Jiyong didn’t kiss Seunghyun on their second date, nor their third, but he was ready by their fourth. Their second date followed only a few days after the first, and their third only a few days after that. But then Jiyong had been slammed with coffee shop shifts and performances at the drag club. Hanbin was still out and Taehyun had fallen ill as well, so Jiyong had been covering their performance times at Heechul’s request. The extra money was a great motivation.

After three weeks, Seunghyun had taken him out for dinner and a movie. He’d even walked him home. Jiyong didn’t want Youngbae to see Seunghyun just yet, so he’d stopped him at the entrance to the apartment complex, but it hadn’t stopped Jiyong from pulling Seunghyun up against the wall. Seunghyun smiled, leaned in, and brushed noses with him. Jiyong planted his lips on Seunghyun’s with a smile.

It was a seemingly perfect kiss. Jiyong missed the feeling of being kissed. It was one of his most favorite things in the world, and he’d be damned if he didn’t like kissing Seunghyun. Jiyong’s lips were usually chapped, but Seunghyun’s were plush and wonderful. Jiyong was in heaven.

They both giggled once they were done and said good night before separating.

Jiyong practically floated into the club the next day. He’d texted Seunghyun since the moment he left until he fell asleep. He didn’t have a shift at the coffee shop the next day, so he was able to sleep in and headed to the club with Youngbae early.

Heechul grinned at him from the bar.

“Did my daughter have ?”

“Just a kiss,” Jiyong said.

He saw how Youngbae looked at him curiously from behind the bar, but Jiyong ignored it. Heechul smiled at him.

“Must have been a damn good kiss.”

“It was worth the wait,” Jiyong said with a smile.

“Hanbin and Taehyun are finally back. Make sure to say ‘hello’ to them. I told them to thank you for covering their performances for so long.”

“I’m glad they’re better.”

“Have you made a decision about taking on a drag daughter? It’s been a while since we spoke about it,” Heechul asked as he scribbled down things in a logbook.

“I did!”

“And the verdict is?”

“I’m going to take Jinwoo on. I’m going to talk to him about it tonight, actually,” Jiyong said.

“I’m glad. You’ll make a good drag mama.”

“I learned from the best!”

Jiyong hugged Heechul. Heechul returned it, then patted Jiyong’s .

“I’m happy to see you like this. I love you. Keep smiling, my little baby.”

Jiyong giggled. He let go of his drag mother and headed for the backstage area, where other queens were already getting prepared. It brought a nostalgia back to Jiyong, remembering when he’d just started and the dressing room had been packed to the brim with other baby queens and many experienced ones who had retired after that. Jiyong missed his other drag sisters. The only one left was Daesung from when Heechul had first opened the club. Everyone else had left to other clubs or opened their own. Perhaps they could all get together for dinner and visit. Jiyong was sure the rest of them were quite successful already. He was behind, but he was determined to catch up.

Hanbin and Taehyun were both sitting near Jiyong’s station and they waved at him.

“Hi, boys,” Jiyong said.

Both stood and fully bowed to him.

“Thank you for taking care of our shifts while we were gone.”

They said it in perfect unison and Jiyong burst into laughter.

“Oh my gosh, you two are so cute. It was no problem. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

They both smiled at his kindness. Jiyong hugged them both.

Jinwoo came into the dressing room. He waved at the three of them.

“Evening, eonni,” Hanbin said.

Jiyong looked between them. “Did…did you just call Jinwoo eonni?”

“Yeah. He’s older than me.”

Jiyong blinked a few times, then tilted his head. “No way…”

Taehyun and Hanbin both laughed and went to their own stations. Jiyong steeled his nerves and approached Jinwoo.

“Jinwoo, can I talk to you for a sec?”

“Sure, eonni!”

Jinwoo grinned at him as he sat in his chair. Jiyong sat in the one in the station next to them.

“This will probably seem kind of sudden, but I wanted to know if you’d like to be my drag daughter? I know we have different styles of drag, but you’ve always seemed sort of interested in working with me and I think we’d get along well enough. I’m trying to get more involved in the community and a drag daughter is kind of important, so…would you be interested in joining the House of Dragon?”

Jiyong waited, biting one of his fingernails in an attempt to hold off his nervousness. Jinwoo was quiet, so Jiyong waited. And waited. And it felt like an eternity passed, but Jinwoo still said nothing. Had Jiyong made a mistake? Was Jinwoo the wrong choice? His pulse raced as his head filled with worried thoughts.

“Bambi Dragon sounds sort of weird, though…” Jinwoo said. “But I supposed, Bambi from the House of Dragon works well.”

