Chapter Text
“I wonder what Hyuka did this time?” Yeonjun teased, side-eyeing the maknae while distractedly fiddling with Soobin’s ear. Taehyun probably wouldn’t have noticed at all – such a natural motion – except for the prompting hand on his own head. It slowly traveled down to his exposed collar bone, courtesy of a baggy sweatshirt stained after a long day of practice.
Taehyun leaned into the touch, eyes slipping closed. With another thumb swipe, Beomgyu pulled away. His body tried to chase the coolness, but he quickly caught himself and turned to Huening Kai instead.
“Just apologize so I can go shower and sleep.”
Huening Kai squawked. “I did nothing wrong. I’m innocent!’
“Yes. Yes. Our little angel maknae.” Beomgyu cooed. He sent a heart Kai’s way.
Cute.
Just as Taehyun was about to mentally slap himself for that oh-too-often thought, their manager entered the room along with a younger woman.
“Hello, manager-nim.” They bowed in sync. Huening Kai sent his biggest puppy smile, apprehension obvious at the edges. Taehyun himself ached too much to care if he screwed up, so he just let his body drift. If that meant half his weight added to Beomgyu’s side, he’d panic over it later.
“Boys,” their manager greeted back, introducing the woman as their marketing team’s leader. “This is Kim Sunyoung. She’s here to discuss a new pitch.”
That had Taehyun perking up, and Kai shouting “Told ya!” The woman stepped forward, a glint in her eye as she scanned the room. Her gaze paused on where Yeonjun and Soobin were pressed up against each other. Then she glanced over at Beomgyu… and smiled.
Taehyun shifted in his seat, cautiousness brimming from what could be an innocent grin – or what could be a plotting leer. With the way Beomgyu was dressed, all handsome, dark, and sweaty, an inclination towards the latter emerged.
He gave his hyung’s thigh a squeeze.
“This might be easier than I thought,” she mumbled. Soobin titled his head curiously as she took the center if the room.
“As you all know, your comeback is approaching.”
Oh, did Taehyun know. In the way his bones creaked when Beomgyu flopped onto his bed. The way his head pounded when he woke up before dawn every day. The way his stomach churned when Yeonjun forced another bite upon him.
“While we have high hopes, we think that the TXT image needs a little rebranding.” A wary glance throughout the group. The woman quickly caught herself, tapping her nails against a leather case. “You boys are doing great, but MOA has certain… expectations. Certain ideas that they get in their heads, just like with each performance you all have certain personas to fulfill.”
Taehyun found himself subtly nodding along. Beomgyu had said it best in a past interview.
Yeonjun was the dad. Soobin was the mom. Taehyun was the older brother. Huening Kai was the dog.
Those statements weren’t necessarily lies, but vast over generalizations. Characters each of them occasionally played on camera when they knew the world was watching, and characters they had to play more and more as the world decided who they were.
Social media latched onto anything, no matter how desperately Taehyun didn’t want to be the older brother some days. Sometimes, he wanted to be more.
As if sensing his dejection in a way only best friends could, Beomgyu reached out with the hand that wasn’t being crushed by Taehyun’s body to gently hold the younger’s wrist.
"Some of their… wilder fantasies we’ve chosen to avoid over the years, and many of which we will never play in to. But given the current…” She paused, and through half-lidded eyes Taehyun watched her scan the room once more. “… state of things, the marketing team has decided to experiment with TXT.”
Being an experiment on the road to a comeback didn’t sound like the best decision in Taehyun’s opinion. Worry buzzed up his spine, and Beomgyu squeezed.
While distracted by his hyung’s calming presence (the type of calm that made one forget to breathe all together) she pulled out a laminated piece of paper with several notes – two bolded words that Taehyun didn’t know (but didn’t have to be a genius to figure out) at the top.
Yeonbin.
Taegyu.
The cool hand around his wrist now burned. The adorable, innocent confusion on Beomgyu’s perfect face burned even more. Panic surging, Taehyun flew off the couch, rammed into the corner of the coffee table, and scrambled to his manager’s side.
“Do you boys know what ‘ships’ are?”
… Fuck.