Chapter Text
"Come on, it’ll be fun!" Donghyuck chirped, his pleading hands resting on Taeyong’s thigh. Taeyong ignored his friend and fished in the bag of Lays Sour Cream and Onion on his lap, popping another chip into his mouth, as his eyes kept fixed to the show on the T.V. screen.
"Please, Yong!" Donghyuck rose from his seat to block Taeyong’s view of the television. He darted his head around to see what was on the screen. "Hey! Get out of the way!" he yelled, angry lines forming in his face.
"No! I'm not moving until you agree to go to the gym with me." He stated, arms folded, as the audio of the latest episode of Single’s Inferno played behind him.
"Didn’t you say that you wanted to work out your ass and hips?" Donghyuck probed, hoping to hit a soft spot and get his roommate to finally cave in. He knew Taeyong was a bit insecure about his butt and wished to sculpt it into shape. But Taeyong was no fool; he knew this guise of concern only meant one thing. There just had to be an ulterior motive for Donghyuck wanting to go to the gym suddenly. And if their years of friendship were anything to go by, his number one guess would be that it involved a man.
"My ass and hips, huh?" Taeyong questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Who is it? Hmm Hyuckie? Who’s the guy?"
Donghyuck gnawed on his lower lip, his eyes avoiding direct contact with the older of the two. When he made the mistake of glimpsing straight ahead, he found Taeyong’s narrowed gaze on him piercing daggers into his soul, and he cracked.
"Fine!" He croaked, rushing to Taeyong’s side on the couch once more. "His name is Mark, and he’s so adorable. He invited me to his friend's gym to work out with him after I kind of exaggerated and told him that I love exercising," he finished in pressed speech, his words sounding like gibberish to an untrained Hyuck rambling ear.
"Ugh, I knew it! And what, do you want me there as your buffer? You know I hate working out Hyuck!" Taeyong groaned, rolling up the bag of chips in his lap as his appetite was lost.
Donghyuck batted his lashes, linking his arm around the older boys’. “Please, Yong! I’ll owe you next time.” And Taeyong released an exasperated sigh, his palms scrubbing over his face before he stared dead in the youngers face. “You owe me big time for this, Hyuck.” He stated, to which Donghyuck bounced in his seat with glee.
The next morning, Taeyong was woken to the shrieking of his roommate and the unwelcomed morning sun. He shortly was joined by the boy in question, plopping his weight on the empty side of the bed beside him. By now he should’ve expected it because he knew just how much of an annoying banshee Donghyuck could be when he was excited.
Taeyong released a throaty groan, voice far too gravely and dry and yanked the duvet over his head, clogging up his ears as if it would make the younger boy disappear. He wasn’t known to wake early and despite not glancing a single second at the digital clock on his nightstand, his biological clock told him this was some time before 10 o’clock in the morning and that was definitely too early for his liking.
“Ugh, what is it?!” Taeyong finally entertained his presence, lifting the covers from over his head and almost flinching at the bright light in his room.
“It’s best to get an early start, let’s go to the gym in the next hour.” Donghyuck gleefully responded, marching in place and unable to hide his excitement. Taeyong gave an exasperated sigh and turned over unto his side.
“Add one more hour,” he attempted to bargain but was shot down by the younger tutting and shaking his head.
“Not a minute over. The quicker we go, the quicker we return.” Donghyuck sing-songed.
Taeyong released a long winded sigh before he replied, “Fine. Now get out.” Taeyong covered his head again with the duvet and wasted no time to hear whether the younger responded or retreated from his bedroom before he was fast asleep again.
Taeyong trudged his way down the hallway towards the front door. There, waited an impatient Donghyuck, tapping his foot on the tiled flooring and holding the bridge of his nose. “You’re late, and what are you even wearing!” he shrieked, taking in the older boy's colourful gym wear.
Glancing down at his outfit, Taeyong pulled up the waistband of his coral blue spandex leggings. “What? What’s wrong with it.” He responded with a hand on his hip.
“You can’t be serious. You’re not going to embarrass me in front of Mark!” Donghyuck wailed, “go and change into some shorts at least.” Taeyong smirked and scoffed, “if I go back into my room, I’m not coming back out. So, I guess you’ll just have to live with it or else you’re on your own.”
