Chapter Text
If there is a place where Donghyuck did not want to be, it is exactly where he is sitting right now. He did agree to this brunch though, so he takes a deep breath and tries to focus on what Renjun is saying across from him. He seems to be explaining why he invited Donghyuck to a late morning breakfast on a Saturday. Donghyuck can’t help but play with the mimosa Renjun has ordered for him; he can’t believe what he’s hearing. He actually sort of does because this is his best friend after all, and for the 8 years they have known each other, he can read him like a book.
“So are you okay with me and Mark dating?” Renjun asks.
Donghyuck forces his best smile, “Yeah, of course, why wouldn’t I be?”
Renjun sighs, “Well, because it might affect our friend group. I don’t want people to pick sides.”
“You are fine,” Donghyuck replies, “Besides, if I had a problem with you or Mark, I wouldn’t talk to you guys so consistently.”
“Are you sure?” Renjun asks, more as a reassurance for himself, Donghyuck thinks.
Donghyuck makes sure to lock eyes with Renjun. “Yeah, I promise.”
Renjun smiles at him, pleased, pity still oozing beneath his smile. Why wouldn’t he pity Donghyuck? His best friend and his ex, Mark, are dating after all. Donghyuck is actually bitter about it. Ignoring the obvious betrayal Donghyuck feels from them, even dating, it has only been five months since he and Mark broke up. But for the people around him, he kept his feelings buried deep in his chest and faced the world as usual.
The breakup was in some ways mutual. Donghyuck had felt Mark lose interest, but they stayed in the relationship because they had been together since Donghyuck’s sophomore year of high school. Speaking truthfully, for Donghyuck, the reason he stayed was much more than that, but it was best if it ended with them agreeing on it.
They are still friends, and their friend group stays the same. Donghyuck coaxed everyone, especially Renjun, into understanding that he and Mark don’t have any bad blood. Donghyuck laughs at the thought. Renjun seems to be much more forgiving than he anticipated.
“I just wanted to let you know first,” Renjun states, self-righteous. That pulls Donghyuck out of his thoughts.
Donghyuck almost rolls his eyes, “Thank you…I appreciate it?” The ending of his sentence flowed more like a question.
“Of course, Mark would be here, but he had an appointment,” Renjun says, looking down at his half-eaten sourdough bread. They both know the second half was a lie.
“That’s fine, I’ll see him next time with the whole group anyway.” Donghyuck takes a sip of the mimosa. “I’ll congratulate him, then!”
“Thanks, Donghyuck, it means a lot to both of us,” Renjun announces, picking up his drink and hiding his smile over it.
Donghyuck just nods his head and motions for Renjun to cheer his glass.
After talking a bit more about everything but topics related to the new couple, they decide to part ways. Donghyuck couldn’t be happier to leave the cafe behind.
He loves both of them, but he can’t handle this right now. The thought of them together pisses him off; he didn’t want to hear the details of how because he is sure he can’t handle it. Donghyuck will probably hear it from Chenle later if he really wants to know.
His apartment is a mess, his sink is full of the dishes he neglected this week, his laundry is piled in a basket he didn't have the motivation to fully pull to his washer and left in the living room, his coffee table has stains on the glass, and some of his jackets and t-shirts are spread across the couch.
Donghyuck winces at his living state and chooses to ignore it for the day and rot in his unmade bed. He just wants to scroll on TikTok and ignore everything he is feeling. He is doing so when he gets a text from Jaemin.
Jaemin: Hey, open ur door
Donghyuck: Why…
Did you finally decide to murder me?
Jaemin: Be serious, im outside ur apartment
Donghyuck remembers the state of this apartment. He springs up from his bed and walks into his living room, sighs, and gives up on fixing it, except to drag his laundry to the laundry room and collect the clothes on his couch.
Donghyuck: How did you even get through the security guy?
Give me a sec, ill be right there.
Jaemin: Ok, but yk I can hear u from out here, right
Donghyuck ignores his last message in favor of throwing the clothes he gathered from his couch on his laundry room floor. He pats his dark waves to stop them from sticking out in the air from when he was lying in bed. The clothes he has on are good from brunch with Renjun, so he takes a deep breath and cracks his door open.
