#jeno has come SO FAR it amazes me how his confidence and stage presence just demand attention

[makeitpoppy]

7Dream ate that comeback up and that’s IT

[ggukkiedae]

[vlive 210522] Seri’s Seritonin 🥝🐱

9pm kst

italics = english; seri answering questions!

the vlive starts with seri logging on and waving

she’s playing new rules in the background and staying quiet for the first two minutes

“moa! how are you all?”

she smiles and reads through the comments

she reads a few out loud and sees a few comments asking her to say i love you in different languages, to which she complies to

she turns off her music first and fixes herself in her chair

“bet you guys are wondering why i’m live today, huh? we’ll get to that in a bit. for now, let’s answer questions”

she looks through the comments carefully until she reads one out loud

Seriiiiiii! 5 Beomgyus or 5-year-old Beomgyu?

she laughs at this

“maybe a five year old bammie. he always makes a big deal of being older than me by a few months, so it would be good pay back”

she then pulls out her phone and scrolls through it before turning it towards the screen. it was a picture of beomgyu as a kid

“see this? he sent this to our groupchat the other day. tiny gyu is cute”

how are youuuuuu?

she claps her hands together and smiles at the live

“i’m doing great, thank you! i’ve been practicing harder, and i feel pretty good”

she scrolls through the comments again and takes a sip of her drink. she lightly mixes her drink around and places it back down

“you guys should try peach tea. it’s a godsend. oh, what’s this?”

shall we go on a date?

“you didn’t turn up at our last date”

she pouted a little and laughed

“i waited at the rooftop for a while, but you didn’t show up! but i guess we can go again because you’re moa”

she shifts a little and shakes her head amusedly at her own words

“do i sound like gyu?”

Hi Seri! I have a couple questions 😊 What has been your favorite era music wise and style wise? What hair style/color do you want to try? What's your current favorite song? What are you looking forward to most?

her eyes widened a little before she looks up trying to come up with answers to the series of questions

“oh, wow, i guess you could say i really liked our songs from the minisode album, but my favorite title track is run away for sure. actually, i take that back. i like the songs on dream chapter magic the most! in terms of style... dream chapter magic as well! i really like new rules’ styling especially”

a small smile makes its way to her face as she’s about to answer the last question from that comment

“right now, i’m really looking forward to our new album, and i hope you’ll like it as well! so far, the tracks are amazing!”

any plans for a comeback with the royals?

“i don’t know” she laughs and looks off camera “what do you think?”

yoonmi’s giggle can be heard while seri just laughed

“you exposed me! anyway, we’ll see when the three of us get an opportunity again” “you guys heard yoonmi”

seri takes the live and points it to the side, revealing the magenta-haired girl peacefully sitting in the dance studio near her while working on something on her laptop

“yoonmi is working on school stuff even if she just released a song yesterday” “responsibilities”

Seri baby are you aware that Seri sounds like berry? Therefore you are now berry Seri or Seri Berry 🤔

“oh, that’s cute! seri berry... i love it! i’m a berry now! i can replace strawberries, i don’t like strawberries”

she wrinkled her nose at the thought of the red berries as the sound of a chair moving came up. seri looked off camera and waved to, supposedly, yoonmi

“yoonmi has a meeting right now, so she’s off. anyway, back to our live”

Hiya Seri how are you liking the new building? What do you think has changed the most about you since you became an idol? And out of the members who do you think has changed most since you debuted?

“the new building is actually the best thing ever, i swear! there’s a lot of space, and the facilities are all high quality! honestly, i’m the only txt member who doesn’t get lost, so it’s pretty funny when the others have to ask for my help to walk around”

she then pressed her lips into a tight line while thinking about her next answer

“since becoming an idol... i think i became more confident. the others tell me this a lot. they say every comeback my stage presence gets better, and i look more comfortable? i also became a better dancer for sure. not the best yet, but i’m working on it. also maybe kai? first of all, he’s gotten way taller now. second, he’s been more mature. yes, he’s still our baby, but he handles things a lot more maturely now. sometimes he acts like he’s older than me as well”

hi bestieeeeeee! what do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t an idol?

