Work Text:
Doyoung loves a cup of steaming chai on a Sunday morning.
He’s been trying to cut down on coffee, especially on the weekend.
It was in an effort of cultivating mindfulness and wellness to combat the chronic burnout, anxiety and chest pains he was fighting through.
Taeyong stocked their kitchen with every caffeine substitute and energy supplement he could find when he learned about his boyfriend’s latest health kick.
He takes a slow sip and sighs as the warmth spreads through his body.
Ahh, peace.
——
Ten nearly rolls his ankle trying to tip-toe out of his room, the sound of a shower running in the distance and races out of his apartment complex.
This was bad, this was so colossally bad.
The minute the door shut behind him, he took off running. He hoped the crisp morning air would whip some sense into him. Because clearly, he’s lacking common sense when he had sex with his best friend whom he’s been in love with for years.
And he didn’t even get a chance to tell him how he felt.
He and Kun had been hanging out, splitting a few bottles of wine until his judgement was so foggy that when Kun leaned over to kiss him, Ten didn’t have the mind to stop him. He should’ve pushed him back and told him how he felt before letting him taste the Cabernet off his tongue.
But the thought of having to stop him seemed so unappealing at the time.
The night was a blur after that kiss but Ten remembers the sex, remembers how good it felt like something had been building up inside of him, laying dormant until Kun came with the key. He remembers the heat Kun radiated, the raspy, slurred words of filth whispered in his ear and how after he came, Kun wiped him down and curled his arms around him before they passed out.
When Ten had woken up, he had been ready to face Kun and have the mature adult conversation that was a long time coming.
But then Kun woke up, cleared his throat awkwardly, and refused to look Ten in the eyes before mumbling about using the shower.
Ten may not make the smartest decisions but he isn’t dumb.
He knows regret when he sees it and he wasn’t going to wait around for Kun to finish his shower before telling him ‘I think last night was a mistake, we were drunk, can we pretend it didn’t happen?’ So he left.
He grabbed his keys, phone and his shoes and left.
With only one place in mind.
——
Doyoung is on his fourth sip? Maybe fifth? When his front door slams open.
He jumps with a yelp before craning his neck to peek out of the kitchen to the door. Taeyong isn’t normally that loud when he comes home, in fact, there have been many times when Taeyong scares the shit out of him because of how light he is on his feet.
Doyoung gets a good look at the figure in the door and pauses.
Woah.
“Ten?”
His face is flushed red, he’s panting and sweating with a wild look in his eyes.
Doyoung only knew Ten in passing as one of Taeyong’s university friends. They usually hung out in big groups where he didn’t have to talk to him one-on-one. One of Doyoung’s closest friends had actually gotten along pretty well with Ten so Doyoung would always drag Kun into conversations with Ten to avoid the general awkwardness.
Ten had always been hard to read, so Doyoung never bothered trying. Their relationship now is somewhere between, polite small talk and awkward silences.
“How do you have a key to my apartment?” He blurted out.
Ten’s eyes dart around nervously but he doesn’t step in yet, “Taeyong gave me one for crises.”
“Are you in crisis?” Doyoung asks, dumbfounded at Ten just showing up unannounced.
Ten chews on his lip and his eyes are flickering as if debating his next move in his mind, “I think so.”
“Well, Taeyong’s gone out, not sure when he’ll be back. You can come back later or just hang out until then,” Doyoung says with a shrug before returning back to the kitchen. His tea is cold now, so he dumps it out and turns the kettle on.
He expects Ten to leave, so he’s surprised, to say the least when he hears the door shutting and footsteps padding toward the kitchen. Doyoung tracks Ten with his eyes the way you’d do to a wild animal and watches him sit by the counter.
Doyoung isn’t exactly sure what he’s expected to do in this situation.
“Would you like tea?” He finally asks when it’s clear Ten is content sitting in silence, staring into his soul.
Ten purses his lips, “can you make it Irish?”
