“i’m just saying, how does my cousin manage to visit so many cool places? he’s in my family, surely he should be, like, broke.”

 

kamryn sighed at annie’s rambling; by now, they were used to the amount of complaining that comes from their best friend, and they couldn’t say they don’t complain just as much.

 

“i don’t know, bro, he’s got money, i guess?”

 

they paused, and kam had a sudden realisation.

 

“can he be my sugar daddy?”

 

annie started, blinking in confusion.

 

“no! he has a girlfriend!”

 

“damn it...” kam couldn’t help the disappointment; they were broke, alright? money is money.

 

“also, he’s my cousin!” annie was still against the sudden proposal, and for good reason, but-

 

“so? not my cousin, not my problem.”

 

annie burst out laughing at this, but they weren’t done with their reasons just yet.

 

“but he’s your best friend’s cousin! he’s seven years older than you! seven, for ’s sake!”

 

she trailed off, deep in thought.

 

“i say that like my biggest celebrity crush isn’t seven years older than me...”

 

kamryn grinned. “well, yuta’s got six years on me, and jihoon’s got five, so i can’t say i’m better. guess that means i can’t have your cousin as my sugar daddy, then.”

 

annie, at that point, had a realisation.

 

“have jihoon.”

 

kam blinked, considering the suggestion way more seriously than they should have.

 

“actually, he pretty much did say he was rich, didn’t he? how can i get in touch with him, it’s for science.”

 

annie laughed at their friend’s ridiculousness, replying, “twitter? find his address and hide in his bed? whatever works.”

 

at this point, however, kamryn had a realisation of their own, and it was one their nct-stanning heart would never forget.

 

“wait, aren’t chenle’s parents like, mad loaded? i could date him - gently, because we are children - and his parents would love me and buy me things! this is a great plan, how can i find zhong chenle’s details and subtle flirt with him until he falls in love with me?”

 

holding onto kam’s shoulder, annie laughed harder still, falling into her friend, who continued to think.

 

“yo, what if i did both? like-“

 

“you’ll be a hoe??”

 

“no, i mean, i date chenle softly and gently and his parents treat me as his honorary child, right, and they spend all their money on me, but then i get jihoon to be my sugar daddy on the side so i can get my own cash too! it’s foolproof!”

 

annie stared judgementally. “yeah, and?”

 

kamryn rolled their eyes, staring back. “not only do i have a soft and loving boyfriend, i also get a sugar daddy i can get saucy with, and life is great, suddenly i have a new aspiration.”

 

annie nodded, thinking it over, both of them ashamed of how serious this joke of a plan had become.

 

“have a polyamorous relationship with both of them.”

 

kam scrunched their nose up, shaking their head. “nah, chenle and i are both only 16 and jihoon’s, like, 22 already, that’s weird.”

 

annie nodded in agreement, and kam’s eyes widened in sudden thought.

 

“as long as chenle doesn’t find out that my bias is jaemin, i should be alright.”

 

•

 

“kam! how’s korea treating you?” annie’s voice was muffled over the skype call, but it was better than nothing.

 

it had been a long two months since kamryn had packed up and gone to asia, slowly traveling each country. currently, they resided in korea, enjoying the culture and language opportunities.

 

“나는 잘 하고 있어~”

 

“uh, english, please?”

 

(ah, the language opportunities.)

 

“i said, i’m doing good. korea’s lovely, i think i’m going to a fansign later which is really scary but also really cool-“

 

annie blinked in shock. “for who??”

 

“nct, bro, i’ll make sure to skype you the whole time so you can kinda meet them too.” kam was almost shaking with excitement.

 

“wait, , turns out ‘later’ is in half an hour, i gotta run! stay on with me, i need moral support, im gonna meet the love of my life.”

 

“you call everyone the love of your life, kam.” annie sighed, but there was a smile on her face all the same.

 

“but nakamoto yuta, man, i’m gonna embarrass myself, i know it. and jaemin? what do i say to him? hi, we’ve never met but i wanna hold your hands and kiss your cheeks and boop your nose and call you mine? i think the not.”

