sorry for the long wait. here is the fic for us 5 daejae shippers who remain. hope it's enjoyable <3

 

---

Honestly, Daehyun felt like an absolute stalker and he wasn't entirely comfortable with the feeling. But what was he to do when his heart had been stolen and his mind constantly was swirling around the cute guy working at the small, local pet store.

He had not been mentally prepared the first time he saw him. He had been rushing to get some stuff for Ganji before practice started, and in his stress his eyes had been glued to the phone to keep an eye on time while also ignoring the text messages from Yongguk telling him to hurry or he would be late. Daehyun had already been late once this week and he didn't want another scolding. So when he finally lifted his eyes and saw the face of the cute, but bored looking cashier...

It was instant love.

But apparently one-sided. 

Being in a group with two other guys, Daehyun had initially been scared of falling in love, and especially this suddenly. His group were slowly gaining popularity; still unknown enough for him to be able to walk down the street without getting mobbed, but known enough to be recognised or even have some stalker fans. Falling in love was risky business, especially with a man in a homophobic country. But it wasn't like they were idols nor did they have a dating ban, being an underground band who started off  posting on soundcloud and youtube independently, before going into a partner agreement with a small company after their music got some attention online. They were known enough to get some news coverage, but not enough to be a part of the all consuming idol culture.

Which was why Daehyun was stubborn. He pushed all risks aside, especially when the cute guy (the nametag read 'Youngjae') seemed to not know him, which meant he wouldn't be running off to any magazines with gossip. So, Daehyun would go to the store as often as possible. All in the hopes of seeing the guy. 

Whom he saw quite plenty, but never really talked to beyond a few polite exchanges. The good thing about his group members also having pets meant he could easily volunteer errands for them, giving him an excuse to see the cutie as often as possible.

Today though, it finally happened.  

He finally dared to ask an actual question. 

As Youngjae was scanning the dog food, Daehyun gathered all his courage. “Do you have any pets yourself?” He put on his most charming smile, hoping it would conceal the nervousness. “Since you work in a pet store and all.”

“No.” It was spoken in a curt tone, looking up as he did. “That'll be 29,000₩.” 

Daehyun pulled out his card and paid, trying to hide his disappointment in the short answer. He grabbed the huge bag of food and was about to say bye when he was surprised by Youngjae's voice.

“I live in a university dorm, and my parents at home aren't too fond of pets.”

“That's sad.” Daehyun was glad he lived in an apartment where he was allowed to have his dog. 

“Yeah, but my room-mate has a kitten he got recently.” At this Youngjae smiled, a small one, but entirely genuine. 

Daehyun almost melted at the spot, not expecting for Youngjae to have such an adorable smile. 

“A kitten? Sounds cute.” Daehyun was weak for baby animals. “Aren't you afraid of being caught breaking the rules?” Honestly he didn't have the time to stay and chat, but he couldn't let this opportunity pass; he was finally talking to his crush! 

“Not really, we are keeping her well hidden and she is a very quiet kitten. Want to see a picture?” All of Youngjae's body language had changed, gone from the fake polite every retail worker he had perfected to a more excited and almost bubbly person. He was experiencing a whole new side of Youngjae and Daehyun could already feel himself falling deeper for this man. 

There was no point in saying yes as Youngjae had already gotten his phone out, staring intensely as he looked through pictures. After a few moments he seemed satisfied and held the phone in front of Daehyun's face. “Isn't she the cutest?”

The cat was very cute, tiny and had the softest looking fur. But his attention had immediately gone to Youngjae's face. Youngjae was holding the small kitten against his cheek, looking at the camera with a wide eyes and pouty lips. It was an attack on his poor heart. “Very cute,” he mumbled, staring at the pouty lips. 

“Right? I swear I take at least ten new photos of her every day.”

Daehyun snapped out of his stupor, as a brilliant idea had immediately popped into his mind. “I'd love to see more photos,” he said. “Of the kitten, I mean. Maybe if we became friends on kakaotalk?” This was definitely risky and he could already hear Yongguk scolding him, as rising artists they needed to be careful in handing out their personal information. 

Youngjae cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowing slightly. “On one condition.”

“Yeah?”

“That you send me pics of your dog too. I imagine you have one, at least, with how often you come around here.”

“Of course.” Daehyun felt relieved, it was an easy condition. They quickly added one another on the app, with Daehyun slightly panicking as he noticed the time. “I have to go now, but text you later?”

Youngjae nodded and pocketed his phone.

Daehyun gave the other a small smile before running out of the store, the heavy dogfood bag in his arms. He had promised Yongguk to be back within thirty minutes, and thirty minutes were already up. Good thing he had a car, but he still got a scolding the second he entered the apartment and not long after they were in the car again, heading to a photoshoot for a semi-known magazine. 

-

As soon as he got back to the apartment after the photo shoot, he opened kakaotalk. He had hoped Youngjae would text first, but he wasn't bothered by it. Scrolling through his camera roll, he selected a few Ganji pics; some only of his dog, and some with himself in it. “Thank you for indirectly helping me with my crush, buddy,” he said to the dog sleeping in his lap, petting it gently as he hit send. 
 

Daehyun
Isn't he the cutest? His name is Ganji.

Youngjae
id say he is literally the cutest but!

A few seconds later a couple of pictures popped up in the chat, of the little kitten all bundled up and sleeping. Daehyun may have audibly aw'ed.

Youngjae
look at eun, she the cutest. ganji deserves rights too ofc

The way Youngjae was typing wasn't entirely too familiar to Daehyun but he was fairly sure he understood it all correctly. The cat's name, it literally meant silver and with the cat's grey fur...

Daehyun
Eun, really? 

Youngjae
yeah my roomie thought of it, he felt like a genius. its cute tho

They kept typing for the next hour or so, mainly about their pets and sharing a few pictures. Daehyun had also gotten called out for his frequent visits at the shop and he had had to explain how he was running errands for his room-mates who were also dog owners. Going to bed (after Yongguk reminded him of their early practice hours the next day), Daehyun fell asleep with a giddy smile and a fluttering heart.

Today he had gotten even further with his crush than he had hoped.

-

“Daehyun, sometimes I wonder if you're an idiot.”

It was a week later, and Daehyun had finally told both Yongguk and Junhong about getting the Kakaotalk ID of his crush. They had known about his weakness for the cute boy at the pet store, but had mostly been teasing him.

“He doesn't know who ZYD is.” Daehyun had made sure to stay away from the topic of music whenever they chatted, just to be sure he wouldn't say anything revealing. 

“That's even worse, Daehyun. If your kakaotalk ID falls into the wrong hands or you say something which he can screenshot and use against you-”

“Yongguk, I really don't think he is the type to do that, and he doesn't know who I am.”

Yongguk sighed, but nodded. “Hope you're right. We're getting more and more fans, and there are people who would pay serious money to get your personal information.” 

Yeah. Daehyun had been struggling with some stalkers lately. It had been horrible and Daehyun had gone on twitter to speak up about it, but of course it hadn't helped much. Yongguk's fears were justified, but honestly Daehyun could not care; he was too lovesick to let the risks scare him away from Youngjae. 

“Personally,” Junhong, who had been silently watching the exchange, opened his mouth. “I think you should go get your man.”

“Thanks, Junhong.”

-

They texted, everyday for weeks. About their pets, sharing funny selfies, talking about dramas they were watching. Just, anything really. Daehyun had gotten to know Youngjae way more, learning about his sarcastic humour, which could come off as rude but which he quickly learnt hid a much softer side. Youngjae was also very cute, easily excited and sometimes he would text in a hyper manner which left every other word full of typos. Youngjae was entirely endearing, and even his insults sounded more like hidden compliments (or maybe Daehyun was just too ing whipped, because by god he was in love).

In fact, Daehyun was so in love he had gotten inspired to write and compose songs, some which would be used for his future solo album and one which he would choose to put on the upcoming ZYD album. Youngjae was his new muse, and he wasn't ashamed of it.

Even Yongguk seemed happy with this, even if he commented about them all sounding sad. 

“They're not entirely sad,” Daehyun mumbled, hunched over his desk where he was looking over the lyrics of one of the songs he had composed. “They're about longing, but also hope.”

Yongguk was quiet for a short while, leaning against the door frame. “I guess. But they could be different if you took the leap.”

Daehyun finally looked up, giving Yongguk full attention. “You're encouraging me to chase Youngjae?”

“We don't have a dating ban, and our fans knows that well. Just please, in the future when you get yourself a significant other, tell us before you go public? That's all I ask.”

Daehyun smiled widely. “Of course, I wouldn't do that without getting your and Junhong's blessings.”

-

With the finishing touches left for the album, Daehyun was working like crazy alongside Junhong and Yongguk. None of the three had been sleeping properly the past two weeks, and they were all in tense moods. There had been some snide comments, but they all understood it came from being overworked and sleep deprived.

