the happiest place on earth
the happiest place on earth
chen/liyin, one-shot/drabble, 1687 words
it's liyin's birthday, but jongdae comes out of it with the best present of all
i cannot deal with these two i just CANNOT. so therefore i write. based off jongdae's impeccable display of affection at the jeju fansign yesterday right here. how much more perfect can these two get I DON'T KNOW
Here's the truth: Disney World is not the happiest place on earth.
The happiest place on earth is Jeju Island, and Jongdae knows that for a fact.
Jongdae endures two hours of teasing via Kakaotalk when he is at the salon getting his hair and makeup done. Nobody is willing to let go of the fact that he's allowed to go sort-of-psuedo-dating while on official business. Sehun is especially unhappy, but Jongdae doesn't really care. Yixing keeps asking if they're already together or anything, but Jongdae maneuvers his way out of all of them. He doesn't actually have answers to them yet-and maybe he won't have them any time soon either-but he is going with the flow.
On the plane his manager suddenly turns to him and says: "Jongdae, please don't be so obvious today."
He raises an eyebrow. "What, me?"
Their manager rolls his eyes and sighs. It must be hard taking care of them, Jongdae thinks. "Yes. Want me to pull up all those videos again?" He rolls his eyes one more time and Jongdae laughs.
"Sure, those were cute." His manager looks like he wants to cry. But Jongdae's good with that.
The three of them converge backstage, having all arrived separately. Zhou Mi is talking animatedly with Liyin in Mandarin, while Jongdae listens at the side. His Mandarin has improved considerably in the span of a month or so, mainly because he wants to eavesdrop a lot. Liyin has taken her hair extensions out today, and Jongdae finds it hard to believe that someone can be even prettier within a week of not seeing her. Then again it's Liyin, he figures, and returns to eavesdropping in public.
"What a pity," Liyin has turned to him, and the conversation switches over to Korean, "today's our last activity as an unit together."
Jongdae would know. He nods earnestly, and tries to ignore Zhou Mi's all-knowing smile at the side. Zhou Mi probably already knows-China-line, meh-but Jongdae is pretty much impervious to all sorts of mocking now. They talk for a while more, before someone comes to usher them out for the fansign. Liyin is tottering on crazily high heels today, and as they walk out Jongdae rushes over to help her. She holds onto his shoulder and smiles at him. Jongdae feels like he might collapse from happiness any moment, but holds himself together, pride of an Exo member at stake.
As he signs and smiles up at fans, Jongdae thinks about it. Their relationship as a whole thus far has been progressing well. She lets him do whatever he wants to do for her, and it's a good sign. Even her manager keeps shooting him warily approving looks, and Jongdae thinks that it might just mean he's giving his blessings to them or something. Liyin though, has been a lot harder to read.
He writes down the name of one of the girls that come up next in his line. She looks about sixteen or seventeen, maybe, and looks extremely excitable. "Oppa," she says to him, voice quavering, "you and Liyin unnie should be together-fighting!" Jongdae stubs his marker pen at that and leaves a line trailing out of his heart, but regains his composure quickly enough to thank her politely. Next to him he can hear Liyin stifling her laughter. Right over at the end he can spot Zhou Mi looking over, amused.
"God help us..." His manager hovers over him and sounds like he wants to quit his job on the spot. Jongdae though, is pleasantly surprised and pleased by the support. When there is a lull in his line, he stops for a drink of water and glances over at Liyin's line. It's still long because she's determined to write all of their names down and talk to them, even for a bit, and Jongdae's heart warms up at that. Liyin deserves all of this, and Jongdae would gladly convert all of his fansites to under her name, if that would make her happy.
She looks up at him for a brief moment, and he sticks up a thumb in response. The fan Liyin is signing for squeals in excitement, and Jongdae smiles even wider.
Liyin's manager sneaks over halfway through the signing to whisper their plan to him: it's Liyin's birthday the next day, and they have a cake prepared backstage. Jongdae will take it up front, while Zhou Mi distracts her by making Liyin talk to the fans. "It'll be easy," her manager promises, "Liyin's sort of dense sometimes so she won't suspect a thing."
Dense in the cutest way, Jongdae thinks to himself and sighs. He can never be sure if she knows of his feelings or just doesn't have a clue. But he has a lot of patience when it comes to things like this, so Jongdae decides that he simply has to wait it out.
