please don’t let this love die young,

please don’t let this love die young.

if i’m gonna love someone,

then let it be you.

—

Eric had never thought it was possible for him to feel this happy.

The past year had felt like a dream to him; perhaps an alternate dimension in which he was probably just hallucinating about and would probably woke up to a reality that smacked him exactly where it would hurt most. But it had been as real as it could be; despite the incredulity that came every once in awhile, they had been as real as they could be.

If they were trying their hardest to be discreet and reticent in the past, they had done the complete opposite this time around. They didn’t think they were exactly being very obvious, but they weren’t exactly hiding as well: because how obvious could openly interacting on instagram be, right? To say the very least, they were just relieved that they didn’t have to hide like they were a  pair of criminals committing illicit crimes anymore. They were still partners in crime for sure, but most definitely not in the illegitimated aspects.

Throughout the entirety of his tour, the changes in Eric was so prominent that it was impossible for anyone amongst his team to not notice how much happier he had seemed (it definitely had nothing to do with how often they had seen him smiling like an idiot at his phone screen), or how vastly different his lyrics had changed. After all, this was the guy who used to sing heartbroken borderline bitter almost petty lyrics to a completely upbeat melody, but now his melody wasn’t the only bright element in his song anymore. To put it frankly, anyone would have been blind to not at least notice that this guy was definitely in love, and probably very madly as well.

He hadn’t explicitly say anything, nor had anyone explicitly asked him about it either because why would they? The signs were all there, especially with how often they had seen her face appearing in Facetime throughout the entirety of the tour.

But now the happiness came with the slightest tinge of jitters as he sat in the waiting room to the same radio show they had been guested on last year. Yongsun hadn’t arrived yet, so the only other person in the room with him was coincidentally and surprisingly enough Jessi once again. At this point, he wondered if it was even coincidence anymore. It wasn’t that he didn’t like sharing the same schedule with her, in fact he did very much enjoyed doing shows with her because if it was anyone at all, it was only Jessi who could break even the thickest of tension in the room. 

While he was catching up with Jessi, Eric could have sworn he heard them before the door to the waiting room had even cracked open, and soon enough, the girls had indeed walked in, excitedly hollering a greeting into the room, having already known in advance who the other guests of the day were. At this point, it seemed he wasn’t the only one who was getting used to sharing the same schedules with Jessi anymore, even Mamamoo who was normally very reserved with other people seemed to be getting more comfortable around her.

However, among the excited exchange of greeting that was echoing around the room and all, his attention was only on the one woman who was in Dive Studios’ infamous green hoodie that was very oversized on her paired with a black velvet pencil skirt and the pairs of sneakers he had gotten for her as a gift from his tour (Eric’s brows had jolted up in surprise upon noticing her choice of outfits). 

He couldn’t helped but pointed out her outfit of the day, “I like your outfit today,” he said with a knowing smile and a glint in his eyes that showed absolutely nothing about the tinge of jitters he was feeling just earlier.

“Yeah?” She beamed, looking down at her own hoodie. “I wouldn’t have stole this from a certain someone’s wardrobe if I had known in advance his brother would send me a huge package of the newest collection the very next day.”

Eric laughed then, being reminded of that one morning when Yongsun had called him in bewilderment at the numbers of Dive’s exclusive merchandises she had received. “We made it a point to send everyone who have guested on our podcasts something from among our newest collection, but I think Brian might have been a bit biased with you seeing how he had sent you the entire collection.”

She shrugged with a little playful smirk, “I don’t mind, I like this expedient act of favouritism,” she grinned and stepped a little closer toward him.

Despite being one of the most demure person, she tiptoed and planted a quick, small kiss on his lips, grinning so widely that she thought would have ached. “I miss you,” she whispered as if they hadn’t just met and kissed the sense out of one another just a couple of days ago when he had touched down in Korea after wrapping up his tour. 

Eric grinned, returning the quick peck back on her lips, “Miss you too, darling. Also, you look really pretty today,” to which Yongsun playfully smacked his arm in return. 

Somewhere from across the room, a voice called out to them, “Oi, you two, stop it! I don’t want to get sugar-rushed right in the early morning,” Hyejin said as she took a bite of the churros she was holding in her hand. 

Yongsun rolled her eyes in return, but Eric only chuckled at the girls’ antics, “You don’t want to get sugar-rushed yet you’re having churros right in the morning?”

“In our defences,” Wheein said, words slightly incoherent from her mouthful of churros, “it was your girlfriend who insisted we stopped by that café you guys went to and bought some churros!”

Before either Yongsun or Eric could even responded though, it was Jessi’s scandalised gasp in the middle of eating her own churros that made the girls snorted in between taking bites of their morning snack. “You guys are dating?! I knew it!”      