This meant Daehyun barely had time to text Youngjae. Even after a few months, and some run-ins at the pet store, the two would still actively text everyday. But the last week Daehyun had no time, only being able to answer during the few breaks he had where wasn't napping. And Youngjae had noticed.
 

Youngjae
dude are u ok? its been ten hours and u havent replied to the dog meme i sent

Daehyun
Sorry. Lot of things to do at work. Will be better soon.

Youngjae
kay, make sure u hydrate
 

Daehyun replied with a heart, then looked over at Junhong who was staring at the clock on the wall. “Junhong, do you think it's weird Youngjae hasn't asked me what my job is? Like, do you think he just doesn't care.”

Junhong shrugged. “Maybe he just doesn't wanna pry?”

“Maybe.” Daehyun took a sip of his coffee. “But the other day he asked about what colour my underwear was, so seems weird if he doesn't wanna pry about what job I have.” Then again, the underwear thing was for a dumb meme Youngjae had found, where they could see what superhero names they would have. 

“I don't know, man.”

The kakaotalk notification sound caught his attention and Daehyun went back to his phone.
 

Youngjae
btw wanna hang out one dya soon? theres a cool film running at the cinema
 

“Are you ing serious?” Daehyun wanted to throw his phone across the room. His next few weeks were absolutely packed, and Youngjae was asking him to hang out? This was the worst ing luck.

Junhong gave him a look, but said nothing. 
 

Daehyun.
I would love to :( but I'm so busy with work I can't :(

Youngjae
its fine. raincheck?

Daehyun
Raincheck<3
 

Now he was definitely in a hurry to finish this album and the mini-concerts they had planned. He wanted to hang out with Youngjae so badly. He missed his beautiful face and cute little eye-rolls.

-

The album had been released, the mini-concerts were done with, and Daehyun was planning on going to see Knives Out with Youngjae next week. Life had become much more vibrant. Their album were doing better than their previous ones, his twitter account had gotten a small surge in followers since the release, they had even landed an interview with a mainstream magazine. 

Life was honestly good. The hard work and lack of sleep had paid off.

“It's selca day today,” Junhong said out loud, whether it was just to himself or to Daehyun was unclear. 

Daehyun answered regardless.. "Oh right, it's been long since I checked the tag.” It truly had, he usually would check every month but it had completely slipped his mind. Having nothing else to do, he grabbed his phone and opened twitter, typing in the hashtag in the search bar. 

Scrolling, he had a soft smile playing on his lips; it was always cute to see their fans dedicate cute and cheesy messages to their favourite member. Even the ones which weren't directed to him made him smile.

He must have sat there for ten minutes scrolling when he suddenly halted, eyes growing wide and a cold feeling running through his body. 

Pure disbelief.

But he would recognise that cute face and the pouty lips anywhere. 

A selfie of Youngjae, paired with a Yongguk picture and a cheesy line of 'You're the only star in my eyes.' The username read 'bangsbaby'. He clicked the username, being brought to a pastel coloured layout with a smiling Yongguk in the display picture. The bio read 'Bang Yongguk solo album when?'.  Scrolling slightly down, the pinned tweet was 'Review of Hopeless”.  

That was their title of the newest album. Scrolling up again Daehyun took a screenshot, then went to the kakaotalk app and sent the screenshot.
 

Daehyun
You knew who I was??????

Youngjae
oh

Youngjae
well yeah

Youngjae
ever since u first walked into the store

Daehyun felt as if his heart was about to give out.

Youngjae
but chill   im not your fan

Daehyun
???

Youngjae
im a yongguk solo stan

Youngjae
and i have no plans on using u to reach yongguk, ii have no interest in meeting him except for fanevents or some

Youngjae
…

Youngjae
u ok bro? Its been a few minutes
 

Daehyun could not look away from the screen, not believing what he was reading. Honestly, he wasn't comprehending at all. So he went back on twitter and decided to stalk Youngjae's twitter account. He opened the review thread. Every song with the three of them only spoke about Yongguk, the Yongguk solo song on the album got raving reviews and a bunch of fire emoji. Junhong's song didn't appear on the list and Daehyun's Wish It Was Us (which  incidentally was about Youngjae) got a 'ing ballad'. 

Now, the interesting thing is the Daehyun related tweet was the only one with replies. And the replies were not very kind. Lots of outrage of Youngjae being a Daehyun anti. Yikes. He opened the kakaotalk app again.
 

Daehyun
You're my anti?

Youngjae
no im just a yongguk solo fan and ur fans are fun to piss off, theyre so easy to trigger

Daehyun
Okay???

Youngjae
dae seriously   im genuinely your friend and i wont abuse that
 

“Why do you look like you're about to your pants?” 

He had totally forgotten about Junhong being in the room with him. Daehyun showed him his phone, where one could see Youngjae's twitter account. “That's Youngjae's. He knew all along.”

“Damn, Yongguk is gonna freak.”

“I'm freaking out too!”

“What's he saying?”

How could Junhong be so goddamn calm?

“That he is a Yongguk only fan and that he won't ruin our friendship.”

“And do you trust him?”

Daehyun hesitated, eyes flickering down to his phone. “Yeah, I do.”

“Then chill.”

Junhong was right. Youngjae hadn't exposed him yet, so why would he do it now?
 

Daehyun
Okay, I trust you. We're still on for Friday?

Youngjae
ofc

Youngjae
also u gotta admire my skinny ratio on twt

Daehyun
?

Youngjae
how many i follow vs how many followers i have. 20 follows, 1034 followers. y
 

“Hey, why didn't he say anything about my solo song?” Junhong suddenly whined, pouting at his phone. 

“He called my song boring, you really want him to review yours?”

“Yeah? Being ignored is hurtful, at least you got acknowledged by a Yongguk solo stan.”

Daehyun sighed and quickly typed on his phone, waiting a few moments. “Go check now,” he said to Junhong. Daehyun went on the page too, seeing the newest tweet in the thread . 'Zelo's song is nice'

“Hah! He liked mine more than yours.”

“Shut up!”
 

Daehyun
You're mean :(

Youngjae
stop with the ballads and maybe well talk

Daehyun
I can't, it's written from the heart and they're representing my current feelings.
 

Maybe this was too much of a reveal, but he had said as much on an interview too. An interview Youngjae surely had read. , maybe Daehyun was dropping hints a little too hard by emphasising this to Youngjae. Or maybe Youngjae would just see it as bros sharing. God, why was Daehyun worrying about this when he should still be freaking about the fact Youngjae was his anti? 

Well, Yongguk solo stan but Daehyun was definitely going to use the anti thing to whine as much as he could to Youngjae. 

Youngjae
then ing confess to ur crush so u stop with these ballads

The text made Daehyun's cheeks flare up

Daehyun
And what if my crush rejects me? It will make me so sad I'll write at least ten ballads.

Youngjae

Youngjae
please dont

Youngjae
woo ur crush so u can write happy songs

Daehyun
I'm trying ^-^

Youngjae
try harder
 

“Why are you giggling to yourself? It's creepy.”

“Shut up, Junhong.”

“You should be nice to the person who could be backing you up while you explain how Youngjae is a fan of our group.”

Oh . Daehyun had already forgotten how he needed to actually tell Yongguk about this development. He prayed for his life. 

So he set to do some research, basically stalking Youngjae's account to see if there were any messages about their friendship. As far as he scrolled, he could only find Youngjae tweeting about Yongguk. When he did a search of his name and Youngjae's username, he only found mentions of Daehyun's solo songs on their albums being boring. Despite the insults, he sighed in relief after the research. 

Yongguk had perfect timing, stepping into the shared apartment as soon as Daehyun placed the phone down.

“Yongguk, could we talk?” 

The older man seemed a little perplexed, but nodded and sat down on a chair. “Sure. What's up?”

A few moments of silence followed as Daehyun tried to think of the best way to break the news.

“Youngjae knows who we are and he is actually your fan.”

“Junhong!” Daehyun screeched.

Yongguk seemed at a loss for words, while Daehyun threw a couch pillow at the amused looking Junhong. 

“He hates Daehyun's songs and even fights with his fans.” At this point Junhong was laughing.

“You're not making things better, Junhong!” Daehyun half-yelled, before taking a deep breath and focusing on their leader. “Yes, Youngjae knows and maybe he is my anti, but he is also my friend and he hasn't even once tweeted about us being friends.” He met Yongguk's eyes with confidence. “I trust him.”

Yongguk's expression softened. "I trust your decision. If you believe Youngjae is to be trusted, then it's fine.”

It was not the response he had expected. “You're not gonna scold me for putting our group at risk?”

“If we get hate because you believed in your friend and trusted him, then there is something wrong with the world and not us.” Yongguk's serious expression turned a little more amused. “Also, if he is my fan it means he must be a reasonable person with good taste.”

Junhong audibly snorted and Daehyun hated his life. 