The signing wraps up soon enough-Liyin finishes signing last and even gives the last fan a pep talk on the last year of high school, he overhears-and they are all talking about how they want to come back to Jeju again when her manager gives Jongdae the signal. He sneaks off the stage and grabs the cake while her manager lights up the single candle on it. Then he shuffles his way back up on, while Liyin is talking to the fans, sincere and earnest and blissfully oblivious.
When she turns back and sees him though, the look on her face is priceless. How can anyone always be this sort of genuinely happy? Jongdae finally understands why everyone in his group is determined to tease him nonstop because he can feel himself smiling so uncontrollably. Zhou Mi is laughing at the side and everyone is yelling and singing along to the birthday song. This is a moment that no one is going to forget.
He hands the cake over to her and his fingers slide on top of hers. She is warm and smooth and his breath hitches over once, before he leads everyone in the chorus of the birthday song. Liyin is holding up the cake above her head and bowing, when it falls over.
It’s a hilarious moment, because of the look on her face (and how cute she is making it), and Jongdae loses it. Liyin is so embarrassed, and he takes the chance to give her a little side hug. She squeezes her shoulders in, and he wonders very quickly how it would be like to hug her for real, before letting go.
Everybody is still excited when they move to the backstage. Jongdae stands back and watches as the staff members wish Liyin a happy early birthday, and their official photographer takes photos. Zhou Mi stands beside him and together they give Liyin the spotlight that she deserves so much.
“So, I see you’re very smooth.” Zhou Mi says from somewhere above him, and Jongdae gulps. He turns to try and explain that he doesn’t mean anything, but just sees Zhou Mi nursing an indulgent smile instead. Jongdae takes that as tacit approval, then. “Side hugs are very smooth, Jongdae.”
Jongdae can hear Liyin letting out sounds of amazement at the presents they’ve piled in the room for her. “Uh, well…”
“Anyway,” Zhou Mi changes topics so quickly Jongdae thinks he might get whiplash, “just one question: are you serious about this?”
Jongdae never forgets how close Zhou Mi and Liyin are, but seeing Zhou Mi talk to him as if he would be very willing to punch his face in if he weren’t serious makes Jongdae also sort of weirdly relieved. At least there is someone in the company who has her back. So he nods slowly, and Zhou Mi looks pleased enough.
“Good. Just keep taking care of her, and you’ll get there…” Zhou Mi raises an eyebrow. “In the end. Liyin’s kind of slow so, good luck.”
They take a selca together with Liyin’s phone, and he can feel the happiness radiate off her, almost. Jongdae has almost hopelessly resigned himself to the fact that after today this will be all he has to buoy him through the rest of his activities with Exo. Zhou Mi’s flight is the earliest, so he goes off first while he and Liyin wait for their car rides to arrive.
“I am so clumsy,” Liyin is still laughing over the falling cake incident, “and that cake looked really delicious too.”
He reassures her that it’s completely fine, while she navigates and uploads the photo they took earlier. Jongdae watches over her shoulder, and doesn’t realize that they are too close to each other until she turns over, ready to talk again.
“Thank you for today,” she says and pats him on the back of his hand. His ears immediately flush with heat and Jongdae is so sure that he is embarrassing himself right now. Liyin looks at him for a long moment, eyes smiling. Jongdae doesn’t want it to end. Her hand is still on his.
“Nuna.” he says, finally, and extracts his hand out to place it on top of her own. Somewhere in the background he can hear their managers talking, just beyond the closed door of their waiting room. “Happy birthday.”
Liyin’s hand turns around so that their palms are against each other, and Jongdae can’t really breathe right anymore, and she smiles again. It’s an overwhelming kind of smile, the sort where you know that she’s too good to be true, and Jongdae knows it because how else can she be real when she is like this? Liyin’s hand is small and delicate and Jongdae never wants to let go.
“Thank you but,” she leans over and Jongdae is suddenly, surprisingly, acutely aware of the way she leans into him, shoulders small and always supportive, “it’s actually tomorrow.”
And then she kisses him, light on the lips, and Jongdae is permanently gone.
So here’s the truth: even Disneyland with the Exo members is nothing.
