Chapter Text
Four Years Ago
“What in the world..?” Seungmin grumbled as the incessant buzzing on his nightstand pulled him from precious sleep. He groped blindly for his phone without even bothering to sit up, grinning in triumph as his hand closed around the offending piece of technology. He unlocked the screen, wincing in regret before he rushed to turn down the brightness so it wouldn’t scar his retinas. There were dozens of messages, some from immediate family members, from distant relatives, some from schoolmates that he hadn’t even talked to while they were at school… Finally, a name he gave a shit about appeared as he scrolled.
Jeongin:
Hey bitch.
Answer your phone
Or reply to a text, damn
Or are you too famous
To talk to your best friend?
Seungmin:
You are the most
Annoying man alive
And I would kill you
If it were not frowned
Upon by most people
Jeongin:
Thank god.
He’s alive.
Seungmin:
What do you want,
Yen?
Jeongin:
Have you seen
Socials? You’re
Totally famous
That gave Seungmin pause, and he scrolled back through the dozens of messages he’d slept through. Dozens of screenshots and videos and fan edits of the show he was working on. This is insane , he thought to himself. Because it wasn’t just that it was the show he was working on. That would have been enough, honestly, but what was really jarring was the fact that all the photos and videos and tweets and fan edits … were of him. ‘Oh my god! Who is the cutie with the puppy eyes?’ or ‘He’s so tall, and handsome as hell’, or ‘I know his tv dad is the star, but I want sonny boy’s digits’ or, most distressingly, ‘Is it weird that I think his braces are super cute?’. It was insane. He was on tv, sure, but he’d never seen a reaction like this to a supporting character before. Maybe he just didn’t spend enough time on social media to know for sure, and Jeongin could tell him if this was normal. His friend was chronically online, so he would know if anyone did.
Seungmin:
What the fuck?
The show only aired
Three hours ago
Jeongin:
Told you.
You’re famous, man
Seungmin:
This makes no sense
I barely had five
Minutes of screen time
Jeongin:
Five minutes with you
is like a lifetime, hyung
Seungmin:
You’re such an
asshole
Jeongin:
I’m the asshole that’s
Gonna keep you
Humble now that you’re
Positioned for world
Domination.
Free of charge
Two Years Ago
“Not this again,” Seungmin moaned and face planted onto the couch in Minho’s trailer.
“Yah! What’s wrong, Kim Seungmin?” His older co-star asked, poking at him with a finger like one would poke at roadkill with a stick. Seungmin jutted out an arm with his still-vibrating phone clutched in his hand for Minho to look at, refusing to lift his face from the cushion he hoped would smother him to death. He’d heard it was a peaceful end.
“I fail to see the problem, Seungmin-ah. People love you. Popularity is power in this business. You can leverage this into bigger things.”
“I don’t want bigger things.” His protests were muffled by the corduroy fabric under his face. “I was happy dwelling in my brother’s shadow, thank you very much. Hongjoong is the rock star of the family. I’m meant to be a character actor. I’m a journeyman.”
“Be the journeyman that gets insane fans tweeting things like...” the elder paused as he scrolled, looking for the right tweet for his message: “...‘now that his braces are gone I want to sit on his face’. It’s way more fun.”
Of all the tweets his co-star could have read out, he had to pick a thirsty one. Seungmin felt like his face was on fire, so he clutched the cushion to his face. His co-star snatched the cushion right out of his arms, and Seungmin, boneless, flopped into the space left behind.
“Stop trying to smother yourself here. If you want to do something stupid, do it in your own trailer, shithead.” But the edge was taken off his words when Minho petted the back of his head like one would comfort a sad puppy. “Hate to break it to you, kiddo, but you're going to have to get used to the fact that people think you’re handsome and talented.”
Present Day
“Kim Seungmin-ssi! There’s my star!” JY Park approached with arms open wide, and Seungmin bowed awkwardly.
“Happy to be here, Sunbaenim.”
The director was a big deal, huge even, and he was genuinely excited to work with him again, it was just the label of ‘star’ that grated on him. Not that he didn’t like his job. He loved that he could make a living acting, he just… his ambitions had always been far more humble than this, and now he found himself with the leading role in a legendary director’s highly anticipated next project… It was a daunting prospect by any measure. And he was not just a lead. He was a romantic lead. He’d been so busy building a career after high school that he hadn’t even had a girlfriend before - what did he know about romance or, heaven forbid, love? And now he had to spend the next six months pretending to be in love with someone he’d never met. Sure, that was very much part of the job, but had Seungmin mentioned that he’d never expected to be the lead of anything? Because he hadn’t. Pretending at love-making (in the old fashioned sense of the word, get your mind out of the gutter) had never factored into his five year plan. Especially because he wasn't sure he could actually feel romantic or *cough* sexual *cough* attraction.