-

It wasn't a date, but it sure felt like it when Daehyun had spent way too long figuring out what to wear. First time hanging out with Youngjae, so he was definitely nervous. Luckily since they were going to the cinema he wouldn't have to do too much talking, he was quite sure he would blush too much. 

Yet, he picked his outfit carefully, wanting to look good. He went for a classic look; leather jacket, clean white shirt, and black skinny jeans. 

With things getting colder outside, he brought a black scarf which also served to hide his face; ZYD weren't big, but Daehyun didn't feel like getting recognised today. 

Youngjae was already outside of the venue, wearing a long pastel blue coat; it looked entirely adorable on him and Daehyun remembered how Youngjae had admitted he had a weakness for pastels. It was very different from the grass green uniform Youngjae would have to wear at the pet store, and it was not until then Daehyun realised he was going to see Youngjae in his everyday clothes. Daehyun tried to ignore the way his heart skipped at the realisation.

The hood was covering his hair and Daehyun couldn't see his face, but he knew it was Youngjae.

“You cold?” He asked as soon as he stood before him. “Since you're all covered.” It was later autumn, but it was a rather warm day. 

“Just a precaution,” Youngjae answered. “I know you've been having stalker fans lately and I can't let my carefully constructed image of being your anti fall apart.”

Daehyun should be insulted, he really should, but somehow he found it funny; though he did pout, just to be dramatic. “So you don't want to be seen in public with me? That hurts.”

“Shut up, the movie is about to start.”  Youngjae grabbed his hand, pulling him inside the building and past the ticket guy, flashing the tickets from his phone. 

All the while Daehyun was blushing wildly, loving how soft Youngjae's skin felt.

God, he was ing whipped.

Their seats were in the way back and Youngjae pulled off his coat, revealing a pink soft looking sweater which was a little too big on him and black skinny jeans. God, he looked so cute in pink. Daheyun decided then and there that pink was his favourite colour on Youngjae. 

“I didn't know you had already bought the tickets,” Daehyun said, glad the cinema was dark enough for his red cheeks to barely be visible. There were only a few people in the cinema and the commercials were still playing. “I feel bad, you're the struggling university student.”

“And you're the struggling artist,” Youngjae retorted. “You can pay next time.”

Daehyun smiled widely. “Sounds good.”

The film was both funny and intriguing, and he praised himself for not getting distracted while sitting next to Youngjae. It was over too soon in Daehyun's opinion and they were exiting the cinema while talking excitedly about the film and the different approach it had to a  murder mystery.

“It's still early,” Youngjae looked at his phone briefly before pocketing it. “My roomie is gone for the weekend, want to watch another film with me?”

How could Daehyun say no to this? “Yes.” Maybe he sounded a little too enthusiastic, but except for a small eyebrow raise, Youngjae said nothing.

“Come, we have a bus to catch.”

“I brought my car though.”

“Oh, even better.”

-

Youngjae's dorm room was, well, a dorm room. A small area with two beds, with one side very pristine and one a mess of clothes. 

Youngjae's side was the one with a mess of clothes.

He didn't even look embarrassed. 

While Youngjae was grabbing his laptop, browsing netflix, Daehyun looked at the shelves full of books, feeling surprised at seeing an actual CD-player, but then he noticed something even more interesting.

“Oh hey, our CDs.” Daehyun grabbed their newest album, smiling a little to himself.  “Thanks for supporting us.”

“I'm doing it for Yongguk.” Youngjae didn't even look up from his laptop.  

Daehyun huffed and placed the album back before settling down next to Youngjae on the floor, the bed behind them to lean on. 

“What genre are we in the mood for?” Youngjae asked.

“I don't know. I'm fine with anything.”

A soft meow could be heard and a silver cat jumped down from behind the window curtains; Daehyun had completely forgotten about Eun and startled a little. The cat walked up to Youngjae, purring loudly as she dragged her body against his thigh and getting a few pets, then she wandered over to Daehyun where she immediately settled in his lap for a nap.

“She loves new people,” Youngjae said off-handedly while Daehyun gently petted the curled up cat. “How about this?” On the screen was a film called The Kissing Booth. And Daehyun loved romantic films, but he wasn't sure how we felt about a teen romance.

“Uh-”

“I know, it looks dumb, but I kinda wanna watch something dumb.” 

“Then let's do it.”

Youngjae scooted a little closer, their sides and thighs touching, and he placed the laptop on top of their thighs so it was perfectly in the middle of them.

Daehyun's heart was racing from all the contact and he was really glad Youngjae was still wearing the fluffy pink sweater, because if there had been skin contact he might have died from his heart bursting out of his chest. 

The film was, as predicted, extremely dumb. Which made both of them laugh in disbelief at times, or throw out comments about how creepy the male lead was.

It was fun, honestly, and Daehyun slowly relaxed next to Youngjae.

And, it became a somewhat common occurrence for them for the next months, to watch films at Youngjae's place whenever his roomie was out and as long as neither of them had work. Daehyun fell deeper, but he also grew more relaxed around Youngjae. In fact he was so relaxed and comfortable with the other man he would start annoying him on purpose or even teasing him, which brought on a new trend from Youngjae.

Whenever Daehyun had been particularly annoying, Youngjae would retaliate by insulting Daehyun on his twitter account; the one place he couldn't fight back.

Daehyun
you

Youngjae
thats what u get for spamming 
 

Daehyun may have sent the same picture ten times. And it was a picture of Youngjae looking ugly (not his opinion, he personally thought Youngjae looked adorable even if he had his mouth stuffed with food). 

Youngjae had retaliated with a tweet wishing for Daehyun to be thrown out of the group, for having 'no talent'. Daehyun knew how Youngjae worked, and he had weeks ago complimented Daehyun on his voice, so he didn't take it to heart.
 

Daehyun
you're going to make me cry

Daehyun
but at least my fans will defend my honour
 

He had already seen some angry replies in the tweet, amused at how Youngjae willingly set himself up to be attacked like this; he would never understand Youngjae and Daehyun realised he was friends with a troll.  A toxic troll, yet Daehyun was so whipped he saw nothing wrong in this. 
 

Youngjae
theyre only defending u because u r hot

Daehyun blanked out for a second, staring down at the message.

Youngjae
i meant   because they think u r hot

Daehyun
thanks for saying i'm hot, jaejae <3 so sweet of you
 

He sounded teasing but his palms were sweaty and he was feeling way happier than he should; he knew he was good looking, but to basically hear Youngjae admit he thought Daehyun was good looking? It was definitely a win.

A tweet notification alerted him, for his dummy account. Youngjae had tweeted.

And yes Daehyun had made a secret account following only Youngjae and he had tweet notifications.

Youngjae's new tweet was a reply to the previous one, claiming the only thing Daehyun had going for him was his face.
 

Daehyun
is that supposed to be insulting? You basically admitted that you meant it when you said i'm hot. So thanks <33

Youngjae
how the did u see it so fast? Stop stalking me

Daehyun
nope, not when you're giving me all these lovely compliments

Youngjae
u r so ing annoying

Youngjae
but anyways check out this dumb vid i found

-

Life got busy when it was decided that Daehyun would release a mini-album, he had four songs completed while both Yongguk and Junhong wanted to release full albums for their first solos. It would also help because they all knew Daehyun was the most popular member and they had to milk it for what it was worth. 

He had felt bad about it but Yongguk had had a serious talk with him and also reassured him about how this would give Yongguk and Junhong more time to work on their solo albums + their next release as a group. Also a ballad album was perfect for winter, it was set to release in the beginning of January. 

So he had been busy with photoshoots, recording, and mixing. Which left barely any room for Youngjae, making them unable to meet up. Luckily Youngjae was understanding. 

The evening before the announcement of Daehyun's solo release was the first time he had time off, and he had jumped at the opportunity of taking Youngjae out for a beer. 

“So we're celebrating, right?” Youngjae asked, casually sipping on the beer while his other hand was holding chopsticks. This place had the best fried chicken in the city and Daehyun was busy stuffing his face. “Ew, you look so ugly like this.” He grabbed a piece of chicken, popping it in his mouth.

Daehyun chewed and swallowed, “Yeah, celebrating.” He chugged down some beer. “You sure you don't wanna know what we're celebrating?”

“No, I don't want any spoilers.” Youngjae spoke adamantly. “Though I have might have an idea.”

“Tell me.”

“No.”

Daehyun pouted, but it didn't last long as he got busy with the chicken again. “So,” he said while munching. “How did the project you complained about go? The one where you had to team up with a bunch of , as you called them.”

“Oh god,” Youngjae rolled his eyes. “It was ing hell, but I got an A and that's all that matters.”

“Why were they though?” Daehyun had never gotten an explanation as to why Youngjae hated his group mates and had at first written it off as Youngjae's personality being hard to swallow, but had noticed how little he actually said about the group mates compared to other people he complained about. He felt there was more to it. 