Jeju Island is where first kisses are at. Jongdae swears upon it.
chen/liyin, one-shot/drabble, 1687 words
it's liyin's birthday, but jongdae comes out of it with the best present of all
i cannot deal with these two i just CANNOT. so therefore i write. based off jongdae's impeccable display of affection at the jeju fansign yesterday right here. how much more perfect can these two get I DON'T KNOW
Here's the truth: Disney World is not the happiest place on earth.
The happiest place on earth is Jeju Island, and Jongdae knows that for a fact.
Jongdae endures two hours of teasing via Kakaotalk when he is at the salon getting his hair and makeup done. Nobody is willing to let go of the fact that he's allowed to go sort-of-psuedo-dating while on official business. Sehun is especially unhappy, but Jongdae doesn't really care. Yixing keeps asking if they're already together or anything, but Jongdae maneuvers his way out of all of them. He doesn't actually have answers to them yet-and maybe he won't have them any time soon either-but he is going with the flow.
On the plane his manager suddenly turns to him and says: "Jongdae, please don't be so obvious today."
He raises an eyebrow. "What, me?"
Their manager rolls his eyes and sighs. It must be hard taking care of them, Jongdae thinks. "Yes. Want me to pull up all those videos again?" He rolls his eyes one more time and Jongdae laughs.
"Sure, those were cute." His manager looks like he wants to cry. But Jongdae's good with that.
The three of them converge backstage, having all arrived separately. Zhou Mi is talking animatedly with Liyin in Mandarin, while Jongdae listens at the side. His Mandarin has improved considerably in the span of a month or so, mainly because he wants to eavesdrop a lot. Liyin has taken her hair extensions out today, and Jongdae finds it hard to believe that someone can be even prettier within a week of not seeing her. Then again it's Liyin, he figures, and returns to eavesdropping in public.
"What a pity," Liyin has turned to him, and the conversation switches over to Korean, "today's our last activity as an unit together."
Jongdae would know. He nods earnestly, and tries to ignore Zhou Mi's all-knowing smile at the side. Zhou Mi probably already knows-China-line, meh-but Jongdae is pretty much impervious to all sorts of mocking now. They talk for a while more, before someone comes to usher them out for the fansign. Liyin is tottering on crazily high heels today, and as they walk out Jongdae rushes over to help her. She holds onto his shoulder and smiles at him. Jongdae feels like he might collapse from happiness any moment, but holds himself together, pride of an Exo member at stake.
As he signs and smiles up at fans, Jongdae thinks about it. Their relationship as a whole thus far has been progressing well. She lets him do whatever he wants to do for her, and it's a good sign. Even her manager keeps shooting him warily approving looks, and Jongdae thinks that it might just mean he's giving his blessings to them or something. Liyin though, has been a lot harder to read.
He writes down the name of one of the girls that come up next in his line. She looks about sixteen or seventeen, maybe, and looks extremely excitable. "Oppa," she says to him, voice quavering, "you and Liyin unnie should be together-fighting!" Jongdae stubs his marker pen at that and leaves a line trailing out of his heart, but regains his composure quickly enough to thank her politely. Next to him he can hear Liyin stifling her laughter. Right over at the end he can spot Zhou Mi looking over, amused.
"God help us..." His manager hovers over him and sounds like he wants to quit his job on the spot. Jongdae though, is pleasantly surprised and pleased by the support. When there is a lull in his line, he stops for a drink of water and glances over at Liyin's line. It's still long because she's determined to write all of their names down and talk to them, even for a bit, and Jongdae's heart warms up at that. Liyin deserves all of this, and Jongdae would gladly convert all of his fansites to under her name, if that would make her happy.
She looks up at him for a brief moment, and he sticks up a thumb in response. The fan Liyin is signing for squeals in excitement, and Jongdae smiles even wider.
Liyin's manager sneaks over halfway through the signing to whisper their plan to him: it's Liyin's birthday the next day, and they have a cake prepared backstage. Jongdae will take it up front, while Zhou Mi distracts her by making Liyin talk to the fans. "It'll be easy," her manager promises, "Liyin's sort of dense sometimes so she won't suspect a thing."
Dense in the cutest way, Jongdae thinks to himself and sighs. He can never be sure if she knows of his feelings or just doesn't have a clue. But he has a lot of patience when it comes to things like this, so Jongdae decides that he simply has to wait it out.