Donghyuck is now eye-to-eye with Jaemin’s too-wide grin that shows his perfectly straight teeth. He looks put together, as always, in black slacks and a plain white shirt that fits his torso too well. Donghyuck grimaces at him, Jaemin smiles even wider, if that’s possible.
“What are you doing here?” Donghyuck asks.
Jaemin fake-pouts, “Is that how you greet me?” Donghyuck just glares. “Okay, so I heard from Jeno, who heard from Mark about him and Renjun and the brunch today.”
“Great,” is all Donghyuck had to say. That doesn’t seem to please Jaemin, because he starts pushing his way past Donghyuck to enter his apartment.
Jaemin scans his living space from the entryway as he removes his shoes.
Donghyuck feels his face heat up before Jaemin says anything, “Don’t even.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Jaemin replies, spinning on the soles of his feet to face Donghyuck behind him. “But let me help you clean up.”
“No—” Donghyuck is interrupted by Jaemin putting his index finger to his mouth and shushing him.
“I’m sure you were lazing around, and I enjoy clean spaces, so,” Jaemin states, pursing his lips.
“Thought you weren’t going to say anything?” Donghyuck asks instead.
Jaemin tilts his head, his voice pitching high and stilted to be condescending, “No need to be embarrassed, Hyuckie, nothing wrong with rotting in bed.”
“I know there isn’t,” Donghyuck replies. “But I can do it, and you can leave too.”
“No need to get mad, cutie,” Jaemin says, flicking the bottom of his chin, “I’m here to appease you.”
Donghyuck ducks his face and pushes Jaemin away. “Are you blushing?” Jaemin asks, laughing. He is plain evil, Donghyuck swears.
Donghyuck glares at him and points at the front door. “Out!”
“Sorry, sorry, can you find it in your heart to forgive me this time, pretty?” Jaemin says, stepping closer and pulling Donghyuck into a hug. His arms are solid as they cradle him to Jaemin’s body, and his perfume smells sweet and fruity.
Donghyuck can feel himself turn brighter red: “Fine, I’ll start in the living room; you do the kitchen.”
“Aw, our Hyuckie is cleaning; I'm so proud,” Jaemin says, letting go and walking away to the laundry room to get cleaning supplies.
Donghyuck doesn’t even stop him and lets him walk into the pile he left on the floor. Jaemin starts putting some of the clothes in the washer and starts a load.
Donghyuck used to be very clean when he lived with Mark because things like this easily stressed Mark. But once he moved out and got his own place, he has admittedly been more carefree about the state of his living.
Jaemin comes back with glass cleaner and everything they need to clean his space and hands him the one Donghyuck needs for the coffee table and couch. They work on the separate spaces until Jaemin is done in the kitchen, then join him in the living room to vacuum. They take turns doing the laundry loads and folding Donghyuck’s clothes.
Once they both get done cleaning, Donghyuck sits down on his couch, waiting for Jaemin to come back to the living room. He puts out his phone to see if anything new has happened in the past three hours.
He is thankful for Jaemin, though he can’t say it out loud. He knows Jaemin loves him, and he loves him back; the whole group does. Jaemin knows how to take care of Donghyuck, of everyone. He is a kind person who enjoys helping the people around him and showing them love. Donghyuck smiles down at his phone.
Jaemin calls his name from the kitchen, and Donghyuck can’t help but sigh as he gets up to walk to him.
“What?” Donghyuck asks.
“You don’t have groceries.” Jaemin pokes his head out of the fridge and closes the door. “Do you wanna go shopping and pick up something to eat?”
Donghyuck leans on the counter and nods his head, “Yeah, let's do that.”
“Wonderful!” Jaemin exclaims, clapping his hands together. “I made a list; let's go!”
The car ride to the store is filled with noise. Jaemin lets Donghyuck connect his phone to the speakers almost immediately after he gets in, despite complaining about Donghyuck’s music taste every single time. Donghyuck scrolls through his playlists dramatically while Jaemin backs out of the apartment parking lot.
