“Ugh-”

Taeyong groans as he leans back, sipping on his iced coffee while he blankly stares outside the window–he always feels sluggish on Mondays. Ten looks at him and laughs, sliding towards him with his chair and pokes his arm playfully.

“Monday? Or missing someone?” Ten asks and it immediately makes Taeyong blush, remembering how he spent the weekend with Yuta.

“Monday…” he grumbles after a while even though his face is turning red, Ten grins knowingly at him. “Right. Thank you for last Friday, though. I was so drunk!”

Taeyong laughs, nodding. Ten was indeed out of it when he sent them home.

“Glad you were able to reach home, though.”

“Barely! Hendery and I had to carry each other just to be able to go inside the apartment building, we ended up sleeping outside of Hendery’s place. Woke up to people passing by the hallway.” he groans at the memory, “It was so embarrassing.”

“Johnny didn’t look for you?”

Ten shook his head, “He said he knew I was at Hendery’s since he knew we went out to drink. I’m sure he enjoyed the bed to himself since he always complains I move a lot.”

“He’s just tall, that’s his fault. You should buy a bigger bed.” Taeyong suggests.

“Or maybe we need separate beds.”

Ten laughs as he moves back to his table, Taeyong just shaking his head at his friend’s silliness. The notification from his phone catches his attention and he blushes at his eagerness to check who it was. He really does miss Yuta.

It was from Doyoung.

“Free for dinner tonight?”

Yuta didn’t invite him for anything and as if Doyoung can hear Taeyong’s thoughts, he sends a follow-up message.

“I told Yuta you’re mine tonight.”

Taeyong suddenly bursts out laughing that he got looks although none of them said anything, he just says a quick “sorry” and drops his head down, typing his reply.

“You sound like we’re about to , but yes, I am. Where do you want to meet?”

“Do you want to? Let’s just get take out and eat at your place, I’m craving for sleepovers with my best friend.”

“Did you and Jaehyun fight?”

“No, I just want to make the most out of you because Yuta might be taking all of your time soon.”

He pouts, he’ll always have time for Doyoung.

“You know that’s not true, Dodo. I’d choose you over Yuta, always.”

“Damn right you will. I’ll drop by your work place after I clock out.”

“Love you <3”

“<3”

Taeyong smiles at the reply. Doyoung wasn’t really verbal but he knew Doyoung loves him a lot.

He was about to return to his work when there was another pop up notification again. It was from Yuta.

“Enjoy your time with Doyoung, tonight.”

“I will. Don’t forget to eat, okay? And hydrate lots. Jeno says thank you for the tickets, by the way.”

“Tell him it’s my pleasure. Are you gonna watch the game with them?”

“I don’t really know Jeno’s friends.”

“Doyoung isn’t going to watch with Jaehyun?”

Taeyong stares at his phone in confusion, he calls Yuta.

“Hi, are you okay to accept calls?”

“Yes, we’re on break. Thank you for calling me, I miss your voice…”

Taeyong blushes, they just saw each other the previous night. He stands to walk to the toilet so he can talk more comfortably. “I miss your voice, too…” he says quietly, quite shy to be saying it outloud. Yuta left his apartment late the previous night and they didn’t get to call in the morning because Yuta had to leave really early and was already training when Taeyong woke up.

“Anyways, what did you mean by Jaehyun? You gave them tickets too?”

“Yes, Doyoung didn’t say anything?”

“No, or maybe he’ll tell me tonight. Well, do you want me to come and watch?”

He could somehow hear Yuta smile. “Of course I’d want you to come and watch, I’d love that. Will need my lucky charm and my inspiration.”

Taeyong scoffs, “You’ve won all those years we weren’t together, pretty sure I wasn’t your lucky charm then.”

“You sound so sure, babe. Want me to let you in on a secret?”

“Hmm, okay.”

“Remember that necklace we both have? The one with our pictures in it?”

Taeyong remembers, how can he forget? They bought the necklace together for their 3rd year anniversary and placed pictures of themselves inside it, he remembers them saying “So we’d always be with each other wherever.”. He never thought Yuta would keep it. He hid his along with the other things Yuta has given him over the years.

