Work Text:
1. Jeno
If it wasn’t for Ken Kaneki, Yangyang thinks Lee Jeno would have been his gay awakening. He’s exactly the kind of boy Yangyang’s teen self would have fallen for—pretty and made of sharp edges, only for it all to melt away by soft smiles and kind eyes.
He had only ever run into Jeno in the practice room or passed him briefly in a hallway. But he was always friendly, smiling and waving, waiting back to have a short conversation even if it was painfully awkward small talk.
Renjun talks about Jeno a lot, too, although he mostly complains.
Like right now: Renjun is face down in Yangyang’s bed, limbs spread out like a starfish as he lets out a long groan. Leon looks mildly concerned, sniffing curiously at his arm. Renjun reaches out blindly and pats his head.
They’re two weeks away from 2020 promotions and Renjun has all but officially moved into Yangyang’s dorm. He claims he’s here for the cats and Kun’s cooking but he spends most of his time cuddling with Yangyang while they watch anime (or Renjun’s choice of drama when he gets sick of Yangyang’s fourteen-year-old-boy taste in anime). They also spend most of their time gossiping, Renjun updates him on the latest Dream drama—who is kissing who and who is beefing with who, usually at the same time—and Yangyang updates him on whatever the hell Dejun has going on.
Yangyang scoots into the little space Renjun left for him on the bed and pokes him.
“What’s up?”
“I can’t live with those people anymore,” Renjun says, turning his head to face Yangyang. His cheek squishes against the pillow. It’s adorable. “I just can’t do it. I can’t.”
Yangyang snorts. “Those people are your best friends.”
“They’re nothing to me,” he says seriously, “I don’t need them. You’re the only one I need. You and your cats,” he tries to pull Leon into a cuddle but he makes a startled meow and squirms until Renjun is forced to let go. He jumps off the bed and gives an offended little shake, prancing out of the room. “Nevermind, just you then.”
Renjun is just kidding around. Yangyang knows this, but his stupid erratic heart doesn’t know this. It quickens with just a few simple words. He shakes it off.
“What did they do now?”
“Jeno broke up with Mark hyung and now a dark cloud follows him everywhere in the dorm,” Renjun whines, “I didn’t sleep a wink last night because he was up arguing with Mark over the phone. The walls are so thin and he has little respect for my beauty rest!”
Yangyang blinks. Renjun just told him so many things at once.
“Poor Jeno,” he says, “Is he okay?”
Renjun scowls, that was clearly the wrong thing to ask.
“He’ll be fine,” Renjun says, sounding way too casual for someone whose best friend just had their heart broken. “Mark and Jeno have this weird on and off thing, they’ll be back together in a few days once Mark hyung turns up at our door like a kicked puppy and apologises for whatever he did this time.”
“Oh,” Yangyang says. He doesn’t think that’s particularly healthy, but good for Jeno for having such a hold on the nation’s golden boy. “Then what’s the issue?”
“Jeno is the issue!” Renjun is back to complaining again, “He’s so needy now, he spends all his time in my room, eating my snacks and sleeping in my bed.”
Yangyang tries not to feel jealous. That is so not the point right now.
“Sometimes he’ll just sit at the foot of my bed and game for hours. I love him but if I have to spend another second with him, I might die.”
“Poor baby,” Yangyang coos, half-mockingly. He reaches over and soothingly runs his fingers through Renjun’s hair. It’s a little rough, but he doesn’t mind. Renjun makes a tch noise out of irritation but melts under Yangyang’s touch anyways, closing his eyes to it. Yangyang smiles, pleased, sometimes he thinks Renjun is a little bit like his third cat. He’ll hiss and scratch and pretend to hate Yangyang’s undying affection while secretly basking in it.
“I need my alone time, you know? So I told them I’m staying at yours for a few days.”
Yangyang frowns, “But you’re not alone, I’m here.”
“That’s different,” Renjun opens his eyes, meeting Yangyang with an unreadable look, “You’re different. I don’t know—I feel like you’re the one person I could see for weeks on end without getting sick of. Social interaction is draining, but not with you.”
There goes Yangyang’s heart again.
“Wow, Renjun, that’s—actually really sweet.”
