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There’s something special about being in LA, Jeno thinks as he and Jaemin stand side-by-side, waiting for their cue to get into position for their introduction as MCs. Or maybe, he amends in his head when Jaemin turns to him and wordlessly reaches out to straighten his tie, the real special part is who he gets to be here with.
“Ready?” Jaemin asks, carefully smoothing out the shoulders of Jeno’s suit jacket before stepping back to admire his handiwork and nodding approvingly at what he sees.
“Thanks to you,” Jeno replies, smiling at him fondly. “Are you ready?”
Jaemin glances around quickly before pressing a fleeting kiss to the corner of Jeno’s mouth. “As long as I’m with you?” he says, his eyes twinkling as he draws away. “Always.”
Just before they’re sent to their respective platforms on opposite ends of the stage, the staff members hand them roses that they’re meant to toss to the crowd. On a whim, Jeno pretends to drop one right as the platforms start to rise and hopes that no one gets rid of it while he and Jaemin are onstage – after all, he has plans for it once they’re done.
The rush of being in front of their fans never gets old, and Jeno can’t help the overwhelming joy mixed with slight disbelief he feels when he sees all the neon green lightsticks in the stadium. It’s exhilarating, knowing that so many people are here to see them, to support their group, and he’s giddy as he waves to the crowd on his way to meet Jaemin on the other side of the stage.
Once he’s in front of Jaemin, he bows playfully – it’s silly, but he knows it’s something that Jaemin will both be amused by and go along with. Sure enough, Jaemin returns the gesture with a bashful smile that makes Jeno’s heart flutter, even though it’s something he’s seen countless times. He isn’t embarrassed by his own reaction, though, because no matter how long he’s had Jaemin by his side, successfully making Jaemin happy is something he’ll always take pride in.
The time seems to fly, as it always does during events like this, and before Jeno knows it, the staff are signaling that they need to exit the stage. Jaemin, distracted as he is by the crowd, doesn’t leave immediately, which isn’t particularly surprising. Jeno has always been endeared by this trait of Jaemin’s, his endless love for the fans, so he tries to give Jaemin as much time with them as he can, going down the stairs first after making sure Jaemin knows where he needs to go too.
As soon as they’re offstage, Jeno checks whether the rose is still where he left it – and it seems that luck is on his side, because it is. He can feel Jaemin’s curious eyes on him as he picks it up, but he doesn’t say anything when he returns to Jaemin’s side with the rose in hand.
“What’s this?” Jaemin asks, breaking the silence as they start walking back to the dressing room together, an amused smile on his lips.
Jeno kisses the rose like he did with the one onstage before holding it out to Jaemin “For you,” he says with a little bow.
Jaemin accepts it, making a show of smelling it before pressing his lips to the same spot Jeno just kissed. “How sweet,” he says, a smile blossoming on his face. “Is the Lee Jeno finally acknowledging that I’m his biggest fan?”
“Actually, it’s a gift for the Na Jaemin from his biggest fan,” Jeno says teasingly. “Lucky me gets to personally hand a rose to him and everything.”
“Lucky you gets even more than that,” Jaemin says as they enter the dressing room, shaking his head affectionately before kissing Jeno’s cheek.
“Do you have to do that here?” Chenle complains, interrupting their back-and-forth. They turn to him and find his nose scrunched up in mock-annoyance as he looks between them. “There are children around, you know.”
“I’m not a child, Chenle,” Jisung says immediately, and Jeno has to stifle a laugh at Jisung’s pout and petulant tone, because they make him look and sound exactly like the child he’s denying that he is.
“I was talking about Renjun-hyung,” Chenle says with a mischievous grin, gesturing to Renjun’s outfit. Admittedly, it does make him seem more like their maknae than the oldest member here, but it’s still a bold claim to make – not that it’s ever stopped Chenle before.
“Shut up, Lele,” Renjun says without any heat before turning to Jeno and Jaemin. “But I agree, don’t do this in front of us.”
Jaemin just smiles, completely unbothered, and smacks a kiss on Jeno’s lips instead before looking around smugly at the others. “We could be doing much, much worse,” he reminds them sweetly. And it’s true, Jeno thinks with some amusement, because all the members have seen them in more compromising situations than just Jaemin giving Jeno a simple peck on the lips.
“Okay, well, please don’t,” Jisung says as he grimaces exaggeratedly, probably recalling one of those occasions.
“We’ll see,” Jaemin says, his cheeky smile still in place.
Jeno squeezes his waist and kisses his temple. “Come on, Jaemin-ah,” he says affectionately. “As fun as this is, we should get changed.”
Jaemin pouts slightly, but he places the rose in Jeno’s bag before obediently letting Jeno guide him over to the stylists. “I’m going to bite you later if you take your jacket off, by the way,” Jaemin says conversationally as they change into their performance outfits. “That’s a threat.”
“I’m counting on it,” Jeno says, grinning. “Maybe now I’ll take it off even earlier than usual.”
“What, are you going to strip in the middle of ‘Hello Future’ or something?” Jaemin asks jokingly.
