil, what’s going on?”

     “You’re walking around the park, holding hands and canoodling with my man!” The guy shouted. Johnny turned to get a proper look at him and was surprised at how young he actually was. His eyes were soft and his cheeks were full. “It takes a certain type of guy to take another man’s boyfriend.”

     “Boyfriend? Hey, You must have the wrong people.” Johnny looked at Taeil who was intentionally avoiding Johnny’s gaze. Johnny’s shoulders sank. “Taeil this kid can’t even be 20.” Johnny said, looking at the boy in front of him. His golden brown hair was fluffy and hanging over his forehead. “I mean he’s got sweater paws.” The boy pushed his sleeves up.

     “He’s 20. Now. But that’s exactly why I never dated him .” Taeil said, stressing the last three words. The boy scowled and crossed his arms. 

     “Oh, c’mon. It was like a whole month!” He said, a pout on his lips. Johnny felt his heart sink at the boy’s face but quickly tried to bring it up again as he reminded himself that said boy was trying to kick his butt. 

     “Donghyuck, how many times do I have to say no? I’m begging you, please, find someone closer to your age.” Taeil insisted. Donghyuck shook his head, causing Taeil to let out a disappointed sigh.

     “Whether you choose to deny it or not, league rules stand. Jonathan here has to beat me or he’ll never get a chance at you.” Donghyuck said, his posture straightening. Johnny paused and his mouth dropped open a bit.

     “Wait wait wait, you think my name is Jonathan?” The words had barely left his mouth before Donghyuck’s fist made contact with Johnny’s cheek. It wasn’t long before he was over the initial shock and he put his hand to his cheek and looked down at the boy. “Uhh okay.”

     “C’mon dude! Make your move!” Donghyuck shouted before lunging at Johnny again. Johnny dodged his fist and bent down just enough to grab the boy around the torso and lift him over his shoulder. 

     “Was he this feisty when you met?” Johnny asked as Donghyuck beat his fists against his back. Taeil stopped and thought about it. 

     “I mean I’ve never seen him try to physically fight anyone but he certainly did have this much energy. I used to tutor him. Mark told me he knew a guy that needed some help and I figured why not. I could use the money.” 

     It was clear to anyone watching that this was not a fair fight. While Donghyuck had the energy and ferocity, Johnny had the actual strength and brains. That’s not to say Donghyuck was dumb, but you can’t pick a fight with a guy who’s nearly twice your size and built like Johnny and expect to come out on top. It was hardly a few seconds before Johnny had Donghyuck on the floor, his arms pinned behind him. This didn’t stop Donghyuck from kicking his legs, hoping to make contact with Johnny who was sitting on top of him.

     “Taeil, I don’t think I can beat this guy up. Look at him.” Johnny said, looking up at Taeil. Taeil pursed his lips trying not to laugh at the grunts and exclamations of “let me go” coming from Donghyuck.
“Well I don’t think you have to beat him up. Well at least not real bad. This isn’t some early 2000s graphic novel series, you know?” Taeil bent down and looked down at Donghyuck. “Hyuck, what does he need to do?” 

     “He has to beat me.”

     “Hyuck.”

     “Hey I never said what he had to beat me at. Do you think I wanna get beat up? Hell no.” Donghyuck said, kicking his legs again. 

     “So you don’t want to get beat up and yet you charge at me and try to fight?” Johnny asked. Donghyuck sighed and stopped kicking.

     “Hey, I didn’t go into this fight thinking I was going to lose. I’m tough, you know? Real tough.” Donghyuck said. Johnny rolled his eyes. This real tough guy had been taken down in all of about 30 seconds. “If you’re gonna hit me, do it quickly.”

     Johnny let go of Donghyuck’s arms and stood up.

     “I’m not going to hit you.” Johnny sighed. Donghyuck looked relieved and got himself off of the ground. “Can you just tell me what’s going on?” He asked.

     “You mean you didn’t tell him?” Donghyuck asked Taeil as he fixed his sweater. Taeil looked off into space as if Donghyuck had never said anything.

     “Tell me what?” Johnny questioned, looking at Taeil who was suddenly acting oblivious to the situation. “Taeil, tell me what?” Donghyuck laughed.

     “So he didn’t tell you!” He shouted between laughs. “Oh, geez, Taeil. You’ve been with this dude for months now and you never brought it up?” Johnny looked back and forth between the two of them. 

     “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Donghyuck and Taeil shared a few looks. Donghyuck was urging Taeil to explain and Taeil was cursing him for coming up to them in the first place. “If someone doesn’t start talking-”

     “I have these exes.” Taeil finally broke. He let out a heavy sigh and crossed his arms over his chest. “Just a few. Whenever I find myself in a new relationship, they come around and try to fuck it up.” Taeil said, the last three words sharp and aimed at Donghyuck.

     “The league exists to ensure that Taeil ends up with the right person and if that right person happens to be one of us, maybe me, then so be it.” Donghyuck added. He put a hand on his hip and Johnny stepped forward.

     “There’s a league? Like you formed a little club? Oh my god, Taeil. You never thought to tell me this?” Johnny looked at Taeil who looked down at the ground. Taeil pursed his lips.

     “I was going to bring it up.” He said quietly. Johnny let out a sigh and Taeil lifted his head at the sound. “I was, I promise. I really was. If you haven’t noticed, this isn’t something you just bring up out of nowhere. And how the hell does this naturally come up in conversation?” 

     “I gotta say, I’m a bit hurt you never mentioned us. I mean it's been a few months now, you’d think it’d come up at least once.” Donghyuck said. Taeil’s head snapped to look at Donghyuck and he was glaring hard. Taeil opened his mouth to say something but Johnny stepped in first.

     “Okay, fine. I’m still incredibly confused, but we can talk more about this later. You said I had to beat you so what are we gonna do here?” Johnny asked, stepping slightly in front of Taeil to ensure that he didn’t lunge at Donghyuck. “I mean it’s been established that you’re not going to win in a fight.”

     “Well I don’t know. I knew you were tall, but I didn’t know you were gonna be built like that .” Donghyuck said, gesturing to Johnny and then squeezing his arm. Despite his confusion and undeniable frustration, Johnny laughed and shook his head just a little.

     “Listen, do you just wanna arm wrestle? There’s a picnic bench just down the path.” Johnny offered. Donghyuck stopped and thought it over. He looked Johnny up and down again and shrugged.

     “Yeah, why not. You had the advantage the first time. This time we’ll both be sitting. You know, even the playing field.” He said. Johnny was almost positive there was a flaw in that logic, but didn’t see any value in pointing it out. He looked over at Taeil who was already looking at him. 

     “Well, let’s get walking. There’s a movie I wanna catch later and I don’t want to be babysitting when the time comes.” Taeil joked, turning and continuing to walk down the path.

     “Oh, c’mon. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m a pretty tough guy. I can protect you from chumps like this guy.” Donghyuck said, following behind him. Johnny scoffed and walked with them. 

     They made it to the table and Taeil sat down first. Donghyuck sat next to him and Taeil rolled his eyes. Johnny sat across from Donghyuck. 

     “Alright, pro rules here. No false starts, one foot on the ground, once a hand touches the table it’s over. We don’t have any mats or pockets so be careful.” Taeil said. Johnny and Donghyuck both looked at Taeil. Their faces were painted with a mix of confusion and admiration. “Oh, whatever. So I’ve watched some obscure sports when I was up late at night. Sue me. Now put your arms up.” The pair shook off their shock and put their elbows on the table. They clasped their hands and Taeil held them. “Okay. Ready? Go.”

     Taeil lifted his hands and watched as Donghyuck desperately tried to push Johnny’s hand down to the table. Johnny looked unamused, staring at their hands. A small grin made its way across his face when Donghyuck stood up in an attempt to gain leverage. Johnny looked at Taeil. 

     “Best two of three or just one round?” He asked him. Taeil thought for a moment before shaking his head.

