#taedo fic

[wanderdrops]

ALL OF US LOST ~ [DOTAE FIC]

Fic very inspired in the movie All of us strangers. Doyoung is a young writer who has been gaining recognition lately with his sad personal stories. With this, he decides to move to a new building, becoming the first to inhabit it. The second to move in is Lee Taeyong, a music producer and writer who has a somewhat messy life and heart due to a past love. Doyoung doesn't want to get to know him, but Taeyong insists on entering his life. How many times will each of them open the door?

“I knew you weren't sleeping.”

Taeyong had flushed cheeks and a smile that adorned his face. He looked at Doyoung with a joy as if they had known each other since childhood.

“Do you want some?” Taeyong offered him the beer. 

Doyoung, for some reason, accepted it. It was cold and damp. He could feel it on his long fingers. He stared at it, half in disbelief.

“You know, I rang all the buzzers to guess which one was your apartment. You can do those things when you're one of the few people living here…” Taeyong paused to take a sip from his bottle. As he swallowed, he only looked at Doyoung. “Who else would open the door for me?”

Doyoung was silent, and Taeyong's drunkenness wouldn't make him realize he was the only one talking.

The blonde boy leaned on the door frame to approach Doyoung, a gesture that caused him a certain adrenaline rush. There, he noticed he was taller than Taeyong.

“You know we're the only ones here, right?” Taeyong spoke as if he were revealing a secret.

“Yes…”

Doyoung looked at his beer again. Should he be celebrating? His eyes were fixed on the blonde, and he gripped his hand that held the door. "Taeyong is a stranger" he repeated to himself.

“Wait... you're alone, aren't you?”

Taeyong seemed concerned as their eyes met.

“Yes, just me and my computer. In fact, I was working for tomorrow and should finish soon…”

“Working? It's one in the morning, Doyoung.” Taeyong emphasized his name, flashing a mischievous smile. “You should be celebrating. We're the only ones here! How often does that happen in life?”

There it was again, Taeyong answering his thoughts for the second time that night. The blonde seemed good at fitting into his head, and it made him feel a sensation very similar to nausea.

But he also felt that Taeyong was right. The recent events of his life were just situations he couldn't control. Could this be a moment to feel a hint of sway? To remember what autonomy over his own life felt like?

He fixed his eyes on the blonde and loosened his hand that was gripping the door. He let his shoulders drop and looked at the beer.

“Go ahead, I understand.” Taeyong murmured resignedly, taking a step back with his gaze on the ground with a drunk pout in his lips. “I understand because this has always been my life. I've always drunk alone. And now I just... wanted to avoid feeling like this. But I understand that I'm... I just hope that…”

Taeyong was interrupted by the sound of the beer can opening. Eyes on Doyoung and saw a somewhat shy smile on his lips as he savored them after taking a sip. 

“You know what else you can do in an empty building?” Taeyong exclaimed eagerly. To Doyoung, he resembled a small child. His smile reaching to infect his eyes, his somewhat disheveled blonde hair. Doyoung observed it all in a split second.

“Hmm?”

“Drink on the stairs.”

Doyoung let out a small laugh. "The first one of the day," he thought. Self-awareness made him tremble a little, and he allowed himself to be fooled into thinking it was the beer's fault.

“Let's go.” Doyoung said after grabbing his keys and closing the door behind him. “I feel like you have a lot to say, and I'm a good listener.”

Doyoung said those words with compassion. "He's always alone." It was easy for him to ignore that besides pity, he also felt an interest in Taeyong. 

“How could someone like him always feel lonely?”

***

It was cold. November greeted the end of the year and Taeyong and Doyoung were sitting on the emergency exit of the building as if it were spring. The night breeze blew and the smell of whisky permeated the narrow hallway adorned with stairs connected throughout the entire structure. Doyoung couldn't help but think if he should use them to escape something at some point.

In front of them was an opening to the outdoors. Both imagined that each floor had one, and that's why there was a current of air as if they were in a park.

"I have the feeling that no one will ever inhabit this building," Taeyong said with a smile.

Doyoung shrugged and pursed his lips. He looked at his beer and suppressed the urge to drink more: he didn't want it to run out so soon.

"I wouldn't mind," he said.

Taeyong turned slightly to face him. He leaned his back against the wall with a sly smile.

"You're very lonely, aren't you?"

He shrugged again. This time Taeyong imitated him and laughed when Doyoung looked at him with a grimace.

"You have a lonely face," Taeyong said once he became serious.

Doyoung looked him in the eyes and then at his beer. He took a sip. A lonely face. Was there any lie in that?

"Yeah, now I'm very..." Doyoung pursed his lips. "I mean, yeah. I have friends. But... my face speaks for my soul."

Taeyong raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. Doyoung shut himself off in his mind. 

"That was poetic," Taeyong said.

Doyoung let out a shy laugh.

"Yeah, I exaggerated a bit."

"You should be a writer," Taeyong suggested.

Doyoung looked at him with a smile.

"I am a writer."

Taeyong's eyes widened. His lips parted slightly, and he laughed.

"Don't play with me, I'm drunk," Taeyong said with amusement, pointing to his bottle as evidence.

Doyoung was going to shrug, but he chose to smile with a hint of bitterness.

Not receiving much of a response, Taeyong leaned in a bit closer to Doyoung.

"Are you serious?"

"He’s like a little kid," Doyoung thought as he looked at him, smiling at the emotion he saw in him, which was likely exacerbated by alcohol.

"I’m pretty serious," Doyoung assured. "I've written two books. That's why I can be here."

Doyoung spoke with a timid pride that dissipated when he faced the realization that what he had said wasn't entirely true. Doyoung hadn't moved because of finding success. Doyoung moved because he had no other choice.

He glanced again at his beer and drank the last sip from his can.

"Two books... That's hot," Taeyong remarked as he finished the last sips of his whiskey bottle. He couldn't stop looking at Doyoung. "I moved because I wanted to stop living with my boyfriend."

"That's hot." "With his boyfriend." Doyoung's stomach churned, and he blamed the beer.

"And why?" Doyoung responded automatically, almost like when he had to switch to 'Best Friend Who Always Listens' mode. He fiddled with his fingers holding the empty beer can. For some reason, he felt like he couldn't hold Taeyong's gaze.

"Because he broke up with me," Taeyong said as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet, then shrugged, followed by a bitter laugh.

There was silence. Doyoung searched his eyes for a few seconds, and when they met, Taeyong took the last sip from his bottle. "So he's in love."

"But I'm fine," he affirmed with a more slurred voice than usual thanks to the whiskey. He pressed his lips together and nodded. "I'll be fine."

Doyoung smiled at him, pressing his lips together too.

"I think you just have to wait," he said to the blond boy. How many times had he said that to his friends? Their eyes met, and Doyoung smiled at him honestly. "Only time decides whether we're okay or not."

When he said that, he realized he was also telling that to himself. Doyoung also needed to feel like he would be okay. He felt lost, even in this moment of drinking on the stairs that distracted him from his meticulous plans to mend his heart.

Taeyong looked at him with sadness, and Doyoung didn't know how to respond to his eyes. He felt the urge to touch his back and stroke it to give him encouragement, but he ended up just leaving the empty beer can next to him to clasp his hands. He was forbidding himself.

"Doyoung..." Taeyong finally said.

"Uhm?"

Taeyong let out a silent laugh, quickly hiding it by bringing his fingers to his lips. Doyoung knew immediately.

"I need to throw up."

The possibility of Taeyong going to his apartment to vomit felt nil. The blond boy looked much paler than he already was, and Doyoung quickly stood up to climb a couple of steps to the door leading to the apartment hallway.

But Taeyong didn't move.

"Hey, come with me," Doyoung said with a laugh. The blond boy looked lost, disoriented. 

Taeyong climbed slowly, and Doyoung held the door open for him. Without a second thought, he grabbed his keys from his pockets to go to his apartment and open the door for Taeyong.

Who would have thought that a stranger would be the first person to visit his new place?

#i had a good time writing this #i know it's just the beginning but i love these two sm #anyways hope someone's enjoying this! #i'll be updating soon #dotae fanfic #taedo fanfic #dotae fic #taedo fic #doyoung fanfic #taeyong fanfic #nct fanfic #nct 127 fanfic #dotae #taedo

[dojae-huh]

Regarding misinterpretation of a video or information, I think that's a common thing especially in the world of shippers. The other day I found this Jaedo moment and read one of the comments which said actually Jae at that time mentioned Taeyong while he wasn't there so he was shy or idk maybe just a particular laugh while all this time Jaedoists thought this video was one of Jaedo's moments.

https:(.)//youtube.com/shorts/X2-jbTXd75E?si=V-gZVlB_B79gwXXt

I think there must be a lot of possibilities and perceptions because of course what we watch and hear are videos that are cut, edited (even NCT's own content must go through a lot of editing), even running in script, some of it is information without visual evidence. I think this has been passed down for generations in the shipper world that just believe what you want to believe because it won't hurt you and other people. these few weeks have certainly been tough for some jaedoists (re: me. heh) but what can you do. look at edited videos that full of cut and slowmotion or read their fics and fanart, I think we are more than trained to wait for jaedo in a drought 😂. And last I wanna cherish you cause you answer these qna patienly, I bet there are irritating quetion on your inbox that you should read but huh-nim I truly thank you always on cool headed, have a nice day

Link

This was a JaeDo moment.

I find shippers imagining things and gushing over wrong things normal. It is the nature of shipping in the sense most think of this activity (pretending two people are in a romantic relationship without evidence). Even if I sometimes write a sarcastic comment about one or other ship, I do it from a position of an outsider. The problem only arises when shippers start shipwars because noone has a higher ground. Even JaeDo shippers make mistakes and make fake collages, gluing unrelated photos of Jae and Do or deleting a member between them. Despite JaeDo offering genuine interactions.

How many possible scenarios and correct answers exist depends on the situation at hand. Sometimes, with additional knowledge, the answer is very clear, sometimes, indeed, there could be many explanations (even if one of them is more plausible than the other).

I genuinely don't understand complaining JaeDo shippers. Unless all you want is a daily inflow of new moments and to feel like you get more than other shippers. Shippers like thet resemble those people who mindlesly scroll TikTok and Tumblr waiting for a new funny exciting video or post, that gets boring after one view. As for me, the memory of DJJ era moments still feed the fire in my shipper heart like quality coal, heh.

