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"Hyun, you are my…Dirty Baby."
Hyun froze. Oh no. Oooooh no, no, no, no, Rui did not just say that!!! Except she definitely did, if the sudden deafening screams of the evols have anything to say. Hyun watches, dumbfounded, as she walks away and then immediately starts shaking his hands and head because ooooooooh my god.
"I'm not your Dirty Baby, oh my g-" he can't even finish his sentence, the panic is real. Hyun's aware that Rui likes to fanservice a lot, she have a hard time keeping her hands to herself, evols loves it, and Hyun always have his "pretend to dislike it" thing to fall back to when Rui gets too frisky, but this is waaaaaaaaaaaay too in your face! Rui!!! Hyun yelps in his head.
He can hear Rui also say "you too" at Wumuti. Hyun knows that she knows that she said too much and is trying to backpedal, but it is too late evols are already freaking out, and Wumuti's laughing but also waving her hand too and saying something but Hyun really can't register anything because PANIC!!!!
Here's the thing - Hyun and Rui really are dating. They confirmed their feelings at the end of the European tour, and everything had gone…smoothly, relatively speaking. It was difficult at first, there were misunderstandings and confusion between them for a large part of the tour, though they pulled out all of their professionalism to bring the perfect concert experience to the fans despite how awkward it was at certain points.
Funnily enough it was because of the sleet storm causing them to have to postpone the Copenhagen show that brought them together. The heightened emotions from the stress, added on top of them being stuck in the same room the night of the canceled concert made everything just…explode out. And that was when the two of them realized that actually, they both are in love with each other, and both are being idiots about it. Apparently communication is key, who knew?
Their transition from friendship and teammates to something more went slowly. Changing dynamics in a friends group is never easy, and XLOV is more than just a friendship group - they're also coworkers, teammates, best friends, family, and Hyun and Rui didn't want the dynamics to change. Most of all, they would never want Wumuti or Haru to feel excluded, or worse, for Wumuti to worry about XLOV's future if two members are dating.
Thankfully (or not thankfully?) the two of them can't keep a secret worth their lives, because Wumuti took one look at them, rolled her eyes, and said "well finally," in probably the most snarky tone Hyun and Rui had ever heard. (A few weeks later Wumuti filmed the Rude challenge.)
The two of them spent the first few weeks after the EU concerts together just living and loving the honeymoon period. They couldn't stay away from each other. Haru made a joke that rather than cuddling on the couch all the time, maybe they should just switch rooms again and Hyun and Rui can just be sticking to each other 24/7. The four of them then unanimously decided that would be a terrible idea - Hyun and Rui deciding they're not quite ready to take the next step yet, and Wumuti and Haru realizing that when the lovebirds do feel like they're ready for the next step, the mother and child combo are going to suffer. Heavily.
Their new relationship became the norm surprisingly quickly. They worked so well together - Hyun loved having Rui next to him all the time, and Rui, once she knew that she's his #1, became a lot calmer than she used to be. They fit perfectly together.
Which is why it was a bit of a surprise when their first disagreement happened.
Rui wanted to be more open about their relationship. She wanted to put her claim on Hyun, to see more evols ship them because they can't actually go public, not for a long, long time if ever. She wanted the feeling of security where she can just…tell the whole world somehow that Hyun is her lover, and no one better have designs on her Hyun. She wanted to scream her happiness to the world.
Hyun wanted to keep everything lowkey. It's not that he doesn't love her, he really, really, really loves her, he was in love with her since the day they met. But he wanted to protect their relationship in any way possible, to keep it to themselves, not for others to see. Hyun was terrified that one day they would be forced apart by outside forces. He also doesn't ever want to see Rui hurt, and he'd rather that no one knows they're together than Rui be hurt by how awful society can be.
They were both so possessive of each other, but in vastly different ways.
They talked about it of course, they talked it out for quite a while, trying to understand each other's perspectives and trying to compromise. According to Wumuti, that's how a relationship should work - a lot of communication and compromises, on top of loving each other. Hyun and Rui were so touched that they both bear-hugged her, causing her to screech in surprise, which then of course caught Haru's attention, and the ending result was just a pile of limbs and laughing on their living room carpet. Wumuti felt incredibly put upon (but she was secretly pleased). The three of them had to apologize to her afterwards (but they were also not-so-secretly pleased).
So after all of their efforts, Hyun and Rui had an agreement - Rui doesn't go too far, especially on stage, and Hyun would not act too against it when it happens, because they both know that Rui can't go half a show without doing something questionable.
Which then led to the Chile concert, whereupon Rui very blatantly claimed Hyun as hers.
