(Daehyun's Perspective)

The days following the sticky note ripping were a mix between 'oh no this will be a catastrophe' and 'it's about damn time'. When the weekend came around and Daehyun still hadn't come to a conclusion on which was better, he'd found himself up at Zelo's to get his take on things. Without actually telling his best friend about the debt, of course. Just that he was in an alternating mood about something he'd done and wasn't sure which one was better to pay attention to.

Zelo said the latter. If something had been holding Daehyun back and he was no longer allowing it to do so, then he should be relieved! The words certainly helped, but that didn't stop the slight nagging that it would come back to haunt him somehow. Daehyun wanted to will away that thought and figured the best way to do it was to distract himself with something else.

Then, right as he was beginning to put thought into how he could do that, an opportunity presented itself to him and Daehyun decided to run with it. Putting his focus into helping Youngjae was ideal! Not only for the distraction, but because it was Youngjae and Daehyun wanted to do things to help his boyfriend. With how supportive he'd been of Daehyun and his processes, using his unique interests to help his boyfriend in a situation that would be beneficial for them both was a no brainer!

Helping out someone he cared about was the most comfortable way for Daehyun to show his love, both platonically and romantically. So this plan Jaebeom concocted was the perfect opportunity for him to let Youngjae know that his feelings were definitely reciprocated!

And since Daehyun was running with the choices he was making, when Monday morning came around, he sent a call to the closest of the therapist offices he'd come across in his search as soon as the office's online hours said it was open. That was Dr. Cho, but the soonest he could be seen was in the middle of June. Even though that was about two months away, Daehyun figured it was best to take the appointment to go ahead and get things set in motion.

Before Daehyun left for work that morning, a new sticky note with the reminder of the appointment with Dr. Cho and the amount needed for it was stuck onto the fridge in place of the debt reminder that was now in some dumpster somewhere. This new sticky note served not only as reminder for his appointment, but also as a mental reminder that Daehyun wasn't going to let people who'd never shown they cared about him hold him back anymore!

During his work break, Daehyun thought it'd behoove him to get advice from a woman if he was going to be impersonating one. His only personal experiences with how a woman acted was with... her. And her behaviours were the farthest from how Daehyun wanted to present himself to both Youngjae and Youngjae's parents.

Asking Zelo was an option, but Daehyun wasn't sure he was the best to go to. He trusted Zelo's advice wholeheartedly and was grateful his best friend had agreed to help out, but his help was best suited to the styling. Like walking him through the step by step proceeded of wig application and removal, teaching how to properly care for his wig, and fashion and makeup advice. Not in how to pretend to be a woman.

Zelo had never been good at pretending. Daehyun's ability to was iffy at best, but he could at least be convincing depending on the situation he was in.

Out of all the women Daehyun spoke with, which was a grand total of two and both were because of Shortstub's, Hyosung was the one he was most comfortable speaking with. So that's how he found himself in her office after his shift.

“Something I can help you with, Daehyun?” she asked.

“So uh-” Daehyun paused to swallow down his nervousness because he had no idea how Hyosung would take this or if she'd even be willing to help. “Can you uh... give me some advice on how to um... be like a woman?”

“Buddy, what?”

At first Daehyun thought she hadn't heard him. The confusion would be an appropriate response, his voice did taper off at the end of his sentence. So he steadied his nerves and tried again. “Can you give me advice on how to be like a woman?”

She stared, brows crinkled and lips pursed before shaking her head to herself. “Why are you asking me this?”

Well, it was only fair that he explain the situation to her. It would be rude to ask for her advice and not explain why he needed it! “So uh... This is kind of paraphrased, but um... I need to pretend to be a girl to meet my boyfriend's parents. So I need to know how to act like a woman so they don't figure out I'm actually a man.”

“Wow! Okay, that's... That's...” Hyosung made various hand motions and her face contorted in weird ways while she processed the words she'd been given. She let out out a quiet sigh after a while and leaned her weight against her desk by planting her hands on the surface. She looked up with a lopsided grin and a chuckle in her voice. “You've found yourself in quite the situation, buddy.”