“You better not put on your depressing playlists,” Jaemin warns, one hand lazily spinning the steering wheel.
Donghyuck gasps dramatically. “I have range.”
“Sorry for not expecting that from you today,” Jaemin says, looking at the traffic light in front of him.
Donghyuck knows he can feel his glare; he saw a smirk, “You know I’m over Mark.”
Jaemin looks at him for a second, then turns back to the road. “I believe you.” Donghyuck is sure he doesn’t.
Donghyuck snorts and finally clicks on one of his louder playlists instead. The car quickly fills with music and Donghyuck’s singing. Jaemin drums against the steering wheel at every red light while Donghyuck shouts lyrics with absolutely no effort to sound good. By the second song, Jaemin is yelling the chorus louder than he is anyway.
Donghyuck rolls the window down slightly, letting cold air hit his face while Jaemin keeps talking over the music about something Jeno did earlier that week. Donghyuck barely listens. He mostly watches Jaemin lit by passing streetlights and tries not to think too hard about what Renjun and Mark are up to now.
The grocery store parking lot is annoyingly full when they arrive. Jaemin parks terribly on purpose.
“You are actually insufferable,” Donghyuck says while climbing out of the car.
“It’s so no one parks next to us and scratches my new car,” Jaemin answers matter-of-factly, “But you wouldn’t want to inconvenience people, right, cutie?”
Donghyuck flips him off over the roof of the car. Yes, Donghyuck agrees he doesn’t like creating problems, but it's not his fault that Jaemin is too comfortable with them. Inside, they immediately argue over the cart.
“I’m pushing it,” Donghyuck says, grabbing the handle first.
Jaemin shakes his head, “No, because you drive shopping carts like you are directionally challenged.”
Donghyuck scoffs, “That is not true.”
“Listen to me, Hyuckie.” Jaemin says, staring into his eyes, “Let me push the cart, so you don’t go knocking kids out again.”
“It was one time, and he walked into my lane,” Donghyuck argues, gripping the bar of the shopping cart. Donghyuck doesn’t even know how he knows that, since he was shopping with Mark, but alas, the friend group does tend to like to embarrass each other.
Jaemin chuckles as he physically pulls the cart away from him. Donghyuck keeps a hand stubbornly on the handle for another few seconds before finally letting go.
“You’re a control freak,” Donghyuck mutters.
Jaemin seems to like that. “And you have no spatial awareness.”
They settle on Jaemin pushing while Donghyuck walks beside him. Donghyuck steals Jaemin’s phone the second they start moving so he can pull up the grocery list.
“You made categories?” Donghyuck asks, baffled.
Jaemin looks smug immediately. “Obviously.”
Donghyuck scrolls through the notes app list. If there is one thing Jaemin is, it is organized. Donghyuck almost wishes he had the same problem.
Produce.
Frozen.
Snacks.
Actual meals, written in all caps like Jaemin doesn’t trust him to remember they exist. Donghyuck fights a smile. Jaemin knows him too well.
Donghyuck comments, “You added fruit twice.”
“Because I know you’ll ignore it the first time.” Jaemin replies, pulling Donghyuck’s wrist to guide him away from a cart he didn’t see, with his face buried in the phone screen.
“You think very little of me,” Donghyuck says, looking up and glaring at Jaemin.
Jaemin seems to think otherwise. “I think exactly the correct amount of you.”
Donghyuck shakes his head but keeps scrolling anyway. There are a few side comments next to some items.
Buy good ramen.
NO energy drinks.
Donghyuck bites the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smiling too obviously.
“What?” Jaemin asks immediately.
“Nothing.”
“You’re smiling at my list.”
“I’m making fun of your list.”
“Sure.”
Jaemin bumps their shoulders together while steering the cart one-handed around a corner. Donghyuck almost complains before realizing Jaemin did it absentmindedly, as if touching him were natural. The realization makes something warm settle uncomfortably beneath his ribs.
The produce section is where Donghyuck realizes that agreeing to grocery shopping may have been a mistake.