Hyun wails in his mind. The Manila concert was already bad enough when Rui linked their hands - the number of times he saw that moment immortalized on social media, he can see it clearly even with his eyes closed now. (Every time he does think of it, a derpy smile would flash across his face, so it wasn't a bad memory or anything.)
But now there is vocal, verbal confirmation!!!!
Rui!!!!
In the aftermath of that moment, there was panic on Hyun's part, and a tiny bit awkward attempt to pull Wumuti into it from Rui's part. Then there was more talking, Rui refused to look at Hyun, and the rest of the concert continued as planned, with far less surprises. Hyun learned to calm down more as the concert headed toward its conclusion, and after they took their final bow together as XLOV, after they waved goodbye to the cheering fans, after they thanked the staff and packed up and headed back to hotel - that was when Hyun suddenly realized that Rui was extra quiet.
Inside the elevator of their hotel, Haru is excitedly recounting some signs he saw fans holding up at the concert, funny lines and reactions he made to respond to the fans, and Wumuti is giggling and remembering how panicked she got when she thought an evol was going to flash them as part of the "be dirty" segment. It's both obvious and not obvious that Hyun and Rui are quieter in the back, standing together yet just far apart enough that Hyun would notice.
The two pairs said their goodbyes in the hallway - Wumuti and Haru's room is closer to the elevators than Hyun and Rui's, and as the eldest and youngest disappeared into their room, silence suddenly dropped in between the lovebirds. It's not a comfortable silence - it's stifling and tense and Hyun realizes that he really, really, really messed up.
Rui beeps them into their room without a single word, but as the door closes behind them, Hyun reaches out and captures her wrist. The room is still dark, they hadn't put the card into the slot yet to turn on the lights. The window blinds aren't fully closed and the only light in the room is from the office building opposite the hotel.
Hyun pulls her into his arms. "I'm sorry."
Rui clutches his shirt, head down and forehead touching his chest. They are both still in their stage outfit and full glam, but Hyun can't be bothered to worry about how much trouble he would be with their stylist if makeup rubs off on his clothes.
"I'm so sorry," Hyun says again, pulling her closer by wrapping both arms around her shoulders, her head tucked neatly under his chin.
"You said you're not mine," came the whisper. "You said-"
"I know," Hyun interrupts, wincing. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it that way, I panicked."
There's a faint sniffle, and Hyun's heart rate kicked up a notch because, did he make her cry??
"Hey, hey," he says, pulling her away so he could look at her face, "don't cry, I really didn't mean it, I love you and I'm yours. Please don't cry." He tilts her face up to the faint light from the window. Her eyes look glossy and wet but he doesn't see actual tear trails. "Don't cry," he whispers again, hand cupping her face and thumb caressing her cheeks slowly - it's as much comforting her as trying to reassure himself that he didn't actually make her extremely upset.
"I'm not crying," Rui mumbles and then buries her face in the crook of his neck. They stood there in the dark for a while, hugging each other close, the dimness feeling warm and comforting as time went on.
"You can make it up," Rui finally says, sniffling, "by taking a video challenge of me." She pulls slightly away and reaches around to slide the keycard into the slot. The room lights up with warm yellow light. Hyun looks down at her little face, blue green hair still perfect, framing everything in a way that feels ethereal. "The Little Mermaid challenge I showed you earlier."
"Okay," Hyun replies, though he doesn't move, both hands still on her waist. Rui really is too pretty, he thinks absently. "You're so beautiful, you know that?"
Rui giggles. Finally the air feels less tense. Hyun means every single word of course, but he also feels relieved. They don't fight often, and it's not like that was a fight just now, but Hyun never wants to hurt her even accidentally.
"Enough, flattery will get you everywhere," Rui laughs. "Let me touch up my makeup and we can go film by the pool - it'd be perfect, I'm telling you."
"Okay, I'll wait," Hyun replies. He thinks for a moment, watching Rui double check that nothing is badly smudged, and says "You know, if you want, you can totally tell them that I'm the one who took the video."
Rui perks up, bending over backwards to look at him sitting on one of the beds. "Really?"
"Yeah, really."
Rui cheers, hopping out of the bathroom and giving Hyun a flying tackle of a hug. Hyun oomphs, and then laughs because seriously, Rui is far too cute. He clutches at her waist and thinks - yeah, I'll give you everything.
Later, after the poolside shoot and the bed selfies that Rui took while Hyun was in the shower, she uploads the photos to b.stage and tinkers with the text. Finally, she adds a "from: HYUN" into the b.stage post, and hits Send. The satisfaction rolls off of her in tangible waves - not that anyone can see at the moment.
Hmph, she thinks, pleased, with just two words, they now all know that not only Hyunnie took that video of me, but also that we're rooming together again.
I am so clever.