Work Text:
Junhui stared down at the romanized gibberish written on his supposed script. Sure, he had them perfectly memorized already, but it would be nice if people could actually tell him if he was pronouncing the words right.
"It's okay, you're playing a Chinese transfer student, it's fine if your pronunciation sounds wonky."
Wonky. Junhui scoffed to himself. He took his work very seriously, anything less than perfect was unacceptable. The producer and staff didn't seem to be taking this seriously though, and Junhui honestly wasn't expecting much either. After all, the rest of the cast was made up of idols. Specifically, "k-pop idols". Junhui suppressed another scoff. All these people knew how to do was dance. While apparently they were good singers as well, Junhui couldn't help putting up a judgmental front knowing that most of these idol groups lip-synced in their performances, using the excuse that "the dances are hard."
"You might not agree with it, but of course every group would want to show their fans their best performance, it's justified in a sense." One of the members from said k-pop group he was working with had told him. Well, it had to be him since he was the only one who could have a conversation with Junhui. In fact, he was actually acting as the mediator between him and the group since his previous translator was apparently trying to start some sort of war by twisting everything the Korean idols said.
"...But that's lying." Junhui had replied to Minghao coolly.
"That's rich coming from an actor."
"Acting isn't lying. You can't act if you lie about the character." Junhui was already used to these kind of accusations, so he had his usual answer ready. Minghao simply shrugged before rejoining his members on the set.
It wasn't like he had anything against these guys personally, but, seriously... The fact that idols think they can just get a whole drama series for themselves without having any experience in acting whatsoever and only got the job because of their appearance was just stupid, and an embarrassment to the acting world. Junhui honestly had nothing to look forward to.
He couldn't believe his manager actually made him fly to South Korea for this sorry piece of work. Why did he even agree to it?
"Hey."
Junhui looked up, his poker-face on. He wasn't a fan of anyone interrupting his preparation time. Who was this guy anyway? If he remembered correctly, he had introduced himself as the group leader or something. Give him a break, there were twelve of them, who can remember their faces that fast?
"I just wanted to tell you that, what you said to The8, that was really cool." The supposed "leader" said, grinning at Junhui. Meanwhile, the latter had no idea what he just said, but the expression on his face seemed friendly enough.
Now, Junhui was skeptical about working with a bunch of rookie idols, but that didn't mean he should be rude about it, so he simply nodded and returned the friendly smile.
"I'm S.Coups, by the way. But you can just call me Seungcheol. Or is S.Coups easier to pronounce?" Seungcheol laughed in a rather sheepish manner, which Junhui thought was unexpected in a way, given how tough his initial image was. Guess he really shouldn't judge a book by its cover. The only problem was, Junhui still had no idea what this dude was talking about. He may as well had been insulting him in his face, deceiving him with that seemingly genuine smile, but Junhui stood his ground. By that, he meant just continuing to smile and nod.
At least this part of the job seemed easy enough.
"Cut! That was perfect, Jun-"
"Actually, I'd like to try that again." Junhui said, trying not to sound out of breath from running down the same flight of stairs multiple times, just to show that the character was running down multiple floors. "Towards the end, I felt like I lost focus on my expressions and got distracted by running." Junhui explained as Minghao translated for him to the staff who couldn't speak Mandarin.
The director nodded as the staff reset the scene. From the corner of his eye, Junhui noticed the k-pop idols whispering to each other, probably puzzled about why Junhui would request a retake himself when the director already gave it the ok. Seungcheol alone stood beaming, he said something to the group that Junhui obviously didn't understand, and decided that it was none of his business anyway.
"You see that, guys? That's how a professional actor works, we need to step up our game as well!" Seungcheol declared to the group, the others made energetic "fighting" noises and threw fist pumps into the air.
God, they were loud. Junhui thought to himself tiredly. Well, that was understandable since there were twelve of them. To be honest, Junhui sort of respected Seungcheol for being able to keep these noisy kids in line. They were all very polite, just... noisy.
Filming continued for multiple days, and Junhui didn't have much interaction with his supposed "coworkers" offset, aside from Minghao. Despite the initial negative impressions they had of each other, they managed to work past it. Besides, it was good to get all the tension out of the way so that it didn't show onset. Junhui was already a master at that, but the rookies might slip-up, was what he thought.
