1.

It all started when they were filming for NCT Life in Chicago. The staffs were really confident of this season’s success, so they went all out and include all members in it, since the demand of a season of NCT Life with whole NCT members was high.

They rented a dorm for the boys to rest for the five days and four nights they were filming the show. And of course, to fit fifteen growing boys in one place, the dorm needs to be big. The dorm had 11 rooms in total, 6 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. It also had a huge living room that connected to the kitchen, with even huger garden on the back. Johnny had said it would’ve been perfect if there was a swimming pool jokingly, but the boys agreed silently that this is going to be the best vacation they had together with all members.

It was their second day in Chicago when they decided to play truth or dare while waiting for food delivery. Actually it was their free time from filming schedule, but Johnny and Ten had suggested to play some game, and the staffs—thinking this could be an interesting episode— gave them permission.

They sat in circle—at least tried to anyway, since there were furnitures that disabled them from forming a perfect circle.

“Okay, so how do we do this?” Jaehyun asked the two masterminds who planned this game.

“Should we just play rock paper scissors to decide who’s going to be asking and who’s getting asked?” Ten suggested.

From his opposite, Yuta whined. “Eeh, playing that with fifteen people is going to take forever. You got better idea, bunny?” he asked, ignoring the pouting Ten whose suggestion just got rejected harshly.

“Can you stop calling me that?” Doyoung glared. “Anyway, how about we just split this … kind of circle to two sides?”

Now Yuta eyed him disapprovingly, “I asked you for a solution, not to make it more complicated.”

“Shut up, I’m not done!”

“Ooh, I think I get it.” Mark clapped his hands once. “Okay, so, let’s say the dividing line is on Johnny-hyung and Jaehyun-hyung—“

“Why are you talking mathematics, hyung? Do you miss your homework that much?” Donghyuck interjected. At this, the members laughed and Yuta gave him a high-five.

“Oh, wait, do you mean that if Johnny’s the one asking, then Jaehyun is the one getting asked?” Taeyong asked. “And it’s just moving from there? So is it gonna be Jaemin and Winwin, Jeno with Donghyuck, Me and Doyoung, Renjun with Mark and so on?”

This time it was Doyoung who clapped, “YES! Exactly! Oh, hyung, I knew our connection is strong!” Taeyong gave him a distasteful expression in return.

“Woah, as expected, leader!” Winwin commented.

“Okay, shall we do this?” Ten clapped excitedly.

“How do we decide who starts first though?” Jeno asked.

There was silence, before Jisung quietly said, “Uh … rock paper scissors?”

.

The game was going smoothly—for the staffs who recorded it, some of them even laughed watching the members doing dares and answering ridiculous question, but for the boys? It was disastrous, it felt like they had been waiting for this exact moment to get their revenge on each other, since all members went all out on their question and dares. Poor Mark who got a devilish dare from Renjun, who would have thought the innocent Renjunie can be more evil than Donghyuck? Exactly, no one.

Even Yuta had his own share of sweet dare from Ten—are you serious? Ice bucket challenge? That was so 2015! He had protested, but of course it fell into deaf ears because Jaehyun and Doyoung already went to the kitchen, ‘preparing’ the props for his dare.

Those evil bunny and—valentine boy my , he’s a satan!

Now, thanks to Ten, Doyoung, and Jaehyun, who were laughing their off after his dare, he had to change his clothes. Honestly, he wouldn’t mind the dare, if it was summer and noon. Right now was not any of the above. So, yes, Yuta was pissed.

The only thing that could lighten up his mood was to get his revenge on those three evil spawns. He wore his new clothes in a swift. His hair was still a little bit damp, so he decided to bring the towel with him, rejoining the circle—of satans, he thought.

The atmosphere had changed when he came back, though. Doyoung and Ten got smirk on their faces. Most of them seemed pretty excited. And Taeyong looked uncomfortable.

“What, what? What am I missing?” he asked as he came back to his seat beside Jaemin.

“Taeyong-hyung just got a dare.”

“Wow, he picked a dare? I thought he would go for truth.” The Japanese couldn’t mask his surprise, since it was Taeyong.

Jaemin laughed, “I bet he wanted to, but since Doyoung-hyung is the one who's giving him the question, he backed away.”

“I should’ve expected that.” Yuta let out a breathed laugh. “What is his—“

“Yah, Yuta! It’s your turn to ask.” Johnny called.

“Uh, okay, whose turn is it?” when the heads are turning to the innocent looking Ten, Yuta smirked.

“Ooh, you’re so dead, Ten.”

.

Thankfully the food delivery came on the right timing—if they keep playing the game NCT might disband, Doyoung had said— and just as they ate their food, suddenly everyone is smiling and joking with each other. Gone all the evil plans they had on each other. To be honest the sudden transition was kind of scary, but the staffs probably already knew how much the members treasure their food from the first season of NCT Life, so seeing the sudden mood change was not foreign.

When they were done, though, everyone seemed to want to leave the room like they wanted to get away from a crime scene. Again, it was normal for them, no one wanted to do the dishes of fifteen people. On time like this usually their leader would volunteer himself, and one member who felt sorry would help him—this time, it was Yuta. Why?

Because he noticed Taeyong seemed down.

