When people see Minho and Jinki out in public, one of first things they usually think of is this.

They are a couple.

And it is not even one of those everyday couples you see around, but rather a couple who is so obviously in love with each other that they sicken everyone else around them with their public display of affection.

You see, it is not unfamiliar for Jinki to feed Minho food when the other’s hands are perfectly free to pick up that particular fries for himself or for Minho rub comforting up and down Jinki’s arms. The two of them do these actions with such relaxed ease that it is only inevitable that the first conclusion people draws when they look at them is that they are head over heels for each other.

“Is Minho—“ the assistant PA’s eyes are wide and he makes for a fair imitation of a deer caught in headlights. “Is he—“

Taelin sighs exasperatedly and explains with an air of having to go through this fiasco one too many times. “Gay? No. Do you read any of the documents we have sent you? Jinki is gay, but he is married, and Minho is well…not gay, that’s for sure.”

“Yes, but—“ the PA’s hands gesticulate uselessly and his eyes dart to the intimate sight of Minho propping his head on Jinki’s shoulders as he wraps his arms around the other’s waist. Minho is now whispering into Jinki’s ears and Jinki is laughing at whatever he has said even as he continues typing away at the keyboard.

Taelin looks away and admits that the scene is fairly… suspicious. In fact, it makes Taelin feel faintly voyeuristic. “Look, Taeho. I know it looks like they are gay, but they are always like that. Just ignore it.”

“Are you sure? Because if this gets out, then—“ Taeho seems to find supreme difficulty in ending his sentences and make vague oblique gestures that Taelin takes to mean death and trouble and everything nasty for the PR department.

“Yea, well, so whenever Jinki comes around, make sure that they aren’t in a public area. And same thing too, when Minho heads over to Jinki’s cafes. That’s like, rule number 1.”

Taeho bobs his head up and down. “Should we also install curtains then? Make Minho’s office less like a—“ he ends off in a strangled sound that Taelin is starting to associate with this new weird assistant PA of theirs.

“Fishbowl? Nah, costs money. And this isn’t a public area anyway.”

-

3 months later, a reporter manages to sneak past all the defences that HM agency has and snaps a picture of Jinki kissing Minho’s hand. The two of them look as if they had stars in their eyes and Taelin is forced to admit that it is a very nice picture even though it throws the entire PR department into chaos.

The public starts digging out photos from the time when Choi Minho and Lee Jinki were in a boyband and old-fashioned, outdated gifs start popping out on entertainment sites. Members of the community also volunteer some innocuous photos they have taken on the sly in the past few years, when Choi and Lee headed out for some coffee and games, citing them as evidence for a love harboured and nurtured over twenty odd years.

So romantic. I so ship them! ArticFox2012 declares under a blurry video that shows Minho wrapping a scarf around Jinki’s neck. The camera angle makes it appear that the photographer took it underneath a table. Taelin wonders why the gross violation of privacy is not the issue of debate instead of Minho’s supposed gayness. Or, as a matter of fact, why is that scarf such a ratty-looking thing for a Christmas gift?

Taelin resolves to never let Minho near knitting again.

-

“It was just a joke! Jinki wasn’t even kissing my hand! It was my knuckles, see!”

“I don’t care what he was doing, you idiot! I care about what people think and people think you are gay with a cheating bastard! Do you know what this does to your image as a reputable top actor of South Korea?”

“I know! I am sorry, Yonghee! But what do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know! Fix it!”

“You are the manager and I am the artist! Why should I be the one doing your job?”

A new voice enters the fray. “Erm, guys, maybe we should go through this calmly?”

“Shut up!” the other two voices resound.

-

A week later, HM agency decides to hold a press conference for their artist, Choi Minho. The rumours are spinning out of control despite their PR officers’ best efforts and experts opine that it is best to stamp out the speculations once and for all. In a decisive manner.

Top actor Choi Minho goes public with his secret marriage with pop singer Jung Soojung. They have been secretly married for 3 years and are blessed with a 3-years-old child.

