#!decode

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.”

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. 

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

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.