[jakedustry]

𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄 𝐍𝐎. 𝟖 - 𝐊𝐈𝐌 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐘𝐔

IN WHICH Kim Mingyu has been on your mind ever since he first joined the team. Not only is he attractive, but his gameplay makes it impossible for you to look away. You want to get to know him more than anything, only if everything wasn’t so complicated. Despite you thinking otherwise, Mingyu has nothing against you. But with you and Jake constantly hanging out, he has no reason to talk to his coach’s daughter. After all, you’ve always been just a little too out of bounds.

pairing » basketball player!mingyu x coach's daughter!reader genre » fluff, smut, lil angst featuring » other svt members, original characters, jungkook, lee heeseung, jake sim, nishimura riki

contains » alcohol consumption, some angst, basketball player!mingyu, coach’s daughter!reader, basketball terminology (nothing that would be too hard to understand tho), reader lives with her dad, no mention of reader’s mom, student!reader, reader in education, Mingyu calls reader Blue, age gap warnings » SMUT, dry humping, manhandling, body worship, oral (f. rec.), fingering, dirty talk, pathetic!dom!mingyu, soft!dom!mingyu, sub!reader, multiple orgasms, unprotected sex, breeding kink, aftercare

word count » 32k

↪ izzy adds... happiest bday to my all time favorite <33 as some of you know I crashed out many times while posting this fic but hopefully all is good now!! Frankly, this fic is very me myself and I but I still hope you get to enjoy this as well <3 Huge shout out to @livmarauder for making this banner it's literally perfect and I cannot get enough of it

playlist | mingyu m.list

The buzzer echoes in your ears. You missed it. You fucking missed it. Doing your best to hide your disappointment, you continue pouring the beer. You can't be mad, not really. You were never supposed to see it either way. With the way your snack bar is stationed — having a view on only half the court unless you step out — it was never meant to be a place you'd watch the game from. But you still hate that you couldn't be a part of the win. You'll just have to live with having no idea what they are talking about once the players join you here.

But if you are honest, you have bigger problems at hand now. Because before you can even blink, the line in front of you is already much longer, everyone asking you for a drink. You'd love to be able to split in half at the moment. It's always like this, and yet you are never ready for it. Rush hour is every halftime and end of the match for you.

You wave your hand to your colleague so she can collect the money, quietly praying for the beer cooler to work faster. There's not much for Dae to do when everyone is waiting for a drink — your specialty. And as much as you love being at the drinks duty, you regret not switching with her every time this happens.

Handing out one beer after another, you listen to the chatters about today's game. There are lot of praises passed around, creating a smile on your face. You might have not seen most of the game, but you know the guys killed it tonight again. How could they not with their talents finally being put to use with their new coach? You might be biased, but you do think they'll take it far this year.

"Sunshine, can you also pour me one when you have time?" You look up to meet your dad's eyes, nodding.

"You'll have to wait," you shrug, softly pointing your head at the line. He nods, waving you off like he doesn't care at all, reminding you to take your time. You wish more people would be like this. At least your family if no one else. But your uncle is a prime example of the behavior your hate when you are already busy. He pushes past the line, handing you his empty pint. "Yeah, yeah," you mumble, placing it down and focusing on the people that came before him.

You're not sure how much time passes, but you sit down again eventually. Plopping down with a heavy sigh, you exchange a glance with Dae. She gives you a sympathetic smile, glancing at your dad who has the same one as he leans against the wall with his beer in hands. "It's going to calm down again now. They won't all be coming at the same time."

You hum back, stretching your hands above your head. "How did it go? Did you finally figure out the rotation?"

"Pretty much," he nods. "I liked how they played today so if it continues like this, we got the perfect core five."

"That's good," your smile grows. "If nothing, then the points show they've gotten better since you started training them."

He rolls his eyes but you see the smile tugging on his lips. You like seeing your dad like this. He's always been happy no matter what category he was training, loving it when he could see the enjoyment on his player's eyes, but there is something different about watching him coach a team full of adults who could really take it far if they want to.

"Let's not assume how the rest of the season will go." You peek over when you hear Jake's voice, a smile on his face. "Who says I won't replace Seungkwan and give us the well deserved win."

"Not if you keep avoiding working out," your dad reminds him and Jake just shakes his head, mounting to you that he is lying.

You chuckle, "right, right."

He steps forward, still smiling as he opens his wallet. "Could you give me two? Promised Heeseung I'll buy tonight."

"He doesn't stay for stretching after trainings but he stays to get drunk?" You shake your head as you take the cash from him. "You should keep an eye on that."

"At least he stays to drink with us and team bond. Nishimura doesn't even look me in the eyes before disappearing."

"I think he is intimidated by you, coach," Jake explains and your dad's eyes widen in the most your dad way you know. He somehow manages to look shocked as well as not surprised at all, offended but also making fun of the situation. You've seen this look a lot. With his eyebrows raised and arms crossed over his chest, he looks exactly the same as whenever you tell him about a dumb date you've been on. The amount of times he's been surprised at something the guys you went out with said or did is not something you could count on both hands. Every time, the conversation ends with the two of you agreeing that guys just need more time to mature.

"By me?" He questions and you laugh as you pour Jake his two beers. "Tell him he'll be running ten extra laps for that." All four of you laugh, including Dae who has far from knowing anything about basketball.

Your dad leaves after a short moment to talk with the rest of the coach staff and some of the players while Jake stays with you, chatting with Dae about their upcoming assignment. You try to listen in but your attention starts drifting elsewhere, the debate about the physics paper they have to submit passing by you completely. Zoning out, you stare at the nearest wall, thinking about anything but the situation around you. For the first time today, you get to turn off and not worry about whether you gave the right change or not.

You are glad Jake and Dae found something in common when you introduced them for the first time. If they didn't, you'd never be able to just shut off like this, worried it would get awkward and would try your hardest to keep the conversation going. But when they met for the first time and found out they share a physic class, all your worries disappeared as you watched them talk about their lessons. Both of them still rely on you sometimes but you'd say they are good friends now.

It's good knowing your friends are getting along.

"I love you so much," Heeseung sings as he comes into your sight, making you snap out of your thoughts. You blink up at him, seeing four more players behind him. The foam on his beer has already fallen off but he doesn't seem to care, taking his drink from Jake with a grin on his face.

"Can I get a better one if I also tell you I love you?" Seungcheol smiles at you and you shake your head, standing up again and getting four pints ready, assuming all of them are here for the same thing.

"You can try," you shrug, a smile tugging in the corner of your lips as well. It only makes his smile grow wider.

"Sure he could," Joshua wraps his arm around his shoulder. "If he wants to die while explaining to his coach why his daughter is suddenly pregnant and needs to leave school."

"Now now," you quickly interrupt him, your eyes widening. "Don't even joke about that."

"Exactly," Seungcheol joins you, shaking the younger man off him. "If I knock anyone up in the near future I'll assume it's your curse and what will you do then? I don't have the time or resources to raise a kid right now."

"At your grown age?" Heeseung pipes from the side, grinning through his drink. Seungcheol ignores his comment but you chuckle.

"And here I was going to give you a tip," he sighs.

"Yeah? What kind?" Dae tilts her head innocently and you have to hold back a laugh, handing all four players their drinks while the eldest pays for them while exchanging a few words with Dae that you can't catch. You think you're glad you don't by the way her ears turn red.

Everyone on the team has always been friendly with you. Whether it's because you sell them alcohol or that your dad is their coach, you have no idea. But it doesn't really matter. As long as they keep being nice to you, then you don't need to know. It still feels a little weird being a part of conversations like these with them as if it was completely normal, but you're trying to get over that. And honestly, with the captain's welcoming smile and kind words — despite his friends joking about him making you pregnant — it's all a lot easier.

You'd say you are pretty close with the team. You are able to hold small talks and they often hang out with you and Dae here after their games. So while you can't say you consider all of them your friends, you aren't strangers either.

Well, expect for one man on the team.

Possibly the only one you've ever wanted to be close with.

It was a year ago, you think. Around the time the previous season started. The team gained a few new players — including Jake and Riki who you'd say you are the closest to out of all of them — and your eyes immediately locked in on one of them.

Kim Mingyu, tall, tanned, and handsome, was impossible not to look at.

It only took one game and you were hooked, unable to look away from him whenever he was on the court and you had some time to watch. His smooth movements, the control he has of the ball, and the incredibly beautiful smile on his face when he scores a point all made you so much more interested.

But you never got to talk to him as you wished you would. Because right after the game ended, you saw him with the only person you didn't want to see him with — Jungkook. Watching the guy you have a silly little crush on laughing with your ex boyfriend might have been the best way to get you to turn around again and reconsider talking to him.

You have no idea what or if Jungkook ever told him anything about you, but with the way Mingyu never even tried to talk to you outside a few hellos and ordering unlike the rest of the team, you think it's safe to assume he doesn't think of you nicely.

You and Jungkook didn't exactly end it on bad terms, you just both had different views on things. All you wanted was to focus on your studies and to do something with yourself, while all he wanted was a family to settle with as soon as possible. At twenty, the idea of turning your life around to make a family with your boyfriend was wild to you. It was simply never supposed to happen. You never spoke badly of him after the breakup but you also never talked to him again, so you have no idea how he and his friends look at you.

It's as if you've manifested them, the two of them coming into your sight of view. Jungkook doesn't come closer but you see him standing in the hall while Mingyu walks over to you. "I'll take two, please." He only meets your eyes briefly before Seokmin tugs him into their conversation. You glance at him a few times as you pour the beers, watching the easy smile on his face. Despite knowing it's not going to happen, you can't help but admire him. He is so handsome, it's unfair to you. How are you supposed to not look at him when he looks like that?

You quote the price to him, just like you've done many times today. Your fingers brush when he hands you the cash and you feel like you're going insane, the nervousness you suddenly feel driving you crazy. As if it wasn't enough, he practically holds your hand in his as he takes the drinks from you. You have to look up at Jungkook to remind yourself this is nothing, that Mingyu thinks who knows what of you and it's only your own delusion making this into something that it's not.

He doesn't stay for any longer, saying his goodbye to the rest of the team and leaving to hang out with your ex. Dae nudges you and you take your eyes off him, offering her a brief smile. It's been like this for a year now, so why do you unconsciously keep hanging onto a thread of hope?

"Sunshine." You nod when you hear your dad's voice, taking his pint from him to pour him his drink. "Thank you. What are you all standing here for?" He nods towards the team, all of them holding their own beer. "Good game today but how do you want to bond the team together if you aren't drinking with us?"

"We were just about to join you, coach," Seungcheol grins. "How could we possibly afford to miss the president's drunk blabbing about our game?" Your dad shakes his head and Seungcheol sends both you and Dae a wave, saying his see you later before leaving with the team to join the coaching staff in their staff room. You're sure they'll be back for another round but for now, as soon as you hand your dad his drink and he leaves as well, you are left alone with Dae and the thoughts of how much you want Mingyu to talk to you.

When your dad told you you'll be home alone on the weekend because he's got away games, you found yourself questioning how far you're willing to go for a stupid crush. You always liked watching sports, but not to the point you'd come out of your way for them. If you were already coming to the game to sell drinks, then you wanted to watch as well. If you were hanging out with your friends and you happened to find a group of people playing street basketball, you'd watch as well. But you never went to watch a game in your free time just because.

Which is also why your dad was so surprised when you asked him to come with instead of enjoying the free house. Still, he wouldn't say no to you, not even if he wanted to.

Humming along to your playlist, you watch the road ahead as your dad drives. He follows Joshua's car, who's taking most of the bench players except for Riki who sits behind you. Your dad's way of taking revenge and trying to intimidate him, you're certain. It seems to be working since he hasn't said a word ever since you picked him up, looking into his phone the entire time. No doubt texting his best friend.

There are two more cars behind yours — Seungcheol's and Mingyu's. You feel bad a little. If you weren't going, they could easily fit into just three cars and everyone would be comfortable. Your dad assured you they were planning on driving four cars either way and there is no need for you to worry but you can't help it.

"Jake's asking if we can stop by the nearest gas station." It's the first time you hear Riki's words since you said hellos and both you and your dad glance at him. You see him swallow his nerves when your dad's eyes find his, unable to hold back your laugh. It's funny to see him so freaked out when you know your dad is the sweetest person you know. Most of the players know it too, you're sure. It's only a matter of time before Riki realizes it too.

"Will we be on time?" You ask, biting back your laugh.

"We should be," you dad nods. "Let the others know as well. If they don't want to come with they can drive straight to the stadium but they better not get lost."

"Yes, coach," Riki nods eagerly and your lips form a straight line, your eyes closed as you do your best not to let the laugh out. Turning your head towards the window, you hide your smile behind your hand. You already know this will be a fun trip.

You all park in a line and Jake immediately rushes out, not bothering to look back once as he heads straight for the bathroom. Riki steps out as well, using the opportunity to breathe properly without your dad near. Shaking your head, you stretch your arms over your head, melting into your seat.

A knock on your window interrupts you and you glance to the side, your eyes widening when you see Mingyu leaning down besides you. Your dad rolls the window down and you want to curse him out for not keeping the barrier between you and him up. "I'm grabbing a coffee, do you want anything, coach?" He asks, his hands bracing the edge of the open window as he looks inside, and you can't help but watch his toned arms.

It's insane how invisible he makes you feel. You become one with the seat, looking down into your lap as your dad refuses his offer. A beat of silence passes and you look up again, finding Mingyu's eyes on you, waiting for your answer. "Oh," you breathe out. The feeling of invisibility disappears instantly. "Could you get me an ice coffee? I'll give you the money, wait."

He shakes his head, straightening his back again. "Don't worry about it," he brushes you off and leaves before you can argue further.

You pick your purse from the floor either way, finding your wallet. "He's not going to accept it," your dad says simply. You meet his eyes, tilting your head slightly. "I've tried before as well. He even bought me lunch one time last year when I was subbing for their assistant coach and he refused to take any money from me. I think he likes treating people."

"I don't want to owe him, though."

"You can give the money to me then and I'll do my best forcing it to him. If I fail, I'll just keep the money and we'll all be happy."

"Listening in on other people's conversation is not a great look, Lee," your dad warns him. Heeseung just smiles in return, copying Mingyu's pose from before and leaning down onto the window.

"Isn't it great when I overhear our opponents tactics, though?"

"You're terrible," you shake your head at him with a laugh.

"Tell me you use your time for better things as well. Like, for example, learning our tactics."

"You know I only do my best, coach," Heeseung assures him. "Which is why we've been singing out lungs out the entire ride." When your dad gives him an annoyed look, he clears his throat, immediately switching the playful vibe to a more serious one. "We'll focus on it for the rest of the drive." After one last look from your dad, he runs away again, mumbling something about starting to get it as he approaches Riki.

You scroll through your playlist, picking the songs for the rest of the ride as you wait. Jake comes back shortly after with a new hat, that you rather not question where he got from, and Mingyu right after him. He hands you your ice coffee and when you try paying him back, he dismisses you just like your dad said he would. A heavy sigh escapes your lips as you open the can, thanking him while Riki takes a seat in the back of the car again. You keep your eyes on the older man, your hands wrapped around the cold drink, cooling yourself at least that way when your entire body feels so hot.

You'd like to say you don't think about Mingyu. In fact, you'd love to be able to say thinking about the way he is best friends with your ex made you snap out of it and you weren't looking at him as anything other than one of your dad's players.

But you apparently have no control over your emotions because while your head tells you that's an enough reason for you to give up on the idea of him, your heart does the exact opposite and just keeps thinking about him the entire car ride.

With your music on and free time, it doesn't take much for you to start daydreaming. A certain basketball player who towers over you and has arms the size of your head keeps lingering in your mind, all sorts of scenarios taking over you. If your dad and Riki manage to exchange some words, you don't hear any of them. All you can focus on is how great you know you'd be together if only things were a little different.

Shifting in your seat to make yourself more comfortable, you force yourself out of it, staring at the road ahead instead.

♡⸝⸝♡⸝⸝

It's a chaos as soon as you arrive at the stadium. While the guys go find their changing room — which you genuinely hope they'll be able to as the map at the entrance wasn't any helpful — your dad tries to convince the organizer to let him have two assistant coaches. It's not against the rules, you know that, so why is it that the opposite team's coach has so much trouble with letting you in?

"Okay," the organizer sighs. "We'll need to see your coach license and it won't be any problem. I'll talk it over with the Tiger's coach. As you said, the rules state up to maximum of eight extra people accompanying the coach and team members."

"Oh," you breathe out, panicking as you glance between the stranger and your dad. You do not have a coaching license. Why would you? You stopped being involved in this sport back when you were fifteen. Your dad realizes it as well. Deep down he knew trying to let you in on the bench was a bad idea since if anyone wanted to check, they'd know you have no previous experience. Still, he wanted to try in case he could have his little girl beside him during the game.

"To be honest, I think it'll be better if you just do it with Seojin. The two of you work well together and it'd be a chaos if there were three of us. I'll be watching from the audience," you smile, briefly stroking your dad's arm. Looking over at the organizer, you thank him again for trying to hard to make it work for you both.

"If that's what you guys want to do," he nods, pointing towards the audience entrance and telling you to go up the first stair you see. You nod, giving your dad a quick goodbye before disappearing into the hallway.

You need to hurry if you want to grab a good spot in the front. It's still early, forty minutes until the game officially starts, but people are already coming in and you don't want to risk a good spot. Not today when you already came all the way here to watch the team play.

Rushing through the hall, you don't pay attention to where you are going, accidentally bumping shoulders with one of the players. "Shit, sorry," you apologize quickly before glancing up, your eyes slowly trailing up his figure until they settle on the chocolate eyes you know so well.

Mingyu's eyes wander all over your figure as well as he shakes his head softly, assuring you it's okay. Look at where you are coming from and then back at you, he tilts his head in confusion. "Where are going? the court is the other way around."

"Ah. The audience— I'm going to watch from the seats."

He hums and you want to melt into floor beneath your feet. It's embarrassing. In the past year, you haven't talked to him outside of exchanging hellos and grabbing his order. You have no idea how you're supposed to talk to him like this, how to make it seem like you aren't an awkward loser. Even though, honestly, you might be.

A part of you wonders how he sees you. If your interactions today made his opinion on you final and he can now finally say with no trouble that you are weird and he's glad he never spoke to you before.

"Okay," he nods, and you swear you aren't imagining the emptiness of his words. Why even ask in the first place? You raise your head to find him looking at you, his eyes unlike his words the opposite of empty. You frown without properly realizing what you're doing, questioning why he is staring at you. "Your eyes," he points out, "they have a bit of yellow in them."

You blink up at him. Out of all the things you expected him to say, commenting on the color of your eyes was on the bottom of the list. "I…I guess?"

"Didn't you say you'd practice free throws before we finish changing?" Joshua calls as he nears the two of you, the rest of the team right behind him. Mingyu looks at them and takes a step away from you, naturally falling into pace with them and excusing how it's not his fault he couldn't even get on the court yet. You think you see him glance at you one more time before giving the boys his full attention but you're honestly not sure. It could be just your head playing tricks on you.

"Cheer loudly for us, okay?" Jake smiles at you as he passes you and you give him and encouraging nod, wishing them all good luck. The hallway gets empty again and you get back to why you found yourself here in the first place. You need to find good seats.

You sit right above their bench, second line. Most of the first line is already filled and you honestly don't want to be sitting between men your dad's age who have been eyeing you ever since you started wandering around the seats. So, you decide for a seat still close to the players but also comfortable. You'll just have to hope your luck isn't terrible and you won't find yourself squeezed between someone weird after all.

Your dad finds you with his eyes as soon as he orders for Seungcheol to lead the stretching, offering you one of his smiles. You return it, smiling at Seojin, his assistant coach, as well. He's been friends with your dad for as long as you can remember, and it's nice seeing them coach together now. Seojin has always trained the younger kids, teaching them the basics of basketball and how to handle a ball, but ever since the men's team has got a new coach, the entire staff needed an update as well. And from what you know, Seojin has always been on top of your dad's list.

"Is this seat taken?" You look up upon hearing a woman voice, relief washing over you immediately.

"Please, take it." She laughs softly, thanking you as she folds her jacket in her arms and sits down, resting her bag between her legs. She doesn't look much older than you. Twenty four if you had to guess. She is pretty, with her brown hair in a ponytail going down to the middle of her back, matching eyes gazing into yours and an adorable smile. You can imagine how easy it's for her to have guys folding at her feet. Especially if she is into their sports. "Who are you here for?"

"SK Knights," she answers, her eyes trailing the players on the court. "You?"

"Same," you grin, doing the same. "My first away game with them, kinda nervous," you joke and thankfully, she matches your humor, chuckling as she wishes you good luck. "I don't think I've ever seen you on their home games?"

"It's only been a few weeks since I started cheering for them," she explains. "I got interested when I saw them beat my brother's team. He hates them now, obviously."

"Obviously," you nod, unable to hide your smile. It's probably the excitement you feel from knowing you'll be able to talk about the game with someone similar to you and not a fifty year old man staring at your body instead of the game that makes you this giggly. You extend your hand out to her, your name falling off your lips.

"Bora," she shakes your hand with a smile. The two of you watch as Seungcheol controls the free throw drills before she nudges you with her shoulder, bringing your attention back to her. "So which one is it?"

"What do you mean?" You blink up at her.

"Oh come on," a knowing smile spreads on her lips as she eyes you up and down. "Sisters usually aren't that immersed into their brother's games — speaking from experience — so I crossed that option out. And that look in your eyes doesn't look like you're deeply analyzing the forms of the players or anything."

"Oh," you breathe out, glancing back at the court. Have you been looking at Mingyu without noticing? You did watch him and cursed a little under your breathe when he missed the shoot but were you that obvious? You quickly shake your head, getting the thoughts out of your head. There is no reason why you would be looking at him differently, you remind yourself. You have nothing to worry about. "The coach."

"The coach?" She blinks and you can tell she is surprised. "Well, you go girl then," she laughs quietly. "How big of an age gap is that?"

"God no! Not like that!" You interrupt her before her mind can wander further. "He is my dad. That's why I'm here," you finish your thought.

Bora sighs in what you could only classify as relief, "That makes so much more sense."

"And we have thirty years between us so please."

"Some girls are into that," she shrugs. "I couldn't but how am I supposed to know what your range is."

You think about it but don't answer her, your mind only coming up with the five years older player with annoyingly beautiful eyes and perfectly white teeth he shows every time he smiles. That seems like a reasonable difference. The last time your boyfriend was five years older than you it might have not lasted long but who ever said you are one to learn from your mistakes? You'll gladly try again and better if Mingyu lets you.

"Do you have a player you are here for? Or is it just the team in general?"

You watch her eyes flicker to the players, trying to follow her line of sight. But with everyone so close to each other right now, it's hard. "I think it was number twelve that caught my attention at first. But the entire team is great and I genuinely just want to watch a good game."

"Seungkwan?" Your eyes widen, less in a surprise and more in a pure excitement. Just based on what you know about him, you know he'd love her. But then again, who wouldn't? Looking at her, you might fall as well. "You should get his number after the game!" You encourage her. "You can come with me after and I'll introduce you."

"Please," she shakes her head, laughing. "I don't need his number. I'll be happy watching from the side lines and cheering the team on while my brother prays for my and their down fall. And if I were to get anyone's number tonight," she meets your eyes with a soft smile, "It'd be yours."

You shake your head at her as you pull your phone from your pocket, gladly handing it to her. Looking forward to all the games the two of you can watch together from now on, you are happier and happier you decided to join today's game.

The dopamine you feel as soon as the game starts is much bigger than you expected. The starting five is the same as at the last game — Seungcheol as center, Mingyu and Seungkwan as guards, and Jeonghan and Hansol playing forward. It worked last time, and with every inch of your body you hope it does today as well.

They had advantage last time, playing on home land, so if they work it out this time as well it'll mean your dad found the core five. Ever since he started coaching them two months ago, he kept on trying different rotations, trying to learn what worked together and what didn't. You watched him sit over his notes at home late at night sometimes and gave him your two cents when you had something to offer.

You were the one to point out how well Seungkwan plays when he has Hansol on the team with him, how relieved he seems knowing they have a strong defense that allows him to make risky plays. You're glad you did. They seem way more stable now.

You cheer for the team along with the rest of your section, frowning when they lose the ball, and raising your hands in the air when they score a point. It's incredibly loud around you but you don't mind, only focused on the play. Your dad has never been one to argue with referees or yell at his players about what they should do when they are in the zone, and that hasn't changed with the men. It's not your dad's voice that keeps echoing in your ears. But there one — two actually. Seungcheol leads his team on the court, with the help of Mingyu, who isn't scared to call for a ball or suggest a play.

Without having to see his face, you know your dad is proud. You know exactly what kind of look he has because the same one is on your face. There is a weird sense of accomplishment knowing they are doing well.

It's a close match, no one letting the other team get too far ahead. As soon as the gap widens more than they'd like, they pull a new move and turn it around again, leaving the entire audience in chaos. You watch with wide eyes, unable to take your attention off. This has got to be one of the best games you've ever seen. It makes sense why they play in the league now. While you were always a fan thanks to your little crush and one of your closest friends being on the team, it's moments like these that remind you the players aren't just hot but actually talented.

You know Bora feels it too, loud encouragements leaving her lips every time one of the Knights gets the ball. The team work is amazing, their passes perfect and shots clean. You can tell they are in a zone, likely only seeing the ball and the rest of the players on the court.

It's the second quarter that the opponents defense starts to be more aggressive, the referees having to stop the game because of fouls before you can comprehend anything. Luck seems to be on your side through, because every time they foul, it happens to be Mingyu they make contact with. Your smile grows more and more as you watch him take his place at the free throw line, knowing he'll make it without having to look.

If you know anything about him, it's that his cleanest shots are from the free throw line. You've never seen him miss in a game, but it's not only that. You know his stats. 98% success rate in free throws is fucking amazing. Based on the look on the opponent's faces as they take their positions, you know they realize it too.

He isn't missing.

Your section grows quiet as Mingyu dribbles the ball beside his leg briefly, getting the right grip of the ball before holding it in both hands. The ball leaves his fingertips and your eyes follow it eagerly, the loudest cheers leaving your lips when it goes straight in. Glancing at the score board, you high five with Bora when you see the 43:33. They made it to the ten point gap.

You seriously couldn't be prouder.

It's Riki's eyes you find first when the halftime begins. Jake joins him right after, both of them yelling at you how they hope you know they'd play way better if they were on the court before your dad dismisses them. You laugh, watching them get scolded over not knowing when to stop. It's all playful, they know it too, but it still must look heavy to everyone who doesn't know your dad personally. Thankfully, a lot of the people in your section have left when the second quarter ended to go to the toilet or buy drinks.

"You guys seem to be close," Bora nudges your shoulder and you roll your eyes with a scoff. Encouraging her to stand up, you both walk to the railing at the front, leaning forward and looking down at the players.

"We are close in age, it was natural," you explain, smiling at the two youngest

"If it isn't our two biggest fans," Seungcheol comes into view, offering you both a smile. "I'm pretty sure I could only hear your voices throughout the game." You doubt that's true but with the confident grin on his face, he could make you believe a lot. He looks around at his teammates to add to his words before he opens his mouth again, "Shouldn't we know the name of our biggest fan?"

Exactly what you expected. You shake your head at him as Bora introduces herself, praising their game play in the first half. You take the opportunity and scan the court with your eyes until you find what you've been looking at. You meet Mingyu's eyes briefly, smiling at him. A smile appears on his lips in return and it's impossible how weak your heart suddenly feels. Jesus. You need to get a grip.

His eyes don't stay on you for long though, the warm feeling in your chest leaving as soon as it came when he focuses his attention on Heeseung and calls him over so he'd practice passes with him. You're used to this, though. It'd be weirder if he kept his focus on you. You tear your eyes off him when Bora asks you if you want her to get you a drink and shake your head, joining her conversation with Seungcheol and Joshua.

Your eyes trail to number 17 every now and then, but you don't meet his eyes again until the very end of the halftime when you tell them all good luck.

You say your goodbye to Bora at the entrance after the happy win, your grin growing wider when you see her talking with Seungkwan before leaving, praising his game all over again. He seems frustrated, and you just know he'll be thinking about the interaction for a while. When he asks her if she'll be in the stands tomorrow as well, it only confirms everything.

"Let's go, we need to settle in," your dad calls for everyone to gather and they listen. The cars fill shortly after, Jake joining you this time so Riki won't be alone anymore. It's not like he was since you were in the car as well, but honestly, you enjoyed the tension between him and your dad too much to actually provide him some of the support Jake will by sitting in the back with him.

This time, your car leaves first. "We need to rearrange the rooms when we arrive," your dad reminds you and both of the guys peer up from their phones.

"Why?"

"I was booking for twelve, not thirteen. And I know since Seokmin ended up not coming today there is an empty bed, but it'd be uncomfortable having our only girl room with three men."

"Dad, I'm fine—"

You don't get to finish your sentence as he interrupts you. "It's uncomfortable for me."

You chuckle, shaking your head. "I'm okay sharing the room with the guys. We are all adults and I know them."

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about the most. We should switch our room with yours so she can room with me and Seojin," he suggests, glancing at Jake in the back through the rear view mirror. "Heeseung can go instead of Seokmin and the two of you will take our room."

"No," you stop him immediately. "Dad, I'm not sharing a room with you and Seojin. That'd be uncomfortable for me. Let me room with the guys instead. It's fine."

He hesitates and you can see all kinds of thoughts running through his head as he stares at the road ahead. "Okay," he finally sighs. First win of the night for you. "You can take my room with one of the guys, but I'm not having you stay in a room with three of them."

"Yes, sir," you laugh.

"Shall we room together?" Jake leans forward, holding onto the seat in front of him. You glance back at him, nodding without a second thought.

"Sounds good."

"Wait, does that mean Heeseung and I will be in the room alone or what?" Riki leans forward as well and your dad's grin widens. Oh good god.

"No. Heeseung will sleep in the four people room like I said. The room switch also still stands. Just this time, you'll be the one in the room with us and not my daughter."

You watch as Riki's face gets pale, holding back a laughter. You can practically see the curse on his lips, needing to look away to hold it in. Things may not be working out for Riki, but this is one of the funniest trips you've ever had.

♡⸝⸝♡⸝⸝

Despite your dad's stare, Jake helps you carry your bag up to your room. You immediately jump on the closest bed, your arms and legs stretched out. "You wanted to room with me because you knew the room for coach staff would be the biggest one, didn't you?" You prompt yourself up to look at him and he laughs, dropping your bag besides your bed.

"Obviously. What did you expect? That I would want to share a room with three stinky men instead of enjoying my free space? Absolutely not."

You laugh as well, nodding. "Valid point."

"I'll go shower first, okay? I need to get all this sweat off me."

"Sure," you nod. "Go ahead."

"This is also what I love about this room," he says as he stretches his hands above his head, going to check out the bathroom. "I can just shower without waiting for everyone else to get it over with because they love to make things by age order."

"I hope you like using me to your advantage," you shake your head with a smile, taking out your phone from your pocket and looking at messages you missed while you were at the game.

"It's the best!" Jake yells before the bathroom door shuts behind him, the sound of the shower being turned on coming shortly after.

Jake has a towel wrapped around his waist when he comes back, apologies leaving his lips as he rushes to his bag to get a set of fresh clothes. You sigh heavily, ignoring his presence and continuing to scroll on your phone. He is gone again in a second anyway. He doesn't close the bathroom door fully this time, though, wanting you to hear him. "The guys have texted about wanting to go out for drinks. Do you want to come with? It'll be fun."

"Everyone's going?" You ask back and he agrees. Thinking about it for a moment, you go through all the possibilities of how tonight could go.

One, you get awfully drunk and embarrass yourself in front of everyone.

Two, you get awfully drunk and give into Seungcheol's joking and flirt back with him, all of it leading to one big, drunk, mistake.

Three, you get awfully drunk and call your ex just to ask him about what him and his friends think of you so you can know what your chances with Mingyu are.

Four, you get awfully drunk and confess your feelings to Mingyu, who will then turn you down and you'll spend the rest of the night heartbroken, not even wanting to come to the game tomorrow. Things will be weird, he'll talk to you even less than before, your dad will see that something is going on, and you'll have to explain to him what happen and feel embarrassed all over again.

Yeah, you don't think you want to drink tonight.

"I'll pass!" You call back at him. "I don't feel like drinking tonight."

He peers from the bathroom, fully dressed now. "Just come and don't drink then? I'd feel weird leaving you here alone while we are out having fun."

You wave him off. "It's okay. I won't stay here. I wanted to go out and explore the city a bit so you don't have to worry about that," you assure him. "You guys go have fun and I'll see you in the morning. Hopefully I won't be cleaning your puke by then."

"I promise you you won't," he laughs. "If you get bored and change your mind, just call me and I'll tell you where we are so you can come hang out, okay?"

"Okay," you nod.

Standing up from your bed, you reach for new clothes in your bag as well, going to steal the shower for yourself now.

You don't hear Jake leaving the room through your playlist, but when you come out again twenty minutes later, he is nowhere to be seen. You look at the time on your phone, deciding to go out as well and have something for dinner when you see the 7:53. It surprises you how fast time passes, but then again, it was a long game, and even longer settling into your hotel rooms.

It's only the end of March but the cold air has already been replaced. You brought a jacket with yourself in case you'd get cold but you don't think you'll be needing it after all. Walking through the quiet streets, you admire the city slowly. You've always loved exploring new places, so tonight is only looking more and more perfect. There is no rush, no one telling you to stop taking pictures of random stuff and just hurry so you can have dinner already, and you love that about it the most. You're glad you decided not to go for drinks with them tonight.

A part of you feels disappointed, the hope you still have for you and Mingyu lingering and telling you to go so you can get to know him more. But a bigger part of you knows you shouldn't. All your worries earlier were right, and you're not sure how you'd behave if the guys got you drunk. Kim Mingyu is hot when you are sober. You don't want to find out what you think of him when you're wasted.

Snapping a picture of a fountain you pass, you hide your phone in your pocket again when your eyes fall to a small restaurant nearby, the atmosphere pulling you in immediately. The only thing better than amazing food is amazing food with a nice vibe.

Jake and Riki both send you videos from the bar as you have your dinner, making you laugh out loud. One of the servers looks at you weirdly but you do your best not paying it any attention, refusing to let this good night be ruined by anything.

You take a different route on your walk back, checking your phone's map every once in a while just to make sure you aren't going in a completely different direction.

It's when you see an outside basketball court that you stop in your track completely, the urge to go and play growing with each second you're looking at it. It's still far so you can't see if anyone is there or not, but you surely hope there is.

It's been a while since you last played. Sure, there were PE lessons in high school and you'd play sometimes then, but it's been almost ten years since you played properly. You don't regret quitting back then, you still believe it was the right decision. Pushing yourself into doing something that was no longer fun would have only made you hate the sport, and you never wanted that to happen. You prefer this more — the feeling of still caring for the sport and wanting to play at times like these.

The sound of dribbles reaches you before you can see anyone. You debate texting Bora if she's free and doesn't want to come meet you so the two of you could play together, but as soon as your eyes land on the only person occupying the court, you rethink it. It would be fun to play with her and get to know her more, but if you're honest, you are more interested in playing and getting to know the person practicing free throws.

"I thought you guys went out for drinks," you say softly, trying not to scare him by suddenly breaking the silence you are sure he's gotten used to. Despite your attempt, you watch as he flinches when your voice reaches him, the ball changing trajectory and missing the hoop. "Sorry."

"No worries," he mumbles, jogging for the ball again. "They did go. I think Seungcheol said the bar was like five minutes from the hotel." You nod, awkwardly standing on the side as he comes back to the free throw line before locking his eyes with yours. "Wanna play?"

Before you can think it through, you are nodding, wanting nothing more. That's why you came here after all — to see if there was anyone you could play with. You surely didn't expect it'd be a league player but he'll have to do this time.

Mingyu watches you as you rest your jacket on a nearby bench before coming to him. He hands you the ball and steps aside so you can shoot as well. You seem nervous but he doesn't point it out, not wanting to make you uncomfortable. He takes the sight of you in as you stand at the line, trying to get into the same position you've seen him take many times during today's game. Your shirt rides up slightly but it's barely noticeable since a bit of your stomach was already revealed. You're wearing an off-shoulder blue shirt — a different style from the red tank top he saw you in at the game — that you tucked into what he assumes is your bra on one side, your jeans hugging your stomach unlike the baggy bottoms.

Your hair is the only thing still same, the brown locks reaching down your back. It's simple, and yet he can't help but think about how much he loves your outfit. Blue suits you.

The ball leaves your hands but doesn't go as you'd like, missing the hoop. You close your eyes shut in defeat, slowly trailing to pick it up again. "You need more power, Blue. Otherwise it was great."

You look over your shoulder when you pick up the ball, blinking at him confusedly. "Blue?"

"Oh," he breathes out, realizing he let the nickname escape. "That was just—" he hesitates as he takes a place at the free throw line again, extending his hands forward for you to make a pass to him. You do, giving him the ball and slowly coming to his side. "I noticed you wear it a lot, it kind of escaped."

It's you who is breathing out a quiet 'oh' this time, your heart doing weird back flips at the mention of him noticing what you usually wear. It's shocking since you always thought he avoided looking at you as much as he could. "I see."

His eyes find yours again as he takes a step to the left, encouraging you to come closer to him. He dribbles the ball besides him briefly before taking his position, letting you watch him from up close as the ball leaves his fingers again, this time landing in the hoop perfectly. You smile at the sight, unable to hide how you feel as he comes to stand under the hoop, passing you the ball.

You stand with the ball in your hands for a moment, trying to figure out what he's doing. "Come on, Blue. You just saw how it's done. You can do it too if you try. We aren't moving on until you make it in."

You knew you wouldn't need your jacket but now he just confirmed it. There is no way you'll get cold tonight when he makes you feel so hot, your entire body heating up over his words. Come on, Blue. Does he know you are crazy for him? If he did maybe he'd pay more attention to what he says. Playing with you is one thing, but trying to help you like this on top of giving you a nickname? He isn't fair to you at all.

You do your best aligning your arms perfectly, watching the hoop in front of you as the ball leaves your hands. As soon as it does, you know you missed. It felt wrong. Just like you thought, the ball falls short again. Mingyu catches the ball with ease, passing it to you right away. "Are you sure you want to be here all night? I'm not making it in. The hoop is too high."

"You are making it," he shakes his head. "What would your dad say if he saw you whining like this? The hoop is too high? Don't play dumb now." He tilts his head and it's the pretties you've ever seen him. With his dark short hair, a knowing raised brow, a comfortable sweats and a black tank, he is absolutely gorgeous. Maybe your crush on him isn't as little as you've been convincing yourself. You are obsessed. Obsessed with how he watches you right now, how he looks, and how he talks with you.

"I'm not playing dumb," you argue but still listen to him and try to get into position again.

"Then you're not as smart as I always thought you were."

God fucking damn it.

You are in no way Mingyu's strongest soldier, and he just keeps proving you that.

Shooting again, you get a better feeling than before. You miss again, but this time the ball at least hits the hoop. Maybe he is right and you can do this. "What happens when I get it in?" You wonder as he passes you the ball back.

You hold the ball under your arm while he thinks, waiting for his answer. "We move on to a real game. Match for ten points, hm?"

"I'm supposed to try to match a league player?"

"You came here to play, didn't you, Blue?"

You hesitate, averting your eyes from him. "This just seems like an unfair bet for you to jerk your ego," you mumble under your breath, shooting again. This one is terrible and you both know it but he doesn't say anything about it, simply passing you the ball again.

"It gets easier without all the complaining," he points out and you scoff, ignoring him as you try again.

It takes two more bounces off the hoop, but by your third try, the ball makes it in. You cheer loudly when it does, your hands raised in the air in celebration. Mingyu carries a similar proud smile on his face as he picks the ball again and dribbles over to you. "I knew I still got it," you scoff playfully, looking up at him to meet his eyes.

"Of course you did," he shakes his head, the grin never disappearing from his face. "With how great you are, you have no problem playing against me, right?"

A wave of nerves suddenly washes over you, your confidence dropping. You swallow, nodding, "Sure." Your voice comes out a lot quieter than you expected, the uncertainty clear as day.

"I'll give you five points to start, that's fair, isn't it?"

"Eight," you argue immediately and he raises his eyebrow.

"You need eight points difference to beat me?"

"If I need to beat you then I want to start with ten points right away otherwise I have no chance, but if playing for more than five seconds is what we want then eight points will do."

"You'll get seven. I can't underestimate you so much, what if I'd lose?"

"Then I'd need to tell my dad to reconsider your position on the team."

The atmosphere is easy, much more comfortable than you through the two of you would ever able to be. He steps behind the three point line, dribbling the ball around his leg while you watch him, trying your hardest to focus on the ball and not his face. Chasing after him, you do your best guarding the almost head taller man. It doesn't work, obviously, but both of you laugh at your attempts and that makes you feel a lot better than stopping him would.

He easily makes a point in and you rush in to get the ball. He lets you dribble to the three point line without guarding you, slowly walking to you only once you cross it to make your way towards the basket. As soon as he reaches you, you know you don't stand a chance. You knew he was big, but standing against him now, as he guards you so you don't get to the basket, he is fucking huge. Not only does he hover over you, you also feel like you suddenly grew smaller when he outstretches his hands, easily blocking both sides. You dribble back again, cursing quietly as you try to figure out a way around him.

The only possibility you see is trying to shoot from the three point line, but there is no way you're making that in. With how long it took for you to get the free throw in, a three pointer will seriously take all night — if you'd even manage to get it in then.

Is this how he wins his games? By intimidating his opponents until they run away and settle for the last possible option just to lose the ball? Fucker. An incredibly tall and handsome fucker. You never want to stand on the opposite side of the court against him again.

You try to run around him but he blocks you again, this time stealing the ball from you. He runs behind the line with ease, making his way past you even easier before dunking the ball in, scoring another point for himself. "I don't want to do this," you groan. He chuckles, passing you the ball as a small pay back. But it's no use when you won't be able to shoot anyway.

"Just try, hm? What's the worst that happens?"

"I embarrass myself in front of you," you mutter, not meeting his eyes as you try as he said, dribbling around him.

"In front of me? Who cares what I think," he shakes his head. "Just have fun, Blue. Play around, miss the shots or make them in, lose or win — it doesn't matter." He doesn't stand in your way this time, his eyes following you as you dribble to the basket before shooting your shot once you are close enough to confidently make it in. The shot is clean, the ball falling through the hoop perfectly. "What matters is that you keep that smile on your face and don't worry yourself with anything."

It's easy for him, isn't it? You want to argue that you can't possibly stop worrying about what he'll think of you but you stop yourself in time, realizing just how wrongly that conversation would go. Your best shot today is to just listen to his words and try to enjoy this as much as possible. Even if you do lose at the end.

You never went into this considering you'd win so it should be fine. You can have fun with Mingyu without worrying yourself with anything.

Once you let go, you feel a lot better. Laugh fills your ears — both your own and his — accompanied with the sound of the ball hitting the hoop and bouncing off. You stopped playing for points a long time ago, Mingyu easily scoring ten more points before you could get another one in. But because Kim Mingyu can't be anything if not perfect, he encourages you to keep trying, cheering you on as you keep trying to get around him to shoot. Eventually, you give up on trying to be perfect and just shoot from your spot. The ball won't make it and you know it, but he seems to believe in you a lot more as he turns around to watch the ball go.

Taking your chance, you run past him and catch the ball as it falls short, shooting again once you have the right grip. It's only then that he realizes what you did, rushing to you to stop the ball from going in. But he is too late, and the ball falls into the hoop before he can catch it.

"Yes!!" You yell loudly. "Did you see that?? I figured it out! I outplayed you for real!"

He laughs as he turns to face you, nodding. "I saw that," he assures you. "You did great, Blue."

Your cheeks heat up as soon as your eyes lock with his, his words making your heart do spins for the nth time today. It's incredible how he makes you feel, and how much more you want him to talk to you. He's always been attractive, but now, when you know you enjoy spending time with him as well, you are just so much more interested. It's been a while since you felt like this, and even then your feelings weren't as strong as they are now.

"Let's take a break," he suggests, motioning to the bench you laid your jacket on before. "I've got water in my bag, you should hydrate yourself." You nod, unable to argue as you follow him to the bench. Taking a seat on the edge, you watch him reach into his backpack, handing you his water bottle. You take a long sip before handing it back to him, prompting him to do the same.

You lean back in your seat, looking up at the night sky. The stars are much clearer from here than Seoul. Taking a seat besides you, he rests the bottle of water between you in case you want to drink again, following your line of sight.

"How come you didn't go drinking with them?" You wonder out loud.

It stays quiet for a second so you glance his way, finding him looking up at the sky. "Didn't feel like it," he shrugs when he feels your eyes on him. "I wanted to practice more and coach said there was a court nearby, so I found this." You hum back. "Why didn't you? I'm sure they asked you to join."

"Yeah, but I didn't want to get drunk in front of them," you explain. "Jake kept texting me to come join them after all but it didn't feel right." It didn't feel right to get drunk and confess my feelings to you, but you don't finish that sentence. After all, not going ended up being the better option. When else would you get a chance to play basketball with him?

"Jake is nice," he hums.

"Yeah," you agree, trying not to sound too confused. "He is great."

"How long have you been together?" Mingyu wonders next and you almost choke on your saliva.

"What??" His eyes shoot to you when he hears you coughing, quickly patting your back in an attempt to help. "We aren't together," you correct him as soon as you can breathe properly again. "We are friends. Just friends."

"Oh?" He blinks, a little confused. "I thought you guys— never mind."

"You thought we what? Does it look like we are together? God, do people seriously think that?" You groan and his lips curve up at your panic.

"No," he shakes his head. "I guess it was just me who thought so," a soft, almost disbelieving, chuckle leaves his lips. The realization slowly settles in, all the interactions he's seen you have with his teammates — the jokes and conversations — making much more sense now.

A beat of silence passes by as the two of you sit under the moonlight, watching the night sky together. "Can I ask something?" You break the quiet, too nervous to even look at him.

His eyes rest on you though, wondering what you're thinking about. "You just did," he teases, trying to ease the situation when he sees how anxious you seem. It doesn't help at all. You fidget with your fingers, trying to find the right words as your eyes fall down to your lap. Mingyu's eyes follow yours, his brows furrowing when he sees you playing with your nails. "Ask me away, Blue."

You're suddenly rethinking everything you did today; how you look, how you acted, how you played, even how you're sitting right now. Putting yourself out there is your least favorite thing. You usually don't mind having attention on yourself, at least not to the point where it would actually influence your behavior. But as you sit here now, wondering what goes inside Mingyu's head when he looks at you, you feel like throwing up as soon as the words leave your lips. "Why do you never talk to me?"

"What do you mean?" He tilts his head.

You still don't meet his eyes, staring holes into your thighs. "Like— the team talks with me after games or whatever but we barely say hi to each other," you quickly blurt out, unsure if he can even understand you. He sighs and you finally look up. "Is it because of Jungkook?"

"Jungkook?" His frown deepens. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Is he not—" you stop yourself from finishing the sentence, cursing yourself mentally as you gaze into his confused eyes. Jungkook has nothing to do with it. He never had anything to do with it. You're not sure if that makes you feel better or worse. Why has he been avoiding you like the plague then?

"I didn't mean to avoid you," he assures you, his gaze dropping to your fingers again. You are still playing with them, but it's gotten better now. "To be honest, I didn't even think you noticed we weren't talking."

"I did," you mumble. "I wanted to talk to you."

"You did?" He questions and your cheeks heat up, nervousness washing over you again.

"You are part of the team and others talk to me so I just—" you quickly try to excuse it, hoping he doesn't notice how red your ears are. "I didn't want anything to be awkward between us, so I wanted to get to know you as well."

He chuckles, nodding. "I'm sorry I made you feel like it was ever awkward between us." His eyes soften as he looks at you, all your previous interactions crossing his mind. He understands why you could think he didn't want to talk to you or that he feels indifferent towards you, but that was never his intention. "I never had anything against you — actually I always thought you were pretty damn cool based on how the guys talk about you — but I didn't want to overstep because I thought you were with Jake and it could make him uncomfortable."

"I'm not with Jake," you remind him again.

He laughs, "Yes, I know that now."

"Okay, good. Just remember that."

"I will," he shakes his head in amusement, a smile on his face as he takes the sight of you in again — no longer fidgeting with your fingers and wearing a smile on your face.

He likes you like this much more. You are pretty when you are happy.

By the time you came back to your room last night, it was already midnight. You'd love to blame it all on Mingyu, but you didn't want to leave either. The longer you could spend time with him, the happier you were. The two of you played again — and this time he actually allowed you the advantage of eight points — betting on who'd reach ten points first. You lost, obviously.

You probably should have been sad you lost, but somehow, you were glad. Because losing and having to keep your word that the winner gets a wish, means you'll have to talk to him again. It means you'll have an excuse to talk to him and get to know him further. The fact you need to fulfill his wish is just a minor disadvantage.

The two of you walked back together, chatting about anything and everything that came to mind. You're not sure how much he remembers, but you told him a lot about yourself and he did the same in return, the questions you've always had for him slowly disappearing just for new ones to appear with every answer. You think it's safe to say you're interested him.

You're not sure when Jake came back to the hotel room, but it was long after you were already asleep. Luckily, he didn't throw up or anything, keeping his promise, but he still ended up hung over in the morning, whining your ears off.

"Is there anyone sober?" Your dad complains. "I don't have players to play with if you guys don't do something about yourself right about," he looks at the watch on his hand to add to his point, "now."

"We are all pretty much sobered up," Seungcheol argues. "My head does hurt though."

You laugh quietly as your dad contemplates his choices to be their coach. "Coach, me and Vernon stopped drinking before midnight, we are good to play."

"I also feel good," Riki pipes up.

"Nishimura, you'll see my daughter married before you play on the court," your dad deadpans and your eyes widen, unsure if you should question what he means by that or laugh at your friends misery.

"I didn't drink anything last night, coach," Mingyu joins the conversation and your eyes find him immediately. He stands with his hands in his pockets, dressed in comfortable gray shorts and a black graphic shirt, sunglasses sitting firmly on top of his head. Have you mentioned yet how attractive he is? Because if not, maybe you should get your laptop and start writing a book about it.

"Exactly why you're my favorite player," your dad snaps his fingers, visibly excited. "We can work with this. Okay, whoever can drive will drive, we'll stop at a gas station and everyone will try to sober up as best as they can. Only if I know no one will want to test you for alcohol is when I let you guys on the court."

A loud, "Yes, coach!" is heard from everyone, making you blink in surprise while Seojin besides you looks pleased, expecting nothing less from their team. When you see the look in his eyes, your eyes soften, a small smile tugging at your lips.

You settle yourself in the passenger seat of your dad's car, Jake and Riki right behind you again. You watch as Mingyu gets into his car, Seungcheol right behind him. Seojin drives Seungcheol's car this time, taking in Jeonghan and Heeseung, while Seungkwan drives Joshua and Hansol in Joshua's car. Every part of you wants to switch with Seungcheol and sit besides Mingyu, watch him drive and talk with him the entire ride, but there's no way you'd be able to do that with your dad around.

Fastening your seatbelt with a heavy sigh, you bring the attention of all three to yourself. Quickly shaking your head when you notice them, you brush them off, claiming you just sighed because you feel tired. As soon as your dad hums and focuses on the road again, you send Dae a quick text about how you'll need to talk with her about Mingyu when you come back before switching chats to the one with Bora you started last night, asking her to wait for you in front of the stadium when she arrives.

Jumping out of the car as soon as it comes to a stop, you join the guys, planning to buy yourself coffee and your dad a soda per his request. You swear it's not on purpose, that you have nothing to do with it, but as you walk you find yourself by Mingyu's side, the two of you trailing together at the very back.

"Hi," you smile up at him. His smile is gentle as he greets you back, his chocolate eyes finding yours with ease. You love his eyes. "Did you sleep well?"

"Surprisingly fell asleep shortly after showering," he nods. "The guys were a mess when they came back, though. Shua and Hee were singing for the entire floor to hear before Hansol and I shut the up." You chuckle at the imagine in your head. You'd love to see that as well. "It was little after three when they got back but they fell asleep as soon as their faces hit the bed so it wasn't too bad."

"How are they even functioning right now?" you ask, more curiously than judging them. Even though, considering the situation, you do hate it on behalf of your dad. Despite them winning the yesterday's game, they still need to do their best today, which is not something that can happen with half of his players under the influence. If anyone finds out, they could be in serious trouble.

"They are used to it," he shrugs. "Not to say they are alcoholics, but it's not the first time celebrations were like this."

"Do you usually no drink with them?"

"Oh no," Mingyu laughs as you enter the store together. "I drink with them way more than not. I just wasn't in the mood last night. And, to be honest, I did not want to risk having alcohol in my system for today's game. I want to be at my best today."

"When are you not at your best?" You mumble, taking a turn to the right immediately to browse the drinks they offer. Mingyu blinks at you curiously, your words repeating in his head. There are a lot of moments he could answer with, but he likes the fact you believe in him so much to think he does no wrong. If anything, it's a great motivation.

"Hand it to me," Mingyu encourages when you reach the counter to pay. You look up at him, eyebrows furrow in confusion as you hold the bottle of coke for your dad. You give it to him hesitantly, watching as he hands it to the worker for her to add it to his bill.

Your eyes widen immediately, "Wait, Mingyu, no, I'm buying that."

"It's fine. Did you want anything else?"

"Mingyu," you shake your head. "Stop buying me stuff every time we stop somewhere," you try your best to sound convincing, but by the lazy scoff that leaves his lips, you don't think you managed anything. "Can you please take it off? I'll pay for it myself. And I'll also get a latte please."

"Add the coffee as well. How much is the total?" Mingyu smiles innocently at the girl behind the counter. He really is no good for you. While you want to keep arguing with him, fight him that there is no reason for him to buy you drinks, the tingly feeling in your chest when he does stops you.

"Mingyu," you try once more.

His gaze drops to you, his smile widening. "Yes, Blue? Just accept the offer when I'm making it, okay? You can buy next time." You both know next time will look the same, that he'll fight you for paying again, but neither of you say anything about it. You sigh in defeat, nodding when the cashier asks you if she should ring him up with your drinks on as well.

"I think you misunderstood the terms of our bet," you mumble as you walk outside again, sipping on your coffee. "Since you won, I'm supposed to fulfill your wish. Not the other way around. There is no reason for you to be doing this."

Mingyu shrugs, not a single care in the world. "I know what we bet on. Trust me, I'll use my wish well when I figure out what I want. But for now, I'm simply bribing my coach by buying him and his daughter a drink."

"So this is what it's about?" You fake gasps and he nods, biting back a smile. "What would happen if he found out you're using me like this? Your good boy image would fall off."

"I don't need a good boy image when I am in fact a good boy," he sends you a wink that makes you feel like your heart will jump out of your chest before sending you off with a grin on his face, getting back to his car.

Kim Mingyu is so terrible for your health.

He is also, apparently, a good boy.

♡⸝⸝♡⸝⸝

Your eyes land on Bora's figure as soon as you step out of the car. You're not the only one looking at her, though. Watching as Seungkwan takes the sight of your friend in with a smile on his face, you have to smile too. They might not know what awaits them in the future, but you can already seem them getting together and being happy. Seungkwan deserves this, and you root for him with everything you have.

"We'll go in first," you wave at your dad, locking arms with the brown haired girl waiting for you. "Let's pick good seats."

"Let's go," Bora nods eagerly.

You tell her about the guys' celebration yesterday and how your dad was pretty annoyed in the morning, not knowing who to send on the court without risking a penalty for a player under the influence. You leave out the fact Mingyu was the only one not drinking because he was with you, shrugging and saying that he probably just didn't feel like drinking when she asks. There is a somehow proud smile on her lips when you tell her that Seungkwan is one of the players ready to play today, making you roll your eyes. She's super obvious.

A part of you wonders if you look the same when you think or hear about Mingyu. If you wear a similarly adorable smile without even realizing. While you have a feeling you do, you hope it's not like this in your case. Because if it is, everyone probably knows what goes on in your head, and that's not something you want.

You find seats in first row this time. It's not that huge of a change from yesterday's game, but it still feels like you are a lot closer to the players. Your dad and his assistant coach are the first ones to appear on the court, quickly finding your seats before settling at their own bench.

