Work Text:
Daeyoung had always known that his lover was mischievous – a little devil with the face of an angel. He didn’t have enough fingers on his hands to count how many times he had fallen for Riku’s pranks and the amount of time Riku had teased him for being so upright.
So, when Riku suddenly said he wanted to do his nails, he should have been more alert instead of simply letting his lover do whatever he wanted. He should have doubted that it was more than just trying out new nail paints and when Riku innocently said with his big eyes, “oh, they’re just neutral colours – they won’t stand out too much!” He should have seen the sign when the older giggled squeakier than usual as he finished decorating his nails with puppy and kitty stickers. Because right now, he had to do his presentation to the whole class with his Christmas theme nails (or so he was told by his project mate).
Luckily, there was no hitch in delivering his presentation. Rather, his lecturer praised them for the well-prepared slide and its well-researched contents, stirring the whole class to clap for them. Though she did mention, “there’s one thing that I’d like to comment on. The slide was too monotone; I kind of wished they had a bit of colour.” She glanced at Daeyoung's nails, to which he instinctively hid them from her sight. A small, amused smile tugged on her face, “…just like your nails.”
Daeyoung wanted to bolt out of the classroom out of embarrassment. Why did he even let his devil of a lover paint his nails last night?
As soon as the lecturer announced the dismissal of the class, students rushed out of the room – some heading to their next class, some rushed to the cafeteria for lunch – but Daeyoung remained seated, taking his time packing his stuff. He was not in a rush after knowing that his afternoon class just got cancelled. Gunwook – his project mate – tapped his shoulder before he left too, having another group project meeting from a different module to attend. Daeyoung shouted “good luck with the project,” but his friend was already out of the door. He leaned back to his seat, lolling his head backward, limbs splayed out lazily. He didn’t even want to go home knowing there’d be no Riku to greet him welcome home, baby! because Riku was at work.
And speaking of Riku, he brought up his hand to the ceiling. He looked at his nails, past the stickers, and all he could see was beige or maybe khaki… he didn’t know. Colours weren’t his strong suit anyway; that had always been Riku’s thing. He pouted at the reminder, a bit bitter now. He snapped a photo of his hand, then sent it to Riku. His lover must not be busy at the moment because his replies came a second later.
Me
*picture attached*
how could you do this to me? :’(
gunwook said im christmas ready
my lecturer said theyre colourful
<3
lol
Me
<( •̀ᴖ•́)>
<3
are you mad at me?
please dont be mad
i’ll meow for you :3
Me
youre not even sorry
:(((((
<3
sorry baby
༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ❤️
i’ll make it up for you at home ;9
Daeyoung rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. He couldn’t be even mad at his lover even though Riku was being a menace. He knew that his pranks and teasing were just one of his many ways to express his affection. They were never done out of malice.
(And for that reason alone, he was glad Riku loved him because he could not imagine what petty trick Riku would pull on someone he hated. He still remembered when Riku’s ex spread rumour of him having an affair with someone else in spite for breaking up with him after getting caught fucking with his own stepsister, and Riku clapped back by anonymously sending mail containing the detail of their children’s sexual activities to their parents. The last time Daeyoung saw him, he had bruises all over his face, glaring at smug Riku.)
He sat straight, pulling himself out of the trance. “Riku should be off work at this hour,” he mumbled to himself, looking at the watch on his wrist. He decided that maybe he should go visit Riku at his work and go home together.
On the way back, they were both silent. Riku was in his own world – maybe listing stuff to get for their grocery run on the weekend soon in his head – while Daeyoung was replaying the scenes from the kindergarten entrance again and again.
“Who was that?” Daeyoung finally asked, halfway back to their shared apartment.
Riku hummed, confused by the sudden question from his boyfriend. “Who?” he asked back, his big eyes following Daeyoung’s gaze. He tilted his head, wondering why the younger suddenly interested in one of the neighbourhood’s grandpas. “Tanaka-ojiisan?”
