a few hours earlier...
knock-knock!
doyoung shuffled to the front door in his bunny slippers and a pair of pyjama shorts, a silk robe slipping off his shoulders. he'd already wound down for the night, and besides - it was probably just a delivery at the door, right?
wrong.
"j-jaehyun?!" doyoung squeaked as soon as he opened the door, desperately trying to shut it again as quickly as he could.
"hey, wait, i just wanna talk!" jaehyun forced the door open and presented doyoung with a large casserole pot in orange and red. "i... also need to return this?"
doyoung could feel his whole face burning as he errupted into a hot flush, trying his best to pull the robe up over his shoulders and cover the expanse of his pale chest that jaehyun had already seen now. "u-uh, thanks," he stammered, torn between reaching out for the pot or protecting himself from potential robe malfunctions.
"look, youngie..." jaehyun hesitated, staring at the casserole pot in his hands instead of at doyoung (which was hard because he looked gorgeous in that silk robe), "there's this firework display tonight that johnny invited me to and i was wondering... if maybe you wanted to come with me?"
doyoung felt butterflies rise in his chest and he thought for a split second he might be sick. "fireworks?" he repeated, suddenly extremely flustered, "with y-you? i- well, i mean- i-"
"please say yes," jaehyun pleaded softly. he pushed the casserole pot into doyoung's hands, reassuring him with a gentle touch. "you've done so much for me and... well, i guess i owe you one. i thought i'd be at the rink tonight, since we have a game tomorrow, but you're right - i need to take some time off... and you-"
"i'll come," doyoung blurted shyly, very self conscious of how pink he was becoming. "i just... uh... i should put some clothes on or something..."
he kept mumbling to himself as he trailed back into his apartment, leaving jaehyun at the open door. hiding a smile of both fondness and amusement, jaehyun went in after him and the door swung shut.
and there he was, twenty minutes later when doyoung came out in winter-wear, sitting on the couch soaking up the free wifi (that he was still borrowing and doyoung totally didn't mind. in fact, he'd put the wifi router against the wall that separated his apartment from jaehyun's so the connection would be better).
"jae!" doyoung yelped for the second time that evening.
"oh, sorry..." jaehyun said sheepishly, clicking off his phone and standing up, "i thought you wouldn't mind if i waited in here..."
"i don't," doyoung murmured, trying not to smile so hard at the smile that graced jaehyun's features. "sh-should we go?"
and that was how doyoung ended up sitting in the stands at the firework display later that evening, squished tight against his neighbour in the crowded space. jaehyun slowly reached over and dared to intertwine his fingers with doyoung's, pulling him even closer to bury both their hands in jaehyun's coat pocket.
nothing had felt this electric in doyoung's life before jaehyun.
coming from a conservative background and never straying from his studies in order to please his parents, doyoung had never had the freedom to explore the confusing nature of his sexuality, and had definitely never thought he'd ever find someone who was this interested in him. in his mind, people like jaehyun just didn't exist. there wasn't someone out there who would make him feel this way, who would hold his hand and stroke his hair and care about him.
and yet, here he was.
(doyoung couldn't deny that he'd had a lot more thoughts regarding jaehyun and all the different ways the hockey player could make him feel, but for the moment he was content with jaehyun at his side, holding his hand like nothing else mattered in the world. besides, thinking such thoughts made doyoung's cheeks burst into flame, and he was much too nervous to ever try any of them out anyway.)
"phonny-hyung, please can you buy me a hotdog?"
mark's voice drew doyoung out of his thoughts, and he quickly put them to the back of his mind to concentrate on the firework display and jaehyun's hand holding his so tightly.
"markie," ten sighed, rolling his eyes at the freshman who sat beside him, "the display is literally about to start. i'll buy you one later, okay?"
mark mulled over this for a second and then shook his head. "you know what? i'm not a kid, i'll go buy one myself."
he jumped to his feet in search of the hotdog stand, but ten just grabbed his hand and pulled him back down into his seat. "don't be stupid, i said i'll buy you one later," he told him, "just sit down and wait a few minutes for the display to start."
"you're not my mom," mark muttered hotly, folding his arms across his chest.
"god, you've been in such a pissy mood this week," ten remarked, his tone becoming more exasperated the longer the argument went on, "going through puberty again?"
"as if you've even made an effort to hang out with me this week," mark shot back, barely looking at the older thai boy.
"that's not my fault!" ten spluttered, "you know i've been really busy working on-"
"your art assignment with taeyong," mark finished with a sour expression, "i fucking know, okay? and if you think i've been in a pissy mood all week, then maybe you should've invited taeyong to see the fireworks with you instead!"
with that outburst, he stood up again and tried to storm off, only to walk straight into johnny - who was followed closely by taeil in a fluffy white coat with ears.