The signing wraps up soon enough-Liyin finishes signing last and even gives the last fan a pep talk on the last year of high school, he overhears-and they are all talking about how they want to come back to Jeju again when her manager gives Jongdae the signal. He sneaks off the stage and grabs the cake while her manager lights up the single candle on it. Then he shuffles his way back up on, while Liyin is talking to the fans, sincere and earnest and blissfully oblivious.
When she turns back and sees him though, the look on her face is priceless. How can anyone always be this sort of genuinely happy? Jongdae finally understands why everyone in his group is determined to tease him nonstop because he can feel himself smiling so uncontrollably. Zhou Mi is laughing at the side and everyone is yelling and singing along to the birthday song. This is a moment that no one is going to forget.
He hands the cake over to her and his fingers slide on top of hers. She is warm and smooth and his breath hitches over once, before he leads everyone in the chorus of the birthday song. Liyin is holding up the cake above her head and bowing, when it falls over.
It’s a hilarious moment, because of the look on her face (and how cute she is making it), and Jongdae loses it. Liyin is so embarrassed, and he takes the chance to give her a little side hug. She squeezes her shoulders in, and he wonders very quickly how it would be like to hug her for real, before letting go.
Everybody is still excited when they move to the backstage. Jongdae stands back and watches as the staff members wish Liyin a happy early birthday, and their official photographer takes photos. Zhou Mi stands beside him and together they give Liyin the spotlight that she deserves so much.
“So, I see you’re very smooth.” Zhou Mi says from somewhere above him, and Jongdae gulps. He turns to try and explain that he doesn’t mean anything, but just sees Zhou Mi nursing an indulgent smile instead. Jongdae takes that as tacit approval, then. “Side hugs are very smooth, Jongdae.”
Jongdae can hear Liyin letting out sounds of amazement at the presents they’ve piled in the room for her. “Uh, well…”
“Anyway,” Zhou Mi changes topics so quickly Jongdae thinks he might get whiplash, “just one question: are you serious about this?”
Jongdae never forgets how close Zhou Mi and Liyin are, but seeing Zhou Mi talk to him as if he would be very willing to punch his face in if he weren’t serious makes Jongdae also sort of weirdly relieved. At least there is someone in the company who has her back. So he nods slowly, and Zhou Mi looks pleased enough.
“Good. Just keep taking care of her, and you’ll get there…” Zhou Mi raises an eyebrow. “In the end. Liyin’s kind of slow so, good luck.”
They take a selca together with Liyin’s phone, and he can feel the happiness radiate off her, almost. Jongdae has almost hopelessly resigned himself to the fact that after today this will be all he has to buoy him through the rest of his activities with Exo. Zhou Mi’s flight is the earliest, so he goes off first while he and Liyin wait for their car rides to arrive.
“I am so clumsy,” Liyin is still laughing over the falling cake incident, “and that cake looked really delicious too.”
He reassures her that it’s completely fine, while she navigates and uploads the photo they took earlier. Jongdae watches over her shoulder, and doesn’t realize that they are too close to each other until she turns over, ready to talk again.
“Thank you for today,” she says and pats him on the back of his hand. His ears immediately flush with heat and Jongdae is so sure that he is embarrassing himself right now. Liyin looks at him for a long moment, eyes smiling. Jongdae doesn’t want it to end. Her hand is still on his.
“Nuna.” he says, finally, and extracts his hand out to place it on top of her own. Somewhere in the background he can hear their managers talking, just beyond the closed door of their waiting room. “Happy birthday.”
Liyin’s hand turns around so that their palms are against each other, and Jongdae can’t really breathe right anymore, and she smiles again. It’s an overwhelming kind of smile, the sort where you know that she’s too good to be true, and Jongdae knows it because how else can she be real when she is like this? Liyin’s hand is small and delicate and Jongdae never wants to let go.
“Thank you but,” she leans over and Jongdae is suddenly, surprisingly, acutely aware of the way she leans into him, shoulders small and always supportive, “it’s actually tomorrow.”
And then she kisses him, light on the lips, and Jongdae is permanently gone.
So here’s the truth: even Disneyland with the Exo members is nothing.
Jeju Island is where first kisses are at. Jongdae swears upon it.