Can't Wait, Baby I'm a Lover
pairing: Chen Kuanjui (Rui)/Male!Reader
word count: 5.6k
Fluffy, ending is maybe a little suggestive
summary: You meet Kuanjui in a quaint coffee shop before he debuts, not knowing anything about who he is or what he does. When you do learn, you're only happy to get more invested in his job and his group members. Until one fateful, special fansign where his outfit has you going off the rails.
a/n: 250708 outfit and hair had me absolutely foaming at the mouth. Oh my god. Not even writing this cured me, it might have just made me worse
You were sitting in the corner of a small bakery that was open surprisingly late, and that alone could have kept you coming back. It was only made more compelling considering that everything they made was delicious, you suspected some bit of witchcraft, and it somehow wasn't popular enough to be overcrowded. And obviously it was open late enough to conform to the rest of your schedule.
Your current task was not going well, however, and it caused you to be so easily distracted. Every flash of someone walking past outside or the chiming of the door had you looking up. It was summer, so the streetlights wouldn't turn on for quite a while yet, but you still couldn't see the sun as it sank behind the tall city buildings.
It was getting close to closing time even if it wasn't dark out and you had to remind yourself to get ready to leave and not disturb the very nice people who worked here and had surely come to recognize you by now.
Thankfully, you weren't ready to leave quite yet when one of the last customers came in. Quite possibly the most beautiful person you had ever seen face to face, which was doubly unfair when you were wearing practically the same type of lounge clothes as them yet felt like you looked a bit like a mop. Your saving grace was sitting near the edge of the store and having no one facing you to watch as you stared down this stranger.
Something in their mind or gaze must have tipped them off you were staring and they turned to look back at you before you had properly, humanly registered that you should stop staring. It was only for a second, maybe one and a half, where you locked eyes before your brain kicked in and you scrambled to pick your stuff up because you needed to leave now.
You were not fast enough to escape their notice and you watched white sneakers approach and stop at your table. Chewing lightly on your bottom lip, you tried to look up without looking like you were looking at them. It didn't work, the pretty stranger could tell immediately and was grinning at you. You sighed and looked up fully, giving an awkward smile, not really sure how to proceed when caught so red-handed.
"Well, hello there, what's your name?" They bent over slightly, a perfectly arched back, to look at you still bent over the table where you were collecting your things before.
You pulled yourself back up to talk properly, and they went with you. Exchanging introductions, you found yourself only more immediately charmed by Kuanjui. He was so elegant, in a way that you clearly saw when you stared, but only became more obvious when he moved and spoke.
The cash register closed loudly from the counter and it jolted you back to reality, you did actually have to leave, preferably before they kicked you out. Hurrying to gather the remainder of your items, you felt the reversal as Kuanjui watched you. It felt bold to assume anything and take any initiative, even when he was the one to come talk to you.
Thankfully, it seemed he had ample confidence for the both of you.
"Give me your phone. Or your number."
You floundered, too many things moving around in your hands, but the easy smile on his face when he handed it back was worth the effort. He held the door open as you walked out, and you blushed as you bid him goodbye feeling him watching you still until you turned a corner.
Your thought process turned away from solely him, but there was a consistent undercurrent in the back of your mind just repeating, "how did that happen? Was he even real?" It went until you fall asleep.
You didn't dream about him, cliche as it would be to do so. Or perhaps you did, but that particular dream was one you didn't remember. Your preoccupation with dreams you did remember, as well as your real life, was why you don't remember to text Kuanjui back that morning. You took a lunch break and took out your phone from your pocket, and your brain fired to abruptly remind you of the last time you took your phone out of your pocket like that.
What do you say to open a conversation? Was he just being friendly or was he looking for something else too? With such a limited interaction you got no read on what Kuanjui was looking for in this situation.
Hey, it's _. The guy from the cafe last night
Short and sweet and simple. There was no response for a while, and you got it. It was totally okay, you were also a busy adult. That didn't stop you from checking the screen one, or five hundred, times hoping for a response.
Yay! Hi there not-so-stranger!
You couldn't help but smile a little at his energy coming through the phone.
Not-so-stranger?