“Y-yeah…” he stuttered, he wanted to cry. He was happy.

“I kept it and always wore it. I only remove it when I take a shower, to be honest.”

Taeyong puts Yuta on loud speaker and quickly searches pictures of him on the web and he indeed was wearing the necklace everywhere, he never really noticed because he tried hard not to watch Yuta’s games or look at his advertisements, but he indeed has it. Not one photo without it.

“It’s actually common knowledge to my fans and supporters, although they never actually knew where I got it or who gave it to me.”

“I… I never noticed.” Taeyong admits and now that he thinks about it, Yuta was wearing it while they were going at it last weekend. He blushed.

“I understand that you probably never watched my games, but you didn’t notice yesterday? I was except for it.” Yuta chuckles, teasing. He wasn’t offended. He understood Taeyong. If he was in Taeyong’s position, he’d probably boycott himself.

“Not on purpose…” Taeyong grumbles, Yuta was wearing a necklace, just didn’t think much about it because he was busy focusing on Yuta’s touches, “But I’m glad you kept the necklace. I did, too, just don’t wear it. Although I should probably take it out again…”
 

“Well, that’s my lucky charm. Never took it off since we broke up. It has always been with me, you have always been with me.”

Taeyong suddenly whines, Yuta was being so cheesy. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice…”

“It’s fine. Take yours out, I’ll wear it on you the next time we meet.” Yuta pauses, “I miss you already, Tyong.”

By now, Taeyong could definitely feel his face burning, he looked at the mirror and he indeed was getting red. “I miss you, too, Yuta…”

“Ehem-”

Taeyong suddenly whips his head to look at the entrance and sees Hendery standing there, looking at him with a teasing smile.

“Hi…” he mouths, Hendery nods.

“Boss is looking for you.” Hendery whispers, “You can flirt later”

Taeyong looks at him with wide eyes and Hendery walks away, laughing loudly. Yuta heard it.

“Pretty sure that was Hendery.”

“Yup! Hey, I need to go. My boss is asking for me.”

“Alright, talk to you soon. I need to get back, too.”

They paused for a while, not wanting to hang up.

“I love you.” Yuta says it first and Taeyong just wants to melt in a puddle.

“I love you.” Taeyong replies and says a quick “Bye!” before hanging up, his face was very red and he tried to get rid of it by splashing water on his face but failed.

Getting back together with Yuta was something he just fantasized and never really imagined would become reality. Even when he was hurting, somewhere in his heart hoped that they’d be back together, and now that it was happening, he still can’t believe it.

Taeyong knows that them reuniting would be different but he was actually excited with the thought of it, he didn’t want to be back with Yuta to continue where they left off; he was actually looking forward to them starting a new chapter and maybe pick up some pieces from the past, but he would much rather start over. He and Yuta were different people now; although they’re still the same, they both know they’re different now. Hopefully better versions of their past selves.

After his phone call with Yuta, the afternoon went by in a blur and before he knew it, Taeyong was being picked up by Doyoung.

“We could’ve just met up somewhere, Dodo. You didn’t have to pick me up.” Taeyong scolds as soon as he sees Doyoung waiting outside, Doyoung scoffs.

“Just because I don’t have a car, doesn’t mean I can’t pick you up. Besides, I want take outs from that Italian restaurant near here. I actually came for that.” he laughs at Taeyong’s reaction.

“Come on, I’m starving.” Doyoung says and pulls Taeyong along with him, saying hi and bye to Taeyong’s friends that they see before leaving.

“Yuta told me he gave Jaehyun tickets for this Saturday’s game.” Taeyong begins as they wait for their orders, Doyoung nods.

“Yeah, he did. I don’t know if I want to come, though. Are you watching? Wait, of course you are.”

“I’m not really sure, actually.”

Doyoung raises a brow, confused. “Why not? This is the first game after you’ve gotten back together and you’re not watching?”

Taeyong was actually glad that Doyoung didn’t really protest when he told him that they got back together after careful deliberation. Or maybe he did. He actually did. Doyoung scolded Taeyong for not even making Yuta suffer for at least a month, but he was actually happy his best friend was happy. Although he couldn’t stop repeating “I hope he won’t hurt you anymore” and “Please, take care of your heart” and “I’ll break every bone in Yuta’s body if he hurts you again and makes you cry”.

