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[wanderdrops]

ALL OF US LOST ~ [DOTAE FIC]

Fic very inspired in the movie All of us strangers. Doyoung is a young writer who has been gaining recognition lately with his sad personal stories. With this, he decides to move to a new building, becoming the first to inhabit it. The second to move in is Lee Taeyong, a music producer and writer who has a somewhat messy life and heart due to a past love. Doyoung doesn't want to get to know him, but Taeyong insists on entering his life. How many times will each of them open the door?

“I knew you weren't sleeping.”

Taeyong had flushed cheeks and a smile that adorned his face. He looked at Doyoung with a joy as if they had known each other since childhood.

“Do you want some?” Taeyong offered him the beer. 

Doyoung, for some reason, accepted it. It was cold and damp. He could feel it on his long fingers. He stared at it, half in disbelief.

“You know, I rang all the buzzers to guess which one was your apartment. You can do those things when you're one of the few people living here…” Taeyong paused to take a sip from his bottle. As he swallowed, he only looked at Doyoung. “Who else would open the door for me?”

Doyoung was silent, and Taeyong's drunkenness wouldn't make him realize he was the only one talking.

The blonde boy leaned on the door frame to approach Doyoung, a gesture that caused him a certain adrenaline rush. There, he noticed he was taller than Taeyong.

“You know we're the only ones here, right?” Taeyong spoke as if he were revealing a secret.

“Yes…”

Doyoung looked at his beer again. Should he be celebrating? His eyes were fixed on the blonde, and he gripped his hand that held the door. "Taeyong is a stranger" he repeated to himself.

“Wait... you're alone, aren't you?”

Taeyong seemed concerned as their eyes met.

“Yes, just me and my computer. In fact, I was working for tomorrow and should finish soon…”

“Working? It's one in the morning, Doyoung.” Taeyong emphasized his name, flashing a mischievous smile. “You should be celebrating. We're the only ones here! How often does that happen in life?”

There it was again, Taeyong answering his thoughts for the second time that night. The blonde seemed good at fitting into his head, and it made him feel a sensation very similar to nausea.

But he also felt that Taeyong was right. The recent events of his life were just situations he couldn't control. Could this be a moment to feel a hint of sway? To remember what autonomy over his own life felt like?

He fixed his eyes on the blonde and loosened his hand that was gripping the door. He let his shoulders drop and looked at the beer.

“Go ahead, I understand.” Taeyong murmured resignedly, taking a step back with his gaze on the ground with a drunk pout in his lips. “I understand because this has always been my life. I've always drunk alone. And now I just... wanted to avoid feeling like this. But I understand that I'm... I just hope that…”

Taeyong was interrupted by the sound of the beer can opening. Eyes on Doyoung and saw a somewhat shy smile on his lips as he savored them after taking a sip. 

“You know what else you can do in an empty building?” Taeyong exclaimed eagerly. To Doyoung, he resembled a small child. His smile reaching to infect his eyes, his somewhat disheveled blonde hair. Doyoung observed it all in a split second.

“Hmm?”

“Drink on the stairs.”

Doyoung let out a small laugh. "The first one of the day," he thought. Self-awareness made him tremble a little, and he allowed himself to be fooled into thinking it was the beer's fault.

“Let's go.” Doyoung said after grabbing his keys and closing the door behind him. “I feel like you have a lot to say, and I'm a good listener.”

Doyoung said those words with compassion. "He's always alone." It was easy for him to ignore that besides pity, he also felt an interest in Taeyong. 

“How could someone like him always feel lonely?”

***

It was cold. November greeted the end of the year and Taeyong and Doyoung were sitting on the emergency exit of the building as if it were spring. The night breeze blew and the smell of whisky permeated the narrow hallway adorned with stairs connected throughout the entire structure. Doyoung couldn't help but think if he should use them to escape something at some point.

In front of them was an opening to the outdoors. Both imagined that each floor had one, and that's why there was a current of air as if they were in a park.

"I have the feeling that no one will ever inhabit this building," Taeyong said with a smile.

Doyoung shrugged and pursed his lips. He looked at his beer and suppressed the urge to drink more: he didn't want it to run out so soon.

"I wouldn't mind," he said.

Taeyong turned slightly to face him. He leaned his back against the wall with a sly smile.

"You're very lonely, aren't you?"

