04

tell me a story

White rays of light turned into color, into flowers, into strings of gossamer hanging in clouds of smoke in what looked like a cotton-candy sky. Jaehyun stood amid the hustle and bustle of glimmering dresses, golden cufflinks, and speckles of glitter in the air.

Upon hearing of Minho’s proposal to Yuri, Yoona had sprung into action, rallying up the entire SMTOWN village to plan their engagement party. Henry found a secluded mansion in the middle of nowhere, Tiffany called one of her celebrity chef friends, and Victoria uprooted half a flower garden to shower the makeshift ballroom with an endless stream of daffodils, peonies and lilies. Taemin was their chauffeur of the day, driving them to the venue and covering their eyes, telling them that it would be worth the wait. Less than a second after removing their blindfolds, Minho and Yuri were a blubbering mess of tears – everyone was there, and one by one, they had made a very long wait worthwhile.

Theirs was a story that spanned decades, continents, and choices. It was an arduous journey – from meeting as quiet teenagers, to hiding in bushes on secret dates, to losing themselves in the ever-coveted spotlight, to trying and missing their luck with other people, and to eventually coming full circle and realizing that all they ever really needed was each other. As poignant as the story was, Jaehyun knew that they were the lucky ones, and most never really found such an ending, or any ending at all. People like them, all of them – they could never really choose to tell their stories, and had to wait for their stories to tell themselves.

“Alright, Youngran, who’s your favorite at this table?” Mark asked, with the 2-year-old toddler propped on his knees. She gazed at him in adorable confusion, fidgeting at the ends of the new fluffy tutu that Wendy had lovingly dressed her in.

Across the table, Taeyong emitted a loud snort. “Is that even a question? Of course – it’s me. I basically nannied her for months after Seungwan gave birth.”

“And you did a job,” Doyoung reminded. “Do you remember the number of times you put her diaper on backwards?”

Before Taeyong could launch his counterattack, Haechan jumped in. “Too many,” he interjected. “And I was the one who fixed it every single time. That’s why she likes me best.”

Johnny stared wryly at them. “You idiots seem to be forgetting that I literally am her father.”

Jaehyun tossed his head back in laughter. Youngran was the first and only child from any of the NCT boys, which meant that she was the apple of the eyes of all twenty-three of them and it was a fight to the death to obtain her attention. She flicked her cute little face at him, staring at him with eyes that he wasn’t sure belonged to Wendy or Johnny. He stretched out his arms, and she happily hopped into his lap.

“I think we have an answer,” he chortled, rubbing her back and cuddling her to him.

“Tsk.” Yuta scrunched up his face in distaste. “That’s because you play dirty every time. One of you lot,” he said, referring to the twenty-one unmarried and devastatingly handsome men who sat at the table, “needs to have another kid.”

Taeyong propped his chin on his hands, his expression a portrait of distress. “Well, for that to happen, we need to have wives – to start with, girlfriends.”

Which was a fair point, Jaehyun thought. They had an unspoken dating ban and the constant threat of being completely cancelled should they even try to stand next to a woman, almost for the entirety of their careers. Some were uninterested, some were just too caught between a rock and hard place to make a move, some, like Jaehyun, dated in secret until hit the fan, and then there was Johnny, couldn’t give a flying and married the love of his life without even batting an eyelid, finding his own means of survival.

As precious and irreplaceable as Youngran was, the group took a huge hit when the news broke. Johnny had to lay low for almost a year before finally being able to make brief appearances in some comebacks. But Johnny was also wise beyond his years and had nerves of steel not necessarily mirrored by the other members, and hence most were still reluctant to entertain the possibility of a full-fledged relationship.

Taeyong’s reminder was a cue for everyone to turn to look at Jaehyun, the only other person in the group who had any semblance of a love life. “What?” he asked, noticing everyone’s attention was suddenly averted to him.

“Well,” Taeil cajoled, lips spreading into an impish smile, “how are you and Seulgi?”

“We’re fine,” Jaehyun replied. An answer that was deemed satisfactory by nobody.

“What does that mean?” Doyoung prodded. “Are you guys official – like boyfriend and girlfriend official? About to get engaged official?”

“They might as well be,” Jungwoo cut in. “Jaehyun’s been going out at night for weeks, and being ing noisy, at that.”

Jaehyun shook his head. Of course, Jungwoo knew everything. He was in the room across Jaehyun and never missed an opportunity to harass Jaehyun about his illicit meetings.

He sighed. “Guys, it’s been two months. Cut me some slack.”

“You should invite her over sometime,” Taeyong said. “We’re all friends, after all.”

Of course, they were – especially Taeyong and Seulgi, who had been the best of friends for years before Jaehyun had even set his sights on her. Because of Taeyong, Seulgi had already been a common sight at their living quarters, and only ceased to be once she started seeing Jaehyun. Out of mostly awkwardness, Jaehyun knew.

“Speak of the devil – Seulgi-noona!”

Mark shouted across the room, waving both his hands excitedly at Seulgi. Jaehyun tilted his head, eyes slowly wandering over to his girlfriend. She was stunning in a strapless ivory number, her long and wavy hair up in a loose ponytail. Seulgi had always been understated – she wasn’t necessarily considered by the entertainment industry as a love-at-first-sight beauty, at least by their contradictory standards. But, there was always something ethereal and otherworldly about her that made him unable to look away.

She didn’t turn to them, however. She was deeply engrossed in a conversation with someone Jaehyun could not discern – Soojung?

Jaehyun, or really, everyone, had not seen Krystal in months. She was a rare sighting ever since she had left the company, especially considering the troubled relationship her sister had with many of its existing staff.

Seulgi seemed focused, but even from afar, there was something a