skz_on_top

Even though as an idol, you had conflicting schedules, you always made time for him. Your group wasn’t as big- but you still loved preforming. Your dorm is always loud, and messy. Being in a group with 10 other girls who are always in the dorm was hard, so you took refuge in the small home you both owned. But it felt less like home lately.

Something broke inside after a month of the neglect. You hadn’t talked in 5 days, and the distance was killing you. Just as you went to call him, a text arrived from him. It was simple, short.

my love in every universe❤️🦊: im coming over. we need to talk.

You quickly typed out a response, something about if everything was okay, but didn’t get an answer. You were still in your practice clothes, after a long dance practice when he knocked, and you let him in. “Hi!” You said happily, pulling him in for a hug, but he didn’t move, just standing there. He pulls back, letting you shut the door.

Jeongin takes in a long, deep breath. “Listen, I want to make this quick.” He runs a hand through his hair. “My manager talked to me a month ago. They found out about us.”

Your face drops. “No.” He nodded, stepping back. “We were careful. How did they find out? It wasn’t from my manager?” You move to sit on the couch and he follows.

He shakes his head. “I had given her my phone for a live, and a text from you came in. I had to tell them everything.”

“Are they telling my manager?” You ask quietly.

Jeongin nods. “They already know. Listen, we’re both going to lose our jobs if we dont do this.”

You shook your head no. “My group will understand, I’m sure Chan can help-“ he stops you.

“He tried. Im sorry love. We have to break up.” Your face dropped. Jeongin tried to pull you in, but you pushed him away, eyes welling with tears.

“I only have a year left in my NDA, so do you. Is there-“ The face Jeongin gives you is an answer enough.

“I love you.” He whispered. You stilled.

“Not enough to fight for us apparently.” His expression crumpled as your tears started to fall. “3 years, and your giving up? What happens when we cant preform because of this-“

Jeongin cuts you off. “This hurts me too, y’know?” His voice was raw, unfiltered. “I didnt want to. I argued for days.” He sniffled, and then continued. “Chan says I’m a shell of myself. Please, just let me go.”

The vulnerability in his voice made you pause. “Is this what you really want? Our careers over us?” He nodded slowly, and then you stood up, legs shaking. “Fine. Get out. I’ll bring you your stuff by Monday.” He scrambled to stand.

As he walked to the door, he cast her a final glance. “In another universe.” He whispered, before walking out quietly, the door shutting with a small click, everything unspoken being spoken in the silence then.

••••••••••••••

1 year, 2 days later

“You’re just going through the motions!” Minhos voice cuts through Jeongin, each word sending a wave of fatigue through him. Jeongin stood up fully, taking a deep breath.

“We’ve been going for 9 hours straight.” His voice was bitter, and went into the silence like a knife. “You expect us to not be exhausted?” He gestured to his fellow members, whereas Felix was draped across the floor, Hyunjin across the couch, Jisung gulping down water.

Chan sat up from his position on the floor, seeming to have had enough. “Hes right. We’re done for the day.” Multiple cheers went up from the members, but the Maknaes mind was filled with thoughts of you. Today was the day your NDA ended.

As soon as he exited the building, your phone began to ring. It was an unknown number. You moved to answer it, and the voice ok the other end of the line shocked you.

“Hello?” Jeongins voice rang through.

“Jeongin? Why are you-“

“Can I come over?” He said quietly. You remembered within seconds.

It wasn’t live, but the director wanted minimal retakes to keep things spontaneous and authentic.

So there Seungmin was, delivering his perfectly memorised script to the cameras, confidently explaining the concept of the show as if he’d written it himself.

You took a deep breath— but instead of nerves, you couldn’t help but feel giddy.

Even after three years in the industry as an idol for a popular group, you still weren’t the most comfortable with variety shows.

It wasn’t really your scene— your group’s maknae or the more outgoing members were usually the ones handling the high-energy missions and chaotic tasks. You, on the other hand, were more often found on shows with deep conversations, or the ones where you got to quietly laugh over a glass of beer or soju with friends.

So, by all logic, you’d expect that you would be full of nerves and overthinking everything, but as you looked across the room to find two familiar faces waving at you, you relaxed. 

None of your members could make it to the filming as they were tied up with preparations for your group’s upcoming comeback; But your brother’s members had become just as much family to you as he had always been. 

You smiled and waved back at Hyunjin and Chan, who had come to support their members and, you realised with a wave of affection, you. 

