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As far as men go, Jaehyun likes to consider himself a pretty good one. He doesn’t lie, or cheat, or treat people badly. He just wants to live his life and make the money he needs to provide for his family. A good man.
So when his agent asked him if he wanted to be the host of a show, one on a major streaming network, he said yes without reading too much of the fine print.
The show goes like this: Jaehyun is hired by not-so-happy couples on the verge of marriage or breakup to help them either fix or abandon their love lives. He’s the Long Island Medium of relationship therapy, you could say.
Both he and the show are received well by watchers.
Him because he’s a romantic at heart, and the producers do everything they can to emphasize that (including mentioning his birthday as frequently as possible and even calling him Valentine Boy, once), and the show because…well, it’s entertaining for people to see the insanity that is other people’s relationships.
The couples are amusing at best (easily persuaded into realizing that sometimes you just have to Talk to work things out) and absolutely terrifying at worst (the type of relationships where Jaehyun genuinely questions if he’s doing a bad thing by not calling the police about it).
That all being said, he’s not exactly sure why he’s stood here, in “Nation’s Dream Boy” Lee Haechan’s house, across from said (very grumpy) Dream Boy and his less-than-thrilled partner.
Lee Haechan—Lee Donghyuck, as Jaehyun should probably get used to calling him—has been famous for practically his whole life, since he was 15 or so. He quickly climbed the charts and wormed his way into nearly every citizen’s heart, the young and the old, the rich and the poor. As far as Jaehyun knows (as far as the tabloids are aware), he’s been happy together with his partner for around 5 years, so he’s not sure what exactly his job here is. He also hadn’t realized that the Nation’s Dream Boy would be so…obnoxious.
“I still think that this is the stupidest thing that has ever happened to me.” He says, sulking on the couch. “And a lot of stupid shit has happened to me.”
His partner rolls his eyes, seated next to him. “They’ve said 3 times that we can’t back out of the episode now. We might as well get it over with.”
“Uhm,” Jaehyun interrupts. “You’re actually scheduled for a 3 episode grand finale. Sorry.”
Haechan throws up his hands in disbelief. “How did we even get signed up for this?! There’s nothing wrong with our relationship. And we aren’t contemplating marriage.”
His partner laughs like this is funny, but Jaehyun isn’t really sure why.
Jaehyun exchanges glances with the producer and his co-host (kind of), Doyoung, who he is decidedly not in love with, who steps forward, looking all professional with his clipboard and paper (that probably has nothing written on them), to explain. “Well, we were actually contacted by your manager about it. Then our higher ups got excited about it, so they got involved, and ultimately both of your managers signed off on the agreement.”
Haechan’s partner looks confused. “Why would Johnny contact you about it in the first place, though?”
Doyoung looks at his clipboard. “It says here that he was encouraged to by your mother, Haechan.”
Which may have been the truth, but it certainly was not the right thing to say to Haechan, who’s seething. “Oh, I swear to God. I am nearly 30 years old! Can she butt out of my life?”
“First of all, you’re only 27.” His boyfriend says. “And maybe she’s getting involved because you’re this old and you still say things like ‘butt out’.”
“‘Butt out’ is a completely normal thing to say!” Haechan defends. “Just because you think it’s funny since it has the word ‘butt’ in it doesn’t mean that everyone’s thinking that.”
His partner side eyes him. “I wasn’t thinking that.”
“Just me, then?”
“Just you.”
“Okay,” Doyoung interrupts. “We’re scheduled to do our introductory interviews today, if that’s okay with you both? It’s supposed to give our viewers a little bit of background about you two.”
“Sure.” Haechan says, obviously uninterested. “There’s still really not a problem in our relationship, though, so you’re not going to have much to dig into.”
And Jaehyun has heard this a million times. ‘No, I promise, he loves me, really’ and ‘No, don’t worry, that’s just how she expresses her love for me’ and yeah, sure, it’s always possible that the people who say that are in relatively normal relationships with minor problems, but the general trend is that with everyone who says stuff like that comes with significant relationship issues.
Just because they’re buried beneath the surface doesn’t mean they’re not there, he always tells them.
-
“My name Huang Renjun.” Donghyuck’s partner says, when prompted to tell the camera about himself.
“Ohhhkay.” Doyoung says. “And what can you tell us about your life.”
“Donghyuck and I met through mutual friends.” Renjun explains. “They thought we’d get along, you know, platonically. And then we ended up together.”
“We didn’t ask about your relationship with Donghyuck.” Doyoung clarifies, and Jaehyun knows him well, so he can tell that he’s becoming frustrated. Jaehyun begins to pray for all involved that the rest of the week will be better than the two hours they’ve been here so far. “We asked about you as an individual.”
“I don’t really feel comfortable giving my life story on a trashy reality TV show, sorry.” Renjun apologizes, and his words are phrased sarcastically, but his expression seems sincerely apologetic, as if he’s truly sorry that he doesn’t want to give more information, and Jaehyun is genuinely unsure whether or not he should feel insulted.
“Great. Well, that’s fine then.” Doyoung says, his face carefully blank. “Jaehyun? Do you want to start with the questions? Now that we’ve been given as much background as we are allowed to know, apparently.”
Renjun chooses not to refute this, so Jaehyun glances down at the form on his lap.
- How did the couple meet?
“How did the two of you meet?” Jaehyun asks.
“Right,” Renjun starts. “A friend of ours, Chenle, had been meaning to introduce us for a while.”
Renjun says this as if Chenle is not one of the most famous musical artists in current pop culture, second only to Donghyuck and maybe a few others in popularity, but certainly someone with a guaranteed household-name status, as if ‘our friend, Chenle,’ is not the Zhong Chenle. Which is absurd, in Jaehyun’s opinion.
“He set up a meeting for us at some party, and it’s history from there.”
“So you guys basically fell in love at first sight at that party?”
Renjun nods. “For me? Pretty much, yeah.”
“And when did that party occur?”
“2020?” Renjun asks. “Around then.”
“That was seven years ago.” Jaehyun comments.
“Yes.” Renjun says, as if this is a perfectly reasonable response.
And Jaehyun doesn’t follow Haechan, exactly; he doesn’t spend his time Googling what the latest news about the nation’s favorite star is. It’s just that it’s practically impossible to not follow Haechan. Just because he doesn’t actively pursue information about him as an artist nor as a person, doesn’t mean it’s easy to ignore what's going on in his life, not when the guy can go out to lunch and end up splashed on the front page of a gossip magazine simply for eating something new. Jaehyun feels bad for him—used to feel bad for him, rather, before he met him and realized how much of a pain in Jaehyun’s side he could be.
So of course Jaehyun found out when Haechan started dating his most recent partner. Started dating Renjun. It would’ve been hard not to know, and he knows for a fact that it was five years and four months ago, because he’s a good host and he does his research. So it’s surprising for Renjun to say that they met seven years ago, that it was love at first sight seven years ago.
Jaehyun is beginning to see concerns about their relationship.
“And you and Donghyuck started dating…?”
“January 2022. Five years and a few months ago.” Renjun says plainly.
“Right.” Jaehyun says, narrowing his eyes at Renjun.
