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Contrary to popular belief, JC is still in contact with his idol best friend.
To all, he’s deactivated all his public social media accounts. At least, while being a trainee under his company. For secrecy of some sort. He never asked, and JL never opened it up. Jokes on them, he has a dump account to still communicate with him.
But now, he's performing his released songs alongside his members and gaining fans all around the globe. His very famous friend who’s on a world tour and is making a stop near his hometown. Lucky him, right?
Eh.
It’s a well known fact in JL’s fandom that he has a non-showbiz best friend. In JL’s first year as an idol, all his past videos of dance challenges and random shenanigans with JL blew up. His tiktok account, which usually only sees views from his family and classmates, now boasts a small following. One that he always tries to ignore. He’s not a celebrity. His best friend is.
But it also doesn’t help that the fans would sometimes go crazy.
Crazy how? Simple. Shipping them.
Of all the posts that managed to run away from his drafts, almost all of them had comments pointing out how JL looked at JC as if he hung the stars. Well, if only they knew how it was the opposite. JL was always too bright, always too shiny. He was always running to the spotlight. He never had time for any real relationships. The romantic kind, at least.
But…
“Babe, let’s meet up tomorrow. My treat.”
And there it goes. All those endearments. All those teasing. It never mattered anyway. JL never meant any of it.
It doesn’t matter if he never hears the same words on broadcasts. Or on radio shows. Or on fanmeets.
No. He’s only saying those because of a stupid bet they made when they were young. Of how JL would one day marry JC when they’re old enough and they don’t have girlfriends.
It never came up again, but on that day onwards, JL began calling endearments. Just bro things. Platonic bro things.
But JC is just a weak man. And he’s gay. And has a crush on his very handsome best friend for at least a decade with no end in sight.
It’s no surprise when he agrees.
A kick to his knees wakes him up from his daydreaming. “Are you dead?”
“I wish.” A sigh.
“Get up.” He doesn’t want to. JC wants the ground to swallow him whole. Well, the carpet of their shared apartment with Ash. As always, Ash chose the gentler approach. He finds a comfortable spot beside JC on the floor, “Hey, what happened?”
He doesn’t want to answer. He fakes a sniffle.
“Is it your best friend?”
He does not offer Ash any answer. But that’s a confirmation in and of itself.
“Whatever is, don’t overthink it.”
He grunts. Like a non-verbal caveman. He doesn’t have the words to describe what he’s feeling over this entire ordeal.
Ash chuckles as if he understands any of his rumblings, “I promise. It’s all in your head. It’s really obvious that he likes you so much.”
“Do you ever feel like superman when you’re undercover?”
JL scrunches his nose, “What?”
“Because that disguise is really obvious. And that face mask. And that hat.” JC shrugs, taking a sip of his iced coffee as he catalogues the masterful contour of his crush’s eyeliner. “It’s like a beacon saying, ‘I’m keeping my identity a secret!’”
“Hey it works!” He rolls his eyes, “Most of the time at least.”
“And what if a sasaeng somehow finds you. Us. Alone.” JC gives emphasis on the last word. “That’s a dating scandal waiting to happen on Dispatch.”
It didn’t seem like the idol was bothered by those words. He merely smiles.
“Okay. At least they know you’re mine.”
And immediately, JC’s heart went wild. Random thoughts of a planned future invades his thoughts, before he picks up an imaginary pan to swat those unwanted dreams away. No delusions.
“Dude. That’s your career on the line.” He deflects. He hopes his emotions weren’t obvious.
A handsome smirk said otherwise.
“Hmm, it’s fine. They’ve been pretty lax with idol dating nowadays. Especially when Rumi-sunbaenim’s relationship was leaked to the public.”
Ah, right. The famed veterans Huntrix and their dating scandal with a rookie boy group. Fascinating.
Ash was always so vocal about it. He said that Huntrix was a group made up of vigilantes. One that kills demons. And that of their band members was a half demon herself. Dating a demon from an all demon boy group.
Crazy. Ash and his conspiracy theories.
JC was interested in another part.
He leans in, elbows digging into the cafe table, “So it was real, right? Them dating, and the whole dating scandal, I mean?”
“Why? Wanna try being in one?”
He chokes on air.
Thankfully, recovers soon enough. “Dude, I’m being serious. Humor me.”
JL laughs, voice sounding a bit too happy with his antics, “Yeah, yeah. They were real. Although they broke up once their group was mismanaged to hell by their company. It was sad, really.”
Right. He usually forgets the part where it's still an industry. A music full of unknowns and risks, and a small mistake can lead to catastrophic outcomes.
He doesn’t reply.
He stares at JL. At the mole on his face. And at his jawline—oops, wrong train of thought.
Shoving those weird ideas out of his head, he recalls all those late night calls, all those messages asking for strength and inspiration, all those whispers in voice recordings of fears. Of all the struggles his best friend had to endure in order to stand where he was today.