"I saw this video last night, I wanted to show it to you, wait," Bora says as she opens her phone quickly, easily getting your full attention again. There is forty minutes until the official start of the match, and you spend the entire time talking with her, barely noticing other people come in and occupy the seats around you. You talk about things you have in common, what interests you, and she also tells you about her family and how she's been into the sport her whole life thanks to her brother. Explaining how you grew up around basketball thanks to your family as well, you bond over your experience all over again. You're convinced you'll keep this girl in your life as long as you can, and you just hope she feels the same about you.

The starting five is different this time, just like you assumed when you saw how Seungcheol was doing. You've seen worse before, but with how tired he seems and how he's been complaining about his head hurting, it makes sense for your dad to swap him out. What you didn't expect was for Jeonghan to be sitting this time as well. He looked fine to you, but who knows what your dad was thinking.

Mingyu, Seungkwan, Hansol, Heeseung and Jake all come onto the court along with five players from the opponent's team, Mingyu taking his place in the middle circle instantly, getting ready for the jump ball. With his tall figure, it's only natural for him to be doing it. Despite other players often being around his height as well, his jump ability gives him the needed advantage. You watch him from your seat, looking forward to the play he shows today.

Waiting for the referee to take position as well, Mingyu takes his time scanning the crowd. He looks at all of their fans, noticing the red color in the audience a lot more than the opponent's green. You matched color to his team today as well. Your jeans are black, the same ones you wore to the game last night, and your shirt red. It's not a bad look, the opposite actually, but it's not blue.

"On three." Mingyu snaps out of it, his eyes immediately flickering to the referee besides him. Nodding, he gets ready, briefly looking at his opponent before focusing his attention on the ball. He doesn't hear the count anymore, only jumping once he sees the ball being tossed in the air. His opponent is shorter than him this time but it doesn't stop him from jumping as high as he can, stealing the ball into his side. He hears your cheers from the side but he doesn't have the time to look, instantly running forward so they can score the first basket.

Becoming friends with a guy you've liked for around a year is not for the weak. It seems like the dumbest thing ever when you think about it, but that doesn't change the fact your heart skips a beat at any and every mention of him.

It was a follow at first. Once you told Dae about your weekend and how you played basketball with him late at night, she immediately encouraged you into messaging him, claiming you should strike the pot while it's still hot. You didn't have the nerve to text him yet, but you sent him a follow, one he returned in the span of a minute. Deep down you know it doesn't mean anything, but at the moment, when the following turned into friends, you couldn't be more excited.

You exchanged simple likes after, a smile on your face every time you'd watch the stories he'd post. It's mostly pics from the trainings or his friends, but a picture of him in the gym occasionally pops up and you're down bad for him again. Even with his forehead full of sweat and tired eyes, he is just as attractive as ever.

Mingyu can't give you a moment to rest, though. So as soon as you started getting used to his notification popping out every time you'd post something — because he apparently is the nicest person on earth and likes everything he sees — he found a new way to get you jumping up from your seat. After posting a picture of you and one of the little girls you met at your internship, holding the drawing she made for you, he popped into your messages for the first time, asking about it.

You spent the next two hours on the phone with him, talking about your internship and all the kids you've got to teach so far, as well as some other things you've manage to learn thanks to your classes. To your surprise, you don't feel nervous at all talking to him. Maybe it's because of the topic, or how excited you always get when someone asks you about teaching. He is eager with his follow up questions as well, reassuring you he truly cares every time he interrupts you to ask something that caught his attention.

When he interrupted your texting by calling you the first time, you almost didn't pick up at time, but the more you talk to him, the more at ease you feel. If you could pick one thing you like the most about him, it would be how important he makes you feel every time.

You stayed on the phone with him until he made it to the sport hall, hanging up only because he needed to change and start training.

Ever since then, the two of you somehow managed to turn your calls into something normal, usually at least texting a few times during the day if you weren't calling later. If someone told you just a month ago that you'd be talking to Mingyu on the daily, you wouldn't believe them. It's something you once dreamed of, so having it now still feels out of this world.

Smiling as you send him a quick message, laughing at the picture he sent of his spilled coffee. Turns out, Mingyu is the clumsiest person you know, stuff like these happening to him on the daily. From spilling drinks, to breaking stuff or bumping into things. You're honestly surprised he is still alive at this point.

He sends you a pouty selfie right after seeing your laughing emoji, your grin only widening. "That's a boy!" Your eyes widen and you immediately turn your phone off, turning around to see Jiho, one of the loudest kids you look after.

"A boy?" Jia peers up instantly, blinking at you curiously. She's adorable, every part of you wanting to tell her all about the boy in your phone when you meet her big brown eyes.

"A boy," you nod. "Just like Jiho is a boy, and like Sunghoon is a boy."

"No!" Jiho argues quickly. "That was a grown boy! Like my dad!" You know he probably doesn't mean it that way, but thinking about how he just compared his dad, who is in his late thirties, to your Mingyu, makes you laugh.

Your Mingyu. You like thinking about him that way.

Before you can blink, a small group of kids surrounds you, all of them looking at you as if you just introduced them something foreign. Awkwardly smiling at them, you search for your supervisor, begging her with your eyes to come and help you out. She just smiles at you from across the room, leaning against the wall in amusement. Taking a deep breath, you prepare yourself for the wave of questions about to come.

"Was that your husband?"

"I don't have a husband," you shake your head quickly, raising your left hand to show off that it's empty. "See this finger? What do we call this finger?"

"The ring finger!" Jooyoung yells immediately.

"Exactly!" You grin happily, proud of her for getting it right. "And since there isn't a ring on this finger, it means I don't have a husband."

"Then it's a boyfriend, right? My sister says she needs a boyfriend all the time!"

"The boy Jiho saw isn't my boyfriend either," you answer her question, trying not to get swayed by the idea. "He is a friend of mine. He is nice to me, which is why I like him so much and talk to him. You guys remember how we talked about friendships last week, right?"

Everyone around nods and you do as well. "Great. Can anyone tell me what a friendship is?"

"When two people share their toys together!"

"When we play together!"

"When we are nice to each other!"

"Yes, yes, precisely," you agree. "So how about you all gather your friends, and go play with them?" It works better than you expected. All the kids glance at each other before running off with a laugh, making you breathe out in relief. You're glad you managed to get out of it so easily.

"That was great," your supervisor, Mrs. Choi, says as she joins your side. Looking up at her from your chair, you offer her a brief smile as well. "You took care of it well."

"I'm sorry for being on my phone while working," you lower your head again with an apology. Truth is though, you don't regret it. You never regret texting Mingyu and learning what he's doing.

"At least say it like you mean it," she scoffs playfully, pulling out a chair besides you and sitting down. "It's okay if you answer some texts when you're not busy, just please don't let it distract you to the point you aren't paying attention to the children."

"I won't," you promise instantly. "It could have waited and that was my fault."

She shakes her head, brushing you off. "Back when I was your age, I also couldn't wait to answer the phone when a boy I liked texted me. And look at me now, I'm still doing the job and I married him," she points to her ring finger. "So believe me when I say I'm okay with you being on your phone from time to time."

"It's not like that," you try to argue, but by the knowing smile she wears you don't think she believes you. To be fair, you don't believe yourself either. Talking to him every day, constantly texting and laughing at things together, it's impossible not to hope for something more. It's incredibly easy to love Kim Mingyu.

"Darling, eyes are the one and only thing that doesn't lie."

♡⸝⸝♡⸝⸝

"Blue."

You're fully convinced you'd recognize his voice anywhere. Looking up, your eyes widen when they meet the chocolate ones you fall in love with every day more and more. "Mingyu?" You blink confusedly, standing up and dusting your jeans off. Glancing at the kids — who are watching you curiously instead of focusing on their drawings — you debate what the right move here is. "What are you doing here?"

"That's him!" You hear Jiho exclaim, quickly grabbing Mingyu's sleeve and pulling him with your outside.

"Woah, woah, ask me out to a dinner first," he laughs but still follows you voluntarily. You don't answer him, not stopping until you are far away from everyone.

"What are you doing here?" You repeat your question, slowly letting go of him.

His eyes briefly fall to the piece of fabric you were holding until now, a move you notice and only makes you more confused. "I texted you but I don't think you saw my messages," he meets your eyes again, an easy going smile on his face as he fixes the gym back hanging on his shoulder.

Pulling out your phone from your pocket, you scan the new messages truly waiting for you. He asked when you finish and if you want to go home together, as well as sending you updates on his position so you know when to expect him. "Shoot," you mutter, apology written all across your face as you look up. He simply shakes his head, assuring you it's okay. "I'm sorry I didn't answer and you walked all the way here for nothing," you frown. "I have another hour left until I can leave."

"I can wait," he shrugs. "I don't mind."

"But—"

Mrs. Choi calling your name interrupts you and you peek over Mingyu's side to see her, quickly apologizing to her for rushing out like that. "It's okay," she shakes her head, a calming sign you saw from Mingyu just seconds ago. "Who may this gentleman be?"

"Kim Mingyu," he introduces himself with a grin, extending his hand forward for her to shake. She gladly does, the knowing smile of hers making you close your eyes in regret. "I'm sorry for interrupting like this. I thought I'd come by and walk her home."

"Oh, please, come inside," she encourages him and your eyes widen. Inside? You can't leave right now, she knows that as well. The kindergarten is opened until three and you just promised the kids you'll draw with them. "I can make you a cup of coffee and you can wait comfortably there. No need to wait outside."

"Mrs. Choi—"

She completely ignores you, nudging Mingyu in while talking about how grateful she is to have you here and is glad you won't have to go home alone. You sigh, watching their backs as they disappear in the door. This could go terrible. You do feel bad about keeping him waiting for you, but you also can't stop thinking about the fact he decided to come here and pick you up, not even batting an eye when he found out he has to wait an hour if he wants to go with you.

With your cheeks flushed and heart beating out of your chest, you quickly fix your hair before following the two of them back inside.

Mingyu is crouching down at the same spot you were when he showed up, a smile on his face and a pencil in hand as he helps Jooyoung draw on her paper. It's not the first time your body has reacted to Mingyu, but it certainly is the first time your ovaries are dancing this much, all because he is doing the same thing you love the most — teaching.

Good God.

"What are you guys doing?" You ask softly, your eyes flickering between the drawing and Mingyu as you gently pat Jooyoung's hair, your other hand resting on Gyu's back instinctively.

"This kind sir is helping me draw a flower," she explains and you laugh when his shoulder's tense at the name.

"Call me Mingyu, hm?" He smiles at her before shooting you a look for laughing at him.

"Mingyu sir," Sujin besides her smiles.

A snicker escapes your lips and you quickly hide your face behind your palms. "Looks like you are getting old, Mingyu sir," you tease, unable to stop laughing.

"Oh yeah?" He taunts, dropping the pencil in his hand on the table and pushing himself up, instantly towering over you. "I'm getting old? Aren't you little daring, miss?" He leans down, his face only inches from yours. It's hot. Is it only you who feels hot right now? Swallowing, you open your mouth in an attempt to answer, but no words leave your lips.

"Ew! Mrs. Choi, they are about to kiss!"

You've never taken a step back as fast as now, forcing more space between you when you hear the complain. You were not just about to kiss him. Definitely not. Just like you definitely aren't staring at his lips, and how it definitely isn't distracting you to the point you don't know where you're putting your foot. Your eyes widen as you step on something, losing your balance.

Fortunately, you don't hit the ground like you expect to. A strong arm wraps around your waist, catching you just in time. He looks panicked, his cheeks flushed and eyes wide as he stops you from falling. Exhaling in relief, he helps you stand on both of your feet again, ignoring all the groans and complains coming from the kids. "You okay?"

"Yeah," you breathe out, trying to blink out of the shock and look anywhere but at him. "Thank you."

"I got you," he smiles again, slowly letting his hand fall back to his side.

You clear your throat, clasping your hands together as you look around the room, refusing to meet eyes with your supervisor, knowing exactly how she's looking at you right now. "Alright, guys! Who wants to have Mingyu give them a piggyback ride around the room?"

Mingyu stares ahead confusedly, wondering if he's heard you right. But when he looks at you and sees the smile on your face as you encourage the first kid to come forward, he can't complain about anything.

It's probably the most you've laughed in a while. Watching Mingyu get dragged around the room, all of the kids wanting to play with him, has you absolutely head over heels. It's adorable, he's adorable. Grinning at you every chance he gets, seemingly proud of how well he is doing, you fall for him again. You're sure a lot of the kids feel the same, refusing to let go of him even when their parents come pick them up. They only let go once he promises to play with them even more next time, and while deep down you know there won't be a next time, his words manage to spark hope in you as well.

"Thank you so much for today," Mrs. Choi smiles at Mingyu warmly, handing him back his sports bag. "The kids really loved spending time with you."

"I'm glad to not have been a burden," he smiles before glancing at you. "It was nice learning what it's like to take care of a group of children like this."

"Hopefully it's not the last time we are seeing you here."

"I hope so too," he nods and you bite back your smile, trying not to show how excited that makes you. "Let's get you home?" He tilts his head and you nod, unable to meet his eyes as you grab the rest of your stuff and say your goodbyes to Mrs. Choi, following him out.

You walk side by side, your hands sometimes brushing each other on the way. Neither of you pulls away though. You try to convince yourself it doesn't mean anything and that he probably doesn't even notice the electricity his touch sends through your body, but it's hard to believe it's all just coincidence. He has to feel something too, right? You don't want to get your hopes up, that's the last thing you'd want, but why would he be doing all this if it was only meant to lead you on?

"You really didn't have to wait for me," you mumble, your voice barely loud enough for him to hear. "I could have just called you once I was done or something. You didn't have to walk me."

"I wanted to," he states casually. "It doesn't bother me at all, Blue," he assures you when he sees the look in your eyes. "I wanted to walk with you so I did what I could to walk with you. Don't even think for a second that you are bothering me or anything like that."

He shuts you up immediately, your lips forming a straight line as you look down at the ground beneath your feet. How does he manage to mess with your head so easily? "You're too good to me," you whisper.

Shaking his head, he allows himself to lace his fingers with yours, careful not to freak you out. Your head shoots up immediately, your eyes finding his in surprise. "If there is anyone too good for someone, it's you, Blue." His eyes drop to your tangled fingers and you do the same. He's holding two of them, his large hands covering them fully. "Who else would sit on a call for hours with me and listen to my ramblings?"

You could name girls. You are certain if he wanted to, he could have any girl he wants doing the same. Loving Mingyu is easy for you, so why wouldn't it be for other girls? "Have I ever told you you confuse the hell out of me?" You slowly lift your eyes again, your expression a mix of happiness and fear. You watch something flicker in his eyes, something you can't name at the moment. It makes him drop your hand, though, and that's all you need to know.

Clearing his throat, he averts his eyes from you, "Let's go. I'm sure you have things you need to do instead of just standing here with me."

A part of you wants to argue with him and tell him that you don't care what you are doing as long as you are with him, but then you remember the look in his eyes and decide not to, nodding instead. "Yeah, let's go," you agree, not waiting for him to lead this time and simply stepping forward. It takes him a second to pull himself again but he catches up to you, doing his best to stay calm in the bothersome silence that embraces you afterward.

The walk isn't exactly awkward, but it doesn't feel nice either. You both feel it. While you gently kick the rocks under you, coming in terms with the answer you just got, Mingyu eats himself alive for his earlier reaction. It was far from what he wanted to do, but he can't figure out how to tell you what goes in his head. For now, he'll just have to hope you don't hate him too much after this.

Despite the way your last real interaction with Mingyu went, nothing much has changed. As soon as you closed the door behind you, finally able to breathe alone, you were convinced that was the end of what you managed to build together in the past weeks. You hated the idea of it, of not spending hours on the phone with him anymore and hearing his voice through out the day, or not being able to text him when something would happen, having to deal with it on your own.

But he never stopped interacting with you like before, constantly texting you and calling you at night to talk about your day. It almost made you feel like he didn't reject you back then.

Almost.

But truth is the memory crosses your mind every time the call gets quiet enough, every time you aren't busy focusing on something and your mind gets a moment to think. You still see his eyes clearly, the fear of what your words mean and the instant pull back when he processed it.

At times, you feel like you are losing your mind thinking about all the moments you thought meant something. They didn't, you need to remind yourself. Mingyu is the nicest guy you know, and even though you don't want to blame him, it's because of that that you're left feeling like this. Maybe if he wasn't so nice, if he wasn't so good for you, it wouldn't hurt this much to admit to yourself it isn't happening.

"You need to stop drowning in that pain," Dae's voice makes you snap out of your thoughts. You turn to face her, forcing a smile on and shaking your head gently. "He wasn't all that anyway," she waves her hand, trying to cheer you up. "If you ask me, Seungcheol — who has been flirting with you this whole time mind you — is much better."

You chuckle, your eyes following hers and locking on the very man you are talking about, his jersey sitting on top of a white shirt that hugs his biceps perfectly as he dribbles across the court before passing it to someone you can't see from your place. "It's all jokingly," you remind her. "You should know that the best, hasn't he been flirting with you? Like, actually flirting."

Her cheeks catch the color red and you already know the answer. "That's jokingly as well," she tries to brush you off. Raising an eyebrow at her, you eye her up and down. "Come on, you know him better than I do. Shouldn't you know he flirts with everyone? I don't need that."

"I do know that," you shrug. "But I still think he flirts a tiny bit more with you. Who knows, maybe if you gave him a shot, the two of you could have something great."

"Sure," she rolls her eyes at you. "Just like—" she stops herself before finishing the sentence, swallowing the rest of her words.

"Just like what?"

"Nothing," she blurts out quickly.

Narrowing your eyes at her suspiciously, you try to see through her. "Were you just going to mention my failed….whatever with Mingyu?"

"No!" She argues.

"You were!"

"I wasn't!" She raises her hands in the air, shaking her head so hard you think it'll cramp soon. "I was just, you know, talking faster than I think. I don't know what I was going to say."

"Sure," you sigh. It's okay if she was going to mention it. She'd only be voicing what you've been thinking anyway.

"Do you want to watch the game? It doesn't look like anyone will come anytime soon so let's just step out for a moment," she suggests, wanting to make you feel better. You hum, standing up from your place and following her out of the stand, settling at the entrance. You see the entire court now instead of just half of it, your eyes quickly scanning the score board before dropping to the players.

They are doing amazing as always. The score is sitting at 64:61, but you have no doubt they'll win. They are your favorite team after all. No matter what happened or still awaits you, your cheers for them won't change. You've been their fan all throughout last year while crushing on Mingyu as well, so why wouldn't you be now?

You watch the exact moment Hansol and Seungkwan get into it, running faster than before and getting past all the blockers with ease. Passing the ball around until they make it under the opponent's basket, it's all perfect. Cheering loudly, you watch as Seungkwan jumps in the air, the ball leaving his fingertips precisely. The ball makes it into the hoop, the score board switching to 66:61 in a second.

It's time to go into defense, but thankfully the guys don't lack there either. Hansol gets to work again instantly, doing his best not to let them get past him. Getting in the player's way, he blocks him until he steps out of the line, the referee's whistle ringing in your ears immediately.

There aren't many referee signs you remember, but the ball going out of the bounds is one of them. He points towards the sideline that was crossed, pointing out the violation of rule eight. Your dad tried to teach you these signs before, but all you ended up remembering was this one and the one for a player taking steps without dribbling. It wasn't like you necessary needed to know them when you were still playing.

Just like that, the ball goes to the Knights again, allowing them the opportunity to make another great play.

Dae besides you cheers when Seungcheol gets the ball, yelling tactics at his team. They are making Mingyu score. You've seen your dad planning enough to know what his words mean. So while the opponents might be confused on what their next move is, you know exactly who the ball is going to.

Seungcheol makes a low pass to Mingyu, who jumps without any hesitance, aiming at the basket before shooting the ball out of his hands, landing on the three point line again. You watch as the ball spins on the hoop, knowing exactly how to make the entire crowd tense. The whole court is silent as they wait if the ball makes it in or bounces off, until a loud cheer erupts in your ears again as the Knights gain three more points.

You watch Mingyu jog to the other side of the court quickly, getting ready to defend. His eyes find you briefly, but you quickly break eye contact, turning around on your heel and excusing yourself so you can go to the toilet. Dae doesn't question you at all, her eyes still glued to the game as you leave to the back.

Despite your heart aching when you look at him, you are still his biggest fan. You think you'll be for a while. Unless he plans to break your heart entirely.

♡⸝⸝♡⸝⸝

Just like you thought they would, the guys won tonight. Celebrations were hard, especially on you with the amount of people needing a drink. But you managed, and an hour after the game finished, you are finally cleaning up.

"What about these?" You ask your dad, holding up the knifes and paper towels left here. There aren't any home games planned for the time being, so there is no need to be leaving your things here.

"Take them to our changing room, there is a box in the back for towels and things like this." Humming, you let him wash the counter as you walk around him, heading straight for the changing rooms. The men's changing room is still where it was when you grew up, remaining the only changing room dedicated to the team. Other teams usually just take whatever room is free when they arrive, including your children teams.

You stop right in front of the door, unable to walk inside when you hear the familiar voice. You don't know if they are changing at the moment or not, but you aren't risking it. Taking a step to the side, you settle besides the door, waiting for the guys to finish before you go put this away.

"Bora is amazing," you hear Seungkwan tell the guys and your lips immediately turn up into a smile. From what you know, they've been talking lately, and you love that they are getting along. The only other pair you need now is Dae and Seungcheol, but that might need a lot more effort than Bora and Kwan did. "She couldn't make it today but I can't wait to see her again next week at the ball."

"Are you two going together?" Seokmin question, the grin on his face obvious in his tone.

"Yeah," Seungkwan answers sheepishly and you cheer internally. You're just as happy to have Bora on the ball as he is. It's something you've been looking forward to for a while.

"What about you?" Jeonghan is asking this time. "Are you coming with Blue or are you both going on your own?"

"Don't call her Blue," Mingyu grumbles immediately. You suddenly feel like you are invading their space. You should go. You should go and act like you never heard anything.

Your feet don't move, though. Despite your head telling you to go, you stay glued in place, unable to leave. "Someone is possessive again," Seungcheol laughs.

"I'm not," Mingyu argues, clearly annoyed. "And she's going with coach, I think. We didn't talk about it."

"Why not?" Seokmin wonders. "You should just ask her to come with you. We all know you'll be together all night anyway. Ever since you started talking to her, you have been unable to be with anyone else."

"You're acting as if you mind," Joshua scoffs. "All his girls are falling at your feet now."

"I know! It's great!"

You should really leave. You aren't supposed to be a part of this conversation. If they knew you are outside the door, they wouldn't be talking like this.

"I don't get why you don't make it official," Jake shakes his head. "It's clear you like her, and we both know she likes you as well, so why are you hesitating so much?"

"Is it because of coach?" Riki adds another question.

"It's not like that," Mingyu finally huffs, the sound of a locker being slammed shut following right after. "We aren't like that. We are friends. That's all there is. We both feel that way, so can you stop saying things like this?" You swallow as you listen to his voice, the last bit of hope you have searching for any sign of him lying as he speaks. "Even if anything you guys think we have going on was true — which it's not — it's not like we'd ever be anything. We have a championship to win. I have a clear goal I need to reach. I can't have anything holding me back. Especially not my coach's daughter."

There goes the last bit of hope you had. It leaves out the window, your eyes closing shut as you take a deep breath. If his answer weeks ago wasn't enough for you, this certainly is. There is nothing between you and Mingyu. Never was and never will be. You are friends at best. Even though you aren't sure if you want that after tonight.

"What are you doing here?" Dae tilts her head confusedly and you finally push yourself forward, quickly walking to her.

"Can you put this inside?" You hand her all the stuff you are holding, only confusing her further. "There should be a box or something in the back. Or maybe the guys know if you ask them." Your eyes flicker all over her, unable to stay focused on one thing for too long. "I'm going back to the stand to check if we got everything and then leave, okay? I'll see you next Saturday at the ball."

"Wait—" She turns after you as you rush off, blinking into the empty space as your back disappears from her sight. You feel sorry for leaving so abruptly, but you need to get home and into your bed. You need to get as far away from Mingyu as you possibly can and do something with yourself so you can act like you didn't just overhear their entire conversation.

"Are you sure you want to be getting ready with me?" You ask again, eyeing Bora from your bed. "Aren't you going with Seungkwan?"

She brushes you off, "I told him we'll meet there. There is no need for us to come together, anyway. And, I want to get ready with you. Do you know how long it's been since I last went out with a girl who wasn't fucking my brother?" You shake your head at her, standing up to help her grab her things. "But if you think fucking my brother might help you stop looking so gloomy all the time, I'm pretty sure he is single at the moment."

"No, thanks," you laugh, hanging her dress on the open door of your room. "But if Seungcheol doesn't dance with Dae the entire night, offer it to her. She'll need it."

"I thought you said she doesn't expect anything out of it?"

"She says she doesn't," you correct. "But I know better than anyone she hopes he asks her out instead of just flirting with her all the time, trust me." Bora sighs, plopping down on your bed. "Don't give me those pitiful eyes," you warn her.

"How can I not? If you didn't want me to hate his guts, you shouldn't have told me what was happening with you and Mingyu. He's an ass!"

"He isn't," you roll your eyes. "I get him, really. It's fine. I never expected anything out of it in the first place."

"Liar," she calls you out. "I saw you when you were telling me about how he makes you feel. Which is even more of a reason for you to be mad at him. You can't just excuse him and act like what he said wasn't terrible. Who does he even think he is?" she huffs and you chuckle, shaking your head.

"Feel free to hate him all you want while I go take a shower, but I hope we aren't still talking about this when I come back so we can start getting ready."

"Yes, ma'am," she salutes, both of you laughing as you leave your bedroom to go to the bathroom at the other side of the hall.

As you stand in front of your mirror, Bora beside you, you feel happy for the first time in the last week. You feel pretty. Your hair falling in soft waves thanks to her help and your brown dress hugging your curves perfectly, you aren't his Blue tonight. You are just you. Your makeup turned out well as well, and you truly couldn't be more excited tonight.

Your cat, Snowy, seems to think the same as he rubs his head against your feet, all loving. You smile as you look at him before checking yourself again, making sure everything is perfect.

While deep down you don't think you look too different from your usual self, Bora certainly does. You are used to her hair being up and her clothes being sporty, so seeing her hair fall down the length of her arms and her body hugged by her purple dress is a blow. You already know Seungkwan will be falling to his knees when he sees her. She is perfect.

"Girls! Let's go!" Your dad calls from downstairs just in time. Bora nudges your side, picking her purse from your desk. You do the same, quickly collecting your phone and wallet before heading with her down. Your dad is already waiting at the door, a smile on his face as he watches you walk the stairs with your friend.

You know organizing this ball with the rest of the staff was hard, so it's nice to see him so happy now. Grabbing your jacket from the hanger, you pull it over your shoulders. "Let's go," you encourage with a smile.

It's not too far from your home, so you all walk together, enjoying the fresh air. The walk back will be perfect for sobering up. You can't wait to get drunk tonight. To be honest, you've been needing it. You need to get some alcohol into your system and enjoy your night freely without wondering what Mingyu is doing or who he's dancing with.

You avoided his calls all week and only answered his messages briefly, so you are hoping to keep that up tonight as well and have fun without him. It'd be great if he'd only leave your head fully and you wouldn't be thinking about him all the time.

You swear you don't do it on purpose. One second you are focused on something and your head is empty, but then you breathe again and he is everywhere, annoying every inch of your mind. No matter where you look, you see him. One night without drowning in pain is all you ask for tonight.

Giving the worker in the dressing room your jacket, you step aside as soon as you are done, waiting for Bora and your dad. You take a look around in the meantime, admiring the decoration. Everything is in the team colors, and it looks amazing with the lights. Red and black line the walls, balloons attached anywhere they could put them and the music from the main hall playing in your ears even out here.

"It looks awesome!" Bora exclaims as soon as you are all together again.

"It truly is," you agree. "You guys did a great job with the decorations."

"It was all the club president," your dad shakes his head. "He made this all happen. I don't think we would have been able to restore this tradition without him."

You can't remember when the last ball organized by the basketball club happened. It was definitely when you were still little, barely paying attention to these things. You are glad they decided to start planning events like these again. You'll have to praise the president for his hard work when you see him later.

"Let's find out table," your dad encourages.

Nodding, both of you follow him into the main hall. "And drinks right after," Bora whispers into your ear, making you giggle. Who cares if Mingyu likes you or not when you have your girls you'll be spending tonight with?

You do. You care. You absolutely do. Because as soon as Seungkwan shows up, he steals Bora from you. They both assure you they don't mind hanging out with you — Bora keeps asking you to stay with them on the contrary — but you know when you are being a third wheel. You'll be happy if they just enjoy themselves. You don't need them to keep you occupied.

You find Dae shortly after, linking your arms with her instantly as she leads you towards the bar, offering to buy the first drink. You don't tell her it's already your second one, grinning as she hands you a shot glass. You grimace as the liquid goes down your throat. Dae has a similar expression, settling the glass down on the bar again.

"Let's dance!"

"I'm not drunk enough for that," you shake your head no, making her roll her eyes.

"Just say you want another drink, no need to find excuses."

You giggle softly, "anything but what we just had please."

You stay near the bar with her, talking about anything that comes to mind while drinking together. You're both just mostly complaining about school, the other nodding in understanding. The only difference between your usual hangouts is the music playing in your ears.

"Have you told her yet about the terrible physics assigment we have for next week?" You look up when you hear Jake's voice as he joins Dae's side. She groans at just the mention of it, making you laugh. "What are you guys drinking?" He wonders, looking at the empty glasses in your hands. You were so busy talking you didn't have time to order another one yet.

"Are you buying?" You raise an eyebrow in question.

"No, but I'm sure you guys can just wink at Seungcheol and you'll have your drinks for the rest of the night secured," he smiles. "You both look amazing, by the way."

"Thank you," you and Dae chant in union, smile spreading on your lips. "You don't look too bad yourself," Dae shrugs and he fixes his tuxedo, suppressing his grin.

You shake your head at him, looking around the room to find the rest of his teammates. Seungcheol is standing with Jeonghan and Heeseung in the line, chatting about something as they wait for their turn to order. "Shall we try our luck?" You nudge Dae's shoulder, her eyes following your line of sight.

You leave Jake behind for now, making your way past the crowd to reach your new favorite players. To be fair, you think that'll be anyone who buys you drinks tonight. As long as that someone isn't Kim Mingyu. In that case, the person buying you drinks won't be your favorite. Not that you plan on letting him buy you any tonight either way. The only plan you have for tonight is to keep avoiding him and forget all about the pain you feel when you think about him with alcohol.

Heeseung whistles as soon as the two of you come into his sight, his two older teammates turning around instantly. Jeonghan offers you a warm smile while Seungcheol's eyes take their time taking all of Dae in. You have to fight back the urge to tell her you were absolutely right about him looking at her differently. While Seungcheol is known to be a flirt, getting girls anywhere he goes, there is a difference in the way he looks at them and your friend.

"Let me see a spin," he grins, raising his hands in the air for the two of you to hold and spin under. You brush him off, shaking your head. It makes him roll his eyes, but both of you know it doesn't mean anything. Just like you know it's not actually both of you he wants to see from the back. Dae doesn't give into his tactics either though, blinking at him innocently as she covers her ass with her hands and slowly turns around. All he can see is her hair, but he doesn't seem to mind that either. "Beautiful as always. The both of you."

"Think you can manage to keep it in your pants tonight, Choi?" Your eyes close shut at the familiar voice. You refuse to look his way, but even then you know there is a beautiful man towering over you.

Seungcheol raises his hands in defense, a lazy smile on his lips. "I was just about to buy them a drink. You don't possibly have anything against that, do you?"

There is a moment of silence before Mingyu grumbles a whatever, cutting in line and finding his place behind Heeseung. You don't acknowledge his presence, standing with your back facing him as you ask Seungcheol for a drink. You catch his eyes flickering between you and Mingyu in a question but you ignore it, pulling Dae into the chat instead.

As soon as you get your drink, you leave the group, heading towards Joshua, Seokmin and Jake, who you catch leaning against one of the tables. Dae follows you, leaving the four guys behind. Avoiding Mingyu means having to avoid some of his teammates at times as well, no matter how much you want to hang out with them.

"Your idea worked," you raise your glass for Jake to see, catching his attention as you join their table.

"Didn't even need to show him my ass," Dae smiles, making you chuckle at the memory of her spinning. "I call that a win."

"No idea why we got blessed like this but I'm glad we did," Seokmin grins, ear to ear.

"Where do you have Hansol and Riki? They are the only ones I didn't see yet," you wonder, looking around the place to prove your point.

"I haven't seen Hansol since we came either," Joshua shrugs.

"Who I've seen though," Jake starts, the smirk on his face telling you he knows something, "is Riki."

"He's with a girl, isn't he?" Dae reads right through him and Jake nods as he takes a sip of his drink. "I think I caught a glimpse of him before."

"He started talking to a girl as soon as we arrived. He wanted to dance and it worked. I left him then because I didn't want to third wheel," Jake explains. You immediately reach your hand to him, offering him a fist bump, saying you understand that quite well. "You know you don't need to third wheel tonight, though, right?"

"What do you mean?" You tilt your head, your eyebrow raised.

"I'm pretty sure there is a guy who is dying to talk to you," Jake points somewhere behind you and you turn around, your eyes widening when you see the group you left earlier. They are in the middle of a conversation and somehow, it's you who Mingyu has his eyes set on. Swallowing a lump in your throat, you quickly avert your eyes.

"We should go dance. You still want to dance, right Dae?"

She nods to your question and you look at the guys hopefully, needing to get out of here. "I'm not risking that," Seokmin shakes his head as he looks at you, his eyes flickering to who you can only assume to be Mingyu. "Seungcheol I'll gladly rile up, though. May I?" He extends his hand towards your friend, palm up. She giggles at his smile, holding his hand in hers and letting him pull her towards the dance floor.

"Guys," you plea, glancing between Jake and Joshua. They lock eyes together, neither one looking like they plan to dance with you tonight.

Jake meets your eyes again, debating what he should do. He is one of your closest friends and you'd like to think he won't let you down like this, but judging by his expression, you can't tell for sure. "Okay, wait here. I'll get you someone who doesn't have anything to lose by dancing with you."

"And what do you have to lose?" You grumble, annoyed. He is already gone, though.

"Don't take it to heart, please," Joshua offers you a comforting smile. "It's not like you did anything wrong, but we don't want to be the ones delivering the final blow. I'm not sure what happened between the two of you," he hesitates for a second, looking at the rest of his teammates, "but Mingyu has been ticked off since you stopped talking to him. It just feels like we are waiting for a bomb to go off."

You blink at him confusedly, your brows furrowing together. "And why would dancing with me have anything to do with it?"

Joshua gives you a knowing look, telling you you know exactly why that's connected. You open your mouth to argue and tell him that it's stupid, but no words come out. Thankfully, you don't have to look at his pitiful expression anymore though, your attention drifting away when you feel someone's hand settle on your lower back. You instantly relax when you see Seungcheol and Jake standing behind you, blinking up at them curiously.

"I told you I'd find you someone who doesn't fear the consequences," Jake shrugs when he meets your eyes.

"They are exaggerating," Seungcheol rolls his eyes.

"Thank you! I think so too," you nod.

Jake and Joshua exchange a look again but you don't pay it any attention, asking Cheol if he wants to dance with you. "I thought you wouldn't ask," he laughs, offering you his arm and tugging you away.

The music is loud in your ears as you sway your hips in the rhythm, laughing. Unlike Jake and Joshua, Seungcheol doesn't make you feel weird about the situation at all, acting as if nothing happened. He makes you laugh and forget about everything, doing exactly what you wished for tonight. You don't think about anything, only focusing on the man in front of you.

Seungcheol's arms stay on you, whether it's on your waist or simply holding your hands in his. You don't mind, barely noticing the touch. It doesn't feel like anything unusual or what you should be paying attention to. The two of you are friends after all.

You keep inching towards him due to the group of guys dancing behind you, trying your best to get further away from them so you wouldn't be bumping your ass into them every time you move. With the amount of space behind Seungcheol, there isn't much to do, the two of you naturally ending up close. You don't think anything of it, but Mingyu certainly can't say the same.

It's one thing for you to avoid him at all cost, but it's a completely different one to be climbing his friend's body while he is forced to watch from afar.

When Jake came to their group, wrapping his arms around Seungcheol while trying his hardest not to make eye contact with Mingyu, he already knew something was wrong. Turns out, everything was wrong. When Jake asked if Cheol would mind dancing with you because you are looking for someone who'd take you for a spin, he wanted nothing more than to interrupt their conversation and say he'll dance with you. Before he could, Seungcheol agreed and left with the younger one, leaving him there with Jeonghan and Heeseung.

Having to watch Seungcheol take your hand in his and lead you towards the dance floor has to have been one of the worst things he's had to see. Well, turns out it wasn't. Watching you actually dance with him and letting him touch you however he wants is much worse.

Gripping the glass of beer in his hands, he keeps his eyes on the two of you, completely ignoring the conversation Jeonghan and Heeseung are having beside him. He honestly could not care less about the training schedules in the upcoming week.

It hurt seeing Seungcheol take your hand and dance with you, but he could live with that. He could bear watching you dance with Seungcheol because you were having fun, and he would never wish to take away your fun. But now, you are just forced to squeeze together with him because the guys around you are being asses and he is sure it's making you uncomfortable.

So, logically speaking, he isn't ruining your fun anymore if you are already uncomfortable.

Plus, he really hates the sight of you and Seungcheol together. Somehow, he thinks if it was Jake in his place, he wouldn't care so much. Maybe because of the amount of times you made it clear to him there is nothing going on between you and Jake. He liked seeing you convince him so eagerly.

Seungcheol's hand slides down your back, resting dangerously low. There is a lazy grin on his lips as he talks to you, and it's the first time he's wanted to beat up his friend so bad. He can't see your expression since you are standing with your back to him, but he can see his friend's hand and that's all he needs. Even if he might be destroying your fun, he'll manage. He'll take whatever you throw his way, whether it may be your screams or punches. He'd much rather have you yell his ears off than continue watching you and his friends climb each other. At least then you'd be talking to him.

"Here, have this," he mumbles, handing his beer to Jeonghan. "I'm not drinking anymore."

Mingyu doesn't wait for his friends' response, not giving a damn if they are watching him or not as he makes his way through the dancing crowd, needing to get to you.

"Hey," he interrupts your giggles, his blood boiling for some reason at the idea of you laughing at something Seungcheol said. Both of you look his way, your big eyes staring right into his. It makes him feel a bit better about the situation for a moment, at least until you avert your eyes again. He wishes you'd look at him for longer than two seconds just once. He's been watching all night, unable to take his eyes off. It'd be nice to know you watch him too.

"Hey," Seungcheol slowly drops his hands to his side, wrapping one around Mingyu's shoulder. Mingyu sends him a glare, not playing with him at all. He snickers when he sees the serious look on Mingyu's face, taking his hand away again. "What are you doing here?"

Mingyu ignores him completely, only looking at you. "It's late, Blue."

You swallow hard upon hearing his voice, closing your eyes as if that'd magically make him disappear. Spoiler alert: it does not. "We should go home."

You frown, meeting his eyes. "We," you point between the two of you, "aren't going anywhere. I'm dancing if you haven't noticed. So if I'm going anywhere with anyone, it's Seungcheol."

"Blue," it comes out as a warning, only making you feel worse. He has no right to talk to you right now. He has no right to command what you do and who you do it with.

"I'm not going anywhere," you state, redirecting your attention to Seungcheol. "Plus, why do you even care?" you huff, resting your arms around Seungcheol's shoulders.

Mingyu's annoyance only grows. Pulling your hand away from the older man, he forces you to look at him again. As soon as he notices the look in your eyes he loosens his grip, allowing your hand to slip away. Fuck. He found another thing he hates more than being forced to watch you be so close with someone else. He absolutely despises how you look at him right now, like he is hurting you.

"Leave me alone, Mingyu," you beg him.

"Please just come with me, Blue," he pleads in return, completely forgetting about Seungcheol beside him. All he sees is you, everything else blurred together and forgotten.

"I don't want to," you whisper, your voice strained as you shake your head.

"Love," he tries again, desperate. His eyes widen as soon as he realizes what he just said, yours not doing any better. He shocks the both of you, but it seems to work as you slowly offer him your hand. He doesn't hesitate for a second, lacing his fingers with yours and tugging you away, as far from everyone as possible.

He only stops once you are standing outside and you slip your hand away again, hiding it behind your back. "I was having fun," you mumble, staring at the ground beneath your feet. "Do you hate me so much? Is that what this is about?"

"I don't like you having fun with Seungcheol of all people."

"Then let me go have fun with someone else!" You look up, locking eyes with him. You hate this conversation with every inch of your being, and you're sure it shows in your expression. You just want to go back and pretend this never happened, that you didn't just give in to him so easily again after everything. You were doing so good. So good. But he just had to ruin it again. He had to remind you he exists. "Since you can't even look at me all night, so why do you even give a fuck?"

"I wasn't able to look anywhere but at you tonight," he corrects you.

"Stop lying to me, dammit! I'm going back there, I'm having a drink, and I don't care if you like it or not!" You huff, turning around on your heel. You don't get a chance to walk away, though, his hand wrapping around your wrist and stopping you. It only takes him one swift tug to pull you flush into him, your hands landing right on his chest to stop yourself from falling.

"Please don't go," he begs again, his voice getting more and more desperate each time. You hate that you know it's coming from his heart, that he needs you to stay here with him and talk to him again. "Can't you just like me for the night, Blue?"

You'd like to blame it on the drinks you had tonight. You'd like to say you're hallucinating things by this point and this entire conversation is just a figment of your imagination, but you know damn well it's not. It's not even the alcohol in his system speaking and making him do dumb things. You hate him. You hate how easy it is for him to make you feel like this. Like you are on cloud nine.

You're lucky he can't see your face. Your cheeks are flushed, and most definitely not because of the liquor you had. You like him much more than he realizes, and you hate that as well. It'd be a lot easier if you knew how to pretend like you don't care, like you don't feel happiness when you are with him, and like his words don't effect you. But truth is, it never sucked more than in the past week when you were repeating his words in your head over and over again.

"Aren't you the one who doesn't have time for relationships?" You mumble. "Who would never date his coach's little daughter because it's not worth it?" You feel his arms stiffen on your back, the realization of what your anger is about settling in. You try hitting his chest, hoping to get him to answer, but your punch comes out more like a gentle nudge.

Tightening his hold, he embraces you in a warm hug. Pulling away from you, just enough to see you better, you are forced to look up at him, your eyes watery. "Is this what's been troubling you?" He asks, his voice gentle. He cups your face, his thumbs slowly stroking your cheeks. "What I said to the guys in the locker room?" He sighs heavily, every regret he felt in the past week regarding you in that little exhale. "I was stupid to think I could ever push aside my feelings towards you and focus on anything but those beautiful eyes of yours."

"Blue, my blue," he continues, refusing to break eye contact with you again. "This past week when you were ignoring me? Was so much worse for me than anything else I ever had to go through. I could not go a single minute without thinking about you, wondering what you are up to, and if someone else gets to enjoy your attention instead."

"That week fucking sucked," you complain.

A tiny smile appears on his lips, "Yeah," he agrees with a nod, his eyes dropping to your lips. "I'm sorry for being an idiot. I'm sorry you had to doubt anything and that I wasn't the one dancing with you tonight. But most importantly, I'm sorry for not realizing how important you are to me sooner." He finished his speech by leaning down and pressing his lips to yours. You melt in his touch instantly, the softness of his lips on yours helping you forget about everything that was bothering you until now.

It's the first time a kiss makes you feel like this — as if the world peace just happened. It's the happiest you've been in a long time, and you cannot express how grateful you are it's with Mingyu of all people. You did think about the slim chance of going home with someone later tonight, but truth is, you couldn't bring yourself to smile at the idea of anyone other than him having you like this.

Mingyu cradles your jaw, tilting your head for a better access. You slowly glide your hands up from his chest, wrapping them around his neck. It's the best kiss you've ever had. Maybe because it's the one you've felt the most during. Jungkook was nice, but he could never compare to how much you love Mingyu.

"Don't go up there again," he whispers against your lips, only to kiss you again. "Stay here with me."

"It's cold here," you tease him, knowing you'd stay anywhere with him right now.

"I'll warm you up," he promises, his hands moving from your face down to your back, feeling your curves before resting on your ass, giving it a squeeze as his lips meet yours again. He needs to get in all the kisses he missed out on by convincing himself you were nothing more than a friend he cared deeply about. He doesn't think it'll be a problem. He is getting addicted to you already, unable to let you go. As much as he loves kissing you, though, he pulls back again. "Please."

You don't answer him right away, looking up at him. He's truly beautiful from up close. Have you mentioned that yet? You don't think you say it enough. The mole on his nose, the brown of his eyes, the lips, he is the definition of perfect. "I can't just leave," you sigh. "I came here with my dad, remember? He'll be looking for me."

"Can we please not talk about my coach while I'm getting hard," he groans, throwing his head back and exposing his Adam's apple. Oh yeah, he is gorgeous.

Your eyes drop down to his crotch, not even hiding it as you gaze at the boner. Oh-oh. "Oh yeah, let's not talk about him," you shake your head.

"My eyes are up here, Blue," he reminds you.

You nod, "I know where your eyes are, Mingyu."

His chuckle bubbles in your ears as he leans down and presses a kiss to the top of your head. "Please, baby. Stay with me just for tonight. Tell your dad you'll stay with Dae and be with me. Let me catch up on what I missed."

Meeting his eyes again, you nod this time. Honestly, you want nothing more than to go with him. Not only because your core is aching now thanks to the outline you got to see through his dress pants, but also because you've been longing for this — to be able to be with Mingyu as more than friends. You want to kiss him all night long, cuddle until you fall asleep, and wake up with him still in the bed. You want to do all the domestic things couples do when they are in love.

A part of you also thinks you need to fully believe it's not just the heat of the moment for him. You need to see it happen with your own eyes before you truly believe there is a future and he won't change his mind later again, remembering where his priorities lay.

"My jacket and purse are still up there," you tell him and he nods instantly.

"I'll get them."

"I can go for it," you argue but he just pins you down with his look, showing you there is no way you are going anywhere right now.

"Please just stay here and look pretty for me, hm? I'll get it. I'll be out before you can start missing me."

That's not possible. You miss him all the time, even when he is right there with you. You don't tell him that, though. You need to keep his ego in check a little, take your time before you show him just how much you love him.

"Mingyu," you call as he jogs away towards the entrance. He turns to face you, his eyes finding yours curiously. "Don't let other girls see that boner, will you?"

He laughs, a sound so pretty you want to keep listening to it. "That's only for you, my love." He adjusts his clothes to prove his point before disappearing inside. You watch the door close behind him, his words echoing in your ears. Tonight will be a long night.

♡⸝⸝♡⸝⸝

You are quite certain your driver hates you. Mingyu managed to not only grab your things, but also call a taxi and find Dae to beg her to cover for you. As he told you, she was dancing with Seungcheol at that moment, so he also had to apologize to him, only for him to brush him off and focus on the girl holding his forearms again. You told him you were glad Cheol got some sense and asked her for a dance as well, which only lead to Mingyu kissing you all over again because he didn't like you talking so much about his friend.

Jealousy looks good on him. So good.

Kissing him back, you held his hand on top of your thigh the entire ride, trying to ground yourself as to not ask him to fuck you right then and there in front of the driver. That'd be embarrassing.

But truth be, you wanted nothing more but.

Mingyu leads you inside his apartment, kicking his shoes off as soon as he steps inside. You bent down to undo your own heels, but he stops you before you can. Blinking up at him, you watch him confusedly before he hooks his hand around your waist and picks you up, throwing you over his shoulder as if you don't weigh anything. A yelp escapes your lips, a disbelieving laugh following right after as you frantically look over his apartment. His hands are wrapped around your thighs as he holds you in place, a clear goal in his mind.

You only get off him once you are in the bedroom, your back hitting the softness of his mattress. Prompting yourself up on your elbows, you watch him from his bed. It's the one place you dreamed about a lot before. It's so much better than you imagined, though. You're not sure if it's on purpose, or if he even realizes it, but his sheets are navy, his room decor matching it. His walls are white, lined with all kinds of pictures and posters of basketball players. If you were to explain his room in two words, you'd use blue and basketball. Your smile grows. It suits him.

Just like the suit he is wearing does. God. As he stands in front of the bed, his hair messy from when you ran your fingers through it as you kissed him in the car, you are unable to look away. "Why am I in my shoes still?" You tilt your head without breaking eye contact.

"Because they look so fucking good on you I need to look a bit more." He doesn't hide how hungry he is as his eyes scan your whole, from your ankles up to your face.

"They are uncomfortable, though," you complain and he doesn't hesitate any longer, climbing onto the bed to you, bending your knees and forcing them up. The bottom of your dress covers your view of him, making you frown. "Mingyu," you call, wanting to see him.

He hums, bringing one of your feet to himself, slowly undoing the heel and slipping it off. You stretch your leg out, clearing your view again. Pressing your foot to his chest, you watch as he wraps his hand around your ankle before dipping under the hem of your dress. He caresses your calf, eyes gazing into yours. Following the same process, he gets your other shoe off as well, releasing you of the pain.

"You look stunning tonight. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner," he presses a kiss to your ankle, looking up at you. You bite back a moan at the sight, shaking your head. "I should have done so many things earlier, I'm sorry."

You don't get a chance to answer before he is scooping you up and pulling you onto himself with ease, putting you right where he wants. This time a moan escapes you as you crash your lips with his, stranding his lap. He groans at your reaction, gripping your ass tightly and helping you roll your hips forward. "I'll make it up to you," he promises softly — a completely different feeling from how hard he grips your flesh. "I'll be so good to you."

His name falls off your lips as you rock your hips on top of him, chasing the well needed friction. "That's it, baby. Take what you need," he coos, lowering his lips to your shoulder. Brushing one of the straps holding your dress off, he replaces the fabric with his lips, pressing kisses to your skin. He needs to focus on something else. But it's hard when you moan into his ear so prettily. If it continues like this, he might as well come in his pants from how you ride his clothed erection.

Your fingers tangle in his hair, pulling him away from your neck so you can look at him. His big eyes stare right into yours, nothing but want behind them. "So beautiful," he praises, pressing his lips to yours. He buckles your dress at your hips, sliding his hands under and gripping your ass again. His fingers toy with your thong, pulling on the fabric and making you moan. "Please tell me you wore this for me," he groans.

You nod frantically. Even though you didn't expect to end up here when you were getting ready, a part of you has been dressing in hopes of him getting to see for a while now. You'd like to convince yourself you wore it so no line would be shows on your dress, but that's not the only truth. If it were, you wouldn't have worn any panties at all.

Maybe that's what you should have went with actually. Right now, as your thong gets soaked in your wetness, definitely leaving a stain on his pants as well, you wish you would be bare.

His name leaves your lips in a desperate plea. You're not sure what exactly it is you are begging for, but you need him. In any way he gives you. He tilts his head, a teasing smirk on his lips. "What do you need, baby? Use your words."

"Need to come," you answer immediately, rocking your hips forward. It's not enough, though. You need more. "Can you please help me," you whine, your head falling to his shoulder, "Please, just this once."

He doesn't need to hear more, throwing you back onto the bed, a needy whine escaping you when you lose the friction entirely. He takes a second to take you in again, your dress bucked up at your hips and your lower half covered in only your soaked panties and stockings. He's going to lose his mind soon. Your messy hair sprawled all over his pillow, your cunt soaked because of him, your lips chanting his name, what could be better?

Settling himself between your legs, he spreads them apart, taking a good look at your pussy. It's embarrassing, your cheeks heating up. You feel hot all over, a shiver running down your spine as he rubs your clit with his thumb. "Just so we are clear," he tugs at the fabric of your stockings harshly, ripping it apart. "We aren't doing this 'just this once'," he states firmly. "I don't think I'll ever get you out of my system again."

You try to cover your pussy with your hands when he tugs at your thong, the fabric sliding between your folds. It's no use though, Mingyu simply shaking his head at your attempt before taking your hands away with his free one. He pins them above your head, taking the opportunity to kiss you again before lowering himself. "Be a good girl and hold them there, will you? I'll make you feel good in return." He waits for your agreement, watching as your nod eagerly.

Smirking, he hooks his fingers in your thong again, pulling it to the side this time. You can feel his breath on your throbbing clit, your hips thrusting forward on instincts. "Tell me what you like, Blue," he prompts as he gives a soft kiss to your clit. "How do you touch yourself?"

When he doesn't move again, waiting for your answer, you open your mouth. "Slow rubs at first," you mumble, raising your head to see him better. He presses two of his fingers to your clit, doing as you tell him. Fuck. It feels way better like this. You are convinced he can read your mind because he is doing exactly what you always do.

"How about here?" He circles your hole with his thumb, looking up to see your reaction. "Do you ever finger yourself?"

"Sometimes," you moan.

He hums back, replacing his fingers with his tongue, licking slow circles around it while his fingers nudge you open. He thrusts two digits inside, curving them in hopes to find your sweet spot. "God," you gasp instantly, clenching around his fingers at the pleasure.

"Not my name," he shakes his head slightly, his lips wrapping around the bundle of nerves and sucking, speeding his movements at the same time. Your head falls back, your back arching off the bed. It feels too good. Your orgasm quickly builds up, your moans filling the room. The sound is a pleasure to his ears, his cock twitching in his pants every time he feels you clench around his fingers or your hips thrust up against him. It's not an exaggeration when he says you're the best pussy he's ever eaten, every inch of his body craving more. If he could, he'd have you laid out on his bed like this forever, eating you as every course of the day.

Your hands shoot to his hair, keeping him close as you feel your orgasm approaching, needing to find that release. He let's you ride his face, his fingers still thrusting into you. It's only when you finish with a loud moan, your legs shaking around him, that he pulls them out, licking them clean while looking at you. "I was going to tell you how fucking good you taste, but where are your hands, baby?" You whine as you quickly pull them away, pinning them above your head, exactly like he put them before. "And to think I had plans with you," he shakes his head, trying to sound disappointed. "But girls who don't listen shouldn't get a reward, should they?"

You whine, shaking your head. You're not sure why, if you're trying to agree or argue with him. His voice makes you wet all over again, the fact you just came doing nothing to stop how much you want him. "Please, Mingyu," you beg, desperate to get more, just one more orgasm. "I'll be good. I'll be such a good girl for you."

Oh fuck me — is the only thing Mingyu can think about as he looks at you, his eyes rolling back as he listens to you. It's safe to say he is addicted. How could he not be? He seriously believes everyone who let you go before was an idiot, as much as he appreciates they did because now he gets to be the one seeing you like this. His Blue. Oh how he loves the sound of that. "How could I ever say no to you?"

Finally taking off your clothes fully, you lay in front of him naked, your eyes glued to him as he stands in front of the bed, undoing his tie. You've never seen anything more attractive. Dipping your hand between your legs, you rub your clit slowly. His eyes fall down to your hand instantly, enjoying the view as he takes off the rest of his clothes, peeling off layer by layer.

He takes his time, teasing you while you desperately finger yourself in a poor attempt to reach your orgasm again. It doesn't feel as good as when he did it, though. Your fingers don't feel like enough, sad whines leaving your lips. "Oh, baby," he coos, joining you on the bed. "Do you want one more that badly?" You nod, unable to answer with words.

You take your chance as soon as he is close enough, your free hand reaching for him, wrapping around his cock. You had no doubt he'll be big but getting to feel him for yourself makes it so much better. Rubbing your thumb over his tip, you blink up at him to see his reaction. "Blue, if you want me to fuck you tonight you need to stop or I'll come before learning how it feels like to have you on my cock."

Your eyes roll back at his words, your hand not doing anything to stop. You jerk him off slowly, your legs wrapping around his hips to bring him even closer. "My needy little girl," he shakes his head, leaning down to press his lips to yours. You stop moving your hand, only holding him now before he takes your hand in his and brings them up. "Play with your boobs for me."

Listening to him, you pinch your nipples with your fingers. "You're so beautiful," he praises, kissing your cheek before moving down. He presses a kiss to your neck, to your breast, to your arm, to your belly, even to your thigh. He doesn't kiss where you need him the most, though, only teasing your further. He wraps his hand around his length, slapping his tip against your clit a few times. His eyes flicker between your pussy, to your chest, and then your face, trying to remember everything about this moment as well as he can.

