𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗦𝗞𝗜𝗡 .. nct

twenty-five

"i'm nervous," jiae managed after gulping down another mouthful of water. she made it to the karaoke room right when haechan said he'd call, and lucky for her, he was late.

soyi patted the girl on the shoulder with a laugh. "it'll be fine! you two are basically best friends at this point anyway, right?"

still, jiae wanted to say. there's a huge difference between texting someone and meeting them in real life, and haechan was an idol. jiae didn't know if he had any expectations for their face-time meeting, but she was scared she wouldn't live up to it.

hyeyeong's phone gave a sudden ring, and jiae froze up beneath soyi's fingertips. "what if i throw up?" she whispered, suddenly remembering soyi's first interaction with nct 127. the smaller flashed her a look and jiae shut up.

the phone stopped ringing after two, and jiae realized that hyeyeong had answered only when she said, "what's up?"

"not much, just finished showering." jiae forgot how to breathe.

he sounded almost exactly like he did during instagram lives with fans, only his voice was a tiny bit deeper now. jiae couldn't see much of the screen from her seated spot, but when she leaned closer, she made out a head of dark hair and clear glasses.

oh no, he's hot.

hyeyeong chuckled lightly and glanced at both girls behind her shoulder. jiae rapidly shook her head to show that she wasn't ready and scooted so that when hyeyeong flipped her phone, only soyi appeared in the frame.

the youngest of the three waved with a large smile. "hi haechan! how are you feeling?"

haechan laughed on the other side of the screen and jiae's pulse raced. "fine. i'll probably start promoting with dream and 127 as soon as my hiatus ends, so i'm trying to sleep in."

jiae felt her heart ache for him. she couldn't see him, but she imagined bags under his eyes. when he spoke, there was a slight strain in his voice.

"i'm glad we're doing this, though. i need some practice."

hyeyeong rolled her eyes. "no, you don't. you're doing great already. don't push yourself, alright?"

soyi and jiae looked at each other with matching nods. mama hye.

while the girls were making weird faces at each other, jiae glanced up and spotted herself on hyeyeong's screen. she made a choked sound that had soyi nearly falling out of her seat in laughter and ducked out of the frame. she silently hoped he didn't see her.

"is that jiae?"

shit.

slowly sitting upright, jiae raised a hand and waved fairly awkwardly. she wasn't sure why her mouth wouldn't move to form words, so she just continued to wave until after haechan was waving back.