Jiyong let out a breath. “Oh my god…”

Jinwoo grinned. “I’d love to be your drag daughter, eonni. I admire you, so I feel really honored that you would offer me the chance. Especially since I came from pageants and you didn’t. I know that causes clash, but I feel really happy.”

Jiyong leapt out of his chair and hugged Jinwoo.

“You really had me worried there for a second.”

“I’m sorry, eonni!”

“I’m your eomma now,” Jiyong said, “Or whatever motherly term you’d like to use.”

Jinwoo giggled. It made Jiyong smile. It made him feel happier than he expected to. He knew he had made the right decision.

“Cool. Let’s get together someday this week and we can talk it all out, okay?” Jiyong said.

“Okay,” Jinwoo said with a grin.

Jiyong set about getting ready after that. He was in such a good mood, he was floating. He didn’t even know how to describe it anymore. It’d been a while since he’d been that happy.

Soon Jiyong was Jinah and she was ready to dazzle the stage. She wore the refurbished pink heels Seunghyun had given her and a one-sleeved sequin pink dress. Her wig was big and bouncy, with a headband, to give a sort of disco look. It was the best she could throw together in honor of HeeHee’s themed decade night.

Jinwoo was gluing his eyelashes on, but was having trouble. Jinah chuckled and went over.

“Do it like this.”

Jinah assisted getting the eyelash on. Jinwoo blinked at himself in the mirror, then beamed.

“Thank you, eonni!”

“Sure, doll.”

Jinah smiled at her and skipped over to bother Daesung, who was in the middle of contouring his face.

“Evening, sister,” Jinah said sweetly.

“Good evening, Jinah. You’ve come in early. I’m so proud.”

“Oh, shush. But guess what? I have a daughter now.”

“You went through with it?! Oh, how exciting!”

Daesung dropped his makeup brush in favor of hugging Jinah, who giggled and squeezed the other. Daesung was taller than Jinah, because despite that he wasn’t in full drag yet, he was already in heels.

“Did you take on our little Bambi?”

“I did,” Jinah said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Good. That’s the whole point.”

Jinah nodded, smiling. Daesung kissed her cheek.

“I’m going to go bug the boys now,” Jinah said.

“Don’t make them fall in love with you too much~”

Jinah giggled and skipped off, her heels clacking on the floor in an offbeat rhythm. She spotted Bobby and Mino, who were getting ready for the show. Bobby was dressed in an open vest and tight pants and if he wasn’t much younger than Jinah, she would have considered hitting on him.

“What’re you two up to?” she sang-song, putting an arm around Mino’s shoulder as she approached.

Mino looked up at her, stopping what he was doing. “Oh, hi, Jinah-eonni.”

Mino had always been really good about remembering which pronouns to use with drag queens. Jinah liked that about him.

Jinah waited for him to respond. Mino returned to fiddling with his tie.

“Bobby and I are just getting ready for the show. He was showing off his arm muscles.”

Bobby instinctively flexed. Jinah laughed.

“Aww, how cute. Mino, you always wear a suit up on stage. You should change it up!”

Mino’s hands stopped again and he looked at her. “I should?”

“Why not? No one said you have to wear a suit.”

Mino considered it. “What should I wear instead?”

“Let’s look!”

Jinah dragged the younger man along to find a costume.

Jinah wasted her time leading up to show time helping Mino pick out a new outfit. He’d tried on a couple different outfits and had nearly screamed when Jinah had begun undressing him in favor of speeding up the changing process. It had resulted in Bobby and Jinah laughing their asses off for ten minutes.

By the end, they had settled on a seventies look to go with their theme night—bell bottoms and a loud printed button up. Jinah had made him leave the top buttons undone and messed up his hair.

“You look y,” Jinah said.

“Eomma!” Jinwoo called, appearing from the wing.

Jinwoo had become Bambi, makeup and wig on. She wore a powder blue flapper dress and headpiece, like she’d sprung right out of America’s Roaring Twenties.

Mino flushed and held the top of his shirt shut with his hand as Bambi approached. When she noticed he was there, her cheeks flushed as well and she looked away.

“O-Oh, hi, Mino…”

“H-Hey, Bambi-eonni…”

Jinah looked between them, finding their reactions both strange and cute. Was there something more going on?

“Did you need something?” Jinah asked.

“Y-yes! I wanted your opinion on which shoes I should wear.”

Jinah had just realized Bambi wasn’t wearing shoes. No wonder she had looked so tiny when she approached. Jinah let out a little laugh and nodded.

“Okay, let’s go look. See you later, Mino.”

Mino nodded and shuffled off to wherever Bobby had gone. Jinah and Bambi walked away. Bambi glanced back over her shoulder as they went.

