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There was no secret, even though it was against the agency's policy. Altus, a new and rising Idol, had a boyfriend. Now, the agency never added a no-dating clause to the contract, but when they found out Altus had a boyfriend, they wanted the blue-haired man to break up with whoever he was dating to foster a sense of parasocialism between Altus and his fans. But, no matter what the agency did, Altus did not budge. Atlus had been dating his boyfriend for a few years, and it was before he joined the idol agency. He was even the one who encouraged Altus to audition.
"Do you think I should?" Altus asked, his fingers mindlessly tapping the screen. His boyfriend, Nayuta, was on his own phone; he didn't look up, but he answered.
"If you want to," his voice was flat, as if he didn't care, but this was the norm. Altus knew his boyfriend didn't show much emotion; when he did, it was a rare treat.
"I think I might," and that opened the floodgates.
During Altus's preparation for the audition, Nayuta became Altus's personal coach. Which came in handy, considering Nayuta's older brother, Uki, was an idol himself, so Nayuta has some insight into what could pass for an audition. The months of training, singing, dancing, and even styling clothes for Altus to wear were successful, as Altus went into the agency he tried out for.
The first person he told, of course, was his boyfriend.
"Nayu! I got in!" the bigger man told the smaller one, showing Nayu the confirmation email. The purple-haired man read it and gave Altus a small congratulations.
"Come on! Don't I deserve a bit more?" Altus asked, a grin still plastered on his face. There was an audible groan from the other male,
"Bruh..." But Nayu got up from his seat and walked over to his now-idol boyfriend. Before he was even two steps from his seat, the bigger man swept Nayuta up in one smooth motion and hugged him. Of course, Nayu let out a scream, as he hadn't expected it.
"Atlus!" he screamed, as he lightly thrashed around in Altus' grip, only getting a low chuckle from the blue-haired man.
Nayu didn't really indulge in idol culture; he would, on occasion, buy a few Altus' merch, mainly pins, to show his support and display them on his home desk, but that was about it. Most of Nayu's support came quietly, such as watching a few online shows, liking the newest song release, and sometimes joining a few online events. But that was the extent of what Altus knew.
In reality, Nayu was a big supporter. He didn't express his emotions well, but he was proud of Altus and loved him, both as an idol fan and as a boyfriend. So whenever new merch dropped, Nayu would buy mostly everything, arrange it in a specific way in a cabinet he owned, then put up a false wall to hide it. Nayu wasn't ashamed of buying merchandise to show support for his idol boyfriend, but Altus already had an image of him, and the purple-haired man didn't know how Altus would react to seeing this side of him.
Well, Nayu had an idea. Altus would call it cute, be more doting on him, and tease him while also being very touchy. While Nayuta didn't mind it, he would prefer not needing to deal with it.
There was a close call in Altus, figuring it out. It was just a plain day, and a rare day off, Altus had, and the couple, like usual, spent their time at home. With Altus being an idol, he had a hard time going outside for simple things, so he had to be accompanied by a bodyguard or a manager. So staying home was the optimal thing to do. But there was one thing that had Nayu sweating under his calm, emotionless state. He had a package coming from Altus' latest merch drop. It was a collaboration with a famous streetwear brand.
By some luck, Altus had gone to shower, and it was just as the delivery came. Nayuta was quick to grab the package, sign it off, leave some existing mail on the coffee table, and he went into his home office, to the cabinet with the false wall and he took out the merch and didn't meticulously organise it; he put the stands to one side, the pins to another, and the mystery photo cards inside the card binder he had for them. and quickly, but properly put the false wall back in place. Nayuta was glad he had just enough time to do that as Altus showered.
"Who was that?" Altus asked, towel drying his hair, "I heard someone knock at the door," he said, plopping back onto the couch next to his boyfriend,
"Mailman," Nayuta said, eyes on his phone, pointing to the mail. Altus nodded and picked up the mail, shuffling through it.
"Oh! Nayu, Uki sent us some of his newly released merch!" Altus said, opening the cushioned envelope that was addressed to the couple from the purple-haired man's older brother. Nayuta hummed and, for once, let his eyes drift away from his phone. Uki had sent them a standee, a few signed photo cards and two matching pins.
"Look at this!" Altus said with a smile, looking at the merch. Nayuta nearly allowed his lips to curve into a smile, almost. Altus, while an idol, was a fan of some idols and idol groups himself, so seeing him get excited about merch made Nayu happy. On the inside, of course, he'd never show it.
"Oh! speaking of merch!" Altus suddenly said,
"What?" Nayuta asked, raising an eyebrow. The idol of the two stood up, walked to his bag and took out a silver pack-looking thing. He walked to his boyfriend and gave him the silver pack.
"I managed to grab one of the mystery card pulls from my new merch drop," Altus said, smiling like it was Christmas. Nayuta's heart fluttered and sank at the same time. Fluttered from the gesture, and sank from guilt as he had bought about 50 of them, and they were hiding in his office.
"Go on!" Altus encouraged, "Open it!" and, since Nayu wasn't doing anything, he indulged Altus and himself.
Nayuta picked up the pack and carefully opened it. Inside was a Polaroid photo of Altus, in one of five possible streetwear outfits, and this Polaroid wasn't typical; it had a blue signature and what looked like gold leaf along the border. Nayuta's breath hitched, just slightly. Altus just smiled and clapped,
"You got one of the rare ones! There's only like 15 of these!" Altus stated, smiling. Nayu looked at Altus and the Polaroid. He wouldn't keep this in the photocard binder, and he couldn't keep it in the cabinet either.
"It's...nice," was all Nayuta said, "get me...one of the sleeves you use for your Pokémon cards so that we can protect this, and I'll keep it on my desk," Nayuta said, standing up, already heading to the bookshelf where Altus' Pokémon card collection was.
"Coming!" Altus said, following behind his boyfriend, smiling, unaware that Nayu was cradling the photocard as if it were the most fragile thing in the world