“I know I promised myself I’d think more positively but I couldn’t shake the thought of, what if he ignores me there? What if he doesn’t acknowledge my presence again? What if he does that and just apologises after saying he was focused on the match?” It happened a couple of times before and Taeyong was still traumatized by it, he knows Doyoung knows this.

“Well, I don’t think he’ll invite you if he’ll do that?” Doyoung says, not entirely confident. “But hey, give him the benefit of the doubt. I’ll be there with you, okay? Only if you want to watch.”

Taeyong thinks about it but was not able to make a decision as they get distracted when their food arrives and the instructions from the server on how to reheat it.

They arrived at his apartment quicker than he usually does because they rode a taxi, with Doyoung saying he wants their food still fresh and if they took the subway it wouldn't be as good.

Taeyong was assigned with the reheating while Doyoung prepared the table.

“Careful, it’s hot!” Taeyong warns as he serves the food on the table, Doyoung looking excitedly at their feast. “This is a lot for two people, you know.”

“Yeah, but we eat like we’re four, Yong. Don’t pretend.” Doyoung rolls his eyes and starts to put food on his plate and eat, Taeyong doing the same and was just enjoying it when Doyoung suddenly groans after looking at the message he just received.

“You okay?” Taeyong asks and doesn’t get a reply when his own phone starts ringing, it was a video call from Yuta. He faces Doyoung.

“Answer it, he was the one who sent me a message.”

Taeyong answers it and immediately, a smile graces his face. Yuta was already in bed and looked tired and sleepy. “Hi” was his shy greeting.

“Hi, baby…” Yuta says and then says a playful, “Hi, Doyoung! Thanks for letting me call Taeyong.”

Doyoung rolls his eyes, “I told you Taeyong’s mine tonight, Yuta.”

“I’m sorry to ruin your little date, I just want to see my boyfriend before I sleep.” Taeyong blushes.

“You have 5 minutes, Nakamoto.”

“Thank you!”

Taeyong excuses himself and walks to his bedroom so he could talk to Yuta properly.

“Have you had your dinner?” he asks, he was glad to see Yuta even though they just saw each other the day before.

“Hm, early dinner. I’m so tired.” Yuta pouts, it made Taeyong chuckle.

“You should go to sleep, then.”

“I will, after our 5 minutes is up.” They both laugh, but Taeyong really wanted to finish the call early so Yuta can rest. “How was your day?” Yuta asks

“It was great, I just really don’t like Mondays.”

Yuta chuckles, nodding. “I know. What were you eating?”

“Italian food, pizza and pasta and some other food Doyoung ordered that I’m not familiar with.”

“Hmm, that sounds great. We should have that some other time.”

Taeyong nods, “Sure, when you’re not busy. You really should be sleeping now, you look really tired.”

“I will. I have to get up early tomorrow, too.” He yawns and Taeyong wants to just hug and cuddle him to sleep.

“All the more reason for you to hang up and sleep now, hm? You can call me again tomorrow.”

“I will…” he yawns again

“By the way, I’ll be watching with Doyoung on Saturday…”

Yuta smiles happily, nodding. “I’m glad. I’m looking forward to seeing you watch the match.”

“Don’t lose, okay?”

“Promise” he yawns again.

“Seriously, Yuta, go to sleep.”

“I will, the 5 minutes is up anyways. I don’t want to get scolded by Doyoung.” he grins, “Goodnight, baby.”

“Goodnight, Yuta.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

Yuta presses a kiss on the screen that all Taeyong could see were his lips and chuckles as he does the same.

“Alright, hang up now.” Taeyong says and Yuta says another “I love you” waving as he hangs up.

He walks back to the kitchen and continues eating, the smile on his face not leaving.

“Happy looks good on  you, Yongie…” Doyoung says, smiling at Taeyong. “Although I’m not entirely happy with Yuta, yet, I’m glad he brought that smile back to your face even though he was the one who took it. I miss you being this happy.”

Taeyong blushes at Doyoung’s words. “I miss feeling this happy, too.” he admits.