“I don’t know, am I?” Jeno returns, laughing softly at Jaemin’s faux-irritated expression and deciding in that moment that he’s going to make Jaemin’s outlandish guess a reality. “I’ll leave it as a surprise for you.”
Once they’re dressed, Jeno turns to drink in the sight of Jaemin in all his sleeveless glory. “Like what you see?” Jaemin asks with a wink.
“Very much,” Jeno says honestly, moving closer to wrap a hand around Jaemin’s bicep and squeezing it lightly. “You deciding to show off your arms more is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, I think.”
“I can think of at least five other things off the top of my head that should be higher on that list,” Jaemin says, but he only pretends to be disgruntled for a few seconds before caving and smiling at Jeno again. “I’m very flattered that you enjoy and admire my beefy arms, Jeno-yah.”
“I’ll enjoy them a lot more if you never refer to them like that again,” Jeno says with a laugh. He pecks Jaemin’s lips quickly before taking his hand. “Come on, let’s go wait with the others.”
“Of course, leader-nim,” Jaemin says, his tone teasing but his smile genuine. “Lead the way.” And Jeno is still a little hesitant to claim the title of leader, even after all this time – it’ll always belong to Mark more than him, in his mind – but whenever Jaemin says it, Jeno automatically becomes a bit more confident about taking on the role.
Their cue to get ready to go onstage comes sooner than Jeno is expecting, and he instinctively turns to Jaemin so they can exchange a good-luck kiss before leaving the dressing room. “See you out there,” Jeno whispers, and Jaemin beams at him, blowing him one last kiss before they’re ushered off to their respective platforms for the group’s entrance.
The time onstage passes more quickly than Jeno would like. One moment they’re performing “Beatbox,” and the next, Jeno is leading the group introductions, and the next, they’re in the middle of the “Make A Wish” segment. Jeno is grateful that he gets an easy task to complete – their own wink challenge is hardly cause for embarrassment or stress – but when it’s his turn to pick a name, he forgets himself for a moment.
“I want...Jaemin,” he hears himself say as he selects one of the papers, and only when he registers Jaemin’s surprised “Huh?” does he belatedly realize that it’s a little strange to express a desire for any of the members to be chosen when he doesn’t even know what the task will be yet.
Once he does know the task, though, he decides that in hindsight, it’s probably a good thing that he drew Chenle’s name instead of Jaemin’s. In truth, he has no idea what his reaction to Jaemin doing a “charismatic lip bite” would have been, but there’s no doubt in his mind that it would have been even more incriminating than blurting out that he wants Jaemin in front of a crowd of thousands and cameras broadcasting to thousands more.
Their final three performances seem to go by in a flash, and Jeno makes sure to remove his jacket as they start performing “Hello Future” rather than waiting until “Glitch Mode” as he usually does. Jaemin doesn’t visibly acknowledge it – he’s too professional for that – but Jeno knows he’ll be on the receiving end of Jaemin’s various reactions later tonight, and he can’t wait.
The concert comes to a close soon after, and Jeno tries to wander around without sticking to Jaemin as much as possible. Inevitably, though, they drift back together in the end, as they always do. And Jeno is so distracted by Jaemin’s company – it isn’t as bad as it sounds, he reasons, because Jaemin is equally distracted by Jeno’s company – that they not only get separated from the other three, but Jeno ends up trying to guide Jaemin down the wrong flight of stairs while leaving the stage. Jaemin figures it out before he does, saving them both from further embarrassment, but Jeno is still a little flustered as they return to the dressing room. Luckily, Jaemin finds the whole ordeal cute more than anything else, and placates Jeno with a few kisses pressed to his cheeks and lips until he has no choice but to smile and kiss Jaemin back.
The trip to the hotel is an uneventful one. Jeno sits next to Jaemin, their fingers interlocked, and keeps his head resting comfortably on Jaemin’s shoulder the whole time, much like how Jaemin did to him when they took their group photos earlier. It’s the kind of thing that the other members would normally be on their case about, but tonight, they’re all buzzing from the rush of performing in front of so many people, so the two of them are left in peace for once.
“You know,” Jaemin says after they’re done walking through the halls of the hotel and have stopped in front of the door to his room, “you’re kind of ridiculous, babe. Has anyone ever told you that before?”
“Yeah, you, I think. Only a hundred times or so,” Jeno says automatically, even though he’s slightly confused. It’s true that Jaemin calls him ridiculous often, but he can’t think of what he did this time to warrant it.
“Jeno-yah,” Jaemin sighs, tapping Jeno’s nose lightly. “What on earth did you mean, ‘I want Jaemin?’ You already have me, dummy.”
Jeno can’t help it – he melts into a dopey smile at that. “Yeah?” he asks.
Jaemin rolls his eyes good-naturedly and unlocks the door, tugging Jeno inside with him before closing the door behind them. “Yes, you big dork,” he says fondly. “I’m all yours.” A moment later, he’s throwing himself into Jeno’s arms, and Jeno just about manages to catch him and sweep him into a bridal carry as he loops his arms around Jeno’s neck and leans in to kiss Jeno sweetly. “Your Jaemin would like a shower now, by the way,” he adds. And when Jeno obediently brings him to the bathroom and sets him down before turning to go, Jaemin grabs his wrist to stop him from leaving and smiles cheekily. “I meant a shower with you, silly.”