"Mingyu, please," you cry, squeezing your boobs while thrusting your hips forward. Chuckling, he reaches into his nightstand, pulling out a condom from the first drawer. Your quickly wrap your hand around his wrist, stopping him before he can open the wrap. "I'm, uh, I am clean. I haven't been with many people before. I'm not on birth control but I could," you avert your eyes from him, embarrassed now that you started talked. "I could get the after pill in the morning. If you want."

"Are you sure?" His eyes widen, his hand holding your chin instantly and making you look at him. "There is no pressure here," he assures you. "I'm perfectly fine with a condom."

You shake your head, biting your lower lip nervously. "I want to feel you."

"Fuck," he groans, throwing the condom somewhere on the floor as he steals a kiss from you again. "I've never fucked without one before," he whispers between kisses, absolutely drunk on you.

"But you would with me?"

"My love, you are the only girl I'd want to feel bare," he proclaims, aligning himself properly without breaking the kiss. You feel his tip slide into you, your mouth falling open at the sudden stretch. "I got you," he promises softly, brushing your sweaty hair out of your face while slowly thrusting into you.

He takes his time, not wanting to rush anywhere. You feel incredible.

You think the same way, your eyes rolling back as your walls wrap around his cock, feeling every one of his veins. You're starting to understand why people don't use condoms. You never imagined you'd go without one, considering you aren't on the pill, but you wouldn't change it for anything now that you know what it's like. If there is anyone you'd risk it for, it's Kim Mingyu either way.

His left hand slides down your sides, feeling every inch of your body. You are sweating, but so is he. "I love these curves," he tells you, squeezing any flesh he can find. "I love these lips," he kisses you to prove his point. "This brain of yours, these hands, this soul, this fucking pussy," he thrusts into you harshly, groaning at the same time. "God, I love you, Blue."

Your back arches from the bed, your moans growing louder. You don't think you can tell him now, not even sure if he means what he says at the moment, but it's exactly how you feel. You definitely love him, there is no questioning that. You'll tell him another time for sure. You'll tell him exactly how much he means to you once your mind isn't fully occupied by his dick.

You run your hands down his back, leaving your prints as you slide your hands down until you get to his ass, holding it as he thrusts into you. "I'm going to spill all over you," he groans between thrusts, his movements becoming sloppy as he gets close to his orgasm. "Fill you up so nicely, hm?"

"Yes," you gasp, nodding frantically. The idea itself makes your head spin, and while you are in no way ready to have a baby and definitely will get the pill in the morning, Mingyu filling you up with his cum just made it to the top of your to do list. Your heels dig into his lower back, making it impossible for him to pull away — which you both know he doesn't want to do anyway.

"Get you pregnant," he moans at the thought, caressing your belly with his hand, feeling himself thrust into you. "Fuck, you'd look so good with my baby."

"You want to put a baby in me?" You blink at him prettily, rolling your hips forward to reach your orgasm as well. He curses under his breath, claiming your lips in his. He doesn't need to say it because you can see it in his eyes that the answer is absolutely yes. God, how you'd love to have his kid in a few years. "So close," you moan as he pulls back, feeling your orgasm approaching.

"Me too, love," he tells you, running his hand down to your clit, rubbing circles around the sensitive bundle to help you.

It doesn't take much longer for the two of you to come together, Mingyu's cum covering your inside white just like he said he would. You're so fully, your breath heavy as you ride out your high. He lets you, holding you through it before pulling out, running his fingers through his hair to get the sweaty stands off his face.

"You did so well," he praises with a smile on his face, kissing you so lovingly you fall for him all over again. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you keep him close as you kiss him back, melting into his sheets. "Let's get you washed up, hm?" He nudges his nose with yours. You don't think words could ever express how he makes you feel. He makes sure all the doubts you could possibly have are gone, his gentle touch and words grounding you in the exact way you need.

You nod to him and he scoops you up with ease, one of his hands under your thighs and the other holding your back. Wrapping your arms around him, you hold onto him tightly while he carries you into his bathroom, sitting you on the edge while setting the temperature. "I'll get you some clothes. The water is warm enough so you can get in if you want. I'll be right back here." You nod, watching his naked butt as he leaves the bathroom, closing the door behind himself to prevent the warmth from escaping.

You take a look around his bathroom, around his products in the shower and the interior, smiling. It's exactly how you expected. No three-in-one shampoos or questionable laundry products but genuinely good stuff instead, fragrances and everything organized. You wonder if he realizes his towel is also blue. Chuckling, you turn around on the edge of his tub, slowly getting in. You let the water fill it up slowly, closing your eyes and letting yourself relax.

When the door opens again, Mingyu is still naked. Holding a shirt and a pair of his boxers in one hand, he loads the washer with his dirty sheets with the other one. You watch him from the comfort of his tub, leaning your chin on your arm. He's got an incredible body. Broad shoulders, pretty back, pretty ass and legs. He is absolutely perfect. He smiles at you, his grin full of genuine happiness. Returning his smile, you scoot forward to make space for him, waiting for him to join you.

He sits behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you into him. You lean back against him, closing your eyes again. "Thank you for being so great," you whisper into the silence.

He shakes his head, pressing a tender kiss to the top of your head. "Thank you for not giving up on me."

Mingyu helps you wash your hair as well as clean your whole body off, his touch nothing but gentle. He kisses you all over, whispering praises from the bottom of his heart. He wraps you in one of his shirts as soon as you're dried off, not wanting you to get cold. It's big on you, enough for it to be the only thing you could wear, but you reach for his boxers as well either way. He looks like a little boy who just got his birthday present when he looks at you in his clothes, needing to hold back not to take you all over again in his bathroom. He has to remind himself he'll have more time for that later, helping you sit on his washer instead so he could dry your hair.

The sheets are already changed when you leave the bathroom again — the reason he took a while before joining you in the bathroom, you assume. There are still blue, though, and it makes you smile. Falling into his bed, you feel on cloud nine instantly. He joins your side, letting you lay on his arm while he hugs you with the other one, embracing you in a hug. His blanket is warm enough to make sure you don't get cold during the night, but you can't say you would complain about his way of keeping you warm. Resting your head against his chest, you fall asleep to the soft sound of his breath, already looking forward to the next days you'll be spending together.

You love your boyfriend. You haven't been able to tell him yet, but you absolutely do. And now, seeing the flowers in your hands, you are sure to tell him the next time you see him.

There weren't any questions or doubts about where the two of you stood the day after the ball, Mingyu apologizing all over again in the morning over breakfast before asking you if you'd be his girlfriend. You couldn't say no even if you wanted to. He got you flowers as he walked you home later that afternoon, forcing you to come up with a bunch of excuses when your dad saw you holding a bouquet of tulips.

It's been a month since then, and it's now the third bouquet you received. It's lilies this time around, and they are absolutely beautiful. He had them delivered to you shortly before his training, after your dad was already out of the house thankfully. You have not been able to stop smiling since then, rereading the messages he sent you before he needed to go.

Who knew a twenty-eight year old could be so sappy? He is adorable, acting like a teen in love for the first time at times. But those moments are often quickly suppressed by him reminding you he is older after all, taking care of you in any and every way before you can even realize you're in need of something. From checking on you all throughout the day and sending you food when you don't have the time to make something for yourself, to making as much free time as possible for you. You see each other often, but it still doesn't feel like enough.

You sometimes just lay in his bed, studying, while he does his work out, or the two of you go out together, taking a stroll around as a form of break. He always knows what you need, and you're incredibly grateful to him for that. You haven't been able to see each other in the past week at all due to your schedule crash, but it's okay. You can't possibly complain when he is so in love he just sent you flowers just because he could.

Replacing your old peonies with the lilies on your bedside table, you smile before resting in your bed with your study materials, ready to dive into work again.

It's shortly past eleven when your phone starts blowing up. Frowning, you almost kick your cat off your bed as you turn around to shut it down. You were just about to fall asleep, finally in the right position, but someone just needed to make your night worse.

Or in this case, actually, better.

You peek one eye open to see if it's anything important, blinking confusedly at the bunch of messages and missed calls from Mingyu. You sit up straight, rubbing your eyes with the back of your hands before looking at your phone again. You don't even read what he said, immediately dialing his number to see what's going on.

It rings twice before it stops and his voice comes through, "Come open the door so I don't have to climb through the window like some fucking teenager."

You blink confusedly, his words slowly turning around in your head until they clock together. "You're here?"

"Not reading my texts anymore? Is this the 'I hate my boyfriend' I've seen around?"

"No!" You quickly shake your head as if he could see you, quickly getting from your bed. You don't bother sliding on your slippers, rushing out of your room barefoot. Snowy looks up to see what you're doing but doesn't follow you downstairs, staying in your bed.

Mingyu laughs on the other side of the phone while you run down the stairs, doing your best to stay quiet and not wake up your dad. You open the door, finally exhaling as you look at your boyfriend standing outside. His eyes trail down your figure, his smile widening as he takes the sight of you in. He hangs up the call without averting his eyes from you, enjoying the view you provided him.

It's only then that you realize what you're wearing — a baby blue tank with lacy lines and matching shorts. You clear your throat, stepping aside so he could walk in. "What are you doing here?" You wonder, covering your chest by crossing your arms over it.

He raises a questioning brow at that. "You do remember the fact I saw you with less on, right?"

"That's different, though," you mumble and he shakes his head.

"Would you rather I take it off then?" He crosses the space between you, closing the door on his way. Not waiting for your answer, he cups your cheek and presses his lips to yours in a greeting. "Hi."

"Hi," you smile. "I was just about to fall asleep. I almost didn't even know you were here."

"It's eleven," he states, as if you weren't already aware of that.

You shrug, "I was tired."

"I'm sorry for keeping you up," he finds another excuse to kiss you. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," you kiss him back, your hands falling down to your sides again before lacing with his. "Are you going to stay with me?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Always," you assure him.

Leading him upstairs again, you keep your hands locked as you walk through the hall. You are quick to lock your bedroom door just in case, not taking any chances. It feels weird sneaking around like this when you are a grown adult, but it's the only option you see at the moment. You don't want to be explaining to your dad you are dating his player just yet.

"There's my little guy," Mingyu lets go of your hand as soon as his eyes land on your cat sprawled out on your bed. You watch him lovingly as he pets his head, rubbing the top of his head. Snowy isn't the biggest people loving cat, and often takes time to warm up to others, so seeing him lean into Mingyu's touch makes you smile. It may be because of how tired he is, but you like thinking it's because he knows Mingyu is a good guy. "Were you keeping my girl company while I was busy? Yeah?"

"He seems to like you," you whisper, wrapping your hands around his waist from behind.

"Your family seems to do that, yes," he grins.

"Don't ruin it for yourself."

"I couldn't." Turning around, he stands face to face with you again, sitting on the edge of your bed and resting his hands on your sides. You stand between his spread legs, cupping his face as you gaze into his eyes. "Hi," he smiles again.

"Hi," you smile back, leaning down to give him a kiss. It's tender and sweet, conveying exactly how you feel having him in your room.

Mingyu's hands slide under your tank, needing to feel your skin on his fingers. You let him, melting into his touch instantly. You seem to do that a lot. In return, you slide your hands under his shirt as well. Unlike him, though, you take the fabric off, dropping it to the ground. "Take your pants off."

His smile turns teasing, his hands dropping to the waistband of his pants without a second of hesitation. "Do I get to see you naked in return or is it only you having fun tonight?" He pushes the pants to the floor and you roll your eyes.

You don't answer him, walking around him to the other side of the bed. You can feel his eyes on your ass as you walk, your smile growing. You lift the covers, sliding under them without another word, ready to go to sleep. Snowy gets up at the same time, looking offended as he jumps down. You chuckle at his reaction. You barely brushed him as you got into the bed, but he seems to have taken that as a hint to get off either way.

"That was mean," Mingyu complains, and you're not sure if he's referring to your cat or the fact you left him sitting in just his boxers, expecting something more.

"You should get used to it," you tell him simply, closing your eyes. You can't suppress your smile as he slides under the covers with you, his hands finding you instantly. He pulls you flush against him, your legs tangling with his.

"Good night, baby," he whispers, kissing the top of your hair. You relax in his hold, resting your head against his bare chest.

"Hey, Mingyu?"

"Hm?" He hums back without moving an inch.

"I love you."

You don't need to look at him to know he is smiling, his hold tightening.

"Hey, Blue?" You hum in response, knowing where this is going. "I love you."

♡⸝⸝♡⸝⸝

You're the first one to wake up in the morning, which isn't a surprise to you. Mingyu likes to sleep in, just like he likes staying up late. You fell asleep almost instantly after, the last thing you remember being Mingyu's lips on your shoulder. You turned your back to him while trying to find the perfect position, and he immediately used that opportunity to brush aside your tank top stripe and kiss your skin all over. It was easy falling asleep like that. You couldn't guess when he fell asleep, but hopefully it didn't take him too long.

You slip from his hold, taking a minute to wake up properly as you sit on the edge of the bed. Mingyu is sleeping soundlessly, hugging the blanket. Snowy jumps up to join him as soon as you make the space for him, glancing at you briefly before cuddling up to Mingyu's side.

"You like him a lot, huh," you whisper, rubbing him behind his ears before standing up.

Your dad is already awake as well when you get downstairs. "Good morning!" You call to him, disappearing into the kitchen. You hear him greet you back from the living room, the sound of his favorite video game playing on the TV. You look through the cabinets and fridge, trying to figure out what you should make for breakfast. You have no idea when Mingyu will wake up, so it makes it harder to decide.

You eventually take out a few eggs and bacon from the fridge as well as the toast from the cabinet. You'll just wake him up when you come back up. Hopefully, he won't mind. You move around the kitchen while listening to your dad play his game, humming to yourself. There is still a huge problem waiting for you, but you're choosing to leave it up to your future self to somehow sneak Mingyu out of the house.

You finish planting everything, taking the two plates out of the kitchen with you. But because your luck apparently sucks, your dad is on his way to the bathroom at the same time, eyeing you confusedly upon seeing how much food you're taking upstairs.

"I'm really hungry," you blurt out quickly. "I didn't have dinner last night so I'm starving right now."

"Why didn't you put it all on one plate?" He questions, trying to understand your trail of thoughts.

You shrug, trying to stay as casual as possible. "I'll wash it later, don't worry." He simply shakes his head at you, brushing you off and going upstairs first. You feel the weight lift off your shoulders instantly, relief washing over you. That's one question out of the way. You jog up the stairs after him, disappearing in your room while your dad goes to the bathroom.

As if he could read your mind, Mingyu is already awake when you come in. He is sitting in your bed, his clothes still on the floor and Snowy still on his side. He has one hand on your cat, rubbing the spot behind his ears while scrolling on his phone with the other, his eyes lifting up when he hears the door closing. "Good morning," you greet him, crossing the room and handing him his breakfast.

"Good morning," he leans over to kiss you.

You sit between his opened legs, resting the plate in your lap. "I just had to explain to my dad how it totally makes sense I'm eating two portions," you sigh.

"Yeah? Did he believe you?" He wonders, taking a bite. "This is really good!" He signs.

You roll your eyes at his reaction. "Eggs," you remind him. "There is no way you just complimented the way I make eggs." Kim Mingyu, who is the greatest cook you know right after your dad. Yeah, right.

"What?" He shrugs. "I'm a simple man."

"You're an idiot," you shake your head, taking a bite yourself. "I don't think it even crossed his mind I might be hiding a boy in my room at my age, so I think we are good."

"At your age," he repeats with a laugh. "Do you feel old or something, baby?"

"I feel quite annoyed if you ask me," you nudge him with your feet, only for him to nudge you right back. Your morning is already filled with giggles and playful fighting as you eat your breakfast together, reminding you how much you love this man.

"I forgot to ask," the door of your rooms comes to an open, your dad's face falling into your vision. Right. "Did you get the message about Saturday's schedule—" he stops mid sentence as his eyes land on you and Mingyu in your bed, his bare chest on full display and his clothes on the floor. You close your eyes shut, regretting not locking the door after you came in.

You knew there was going to be a time he'd find out, you just didn't want it to be now. Truthfully, you liked having him just to yourself. Being able to live in this little bubble with just you and him without everyone knowing. Dae knows, of course. After covering for you the night of the ball, it was only natural for her to ask a bunch of questions, questions you didn't feel like lying about. Most of the guys probably have an idea as well, but that's all. Other than that, it was just you and Mingyu living in your own world, and you liked that.

"Yeah, Saturday, the, uh, men tournament. I got it. I said I'll be there," you answer as if nothing happened.

Mingyu clears his throat, glancing between you and your dad. "Good morning, coach." He sounds awkward, which you certainly don't blame him for. Closing your eyes shut, you run through all the possible worst case scenarios that could follow. You just hope he doesn't take it out on Mingyu and bench him for the rest of the season.

"Mingyu," he blinks, finally acknowledging his presence. "Do I want to know what you're doing shirtless at my house so early in the morning?"

"Having eggs?" He raises his plate to prove his point, looking at you for some sort of help when your dad's eyes stay locked on him. Mingyu sighs when your eyes tell him you have no idea what to do, deciding to take it into his own hands. "I came in last night because I missed my girlfriend, coach. I'm sure you know how busy her classes have been keeping her lately. I slept over, and I'm sorry for not saying hello earlier?" He offers a sheepish smile, one that might work on you but you're not sure will have the same effect on your dad.

"You looking to end your career anytime soon?"

"If I have any say then no, sir," Mingyu shakes his head instantly. "I want to keep playing."

"So no pregnancy leaves or anything like that?"

"Dad!" You yell immediately.

"What? I need to make sure one of my best players isn't looking to quit when we just gained him last year," your dad shrugs as if it was the most obvious thing.

"I'm not planning on doing that anytime soon," Mingyu assures him and your dad nods, his eyes briefly flickering between you and him before sighing. He turns on his heel, ready to leave the room again. You blink confusedly. That went a lot better than you expected.

"And Mingyu?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Wear your clothes, will you?"

It's cold today. The goose bumps on your arms only prove that. You regret not bringing something warmer with you as you stand in front of your shop, watching the game from the entrance before your snack bar. The only thing making it a little easier for you is the fact you catch Mingyu's eyes every once in a while, his smile widening every time he is reminded you are wearing his jersey number on your back.

Dae called you out on it as soon as you came in before the game started, teasing you the entire time. You couldn't even care. Not when you are this proud to be wearing his number on your back while he keeps winning all his games, getting closer to his goal.

The crowd is buzzing with excitement, cheering loudly for both teams on the court. You and Dae aren't far behind, screaming your lungs out as well. You were a little scared before when you saw the change in the core five, but Riki and Jake are doing perfect in the game so far.

People keep coming in and out, but Dae takes care of most of their orders, allowing you to keep watching the game. She excuses it with the fact you'll have more to do once the game is over, but you know deep down she's doing it because she simply wants to give you the opportunity to watch them.

"If it isn't the new Mrs. Kim." You glance at the customer beside you, offering an awkward smile. He used to play with your dad when you were little, but it's been so long you can't remember his name. "He is doing great today. I'm sure your dad is proud to have him in the family."

You clear your throat, glancing at Dae for some sort of help. She only gives you a look, one telling you she finds this just as weird. "We, uhm, definitely aren't at that stage yet," you shake your head, joining Dae behind the counter and taking your position. "I'll let him know you think he played well today, though. I'm sure he'll appreciate that."

He brushes you off, "No need. We are all waiting to tell the team ourselves how well they are doing once they win." There is no doubt in his voice about how today's game will turn out and it makes you smile. You know they'll take the win as well. Despite it being a tie right now, both teams at their best, you don't question them even for a second. "You should come with us later. I heard there is a ceremony drink ready for the team."

"I don't know if we'll be able to," you turn him down gently. As much as you'd love to go for a drink with the guys once the game is over, it's not like you can when you're behind the bar, being the provider of their alcohol. "Maybe next time."

You serve him a beer, waiting a bit after he leaves before going to watch the game with Dae again. 68:63 for the Knights. They scored four more points while you weren't looking, and it makes you so much prouder. They got this. Just five more minutes like this and they'll have their spot in the finale guaranteed. You cheer as loudly as before, if not louder.

Watching the game, you realize how much you truly missed the sport. You can't say you'd want to be in their spot again, but you love watching the game and cheering for the team, cheering for your boyfriend. It feels great.

The entire crowd erupts at the buzzer beater, all the guys running together to the center, huge grins and loud noises filling your ears. They won. 81:79. It was Seungcheol scoring the final two points, and you don't think you've ever seen Dae more excited about the game than at that moment. She's been learning the rules lately and understanding the principles more and more every time. And while she says it's because she realized it's more fun when you know what's going on, you know a certain captain has his hands in the sudden change.

You both clap as best as you can while the guys hug themselves, pulling your dad in as well. It makes you laugh seeing them practically drag him down. Your eyes flicker around all of them, trying to find the number 17 you're the most excited to see. You frown when you don't see his messy hair anywhere, standing on your tip toes in an attempt to see better.

Your vision is quickly clouded with the image of a red jersey though, your eyes trailing up his body until they finally lend on the chocolate eyes you love so much. "Hi," he smiles sweetly, all sweaty and his hair sticking to his forehead.

"Hi," you greet him back, unable to hide your smile.

"That's my number you're wearing," he points out, his grin as big as yours.

"Oh? This thing?" You turn around to show him your back with his name on it. He's seen the jersey many times already, but his reaction never changes. "I just threw something on."

"The prettiest shirt ever," he crosses the space between you, wrapping his arms around your waist as he pulls you in for a kiss. By the sounds around, there are already people coming in to order a drink, but he doesn't care at all, keeping you as close as he can. "My name looks perfect on you."

"I've been told," you giggle, your palms pressed against his chest. "Pretty sure someone told me just last night."

"Must have been a genius," he hums, his hands sliding down to your ass and giving it a tight squeeze as he kisses you again, just because he can.

"Celebrate on your own time." There is a slap coming to Mingyu's shoulder, one you know is encouraging as soon as your eyes land on Bora.

"I can't. I'm too impatient," Mingyu argues, offering Bora a soft smile. You tap his chest with your palm, bringing his eyes to yours again. He sighs when he realizes what you want, stealing one last kiss from you before taking a step back.

"Go celebrate with your team, this is big for all of you," you nod your head towards the rest of the guys still on the court.

He doesn't even glance their way, keeping his eyes on you. "I was celebrating with my team before I was interrupted." You roll your eyes at him despite finding him adorable.

"Ignore his corny ass," Bora shakes her head, but the smile on her face as she wraps her arm around your shoulders tells you just how much she loves this for you as well. "There is a line of people waiting for a drink, and I'd love to use my friend card and cut in line, so hurry."

You laugh with her as you walk to the bar, glancing over your shoulder at Mingyu once more. He is still watching you, so you take the opportunity and pull your head to the side, showcasing him the name on your jersey once more. He is right, you also think Kim looks great on you.

⋆✶ izzy's tags @beomiracles @adel222 @liaatiny @cherrylovescheol @bamgeutsz @codeinebelle @livelaughloveseventeen @xylatox @cristy-101 @assoulacaratassil @ladytree @nonuverse @fairyprincesslvr21 @cheolcheolieee008 @yvampyr @bramos91 @amisuh @lunaxgyu @livmarauder @evemds @nanilis ✶⋆ want to get notified? join taglist here!

[gentleisa]

crumpled paper and metal stars - l.sk (teaser)

pairing: grad student!seokmin x grad student! fem reader genre: grumpy x sunshine, angst, university au, cohorts to lovers, fluff, secret relationship and the angst that comes with it, anonymous confession rating: 18+ warnings: alcohol, seokmin is the grumpiest (lowk to the point where he's an asshole), mentions of academic burnout, mentions of a sick parent, suggestive scenes wc: teaser - 3.5k | total - tbd summary: Your second semester of grad school has begun. Everything should be relatively easy, you've completed a semester and most of the people in your cohort adore your kindness and sunshine like disposition. Just as you're getting settled, an anonymous post ignites your semester. Instead of an easy sixteen weeks of learning, you're balancing teaching, a post that has the attention of literally everyone, and the personification of a gray cloud: Lee Seokmin.

FULL FIC COMING: JULY 10 2026

author's note: this is a teaser for my fic for the SVTFLIX collab hosted by @100vern. i am super excited for seokmin's debut on this blog. not beta'd sorry! inspired by the k-drama: dear.m

Pre-Semester Prep

You normally plan your schedule better but a dead phone results in you hopping straight off a plane to attend a cohort meeting a week before the semester starts. You're trying to conceal how out of breath you are as you lean against the wall in the back of cohort leader's office. Your neck appreciates the cold wall behind you and gradually you feel your heart regain its normal pace. Shotaro, another student in your cohort, gives you a slight wave when he notices you. You're about to return his gesture with a hello but then your cohort lead claps her hands together to gather everyone's attention.

"Alright, I think we can get started. Welcome back! I hope your winter break was rock solid". A collective mix of groans and giggles ring across the room. You make eye contact with your cohort leader and you shoot her a thumbs up as a means of encouragement. She continues through announcements about department funding and you aren't really paying too much attention until she mentions Teaching Assistant roles.

"Lastly, the assignments for the classes that you'll be assisting in this semester will be emailed by the end of the day. Meetings with your working professor should happen before the end of the week." She claps her hands together, signaling that the meeting was over and you saunter over to Shotaro. He envelopes you in a hug and asks about you about your break. You divulge all the details of your winter break as the two of you walk to the cafe across the street from your department building.

When you walk in, there's a table of your friends who flag you down when they notice the two of you. Warm greetings and hugs are shared within the group. Shotaro walks over to the counter and orders for the both of you, while you catch up with the others at the table. A feeling of deja vu falls over as you recount the details of your winter break. Shotaro returns with your iced London Fog, chastising you for drinking a cold drink even during the winter.

"I like what I like Taro, sue me!" You say with a shrug and everyone at the table laughs. Everyone is wrapped in their own conversations, including you, when all of your phones collectively buzz. You're the first to read the notification and announce to the group that TA assignments were out. Everyone scrambles to look at their phones. There's a bit of silence before they all starts reacting to the email. You're still scanning the email and then you finally see your name.

You try to hide the smile on your face when you read the little asterisk at the end of the email, but Shotaro immediately notices and nudges you.

"What's with the smile Y/N?"

All the eyes at the table have looked up from their phones and turned to you. The smile that was hiding breaks out when you tell everyone that you were assigned as a Head TA with Dr. Choi. Oooohs and claps ring around the table for you. Jeonghan, who was sitting across from you, lets out a whistle and gives you a high five when he realizes that the two of you would be working together again. He goes back to read the email and then he makes a face.

"What is it Jeonghan," you ask earnestly.

He bites his lip and shoots out a lie that it was something else. But you know him well enough to tell when he's lying. The two of you were in the same seminar in your first semester and spent enough time to be able to call his bluff the way you are right now. This captures everyone's attention and soon the two of you are being pestered to read out the list of TA's for Dr. Choi's class. Not seeing what the big deal is, you unlock your phone and start listing out the names.

"Chaewon." Everyone has nothing but nice things to say about Chaewon. You've seen her at department meetings and mixers. You don't know much except for the fact that her focus is in evolutionary biology.

"Chenle." The same thing as Chaewon, any person who knows him has nothing but nice things to say. You know that Chenle and Shotaro are quite close as they've been friends for a really long time. They went to the same school for undergrad and were part of the same fraternity, Nu Chi Theta. Eventually Shotaro parted ways with the frat to join Rho Zeta Epsilon, but the two stayed in touch. You've met Chenle several times during some of your hangouts with Shotaro.

"Obviously, Yoon Jeonghan," You say matter-of-factly and there are boos from the table. Several people utter the word menace and you laugh. You skip yourself on the list because that fact is what started this whole conversation in the first place.

"Altair," saying your friend's name brings a smile to your face. You're relieved that you know more than one person in this class. It just makes your life a hell of a lot easier when you can get along with the people you're spending an entire semester with. Everyone agrees when you talk about how welcoming she always makes anyone in her circle feel.

"And lastly, the other Head TA, Lee Seokmin."

A hush falls over the table. You yourself have never met Lee Seokmin, but you've seen his name plastered everywhere. Even in undergrad when you were compiling research for your capstone thesis, you used an article he published. The reaction from your friends made you feel a bit uneasy.

"Okay guys seriously why is no one saying anything?" A beat passes. Everyone at the table is shifting glances at each other, like they were all thinking the same thing but waiting for the one brave person to actually let the thoughts out. Turning to Shotaro, you shoot him a pleading look and beg with your eyes to clue you into this weird reaction that everyone is having. You see him look across the table to Jeonghan who shakes his head no and you slam your hand down on the table.

"Someone tell me what the heck is going on," you whine towards Shotaro. You can see the pity in his eyes as he look towards Jeonghan. The two of them are having an argument with just their eyes and you break it by whining again. You don't mean to act like a child throwing a tantrum, but your nerves are already shot from the shared silence of the table. Thankfully, Jeonghan puts you out of your misery.

"Okay I'm gonna level with you. Seokmin's not… how do I say this…" He look towards the rest of the group for help to finish his sentence. They all murmur to themselves trying to fill in his blank.

"He's not exactly well-known for being kind." A look of shock appears on your face. This is what they were all having a conniption over? The fact that your co-head wasn't friendly? Before you can say anything Jeonghan continues. He resumes to tell you that Lee Seokmin is someone that you should probably steer clear of. That he doesn't play well with others, that he's clearly a burnt out senior grad student who doesn't really like sharing. It's like the floodgates opened once Jeonghan finishes because then everyone at the table starts chiming in with their own little tidbits and interactions with Seokmin.

All of their comments shared the same sentiment: Lee Seokmin is a gray cloud of human and you're bound for a storm.

WEEK ONE

The first day of class is tomorrow and you have yet to see or hear from Seokmin. After your friends took their turns warning you about him, it was safe to stay you were even more intimidated by him than ever. If anyone asked you right now though, you'd say you are mildly annoyed as you've had to assume all of the responsibilities of prepping for this semester since your "partner" had been missing the entire time. You also have the pleasure of having the first discussion section after the first lecture, so you find yourself holed up in the shared office space revising your section notes.

A ping comes from your laptop and you switch over to the tab that has your university email opened. You sigh when you realize that the notification was just an automated reminder email for the first day of class. Clicking out of the email, you eye the email that you had sent to Seokmin last week, there's an orange message in the preview line.

Sent 5 days ago. Follow up?

A frown crinkles your lips downwards, surely the senior graduate student with this much responsibility wouldn't just ignore your email? You sit up and begin to draft a follow-up.

From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Norming and Schedules Hi again, I just wanted to follow up on my last email to make sure you got it! We have classes in a week and I'd really love to get some 1:1 time to make sure we're on the same page. I can work with whatever schedule you've

Something compels you to stop typing. The blink of your cursor matches the soft click of your wristwatch, both of them taunting you, waiting for your next move. Swiping your cursor down to the taskbar, you check the time. It's a half hour past eight and there are fifteen hours left before the first lecture of the semester. Staring a bit longer at the nudge notification, you decide that nothing will stop you from having a good semester and close out of your email tab. You don't need this jaded senior who has clearly shown no intention of caring about this class.

Being chosen as a Head TA when you were only in your second semester was a big deal to you. Especially when it was under the tutelage of Dr. Choi Minho. You'd known Dr. Choi for longer than most of your cohorts as you'd taken an intership in his research lab during your undergraduate studies. Highly revered in the academic space for his research, you knew that working with and for him was a coveted spot. To be chosen out of so many students in your department, especially those with more years under your belt, was not something you were going to take for granted. Not something you were going to squander over a guy you've never even met, a guy who couldn't bother to show up.

An endorsement from him was a golden ticket in the academic field of Anthropology. When the bell tower on campus signaled that it was now nine, you decided that you would do your absolute best to prove yourself worthy of this decision. Nothing was going to stop you from being the best, especially not Lee Seokmin.

The First Lecture

The lecture hall was empty when you arrived. Of course it was, who shows up 45 minutes early to a lecture?

You do.

After you comes Dr. Choi and the rest of the TA's in your lecture filter in. Dr. Choi is configuring his laptop to the podium while you and the others are making small talk. Your head is on a swivel as the students filter in. Lee Seokmin is nowhere to be found.

Soon enough the lecture hall buzzes with all of the students and there are only a few minutes until class begins. Whispering in Jeonghan's ear, you question the missing scary senior he'd warned you about. He cranes his neck around the hall and you follow his eyes. Turning back to you he shrugs, telling you that he doesn't see him. Another string of annoyance bubbles inside you. As you walk towards the back of the room to take your seat, there's a string of grumbles coming from you.

Missing prep week? Fine, that happens.

Ignoring your emails about prep week? Rude but not the worst thing in the world?

Missing the first day of class? You marveled at how this guy could possibly have been chosen as the other Head TA

Dr. Choi begins his lecture and as he walks through his introductions, your mind races through the list of reasons why your co-TA is missing. The annoyance that was running through your body immediately dissipates when you think that he might be dealing with something serious. Ever the empath, you start to feel bad that you'd been so quick to jump to conclusions. Especially about someone you've never really met.

WEEK TWO

It's the last hour of your office hours and not a single student has shown up. You aren't that surprised as it is only the second week of the semester, but you did try to emphasize during lectures and sections that your office hours were not only for matters regarding class work or concepts. The iced tea you'd been nursing has formed a ring of condensation on your desk and you frown, using the sleeve of your sweater to wipe up the wet circle.

You finish your iced tea and whip out your phone to text your friends about grabbing dinner. As soon as you press send, a knock has your head perking up to check out the noise. The red oak door has swung open and you see a student from your discussion section has stopped by.

"Hi Y/N, sorry I know your hours are almost ov—"

"—Don't be silly! Come in!" You wave them over with a big smile on your face. Asking them to remind you of her name, she introduces herself as Sophia and you offer her the seat across from you. You turn the brightness of your star shaped lamp up higher and ask her what brought her to your office hours.

Pulling out her laptop, she admits that she is having trouble understanding the assigned reading for the week and you reassure her that Carsten's work is not the most accessible so it is no surprise that she was having a hard time with the text.

"Tell you what, why don't you pick out the parts that were the most difficult for you and we can work through them together," you say with a smile and gesture torwards her laptop. Nodding back, she scrolls down a few pages to a highlighted bit of text. You read the passage aloud and when you finish, she explains that she thinks she understands the concept of kinship but can't see the connection to functioning societies. Gently, you guide her through the connection, taking the extra time to pause in between points in case she had any questions.

The two of you continue like this and before long, you've gone through every bit of text. When she finishes the last of her notes, she glances at her watch and her eyes go wide.

"Oh! I am so sorry, it's an hour past your scheduled office hours," she profusely continues worried about the time she's impeded on. Assuring her that it was alright, you tell her that it was actually a delight in helping her. That is what a good chunk of your job is as a teaching assistant. Quickly packing up her things, she apologizes one last time before leaving your office and yelling out that she would see you at the next lecture. The door shuts and you glance at your phone which is flooded with notifications from your friends confirming dinner plans and then being concerned since you stopped answering. Swiftly replying that you got caught up in your office hours, you said you would just meet them at the restaurant.

You are halfway through cleaning up when you hear the door open. Well less of an open, it actually slams into the wall from how hard it was opened. You're about to sternly scold whatever student rudely scared you but when you look up, it's none other than Lee Seokmin himself. You were starting to believe that he was just never going to show and you were gonna have to shoulder this entire semester yourself, but here he is. He's younger than you expected.

He's dressed in a navy blue button up, with a gray sweater vest and light blue jeans. Your friends described him as a burnt out senior, but this outfit screams "I have my life figured out and you should feel bad that you don't". Black square glasses sit on top of his unexpectedly handsome face. No one mentioned how attractive Seokmin was.

"Hi!" You gleefully say as you get up. No reply from him. Realizing that your thoughts are proabbaly displayed all over your face, you straighten yourself out. Observing him some more, you notice that he has an earbud in one ear, deducing that he might not have heard you when you greeted him, you raise your voice a little when you start talking.

"Sorry! I'm sure you were expecting an empty office. I just had a student meeting run long—"

"—You done in here?" He sounded bored, almost irritated. He hasn't looked up from the phone in his hand since he got here.

"Oh… Y-yeah. All yours." Dejectedly, you swing your bag over your shoulder and make your way out of the office. Before you're all the way out the door, you turn around.

"It was nice to meet—" The door slams closed in your face. "You," you whisper to the door. Utterly confused by what just happened, you begin the descent downstairs in a questioning daze. You phone buzzing in your pocket pulls you out of your daze, you glance down and see that Shotaro is calling you. The second you answer, he's asking if you were still on your way. Answering that you'd be there in less than ten minutes, you also add on that you just had the weirdest interaction with Seokmin and will need to talk about it with everyone during dinner. Hearing him relay the information to your crew, they cheer at the fact that they can start eating soon. Shotaro tells you to get there safely and you hang up the phone after humming in response.

You get to PANG! and when you enter, you're greeted with the comforting smell of scorched rice and kimchi jjigae. It doesn't take you long to find your friends as you hear their unmistakeable laughter. The first person to make eye contact with you is Jeonghan who immediately waves you down, scooting over to make space for you. As you're skipping over, Seungcheol scowls at Jeonghan getting all up in his space, until he realizes that it's for you. When you arrive at the table, his eyes crinkle up in a smile when he greets you. The mention of your name has everyone turning to the end of the table where you're situated and you're welcomed with smiles and cheers. Jeonghan jokingly snarks that you were holding up dinner.

"God, finally! I was scared Cheollie was gonna eat me if you had been any later!" Sitcom like laughter goes around the table.

"Shove it Yoon." You reply without a second thought.

There are small gasps that go around and there's even a look of shock on Jeonghan's face. Anyone who knows you, knows that you're not necessarily one to shoot back any sass. It's just not who you are as a person. You're the kind of person that cries at old people getting eliminated off The Great British Bake Off. The person who will be late to a meeting just because you wanted to help a bee out of the walkway. The type of person to immediately apologize when you say something remotely snappy.

"Sorry," you say squeezing his arm as you slide into the seat. He ruffles your hair, knowing that you had no ill intent behind it. Seungcheol pinches Jeonghan's side, or that's what you assume when you feel him jump next to you.

"Don't be sorry Sunshine, someone has to put him in his place every once in a while." Seungcheol comments as he places a kiss on Jeonghan's cheek, after the younger one whines that the two of you are bullying him. Your group laughs at their antics and when the volume dies down, food starts being laid out on your table. The spice and heat of kimchi stew floods your nose and wraps you in a warm velvety hug. The clanging of spoons and slurping of soup are the only sounds that can be heard from your table for the next couple of minutes. Every once in a while an involuntary moan comes from Jeonghan and you have to keep your composure to make sure you don't choke on the hot soup you're funneling into your mouth.

The sound of spoons quiets down as everyone empties their bowls. Shotaro's the first to ask about what held you up. After cooling down your burnt tongue, you delve into your encounter with Seokmin.

Seokmin's POV

The door slams before she even finishes her sentence. He hears his mother on the other line click her teeth.

Unbeknownst to you, you are not the only one recalling this conversation. On the other side of campus, Seokmin is taking in the office space where you left him. The first thing he notices is how the room distinctly smells like jasmine and lychee. He wants to crinkle his nose in disgust at the sweetness of it.

[coriihanniee]

LOVE AT LATTE LANE! ─ a spinoff of TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY!

જ⁀➴ SYNOPSIS .ᐟ You just came back to Seoul after studying abroad—and instead of your famous older brother Jaehyun picking you up, one of the influencers from Myungnyanghakz, he sends Taesan : the blunt, infuriatingly attractive barista from Tré Seoul who you may or may not have developed a secret crush on through his viral online appearances. Wanting a fresh start—and definitely not choosing it because it’s near him—you take a job at a trendy new café, only to discover it’s Tré Seoul’s newest rival. Now, with both cafés banning staff from interacting, your nonstop bickering with Taesan starts feeling dangerously close to flirting. But when the internet begins paying attention, keeping your identity hidden may be harder than resisting him.

⤷ ゛PAIRING ˎˊ˗ barista!taesan x rival barista!reader (jaehyun's little sister) GENRE(S) ˎˊ˗ smau, slow burn, forbidden love, rivals to lovers, fluff, comedy, angst, mystery WARNING(S) ˎˊ˗ kys/kms jokes, sexual jokes, gay jokes, random timestamps/timeskips, profanities, mentions of food, manipulation, defamation, blackmail STATUS ˎˊ˗ tbc ~

╰┈➤ AUTHOR'S NOTE ! hihi everyone!! 💕 it's been exactly one year since I first posted Terms and Conditions Apply! and honestly I still can't believe the response it got and how much love you all gave it 😭💔 so what better way to celebrate than bringing you back to this universe?? 😉 ~ Love at Latte Lane! is the official T&Cs spinoff and I'm so excited to finally share it with you all!! Taesan has always been one of my favourite characters to write in T&Cs and I felt like he deserved his own story so this came out of it hehe ~ 🥹

a few things before you start reading : I highly recommend reading Terms and Conditons Apply! before diving into LaLL!! while you can enjoy this as a standalone, there's deeper lore, callbacks and context from the main smau that will make this story so much richer 🥹 you can find T&Cs on my masterlist !! ~ also this smau is dedicated to my beloved moot @hollyoongs who designed the most beautiful header for this 😭 she's incredibly talented and I love her so much MWUAH !! 💋

˚⊱ PROFILES ⊰˚

latte losers | jaehyun's groping victims (ft. new additions!)

˚⊱ CHAPTERS ⊰˚

00. prologue

01.

02.

03.

@coriihanniee ᯓᡣ𐭩

taglist open!

any users I'm unable to tag will be in bold !

perm taglist : @riuscheri @imhereonlytoreadxoxo @heeheesang @jjyurahz @prodkwh @ivehan @yunextdoor @chocorenchin @hyunjinslongasslegs @pupillary @s0shroe @mydeepestsecrects @perlleta @levi-09 @parkthothwa8 @woonbabie @nemoihan @wnouzi @kazukazukiiii @hollyoongs @kjunebuggie @niiqv @fayepz @bamgeutori @hraethy @twaesns @ihanzzn @atdeerhunter @luvkeiiii @starriniqhts

smau taglist : @vampdomi @xolinn @aphantassia @lunaryoongie @taesansnovia @niceguyfreshguyofthenight @teenagecheesecakereview @jazzy-304 @unemployedcarat @pinkiwinkiminki @chryysoo @st4rzctrl @antonfixed @koocreampie

[shuaflix]

the fine art of falling for the wrong person (preview)

PAIRING ▸ yoon jeonghan x fem!reader

GENRES ▸ smut, fluff, humor, college au

WARNINGS ▸ profanity, so much bickering, idiots to lovers, slow burn, sexual tension, jeonghan sucks ass at bowling (which means he's good at sex??), also he's good at makeup, mc kinda becomes jihoon's fish farm apprentice in exchange for wisdom, mingyu is a tree at one point, lots of yearning, smut, rest of tags tbd

SUMMARY ▸ when cupid is so dumb a.k.a. you and yoon jeonghan set each other up with your respective best friends, only to realize that the two of you have so much more chemistry together.

RELEASE DATE ▸ next week!

AUTHOR’S NOTE ▸ my brain has been in yoon jeonghan overdrive i'm so happy he's coming back tomorrow <333 i hope u guys like this one when it's out !! it's been ages since i've posted but wow writing this seriously reeled me back in. comment or send me an ask if you'd like to be on the tag list!

JEONGHAN'S STUPID DOUBLE DATE PLOT WAS STILL PLAGUING YOUR EVERY THOUGHT.

Considering you had a class with Wonwoo today, it stuck with you through your morning routine, through the fifteen minutes you spent leaning over your bathroom counter to dot faux freckles across your nose. Under the warm, yellow lighting, they looked pretty cute—and it was your first attempt at them, too! You smiled at yourself in the mirror, pleased with your handiwork. If you were lucky, maybe you’d get a compliment today.

Unfortunately, spending the excess amount of time on your makeup resulted in you missing your bus. Jennie couldn’t drive you, either, because she had already left hours ago for her 8 a.m. class. You ended up catching a late bus and rushing across campus to get to your ENGL 380 lecture. (The sheer irony of taking a class about the Romantic era with the current state of your love life.)

Just your fucking luck. If you were late, someone else was going to take the seat next to Wonwoo, and you were going to be utterly miserable for the rest of the day. 

Fate was cruel, though, because you ran right into Jeonghan as you were turning the corner. 

“Oh, sorry,” you blurted out, though you couldn’t seem to hide the edge of frustration in your voice. “I didn’t mean to—”

You stopped yourself short when you noticed the usual smugness Jeonghan wore was replaced by complete bewilderment. He seemed to study your face for far too long, making you flush all over, wondering if he noticed the difference in your makeup, too. 

For a split second, your heart swelled. Did you really pull this off? Would Wonwoo react the same way when you saw him?

And then, right in your face, Jeonghan burst into explosive laughter.

“Oh my god,” he gasped out, doubling over with zero shame whilst ignoring how mortified you felt because of his reaction. You could only stare at him in horror, completely taken aback. “What—what’d you do to your face?”

“W-what’s wrong with my face?”

He found it rather difficult to speak through his laughter, pointing a finger straight at you. “What the hell are those?”

You whipped out your phone, opened the camera, and nearly had a heart attack when you saw your face in natural light—not the muted lighting in your bathroom that blurred your skin. The freckles you so carefully painted on actually looked like a kindergartener’s art project. Your confidence plummeted within seconds. Meanwhile, Jeonghan’s wicked laughter wouldn’t cease. 

“It—it looked better earlier!” you tried. 

“What, when you had all the lights off?”

“It’s not funny.” You had to duck your head because tears were pathetically starting to well up in your eyes. “I can't go to class like this.”

Before you could escape to the nearest bathroom, Jeonghan caught your wrist. He was still laughing all the same, but it sounded a little less cruel. “Hold on now.”

“Let go of me.”

“Freckles, I’m trying to help you out here.”

“Freckles?!” you all but shouted, outraged.

“Too soon?” He was grinning sheepishly. “But you need to trust me on this if you’re trying to impress Wonwoo… and not get reported for chickenpox or some shit.”

You shot him an icy glare but allowed him to drag you along to a more secluded corner of the hallway.

“Do you have any makeup remover wipes?” he asked. 

Perhaps you would, if you were wiser in the realm of cosmetics. Unfortunately, you were a hopeless idiot shaking your head solemnly and hoping Jeonghan wasn’t sick of you at this point. He didn’t seem to mind your answer, though, for he was already digging through his bag to pull out a napkin. He dampened a folded corner of it with a nearby water fountain and then stepped closer. You seized up as his slender fingers brushed against your jaw, then gripped your chin to tilt your head up.

Softer this time, he murmured, “Stay still.”

You swallowed thickly as Jeonghan dabbed the napkin against your nose and cheeks. Your eyes were screwed shut, so you were partly terrified because you had no idea what he was doing to you, but he seemed strangely reliable with how confident his motions were.

“Quit moving so much,” he then snapped. Gone were those two seconds of gentleness.

“I’m not.”

“You keep shaking.”

“I’m just scared you’re gonna fuck up my face,” you mumbled.

“Can’t be worse than whatever you did to it.”

Well, you supposed you walked right into that one. 

“There,” Jeonghan said after a few minutes of patting at your skin, finally stepping back. He pulled out his phone to show you your face through his front camera. “All good, right?”

To your surprise, he did an excellent job. Far better than what you could accomplish, at least (although you couldn't help but wonder if Jeonghan was secretly a genius, or if this was simply a poor reflection on yourself). Your base looked perfectly intact despite the expunged faux freckles. 

“Oh, thank god, I don’t know how I can repay—”

“I do,” he cut you off, a seemingly innocent smile spreading across his face. 

You were so stunned by his words that you didn’t even notice his camera flash going off, capturing your crestfallen expression, betrayed by what you assumed was an act of goodwill. No, Jeonghan was just immeasurably evil.

“Aw, look at you,” he said with a laugh, zooming in on the picture to show you the dismay across your face, “so cute. It almost looks like you’re about to cry.”

You glowered at him. “You’re horrible.”

“Who’d you think I was, the Pope? And, hey, you’re the one who mentioned repayment. There’s nothing wrong with being a little transactional out of the goodness of your heart.”

“I don’t think ‘transactional’ and ‘goodness of your heart’ should be in the same sentence here,” you said. “And by repayment, I meant more, like, I’d buy you a coffee.”

“Mm. You can get me a coffee”—just before you were about to shake on it, the corner of his mouth lifted up in an easy smirk, mahogany eyes sparkling—“on our double date.”

One would take that as an attempt at flirtation; you, all the wiser, took it as a threat. 

After a pause, you deadpanned, “I’m going to class now.”

You hastened down the hall. If you couldn’t tolerate him for ten minutes, how on earth would you be able to spend an entire evening around Jeonghan? (Provided he didn’t immediately leave you stranded with Wonwoo, which you were partly assuming would happen if it came down to the worst case scenario: Jennie showing any interest in him.)

Jeonghan was hot on your heels, tugging at his backpack’s strap adjustments and dragging his voice out, all whiny and vexing.

“Freckles!” he all but shouted, and then he was grumbling, “The hell are you training for, walking this fast…”

You stopped dead in your tracks and turned on him sharply. “Just ask Jennie out on your own! I don’t see why you need my help when you can do just fine by yourself.”

“Oh, come on.” Jeonghan actually had the nerve to sound disappointed in you, completely unaware of how he was only irritating you further. “I’m trying to help the both of us out here. I mean, how many times have you actually talked to Wonwoo?” You counted up to eight fingers before Jeonghan tacked on, “Not including the conversations that happened in your head.”

You slowly put down two of your fingers.

He looked wildly unimpressed, a long-suffering sigh falling from his lips. “See? You need me.”

“I don’t need you. I’m perfectly fine with my crush on him going nowhere.”

“Really? So you don’t care if absolutely nothing happens?” His brow lifted in a perfect arch. “Do you even really like him that much, then?”

It wasn’t that you ever doubted the way you felt about Wonwoo, but Jeonghan’s question made you stop short. Was it abnormal that you didn’t want to act on your feelings? Of course you were far too scared to do so, but that was chiefly because you weren’t self-assured like Jeonghan was. You weren’t the type to make moves to score your crush. 

The way Jeonghan pinned you with his stare, though, made you feel like he saw right through you, like his eyes were searching through your soul for all your unspoken thoughts. 

“I do like him,” you avowed. “I’m just not like you. I prefer taking things slow. And if I don’t think something’s gonna work out… I just won’t do it.”

“Huh. Interesting approach. You’re saying you wouldn’t even try?” he asked. It wasn’t that he sounded flippant, but there was a note of carelessness that belied the weight of his question.

Still, your fearful heart skipped a beat.

You were perfectly content with how things were.

Because, if you were going to be honest, life was a little less heartbreaking so long as you didn’t try. Stepping out of your comfort zone was far too uncomfortable; you preferred wading in shallow waters where you could find safe footing and take necessary precautions. If you swam out deeper, where your feet couldn’t find sand and gravel anymore, wouldn’t you be pulled under by the overwhelming weight of all your expectations and failures?

Sensing your unease, Jeonghan offered a rare, genuine smile. “What if I help you out? I’m not just talking about the double date. I’m pretty good at setting people up.”

“No way.” Your brows furrowed. “There’s a catch to this, isn’t there?”

“If you arrange this one tiny double date,” he said, “I’ll do whatever I can to get you and Wonwoo together.” He thought about that for a moment longer before adding, “Within reason.”

“You’d do that?”

“Within reason.”

“I know, but—you would?”

He shrugged. “For a coffee? Sure.”

[yoonlia]

too much ☆ — y. jeonghan

wc ☆ 4k summary ☆ all the ways jeonghan has loved you throughout life, and the ways you know he will even after. warnings ☆ angst, but more the cute sad + bittersweet kind, SO much fluff, childhood bsfs2l but the kind that always were each other’s before they even realized, death an ☆ welcome home my love 🤍 this is a repost again but i needed something to celebrate my ult bias ! i will have a new fic for him soon. but i had to repost my favorite work of all time.. also, yes, this originally was a songfic paired with mark’s too much, but fuck him. so no.

the meeting ୨୧

with sticky fingers, glue extremely uncomfortable against your skin, you keep your hand raised for miss teacher to come help. she’s too busy helping the boy with macaroni noodles in his nose. you don’t care to learn his name. his personality is too big for you.. he’s always yelling, and the first time you heard his tiger roar it made you cry. 

she’s still busy. he’s got them completely stuck up there, you think. she has to take him to the nurse. miss teacher’s teacher friend comes to watch the class while she leaves with macaroni boy. you keep your hand raised, and it’s starting to hurt from how long you kept it up. miss teacher’s friend isn’t paying attention either, though.. apparently one of the other boys knows her from somewhere else, and he keeps taking her attention from you because of his singing.

you accept defeat, putting your hand down with a sigh. you look around your table, one you’re all by yourself at, and there’s not a wipe in sight. you try a tissue, but it sticks to your skin and leaves an icky feeling. you can’t use the sink, because miss teacher said to ask permission, and asking permission is too scary! 

everyone’s tinkering away on their artwork, loud sounds of crayon buckets, singing, and yelling all filling up your senses. no one sees you, and no one’s helping. it’s all too much, and your eyes screw shut. you don’t want to cry, because someone will see and make everyone look at you ‘cause they noticed. you get down under your table, hiding your head in your arms (keeping your hands a safe distance from your body) as you not only hide from the world, but also hide your tears.

jeonghan sees your entire situation from his table. he thought it’d be funny at first, watching you struggle and potentially make a really big mess, but you look sad. why are you sad at making a mess? it’s so fun! you look so icky and not happy with all the glue and fuzzies on your hand, and he notices your chest moving fast. he looks at his companion to see if he noticed, but said friend is too busy coloring in his shinchan to notice.

“cheollie, look.” he pokes the boy in his shoulder, and he looks about ready to cuss like his dad does when he hits his toe. “that girl is crying.” jeonghan points to you, body shuddering from under your workspace.

“it’s rude to point.” seungcheol smacks his friend’s hand down. “and i saw. the right thing to do is to tell miss teacher.”

“miss teacher isn’t here. she left with youngie, ‘member?”

“oh. so we get the other teacher? because she’s in charge now ‘till miss teacher comes back.” seungcheol always talks like he’s the boss, but that’s just because he got the teacher’s helper job this month. and the ones before that. 

“no!” jeonghan grabs seungcheol’s sleeve, letting him go when he stops moving and puts his hands on his hips. “i’m miss teacher now! i can fix it!” 

he looks around for the wet wipes to give to you. they’re on the big shelf, so he waits until the new lady turns away to run over and take them. with his evil laugh, he tiptoes away and puts them on your table. 

slipping down to sit beside you, he taps your shoulder. “did you make a mess?” you nod, head still down. he grabs the wet wipes, ripping some out of the container. a little water splashes out, but he makes sure it doesn’t hit you. “it’s okay. everyone makes messes sometimes. don’t be sad.” 

you pick your head up, sniffling aggressively, before putting your hands out. instead of giving you the wipes, he does it for you with a little ‘hannie can fix it!’, gently scrubbing away at the mess on your hands. you’re still sniffing away the whole time, using your now (mostly) clean hand to wipe at your eyes.

once he’s finished, he closes the container and hands you the box of tissues. “you have some boogers.” he giggles at your embarrassed face, slowing down when you don’t react or say anything.

he asks your name, and you give it to him, a little wobbly, and he takes your hand to shake it. “i’m jeonghan. i’ll be your friend now, okay?” he brushes his hair from his eyes, “we’ll be friends forever! and i’ll always be here to help you when you need it.”

childhood ୨୧

you and jeonghan are a little older now. not old enough, you both say, but old enough to start having homework and wish you were as cool as your upperclassmen. ever since you met in kindergarten, jeonghan’s kept his word, staying by your side no matter what. his “stinky” little sister started going to school too, and she’s just as fun to be around. he gets jealous though, and always pulls you away from her to focus on him instead.

right now though, he doesn’t have to worry much. little sis is in her little kid classes right now while you guys get to have recess! you and him are sitting on the bench next to all your friends, some of which are playing basketball, while the others draw with sidewalk chalk or hang upside down on the monkey bars. 

jeonghan would very much prefer playing basketball, but you don’t like the idea of getting too close to other people or the idea of contact sports. he doesn’t really understand why, but the thought of you sitting by yourself, considering the fact that you don’t like any of the outdoor activities, makes him upset. he’d very much rather stay with you, making sure you aren’t lonely, watching over you as you pluck wildflowers from the grass.

