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“So, Haruka-kun,” the interviewer leans forward slightly, eyes glinting with interest. “How do you see yourself in five years? Do you think you'll still be performing with ŹOOĻ?”
Mido Torao wants to scoff at that question. Excuse him, they didn’t grow to something akin to family, only to break apart a few years later? Even most of their fans and the media have caught up on how close all four of them are, or else those “ŹOOĻ acting like family” compilation videos wouldn’t exist.
In any case, Torao keeps up the relaxed smile, and Haruka shows no signs of being offended. The younger idol brings his hand up to his lips in contemplation, and Torao can spot the fake behavior from miles away. For a split second, their eyes meet, and now he has to push down a snort.
It's just the two of them today, sitting under bright studio lights with a handful of live audience members a few feet away, and an older interviewer sitting across them. The interviewer has been almost giddy trying to get some gossip from them, mostly about their inner circle, which just happened to include four of the most popular idol groups in Japan.
Unfortunately, Torao and Haruka have done this for far too long.
“Well, I consider the others as very close friends, so I can't imagine not working with them,” Haruka laughs politely. “And five years, huh…I'd probably still be creating music in some way. I love watching fan reactions to our singing too much to stop.”
Ha. Torao watches as Haruka straightens and scoots back against his seat, the little liar. Half a lie, at least. He feels Haruka nudging his foot subtly, the corner of the younger idol's lips twitching downwards, eyes flashing with a subtle warning. Well, Torao wouldn't know Haruka’s full truthful answer to the question, but he knows this isn't it.
And don't get him wrong. He loves his friends, and they have been living in the same four-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment for years now. But getting stuck with Touma’s questionable cooking and Minami's late-night tendencies forever? Torao shudders at the thought (Even though Touma has been banned from any kitchen duties and Minami’s overworking habit has mellowed over the years).
The interviewer nods at Haruka's answer, obviously disappointed that it's not gossip.
“It would be too sad,” Torao chimes in. “I know you'd cry if we stopped working together.”
“I will not!” Haruka protests, his practiced politeness dropping a bit.
The interview goes on for another twenty minutes. Questions ranged from asking about their living situation to upcoming projects. Admittedly, Torao blanks out half of the questions just because they've been asked so many times by more than one interviewer. He does, however, perk up when the interviewer asks Haruka, “What about your love life? I'm sure a young man like you has your eyes set on a special someone to settle down with?”
Haruka laughs awkwardly, and their eyes meet again. The interviewer isn't subtle. He's been trying to squeeze out information on a very specific gossip topic. Torao can almost see the headline of the article that started it all now.
Popular idol, one of idol group ŹOOĻ’s double center, Isumi Haruka caught holding hands with an unknown person.
After that, it was a torrential rain of articles and speculation on who the mystery person was. It wasn't fun, to say the least. They had to watch Haruka, distraught and beating himself up over the slip-up, for weeks. He's just glad the worst of that whole mess was over, and their youngest member came out of it fine. But still, it doesn't stop these questions from being asked.
“Unfortunately, nonexistent.” Haruka smiles. It's horribly fake. If he could, Torao would roll his eyes by now. The younger idol has definitely been spending too much time with his boyfriend. Haruka ignores his fellow group member and continues, “I’m sure you all heard, but ŹOOĻ is releasing a new album soon! We've been working on it these past few months to make it one of our best works. Sadly, I don't have time for a love life, but I hope our fans will love the album.”
The interviewer and the audience latch on to the news of their new album after that.
Both of them let out internal sighs of relief. “We actually worked on a few songs together and—”
“What's so interesting about my love life?” Haruka grumbles, putting down the water bottle he was drinking from with a little more force than necessary. “Shouldn't they be focusing on our new songs instead? They're way more interesting than dumb romance! Minami worked hard on—”
Torao does roll his eyes this time. He texts Minami about what Haruka said just now to encourage him. The blonde should be in the middle of fine-tuning a few of the songs right about now. Overworking. As usual.
