AU Gay Fanfic (Krystian Wang of Now United)

Chapter 9: SPOTTED BY FANS!?

After reuniting with the other Now United members at the Rexona Dance Studio in California, Hafiz & his fellow choreographers quickly put the group through their paces over the course of 3-4 days before giving them the all clear to begin filming new music videos. And thus began another round of constant traveling & filming shoots around the world, with the scheduling pattern being similar to the one they'd adopted while filming Summer in the City. This didn't seem to bother Hafiz too much, though he made sure to pamper his boyfriend Krystian whenever they had free time; in the midst of all this, however, some keen eyed Uniters had spotted the couple out & about in Las Vegas while Now United were filming for Crazy Silly Stupid Love. At first, Simon Fuller denied the allegations but even he couldn't keep the interracial couple's relationship a secret forever. So he decided to call the group in for an emergency meeting, "First off, I see you're making good progress on your filming schedules and would like you to keep it up. Now, here's the burning topic: I've received reports that some keen-eyed Uniters have spotted Hafiz and Krystian hanging out together." Hafiz was taken aback but also infuriated at the same time, "WE WERE SO CAREFUL NOT TO GET SPOTTED!!! HOW DID THEY KNOW IT WAS US????" "According to a couple of these reports, the same Uniter had spotted both of you while you had your disguises briefly removed.." Hafiz flipped the table in fury upon hearing that, nearly breaking it in half & scaring the pants off of everyone in the meeting room as well, "I WANNA KNOW THIS PERSON'S NAME... RIGHT NOW!!! I WANNA KNOW WHERE THEY LIVE, STUDY, WORK.. ALL OF IT!! I'M GONNA MAKE SURE THEY PAY A HEAVY PRICE FOR THIS!!" The girls were shocked into silence as they'd never seen their choreographer so angry before; even Krystian was stunned but grabbed his boyfriend's arm & stroked it to soothe him, "Hubby.... Calm down, please; let's not do anything irrational or drastic." Hafiz eventually took a few deep breaths before turning to Krystian & kissing him, "Of course, my love. We weren't careful enough, apparently. Well, since we've been spotted already, we might as well come clean on the Now United YouTube channel soon. I know it's not exactly the right time yet, but what can we do besides lying about it or even denying it?"

Following a few minutes of heated discussion amongst themselves, everyone in the room agreed unanimously that they should come clean on Hafiz's relationship with Krystian even if it meant risking everything they'd worked so hard to achieve thus far. Within the same week, the group had recorded a confession video, in which Hafiz & Krystian were seated at the front with the other Now United members surrounding them to provide support. After doing some editing, the couple felt it was enough & agreed to have it uploaded to the Now United YouTube channel; within the first hour afterwards, they were overwhelmed by very positive responses to the couple's coming out with some even gushing over how adorable Krystian & Hafiz looked together. Upon reading the comments, the couple broke down into tears as they'd never felt like the Uniters would approve of their relationship. Hina & Heyoon volunteered to comfort the couple by hugging them as their bond with both boys was rock-solid and sibling-like in nature; Hina said assuringly, "I understand you two were scared of getting rejected by the Uniters for coming out the way you did, but trust me, you've become beacons of hope for our LGBTQ+ fans out there. I'm sure your families would be very proud of you." Heyoon added on, "You once stood up to us when we caught you two red handed being affectionate towards each other, but like Hina just said, you've become beacons of hope. Be proud of yourselves; you're making more of a positive impact on their lives than you may realize."

The couple simply smiled while crying tears of joy before Hafiz finally said, "Thanks, girls. My only worry now is how our more religious fans would react to this." Hina shook her head, "Let people have their own opinions on the LGBT community, Fiz. We can't stop them from being like that, but we can only hope to educate them about what the LGBT community is all about so that they may be at least more tolerant." Krystian nodded in agreement, "You're right, Hina. Just as long as they don't shove their religious beliefs down our throats, it should be fine." Later that evening, the other girls came to the couple's room to congratulate them & provide support if needed; Hafiz merely smiled and thanked them for being so caring. Josh, Noah, Bailey & Lamar also came by with the same intention; Josh said, "I didn't think it'd have to come to this, man, but congrats on finally letting it out of your chests. How does it feel to have this burden lifted off of your shoulders, now that you don't have to be dodgy about your relationship anymore?" Krys replied, "To be honest, it's a HUGE RELIEF!!! WHEW!!! We no longer have to go out on dates wearing disguises or anything like that, though on the other hand, it means that we'd probably get flanked by fans everywhere we go. But I guess it's a good trade off. Right, hubby?" Hafiz nodded, "I'll miss the anonymity that came with the disguises and false names, but I guess having them know of our relationship is a better way of gaining their trust in us."

The couple's coming out made headlines worldwide almost immediately after the video was uploaded, and while some gay Uniters weren't initially too thrilled that their cute bias from China already had a boyfriend, they were nonetheless happy that he'd found love. Of course, there were still people who hated on the interracial couple just because of who they were, with some even shaming Hafiz for tarnishing Islam's name by being in a same-sex relationship. However, his family came to his defense and savagely shut down those hateful trolls into silence. Meanwhile, Now United were still in the midst of filming their last 3 music videos for the year when the couple's 2nd anniversary came around. As had been the case the year before, the group made it a point to ensure that Hafiz & Krystian enjoyed their anniversary without any interruptions. A few months later, they released the music video for Let Me Be The One on YouTube to what had essentially become a routinely positive response at this point.

By November 2019, Simon agreed to allow Now United to spend the remainder of the year with their loved ones in their respective home countries. Hafiz quickly booked a bunch of two-way flight tickets so that his immediate family, including his siblings' respective spouses & children, could come to Beijing. Upon their arrival in Beijing International Airport's arrival terminal later that month, Hafiz quickly ran up to give them a hug with the Wangs close behind him. "MY BABIES!!!!! I've missed y'all so, so much," Hafiz exclaimed happily as he gave forehead kisses to his 3 nephews & 2 nieces. The boys cried as they kissed him back, "We've missed you too, Uncle Fiz." "Everyone, this is Mr & Mrs Wang, my future in-laws. Ma, Pa, this is my immediate family." After the introductions had been settled, the Wangs brought Hafiz's whole family to stay with them in their huge bungalow house; surprisingly, it could accommodate everyone such that Hafiz didn't even need to book a hotel for them.

"Fluffy!!!! C'mere, baby girl. I hope you still remember me," Hafiz called the munchkin, who immediately turned and ran as quickly as she could toward him, upon the group's arrival in the Wang family home. He knelt down & carried her in his arms, only to realize that she'd become much heavier than before, "Baby girl!! You've put on quite a bit of weight since your papa Krystian and I last saw you. Seems like Ma and Pa have been pampering you like crazy, huh?" Fluffy merely purred as she hinted for Hafiz to let her play with his index finger; Hafiz laughed as Krystian looked on lovingly, "Ouh, you miss this part, don't you, big girl? Okay, just don't bite--Hey!! I just said don't bite my finger.. Cheeky girl.." Fluffy meowed as she continued grabbing her papa's finger playfully. Krystian approached them & stroked Fluffy's head before kissing her, "You're such a big girl now, Fluffy. We hope you've been on your best behaviour while we were away." Hafiz's nieces & nephews gushed as they looked on, "She's so cute, Uncle Fiz.. Is she a munchkin?" "Yes, darling, she is. Your Uncle Krystian here freaked out and nearly chastised me for getting such an expensive pet kitten for his birthday last year, but he loves her now." "Aaaawwwww, you three make for such a cute little family, Uncle Fiz. It's like Fluffy is your daughter and she's always being pampered." The couple laughed, "We'll take that as a compliment, my little ones. Thank you." Hafiz's family then spent the next few weeks getting to know Krystian's parents better while being given a tour of Beijing by them; on the side, Hafiz & Krystian continued going out on dates to make up for lost time.