love - [ nct ]

05.

—

"taeyong, si- what the hell happened to your face??" asked mr. sooman, annoyance visible in his tone.

nonetheless, taeyong seemed like he didn't give a fuck. he shrugged carelessly as he sat down in front of his boss, without forgetting to bow first, "nothing necessary."

sooman gave a close eye to the idol before shrugging it off since he had a much more important thing he longed to discuss.

"let's get to the point, shall we?"

taeyong found himself nodding. even though he looked dead calm in front, but inside, he was really, really nervous to the point where he thought he was going to die out of nervousness. he hoped that the talk wasn't going to be what he had thought.

"i believe, that you and jihyun have a relationship. i wanted to ask you a question, are you aware of one of the most important rules in this agency for you?"

well fuck.

one of the letter alana gave taeyong when he was away crossed his mind, and he was glad that he read it. he answered, "i'm aware, sir. though, it wasn't a relationship. do you know a thing called 'crush' that for sure, come and go?"

"i'm fully aware of it, taeyong," sooman sighed. "but, do kisses and well, making out in the empty hallways and corridors ever since your group went back to korea from your north america tour, are considered as 'slight crush'? hm?"

at this point, taeyong knew...

he fucked up.

taeyong ruffled his hair in frustration. "look, sir. with all due respect-"

he was stopped by the elder who raised his finger at him. "no more words, taeyong. i know the truth. it seemed like none of your members realised, but i've been keeping a close eye to jihyun. knowing that she's the only female member, something would've happened. and now, here we are."

he's joking, right? please tell me he's joking. taeyong thought.

as if reading his thoughts, eooman added, "i'm not joking." he explained, "you two are so oblivious over your affections. your affections are always different from the others. skinships, and some kind like that. they looked more like a couple. and from that, we're suspicious. until we saw the video. and well, you two do your job beautifully, different than the rest of the dating idols. you guys know the time to do your job, and the time to be lovesick pups. but, there will be a time where one of you, well, the two of you, are not going to focus on your job. and it will cause horrible things to the team. if that happened, i will not hesitate to get you two out of here."

raeyong clenched his fist. his mind was flooded by every single curse words he knew. words in korean, japanese, chinese and even english (lmao im sure you know the culprit already). before he could open his mouth to let out a remark, sooman defeated him from doing so.

"and if you want to prevent it to happen, i'll give you a choice.

stop the relationship between you and jihyun. or else... you know already."

••

"hyung, excuse me," taeyong tapped his sunbaenim's shoulder.

baekhyun turned around to find a devastated-looking taeyong. he raised his eyebrow, questioning what had happened to nct 127's leader.

"yeah? what's up?"

"were you on your studio?"

baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows at the question that never actually left taeyong's mouth to his sunbae. the older nodded his head, "yeah, i was from my studio, and i wanted to grab some snacks.."

"did you see alana noona? she wasn't in our dorm when i checked," said taeyong, looking around the first floor of the building anxiously.

from the way taeyong looked, baekhyun thought that something happened. it wasn't like taeyong and alana were having an argument, but it seemed like something was preventing them to be together. perhaps.... the dating ban?

"maybe she's in the other dorm, the dreamies, right?"

"shit," taeyong face-palmed. "why didn't i think of that? alright, hyung. thank you!" he then ran.

"wait!" baekhyun called, walking towards the younger, causing him to stop and turn around.

"what is it, hyung? i'm in a hurry and-"

"the dating ban, is it? sooman?"

"how'd you-" taeyong gave a confused look to the older, surprised that he knew his problems.

baekhyun smirked in triumphant. he was going to brag about it to the rest of exo members, saying that he could read people's mind. oh, he anticipated kyungsoo's reaction the most.

"i have my own ways," he winked. "anyway, good luck on this. i can't say anything about it, but i hope for the best for you and jihyun."

taeyong grinned at him, "thanks, hyung!" before running away from baekhyun.

the exo member whistled at himself, "i hope i can do this often so that i can brag to the others. baekhyun the mind reader! BAHAHAHA!"

—

i tried drinking an iced americano with espresso shots just like jaemin's drink. i thought i was in love at first, but then it gets more bitter every sip i took- and now i have a tea and the coffee right in front of me. i sip the tea first and then the coffee, and swallowed it at the same time to reduce the bitter- what kind of method is this 💀