The newspapers go crazy and the tabloids have a field day. Everyone talks about Choi and Jung, and a new power couple is born.

-

3 days after the initial frenzy, some naysayers on the Internet decides that everything is false. Jung is a beard and Choi is gay. Lee Jinki is also dragged into the entire fray and is labelled as a 2-timing bastard because he is evidently married and why isn’t his spouse leaving him?

In retaliation, Lee Jinki’s spouse posts a video of them snogging and it gets 10,000 views within 5 minutes. Such is the power of SNS. It is quickly taken down by the administrators though, because it is apparently M18 and offends the sensibilities of the South Korean public.

Lee Jinki’s spouse, who also happens to be Lee Taemin, decides to follow that up with a snarky post regarding the so-called sensibilities of netizens and proclaims his undying love for his husband. Lee Jinki and Choi Minho are just friends and he, Lee Taemin, would know because Choi also happens to be his best friend and there is no way his best friend would want his husband when he has one of the hottest female celebrities in his embrace. No offense to his husband of course.  

It is all deleted an hour later, when HM finds out what Lee Taemin has done and is horrified by all these unapproved, unsanctioned PR efforts. Lee Taemin is to never go off the handle like this again and all communications with the public must be handled via HM’s PR department because it does nothing for Choi Minho’s reputation.

Lee Taemin growls and slams the phone back into its cradle. Lee Jinki calls back later to apologise.

-

5 months later, everything begins to settle down. There is only so much the disorganized internet community can stand up to and a concerted public relations effort by the 2^nd largest entertainment agency in South Korea is not something they can resist for long.

The assault of happily married photos placed up on Choi Minho and Jung Soojung’s Instagram accounts melted away suspicious one by one and it helps that the couple featured on the show Dad, Mum, Where Are You Going?

Haeyong, the child, is an absolute bundle of adorableness and wins over the hearts of South Koreans with ease. People determined that such a beautiful child cannot be a product of a broken family and Choi Minho’s image of a heteroual male is once again back on firm grounds.

Slowly, Lee Jinki starts heading to HM agency frequently, and with him, he always brings some of Choi Minho’s favourite tidbits much to the consternation of his manager.

-

“First you make him gay, now you are making him fat! Are you trying to ruin his career?”

Jinki shrugs helplessly. “He likes them.”

Minho glares. “I am not fat.”

The manager throws his hands up into the air. “He has gained 3kg and it’s showing! And Minho, stop being delusional. You are no longer a 20 year old with a godly metabolism. Start behaving like the 45 years old that you are!”

At this point, Jinki and Minho exchange a look before they run out of the room and the agency, gaily evading the clutches of the manager for an entire day as they led him on a trip around Seoul.

Of course, being the driver, Jinki also makes sure to stop by the eateries he knows Minho prefers. Tonkatsu, bibimbap and grilled meat. They leave behind a trail of photos on internet forums, but this time round, people are quick to point out that both he and Minho are happily attached and they are just very good friends after all.

-

Nonetheless, every once in a while, someone will try to tell their spouses that Minho or Jinki is cheating on them. Soojung laughs it off, utterly confidence in her love, while Taemin has always preferred the more dramatic and somewhat violent route.

Being the proprietors of a chain of cafes, Taemin has the tendency to grab a pot of coffee and dump it on the other person’s lap. Thankfully, most times, the coffee isn’t boiling hot and Taemin is scary enough such he doesn’t receive any angry lawyer letters. Still, Jinki rues the day when they are just unlucky enough to have a knife or gun at hand when someone tries to play tattletale again.

“Idiots should die.” Taemin declares when Jinki recommends a civil response may be a wiser choice next time round. “Just because they are insecure and thinks everyone will cheat on them doesn’t mean they get to project those insecurities on you and I.”

-

“, my phone is ringing,” Minho frets about helplessly as his hands are covered in lumps of flour that are of questionable consistency. Is the flour supposed to be this watery?

Jinki simply hums a little tune, his hands thankfully free of sticky substances. Sticking his hands into the pocket that has the outline of Minho’s phone clearly outlined, Jinki pulls it out. Looking at the screen he says, “It’s your new stylist.”