Not a lot is known about him, despite having been spotlight adjacent for five years and a few months. Everyone’s assumed that he’s just particularly private, or that Haechan had just reached a point in his life where he didn’t need to take his boyfriend to every single red carpet, or that there didn’t need to be constant questions about their relationship in interviews, but Jaehyun is starting to rethink his readiness to accept that, now that Renjun is sitting in front of him, as flippant about the camera in front of him as he is about he and Haechan’s relationship.
- How do you think your relationship is going?
“Honestly?” Renjun asks.
“That is the point of the show, yes.” Jaehyun says.
“It’s going really well.” Renjun looks off towards the gardens through the window. “I didn’t think I’d ever get to be with someone like him.”
This is what he says, but Jaehyun sees it for what it really is: I didn’t think I’d ever date this super wealthy, famous guy and get my own wealth and fame off of him.
- Why do you think you’re on this show?
“I feel like this is kind of a private question.” Renjun says.
“It’s a show that’s literally made to invade your privacy.” Doyoung is clearly fed up. “Answer the question. Please.”
Renjun contemplates for a moment. “I think that there are a lot of people in Haechan’s life that question my sincerity.”
“Why do you think that?” Jaehyun asks.
Renjun shrugs. “They just don’t understand me very well, I guess.”
- How do you feel about your partner?
Renjun stays silent for a few moments after Jaehyun poses the questions.
"Honestly, he’s kind of an asshole.” He admits. Jaehyun hears a distinct ‘awww’ from the hall, despite the fact that he specifically told Haechan to stay away from this area since the preliminary interviews are supposed to be completely private. Even ignoring the blatant disrespect for the rules, absolutely nothing about what Renjun said was even remotely ‘aww’ worthy.
“In a good way, though.” Renjun continues, although Jaehyun isn’t really sure what being an asshole in a good way means. “He’s really passionate, and his dedication to his work really inspires me. He has an incredible ability with words, you know, it’s like…he’s really able to make a person second guess themselves solely based on what he says.”
There are red flags springing up at every single sentence spewed, at this point.
“Is there anything else you want from me?” Renjun asks, when not prompted for another question.
“No,” Doyoung says. “We’re all set.”
“Great. I’ll send Haechannie in, then?”
That’s the first time that Renjun has referred to Haechan with any sort of familiarity, but he’s still not even using his real name.
Jaehyun is beginning to see the truth in those insane Twitter conspiracy theories about the relationship. It’s not going to stop him from doing his job properly, of course, but he’s starting to genuinely believe that there’s something fishy about it all. Hopefully he’ll be able to get to the bottom of it by the end of the week.
-
“Thank you for being here, Haechan.”
“I would say it’s my pleasure but I really didn’t get that much of a choice, did I?” He says, the brightness in his voice contrasting the harsh words. Jaehyun is about 58% sure that that was a joke. Maybe less than that. “And please, Donghyuck is fine.”
Jaehyun clears his throat. “So, Donghyuck, how did you and Renjun meet?”
He frowns. “I don’t really remember it too well, honestly.” He says.
Jaehyung pauses, shocked. “Do you know when?”
“I dunno, sometime around 2018? Maybe even earlier.”
“And where did you meet him?”
“He’s a producer, you know” Jaehyun nods in confirmation. “I think we may have worked together around then. Nothing released, of course, just experimentation and seeing how we meshed.”
“Right.” Jaehyun says. “And how did you mesh?”
“Well, obviously. I ended up choosing a different song for the project, but I do remember liking Renjun. Of course, at the time that meant liking his style of music and very little else. I don’t make it a habit of mine to look at the people I work with as potential partners.”
“Sure.” Jaehyun agrees, ready to move on. “And how do you feel like your relationship with Renjun is going?”
Haechan—Donghyuck—smiles. “Well. He’s one of the best things that has ever happened to me.”
Which is saying a lot, given all of the accomplishments Haechan has made as an artist.
“Would you like to elaborate more on that?”
“It’s not too complicated, really.” Donghyuck says, “Just picture the best thing that could possibly happen to you ever in your life and multiply it by ten. That’s probably barely close enough to how I feel about Renjun.”
Jaehyun is picturing winning the lottery, though, and he’s quite sure that not a single person on this side of the Earth could be the slightest bit as content as he would be, let alone 10 times happier, let alone just because of dating someone, so Donghyuck is definitely lying.
“Why do you think you’re on this show, then?”
“Because my mother is a bitch.” Donghyuck says plainly.
“Haechan!” Doyoung cries. “We cannot air that.”
“Sorry,” He says, not seeming even a little bit sorry. “Let me do it over. We’re here because there are a lot of people in my life who are hypersensitive to my proximity to fame, and therefore wealth. I think some of them may have some concerns about my relationship, despite me telling them repeatedly that I am very much an adult, and so is Renjun, and we can both make decisions for ourselves. Is that better?”
Jaehyun is beginning to realize that the Nation’s Dream Boy is far less dreamy than he’s portrayed in tabloid magazines. It would make his life significantly easier if Haechan would just answer the questions plainly and then go about the week being perfectly content to be filmed in every aspect of his relationship, just like all of the other participants of the show have been.
“Better, thanks.” Jaehyun says before Doyoung can even open his mouth to speak. “Last question—how do you feel about your partner?”
Unlike Renjun’s contemplative face, Donghyuck immediately develops a dopey smile. “When I said he was one of the best things that has happened to me I wasn’t lying. He does a really good job of balancing me out, and he’s so attentive to my needs and wants, even when I haven’t realized them yet, and it’s always just completely obvious how much he cares about me.” Then he smirks. “He’s kind of obsessed with me, you know.”
(Renjun calls “No I’m not!” from outside, even though they’d also told him that he couldn’t listen in on the interview, and for the first time all day, right as Donghyuck is mouthing ‘Yes he is,’ Jaehyun thinks that maybe they really are meant to be together.)
-
“What’s our plan of action?” Jaehyun asks as he hoists the strap of the heavy bag he’s carrying back onto his shoulders.
“Well, there’s certainly some fishy aspects of their relationship.” Doyoung starts. “I mean, Haechan is infinitely more in love with Renjun than Renjun is with him. They might not be terrible for each other, I guess, but I understand his mother’s concerns about them, if that’s what they’re always like.”
Jaehyun hums. “It does seem like they fight a lot.”
“Never a good sign.” Doyoung agrees. “Donghyuck’s mother had almost nothing good to say about Renjun, so let’s keep an eye on him. And them together. We’ll start with some of our bonding exercises, right? We’ll follow them around their normal lives for the next two days, and then Thursday we can start with Read My Mind. I think we’ll uncover a lot of problems with that. And we’ll interview their friends and family, of course. The ones that we can contact, at least. Let’s plan on getting those interviews done tomorrow and Wednesday, overflow onto Thursday, and then Friday we’ll save for any wrapping up we want to do. Sound good?”
“Sure.” Jaehyun agrees easily. He doesn’t really care about their schedule. Most days end up being the same for him, even if he has to deal with a prickly A-lister pop star.
-
What he didn’t sign up for was dealing with multiple prickly A-lister pop stars.
