march 24

In canon setting, from your imagination, what kind of reaction each nct members is when they find out dotae is dating? If i cant get long fic, at least a short thread of dotae

well first of all, i’d think they’d want to keep it a secret for the first few months of their relationship. both taeyong and doyoung are really sensitive and mindful of the members, i don't think they would want to announce it until they’re both sure they know what they’re getting into.

i think taeyong would tell yuta and jaehyun first. maybe during their third month-a-versary. comeback preparations clash with nights they’ve been spending together in the studio, and taeyong misses lying in doyoung’s lap and listening to him sing. he visits the gym a lot more to take his mind off things (also to kill time while doyoung’s in vocal practice). yuta and jaehyun don’t mind him crashing their work out sessions but they eventually figure something isn’t right when taeyong spends an hour and a half on the treadmill listening to sad english love songs.

he eventually tells jaehyun first, because jaehyun, kind and caring, would ask about it. his ears go bright red and he gets all flustered, not really knowing what to say - “oh... oh hyung, i mean i’m really happy for you guys. i - sorry, i don't know what to say - i mean - that’s really great.”

yuta would tell taeyong to be careful. he tells taeyong that he’s happy they managed to find each other in a world like theirs, but he still reminds taeyong, “just - remember to be careful.” taeyong understands - they all have so much riding on this, on nct, every step of the way is calculated down to the second.

youngho would find out next. no one tells him anything but he gets it completely when he wakes up early on a wednesday morning - he crawls from under his comforter after two hours of sleep, body begging for coffee. he gets up and stretches for a bit, then turns to tell taeyong in the top bunk that it’s time to get up but he finds that there’s more than just taeyong in bed. doyoung has his face on taeyong’s chest and taeyong has his arms loosely around doyoung. he's seen doyoung sharing taeyong's bed a couple of times and maybe it's the sunlight hitting them in a way that makes them both radiate warmth, but youngho knows something is different now.

youngho says nothing and leaves, giving them a few minutes more in their state of pure bliss. he comes back after sitting in the living room with minhyung for a bit, and hides a smile when he sees taeyong alone in bed now, pillow in his arms instead.

doyoung would tell taeil first. at some point during their fifth month anniversary, and comeback season is over and doyoung is physically glowing now that they collectively get to have more time to lie in bed. taeil notices doyoung uncharacteristically humming under his breath, even as they stretch and prepare for dance practice. he watches the way doyoung’s eyes sparkle the moment taeyong calls for them to ready.

on some level, taeil’s always known something was there. from the way taeyong’s notebook’s filled with lyrics on love and the sound of a sweet voice that floods his dreams, to the way doyoung’s face hardens when there’s a new medicated patch on the back of taeyong’s neck. taeil doesn’t look away fast enough to escape doyoung’s questioning stare, and it morphs into a nervous one that dissipates when taeil smiles.

“so...” doyoung says after practice, coming up to taeil with his cheeks and ears beaming bright.

taeil saves him the trouble, “i’m happy for you two.”

and doyoung would sigh, one of relief, “thank you, hyung.”

taeil nods, and with a little bit of thinking, he adds, “treat each other well.”

doyoung tells him, "i will."

jungwoo finds out - or, jungwoo reveals to know of their secret during one of their trips overseas for promotions. it's a ten hour flight and their seats have been randomly assigned, but taeyong wants to sit with doyoung. even if it's only ten hours, even if they spend all those ten hours watching their own shows, listening to their own music - he just wants doyoung beside him.

"why?" is what jungwoo asks, when doyoung requests if he could sit next to taeyong. his eyes are screaming, 'i already know why, i just want you to say it.'

doyoung is quick, "we have things to discuss. for the upcoming concert."

"uh huh, yeah hyung," jungwoo grins, unbuckling his seatbelt. beside him, taeyong is hiding his face in the inflight menu. "things to 'discuss'." jungwoo snorts quietly, moving to take his new seat by jaehyun.

doyoung rolls his eyes when taeyong gives him a loaded look.

"by the way," jungwoo hums, squeezing his way past doyoung. "this," he points at them both with an elbow, "very cute, hyung."

doyoung tells him, "go away, jungwoo."

taeyong tells minhyung some time after things have settled down. when the honeymoon phase is over but the love is still strong. they live with each other's strengths and flaws, love wholly even when nerves are being fried from all ends. doyoung is at vocal practice and taeyong is working on a new choreography. he's rewatching the instructional video with minhyung when doyoung walks in, ready for their prearranged dinner date by one of the quiet mandu places near the company.

it's a way to keep their romance alive, a way to show and remind each other that it's all worth it, that i'm doing this for you, i'm doing this for me, i'm doing this for us.