JaeDo moment videos and year end compilations are hours in length. As a ship it not only has more moments than most others (except for TaeDo, maybe), it has moments of "higher quality", more shippery (romantic and memorable), if you will.

Yes, it would be nice to have Jaehyun openly supporting Doyoung's solo, featuring on his album, sending him a food truck. However, if you look at things from another angle, how a couple of silly ShowChamp chicks are now both living very busy fulfilling lives, starring in tv-series and releasing solo-albums, how far they've come, following their dreams and supporting each other. Think about that JaeDo are releasing their albums one after another, with joined activities (127) inbetween, how they will both go to Italy as BAs in demand, etc, etc.... you won't be so sad, you'll see the "worth its own tv-series" love story.

[hypados]

♡ i hope this comes back to haunt you.

◜dia 26 08 20, para o projeto neotype. — caso se inspire, por favor me credite.

◜ obrigada @solairestudio pela sugestão do tema/couple e @taehyundaiport pelo tutorial barra compilado de dicas <3

#nct #nct 127 #dotae #taedo #kim dongyoung #nct doyoung #doyoung #lee taeyong #nct taeyong #taeyong #capa de fanfic #capa de fic #capa para fic #capa para fanfic #capa de spirit #capa para spirit #capa simples #design simples #capa dark #capa clean

[neowinestainedress]

↬  title: where all the poets went to die  ↬  pairing: lee taeyong / kim doyoung ↬  summary: Taeyong learns that sometimes, no matter how many things you try, escaping is the only way to keep on surviving. ↬  genre: idol!taeyong (not nct!taeyong, soloist!taeyong), song inspired - the lakes by taylor swift, domestic fluff, romantic, happy ending ↬  warnings: none, mentioned johnten, mentioned kun, (this is the sequel of this, not exactly what I was hoping for but I couldn’t keep on working on it, so here it is) ↬  words count: 9.9k  ↬  ao3 link

Taeyong really wished people would’ve deleted him, pushed him and Doyoung out of their minds as soon as possible. He wished that destroying his career was enough for them. But apparently, things never work as you want them to go. Months went by, and somehow they still seemed to be the most exciting rumour on everybody’s tongue. The hurtful comments never stopped flooding Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr. He shouldn’t have done that, maniacally looking up for his name, or Doyoung’s, but he did. He just wanted to be in contact with his fans, he knew that some of them were still there. He wanted to be present for them, let them know he was grateful for their support, and for still believing in him and accepting who he really was. The problem was that the hate they were giving him was bigger than anything else, and one nice comment wasn’t enough to delete all the malice. 

But Taeyong was headstrong, or as Doyoung would say, a dickhead, and just kept checking his phone every second. The younger knew that his obsession was the result of his idol life, he was raised with the idea that he had to perfect and to obsess about what people thought of him. Because his reputation had to be perfect, no mistakes, no foul, no trait of being human. But Taeyong wasn’t an idol anymore; some company reached for him but he rejected, not mentally ready to face that all over again. And Doyoung was tired of seen him self-sabotaging himself. So it wasn’t unexpected when one day they had a big fight over it. Doyoung had just got home from work to see Taeyong basically in the middle of a panic attack, trembling on the floor, as he was sobbing uncontrollably. Doyoung didn’t even want to know what he had seen or read, he couldn’t care about it, but he was furious that once again his boyfriend was in that conditions because of people that had nothing to do with their lives. He didn’t say a thing, though, he simply let Taeyong crawl in his arms and cry on his shoulder, the older mumbling incomprehensible words against his shirt. And it took him the whole night to calm him down, and put him to bed, finally falling asleep when it was almost four in the morning. Doyoung was done, filled to the brim, his patience gone completely. He couldn’t stop people from writing terrible things on him, or hate him, or think that he was a tremendous person, but he could stop Taeyong from hurting himself. And Taeyong didn’t like it. 

“Why did you do that?” The brown-haired screamed as he threw his phone on the couch. 

“Because I was tired of seeing you harming yourself, Yong,” Doyoung answered trying to keep his tone calm, shouting at the other would’ve just made things worst. 

“You could’ve asked me? Since it’s my phone, and my socials and my life!” He had had a terrible night, so he was already nervous because of that, and when he turned on his phone just to see that all of his socials were deleted his irritation skyrocketed. Taeyong knew that he wasn't mad because Doyoung did it on his back, he just wanted to find an excuse. He was obsessed with all of that, and he simply hated that now he had to drop his toxic routine. 

“And you would’ve said yes?” Doyoung asked provocatively “You can’t get your mind away from them. Socials were consuming you and I’m not letting you do that. Because it may be your life but we are in this together, and it also concerns me since I love you.” 

Taeyong didn’t answer, his gaze met the floor, as silent tears started to roll down his face. Doyoung was right, he was aware of that. But somehow not knowing what people thought of him was agonizing. He had to know if things changed, if maybe they opened their eyes and realized the truth of his old rumours that resurfaced and accepted that he was gay. 

“Please,” Doyoung whispered moving closer, standing now face to face with him, his hands softly cupping his cheeks, “I’m doing this for you.” 

And Taeyong was glad he did that. The first few days had been hard, the urge to download them again was always there in the back of his mind. But after a while, Taeyong started to feel better. 

Still, somehow, his mental state wasn’t getting any better. He felt like he was in jail in his own town. He simply didn’t feel safe to go out with the risk of being recognized and followed or assaulted. It had been four months since he didn’t leave the house. Also, it became strange and dangerous for Doyoung too. People had found some of their friend’s Instagram and discovered other photos of him, his face was now pretty known and he didn’t feel safe going to work and coming home late as he did before. Somebody once had followed him home, and he had to threaten of calling the police. 

So Taeyong came to the solution that he had to disappear. But not without his muse. 

And they did. Doyoung didn’t hesitate a second to say yes when Taeyong had proposed him to run away. It had happened one night, and quietly unexpectedly for both of them. 

They were laying on their bed, Doyoung busy reading a novel and Taeyong reading an article Johnny had sent him about the Lake District where he lived with Ten. Without realizing Taeyong grew fascinated and started to look up for more videos of The Lakes. Everything about it seemed beautiful and he also remembered all the good things Johnny used to tell him every time they talked. They were supposed to visit them in February, for the occasion of celebrating Doyoung and Johnny’s birthday differently (and also Ten’s, even if they would’ve already been back in Korea by the 27th), but then the agency filled Taeyong with schedules and everything dropped. Taeyong remembered the stories Ten told him about English literature, how the district was famous for its poets, like Wordsworth and Coleridge. And soon enough he found himself lost in their words, blown away for the little English he could understand and the little justice Korean translation could do to those words. And before he could think, words slipped out of his rosy lips. “Take me to The Lakes, where all the poets went to die.” 

Seconds of silence passed by before the older spoke again, “I don’t belong here, and my beloved, neither do you.” 

If it had been just six months before Doyoung would’ve laughed at him, told him he was crazy and was being irresponsible, but now, things were totally different. What did they have to lose when they had already lost everything?

✯✯✯

The spring breeze was softly blowing on Taeyong’s face, as he looked outside of the window of their bedroom. It had been one year since he had disappeared, literally faded from the real world. His mom told him that his fans were concerned about him, not hearing from him for months made them think of the worst-case scenarios. Yet, he was doing better than he ever was. After twelve months he still felt like a baby every time he woke up and breathed in the air England offered him. Probably it was the fact that he could actually open a window to let new fresh air in, and don’t stick to AC like he was used to in Korea because the air was polluted, and it would’ve done more harm than good. Or the fact that around him was nature and pretty houses, with brown bricks, and wooden windows, and balconies filled with flowers and plants. The lake didn’t even touch the city, but somehow the air there smelled different. And he couldn’t even care much about the rain filling up most of the days. Or how hard it had been to learn English and understand their accent. He was just glad he was there. Far away from the negativity. Finally, feeling like a human being again. 

Taeyong turned around, eyeing his boyfriend who was still sleeping peacefully in their bed. A smile crept on his face as he studied his relaxed features, he felt so lucky to have somebody so beautiful, inside and out, in his life. Taeyong knew that he had been particularly hard for him to move all the way to England. The younger didn’t show it much, but he knew. He had to drop his work in Korea and rebuild his business in a foreign country, learn a foreign language, just when things had started to be good for him. At the end it worked, his business became successful faster than it did in Seoul, to the point that he also had the chance to open an online shop and started to sell around the world. However, it was tiring for him since he was the only one who was actively working. It wasn’t about the money, Doyoung wanted to do something and don’t lean on Taeyong’s career money, and also he had worked too hard to built his business to drop his dream just because he went to live somewhere else. So after many sleepless nights, and hard work, he could finally relax a little bit. Just three months before he could afford to employ somebody else to help him, and now there were three of them working at the shop. 

And finally seeing him sleeping peacefully, just like a baby, made Taeyong feel warm. 

Running a hand through his now black hair, he sighed and started to make his way down to the kitchen. That was another thing that he had missed. Tranquil mornings together, with none rushing them, no training schedule for him in the evening, or the urge to update people about his life –or better, his made-up life. A bittersweet smile broke on his face as he stopped for a second, thinking how people preferred a fake fabricated version of him to a real sincere one. Let’s make it clear, he loved his fans, and he really liked to share things with them, but the fact that he always had to cut out something, or somebody, to fit the narrative of the perfect boy he had to be, made it feel like an obligation. 

The cold air caused a shiver to run down his spine. It was late March, and even if the hard cold dropped, the weather loved to remind him that they were still in England. Luckily it didn’t seem to be cloudy, a quiet sunny day seemed to be headed for them, and Taeyong wanted to take the energy of the shy sun shining in the sky to make the best of his day. 

“Wow,” Doyoung whispered as soon as he entered the kitchen, a tired smile was plastered on his face as he tried to shrug the sleep from his eyes, “why so happy?” He asked as he kept glancing Taeyong’s body energetically dancing around the kitchen to the tunes coming from the radio. 

His boyfriend turned around, the brightest smile ever on his face, placed two plates down the kitchen isle and then leaned on it. 

“Nothing specific, today looks like a perfect day to breathe in all the good vibes the universe offers,” he tilted his head to the side just to swiftly blow him a kiss and then turn back around. 