“jeonghan?” seungkwan starts, getting the attention of the both of you. you both look up from your hands, where the both of you were looking at the small collection of flora you had found. “are you two dating?”

immediately you guys are grossed out, scooting to the opposite ends of the bench. “ew, no! that’s disgusting! we’re just friends, right?” jeonghan says, grimacing at the idea, before turning to you.

you nod, a small little movement, “just friends. i’m too young to get a boyfriend, and i don’t like how much boyfriends and girlfriends touch. it’s.. icky.”

“you guys touch a lot.. so, doesn’t that mean you’re dating?” when you guys shake your head, he calls the attention of soonyoung, who eventually brings the rest of your friend group over. “soonyoung, they’re dating, right?”

“come on guys, don’t make a crowd like that, it’s overwhelming!” jeonghan complains, partly trying to change the subject, but also trying to save you because he knows you’ll start getting uncomfortable soon.

soonyoung makes his way over, pinch fingers on his chin like he’s making some sort of elaborate analysis. “um, yeah, they’re dating! my sister has a boyfriend, and they do the same stuff as her and jeonghan! they hug every day at the end of school, and you know who else does?”

this small connection creates a moment of silence before everyone bursts out in loud chatter, some complaining about your age, others yelling and screaming about cooties. the commotion is enough to bring the teacher over, ending in your recess cut short and a conversation about why having a boyfriend or girlfriend is not something you should be worried about right now.

your discomfort is eased when you go home and talk to your mom, asking her if you and jeonghan have to date. she’s full of giggles when she lets you know that yes, boys and girls can be just friends, and he’s simply someone who cares a lot about you.

teenhood ୨୧

you’re in your math class, and you’re sat next to seungcheol. jeonghan’s right behind you, not allowed to sit next to you due to his endless chatting. not a single one of you is paying attention, all too focused on the trip to the convenience store that you’re planning to make after school.

you’re writing in cheollie’s notebook with a list of everything you, him, and hannie might want to buy when something hits your head. seungcheol catches it, giving a glare to the boy across the room who threw it. you didn’t even do anything, but just seeing his face freaks you out. he unfolds the piece of paper, and when it’s fully unraveled, you take a look.

‘i like shy girls. will you be my shy girl? - hyungwon’ 

you look at cheol, who looks at you, before handing the paper to jeonghan. he takes one glance at it, switching his gaze to hyungwon, before tearing the paper up and throwing it on the floor.

the teacher asks him to pick it up and he refuses, giving him one of two referrals for the day. the next one comes after class, sending him home with bloody knuckles and one less friend. not that it mattered anyway, the only friend he truly cares about is you.

every question you ask about his outburst is avoided, not only because he doesn’t want to talk about it, but he doesn’t have an answer. he’s just protective, okay? watching over you like a brother, nothing else.

college ୨୧

it’s nearly 4am when jeonghan finally comes stumbling through the front door of your home, giggling and burping like an idiot. when he sees you it only gets worse, eliciting a sigh from you as he falls into your lap. 

“hannie, can you get up please? you’re bending the pages of my book. i spent a lot of money on this.” you complain, yet you make no effort to push him away, heart warm at how content he looks to be with you.

“shit, sorry.” he brushes hair from his eyes, sitting straight up on the couch before his head eventually falls on your shoulder. “i’m so drunk.” you have no idea why he’s making such a statement, and honestly it makes you cringe because.. obviously? all it takes is one whiff for you to know. not even, just look at him.

“i know, and that’s why you should go to bed. it’s almost daytime already.” you say, already helping him up to take him to his bedroom.

“wait!” he puts his hands out, backing away from your grasp, “..can we sleep here? in the living room, like we used to?”

you look at him, so incredibly tired, both physically and mentally, pinching the bridge of your eyebrows as a headache threatens to kick in. he looks so cute, unfortunately for you, pouting as he accidentally falls back into the couch after losing his balance. he straightens back up right away though, even making an effort to put his hands together to help persuade you.

eventually you relent, grumbling about him needing to change out of his clothes as you go grab all your blankets. he follows right behind you, not even thinking twice when he starts stripping while you’re in the middle of stripping his bed of its blankets. he pays no mind to your obvious flusteredness, simply chuckling before going to help you.

there’s a little blanket cushion underneath your backs, little fairy lights creating a cozy atmosphere as you lay facing each other. jeonghan’s eyes keep fluttering shut, begging him to go to sleep, but he fights it, forcing them open to watch you. his hand falls to your cheek, knuckles brushing your skin, running over the side of your face before pushing stray hairs behind your ear.

“you know, i’ve always found you so pretty. like, a crazy amount.” he says bluntly, casually, as if it’s something normal.

“excuse me?”

“yeah.” his voice is so soft, his pupils blown wide as his eyes trail over your pretty features like he’s committing them to memory. “you just have something about you that makes me feel like i’m drowning, and i can’t get out. but i don’t want to. i love it.”

“you’re being weird, han. go to sleep.” you flush, pulling the blanket up to your nose.

immediately he’s propping himself up on his elbow, other hand pulling it back down. “let me see you, please…” he nearly zones out for a good while, making you squirm as his eyes lock onto your face.

“you know.. i think i love you. i always have.” he pauses, looking you over before taking a look at himself, his surroundings, and the entire apartment you rent together, “yeah. i never really understood what love looked like, but i get it now. i look at us, and i know. it’s us.” he chuckles.

“jeonghan, wh- you’re drunk, you can’t just say that when you don’t even mean it-”

“shh, shh, i’m not lying. there’s some saying or whatever, right? anyway, long story short, i’m telling the truth and i’m gonna go throw up now.”

adulthood ୨୧

you’re walking down the streets of paris, walking alongside your boyfriend, jeonghan, with seungcheol and the others on your other side. it’s time for one of those week-long group vacations, and for some reason jeonghan forced everyone to agree to go out of the country. usually your trips are only thirty minutes or so from home, but this time you’ve gone days away. you keep asking him why he spent so much money for everyone to come out here, but he just shrugs, saying eh, i needed a change of scenery.

the bags in your hands are getting heavy as you walk down the streets of the shopping district, everything’s lit up in the night lights, river glistening as you and the group walk alongside it. jeonghan forced you to leave your wallet at the mansion-turned-rental that you all are staying at, paying for literally everything you touched. by now, you’ve racked up copious amounts of jewelry and other accessories, and just as you turn to him, ready to indirectly ask why he hasn’t started carrying your bags for you, you realize he stopped walking. everyone stopped walking, actually.

“hannie? guys, what are you doing?” you look at jeonghan, standing alone with a nervous smile, the rest in a small clump behind him. they shush you, pointing and gesturing to your boyfriend.

“baby, come here,” he says, breathlessly, taking your hands when you come close enough. “wanna know why i brought you here?” you hum, and he tries his hardest to hide the shaking in his breath before he continues speaking.

“it’s because i wanted to give you something special. a trip with all your favorite people, me first obviously..” he chuckles, “but seriously. i want this to be a trip for you to remember, because it’s going to be the last one before our lives change.. a lot.”

he reaches into his pocket, pulling out a tiny velvet box, and your eyes nearly fall out of your head as he drops to one knee. your full name falls from his lips, and all of a sudden you’re tearing up as he starts a little speech.

“i still remember the first time i saw you. on the first day of kindergarten. you were crying, sobbing actually, because you didn’t want to leave your mom. a lot of our other classmates were crying too, but you were the only one i felt bad for. everyone else? i wanted them to shut up.. seriously.” he doesn’t waste a second to glance at a few of your friends behind him, laughing as their complaints help to ease his nerves a bit. “since then, i made it a mission to help things.. not suck for you. at least back then, i wanted you to be happy during school. but.. we got older, and we never drifted apart. as the years went by, i my mission changed, even if i didn’t know. it changed to me.. wanting you to be happy always. for your whole life. that’s still what it is today. so, if you’d let me try my best to succeed, will you please marry me?”

you don’t even hesitate to nod yes, falling into his arms, kissing him while you cry like the same baby you were twenty something years ago. the same crybaby jeonghan fell in love with, and will continue to love forever.

the wedding ୨୧

yet again the tears keep falling as you stand before your fiancee, stuttering and sniffling through your vows. you poured your whole heart into them, so so grateful for the life you’ve gotten to live alongside jeonghan. he’s been your rock through everything, like a little island that’s always there to listen, always there to help. there’s not a single person on this earth who knows you better than he does, not even yourself. before he learned to read the alphabet, he knew how to read your emotions, read between the lines of everything you said and help you accordingly. he’s who you go to for everything, he’s who you think of first when anything good happens, and it’s been like that ever since you were little, back when you were little, still finger painting as a class activity.

it’s his turn now, and he pretends that something’s in his eyes as he wipes them, making the crowd laugh. he takes a deep breath in before pulling a loose leaf paper from his blazer and clearing his throat.

“it’s been thirty years of knowing you, loving you, and i think it’s time that i finally make a confession.. do you remember when we were in college, and i came home drunk? yeah, yeah, i know it happened a bunch of times.. but there’s one specific occasion where i mentioned how much i love you. i always lied about that night, saying i didn’t remember, but i think now’s the time where i tell you.. i did. and i still stand by everything i said. i’ve always been yours, since i befriended you back when we were five. i didn’t know it, but that exact moment is when my heart became yours. it has been ever since then. you are the best thing the world has ever given me, and i’ll forever be indebted to you for showing me what love is like, and how proud and lucky i am to be able to give that to you. i’m incredibly grateful to have you in my life, and.. oh, you thought i could go a whole ment without any teasing? funny.. anyway, i’m so incredibly lucky to be marrying you, and so excited to be legally tied to my favorite crybaby. now, let’s get married, hm?”

after many teary giggles and kisses, you and jeonghan are finally husband and wife. it feels so right, so perfect. it’s not even anything different, you guys are just living the same life you always have, doing the same routine, all with a new title. yet, it feels good knowing that you are legally each other’s, rather than just in your heads. the whole night is spent basking in that, full of joy knowing that you are forever tied together, each other’s firsts and lasts.

getting older ୨୧

you can’t do as much as you used to, and you’re getting to the age where you start getting discounts at local events. your skin is littered with scars and wrinkles, evidence of all the joy and laughing you’ve experienced throughout life. you’re committed to a life at home, planting pretty little flowers in your garden and sitting on the porch of your country home, reading books and waving at the little kids playing in the street. it’s peaceful, and most dread the part of life where you get old, but to you? it’s perfect. everything you’ve ever needed.

jeonghan’s car pulls into the driveway, and his smile shines bright as he makes his way toward you. he falls into the seat next to you on the swinging bench with a groan, rubbing his creaky knees as he hits the cushion. suddenly, his grimace switches to something sweeter as he pulls a pretty bouquet of flowers from behind his back, placing it in your lap with a smile.

“you deserve something nice.” he says, leaning in for a kiss. you wrap an arm around him, returning the affection before placing your head in his neck.

“i love them, hannie, they’re so beautiful.” you smile, eyes closed and all as he strokes your hair, looking down at you like he’s met an angel. to him, he did.

“my pretty angel only deserves the best, no?” he leans back, letting you cuddle into him as you watch the clouds.

“i wouldn’t say pretty, now.. i’ve got wrinkles, and my hair is grey.” you pout.

he shushes you, peppering kisses over every wrinkle, and all over your crown. “bullshit- oh, sorry, i mean.. nonsense. you’re just as beautiful as you were when we met, okay? like i said, my pretty angel only deserves the best, right?” he looks at you expectantly until you hum in agreement, “now, if only i was able bodied enough to still give you the best in bed, oh i’d show you-”

“jeonghan!” you giggle, swatting at his chest. he only pouts, shrugging innocently as you laugh together. despite getting older with every day, he never fails to make you feel just as beautiful and just as loved as you did back when you were twenty.

the sixteen year old girl across the street watches you both with her friends, and they all nod in agreement when they say that they only want a love like that. something so sweet, so pure that everyone can just tell how long you’ve loved each other. every day, he comes home from work (don’t worry, it’s not taxing at all and he gets paid good) with a cute little gift for you, his eyes turning into big hearts at the grateful little smile you give him every time. the whole neighborhood adores you two, looking at you both as models of pure, true love.

the end ୨୧

it’s late at night, and after a good few hours of stiffly slow dancing to your favorite music, you and jeonghan finally lay down. you spent the night doing a lot of things you haven’t done in a while, now that you think about it, and it was quite refreshing. you ate a bunch of junk food, sang silly songs with unnecessary amounts of curse words, and now you’re ending it with endless pillow talk.

neither of you addressed it, but you both have a feeling that this is the last time you’ll be able to do this. you aren’t scared. this may be the first time you aren’t afraid, but jeonghan looks so calm that you feel like things will be okay. he simply shot up, definitely pulling something in the process, taking your hand and offering for you both to spend it having as much fun as possible.

that you did! the whole night was spent reminiscing on the past decades with each other, and it truly felt like you were traveling back to that point in time. each photobook you flipped through, each friend you thought of and silently congratulated for outliving you both, it all felt.. peaceful. maybe a little bittersweet, but every moment is looked back on fondly.

“we’ve spent all of our lives together,” he starts, fingers combing through your hair as you lay down together. “i’d say you made them the best years of my life, but that’d be dumb. you were there for the whole thing.”

you chuckle, tucking your head into his neck. “it’s okay, i’d say the same thing.” 

he hums, “seriously, though. you make me so happy. i don’t think you know just how much.” 

it’s then that you fall asleep for what would be the last time, promises of a more romantic tomorrow. no death talk was allowed, jeonghan wouldn’t have that. you only spoke of a next time, one where you were definitively together. you don’t fight it, just accept that you won't see the next morning. it’s okay, because you’re passing knowing that you lived a full, long life. one where you never doubted how much you were loved. 

rbs + feedback are very appreciated! ♡

[livmarauder]

ROSES AND VIOLETS | y.jh

THE STORY OF YOU AND JEONGHAN was something out of romance novels. He was the love of your life and you were his. Keyword: was. When you pack up and leave without another word, Jeonghan is left to pick up the petals of your relationship and thought that he would never see or hear from you again. However, after ten years, it seems like the universe has other plans when he hears a piece of gossip from Chan about someone moving back to town.

PAIRING: ex-boyfriend! jeonghan x ex-girlfriend!f.reader GENRE: Childhood Friends to Lovers to Exes to ???, Brother's Best Friend, Second Chance Romance AU: Spring AU/ Flower Shop AU/ Hometown AU TOTAL WC: 24.8K FIC WARNINGS: angst, one mention of taking of each other's virginity, swearing, mentions of alcohol, mentions of consuming alcohol, mentions of food, mentions of homesickness, mentions of anxiety and doubtful thoughts, self-insert of friends (izzy & kay), talks about the future and getting married, mentions of promise rings PLAYLIST: a timeless playlist for rose ~ love, hannie

LIV'S NOTES... this is my fic for the svthub's first blooms collab and i'm so excited to bring you jeonghan! thank you to our admins @cherry-zip & @wooahaeproductions for hosting this collab! do check out the rest of the fics in this collab as well! many many amazing works <3!

big thank you to @orbitondgtl and @jakedustry for helping me through my ideas and for beta-reading certain parts of the fic and for screaming in my dms about it <3 both of you are the best hype-staff that i could've asked for <3 love you both so much!

i was so glad to be given the opportunity to write for hannie especially since he just came home! aaaaa <3 so happy jeonghan comeback everyone! i hope you all enjoy the fic <3

MAIN MASTERLIST | NAVI

FLOWERS WILL BLOOM

Jeonghan would like to say that his interest in flowers started when he was eight, on the day of his sister's birthday. His sister wanted to go to a flower garden for her birthday and much to Jeonghan's dismay (at first), she got to. Jeonghan had thrown many tantrums about it because he said he's a boy and being caught dead in a flower garden would surely make Seungcheol and Joshua tease him to no end about it. However, he lost that manipulation tantrum and sulked all the way until they reached the garden that his sister had been talking about for months.

He dragged his feet as he sulkily trailed after his parents who were hand in hand with his sister who was looking at the flowers with her eyes as big as saucers. She rattled off some statements about how pretty the flowers were which made Jeonghan scoff as he folded his arms and looked away from them.

His eyes wandered until they widened, seeing a familiar face a few feet away between a section of red and blue flower who looked just as unamused as he was.

"Mum!" Jeonghan's mother turned around, facing her son with a look of surprise etched onto her face as she saw the visible difference in his posture and face.

"Yes darling?"

"Can I go over to play with Seungcheol?" His mother's gaze flicked towards where the other unamused boy stood, slightly hunched over a little girl by his side and immediately understood the reason for Jeonghan's posture change.

With a sigh, she nodded. "But you can't throw a tantrum when I say it's time to go later, okay?" She warned him making the boy absentmindedly nod, already on his way to bother the older boy that he had his sights on.

"Cheol!" Seungcheol, the boy in question jolted before he whipped his head around to see his gremlin of a best friend, which made his eyes widen.

"Jeonghan?" Seungcheol blinked as he fully turned his body towards him. "What are you doing here?"

Jeonghan rolled his eyes and gestured to his sister who was walking further away with their parents in tow. "Su Bin wanted to come and see the flower festival for her birthday." He turned back to Seungcheol, "Why are you here?"

Seungcheol opened his mouth to answer when a soft voice captured both of their attentions. "Who are you? Are you trying to steal my brother?"

Jeonghan peered down to see a little girl with bangs and pigtails. She donned a flower dress and had a small frown on her lips as she clutched Seungcheol's right arm, tight into her own. Jeonghan's eyebrows furrowed at the expression on the girl's face before he glanced at his best friend. Seungcheol, however, just looked at the girl with a slight fondness as he shook his head.

"He isn't stealing me away." He assured the girl and used his free hand to pat her head. "This is Jeonghan, the one that I have told you many stories about. He's oppa's best friend."

It suddenly clicked in Jeonghan's brain who this girl was. You were Seungcheol's younger sister by two years. He had only heard stories of you where his best friend had referenced you as Violet. It was a nickname that Seungcheol had coined when you had gotten lost at the age of four and ended up being found in a bed of violets, sleeping away.

Your eyes locked with Jeonghan's as you tilted your head to the side, almost calculating the man in-front of you. Jeonghan felt a little apprehensive under your gaze as he felt your boba eyes pierce his soul and made him feel something… he didn't know what it was exactly but it made his heart race and his chest uneasy.

"Did he come to play with us?" You asked your brother, your gaze unwavered as you continue to star down Jeonghan. Seungcheol spared a glance towards his best friend before a smirk appeared on his face that made Jeonghan's eyebrows furrow, not liking the look in his eyes.

"I think he came because he wanted to learn more about flowers, Violet."

Jeonghan felt his heart drop as soon as the words came out of his best friend's mouth and felt his jaw drop open. "N-no! That's not—" He had tried to sputter out but then he noticed your reaction and his words got caught in his throat.

Your eyes had widened as you looked between your brother and his friend excitedly. "Really?" You had asked him, your tone laced with awe. "You want to know more about flowers?"

Jeonghan felt his mind blank at the sheer excitement in your voice as all the words that he was going to say immediately disappeared from his head. He felt his throat dry up as Seungcheol detached himself easily from your hold — now that you were distracted by a new 'willing' subject, a smug expression on his face. Jeonghan, however, did not notice his best friend's delight and was just laser-focused on you as you moved closer to him.

"Do you?" You had asked him again, when you were just a few meters away from the boy. Jeonghan didn't know what was wrong with him, if it was any other person, he would scoff in their face and sulk or manipulate his way out of the situation. However, he felt himself nod at your words, almost as if you had placed him under a spell.

If it was even possible, your eyes lit up even more as you reached out and took his arm into yours and tugged him to your side. Jeonghan stumbled as his eyes widened, you were really strong. You excitedly jumped up and down as you stared into the hesitant eyes of the boy you had just met a couple minutes ago.

"C'mon!" You said as you pulled Jeonghan towards the red flowers. "I'll make sure you have a favourite flower by the end of today!"

Jeonghan gulped as he peered behind him to see Seungcheol stood there, a delighted expression on his face as he gave a wave. Jeonghan glared at his best friend as the cogs finally clicked in his head. He had planned this from the very start. Seungcheol had basically used him as bait to get out of your flower talk.

Jeonghan felt you literally tug him out of his thoughts as you squatted down to get a closer look at the flowers, effectively making the older boy squat as well. Jeonghan rebalanced himself, his eye twitching in the process as he tried very hard to not toss a glare your way, annoyance filling his tiny body.

He opened his mouth and was ready to turn to you, to spout some bullshit excuse when he saw you gesture to the red flowers in-front of you.

"Look."

Jeonghan looked up, analyzing the flower with an unimpressed expression on his face before he noticed that he had gotten mud all over his new shoes that he had begged his mother to buy. He felt his blood boil with annoyance and turned to you, niceness be damned, he was going to chastise you.

However, when his eyes locked with your frame, all the words he wanted to say died on his tongue and his mind blanked for the second time that hour.

You stared at the roses with a gentleness and softness on your face as your eyes lit up, the more you analyzed the red flower in-front of you. You even went as far as to stroke the petal of the one closest to you as a small, cute smile appeared on your face.

"This is a rose." You softly said, as you absentmindedly rubbed a dew off of the petal of another flower. "Did you know my mummy said that there are more than one hundred and fifty species of roses?"

Jeonghan felt his head shake at your question, an action that he didn't have full control over. "My mummy also told me that all flowers have different meanings." You chirped.

There was silence for a little while until Jeonghan's curiosity got the better of him. "What does violets mean?"

You were quiet for a bit before you opened your mouth and replied with a simple, "My mummy said that they represent modesty and faithfulness." Your nose scrunched up, "I have no idea what that means though."

Jeonghan was silent as he spared a glance at the red roses in-front of the two of you. "Did your mummy also tell you what roses mean?"

Jeonghan looked back at you as you nod with your eyebrows scrunched, almost as if you were trying to recall what exactly she had said.

"She told me about the red ones…" You started. "She said that they mean love and are mostly given from two people who love each other." With that, you turned to the older boy, your head tilted to the side, a small frown on your face.

"I bet you find that disgusting though." You state softly, recalling your older brother's words. "Because you're a boy and oppa always says that boys don't like roses because love is weird and disgusting."

If Jeonghan had paid a little more attention, he would've scrunched up his nose and agreed with your brother's words that echoed in your head. However, as he stared at your little pout and your shiny boba eyes, he felt his mouth run before he had the chance to stop it.

"No." He admitted. "I think roses are cool."

You blinked at the older boy as he processed the words that had just left his mouth with a red flush on his cheeks.

"Really?" You asked, slightly in awe which made Jeonghan's cheeks flush even more at the intensity of the way you were looking at him.

"Y-yeah." He stuttered out as his gaze shifted from your eyes to the red roses, unable to hold your gaze for much longer. "I think the red is cool and…" His voice softened. "They're pretty I guess."

His heart thundered in his ear as all he was met with from you, was silence. His face grew hotter every second that you didn't answer. He was going to save some dignity and pull back when he heard you giggle.

He turned back to you, his eyes wide as he watched as your eye lines crinkle. He felt the same uneasiness in his chest as earlier and blinked at you, unsure of what to do until you finally stopped laughing and just fixed the boy with a big smile.

"You're funny." You admitted, the smile on your face getting impossibly bigger as Jeonghan blinked at you again. "We're friends now!"

Jeonghan eyes widened even more. "F-friends?"

You nodded, a determined expression on your face. "Anyone who likes roses is my friend. So," You leaned closer to the boy as your eyes shimmered in the sunlight. "We're friends now."

Jeonghan felt the tips of his ears become hot as he turned away from you, unable to bare the intensity of your boba eyes. It was almost as if they stared into his soul, He hoped you didn't know the effect that you had on him, because if you told your brother about it, Seungcheol or Joshua would never let him live it down.

Unbeknownst to him, you were a smart cookie. You knew the effect you had on people and Jeonghan wasn't any different. You smiled to yourself before you tugged the boy up to his feet as you drew his attention back to you.

"C'mon Hannie." You said, the nickname rolling off your tongue with an ease that made Jeonghan's heart ache. "I got more flowers to show you!"

Jeonghan didn't know why but he let himself get tugged for the second time that day towards a section of yellow flowers. He spared a glance down towards your co-joined hands then peered back at the red roses that the two of you were leaving behind. He took another look at you and the big smile you had on your face as you dragged him off and felt his body warm.

Maybe. He thought to himself. Flowers weren't so bad after all.

A small smile appeared on his face without him noticing.

Or at least, Roses aren't that bad.

THORNS PROSPER MORE THAN THE BLOOMS

Jeonghan would say that he's a charmer. He also knows that it's a fact that is definitely undisputed by everyone around him.

"Aigoo!" Jeonghan exclaims, jogging over to Mrs Tam, a regular at his flower shop. "Mrs Tam! What did I tell you about opening doors for yourself?"

Mrs Tam, an elderly woman in her seventies let out a chuckle as Jeonghan pushed opened the door for her, helping her with her trolley in the process. "That I should always wait for one of you boys to do it for me?"

Jeonghan clicks his tongue as he flashes her a dazzling smile whilst taking her hand to help her inside the shop. "Bingo!" Jeonghan shoots her a wink. "I knew you were a smart cookie when you first came to the shop."

Mrs Tam laughs heartily and pats his hand with her free one, her eye lines crinkling as she gives him a smile. "You're such a charmer, my dear boy." Her eyes twinkle. "It's a wonder that you don't have a girlfriend yet… Would you like me to set you up with someone? I'll have you know that my granddaughter and her husband have been going strong for three years because I introduced them to each other!"

Jeonghan shakes his head, the charming smile on his face never leaving. "Aigoo." He cooes out, patting the elderly lady's hand. "I can't ask you to do that for me, Mrs Tam. Besides," He looks around at the store before leaning in. "If I get a girlfriend, Shua will feel really alone and I can't let that happen."

"I heard that." Comes an unamused call from the counter, making the two turn to see Joshua leaning against the counter, who rolls his eyes as soon as the two look at him. "I think I have a better chance at finding a girl than you do, Hannie."

Jeonghan shares a glance with the older lady before smirking at Joshua. "Wow." He whistles out. "Sensitive, aren't we?" He is met with another eye roll as Joshua pushes himself off the counter.

"You're lucky Mrs Tam is here." He calls out to Jeonghan who lets out a laugh before shooting her a wink.

"Saved my life again, Mrs Tam." He gives the elderly lady's hands one last squeeze before letting her go and ushering her to the counter. "What can I do for you today?"

Mrs Tam's smile grows bigger as she pulls out a picture from her wallet before passing it to Jeonghan for him to see. He takes the picture from her and his eyes widen as his jaw drops open.

"Wah!" Jeonghan exclaims, reaching over the counter to squeeze the older lady's hand once more. "Congratulations Mrs Tam!"

Joshua peeks out from the storeroom, confusion written all over his face as to what the commotion is about. Jeonghan turns and shows Joshua the picture of the ultrasound with Mrs Tam's grandaugther's name written at the top left hand corner.

Joshua's eyes widen as a smile appears on his lips as he walks over to Mrs Tam to give her a hug. "Congratulations Mrs Tam!" He pulls away and gives her a smile. "You'll make an amazing grandmother."

The older woman's smile gets bigger as she looks between the two boys, her eyes shining.

"You two are too sweet." She says before turning back to Jeonghan. "That's why I am here today! I wanted to get them a bouquet of flowers to congratulate them and I knew that you two would be able to curate a bouquet that is perfect for the occasion."

Joshua fondly smiles at Mrs Tam. "I'm sure Jeonghan has something just right for you." He shoots a teasing glance towards the slightly older man. "Don't you, Hannie?"

Jeonghan meets his teasing smile with a smile of his own as he gives Mrs Tam a reassuring nod. "I got the perfect arrangement for you, Mrs Tam. Give me a few moments to arrange and wrap it for you."

With that, Jeonghan walks around his sunlit store, weaving through the different sections grabbing a few different flowers as his mind spirals with what arrangment style he could arrange this in. All the while, Joshua ushered Mrs Tam to sit at the tea table they had and offers her a soothing green tea while she waits.

Jeonghan, in full concentration makes his way back to the counter after collecting all the flowers he needs and gets to work.

After a couple of snips and snaps and sounds of wrappers being used, Jeonghan places his palms on his hips as he looks down at his creation with a satisfied smile on his face.

He adds a finishing touch of a spritz of a citrus scent on the packaging to elevate it a little more before grabbing it and making his way over to where Mrs Tam and Joshua are quietly chatting.

Jeonghan holds out the flowers in-front of Mrs Tam with a prideful smile on his face. "Here you go!" He chirps out as Mrs Tam lets out a gasp and takes the bouquet into her hands, looking at the full floral arrangement in awe.

"This is beautiful." She breathes out, making Jeonghan's smile grow bigger. She glances up and locks eyes with Jeonghan. "What do they mean?"

Jeonghan lets out a hum and begins to point out the different flowers.

"This bouquet signifies new beginnings. These," He points to the pink flowers. "Are pink carnations. Pink carnations are known to represent maternal care so her receiving her first ones from you will mean the world to her." He moves on towards the purple flowers.

"Tulips." He said with a certain smile on his face. "Signifies joy, happiness and the promise of new life." They shift to the white flowers. "Gerbera daisies are famous for being joyful and uplifting, perfect to celebrate a bub-to-be." His breath hitches slightly as his eyes fixate on the last flowers in the bouquet.

"White and pink roses." He all but whispers out, "is the symbol of peace, unconditional love and new beginnings." Jeonghan stares at the pink and white flowers for a beat longer before he clears his throat and flashes Mrs Tam a disarming smile, trying to ignore Joshua's knowing eyes on him. "Definitely a good way to bring forth new changes and fresh beginnings."

Mrs Tam's eyes twinkle as she glances at Jeonghan, her grip on the bouquet gentle as she takes in the beautiful arrangement once more. "My dear boy." She says, her tone watery. "This is outstanding work."

Jeonghan's smile changes into a more genuine one, softer around the edges as he nods. "I'm glad that I could make it happen, Mrs Tam."

The clock chimes on the wall, making the elderly lady glance at it before letting out a soft 'oh'. "I think that's my cue to leave, my dear boys." Jeonghan nods in understanding as Joshua stands up to help Mrs Tam with her belongings.

"Let my walk you out, Mrs Tam." Joshua says softly. As soon as they reach the door, the lady turns around to face the elder of the two.

"The roses are a really lovely touch to the bouquet, Jeonghan." She says, her eyes twinkling with a certain shine that causes Jeonghan's breath to hitch as he gives her an uneasy smile.

"Yeah." He says, his voice a little raspy, as if he had just found it. "I guess they are."

With that, Mrs Tam gives the boy one last smile before bidding Joshua a 'thank you' and 'goodbye'. The bell chimes as the door shuts, silence enveloping the shop once more as the afternoon sun shines through the multiple windows of the shop, painting the shop in a lovely golden hue.

"Roses, huh?" Joshua asks, the question not really a question with his knowing tone as Jeonghan stands up and pushes his chair back under the table, actively not meeting his best friend's eyes.

"Yeah." He answers, short and sweet, leaving no room for further comments. Joshua just lets out an easy hum, walking back to the tea table to place the two teacups back onto the tray so that he can bring it to the back.

Joshua spares a glance towards his best friend who starts sorting inventory and unpacking deliveries, a serious expression on his face. Joshua internally sighs before he tries to lighten the mood.

"Can't believe Chan and Seungkwan are both late today." He says easily, exaggeratedly scoffing as he gets Jeonghan's attention. "I swear, if they were both out drinking last night…"

Jeonghan lets out a soft chuckle which makes Joshua smile to himself, pleased that he managed to get the other man out of his head a little.

"Well," Jeonghan starts, turning to cast a glance at him. "wouldn't be the first time."

Joshua shakes his head, "They're learning too much from Soonyoung." He lifts the tray to bring it to the back. "All the bad habits, might I add."

Jeonghan smiles at that. "You know how much Channie looks up to him." He runs a finger down the list before scanning the shelf in-front of him, looking for the yellow carnations. "I hope they're here soon though, we have an order for Kay's Jewels in about an hour and a half and Izzy's Emporium right after that." He glances towards the delivery shelf to find it half-full. "And Seungkwan hasn't actually finished the arrangements for that."

Joshua lets out a hum. "How many orders for each is there again?" He makes his way over to Jeonghan. "Maybe I can do one or two so that he doesn't have that much work later."

Jeonghan clicks his tongue as he flips through the sheets of paper on his clipboard, trying to find the order. As he finds it and opens his mouth to share the details with his semi-co-owner, the bell chimes as the door flies open, making the two jolt.

They immediately turn towards the door to see the two younger men, their hairs slightly disheveled as they panted, looking as if they had just sprinted a marathon to get here.

"Sorry we're late!" Seungkwan apologises between breaths as Chan nods, looking as if he would pass out if he actually said something.

The two owners share a glance, their minds running on the same frequency as they immediately turn back to the two, the only goal in their mind being 'torture' and shenanigans. Joshua is the first to speak, putting their plan into action.

"Well, well, well…" Joshua drawls out, crossing his arms. "Did you two finally remember that you have jobs?"

Chan and Seungkwan share a look, opening their mouth to say something but Jeonghan cuts them off, shaking his head as he feigns disappointment with a small pout on his face. "How could you both?" He asks, the pout deepening. "We were swamped with orders this morning and both Kay and Izzy called to double their orders!" He shakes his head again, slower this time to give it the added 'disappointment' effect before locking eyes with the two again.

"I can't believe you two would do this."

The two younger men's eyes widen as they begin to stammer out apologies, saying that they would pull extra shifts as well as do overtime for free when Joshua and Jeonghan's facades break, making them launch into a fit of chuckles.

Upon seeing the break, Seungkwan groans, catching on faster than Chan who just stares at the two in shock.

"You two are terrible." Seungkwan says, shooting them a glare. Joshua smirks walking over to the man, putting an arm around him as he tugs him closer.

"Aww." He drawls out, feigning a pout as he ruffles Seungkwan's hair. "That's not a nice thing to say."

Seungkwan rolls his eyes. "Well, only nice people deserve nice things said to them."

Jeonghan exaggeratedly gasps, placing his hand on his chest as he feigns hurt. "Hey!" He exclaims. "I'm nice!"

Seungkwan shoots him a look. "Nice like the devil maybe." Seungkwan mutters, shoving Joshua off of him which makes the older man laugh before trekking to the back, to probably get started with the delivery orders.

The two gremlins fix their gaze onto Chan who awkwardly shuffles in place, making Jeonghan walk over to him and sling an arm around his shoulder, tugging the younger body into his chest.

"Aigoo." He coos, tucking his clipboard under his arm as he ruffles Chan's hair. "Why were the two of you so late today?"

Chan looks between Jeonghan and Joshua, letting out an awkward chuckle before he swallows, unsure of how to answer which makes the two gremlins share a look.

"Were you out drinking again last night?" Joshua asks, his smirk teasing as the tip of Chan's ears turn red, indicating that Joshua had been right on the ball.

Jeonghan feigns a disappointed sigh as he shakes his head, tutting in the process. "Were you two out with Kwon again?" Jeonghan asks, his eyebrows raising. "You both do know that he's a bad influence on you right?"

Chan's eyebrow furrow slightly as he shakes his head. "No, we weren't with him last night." He answers, glancing between the two interrogators. "We were drinking with Mingyu and Vernon last night."

Jeonghan's eyebrows scrunch up. "Mingyu and Vernon?"

Chan's nod only makes the two even more confused. Vernon, they understood. He had grown up with Chan and Seungkwan, being next door neighbors and all but Mingyu had been apart of Jeonghan and Joshua's circle in high school, sure they had drifted apart a little bit but Mingyu wasn't known to hang around the Do Re Mi trio.

"That's interesting." Is Jeonghan's reply as he lets go of Chan, still slightly confused. Chan rubs the back of his neck as he nods, his eyes twinkling which makes the older boy's eyebrow raise. "You have some gossip to share, don't you?"

Jeonghan had hired Chan and Seungkwan right off the bat after high school when Joshua and him were talking about starting this business. It was a brush off of an idea at first, a drunken night where Joshua brought up the idea during one of their weekly meetups with Seungcheol. Jeonghan rolled his eyes at the suggestion but played along with the idea and playfully said that if he were to do that, Joshua would be his second in command.

They had laughed it off while Seungcheol was in the bathroom but the more Jeonghan thought about it, the more it made sense as an overall idea. The town was small, the only flower shop they had was a bit of a drive away which meant that a lot of the older people had to either opt for delivery (which was done by their children or grandchildren) or they drove out there themselves. Jeonghan also had taken an interest in flowers and due to his photographic memory, he actually remembered a lot of the facts that he had read when he was trying to impress someone back then.

So, after a bad hangover the next morning, Jeonghan started to actually craft out a plan and asked Joshua to help him with it. Joshua agreed to help the moment he had asked him about it and was in-charge of logistics, deliveries, standard operating procedure and the most important of all — keeping Jeonghan in check.

Hence, what started as a small idea grew into something that Jeonghan holds close to his heart. 'Roses Are Red' was built and has been an integral part of the community for the past eight years and Jeonghan couldn't be prouder. This also meant that he knew his employees like the back of his hand, so when Chan's eyes light up like that, it usually means that Chan had some hot gossip to share.

"I do!" Chan says, an excited grin on his face as he starts to buzz a little. Jeonghan lets out a breath of a chuckle before waving his hand at him.

"Alright," Jeonghan starts with a sigh as he turns back to inventory, "Let us hear it."

"Okay! So-" With that, Chan launches into how Mingyu had actually appeared with Vernon last night because they were having dinner just an hour earlier and because Mingyu knew Seungkwan and Chan or had talked to them before, Vernon invited him to their hangout.

He recalled how he and Seungkwan had been confused at first because Vernon doesn't normally invite people to their weekly get-together. However when Mingyu had arrived and they had started drinking, their words getting a little looser, it turned out that Mingyu had actually offered Vernon a job.

"A job?" Joshua repeats, a little confused. "I thought Mingyu's business was strictly a family one?"

Chan nods at that, getting more excited as he unpacks more of the story. "That's what Seungkwan and I thought as well! But it turns out, Mingyu's friend is coming back to town and Mingyu is helping them sort out all of the business stuff because they haven't been here for ten years."

Jeonghan had been absentmindedly listening to the story Chan was unpacking for the last ten minutes, more focused on the inventory in-front of him but those last few words pulls him out of it. His hand immediately halts as he feels his body go rigid.

It couldn't be. Is the first thought that rushes through his head, amongst many others. It has to just be a coincidence. Surely Seungcheol would've told him and Joshua if you were coming back to town. Him especially.

He thinks back to the last few weeks and how Seungcheol had been looking at him and also acting a little weirdly. Seungcheol had been on the look-out for apartments which had caused Jeonghan and Joshua to share a few glances whenever he had mentioned it because Seungcheol was already living in a house that he owned. However, they didn't push, thinking that Seungcheol wanted to get into the business of real estate and if it was something important, Seungcheol would voluntarily tell them about it anyways.

"Ten years?" Joshua repeats Chan's words, the cogs in his brain turning as he spares a quick glance at Jeonghan. "He said someone was coming back?"

Chan nods eagerly at that, "Yeah!" He snaps his fingers. "When we asked him who it was, Mingyu was a little unsure if he wanted to tell us at first but he confirmed that it was a girl."

Jeonghan feels his blood run cold as his grip on his pen involuntarily tightens.

Joshua's eyebrows scrunch. "Why?"

"Apparently it's meant to be a secret." Chan says nonchalantly as he puts a hand on his chin to think. "I remember him saying that I shouldn't be telling someone about it but..." He grimaces. "My head's a little foggy on the details."

"Anyway, after we begged him a couple more times, he told us about her and here's the kicker!" He looks between the two, his hands raised in anticipation as Joshua holds his breath. "She's apparently Seung—"

Chan gets cut-off by Seungkwan barrelling into him like a tornado. The latter slams his hand over Chan's mouth as he shoots him a warning glare.

"What are you doing?" Seungkwan hisses at Chan, taking a shifty eyed glance towards the two older ones in the room. "We weren't supposed to tell them."

Chan blinks blurrily at Seungkwan when Jeonghan turns to face them, his clipboard and pen still clutched tightly in his hand that both his knuckles were starting to turn white.

"Seungkwan." Jeonghan calls with an eerily calm and serious voice making the whole room feel a thousand times colder. "When Mingyu said the girls name. Was it Violet?"

Seungkwan hesitates, taking a glance at his boss before shifting his eyes downwards. Joshua steps in.

"Han." Joshua says, his voice careful as he looks over his face. "I don't think you want to—"

Jeonghan shakes his head, cutting Joshua off. "No." He says quietly. "I need to know."

Seungkwan glances at Joshua who looks at Jeonghan with a calculating gaze, analyzing to see what the latter is thinking about when Joshua sighs and takes a step back.

Jeonghan locks eyes with Seungkwan, his face unreadable. "So," he starts, "was it Violet?"

Seungkwan gnaws on his bottom lip as he casts a glance towards Joshua. He thinks back to Mingyu's words about Seungcheol's sister. Seungkwan had heard stories of a girl and Jeonghan when they were first starting high school and how they were something out of a fairytale. They were the dreamy 'It' couple. However, somewhere along the lines, it didn't last and she left. No one knew why and in such a small town where gossip spreads like a wildfire, it was unheard of.

Seungkwan lets his eyes drift, seeing Jeonghan's white knuckles, the slight tick in his jaw as well as the unevenness of his breathing before he sighs.

"Yes," Seungkwan admits quietly. "It was."

A tense silence envelopes the room as Seungkwan sees Jeonghan grip the pen even tighter, his hands shaking. The older man quietly takes a step back and hangs the inventory sheet back next to the rack before he turns back to the other three, eerily calm.

"Make sure the orders are ready before the next hour so that they can be delivered on time." Chan and Seungkwan blink at the seriousness in his tone, making Jeonghan raise an eyebrow at their blank expressions. "Is that too much of an issue?"

Seungkwan recovers first, shaking his head with his hands up. "N-no!" He clears his throat. "Chan and I will get them and deliver them."

Jeonghan gives the two younger ones a firm nod before turning to Joshua, his serious and unreadable expression never wavering. "Deal with the inventory for me?"

The latter nods, giving Jeonghan an easy smile. "Of course."

Jeonghan nods before he grabs his jacket and walks out of the store without another word. The tense atmosphere breaks when Seungkwan lets out a breath that he didn't know he was holding as soon as Jeonghan's car pulls away.

"We are never drinking again." Seungkwan deadpans, glaring at Chan who raises his hands in surrender.

"It wasn't my fault!" Chan defends, his voice slightly pitchier than normal.

"It so was!" Seungkwan scoffs. "You and your big mouth! Why did you even need to bring it up?!"

"I didn't think it would be that big of an issue!"

Joshua tunes the two younger ones as they continue to bicker, keeping his gaze firm on where Jeonghan had just driven off with a small frown on his face.

He makes a mental note to call Seungcheol later to ask him for drinks and to give the oldest man a piece of his mind. He knows why Seungcheol didn't tell them, but with how Jeonghan had rushed out of the place, Joshua knew that he felt blindsided and would be missing in action till he collected all his thoughts.

Joshua internally sighs, already feeling a headache on its way as he mentally prepares himself for the next week when Chan breaks his train of thoughts.

"Hyung." Chan starts, making Joshua turn to him, tiredly. "Was whatever happened really that bad?"

Joshua gnaws on his bottom lip as he glances back out the window.

"Sometimes, the thorns prosper more than the blooms."

VIOLETS ARE BLUE

You never realized how tiring moving was until you're doing it for the second time in your thirty years of living. The first move you did when you were eighteen was one of the easiest things you did logistically speaking. You were young which meant that you didn't have a lot of stuff to move because most of them were your parents things and they were also filled with memories that would hurt more if you brought them with you.

Hence, when Seungcheol helped you that time, it was just a couple of boxes and one luggage. Now, it was at least triple that.

"I don't know how one person can have so many things." Seungcheol grunts as he pushes another box into the trailer that you had rented for the move. "Plus, you were living alone."

You roll your eyes at his whining as a small frown appears on your lips. "I wasn't living alone." You glance at your baby samoyed that you had gotten a year ago and point at her. "Mandu's with me."

Seungcheol raises an eyebrow as he gives you the big brother look of unamusement. "You're telling me that because of Mandu, you had to buy triple the amount of stuff that you used to have?" He asks, gesturing to the trailer that is almost filled to the brim with boxes and bubble wrapped pieces of furniture.

"Yes."

Seungcheol scoffs. "You're such a liar."

You open your mouth to argue when a sigh interrupts you.

"Can we please finish packing first before you two go at it again." Minghao deadpans, carrying a box that was labeled, 'Books #2'. "I cannot spend another night on Violet's hardwood floor."

You roll your eyes at his statement. "Firstly, its seven in the morning, Hao. I don't think we need another night to get two or three more boxes into the back of the trailer. And secondly," You frown before you ask. "What's wrong with my floor?"

"The fact that we're sleeping on it, is what's wrong with it." Minghao says, his eyebrows furrowing as the frown deepens. "I can't believe the three of us were able to fit on the floor."

"Years of college have taught us better." Seokmin states, wrapping an arm around Minghao's shoulders with a cheeky smile on his face. "Besides, Violet's floors were definitely better than whatever our dorm floors were back then."

"I did offer up Cheol's room as well." You state, sparing a glance towards your older brother. "Not my fault that he's a little selfish."

Seungcheol scoffs. "I'm not selfish." He defends, "I just don't think that all of them should be sleeping in my room."

"Oh and my room floor is fine then?"

"Yeah-"

Minghao lets out another tired sigh as the two of you start to squabble like chickens again. He walks around the two of you to get to the trailer and places the second last box into it. He turns to Seokmin to see him watching you and Seungcheol argue with a fond smile on his face before shaking his head.

"Does Mingyu have the last box?" Seokmin's eyes flit towards Minghao before he nods. "He was taping up the last bunch of things in the kitchen. He told me to come out and see if the disaster siblings needed any help but…" He takes a glance at the two of you, a more amused smile appearing on his face. "I think they're fine."

Minghao spares a glance towards the two of you and rolls his eyes. "Can't believe we're almost thirty and these two still go at it as if we're in high school." Seokmin lets out a chucle at Minghao's words as Mingyu comes out of the house with the last box in his hand, pressed into his side.

"Alright!" He exclaims out, getting everyone's attention as he flashes one of his signature pearly white smiles. "The whole house is packed and," He walks up to the trailer and places the box on-top of the one Minghao had just placed down, "loaded!" He finishes, his tone filled with pride.

Your best friend turns to you, a teasing smile on his face. "Aren't you glad Cheol brought us along to help you pack?"

You roll your eyes at his words, "Glad might not be the word that I would use." However, even as you say it, your face betrays you as a grateful smile appears on your lips as you look at the four men. "But this process was a lot faster because of you four. Thank you for coming to help me pack on such a last minute notice."

Seokmin waves you off before slinging his arms around both Mingyu and Minghao's shoulder, pulling them closer to him with a big smile on his face. "Of course!" He chirps, his eye lines crinkling. "We're so excited to have you back in town after so many years! We also can't wait to be the biggest supporters of your flower shop."

You smile at that as Seungcheol ruffles your hair. "Its about time for you to come back anyways." Your older brother says, a knowing look on his face.

His words and expression causes your resolve to falter as your nerves spike. You knew your move to this town was always going to be temporary. At first, you did it because you had to, every part of your hometown reminded you of him and after a while, it felt suffocating. You needed the fresh air and a fresh start.

Hence, you applied for a college in the city, opting for a fresh new start. It was fun for a while but, you knew your heart always longed to go back to your hometown.

You just haven't decided how you were going to face him.

"Yeah." You softly say, peering upwards at your older brother. "I guess it is time to go home."

Seungcheol notices your faraway gaze at the house and gives your shoulder a squeeze making you peer upwards at him. "Do you want to take one last look around?"

You gnaw on your bottom lip before shaking your head, "No, I'm ready to go."

Seungecheol mirrors your smile before giving you a kiss on the top of your head. "Alright." He says, patting your hair. "Let's go."

You whistle for Mandu who immediately perks up and gives you a pitchy bark in response before she pads her way over to you. You squat and pick her up in one smooth movement, cradling the little samoyed to your chest. You smile softly at her as she nuzzles into your hands making you coo at her.

Seungcheol opens the passenger door for you, letting you slip into the seat with Mandu in your arms before he rounds the car to slide into his seat. The car starts up with a hum before Seungcheol pulls out of your street in one swift movement.

You spare one last glance at the house through the window before your brother clears his throat, getting your attention.

You lock eyes with him through the rearview mirror, his eyes glinting with empathy before they shift into something cheekier and more older brother like. "So," he starts, enticing you with a smile making you raise an eyebrow. "Ready to see your shop?"

Its around the five hour mark of driving when you see the familiar sign that welcomes you back to your hometown making you smile as it whizzes past you.

Seungcheol squeezes your intertwined hands making you glance at him as he gives you a smile while his eyes are still focused on the road. "Welcome home."

You feel your heart soar with excitement and slight anxiety as you see the familiar spots of the front of your hometown. Feeling the wave of nostalgia hit you, you begin to point out spots with Seungcheol who reciprocates by pointing out a few of his favourite ones making the two of you momentarily break out into fits of giggles as you both recall the old memories together.

"Could we drop the stuff off at the house and then maybe go check out my shop?" Seungcheol quickly glances at you before flashing you a smile.

"Of course." He hums out. "I think the guys would want to come with you as well so how about you let them know."

You hum out in agreement before shooting Seokmin a quick text about the plan.

No more than an hour later, you slam Seungcheol's car door close as Mandu does a shake of herself, warming up her body as she takes in the new environment around her.

"Don't look!" Mingyu calls out to you from behind making you giggle as you avert your eyes downwards, not looking at your store, no matter how much you want to. Mingyu jogs over to your side before placing his hands over your eyes making you let out a small squeal as you try to pry his hands off of your face.

"Gyu!" You exclaim. "Your hands are cold, get them off my face!"

Mingyu chuckles before he relents and puts his hands on your shoulder after meticulously checking that you didn't have your eyes open. "You ready?" You hear him ask, his voice buzzing with excitement as you let out a giggle before nodding.

"Show me what you found for me, Gyu."

As it was a last minute plan to move back to your hometown, you had asked the guys for help in setting up your new shop with around half of the savings that you had saved up from your previous soul-sucking corporate job. Mingyu had taken on the task of finding the perfect place for you to set up the flower shop of your dreams while you continued to pack for the move of your life.

Mingyu guides you to the storefront as you cautiously walk in the direction that he's leading you in. You hear the guys trail behind the two of you before Mingyu firmly grasps your shoulders, signaling for you to stop. Your heart pounds in your chest as your best friend begins a countdown for you before whispering, "Open."

You look upwards and open your eyes before it locks onto the signage, making your heart swell with joy as your jaw drops open.

"Oh my god!" You exclaim, your hands flying to your mouth as you take a step forward, not quite believing your eyes. "It's so pretty!"

What sits at the top of the store is a vibrant blue and purple blend with the words, 'Violets Are Blue' written in a gold cursive with your logo that Minghao helped you design at front. You are speechless as you stare at it before you feels someone brush your arm.

You peer upwards to meet Minghao's eager eyes as he gives you a small smile. "Do you like it?"

You give him a look of disbelief as you gape at him. "Like it?!" You wrap your arms around him. "Hao, I love it!" You affirm making the taller man giggle as he wraps his around you, hugging you back tightly.

"I'm glad, Vi." He says, giving you a small kiss on the top of your head as you pull away with watery eyes.

You take a step backwards to admire the whole shop as a whole. Along with the beautiful signage, your store has a golden trim with a lovely light blue and purple gradient walls. They are accompanied by four beautiful stained glass windows that are definitely a Minghao DIY because of how personalized and homemade the designs look.

You feel tears well up in your eyes at the sight of the shop before you hear a set of keys jingling behind you. You turn to see your older brother and your best friends standing in a row, looking at you with a big proud smile as Seungcheol walks forward with the keys in between his fingers.

He steps forward with a proud grin on his face as he holds out the keys towards you.

"It isn't much." He says quietly. "The inside isn't finished because we want you to be able to decorate the shop in your own vision." He uses his free hand to grab yours and outstretch your palm so that he can place the keys into it before he wraps his hands around yours, encasing them.

"However," he continues, "we're here to help you move furniture and put everything in place, exactly the way that you want it."

You swear your eyes get wetter as you lift your hand to wipe away all the stray tears. "I love you guys." You softly admit, going back to admire the store. Your store.

It feels unreal saying it aloud.

The four gaze at you fondly as you continue to take it in as Minghao peers behind before leaning into Seungcheol. "Are we not going to tell her about the problem right behind us?" He whispers out, loud enough for only Seungcheol to hear as he keeps a cautious eye on you.

Seungheol purses his lips, taking a glance at the shop behind him. "I'll tell her later." He assures the younger man. "Right now, she needs to focus on—"

His words get cut off by the sound of the familiar bell chime from behind them, across the street making the four men's bodies tense up.

You, however, peer backwards to see where the source of the noise is coming from.

You blink as you spot what looks like another flower shop across the street whose colour scheme looks exactly the opposite of yours. You frown, turning to fully face the shop as you spot a person — the owner you presume — sweeping the front of the shop, gathering the fallen leaves from the nearby trees.

You turn to Mingyu and Seungcheol whose faces look paler than before. "How come you guys didn't tell me that there was another flower shop in town?"

Mingyu internally, starts to panic. They didn't plan for this. It is a Tuesday and according to the information that Mingyu had gathered from Chan and Seungkwan last week, they said that Jeonghan always leaves the shop to Joshua on Tuesday.

So why the hell is he, sweeping the floor right behind them?

Mingyu sees you get more suspicious by the second and panics more. He is unsure of what to stammer out as he glances at Seungcheol, hoping that the older man has some kind of plan.

You frown as you stare at the guys share knowing looks and glances at each other. "Are you guys okay?"

"Of course!" Mingyu says, his brain scrambling. "Just peachy!" They only had a couple of seconds to maybe turn you around before either you or Jeonghan spot each other. So, he enacts the plan and reaches out to you, to try to swerve you back to your shop.

"How about we—"

However, Mingyu didn't have a chance to enact any plan when the owner of the flower shop turns around, feeling eyes on him.

You freeze, immediately feeling your heart drop into the pits of your stomach as you stare at the older man across the street, your jaw dropping open.

Yoon Jeonghan blinks as he catches your eye, the exact same shell-shocked expression as yours, overcoming his features.

You feel time stop as you stare at the man that was your first love. All the memories and feelings rushing back, as if you were twenty again, gazing into his eyes while you both were on too of 'Lovers Hill', stargazing under the night sky.

You know he's thinking about it too, it may have been ten years since you last saw him but his eyes still hold the same calculating gaze that you have a love-hate relationship with. He looks good, definitely grown more into the boyish features that you fell in love with.

You feel your heart thunder in your chest as he turns to fully face you, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he tries to figure out what to do. You feel your feet move on their own, taking a step forward towards him as you watch him do the same. His gaze is intense as he swallows, opening his mouth to finally say something. However, before you have the chance to figure it out, a car whizzes past, breaking the spell between the two of you.

Jeonghan rapidly blinks as if he finally realizes what he was doing before he takes a step backwards and turns to briskly walk back into his store without a second thought.

You stand there for a few moments, staring at the place where Jeonghan had stood a couple of seconds ago, feeling your heart beat unsteadily in your chest. Seungcheol drags you out of your thoughts as he brushes his hand against yours, making you jolt slightly before you peer up at your older brother.

Seungcheol has a knowing look on his face as he gives you a small frown. "Are you alright?" He asks you softly making you purse your lips as you glance around, seeing the other three men also staring at you with the same apprehensive expression on their faces.

You swallow your nerves before forcing a smile that doesn't quite reach your ears on your face. "Y-yeah." You clear your throat. "C'mon, I want to see the inside of the shop."

Before anyone can say anything else, you turn around and walk to unlock the door, doing your best to ignore their eyes on you as well as the secret glances that you're sure that they're giving each other, all of them unsure of how to approach this situation.

You knew that the second you saw Jeonghan, that he would hate your guts or give you the cold shoulder. You spent the last week in your house, pacing around your bedroom and practicing what you will say to him the first time that you see him after all these years. However, the second that you did, all that practice went out the window.

You internally curse, feeling disappointed in yourself as you unlock the door.