"...And now, I’d like to welcome our first guest of the day— someone very special. To most of you, she’s known as the calm and composed leader of her group. But for me? She’s just my loud, messy, and endlessly dramatic noona that I’ve somehow survived living with. Please welcome, Y/N!”

You bowed gracefully and then waved at everyone enthusiastically, full of energy. 

The crew members cheered as you entered the dining hall, trying to hype up the otherwise quiet atmosphere due to the lack of a live audience, but you couldn’t help but feel everyone on set genuinely felt a little excited to be there. 

Plenty of shows had tried to get you on board before, but you’d always politely declined. So the fact that you’d agreed to this one wasn’t just surprising— it was a rarity. Especially considering the type of show that it was. 

“Well, you certainly won’t survive after that little introduction, ya rascal.” You ruffled his hair and gave him a shoulder choke for good measure, before settling on your seat opposite him on the kitchen island. The room erupted in laughter, already eating up your sibling dynamic. 

You launch into your formal intro, already wondering what chaotic sound effects they'll slap over the clip of you fake-choking Seungmin. 

You and Seungmin were the opposite of lowkey when it came to your relationship. Be it embarrassing photos on birthdays, funny jabs online, or chaotic bubble posts, it seemed as if annoying the hell out of each other was your love language; And good for you both, the fans seemed to adore it as well. 

Maybe this was the reason why you felt so excited to be there.

While you had shared stages as mcs or interacted in award shows before, this was the first time fans would get to see your full dynamic, unfiltered. And you felt at ease knowing that the host was your brother. 

Still, as your gaze flicked to the empty seat beside you, you knew that wasn’t the only reason you were excited.

“Well, we’ll come back to that,” Seungmin looked to the camera after your ment, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “But before that, I would like to call forward our next and final guest for today. This one guy… I don’t know, he’s in some indie band or something— weird fella, he is. Please give it up for… Lee Know!” 

Your heart stops, and suddenly nothing matters anymore.

Not because of how gorgeous he looks in the soft baby blue button down or because of the small smirk playing on his lips, but because of how, when he enters, instead of looking at the camera, or Seungmin, or anyone else, his eyes find you. 

Like they always do. 

“What do you say, Y/N, I know a place, and I’m telling you, nobody will suspect us when Seungmin’s body goes missing tonight.” Lee Know’s presence was something not only you, but everyone on set feels when he enters. 

“Well, I am definitely not getting paid enough to be here,” Seungmin deadpanned. “So, if you both are planning to gang up on me, I will call Mom. Don’t test me.” He playfully sticks his tongue out, teasing us both. 

Lee Know light-heartedly glares at him before laughing. He finally turns to the camera for his intro, giving you a rare moment to blatantly check him out while pretending to be interested in what he's saying. 

Well, obviously you were interested, but it was less because of what he was saying and more because of the fact that it was just… him. 

Being in the same company as your brother, it was natural for both of your groups to turn into one big friend group who always met up and did things together. And as you were older than more than half of Stray Kids, you had become like a support system for the boys too, like an elder sister they never had. 

But there was someone who silently, unknowingly, had become your support system; your anchor. 

Lee Know wasn’t the loud kind of support. He didn’t cheer you on with grand gestures or tell you things you wanted to hear. But he showed up. In his own way, and he stayed. And that mattered more than anything.

You used to call him your best friend. But lately, that word felt… incomplete. Like it barely scratched the surface of what he really was to you.

When you first met Minho, his honesty was... unsettling. He didn’t hesitate to call you out or say something mean to your face. You weren’t used to that. People around you either tiptoed or told you what they thought you wanted to hear. But not him.

At first, his sharp words annoyed you. Maybe even pissed you off. But soon, you realized they came from a place of genuine care. It wasn’t the sweet, comforting kind. It was real. It was rare. And it stayed.

But what really caught you off guard was not his unexpected side, but the texts. 

You did not expect to be up till 3 AM, even after tiring practice sessions, to stay up to just talk to him. 

It started as casual check-ins and dumb memes— How're you doings and This reminded me of yous. 

But you didn't notice when the conversation would only stop when one of you fell asleep. When looking at every and any cat made you want to snap a picture and send it to him. You didn't notice when after a long day of work, all you looked forward to were his messages and your conversations. 

You had your friends back home, but talking to Minho made you feel… seen. 

Being an idol didn’t make life easy. You were constantly tired, constantly performing, your mind and body always at work. And people were sympathetic— but they didn’t get it.

He did. He lived it. So, when comfort came from him, it meant something. 

