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It was a gloomy Saturday morning, the sun was hardly peeking above the horizon yet Jaeyun was already up. As per his morning ritual Jaeyun pulled himself out of bed and into the bathroom all while trying not to wake the other members. He stumbled through the door and looked through half lidded eyes at himself in the mirror. A blond bird’s nest sat on his head, pastel blue-bird patterned pajamas crumpled around him. He looked less than perfect but the first task on his road to beauty recovery was brushing his teeth. A simple task, or it would be if there weren't 13 toothbrushes in the cup.
“Uhhh.” Jaeyun scratched his head in uncertainty. To be honest he could not remember for the life of him which one was his. Was it blue? Or purple and sparkly? Also who didn't take out their old toothbrush because there were three extra toothbrushes taking up space.
‘I don't really care which toothbrush it is as long as I get to use one that hasn't been in someone's mouth’ he internally sighed.
Out of nowhere the ground below started to shake and a scraping sound filled the room. Jaeyun immediately shook the dew off and tried to stabilize himself. Thinking it to be an earthquake, Jaeyun turned to leave the room so he could save the others. Before he could leave, the lights burst, coating everything in an impenetrable black. After a second of sliding, the sound of something clicking into place could be heard and the shaking stopped. A gust of wind blew past Jaeyun tussling his hair and clothes. He blinked and when he re-opened his eyes bright stage lighting shined down from above revealing a shimmering red curtain hanging down over a small booth. Hesitantly Jaeyun walked closer until he was a mere metre away and before he could get any closer the curtains flew open. Standing behind the booth was none other than Jisu in a bright green bedazzled suit and tie, a rose was fixed to the breast of his blazer. He beamed down at Jaeyun with almost too much enthusiasm.
“Hello Jaeyun! You're looking especially lovely tonight!” he enthused. Jaeyun looked up at the elder in confusion, was Jisu making fun of his pajamas?
“Why just look at yourself.” he gestured to a pair of ducks hauling out a mirror from the darkness. They set it in front of him, allowing him to see that he was now clad in a navy blue and red embroidered blazer set complete with a beret and dress shoes. He gasped and looked himself up and down; meanwhile Jisu clapped, signalling the duck’s to bring Jaeyun a chair.
“See? You're the absolute perfect candidate to be our bachelor for the night.” Jaeyun stepped back and stumbled into the chair behind him.
“Bachelor? What are you talking about Jisu?”
Jisu smiled and clasped his hands together “I’m glad you asked!” he smiled and gestured behind him. “Welcome to ‘Behind the brush’!” a huge lit up sign appeared behind him that displayed the same name. More stage lighting beamed down onto a larger set full of color and swirling lights. It was a large rectangle separated with tiny stalls, on the other side was a landing that faced Jisu’s podium which was attached. Suddenly Jaeyun’s chair was being lifted into the air, he looked down to see more ducks carrying him onto the stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen please welcome our bachelor for the night, Lee Jaeyun!!” Jisu cheered, signalling what sounded like a live studio audience applause. The ducks placed his chair onto the stage podium, when he looked out into the darkness he had come from he saw swirling pastels and stars instead. “Jaeyun, please introduce yourself.” Jisu requested as he seemingly took a seat behind his booth so he could lean forwards eagerly.
“Uh- ok well, My name is Jaeyun, i'm the leader of TO1, I know jujitsu and English, and I like to sing…” he smiled awkwardly while he watched a duck come up to take his picture while another threw glitter in front of him. The picture immediately appeared on the screen of a large monitor he hadn't noticed was on the wall beside him.
“Wow, very impressive! Now, let me tell you why you're here tonight. The goal of the show is to find you the best toothbrush, BUT, there's a twist, behind every toothbrush there's a potential date, whichever toothbrush you pick as the lucky winner has the opportunity to take you out on a romantic evening courtesy of the show.” he explained, somehow Jaeyun managed to soak everything in but he wasn't any less perplexed.
“Let's meet our contestants shall we?” he read from his cue card, “Contestant number one is a gentle giant, his hobbies include exercising, singing, and being a worrywart.” Rational Jaeyun thought that description sounded an awful lot like Donggeon but perplexed Jaeyun had come to expect anything.
“Contestant number two is a mystery to outsiders, he could be described as someone who knows how to save their words, or someone without wisdom.”
“Contestant number three is quite goal oriented, he likes to practice, and is very focused in his field.”
Once he was finished speaking, Jisu placed the cue card down and cleared his throat. “Alright let’s have Jaeyun ask some questions to the contestants.”
The main lights focused back down on Jaeyun as they waited for him to say something. He looked around wide eyed not knowing what to say, Searching for help he looked to Jisu who gave him a reassuring smile.
“Why don't you ask about their favorite Pokemon…” he suggested.
“Uh ok,” a mic slowly lowered in from above, “Squirtle, Charmander, or Bulbasaur?”
