Work Text:
"Bro?"
Jaehyun springs up.
"Bro?"
Jaehyun blinks, once, twice, thrice, staring at the video on his phone like he must be hallucinating before using a fist to roughly rub his eyes. There's no way he's seeing this right. There's no way Taeyong posted this. And just to confirm how not-real it all is, Jaehyun lurches up to stand from the bed, walks over to Johnny's side of the dorm room, and thrusts the phone in his face. If there's ever one person that'll tell him he's got his shit fucked up, it's him.
"Dude, are you seeing this? Am I seeing this?" Jaehyun wriggles the phone around, clutching it so hard in his hand that the thing's about to break.
Johnny grimaces before pulling his head back to get a good look at it. "Yeah, you're seeing it."
Jaehyun frowns and yanks his phone back just to scowl at it. "You sure?"
"You're just seeing that?" Johnny asks blandly, returning to typing away at his thesis on his laptop. Jaehyun's really got to get started on it too, but for now, there're much more pressing matters at hand. "I saw that yesterday."
"Dude, yesterday?" Jaehyun's neck nearly snaps up. "And you didn't think to tell me till I just found out?"
"You were with him all day yesterday for your birthday. Plus, I thought you had Taeyong's post notifications on," Johnny answers without looking up.
"I do!" Jaehyun defends instantaneously. And he fucking does.
He's first to comment under all of Taeyong's instagram posts, first to like every tweet, first in line to see every picture before it even gets put up. He does have Taeyong's notifs on. He's on his boyfriend's shit so much, Johnny calls him obsessed. But so what if he giggles like a schoolgirl at night, stalking Taeyong's old photos on facebook? That's his boyfriend and Johnny's just petty because he can't even get laid.
And so, there's unlimited proof that he has Taeyong's post notifications on but— but.. but instagram's a bitch. Either he didn't get one or he was too busy stuck trying to level up on Clash of Clans, but there's no way it's the latter. Taeyong comes before his gold plate.
"He called me bro," Jaehyun says, dumb. "He called me bro," he repeats, even dumber. "Fuckkk."
"Dude, stop with the tantrum and go find yourself something to do. He called you bro. So what? Get a grip. That post was up, like, twenty three hours ago. You would've missed it if you didn't accidentally stumble across it."
Jaehyun frowns harder, jaw ticking. Johnny definitely needs to get laid — but he's still right in one department; he needs to get a grip. He needs to get a grip and find out why Taeyong posted that yesterday, on his birthday of all days. Happy birthday bro? Happy birthday bro? Taeyong's never called him bro in his life, not even when they were both back in highschool and Taeyong had that phase freshman year where he pretended to be straight. Bro's just not his style. Not in his vocabulary. It's in Jaehyun's, though, but Jaehyun hasn't called him shit like that since they got together, so where's this all coming from? Out of the fucking blue?
Jaehyun's stomach sinks, an achy feeling in his chest and a sickness clamming up his throat. His body gets all weird and tight whenever Taeyong does something out of the usual because his first instinct is to think that Taeyong will break up with him.
"Fuck!" Jaehyun says again, dragging a hand down over his face. "He wants to break up with me."
"He doesn't want to break up with you."
"My birthday was yesterday, so he couldn't find it in him to tell me."
"He couldn't find it in him to tell you because you're fuckin' deluded."
Jaehyun stands straight, entirely resolute, before nodding firmly to himself. He pockets his phone in his shorts and gathers the rest of his things — his keys, his snapback, his pink valentine matching couple shoes — and heads for the door. His hand latches around the doorframe and he turns to Johnny slumped on one side of his bed busying himself on his laptop before he leaves. He's never felt more determined in his life.
"I'm not going to let him break up with me," Jaehyun says before tugging their rusty door open.
Johnny doesn't even look up.
"Go crazy."