Donghyuck sighed, hand wiping over his face. “So, what’s it gonna be Hyuckie?” Taeyong challenged, body half turned in threat. The younger boy gave his friend another once over before he gritted his teeth and voiced a very restrained “fine.”
The two finally walked out of their apartment and headed to the car. Donghyuck nervously bit the corners of his thumb as he drove and held his focus on the road. He knew that Taeyong was a daring fashionista, wearing outfits what many others could only dream of pulling off. But not even his handsome face could have been spared from the atrocity that is a neon green leotard. The boy looked like he stepped right out of an 80s aerobic routine. Even still, he gave an inaudible sigh, choosing to hold his tongue. If he spoke too rashly, he knew the older wouldn’t hesitate to turn this vehicle around, regardless of his lack of ability or not.
When they arrived at the gym, Donghyuck was bursting at the seams. His entire demeanor switched to that adorable, shy boy that Taeyong loved to see. Giving himself a cursory glance in the rearview mirror, Donghyuck turned to his best friend with a broad smile on his face. “Ready?” he asked with a lilt in his voice that made Taeyong unable to hide his knowing smirk. “Ready as I’ll ever be. And let me remind you Hyuckie, you owe me big time for this.”
Donghyuck waved him dismissively, “yeah, yeah. I know, no need to rub it in all the time,” he groaned and then switched the ignition off and opened the car door, the older boy following suit.
As soon as Donghyuck caught glimpse of the boy at the check-in desk, he rushed up to him, leaving Taeyong to trudge behind him and roll his eyes. “Melkkkk!!” Taeyong heard the younger boy cry out, when he was in earshot. The boy he was speaking to became very awkward and smiley, until he finally took notice of Taeyong standing beside Donghyuck. Following his gaze, Donghyuck looked at his friend as if finally remembering that he wasn’t here alone. “Oh, Taeyong, this is Mark. Mark, this is my roommate and best friend Taeyong.” He said, doing a showcasing gesture to each person.
“Hi, nice to meet you hyung.” The intonation of his words had a suave confidence to them and a foreigners accent mixed in between. Taeyong smiled in response. “Nice to meet you too. Do you work here?” Taeyong glanced around the walls of the gym, noting various posters of health promotion plastered to them. The faint sound of pop music ringing in through the open archway nearby. “Actually, I’m just helping my hyung who owns the place.” Mark glanced from one to the other. “Will you two be signing up for a membership?”
Before Taeyong could get a word out, Donghyuck opened his big mouth and gave an enthusiastic, “of course.” An audible gasp left the older boy’s lips, eyes getting wider like ackee seeds. “Wait, what—” Taeyong began, before he was jabbed in the side. “We’ll start off with a week,” Donghyuck continued, giving a playful giggle as he swung an arm around his best friend's shoulder. Taeyong side-eyed him, jaw clenched and on the brink of frothing through his teeth. Mark gave a slight chuckle at the two and then took down their information.
After they were finished with registration, Taeyong walked beyond the archway leaving Donghyuck behind. Already having enough of the saccharine tone his best friend was constantly using. As Mark had to continue at the front desk, he wondered if his roommate would even step foot further inside the gym. He gave the area a once over, noticing that it was actually quite spacious. There were several equipment stations with two or three of the same machines situated in various spaces in the room. He could see a few people towards the back, where the weightlifting benches were and then two more nearest to him on the exercise bicycles. When his eyes landed on the treadmill he briskly walked over, choosing to start with that machine for now.
Taeyong wasn’t someone who enjoyed exercising, he didn’t even like getting sweaty. If he could choose, he’d be naked for the entirety of the day to avoid getting too hot. Not to mention his stamina that was near to nonexistent and his muscle groups which were weak, despite his slender and lithe figure. He began cleaning the machine with the wet wipes in one of the cup holders then began pushing a few buttons until the thing sprung to life, conveyor belt slowly ambling him forward. He pressed a few more buttons until the incline was raised and he was moving at a steady speed.
After thirty minutes had passed, Taeyong was a sweaty and panting mess. He hit the stop button and inhaled sharply with each breath. Soon, the machine came to a full standstill and he supported his weight with the handle bars.
Once he’d caught his breath, he stepped down and his legs felt like jelly. He made his way to the water cooler located around the front, beside the entrance and took one of the paper cups in the dispenser. The water tasted ten times better due to the fact he was thirsty. He glanced over to the check-in desk, seeing his friend smiling and chatting with Mark behind the desk. He shook his head at them, finding the answer to his previous thought that Donghyuck would not be exercising at all today.