"you're here?" minhyung asks, swiping sweat from his forehead.

before doyoung can answer, taeyong is already up on his feet, tucking his phone back into his pocket. quickly, he tells minhyung, "let's finish this after dinner, okay?

minhyung nods, "okay, where are we going?"

the silence is painful.

"oh," minhyung mumbles, watching the way doyoung's face match the red lockers, "oh, right, right, right, yes, dinner, yes," he switches to english, yabbering the entire way as he picks his backpack up and hightails out of there.

"well," taeyong says, running a hand through his hair. "that went well."

it's not long after that that donghyuck knows too (because... well, if minhyung knows, donghyuck's sure to find out). he goes to doyoung's room one night to lie in his bed, kicking his feet against the ground while doyoung continued to sing his verse over and over again, preparing for a special stage on music bank next week.

"is there something wrong?" he asks, when donghyuck seems adamant on staying and kicking the ground while not saying anything to doyoung at all.

in a soft mumble, "congratulations."

doyoung needs no other context. "thank you," he replies, clearing his throat.

"i'm jealous," donghyuck sighs, reaching for one of minhyung's stuffed animals and hugging it to his chest. he punches it in the face before hugging it again.

ah. doyoung knows this is a conversation they need to have, but maybe they'll save it for another day. he'll have to ask taeyong about it too. it's worked for them, exceptionally well, passing expectations and giving more than what they could ever wish for, but it's not all easy days for them either.

closing his notebook, doyoung says, "c'mon, hyung'll buy you sushi today."

donghyuck lights up, grinning from ear-to-ear.

donghyuck tells renjun in the middle of the night, tells renjun everything, and that’s how renjun knows. donghyuck didn’t plan on revealing doyoung’s secret, knowing that the loving pair were still keeping it under wraps, but renjun manages to figure it out with the little information he was given anyway. he isn’t surprised, having spent several hours at the gym too, witnessing the time taeyong sulked over a stairmaster, grumbling under his breath about something doyoung had said about cancelling dinner.

he didn’t understand then why it mattered all that much, but he understands now.

renjun reminds himself to congratulate the hyungs the next time he sees them, maybe during vocal lessons or the next time he sees taeyong taking it out on a boxing bag.

guanheng and dejun find out together. it’s after media training that they return to one of many practice rooms, having received a call from kun that a late night dance practice is in order since their next comeback is only a week away. they hide ddeokbokki and fishcake and spicy noodles under their coats, buying enough of street food to feed the rest of their members, sneaking past managers successfully.

“wait,” guanheng stops dejun from yanking the door to room 1B wide open. the lights are already on, but he doesn’t hear sicheng and yangyang squabbling or the usual bass beat of their title track.

“what?” dejun struggles to balance his three bowls of noodles.

guanheng peers into the room carefully, nearly flying back out into the hallway when he sees what he sees.

“what? what?” dejun asks again, but he has the wits to whisper this time. guanheng says nothing, so he takes a look for himself.

he sees taeyong curled up in doyoung’s lap. the older boy has a towel across his eyes and doyoung’s hand on his chest, buried between his own. doyoung has his eyes closed, nodding away to the music playing softly from his phone.

“let’s go,” guanheng says, switching to mandarin in fear of getting caught.

“we should say hi,” dejun says, but finds himself whispering back. he realizes belatedly (and from guanheng’s glare) that there’s an air in the practice room that he isn’t quite sure he’s welcomed to disturb. he feels a little stifled by it. even more so when he turns back to guanheng and finds this feeling doubling.

clearing his throat, dejun agrees, “let’s go.”

(they find yangyang in practice room 1D, only to figure out that he went to room 1B too and bolted right out of there.)

sicheng realizes when taeyong stops pinching his cheeks. when he’s asking taeyong for help on one of their choreographies and he says something that taeyong apparently finds hilariously, head tipping back, dorky laugh bouncing off the walls.

“you’re so cute,” taeyong tells him.

and sicheng waits for taeyong to reach out and pinch his cheeks, but taeyong doesn’t, going straight to teaching him the right moves for the song’s second verse.

sicheng listens, but he can’t quite concentrate. he looks up into the mirror to see a pair of sharp eyes staring at him before hastily turning away.

“like this - and this, okay? do you get it?”

sicheng looks back at taeyong and notices brighter eyes and far more laugh lines.

“yeah, hyung.” he tries not to crumble under the intense stare boring holes into the back of his head, “yeah, i get it.”

