Title: Away from the lights
By: Kanae
Featuring: Yong Junhyung & 4minute’s Hyuna (JokerQueen / JoQueen aka Junah)
Genre: Romance
Rating: PG-13 
Word Count: 1.726
Author’s Notes: Back when I first posted this at B2R it was because I hadn't updated in a while, so this is kind of a rushed chapter lol - I originally posted it on Feb, 25th, btw.
Summary: Junhyung and Hyuna discuss the pros and cons of dating publicly. 

(do you want to? to date publicly, I mean)

“I’m glad you’ll be of age soon” 

The comment literally comes out of nowhere. So Hyuna gives him a quizzical look that he accurately translates into something like yah, what brought that on?

“I can finally feel like less of a creeper for one. And we can finally drink alcohol together” The prospect obviously made him happy, for his eyes were gleaming as he spoke. Or perhaps that was just contained mirth as he prepared to deliver the final to his never-ending teasing; “And hey, who knows. Maybe you’ll actually start behaving like a grown-old woman at last!” 

The comment earns him a not-so-painless smack and an affronted pout from Hyuna, who takes things further by actually attempting to sit up, forcing Junhyung to use some of his physical energy into trying to catch her and get her to stay as she was; sitting on the ground in between his legs, back resting against his chest and head leaning on the crook of his neck.

He was quite happy holding her and he wasn’t going to let her childishness ruin that, thank you very much.

After a few seconds of struggling Junhyung emerges victorious and Hyuna reluctantly leans back into him, putting up an stubborn front as Junhyung chuckles with amusement and brushes his nose against her ear, knowing well that she was ticklish in that zone. That turns out to be score two for the boy, because soon enough Hyuna is laughing and squirming in his arms again, and Cube’s resident rapper thinks that he seriously wouldn’t mind spending all week like this. 

However it seemed like Hyuna had other plans in mind, because she breaks the comfortable silence with an out-of-the-blue question of her own. 

“Hey… when I become legal, will anything change?” She her lips. “About us, I mean”

Junhyung’s eyes widen and he turns towards her with an arched eyebrow. No way.

She couldn’t possibly be talking about… about that, could she?

There’s a lump in his throat.

Hyuna chooses that precise moment to shyly look up at him from underneath her bangs, a gesture that always makes her look as innocent as a six year old. “About our status” She finally adds, apparently noticing that Junhyung still didn’t have a clue of what she was talking about.

“Oh.”

The boy can’t help but to sigh, relaxing his body against the wall again. Of course she wasn’t talking about that. 

Take your mind off the gutter, Yong Junhyung.

He turns towards Hyuna only to find her giving him a puzzled look, again. “What did you think I was talking about?”

Junhyung was about to reply with a vague nothing when suddenly Hyuna’s eyes lit up with realization; her hand moves three times faster than the boy’s reflexes could ever hope to be, and a dry thud echoes through the empty practice room as Hyuna’s hand lands on his chest. “Yah! You’re such a ert!”

“What the hell?!” Junhyung complains, finding the hit unwarranted because how could she be so sure that he was thinking about that, out of all things?

Sure he was, but she should have at least given him the benefit of the doubt! Geez, women.

“It’s not my fault that you’re so vague! Anyways, what do you mean by ‘status’?” He inquires, deciding that he might as well drop the subject since this was a battle he wouldn’t be winning any time soon.

Hyuna looks at him through slightly narrowed eyes for a moment longer before letting herself lay back against him. “I meant our status in the eyes of everyone. In the eyes of the media”

“You mean…” Junhyung wasn’t quite sure he was getting this. “… Dating publicly?”

His girlfriend nods. “Like Rain sunbaenim or SHINee’s Jonghyun sunbae.”

He blinks, his eyebrows drawn together in a slight frown. “Do you want to? To date publicly, I mean” He clarifies, and Hyuna keeps silent for a moment, simply playing with the zipper of Junhyung’s sweater. When she finally does reply, her voice is just a soft whisper.

“… I don’t know”

It’s evident to him that the girl had been giving the situation a lot of thought without him being aware of it. It would be a lie if he said that he had never entertained the thought of just being upfront about their relationship; just… going ahead with it and getting it off his chest. To hell with what anyone thought; if they weren’t willing to support them, then they didn’t deserve to call themselves their fans. 

… But then again, it would also be a lie to say that he had ever seriously given it much thought. To him, it had always been like a private resort of his own; whenever things got hard, he would let his mind wander and take a vacation over there, in the land where he and Hyuna could do anything they wanted wherever they wanted. It was a refreshing thought; liberating. 

