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When the hostess found out, they managed to convince her to keep quiet.
RFA parties were always popular amongst freelance hosts. They paid well of course, despite what some people may think of Jumin Han, he never skimped on salaries. As a result, they had plenty of people to choose from.
He was standing on the other side of the room with Zen, the man who was now officially his partner, waiting for the guests to arrive. Under Assistant Kang’s request they kept their relationship within the RFA, something he didn’t understand but agreed to for the sake of Zen’s reputation. He couldn’t help himself in public though.
Zen was ridiculously handsome as always. The white jacket he wore did nothing to hide his well-toned body and his eyes wandered to his black turtleneck, covering the smooth pale skin of his lover. The idea alone did… things to him. When Zen noticed Jumin was staring at him, he raised his eyebrows, startling the businessman a bit. There was something about Zen that made Jumin unleash his emotions more, allowed him to act more open around him.
He managed to get his feelings under control within seconds but it was too late. One of the hostesses, he rarely remembers their names, had been looking at them the whole time. She walked over to Assistant Kang who was standing close to her and whispered something in her ear, her face questioning. His assistant’s face went pale and the two of them looked in their direction. He walked away from Zen but he knew he’d never hear the end of it from Assistant Kang.
Later that evening he would pull the hostess aside to bribe her, but she refused and promised him her silence. He made a mental note to hire her more often.
When the bored rich widow found out, they decided to roll with it.
The 20th annual grand ball was a sight to behold. It was marvelous, extravagant, glamorous and also extremely boring. Zen didn’t really want to be here but Jumin insisted that it’d be good for him to come, as there were many networking opportunities for a young upcoming actor like him. But where Jumin saw businessmen, Zen only saw boring old people in a room that was all ivory-colored marble and glass chandeliers.
After he had yawned for the tenth time that night, Zen decided to have some fun. Sometimes he would ‘accidentally’ bump into Jumin when they headed somewhere, let his hand on Jumin’s back linger just a tad too low when he tried to guide them elsewhere, offer the executive a sip of champagne from his own glass. Jumin remained stoic as ever but his eyes betrayed hints of annoyance and desire.
Maybe he hadn’t been subtle enough. When the dance was about to start in the ballroom and couples were forming up on the floor, they were approached by an elderly lady in a rich mink coat. At first Zen wondered if she was going to ask him to dance with her but to their surprise, she asked how much money she had to throw at them to get them to dance. He knew he looked handsome in his white tux but this was ridiculous.
He was about to tell her to get lost but Jumin chuckled and grabbed his arm to lead him to the dancefloor. Zen wasn’t too familiar with the dance but Jumin placed his hand on his back and held his hand in the other, clearly taking the lead. Zen felt Jumin’s tuxedo shift under his hands, acutely aware of everyone’s gazes on them.
As the music played, Jumin slowly moved to turn, Zen’s feet following swiftly. Years of practice on stage helped as he kept up with Jumin’s movements with ease. Soon it was as if they were gliding, the scenery around them fading away and he felt only his warmth, saw only him, his smile, his eyes. His thoughts blurred. Was there even a floor underneath them? He wasn’t sure anymore. If this was what flying felt like, he never wanted to walk on the ground again. Another turn and Zen pressed himself closer, focused on his lips and slowly moved in…
Only to have Jumin suddenly dip him. He heard a few people applaud and let himself be hoisted up, looking a bit sheepish. The heir patted him on the shoulder, smirking. Zen shot him a slightly irritated glance as they left the ballroom.
Yoosung called them the next day to compliment them on their dancing which he saw on television. He didn’t even recall seeing cameras there.
When the paparazzi found out, things got really hectic.
With their stunt at the grand ball, it was to be expected that curious reporters would try to see if they could get a juicy story from the two. While Zen had experience with paparazzi, Jumin didn’t know what to do or how to act around them. He was used to reporters showing up so now and then, asking for typical things like the C&R profit numbers or opinions on the latest tax law. They had always been respectful.
So when a man in a shaggy jacket approached him, shoved a camera right in his face and asked him the weirdest things about Zen, he wasn’t sure what to think. Thankfully Driver Kim was able to chase him away, having grabbed him by his collar to yank him out of Jumin’s personal space.
He met up with Zen at a random coffee café, where the actor was waiting for him, two take-away coffee already in his hands. The actor passed him a cup and he read on the carton around it that Zen had gotten the amount of sugar exactly right. He was so pleased that he kissed him, caught in the moment.
This turned out to be a mistake as a big flash shocked them, a reporter with a large grin looking like he’s won the lottery. He tried to make another picture when Zen grabbed his arm and dragged him while running. In the corner of his eyes he saw a few more flashes from different angles, doing his best not to drop his coffee as he ran. He cursed Zen’s stamina, the albino was able to run faster and longer than him. He was a panting, sweating mess by the time Zen had considered it safe. His suit was all wrinkled and his coffee was long gone.
When they told the chat, Saeyoung offered to track down the paparazzi and hack into their database. Jumin accepted but he had a feeling the damage was already done. For the next few days they’d be extremely paranoid whenever they went outside and saw each other less, much to his aggravation.
When Chairman Han found out, they were in serious trouble.