Doyoung thinks he’s joking but Ten’s stare doesn’t waver. So, like a good host, he slowly moves to the liquor cabinet and brings out a bottle of Baileys that he hates but Taeyong loves and starts making Ten his (gross) drink.
He doesn’t ask about Ten’s crisis and focuses on steeping the tea. He knows it’s rude if he runs for his phone to text Taeyong frantically, so he just prays he’s on his way home. Ten gets up from the stool and Doyoung freezes when he rounds the island to stand in front of the fridge.
Ten touches the corner of a photo held up by a magnet. It’s an old one, but one of Doyoung’s favourites. It’s him and Taeyong, back when they first started going out. They’re huddled together, grinning into the camera with Taeyong kissing him on the cheek.
They were so shy and jittery around each other back then.
8 years later, Doyoung thinks that he and Taeyong swapped a part of their souls with each other.
“The two of you were friends before you started dating, right?” Ten asks.
Doyoung clears his throat and looks back at the mugs, “yeah, since we were young.”
Ten lets out a puff of breath, “he told me about it. About how much he loved you even back before you asked him out. Did you love him then, too?”
His tone is weirdly sharp and defensive like he’s interrogating Doyoung instead of just making simple small talk.
“Um…not romantically, but more because I didn’t know that was something I was allowed to do. And once I did, I figured being friends was better than nothing,” Doyoung says while shifting uneasily.
Was this when Ten reveals that he’s been in love with Taeyong this entire time and that he was going to destroy their relationship so he could have Taeyong all to himself?
God, he needs to stop falling asleep while watching soap operas.
“Why did you decide to risk it and ask him out then?”
Doyoung pauses and takes a moment to consider the question. Doyoung is not an impulsive person but he is a risk-taker. He’s the kind of person who’d mull over a decision for a long time before deciding ‘fuck it’ and doing it without planning how.
“I think one day I thought to myself ‘I hope someday, I marry a man like Taeyong’ and then I realized, why would I need to marry a man like him, when I could just marry him? And I’d never know if I could have that with him unless I tried,” he shrugs and goes to hand him his mug, “I had the usual doubts of whether it’d ruin our friendship or whether he felt the same but one day I just thought to myself that if the worst case scenario came true, I’d find a way to deal with it. I’d survive, our friendship would survive.”
Ten takes a sip of the drink and Doyoung’s surprised he doesn’t spit it out. Warm Baileys with tea had to be disgusting, “just like that, huh?”
“Yeah, I mean, I’m sure it was more angsty at the time, but I don’t know, after a certain age, you learn that you either have to do something about it or not. And if you choose not to, you need to move on instead of whining and pining.” Doyoung’s always been a pragmatist in that sense.
No use complaining over something he decided not to do.
Ten wanders back to the stool and cups the mug in his hands, “would you do the same if you didn’t know him for as long?”
“Uh—I’m not sure. Maybe?”
Ten leans forward on his elbows and his shirt hangs off his body. Doyoung wonders if maybe it’s not his shirt. That’s when he sees the hickeys. To Doyoung’s knowledge, Ten was single, but it was only because of little fragments Taeyong’s told him in passing.
Ten sees him looking and quickly sits up.
Doyoung tilts his head, “Ten, I know we aren’t close but are you okay?”
“I had sex.”
He shouldn’t have asked.
He clears his throat, “for the first time?”
The look Ten gives him is scathing, “I’m not a virgin, Doyoung.”
He winces, he desperately doesn’t want to know about Ten’s sexual history, “so why are you in crisis over having sex?”
Ten slumps and he looks so much smaller and vulnerable now, “I had sex with a friend.”
“Oh.”
He rubs his fingers against his forehead, “a good friend. A friend I like so much that I’m basically in love with him and I was too chicken shit to say anything and then we got wine drunk last night and had sex. Like hot fucking sex. He’s so hot, like in the best way. He doesn’t flaunt it, or act like he knows he’s hot. He’s so prim, proper, and kind but in bed, god, it’s incredible. He just takes control and knows exactly what to do and how to do it. The things his tongu—“
“Okay!” Doyoung’s voice pitches an octave too high, “good sex, got it. And what happened after?”