He shrugged again. This time Taeyong imitated him and laughed when Doyoung looked at him with a grimace.

"You have a lonely face," Taeyong said once he became serious.

Doyoung looked him in the eyes and then at his beer. He took a sip. A lonely face. Was there any lie in that?

"Yeah, now I'm very..." Doyoung pursed his lips. "I mean, yeah. I have friends. But... my face speaks for my soul."

Taeyong raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. Doyoung shut himself off in his mind. 

"That was poetic," Taeyong said.

Doyoung let out a shy laugh.

"Yeah, I exaggerated a bit."

"You should be a writer," Taeyong suggested.

Doyoung looked at him with a smile.

"I am a writer."

Taeyong's eyes widened. His lips parted slightly, and he laughed.

"Don't play with me, I'm drunk," Taeyong said with amusement, pointing to his bottle as evidence.

Doyoung was going to shrug, but he chose to smile with a hint of bitterness.

Not receiving much of a response, Taeyong leaned in a bit closer to Doyoung.

"Are you serious?"

"He’s like a little kid," Doyoung thought as he looked at him, smiling at the emotion he saw in him, which was likely exacerbated by alcohol.

"I’m pretty serious," Doyoung assured. "I've written two books. That's why I can be here."

Doyoung spoke with a timid pride that dissipated when he faced the realization that what he had said wasn't entirely true. Doyoung hadn't moved because of finding success. Doyoung moved because he had no other choice.

He glanced again at his beer and drank the last sip from his can.

"Two books... That's hot," Taeyong remarked as he finished the last sips of his whiskey bottle. He couldn't stop looking at Doyoung. "I moved because I wanted to stop living with my boyfriend."

"That's hot." "With his boyfriend." Doyoung's stomach churned, and he blamed the beer.

"And why?" Doyoung responded automatically, almost like when he had to switch to 'Best Friend Who Always Listens' mode. He fiddled with his fingers holding the empty beer can. For some reason, he felt like he couldn't hold Taeyong's gaze.

"Because he broke up with me," Taeyong said as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet, then shrugged, followed by a bitter laugh.

There was silence. Doyoung searched his eyes for a few seconds, and when they met, Taeyong took the last sip from his bottle. "So he's in love."

"But I'm fine," he affirmed with a more slurred voice than usual thanks to the whiskey. He pressed his lips together and nodded. "I'll be fine."

Doyoung smiled at him, pressing his lips together too.

"I think you just have to wait," he said to the blond boy. How many times had he said that to his friends? Their eyes met, and Doyoung smiled at him honestly. "Only time decides whether we're okay or not."

When he said that, he realized he was also telling that to himself. Doyoung also needed to feel like he would be okay. He felt lost, even in this moment of drinking on the stairs that distracted him from his meticulous plans to mend his heart.

Taeyong looked at him with sadness, and Doyoung didn't know how to respond to his eyes. He felt the urge to touch his back and stroke it to give him encouragement, but he ended up just leaving the empty beer can next to him to clasp his hands. He was forbidding himself.

"Doyoung..." Taeyong finally said.

"Uhm?"

Taeyong let out a silent laugh, quickly hiding it by bringing his fingers to his lips. Doyoung knew immediately.

"I need to throw up."

The possibility of Taeyong going to his apartment to vomit felt nil. The blond boy looked much paler than he already was, and Doyoung quickly stood up to climb a couple of steps to the door leading to the apartment hallway.

But Taeyong didn't move.

"Hey, come with me," Doyoung said with a laugh. The blond boy looked lost, disoriented. 

Taeyong climbed slowly, and Doyoung held the door open for him. Without a second thought, he grabbed his keys from his pockets to go to his apartment and open the door for Taeyong.

Who would have thought that a stranger would be the first person to visit his new place?

[wanderdrops]

240331 MINGI | KCON HONG KONG RED CARPET

[wanderdrops]

　　　　　⏇　　 　🪐 ˚  　 ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

　　　　　⏇　　 　🌿 ˚  　 ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

[wanderdrops]

“traveling with johnny~”

[wanderdrops]

ALL OF US LOST ~ [DOTAE FIC]

Fic very inspired in the movie All of us strangers. Doyoung is a young writer who has been gaining recognition lately with his sad personal stories. With this, he decides to move to a new building, becoming the first to inhabit it. The second to move in is Lee Taeyong, a music producer and writer who has a somewhat messy life and heart due to a past love. Doyoung doesn't want to get to know him, but Taeyong insists on entering his life. How many times will each of them open the door?