Haruka plops down on the loveseat across from Torao, arms crossed in front of his chest, and huffing annoyedly. His phone is tossed to the coffee table, the screen bright and upright. Torao can see it open on a Rabbichat with a pink background where Haruka's messages were divided into multiple chat bubbles with keyboard smashes, multiple emojis, and angry sentences written in all caps. Then he sees a big text bubble being sent to Haruka, just as the younger idol picks the phone back up. He's sure that if he scrolls up on the chat, he would see thousands of messages just like that between the two of them.
A part of Torao is impressed with Haruka's relationship with Kujo Tenn. He always thought of the younger idol as the impulsive type, maybe even a bit reckless, but their relationship seems to sail very smoothly, lasting for almost seven years now, and growing even stronger as they both grow older.
But, of course, the rest of him finds them to be insufferable a lot of the time.
“So, big plans today?”
Haruka looks up, pausing in the middle of typing. “Today?”
“Isn't today your anniversary?”
“Ah. Right.” Haruka presses the send button and tucks the phone into his pocket. Finally. “By the way. I think we're moving in together soon.”
The sentence only hits Torao after he takes a sip from his water bottle. He chokes, the water going down the wrong pipe at that moment. “You—ugh—you what?”
“Yeah.” At least Haruka has the decency to blush a little. “We've been talking about it. We're already looking for a place.”
“You—” Torao coughs one more time. “Don't just tell me that without warning? How long have you been looking?”
“Hmm…a few months?” Haruka shrugs while nudging the tissue box towards him.
“Okay?” The older idol blinks. He's more taken aback by Haruka's nonchalance instead of by the news itself. “And you're…not nervous about it?”
“I don't think so,” Haruka says after a minute. “We practically live together anyway. This is just making it official.”
Huh. He does know that Haruka spends a lot, a lot, of time over at Kujo’s apartment. He just didn't realize it was that often. Often enough that they're looking for a place to live together.
“How soon is soon?” Torao asks.
Haruka hums, thinking to himself for a minute before he answers with an annoying shrug. “Soon.”
The drive to the new place isn’t very long, only about half an hour from ŹOOĻ's shared apartment. It's perfect. While his friends annoy him a lot of the time, being too far away from them would make him sad.
It’s located in an area with not a lot of people around, which made it perfect for two popular idols to live in without getting disturbed. They also picked out a building with good security and privacy, which should make living a bit more comfortable. ŹOOĻ's apartment had good security, too, but the building housed a lot more people who could see them whenever they had to take out the trash or grab mail from the lobby.
It hasn’t been the easiest to find the perfect home that suited both of their needs, but it exists, and it's theirs.
Haruka looks at Tenn and observes the older idol’s focused expression as he drives.
Seven and a half years. We've been together for seven and a half years. It makes his head spin.
Compared to when he was eighteen, Tenn’s features have matured a bit more, stronger at some angles, but still pretty as an angel. As for himself, Haruka has yet to feel like a proper adult a lot of the time. He still likes to play games, stay up all night despite work in the morning, and his grandma still treats him as if he’s seventeen. Physically, he’s grown at least one centimeter, but apart from that, nothing’s really changed about him. Or so he feels. Tenn says that he carries the aura of an adult now, but Haruka doesn’t believe him.
And despite that, he’s moving in with a boyfriend. Together. Just the two of them. No one else.
“Haruka? Are you alright?” Tenn glances at him when he hears something smacking into the window, just as the car stops at a red light.
“I’m fine!” Haruka feels his cheeks heating up as he presses his forehead into the window. Idiot, you’re going to blush just because of that? Weak. Tenn doesn’t interrupt his mental panic; instead, he makes the wiser decision to keep his eyes on the road. Haruka takes a few deep breaths before collecting himself. He’s especially quick to settle back in his seat when the passenger in another car eyes him curiously. Can’t let anyone see them and get the wrong idea.
It’s around ten minutes later when the car makes a turn and pulls up into the gates of the apartment complex. From the front, it looks unassuming with plain colors and nondescript architecture consisting of three finished buildings about seven stories tall and one under construction. A few of the balconies are empty, but some have laundry and plastic lawn chairs.
