warning: underage drinking and just drinking in general; suggestive shit like implied sex at the end, i cut before hand but like you know; bc of that this chapter is 16+; making out;
they'd won, cortis had won rookie artist of the year.
james slid the shot of vodka towards yn, "congrats bro." james then took the shot.
yn downed the shot with a grimace. "i didn't think we'd win." martin groaned beside yn, when yn turned to look at the younger man, he saw all of the younger members of cortis with their heads down on the table. "suck it up, you guys can have pop or something."
"it's not the same, we won tonight, i should be able to get drunk." keonho argued, pushing around a fry on his plate.
james laughed softly. "get over it, you've still got so many years."
seonghyeon threw said fry at james, hitting him square in the glasses. "we're not that young."
"you kinda are." yunjin said as she walked up to the table. "ginger ale for the winning boys." it was like a switched flipped and the boy were sitting up straight and thanking yunjin for the ginger ale. yunjin finally slipped into the spot beside yn and he wrapped an arm around yunjin's shoulders awkwardly. yunjin brought her elbow back until it hit yn's side. "less tense dumbass." she whispered with a big sickenly sweet smile on her face. completely performative but neither of them were sure if their would be anyone who would make a profit off of their just friendliness.
yn gave her the same sickingly sweet smile and pressed a kiss to the side of her forehead. while he was closed he whispered low, "i hope you stub your toe."
yunjin laughed softly and leaned into his side. "so what's the plans for cortis boys tomorrow."
martin's eyes lit up. "producing" the other boys hum in agreement.
yunjin turns her attention to yn. "and you?" she asks softly.
"i think i'm supposed to be beginning to write up some songs for our next ep." he explains, taking a sip of his ginger ale. "should be fun. i'll probably drop by the le sserafim rehearsal room and see the others girls."
yunjin nods in understanding, "yeah we're just going over choreo tomorrow so you should be good, but i'll text chaewon."
he nods, before tuning back into the totally serious heated debate keonho and juhoon were having about rice. yn listened, throwing in his own opinion after a few seconds. soon the table, minus yunjin, was in a heated debate on what was the best way to use rice. each of the boys had a different answer. yn's attention was only stolen 10 minutes later when yunjin shifted in his hold a lot. when he turned his head, he noticed katseye approaching them, all of katseye.
"you didn't" he whispered.
yunjin pulled out of his grip, but still turned around to grin at him, mouthing the words 'nothing like the deep end'. martin must have noticed them as well because he started to push the rest of the boys out of their seats to stand. somehow, almost like fate hates him, yn ends up right in front of lara. yn moves his head to look at yunjin, only to see that she's walked off with sophia and martin following the two of them. the rest of the cortis boys find themselves with one or more of the katseye girls.
lara looks around just as confused. "that was too coordinated." she muttered. yn nodded in agreement and before he could excuse himself to go find literally anyone else, lara grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the bar.
"aren't you too young?" he asked as she dragged him.
she flashed him her bright smile. "only in america, i'm old enough here in korea."
yn finds himself smiling slightly, then letting out an astonished scoff. then he made the stupid decision to indulge the indian girl. he moved his hand around and let his hand slip into hers. lara looked back momentarily, at their attached hands then at his face. if yn hadn't spent 2 months making the girl blush, he probably wouldn't have noticed the way her face gained a more pink twinge.
"it still fits perfectly." lara mutters, pulling yn towards so that they are walking together rather than her dragging him.
"they always have." he muttered back, adjusting lara's sweater with his free hand. lara smiles before a look of horror takes over her face. yn gives her an odd look and lara forces her head away, loosening her grip on his hand. yn's hand finds lara's chin and pull her attention back to him. "lara, wha-"
"you and yunjin." lara mutters, trying to pull herself away from yn. only to notice how close those two actually were. her breath caught and her eyes made sure to take in all details of his eyes. she watched as the confusion took over his brown eyes, she watched as it faded to humour.
he leaned just off to the side of lara, leaving his mouth a more respectable distance from her ear. subtly, he brushed her hair out of his way, then he spoke quietly. "state secret here for you, mī uyir." lara's breath hitched even more. "we're not together, it's all pr. they didn't want me to be labeled as someone quick to anger and violence so they gave me an out."
lara blinked, her brain wrapping around what she'd just heard. "it's fake."
yn leans back, rocking on his feet before moving towards the bar again. he hums slightly when she catches up with him. "we're just playing it up for the next few months. she honestly not that bad of a fake girlfriend though."