"hey, what's going on?" johnny frowned, pushing mark gently back into his seat, "where are you off to? the display's about to start."
so mark was forced to sit back down next to ten, squished so close their thighs touched, refusing to look at him until the display began. taeil sat on his other side, and johnny on the other side of taeil, and yuta and sicheng had found seats in the row in front. jaehyun was on the other side of ten with doyoung next to him, peacefully ignoring the war that seemed to have been declared between thailand and canada right beside them.
"stop shoving your shoulder into me," ten muttered under his breath, shoving the freshman back.
"says you! stop digging your elbows in, hyung, they're sharp-"
"uh... why are you guys fighting exactly...?" taeil spoke up hesitantly from where he sat beside mark.
mark jumped a little at the sound of the older's voice and his cheeks flushed red with anger. "it's nothing," he grumbled quietly, "he's just been ignoring me all week and then making out as if it's my fault he prefers taeyong-hyung to me!"
taeil's heart dropped at the word taeyong. just his name filled him with a weird sort of nervous energy.
"that is such a load of bullshit, mark lee, and you know it," ten spat.
"a-are you close friends with t-taeyong?" taeil stuttered out in ten's direction.
his voice faded out as an arm slipped around his waist and a hand rested itself on his hip. taeil looked up at johnny, and just the look was a question in itself - an enquiry about the reasoning for the warmth around his hips, as johnny's hand had slipped under the fluffy bear jacket to contain all of the heat inside it.
johnny just shrugged, feigning innocence. "shh!" he said, nodding out to the field where they would set off the fireworks, "they're about to start..."
music started playing at that moment, and taeil didn't get another chance to think about taeyong as he was much too distracted by the beautiful colours and sparks that began to burst into the night sky. he might not be living out his dreams of being closer to lee taeyong, but in that moment that didn't seem to matter quite as much to moon taeil. he was sitting amongst a group of new found friends under the stars, with an oversized american (that he had come to trust way too much) warming him up, and nothing else really mattered at all.
crackle! bANG!
ten let out a high pitched yelp and immediately clamped a hand over his mouth. mark's eyes shifted to glance at him, without giving in to their pointless fight.
swish! POP!
though he tried his best not to show it, ten was terrified. he grabbed mark's thigh with his free hand, gripping it for support. the next round of fireworks were set off with a resounding BOOM! and that was enough to set him off completely.
"hyung?" mark whispered, now looking at the older boy in concern.
"markie!" ten whimpered, hiding his face in mark's shirt all of a sudden. the walls he had been constructing from the moment he and mark started arguing were all crumbling down and he clung onto the canadian as if it would do something - anything - to lessen the echoing booms or screeching crackles that left him a quivering mess on mark's lap.
mark's resolve to ignore the thai boy instantly disappeared and he wrapped his arms around ten's small frame protectively. he might still be hurt that ten had been spending so much time with taeyong instead of him, but when ten needed him, mark was always there.
"it's okay, phonny-hyung," he said softly in ten's ear, rubbing his back in reassurance, "they won't hurt you..."
ten was utterly embarrassed that he was still this scared of fireworks, but he kept his face pressed into mark's chest with his hands over his ears to block out the neverending display of fireworks. and somehow mark's words made him smile, just a little.
taeil, however, was too entranced by the fireworks to notice the commotion beside him.
"wow..." he marvelled, gaping up at the brilliant sparks that lit up an indigo sky, "they're so pretty!"
johnny fought the urge to mumble "like you" in response to that. he wasn't staring at the fireworks, though. his gaze had drifted to land on taeil, and it made him melt at how cute taeil looked with the fluffy hood pulled over his head, and the way his eyes practically glowed in awe.
"johnny, you have to pay attention!" suddenly taeil was reaching out to push johnny's head out to look at the sky, and johnny felt his skin tingle at the shorter's touch.
nevertheless, he did as taeil said and looked out at the sky, though unable to hide the smirk that spread across his lips.
after the display had finished, they all headed out of the seating and down to the food stands to get a bite to eat. taeil followed johnny in excitement, easily lured by the promise of curly fries. jaehyun and doyoung went off together to get hot chocolates with squishy little marshmallows and plenty of squirty cream. ten had instantly snapped out of his nervous breakdown and was already pretending like it never happened (much to mark's disappointment). despite how much mark had wanted to prove his worth by paying for his own hotdog, he eventually gave in to ten's whining, letting the thai boy purchase two hotdogs from the hot food stand.
