Stepping through the rows of backstage curtains, Teller honestly felt pretty good. He was supposed to fill in for a backup singer using his own regular voice and Tay-Yun had worked him like a slave driver to get him ready... but he had secretly loved it. Not only had he gotten a lot of time by himself with him, but he'd also received voice lessons from his idol! 

"You're grinning adorably again. I might have to kiss you if you keep doing that." Tay-Yun said as he reached over and tugged softly on Teller's bottom lip. 

Turning his head quickly, Teller nipped the tip of Tay-Yun's finger, making the guy jump slightly. He knew that he didn't do it hard enough to hurt, but the look of mischief that came to Tay-Yun's eyes made him think that he might have given the wrong response. 

"Can I take that back?" He asked awkwardly as they stepped behind a curtain to be out of the view of prying eyes. 

Tay-Yun's grin grew as he reached forward, taking Teller's jaw gently but firmly between his fingers. "I'll allow it... if you trade me." He said, making Teller tilt his head just a bit, as far as Tay-Yun would allow him since he was still holding his jaw. 

"What do you mean?" He asked. 

Chuckling quietly, Tay-Yun licked his lips slowly, then leaned in. The kiss only lasted a moment, but Teller couldn't help but sigh at the contact. He really couldn't argue that he liked Tay-Yun, very, very much. 

When they broke apart, Tay-Yun slipped his hand into Teller's and began tugging him toward the stage. "Everyone is already set up. Let's have a fun show, then have even more fun later tonight, hm?" 

Teller's face burned as he was pulled up the stairs, his eyes turning down to his scuffed tennis shoes as each step took him closer to standing in front of hundreds, or really, thousands, of people. 

His palms began to sweat and he tried to tug the one Tay-Yun was holding away so that he could wipe it on his jeans, but his boyfriend held him tight. They stopped right before the edge of the curtain, which was the exact moment Teller realized that he had forgotten the basic sunglasses and hat he'd been offered as a disguise. 

"Teller?" 

Blinking through his panic, Teller lifted his eyes to Tay-Yun's. He was shaking a little and trying to keep his breathing even, but it was getting hard. 

"It will be okay." Tay-Yun said as he slipped his free hand into his pocket to remove the pair of sunglasses Teller now knew had been gifted to Tay-Yun by Mi-Yo. 

When the glasses slid up the bridge of his  nose, Teller immediately felt a little better. The stage lights above them were no longer too bright and part of his face was hidden from curious eyes. 

"We forgot the hat in the car. I can go get it?" Tay-Yun offered, making Teller's heart thump happily against his chest. 

Shaking his head, he grinned. "This is good enough. I'm not worried." 

Of course, he was, but the sunglasses did really help calm his nerves. 

"Are you sure?" Tay-Yun asked right as someone yelled "Five minutes!" 

Teller nodded quickly, then after a glance left and right, leaned in and slid his arms beneath Tay-Yun's jacket for a tight hug. "If my boyfriend can stand in front of so many people as the center of attention, I can learn to stand steadily behind him." 

He felt Tay-Yun take a deep breath before his arms tightly wrapped around him. "I hope you don't plan to go back to American, Tel. Because I don't think that I could let you." Tay-Yun whispered against his hair before reluctantly pulling away and winking, then jogging onto the stage. 

There was still one large curtain in front of them, so Teller hurried to his own spot in front of a microphone back behind Sahn-Re and En-Ti, getting a hug from Sahn-Re, who had been feeling much better recently, and a pat on the head from En-Ti on his way there. 

He gripped the microphone as the curtain slowly began to rise. His heart was pounding hard and his hands were shaking a little, but he just kept his eyes focused completely on Tay-Yun's back. Possibly a little lower a few times, but mainly on his back. 

They began after the crowd quieted enough for Tay-Yun to be heard over them. Teller slipped up a few times during the first few songs, but thankfully he could hear the other back-up singers covering easily enough for him, and he greatly appreciated it. All of them had been told that he was new and would possibly have a little trouble, but when they shot him encouraging smiles and didn't hesitate to help him when he made mistakes by raising their voices just enough, he was extremely grateful. 

The show ended well and Teller couldn't have been happier, though not for the reason he would have thought when they'd started. He was grinning from ear to ear as he sat down with the other back-up singers right there on stage. Ello always did a short question and answer session after their concerts for the fans, and the backup always just sat quietly and listened. 