Jinah had selected Bambi’s heels just as the show was about to begin. They were starting with a big group number. Every single queen in the club had to participate, even Heechul was in it. They’d been rehearsing for about a week, but since Hanbin and Taehyun had come back, they’d had to change up the choreography. The two of them had to learn their parts that day, or maybe the day before, but regardless, they had less time to practice than the others.

But when the lights went up on stage, Jinah felt all the nerves bleed away, because the stage was her home. She danced and sang with everyone in the numbers, waving to the crowd when she had the chance. The lights flashed up a few times and she caught sight of Seunghyun sitting at the bar. Jinah was excited to see him. She made sure to blow a kiss his way.

Decade night started with a bang and it continued as such. Everyone nailed their songs and Jinah cheered for them in the wings of the stage. Mino’s look got whoops and hollers and overall the show was a complete success. Jinah had no doubt that Heechul would make Decade Night a recurring theme night from then on.

After the show, Jinah became Jiyong again. Jiyong relaxed in his chair for a while, sitting in his underwear while he let his feet rest. Heels were cute, but they hurt like hell. Jinwoo came to sit by him, still in his dress, but makeup and wig gone.

“How do you feel?” Jiyong asked.

“Tired…”

Jinwoo looked like a sleepy baby. It was adorable. Jiyong smiled.

“Well, go home and get a lot of sleep. Make sure you get lots of rest. What do you do for a day job?”

“I go to school,” Jinwoo said, “Spend days in class and nights doing this. My parents still take care of me.”

Jinwoo seemed embarrassed by the admission. Jiyong found it cute, but deep down he envied him. He wished his parents still took care of him.

“Nothing wrong with that. Appreciate it while you can…” Jiyong sighed. “Anyway, let me know your schedule and we can get together and plan some stuff. If you ever have questions, you’re welcome to ask me anything. Not just drag stuff, life stuff too!”

“Okay. Thanks, eonni.”

Mino came into the dressing room, amid talking with Taehyun, Hanbin, and Bobby. From the looks of body language, Taehyun was being very flirty. They watched the four converse for a few seconds.

“Eonni…what do you do when you like someone?” Jinwoo asked, no longer looking at the group of young people.

“Well,” Jiyong paused to think, “Sometimes you just have to go for it. Be forward and upfront about your feelings.”

“What if you’re shy?”

“Baby steps. Have a conversation, get to know that person. Drop hints when you can.”

Jinwoo nodded. “I’m going to head home now. Thank you for the advice. I’m glad I’m your daughter now.”

Jiyong got up. “Hold on. I’ll go with you.”

He quickly changed into his clothes and slung his bag onto his shoulder. Jiyong hollered good night to the others as he and Jinwoo left from backstage.

“Don’t be afraid to pursue someone just because they’re being flirted with,” Jiyong said as they walked. “Of course, don’t go after someone who’s already in a relationship, but if someone is flirting with them, it doesn’t mean they are unavailable.”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Jinwoo said.

Jiyong shrugged. “Don’t worry.”

Seunghyun was waiting in the lobby. He grinned when he saw Jiyong and Jiyong felt his heart start to pitter-patter. His good day just got better and better.

“I’ll see you later this week, eonni. Have a good night.”

“You too! Get home safe!”

Jinwoo waved goodbye and left. Jiyong nearly ran to Seunghyun and hugged him tight.

“Hi,” Seunghyun greeted.

“What’re you doing here?” Jiyong asked.

“I thought we could go have dinner. What do you think?”

“Yes.”

Jiyong sat across from Seunghyun at a barbeque place. Seunghyun had ordered them soju and they were waiting on their meat.

“I haven’t had barbeque in so long. This was overdue! I love that you feed me,” Jiyong said as he poured them soju.

“I love that you love to eat.”

Jiyong laughed. The meat was brought and Jiyong took charge of cooking it, throwing it on the grill. Seunghyun watched for a few minutes. Once Jiyong had dished out their first servings and began cooking the next pieces of meat, Seunghyun spoke.

“Who was that little one with you at the club?”

“Oh, Bambi? She’s my drag daughter! That’s right. I got a drag daughter today.”

Seunghyun raised his shot glass. “We’re celebrating.”

“Yay!”

Jiyong clinked glasses with him and slammed back the shot. He poured another before turning the meat over.

“She’s adorable. I hope I can be a good drag mom to her.”

“Can I ask you something?” Seunghyun said.

“Shoot.”

“How did you create Jinah Dragon? It seems like it takes a lot to craft a drag persona.”

Jiyong nodded as he cut up the strip of pork belly. “It does. It’s a whole other person inside you. Most of the time at least.”

Seunghyun nodded as he listened.

