Work Text:
The photo shoot is already in full session by the time Johnny steps into the massive studio on the top floor of 245 Fifth Avenue. Amidst what he can only describe as controlled chaos – set designers carrying props of varying shapes and sizes, hair stylists and make up artists armed with their brushes and blow dryers ready to take action as soon as they're called upon, interns running around in their haste to accomplish hundreds of different errands at the same time – his rather unceremonious arrival goes completely unnoticed. He supposes that that's fine, because no one knows that he's going to even be here in the first place, least of all the person he actually came for.
He stands by the main entrance, casual and unassuming despite whatever his wealth and status may imply, as his eyes quickly scan the place in search of a familiar head of silky raven hair and radiant, angelic alabaster skin...
Laughter, melodious and full of genuine glee, reaches his ears and a smile tugs at one corner of his mouth, knowing immediately who it belongs to. He follows the delightful sound, turning his head to the direction its coming from, where his vision lands on (in his opinion, as well as a good majority of the general population) the purest, most beautiful being to ever grace this wretched, miserable planet and makes it seem like it's actually worth living in.
Johnny thinks it's funny how much of a sap he has become in the three years or so that he has known, loved, and practically worshipped his gorgeous omega. He has never been poetic by any stretch of the imagination, nor was he ever particularly fond of poetry and all that romantic, flowery crap, but he often finds himself suddenly becoming some sort of Keats or Wordsworth incarnate whenever he looks at Jaehyun. His mind, in its state of complete and utter reverence, automatically scrambles to find a word that will do his mate's sheer beauty even the slightest bit of justice. They never do, but no one can say that he doesn't try.
The young supermodel is amongst a small group of people, some of them Johnny recognizes as Jaehyun's personal 'glam squad' from previous shoots and other gigs, just off to the side of the giant white screen smack dab in the middle of the room. They're jovially chatting about something that they quite evidently find hilarious as they wait for the photographer to finish changing the camera lens or whatever it is the guy is doing, fiddling with his DSLR.
Johnny doesn't know how many outfit changes he has missed, but currently, Jaehyun is wearing a long, flowing, Grecian-inspired white chiffon dress with a thin, shimmery silver rope-like belt tied loosely around his waist. His hair is done in a classic chignon bun and his only accessory is a pair of dangling, teardrop shaped earrings. Even his make up is barely-there, no doubt simply put on to enhance his already stunning features, as opposed to hiding imperfections which, Johnny can attest to with utmost certitude, his mate has absolutely none of.
Every inch of Jaehyun Seo, formerly Jung, is flawless – in every sense of the word, in every language known to man.
And as usual, the sight of him leaves Johnny breathless and irrevocably spellbound. He doesn't know if it's normal for omegas to affect their alphas this much outside of a heat, but he doesn't really care. All he knows is that he's the luckiest bastard alive, and it has nothing to do with the fact that he's a billionaire.
His daze gets broken when the photographer finally calls for Jaehyun once again. His mate obeys instantly, walking back in front of the camera with the kind of grace that puts even ballerinas to shame, ever captivating and effortless. He doesn't even need to be instructed on what kind of expression he should have, or where to put his hands, or how to properly angle his body. Jaehyun knows it all by instinct, honed through years of practice and experience. Johnny doesn't always get the opportunity to see his better half in his natural habitat as he himself is too caught up making sure the world wouldn't shut itself down, but when he does, he is always beyond impressed with how easily it all comes to Jaehyun. For someone who never dreamed of becoming a model, he sure does a superb job at it.
The first time he has ever laid eyes upon this angel on earth comes to the forefront of Johnny's mind all of a sudden, with astounding vividness, and he feels his heart skip several beats like it happened just yesterday.
It was during a Jean Paul Gaultier show at the Grand Palais which he accompanied his younger sister to because his life, according to Shannon, needed a little bit more color and excitement. He didn't really see how he'd find 'excitement' in a fashion show of all places, but he humored her because her birthday was in the following week, and it wasn't as if he was unaware that she only wanted him there so she could point out the exact outfits she wanted to be a part of her extensive wardrobe (all of which eventually did become hers).