Eric quipped back with a small chuckle, “I mean to be fair, we weren’t dating yet back then when you asked, so…”

But Jessi only grinned at them with a teasing glint in her eyes, pointing to Eric as she bellowed out excitedly in English, “You sly little motherer!” 

The room bursted out laughing then, always finding humour in Jessi’s outbursts of English profanity in random situations. Eric’s hand naturally found itself around Yongsun’s waist in the midst of it all, holding her close even when he was laughing his head off, enjoying a normal conversation with the people who were their friends. Once upon a time, this had been the kind of situation neither of them would have ever imagined to be possible for themselves.

This time around during the recording, they hadn’t try very hard to be discreet as they had a year ago. If Yongsun’s oversized Dive’s hoodie wasn’t already obvious enough, then their interactions during the show and the break in between might have definitely gave something away. They hadn’t very much tried to hide the way they were sitting next to each other almost as if they were attached to the hips, or the way he would looked at her whenever she was talking like she was the only one in the room, or the way she had subconsciously leaned in closer to his face to remove a stray eyelash stuck underneath his eyes during breaks, or even the way they had silently sipped from each other’s cup of beverages in the middle of the show, tasting one another’s choice of beverage of the day as if it was the most natural things to do so.

If the radio hosts had noticed it, they didn’t say it out loud. Instead they had only smiled knowingly and left them both to be in their own elements.

If the fans had still tried to disregard their interactions as just being friendly, the mischief twinkling in the girls’ eyes whenever they looked at the two of them definitely refuted their in-denial assumption. 

“Let’s go eat together after this,” Yongsun said quietly just for the two of them to hear.

“Sure, what do you want to eat?” He asked and naturally reached his hand out to wipe away the little bits of chocolate from the earlier churros that was stuck in the corner of her lips. His fingertips gently brushed against her soft lips, but neither seemed to be conscious of the action in any way; in fact they had looked so comfortable with it that despite how much denial any of the fans could have been in, it would only disprove them once again.

“You’re the one who has been outside of Korea for almost an entire year, you choose,” she said with a light shrug, reaching for his cup of beverage once again (honestly if it was Brian, Eric would have reprimanded him by now to stop stealing his drinks, but it was Yongsun and he thought he perhaps didn’t quite mind her finishing his entire drinks).

He seemed to take a moment to ponder over his thoughts before a grin split along his face as he said, “Ketchup rice, the one you made.”

Yongsun scoffed and shifted slightly in her seat, “You’re kidding.”

Eric shrugged, his grin had reduced to a small nostalgia smile looming over his face, “I’m serious, I haven’t had your ketchup rice in like what, eight years now.” The corner of his lips tilted into the slightest smirk that disappeared just as quickly as it had came before he spoke again, “I don’t know, I just want to stay home, eat what you cooked, and cuddled with my favourite girl.”

Yongsun flushed at his affectionate term, but she tried to conceal it with a sneer, “What favourite girl, who is even your favourite girl,” and promptly proceeded to avoid his eyes in embarrassment.

Eric’s face lighted up in glee at how endearing a flustered Yongsun was. With the same teasing in his tone, he feigned nonchalance when he responded, “What, I was talking about Yongkeey. I haven’t seen her in almost a year.”

Yongsun shot him a quick glare in chagrin as Eric only seemed to grin challengingly in return. They both eventually broke into a quiet laughter among themselves as Yongsun muttered a you’re impossible at him.

Once they had managed to rein in their small flare-up of chortling, Yongsun eventually acquiesced, “Alright, I’ll make you ketchup rice, but let’s have something together with the girls for lunch first after this. We’ll have ketchup rice together later for dinner and then,” she said and gave a dramatic pause with a pointed look directing toward him, “you can cuddle with your favourite girl.” 

Eric beamed victoriously as Yongsun only seemed to chuckle in disbelief at his antics. Sure, Eric Nam was one of the funniest guys in the entertainment industry but even after eight years, she would liked to very much clarified that his American humour was still very much there as it had been in the past.     

They were broken out of their own little reverie when Byul snorted mirthfully from across the table before she half-whispered, consciously minding the volume of her own voice so the fans outside wouldn’t hear even if their mics were all temporarily switched off. “If you two are going to decide what to have for lunch later, at least include us in the conversation as well!”

“Fine, you guys decide the menu then,” Yongsun huffed back in return. Her consent immediately spurred them into gathering around and began discussing (or asserting) what they respectively craved. 

It was Hyejin who held her hand out to stop themselves from proceeding into a full blown-out argument over lunch menu, “Wait a minute,” she said as she turned around to regard Eric, “since Richyung has been out of the country the longest, we’ll take into consideration what he wanna have the most as well,” she announced as if it was the most serious matter in the state’s affairs. Eric almost could not held back his snort. 