'That's... not a negative reaction, I think?' “I... guess you could say that.”

“Well, I don't think you need to worry about acting like a woman,” she answered slowly. “Gender doesn't dictate personality. Some people are more shy and quiet like Hyesoo or you. Or they're more free spirited and loud like me or Wonjun. So you'd be fine just being you, Daehyun.”

Daehyun hummed with a slight nod of understanding. “Is that all it is?”

“I mean, you should probably dress more feminine if you don't want his parents to know you're a man.” She rocked her head from side to side as she turned the ideas in her brain. “Which would mean you'd have to dress in clothes that are typically considered for women. I can maybe help with that?”

“Oh no, that's fine,” he declined with a shake of his head. “I already know how to do that.”

Hyosung paused both her movements and looked at Daehyun with a gaze he could only guess was speculating how and why he knew how to dress like a girl. Rather than question it though, she shrugged it away and offered a half smile. “You're just full of surprises today, huh? If you've got that figured out, why are you coming to me?”

“Because you're a woman. You might be able to offer some insight that me or Youngjae or our friends who are helping us with this wouldn't think of?”

She hummed in thought for a few moments, tapping her finger on her chin and looking up at the ceiling like she was looking through her thoughts for ideas. Then the figurative light bulb switched on above her head. “It'd probably help if you had something resembling s. Nobody really questions if you're a woman if you've got big ,” she answered, gesturing at her own chest. Which was sizable but he also didn't want to observe his friend-boss's curvature for multiple reasons.

Daehyun looked down at his chest, frowned, then looked back up at Hyosung. “Flat chested women exist and are also very valid, noona.”

She leaned against her desk and finger gunned. “Yeah, but there's a reason they sell padded bras, buddy.”

Daehyun had always thought they sold padded bras because people got what Zelo called a 'nip nop phenomenon' in cold weather. But Hyosung is a woman, so Daehyun figured she'd know better than him or Zelo. Padded bras are sold because women want larger chests, apparently? “But I don't... I don't want big um...” Daehyun made vague hand motions at his torso to hopefully convey the word he didn't want to say.

Hyosung pouted. “Don't you mock these , boy!” She then proceeded to smack her chest in a way that made it jiggle, and somehow, it was still noticeable through the Shortstub's mandated button up shirt, and Daehyun was immediately mortified because that was not something he ever needed or wanted to see!

“Noona, I didn't want to see that!” he wailed, burying his face in his hands to hide his embarrassment at the situation.

Hyosung's laughter was boisterous before she cleared and draped an arm over Daehyun's shoulder. “You're so pure and innocent, buddy.” She poked at one of the hands covering his face with a finger until he uncovered an eye to look at her. “Probably one of the only men I know who's so embarrassed at the idea of seeing a woman's s!”

Daehyun was honestly just embarrassed at the idea of in general. Gender was compeltely irrelevant to that awkwardness! He didn't even like being himself, but it was an unfortunate necessity for showering...

And it wasn't like he hadn't seen a woman's chest before, but that was an entirely different type of situation! He was definitely awkward and embarrassed back then, but there was also the underlaying fear. Just the reminder of it was enough to send a surge of panic through him, but recalling where he was did help calm it down enough for Daehyun to push it away.

Daehyun hesitantly uncovered his face and began to twirl his fingers around. He decided Hyosung had a point with her advice and asked, “So um... How do I get uh, at least a little bit of curve up there?”

She shrugged as best she could with an arm still over Daehyun's shoulders. “I think some places sell bra inserts. If not, then you could easily find them online,” she responded. “Your best bet would be to get a sports bra and slip whatever size inserts you get into it.”

“Alright, so I'll put sports bras and bra inserts onto my lists of things to get,” he declared. “Do you have any more advice I should keep in mind?”