The show didn't really fascinate him as much as it did the rest of the attendees, and for obvious reasons. He spent most of it on his iPhone replying to high priority e-mails and urgent text messages, and checking and rechecking his schedule for the rest of the week to make sure he didn't miss anything. That was until the upbeat music suddenly changed into a mellow instrumental, causing a hush to fall over the audience and his sister to let out a small gasp. Johnny, out of sheer curiosity, looked up and literally felt the air get knocked out of him as if an invisible fist came into contact with his gut. He couldn't have cared less about the final piece—a wedding dress which, in his honest opinion, was too outlandish and unnecessarily over-the-top, but the model more than made up for it, treading the stage in a slow, elegant catwalk with their head held high; carrying the ensemble with as much pride and dignity as if they were instead wearing the iconic, timeless masterpiece that was Grace Kelly's wedding dress when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956.
The mystery bride had Johnny in a trance for the entire half a minute that the spotlight was on them.
When the model returned with Jean Paul himself to express their gratitude to the audience, the designer described them as 'la plus belle étoile de l'univers', which Johnny, thanks to those French lessons his mother forced him to take as a kid up until his early adolescence, understood as 'the most beautiful star in the universe'. And everyone in the front row who had clearly heard the bold statement agreed, Johnny and Shannon included. His sister then proceeded to tell him a bit of what she knew about the model—his name was Jaehyun Jung (affectionately referred to by his fans as 'La Neige' for his near-translucent skin), Korean-American, 19 years old, and an omega.
Johnny had been too far gone before he even realized it, not even minding that they literally had a 10-year age gap and thus might possibly not like the same things or share the same opinions regarding certain matters. He didn't know if what he just experienced was the disgustingly clichéd 'love at first sight', but it seemed damn well like it.
He recalls his then 29-year-old self thinking that he had never seen anything that made him believe in the existence of God. Johnny used to maintain a healthy level of skepticism when it comes to religion, as he does with many other things (including how pyramids actually came to be).
….But seeing Jaehyun that day convinced him that there is, indeed, an all-powerful being up there somewhere, because the omega, in all his ethereal magnificence, couldn't possibly be anything else but the work of a generous deity that felt like there was too much evil and ugliness in the world and decided to send one of his angels down to bring peace and restore balance. And apparently, for the first time, make Johnny want to finally settle down as his mind conjured up images of a future with said angel by his side. His mate.
And three years later, here they are.
(Of course, that's not all of it, but everything that happened in between is a story for another time.)
Despite their ongoing fairytale (as Shannon likes to call it, much to her brother's chagrin), however, it's not always sunshine and rainbows in Johnny-land. As absurd at it is, he sometimes still questions whether or not he is only dreaming all of this. His life almost seems too good to be true. Having someone like Jaehyun as his mate is too good to be true; it has got to be a fantasy. No one can possibly have it all.
Johnny is no stranger to anxiety and self-doubt. There are times, whenever he feels like he's about to collapse under the tremendous responsibility of carrying the crippling weight of this gargantuan empire that his great grandfather had built from the ground up and leading it into even greater glory, that his weary mind starts playing tricks on him, telling him that the life he is living is a lie, that all his hard work has not borne a single fruit, that he is nothing but a lowly servant struggling to survive, and worst of all, that Jaehyun is not real – a delusion, a mere figment of his imagination... And out of every conceivable fear there is, that's the one that makes him break out in cold sweat and sends the most unpleasant shivers down his spine.
See, unlike the typical assumption about individuals within the top 0.01% of society, Johnny does not actually give too much of a fuck about money, power, or fame. He's not afraid to lose one, or even all of it; he's had more than his fair share. But Jaehyun… Oh God, he's so fucking terrified of waking up one day and not finding Jaehyun beside him. The mere thought of it is enough to drive him into madness. That, he is positive, would be the end of him.
But then, also during those times of uncertainty, unfailingly, Jaehyun would come to him, embrace him, and reassure him that “You have nothing to be afraid of, love. I'm here. I'm real, and I'll be with you always...”
It may seem silly to some, but when you're in Johnny's position, when you're the top dog (pun intended) of a company that is in charge of more than half of the world's major industries and have millions of people depending on you for their livelihood, it gets really crazy – that's the simplest way he can put it. And when that happens, you'd need someone in your life to keep you grounded, to remind you that you're human and there's only so much you can do and it's alright to make mistakes, to help keep things in perspective so that you don't lose your way, and to lead you back if you ever do. That's what Jaehyun is to him, and more. So much more.
