Chapter Text
Jaehyun had considered murdering his roommate, Ten, when they would return home, but once he had introduced a black choker to him with a mischievous grin, Jaehyun had decided that he would definitely have to murder him. As if it wasn't already humiliating enough that he was about to go out to some shady club with a black shirt too loose and a pair of jeans way too tight for his liking, the older boy had then appeared with a smirk on his face and the studded piece of jewellery in his hands. "You want to have fun tonight, don't you?" He said in reply when Jaehyun made a loud noise of disapproval, clearly enjoying every second of his single friend’s suffering.
“Actually, Ten, I didn’t exactly agree to-“Jaehyun’s further protests were silence by Ten lifting a finger in the air before and frowning at him.
“We’ve already talked about this, don’t think I’ve not heard you jacking off almost every night, Jae.” Ten didn’t even pause to look at Jaehyun’s embarrassed face before he moved behind him. He stood on his toes before huffing loudly, “Bend your knees a little bit, I can’t reach to put this on you.” Jaehyun was too embarrassed to protest and did as he was told, straightening his legs and standing normally again just as they heard a car pull into the driveway.
“Ten I don’t think-“Jaehyun was hesitant to even think about walking out the door into the public, but Ten lifted his arm up and placed his hand on his shoulder.
“You look great, Jae, now hurry up – I don’t want to keep Johnny waiting.” He hurriedly pushed him out the front door and locked it behind them. “You’ll have fun tonight if it’s the last thing we do.” He said with a wink before getting inside the front of the car while Jaehyun took a seat in the back.
Johnny turned down the volume of his music before turning to Ten, “Hey babe,” he greeted, leaning out of his seat to kiss the boy in question. The kiss almost crossed the line into a full blown make-out session before Jaehyun cleared his throat, muttering “Get a room” before the couple parted, both grinning at each other. Johnny glanced up at Jaehyun from the mirror, and raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. “Looking good, Jaehyun.” He laughed, earning a very proud I told you so kind of look from Ten. Jaehyun didn’t say anything and instead looked at the surprisingly clean car floor, his pale face turning a bright shade of red.
“Hey, what about me?” Ten pouted, knowing damn well he looked hot as always. He was wearing a similar outfit to Jaehyun, but instead of the loose dress shirt, he wore a simple black t-shirt and a leather jacket. He also wore a choker, which Jaehyun recognised as the one Johnny had bought for him. It made Jaehyun a little uneasy to know that the choker around his own neck wasn’t a gift, it was just a loan from his friend to try and get him laid, but he tried to shove that thought into the back of his mind.
“Dammit Ten,” Johnny replied, breaking Jaehyun out of his chain of thought, “You know how I think you look, don’t you want to keep this kind of talk until later?” He winked as he began to drive, watching with a smile as Ten crossed his arms and sighed loudly, faking a dramatic pout.
When they arrived at the club, Jaehyun already wanted to turn back around in the car and just have a normal Saturday evening watching a movie, even if he had to third wheel with the two love-birds, curling up with his bowl of popcorn. The club looked like the opposite of his comfort zone, but he had no choice at this point to either go in or risk being left outside without his friends or any knowledge on how to get home. He fiddled with his choker nervously before stepping inside, following his friends.
At first he had found it odd how there was no security right away, but realised that he soon came across ropes blocking his path and a woman with a clipboard. “Name?” she practically barked at him. It wasn’t a difficult question, with a usually quick answer, but Jaehyun was too occupied worrying about where Johnny and Ten were. He had assumed they would wait on him, but scanning the room from what he could say came up empty.
“Uh…” He hesitated, “My friends, I… I didn’t realise there was a list. They didn’t say…”
The woman frowned at him, scrunching up her nose, “The only way to get in here is through the list, and if your friends brought you here then you should be on it.” She began to chew on her pen as she waited for an answer, she was getting impatient and Jaehyun was getting more and more nervous. “Just give me your name dude, it’s probably here.” She said, dropping formalities as her patience finally melted away.
“Oh! Uh, it’s Jaehyun.” He still hadn’t seen Johnny or Ten, and he was beginning to get nervous. Weren’t they going to wait for him? Did they leave thinking he had waited outside? Did something happen to them? Maybe he went in the wrong-
“Go ahead, your names right here.” She pointed to the top of the list, where his name was just under Johnny and Ten’s. “Have fun,” She said, a smile suddenly on her face as she unhooked a rope to let him past.