It seems impossible, Haechan and Renjun’s friend group. Jaehyun should’ve known, since Renjun mentioned Zhong Chenle, but when asked if they have close friends to interview for the show, he didn’t expect them to list Lee Jeno, Na Jaemin, and Park Jisung along with Chenle.
“Oh, and Mark, of course.” Donghyuck nods.
“We really shouldn’t bother Mark, with the baby, I don’t know if—”
“What, he can’t come over from down the street? I’m surprised he hasn’t asked about all the trucks outside already.”
“He did.”
“He texted you about it and not me?”
“He thought you’d be filming!” Renjun defends.
Donghyuck pouts, sitting back on the couch. “Playing favorites, as always.” Renjun begins to protest when Donghyuck points at him, eyes narrowed and finger inches away from Renjun’s face. “He’s my best friend, you know. I’ve known him longer, don’t forget it.”
“I’m not trying to steal Mark from you.” Renjun rolls his eyes. He pushes Donghyuck’s finger away from his face, but Donghyuck pushes it back and starts poking Renjun’s cheek incessantly.
“Sorry about him.” Renjun says to them, acting like his boyfriend isn’t attempting to poke a hole through his face. “He’s not usually this grumpy. He’s still pissed about all of this.”
(Everyone ignores Donghyuck when he crosses his arms and says “Maybe I am usually this grumpy. You don’t know my life.” Renjun just raises an eyebrow at him and Donghyuck huffs.)
“Right.” Doyoung says hesitantly. Jaehyun’s surprised that he was able to sit through their entire conversation without interrupting.
Doyoung had originally just been a producer for the show, but the reception to his sarcastic commentary and dry one liners had been so positive that the showrunners had asked him to join Jaehyun as an off-camera host. Which is fine with Jaehyun, because his job becomes even easier if he only has to sit there looking pretty. He’ll save his brain power for things that actually matter, instead of wasting it on trying to figure out the best way to break up (or mend) a toxic couple. This couple, though, may actually take some brain power from both him and Doyoung.
“Sorry,” Doyoung continues. “You mean Mark Lee?”
“Yes.” Donghyuck says, before he notices their faces. “What? Everyone knows that he’s my best friend.”
“Yeah,” Jaehyun says. “But he’s like…famous.”
“ I’m famous!”
“Not like,” Jaehyun waves his hands. “Mark famous.”
Haechan and Mark are probably about the same level of ridiculously famous, actually, except Jaehyun’s little sister is a fan of Haechan and Jaehyun himself is a fan of Mark. The idea that Jaehyun could possibly meet him is…well, it’s for his job. So he can’t get too excited.
“Great, we’ll contact them. Are there any other questions you have for tonight?” Doyoung asks, easily changing the subject.
Renjun shakes his head. “You’ll be here tomorrow morning?”
“5am, to go with Donghyuck to the studio.” Doyoung affirms.
-
Donghyuck’s studio is nothing like how Jaehyun would’ve pictured it. It’s in a silver gray high rise building, as expected, with the name of Haechan’s company branded on the side. Haechan leads them through the security, signing them both in, and everything seems to go smoothly until they get to Haechan’s studio and he pauses outside.
“I’ve never actually shared this room on camera before.” He explains.
“Then why are you showing us?” Jaehyun asks, because thus far he’s been less than enthusiastic, and they’ve done nothing to deserve Donghyuck’s trust.
It’s just him and Doyoung behind the camera today, leaving as many people at home as they could just to ease the security risks for Haechan’s company.
Donghyuck shrugs and opens the door, leaving Jaehyun to exchange confused glances with Doyoung.
On the inside it’s far…homier than Jaehyun had expected. He’d had this idea about famous producers and artists, that their studios would be professional and chic, but Haechan’s practically looks like a toy chest threw up on it, there are so many knickknacks shoved in every corner. There’s a worn in yellow couch close to the door with a throw blanket draped over the back. On the opposite wall is the equipment, three large computer screens sitting in front of a desk. Next to the desk is a full electronic keyboard and both an electric and an acoustic guitar.
Donghyuck points to the couch. “I used to spend nights here, sometimes, but Renjun threatened me until I stopped sleeping over. Said it was bad for my health.” He walks further into the room. “Most of this stuff has been given to me by fans, but a lot of it is from the various places I’ve toured or gifts from friends.”
Doyoung points at the guitar. “I didn’t know you played.”
Donghyuck shrugs. “I’m not very good. I only have those in here because it forces Jisung to have to actually come and talk to me. He’ll be by soon, probably.”
Donghyuck sits down at the computers and puts on his headphones. “As much as I’d like to give a full tour, I’m not intending on letting any of this interfere with my actual schedule, so. Feel free to record, but I have stuff to do.”
Doyoung starts recording, then, even though the footage is just Donghyuck clicking at the computer keyboard and clicking the mouse, posture slouched and back to the camera.
Jaehyun tries to pay attention for a bit, assuming that Donghyuck will at some point have to take a break, even just glance at his phone, but instead he works steadily for nearly three full hours.
Three enormously boring and extremely quiet hours, the silence being broken up only by the clacking of Haechan’s keyboard.
Jaehyun is scrolling through Twitter on his phone when someone punches in the code on the door’s padlock and steps inside as it beeps.
“Hyung, my manager told me the weirdest thing this—” Park Jisung falls silent, staring at Doyoung and Jaehyun on the couch. He bows his head. “Uh, hello. I’m Jisung, it’s nice to meet you.”
Donghyuck turns around in his chair, slipping his headphones off. “Sorry, they won’t bother us. They’re here for filming.”
“It’s not…are they…I mean, this morning, my manager mentioned that you and Renjun are going to be on Love and Interventions?”
Donghyuck nods. “Yeah, it’s for that.”
“But isn’t it for—”
“Jisung.” Donghyuck interrupts, shooting glances at Jaehyun and Doyoung. “Let’s talk about it later.”
Jaehyun goes back to looking at his phone, as if famous guitarist Park Jisung of Faellusion is not standing in the room, as if he didn’t nearly just imply that Donghyuck and Renjun aren’t a couple. He sits scrolling through his Twitter, but his interest is piqued.
Jisung is a fantastic guitarist, and Donghyuck uses him to record samples for his demos. Jisung puts up a miniscule fight at the beginning, but is very easily swayed over and agrees to record samples with the promise that Donghyuck will buy him food.
Jaehyun gets the impression that both of them would do those things for the other regardless.
Jisung is a fantastic guitarist, but Donghyuck is very, very picky. He holds the people around him to the same strict standards he has for himself, and Jisung seems to know this, nodding amicably about the minor tweaks Donghyuck asks for that Jaehyun can’t tell the difference between, and willingly replaying and replaying and replaying so many times that Jaehyun is actually beginning to get bored in a room with Lee Haechan and Park Jisung.
By the time lunch rolls around, the two of them have made it through recording the backtrack of nearly an entire song, working slow but efficiently, spewing ideas and bouncing them off of each other until it settles into something finalized.