Contrary to what the media often insinuates, Johnny did not fall in love with Jaehyun for his appearance alone, as if the omega's unearthly beauty is all that there is to him. That's insulting, and quite frankly, he is ready to file a lawsuit against the next idiot who would have the audacity to write about it in the papers.
There are a few things that Johnny would like to clarify. First and foremost, Jaehyun is as intelligent as he is beautiful. His mate graduated high school with the highest honors, and was actually offered a full ride scholarship to Stanford. Due to his family's unfortunate financial situation, however, Jaehyun decided to work for a while so that he could save up and move to San Francisco. He was scouted while working at a popular local diner, and the rest is history. At the moment, Jaehyun is taking private lessons with Dan Lee, one of the company's lawyers, during his free time and is doing very, very well. His precious omega aspires to one day obtain a PhD in Jurisprudence and eventually become a barrister that specializes in omega rights, and Johnny is behind him 110%, every step of the way.
Second, Jaehyun is multi-talented. His singing voice is easily better than about 70% of today's so-called 'artists', and his dancing is definitely not far behind. He could've chosen to pursue a career in the music industry over modeling and achieved similar success. He's also a proficient writer, with an impeccable sense of grammar and an impressive range of vocabulary. Johnny has asked him to proofread some official and legal documents before and he's done a marvelous job at them, noticing errors that are often overlooked even by professionals. He even revised the company's entire Code of Conduct, one of the more difficult exercises given to him by Dan, but didn't get credited for it at his own request. Needless to say, his precious mate is also humble to a fault.
Third, Jaehyun is humanitarian. He has such compassion for the less fortunate, as he himself came from very humble beginnings. He loves kids more than anything. He actively participates in charity events and fundraisers whenever his schedule permits, and is a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF, among many other organizations that aim to fight hunger and poverty. Johnny himself is a philanthropist, so they work very well together when it comes to lending a helping hand to those who need it most.
And lastly, Jaehyun always stays true to himself and to who he is as a person. Three years of being the most in-demand model and becoming essentially the Queen of NYC after marrying Johnny never changed him one bit. He still laughs freely and obnoxiously, cries every single time he watches The Lion King (during that scene where Mufasa gets caught in a wildebeest stampede and dies), wears sweatpants and walks around barefoot at home with his hair up in the messiest bun he can manage to make, is a total Marvel trash and loves RDJ more than he does his own husband (which Johnny has learned to accept and no longer tries to compete against), sings along loudly and dances violently to Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna, hogs all the covers and occasionally kicks Johnny off the bed in his sleep but is shamelessly unapologetic about it in the morning, tells bigoted assholes to go fuck themselves in a sweet voice with an even sweeter smile… Johnny can go on and on, but the bottom line is, Jaehyun is not just another pretty face, and it's most certainly not the reason why he fell so ridiculously in love with him. He's not going to deny that it's one of the reasons, but it's not the only reason. Without any of those qualities, along with all the imperfections which, in contrast to his otherworldly physical beauty, make Jaehyun so perfectly human, Johnny doesn't think he'd become as besotted as he is now. Who would want to spend the rest of their lives with a machine? Or a marble statue? Or an alien? Surely not him.
Someone clearing their throat beside him finally puts a halt to Johnny's musings, and when he turns, he is faced with none other than Jaehyun's longtime manager, Yuta Nakamoto-Lee.
“It's rare for you to actually show up at his shoots,” the beautiful Japanese omega says by way of greeting, more as an observation than an accusation. “How did you suddenly get this much free time?”
Johnny chuckles, shaking his head as he says, “I don't. I had to kindly ask someone to do my work for me while I'm gone.”
Yuta raises an elegant eyebrow. “Of course you did. Let me guess, my husband?”