Jeno grins, more than a little pleased by the clarification, and pulls Jaemin in by the waist to kiss him and tickle him until they’re both giggly and breathless and more than ready to get clean. “Let’s get in, then,” Jeno says, peppering kisses all over Jaemin’s face as Jaemin writhes delightedly in his arms. “Pretty sure someone still owes me a little something since I took off my jacket.”
Most of the time, their post-concert high leaves them so amped up that neither of them can sleep until Jeno takes Jaemin to bed for at least a couple of rounds. Today, though, showering together – with a few extra activities sprinkled in, of course, including Jaemin biting Jeno as promised – is enough to leave them both sated. With the addition of their jetlag, they’re too drowsy to do anything but cuddle under the covers together once they’re in their pajamas – just one set shared between them, because Jaemin likes keeping his legs bare and Jeno prefers the same for his upper body – and tucked into bed.
Jeno positions himself so that Jaemin can use one of his arms as a pillow while his other hand rests on Jaemin’s waist. “You need to stop working out your biceps,” Jaemin grumbles as he moves his head around, trying to get comfortable. “They’re too muscley to be good pillows anymore.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who wanted me to focus on my arms, Mr. Strength Kink,” Jeno says, amused. “But we can always switch, if it’s that much of a problem. Your biceps and chest are definitely comfortable enough for me.”
“No, it’s too late to change now,” Jaemin says, which Jeno knows means he was just complaining to be a brat, not because he was actually uncomfortable. “I’ll cope, somehow,” he continues, draping his leg over Jeno so they’re pressed even closer to each other.
“Whatever you say,” Jeno says with a smile, kissing Jaemin’s temple. They lie in comfortable silence for a while, Jeno absentmindedly stroking Jaemin’s waist with his thumb while Jaemin traces patterns on Jeno’s bare chest. Eventually, a thought that’s been lingering in Jeno’s head all day finally comes to the forefront of his mind, and he speaks up again. “Hey, Nana, remember the last time we were in LA?”
Jaemin shifts in place and gives him a look. “Jeno-yah,” he says sweetly, “I love you, but if you’re seriously asking me if I remember our literal wedding, I’m actually going to smack you.”
Jeno grins, pressing a placating kiss to Jaemin’s lips. “My apologies, Mr. Lee,” he says with a laugh. It isn’t Jaemin’s actual name – a legal name change never took place – but Jeno, like some of the other members, likes to tease him with it anyway, and he knows Jaemin certainly doesn’t dislike it either. “Of course I know you remember that.”
“Good,” Jaemin says, apparently satisfied enough to let Jeno kiss him again. “As if I could ever forget.” He’s silent for a few moments before speaking again. “Jen, let’s go on a date tomorrow.”
“Weren’t we all planning to go to Universal Studios?” Jeno asks, surprised. It isn’t like he has a problem with changing the plan, but it seems a little sudden for Jaemin to ask now.
“I know, but I really want to do something with just the two of us. Please?” Jaemin asks, and he must genuinely want it a lot, because he pulls out every trick in the bag – clinging to Jeno’s side, batting his eyelashes, pouting.
Of course, Jeno would never have denied him anyway, but given all that effort, it’s the easiest decision in the world to give in to Jaemin’s request. “Yeah, okay, baby,” he says, pulling Jaemin closer so he’s lying almost completely on top of Jeno. “We can go to Six Flags or something.”
“Thank you,” Jaemin says, kissing Jeno happily. “This Tuesday is our day, so it’s almost perfect, even though we can’t celebrate on the exact day.” Jeno gives him a puzzled look, and he clarifies, “You know, August 23rd. My birthday month and your birthday date? We’re leaving LA that day so we won’t be able to go out anywhere.”
“Oh,” Jeno says, still a little perplexed. He’s always been under the impression that June 3rd is their day, since that’s when they met – not to mention their wedding anniversary, which is in March – but it isn’t like he’s going to complain about having another day to share with Jaemin. “Then you’re right, we should definitely do something together tomorrow.”
“You mentioning the last time we were in LA just now convinced me,” Jaemin says, pressing a soft kiss to Jeno’s jaw. “It can be like our belated honeymoon.”
“Anywhere we go with just the two of us is always like our belated honeymoon,” Jeno says with a smile, which is the most disgustingly sappy thing he could have said, but is also undeniably true for both of them.
“Wow, that was a new level of gross, even for you,” Jaemin says, sounding vaguely impressed. “You’re lucky I love you so much.”
“I know I am,” Jeno says, smiling indulgently and pulling Jaemin in for a real kiss. “We both are, actually, because I love you too.”
In the end, as they’re drifting off in each other’s arms, Jeno decides that being in LA is special all on its own – but ultimately, it’s who he’s here with that makes it feel unforgettable, magical, and absolutely perfect.