Well. I don't text strangers. But we can't be anything else so quick either
And so it went the whole afternoon, significantly distracting you from most of the productivity you'd normally have during this time period. Nothing would break without you being focused for a day, so you let yourself have it. Though you did almost break an ankle staring at your phone and walking to your apartment. Thankfully no one saw you do it, and hopefully no one heard you either.
The texts continued as you made dinner and you had to pay a little more attention if you want to eat tonight. It didn't totally stop you from holding your phone in one hand and attempting to tap away, anyways.
It continued that way, and you felt a little embarrassed that you were acting like a high schooler the way you were attached to your phone texting a boy. A man, since you were adults, but it felt the same way as high school crushes did.
It all paid off one day when Kuanjui texted you with the question you had given up on hoping for.
Do you wanna go get coffee with me this weekend? Or something else, if you're not a coffee fan
Your reply was exceedingly normal and calm, not willing to make an absolute fool of yourself in front of Kuanjui.
So your plans were made for the weekend and all you had to do was not fuck it up, or fuck up your job, before that day came! No problem. You definitely didn't spend hours imagining the date in your head or planning what you were going to wear and do the day of. Never.
One would think that would make the day of easier considering you had imagined practically every possible path, but the human brain is mysterious. You got yourself a drink and a pastry, considering one for Kuanjui as well but having no idea what he would want. Perhaps you could swoop in and pay for him when he got here, if you were quick with it.
You didn't even have to wait that long, and Kuanjui was still a few minutes early which made you feel a little better about how this whole thing might go. Clearly, he didn't see you yet, and you gave yourself a minute to admire his "casual but still trying" outfit. As he decided on something to order you stood up and prepared to swoop in and slap your card down. It was close, but you did manage to slide your card under his onto the card reader, and when it confirmed you turned to smile at him.
Mistake. Any surprise about your sudden appearance had disappeared and all that was left was the most devastating pout you had ever seen. Kindergarteners wished they were on this level. You blinked, temporarily stunned and you saw a curve of a smirk start to take over before Kuanjui pulled it back and kept staring and pouting, hard.
"It was the least I could do, okay? You set up this whole date, I repay by buying things for you." You shrugged, handing him his coffee when the worker slid it over the counter.
"That is not how that works at all! I asked you, so I should pay for you." Kuanjui took a defiant sip of his coffee, furrowing his eyebrows as he stared at you.
You considered his words as you led him back to the table you had parked yourself at.
"Too late now. Maybe," you looked out the window and twisted your mouth, wondering if you should be so bold. "You should ask me for a second date so you can try again."
Kuanjui's mouth dropped open slightly and you started to think you shouldn't have said that, maybe even take it back, but then he started blushing so prettily and tried to cover it when he realized too. You rested your chin in your hands and took the moment to stare at him, seeing if he'd fluster more. If honesty was all it took to do this, you'd have no problems.
Sure enough, even more blushing, and Kuanjui started giggling and shaking his head at you. He turned it on you just as easily when he blinked slowly and looked at you through his lashes coyly.
"Keep flirting like this and I think you'll land yourself more than one extra."
By the end of the date, you were confident that you wanted more than one extra too. It was so easy to talk and learn about each other. Something about how Kuanjui had such an interesting life, told in such a soft and unassuming voice, kept you entranced for hours.
You stepped onto the sidewalk outside the cafe together, but both of you were clearly a little reluctant to end the night as well as awkward in trying to do so.
"So, uh, did I keep up the flirting enough for more of this?" You asked shyly.
Kuanjui hurriedly turned to you, beaming. "Oh, of course! Perhaps we could talk about that while I walk you home?"
You raised an eyebrow. "What a gentleman you are, who would've thought."
Terrible news for your heart, Kuanjui just had to pull out his pout again. He was going to learn how much power it had over you and use it to his advantage for sure.
"Now what does that mean, mister!"
"Well, you're just so pretty, I thought I should be the one to walk you home instead."
"Oh!" Kuanjui covered his mouth with his hand, but the smile that came over his face was still clear to you. "No no no. I'll be fine, I have roommates to call if I need anything."