Not because he hates grocery stores. In fact, he usually doesn't mind them. There is something oddly comforting about wandering aisles and pretending that buying groceries somehow means your life is together. The problem is Jaemin. Specifically, Jaemin's sudden decision to make Donghyuck's eating habits his personal responsibility.
The moment they reach the vegetables, Jaemin abandons all pretenses of being normal. He starts tossing things into the cart with the confidence of someone stocking a family of four rather than a single man whose diet consists primarily of coffee and whatever requires the least effort to prepare. Donghyuck watches him drop a bag of spinach into the cart and immediately removes it.
Jaemin notices almost instantly. Without saying a word, he places it back. Donghyuck removes it again. This time, Jaemin pauses. Slowly, he turns his head and fixes Donghyuck with a look that somehow manages to be both judgmental and exhausted.
"You're unbelievable." Jaemin scoffs.
" I don't like spinach." Donghyuck whines.
Jaemin sighs but agrees, "You don't."
"You know it’s just going to go bad in the fridge,” Donghyuck says, turning the container in his hands.
When Jaemin just shakes his head, Donghyuck grins and tosses the bag into a nearby display basket. Jaemin mutters something under his breath about nutritional deficiencies before pushing the cart again. The fact that he's genuinely invested in Donghyuck’s habits is somehow the funniest part.
The rest of the produce section goes about as well.
Every vegetable becomes a negotiation. Every fruit becomes a debate. Donghyuck complains about prices, questions whether humans actually need that many vitamins, and attempts to convince Jaemin that junk food technically counts as a food group. Jaemin dismisses every argument with increasing levels of disbelief, but Donghyuck notices that he's smiling through most of it.
For the first time all day, the knot in his chest loosens.
The hurt from brunch is still there, lingering somewhere beneath everything else. Now and then, his mind drifts back to Renjun sitting across from him, carefully watching his reaction as he talks about Mark. Back to the pity hidden beneath his smile. Back to the way Donghyuck had spent the entire conversation pretending everything was fine. But here, walking through fluorescent-lit aisles while arguing about vegetables, it feels further away.
Donghyuck continues scrolling on Jaemin’s phone until something catches his attention.
Coffee creamer. Underlined twice. His brows pull together.
"Why is coffee creamer underlined?" Donghyuck asks.
Jaemin doesn't even look up from steering the cart around a family blocking half the aisle. "Because you were out."
The answer is so immediate that Donghyuck almost misses it. He lowers the phone slightly.
"What?"
"You were out," Jaemin says again like it's obvious.
Like anyone would've noticed, most people wouldn't know what was in his refrigerator. Most people wouldn't have spent their Saturday helping him clean his apartment. Most people would've seen the state of the place and either judged him or pretended not to notice.
Jaemin had simply rolled up his sleeves and started helping. Jaemin is really weird.
Before Donghyuck can respond, Jaemin reaches toward the shelf and grabs a bottle of creamer without hesitation. He reached for the exact brand Donghyuck buys, the exact flavor, the exact size.
Donghyuck stares. "How did you know?"
That finally gets Jaemin's attention. "Know what?"
"Which one should I buy?" Donghyuck clarifies.
Jaemin looks down at the bottle and then back at him, clearly confused by the question.
"You've been buying this one forever."
Donghyuck opens his mouth. Then closes it again. Jaemin is really weird, but it makes Donghyuck happy that his friend cares as much.
Jaemin, bragging about his incredible memory, follows Donghyuck all the way to the cereal aisle.
By now, the cart is half-full, and Jaemin has wandered a few feet away to compare bread brands while Donghyuck absentmindedly studies the shelves. His hand reaches toward a familiar yellow cereal box before his brain catches up.
Honey Nut Cheerios.
The sight of it stops him cold. For a second, all he can think about is Mark. Just a random grocery trip from years ago.
The two of them were standing in an aisle almost exactly like this one. Mark insisted they should buy the bigger box because it was more cost-effective. Donghyuck was arguing simply because he enjoyed arguing with him. Mark is buying it anyway.
