“ de:code –– solo schedule … ┊ june schedule . the face shop photoshoot
jaehyun doesn’t think that he’s ugly. if anything, he’s aware that he’s the opposite of that. it’s kind of embarrassing to say it himself, but he’d heard a few times that he was well... a decent looking guy! or at least, above average! he’s not too sure what exactly it is about him that had interested them, but there was something about his well, face, that piqued the interest of the face shop. so much so that they’d asked him to be their ambassador. which of course, was amazing. it wasn’t something he could ever say no to. he was hardly a year into debut and here the face shop was, asking if he’d want to be their ambassador.
it’s only natural for him to have to take some promotional photos, and he spends the night before practicing a few poses in front of his mirror. ( baekhyun had spent some time laughing at him ).
they arrive at the location and they prep his face up, putting on some face shop products on him whilst the stylist complimented his face, to which he found his face heating up. it was different hearing it from friends than hearing it in a more professional setting.
once he’s all set up. he walks over to the set and the lights are bright as they beam down at him. they pass him a few products to which he thanks and takes a good look at. “oh, this is one of my favourite products,” he says, smiling. alright, ever the teacher’s pet, jaehyun’s done some ( a lot ) of homework the day he’d been approached by the face shop. he wasn’t about to be completely unaware when it came to the products he was promoting.
the shooting begins and jaehyun starts with a few simple poses.
“the dimples! yes, nice touch!” the photographer says aloud as he snaps the photos, to which jaehyun and the rest of the staff laugh softly at. “bring the product closer! nice! change your pose a little.”
thankfully the photoshoot goes smoothly enough, and whilst jaehyun’s sure he could’ve done a lot better, he’s satisfied. he bows to the staff, smiling as he does so before he makes his way towards the manager.
“how was it?” he asks, to which jaehyun smiles. “your first solo photoshoot.”
“hyung,” he beings, “do you think i should’ve posed a little better? did my arms look awkward?” to which sohoon can only shake his head and laugh, patting jaehyun on the back.
“ de:code –– … ┊ april schedule . ft inkigayo sandwich
it’s the last month of promotions, and in all honesty, time had flown insanely fast. insane –– that was exactly how everything so far had felt. he still couldn’t quite believed that he was now a debuted idol, that this was no longer a far off dream.
they don’t have as many schedules, which jaehyun understands, after all they’d only debuted about two months ago. by now, he’s somewhat accustomed to the whole music show deal.
he’s on the way back from the bathroom to his waiting when he’s greeted by a fellow idol, to which he smiles back and returns the greeting. it’s only respectful after all. it’s then when she passes him what looks like a sandwich, and jaehyun looks at her confused. ah, he thinks, she must be really caring! he bows once more and makes a move back to the waiting room, thanking her for the food.
the sandwich is left on the side, until jaehyun feels his stomach rumbling a few hours later. it’s then when he grabs it, mindlessly chewing on the sandwich before he suddenly feels something... of a different texture in his mouth. that was clearly not a celery, or egg, or ham. he furrows his brows, continues chewing, until he realizes that he can’t exactly swallow this no matter how many times he chews.
he opens his mouth, gently prodding his finger to find the foreign object, only to have a piece of paper leave his lips. “oh my god,” he says aloud, confused. “what the hell,” he puts the sandwich aside and unrolls the paper. it was scribbled with... something, that was now illegible thanks to all the food that it had been mixed with.
“she must’ve been trying to ... put a talisman on me,” he mutters to himself. he shudders at the thought and quickly throws the paper away. unbeknownst to him, it had simply been her number scribbled on it.
not like knowing would’ve made any difference. either way, that piece of paper would’ve ended up in the bin.
he stands backstage, and everything, every little thing about this, feels too unreal. they’re moments away from standing on stage –– the stage that’ll truly make this official, his debut. he’d spent years in royal, and it would’ve been a lie if he said that parts of him had at some points, felt as though this was all a futile dream. that the very concept of a debut would be beyond him, that this was all for naught.
yet he hears the cheers, the sounds of people that had been waiting for their debut, that supported them. and those cheers are real, this is no longer a dream that he’d simply been clinging onto for years.
they’re given the cue and go up on stage. the crowd isn’t in the hundred thousands, it isn’t a stadium full of fans, it’s hardly a dome, but there are people there, smiling at him. he’s no longer a stranger to the public, and he’s by no means famous, but people know him.
from the crowd, he spots his father, and he’s unsure as to how to react.
“hello! we are de:code!” they greet, bowing to the fans. fans. another word that feels so foreign to him. but he smiles as they cheer in reply. one by one they begin to introduce themselves, and at his turn, jaehyun waves.
“i’m de:code’s prince and first love, sinjae,” he says, as he continues to wave. his eyes scan the crowd, and he wishes at that moment he could remember each and everyone’s faces. “i’ll engrave this into the memory of my heart,” his smile grows as he speaks.
he’s performing, and this time, people know him, he’s no longer a ‘private trainee’, no longer a ‘trainee to be revealed’. he’s de:code’s sinjae.