Jaehyun's at Taeyong's apartment in under ten minutes flat. It'd normally be fifteen, but he told the Uber driver his cousin died from a heart attack and needed to be home asap. It was only half a lie because his cousin did have one, but he's cool now. Though, he's probably having one himself with the way his heart's beating so hard it could be a runner up for the olympics. He figures this is how Mark felt when he thought he was about to die. Jaehyun just wishes the elevator to Taeyong's apartment floor would move faster before he fucking blacks out.
Unlike him, Taeyong's got his own place. Jaehyun's fist goes thumping at Taeyong's door so hard he hears complaints from some of the neighbours, as well as the faint whispered complaint of Taeyong reminding him that sometimes he doesn't know his own strength. When another life-threatening sixty seconds go by, Jaehyun's fist stops in mid-air, and he clocks that Taeyong's not back from work yet. He fishes out his phone and checks to see that there's at least twenty minutes left. Changing plans, he looks around for where Taeyong hides his spare key. Jaehyun lifts up the plant next to his mat and slides it out. It relieves some of the nervous tension tightening up his shoulders.
Inside Taeyong's flat, Jaehyun paces around. He tried sitting at first, but his right knee kept bouncing around with the need to move. Now he's circling the living room like a madman. He can't stop thinking about it. Bro? Was it a typo? A mistake? Or was Taeyong being serious? Why would he be? Or why wouldn't he be?
Taeyong arrives 15 minutes closer to his death, and Jaehyun all but flings himself at him to make sure he's real. Taeyong drops the grocery bags he'd been carrying with a thud.
"Someone's being extra clingy," he says with a small laugh.
Jaehyun freezes, the arms he has wrapped around Taeyong going slack. Is this the problem? Is he too clingy? He pulls away to see Taeyong smiling at him with no teeth, eyes bright, and his pretty pink lips all stretched out. Fuck, what Jaehyun would do to kiss him right now, but he can't cross lines if he has a feeling they're not on good terms. Taeyong, on the other hand, doesn't seem to get the memo. He picks up his grocery bags in both hands and leans in, then frowns when Jaehyun jerks his head back.
"Uh... Jae? What was that about?"
"You want to break up with me?" Jaehyun blurts.
Taeyong drops his grocery bags again.
Jaehyun tucks his bottom lip between his teeth, all red and raw and full of bitten skin. He pulls away and fishes out his phone from his nike shorts, scrolling through until he finds Taeyong's instagram post from yesterday. It's ten minutes away from being automatically deleted.
"Explain this," Jaehyun says, and there's a crack in his voice. Fuck.
Taeyong must hear the wobble because his brows draw together in confusion and he says, "...Happy birthday?"
"Bro," Jaehyun adds. "Happy birthday bro."
Taeyong pauses. He blinks. It clicks.
"Oh," he says, picking up his shopping bags again. He toes off his shoes and ambles his way in.
Jaehyun follows behind him. "Are we bros? What does this mean? Did you brozone me? I haven't called you bro in, like, four years. Is this retaliation for pretending I didn't like you until after highschool or something?"
Taeyong doesn't answer, back still turned to him, and he stops by the kitchen counter to put down the bags. Jaehyun's lips fall into a sour looking pout, and he locks both arms around Taeyong's body before he can get away. His burly fingertips dig into Taeyong's warm stomach, and he revels in the way Taeyong falls lax in his touch. It means that whatever he did, it wasn't a complete and total fuck up.
"Jae," Taeyong says amusedly. "You're the one that said you didn't want our relationship to be public."
Jaehyun stills. Fuck, he did say that.
"Yeah," he grumbles, face stuffed into the back of Taeyong's shoulder and body pressed against him. "But you didn't have to call me bro to do it. The guys are going to think you're fed up with me. Johnny's going to think I'm a loser."
"Nobody's going to think that. You think that," Taeyong corrects, unloading his stuff one by one. Rice. Milk. Beans. Sweet potatoes. Chicken breast for Jaehyun's gym meals. "Now get off my back. You're humping me like a dog."
Jaehyun stops rocking his hips and releases him with a groan. Sometimes he gets a little carried away before he knows he's doing it. His brain and dick are in disconnect, and he swears it's psychological. He'll innocently be thinking of Taeyong's smile and his dick will be on a mission to try fuck Taeyong's thighs.