“I don’t know. Jinah has always been someone to me. When I was little she was like my imaginary friend or something. I used to draw her a lot. She was this whole real person to me. One day I painted her onto me. Then I realized that Jinah is me. She was always me. A me I wanted to be.” Jiyong served them each a few pieces and began to eat. “I’ve always admired women for how strong they can be. They don’t get enough credit. My mother impressed me in so many ways when I was little. Women were always this strength to me, so I think that’s why Jinah ended up being a girl.”

“So, the first time you put on all the makeup, how did you feel?”

Jiyong paused in his eating. He recalled the moment he’d finished his makeup and looked at himself in the mirror and saw her. Jinah. Seeing himself as her had been so enlightening.

“Normal.”

Seunghyun looked at him. He reached out gently and held Jiyong’s hand. Jiyong blinked, realizing he could no longer see, his eyes glassy. A tear fell down his cheek.

“I felt like I knew myself in that moment. Really, truly knew myself. Sometimes I still don’t know who I am, but Jinah always knows who she is. I don’t feel crazy when I’m her.”

Seunghyun traced the inside of Jiyong’s wrist with his fingertip gently. The motion was comforting Jiyong for some reason and he didn’t move his hand from Seunghyun’s hold.

“I like your normal,” Seunghyun said then.

“Shut up,” Jiyong said with a laugh.

He drank more soju and ate meat. Seunghyun gave him more food and ordered more meat.

“Would you do drag full time if you could?”

“Of course! That’s the goal, really. I want to be so successful I can retire while I still look good. Like my drag mom, HeeHee. She only performs when she wants to.”

“Maybe you should open a club then,” Seunghyun said with a laugh.

Jiyong laughed. “Fat chance that will happen anytime soon.”

“There’s always the future.”

Jiyong nodded and ate some side dishes.

“Want to make fried rice?” he asked.

“Only if you drink more soju.”

“Why?”

“You look quite y when you do,” Seunghyun said.

Jiyong flushed. How the hell did he look y when he drank alcohol? Even though it was such a stupid comment, Seunghyun always made him feel like a flustered teen.

“Why do you say such stupid ?”

“Because it makes you smile.”

Jiyong looked at Seunghyun, who smiled at him. He adored the man more than anyone in that moment.

“I hate you. You make me feel like a teenager again,” Jiyong said as he poured himself another drink.

“I like to experience each love as if it’s my first. I’m glad you’re feeling the same way.”

Jiyong stopped from where he had the glass raised to his lips. He thought about it and it did in fact feel like his very first love. But somehow it was even better this time then it had been before. Jiyong took his shot and smiled at Seunghyun, who playfully made himself look like he’d been hit by Jiyong’s iness.

Jiyong laughed loudly and freely. He loved every minute with Seunghyun. He was afraid of being swept away by his feelings, falling so easily in love with him that he wouldn’t be able to protect himself, but at the same time, he didn’t care. It was so much fun to be together. To laugh, live, and love together.

Seunghyun walked Jiyong home, holding hands and talking the whole way. Both were tipsy, so they were loud and giggly as they went.

“I want to make out with you,” Seunghyun suddenly said.

“Oh my god,” Jiyong said, stressing his end syllable for a few seconds, “That sounds so fun.”

“I need to learn to drive just to get a car to make out in.”

“I can drive, but I have no car. My ex sold it.”

“What an .”

They stopped at Jiyong’s apartment building entrance. Jiyong looked up at it and squeezed Seunghyun’s hand.

“If I lived alone, you could come up…and we could make out.”

“Damn roommates.”

Jiyong laughed loudly, whole body shaking. It wasn’t even funny and yet somehow he couldn’t control his laughter.

“Maybe next time. When is next time?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. You should come over and we can make out on my couch.”

“Sounds like a date.”

Jiyong put his arms around Seunghyun’s neck and looked up at him. They grinned at each other, before locking lips. It was a quick, soft kiss, because they knew if they kept it long, they’d probably keep kissing in public and that could get them in some trouble.

“See you later,” Jiyong said.

Seunghyun smiled at him and let go. Jiyong walked to the door, then stopped and turned back. Seunghyun was heading for the bus stop.

“Seunghyun!” he called.

Seunghyun looked back quickly. “Yeah?”

“Can you get home alright like that?”

“I’ll be okay! See you tomorrow!”

They waved to one another and Jiyong headed inside and up to Youngbae’s apartment.

Hello. I know I haven't updated since February. This chapter probably wasn't worth the wait either.
I had a very difficult two quarters in grad school, what with having to balance all my work from new professors, my poor health in the early part of the year, and work. It made writing fanfiction rather difficult. I hope to write a few more chapters before I have to return to school work. I'm thinking of shortening this story so that I can finish it in a timely manner and be done with it. v-v
I hope you enjoyed this small update and I'm sorry to have made you wait so long. I hope you will find some laughter and joy in this chapter.