Chapter Text
"I'm touring Stateside,
Where I'll see you tonight"
31st March, 2020
"So this thing between you and the idol is really serious, huh?"
Seungcheol looked up at Seungkwan, who was now standing in front of him on the stage of the Meridian. He had that usual judging look... But somehow he also seemed worried. About something Seungcheol couldn't pinpoint. Yet, hearing Seungkwan use this tone while referring to Jeonghan....
It irritated him.
"What are you even saying, Kwan?"
The younger MC tsked:
"You know what I'm saying Coups, this is a bad idea-"
"You don't even know what you're talking about."
Ok, now was Seungkwan 's turn to be bewildered. He had never seen S.Coups get so defensive over something. Much less over a man. Seungcheol was focused on his music, every boyfriend he's ever had usually never lasted more than a few weeks. Usually, all the partners failed to understand that they could only really be second to music in Seungcheol's life.
And yet, now it seemed like the man had found someone who he cared about enough to put his rap career in second place.
That per se wasn't the problem to Seungkwan. He was a firm believer that everyone deserved to feel love, and that love was one of the most healing things for a man's soul.
But Seungcheol was in a secret relationship with Yoon Jeonghan.
The most famous male idol in South Korea at the moment.
And Seungkwan knew just how much trouble a person like that could bring.
Or rather, how much their fame could end up crushing you in the process.
Idol fans wouldn't tolerate someone stealing their dearest star from them.
And Seungkwan would never wish that upon his worst enemy.
He gazed at Seungcheol's back, who was bent over to fix his microphone for tonight's gig.
How could Seungcheol not understand how many problems this could bring? He had been in the industry himself, damnit!
"...If a journalist even so much suspects, that there is something between you two, you can deem your career as finished, you're aware of that, yes?"
"Of course I know that, I'm not fucking dumb. You think I don't worry about this every fucking time that I'm with him??"
Seungcheol hadn't meant to snap and raise his voice. Not really. But if there was something he despised, that was being treated like he was incompetent.
He stood up, his fists shaking slightly as he faced Seungkwan, who shrunk into himself when he realised that Seungcheol was pissed.
"I know that this is dangerous, for the both of us, and yet this is the most alive I've ever felt! What am I supposed to do? Give it all up because I'm scared of a possibility? I love him! So I should just break his heart to play it safe?"
"..."
"Yeah. That's what I thought."
Seungkwan couldn't find it in him to say anything else. He just stared at Seungcheol's back, as the older went back to fixing his microphone.
About half an hour passed like that. Until Seungcheol broke the silence again:
"... I promise that I'm being careful, Kwan-ah. I know that it looks like I'm being reckless, hell, maybe I am! But... I can't let fear dictate how I live."
Seungkwan just nodded. And Seungcheol couldn't tell if the younger man was still apprehensive or not. Not when he was wearing that damn pokerface.
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-May 2nd, 2020-
It was the ass crack of dawn. Ok, maybe not that early, but still. It was sometime around 6 am, which was still way too early to be going through airport security.
Their flight to Tokyo would depart at 8:35. And Wonwoo, being the most responsible out of the bunch, had advised going atleast 2 hours prior.
Logically, it was the best idea.
Enough time to get through security, enough time to comfortably find the gate without rushing.
In reality, all 4 of them were fighting for their lives to try and stay awake. Let's take a minute to remind ourselves that their sleep schedule was completely and utterly fucked up.
So much for being functional adults.
Seungcheol's phone dinged with a notification.
[Hannie~ ❤️]
"How's it going at the airport?"
"I miss uuuu 🥺"
Jeonghan's pouty face flashed before Seungcheol's eyes as soon as he read the message. God damnit, his boyfriend could give him a wave of cuteness aggression with just a text.
Oh he was down bad. But Seungcheol would be a liar if he tried to deny the fact that he didn't mind it one bit
"I miss u too 🥲"
"We just got through security. Everything's fine"
Soon enough, a response came through with a soft 'ding'.
"Yayy."
"Anyway, you're sleeping in my hotel room tonight."
"And we're going on a date"
"I'll bring you to the best ramen place in Tokyo"
"Well, who am I to refuse?😘"
"Won't it be risky for u tho?"
"What if they see us?"
"We'll be careful."