Renjun’s scowl is back. And it no longer feels like the world has shifted on its axis. He can handle Renjun being his aggressively affectionate self—following up compliments with a scathing insult because he’s afraid of making things awkward, hitting Yangyang and then holding his hand, calling him annoying while clinging onto his body like an octopus during their sleepovers—but he can’t handle those shooting star moments where Renjun is genuinely vulnerable, laying out his quiet truths and being kind without following it up with a “you still look stupid though”. No, Yangyang can barely survive those, let alone handle them. When Renjun looks at him with those brown eyes brimming with something Yangyang is afraid to name, he never knows what to say, or what to do. All he knows is that one day Renjun will be the death of him. And it won’t be because Renjun maimed him to death, but because Renjun was kind to him.
“Try not to sound so surprised,” Renjun bites, “I can be genuine sometimes.”
“I know you can,” Yangyang says gently, “I feel the same way, I want to hang out with you for my whole life.”
Renjun smiles. “What about this Friday?”
“Hmm?”
“We’re doing drinks at the dorm to help cheer Jeno up, and it’ll be nice to have a night together before we all get busy with schedules.”
Yangyang doesn’t know how he feels about drinking with the Dreamies, he’s not that close with them, but he’ll take any excuse to see Renjun again.
“I’m down.”
Renjun brightens up, “Awesome, you’ll make the evening so much better.”
Yangyang doesn’t know how to respond to that. So he doesn’t. He slides closer to Renjun and opens his laptop, he’ll let Renjun pick the movie this time.
Turns out drinks at the Dream dorm meant drinks with just Renjun and Jeno. Jisung and Chenle are out filming for This and That and the only sign of Jaemin is the Niki song blaring through his speakers behind the shut door of his room. He emerged from his cave earlier in the evening to steal a sip of Yangyang’s grape soju, complain about the taste, and then grab his own 0.5% alcoholic peach drink before scurrying off like a beetle under a flashlight.
It’s not as awkward as Yangyang thought it would be. Jeno is in a good mood, the dark cloud Renjun claimed to be following him disappearing by their second round of soju shots.
This new comeback is treating Jeno well, his hair is a freshly dyed bright red and looks surprisingly soft despite all the work that’s been done to it. He steals a secret moment to appreciate Jeno’s looks under the warm yellow lamp light of the dorm. He’s buried in an oversized hoodie, hair tousled and cheeks flushed with alcohol. He’s talking to Renjun about something but Yangyang struggles to pay attention. The thrum of his deep voice is soothing and Yangyang can’t take his eyes off the way his cherry red lips move when he talks, how his bottom lip catches under his teeth when he’s listening. Yangyang is just a little bit shameless when he’s tipsy.
The last thing he expected when he debuted in Wayv—and then in NCT 2020—was to constantly be surrounded by pretty boys. He feels like he owes it to his younger, baby gay self to enjoy the free eye candy.
Jeno catches him staring, lips twisting upwards with amusement. Yangyang freezes.
He takes another shot of soju.
“This is so nice,” Renjun says, blinking sleepily and stretching out across Yangyang’s lap—only proving his cat theory further. “You guys are nice.”
Jeno snorts. “Okay, Renjun.”
Yangyang’s hands finds Renjun’s hair again, he doesn’t know how, but they always end up there. Renjun hums happily, closing his eyes. He’s a sleepy drunk, whereas alcohol only energises Yangyang’s already energetic personality. It’s a terrible combination, they can never drink together because Renjun ends up falling asleep on Yangyang’s shoulder and he spends the rest of the night bored out of his mind and love-mailing the WayV group chat.
But now Jeno is here too, and he’s the perfect balance between the two of them. He smiles fondly at Renjun dozing off in Yangyang’s lap.
“He’s so predictable,” Jeno says, scooting closer until he’s sitting next to Yangyang, shoulder to shoulder.
“I know, right?”
Up close, Yangyang can make out the shadows under Jeno’s eyes. They’ve barely started promotions yet, there’s no reason for him to look so tired already. His heart squeezes in sympathy.
“How are you holding up?” Yangyang asks, “After, you know, you and Mark hyung?”
Jeno scoffs, not unkindly. “I should’ve known Renjun would tell you. He tells you everything, doesn’t he?”
“Oh–um–” Yangyang splutters. It’s hard to distinguish between which things Renjun tells him are secrets and which are not. He cringes remembering all the times he’s accidentally let secrets spill because of that—how was he supposed to know the others didn’t know Jaehyun was Renjun’s gay awakening? He figured everyone who grew up with Jaehyun had the same experience. “Sorry? Was I not supposed to know?”