“Huh?” Daeyoung replied dumbly, turning to look at Riku, confused. He glanced at the old man ahead of them, currently reorganising his flower pots. “No, not him… I meant the guy from kindergarten earlier.”
He finally met his lover’s gaze. He pouted as he recalled the scene earlier, where his lover was clinging over a younger-looking man as they handed over kids to their guardians, and playfully sending him a flying kiss before they parted ways.
Daeyoung knew Riku was a man full of affection, and was not shy to show them – either through pranks or physical touches. He was so used to the older giving out loves like he was handing out snacks, that it was no longer strange to him. He thought of the multiple times he walked into Riku hugging Yushi, a childhood friend of Riku whom he thought of as a younger brother, where his lover wouldn’t rush to pull away from their embrace; only pulling away after both of them decided that it was enough cuddling for the day. Or the time when he saw Riku hunched over Ryo or Sakuya, trying to give them a kiss on the cheek, and he wouldn’t get panic being seen in such position because he knew Daeyoung trust him enough to not misunderstand (though Riku would still explain himself even without the younger asking).
However, what happened earlier at Riku’s workplace stayed in his mind; quietly but definitely bugging him.
The older leaned in closer, intertwining their hands together. He rested his head onto the younger’s shoulder. “Kassho-kun? He’s the new part-time teacher.” Riku’s answer was simple, straight-forward, but Daeyoung still couldn’t get rid of the suspicion.
“How new?” His grip on the older tightened slightly.
“Hmm… he just started this week. Why?”
This week, Daeyoung noted. Such a short period for Riku to be friendly with the new guy.
His lover might be touchy, but that didn’t mean he did it to every person he knew – one had to break down his wall which was hard enough, then you could finally receive his affection (Daeyoung knew because he went through all that before).
“You two seemed close,” he muttered, just loud enough to be heard, not realising jealous evident in his voice
Riku stopped abruptly, barely pulling Daeyoung back. Daeyoung turned around, only to find his lover staring at him, his other hand covering his mouth. “Are you… jealous?” he gasped out.
“What? No, I’m not,” he answered a bit too quickly, feeling a bit scandalised too. There was no way he would get jealous over someone Riku just met this week. If anything, he was just annoyed, because… just.
An amused smile slowly decorating Riku’s face. Daeyoung brushed it off, “you’re imagining things. Let’s hurry home. I’m hungry.”
“Okay, baby,” Riku sang, not dragging it any longer. He closed their distance in an instant, giving a kiss on Daeyoung’s cheek before resting his head on the younger’s shoulder again. “By the way, did anyone, other than your project mate and lecturer, say anything about your nails?” which made Daeyoung groan, reminded again how he had done his presentation earlier with Christmas-theme nails – what a way to end the semester!
Daeyoung was always interested in Riku’s work gossip. But somehow, today’s work gossip didn’t intrigue him that much – probably because they were too focused on the new teacher, Kassho or whatever his name was.
From what he had learned, the new guy was only a year younger than him, which made him the youngest teacher there. And because of that, every staff member working at the kindergarten was gushing over him – Riku included. He watched how Riku’s eyes glimmered in fascination as he talked about Kassho; how he knew to act around children which made them open up quickly, how he presented to be reliable to the parents, how he effectively turned down suggestive talks with the senior teachers. On Daeyoung’s part, he just nodded absentmindedly, not really wanting to hear them.
Then, Riku talked about how one of the female teachers wanted to make a move on Kassho, to which Riku sneered. “If they want to make a move on my baby, they have to go through me first.”
Baby. An endearment Riku used for anyone younger than him, always platonic (except for the one he used on Daeyoung – the difference was in the tone). Daeyoung knew that, because before they dated, Riku used to call him baby from time to time, more so when he cried. Then he had Yushi, Ryo, and Sakuya, whom Riku always cooed while calling them baby despite their indifference with the endearment. Heck, even the children at the kindergarten were not safe from Riku’s baby endearment. So, this new guy should be no different too.