Doyoung giggled and then rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure that this was all Ten’s fault, him and his astrology readings, and all of those things he simply felt too stupid to understand. He was fascinated but not even half of what Taeyong was. So their couples dates consisted on Taeyong and Ten talking about art, tarot readings, zodiac charts, while he and Johnny listened, not getting a word of what they said, or talking about something else. At the start, Doyoung wasn’t that close with them, but soon enough he found out that they were really great. He discovered an amazing friend in Johnny, especially after he helped him a lot with his business and English. And as much as sometimes Ten was a pain in the ass, and they spent half of their time together bickering, he knew they had a great relationship. Pretty unusual but great. 

That morning he definitely didn’t feel as energetic as his boyfriend was, but Taeyong’s aura was enough to pull him through the day (plus, he just needed to – actually – wake up). So he dragged his feet to his partner, and once he was behind his back he wrapped his arms around his tiny waist. His head falling in the crook of his neck, inhaling deeply his scent, and nuzzling against his hair. 

“Uh, somebody wants cuddles,” Taeyong teased in a sing-song tone. 

“Yeah, I’m not good at freeing my soul like you. I take my energy from you, not the universe,” Doyoung mumbled, still against his warm skin. 

“Legit. I am your universe,” Taeyong joked, turning red soon after as he realized what he had said. 

Doyoung huffed, “If I wasn’t this sleepy I would’ve slapped you,” he said seriously. “But I need my kisses and hugs to warm up for the day, so I’m going to deal with your super sugary self.” 

✯✯✯

The low chatting around the four men filled the room, alongside with the music playing from the speakers of the pub. 

“The Crafty Baa” was by now a ritual for them. It was the first place their friends took them when they first arrived (okay, in reality not the first, since they had other priority, much to Johnny disposal, but whatever). It was definitely a quirky and strange place, something Taeyong absolutely loved. And Ten knew it damn well that was what the boy needed after all the things he had been trough. Johnny wanted to take them somewhere else but his boyfriend insisted, and at the end, it worked.

Now, a year later, Taeyong seemed to be fascinated by the place just like he was the first time. 

“I really hope you’re not ordering garlic bread once again, or else forget my kisses,” Ten glanced at Johnny as soon as he saw his boyfriend focusing on that page of the menu. A mix of disgust and judgment all over his face. 

“I can live without your kiss but not without garlic bread, sorry ‘bout it,” he answered shrugging with a grin on his face. 

“John Youngho Seo, I’m getting a divorce,” Ten exclaimed slamming his hands on the table, not so strong but loud enough to make Doyoung roll his eyes to the sky and shrink on his place already regretting to have agreed of going out. 

“We’re not even married,” Johnny noted with his eyebrow furrowed.

“About that,” Taeyong interrupted their playful bickering, “you should think about it. You’ve been together for almost ten years now.” 

Maybe Taeyong wasn’t in the place to pressure them about it, but damn if he got excited over weddings, and damn, if he hadn’t been their number one supporter since they got together. Johnny gulped, as he shyly looked at Ten to see his reaction. The boy was pretty much unaffected by it. It wasn’t an uncomfortable topic, they simply never got there. Taeyong was right, they had been together for ten years now. Knowing each other at Uni in London, both of them studying Graphic Design and Visual Communications. It didn’t take long to become friends, eventually become roommates the second year and then start dating in the middle of it all. It was just so normal for them to be together, and to be so domestic since the start, that marriage just wasn’t something that popped in their minds frequently. They were pretty fine with what they had. But they would be lying if they said they never dreamed about that day. 

“You should’ve minded your business,” Doyoung said to Taeyong when nobody said a word for a while. 

Ten laughed at Taeyong’s sad expression and then spoke up, “Nah, it’s fine. We don’t think about it much, but I wouldn’t mind becoming his husband.” He said with a genuine smile on his face, as he glanced up to Johnny who was looking down at him. The words coming out of the Thai's lips causing Johnny to finally relax. For an instant, he had feared Ten didn't like the idea of marrying him. 

“I’m planning it!” Taeyong jumped on the spot, breaking the two lovers’ magic moment. 

“Since when you’re a wedding planner, now?” Doyoung asked as he threw his hands in the air, making everybody laugh. 

“Oh shut up, I’ve got style.” 

“I wouldn’t trust him,” he mouthed to Johnny, knowing damn well that Ten was on his side. 

“We see you.” And as a matter of fact, both Ten and Taeyong spoke at the same time. A pout on both of their faces. 

Johnny tried to hold his grin but Doyoung straight up rolled his eyes at the sky once again. “Like I care,” he shrugged sipping from his red beer. 

“You don’t support me, I’m dropping your ass,” Taeyong started to whine tugging at his shoulder. And as much as Doyoung wanted to keep the teasing going it was harder than expected when he turned around to see Taeyong with puppy eyes and lips pouting at him. 

“I’m just saying,” Doyoung started to mumble, “you need to be focused to prepare our wedding, not theirs.” 

Time froze for a second, their friends wanted to scream but nobody at the table was quite sure how literally Doyoung meant that. Was it just a playful remark? Or did he propose to him right there? 

“You,” Taeyong started to mumble, looking in his eyes completely lost, “you would marry me?” 

Doyoung gulped, just now realizing what he had actually said. Maybe he had been random, but, did he lie? 

“Yes, I mean, why I wouldn’t want to?” He asked, sincerely confused about how the news seemed to be so unexpected for Taeyong. 

The older bit his lips and then turned around. He knew that, and he lowkey – high key – wanted it, too. But somehow talking about it made him feel strange. Not even in a bad way. It was just the realization that what they had was real, and long-lasting. The idea made his heart jump in his chest, the teenage stupid butterflies were once again flying in his stomach. Yet, something about commitment scared him. All of his usual haunting “What ifs” were lingering in his brain, he couldn’t seem to be able to let them go. His train of thoughts was soon interrupted by the same waitress of always approaching their table asking them if they were ready to order. The tension dropped as soon as both couples decided to drop that talk and focus on what to eat. 

By the end of the night, all of the boys were pretty much drunk, the only one sober was Johnny. Ten was laying against Johnny's shoulder as he giggled over nothing every time he made eye contact with Taeyong and Doyoung was trying so hard to make a conversation, he wasn't -that- drunk, but somehow speaking English while his blood turned into beer seemed harder than the usual. 

"Remember when we got drunk that one time that Taeyong came to London?" Ten asked, suddenly gaining back a little bit of sanity. Johnny sighed as the memory came back to his mind. 

"It was so funny," Taeyong said as he remembered that night too. 

"Funny my ass," Johnny said through his teeth, "I had to drag your drunk, chaotic asses back to the campus trying not to get caught and to be extremely careful that your pretty face wouldn't get a single scratch." 

Ten next to him rolled his eyes, "How dramatic. You had fun too," 

"Yeah, up until I had to become your babysitter," Johnny exclaimed. "Drunk teenage Taeyong was something else. Remember that you tried to hook up with that man that was at least twice your age?" 

"Oh shut up!" Taeyong exclaimed as his hands went up to cover his face that somehow was become even redder now. 

Doyoung snickered, "Oh, so you were into dilfs," 

"Listen," Taeyong exhaled, "I was horny and desperate. I used to spend my days going to school and then training, I basically had no free time." 

"So the only holiday you got you decided to fuck around," Johnny continued but got shut down as soon as Taeyong threw something at him. Not really harmful.  What a shame you can't kill a man with a napkin.  Taeyong thought as he realized his failed mission. 

"You never told me you were this wild," Doyoung said playfully, as he pinched his boyfriend's cheek. 

"I wasn't that wild, let me live." He pouted making everybody laugh. 

"We had fun, tho," Ten said smiling as he started thinking about the time that passed. He was happy that now Taeyong was so close to them. He knew how close he was with Johnny, and how hard it had been for them when Taeyong started to be less present due to the training and Johnny had to leave to attend the University in London. And even if he came in his life later, he still felt the struggle when they used to spent months without talking because Taeyong's phone was taken away from him, or the times he couldn't text much because he was exhausted. Ten always wondered how Taeyong survived that hell, it felt straining from the outside he couldn't really imagine what the older man felt. And because of that he really admired him, he knew that he deeply loved his job, or else he wouldn't have carried through all that. So he was glad that they had decided to get away from that toxic environment, he had been so happy when Taeyong called to them to deliver the news. A little bit egoistically he really wanted to have him close to him. Even though he was Johnny's best friend, the two of them built an amazing friendship through the years, they connected in so many ways, and Ten loved to have somebody he could talk to about the strangest and most random things he was into. He would've preferred if something like this happened differently, if they didn't have to go through all the hate and cancel culture, but they couldn't change the past or destiny, so he tried to see the best of every situation. And now, he was pretty sure that both, Taeyong and Doyoung were happy where they were. 

"Yes, we did," Taeyong smiled as he stared at his two best friends and his boyfriend. He tried not to think much about his past, too many things he had to give up, and people he lost for a dream that crumbled apart in his hands. He didn't want to think about that. He was happy now, surrounded by the people he loved the most, and for now, that was worth everything. 

✯✯✯

Taeyong’s long fingers were moving on the piano keys, the notes filled the room with a repetitive rhythm. It had been quite some time since he got close to anything that was related to music. He won’t lie, he felt broken because that magic spell he had with music seemed to be broken. Shuttered into million pieces. 

Taeyong felt empty. 

Music came to him when he had nothing. All of his friends had dreams and goals to reach, all of them were super ambitious. And then there was him, with nothing to look forward to. But just when he felt hopeless, music came to him and saved him. It showed him the light in his life he couldn’t seem to be able to discover/find. 

And he had to work so hard to get where he was. When he first joined the agency he basically had no artistic background. He had to start from zero. And he was never going to forget the screams of his teachers, telling him he was hopeless, and talentless, that he wasn’t going to go anywhere in his life. A waste of time. Just a pretty face. 

He was losing contact with the only thing that made him feel alive. And for something he never wanted in the first place. 

Being an idol was the price to pay if he wanted to pursue his dream. And he paid the highest price. 

He wanted to create music, art. He wanted to connect people through his words and stories, not be a plastic doll that had to sit there and be manipulated by others. 

Yet, somehow, he just couldn’t bring himself to do that. 

Rage flashed over him as the same old note came out from the piano and he hit it with a punch. A distorted sound filling the room. 

Hot tears started to fill his eyes, as he started to feel that maybe they were right, he was just a pretty face, and all his hard work was the fruit of somebody else. Maybe people liked him just for his visuals and he had nothing else to bring to the table, he had been lucky because they were blinded by love and desperate devotion. 

A sigh left his mouth when he glanced the clock on the wall, it was almost 5 p.m, Doyoung would’ve been home by minutes and he didn’t want to be found like that. 