Youngjae sighed and placed down his chopsticks. “Give me some shots of strong soju and I'll tell you.”

A few shots later, both now nursing a beer and soju mix, Youngjae began talking. “My classmates are mostly alright, but there is this small group of guys of legit s.” He was gritting his teeth. “And of course with my luck I got in a group with two of them.”

“Why are they s?” Daehyun took a bigger gulp of his glass than he should have, already regretting the shots he had taken in solidarity with Youngjae. Yongguk was not going to be happy. 

“Because they talk crap about me and my clothing style.”

“What's wrong with your clothing style?” Daehyun thought Youngjae dressed perfectly; he always looked like he was ready to attend a photoshoot and his love for pastels truly complimented his soft and pretty looks. “I think you look very pretty.” It was thanks to the alcohol he dared to say this.

“That's the problem. They don't think a guy should look pretty.”

“ them.”

“Yes, exactly. But it's over now and one of them even got an F because I told the teacher he hadn't done anything for the assignment, so I won.” Youngjae sounded so pleased and smug.

“Good for you.” God, was he already slurring his words? How strong were those shots? In his musing he didn't see the way Youngjae downed his beer and soju, nor how he filled another. Soon he had a Youngjae who had slipped into his side of the booth, snuggling up to him and mumbling to himself. 

Youngjae was a lightweight.

Not that Daehyun was any better, but he had stopped when he realised how affected he was.

“Dae, you smell nice,” Youngjae murmured, eyes closed as he pressed his nose against Daehyun's shoulder.

“You're very drunk.”

“Mmm, yes.”

“Don't you have class tomorrow?” It was a Monday today, after all.

“At noon.”

It was still early in the evening, but Daehyun knew he had to get Youngjae home right now. He paid the bill, with Youngjae clinging to his side, and they stepped outside just as the taxi arrived.

He got a few looks from the driver in the rearview mirror which he ignored, then he dragged Youngjae with him towards the dorm room.

“Daehyun, I can get myself home.”

He said that but he barely had his eyes open; apparently the shots had hit him hard and Daehyun could relate, he had done the same mistake a few times. The faster you drink the harder it will hit when it finally affects you. Forgetting about Youngjae's room-mate, Daehyun unlocked the door with Youngjae's keys and walked inside without a second thought. 

He was momentarily stunned when he saw someone sitting at one of the two desks.

Oh. 

Daehyun gathered himself. “You're Jongup right? Youngjae is kinda drunk.”

“I'm fine,” was the drowsy reply from Youngjae.

The room-mate got up and Daehyun noticed just how good looking this guy actually was and for a moment he felt jealous; this guy probably had no idea how lucky he was for rooming with someone as beautiful as Youngjae. He was honestly was a little intimidated by how fit Jongup was. Daehyun should really go to the gym more often.

“Did he take shots? He gets like that when he does.” Jongup sounded worried.

“Yeah.”

“I'll take it from here,” Jongup said, grabbing Youngjae. Youngjae immediately clung onto the new person.

“Uppie!” Youngjae giggled.

A giggle.

God, Daehyun felt his heart ache with how cute the sound was. He had no idea how cute drunk Youngjae was, not that Daehyun was too different; he himself would want to cuddle anyone willing to cuddle. He just wanted love and affection.

“Thanks, dude, for getting him here safely,” Jongup said, a secure arm around Youngjae's waist.

“Of course.” Daehyun took a few steps back. “Bye.” It was a little awkward, but he quickly escaped and grabbed a taxi home, falling asleep with a smile on his face as he remembered how good it felt to have Youngjae hugging him. He wish sober Youngjae was this affectionate. 

-

Youngjae
thanks for yesterday. sorry i got that wasted

Daehyun
I was surprised by you being such a light-weight

Youngjae
arent u one as well? 

Daehyun
yeah...

Youngjae
maybe we should practice more often

Daehyun
no thanks, i feel bad enough this morning as it is and i wasnt even half as drunk as you were

Youngjae
weak

Daehyun
yes

Youngjae
anyways, congrats on your mini-album   four songs was it? 

Youngjae
its cool

Daehyun
but you're gonna insult me on your twitter aren't you

Youngjae
damn dae, u know me so well :*

Youngjae
but hey i was right 

Youngjae
a lot were wondering if u guys were preparing for a repackage, but i had a feeling it would be ur solo debut

Youngjae
i deserve an ice cream for guessing right, and u r buying

Daehyun
shouldn't you buy something for me? as congratulations for having my album released?

Youngjae
first u have seven days of teasers, u havent dropped it yet

Youngjae
i want my ice cream as soon as u have time    pronto

Daehyun
demanding
 

Youngjae's reply were a bunch of emoji, then moments later he got a push notification from twitter. 

'wow cant believe the boring ballad singer got a solo debut before our lord and saviour bang yongguk'

Despite the insult, Daehyun softly laughed to himself; he had once caught Youngjae humming to Wish It Was Us, so he had a feeling Youngjae didn't dislike his songs as much as he claimed.  Especially with how cutely Youngjae had blushed when he realised he was caught. 
 

Daehyun
you really love pissing off my fans, huh?

Youngjae
they make it so easy, how can i not
 

Daehyun let out a small chuckle, placing his phone down and looking at the couple of physical copies of his mini-album he had on his desk. He grabbed one of them, opening it to write a few words in it, fully intent on delivering this one personally as soon as the album officially was out; Youngjae may claim he hates his music, but Daehyun knew he just needed a little push and convincing. 

After he finished signing it, he flipped the album and looked at the back. Three ballads and one retro rock song, but they all were inspired by the same subject; his love for Youngjae.

Because it was love. Daehyun knew he had dug himself deep and he was setting himself up for heartbreak, but he had never been the type to regret loving someone. 

At least the retro soft rock one was more fun, about how he is affected by the various things Youngjae does. Like the way he dresses, the way he laughs, and how fast his heart is beating whenever casually hugs him.

Daehyun stared blankly at the album for a few moments.

Maybe he was being extremely obvious, but Youngjae could not prove anything so he should be safe. Also, thanks to the way Korean language works the lyrics were completely gender neutral, so no one could guess he was singing about a man,

-

Youngjae
so whats the mv about? is it gonna be something het?

Daehyun
what do you mean by that? 

Youngjae
like

Youngjae
u always write these sappy love stories about ur crush right?

Youngjae
so is it gonna be about a guy and girl to represent ur lyrics and ur crush?

Daehyun
i'm the only one who appears in the mv

Youngjae
only u? sounds boring

Daehyun
i worked hard on it, stop insulting my feelings

Daehyun
you better stream it

Youngjae
ugh as ur friend i guess i will

Youngjae
but it would have been better if yongguk had a cameo just sayin
 

Daehyun rolled his eyes and sent some emoji showing his fake annoyance before he closed the chat app and opened youtube; their team was dropping the MV in a couple of minutes along with his entire album. He was deathly nervous, but was also proud of what he had been able to accomplish and hoped his fans would enjoy it too. 

At exactly 6PM the MV dropped, with a push notification from his group's account also posting about the MV. Daehyun clicked the video and opened twitter, retweeting the tweet as his song titled Longing played in the background. He had already seen the music video, of course, and paid no attention to it. He was only playing it to make sure everything was working perfectly. 

And it was. 

The song ended and Daehyun refreshed the page, scrolling down to read some comments and smiling to himself as he read supportive and sweet comments, while doing his best to ignore the insulting ones (which luckily weren't many). 

A push notification from kakaotalk interrupted his reading and Daehyun clicked the message.
 

Youngjae
so the mv is just u looking melancholic and longing for ur crush

Youngjae
very simple

Daehyun
we don't have the most insane budget, you know that

Youngjae
true
 

Nearly twenty minutes passed, with Daehyun stalking fans reactions and getting congratulatory messages about the album release from friends and one text from Yongguk reminding him about the three of them going out to celebrate today. A notification for his dummy account interrupted it all and Daehyun immediately went onto Youngjae's twitter account.

'Effect should have been the title'

The tweet made Daehyun laugh; he knew Youngjae would tweet something like this. Effect was the retro soft rock song on his album and definitely stood out from the rest.
 

Youngjae
why isnt effect the title? :(

Daehyun
because it doesn't showcase my vocals as much as Longing

Youngjae
disappointed but not surprised

Youngjae
btw i'll treat u to dinner. nothing fancy but i should congratulate u on ur release. so tell me when u have a night off

Daehyun
Monday?

Youngjae
sure!

-

"You look like ."

"Wow thanks, Youngjae."  Daehyun was exhausted, but of course he was after a week of promotions.

"You sure you don't wanna spend the night sleeping or something?" 

Oh, Youngjae actually sounded worried. Which was hard to detect unless you knew Youngjae well, but Daehyun knew him like the back of his hand. Talking everyday, even just by text, makes you learn quite a lot about a person and their mannerisms. 

