ULTERIOR MOTIVES

「fluff」

top!jaehyun
bottom!taeyong

[in which jaehyun's best friend's single dad is too beautiful for his own good - and the teenager wants him]

jaehyun had been to his best friend's house countless times — ever since he was around eight. being two years older than mark had never bothered anyone, since it was well-known that the brunette had to repeat two years in korea after having spent them in america. he was polite, kind, beautiful...and a complete prince.

now, to say he was perfect may have been a bit of a stretch. once he turned seventeen, mark being fifteen, he had started feeling odd and disconcerting emotions. his parents knew letting the boy hang out with kids younger than him would leave him facing repercussions — he was faster to grow up, to mature and to learn.

logically, he wasn't always interested in the things everyone else in his year was. he'd grown bored of childish comics and typical gossip earlier than the rest, and by the time his class had started relating to each other about 'urges' and 'hormones'...he had already learned to handle them. it was a vicious cycle of always knowing far too much for jaehyun, and that was where one man in his life played a massive role.

lee taeyong, mark's single parent and the most attractive man to attend school plays, parent-teacher conferences or bake sales, was the one person who ever talked about jaehyun's feelings with him. after all, the adult had been a concerning age of fifteen years old when mark was born, and his girlfriend at the time thought she could've handled it. she assumed by having the baby and not aborting it, taeyong would've stayed with her always. he felt trapped, terrified, judged.

he ended things with her but chose to keep minhyung, or mark — since he'd moved to america for a time to escape reality. his parents obviously hated the whole situation...but what was done was done, and taeyong didn't know where he'd be without his precious son.

thus, the slightly 'ill-fitted' members of society bonded in strange ways, and their relationship had always been a bit different to that of a regular kid's friend and their father.

"oh! welcome home you two," the older male chirped happily while emerging from the kitchen to see mark and jaehyun taking off their shoes at the front door. "how was school?"

"pretty awesome," mark hummed, wandering over to press a kiss to the man's cheek and scurried off into the kitchen without them. "we watched a heart dissection in biology."

"sounds nasty," the parent chuckled, eyes on his son's friend now who basically lived here with how often he visited. "and you, jae? have fun?"

"mhm. we had p.e today...so that was good."

"nice." it was pretty hard to communicate with each other, they'd admit, when jaehyun wasn't just some cute twelve-year-old anymore, and taeyong was no longer a laid-back father aged twenty-four. they were essentially both adults now...with adult feelings.

"i smell pasta~" the youngest in the house sang. "when's dinner?" he popped his head around into the hall to assess what the holdup was.

"whenever you boys get hungry. jae, when do you have to go home?"

"actually," mark beamed cutely, "mr. and mrs. jung are out of town as of six p.m."

"mark!" the older hissed.

"they...are?" taeyong arched is brow. "you're going to be home alone?"

"i'm old enough. sometimes people forget that—"

"no, i'm certain you'd be fine. more-so, i'd rather you stayed with us so i can sleep easy knowing you're getting fed and getting to school on time. when will they be back?"

"ugh, here we go," mark grumbled before walking out again, but not before calling over his shoulder, "overprotective dad is back at it again!"

"i am not!"

"you love jae more than me~"

"untrue, you brat," the dark-haired man snapped at the boy before following him into the kitchen, jaehyun close behind like a puppy. "you're both the only family i have, remember? i have no one else to use up all this paternal energy on."

the older teenager smiled faintly as he sat up to the island in the kitchen with mark, listening to the pair bicker as they always did. he sort of slotted in as a peacekeeper, really, or a gentle nature amidst their chaotic dynamic. they both respected him a lot, since he was pretty wise quite early in life.

the brunette's eyes fell to taeyong once again as he started getting dinner ready. he traced every detail carefully, like the man was an artwork painted by gods, not a normal human being who had raised a child too young or who embodied his own set of morals — standing outside the box society had laid for him.

to jaehyun, taeyong was simply perfect.

"we should go to the cinema tomorrow," mark spoke to his friend while drumming his fingers off the marble surface, "for an action film or something."

"school day tomorrow," his dad reminded him.

"butt out!"

night fell very quickly, and jaehyun had been unable to escape the lee household to return home, thus ended up dressing in some ill-fitted sweatpants and a t-shirt belonging to taeyong. they were a little on the tight side, but he couldn't have cared less. the teen stood alone in front of mark's bedroom mirror while gazing at the casual attire fondly...it smelled of him.

of his crush.

though 'crush' seemed like such a juvenile and immature word. his 'love', more like. this was no longer a silly inkling he got whenever he came over and playfully flirted with the man. this was his heart playing a cruel game with him...a horrible feat he couldn't escape. they couldn't really be together without betraying the one person they could mutually agree meant the world to them.

"hey, here you are," the male on his mind murmured after tapping his knuckles off the door thrice. "markie is waiting for us downstairs with the movie and popcorn ready."

"oh...sorry," he responded with a slight waver to his tone. his cheeks were a bit pink, and it wasn't only due to the warm house. "i got a bit distracted."

"i can see that," the other chuckled softly, walking in slowly before closing the door behind him. "those are a bit tight, huh?"

the younger hummed and looked back at his reflection, now spotting the shorter man behind him, resting his chin against his shoulder before winding his arms around his toned torso. they stayed like this for a brief moment, looking into each other's eyes through the mirror as if it was less wrong. jaehyun's breath had hitched with the close proximity, and it was driving his seventeen-year-old male hormones crazy not to just spin around push taeyong to the bed only a metre away.

his scent...that mutual-feelings look in his eyes...those light breaths tickling his neck. perhaps the adult was doing it on purpose, or maybe this was all an accident and he really was just here to cuddle him for a minute. either way, jaehyun hadn't wanted to stay over because of this. because of what lee taeyong's presence could make him do.

