{crumbs: nct one-shots}

{back home: dotae}

"all that time you talked and you never brought it up?" donghyuck asked.

"it seemed like something he had to tell me in person," doyoung murmured, playing with the hem of his shirt.

donghyuck opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by keys turning in the lock. the door was pushed open just in time to hear taeyong's voice call, "bye, baekhyun hyung!" doyoung's heart skipped a beat. he loved that voice. he missed hearing it in person.

as johnny started stepping inside, another body  ran past him, completely engulfing winwin in a tight hug. "i missed you!" lucas exclaimed, covering winwin's face in kisses.

winwin giggled, his cheeks flushed pink. "i missed you too, babe," he said. he turned to give the younger a soft kiss.

"sorry we're late. we would have been here sooner but some people decided that the first thing they had to do was make out," yuta said with a glare at johnny and ten.

"wait, that reminds me," mark said, still holding onto the japanese male's arm. he looked up at him wordlessly, blinking innocently. yuta sighed fondly, pecking the younger's lips. mark smiled gratefully.

"you guys didn't even—" taeyong stopped, setting his bags aside. his eyes met doyoung's and it was like time stopped. his breath hitched as he remembered their last exchange at the airport. "doyoung. hi."

"are we interrupting something? should we go?" jungwoo asked. taeil shrugged in response.

yuta spoke up for them. "as the designated adult here, i say let's get out of here and give them their privacy." he began herding the members out of the living room toward the second floor of the dorms.

"so we're going to listen in?" mark whispered at the top of the stairs.

"oh yeah. definitely," donghyuck said.

taeyong chuckled at the group's two youngest members. "hi."

doyoung embraced the older in a hug. "i missed you," he said quietly.

"i missed you too. but this is usually my job," taeyong said with a small laugh.

"do you want me to stop and let you take over?" the younger asked.

"no," taeyong said immediately. "i like it."

doyoung felt himself blush, hoping taeyong didn't notice too much when they pulled away. taeyong smiled softly. doyoung wanted to ask about what taeyong was going to say before he left, but he decided it would be better if he didn't.

"can we go outside? i want to talk to you about something." he wrung his hands and doyoung could feel nervous energy coming from the older.

doyoung nodded. "sure." taeyong led him out onto the patio. he looked up at the younger's face and took a steadying breath.

"i should have told you this a long time ago. i was finally going to tell you before i left, and... well, you know how that turned out," he chuckled, making doyoung smile. behind that smile, his heart was beating a million miles a minute with no signs of stopping.

"mark was pretty insistent on you guys catching that plane," doyoung said.

"he was. but you know, it's no big—"

"taeyong, i love you."

the words came out of doyoung's mouth faster than he could stop them. the older blinked at him, making his ears start turning red. "what?"

doyoung wanted to curl into himself. his confession was so sudden and seemingly out of nowhere. but he had to tell him. "sorry, that was out of nowhere and really out of context, and i—"

"shut up," taeyong said suddenly, making doyoung's eyes widen. "kim doyoung, shut your beautiful mouth."

"wha—"

"i love you too, stupid. that's what i was trying to tell you." taeyong set a hand on the side of his face.

"oh." doyoung couldn't help but smile. taeyong smiled back fondly, pecking doyoung's cheek.

"should we let everyone come back downstairs and tell them good news?" taeyong asked. "then we can have a couple movie night or something."

"wait," doyoung said, pulling taeyong back toward him. "i want you to myself just a little longer." taeyong smiled, and doyoung had never been happier that the two of them were together.