It didn’t feel like pity. It felt like someone holding your hand in the dark, saying “I know.”

Talking to him felt safe. Like engulfing yourself in a warm blanket from your childhood which already knew the shape of your sadness. His curt honesty transformed into soft words and his snarky remarks were replaced with whispers of support and vulnerability. 

Minho had become your safe space. And you were only left wondering if you were his too. 

“Now let me introduce you all to the rules of the show!” Your brother's voice brings you back, rooting you into reality. You steal a glance at Lee Know but blush when you see him already looking at you with a soft smile, only meant for you. 

“The rules of Uri, Keopeuriraeyo?, or Apparently, We Are Dating? are quite simple; and now that I'm looking back at the rules, I'm slowly realising I'm not the best person whom you could've chosen to host for this particular episode.” Seungmin looks straight to the camera with a deadpan expression, causing laughter to erupt. 

“But for the sake of professionalism, I will pretend like I do not know you guys and continue with the program!” He turns towards you both, full mc mode on. 

“We all know that there have been quite some posts about you both these days— I mean, its nearly impossible to scroll past like, three posts before getting an edit of your interaction. And well, that is exactly the reason you both have been invited to “Uri, Keopeuriraeyo?”!” 

Everyone's gaze is fixated on Seungmin, entranced by his charismatic delivery. 

“Fans said you had chemistry, and we're here to test! just! that! The show will have three different sections: The Feels, The Mystery Date, and finally, The Confession! It perfectly spans the timeline of somebody becoming a couple, right from the butterflies to the official couple status.”

Was it the best decision coming to a variety show which tested your chemistry and was rooted in romance with a person whom you sorta, maybe, kinda had feelings for? Maybe not. 

“And now that the instructions are out of the way, let us get started with the first round…” 

Okay, maybe it wasn’t the best idea. Oh well. 

“The rent couldn’t possibly be that high.” was what Lee Know first said when he was pitched the idea to appear in the hot, new variety show by his manager. But when he said he would be doing it with Y/N, he suddenly changed face and said, “Oh well, anything for the fans.” 

He didn’t know what compelled him to agree to this appearance, and after his hasty decision, he was sure he was going to regret it. But so far, he was enjoying it. 

Y/N… He did not know how to really describe his relationship with her. At first, she was just Seungmin’s elder sister, someone who stopped by during practices and rehearsals. But she was also a fellow idol whom he respected and admired. She was also someone he went to for advice or to send his countless cat videos. But then, she was also the first person he texted every morning and the last person he talked to at night. 

So really, he wasn’t sure what to make of their relationship, but all he knew was that he couldn’t afford to lose her to the mess of his own confused feelings. 

The first half of the show went by in a blur of laughs and stolen glances— After they finished making their dish for the first round, they served up three plates for each one.

While Seungmin was busy judging it like a reality-show chef, Lee Know quietly leaned forward, his touch feather-light, and wiped a crumb from the corner of her lip. Their eyes lingered a bit too long, and he could almost feel the heat from the blush dusting her cheeks. Or was it he who was profusely heating up? 

He consoled himself, chanting in his mind that it was just for the fanservice. But they both knew that the cameras were pointed at the other side of the table. 

After that, he was too embarrassed to do anything else, thankful to Seungmin for lightening up the tension that he probably didn't even realise was there. He tried to keep up with his usual persona— snarky remarks and dry jabs. But it was so hard to do that when she was just there. 

Every brush of their shoulders, every laugh that his jokes earned him— he was holding on to them like something fragile and fleeting. He was painfully aware of it all, which was something new to him. He constantly reminded himself that he didn’t care what she thought of him, but even then, his eyes always flicked to hers after every word, trying to decode her reaction to his very existence. 

“Okay, and times up!” Seungmin’s voice pulled him back to reality, as he stared at the blank paper in front of him. “For the second round, your task was to write a heart-wrenching, rain-soaked, slow-motion-running-through-an-airport kind of confession for each other— but! With a twist!” 

Y/N turned toward Minho, trying to sneak a glance at his script while clutching her own paper protectively to her chest. He caught her attempt immediately, holding his page just out of reach with a smug grin and sticking his tongue out at her.

She didn’t need to know that a small, fun writing exercise almost led him to question his entire being. 

“Sure, anyone can write a cheesy love confession. But can you write one that sounds like it came straight out of a completely wrong movie genre? Y/N, I hope your mystery-thriller styled love confession is ready, but first, let’s hear Lee Know’s rom-com themed confession! Hyung, I hope it's awkward, cheesy, and painfully cute. I better see some finger hearts.”