We are all newcomers at some point.

His mother always told him, "Take care of yourself more than anyone else."

Doyoung didn't know if that phrase was true or not, but he did know that those words, repeated countless times throughout his life, stuck to his mind like gum under a desk.

He didn't tend to have friends because of it. At least not "real" ones. He barely let his older brother get close to him and only dared to listen to his stories and escapades with some girls and some bars. No reflection or comment overflowing with intimacy came from Doyoung. Only smiles—genuine, in any case; laughter, if necessary.

One could say, then, that he grew up distrusting, and ended up distrustful. Fearful. He didn't want to feel what it would be like to be neglected by someone.

At 27, Doyoung didn't have close friends, or at least he wouldn't call them that. Jaehyun was the one he talked to the most. Music, movies, anything superficial that didn't speak of him. Haechan sought advice: his life seemed more troubled than ever; Jungwoo talked about his various partners, Mark talked about his eternal infatuation.

Similarly, amid all the curiosity that the mystery surrounding his life could provide, Doyoung ended up being very good company. He listened like no one else ever would.

Perhaps for all those same reasons, he found himself so comfortable with the idea of moving to a new building. His latest book had been a success, and now the publishing house had partnered with a production company for him to focus on writing scripts. He could assure himself with the idea of buying an apartment, and so he did.

Itaewon. Bright, spacious, new, clean. Above all else: empty. Not a soul inhabited that building. Or at least that's how it seemed when he met his real estate agent at the entrance of the reception.

"Excited?" 

"Yeah, I think so."

"Few units in the building have been sold, so maybe you'll be the first to occupy it."

That idea excited him. The solitude. He preferred being surrounded by several walls with just his music and his thoughts. His ideas and fantasies. No one to pretend to be okay with or how he felt. Requesting the keys at night made it an even more permanent sensation.

"You could surely impress some girl with this place," said the real estate agent. Her gaze was inquisitive regarding his love life: he had already told her he was single. "A girl would be enchanted by this view."

Doyoung only feigned a laugh. "A girl?" he thought. "We all know that's impossible."

The real estate agent spoke to him as if he hadn't seen the building plans. While it was true he had never been in the physical location of his new apartment, he already knew what he had bought. Nevertheless, he didn't expect what he was going to see after the real estate agent opened his door.

Upon entering the apartment—which was already furnished—he realized he could see all of Seoul. Warm and cold lights vying for dominance over the city. Some colors flashing from side to side. A deceptive silence that only the night could grant.

"Wow, it's... it's truly incredible," Doyoung exclaimed. He hadn't even been aware of when he approached the window to gaze at the city as if he were floating... Yes, that's how it felt. Floating above Itaewon. Floating above everyone.

Silence. Doyoung couldn't continue. He didn't want to soak his thoughts with someone who would only see this once. He picked up the large backpack he had brought with him and positioned it neatly on the couch. He had been so absorbed that he had even thrown the backpack on the floor.

"It's very beautiful," Doyoung finally said. "Thank you for trusting me."

A bow, a few smiles, and a reminder of when he needed to contact his bank to consolidate the periodicity of his payments to the real estate agent. That was all before she left.

Doyoung walked through the apartment in silence. He enjoyed the sound his steps could make. He enjoyed how the windows isolated the noise. He enjoyed what was now going to be his life.

A strange but familiar sense of bitterness engulfed him, embracing him physically. Doyoung hugged his own arms and let out what would be a deep sigh.

There, in that moment as he looked lost at the city skyline, he remembered. He simply bit his tongue as his chest soured like ink on water.

A rumble from his stomach was what snapped him out of his bubble. He looked at his abdomen, then towards the streets. He approached the window once more, searching for any open food joints on the street below, and when his smile of satisfaction at finding his new destination had surfaced, a pang stabbed at the pit of his stomach.

With furrowed brows and pursed lips, he observed: blonde hair, not too tall, slender. A suitcase in his hands, a neon green hoodie, and loose black pants. A guy had gotten out of a taxi with a suitcase and was heading straight towards the entrance of his building.

On the way, the blonde guy looked up towards Doyoung, who quickly stepped away from his large window.

"Damn it..."