Taeyong walks over to the fridge, passing by him. Jaehyun follows him like a wounded puppy.
"So you're not breaking up with me?"
"No, I'm not breaking up with you," Taeyong confirms teasingly as he places the milk in. Suddenly, he pauses, and he turns to Jaehyun, who stares back at him with heavy eyes. "Why would you even think that?"
Jaehyun blinks. He straightens up and scratches at his nape, avoiding Taeyong's gaze.
"Jaehyun," Taeyong presses.
Jaehyun looks back at him, a knot growing between his brows. Taeyong lifts his hands up to cradle his cheeks, smoothening the sideburns peeking out of his snapback. It does something to him. Melts him a little and makes him soft.
"I don't know," Jaehyun starts, visibly thinking hard. His head feels empty. "I always think that."
Taeyong pauses from playing with his hair to look at him a little seriously. "You always think that?"
"Yeah, I just... I dunno. Like you deserve better than me, you know? So I wouldn't be mad if you wanted it. You're older than me, you have your own place, and you're not being funded by your parents anymore. I can barely keep a part time job and don't know whether I'll have enough credits to graduate."
"Jaehyun," Taeyong says, and Jaehyun thinks he's going to go on one of those tangents about self worth and stuff that he's learnt from those skincare gurus on youtube, but he does him one better. He just cups his cheeks and kisses him.
Jaehyun's ears singe pink when Taeyong pulls away to speak.
"I love you," he says. "Got that?"
When Jaehyun doesn't answer, Taeyong slowly pulls his face up and down for him to nod his head.
Taeyong grins. "Good."
Jaehyun's face is released with the downwards drop of his chin, and he pivots around to follow Taeyong to the counter again. He's a little settled now by the fact that his boyfriend's not about to spring a break up on him, and the weird achy feeling in his chest's gone too. He's lighter than a breath of fresh air. Maybe Johnny was right to tell him to get a grip. He still gets no pussy, though.
"You love me," Jaehyun mumbles, sidling up to him. "For real?"
Taeyong laughs. "For real."
Jaehyun gets closer, all happy and light and relieved. He wraps his beefy arms around Taeyong's midsection again.
"Mhm. Under any circumstance, yeah?"
He presses in closer, nuzzling his head between Taeyong's throat and shoulder.
"What if I was a worm?"
No answer.
Jaehyun rolls his body against him. "I can be a sexy worm."
Taeyong finally bursts.
"Jaehyun!"
NOTIFICATION [TWITTER]
@JJH1497 posted a tweet! [photo attached]
my boyfriend calls me bro
b (baby, I)
r (really)
o (l'O've you)
Taeyong rolls his eyes. He can't believe calling Jaehyun bro and letting him fuck him a couple times got Jaehyun to finally reveal their relationship on his own.
"Jaehyun!" he calls out.
Jaehyun pops his head out of the bathroom, blinking over at Taeyong still sprawled half naked on the bed. Toothpaste foam drips by the corner of his lips from the brush still in his mouth like some sort of rabid dog. It's disgustingly endearing.
Taeyong cocks a brow. "Did you just make a tweet about us?"
"Yeah," he says, muffled through the toothpaste. "I thou' if'd be goo' for people t'uh know."
Taeyong smiles. How cute.
He watches as Jaehyun's ears go red. "S'uhry."
Taeyong smiles even wider. "Just hurry up and come back out. Maybe I'll let you shower with me after if you're quick."
Jaehyun's head disappears with haste, and Taeyong breathes a laugh. He flops back onto the bed, cheeks warm. Jaehyun's so cute, he thinks. He was cute back as a kid when he used to follow him around. He was cute when he was sixteen and pretending not to have a crush on him. And he's even cute now, clueless about the fact that everyone's known they were dating since the first month in but him.
Taeyong lifts his phone above his head and likes the tweet with a grin. "Adorable."