As all eyes turned towards him, Lee Know gulped, all the while not letting his cool facade slip. 

Lee Know cleared his throat with a dramatic flair, holding the paper like it was a Shakespearean monologue. He tried to channel everything his high school improv teacher had ever taught him. 

“Y/N… From the very first moment I saw you stealing fries off my plate without shame, I knew. You were the one.” He smirked, flirtily moving his eyebrows at Y/N as the crew burst into laughter while she dramatically rolled her eyes. 

“I love the way you roll your eyes at me. I love how you insult me like it’s your love language. And I especially love how you pretend not to care, but you always save me the last dumpling.” She covers her face as she laughs, while Seungmin pretends to throw up in a paper bag. “If this were a drama, you’d be the feisty female lead who says she doesn’t believe in love, and I’d be the emotionally unavailable male lead who wears black turtlenecks and has one tragic backstory. And somehow, we’d fall in love as you make me realise that I’m not as emotionally constipated as I pretend to be. And I know your rich, snobby father won’t accept someone—” 

Flash. A blinding light sears across their vision as sparks fly—not the romantic kind, but real ones. Minho’s arm instinctively shields Y/N’s eyes—

Then, everything goes black. The lights cut out, and night swallows the room whole.

“Okay everybody, there’s no need to panic! It’s just a minor issue—lights will be back in a few minutes!” Someone from the crew shouted over the growing murmurs. Chairs scraped. Staff whispered. Someone tripped over a cable and cursed loudly.

But none of that registered for Minho. Y/N was still next to him, closer than before, her silhouette barely visible, her warmth unmistakably near. It felt like the world had folded in on itself.

Like it was just them.

And in the silence that followed the panic, in the brief pause between laughter and light, Minho found the only moment he could actually breathe.

“You know…” his voice cut softly through the dark. He sees her surprised face in the soft light, and also catches Seungmin raising a confused eyebrow at the other side of the table. 

“I should probably wait until the lights are back on. Until we’re surrounded by cameras. Until there’s a script in my hand and a punchline at the end.”

A beat passed.

“But when it’s just us… I don’t feel like pretending.”

Y/N didn’t move. Neither did he.

“I don’t know why I look for you before I say anything funny, just to make sure you’re laughing. And I don’t know how we got here— but I do know that when everything goes dark like this… you’re the only one I think about.”

Silence. Heavy, but not uncomfortable. Okay, maybe it started to get a little uncomfortable when he realised the crew were all listening in. But if he stopped now, he didn’t think he would ever gather the courage to continue. 

“So if this is the part where I’m supposed to be scared or embarrassed, I’m not. I think the scariest part would be never telling you at all. And I want you to be sure that—”

And almost as quickly as they went out, the lights flickered back on. The sudden brightness was blinding. As reality rushed back in, Minho stood frozen. Had he really just said all that—in front of twenty-something people?

Seungmin, ever the observant friend, caught on to the flicker of panic in Minho’s expression and swooped in like a pro.

“Damn, hyung, I guess you get bonus points for being so professional! That was a very convincing performance. Oscar-worthy, really.” He had his suspicions, of course—but watching his friend teeter on the edge of a meltdown in front of cameras and a crowd, Seungmin did what he did best: cover with comedy, and buy him time.

“Haha, yes! Anything for the fans! I hope you recorded that Mr. Director.” Minho laughed awkwardly, his voice too high, looking at everyone but Y/N. “But, uh, could we take five, please?”

And without a single word, he stood up from his seat, and without a look back, walked out of the room. 

It felt as if someone had reached into her chest, ripped her heart out, and left it raw and bleeding and for everyone to see. It took her a solid minute to even comprehend what had happened in the last few minutes. But once the realisation sank in, her chest tightened, and the sting of tears pressed against her eyes. She felt like crying.

She knew coming to a fake-dating variety show would play with her very real feelings, but she thought Minho would at least understand and not play with her heart like that.

But she couldn't even blame him— of course, it was all for the fanservice, for the cameras, for the laughs. It was her fault for even thinking — for a moment — that it could be real. She couldn’t believe that she let herself—

Before she could sink deeper into her hole of self-pity, something caught her eye. Her eyes landed on Minho’s script, the very one out of which he was reading his fake confession out of. Her breath hitched. 

It was blank. 

Minho stopped when he reached an empty hallway, heartbeat thudding in his ears, and leaned against the wall, trying not to collapse from the embarrassment that was eating him alive.