She slipped her arm off and paced a bit in front of her desk, humming the tune to some song while she gave it some thought. “Maybe... your voice?”

Daehyun gently brought a hand to his throat. “My... voice?”

She stopped her pacing and spun to face Daehyun. “Yeah, buddy! You've got a real masculine voice. It's smooth and calming, but nowhere near typically feminine sounding.”

He frowned. “This isn't The Little Mermaid. I can't just... not talk and expect to get somewhere.”

Hyosung waggled a finger at him. “The best thing about the internet is that it's full of resources. I'm sure if you look up how to make your voice sound more feminine, you'll be able to find something.”

That didn't actually seem like a bad idea. Hyosung's tidbits of advice were solid and definitely things he wouldn't have thought of otherwise. “Thank you for your time, noona.”

She gave a thumbs up. “Good lucky, buddy! I'll support you however I can.”

A bit later than usual, Daehyun ended up settled next to Youngjae at his piano with some tea. As it was whenever Daehyun checked his phone after work and had received a message from Youngjae saying he was welcome to come over after work if he felt up to it. Otherwise, mainly when there was no message or the rare occasion where he didn't feel up to it, Daehyun ended up in his apartment fiddling with yarn.

As soon as he resumed playing, Daehyun asked, “So how was your day?”

Youngjae poked out his lips and hummed in thought. “It was alright. Nothing too eventful happened,” he responded. “Well, I did ask Yongguk's advice for whenever we do end up at my parents' place. He said to... go with the flow and not to stress.”

“It's not bad advice,” Daehyun observed behind a sip of tea.

Youngjae nodded his agreement. “Yongguk is wise beyond his years. He gives good advice,” he said. “Anyways, how about your day?”

Daehyun thought back through the events of the day through another sip of his drink. “I uh... I scheduled an appointment with a therapist this morning. I can't be seen until June, but um... The appointment is made.”

“Would you like me to come with you?” he asked as he flipped the page to the next sheet of music but not beginning to play so he could take a few gulps of tea. At Daehyun's slight noise in question, he elaborated. “I mean, only if you want me to? And um... not like... being in there with you while you're talking to the doctor. I mean like... as moral support? Like, for the ride there and in the waiting room and after you're done with your appointment. If that's something you'd like?”

It was odd for Daehyun to witness Youngjae go through this level of rambling, but he took it as a sign that Youngjae was at least somewhat comfortable with the idea of Daehyun seeing him at less than one hundred percent confidence. At that thought, he smiled lightly into his next sip of tea, then nodded. “I'd like that.”

“Then I'll do it!” he declared with a firm nod. “Just let me know what day so I can make sure my schedule is cleared.”

--

Meeting Youngjae's best friend without Youngjae around definitely had Daehyun's nerves tumbling. When he originally agreed to meet with Jaebeom, Daehyun thought it would be after Youngjae was done at work and they'd all discuss the plan together. Not just Daehyun and Jaebeom for a lunch meeting at Shortstub's.

Jaebeom had decided on Shortstub's since he didn't go there too often and also didn't like going to Chartreuse Yard outside of work because he couldn't handle all the dairy they use in their menu. Daehyun might have problems with strong flavours, but at least he could say he wasn't lactose intolerant!

“So, before we get into working things out, there's something I need to make sure of first,” Jaebeom said. Jaebeom focused his eyes intensely on Daehyun, which made his skin crawl and had him glancing around nervously, Jaebeom continued, “I need to know if you're serious about Youngjae.”

Daehyun squinted, his first thought being why Jaebeom hadn't thought to make sure of this the other day when he first came up with the idea. “What do you mean?” Right as Daehyun asked that, he came up with the thought that perhaps Jaebeom didn't want Youngjae to know about this line of questioning which is why he'd neglected to mention it until now.

“I've seen my best friend hurt more times than I'd like to count, and a hefty portion of those came from dating,” Jaebeom explained. “So if you're not serious about him, then I can't continue with this in good conscience.”

