Chapter Text
“I’ll fill your day with heavenly scents to remind you of my name at every step.”
It was just a whiff, but it’s a smell that’s already etched in Taeyong’s mind. Doyoung’s taste in perfumes is more on the fresh side with a hint of powder, and sometimes a soft touch of floral notes—something that one would be reminded of a fresh laundry or soap.
Over the years, the younger has used a couple of perfumes that Taeyong has become familiar with. There were probably five in total, but Taeyong's favorites were two, and one of them was what Doyoung was wearing today: Blanche. It had a base of musk and sandalwood, with middle notes of peony and violet. It felt light and fresh with just the right hint of floral, aligning with his taste as well.
They were playfully pushing each other in front of their friends when Taeyong's nose caught a whiff of Doyoung's fragrance.
Now, he didn't want to seem like a creep or anything. Sharing perfumes in the dance troupe was quite common. They even had nights when they would exchange perfumes to compare scents. Sometimes, one member would ask another if they had their perfume with them and request a few spritzes, as it often matched the day's outfit.
And it just so happened that Taeyong was able to memorize the names of the younger’s perfumes despite being the most forgetful one in the group.
They were broken apart when Jinyoung, the department’s president, arrived at the lobby and told them to postpone their little fight for a few minutes for he’s about to share some news—and not a very good one at that.
Doyoung and Taeyong composed themselves before facing the League of Artists’ (LOA) President.
Jinyoung crossed his left arm over his torso, using it as support for his right elbow. He pointed at the two of them and gestured for them to sit down before placing his right hand around his neck.
“Please, sit down with your team, so I can see you organized and have my thoughts organized, too.”
“Taeyong doesn't need to sit, though,” Doyoung teased, making reference to Taeyong's shorter height despite being older. This earned a glare from the latter.
“You behave, Doi, or I’ll give you more workload at the office later.”
“Oh, that’s power tripping!”
Doyoung noticed Taeyong sticking his tongue out before walking over to where the other dancers were seated. The younger playfully scrunched his nose in response.
“Doyoung, just come here already,” Johnny called out and to which he finally obliged.
Once Doyoung settled down with the team, Jinyoung scanned their faces. Doyoung was seated between Johnny and Yuta, with Taeil and Taeyong on their left.
“I could actually just talk to Taeyong about this, but since you all are here, I think it's better if it comes from me. Are we missing anyone?
“No, Mr. President,” Taeyong, as the team leader, replied. “This is everyone. Some of the dancers are already busy with their theses, so they won't be joining. Others want to explore other activities, like sports or street dance.”
“We'll be holding auditions this Friday so we can start practicing as soon as possible,” Taeil added. “We'll need several new members.”
“Yeah, about that…” Jinyoung placed his hands on his waist when Jisoo walked in the frame, waving at everyone.
Before Jinyoung could continue, Jisoo asked if the former had already told them the news .
“Not yet. About to, though.”
The lady’s mouth turned into an o-shape as she slowly nodded. There was a hint of worry and disappointment painted on her face which caught Doyoung’s attention.
As the former 2nd-year representative and current secretary of the LOA, Doyoung had learned to communicate with Jisoo through facial expressions during their time as department officers.
When Jisoo’s eyes landed on Doyoung, the latter didn’t let this opportunity slide. His inner brows raised slightly just like when they would do sometimes when he sings. The vice president understood that Doyoung was curious, but she gestured toward Jinyoung, indicating that he should listen to what the president was about to say.
“We just came from a meeting with the student council, along with the presidents and vice presidents of every department,” Jinyoung began. “It was decided that for this year's school festival, the participants in the hip-hop dance competition will be limited to a minimum of five and a maximum of eight.”
This led to a chorus of "What? " and "Huh?" from the team.
“Eight? Not even ten?” Yuta asked, looking puzzled.
“Yeah,” Johnny chimed in. “Last year, it was ten to fifteen. Shouldn't they at least meet last year's minimum?”
“And why?” Taeyong, who had stood up again, inquired.
With a pout, Jisoo stepped forward, standing beside Jinyoung. “There will be a lot of new activities this year, so we all have to reduce the budget for each department, including every activity. Less budget means less support.”
