nekrateholic | cutouts (00fftober)

RENHYUCK

(...) a pair of loose boxer shorts and a t-shirt big enough to hang off one shoulder. Renjun is pretty sure it used to belong to someone else at some point, someone not-Renjun and the thought makes something twist in his stomach.

Donghyuck is sprawled on the couch, legs propped up on the armrest and a bowl of cereal balanced on his stomach. There’s some drama Renjun is unfamiliar with playing on screen, too and for a second, the image of cleaning chocolate milk off the couch flashes through his mind.

“Morning,” he greets absently, trying his best to be inconspicuous about avoiding eye contact with Donghyuck’s general existence.

All he gets is a grunt in reply but when Renjun eventually glances back, Donghyuck is already looking at him. He makes a show of crossing his legs in a way that could put a ballet dancer to shame. Renjun rolls his eyes, expertly ignoring the cartwheels his stupid heart seems to be making.

“Move,” he says, unceremoniously pushing Donghyuck’s legs off the couch and taking up the space along with his own bowl.

“Rude,” Donghyuck mutters. He’s contemplating propping his legs right back up, in Renjun’s lap. Renjun can pretty much see the thought process. He’s done it before and it always ends the same way: Donghyuck pushed off again, potentially on the floor, with his cereal all over him.

In the end, Donghyuck just sits up.

NOHYUCK/HYUCKIL

Occasionally, Donghyuck will think about the people in his life. People he’d sworn by in high school and grown apart by the next year. They’re friends on facebook now, he likes the photos of their weddings and the occasional baby, caught mid-cry. He doesn’t miss them, not really, but he does miss the time spent with them. Sometimes.

And sometimes, a lot of times, he thinks about people that came and went like a summer storm. Like Jeno in grade ten, not quite a friend so much as an acquaintance, crying in a bathroom stall and asking Donghyuck to please, please kiss him so he can prove something to himself. To this day Donghyuck isn’t entirely sure why Jeno chose him of all people. He wasn’t particularly interested in kissing Jeno and it didn’t feel like it had anything to do with him being a boy. Donghyuck did it anyway. Jeno would feel terrible if he refused and worse yet, he might go to someone else, someone worse. This is the kind of thing that can ruin you in high school. They might not have been friends but Jeno couldn’t seem to stop sniffling and Donghyuck just wanted to give him a hug. Tell him it’ll all be fine. So he did just that.

Then kissed him.

Over the years, he found out it’s not just Jeno he doesn’t feel like kissing. It wasn’t because he was a boy either and it wasn’t kissing itself. Kissing could be nice sometimes, except it lead people to believe other things were fine, too. And they were not.

There’s something about the silence of two a.m. on a weekday. Each time Donghyuck happens to stay up which, frankly, isn’t all that often, he inevitably ends up on his balcony. It’s a small balcony, feels even smaller with all the plant he has lining the space but it provides the breath of fresh air

To be honest, Donghyuck isn’t much of a thinker. He has a tendency to overthink the dumbest things but when it comes to impulse control? Self preservation? Nonexistent.

He’s supposed to meet Jaemin in one of his favorite clubs on a Saturday evening. He saunters in a little past midnight, dressed to impress himself only and ready to fend off any annoying advances.

Predictably, Jaemin is already there and dancing with the cute boy of the night. Donghyuck had hoped for a bit more time but in the end, Jaemin is only part of the reason he’s here. Work hasn’t been the best lately and all he wants is to lose himself in the crowd, even for a little while.

It’s fine. It’s great, even. The music is good and while the place is crawling with people looking for a quick hookup, Donghyuck somehow manages to dodge most of them.

He’s taking a break, downing a fruity drink he forgot the name of, when he notices him.

There’s a guy on the other end of the bar, almost dwarfed by another guy Donghyuck rolls his eyes and goes about his business - initially. He keeps glancing at the stranger against his better judgement. But the more he looks, the more he notices something: sure, the second man seem pretty interested and while attractive enough, the first one… He looks about the same as Donghyuck feels when his night out takes a turn for the worse.

So he does the only thing he can think of. Walks over, slides right in between the two guys and and places a loud, obnoxious smooch on the stranger’s cheek.

“Honey,” he drawls, going as far to run his fingers through the man’s hair. “I missed you, where did you go?”

Both men look equally surprised to see him and for a split second, Donghyuck imagines himself being thrown out. Objectively, this is not the worst thing he’s seen happen here and there are plenty of clubs he can go to instead. Sure, Jaemin will be mad he can’t use him as a wingman anymore but honestly, Jaemin can suck it.

And then, the stranger’s arm snakes around his waist. He directs the most brilliant smile at the other guy. “Hey, babe, sorry. I was held up a bit. Wanna meet my new friend?”

To his credit, the guy looks embarrassed as fuck. He mumbles something along the lines of Sorry, I have to go, before he scampers off into the crowd.

They watch until he’s out of sight before the Donghyuck untangles himself from the stranger and the hand on his waist disappears.

“Thanks,” the man sighs. “He wasn’t bad but god, he was so persistent.” He blinks up at Donghyuck. “My name is Taeil.”

Donghyuck’s heart gives a violent jolt against his ribcage. It’s weird, because he could swear he’s never known someone with this name. Whatever. “Donghyuck,” he mumbles eventually. “And it’s fine. Want me to call you a taxi?”

“I’m here with-” Taeil’s eyes trail off somewhere in the distance (...)