#feivannie

Hi!! Thank you for the request! I took a bit of a different direction with this one and I hope you like it <3

#9: Cheek kisses

Opening day for any new show is always busy. Despite all the preparation and nerves leading up to the day, it’s always a favorite for both you and Zen.

The show was beautiful, and Zen was phenomenal (as usual). The spotlight is on him as he takes his final bow for the audience. He is shining. For how often he jokes about his good looks, you truly believe that when he’s on stage, he transforms into something inhuman. Your Zen becomes something dazzling, infinite, otherworldly.

You join the rest of the audience in a standing ovation, letting yourself be carried in the emotions of the crowd. Zen has tried to explain to you one of his favourite parts of stage plays many different times; the power in making a full theater of people feel the same overwhelming emotions. The first time you watched him perform, you finally understood what he meant.

He scans the audience and quickly spots you, sitting in the seat he reserved specifically (the best in the house). You wave at him excitedly, hoping that your enthusiasm is conveyed to him. Of course, he reads you easily. He beams at you from center stage, high on the approval of the crowd (and more importantly, you).

He is scheduled for a live interview after the show, and you’re hoping to get him alone before it starts. Besides watching him perform, this is your favourite part of live theatre. Seeing Zen afterwards, full of adrenaline and beaming with pride. The god returning to his human form. The world outside can have God Zen, but this person he is in the aftermath is all yours.

Unfortunately, you get caught up in the crowd on your way backstage. People are moving slowly, still discussing the plot twist and Zen’s portrayal of such a unique character. By the time you get backstage, you know you’ve lost any chance at time alone with him. He spots you (he has been waiting for you, as always), and gets the crowd to let you through till you reach him.

As you expected, the interviewer is already there. She looks thrilled to be talking to Zen one on one. From the looks of it, she was just going through the introductory questions. As you appear by his side, she gives you a quizzical look, quickly sizing you up. You’ve interacted with enough journalists by this point to see the cogs turning in her brain; all the different snippy titles she could use to make the most of your sudden appearance.

You reluctantly switch into manager mode. You push down your excitement and try to look more subdued as you give Zen the bouquet of flowers you had picked specifically for him. You give her a smile that she doesn’t return, so you go ahead and introduce yourself as Zen’s manager. A beat passes before she continues with her questions.

You try to stand patiently through the interview, and you almost succeed. Almost. Towards the end, her questions stray from professional into personal. She punctuates every question with a giggle and tries to ask about a rumour regarding a relationship between Zen and his co-star (which he  deftly avoids).

Although your relationship was an open secret to most of your colleagues, you try to keep press far away from it, for your own privacy and for the sake of his career. To that end, you usually try to keep a distance between yourself and Zen when you make public appearances.

The interview finally wraps up, the camera turns off, but the woman lingers. She attempts to make small talk with Zen, and he politely tries to signal to her that he’d like to leave. Your patience (already worn thin) disappears all together. Your manager front drops and you close the distance between you and him. Then, in an impulsive move, you put a hand on his shoulder, stand on your tiptoes, and give him a kiss on his cheek.

It's the only gesture you ever allow yourselves to do in public, but it should get the message across.

“I’m proud of you, Zen, you were magic up there.”

Zen is not easy to fluster. But it looks like the combination of the kiss, his own remaining adrenaline and your complement break him entirely. He turns beet red and remains frozen. He tries to speak, but when he opens his mouth, he can’t form the words.

The interviewer’s eyes widen and stare at you both in shock. You smile back at her sweetly. A kiss on the cheek is not something too newsworthy, especially with no pictures to back it up.

He manages to recompose himself enough to turn to the woman and thank her for conducting the interview. His face is still red and, to your delight, there’s urgency in his tone now.

Hi! Thank you for participating!!

Zen’s sense of humor isn’t discussed as much as Sevens and Jumin’s, though I don’t think that it’s because he’s not funny. I think his sense of humor is a bit subtler than Seven’s (obviously), and very different to Jumin’s, judging by his reaction to some of the jokes Jumin makes in different routes.

I also headcannon that he’s incredible at impressions (it comes as part of being an actor). He can impersonate a person’s mannerisms, voice pitch, and even the cadence in which they speak. He has perfected his impressions of the other RFA members. He likes to entertain you with reenactments of fun portions of meetings, or perhaps his most recent squabble with Jumin. He will walk across the living room, posture stiff and nose in the air in an exaggerated imitation until you’re in hysterics. 

Whether through silly impressions or not, he loves to hear you laugh. He loves it when you play along, too. Sometimes, when you’re just sitting at home together, one of you will start a joke and it will quickly dissolve into a back and forth where you both can’t stop laughing. He loves how personal these small moments between the two of you are, curled up on the sofa laughing at something that only you would find funny. It’s a part of him that will never belong to the outside world, a part of himself he only wants to share with you.

It’s no secret that Zen is quite touchy with his SO. If he finds out that you’re ticklish (and don’t mind being tickled, obviously), he will use it at any given opportunity. He doesn’t play fair.

Here’s a secret though: he’s also so ticklish. He will pretend not to be, but he’s at his most vulnerable around you, in every way. Use it to your advantage. Is he holding something over your head out of reach? Poke his sides, and watch him dissolve into fits of giggles (oh, to hear Zen giggle). 

Life with Zen is light and full of warmth. He will try to make you happy in any and every way possible. No matter how long you’ve been together, it’s moments like this that he values the most, just the two of you wrapped up in your own world.