Next to him, Yongsun launched into a displeased whine, “You’re not going to at least ask me what I want to eat as well?”

This time, it was Wheein who held her hand out toward the older woman, silently prompting her to be quiet, “Unnie, you stay out of this. We’ll only accept Richyung’s suggestion today.”

Yongsun’s upset grumbling failed to make the girls changed their mind, but did actually make Eric laughed at last, unable to keep his amusement to himself at the sight of Mamamoo just being their typical selves. He eventually let them make the decision, claiming there wasn’t really anything he was craving because quite honestly, all he wanted to do right now was getting back all the sleeps he had lost during the tour and maybe a plate of Yongsun’s ketchup rice would also be great, and perhaps a nice, warm cuddle with his actual favourite girl (who was currently pouting at her own members) didn’t sound too bad of a plan either.

The recording resumed while the girls were still pretty much arguing over lunch menus (it was Byul vs. the two youngest, Eric thought it was amazing how she still hadn’t lost the lonely battle yet). As all radio show went, they spent the rest of the recording sharing stories and reading comments until they were asked to perform. Typically, they would performed their latest song because it only made sense that way since they were here to promote their latest albums, so when Mamamoo announced they would be performing Um Oh Ah Yeh as their final song for today’s recording, even Eric was slightly surprised.

But Yongsun had only smiled mischievously at him as she stood up from her seat, and something finally clicked in his mind then that they definitely had something planned in advance.

Still, he hadn’t thought much of it as he welcomed the familiar beats and melody he remembered to be his favourite jam in the past. It had been so long and for some reasons as he watched them performed live, he felt almost nostalgic at how fast time had flew. It felt just like yesterday when he was pretty much jamming to this song with Eddie in the car only to later found out he would be virtually married to Yongsun. He had solely joined the show with the intention of keeping it strictly business, but then something about her turned his world upside down and before he even realised it, she broke all his resolves. It was almost ironic to him, he thought with a small smile hovering over his face unconsciously how even seven years later, she was still breaking his resolves despite how much he had tried to be adamant about it.

His attention reverted back to the girls’ performance as they neared the ad-lib part of the song, knowing this had always been the highlight of their performance. Mamamoo had always been known for their wits, and he was definitely looking to this upcoming one as well.

Almost right away, Hyejin stepped closer to Yongsun and beamed mischievously. Eric wasn’t sure when had he even began to hold his breath, but he did realised it when he heard her say, “Unnie, at this point, just say you two are dating already.”

Yongsun beamed brightly, her response followed Hyejin’s admonition back almost naturally. In a bashful tone, she sheepishly responded, “I’m sure they can tell by now,” the beam on her face was so wide that Eric bursted out laughing, from relief or from mirth, he didn’t even know anymore as he watched the girls echoed a scandalised oh my god! right after.

Trust Kim Yongsun to always be surprising, he just didn’t expect her to be this surprising.

He didn’t care how big the grin on Jessi’s face or on the two hosts’ faces were, all he cared about was watching the woman in front of him performed; the way her face flushed slightly when she briefly turned and locked eyes with him. 

The live comments on the screens in front of him were blowing up, texts were swarming in at a speed even The Flash probably wouldn’t able to keep up with. He didn’t know if they were cursing them out or congratulating them, or if the hosts would finally stopped pretending they didn’t know all along and began bombarding them with questions far too many than necessary right after this, or even if the fans currently watching them live from outside the studio were screaming their supports or yelling their outraged curses — all he knew was for once, he didn’t care what anybody say anymore. He was far too happy to care about anything else now.

Her hand found his underneath the table once she was back in her seat, fingers intertwining with his tightly. Eric said nothing, but he tightened their entwined hands firmly in return as a huge smile split on their respective faces, distinguishably mirroring one another’s ecstasy: honest to god, he had never thought it was possible for him to love her this much.

helloooo! i hope everyone's doing well!

this chapter is actually the last chapter (buuuut, there is an epilogue chapter as a bonus chapter coming after this!), and you might find that the scenario in this chapter is similar to chapter 7 in which there was also a scenario about a radio show guesting. i actually wanted this chapter to reflect chapter 7 in order to demonstrate the changes in their relationship and their character developments between chapter 7 and this chapter, so if you reread those two chapters again, you might note the subtle differences in how their personalities and their approaches between those chapters. i thought i should leave a little message here to explain so that you won't find it too strange/confusing to have two chapters in the same fic written about a similar scenario twice ;-; (but apparently it seems like i at explaining so i might have just ended up making this sounds even more confusing im sorry—)

i hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter as well! one final bonus epilogue chapter to go and it'll be the official wrap of this fic, i've enjoyed reminscing about ddongie again in such a long time and to write another fic centering around them again. have a nice dayyyyy!