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"Ah I'm so tired!" Taemin threw himself to the backseat of the car and shut his eyes as he just finished a performance on a music show after filming some variety shows. His schedule was packed for the day and it ended well so he could finally rest and eat.
"Job well done, Taemin. It's almost 6pm, do you want to eat somewhere?"
"Let's just order something then I'll eat it at home. I want to collapse on my bed as soon as possible, hyung."
"Alright. What do you want to eat?"
"I'm thinking about salted garlic squid and beef noodles.. get something for you too, hyung. Thanks!" Taemin sighed and just got his phone to check his Instagram that have a lot of tags and dms, as well as his unofficial and private Twitter account wherein he saw his name as one of the trending topics in South Korea.
"Why is #TAEMIN trending??" Taemin clicked at his name's hashtag and saw the usual — fanarts, video edits, new fans talking about him, clips of his performance earlier then a bunch of artists praising another artist for his doll. When he clicked the original tweet with a lot of likes, he saw that it was a screenshot of a YouTube thumbnail that was actually a video about a doll being repainted and redesigned as Taemin doll. The doll looked like him — complete with his face details and awesome costume, especially the doll was actually a Sayonara Hitori Taemin doll complete with platinum hair, black leather armour, finger claws and dark makeup.
"Oh wow. Hyung, have you heard about the Taemin doll?"
"Taemin doll? No, since I haven't checked Twitter or Instagram yet. Where did you see it?"
"This looks awesome! Hyung, look!" Taemin was so amazed and he let his manager take a look at the screenshot of the Sayonara Hitori Taemin doll as soon as they pulled over by the restaurant parking area.
"Wow, the doll really looks like you!"
"True! Let's see more of it. Oh, so the whole doll repainting video is uploaded.. nice!" Taemin clicked the YouTube channel link provided on the tweet and saw more Taemin doll repaints on the channel's videos. He was surprised because there were a lot of dolls that looked like him but each were still quite different because of the variation of concepts he did every comeback. The channel boasted repainting videos of curly blonde Danger Taemin in black leather jacket and pants with the gun-shaped electric guitar, dirty blonde Press Your Number Taemin in dark red velvet suit, black-haired Flame of Love Taemin in white strappy outfit with fiery phoenix wings, two blue gray-haired Move Taemin dolls in white cutout long sleeved shirt and gold silk long sleeved shirt wearing the crystal mask, Thirsty Taemin that doubles as Under My Skin Taemin in bright red suit, blonde mullet Want Taemin wearing the Napoleon jacket complete with a golden apple and black snakes on his arms, green-haired Famous Taemin with hands tied by a rope while holding a huge diamond, silver blue-haired Criminal Taemin wearing the metal chain see-through top with dark makeup and his handcuffed bloody hands, Idea Taemin with the horns and black veil then Heaven Taemin with the purple royalty attire with a dragon print at the back and black feathers scattered on the cape, inspired by the outfit he wore on the year-end music awards. Taemin was extremely delighted with the fact that the owner of the channel was his fan, and made masterpieces of him with his incredible talent in drawing, in painting and also in makeup. The dolls were repainted complete with the most intricate details like his heart-shaped mole and his bow philtrum aside from the costumes that were really a good miniature of the real ones he wore. When Taemin watched a Lucifer Taemin doll repainting with long brown hair, red pants and vampire fangs, he never thought that the face of the repainter behind the name Kai would be shown and he would find him really good looking .
After he ate dinner, Taemin decided to watch more videos of Kai, the master repainter to see how the dolls transformed and became him thanks to Kai's amazing talent.
— — —
"5 hours of filming, done! Gosh, these dolls were really made to be Taemin. I'm really happy it turned out great." Jongin smiled at his three newly-repainted Taemin dolls before he edited his videos. Out of his love for Taemin's new music video, Jongin made three Advice Taemin with long black and gray hair — one with the black and white suit and ankle boots, another with the blue and red plaid spiky jacket and shorts complete with knee high socks then his favourite, the all-white track pants and crop jacket with the signature label Supreme on the boxers garter and the bralette which was seen when Taemin raised his arm while dancing. It was his favourite, especially the last Advice doll's face got the black tears Taemin also had on the music video.
The three videos were scheduled to premiere at different dates and time so he let out a sigh of relief as he looked at his new babies only to get disturbed by his best friend Sehun.
"Jongin ah, Taemints found your videos and it's all over the internet!! Congratulations!!"
"Tss. Thank you for appreciating my babies but sorry, they're not for sale."
"One of the tweets about your video went viral, you're famous now!!"
"Shut up haha. You know why I do this, Sehun ah."
"I know, it's for your love for Taemin and for you to at least be happy even if you two won't end up together."
"That's right."
