B.A.P drabbles (2)
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~1500 words
Pairing: Daehyun/Youngjae
A/N: prompted from my ask.fm, specifically Daejae prompts because these were my favorite to write (or do I just like Daejae a lot? xD)
prompt: national golgi eating champion Jung Daehyun is sent to the hospital with a stomach bug. Dr. Yoo Youngjae is on the case
Daehyun regains consciousness in a pile of clouds. He opens his eyes tentatively, squinting at the blinding white light. A figure shifts above him, haloed by the light behind its head. Its face is round, milky and soft, too flawless to be human. An angel? Does that mean he's dead? "Am I in heaven?"
At least, that's what he would have said if his tongue didn't feel like it was wrapped in a towel. Instead, it comes out as a garbled "arrhgmvnn?" Death's not supposed to hurt this much, he thinks as the weakness in his limbs and the dull throbbing in his abdomen hits him. He feels the soreness in his throat as moisture returns to his mouth.
"You're in good hands."
The ringing in Daehyun's ears slowly fades away, and he no longer feels like his head is swaddled in cotton. His eyes adjust to the brightness, and he sees the source of the voice more clearly. Curved almond eyes, a button nose, and plush lips that parted to let out that soothing, just-a-bit-husky, honey-covered voice. Daehyun can't help but blurt out, "Are you an angel?"
Of course, his voice decides to work perfectly this time. He decides pointedly that this jerk looks significantly less angel-like when he's laughing his ass off. His really nice ass-NO, Jung Daehyun, you did NOT just think that. So apparently he's not dead. He registers the IV connected to his forearm, the weird scratchy blue stuff he's wearing, the stethoscope around the not-angel's neck.
"I'm Yoo Youngjae from gastroenterology," the supposed doctor finally calms down enough to say. "You're in a hospital, and I will be in charge of your stay." A large smirk is still pasted on his face. Daehyun wants to wipe that smirk off his face, with his mouth-NO Daehyun, you must be on some strong painkiller or something because no he is NOT hot.
For once in his life, Daehyun has nothing to say. He, Jung Daehyun, is the national gogi-eating champion. Given his status as beloved stomach of Korea, it's not very often (as in never) that he's in an embarrassing situation like this. In stiff blue papery things that provided bare-minimum coverage, being laughed at by the person who was supposed to to be taking care of him (and maybe wanted to impress, just a little bit), and all the while feeling like throwing up and, well, the equivalent of the other end of his digestive tract, simultaneously. It's an unfamiliar feeling. Daehyun is mortified. "Not very professional," is all he can manage to mutter...after glubbing like a fish out of water for a straight minute.
Dr. Yoo laughs again, and Daehyun isn't sure if he feels better or worse. "Anyways, good news is it's just a stomach bug and you're not going to die." He looks to Daehyun for a reaction, so Daehyun obliges with a weak smile and shaky "heh." Daehyun feels a little better about the fact that Dr. Yoo is just about as lame as he feels. "Bad news is, it was so bad you fainted, so you aren't allowed to eat solid foods for about a week, 8 days tops."
Daehyun must have looked like his dog just died, because Dr. Yoo asks, "Do you have a competition scheduled in that time period?"
Daehyun's a bit surprised that Dr. Yoo knows of him (but not really, because only people who live under rocks don't know about the Nation's Stomach). This is good, it gives him leverage. He shakes his head. His next competition isn't for at least 2 weeks. "Meat is the love of my life," he says mournfully.
This time, Dr. Yoo's laugh definitely makes Daehyun feel better. "Dr. Yoo, Daehyun says, bolstered by his new-found courage, "you don't look nearly old enough to be a doctor."
Dr. Yoo bites his lip (he shouldn't do that, Daehyun thinks. His lips look too much like fresh cherries) and looks away. "I'm not a doctor yet," he says. "Med school."
That puts Dr. Yoo-well, Youngjae now that he's not a doctor-at about Daehyun's age. "Oh, they let med school students take care of patients now?" Before giving Youngjae a chance to answer, Daehyun grins and says, "It's ok if I call you Youngjae, right?"
Youngjae shrugs, and Daehyun takes it as consent. It's going to be a long week without solid foods, but it's starting to look a lot more bearable.
*
Daehyun doesn't remember too clearly the last time he was hospitalized, but he definitely doesn't remember the last doctor visiting as much as Youngjae does. The week flies by with Youngjae personally delivering almost all of the mushy meal concoctions Daehyun has to eat, Youngjae popping in every free moment to recommend another Musiq Soulchild song, and Daehyun dragging his IV out of his hospital room to follow and pester Youngjae while he served the other patients.
At the end of the week, Daehyun was pretty sure he was recovered enough to be released from the hospital, but he stayed the extra 8th day. If Youngjae noticed, he didn't say anything.
"Promise me you'll take me to karaoke if I win the next championship," Daehyun nags at Youngjae on his last day. Singing was just another thing they found out they had in common.
"I'm poor," Youngjae retorts. "You take me out." But when Daehyun pouts, he relents. "Fine, but then you're repaying me in drinks."
Daehyun doesn't want to acknowledge the emptiness in his chest, so he attributes it to hunger.
*
Daehyun has never not been able to eat meat. It's simply a part of who he is. But when his manager takes him out to a celebratory hospital release dinner of kalbi, he barely touches the food.