Jeno shrugs, “I don’t really care who knows, but most of the 127 hyungs think Mark and I just have, like, friendship fights whenever we break up.”
Yangyang laughs. Kun and Ten would see right through him if he ever tried to hide a relationship from them.
“I’m doing okay, to answer your question,” Jeno says, “Mark hyung is just–” he cuts off with a sigh, “I love him so much, but he makes it so hard to love him. He has this habit of shutting off completely when he’s going through a hard time, he won’t ask for help or anything, he’ll just… ignore me. It’s like he’s trying to protect me from his bad sides or whatever. He started doing that again when we were recording for this album and I just snapped. I told him if he can’t trust me enough to show me all his ugly then we should just break it off.”
That’s so… mature. Yangyang has had a few flings here and there, but he’s never had a real relationship. He’s never really had the time to. He admires Jeno for dealing with all this alongside his already taxing career.
“That sounds really tough, Jeno,” Yangyang says, “I hope Mark hyung comes around.”
Jeno smirks, it’s just a tiny bit evil. “Oh he will, he’s already blowing up my phone.”
“Good for you, man,” Yangyang clinks their soju bottles togethers in cheers, “I hope it works out though, he’s lucky to have someone who loves him as much as you do. I wish I had that.”
Jeno gives him a long, piercing stare, and Yangyang feels like Jeno can read every single thought in his mind. It’s a little terrifying.
Cheek pressed against Yangyang’s thigh, a sleeping Renjun shifts a little bit. He looks down at Renjun, curled into himself like he’s trying to be as small as possible. Yangyang brushes some of his hair out of his face with a smile. He’s so cute.
He looks up to find Jeno still looking at him and feels strangely caught. Jeno smiles that soft, reassuring smile of his.
“You know, Renjun tells us everything too,” Jeno says, “And I have a feeling you already have what you’re looking for.”
Yangyang furrows his eyebrows, “What does that–”
“I’m going to call it a night,” Jeno says before finishing the last of his bottle, “I should text Mark hyung back and then get some sleep.”
Yangyang blinks. Jeno looks entirely too calm for someone who dropped the vaguest bomb on Yangyang, completely unprovoked. His mind is still whirling from Jeno’s words when he speaks up again:
“Thanks for tonight, Yangyang, that was a really nice talk.”
Then he leans in, and Yangyang’s drunk monkey brain thinks Jeno is going to kiss him. He closes his eyes, waiting for it. Jeno giggles, amused, and kisses Yangyang’s cheek. It’s brief but as comforting as his smile. Yangyang opens his eyes, flushing with embarrassment for closing them in the first place.
“Goodnight, Yangyang,” he says softly. He looks down at Renjun and fixes Yangyang with a look that seems significant, but he can’t decipher it for the life of him (he’s still reeling from that cheek kiss like a middle schooler).
“I’ll give you the honours of carrying Renjun to bed,” he says, before standing up and disappearing behind his bedroom door.
He leaves Yangyang there, slumping back against the couch with Renjun on his lap and wondering what the fuck just happened.
2. Donghyuck
Yangyang spends his twenty-first birthday at work.
He finds he doesn’t mind too much. Filming the 90’s Love music video is fun, he likes the choreo and he likes his members. There’s a part of him that wishes Renjun was in 90’s Love unit, if anything, so they could spend his birthday together. But Renjun called him as soon as the clock struck midnight and it made his entire day. So, that’s all he needs, really.
90’s Love is slightly out of his comfort-zone. He’s only close with Sicheng and Ten, and everyone else seems to be more experienced than him. Yangyang has always been shy around new people, it took him a while to work up his confidence, even with his Wayv members. He wasn’t always able to effortlessly tease Kun or joke around with Hendery and Dejun. Now, as he’s surrounded by cameras and expected to interact with new faces, he wishes more than ever for another familiar face. He’s thinking of one familiar face in particular—brown hair, sharp eyes and fox-like features who’ll tell Yangyang to stop overthinking and just go say hi to Mark Lee, for fucks sake!
Albeit not familiar, Lee Donghyuck is a friendly face.
He welcomes Yangyang easily, like they’re old pals. Wrapping an arm around his shoulder and asking him if he’s eating yet, teaming up with him to tease Ten and whispering conspiratorially with him whenever the others are around. He’s funny and easygoing and Yangyang starts to understand why Renjun is so fond of him.
