Chapter Text
the morning of comeback day was never easy. juyeon felt ready to sleep before he’d even left his bed. it was 4am, a whole hour before they had to leave to prepare for their pre-comeback live and then showcase later in the afternoon. despite the excitement of the day, it also felt a little bit like he was in hell.
he’d rested well at least, the week off had been much more calming and needed than he’d originally assumed and hyunjae had been with him for the most of it. juyeon found that he’d claimed a permanent space in the older’s office even sometimes helping him organise papers or print documents. hyunjae was glad of his help despite the fact that he always called juyeon a distraction however the lack of the younger boy’s presence was definitely noticeable as soon as he went back to practicing.
after that week, juyeon had thrown himself back into preparations but this time with a clearer mind and healthier outlook. he, changmin and chanhee perfected the dance quickly and they found that they were ahead of schedule and could spend the few days running up to the release focusing on minor issues they usually didn’t have time to address.
now though, there were no preparations left to do. juyeon had showered, got himself dressed and eaten breakfast and now he was playing the waiting game as he sat scrolling through his phone.
“you ready?” chanhee asked as he came down the stairs holding what seemed like 15 different pots of face creams.
“yeah, i think i woke up earlier than i needed to,” juyeon hummed out a response and chanhee only scoffed.
“i wish changmin was like you, he’s just gotten in the shower with 25 minutes to go, it’s almost like we’re not coming back today.”
at those words, chanhee sighed and walked quickly into the kitchen. juyeon could never do his job, he really didn’t know how chanhee dealt with making sure they were all ready and prepared on time every day. he knew that he and changmin were nuisances but their leader simply took everything in his stride without ever getting genuinely angry with them. it was admirable and juyeon would really have lost his mind by now trying to be a leader.
thankfully, changmin appeared just as their manager knocked upon the door and before they knew it, they were in the car heading to the studio where their pre-comeback live would be held. this was always the least stressful part of the day, they’d talk a little about the process, recording, mv shooting and whatever else they thought was interesting. juyeon always liked to be thrown in a few spoilers to get their fans even more excited for the release, it was always nice to know that the fans were looking forward to the songs and performances that they had worked so hard on.
just as they had finished getting ready, juyeon spotted hyunjae at the doorway. he was talking to one of their managers animatedly and juyeon could tell just how excited he was by the look on his face. excited hyunjae had a certain glow about him, his eyes always sparkled with a beautiful joy and he tended to want to talk to anyone who would listen to him ramble on about whatever it was he was looking forward to. when the ceo spotted juyeon approaching him, he quickly excused himself and rushed over to greet the younger boy.
“juyeon!” he beamed, “you look so good, are you nervous?” he asked and juyeon couldn’t help but grin from his infectious delight.
“a bit,” he answered honestly, “but i’m more nervous for the reactions to the song and the showcase later, this is the easy part.”
hyunjae nodded and his expression turned to a more serious one as he looked juyeon in the eyes, “i’m sure it will go great, the songs and performances are so good and when have you ever failed at anything you’ve put your mind to?”
juyeon really would never get used to hearing those kinds of words coming from hyunjae’s mouth. after everything that had happened, everything he had said, there was still somewhat of a novelty to hearing hyunjae say that he believed in him. in his heart, of course, juyeon knew that the older didn’t still think in the way he had back then and he would always believe in juyeon with everything he had but to hear him say it so openly still made juyeon’s heart race.
“thank you,” he spoke out quietly but honestly.
“you don’t need to thank me,” hyunjae replied simply, “this is all you.”
the ceo excused himself then as he went over to talk to chanhee and then changmin. juyeon watched him in awe as he wiped their nerves away with a few simple sentences and morphed their anxiety into excitement. putting into words just how much hyunjae meant to him would have been impossible before but now juyeon felt as if he was about to explode with emotion every time he even thought about the older boy.
hyunjae had quite literally done everything for him, he’d saved the career that juyeon had lay everything on the line for and hadn’t even cared if it could be detrimental to his own. he’d cared for juyeon and supported him in a way that no one else had quite ever gotten close to and juyeon couldn’t be more grateful if he tried.
