Chapter Text
They had decided that it probably wasn't the best idea to announce their relationship to all of their friends yet, they didn't want Doyoung to get the wrong idea when they set their plan into motion.
The plan so far being:
- woo
- seduce
- great consensual sex
Okay, maybe it was still a work in progress but no one was perfect and it's not like either of them had done this before.
After the Halloween party they had volunteered to help Doyoung clean up in the morning with the excuse of being too lazy to go home. Also at some point during the night Johnny had managed to fall into the water installation in the foyer of the house, and his costume hadn't dried yet by the time the party wound down.
Their 'help' the next day was mostly just picking up empty beer cans and cups so the cleaning ladies had it easier later. Definite upsides of having filthy rich parents, Johnny thought. His clumsy flirting attempts from the night before kept playing on repeat in his mind and it was very difficult to look Doyoung directly in the eyes over breakfast. Meanwhile Jungwoo, that asshole, seemed like he was completely at ease and revelling in Johnny's embarrassment.
Doyoung had shooed them out after they'd finished their food, exclaiming that he needed to catch up on his beauty sleep and Johnny's tallness would probably just scare the cleaning staff instead of being helpful.
So they went back to Jungwoo's dorm together, hoping Jaehyun would still be asleep so they finally had some time to themselves. Johnny was suddenly very excited to be moving out that month. Most of his friends either still lived with their parents or in the college dormitory so while he was looking forward to having his own space he also knew that he would probably rarely ever be alone there. It was a nice thought, being a safe space for them. (He would have to retract that statement two weeks later when Mark barged into his new apartment for some Love Talk, but that was a problem for future-Johnny.)
Sadly Jaehyun was home though, but it seemed like he was in a rush to get some toast into his stomach and rush out of the apartment.
Sometime in November
This was Johnny’s first time moving. And already it was turning out to be way more work than he had been expecting. Luckily, he hadn’t just secured the help of almost everyone he knew for his actual moving day. He had also managed to rope Jungwoo and Doyoung into helping him pack all his belongings into way too many boxes. The fact that Doyoung had volunteered happily when Johnny had messaged him a few days prior had surprised both him and Jungwoo. Secretly they had decided to crank up the flirting a little and just see where it would lead. There wasn’t really a clear plan in place and Johnny was starting to realise that that might have been a mistake.
On both fronts: The packing and the flirting. All three of them kept getting distracted by the sheer amount of stuff that had accumulated in the room over the years.
"Johnny, have you ever, you know, cleaned under your bed?”, Doyoung asked from his place on the floor, sorting small trinkets and lost goodies from trash. (Johnny could already tell that the ‘trash’ pile was way too big and he’d have to sort it out himself later. But he would leave Doyoung to it for a while.)
"Of course not! The monsters live under there, you know that?”, Johnny replied, incredulously. His friend just rolled his eyes and Jungwoo snorted loudly with his head somewhere in the closet.
After the random trinkets came the dresser. Johnny’s mother had quite sternly advised the three not to fill any boxes with just books, so all the boxes they had set up had one or two layers at the bottom already. Now they just had to fill them with lighter stuff. Johnny started sifting through the contents of the old drawers, throwing things he didn’t know where to put on his bed and the clothes that he found at Jungwoo who was still packing various bags and suitcases.
"Aw, is that you?'' Doyoung had picked up an old framed picture from where Johnny had discarded it on the bed sheets. Johnny looked over at him for a second and nodded with a smile before he returned to his task. "You look so cute here!”
Instantly recognizing his chance, Johnny said "Not as cute as you are.”, with a grin he was luckily able to hide. Even though he had his back turned towards Doyoung again, he was still able to perfectly picture his face just by the surprised noise his friend let out.
It took the three of them like two full weekends to pack all of Johnny's shit safely into a fuckton of cardboard boxes. Jungwoo had started complaining early on day one that Johnny owned too much stuff and they should just get rid of the half. Doyoung had joined the chorus on day two, after he had discovered not one but two karaoke microphones buried deep beneath the last mountain of clothes. He had never seen either of them and he wasn't sure if they were actually Johnny's until he said jokingly "I didn't know you were that much of a singer, John“ and the only reply he got was a pair of grabby hands.
(Then Jungwoo swooped in before Johnny could stow the pieces away and much to Doyoung's regret one of the mics still seemed to be charged just enough for the man to run after him and serenade him with a … 'newly interpreted' rendition of Taylor Swift's Love Story.
By the end of it, Jungwoo had backed Doyoung into the ensuite bathroom with no way of escape and Johnny was filming them with hands shaking from barking laughter. Safe to say Jungwoo had lost any and all right to complain about the speed at which they were moving the process along after that and Doyoung reserved the right to scold both of them for being silly puppies as often as he wanted.)