That made you feel better about his safety on his own way home, and you turned towards where your apartment was, letting Kuanjui fall into step with you. You made a turn that you would usually think nothing of until Kuanjui made a fake dramatic sigh of relief and you looked over at him with obvious confusion.
"That was basically the same way I walk until now and I thought this was going to be how I learned you were a stalker or something."
"So close yet I never saw you before a few weeks ago? I must have had terrible timing." You shake your head at yourself, wondering if there was times you had seen Kuanjui but just not noticed him somehow.
Kuanjui giggled sweetly. "Oh, I'm not really a go out type of person. Too much going on for that."
You hummed thoughtfully, wanting to ask what was keeping him so busy, but decided to leave the intrigue for when there was more time to really talk about it.
"I'm just glad you won't have too far to go then, I'm up in this one." You stopped and nodded up.
"Well, I was glad to be your knight in shining armour for this journey, my good sir." Kuanjui bowed, and then glanced at you before taking your hand in his and kissing the back of it.
You rolled your eyes indulgently, but secretly you were memorizing the way your hands fit together and hoping there was more of that to come. Only time would tell and you watched Kuanjui walk down the street for a minute before actually heading inside.
The second your front door closed behind you, you fell against it and buried your face in your hands, giggling quietly and incessantly at everything that had happened today. Looking back, it didn't feel quite real that it went so well.
It was near the end of date 3 that you found out what had kept Kuanjui so busy before. You were sitting on a park bench, watching the people going by and getting a beautiful view of the sunset behind them. It felt like watching a painting in front of you.
"So." Kuanjui spoke up suddenly, and you turned to him, but he wasn't looking at you. "I needed to tell you anyways, but now it's really relevant. I've been a kpop trainee for 2 years, and my group is debuting soon."
It wasn't what you had expected, but with such an extensive dance background it wasn't a surprise that Kuanjui wanted to be an idol and had been snatched up by an agency for his talents.
"That's really cool! I'm sure you've been working hard, I hope you've been resting."
He laughed in a slightly sad way.
"As much as I can, but it all needs to be right. Our leader takes good care of us though, makes sure we're not running ourselves too ragged. We have to team up to do it back to him though, he won't make himself rest."
You nodded as you thought about the people you had met that were that type, always taking care of others but not themselves.
"Can I meet these group members of yours? Are these the roommates you've talked about before?" You had a lot more questions about what his life was like and how people outside, like you, could fit into it. But you saved those for now.
"Um, yeah! You could come to a practice day and hang out for a while. It gets all of us in our… natural habitat, I guess."
You shook your head, protesting. "I dunno about that, I wouldn't wanna be a distraction to you guys working."
Kuanjui just shakes his head with a soft smile, staring at the ground in front of him. "We already know everything, the practices are just for polishing now. I think we'd all welcome the distraction. Wumuti, our leader, might be a little prickly at first but he'll get over it."
You hesitate, still not sure if you want to enter and disrupt such a fragile environment. But it sounds kind of fun, you really need to meet more people, and you'd meet people who are clearly important to the man sitting next to you.
"Okay. But if I'm seriously interrupting then I'm gonna leave no matter what."
Kuanjui nods understandingly. "And I was wondering how I'll introduce you. I was thinking, could I formally introduce you as my boyfriend?"
Your eyes fly wide in shock, not expecting two big turn of e in one night. Nothing you could say you're upset about, of course.
"Really? You don't wanna put me through the friend test before the boyfriend title?"
Kuanjui turns to you fully, taking one of your hands in his and making intense eye contact.
"No, I have full confidence that they'll like you. I've talked about you already. And maybe the boyfriend title will make you less likely to get scared away by them."
So you set a date and time to meet your boyfriend's groupmates and close friends. He's also able to tell you the official debut date and you tell him that you'll be waiting and ready for the moment it drops. You can't wait to see Kuanjui in such a new way, and in his element, performing.
The day finally comes, and you're nearly as nervous as you were before your first, official, date with Kuanjui. Which is to say, you are very nervous. Nervous in different ways too, because now Kuanjui was important to you and these people were important to him, so this meeting felt like it had to go well.
You had the address to the agency building, and proof to get you past any security. The group had started practice before you even woke up, so you were trusted to get yourself in. It looked like a pretty normal and small building, at least compared to the other agency buildings you had ever passed by.