“Today our plans are simple: you meet the crew, we take you to wardrobe so the stylists can get some information and some last minute measurements from you, and you meet your co-stars. Then tomorrow, we do a table read. How does that sound to you?”
“Good, of course,” Seungmin replied with a well-rehearsed smile. It’s not like I have a choice if I want the gig, but it’s fun that he pretends it’s optional .
For the next two hours, Seungmin followed the legendary auteur around the studio and soundstages, glad handing producers and writers and executives with roles he still didn’t understand after five years in the business. Everyone was so excited to have him on board, because he was instant publicity. On social media, over the last four years since his tv debut, he’d become somewhat of a phenomenon for being ‘so leading man coded’ and for having ‘the softest, most striking visuals’, and sure it made him feel like a piece of meat sometimes, but it also meant that he and his brother had been able to pool their (not-insignificant) resources to get their parents a nice house to retire in. The attention was startling at first, and on the really bad days it was still kind of weird, but Seungmin had been learning from Hongjoong and Minho how to leverage it into getting things he wanted. Like consulting power over his own wardrobe for the show.
When they walked into the department, his gaze slid over the racks and racks of garments, and shelves of shoes and bags. All the colours and textures were a little visually overwhelming, but when JYP and an assistant had led him towards the clothes tentatively set aside for him… he was surprised that they’d actually taken his notes about comfort and his interpretation of the character seriously. Everything looked… nice, comfortable, even. He ran his hand over a pastel blue cashmere cardigan, delighted when it was as soft as it had looked.
“Do you like it?” The voice was pleasant, and maybe kind of sultry, and Seungmin turned to see a man about his age, long hair the colour of a fire engine, a little taller, a little more slender, and oddly boneless, draped over the top of a shelf of bags.
“I really like that one, specifically,” he offered with an appreciative smile, and the red-haired noodle looked pleased as he stepped around the shelf and extended a hand. Seungmin shook it. “Kim Seungmin.”
“Nice to finally meet you. I’m Hwang Hyunjin.”
“Oh! Of course! Glad to put a face to the name.” His smile was broader this time, more genuine and less forced. Hyunjin was the first wardrobe assistant, and one of the few people involved in the project that Seungmin had already talked to, even if it was only over emails. The vague familiarity helped.
“Do I not look the way you expected me to?” Asked the red-head, his head tilting in appraisal, like he was evaluating if Seungmin was what he expected too.
“I’m not sure. I try not to make assumptions,” he said honestly, and shrugged. “I suppose your job is all about assumptions, huh?”
“I like to think of them as educated guesses.” A sly but not unkind smile spread across Hyunjin’s face.
“Well, I defer to your judgement. If you can make me look good, you’re already worth your salary.”
The stylist snorted, an oddly ungraceful act from someone who radiated with feline grace. Hyunjin was something of an enigma and Seungmin kind of wanted to study him. “Says the internet’s boyfriend. I promise you, I will try to make you live up to your hype.”
********
“Just got finished with chatting up the executives, and now I’ve gotta meet up with JY Papi so I can say hi to the rest of the cast,” Tae-Lee informed her agent as she lowered her phone so she could read the signs that directed people around the sound stages. Like maybe having the headset near her ear affected her vision.
“ Are you excited? You get to meet him soon ,” asked Felix, sipping his iced coffee so loudly that she could hear it through the phone.
“I hate to break it to you, love, but most actors are just guys. I really don’t think he’ll be all that special in person.” It was her first major role, but she'd been in and around the industry since she was twelve, so she'd known plenty of actors. She spotted what she was looking for amongst the signs, and started down the path.
“ Psht. It’s Kim Seungmin. He’s the internet’s boyfriend for a reason. You’ve gotta at least tell me if his profile is as perfect in person as it is on tv .”
“Does anyone at your agency know how insanely unprofessional you are?”
“ Yeah, ok, Little Miss Underboob Tattoo. ”
“I told you that in confidence, Felix.” Tae spotted her director and a tall, slim man slipping into a conference room. She couldn’t see his face from this angle, but she suspected that it was her co-star, the internet’s boyfriend himself.
“ And it’s just me and the potted ficus here right now. I’m not even sure it’s a real plant. I’ve certainly never watered it .”
“Goodbye Felix.”
She didn’t even wait for him to say goodbye before she dropped her phone into her cavernous purse. Half the time, her agent didn’t even realise she’d stopped speaking to him anyway. Tae fished her compact out and checked her hair and makeup. Today was casual enough, just the boring getting-to-know-you parts of a new project, but there were rules about appearing in public when you were in her line of work. Satisfied that she was as cute as she was going to get, she clicked the mirror closed and set her shoulders back before walking into the room. There were a dozen or so people around a large conference table, scattered in little clutches, but she would have spotted their leading man even if JY Park hadn’t been hovering beside him. She’d seen a million tiktoks in the month since Felix booked her this gig, so if she hadn’t recognised him by now she’d be concerned. She plastered on her industry smile and approached the actor and their director, bowing respectfully.