He isn’t expecting the others, barring Ten and Sicheng, to even remember his birthday, let alone care, so the camera-captured surprised look on his face when Donghyuck brings in a birthday cake between takes is completely genuine. He can’t stop smiling, not as they all sing Happy Birthday at the top of their lungs, not even when he’s asked to close his eyes and make a wish.
And all he can think is: this would be a perfect moment if Renjun was here too.
He blows out his candles.
After the director calls a wrap for the shoot, Yangyang sprints up to Ten and tackles him into a hug.
“Thank you, thank you for arranging the birthday party!” he says into Ten’s shirt.
Ten makes a confused noise, but hugs Yangyang back.
“That wasn’t me, baby,” Ten says as he pulls away.
“Oh, Sicheng then? He barely even remembers his own birthday.”
“Nope,” Ten nods over to someone behind them, “It was all that little menace over there.”
Somehow, Yangyang knows who he’s talking about before he turns to find Donghyuck staring at him from across the room. He’s starting to think the Dream members have a staring problem. The mischievous glint in Donghyuck’s eye is visible despite the distance, he catches Yangyang’s gaze and winks at him.
“Oh,” Yangyang says, unsure what to do with that.
He waits until it’s just the two of them, outside the filming site waiting for their respective cars. They’re back in their regular clothes, Yangyang buries himself into his hoodie and walks up to Donghyuck. He looks up from his phone, bare face illuminated by the white light of his screen. He clicks it shut and puts it away, facing Yangyang properly.
“Hey, Haecha—ah, Donghyuck,” Yangyang rocks back and forth on his feet, buzzing with nervous energy for absolutely no reason. “I just wanted to thank you for organising my birthday party. That was really nice and, um–it made me really happy.”
Donghyuck softens, smiling widely. “You’re very welcome, cutie. Ease up, you don’t have to be so nervous around me.”
Yangyang chuckles awkwardly, pulling at the sleeves of his hoodie. Was he that obvious?
“Sorry, haha,” he says, “I’m just a little shy sometimes, I mean, you’re just…”
Radiant, beautiful, literally the most ethereal being to walk the earth. God, Yangyang desperately needs to get a grip.
“...so you,” he finishes pathetically.
Donghyuck quirks a brow, taking a step forward. “What does that mean?”
“Just,” Yangyang gestures vaguely, “You’re a moodmaker, people are drawn to your energy. I’m not really like that around strangers.”
Donghyuck tilts his head, considering Yangyang curiously, “You should give yourself more credit, cutie, you’re a delight to be around,” then he adds, like it’s a well-rehearsed afterthought, “Renjun certainly seems to think so.”
Yangyang perks up, “Did he say that?”
“Oh, he’s said a lot about you,” Donghyuck says, smile shifting from friendly to devious. “He’s the one who told me it’s your birthday today, he said he’s upset he can’t make it and told me to make it extra special for you.”
“Ah, it was! Special, I mean. It was special.” He’s sure he’s blushing now, face fully on fire but he doesn’t care. Renjun went out of his way to make sure Yangyang was having a good birthday!
“You’re so cute, Yangyangie,” Donghyuck coos, reaching out to pinch Yangyang’s cheek. “Renjun said you’re cute when you’re flustered but I had to see it for myself.”
“R-Renjun said that?”
He ignores this, “Cute boys like you deserve to be kissed.”
Every racing thought in Yangyang’s head stops with a screeching halt.
“What?”
“Can I kiss you, Yangyang?” Donghyuck asks with unwavering confidence, “Think of it as my birthday gift to you, to make your day extra special.”
Yangyang would be an idiot to deny a kiss from a pretty boy, so he nods.
Gently, Donghyuck tilts Yangyang’s face up with a hand under his chin. He closes his eyes first, and Yangyang follows. Donghyuck leans in and kisses Yangyang slowly. He tilts his head, letting their kiss deepen just the slightest bit. Yangyang feels like his heart is going to burst out of his chest. Donghyuck kisses like he talks—sweet and smooth, brimming with confidence. Sweet like the first sip of iced tea on a hot summer day, smooth like the way Donghyuck’s arm slides around Yangyang’s waist.
It’s an amazing kiss, but as he pulls away, he feels like something is missing. Something is wrong. His stomach pools with familiar anxiety, like he was doing something he shouldn’t have. Donghyuck’s car approaches from a distance, headlights bathing them both in a yellow glow.
Donghyuck gives him one final wink before leaving.
“See you later, cutie.”