     “Let’s do a single round. Stakes are higher.” Taeil said, glancing at Donghyuck who was about to start sweating.

     “Sounds good to me.” Johnny said before giving Donghyuck’s arm a good shove, his hand hitting the table. Taeil suppressed a laugh as Donghyuck sat back down, his face full of disappointment. “Sorry, kid. Maybe next time.” Donghyuck just gave a shrug.

     “Why don’t we go get some coffee? On me.” Taeil offered, resting a hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder. Donghyuck shrugged it off but perked up a few moments later. 

     “Maybe later. I gotta go talk to Jae, but I’ll see you next time, yeah? I’ll win next time for sure. I promise.” Donghyuck said. Taeil just sighed.

     “I mean I’m really hoping there isn’t a next time.” Johnny said, but Donghyuck didn’t seem to hear him. He stood and pulled Taeil into a hug before walking back down the path the way they came. Taeil scooted over so he was sitting across from Johnny. He was waiting for him to say something, unsure of what he could say in this situation. It took a few minutes, but Johnny finally spoke up. “What the hell was that?” He asked. Taeil laughed and scratched the back of his neck.

     “That was Donghyuck. He’s just kinda… like that.” He responded. Johnny nodded even though that didn’t make anything more clear. 

     “So that’s it? Like he just leaves?” Johnny asked. Taeil gave a little shrug and nodded. “And this… league.” Johnny said, leaving it open for Taeil to continue. Taeil sighed and gave a little shrug.

     “I’ve been in relationships with very interesting people. None of them have ever stuck. For one reason or another, we decided to go our separate ways and broke it off. I always thought it was a done deal. That was until they started showing up again. I’m not sure exactly when they all decided to get together and form some dumbass ‘Taeil protection squad,’ but I haven’t been able to be in a normal relationship since. At first I thought it was because they wanted what was best for me, but some of them are convinced I’ll go back to them.” Taeil finished. Johnny sat there, processing everything he had just heard. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m a catch.” Taeil added. Johnny nodded but his face was blank. 

     “How many are there?” Johnny asked. Taeil felt relieved when Johnny’s voice held no sign of anger or aggravation. He sighed, thinking back to the last time he had been going out with someone. It had been a while and for seemingly good reason. A league of your exes actively trying to ruin your relationship can be a pretty big turn off.

     “Five or six? Probably six.” He counted off on his fingers. “Yeah, six.” There was silence again as Taeil watched Johnny take in the information. Johnny nodded and looked up at the sky.

     “Now is that coffee offer still on the table?”

     The walk to the cafe had been awkward. At least it was for Taeil. He wasn’t sure what to say that would make the situation any more normal. Johnny, on the other hand, was acting as if nothing had happened. That wasn’t to say there wasn’t a whirlwind of thoughts going through his head at that moment. His mind was swimming with questions. How long had Taeil known Donghyuck? When had this little league formed? Was it only going to get harder? Johnny wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure what to ask first. Neither of them said a thing until they had entered the cafe and reached the barista.

     Johnny ordered for the both of them (an americano for himself and a flat white for Taeil, both iced) and paid despite Taeil’s protest. A few moments later they were at the end of the counter, waiting for their drinks. 

     “So when did you meet him?” Johnny asked. Taeil pursed his lips and rocked on his feet. 

     “Three years ago. Like I said, I needed the money and a friend of mine, Mark, is just a year older than him. He told me he knew someone who was looking for a tutor. I’m pretty good with numbers, you know? I worked with him a few times a week and he got… pretty attached.” Taeil didn’t say more and he didn’t really need to. The barista set their drinks on the counter and they grabbed them, stuffing straws in.

     “Okay, and when exactly did-”

     “Oh my god, Yuta! What are you doing here?” Taeil said, his eyes growing wide as he spotted someone across the cafe. Johnny looked around, trying to figure out who Taeil was referring to. He froze as he saw a man, Yuta, raise his hand and give a little wave. He had a bright, almost blinding smile and Johnny could feel his cheeks heat up.

     “Ah, Taeilie. It's been too long. I just arrived a few days ago. I’ve been meaning to reach out and see you.” Yuta said. When he got to them, he pulled Taeil in for a seemingly bone-crushing hug. Taeil, a little stunned, nearly dropped his coffee. “God, how long has it been?”

     “A few years, huh? Like what, six? Gah it doesn’t feel like that long.” Taeil said, still in Yuta’s embrace. Johnny looked around and took a sip of his coffee, unsure of what to do as his somewhat boyfriend was conversing with another incredibly attractive man. Not jealous. Nope. When Yuta finally pulled away, Taeil seemed to remember that he did not in fact come alone. “Oh, Yuta. This is my, uh…” He looked up at Johnny who looked back at him, a bit embarrassed. “My buddy.”

     Yuta offered his hand for Johnny to shake. Johnny wasn’t expecting for Yuta to pull him into one of those awkward bro hugs, so he grunted as his elbow was pushed into his gut. Yuta laughed it off.

     “You alright there?” He asked before giving Taeil a look that clearly read Hah, look at this guy. Can’t even shake a dude’s hand . Johnny forced a laugh, unable to get any words out. “Yeah, so anyway. How have you been? The last time I saw you you were wearing one of those god awful uniforms. You look good.” Taeil blushed and shook his head.

     “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’ve been good. Just trying to stay alive.” Taeil said. Johnny dug his hands in his pockets. It wasn’t like he had never been in a situation like this, he had been, but that didn’t make it any less awkward. “What have you been up to? God, it’s been since high school.” 

     “I’ve been doing a lot of traveling. Seeing the sights and hitting those international beaches.” Yuta said. This unfortunately put the image of Yuta shirtless on the beach in Johnny’s head. He blushed and took another drink, looking around to find anything else to distract him. This man was a fox.

     “And yet you’ve decided to come here?” Taeil asked, a little stunned. He could remember multiple times they had discussed Yuta’s desire to travel the world in the future, whether that be on a professional soccer team or not.

     “I heard about this guy right here.” Yuta said, patting Johnny on the arm. “I go where duty calls.” Johnny tensed, knowing exactly where this was going. Taeil seemed to know as well, but he was certainly hoping that it wasn’t actually the case.

     “You… you joined the league?” Taeil asked, his eyes wide. He was clenching and unclenching his fist and if Johnny didn’t know him any better, he’d think Taeil was about to swing.

     “Well I had to. Jae’s pretty persuasive, don’t you think?” Yuta teased. Taeil rolled his eyes and scoffed. Yuta reached out and grabbed Taeil’s hands. “C’mon. You know I only want what’s best for you. And so do they.”

     “You all say that. Every time, you losers say that.” Taeil was clearly angry, but he didn’t pull his hands away. Johnny felt a pit form in his stomach at that. Yuta let go first and turned to Johnny.

     “I gotta say, I didn’t expect him to be this handsome. You got a nice one here, Tae. It’s a shame.” Yuta said, shifting his weight and folding his arms across his chest. Johnny was taken aback but Taeil spoke up before he could say anything.

     “Yuta, we’ve already dealt with Donghyuck today. I don’t think-”

     “Ah, c’mon. Think you can handle two in one day?” Yuta asked Johnny, looking him up and down once more. “I’ll make it worth your while.” Johnny blushed and opened his mouth but no words came out. Since Johnny didn’t object, Yuta smiled and turned back to Taeil. “So how’s this gonna go down?”

     “I mean we arm wrestled last time, why not do it again?” Johnny said. Just from his build, Johnny figured he could probably beat him, though it certainly wouldn’t be as easy as it had been with Donghyuck. Yuta just shook his head and laughed.

     “It’s been a while since I’ve done something so childish. Besides, let’s not get lazy. We can think of something else.” Yuta said. Johnny forced a smile. “What do you think, Tae?” 

     “I think we could really do this another day.” 