“hey, bestie! musical theatre for sure!”

seri immediately perked up at this. she jumped back in her seat a little with the biggest grin while remembering her experiences

“i loved it back in school! honestly, my parents were pretty supportive about my involvement in theatre and my little brother kinda brags to his friends that his sister goes on stages to perform. it’s kinda cute”

would you consider acting? or maybe starring in a musical?

“oh for sure if i were given the chance!”

you dance amazingly! your artist of the month video with studio choom was absolutely perfect!!!!

“oh my god”

she covered her face and groaned before pulling out her phone and looking for the video on youtube. before pressing play, she looked back to the camera

“thank you, but i’m a little embarrassed about this. i wore red lipstick on stage for the first time after debut, and i showed a side of me that’s pretty different…”

she pressed play and watched the video, cringing at herself. it took a whole 20 seconds before she gave up and hid her phone behind her

“nope. nevermind, i can’t watch that. thank you, i’m glad you enjoyed it”

thoughts on the people you’re being shipped with? 👀

she burst into laughter upon reading this

“ah, yes. shipping. i see you guys on stan twitter with your little edits and headcanons and aus! honestly, it’s amusing. apparently most of you ship me with gyu and seungmin? and a few other people, too?”

she was quiet for a while like thinking about who moas shipped her with. she shook her head with and began talking again

“gyu... well, bammie’s my best friend, and i love him a lot. it’s been us from the very beginning, so i like to think we’ll be as close as ever until the end”

“seungmin is the bane of my existence”

she laughed at this before waving her hand

“kidding! he’s actually really nice, and i love hanging out with him, it just so happens our friendship is based on bickering. we do support each other though. seungmin, if you see this, you did well on love poem”

she then lit up as if just remembering something

“some of you guys ship me with chaeryoung! interesting considering you all see me as ryujin’s sibling, but please, i’m not worthy of the queen herself. i love chae with all my heart honestly she’s such a sweet child”

her phone buzzed and she glanced at it a little bit before turning back to the live

“perfect timing because hyunsuk just messaged me and some special ship mentions are hyunsuk and jeno oppa. i think it’s because i hang out with hyunsuk’s little siblings a lot. but jeno oppa? we just met earlier this year, it’s a little funny how apparently a lot of people ship us when we haven’t really shown our friendship much”

she typed something one her phone before chuckling and shutting it off once again. she looked through the comments until she found the topic she was looking for

What’s up with you and Dino? 👀👀👀

“ah, this. this brings me to the reason i went live. recently, you guys have seen me and dino oppa hanging out, right? well, we’re not dating. i wanted it to be a surprise, but he’s helping me with something for my birthday, and i agreed to do something with him for their youtube as well”

her phone rang, and she laughed before picking it up and putting it on speaker

“hello? you’re on speaker” “seri-yah! how dare you deny our relationship?” “oh? you’re watching?” “look up, stupid. i’m standing by the door”

she looked off camera and laughed

“yah! oppa, what are you doing here?” “miya told me you were gonna talk about the scandal, so i thought why not come early?”

dino appears next to seri in a mask and a hat. he nudged seri over to the side so they could both be centered on screen, making her raise her eyebrow at him

“meet my new dance partner” dino points towards seri whose eyes widen as soon as he said that

“they don’t know yet!” “you said we were working on two things together!” “but they didn’t know one of them is dance!” “might as well tell them so we can clear up this rumor before i get attacked by moas”

she sighed at him

“i’d get attacked by carats. anyway, fine. dino oppa’s helping me with a song, and he’s making me dance with him for a video. you can look forward to this in july”

dino adjusted his hat and leaned forward a little

“no need to panic, we’re not in a romantic relationship. she’s too tall for me”