On the days where he was beginning to give up, he was there. When a question by a host becomes too pointed and he needed reassurance, he was there.
JC was always there for his best friend. He never pushed. But he was always available.
And he’s happy for JL, really. He misses staying overnight for the pillow fights on sleepovers. He misses sneaking out to play for hours in public computer shops. He misses the late night talks on call in Discord. His friend was too busy nowadays. But he understands.
Seeing JL pursue what he’s passionate about, and thriving. It was enough. It makes him happy.
“What are you thinking about?”
You, he almost says.
“How you persevered. How’s the spotlight, JL?” He answers, quietly, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
“It’s… I don’t have the words. It’s just… amazing. exhilarating. Baby, I love it so much.”
Eventually, the sun dips below the horizon, casting the last vestiges of tangerine paint over the Manila skyline.
JC already misses his crush even if they were still together. Hesitant, he says, “I think I should go home.”
And if he sees the minute second JL narrows his eyes at something down the street, he doesn’t say anything. Because why would he be staring that much to know about JL’s little idiosyncrasies. Because it’s too obvious.
It took him a few seconds to register that JL was already staring back at him.
He averts his eyes as JL giggles, “Let’s go, I’ll accompany you to the station.”
As they leave the air-conditioned cafe, JL immediately slots his hands over JC’s. Like it's natural. Like it’s rehearsed.
JC elects to ignore the erratic thumping of his heart. No. He’s not internally panicking, no.
“When are you going back to Korea?” He starts. Which might be a bad question. Especially since the answer is guaranteed to be something that would make him sad. He’s always so busy. It’s a miracle if he’s even able to take some days off and fly home.
He sneaks a look to his right, only to avoid JL’s eyes that were already looking at him, “I think I’ll be back before your birthday. I have the week off so…” His voice trails off. And then he says, “Can we go on a date again?”
“A date?” He mulls it over as they walk over scrapped rubble and overgrown sidewalks. “It depends where. And when. And—”
“Wait.”
JL holds him steady. He inadvertently makes eye contact. And he’s lost again.
“JC. I’m pretty sure we’re not seeing eye to eye.” He takes a deep breath and steps closer. His eyes track gazing at his eyes, then his lips, then back to his eyes.. “I’m asking you out. On a date. A romantic one.”
JC freezes.
Blood rushes to his ears, and all he could feel was how warm his cheeks were despite the encroaching cold of the night, and how all he could hear was JL’s words, repeating over and over again.
On a date. A romantic one.
Romantic.
JL… likes him?
What?
“What do you mean?” He finally lets out. He was confused. And hopeful.
Is this really true?
“I like you, JC. A lot. Ever since before I left abroad.” This was the first time he saw his JL like this. All jittery and nervous. Not the kind of nervous where you’re also excited because you’re about to perform. It’s the kind of nervous where you’re afraid to hear your mom scold you.
Like hell he’s gonna reject his crush for a decade.
But JL wasn’t done.
“I never knew when it started, but I do know that I’ve loved you for a long time. I’ve wanted you for a long time. Ever since we were in high school. Remember that time where we said that we’ll marry each other?” He nods, and JL continues, “I already liked you for a long time then. I wanted to keep you for myself. But I wasn’t sure you wanted that. So I backed off. I was so scared. But seeing you without my side… It kills me sometimes. I miss you. I miss you so much.” So he wasn’t delusional after all. “Please. JC. Can I court you?”
Yes. Yes, Lord. I do.
“Yes—”
And then suddenly, JL disappeared in front of him.
What?
Suddenly, pain erupted from his right side. He falls over rough concrete, and it was a split second reflex to hold a row of sharp canines inches away from his face.
The teeth belonged to a one-eyed sort of humanoid monster, with weird markings and one eye. It was growling like a rabid dog, and he was sure this was worse than that. Because what the hell? What is he even looking at?
The weird creature pushes with renewed energy, and it took all he had to hold his arms steady despite the pressure. He does not want those teeth near his face. No thank you. As his breathing quickened, he began to take note of his surroundings.
Purple lights danced around the edges of his vision, and he had a half-thought that those were perhaps not natural. He glances at the source of those lights.
Suffice to say, he was shocked.
Is that JL fighting with glowing daggers?
He weaves around a number of similar looking monstrous creatures, and once those blades sliced through those figures, they disappeared in pink glitter. Glitter? What’s even happening anymore?
One of those creatures manages to sneak behind JL and ram him into the ground. He was able to recover quickly, and dispatched it quickly with a backflip.
But then his head returns to his predicament.
Once the creature attempts to lunge once more with the bite, he lets its momentum carry forward while he ducks to the left. Thank god for his dance lessons. He’d probably not have any strength if he weren’t so obsessed with it.