... BACKSTAGE
sure, he’d given his parents the backstage tickets, but he’d never thought that his father would come, and out of his own accord. that he’d even watch the performance. he searches for his parents backstage and when he sees them, he’s unsure of what to say.
throughout most of his time in royal, his father had done little to keep in contact with him, to even learn about what his own son was doing. not that jaehyun could blame him, his father was a man that had different principles, ones that didn’t meet eye to eye with jaehyun’s vision of becoming an idol. his mother on the other hand, had tried to support him, albeit not being quite as pro-active as one might have liked. not that he could blame her either. he blamed neither of them. when he’d given them the passes, he hadn’t been sure if they’d come, thought that perhaps he wouldn’t have anyone to greet.
the three of them stand awkwardly around each other, it had been a while since all three of them had been together in one place. jaehyun’s debut showcase was most definitely not what he’d thought a reunion would be at.
“my colleague’s daughter,” his father begins to speak, and that catches jaehyun off-guard, “apparently is a huge fan of the nonsensical show you did. he asked me for your autograph to gift to her.”
it’s odd. it feels like the first time his father had acknowledged this, his career, his music, performance. any aspect of it. jaehyun blinks, but he’s not disappointed, if anything he begins to smile. it’s a step closer. “sure,” he replies, “i’ll be sure to give you a signed album.”
“i’ll need a few.”
but before jaehyun can ask why, his mother then grabs onto his arm and gives it a squeeze. “we’re proud of you,” she says, and jaehyun’s eyes shift to his father. the older man doesn’t deny this, but he doesn’t respond either. “you did very well.”
“thank you.”
it’s formal, just like his family has always been. but they’ve made the effort to come, and that must’ve meant something.
later that night, he receives a message from his mother.
✉ : mum
⌲ good job :)
⌲ [ img_attached ]
⌲ we’re both very proud of you. your father put that up
attached is a photo of his signed album, placed on the counter in the living room on full display. jaehyun smiles.
jaehyun is not a chef. he is not a chef and will probably never be one, but if there’s one thing that he is, it’s stubborn when it comes to trying to do something. he’d watched a video on youtube of someone cooking spaghetti and had been inspired. though jaehyun’s the kind of guy who burns his own toast, so in all honesty, he probably shouldn’t have told mingyu to keep an empty stomach and not order out.
it’s only when he’s done and takes a bite of the food does he scrunch his face in disgust. “it’s...” he takes another bite, “salty. and wet. i don’t think spaghetti is supposed to be this wet.” he passes the plate to mingyu and takes a seat next to the boy.
sighing, he pulls out his phone. “i wonder why it tastes like that... i made sure to follow the recipe...” he replays the video and his mouth forms an ‘o’ shape when he realizes what he’s done wrong. “shoot. i mixed up salt and sugar... and teaspoon and tablespoon...” he groans and places his head on mingyu’s shoulder in what feels like agony.
after a moment he finally lifts his head to look at his group member. “should we just eat out? or order in? i really tried mingyu, i wanted to cook something delicious for us... i’m sorry,” he frowns.
if there’s something that jaehyun’s gotten accustomed to ever since joining royal, it’s spoiling seonho. at some point ( probably from the minute the younger boy had decided to follow him around like a tiny chick ), he’d found himself filling in for the role of an older brother, and funnily enough, he felt like a natural.
they’d been practicing as per usual when jaehyun spots seonho, sweaty. debuting has been a mix of a ton of emotions, and jaehyun can’t imagine how seonho must feel like, being so young. a familiar feelings creeps up, and he smiles as he approaches the younger boy.
“seonho,” he says, gently nudging the group’s youngest member. he leans down, so that the other members won’t hear (he loves them, and he definitely will get them some ice cream too). “should i treat you out for ice cream? just the two of us?” he grins, “you’ve been working so hard, that you deserve a reward,” he smiles, patting his little brother’s head.
A staff member leads you down Royal’s winding hallways to So Jiseob’s office, then opens the door and leads you inside, where the CEO awaits, sitting at his desk. He doesn’t look up as you enter; he’s too preoccupied with paperwork in front of him. Seated across from his desk, next to an empty chair, is a company lawyer whom you recognize from before; she’d been present when you signed your initial company contract. The staff member directs you to take the empty chair next to the lawyer and then leaves. You hear the door close and the latch click back into place just as your CEO finally looks up and offers the tiniest hint of a smile.
He folds his hands on the desk in front of him, eyes settling on yours. “When trainees first sign a contract with a company, they are devoting themselves to at least two years of training. They usually don’t expect the time to pass so quickly, but it does,” he ruminates mildly. “Years of training and hopes leads to one dream usually: debut.”