“... you’re literally taller than me though?” “not by that much. if you wear heels, we’d be the same height, and i don’t think i’m up for that”

she playfully rolled her eyes

“looks like i’ve discussed what needed to be cleared up now. i’m single. single.” “yes, they get the point” “oh, would you just go already?”

she was pretending to push him away while he laughed at her failed attempts. he moved off camera but stays in the room

“no way, we’ve got to work the choreography out today”

“this is gonna be a while,” she muttered before smiling at the live once again “well, time for me to go. i’ve got a lot of work to do to be on par with a member of seventeen’s performance team”

dino’s groaning could be heard from the side

“this again?”

she laughed

“bye moa! hopefully that cleared things up, and hopefully you enjoyed this little tmi session”

-end-

[drippinl0ve]

truth or dare

—idol!haechan x reader

summary: you are the assistant for nct dream and they have all grown fond of you, especially one ray of sunshine.

genre: fluff, confession, friends to lovers

word count: 1.6k

warnings: idk maybe swearing and mention of sexual acts? its really just fluff tbh

You have no idea on how you scored your job as NCT Dream's personal assistant. There you were, just a kid who came straight out of high school, working at a café in the fall. The university of your choice had advised you to wait one more year until you turn 18, for "maturity reasons". When you took your interview for the university last spring, you apparently "didn't have the composure that they were looking for", as restated by your high school principal. Sure, you may have been giddy and extremely excited for your interview, but that doesn't mean that you are too immature for university just because you are an age younger than everyone else. It turned out fine in the end though, because that same giddy and excited energy is what landed you the job at SM.

The job description you were handed was very intense, due to the special circumstances. They basically needed someone for the Dreamies to hang out with and to confide in, therefore there was a lot of liability contracts to sign. The SM managers believed with your feverish attitude and your seemingly caring nature, along with your age, you would be a perfect fit to keep the boys preoccupied. Along with the job came rooming and all expenses paid for by the management agency. You, of course, got a small dorm that wasn't too far away from the Dream members'.

When you first arrived the boys were distant, not knowing how to react to a new person around, especially a pretty girl their age. It wasn't until you ran into Chenle in the hall late one night that the distance was broken. You were just on your way to get your late night pizza delivery from downstairs when you saw Chenle trying to sneak back into his room. He knew he was busted since he can't be out past 10 but the clock currently read 11:30. You assured him his secret was safe and even invited him to eat pizza with you out in the hallway. You guys briefly discussed each of your individual backgrounds that got you both to where you were now. To Chenle's surprise, you were his age and yet still so chill? It just kind of blew his mind that he now has a girl friend. He also helped introduce you to the other members.

After a few months at this job and being with them every single day, you have made a special connection with each one of the boys. Jisung and you always love to pull pranks on the older boys just so Jisung could say "maknae on top", Chenle and you just enjoy each other's presence and try out a lot of new restaurants and cafés together, you love to go on outings to art museums and galleries with Renjun, and Jeno and Jaemin almost never leave your side and are constantly trying to push you to do new things with them. As for Mark and Haechan, you do see less of them as they have to go to NCT 127 and U practices and such, but Haechan always seems to find time in between to come and hang out with you and the boys.

The boys took a fast notice to Haechan's reappearing presence after you came, and they simply put the pieces together. One day when you had left to your dorm to go shower and get ready for bed, Jeno, Jaemin, and Renjun all bombarded into Haechan's room.

"So... Haechan it seems that you have been spending more time than usual with us instead of with the 127 hyungs, why is that?", Jaemin slyly asks.

Haechan tried his best not to tense up and replied calmly with, "I guess I just love you guys".

Renjun was quick to retort, "I bet we are not all you love", a grin spreading onto Renjun and Jeno's faces.

Haechan swallowed the apparent lump in his throat, "W-what do you mean?", he let out a dry laugh, "are you accusing me of loving Y/N?".