3. Jaemin
Contrary to popular belief, Jaemin and Yangyang are friends.
Friends in the loosest definition of the word. Friends adjacent. If going shoe shopping once during trainee days counts as being friends—as a dedicated sneakerhead, Yangyang knows that kind of experience bonds you for life.
The point is, they’re friendly. Enough so that it’s not awkward when they’re sitting together in the waiting room for Inkigayo. They’re both dressed for their respective stages, sitting in a secluded corner of the room while the others are filming content for YouTube. Jaemin has his head hooked over Yangyang’s shoulder, watching him play a game on his phone. He kind of settled himself there without a greeting, and Yangyang was content to let him watch.
Jaemin does that sometimes, reserves himself in the corner of the room before a stage or fan-meeting. Yangyang feels slightly honored that Jaemin chose to spend his sacred alone time with him.
The waiting room door opens, and Renjun walks in. His mask is pulled over his face, brown hair scruffy and puffy eyes covered with circle framed glasses. He’s carrying a bag of drinks in his hands. In true Renjun fashion, he’s overdressed for someone who is just stopping by; clad in a sleek black coat and white turtleneck.
Mark notices him first, turning the camera in his hands towards Renjun and running over to him. Donghyuck follows and crushes Renjun with a hug, Jisung makes a beeline straight for the drinks, taking them from Renjun’s hands without even saying hello.
Yangyang doesn’t get up to greet him. Something keeps his feet planted to the ground, watching as Mark pinches Renjun’s cheeks and coos at him. Renjun pulls his mask down with a scowl, probably telling Mark off for touching his face. Yangyang smiles softly, Renjun looks so cute like this. Barefaced and annoyed.
“This is getting ridiculous.”
Yangyang makes a startled sound, forgetting Jaemin is next to him. He turns to look at Jaemin, black hair styled up, sharp eyes made sharper by black eyeliner and looking intimidating in his Work It outfit. Yangyang gulps.
“Are you talking to me?” he asks.
“Of course I am,” Jaemin says.
Yangyang shrugs, “I don’t know man, sometimes you just mutter to yourself.”
Jaemin considers this and then says, “That’s fair.”
He doesn’t elaborate. Yangyang stares at him.
“What’s ridiculous?”
“You.”
“Excuse me?” Yangyang asks, mildly offended, “Dude, I’m literally just sitting here.”
“Exactly,” Jaemin says, “You’re just sitting here and staring pathetically at Renjun instead of going over and talking to him.”
Yangyang can’t quite believe he’s getting called pathetic by Na Jaemin, of all people. So much for friends adjacent.
“He’s with his friends,” Yangyang defends weakly, “I don’t want to like, harsh his vibe.”
Jaemin stares at him for a very long time. That’s another thing about Renjun’s friends: they just stare. Jeno, Donghyuck and now Jaemin, all of them look at Yangyang like they know something he doesn’t. It’s unnerving. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
“You like Renjun,” Jaemin proclaims.
“Keep your voice down,” Yangyang hisses, snapping his head around to see if Renjun—or anyone—heard Jaemin. But he’s still talking animatedly with Donghyuck and Mark. He pauses mid-sentence, noticing Yangyang’s eyes on him and meeting his gaze. He smiles, soft, beautiful, and Yangyang waves back.
Jaemin scoffs, “Your feelings for him are glaringly obvious, I hope you know that.”
Again, Yangyang forgot he was there. He turns back to Jaemin with a scowl.
“I fail to see how this is any of your business.”
“Of course it’s my business,” Jaemin says, like Yanyang is the one being ridiculous, “You should tell Renjun you like him.”
“Are you insane?” Yangyang whispers furiously, he’s not past begging Jaemin to keep his voice down. He’s being so loud.
“Just a little bit.”
“I can’t tell Renjun that—that I—” he can’t even say it, “I’m ninety-nine percent sure he doesn’t feel the same way. What if I tell him and he laughs in my face? I’d get embarrassed and never be able to look at him again and our entire friendship would be ruined because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.”
Okay, maybe Yangyang is starting to spiral.
“Oh my god,” Jaemin says, with feeling. “You’re stupid.”
Yangyang huffs. Now he’s fully offended. “You’re not very good at consoling people.”
“I’m not trying to console you,” Jaemin says with an eyeroll, “I’m doing this for myself, Renjun has been driving us all crazy and I’m tired of seeing you both tiptoe around each other.”