"It's ok," Manager Kang tells him. "You have a week to recover completely." But with each passing day, Daehyun isn't getting better. In fact, combined with the aching in his heart, it seemed to be getting worse. "Maybe you should see the gastroenterology specialist again," Manager Kang says the day before the competition, when Daehyun opts for only water for dinner.
Daehyun's thankful for how patient Manager Kang's been with him. He knows what the problem is. It's been plaguing his thoughts, to the point where it even invaded his dreams, in the form of bad jokes and Musiq Soulchild's love songs. He's always had a champion's mindset, but even that's been taken over. He knows he exactly how to fix it, so he agrees to Manager Kang's suggestion.
*
Daehyun takes a great deal of satisfaction in the wide-eyed stare Youngjae gives him upon his return to the hospital. "Are you sick again?" Youngjae asks. Daehyun nods. "Symptoms?"
"I can't sleep, I can't concentrate on anything, there's this pain right here," Daehyun says, clenching the fabric of his shirt right over his heart. "There's something gross churning in my gut, and it's not sitting right with anything I try to eat." He realizes he's looking at the floor. "I have no appetite." He forces himself to meet Youngjae's eyes. "I'm the stomach of Korea," he says, knowing very well that Youngjae knows. "Take responsibility."
Youngjae breathes in and out a few agonizingly long breaths. "Those are the symptoms of lovesickness," he says, not entirely steady.
"How do I cure that?" Daehyun asks pitifully, pleading creeping into his voice.
Tentatively, afraid something delicate hanging between them will break, Youngjae brings his hand to the nape of Daehyun's neck. "You're in good hands," he says when Daehyun doesn't move away.
Youngjae's lips on Daehyun's is a healing salve over Daehyun's aching heart.
*
When a ballad neither of them knows how to sing comes on during karaoke, Youngjae grabs the remote and turns down the volume.
"I have a confession," he tells Daehyun. "I'm studying gastroenterology because of you," he says when Daehyun gives him a questioning look.
Daehyun's eyes widen at the implications. "But you chose that before we met!"
Youngjae nods. "Also, med school students aren't allowed to take charge of any patients," he says with a sheepish smile. "I nearly sold my soul to get your case from the head doctor."
Before Daehyun has a chance to respond, Youngjae turns the volume back up, and thrusts the other mic into Daehyun's hands.
Oh well, Daehyun muses. They'll have plenty of time to talk later.
prompt: Why is Daehyun like this?
It's a rare treat when Yongguk takes Daehyun out to dinner. That's because taking him out to dinner is too much of a financial burden on Himchan, who'd rather spend his money on Jongup. Yongguk likes to make time for each of his dongsaengs though, and Daehyun is thankful for that.
"Table manners, Daehyunnie."
Daehyun looks up, pausing briefly his quest to stuff as much meat into his face as humanly possible. The look on Yongguk's face is an odd mix of disgust and awe. /If you looked any sterner, you'd look constipated,/ Daehyun thinks, and graces him with a chipmunk-cheeked, food-in-teeth smile. Maintaining eye contact, he deliberately shoves another piece of meat into the black hole.
"Why are you like this?" Yongguk shakes his head, but he's bad at hiding his easy grin and several pieces of meat make their way from his plate to Daehyun's.
*
After a recording, when they're all packed in the car, everybody settles into the seats as comfortably as they can and soon at least half of them are out like lights. Daehyun, however, is still energetic. Looking over at Yongguk, serene in sleep, he gets an idea. One that will make the fangirls go wild.
Posing with a peace sign, Daehyun angles the phone just right so that his nice jawline shows. He takes the picture and cringes when the shutter-click sounds way louder in the silent car than usual. He's gotta figure out how to disable the sound next time. Luckily, it doesn't wake anybody up. Unluckily, it attracts the attention of Himchan, who turns around in the front seat.
Unlucky because Himchan has sharp eyes and an uncanny intuition for secrets. He spots the phone in Daehyun's hands and puts two and two together almost instantly. "Give me that," he whispers. Daehyun clings onto the phone. "Do you want me to wake Yongguk?"
If the car hadn't been sleeping, Daehyun would have made an agitated noise, but instead he has to rely on his face to express his anguish when he hands the phone over.
"Daehyun, what's the point of this picture if only you're in it?" Himchan forgets to speak softly in his exasperation. Daehyun looks at the picture. He'd meant for it to be a picture of himself photobombing a sleeping Yongguk, but apparently he'd forgotten the Yongguk part. At least it's a good picture of himself.
"I'll take it again," Daehyun says, grabbing at the phone. Himchan moves it out of reach by turning back around, his other hand covering his eyes. His shoulders are shaking. "Are you facepalming at me?"
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," Himchan says into his hand. "Why are you like this?" When he stops his silent spasms long enough to breathe, he turns toward Daehyun again. His gaze softens when it moves over to Yongguk, still peacefully asleep at Daehyun's side. He flicks his wrist a bit and Daehyun understands the gesture. Without a word, Himchan takes a proper photo of the two, and hands the phone back to Daehyun.
"I'll send it to you later," Daehyun says, and Himchan smiles at him.
*
The thigh-squeezing, chest-stroking, fake-kissing, cheek-pulling and everything in between isn't limited to in front of the cameras. To Daehyun, touching Junhong comes to him as easily as those high notes. Junhong's the youngest so he had to build up a resistance to his hyungs or he wouldn't last, but sometimes Daehyun is too much.
