Chapter Text
Aether supposed it was partly his fault. In his defense, he was peer pressured, swept by the atmosphere, and he had been positive they would win. But he spared one glance at Lumine's expression -- a sweet smile to the audience that spelled doom to him -- and he knew there would be hell waiting at home.
The twins were at this tv show where they pitted two idol groups against each other in a game of sorts. It was a 4NEMO vs DCKZ episode and Lumine was invited as a special guest. She was a great option, really. Aside from being a rising star, she was known to have a close relationship with both groups that were well-known to have this rivalry between them. And most of all, she was his twin sister and was rumored to be in a relationship with a DCKZ member, which was false but the media will swallow every single scoop there is and call a small friendly outing as a date and suddenly, they were 'dating.'
She ended up being a fuel to the battle. As it turns out, Kaeya and Childe were great provocateurs and 4NEMO's voices of reason, Kazuha and Xiao, were capable of getting worked up when it comes to Lumine.
"How about this? If you win, DCKZ will wear your merch for our next tour. If we win, Lumine will be our manager for a day."
And that was how Aether and his friends sold his twin to the devils.
...
"-and I know you're aware of this, but please don't let Kaeya drink. I'm sure Diluc will help you with this one, but keep that in mind nonetheless. Similarly, try to keep Childe entertained. He can be a handful when he's bored, but Zhongli can help you keep him in check if he's too much."
Lumine nodded as DCKZ's manager debriefed her. So far, what she got was if she couldn't handle it, Diluc will be Kaeya's emergency babysitter and Zhongli will be Childe's.
"But they are fond of you, so you should be fine." The manager assured her before leaving.
The manager was wrong.
"Kaeya, where did you get that?" Lumine grumbled. She had just came back from buying them food from four different restaurants -- unsurprisingly, Diluc and Zhongli were rather peculiar about their palate, and Kaeya and Childe were just doing their best to make her job more difficult -- to find Kaeya with a glass of presumably wine.
Kaeya gave her a smile, one his fans would swoon over but also one she would love to kick off his face, "The staff provided it for us."
Lumine brought her fingers to her temple, "Please put that away. You're not going out there drunk."
"I can hold my liquor just fine," he shot back cheekily.
Yes he could. They had gone drinking before and his tolerance was good, but still. Lumine shook her head and tried to take the glass away, only to have the blue-haired lift it higher than she could reach. Jerk.
Kaeya wasn't the only source of her pain that day. Lumine whipped her head to the door when she heard it shut suddenly. She glanced around the room to realize a certain ginger head was missing and felt like murdering someone. Their lunch break will be over in five minutes! Where did he go?
Kaeya whistled, "Someone was jealous."
Lumine delivered a kick to his shin and made him crouch. She immediately snatched the glass out of his hand. "Don't say that." She muttered. When he started to recover and stretched his arm to take it back, she decided she had enough and downed the drink.
"Here's your glass." She set the glass down to his palm before addressing the room, "You guys are up in five minutes. I'm going to go bring Childe back, so please eat."
She felt like she was trying to coax children. At least two of them are cooperating, she supposed. While one of them decided to be a missing child just minutes prior to their performance. When she finally found him in front of a vending machine just outside the building, she swore and stomped over to him.
"Please come back. You're giving me a headache." She was probably seething, but leave it to Childe to find her rage amusing.
"Can I kiss you?"
For starters, that came out of nowhere. Second of all, she appreciated the question but shouldn't you be waiting for the verbal 'yes' before going for it? Third, she should really not let a kiss completely melt her rage but she did anyway.
Aether didn't know this but Lumine had been dating Childe for months now. It was a miracle that only their last date was caught by the paparazzi, but their popularity had been rising rapidly as of late so she supposed it was about time.
"We should really make this public." Childe muttered as he pulled away, "I'm pretty sure they all knew anyway."
Possibly. The whole DCKZ knew as Childe had practically bragged about it not an hour after they dated, and Lumine knew that at least Venti was aware of it. She was positive Aether had no idea, though. His first reaction after he saw the gossip article was to curse at the journalist for even daring to think she would date Childe of all people.
It wasn't as if she was ashamed of dating him, and neither did she think she wasn't good enough for him that she wanted to keep their relationship a secret. But she remembered how she was labelled as '4NEMO's Aether's twin' when she first debuted, and she didn't want to add 'DCKZ's Childe's girlfriend' on top of that. She wanted to be known for who she was, for her songs and works, not her relationships.
"I even did my best to make you our manager for the day so they won't be too suspicious if we're alone together."
Oh. That was actually so sweet. Although, then again, they had just made out and she didn't think the press would buy their 'just a manager' gig if they saw that.
Lumine knew she was getting popular. The 'Aether's Twin' label on her was gradually getting smaller as the label 'Pop Idol Ying' grew. Perhaps she was ready to take on a new label as his girlfriend?
"Alright." She whispered softly and silence envelopes the two.
With the amount of persuasion he had been giving her, she was expecting a cheer at least. She thought he would sweep her off her feet and spin her around before kissing her again. At least.
"Childe?"
"No."
Huh?
"No, Lumine, I'm sorry for whining." He groaned, "I know you said you weren't ready and I'm sorry for pressuring you. I-"
Where did this floodgate come from?
"Childe." She slapped both her hands to each side of his cheek and brought it closer to her, "I'm ready." She said seriously.
He looked a bit stupid with her palms squishing his face. Some part of her wanted to pinch his cheeks.
"Really?"
Lumine smiled. Honestly, she was touched that he cared that much. She had known how much he would like to announce their relationship from the deflated look on his face back when they started. She supposed this was just overdue. "Really."
She relished the process of his face litting up from a worried frown to a full-blown beam. She felt herself mirroring his expression when he lifted her off the ground.
...
The DCKZ vs 4NEMO episode was a hit. So much that they were invited again. Similarly, Lumine, who had been caught in all that, was once again invited as a special guest.
"Who are you rooting for this time?" The MC had asked her.
"Well," Lumine giggled, "I would like 4NEMO to have their revenge this time."
Childe felt like he should've expected that, but it still stung to know that his (secret) girlfriend was supporting the other team. He did hear her give a speech to the band of shorties to 'give them hell' and he knew she wasn't kidding when she said she wish they would lose.
He guessed she was still pissed that they practically made her their maid when she was their manager. She went as far as to flip their group, him and Kaeya specifically, off before going on stage.
"Hey Buddy, want to make a bet?" He said casually to Aether, just loud enough for him to hear.
The blond glared at him in reply. "No." Seemed he had learned his lesson.
Not that that could deter Childe. "Fine then," he chuckled, "I'll make one for myself."
Aether seemed to be ignoring him but if Lumine's expressions were a good enough reference for her twin's, Childe would guess he was actually interested.
"If I win," Childe grinned, "I'll ask her out." Childe nodded towards Lumine to tell Aether who exactly he meant, "Right there. Right then. On live TV."
Aether looked bewildered for a moment before scoffing, "Have fun being publicly rejected, I guess."
That made him grin wider,
"Want to bet on that?"