I'm so proud of him! 

Of course, Sahn-Re and En-Ti did amazingly well, too, but they weren't his boyfriend! 

As the crowd settled down, many of the fans crowded around the lower portion of the stage, all of them raising their hands in hope that they'd be picked. The first question went to Sahn-Re, asking him how he was feeling. 

"I'm great now! En-Ti took really good care of me!" He chimed with a playful grin for the crowd. 

There were a lot of awwwws from the audience before the next question about the band's future concerts. Tay-Yun answered that, then took another question from the far left side of the stage. 

"I noticed you guys didn't have Beek-Do singing for you today, when you normally keep the same people. Is he okay? And is the person who took his place perhaps the same one who helped with the piano last time?" 

Teller's mouth dropped open slightly, unintentionally spurring the crowd's curiosity. When Tay-Yun looked back at him with a raised eyebrow, he wasn't sure how to react. He didn't want to make Tay-Yun lie...

When the silence dragged on, Tay-Yun turned back to the crowd to respond, when someone pushed through to the front. Teller couldn't see his face, but the moment he started speaking, he knew exactly who it was. 

"I can tell you exactly who that guy is." Said Mr. Canzoni. 

Teller jumped up and ran forward to stand beside Tay-Yun, his eyes wide behind his sunglasses. He looked up at Tay-Yun at the same time he looked to him, but they couldn't talk because Tay-Yun had his microphone on and was only feet away from the crowd. They would hear him anyways. 

Mr. Canzoni was messing with his phone for a minute before seemingly finding what he'd been looking for and turning to the crowd, holding it up. "This is who that guy is!" 

Several fangirls grabbed the phone and hunched around it as others leaned over their shoulders. Tay-Yun glanced over at the security guards who were making their way toward the commotion, but there was no way they'd be able to stop whatever photo Mr. Canzoni was already showing off. 

"What is this?" One of the girls asked to no one in particular. 

Another one grumbled. "Yeah. You can't even tell who's in the picture!" 

Teller felt his shoulder relax slightly as Mr. Canzoni snatched the phone back and started waving it around. "Of course it's them! Are you all blind!" 

Tay-Yun pursed his lips and stepped forward, his eyes narrowing on Mr. Canzoni. Right before he could speak, again, however, Ike stepped out of the crowd and crossed his arms over his chest. 

"I can tell you exactly who this guy is." He said, repeating Mr. Canzoni's words.

Several squeals came from some of the girls around him, then traveled further and further into the crowd when the word that was there Mimic spread. 

This isn't good! 

They'd brought him along to help out backstage, which he had, but they definitely wouldn't have if they knew that he'd try to help Mr. Canzoni! 

Ike grinned and hopped up onto the stage, inciting a roar from the crowd. Some were even shouting for a collaboration, which made Teller chuckle beneath his breath a little. That wasn't going to happen. 

"Lend me your mic, Tay-Yun." Ike said, drawing a cheer from the group of people close enough to have heard him. 

Tay-Yun hesitated, clearly unsure of what Ike was going to say. And of course, they didn't trust him one bit. 

"Fine. Don't give it to me, but at least translate, okay? Cause I'm not gonna say it again." He said before turning his attention down to where Mr. Canzoni stood smirking up at him. 

Sighing, Ike stepped aside and straightened his shoulders, then pointed at Teller, making him fidget and fight himself to not back up and hide behind Tay-Yun. 

"I can tell you exactly who this guy is." Ike said before looking back to Tay-Yun, waiting to see if he would translate. He knew that a lot of the people present probably could understand him, but without a mic, there was a high chance that by the time his words got back to the full crowd, they'd be skewed. Telephone was one messed up game. 

Tay-Yun was silent for several more seconds before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then turned toward the crowd. 

"I can tell you exactly who this guy is." 

Ike grinned and turned his attention down to Mr. Canzoni while still pointing at Teller. 

"This is the young man who was beaten by his manager, over and over." 

Tay-Yun licked his lips and narrowed his eyes on nothing in particular as he relayed the words. 

"This is the young man who was beaten by his manager, over and over." 

There was a collective gasp at the same time security finally made it to Mr. Canzoni, surrounding him and preventing him from moving, or from anyone getting to him. 

