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Donghyuck is sprawled upside down on his couch, playing Subway Surfers to kill time as he listens to Renjun puttering about in the kitchen, when he hears both of their phones ping. A notification pops up from their group chat.
Markrenle and the choir
Jeno
Haii, are we still on for dinner tomorrow?
Right. Dinner at Jeno’s. He can totally do this. They have been hanging out in the same group for almost a good seven months now ever since the Mark-Renjun-Chenle drama got resolved and they became markrenjunchenle leading to their friend groups eventually merging. Never mind the fact that Jeno and him have barely exchanged anything other than the customary greeting at a hangout or the occasional ribbing at Mark, and beyond that, Donghyuck barely knows the guy at all.
Melkie
Of courseeee honey, count me in.
Jeno
Okay so thats Mark hyung, Renjun and Chenle counted for
Jaeman
Not even a question for me. of course ill be there.
Jisungie
Ill be there hyungg!!! ><
Yeah ill be there.
Jeno
okay perfect see you tomorrow guys!!
“You know you can be yourself with Jeno right? He’s a great guy. Give him a chance Hyuck,” Renjun calls out as he enters the living room while wiping his hands on his apron.
Donghyuck whines out, “ Of course I know he’s a good guy, Mark Hyung would not hang out with him, let alone be obsessed with him, if he wasn’t. Jeno is just the only one who I did not know at all prior to the weird courtship dance of you three, and I dunno, it's just hard to find things to talk about.”
“Well it has been more than six months since we started meeting up so you’ve had enough time to get to know him,” Renjun points out.
Donghyuck squints at him in suspicion. “Are you trying to set me up or something Junnie?”
Renjun rolls his eyes exasperatedly, “No dumbass, I’m not. It's just that… it would be nice if all of you would get along with each other and actually be friends. It would mean a lot to me. Mark Hyung too.”
Donghyuck lets out a sigh as he takes in Renjun’s words. Damn him for playing the sentimental card, and using Mark. It's a double kill in his books.
“Fine! Fine. I’ll try my best to charm the pants off him at dinner tomorrow and make him forget he ever had a best friend named Na Jaemin.”
“No one is asking you to do that Hyuck. All I want is for you to start caring for him as a friend like you do the rest of us.”
Whatever. Once everyone is at Jeno’s, he is going to be orbiting around Renjun, Mark and Jisung - if Jaemin lets his claws off him for a second - and once they settle in for the movie, no one is going to be talking to each other anyways. He is going to get drunk, munch on peri peri chips and pizza, and come back to his comfortable bed, with the pressure of interacting with Jeno pushed to the next hangout. Easy shit.
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.
Donghyuck is praying to whatever entity that exists to strike him down right fucking now if it means escaping this situation.
The evening started great, all of them piled into Jeno’s living room, Chenle and Jisung arguing over which movie to put on while Jaemin and Mark practically meld into the couch with how wrapped up they are in each other. Renjun is helping Jeno set the food on the coffee table and Donghyuck is replying to texts on his dance society group. They eventually settle for Venom (again) because Jaemin and Renjun insisted and no one can deny both of them anything, let alone when they team up.
By the end of the movie, all of them are full and tipsy enough to start going back home one by one. It is not until Mark, Renjun and Chenle have left together for Mark’s apartment and Jisung is trying to drag a giggly and wine-drunk Jaemin out of Jeno’s front door, that Donghyuck registers the time.
“Shitshitshit” Donghyuck swears out loud and startles Jeno in the process.
“Did something happen Donghyuck?”
“I’ve missed the last train and no buses are going to my place at this hour. I would’ve begged Mark hyung to drop me off, even if it's the completely opposite direction, but they must have already reached home by now.” Donghyuck rambles as he looks at the exorbitant Uber rates in despair. He is jolted out of his thoughts of spending the night in a bench in some park when he feels a light touch on his arm and sees Jeno looking at him with a hesitant but inviting smile.
“You do realize you are literally in my home right now? Just stay over and go back tomorrow. Its a Sunday tomorrow so you won’t be missing your 8am and you can take your time.”