“Contestant one?”
A distorted voice spoke from now lit up first booth “Well, uh, bulbasaur is the green one right?”
“...Yeah.”
“That one then I guess.”
Jisu pulled a face and looked back down at his cards, “Ok, contestant two?”
“Charmander.”
“And three?”
“Charmander for me too.”
Jisu sighed and shook his head, “Personally, Squirtle is my favorite, just look at him. '' he said as he pulled out a little squirtle plushie from under his booth to show off. The ‘audience’ cheered as a closeup of squirtle plushie appeared on the screen.
Jaeyun clapped along quietly, “It’s cute! It looks like you hehe.” he noted with a smile. Jisu blushed and cleared his throat trying to get on with the show. Now, much to the dismay of the actual contestants, that was not the last time Jisu intercepted with his own opinion.
“Contestants, what's your screen time?”
“If you'll look here you'll see mine is set at 10 seconds.” Jisu said as he held up his phone unintentionally revealing his Jaeyun aegyo lockscreen.
“How do you like your steak?”
“However you cook it is best jaeyun.”
“Do you have a tumblr blog?”
“You can follow me at Shooters4Jaeyun.”
“Ok, it's time to take a look at everyone’s toothbrushes and make your final decision Jaeyun!” Jisu announced with a slight irritation in his voice. Jaeyun nodded and watched as the ducks came out to turn his chair towards the monitor. A navy blue toothbrush with way too much grip appeared on the screen along with a bad glitter animation and some dancing ducks. “Contestant number one’s brush!”
Next a skinny see through lime green brush that looked like it was a handout from a dentist came on screen. “Contestant number two’s brush”
Finally a purple brush with red details that looked like the design of a Hotwheels car appeared. “Contestant number three’s brush!” As the final brush was announced the audience clapped and cheered shouting their favorite contestant's number. The celebrations were cut short by a loud clap from the host’s booth.
“May I say something? Jaeyun, I have something here for you if you’ll allow me.” Jaeyun was confused as Jisu grabbed something and hid it behind his back. He walked out from behind the booth towards Jaeyun’s chair. When he was right in front of him he got down on one knee making the crowd gasp.
“Jaeyun, Would you…..accept my toothbrush?” he blushed as he produced a shimmering golden toothbrush from behind his back. A silence fell over them, Jaeyun thought about it for a second.
“Sure, why not.” he said nonchalantly. Jisu jumped to his feet and leaped at Jaeyun, hugging him tightly.
“Oh Lee Jaeyun! Thank you so much you won't regret this!” he cried while he strangled Jaeyun who wore an awkward smile. Confetti burst out of a large star encrusted canyon and the duck henchman danced around them in a circle.
The crowd began to cheer and cry his name, “LEE JAEYUN! LEE JAEYUN! LEE JAEYUN!..”
“....Lee Jaeyun! Ya, LEE JAEYUN!” Jaeyun’s eyes shot open. For some reason he suddenly felt really tired, and cold, and sore. When his eyes focused on his surroundings he realized he was laying on his back staring up at Minsu who was holding one of their ducky plushies. And they were in the bathroom of the dorm in the dark, in his pajamas still.
“What-why am I on the-”
“I don't even know, I just found you passed out here mumbling something about steak and phones or whatever.”
“So, I was dreaming? Jisu doesn't have a dating show about toothbrushes and ducks?” He asked as he sat up. Minsu simply blinked at him like he had 4 heads and 7 hands.
“Uh, yeah, sorry to break it to you, your toothbrush is the gold one by the way.” he teased and walked out of the room. Jaeyun looked around, simply astounded, he felt as though he had just had the world's most powerful fever dream. Shaking it off as a string of coincidences he went to the counter and pulled out his toothbrush. Midway through his peaceful tooth brushing someone called his name and he jolted up to see Jisu standing in the doorway.
“Jaeyun. Don't forget we’re going out for steak at that new restaurant today.”
Jaeyun felt his heart jump at the mention of steak but he quickly remembered their plans “Oh yeah, are Donggeon, Chihoon, and Chan still coming?”
Jisu smiled sneakily as if he were an anime villain whose plot was coming together. “Nope, they can't make it anymore, just us.” Jaeyun looked away in slight fear at seemingly nothing like an episode of the office.
“Oh-ok, cool thanks.”
“No problem” Jisu smiled and walked away again but not before announcing something. “Oh by the way, your toothbrush is the yellow one, the gold one is mine.” He laughed before leaving for good. As soon as the other was gone Jaeyun spit out the foamy stuff in disgust, using someone else's toothbrush was his worst nightmare. Deciding to give up on the whole hygiene thing he set the brush back down and put his hand in his pocket idly.
“What the?” he asked aloud at the feeling of something grainy in his pocket. He grabbed a handful out and unfurled his fingers to reveal a pile of shining pastel glitter.