Jaehyun knew that they were under the same label, obviously, but they have such vastly different types of music that Jaehyun, along with most of the general public, had assumed that the band and Haechan were coworkers at best. Everyone knows that Mark Lee and Lee Haechan are best friends, of course, but it’s less common knowledge that they’re close with their other labelmates.
It’s not a secret, Jaehyun discovers as he swipes through Jisung’s Instagram (Haechan’s is almost exclusively used for promotions—he very rarely ever posts something personal), finding various pictures with Donghyuck in them, untagged, but still obviously him. The most frequent people who pop up are Jisung’s bandmates, drummer Jeno, vocalist Ningning, and bassist Karina, but also Haechan’s misfit group that he and Doyoung had had to contact the managers of last night, Mark, Jaemin, Chenle, and, of course, Renjun.
“Since Jisung is around now, would you guys want to interview him here?” Donghyuck offers suddenly, turning in his hair and seeming to surprise Jisung as much as Jaehyun and Doyoung.
Doyoung exchanges a glance with Jaehyun. “Sure.” He says, even though they hadn’t technically finalized the interview questions. Whatever. Jaehyun can roll with that.
-
“Okay, my name is Park Jisung. I’m in a band called Faellusion, I’m the guitarist. I’ve been playing guitar since I was 6 or 7, and I’m 25 now.”
Gone is the awkward, fumbling young adult ‘Jisungie’ that Jaehyun had seen him be around Haechan. In front of him sits Park Jisung, famous guitarist who is experienced in interviews, and stares into the camera professionally.
“Great, thanks. And how do you know Haechan and Renjun?”
“Oh, jeez.” He says, his hand coming up to play with the ends of his white hair, which looks nearly fluorescent in the lighting of the studio. “I’ve know Haechannie-hyung for almost forever. We went to the same music camp for a few years when we were kids, so that’s when we first met. I knew of him afterwards, obviously, but mostly I just thought it was funny that this kid I was summer camp friends with was a household name. Eventually SM reached out to the band and we ended up signing. Haechan had no idea, of course. The first time we ran into each other here he cried.”
“I did not!” Donghyuck calls from behind the closed door. Jaehyun kindly chooses not to comment on how he’s really not supposed to be listening. Again.
“He totally did.” Jisung insists. “And Renjun…actually I owe Renjun a lot.” It seems like a lot of people owe Renjun a lot. “He’s the one that put me in contact with Karina about the band, you know. He was my RA my freshman year of uni. He was a junior then, and he knew Karina from some of their classes. It was supposed to be a casual thing, the band, but we ended up getting a lot of streams and I dropped out, but I kept in contact with Renjun. Anyway, that was a long time ago, now. After he graduated, Renjun kept producing, and we worked with him sometimes. He introduced me to Chenle and I introduced him to Jeno and Mark, and eventually Chenle got it in his head that it would be a great idea to introduce Renjun and Haechan. It was the worst idea he ever had.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
Jisung looks hesitant to elaborate. “I mean, you’ve met them, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then you understand.” He shrugs.
Jaehyun very much does not understand, but it’s part of his contract that he’s not allowed to push too far if an interviewee doesn’t want to elaborate, so he moves on.
“What are your feelings about the couple being on this show?”
Jisung pauses. “I think that what they make of the show,” He speaks slowly, choosing his words carefully. “Is all completely up to them.”
“And do you think that it’s right for them to be on the show? You seem to be close to both of them, is it logical for them to be on a show about couples who have issues?”
“As I said,” Jisung shrugs. “What they make of the show is up to them.”
“Yeah, but—” Jaehyun starts, interrupted by the door pushing open.
“Alright, I think Jisung has said everything he wants to say.” Donghyuck says, poking his head through the door and smiling brightly. “I’ve brought a Jeno that you can bother instead, if you’d like.”
Lee Jeno is ridiculously handsome. And that’s coming from Jaehyun. Jeno’s handsomeness is practically otherworldly, and also absolutely terrifying. His near constant eye smile helps reduce this intensity, but Jaehyun’s seen videos of him on stage, he’s well aware of how passionate Jeno’s gaze can get. Not that he purposefully pursues videos of the band, of course, but…
“Great, we’ll talk to Jeno, then.” Doyoung agrees. “Donghyuck, Jisung, would you mind stepping outside?”
“Actually,” Donghyuck says. “I don’t feel comfortable leaving while you all are in the studio, sorry.”
“You literally just left us in here, though?” Doyoung protests.
“I changed my mind.” Donghyuck sits firmly on the couch a foot away from Jaehyun.
Jeno shakes Jaehyun’s hand as he sits down in the chair they’d pulled in from the hall for the interviews. Jaehyun thinks it should be illegal to look this good all of the time.
“Hi, I’m Lee Jeno, I’m 27 years old, and I’m a friend of Renjun and Donghyuck. I’m also the drummer for Faellusion.” Jeno’s wearing a striped shirt and messy hair, and his overall look makes him seem far younger than he actually is. Maybe it’s just because normal 27-year-olds don’t dress so well. Maybe it’s because he speaks so charismatically that it makes him easy to underestimate.
“I met Renjun in college. You just talked to Jisung, right? He probably told you about how Renjun introduced us all.” At Jaehyun’s nod, he continues. “Right, so I knew Renjun from that, and I met Haechan when Jisung introduced us all after we joined the company.”
“You’re close with Haechan now, right?”
Jeno nods. “I’m close with both of them.”
“How did you and Haechan end up getting so close?”
Jeno looks confused at the question, as if it’s only logical that the drummer of a pop-punk band and a bubblegum pop star singer would be good friends. “There weren’t a lot of people our age in the industry at the time. I was 20 and was a recent college drop-out with a new contract and more money than I knew what to do with. Haechan was around and more than willing to give advise to us.” Jeno laughs a bit. “Sometimes a little bit too willing. We didn’t always want to hear it. I guess that’s why we’re close. Our personalities work well together.”
“He means that he tolerates my bullshit very well.” Donghyuck comments from beside him.
Jaehyun sighs. “You really aren’t supposed to even listen to these interviews, let alone comment on them.”
“It’s fine.” Doyoung says. Jaehyun stops himself from rolling his eyes. Of course Doyoung has a soft spot already. Jaehyun definitely, completely does not feel the same way.
“Alright, then. Next question. What are your feelings about the couple being on this show?”
“I think…it could be good for them.”
Finally, and answer with some actual substance to it. Jaehyun shoots a glance at Donghyuck, ready to see him looking shocked, but Donghyuck looks as relaxed as ever, leaning back on the couch calmly.
“Would you like to elaborate on that?” Jaehyun holds his breath, waiting for Jeno to refuse.
“Sure. I think that any opportunity that people have that can help other people understand each other better is a great opportunity.”
“You don’t think they should be on the show because their relationship is…unhealthy?” Jaehyun prompts, because Jeno had just pulled the classic ‘say something while also not saying anything’ interview answer. Donghyuck scoffs besides him.
Jeno’s face shifts into a glare for a second, but he schools it so quickly that Jaehyun thinks he may have imagined it. “I think it’s difficult for a person outside of a relationship to decide what things are good and what things are bad. You know?” He smiles so brightly that Jaehyun is positive that he’d imagined the glare, but he still feels contrite, as if he’d actually been scolded.