“juyeon, it’s time to go out into the studio,” their manager spoke behind him and juyeon nodded before walking out on to the set.
the theme of the live matched the concept of the album quite well. they were sat in what looked like a throne room each with their own grand chair, the mc was someone that juyeon hadn’t heard of before but he seemed friendly enough as he introduced himself quickly and ran through some of the questions he would be asking.
at 11am they finally went live. it started with a quick introduction then they unboxed their albums, juyeon was surprised at how well it had turned out and he promised their fans that this was definitely their best album yet to which chanhee and changmin nodded in agreement.
the question section went smoothly. they answered some questions from their fans about fun moments during the production and the mc asked them a few things that expanded on this. juyeon found that he didn’t need to think much until the final question was asked.
“is there anyone, aside from your fans of course, that you would like to thank for their help during this journey?”
chanhee stepped in to answer immediately, he thanked their choreographers, managers, stylists and almost everyone juyeon could think of other than one person, a person who was watching from behind the camera.
as their leader finished talking and the mc looked to juyeon and changmin for their answers, juyeon brought the microphone up to his mouth and looked straight into hyunjae’s eyes. “there’s someone else i’d like to thank, our new ceo has helped us a lot not only with the process of creating the album but in looking after us when we were overworking and making sure we ate our meals and drank enough, i really would have been a mess without him i think.”
juyeon found that he had to tear his eyes away from hyunjae after speaking or he might have ran from his chair to hug him. the older had tears collecting in his eyes and his gaze was so soft that juyeon wasn’t quite sure how he hadn’t melted under it.
he avoided hyunjae’s stare right until the live ended, it was more difficult than he expected but juyeon was nothing if not a professional and if that meant ignoring the lee hyunjae to focus on his job then that was what he had to do.
as soon as the live ended however, juyeon thanked the staff and was out of his seat like a shot heading in the direction he had seen his ceo leave in. he wandered through a few corridors before finding hyunjae stood in an empty dressing room checking something on his phone. he pocketed the device as soon as he noticed juyeon’s presence and the younger boy watched as his whole face lit up.
“you were very nice about me,” hyunjae teased as he brushed a few stray strands of hair away from juyeon’s face.
“i don’t know what you mean, i was just scoring some brownie points with my new ceo,” the idol teased back and hyunjae fake an offended expression.
“fine, i know where i stand,” hyunjae folded his arms and pretended to huff but juyeon only reached out to unfold them and take hyunjae’s hand in his own instead.
“i meant it you know,” juyeon spoke quietly as he fiddled with the ring on hyunjae’s finger, “i really don’t know what i’d have done without you.”
“well, i’m glad i was there then,” hyunjae responded finally before placing a feather light kiss on juyeon’s forehead, “i hope you’ll let me be here for you always.”
“i’d love to,” juyeon poured every emotion in to those words and he knew that hyunjae felt it from the way his smile stretched across his whole face.
“we’ll continue this conversation tonight, you have an album releasing in 5 minutes you should probably go back to your members,” hyunjae laughed a little and proceeded to shoo him out of the room.
fighting back the blush that formed on his cheeks proved to be one of juyeon’s hardest tasks yet and if chanhee and changmin noticed anything as he sat down next to them, they didn’t say anything. instead, they sat and celebrated the release together before filming their reaction to the mv and reading down some of their fan’s responses.
“this person said that they can tell we helped create this album, they think we’ve finally found our true colours,” changmin grinned as he read a comment out and chanhee instantly looked over his shoulder to read it too.
for juyeon, it felt like everything was falling into place. their comeback song had landed a high place on the chart in its first hour and there was a general consensus from pretty much everyone they’d seen that this was their best album yet. having hyunjae by his side on top of all of this just made it feel like things couldn’t possibly get any better.
even the showcase went well, they performed their routines flawlessly and juyeon looked out across the arena and wondered when they had gained so many fans. every single person in that room was there just to see the three of them and the euphoria of that realisation pushed every hardship, and every struggle to the back of juyeon’s mind. as always, it had all been worth it.
when he came off stage, juyeon felt the happiest that he could ever remember. despite the exhaustion that was seeping into his body, he felt invincible as if he could climb any mountain or cross any desert.
“that was amazing,” changmin beamed as he flopped down on the sofa next to where juyeon sat, “we really did that, we did everything perfectly.”
“and your song just hit number one,” hyunjae walked into the room with a grin that rivalled even that of juyeon’s. he shoved his phone in front of their faces and chanhee pulled it out of his hand to take a look.
“number one on melon,” changmin breathed out, “i think i’m gonna faint.”
“that’s my thing,” juyeon replied quickly earning him a smack on the head from chanhee but he didn’t even care. how was it that his day that couldn’t have possibly gotten better just did? things like this weren’t supposed to happen to people like him and juyeon didn’t know if it was a product of luck, hard work or both but it was real and right in front of him.