You steel your nerves and put on a brave face before turning to your entourage, "Well." You try to jest, a teasing smile on your face. "The shop isn't going to decorate itself, is it?"

THE NICKNAME ROSE

You realized that you had a crush on your brother's best friend at the age of thirteen when his teasing started to make you a little more flustered than annoyed, when his boyish smile made your stomach do flip flops and when seeing him made your heart thunder in your chest as you willed for the floor to swallow you whole.

You blame it on your best friends, Izzy and Kay who were over at your house for a playdate when a few figures breeze past your room to go to your brothers room which was right next to yours. You ignore it, knowing that it was just your brother and his best friends when you feel a presence to your right and a soft knock accompanied with it.

The three of you peer upwards to see Jeonghan stood there, dressed in his normal school attire with his tie undone, hanging loosely around his neck as he leans against your doorframe.

"Rose." He greets, the nickname rolling off of his tongue making you scrunch your nose at the older boy.

"Don't call me that."

A smirk curls onto his lips. "And why not?"

You roll your eyes, frowning at him. "You know why."

Jeonghan hums, feigning a thinking motion. "Maybe, you should enlighten me again."

You scoff, crossing your arms in front of your chest as you glare at him. He shrugs, the cheeky smirk on his lips growing as he turns to your best friends.

"Kay, Izzy, nice to see you girls."

Your best friends cast a glance at each other before blinking at the boy as you raise an eyebrow.

"Hannie." You deadpan, slightly exasperated. "What are you doing here?"

He gives you a small frown. "Am I not allowed to say 'hi' to my best friend's sister?"

Your eyebrows furrow at that but you keep your guard up. You know Jeonghan well enough that he likes to lull people into a false sense of security before doing something unexpected. Your brother was normally the victim of Jeonghan and Joshua's pranks, the two of them being nicknamed as the evil twins by all the kids in the area for a reason.

"You are." You answer cautiously. "But Cheol said that the three of you have a rather intense amount of board games to play today."

"We do."

You grow even more confused. "So…" You glance out of your room. "Aren't you like late?"

Jeonghan hums in agreement before he gives you a boyish smirk and walks into your room. He crouches down to your level making you jolt backwards a little, realizing how close he is to you.

He scans for your face for a few moments as you hold your breath, feeling your nerves spike as your throat dries up. You open your mouth to ask the boy what he wants when he reaches his hand out from behind him and tucks something behind your ear.

You blink, feeling yourself freeze as Jeonghan gives you a soft smile.

"There." He breathes out making you blink at him, confusion written all over your face.

"What?" You dumbly blurt out. Jeonghan's smile curls a little more as his gaze never wavers from your face making your mind go blank.

You watch his eyes flit around your face for a little bit before he mutters. "Pretty."

The effect that one word causes is immediate as you feel your jaw drop open and your face flush. Your face makes Jeonghan's genuine smile turn into a cheeky smirk. He pats your head before he stands up to walk out of the room, as if he didn't just cause your brain to combust.

"See you later, Rose." He calls, giving you a small wave before he disappears down the hallway to your brothers room, his footsteps getting softer by the second.

Silence envelopes the room as you blink at the door, your brain fried from trying to process whatever just happened.

"Wow." Kay breaths out, breaking the silence. "He has a crush on you."

At their words, you immediately whip your head towards them and blink, your mouth agape. "N-no!" You manage to sputter out, "He so does not."

Izzy raises an eyebrow at your sputters, a small smirk on her face. "Are you sure? He literally just called you Rose and gave you a rose."

Your eyebrows furrow as you stare them down. "What? What are you—"

Your two best friends point towards the mirror making you turn mid-sentence, the sight of yourself making you halt your words. Your eyes widen as you spot the flower in your hair.

A rose to be more precise, just like Izzy said.

"What in the world." You mutter out to yourself, bewildered beyond means as Kay and Izzy exchange a cheeky knowing grin.

"Looks like you got yourself a boyfriend." Kay cooes out making your cheeks flush as red as the rose in your hair.

"W-What?!" You sputter out making your two best friend's smirks grow wider as they continue to tease you. In retaliation and a desperate attempt to get them to stop, you grab at the pillow on your bed before smacking them both with it hard, making them both squeal before it turns into a full-fledge pillow fight.

The three of you continue to yell, squeal and giggle as you all continue to attack each other with the fluffy pillows but Jeonghan's words never leave your mind.

Maybe… just maybe, you like the nickname Roses more than you thought you would.

GETTING STUCK IN THE BLOOM

You frown as your recollection of the memory ends as you stare dumbly at the homemade resin bookmark in your hands. You gently run a finger over the smooth edges of it as memories of how you made it come rushing back.

You recall researching the best ways to preserve flowers and begged your mother to bring you to the nearest arts and craft stores to get resin so that you could preserve the flower that the older boy had given you. You smile fondly to yourself as you let your eyes flit around the bookmark, the golden sparkles glinting as you let the light shine onto it.

How did you and Jeonghan even get to this point.

You internally sigh, knowing that you were the reason as to why it got to this point.

You glance downwards at your feet, where Mandu was snoozing and smile to yourself, thinking how cute your samoyed was. She's a ball of sunshine in your life. You jolt out of your thoughts when the front door to your store slams close making you immediately jump to your feet, feeling your nerves spike before it settles as you see Vernon appear in your vision.

Mandu perks up at the sound before noticing the younger boy as well. She wags her tail happily, stretching before making her way to his side. You breath out a sigh of relief as Vernon places down the box of little trinkets that you had gotten to brighten up the shop and give it more personality.

"I think this is the last box of stuff." Vernon says with a soft huff as he dusts his hands. Mandu paws at his legs, wanting to be picked up making Vernon smile softly at her. He crouches down to pick her up, cradling her in his arms.

You flash Vernon a fond smile as you give his arm a quick squeeze. "Thank you, Non." You sing-song, making the younger boy give you a gummy smile as he continues to scratch Mandu behind her ear making the dog keen at the younger boy. You check the stock with a soft hum before your eye catches the clock at the corner of the store. Your eyes widen, noticing that it was almost half past six.

"Oh my god!" You exclaim, frowning as you turn to the taller boy. "I'm so sorry, I didn't notice the time."

Vernon's eyebrows furrow as he shakes his head, crouching to put Mandu down. "It's no issue at all." He assures you as you shake your head, grabbing your wallet out of your pocket.

You dish out a few bills from it before giving it to the younger boy whose eyes widen in surprise. "Here." You say, holding it out to him with a smile. "Buy yourself dinner on me please! For the extra overtime that I made you do."

Vernon shakes his head as he holds up his hands, shaking them too. "It's really no probl—"

"Non," You say sternly, pressing the bills into his open palms. "I insist."

Vernon looks between your face and the bills that you pressed into his palms before he sighs and pockets the money. He was playing a losing game and he knows it with how stubborn you are, knowing that even Seungcheol — who is pretty stubborn — will always lose to you on that front.

"Fine." He huffs as you give him a smile of triumph. He peers behind you, taking a look at your desk that is filled to the brim with stuff. "Do you still have a lot of things to finish?"

You spare a glance at your desk before you shake your head, giving the younger boy a tired smile. "Not really." You assure. "Just a bunch of logistical stuff for the grand opening this weekend."

Vernon nods. "Are you excited?"

You ponder for a moment, taking a look around the store that had been decorated with so much love the last few days. You had gone out shopping with the guys the last two weeks, purchasing and assembling all the furniture and shelves that you needed as well as sorting out all the inventory stuff with Mingyu and Seokmin.

You were re-introduced to Vernon a day after you came back into town, having seen the boy around in high school once or twice. You had taken quite a fond liking to the boy who was nicknamed as your personal assistant as he started to help you with whatever task you needed.

Since the rest of the guys and your brother had actual full-time jobs, they were only available after a certain time — which was usually at night — where they helped you to put together furniture, set up shelves in the store as well as carry new inventory into the store.

It was just a lot of back and forth and since the grand opening was less than two days away, you had told them that you would be able to handle the rest of the logistic by yourself. They had checked in a couple of times, seeing if you needed their help but you always denied, saying that you also needed to find your own footing for this.

However, Vernon was stubborn and turned up anyways, insisting on helping you get the inventory that slipped your mind or some thrifty things that made the shop feel more you.

You smile fondly at the cozy space that all of you had managed to create in the last two weeks and nod at Vernon. "Yeah." You breathe out. "I am."

Vernon nods before giving you a soft smile. "Good." His phone chimes making him peer downwards to pull it out of his pocket. His eyebrows furrow as he checks it before letting out a soft breathe of a chuckle, shaking his head.

"Friends?"

He nods showing you the message that Seungkwan sent to him. You giggle seeing a selfie of him and Chan in one of tent bars just a few blocks away with a few messages after asking where Vernon was.

"You should go." Vernon frowns at that, giving you a knowing look.

"Are you sure?"

You quickly nod, ushering the younger boy out of the door. "Just because I'm working overtime and don't have a social life, doesn't mean that you shouldn't have one either."

Vernon frowns and is about to reply when Mandu barks, panting slightly making you glance downwards at your little companion. You gesture to her before giving Vernon a teasing smile. "See, even Mandu agrees."

"But—"

"Hansol." You say, the same stubborn tone as before shining through making Vernon lift his hands up in surrender.

"Alright," he breathes out. "Geez, you don't need to bring out the full government name."

A smile pulls at the corner of your lips as you see Vernon trying not to smile as well as you open the door to the store for him. He goes through but leans against the door, peering back at you with a serious expression on his face.

"Call me if you need anything okay?"

You nod, biting back a teasing smile as you push the man further out the door. "Go already! Seungkwan's going to sulk if you aren't there in the next twenty minutes."

Vernon breaths out a chuckle as he lets you push him out the door before he gives you and Mandu a wave, biding the two of you goodbye. You pick up Mandu to use her paw to give him a small wave as well making the younger boy laugh before he fully turns and walks down the street.

You watch him go with a fond smile before turning to your little fluff ball in your arms.

"Let's finish all this overtime, huh?" Mandu lets out a little pitchy bark as you place her down onto the floor before putting on some music to get to work.

You didn't notice how much time had passed until your playlist playing had started to loop, the first song you put on softly flowing through the speakers. You glance at the clock, noticing that it was just after one in the morning making you let out a sigh as you stretch.

Seeing Mandu back in her spot underneath your desk makes you realize that maybe it was time to wrap up for the day. You stand up, rolling your neck as you let out a satisfied sigh, feeling good about the amount of work you had gotten done for the day.

Mandu lifts her head up from her spot making you give her a fond smile as you crouch down to give her a scratch behind her ears which she happily accepts.

"We can go soon girl." You coo out. "I just need to put all the inventory down in the basement and then we can go alright?"

Mandu lets out a soft bark making your smile grow bigger before you stand up to open the door, airing the store out and begin to tidy up. You huff out a grunt as you place the last box in the storeroom, right below your shop.

You brush away a few strands of your hair that was falling in-front of your eyes as you look at the amount of stock and inventory that occupies your little basement. You smile, feeling your nerves in a bit of a flux as you think about how your grand opening is just in a few days.

You couldn't be more proud of yourself. You walk up the low-bearing staircase and place your hand onto the doorknob before going to twist it.

You freeze when you feel the doorknob get stuck in it's path making you panic internally as you try to jiggle it loose.

"C'mon. C'mon." You repeat to yourself, whispering as you use your strength to jiggle it more. You let out a frustrated grunt, realizing that the doorknob would not budge as you go to dig for your phone in your pocket, hoping that someone would still be awake at this ungodly hour.

However, your blood runs cold when you find nothing in your pockets. You dig deeper and check more than once in both of your pockets, patting yourself down to come up empty.

You let out a exasperated sigh, realizing that you had left your phone on your desk. Meaning that you are stuck here until someone realizes you went missing in action or till God knows when.

You sigh as you take a seat on one of the more stable boxes before leaning back as you stare at the ceiling, your thoughts running wild.

You had a little hope in your chest that someone will come and find you soon but you know that it might be at least an hour or two before that happens. Seungcheol was definitely asleep, needing to wake up early today because he had an important client meeting. Seokmin was doing some drunk karaoke with Soonyoung, Jihoon and Kay and the last time he checked in two hours ago, the four of them were already incredibly wasted which meant that they won't be coming to your rescue anytime soon. Minghao, Mingyu, Izzy and Vernon were with Seungkwan and Chan and having last checked in with them not even more than twenty minutes ago, they will definitely not be checking back for at least another hour.

You sigh, running a hand down your face.

What were you going to do?

SERENITY AND MANDU

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay and help?" Joshua asks Jeonghan, a skeptical look on the younger man's face as he eyed his best friend.

Jeonghan rolls his eyes as he all but pushes his chief operations officer out of the door. "Yes." He answers shortly, growing more impatient by the second at his best friend's worrying. "As I said the last two times that you asked me, it's just a few payslips that I need to file and accounts that I need to account for that I, can handle."

Joshua frowns as Jeonghan pushes his bag into his hands.

"And you're sure?" Joshua asks, his tone confused as he stares at the amount of papers on Jeonghan's desk. "There's no shame in asking for help, y'know."

Jeonghan internally sighs. Of course he knows there's no shame in asking for help. The amount of papers that have been piling up on his desk is enough to give him a migraine for a week. However, Joshua's been hovering over him like an overbearing mother goose the last two weeks, after he had made the mistake of going into the store looking as if he had seen a ghost.

When in actuality, he just saw you.

Jeonghan made the mistake of telling Joshua everything, airing out all the feelings that was brought on from seeing you again for the first time since prom night, ten years ago. He knew that Joshua is just trying to be a good friend. He knew and appreciated that more than anything but, he hasn't had a moment of peace since then.

Joshua was always around, he made sure that Jeonghan wasn't thinking about you by trying to distract him with new orders with the help of Izzy, Mingyu's girlfriend who definitely ordered more than enough bouquets to last her for the next year of her life. Kay and Soonyoung also had a part in it, the two constantly calling Jeonghan to ask about really weird flower facts when Jeonghan was just trying to work in peace.

Instead of helping him take his mind off of you, it just highlighted the problem even more and Jeonghan spent every other moment when he was supposed to be working, thinking of you instead.

So, enough was enough and he needed to put his foot down.

"I'm fine, Shua." Jeonghan deadpans, ushering his best friend towards the open door. "I just really need some peace and quiet today to finish all the paperwork that I am behind on."

Joshua looks like he wants to argue but thinks better of it as he stares at Jeonghan's tired expression, looking like he might combust at any second.

"Okay." He says, slinging his bag over his shoulders. He steps out onto the street, pauses and turns to face Jeonghan with a sympathetic expression on his face.

"Han." Joshua calls out, making Jeonghan raise an eyebrow as he hums out in response. "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

Jeonghan gnaws on his bottom lip at Joshua's tone before giving his best friend a reluctant nod, knowing that he's just looking out for him. The two bid each other 'goodbye' before Jeonghan closes the glass door, locking it and pulling down the blinds.

He lets out a long exhale, feeling the weeks fatigue catch up with him as he closes his eyes for a second, letting the weight of everything rush through his veins. He finally had some peace and quiet.

Jeonghan opens his eyes, walking to his desk to connect his phone to the speakers and scrolls till he finds the playlist he's looking for, putting it on as it softly flows out of the overhead sound system. He sits down at his chair, feeling slightly more at ease before he opens the first stack of papers that he needs to compile.

"Alright." He whispers to him. "Let's do this."

About three to four hours past before Jeonghan looks back up at the clock again, blinking in surprise to see that he's almost been doing the paperwork till almost two in the morning. He closes the file in-front of him and counts the amount of files that he still needs to work on.

Realizing there is only four left, he lets his shoulders drop as he sighs and spins his chair around while his eyes are closed. He should go home now, it's Joshua's day off tomorrow which meant that he needed to be around for both Seungkwan and Chan to be able to get into the store to prepare the multiple delivery orders for a wedding in the next town over.

Jeonghan feels himself freeze at the word wedding. He hadn't thought about that in a long time, always pushing the word and it's entailment to the back of his mind. He lets out a frustrated groan as he runs a hand over his face, feeling more fatigued and unfocused by the second.

"Alright." He mutters, standing up to pack up for the night. He tidies up all the loose papers on his desk, writing himself a little post-it note to remember where exactly he left off so that he can just continue when he comes in the morning.

He grabs his hoodie and his bag before switching off the store lights and locking the door.

Jeonghan inhales, filling his lungs with fresh air as he closes his eyes, feeling said air course through his veins, rejuvenating him more by the second. Jeonghan feels a small smile appear on his lips as the night ambience seems to soothe him. When he was younger, he never really enjoyed the serenity of nights but now that he was older, he learned how to appreciate the quietness and the ambience of it, realizing how much more at ease he felt during these hours.

He allows himself a few more seconds to soak in the quietness when his eyebrows furrow hearing a pitchy bark coming from across the road. He peers across to see a white little fluff ball padding about, looking for something… or someone?

His eyebrows scrunch more as he slowly approaches the little dog that's pacing the front of… your flower shop? Jeonghan gets more confused by the second as he approaches the little dog.

"Hey girl." Jeonghan mutters out, crouching down so that your dog could sniff his hands and get familiar with him. The samoyed does a circle around Jeonghan, sniffing him cautiously before nudging his hands with her head, licking it once.

Jeonghan lets out a soft chuckle as he picks her up, cradling her in his arms before stroking her stomach, her collar moving as he does. He peers at the name on it before rolling his eyes.

Of course you would name her Mandu. He shakes his head before noticing that you had left the door to your store open. He peers downwards at your dog, internally wrestling with himself.

He could just put Mandu back into the store and then close the door behind him so that he doesn't have to deal with you because apparently ten years and two weeks was still not enough for him to deal with the complex feelings that he has for you.

However, he couldn't deny the unexplainable pull that your shop had, almost as if it was tugging him to go into the store. With one last glance at Mandu who was in the midst of licking his free hand, he sighs, steels his nerves and walks into the store.

Upon entering, he notices how the interior is just very much you, the coziness and how everything was organized was just a reflection of you as a person. Everything had it's own little space, the shelves were organized but in organic places to make it more natural. The different trinkets that you had placed around reflected more of the homely and cozy feel that you were going for and all the inventory that was on the shelves were organized according to different categories.

Jeonghan smiles to himself. You really hadn't changed that much. He wanders around the store more, cradling Mandu more as he looks around for you, his face getting more confused by the second as he is unable to find you. He approaches your desk, frowning more when he sees your phone there. He looks around, placing Mandu down as he places his bag on your desk.

He calls out for you, your name slipping past his lips making him cringe slightly. "Violet?" He tries again, feeling a little awkward as the unfamiliar nickname passes through his lips. Your phone buzzes making him glance over at it, seeing a text from your groupchat with Mingyu, Minghao and Seokmin appear on the screen.

However, what Jeonghan sees behind that is what causes him to freeze. The background image being something that he recognizes instantly.

It was a picture of you and him on your first date together where you had gone for a flower garland making workshop together. He remembers scrambling to find something perfect for your first date and came across this poster for a flower garland workshop that was happening that very weekend. He was also so delighted to find out that the workshop took place in the flower garden, the very same place where the two of you first met.

He made sure that everything was perfect, checking the weather every other hour, preparing food, snacks and drinks for the two of you to enjoy as well as begging Joshua and Seungcheol to find the perfect place for the two of you to have a little spring picnic after the workshop.

Joshua had instantly agreed to it but Seungcheol was a little more reluctant, not sure if he wanted to help set up his sister and his best friend more than he already needed to but after Joshua talked to him, Seungcheol sighed and agreed to help.

The picnic setup was the least of his worries though because on the day itself, Jeonghan felt like he was losing it. His palms kept getting sweaty everytime you looked at him and that caused the flower garland that he was working on to slip out of his hands every other minute. He scrambled to pick it up everytime, praying that you didn't see it or notice but he knew better than that. He knew that you noticed everything.

A giggle passed through your lips as he dropped it for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes alone causing him to peer upwards at you, his blood running cold.

'Good job, Jeonghan.' He thought to himself. 'Now she thinks you're the biggest loser on the planet for not being able to hold a flower garland properly.'

However, you surprise him by placing the flower garland that you made onto his head, a shy smile on your face.

"Pretty." You breath out, causing Jeonghan's eyes to widen as his jaw drops open. The familiar turn of events effectively frying his brain which causes you to giggle more as you raise an eyebrow.

"You going to give me your flower garland or what?"

He blinked at you before placing the uneven flower garland on your head, gnawing his bottom lip as he did so. It was safe to say that his flower garland skills could use some work.

However, you didn't seem to mind, a rosy blush blooming on your cheeks as you gave Jeonghan a soft smile. "How do I look?"

Jeonghan thinks that question is moot. You looked ethereal, you always do but something about the spring sunlight today and maybe just being on this date with him. You looked more beautiful than he ever thought was possible.

"Beautiful." He remembers blurting out. "You look beautiful."

Your cheeks had flushed more at his admittance, your smile widening as your eye lines crinkled causing Jeonghan's heart to flutter.

"Thank you." You softly say, giving his hand a little squeeze.

Jeonghan felt his throat go dry, darting his tongue out to wet his lips as he opens his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by a crackle in the sky.

The two of you peered upwards to see the once beautiful sky turn gray as it starts to drizzle.

Jeonghan felt his heart drop as the drizzle slowly transitioned to a full on rain making the two of you scramble for your stuff. The two of you dashed underneath a tree close to the roses, standing there as the rain began to pick up more.

Jeonghan internally cursed as he pulled out his phone to see two messages from Joshua and Seungcheol telling him that they had packed up the stuff a couple minutes earlier because they noticed the clouds coming in.

He was too enthralled by you to even notice the change in the weather. He shoved his phone back into his pocket before he peered at you. Your baby blue dress had a few splatters of rain on it, turning it into a darker blue as your hair was slightly damp, sticking to the side of your face.

However, Jeonghan thought you never looked prettier.

"I'm sorry." He found himself blurting out. You glanced upwards at him, your eyebrows furrowed which caused him to continue. "I constantly checked the weather and it said it was going to be sunny the whole day but it turned into this and now your dress is ruined and—"

You cut his ramble off by stepping closer to the boy with a small frown on your face. "Are you seriously apologizing for the weather?"

Jeonghan blinked at you, his throat dry as a flush crept up his face from his neck. He realized how stupid it sounded now that you phrased it like that. Before he had the chance to make a fool out of himself further, you giggle.

Jeonghan felt his heart rate pick up as you stepped even closer to him, your flowery scent filling his nose as you peered upwards at him, your eyes locked onto his as you scan his face.

"Breathe, Hannie." You said softly, giving the boy a small smirk. "You look like you're going to pass out."

Jeonghan didn't even realize that he was holding his breath until you pointed out, causing him to slowly exhale and inhale as he tried to steel his nerves, the effect you have on him very obvious.

"Sorry." He muttered out which caused your smirk to curl more as you hummed out an 'it's okay'. Jeonghan felt like he was losing it, your scent overwhelming his senses as he had the biggest desire to kiss you, his eyes involuntarily flicking downwards.

He watched you dart your tongue out to wet your lips causing him to inwardly groan at the sight, the desire to kiss you growing more by the second.

"Don't." He hoarsely stated.

"Don't what?"

"You know what."

Your lips curled into another smirk as you tilt your head to the side, feigning innocence. "I'm not sure I do."

Jeonghan felt his hand twitch at his side as he watched your own eyes flick to his lips. "If you continue to act this way." He whispered out as he leaned in a little. "I might not be able to control myself."

He watched your eyes flick downwards to his lips once more as you dart your tongue out to wet yours before saying. "Then don't."

Jeonghan immediately felt his resolve snap as he pulled you flush into him, his lips on yours. You gasped into his mouth which Jeonghan used as an opportunity to deepen the kiss, slipping his tongue into your mouth to massage against your own. Jeonghan groaned as he pulled you impossibly closer to him, his hands firm on your waist.

You pulled away a couple seconds later, panting a little as you rest your forehead against his. He watched you gnaw on your bottom lip which caused him to inwardly groan again.

"You're doing it again." He muttered out causing the cheeky smirk to appear on your lips again as you breathed out a giggle.

"Am I?" You asked as nonchalantly as you could, your smirk giving you away making Jeonghan nod. You pulled back, meeting his eyes again as you tilted your head to the side.

"What are you going to do about it then?"

Jeonghan rolled his eyes before bringing you in for another searing kiss as the rain continued to pour down, drenching the two of you more by the second but the two of you didn't care.

Because what else was meant to matter when you both were in each others arms?

Jeonghan feels Mandu pawing at his leg, bringing him out of the memory as he sighs, still unsure as to where you are. He hears a shift of something beneath him making him tense slightly as he tries to listen for it again. He glances to the corner of the room before noticing that there was a staircase there.

He peers at Mandu. "Stay." He tells her sternly. She pants before tilting her head to the side, a habit that she had no doubt, picked up from you.

Jeonghan trudges down the stairs to find a door. He swallows his nerves before lifting his hand and knocking on it.

"Violet?" He calls out. "Are you in there?"

There's silence for a bit causing him to frown so he tries again.

"Vi?" He calls out, louder this time as he knocks a few more times. "Is that you in there?"

"Hannie?" The nickname causes him to involuntarily shudder, sounding so sweet as it falls from your lips. "Is that you?"

"Yeah. Are you alright?"

"No." He hears you say with an exasperated scoff. "The door won't budge so I've been trapped in here for god knows how long."

He frowns. "Alright, hang on!"

You wait patiently behind the door, palms getting sweatier by the second as you internally prepare to see your ex-boyfriend for the first time in two weeks. The doorknob jiggles a little before it turns and your heart races as you see Jeonghan appear as soon as the door opens. He's dressed in a comfortable black hoodie and sweatpants, looking like he just got off work with a beanie on top of his head.

He blinks a little, his eyes adjusting to the dark room before they lock onto you.

Silence wraps around the two of you as you just stare at each other, a weird tension filling the room. You swallow as you feel Jeonghan eye you up and down, feeling yourself getting warmer by the second.

Mandu's high pitch bark interrupts whatever weird moment the two of you have going on as she wanders past Jeonghan and hops down the steps to get to you. She doesn't get far though, missing one of the steps as they were bigger than her, causing her to fall.

Your heart drops as you scramble up from the box you were seated on. "Mandu!" You exclaim, reaching out for her. Jeonghan reacts faster, immediately jumping down a few steps to crouch down and scoop her up into his arms, causing the door to slam close.

Your blood runs cold. "No." You whisper as you push past Jeonghan to get to the door, trying to turn the doorknob again.

"Fuck." You swear, jiggling the doorknob more by the second, realizing that the door wasn't opening.

"We're stuck!" You exclaim, tossing your arms up in an exasperated gesture.

You watch Jeonghan freeze with Mandu in his arms as he eyes all over your face to see if you were joking or not. When he finds no humour in your features, he immediately hands Mandu over to you and tries to jiggle at the doorknob.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." He deadpans, muttering under his breath as he rips his beanie off to run a hand through his hair.

He turns to you, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why didn't you tell me the door was broken?"

Your eyebrows furrow as you hug Mandu closer to your chest. "I did."

"No, you told me the door was jammed! That isn't the same thing as can't be opened from the inside."

"What the fuck is your definition of jammed then?"

"When both sides don't work because there's something stuck in there!" Jeonghan exclaims, growing more frustrated by the second. "Not whatever the fuck this is." He gestures to the whole door, his arms waving animatedly.

"Well, I'm sorry!" You yell back at him, getting tired of him blaming this situation on you. "I didn't think you would go and save Mandu."

He glances at the fluff ball in your arms and gives you an 'are you being serious' look before he pushes past you, shaking his head.

"Yeah." He answers shortly. "Is that why you left? Because you think I don't like animals as much as you do?"

Your heart stops at his statement, unsure of how to answer him as he goes to sit on the floor, leaning against one of the inventory boxes.

"No." You softly breathe out, Mandu feeling ten times heavier in your hand as you adjust her awkwardly in your hold.

Jeonghan scoffs, bringing his knees up to his chest as he places his arms on them.

"I left my phone on your desk." He mutters, not looking at you. "You might as well get comfortable because I think we'll be here for a while."

You purse your lips before trudging down the steps. You sit a few feet away from him, leaning against one of the other boxes as you lay Mandu down in your lap, playing with her little paws as she pants happily, unaware of the tension in the room.

You continue to stroke her as you try not to look to your right at the man who you figured held a grudge against you. Mandu slowly dozes off in your lap, her breathing getting heavier by the second as her eyes close, keening more into you.

You smile softly at her, patting her once more before you fully lean against the boxes, gazing upwards. You blink at the ceiling for a couple of seconds before you risk taking a glance at the man who has plagued your thoughts for the last two weeks. His knees were still pulled to his chest his beanie still in between his fingers with his head bowed, covered by his knees.

You let your eyes scan him, his physique to be more specific. He had grown more muscular since the last time you saw him, his hoodie pressed against them, leaving little room for imagination. You let your eyes drift lower to admire the beanie in his fingers, realizing that it was one you had bought for him when the two of you were still together. Your heart clenches at the realization as you gnaw on your bottom lip.

You let your eyes drift upwards to get the shock of your life when Jeonghan suddenly lifts his head up, locking eyes with you. You jolt a little as he raises an eyebrow at you, a ghost of a smirk on his lips.

"Want to take a picture?" He asks, his tone dry as he tilts his head to the side. "I heard they last longer."

You feel your cheeks heat up as you turn away from the boy. "Shut up."

Jeonghan snickers at your reaction. "You were the one that was staring."

"And I regret it now."

"Do you?"

You feel your breath catch in your throat before you clear it and nod, knowing that his eyes are on you. "Yeah." You breath out, your voice low making Jeonghan scoff.

"You've always been a terrible liar, Rose."

The nickname causes your breath to hitch, your head immediately turning to the man to your right. "Don't call me that." You mutter out, almost on instinct.

Jeonghan blinks at you, his face unreadable as he stares at you. "And why's that?"

"You know why Jeonghan, don't play dumb now."

Jeonghan scoffs. "Can't believe you're still affected by the nickname because of Titanic."

"There was enough room on that door for the both of them!"

Jeonghan shakes his head, a breath of a chuckle escaping.

Rose is the nickname that Jeonghan coined for you after that day at the park. You had qualms about it because of Titanic. You watched it when you were younger and thought it was really selfish of the leading lady to not move a little more so that her boyfriend had more space on the door.

Hence, you didn't like the nickname.

Jeonghan, on the other hand, seemed to thrive more off of your hate for the nickname, making him use it more than your actual name or Violet which was the general nickname that everyone else called you. Even your parents used it.

But to Jeonghan, that nickname that didn't sit right so he used Rose every chance he got.

You grew to love the nickname when you and Jeonghan were dating because you learned that he called you Rose because you are his love and you've been since the two of you were kids and that he was enamored by you.

The effect of the nickname is so great that even after ten years of not seeing each other, that nickname still causes your stomach to flip.

"Are we really not going to talk about it?" Jeonghan asks softly making you tense up as you stare at the gray floor in-front of you.

"Talk about what?" You cringe the second the question leaves your mouth, knowing that it was a stupid thing to ask.

"Don't play dumb with me, Rose." He says making your heart race. "I think you forget that I know you like the back of my hand. Even if we haven't seen each other for the past ten years."

He was right. The two of you had grown up together and dated for almost five years before you left. He knew you, in and out. The two of you were each other's first for everything.

First kiss (from experimentation), first relationship, first real couple fight and you both even took each other's virginity.

Everyone thought the two of you were it for each other, despite your young ages. Everyone wanted what the two of you have and you two were glued to the hip that everyone always referred to you as a pair, never seeing one without the other.

But, that's probably the reason you left.

"I know." You whisper out.

"Since we're not going anywhere." Jeonghan says, moving his legs downwards to sit cross-legged in-front of you. "I think we have plenty of time to talk about prom. Don't you?"

You feel your pulse pick up as all the blood rushes from your face, gnawing at your bottom lip before you face him.

"Okay." You whisper out. "Let's talk about prom."

LET'S TALK ABOUT PROM

Prom.

If you were to ask anyone which day the seniors were most excited for, everyone's answer would be prom. It was such a monumental occasion that missing it would be the most devastating thing as a senior.

However, prom to you would always be something that had to end.

You and Jeonghan had been dating for around four years at this point. The two of you were constantly glued to the hip and everyone in the school knew that the two of you were together, including the teachers. Despite your age difference of two years, you still had a lot of common friends, your best friends integrated well into his group with consisted of your brother, Joshua as well as Jun, Soonyoung and Jihoon who were a year younger than them and a year older than you.

You loved Jeonghan. You realized that you loved him during one of the dates he took you on where you both went to a meadow just a little out of town that was filled with a bunch of different flowers and he just let you ramble on and on about their meanings with a lovesick grin on his face.

You loved him but you were also twenty, trying to figure out what you wanted and where you were meant to go in this big world. You always knew you were going to leave your small hometown, no matter how much you wanted to stay, your heart always strayed for something further. For something that couldn't be found in this small town that you called home.

So, you applied for colleges out of this small town, the only people knowing being your best friends and your family members. You didn't tell Jeonghan because it wasn't set in stone yet. It wasn't something that you wanted him to worry about or try to make sense of because to him, you were always going to stay.

So, when you got a letter, detailing how you were accepted into one of the courses that you applied for, five hours away, you were at a lost for words.

You remembered bringing the letter to Seungcheol's room and the two of you sat on his bed, staring at the letter as you cried in his arms. You didn't want to go. You didn't want to leave Jeonghan behind but you had to.

Which leads you to the night of prom, also known as your last night in town.

You had ordered a rosy red dress months ago, realizing that it's Jeonghan's favourite colour on you as it went so well with your skin colour and just made you look like the most ethereal person in the room.

The theme for prom this year was coincidentally spring so your dress was perfect. You applied the finishing touches to your makeup with shaky hands as Kay and Izzy shared a glance with each other.

"Babe." Kay said gently, taking the mascara brush from your hands, putting it back into it's case. "You're crying."

You let out a soft sob, unsure of what to do. Izzy dabs at your eyes, removing some of your makeup but you didn't care. Not when you were staring at your childhood room filled to the brim with memories of you and Jeonghan but you couldn't bare to bring any of it with you, opting to leave it here just like you were leaving him.

Your closet was empty for the most part, you only bringing a set of toiletries, clothes and some memorabilia that you couldn't bear to part with that were all packed in Seungcheol's car.

"You need to stop crying, babe." Kay breathed out as Izzy helps you to touch up your makeup. "If not, Jeonghan's going to know that something's wrong."

You sniffled, looking in the mirror to see that Izzy had managed to fix your makeup as if you hadn't cried at all. You felt sick in the stomach.

"He's going to know." You whispered out as you shook your head. "He knows me like the back of his hand guys… It's going to be so hard to hide it from him."

Your best friends shared a glance with each other. "Then why can't you tell him, babe?"

"Because it's going to break his heart on what's meant to be the happiest occasion of high school."

Your best friends were silent at that, unsure of what to say. Before they could though, a soft knock was heard at your door. The three of you turned to it, to see Seungcheol stood there, leaning against your doorframe.

"Hey." He greeted softly as he pushed off the door to walk over to you. He gave you a once over, a prideful smile on his face. "You look beautiful." He whispered out making a small smile appear on your face.

"Thank you, Cheol." Seungcheol gave you a soft shoulder bump.

"I didn't mean to interrupt the three of you but Hannie and Gyu are already here, so I figured that we should get going."

You felt your heart drop at the information but steeled your nerves as you stood up from your bed shakily. The three in the room all shared glances as they looked at you as you put on your best brave smile.

"Let's conquer prom."

The four of you made your way downstairs as two loud voices other than your parents met your ears. You reach the bottom to see Jeonghan and Mingyu stood there chatting with your parents, their hands in their pockets as they laughed at something your father said.

Mingyu was the first to notice you and your entourage, his eyes immediately locked on Izzy as he took her in. "Wow." He breathed out, making the girl in question blush.

"Shut up." She muttered out, but from the way she was trying to hide her smile, you could tell that she was enjoying the attention.

However, you weren't really paying attention to the soon-to-be couple at your side, instead more focused on the angel of a man that was stood in-front of you.

Jeonghan was clad in a black stunning fitted suit that left very little for imagination. His mouth was agape as he stared at you, his eyes shiny as he tried to figure out what to say.

"Gosh." Is the first word that left his mouth as he continues to gape at you. Your cheeks are definitely flushed at this point as you gave him a shy smile. "You look absolutely breathtaking, Rose."

"Really?" You asked, your voice small as you try not to allude that you were crying. Jeonghan doesn't seem to notice, completely enthralled by you as he took your hands into his, bringing your dominant hand up to his lips as he brushed a kiss onto it.

Your heart raced as he brought you closer to him. "Of course, baby." He lowly says. "I'm so lucky to have you."

You felt your heart crack slightly at his loving words but you fake a smile all the same as you gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "You look so handsome." You told him. "Can't believe you're all mine."

He gave you a devastating smile before his eyes lit up. "I almost forgot." He walks to the nearby table before he returned with a box, a shimmery rose inside. He gestured for your hand, which you gave him without a second thought. With the help of your father, he opened the box and carefully slid the rose corsage onto your non-dominant wrist.

"I made this." He softly admitted making your eyes widen as you glanced downwards as the perfectly shaped corsage.

"You did?"

Jeonghan gave you a nod, a nervous smile on his face. "I wanted your prom to be special. So I took a little workshop a few days ago to lear how to make the corsage for you." He held up your hand in his as he brushed his fingers over your knuckles. "Do you like it?"

Your heart raced at his question. "Like it?" You whispered out before you pulled him closer to you. "I love it, Hannie. Thank you." You tugged your hand out of his before you sprinted to the kitchen, grabbing the boutonniere that you had prepared the night before.

You made your way back over to Jeonghan before you showed him the boutonniere in your hands. He gawked at it before a genuine smile appeared on his face.

"No way." He breathed out making you giggle.

"Way." You replied, stepping closer to him as you pinned it onto his suit with as much care as you could. "Now," you breathed out, stepping backwards to admire your handiwork. "We match."

The two of you did match. You wanted to create a boutonniere that would go with your corsage and it didn't take rocket science to figure out that Jeonghan would probably give you a rose corsage considering that it was your nickname for him.

"I love it." Jeonghan stated before he gave you another dazzling smile and holds up his arm for you to curl into. "Shall we?"

You gave him a nod, your smile not quite reaching your eyes. "We shall."

Music is the first thing you hear as soon as you and your friends entered the prom hall. Mingyu and Izzy immediately moved towards the end of the banquet table where Minghao looked like he was about to have a heart-attack from how many eclairs Seokmin was stuffing into his mouth.

Kay and your brother made their way towards where Joshua was with his date, the four of them immediately picking up a conversation which left you with your dear boyfriend whose heart you were about to break.

Jeonghan scrunched his nose at the loud music and noises. "It's really loud in here, huh?"

You rolled your eyes as you continue to scan the room. "It's prom!" You shout over the music. "What did you expect?"

He gave you a shrug before he cocked his head to the middle of the room. "Dance?"

You giggled at his smirk before nodding. "You're on."

The two of you giggled as you dance with each other to the funky tunes that were playing. It only took two songs before the rest of your friends joined the two of you. Seokmin ended up starting a weird dance competition which Mingyu also took part in that caused almost all of you to end up on the floor in a fit of giggles.

You stare at your wonderful group of friends and smiled fondly to yourself, feeling a little teary eyed, knowing that tonight was the last night that you had with them until you went off to college. You had always imagined going to college with your best friends, unsure of what you would do without them but you were following your dreams and sometimes sacrifices had to be made in order to do it.

A shoulder nudged yours which brought you back to reality as you peered to your right, seeing your boyfriend stood there, looking as devastatingly handsome as always.

He leaned into you. "Tired?" He whispered, loud enough only for you to hear.

You shrugged. "A little, but not too bad."

Jeonghan nodded at that before he cocked his head to the exit of the gymnasium. "Want some fresh air really quickly?"

You glanced at the time and at Seungcheol who was watching you, knowing that you had less than an hour before you had to leave. However, if this was the last night that you had with the love of your life, you would willing say—

"Yes."

The fresh cold spring air rejuvenated your body as soon as you stepped out into the moonlit night. You and Jeonghan walked hand-in-hand to the back of the bleachers, both of your favourite spot to hangout at during lunch hours.

"Can't believe you're graduating next week, Rose." Jeonghan said as he bumped your shoulder, taking a seat on the metal benches. "Felt like yesterday when I was just graduating."

You forced out a soft laugh as you took a seat as well, hoping that it would just miss Jeonghan's ears so that he wouldn't suspect anything. "Yeah." You softly said. "I can't believe it either."

Silence enveloped the two of you as you both watched the stars glint in the sky. You were nervous, your eyes flickering to your phone every few seconds to see if Seungcheol was going to call you and break this bubble that you were in with the love of your life.

"Rose."

You whipped your head to your boyfriend, seeing that he was already looking at you, his eyes filled with nervousness and something else that you couldn't name. You raise an eyebrow at the man.

"Hannie." You cautiously breathed out. "Did you do something?" You deadpanned.

A soft chuckle passed Jeonghan's lips as he shook his head 'no'. "I just have something for you."

You looked at him a little more suspiciously as he dug through his pockets before he pulled out a box. A velvet red box to be exact.

You felt your heart rate speed up as Jeonghan scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Rose." Jeonghan said gently. "Before you freak the fuck out, take a deep breath with me and let me explain."

You hadn't realized that you held your breath this whole time as soon as Jeonghan had produced the box in-front of your eyes so you slowly breathed in and breathed out, regulating your breathing back to normal before you locked eyes with Jeonghan.

He popped the box open to show two rings in there, one that was slightly thicker than the other. "I know we're much too young to get married now, Rose." Jeonghan breathed out, his hands shaking as he held the rings for you to see. "However, after knowing you for so many years and dating you for some of it. I know another things that's for sure is that you're it for me." He said softly, his eyes on your face as he watched your eyes continue to flicker between the two rings.

"This is a promise ring. It's a promise that no matter what happens, no matter how many fights we get into and no matter how many times I push your buttons and piss you off, no matter how many days we go without seeing each other…" He lets out a shaky exhale. "That I will always love you and that I will never stop loving you until the day that I breathe my final breath."

A full fresh set of tears have brimmed your eyes at this point which caused you to involuntarily let out a watery sob that has Jeonghan wiping the tears from your eyes.

"Don't cry, baby." He cooed out.

"You can't say shit like that and expect me not to cry, Yoon Jeonghan."

He chuckled at your use of his full government name as you lifted up your hand. "Slip it onto my finger already, you asshole."

Another laugh bubbled out of his throat before he met your demands all the same, taking the rose studded ring and slipped it onto your middle finger, the traditional place where promise rings sat before he did the same with his own ring.

The two of you placed your hands side by side, comparing the two rings together before you pulled Jeonghan in for a kiss. He groaned into it, immediately gripping tightly onto your waist as you slowly moved your hands up from his chest to the back of his neck, messing with the back of his nape.

He let out another grunt, pulling you flush against him as he deepened the kiss by slipping his tongue into your mouth, tasting the strawberry mint that you had earlier. The two of you made out for what felt like an eternity before your phone rang, making the two of you jolt apart.

Still dazed and panting from the remnants of the kiss, you scrambled for your phone to see your older brother's caller ID on it.

Your heart dropped. This was it.

You turned to Jeonghan who blinked at you before he tilted his head to try and peer at who was calling you. You moved your phone away from his eyes before you cleared your throat. "It's just Cheol asking where we are."

He eyed you suspiciously but didn't press as he nodded before he stood up. "I guess I have stolen his little sister away for too long." He cheekily said, wrapping an arm around your waist. "Shall we go back inside?"

You gave him a brief nod, knowing that if you did anything else, you might crack under the pressure and just admit to him that you were leaving in the next ten minutes. He gave you a forehead kiss before he led you back into the building. The two of you were about to enter the gymnasium when you pulled away.

"I need to use the bathroom, baby." You said, careful with your tone so that it wouldn't waver as you gave him a smile. "You go on ahead, I'll see you inside."

Jeonghan eyed you for a few seconds before he nodded, letting go of your hand. "Don't take too long." He called out to you as you trailed down the hallway to the bathroom. "I got some mean moves to show Seokmin that might win me his weird dance competition."

You flashed him a small. "I can't wait!"

You watched as he turned and walked back into the loud booming room and your whole facade broke, a wretched sob escaping your throat as you remove your heels to walk back down the hallway.

You spared a glance into the gymnasium where you spot Jeonghan with the rest of your friends happily talking to each other and let your eyes drift further down his figure to the ring that sat on his right middle finger before ypu glanced at your own.

This was the right decision.

Is the last thing you thought to yourself before you slip out the doors of the school to your brothers parked car where you were about to leave your whole life behind.

"Are you alright?" Seungcheol asked as soon as you slipped into the passenger seat, dumping your shoes into the backseat.

You let out a shaky exhale as you shook your head 'no'. "But." You breathed out, recalling how good Jeonghan looked on your last day together. "I'll be alright."

Seungcheol said nothing as he put the car in drive and pulled out of your high school carpark, leaving behind what was meant to be the best day of your high school year and the love of your life.

You recall the whole story to Jeonghan who has scouted closer to you in the time that you had told it. He had been silent the whole time so when you finished the story, not a single word came out of the man.

You tuck Mandu closer to your chest as she keens slightly, fluffing around for a bit before settling again as Jeonghan lets out a bitter laugh.

"So," He states, eerily calm. "You're telling me this whole time, you could've told me and we could've just done long distance?"

You feel your blood run cold as he repeats the situation back to you as he stands up and begins to angrily pace the room.

"Jeonghan, I—"

"No." Jeonghan cuts you off. "You don't get to sit there and try to fucking defend yourself when you left like that, Rose." He chuckles lowly as he runs a hand through his hair, the beanie now abandoned on top one of the boxes. "Why couldn't you have just told me?!" He exclaimed. "Did you think I wouldn't understand? Did you think I wouldn't be happy for you?" He asks, agony deep in his tone.

You feel your throat go dry as you place Mandu down onto the ground to try to be on the same level as the man.

"N-No." You stammer out, lifting your hands in a surrender position as you try to appease the man in-front of you. "I was just scared and I didn't want to hurt you, Hannie."

Jeonghan scoffs at that. "You didn't want to hurt me?" He shakes his head. "Well, congratu-fucking-lations. You managed to do it anyways, Rose." You wince at his words as you feel tears brim your eyes.

"I thought it was the best thing to do." You softly admitted.

"I don't fucking understand, Rose." Jeonghan breathes out, locking eyes with you. "I told you I loved you, I told you that you were it for me. Which part of that statement did you not understand or get? That I would be happy for you no matter what you were doing or what you were going to do?" Jeonghan stops pacing to stand in-front of you. "That I would be able to die a happy man just because I have you by my side?"

You feel your heart stop as he admits that, staring intently into your eyes as you let out a shaky exhale. "I didn't want you to wait for someone who wasn't sure if they were going to come home or not, Hannie." You softly admit. "I was wrong. I'm sorry that I made the decision on behalf of the both of us when you were right and we should've talked it out."

"Yeah." Jeonghan replies. "We should have talked it out, baby. I would've told you that I was happy for you, that I would drive down every other weekend to see you. That I would bring you flowers every weekend to brighten up your bedroom so that you have reminder to smile even when everything looks bleak."

He shakes his head. "I would've done it all if you had just let me in."

You let out a soft sob as you imagine all of that, thinking how it would've been different if you just told him. If you didn't make the decision on your own and assuming on your own.

"I guess it would've been a lot different." You softly admit, sniffling a little. "If I had just told you."

Jeonghan sadly looks at you. "I guess we will never know now." He softly says, his words getting softer and softer by the second.

"Yeah, I guess not."

The two of you stand in a semi-tensed silence for a couple more seconds before Jeonghan steps closer and reaches out, his fingers brushing your chin upwards so that you are now looking at him. His eyes scans yours before he sighs, brushing his forehead against yours.

"It's been ten years." He softly whispers. "Yet you still make me feel the same way you did when I first met you in the park where I hated flowers."

You feel your heart rate pick up as you finally realize how close the two of you were now, his familiar floral and citrusy scent filling your nose as you stare into his irises. You didn't notice the two of you leaning in until the the door to the basement cracks open making the two of you jolt apart.

The two of you whip your heads to the door to see a few figures standing there, looking between the two of you, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"Erm." Chan starts, his eyes shifting between the two of you. "Did we interrupt something?"

Jeonghan takes that moment to regain his composure as he shakes his head. "No." He answers shortly, sparing you a glance before he grabs his beanie and makes his way towards the staircase. "You didn't interrupt anything at all."

His cold answer makes your heart drop as he trots up the stairs. "Excuse me." He mutters out as Seungkwan and Vernon share a glance before letting the older man leave. Your friends watch Jeonghan pick up his bag from your desk before he walks out of your store, the door slamming behind him without another word.

All attention turns back to you as Minghao cautiously walks down the stares, approaching you who looked like you had just seen a ghost.

"Vi." Minghao breathes out, getting your attention as he meets your eyes with his soft doe ones. "Are you alright?"

You break, reaching out for Minghao who catches you before you cry in his arms. The taller man soothes you, running a hand up and down your back as he whispers comforting words to try to get you to stop crying.

"I really messed up, Hao." You admit between sobs. "He loved me so much and I hurt him so badly by just leaving. Why didn't I just talk to him?"

Minghao's hand on your back pauses for a millisecond before he strokes your back again. "We've all made stupid decisions in our lives, Vi." He softly admits, moving his hand up to pat your head. "We've all been there because we're rash and we're young and we make decisions based on our emotional states sometimes. Yes, we may make mistakes but making mistakes is what makes us human. If we don't make a mistake here or there, how do we know we're making good decisions?"

His words make you think as you continue to sniffle into his shoulder. "Let's take a rainy day for example." Minghao softly starts. "How do you know sunny days are sometimes better than rainy ones without experiencing both?" He pulls back from you to meet your eyes. "Living is about experiencing, even if you experience the wrong thing or make mistakes, the important thing is to learn from them and to not repeat the same mistake twice."

Minghao eyes you for a couple of seconds. "If you thought leaving instead of telling Jeonghan was the best decision, it would've continued to be the best decision because it was already in your mind, Vi. It was meant to happen and I think you learned a lot from it because it happened."

Minghao in all his glorious wisdom is right.

"Since when did you get so wise." You breath out making the man chuckle as he rolls his eyes.

"Aren't you lucky to have such a wise person in your friend group that can actually relate to whatever you're saying?"

A scoff is heard from behind the two of you making you glance up to see Seungkwan's face scrunched up. When he realizes that both your eyes are on him, his face immediately flushes as Mingyu smacks him on the back of his head.

"Way to ruin the moment." Mingyu chastises, causing Seungkwan to flush even more. You let out a watery giggle at their bickering, a teary smile on your lips. Minghao reaches out to wipe some of the stray tears that didn't get picked up by his sweater.

"Feeling better?"

You purse your lips. "Not at the moment." You honestly admit but give him a small all the same. "But I'll be alright."

He gives you a sympathetic smile, placing a hand on the small of your back as he leads you to where the entourage of Mingyu, Izzy, Vernon, Seungkwan and Chan stood. He gives you a tiny kiss on your hairline before snapping his fingers at Mandu to get her attention to follow him.

"Let's get you girls home."

THE CHAOTIC TRIO

Jeonghan swears that he's never had trouble getting out of bed before. After last night though, he thinks that going to the store might make him combust instead of providing the serenity that used to.

Before he went home last night, he dropped Joshua a text asking if they could swap their off days just for the week. Joshua who was not sleeping sent a question mark before agreeing, saying that Jeonghan was lucky that he didn't have any prior plans.

Hence, that's why Jeonghan is at home and just staring at the ceiling, his mind blank with a body that is unwilling to move. He barely got any sleep, his mind plagued by your proximity last night and how the two of you had almost kissed.

He places his hands over his face and groans into them before hiding into his pillows. He wants the ground to swallow him hold. Ten years of not seeing you and the second time that he does, he almost kisses you.

'Stupid.' He thinks to himself. That's what he was.

He can't believe he hasn't gotten over you. He's tried dating. Joshua has even tried setting him up on one or two blind dates but after the second one was a bust, Jeonghan just swore off dating and hid his heart behind his dazzling charm to protect himself.

But the truth of it all is that he still loved you with his whole entire being and that is definitely not changing anytime soon.

He sighs into his pillow, willing himself to go back to sleep to maybe wake up in an alternate reality where you didn't leave.

"Are you trying to melt into the bed or something?"

Jeonghan's nearly launches himself off the bed when he hears the stern voice coming from his room door. Luckily, he manages to catch himself before he did and just stops a few centimeters from the edge of the bed.

"Jesus!" He exclaims, holding a hand to his chest as he wills his heart rate to slow down. "How the fuck did the two of you get in?"

Seungcheol and Joshua share a glance before the latter holds up a key in between his fingers. "Did you forget that you gave me a spare key in case of emergencies?"

Jeonghan scoffs. "What kind of fucking emergency is this?"

"The self pity kind." Seungcheol answers without a second thought as he walks into Jeonghan's room and flops down onto his bed with a soft groan, stretching a little.

Jeonghan frowns, smacking the older boy with the bolster that he has near him. "Get off my bed."

Seungcheol lets out a yelp when the bolster makes contact with him but doesn't move, instead eyeing Jeonghan with a knowing look. "I will if you talk to us about what's going on."

The heartbroken boy doesn't know if he wants to laugh or cry at his best friend's statement, considering Seungcheol is tied deeper into this than he thought.

"What's going on is that your sister came back into town and somehow opened a flower shop right opposite me. We got stuck in her basement last night and I finally learned the reason why she left on prom night and you somehow, knew everything about it but decided to leave me in the dark for all of it." Jeonghan rants, his voice getting louder by the minute as he continues. "What's the fucking cherry on top is that you knew about the promise ring and still told me to give it to her anyways!"

He glares at Seungcheol as his voice goes low. "Did you want me to get heartbroken that badly?"

Seungcheol is silent for a few moments as Joshua just observes, leaning against Jeonghan's desk.

"I wanted her to stay." Seungcheol admits quietly. "I thought that if you gave her the ring, she would forgo whatever she wanted to do and stay because she's so in love with you, Han."

Jeonghan doesn't reply, giving Seungcheol the cue to continue. "I should've known that she's too much like me to do that though. You should've seen her the night that she came into my room with the letter, Jeonghan. She was so heartbroken. She had just gotten into the college program of her dreams and she was heartbroken because she had to leave you." He lets out a sigh as he sits up. "Maybe it was wrong of me to not tell you, maybe it was wrong of her to leave like that but I think she knew that if she talked to you about it, she wouldn't have gone through with it. You would've told her to go and she wouldn't have because she's that in love with you."

He flashes his best friend an apologetic smile. "Again, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that she was leaving or that she was coming back and there's no excuse for my actions and I hope that you forgive me someday but," Seungcheol looks around Jeonghan's room before his eyes settle on the printed out collage of photos of you and Jeonghan together from an array of dates that you've been on.

"Are you going to let the supposed love of your life slip through your fingers again?"

Jeonghan wants to yell and defend himself or deny that he's still in love with you but Seungcheol fixes him with a hard gaze.

"Don't even try to lie to me, Hannie." He says. "You forget that I've been your best friend longer than you've known my sister. I was here first."

At that, Jeonghan's mouth snaps close because as infuriating as Seungcheol was, he was also infuriatingly right.

"I hate you." Jeonghan deadpans with as much venom in his tone that he can muster. Seungcheol rolls his eyes.

"Yeah yeah." He tugs at the sulky boy's hand. "C'mon, Shua brought some beer, we're going to drink and we're going to have a good time."

Jeonghan frowns, not budging from his spot. "First of all, its one in the afternoon. Secondly," he turns to his chief operations officer. "if you're here, who is managing the store?"

"Well, we only had two delivery orders today which Seungkwan and Chan finished pretty promptly in the morning even though they looked so hungover." He clicks his tongue. "So I made the executive decision to send them home, close up shop and come over to make sure that you're okay." He glances between Jeonghan and Seungcheol before a cheeky grin appears on his lips. "Besides, I didn't want to touch the amount of paperwork on your desk."

Jeonghan lets out a scoff at that, shaking his head. "You lazy ass."

Joshua feigns hurt. "Says the one whose only role is to do paperwork."