“Like there's anyone else qualified enough.” It's true. There's no one else that Johnny trusts more to run the company in his temporary absence than Taeyong. They've been inseparable since kindergarten (after forming a truce when they realized that they were evenly skilled at the monkey bars no matter how many times they had a re-match), partners in crime (read: pranks) throughout grade school and middle school, Captain and Vice Captain of their high school basketball team, frat bros and thesis partners in Harvard, and were each other's best man in their respective weddings. And if those aren't enough to prove just how strong and unbreakable their bond is, Taeyong left his own father's company to work for him when Johnny took over as CEO of NCT Industries. He would trust the other alpha with his life if it ever comes down to it.
“I'm more surprised that he agreed,” Yuta says, amusement lacing his tone and dancing in his pretty eyes. “Just last night he was complaining about, and I quote verbatim, 'that manipulative, negligent, shameless imbecile', as well as the added workload now that you've acquired both Dream Incorporated and U Enterprises.”
It draws a hearty laugh from Johnny, who takes little to no offense from his best friend's words. “Ah, but I promised him that his suffering would soon be ending because I'm planning on promoting a few of the junior execs and delegating all the extra tasks to them.”
“You better, because I'm pretty sure he's this close to retiring.” The omega emphasizes the statement by pinching his thumb and forefinger together, resulting in an unattractive snort from the alpha.
“Don't you mean resigning?”
Yuta shakes his head. “Nope. Retirement. He said he's done about 20 years' worth of work and accumulated the same amount of stress in the past 2 years and counting. He ain't having none of that shit anymore.”
Johnny starts laughing again, but slows down and stops when Yuta does not join him, instead just giving him a mildly judgmental look.
“You mean you're serious? He's thinking of retiring at 32?”
At Yuta's solemn nod, Johnny gulps. If the omega is not simply toying with him for shits and giggles, then Johnny's dead. He most certainly will not deny Taeyong that privilege if his best friend and COO truly wishes to retire prematurely, but he's going to have a hell of a hard time finding an adequate replacement. Taeyong is one of the best, if not the best, executives the company has ever had. The other alpha possesses an unusual kind of discipline and work ethic that makes him so efficient and allows him to consistently produce excellent results. Plus, they have a very open communication between the two of them, and can tell the other straight up if there's a serious problem or if they're fucking up. Who else would have the balls to tell the CEO of the world's largest and most profitable conglomerate to 'Get your shit together, asshole, we have work to do. Stop dicking around,' like Taeyong does to him on a daily basis?
Johnny's face must be starting to reflect his torrential thoughts, because Yuta immediately tries to amend by saying, “Well, I think he's only about fifty percent sure of it. It's unlikely to happen anytime soon.”
“If it's still going to happen, then that does not make it any better.”
“What, you wish to enslave him for eternity?”
“No, but… I just wish he would tell me these things, you know? He tells me almost everything else.”
“Taeyong's never going to do that and you know it. As long he can still endure, he will.”
“Exactly. That's why it's so -”
They are both distracted when the photographer suddenly pauses from taking shot after shot, and Johnny barely manages to catch it when the guy asks Jaehyun to 'look at the camera with love'. He sees his mate furrowing his eyebrows a bit, no doubt taken aback by the random instruction, but still does his best to comply.
A few more camera flashes later, it becomes apparent that Jaehyun is struggling to nail the specific expression that the photographer is looking for. It's unusual, but it does happen. The Englishman is still guiding him through it, to do this and that, 'soften your eyes just a tad, don't make it too half lidded, don't press your lips together...' and Jaehyun would apologize and try again.
“I think you should step in,” Yuta suggests out of the blue.
Johnny blinks stupidly, unable to make sense of it. “Huh? What do you mean?” Does he want him to stop the shoot? Wouldn't that be a little too exaggerated?
Yuta rolls his eyes and all but drags a confused Johnny – all 6 feet plus a few inches and 190 pounds of him – closer to the set with surprising strength.
They stop about two feet behind the photographer, and Johnny still doesn't quite understand what Yuta wants to happen until Jaehyun finally becomes aware of his presence, their eyes meet each other's, and –
“Perfect!” The long-suffering photographer yells in satisfaction as he eagerly presses the shutter to capture the look on Jaehyun's face.
That's when it begins to sink in to his rather thick skull. So that's what Yuta meant.
Johnny wishes he has the ability to describe it, but he guesses it's the kind of moment that is best seen with one's own eyes, and from there make their own judgment. He wouldn't want to tarnish it by failing to come up with the appropriate words.