Yangyang opens his mouth to defend himself but Jaemin keeps going. Talking so rapidly that he can’t get a single word in.
“And now I’m finding out that you’re equally as stupid as him! Stupid and stubborn!” Yangyang feels like he’s being told off by a nagging old lady. “Renjun refuses to make a move too, I swear that boy is the most stubborn person alive,” he’s mostly muttering to himself now, Yangyang looks around nervously, “ And he’s an Aries so the only thing that would push him is—”
Jaemin suddenly snaps his mouth shut. He breaks out into a Cheshire cat smile, sharp rows of teeth and looking at Yangyang like a crocodile would it’s prey.
“—jealousy.”
Yangyang blinks, “What?”
“Renjun is five-foot-nothing and fueled by spite, if you want him to make a move you have to make him jealous.”
Make him jealous. Yangyang is not in the business of accepting unsolicited advice from the likes of Na Jaemin, but… it’s not a terrible idea. Yangyang has witnessed the brunt of Renjun’s pettiness (once Yangyang had watched an episode of Crash Landing on You without him and Renjun googled the finale just to spoil it for him) so it could work.
It could also go horribly wrong. Yangyang could go out of his way to make Renjun jealous just for him not to care at all. Yangyang doesn’t think he could survive the humiliation of that. He might have to quit his job.
Before Yangyang can overthink himself into oblivion, Jaemin says:
“Don’t look, but Renjun is watching us.”
And because Yangyang’s first instinct when someone says don’t look is to look, he moves to turn his head. Jaemin curls his hand around Yangyang’s neck, holding him in place.
Then, Yangyang can’t look anywhere else but Jaemin. To the stray strands of hair falling over his forehead, his dark brown eyes, the pale pink shine over his lips. His grip on Yangyang’s nape tightens and he leans in so close that Yangyang can smell the mint from his breath.
“I have an idea,” his eyes drop to Yangyang’s lips with a hungry look, “Do you trust me?”
“No.”
“Perfect.”
Jaemin leans in and kisses Yangyang.
Jaemin kisses Yangyang. In the Inkigayo waiting room. In front of God and Renjun and all of their coworkers.
And Yangyang kisses him back. Because Jaemin is as pretty as he is weird and Yangyang is not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. This kiss is different to his one with Donghyuck. It’s messier, hotter, Jaemin is sloppy but not in an unflattering way. He takes charge, tugging Yangyang in by his hair and kissing him like he’s trying to devour him whole. Yangyang is about to let him do just that when Jaemin pulls away slowly, with his teeth between Yangyang’s lower lip. He makes an embarrassing whimper—one that will keep him awake at night—and chases Jaemin’s lips.
Jaemin stops him with a hand at his shoulder and an amused smirk. Yangyang blushes all the way down to his toes.
“I’m flattered, doll,” Jaemin says, voice raspy and lips red, “but you go on stage in fifteen and you need to get your makeup fixed.”
Yangyang furrows his eyebrows, barely registering what Jaemin is saying. Through his mildly horny haze, he remembers that Jaemin kissed him for a reason.
Inkigayo waiting room. 90’s Love. Stage. Renjun.
Renjun.
He whirls his head around, meeting Renjun’s gaze immediately.
Renjun was watching them—watching him. His lips are pressed into a thin line and he’s glaring daggers at the pair of them. He looks furious, Yangyang can almost envision the steam coming out of his ears. A bolt of thrill shoots up his spine.
Renjun looks between Jaemin and Yangyang, eyes dark and unreadable. He turns and storms out of the room.
“You’re welcome,” Jaemin says.
+1. Renjun
“Why do you keep kissing my best friends?”
Renjun’s voice is sharp and demanding. He’s standing at the door frame of Yangyang’s bedroom with his arms crossed.
Yangyang sits up from his bed. No one else is home, how did Renjun get in?
“You’re not even going to say hello?”
Renjun plasters on his fakest smile, “Hello Yangyang,” he says, voice dripping with artificial sweetness, “Why the fuck do you keep kissing my best friends?”
Yangyang giggles. It only strengthens Renjun’s glare but he can’t help it. He can’t believe Jaemin’s plan actually worked, he’s more of an evil genius than he’s credited for.
“I think you should ask your friends why they keep kissing me .”
“I’m not talking to them,” Renjun mutters bitterly, marching through the room. He doesn’t even stop to greet Yangyang’s fish first, so he must be really pissed. Renjun drops his backpack on the ground and throws himself face first onto Yangyang’s bed. “I’m mad at them, and I’m mad at you too.”