“Right.” Jaehyun says. He turns to Doyoung. “Is there anything else we want to ask?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll try to get into contact with Mark, Jaemin, and Chenle and see if they can do their interviews today. You’ll stay here with Donghyuck and continue filming his day, is that okay?”
Jaehyun nods. He doesn’t really want to pass up the opportunity to speak to Mark Lee, but he’s also already exhausted by the two interviews he just did. Hopefully some of the other ones will at least give them something good.
Doyoung, and eventually and reluctantly Jeno, end up leaving the studio. Jaehyun checks on the camera they’ve set up, and goes back to scroll on his phone. He is absolutely not trying to research Huang Renjun and trying to find out what this dude’s deal is.
He thought it was silly, earlier, when Doyoung made unusual allowances for Donghyuck, but that doesn’t mean that Jaehyun hasn’t also already begun to care about the boy. He’s very obviously incredibly dedicated to his work, and his friends speak very highly of him. And Donghyuck is far kinder than most celebrities Jaehyun has met, even if he can also be the absolute worst.
So the Renjun thing is really stumping him. Their friends don’t seem too concerned, which is good, but Donghyuck’s mother had been so genuinely concerned on the voicemails that Doyoung had played for him that Jaehyun had been convinced that there’s something fishy going on here. Just because all of Haechan’s friends like Renjun doesn’t mean the boy isn’t a gold digger.
You can be a good person and still enjoy nice, shiny things.
Scamming a celebrity into a long-term relationship for monetary purposes may be crossing the line of ‘good person,’ though.
The thing is, seeing the way that Donghyuck and Renjun act together, it’s so obvious that Donghyuck loves Renjun so, so much more. And he’s borderline obnoxious about it.
A person can only deal with something like that if they have a huge reward for it. Like a lot of money. Or nice gifts.
Jaehyun:
Ask all of the friends who they think loves the other more.
Doyoung:
Like who loves which friend more?
Jaehyun:
Between Donghyuck and Renjun who loves the other more.
Doyoung:
Ohh gotcha
I’ll add it to the list.
Donghyuck does a whole lot of nothing during the day.
“Aren’t you, like, preparing to release a single soon? Shouldn’t you have vocal rehearsals and dance practices and everything?” Jaehyun asks, not caring if his question is inappropriate. He can’t comprehend how Donghyuck sits in here all day and doesn’t feel claustrophobic.
“Even pop stars have days off.” Donghyuck shrugs. “Legally, I have to.”
“This is your day off?” Jaehyun asks, sitting up from his spot on the couch. “Why aren’t you spending it with Renjun?”
Donghyuck swivels around in his chair to look at Jaehyun directly. “If you think I have to spend all of my free time with someone just because I’m in a relationship with them, you have severely incorrect ideas about what relationships should be, and you should probably go to therapy about that.”
Jaehyun swallows. “Right. Sorry.” He says, sitting back against the couch.
Is it that they aren’t in a relationship? Is it all fake?
Is it that they’re together now only because they feel like they have to be? If they don’t even want to spend time together?
Jaehyun watches as Donghyuck turns back to his work, fiddling with a ring on his right hand.
Is it that they’re actually perfectly content and Donghyuck’s mom is nervous for no reason?
But then why would they act the way they do? Donghyuck said that Jaehyun needs to work on his perception of relationships, but he’s not sure that he wants to take that advice from someone whose partner practically ignores him.
-
It’s dark out, by the time that Jaehyun gets back to the hotel that the crew is staying in.
“Any luck?” He asks Doyoung as he walks into their shared room, dropping the camera bag on his bed. “He didn’t do much for, like, the entire day. We ordered take out for dinner, and when we returned to his house, Renjun wasn’t even around.” Jaehyun sighs. “I’m starting to think that their problem is bigger than we first thought.”
Doyoung doesn’t even look up at him, doesn’t offer any kind of response, just continues working on his laptop, which has a camera attached to it with a long, black chord.
“Hello?” Jaehyun says, impatiently.
Doyoung jumps. “Hi, sorry. I was preparing the footage to send it in to the company.”
“Get anything good?”
Doyoung sighs. “Practically nothing. Their friends are scary, by the way.”
“Really?”
“Na Jaemin looked like he could unhinge his jaw and swallow me whole. Like a creepy snake.”
Jaehyun frowns. “Isn’t he a model?”
“Yeah, which just means that he’s incredibly unsettling while also being ridiculously handsome. His face is, like, literally perfect, but he didn’t give a single serious answer to any of the questions. Well, actually.” Doyoung clicks around on his computer, turning the screen towards Jaehyun.
“Who loves the other more, Haechan or Renjun?” Doyoung’s voice sounds close to the camera.
On the screen, Jaemin’s smile doesn’t waver, doesn’t shift, but somehow it turns entirely icy. “Is this question necessary?” He asks calmly.
“Yes.”
Jaemin just stares at the camera for a moment, shifting the way his hands are folded in his lap. “Fine. I liked you until that question so I’ll answer truthfully. It’s Renjun.”
“Renjun?” Jaehyun asks, shocked.
“And they all said the same thing.”
“All three?”
“All three. I hate you for making me ask that, by the way. They were all pissed, and you didn’t have to deal with them after.”
Jaehyun frowns. “Maybe they were just lying?”
Doyoung shakes his head. “But why? There’s no reason to, unless they were somehow in on whatever is going on. Maybe for Chenle and Jaemin to be on Renjun’s side, sure. They’re his best friends. But Mark Lee? Who’s known Donghyuck since before either of them hit puberty? I don’t think he’d lie about that.”
“I just don’t see it.” Jaehyun says.
Doyoung sighs and sits back in his chair. “I wish I didn’t have a clue what was going on. But I think I do.”
He doesn’t elaborate, though, because he’s obnoxious and Jaehyun hates him right back. “Well? Are you going to tell me?”
Doyoung narrows his eyes. “I’ll just keep it as a theory for now. But I do think we should talk to Donghyuck’s mom.”
“His mom? After only a day?”
It’s abnormal to bring the parents in unless it’s completely necessary—and even then, not after only a day.
“You should’ve seen the way they all talk about them. Honestly I think Jeno and Jisung were holding themselves back because Donghyuck was around. They’re all really, really close. And they have a lot of affection for each other.”
“But Renjun wasn’t even around today!” Jaehyun says. “It’s Donghyuck’s day off and they weren’t even going to spend it together?”
Doyoung shrugs. “Stranger things have occurred in healthy relationships.”
“I guess so.”
“I’ll try to get into contact with his mom tomorrow. Let’s move Read My Mind to Wednesday morning, and we’ll try to talk to her that afternoon. You’re following Renjun tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah.” Jaehyun says. “What are you doing?”
Doyoung waves a hand. “Stupid funding paperwork. It was supposed to go through a few weeks ago but it didn’t, so Taeil asked me to reapply for the funds. It won’t take the whole day, but it’ll take long enough that I probably won’t be around.”
“That’s fine. Who’s cameraman?” Jaehyun asks. He’s capable with a camera, especially ones that have been set up for him already, like it was today, but it’s difficult to fully do his job while also filming. He doesn’t know how Doyoung does it.