At the time, it had seemed completely insignificant. Now the memory settles heavily somewhere behind his ribs. Five months later, and apparently his brain still thinks in terms of them instead of him.
Still reaches for things automatically. Donghyuck lets his hand slowly drop back to his side. The cereal remains on the shelf; he doesn’t need to pretend to like that stupid flavor of cereal anymore.
"Hyuck."
Donghyuck blinks. Across the aisle, Jaemin is holding two loaves of bread. Their eyes meet, and Jaemin is looking at him with his head tilted to the side as if to ask a question. For a brief moment, Donghyuck is certain Jaemin has noticed something.
Immediately, he braces himself.
For pity or whatever feeling Jaemin was going to display in his questioning.
Instead, Jaemin lifts the bread. "White or wheat?"
Donghyuck stares. "What?"
"The bread," Jaemin says as he wiggles the loaves. "White or wheat?"
The question is so absurdly normal that it takes Donghyuck a second to process it.
“When do I eat wheat?” This is the best answer Donghyuck can provide to that question right now.
Jaemin's expression softens almost imperceptibly before he turns back toward the shelves.
They finish the rest of their shopping after that. Donghyuck finds himself watching Jaemin more than he means to. The way he absentmindedly pushes the cart with one hand. The way he checks expiration dates. The way he tosses snacks into the cart when he thinks Donghyuck isn't looking.
By the time they reach checkout, the cart is nearly overflowing. The cashier begins scanning items one after another, and Donghyuck slowly realizes something.
Almost all the items are exactly the ones Donghyuck gets.
The coffee he likes. The creamer he likes. His favorite ramen. His favorite chips. The cookies he used to buy during exam weeks. The snacks he reached for on midnight store runs during final weeks.
One by one, they pass over the scanner. Every item feels like evidence that Jaemin pays attention. The realization sits heavily in Donghyuck's chest as the total appears on the screen. Before he can reach for his wallet, Jaemin taps his card against the reader.
Donghyuck immediately glares. "Absolutely not."
"It's already paid," Jaemin says, shrugging his shoulders.
"Jaemin,” Donghyuck says, grabbing his hand.
Jaemin uses his free hand to open the wallet and uses the other to insert his card back. "Too late."
"You are not buying my groceries." Donghyuck insists.
The cashier wisely pretends not to hear them. Jaemin, meanwhile, looks completely unbothered.
"You can buy me lunch next time," Jaemin replies, thanking the cashier for the receipt.
He grabs the cart and starts walking away, forcing Donghyuck to follow him. Donghyuck thinks he might cook food for Jaemin one day or buy his groceries, too. He’ll figure it out.
Outside, they load the bags into the trunk as the evening air cools around them. For a moment, neither of them says anything. The parking lot is quieter now, the sky painted gold and blue as the sun disappears behind the buildings.
Donghyuck leans against the side of the car and watches Jaemin close the trunk.
"You know," he says after a moment, "you didn't have to do all this."
Jaemin pauses. Then look at him.
A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. "I know."
And somehow that answer affects Donghyuck more than any explanation ever could.
The drive back to Donghyuck's apartment is quieter than the drive to the grocery store had been. Not awkwardly quiet, just comfortable. The kind of silence that settles naturally between people who have known each other long enough to stop filling every gap in conversation. Music drifts softly from the speakers while the city lights pass outside the windows, and now and then, Jaemin taps his fingers against the steering wheel in time with the song.
Donghyuck catches himself smiling at something Jaemin says and immediately looks out the window before anyone can point it out. Unfortunately, Jaemin notices anyway.
"What?"
Donghyuck keeps his eyes fixed on the passing buildings. "Nothing."
"You were smiling."
"I wasn't."
"You literally were."
"Focus on the road dickhead."
Jaemin laughs, and somehow the sound follows them all the way back to the apartment.
By the time they carry the groceries upstairs, the easy mood from the car has settled around them completely. Donghyuck unlocks the door and lets Jaemin inside first, immediately regretting it when Jaemin heads straight for the kitchen like he owns the place.