The photo shoot ends soon after, and everyone starts thanking everybody for a job well done.
Jaehyun runs to him despite the efforts of his assistants to get him to change into something else first, throwing his arms around Johnny's neck and letting out a little squeal when the alpha embraces him tightly by the waist and lifts him up.
The studio gets filled with coos and whistles, but Johnny tunes it all out in favor of nuzzling Jaehyun's neck, pressing his nose right into the bond mark and inhaling deeply, taking in as much of his mate's sweet, intoxicating scent as he can. He has never smelled anything better than Jaehyun. It's so overwhelmingly good that he sometimes wants to bottle it up so that he can sniff it anytime, especially when they're apart and busy doing their own stuff. Which is basically every day, given what Johnny is.
Lately, though, he's been noticing that there's a faint trace of something that's never been there before—something that smells suspiciously like milk. It's very subtle, and he probably would've missed it if he isn't so obsessed with smelling Jaehyun at every chance that he gets.
Before he can further contemplate the possible reason behind it, his omega detaches himself from him and starts wriggling to be put back down.
Johnny does so, but keeps a strong arm wrapped around Jaehyun's slim waist. He then leans forward and drops a small kiss on his omega's cute nose, eliciting a giggle from the younger.
“What are you doing here?”
“Isn't it obvious? I wanted to see you.”
“But what about your job? Is it okay for you to just leave like that? Even if you're the CEO, that's inexcusable.”
“Don't worry about it, I have everything under control.”
But Yuta suddenly pipes in and announces, “I just got a text from TY. He says he doesn't want to hear from you starting tomorrow until Sunday, since you promised him a 3-day break. He doesn't just want a break from working, but a break from YOU, too.” The older omega cackles afterward and doesn't linger, sashaying away with a suggestive 'I need to prepare for this and surprise him later'.
He doesn't see Johnny pouting like a 5-year-old who was just told by his mom that he can't have cookies until after dinner. Jaehyun tries to hold in his laughter but fails very quickly, and soon is doubling over and using Johnny as a wall to keep himself upright.
The so-called 'alpha', the epitome of manliness, continues to pout because he can, and because he's genuinely disappointed at the unofficial restraining order issued by his own best friend. They promised to play ball this weekend…
Johnny only recovers when Jaehyun stands on his tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the lips, effectively removing his pathetic pout and replacing it with a smile. He's half-tempted to swoop in for another, but decides against it because they're literally surrounded by dozens of people with professional cameras and smartphones who could easily snap a picture and sell it to TMZ or something. They don't need that kind of cheap publicity. They don't need publicity at all, period.
“Don't do that again, it doesn't suit you,” whispers Jaehyun, crinkling his nose in mild distaste.
In mock offense, Johnny huffs, puffing his chest out for effect. “Everything suits me.”
“That's what you think. Remember when you wore double denims, tacky sunglasses, and a fake beard to pick me up at the airport because I had to fly commercial to get back here from Milan?” Johnny definitely does. It was that one time when all 4 of their family's private jets were unavailable – the smaller Gulfstream G650ER and Bombardier Global 6000 were being used by his parents and younger sister respectively, and the colossal Boeing 737-33A and Airbus A340-300 were both under maintenance.
“That was a disguise!”
“You came with an entourage and 6 body guards in an armored limousine. That has got to be the most ineffective and unnecessary disguise ever,” Jaehyun responds matter-of-factly, shutting down any other protests that Johnny may have.
It's fine. Jaehyun doesn't need to know that he only did it because he once drunkenly declared that he'd be able to pull any outfit off during a night out with Taeyong and Hansol, another one of his closest friends and the company's CFO. If he didn't do it, they'd take his Lykan Hypersport and his (then brand new) Huayra BC. There was too much at stake, so he had no choice but to swallow his pride and go out and be seen in the aforementioned atrocious disguise.
“I was really embarrassed, by the way. I wanted to pretend I didn't know you,” his supermodel spouse adds, a savage glint in his eye.
Just as Johnny opens his mouth to retort, one of the interns, a young male omega, comes up to them visibly nervous and understandably so because it's not every day that you come face to face with one of the most powerful and influential alphas on the planet, and tells Jaehyun that his interview for the magazine is in 10 minutes.