Doyoung nods and reaches over to pat Taeyong’s cheeks fondly, mouthing “I love you” then says “Let’s finish this and let’s get ready for bed. I’m so tired and it’s only Monday.”

Taeyong laughs and figures, he and Doyoung are really alike; in many ways that even the both of them won’t admit.

“Is this okay, Dodo?” Taeyong asked as he stands in the mirror, checking out his outfit for the nth time and Doyoung was already getting tired.

“We’re just going to watch a soccer match, Yongie!” Doyoung whines, gesturing to his outfit. “Something like this will do!” He was a wearing a black bomber jacket over a white shirt with a small print and with black pants; Taeyong groans.

“Easy for you to say, you’re tall and have broad shoulders and you look good in anything!”

Doyoung shrugs because he knows it’s true, he looked handsome in whatever because of his physique. He grins at Taeyong’s annoyance and watches him remove his suit and decides to go with a plain white shirt, white pants and a blue denim jacket. He looks again in the mirror and faces Doyoung, he gives him 2 thumbs up.

“You’re beautiful, now, be ready. Jaehyun will be here in a few minutes.”

Taeyong nods and fixes his hair one last and grabs his bag, putting in his wallet, phone and keys then looks at the bedside table; the necklace that he bought with Yuta was in a small box. He stares at it for a while and decides to just bring it, for luck.

“Ready?” Doyoung asks when Taeyong goes out of his room, he chuckles at how identical their outfits are and nods.

“Yup!” He replies as he slips on his purple hightop converse and stands by the door. “Is Jaehyun near?”

“Uhuh.” Doyoung stands beside him and wears his white hightop converse and grabs his bag. “Let’s go!”

The drive towards the stadium was loud since Jaehyun was excitedly telling Taeyong and Doyoung about the last game and how excited he is for this one. It was Korea vs Mexico and Taeyong couldn’t focus on what he was saying because he was suddenly reminded of the last time he watched Yuta live. It wasn’t a pleasant experience but he was hoping this match will be better, even if Yuta doesn’t acknowledge him before and during, he hopes he can meet him after whether they win or lose.

They arrive 30 minutes before the game and Taeyong sends Yuta a “Good luck! We’ll be cheering the loudest for you! ❤️”. He looks around, there are a lot of people watching and he sees Jeno and his friends sitting not far from them, he waves when he sees them and Jeno waves back happily while mouthing “Thank you, hyung!” to him, he just gives him two thumbs up and faces Doyoung.

“Is it weird if we eat while watching? I’m kinda hungry” he says and Doyoung looks around then taps Jaehyun, telling him to buy them some nachos and coke and Jaehyun immediately does as he says, Doyoung grins at Taeyong. “Got you covered, babe!”

“You’re the best!” He laughs at Doyoung’s silliness, then the vibration in his bag catches his attention. It was a message from Yuta. “Can you meet me before we start?”

Taeyong looks around and sees a waving hand from afar, it was Yuta and when he waves back, Yuta ran towards where they were. He excuses himself and makes his way down to meet Yuta.

“Hi!” He says shyly, not used to be seen with Yuta with this many people.

“Hi, baby…” Yuta laughs at Taeyong’s blushing face. “I need my good luck charm.”

Taeyong points to his necklace, “Well, you have that around your neck.”

“Hmmm… how about a good luck kiss?”

Taeyong could feel his face burn and lightly hit Yuta in the shoulder, “Hey, we’re in public.”

“I won’t get back until I get it, then.” Yuta pouts, leaning against the railings.

“But Yuta…”

He looked around and a few people were looking at them curiously, it was making him shy at the same time he was proud to be seen like this with Yuta; with Yuta acting like a spoiled child, it was actually cute. He faces Yuta again and sees him still pouting.

“Ugh, fine!” He leans and gives him a quick peck on the cheek and somehow, there were a few whistles and howls, also a few whispered curiously.

“Just that?” Yuta asks then points to the team, “I’ll just tell them I won’t be joining today.”

“You’re blackmailing me!” Taeyong whines and Yuta laughs, reaching over to hold his hand, “Fine! If you score at least one.”

“At least one?” Yuta grins and nods, “I can do that!” he says proudly and leans to kiss the back of Taeyong’s hand, “I should go back.”