"you two look good together." yn grimaces when he hears her say it, then that grimace deepens when he sees her face. it wasn't the playful look he'd been expecting but rather a look of general concern, like the idea of yn and yunjin being attractive together was the final nail in whatever coffin lara had been trying to avoid.
"so did we." he muttered before ordering another shot. lara smiled sadly and ordered herself a shot as well.
the two of them talked for probably about an hour uninterrupted, somehow keeping their professional distance despite the alcohol coursing through their bodies. they talked about everything, from their own individual debuts and wins since those debuts, to more personal things. like their families and musical talents. lara talked about the new dog that the raj's had gotten a while ago who apparently hated lara to the core. yn mentioned how he'd been asked to lead a boxing class at his gym. the conversation felt natural, calm, exactly like it had two years ago, before lara had made the decision to leave yn.
it was yunjin and sophia who'd pulled them out of their own little world. in fact it had startled yn so much that he'd jumped when yunjin had placed her arm on his shoulder.
"i'm taking the cortis boys back to the hotel." she said softly, leaning into yn, who was quick to pull himself back into work mode. he slid his arm around her waist and pressed a chaste kiss to her jaw. while he was doing that, he missed the way that lara's eyes sharpened and her jaw clenched.
sophia spoke next. "i'm taking megan and chip back to the hotel, manon is off with some friends and dani left earlier. it's just you, please stick with yn or another idol on your way home okay?" her voice was soft, but it held the edge he'd heard about so many times during his three months in la. it was the mother undertone. yn had something similar, not quite as terrifying but james had once told him that he never would have to practice the 'angry dad voice'.
lara nodded and pulled sophia into a hug. the two stayed like that for a moment, and sophia ran her hand through lara's hair, almost like she was trying to calm her down. yn had always appreciated the way that sophia was the comfort person for katseye and he wished he'd be able to fill those shoes in cortis.
yunjin pressed a kiss to the top of yn's head then leaned down to his head. "don't be stupid and most of all don't get caught." yn nodded then gave her another smile. when sophia and lara pulled apart, yunjin and sophia disappeared into the crowd to go collect their counterparts.
lara and yn fell back into their rhythm easily, they made inside jokes and laughed until their stomachs hurt. they kept drinking. about an hour after the rest of their friends had left, yn and lara realized that they were definitely drunk and both closed their tabs. they wandered away from the bar and through the dwindling crowd. then settled in one of the free tables near the dance floor.
"this is nice." yn said, settling down and letting his arms stretched out on the top of the booth behind them. "i missed you."
lara slid in beside him, taking less care to keep that distance. "i missed you too." she paused as the song changed to a slower more romantic song. one she couldn't name off the top of her head. "i'm sorry. for how i-"
yn interrupted her, "come dance with me raj, let's see if daniela has passed on any of her ball room dancing." he said as he stood up.
"this is hardly ball room dancing." lara commented as she followed yn out of the booth.
"it's not gnarly either." yn laughed and god if lara could bottle that sound she would have. as the music slowed down, yn lead his hands to the small of lara's waist, her hands finding their rightful place around his neck. they slow danced, then the next one was slow again.
after the two songs, lara's head was on yn's chest and they were pressed against each other. "do you want to get out of here, mī uyir?" he asked softly, rubbing his thumb back and forth on her waist.
lara nodded against his chest. "yes zuki, i think i do."
see if yn were to tell this story to any of the other people in life, he'd skip the part where it took them at least 20 minutes longer than it should have for them to leave the afterparty. he wouldn't mention the dark corner wall that lara had him pressed against, or the way her lips still fit against his perfectly.
even the media wouldn't pick up on the dark corner make outs. they'd pick up on the other one though.
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