Chapter 103: Park Joon-Woo & Reggie Lee (1)
The craze was already something to be said about. People had joked about Joon-woo and Reggie's chemistry before debut, and they were already labeled as a pair during Producer10. However, it took only a youtube video to ignite a forever-running flame:
Reggie and Joon being ✨fruity✨ for 20 minutes
It was a title so cringy Joon-woo hated every part of his being.
With a whooping two and a half million views, the youtube video stood to it's name. It was clips of Producer10 for the most part. Them leaning on each other's shoulders or supporting each other while singing or dancing. Some text was added to try and twist the narrative of inherently innocent actions and it worked.
Perhaps the kicker of all the clips was one from Producer10. It was from their second-to-last challenge, when Sung Chunghee was on their team.
Joon-woo was struggling to nail one of the moves, thanks to stress of being front and center for the performance they were, at the time, preparing for. Reggie had offered his help so graciously.
Low and behold, the move was one where Joon-woo had to come up from the floor and do almost seductively soft movements to the audience. It had many clips from the live performance. Reggie positioned himself behind Joon-woo and as Joon-woo began to stand, Reggie led him through the movements with skin-on-skin contact.
The editors of Producer10 had apparently taken Joon-woo's "shudder" of uneasiness as something to edit hearts around. They made it seem as if Joon-woo had shuddered to Reggie's touch. It made Joon-woo's skin crawl, the way the creator of the viral compilation had slowed the clip with slow saxophone music and zoomed on both of their faces.
The comments only got worse.
Flights_4_joon: there's no heterosexual explanation for this
kpopjunkie54: this group may outgay Haobin…
justagirl: no cause they just debuted and there's so much proof already
Carre had found such to be the funniest thing possible.
"Kite, are you seeing this? Someone wrote a whole fanfiction in the comments…" Carre laughed a rich-person laugh.
Kite rolled its eyes, "These people are delusional."
Joon-woo nodded in agreement.
–+–
Mr. Jeong held two cutesy decorated photo card holders. One had Joon-woo's photocard and the other's, Reggie's.
Joon-woo wanted to scream.
"Umm… The company wanted me to give you two these. Put them on your bags before we leave for your shoot." Mr. Jeong explained. Handing the Joon-woo photocard to Reggie, and the Reggie photocard to Joon-woo.
The mood of all of ASCEND tensed up at the action.
"They're really playing into this…" Jung Hyun-Ok commented with a bit of surprise on his face.
Perhaps noticing Joon-woo's dismay, Mi Yong patted his groupmate on the back. "Once you're finally of age, I'll treat you to a drink." He joked.
Joon-woo shoved Mi Yong off of him. "I am of age, Hyung."
Reggie put the keychain on his small going out bag. It was colorful, the keychain, and was very noticeable against Reggie's beige bag. Joon-woo copied the action with a slight hesitancy.
"Well if we walked to a package store and I bought alcohol they would assume I was some plug for you…" Mi Yong reasoned with a slight tease.
Joon-woo's expression was visibly tainted. He shifted closer to Reggie to avoid Mi Yong's entire presence.
–+–
@jkookarchives
HELP ROON-WOO HAD MATCHING KEYCHAINS OF EACH OTHER'S PHOTOCARDS 😭😭😭
50.6k likes 10.6k quotes 15k reposts
@santeez_ replying to @jkookarchives
OMFG THEY AINT EVEN TRYNA HIDE IT ANYMORE
@sungz4life replying to @jkookarchives
Someone should buy them a big ol' room, because god knows they need it
@05liners_ replying to @jkookarchives
IS THIS REAL???????
–+–
The shoot they were camped at was for a magazine they were to be featured in the cover of.
It was no coincidence that, after getting their hair styled and make-up done, Reggie and Joon-woo were thrown conveniently next to each other in even the group photod.
They took photos in smaller units: Mi Yong and Ryeo Hyun, Jung Hyun-Ok and Baek Du-Ho, and Reggie & Joon-woo. Of course while Mi Yong and Ryeo Hyun had simple duo poses, Mi yong's wrists atop of each other on Ryeo Hyun's shoulder, Reggie and Joon-woo's duo poses were Joon-woo sitting and "playing" the guitar while Reggie leaned on the top part of the chair with one hand placed just below Joon-woo's shoulder and the other just at his underarm.