His face drops, “nothing, he wakes up, can’t look me in the eye or even fake a smile. He just runs to the shower.”
“What did you do after?” Doyoung prompts.
Ten gives him an incredulous look, “I came here. I was hoping to talk to your boyfriend who happened to go on the world’s longest errand when I need him the most.”
Doyoung brushes him off and tries to digest everything that was laid out for him, “and you still didn’t talk to him about it? Do you have any plans to talk to him?”
“Why on earth would I do that when he obviously doesn’t want to?”
Because communication is the cornerstone of every relationship, even platonic ones. Because only an idiot would be unable to see that Ten’s friend was probably just as nervous and uncertain as Ten was. That this guy was likely worried about how Ten might react so he decided to hide in the shower until he could compose himself.
And the longer Ten pushes this conversation off, the more the guy is going to feel like Ten regrets having sex with him which will make it even harder for them to be normal around each other.
Does Ten really not see this?
But instead, Doyoung just lets out a long breath, “because you can’t read his mind and he can’t read yours. You’re making assumptions. Confirm them first before sulking.”
Ten’s face twists up, “wow, you’re really bad at giving advice. Don’t quit your day job because why on earth would I confront him about something as humiliating as my feelings?”
Doyoung’s exasperation is not subtle, “talk to the guy, Ten. You can’t avoid him forever especially if he’s your friend. Plus, a little vulnerability goes a long way.”
Before Ten can try to deflect with a sharp, insulting retort, refusing to acknowledge that Doyoung is right, they are interrupted.
“Ten?”
They turn to see Taeyong walking toward them with grocery bags in his hands. Relieved beyond belief, Doyoung rushes over and takes the bags from him.
“Thanks, babe,” Taeyong mumbles while brushing a kiss against his lips, “what’s going on?”
“Crisis,” Doyoung replies quietly before scurrying off to unpack the bags.
Ten leaps out of his seat and grabs Taeyong’s hand to drag him to their bedroom, “god, where have you been? I have so much to tell you.”
——
Taeyong’s advice was much more helpful than Doyoung’s although he too had encouraged Ten to talk to Kun.
Maybe this is what happens when you’re in a long-term relationship, you forget how delicate things are before you share your feelings. Clearly, Taeyong’s forgotten how scared he had been when he first started having feelings for Doyoung because he wouldn’t be telling him to bare his soul to him otherwise.
But as he walks home, he thinks about Taeyong and Doyoung’s apartment. He’s been there a handful of times but never really paid much attention to it until now. There are remnants of the couple in every corner. In photos of them stuck to the fridge or placed in frames. In Taeyong’s oat milk next to Doyoung’s creamer. In blankets, books, and shoes all woven into each other so if someone who didn’t know them walked into their place, they wouldn’t be able to tell one person’s belongings from the other.
He and Kun could have that.
Kun’s keyboard next to Ten’s canvases.
Both their empty wine bottles filled with Ten’s dried flowers.
Kun’s novels next to Ten’s iPad.
Something so familiar and comfortable.
And all he had to do was talk to him?
He walks into his apartment that he had to sneak out of a few hours ago and immediately sees Kun’s shoes missing. He feels dread pool in his stomach as it sinks in that Kun stepped out of the shower and realized that Ten had run out of his own apartment.
Now that the panic has started to subside, he’s coming to terms with the fact that maybe he made things worse.
He takes his phone out and tries calling but gets sent straight to voicemail.
Ten paces around his living room as he types out a text and hits send.
Ten
can we talk? call me or come over pls
Now he waits.
——
Taeyong is breathtaking.
It’s a kind of surreal beauty that Doyong’s never gotten used to.