Daehyun considered that entirely fair. If Zelo was in this type of situation, Daehyun would probably do the same for him.

“I do like Youngjae,” Daehyun declared, but then he figured further elaboration was in order, so he quietly continued, “A lot, actually. I just- I'm not exactly the best at... saying it? I've never been the best with my words when it comes to feelings, so um... I hope that by helping him out with this, he'll uh... see that I care about him like he cares about me.”

Jaebeom's gaze softened with a little chuckle. “That's sweet of you. I'm sure he'll notice your efforts. He's not blind to these things, after all.” He took a long, drawn out sip of his soda before letting out a sigh of contentment at the carbonation. “So, the plan. If I'm going to be introducing you to them, then we're gonna have to play it off like we knew each other beforehand.”

“So... we'd need to figure out a story for how we met?”

“Maybe not like, super detailed. Just enough to where it's believable,” Jaebeom said. “When I was thinking about this earlier, I figured saying we met at a university party, or uh... study session, could work. Thoughts?”

“I don't think that would work well,” Daehyun answered slowly. “I'm not in school for anything, and I'm not exactly... the partying type.”

“That's fair. I'm not actually in school for anything either. I just get invited to the parties because I have friends who are in university,” he admitted. “Do you work anywhere?”

Daehyun nodded. “Here, actually. I'm a waiter most days, and I'm the manager on Wednesdays. Tuesdays are my day off.”

“Well , I could easily say you're a friend from work since I'm a waiter, too!”

“I don't work at Chartreuse Yard, though?”

Jaebeom shrugged. “Youngjae's parents don't know where I work, just that I'm a part time waiter. We don't have to disclose locations. It's probably for the better that we don't.”

“Then... friends from work is probably the most doable route,” Daehyun decided. “Easier, too. Coming up with something more... elaborate would probably do more harm than good.”

“Yeah, it's better if we stick with what we know,” he agreed. “So, are we gonna go with Daehyun as your name, or should we come up with something else? Something a bit more... feminine, maybe?”

“That's not necessary,” Daehyun declined. “We can just use my female alias.”

Jaebeom narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brows. “You... have a female alias?”

“I've had it since I was a kid. I've been dressing up with my best friend for a long time, and he decided I needed a name to go along with it,” Daehyun explained.

“What is it then?”

“Daena.”

“Dae like the beginning part of Daehyun?” he asked, looking up just in time to see Daehyun nod in affirmation. “And the family name?”

“Choi.”

Jaebeom repeated the name to himself quietly while he typed something into his phone. “So... Choi Daehyun, is it?”

Daehyun shook his head. “My family name is Jung. Choi is my best friend's family name, though. Since my best friend gave me the female alias of Daena, it makes more sense to use his family name for this,” he reluctantly clarified.

Daehyun figured it was best if he left out the main reason he wanted to use the family name of Choi. That being that the Chois were more family to him than the Jungs. Even if he hadn't spoken with Umma Choi in years, he still classified her more as 'Umma' than his own.

There was no way Zelo wasn't keeping her updated about Daehyun since he'd come back, and he was probably also hoping that Daehyun would go along with him to visit her at some point. Daehyun wasn't sure when he'd be okay with that, but he held onto the hope in his heart that he'd be able to face her one day when he was in a better headspace.

Jaebeom nodded, mostly to himself, before handing his phone to Daehyun. “Go ahead and program your number so I can send a message your way,” he requested. “Can't really say we're friends if we don't have each other's numbers.” That was a fair point, so Daehyun programmed his number into Jaebeom's phone and handed it back when he was done. “It'd probably be a good idea to keep in some kind of regular contact. It'll definitely make things more believable in the long run.”

“I hope with all the effort we're putting into this that it'll work out.”

“You and me both,” he sighed tiredly.

--

A/N:

Behoove is one of my favourite words, y'all. Also, schemer level is now at 6 with the inclusion of Zelo, Hyosung, and Yongguk knowing about it.