That night, Jongin kissed his three new Taemin dolls on the forehead when he just usually say goodnight to them. He was happy, and doing something he loves to do while people appreciate his crafts made him feel fulfilled but deep inside his heart, it's not enough unless Taemin himself appreciates it.
He was sure it was a dream.. Jongin believes that it was a dream so he immediately called Sehun to come over his place and slap him back to reality because no, there's no way that Instagram user @lm_____ltm sent him a dm.
lm_____ltm: Hello Kai! It's me, Taemin.
I saw your doll repainting videos and I was really amazed. Thank you so much for your love and support! It's really interesting to know that you know my features so much! I actually want to schedule a meet-up if that's okay with you? I really want to thank you personally..
"Holy shit! Ya, that might be just a poser account. Check the number of underscores! Taemin's real Instagram account have five underscores!" Even Sehun sas shocked, he didn't buy it since it could really just be a poser fake account of Taemin .
"Oh Sehun, his profile is verified and it's him!! Come on, slap me now please??"
"Kim Jongin, I think you just hit the jackpot!! Ya, he wants to meet-up with you!!"
"I told you to slap me!! This is just a dream!!"
"Before I slap you, you should reply to his dm first so that he'll know that you've read his message!"
Kimkaaaaaaai: Taemin, I love you!! Thank you for appreciating my craft!! This is a dream come true for me, it really is!! ㅠㅠ
Kimkaaaaaaai: aw, you want to meet up? Why? Your schedule is packed so just take some rest, I'm already happy with your message. Thank you so much, I will always love you and support you, Taeminnie! Hugs and kisses from Kai.
lm_____ltm: you don't want to meet me? But I really want to meet you and thank you personally 😔 would it be okay if my manager would fetch you then we could meet up somewhere? Please don't try to decline, I really want to meet you and I'd be happy to see you tomorrow.
Kimkaaaaaaai: oh okay.. we could meet up at Kamong Café tomorrow at Gangnam. I don't know when you're available so you could set the time.
lm_____ltm: that's the bear café, right? Do you like bears?
Kimkaaaaaaai: I do. I like bears and cats a lot.
lm_____ltm: such a cutie! Let's meet there at 2pm. Thank you for accepting this invite, Kai! See you tomorrow!
Kimkaaaaaaai: thank you for reaching out, for messaging me and for appreciating my babies! I love you, Taemin!!
"I look like someone reading a couple's date plans.. Oh shit, he sent a photo!"
"He did? Give my phone back! Oh my gosh he sent a photo!!! Fuck, he's wearing pajamas and he's about to sleep!!"
"If he's gonna sleep, you should also send a photo! It'd also be a great way for him to know your face so he would know that it's you when you meet up tomorrow."
Nervous was an understatement because Jongin was at the verge of a mental breakdown. It's only an hour before 2pm and he's gonna meet up with THE Lee Taemin so he couldn't calm down. He got his paper bags ready and if ever it was just a troll poser account, the guards could protect him since the bear café was owned by his older sister.
"Want a latté? You look like you're in pain, Nini."
"My heart is pounding hard enough, nuna. Thanks for the offer but can you prepare an iced Americano instead? I'll give it to him later."
"Alright."
lm_____ltm: sorry, there was a traffic jam by Banpo bridge but I'm in front of Kamong Café now and I'm driving my car.
"Fuck!! He's here! Nuna, where is it?"
"Here it is! Good luck on your date, Nini!" His sister teased him and he just pouted as he looked outside and spotted Taemin's black Cadillac Escalade. The passenger door opened and he was surprised because Taemin was driving.
"Hello, Kai!! Nice to meet you!!"
"Oh my gosh!! Hi Taemin!" Jongin couldn't help but cover his face because he was too happy, he was at the passenger seat of Taemin's car and Taemin was the one driving and not his manager.
"I'm really happy you accepted my invite! You could take a water bottle there, that's all new. Don't be shy and please treat me as a normal person."
"I'm really sorry for this.. but here, I ordered iced Americano for you because I know you love that. Don't worry, it's safe to drink."
"Thank you!! You're so sweet! Where do you want to go today?"
"Uh anywhere, as long as you're fine with it too."
"Really? You trust me that much?"
"Of course I do! And I know you're a nice person so I know you won't kill me even if you are the criminal Lee Taemin. By the way, I have gifts for you! You could just open it when you arrive home."
"You don't have to give me anything though, meeting up with me is already enough. But thank you for this and for your effort, Kai." Taemin smiled as he made sure Kai is wearing the seatbelt before they went on their way.
Taemin and Kai just hanged out in Wolmido Island and ate different foods while they talked over and got closer. Taemin also called Kai his real name Jongin, and they exchanged numbers before Taemin drove Jongin safely back to his apartment.