He tried to play it cool the whole evening, trying to keep their conversations on Doyoung or anything but him. Still, the suffocating feeling didn’t let him sleep all night. 

And as he turned around in the bed, eyes focused on Doyoung’s breathtaking features, he wondered where all of his inspiration went. 

He had his muse right there in front of him, and now was free to write whatever he wanted, and yet, he was stuck. 

He wanted to scream, but it would’ve been useless, so he decided that crawling up against Doyoung’s body was the best he could do. Maybe his familiar scent would’ve been strong enough to lull him to sleep and drown his demons. 

✯✯✯

“Sing a song with me,” Taeyong said leaning against the doorframe of their bedroom. Doyoung frowned, turning around swinging on his turning chair. 

“What?” He asked, genuinely confused, as he looked around the room to make sure nobody else was there and he wasn’t on the phone. 

“I want you to sing a song with me,” he said moving to sit on his lap, suddenly becoming smaller than what he already was. Doyoung held him in his hold. 

“Because you’re the only one I can trust with these words,” he mumbled, suddenly feeling too much vulnerable and exposed, even in front of him, his soulmate. 

Doyoung pressed his lips in a thin line, thinking about it for a moment. It wasn’t the problem of singing, he used to do it and he loved to do it. Probably he also had all the cards to be able to become an idol, but that life just wasn’t for him. It was Taeyong’s words that scared him. Was he okay? Or something had happened again? Doyoung knew that the status of his mental health was on the line, he had to spent months on therapy to see the first results, and he was still seeing his therapist now. 

“You have been writing again?” Doyoung asked, tiptoeing around the topic, waiting for Taeyong to open up completely and tell him what he had been writing about. 

Taeyong bit his lips and nodded, looking at his intertwined hands on his lap. It was a flow of thoughts that came to his mind one night when he couldn’t sleep. He sneaked out of their bedroom and there in their living room three songs came to life. Not his happiest ones, but the most sincere he ever came up with. 

“That’s great,” he exclaimed, looking at him proudly, “and they have singing parts?” 

Taeyong nodded again, without knowing why the ability of talking seemed to have left him. Doyoung squeezed his side, his thumb painting soothing circles on it, to tell him that everything was fine. 

Gathering some courage, the brown-haired spoke. “You don’t have to, but it would mean the world to me,” he looked at his boyfriend’s eyes for the first time. 

Doyoung wanted to ask him why him out of everybody he could reach out to collab with. Yes, he kind of told him why, but how vulnerable they were? Why he needed it to be him? 

“Can I read them?” He asked the older, his hands still moving on his hip to keep him grounded. 

“Yes, of course,” Taeyong said as he got up and then went out of the room, just to come back soon after holding three papers in his hands. 

Piece of mind. Switch Off. Yestoday. 

It took Doyoung just the first song to understand why Taeyong seemed so vulnerable while talking about them. And why he needed him to be by his side during this. In those three songs, there was Taeyong in the most open and naked way he ever showed himself to the public. It was him, with his wounded skin and his somehow still open heart, just asking to be able to be human again.

And as much as Doyoung had been by his side for years now, and he had seen him fighting in the front line, a lump formed in his throat with a heavy pain on his chest as he read that words. 

Taeyong started to fidget on the spot when nothing came from Doyoung’ side. Were they not good enough? Were they too dramatic? Should’ve he just let what he had been feeling in the past instead of writing it down? He always felt insecure about his songwriting. He had been judged way too many times for it, that he convinced himself that no matter what, it was simply never going to be enough. Or that it wasn’t sincere. And maybe it wasn’t totally, he worked in an industry that tried to sugarcoat everything, so how could he, a homosexual idol dating another man, be totally sincere if he had to hide himself? Maybe there had to be some female pronouns right there and then but he knew that his feelings put into words were real, and were just about him, Doyoung. 

“They’re beautiful,” he smiled, trying to focus on his wording and not the pain that the ink on that pages brought with them. “I’m glad to have the songwriter of this generation back,” he said as he playfully pinched him on the cheek, just to pull by his arm back on his lap. Taeyong hid his red face on the crook of his neck, a sigh of relief leaving his mouth. 

“I will,” Doyoung whispered against his ear. 

“What?” Taeyong asked, forgetting for a moment what was the main topic of their conversation. 

“I’ll sing this with you.” 

The biggest smile crept on Taeyong’s face before he launched himself on Doyoung’s lips, to catch them in a kiss. 

“Wait, are you making an album?” The younger asked, realizing that maybe that meant Taeyong was going back on his tracks, finally reconnecting with music once again. He knew how important it was for him, and seeing him trying to delete it from his life the last past year tore Doyoung apart. 

Taeyong shrugged. He honestly had no idea. He just wanted to create. Let his mind take him places and then see the outcomes. He couldn’t care much about anything else. The charts. The records. The genre. 

It was just music and him. 

Yet, unexpectedly, one year later his album was ready. 

Nobody was expecting it. Everybody thought he disappeared forever, taking his money and reputation and throw the hell out. Nobody seemed to know where he was, or what he was doing. So it took just one Instagram post with the cover of his album shot by Johnny and designed by Ten (just like the rest of the album) to shake the internet and make his name end up on every first page. 

"YesTODAY, the album and the single, out at midnight.  “SORRY THAT I WALKED AWAY” but sometimes silence, time and meditation can say much more than a thousand words said in the heat of a moment. So now I’m here, pouring my true self out to all of you through my art, hoping that you can take my dreams, my hopes and my fears and make it yours, too. In these 18 songs, there’s a part of me I was never able to properly and sincerely show you, but now that it’s here I hope you can cherish it and hold it close to your heart. “I HOPE YOU LIKE IT WHERE I AM NOW” 

It wasn’t hard to keep the project a secret. First of all, because it wasn’t supposed to be a project at the start. Not until lyrics started to pile up, begging to be shaped into complete songs. Ten talking 24/7 about his friend Kun being an incredible producer didn’t help him either. The curiosity of hearing some of his tunes turned into them clicking immediately and not being able to stop producing together. Their art so in synch that Doyoung had to come and stop them at 2 a.m of the night almost every day because they had so much fun that they lost track of time. 

It wasn’t difficult finding an artistic team either when he had his best friends super happy and hyped, just wanting to be part of his creative team. The lands The Lakes offered were perfect for his album and for Johnny’s mind to picture already every single photo of the shooting. And Ten definitely had too much fun building his new site up, even if that meant flip out over programs he used just once in university, and create a new font just for him. 

And it hadn’t been stressful for him. For once he could create without the press of his agency wanting money to not bankrupt. He had no limits of tracks. Or just one genre to follow. 

For once he truly had fun. Working hard with people that stimulated and supported him. Kun inspiring him to experiment more with his voice and sounds. Ten telling him to go beyond with his style and be his true self. And Doyoung supporting him, in those moments when he felt that he couldn’t make it without a company on his back. 

“You don’t need them, Yong,” Doyoung used to whisper to him as his hands caressed his hair. And the old Taeyong couldn’t believe him. Terrified of flopping, not much because he cared for the charts, he had obsessed for them for too long for his liking. But for the public opinion. He wasn't sure his brain would've been able to take another wave of hate similar to the one he received in the past. 

But now, that the album was out, he could proudly say that Doyoung was right. 

That morning Taeyong didn’t go to see where his album charted, or what people thought of that. He wanted to savour the joy of his first self owned album having been released without having to ruin his mood because of what people had to say. But Ten’s calls didn’t seem to stop so he had to pick up, sleep still in his eyes and an even more sleepy Doyoung in front of him. 

“Fucking finally, Yong!” Ten exclaimed on the other side of the phone. 

“Well, good morning to you too,” Taeyong laughed rolling his eyes to the sky. 

“Did you see that?” Ten said without paying much attention to what the other said. 

“What?” The brown-haired man asked, mindlessly turning the spoon in the jam can. 

“You’re first on fucking billboard hot 100! First!” 

Taeyong was trying to process what Ten said when he could hear Johnny scream “Language” and he would’ve laughed at that if only Ten hadn’t just said that he was first on billboard 100. 

“Me? Wait, is this a joke?” He exclaimed, spoon dropping from his hands and meeting the floor, catching Doyoung’s attention who was looking at the scene without understanding anything. 

“Why would I joke about that? God, you need to find a publicist, a manager, you can’t be that careless about this stuff.” Ten huffed. 

“I’m not careless, I just wanted not to ruin this day, Ten.”

“Well, you’re topping charts even in Korea, you’re trending everywhere, and Doyoung’s name is everywhere too. People say there’s no wonder you fell for him,” 

Taeyong snorted, as if they weren’t the same throwing shit at him just some months before because he wasn’t “pretty enough” or some shits they used to say. “Let me check that, okay?” He said, changing the topic, not wanting to get mad at people hypocrisies. 

“I want the live reaction, wait let’s video call.” Ten said in hurry, he really wanted to see his best friend face, no way he would've lost a moment like this.  

“Ten, we’re half-naked in bed, for fuck sake,” Johnny said so loud that Taeyong could hear him, he grinned, they were something else. But Johnny’s words were useless because before they could waste any more time, Ten was already face calling them. 

“May I know what’s going on?” Doyoung asked with his sleep-filled voice, just now starting to understand where he was. Why everyone there seemed to be a morning person except for him? 

“Your boyfriend is number one almost everywhere and has no clue,” Ten answered before Taeyong, who was too busy checking the charts on his boyfriend’s phone, could. 

“You're first?” Doyoung asked, snapping completely from his sleeping state. 

“I am first,” Taeyong whispered, eyes fixated on the screen as he kept checking the position of his album on several charts. His eyes couldn’t believe it. But the numbers weren’t the things that shocked him the most, it was the comments. The praise. The likes. All the people listening to it and writing how much they missed his music, his voice and his words. 

“I am, o my God, is actually going well?” He said in an incredulous tone. His hands still covering his mouth that kept opening in shock. 

“Yes, you are bitch! You are!” Ten screamed in support, causing Johnny to roll his eyes at his side. 

Doyoung’s big bubble smile was plastered on his face. He knew how important the positive response was for Taeyong. He needed that. Not the numbers, or the first places in the charts, but that was the proof that people still liked him, or at least his music. 

Tears started to roll down Taeyong’s face as he threw himself in Doyoung’s open arms. The sleepless nights, the breakdowns, the starved days were all worth it. 

“We need to throw a party,” Ten said, interrupting their sweet moment. Both him and Johnny had a big smile on their faces, Taeyong could feel from the screen how proud of him they were. 

