the bet | dojae

seventeen

"i think taeyong has a crush on me."

milk shot out of doyoung's nose, and he coughed violently, jaehyun rubbing small circles in his back. johnny looked as nonchalant as ever, and it made doyoung want to throw his milk carton at his head. "why the hell would you think that?"

"we talked at the bar a couple of nights ago, and he said he has feelings for someone, but wouldn't tell me who. he looked nervous, too."

"he was probably nervous because he was talking about his crush ... ?" jaehyun offered. "besides, i think if he had a crush on you, the alcohol would've been enough for him to drunkenly text you about it."

"i dunno, he only drank one glass."

"he's as much of a lightweight as doyoung." doyoung punched his arm, and jaehyun pretended to be hurt, pouting at him.

"if taeyong had a crush on you, he would've told me by now," doyoung said.

taeyong wasn't the best at keeping secrets.

maybe it was the gift he had gotten doyoung for christmas one year that he accidentally mentioned to him on christmas eve. maybe it was him telling doyoung about a surprise birthday party and not realizing he told doyoung until an hour later. maybe it was him refusing to tell doyoung who he had a crush on in high school, and then telling him in a nervous outburst the next day. but keeping secrets wasn't exactly his strong suit, and if he had a crush on johnny, doyoung would've absolutely known.

"he made it seem like he couldn't tell anyone who it was. he seemed really nervous to even mention having a crush in the first place."

"well, let's evaluate our options," jaehyun suggested. "it's not me or doyoung, because it would've been obvious by now. it can't be yuta, because ... well, it's yuta. i don't think taeyong would ever like him in that way. so that leaves ... oh."

none of them said anything for a few minutes.

"i mean ..." doyoung scratched the back of his neck. "i guess it makes sense? you two have been close friends for a while."

"he's known you for way longer, so why didn't he get a crush on you?"

"that's true. you know— we could just ask him."

"no. absolutely not. he can't know we know."

"okay, then what do we do?"

"we wait for him to make the first move."

"johnny, are you gonna play hard to get?"

"why is johnny playing hard to get?"

doyoung yelped, whipping around to see taeyong standing behind him, confused. "what's going on?"

"johnny ... is just being johnny. classic player johnny," doyoung lied, smiling at taeyong. "nothing to worry about, he'll probably get dumped within a week again."

"that was the one time!" johnny protested.

after lunch, jaehyun and doyoung walked down the hall together, discreetly holding hands as they went. "so taeyong ..." jaehyun trailed off, and doyoung could tell he was having a hard time processing it.

"johnny's right. the friend logic doesn't work because how come he didn't get feelings for me, or for you?"

"maybe johnny has some sort of appeal that we don't?" jaehyun shrugged and sighed, running a hand through his hair. "we'll just have to wait and see, i guess."

•••••

"taeyong, i'm home!" doyoung called. he was met with silence. frowning, he dropped his bag at the door and went upstairs, the sound of crying getting louder the closer he got to taeyong's room. he slowly opened the door, poking his head in. "taeyong?"

taeyong had his head in his hands, and he was crying. doyoung couldn't remember the last time he had seen him cry, but his brain went into autopilot, and he rushed over, sitting on the bed and pulling him into a hug. "what happened?"

"i can't fucking do this," taeyong wailed, "i can't keep trying to hide!"

"hide what?"

"how i feel! i'm so sick of pretending, and the longer i wait, the worse it gets!"

"then just confess!"

"no! it'll make everything worse!" taeyong shook violently as he sobbed, burying his face into doyoung's shoulder. he felt terrible for him; how long had he been hiding it?

"look ... you don't have to tell me who it is, but i'll help you confess."

a sniffle. "you will?"

"yeah! you're my best friend, taeyong."

"o-okay." he sat back and wiped his eyes. "how did you confess to jaehyun?"

"well ... that was a more complicated situation," doyoung mumbled. "i just told him outright and then asked if he wanted to go out."

"oh."

"yeah, but if you tell me more about your mystery crush, i'll do what i can to help you out."

"thank you, doyoung."

he didn't enjoy lying to taeyong.