Reggie was clumsy, apparently; according to the company he was.
On their way to their next schedule, in the midst of just some paparazzi, he tripped with absolutely no coincidental set up at all. And no one in the group noticed Reggie stumble… except for Joon-woo. Oh-so discreetly Joon-woo whispered, according to lip-reading geniuses in the small crowd, 'are you okay?' into Reggie's ear. How romantic.
It was Joon-woo and Reggie that recorded tick-tocks with a fellow girl group, HEARTSEYE, backstage a performance hall.
It was Joon-woo and Reggie that were seen getting ramyeon at a local convenience store.
It was Joon-woo and Reggie with matching bracelets at their first airport appearance.
It was Joon-woo and Reggie that got photographed every time they dared to look at each other.
It was Joon-woo and Reggie that wore the same shirt a day after each other.
It was Joon-woo and Reggie that picked out each other's favorite color and food in a variety show.
It was Reggie who protected Joon-woo from a crowded airport appearance when the bodyguards so conveniently were a step too far away.
It was Joon-woo who laughed for possibly the first time mid-radio interview and Reggie looked too long.
It was Joon-woo and Reggie photographed eating ice cream together after practice.
It was Joon-woo and Reggie.
–+–
@haobin4lifer
I fear haobin has been officially out-gayed guys 😞
2.5k likes 253 quotes 445 reposts
@franniesthoughts
omegaverse is real guys
76k likes 10.6k quotes 23k reposts
It was a photo of Reggie standing tall behind Joon-woo at an airport appearance. Reggie was dressed similar to that of a gym rat, abs only slightly formed. Joon-woo was dressed like a baggy-clothed girlfriend.
@miyongsleft_toe
anyone else think that roon-woo is a publicity stunt?
1.4 likes 9.8k quotes 542 reposts
@daily_roonwoo_news
Day 36/365 omg just look at the way Joon-woo is looking at Reggie 😍😍😍
10.4k likes 3k quotes 5k reposts
Attached was a photo of Joon-woo looking at Reggie from a short distance.
–+–
"--off of me!" Joon-woo mindlessly demanded when someone reached out to touch him. He slightly fell back on the couch he was sitting on.
It was Mi Yong's hand he swatted away harshly.
Jung Hyun-Ok and Ryeo Hyun turned their way from the kitchen, and Baek Du-Ho from the other end of the couch. Reggie had announced his sleepy departure just minutes before.
Mi Yong brought his hand to his chest and rubbed at the red mark Joon-woo had left.
Even Carre stopped her instigating with Kite at that moment.
Joon-woo looked up from the floor, as if realizing that all eyes were on him and his outburst. His cheeks were red with embarrassment, "Sorry– shit I–" He tried to explain but the words weren't forming in the fog of his mind.
He was hungry but had long eaten his daily allotted calories. He was tired but his body was still energized thanks to their long practice just an hour before. And everywhere he looked online, outside, and in the comfort of their own dorm– he couldn't escape the eyes.
It was like everytime he dared to even acknowledge Reggie, there was someone there to manipulate the situation to make it seem like Joon-woo wanted Reggie. He didn't want Reggie like a lover. He didn't want anyone like a lover.
Reggie seemed to barely react to all the pressure and accusations. Reggie seemed so unphased by every sexual joke sent their way. And that hurt Joon-woo's pride that he himself was in fact annoyed by them.
Joon-woo hated that everyone saw him the way they now did. He hated that in the mind of an onlooker, he was some easy violat-able twink.
"Joon-woo, are you okay?" Mi Yong asked, the red spot on his hand slowly fading.
"Yes, Hyung, sorry." Joon-woo robotically replied.
He avoided looking at anything other than the floor. He feared that if he looked anyone in the eyes he would lose his reputable composure.
Mi Yong raised an eyebrow, looking at the others' for confirmation that something was up.
"Are you feeling sick?" Mi Yong pushed, leader-like concern showing through.
"No." Joon-woo replied, shaking his head.
The room was still silent. It was as if the air was trying to coax the truth out of Joon-woo's sealed lungs. It was as if the silence was begging him to fill it.
"I think I'll go to bed a little early tonight." Joon-woo professed, standing with his head down.
He began towards the bathroom to begin his nightly routine.
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