Jeonghan opens his mouth, ready to argue when Seungcheol sighs, having had enough of this and yanks Jeonghan off the bed in one swift movement, barely letting the man get his bearings before he uses his other hand to tug at Joshua's hoodie.

The two of them let out sounds of protest but Seungcheol just drags them to the living room where three six packs sit. He let's them go before opening the carton for himself as the other two stare at him.

"If you two are going to fight." Seungcheol says, lifting the beer in a 'cheers' motion. "I'm going to need a drink to get through it.

Jeonghan and Joshua share a look before they took a pillow each off the couch and turn to the smart alec in the room whose eyes widen before he takes off sprinting, the two hot on his tail.

As yells, swears and laughs were heard for the next few hours, Jeonghan couldn't help but keep Seungcheol's words at the back of his mind.

Will he really let you slip through his fingers for the second time?

IF THE UNIVERSE GRANTS IT

You swear you could feel your own nauseous clawing at your throat with how nervous you are. It's the day of your grand opening and a sizable amount of people had turned up making your nerves spike more than it did before.

"You're going to put a hole in your newly furnished store if you keep pacing like that." Seungcheol states as he watches you go back and forth with just five minutes before you officially open.

"I feel like if I stop, I'm going to throw up." You state, not stopping your pacing for even a second.

Mingyu who was on clean-up duty today pales as he looks between the two of you.

"That doesn't mean you wear out the floor before your customers even have the chance to come in." Seungcheol deadpans as Mingyu tosses a glare his way.

"Keep pacing if it helps for you, Vi." Mingyu says gently, tossing Seungcheol another dirty look. He did not want to clean up any messes that big for free, during something as big as the grand opening.

"You're going to do fine, Vi." Seokmin calls out from behind the counter, his role being cashier today that sends the customers off with a warm smile or a good laugh. "The shop also looks splendid! This is going to go so well!"

You give the tall man a slightly constipated smile as Vernon appears from the back with a clipboard in his hands, in-charge of making sure everything was stocked up. "Done with last minute stock check." He gives you a small smile. "We're all ready to open up when you are."

You take a glance over the store, your eyes briefly landing on Minghao for a second as you spot him messing with the angle of one last trinket, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. When he finally finds the right spot for it, he smiles to himself before turning to you to give you a thumbs up.

Your heart swells with warmth as you admire the store that you and your friends had spent the last two weeks building. Every detail and placement intimate as you take a deep breath.

This is it.

You steel your nerves and put on the bravest face you can muster as you unlock the glass door and open it to see a bunch of customers already waiting outside, peering through the open door to see what all the fuss is.

"Let's do this." You say making all your friends nod as you open the door, welcoming all the new customers in and the official start of your journey.

It's mid-afternoon when sales start to slow down and you feel exhaustion creeping into your bones as it begins to drizzle outside. You don't remember another time where you had to stand for such a long period of time. You stretch as the rest of your friends lean against the front desk, chatting happily.

You smile fondly at them as they recount all the funny stories of the morning as Minghao looks through which flowers were the best flowers of the morning. You peer through the windows too admire the rain and the serenity of it all.

You let your eyes drift before they land on the store across the street from yours which had their blinds down. You frown, tilting your head to the side. You vaguely remember Seungcheol telling you that Jeonghan and Joshua only officially close the store on Tuesdays because it's a good time for them to catch up on paperwork as well as restock inventory from the weekend rush.

However, it's a Sunday today, meaning that they should be open.

"Hey Cheol." You call, getting your brother's attention as he breaks away from the group, your curiosity getting the better of you.

"Yeah?"

"How come Jeonghan and Joshua aren't open today?"

Seungcheol follows your gaze to their shop before his eyebrows furrow. "I don't know, they didn't mention anything when I saw them."

You frown but try to push it out of your thoughts as Mingyu gets your attention.

"Yeah, Gyu?"

"You had a letter delivered with the bills." You tilt your head to the side as Mingyu passes you it to you.

You analyze the letter as you try to figure out who it is from, flipping it in your hands. It just had your name on it, written in cursive with a wax rose seal at the back. Your heart thunders in your chest as you carefully open the envelope to reveal the letter and its contents.

Rose,

I know you probably weren't expecting a letter from me but I think this is a better way to articulate whatever I want to say without getting too emotional or too invested in the way that you're looking at me.

Let me start this letter off by saying I love you.

I know we've said it a few times when we were together but I don't think you ever knew when it was because I never told you, I wanted to save it for when we get married but then you left ten years ago and now, I'm here saying 'Fuck it, what's the worst that could happen?' You leaving me a second time?

Sorry bad joke…

I knew that I loved you the second you showed me the roses in that godforsaken flower garden that I truly did not want to go to. I guess I have Su Bin to thank for dragging us there that day because if she didn't, we would never have met.

Maybe we would have at a later date considering Seungcheol and I were friends but I think I wouldn't have fallen in love with you that early if we hadn't met that day. If I wasn't bait for Seungcheol's plan to get away from flower talks with you, I wouldn't have learned about what Roses meant and I wouldn't have learned what it was like to fall in love with you.

I wouldn't have spent ten years of my life after that yearning for you, four after that getting the experience of loving you and another ten after that waiting for you to come home.

Which is actually why I opened the flower shop in the first place. I couldn't bear to be without you so I made something that might get you to come home, back to me and choose me again. Roses are Red would never have been built if I never met you.

Which is why I'm proposing that we give our relationship another shot.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still heartbroken by you and it'll definitely take a lot of time to rebuild that trust so that I don't think you're going to leave me again but… I realize that the universe doesn't make mistakes.

We, humans can make mistakes but the universe doesn't.

It wasn't a mistake that Su Bin managed to convince our mother to bring us to the flower park that day, it wasn't a mistake when Seungcheol roped me into becoming bait to meet you, it wasn't a mistake that it rained during our first date and… it wasn't a mistake that you left the same day that I gave you the promise ring.

Maybe this is a bad decision and maybe our relationship will be in tatters after this but from how I see it, I still love you. I spent a long time thinking about it the last few days and I realize that I'm not ready to give you up just yet.

Because I know that deep down, you still love me too.

If all this is said and true, I'm waiting for you at our spot, Rose.

Don't overthink it and if you are going to, overthink it with me. There's enough space on that door for the both of us.

~ Hannie <3

You stare at the letter for a couple more seconds, not believing your eyes as your mind races with a million thoughts per second. You jolt out of them when Minghao puts a hand on your shoulder, an easy sympathetic smile on his face.

"This is the part where you run, Vi."

You feel your heart rate speed up as you nod, immediately hopping out of your chair as you fling the door open and run out into the street not caring about the rain. You sprint down the street as the rain dampens your clothes, making your way to the flower garden that you knew by heart since you were six years old because if there's one thing you knew for sure:

If the universe gives you a second chance, you have to take it.

Jeonghan feels at ease as he stands under the tree where the two of you had your first kiss. He thought that he shouldn't be feeling like this, since there's a chance that you wouldn't have read the letter that he had passed to Seungcheol this morning when he was closing up the store.

There's also a chance that you did read the letter and he was wrong, you didn't love him anymore and the last couple of days was just a fluke.

But as he stares at the spring rain falling on the trees and his umbrella, he knows that you're going to come.

He hums to himself as he patiently looks around, before he hears hard but fast footsteps just a couple feet away from him. He smiles to himself, knowing who those footsteps belonged to because he's always kept a listen out for it.

He turns to face you, who looked almost the exact same as you did that day when he first kissed you. Your hair's damp, sticking to each other and parts of your face and you sported a rosy red dress with a white knit sweater that just brought out the rosiness of your skin and a pair of sneakers.

Even though your makeup was lesser than that day of prom or on your first date, Jeonghan swears that you've never looked more beautiful and 'his' in this moment.

"Are you crazy?" Is the first words to leave his mouth as you end up under his umbrella. "You're going to get sick."

"Don't care." You reply, looking at the man in-front of you with as much love as you can express. He doesn't seem to catch it though, ranting about how you're so stupid to run here without an umbrella as he sheds off his jacket, placing it onto your shoulders.

"— do you have any idea what a common cold does to people? This is the stupidest thing you've ever done, you could've driven here, you could've at least taken an umbrella when you left the store. Like are you saying that you don't have any at the store because that's — mmph!"

You cut him off by pressing your lips against his, your hands going to the back of his neck as if it was just muscle memory. Jeonghan stands there frozen for a few seconds before his eyes flutter close, the umbrella forgotten as he lets it go, his hands more invested with being around your waist than keeping the two of you dry.

He groans into the kiss and you take the opportunity to deepen it, sliding your tongue into his mouth which he gladly reciprocates with his own. His grip on your waist tightens as he pulls you flush against him, not caring about how your wet clothes were soaking his own. You hum, smiling into the kiss as the two of you continue to make out.

Only when the two of you remember that oxygen is a thing, is when you two pull away. Jeonghan's lips pressing three more chaste kisses onto yours as if trying to remind himself that this isn't a dream and you are actually standing in-front of him, saying that you want to give your relationship another shot.

He bumps his forehead with yours before he leans his forehead against yours, a small teasing smile on his face.

"If I knew you missed me that much, I would've convinced you to take that photo of me in the basement the other day."

You roll your eyes, a soft scoff escaping your lips. "You wish."

"I do, Rose." He admits, without a second beat, the genuine honesty surprising you a little. "I wished that you missed me everyday in hopes that you would come home to me."

Your heart drops at that as you stare into Jeonghan's eyes that are filled with love and vulnerability.

"Hannie." You softly breathe out. "I'm sorry for making the decision for both of us and leaving without giving you a chance. There's no excuse for my actions and I thought I was doing it because it was the best decision for the both of us. However," you shake your head. "I realized that it was stupid of me to do so because it hurt a lot more than if we had just talked it out."

"I was so badly homesick during my first year in college that I wanted to dropout and come home to this town, come home to my family and friends but more importantly, I wanted to come home to you. However, I was scared that you weren't going to want to talk to me, that you hated my guts for what I did and I couldn't bare the thought of that happening."

You take a deep breath before tugging at the chain necklace hidden under your dress, taking it out of it to reveal the promise ring that Jeonghan gave you ten years ago.

"I never took it off." You softly admit as Jeonghan stares at the necklace, his eyes wide. "It was the one thing that kept me sane during college and what got me through the worse of the worse when I was working in corporate. Because every time I looked at it, I found my life a little less bleak and a little more hopeful, because I was thinking about you."

Jeonghan looks slightly teary eyed as he gazes into your watery ones. "If you let me, I'll spend the rest of my life hoping that you would forgive me. I'll work hard for all our dates, I'll plan and pay for every single one if you let me and I will always go the extra mile for you, just so that you know that I love you and that this is something that I want because like you said." You give him a soft, cheeky smile. "Humans may make mistakes but the universe doesn't."

Jeonghan stares at you for a few seconds, his eyes flitting around your face as if he's trying to commit your features to memory before he reaches into his own shirt neckline to pull out a chain similar to yours. Your eyes widen as you see the same promise ring nested on the chain as Jeonghan gives you a soft smile.

"I've been in this since I first saw you at the park, baby." He whispers out, letting the chain now rest on his neck, the ring glinting in the spring rain. "Let's just take it slow and see how it goes."

You nod, a soft smile overtaking your features as you lean more into the man that you love.

"So," You ask, wrapping your arms tighter around Jeonghan's waist. "What's the first step in taking it slow?"

Jeonghan's eyes lit up with a familiar mischief as he feigns a ponder before leaning closer to you, eyeing your lips.

"I can think of quite a few."

©livmarauder2026 Thank you guys so much for reading my collab fic for svthub! Be sure to check out all the other amazing works in this collab <3 Another fic will be coming out in a bit... be sure to watch out for that! <3 Like my work? Join my Permanent Taglist! All my fics are 18+, which means blogs without age or age indicator will not be tagged! If you like this, please consider reblogging or liking! It really makes my day! <3 Thank you for showing yearner jeonghan so much love!

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[milk-moonbunnies]

omg if you could pretty please do like seventeen reacting to reader cutting their hair short as a suprise??

genre: fluff

warnings: mdni, 18+, soft! svt, in love! svt, boyfriend! svt etc.

wc: 2.1k

SEUNGCHEOL - Seungcheol's phone vibrates with a chime, and immediately, he knows it's you.

Normally, during working hours, he has his phone on silent mode, and the only exception is you. For you, it's a special ringtone that never fails to make his lips curve into a smile, and his hand moves before his mind does, grabbing his phone and unlocking it with a swipe of his fingers.

The notification is a picture, and his eyebrows raise when he realizes it's of your new haircut. You've cut your hair short, and the way you smile in the photo tells him you're loving it.

Then his phone chimes again, and it's another message from you. This time, it's another picture of you, but this time his heart not only skips a beat, but also races as he quickly finds an excuse to leave work early.

And he's already halfway out the door, calling you, about to tell you how beautiful he thinks you are, and he'll be home in fifteen.

JEONGHAN - Jeonghan plays with your hair as you two cuddle on the couch.

His fingers run through your new short hair, soft and slow, twirling the ends around his fingers to give a little pull before he goes back to the top to start all over again.

He loves it and thinks you've never looked cuter than you did when you surprised him.

He had been looking forward to coming home from a long day of work; his only plans were to cuddle you close, and so when he opened his door to find you welcoming him home, he couldn't help but melt into you right on the couch.

"You're so pretty," he hums with a happy sigh, his legs are tangled with yours, and your head is lying on his chest as you keep your eyes closed. He's got you almost falling asleep, so it takes you a moment to respond.

"Hmm?" You nuzzle closer, and his heart swells with more love as he squeezes you affectionately.

"I love you."

Your smile is sleepy, and a dreamy sigh escapes you as you mumble, "I love you too."

JOSHUA - Joshua's downright smitten the moment he steps foot inside your apartment. He's got a bouquet of flowers in one hand and can hear you puttering around the kitchen when he calls out, "Stop snacking! I'm going to make dinner!"

He hears you giggle before he rounds the corner, and when he spots you holding a bag of chips like the little minx you are, he immediately notices the haircut.

You've cut your hair short, and his eyes soften as you beam at him. "Chips are an appetizer!" You state, and Joshua's heart skips a beat.

"You cut your hair?" He asks, and the flowers are given to you just as he pulls you closer by the waist. His eyes scan over your shorter hair, his smile growing by the second, and you're about to speak when he beats you to it. "You look beautiful." His compliment warms you down to your toes, and your cheeks flush as he gives you a sweet kiss on the cheek. "But you're still not eating those chips."

JUN - Jun's eyes sparkle when they land on you. You're trying your best to sneak by Hoshi before he wrangles you into something like dancing in front of a camera, and you make it to your boyfriend, still looking over your shoulder with wide eyes.

"Hey, Baby." Jun murmurs, and your eyes meet his with a glimmer. It's then that he notices your short hair, and his smile widens. You're beautiful, is his first thought, and you're jumping into his arms as you give him a hug in greeting.

"I got a haircut!" You exclaim with a giggle, and he nods his head, looking at your hair again with another smile.

"Yeah?" He ruffles his fingers through your hair, twirling the short strands around his fingers as you look up at him. "I like it. It looks really good on you."

The smile you give leaves his heart racing, and you're just about to kiss him when you hear Hoshi call out your name. Oh fuck.

HOSHI - "Y'know," Hoshi starts with a teasing grin on his face as he softly touches your hair. "You didn't have to cut your hair if you wanted me to stop pulling on it.. You just had to ask." He finishes it by giving your shorter hair a little tug, his grin infectious as you roll your eyes with a smile.

"Y'know," you hum and step closer to your boyfriend, your hand sliding up his chest as his eyes flicker to your lips, then back up. "You can just say you hate it."

Your voice drips with amusement, and now it's Hoshi who rolls his eyes. He pulls you closer, his hand cupping your chin so you can look him in the eye when he speaks to you. "I don't, though." And he shows it when he gives you a slow kiss, his hand moving to cup the back of your head as he licks over your bottom lip with his tongue.

When he pulls away, your eyes are a little glassy, and your smile matches his as he gently nudges his nose against yours.

"You're always gorgeous to me."

WONWOO - When Wonwoo sees your new short hair style, a warm smile grows on his lips as his eyes soften.

You come straight over to him with a matching grin, your eyes sparkling as you give your head a tiny shake to direct all of his attention back onto your hair. "What do you think? It's short now!"

You're beaming at him with a pride that makes his heart stutter, and his hands can't help but grab you by the waist, pulling you closer to him.

"You're beautiful." His compliment comes out warm and soft, and your cheeks flush from how intensely he stares into your eyes - your heart stuttering after his.

"Yeah?"

Wonwoo smiles, lovesick, and squeezes your hips playfully. "Yeah."

WOOZI -Woozi actually catches you cutting your hair, yourself. He's just gotten home from the gym, and all he wants to do is find you so he can relax, and you're in the main bathroom, sitting on top of the counter with your eyes intensely focused.

You have scissors in your hand, your phone balancing on top of a hand towel, playing music, and your eyes shine as you meet his through the mirror. "My love," you call, and another clump of your hair swirls onto your lap.

"You're cutting your hair?" Woozi asks. His body leans into the doorframe, his arms cross over his chest as he watches you with a grin.

"Yeah," you grin, and pause your cutting to give Woozi a raised brow through the mirror. "You like?"

Woozi takes a moment to watch the way you smile and the way your hair is a little uneven in the back, and then his smile widens as he nods in agreement. "I love anything you do."

He'll make sure to book you a hair appointment to even it out after you're done having fun.

MINGHAO - Minghao blames Vernon.

Vernon had buzz cut his hair on a random Tuesday, and he wasn't surprised that two weeks later, Vernon's younger sister followed in his example - shaving off hers. What he didn't expect was that you would also follow the trend and cut your hair short with her.

So, it takes him a second to unfreeze when you show up with your cute hairstyle and pretty smile. It's like he's fallen in love all over again. His eyebrows raise, his mouth parts, and his heart tries to leap out of his chest to fling itself right at you.

You're so pretty and cute, he's too stunned to speak, and it results in you waving your hand in front of his face, trying to bring him back to his senses. "Hello? Hao? I'm asking you, what do you think? Too short?"

Minghao blinks, a flush coming to his cheeks and the top of his ears before he quickly shakes his head. "No. You're perfect."

MINGYU - Mingyu's going to embarrass himself, because the moment he sees you with your short hair and pretty smile, he's forgetting how to speak. His mouth drops, and his ears burn pink all the way down his neck as you walk up to him, and he can't help himself.

"Please go out with me," He says it so fast you're halting two feet away from him, and he full-on cringes because you bark out a laugh, your eyes sparkling as you giggle at your boyfriend.

"Baby, I am."

His face reddens more, and his body slumps into yours, pulling you into a hug as he buries his face into your neck. He's so big you almost can't see over his shoulder, and you laugh again as he squeezes you tight. "I'm so lucky."

"I take it you like my new haircut?" You mused, and Mingyu nodded his head, still not letting you go.

DK - Dokyeom can't stop smiling at you.

His eyes sparkle, and his fingers twirl your short hair around his fingers as you stand before him. It's safe to say he loves the new look, a happy surprise that left him barely able to keep his hands off you.

You were forced to stand there as he held your waist with one hand and played with your hair with the other. His smile was almost too bright to look at, and it made you laugh as he held you close. "I'm assuming you like it?" You mused, and DK quickly nodded.

"I always think you're gorgeous."

He compliments you earnestly and honestly, which makes you match his grin. Both of you are smiling at each other like fools in love, and sooner rather than later, you'll find yourself smiling through kisses you share with him too.

SEUNGKWAN - Seungkwan all but attacks you with kisses when he sees you. He'd be gone for work for days, and the moment he was back in town, he went straight to your apartment. All he could think about was seeing you, giving you all the kisses he could, and cuddling while you told him about everything he missed while he was working.

So that's what he did.

The moment your front door swings open, you barely get out a little "oh!" before Seungkwan is pulling you in, cupping your cheeks as he kisses you. Then he kisses your cheeks, your nose, smiling as you let out a giggle, and when he pulls back to take in your pretty face, he finally notices your new haircut.

"My love?" His eyes sparkle as you two stumble into the apartment, his foot knocking the door closed behind him, and his fingers threading in your hair as he pulls you into another kiss. "You dare look this cute while I was away?" He teases against your lips, and another laugh slips from you as he blindly guides you back into the living room.

"Excuse me? I always look cute, Mister." This time, it's Seungkwan who huffs a laugh and squeezes your hips in agreement, already going in for another kiss.

VERNON - Vernon can't stop touching it.

When you come home, you have a nervous but excited smile, and shorter hair from this morning. It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision that led you to cut a lot of your hair, but you didn't regret it one bit. It was cute, flattering, and you all but skipped back to Vernon's to show him your new look.

And that's how, twenty minutes later, you and Vernon are lying on your sides on the couch. A film plays in the background, but neither of you pays attention as he calmly and slowly runs his fingers through your short hair. "I like it."

It's a short statement from your boyfriend who smiles, and you match his grin, preening at the compliment. "Right?"

DINO - "Whoa, your hair is short!"

Dino says it like you don't know this. His eyes are wide and blinking at your new look before his smile grows bigger on his face as he watches you grin.

"I know," you laugh and give him a tiny twirl, showing him all angles before you do a little pose for your boyfriend. "What do you think? Cute? Or do I need to invest in a hat collection for the foreseeable future?"

This time, Dino laughs, pulling you closer to give you another twirl. He's downright beaming at you as he shakes his head. "No, no, it's good. Really good. You're beautiful." He showers you in compliments, his hands squeezing your hips, and now both of you are grinning like fools who fell in love for the first time all over again.

대박 - you made it to the end.

Tell me about it.

Reblogs, likes, and comments are always appreciated ♡ . Tumblr is based on reblogs, not likes, and that helps writers like me reach more people. Thank you for your support!

my bts mstrlst - svt mstrlst

[212art]

Cold Around You

Pairing: Cryokinesis!Sungho × fem!Reader

Warnings:

supernatural abilities, cryokinesis, physical closeness, teasing, flustered Sungho, romantic tension, freezing/frost effects, soft intimacy

Summary:

Sungho’s ice powers become impossible to control whenever you get too close to him and teasing him just to watch frost spread everywhere quickly becomes your favorite thing.

The first time you noticed Sungho’s powers was because of the cold.

Not the weather.

Him.

He was always cold.

His hands, his neck, even the air around him felt different sometimes.

But Sungho acted so normal about it that you ignored it at first.

Until you started noticing small things.

Drinks getting too cold when he held them.

Thin frost spreading across windows whenever he sighed tiredly.

And one time, while he had fallen asleep at the library table, tiny crystals of ice forming around his fingers.

The strangest part was that it seemed to happen more whenever he got nervous.

And discovering that became fun way too quickly.

That night, the two of you were watching a movie on the couch in his apartment.

Well.

Sungho was trying to watch it.

Because you were much more focused on watching him instead.

He was sitting on one end of the couch hugging a pillow against his chest, completely focused on the screen.

Too calm.

So you decided to tease him a little.

You moved slightly closer.

Nothing.

Then a little closer again.

And right then, you noticed a thin layer of frost appear over the soda can on the table.

Oh.

Your smile grew immediately.

Sungho still didn’t seem to notice what was happening.

Or maybe he was trying to ignore it.

So you kept moving closer.

Slowly.

Until you were practically pressed against him.

And only then did Sungho tense his shoulders slightly.

The frost on the can slowly began climbing higher.

Cute.

“What are you doing?”

he asked without looking at you.

“Nothing,”

you lied.

Sungho let out a quiet nasal laugh.

But his ears were already turning pink.

And that only made you want to tease him more.

So you rested your arm behind him against the couch and leaned even closer.

Sungho unconsciously let go of the pillow.

It slipped to the side while his hands stayed still beside him on the couch.

Your gaze immediately dropped to them.

Then you took one of his hands in yours.

The reaction was instant.

A quiet icy sound spread through the air.

And seconds later, your sleeves slowly started freezing where his hand touched your skin.

You couldn’t stop yourself from laughing.

Sungho finally turned toward you quickly.

His eyes dropped directly to your frozen sleeves.

“Wait—”

His voice came out alarmed.

But before he could pull away, you gently lifted his hand and pressed a kiss against the cold back of it.

Sungho literally stopped breathing for a second.

“Why do you get nervous over things like this?”

you asked with a laugh.

The color immediately spread all the way to his ears.

Even the tip of his nose was pink now.

And honestly…

he looked way too cute.

Sungho looked away shyly while slowly trying to pull his hand out of yours.

“I’m not nervous.”

Another thin layer of ice appeared over the table.

You laughed harder.

“Yes, you are.”

He closed his eyes for a second in defeat.

And you immediately took advantage of it.

“I like teasing you just to see you like this.”

Silence.

Sungho slowly looked at you again.

His eyes briefly dropped to your lips before lifting again.

And right then, the temperature in the apartment dropped even lower.

Your breath became faintly visible in the air.

Oh.

Oh, that was new.

“Y/N.”

His voice came out lower this time.

Softer.

But you only smiled at him innocently.

“Hm?”

Sungho held your gaze for a few more seconds before sighing quietly.

Then he slowly lifted one hand toward your face.

Cold.

Much colder than a normal hand.

His fingers barely brushed your cheek.

“You shouldn’t keep doing that,”

he murmured.

“Why?”

He stayed silent for a moment.

And then a thin layer of ice slowly began spreading across the back of the couch behind you.

Your eyes widened slightly.

Sungho noticed it too.

And the embarrassment on his face only got worse.

“Because I lose control around you.”

Your heart slammed hard against your chest.

And honestly…

that only made you want to get even closer to him.

[shuajunice]

honeybee | K.M.G

Pairing: mingyu x reader Summary: After a painful four-year relationship, you aren't looking for love. Unfortunately for you, your best friend has other plans. Enter Kim Mingyu—the architect with too many flowers, too much affection, and absolutely no intention of leaving. Warning/s: - Note: This is part of my you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love series! Song: honeybee by olivia rodrigo

drop dead | stupid song | honeybee

SOMETHING NEW

You lay in bed while staring up at the ceiling. You were still hurting from your relationship. After all, four years was no joke. You were numb and you were sick and tired of everyone telling you that it'll pass.

There were only so many times someone could tell you that you'd be okay before those words lost its meaning. It had been three months since the breakup. Three months since you packed the last of his things into a box. Three months since you watched him walk away. You never asked him to stay. Three months was long enough for everyone around you to assume you'd moved on.

You haven't. Not really.

You were inconsolable before, but now, you were sort of a functioning citizen. You went to work, answered messages, laughed at the right moments, and even remembered to water your plants by the windowsill. But every now and then, usually when you were alone, you'd catch yourself wondering when your heart would stop hurting.

A knock on your door echoed through your apartment, making you slowly sit up. You doubted it was him, but you still kind of hoped it was. The person knocked again and with a heavy sigh, you got out of bed and answered the door. As soon as you unlocked it, Seungkwan was already inviting himself inside with a bunch of stuff (i.e., food, drinks, care kits you might need, etc.).

"You look alive," he announced, slipping off his shoes. "That's an improvement."

You blinked. You weren't expecting him. Heck, you weren't expecting anyone. "Well, hello to you, too."

"I'm serious." He glanced around the apartment before setting everything on the coffee table and dropping onto your couch. "You've officially spent enough time moping."

"I haven't been moping."

"You reorganized your bookshelf alphabetically and by color." Seungkwan nodded towards your bookshelf.

You sat next to him. "It was therapeutic."

"It was concerning."

You rolled your eyes, but a small, reluctant smile tugged at your lips. Seungkwan noticed immediately. "There she is," he pointed dramatically. "I knew my best friend was still in there."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't."

He fully turned to you. "So."

You narrowed your eyes. "No."

"I haven't even said anything!" Seungkwan whined.

"You've got that scheming look on your face. What are you plotting, Boo?" You eyed him suspiciously.

"Fine!" Seungkwan said exasperatedly. He leaned over the coffee table, grabbed a bag of chips, and opened it. He grabbed a piece and ate it while you stared at him, waiting for whatever scheme he had to say. "I want you to go on a blind date. I swear, I think I've hit the jackpot this time. So much so, you'll name your first born after me."

"Absolutely not." You shook your head.

"Aw, c'mon. Don't be like that!" Seungkwan huffed, eating another chip. "He's tall, ridiculously handsome, a great cook, he's such a giver! Give him a chance!"

"Seungkwan, please." You groaned. "I'm not ready. Besides, what if he's just like—"

"Don't compare him to Jeonghan, Y/N. They're different guys." Seungkwan said, leaning back and continued eating chips. "I'm a Jeonghan anti, but I guess he's not totally evil. He's just... built different."

"The answer is no."

-

"I want you to go on a blind date. I swear, I think I've hit the jackpot this time. So much so, you'll name your first born after me." Seungkwan smiled, repeating the same spiel to Mingyu.

Mingyu looked up in thought. "Okay, but what if our child is a girl? We can't name her 'Seungkwan'."

Seungkwan's eye twitched. The different answers he got gave him whiplash. "Then name her Boo Youmi."

"Boo Youmi?" Mingyu made a face. "Shouldn't it be 'Kim Youmi'? I'm the dad, not you."

Seungkwan pursed his lips, "Boo Youmi is a cute name. 'Kim Youmi' sounds incomplete. Name her 'Kim Boo Youmi'."

"Absolutely not." Mingyu shook his head.

"How about 'Kim Youmi Boo'?" Seungkwan asked.

"Kim Youmi is final, Kwannie."

"Ugh, we're getting sidetracked!" Seungkwan exclaimed. "So, go on this blind date with my best friend. She's—"

"Sure." Mingyu said with zero hesitation. Seungkwan was expecting Mingyu to whine. He didn't expect such a direct answer.

"...That's it? You're not going to make me beg?" Seungkwan eyed him suspiciously.

Mingyu shrugged. "Yeah, that's it. Unless..." Mingyu smirked. "...Unless begging is a kink of yours that you weirdly want me to fulfill. If so, I'm honored, Kwannie."

"Ew! Shut up, himbo!" Seungkwan said, causing Mingyu to laugh. Seungkwan gave Mingyu a dirty look. He tried to keep it that way, but it's been a while since he heard Mingyu laugh. Like you, Mingyu's heartbroken, too.

When Mingyu's laughter died down, he cleared his throat and looked at Seungkwan. "I think I'm ready to meet someone."

Seungkwan gave him a small smile. "Yeah?"

Mingyu nodded. "I mean, I don't think I'll ever be ready." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But I don't want one relationship deciding what the rest of my life looks like."

"You're SO gonna love me for this, Kim Mingyu."

-

Saturday arrived faster than either of you expected. You didn't know how Seungkwan was able to persuade you into going on this date with some rando, but here you were. You stood in front of your closet with your arms crossed, staring at the clothes hanging inside.

"...Seriously?" You sighed. "So many clothes, yet nothing to wear."

Nothing looked right. You pulled out a sweater, too casual. A dress, too much. A blouse, too boring. With a sigh, you tossed everything onto your bed until half your wardrobe was scattered across the comforter. Somewhere in the pile, your phone buzzed.

[kwannie 🍊]: don't cancel.

You rolled your eyes.

[y/nie <3]: I'm genuinely thinking about it.

Three dots appeared almost immediately.

[kwannie 🍊]: no, you're not :p

-

Across town, Kim Mingyu was experiencing a crisis of his own. Three shirts were laid neatly across his bed. He held up the first one.

"...No."

The second.

"Ew, definitely not."

The third.

"...Maybe."

Unsure, he snapped a picture and sent it to Seungkwan.

[mingoo]: quick! blue or white???

The reply came within seconds.

[seungkwannie]: white.

Mingyu stared at the message.

[mingoo]: that's what I was thinking, too! [seungkwannie]: asdfghjkl then why'd you ask?! [mingoo]: for emotional support, ofc!

-

You settled on something simple. Cute enough to make an effort. Comfortable enough to leave in if the date went terribly. Standing in front of the mirror, you adjusted your sleeves before letting your hands fall to your sides. You looked... fine. Not amazing. Not terrible. Just fine. That would have to do.

-

Mingyu buttoned the last button of his shirt before taking a step back from the mirror. He frowned.

"...Maybe I should change."

Five minutes later... He was wearing the exact same shirt.

One spray of cologne. He paused. "...Too much?"

He sniffed his wrist. "...Maybe one more."

Another spray. A beat. "Okay, that's definitely too much."

-

You grabbed your bag, checked for your wallet, keys, and phone. Everything was there. Good.

You reached for the doorknob. Stopped. Exhaled. You could still text Seungkwan that you weren't coming. You could crawl back into bed. Pretend this never happened. Your phone buzzed again.

[kwannie 🍊]: you're leaving now, right? [y/nie <3]: unfortunately [kwannie 🍊]: 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

-

On his way to the restaurant, Mingyu slowed down when he spotted a small flower stall on the corner. He walked past it. Kept walking. Stopped. Turned around and walked back to the flower stall.

"Would flowers be weird?" He asked himself as looked at the wide array of flowers.

The elderly florist smiled knowingly. "First date?"

Mingyu scratched the back of his neck. "Is it that obvious?"

"A little." She laughed.

He left the stall with a small bouquet wrapped in brown paper. Halfway to where his car is parked, he looked down at the bouquet and turned back around.

The florist looked at him from across the stall. "You're not returning those, are you?"

"I... wasn't?"

The florist shook her head, "Keep them, and give it to your date. It's never too much to give flowers on a first date."

"Okay." Mingyu said, turning back to walk to his car. He turned to face the florist and walked backwards, "Thanks, wish me luck!"

-

You arrived first. Of course you did. Better to wait than make someone else wait. You sat near the window, fingers wrapped around a glass of water you hadn't touched, rehearsing all the ways this evening could go wrong.

-

Mingyu took a deep breath before entering the restaurant that Seungkwan ever-so-kindly booked for the two of you. Mingyu looked around and spotted you before you spotted him. Well, he's never seen you before, but his gut was telling him that it was you.

He approached the table with a small smile on his face while smoothing out imaginary wrinkles on his shirt. "Y/N?"

You looked up and nodded. "Mingyu?"

"Hi." Mingyu smiled.

"Hi."

A beat. Then, he awkwardly held up the bouquet he'd been hiding behind his back. "I, uh... these are for you."

You blinked.

"For me?"

"Unless Seungkwan set me up with someone else, then this could get awkward."

A laugh escaped you before you could stop it. "No, I'm definitely Y/N."

"Good," he sighed dramatically before taking a seat in front of you. "That would've been embarrassing."

You accepted the flowers carefully, fingertips against the brown paper wrapped around the stems.

"They're beautiful."

"I'm glad you think so." He said, his shoulders visibly relaxing. His eyes sparkled and you almost forgot what it felt like to be on a first date. For the first time in months, you stopped wondering how long it would take for someone to leave.

-

Dinner was... easy. Much easier than you expected. Mingyu talked enough to fill the silence but never so much that you couldn't join in. He asked questions, actually listened to your answers, and somehow turned even the most ordinary stories into something worth laughing over.

By the time the waiter cleared your plates, you realized you hadn't checked the time once.

Seungkwan wasn't lying," Mingyu admitted, leaning back on his chair.

You tilted your head in wonder.

"He said you laugh with your whole face."

"...He said that?"

"Mhm."

You looked away, smiling despite yourself. "I'll have to yell at him later."

"He'll probably thank you."

The evening stretched naturally into a walk. The city had quieted by then, leaving only the occasional passing car and the glow of streetlights overhead. Mingyu matched your pace without thinking.

"So..." he glanced over. "How bad do I rank on the blind date scale?"

You pretended to consider it. "Hm."

He gasped. "The hesitation already tells me everything."

"I was going to say you're somewhere in the top two."

"...Out of?"

"Two."

He laughed so loudly that a couple walking past turned to look. Worth it.

A cool breeze drifted between the buildings. Without thinking, you rubbed your hands together. Mingyu noticed immediately. "Here."

Before you could protest, he slipped his jacket over your shoulders.

"Keep it." He smiled while he adjusted his jacket on you. Your eyes widened in shock, "What?"

He gave you a small smirk, "I'll get it the next time I see you."

A memory surfaced before you could stop it.

"I'm freezing." You shivered. Your teeth chattering so hard, you were scared that it would fall off.

Jeonghan glanced at you briefly before stuffing his hands deepers into his own pockets. "You should've brought a jacket. You didn't even wear gloves, Y/N. You knew it'd be cold outside tonight."

The memory disappeared as quickly as it came. You looked down at Mingyu's jacket around your shoulders.

"...Thank you."

"No problem." He smiled.

By the time your apartment building came into view, neither of you seemed particularly eager for the night to end.

"Thanks for driving me home," you said.

"I was going this way anyway."

You raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you parked in the opposite direction?"

"I didn't know you paid close attention to me, Y/N." Mingyu teased.

You laughed.

"There it is again."

"What?"

"That laugh."

Heat crept up your neck. "Oh."

"I like it."

For a second, you forgot how to respond. Then your phone buzzed in your pocket, pulling you back to reality. You glanced at the dark screen before looking up again.

"...I should head inside."

"Right."

He took a good look at you and smiled. "Goodnight, Y/N. It was a pleasure being your date tonight."

"Likewise. Goodnight, Mingyu." You got out of his car, and watched him turn the corner before unlocking your apartment.

Your flowers found a home in the only vase you owned. Mingyu's jacket still carried a faint trace of his cologne. You caught yourself smiling. Then, another uninvited memory.

It was all over the internet. 'Just because' flowers are now making rounds on social media. You weren't fond of flowers yourself, but seeing all those people receiving flowers made you happy for them. You wondered if Jeonghan would buy you 'just because' flowers. After all, you've been together for so long. Surely, he'd thought of that, right?

"Hannie?"

"Hm?"

"Would you ever buy me flowers?" You asked.

He looked at you with knitted brows, "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing." You shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "It's just a question. Would you ever buy me flowers even if there's no occasion?"

Maybe it was your fault for being hopeful because your heart sank when he laughed at your face.

"Baby, they're going to die in a week or less. It's not practical." Jeonghan chuckled, shaking his head.

"But Seungkwan buys me flowers sometimes. He even bought me a small bouquet for Valentine's Day." You said.

"Then go date Seungkwan." Jeonghan said. His tone was light, but you knew it was off. You stared into each other's eyes and you knew it was time to drop the subject. You gave him a tight-lipped smile, "You're right. It'll just die. Waste of money, am I right?"

Jeonghan's eyes lit up. "See? I knew you'd understand. You're so smart, baby. Anyway, what's for dinner?"

You looked up at the bouquet sitting on your kitchen counter. Maybe the flowers would die less than a week, but they were beautiful and goddammit, you deserved it, anyway.

Your phone buzzed.

[Mingyu]: Hi!

You smiled.

[Y/N]: Hi

Three dots appeared almost immediately. Disappeared. Appeared again. Finally—

[Mingyu]: I'll just shoot my shot here 😅 Can I see you again?

You stared at the message longer than you'd like to admit. Your fingers hovered above the keyboard. Maybe this was the part where you should slow down. Maybe this was how people got hurt.

But then... you thought about the way he'd looked at you across the dinner table. The flowers. The jacket resting over your hair. The way he'd never once made you feel like you had to earn his attention.

Your thumbs moved before fear consumed you.

[Prettiest Girl]: I'd like that, actually :)) [Mingyu]: 🥰♥️

You couldn't help but smile. Maybe, just maybe, this could be something new.

STICKY SWEET LIKE HONEY

Somewhere between coffee dates that stretched well past sunset, late-night drives with nowhere in particular to go, and Mingyu insisting on driving you to your apartment every single time, the two of you had quietly become inseparable.

One month became two. Two became three.

Neither of you could remember whose idea it was to stop calling them dates and simply start calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend. Your first outing as an official couple came sooner than you expected.

"Just a few friends," Mingyu assured you while driving to the restaurant. "Nothing scary."

You chuckled nervously, "You say that now."

He laughed as he parked his car. He removed his seatbelt and fully turned to you, "I promise they're nice."

As soon as the two of you entered the restaurant, five heads turned toward your direction. Your eyes widened. You immediately leaned over to whisper to Mingyu. "You never told me your friends were all models."

"Hm?" Mingyu looked at them before looking back at you. "They're not, hon."

"Gyu, they're literally glowing!"

He let out a laugh before leading you over to the table. "Y/N, this is everyone." He gently rested a hand against your lower back. "Everyone, meet Y/N. My prettiest girlfriend ever."

A chorus of greetings followed.

"Hi!"

"It's nice to finally meet you."

"We've heard SO MUCH about you."

You smiled nervously before bowing your head slightly. "It's nice to meet all of you, too."

Then you leaned toward Mingyu again.

"Mingyu-yah," you whispered, "if I'd known your friends looked like this, I would've dressed up better."

The entire table erupted into laughter as you both sat down. Mingyu frowned, "Why?"

"Because they're all ridiculously attractive."

He blinked before looking around the table. "...Them?"

"Yes," you nodded. "them."

"Nah." He waved his hand dismissively. "They're just normal guys with normal jobs."

You looked at him. Then at them. Then back at him. There's no way these people had normal jobs. "You're telling me none of you are CEOs? Models? Nepo babies?"

"Absolutely not," Jaehyun laughed. "We hate nepo babies."

Mingyu nodded in agreement and let out a small "true" before moving his seat closer to yours and putting his arm around your shoulder.

Seokmin pointed at himself. "I'm Seokmin, an elementary school music teacher."

Your jaw dropped, and you shook your head. "No, you're not."

"I am." Seokmin laughed. "I spend my weekdays convincing eight-year-olds that the recorder is a real instrument."

Minghao raised his hand next. "I'm Minghao, and I own a pottery studio."

"Oh? You make bowls and stuff?" You asked, causing Mingyu to chuckle next to you.

"I make aesthetically pleasing bowls and stuff." Minghao corrected. He took a sip of his tea before smiling, "But thank you for assuming I'm a model. I'll take that as a compliment."

"Jungkook. I'm a physical therapist," Jungkook said, taking a bite of the appetizer.

"Seriously?"

"I help people recover from injuries." Jungkook nodded.

You looked at Mingyu, and he nodded. You looked back at Jungkook and gazed at his muscles before looking at his face, "I thought you lifted buildings for a living."

Jungkook chuckled, "I only lift patients who have trouble walking."

Your gaze landed on a quiet man, "Please tell me you at least work in fashion."

He smiled and shook his head. "I'm Eunwoo, and I'm actually a librarian."

Your eyes widened in shock, "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope." Eunwoo shook his head. "I spend most of my day reminding people to whisper."

"I'm Jaehyun, and I work in finance." Jaehyung grinned.

"You... willingly stare at spreadsheets?"

"Unfortunately." Jaehyun chuckled. "I like it, though. Besides, I handle these guys' finances. I can do yours too, if you want. Totally free. These guys just buy me samgyeopsal, or they treat me to a buffet every six months."

"Yah, she doesn't need it." Mingyu pouted. "She has me. Besides, we'll be having a joint account when we get married."

The table fell silent. You slowly turned to look at him.

"What?" Mingyu blinked innocently.

Jungkook looked at him over the rim of his glass. "It's only been three months."

"So?" Mingyu frowned. Minghao sighed into his tea, choosing not to say anything. After all, he meditated earlier that day.

Seokmin sighed. "Ignore him. He's always been like this. Once he likes someone he's all in."

"No, I don't!" Mingyu defended.

"You do," Jaehyun nodded. "It's actually kind of impressive."

You laughed as Mingyu reached for your hand.

"Anyway," he smiled sheepishly, "I'll handle everything. Don't want your pretty mind to be tired."

Seokmin lightly nudged Jaehyun. "Tell her."

Jaehyun sighed dramatically. "My parents couldn't afford college, so I studied hard to get a full-ride scholarship."

"Wow!" You nodded, impressed. "You must be pretty athletic, too, huh?"

Mingyu laughed, "Honey, he's not athletic enough to get through at least one sport. Not even table tennis."

"It's true," Jungkook nodded in agreement, cheeks full of food. "He's terrible at sports."

"I was dirt poor before I became a teacher," Seokmin said with a big grin. "Worked my ass off and everything."

"Same," Minghao nodded. "We all worked our asses off to get where we are."

"Amen." Mingyu raised his glass before drinking. "There are times when I'd hate my fucking job, though. Being an architect is a pain in the ass, but then I realized that this is literally what I prayed for, so I'd cut myself some slack."

You looked around the table once more as Mingyu fixed your hair for you. "So... no trust funds?"

Five heads shook.

"No secret billionaire parents?"

"I wish," Seokmin said.

"No hidden royal family?"

"Unfortunately." Eunwoo sighed.

You laughed. "I seriously can't believe any of you."

"Neither can we," Jungkook muttered, grabbing a piece of kimchi.

Everyone started eating, then another question popped into your head. "How did all of you become friends? I mean, I doubt you were co-workers, given that your line of work is completely different."

Silence. Everyone looked at each other.

"...College?" Jaehyun answered uncertainly.

Minghao nodded, "Technically."

"I honestly don't remember," Jungkook admitted.

"I do!" Seokmin announced proudly. Everyone turned to look at him. "I collected them... like Pokémon."

Jaehyun nodded. "You did."

Without warning, Seokmin shot up from his seat. He pointed dramatically toward absolutely nothing. "GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL!"

He even threw in a fist pump for good measure. The entire restaurant fell silent. A little kid from another table gasped excitedly, while their mother sighed.

Minghao closed his eyes. "I don't know him."

"You've known me for almost ten years." Seokmin laughed as he sat down again.

"I've tolerated you for almost ten years." Minghao corrected.

Jungkook rubbed his temples. Eunwoo offered an apologetic smile to the surrounding tables. You looked at Mingyu, "Is he always like this?"

Mingyu smiled as he reached under the table to intertwine his fingers with yours. "This is actually one of his calmer days."

"You're joking, right?"

"I wish I were, baby."

You couldn't help but laugh. And just like that, the nerves you'd carried into the restaurant quietly disappeared. As all of you fell into casual conversation, a memory resurfaced again. As much as you want to shake it off, it started playing in your head.

The first time you'd met Jeonghan's friends. Joshua and Seungcheol had welcomed you politely enough.

"It's nice to meet you."

"You too."

For a moment, you'd thought the night would go well. Then the conversation shifted. University stories, military enlistment, old classmates. Inside jokes that had everyone at the table laughing.

You smiled whenever everyone else did, hoping it looked natural. Every now and then, Joshua would glance your way with an apologetic smile, almost as if he realized you'd been quiet for a while.

Seungcheol tried once. "So, Y/N, what do you—"

Before you could answer, Jeonghan interrupted with a story of his own. The conversation drifted away again. You spent the rest of dinner pushing your food around your plate, wondering if anyone had noticed you'd barely spoken at all. By the time you got home, you couldn't remember if Joshua and Seungcheol knew anything about you other than your name.

"Y/N, you're coming next week, right?" Jaehyun asked.

"Sorry, what's next week?" You asked, turning to Mingyu. He smiled and held your hand, "We do this every week, baby. It's okay if you don't want to go, but just know that the invitation is always open."

"You're so whipped." Jungkook teased, handing his card to pay the bill.

Seeing this, you quickly grabbed your wallet, but Mingyu stopped you. "Don't. Jungkook is paying this week. Next week is on Seokmin." He turned to Jungkook and said, "Also, I don't care. She's my person."

You smiled to yourself, quietly slipping your wallet back into your bag. It wasn't just the way Mingyu said things. It was how naturally they came to him.

"My prettiest girlfriend."

"She's my person."

He never hesitated; not once. Never second-guessed himself. If there was one thing you'd quickly learned after dating Kim Mingyu, it was that he loved loudly. Within an hour of making things official, his lockscreen had changed. By dinner, his profile picture followed. By the end of the night, his Instagram bio proudly read: ♥️ @yourusername.

Seungkwan kept telling you that you shouldn't compare Mingyu and Jeonghan, but you couldn't help it. They were just... different. Seungkwan would argue that they both loved differently and the way you love is just more in tune with Mingyu. He'd often tell you, "You and Hannie hyung are just way too different."

"What if we matched profile pictures?" You asked Jeonghan.

Jeonghan glanced up from his phone. "...Why?"

"I don't know." You shrugged. "It'd be cute. Besides, everyone would know that we're together."

"Y/N, I don't really see the point." Jeonghan huffed. "I mean, everyone knows we're dating. There's no need to publicize it on Instagram. I'm barely online, anyway. What matters is I love you, and you love me, right?"

Not wanting things to escalate, you gave him a small smile and decided to tease him, "Okay, Barney the Dinosaur."

Jeonghan laughed. "Wow!"

You were dropped off by Mingyu an hour ago. You were just grabbing a snack when you received a notification that Mingyu changed his profile picture. To your surprise, it was a picture of the two of you at dinner a while ago. The picture was taken by Jungkook, and it was a great candid shot.

[Prettiest GF]: Kim Mingyu [Handsome]: ♥️♥️♥️♥️ [Prettiest GF]: You're unbelievable. Can't believe your pfp is a candid photo of us 😭💀 [Handsome]: HAHAHAHA, but I'm YOUR unbelievable, though. I'll pick you up at work tomorrow, okay? Get some sleep, pretty. Good night. I love you so much ♥️

Your smile slowly faded. Then, before you could stop it, another memory surfaced.

It had only been a few months into your relationship with Jeonghan. You'd spent the entire evening convincing yourself to say it. When he walked you to your apartment, you took a deep breath.

"Jeonghan?"

"Hm?"

"I... I love you." You stuttered.

The words slipped out before you could lose your nerve. Jeonghan looked at you. Then, he smiled. A small, almost amused smile.

"You do?"

You felt your cheeks warm and nodded. "I do."

He tucked his hands into his pockets and looked down for a second. "I think," he started, searching for the right words. "it's still a little early for me to say that."

Your smile faltered for the briefest moment. "Oh."

"It's not that I don't like you." He was quick to clarify. "I just don't say things unless I'm completely sure."

You nodded. "Right."

"I don't want to tell you I love you because it feels like the right time." He reached over and gently squeezed your hand. "When I say it, I want to mean it."

You smiled. "I understand."

And you did. You really did. It just didn't stop your heart from sinking when you got home.

You stared at your phone. Your thumb hovered over the keyboard. I love you, too. The words came so easily in your head. Your fingers, however, refused to type them. Instead...

[Prettiest GF]: Good night, Gyu ♥️

HERE'S TO HOPIN'

Being loved by Kim Mingyu was easy.

He'd show up outside your office with an iced coffee before work because he'd remembered you mentioning you were tired the night before. If you forgot an umbrella, he'd somehow already have one waiting in his car. When you complained about skipping lunch, he'd quietly drop off your favorite food with a sticky note that simply read: eat ♥️

He loved loudly. Somehow, that scared you more than you'd ever admit. It wasn't because he was too much. It was because every day, he gave you another reason to believe he'd stay. And a tiny part of you kept wondering what it would feel like if one day, he didn't.

The following Friday came around quicker than expected. Like clockwork, Mingyu was waiting outside your office building. The moment he spotted you walking out, his face lit up.

"There she is." Mingyu smiled, jogging over to you.

You smiled despite yourself. "Have you been waiting long?"

"Nah." Mingyu shook his head, grabbing your bag from you.

You took a good look at him, squinted your eyes suspiciously. "You've been here for twenty minutes, haven't you?"

"Hm," Mingyu scratched the back of his neck. "maybe."

You laughed before slipping your hand into his. "You're unbelievable."

"But I'm your unbelievable." He grinned, swinging your hands as you walked, making you laugh.

Dinner with the boys felt as chaotic as ever. Seungkwan somehow invited himself this week. No one really minded. They all liked Seungkwan, anyway. He was their gossip dealer, and what's life without any gossip?

"I'd just like everyone to know," he announced proudly while taking a seat, "that this relationship exists because of me."

"Here we go," Jaehyun sighed.

"I changed two lives." Seungkwan said, pretending to cry.

"You set up one blind date, Seungkwan-ah." Jungkook corrected. "You didn't cure cancer."

Minghao took a sip of his tea. "The Nobel Peace Prize committee must've missed your email."

"I deserve a medal!" Seungkwan exclaimed, while grabbing some food to put on his plate.

"I'll buy you dinner, Kwannie," Mingyu offered.

"I want a statue." Seungkwan said, taking a bite of food.

You laughed, looked at Mingyu, and then at Seungkwan. "I'll name our first born after you."

Seungkwan gasped dramatically, giving Seokmin whiplash. Seungkwan was practically shaking in his seat. "You mean it?"

"No." You said. The table erupted into laughter. Mingyu quietly placed another piece of grilled meat onto your plate.

"You haven't eaten enough," Mingyu said quietly.

"You worry too much." You chuckled lightly. Mingyu pouted, "I know. Sorry."

You looked at him and cupped his face with your hands. "Don't apologize for caring. I appreciate that you worry about me."

His smile returned instantly.

After dinner, the two of you sat on the hood of Mingyu's car overlooking the Han River. The city lights danced across the water. Neither of you spoke. It wasn't awkward. It never was.

Mingyu was staring at the river. "Can I ask you something?"

You turned toward him, and nodded. "Of course. Ask away."

He stayed quiet for another moment. You waited patiently. He took a deep breath and looked at you. "Do I... love you more than you love me?"

Your stomach dropped. "What?"

He laughed softly. "I know how that sounded, and I'm not asking because I'm upset."

"Mingyu..."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I've just been thinking." He looked over at you. "You never say that you love me back. I mean, you smile, you hold my hand, you kiss me, you call me when you get home, you do all these things..." He smiled. "but you never say it."

Your chest tightened. You didn't know what to say, truly. He quickly shook his head. "I'm not keeping score, I promise. I just..." His smile faded. "Sometimes it feels like you're always waiting for something bad to happen."

"Gyu, I..."

"Honey, I don't know how to convince you that I'm not already halfway out the door. I feel like you're already grieving something that hasn't happened yet, like you're waiting for me to leave before I've even gone anywhere." Mingyu said sadly.

Your eyes immediately welled with tears. "No, Gyu..."

He reached for your hand instinctively. "I know you care about me."

"I do."

"I know." Mingyu gave you a small smile before he looked away. "I just... sometimes I wonder if I'm loving you too loudly."

The words shattered something inside you.

"No." Your voice cracked. "It's not you, Gyu."

He looked back. You took a shaky breath. "It's me."

He looked at you and patiently waited for you to explain your side.

"I know you're not Jeonghan."

His expression softened immediately.

"I've never compared you to him because I wanted to." You said, another tear rolled down your cheek. "I compare you because... I'm scared. So, so scared."

You laughed weakly through your tears. "I didn't think I'd survive that. I barely did. I mean, that was four years of my life."

Mingyu nodded in understanding.

"Then you came along." You smiled at him. "You loved me so easily, so openly, so fearlessly. It's all so new to me because it wasn't like that with Jeonghan."

You looked down at your intertwined hands. "Every time you tell me you love me, a tiny part of me keeps thinking, 'what if this is the last time?", and I don't want to know how you'll leave me. I don't ever want to know what you'll look like when you leave."

Your voice was barely above a whisper. "I love you a lot, Mingyu. I've been too scared to say it out loud."

For a long time, Mingyu didn't say anything. He simply looked at you. Then, he cupped your face with both hands. His thumbs brushed away your tears.

"I'll stay with you," His forehead rested against yours. "for as long as you want me to be."

You closed your eyes.

"I can't promise that we'll never fight. I can't promise I won't disappoint you. I can't promise that life won't get hard." A tiny smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "But I can promise you one thing..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not looking for an exit."

A sob escaped your lips. You wrapped your arms around him. "I love you."

You felt him smile against your hair. "I know."

You pulled back just enough to look at him. "No, you don't."

His eyebrows lifted as you laughed through your tears. You took a deep, trembling breath, "I love you so much."

For the first time since you'd known him, Kim Mingyu was speechless. He simply pulled you into another hug. Holding you as though you had all the time in the world.

