for their next concert, jaehwan has a suggestion that starts off innocent and fun when sanghyuk first agrees to it. it’s a duet and after performing memory with wonshik, sanghyuk is ready for something a little less post break up and more so during the highlight of it. a ‘couple concept’ jaehwan had said when he pulled out the curly blond wig and sparkly sequined dress. it was funny, of course it was, sanghyuk thinking back to all the other times that fellow male idols would perform a more feminine song on stage as a form of fanservice. the dress is much more gaudy than when they had done vixx girls and at first, sanghyuk is sure something like this would suit hakyeon more.

“he’s doing that collaboration with hongbin again, as usual,” jaehwan whines, the face of innocence. “wonshikkie and taekwoon hyung are doing their duo song too. that just leaves you and me with nothing.”

sanghyuk is tempted to do another solo, the thrill of performing alone on stage with the fans solely shouting his name. but this is jaehwan and he’s never done anything like this with him before, not to mention the hilarity factor being thrown in. jaehwan looks at him with his best puppy eyes, “ceo-nim said it was okay so long as you agreed.”

and sanghyuk eventually does agree, which is his first mistake because he hasn’t properly picked at jaehwan’s brain for his entire plan of their ‘couple concept’.

“i’m the girl?” sanghyuk gapes when jaehwan tosses the wig ungracefully on top of his head. “but i’m the taller one.”

“infinite sunbaes did troublemaker and sungyeol hyung was taller too but still wore the dress and wig,” jaehwan explains casually, trying to pull sanghyuk’s arms into the sleeves of the dress despite him still wearing his street clothes. “besides, i’m ken. that was the point of choosing barbie girl as our song.”

“that’s our song?” sanghyuk asks, recalling when jessica and key had done the performance as well. “i’m supposed to be jessica?”

“you’re supposed to be barbie,” jaehwan snorts. “living in the barbie world.”

“i thought i’d never have to cross dress again in my life,” sanghyuk pouts, blowing a curl out of his face. he plops down onto the couch set in the practice room and glares at jaehwan. “you tricked me.”

“i never said i was going to be the girl,” he grins widely before handing sanghyuk a lyrics sheet. “practice your lines well, hyuk-ah.”

the entire song is in english and sanghyuk grieves for a week at least before he begins getting the feel for things. jaehwan insists sanghyuk be in full costume for their practices, but sanghyuk skips out on that in favor of wearing his usual ratty old t-shirt and shorts. it’s a little fun, he’ll admit. jaehwan making silly faces during practice and sanghyuk getting to act all uselessly cute while raising his voice octaves higher. he doesn’t really feel the need to punch jaehwan in the face at least until hongbin asks sanghyuk about the lyrics.

“isn’t that song like, i don’t know, ual?”

“what?” sanghyuk furrows his brow, “it’s a cute, innocent song about a doll, hyung.”

“have you ever searched for the translation?” hongbin points out, waving the lyrics sheet in sanghyuk’s face.

“have you?” he quips back, annoyed. hongbin flicks his forehead.

“my english is far more better than your’s,” he says before handing sanghyuk the lyrics back. “jaehwan hyung is playing you.”

it doesn’t make sense, hongbin’s cryptic words that he throws at sanghyuk because he doesn’t have the decency to explain . but, sanghyuk takes the time to google it, because it doesn’t truly take more than ten minutes to get the results and there are lines in the song that make him want to punch jaehwan in the face and the chest and the stomach and his too.

“undress me everywhere? blond bimbo girl? dress me up, make it tight? i can beg on my knees?” sanghyuk scrolls through the lyrics and groans, “what the is this.”

he wants to go up to jaehwan and tell him that he is not doing this song, that he’d rather sing another depressing song with wonshik than sing something like this with jaehwan. sanghyuk is fuming, anger rolling off his skin in heat waves as he makes his way to the practice room, intent on telling their ceo he’s done with this performance. that is until he gets stopped in one of the halls, a coordi noona being sweet and polite and asking sanghyuk to try on the outfits they’ve gotten for the concert. he can’t exactly refuse, not when taekwoon and hakyeon are there too, making sure the maknae doesn’t try to skip out.

“where’s jaehwan hyung?” he asks, slipping into a resized suit that resembles their voodoo doll ones. “and uhm, the others too,” he adds quickly.

