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From the moment Taeyong walks into the club, Yuta and Johnny trailing close behind him, he knows he’s either going to get blind drunk or end up having to take care of one of his friends before the night is over.
He’s anticipating it, whatever the case may be. The club they've chosen for their annual Halloween outing is called Tapped, a two-story building set right in the prime of their college town. It’s on a street by itself with a very large parking lot in the front, a balcony on the second story that wraps around the entire building, and a patio in the back for smokers and the general club to go in search of fresh-ish air. The inside of the club is spacious, with a dance floor that takes up most of the first floor, and a second dance floor upstairs that’s sometimes a bit less crowded. Bars line the perimeter of the first floor, but there are only three upstairs. Near the north side of the building, there’s a winding metal staircase that connects the two floors.
Tonight, the interior is decked out in orange, black, white, and red decorations for Halloween. The DJ’s booth, on the opposite side of the stairwell, is also drenched in streamers, confetti, and glitter. The various flashing lights reflect off the glitter and make it sparkle like diamonds.
But it’s the energy of the atmosphere that hits Taeyong in the chest. It’s Halloween, it’s a colder night in California, and the air is full of anticipation—seemingly from every person in the club.
The three of them have chosen to go all out this year for their costumes. Johnny—who has been planning this night for six months—is dressed as The Winter Soldier, with long hair and dark eye makeup to match. He even bought a metal arm and a complete Kevlar fight suit from Amazon to wear. He looks hot, even if he decided to forgo the mask in favor of drinking.
Yuta, the bane of Taeyong’s existence, chose to go as one of the characters from My Hero Academia instead of matching with Taeyong. He used temporary hair dye to color half of his hair red and bought contacts as well. Taeyong isn’t sure what he’s wearing, but he looks good nonetheless.
Taeyong is dressed as Sugawara Koshi from Haikyuu. He, too, has been planning this for months. He’s had to schedule three hair appointments to get it the perfect grey shade, and he’ll probably have to keep the color for a while, but it’s all worth it. Thankfully, Amazon had the right uniform, with matching shoes, knee and elbow pads, and a volleyball that’s Karasuno orange and black. Frankly, Taeyong is extremely proud of his costume and he can’t wait to get out and dance to show it off.
Yuta was going to buy a matching costume as either Tanaka or Asahi. He even suggested Kageyama as a backup, but ultimately decided on something different.
Which is fine. Taeyong is not salty about it at all. Nope. Not one bit.
“Let’s get shots first before we find everyone else,” Yuta suggests, almost having to yell to hear over the music. The babies—a group of freshmen that Taeyong has decidedly adopted—are probably upstairs waiting on them. They’ll be fine for a bit, though, so Taeyong nods and slips his free hand through Yuta's elbow. Johnny grabs a handful of Taeyong’s jersey as he follows behind.
When he gets up to the bar, Taeyong orders six shots for the three of them and starts a tab for the night. He waits until his friends are ready before clinking the glass down on the bar counter and then throwing it back without a second to hesitate. The second shot follows quickly after, but he has to lean over and grab slices of lime for them to suck on.
“Alright,” Taeyong says, still trying to bite back the sharp taste of tequila on the back of his tongue. “Let’s dance!”
Johnny pulls out his phone and relays, “The babies are by the staircase.”
“We can get them after a few songs,” Yuta replies, already pulling them away from the bar.
The three of them head out to the dance floor just as the song shifts to something more EDM, and the flashing lights change to white, pink, and blue. Taeyong stops when they reach an area that isn’t too crowded and pulls Yuta against his front and Johnny to his back. He holds the volleyball—yes, he brought it to a club; his costume wouldn’t be complete without it. Plus, he’s sure he saw someone bring an actual sword and shield—behind Yuta’s head and swivels his hips, laughing breathlessly when Johnny rumbles a giggle along his spine. Yuta grins, something wicked and feral, sending Taeyong a wink.
After four more songs, Taeyong finally pulls them away from the mirage of sweaty bodies when it starts to get a bit too jam-packed for his tastes. As promised, the babies are waiting by the staircase, holding cups of what looks like water and looking far too excited.
Jeno and Jaemin have come matching, Jeno as a devil and Jaemin as an angel. Renjun is dressed, head to toe, in what looks like a Han Solo outfit, a fake guns holstered in his belt. Mark has come as Spider-Man, probably to have some connection to Johnny’s look. And Donghyuck is—
“Is he dressed as a minion?” Yuta asks, clearly confused. Taeyong shrugs.
“My children!” Johnny bellows as they approach, easily lifting Mark and Donghyuck in his arms for a spin. Donghyuck’s bright yellow wig almost flies off his head.
Taeyong manages to steady himself before Renjun tackles him in a hug, the plastic guns holstered around his waist hitting Taeyong right in the stomach. “Han Solo?” He asks when Renjun lets go.
“The only character in Star Wars that matters,” Renjun grins.
“That’s a bald-faced lie, and you know it!” Jeno cries. Taeyong turns to greet him, but the boy is too busy clinging to Yuta and smushing his face against Yuta’s neck. Yuta winces as Jeno’s devil horns nick his chin. “Chewie is the most important.”
Yuta lets Jeno hug him for a moment longer before prying his arms away and pushing him towards Taeyong. Immediately, he can smell the liquor on his breath. “Who let you boys drink?” He asks. Jeno grins at him and hugs him quickly.