(yuta and sicheng were somewhere buying a toffee apple to share, but taeil had lost track of them a long time ago. though, you couldn't really blame him when curly fries were on the cards.)
"tae!" johnny waved taeil over to the fast food stand, and taeil ran over to stop by his side. "do you want a medium or large?"
johnny already had his wallet out and everything, and the guy serving the curly fries was looking bored waiting for him to make a decision.
"no, johnny, you don't have to pay-" taeil started to protest, making futile grabby attempts to snatch johnny's wallet out of his hands and put it away.
"don't even try and argue with me," johnny laughed, holding his wallet well out of reach, "if it makes you feel better, consider it a reward for being a good slave."
taeil stared up at him, deadpan. "jonathan," he said with a warning tone.
ignoring the surprise nickname moment, johnny pressed on with his case to persuade taeil to just let him pay for the goddamn fries. "fine, it's your birthday present then," he said, "from me."
taeil blinked, suddenly touched by the fact that the american was even thinking about his birthday. but then he remembered, "johnny, my birthday's in june-"
"just let me pay for the fries!" johnny spluttered, "if you really want to, you can pay me back later, okay? so, medium or large?"
taeil didn't even have to think about it. "large, then," he answered.
johnny finally paid for a large portion of curly fries and put the package in taeil's small hands, while he reached over to pull taeil's fluffy bear hood up over his head. "don't catch a cold," he reminded him gruffly.
"there you are!" ten waved from a little further away, followed by mark who was wolfing down a hotdog as fast as he could manage. "we were wondering if you guys wanted to catch the bus home together?"
johnny glanced down at taeil (who looked so fucking cute with that fluffy hood framing his face whilst he chewed happily on curly fries) and taeil shrugged.
"i'll shoot jaehyun a text," johnny mused.
"yeah... we should probably find yuta and sicheng first," taeil said.
"why do you need to find us?"
taeil jumped at the sound of yuta's voice behind him. he and sicheng were standing there huddled together in the cold, whilst sicheng bit at the sticky coating of a toffee apple.
"wanna catch the bus back with us, hyung?" mark asked through his last mouthful of hotdog, just so ten wouldn't have to repeat himself.
"sure," yuta grinned, linking arms with sicheng to pull him along as they all started to head for the exit, "as long as you're ready for tomorrow, markie."
ten was suddenly scowling, though he tried his best to hide it. "other people call you markie?" he hissed in mark's ear, "wait, what's happening tomorrow?"
"it's friday," johnny stated, as if it was obvious.
"yes, well i know that," ten snapped, rolling his eyes at the hockey players, "what's so important about friday?"
"it's the first game of the season, phonny-hyung," mark said almost mockingly, which pissed the thai boy off even more.
"and mark is on the bench," yuta added with that bright smile of his that only made other people feel like they weren't smiling enough.
"you're on the bench?!" ten shrieked, grabbing mark by the shoulders, "that's basically on the actual team! why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"well i only found out i'm the substitute this week," mark grumbled, though ten's attention was enough to make him flush, "and you've been ignoring me-"
"i have not been ignoring you," ten quite firmly disagreed.
"and they're arguing again," johnny observed dryly.
taeil was suddenly poking him in the ribs and offering the curly fries. "want one, jonathan?" he teased.
"yeah, i've been meaning to call you out on that..." johnny's eyes narrowed dangerously, "since when do you get to nickname me?"
"you have half a dozen nicknames for me!" taeil protested, "why can't i give you one?"
johnny suppressed a bittersweet sigh and replaced it with a joking smirk as he intertwined his fingers with the shorter boy's. "because, sweetheart, you don't do the giving around here. i do. so you'd better start get used to it."
taeil rolled his eyes but didn't object when johnny squeezed his hand and they walked leisurely out of the venue and into the dark of the night.
but the truth was, johnny didn't have anything to give that taeil would take, not while his big fat crush on lee taeyong still took priority. and even worse than that, what was really crushing was the fact that when taeil inevitably found out about the events of halloween night, he wouldn't want anything to do with johnny anyway.
and right now, with the smaller boy's hand in his, johnny was terrified of a future without taeil in it.
_________________________
a/n: the truth is i actually had almost 2k words of this for like the last week but i couldn't figure out how to end it so it just stayed in my drafts :(
(its now like 2.7k words yeet im proud)
this was a bit all over the place and i'm kinda sad because i want a full length chapter for each of the side ships (especially dojae and markten but also yuwin always)
prepare for the angst to come fellas ♡
next time on I Ruin Johnny's Life...
THE HOCKEY GAME DISASTER
i love you guys so much and i hope you had the most amazing and restful christmas if you celebrate it! see you in the next update xoxo