They're playing Mario Kart and Daehyun is a sore loser. When it looks like Junhong's about to win for the third time in a row, Daehyun latches onto Junhong's back. Arms covering Junhong's face and legs kicking the controller out of Junhong's hands, Daehyun races toward the finish line.
Before he reaches it though, Junhong pauses the game. "Not fair," Daehyun pouts.
Junhong ducks under Daehyun's arms and shakes free. "Hyung, I can't see!"
"Still unfair," Daehyun says forlornly, insistently pushing himself onto Junhong's back. "Stop winning."
"Why are you like this?" Junhong scoots so that Daehyun falls over. "Hyung, I'll take it easy on you, so will you please get off of me?"
Slinging his arms over Junhong's shoulders, Daehyun gives him a one-armed hug. "Okay, unpause!"
Even though Junhong wins that race anyways, he placates Daehyun by switching to a co-op game instead.
*
Daehyun lies on the practice room floor, completely and utterly pooped from the supplementary dance lessons. "Mercy, Jonguppie, please..." he says (definitely not begs), grabbing onto Jongup's leg.
Gently shaking his leg out of Daehyun's grasp, Jongup sighs. "We've only been practicing for an hour."
"An hour without water," Daehyun says, wriggling towards Jongup and latching onto his leg again. "I'm a vocalist, I need hydration."
Jongup gives Daehyun a searching look, while Daehyun makes his eyes as big and pitiful as he can. "Take five," Jongup says finally, turning away and heading towards the door. "I'll be back."
"I love you Jonguppie, you're the best!" Daehyun says to his back. When Jongup leaves, Daehyun rolls onto his stomach and reaches for his bag from the cubby in the wall. It's a little too high up for his reach, so rests for a minute before finally pulling himself up to a sitting position.
His water is lukewarm and nasty, but it's still precious water. Drinking it slowly, he lets it soothe his parched throat. He really wants something cool though.
The five minutes are up too early, marked by Jongup's return. However, Daehyun's life is restored when he sees that Jongup returned carrying two cans of aloe drink. His eyes round in surprise, he asks, "Is that for me?"
Jongup puts the drinks in the highest cubby. Daehyun wilts a little, and Jongup laughs. "Hyung, why are you like this?" When Daehyun only stares at him with hungry eyes, he adds, "It's a reward for your next hour of practice."
With the prospect of a cool aloe drink as a reward, Daehyun's fighting spirit returns and he jumps up from his sitting position on the floor to hug Jongup. "You're seriously the best."
Jongup's smile is blissful. "Now back to work."
*
They're alone on the top of the world. Somehow they escaped from the others and the crowds of fans, and they're on the deserted rooftop of their skyscraper hotel overlooking the city.
"There's something I've always wanted to do," Daehyun says, grinning giddily with anticipation.
Youngjae watches as Daehyun walks over to the edge, takes a deep breath, and folds over the railing.
"I, Jung Daehyun, love you, Yoo Youngjae!" he shouts, with his insane vocal projection, to the sky above and streets below.
Clapping a hand over Daehyun's mouth, Youngjae pulls him back. "I am going to push you off this building if you don't shut up."
Daehyun ignores the threat in favor of the semi-back-hug Youngjae's holding him in, and leans back against Youngjae's chest. "Don't you ever feel like proclaiming your love on the rooftops?"
"No, you're insane," Youngjae says, but he wraps his arms around Daehyun's waist and rests his chin on Daehyun's shoulder. "Somebody might hear."
"We're in New York," Daehyun scoffs. "And the closest people are 55 stories down." Even with his back to Youngjae, Daehyun can see in his mind a roll of eyes, a quirked smile.
Youngjae lets go and turns Daehyun around by his shoulders. "Daehyunnie, why are you like this?"
Daehyun grins as Youngjae leans over the railing.
"Jung Daehyun! I, Yoo Youngjae, love you too!"
*
"Why are you like this?"
This question is one that he refuses to answer because to those who do matter, Daehyun doesn't have to explain.
prompt: Daejae are stuck on a boat.
There is definitely something very off about Daehyun. He still eats as much as normal, but that's it. He just eats. There's no soft happy sigh as the meat juices gush over his tongue, there's no relaxation of his shoulders, there's no closing of his eyes to savor the flavor. It's as if somebody took the joy out of eating, and it is unsettling. It's subtle at first, but Youngjae is his best friend; he notices things like that.
Youngjae gets a little more worried when Daehyun stops talking. To him, at least. He seems to be fine about bothering maknae line and their hyungs, but he is entirely too subdued when he's alone with Youngjae. Weirdly enough, Youngjae is the most familiar with quiet Daehyun. In fact, he takes pride in the fact that Daehyun feels comfortable enough in their friendship that he doesn't feel a need to fill the gaps in their conversations. But refusing to say anything altogether was something new, and wrong.
"Are you sure you're not just imagining things?" Himchan says when Youngjae consults him about Daehyun's strange behavior. "He seems fine to me."
Yongguk is even less helpful, but he does give better advice. "You should just ask him about it."
When Youngjae catches Daehyun indiscriminately ripping open all the jellies in a packet and shoving them in his mouth one by one, he decides the confrontation must happen sooner rather than later. Daehyun never touches the grape jellies.
"What's wrong?" He settles in the seat across from Daehyun.
Starting, Daehyun looks up at Youngjae. "Huh?"