Speaking of which, Junhui had thought that idols were about nothing but their faces and fancy dance moves, but this SVT group really proved him wrong. They were all very hardworking, and even copied down Junhui's "perfectionalism" and requested for retakes themselves. Their acting honestly wasn't bad either. Of course, any kind of performance on stage required the control of facial expressions, Junhui should have known better.
Usually after shooting, they would simply go their separate ways, off to whatever was on their respective schedules. But today, Junhui's manager had cleared his schedule for him so that he could "enjoy life in a foreign land" or something, Junhui wasn't going to re-read the cheesy message again. So instead of charging out of the door like he'd usually do, he wandered awkwardly off to the side, clueless as to how to proceed.
"Junhui, do you want to join us for dinner?" Minghao suddenly approached him with the others all waiting obediently in two lines behind him. Junhui glanced over Minghao's shoulder to see Seungcheol standing at the head of the lines, grinning in a welcoming and encouraging manner. "I mean, it's fine if you don't want to, but I'm just saying... A certain leader will be very happy if you join us."
"What?"
"It's a little embarrassing for us, but he's kind of a huge fan of yours. He's watched all of your movies. By that, I mean all of us have, because he forces us to marathon your movies with him on his birthday."
Junhui blinked, feeling both utterly flattered and concerned, "...By all of them, you mean-"
"Yes, including your 'fetus works'."
"Oh lord..." Junhui groaned, burying his face in his hands. When he finally found the courage to re-position himself, Seungcheol had somehow teleport himself next to Minghao and was whispering frantically to the younger boy while the Chinese member replied with an incredibly exasperated tone. "What? What is it this time?" Junhui groaned.
"Nothing, he thinks you're rejecting our offer. You're not, right?" Minghao arched an eyebrow at Junhui while pushing Seungcheol behind him with his elbow, just in case their now incredibly jumpy leader scared Junhui off.
Junhui opened his mouth, trying to run through all the excuses he was so used to making when costars tried to ask him out after work, but after briefly meeting Seungcheol's large oddly puppy-like eyes, the words that coolly tumbled out were, "Sure, I'll come."
Minghao turned and announced the apparently good news to the rest of his group, who then started cheering. Junhui couldn't help laughing at their enthusiasm to make friends.
He remembered that he was once like that, too.
All right, hear him out. Junhui had originally intended for the dinner with SVT thing to be a one-time event. And for some reason, it's become almost an everyday occurrence. Every time after filming, Minghao would approach him and invite him to dinner, sometimes with Seungcheol tagging behind. Then after the third time, Minghao would come over, and Junhui would just follow. After what seemed like the tenth time, Seungcheol came to him instead, and Junhui would gladly follow.
As for dinner itself, it was noisy, obviously, and you'd think that Junhui would have nothing to say to a group of people he could barely understand, but he didn't have to. Their actions were amusing enough, and as an actor, he was a strong believer of actions speaking louder than words.
With Minghao as a translator, Junhui managed to have short conversations with some of the members, and they shared work experiences with one another.
"Junhui's been acting since he was 6, isn't that amazing?" Seungcheol had said to the rest of the group.
"I don't think you should be gloating about your obvious crush." Jeonghan had rolled his eyes and slapped Seungcheol's arm playfully from across the table, "Sorry, he's quite a fanboy, as you can tell." He had added to Junhui, who smiled gently at the comment after Minghao's translation.
But today was different. Seungcheol approached him after work as usual, but instead of heading out with the rest of the members, the others were now nowhere in sight. Junhui looked at Seungcheol quizzically.
"Um, the kids have, er, something to do. So it's just me and you today, is that fine with you? I mean, I'm sure you're busy, you don't have to, I mean, it'd be great, but-"
"So, dinner?" Junhui cut in, holding up the takeout menu and trying hard not to burst out laughing at Seungcheol's frantic hand gestures and stutters. The younger had understood what he was trying to say from the way he had clumsily pointed between the two of them, and made an "x" with his arms while indicating behind him, where the other eleven "kids" usually were.
Seungcheol let out a relieved smile and took the menu from Junhui.
Dinner wasn't as quiet as Junhui expected it to be, mostly because of Seungcheol's constant stuttering that Junhui still couldn't help finding oddly out of place in comparison to the usual manly aura he puts up during work. Didn't Minghao say that he was a rapper? Right, the leader of the Hip-Hop Unit in addition to being the general leader.
Junhui didn't understand a lick of what Seungcheol was saying, but he enjoyed watching the older's expressions. He looked so childish and excited when he talked about his work, Junhui could tell that he really enjoys his job. Of course, that goes for the group as a whole. Having shared a set with them for almost an entire month, Junhui felt that their passion had rubbed off on him as well.