But the way Riku said baby sounded different in his ears this time. It sounded more than just a friendly term now. Also, why did others need to go through him as if he was his guardian or something? Why was he trying to gatekeep this new guy from other teachers?
Oblivious to Daeyoung’s spiralling thought, Riku moved on to the next topic, still with the same subject though. He talked about how Kassho enjoyed going to the sauna. Okay, how was that information even relevant to him? But he didn’t say anything, just listened silently to Riku…
Until his lover said “maybe I should invite him out for a sauna sometimes,” but he backtracked, laughing it off as a joke when he saw the unimpressed look on Daeyoung. That somehow soured his mood, but he managed to hide it (or so he thought).
After that, Riku talked about his look. Now, Daeyoung was not blind (ignoring the fact that he needed glasses to see and was colourblind), and as much as he was reluctant to admit, that Kassho dude was good looking – pretty face, big eyes, the sauce-gao type. But when Riku kept on complimenting him, head to toe, it made him annoyed. He was not insecure; he just didn’t like it when his lover talked about other men so excitedly. (And he still refused to say that he was jealous.)
“… If I still have my red hair, me and him would totally match,” Riku finally finished. He looked at Daeyoung, who had been silent for a while, giving him a sweet smile. But the younger knew his lover so well that he could see the mischief behind that smile. “Should I dye my hair red again?”
“No,” Daeyoung instantly decided for him, still plunging for the bait that Riku set. It must’ve come out stricter than he intended because Riku was looking at him dumbfounded, so he softened the blow. “Any colour is fine– blue, green, purple… just not red,” which returned the smile back on his lover’s face.
When Riku said he should dye his hair again, Daeyoung thought he was joking, something he said to annoy Daeyoung at that moment, but little did he know…
On the weekend, when he was returning from the grocery run that Riku made him go alone, his lover greeted him at the entrance with a disposable shower cap wrapping his hair. The plastic bags in his hand dropped as he registered what the older had been doing when he was running errands.
“You really dyed your hair,” he said as a matter of fact. He didn’t know how to feel about this, so he squinted his eyes as if that would help him to see the hair colour better.
“Yes,” Riku answered gleefully. He picked up the bags that Daeyoung dropped (thankfully, he didn’t put eggs in the list just now), sneaking a smooch on his cheek. “I know you cannot see the colour, but do you want to guess?”
Daeyoung rolled his eyes, grabbing the bags from Riku’s hands. “I don’t think that’ll be fun, love.”
“Aw come on, don’t be a party pooper, and just take a wild guess.”
Daeyoung put the items on the table, before he turned to face the older, studying his face instead of his hair. Riku only looked back at him expectantly. He was smiling widely to the point his dimples were showing. His big, round orbs made it hard to guess if he was doing this for fun or not.
So, he let out a long sigh. “Spare me for now. I’ll take a guess later – after you washed off the remaining dye and dried them off.”
“Hm, okay,” Riku agreed easily. Then, he turned around, heading to the bathroom. “I’m going to wash up first,” he announced.
Daeyoung hummed in response, even though he knew Riku couldn’t hear him. He put away his purchases, organising them neatly in the pantry (or Riku would nag him), then threw away all the plastic packaging in the rubbish bin. But something caught his eyes.
Boxes of hair dye. Opened and used.
He pulled one of the boxes out to inspect. Maybe he’d cheat and check out the answer from the box, but his heart dropped when his eyes glimpsed at the colour tag. Now, Daeyoung couldn’t really see the colour, but he could definitely read, and it read out:
Royal Red.
Daeyoung shoved the box back into the bin, covered them up with plastic packaging of his purchases earlier, as if to cover up his surging temper. He closed the bin, and stepped out of the kitchen. He took deep breaths, calming himself down.