Haruka’s eyes scan some of the empty balconies, wondering which one leads to their new home.
Once they have the car parked, Haruka lets out a shaky exhale and turns to his boyfriend. "Are we ready?"
The older idol smiles and brushes some of Haruka's hair from his face, which makes the blush across Haruka's cheeks deepen. "Definitely."
Tenn ends up carrying one bag and the bigger box, while Haruka is carrying two bags on his shoulders and a small box between his arms. Stepping into the elevator and watching the number steadily rise, Haruka feels his heart seconds away from leaping out of his chest with how fast it was going. Their apartment is on the fourth floor, and each step closer makes Haruka feel more and more excited. It’s a wild feeling that almost makes his vision swim.
All of a sudden, the day he’s been anticipating for the past few months is finally here, and he doesn’t have the words to describe exactly how he feels. Nervous, definitely, but also terrified and happy at the same time.
The two of them pause at the front door to catch their breath, the keys dangling between Tenn’s fingers. Haruka looks at Tenn and is immediately relieved to see the other idol being just as nervous about this.
“This is it,” Tenn says a little breathlessly. He pushes the key into the lock and lets out the breath he’s been holding when he unlocks the door. With a slight push, the door opens, and their eyes meet the sight of their new home.
For a moment, everything is quiet.
The apartment is a medium-sized two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit. Opening the front door reveals a big open space, kitchen, and doors to the balcony on the right, while the dining table and living room space are on the left side. There are big windows by the kitchen that let a lot of sunlight inside the room, giving it a cozy feeling. Past the living room is a small hallway with three doors presumably leading to the two bedrooms and the one bathroom. Haruka looks around in awe. It wasn’t even that long ago when they picked out the furniture, but it’s as if he’s forgotten already. The place looks unfamiliar….but he loves it.
“Haruka.”
Tenn doesn’t need to say anything else. Haruka turns to face him, grinning now, and makes quick strides over to him until he can wrap his arms around Tenn’s waist tightly. He kisses his boyfriend's lips once before burying his face in Tenn's shoulder.
Pure giddiness and excitement are seemingly running through his body now.
“This is amazing,” he mutters. “I almost can’t believe it’s real.”
“Me too.” Tenn’s hand is warm against the back of Haruka’s neck, and his fingers playing with the strands of his hair feel ticklish. “But it is real.” Tenn pulls away slightly to look into Haruka’s eyes. “We’re here.”
"Izumi, what do you think?"
Iori looks up from the script in his hands and is met with a phone in front of his face. He blinks, glancing at Haruka's serious expression before he properly looks at the picture being literally shoved in front of him. He's a little surprised that it's a picture of a kitten looking up at the camera. While it is a very cute cat, he's not really sure why Haruka is showing him this.
They're sitting across from each other in the corner booth of a cafe near the studio they're working at for their current job. They've hung out a few times before as the youngest members in their inner circle, but this is the first time they've ever been paired together for their job.
"It's cute. A ragdoll cat, correct?"
Haruka nods and pulls the phone back. "Someone at the agency has a cat that gave birth to three of them a few months ago. They didn't want to give them to a sketchy shelter or something, but they can't care for all of them, so they asked if we wanted one."
"I see," Iori mutters, script in his hands long forgotten. "Wait a moment, when you say we, do you mean—"
"I mean Tenn and me. We've been wanting to adopt a cat for months now, so this is kind of perfect."
Iori clears his throat. "This seems like a big step. You've been living together for…how many months now?"
"Six," Haruka answers. "And yeah, it is, but it's really exciting!"
And speaking of people paired up together for jobs.
It does not escape Iori's notice that a lot of brands have been wanting the two centers to pair up for projects now, saying they had great chemistry together, which the audience and consumers seemed to eat up, popularity as top idols aside. It started around the time they appeared as cameos in a romance drama, before everything just snowballed from there. If only people knew their favorite idols' chemistry went beyond the screen and more.
"Izumi, what do you think we should name her?"
Iori shrugs and looks back down at his script. He'll need to focus all over again. "I'm sure you already have an idea."