Early December
Jungwoo had found a super cute christmassy winter market in their town (helpfully advertised to him on instagram) that he had begged Johnny to visit with him. The bribe had been that they could invite Doyoung to tag along, it had worked like a charm. Suddenly their schedule for December was packed. They had to postpone their secret santa lots drawing bc of Yuta’s and Taeyong’s disappearing-act, so everyone had less time to go shopping. And Johnny’s house warming party was in just a few days too. Then there would be the actual secret santa and then it was already christmas. Jungwoo would’ve been lying if he said he wasn’t stressed, but this market would be a nice distraction and hopefully he would find a nice little something for his designated secret santa partner.
While they had decided to not actively hide their relationship anymore (after they had finally defined it as such), it was quite the balancing act when they were around Doyoung. Making their intentions toward him clear, they had decided, also meant holding back on all the couply shit Jungwoo loved doing so much. It was proving more difficult by the day.
So of course Jungwoo hadn't been able to refrain from holding Johnny's hand after all, even though he had honestly tried. In his defense, it was super chilly and his boyfriend was wearing his fluffiest winter jacket and Jungwoo had also pulled Doyoung in by his arm on his other side. So now he was as cozy as could be, walking in a cuddly sandwich over the warmly lit market.
They had already stuffed their faces with enough mushrooms and pizza and candied almonds to last at least a week and were now simply perusing the other stalls. Jungwoo was also excitedly photographing every ugly tree ornament he saw and instantly forwarding the pictures to his mother.
Whenever he saw something he thought one of the other two would like, he dragged them there without much warning or explanation. That approach had already caused Doyoung to spill his hot cocoa and Johnny to drop a handful of almonds, but they didn’t seem to mind too much. All in all, Jungwoo was very content.
At one point they split up to buy each other christmas gifts - also Jungwoo’s suggestion. Even though they were doing secret santa with their friend group, he really wanted an excuse to buy something for Doyoung and he had seen this really fluffy alpaca wool hat at one of the stalls…
The brunette also still had to find a present for Johnny so this gave him the perfect opportunity to do both.
When the trio found their way back to each other by the big christmas tree in the middle of the town square it had begun to drizzle a bit, so they huddled close together under a single tiny folding umbrella. While they had split up, Jungwoo had only run into Johnny once and instantly shouted “Don’t look!!!” and speed-walked away.
“It’s getting kinda late and the weather truly isn’t to die for, should we head home? I would kill for a hot drink that doesn’t cost more than I could probably sell my kidney for.” Doyoung complained and peaked up at the dark sky. “Probably a good idea, my toes are going a little numb.”, Johnny agreed readily. "Oh, by the way,” Jungwoo chimed in, "we were gonna go to Johnny's place, make some mulled wine“ - "It's just boxed wine, Woo“ - "Yea yea – and watch one of the Vanessa Hudgens movies. You wanna join?“
Doyoung pulled back from their triangle constellation at that, the tiniest frown pulling his eyebrows together. He didn't look mad or anything, more like he was thinking real hard about a math problem.
Then, in an instant, his face cleared up again and he let out a wooden laugh, lifting his hand to rub the back of his head. "Ah, nah, you guys go ahead and enjoy some alone-time, I was planning on heading to the library anyways. Still have that essay to finish for Mr. Kim's class.“ It was Jungwoo's turn to frown now. He knew Doyoung was a bit of a nerd and a lot of a workaholic, just like Jaehyun, but he was pretty sure he had heard him mention that he only needed to make some last edits to that essay and then he would be done. Doyoung did simple editing like that in his sleep. Or in five minutes before class, if needed.
Jungwoo looked at Johnny for help, who just gave him a slightly helpless shrug. He turned back to Doyoung: "Okay, if you want... But just know that the library is sooo cold and evil and Johnny's couch is soooo warm and comfy...“ One last throw at the wall was instantly shattered by Doyoung's smiling defence. "It's fine, really, have fun guys!“
And just like that, he was already turning around and hurrying away from them with a little wave over his shoulder.
When Jungwoo and Johnny got back to the warm apartment and were defrosting their fingers and toes they recounted the events of the day to each other, making sure they hadn't misinterpreted Doyoung's quick exit.
The words “alone-time” had stuck out to both of them in particular. Maybe they were even worse at acting like they weren’t a couple than they had thought.
Divide and conquer was probably the way to go, they decided.
POV : Doyoung
The day had been so nice. So nice. Doyoung kind of wanted to slap himself for making it weird and awkward when it really didn't need to be. And what for? Jungwoo had invited him to come over (to... Johnny's place, granted, but he hadn't seemed to mind). He could've just gone and experienced even more Christmas joy with his friends. Instead he was actually sitting in the library on a Saturday. Just because his friends had kind of been acting like a couple lately and it was throwing him off, because when it was just the three of them they were so affectionate with him as well? Just because he enjoyed their attention a little too much? Just because he couldn't stop thinking about how he wanted to experience their cocks inside him and it made him feel super guilty? Okay maybe those were all very valid reasons to feel awkward around your friends that could make you not want to crash their cozy evening (couple???) plans. But still, Doyoung couldn't help but feel stupid.
Instead of slapping himself in the face, he just let his head drop down onto his calculus book with a loud thunk sound.