"Yup, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

Daehyun resisted rolling his eyes. "I know my limit, Youngjae. Now stop being worried and decide on what you want to order, I've already chosen."

'Nothing fancy' meant ordering delivery to Youngjae's dorm room, because broke students couldn't afford much. Which was okay. Daehyun preferred the relaxing atmosphere of the dorm room rather than sitting at a restaurant all stiff like. 

"Does Jongup ever stay in this room?" Daehyun was genuinely wondering.

Youngjae had his eyes glued to the phone, looking through the menu. "Yeah, he just usually works in the evenings. His classes are always around noon, so he took a job at a bar." 

Oh, that would explain it.

"And then during weekends he mostly goes back to visit his family, so I dont see him that often." Youngjae seemed to have decided what he wanted. "You going for the usual I guess?"

"I'm a loyal man," Daehyun joked. He only got an eyeroll in reply, but at least Eun came walking up to him wanting cuddles. It felt good to be appreciated by someone, even if it was a cat. 

"Ordered." Youngjae placed his phone down next to him on the floor. "Let's watch something?"

"Yeah, but first," Daehyun pulled out his own mini-album from the bag. "Here, got this one especially for you."

"I already bought it though," Youngjae said quietly, but accepted the album.

Honestly Daehyun was pleasantly surprised to hear that, but at the same time he wasn't shocked; Youngjae had a habit of saying one thing and doing the opposite.

"Yeah, but as I said, this one is especially for you."

Youngjae opened the album, looking at the first page which had Daehyun's writing in it. "To my number one anti," Youngjae read out loud. "And of course you had to draw a  heart." He laughed softly. "Thanks." He turned a few more pages, revealing a photocard. "It's a different one." There were three possible cards in the album, the one Daehyun had placed in Youngjae's copy was his personal fave; it was one where he as smiling widely, showing his laugh lines. One time Youngjae had let it slip that he thought Daehyun's smile was beautiful, so he had to use it to his advantage. 

"You should put it in your phone-case," Daehyun suggested jokingly. 

"There is only room for one man in my phone case," Youngjae retorted.

"But you have nothing in your phone-case?" Not even a Yongguk photocard, which surprised Daehyun.

"Exactly, I'm saving it for when I have a boyfriend."

Daehyun blushed and lost the ability to speak for a couple of moments as he started daydreaming about being the one to call himself Youngjae's boyfriend. 

"That's-" Daehyun finally pulled himself out of his thoughts. "Surprisingly sappy, coming from you."

"Shut up." Youngjae slapped him on the upper arm. "Since you're being rude, I'm choosing what we're watching today."

"Makes zero sense, but fine," Daehyun got down on the floor and settled next to Youngjae, lazily watching the laptop screen. 

After eating, Youngjae had fallen asleep right in the middle of an episode of a korean drama they had been watching. Daehyun couldn't blame him, it had been a slowpaced one, but he was still startled when he felt a head resting on his shoulder and the sound of soft snoring. 

For almost two hours Daehyun sat still, only moving when Netflix asked if they were still watching. His body hurt, but Youngjae was being so devastatingly cute and Daehyun had nowhere he needed to be, so he fought the discomfort. It didn't help when Eun had placed herself on his lap too, making him even more afraid of moving as he didn't want to disturb any of them. 

Time moved quicker than he noticed, and he nearly jumped when he heard the the door opening and Jongup returning around midnight. 

"Hi," Daehyun greeted quietly. Jongup seemed surprised, but quickly accepted the situation. 

"Hey. How long has he been asleep?" Jongup placed his bag on his bag.

"Two hours I think." Daehyun closed the laptop and placed it on the floor. "I don't wanna wake him." He glanced down at the cat. "Not Eun either."

"Eun will fall asleep again immediately and Youngjae sleeps like the dead. We can lift him into bed and he probably won't even notice."

A heavy sleeper? Daehyun could relate. Junhong always complained whenever he had to wake up Daehyun in the morning. 

"Will you give me a hand?" Daehyun asked, awkwardly grabbing the cat and feeling guilt when Eun let out a whine, but he gently placed her down. 

"Sure."

And Jongup had been right. Except for a few sleepy whines, Youngjae did not wake up and soon they had him placed on the bed, still dead asleep. 

"Surprised to see him asleep without having his music on." Jongup looked down on Daehyun's mini album, which lay on the floor on top of a pile of Youngjae's clothes. "Whenever I get back from work I always have to turn the CD-player off, he's been obsessively listening to that album every night."

At first Daehyun was perplexed that Jongup didn't know he was the singer of the album, but then what he had said finally registered and he had to hold back a gleeful yell; Youngjae had liked his album even more than he let on. Listening to it every night the past week? Holy hell, he was basically singing him to sleep. His heart threatened to burst out of his chest due to how happy he felt. 

"Thanks, Jongup."

Jongup looked confused, but said nothing. Daehyun said his goodbyes and then headed home, smiling so hard his lips hurt. 

As he arrived home, close to 1AM, Daehyun pulled up the phone and sent a kind of long text to Youngjae. 
 

Daehyun
you must be the only twenty year old who still uses a cdplayer to listen to music, but i'm very honoured for being the one whose cd you've been playing everyday the past week. if you need my voice to lull you to sleep, you could have just asked ;)  anything for my fan <3

Daehyun woke up to a reply the day after and promptly blushed.
 

Youngjae
dont act so cocky when u write 193949 sappy ballads about ur crush but is too much of q coward to actually confess
 

And as always whenever Daehyun annoyed Youngjae even slightly, there was a tweet dragging him.

'Do you ever think about how much of a coward daehyun is? he keeps making those sappy love songs but obviously doesn't have the balls to confess. maybe if he had yongguk's godly face he wouldn't be such a coward'

It only made him laugh and he went back on kakaotalk.
 

Daehyun
nothing you say will change the fact that you listen to my music willingly AND use it to fall asleep :-)

Youngjae

Youngjae
but maybe i'll take u up on ur offer

Youngjae
to sing me to sleep, i mean ;)
 

Maybe Daehyun squealed and threw the phone hard on his bed, startling Ganji who had been sleeping peacefully by the space heater. Who the did Youngjae think he was to say that? Okay technically Daehyun had started by using the half flirty line, but usually Youngjae ignored his cheese.

And a wink? A ing wink?

Maybe Daehyun was having difficulty breathing, and maybe he was a little too whipped for this man for such a small thing to affect his body like this. It took him ten minutes of fighting his fast beating heart and trying to cool his blushing cheeks before he grabbed the phone and sent a laughing emoji. 

Nailed it. 

-

He had gone out with the guys, to celebrate their upcoming weeks of vacation.

And he had gotten wasted. 

And Daehyun being wasted meant he would cling onto the nearest friend and he would forget to think twice before he did something. So, waking up the day after he was incredibly embarrassed to find out he had tweeted one of his pining drafts. It was a good thing it was something he wrote when he was sober, but it was something he never intended to tweet.

'The way you laugh and smile never fails to make my knees weak'.

It was definitely the most cheesy and disgusting draft he had, and he hated his drunk self. 

Daehyun groaned loudly. There was no point in deleting it, and it's not too different from his song lyrics, but it was still so incredibly embarrassing. The top reply was one from Junhong. 'shouldve stayed in your drafts, hyung.'

. Daehyun distinctly remembered Junhong encouraging him to post it last night, while Yongguk went to the toilet. They had acted like two giggly school kids, hiding something from their parent. 

Yongguk had retweeted Junhong's reply, so at least he wasn't mad or disappointed. He probably found it funny.

Dreading it slightly, Daehyun waited a few moments before he went to Youngjae's account.

One new tweet.

'what do u do when ur friend is too coward to confess to his crush? starting to get pathetic and i feel bad for him'

Huh. At first Daehyun felt extremely embarrassed again, because he was being mocked by the crush he was too coward to confess too, but then he realised this was a very different tweet than usual for Youngjae. His account was strictly for gushing about Yongguk, ZYD's music, and directly making fun of Daehyun.

Looking at few of the replies, it seemed he wasn't the only one who had noticed. Some gave actual other advice, but others were like 'can't believe you have friends' or 'weird to see a non-ZYD related tweet from this acc'. 

Now, to check the only new kakaotalk message he had gotten.
 

Youngjae
embarrassing
 

It was sent one minute after Daehyun's 2am tweet. Which was quite interesting.
 

Daehyun
that was fast. you don't even follow my account

Youngjae
dont need to follow it to see it pop up on my tline, sadly i havent been blocked by all of ur fans yet

Daehyun
such a weird goal

Youngjae
i gotta work hard to be ur number one anti<3
 

Daehyun made a small sound at the back of his throat, wondering just how whipped he was when even such a dumb line had his cheeks flaring up. He groaned and put the phone to the side, hugging a dozing Ganji tight. "Ganji, what am I gonna do? I'm so weak for him."