     “No sense in that. I’m already here.” Yuta waved his hand as if he were shooing off the idea. “I heard you’re pretty good at basketball. Were on a team in school, right?” Yuta asked, causing Johnny to shiver. 

     “How did you know-”

     “I guess that’s something we have in common, though basketball was never my sport of choice. How ‘bout we play? There’s a park a few blocks down.” Yuta offered, he looked back and forth between the two other men.

     “We’re not going back to the park.” Taeil said before taking a drink of his coffee. “Yuta, we don’t have to do this right now.” Johnny bit his tongue. He didn’t feel like they needed to do it at all, but here they were.

     “Alright, I’ll go easy on you. Conveniently, there’s an arcade just two doors down. I’m fairly certain there’s some sort of basketball game in there. Listen, I’m really trying to skew this in your favor. It’ll make the victory all the more sweet.” Johnny looked at Taeil who was looking back at him. 

     “I was a good player. This’ll be over soon enough and we can get back to our regularly scheduled program.” Johnny told Taeil.

     Turns out that when you don’t play a sport for 6 years, you’re just not going to be as good as you once were right away. Of course, this thought slipped Johnny’s mind and as he stood in front of the game, he turned to Taeil.

     “That’s pretty far, isn't it?” He whispered, hoping that Yuta couldn’t hear him over the loud bings and bangs from the arcade around them. Worry flashed in Taeil’s eyes and Johnny smiled, trying to play it off as a joke. At least this way, Taeil wouldn’t notice that his stomach was in knots. 

     “Alright. Best two of three? That way you have a better chance of losing to me twice.” Yuta teased. Johnny nodded and laughed. Yuta was strange. There was something about the way he talked and acted towards Taeil that made him seem incredibly sweet and kind. Everything he said towards Johnny, on the other hand, seemed like a jab. And every time he did, Johnny’s desire to beat Yuta grew a little more.

     “No. No need. I’ll beat you in one.” Johnny responded. He was very glad that it came off as confident as he had meant it to. The smile that Taeil gave him reassured him that he would do just fine. 

     Yuta handed Johnny a coin and held up his own. They placed it up to the slot and Yuta looked to Taeil, a sweet smile on his lips.

     “Would you like to do us the honor of counting us down, Tae?” Taeil looked between the two men and then at the games in front of them. “Gotta make it fair, don’t you think?”

     “Okay. Three… two… one… go.” Taeil said. The men inserted the coins into their games and the basketballs fell into the slot in front of them. Johnny picked one up. The machines whirred and dinged and a tinny voice began to count down. Taeil rolled his eyes. What had he counted down for?

     Yuta gave Johnny one last look before their games hit zero. It felt like Johnny had almost instantly forgotten everything he knew about how to throw a basketball. In his defense, he hadn’t played a real game since high school. He threw the ball and watched it bounce off of the rim. He picked up another which missed as well. He quickly looked at Yuta, who thankfully wasn’t doing any better. He shook it off and threw another. This one made it in. 

     He mentally cheered and tossed the next. He had made five of seven shots before sparing another glance at Yuta. According to the other man’s score, he had successfully made three more shots so far. Johnny felt a pit form in his stomach but he tried to shake it off.

     “You’re doing fine, Johnny. Focus.” Taeil said from just a few feet away. Johnny kept tossing the ball. Everytime it would miss, his stomach would flip. Everytime it went in, he let out a sigh of relief. 

     This was one of the longest two minutes of his life. 

     Johnny had won by a narrow margin.

     He let out a heavy sigh, looking back and forth between the two scoreboards. Only now that it was over did he realize how foolish it was to take a childish game so seriously. Was this even worth it? He looked over at Taeil who had a huge smile on his face. Yeah, it was.

     Johnny turned to Yuta. Yuta looked impressed and threw his hands up.

     “Well, what can I say? I think we’re pretty evenly matched.” Yuta said. Johnny nodded, acting cool despite the fact that he, a former basketball player, nearly lost to someone who played a completely different sport. “Honestly, I almost asked for a second try. You’re good.” Taeil came over and wrapped an arm around Johnny’s waist. He wasn’t exactly able to comfortably reach his shoulders.

     “He’s great.” Taeil said. 

     “I’m gonna go report to Jae now. It’s been a pleasure.” Yuta gave them a little salute. “We’ll have to play a real game soon, yeah?” Yuta was gone before Johnny could give him a real answer. Johnny looked at Taeil. Taeil let him go and looked at the games. The scoreboards had cleared and the high score was displayed instead of Johnny and Yuta’s scores. 

     “So, Yuta. When did you meet him?” Johnny asked. Taeil watched as the ring of lights switched on and off. 

     “I was a foreign exchange student in Japan in high school. He got to show me around the school and help me in my classes.” Taeil said. He looked back at Johnny. “You did a good job. Had me a little nervous there.” Taeil teased, though Johnny could tell it wasn’t a joke. “Listen, John. I know this is a lot. If you want to back out now-”

     “Taeil,” Johnny took Taeil’s hands in his, giving them a little squeeze. “I’m serious about this. These last few months have been really nice. So what if I have to arm wrestle someone or play some arcade games? I’ll get to spend more time with you.” Johnny assured. Taeil looked relieved and gave a little nod. The two of them headed to the front of the arcade.

     “So…” Johnny said, breaking the silence that hung between them. “Who’s Jae?” 

≈≈≈

     Johnny was not expecting Taeil to tell him that Jae was the Jung Jaehyun. Not only was Jaehyun the star of some of the hottest movies to come out in the last few years, but he had the awards and swarms of girls following him to prove it. Jaehyun was a star on the rise, practically untouchable, and Johnny was shocked that Taeil had known him, even if it was for a short period of time like he said. It wasn’t that Taeil wasn’t good enough to know him, it was just that Jaehyun seemed to always be this famous enigma. Though he emerged in the industry fairly recently, he seemed to have always been surrounded by other relevant celebrities. 

     Now it had been nearly two weeks since Johnny had beaten Yuta and Jaehyun hadn’t left his mind. Not that that was very different than before, Jaehyun was an otherworldly being, but it was for different reasons this time. And much to his surprise, he hadn’t even been approached by another ex. After two in one day, he was sure this would be over in a week. That, apparently, wasn’t the case.

     It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen Taeil since then either. In fact, they had gone out just a few days after. No one had come to crash the party and no one had approached Johnny when he was out on the town alone either. 

     That was, until one fateful afternoon. Johnny had a meeting with a client downtown in the morning and had stopped by the library to rake Taeil out for lunch on his break. They had eaten at the same restaurant they ended up at after their failed date and Johnny felt a little better about that night. After all, they wouldn’t have found such a hidden gem. 

     Johnny had walked Taeil back and decided to stay for a bit to pick up a few new books he could read in his spare time. Wedding season was over and he had a lot more free time than he usually did. Taeil had clocked back in and came out to join Johnny on his quest for new literature when someone came up to them.

     “Illie! It’s so good to see you again! Oh, wow, it’s been so long! We really should get together soon. I’ve missed you so much.” The man said, his doe eyes sparkling as he pulled Taeil into a tight hug. The man released him and turned to Johnny, pulling him into a hug as well. “Oh, look at you! You’re even prettier than in photos!” Johnny wasn’t sure what to say. The man let him go and turned back to Taeil.

     “Taeyong, I’m glad to see you haven’t changed one bit. Still as bright eyed and bushy tailed as when I last saw you.” Taeil joked. Taeyong blushed and giggled. An honest to god giggle. “You’re here for him, aren’t you?” He asked. Taeyong beamed.

     “Oh, you know me so well. Always did.” Taeyong looked at Taeil as if he was his whole world, and by the way he was acting, Johnny was sure he was. “So,” he turned back to Johnny. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Johnny! I’ve heard so many things from the boys.”

     “All good things, I hope.” Johnny said. 