"For the record," he smiled. "I also hope I never see what you look like when you leave either." He gently tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

"I mean, the Lord knows I've memorized your face so well, and I'd search for it everywhere until my next life." A tiny laugh escaped him. "You're it for me, honey."

a/n: tysm for all the love you've sent my way for the hoshi installment of this series! i hope you give mingyu's installment the same love i gave while writing it xo

Series taglist: @joongtime @neotannies @seungkwanglazer

[shuajunice]

stupid song | K.S.Y

Pairing: bff!hoshi x reader Summary: Everybody thinks you're dating Kwon Soonyoung. He does everything a boyfriend would do: saves you a seat, walks you home, remembers your coffee order, always there when it matters most. The only problem is he isn't your boyfriend. Not because you don't want him to be, or because he doesn't feel the same. Just bad timing—distance, careers, and two people who never say what everyone already knows. With summer ending in New York, you'll have to decide whether Kwon Soonyoung is worth risking everything for. The answer, unfortunately, has never been the problem. Warning/s: - Note: This is part of my you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love series! :) Song: stupid song by olivia rodrigo

drop dead | stupid song

STUPID FRIENDS

Vernon was way too excited for his own good. Who could blame him? Vernon wasn’t supposed to inherit his childhood apartment this early. The apartment that he and his sister grew up in was finally being transferred to his name because the rest of the family will be moving to the Upper East Side. After signing the papers, he immediately called his friends back in Seoul to invite them over and christen the place with booze and good vibes.

That's why everyone's at the airport now. Seungcheol was holding everyone's passports and boarding passes, Jeonghan made sure everyone was together, and he even made a buddy system. Joshua packed snacks for everyone in his carry-on ("airport snacks are pricey, okay??" Joshua said.), Jun was playing Genshin Impact with Wonwoo, Jihoon was listening to music, Seokmin was scrolling through his phone, Minghao was reading a book, Seungkwan was giving Vernon updates, Mingyu and Chan were doing TikTok challenges, and you and Soonyoung were walking around the airport.

Jeonghan sighed and crossed his legs. Joshua turned to him, "What's wrong?"

"Are Y/N and Soonie back yet?" Jeonghan asked. "Cheol will get pissed if he wakes up from his nap and finds them still gone."

"Nope. They're not back yet." Joshua said. "That couple should really come back now." He pulled out his phone and began texting.

Just then, Seungcheol woke up from his nap. He adjusted his sitting position and rubbed his eyes. "Where's the crazy couple?"

"Not back yet." Jeonghan and Joshua said in unison, prepared for Seungcheol's wrath, but were shocked when he didn't react. Just then, they heard familiar laughter.

"Yah! It's about damn time that you came back!" Jeonghan raised his voice, earning looks from the rest of the group.

"Well, we weren't going to leave. We just roamed around." You shrugged as Soonyoung fixed your hair before handing you a bottled water that's already been opened.

"Drink some water. It's good for you. You had so much candy." Soonyoung said, earning you a small, appreciative smile before you drank.

Mingyu and Dino, who stopped their TikToks, looked at the two of you with their jaws dropped before turning to look at each other.

"They're such a cute couple," Mingyu said. "I'm happy for them."

"Me too. It makes my single ass lonely, though." Chan shook his head.

-

Vernon's apartment was full and lively. He didn't need to invite anyone else over for his housewarming party. After all, you guys were all he had. He didn't have any friends from New York before he left for Korea. So, seeing all of you made his heart swell.

"Ugh, they're so annoying." Seungkwan rolled his eyes. Vernon gave him a look, "Who?"

"Y/N and Soonyoung." Seungkwan shook his head and took a sip of his beer. "Like, oh my god, he's not going to leave you. He'll just buy some more beer with Wonwoo."

Vernon looked in the direction Seungkwan was looking and nodded, "Ahh, I see it now. Since when were they together?"

"I don't know, and I don't care, but they better cut that out, or I'll lose it," Seungkwan said, earning a chuckle from Vernon.

"I'll be back, Y/Nie." Soonyoung cooed, squishing your cheek. "The sooner I leave, the sooner I'll get back."

You smiled, "Okay! Go on."

Wonwoo watched the whole thing with a disgusted look on his face. He couldn't bear the clinginess. So much so that he told Jun and Jihoon to join them in buying more drinks and snacks.

At the convenience store, Soonyoung was looking around for snacks that everyone wanted. Wonwoo, Jihoon, and Jun were just following behind him.

"I swear, they're so tiring to look at," Wonwoo sighed, crossing his arms. "We get it, you're dating. Shut up now."

"For real." Jun nodded in agreement.

"I mean, they're happy, so," Jihoon shrugged. "I don't really care, but I can see why you're annoyed... well, everyone's annoyed."

"You just haven't been stuck with them, that's why." Jun defended.

"Thank god for that, then." Jihoon snickered.

"Guys, do you think Y/N's in the mood for Buldak? Their choices vary all the time when we drink. Last time, they wanted donuts. Before that, they wanted buffalo wings and pizza. Usually, Buldak is their go-to, but I'm not sure what they like tonight." Soonyoung pouted.

"Just send them a text so we can go." Wonwoo huffed.

"We need to buy some ice, too." Jun reminded.

"This basket's getting heavy with the drinks. Call them now." Jihoon sighed, putting the basket on the floor.

"Great idea!" Soonyuong grinned and pulled out his phone before stopping. Seeing this, Jihoon groaned, "What now?"

"I'll just buy them everything they might like: Buldak, pizza, donuts, buffalo wings, and pizza. It's no biggie. Let's go." Soonyoung grinned.

"Jesus." Jun closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

-

Soonyoung came back from the convenience store like nothing had happened, arms full of snacks and drinks, as if he were personally responsible for feeding everyone in New York.

"You guys bought A LOT!" Seungcheol exclaimed. "How many people are we feeding?"

"Yeah, there's only fourteen of us here," Jeonghan added.

Wonwoo grunted as he put the stuff he carried on the counter, "Soonyoung is to blame."

"I got everything," he said proudly, setting the bags down on the counter. "Just in case Y/N changes their mind again."

You were already sitting on the floor by the couch, knees pulled up, scrolling through your phone. Soonyoung immediately dropped beside you anyway. Close. Too close. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. He nudged a bottle of water toward you. "Drink."

You did.

Across the room, Seungkwan groaned. "I'm going to lose my mind."

Joshua didn't even look up this time. "Just let it happen."

Mingyu laughed under his breath like he was watching a show he'd seen before and still found entertaining. Jeonghan was quiet, eyes flicking between the two of you for a second too long before he looked away. Seungcheol just leaned back on the couch, arms crossed, like he'd already accepted whatever this was supposed to be.

Meanwhile, Soonyoung was still talking.

"I got you Buldak, donuts, the chips you like, and—oh, I wasn’t sure what you wanted, so I just got everything,” he said, turning slightly towards you. "I also ordered pizza and buffalo wings for you. You can pick later."

You hummed in agreement, like this was normal. Like he wasn't hovering like that. Like everyone wasn't staring. Soonyoung smiled anyway, satisfied, and leaned back beside you like he belonged there.

WE'RE STUPID

Seungkwan was getting tired. Not in the dramatic, I-need-a-break-from-people kind of way. More like the slow, creeping realization that something everyone else found funny had started happening a little too often.

It was Soonyoung again. Of course it was.

He was fixing your jacket even though it wasn’t cold, leaning in too close while talking like personal space was optional, laughing at things that weren’t even jokes if they came from you. And you—you just let it happen.

Seungkwan frowned into his drink. At first, it had been annoying. Then funny. Then something to tease them about. Now, it was just... consistent. Like a habit, nobody bothered correcting anymore.

Morning came loudly in Vernon's apartment. If he wanted his apartment christened, it definitely was.

Too many people had stayed up too late, too many drinks had been opened “just one more time,” and now the entire living room looked like it was negotiating peace with gravity.

Mingyu was half-dead on the couch. Jun was asleep, sitting upright. Jihoon looked personally offended by the concept of morning. Someone had lost a slipper, and no one knew who.

Seungkwan, unfortunately, was awake.

He stood in the kitchen, staring at the mess like it had personally wronged him. "Absolutely not," he muttered to himself.

From the hallway, shuffling footsteps approached. You appeared first, hair a mess, blinking like the world had loaded incorrectly. Of course, Soonyoung followed right behind.

“You didn’t drink enough water last night,” he said, voice already annoyed in a way that sounded suspiciously like concern. He reached past Seungkwan without acknowledging him and placed a bottle in front of you. “Drink.”

You squinted at it. "I'm alive."

"That's not the point."

"You're not my mom," You mumbled, but still took the bottle.

Soonyoung looked offended by that for exactly half a second before softening again. "Just drink it. Please."

Seungkwan stared into the distance. This was worse in the morning. Did he somehow gain superpowers overnight and become invisible? Shaking his head, he stormed to the living room.

"I'm not doing this," Seungkwan said to himself before waking Mingyu up. "Get up."

Mingyu groaned.

"Wake up!" Seungkwan hissed. "I need you, or I'll go crazy."

Mingyu groaned again as he slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. "What's the matter?"

"That." Seungkwan pointed vaguely toward the kitchen.

"Oh," Mingyu said, now fully awake. He saw it, too.

Soonyoung was now making Y/N sit down like they were fragile furniture, pushing a glass of water into their hands while checking if they needed food. Y/N was protesting weakly but doing none of the work to stop him.

Mingyu watched for a second. Then he stood up. Seungkwan wanted to rip his hair out.

“Where are you going?” Seungkwan asked.

Mingyu grabbed his phone. “Waking up, Dino. I refuse to be the only sober witness to this relationship again.”

“I knew I hated you,” Seungkwan muttered.

Mingyu shrugged. “Guess I'll have to live with that.”

Mingyu disappeared down the hallway. Seungkwan stayed where he was, staring at Soonyoung hovering over Y/N like it was the most natural thing in the world.

You leaned back slightly, exhausted, letting Soonyoung fuss over you without resistance. Soonyoung looked completely normal doing it.

Seungkwan exhaled through his nose, "I need better friends."

-

Wonwoo didn’t understand why everyone insisted on going out when they were hungover. But Seungcheol had said something about groceries, Jeonghan had called it “fresh air therapy,” and somehow that translated into all of them being outside in New York before noon like it was a reasonable decision.

Spoiler alert: it wasn't.

The city was too loud for how little sleep they’d had. People were walking fast, always had somewhere to be. Cars were honking. Wonwoo was tempted to ask Vernon if it was really like this in The Big Apple, but he didn't want to seem rude or ungrateful. In truth, he was just hungover, sleepy, and he wanted to play the new game on his Nintendo Switch.

Mingyu was walking slightly ahead, still complaining about Seungkwan yelling at him earlier. Jihoon looked like he regretted being alive. Jun had sunglasses on indoors and didn’t bother taking them off. Wonwoo stayed a step behind. Unfortunately for him, Soonyoung was there, too.

He was walking beside you without thinking about it, matching your pace like it was automatic. You looked like you were surviving purely out of spite and water intake.

Soonyoung had already given you a bottle. More than one, actually. “You need to eat something,” he said, like it was a fact he was personally responsible for enforcing.

"I will," you muttered. "Later."

"That's what you said an hour ago."

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

Soonyoung didn't answer that. Instead, he adjusted the strap of your bag without asking, as if his hands already knew what to do.

Wonwoo watched it happen. Again. Not new. Not surprising. Just... continuous.

The group stopped at the crosswalk. You leaned slightly toward Soonyoung without noticing. Soonyoung shifted instantly to match, making space for you while taking up none at all. Slowly, you held Soonyoung's hand, and he interlaced your fingers.

Wonwoo blinked once. That was new. Leaning towards each other was old news, but holding hands with interlaced fingers? Definitely hadn't happened before.

This wasn’t affection in the way people usually thought about it. There was no performance to it. No awareness. That was the problem.

Jihoon spoke in a hushed voice beside him, "That's new."

Wonwoo glanced at him, "Hm?"

Jihoon nodded at your intertwined hands, "That."

Wonwoo nodded before sighing to himself. Soonyoung was now pointing at a café like he was negotiating terms. You were shaking your head. Soonyoung looked personally offended by the idea of them not eating.

Wonwoo watched Soonyoung lean slightly closer to hear what Y/N was saying, like the world outside them didn’t matter.

"Are they even dating?" Jihoon asked. "I know we joke around a lot, but this isn't funny anymore."

Wonwoo didn't respond immediately. He stood and observed you and Soonyoung until it was time to cross the road.

-

The next morning came more slowly. Less chaotic, but heavier in a different way. Soonyoung was already awake when Y/N found him. That wasn't unusual. What was unusual was that he didn't say anything immediately.

You leaned against the kitchen counter. "Soonie."

He looked up.

"Can I... have a break from you for a while?"

The words didn't land loudly. They didn't need to. Soonyoung blinked once.

"Oh," he said.

It wasn't dramatic, but something in his expression shifted slightly. It was as if he hadn't considered the idea before it was already happening. Actually, he had never thought of the possibility of you being away from him for a second.

Y/N softened a little. “It’s not like that. I just— I’m gonna go out with Hannie and Joshua today. I promised we’d go shopping around the city.”

“That’s fine,” Soonyoung said quickly. Too quickly. Then, after a beat, “But you can go shopping any day. We’re here for a week. Besides, I wanted to go to Central Park with you because I know how much you love 'Enchanted'.”

"That's so sweet of you, Soonie," you said softly. "I'll come back, don't worry."

That seemed to quiet him a little, but not fully.

Jeonghan appeared at the kitchen entrance like he'd been summoned by tension. "Oh!" he said brightly, glancing between you two. "Perfect timing."

Joshua was right behind him, dressed like he was going to do a street photo shoot with Vogue magazine.

Jeonghan clapped his hands once. "Shua and I are so looking forward to our shopping spree! We didn't pay extra for check-in for nothing. Let's go, Y/Nie."

"Wait, now?!" Soonyoung exclaimed.

Joshua nodded immediately. "Yep. Clothes aren't going to shop themselves, so..."

You hesitated for half a second, then grabbed your bag. Soonyoung straightened slightly. “Wait—”

Jeonghan didn’t let the moment breathe. “Okay! Let’s go,” he said, looping an arm through Y/N’s and gently steering them away from the kitchen. Then, over his shoulder, “We’ll be back later!”

Soonyoung glanced at Joshua and said, "Hyung, make sure Y/N eats, okay? They've been skipping meals, I just know it."

Joshua gave Soonyoung a small, polite smile that didn’t really say anything at all, and followed. The door clicked shut behind him.

The apartment was quiet again. Soonyoung stayed where he was for a moment longer than necessary. Then he looked toward the door. Then away.

He told himself that nothing had changed, that it was just shopping, and that you'd be back in no time, but the space beside him stayed empty a little longer than he liked. And for the first time, he didn’t fill it immediately.

-

By the time you left the last store, you had bags hanging from both arms and a smile that had finally stopped looking forced. You were like Cher Horowitz after she went shopping.

Jeonghan had somehow convinced you and Joshua to try on multiple outfits you didn't need, but ended up buying. Joshua bought something for Vernon's apartment and more clothes for himself ("I'll be donating some of my clothes to charity because I'm preparing for the Christmas Drive even though it's so far away," Joshua said.). All three of you had lost track of how long you'd been out.

Joshua glanced at the time on his phone, then paused. "Oh," he said.

Jeonghan looked over. "What?"

"I forgot something Soonie told me," Joshua stated.

You immediately narrowed your eyes. "Why are you two talking about him?"

Joshua smiled. "He asked me to make sure you eat today."

Jeonghan stopped walking and fully turned to Joshua. "He did?"

Joshua nodded. "Apparently, you skip meals when you're busy."

"He's so dramatic," you groaned.

"Maybe," Joshua shrugged. "But he sounded worried."

Jeonghan hooked an arm through yours. "Okay, then. We're eating before we go back."

"I was going to eat anyway."

"Sure," Jeonghan said easily. "But we're making it an event."

You ended up in a small restaurant a few blocks away, squeezed into a booth with your shopping bags piled beside you.

The server had barely placed the menus on the table before Jeonghan picked his up, scanned it once, then looked up. "Excuse me," he called, already raising a hand.

You stared at him. "Hannie."

"What?" Jeonghan asked innocently.

Joshua looked down at his own unopened menu. "We just got here."

"I know what you both like," Jeonghan said, completely unfazed. Then, when the server returned, he started ordering enough food for all three of them without asking. You and Joshua exchanged a look—appalled, but not really. Jeonghan finished, handed the menu back, and smiled like he’d done everyone a favor.

"There," he said. "Now nobody has to think."

Joshua laughed softly. "You’re impossible."

"And yet," Jeonghan replied, leaning back in his seat, "you’ll eat everything."

Joshua took a sip of his water, then glanced at your plate when the food arrived. "You’re actually eating," he said, sounding quietly pleased.

You looked up with a raised brow. "Um, yeah? I'm, like, starving."

"I'm just saying." Joshua smiled. "Soonie would be happy."

You sighed. "He'd be happy if I drank water, ate food, wore a jacket, slept eight hours, called him when I get home, texted him in the morning, video-called him during my lunch break, went out with him on the weekends..."

Jeonghan snickered and picked up his fork. "He's very attentive, and he wants attention."

"Well, he's like that with everyone," You said.

Joshua and Jeonghan exchanged a look. Then Joshua asked, "Is he?"

You paused. Jeonghan leaned back in his seat. "He cares about all of us, sure. But with you, it’s different."

"Different how?"

Joshua thought for a moment. "He notices things before you say them."

"Your food," Jeonghan added. "When you’re tired. When you’re cold, even when you insist you aren’t."

You looked down at your fork, trying not to smile. "He's just... Soonie," you said.

"That doesn't answer anything," Jeonghan said lightly.

"What are you even asking?"

Joshua smiled into his drink. "Do you like that he's like that with you?"

You blinked at him. Jeonghan tilted his head. "Because you always let him do those things, Y/Nie."

You opened your mouth, then closed it again. "I don't know," you said eventually, though it came out softer than you meant it to.

Joshua nodded, leaving it there. "That's okay."

"We're not trying to make you confess," Jeonghan said, finally reaching for his food. "We're just curious."

"Why?"

"Because from the outside," he said, smiling, "you two are very obvious."

You groaned, covering your face for a second. "You're both annoying."

Joshua laughed softly. Jeonghan grinned. "And yet, you're smiling."

You lowered your hands, still smiling despite yourself.

-

Somewhere back at Vernon's apartment, Soonyoung was probably wondering whether you had eaten yet. And, annoyingly, you liked that Soonyoung cared enough to tell Joshua to make sure you ate.

By the time Soonyoung checked his phone for the nth time, Vernon had stopped pretending not to notice. The apartment had settled into a quieter afternoon. Seungcheol and Jihoon were watching something on the television with the volume too low to follow. Jun was asleep again. Mingyu and Chan had disappeared to the kitchen with a camera, some food, and a terrible mukbang idea.

Soonyoung sat on the couch, staring at the message you sent an hour ago.

[y/nie 🥰💕]: still shopping! don't wait up :)

He had reacted with a thumbs-up. He debated with himself on whether or not he should send a message to ask if you've eaten.

Vernon sat next to him, taking a sip of his iced tea. "You know they're just shopping, right?"

Soonyoung looked at him. "I know, but it's taking too long."

"Well, they're in one of the fashion capitals. Of course, they'd take their time shopping." Vernon said as he leaned back.

"I'm not worried, if that's what you're thinking," Soonyoung said.

Vernon nodded slowly, not believing it for a second. "Sure."

Soonyoung frowned at that. "What?"

"Nothing."

Oh, it was definitely something. Soonyoung looked back down at his phone, then toward the bags of chips on the coffee table. He had picked up your favorite chips earlier without thinking. They sat beside a bottle of water he’d put there, thinking you'd be home earlier than expected. Vernon followed his gaze.

"You saved those for Y/N?" Vernon asked.

Soonyoung glanced at the chips. "They like those."

"Right."

"Y/N will probably be hungry when they get back. They like to eat chips after a tiring day, you know." Soonyoung said, all dazed and distracted.

Vernon turned to look at him for a moment. Then he said, "Y/N's so easy to love, no?"

Soonyoung blinked. The question sat between them longer than it should have. "Yeah," he said eventually, voice softer. "They are."

Vernon watched him carefully. Soonyoung realized, a second too late, what he had just said. He laughed and looked away. "I mean, everyone loves Y/N. They're easy to be around."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

Soonyoung’s smile stayed on his face, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. "Vernonie," he said, half-warning, half-embarrassed.

Vernon only shrugged. "I'm just saying."

"So am I."

"Are you?"

Soonyoung opened his mouth. Nothing came out. From the hallway, the front door unlocked. Soonyoung looked up immediately. Too quickly. Your voice floated in from the entryway, followed by Jeonghan complaining about shopping bags and Joshua laughing at him. Soonyoung stood before he even seemed to realize he was doing it. Vernon watched him go, and this time, he didn’t say anything.

STUPIDLY IN LOVE

Vernon stood in the middle of the living room with a drink in one hand and an expression that told everyone he had been forced into this.

The apartment was louder than usual. Empty bottles crowded the coffee table, someone had connected their phone to the speaker, and the skyline outside the windows had turned a deep shade of blue.

"Okay," Vernon said, raising his glass. "Before anyone gets too drunk, I have something to say."

The room quieted almost immediately. Seungkwan narrowed his eyes. "Why do you look like you’re about to announce something?"

"I’m not announcing anything," Vernon said. "Just listen."

Jeonghan leaned closer to Joshua. "He practiced this."

"I did not," Vernon muttered. Then he looked around the room. Everyone across the couch and floor. The bags were half-packed by the door. The people who had filled an apartment that had felt too quiet for too long.

"New York's looking so blue," he began, glancing toward the window, "and I'd like to think that it's mirroring what I'm feeling now."

There was a beat of silence. Mingyu’s mouth dropped open. "Whoa."

"Who are you?" Chan asked, staring at him.

Vernon ignored them. "It's bittersweet to let you guys go, and I'll definitely miss all the noise," he continued, a little faster now, like he wanted to get it over with. "But I hope you enjoyed your stay, and I hope I was a decent host."

For a second, nobody said anything. Then Seungkwan sniffed loudly and walked over to hug Vernon. "Oh my god," he said. "That was actually sweet."

"I hate that I liked it," Jihoon added from the couch.

Minghao smiled warmly. "You were a great host, Vernon."

Seungcheol lifted his glass. "The best. Even if your apartment is now permanently haunted by twelve people's laundry."

"Fourteen," Jeonghan corrected.

"Exactly," Seungcheol said.

Laughter filled the room again, warm and messy and familiar. Vernon smiled despite himself, lifting his drink a little higher. "To New York," he said.

"To New York!" Everyone echoed.

Beside you, Soonyoung's shoulder brushed against yours. Neither of you moved away.

The night went on in a blur of music, laughter, and Seungkwan arguing with Mingyu over the playlist. You stood by the fire escape for a moment, looking out at the city. New York City really was blue tonight.

Naturally, Soonyoung found you. "Cold?" he asked, already taking off his jacket.

"I'm okay."

He still draped it over your shoulders. You looked at him. "Soonie."

He paused. For once, he didn't laugh it off. He looked into your eyes, and instantly knew what you were about to say.

"I know," he said quietly. The music inside faded behind you. You held the jacket closer. "Everyone keeps saying things."

He nodded, "They do."

"And you never correct them."

Soonyoung looked down at the floor, then back at you. "Do you want me to?"

Something about whatever you and Soonyoung were made you hesitate. It felt right because he knew you so well, but wrong because he was your friend.

Still, lately, every stupid love song seemed to make sense whenever Soonyoung looked after you like you were the only person in the room.

"No," you replied, almost too softly to hear.

Soonyoung moved closer, not close enough to touch, but close enough that you could feel his warmth. "I don't want to either," he confessed. "I think I've been pretending it's normal because I didn't know what would happen if I said it out loud."

You gave him a small, nervous smile. "We're stupid."

Soonyoung laughed under his breath. "Yeah," he said. "But I really like you."

You looked at him for a second, then reached for his hand. "I really like you, too."

For a second, neither of you said anything. Soonyoung's smile came slowly, as if he were trying not to make how relieved he was too obvious. Then he carefully reached for your hand, like he was still expecting you to pull away at any second.

You didn't. Instead, you laced your fingers together. From inside, someone cheered at something on the television, followed by Seungkwan yelling about the playlist again. The noise made you laugh.

"So," Soonyoung said, squeezing your hand once, "are we going back in?"

You looked at him, then at the apartment full of your friends. "Yeah," you said. "Before everyone realizes they were right, and they definitely told us so."

Soonyoung could only laugh.

When you went back inside, your hands were still intertwined. Seungkwan noticed first. He opened his mouth, probably ready to say something dramatic, but Jeonghan covered it with his hand before he could. Across the room, Vernon only smiled.

This time, when someone called you a couple, you'd only smile.

a/n: ahhh stupid song is finished! hope you guys had fun reading this as much as i had fun writing it

Series taglist: @joongtime @neotannies

[shuajunice]

Thank you to my moot, @epelletart, for replying to my random af post the other day. I present to you my first-ever themed series for SVT!

drop dead - Jun

stupid song - Hoshi

honeybee - Mingyu

maggots for brains - Wonwoo

u + me = <3 - DK

my way - Jeonghan

purple - Minghao

the cure - Seungkwan

begged - Woozi

what's wrong with me - Vernon

less - Joshua

expectations - S.Coups

cigarette smoke - Dino

I'm excited for y'all to read these! Lmk if you wanna be tagged for a specific guy or you wanna be tagged in all of it!

I hope you guys like the lineup! xo

Series taglist: @joongtime @neotannies @seungkwanglazer

[ihankaji]

DEAR, MY FEELINGS ⋆˚꩜｡ SUNGHO SMAU

004 — yoohoo... it's go time...!

🗒️ NOTE — is it just me or do i like seeing them crash out

previous — next — masterlist

[gentleisa]

What about seungcheol who loves to spoil reader who has a hard time accepting gifts and compliments. He can go a bit overboard sometimes when buying things he sees she likes but he just wants her to have everything she wants

forgive me for how long this took, i got real sick and work got INSANE!

god bless whoever seungcheol ends up dating because this is a headcanon i wholeheartedly believe in!

pairing: idol!seungcheol x surgeon!reader genre: fluff wc: 1.5k warnings: mentions of surgery, reader thinks their car gets stolen

The balls of your feet have been aching since you started your shift but in the last hour, the ache has morphed into a burn. Pins and needles are shooting up your spine as you stretch over your patient's stitches.

"Scissors," you call out, a millisecond later the tool you asked for is placed into your gloved hand, the blades of the tool glinting under your headlamp. Finishing your last corner stitch, the tension in your arms and shoulders finally release with the breath that you let out. You thank your team for their work and ask for one of the residents on the case to update the family. Normally, this is a task you like to take care of but with how today went, all you want is the comfort of your bed.

Tossing your scrubs in the designated bin, you opt to forego a shower in fear that you'll fall sleep and bear the humiliation of a fellow attending finding you. As you make your way out of the double doors, you swipe to your conversation with your boyfriend, Seungcheol. The last time you texted was 8 hours ago, right before you were supposed to go home.

Got pulled into emergency surgery :(( Might be a while, don't wait up. Sorry I couldn't welcome you home.

S'okay baby, the guys all wanna grab drinks dinner anyways. At least I'll wake up to your gorgeous face tomorrow.

You know I look like a zombie in the morning… Have fun with the boys! Drink water when you get home!

Seungcheol had just wrapped a tour and was on his way home. Today was supposed to be an easy day — rounds, 2 consultations, and a laminectomy. All of that you could do in your sleep. But then one of your consultations turned into a terminal diagnosis and your minimally invasive laminectomy converted to open back surgery. Even with those two hiccups, you were still set to get home before he was. As you were about to leave, the head nurse of your unit called out that an emergency surgery was coming up in the next ten.

You're about to wave him off and tell him that it should be for the on-call surgeon, but he cut you off telling you that Dr. Na was already in another surgery. And that's how you ended up treating a GSW to the neck that leaves you unable to celebrate your boyfriend's homecoming.

You send him a quick message saying you'd be home in the next 20 to see if he was still up. Sighing, your thumb hovers over the call icon. He's likely already asleep —either jetlagged, drunk, or both. Choosing not to bother him, your phone gets shoved into your back pocket and you fish your car keys out of your bag. Entering the third floor of the parking garage, you click the unlock button, but you don't hear the familiar beep of your car.

A frown makes it's way on your face before you click the button again, believing that you must have imagined not hearing your car. But when you press it again, there's still no sound. Looking up, you don't see your car in it's normal spot.

"Fucking great," you mutter out.

Who the fuck steal's a doctor's car?! (Lots of people probably, you're a world class surgeon). Wildly annoyed, you fish your phone out your pocket to call a taxi, you'll be damned if you wake up your boyfriend to come get you. Realizing the spotty service you have in the garage, you make your way out to the street to hail for a ride home. Exiting the garage, you're expecting an empty street, but what greets you is your very handsome, very famous boyfriend leaning against his cherry red sports car.

He's wearing a mask, but nothing can hide the smile in his eyes when he makes eye contact with you.

"Cheol? W-what are you—" He cuts you off when he wraps you in a hug and lifts you off your feet. Whispering iterations of "I missed you" and "I love you" as he peppers kisses all over your face. Urging him to let you down, you ask what he's doing here.

"Picking you up silly! Oh!" He turns around and steps back to grab something from the car and he returns with a bouquet of deep red roses.

"I know these aren't your favorite flowers, but this was what I could find this late." You take them hesistantly and thank him. Another gentle peck and he gently guides you towards the car, his hand on the small of your back as he opens the car door for you. While you wait for him to go around to the driver's side, your mind is racing a mile a minute. You're still trying to figure out what to do about your car, you've barely recovered from work, and you're in absolute shock that your boyfriend decided to come and pick you up.

When he finally gets into the car, he immediately senses the alarm bells in your head. Gently placing his hand on your cheek, he turns your fave towards him.

"What's goin' on in that pretty lil head of yours?"

"Cheol, I'm really happy to see you, I really am…" Your pause isn't for dramatic effect, it's to try and unscramble the word soup that is floating where your brain should be.

"But?"

You spill into how exhausting work had become and your words are coming out of your mouth faster than your brain can process. Before you know it, you're freaking out about the fact that you think your car was either stolen or towed. He has to squeeze your shoulders to remind you to breathe.

"Your car is fine love, don't worry about it," he says as he rubs circles into your very tense, very raised shoulders.

"How can you say that?! You don't know that! Cheol I can't think str—"

"Baby, your car is fine. And I know because I took it home."

You look at Cheol like he had grown two heads. He sighs dejectedly and revs the car to life, the vibrations making you jump a bit. You're not quite sure by what your boyfriend means but before you can ask another question, he places a kiss to your cheek and tells you to wait for when you get home. Sure enough, when you get home your car is sitting in the driveway, looking just how it did when you parked it in the hospital's garage earlier in the day.

Seungcheol is basically guiding you out of the car and into your shared home. As he opens the door, he looks at you sheepishly.

"This was supposed to be a surprise but I can feel the frantic energy off you and that is the last thing you need," he warmly whispers against your ear. You peer into your apartment and it's covered in rose petals and bags as far as the eye can see. Guiding you inside, like he has been the entire time, your breath is caught in your throat.

"Cheol…" He shushes you by turning you to him and placing a kiss on your lips.

"I know. You're gonna say this is too much, unfortunately for you I don't believe in such a thing," he says as he jerks his head towards the plethora of gifts that litter your living room. He spins you back around towards the gifts and encourages you to start opening. Knowing that he's just as stubborn as you are, you comply. As you move towards them, he begins explaining how this situation even came about.

He confesses that he'd been planning this since the time you came to one of the stops of the tour. Luck seemed to go his way when their flight back into South Korea got in earlier than expected. It showed up for him again when he remembered that there was a spare key to your car inside his and once that fact came to light, he had Mingyu drive him over to the hospital. Jokingly he says that had you not been pulled in every direction during work, this plan likely would not have worked.

With each gift you open, you are finding it harder and harder to keep the tears in your eyes at bay. Although you aren't the biggest fan of your boyfriend spending exorbitant amounts of money on you, you have to give him credit. He always spoils you with things that you always want. Even things that you've only ever mentioned in passing. You point this out when you're unwrapping one of the boxes and you recognize the branded wrapping paper.

"Choi Seungcheol, you didn't!" You gasp as you pull out the limited edition bracelet from under the paper. You try to wrap your mind around the fact that you had only talked about this bracelet once and it was to whine about the fact that you had missed the deadline to pre-order it before it sold out. He pinches your side softly for using his full name but kisses your shoulder after you tell him how much you love it.

"And that's exactly why I'll spend every cent on you. The way your smile feels is a high I'll chase to the ends of the earth."

[rosequartz-archive]

Pairing ✨ Rockstar Seungcheol x Female Staff OC

Synopsis ✨ As the new personal assistant to the manager of the biggest rock band in the world, you see a lot of the shenanigans that go on backstage. And you have no intention of getting involved. But sadly for you, the drummer very much wants to get involved with you.

Genre ✨ rock band au, (sort of) enemies to lovers, angst, fluff

Plot warnings ✨ Seungcheol is an ass at the beginning, the biggest pair of idiots in love (emphasis on the idiots), jealousy, bickering, passive aggressive to the max, mild threats of violence (god help anyone who touches Seungcheol in OC's presence), a little bit of bullying (it isn't Cheol and it lasts about two sentences), she's a little insecure for like a minute, social anxiety in big crowds, a lot of chat about bats (?), drunken phone calls, a huge misunderstanding, he's never been in love and doesn't know how to process his feelings, confessions after they've more or less ruined each other, Woozi has the patience of a saint, a horrible amount of HORRENDOUS pickup lines

Smut warnings ✨ suggestive, references to Seungcheol's various one night stands (we learn a little too much about where his tongue has been), OC can't keep her mind out of the gutter, lots of chat about his arms (a valid smut warning), references to dry humping, references to porn, references to oral. f receiving, references to sucking on balls (?), making out but no actual smut

Word count ✨ 16.7k

Meet the other band members here.

a/n- I've saved my favourite till last and this was going to be the last story for the Shadow guys, but a lovely anon suggested the subby side of Mingyu and I couldn't resist. I have other things I'm working on but I will revisit Shadow sometime soon and show the other side of Mingyu and OC's relationship.

I'm also disgusted to admit that even though those pickup lines Cheol uses are horrible, one of them was literally the reason I went on my first date with my ex-girlfriend years ago..... So, they do work.

And thank you to the anon that asked about having stories for the other band members after you'd read Dino's original one shot. Writing these really cheered me up and helped get me out of a pretty low point I was having. So thank you anon 🩷🩷

Osaka

Your boss said it might take a while but you didn’t think you’d need to spend a whole fifteen minutes knocking more and more loudly on a hotel suite door. Sure, you’re an assistant and to many deemed unimportant in the grander schemes of music producing and performing, but blatantly ignoring someone seems a bit much. You know you’re being ignored because you can hear giggling from the other side of the door, the pair that are in the room obviously in no great rush to see who might be daring to interrupt whatever the hell they’re doing. 

You rest your forehead on the door and take a deep breath. This is your first day and already it seems to be going to shit. 

Fuck this. You can do this. It’s just a simple form. Your fist connects with the heavy wooden door in a series of bangs that sound more like a police break in than an assistant trying to rouse a rowdy rockstar, but you don’t care. He’s taking the piss and you have other things you need to be doing. 

“FUCK WOOZI I GET IT, I’M COMING!”

The door swings open and you’re confronted by the drummer of Shadow, the band your new boss manages and the biggest band in the world, in nothing more than a pair of shorts. 

Neither of you say anything for a few seconds, you don’t know what to say. You’re pissed off he’s made you wait. But can you really be mad at a man that looks like that? Because he’s big, bigger than you even imagined. Not that you’ve spent much time thinking about the body of the drummer of your favourite band. You’ve definitely not searched Choi Seungcheol arms over a hundred times on pinterest. Absolutely not. 

“You’re not Woozi ,” He smirks, his gaze assessing you from head to toe as he leans on the door frame with his big, muscley, perfect, biteable arms folded. Fuck you need to stop looking at them, but they’re just so big.

“N-no,” Damn, his smirk only grows because of your stuttering. “You need to sign this.” 

“There’s no fans allowed into the hotel.”

“I’m not a fan.” 

“Sure you’re not. Listen, unless you want to join us, or wait for her to leave and then come in and get a taste of this," he gestures at his body, "I suggest you fuck off and crawl back under whatever weird little rock you came from. Breaking into a hotel is stalker behaviour." His smile is one of sarcasm and it’s at that moment you suddenly realise that the drummer from your favourite band is a fucking asshole. 

“I’d rather stick pins in my eyes.” You smile back, enjoying seeing him falter a little, “You or rather your friend needs to sign this. I’m Woozi’s new assistant. I’d ask if you could shout your friend out here for me but I presume you don’t know her name, so can I come in?” 

You don’t wait for an answer. Just push past him, ignoring how his skin seems to be as soft as a baby's, and storm into the room to find the poor girl who needs to sign the NDA in your hand. 

“Hi,” 

“Who’s she?”

“He doesn’t know my name, just like he probably doesn’t know yours. And honestly you seem much too pretty a girl to be treated that way.” 

They both look at you a little shocked but you don’t care. 

You scan around the room, noting how they’ve clearly had quite the night if the various pieces of clothing around multiple surfaces are anything to go by. You can’t help scrunch your nose a little in disgust when you see three used condoms thrown messily near the bin. You suppose you should be thankful for small mercies, at least he’s not riddling the poor women with diseases and he’s saved an unsuspecting cleaner the trouble of cleaning cum stains off the floor because the idiot has tied a knot in them. 

Woozi said he hated having to ask you to do this but there’d been an emergency with the guys taking the stage down in Osaka, ready for you all to move onto Tokyo, and he needed to rush off. You get why he hates it, it’s like making sex a business transaction and you’re the one who’s having to facilitate it. But if you didn’t, you risk the band’s secrets being spilled and then every fan in the world would have the same realisation as you. That Seungcheol is a prick. 

“He knows my name,” She narrows her eyes at you but you’re just trying to ignore the little marks Seungcheol has left behind on her neck and breasts. Her only being in her underwear makes it easier to see them and the sight leaves a weird feeling in your stomach even though you’ve just recently decided you hate him. 

She turns to Seungcheol, waiting for him to say that he obviously knows the name of the woman he’s spent the night with. 

You wish you had her blind optimism. 

“S-sure! It’s er…….well it’s er………J….” His “friend's” eyes get wider as he tries to ask if it starts with a J and your heart sinks for her. 

You’re all for one night stands. Or not having one night stands. It’s up to whoever it is. But you know if any of the people you’d slept with did what he’s doing right now, you’d feel fucking horrible. 

“Could you just sign this please?” You say softly, trying to ignore the clear awkwardness you’ve helped contribute to. Fuck you shouldn’t have said that about names, you were just pissed at him being an asshole by the door. 

“No. He can tell me my name.” 

You inwardly grown. You love that she’s standing up for herself but you’d rather be back in the hallway whilst she did it. 

“Baby,” He smiles, moving towards her, “we just met last night!” 

“And yet I’ve had your dick in my mouth. I tend to like to know the names of people whose dick I’ve had in my mouth. And as your tongue has been in my ass hole, I presumed you’d know mine” 

Well shit. 

You decide to appraise a very odd looking stain on the ceiling and ignore whatever is unfolding in front of you. 

“I didn’t……..Did I?......Oh shit, yeah I remember…….NO!” He rushes but it’s too late. 

“You’ve already forgotten what happened between us?!!! You literally had your tongue down my throat a minute before she came in here.” 

Is there anywhere in this poor woman Seungcheol hasn’t had his tongue?!

You resist giving her a piece of your mind for the way she said “she” and continue assessing what you think might be a wine stain on the ceiling, though how it got there you don’t know. 

“Tell me my name and I’ll sign it.” 

You glance at Seungcheol, you can tell he’s panicking but you’ve never met either of them until about three minutes ago, so it’s not like you could help even if you wanted to. 

When you move over to the desk to get a pen, hoping Seunghceol may somehow remember this woman’s name in this lifetime, you spot her small card holder by her phone. A small card holder holding her drivers license. You hate having to help him, you’d much rather see him suffer but you do technically now have to have his best interests at heart. You don’t suppose your job with Woozi will last very long if you allow this woman to decimate the character of one of the band members. 

You glance round, noting she hasn’t moved and does still have her back to you, just as Seungcheol’s panicked eyes find you and he realises what you’re doing. 

Slowly, you pick up her wallet and move the license up a little. It feels less like a complete disregard for her privacy and not so big a break in girl code to not fully take it out of the card holder. 

“SORA” You mouth dramatically to Seungcheol whilst he tries to act natural. But him fucking squinting like he doesn’t understand isn’t helping. 

“SAW,” You mouth, mimicking sawing something in half, “RAAAAA.” 

This is fucking stupid and more than a little demeaning. But the big idiot still doesn’t get it. 

“SAAAAAAAAW,” You try to act out seeing something in the distance but she turns around and you have to suddenly act natural, holding her card holder behind your back. 

“Well?! MY NAME SEUNGCHEOL?!” She whips round back to him. 

“SORA.” You mouth in the biggest way you can. 

“So…..” You put your thumbs up and mouth it again, “So…ra…..Sora! You’re Sora! See! I never forget a name.” He grins.

You roll your eyes and quickly throw the card holder back just before she turns to check you’ve not helped him in some way. 

Fucking moran. He behaves like a chauvinistic pig and yet still somehow gets away with it. 

“Could you sign this?” You pear round her with the paper and pen in your hand. 

“Like I’d want to tell anyone about being anywhere near him.” She snarls, much to Seungcheol’s shock. 

He can’t honestly think she believes he remembered her name? He cannot be that arrogant to think she’d let what just happened slide and continue fawning over him like she no doubt was last night. 

She snatches the paper and pen from your hand and marches over to the desk to fill out her name and sign it. You follow Seungcheol’s gaze and note he’s not got a care in the world that he’s probably ruined poor Sora’s whole week. He’s too busy eyeing her ass hungrily, his busy tongue licking his lips like she's lunch. 

What. An. Asshole. 

“Here.” She slams the paper into your chest and throws the pen at your head. 

There is no need for that. And you’re ready to tell her so before Seungcheol pipes up. 

“Hey, leave your number. We come back to Osaka every tour y’know.” He leers at her as she quickly gets dressed. 

“Get fucked.” 

And with that she’s gone in a waft of floral perfume and anger. 

“Oh and!” She shouts from the doorway, “Your dick isn’t as big as you say it is!”

The door slams behind her and you both just stand in silence. 

“That is not true and the way she was waddling proves it.” 

“You’re disgusting.” You glare at him. 

“You shouldn’t speak to your boss like that,” he smirks, clearly not affected by a thing that's just happened. 

“You’re not my boss. Woozi is.” 

“He works for us.” He scoffs. 

“You’re signed to his and Jeonghan’s company. They own the company. My contract is with him specifically. I have nothing to do with you.” 

“I always like a hot nerd.” He creeps closer. 

“Well. I imagine most of the world’s population could be classed as a nerd if they’re comparing themselves to your intelligence.” 

You march out of the room. You don’t need a response from him, you’ve already made your mind up about him. Choi Seungcheol is a womanising lowlife who you never want to speak to again. You will never let him anywhere near you, not even if he was the last man on earth.

Tokyo 

“Did something happen between you and Seungcheol?” Woozi asks, somewhat apprehensively. 

You’re sitting in his suite with him and Jeonghan, all three of you with laptops out, trying to plan schedules for recording the new album and deciding which brand deals, out of the influx of offers that have come in recently, any of the guys should do. 

It’s only been five days since you started working for Woozi but you’ve found him to be the complete opposite of Seungcheol. In fact you’ve found that almost everyone on the staff is the opposite of Seungcheol. Every single person, including the other band members, have made you feel nothing but welcome, each of them coming over to introduce themselves and offer help if you need it. 

The same cannot be said for Seungcheol. 

He has been the most petulant idiot you’ve ever met. 

He purposefully asked you where a man called Jihoon was in front of everyone, having not uttered a word to you since the little debacle in his suite. When you told him you didn’t know who Jihoon was, he humiliated you in front of the whole band and the stylists by replying “oh right yeah, I forgot Woozi only tells people he likes his real name.”. Nobody laughed, they all just looked perplexed at what the hell was going on as you both glared at each other. They didn’t even realise you’d been introduced, let alone already seemingly enemies. 

You got him back though. Sort of. 

You’d had to travel between Osaka and Tokyo with Seungcheol and Woozi because Seungcheol was designing new bass drum skins and you’d be the one putting the order in. As Hoshi had already gone ahead for an event and the two other members tended to like to travel with their girlfriends, you’d ended up with the king of the boneheads. 

Just as you saw him taking a gulp of his drink out of the corner of your eye (and checked there were no cars behind you), you shouted out that there was a cat in the road. The driver slammed on and poor old Seungcheol ended up covered in coffee. 

It did somewhat backfire on you though. He had sent his bags in one of the other cars and because his sweater was covered in coffee, he decided it was probably best that he just not wear anything at all and opted to discard his sweater completely. You tried your best not to look at him, really you did, but you couldn’t help glancing at him. His knowing smirks and the constant need to catch yourself before you looked at him again, made that seven hour car journey feel like days. 

“No.” You glance at him before going back to your laptop, “Why?” 

“He’s just being……odd.” 

“Is he not odd all the time?” Jeonghan snorts at that and you feel a weird sense of pride that you’ve managed to fit in with them so quickly. 

“She’s got a point there.” 

“I guess. He just seems different.” 

You feel a weird twinge in your stomach at that, a slight panic that there’s something wrong or going on with him. Though you’re not sure why you care, he’s nothing but an ass to you. 

Maybe it’s because of what happened in his suite that first morning? He doesn’t like that you saw him being humiliated and now he’s being weird because of it. But he didn’t seem bothered by it at the time so why would he care after the fact. 

“There was a girl in his suite when you got me to take the NDA to him, maybe it’s that.” 

“_____,” Jeonghan smiles knowingly, “I’d be more surprised if there wasn’t. I don’t think he’s ever been alone in a hotel room in all the years we’ve been doing this.” 

That leaves a sour taste on your tongue but you know it has no right to be there. 

“She wasn’t exactly…..kind….to him when she left. He’d forgotten her name and she didn’t really like that,” 

“Ugh Seungcheol,” Woozi leans back in his seat, wiping his face with his hands, “when will he grow out of all this bullshit!” 

“I agree with you but that doesn’t explain what’s going on with those two,” Jeonghan points at you. 

“Well. Well. I might’ve called him disgusting?.” Your cheeks heat when neither of them give any sort of reaction. 

You jump slightly when laughter ripples through the air and they both beam at you. 

“I think you’ll fit in well here ______.” Woozi smiles whilst Jeonghan nods along. 

You smile and sheepishly say thank you but you can’t help feeling weird. Something isn’t sitting right with you at all and you’re certain it’s down to Seungcheol. It’s probably hatred and the fact his voice sounds like nails down a chalk board. Yeah…… That’ll be it. It’s definitely nothing else. 

One of the main reasons you were excited for this job was because you genuinely loved the band. You were a fan of their music, I fan of their style, you just loved everything about them. You didn’t even really have a favourite, they just all seemed like great guys who made amazing music and that was it. You’d told Woozi you liked the band during your interview and he said it was a good thing, it meant you’d care about your work and so far, that is proving to be true. 

You’re standing at the side of the stage watching as thousands of screaming fans sing every word back to Shadow as they perform. That would've been you, in total awe of them as they rocked out in front of tens of thousands of fans. 

But instead. You're standing glaring at the drummer whose arms glisten with sweat every time he strikes a cymbal and who you're desperately trying not to look at. But you can't help. He's gone too far. 

About twenty minutes before they were due to go on stage, the whole crew was gathering for a team talk. It was everyone. Stylists, security, fuck you're certain even the guys that print the lanyards were there. 

But one person that wasn't, was you. 

He was holding the door open for one of the makeup artists to go into the large shared dressing room. You knew he was going to do something, he'd seen you walking towards him. You know he had because he'd made a point of checking out the makeup artist's ass and then directly looked at you with a smarmy smile. 

You braced yourself for the door closing on you or him sticking out his foot to trip you up. But he took it a step further, a step too far. 

“Where are you going?" Seungcheol blocks off the doorway as he leans on it. 

"To the team meeting,” you grumble, rolling your eyes. Surely it's fucking obvious where you're going. 

"Why?” 

"Because it's a whole team meeting. Move out of the way please.” Adding the please is done begrudgingly but he is still a member of the band and so you can't just tell him to fuck off and kick him in the balls how you'd like to. 

"But you're not part of the team.” 

"What?” You frown, "Move please, I don't want to be late.” 

"You can't be late for something you're not invited to. You told me yourself, you work for Woozi. Everyone in here is part of team Shadow,” he declares like it's obvious, "guess you're not part of any team.” He sighs. 

Embarrassment creeps up your spine. You're certain Woozi would be expecting you to be there but short of pushing past him and making a scene, you're not entirely sure how to get round this. 

“You've had your joke," you mumble, “come on move, we'll be late." 

“I will be late, you mean. You're probably early to whatever plans you have for the evening. There's probably some private moment going on that you can shoe horn your way into and make ten times worse.” 

You stare at him. Both of you almost challenging the other to look away but the difference? He holds all the cards and he knows it. You don't win in this situation. If you tell him to fuck off, he'll say you've been unprofessional and no doubt tell Woozi and you lose the best job you've ever had. Or you don't tell him to fuck off and you have to walk away in embarrassment. 

"Is Woozi in there?” 

"I mean yeah, we're all one big family really.” He shrugs, “It'd be weird if he wasn't there.” He insisted, his smirk only getting more annoying. 

Part of you wants to punch him, to put this arrogant rock star in his place. But there's a weird feeling in your chest too, that you can't quite figure out what it means. 

He doesn't stop looking at you, his smirk never faltering. But you just pull your sweater over your hands and avert your eyes, pretending to look past him and like this isn't making you want to cry. 

“Bye then." You say quietly, sending him a false smile but still not looking him in the eye. 

You wander down the corridor to the side of the stage and hope you find something there that'll occupy you when the “one big family" all turn up to start the concert. At least then if Woozi asks where you were you can say you were caught up with something. 

Seungcheol watches you leave pretty pleased that he's got the upper hand. He'd been enjoying the little back and forth you guys had been having the past few days. And if he's honest, he wants to get you back for the other morning. You were fucking annoying and ever since he's had this need to get a rise out of you. 

But as he watches you walk off, he gets a weird feeling in his chest that unsettles him. His smirk leaves and his eyebrows inadvertently knit together. He got this feeling when you called him disgusting too, though he ignored it then and tried to put it down to his hangover. Add that to the leaping feeling he had in his stomach when something the driver said made you laugh, he's starting to get a little worried about all these unknown feelings he's having. 

This must be what hatred feels like. The sound of your laugh must physically cause him pain and the feelings in his chest are just pure annoyance when you're around. Yeah. That’ll be it. It's the only logical explanation. 

“You know we don't object to workplace relationships,” You jump a little, you hadn't realised Jeonghan was so close to you. 

"What do you mean?” You avert your eyes to him but quickly refocus on the band. 

"You and Cheol, you keep staring at each other and I think even Woozi's realised there's a tension there and he's normally so lost in schedules and shit, he doesn't realise anything.” 

"I don't stare.” You snap. 

"Whatever you say,” Jeonghan smirks, "I know he's got a reputation but he's one of the kindest guys you'll ever meet under all that swagger.” 

You wonder how much Seungcheol pays people to lie for him. You've got proof he's not a kind person, and you do not believe that he doesn't live up to that "reputation” Jeonghan is referring to. Both you and Sora can attest to that. 

"There's no tension. I'm just trying to do my job.” 

"Okie dokie.” Jeonghan smiles though you can tell he’s not convinced at all. "Oh! And we missed you at the staff meeting! You don't have to work so hard!.” 

You watch as Jeonghan glides away. It relieves a few of the worries you'd had about not being missed at the meeting, at least there seems to be people who are genuinely looking out for you. But it just makes you more pissed at the drummer who adverts his eyes the second you look back over to him. 

This can't all be because of that first day. He's taken an instant dislike to you and, to be honest, you feel exactly the same way. 

One thing is for sure. You won't let him win.

Bangkok 

And so for the next three weeks of the Asia leg of the tour, a battle ensues. You both happen to be at breakfast at the same time? You’re making sure that you take the last of the muesli he likes. He notices that you’re carrying a heavy bag? He’ll purposefully pick out another member of staff who is also carrying something and make a grand gesture of asking if they need help, right in front of your face. 

Everyone knew what was going on. It was like the both of you couldn’t hear a conversation going on with the other without passive aggressively butting in. 

“Do you want to try this hat for the magazine cover?” 

“Are you sure that would fit over his enormously oversized head?” You’d chide as the room erupted in laughter and Seungcheol glared at you through the mirror. 

Or. 

“______ seriously you’ve got me so organised I’m running out of things to worry about.” Woozi beamed at you. 

“Pretty easy to be so anal about shit when she’s got a permanent stick up her ass.” 

It was just an everyday part of your life now. Wake up, make sure Woozi has everything he needs and then go out of your way to piss off Seungcheol. His schedule seemed pretty much the same except where you organised Woozi, he played for thousands of fans and partied until the early hours. 

And it’s his partying, or rather the whole group partying, which is putting you in a situation you didn’t really want to be in right now. 

Seungcheol had used your dislike for partying when he was trying his best to embarrass you in front of everyone. The trouble for him was that you didn’t care what he thought about you in that respect. You’d never been one for huge crowds of drunk people, it just wasn’t for you. You loved socialising, you loved going out with friends for drinks or good food but being in a confined space with a bunch of sweaty drunk people? You’d really rather sit in a bath of ice. 

But this was the last night of the Asia tour. It was a big deal and even though you’d told Seungcheol to get fucked when he’d called you boring for not going, it turned out you weren’t going to get away with it so easily. Woozi made you promise you’d join them all for one drink at least and your best friend at home had made you promise you’d put yourself out there more just before you started this job. You didn’t need to make sure everything is ready for the next day or spend your time writing in your diary, or any of the other one hundred things you could think of doing to avoid situations you felt uncomfortable in. You just needed to be brave enough to actually go.

So with Woozi’s promise that you only had to stay for one drink and your best friend’s words whirring round your mind, you find yourself standing in front of the mirror in your room, not knowing whether you’re even dressed right. You know you can’t wear your usual sweaters or jeans but you didn’t want to seem too over dressed, too out of your comfort zone. 

You’d gone with a leather mini skirt which you didn’t even realise you’d packed, your good old bestie still looking out for you even when she’s not with you, and a tank top that felt too tight but you could work with it and it made your tits look great even if you do say so yourself. You hadn’t brought heels so your trusty doc martens would have to do. It isn’t something you’d wear to a club you suppose but drinking with a rock band? It works. Sort of. You think? 

“Fuck this get a grip _____. No one will even notice you’re there, one drink and then you can come back and pack.” You mumble to yourself as you fix your eyeliner in the mirror. “You’ve got this.” You fake a smile to yourself before you take a deep breath, grab your phone and head to the rooftop bar of the hotel. 

It wasn’t as bad as you thought, you’d had a drink with Dino’s girlfriend who has become a good friend in the month you’ve been on tour with them. And Woozi had made you join him in a dance but it felt very much like dancing with your dad and so you’d spent most of your time laughing with him whilst he showed you how to do the robot. 

You didn’t see Seungcheol. You’re not even sure why you were thinking of him. He was probably with some woman by now already and he wouldn’t want to see you anyway. You tell yourself your eyes scan the room every three minutes because you want to prove a point to him. You want to show him that you’re not as boring as he says you are. But why should you even care what he thinks? It’s probably just because your competitiveness has peaked in this month-long battle with Seungcheol, you just want to show that you won this little challenge. It’s not even really about proving a point to him. It’s about winning. 

You bid your goodbyes to Dino and his girlfriend as they run off giggling after informing you they’re going for a late night swim, and you head towards the elevator. 

“Hold the door please!” You run towards the closing door as a hand stops it and you throw yourself in. 

“Thank you,” you sigh before you realise who it is, “oh.” 

“_____?” Seungcheol saying your name makes you feel weird but it’s probably irritation. That’s the only thing that would explain the goosebumps that’ve erupted all over your body. 

Your eyes drift to the woman in his arm, one of her hands under his shirt, tickling his skin. You get the sudden urge to scratch this woman’s eyes out, a feeling of utter rage coming over you like a dark cloud but you bat it away. You don’t care who touches him. 

His eyes drift over you, his eyebrows knitting together but he snaps back to himself and holds his girl a little closer. 

“Does she work for you?” 

“Nah, she works for Woozi. A professional busy body.” 