 

kam was suffering, and annie was enjoying it far too much. “don’t forget the sugar daddy plan!”

 

•

 

“yuta, hi, before we speak i’m sorry my korean isn’t good.” kamryn smiled up at their bias, internally screaming but attempting to keep their cool.

 

yuta reached to take their hand, holding it gently as he replied, and suddenly kam was so thankful they kept their phone in their top pocket to record everything. this was not a moment to forget.

 

before they knew it, they had to move down the line, cutting short their conversation with yuta and shifting across the edge of the long table. all the members seemed to blur into one (they did manage to hold jaemin’s hand, too, and boop his nose - and oh, how boopable it was) until they were in front of chenle.

 

“apologies for my bad korean, it’s so nice to meet you...”

 

and so it went, him expressing surprise on finding out that kam was british and immediately asking them to speak english - attracting mark’s attention, and ten’s, because apparently they’re into that - and kam asking gentle questions surrounding being in the kpop community when it’s not your first language. it was over too soon, and they left with eighteen signatures and a smile on their face.

 

“we’re pleased to announce that one lucky fan will be able to spend the afternoon at nct’s dorm! listen carefully, for this will only be announced once. the draw is randomly generated, and we will select the winner now!”

 

well, this was sudden. kamryn couldn’t wait to not get chosen-

 

“kamryn wilcock, please stay behind, as you are the lucky winner!”

 

wait, what the ?

 

•

 

“so i’m just chilling after the fansign ends, and they announce they’re gonna select someone at random to hang with the nct lads afterwards, and guess who? me, !”

 

annie’s eyes widened almost comically. “see, you should’ve skyped me the whole time instead of just filming it! where are you now?”

 

“...at nct’s dorm, were you listening? i’m gonna go hang with my boys in dream, they’re closest to my age.”

 

annie said her farewells and hung up, leaving kam alone to explore the new territory that came with being in nct’s personal living space.

 

“kamryn-ah! nice to see you again. how long are you here?” it was mark, thankfully speaking english, and kam sighed in relief.

 

“uh, jusqu’à le soir - i mean, until the evening. sorry, i went to speak korean to you, even though you spoke english to me, but apparently my brain sees ‘speak another language’ as ‘speak french and only french’. i’m so sorry!”

 

mark laughed, a confused jaemin peering over his shoulder.

 

“it’s cool! korean is fine, and english is fine. french, however... it’s been a while, please don’t.”

 

“mais mark, vous habitiez au canada, non ? on parle la français là !”

 

mark rolled his eyes. “all i got of that was ‘canada’, but i’m gonna assume you’re saying i should speak french because i lived there. you’re right, but still, please don’t.”

 

jaemin stepped out and in front of mark at that point, sick of being ignored. “kamryn-ah, you were the one that poked my nose.”

 

“i was, you’re right.” kam nodded shyly, struggling to make eye contact - i mean, when you’ve

got someone as beautiful as na jaemin... right there...

 

“it was cute.” with that, he gently booped kam’s nose right back, making both of them giggle like children.

 

“you’re cute.”

 

i’m meant to flirt with chenle, not jaemin!

 

•

 

chenle seemed to connect with kamryn immediately. as of current, kam was skyping annie about their experience so far, and chenle wouldn’t shut the up, so all was normal.

 

well... was.

 

“chenle, kam loves jaemin!”

 

kam scowled, only for chenle to look around in confusion.

 

“where actually is jaemin?”

 

“i don’t know a jaemin, never heard of him.” kam hurried to save face, albeit not in the best way.

 

“sure, that’s why you have nudes of him.” annie was quick to interrupt, even though it was a straight-up lie.

 

“no i don’t!! i’m not interested in him like that, we’re minors, that’s gross.”

 

as if on cue, who should fall out of the large wardrobe behind the pair but-

 

“jaemin?”

 

he brushed off his bare legs with a grin, shrugging. “sorry, you called?”

 

kamryn eyed him with a smirk. “listen, mate, i don’t know who you are and why you’re , but can you please exit the wardrobe? maybe go back in and find some clothes first, though?”