"You know, I envy you." Junhui suddenly spoke, even though he knew that Seungcheol probably wouldn't understand anything he says, he just needed to get the words out, "I envy your passion. I've been walking this path as an actor for more than ten years, and sure, I'm doing quite well, but who knows how long that will last, you know? Sometimes I feel like acting is becoming more of a chore than a passion. I used to be so much more eager to learn, and now I'm just like one of those old, burnt-out veterans who just sit around complaining about the newbies who try to get in on the scene." It was the first time he's admitted it out loud, and Junhui felt oddly better after spilling his thoughts, even though he'd probably be met with an empty blank look from his dinner partner, "Also, I owe you guys an apology for being so judgmental when I first met you all. I thought idols were just all about looking pretty, I completely forgot that every line of work is marked by a path full of blood, sweat, and tears. Ah, I'll have to get Minghao to translate this for you next time I see him." Junhui laughed, tilting his head to the side gently.
Meanwhile, Seungcheol had remained silent for Junhui's entire "speech", looking more serious than Junhui probably should be. The leader of eleven rookie idols didn't say anything, but reached over and gripped Junhui's hand in his own, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"I don't understand what you just said, but your expression reminds me of when one of the younger ones try to act tough under stress. They're still young, I'd like them to rely on their hyungs more. And the same goes for you."
Even though he knew that the Chinese actor didn't understand his words, the latter was returning Seungcheol's earnest gaze with a clear knowing look. Slowly, he nodded.
"See, the twelve of us, we have each other. I admire you for being able to walk this path on your own for so long." The older pondered for a second before reaching into his backpack and pulling out a badly crumpled up flyer, "But you don't have to anymore." As Junhui looked down at the flyer with Korean characters printed over it, Seungcheol scrambled up from his seat clumsily, "I forgot that I had to meet up with the others, sorry but I'm going to have to leave first. I'm really sorry for leaving so abruptly, I really am!"
Junhui blinked as Seungcheol rushed out of the door, almost tripping over his own foot in the process. Carefully folding up the flyer, the actor made his way to the cashier, only to find that his table had already been paid in full. Huh, talk about sneaky dates. Was what Junhui thought, but he couldn't hide the smile creeping its way up.
Did my words reach you, I wonder?
The drama, contrary to Junhui's initial expectations, became a huge hit. Even though SVT was a rookie group, their fandom had definitely expanded rather quickly for the short amount of time that's passed since they debuted. In fact, it became so popular that the producers decided to kill off Junhui's character. On the bright side, that meant he didn't have to make multiple trips each year to continue the next seasons.
"Come on, guys, don't look so down." Junhui had said after they finished shooting the last scene with Junhui. Ever. "I mean, I finally get to go home."
"Yeah, and you know how dramas are like, they might decide to miraculously resurrect him somehow or pull an 'I-actually-never-died' thing." Minghao had added while patting the very much emotional Seungkwan on the back.
"I will decline the offer."
"Aw, we'll miss you, too."
Seungcheol and Junhui hadn't waved goodbye tearfully or anything unlike some of the youngest members, but well, let's just say while moving through the crowd at the airport, Junhui's gaze never once left Seungcheol's. The time they spent together, well, wasn't exactly short, and they still couldn't have a full back-and-forth conversation without Minghao around, but they've always had "that", at least. Mutual understanding. And because of that, Seungcheol was sure Junhui would return to China, back to his normal life of starring in various films, winning award after award... and soon their little drama episode would be nothing but a funny story he'd tell to his grandchildren.
...So why the hell was Junhui here in the Pledis building after six months?
"Oh, hey, did we forget to tell you? Junhui's visiting because of business." Minghao grinned, both hands on Junhui's shoulders as he guided the older Chinese boy to their leader, whom he hadn't been in contact with for six months. After all, even if they had exchanged phone numbers, they wouldn't have been able to understand each other's text messages.
"...Really? All of you forgot?" Seungcheol replied, looking at the smirking members who had barged into his work space, but his wide smile gave his joy upon seeing the actor again away, "Hey, it's great to see you again..." Seungcheol cut himself off as his eyes locked with Junhui's, "Oh god, how the hell did he become even more gorgeous? Is that even humanly possible?"