=======
Jongin was already contented with that one-day date with Taemin but Taemin wanted more so he went out of his way and visited Jongin's apartment again after his morning schedules. His visits got too frequent, Jongin didn't get surprised anymore when he suddenly knocks on his door even during filming and repainting dolls.
"I really want to watch you repaint dolls and finally, I'd get to see it live!! I'm seriously excited!"
"I won't be repainting a Taemin doll today though.. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah of course! It doesn't matter, I just really want to see how you work through the face, body, clothes and all the details."
"Alright, take a seat and watch me do my magic on these babies."
Jongin was confused, especially with how Taemin wanted to hang out with him after work. He's not sure if Taemin just wanted to be with someone he haven't known for a long time or he doesn't have much friends in real life. He wanted to ask him but he don't want to offend his favourite idol but one day, after Jongin recorded a repainting video with Taemin helping him with the camera, he managed to get the question out of his mouth.
"Taemin, I know you just knew me recently but I'm really curious.. why do you keep hanging out with me?"
"I feel comfortable with you. I know you're a big fan and what I'm doing is dangerous but fuck it, I wouldn't want to play safe anymore. I have friends but they're all busy and they have their own life. I know you have your own life too but I also know that you're happy that I'm around so I'm happy to be with you too."
"Do you feel alone even if your friends are around?"
"Yeah.. It's like they'd be okay with or without me so I just keep myself busy. Thanks to you, I found someone who wants me around. That's enough for me to feel that I'm worthy and loved."
"I'm sorry, I didn't know.." their conversation got too deep, Jongin didn't know that his idol love have been feeling alone no matter how many people is around him.
"Oh? Why are you crying??"
"I didn't know that you're going through something.. you may be famous and rich but people don't really appreciate the fact that you're around. I'm sorry about that."
"You're really different from them, that's why I fell in love with you. Yes, I know you're dense but I do love you. I don't know how and when it started but in the middle of our talks and hangouts, I fell in love with you."
"Eh?? But why me? I am your fan and I only love you because of your looks.. I only love you because you sing well, you dance well and you make me laugh with your shows. The love I have for you is quite different from the love you might be thinking of.."
"I know you love me like that but have you ever realised that everything you loved about me changed when you knew who the real me is? Have you ever thought of how you think of me when we meet up or hang out here? You've stopped looking at me and liking me as your idol and you've accepted the human Taemin as your friend. I know it's still too soon but I want you to know that I love you, and if you're willing to keep up with my busy schedule and me just goofing around because I'm comfortable with you then maybe we could give dating a try.."
"You want to date me?"
"Yeah. You're handsome, you're nice, very artistic, kind, passionate and you love me. I know there are a lot of things to love about you and I would do that and more as long as you'll do the same."
"Can you slap me? This is just a dream, right?"
"Okay, I'll slap you." Taemin raised his hand and acted like he would slap Jongin's face so Jongin closed his eyes, but he only felt a pair of lips kissing his and his hands caressing his cheeks lovingly. Jongin felt Taemin's soft lips suck his lower lip so he gave in and kissed him back until they fell over Jongin's bed.
"So.. your answer is?"
"Okay, let's date."
Their 100th Day was packed with their own schedules but the couple made time for each other for dinner. Since Taemin is a celebrity, they just met up at a rooftop secret restaurant then Taemin took Jongin to his home for the first time. Jongin couldn't believe he's at Taemin's haven but he eventually got distracted when his boyfriend kissed him and took him to his hydrojet jacuzzi overlooking the city lights.
"Jongin, do you want to do this?"
"Yeah, I badly want it! We held back for 100 days already!"
"You seemed to be a bit distracted though.."
"I was just thinking of what content should I post on my channel aside from repainting dolls.. any ideas?"
"Hmm.. let's go on a doll haul tomorrow but for now, let's enjoy our time together. Happy 100 days to us, Jongin! I love you! Thank you for making me feel worthy and wanted."
"I never thought I could love you more than how much I love you back then. I guess that's what true love is, since my heart don't stop loving you. It just gives more love to you as days passed. I love you so much, Taeminnie!" Jongin smiled as he kissed Taemin's lips before he felt his huge member penetrate his tight walls.
The night deepened and the couple finished three rounds so they just cuddled at the bed. Jongin looked around and he saw the dolls he gave to Taemin on their first meeting, still couldn't believe that his self-indulgent creations would make his forgotten dream come true.
"I was just an overly immersed and passionate fanboy back then who told himself that I'd be happy with little Taemins but here I am.. I thought it's impossible to ever meet you so I never really thought that I'd end up with you. Thank you and I love you so much, Taemin! You made my dreams and fantasies come true"
"And I love you too.. I never thought I'd find the one who would want me as much as you do before I watched your videos. And it's okay because your love made me realise that the right person would always make me feel that I'm wanted but also needed and loved."