-

The two weeks vacation came and went quick, with Daehyun having gone to Busan to spend time with his closest family. It had been nice to be home and he had enjoyed every second, and he felt refreshed heading back to Seoul. Tomorrow was a fansign, and right after it he had decided to go to Youngjae's dorm. Usually Daehyun would go right home, but it ended around 8pm and he had missed his cutie, so he had agreed to drop by. 

It had been a randomly decided fansign, as they all had missed their fans and the next group release was kind of far off. It hadn't been revealed yet, but Yongguk was going to release his solo album and Daehyun had gotten an offer to be in a musical. Not the lead, but one of the bigger roles. So they wouldn't be able to meet the fans in a little while and wanted to do something. 

It was always nice, albeit a little tiring, to meet so many fans. Daehyun was thankful for each one of them and was the one in the group who was most comfortable with events like this. Fanservice king, he was often called by the fans. He had even had a few viral tweets, due to how attentive he was towards fans. 

No matter how happy he was about the event, he was relieved when it was over and he had gotten into his car excitingly, having driven himself to the event. He was planning on going directly to Youngjae, not bothering to change clothes or anything. He didn't want to waste even one minute, he had missed Youngjae way more than he would like to meet. 

It always felt weirdly risky to walk through the university dorm halls, but Daehyun wore a caps and facial mask to be sure no one would recognise him. Not that it would be weird for him to visit a friend, but he still would rather people didn't know. 

Youngjae had opened the door, ushering him inside.

"Dude, you haven't even changed." Youngjae had an eyebrow raised. "I saw you wear those clothes for the fansign."

Daehyun grinned. "Were you looking at pictures of me?" It was odd how he often felt confident when he was actually standing before Youngjae, yet in the safety of his room he would become a wreck by just thinking about his crush. 

"No, you just happened to stand beside Yongguk." He then wrinkled his cute button nose. "Have you even washed your hands? And your face? You have no idea where those fans' hands have been and you just let them touch you so freely." He looked downright disgusted.

"Of course that's something you would worry about." 

"I'm not letting you touch anything in this room until you've washed your hands and face." Youngjae folded his arms, face serious. 

"Fine fine." Daehyun went to the bathroom and washed thoroughly before settling next to Youngjae on the bed. "What are we watching today?"

"Let's continue the series we watched last time?"

"Sure."

Daehyun watched as Youngjae's small fingers typed on the laptop, finding the series and hitting play. 

"If you went to a fansign, wouldn't you hold hands with Yongguk?" He had to ask.

Youngjae visibly grimaced. "If he grabbed my hands, maybe. But I would prefer not to, unless I'm the first in line. But maybe for him I could make an exception."

Daehyun snorted; of course he would make an exception.

The two snuggled comfortably as they usually did, eyes on the screen. Younjgae was surprisingly enough a cuddling type, once he opened more up. Which was a blessing and a curse, as Daehyun loved having Youngjae snuggled up into him, but also it would sometimes set his heart racing. It also didn't help that Youngjae always smelled so sweetly of vanilla. They had gotten halfway into the episode when Youngjae spoke up again.

"Isn't it uncomfortable?"

"Hmm?"

"To have fans touching your face so freely. Hands is one thing, but you're the only member who lets fans touch your face."

Daehyun mused on it for a moment, it was something Yongguk and Junhong had asked about too. "They ask first, so it's usually fine. And it's not often they do, most are a mess anyways and can barely talk, let alone even think about touching me." It was always heart-warming to see how shaken fans were, to meet their idol. 

"I'd hate it," Youngjae said confidently. "I wouldn't even let friends touch my face."

Daehyun breathed in sharply, confusion spreading. He turned to Youngjae, the series forgotten. "You never told me to stop when I boop your nose or pinch your cheeks." He couldn't help it, the nose was too cute and the soft adorable cheeks were irresistible. Youngjae would grumble, whine, and sometimes swat his hands away but he never told him to stop. Was Youngjae just too kind to tell him not to? Had Daehyun been overstepping his boundaries and he didn't even know? His chest was tightening, worry forming in the pit of his stomach. 

Youngjae had turned as well, staring into Daehyun's eyes with a bored expression. "You're an exception."

Daehyun blinked. Once. Twice. Trying to decipher what it meant. 

Seconds trickled away, the only sounds being the sounds from the laptop. Youngjae was giving him expectant looks, which made Daehyun feel stressed with a capital s.

He knew it must mean something, but his brain wouldn't co-operate. 

Youngjae sighed loudly, closing the laptop and gently placing it on the bedside table. "You're a ," he mumbled, before turning back to Daehyun and casually straddling his thighs.

Daehyun nearly choked on his spit as his brain short circuited. 

Youngjae was sitting on his lap, staring down at him with an exasperated look. "I'm tired of waiting for you to brave up, so it." He leaned down, gently pressing his soft lips against Daehyun's. Hands were on his shoulders, tightening slightly as the lips upon his began moving.

Daehyun was frozen, heart violently beating against his ribcage, as the silken lips tried to coax a reaction out of him.

Youngjae moved away, sighing loudly. "You're so annoyingly dumb." He grabbed one of Daehyun's hands, bringing it up to cradle Youngjae's cheek. God, Daehyun knew Youngjae's face was small, but not this small. He accidentally cooed. 

"You're not gonna say anything? Or do anything?"

Daehyun wasn't sure what to do or what to say. The man he had been in love with for more than half a year had kissed him, and all of him had just shut down in confusion and happiness. 

"You like me right?" Youngjae's hands were back on his shoulders, squeezing gently. "Because all those sappy songs of yours definitely sound like they're about me. The way you describe your crush's face, personality, and the things we've done... So, it's about me right?"

"Yes." Daehyun croaked out, feeling proud he was capable of saying this much. 

"Then kiss me." 

It was spoken as a demand, and who was Daehyun to deny this beautiful man? He lifted his other hand to cup the other cheek and brought the face closer, sweetly kissing the lips he had dreamt of for so long. 

They spent the next thirty minutes or so softly kissing; passionate, but not heated. It felt nice to have the heat of Youngjae's body pressed against his own, feel his weight on his lap, and though it felt arousing he didn't need anything more than this. Just being able to kiss and taste Youngjae's mouth, hold his precious face in his hands, was enough.

Which was why Daehyun inhaled sharply when Youngjae finally spoke.

"Spend the night." It was said in a low murmur, sounding seductive to Daehyun's ears.  "Not like that, you idiot." He said when Daehyun started coughing from having choked on his own spit. "Just to cuddle, unless you have a busy schedule tomorrow."

"No-" Daehyun breathed in deeply, his voice a bare squeak from all the coughing and gasping for air. "I'm not busy."

Youngjae smiled widely, shining like the brightest of suns. Daehyun's mouth dried up. "Perfect." He got off Daehyun's lap and went over to a small black folder which his photocards were in (Daehyun had snooped in it once: unsurprised to see Yongguk photocards only), pulling out a photocard from it before coming back to the bed.

It was the photocard from Daehyun's solo album, the one where he smiled widely with his smile lines showing. He watched in silence as Youngjae grabbed his own phone, taking the phone-case off and putting the card inside. 

Daehyun swallowed loudly, head spinning. 

That was such a Youngjae way of saying they're boyfriends.

Placing the phone down again, Youngjae slipped back into his lap and grabbed the collar of Daehyun's sweater.  "Now where were we?"

Despite not going further than (heavily) making out, they barely got any sleep, but the little sleep Daehyun got was deep and satisfying. Waking up to Youngjae next to him was even better. 

-

Their relationship didn't change much, except being more physically intimate and involving a whole lot of kissing. 

The only difference (sans the kissing and all that) was the way Youngjae would tweet about him whenever they had silly arguments. It high key stressed Daehyun, but at the same time he admitted it was kind of funny. 

Youngjae would use unflattering pictures of Daehyun, sometimes ones he had even taken himself, and post them on twitter with captions like 'you stan this?'.

It always caused much confusion when it was unreleased pictures Youngjae had taken himself. They were blurry and unflattering enough to create a debate on whether it was actually Daehyun or just someone who looked like him, so people couldn't even accuse Youngjae for being a stalker with certainty. 

It gave Yongguk headaches, but he seemed to just let it pass. 

-

"Are you sure you're fine with this, Daehyun?"

"You agreed it would be funny, right?" Daehyun looked up at Yongguk briefly, the two standing down the street from the pet shop Youngjae worked at. 

"Yes." 

"Let's go."

Despite everything, Youngjae had yet to meet Yongguk. Daehyun was honestly curious as to how his boyfriend would react to meeting his idol like this. 

Unsurprisingly, Youngjae didn't look up from his phone when the two entered, just loudly saying 'welcome' in a bored tone. Daehyun had to hold back a snort, waiting for Yongguk to grab the dogfood they came here to buy before heading up to the counter. 

Youngjae finally looked up when the the two stood before him, dogfood placed on the counter. 