"Put the bags down and don't touch anything," Jaemin says.
Donghyuck drops the grocery bags onto the counter and stares at him. "This is my apartment."
"And yet here I am helping."
"I could have done this all alone."
"Yeah, maybe by next year," Jaemin replies, smug.
Donghyuck points accusingly at him. "You said you weren't going to judge me."
"I lied," Jaemin says, his shiny, perfect teeth showing. Donghyuck thinks Jaemin likes to be mean to him. He isn’t too mean, though, just condescending.
The kitchen is small enough that cooking together quickly becomes a challenge. Every cabinet requires one of them to move. Every drawer opens directly into someone's path. More than once, they nearly ran into each other while reaching for ingredients. The first time it happens, Donghyuck turns around with a bag of vegetables at the same moment Jaemin steps toward him holding a cutting board.
They stop abruptly.
Too close.
Close enough that Donghyuck notices the faint scent of detergent lingering on Jaemin's clothes. Close enough to see the tiny crease that appears beside his eyes whenever he's trying not to laugh.
Neither of them moves for a second.
Then Jaemin lifts an eyebrow. "You're in my way."
"Asshole." Donghyuck immediately shoves him backward.
Jaemin nearly drops the cutting board, laughing.
After that, they gradually settle into a rhythm. Jaemin takes over most of the cooking, while Donghyuck insists on being useful despite repeatedly proving he is not. Every task somehow turns into an argument. Jaemin criticizes the way he cuts vegetables. Donghyuck criticizes the amount of seasoning Jaemin uses. Jaemin accuses him of having the culinary instincts of a college freshman. Donghyuck reminds him that he was, in fact, a college freshman not that long ago. Jaemin corrects him, saying it has been six years.
The conversation never really stops. It shifts effortlessly from one topic to another while they cook. Stories about work become complaints about mutual friends. Complaints about mutual friends become arguments about music.
For months, Donghyuck has been coming home to silence. He hadn't realized how much space it had begun to occupy until someone else filled it. There had always been noise when he lived with Mark. The television is running in the background. Music drifts from another room. Conversations about nothing while one of them cooked dinner. After moving out, he had convinced himself he liked being alone.
Now, watching Jaemin move around his kitchen while complaining about the organization of his cabinets, he's beginning to suspect that might not have been entirely true.
Dinner ends up being surprisingly good.
Neither of them bothers moving to the living room. They stay at the small table near the kitchen, plates pushed between them, occasionally stealing food off each other's plates despite having identical meals. The conversation continues long after they've finished eating.
At first, it's the usual topics. Work. Friends. Jeno doing something stupid. Chenle being incapable of minding his own business. But gradually the conversation slows. The jokes become less frequent. The topics become a little more serious.
Not because either of them intends for that to happen.
It just does.
Donghyuck leans back in his chair and studies the condensation sliding down the side of his glass. "Do you ever feel like we're behind?"
Jaemin looks up from his drink. "Behind what?"
"I don't know. Life." Donghyuck replies.
A small laugh escapes Jaemin. "That's vague."
"I know," Donghyuck says, looking up at Jaemin.
For a moment, Jaemin doesn't answer. He spins his glass slightly between his hands and looks back at Donghyuck.
"Yeah," he says eventually. "Sometimes."
"What did you think would be different?" Donghyuck questions.
Jaemin shrugs, though the movement feels less casual than usual. "I thought I'd have everything figured out by now. A career I actually cared about. Maybe something I can put my passion into."
"You don’t like the job you get paid almost seven figures for?”
"I hate working with idiots."
Donghyuck laughs.
"Fair."
Jaemin smiles, but it fades quickly. "I just thought I'd feel more certain or happy if I did photography, I guess."
Donghyuck understands that feeling better than he wants to admit.
For years, his future had felt straightforward. Graduate. Work for a big tech company. Keep building a life with Mark. Every version of the future he'd imagined had included the same people standing beside him.
Now it doesn't.
"I get that," he says quietly.
Jaemin studies him for a moment before nodding. Neither of them says anything after that. Donghyuck is halfway through another drink when his phone vibrates against the table.