"Hey! You said it, not us!", Jeno countered while pointing at him.

"C'mon, admit it. It's written all over your face whenever she's here", Renjun whined.

Haechan took a seat and rubbed his face to prevent exhaustion. He hadn't even come to terms with his feelings. All he knew was that he thought you were spectacular and he loved being around you. Every time you needed to run an errand for the boys, such as coffee pick up or groceries, he would insist to come with you. He loved helping you pick out your clothes and when you would give him a mini fashion show of the options in your hall. He always made sure that you were standing right off stage waiting for him after a performance, as your mere presence calmed his jittery nerves down greatly. Every stressful moment he has had where he wanted to quit being an idol, you were consistently there to help him get through it.

Haechan sighed, "I guess I do like her", he quietly mumbled.

Ever since that confession, the boys haven't left Haechan alone, but alas, they did promise to keep his secret. Chenle and Jisung aren't in on the secret, as you are too close with Chenle and Jisung can't keep a secret to save his life.

It was currently 11 o'clock on a Friday night and you stuck inside with the Dreamies (minus Mark since he could actually go to some music ceremony), but Haechan had decided to stay with the boys after he heard you were bored inside with them. After growing tired of watching the ceremony live, Jaemin had mischievously suggested on playing truth or dare. With Jaemin, Jeno, and Renjun giving each other sly glances, Haechan knew that something bad was going to come out of this game. Haechan quickly tried to stand up, saying he was tired from the full day he had, but Chenle pushed down on his shoulder to get him to reluctantly stay.

"Please hyung? You never hang out with us!", Chenle whined.

You made a pouty face towards him while giving your best, "pretty please?".

Haechan sighed while fully knowing deep down, he couldn't say 'no' to your face.

After getting Renjun to admit his love for Ariana Grande, daring Jisung to touch a cockroach, and forcing Chenle to be tickled brutally so Jeno could get a video of him laughing to post later, it was finally Donghyuck's turn.

Jaemin gave him a roguish grin as he asked "truth or dare?".

Haechan knew that if he says 'truth' then he will be forced to admit his feelings towards Y/N, so confidently he went with 'dare'.

"Okay hyung", Jaemin pondered, "I dare you to give Y/N a lap dance".

"WHAT?", was all that managed to come out as you were choking on your soda.

"It's no big deal really", Jaemin calmly stated, although he had a devious plan in mind.

Chenle and Jisung were shocked as their hyungs have never been so dirty before, and Renjun and Jeno exchanging nervous glances while Jaemin sat with full confidence staring at Haechan. Haechan was shocked, he could never do that to Y/N!

"I p-pick truth!", was all that managed to come out of his agape mouth.

"Hmmm", Jaemin absent mindlessly thought, though he already knew what he was going to say. "Tell us who you like".

"And no lying!", Jeno quickly chimed in.

Haechan stuttered and avoided eye contact from everyone, "I-I can't".

Jaemin rolled his eyes, knowing Haechan had to fess up eventually, "well, you either have to do the dare of performing a very sexual act or you can merely tell us all who you like".

Haechan glared at Jaemin as he sat there with the biggest smirk on his face, knowing exactly what he was pushing at.

"What's wrong, Donghyuckie?", you say completely oblivious to who he likes, "don't you trust us?".

His face immediately softens towards you, but before he can reply Renjun counters with, "it's not that he doesn't trust us, he just doesn't want to tell them".

Your face filled with confusion as you look around the dorm, but it is only the six of you. "Are they here, hyuck?", you ask cluelessly.

He gives you a shy nod while still looking down. Chenle and Jisung's eyes widen as they look at you. Then only did it hit you, this lovable ray of sunlight had a liking towards you. You let out a small chuckle as you think about how kind and generous he has been and you now know why. While you sit there smiling like an idiot to yourself, Haechan is still avoiding eye contact and is physically shaking. You stand up and grab his hand, pulling him up with you, as you lead him to the balcony.