“We also tried to convince them to push through the original quantity but…” Jinyoung just shook his head, letting his next words be trapped in his throat.
“What if we just support ourselves? Like, I mean we don’t need much support anyway. If it’s our Saturday free meals, or the food and drinks we’ll be having on the competition day itself, we could just buy for ourselves, you know?”
Jinyoung and Jisoo looked at each other before facing the dance troupe once more.
“We also argued for self-sufficiency, Yong, but there are other factors to consider—prizes, production, and so on. And it's not just with hip-hop but also with other activities, like the street dance.”
“It was a long ass fucking meeting. And believe me, Jisoo and I tried to make a stand for everyone. I’m sorry. I know this is supposed to be the last year of participating for most of you,” Jinyoung’s eyes pierced through Taeyong’s.
Doyoung followed the president’s trail of sight and his eyes also landed on their leader. He huffed an air before biting his inner cheek. This must be particularly difficult for Taeyong, considering how much he had been looking forward to leading the team this year.
Jinyoung and Jisoo stayed a bit longer to offer words of encouragement and lift everyone's spirits. Before they left, Jisoo mouthed to Doyoung that they would see him at the LOA office later that day.
Doyoung was the first to stand up when they departed, aside from Taeyong, who had yet to sit down even after the department officers left. Doyoung sighed loudly, catching the attention of everyone.
“We can’t do anything about it, so let’s just do what we can. We can’t change the number of required participants but we can still dance. I think that’s what’s more important.”
With his hands on his hips, Doyoung's eyes moved from the seated team members to Taeyong, who was now looking at him.
The leader nodded and addressed the rest of the team. “Yes, it's fine. We can still dance. At least we won't need to find a lot of new members, right? Just three more?”
“Sweet is the scent of my thoughts of you.”
Friday came, the day of auditions.
It was a little before four in the afternoon when Doyoung entered the Arts Building lobby. A student had just finished dancing when he placed Taeyong's black tea with boba and an additional milk foam on the table. He glanced at the student who had just bowed after Johnny told him to check the results on the bulletin board on Monday. Then he handed the taro milk tea with coconut jelly to him.
Although Doyoung had asked in their group chat who would be judging the auditions at this hour, Taeyong couldn't help but feel butterflies when Doyoung got his drink order right without asking. They didn’t even known he was going to buy them drinks.
Doyoung took the empty seat to the right of their leader, a spot that Taeil had occupied half an hour earlier.
It’s Blanche again today, Taeyong thought.
Leaning on the back rest of the chair, Doyoung scanned the place. There were a lot of students sitting around the corner of the lobby. Some of them had tried auditioning and some just wanted to watch, he guessed.
A tripod and a camera were positioned beside Johnny, who was on the opposite side of the table. They were recording every audition so that the entire team could provide feedback, as not everyone could watch simultaneously.
“How many so far?”
Taeyong glanced lazily at him and replied, “About fifteen, I guess. Three when Yuta and Taeil were judging, two when it was just me, seven when Taeil returned with Johnny…” He paused to wet his lips and mentally calculated. “Three more before Taeil left, just before you arrived.”
Doyoung's forehead remained furrowed even as Johnny stood up and informed them that he had to leave for class. When Taeyong looked back at younger, the creases on his forehead still didn’t disappear.
“Since what time were you here?”
“Uhh… around eleven, I guess?”
“Don’t you have class? Taeil’s not here, so you must have.”
“Relax,” whispered the older. “We only have major subjects remaining for the rest of the day and those don’t require us to attend the class physically today. Just had to take attendance and continue with our plates that are due next week. Taeil’s not here ‘cause he needed to meet with his group mates for one of his minor classes.”
Doyoung leaned closer, “Did you have lunch, though?”
“You’re such a nag,” Taeyong straightened up, pushing the taller away from his personal space ‘cause it was a little too much for his tired self. He might just wrap him in his arms to recharge if he gets any closer.
Doyoung's gaze remained fixed on him, he just narrowed them further, still waiting for a response.