The screen lights up. Chenle.
Without thinking, he opens the messages.
Chenle: dinner next friday at renjun's
Chenle: everyone's coming
A second message appears.
Chenle: mark and renjun are finally making it official btw
Chenle: if i have to suffer through their couple nonsense so do you
Donghyuck's stomach drops.
It happens instantly.
One second, he's sitting in his apartment, warm from a good meal and good company. The next, he's back at brunch, back across from Renjun. Back watching the careful way everyone has started looking at him lately.
The assumption is that he's one bad day away from falling apart. His mood shifts so quickly that even he notices it.
Across the table, Jaemin notices too. "What happened?"
Donghyuck slides the phone toward him. Jaemin reads the messages in silence. When he finishes, he sets the phone down carefully.
"You don't have to go."
Donghyuck lets out a short laugh. The sound is humorless.
"See, that's exactly what I mean."
Jaemin frowns. "What?"
Donghyuck looks away.
For a moment, he debates pretending everything is fine. He has gotten very good at doing that recently.
Instead, he sighs. "Everyone keeps acting like I can't handle it."
The admission sits heavily between them. Donghyuck stares down at the table as he continues.
"I know they're trying to be nice. I know nobody means anything by it. But every conversation feels like people are checking on me. Every time Mark or Renjun comes up, everyone starts acting weird."
His grip tightens around his glass. "I don't want to be the person everyone worries about."
"I don't want people looking at me like I'm broken." The words come out quieter than he intended.
Jaemin doesn't rush to respond. He doesn't immediately try to reassure him either. Instead, he sits there, listening, which somehow feels worse because it means Donghyuck can't pretend he didn't say it.
The silence stretches, and somewhere in the middle of it, an idea occurs to him.
A terrible idea. A genuinely awful idea.
The kind of idea that should absolutely stay inside his head. Unfortunately, Donghyuck has never been particularly good at that.
"What if you pretended to date me?" The words leave his mouth before he can stop them.
For a second, neither of them moves. Jaemin blinks. Then he stares.
Donghyuck feels embarrassment begin crawling up his neck almost immediately, but now that the idea is out there, he can't seem to let it go. In fact, the longer he thinks about it, the more reasonable it sounds.
"Just for a couple of months," he continues quickly. "Think about it."
Jaemin shakes his head. "I am actively trying not to."
"I'm serious," Donghyuck answers, trying to look at Jaemin’s eyes.
"That is exactly what's concerning me," Jaemin says, ducking his head lower.
Despite himself, Donghyuck laughs. Jaemin must feel embarrassed or shy about Donghyuck’s random proposal. Jaemin still hasn’t looked up at Donghyuck.
Slowly, he sits forward in his chair. He has to be serious now to convince Jaemin.
"If I show up with someone, nobody spends the entire night staring at me. Nobody feels sorry for me. Nobody keeps treating me like Mark's ex-boyfriend."
Jaemin's expression shifts.
The humor fades because now he understands. This isn't about making anyone jealous. It isn't about Mark. It's about dignity. About wanting one evening where he isn't the person everyone feels obligated to protect.
Donghyuck drops his gaze. "I just want one night where people look at me normally."
The confession hangs between them. For a long moment, Jaemin says nothing. Then he leans back in his chair and drags a hand down his face. The gesture looks suspiciously like surrender.
"You are unbelievable." Is the reply he gets.
Hope immediately sparks inside Donghyuck. "That's not a no."
"It's not a yes." Jaemin counters.
"But it wasn't a no." Donghyuck giggles.
Jaemin groans. The sound is loud enough to make Donghyuck grin for the first time since reading Chenle's text.
Across the table, Jaemin points at him. "If this becomes a disaster, and it will become a disaster, I want it on record that this was entirely your idea."
The grin grows on Donghyuck’s face. "That's fair."
Jaemin drops his head back against the chair and stares at the ceiling like he's questioning every decision that led him to this moment. Unfortunately, the corner of his mouth twitches upward anyway.
And that's when Donghyuck knows he's won.