Chapter Text
“Steven is my husband.” Woongki’s words echoed through the practice room, casual as ever, tossed like a joke over his shoulder while he tugged on Steven’s sleeve to fix his mic. Steven barely looked up. “That’s right. And Woongki is my beautiful wife.” Jeongwoo groaned. “You two are still doing that bit?”
“It’s not a bit,” Woongki said seriously, only to break into a cheeky grin a second later. “I make him lunch, he buys me flowers. Classic marriage stuff.” Even Chih En, who was usually unshakably calm, blinked. “Wait, are you serious?”
“Of course not,” JL laughed, already halfway into a TikTok edit of Steven calling Woongki “jagiya.” Everyone laughed it off. How could they not? The two were constantly joking, always teasing, always clinging to each other like over-sugared toddlers. Shuaibo once caught Steven resting his head on Woongki’s shoulder during a live and muttered, “Married energy,” under his breath, but again — it was all part of the joke. Until it wasn’t.
⸻
It happened on a Tuesday. They were rehearsing choreography for their next stage, and Juwon had forgotten his water bottle in the green room.
He slipped away quietly, hoping no one would notice he was skipping a five-minute drill. The door to the green room creaked open, and Juwon paused. Steven was leaning over Woongki, cupping his cheek with one hand. It wasn’t playful. It wasn’t dramatic. It was… soft. Familiar. And then he kissed him. Not a stage kiss. Not a skit. A real kiss. Gentle and slow and sincere.
Juwon didn’t mean to gasp, but he did. The two of them snapped apart — Woongki wide-eyed, Steven sheepishly running a hand through his hair. “Hyung— I didn’t—” Juwon stammered. “Were you— I thought it was a joke?” Steven raised an eyebrow. “Was it funny?”
⸻
Later that day, the group gathered in the dorm’s living room, confused and buzzing with questions. JL was the first to speak. “So… you two are, like, actually together?” “Since before debut,” Woongki said casually, curled up on the couch next to Steven, their fingers entwined.
Han choked on his drink. “What?!” “You guys joked about being married so much we thought it was fake,” Jeongwoo muttered. “That’s kind of the point,” Steven replied. “Who would believe it?” Juwon frowned. “Then… why the kiss?” Steven looked around, calm and collected, and then simply said: “Is it wrong to kiss my wife?”
Silence.
Then chaos.
Shuaibo fell off the couch. Chih En just blinked slowly like his whole worldview had shifted. JL screamed into a pillow. Han kept repeating “Wife?! Wife?!” like it was a glitch in the matrix. And Daisuke? He just laughed, clapped Steven on the back, and said, “Congratulations. You both owe me cake.”