"What's wrong?" Youngjae repeats.
"Nothing," Daehyun says, returning his attention to the jellies.
"You're eating the grape ones," Youngjae says, frowning.
"Oh." Daehyun looks at the pile of shells and wrappers he's made. "Did you want them?"
Youngjae's frown deepens. Did Daehyun have no idea something was wrong with that? "You never eat the grape ones."
Daehyun shrugs. "They're okay."
Youngjae finds himself at a loss for words. Something was wrong with Daehyun, and Daehyun refused to tell him what. They're best friends, they're supposed to share everything with each other.
He wants to press again, but Jongup stumbles sleepily into the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water and joining them at the table. Youngjae drops the topic and decides he needs to properly corner Daehyun if he's to get a real answer.
*
Isolating Daehyun is a lot easier said than done. The members live together, work together, and basically do everything together, giving Daehyun plenty of excuses to cop out, but Youngjae's chance finally comes when they're all on break and at the beach. He sees the tourist motorboat rentals and a plan forms in his head. When Jongup and Zelo are distracted making a sand castle, and Yongguk and Himchan have are lying under the umbrella immersed in one of their serious talks, Youngjae takes Daehyun by the arm and drags him to the docks.
"What are you doing?" Daehyun doesn't go quietly, but he doesn't struggle out of Youngjae's grip. Youngjae declines to answer.
Instead, he rents out a boat and pushes Daehyun in. Before Daehyun can process what's going on, Youngjae turns the key in the ignition and speeds away from the dock.
Daehyun looks like he wants to jump overboard, but he's frozen in his seat a second too long and soon they're too far out for him to abandon ship. Youngjae kills the engine when they can barely see the shore and they float to a standstill. They're the only ones out here.
"What are you doing?" Daehyun's voice is carefully level.
"I should be asking you the same thing." Youngjae pulls out the keys and waves them at Daehyun. "We're not going anywhere til you tell me what's wrong."
Daehyun tries to laugh, but it comes out weakly. "You're joking." His face falls when Youngjae shakes his head. He makes a grab for the keys, but Youngjae has fast reflexes. He gets a hold of Youngjae's arm and tries to twist it, but he lets go when the boat rocks violently on the waves.
Giving up, Daehyun sits down and holds his knees. Youngjae sits down opposite him. "I'm patient," Youngjae says after a silent minute. "And I'm not the one who physically can't skip a meal."
"Fine," Daehyun says, looking up defiantly. "On one condition." Youngjae raises his eyebrows. "You can't laugh."
Daehyun's serious. Youngjae nods.
Closing his eyes, Daehyun takes a shaky breath and lets it out. "I'm in love."
In that instance, the silence was suffocating. Youngjae did not expect this at all. Honestly, he feels like he's been stabbed in the stomach. He'd gotten so used to them, just Daehyun and Youngjae, us, and he never expected that one day somebody would come between them. Least of all so soon. And he's ashamed he didn't see this coming. He should have been the first to know even before Daehyun knew he was in love. Floundering, he gulps and says the first thing that falls into his mind, so Daehyun would know he is 100% supportive. "Heh...with food?"
That...wasn't right. Youngjae mentally kicks himself as he meets Daehyun's now open eyes. Right, Daehyun's still serious. "With you."
If Youngjae wasn't already sitting he would have fallen down. All of a sudden his heart is racing, but Daehyun's not done.
"I really tried to stop, okay?" There's defiance burning in his eyes. "But you kept..." Frustrated, Daehyun squeezed his eyes shut, searching for words. "Ugh," he says, fingers curling into fists. He opens his eyes again and stares straight into Youngjae's, and there's something more in them now. Determination.
He leans forward in one swift motion, and all of a sudden he's kissing Youngjae, his hands clenching Youngjae's shirt, pulling him closer.
And in the next moment, Youngjae's responding enthusiastically. He doesn't have time to think about what's happening, but it feels right. His hands make their way to the back of Daehyun's neck and into Daehyun's hair, even with his eyes closed.
They're both inexperienced and sloppy, but they find their way to each other. Daehyun breaks away first, slowly, and Youngjae finds himself leaning in just a little before he pulls back. His eyes flutter open and Daehyun's still there, their foreheads almost touching.
Daehyun grins, and leans in again, but-
"Oh my God."
Looking perplexed, Daehyun lets go of Youngjae's shirt. "Hm?"
Youngjae's hands are still holding onto fistfuls of Daehyun's hair, and not-"The keys."
In his surprise, or carelessness, or whatever it was, he had managed to lose track of the boat keys. His only guess is that he dropped them overboard when he was...distracted.
At this moment, all he wants to do is melt through the boat bottom and die. "I am an idiot," he says burying his face in his hands, to which Daehyun snorts.
It turns into full-on laughter, and somehow, Youngjae joins in and he's alternating between holding onto Daehyun and smacking Daehyun. "Youngjae-pabo," Daehyun chokes out affectionately between gasps for air.
"What are we going to do?" Youngjae finally asks, wiping tears from his eyes.
"I dunno, swim?" Daehyun says helplessly. "Don't boats have like, emergency paddles or something?"
Apparently their boat does, tucked beneath their seats, and they find a paddle for each of them.
"This is going to suck," Daehyun says mournfully at his paddle, and Youngjae agrees, but they're both smiling. It is for sure going to suck, but they're in it together.
They'll be in it together for a long while.