He sees it when Taeyong wakes up, bleary-eyed, face puffy or when he brushes light glitter over his eyelids when they go out. He sees it when he’s wrapped up in a fluffy blanket to watch a movie or when he’s focused on reading the instructions of the fish tank he insisted they buy.
But this? Taeyong straddling Doyoung’s lap on their couch, slowly grinding circles while panting into his mouth?
Fucking stunning.
It started as a casual night in, lounging around while a new series they were watching together was playing in the background. Then Taeyong, clearly in a mood, inched closer and closer to Doyoung until he could slide a palm up his inner thigh and stamp kisses on that spot behind his ear that makes him weak.
And then things quickly got away from him.
“Baby,” Taeyong gasps and shivers when Doyoung’s fingers tighten over his hips, “bedroom, please.”
He doesn’t hear him at first, too much in a daze over the wetness in Taeyong’s eyes making them sparkle and blow wide in a lust-driven black. It’s been years and the clenching in his chest whenever he sees Taeyong hasn’t ceased. He still feels his chest thud, and the strongest urge to gather Taeyong up in his arms and breathe him in until he’s light-headed.
Taeyong has so many different sides to him and he knows exactly how to use them to make Doyoung weak in the knees. He knows when Doyoung’s tired and needs someone to boss him around or when Doyoung needs to mother Taeyong and take care of him. He knows how receptive Doyoung is when Taeyong gets clingy and touch-starved or when Doyoung needs space and just a kind ear that will listen.
Taeyong had known Doyoung when nothing makes sense to him but his own neurosis and learned how to love him through it. He watches Doyoung stress and hyperventilate over minor obstacles and helps him overcome them.
Sometimes, Doyoung worries and fusses over Taeyong so much that he forgets to take care of himself but Taeyong always remembers. He’s always there, looking like a biblically accurate angel.
It doesn’t feel possible for Doyoung to have ever ended up with anyone else. He doesn’t think he could ever love someone the way he does Taeyong and he doesn’t think he could let anyone consume him the way Taeyong does.
Taeyong pouts when he doesn’t answer so he leans forward and bites down on Doyoung’s lower lip, making him flinch and hiss, “bedroom. Now.”
“Bossy,” Doyoung deadpans without an inch of real heat because they both know that he doesn’t need to be convinced to do anything Taeyong wants.
Taeyong grins and wraps his arms around Doyoung’s neck, “whipped.”
He rolls his eyes but can’t refute the fact, he just moves his grip onto the side of Taeyong’s thighs and urges them around his back before lifting him up into his arms as he stands.
Taeyong crosses his ankles behind his back and sucks bruises on Doyoung’s neck, licking across them to make him groan as he carries them to their bedroom. He makes it halfway there when someone knocks on the door. He freezes for a moment but Taeyong tugs on him, “ignore it.”
Doyoung hums and turns to kiss him. He barely slips his tongue in when the front door swings open. This time they both freeze, lips still locked, as they turn to see Kun standing by the entrance.
He looks equally stunned, “uh…sorry.”
“He has a key?” Taeyong asks against his mouth.
Kun looks sheepish, “for emergencies.”
Doyoung narrows his eyes and pulls away from Taeyong’s lips, “for our emergencies, not yours, Kun.”
“I know, I um, just needed someone to talk to but I’m so sorry for intruding, I’ll come back later.”
Before Doyoung can thank him and tell him to shut the door on his way out, he feels Taeyong’s ankles unlock behind his back and his hands slacken from around his neck.
Damn it.
He holds Taeyong’s waist with careful hands, he knows he’s still recovering from hurting his back, as he drops his feet to the ground. He steps back and gives Doyoung a regretful smile, “go talk to your friend, I need to shower, anyways.”
If he had his way, he’d be in that shower with him, but all he can do is watch Taeyong smile at Kun before slinking away to their bedroom.
Letting out a breath he waves Kun in, “tea?”
What he could really use is some booze.