“Jungwoo.”
“Oh, fine.” He and Jungwoo get along well enough. It could’ve been worse, at least.
“You’re welcome.”
“Thanks.”
-
“You’re late.” Renjun says as he and Jungwoo pull up to the house. Or mansion, rather. Whatever. Jaehyun isn’t jealous.
“Damn.” Jungwoo says under his breath. “I thought I was back in high school for a moment.”
“Sorry.” Jaehyun says. “There was traffic.”
“No, it’s fine I was only joking.” Renjun says as he climbs in the backseat of the car. “Thanks for driving.”
“Uhm,” Jaehyun says, because that’s the nicest thing he’s heard Renjun say in the two days he’s been working with them. “No problem. You work in the same building as Haechan, right?”
“Yeah, but that’s not where we’re going today. I’ll put in the address.”
Jaehyun pauses for a moment, and then rethinks his hesitance. “Whatever you say.”
-
Doyoung looks exhausted when he gets back to the hotel room, even later than Jaehyun did.
“File those reports?” Jaehyun asks, gently.
“Sure did.” Doyoung says, falling onto the bed facedown.
Jaehyun just sits for a moment, unsure whether Doyoung wants to talk or just go straight to sleep. Jaehyun wouldn’t blame him. Paperwork is truly exhausting.
Doyoung turns his face to look at Jaehyun.
“How was Renjun?”
Jaehyun shrugs. “Fine. Nice, even. Did you know that he volunteers regularly at the local library?”
“Like, reading to kids?”
Jaehyun shakes his head. “He started an initiative to do audiobooks so that people who are blind can still use the public library. He does all the sound production for it, and also records a lot of the books.”
Doyoung whistles, impressed. “He seems like a good person. Maybe he is just a good person and we’ve been wrong.”
“Did you get in contact with the mom?” Jaehyun asks, half hoping that Doyoung says no, just because he’s grown to like both of the boys, and he doesn’t want someone to tell him how terrible they are together. He’ll hear them out, of course. Just because they’re both good people doesn’t mean they’d be good in a relationship together.
Doyoung groans and buries his face back into the bed. “Yes. She’s exclusively available tomorrow morning, though, so we’ll have to push Read My Mind to the afternoon, after we talk to her.”
“How’d she seem?”
“Normal.”
They share a look, both increasingly nervous about what tomorrow will bring. The show will be fine if the ratings drop. Probably. But, as much as Jaehyun does enjoy it, his job isn’t always fun. And he really does his best to not get attached to the participants, because it makes everything far more painful, but Donghyuck is incredibly endearing, and Renjun is practically unreal he’s such a kind and thoughtful person.
So it’s not looking too good for Jaehyun so far.
“How was Jungwoo?” Doyoung asks.
Doyoung and Jungwoo don’t get along very well. They’re polite, of course, but they’ve never been friendly with each other the way that Jaehyun is with both of them. Jaehyun doesn’t know why, and at this point, he’s too scared to ask.
“He’s good. We should bring him tomorrow.”
“The stuff with the mom is off-camera. Quotes only.” Doyoung shakes his head as Jaehyun’s face falls in surprise. “She insisted.”
-
Haechan’s mom is terrible.
Jaehyun can tell immediately, and he can tell that Doyoung can tell as well. It’s not anything in particular that she says, there’s nothing that’s explicitly violent or rude or anything, it’s just a lot of small things.
It starts when she mentions how Donghyuck has been paying her bills since he was 15. Which is, by itself, not necessarily a huge deal—Donghyuck was a huge star even then, it’s not necessarily expected of him to pay for things for his parents, but most kids would.
Then her eyes flash as they mention Renjun. “That boy is no good for my son.”
“If you don’t mind us prying,” Doyoung starts, and Jaehyun can’t remember the last time he saw him so stonily polite. “Why do you say that?”
“Well, first of all, ever since they got together, Donghyuck has gotten more and more…vocal. About his ideas of independence. He doesn’t let me be nearly as involved in his life as he used to. I’m his mother!” She says, shrilly.
Jaehyun clears his throat, and Doyoung shoots him a glare that says ‘be careful.’ Jaehyun is going to choose to ignore this. “Have you considered, ma’am, that when they started dating, he was 22, and now he’s 27? And it’s normal for people around that age to be more and more independent from their parents?”
“Maybe for normal kids.” She says. “Not for Donghyuck. He was always so family-oriented…and that boy has ruined him.”
“Right. And how exactly is that?” Doyoung says, refusing to let Jaehyun speak any more.
“Well, he can’t exactly have children now, can he? He was perfectly fine, before. He was dating women, and then this boy comes along and he gets all of these ideas in his head…” She shakes her head sadly. “I mean, you understand my concerns, right?”
Jaehyun feels his stomach sinking slowly as she speaks. Which, really, they should’ve thought of it before. That Donghyuck’s mom could hate Renjun because of homophobia. But Donghyuck still gets along with his mom, so he’d assumed that it wasn’t an option.
“We definitely understand the cause of your concerns now, yes. I think we’re actually all set for today.” Doyoung says, clicking his recorder off and standing.
“You haven’t even been here for 30 minutes?” She says, confused.
“And we’ve gotten all that we need.” Doyoung smiles big, but it’s entirely chilly. Hot.
Jaehyun stands too, refusing to even say anything as they walk out of the house.
Doyoung stops walking. “I’m sorry.” He says, from behind Jaehyun.
Jaehyun turns to face him, head tilting. “For what?”
“I didn’t realize she’d be like that.” He waves in the direction of the house. (Which is, once again, a mansion. Jaehyun doesn’t think that homophobes shouldn’t get mansions if he doesn’t get one).
“What,” Jaehyun snorts. “Homophobic?”
Doyoung shrugs, catching up to Jaehyun and continuing to the car. “It was my idea to even talk to her. I’m just sorry you had to witness that.”
Jaehyun just shakes his head. “A lot of people have bad parents. I’m not special in that regard.”
“Still,” Doyoung says. “It couldn’t have been fun to see.”
“Was it fun for you?” Jaehyun gives him a withering look, to which Doyoung shakes his head rapidly. “That’s what I thought. I’m fine, Do.”
But he still searches out Renjun as soon as they arrive back at him and Donghyuck’s place, because if there’s one thing that he learned yesterday, it’s that Renjun is really fucking smart. And also good at reading people.
He’s in the kitchen, cutting up vegetables. Renjun looks up as he walks in, smiles gently, and continues cutting whatever he’s cutting. “I heard you talked to Haejung.”
Jaehyun makes an affirmative noise. “I don’t really get it.”
Renjun hums, contemplating for a moment. “Hyuck cares about everyone too much. A lot of the time, especially in the past, his affection was his ruin. He’d get involved with people, and I mean friends, too, and every time they’d leave, it’d kill him. He didn’t—” Renjun shakes his head, abandoning the sentence. “That’s why we’re all so protective of him, I guess. Especially Mark.”
“Yeah,” Jaehyun says. “I get that feeling.”
Renjun narrows his eyes at him, but the way he’s looking is still soft. “You care about people too easily.”
