Hallooo fayeee~ May I request number 18 in the prompt list for 707, pleasee^^ thank you~ 🙇♀️💕💕💕
Hi Chip!! I was hoping that someone would ask for this prompt - especially for Seven. I hope you enjoy <333
#18: Sharing a soft smile across a crowded room
This is the first party you’ve attended since joining the RFA. A year after bringing Saeran home, a year after the trials, a year since the twins have been free.
You’ve been given months, instead of a week, to plan this one. The guest list is significantly longer (though no less strange), the hall apparently twice as large. To say you were overwhelmed is an understatement.
The week leading up to the party, you’re antsy. You visit the venue for the third time, call the caterers to re-confirm the time. Everything has to be perfect. Finally, on the day of the party, you show up early in the morning, ready to get to work. While Yoosung sets tables and hangs up decorations, Saeyoung takes care of the donation system and discusses security measures with the team you hired. Every member of the RFA is busy preparing in some way.
Within a few hours, the big echoey hall is transformed into a completely different space. There's a carpet rolled out to guide guests to make donations. There are tables with elegant centrepieces dotted around the room. There's an extravagant spread of food laid out on a table against the back wall. You feel a rush of gratitude to the rest of the members. You've all worked so hard to get here. Now it's up to you.
There’s a moment before the party starts where it’s just you and Saeyoung standing by the door. The lights are twinkling, the caterers are all set up in the kitchen, and the musicians are done warming up. You’re dressed in the outfit you had hanging up on the back of your door all week and now you’re practicing your greeting over and over in your head.
He fidgets with the hem of his shirt sleeve. You’re not the only person nervous for tonight. You know that for him, this party marks a milestone. Sure, he had been free for a year, but events like this were a first. He had spent the past few months trying to find out who he was under all the years of denial and self-deprecation. He was finding out who he wanted to be.
You know that sometimes, he worried if it was enough just to be Saeyoung. Who would want him around if he wasn’t always entertaining? A whole new level of self consiousness plagued him. Being yourself for the first time is a new level of vulnerability.
You slip your hand into his and give his fingers a squeeze. You look at him and hope he understands what you’re trying to tell him. Before you can get a reply, the first guests enter. Then, all at once, it begins. The music starts and you get swept up in greetings. He squeezes your hand back before leaving your side.
Without realizing it, an hour passes, then another. By the time you manage to free yourself from a group of old-fashioned musicians starting their third ‘back in our days’ story, you realize how full the hall has become.
You swipe a glass of champagne from a waiter and skirt the clusters of people. A few minutes to catch your breath and survey the state of the party is all you need. You can’t help but feel a small burst of pride. The guests are all occupied, enjoying the spread of food and networking. Some are even dancing on the dance floor you decided to set up last minute. All your work and worrying was not for nothing, You spot your friends spread out across the hall. You’re looking for one person in particular though.
You eventually spot him just a few tables away. Saeyoung’s standing in a group of people amongst whom you recognize his friend Tom and a group of tech enthusiasts. He’s talking animatedly, though his movements are softer than they used to be, and his smile actually reaches his eyes.
He catches you watching him and his expression changes. When he smiles this time, it’s softer, warmer. This smile is just for you. From across the room, he’s telling you it’s alright. I’m going to be alright.
You believe him.