(he scurries off to ask jaehyun instead.)

“do you want to watch a movie?” ten asks, legs hanging off the side of the couch.

“sure,” taeyong shrugs. he puts his phone down, “which one?”

“that new marvel one,” ten hums. “i wanted to see it when i was back in thailand, but i didn’t have time to.” he turns from the ceiling to notice the apologetic look on taeyong’s face, “what? you’ve already seen it?”

“yeah,” taeyong gives him a half-hearted smile. “sorry. what about the rest?”

“youngho’s watching it with taeil hyung tonight and, well, i don’t know about the rest, they probably have already,” ten sighs. he thinks aloud, “maybe doyoung hasn’t seen it, he doesn’t usually go to the movies? i should send him a - ”

“he’s already seen it.”

ten pauses from reaching for his phone on the coffee table, “he has?” taeyong shifts in his seat by ten’s feet, “that’s... odd. who did he go with?”

“me.”

ten sits up, “just you?”

taeyong sniffs, “nothing wrong with that.”

“yeah, sure,” ten narrows his eyes. “except for the fact that you don’t ever do that with doyoung ever. me, maybe, taeil hyung, maybe, but doyoung? really?”

“yes, really.”

taeyong scrambles to his feet and leaves for his room. ten lies back down and doesn’t question further. he saw it coming anyway. he calls jungwoo to see if the younger boy has seen it yet, and grins when he says he hasn’t.

chenle finds out when sicheng does, hearing the older boy mutter about it over lunch, under his breath in messy mandarin. he’s calculating something even chenle doesn’t understand, only giving it away when he mumbles something about doyoung’s eyes and taeyong’s hands.

“what is he saying?” jisung asks, toying with a rubric’s cube that’s been unsolved for years.

chenle sighs, turning his attention back to his phone, “you really don’t want to know.”

jaemin suspects it when he sees taeyong shrug on a jacket during dance practice, hurriedly announcing that he was going for a quick run to the drug store.

“why is he going?” jaemin asks, noticing both managers equally dumbfounded. they chase after him not a second after - taeyong in full stage makeup on the streets of seoul is not inconspicuous. “couldn’t manager hyung go?”

“maybe he wants fresh air,” jeno says, adjusting one of many buckles strapped on his jacket. “he seemed anxious.”

“clearly,” renjun says, helping jeno with the buckles on the back where he can’t reach. “doyoung hyung has the fever.”

“what’s that supposed to mean?” jaemin asks, pausing over where he was straightening the front of his tucked in shirt.

“what?”

“doyoung hyung is sick.”

“i know that.” jaemin clarifies, “i mean, why did you say it like - it would be different if jeno were sick?”

jeno looks up from his last buckle, “I’m what?”

renjun’s lips tighten to a straight line and jaemin thinks of all the times he’s seen doyoung pop in to their rap lessons, the times he’d accompanied minhyung while the older boy went to taeyong for help on his lyrics and doyoung was just so conveniently there. the time doyoung ordered a food truck to support his tv drama and taeyong was there too, beaming with pride and joy for jaemin.

“really?” is all jaemin asks and renjun’s silence confirms it.

“really what?” jeno echoes. he turns to jaemin, who says nothing, and renjun, who doesn’t spare him a glance. “wait, really what?” he tugs on renjun’s arm, “eh,” he whines, resembling a lost puppy, “tell me, jun, really what?”

jaemin has known jeno far too long to succumb to his puppy eyes and endearing charm.

renjun, who hasn’t, concedes, “i’ll tell you after practice.”

xuxi finds out by accident. he’s finally back after a two-week long filming trip to beijing and his phone has been pinging none stop since he got off the plane. the message at the top is from kun, and xuxi is excited to see him again. after all, kun promised to buy him a nice meal for all his time he’s spent away, hard at work.

he slips quietly into one of the recording studios, thinking kun to still be in here before heading back to practice room 2G, where they planned to meet. his hand flies up to his mouth when he sees taeyong in the recording booth backed up against the farthest wall - with someone in his arms. dark haired and taller than taeyong with his arms braced against the soft, sound-proof paddings.

xuxi noticies then the sweater the other boy is in, a soft beige and scarily familiar. he’s seen it many times, hanging on the back of doyoung’s desk chair.

he realizes then that he’s watching his bandmates make-out. he makes a run for it, making sure he leaves without a sound, completely unnoticed, nerves frying his brain.

kun finds out when xuxi kicks the door down to practice room 2G, whispering agitatedly in rapid mandarin about the sight he’s just witnessed.