“they had other schedules,” hakyeon answers, not suspecting anything. “hongbin already got fitted for all his outfits anyways.”

taekwoon is to his right, half asleep and so sanghyuk continues his conversation with hakyeon. “look, hyung, about our duo performances, you don’t think it’d be too late for me to do a solo instead, right?”

hakyeon looks at him with slanted eyes, mouth opening to answer him before the same sweet coordi noona from before appears by his side with a poofy pink dress in her hands. sanghyuk’s eyes widen while her’s gleam and it takes three other people including hakyeon to wrangle him in the darn thing. it’s better stitched than the cheap little commodity jaehwan had tried to slip on sanghyuk before, a lot less gaudy and more glamorous, but very tight fitting and the fake s attached to sanghyuk’s chest feel like they’re going to pop out. to top it off, they’ve also prepared a much better wig, straight and blond and silky to the touch, it reminds sanghyuk a lot of the one he wore during vixx girls. taekwoon snorts softly by his side and sanghyuk shoots him a look.

“i think it may be too late to decide on a solo now,” hakyeon says, trying to cover up his laughter and sanghyuk swears he hears a camera shutter go off. “you look great, by the way.”

the frown on sanghyuk’s face deepens and in the middle of getting his testing make up done is when jaehwan arrives.

immediately, his face breaks out into the biggest eating grin sanghyuk has ever seen.

“not my choice of color to go with that dress, but you look hot, hyuk- ah.” jaehwan’s voice is condescending and sanghyuk squirms angrily in his seat.

“oh, shut up ken,” he says and then both hakyeon and taekwoon give each other a knowing look.

“well, we’re done here,” hakyeon announces. “see you two back at the dorm.”

sanghyuk waves them off and the noona doing his make up frowns because he’s made her smudge the lipstick slightly and he’s only a little bit sheepish when apologizing. jaehwan on the other hand can’t stop smiling at him through the mirror’s reflection. what a creep.

“i forgot to get the shoes,” says the sweet coordi noona, looking distraught. “i think i left them in the truck, come with me to get them.” she pulls on the arm of the noona doing sanghyuk’s make up and she groans out a, “don’t get up and disappear,” to sanghyuk before leaving with the other. sanghyuk pouts in an annoyingly childish way before nodding, jaehwan’s eyes still burning on him.

“i can’t believe they tossed my curly wig,” he says, still smiling and sanghyuk finally turns to look at him. jaewhan’s standing by the clothes rack, wearing a silly looking t-shirt and his god awful shorts that expose way too much skin, his thighs peeking out in white flesh. sanghyuk squints at him.

“you probably got all that stuff at a cheap party store anyways,” he grumbles, recalling the obscene lyrics of their supposed duet. he grips the armrests of his chair and pulls himself up, standing at his full height. if sanghyuk is stuck doing this song with jaehwan, he’s going to make the other be the more regretful one. “hyung,” he says softly, approaching jaehwan and the other blinks up at sanghyuk.

“yes?” jaehwan inquires, a smart sense of danger rising in his chest.

“there’s a certain part of the choreography i think we need to change,” he starts, inching closer and closer until he’s almost invaded jaehwan’s personal space. sanghyuk stops right before he’s a foot away from jaehwan. “to match it with this part of the lyrics, i think it’s best if i just–”

sanghyuk doesn’t finish his sentence as he slides down to his knees, wrapping his wide hands on the smooth expanse of jaehwan’s thighs, fingers slipping into the hem of his shorts and jaehwan stutters backwards. “w-what are you doing?” he shoots out, hand grasping the metal bar of the clothes rack to keep him steady.

sanghyuk looks up at him with wide, clear eyes and a tiny smile on his lips as he recites his lines in english before switching to korean. “make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please.” sanghyuk rubs his hands on jaehwan’s thighs before giving them a squeeze, “i can act like a star,” he mumbles, back arching as he presses his cheek to the inside of jaehwan’s thigh, “i can beg on my knees.”

jaehwan looks distressed, like he’s been caught and the only thing keeping him from letting out a moan when sanghyuk presses a pink lipsticked kiss to the heated skin of his thigh is the sound of footsteps down the hall. almost instantly and without a single drop of sweat, sanghyuk stands, turns away and returns to his seat in front of the mirror, watching jaehwan’s wide eyed expression as the two noonas open the door to the room and start fussing over them again. they don’t say much after that, especially when the sweet coordi noona dressing jaehwan asks him about the weird pink smudge on his leg.

“it’s nothing,” he splutters, embarrassed and looking at the door. “am i almost done?”

“we’re just getting started,” she informs, slightly muddled with his behaviour.

sanghyuk snorts in his chair and smiles smugly at jaehwan. oh yes, they’re just getting started.

—

the concert goes smoothly, it’s a hit. sanghyuk goes down on his knees in front of a thousand screaming fan girls and instead of kissing jaehwan’s thigh again, he just winks and that’s enough for jaehwan to mess up his next line, complaining later on that the coordi noonas hadn’t measured him right and his pants were just too tight.