Taeyong nods and says “good luck!” waving at Yuta as he goes back to his team as the match was about to start.

Taeyong groans and places his bag on his face to hide. 90 minutes passed and Yuta’s team won. He was happy they did but Yuta didn’t score just one, but 2 and the final score was 3 vs 1. He could feel some heads turned towards his direction at the end of the match, wanting to find out if he’ll really kiss Yuta. He regretted saying that to him. Yuta was competitive, but he never expected him to score 2. He felt a nudge beside him, it was Doyoung.

“Regretting now?” Doyoung asked, somewhat teasing.

“Yes. He didn’t even score even 1 during the last 5 matches, and now he scores 2?” He glances at the field and he could see Yuta’s grin from afar, he runs to the middle and calls him there. He mouths a “No!” and shakes his head but people were already chanting for them to kiss and for Taeyong to go to the middle of the field, even the announcer was saying “Kiss! Kiss” into the microphone and Taeyong just wanted the ground to eat him.

Doyoung laughs and says, “You know I hate cheesy, showy things like this; but Yuta seemed determined to show you how much he’s changed and how much he wants to show you off. You know normally I’d pull you out of here, right? But Taeyong…” he pushes him to stand, “...you deserve to be shown off.” he smiles softly at his best friend.

Someone from Yuta’s team picks Taeyong from the benches and walks him towards the middle of the field, his face still red from everything that’s happening.

“Yuta, what is this?” Taeyong asks, grumbling as Yuta holds both of his hands.

“I asked for a kiss, didn’t I?” Yuta says, smiling happily.

“Yeah, but you look like you’re proposing.” Taeyong suddenly laughs at his own words although he wouldn’t hate the thought of it.

“Hmm, not now, I’m afraid.” Yuta looks down, peeking up at Taeyong

“I was just kidding, Yuta.”

Yuta smiles. “Do you have the necklace?”

“Huh? Oh!” Taeyong nods as he retrieves the box from his bag and gives it to Yuta.

Yuta takes the necklace out of the box and wears the necklace around Taeyong’s neck. “Now they’ll know about my necklace…” he grins then cups Taeyong cheeks, leaning close to kiss his lips. Taeyong wanted to protest when he heard the crowd cheer, he was surprised most of them stayed for their “little show”, but his body betrayed him when his hands moved to hold onto Yuta’s shoulders and kissed him back, suddenly forgetting the people watching them and enjoying their moment.

Even though he wasn’t excited with the fact that a lot of people were watching them, he was actually very happy that Yuta was proudly showing him off and this cured his insecurities and worries. Yuta was kissing him in public, he wasn’t scared of the thought of being let go anymore.

Taeyong was the first to pull back, a smile on his lips. “I love you, Yuta.”

Yuta pulls Taeyong into a hug. “I love you, Tyong. And I want the whole world to know.”

“Thank you, but don’t you think this is too much? They would think you’re proposing. We could’ve just kissed there, you know?” he points to where he gave Yuta a kiss on the cheek.

Yuta nods, holding his hand and leads him back to where Doyoung and the others are. “That was quite a show, Nakamoto.” Doyoung says as he gets down to pull Taeyong from him, “But I’m impressed. We’ll leave now. I’m sure you have something with your team since you won.”

“I was actually about to invite you.” Yuta pouts when Taeyong gets pulled from him.

“Oh, thank you.” Taeyong begins, “But we don’t want to interrupt. Besides, we already have plans.”

“Without me?”

“Of course without you.” Doyoung pats Yuta’s back. “We’ll get going now.”

Taeyong leans to get one last kiss but ends up just getting a peck because Doyoung was pulling him and he was waving to Yuta, “Call me later when you’re free!” he calls out and just helplessly waves until Yuta is out of sight.

“Pretty sure you’ll be in the news.” Doyoung says with Jaehyun laughing as he follows them. Taeyong gasps, he didn’t realize that could be true. “Oh my god, no! This is so embarrassing!”

“You should’ve thought of that before deciding to go out with someone famous.”

Taeyong covers his face with his bag again and screams, Doyoung and Jaehyun just laughing at him until they get inside the car.