♥Daejae
Word Count: ~1500 words
Pairing: Daehyun/Youngjae
A/N: prompted from my ask.fm, specifically Daejae prompts because these were my favorite to write (or do I just like Daejae a lot? xD)
prompt: national golgi eating champion Jung Daehyun is sent to the hospital with a stomach bug. Dr. Yoo Youngjae is on the case
Daehyun regains consciousness in a pile of clouds. He opens his eyes tentatively, squinting at the blinding white light. A figure shifts above him, haloed by the light behind its head. Its face is round, milky and soft, too flawless to be human. An angel? Does that mean he's dead? "Am I in heaven?"
At least, that's what he would have said if his tongue didn't feel like it was wrapped in a towel. Instead, it comes out as a garbled "arrhgmvnn?" Death's not supposed to hurt this much, he thinks as the weakness in his limbs and the dull throbbing in his abdomen hits him. He feels the soreness in his throat as moisture returns to his mouth.
"You're in good hands."
The ringing in Daehyun's ears slowly fades away, and he no longer feels like his head is swaddled in cotton. His eyes adjust to the brightness, and he sees the source of the voice more clearly. Curved almond eyes, a button nose, and plush lips that parted to let out that soothing, just-a-bit-husky, honey-covered voice. Daehyun can't help but blurt out, "Are you an angel?"
Of course, his voice decides to work perfectly this time. He decides pointedly that this jerk looks significantly less angel-like when he's laughing his ass off. His really nice ass-NO, Jung Daehyun, you did NOT just think that. So apparently he's not dead. He registers the IV connected to his forearm, the weird scratchy blue stuff he's wearing, the stethoscope around the not-angel's neck.
"I'm Yoo Youngjae from gastroenterology," the supposed doctor finally calms down enough to say. "You're in a hospital, and I will be in charge of your stay." A large smirk is still pasted on his face. Daehyun wants to wipe that smirk off his face, with his mouth-NO Daehyun, you must be on some strong painkiller or something because no he is NOT hot.
For once in his life, Daehyun has nothing to say. He, Jung Daehyun, is the national gogi-eating champion. Given his status as beloved stomach of Korea, it's not very often (as in never) that he's in an embarrassing situation like this. In stiff blue papery things that provided bare-minimum coverage, being laughed at by the person who was supposed to to be taking care of him (and maybe wanted to impress, just a little bit), and all the while feeling like throwing up and, well, the equivalent of the other end of his digestive tract, simultaneously. It's an unfamiliar feeling. Daehyun is mortified. "Not very professional," is all he can manage to mutter...after glubbing like a fish out of water for a straight minute.
Dr. Yoo laughs again, and Daehyun isn't sure if he feels better or worse. "Anyways, good news is it's just a stomach bug and you're not going to die." He looks to Daehyun for a reaction, so Daehyun obliges with a weak smile and shaky "heh." Daehyun feels a little better about the fact that Dr. Yoo is just about as lame as he feels. "Bad news is, it was so bad you fainted, so you aren't allowed to eat solid foods for about a week, 8 days tops."
Daehyun must have looked like his dog just died, because Dr. Yoo asks, "Do you have a competition scheduled in that time period?"
Daehyun's a bit surprised that Dr. Yoo knows of him (but not really, because only people who live under rocks don't know about the Nation's Stomach). This is good, it gives him leverage. He shakes his head. His next competition isn't for at least 2 weeks. "Meat is the love of my life," he says mournfully.
This time, Dr. Yoo's laugh definitely makes Daehyun feel better. "Dr. Yoo, Daehyun says, bolstered by his new-found courage, "you don't look nearly old enough to be a doctor."
Dr. Yoo bites his lip (he shouldn't do that, Daehyun thinks. His lips look too much like fresh cherries) and looks away. "I'm not a doctor yet," he says. "Med school."
That puts Dr. Yoo-well, Youngjae now that he's not a doctor-at about Daehyun's age. "Oh, they let med school students take care of patients now?" Before giving Youngjae a chance to answer, Daehyun grins and says, "It's ok if I call you Youngjae, right?"
Youngjae shrugs, and Daehyun takes it as consent. It's going to be a long week without solid foods, but it's starting to look a lot more bearable.
*
Daehyun doesn't remember too clearly the last time he was hospitalized, but he definitely doesn't remember the last doctor visiting as much as Youngjae does. The week flies by with Youngjae personally delivering almost all of the mushy meal concoctions Daehyun has to eat, Youngjae popping in every free moment to recommend another Musiq Soulchild song, and Daehyun dragging his IV out of his hospital room to follow and pester Youngjae while he served the other patients.
At the end of the week, Daehyun was pretty sure he was recovered enough to be released from the hospital, but he stayed the extra 8th day. If Youngjae noticed, he didn't say anything.
"Promise me you'll take me to karaoke if I win the next championship," Daehyun nags at Youngjae on his last day. Singing was just another thing they found out they had in common.
"I'm poor," Youngjae retorts. "You take me out." But when Daehyun pouts, he relents. "Fine, but then you're repaying me in drinks."
Daehyun doesn't want to acknowledge the emptiness in his chest, so he attributes it to hunger.
*
Daehyun has never not been able to eat meat. It's simply a part of who he is. But when his manager takes him out to a celebratory hospital release dinner of kalbi, he barely touches the food.