     “Oh, hardly! But I’m glad I get my turn with you.” Taeyong said, leaving Johnny to wonder what he had heard from the other exes. Taeil nearly choked on that last part. “But we have all the time in the world for that. Illie, are you hungry? Have you eaten?” Taeyong asked.

     “I actually just got back from my lunch break. But… thanks.” Taeil sounded cautious but Johnny dismissed it. This guy, Taeyong, was obviously an ex of Taeil’s but he seemed much different than the last two. Donghyuck and Yuta had large presences. Taeyong on the other hand seemed much quieter, but he very clearly had an attachment to Taeil.

     “Oh, what a shame. I thought maybe I could take you out like I used to.” Taeyong pouted and even Johnny began to feel bad. Not even a second later, Taeyong was back to smiling again. “But oh well. Maybe we can try again next week, yeah?” Taeil grimaced, wondering what the best thing to say was.

     “We can definitely try. But you’re not here for me, right?” Taeyong nodded and looked at Johnny. 

     “I’m here for him, of course!” He beamed. “I heard you beat Donghyuck and Yuta already. It’s a shame. We had such high expectations for Yuta too. Seemed promising.” Taeyong looked a little sad as he said it. Johnny thought back to when they met. Taeil was surprised that Yuta was in the league, meaning he must have been a relatively new addition. He wondered what the process of joining was, and hoped he’d never have to. Not that he would anyway. “Well, I’m not gonna let you beat me.”

     “You sound pretty sure of that.” Johnny said. Taeyong nodded and Johnny saw a fire in his eyes. 

     “The other bozos went too easy on you. They threw you softballs giving you challenges that were skewed so far in your favor. Don’t expect the same thing from me.” While his tone and demeanor were kind and joking, Johnny would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little intimidated.

     “What do you have in mind then?” Johnny asked.

     “Have you ever heard of Kahoot?” Taeyong asked. Johnny laughed, remembering the times back in high school when he had played in class to review for upcoming exams. 

     “Yeah, I’ve heard of Kahoot.” Taeyong looked relieved and clapped his hands together.

     “Then let’s play!” Taeyong said. Johnny wondered how this was skewed in Taeyong’s favor but he didn’t ask.

     “Uh, yeah, okay.” He said a little nervously. The three of them walked through the library to the back where the rows of computers were set up. While they were typically used by students for research, they didn’t think it would be much of a bother to the two other people who were already working back there. Taeyong slipped his wallet out of his pocket and sat in front of one of the computers. He fished out his library card and entered the numbers. The desktop opened and Taeil sighed.

     “I really should be reshelving the books in the back.” He said, but he made no effort to move. Johnny took the seat next to Taeyong. Taeyong pulled up the kahoot website and logged in, navigating to a kahoot that apparently he made called “Moon Taeil ♡ ”. It was 30 questions long. Johnny looked back at Taeil who was just as surprised as he was. 

     “We’re doing a kahoot… that you made? I get skewed in your favor, but this seems a little unfair.” Johnny said, looking back at the screen where the game was pulled up.

     “Oh, don’t worry. I haven’t reviewed in a while.” Taeyong said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and getting ready to join the game. Johnny took his phone out as well and pulled up the site.

     “When did you make this?” Taeil asked, his eyes wide. Taeyong shrugged.

     “Oh, you know. Some time ago.” Taeyong clicked on a few things and the join screen was brought up. The two men entered the code. Johnny took a second to process what was happening but snapped out of it when Taeyong asked if he was ready. He nodded and Taeyong started the game.

     The first few questions were easy. Taeil’s birthday (June 14th, 1994), his siblings (one sister, Johnny would be a fool to get that one wrong), instruments he played (piano and guitar). Johnny was behind by a few points due to the speed at which Taeyong was answering the questions, but he hadn’t gotten a single one wrong, so he didn’t feel too bad about it. They were 7 questions in when it started to get weird. 

     Johnny was unsure of how he was supposed to possibly know what Taeil dressed up as for Halloween in his first year of high school. He wasn’t even sure if Taeil would remember what he dressed up as. Thankfully, luck was on his side. He clicked on what sounded the most like Taeil, prayed, and was relieved to see he had gotten it right. The only problem was, Taeyong got it right as well.

     There were a few more obscure questions about things like his favorite host from Ouran Highschool Host Club (an anime that Johnny had never seen, but he blindly picked Mori because that felt right),  his first words (can’t go wrong with “mama”), and favorite episode of The Office (season 5, episode 14. A valid choice). Johnny thanked the gods because somehow, he still had yet to get a single question wrong.

     He froze up when he saw the next question was about Taeil’s second grade teacher. His finger hovered over the button for Mr. Park when Taeil leaned down to him.

     “Mr. Son.” He whispered. Johnny looked to him but quickly looked back at the screen, clicking on the option for Mr. Son.

     “Hey, that’s cheating.” Taeyong said, pouting again. Taeil rolled his eyes. 

     “You literally made this yourself. I’m just leveling the playing field.” Taeil put his arm over Johnny’s shoulder. Johnny smiled up at him and looked back to the computer as Taeyong clicked to move on to the next question. 

     They continued on like that. They moved through the questions, Johnny either guessing correctly or being told the answer before he clicked the wrong one. They were on question 19 and Johnny and Taeyong had been passing first place between them. The next question popped up on the screen.

     How old was Taeil when he lost his last baby tooth?

     Johnny looked between all of the options. At this point in the game, the surprise was pretty much lost on Taeil. He leaned in to Johnny and gave him the answer. Johnny hit the button and the question disappeared. The three of them looked at the screen. Unlike every question up to that point, they had chosen two different answers.

     “Oh, no. You were ten. I knew that. How could I have gotten it wrong?” Taeyong said, shock clear in his voice and on his face. Taeyong set his phone on the table and buried his head in his hands. Johnny set his phone down as well and looked at Taeil.

     “Hey, we still have eleven more questions.” Johnny offered. Taeil shook his head.

     “No, don’t you see? I got it wrong . I already failed.” Taeyong said, looking like he was on the verge of tears. “Oh, I should have reviewed before today. You know, I told myself to and I just didn’t. I can’t believe I came so unprepared.”

     “You’re not stupid, Taeyong.” Taeil told him. Taeyong looked up at him. “I mean I don’t think I’d remember all of that and it’s literally about me.” Taeyong sighed and closed the game. Johnny didn’t feel like he had properly won, but at this point, he took what he could get. He loved learning about Taeil, but with such high stakes, he couldn’t enjoy it properly. He’d have to ask him questions later.

     “I’ll do better next time, Illie. I promise.” Taeyong told him. Taeil put his hand on his shoulder and gave it a pat.

     “Yeah, uh, next time. To make you feel better, how about we go out to lunch sometime this week.” Taeil said. He looked over at Johnny, silently promising that it would be a purely platonic outing, though Johnny hadn’t doubted that in the first place.

     “Oh, wow! Definitely!” Taeyong was back to smiling. 

     “Hey, Taeil.” Someone said from a few computers away. The three of them looked up to where the voice was coming from and saw a guy in a hoodie and sweatpants coming over.

     “Hey, Mark.”

     “Mark? Like the guy who introduced you to Donghyuck? That Mark?” Johnny asked, looking back and forth between the two of them. Taeil gave him a nervous smile. 

     “Yeah, we’ve known each other since he first moved here.” He looked back to Mark. “Please tell me you didn’t join the league too.”

     “Wait, so this dude is a year older than Donghyuck and yet you dated him?” Johnny asked, thinking back to one of his previous “battles.” Taeil gave a little shrug.

     “I’ve known Mark for years. It wasn’t like some young teenage boy pining after me. And it lasted like, what, a week?” Taeil said, throwing his arms up.

     “I’m not in the league anyway. Jae’s cool and all but I don’t want to make things awkward. Taeil’s like a brother to me. You don’t date your brother.” Mark said, stuffing his hands in his hoodie pocket and shrugging a little. “I’m just here to get Taeyong.”