"And I'll go undercover 🥸"
"Hahahah ❤️"
"Seriously tho, r u sure abt this?"
"100%"
"Trust me babe. Mingyu has gone to a Maid cafe without getting noticed once"
"We'll be fine"
"If you say so"
"Come oooon, trust me Cheollie 😭"
"Oops, gotta go. Rehearsals."
"Love u babe"
"Love u too ❤️"
"I'll text u once we land"
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It was weird.
In a centuries old city like Tokyo, capital of Japan and filled to the brim with uniqueness, the first thing Seungcheol noticed was that his boyfriends face seemed to be just about everywhere.
Vending machines, on the sides of the bus, on the billboards in Shibuya, on the posters in the Subway.
While 'Pretty U' had been a huge hit internationally, in Japan the song had obliterated the competition.
It hadn't left the spot on the top of the charts for two months, when it first came out. And after that, it never dropped out of the top ten.
The man couldn't help but smile with pride, as they stumbled across yet another promotional poster with Jeonghan on it.
"That's my man. Right there" he giggled greedily, much so that Soonyoung couldn't help but side eye him, bringing two fingers to his mouth and faking a gag.
"Eeeew. Stop drooling on that poster hyung. Please. I'll throw up if you keep this up"
Now it was Seungcheol's turn to roll his eyes.
"You're jealous cause you're single Soonyoung."
"You wish!"
Jihoon just observed quietly as the two started bantering. Soonyoung was like an annoying younger brother to Seungcheol. One who could tease him all he wanted, and still be one of his best friends.
Soonyoung had that kind of aura. He was a sunshine that could warm up even the coldest days and hearts. He slipped through the cracks, somehow making everything better tenfold.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Huh. Jihoon's heart was feeling weird again.
He almost didn't notice how the other three had started walking on without him, until Soonyoung's bright voice called out to him again.
"We have pretty decent seats at the concert tomorrow" Wonwoo spoke up, his voice calm as he adjusted his glasses.
"... I could try shooting some good photos of Mingyu...."
Seungcheol perked up.
"Huh? Shoot photos of Mingyu?"
Wonwoo 's face went blank. In a way that screamed 'oh shit I was thinking out loud'.
Soonyoung also joined in, asking with a cheery curiousity:
"Oh! You're a fan of his? Really hyung?"
A few seconds passed to allow Wonwoo 's brain to process an answer, which came out in a voice that edged on a mumble. The man kept his eyes fixed on his feet as he spoke, the tips of his ears burning red in embarrassment.
"... I wanted to take some pics of him... Y'know, for my fanpage."
Silence.
The scene itself was something as tragic as much as it was absolutely comical.
Seungcheol and Soonyoung's jaws were scraping the ground in sheer shock.
Jihoon was as unphased as ever, through the slight grin he was sporting let a hint of amusement shine through.
Wonwoo wished for the ground to swallow him whole.
Because yes, he was a fan of Kim Mingyu.
A hopeless, die-hard fan. That man's fucking Number One fan, of he did say so himself.
Well, how could he not be? That man was the reason he decided to not throw himself off a bridge three years ago.
His performances had pulled him back from the deep end, given him a reason to live when he dropped out of college to work and care for his mom, when he was grieving her afterwards and had no one else.
Kim Mingyu was his saviour. And he was his hopelessly smitten number one fan.
But being a guy and being a fan of a boy group which was designed to appeal to teenage girls often resulted in people snickering behind his back.
So he had kept it hidden.
When anyone asked what music he was into, he just said 'general pop stuff '.
"That's cool, Wonwoo! Now I know what to buy you for you birthday next year"
"Yeah, dunno why you didn't tell us sooner. I mean, we talk about kpop all the time-"
"And listen to Seungkwan' s horrible girl group playlists"
The conversation moved on like normal. Like Wonwoo hadn't just accidentally dropped the biggest secret about himself.
His friends didn't judge him.
And it felt as if a huge weight had finally been lifted off his shoulders.
------------------------------------
"Where are u"
"Cheoooool"
"ಠ︵ಠ"
"Almost there."
Jeonghan looked up from his phone as soon as Seungcheol's message passed through.
The little ramen bar he usually went to with Joshua or Chan was a miniscule place tucked away in one of the many backstreets of Tokyo, in an alley so small it looked like it had come out of one of those aesthetic images on Pinterest.