“i’m so proud of you all and so glad your hard work paid off,” hyunjae smiled, “do you want to go out to eat to celebrate? my treat?”
“free food too, can this get any better?” changmin laughed as he grabbed a wipe from the table next to them and began taking the makeup off his face.
“i don’t think so,” juyeon laughed as he copied his actions.
he truly meant it too.
here, juyeon was surrounded by pretty much everyone he was desperate to keep close. everything he had ever wished and worked for was right in front of him and he could finally hold it with both of his hands and then there was hyunjae. hyunjae who had come hurtling back into his life whether he wanted it or not and juyeon, despite his initial reservations, had wanted it so much.
“juyeon, can i speak to you for a minute?” hyunjae asked and the younger boy nodded following him outside into the corridor and down to an empty dressing room much like the one they had found themselves in earlier that day.
as the ceo gently shut the door behind them, juyeon looked up at him. “what is it?” he asked as he took a seat on one of the sofas.
“i just wondered,” hyunjae began unsurely, gaze falling to the floor, “what exactly are we?”
juyeon found himself stumped by the question. it wasn’t difficult for him; he knew exactly what he wanted them to be but he also knew that it was him who had initially asked for things to move slowly. he was scared of confusing the older boy or of him misunderstanding his intentions.
“i-“ juyeon began, “well i… there’s something i’d like us to be.”
a flicker of what looked a lot like hope flashed through hyunjae’s eyes and he took juyeon’s hand in his own, “what’s that?”
“well, what would you like us to be?” juyeon deflected, still scared of reading the situation wrong despite hyunjae being as obvious as he possibly could.
“you know that i still love you so much,” hyunjae admitted, “i’d love for you to be my boyfriend again.”
juyeon wondered if it was possible for someone to cash in every single bit of their luck all within a few hours. he took in the sight of hyunjae’s face, his eyes that held enough love to bring peace to a thousand galaxies and he felt breathless at the sight.
“i love you too,” juyeon began as he poured his heart out for hyunjae to see, “and i’d love to be your boyfriend again as well.”
the older all but launched himself on top of juyeon as he spoke before planting hundreds of kisses all over his face. “you have no idea how long i’ve been wanting this,” hyunjae grinned looking as if he was close to tears, “i literally thought about you every day and never ever did i think that this would be possible, i love you so much that i genuinely don’t know what to do with all of these feelings.”
the younger only laughed at his boyfriend’s words, he knew exactly how hyunjae felt. for so many years he was too full of love with nowhere to go and now that hyunjae was back here and his again, he once again was able to let his feelings flood into the open.
dinner that night was spent with hyunjae holding juyeon’s hand secretly under the table. they’d decided not to tell anyone until the comeback was finished with and juyeon was glad of this, he didn’t want his relationship to serve as a distraction even for him. at least hyunjae understood this and of course, as the company’s ceo he knew first-hand how important concentration and focus was to make the comeback as successful as possible.
“excited for the music show recordings?” hyunjae questioned as finished eating and set his chopsticks down.
“i’m excited to perform for the fans but not for the fifty thousand hours of getting ready it takes,” changmin sighed, “just thinking about it makes me exhausted.”
“imagine how it was when i was mcing and performing at the same time,” juyeon shuddered, “it was fun but the preparation had me wanting to sleep for six years straight afterwards.”
“that bad?” hyunjae questioned with an amused smile.
“worse than that,” chanhee chimed in, “he never even used to speak when we got home, he’d just go straight to bed in his clothes it was gross.”
juyeon tried to defend himself but his attempts were fruitless and chanhee took great delight in telling hyunjae all of the gross things juyeon sometimes did when they were trainees or still did now. despite his boyfriend’s protests and the topic of conversation, hyunjae enjoyed finding out more about the years of juyeon’s life that he had unfortunately missed.
as time passed, he realised that idol juyeon wasn’t so different from high schooler juyeon and in all honesty, hyunjae had expected that. he’d never thought of juyeon as someone who would let themselves be impacted by fame. he was still the same guy who got excited over meeting his favourite celebrities, he was still the same guy who would never turn down the offer of free food despite his bank balance, he was still just juyeon and to hyunjae that was one of the greatest things about him.
despite everything and all of the time that had passed, juyeon had always stayed true to himself and hyunjae was determined to never miss out on any of juyeon’s years again.