The view of Seoul was breathtaking, you let it linger in your head before you started speaking.

"I like you too, Donghyuckie", you say while still looking out into the city.

His head slowly rose and he was speechless. Everything seemed to add up. You looked so beautiful with the city lights reflecting onto your skin as the light breeze blew into your hair.

"You make my days better just by your presence, you always seemingly know how to make me feel better, you and your stupid jokes time and time again make me laugh", you pause to let out a small laugh just thinking about his jokes, "you really are my ray of sunshine, Hyuck". You finally get the nerves to look over at him, only to see him staring with his mouth agape, you can't help but giggle he's so precious.

"Y/N, you don't know how long i've been waiting for this", he says eyes filled with amazement as if he just saw a shooting star.

"Well then don't wait any longer and take me out", you say somehow radiating confidence, although you're holding back a laugh.

"You read my mind, Y/N".

[squishysvt]

"A Lot, Actually”

Request: Hi! Could I request a Jeno imagine where y/n (couple years older) is a well-known back up dancer for SM and also works in the SM Cafe. Jeno has a crush on her and was spotted by fans in awe while talking to her in the cafe. His members encourage him to tell her his feelings and he does so backstage of SMTown. Thank you 🙂

Member: Jeno (NCT)

Words: 2,832

A/N This one took me...really long lmao. Sorry that I couldn’t 100% write in all the details you gave me because the way the story was going Just Wouldn’t Let Me, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless! -Admin Ay

Warnings: profanity, Jeno has teenage boy thoughts about his crush :/

  Yes, perhaps it was true that Jeno had a slight crush on you. However, he was not going to admit that out loud for the whole room to know as Jisung and Renjun circled in on him trying to get some form of confirmation.

  “Jeno, c’mon! If you tell us who your crush is on we’ll leave you alone.” Renjun whined as he nudged Jeno’s shoulder.

  Jeno was now beyond exhausted, not from the soon-to-start dance rehearsals, but from the shenanigans that his friends-slash-coworkers found such pleasure in. He now regrets his offhanded remark about Jisung being “a mere child that knows nothing about love” after getting in an argument over which girl the main character in a show should have ended up with. To be honest, Jeno barely even liked the damn show, so why he let himself dive head first into a conversation about his own love life with his nosy friends in the first place, he did not know.

  The sound of a door slamming open and a hoard of footsteps following caused the interrogee and his interrogators to flinch.

  “Alright everybody! Rehearsals have officially started. Jeno, Renjun, and Jisung stop talking and get into positions.” Taeyong’s sweat pant-clad figure marched into the practice room, the rest of NCT marching behind him. Jeno had never been so happy to dance for four hours straight.

     Rehearsal had gone well so far. NCT Dream had brushed up a few choreographies, and the unit was now on standby as 127 practiced a few of their own songs. Normally, Jeno would be monitoring the older members as they danced and he rested. Do not get him wrong, that was what he was doing for a bit. He was until all the background dancers filtered into the room to prepare for the special performance with all eighteen members.

  A fluttering feeling was felt as Jeno anticipated for a particular figure to flow in with them, you. He knew that you would be working on this specific performance with NCT beforehand, thankfully. Jeno had zero confidence that he would be able to conceal the wave of emotions hitting him now as you walked in wearing a crop top and leggings had he not known.

  Mark, who had just finished up perfecting Cherry Bomb with the rest of the 127 unit, shot a knowing look towards Jeno through the mirror, knowing full well that his dusted-red face was not caused by dancing. Past Jeno was stupid to think that Mark would have anything helpful to say to him at two in the morning after spilling his guts about his feelings for you.

  Taeyong cupped his hands around his mouth as he barked orders. “Everybody, hurry up and get into your proper positions for the special stage. We can run through the choreography and then fix our mistakes after.”