“But, you’re no ordinary trainee. Since our pre-debut project started in August, you’ve been groomed to be a member of DE:CODE, a debut group I have incredibly high hopes for. Since then, I’ve seen you grow a lot in your training. You’ve had your ups and downs, plenty of both good and bad.” He pauses, and diverts his attention back to his desk, where he shuffles paperwork until he sets one singular sheet of paper in front of him. “You’re right in the middle of all these boys. You are a center to unite them. I’ve been proud of your growth here, and I trust you to do your best to continue to improve, even after debut. This, here,” he says, motioning towards the document, “is a contract exclusive to DE:CODE and will tie you to this group, and to Royal Entertainment, for the next six years.”
He finally becomes a little less stoic, and shows the glimpse of a real smile as he slides the contract toward you and hands you a pen. “If we share the same vision of making DE:CODE one of the top boy groups in all of Korea, and you wish to be a part of this journey, you know what to do.”
the office isn’t completely foreign to him anymore. the last time he’d been called into the office, was to re-sign his contract. he remembers clearly, how’d uneasy he’d felt, unsure if signing with them again was the right decision.
as he sits in front of so jiseob once more, listening to the ceo talk, he’s glad that he did. debut. it’s a word that, at that time, had felt so far, out of reach, something he’d yearned for. how many years has it been already? he thinks. how many years since he’d joined royal? two? three? he’d once kept track of the days, but they were beginning to blur away. it didn’t matter anymore. because he was here now, so close to debut.
so jiseob speaks and his voice holds so much authority, charisma, that it has jaehyun listening closely. it’s the word center that has jaehyun pulling his eyes away from the paperwork across his desk, and to the ceo. because there’s so much truth to that. he’d entered royal, the youngest male trainee, and had stayed long enough to be an older brother to the next few that came.
a center. that was what jaehyun was. and perhaps unknowingly he’d taken on that role; in front of seonho and jihoon he’d try to be as reliable as possible, wanting to be a pillar for them, with the other members he’d wanted to be a friend, someone they could trust, but with baekhyun, he’d allow himself to get a little childish. the center. everything in equilibrium, in balance. and jaehyun was at the center of it.
debut. de:code. those years of uncertainty had led up to this. his eyes don’t leave so jiseob and he catches a glimpse of a smile. he takes the pen and his hand hovers over the paper for a moment, after he signs this, he’ll be a member of de:code. officially. he smiles, and he thinks that maybe he might cry. but he won’t. because the center doesn’t cry. the center lets the leader cry when things get too hard, he lets the younger members cry when they need a shoulder, while he tries his hardest to keep a balance — even with his own emotions.
pen presses against paper as jaehyun signs the contract. the smile never once leaves his lips. “thank you,” he says, bowing. “i won’t — we won’t,” he corrects himself, “disappoint you sir.”
( he walks to the bathroom and begins to cry, softly. )
OOC NOTE: First of all, congratulations to arriving at the final step before debut! I know it’s been a long and crazy journey, and I’m so glad you’ve stuck through it. When you are ready, feel free to post this prompt with Jaehyun’s response to it.
Should Jaehyun choose to SIGN the DE:CODE contract, he will be employed by Royal Entertainment without a need to renew a contract until the duration of this one has concluded. As a reward for making it this far, he will receive THREE WEEKENDS unpaid vacation time to use any time between now and the end of April, so long as it doesn’t clash with any special debut activities (such as music show appearances, meaning he can’t actually use his vacation time until after his music show performances have finished.)
Should he choose to REJECT this contract with Royal and DE:CODE, he will leave the company, effective immediately upon rejection. He will be able to keep all of his debut points, but will not be able to take any trainee workshops or earn any more debut points/workshop points until he becomes a trainee again. He will not have any special advantage over newer characters when he auditions for other companies in the future, and should he become a trainee at a new company he will be considered a junior trainee all over again, even though he will still have her debut points and would be eligible for debut right away. He WILL have the right to audition for Royal again, but the fact that he gave up a contract renewal, especially a debut one, WILL be taken into account in final casting decisions.
He will have up to one weeks to make his decision IC, meaning that if he does not make a decision by January 31st, he will automatically be cut from the company. Exceptions can be made for those on hiatus.
it had been an odd sort of discovery. an accidental one, really. he’d just been scrolling on the internet and had gone too deep. one website led to another, and then another, and then jaehyun was staring at the face of a multi chaptered story dedicated to the members of de:code that were on dream knight.
they’re taking a break from practice and jaehyun slides next to baekhyun, pulling out his phone as he does so. “hyung, did you know,” he begins, as he presses on his screen, first opening chrome, followed by his history and onto a site he’d looked at with kangjoon. “apparently people have been writing stories about us.”
he tilts the screen towards baekhyun for the older boy to get a better view. “in this one apparently most of the members are in love with the girl. and it’s really detailed. like really, detailed. much more than the webdrama,” he continues, still amazed by the creativity of those on the internet. “it’s really interesting, actually.”