Jaehyun just shrugs. “Probably.” It’s not his fault that all of them are so easy to care about.
“Anyway, because of all that, Hachannie isn’t really prone to leaving people. Or letting them go, I guess. And she’s his mom.” He says, softly. “He spent so much of his life looking up to her and caring for her, all while she was taking advantage of his position and his wealth. And the whole time she acted like she was doing it all to protect him. Maybe she really is, I don’t know what her motivations are.” He sets down his knife. “I would never be angry at him for wanting to keep his family in his life, even if they’re not good to him. Not all of us are lucky enough to have that chance. Besides, at least now he recognizes how shitty she is.”
“Did he not, before?”
“He knew, I guess. But he didn’t want to admit it. It’s funny actually, but after he and Jisung reconnected, he spent a lot of time with Jisung’s family, and it helped him realize more. Sung’s mom is really lovely.” He frowns, suddenly. “And is going to be so pissed about this. Shit, we should call her.”
“How do you deal with it?” Jaehyun asks, because he’s not sure if he could, in the same situation.
“I don’t really see her much. Besides, me and Haechannie are really good at communicating. We’ve always been clear to each other about how we’ve felt and what page we’re on and it helps, even when we feel differently about things.”
Jaehyun just hums in response.
“You should try that.” Renjun says, leaning onto the counter.
Their kitchen is really lovely. Obviously, because their entire home is lovely. But the kitchen looks homey and lived in, like they actually use it to cook in, which Jaehyun didn’t expect from an A-list celebrity.
“Me?” Jaehyun says, forcing himself to school his expression.
“Yeah, you and Doyoung.” Renjun says, with a face like he’s a cat that just got the cream.
Jaehyun narrows his eyes and sighs. “I’m not even going to ask how you knew.”
“I wasn’t one hundred percent sure, actually. But I could just tell.”
“You should be a PI or something. What are you making?”
Renjun looks down at the veggies like he forgot they were there. “Oh. I don’t know, actually. Haechannie is the cook here. I just prep for him, sometimes, when he’s really busy.”
Jaehyun tries not to think too long about how cute that is, and kind of fails miserably. “Well, we’re ready to start filming whenever you are.”
-
“So how does this game work?” Donghyuck asks, sitting on the same couch that they’d first introduced themselves on.
“We ask you a question, and you both write your answers on the whiteboard. Then we use the different answers to talk about discrepancies and issues you might have.”
“What if we have all the same answers?” Renjun asks, picking up a whiteboard and the orange marker.
Doyoung and Jaehyun exchange glances. They’ve never had a set of participants get more than a few answers right, but most of their participants are actually in toxic relationships, and weren’t just sent to the show because of a horrifyingly self-interested mother.
“If you do, I’ll give you $20!” Chenle calls from behind him before he or Doyoung even get the chance to answer.
All five of them—Jisung, Jaemin, Jeno, Chenle, and Mark, who somehow manages to look intimidating even with his baby daughter sitting in one of those carriers on his chest—had insisted on joining to watch the game. They’d been told that they need to be absolutely quiet, but Jaehyun has approximately 0 hopes that that will play out.
He’s mostly just is trying not to think too hard about the people in the room. They’d come over by coincidence, supposedly, but Jaehyun is pretty sure that they’d all caught wind of the discussion with Donghyuck’s mother earlier, and were sticking around to make sure that Doyoung and Jaehyun haven’t changed their minds about being relatively good people, or something. Like Renjun said: overprotective.
They all mostly look like normal people (although seeing them all together really emphasizes how attractive they all are), except for Jaemin, who Doyoung was right about, and who Jaehyun is actively trying to avoid eye contact with, like he’s Medusa or something and looking him in the eye will turn Jaehyun to stone.
Donghyuck stands with his pinky up, which Chenle immediately walks to, to pinky promise over…$20.
“Aren’t you a multi-millionaire?” Jaehyun says, carefully.
“Yes?” Donghyuck says, sitting back down and picking up his marker, as if he’s a normal person.
“Never mind,” Jaehyun says, glancing at the paper in his lap. “Are we all ready?”
Doyoung nods at him.
“Alright great. Before we start, I have to remind you that all of your responses should be made in a way that is intended to air—so please, keep it PG, and don’t write anything you wouldn’t want in the final cut of the episode. Got it?”
Both of them nod, so Jaehyun continues. “We have 25 questions for you. Here’s the first one: Where is your favorite hangout spot? You have 20 seconds, on the clock.”
Jaehyun will be the first to admit that this little game section is probably, not exactly the most helpful for the participants. But they always need something to keep everyone entertained even for more boring episodes, and it’s always the viewers’ favorite part, so they won’t be able to drop it ever. At least it’s amusing for people.
“Alright.” He says, as the timer stops at 00:00. “Renjun, what did you say?”
Renjun flips over his board: Our bed.
“Oh!” Escapes his mouth before he can stop it. He clears his throat and pretends like it never happened. “And Haechan?”
Donghyuck flips his board, too: On our bed.
He’s also drawn some, quite frankly, very disturbing looking emojis, and Jaehyun isn’t sure that he wants to know what they mean.
“Okay, then.” Doyoung says. If he’s surprised, he doesn’t show it. “And do you guys want to elaborate on that answer at all?”
“Well you see,” Donghyuck says, sitting up straight and speaking as if he’s speaking to a child. “When a man and another man love each other very much, they might—”
He’s stopped by Renjun’s hand over his mouth. With the way Renjun’s hand twitches, Jaehyun assumes that he’s licked it. But at least he didn’t get to finish his sentence.
“Yes, that’s plenty, thank you.” Jaehyun says, and Renjun carefully removes his hand. The two look amused at least, which is better than most couples are at this point. They stay amused for the next few questions, until Jaehyun asks, “What was the last thing you fought about?” He’s proud of himself for saying it without wincing.
“Renjun?” Renjun flips over to show Taylor Swift.
Donghyuck huffs as he flips his board over as well, showing the same answer. “I feel like if this gets aired, I’m going to get canceled.”
“Well maybe you should.” Renjun says simply.
“Sorry,” Jaehyun says. “Taylor Swift?”
“It was my fault.” Donghyuck says. “I called her a ‘pop star.’”
“Well she’s not!” Renjun says, visibly heated. “She’s a veritable world-wide legend, she’s surpassed the label of ‘pop star.’ And besides that, her music ranges in genre from pop to folk to country, so it’s not like you can even categorize her like that at all anyway!”
Donghyuck looks like he’s about to fire back when Doyoung stops them. “When did this fight happen?”
“Mmm,” Donghyuck makes a thinking face. “June? July? Of 2024.”
“2024?” Jaehyun gapes. “You guys haven’t fought in three years?”
“Not really.” They exchange a look.
“I mean we disagree about things, obviously.” Renjun says. “But we don’t really fight. Except for that.”
“It was really bad, too.” Chenle says.
“Yeah, Renjun didn’t talk to him for like 6 hours.” Jaemin says, and the way he says it implies that this is a significant amount of time for them to go without talking.
“I thought they were going to, you know, split up.” Says Mark.
Renjun rolls his eyes. “We were never going to split.”