     “Markie, I could have found my way home on my own.” Taeyong pouted. 

     “Yeah but you said you’d help me clean up my apartment before my family came to visit. I’m not doing it alone.” Johnny looked between the two of them. 

     “Are you two…” he trailed off. Taeyong gasped and shook his head.

     “Oh, no no no. We’ve just known each other for a long time.” Taeyong logged off of the computer, leaving it open for anyone else to use. “Well, we’ll get going. I’ll text you later to figure out a date, yeah?” He got up and pulled Taeil into another crushing hug. He didn’t forget to give Johnny one either. “C’mon, Markie. Let’s clean up your place.”

     The two men left the library. Taeil took the seat Taeyong was in and looked at Johnny. Johnny locked his phone and put it back in his pocket.

     “I really should do my job.” Taeil said, looking at the shelves around them.

     “Probably.” Johnny responded. There was silence between them as neither of them moved. “Got any pictures of you as Tuxedo Mask?” 

≈≈≈

     Since Johnny had beaten Yuta, he and Taeil had found themselves back at the arcade at least once a week. It may have put a small dent in their wallets, but the two had fun and were pooling their tickets to get the giant Rilakkuma plushie that taunted them from the top of the prize shelves. 

     At first, they’d wander around playing any games they thought looked interesting. This, however, was not the best strategy as they were trying to maximize their ticket output. After a few trips there (and some late nights on a very weird side of YouTube), Johnny and Taeil were finessing the games to give them the most tickets possible. Oh, and trying to have fun too. 

     Taeil seemed to have a knack for most of the games there and Johnny loved watching him get excited every time he landed the perfect shot or won the jackpot of whatever game they had stopped at. The way his eyes would light up melted Johnny’s heart. They were on their third game of skee ball when they were approached by someone else. 

     “We’ll get out of your way in just a second.” Johnny said, rolling the ball up the ramp and watching it miss all of the holes. The other person tried to hold back a laugh.

     “No need. I actually wanted to come talk to you.” They said. Johnny almost dropped the ball he had just picked up. He looked at the person, a bit confused.

     “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m kinda on a date right now.” Johnny said, being a little cautious. He didn’t want to come off rude. It had been awhile since he had been flirted with. Of course, he was conveniently misreading all of the signals. It was Taeil’s turn to hold back a laugh.

     “Wait, wait. I don’t think you understand.” The stranger said, a little startled. Johnny blushed and looked a little horrified.

     “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” Johnny rushed out, incredibly embarrassed at what was going on. 

     “Hey, Jungwoo.” Taeil said, giving the stranger (or not), a little wave. He smiled and waved back. “Johnny, this is Jungwoo.” Jungwoo gave Johnny a polite smile, and he returned one. “He’s one of my exes.” Just as soon as the smile was there, Johnny’s smile was gone. It was replaced by a look of surprise mixed with a little bit of dread.

     “I’m guessing you’re here to battle me, right?” Johnny asked. Jungwoo nodded and the skee ball machines made more noises, signaling their time was up. “Alright. What are you thinking?” Jungwoo looked around.

     “Well, we’re certainly at the right place for this huh?” He said. “Hmm, it’s been so long since I’ve been to an arcade. I think I’ll let you choose. Whatever you think is fun.” 

     Johnny thought about it. He looked over to Taeil for some ideas, but he just shrugged. He looked around them and spotted a large machine flashing lights and playing music. Seemed fun enough.

     “How about DDR?” Johnny asked.

     “That sounds great! You know, I’ve been told I’m a pretty good dancer.” Jungwoo said, teasing Johnny.

     “Oh, really?” Johnny asked.

     “Yeah! I’ve placed in the top three in every competition I’ve entered. In most I got first.” Jungwoo said nonchalantly. Taeil tried to cover up a laugh.

     “Oh…” was all Johnny said. He sounded impressed and also terrified which was pretty accurate given the situation. Taeil snickered. Had he known that Jungwoo was a dancer, he certainly wouldn’t have picked the one game in the entire arcade that required him to dance. But what was he going to do now? Say sike? “This’ll be… fun.” 

     They all walked to the machine and watched as a few kids were playing a round. None of them were very good, but they all seemed to be having fun. Johnny sighed.

     “Looks like it’s occupied. Maybe we should find another game-” The kids all laughed and the song ended. They picked up their things and ran off to another part of the arcade. Jungwoo grinned.

     “You were saying?” Jungwoo said. It was clear that he knew Johnny was nervous. “C’mon. I’ll go a little easy on you in the beginning. Maybe 75% power.” He joked. Johnny appreciated that he seemed to be trying to ease his nerves. 

     “No need for that. I need to properly win this.” Johnny said.

     “Attaboy.” They stepped onto the platform. Jungwoo slipped two coins in and pressed start. The screen flashed a bunch of songs and Jungwoo flipped through them. He stopped on a random one and looked over at Johnny. When Johnny didn’t object, he pressed start again and the game loaded. There was a colorful backdrop with sparkles floating around. A large red countdown flashed on the screen.

     3... 2… 1… START!

     It started off easy. Just a few steps back and forth, side to side. Much like when he played basketball with Yuta, it had been a while since he had played DDR. Maybe it was the fact that he was an adult now, but this game was not nearly as intense as it had felt when he was young.

     Or maybe he spoke too soon. Suddenly, there were twice as many steps to land and execute at the same time. He tried his best but missing a few steps here and there was unavoidable. He spared a look at Jungwoo and regretted it. Jungwoo was getting into it. He was moving his arms, swinging his hips, bobbing his head. Johnny, on the other hand, was incredibly stiff. He looked back to the screen and put all of his energy in missing as few moves as possible.

     After that, he didn’t look over at Jungwoo’s side of the screen. He knew the difference between their scores would be big and he didn’t want to be disheartened. He developed serious tunnel vision, looking only at the arrows that were just approaching the top and glancing briefly at his feet to ensure he wouldn’t trip over himself.

     As the music started to get really intense, Johnny began to feel the burn in his legs. It wasn’t like he stretched his DDR muscles every night before bed. Had he known this game was going to be quite this physically exhausting, he probably would have opted for something much simpler. 

     He was sweating and aching and wondering just how long this goddamn song was. He took another look at Jungwoo who didn’t seem to be phased at all. The music began to slow down and Johnny felt a glimmer of hope. He hit the last few steps with purpose and as the song faded out, he let himself breathe a heavy sigh of relief. He turned and leaned against the bar behind him and panted. Taeil was looking at him. It was clear he was trying to keep from bursting out laughing. He wasn’t expecting Johnny to be this tired either, but he would be lying if he said it wasn’t hilarious. 

     “Darn. I think maybe I had too much fun with it.” Jungwoo said. Johnny whipped around and looked at the screen in disbelief. Somehow he had managed to finish with nearly five hundred more points than Jungwoo. “I guess I got kinda sloppy, huh?”

     “There’s…. there’s no way you… you didn’t win.” He said, still trying to catch his breath. Jungwoo shrugged but smiled.

     “The game doesn’t lie.” He said. He gestured to the screen. Johnny straightened up and dusted himself off. 

     “Well, I guess not. You just seemed to be so into it.” 

     “That doesn’t mean I didn’t mess up a whole bunch. I was having so much fun I kinda stopped paying attention to getting everything right. Didn’t you?” Jungwoo asked.

     “Not exactly. But I guess I did have fun.” Johnny said. Jungwoo clapped his hands together. 

     “You know, I enjoyed this a lot. If you make it out of this alive, we’ll have to play again some time.” Jungwoo said, a big smile on his face.

     “Yeah, I really enjoyed-” Johnny’s smile faded from his face and he looked at Jungwoo. “What do you mean, ‘if I make it out alive?’” He asked. Jungwoo just laughed and pulled Johnny in for a hug before giving Taeil one as well. 

