MK Veteran

“Your methods are ridiculous and so are you, “Eliza said scathingly with a grin, tugging him even closer. She rested her head on his shoulder–or, well, she attempted to. He was a little too tall for her. “Brandi? Um, she really likes tea. You could make her some of that? Or, I mean get her some. I definitely wouldn’t ever let you near a kitchen…I’ll hold you to that, you know. Hoodies and sweatpants. And I’m not wearing any makeup, so get ready for that madness.” She snorted, her cheeks going a little pink, though she covered it pretty well (or, she thought she did. She pretended like she did was probably a little more accurate). “I always look amazing,” she replied, glaring at him with a smile. Yao was so awkward. They’d been friends since she was sixteen, at least seven years by this point. He was less awkward than eighteen-year-old Yao had been, but he was still so, so awkward and it was cute. She played with the window, opening it an inch or so and then closing it, rolling the window up and down over and over again as she held his hand. “I’m sure I will. I still want to know what it is, though, I think I deserve to be told. I’m wearing heels for this, Yao.” She eyed him suspiciously, her eyes narrowing as she squeezed his hand. “Are you going to propose to me or something? Is that why you’re being all weird?”

“I’m good with tea. I can pick some out for her or something. Oooh, maybe I can get mom to send me some specialty tea to give her or something. Something rare or something, I dunno. You could help me pick it out too...” He smiled a little, nodding. “I know, I know. No more trying to cook things for me. I get it. I’m lucky you’re a decent cook--between you and Insoo, I don’t have to worry about starving or anything.” Yao chuckled, straightening her hair affectionately. “Hoodies and sweatpants. And cuddling in bed and watching movies and eating junk food. And definitely no makeup. Oh, shut up---you’re incredible. With or without makeup,” he scolded gently. Hell, she could wear a paper bag over her head, and he’d still see her as the most beautiful woman on the planet. “Yep. You sure do,” he murmured sweetly. He was a bumbling mess, but at least he was (finally) getting more comfortable in his own skin, and Eliza played no small part in that. He was tempted to put on the child lock on the windows, but he resisted the urge, squeezing her hand gently instead. “You’ll find out soon enough.” His eyes widened in turn and he shook his head quickly. “No, I told you, I’m waiting for that. For when it won’t even occur to you that’s what I’m doing. No, this isn’t nearly that exciting.”

@mkfanyao

“Oh shut up. You know what I meant,” Eliza said exasperatedly, hitting his arm gently and smiling. “I’m just saying. You look really good. Take my compliment, dammit.” Lize sighed, crossing her arms and shrugging. “You should probably get her a gift basket or something. It took a lot of effort on her part to wrestle me out of my sweat pants and into this,” she muttered, motioning to her dress. She snaked her arm around his, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked. “Can you carry me anyway?” she muttered, glancing up at him with an eyeroll. She climbed in the passenger seat, carefully looking around to make sure there were no paparazzi (or people in general) around. She sighed again, her hand finding his as he got set in the driver’s seat. “You’re lucky that I love surprises.”

“I did. But I mean.....I just got you to tell me again how nice I look, so there’s something to be said about my methods,” Yao pointed out, smiling innocently and taking a little step closer to her, a gentle hand going to her waist. “Noted. Know anything in particular that she likes that I can surprise her with? Hey, we’ll do something tomorrow too. And tomorrow, we can wear hoodies and sweat pants and just lounge around. Tonight is special, though. And you look gorgeous. I think this look is worth the extra effort--you look incredible, sweetheart.” He rolled his eyes, squeezing her and pulling her along. He put the key in the ignition and started the twenty-or-so minute drive, fingers lacing around hers. “You’re really going to love this one--I promise.”

task: dress to impress

It wasn’t his first awards show, and it wouldn’t be his last, but that didn’t make him any less nervous. As the leader of ACE, he was expected to be at more of these types of things than the other members were. It was times like these when he needlessly questioned why he’d even been picked to be the leader in the first place--thoughts he did his best to push right out of his mind. If Eliza knew this was what was going through his head, she’d kick his ass into next week and lecture him for an hour on how great she thought he was.

She raised her eyebrow at him as he entered, looking him up and down and nodding, admittedly impressed. “Damn, you clean up nice. I mean….I’ve seen you in a suit before, but….damn,” she repeated, grinning and reaching up to straighten his hair affectionately. “Thanks. Brandi said this was important and that I wasn’t allowed to wear sneakers, so I borrowed them from her. I’m probably going to twist my ankle or something–I hate walking in heels. I’ll have to hold onto you while we’re walking,” she told him, laughing a little. “Speaking of getting going, you have yet to tell me where the hell we’re going, and I’m very curious.”

He rolled his eyes at her, muttering, “What? Am I usually not good-looking or something? I’m hurt, Lize, I really am.” He was teasing, but he did his best to make it look like he was relatively upset. “Remind me to thank Brandi the next time I see her. For making it easier for me to reach you and for making you dress up nice. “ He held out his arm for her, chuckling. “If it really comes down for her, chuckling. “If it really comes down to it, I can carry you.” Once they were out of the dorms and the door was locked, Yao began to lead her to his car. “That’s for me to know and you to find out, hmm? We’ll be there soon-ish. It’s not that long a drive.”

“Fan Yao, what the fuck is going on?” Eliza asked, sighing deeply. Why she was standing in the doorway of his dorm, dressed to the nines and all made up? She had no idea, but that was what he had requested. And when she had let herself into the ACE dorm, he was nowhere in sight, and she was left completely and utterly confused. She could hear him moving about in his room, but what he was doing? Yeah, she had no clue on that one either. “C’mon, hurry up! Or I’ll go home, I swear to god…”

He was excited. It’d been a long time since they’d started dating, and ever since that first day in the park, they’d never really been on a real date. And he wanted to. He loved her and he was excited for a little but of normalcy. She deserved to be treated like a princess and get to do normal things. So he had scouted out a nice private restaurant that did well to hide celebrities---he’d gotten good reviews and apparently there were VIP rooms. The owners were ex-idols or something so they did their best to help idols uphold their private lives, so it was perfect. Straightening his tie, he finally went out to greet her, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “You look beautiful,” he murmured. “An tall. I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen you wear heels offstage.” He took her hand and pulled her out the door, closing it behind him. “Alright, lets go.”

Jimin is quiet for a few minutes, completely paused and lips pursed as he thinks carefully about each member of the group. “Actually– yeah, you’re right. I’m fucking adorable, but that kid has the age card.” Jimin admits after a while, pushing himself off the couch to go dig around in his bag for the tablet. “And the height card.” He adds a little quieter, sounding a bit bitter. “But it’s because us tiny ones are filled with so much rage– it evens out in taller people, but us short kids just sit here and boil with anger. And it’s probably something to do with being closer to hell, but you know.” A little shrug and he’s bouncing right back over to throw himself on the couch, already bringing up the file he had so lovingly titled “ACE as furries.”

“He does. And he plays it--you flip-flip between being cute and then sexy so like...by default, he’s cuter because he sticks with the cute,” Yao mused, smiling a little bit. “He’s still short though. You’re all short. I’ve got at least half a foot on all of you,” he commented, smiling and pushing his hair back. He was definitely the tallest at the company. The person who came closest was Hasik, and he was an inch shorter. “You know, I think she’s used that argument before--must make it true, I guess,” Yao said with a little laugh, scooching closer so he could see the screen.