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He gets the call in the morning and can barely register what his manager is saying. But even with his distracted mind he picks up a few words: Hyesoo, bully, scandal, Dear. M, postponed, cancelled. None of it feels real. Hyesoo had always been so nice to him, making a conscious effort to provide him with whatever support he needed as he transitioned into being an actor. He can’t imagine her as a school bully.
He goes through the day in a daze, completely on autopilot as he travels through the apartment on his way to filming for Inkigayo. Interrupted only by Jungwoo’s sorry voice.
“Hyung we heard the schedules for your drama were cancelled and it might be postponed. Are you okay?” He says.
And he knows that Jungwoo is trying to help, only trying to be a good roommate and friend, but Jaehyun doesn’t want to talk about it, not now at least. Not when he’s already running late to another job he’s losing in the next week.
“I’ll be fine.” Jaehyun replies. What else could he say?
“Hey, maybe you could guest star on Yuta’s radio show instead.” Jungwoo cherrily suggests. His boyfriend sitting next to him looks mortified, hitting Jungwoo sharply with his elbow. And even when it feels like his entire world is crumbling, he still finds Yuta so cute. Just seeing him makes him feel a bit better.
Jungwoo whines at the contact, but Yuta pays him no attention and looks directly at Jaehyun. His eyes are determined. Jaehyun knows Yuta will want to talk later, and he isn’t sure how to handle that.
Yes they’ve always been friends and talked about serious subjects, but it’s different now. For one, they’re dating now, and two, they’ve never really talked about their respective careers until Yuta considered leaving. What right does Jaehyun have to complain? Yes his drama might not air, but Yuta didn’t even get the chance to audition for a drama.
Jaehyun sighs and walks out the door. He needs to leave before he’s late and he knows Yuta will be there once he’s back.
Inkigayo goes well, at least Jaehyun thinks so. It was hard for him to be a good host when his mind was somewhere else the entire time, but he doubts anyone will notice his less than happy hidden feelings. After all, he is an actor now.
He checks his phone as soon as he’s out of wardrobe, expecting a text from Yuta and smiling when he sees the notification.
Yuta 🥰
When are you coming home? I miss you 🥺
He texts him that he’ll be back in an hour and gets in the car, ready for the silent drive back home.
Once he enters his room he sees Yuta lying on his bed with his Goku pajamas on, reading a book he’s been asking him to read for weeks. He looks ridiculous, and it makes Jaehyun laugh for the first time in days.
Yuta grins at him and pats a spot next to him on the bed. Once Jaehyun finally makes his way to the bed and lays down, Yuta wastes no time in wrapping his arms around his waist.
“I switched with Jungwoo tonight.” Yuta says while nuzzling Jaehyun’s neck. “Do you want to talk about it?”
And Jaehyun does, but he doesn’t want to make Yuta feel bad. He knows that Yuta knows it’s not Jaehyun’s fault that he’s mismanaged, but it still makes him feel unbelievably guilty that it’s happening. That he gets things Yuta can’t even ask for.
“Jaehyun stop thinking about me as your coworker and think about me as your boyfriend.” Yuta says gently, almost as if he can read Jaehyun’s mind. “I promise I’m okay. That’s why I go to therapy now.”
Jaehyun smiles. Yuta’s always so funny even in the hardest of times. He’s so thankful someone like him decided to be with someone like Jaehyun.
“It just doesn’t make sense to me. She always seemed like such a nice person, so what if it’s all a lie?” Jaehyun says.
He can feel Yuta tense up next to him. “Bullies can hide really easily Jaehyun. I know people lie about celebrities, but it’s also just possible they’re finally ready to tell their story now.”
He plays with Yuta’s blond hair. Jaehyun wonders how his hair can still stay so soft after bleaching it so often. “I guess, but it just seems so unfair, she isn’t the only one that worked on the drama.”
Yuta hums into his shoulder. “Jaehyun, try to think of it from the victim’s point of view. They have to see someone who tormented them become famous, while they still live with trauma.”
Jaehyun suddenly realizes that Yuta seems a little too empathetic for the victims. “Have you been bullied?”
“I wouldn’t call it bullying.” Yuta mutters. “Some kids used to call me helmet and make fun of how my family didn’t have that much money. But it wasn’t bullying.”
Imagining a small Yuta get made fun of makes his body burn red. Yuta never deserved that for things he couldn’t control. Jaehyun makes a silent promise that he’ll make sure Yuta never feels like he did as a child as long as he’s around.
“It just feels like everything I worked for was for nothing.” Jaehyun says. All those late nights memorizing scripts, all those long drives to film, what did he have to show for it?
“You don’t know that they’ll cancel the drama yet. Maybe they’ll find out it was all a lie, and just postpone, or maybe they’ll replace the actress.” Yuta proposes.
Jaehyun honestly isn’t excited about having to re-film all of his scenes. “But what if they do? Cancel the drama I mean.”
Yuta moves his head off of Jaehyun’s shoulder. He puts his hand on Jaehyun’s cheekbone and begins to stroke it.
“You’re Jeong Jaehyun. You have networks asking for you to star in their next big drama and designers begging for you to attend their shows.” He says while staring at Jaehyun with kind eyes. “You’ll get another opportunity to act even if this one doesn’t work out, and I’ll be right there with you.”
Jaehyun smiles and tilts his head down to give Yuta a quick kiss. He’s filled with so much gratitude for the older man he could burst. The words “I love you” almost leave his lips, but Jaehyun knows it’s too fast, too soon, for Yuta who only recently reciprocated his feelings.
“Thank you.” He says instead, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend, ready to be overtaken by sleep.