“Yes, we all deserve this. Gosh, you’re also number one, you all helped me with this, fuck!” Taeyong mumbled, realizing that this album being appreciated was such a big prize for all of them. He and the people he loved the most did all of that, and he couldn’t be prouder. He only had to thank himself and his closet friends for all of these, not leeches hungry for money, or harsh team workers that tried to hold his true potential down. 

✯✯✯

1 year later. 

The summer breeze was blowing, running wild between the town’s houses, cars and people. It was 7 in the afternoon, yet, the sun was still bright in the sky. 

Taeyong was resting his elbows on the balcony rail, looking out at city under him, when the chatting coming from the kitchen came to a stop. Doyoung was talking with his mother, but Taeyong couldn’t get what they were talking about. For some reason, Doyoung was using a dialectic and was also talking really low. He didn’t think much about it and just waited for him to come back where he was before. 

When he sensed Doyoung back at his side he handed him his glass, filled with white wine, and kept staring at the view in front of him. 

“What are you thinking about?” After some moments of silence, Doyoung asked. His hair was now a dark blue, something he wanted to try for ages but never dared to do. Just one month before, Taeyong reassured him that he had done it millions of times and would’ve helped him with that. So after an afternoon of them bickering because the youngest couldn’t trust him fully with his precious untouched hair, that was the result, a shiny dark blue replacing his natural brown locks. 

Taeyong shrugged, took a sip from the glass and then talked. “Just that, I’m happy,” he turned around, finally looking at his boyfriend who was already staring at him, “I’m finally happy.” 

A shy smile crept on Doyoung’s face, the last two years had been a hell of a ride, and no matter how things were definitely better now, their peace was always going to be fragile. He knew that, he always knew that sticking up to Taeyong’ side meant that. And no, he never regretted choosing the life he chose, but hearing his boyfriend say those things tranquillized the silent fears that lingered in his mind, always. 

“You know, three years ago my world has fallen apart and I dragged you down with me,” Taeyong sighed, his eyes looking down at his fingers that were playing with the end of the glass in his hands. 

“And now, I got back making music, my second album just came out, I got the change to perform again, people don’t hate us anymore, and even if they do we don’t care.” The smile that was forming on his face was getting bigger, making it hard for him to talk properly, but he couldn’t suppress the bubbling sensation he was feeling right now. 

“Your business is doing better and better, we live together in an amazing town, far away from the stress of the city.” He turned around, placing the glass on the small table at their side. 

“We do what we feel to do, and I never felt like this before. And it’s so nice to not have the pressure of what people think of you or want from you. And doing all of this with you by my side, with the boys by my side, it just feels so good.” Taeyong’s eyes were shining and his happiness made Doyoung’s heart melt. No, he probably was never going to get used to happy Taeyong. His clumsy way. His curious eyes. His loud and exaggerated laugh. His random thousands of changes of hair colour every week (he had no clue how he was not bald yet). His deep talks late at night. Or his cooking late at night, waking him at midnight asking if he wanted to share some ramen he had just cooked, and if he was anybody else he would’ve sent them straight to hell without thinking twice, but to Taeyong, he could only say yes. 

Yes, living with Taeyong meant living with an incumbent storm on their head, but he wanted all the mess and the struggles that it brought along with it, if it meant sharing his existence with him, and he wanted it forever. 

“I’ve been sleeping so long in a twenty-year dark night, and now I can only see daylight,” Taeyong smiled as his hand came in contact with Doyung’s cheek, the caress as soft as the august wind blowing on their skin. Then he leaned in, closer and closer, just to touch his lips and capture them in a slow kiss. Taeyong’s hands were fast at crawling in Doyoung’s hair, tugging lightly to bring him even closer to him, desperately telling him things he didn’t have the courage to say out loud. And when they pulled away, their lungs burning for air, and their eyes locked into each other, Taeyong just knew that he didn’t want to look at anyone else now that he had seen him. 

Whispers of ‘I love you’ got lost in the evening, as the sun was slowly sinking at the horizon, leaving behind just traces of orange, purple and blue. 

Doyoung started to take deep breaths, desperately trying to build the courage to ask Taeyong what he had been planning to ask for ages. And no, probably this wasn’t the most romantic moment he could choose, they definitely had more conventional occasion, but now was the present, and he knew that it was a now or never occasion. He had to do that. 

So the blue-haired man took a deep breath, and cleared his throat, making Taeyong turn his attention on him once again. 

“Remember what you told me that night,” he whispered, biting his lips nervously. Taeyong eyes drift up to his, he didn’t specify what night, but he knew what he was talking about, the night they decided to go through all of the mess their life brought along with them. 

“Yes, I remember, why?” 

“How I told you that what you give me is enough?” Taeyong started to panic, Doyoung didn’t seem strange just five minutes ago, and neither in the last weeks, yet, his mind started to think of one thing, the worst that could happen. Was Doyoung breaking up with him? Was he getting tired of him? Of the life they were building together?   

He couldn’t let out a word, knowing for sure that his voice would’ve come out like a broken cry, so he simply nodded. 

“Remember that you asked me if I regretted the time we spent together and I said no.” That’s it, Doyoung was breaking up with him. He just had confessed to him how happy he finally was and Doyoung had to go and break everything apart. 

“Well, we came so far from where we started, and sometimes it still feels surreal. Not that I didn’t believe in us, but you know our flames flickered weakly more than once and I could only think of the worst,” Doyoung smiled looking at the ground. “Three more years have passed and I’m so proud of how far and how strong we arrived here. I’m not going to lie, these last years have been hard. I thought that happiness was just something fate didn’t want to gift us. I feared that, no matter how much I wanted, I just couldn’t physically and mentally keep it up with you. We lived in the dark, surrounded by smoke and at some point I was just waiting for it to suffocate me.” Taeyong was staring right at him, now more lost than before. 

“And when that happened,” Doyoung paused for a second, “I thought that was going to be the end for us. I felt so close to dropping everything, but I just couldn’t let you go. It wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t mine. We didn’t do anything wrong, and I couldn’t let them take away my happiness,” Taeyong bit his nail, why was Doyoung bringing this story back after three years? 

“And you know, it did kill us, but a part of me is happy that that happened. Because only after our death we could truly feel alive. And after many years I understood that they never killed us, but some mannequins, they killed something that wasn’t us. And still, it helped us, we stopped wounding the good and trusting the wicked. You wouldn’t enjoy daylight so much if you never knew what the dark feels like, right?” Taeyong nodded, now biting his lower lip nervously. 

“Well, it’s brighter now. Brighter than ever. Our love is shining, golden like starlight, and after everything we’ve been through I know for sure that nothing and nobody can shut it down. No matter how heavy the storm is going to be, or how hard the wind will blow. We will still stand tall and proud.” 

Taeyong had now a big smile on his face. This conversation still made no sense, but he liked what Doyoung was saying. And also it seemed that he didn’t change his mind like he first feared. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t still extremely insecure about himself, living with a ghost in his mind saying that Doyoung could easily find someone better than him and leave him and everything they had behind. 

“So now, I need to tell you something,” Doyoung’s gaze snapped up to meet Taeyong’s, who was already staring at him. 

“More than what you already said?” The older joked as a small chuckle left his pink lips. 

Doyoung laughed too and then spoke. “Yes, the talk was about the others I don’t really care much about. This one is about you.” 

Doyoung took another deep breath and then grabbed Taeyong’s hands in his. 

“Okay, I’m not good with words, but I have to do this,” he said never diverting his attention from Taeyong, who simply smiled at him to reassure him. “You know, yesterday I was thinking about our first meeting,” a giggle left Doyoung’s mouth, “I couldn’t stand you. God, I thought that by the end of the night I would’ve thrown a punch at you. You seemed so far up your ass but it turned out that you were just shy and awkward with everyone you didn’t know. Took me quite some time to get to know you, but damn, after I did, it felt like I’ve known you since forever.” Taeyong laughed too, their relationship started in a non so common and normal way. That was also one of the reasons why none of their close friends could believe that not only they got together but were still there. 

“If I told the Doyoung of six years ago that I would’ve followed you to the other side of the world he would’ve laughed at my face. And not only that, but that I also had to learn a new language and restart my business...for you? Probably my past self couldn’t even listen because he was too busy fighting with you,” Taeyong rolled his eyes remembering their stupid fights, they acted like teenage boys, it felt absurd that they grew up so much. “But the past is in the past, and now there’s a mature Doyoung madly in love with a mature Taeyong laughing at the stupid kids we were.” Doyoung smiled, his fingers moving a strand of Taeyong’s blonde hair behind his ears. 

“So today, I want to talk to the present you and the future you,” Doyoung took another deep breath and then wetted his lips that felt now drier than ever, “I want to go everywhere you go. Is it going to be here? In Korea? Somewhere in a small town in Italy? Or in a crowded American city? I don’t care. As long as I have you, I’ll be at home.” His voice was shaking, full of emotion, a mix of love and anxiety, the realness and sincerity behind his words made Taeyong’s heart skip a beat. 

“And I want to always be this close, forever. I want to come home to you. Hold your hand in the park, turn around pretending I don’t know you when you launch yourself on the swing like a child,” Doyoung laughed thinking of him doing it every time he had the change, and Taeyong’s cheeks flushed a bright pink, “I want to see you struggle with the hair dye first thing on a Sunday morning. I want to turn around on the sofa just to see that you fell asleep halfway through the movie we decided to watch. I want to hear your inappropriate jokes when we’re with somebody else at dinner, and I have to hit your arm to shut you up, pretending I don’t absolutely love that side of you. I want to stare at you in the corner of the room while you wear your tuxedo ready for a red carpet and then kiss you slowly to remind myself how lucky I am to have you. And I also want to be the only one that takes that outfit off of your body once you get home.” He smirked, making Taeyong hit him on his shoulder as he suppressed the sly smile that was forming on his face. 

“I want to spend Chuseok with you. And put on one of your embarrassing couple outfits for Halloween. I want to put up the lights at Christmas with you by my side. And look for the eggs in the garden at Easter, with you.” Doyoung let go of his hands and took a step backwards. He took something from his back pocket but Taeyong couldn’t see what it was, since he never put his hands before him again. 

 “I’ve loved you six summers now but I want them all,” And with that, he kneeled to the ground and put out a ring. Taeyong’s eyes widened. Was it seriously happening? 

“Will you marry me, Lee Taeyong? Will you make me the happiest man on the heart and become my lover forever?” 