Donghyuck blinks in surprise at the fact that Jeno pays enough attention to know he has an 8am and that he offered so easily. He knows Jeno is a decent guy, but thoughts of stifling awkwardness is a small fear to overcome next to a night spent in the cold outside.
Still, Donghyuck won’t be Donghyuck if he did not put up any front at all so he still tries to resist.
“No its fine, I don’t want to impose! I’ll just take an Uber home.”
Jeno clicks his tongue in response and shakes his head. “ Hyuck, I saw your face start to pale when you opened Uber. You will not be imposing, just take the couch and sleep over. I can lend you a toothbrush and some clothes to change into.”
Donghyuck knows not to look a gift horse in the mouth and nods in acceptance. He sees Jeno’s lips turn up to a smile and tells him to wait while he brings the stuff. Jenos walks into his bedroom on the right side of the living room and walks out holding a t-shirt, a pair of shorts, and a toothbrush as promised.
Donghyuck thanks him and goes to the bathroom at the end of the hallway from Jeno’s room. He changes into the given clothes and notices how the t-shirt practically drowns him. Damn these muscular men and their unnecessarily broad shoulders. He remembers Junnie’s words from the day before and thinks of how the universe practically forced interaction in close proximity on him. So much for being evasive.
Donghyck walks out after washing up and sees two pillows and a blanket on the couch, Just then Jeno walks in with a water bottle in his hands and already in his night clothes.
“Hey, tell me if you need anything else in the night. I’ll most likely be awake so just knock on my room anytime okay?”
Donghyuck takes the given bottle and smiles at Jeno in gratitude. “Thanks a lot for letting me stay Jeno. I swear I'll be out of your hair first thing tomorrow.”
Jeno just waves a hand and, says, “Its really no problem. Sleep well Donghyuck. Good Night!”
“Good night!”
Well, Donghyuck thinks as he pulls up the blanket over himself after switching off the lights, it could have gone worse. However, Jeno seems as keen as him to avoid any small talk and is left to his devices. Maybe he is someone Donghyck can eventually befriend, he thinks as he finally drifts off.
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Voices.
Faint at first, and then unbearably loud.
Deafening screams fill his mind as he finds himself trapped in the bathroom, which is beginning to burn along with the rest of his home. The voices are begging him to save them but he can barely see the air in front of him and he can feel his ribs start to slowly cave in as the ceiling begins to crumble around him.
He chokes on his next inhale and he can’t breathe, he can’t breathe, he can begin to feel all the air leave his body-
“-uck! DONGHYUCK!”
Donghyuck wakes up with a start, heaving for air as he feels Jeno’s hands gripping his shoulders. He can still feel the smoke filling his lungs and the phantom ache in his ribs. Jeno hands him the bottle of water which he takes gratefully and gulps down till it's empty. It's harder to shake off the aftereffects even more than usual, maybe because he is in someone else’s house and Mark or Renjun aren't here to card their fingers through his hair and lull him back to sleep.
“Are you okay Hyuck?”
Donghyuck finally looks up and sees Jeno’s face pinched in concern and his hand hovering near Donghyuck’s arm, unsure whether to touch or not.
“I.. yeah I am now. It's just. You know. Nightmare. Nothing new.”
Donghyuck did not think Jeno’s face could twist in even more worry but he managed it somehow. “ What do you mean by nothing new? Are you telling me you get nightmares often?”
Donghyuck let out a sigh. He was hoping for his brain to cooperate with his surroundings tonight of all nights.
“Unfortunately it is a recurring thing in my life. If I am lucky I will get by with three of them in a week, but there have been weeks when it was an every-night thing.”
Jeno makes a small wounded noise which has Donghyuck looking up in surprise. Jeno finally holds his arms and rubs them up and down on the skin exposed by the ridden-up sleeve.
“You were completely out of it Hyuck, thrashing and yelling and it took me literally holding and shaking you for you to wake up. It was honestly fucking scary so I can’t imagine what it might be like for you. And now you’re telling me it happens every week I'm sorry that you have to go through that Donghyuck.”
Donghyuck is pretty sure he is gaping at Jeno now, in shock that Jeno actually seems distraught over his well-being. He feels a little bad about his earlier apprehensions regarding Jeno now and tries to placate his worries.