“I did. Johnny bought lunch for me and Taeil earlier. We good now?”
Before Doyoung could even respond, they heard a yelp which was followed by a muttering under the stranger’s breath, “Jaemin! I’ll strangle you later!”
They now faced front, watching a student stepped into the center. Three of his friends cheered from a distance.
“Hello,” Doyoung greeted as he flashed a sweet smile.
The guy seemed to be a little shy at first but he exuded a very bright energy.
“Are you gonna audition?”
The student nodded and introduced himself. He was Donghyuck Lee, a first-year Mass Communication student.
Taeyong concealed a smile. He remembered the guy from the first-year student initiation when he was asked to sing. Despite the chaos in the lobby as seniors assigned missions to the freshmen, Donghyuck's singing had captured everyone's attention. Some even stopped to watch, and the crowd cheered when he finished singing.
Remembering what happened just a few weeks ago made him recall his first encounter with Doyoung. It was during the initiation week of Doyoung’s batch. The lobby was a little crowded, especially that there were some whose missions were to dance or do some crazy stuff. It was quite chaotic.
Taeyong, as a sophomore, had asked Yuta to dance as part of the initiation process before he would sign Yuta's form. Yuta accidentally bumped into Doyoung, making his drink spill all over his clothes.
Yuta repeatedly apologized, and although Doyoung was annoyed, he admitted that he was partly at fault. However, Taeyong had to intervene, telling the younger that he should have been more careful since knowing that the lobby was a little chaotic, he shouldn’t just roam around carelessly.
This infuriated Doyoung more than the spilled drink and wet clothes did. He felt that he was being blamed for the mishap. So the younger retorted back.
“You know sometimes, no matter how vigilant you are, if there are people who're careless, you’d still get into accidents. It was not solely my fault. And not just because you’re the senior here, gives you the right to tell who’s fault it was. Everything was already fine and settled until you decided to open your mouth and point fingers.”
Taeyong vividly remembered that day like it was just yesterday. He was so taken aback that he wasn’t able to explain that he hadn't meant to point fingers; he just wanted to advise Doyoung to be more aware of his surroundings.
That incident had made Doyoung and Yuta best friends; and them as Tom and Jerry.
After what happened that day, Doyoung would make it clear that his pissed at the older’s existence. Even when they became acquainted through mutual friends.
And also, after that day, Taeyong's gaze seemed to be drawn to Doyoung. He realized that Doyoung was almost like an open book, and he had observed the younger man's various expressions even from a distance and found them fascinating.
When Yuta introduced them formally to each other, he didn’t know how to communicate properly but to respond to Doyoung’s snarky remarks with a snappish one, too. And since then, he has seen more different expressions from the younger.
It was the final night of the school festival two years ago, Doyoung was the Art Department’s male representative to be the ambassador. And for his talent, he sang, captivating a lot of hearts.
That’s when Taeyong realized he’s already down bad for the younger. Heck, maybe he’s always been—since their first encounter, when Doyoung snapped at him, standing up for himself, not wanting to feel wronged. Or maybe when he first saw him after that incident, his different expressions while talking to Yuta made him question if he ate something funny that day because his stomach was feeling funny.
He was pulled back to the present when someone snapped their fingers right in front of his face. It was Doyoung, who was now standing to the left of him. Taeyong wondered when Doyoung had gotten up.
“I'll start recording now, okay?”
Taeyong was still a little bit out of it but nodded in response.
Doyoung clicked the camera and took a seat next to it, where Johnny had been sitting earlier.
Donghyuck signaled to his friend to play the music. It was SHINee’s Replay. Doyoung was watching expectantly at the student in front of them while singing along to the song. Taeyong's heart might have skipped a beat, and his lips curled into a slight smile when Doyoung's gaze briefly met his. He was a bit taken aback but couldn't look away without appearing to avoid eye contact.
“Yeah, I know I’m handsome. You can stare longer.”
Taeyong just creased his forehead and looked ahead, not even retorting nor denying any of the younger’s claims.
Damn right, Doyoung. He let out a slow breath. You’re damn right. Fucking handsome.