"Hi-"

His eyes widened as he recognised Yongguk, then they quickly whipped to Daehyun to send him a murderous glare before returning to look at Yongguk with the sweetest smile. 

He grabbed the dogfood and scanned it. "That will be 29.000₩." His smile was genuine, with a hint of blush covering his soft cheeks, but except for the barely noticeable shaking hands he didn't react much.

Or at least to the untrained eye.

If you spoke Youngjae fluently, like Daehyun did, this was a pretty wild reaction; Youngjae never smiled to his customers, at least not a real smile, and he had never seen Youngjae with shaky hands before.

"Hi, Jae baby."

Youngjae's smile faltered as he looked over to Daehyun. "Daehyun." The tone of voice was threatening and spoke volumes. Daehyun's own smile faltered too; he was screwed. Youngjae turned back to Yongguk. "Have a nice day." His smile was full on glowing again, eyes full of kind admiration. 

Yongguk smiled back and the two exited the shop, the dogfood carried by Daehyun. 

"That wasn't very eventful."

"He never says 'have a nice day' to customers," Daehyun grumbled, sounding more sulky than he would like.

"Really? I'm flattered." Yongguk looked over at Daehyun, laughing at his pouty face. "So how screwed are you?"

He shuddered. "I'll find out soon enough."

Arriving back at their apartment, Daehyun instantly fished out his phone, seeing a tweet notification from Youngjae. 

With slightly shaky hands, Daehyun opened the notification and felt blood drain from his face.

Youngjae had shared a petition, calling for the removal of Daehyun from ZYD. 

Looking at the replies, he had definitely opened the floodgates of hate comments. 

Daehyun opened kakaotalk, breathing in deeply.
 

Daehyun
that was kind of harsh

Youngjae
serves u right after springing this on me. i was not prepared to meet my idol today

Daehyun
but it was his idea

Youngjae
…
 

Minutes passed and Daehyun saw a new tweet showing up on his dummy account's timeline. 

'bad joke. sorry' 

The petition had been deleted. 
 

Daehyun
so, we still on for tonight?

Youngjae
yes
 

As a silent apology, Youngjae had gotten some of Daehyun's favourite pastries and his kisses had been extra loving that night. 

-

Youngjae had graduated with a degree within IT, and had even landed a job he could go to right after graduation. Together with Jongup, on a hot summer day Daehyun had helped Youngjae move from the dorm to a small and nice apartment which was close to Youngjae's new job. 

It was the first time Daehyun had seen Youngjae tear up from something which wasn't film/tvseries related (the two of them had a habit of easily crying when watching sad stuff), because moving out from the dorm meant to move away from Eun.

"I'll send pictures everyday, hyung," Jongup had reassured.

"You better."

After all the boxes had been carried in, including the furniture they had gotten from the closest store, Jongup had left.

"Does he still not know I'm from ZYD."

"Oh, he knows," Youngjae said casually, pulling out the pieces they had to assemble from one of the furniture boxes. It was easier to assemble the bookshelf, table, and TV table before they started unpacking. "He flipped through your solo album once and realised it was actually you."

"Oh."

Jongup was a chill dude, so Daehyun didn't feel alarmed. 

"He also found out about my twitter account and would threaten with exposing me owning your album if I didn't clean up my side of the room."

"So that's why it suddenly got less messy." It had surprised Daehyun, to notice how Youngjae's clothes would never be spread around the floor any more. 

"Now that I have more space it will be easier to keep it clean." 

Daehyun chuckled. "We'll see." He was assembling the TV table, while Youngjae was busy with the coffee table. Those were rather easy, so they left off the bookshelf to do together. "Gonna be weird to actually watch stuff on a TV with you, instead of your laptop. All that is missing is a couch."

It was a one room apartment, so the bed would be used as a couch. Not that Daehyun minded, it was still an upgrade.

"Now you can sleep over more often too, since I live alone."

Months of dating, yet Youngjae never failed to make Daehyun blush. 

-

After both Yongguk and Junhong had released their solo albums, it had been time for a group comeback. This time, when Daehyun included a solo song the lyrics were more cheesy and happy, and the song more upbeat. Youngjae had noted the lyrics with disgust, but he had caught him humming it to so often he had lost count. 

His twitter review of the song had been 'seems he isnt in a onesided love anymore, good for him i guess but his songs are still so disgusting and cheesy'.

One night, Daehyun had explained the lyrics further to Youngjae. "This song was inspired by the way you love. How you hide it behind snide words, yet your hands are always so kind, gentle, and warm."

Daehyun wasn't sure if Youngjae wanted to cry from being touched or punch him from the cheesiness. 

Youngjae settled with an 'You're annoying' before placing the sweetest kiss on Daehyun's temple.

-

It was in the middle of autumn Youngjae had settled in his new apartment and his new job, seemingly enjoying his workplace and genuinely liking his colleagues (well, at least he got along with two of the women, because they were as gay as Youngjae and they had that in common. 'Gays flock together,' Youngjae would say).

Everything was fine and dandy, with Daehyun spending the weekend at Youngjae's after having spent the previous five days in Busan with his family. His last two days off and he wanted to pretend he was on vacation with his cute boyfriend. 

But of course it had all gone to hell.

Youngjae was busy fixing some snacks for the film, so Daehyun was going to upload a few selfies for the fans. He hadn't posted since the week started and he wanted to make the fans happy.

He was busy selecting the photos when Youngjae had asked if he wanted some soda, and the distracted Daehyun hadn't noticed the misclick until he had hit tweet. 

Chills went down his back as he desperately tried to stop the upload, but it didn't work and the pictures were available for anyone to see.

For a moment Daehyun froze, unable to act.

He had ed up.

", Daehyun." Youngjae's voice from the other side of the room spurred on Daehyun and he quickly deleted the tweet before throwing the phone on the table, putting his face in his hands.

The bed dipped and a warm hand landed on Daehyun's back.

"I'm so ing sorry, Youngjae."

The third photo had not been a selfie, instead he had accidentally selected a photo of Youngjae sleeping on his shoulder yesterday. It had been such a cute moment and Daehyun had taken a photo of it. Though it looked fairly innocent, it was intimate by nature. 

"It's okay, Daehyun. You don't have to apologise to me," Youngjae's raspy voice was gentle and full of love, his hand his back comfortingly. 

Daehyun hadn't bothered to fight the tears and leaned into Youngjae's shoulder, seeking warmth and love. "I ed up so bad."

"It'll be fine." 

He felt Youngjae move a little as he buried his face in the shoulder, hearing a phone unlocking. 

"What are you doing?" Daehyun asked quietly.  The hand was still his back lovingly. 

Youngjae didn't answer, but as soon as he placed his phone down, Daehyun's phone dinged. 

This immediately made suspicion rise, and he wasn't assured by the way faux innocence in Youngjae's eyes when he sat up and looked at his boyfriend. 

Daehyun hastily grabbed his phone, seeing the tweet notification from his dummy account. 

Not bothering to go on it, and ignoring the way his timeline was a mess, Daehyun typed in Youngjae's account name and read the newest tweet with disbelief. 

"Wow what an utter idiot. does this mean he will finally be thrown out?"

The tweet had gotten traction, the topmost reply being "isn't that you on the pic?"

"Youngjae! Something serious happened and you still clown me, why-"

Soft hands cupped his cheeks and made him look directly into Youngjae's eyes. "For a moment some of them will focus on me, okay. So you should go and talk to your hyung and with Junhong. Whatever you decide to do, I'll support it."

And then Daehyun teared up again, because Youngjae was the sweetest, most loving person to ever exist and it was sad how almost no one saw it. "I love you."

"Yeah yeah, I love you too," Youngjae waved his hand dismissively. "Now, call them."

The call was rather quick, Yongguk had heard how upset and ashamed Daehyun felt and instead just told him to choose what he wanted to do, just like Youngjae. Daehyun nearly cried again, hearing how his hyung would also support him; even Junhong yelled encouraging words in the background. 
He hung up and looked at this phone.

"I want to be honest with the fans. Tell them about us. Is that fine?"

Youngjae smiled. "Of course." 

Daehyun breathed in deeply and opened the notes on his phone, beginning to type. Youngjae tried to read it over his shoulder and softly pouted when Daehyun told him to wait. 

Hello dear babyz

I accidentally uploaded a photo I didn't intend to share, but I will take this as a blessing in disguise and come out to you. I am currently in a loving relationship with the man in the picture, whose face and name I'm sure some of you are familiar with. Youngjae stole my heart last year and we have been in a romantic relationship since earlier this year. I know many of you know him as this mean and rude person, but behind his harsh words hides the kindest person I have ever met. He is the type who would sacrifice his own happiness and comfort to make the ones he love be happy. I am truly lucky to call him my boyfriend. 

I will still work hard as ZYD's Daehyun and I hope you will accept me and the love I have for my boyfriend. Please continue supporting ZYD and I hope you will forgive this sudden announcement.