“Thank you, Nana. And you can relax,” at this Johnny smiles at the sweet boy called Nana, but it falls when his mate follows up with, “my husband is a total dummy. He's about as harmful as a soggy french fry.”
The kid snorts, covers his mouth, and bows before turning and speed-walking away from them.
“Did you really have to make me look so lame?”
“You know very well the answer to that, baby,” and with that the omega pivots on his heel and leaves his alpha gaping on the spot like a dead fish.
Although it's incontestable that Johnny loves Jaehyun with all his heart and with every fiber of his being, it doesn't mean that he also doesn't want to sometimes kick himself in the butt for being stupid enough to fall for this amazing, enthralling, scintillating, insufferable, cheeky little shit. It's all Johnny's fault, and now he has to live with it.
Not that that's hard. He does have 'the most beautiful star in the universe', after all.
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Extra:
They're in the elevator on the way to the basement parking after Jaehyun's interview wrapped up. Both of them are leaning against opposite ends, just staring at each other without blinking. It's a game they like to play.
It's going great, until a few seconds later...
“Shawty, what your name is?” Johnny asks in the most terrible imitation of a southern drawl, and Jaehyun's concentration shatters just like that, giving way to a loud guffaw.
It's takes a full minute for him to calm down, after which he pants, “Oh god, don't ever try to talk like that again.”
“Guess I won.”
“You cheated. I demand a rematch.”
The elevator dings, signaling they've reached their destination.
“Tough luck, we're here.”
The doors open, and outside 4 bodyguards are waiting for them. Johnny gives them a nod of acknowledgment and steps out, two of them immediately flanking him while the others do the same for Jaehyun.
“That's unfair! We can do it right here!”
“No can do, baby boo. We have a 7 PM reservation at Alinea. It's already 3:45 and a flight to Chicago is almost 2 and a half hours.”
Jaehyun stops in his tracks then, causing everybody to do the same. “What are we going to Chicago for? I know you're impulsive, but this is too sudden. Plus, I have an appointment with Karl Lagerfeld early tomorrow.”
“I already asked him to move it to Saturday instead.”
“What? Why would you do that? Are you out of your mind?”
Johnny signals the guys to disperse and leave them alone for a while, before closing the distance between him and a mildly irritated Jaehyun.
“Do you really not know what today is?”
The omega crosses his arms. “I wouldn't be asking you otherwise, genius.”
Ignoring the sarcasm, Johnny looks his mate straight in the eye and says, “Happy Anniversary.”
The slight frown on Jaehyun's face turns into a full blown scowl. “What the actual hell are you saying? Did you hit your head hard and get amnesia? We just had our anniversary 2 months ago! You even bought an entire island in the Caribbean and named it after me! Don't you remember all of that?”
“No, no, I'm not talking about our wedding anniversary. Of course, I remember.”
“Then what is it? If this is one of your stupid pranks again, John Seo Youngho, I swear to God you're sleeping in the balcony for a week.”
Even though he's quite bewildered by how quick Jaehyun's temper is today; actually not only today but for the past few weeks it seems (which is definitely weird), Johnny does not match it and instead smiles as he explains, “It's the 3rd anniversary of when I first saw you.”
He gives Jaehyun a moment to let it sink in. They've never celebrated it in the past, but not because Johnny has forgotten or doesn't deem it important enough. It's just that he's been hesitating all this time, because that would mean that he really has turned into an incurably quixotic fool.
But now he no longer cares about that. Let the whole world know. The day that the universe decided to bestow its most beloved and beautiful star upon him is one that he will forever be grateful for.
To his surprise, Jaehyun does not say a thing and continues on his way across the parking area.
“Do you not like it? Should I not have done this after all?” Johnny calls after his mate.
Jaehyun abruptly halts and turns, and when he looks up, Johnny sees tears streaming down his cheeks.
“Are you stupid? This is the silliest and sweetest thing you've ever done! How can I not like it?!”
Johnny lets out a breath of relief and goes to where his omega is standing, now sobbing like he does when he watches Mufasa die for the umpteenth time. He wraps his arms around Jaehyun and together they walk to where their limousine is waiting.
All is well.
(He puts his suspicions about the mood swings and the scent changing at the back of his mind for now.)