“That’d be great,” Kun says with a polite smile as he wanders into their apartment.
Doyoung and Kun had bonded when they both joined their university’s debate society. They were both studious and the overachieving type, they became quick friends. Like most of the people Doyoung was friends with, Kun was generous, compassionate, multi-talented and incredibly difficult to hate.
Even when he really wants to.
“I’m really sorry, Doyoung. I should’ve called or texted but I was in a panic. Wasn’t thinking too straight,” Kun says while sitting by the counter.
This gives Doyoung pause because, unlike his own anxiety-ridden self, Kun is more steady and more aware of himself and others. He isn’t the type to normally get rattled, “what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Um,” he’s fidgeting and Kun never fidgets. This has to be bad, “you know Ten?”
Doyoung gives a blank look, “Ten who’s my boyfriend’s friend that you met at a party I threw? Yeah, I know him.”
“We had sex.”
The mug slips out of his hand and shatters on the floor, “shit!”
“Oh my god, are you okay?” Kun shoots out of his seat and nearly steps on a shard of ceramic.
Doyoung holds his hand out to stop him from coming closer, “stay there, I’ll sweep it up, it’s fine. Sorry, you just took me by surprise.”
He grabs a broom and begins sweeping the shards up into a dustpan, “I, uh, knew that the two of you got along but I didn’t realize you were, um, that close.”
“Yeah, we hang out a lot on our own after you introduced us, we have a lot in common and I mean, c’mon, I know you and Taeyong are basically all but married but you’ve seen Ten, he’s beautiful, Doyoung.”
He stills and slowly looks over at Kun, he watches the crease between his eyebrows soften and a small smile creep up his face, “and so, you two had sex.”
“Last night,” Kun says with a nod.
And oh, it dawns on Doyoung.
The irony is at level of a Shakespearean comedy.
Kun was the friend that Ten had sex with, the friend he says he was basically in love with.
Ten and Kun.
Ten, mysterious, guarded, and fiercely loyal.
Kun, open, kind, and sometimes naive.
The moon and the sun.
But they make sense when he thinks about it.
He isn’t sure why it didn’t cross his mind before.
Doyoung feels a little insane as he begins to piece together where this conversation is headed before it’s even really begun.
“And, so how…was it?” He cringes when he says it, but unlike Ten, Kun has a few more boundaries in place.
But he still blushes and it’s not subtle, it floods up to his ears and across his face. It’d almost be cute if Doyoung hadn’t given up his own night of sex to listen to his friend relive his.
“To be fair, we were both a bit drunk but it was good, great. I mean, I’ve sort of had feelings for Ten for a while now but I never really did anything about it,” Kun’s voice falters as he shifts, uneasy.
Doyoung frowns and pours boiling water into new mugs before steeping the tea bags, “why not? He’s single, isn’t he?”
“Yeah but he’s so far out of my league it’s like we’re playing different sports,” Kun says with a dry laugh.
Doyoung snorts, “you have a Ph.D, you’re intelligent, you have an impressive job, and that adorkable thing works in your favour when you do your magic tricks or jump out of a plane plus you’re not bad to look at. And most importantly, you’re a good person. I don’t really see how that puts you out of his league unless you think Ten doesn’t have all those same qualities.”
Kun sits up, defensive, “Ten is all those things. I know you’re not super close with me but he’s so nice, and such a good listener. He remembers the smallest details about me, even ones that I don’t even remember saying to him. He’s fun and playful and he’s crazy talented. But he walks into a room and everyone notices.”
“But you’re the one he chose to sleep with.”
Kun blinks at him, his mouth open and closing as he flounders for a response. After dealing with Ten’s spitfire comebacks, Doyoung knows not to let Kun come up with a rebuttable, “did you talk to him in the morning?”