Riku couldn’t possibly do something he didn’t like, right? He allowed him to dye his hair in any colour – literally anything but red – even though he couldn’t really tell the difference. Daeyoung even made it obvious how he didn’t want Riku to dye his hair red, because he didn’t want his lover to have matching hair with the new guy.
Right on time, Riku walked out of the bathroom, cheeks flushed and hair damp. He smiled at the sight of his boyfriend, but Daeyoung couldn’t find it within himself to return the gesture – he just stood there dumbly. The thought of Riku purposely going against him made him upset and disappointed and mad. Instead, he stared at the wet hair on Riku’s head – clearly brighter than before. He frowned because all he could see was a different shade of brown.
He followed Riku inside to the bedroom, dropping his towel to put on his clothes. He watched his lover’s sensual motions as he slipped on his shirt which was obviously loose on him and a pair of shorts (suddenly underwear was non-existent but who was he to complain because it would end up on the floor at the end of the day). The older finally turned around, looking at Daeyoung while raising both of his eyebrows. Riku was so used to Daeyoung staring at him.
“Did you enjoy the view?” he asked, slipping past the younger as he walked towards the vanity table. He didn’t wait for Daeyoung to answer before he extended him the hair dryer. “Come. Help me dry my hair, please.”
Riku basked in the tender touch of his boyfriend, so careful that it might’ve lulled him to sleep. But before he actually drifted to dreamland, he asked, loud enough to hear over the hair dryer noise. “Can you guess the colour now?”
Daeyoung was so distracted by Riku’s naked body that he forgot he was supposed to be angry at his lover for dying his hair red. He turned off the hair dryer and put it down. Riku’s hair was dry enough anyway. He played with the older’s soft locks, blankly staring at them, before he grabbed the hair oil from the table and put them on Riku’s hair.
Rather than giving him an answer, he asked. “Riku, be honest. Do you like that new teacher?”
Riku looked at him through the mirror, arching an eyebrow. “Why do you say so?” he replied with another question.
The younger began to massage his scalp now, which made the older’s eyes flutter closed at the pressure. “You seemed to be interested in him,” he said.
His lover didn’t say anything, just gave him a smile – a playful one – and Daeyoung was ticked off by it (and he had never found Riku irritating before). Everything must be a joke to him, he thought. He ignored the teasing look from his lover as he pressed harder, making Riku hiss and glare at him.
“I’m serious. I’m asking you if you've developed some kind of affection for that guy or not.”
Riku held onto Daeyoung’s hands, making him stop. He stood up and turned around to face his boyfriend. He tilted his head, as he studied Daeyoung’s expression. Then, he looped his arms around the younger’s neck, a smirk etched on his face. “Do you even realise what kind of face you’re making right now?” Riku asked, which made the younger look past him, looking at his own reflection in the mirror. Riku tapped his finger to get his attention back. “You look so hot when you’re jealous and mad.”
The younger scoffed in disbelief. Riku, who always said Daeyoung was scary (“Daeyoung-chan kowai” “Daeyoung musowo”) on a daily basis just because he was strong and loud, was now turned on because his boyfriend was mad. His lover was truly something else.
Daeyoung turned his head to the side, shifting his gaze to anything but Riku. The more he looked at his lover, the more he felt he was losing control. But the older seemed to have a different idea. He grabbed Daeyoung’s head, forcing the younger to face him again. He tugged him closer which made the other stumbled, bracing his hands against the table so he wouldn’t crush Riku under him.
He wanted to pull away, but Riku’s grip on his head was strong. The older pulled him closer, until he could feel his breathing near his ear. The older pressed a kiss there, then he whispered, “you look like you’re seconds away from bending me over the table and fuck me senseless in front of the mirror, while questioning me if I have romantic feelings for Kassho-kun.”
And that was enough for Daeyoung to stop restraining himself.
He kicked aside the stool in between them as he pulled Riku into a kiss – hungry and mad. Then he pulled away, turning the older around to bend him over, just like how Riku taunted him earlier. His lover let out a whimper as he came in contact with the table (Daeyoung would apologise for that later). Daeyoung pulled him back by the waist, letting his ass meet with his steadily growing length. The older moaned at the contact.
