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Jaemin was still tidying up his stage accessories in the corner of the room when he felt someone approaching him. His eyes glanced at the reflection in the nearest makeup mirror. It was Renjun.
The older just stood beside him, not intending to just say hello, let alone to start a conversation. After finishing his business, Jaemin then turned his attention to the silent boy who was playing with some makeup tools above the desk.
"What's wrong, Renjun?"
The one being asked flashed an awkward smile, his eyes refused to look back into Jaemin's gaze. He seemed hesitant to say any words. The two of them were silent for a few seconds, then the older broke the silence.
“You know,” Renjun paused, choosing the right words, “You have quite some fluffy cheeks.”
Jaemin's eyes blinked rapidly. That wasn't something he expected would come out from Renjun's mouth. The cold environment—whether it's from the air conditioner that blew loudly above his head or from Renjun's previous mysterious attitude, have made Jaemin think that he just made some mistakes on stage and he was about to get scolded.
Despite having his tip of fingers freeze due to the cold air, Renjun could feel his whole body sweating out of nervousness. He immediately regretted his life choices—throwing himself into an embarrassment just to say a dumb, impulsive statement. The younger didn't make the situation any better, he just looked at him questioningly without even trying to answer.
"Can you please say something?"
Jaemin's laugh broke. “That caught me off guard. Should i say thank you? Or… I know ? I gained some weight recently, so it's kinda expected."
Jaemin averted his gaze, looking at himself in the mirror. He lightly tapped his cheeks with both palms of his hands. As an idol who must always maintain his perfect appearance in front of the camera, of course he could clearly see his slightly thicker face. He didn't, in any way, want to fulfill that infamous toxic beauty standard since people has pointed out how unhealthy it is, but his job still required him to have some beauty targets.
Renjun could clearly see Jaemin's reflection in the mirror. He was stunning, of course, especially with the stage makeup that emphasizes his features, but his expression was unreadable. “That was a compliment, by the way. A genuine one.”
Jaemin shifted his attention back to Renjun. Then he flashed a smile. "If so, then now we both have the same cute, lovely fluffy cheeks."
The younger grinned when he noticed Renjun's cheeks slowly decorated with a tinge of red. Renjun was so adorable, always has been since day one, but Jaemin really loved it when he blushed—the cuteness went up, like, ten times higher.
Jaemin then noticed that the older was just standing there, covered in silence. "Did you come here just to say that?"
“No, actually,” Renjun quickly answered, as if he's running out of time. “I… Can I touch it again?”
Renjun's words left Jaemin with a puzzled expression for the second time. Jaemin's memory was thrown into his stage performance some moments ago. Their pair dance on Candy always ends with a small gesture before moving on to Renjun's part. The initial gesture was that they made a love sign like in the MV, but they also made other variations for the promotion, like that one promotion stage where Jaemin made a surprised face when Renjun gave him a love sign.
Today's performance was no different. They planned the gesture before going on stage. Renjun suggested several kinds of love signs—the small one with two fingers, the big one above their head, or just go back to that one in the MV, or perhaps, just placing their hands over each other’s shoulders. Jaemin then replied, just use the cutest one. Renjun frowned, that wasn't helping at all. But a few minutes before going on the stage, Renjun suddenly stated, let's just show your adorable face, then. Long story short, Renjun finally made the gesture of him cupping Jaemin's face with his hands as the fans could see in today’s SBS Gayo Daejeon stage.
“Sure,” Jaemin answered after a bit of thinking. "You usually just pinch it without any warnings. I don't know why you feel the need to ask permission this time."
Renjun shrugged. "Your fault for making it suddenly awkward by not responding to my compliment."
Jaemin answered with a chuckle as he brought his face closer to the older. Renjun's hands were then placed on top of the two fluffy cheeks. He patted them, occasionally gently pinching them. Renjun couldn't help but to feel so in awe. He didn't even know the purpose of doing this, he was just letting his impulsive thoughts win.
It wasn't too long until Jaemin opened his mouth again. "For this, can I get something in return?"
Renjun's hand stopped pinching Jaemin's cheeks. "What is it?"
Jaemin swept his eyes around him. Their waiting room was quite spacious, filled with their group members, managers, and other staffs. Everyone seemed busy with their own business. Jisung and Jeno were playing on their phones, Chenle was indulging himself with some snacks, also Mark and Haechan who weren't there—maybe they were going somewhere with other NCT 127 members. The staff didn't even pay attention to him and Renjun, the two of them were somehow covered by stage outfit hangers, so Jaemin got the courage to continue what he just said.
“Your lips.”
Renjun suddenly tensed up. Jaemin didn't speak loudly, but with their current position—his hand on Jaemin's cheeks and the distance between the two faces weren't that far away—made Renjun sure that he didn't hear it wrong.
“What do you mean by—”
“Like this.” Jaemin cut off Renjun's sentence by bringing his face closer to Renjun's, so close that both of them could feel their warm breath in the middle of the cold room. An arm curled to the back of Renjun's waist, pulling him closer. “Can i?”
Renjun gulped. He could catch himself blushed, but Jaemin didn't flash any grin like before—he wasn't teasing him. The older inhaled some air before opening his mouth again. "Well … who am i to refuse that?"
Renjun's hands that were still on Jaemin's cheeks pulled him closer, then their lips met. Jaemin's arm pulled Renjun even closer, until Renjun could feel Jaemin's heart racing very fast. Or even his, too. Jaemin kissed him back softly, slowly absorbing them into their own world. Renjun’s thumbs caressed the fluffy cheeks he was playing with before, squeezed it as the kiss went deeper before moving his hands on the younger’s shoulders. He melted into Jaemin's arm that held him gently behind his back.
But the kiss didn't even last for a minute. A loud shouting voice parted their kiss. It was Mark, who suddenly entered their waiting room to call Jisung to make a TikTok challenge together. They held their breath while looking nervously at the door, slowly distancing their bodies. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately for them, nothing happened. Jisung was already sitting near the entrance so Mark didn’t need to look for him to the point he noticed two of his members were sticking together in the corner of the room. Other people in that room only shifted their attention to Mark for a bit, then went back to their own business again.
Jaemin sighed. "This is still a public place, after all." He released his grip on Renjun's waist, then pulled the nearest chair for him to sit on.
Renjun rubbed both of his hands together as the warmth from Jaemin's embrace went away. He wasn't the type who gets cold easily as the winter in his hometown was much colder than this, but losing a warm touch all of a sudden wasn't something he wished for. "But, was that enough, though?"
"Huh?"
"The kiss, you were the one asking for it."
"Oh. I only planned to steal a peck, honestly." Jaemin smirked. "But it seems like my partner actually wants more."
The older's face shimmered with red again.
"We can always continue it, you know, the restroom isn't that far from here."
Renjun snapped out of his bubbly feelings, shifted his soft gaze into a death stare.
"I know it's you who's craving for something even more." Renjun reached out Jaemin's cheek again, this one was to pinch it real hard.
Jaemin growled in pain with a grin on his face.
Renjun pushed the outfit hanger nearest t him to get the shortest way to the entrance. "Whatever. I'm going out to greet some friends."