“Bang Tae-Lee-nim, my leading lady! So good to see you! And lovely as ever,” the director was laying it on thick, but Tae didn’t mind. She’d prefer a director who was too nice to one who was a dick, and by all accounts, JY Park could be both. “I must introduce you to your other half. Kim Seungmin. Isn’t he even more handsome in person?”
“Nice to meet you.”
Having been given the invitation, Tae-Lee allowed herself to look at the younger of the two men. He was more handsome in person, which was annoying of him, and tall, too. But behind his floppy bangs he was also blushing just the tiniest bit, and the way his hoodie sleeves dangled past the tips of most of his fingers made him look more like an awkward teenager than a nationally recognisable tv-star. Handsome, yes, but cute, too. Not that it mattered to Tae because, unlike Felix, she was a professional, and she wasn’t looking to complicate her life by developing crushes on her co-workers. The director made the rest of the introductions, and everyone chatted briefly, getting to know each other a little, learning who would be playing whom, all the admin tasks for starting a new project. The rest of the meeting went by without a hitch, and they were reminded to be on site at 8:30am for a 9am start for the table read, and then JY dismissed everyone. Tae was busy putting her notes back in her purse and grabbing her phone so she could call Hannah and tell her she was on her way back home when she realised that Seungmin - stupid, handsome, tall - was lingering by the open door, and she was the last one in the conference room.
“Can I walk you to your car?”
“I guess,” she shrugged. It was broad daylight, they were in a crowded place, and they were both public figures - how much trouble could they realistically get into in a fifteen minute walk to the parking structure. They walked for a bit, silent and awkward, obviously walking together but far enough apart that there wouldn’t be any future fallout to deal with. Every time she glanced up, Seungmin was studiously avoiding eye contact, and that was suspicious in and of itself. Tae-Lee stopped and crossed her arms over her chest. “Alright, spill it.”
“Am I that obvious?” He blinked down at her and tilted his head, looking for all the world like a confused puppy.
“Let’s just say that I’m starting to worry about the show if this is the kind of acting I can expect from my leading man.” It was maybe a little snarky, but it earned a wide smile from Seungmin. The first one he’d let slip all day. He had a great smile - no wonder he was stealing hearts from his audience with such success - it was a shame he spent so much time hiding it.
“The no-dating part of the contract isn’t going to be weird for you, is it?” He gave her an appraising look, but she had no clue what he was looking for. Would there be visible signs that she was sleeping around if she were promiscuous? Would it matter? They started walking again. “There’s no shame if it is. It’s a little bizarre. It’s not like... we’re not idols.”
“Psht, no. I don’t date, it’s too much of a bother and I’m trying to get my career off the ground.” Tae shrugged. “Is it an issue for you, Mr Eligible bachelor?”
“Please don’t.” Her co-star visibly shuddered at the nickname, like his whole body was rejecting it, and covered his face with his sweater paws. Awkward, cute. “Definitely not going to be a problem for me. I have enough aggravation in my life without a girlfriend.” Girlfriend, so he’s straight . Not that it mattered, obviously, but Felix would ask sooner or later. Hannah probably would, too. Seeing as Tae would have to act so closely with Seungmin, it was a perfectly reasonable question that impacted on her career and general well-being. “If JYP wants us to sell the audience a fantasy, I’ll make it work.”
The fantasy JY Park, and now Seungmin, spoke of so flippantly was being in love. Someone like Seungmin being in love with her. It was such a personal thing to discuss so impersonally, but it wasn’t like it was real. It was just a job, and part of the job was fan-service on the publicity circuit. She’d known what she was getting into when she auditioned, and she’d definitely known when she accepted the role. It wasn’t even like they’d have to kiss for a few months, and when it inevitably happened there’d be an intimacy coordinator and about forty-five other people present. There was very little romanticism in acting out a romance. The rest of the walk to her car was spent in companionable silence, and when they got to Tae’s car, Seungmin opened the door for her.
“How gentlemanly. Trying to win me over before the cameras start rolling, Seungmin-ssi?” She raised an eyebrow as she slipped into the driver’s seat.
“Just being polite. My mother would be horrified if I didn’t.” He gave a little glance, making sure all her limbs were inside the vehicle before he closed the door. Tae-Lee started the ignition and wound the window down when he made a hand gesture to ask. “Seeing as we’re going to get real close in a hurry, I think it’ll be ok if you call me Oppa.”
“I can do that.” Tae shooed him away from the car so she wouldn’t worry about running him over when she reversed. “Have a good night and I’ll see you tomorrow. Oppa.” She winked, and Seungmin gave a laugh and a shake of his head as he walked away, likely to find his own car.
Neither of them had anything to worry about. No one here was about to fall in love.