The directions to the practice room were clear and you stood outside the door, taking a few deep breaths before opening it and peeking inside. The song playing through the speakers was loud, but honestly you were barely processing it between all the noise in your head. Apparently, you had entered at just the right time to watch Kuanjui drop into a frankly insane back bend on his knees.
You heard yourself squeak at the sight and slapped your hand over your mouth as all 4 people in the room turned to look at you. Kuanjui looked over his shoulder and then stood with an insulting lack of effort, hurrying over to you.
"You're here! Come in, come in, don't be shy now." He grabbed your arm and pulled you to where the rest of the group was standing.
One of them had turned off the music and you internally thanked them, it made it much harder to think and talk.
"Guys, this is my boyfriend!" Kuanjui wiggled his fingers in your direction like he was doing a magic trick and the smile on his face was a little wobbly. Was he hiding his nervousness about this for you before?
You hurriedly bow to them, fumbling with your words in a very embarrassing manner.
"H-hello! It's very nice to meet all of you."
They chimed back similarly but when none of them took initiative to introduce themselves Kuanjui harrumphed and put his hands on his hips.
"Do I have to do everything around here? Fine!" He grabbed your arm again, pulling you closer and pushing your shoulders to make you face the first member. "This is Haru, he's our maknae. Jinhyung, our giant main vocal. And, of course, our leader Wumuti!"
You waved and bowed to each person as Kuanjui turned you to face them, and they did the same back, looking at the pair of you amusedly. Except for Wumuti, who gave a small wave and then stared you down like a parent examining their child's new partner. And damn was he good at it because even when you looked away his gaze was chilling. Of course, Kuanjui noticed and started whining at his leader.
"Muti-hyuuuuuuuuung. You can't scare him away already, I just got him."
Wumuti cocked his hip out and raised an eyebrow. "If he's scared away by this much, then that's deserved."
Haru muttered "you are so much scarier than you think you are."
You huffed a laugh and then covered it with a very conspicuous cough when Wumuti looked at you again. The sooner you could win this guy over the better, for sure. They had to get back to practicing soon, so you took a seat at the back wall near the corner so you wouldn't be caught in the mirror too much.
Before, you hadn't really processed that you'd be getting access to spoilers to their debut and it was a pretty big act of trust to let you in and just hope you wouldn't leak anything. You couldn't imagine doing so, taking away their big moment, but they didn't know that for sure.
Watching Kuanjui drop into the backbend again was just as impressive as the first time, and then he followed it up with another pair of insane spins and you just had to wonder again who the hell you pulled. Sure, you had learned he could dance and he had shown you some of his videos, but seeing it now and with your own eyes was simply a different experience.
Clearly, the others weren't slackers either. After the first chorus, Wumuti did a pair of kicks at practically eye level while Jinhyung held him up, and then Jinhyung did a ridiculous move of his own to push himself to standing. Safe to say, your mouth was wide open watching this whole thing, and your phone screen had long gone dark in your lap.
The song ended with a shrug and all was silent for a moment save for the sounds of their heavy breathing. That was before you started clapping, enthusiastically, probably loud enough to mimic the sound of multiple people watching. Everyone turned to you to bow, laughing at your enthusiastic assent, even as they continued to breathe heavily.
"First test audience approves, that's good." Wumuti said, patting everyone's backs and hugging them close.
It was obvious how much he cared about them even in this short time. Kuanjui winked at you but had to go to where his bag was to grab his water bottle. You couldn't look at him for much longer as Jinhyung and Haru closed in and flopped to sit down on either side of you. The sudden movement made you jump a little and then you looked between them, blinking.
"Hyung brings someone in and you think we're not gonna ask you any questions?" Haru grinned at you.
You sat up, back suddenly straight and wondering what type of questions these were gonna be.
Jinhyung dispelled any worry when he excitedly asked, "yeah! Important questions, like, what's your favourite pokemon? And if you don't have one we'll find one."
You slumped back against the wall, letting all your muscles go comically loose and slack, it made both of them laugh. Kuanjui chose that time to come over, wincing when you hit your head on the wall. You gave him a small smile and shake of your head to silently tell him you're okay. He didn't seem entirely convinced but let you have it.