“Fuck, Riku,” he groaned out in response.
Riku pulled his shirt up, and rubbed his ass against Daeyoung’s clothed dick. “Just put it in,” he said, trying to push his shorts down, “I’ve prepared in the shower.”
Well, glad to know that because Daeyoung wanted to shove it in right away.
He had his hand on the band of Riku’s shorts when he noticed the texts: ARE YOU MAD AT ME? written at the back of the shorts. He knew these shorts. It was the one that Riku got for laughter, but it stayed in the closet, well-used even, because the older found them comfortable.
The younger let out a breathy chuckle. He slapped Riku’s butt, which made the older to perk his butt up. “Just so you know, I am mad at you,” Daeyoung said, stripping him off from the shorts. “I won’t go easy on you.”
“Good,” Riku moaned out. “Fuck me hard till I forget who Kassho-kun is.”
He shouldn’t have mentioned Kassho, because now Daeyoung did not want to hold back. Or maybe that was what Riku wanted all along. After all, Riku was a freak.
They both ended up in the comfort of their bed after cleaning themselves up (Riku pulled Daeyoung’s ear because the latter said they could wash up later, but the older was firm about wanting to sleep in a clean state on a clean sheet). Riku snuggled closer to Daeyoung, as the younger instinctively played with his hair.
Hair.
Right, he was supposed to be still upset with Riku for dyeing his hair red to match with the new teacher. So, he froze, before creating a space between them. The older noticed right away, his hand already clawing onto Daeyoung’s pec to stop him from shifting further.
“You’ve fucked away your anger. Now, cuddle with me,” he said, not even bothering to open his eyes. When the younger didn’t move or say anything back, he opened one eye, searching for Daeyoung with it. “I have something to tell you, so come closer, baby,” he whined.
Daeyoung shifted closer, and Riku immediately attached himself to the younger’s side, purring like a cat.
“Where do I begin?” he suddenly said after a beat of silence. “Let’s start with Kassho-kun.” Daeyoung’s face contorted at the mention of the name – thank god Riku had his eyes closed.
“You asked if I have developed feelings for him. Well, truth to be told, I have this special feeling toward him.” The younger didn’t say anything, but his stomach churned. “How could I not? I mean, I knew him before he started working there. Like, we’ve known each other since we were kids, because we’re cousins. He’s practically my baby brother.”
Huh? What?
“So, baby,” Riku said, looking up to Daeyoung, “don’t get jealous over Kassho-kun, okay?”
“But it didn’t sound like that when you were talking about him the other day,” Daeyoung countered weakly.
“Yeah? Maybe it has something to do with you being jealous.” Daeyoung pouted as he listened to Riku’s shallow reasoning. “Hey, don’t blame me. You reacted so cutely and so sexily, that I couldn’t stop baiting you. It was worth it,” he nodded.
Then he placed a soft kiss on Daeyoung's chest. “Though that was not nice of me for making you doubt me, so I’m sorry for that.”
Daeyoung brushed Riku’s hair, as though telling him that it was okay. He had already forgiven him. “You still dyed your hair to match him though.”
Riku chuckled at that. “Why did you think that I dyed my hair red in the first place?” The younger only gave him a pointed look. “Okay, fair. But you know I won’t do anything that you don’t like.” Then he added quickly, “it doesn’t include teasing you though. I love teasing my handsome boyfriend,” which earned him an eyeroll from his boyfriend.
“If not red, then what colour?”
“Orange!” Riku answered right away, no room to hang the suspense. He giggled when Daeyoung looked at him weirdly. “Okay, we can talk about my hair tomorrow. I’m tired after all the fights we had earlier.”
“Good night, baby,” Riku mumbled, already drifting to sleep.
“Hm, good night, love,” Daeyoung replied, pressing a kiss to his lover’s new orange hair.