Gossip magazines displayed their kiss on the front page much to their dismay. They dismissed everything as photoshopped, sensationalist media just trying to get more money and pageviews. When his colleagues at the musical didn’t believe him and wouldn’t stop asking him about it, Zen wondered if Jumin was doing any better at work.
When he arrived at Jumin’s penthouse for a romantic evening, Elizabeth thankfully in her own special room, he got a call from an unknown number and when he picked up, it was none other than Jumin’s father. How he had gotten Zen’s mobile number, he would never know. Zen had never spoken to Chairman Han and now he wished he never had. The man was intense, dominating when he was angry. He never yelled but Zen could hear the tenseness in his words, rarely letting the actor speak. He made his opinion obvious, how dare Zen jeopardize his son’s future, had he no shame, no respect?
By the time Zen dared to hang up, he felt guilt, anger, sadness and loathing all at once. It was so bad he had to sit down on the couch and stayed there for a long time, staring at the ceiling. Jumin found him like that, instantly worried sick to see his partner so distraught. Zen told him everything, not sure what would happen to them in the future. He knew family was everything for Jumin. For the first time in a long while, Zen was terrified.
Jumin had grabbed him and held him tight. To his surprise, the heir was begging, pleading not to leave him. The raven-haired man was almost shaking. Zen returned the embrace, assuring him he wasn’t going anywhere. He meant it when he said he wanted to be with Jumin forever. Whether Zen would never act again, Jumin would lose everything he had and the RFA were to fall apart, he wanted to be with him.
Hell hath no fury like Jumin scorned, he discovered. The businessman had retreated into his office and at some point Zen could hear him yell non-stop. He never realized how aggressive the man could be, Zen always assuming that their past fights in the messenger showed the limits of Jumin’s anger.
That evening they cuddled in bed discussing the worst case scenarios. Zen knew that if they did indeed lose everything, it would be immensely hard for them. V had kindly offered to take Elizabeth in if necessary and oddly enough the actor found himself thinking he actually didn’t want Jumin to be separated from the furball.
Before the world found out, they decided to tell everyone themselves.
Enough was enough. If people were going to learn about their relationship, they might as well be the ones to introduce it. They were done with being worried, paranoid and angry. They were going to go all out, big and loud and beautiful.
They had gotten endless amounts of invites to talk shows, from respectable to trashy. Jumin picked one where he knew the host well, a kind woman who excelled at making her guests feel comfortable and had a large live audience to interact with. She rehearsed the questions she wanted to ask with them beforehand so that they wouldn’t be caught by surprise. Zen liked her already.
Underneath the large, bright, hot spotlights and in front of large black camera lenses, Zen confessed to the talk show host and the world that yes, he was dating Jumin Han, C&R’s top executive. The entire room was filled with gasps, screams, cheers and whistles. The host wanted to ask them another question but was interrupted when a guy yelled for them to make out. They both shrugged and kissed each other.
The screams that came from the audience was absolutely deafening to the point where even security looked a little worried. They decided to end the talk show a little earlier, the amount of television views and phone calls were through the roof and the host was worried the audience would riot. The two of them snuck out via the back entrance, covering their heads with their jackets and laughing as they ran to Jumin’s car.
The media devolved into absolute chaos. They were right on the front page of every newspaper and magazine possible. Any show that discussed celebrities were talking about them. There were television interviews with women and men crying from misery or joy. Enter any chatroom online and they would be discussed. Websites were created to celebrate or hate their love. Memes were made and tossed around every second. Even the general chat in LOLOL didn’t escape the subject. People made reaction videos about the couple on Viewtube and reaction videos to those reaction videos.
Zen’s director called him to postpone rehearsals because the entrance to the stage was absolutely swamped with his fans and they couldn’t get inside. C&R’s customer service couldn’t handle the mass amount of calls they got from random people asking to talk to them. Poor Jaehee saw her e-mail inbox get swamped with polite requests to interview them to less polite requests asking things incredibly inappropriate. Jumin’s clients exclusively asked about Zen, masking their curiosity poorly.
Jumin didn’t know how but word got out that Chairman Han disapproved of their relationship, leading to large groups of people protesting outside of C&R holding signs and chanting. Crowdfunding pages were set up for the couple in case they would be kicked out. People were ranting about how brave they were and how homophobic C&R was and how they’d boycott their products on Stumblr. It even got to the point where Chairman Han had to make a public statement that he supported them both and any rumors about disowning his son were greatly exaggerated.
The RFA was raving on the messenger, delighting in the sweet pandemonium. MC reported she’s gotten a staggering amount of people asking for an invite to their RFA parties. Jaehee begged them not to do something like this again while Saeyoung begged them to do something like this again. The hacker lamented how he’d never be able to do a stunt like this though Yoosung expressed that for the first time he was glad he wasn’t as popular as Zen or Jumin. Saeran threatened to hack the messenger again if someone dared to post another meme.
Soon enough the hubbub died down, the minds of the masses distracted by the next shiny thing. They sat outside a small bistro, enjoying some well-deserved time together in the warm summer sun. Zen held up his phone to make a selfie of them both. He looked at it, saw Jumin kissing his ear affectionately while the people behind them paid them no attention, going on with their day. The actor wouldn’t have preferred it any other way.