“Getting back on track,” says Doyoung. “What was the last disagreement you had, then?”
“What to have for breakfast this morning?” Donghyuck shrugs.
Renjun shakes his head. “No, after breakfast I said that you should wear the white shirt and you wanted to wear the blue one.”
“And here I am,” Donghyuck says. “Wearing the white one.”
“These aren’t really disagreements, you guys know that, right?”
They both just smile at him. Jaehyun whole-heartedly thinks they’re ridiculous, and also deeply wishes that all of his other contestants were exactly like them.
“Alright, last question.” They’d gotten all of them right, so far, and Chenle had pulled a $20 bill out of his wallet, so Jaehyun knew that they were all under the same assumption, and that the couple would be the first ones to ever get all the same questions right. “What is your guys’ favorite memory together?”
Renjun flips over his board as soon as he’s done writing. Our first anniversary.
“I won’t share too much,” He says. “Because it’s private, but it was very special to us.”
Then Donghyuck flips over his board. Our wedding.
Jaehyun stares at it, for a moment. Just blinking. He faintly hears the cheers of the rowdy group of 20-something-year-olds behind him, but mostly he just stares at the board. Renjun is also staring at the board, shocked, but his shock quickly melts into a deeply affectionate stare, and he just says, “I love you.” Donghyuck takes his hand to squeeze it. Jaehyun hopes that Donghyuck sees how much Renjun looks at him with full honey eyes—just full on “I’m in love with you” in a stare. Jaehyun hadn’t even known that was possible.
In all the commotion, Chenle walks over to the couple. He hands Donghyuck $20. “Buy yourself something nice.”
“But wait,” Jaehyun says, feeling mostly like everyone in the room is in on some big inside joke except for him. And, after shooting a glance at him to double check, also Doyoung. “They didn’t get all of the questions right.”
“Yes they did.” Chenle says.
The whole crew waits, staring at him. Jaehyun’s brain isn’t working fast enough for him to catch up.
“You got married on your first anniversary?!” Doyoung cries.
“Surprise!” Donghyuck says, looking entirely like this is the best day of his life. “We’ve been married the whole time.” Then, taking in the entire crew’s shocked reactions, he says, “This might be the best day of my life.”
“I don’t understand.” Jaehyun says.
“They’re married and they have been for four years, they just didn’t tell the public about it, presumably just to keep their relationship secret, but probably also to avoid the pressures that come with being a publicly married couple, and also the hate they’d get for getting married so soon after they started dating. Right?” Jungwoo says, all in one breath, from where he’s monitoring one of the cameras. Honestly, Jaehyun had kind of forgotten that there were cameras at all.
“...Yeah, actually, that’s pretty much it.” Renjun says.
“I’m very perceptive.” Is all Jungwoo says to explain. Jaehyun has the weirdest coworkers ever.
“But you’re okay with this airing now?” Jaehyun clarifies.
Donghyuck just shrugs. “I’m sick of hiding it. And I love Renjun more than anything. I’m just happy to let the world know that he’s my husband.”
“Well that’s…really very sweet.” Doyoung starts. “But unfortunately, our show isn’t for couples who are already married. So we’ll have to finish the filming for the finale episodes here.”
And Jaehyun sees it for what is is. Because their show really could be for married couples. It doesn’t make that much of a difference, after all. Doyoung is giving them an out. Allowing them to be free of something they didn’t want to have to do in the first place, and Jaehyun is kind of, maybe, a little more than half in love with him. Renjun was right, probably, and they should talk about it.
Donghyuck and Renjun are both gaping at him. “You’re saying that this whole time, we could’ve just told you we were married, and we didn’t have to do any of this at all?”
“It was kind of fun though, right?” Jaehyun winces.
“I thought it was fun.” Jaemin says, and Jaehyun is still not looking at him. “I enjoyed how we all got the chance to try to scare them off.”
“Is that what was going on?”
“Only a little.” Jeno says, smiling his disarming, bright smile.
“In our defense, we thought you’d be, like, absolutely terrible.” Donghyuck soothes. “But you were actually really nice!”
“For the record, I told them that you’d be nice.” Says Mark (Lee. Mark Lee! In the same room as him.) “I’m a huge fan of the show. Well, except when my friends are on it.”
“Oh.” Jaehyun says, because he’s not sure that his brain can convince himself to say actual words because Mark Lee watches his show. And now he has to go home and pursue the incredible task of rewatching the entire show, wondering what Mark Lee thought about different parts of it, and actually, maybe, he shouldn’t do that because he doesn’t know if he can stand the embarrassment of it all. Instead of spiraling about this, he says, “Thank you.”
Doyoung begins to pack up immediately. Jaehyun wishes they could stay a bit longer. 20-something-year-olds shouldn’t be this wise or this kind, but the uncanny feeling that he has a lot to learn from someone significantly younger than him has become increasingly hard to ignore.
A more terrible part of him is just jealous, that these kids get to experience love like this, even just friendship like this, until he remembers Haejung and her terrible comments about her son, and thinks that maybe they’ve just earned it.
“Alright, we’ll start taking this all back to the vans.” Says Doyoung. “We’ll send you both directly a cut before the episodes are released so that you can veto whatever you don’t want in it.”
“I thought that everything we said was equally likely to be aired?” Asks Donghyuck, standing and holding Renjun’s hand and looking entirely too comfortable for someone who’s just decided to reveal to the world that he’s been married for four years.
“It’s a special exception for married couples, actually.” Doyoung says, and the way that the couple visibly relaxes means that they, too, know that he’s just making stuff up for their sake.
“Thank you.” Renjun murmurs. Both of his hands grasp Donghyuck’s, and, as if he’s trying to make as much physical contact as possible, Renjun leans his head on his shoulder as well.
“You guys were the best couple we ever had on the show.” Jaehyun says. “So, thanks. I’m sure everyone will love it.”
They’re hiking back towards the vans when Donghyuck calls his name. “You forgot this.” He says, holding out his red marker as Jaehyun turns back and walks to him.
“That’s really not…the studio can afford markers.” He grumbles. “But thanks.”
“Yeah, I know. I actually just wanted to give you some advice. Can I?”
“Donghyuck, not once in the five days that we’ve known each other have I been able to stop you from doing something you want to do.” Jaehyun sighs. “But yes, you can.”
“Love is…” Donghyuck starts, and then he pauses and takes a breath to start again. “Love isn’t something that we deserve. Or something we don’t deserve. It’s something that we can make an effort for, to work to continue, something that we can prioritize. But it’s not about deserving.” Donghyuck looks at him funny for a moment, studying his face. “Does that make sense?”
Jaehyun just looks at him back. “What is it with you two and seeming much older than you actually are?”
Donghyuck smiles. “You get it, then.” He turns to walk back inside, slipping the red marker inside his pocket, not even actually returning it to Jaehyun. Brat.
“Donghyuck!” Jaehyun calls. “Thank you!”
Donghyuck waves at him as he’s greeted by his ridiculous group of friends at the door.
Jaehyun turns around and starts jogging towards the vans. “Hey, Doyoung! Wait up!”
Doyoung turns and waits for him.