Tears started to roll down Taeyong’s face. His breath inched as he threw himself in Doyoung’s arms. 

“Yes, yes, yes...” Taeyong mumbled in the crook of Doyoung’s neck as he socked his shirt with happy tears. Doyoung hugged him tightly as the pain in his chest lifted completely, he was somehow scared that he would’ve said no, maybe not ready yet for a step this big. 

“Hey,” Doyoung whispered as one of his hands made its way to his fiancé’s face, “kiss me,” And Taeyong wasted no time to accomplish. 

“The ring,” Taeyong giggled as he pulled away from the kiss, they had fallen to the ground somewhere between the proposal and their messy kisses. 

“It’s a couple one, I wanted both of us to have it, I know that usua –“ 

“Shh,” Taeyong shut him up, “there’s no need to justify yourself, that’s just more romantic. I love it.” He said as he looked at the rings sitting in the velvety box in Doyoung’s hands. And as soon as they both were on their fingers Taeyong felt something he had never felt before. It was happening, they were going to be married. He was going to be his husband. Their love promise was going to be sealed forever. It was the big step he was thinking about for years. That conversation that was brought up sometimes just to be dropped with the same “We’re fine like this.” Doyoung popped the question he wanted to ask for ages, and never had the courage to; too afraid of asking him something that was, once again, a lot, and too much to handle. And it kind of made him laugh that for once it hadn't been him to put so much weight on the other' shoulder. 

As the night fell in the England sky the two stayed tangled together, outside of their balcony on their small couch. Laughing as they reminisced of their past together, and giggling happily thinking about all of the adventures that were about to come. 

And there was something so romantic about the calm that surrounded them, and the way the city seemed too distracted to think about them. Their love felt like a rose rising up from the frozen ground with none around to talk about it, or compulsively tweet it. Maybe tomorrow the neighbours would’ve heard Ten’s screams about it, and Johnny would’ve quietly congratulated them. Maybe their mothers would’ve cried on the phone tomorrow, mumbling how happy they were and would've already thought about how to set up the place, and the menu to choose. Maybe the internet would've found out when that day will happen with some photos on Instagram. But now, just for that slip second, it was their little secret. Their rare gem that they were protecting with their whole selves. 

Taeyong was smiling dumbly as he kept playing with the ring on his hand. 

“If I think that just three years ago we were laying on our bed, on the other side of the world, and I asked you to drop everything as I dreamt of this place,” 

“There was something so magical and romantic about The Lakes, maybe it was the words the poets wrote about this place that made me daydream so much about our future,” 

“Maybe they cast a spell for us before dying,” Doyoung joked as he caressed Taeyong’s long locks, the older was resting his head on his chest, looking up at him. 

Taeyong hummed, “I like to think that. Who knows, maybe fate pulled us here for a reason,”

“You’re kind of a poet too, right?” Doyoung raised an eyebrow looking down at him. 

Taeyong let out a choked laugh, and hide his face in Doyoung’s chest. 

“Hey, I was being serious!” Doyoung screamed. He really thought that Taeyong was a poet, he had a way with words and in the last two years he showed it more than ever before. And as much Taeyong hated to admit, Doyoung was right. Something about their whole story and the struggles they had to go through made him think that it was written somewhere in the stars. Maybe in the words that inked the white papers of these old men, there was a story like theirs, two lovers with a troubled track in front of them. 

“I think we found our place in the world,” Taeyong whispered soon after. His gaze was fixed on the landscape in front of him, his hands still tangled in Doyoung’s. 

“You know, as long as I have you, everywhere is nice but,” he stopped for a second, his brain trying to organize the right words to say. “Right here, it feels so right. It’s like, no matter how hard the day can get, there’s something so soothing about knowing that I can come back home and just lay on the hammock, waiting for you to come home too. Or that if I wake up earlier I get to see auroras with mountains at the horizon instead of skyscrapers. Or that I can watch wisteria grow right over my bare feet and let the sun kiss my skin.”

Doyoung smiled, as he let his face sink in Taeyong’s hair, and then opened his mouth. “We definitely found our place.” He whispered as he inhaled his husband to be's scent, with a sense of peace that settled in his chest. It had been tough, but they made it. Finally, after ages, they felt right where they were. 

Because even if one day they would've got away from there, those Windermere peaks would've still talked about their love. The wind would've spread their story as he whistled unspoken words through the fallen autumn leaves, passing the baton to the lake's water as soon as they landed on the cold surface. 

Right there, where all the poets went to die, their love will live on.  

#nct fanfiction #nct dotae #dotae fanfiction #nct fluff #the lakes #song fic #nct taedo #nct johnten #lee taeyong #kim doyoung #taeyong fluff #doyoung fluff #nct scenarios #happy ending

[satellite-loved]

---

one: a phone call from johnny.

"yes, hyung. well i got out now didn't i. it's fine, this isn't even big news to you, you know me. okay, okay i will. i'll see you later. bye."

doyoung looks at the time after the call. 12:01 it says. 12 hours of detention for what.

"we won't be putting it on records. we just have to appease them is all. you shouldn't have put yourself in that position kid. being smart ain't it all." doyoung hears the police on duty say to him. he knew he saw him as an inconvenience, complete total waste of time, some kind of stain he needs to get rid of fast or else his mother will barge in and do an hour long monologue about her efforts and how it's unappreciated. the feeling was mutual.

"i was in the right. i was just defending myself."

there, a sigh and a shoo-ing action, a little roll of the eyes to say 'we heard you but you should really go.'

"yeah, yeah. you can go now. just don't try to come here again, it doesn't look good on you."

yeah. whatever. doyoung almost says but chooses not to. he's had enough for the next quarter. the year is gonna continue to go on and he can't be wasting it on something dumb twice with only 12 hours in between. he's better than that.

two: what comes after the release is hunger.

the sun is at high noon now and half of his day is wasted. hd hears his stomach growl as he starts walking away from the station, determined to go straight back home where there is ample air circulation and a soft bed to lie on. but again, hunger. his last meal was before they got him and after that, every hour was just water therapy.

"food. i need food." almost as a pinned reminder.

he gets inside the first shop he spots. some shady little shop right across the station with a sign that reads 'bass bot' and 'cold noodles and tofu available here.' none of it matches.

"welcome!" doyoung gets greeted by a male, around his age with a red cap tied around his head. the ones you see in chinese restaurants. it matches his apron tied around his waist. a pretty small one. the waist. and the shop. no one is inside except him and this guy.

"what can i get for you?" the guy asks, holding a small notebook and a pen on the other hand. his eyes are pretty. tantalizing even.

"isn't there a chef's choice? if there is, i'd get that."

the guy laughs a little but most of it ends up with a wide smile. he's pretty, doyoung finally decides after a while. really pretty. some kind of face that you won't expect to see right here with no crowd.

"okay. chef's choice, i'll get to that." the guy turns but stops before he gets back to the kitchen. "and plain tofu right?"

"tofu?" doyoung asks, confused.

the guy nods then points straight ahead from the glass window where he could see the station. "you came from there right? you need to have it."

three: redemption.

it must be the burning humidity or the loud red paint all over the walls of this shop or the uneven and shaky table topped with his hunger, but doyoung is pissed.

"first of all, i'm no prisoner." he starts as soon as the guy gets back. he seems to be the only one manning the shop, doyoung has seen no one else from his time waiting (and going over his points of argument).

"i didn't say you were." the guy says bringing over the bowl of cold noodles in front of him. doyoung's stomach growls from the smell.

"second-"

"second is you should eat." the guy breaks into his little talk and he tries to glare back at him only to be silenced again by his stomach.

"second is it isn't polite to accuse your customer about something like that. where's your manager, bring them over here." he says after grabbing the chopsticks, trying to keep the glare going on and make the guy feel intimidated, take him seriously, know he means business.

"there's no manager."

"what?"

"i'm the only one who works here. did you see or hear anybody around?"

no. but then saying that would mean defeat. he can't lose twice within a single day so he takes it against the noodles.

"well, this better be good 'cause there's no one else to blame if this is bad other than you."

doyoung gets onto the noodles, he takes the egg first, adds mustard and vinegar sauce before mixing it all together. he feels the guy looking over at what he's doing, probably waiting for his reaction. he starts with his first bite and doesn't find himself stopping until he's halfway into his bowl to take some more breaths before continuing.

the guy finally moves away from him, walking towards the kitchen, humming a tune doyoung's sure he's heard but can't name at all. he sounds satisfied.

four: plain tofu.

the guy, who doyoung finds out a little later goes by the name taeyong, came back shortly after he's done with his noodles. his bowl is empty, no drop of soup to be found and the side dishes are cleared, put atop one another in an orderly fashion and ready to be taken away from his table.

"tofu, if you're still hungry." taeyong says as he sets it down in the table after removing the used ones to the other table across where doyoung is. taeyong grabs one of the chairs and sits beside him, crossing his legs as he pushes the plate of tofu towards doyoung. taeyong introduces himself after this.

"so taeyong, out of all you have to offer me, it's this?"

taeyong shrugs but not without a small smile. he points the signage doyoung saw as he came in. "it's all i have here."

he tries to take a small bite. it's tofu, it's soft. nothing much else. uncomparable to the noodles. doyoung doesn't say this outloud.

"why do you even have your shop here?" he asks after two more bites instead. he can't take any more from there.

taeyong turns towards the window again and with a sigh he talks. "people who come from the station are usually hungry and rent is cheap here." he puts it simple like that, taking his turn with the tofu before letting a question out. "you, why are you there for?"

so doyoung tells him just because. it's nothing shameful, it isn't even his fault (not exactly at least) and it's still too hot outside. his house offers a more comfortable place to be at but at least there's a fan here in taeyong's shop and besides, he won't meet with johnny until much later.

"some oldies just won't listen is all. i got heated. they too. i haven't been in a debate ever since i took a gap."

he was taking a gap year from university since the past semester to take time to sort things out including his internship for the supposed next school year. he's done that in about a month ago, now he's just mostly lying in his bed. he could go back to university the following semester but he feels no rush to do anything.

"you're on a gap year?"

"that's what i said."

taeyong stands up and writes something on a piece of paper hidden he got from his apron's pocket. hands it to doyoung after.

"you could work here if you want." he tells him as he sits down again.

"i said i'm in a gap year." he replies.