Love,
Babyz' Daehyun

He went on his account again, writing a short caption before scrolling through and finding the picture he had already accidentally shared. 

"You can't pick a better one?"

"What's wrong with this?"

Youngjae grimaced. "I look soft."

"You are soft." Daehyun selected the picture of the two of them and the screenshot he had taken of his message. "I'm uploading. Last chance to back out." He looked over at Youngjae, the fear he felt bleeding through his eyes. 

Youngjae rolled his eyes. "The damage is already done. Upload it so I can read whatever you wrote."

Daehyun hit tweet, staring at his tweet as replies, retweets, and likes slowly accumulated. 

A small whine sounded from Youngjae, finally making him tear his eyes away from the screen, and he saw his boyfriend sitting there with a silly little smile and wet eyes. He then began typing and Daehyun could already guess what was going to happen. 

Youngjae had quote retweeted the tweet, with the added caption 'can i sue for defamation? this is an insult to my character',

Daehyun laughed, loudly, and leaned into Youngjae's side, placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "You're so lame sometimes."

Youngjae blushed, which wasn't a regular occurrence. "Shut up."

Daehyun was not embarrassed about the squeal he let out and he was about to pull him into a hug, but a swear from Youngjae stopped him. "." Daehyun read over his shoulder, seeing an egg account having replied to Youngjae's tweet with quite the threatening message. 

'Hyung, I will witness on Daehyun's behalf if you try to sue. I will tell about how you can't sleep without listening to his songs'

Jongup.

This spurred on Daehyun to go on his phone again, finding the tweet and retweeting. 

"No, Daehyun why would you." Youngjae whined, which was unbearably cute, but Daehyun was busy hitting follow on Youngjae's account, then tweeting him directly.

'@bangsbaby complete the mutual?'

The only reply he got was a 'no' and one of the many unflattering photos Youngjae had of Daehyun. 

"Put your phone down, Dae. I want cuddles."

"Okay."

Daehyun was laughing now, but he knew he would have to deal with the repercussions soon. He had already seen a few negative reactions, some about how it was disgusting of him to be in a relationship with a man, some just the normal reactions of heartbreak and feeling 'betrayed' because he was dating, but most of the ones he had seen were supportive and sweet. He hoped majority would accept him. 

For the next hour he tried to forget, as he cuddled with Youngjae and enjoyed the sweet and comfortable silence. 

It was broken by Youngjae's phone dinging.

"Yongguk tweeted," Youngjae said, as he opened the blue bird app. Since they were spooning, Daehyun could read the tweet along with him.

It was a simple one, with Yongguk asking for support and understanding, and that they would never kick out Daehyun for loving someone. 

It was touching. Daehyun watched as Youngjae hit quote retweet and began typing. 'What a passionate, empathetic, and woke king. i have stanned the right man.'

"I hate you," Daehyun pouted against Youngjae's neck.

"Don't be jealous, babe."

Daehyun rolled his eyes, wanting to reply but was cut off by Youngjae half screaming.

"What the-"

"He retweeted me." Youngjae's hands were actually shaking.

"You're so silly," Daehyun laughed softly. He actually wasn't jealous, admiration for an idol as a fan and the love he felt for Daehyun were definitely incomparable, and it was fully in Daehyun's favour.

"Like you don't squeal whenever I send you a selfie."

... "Shut up."

-

For the first time, their group name had trended worldwide, along with a supportive hashtag for Daehyun. He couldn't lie, he had cried when saw it. He had profusely thanked the fans, and oddly enough their group's account, along with himself, had gotten a surge of following. Due to this scandal, the gay side of twitter had found them and a lot of them seemed to genuinely enjoy their music and content. 

Truly a blessing in disguise, despite some of the harsher repercussions. There had been some hard to read articles written about them, but most were either positive or at the very least mostly objective.

Youngjae too had gotten a surge of followers, which he wasn't happy about. "If they think my content will change, they're sorely mistaken." Which he then tweeted, saying he was a Yongguk solo stan and a Daehyun anti. 

But the fun thing, now Daehyun could openly reply and tweet Youngjae. 

Aaah, the sweet freedom. 

Their interactions became a source of entertainment for fans, and people finally seemed to understand Youngjae's 'anti-Daehyun' tweets were jokes. They kept calling him tsundere, to the annoyance of Youngjae. 

"You ruined my image."

"You're welcome."

They garnered a lot of shippers too, which in turn meant there were fics about them.

And to the horror of Daehyun and Yongguk, and the amusement of Junhong, Youngjae would read and recommend the ones he liked. Even the extremely graphic ones. 

"Do you think he is trying to say something with those fics? There are... wild things going on there." When Daehyun had asked for recommendations from Youngjae, one of them had even involved tentacles. He still wasn't sure if the recommendation was a joke or not. 

"Daehyun, you're drunk."

"What if he doesn't think I'm good in bed, Yongguk?"

"Oh god. Just talk to your boyfriend."

He had, the day after, and Youngjae had reassured him, but also said he wouldn't mind experimenting a little if Daehyun was comfortable with it. 

"No tentacles though." 

Daehyun breathed out a sigh of relief; so it had been a joke.

-

"Why do you look so angry?"

Daehyun was staying over at Youngjae's for the night, Ganji sleeping by their feet. Daehyun had been busy reading the script for a new musical he was going to be in while Youngjae had been invested on his phone. 

"I was reading a fic-"

Daehyun cringed; he still found it weird that Youngjae unironically read stories other people made about them, yet he also found it a little cute. 

"And they wrote me as a top."

Good thing Daehyun had stopped the habit of choking on his own spit whenever Youngjae said something unexpected, but it had been a close one.

"I have to fix this."

Daehyun's phone dinged and he opened the app and then he did actually choke on his spit when saw the content; okay so maybe his habit wasn't fully gone. After coughing for half a minute, eyes welling with tears from the pain, he decided to hit retweet. 

' im a bottom'

Youngjae had a way with words.

"I pinned it, so if anyone even dares to try say I'm a top it's on sight," Youngjae muttered heatedly. 

The most liked reply said 'i knew it' and was from Junhong. 

Meanwhile Yongguk had tweeted as well, three simple dots.  It said more than words ever could. Which Youngjae had retweeted, without even feeling an ounce of shame despite his own tweet being the catalyst. 

Youngjae giggled. "Can't believe I got indirected by Yongguk."

Daehyun groaned audibly and looked at his manuscript, although his mind was too much of a mess to concentrate on memorising his lines. 

-

Daehyun
i finished it. the song

Youngjae
nice

Daehyun
it's a love song. Duet

Youngjae
nice

Daehyun
i want you to sing it with me

Youngjae
no

Daehyun
ive heard you sing and it's about us and envisioned your voice

Youngjae
i cant sing dae

Daehyun
yes you can! just a little vocal coaching and your voice will be raspy iness of a wet dream

Youngjae
so u r saying u have a for my voice?

Daehyun
youngjae please :( i'll just say we got some unknown trainee or someone to sing, no one will have to know

Youngjae
it's the internet, nothing stays hidden but fine 

Daehyun
i love you 

Youngjae
i hate you 
 

It had been interesting working alongside Youngjae like this, they could only work on it during weekends because Youngjae had his daily job, though he would sometimes do vocal coaching on the evenings of weekdays, as he seemed to take this rather seriously. Despite his hesitance, Youngjae seemed to genuinely enjoy this. And to Daehyun's delight, their voices mixed incredibly well together.

It was an extra song, released as a digital single. No music video planned (only way they would do a music video was if Youngjae agreed to appear in it and he refused), but a lyric video would be uploaded.

"I hate this."

Daehyun raised his eyebrows in confusion, watching the way Youngjae stared at his laptop with obvious nervousness.

"How do you handle this when releasing songs? I feel like I'm dying."

"You learn to accept that not everyone can love what you put out. Some will like it and some will not."

"I hate this," Youngjae repeated. He had worried his bottom lip enough to be red and swollen, almost bleeding. Daehyun pulled him into a sidehug, letting his hands soothingly rub up and down Youngjae's arm.

"It will be fine. You sound amazing, and you're not going to be named."

It was going to be listed as Daehyun ft. Unknown, with the description explaining how it was a trainee from their partner company who will one day debut, just to throw them off. Honestly, Daehyun was starting to doubt if anyone would believe it and he could get why Youngjae always scoffed when he said that no one will know. 

The clock struck 6PM, their song 'Fool For You' officially uploaded and available. ZYD's official account posted the prepared tweet and Daehyun immediately hit retweet, and following up with a short tweet about this song being very important to him. 

Meanwhile Youngjae had quote retweeted as well with his usual style of comments. 'ofc it's a sappy love ballad, but damn Unknown's voice y'.

Daehyun groaned, and looked over at Youngjae who was grinning mischievously. 

"Remind me why I love you?"

"You just released an entire song about why you love me, I don't need to remind you."

Touché.