“Ah it's really not a big deal, I am honestly used to it. Part of the routine now. You don’t have to be sorry for me Jeno, in fact, I am sorry that I woke you up and scared you. I should have warned you that this could have happened, I was just hoping for my coolest in the group image to last a little longer with you.”
Jeno let out a little chuckle on hearing that and tilted his head, “ I watched you catch and eat cheetos that Chenle was throwing with his mouth in the air the first time I met you Donghyuck, you have never been the coolest in the group.”
Donghyuck pouts on hearing that.
“Also you did not wake me up, I was in the kitchen eating the last of the fries when I first heard you.”
Donghyuck looks at the clock above the television and sees the night has them awake at 2:45 a.m. They have not been talking for more than ten minutes so it means Jeno had been awake 3 hours after Donghyuck fell asleep, after a day of classes and the whole evening spent with five other rowdy people.
Jeno sees the question in Donghyuck’s eyes before he can ask it, and rubs the back of his neck, his expression sheepish.
“Um... I actually have insomnia, so I was just playing a game and walked out when I got hungry. I usually fall asleep sometime around 4 a.m. so you did not disturb me at all.”
Huh. With how put together Jeno looks at any time of the day, Donghyuck never would have guessed that he is barely running on two hours of sleep, considering he goes to the gym at 6:30 with Jaemin and Chenle every day. Now that he really takes his time to look at Jeno properly, he can the pronounced dark circles and the tired strain around his eyes. It's a marvel how he can have a smile on his face at all times almost.
Donghyuck is shaken out of his musings when he sees Jeno get up from his knees, and stretch his arms upwards. Jeno lets out a big yawn and does not see the way Donghyuck’s eyes linger on the sliver of skin exposed at his waist. He looks down at Donghyuck and stretches a hand towards him.
“Do you want to sleep in my room? My bed is big enough for both of us and I just…don’t want to leave you alone in case you get another nightmare.”
Donghyuck still has tendrils of the dream clinging to him and honestly, maybe it's the late hour of the night making him softer but he does not want to stay alone anymore.
He takes Jeno’s hand and pulls himself up.
Jeno lets go of his hand once they enter the bedroom and tells him to get in first, saying that he doesn’t have any preference for a side. Donghyuck gets under the blanket and almost sinks into the mattress with how soft it is. He turns on his side and looks at Jeno putting his glasses in his case and switching off the table lamp.
The night is dark and quiet at this hour. There is pale moonlight barely lighting the room as Jeno gets into the bed. Donghyuck can hear him rustling around to find a comfortable spot and then settle. For a few moments, the sound of their breaths is loud enough to make Donghyuck itch out of the tension. He huffs and turns onto his side, facing Jeno when he cannot take it anymore.
“ Hey. I can go back to the couch, it's no problem. I don’t want to bother you and take over your bed.”
“No don’t go back! I’m just not feeling sleepy yet.”
Jeno’s resigned and dejected voice just breaks something in Donghyuck’s heart and he lets himself be brave for once.
Donghyuck grabs Jeno’s arm and pulls him closer across the bed. He hears Jeno let out a squeak, as their bodies are flush together. He begins to run his hand through Jeno’s hair and lets out a breath when he feels Jeno’s body still tensed up.
“Whenever I used to wake Renjun or Mark Hyung up with my nightmares, they used to do this for me, and it felt calming enough to put me to sleep again. I’m hoping it helps you too.”
He finally feels Jeno relax and slowly push his head into Donghyuck’s hand. The repeated motion begins to make Donghyuck drowsy too. He did not expect his day to end like this, and he was pretty sure this was not what Renjun had in mind when he wanted them to get closer, but now with Jeno’s legs slowly entwining with his and their breaths beginning to synch, he cannot bring himself to oppose this.
Tomorrow they will wake up well past noon, with Donghyuck’s nose in the crook of Jeno’s neck and Jeno’s arm slung around his waist. Tomorrow both of them will slowly wake up, feeling better rested than they have in literal months and brush their teeth side by side. Tomorrow Donghyuck will offer to take Jeno out for breakfast (re: lunch) and then properly talk over kimchi jiggae.
Right now, their breaths begin to even out as the first of the birdsong trickles into the room.