"It's ok," Manager Kang tells him. "You have a week to recover completely." But with each passing day, Daehyun isn't getting better. In fact, combined with the aching in his heart, it seemed to be getting worse. "Maybe you should see the gastroenterology specialist again," Manager Kang says the day before the competition, when Daehyun opts for only water for dinner.
Daehyun's thankful for how patient Manager Kang's been with him. He knows what the problem is. It's been plaguing his thoughts, to the point where it even invaded his dreams, in the form of bad jokes and Musiq Soulchild's love songs. He's always had a champion's mindset, but even that's been taken over. He knows he exactly how to fix it, so he agrees to Manager Kang's suggestion.
*
Daehyun takes a great deal of satisfaction in the wide-eyed stare Youngjae gives him upon his return to the hospital. "Are you sick again?" Youngjae asks. Daehyun nods. "Symptoms?"
"I can't sleep, I can't concentrate on anything, there's this pain right here," Daehyun says, clenching the fabric of his shirt right over his heart. "There's something gross churning in my gut, and it's not sitting right with anything I try to eat." He realizes he's looking at the floor. "I have no appetite." He forces himself to meet Youngjae's eyes. "I'm the stomach of Korea," he says, knowing very well that Youngjae knows. "Take responsibility."
Youngjae breathes in and out a few agonizingly long breaths. "Those are the symptoms of lovesickness," he says, not entirely steady.
"How do I cure that?" Daehyun asks pitifully, pleading creeping into his voice.
Tentatively, afraid something delicate hanging between them will break, Youngjae brings his hand to the nape of Daehyun's neck. "You're in good hands," he says when Daehyun doesn't move away.
Youngjae's lips on Daehyun's is a healing salve over Daehyun's aching heart.
*
When a ballad neither of them knows how to sing comes on during karaoke, Youngjae grabs the remote and turns down the volume.
"I have a confession," he tells Daehyun. "I'm studying gastroenterology because of you," he says when Daehyun gives him a questioning look.
Daehyun's eyes widen at the implications. "But you chose that before we met!"
Youngjae nods. "Also, med school students aren't allowed to take charge of any patients," he says with a sheepish smile. "I nearly sold my soul to get your case from the head doctor."
Before Daehyun has a chance to respond, Youngjae turns the volume back up, and thrusts the other mic into Daehyun's hands.
Oh well, Daehyun muses. They'll have plenty of time to talk later.
prompt: Why is Daehyun like this?
It's a rare treat when Yongguk takes Daehyun out to dinner. That's because taking him out to dinner is too much of a financial burden on Himchan, who'd rather spend his money on Jongup. Yongguk likes to make time for each of his dongsaengs though, and Daehyun is thankful for that.
"Table manners, Daehyunnie."
Daehyun looks up, pausing briefly his quest to stuff as much meat into his face as humanly possible. The look on Yongguk's face is an odd mix of disgust and awe. /If you looked any sterner, you'd look constipated,/ Daehyun thinks, and graces him with a chipmunk-cheeked, food-in-teeth smile. Maintaining eye contact, he deliberately shoves another piece of meat into the black hole.
"Why are you like this?" Yongguk shakes his head, but he's bad at hiding his easy grin and several pieces of meat make their way from his plate to Daehyun's.
*
After a recording, when they're all packed in the car, everybody settles into the seats as comfortably as they can and soon at least half of them are out like lights. Daehyun, however, is still energetic. Looking over at Yongguk, serene in sleep, he gets an idea. One that will make the fangirls go wild.
Posing with a peace sign, Daehyun angles the phone just right so that his nice jawline shows. He takes the picture and cringes when the shutter-click sounds way louder in the silent car than usual. He's gotta figure out how to disable the sound next time. Luckily, it doesn't wake anybody up. Unluckily, it attracts the attention of Himchan, who turns around in the front seat.
Unlucky because Himchan has sharp eyes and an uncanny intuition for secrets. He spots the phone in Daehyun's hands and puts two and two together almost instantly. "Give me that," he whispers. Daehyun clings onto the phone. "Do you want me to wake Yongguk?"
If the car hadn't been sleeping, Daehyun would have made an agitated noise, but instead he has to rely on his face to express his anguish when he hands the phone over.
"Daehyun, what's the point of this picture if only you're in it?" Himchan forgets to speak softly in his exasperation. Daehyun looks at the picture. He'd meant for it to be a picture of himself photobombing a sleeping Yongguk, but apparently he'd forgotten the Yongguk part. At least it's a good picture of himself.
"I'll take it again," Daehyun says, grabbing at the phone. Himchan moves it out of reach by turning back around, his other hand covering his eyes. His shoulders are shaking. "Are you facepalming at me?"
"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," Himchan says into his hand. "Why are you like this?" When he stops his silent spasms long enough to breathe, he turns toward Daehyun again. His gaze softens when it moves over to Yongguk, still peacefully asleep at Daehyun's side. He flicks his wrist a bit and Daehyun understands the gesture. Without a word, Himchan takes a proper photo of the two, and hands the phone back to Daehyun.
"I'll send it to you later," Daehyun says, and Himchan smiles at him.
*
The thigh-squeezing, chest-stroking, fake-kissing, cheek-pulling and everything in between isn't limited to in front of the cameras. To Daehyun, touching Junhong comes to him as easily as those high notes. Junhong's the youngest so he had to build up a resistance to his hyungs or he wouldn't last, but sometimes Daehyun is too much.