  A clash of hums and “yes sir”s were heard throughout the room as everyone moved where they were supposed to be. Jeno was placed in the very front for a majority of the dance while you stood along the walls awaiting your turn to come out along with the rest of the background dancers.

  Jeno was doing his best at ignoring you as you stood by the wall, somewhat out of his point of view. But as you stepped out away from the wall and started to dance, all of Jeno’s resolve flew out of the window. All brain power usually used to remember upcoming moves instead was used to totally not admire how your leggings wrapped around your thighs and how cute your navel was.

     Two bumps into Jungwoo as the group changed positions and a scolding from Taeyong later, Jeno was finally able to make it through practice.

  Once the original choreographer was pleased with everyone’s performance she had told everyone that rehearsals were done for the day. Jeno watched as you slowly picked up your duffle bag and dabbled in small conversations with the other dancers.

  “You should go talk to her,” a voice none other than Mark’s whispered into Jeno’s ear.

  Jeno did not move his gaze from the curl of your lips and the crinkle in your eyes as you laughed at something Yuta had told you.

  “What would I even say?”

  Mark huffed, “I don’t know dude! All the stuff you gushed to me about? She’s a great dancer, she has a nice smile, she has some amazing legs--ow!”

  Jeno brought down his hands from Mark’s shoulder where he smacked him. “I never said that,” Jeno hissed.

  “Anyone that knows you would know that you were thinking it,” Mark said, a sly grin on his face.

  “I regret ever trusting you.” Jeno was starting to regret many things today.

  A shocked gasp escaped from Jeno’s mouth as he realized the same thing Mark was.

  “Shit, dude, she’s walking this way you need to say something.”

  The only thing Jeno could feel at the moment were Mark’s excited taps on his back and the beating of his heart as you slowly inched closer. No, he could not talk to you. He knew that the only things that would probably come out where nervous groans and stuttered “i love you”s.

  “Hey, Jeno, right?” You said, smile engulfing you face.

  Jeno aggressively questioned the universe as to why it wanted him to die today of all days. SMTown was just in a few weeks but in the next day Jeno was going to be lying six feet under with an enormous “Death By Crush” tombstone at his head.

  “Uh, yeah. Jeno. That’s me!” If only the ground could open up and swallow him whole. Mark’s giggling could be heard not far behind him.

  “Good job today,” you frowned, “But I saw you made a few mistakes, which is very unlike you?”

  Great, Jeno thought, now you probably thought that he was just some kid that never takes his job seriously. Maybe you would choose to never talk to him again. Oh God, or maybe you would spread how “that one Jeno guy sucks at dancing” to the other breakup dancers and then eventually the word would make it up to Lee Soo Man and all the big choreographers and he would be put in the back during every performance. Unlikely, but in his head anything was possible.

  “Well, I didn’t get much sleep last night...been a little out of it since I woke up.” The fact that Jeno did not get much sleep was true, but that was routine. Honestly, he could get two hours and bounce back as soon as he ate breakfast. Jeno mentally applauded himself for pulling an excuse out of his ass so quickly.

  Your hand seemed to float as you rested it on Jeno’s shoulder.

  “Make sure to get some good rest tonight then.” Your voice was laced with worry as you looked directly into his eyes.

  An angel. You were an angel.

  Jeno watched you walk out of the practice room hesitantly as the rest of the backup dancers called to you to join them.

  “That’s a wife,” Mark, who Jeno barely even remembered was there, said.

  “Believe me, I wish.”

     A week before SMTown and Jeno and the rest of NCT Dream had just finished practice together. Jeno hummed as he walked through the doors of the SM Cafe, the rest of the Dream unit zooming past him to order snacks. He zoned in a couple of cupcakes on display that his diet strictly banned as he waited in line, Chenle already at the very front.