And it also was a possibility that he had failed to truly consider.

So right then, with his girlfriend in his arms, Junhyung lets his head rest against the wall and thinks things through. 

He begins to speak only when Hyuna peaks curiously at him, intrigued by his silence.

“I’m not sure if that would be the smart thing to do, Hyuna” He starts slowly, careful to not make her feel hurt. “Sure, Beast isn’t promoted like ideal boyfriends and neither is 4minute. We’re just people doing what we love, and fans can take it or leave it. But,” And here came the undeniable truth, the sharpest double-edged sword there was about being an idol; “you know there’s always going to be the few that will follow us out of want to see us like their Prince Charming or Ideal Girl”

Hyuna looks at him, genuinely interested in his reply. “Do you care about that?”

He doesn’t have to think much this time. But he does mind his words. “I don’t. Not enough to not date the girl I love, at least” He can’t help the smile that curves his lips and Hyuna gives him a grin as reward, happily curling up against him.

The temptation to drop the subject altogether and just drown in her proximity once again was quite tempting, but Junhyung was determined to conclude this once and for all. “But I’m not in this alone and neither are you. We have our members to think about, and what we do affects the image of Beast and 4minute as a whole”

Hyuna nods and then sinks into a thoughtful silence. “You think your fans would support us?”

“I think they’d be a bit jealous, but they wouldn’t hate your guts. Change had good reviews, remember? People were all over us” He smirks, the memory obviously still bringing satisfaction to him. It wasn’t every day that you got to do such daring skinship with your girlfriend onstage while fans actually cheered for you. “Plus if I didn’t lose any female fans when I shaved my hair, then I doubt they’re into me because they wanna date me”

She playfully scrapes his check with one fingertip as she smiles up at him, “I liked you still, hair shaved and all.And I wanted to be your girlfriend”

His smirk grows softer and more playful as he looks down at her, kissing the tip of her nose. “That’s because you’re a weirdo”

“Yah, shut up!” She commands half-heartedly, laughter bubbling in her voice. 

“Your fanboys may hate me though. And it can get dangerous.” He teases, half-serious. “You’re almost as popular as SNSD in the military and I’ll have to go there sooner or later”

“No one would dare to touch the Joker” Hyuna declares while contently hugging his midsection. Junhyung can’t help but to be surprised that she didn’t take up the chance to . She usually loved to .

He starts to caress her hair absent-mindedly. Perhaps she was taking the whole thing even more seriously than he had thought. Perhaps she had been thinking about this for a long while.

“You never replied Hyuna-yah. Do you want us to date publicly?”

Hyuna gives him no reply. So he leans down and whispers in her ear, hugging her closer against him. “If you want to, I’m up for it”

She raises her head, taken aback. “Seriously?”

He nods his head, smiling. “We’d have to ask Hong CEO and everyone for their approval though. But if they’re okay with it, then I wouldn’t mind”

She smiles knowingly. “But you’d rather not, right?”

He shrugs. “I’m okay with how we’re right now. But I think I’d be okay that way too, if you are”

Junhyung had to admit that letting everyone know that Hyuna was his was quite appealing. Perhaps then guys would stop ogling her so openly and making nasty comments.

Before his mind could get carried away, however, any and every thought evaporates as Hyuna’s lips suddenly touch his in a chaste, brief kiss that leaves him craving for more.

“Yah, what was that for?” He asks, as out of breath as he always is whenever she kissed him.

“For being such a good boyfriend” Is Hyuna’s simple reply, as she cuddles with him again and sinks her head on his neck. “Let’s not do anything then”

“Huh? Why?”

“I kind of like keeping this from them. It feels like we have something no one can touch. It’d be great to be able to go out openly, but…” She giggles, “I like moments like these, too. Dating secretly can be pretty exciting”

Junhyung can’t help but to laugh in her ear, deliberately turning his voice into a husky whisper as he teases, mercilessly, “Hey, that sounded pretty ”

“Why, you—!” Hyuna starts, laughing, but before she can try to smack him Junhyung has tightened his hold on her so she can do nothing but squirm; and once she raises her face Junhyung wastes no time in sealing her lips shut with his own.

She stops squirming almost immediately and molds against his body instead, tenderly placing her fingertips on the line of his jaw.

Had Junhyung been able to piece together any coherent sentence, he would have thought that Hyuna was definitely right. 

Having furtive moments like these certainly had its charm. 

.✰♔.