the bet | dojae

nineteen

"taeyong, i think we should go on a date."

jaehyun looked up from his phone, visibly confused as taeyong's noodles were hanging out of his mouth and his eyes were wide. he quickly slurped them into his mouth and sat up. "you what?"

"a date."

"but we're n—"

"a fake date," johnny clarified. "to help you get ready for you know what."

for the last 3 days, johnny had been flirting with taeyong, partly to win him over and partly to take his mind off of his worries. it seemed to work, because he wasn't crying as much as before, but he still expressed how nervous he was about the whole thing. mentioning the crush, though ... that brought the waterworks back out.

"i dunno ... what would we even do?"

"well, what would you wanna do on the first date?"

"i think i'd just leave it up to them."

"okay. then i propose we go to the mall."

"can i come along?" jaehyun asked.

johnny and taeyong shrugged simultaneously. "i don't see why not."

"i'll ask doyoung if he's available."

one ride in johnny's car later, and the group arrived at the mall, johnny immediately jumping into teaching taeyong the basics of the first date. jaehyun walked alongside doyoung behind them, snaking his hand into the boy's. doyoung glanced at him, but couldn't hide the smile that appeared. "we could ditch them again," he mumbled.

"we could," jaehyun replied, "but i also wanna see how this plays out."

"we can just ask them later. come onnnnn."

"okay, okay, fine." he followed doyoung into a nearby store, watching as the boy began grabbing things jaehyun didn't think he even needed. "how do you intend to pay for all that?"

"easy, i get you to pay."

"this situation feels familiar." doyoung smiled at him, leading him to the register and setting his things down. this time, jaehyun was actually willing to pay, and as they walked out of the store, he carried the bags. doyoung suddenly pulled his phone out, tapping the screen rapidly before putting it away. "what happened?"

"taeyong just noticed we were gone. i told him we could regroup at the food court in about an hour."

"how do you think the fake date will go?"

doyoung hesitated. "it's a little bold for johnny, don't you think?"

"bold?"

"yeah ... i get what he's trying to do, but essentially taking taeyong out and saying it's just to prepare him might confuse taeyong even more. i don't know if i can bear to see him cry again ..."

in the back of jaehyun's mind, he considered the possibility that taeyong didn't have a crush on johnny; that they had all assumed, and assumed dead wrong. but it wouldn't make sense for him to have a crush on someone else. it was probably within their friend group, and the only people left that were single were johnny and yuta.

... why did they eliminate yuta again?

for the next hour, jaehyun let doyoung drag him all over the mall, doing more looking than buying. some things, jaehyun outright refused to buy, but most of it was doyoung picking something up and setting it back down on the shelf 5 minutes later. "i forgot i had it in my hand!" he'd say, jaehyun would roll his eyes, and then they'd continue.

when the time came, they both headed to the food court, sitting down at one of the tables. johnny and taeyong were still nowhere to be found, and jaehyun watched with his chin in his hand as doyoung texted taeyong, asking where they were. "he said they're on the way here," he mumbled.

they scrolled through doyoung's instagram feed, and then someone cleared their throat and they both looked up. taeyong and johnny stood in front of them, and jaehyun rose an eyebrow when he realized what was wrong. taeyong's face was as red as a tomato— jaehyun had never seen him that flustered— and johnny had a smirk on his face. "care to explain what happened?"

neither of them answered. "i think it's time to go home," taeyong squeaked out.

in the car, jaehyun and doyoung shared concerned glances, and jaehyun finally spoke up. "so ... how was the date?" taeyong didn't say a word, continuing to stare out the window. johnny answered instead. "he's basically a natural. his first date will be perfect."

johnny dropped doyoung and taeyong off, and jaehyun waited until the pair were inside before blurting out, "what the fuck happened in there?"

"i flirted. he got flustered. i think the plan is unfolding perfectly."

"what did you—"

"don't worry about it."