“No,” Kun has the decency to look embarrassed and Doyoung’s glad because if Ten’s recollection of their morning-after is true, he’s not impressed with Kun one bit, “I panicked. I woke up holding him and he looked so peaceful and soft and I started thinking about how he’d tense up and push me away. I was worried he’d chalk it up to the alcohol and treat me like a mistake. I knew I should’ve waited until we were both sober but now it’s all a mess. I went to shower and when I came back he was gone. I tried waiting in case he would be back but he didn’t, I figured that was a hint I needed to take so I left.”
This was painful to watch.
At this rate, the two of them were a match made in heaven.
If they just opened their mouths and talked to each other about their feelings, they’d realize they were on the same page. But Doyoung couldn’t say anything because the minute he implies that Ten feels the same, Kun will refuse to believe it and it’ll make this entire thing take twice as long.
“Doyoung, you and Taeyong, I know you did things differently than Ten and I, but was it weird? Going from friends to lovers?” Kun asks softly.
He huffs out a breath. He isn’t sure why both Kun and Ten ask about his relationship as if they’re comparable. He’s known Taeyong nearly his entire life, never had a serious attraction to anyone other than him, and never wanted one other than him. Their relationship wasn’t the benchmark of perfect relationships.
It was just something perfect for them.
And they had an 8-year head start on working through their issues and finding their groove.
“I mean, a little but we always were closer to each other than most friends were. The biggest change in our dynamic was the physical aspect. Taeyong’s touchy by nature but it’s different when there’s intent and I think we both spent so much time trying to hide that feeling that when we were finally allowed to express it, we were overwhelmed and unsure,” Doyoung replies.
There were a lot of testing boundaries but being too scared to ask if kissing was okay or if slipping his fingers under his shirt was too much.
But they talked, they took their time and communicated, they grew.
“You just need to talk to him, Kun. If you wait too long, the misunderstandings will get worse, you’ll grow further apart and it'll be harder to fix. And I don’t think you’d be happy with yourself if that happened,” Doyoung says kindly, “just accept the fact that your relationship may not be perfect at times but that doesn’t mean it isn't one worth having.”
Kun nods but there’s a little bit of insecurity still lingering. Doyoung can hear the shower cut and his veins feel like live wires. He tries hard not to think about Taeyong, warm, wet, soft with the smell of his lavender body soap radiating off his skin just one door down.
He pieces together what’s left of his sanity to focus back on his friend, “what’s stopping you?”
“What if he doesn’t feel the same and it makes things weird?”
He wants to laugh, knowing what he knows, Ten’ll probably want to take Kun’s last name.
He shakes his head with a smile, “you’ve already had sex with him, it’s weird as it is. So how can it get worse? At least this way you won’t keep yourself up all night wondering ‘what if?’ and you can be honest with someone you have feelings for. And knowing Ten, he’ll never let anything get weird, he likes you too much to let this get in the way of your friendship.”
Doyoung can see the resolve in Kun’s eyes and for Ten’s sake, he’s glad Kun has the courage and will not be satisfied to leave things half-done.
“You’re right,” Kun says with a smile and stands from his seat, “I’ll talk to him.”
Doyoung claps his hands, “that’s the spirit!”
“Thanks, Doyoung. Sorry again for barging in.”
He waves him off, genuinely happy that despite the interruptions, Kun and Ten might have something really good together. They deserve it and he’s happy to have helped.
And if them getting together means they stop bothering him? Well, that’s just an added bonus.
When the door closes behind Kun, Doyoung lets his shoulders drop. He grabs his mug, downs the tea in one gulp, ignores the burn and walks straight to the bedroom.
He shoves the door open and feels the air punch out of his lungs.
Taeyong, naked on their bed, hair still wet from the shower, with his hand between his legs.
“Hi, baby,” he purrs, eyes liquid obsidian.
Doyoung doesn’t realize he’s breathing heavily, “thank god for you.”
He is so in love.
——
Kun sees the text from Ten after he leaves Doyoung and Taeyong’s apartment.