He lands near something purple. One of JL’s daggers.
Without a second thought, he grabs it and drives it into the head of his enemy. It explodes into pink glitter. Huh.
But then he hears growling behind him.
Three creatures. All looking at him hungrily. Wait. Were they food?
He takes note of his surroundings. JL was still expertly weaving around unrelenting waves of these monsters. A backflip here. A parry there. He was dancing. But it seems like these monsters were here for him. Only a few took notice of him.
Too many still.
He grips the glowing dagger (how does it do that?) in his hands. It seems to be effective against these monsters. He doubts a normal kitchen knife would magically poof these monsters anyway. There must be something special about these glowing daggers. He grimaces. Focus!
These things ambushed the two of them under an overpass. Faint lights overhead casted deep shadows and the overcast clouds do not help at all. It was dark. Except for the occasional iridescent flashes and death glitter.
The leftmost creature looking at him lunges, and he steps back in tandem. He dodges another one of the monsters running to his right, and he ducks just barely from claws that aimed to gouge his arm from the first. He aimed a quick slash to the exposed stomach of that demon and sidesteps another lunge.
One down, two to go.
He jumps backward, and the two monsters simultaneously run towards him.
To his left, there were two pairs of claws aiming to turn him into mince meat, while to his right boasted too many pairs of sharp teeth.
Once the four-armed monster jumps at him, he rolls forward, and he immediately stabs the head of the other to his right. It was only a matter of luck that he ducks into the resulting glitter of the dead demon to avoid another swipe.
Two down, one left.
“How are you even real?” He mutters under his breath. The only time he saw these designs were… “VFX demons on the Huntrix performance at Namsan tower.” Damn. Maybe Ash was right. They were real.
He was already dodging another swipe when JL appeared from behind the creature and banished it to where it belonged with a clean swipe.
Then he was being hugged.
“JC! Are you okay?!”
He felt sore everywhere. It doesn’t seem like he was injured except for a few scrapes. His outfit was dirty with soot, and wow, there wasn't any glitter from those dead demons at all like he expected.
It was only the two of them there. It looked like whatever happened had already stopped. So he did the only valid thing he could think of:
“What the hell was that?!”
The iridescent hum of his best friend’s sword illuminated the lightless alley. JL didn’t want to meet his gaze. But he still answered.
“Demons. From another dimension.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?” JC scoffed, “Are you gonna tell me next that your songs keep this world from being invaded by your so-called demons?”
“H-how did you know that?”
“What? Dude, I was joking!” He exclaims. He took a deep breath, before he lost his temper. JL already looked so ashamed and guilty that he just shook his head. It’s probably not his fault. “Explain.”
“Are you angry?” At last, JL meets his eyes. And he internally melts. He couldn’t stay angry anymore.
He rushes to hug his best friend. If he feels the way he sags on his hold, he doesn’t mention it. They were both in the same boat, hell, JL had many of those demons attack him. Maybe he was being irrational.
“I’m not mad. But I feel like you have answers.”
JL shudders, “okay, okay. I’ll talk.”
But he shakes even more, and JC guides JL to sit on a pile of carefully arranged hollow blocks. Of all the fighting that happened, it was a miracle it wasn’t even disturbed. Small mercies.
“I’m a demon hunter.” He starts, “I hunt demons. I have been ever since I debuted. Me and my members, and also other groups too, we hunt demons. That’s basically it.”
“So what does singing and the Honmoon come into the equation?”
His eyes widened, “How do you know about that? That’s a secret!”
“I’m chronically online. People talk, you know?” And Ash. And his not so crazy conspiracy theories right now. He can’t believe he was right all along.
“Okay, yeah. The Honmoon is like a shield, a barrier? It keeps out the demon and prevents them from entering our world. But it needs to be repaired every now and then.”
He connects the dots. Why JL said other groups. And even his group members.
“Your songs power it.”
“Yeah,” JL nods, “We go on tour worldwide to try and repair holes in the Honmoon, but well…”
“We were attacked by the demons.”
It makes sense. Why JL is coming to tour here. His concert was tomorrow. He was about to repair the Honmoon. He was going to prevent the demons from entering their world. And they targeted him. And they aimed at him. He was alone and they wanted him gone.
He couldn’t make sense of what he was feeling, but it wasn’t pleasant. His hands shake with what seemed like rage, but also fear.
He pulls JL in a hug, breathing in his scent, “I’m glad you're safe.”
“You’re not so bad yourself.” JL grins, breath ghosting over his shoulders. “I was scared you were hurt but you were amazing. I almost thought you were a demon hunter too.”
“It’s probably the adrenaline.”
“Take the compliment.” JL murmurs, lips trailing goosebumps over his skin. A few seconds of silence, and then he says, “can I still court you after all of this?”
There’s only been one answer to that question after all these years.
“Baby, it’s always been a yes.”