Alex lay on his stomach on his bed, scrolling through pictures and videos posted all over social media of Ara's appearance and announcement last night as ambassador for a new, but insanely popular brand called Trielle.
The brand's collection featured almost entirely androgynous clothing, and Ara's outfit was no exception with its low-waisted black leather pants paired with a flowy red top with a dangerously long slit up its side that revealed the skin along Ara's side any time he moved. And the black heels he wore were simple, but elegant enough to pull the whole outfit together. And his makeup was flawless, incorporating both the red and the black in a sharp eyeshadow combination. In every picture Alex saw, Ara held himself with all the poise they had been taught in class. There was even a cute, funny video of Ara messing with his members' postures before they posed for a group photo.
It was that video that kept popping up on Alex's feed, and he paused it at different times to see the moments where each member was laughing or smiling the biggest.
Out of nowhere, Cassie plopped down on the bed next to Alex. "Your door's open," she said when he glanced over at her.
He smiled. He had left it open for the first time, hoping that maybe one of the people he lived with would come in and want to just talk with him. "Yup," he replied.
Cassie shifted to get a look at his phone. "Whatcha doin'?"
Alex moved the phone so they could both see the screen. "A favorite group of mine was at a fashion event last night. They're called BeauKiss."
Cassie tipped her head as she examined the frame he had paused the video on. "They're all hot."
Alex laughed. "I agree." He pointed to the leader. "That's Ash. They're Korean." He moved his finger to the next member in the picture. "That's Vale, and they're from Pakistan. And this one's Lune, from Norway." His finger slid to the left of the leader now. "Riot's from Belize, and this last one is Mirror. He's Japanese."
Cassie had nodded all along the way, but now she frowned. "You called all of them 'they' except Mirror."
Alex smiled. "They're a genderless group, so using 'they' is safe and appropriate. But I've met Mirror, and he said any pronoun was fine."
Cassie's eyes went wide. "You met them?" she asked in a shocked whisper. "That's so cool!"
"I've only met Ara so far. That's his real name, by the way."
"So cool," Cassie whispered again.
"And," Alex added with a smile that threatened to break his face, "Ara arranged for me to meet the rest of the group later today. Kiel's gonna take me."
Cassie glanced between him and his phone. "Oh my god, that's too cool." She wiggled a little closer. "You're gonna have to take pictures. I wanna see if they're actually that pretty."
Alex laughed and patted her curls. "I'm sure they are."
Cassie pursed her lips. "Maybe without you in the picture."
Alex stared at her. "You did not just say you think I'm hotter than a group of idols."
Cassie shrugged, like the matter was already decided. "You wouldn't look out of place in their group. I mean, they could take a picture with you in it and say you're the sixth member and no one would even think twice about it." She propped her chin on her folded arms. "You're just as pretty as they are."
Alex decided to laugh it off. "That's ridiculous, but thanks."
Cassie frowned at him and sat up. "It's true," she protested, sounding offended. Then she huffed out a sigh and gave it up. "Have fun meeting them." With a smile, she added, "You'll tell me all about it, right?"
Alex nodded, returning her smile. "Of course. Maybe we can even watch some of their MVs together?"
Cassie nodded immediately, looking so excited that Alex could not believe he had ever been scared of meeting her. "That'd be fun!" She held out her pinky to Alex. "I promise not to watch any of them without you."
Alex laughed and hooked his pinky over hers. "Fair enough."
There was a knock on the open door, and Kiel came in, looking like he might be a little worried. "You ready to leave in like 15 minutes?"
Alex got up, shoving his phone into the pocket of his black jeans. "Yeah. I'm gonna grab a snack." He went to the kitchen, ate half of one of the protein bars that didn't upset his stomach, gave his teeth a quick brush, grabbed the bag he had put his albums in, and then pulled his shoes on. His foot tapped a quick tempo on the floor of the passenger seat as Kiel drove them to the address Ara had sent. It was a strange, but fun, feeling to have the number of a literal idol, and Alex kept checking the thread that contained maybe a dozen messages.