He can feel the panic crawling back up so he moves before he lets it consume him. He gets in his car and drives straight to Ten’s place.
It’s hard to overthink the worst-case scenarios when images of when Ten falls asleep whenever they’re hanging out and just leans against Kun’s shoulder, knocked out. Or when he compliments Ten’s art and he gets all shy, curling up and hiding his face as if he couldn’t bear hearing another nice thing about himself.
Being around Ten brought him so much joy and he was such an interesting person that he always left Kun wanting to know more.
He turns into the parking lot of Ten’s apartment a lot quicker than expected but he lets the momentum carry him forward. He tries not to think about what he’s going to say as he makes it through the lobby, up to his floor and in front of his door.
Kun knocks three times and barely counts to 5 before the door opens and Ten is there, just as beautiful as he is every time Kun sees him. Alone at their apartments or across the room at some social gathering.
He likes him so much.
“Hi.”
Ten blinks at him and for a second he fears that he didn’t really mean it when he told Kun to come over and that this entire thing was a mistake.
But then he smiles.
Wide, bright, with his eyes curving up like half moons.
“Hi.”
——
Ten feels relief flood through his body so fast that he’s a little lightheaded and giddy.
Kun is here!
He came back.
Ten takes his hand without thinking and pulls him into his place, “thank you for coming, I wasn’t sure if—I just wasn’t sure.”
Kun’s thumb strokes back and forth on his hand, he takes that as a good sign, “you said you wanted to talk and I realized that I also have some things I want to say to you.”
“Oh?” Ten asks nervously, “you first.”
Kun just smirks and Ten needs to remind himself not to get distracted, “nice try. You asked me over, so you first.”
Ten gulps and hesitates when he reaches for Kun’s other hand so that he’s holding both. He must see the worry in his eyes before Kun steps closer. He startles back and peers up at him but Kun doesn’t flinch, he just presses their foreheads together, “it’s just me, you can tell me anything.”
They’re standing in the middle of his living room, and it feels like in the span of under 24 hours, these walls have witnessed a veritable rollercoaster of Ten’s feelings.
He feels his face heat up under Kun’s close stare, “um, about last night, you know that I wouldn’t want things to change between us.”
Kun goes rigid and Ten panics. He won’t let a misunderstanding get in the way of him doing this, “no! I just mean I wouldn’t want to ruin our friendship and how close we are over because I love that about us and no matter what we are to one another, I want that to stay the way it is. At the heart of it, we’re two people who get along really well. I’m happy that last night happened, although I’m not exactly thrilled that we were both drunk for it.”
He watches Kun's face, he sees him pause before something clicks behind his eyes. The tension that had twisted his muscles seemed to evaporate and in its place was something more playful, “mm, you wish we did it sober?”
“I—uh,” the urge to deny his feelings is strong but he tries to be the bigger person, “honestly? Yeah. I do.”
Kun looks surprised which is funny considering he’s the one provoking a reaction out of him, “you..wait you do?”
“I, I wanted more,” Ten finally admits. The truth was that he wanted stability, something serious and long-term with Kun. Which is why this entire conversation was about him taking a risk. It’s why the fact that they were drunk stung so much. It felt like he was taking the direction of the relationship five steps backwards.
And the fear that they’d never be able to move forward from it weighed heavy.
Kun looks confused but something like hope exists in the corner of his eyes, “you want more than sex?”
“More than just one time and more than writing it off as a casual thing,” Ten laces their fingers together, “I, uh, I want what Taeyong and Doyoung have and I want it with you, okay?”
He doesn’t intend to bark it out but he’s so bad at being vulnerable that it comes out brusque by habit.
Kun isn’t offended, in fact, his lips twitch in the direction of a smile, “you want to date me, then?”
“Well, I did, but then you went and ignored me the morning after we had sex so now I’m not entirely sure,” he snaps despite Kun’s soothing thumb over his rabbiting pulse.
“I fucked up.”
