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“Hey Nichol, can I ask you something?”
The simple question from Euijoo punctured the easy silence of the living room and caught the attention of Nico and Jo who had been quietly working on their respective artistic endeavors for the last hour. Nico had been in such a productive headspace designing his next clothing line, he hadn't heard his boyfriend's gentle footsteps enter the room until now.
“Of course, babe, what's up?” responded Nico as he put down his tablet and made room for Euijoo to join him on the couch. “I came across some new Mandarin words and was wondering if you could tell me what they mean.”
It wasn’t unusual for Euijoo to have Mandarin-related questions: just as he was devoted to practicing his English with Maki as much as possible, he made sure to bring up new things he learned in Mandarin with Nico whenever he could, a habit which Nico found endlessly endearing.
“Yeah definitely, what words?” Nico inquired, already shifting the language mode of his brain to that of his mother tongue. “The first one I think was ‘shūfú ma (舒服吗)?’. What is that asking?” posited Euijoo, the curiosity and urge to understand reflecting in his round eyes.
Caught initially off-guard by the unusual question, Nico nevertheless dutifully translated “Oh, uh, it means ‘is it or are you comfortable?’” Euijoo hummed in understanding, storing the phrase into his multilingual lexicon. “Ahh I see, so I could ask that to fans at fansigns after they've been sitting in their seats for so long?”
“I mean technically yes, though you might get some odd looks back,” warned Nico, “given that the more common interpretation of ‘shūfú ma?’ is usually ‘does it feel good?’”. Slightly embarrassed at thinking he would say that to fans, Euijoo nodded quickly, chuckling nervously as he continued, “Oh! Ok that's good to know, maybe I won't use that then.” He trailed off for a brief pause before asking, “What about ‘kuài diǎn kuài diǎn (快点快点)’, what does that mean?”
Another odd word, though with this one Nico felt like a pervert, because why did his mind immediately jump to the image of his beloved boyfriend below him, whimpering those words with every thrust against him in a breathiness that would loop on repeat in Nico's wettest dreams? Did Euijoo know what he just asked meant “faster, faster”? Once the blood fully returned to his head from where it had begun traveling southward, Nico realized Euijoo still awaited a response. With a brisk cough to clear his throat, he replied “Oh, that means ‘hurry up’ or ‘faster, faster’. But, uh, babe, where did you learn these phrases? They're not exactly the most typical phrases an idol would use.”
Without missing a beat, Euijoo supplied, “I was catching up with Hanbin-hyung after I saw his recent vlog in Taipei. He was there on a solo schedule but he seemed so comfortable despite the language barrier, so I was asking for any helpful words and phrases to use.”
“And Hanbin-hyung told you ‘kuài diǎn kuài diǎn’?”
“Yes,” insisted Euijoo, “he said sometimes he needed to use it with the staff to hurry things along so he could make it to the next event and see his fans sooner.”
Now, who was Nico to doubt the validity of Hanbin's advice, especially from one leader to another. All of South Korea adored Hanbin and praised him for his polite, gentle persona, so it'd be highly unlikely he'd give Euijoo advice that could earn him any disrespect, right? Plus, they did usually have a short window between schedules to transition, especially with nine members and countless staff, so there was some merit to wanting to move things along quickly.
Acknowledging the truth in how useful that phrase could be, Nico conceded, “Okay I see his point, though use it selectively so you don't appear rude to any staff". He continued on, "anything else you wanted my help in translating?” Euijoo pondered for a brief moment before the tips of his ears began to turn red and the prettiest pink blush grew on his cheeks.
“Ahhh yeah there were two more phrases, but this next one is probably a little out there, I already know. I wanted to learn how to flirt with fans a bit better in Mandarin, so at the end Hanbin-hyung told me about ‘kàn kàn wǒ (看看我)’, but he didn't have time to tell me what it meant; all he said was Hao taught him this one to use when talking to fans one-on-one.”
Okay, now Nico's brain wasn't just jumping to the gutter for no reason; his spidey-senses were tingling, though he couldn't put a finger on exactly what was going on with Euijoo right now.
The first phrase? A little odd, but no surprise that Euijoo was looking out for the comfort of the fans.
The second? It might come across a bit impertinent, but with how many schedules the group could have in a single day and how much they all wanted to maximize their time with Luné, it could prove helpful if used properly.
The third? They were idols, after all, and fans loved the playful jealousy and possessiveness that could come out at the thought of fans’ attention drifting. What other reason would an idol need to say “look at me” to their fans in such a close setting?
Separately, in theory all three phrases had practical use in their promotional activities. But all three together? Now that picture looked very suspiciously suggestive in Nico's, albeit already dirty, mind. In what kind of communication scenario would Euijoo realistically need to know these words that Nico wouldn't be there to help facilitate? The only situation he could think of definitely involved him, along with their bed and a definitive lack of clothing.
Mildly curious yet also suspicious, Nico rebutted, “You said Hao taught Hanbin-hyung this one? Because it means ‘look at me’, so if you use it, be prepared to have even more fans wanting you to play pretend-boyfriend with them. But also,” Nico added playfully, “why are you learning to flirt from another man? Especially when your own boyfriend speaks Mandarin?”
Euijoo sputtered at being teased, not expecting to be questioned about his questioning. “I- well, I didn’t want to bother you with something so silly like this. And it really was a last-minute question I threw to Hanbin-hyung before he had to leave.”
“Uh huh, sure it was,” Nico bemoaned dramatically, “It’s definitely not a betrayal that my own boyfriend is learning Mandarin from someone who’s not me.”
“Well I wanted to learn for myself and maybe sort of surprise you and impress you?” Euijoo admitted shyly, “I know how much it means to you when we learn your native language, and I wanted to both learn to communicate with fans better on my own and also maybe help ease some of the translating burden you have whenever we’re in Taipei.”
Simultaneous waves of adoration and guilt swept over Nico upon hearing Euijoo's sincerity. His boyfriend was simply being considerate and thoughtful, and here Nico’s mind went straight to suspicion.
“Awww Juju,” Nico cooed, “you know I already think you're a genius, right? Even without knowing another language? But if you truly want to learn, of course I'm happy to help.” A brilliant smile took over Euijoo's face upon hearing the praise, pleased to have his boyfriend's support and encouragement.
“You had one more phrase you wanted to ask about?”
Euijoo glanced down in thought as he tried to recall the last phrase he wanted to ask. “Oh, I remembered, it was ‘Gēgē, wǒ yào nǐ (哥哥，我要你)’” he replied as he looked up and met Nico’s eyes through his lashes. Gone now was the innocent, curious expression Euijoo had maintained throughout his questioning. In its place was a sly smirk emerging on his lips and a fiery spark of passion lighting up his eyes.
At once, Nico’s sharp eyes narrowed as everything clicked and his suspicions were confirmed. Of course his genius boyfriend was plotting something; no one goes to Haobin for professional Mandarin tips.
“Ok that’s it,” Nico stated as he stood to his feet, lifted Euijoo princess-style in his arms and began walking to their shared bedroom, “No more learning words from Hanbin. From now on, I’ll be your exclusive Mandarin teacher. In fact, we’re starting now with a hands-on, practical application of what we just reviewed.” Euijoo could do nothing in response except giggle gleefully as his master plan of subtle seduction came to fruition.
Soon, the living room returned to silence anew as the shutting of the bedroom door cut off any lingering chatter from the couple; that is, until a shy voice piped up from the other couch, “Wait, what does ‘Gēgē, wǒ yào nǐ’ mean?”