Ara had given him his number on the third day of the modeling class, and he had initiated the couple conversations they had had, even texting last night to send a picture of his smudged makeup and half-cleaned face in the hotel mirror. He had made the cutest face in the photo, something between excited and tired that had made Alex smile, and they had texted back and forth for several minutes until Ara finally said he was going to bed.
Kiel parked the car in the hotel parking lot and turned it off. "Are you sure you're fine going in by yourself?" That was definitely worry carving lines into Kiel's face. "I don't want you ending up in any situation that makes you uncomfortable."
Alex did his best to smile through his nerves. "I think I'll be fine, but I'll text or call you if I want out."
Kiel reached over the console and gave Alex's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "And I'll be waiting right here."
"I don't want you to be bored."
Kiel brushed some of his white-blond hair behind his ear in an almost flirty gesture. "Oh, I won't be bored. I'm researching places that are acceptable for a proposal."
Alex's mouth dropped open. "You think James is going to propose soon?"
Kiel glanced away, his mouth pulled up into a small, cute smile. "If I'm reading the signs right."
Alex could not help the giddy grin that hurt his cheeks. "Oh my god, that's so awesome!" Out of everyone Alex had met, he was sure that Kiel deserved every happiness possible in life. Karma owed him. "I'm sure it'll be great no matter where he does it."
"I know, but I want it to be as close to perfect as possible." Kiel was still smiling, but his fingers tapped on the steering wheel.
Alex set his hand over the hand closest to him and said, "It will be."
Kiel laughed softly. "God, I hope so."
Alex grabbed the bag he had set by his feet and opened the car door. "Keep me filled in. If James starts fishing for ring ideas from me, I need to have a couple good options to suggest."
Kiel laughed again as Alex got out and shut the door.
Alex patted his pocket to make sure his phone was still there as he walked up to the hotel's entrance and passed through the automatic doors. Most of his anxiety left his body when he made eye contact with Ara across the lobby. "Congratulations on last night," he said once they got close enough to talk.
"Thanks." Ara was practically vibrating with energy or excitement or maybe both. "Come on." He grabbed Alex's hand and led him to an elevator that a man in a suit was holding open. "This is Lee Yunseok. He's part of our security team."
Alex gave the man a brief smile which, to his surprise, was returned as the man leaned forward and pushed the button for the eleventh floor.
"Anyways," Ara continued as the doors closed and they started going up, "you should know a few things before you meet the rest of the group. They asked me to make sure you knew everything so nothing's awkward," he added with a smile. "You already know Ash's name is Minjae. We don't really talk about our secondary genders cause they don't really matter to us, but he said I should warn you that he's an alpha. He doesn't act like it, but it's why he's a little bigger than the rest of us."
Alex nodded, even though his heart was beginning to make the ascent into his throat. He had suspected since BeauKiss had debuted that Ash was an alpha due to the leader's height and dominant position within the group, but hearing it confirmed was another matter entirely. It's fine, he told himself. You're a fan. He doesn't want to hurt you.
Oblivious to Alex's anxiety starting to return, Ara kept talking. "He's also bi and very single," he said with an intentional wink.
That made Alex laugh a little bit. "I'm fourteen, Ara."
Ara shrugged. "It's not that bad of an age gap."
"Stop trying to set me up with your members."
Ara held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Fine, but he's seriously hot. If he was my type…" He sighed. "Oh well. Moving on. Vale's real name is Parishad. She's fluid like me, but she usually leans more feminine. She and they are safe pronouns, and she'll say something if she prefers us to use he instead. Riot also prefers she/her pronouns, and her name's Mila. Lune, or Mikkel, is actually the only one of us who's straight."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "How does that work, with your concept and all that?"
Ara shrugged again as the elevator doors opened at the eleventh floor. "He's secure in his identity, and the concept is just a performance that's part of his job." He led the way down the hall, Lee Yunseok following behind him and Alex. At the room marked 1104, he tapped a keycard to the sensor beneath the handle. "You ready?"
Alex tightened his grip on the bag he held. "As ready as I'll probably ever be."