GLOW-UP

29 | thailand vs canada

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.