Haru noticed all of it though. "You two already have that telepathic couples communication? Gross."
Kuanjui kicked one lithe leg at him, but you could tell it wasn't serious, even as Haru shrieked and curled away. They continued like that for a while, with only minimal amounts of more violence. Real practice time had to come back around though, and you watched as your boyfriend proceeded to stand up by doing a backwards somersault upwards. You blinked, wondering if you even saw that correctly, and also wondering why on earth he decided to do that in the first place.
"He likes to do that, but I also think he's trying to impress you right now. Be impressed." Wumuti fake whispered, hand cupped around the side of his mouth.
You gave an exaggerated large nod at him, and then clapped, patronizingly slow and large for Kuanjui's roll. Kuanjui rolled his eyes, spinning towards the mirror and kneeling into his starting position. You were the only one still paying attention to him, even as you were laughing, so you saw the wink Kuanjui gave you through the mirror.
But as you looked around, you could only be happy with how well it was going so far and it really seemed like they liked you. Or, if nothing else, didn't hate you. Watching them laugh, you wondered how you could have been so intimidated before, then they visibly locked in as the song started and it sort of made sense again.
This was more than just a run through, Wumuti was shouting different things over the music and you didn't see any difference but you were sure that they were all adjusting in real time. After a few repeats of the song Wumuti stood up and turned off the music. You thought they might be taking another break, but no such thing.
"Live vocals! Doesn't have to be 100%, but like… 75% minimum."
Jinhyung let out a short scream from where he was crouched and heavily breathing, and you startled then laughed under your breath a little. Clearly, practice was draining and tiring in multiple ways, but they still managed to make it fun even while they struggled through.
6 months later it was the exact same feeling. Perhaps with a little more heart and levity since it was a comeback rather than debut. You also joined in with their goofiness more now, and all of them took the chances they had to get closer with you over these months. Plenty of groupchats, secret photos, inside jokes. You weren't a part of the team, no matter how many dance practices and recordings you attended, but you felt like something pretty close to it. And it felt great to have this space with 4 people you enjoyed being around so much.
You turned the corner to the usual practice room with a cardboard cupholder in hand, the scents of various drinks mixing and wafting to your nose. The practice room was left open this time and you dramatically kicked it open and flicked your hair when they turned to you.
"Your fabulous delivery boy has arrived with the drinks!"
Haru bounded up and over to you from his spot on the wall, and you were wondering if he even needed more caffeine. Too late, you watched him chug a quarter of it down. Kuanjui was last up and took the opportunity to put a hand on your hip and pull you close to him. You turned into him, wrapping both arms around his neck and pressing together.
It was so nice, being surrounded by his warmth and the warmth of the conversation of the other three. It had to be interrupted eventually, they still had a job to do. Kuanjui risked a kiss before he pulled away entirely, and you smiled at him as you two managed to escape the usual teasing somehow.
As with their debut, the group would proceed to attend many fansigns for months after their comeback, even while starting to prepare for the next songs. You went to as many as you could and stayed backstage, or watching from the sidelines, which was as close as you were ever allowed to get.
It was fun watching them be so silly on the stage and having so much fun talking to and performing for all the fans.
The best day, or worst depending on your view, started backstage while you waited in the prep room watching all the hair and makeup. Often the members did their own or helped each other, but that day there was one stylist going around helping them as necessary. You stopped paying attention for a while, it was fun to be surprised by their looks as much as you could be. Some time later, how much time you couldn't tell for sure, you snapped out of it when you could feel and see Kuanjui leaning over you, probably trying to peek at your phone screen.
You snapped down the power button and started looking up to pout at him, only to get stuck about halfway up on his outfit.
The bright pink top matched his hair well, you had loved watching the pink fade so nicely, and the shirt was perfectly cropped to show his slender waist. You had never wanted to hide him from the fans, knowing how much Kuanjui loved his job, but somebody was trying to test you today. From their styling record it just might have been Kuanjui who picked this out for himself, knowing what it would do to you.
