๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ โ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
pairing: sunghoon x ex figure skater->idol!fem oc
synopsis: ๐๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง'๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ฒ ๐ค๐ฉ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ, ๐ค๐๐ฒ๐จ, ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐.
๐๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ, ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ค๐๐ง ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ข๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฌ.
chapter three: it went... great?
the word of a girl group joining the hybe family reached the ears of existing hybe groups. they pondered about the new edition and potential new friendships that could form.
"have you guys hear about a girl group joining hybe?" jungwon turned his screen to the rest of the boys.
niki raised his brow. "no? i swear we live under a rock."
"what are they called?" jay asked, leaning in closer to get a better look at jungwon's screen.
"i heard they said we have to greet them or welcome them something like that." jake added.
"that's awkward, let me see the picture." sunghoon grabbed his phone. he fell silent, zooming into the screen.
"what, do you know them?" sunoo asked.
"no. but one of them looks like this girl i used to know." he handed the phone back.
"chaerin, zena, haru, jie, sujin." jungwon read the names off.
"chaerin." sunghoon whispered to himself. he brushed it off thinking the chance of it being her was impossible.
"everyone!" their manager interrupted. "get up and greet your juniors."
"meeting enhypen themselves, wow." haru whispered.
"girl, you sound like a fan. we need to act like colleagues." jie whispered back.
chaerin stayed behind everyone despite being the leader. she didn't want to imagine the horrors of introducing the group to him herself.
"chaerin stop being a baby. you go in first." sujin pulled her forward, but she resisted.
"zena, i think you should go first." chaerin suggested.
"ugh, whatever." haru took the first steps inside the room.
"hello!" they all bowed, chaerin continuing to hide behind everyone.
the girls began introducing themselves individually, making chaerin feel like banging her head against the wall.
"hi, i'm chaerin." unfortunately for her, the girls moved aside, giving her a clear view, and, of course, she found herself directly in front of sunghoon.
she made eye contact with him for a millisecond before her gaze darted to the ground.
"show them around the building, you guys. don't be awkward strangers," their manager requested before leaving them alone.
they awkwardly laughed and stood in silence for ten seconds before heeseung cleared his throat. "shall we start the tour?"
the girls followed behind them, mostly making small talk about their old company building being a closet in comparison.
chaerin watched sunghoon from a distance. although she felt a bit like a creep, it had been so long since she had seen him in person. she observed every aspect that had changed about him. he was no longer the kid she used to skate with. she watched his mannerisms as he walked, noting how he looked for ways to place his arms while casually glancing around the area.
"chaerin, right?" jungwon walked in the back alongside her. "i'm the leader too, jungwon."
she shook his hand and gave him a smile. "of course jungwon. you're famous, you know."
they walked in awkward silence afterward. chaerin struggled to figure out how to strike up a conversation with someone she had never met. even her body tensed up as she became overly conscious of how her actions might be perceived.
"you remind me of sunghoon." jungwon laughed.
"he acts really awkward with new people. i think you guys would get along. sunghoon, come here!" he called sunghoon over, who was walking alone. he hesitantly walked over to the two, awkwardly putting his hands in his pockets. "sunghoon, chaerin. chaerin, sunghoon."
they gave each other stiff half smiles and half hearted bows to each other.
"come on, get to know each other." jungwon pushed them closer before leaving the two alone.
chaerin took in a sharp breath before they continued walking alongside each other. "you don't have to walk with me."
"why wouldn't i want to?" sunghoon asked.
"i don't know? forget i said anything." she wanted to crawl in a hole and die. she didn't expect to be talking to him directly this fast. it felt like she was thrown to the wolves.
"doย youย not want to walk with me?"
"no! i mean no. that's not what i meant. i just didn't want to make anything awkward for you." she shrugged.
"it's okay." he laughed. "i was just playing."
chaerin let out a sigh of relief. "i was prepared to walk on egg shells."
they watched their members ahead of them conversing and looking in different rooms.
i guess we're just gonna ignore the elephant in the room, she though to herself.
heeseung and jie exchanged a quick glance as they observed the pair walking alongside each other. surprisingly, there was little hint of awkwardness in their demeanor. they knew their friends well, and any discomfort would likely be dismissed with a simple clearing of throats before they walked independently. yet, an invisible force seemed to act as a magnetic pull between them. when sunghoon had initially joined her, they stood a couple of feet apart, but now they were nearly brushing shoulders.
"how much you wanna bet they start dating?" jie playfully nudged heeseung.
heeseung was caught off guard by her directness. "oh! does she have a crush on him or something?"
"i had a vision," she deadpanned.
heeseung stared at her, attempting to decipher her expression.
"i'm just playing! loosen up a bit!" she chuckled at his reaction.
later that day, both groups remained in the building but went their separate ways after the welcome tour. some of them exchanged contact information for any future queries, expressing their gratitude to the boys for assisting them in getting adapted to the company.
as the other girls ate together, chaerin chose to explore the surroundings, curious about what she might have missed while lagging behind the group. she discreetly peeked into rooms, attempting not to appear too intrusive, and at some point, even entertained the idea of "accidentally" crossing paths with newjeans during her self-guided tour.
one of the rooms was rather dim, so she assumed it was empty and walked in. you can only imagine her shock when she spotted none other than park sunghoon. he was resting his head on the table, engrossed in his phone.
"god! i'm sorry. i thought no one was in here." chaerin quickly apologized, even offering a slight bow to him.
"it's alright, i was just killing time," he reassured her, patting the chair beside him.
chaerin gave him an inquisitive look, squinting her eyes slightly, before walking over to the empty chair beside him.
"what do you wanna do?" chaerin swiveled the chair to face him. she felt all the uneasiness surrounding being around him again leave her body. if he wasn't going to act weird about, why should she?
he unlocked his phone and showed her what he was watching when she walked in. it was a video of their very last competition together four years ago. they had won gold, as expected. chaerin held that memory dear to her heart, she was touched to see that sunghoon felt the same.
"if i tried that today, i would've dislocated my hip." she laughed.
sunghoon nudged her. "i'm sure you would've landed it easily."ย
"these bones don't work like they used to, i'm afraid." she stretched out her arms.
they continued scrolling through old competition footage, reminiscing on the old days.
"you were so adorable omg," chaerin mindlessly commented.
"were?" he raised his brow.
"i mean you're more manly now, so i don't think that's the right word."
"i think handsome is the right word," he dramatically brushed his hair back.ย
"yeah okay arrogance," she rolled her eyes.
"i mean you've grown quite, um, pretty." he averted his gaze.
"is park sunghoon calling me pretty?" chaerin poked his side. she played it cool, but in reality it felt like her stomach was on fire. what was more nerve wracking? sunghoon calling her pretty? or him being shy about it.
the two went their separate ways after an hour of banter and a trip down memory lane. they both were quite nervous to meet again, but their worries were put to rest once they actually spoke to each other. as much as chaerin hates to admit it, she's glad that she reconnected with him as if nothing happened. she did harbor resentment towards him, but his warm smile towards her melted her once ice cold heart.ย