"Hmm," Haruka hums before his smile curls into a suspicious grin. "Actually, Yotsuba told me a story the other day. About something that happened way before ŹOOĻ debuted. I wanted to ask you about it."
Well, this can't be good. Iori only sighs. "What?"
"Did you ever find TenTen the cat in the IDOLiSH7 dorm?"
The next sound that comes out of Haruka's mouth is a mix of a laugh and a protest as a crumpled-up receipt is thrown at him.
Isumi Haruka may be very biased, but in his opinion, their cozy apartment is simply the best place he's ever lived in. He still can't get over it and half-expects all of it to disappear in the blink of an eye.
And yet he's still here.
Haruka steps out of the bedroom when the sun is already quite high in the sky. He's rubbing his eyes and yawning while still dressed in his loose pajama pants and large black hoodie.
He half expected Tenn to be up already. His boyfriend has always been an early riser, even during their days off, who prefers doing his half of the chores in the morning and then relaxing in the afternoon. Haruka's complete opposite. But, instead of finding Tenn awake and moving around, Haruka catches sight of him curled up on the couch, the television on with volume so low they might as well be whispering.
The sight of the sunlight shining through the windows to illuminate Tenn's peaceful face and the sound of his soft and slow breathing make Haruka's eyelids grow heavy again. It's almost noon, and usually they would wake each other up when they have work scheduled, but today is one of the rare times their days off intersect. Haruka is just starting to introduce Tenn to the concept of sleeping in during days off; he's not about to wake the other idol up now and ruin his progress.
Haruka lets out a yawn and lets himself fall onto the space next to his boyfriend. He barely moves or reacts in his sleep as Haruka leans his entire weight against the older idol's side. Tenn is warm under Haruka's cheek from being bathed in the sun, and it just makes him feel even more comfortable and sleepy.
"Morning," he mumbles under his breath before another yawn slips past his lips.
It doesn't take long for him to fall back asleep.
Tenn blinks a few times at the bright sun shining down on his face when he wakes up.
He should've closed the blinds before, but he hadn't expected that he would fall asleep immediately after settling down on the couch. The television is turned off now, and it takes Tenn a second before he notices a weight settled against his side.
His boyfriend is snoring softly against his shoulder, arm loosely wrapped across Tenn's middle.
It warms something in his chest that Haruka is comfortable falling asleep against him like this. It must be slightly uncomfortable, but Haruka's expression is calm and relaxed in his sleep, only occasionally mumbling something incoherent under his breath.
He presses a soft kiss against the top of Haruka's head. "Good morning, Haruka."
The mint-haired idol shows no signs of waking up, but he lets out a sigh before he snuggles even closer, if that's even possible. Tenn holds back an amused laugh, feeling Haruka's soft breathing against his shoulder and his fingers twisting in Tenn's shirt. How cute.
Tenn is in the middle of thinking whether or not he should wake Haruka up—it is, after all, past noon, even if it is their day off—when the soft meow of a cat interrupts his thoughts. The newest addition to their household, their now six-month-old Sora, hops off her cat tree by the window and approaches her two owners with another soft meow, seeking attention.
"Good morning to you, too, Sora," he smiles, gently stroking the cat's head. "Or afternoon, I suppose. Don't wake him up."
The cat blinks up at him and nudges her head against his hand once more before she struts away towards the kitchen when she realizes her favorite human isn't awake enough to give her the attention she needs.
"Hmm," Haruka suddenly mutters, voice still very heavy with sleep. "Was that Sora?"
Tenn presses another soft kiss against Haruka's temple as the younger idol raises his head to squint towards the direction of the kitchen. He lets out a huff before dropping his head back down against Tenn's shoulder.
"What time is it?"
Tenn glances at the clock again. "It's almost one."
"Ughh," Haruka groans. "Five more minutes."
"And here I thought you got enough sleep already," Tenn laughs. Even as he says that, he manages to reposition them so Haruka is now leaning against his chest and Tenn can wrap his arms around his boyfriend properly. "Take your time."