yuxi stared out the car window, nervously wringing her hands in her lap as she waited. catching the girl's nervous habit, jiae reached over and took yuxi's hand in hers, grabbing the younger's attention. jiae flashed a smile before winking, causing yuxi to let out a short laugh.

"this feels silly... am i being silly?" yuxi rambled as she turned her head back to the window. "i'm literally in a group chat with all of nct dream, yet the thought of meeting one of the members for real makes me want to throw up and pass out."

jiae couldn't help but laugh at the younger's confession. "love the honesty, but please don't actually throw up and pass out."

"no promises."

a few more minutes passed before hyeyeong appeared outside of the car window with her boyfriend's fingers intertwined with hers. she smiled as she knocked on the glass to get their attention, and daniel opened and held yuxi's door for her.

"thank you, sir daniel," she said in a playfully low voice as she curtsied. jiae rolled her eyes and hopped out from the drivers side, making her way to her friends before they entered dive studio.

haechan had texted her that morning wishing her luck, and jiae was surprised he was awake that early. he said he wanted to come, but he was so busy preparing for "golden age" that he hardly had time to spare to eat. jiae worried about him so much she could barely sleep, but she promised yuxi she'd be there for her today.

wrapping an arm around yuxi's, jiae let hyeyeong lead the way until they ran into some dive staff members.

"oh, hello!" a woman with short hair and a round face greeted, her smile contagious. the group of four returned the hello and hyeyeong took charge as the "leader", explaining who they were and why they were there.

the dive staff member perked up immediately and stepped to the side as she gestured for the group to go to the room she'd just exited. "the hosts are in there! we have about an hour before shooting."

"we probably won't take that long, but thank you," hyeyeong smiled back as she and daniel made their way to the closed staff door. jiae and yuxi were busy silently admiring how nice the front area of the studio was. they even had live plants instead of the plastic ones jiae's hotel preferred.

hyeyeong was about to knock on the door when yuxi suddenly said, "wait."

turning to face her, the group of three furrowed their brows. surprisingly, it was daniel who was the first to ask what was wrong. yuxi exhaled, but it was shaky. in fact, her arm in jiae's was shaking as well.

"i'm really nervous," the youngest confessed. "like, stomach in knots nervous. i shouldn't have brought nail polish, what was i thinking?"

jiae smiled sweetly and gave yuxi's arm a little squeeze. "i know you're nervous, but this guy wants to meet you! he personally asked, and i'm sure he's just as nervous as you are. remember, you're famous in his eyes, too."

yuxi wanted to ask how jiae was so good at comforting people, but instead she gathered up all her anxiety and released it in a breath. then, she nodded and glanced up at hyeyeong and daniel. "okay. i'm ready."

when they knocked on the door and entered to find two boys surrounded by staff, jiae was surprised to find herself calm. unlike when her chest was on fire while meeting haechan, seeing these two members felt almost natural. it was like she was seeing old friends.

"hi," jiae greeted to announce their presence, surprising herself at how casual the word sounded. it was enough to grab the room's attention, and jiae could practically feel yuxi shrink under everyone's gaze. she gave yuxi's hand another squeeze as if she was trying to re-inflate her.

the staff smiled politely at them before collecting their things to make way for the group of four, which made jiae feel a bit bad for invading their space.

thankfully, not much time went by before yangyang rose to his feet. he wiped his hands on his jeans before waving semi-shyly at them. jiae internally smiled when she realized all his attention was on yuxi. "hi... hi. i'm yangyang!"

when yuxi didn't jump at the opportunity to introduce herself, jiae gave the girl a subtle shoulder nudge. yuxi immediately smiled out of her daze and waved back. "i'm yuxi! the, uh," she trailed off quietly, "the one from online?"

yangyang's face broke out into a grin so big that his eyes sparkled. "oh my god, yeah, i'm, like, a huge fan of your work!"

yuxi's entire ears turned bright red. "no, cause i've literally biases you since you were announced as a member."

jiae smiled as their conversation picked up naturally, with yangyang even pulling out an extra chair so they could sit and talk. daniel and hyeyeong were talking to ten, who hyeyeong was already familiar with from when she worked at the cafe.

honestly, jiae wished haechan was there. she felt a bit like a third wheel and knew that if her boyfriend was around, he'd go out of his way to involve her. still, it was nice seeing yuxi so giddy.

she was about to introduce herself to ten so that yangyang and yuxi could continue their conversation uninterrupted when the youngest's voice suddenly caught her attention.

"can i paint your nails?" yuxi asked, and jiae had to bite her lips to stop from laughing at the complete 180 in her friend's confidence.

to her surprise, yangyang only hesitated for a second before holding his hand out. "um y-yeah, sure!"

miles
GUYS???
HELLO??????

miles
there are too many people here for
me to get ignored by ALL OF YOU

sosuke
theyre probably busy idk

chenle
yeah leave us alone!!! stalker!!!!

miles
🤨⁉️

miles
must i remind you that YOUUU
are the one who added us here?

chenle
in my defense, i didn't
want to add you 😇

miles
GUYS HES BEING MEAN

lin
chenle don't be mean

chenle
just cause you're dating jaemin
doesn't make you my mother

eunjin
hey that's my wife you're talking to

jaemin
My wife 😚

eunjin
🍓

jaemin
IM NOT SCARED OF
STRAWBERRIES

eunjin
riiiiiight 🤔

miles
so haha what's golden age ??

chenle
YOU ARENT SLICK BUDDY
NO ONE TELL HIM

miles
aren't you the member who
spoils everything??

chenle
yes

chenle
but you're asking so

soyi
hiii guys

miles
SOYI HES BEING MEAN

soyi
how so

miles
he is refusing to tell me anything
about anything and being mean

soyi
it was announced today 😭

miles
I NEED MORE

jaemin
more is coming

jaemin
we will have
music
maybe some dancing

miles
💔

miles
will winwin be there?

mark
DUDE omg yeah finally
after like forever he's back

jisung
not forever but yeah

chenle
UM ???

mark
was that a secret?

miles
where is yuxi

sosuke
she and jiae r meeting
those two members

miles
i hate being a student

miles
whyyyy must they meet while
i'm in class life is unfair

jisung
what is college like?

miles
not fun 😂

soyi
^

sosuke
its not that bad

miles
you don't even go to half of your classes

sosuke
lol

soyi
juhee is the only person
i know who loves school

mark
man i miss juhee she was nice

soyi
🤨 was i not nice?

mark
no i mean yeah i mean like

mark
i feel like i made a mistake here 😅

yuxi
i

miles
YUXI

miles
HOWS IT GOING?????
IS HE NICE???

yuxi
they had to go shoot i

yuxi
i painted yangyang's nails

jisung
luckyyyy i wanna paint my nails :(

miles
i can paint your nails!
i mean if you want ☺️

yuxi
HE COULD HES REALLY GOOD

jisung
oh okay!!

eunjin
WAIT I WANT SOMEONE TO
PAINT MY NAILS TOO :(

lin
i can do it my wife

jaemin
😟

•
yang's unbelievable nails by yuxi: