Rise of a Star - a Minsung Story

Chapter 25

Jisung was right, Christmas could indeed not be ruined by anything. 

It was late at night when the couple arrived at the hotel in Busan, and although they were tired and exhausted from the long drive, Jisung couldn't help but be amazed as he looked around their hotel room. "This is gorgeous, when did you plan all this?", he asked, immediately walking up to the wide panorama window. "A couple of months ago, when I first started noticing how much the stress was affecting our health and relationship. I wanted us to have a completely relaxed Christmas, just the two of us, with breakfast in bed, private massages, a hot tub and a hotel sauna. Just pure relaxation", Minho explained, snaking his arms around Jisung's waist from behind him. "I'm glad you like it", he placed gentle kisses on his boyfriend's neck, while the younger took in the breathtaking view. You could see all the lights from the surrounding building, the moon in the sky, and even the sea in the far distance. "It's perfect, you are perfect", Jisung turned around in Minho's arms, meeting his hazel-colored eyes. The older smiled softly, bending down to connect their lips in a loving kiss. "I love you, you know?", he said, a cheeky smile taking over his face, the one that is reserved for only Jisung to see. "I do know, I love you too, Min", Jisung blushed, pulling his boyfriend away from the window and over to the bathroom. "Let's get ready for bed, I'm exhausted",  Jisung exclaimed, quickly changing the topic to distract Minho from his embarrassingly red cheeks. The elder chuckled, planting a kiss to his boyfriend's forehead, before helping him take off his clothes and change into his PJs. 

~

"Merry Christmas, my love", Minho said with his deep morning voice, right next to Jisung's ear, whose body was immediately covered in goosebumps. "'morning, Min", he groaned, rubbing his eyes, before opening them to face his partner. Minho was already dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a neatly wrapped present in his hands. The table behind him was covered with all sorts of breakfast foods; waffles, fruits, yogurt, juice, fried rice, kimchi, eggs, everything one could ever want. Jisung smiled, pushing himself up on his elbows to connect his lips with Minho's. "Thank you, love. Merry Christmas to you as well. Let me grab my present for you, before we eat!", Jisung jumped out of bed, almost stumbling over the mountains of dirty clothes on the ground. They had only been here for three days, and yet they still failed at the keeping the room clean... Not that either of them cared, really. "Okay, are you ready?", the younger asked, struggling to contain his excitement as they exchanged their presents. "You go first", Minho said, gesturing for Jisung to open the box in his hands. Jisung immediately tore the wrapping paper off the box, opening it as quickly as he could. His eyes widened and all his movement came to a halt once he saw the contents of the box. The first thing catching his eyes was a picture frame with a beautiful picture Jeongin had taken of the two of them last fall, they were holding hands and laughing as they watched the leaves fall around them. Secondly, the older had bought matching silver bracelets that had each other's initial engraved on the inside. They were simple, yet detailed, exactly Jisung's style. Lastly, Minho had put a USB hard drive that said "To the love of my life", Jisung would learn later that the elder had written him a song, the most beautiful love confession anyone could ever dream of. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you so much, Minho!", Jisung cried, jumping into his boyfriend's arms. This was the best gift anyone had ever given him. He could barely find the words to explain what he was feeling. Minho had done this for him. He loved him this much. Jisung doubted his brain could ever grasp that someone as charming and good looking as Minho could ever feel the same sort of love for Jisung as the younger felt for Minho. "Your very welcome, love. Now, it's my turn", Minho grinned, carefully opening his present. Jisung had made a photo album with all of the couple photos others had taken of them and all the pictures he had secretly shot of Minho. He had written dates and notes to almost every single picture, and had even put in the effort to decorate everything with tapes and stickers in Minho's favorite colors. "This is beautiful, Ji... How long did it take you to make this?", Minho asked, staring at all the pages in awe. Jisung scratched his head, "About two months or so, I think. I just worked on it whenever I had the time. I've been so busy working after our schedules finished every day, that it took me a lot longer than it should have", the younger explained, not noticing Minho's confused expression. "You are working after our schedule?", he asked, and Jisung paled all of a sudden. He hadn't planned to tell his boyfriend like this, it just kind of slipped out. He fumbled with his fingers, avoiding to look at Minho. "...yeah, for almost six weeks now", he responded truthfully, and Minho smiled softly. "Hey, look at me, love. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I had my suspicions about you working for a while now; we both know you will no longer receive your support money from the government after New Year's after all. What are you working as?", Minho gently caressed Jisung's cheek, assuring him that everything was okay. "I give piano lessons at a music school not far from the company. I had seen the ad scrolling through a job website on my phone, and figured it wouldn't hurt to apply. They accepted me immediately, especially because the director used to judge the music competitions I competed in as a child and remembered me. The pay is good and it's fairly flexible, so it works fine with our schedule", Jisung said, leaning into Minho's touch. The elder smiled. "That sounds wonderful, Ji. I'm glad you found a job you like. I was concerned about you being able to afford the costs of all the private lessons we take once you no longer receive financial support from the government, especially now that the survival program is coming to an end. But we never seemed to have the time to discuss it. I'm very proud of you for finding such a great job on your own", Minho said, his voice laced with pride. Jisung blushed, hiding his face in Minho's shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you", he apologized, but MInho waved it off. "It's okay, I understand, no need to apologize". 

The two went on to eat their breakfast and spent the day exploring the city and relaxing. Minho took Jisung out to a fancy restaurant for Christmas dinner, before the couple would have to return to their busy life the next day. The days between the holidays were filled with work, interviews, recordings, practice, songwriting sessions for 3racha, private dance lessons, really any type of music related activities you could think of. Despite those days being more stressful than ever, Jisung was glad to be back in Seoul, back at the company, working together with his best friends. New Year's came and passed, the group of boys much too busy to even register the meaning of the beginning of the year 2018, until mid-January rolled around and the team was called into their boss' office without being given any further information. 

"Welcome, I see you have all received my invitation", their boss said, welcoming the boys into the meeting room. Their managers were already there, waiting patiently for what was to come. "I have exciting news for you", he said as he passed out eight sets of contracts. "2018 has begun and the last episode of my TV survival program 'Stray Kids' was aired a few days ago. Now is the time boys, the company has set your debut date", moments of silence followed this last sentence, until all eight of the boys slowly processed its meaning. "When are we going to debut?", Chan asked, he seemed to be the first one to be able to form words again. "March 25th, 2018. There are only about two more months left, and lots of things to do, which is why I want you to read and sign the contracts in front of you. There is information about the publication rights of personal data, social media restrictions, schedule agreements, and of course, the required signature to confirm that you are going to debut as JYP's new boy group 'Stray Kids'". Of course, the boys signed immediately, barely bothering to read through the contracts. This was what they wanted. This was what they had always dreamed of. A group of eight friends becoming idols together. 

Author:

I am SO SORRY I haven't updated for so long. The last chapter I posted was published before I left for my exchange year, and now almost 11 months later, I am already back home again. Lots of things have happened, but I am happy to announce that I have more time and energy to continue writing again. 

This story is almost over, only one more chapter to go, which will be posted soon. Thank you all so much for your support, I love you! 

Have a wonderful day!

Akira