Yangyang raises an amused eyebrow, “Then why are you here?”
“Because it’s movie night.”
Yangyang is so fucking endeared right now. He pokes Renjun’s cheek.
“If it makes you feel better, the kisses weren’t that great.”
“Don’t lie,” Renjun’s voice comes out bitter and muffled by the pillow, “I know Donghyuck is a great kisser.”
That’s—okay. Yangyang files that information away for later.
Yangyang looks at Renjun now, miserable and pouting like there’s a dark cloud over his head. He’s not even trying to hide how upset he is with the idea of Yangyang kissing his friends. Renjun is jealous. His head spins as he tries to make sense of the thought. Renjun is jealous?
Renjun refuses to make a move too.
Renjun said you’re cute when you’re flustered but I had to see it for myself.
I have a feeling you already have what you’re looking for.
All the things the others said about Renjun comes flooding back to him. He thinks about all the times Renjun had been there for him since they met. Visiting his music video shoots no matter how early they were, making him home cooked food when Yangyang was missing his parents, insisting on them buying matching items when they went out. He always goes out of his way to make time to see Yangyang, even if it’s after a late night schedule and he can barely keep his eyes open. He thinks about how differently Renjun treats him versus the rest of his friends. How the Dreamies are always complaining about Renjun’s blatant favouritism, that Yangyang can get away with saying or doing anything to Renjun and he won’t even get mad.
The thing is, Renjun and Yangyang have the unlikeliest friendship. Their schedules are vastly different, their jobs keep them busy and tired yet they find time for each other. They choose each other over and over again. Whenever Renjun sacrifices sleep to see him or Yangyang calls him between schedules, they’re choosing each other. No one has ever prioritized Yangyang the way Renjun does.
God, has Renjun always been this obvious about his feelings? Is Yangyang the dense one?
Spending midnights upon midnights together, sharing their fears about falling in love with careers like theirs, falling asleep in each other’s arms. Waking up sandwiched between Renjun and his cats.
Renjun has always worn his heart on his sleeve, Yangyang is only just noticing it’s there.
He’s been so concerned with hiding his own feelings, he never once considered that Renjun could feel the same way. Who knew it took being kissed by Renjun’s best friends to realise that he just wants to kiss Renjun?
“Renjun,” Yangyang says, maybe his nerves shine through his tone because Renjun looks up. “Do you want to kiss me?”
Renjun’s smile is like daybreak. “I thought you’d never ask.”
So, Yangyang takes Renjun’s face in both his hands, and kisses him.
It’s the breath-taking, earth-shattering, firework-bursting kiss that Yangyang thought only existed in fiction. Renjun’s lips are soft and careful, they part easily for Yangyang. With his hands tenderly cradling Renjun’s jaw, he tilts his head and deepens the kiss. Renjun lets out a content sigh and Yangyang wants to bottle up the sound and get drunk on it.
It’s the best kiss of his life. It’s fucking magical. He can’t believe he spent all this time kissing non-Renjuns instead.
He doesn’t want to ever stop kissing Renjun. And Renjun must have the same idea because he properly sits up, pushing Yangyang back against the headboard and settling on top of his lap.
All Yangyang can think is: holy shit Huang Renjun is in my lap over and over again until his lungs are aching with the need for air.
They pull away at the same time, foreheads pressed together and breathing synched.
Renjun’s eyes are closed, he whispers, “This is a perfect moment.”
Yangyang smiles, fond until the very end, “You’re so corny.”
His eyes snap open with a glare. “You’re annoying.”
“But you still like me~” Yangyang teases.
Renjun says nothing in response. Yangyang panics.
“You like me, right?” he chuckles nervously, “Please tell me I didn’t just make a fool of myself.”
Renjun laughs brightly, gently caressing Yangyang’s cheek with his thumb.
“Of course I like you, idiot.”
“I like you too,” Yangyang leans back and presses a kiss to his forehead, “I like you so much.”
“Then why didn’t you do something earlier?”
“Why didn’t you? ” Yangyang shoots back.
“Because,” he mumbles, eyes shifting and cheeks reddening, “I was scared.”
Yangyang gasps, “What’s this? Huang Renjun admits to fear?”
“I’m literally going to kill you.”
“Don’t do that,” Yangyang says, “Kiss me instead.”
This time, Renjun kisses him first.