After a few beats, he heard footsteps. He was ready to flee but the comfort of a familiar face stopped him. 

“You really ran out of there like a second lead who knows he’s gonna lose,” Hyunjin tentatively laughed, offering him a sympathetic glance. 

Minho groaned, “Please go away, I’m busy regretting my whole existence.” 

“You mean confessing in the dark in front of random-ass people and then vanishing before she could say anything?” Hyunjin mused, a mischievous glint in his otherwise concerned eyes. “Iconic behaviour, honestly. Very you.” 

Minho glared at him weakly and feebly punched his shoulder, thankful for his presence. Hyunjin laughed and leaned beside him on the wall. “But hey, it didn’t sound like those were merely just dialogues. Like you were just performing for the camera.” 

“Yeah, that’s the problem.” Minho scoffed under his breath. “And now I’ve made it weird. She’s probably laughing or, God, I don’t know, horrified?”

“You don’t get it, do you, hyung?” Hyunjin looked at him, all humour gone from his face. “If you know it's real, then don’t run away from it. We see how you are with her, hyung. And we also see how she is with you. And you’ve already said the hard part, just go find her and let her say hers.”

“I—” Minho started, but the words caught in his throat. Realisation flickered across his face, and Hyunjin could almost see the gears in his mind finally locking into place. But before he could speak, the soft, deliberate click of heels echoed down the hallway, pulling both their attention toward the sound. 

“Think about what I said,” Hyunjin said, before casually walking away the very moment Y/N emerged from the other end of the hallway. 

“Minho,” Y/N stops short a few feet away from him, and he offers her a weak smile. “You fucking lame ass idiot.” 

He blinks, but a genuine laugh escapes him. “Oka,y fair, but a bit harsh for someone who just emotionally vomited in front of cameras, don’t you think—?”

“I like you.” Her shy, but firm voice makes his eyes widen. 

“What?” 

“What do you think, you idiot! I like you. I’ve liked you for a while now.” She walks closer, not breaking eye contact. “It's just… you’re so confusing, you know that? I kept second-guessing myself. You’re always so hard to read.

“One minute you’re teasing me like I’m some unwanted pop-up ad, and the next you’re texting me random videos or asking if I’ve eaten.” She laughed, a little embarrassed. “You don’t even ask nicely— You just say ‘Eat something, you gremlin.’ Like, what am I supposed to do with that?”

Minho wasn’t even embarrassed by the lopsided grin on his face right now. 

“And yet, every time my phone buzzed and it was you… I smiled. Like an idiot.”

She took a small step closer.

“I didn’t say anything because I thought… if I made it real, I’d lose whatever this is. And I didn’t want to risk that. I still don’t. But I’m tired of pretending I don’t care. So yeah. I like you. I really do. And if you’ll let me… I’d like to keep doing this whole… fake dating thing. Just without the fake.”

Minho took a step and swooped her in his arms, burying her face in his chest. He had never felt so simply at peace that he did at that moment. 

“Oh my God,” He kissed the top of her head. “You like me. Y/N likes me. And, oh shit, I can’t believe I haven’t said it yet. I like you, Y/N. I like you. I like you. I like you so much, Y/N.” 

She laughs, a blush creeping up her cheeks. “Good to know” 

Minho pulled back just enough to look at her, his hands still resting gently on her waist.

“So…” he began, smirking, “does this mean I finally get to call you my girlfriend? Or do I need to do something dramatic first— like write you a song, or dramatically confess on a rooftop in the rain or stop you at the airport or something?”

She laughed, eyes crinkling. “I think you’ve done enough dramatics for one day.” 

“Wow.” Seungmin deadpans from a distance, as Chan and Hyunjin snicker beside him. “I host a fake dating show for one day and somehow still end up third-wheeling my own sister.”

“Your pain, Seung,” Chan puts a comforting hand on his shoulder as the two other boys take out five hundred-won bills from their pockets. “Is my financial gain.” 

Hyunjin sighs, letting out a fond laugh. “Well, are we gonna continue with the shoot now or what? I just got my popcorn.”

author's note: girl this took me embarrassingly long to write and it isn't even that good RAHH lowk vv underconfident with this but at the end of the day its so fun & cringe & sappy so thats exactly what describes me lol.

shout out to teri (@starlostastronaut) because i don't think i would've been able to complete this if not for her checking up on me lol so thank you love AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY ??!! ALSO hats off to u for organising this fun event im so thankful <3

gang please reblog and leave comments, they truly mean the world !