"jae," the older whispered airily and closed his eyes, simply appearing restful and tired, though the younger detected a sense of something else from it. it grew more and more difficult the keep up the charades and acting, and it seemed the dark-haired shorter was coming to his wit's end. "I wish you could stay over every night."

"taeyong, please..." the teen swallowed harshly and dipped his head down so that he couldn't see the beautiful man in the mirror with him. you're driving me crazy.

"guys!" mark called from downstairs, having reminded them that they'd neglected him. "what the heck is taking so long?"

"ah, coming!" the only adult gasped in response, detaching himself from the taller teenager and dragging him by the hand towards the staircase. their hearts were racing in a simultaneous sort of rhythm, and whenever they came close to losing themselves like that, the slap from reality that always followed hurt much more with each incident. jaehyun wanted these emotions to go away, so that he could live in peace with himself and just be 'normal'.

yet life wasn't quite so simple.

"there you are," the youngest scoffed from the foot of the stairs. "what happened? see something?"

"psh, nothing," the older ruffled his hair and shoved mark playfully into the living room. he had to wonder though....if the ravenette ever found their strange behavior suspicious. knowing his obliviousness, probably not.

one film had turned into three, and the youngest of the trio was adamant about starting another one every time they ended. the arms of the clock had been through multiple rotations at this point, and the pleasant tones of the evening sky had disappeared only to submerge the world in a welcome darkness.

"I need more snacks," mark complained as they reached around the half-hour section of the movie. the room was barely lit, and the television's artificial light was the only source to expose their faces. jaehyun nudged his best friend with his ankle, rolling his eyes playfully before hiffing the blanket off his body and deciding to get them himself.

"ugh," he groaned, dragging his legs to the door, "I have a dead foot. pins and needles."

"hate that for you," the other boy chuckled, though taeyong watched the other attentively as he edged out of the warm space. his eyes felt all hazy and tired from the unhealthy television marathon, and he considered following the taller male out. would that have looked even more odd? maybe...

meanwhile, jaehyun was watching the popcorn bag in the microwave lazily twist round and round. his eyes were glazed over at the late hour of eleven at night, and he knew he had school tomorrow to suffer through. it wasn't as though he minded this time he spent with the lees though, for they made him far happier than any other people ever could.

as he rubbed his face to wake up a bit, another presence made itself known beside him, resting against the counter on his arms. they initially remained silent, only to drink in the sight of one another like they usually did. taeyong wondered if the younger felt as impatient as he did...though he could almost read him like a book. aging was such a painful process, as the older someone got, the more they wanted it to slow down...yet the younger one was, the more they desired it to speed up.

jaehyun wanted to be an adult already, and he wasn't anywhere near his eighteenth birthday — just stuck in the seventeen-year-old limbo.

"fuck it," the adult scoffed, checking once to be sure he could hear the movie still streaming and distracting his son, and then pushing off the counter in one motion once he was certain it was fine. he boldly pressed his hands to the brunette's chest, forcing his back against the marble surface so that he could lean up easily and connect their lips for a much needed kiss.

it was electrifying, in so few words. everything stilled to this state of calm, yet within the pair's bodies brewed these raging storms. the taller didn't waste even a second to roughly grab the older's hips, returning that same passion by tilting his head and changing up the position for more depth.

their breaths were so much louder like this, mixed with tiny little moans they desperately wanted to retain. jaehyun traced his tongue along the man's lower lip, never having done this before but imagining it nevertheless. it seemed to work though, as taeyong parted to allow the younger's warm muscle through.

it was so wildly different to how films had portrayed these scenes. neither had ever kissed guys before, and it wasn't a subject many would bring up. but it was amazing. they could taste the fizzy drinks they'd had only twenty minutes ago off each other, and the older found his hands travelling up to cup the boy's cheeks.

jaehyun laced his fingers through the other's hair, tugging lightly at times, and otherwise simply loving the softness of it. their tongues wrapped and unwound in a sort of dance, tirelessly devouring what they could.

both wanted more. the brunette wanted to flip them around and have the shorter up against the counter where he could take more control. but that was a terrible idea, and they had to remember that there was an unknowing boy in the living room waiting on them.

taeyong finally pulled away when they needed air, but pressed their forehead together to keep the proximity. their panting mixed harmoniously, and they so badly wanted to reconnect for more...but refrained since they knew better. "we'll find a way," the older murmured quietly, nuzzling his nose against the other's. "there has to be a way, because i am so sick of avoiding this."

"but mark..." jaehyun hummed with his eyes closed to relax. "we can't make this decision without him. he deserves to know..."

"mhm. and in time, he will. but not now, and not yet...he's a fifteen-year-old with problems of his own to handle. let's wait a little and figure it out for ourselves."

"so..." the tall teenager couldn't help but smile faintly, "you want to try this? hiding?"

"as terrible as it sounds coming from an adult; yes. i really, really do. i can't leave you alone any longer, jae."

"hm," he chuckled fondly before pressing one more kiss to his forehead, "neither can i for you..."

word count: [2289]

i actually wrote this on my laptop to try it out, which was a bit of an experience since i live and die by my phone. so sorry if the writing itself seemed a bit mediocre, or if there are spelling mistakes i've missed because autocorrect doesn't exist on this thing ;-;

i might try to get used to it, but we shall see~

thanks for reading,
-lily