  “Oh, Y/N! I didn’t know you had a shift today?” Mark’s conversation faded into Jeno’s thoughts, and suddenly the cupcakes were not as interesting as the person working at the cashier. Jeno lifted his eyes from the desserts, and sure enough, there you were in all your glory. He could already feel the dopamine running through him as your head tilted like that of a confused puppy.

  “I thought I told you that during our last rehearsal?” Your voice sounded sweeter than that of the cupcakes and Jeno felt like it was not normal how hyper fixated he got on it whenever you spoke.

  “Anyway,” Mark avoided clearing the confusion, “the water is all I want.” Mark turned and winked towards Jeno to where only he could see.

  “Jeno, it’s your turn!”

  And suddenly Mark was gone Jeno was standing in front of you, the glass counter separating the two of you.

  Jeno’s throat went dry and his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

  “Hey.”

  “Hey, Jeno! What do you want to order today?”

  “Uhm,” Jeno urged himself on, he got the same order every time he came to the cafe, “Can I just get a lemonade?”

  You hummed as you tapped the price of the drink into the cashier, “Okay, I’ll get you that in a bit.”

  Jeno didn’t even like lemonade. He meant to get the apple juice, but the cursed drink was the first thing he saw when he directed his eyes towards the menu so “lemonade” was, unfortunately, what word had decided to form from his lips.

  Your hair was tied back, revealing your neck, and Jeno found himself ogling at the way the skin on your nape folded as you bent to pour his drink. Jeno wanted to touch it, smell it, and maybe even kiss it if his heart would let him one day.

  Then, you turned around, wretched drink in hand, and without notice your eyes were meeting his. Your stare was both parts intimidating and captivating, and it took your abrupt clearing of your throat to bring Jeno back into attention.

  “Thanks, see you...during the concert.” He said, mid-transfer of the cup of lemonade from your hand to his. Jeno was proud of himself for not letting a single filler word slip into his speech.

  Just as Jeno was about to turn around and finally let every nerve that he suppressed while in your presence out, you called out to him.

  “Make sure to get some good sleep by then.” You smirked, punctuating the sentence with a wink.

  Just because of that, Jeno knew an hour of sleep would be replaced with tossing and turning in bed thinking of that wink and irresistible smirk on your lips.

  “I--uh, yeah. Of course.” There goes his no-fillers accomplishment. Not knowing what else to do, Jeno awkwardly nodded and waddled towards the table the rest of members. He could not register that the loud bickering between all six of them was about him until Jaemin had practically yanked him down into a seat next to him.

  “You’re confessing to her next week.” He ordered, leaving no room for discussion.

  Jeno’s eyes widened into large circles. “I’m what?”

  Jisung rolled his eyes. “Y/N? You have a crush on her, and that’s exactly what you’re telling her next week when we see her at SMTown.”

  “Wait, wait, wait, hold on! How did you guys find out,” Jeno violently turned towards Mark who sat diagonally from him, “I swear to God if you told them I will pour Nair into your shampoo bottles.”

  “I swear I didn’t,” Mark let himself loosen as he thought more on the threat, “And you wouldn’t, you know the company would murder you for that.”

  Renjun’s voice cut through the air as he slammed his hands onto the table. “Shut up, Mark knew!?”

  The whole cafe’s attention was directed to the seven boys crowded around the way too small table at the noise. Jeno bristled at all the possible ears listening in on their conversation. From the way a group of girls giggled and uttered several different variations of “cute,” fans were definitely watching as well.

  Donghyuck laughed nervously as he turned around and addressed everyone with a mouthed “sorry” before proceeding to smack Renjun in the back of the head.

  “Keep it down dimwit! We don’t want non-idols hearing this.” Donghyuck violently whispered.

  Jeno slumped himself down into his chair as the rest of his members conversed as if he was not there to hear them discuss his love life.

  Mark sighed, “Yes, Jeno told me one night. But, I’m sure he would have told you guys when he was ready.”