“Help me answer her.”

“Hello, Mina. I am Jinki. Minho isn’t free to answer your call now.” A short pause and a glance at Minho’s hips. “Erm, I think he gained a bit of a weight recently. You may want to size up. 28 sounds good. Thank you.”

“Yonghee is going to kill me.” Minho groans the moment Jinki ends the phonecall.

“Nonsense, don’t you know old men aren’t supposed to be too thin?” Jinki waves his hand dismissively, “You will look like a scarecrow if you don’t fill up.”

“Taemin isn’t filling up.” Minho points out.

“Not if I have any say,” Jinki says darkly. He then looks up and immediately lets out a horrified cry. “Minho! What are you doing with the dough?”

“Uhm. Rolling it?” Minho looks down to his hands and is glad to see that at least the dough isn’t as watery as before. Thank goodness he added in some flour. Granted, it looks a bit lumpy, but! At least it is solid.

Jinki snorts and he grabs hold of Minho’s hands before pushing it down into the dough. “Does this feel anything like the right consistency to you?” Jinki arches an eyebrow.

“Well…”

Rolling his eyes, Jinki splashes in a handful of water before he resumes his grip of Minho’s hands and uses them to push out the dough before pulling it in in a clockwise direction. “You aren’t supposed to pound the dough. Do it gently and with regular motion.” He directs Minho’s hands through a few more rounds of the recommended actions, his body a steady source of heat beside said man. Once Jinki thinks that Minho has gotten the trick, he lets go and supervises with an eagle eye.

“You know, we look very domestic right now.” Minho remarks after a while.

“What?”

“Baking stuff with each other.”

Jinki looks amusedly at him. “So?” He doesn’t let Minho answer as a gleam of playfulness enters his eye then, “Ooooh, is Choi Minho starting to go gay for me now?”

It’s Minho’s turn to snort and he pauses in his kneading to flick a small piece of dough at Jinki, hitting him squarely in his cheek.

“Hey!” comes the protest.

“That’s for being stupid,” Minho laughs, before he quietens down. “But honestly, don’t you think we are too close with each other?”

“No. I am comfortable with it, you are comfortable with it, how is this ‘too’ anything?” Jinki says even as he creeps up from behind and smears a trail of flour across Minho’s two cheeks.

“Normal friends don’t do anything like this to each other.” Minho points out as he chases after Jinki with sticky dough-smeared hands. Revenge must always be taken no matter the circumstances is Minho’s newfound philosophy.

“Firstly, normal friends aren’t stuck with each other in a band that operates within a semi-gay industry for 10 years. Secondly, normal friends aren’t us. Thirdly,” Jinki holds up a chopping board as a shield, “Screw the normal people.”

Minho corners Jinki and takes particular delight in transferring all that stupid dough from his hands to Jinki’s face and hair. He knows he will pay for this later, but it has been so long since they last let loose and acted like stupid teenagers. The conversation ends and it devolves into a food fight that is only put to a stop when Jinki realizes that they have only an hour before Soojung returns and the surprise will be utterly ruined if they don’t double-up and finish baking.

It is Minho’s and Soojung’s anniversary after all. The cake is supposed to be a surprise. Minho is tasked to kneading the dough again, while Jinki cleans up and it is a team effort on both their parts. It only says how efficient they are that they managed to finish 10 minutes before the deadline and Jinki has time to hurriedly put on his shoes before making a quick departure, all the while, reminding Minho that it is the Lavender candles that Soojung likes, not the Lilac.

Minho interrupts to pull Jinki into a tight hug and gives him a quick kiss on his forehead. “I am really glad we are friends.”

Jinki laughs and squeezes him back. “Same for me.” He brushes imaginary dust from Minho’s suit and straightens the tie. “Anyway, good luck with Soojung.” A mischievous tone enters his voice, “And don’t be too loud when trying for another kid, alright?”

Jinki is sent off with a whack to his head and a fond smile.