The Dating Game | DOTAE

2. the morning after

Taeyong woke up in his bed, naked. With a massive hangover. And the blinds open. No girlfriend in sight. Alone.

"Argh," the pain his temple pounded to get out as he went to sit up. Thankfully, water and aspirin sat on the bedside table for him. He'd have to thank Seulgi when he got up.

It was a struggle to stand up and assess his damaged body, hickies and bruises lined all along his skin. He felt icky and gross, smelling of stale sweat that lingered in his nose for too long. His hair was all over the place too, its light brown colour emulated the light from outside though it was a dull colour.

The cold seeped through his feet as he walked to the bathroom, turning on the shower with his eyes half-closed. He didn't think that today was going to be a particularly good day.

When he got out, he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked much better.

Once he'd dressed into trackpants and a jumper, he walked into the kitchen and analysed the damage from last night. It wasn't as bad as he thought but he knew that he was still going to get into trouble by Seulgi. Typical.

"Good morning," was what he greeted with by his girlfriend, craning her neck to get a kiss from him. He gave her a peck on the cheek and sat beside her, just staring at her coffee. "You want one?" she asked and he nodded. She got and made him one, filling the silence with the sound of the coffee machine running.

She came back and handed him the hot mug, sitting down beside him. Taeyong looked at her lovingly, his mind still a mess from last night, but his love for her was still clear as day. "Thank you for the aspirin, I really needed it," he whispered, nudging his face along her neck. She smiled into her coffee, eyes closed as he hummed a simple tune under his breath.

"It's alright baby, but you really need to cut down on the alcohol when we go to parties."

He instantly moved away and just looked at her, his face suddenly going blank. It was like someone has erased everything from the canvas. His arms felt cold but he refrained from taking her in his arms again, instead biting his lip painfully.

His alcohol consumption was a taboo topic in their household. Ever since his early years of high school, the girls had always been on him about how much he controlled himself. It wasn't even an abnormal amount that he had, it was the fact that Seulgi was always on it.

When Seulgi was 13, her father had been taken to hospital for alcohol poisoning. After a few more complications in the hospital, he'd passed away a week later, leaving a broken girl behind. She'd dumped all her grievances on Taeyong, making him a second situation of her father. She always bugged him about it.

"Let's not talk about that right now," he murmured, sipping his coffee. Her eyes softened under the weight of her previous words and instantly wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head, ignoring her weight against him and just stared at the miserable weather outside. When he wasn't responding, Seulgi a little and bit his arm lightly. That made him giggle a little, turning his face so she wouldn't see.

But she saw, and smiled herself when she did it again and got the same reaction out of him. At times like these, it was hard to believe that Taeyong was a grown man that took charge of the world around him.

"I think I'm gonna get Doyoung to come over later, he's busy with his brothers right now," Taeyong pondered. Seulgi hummed along with him, nodding her head in understanding.

She got off him and placed her now empty cup in the sink. "Maybe he could help you clean up too."

He thought about it, thinking about the whole day ahead of him while his girlfriend was at work. The firm had given him a day off work for his anniversary thinking that today was the day of the celebration. He decided to use the day instead and offered to clean when he got the notice and told his girlfriend. She had suggested that he stay the day instead of going home and helping her when her agency wouldn't give her the day off.