  Jaemin smiled as he poked Jeno in the cheek. “And yeah, Mark didn’t tell us, so please spare his already dying hair. We sorta figured it out.”

  Jisung hid his laughter behind the cookie he bit into. “You’re just that obvious.”

  Jeno tried to hide the scowl making its way onto his face as Chenle continued the teasing further.

  “I have no idea how we couldn’t tell any sooner.”

  Donghyuck waved his hand in front of his face, signaling everyone to be quiet.

  “Anyway, we have officially decided that you are going to confess to Y/N at SMTown.” 

  Splutters of confused protests left Jeno’s mouth until Mark raised an eyebrow at his antics.

  “I get no say in this do I?” Jeno gave up, opting to drown his sorrows in disgusting lemonade.

  A resounding “nope” was heard from all six of the members, a devilish grin littering each of their faces. Sometimes Jeno wished that he had never met the rest of NCT, and this was one of those times.

     Screams and excited cheers filled the stadium as NCT were on standby for their special stage. Jeno went over the choreography, purposefully looking down at his feet to avoid the glares from the youngest unit that expected him to confess within the next five minutes. He had probably went over the same step sequence for the twentieth time before rough hands had grabbed both of his shoulders.

  He was startled to see Doyoung’s encouraging smile barely inches away from his face.

  “You know, we go up in a few minutes. You should probably go do what you need to do before you miss your chance.” Doyoung advised, looking in, to Jeno’s horror, your direction.

  “What? How do you--”

  “Chenle spilled the beans in the groupchat.”

  Jeno fumed. “You mean in the groupchat? Like, the one with all eighteen of us?”

  “Yeah,” Doyoung shrugged at the raw look of both confusion and horror that Jeno directed towards him, “Maybe if you didn’t put us on mute so much you would have known earlier.”

  Taeil, who had been listening to the whole conversation, shoved Jeno towards you.

  “Go get ‘em, tiger!”

  Jeno counted to ten in his head as he tried to calm his nerves while simultaneously thinking of all the ways he could kill the rest of Dream without suspected homicide with him in question.

  By the time Jeno had made it in front of you, he was oddly calm. He had accepted that if you were to reject him, he could just try to avoid you. SM Entertainment was big enough for him to manage. Also, NCT were supposed to go on stage in literally one minute, so he figured he could give the whole “hey, I like you” shabang and dip right after without having to deal with your answer.

  So, Jeno took a deep breath.

  “Y/N?”

  You smiled, a question forming in your eyes.

  “Yes?”

  “Can I tell you something?”

  You looked past Jeno, eyeing the stage manager that shot directions for everyone to get ready.

  “I mean, sure? I’m not sure if you’ll have much time--”

  “I like you.” Jeno cut you off, warily watching for your reaction.

  You coughed, eyes wide open as you took in what Jeno had said.

  “You what?”

  Jeno stepped up closer to you. You could feel his minty breath fan out on his face as he began to speak again.

  “I like you,” Jeno gulped down the butterflies that he had somehow been able to subdue for so long, “Like...a lot, actually.”

  You listened to Jeno chuckle as he tried to fill the air with something other than just your silence. Jeno shifted, ready to trudge away in disappointment and plan his next week with movie nights with just him and tubs of ice cream, until you opened your mouth.

  “Well, I mean--” Jeno realized this was the first time he witnessed your smooth-talking self stutter, “I...I like you too?”

  Your confession came out in the form of a question, almost too low for Jeno to catch.

  “Wait, pause. Did you just say what I think you said?” Jeno tried his best to push down the excited smile that forced it’s way onto his face. But as you could see, it failed as you watched his lips pull back and his nose crinkle in the way that you loved. And God, his eyes, the way they formed into those popular crescent moons of his that fans worldwide would not shut up about.

  You could not stop the corners of your lips from pulling up, reflecting the way Jeno had confirmed his feelings for you earlier.

  “I like you. Like, a lot, actually.”