     “I’ll see you around, yeah?” He said, giving a small wave. He turned on his heels and bounced off. Johnny, still shocked, looked at Taeil. 

     “Did he just say that? He said that right? Taeil, I’m not going to die right?” Johnny asked, his head spinning. Taeil laughed.

     “You won’t die. Probably.” He said. He laughed even harder when Johnny’s eyes widened. “Now get ready to play again. I wanna try my hand against the winner.” He fished two coins out of his pocket and inserted them into the machine.

     “Taeil, that’s not fair. You don’t think I’ll actually die right? We’re just playing games. Why would I die?” Johnny said. Taeil flipped through the songs.

     “I don’t think you’ll die. You better win just in case though. I don’t need to deal with what happens if you die.” Taeil joked. He selected a song and the game began counting down. “Now pay attention or you’ll lose.” 

≈≈≈

     After hearing Sehun was going out of town for the weekend (something about his boyfriend’s sister’s wedding, Johnny wasn’t sure. He stopped listening as soon as he said he would be gone.), Johnny thought about inviting Taeil over. When he said yes, Johnny went out and bought everything he would need for those few days, splurging on food he normally would pass on to save money. He would simply invite Taeil to stay the night, acting casually, as if he hadn’t been thinking it over for days. It would be a taste of the life that they could have in the future. Especially without Sehun to walk in and ruin the sweet moments.

     And that’s how Johnny found himself sitting on the couch, counting down the minutes to when Taeil said he’d be around. He was trying to distract himself with whatever was on the television but he just wasn’t interested in anything that was playing. He jumped when he heard a knock on the door. According to the clock, Taeil wasn’t supposed to be here for another 15 minutes. And how would he have gotten up here without buzzing in anyway?

     Johnny got up and walked over, looking out the peephole. He didn’t recognize the man on the other side, but he slowly opened the door anyway.

     “Hello?” Johnny asked. The man gave him a tight smile.

     “John Suh?” He asked back. Johnny nodded and the man stuck his hand out. “Kim Doyoung.” Johnny took his hand and shook it. Doyoung let him go and slid his hands into his pockets. 

     “Can I ask what this is about?” Johnny asked. Doyoung looked a little shocked at that.

     “He didn’t tell you? I can’t say I’m surprised.” Doyoung said, rolling his eyes and sighing. At that, it clicked in Johnny’s head.

     “You’re one of the exes?” When Doyoung nodded, Johnny stepped aside, allowing Doyoung to step into his apartment. “You guys make house calls now? Well, Taeil should be over in about a half an hour, so if you want to wait until then-”

     “Ah, there’s no need for that. I’m not like Jaehyun or Yuta. I don’t need Taeil to watch me and tell me a good job if I happen to beat you.” Doyoung said, looking around. Johnny felt a wave of relief coming over him.

     “You don’t sound so sure that you’re going to win.” Johnny noted.

     “Frankly because I don’t care how this goes either way. Look, we're all adults. I’m grateful for the relationship that Taeil and I had and as much as it hurt when he broke up with me, I’ve moved on. I’m in a happy relationship now.” Doyoung told him. Johnny was taken aback when he heard that Taeil was the one who broke up with him. 

     “I don’t get it. If you’ve moved on, why do I still have to beat you?” Johnny asked. Doyoung just crossed his arms over his chest and gave a little shrug.

     “Contractual obligations.” 

     “Oh.” Johnny hummed. “Well can I get you anything? A glass of water?”

     “A glass of water would be nice.” Doyoung gave him a polite smile and Johnny walked to the kitchen, taking two glasses down. 

     “So how did you two meet?” Johnny called from the kitchen, Doyoung came over and leaned in the doorway. He filled the glasses and handed one to Doyoung who took it and sipped.

     “I worked at the library with him for a few months. I was between jobs and they hardly turn people away. Taeil was nice. He showed me around, introduced me to everyone. He was my first real friend.” Doyoung smiled fondly, thinking back to his time there. “You scored big with that one, John. He’s one of the best guys I’ve ever known.”

     “Yeah, I got pretty lucky.” Johnny said, blushing. This was not going at all as he had expected, but he was quite relieved. Doyoung was being amicable and it didn’t seem strange or condescending like it had with the other exes he had dealt with. “How long were you together?”

     “What was it… seven months? I guess it got pretty serious. I mean we met each other’s families and all that. Spent the holidays together.” Doyoung told him. Johnny was a bit surprised. He had met Taeil’s family (he had met his sister long before he met Taeil. It was her wedding that they met after all) but he had only seen them once or twice since they had grown this close. “You’re coming up on seven too, aren’t you?” 

     “I guess we are.” 

     “And yet he’s just your buddy. I’m a bit surprised.” Doyoung told him, giving him a questioning look. Johnny sighed. “Yeah, heard it all from Yuta. But that’s none of my business.” Doyoung dismissed the topic.

     “I’ve tried, but it felt wrong. I want it to be right for him.” Johnny said. Doyoung nodded, understanding. 

     “You’ll know. Now, on to what I came here for. As much as I don’t care about how this ends, and honestly I’d rather see you win, I can’t throw it. Legally binded.” Doyoung’s phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket. He scowled and slipped it back in his pocket. “I’m afraid we’ll have to make this quick. Do you wanna, I don’t know, have a staring contest or something? I’ve had my contacts in all day so it’s probably skewed in your favor.”

     “Oh, uh, yeah sure. I’ll count us down.” Johnny set his glass down and Doyoung followed. The two men stood in front of each other. “Three… two… one… go.” A somewhat awkward silence fell over the pair. Johnny looked into Doyoung’s eyes. Wow he had nice eyes. 

     “Why thank you.” Doyoung said. Johnny blushed, not realizing he had said it outloud. “I actually get that a lot. It’s one of my favorite features about myself.” There was silence once again, but it wasn’t as bad this time. Johnny’s eyes began to burn, but he tried his best to make sure his discomfort didn’t show on his face. 

     They went a surprisingly long time. Both Johnny and Doyoung had expected one of them to blink at this point, but Doyoung knew he had to try and Johnny wanted to win. There was a buzz from the front door and Johnny grimaced. Doyoung pursed his lips before sighing and finally blinking.

     “Well, that was definitely the strangest part of my week.” Doyoung joked. Johnny laughed and headed over to the front door, buzzing whoever was down there (he was certain it was Taeil) in. Doyoung gave Johnny a polite smile and stuck his hand out again. Johnny took it and shook. “It was nice to finally meet you in person, John. Who knows, depending on how it plays out with Jaehyun, maybe we can all go out on a double date. I’m sure my partners would love to meet you.” Doyoung left Johnny’s apartment and a few minutes later, Taeil was at the door. 

     “Hey. You have, uh, any visitors?” He asked, looking back down the hallway.

     “Yeah. I won, by the way.” Johnny said. Taeil let out a sigh of relief and stepped into Johnny’s apartment. 

     “Glad to hear that. Figured you would. Especially against him.” Taeil said as he pulled his jacket off and set it on the back of the couch. 

     “Yeah, he’s a really nice guy. We actually talked for a minute. He invited us out to dinner with his partners?” Johnny told him, the last part a question to see if maybe Taeil knew that he was in a relationship at all let alone with multiple people. Taeil also looked surprised but nodded.

     “He is. I’m glad you like him.” Taeil said.

     It wasn’t like their break up had been messy or anything. Doyoung had been incredibly understanding when Taeil told him that he had lost the feelings that he once held for him. Doyoung wasn’t one to blow things out of proportion, and he knew that at the end of the day, there was little he could do to change Taeil’s mind. Since then, they had remained in contact, texting each other on holidays or birthdays, but it wasn’t like it once was. 

     “I’m gonna use the bathroom, okay?” Taeil made his way down the hall and Johnny flopped onto the couch. He sat there, fiddling with his fingers. Taeil came out, sat next to him, and rested his head on the other man’s shoulder. 

