The Dating Game | DOTAE

4. a christmas date

"John-ah, did you already go downstairs and grab the mail?" Doyoung asked as he walked past the other male's open bedroom door.

"Yeah, it's on the dining table. Got it this morning."

The closer it was coming to Christmas, the colder Seoul became. The windows would freeze over with every coming of morning and the shower would take extra long to warm up. It was a routine that Doyoung didn't like. It also meant more time holed up in their small apartment.

Today marked ten days until Christmas. A large tree spanning up to the height of the ceiling sat beside their worn couch and sparkled with the millions of ornaments and coloured lights that were strung around by Taeyong. They'd set it up only the day before when Yuta and Taeyong came over to decorate it as part of their ongoing tradition.

Tonight, Renjun would be coming over while Johnny was away to watch some Christmas movies and dinner.

Doyoung huffed and dragged himself to the cold living area, whining about the broken heating system. It would be colder later that night and he would have to bring so many blankets for his boyfriend so he wouldn't complain about it. But he really wanted to impress the boy and make him beautifully smiley for once.

"What time is your little kid coming over?" Johnny shouted at him, a slight snicker to his voice. It made Doyoung roll his eyes at his immaturity, levelling it with his boyfriend's.

Renjun was much more mature. He thinks.

"Stop calling him that, we're only four years apart. And to answer your question, he's coming in around an hour or so."

An hour to clean, to prepare and to cook food for the younger boy. Renjun had to cancel plans with Doyoung's brother and friend to spend time with him tonight, insisting that he'd make it up to them later. Doyoung felt that Renjun was a little left out of the three, something that all four of them had individually noticed. He'd have to have a chat with Jeno later on.

The dinner was already running and cinnamon spice cupcakes were in the oven, a big batch that Johnny could take some to Taeyong's apartment. Doyoung knew Mark liked his baking especially.

He turned on his speaker and put Taylor Swift on specifically just to annoy Johnny, who still had his door open. The groans of protest were worth it as he danced around their small apartment, dancing past the glass wall that displayed the darkening city of Seoul. All the lights were turning on and it looked magical.

Doyoung called out to Johnny, going over to check on the food and the cupcakes. "John, I made you cupcakes to tale with you. Get off your ass and help me take them out!"

They spent the next hour like that, whining to each other and preparing the kitchen for Doyoung. Icing ended up on Doyoung's nose when they iced the cupcakes and all Johnny did was laugh before going back to his activities. The promised food from the younger pushed him to help his friend to clean up and help set up the date.

By the time the knock on the apartment door came, Johnny was already dressed to leave the house and the half dozen of cinnamon cupcakes sat in their container on the kitchen counter. Doyoung was smiling when he came out of his room, watching as his friend grabbed the sweets and gave him a quick hug.

"Have fun, okay? Just not too much," Johnny winked at him and threw on his coat, walking over to open the door. "We don't need to do another exorcism on the couch."

Doyoung was about to protest but the door was already open, and there Renjun was, hands stashed in his hoodie's front pocket. Everything about him looked impassive and dull.