"While you were gone, Seungcheol-hyung just couldn't stop talking about you. 'Wasn't he amazing?' 'I can't believe I was able to work with him on the same set,' 'Did you know that Junhui can do wushu and the piano? Get you a man who can do both, huh?' We told him that isn't how the saying's used, but he wouldn't listen." Hansol piped up from the back, ignoring the glare Seungcheol was shooting him. It was a good thing Junhui didn't understand that, or he'd probably think of him as some creepy stalker. And thank goodness Minghao wasn't translating any of that.
Just then, Wonwoo came over to put a hand on Junhui's shoulder, "It's all true, by the way."
And to Seungcheol's utter surprise and horror, Junhui turned to Wonwoo and replied in almost flawlessly pronounced Korean, "That's reassuring."
"WHOA. WAIT. EVERYBODY STOP."
"You're the only one moving, hyung-"
"No. You. Stop talking." Seungcheol paused, then looked up at Junhui, "Did you just call me hyung?"
"Is that not how it works?"
"Sorry, I'm just not used to, uh, this. Being able to understand what you say." Seungcheol stammered, unconsciously staring at Junhui's lips whenever he spoke. Does he actually sound sexier in Korean? No, he sounds sexy either way, he'd probably sound sexy speaking munchkin. "But, uh, why?" He forced himself to continue, pushing away the impure thoughts.
Soonyoung grinned, coming forward to also get a piece of Junhui's shoulders, so now the latter was pretty much just getting buried under arms, "We've been waiting for you to ask. Starting today, 'Jun' will be joining us as our thirteenth member."
Seungcheol stared with his jaw dropped. This must be an early April fool's joke.
"He studied Korean super hard during the past six months, I didn't think he could do it, but man, his memorization skill is really something." Minghao added, nudging Junhui.
"I still only know basics in terms of speaking, but I'm fairly confident in my reading and listening." Junhui grinned sheepishly as the other members made agreeing noises to Minghao's compliment.
"Wait, I still don't understand, did the company scout you?" Seungcheol asked, shaking his head from the tons of information that's forcefully cramming themselves into him.
"No, silly, you scouted him." Jeonghan shoved a familiar-looking flyer into their poor ganged upon leader's face, "Remember? You gave him one of our audition flyers when the company was looking for one more member to fill our group."
"And you passed? I mean, of course you passed, but-"
"No shit, he's got some sick moves!" Soonyoung interrupted, grabbing Junhui's arm excitedly, "Show him the fall-and-stand-up thing!"
"It's not as lame as Soonyoung-hyung's making it sound." Chan added helpfully from the side.
"Have you heard him sing? Because you're seriously missing out." Seokmin piped up as the members started talking over each other as usual.
"What can I say? An actor is always most wanted when they're triple threat. I still have a long way to go though." Junhui said, shrugging the compliments off, "The path's just going to get rougher from here, but I don't mind walking it with you guys."
"...Who taught him cheesy stuff like that?" Seungcheol demanded as the group laughed, "No, but seriously... Wow, I can't believe you're actually joining our team. I have to warn you though, it's much more dangerous on the inside."
"Oh, I know." Junhui hummed, his grin widening, "So Wonwoo told me you graduated with an acting major in high school-"
"WHY DID YOU TELL HIM?!"
"Please, everyone knows you aspired to be an actor because of him." Wonwoo rolled his eyes, not the least apologetic.
"Hey, hey, calm down, big guy." Junhui laughed, patting Seungcheol on the arm as the seemingly strong leader facade completely shattered itself, and Junhui had already learned long ago that despite his burly built, this self-proclaimed father of eleven children was nothing but a softy at heart, and the master of puppy eyes, "If it makes you feel any better, you inspired me to be an idol."
"I made you quit your original job..."
"Well, no, that's not entirely true. One doesn't just rid themselves of the acting world forever." Junhui said absentmindedly, "I just thought it'd be nice to take a break and pursue a different passion."
"...You mean k-pop, right?" Seungcheol laughed in a somewhat nervous manner as Junhui's narrow but elegantly shaped eyes threw what appeared to be a flirtatious look towards his direction.
Instead of replying the lame question with what would have been a potentially lamer answer, Junhui leaned over as though to whisper something in the older's ear, but snuck a kiss instead on Seungcheol's cheek when the latter foolishly leaned in.
Amidst the catcalls and whistles, Seungcheol could do nothing but hide his reddened face behind Junhui's shoulder, grumbling grudgingly under his breath to his new already troublesome member.
Use your words, god damn it!