Soon enough, Jeonghan made out a familiar silhouette approaching.
He couldn't help the smile that broke onto his features as soon as he recognised his boyfriend.
A sight he would truly never get tired of.
Seungcheol flashed him one of his handsome smiles (ugh, such a showoff), and walked over to Jeonghan, easily sneaking his arm around his boyfriends waist, leaving a gentle kiss on his forehead.
"Hey there, babe" he spoke, voice barely more than a whisper, and Jeonghan let out a soft giggle in response, wrapping his arms around Seungcheol's neck.
"Hey~" Jeonghan mused, smirking a bit. This time, it was Seungcheol's turn to chuckle.
"How's superstar life going?"
"Ah, where do I even start?" Jeonghan let out an over the top sigh: "endless rehearsals, photoshoots, you know, the usual."
Seungcheol hummed along, listening to Jeonghan's very detailed rant about his idol life.
They just do that, sometimes. He lets the other vent and talk about whatever is on his mind. And he also know that if Jeonghan has no one to rang to, he'll eventually just build up tension until he snaps.
Truth to be told, Seungcheol didn't mind. Jeonghan was too damn adorable, while he pouted and Rambled on about his Idol life shenanigans.
"Cheol~ You're letting me yap again." Jeonghan mused "I'm the one who should ask about your life."
"Hanie, I'm just a dude. You're the one with the interesting life worth talking about-"
"Choi Seungcheol, stop that. So, how did the talk with that dude go? What did he say about your song?"
"Well..." Seungcheol but his lip, desperately trying to hold back the smile that was threatening to break out. He rummaged through his bag, before taking out a cd case. A cd case with his name and his song on it.
Jeonghan's eyes went wide: "No way, he got you a publishing deal? For real?"
"Yup. I'm an Artist. Officially."
Jeonghan lit up at the excited expression in Seungcheol's face.
His boyfriend had really worked his ass off for this. Jeonghan had seen it all.
The sleep less nights hundens over a laptop, the endless hours spent writing lyrics and perfecting his flow, the street performances to get his name out there.
The insecurity, the anxiety, the drive.
It had all paid off in that little cd. The beginning of everything.
The cd case clattered as it hit the ground, forgotten from Seungcheol's fingers the moment Jeonghan closed the distance between them once again, crashing their lips together and kissing him like a man starved.
It wasn't exactly pretty. It never was, when they made out like this. The heat between was simply magnetic, and their lips moved together in a fierce rhythm, with the sole objective of feeling more of the other's mouth.
In the moment, they didn't care about anything else.
Jeonghan didn't even notice the soft click of a camera shutter in the distance.
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-May 3rd, 2020- ADORE.U FIRST WORLD TOUR: ODE TO U in TOKYO DOME.
As soon as the lights went out, the arena broke out in cheers.
The giant Led screens near the stage started showing the opening VCR. Then everything went dark again, except for the light blue glow of the sea of light sticks.
Unlike Jeonghan, Seungcheol had never really seen the point in these. Sure, they were pretty, but from a fan standpoint, it was just a fancy overpriced torch. The one he was waving right now was an extra that Wonwoo had lent him specifically for this.
Finally the opening tune played out loud. The 5 members of ADORE.U stepped on stage, in all their glory.
As soon as "Pretty.U" started playing, the stadium erupted into a thousand voices , singing along to every lyric.
Wonwoo was in tears as soon as Mingyu started singing his lines. Soonyoung knew the choreos by heart, and Jihoon pretended to not be interested in the taller boy's energetic display.
And Seungcheol?
Seungcheol had eyes only for Jeonghan.
He was gorgeous. Completely and utterly breathtaking.
His hair was styled in an array of small braids and soft curls. The white outfit he was wearing was bedazzled with iridescent shards of glass and shimmers, which shone like thousands of tiny diamonds under the light.
Fuck... You look like a heaven-sent being, love.
In that moment, despite the distance between the stage and Seungcheol's section, their two gases found each other.
Jeonghan's eyes instantly lit up, as he showed a smile meant for one person only.
A smile that shone brighter than the stage lights.
A smile that shone brighter than the stars in the Galaxy.
And now, everything felt so absurdly clear.
I could never love someone as much as I love you, Jeonghan. You're my star.