Ike moved his arm so that he was now pointing at him, then continued. "His manager didn't like the way he looked or acted, so he decided to just push him behind the scenes and use only his skills." 

Tay-Yun repeated his words calmly into the mic, watching as more and more eyes turned toward where the guards were hiding Mr. Canzoni. 

"He paid him next to nothing and hurt him more times than I could count." 

Teller did retreat behind Tay-Yun as he continued to copy Ike's words into the mic. He definitely hadn't been ready for any of this, and especially not Ike taking his side. 

"I was an ass for not helping him, so I'm saying this now..." 

Ike sighed, squeezing his eyes shut as he grimaced for a second, before opening them with a small but sad smile. 

"I'm not Mimic. I'm nothing. I was full of myself for my looks and I let myself be greedy and turn a blind eye to the real person who deserved to be a star.... but Tay-Yun didn't turn away from him." 

Mr. Canzoni's face had gone completely white and his mouth was hanging open, inviting in any flies that happened to be hanging around.

Tay-Yun's lips tilted upward into a smirk as he gladly translated, slipping his left hand behind himself to slide into Teller's and squeeze reassuringly. 

The crowd murmured amongst themselves for a short while before someone raised a hand, asking their question when Tay-Yun nodded to them. 

"What about the picture he showed us? Can you tell us what it is? Now that I think about it, he looks very much like the person who was with Sahn-Re on the news a while ago, too." 

Tay-Yun frowned, motioning toward the guards to get Mr. Canzoni's cell phone from him. When it was yanked away from him and handed up to Tay-Yun, his frown deepened. 

"Like I would unlock it for you!" Mr. Canzoni shouted, only to begin getting toted away by the group of buff men. 

Ike chuckled and walked over, taking the phone and pushing six buttons, then handing it back with the screen unlocked. "He messes with it enough in front of us. It wasn't hard to remember the code." 

Tay-Yun thanked him, then opened the photo section. The picture was definitely not great considering how dark it had been backstage, but Tay-Yun recognized it immediately, and couldn't hide his smile as he glanced sideways to Teller. 

Leaning forward a little, Teller looked at the photo, his stomach sinking with unease when he realized what it was immediately. 

"Is that you... and him?" The fan who had asked the original question asked, her voice a little nervous. 

Licking his lips, Tay-Yun turned his back to the crowd and reached up to silence his mic, then lean in to whisper to Teller. 

"What do you want me to do. I will tell them whatever you want me to." 

Looking down, Teller absentmindedly fidgeted with Tay-Yun's hand, then lifted his eyes back to his. 

"What do you think? What do you want?" He asked curiously. 

Tay-Yun tilted his head and chewed on his lower lip a little as he thought. 

"Well... I know I want you. I'm proud of you and I want to show you off, because you're amazing. But I only want to do that if you are ready." 

Teller felt his cheeks warm at Tay-Yun's words, but something was nagging at the back of his mind. He wasn't sure that this was the proper time to ask it, but they had kind of run out of time to really talk about it. 

"Are you sure?" He paused for a moment, running his free hand through his messy hair. "Are you sure you're okay with me? I don't want to replace Mi-Yoh in your heart if it's too soon, but if, if you really want to be open to everyone about this, then I'd like to find a spot for myself there, too, and stand beside you from now on."

 Grinning from ear to ear, Tay-Yun leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Teller's forehead, immediately making the crowd roar with cheers. Reaching up, he turned his ear mic back on, then slid his hand down to Teller's back to guide him around so that they were both facing forward and he was right up against his side in a one-armed hug. 

"This is Teller, the true talent of Mimic... and my boyfriend. He had just met Sahn-Re first, but I have no intention of sharing, sorry, Sahn." He joked with a wink back at Sahn-Re, who stuck his tongue out and gave a chuckle before Tay-Yun turned his attention back to the crowd. "I do hope that you will all wish us well..." He paused for a moment, grinning when Teller moved the sunglasses up to his forehead and stared up at him with adoration, and an adorable smile. That's what did him in. 

Leaning forward, Tay-Yun paused right with their lips centimeters apart. "Because I really do believe that I've fallen so hard for him." He said just loud enough for the mic to pick up before pressing their lips together to the overwhelming sound of excited yells and cheering. 

(I read this chapter out loud... man that's a feels-trip.)