     “Well, I guess I’m glad that was easy. And he seemed nice enough. And hey, we have a dinner invitation. That should be interesting.” Johnny offered. Taeil smiled and took Johnny’s hand in his. 

     “Yeah. It’ll be nice. Doyoung was always a nice guy and it’s not like we ended it on bad terms.” Taeil grabbed the remote and flipped through some of the channels. 

     “It was a little strange, you know, him showing up at my place and all. How the hell did they get my address?” Johnny asked. Taeil laughed and shrugged.

     “They always seem to know these things. I’d rather not look too far into it.” Taeil brushed it off. He stopped on a channel that was playing some random cartoon. 

     “I guess now we just wait until the nefarious and ever charismatic Jaehyun to show up at my door or my work or wherever he decides is convenient.” 

     “The thing is, Jaehyun’s different. He’s not going to be actively looking for you like the others were. Especially not now that he’s gaining traction. If you really want to see this through, we’re going to need to go to him.” Taeil said, twiddling his fingers.

     “Taeil, Jung Jaehyun is an award winning actor. It’s not like we’ll be able to walk up to him on the street.” Johnny said, continuing to scroll through Jaehyun’s Instagram feed.

     “He’s filming a movie in Busan. We can head down there and wrap this whole thing up.” Taeil said. He grabbed Johnny’s hand and held it in his. “We can make a weekend out of it. Spend some time down there and celebrate you beating all of my exes.” Taeil offered. Johnny felt butterflies in his stomach and he couldn’t help but smile despite the fact that the thought of facing Taeil’s final ex (and the supposed leader of the league for god’s sake) had a troubling hold on him. 

     “That sounds really nice. But what are we going to do? Sneak on to the film set?” Johnny asked. He was almost certain that with an actor like Jaehyun, there would be strict security making sure they knew exactly who went in and who came out. 

     “John, he’s in a league of my exes. He’s clearly not over me. I can text his manager once and be invited to be his date to the premier.” An opportunity to see Taeil in a suit again would be nice, but it would still be sour given the circumstances. “I’ll get in touch with him. I’ll tell him that I want to meet with him and see what it’s like on the set.” Taeil seemed to sense Johnny’s nerves. “And I’ll tell them I’m bringing a friend.”

     Johnny just nodded, thinking about Jung Jaehyun. Taeil may think that he’ll greet them with open arms, but Johnny was sure it wasn’t going to be that easy. Even if it wasn’t a name as big as Jaehyun’s, they don’t let randos walk onto a film set. But Johnny trusted Taeil. And that night, they made a rough plan and had their train tickets booked for a trip in two weeks.

≈≈≈

     Surprisingly, it really was that easy. Johnny wasn’t sure exactly what Taeil had said, and he wasn’t sure if he necessarily wanted to know. All he did know was that by the time they had arrived in Busan, Jaehyun’s manager was there to greet them with two badges, giving them full clearance to nearly everything while they were there.

     They had spent the rest of the day exploring Busan. They explored the beaches, tried new restaurants, and even stopped into a couple small bars. Johnny, fortunately, had brought his camera and tried to document as much of it as possible. And if he took a few extra shots of Taeil, who was going to stop him?

     The following day, the pair woke up bright and early and made their way to the shooting location. Neither of them had ever seen a film set before so they had no idea what to expect. They also had no idea what kind of movie this was. As they approached a group of security guards one came up to them.

     “Hey, this is a closed shoot. No civilians are allowed this way for the next two months.” He told them, looking between the two.

     “Two months? Seems a little inconvenient for people living down this way, don’t you think?” Taeil asked, slipping his backpack off and fishing around for the passes they were given yesterday.

     “I agree. The studio is paying for everyone who lives in these blocks to stay in a few hotels around the area. Waste of funds to me. They better hope they can make it all back.” The security guard said. Taeil nodded and pulled their passes out, handing them to the security guard. He looked them over as if they might be fake, but ultimately gave them back. The two men put them around their necks. “Good enough for me. Try and steer clear of the blocks starting three down, two to the left. They’re filming until they break for lunch at two.”

     Johnny and Taeil thanked him and began walking down the street, looking at the buildings and people rushing around them. It would have looked almost normal if these people weren’t wearing headsets or lugging around large cameras and lights. 

     “This is a completely different world.” Johnny said, watching as someone came a little too close to dropping a camera on the sidewalk. Taeil took his hand.

     “Oh, you work with cameras. Don’t you feel like you fit in here?” He joked. Johnny laughed and shook his head.

     “I take pictures. I don’t do anything on this scale. Certainly not with anything this… expensive.” He told him. Taeil took his hand as they walked down the street. They weren’t sure where they were going or what to do. That must have been obvious because it didn’t take long for someone to come up to them.

     “Excuse me, can I help you guys?” A lady said. She was carrying a clipboard and marking things down. She glanced at their passes and back down to the clipboard. 

     “Oh, uh, yeah. We’re actually here to see Jaehyun. I’m Moon Taeil.” He said. The lady looked up at him, her eyes wide. She looked back and forth between the two of them.

     “ You’re Moon Taeil. Of course, yes. We were wondering when you guys would get here. Jaehyun’s currently on set, but he should be free at about,” She looked through the papers on the clipboard. “Twelve. Until then, I’ll take you back to the trailers.” She turned and started walking before either of them could say anything. They began to follow her.

     “I can’t believe I know the Moon Taeil.” Johnny teased. Taeil jabbed him in the side which caused Johnny to laugh.

     “Shut up. I don’t know what all of the fuss is about.” Taeil said. 

     “Jung Jaehyun is the mastermind behind your league of exes. I think it’s pretty clear what all of the fuss is about.” Johnny told him. The lady led them through the streets and to a closed off area where there were tables and chairs set up outside of a handful of trailers. 

     “I’ll leave you two here. I’ll have someone send Jaehyun your way as soon as he’s done filming. If you need anything just look for someone with a clipboard. They can usually help.” She said. Johnny thought this was a gross simplification, but he didn’t think too far into it. As she walked away, Johnny and Taeil sat at one of the tables. 

     “So how did you meet Jung Jaehyun?” Johnny asked. Taeil thought back to it and hummed.

     “We met through a mutual friend, actually.” Taeil said.

     “Mark?”

     “No, you ass. But it was a blind date. He had just started acting and was landing mostly minor roles amongst being a featured extra. We instantly hit it off and we ended up seeing each other a few more times.” Taeil stopped, thinking back on certain details. He tapped his fingers on the table. “We were only together for like three months. He started getting bigger roles and getting busier. Plus I wasn’t too keen on the girls that seemed to follow him around everywhere.”

     “Was he… I dunno… a good boyfriend?” Johnny asked. Taeil looked at him unimpressed.

     “Not too bad. I’ve had better.” Taeil grabbed Johnny’s hand from across the table and gave it a little squeeze.

     The time passed quicker than Johnny and Taeil realized. In the few hours they were there, they got the chance to talk to quite a few actors. Taeil was much better at keeping his cool than Johnny was. Johnny only got flustered a few times. Okay, pretty much every time.

     Before they knew it, Johnny was looking up and watching the Jung Jaehyun walking towards them. He tapped the table in front of Taeil who was looking down at his phone. He looked up and back over his shoulder. Jaehyun was approaching them, his face blank of all emotion. They stood up to greet him.

     “Hey, Jaehyun. How was filming?” Taeil asked. Jaehyun shrugged.

     “Not too bad. Just another day.” He said. He looked at Johnny. “Look at you. I’m surprised you made it this far.” Johnny forced a smile, but his discomfort was clear on his face. Jaehyun wasn’t exactly making this a welcoming environment.