They're playing Mario Kart and Daehyun is a sore loser. When it looks like Junhong's about to win for the third time in a row, Daehyun latches onto Junhong's back. Arms covering Junhong's face and legs kicking the controller out of Junhong's hands, Daehyun races toward the finish line.
Before he reaches it though, Junhong pauses the game. "Not fair," Daehyun pouts.
Junhong ducks under Daehyun's arms and shakes free. "Hyung, I can't see!"
"Still unfair," Daehyun says forlornly, insistently pushing himself onto Junhong's back. "Stop winning."
"Why are you like this?" Junhong scoots so that Daehyun falls over. "Hyung, I'll take it easy on you, so will you please get off of me?"
Slinging his arms over Junhong's shoulders, Daehyun gives him a one-armed hug. "Okay, unpause!"
Even though Junhong wins that race anyways, he placates Daehyun by switching to a co-op game instead.
*
Daehyun lies on the practice room floor, completely and utterly pooped from the supplementary dance lessons. "Mercy, Jonguppie, please..." he says (definitely not begs), grabbing onto Jongup's leg.
Gently shaking his leg out of Daehyun's grasp, Jongup sighs. "We've only been practicing for an hour."
"An hour without water," Daehyun says, wriggling towards Jongup and latching onto his leg again. "I'm a vocalist, I need hydration."
Jongup gives Daehyun a searching look, while Daehyun makes his eyes as big and pitiful as he can. "Take five," Jongup says finally, turning away and heading towards the door. "I'll be back."
"I love you Jonguppie, you're the best!" Daehyun says to his back. When Jongup leaves, Daehyun rolls onto his stomach and reaches for his bag from the cubby in the wall. It's a little too high up for his reach, so rests for a minute before finally pulling himself up to a sitting position.
His water is lukewarm and nasty, but it's still precious water. Drinking it slowly, he lets it soothe his parched throat. He really wants something cool though.
The five minutes are up too early, marked by Jongup's return. However, Daehyun's life is restored when he sees that Jongup returned carrying two cans of aloe drink. His eyes round in surprise, he asks, "Is that for me?"
Jongup puts the drinks in the highest cubby. Daehyun wilts a little, and Jongup laughs. "Hyung, why are you like this?" When Daehyun only stares at him with hungry eyes, he adds, "It's a reward for your next hour of practice."
With the prospect of a cool aloe drink as a reward, Daehyun's fighting spirit returns and he jumps up from his sitting position on the floor to hug Jongup. "You're seriously the best."
Jongup's smile is blissful. "Now back to work."
*
They're alone on the top of the world. Somehow they escaped from the others and the crowds of fans, and they're on the deserted rooftop of their skyscraper hotel overlooking the city.
"There's something I've always wanted to do," Daehyun says, grinning giddily with anticipation.
Youngjae watches as Daehyun walks over to the edge, takes a deep breath, and folds over the railing.
"I, Jung Daehyun, love you, Yoo Youngjae!" he shouts, with his insane vocal projection, to the sky above and streets below.
Clapping a hand over Daehyun's mouth, Youngjae pulls him back. "I am going to push you off this building if you don't shut up."
Daehyun ignores the threat in favor of the semi-back-hug Youngjae's holding him in, and leans back against Youngjae's chest. "Don't you ever feel like proclaiming your love on the rooftops?"
"No, you're insane," Youngjae says, but he wraps his arms around Daehyun's waist and rests his chin on Daehyun's shoulder. "Somebody might hear."
"We're in New York," Daehyun scoffs. "And the closest people are 55 stories down." Even with his back to Youngjae, Daehyun can see in his mind a roll of eyes, a quirked smile.
Youngjae lets go and turns Daehyun around by his shoulders. "Daehyunnie, why are you like this?"
Daehyun grins as Youngjae leans over the railing.
"Jung Daehyun! I, Yoo Youngjae, love you too!"
*
"Why are you like this?"
This question is one that he refuses to answer because to those who do matter, Daehyun doesn't have to explain.
prompt: Daejae are stuck on a boat.
There is definitely something very off about Daehyun. He still eats as much as normal, but that's it. He just eats. There's no soft happy sigh as the meat juices gush over his tongue, there's no relaxation of his shoulders, there's no closing of his eyes to savor the flavor. It's as if somebody took the joy out of eating, and it is unsettling. It's subtle at first, but Youngjae is his best friend; he notices things like that.
Youngjae gets a little more worried when Daehyun stops talking. To him, at least. He seems to be fine about bothering maknae line and their hyungs, but he is entirely too subdued when he's alone with Youngjae. Weirdly enough, Youngjae is the most familiar with quiet Daehyun. In fact, he takes pride in the fact that Daehyun feels comfortable enough in their friendship that he doesn't feel a need to fill the gaps in their conversations. But refusing to say anything altogether was something new, and wrong.
"Are you sure you're not just imagining things?" Himchan says when Youngjae consults him about Daehyun's strange behavior. "He seems fine to me."
Yongguk is even less helpful, but he does give better advice. "You should just ask him about it."
When Youngjae catches Daehyun indiscriminately ripping open all the jellies in a packet and shoving them in his mouth one by one, he decides the confrontation must happen sooner rather than later. Daehyun never touches the grape jellies.
"What's wrong?" He settles in the seat across from Daehyun.
Starting, Daehyun looks up at Youngjae. "Huh?"