"so? i've seen you around, you don't do much besides tend to your house plants."

and there should be finger pointing, doyoung screaming about him stalking him and he could bring him to the police right there and then, but doyoung just sighs. must be the heat. must be the weariness coming along now. must be because taeyong's cold noodles are the best he's eaten the entire month. must be because now that he's not 100% hungry, he could remember seeing taeyong back in his apartment complex. almost everyday too.

"at least, i'm keeping them alive."

taeyong stands up and starts clearing the table, putting the dishes in a tray to bring back to the kitchen. doyoung leaves his payment on the table and leaves with the piece of paper in between his fingers, faces the glaring sun on his way back to his apartment.

he could use a job.

five: another phone call from johnny.

"sorry hyung, i can't do today. what? no, no. i just got something up. some part-time job at some place. it's nearby. whatever. i'll see you when i have time. i have stuff to do okay? yeah yeah. bye."

#dotae #taedo #dotae fic #otp: arguing parents #ficlets

[chai113knees]

NCT Fanfic Recommendations

Other Groups/Fandoms

NCT x Reader

Doyoung

Dear No One (Social Media AU!)

Renjun

Eavesdropping (F)

Jaemin

Keep Quiet (S)

NCT Ships

Norenmin

I don’t need your love (except that I really, really do)

Mixed Personalities (S)

Noren

It would be Christmas everyday (if you say you love me too)

You and I, Zero Mile (Hogwarts! AU)

Markhyuck

Coming Soon

Luwoo

You have my world (you’re my small universe) 

Yuwin

Mirage

Jaeyong

Coming Soon

Dojae

Opposite

Lay Me Down (Lock Me Up) (S)

Taedo

Keycard Woes

Johnten

Cover Desires (Secret Agent AU, S)

Distraction, profit? (CEO! Johnny, Personal Assistant! Ten, S)

#nct #nct fanfic #nct fanfics #nct fic recs #nct fic #jaeyong #yuwin #luwoo #noren #norenmin #dojae #taedo #johnten #nomin #markhyuck #nct fanfic recs #nct fics #kpop #kpop fic #kpop fics #kpop fic recs #nct fluff #nct angst #nct smut #jaeyong fic #yuwin fic #luwoo fic #noren fic #norenmin fic #dojae fic

[hannadoolsetnet]

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: NCT (Band) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Minhyung | Mark, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Seo Youngho | Johnny, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Moon Taeil Characters: Lee Minhyung | Mark, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Seo Youngho | Johnny, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten, NCT Ensemble, NCT Dream Ensemble Additional Tags: Swearing, Alternate Universe - High School, High School, Fluff, markhyuck, here it comes the reoccurring tag, Idk what I’m doing, VERY SLIGHTLY AGED UP, Like one year, idk if this is University au or just high school, Mark is mature, Donghyuck is talented Summary:

"Bro, no okay bro just listen to me. It's simple."

#fic rec #markhyuck fic #markhyuck #johnten #ten nct #johnny seo #taedo #moon taeil #kim doyoung #nct dream members #alternate universe #highschool au

[atleasttheresthis]

My Name is Song (excerpt)

I’m working on a looooonnnngg fic about Song and I’m really, really excited about it, so I’m putting an excerpt of it here even though it will be a while before it’s finished

***

Song first meets him in the Earth Kingdom.

Banished Crown Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation walks into her hospital like a crack, like a slap in the face, and Song places him instantly, how could she not? That face spent three years atop her family altar, framed picture of the royal family in the place of honor, holding strong over the sketches of her ancestors. Her body surprises her when it starts to bow, as it had before the altar, before any appearances of the royal family in public, old habits dying hard or maybe not at all as she fights to keep herself from flinging to the floor, from observing the typical modes of respect the Fire Nation’s Royal Family garners from its citizens. Hatred and anger punch through her chest, ripping their way through muscle and taking root in her bloodstream, settling close around her heart. Song grits her teeth and locks her muscles down and reminds herself that they’re not in the Fire Nation capital, that he isn’t her Crown Prince anymore, that she’s not expected to bow before this man, that nobody else here knows who they are. Song feels abruptly like a spy, like an informant placed abroad, waiting to snitch on her fellow countrymen, on her newfound Earth Kingdom community. Her hatred and anger spike at her body’s betrayal, self-loathing briefly outstripping the vinegary malice she feels towards Prince Zuko and the Nation he stands for, the Nation she once called home.

The anger is blistering, as it always is, but soon it gives into cold fear that slithers down her spine and sits tight around her ribs, boring through her lungs until she can barely breathe. Why is he here? What is he doing in the Earth Kingdom? Song tries to study him unobtrusively and realizes the short, fat man standing next to him is General fucking Iroh, what are they doing here? Have they come after Song and her mother, are they here to destroy the fragile life they managed to build here? Was what they did to her father not enough? What are they doing here?

Trying desperately to get ahold of herself in the face of the screaming anxiety, Song closes her eyes and forces herself to count to ten in slow, measured breaths. She only manages to get to eight before opening her eyes again, willing herself to deal with the situation however necessary, be that jumping out the window or staying and trying to fight two trained firebenders for her life. On the second look, her eye falls on the horrible red patches of General Iroh’s skin. She realizes they must be here for medical help, and look, they’re not wearing the Fire Nation colors, they’ve cloaked themselves in neutral Earth Kingdom tones (just like she has.) Maybe they’re not with the Fire Nation after all. 

The anxiety subsides, leaving Song’s ribs bruised as a parting gift. The familiar anger ratchets up again as Song watches the two men who once owned her fealty walk up to the floor manager and explain their problem. Song realizes what’s going to happen before it does, and ice slides into her veins as she watches with a strange dissonance as the manager turns back to the floor, scanning beds and workers until his gaze alights on Song, catching her in a rare moment of inactivity. And there he goes, he points at her and motions to the men with his chin, and here they come and irony of ironies, Song is going to have to help the very royal family that turned its back on her. That helped kill her father.

General Iroh says something to her that sails through her ears, she manages to catch “white jade” and “tea.” Song nods, leaves to gather the necessary salves and poultices, and wonders if she can get away with killing General Iroh at the hospital, with letting the rash spread to his throat, choke him out and save her the trouble of wrapping her hands around his throat and squeezing and doing it herself. It would be so easy, all she would have to do is leave out a few key ingredients to the antidote she’s currently mulching up. 

It would be fair. It would be a fair trade, if she takes Zuko's Uncle from him, like he helped take her father from her. He deserves it.

The place where her father now resides the back of her mind rises up in the familiar righteous indignation that characterized him when he was alive. It's not Zuko's fault, he insists gently, he didn't do anything wrong when his father hurt him. He didn't ask me to stand up and defend him publicly. I did that all on my own.

Song brushes her father aside.

For a moment she’s going to do it, she’s going to exact her revenge against this horrible family, against the whole stinking country, and she’s reaching for something that smells god-awful but won’t do shit against the poison, she's going to do it--

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Song turns, sees Bohei, another hospital worker, standing in front of her. Song cannot even begin to give a shit about what Bohei wants, but. She has appearances to keep up.

Turning away from her past, Song asks "what is it?"

"I don't know what to use on this patient," Bohei says, flicking her head behind her. Song looks with a critical eye on the woman at Bohei's station. "It looks like normal poison oak," she says.

"Right, but she's having a weird reaction to it. Can you come take a look?" 

Song follows and realizes Bohei is right, the woman is having a much more intense reaction than normal. When she sticks out her tongue it's clear that it's been swelling, and she's developing sores underneath her arms. "Mulch up some orangewood with jade leaves and add it to the normal poultice," Song instructs. "Make sure you do it with sandalwood, or else it won't work. We'll have to keep you overnight, to make sure the poison doesn't worsen," she says to the woman apologetically.

The woman nods, Bohei flashes Song a smile before getting to work, and Song turns back to her own station, situation crashing down on her from one moment to the next.

 As she walks over to them, Song realizes that she cannot kill General Iroh, not here. Taedo is working as the floor manager today, and he hates her because she’s marginally better at this than he is, even though exactly all of her superior skill is down to her having a better bedside manner. The chauvinist asshole has been watching her like a hawk her entire shift, even now, she can feel his eyes between her shoulder blades. It won’t work, she cannot let Iroh die at the hospital.

A wasted opportunity, she thinks as she grinds up the antidote, but as the urge to kill them, to make the hurt for what they have done to her family, Song scrambles to find another one.

Mortar and pestle in her hand, antidote ready, she turns back to the two of them and starts making conversation, desperate for an in. “You two must not be from around here,” she says mildly, pulling on the affectations of a simple girl who just wants to help like she would an old coat. The false personality comes easy to her, it’s been a long time since she’s played at being herself. She left that person in the Fire Nation three years ago, or maybe it left her when her father died. “We know better than to touch the white jade. Much less make it into tea and drink it.” She’s putting on the performance of a simple country girl, but she can’t quite manage to keep from deadpanning there because who the fuck is so stupid to make tea out of the white jade?

The Dragon of the West, apparently.

Although she thinks she’s putting on a good performance, Song’s head is total chaos. As soon as they came through the door memories of the past that she keeps buried low in her heart have come whirling up to meet her, and she has to fight for concentration on both this fraught conversation and the medicinal task at hand.  Memories of her father, back when he was healthy, before anything had happened, appear in front of her eyes and steal her breath away. Her old life stretches over her like a tidal wave, and for a moment Song is ambushed and overwhelmed by the life her family had in the Fire Nation, the one they had to leave behind. For one blistering moment she is back in the Capital City, warming herself by the fire in the cooking stove during the cold, rainy season. Both of her parents are with her, her father as she remembers him and her mother looking happier than Song can remember seeing her in a long time. Song swallows past the lump in her throat and wrenches herself from the past, from the comfort and safety of what was, trying to focus on her current situation.

She needs to figure out what they’re doing here, she has to make sure they aren’t looking for anybody exiled, that she and her mother are safe. She needs more information.

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #iroh #song #kira writes #this is sort of the beginning of a stupid long fic #i'll bet you can't guess the eventual romantic pairing #because i also did not guess the eventual romantic pairing until i was about a third of the way in #i'm really proud of this one folks #i was going to post it later but i got too excited i couldn't wait anymore #fuck my time zone #this just means i get to reblog it later under the pretense of doing it for the latecomers lolololol

[anyonesunknown]

Gonna do a #DoTae #TaeDo #YongYoung Fic

#nct dotae #dotae #Yongyoung #TaeDo

[daautaaytaayyy]

Chán quá.