Yuta wouldn’t call himself a good observer, since he’s more of a spontaneous kind of guy. But one thing he noticed that night after the truth or dare, their leader seemed nervous for no reason. His back was so stiff when Yuta helped him washing the dishes. He wanted to ask what was wrong to Taeyong, but the older beat him to it.

“Yuta, are you done with the dishes?”

“Yeah, what is it? You need a hand?” he replied as he placed the last cup he had wiped dry.

Taeyong gulped, “Actually, uh …”

“What, what is it?”

“Can we talk outside?”

Yuta never asked what Taeyong’s dare was, so he was surprised when Taeyong asked him to talk in the garden together after they were done washing the dishes. He only got the idea that oh, so this was the dare when he saw Ten and Doyoung eyeing them with smirk on their face while silently doing a high five under the table—Yuta couldn’t see it, but he just knew.

Once they were outside, Yuta asked right away, “Hey, what’s wrong? You okay, Taeyong?”

“I ….”

“Are you sick? You’re not feeling well? I think you’re not feeling well since you’ve seemed pale since the game. Do you want to go to the hospi—“

Taeyong cut his rambling, “Oh my god Yuta, will you let me talk?”

“Oh, okay, sorry. What is it?”

“I … I like you.” Taeyong muttered. “I’ve been in love with you since we were trainees, will you go out with me?” Yuta would’ve thought the latter was rapping if he hadn’t heard what he was saying because he said it so fast. But Yuta had heard it all clearly.

Oh wow.

Yuta was half surprised and half expecting it when Taeyong ask him out. Okay, he was expecting the dare, but come on, this is Lee Taeyong confessing to him, and he had never imagined anything close to this even in his wildest dream. His reflex to the shock was to laugh, but he held it as best as he could because Taeyong looked so adorable being flustered like this, and he didn’t want to ruin the mood.

So, what? He’s supposed to fake ask me out and get me to be his boyfriend for the dare? Seriously, those guys are just too much, he thought as he eyed the nervous Taeyong in front of him. Seeing how the leader tried so hard not to fail his dare made Yuta kind of felt sorry for him.

Yuta let out his signature smile and hugged the leader tightly, “Yeah, sure! I love you too.”

As if on cue, Taeyong squealed an oh my god and hugged Yuta back even tighter. Yuta laughed as he lifted and spun the older around—is he even older? Taeyong always looked like a kid when he’s excited.

This is going to be so funny when the episode got aired.

What Yuta failed to notice was there were no cameras around them.

2.

Yuta wouldn't have any clue if it wasn't for the interviewer in one of the music program pointed it out for him. They were doing a promotion for their new comeback album, when they came in to the room where they would be having the interview, Taeyong and Yuta were holding hands. It had become a usual thing for them, really. To the point they forgot to let go of each other's hand, and that Jaehyun was supposed to stand between them for the official line up.

The interviewer had laughed, seeing how Yuta hastily went back to his original position beside Jaehyun. "Seems like you guys are really close with each other, huh? Do you have the same age?" She referred to Taeyong and Yuta.

The Japanese let out a sheepish grin, "Yeah, we're both 95 liners."

"Ooh," she nodded understandingly. "No wonder you're so close!"

"Actually," Johnny interjected before they were moving on the interview. "I was born in 1995 too, but these two left me out."

The joke successfully made them laugh, but flustered Taeyong kept shaking his hands while saying, "No, no, we're all close."

The interviewer moved on to the real interview, but Yuta couldn't help but realize how he and the leader had been really close for the past few weeks.

.

“Yuta? Where are you going?”

Yuta paused himself from tying his sneakers and looked at Taeyong, “I’m gonna go to the convenience store to buy snacks. Why, do you need anything?”

“Can I come with you?” the leader asked.

Yuta didn’t know why the older seemed hesitated when he asked the question, so he just nodded.

The Japanese could’ve sworn the latter squealed and did a little jump at his response. Honestly, can he be more adorable than this? That was a rhetorical question, because Yuta knew Taeyong could easily top that aegyo with another one. Just as he thought of that, now he was attacked with Taeyong’s back hug, it had caught him out of guard, and he let out a laugh at how adorable the older acted.

“Come on, let’s go.”

On their way to the convenience store, Taeyong’s grip on Yuta’s hand had never loosened. Even when they were back at the dorm they were never be apart from each other for more than half a meter.

Taeyong seemed to always found a way for him to stay close to Yuta, whether it was with holding hands, bumps of shoulder, his hand on Yuta’s waist, leaning on each other, or even playing with the younger’s hair. Not that Yuta minded, on the contrary, Yuta liked it whenever Taeyong clinged to him like a baby koala.

They usually continued to cuddling on the sofa while watching some tv shows, until a member—it was always Doyoung, somehow— whined something about too much PDA. Yuta would just throw a snack at him though, and get back on Taeyong’s comment about the show. Yuta knew the other liked skinship—hence the clinging lately— but he thought that it started to get into him too.

This is nice, cuddling with Taeyong is nice.

3.

Being sick .

Yuta cursed his body for getting sick at the wrong timing. Really. Of all days possible, he got sick on the day where they just had one interview schedule on a radio show. The members had planned to go eat out together, too. He sighed. Honestly, worst timing ever.

Johnny and Jaehyun had sympathized for him, even attempted to cheer him up with asking Yuta what he wanted them to bring him home, which he rejected with a smile. On the other hand,