Doyoung didn't know why he felt so uncomfortable. Over the next few weeks, he would encounter people every day, and he knew that. It wasn't going to be awkward. So why was it now?

Perhaps he just felt like his fantasy of chosen solitude had been interrupted. His bubble-shaped building had been popped with a loud "plop."

Doyoung glanced at his watch and calculated that if he left now, it would be impossible for them to meet in the elevator. He would be going up, Doyoung would be going down.

So he approached to fetch his black hoodie, removed his contact lenses to put on his glasses, and left alone with just his wallet.

Walking down the hallway, he saw the number of his floor in metal embedded in the wall: 11. He knew the building had 25 floors and wondered where the guy who had entered a few minutes ago would live.

Waiting for the elevator, Doyoung checked his phone. He had a message from Jungwoo in the group where Haechan, Mark, and Jaehyun were also present. The four of them were friends from school.

"Hyung, send pictures of your new apartment."

He had completely forgotten to do that. So absorbed in the beauty that he took no pictures. So absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even notice when the elevator had opened.

It was the sound of the elevator doors about to close that snapped him out of his bubble.

"Are you getting in?"

It was the blonde guy he had seen from his window. He was holding open the elevator door.

Doyoung was frozen as he looked at him. Beyond his mesmerizing beauty, what caught him off guard was the smile on his lips.

A genuine smile for him.

"Yeah... sorry..."

Doyoung entered the elevator somewhat clumsily, which wasn't very spacious. He avoided looking at him even though he felt his eyes on him. He pretended to look at his phone even though he felt rude. And without saying anything, they both exited the elevator.

What made Doyoung uncomfortable was that both were walking in the same direction, almost side by side. When they turned the corner, the blonde guy laughed.

"Let me guess: your apartment also has a northeast view."

Doyoung raised his gaze and saw his eyes. The contact made him tuck his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

"Yeah... They say it's the best direction."

"I was told the same thing! Before, mine faced north and had the sun all day long," replied the blonde guy with an enthusiasm that surprised Doyoung.

"Of course... First day in a new apartment. Who wouldn't be happy like that?"

But Doyoung wasn't. At least he felt somewhat peaceful, but the situation didn't give him enough reason to be happily chatting with strangers.

Still, he did.

"Awful. I used to live in my old house, the sun was on me all day," Doyoung replied with what would be a small smile on his lips.

And that threw him off. What was he doing talking to someone who didn't even know his name?

"Taeyong," the blonde guy said. "Lee Taeyong."

His name. Almost as if he had read his thoughts. Taeyong. It rhymed well with his face that seemed sculpted.

"Dongyoung... Or Doyoung..." Only his friends called him that. Why was he talking so much?

"Doyoung suits you much better. No offense, though."

Taeyong had stopped in front of a bar with a few people inside. It was Tuesday, anyway. Doyoung stopped with him and looked into his eyes. He could see how Taeyong examined him from head to toe.

"Beer? My treat."

Doyoung felt something he hadn't felt in a while. A mix of fear and a kind of excitement. That's why he couldn't help but respond with a desire to run away.

Still, he didn't.

"No, no. I have to work tomorrow... it's late and besides... I haven't eaten anything. That's actually why I came, to get food."

Taeyong seemed disappointed with pursed lips, hands in his pockets, and a head movement that seemed very cool to Doyoung.

"Another time then."

Taeyong gave him a smile and turned on his heels to enter the bar.

Doyoung sighed deeply, and without further ado, he went to buy food where he had seen from his window. Unconsciously, he noticed that he had passed a couple of places while walking with Taeyong, so with some embarrassment, he had to turn back.

Back in his apartment, Doyoung ate a small but expensive Teokbokki at what would be his new desk. The computer was open, and a new project in Writerduet showed the beginning of a new script, which this time, would indeed see the light.

"EXT. DOYOUNG'S HOUSE. DAY

DOYOUNG (27) was..."

The doorbell rings.

Doyoung immediately turns to look at the door of the room, which is now his office.

Someone knocks on the door.

Quickly, without pulling down the hoodie from his head, he goes to open the door.

"Doyoung-ah!"

Taeyong. He had a beer in one hand and a whiskey bottle in the other. He looked drunk. Doyoung just squeezed the hand holding the door and, even though everything was in his favor to close it, he leaned softly against it to look at Taeyong and understand what he needed.

He couldn't resist, and he wasn't aware of it.