Jaemin, adjusting his halo and small wings, finally snuggles up to Taeyong with a goofy-looking smile on his face. He says plainly, “Mark got Ten to buy us stuff.”
Taeyong scoffs with mock outrage. “I’ll kill him,” he mutters darkly. Ten should not be buying liquor for his babies. They’re babies—his babies. If someone was going to buy them liquor, it should’ve been him.
Johnny leans down to press a kiss to Jaemin’s hair and gives Taeyong an exasperated look. “It’s their first Halloween in college; let them have their fun.”
“Are you supposed to be a volleyball player?” Donghyuck quips suddenly.
Taeyong rolls his eyes, only to prevent himself from leaning over and flicking the boy in the ear. “I’m Suga from Haikyuu, you uncultured heathen.”
“We’ve been waiting for you guys,” Mark announces, completely ignoring whatever else is being discussed. “I want to dance!” He even wiggles his mask in the air like a petulant child. Taeyong is going to throttle Ten.
Yuta laughs brightly and begins to lead Jeno and Mark back to the dance floor by their wrists. Renjun huffs and quickly falls in line behind them, ignoring Jaemin’s cries to wait for him.
“Hyuckie, don’t you want to go dance?” Taeyong wonders when he gets an arm full of said boy. Donghyuck shrugs. Some of his yellow face paint smudges against Taeyong’s jersey.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Johnny gasps abruptly. Taeyong lifts his head to see what’s up, and Johnny points in the direction of the bar near the DJ’s booth.
“Holy shit,” curses Jaemin.
Donghyuck finally looks up and follows their gazes. He glances at Taeyong’s costume for just a moment, and then he’s laughing maniacally with Johnny. “You’re matching!”
Taeyong finally catches a glimpse of what his friends are looking at. And—yep, that’s a matching set.
Across the club, another person is sipping on a beer—dressed as Daichi Sawamura. His hair is black, and he’s wearing Daichi’s uniform, with the same knee pads and shoes as Taeyong. The guy even brought the volleyball with him. And then, because this night couldn’t possibly get any better, he turns around and Taeyong gasps gleefully.
“What? What happened?” Asks Jaemin.
Taeyong clutches his chest and answers, “He has a black eye!”
Jaemin and Donghyuck share a confused glance, but Taeyong ignores them. He knows the black eye is supposed to be from the game in the series where Tanaka steamrolled Daichi trying to save a ball. There’s bruising all along his eye socket and cheekbone, plus a little red smear on the corner of his mouth.
But more than that, the guy is hot. Like, Bokuto/Kuroo level hot. His hair is black and styled away from his face, a bit longer than Daichi’s natural hair length. His skin looks flawless, though Taeyong suspects it might have something to do with the low lights in the club. His lips are pressed in a pretty pout, and every time he smiles, wide and pretty, Taeyong gets glimpses of white teeth.
And his muscles. Damn it all, his muscles are lean, but they stretch out the material of the uniform. Taeyong’s mouth waters.
Suddenly, one of Daichi’s friends turns around and catches sight of Taeyong, and his face lights up. He leans over to whisper something in Daichi’s ear, which makes him whip his head around so fast that Taeyong thinks he could’ve given himself whiplash. His eyes track across the club until they land on Taeyong, and then the most wonderful thing happens.
He smirks.
God, Taeyong is in love.
Johnny shoves him in the direction of the bar with a heavy hand on the back of his neck. “Go get ‘em!” He yells. Before Taeyong can turn around and argue, the man is dragging Donghyuck and Jaemin to the dance floor, leaving him alone.
Taeyong musters all the courage he can and begins the trek to the bar.
The Daichi guy is flanked by three other men, all of them dressed as something, but Taeyong barely notices them. All four of them are watching as Taeyong passes through sweaty bodies, keeping his volleyball fastened tightly against his hip.
When he finally approaches, Daichi-guy casts a cursory glance from Taeyong’s head, down to his toes. His eyes catch on the volleyball for half a second before he shifts down the bar to show his own ball on the counter. He looks like he’s trying to hold back a grin, and that makes Taeyong’s belly swoop.
“I’ll be damned,” one of his friends says. “Looks like you found your match, Doie.”
Taeyong snorts. He holds one of his hands out and says, “Taeyong—or Suga, whichever you prefer.”
Daichi-guy looks like he wasn’t expecting that, as he throws his head back and laughs with the rest of his friends. “Doyoung—or Daichi. Either one is fine,” he tells Taeyong, shaking his hand.
One of the friends steps forward and throws an arm around Taeyong’s shoulders. He’s a bit taller than Taeyong. “I like this one, he can stay.”
Daichi—no, Doyoung rolls his eyes with a groan. “Thanks, Woo, really appreciate that.” He reaches over and smacks 'Woo's' arm away and puts himself in between like a barrier. “Wanna go dance?” He asks Taeyong.
Taeyong smiles and tosses his volleyball over to ‘Woo’, ignoring his pained protests. Oops. “Let’s dance.”
Unfortunately, Yuta finds them in the bathroom sometime later and screams bloody murder, once before Doyoung stands and then after just because he’s dramatic.
Years later, he’ll complain about meeting Doyoung for the first time in a club bathroom after he’d gotten up off his knees, but Taeyong doesn’t care.