The Dating Game | DOTAE

a memory

"I love you."

Taeyong startled when a grip to his wrist tightened and then loosened, constricting his blood circulation for a moment. In front of him, Doyoung sat there and was looking at him, and only him. When he breathed out, the condensation was the only thing that separated the two of them from each other.

And it scared Taeyong.

They were sitting by the bonfire; all the other kids had gone to dance or ran home instead. Only Taeyong and Doyoung were still warming themselves by the fire, sitting on opposite sides of the log they shared together. From the corner of his eye, Taeyong watched as Doyoung closed the space between them.

"W-What?" Taeyong stammered, pulling back so fast that he was half afraid Doyoung would fall onto him from the impact. His cheeks were too red in the dark and he hoped the fire wouldn't illuminate them.

"I said," Doyoung whispered and came closer, kneeling right in front Taeyong's legs. Taeyong felt his long fingers parting them so he could crawl between them. It made Taeyong's heart stutter painfully against the inside of his sweater. "I love you, Taeyong, more than any friend should."

Taeyong could smell the bitter taste of alcohol on his breath and yet it made Taeyong unexplainably dizzy, like the alcohol in Doyoung's breath alone was making him drunk with him. Everything around them blurred, the trees and the fire and sounds of teenagers dancing. Nothing was letting him think straight.

"Doyoung, I-" he wanted to say, but he couldn't finish.

In a split second, Doyoung's lips were on his, fiery hot. They were light, weightless against Taeyong's own lips, chapped from the heat of the fire. But he felt like he was kissing an angel instead.

Instead of pulling back when Taeyong didn't respond immediately, Doyoung only pressed further, forcing Taeyong to close his eyes and wrap his arms around the boy's neck on instinct. He let his cold hands warm themselves nestled in Doyoung's dark hair, cocooning himself into his body. He let his mind quieten down and fall into Doyoung's arms.

Right here, there was no other place to go to except Doyoung's body.

And so he allowed himself to let the alcohol take over, control his limbs and his mouth.

The arch in his back stretched as Doyoung leaned them over, finding something in Taeyong's hot mouth that made him irrevocably hungry for more. Taeyong couldn't get a break.

Truth be told, he didn't mind.

Taeyong lost track of time. He was being drawn further and further into Doyoung, who was still kneeling on the dirt and suddenly, he was too weak to hold his body like that and allowed his body to slide off the log and onto the ground next to the fire. Doyoung followed him down, bracketing his body with gentle fingers, securing his body beneath his. How he panted into Taeyong's skin made him feel hotter than the fire itself, alighting his his body from every nerve end.

Here, with his back finding rest against the autumn leaves and dirt, it felt warm and cold all at the same time. A small part of his mind betrayed him and only wished Doyoung to wrap his arms all around Taeyong, keep him warm forever. It was all he needed.

But the world seemed to collapse on Doyoung's shoulders in no time, and almost fully jumped back away from Taeyong liked he was burned. Where Taeyong lay, the fire behind Doyoung made him look like he had flaming wings, almost like a phoenix. His head thumped to the ground again.

The terror that should've been all over Doyoung's face was wiped away by the incessant amounts of alcohol he'd had. However, there was guilt and regret there where fear wasn't. It made Taeyong want to double over and vomit. Burn out the fire and scream. The mistake slowly doomed upon him when all he could see was Doyoung's scrunched up face and the stars clearly smattered in the night sky.

"Taeyong I-"

But he didn't allow himself to hear more. He just couldn't stomach it. If he was going to make the night without tears down his face, he had to leave now.

Taeyong shook his head, not minding the untamed strands that feel into his eyes. It obscured his vision of what was in front of him.

"I-I'm sorry, I just realised I left something over at Seulgi's place and she asked me to pick it up before tomorrow," he stammered, staggering up from the ground just to look away from Doyoung. He couldn't spend one more second watching Doyoung's face crumple further into himself.

A hand held onto his wrist when he tried to move away, a warm but calloused hand that squeezed the skin around his bones enough for it to hurt. It didn't hurt, it never could with Doyoung.

"Wait."

"What, Doyoung? I really should go before she gets angry at me like she usually does," Taeyong rambled, pulling roughly at the restraints holding him back. He didn't have the energy to fight back but he wanted to go. He kept gently pulling, but Doyoung's grip was firm.

The bright night was so pretty.

Doyoung was struggling to think of something, anything that could keep Taeyong standing before him. But it was hard. For as much as he knew the boy he called his best friend, he realised there was too much that even the darkest of enemies should know about him. And he knew everything to the point where it turned right against him just like armour.

"It's too late for you to go around by yourself," he said instead, growing more firm with his answer. But Taeyong was always smarter.

He breathed out. "Johnny's taking me, he didn't drink tonight so he offered."

And there was no way Doyoung could counter argue that, not when he could see how hard Taeyong was trying to run away from him. A first kiss, gone just like that.

So he let go, releasing his grip on Taeyong and relaxing back into the dirt and twigs he sat against. Smiling, he said, "it's okay, we won't speak about ever again. Go."

And just like that, Taeyong had vanished. Minutes later, some friends called Doyoung to dance with them, grabbing a few more drinks.

I'm so sorry for the massive delay (two years lmao) and for the short chapter thing but I had to give y'all smth. next time which will be hopefully soon, I'll post a better and longer chapter.

something to note: my writing has changed ALOT like this was written even a while ago and it's still different to previous chapters, but I'll credit that to my writing degree lmao. I am no longer an angsty teenager so hopefully this fic will be filled with quality writing from now on.

also you check out my better works on ao3:

https://archiveofourown.org/users/samarasharazi/works

see you guys next time, I luv u all xoxoxoxo