"What's wrong?" Youngjae repeats.
"Nothing," Daehyun says, returning his attention to the jellies.
"You're eating the grape ones," Youngjae says, frowning.
"Oh." Daehyun looks at the pile of shells and wrappers he's made. "Did you want them?"
Youngjae's frown deepens. Did Daehyun have no idea something was wrong with that? "You never eat the grape ones."
Daehyun shrugs. "They're okay."
Youngjae finds himself at a loss for words. Something was wrong with Daehyun, and Daehyun refused to tell him what. They're best friends, they're supposed to share everything with each other.
He wants to press again, but Jongup stumbles sleepily into the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water and joining them at the table. Youngjae drops the topic and decides he needs to properly corner Daehyun if he's to get a real answer.
*
Isolating Daehyun is a lot easier said than done. The members live together, work together, and basically do everything together, giving Daehyun plenty of excuses to cop out, but Youngjae's chance finally comes when they're all on break and at the beach. He sees the tourist motorboat rentals and a plan forms in his head. When Jongup and Zelo are distracted making a sand castle, and Yongguk and Himchan have are lying under the umbrella immersed in one of their serious talks, Youngjae takes Daehyun by the arm and drags him to the docks.
"What are you doing?" Daehyun doesn't go quietly, but he doesn't struggle out of Youngjae's grip. Youngjae declines to answer.
Instead, he rents out a boat and pushes Daehyun in. Before Daehyun can process what's going on, Youngjae turns the key in the ignition and speeds away from the dock.
Daehyun looks like he wants to jump overboard, but he's frozen in his seat a second too long and soon they're too far out for him to abandon ship. Youngjae kills the engine when they can barely see the shore and they float to a standstill. They're the only ones out here.
"What are you doing?" Daehyun's voice is carefully level.
"I should be asking you the same thing." Youngjae pulls out the keys and waves them at Daehyun. "We're not going anywhere til you tell me what's wrong."
Daehyun tries to laugh, but it comes out weakly. "You're joking." His face falls when Youngjae shakes his head. He makes a grab for the keys, but Youngjae has fast reflexes. He gets a hold of Youngjae's arm and tries to twist it, but he lets go when the boat rocks violently on the waves.
Giving up, Daehyun sits down and holds his knees. Youngjae sits down opposite him. "I'm patient," Youngjae says after a silent minute. "And I'm not the one who physically can't skip a meal."
"Fine," Daehyun says, looking up defiantly. "On one condition." Youngjae raises his eyebrows. "You can't laugh."
Daehyun's serious. Youngjae nods.
Closing his eyes, Daehyun takes a shaky breath and lets it out. "I'm in love."
In that instance, the silence was suffocating. Youngjae did not expect this at all. Honestly, he feels like he's been stabbed in the stomach. He'd gotten so used to them, just Daehyun and Youngjae, us, and he never expected that one day somebody would come between them. Least of all so soon. And he's ashamed he didn't see this coming. He should have been the first to know even before Daehyun knew he was in love. Floundering, he gulps and says the first thing that falls into his mind, so Daehyun would know he is 100% supportive. "Heh...with food?"
That...wasn't right. Youngjae mentally kicks himself as he meets Daehyun's now open eyes. Right, Daehyun's still serious. "With you."
If Youngjae wasn't already sitting he would have fallen down. All of a sudden his heart is racing, but Daehyun's not done.
"I really tried to stop, okay?" There's defiance burning in his eyes. "But you kept..." Frustrated, Daehyun squeezed his eyes shut, searching for words. "Ugh," he says, fingers curling into fists. He opens his eyes again and stares straight into Youngjae's, and there's something more in them now. Determination.
He leans forward in one swift motion, and all of a sudden he's kissing Youngjae, his hands clenching Youngjae's shirt, pulling him closer.
And in the next moment, Youngjae's responding enthusiastically. He doesn't have time to think about what's happening, but it feels right. His hands make their way to the back of Daehyun's neck and into Daehyun's hair, even with his eyes closed.
They're both inexperienced and sloppy, but they find their way to each other. Daehyun breaks away first, slowly, and Youngjae finds himself leaning in just a little before he pulls back. His eyes flutter open and Daehyun's still there, their foreheads almost touching.
Daehyun grins, and leans in again, but-
"Oh my God."
Looking perplexed, Daehyun lets go of Youngjae's shirt. "Hm?"
Youngjae's hands are still holding onto fistfuls of Daehyun's hair, and not-"The keys."
In his surprise, or carelessness, or whatever it was, he had managed to lose track of the boat keys. His only guess is that he dropped them overboard when he was...distracted.
At this moment, all he wants to do is melt through the boat bottom and die. "I am an idiot," he says burying his face in his hands, to which Daehyun snorts.
It turns into full-on laughter, and somehow, Youngjae joins in and he's alternating between holding onto Daehyun and smacking Daehyun. "Youngjae-pabo," Daehyun chokes out affectionately between gasps for air.
"What are we going to do?" Youngjae finally asks, wiping tears from his eyes.
"I dunno, swim?" Daehyun says helplessly. "Don't boats have like, emergency paddles or something?"
Apparently their boat does, tucked beneath their seats, and they find a paddle for each of them.
"This is going to suck," Daehyun says mournfully at his paddle, and Youngjae agrees, but they're both smiling. It is for sure going to suck, but they're in it together.
They'll be in it together for a long while.
♥Daejae