Ten leans back to get a good look at his face, he’s never heard Kun really curse like this before.
“I panicked, wasn’t sure if you’d want to forget all about last night so I used the shower as an excuse and then I came out and you were gone so I thought that was it,” Kun squeezes his hands and Ten’s still trying to comprehend what was going on.
“Are you saying that you—“
“Feel the same?” Kun finishes with a smile, “yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“Oh my god,” he blurts inelegantly.
Kun laughs and draws Ten’s hand up to his mouth where he can kiss the tips, “will you go on a date with me, then?”
“It’s that easy?” Ten balks, “you’re telling me that’s all we had to do? I just had to tell you I like you and that’s it? We’re just dating now? You want to ask me out, just like that?”
Kun snorts at the look on Ten’s face, “Yeah, I guess it really was that easy. I think we might’ve wasted a lot of time not doing this.”
“And you really want to go out with me? Potentially multiple times?” He can’t help but be a little skeptical, he had expected a long-drawn out argument and confession that would drain him by the end of it.
But Kun wasn’t really the type to make people jump through hoops for him, was he?
“I do,” Kun says it so simply like there was nothing else to think about.
Ten ships his tongue across his dry lips and lets his hands slip out of Kun’s and wrap around his waist, “then yes, I’d love to go on a date with you.”
Kun looks elated, his dimple bracketing his smile as he cups Ten’s face. He dips his face down and presses a kiss, sweet and honest, to Ten’s mouth. He soaks in the innocence of it and kisses back.
He pulls away just a little so that he can part his lips and tilt his head to give Ten a kiss that sweeps him off his feet and steals the air in his lungs. Kun’s tongue lightly traces the seam of Ten’s lip before drawing back.
They’re both winded and dazed.
Ten grins, excited as Kun’s eyes darken.
“Want to try again, sober this time?”
——
The next morning, Kun and Ten take their time waking up and basking in the bliss of finally becoming a couple when they share notes.
They quickly realize that it was Doyoung who had knowingly helped both of them finally admit their feelings to one another, encouraging them to be honest.
Deciding that they need to thank him for helping them, Kun and Ten head out to buy a box of expensive French pastries and overpriced coffee to lug over to Doyoung and Taeyong’s apartment.
They figured that they owed both of them an update on their relationship status after all that they bugged them with.
“I have their key in my pocket, can you pull it out?” Kun asks with his hands full.
Ten pulls his own key ring out, “as much as I’d love an excuse to grope your ass, don’t worry, I have my own.”
“You put their key with all of yours?” Kun asks incredulously.
“You don’t? I basically live here now,” Ten says with a snicker as he unlocks the door and pushes it open, “surprise! We brought trea—oh my god?!”
He hears Kun gasp and he’s pretty sure he drops the box of pastries as well. But it doesn’t really register, not when he’s too busy taking in the sight before him.
The room is dim, only lit by the sun and soft candles. There are rose petals, champagne, a fancy breakfast all laid out in their living room which had been transformed into a cozy romantic adult blanket fort.
But that wasn’t the focal point.
No.
It’s Doyoung, on one knee, holding a ring out to Taeyong who is crying.
The couple is looking over at them now, incredulous, and a little enraged on Doyoung’s part.
“Wh—“
Kun snaps out of it first, grabs Ten’s arm and drags them both out of the room, slamming the front door shut behind them.
They stay frozen for a second before Ten looks over at Kun.
“Oh, he totally hates us now.”
——
Taeyong comes out of their bedroom a little while later, after the mind-blowing post-engagement sex, and muscle-melting bubble bath when he hears the sound of a drill whirring. He finds Doyoung (his fiancé!) on his knees by their open front door with tools and a Home Depot bag on the ground around him.
“What are you doing?” He isn’t sure he’s ever seen Doyoung use power tools before. He can’t say it’s a bad look.
Doyoung’s eyes slide to his and he looks furious.
It’s adorable.
“Changing these goddamn locks.”