GLOW-UP

25 | taeil as old as time

people tend to fall into different categories in your life. for jaehyun, there were the people he couldn't live without (see: doyoung) and right on the other end of the scale, there was the one person he'd like to drop kick off a cliff.

"fuck," jaehyun inhaled on his way out of his apartment. he still had the taste of johnny on his lips and the thought of doyoung watching that giant of a man make out with his face made him feel slightly sick.

"doyoung!" jaehyun called, knocking on his next door neighbour's door, "doyoungie?" he had to get the chance to apologise, to explain what he actually felt. or at least to clear up the misunderstanding drunk johnny had just caused.

there was no response. but in the corner of his eye, just as he was about to admit defeat, jaehyun spotted the door that lead up to the apartment block rooftop, the tiniest bit still ajar, swinging open on its hinges. a flicker of hope still alive inside him, jaehyun shouldered on his hockey varsity jacket, and took the stairs two at a time up to the rooftop.

"...doyoung?"

it was gone midnight and the sky was dark and overcast, and there was that late night almost-november chill ever more present in the air. on the other side of the rooftop stood a lone figure gazing up at the clouded night sky, arms wrapped around himself, shivering.

"hey," jaehyun murmured as he drew closer, hot breath condensing on the icy air.

doyoung froze at the sound of his voice, but slowly moved his gaze to meet jaehyun's worried eyes. "...hey," he replied, voice barely a whisper in the wind.

jaehyun reached out to touch his arm, only to find doyoung's skin covered in goosebumps and cool to the touch. "you're freezing!" he exclaimed, immediately starting to take off his jacket, "doyoung, it's too cold to be up here."

"i-i'm fine," doyoung insisted, but his teeth chattered from the cold. it had only been a few minutes up on the rooftop before jaehyun had come up, but he was frozen to the core.

"come here, you big baby," jaehyun sighed, and guided doyoung's arms into the warm sleeves of the varsity jacket, "you've gotta let me take care of you sometimes too."

doyoung sniffed and snuggled his face into the collar of the jacket, glad of its warmth. "won't you be cold?" he pointed out, nodding towards jaehyun's exposed arms in that tank top he still wore.

jaehyun just shrugged and shot him a shy smile. "i think i'll be okay," he assured him, "i just need to say... what you saw back there..."

doyoung bristled at the mention of the events that took place only minutes before. seeing johnny kiss jaehyun like that, and sit in his lap, and touch his face... it ignited something deep within doyoung's chest, and the aching, burning sensation only grew worse the longer he looked. and still, he didn't know quite why he felt this way.

"none of it meant anything, okay?" jaehyun continued quickly, forcing doyoung to meet his gaze, "johnny got way too drunk tonight and things got out of hand, but i promise you there's nothing going on. he's my friend, but i really hate him sometimes... mostly when he gets drunk and emotional about something."

he wriggled his fingers into doyoung's hands and held them tight, and the expression on his face was sincere. doyoung wanted to look bashfully at the ground, but when he did all he saw was their connected hands and it made him feel all kinds of nervous.

"i shouldn't have come to your party," doyoung blurted, a little frown forming between his brows, "things were fine the way they were and i shouldn't have messed it all up-"

"hey," jaehyun interrupted softly, squeezing doyoung's hands, "you didn't mess anything up." letting go of the hands then, jaehyun wrapped his arms around doyoung's waist and pulled him into his embrace. sliding his hands under the warmth of his varsity jacket doyoung now wore, jaehyun's hands travelled over the thin shirt that separated his touch from doyoung's skin, holding him tight. he rested his chin on doyoung's shoulder and whispered, "i like things just as they are right now."