     “I was just trying my best, I guess.” Johnny said. When Jaehyun didn’t respond, he figured it would be best to cut to the chase. “Okay, so how is this gonna go down? Are we gonna thumb wrestle? Maybe a card game? We did cup stacking every year in elementary, maybe we can-” Johnny was cut off by Jaehyun’s fist hitting him right on the jaw. He brought his hands up to where Jaehyun had landed the punch and he took a few steps back. “No cup stacking. Got it. Made that very clear.”

     Jaehyun swung again, but Johnny backed up before he could hit him. Conveniently, he backed up right into the chair he had been sitting in just a moment earlier. He turned to look at it and push it out of the way, just as Jaehyun nailed him in the stomach. Johnny put both hands up and shoved Jaehyun away as hard as he could. He pushed the chair behind him away and looked at Taeil who was looking back at him, shocked.

     “Just gonna shove me like a girl or are you gonna swing?” Jaehyun asked, recovering the distance he lost and swinging again. Johnny dodged his fist, but didn’t dodge his foot. Luckily, it missed his junk by a fraction of an inch. 

     “I mean, I don’t want to hit you. This just seems strange.” Johnny said, backing away. Jaehyun rolled his eyes and stepped forward, making sure Johnny was never further than just an arm’s length away.

     “You have to beat me. It’s beat me or you lose Taeil. Don’t act like the rules haven’t been clear to you from the beginning.” Jaehyun lunged forward, punching Johnny in the stomach.

     “I haven’t had to fight anyone else. I thought we’d play another game or something.” Johnny said, clutching his stomach.

     “That’s on you.” Jaehyun said before giving Johnny a good uppercut. Johnny’s head snapped back and buzzed.

     “God, Taeil. You sure have an interesting past.” Johnny said before swinging and nailing Jaehyun in the face. Jaehyun was quick to return the favor. 

     Taeil watched as the two continued punching and kicking. He wasn’t the only one. In fact, a few other people had gathered around to watch the action. The more Taeil thought about it, the odder it seemed that no one was stepping in to break the two of them up. Then again, neither was he. But he wouldn’t want to get involved in that. What was he going to do? Get punched? No thank you.

     Johnny was definitely not a fighter. That was clear to anyone who was watching. Somehow though, he was holding his own and was landing quite a few good hits on Jaehyun. Jung Jaehyun was not at all what he expected. He had seen him in pictures and videos (who hadn’t?) so he knew the guy was built, but he didn’t think he’d be this strong. This fight was mostly Johnny playing defense and no matter how hard he tried to change that, it always came back to it.

     Jaehyun hooked his foot behind Johnny’s ankle, and when Johnny stumbled back to avoid a hit, he fell to the ground. Jaehyun gave him a good hard kick to the side and got down. His knee dropped onto Johnny’s chest just below his neck, his foot digging into Johnny’s side. His other foot was on Johnny’s hip and every time he tried to move, Jaehyun applied a little more pressure.

     “God, I just don’t get it.” Johnny said. “You guys claim you want to see Taeil happy, and then you go and try and ruin his relationships. That’s pretty fucked up don’t you think.” Jaehyun said nothing so Johnny continued. “The fact that this league exists is just so weird. Don’t you see that? And now that I’ve busted my ass-”

     “You arm wrestled and played DDR.”

     “Does it really matter? The point is, I’ve fought for Taeil this whole time. Who cares if we played games? I played those games to the best of my ability and I won. If that was enough for your little league-mates, then why isn’t enough for you, huh?” Johnny asked, looking up at Jaehyun. Jaehyun’s face was blank. Johnny couldn’t figure what was going on in his head and that made him all the more nervous. 

     Much to Johnny’s surprise, Jaehyun got up. The weight of his knee on Johnny’s chest lifted and Johnny sat up. Jaehyun dusted himself off and offered a hand to Johnny, helping him up. 

     “I love him.” He said. His face still showed little emotion, but Johnny could see that his features seemed softer, as if he wasn’t trying to look cold and intimidating anymore. “I’ve never loved someone the way I love him. I think it’s the same for you too. So congratulations. You beat me. He kept you.” In an instant, the cold, hard expression was gone from Jaehyun’s face and he was smiling, his cheeks rosy. “But wow, you’re a pretty tough guy.”

     Johnny was stunned by how quickly Jaehyun turned into the bubbly guy he always was in interviews. It was honestly a bit scary. He smiled, still a little nervous. 

     “Uh… thanks. You’re not too bad yourself.” He complimented. Jaehyun sat in one of the chairs.

     “Taeil means a lot to me. No one has ever made me feel the way he made me feel. I’ve never met someone as kind and supportive as him. He was always there for me when I needed him and I feel short on my end.” Jaehyun said. Johnny picked up the chair they had knocked over earlier and set it across the table from him. He sat down and Taeil joined them. 

     “I didn’t realize what I had at the time. My career started to pick up and I let my relationships suffer because of it. It was only a matter of time before it caught up to me. Taeil told me that he wanted to end it and I just accepted it. It was… a rude awakening. I couldn’t believe it but I didn’t even know what to do.

     “It was after my first starring role when things changed for me. I already regretted letting him go, but it hit really hard then. I formed the league then. I figured that I could find the people who made Taeil happy and have them help me. That way I could be whatever Taeil needed. I guess that got lost somewhere along the way.” Jaehyun said. 

     “Jae, I really loved you. I did. I was so happy to see you accomplishing what you truly wanted. It just wasn’t going to work out. Maybe if we met at a different time, things could have been better, but it just didn’t line up.” Taeil said, resting his hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder. “I’m grateful for the time that I spent with you, but I have something really special with Johnny.”

     “Yeah, I know. I can see that now.” Jaehyun said. He looked at Johnny and smiled. “You got a good one here, John. Don’t mess it up.” Jaehyun pushed his hair out of his face and looked at the watch on his wrist. “Hey, I gotta get back on set soon. Why don’t you guys come with. You can see everything that goes down on set. It’ll be a lot of fun.” He offered. Johnny looked over to Taeil who was giving him a nervous smile. “Don’t worry, I won’t try and punch you again.”

     “I don’t know. I mean we-”

     “Oh, c’mon. It’ll be the perfect way to end a long journey.” Jaehyun said. Johnny wasn’t exactly sure how. When Taeil shrugged, Johnny felt even more torn. “Full access to the craft service table.” Jaehyun bribed.

     “We’re in.” Taeil said. Johnny just sighed.

     “Great! Well let’s go.”

≈≈≈

     Johnny and Taeil were sitting on the couch. Taeil had his legs thrown over Johnny’s lap as the news played on the television. Sehun came in and set a bowl of popcorn on the table.

     “My, my, my. Look at these softies over here. Doesn’t it just make you sick?” he asked. Chanyeol came up behind him and slung an arm over his shoulders.

     “I dunno. I think it’s kinda cute. How come we never act like that anymore?” He asked, leaning his head against Sehun’s.

     “The initial buzz of being in a relationship is gone. Now we hate each other.” Sehun joked before giving Chanyeol a kiss.

     “Oh, whatever.” Johnny groaned.

     “Are you not the one who told me that you mustered up the courage to call him your boyfriend for the first time like three days ago? Like you were gonna ask him, what, four months ago?” Sehun asked, his hand on his hip. Taeil looked at Johnny, surprised. Johnny blushed and looked the other way.

     “Four months, huh?” Taeil asked. Johnny sighed.

     “Remember that date we had? I got the reservation wrong, we found that restaurant, and then you left your wallet.” Johnny told him. Taeil’s mouth fell open.

     “Oh my god, Johnny. Why didn’t you ask?”

     “I had everything planned and then it all went crazy. It just didn’t feel right.” Johnny said. Taeil shook his head.

     “I would have said yes.” Taeil said. 

     “Enough of that soft shit. It’s movie night. Move your legs or I’m sitting on em.” Sehun said. Taeil moved next to Johnny and rested his head on his shoulder. When the movie began, Johnny laced his fingers with Taeil’s. He thought back to what Taeil had said after he beat Yuta. It had been a lot, yes, but oh was it worth it.