Hôm nay cổ họng hơi đau, mũi sụt sịt, còn đầu thì nhức, lúc ở trường mệt muốn khóc luôn.

Giờ bên trường chắc chuẩn bị vào học rồi nhỉ..?

Mình mệt quá nên bỏ hai tiết toán đầu rồi, ừ thì toán quan trọng, nhưng mà đâu có tính vào điểm chuyên cần đâu, với lại mình muốn ngủ quá.

Về lúc gần 12h, ăn trưa, nhưng cơm lại nửa sống nửa chín nên phải chờ nấu lại, rồi phải tắm cho em chó mới xin của hàng xóm, đến lúc muốn ngủ đã gần một giờ, nhưng mà, 1h30 là vào học rồi.

Em cún mới xin về kewt quá chừng, mà hư ghê, cứ lâu lâu lại lén bỏ về nhà cũ. Người thì nhỏ xíu xiu như cục bông, chả hiểu sao trốn nhanh ghê.

Aish, mà nói đi ngủ nhưng giờ vẫn chưa muốn ngủ lắm…

Để đi tìm fanfic đọc, à, dạo này có để ý đến Jaedo, để đi đọc fic Jaedo, còn Taedo đáng yêu thì chẳng có bao nhiêu fanfic :(((

#taedo #jaedo #fanfic #hmmm

[dojae-huh]

Why is it that so few people like Yudo/Doyu, even though they are also cute?

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSYF9vFHB/

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSYF9pBAN/

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSYF9T9V3/

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSYF94QF6/

Link, Link2, Link3, Link4

Perhaps DoYu is simply overshadowed by other ships (YuWin, YuMark, JohnDo, TaeDo). I regularly see it in oneshot compilations and as exes in JaeDo fics.

DoYu has memorable moments (Yuta kissing Do on stage, recreation of the Titanic pose, DoYu bickering in a car, Do fixing Yuta's hair, Yuta taking care of Do's sleeves at the table, Do wearing the slippers Yuta gifted him for a long time), however, otherwise they are not very noticeable in content. Yuta kind of avoids Do when his bro Jay is around, he is different from JN and Tae, he doesn't want to get in trouble.

The fans who stan them also are mostly attracted by different qualities (looks, "cool personality" vs voice, "cute personality"). Yuta is popular in LaTam, Do is SEA.

[dojae-huh]

Just curious

Among Jaedo's shipper, it seems that there are more fans of Doy than Jae. Then you think among Jaeyong shipper? And Taedo? Which fans dominate? I mean do tae's fans like jaeyong or jae's fans like that too?Then why do Jaedo and Jaeyong shippers have a little tension as if Doy and Tae are the most worthy of Jae in their eyes? But Taedo shippers are at least almost never offended by the other 2 shippers?

Thank you

I will tell my impression, but I can be wrong. I don't follow many shippers to have a good understanding of the picture.

I'd guess TaeDo shippers bias Taeyong more and JaeYong shippers bias Jaehyun more.

A lot of Taeyong's fans like him for his sweet character, as such they like TaeDo dynamic for the friendship, open proclamations of love, Tom&Jerry, mutual support, etc. The few DoTae fics I've read had Tae as the protagonist. Romantism/soulmates over sex.

In JaeYong ship Taeyong usually takes the proxy role for the female reader. Emphasis is done on his smallness, femininity. I rarely see JaeYong shippers describing Jaehyun as Tae's maknae, someone who is cared for. JaeYong ship is a more visual and sexual ship. Jaehyun is this cool macho type. Alpha/Omega. Sex/hot couple over romantism.

#ask me away #cogito ergo ship

[dojae-huh]

December Prompt

1) I got to NCT (specifically WayV) from SuperM just this summer. Both Lucas’ and Ten’s visuals caught my attention. I ended up reading LuTen fic which led to me stanning all of WayV because 1) it’s hard to read fics when you only know 2/7+ people and 2) I didn’t get what LuTen shippers were basing the ship off of so I watched a bunch of WayV content to try and figure it out.

2) The last person who’s name/face I learned (excluding Shotaro/Sungchan because I didn’t even know they existed for quite a while) was probably Taeil, Jaehyun, or Jaemin, but I couldn’t say which. I think they might just have some of the least distinctive facial features for me?

3) I’m not exactly into JaeDo, but I ended up on this blog bc of DoTae. When WayV’s comeback got interrupted by Lucas’s scandal, I spent some time learning about other NCT units. I got interested in Doyoung and Taeyong independently but simultaneously and ended up watching ship vids to learn more about both of them at once. The videos quickly convinced me that they had a genuine, close relationship but ship videos tend to read into things too much imo so I wanted to learn about how DoTae were around other people. In my search for content Jaehyun’s name came up and I ended up here. I’ve stayed because I think it’s pretty interesting and I like that you don’t take everything at face value and also remember that PR is a thing. I follow JaeDo I guess, but I’m not a JaeDo shipper.

4) This is my first time meeting either of them and I like Shotaro a lot, but am indifferent about Sungchan. It’s probably because Shotaro is so happy and outgoing and therefore easily likeable while Sungchan seems a lot more reserved. I also like Shotaro’s voice quite a bit.

You did with DoTae what I did with JaeDo, heh. I also decided to watch ship videos as a quick way to get to know both at the same time... and now I'm here.

I've noticed that Jaehyun is hard to remember for many.

With TaeDo, aside from them being a couple, there is no "reading too much". They are the way they show their relationship. Even if it is used sometimes for distraction/PR. Watch their vlives for two.

#dochi on the line #cogito ergo ship #the second boyfriend #I'll be your morning star #Shotaro is a wrecking ball #Sungchan make V

[dojae-huh]

https://twitter.com/guichan_like/status/1460896420496478214?s=21

Don’t know enough Kor to understand the context but they are winning by a lot. Also they are on there twice because of Jaedo or Dojae spelling.

Link

Ranking of fics based on the number of tags/titles on Postype.

JaeDo is 1st place.

MarkHyuk - 4th.

The next 127 ship after JaeDo is JaeMark** (8th).

The rest of the top 10 is occupied by Dream ships.

JaeYong (11th place), it's followed by DoJae (15th), then DoTae (17th), JohnDo (18th), MarkDo (20th), TaeDo (YonYoung) (24th), JohnTen (25th), MarkJae* (26th), HaeJae* (27th), 2Dong (28th), MarkTae (29th), JohnIl (30th), WooDo (31th), DoWoo (32th), HaeWoo (33th).

*I think MarkJae and HaeJae have this order to not mix with Jaemin ships, but I'm not sure.

** I'm really not sure about JaeMark, there are almost no posts with this tag on twitter. I suspect the author misspelled and it should be JaemMark (Jaemin). However, if the ranking is for all years, then maybe JaeMark was popular way back when they called each other soulmates.

#Ask me away #cogito ergo ship #rolling-lolling

[dojae-huh]

Yes I am a SuperM fan, how did you know? Hahaha.

Baekhyun treats Taeyong like he adopted him, and Taeyong calls him "dad" of the group. Really no romance there. I also don't see romance between dotae, even though I used to. It's like my eyes needed glasses and when I put them, I could see their relationship clearly. Platonic bffs it is.

As it's obvious by my last ask, I am more convinced by the way Doyoung and Jaehyun treat each other, even if they don't have as much candies as other pairings. The little they give away is a lot. I don't care about the divorce jokes. Jaedo seems genuinely in love with each other. The small gifs we have, which you post here a lot, say much about them. And to the ones that can't see it, the devil is in the details.

I really believe your analysis of them. They are a fact to me. Browsing your blog for new posts is one of the highlights of my day. Thanks for creating and continuing it!

Now I'll go write my dojae, but it's omegaverse hahahhaha (as idols, though). Maybe I'll write something else too, IC, like you mentioned you like, I like it too, I have many canon compliant fics. They are harder in the way that one needs to research properly for it. Since I'm watching everything in the vlive channel from old to new, I might get inspired.

The order of your ships and the time of getting to know TaeDo.

Taeyong is very clingy with Doyoung and likes to look at him, so it confuses many. Especially during the time after JaeDo came out to the group and there was a shift in the dynamics. However, Taeyong clings to Baekhyun in the same way (plays with the hand, for example). Baek at first was confused himself, weirded out slightly by the behaviour (he gave hcaracteristic perplexed looks), but soon got used to. 

#Ask me away #the second boyfriend #cogito ergo ship #Dochi on the line #SuperEm #I'll be your morning star

[dojae-huh]

It's funny you avoid Doyoung Omega because to me he's an Alpha through and through (mainly because of his personality). The Omega one is clearly Jaehyun, in my humble opinion. I think he fits it better. I've also seen fics where Doyoung is a woman, photoshopped with long hair on the covers. They seem famous. I think a lot of people see Jaehyun as the obvious masculine top (same goes for Jaeyong shippers), but I don't see him like that at all, although I think of them both as vers, I find Doyoung to be more dominant (if he's bottom, then he's a power bottom). Jae's such a soft peach puppy. Peaches are delicate velvety fruits! (Hahahahhaha) He's very meek sometimes. But this is my headcanon for fanfics only, not assuming their real selves, like you said before it's silly to have a top/bottom discourse because irl it switches. (Yet some people fixate on these roles like it's important).

To each their own I guess. As long as there are fics for all tastes, it's a good thing, specially cuz Jaedo isn't as popular as others ships.

Do you have a preference between AU and canon compliant?

I don’t know how strict are the rules in ABO, I suppose some authors like to invert the trope or work with “nature vs nurture” (in other fandoms), I just know that omega Doyoung is that whiny girly OOC I avoid in any AU, be it coffeeshop or college. 

Lol, do authors even realise that “legs for days” is a description of a woman. I see this in every second fanfic, while Jaehyun has the longer legs between the two (and likes to wear skinny jeans and show off). Yes, Do is often made into a proxy for the female author, conciously or not.

Peach puppy, heh, that’s a good description. 

I would say canon compliant because for me artist/showbiz/idol is an interesting AU on its own, plus the reality provides so many fun scenarios... (Hyuk traumatised by Jae’s habit of emerging from the bathroom in one towel, Mark being ousted from his room, Doyoung’s broken door, TaeDo rings, Guri, Jinyong, WayV, Jungwoo’s curiosity...), but there are so few of canon compliant fics (even less truely IC), that there is no point in making this choice. Therefore, I’ll say I care only about IC and plot/writing style. Afterall, Schwarzenegger had a baby first.  

Posts on the dominance/submissiveness

#Ask me away #cogito ergo ship