Pumping himself up, he decided he should get in as much activity as he could today and went back inside to the bicycle machine instead.
Taeyong successfully completed three hours of exercise before he was at his limit. The thirst was one thing, but now the hunger started to turn his stomach into knots. He trudged back to the check in desk, still finding his roommate immersed in animated conversation with the other boy. He cleared his throat to gain their attention, instantly regretting it as soon as the chaffing of his dry throat followed after.
Mark and Donghyuck turned towards him and Donghyuck stifled a laughter at Taeyong’s flushed face. He looked as if he had been drinking or standing in the sun all day. Taeyong however, remained stony-faced, which was cue for 'shut up and let's go'.
Just as they were heading for the door, it swung open and a tall, rugged figure walked through. “Oh, hey Jaehyun hyung.” called Mark, and Taeyong was caught in his tracks taking in the handsome man in front of him.
The man was six-feet of pure muscle. Despite being skinny, he was built in all the right areas. Large pectorals straining against the fabric of his thin black shirt and toned biceps out on full display. “Hey,” he greeted back in a honeyed voice and Taeyong felt the air left his lungs. “This is my friend Donghyuck and his roommate, Taeyong hyung. They just joined your gym today.” Your gym? Taeyong questioned mentally, eyeing this well-built Greek sculpture of a man.
“Ah, I see. Welcome and I hope you enjoy your workout experience here.” he answered, giving both of the two boys a curious gaze. When his eyes landed on Taeyong, he scanned his colourful outfit with a hint of amusement. “Nice gym gear.” he tilted his chin towards Taeyong, to which Taeyong tucked a tendril of hair behind his ear, pleased with himself that his fashion sense had not failed him. “Thank you,” he replied in a soft tone. His roommate was on the verge of gagging from his saliva at the complete one-eighty in Taeyong’s demeanor.
Several seconds passed with the two just staring and saying nothing. Donghyuck had to wonder if his roommate forgot that they were on their way out. “Anyway Mark, we’ll get going now.” Mark waved, “alright. See you tomorrow, Hyuck.” “Yeah, see you.”
Donghyuck turned back to face Jaehyun and they both bowed to each other. Taeyong smiled and sing-songed a ‘bye’ before he was dragged out of the gym forcibly by his younger friend. Though he didn’t miss the dimples that ruptured in the man's cheeks.
While on their way back, Donghyuck went on and on about the definition of friendship and reasons why the word didn’t match him and Mark. Taeyong would be lying if he said he even heard a quarter of what he was saying. His mind was already busy, running through daffodils and frolicking in the fields thinking about Jaehyun and their probable future together. He thought that the world couldn’t be more unfair for someone to be the perfect replica of his ideal type. Tall, handsome, buff and dimpled! All that was left was for him to be funny and Taeyong would prostrate himself at his feet. He sighed as he gazed out the window, eyes fixed on nothing specific.
Donghyuck glanced over to his friend and saw that he wasn’t paying attention to what he said. “-Yong.” “Taeyong!” he yelled, a slap ringing in on the older boy’s lap.
“Ow! What?” he yelped, rubbing his thigh from the stinging sensation. “You’re not listening to me, that’s what!”
“I heard what you said, you were saying...saying...” he trailed off, not sounding as confident as he started off. “Yeah, what was I saying?” Donghyuck retorted, eyes narrowing as he spared a glance over to Taeyong. When the older boy did not respond, Donghyuck exploded, “I knew it! Ever since we left the gym you’ve been ditzy. Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you looked at Jaehyun hyung.”
“W-What way?” he asked with a tremble in his voice and a soft scoff. “I was behaving completely normal.” Donghyuck released a loud cackle, slapping his hand on the steering wheel. “Normal?? Yong, I’ve known you since we were kids. If I hadn’t gotten you out of there, you were seconds away from drooling over him!”
“Drooling? Puh-lease.” The older boy scoffed, and fixed his vision out the window again. He felt the piercing gaze of the younger boy’s eyes burrowing into him. Donghyuck smirked but didn’t press any further. He could smell the lies from a mile away, but until Taeyong was ready to fess up, he would leave him to his own vices.