When the rope clicked in place behind him again, he felt trapped. The music was suddenly much louder, and the place was busier than he had imagined. After pushing through crowds of people of all different shapes and sizes, some dancing, some just chatting and some doing a weird drunken version of the two, he finally found Johnny and Ten. However, this ended up being useless, the pair were too busy being all over each other and making out in a corner with not so subtle boners. With the way Ten was climbing over Johnny, Jaehyun guessed they wouldn’t be staying here for much longer. He rolled his eyes and made his way to the bar (the only thing easily noticeable in the dark room other than the exit) and sat down on a stool. He wasn’t exactly sure what he had ordered, he had just mindlessly nodded along to the barman’s recommendations, but he practically downed the sour liquid anyway without thinking too much. He turned around and leaned his back against the bar counter, taking in the crowds of people that had filled up the space. It had looked like a small venue on the outside, but the place was massive, and it was full to the brim with people already. Jaehyun chuckled to himself when he realised that more people were still being let in, probably because even more people were leaving with their arms around each other.
He smiled sadly as he downed another drink. It wasn’t that he felt lonely, he could miss someone without feeling lonely. He remembered the night they met, and the night they broke up – both in an environment similar to the one he was in now.
He glanced up when he saw someone standing next to him, and when he saw the man staring back at him, he immediately turned to the barman and asked for another drink, hoping the man would stop staring. When the barman handed over his drink, Jaehyun reached into his back pocket for his money – “I’ll pay.”
“You don’t have to do that…” Jaehyun said, finally having the courage to look up at the tall man again. In perspective, he and the stranger were probably the same height, but because he was sitting, he felt much smaller. Jaehyun noted that although there was a spare stool next to him, the man still did not sit down. The man had brown hair which swooped to one side, he wore a long coat with a white t-shirt and jeans, and despite not being acquaintances, Jaehyun couldn’t help but notice just how pretty the stranger’s eyes were.
“What? Speak up baby, it’s loud in here.” The man said, looking down at Jaehyun. The seated boy’s heart practically flew out of his chest and his eyes shot to the floor, staring intensely at it in embarrassment at the name. He wouldn’t normally like being spoken down to, but there was something about this man that made it seem okay. “Well?”
“I said uh…” Jaehyun braved to look up at him again, and still couldn’t look him directly in the eye. His eyebrows were raised expectantly, “You don’t have to pay for that.” He said, slightly louder.
“Well, it’s too late for that now, isn’t it?” He handed a drink to Jaehyun who downed it quickly again. The stranger noticed and let out a small chuckle as he raised his own glass to his lips, “No need to go so fast. I think we’d both like to remember tonight.”
Jaehyun almost choked on his own tongue at this, instantly realising what he was implying. They had just met, was he ready for that? Sure, he was attractive, but was he really ready to start something new like this? This was how it started with him, and this was how it ended, what if the same happened again? He didn’t even know his name!
What Jaehyun didn’t realise was that he had said this all out loud, and he grew more embarrassed as he saw the man smile. “It’s up to you, babe.” He said with a shrug, “You just gotta take risks. I’m Doyoung, not that you’ll let that slip from those pretty lips anytime soon.”
Jaehyun sputtered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Jaehyun…” he choked out, and somehow this made Doyoung smile.
“I know, I was behind you when you were freaking out about the list. Seulgi gave me the heads up that you seemed my type,” Doyoung said with a wink, which somehow comforted Jaehyun. If other people thought they would work well, and he already felt comfortable, then what was the harm in taking a risk? Jaehyun found himself nodding, and Doyoung’s face lit up. “So…” he said, slipping a finger under Jaehyun’s choker and gently pulling him up and towards Doyoung, “Do you need to tell anyone where you’re going, or were you here alone? That is, if you’re okay with me taking you home baby boy?”
“My friends, I came here with them but-“Jaehyun found himself lost for words again.
“Louder, babe…” Doyoung seemed to be warning him, or maybe this was his usual tone, Jaehyun had no way of telling.
Jaehyun repeated himself, standing up and fishing his phone out. He explained the situation while quickly texting Ten to let him know not to wait for him or worry.