You could feel the heat rising on your cheeks and wondered if he could tell, it seemed like he could always tell when you were flustered, even if you weren't physically together. Continuing your admiration, you saw how the stylist must have helped Kuanjui with curling his short hair, knowing he wasn't so skilled that he could do it that quickly, yet.
"How do you like my outfit today?" Kuanjui asked innocently. He asked the question every time, but you really thought he could do away with the formality today and judge from your reaction.
"It-" your voice squeaked and you cleared your throat, "it looks great! You probably knew that already, didn't you."
Kuanjui just laughed at how you looked at him, and fell down next to you, urging you to let him look at what you were doing. You did so, muttering about how spoiled he was under your breath, knowing you were the problem, the one who spoiled him so badly.
They didn't get much longer to prepare, and you took your usual spot on the sidelines, hidden unless a fan really decided to look, but able to see the group unless they went to the front of the stage.
The time flew as you were both locked in on watching them and not mentally present to your spot at all. Kuanjui's outfit had rattled you even more than you let on, and you didn't know how you were going to restrain yourself once you had him in front of you again.
It turned out that you might not have had to at all when Wumuti came backstage first and passed you. He put one hand on your shoulder and leaned to whisper in your ear, "second room on the right is empty."
You just turned your head and blinked at him, and Wumuti only winked and kept walking. All you could do was shake your head and wonder how obvious you had been. Wumuti was observant and you had to hope Haru and Jinhyung weren't so much so. They passed by without a second look so you assumed you were safe there. If they noticed something happening they always made it obvious.
Kuanjui was last, happily waving and blowing kisses to fans. Maybe he did it because he wanted to see the fans a little more, or maybe he knew you were going to be waiting. It was hard to tell how much he knew, always keeping his intentions tucked away in his back pocket.
You didn't say anything as he came up to you, smiling like it was any other day and any other fansign, instead of one that was causing you to lose your mind very slowly. Still, it seemed that he caught on quickly when you caught his wrist and dragged him, willingly, into the room that Wumuti mentioned and closed the door behind you both, closing you off to the world behind the door. It was immediate, how close you got, crowding him against the door. Two hands on his criminally small waist, fingers splayed as you touched as much of the open skin as you could.
Kuanjui smirked and watched through half-lidded eyes as you gripped his waist, with your eyes closed and breathing slowly like you were trying to contain yourself. Problem was, he didn't want you to contain yourself. Instead, he took your hands and pushed them up higher beneath his already short crop top. Your eyes snapped open to meet his and he held you there.
"Do you understand what it did to me to sit there for two hours watching, knowing that fans were recording that outfit and that people must be freaking out online the second anything was posted?" You said it quietly, but each word seemed to be sucked out of you.
"Sure. But weren't you the one to see it first? And now you're the one holding me against a wall." Kuanjui tilted his head, tapping his fingers on yours.
You just had to sigh, because he was technically right after all. That helped mildly with how annoyed you had been about fans getting to witness all of this on the stage. Now, all of this was yours again and Kuanjui didn't miss how your shoulders lowered a little, even as you kept looking at each other. At some point you either began to sense his impatience or got impatient yourself, and grabbed him by the neck to pull his mouth to yours. It was a little harsh at first, you underestimated just how pliant Kuanjui would be in the moment.
But you adjusted, backing off by millimeters, and Kuanjui let out a little hum and a breath. At the same time you pushed your bodies even closer together, pushing his back into the door, but he probably didn't even feel it with the way he had started to grip and pull at the back of your shirt.
You let out a little satisfied hum of your own, happy with how easily you could get Kuanjui to act like this, like he had been waiting for it all along.
Your text tone went off like an alarm in your back pocket and you backed up to check it, hoping it wasn't anything actually important. Life was not on your side today because it was Wumuti saying you needed to return his dancer so they could pack up and leave. You rolled your eyes at the notice and sighed, leaning in for one last kiss before you had to let him go.
Kuanjui just smiled through it, clearly happy at all that had transpired for him today.
"Hey, if you want, I can see if I can come over after. I can wear a crop top and everything." Kuanjui said after you separated, giving you a wink for good measure.
It took all you had not to dramatically sink to your knees in front of him, and instead you settled for letting your head fall against the door and groaning loudly. He would be the death of you, but at least he was your boyfriend in the process.