 

annie screamed over the skype call, “see, chenle! told you!”

 

kam moved to stand between the two, awkwardly blocking jaemin’s body from both theirs and annie’s sight. “i swear i don’t know him, who even is he, who put him in there in the first place and where are his clothes-“

 

once again, annie interrupted.

 

“renjun?!”

 

kam and chenle both whipped around to see an also- renjun struggling to his feet, having tripped ungracefully out of the wardrobe. he high-fived jaemin, made very awkward eye contact with kam, and quickly moved to cover himself.

 

“why are there so many boys in this wardrobe? is there some kinda creator in there that just spits out teenagers? i’m scared- jeno, you in there too, buddy? i wouldn’t be surprised.” kamryn grew increasingly worried, eyes meeting with chenle’s in a silent ‘what the are these guys on’ moment.

 

“well, hey, would you look at that, i am!” jeno barrel-rolled casually out of the closet, also and stained with a suspicious white substance...

 

he pointed accusingly at jaemin, glaring for effect. “this little knocked my elbow on his way out! spilt my milkshake, li’l ...” he gestured the empty cup in his hand at the boy in question, shaking his head in disappointment. “it was really good milkshake, as well.”

 

chenle spoke up, finally. “care to explain why you guys are having a secret norenmin milkshake party without telling the rest of us? poor kam’s our guest, and you’ve ignored them.”

 

jaemin shrugged sheepishly. “wardrobes really are the best place for a milkshake party.”

 

as he said this, the other members of nct dream clambered out from the wardrobe, cups in hands and smiles on faces.

 

renjun looked on in despair at his group. “it... really does bring all the boys to the yard.”

 

the room erupted with laughter, and renjun belatedly added, “or the wardrobe, apparently,” only causing more giggles.

 

jisung made direct eye contact with kamryn as he said his next words; “hey, guys, we’re finally out of the closet.”

 

silence fell over the group, all laughter having ceased upon hearing jisung’s words. wordlessly, donghyuck shoved him back into the wardrobe, leaning on the door for safety.

 

just as kamryn was getting used to the surroundings, annie still yelling through the video call, mark stuck his head in to question the noise.

 

“am i meant to be here, because i heard yelling, but now that i’m seeing what’s going on i’m quite concerned.” with that, he left again, probably to find ‘someone more mature’. (taeyong, most likely, but it wasn’t like any of them were truly mature.)

 

this being their living space, the boys made quick work of locating their clothes, donning them with haste as kamryn and annie looked away. soon enough, they looked back to find six fully-dressed boys surrounding them, and sighed happily. finally, things were normal.

 

“i know i said we were out of the closet, but damn, i may not be as gay as i thought.” jisung was frozen, staring at the laptop screen where annie was still connected to the call.

 

“yeah, i’ll give you her number, but fair warning, she’s a dry texter. like, the driest.”

 

footsteps approached the room, and all of dream seemed to know who the footfalls belonged to.

 

“he’s back-“

 

“again-“

 

“hey, guys, who drank all the milkshake-“ lucas peered around the door, tall frame making everything - and everyone - else seem smaller. “-oh, okay... i missed out on some kinda milkshake party... that’s fine, i’ll go.”

 

and go, he did.

 

kam turned back from gazing at lucas’s retreating figure to find chenle and jaemin arguing over who was going to ‘ask them’ something. as soon as they looked at the pair, conversation stopped, and something seemed suspicious.

 

jaemin was the first to break.

 

“kamryn-ah, you’re really cute, can i take you out some time?”

 

kam took a breath as chenle opened his mouth.

 

“no, kam-ah, let me take you out, i promise.”

 

jaemin’s brow furrowed, and he glared at chenle before continuing.

 

“you love me, right? we’ve talked about this.”

 

chenle looked at them hopefully, and kamryn almost felt bad for not choosing him.

 

almost, because jaemin was their bias, after all, and they weren’t really gonna choose chenle just because of his rich parents.

 

“chenle, i’m so sorry... i’m going to have to go with jaemin here.”

 

(with the fist-pump that jaemin gave at that, kamryn wondered what they’d just gotten themself into.)