You know he’s waiting for your reply but the sight of the woman still touching his skin has you mute. What the fuck is happening and why does it feel like those words he just uttered actually hurt? You’d been tearing shreds off each other for weeks and it hadn’t bothered you. The last time you’d truly felt upset by something he’d done was the staff meeting but you were over that. Now though it just felt like he was being mean for the sake of it and you were so confused by what you were feeling towards him and his “friend” that you can’t even muster a response. 

“You came then?” He smirks when he doesn’t get a response. 

“Oh you’ve been to the party? You didn’t feel like dressing up?” She says in the most sickly sweet way she can. 

Fuck you feel like you’re in school, the resident school bully deciding it’s your turn to feel their nastiness. 

You just glance at both of them and then look forward, willing the elevator to move quicker. 

“It’s no wonder she’s going back to her room alone,” you hear her whisper to Seungcheol, although you’re fairly certain she intended you to hear it. 

Sure you weren’t overly confident in your outfit but the longer the night went on, the more you felt happy in your own skin. Others at the party were dressed like you, you didn’t stand out. If anything it’s her that looks out of place, a sequin dress and sky high slingbacks making her look like a christmas tree. And yet her words are cutting as deep as a knife. 

Your bottom lip threatens to wobble but you stay strong. You won’t break in front of either of them. 

The elevator rings, your floor finally arriving and you rush out without sparing them another glance. 

You don’t see how Seungcheol moves like he wants to say something to you or how once you’re out of the elevator he suddenly distances himself from the woman he was with, much to her confusion. 

You just rush to your room, rub the makeup off your face in a shower that’s so hot it’s only a few degrees below actually burning your skin and spend an hour making sure you’ve packed everything you came with. Making sure the leather skirt is right at the bottom of the pile. Just the sight of it makes you want to melt away in a puddle of embarrassment. 

You’ve so many feelings fighting for supremacy that you don’t know which to focus on most. Sure you’re embarrassed but the thing that’s annoying you is why you hated that woman before she’d even insulted you. You had every reason to loathe her now she’d made you feel like the ugliest runt in the litter but before that you wanted to end her. The second you saw her hands on Seungcheol’s skin you wanted something horrible to happen to her and you can’t explain why. 

You don’t get much sleep after all that. Just toss and turn with her words ringing in your ears as images of her and Seungcheol laughing about how pathetic you are, as they fuck each other race through your mind. 

And what’s even worse. Things are going to get a whole lot more uncomfortable.

Hua Hin- Thailand 

“Ok what's wrong?" 

All four members of Shadow take up a table and four seats on the coach taking them to the Thai resort they'll spend a few days at before the South American leg of the tour begins. It wasn't the whole crew, just the members, girlfriends and managers. And you. At everyone's insistence other than, of course, Seungcheol. 

The four of them had been having a little song writing session as the coach would take four- five hours. But Seungcheol hadn't joined in with any of it, not even when they'd purposely rhymed the same word twice just to annoy him, knowing he hates repeating words when they can't think of a proper rhyming couplet. 

“Nothing." 

“She was that bad?" 

“Who?" 

“Whoever you took back to your room." 

“Oh." He wriggles in his seat, “nothing happened. I asked her to leave, I wasn't in the mood." 

His three friends stare at each other wide eyed. 

“You weren't in the mood?" Dino clarifies. 

“Are you not well?" Hoshi asks. 

“I'm fine! Can't a man just not be in the mood?" His eyes flick up the bus but then back down at the wordless notebook. 

They all turn to look where he just has, knowing looks on their faces when they face each other again. Because it's you. You're who Seungcheol has just glanced at unknowingly and it's you who's been the only woman they've ever seen get under Seungcheol's skin. 

They've seen it happening right in front of their own eyes. How both of you proclaim to hate each other and yet you both search for each other in every room you go in. You both spend each day seeking each other out even if it is to be complete idiots. 

"How do you know when you've gone too far?” 

"What do you mean?” 

"Like when banter becomes bullying?” 

The three exchange looks and Dino kicks Mingyu under the table, silently telling him to take the lead. 

“What makes you ask that?" 

Seungcheol doesn't look up from the paper, instead he decides to just draw little flowers on the pages. But he needs to figure out what's going on, he can't keep feeling all these feelings every day. 

“Last night," he sighs, “that girl, she was really mean to _____. Basically called her ugly." 

“That's fucked up." 

“But…..is it…..is it fucked up that I didn't stick up for her?" 

“Yeah." 

“Dude what the fuck!" Hoshi kicks Dino. 

“What?! I'm just saying if you hear someone say that to anyone unprovoked then you should stick up for them. Unless it's some like seven foot dude with an axe." 

“Why are you and _____ the way you are?" 

“What?" Seungcheol’s eyes snap to Mingyu. 

“She's kind, she's funny, she's a bit shy, sure but she's part of the team. Why are you two the way you are?" 

“We're not like anything. Just normal." 

“We all know that's not true Cheol. There's something about her. And you know it." 

“I can't stand her." 

“Cheol, you look for her in every room apart from when you're partying because you know she's not there." 

“That's because I know she's going to pull some bullshit!" He shouts but lowers his voice when Woozi and Jeonghan turn around, luckily you have your headphones on and are deep in some game on your switch. 

"You've been turning up early to soundcheck then you know you can speak to her or annoy her at least.” 

"I've decided to be more professional,” he shrugs. 

"You're drawing the exact flower she has on her necklace.” 

All four of them look down at the piece of paper. Shit. It is the same flower that you have on a gold chain. You wear it every day, a small golden charm on the necklace, it was a gift from your parents when you graduated. Seungcheol knows that because he heard you tell Jeonghan when he asked about it, he remembers wanting to punch Jeonghan on the nose for daring to take an interest in you. He wanted to ask about it. Not Jeonghan. 

"That's not……I'm not…. Fuck I don't know what to do! I feel weird whenever she's around and I spend most of my time counting down the hours until it's time to meet up with everyone because I want to see her. And taunting her is the only way I think she'll talk to me. Because someone like her isn't going to be interested in me! Fuck the first day we met was because she came to my room and saw exactly how I behave! And I feel like my heart is physically breaking whenever she laughs and jokes with someone else because I want to do that. I want to make her laugh. And she looked so fucking pretty last night but I didn't think she’d come to the party! And I didn't know that woman would be such a bitch to her! And she looked so fucking sad and I did nothing. I'm having all these feelings and I don't know what they are or how to deal with them! I don't even like partying anymore! You know, the other day all I could think about was how much I wanted to just sit with her and hold her and talk to her! I've never just wanted to sit and talk to a woman!”  

He's gasping for breath by the time he's finished. All of them including Woozi and Jeonghan and Dino and Mingyu's girlfriends are looking at him in shock. Thankfully you're still blissfully unaware of the mini breakdown Seungcheol has just had at the back of the coach.  

"You need to tell her.” Dino's girlfriend chimes in kindly. "Not telling her will just make a huge mess.” She looks knowingly at Dino who just sends everyone an embarrassed smile. Everyone knows the chaos that went on between them on the last tour. 

"It's gone too far. Even if it hadn't, it definitely has now. She looked so fucking sad when she left the elevator last night. She isn't going to trust my intentions is she?!” 

"She will.” Mingyu nods. 

"Would you?” Seungcheol asks their girlfriends who are on the table next to them. 

"Well,” they look at each other. "Probably not? But!” Mingyu's girlfriend rushes to say, "I think you need to show her who you really are. Don't just go in with some big confession. She needs to know the real you, the one we all know. Not this idiot who knocked a drink all over her." 

“She did that to me first!" 

“Grow up." She deadpans as Mingyu giggles behind him. 

“How do I show her! I doubt she'll even talk to me." 

"You'll think of something.” 

"Yeah I doubt it," Seungcheol pouts, slamming his pen on the notebook. “I even downloaded a list of the best pickup lines last week when I'd convinced myself to do something. But I'm not gonna be one of those sad acts that creep up on women at bars with some awful line to be laughed at." 

“We're here!" Your voice breaks through the tension as you excitedly look through the windscreen and throw your headphones off your head. 

“Fucking great." Seungcheol grabs his bag and storms up the coach. 

“He’ll sort this out, won't he?" 

“I hope so. They’d make a cute couple and I'm never wrong, am I baby?" Mingyu's girlfriend taps his chest to back her up. 

“Never. She clocked you two the day you met." He smiles at Dino. 

“We weren't obvious!" 

“Whatever you say dude."

They all hurl themselves off the coach, not even noticing just how beautiful the resort is that Jeonghan found because they're all so lost in watching the way you try to avoid Seungcheol and how he can't seem to keep his eyes off you. That is apart from Mingyu who is happily accepting the snacks being offered by the resort staff as they all enter the main building.

“_____! We thought you'd gotten lost!" 

You smile at them as you sit down but in reality you're questioning everything. You didn't plan for this break and yes you've got summer clothes with you and bikinis, but you didn't really plan to be at a five star Thai resort. And after last night your usually high confidence was wavering. 

"I love your dress,” Mingyu's girlfriend says to you quietly as you sit between her and, sadly, Seungcheol, at the long ornately decorated table that's been set up by the golden beach. 

"Thank you. I didn't know we'd be coming somewhere like this. I think I'll need to check out the stores in the village tomorrow.” 

"Let me know when you go! We could go, all the girls together.” 

"I'd like that,” you smile. And for the first time today, it's a genuine one. 

She goes back to talking to Woozi about something and everyone else seems to be preoccupied too, so that just leaves you and Seungcheol. You fiddle with your thumbs before your eyes land on the wine bottle. But before you can even reach for it, Seungcheol grabs it. Does he have to do this? Does he have to carry it on even…..now…. What? 

“Why have you done that?" 

“You didn't have a drink." 

“But I could pour one for myself." 

“Well I needed a top up so I thought I'd do yours too." 

“Why?" 

“Why not?" 

You don't answer, just watch him and wait for him to take a sip of his wine. 

“What are you looking at?" 

“I want to see you drink it first. Make sure it's not poisoned or some shit." 

“You know what?" He turns to you like he's going to fire something back, “n-never mind." He takes a sip of his wine and goes back to staring into the distance. 

Well. That's new. Very new. Perhaps he's worn out from all the fucking last night and can't be bothered with you anymore. But the idea of him not even bothering with your usual banter leaves you feeling hollow. 

The meal passes in a cloud of laughter but you can't help feeling weird. Seungcheol doesn't say any shitty comments, he doesn't purposefully knock your food off the table, it's all very…..cordial? It's unsettling if anything. 

“Enjoy your bats!" Woozi laughs as he waves you off. 

“You can still always come with me? It's famous y’know!" 

“Sure it is," he beams at you, “I think I'll spend the whole evening by the pool." 

“Fair enough," you giggle as you walk back to your room. 

The second you found out where you were going, you were online looking for things to do. You loved making sure you'd seen the sights, the pool is great and everything but what if you never come here again? Every pool more or less looks the same, the sights don't. 

And it would work two fold, if they all broke off into couples or little groups, you had things to do so you wouldn't feel lonely. 

Amazingly, none of them felt like coming to see the bats of Na Yang cave leave for hunting this evening. But according to Trip Adviser it was well worth seeing. Each night thousands of bats leave the cave and even though you don't like bats in the slightest, it sounds like quite the sight to behold. 

You quickly change into shorts, t-shirt and sneakers, grab your camera that you knew would come in handy at some point and rush off to the main hotel building, where apparently a mini bus will pick you up to take you to the bats. 

Just as you're settling into your seat, the mini bus being a lot more packed than you thought it would be, the driver stops. 

“Sorry! Sorry! Thanks for waiting!" 

"No problem,” the driver says kindly. 

What the fuck is he doing here? You presumed he'd be heading out to find some bar or club later tonight. Does he want to upset you that much that he's willing to even ruin your excursion? 

"There's one seat left, you're lucky!” 

Well. That's where the driver is wrong. There's nothing lucky about the last seat available being next to you. You try not to look at his thighs as he sits down next to you. You try not to look at him at all. But his thighs touch yours on the crowded mini bus and you feel like you've been electrocuted. 

"Do you like bats?” He says after about twenty minutes of silence. 

"Not really.” 

"Then why are you going?” He frowns. 

“Because it's a once in a lifetime thing and you don't know if you'll ever come back here again." 

He just nods and you go back to sitting in silence, though neither of you move your thighs away from each other. 

“Just a few more minutes!” 

Thank god for that. The almost 45 minute drive had felt like a decade of your life had been taken away from you. 

“So is it like a couple of thousand bats?" 

“You don't know?" 

“No," he looks confused, “why should I know?" 

“Well surely this is something you wanted to see. If not, why are you here? I doubt there's many suitors at a bat cave." 

“Suitors," he grins, “damn you're right grandma, there probably isn't." 

You fight off a smile. This is just him being his usual annoying self, he was bound to stumble on a funny comeback eventually. 

“There's two million bats." You shew him off the bus now you've finally parked up. 

“TWO MILLION?!" He spins round and bangs into you, he's so close to you that you can smell his minty breath. He brushed his teeth for the bats? "I-I mean I knew that. It's just when you actually hear it that it shocks you all over again.” 

"Ok?” You say slowly. 

Neither of you move. Has he always had such pretty eyes? You knew he had pretty lips, you'd thought about his pretty lips a lot. They usually came up as a suggestion after you'd searched for his big, strong, meaty……fuck you need to stop thinking about his arms. It's a gateway drug to fantasising about him like you used to before you knew he was a giant dickhead. 

“Come on lover birds! The bats won't wait for romance!" 

You both jump away from each other, both clearly embarrassed at what the driver has just said. 

“The bats," you point and set off for the cave, following the other bat fanatics. 

“Woah," Seungcheol says as he looks up at the mountain. "The caves at the top?” 

"Yeah, they fly out each night. Why are you here if you don't know this?” 

"I was talking to the girl at reception and she suggested it.” 

"Oh.” Of course it's to do with a girl.

Seungcheol cringes to himself, he didn't mean that. He just panicked and needed a plausible reason for why he's suddenly turned up here. Truthfully he's only here because he heard you telling Woozi about it. He thought it'd be a way to start afresh, to show you he's not what you think he is. Or he doesn't want to be like that anymore at least. But he's already fucked it up. 

“Not long now! It can look a bit daunting but it's such a sight to behold!" 

You quickly get your camera ready with all the other tourists. 

“Do you want me to take it?" 

“Why?" 

“Then you can see it with your own eyes?" 

Why is he being so nice? 

“O-ok. Thank you,” you take the camera strap off from over your head and hand him your camera, “it's just that button, I've already set it up before the mini bus came." 

“Cool." He nods as his fingers graze yours. 

“Yeah." 

“Here they come everyone!!" 

You both turn to face the cave just as the biggest swarm of something you've ever seen in your life leaves the cave. It's like a never ending line. You knew two million bats would be a lot but this is like something from another world. Like how the world looked before humans ruined it and animals could just do as they pleased. 

"Oh my god,” you whisper to yourself as you watch the bats in awe. 

Seungcheol isn't watching the bats. He doesn't give a fuck about the bats. He got the photo straight away and then a far better sight caught his eye. Your whole face lit up in wonder as you stared at the sky in astonishment. He doesn't even realise he's doing it, he just moves on autopilot and turns the camera to you. You're meant to savour the most beautiful views and in his opinion, the sight in front of him is one of the most stunning he's seen. 

"So they'll hunt now until 6am tomorrow morning! Unless you've all brought your tents, I'll give you some time to explore the area and then we'll meet back at the bus? Say in twenty minutes?" 

“Can I have that?" 

“Oh!" Seungcheol hands you your camera, “sorry, didn't realise I still had it." 

“Did you get the picture?" 

He panics. He can't let you see the photo he's taken of you. Not whilst he's still here anyway. 

“I did!" 

“Great," you take his word for it and put the camera back down against your chest now the strap is back round your neck. 

“What do we do now?" 

“I was just going to grab a coffee from the stall and take in the view.” You start walking, presuming he'll want to do his own thing. 

"Cool.” He follows you. 

Why is he following you? Surely he doesn't want to spend time with you? 

When he pays for your coffee before you can get your card out, you start to feel like something truly odd is going on. He hasn't said a bad word to you, other than the grandma comment, and he's being weirdly timid. 

"They should have souvenirs." You grumble more to yourself than Seungcheol as you wait for everyone to get back to the minibus. 

“Yeah you'd think they'd sell little bat toys." 

“Are you making fun of me?" You'd been waiting for this, you knew he couldn't last this long without being an ass. 

“No! My mom likes trinkets and shit, I like getting her something from everywhere we've been. It's normally just a magnet from the stadium or something. I don't really visit places when we have breaks.” 

"I can imagine.” You know what he's implying. You know how he spends his time normally. 

"I’m pleased we saw this. It's been cool.” You hate how your heart leaps when he says “we". He'd planned this because some girl told him to, he's probably only done it then he thinks he gets her as a reward. It's got nothing to do with you at all. 

“Hey you could always have a copy of the picture if you'd like, get a frame or something from the market and put it in there. Like a homemade souvenir." 

“I'd like that." His eyes find yours again and once again you can't look away. “She'd like it too." He smiles and you're certain your heart has fully stopped working.

He's never smiled at you. He's smirked, he's sent you his evil grin, but never the smile he normally reserves for everyone but you. 

“No problem." You smile back, trying to look anywhere but at him then you don't start giggling. 

You don't speak much on the way back to the hotel, he heads off to find Hoshi at the bar and you head back to your room. 

Once you're washed and ready for bed, you make sure you transfer the photos from your camera. One trip to Greece where you didn't back it up once and lost everything, was enough to make sure you never made that mistake again. 

Seungcheol only managed to take two photos but as long as there's one there, you can keep your promise to help him with the souvenir for his mom. 

You check them both, the first one is amazing, exactly the right shot to show what an insane sight it was to witness. But the second one stops you in your tracks. He took this? He took this of you? The setting sun illuminates your face better than any highlighter ever has and the look on your face……well in the words of Keira Knightly, “I look quite pretty.". 

Something about him taking that photo makes you almost giddy. But you shouldn't read into you, he's just taken it by mistake probably. You cannot let yourself think this means something. He's Seungcheol. He hates you. And you hate him. 

"Does that pool have a massive floaty in it?” 

“It's probably for kids." Woozi dismisses you. 

“But do we know if it's for kids?" 

“Why?" He smirks at you over his fruit. 

It's just a few of you this morning. The two couples have gone on a day trip and you don't really have plans until the night market you want to check out later. And the huge inflatable assault course is looking more than appealing. 

“I'm just asking." You shrug. 

“They've got a climbing wall you know, that you can jump off into the pool." Seungcheol adds in. 

“REALLY? I mean…….really?" You say a bit more quietly, your cheeks heating. 

"We should go on them. Jeonghan booked out this whole resort so there's no kids here or anything.”  

You didn't know that. That changes things a whole lot more. You won't have to swat children into the pool when they get in your way on the climbing wall. 

"Do we really have to do that? It's meant to be relaxing?” Jeonghan sighs, fanning himself in the largest sunglasses you've ever seen. 

"When else do you get a whole water bouncy castle for yourself?” Seungcheol adds in. 

Fuck you wish he'd go and sit at another table. 

It's not even because he's annoying for once. 

You've never seen someone eat papaya the way he's doing. He's fucking devouring it and you've been trying your best to not just sit and watch. It's bordering on obscene as he licks and eats half a papaya in front of you all and you try your best to focus on the inflatables and not clenching your thighs together. 

The rest of them don't seem to care but you can't help letting your mind wander. His tongue looks like it knows exactly what it's doing and the juice that trickles down his chin could only be improved if it was your juice dribbling down his chin. 

"I thought you were coming to the spa with me?” 

You drag your eyes away from Seungcheol eating out the papaya and will yourself to stop imagining how much you'd enjoy him eating you out. 

“Jeonghan, we might not come here again. It's an empty resort with a fucking sick pool and shit. You go to the spa," 

Did he? He can't have just said that because that would insinuate that he actually listened to you when you said the bat cave was a once in a lifetime opportunity. That you should make the most of things whilst you're here. 

“I'll come to the spa with you. They can act like children in the pool." Woozi pulls his newspaper down like a dad deciding his kids’ itineraries. 

“Great!" Hoshi grins at you all. 

“There's even this bubble pool apparently, I don't know what it does but there's a water slide with a trampoline in the pool." You excitedly tell Seungcheol, somehow not remembering he's your sworn mortal enemy. 

Hoshi, Jeonghan and Woozi share knowing looks when Seungcheol says how cool it sounds and for the first time, they see you having a normal conversation. 

“I'm going to go get changed," you finish your orange juice and rush from the table, “I'll be back! Don't bounce without me!!" 

“It's going well then?" 

“What is?" Seungcheol frowns as he finishes his breakfast. 

“That was almost pleasant," Woozi chimes. 

“She's just excited about the water trampoline thing. I've told you, I've lost any chance I had.” 

"Where did you go last night?” Jeonghan changes the subject. 

"Oh…….nowhere,” Seungcheol dismisses them. 

"He followed _____ to the bats. Grinning like a mad man when he found me in the bar and didn't even stare at the woman behind the bar's ass.” 

“Fuck me." Woozi puts down his paper looking shocked. 

“Shut up. I'm going to change." 

He struts off, mentally deciding which of his swim shorts might make you forget all of his past behaviour and jump into his waiting arms. 

"I'm going to be the best man when they get married.” 

"Soonyoung. You've said that about all three of them. You can't be the best man for all three. You'll all need to rotate it." 

“Whatever." 

Ten minutes later and you're rushing to the pool, nothing but a baggy t-shirt covering your bikini clad body, your sandals in your hands and your hair tied up in a high pony tail. You didn't even have time to question whether it'd be awkward to be around Seungcheol, you just wanted to have fun, to forget any worries you had before today and take advantage of the insane surroundings you find yourself in. 

You don't think twice, just rush to the pool, leave your phone on the pool chair, take your t-shirt off and do a pretty impressive, olympic level dive bomb into the pool. 

Sure you're having a great time. But did you have any concern for Seungcheol's poor nerves? He hadn't even had a chance to make it to the pool and let you know he's there, before you did some sort of Baywatch shit and whipped your clothes off. He doesn't know whether to be endeared by how excited you are at the prospect of inflatable assault courses or rush off to the bathroom before you spot him, to sort out the slight situation that’s stirring in his pants. 

“I'd sort that out dude before you speak to her." Soonyoung pats his shoulder as he struts towards the pool.

“I think you've just done that creeping up on people. Don't be fucking weird." He catches Soonyoung up. 

“_____! You could've waited!" Soonyoung jokes. 

“Sorry! Get it in Hoshi! The water is literally so perfect!" You paddle backwards and beam at them both. 

“I've told you, call me Soonyoung." 

“You've literally never said that to me." You giggle, making Seungcheol's heart flutter and he suddenly gets the urge to headbutt Soonyoung. 

“Well I am now. Once you've been on a trampoline in a pool together, you're friends for life." 

“Fair enough," you turn away and start swimming whilst you wait for them. 

“Sorry." 

“What for?" Seungcheol asks as he gets in the pool, opting for the steps instead of your dive bomb method. 

“You looked like you wanted to slap me when she giggled. I promise to only make her miserable from now on." 

“I think I've made that my job," Seungcheol watches as you check out the inflatable as you swim past it, “and it was a headbutt." 

You can't remember when you last laughed so much. You've done the assault course five times, climbed the climbing wall and thrown yourself into the pool more times than you can count and the trampoline was a revelation. 

"This isn't what I thought a bubble pool would be.” 

"What were you expecting?” 

"Well not one big bubble. I thought it'd be lots of little bubbles.” You look around with your hands on your hips as you stare at the water spraying out of the top of the large mountain you find yourself atop of. 

“That's a jacuzzi." Seungcheol dead pans. 

“Oh yeah," you chuckle. “Do we just throw ourselves off it?" 

“Well we've thrown ourselves off everything else." 

"Come on then,” 

"Hey _____?” He asks but you've just bent your legs to throw yourself down the huge bubble and sort of wobble onto your ass. "Be careful!” 

He grabs you but any worry he had disappears when you fall on him in a fit of laughter at the way you've nearly bounced down the bubble. 

"L-lucky this is bouncy,” you giggle as you sit up between his legs, his arms still around you. "Oh! Sorry!”

You try to move back but he keeps you there. 

"Wait. I wanted to say something to you if that's ok?" 

“Er…..sure?" You glance at his hands on your waist and he pulls them away instantly. 

“Ok so I don't know how to say this." He scratches his neck, looking more than a little nervous, “can we start again?" 

“We've not bounced off the bubble yet, we can't do it again if we've not done it." 

“Not the bubble," he frowns, “us. I-I mean can we drop whatever we had going on and start again? I'm not normally a complete asshole to people, I know I can be arrogant and shit but I'm not normally like this with staff or anyone in general. And…..I've really enjoyed spending time with you, I'd like to spend more time with you I think." 

You feel like someones just burst the fucking bubble you're so shocked. 

"But you hate me.” 

"I don't hate you. I know you hate me but…..” 

"I don't hate you.” You interrupt.

You both sit still for a while just gazing at each other, the water fountain at the top of the bubble landing just past you and making it seem like you two are in your own little bubble on top of the actual bubble. 

"Soooo you think we could start again?” 

You wait an appropriate amount of time because you don't want to come off as desperate and say it straight away. But you'd be lying if you said you're not absolutely thrilled by this little development. This whole day has been insanely fun and you've spent the entire time with Seungcheol, joking and talking about water parks you'd been to as kids. It felt natural, you seemed to have so much in common that you didn't realise and you'd barely even had the chance to drool over his abs and back because everything was so exciting. 

"I think so.” You nod, smiling from ear to ear but trying to keep it cool. 

"I'm sorry for how I acted.” 

"No I'm sorry, I was no better,”

"Yeah but….” 

"Seungcheol,” you saying his name shuts him up straight away, "we said we'd start again. Let's just agree we're sorry and move on.” 

"You're sure?" 

“Mm-mm," you hum. 

“Come on, Soonyoung will be wondering…..wait where is Soonyoung?" 

“I haven't seen him since the third time we did the assault course," you look out onto the nearby pool that is adjacent to your huge bubble. “Wait," you snort, “he's asleep on that pool chair." 

“Thank fuck we've not actually lost him, I didn't even realise he'd gone.” 

"Me neither,"

You're drawn to his eyes again, both of you perched on the bubble, you still sitting between his legs and the warm afternoon sun shining down on you. 

"Did you say at breakfast you were going to the night market?” Seungcheol asks when a bang in the distance breaks the moment yet amazingly doesn't wake Soonyoung.

He stands up and then helps you up. Although you'd very much like to stay between his legs for the rest of the day in all honesty. 

"Yeah, they have all sorts of local food vendors and things apparently and all of the seafood you can imagine. Mingyu said they were going and he knew I wanted to go too, so we're all going together. You should come.” 

Shit. Is that too forward? He said he wanted to start again, he didn't say he wanted to spend this whole break with you. Which so far is what's happened. 

"I love seafood.” 

"Is that a yes?” You squint at him, trying not to smile. 

"Yeah, I'd like to go with you….I-I mean with you all," 

“Great," you smile, “now. Are we ready to bounce?" 

“Well I'm not sure, do you bounce down it in little bounces or one big bounce?" You both stare down the huge bubbly lump as water lands on your heads. 

“I don't really know bubble pool etiquette. Let's just jump and see what happens?" You hold your hand out for his. 

He stares for a second and then takes your hand, your fingers intertwined and both of your hearts hammering in your throats. 

“Ready?" 

“Absolutely." He squeezes your hand. 

“You look nice." 

You glance behind you, presuming Seungcheol is talking to someone else. 

“Me?" You point to yourself, you're just in a little sundress and Birkenstocks. 

“Who else would I be talking to, I'm walking with you." 

“You could've been talking to Mingyu," you shrug. 

“I told him he looked nice before we left the resort." 

“He always struck me as needy." You joke, enjoying that smile again you hadn't really seen before yesterday. 

You're all walking to the night market, it isn't a particularly long walk and it seemed pointless to get a taxi. As you're with the two couples, you've ended up walking with Seungcheol at the back of the group. 

"I’m sorry about what that girl said to you.” 

Your body tenses as you stop walking. 

"What?” 

"I'm sorry about what she said to you. I should've said something in the elevator, it was cruel and entirely uncalled for. I think you looked really good, better than good, sex….. really great!” 

"You don't have to apologise for your one night stands.” You start walking, not really wanting to talk about one of his many women. 

"I didn't sleep with her!” 

You all stop walking now, you're certain he didn't mean to say it that loud but to their credit, the others all keep walking and ignore what they just heard. 

“You didn't?" 

“No. I told her to leave before we got out of the elevator." 

Something about that makes you hope a little more than you had been doing. You can't be certain he didn't sleep with her because of you but it certainly seems that way. 

"Thanks for telling me? I guess," 

“I just wanted you to know, not that you should care if I think you look good. But you were upset and I wanted you to know," 

“Thank you," you walk a little closer, your arms occasionally brushing as you navigate the tiny streets to the night market. 

The night market, when you get to it, is packed. Somehow you'd manage to forget you're with the world's biggest rock band but now every so often, people do a double take. To their credit they keep their distance and leave you all to enjoy yourselves but more than once you see women checking Seungcheol out. They're probably looking at the Dino and Mingyu too but you couldn't give a fuck about that. 

Every one of these women is the enemy. Every one of them could end between the legs you were between a couple of hours ago. Fuck what the hell is wrong with you? He asked to start fresh and not take chunks out of each other, that's it, nothing more. You don't have a claim over him. 

“What do you want to try first?" 

“Oh well….." 

“SHRIMP!" Mingyu marches off. 

“What happened to democracy?" His girlfriend watches him disappear. 

“I could eat shrimp." 

“Me too!"

“Cheol you don't like…..” 

"I love shrimp! Come on before he eats it all.” 

You wander off after him, feeling a thrill when you note he's waited for you before he followed Mingyu. He didn't wait for the others, just you. Jesus get a grip woman!

"He's so embarrassing when he's down bad.” Dino laughs. 

"What would you class as down bad Chan? Stealing hotel room service carts?” Mingyu's girlfriend snickers as she walks off. 

"I didn't steal them!” He corrects her. 

"They know you didn't baby,” his girlfriend soothes, "but you did pay someone so you could use it, so it is possibly worse.” 

"It worked didn't it!” 

"And sadly I think that makes me as weird as you.” 

"Oh my god, that's insane,” you stare at the dish in front of you. 

"It's good right! We had it last time we were in Thailand,” 

You're sharing mango sticky rice with Seungcheol having stuffed your face with so much seafood you're surprised you could then fit in the massaman curry or the pad kra pao. 

"I can't believe they're sold out of rice balls, they're like sweet they're so fucking good.” 

You've had a drink and you're so full of food that all you've really focused on in that sentence are sweet and balls. Fuck what you wouldn't give to suck on…….

“______?" You snap your eyes to him, “did you want to try the mangosteen?" 

"Oh! No, I think I'll stick with my sticky balls…..I-I mean your sticky balls…..I MEAN the mango sticky rice.” 

You don't look at him, just stick your spoon in the rice and shove a load in your mouth, hoping he'll forget your little slip up. 

"_____, there's some stalls over there and these boring fucks don't want to come with me. Will you?” 

"Fucking rude,” 

"Don't be brat Mingyu.” His girlfriend reprimands him. 

His ears go pink but you're certain Mingyu likes being told off, he keeps going out of his way to piss her off like he's banking on something when they get back to the resort. 

“I'll come with you!" You smile, you did want to check out the souvenirs and local crafts. 

“I knew you wouldn't let me down." 

You both walk through the stalls taking in all the handmade crafts and little sweet treats but there's one specific thing you're looking for. You talk each other into buying things that remind you of the trip and out of shit you'd never use. Giggle about little things the guys have done and joke that Chan’s girlfriend will be going insane stuck with the three of them. And that's when you spot it, what you've been looking for, whilst you're in a huge queue for a necklace for Mingyu. 

“Hey I'll be back in a sec, I just want to buy something." 

“Sure, it's not like I'm moving very fast," 

“How much for the photo frame?" You ask the old lady on the stall that caught your eye.  

"2000.” 

Shit. You know that's not really that much, they just use large numbers in baht but it is still a little more than you were expecting. 

“1800?" 

“2100." You frown at the woman. What a crafty business woman you've stumbled on. 

“1900?" 

“2000." 

Well. You've got her down from 2100 you suppose. 

“Deal." 

She doesn't offer to wrap it, just shoves the simple bamboo frame in a plastic bag which you're certain has been used one hundred times already and launches it at you. 

“Thanks then." You glare at her. 

You stop in your tracks as you turn round to head back to the queue. That same feeling of wanting to scratch someone's eyes out rearing its ugly head because it's him. Seungcheol. With a woman in his arms just by the table you were all just sitting at. 

Why did you think it meant something more than just not being awful to each other? Of course he doesn't like you, he just told you that you looked nice because he felt bad about the other night. He doesn't want you, he doesn't think about you that way, you can tell that much by the way his hands are on the woman's waist, much like they were on yours earlier. 

Embarrassment floods you again, a feeling pretty similar to how you felt in the elevator but this time it's entirely your own fault. You're the idiot that got your hopes up. You're the idiot that had started to wonder if there was something there. You're the idiot who more or less told him you wanted to suck his balls. Christ you want the ground to swallow you up. He must be regretting ever offering to call a truce. He’ll probably have Woozi fire you for sexual harassment. 

You can't face him. You won't. 

“I'm going to head back," you rush once you're back at the queue. 

“Why? Is everything ok?" 

“Yeah, just feeling a bit sick. A few too many shrimp I think, or too much spicy food." 

“I'll get one of the guys to walk you back! Just let me get this necklace." 

“No, it's fine. Seriously, it's totally ok. I'm just going to get a taxi and head to bed." 

“Are you sure?" She asks, nothing but concern in her voice. 

“Yeah, probably shouldn't have done all that jumping off water bubbles before all that food!" You joke as you walk off, though it's entirely fake. 

"Message me when you're back at the hotel!” She calls after you but you just give her a thumbs up and rush to find a taxi. 

Maybe you could book a flight and be gone by the morning. Anything is better than dealing with the horrifying amount of feelings currently weighing you down.

Seungcheol is pissed. In every sense of the world. 

You left. You just upped and left and didn't even bother saying goodbye. He believed the whole "she's not feeling well and she's just going to bed” bullshit when he was only six beers into the evening. But now he's considerably past that and he doesn't believe a single word of it. You'd come and tell everyone surely, you wouldn't just leave. 

He wanted to woo you. He wanted to make sure you knew he was sorry. He wanted to tell you that he loved you more than anything and everything in this world. 

Well. 

Maybe not that last one but he definitely does like you. He was sure of that on the big bubble. The fact he only looked at your tits bouncing on the bubble once only proved that point further. He's down bad and you've just sauntered off into the sunset with his heart in your evil hold. 

So he's decided he's going to tell you. Just as soon as he gets back to his room and throws up. He's going to put you in your place and tell you just what you're missing out on. He's Choi Seungcheol for fucks sake, women throw their panties at him at every concert. He won't be ignored by a woman who’s lured him in with her bouncing bubble and then dropped him like he was shit on her shoe. 

He'd hammered on Woozi's door, demanding he give Seungcheol your number. Woozi didn't question it, he doesn't want to get involved in whatever the hell is happening and the sooner he could get back to bed, the better. 

So Seungcheol lies on his bed, his phone to his ear and ready to give you a piece of his mind. 

You don't answer though. 

Who doesn't answer the phone at 4am?! He could be dying. He could be already dead. Fuck, you really don't care about him at all do you? 

He hears the bleep ready to leave a message and suddenly he's lost all concept of what to say. 

“Hello? ______ it's me. It's Cheol. I mean Seungcheol. It's me, Choi Seungcheol of the band Shadow," this isn't fucking MTV, he cringes to himself, “I want a word with you young lady!!" Well now he just sounds like his dad. 

He hangs up. Starts anew on the beep. 

“Hello ______, it's me Seungcheol. You've…….you've…….b-broken my heart,” he sobs. 

And sobs. And sobs. Until eventually the phone falls from his hand and he somehow manages to hang up. 

Twenty minutes later and he's pissed again. 

He dials your number and waits for the beep. 

“You've got some nerve, you know that _____. You lure men in and then break their hearts! It's wicked! You harlot! You floosy! You crone! You….you……I'm gonna be sick again.” He hangs up and runs to the bathroom. 

Right, he stretches his neck and gears up to call again. 

He hears the beep and it's like his world stops on its axis. 

“I think I really liked you _____. Or like you. I don't know. You barged your way into my room that day and made a fool of me and ever since I've needed all of your attention," he burps down the phone, the beer still very much making itself known, “I know I'm a man whore. I know I'm arrogant. But I love my mom y’know? I love my parents. And I love my friends. And I give money to baby elephants, they need our help _____ and I'm doing my best for them I swear. I will save every last baby elephant if I can! They can all come stay at my place!" 

He holds back another sob at the thought of the tiny baby elephants. 

“But I can be better. That skirt looked so good on you and that elephant. What? No. Not the elephant, that woman had no right saying what she did. Such a fucking nice little leather skirt, I could really just……” his voice trails off as he thinks about how pretty the skirt would look around your waist with the added feature of his head between your thighs. 

"But you don't like me. Not how I like you. I've been too mean. But in my defense,” he leans to the side, "argh! Sorry! Nearly fell off the bed. In my defense you were too. You called me disgusting and my tummy felt all weird. Feels weird now to be honest…..” 

He hangs up again and rushes off to be sick. 

Comes back and waits for the beep. 

"It's me again. Seungcheol. You know how I know I like you? I don't even like shrimp," he burps again and grimaces at the idea of eating shrimp. “And some girl fell on me earlier and I didn't even want to fuck her. Just made sure she was ok and sent her on her way. I don't think she really fell," he whispers down the phone, like he's telling you a secret, “I think she wanted me. But I just want you. But I can't have you. And I respect that. So this is goodbye. Please try not to cry. But together we could fly?" He knits his brows together, is that a song or does he just rhyme when he's sad? “Bye then." 

He's ready to call it a night but then why should he? If you're saying no he's going to make damn sure he's done everything he can. He pulls up his notes app and dials your number again. 

"It's me.” He says sternly. "I did research, you know?! That's how desperate I've been this past few weeks. Now these are the best the internet has to offer, so if you still say no after all these, it's you that's the problem.” 

He coughs to clear his throat, holding his phone like a Shakespearean actor about to make his debut at The Globe, and starts reading. 

"Are you a parking ticket? Because you've got fine written allllll over you. Errrrr oh! Somebody calls the cops! Because it HAS GOT to be illegal to look that good," he's silent whilst he thinks about what he's just said. “That's what I should've said to her. Then you wouldn't have decided to hate me more than anyone in this world." 

He hangs up the phone and sobs again, remembering how sad you looked as you left the elevator. 

He dials and waits for the beep. 

“I'm back, sorry I got a little sad because the girl I Iike left the elevator looking like a sad puppy. Back to my list," he gets himself comfortable with his notes app open, “have you ever been in a car accident? Because I'd like to rear end you!" He throws his head back laughing, “I like that one. It'd work on me I think. But you could read me the obituary and it would work on me," he stares at the wall before he remembers his mission, “ARE YOU A BIRD ENTHUSIAST? Because you look like you've seen a cock or two!” 

He looks in horror at his phone before hangs up and throws it to the end of his bed. 

"What have you done Seungcheol?!” He paces around the room with his head in his hands, "ring her back. Find a nice one and ring her back. She'll like that.” 

He rushes for his phone and dials your number again. He knows just the thing to rectify this. 

"_____?” He says softly. "I didn't mean that one. I've got one I do mean." He takes a deep breath, “they say you are what you eat and I’d like to be you?” He mumbles, "NO that isn't it. Wait! Just wait one second!” He thumbs the screen and finds the actual line he wanted, "Ok, I got it," he takes a deep breath, “I'm lost, can you give me directions to your heart?"

He sniffles, tears falling down his cheeks and silently hangs up the phone. He won't be able to sleep, he knows he won't. So he opts for a shower and makes himself a coffee to sober up a bit. 

What a fucking mess. He just hopes you don't quit because of him. Everyone loves you, Woozi would be lost without you and, even if he can't have you, he can't not see you. That would ruin him. 

You woke up a little before six, not that you'd really been asleep that long. When you got back to your room you tried your best but sleep just wouldn't come. 

The sun was bright and the blue skies looked more than inviting as you reached over to check your phone. You didn't think much of the amount of messages. There was a time difference and you were always getting calls from different people for Woozi. Though he'd told you to leave getting back to them until after your little break, unless it was really urgent. 

None of the messages you've ever had before in your life though have ever sent you on the emotional rollercoaster that the ones this morning did. 

You listened to them all. Three times in fact. Your smile growing each time you listened now you knew how they ended. 

What you saw last night wasn't what you thought was happening. You just presumed it was because it's him, flirting with women is what he does. 

And the pickup lines, though cheesy, boarding on offensive at times, only made your smile wider. 

You needed to fix this, you needed to find him and one, check he doesn't have alcohol poisoning and two, tell him that you feel exactly the same way he does. 

The man at the reception desk wasn't thrilled when ran to the desk at 6:15 and demanded use of their printer. You're fairly certain he only agreed because you scared him a little bit. But he let you and you managed to print out the picture of the bats. It wasn't the best quality paper, you'd have preferred a proper photo paper option but it was the best you could do at short notice. 

So with the photo in the frame and the frame in a much nicer bag you'd managed to “borrow" from the giftshop when the man at reception wasn't looking, you headed to his room. 

Yes, it's early, but if you don't do this now, you never will.

This is like history repeating itself. You knocking on his door and him blatantly ignoring you. Thankfully there's no noise you'd rather not hear this time. But he's still ignoring you. 

Why did you think he'd answer? He's clearly pissed at you and he's clearly not been asleep for very long judging by the time on those messages. If anything, you've probably fucked him off more by hammering on his door.  

You take a deep breath and turn around. He isn't going to talk to you. You just need to deal with that. 

Deciding you need fresh air, you head to the beach. You hadn't been down there yet and by all accounts it was one of the most pristine golden beaches in the country. 

As you walk down the path to the beach, shoulders you recognise come into view. He's here? He's not going to throw himself in the ocean surely? You can't have driven him to that frame of mind. You'll never get over it and you probably won't have to. By the time Shadow fans hear about it, you'll be skinned alive. 

“Seungcheol?" You say quietly as you come to stand by him. 

His head whips up to you and the sight of him wiping tears from his eyes breaks your heart. 

“What are you doing here? Is something wrong? Why are you awake?" 

“I could say the same to you." You smile softly, “it's barely been two hours since your phone calls." 

“I haven't been to bed yet," he sniffs and looks back at the ocean, “just showered and came here. I needed to clear my head." 

You just hum and follow his eyes to the ocean. 

“Can I sit with you?" 

“I can't really stop you." He shrugs, still looking at the gentle waves.

"You can tell me not to.” 

You wait for a moment but he doesn't say anything and so you take that as you sign to sit next to him. 

“I lied." 

“What?" He looks at you confused. 

“I lied." You sigh. “I didn't feel ill. Well, I sort of did. I'd just bought you something from one of the little stalls and I looked up and you had that girl in your arms. I just saw red, every woman I've ever seen you with has made me see red. Though it's only these past few days I've admitted that to myself.” 

"But why?” 

"Because I like you. And I thought you liked me, I thought this truce was your way of starting something with me. And so when I looked up and saw what I did, I just felt so stupid. And I'd had a drink and said that about the balls, I couldn't face you. Or her.” 

"She fell……..” 

"I know, I listened to the messages.” you stop him. 

"All of them?” He winces. 

"All of them.” You smile. 

“I’ve liked you for weeks." He draws absent mindedly in the sand but seeing no reason to not be honest, “I just didn't know I did. This back and forth we had going on that first day, it became routine. I wanted your attention, I wanted to be around you all the time. But I've never felt like that. I've never felt like this. And so I thought I don't need to figure out my feelings as long as I can still be near you and we could still argue. My head has been so messed up, I've never had these feelings before. I haven't even fucked anyone since that time we met." 

“You still don't know her name," you narrow your eyes at him. 

“I do!! It's….well it's……..I don't actually remember her name because the only woman I care about is you.” 

"Nice save,” you grin even though your heart is doing somersaults. 

"Thanks,” he smiles sadly. "And then I decide fuck it, nothing is ever going to happen, and I pounched on the first poor woman I saw.” 

"The one in the elevator?” 

"Hm-mm,” his eyes darken, "and then I let her do what she did and I hated myself. I knew I'd gone too far, I knew I finally had to do something. And so I do and then….” 

"And then I ruin it.” You finish his sentence. 

"Well I was going to say the girl who pretended to fall.” 

"It was me. We both know it.” 

Silence descends, the sound of waves rippling onto the shore being the only thing that breaks it. It isn't tense or filled with hatred, it's a weirdly content silence.

"I got you something.” 

He just looks at you, obviously not really knowing what to say. 

"Well it's more for your mom.” You hand him the bag. 

"Can I open it then? Or should I wait?” 

"No, open it, please. There's a note in there too, but that's for you not your mom.” 

He frowns a little, not really sure why you've put a note in when you're talking to him, but he opens it anyway. 

The frame is first, his eyes softening when he pulls it out of the bag and sees that you've kept your promise on helping him with a souvenir for his mom. 

"She'll love it,” he beams at the photo. 

"I really liked the photo you took. I really liked both of the photos you took." 

His bright eyes find yours and you're relieved to see that the tears that fall now aren't quite as sad as the ones that fell when you arrived. 

“I read you should always take photos of the beautiful things, to remember them. So that's what I did." 

Your whole heart feels like it might explode. You're not worried about feeling like an idiot anymore. You've made big enough idiots of yourselves. All you feel now is thankful that you decided to get some air, that you found him here and now you hear words like that coming from his perfect lips. 

"There's a note in there too,” 

Seungcheol takes it out and as his cheeks turn pink, the most glorious laugh you've ever heard echoes around the empty beach. 

Seungcheol, 

I was wondering if you had an extra heart? Mine was just stolen. 

“That," he laughs, wiping his cheeks, “is far cheesier than any of mine." 

“Maybe," you giggle, “but at least it's not offensive." You try to speak very seriously. 

"I really didn't mean the cock or two one,” 

"Oh but you did mean the one about rear ending and that you are what you eat?” You challenge. 

"I mean, that depends.” 

"On what?” 

"On whether you'll be my girlfriend?” He says awkwardly, "I've never done it before. A relationship I mean and I can't promise I'll be great at it. But all I know is I want to be near you, I want to be the one who makes you smile. If you'll let me.” 

You search his eyes, they're different from the ones that looked back at you when he first opened his hotel room door. Just as beautiful but now there's something more in them, an honesty that tells you he's telling the truth. And that he does care and he does want to try this with you. 

“I don't use my best pickup lines on just anyone you know," you say as loftily as you can, “I only keep those for the men I want to be my boyfriend." 

His whole face brightens, any little worries he had that you'd still say no evaporating on the spot. 

“Can I kiss you?" He edges closer, looking at your lips. 

“That depends." 

“On what?" he frowns. 

“Please tell me you brushed your teeth after you showered. For one of those messages you hadn't actually put the phone down properly until after you'd been sick. The breath must've been….." 

“Hey," he takes your cheek in his hand and shuts you up, “I'm not an animal," 

“I was just checking," you mumble, transfixed by his lips and the way your cheek seems to fit perfectly in his hand. 

“You're so annoying." He whispers, so close to your lips that you can taste his minty breath. 

His lips touch yours for the first time in the softest kiss you've ever received. It's barely there and yet the weight of the meaning behind it fills your heart. 

It's like that first touch was a test, to check you wanted this and didn't run away from him. Because he pulls back for a second, stares down at your lips and closes the space between you again. One hand on your waist and the other still cupping your cheek but this time it’s frantic. Like he wants to make sure that this kiss makes up for those weeks of fighting and trying to hurt each other. 

He pushes you back onto the sand and takes your gasp in shock as the perfect opportunity to let his tongue dance with yours. His hand that was on your cheek now rests just beside your head on the sand, the big arms you admired for so long caging you in. You've wanted to feel them for so long, so you don't think twice. Your hands grip his biceps as the kiss turns sloppy. Both of you wanting to show the other his serious you, how much you both want this. 

It's only when you moan at the feel of his hardening dick through his shorts that Seungcheol seems to snap out of his need to swallow all of your gasps. 

“We should stop." He says softly, though doesn't pull away. 

“Why? There's nobody here." 

“I don't want to, you know, have sex. I want to do this properly, not that I really know what properly is. But I want to take you out, make sure you know I'm serious." 

“I know you're serious," you point out, gazing up at him and moving his hair off his face, “but I get it. I don't want to have sex yet either. But I don't see any reason we can't carry on the kissing." 

"Is that right?” 

"Hm-mm. But could we do it somewhere else? I'm sure a tiny crab just crawled up my shorts.”

"Oh shit!” He helps you to your feet as you stomp around trying to excavate the crab before it reaches your ass. 

"Get out, get out, get out!” You flap until eventually you see a tiny crab fall from your shorts. "Oh thank fuck for that!” 

“Better?" 

“Much. Imagine having to tell the guys your girlfriend's got crabs." 

“Oh god," he groans as he pulls a cackling you towards him and holds you close, “that's a fucking terrible joke." 

“Well you need to laugh! It's what boyfriends do!" 

“Why do I feel like that's going to be said a lot to make me do things I don't want to do." 

“Because it is," you kiss him, “and I do have something I want you to do." 

“Oh yeah?" He smirks. 

“Not that? Although we do need to talk about the way you ate out that papaya, it was like something off pornhub." 

“Why are you watching pornhub?" He grins. 

“I’m not, I only consume ethical pornogrpahy." 

“You read Game of Thrones smut." 

“I do n…how do you know that?!” 

"I read it over your shoulder once.” 

"What a pervert!” 

"I'm not the one reading Stark smut!” 

"Well that's only because I don't sleep with people who I don't even know the name of!” 

"Are you slut shaming me?” 

"Yes!” 

"Well,” he huffs, "my own girlfriend,” your heart flutters at the word, "betraying me. Lucky I've only got eyes for one woman now.” 

"Is she hot?” 

"The hottest.” He smirks. "Come on, let's get breakfast. You can watch me eat papaya and tell me all the dirty things you want me to do to it.” He grins as he pulls you along, not forgetting the bag with his mom's photo and the note he'll treasure forever. 

"What did you want me to do then?” 

"That bag,” you walk hand in hand off the beach and back towards the outside tables of the restaurant, "I technically stole it?” 

He stops and looks at you in horror. 

"It wasn't my fault! The old lady, who by the way is a terrifyingly good business woman, put it in a bag which I'm certain was first used in the eighties! And the shop wasn't technically open and I couldn’t not put it in a bag. So I stole it? Well, I borrowed it. If I give you the money, could you give it to them please?" 

“It's one bag. It barely costs anything. Just leave it." 

“No! Please! I'll do whatever you want.” 

"Whatever I want?” He quirks his brow at you and you feel your heart and pussy tingle. 

"Within reason.” 

"I'll do it,” you both set off walking again, "so long as you wear that leather skirt again on our first date.” 

"Deal.” You grin, kissing his cheek and happily gliding towards the hotel. 

"I've got plans for that leather skirt.” 

"I know you do. You didn't say it in your head about the added feature you'd like to make, you said it out loud. I heard it all. Lucky for you, I've thought a lot about where I'd like your head.” 

He drops your hands and watches open mouthed as you keep walking towards the hotel, making an extra effort to sway your hips. 

“Well come on then! I thought you'd promised me a show!" 

“Fucking hell." He whispers, almost in awe. 

“I think they're actually being more competitive now." Soonyoung complains as he looks over his sunglasses. 

“You'd think they'd be nicer to each other, ______ just nearly took him out with that inflatable ball." 

They're all watching in horror as you and Seungcheol take on the inflatable assault course again in the pool. 

“I don't think you'll need to worry about being the best man at the wedding Soonyoung. They'll have killed each other before then," they all wince and sit back in their seats as they see you hit the deck and land on your ass because of Seungcheol. 

"Please, can we all agree that we will never play board games or computer games with them.” Mingyu jumps as you dive into the pool with a shriek, "I think they'd both cause serious bodily harm if they lost monopoly. 

“Imagine Mario Kart." 

“Blood bath." Woozi and Jeonghan speak in unison, shaking their heads. 

"OH FOR GOD'S SAKE! DO THEY HAVE TO KEEP DOING THAT?! MY EYES!” 

"It's ok honey, I'll tell you when it's stopped,” Mingyu's girlfriend covers his eyes as she looks fondly at you and Seungcheol in the pool. 

She's never wrong about these things, she told them all that. 

And from the way you're currently so lost in each other, you're more or less dry humping in the pool as you steal each other's oxygen. She's still got that winning streak. 

She knew one day someone would come along who would drag Seungcheol out of his predictable rock star ways. She just thanks the universe that it's you. Someone who's come to mean so much to all of them, but everything to Seungcheol.

🏷️ @rutheaflowers @bramos91 @fzenn @blueyedqtpie1186 @coupsv @vwintershire @toohyperactiveforyou12 @cheolwoo @jaja-salute @sejeonggggg @epelletart @wonwooslefttiddie @fwairychlo3 @joongtime @4kwp @ninigyuuu @sami4jeonghani @ashlinxloves @cardi-bre91 @adoreuzi

[camryn-haitani]

Wait, you're not gay?

C. Seungcheol

summery: you have a fat crush on s.coups but you think that he’s gay for his best friend, jeonghan, and try your best to get rid of your feelings for him, but seungcheol is actually madly in love with you.

warnings: college au, smau/fic, cursing, fluff, angst, smut, sex between friends (no relationship), suggestiveness at times, weed smoking and dealing, alcohol consumption, jealousy, hurtful actions due to jealousy, your friends are touchy in a very friendship loving way, everyone is average college ages (21-23)

featuring: seventeen, johnny suh (nct127), bang chan (stray kids), K (&TEAM), and more to come

started: March 5th, 2026

status: ongoing (i have a sudden boost of energy so enjoy while this lasts)

PSA: i do not ship any of the idols together. i just wrote it to make the plot thicken. again, I DO NOT SHIP ANY OF THESE IDOLS TOGETHER (you’ll see). what the idols do in this fic does NOT reflect their real life selves. i have no idea how they are irl, this is based off of what i think of them. everyone is of age to drink and smoke.

Taglist Available

current taglist: @luperque @yessirfelix @seungkwanglazer @storyschanging @supi-wupi @caratcak3 @karynnoona @j3nnch3ls3a @my-neurodivergent-world @cherrylovescheol @zwiehe @woo-wonwoo

playlist

profiles:

y/n gang | s.coups gang

Beginning

Chapter: 1- Party Hardy

Chapter: 2- It Stinks in Here🖊️ wc: 2.1k

Chapter: 3- Not so Bad

Chapter: 4- Deep Shit

Chapter: 5- Tension 🖊️ wc: 1.0k

Chapter: 6- Things May Have Happened🖊️wc: 1.8k smut warning

Chapter: 7- Nicely🖊️wc: 2.1k

Chapter: 8- Not Joking

Chapter: 9- Story🖊️ wc: 2.2k

Chapter: 10- The Past

Chapter: 11- Library🖊️ wc: 1.1k

Chapter: 12- Why Are You Here?🖊️ wc: 2.9k smut warning

Chapter: 13- Another one?

Chapter: 14- Is she?

Chapter: 15- Jealousy 🖊️ wc: 2k

Chapter: 16- My Wine?!🖊️ wc:2k

Chapter: 17- What the Fuck was That?🖊️ wc: 1.5k

Chapter: 18- The Visit

Chapter: 19- The Aftermath

Chapter: 20- Realizing

Chapter: 21- Regretting

Chapter: 22- Confrontation

[horahae]

The Wedding Date - Chwe Hansol Vernon

Pairing: neighbor!vernon x f!reader

Summary: when your ex invites you to his wedding, your recluse neighbor, hansol, offers to go with you as your fake boyfriend. what starts as a meaningless weekend trip, turns into something so much more.

W.C: 12.4k

CW: strangers to best friends to lovers, starts kind of angsty but then turns pretty fluffy and stays fluffy the rest of the time, heavy romcom vibes, reader and vernon are frequently smoking, alcohol consumption, swearing, seungcheol is your ex and kind of an ass (sorry cheol), fake dating trope, kissing, reader and vernon have a lot of fun banter and they're just overall v cutesy together hehe hardcore mutual pining as well bc they're down bad for each other i fear

A/N: got the idea for this after a dream i had um so…yeah. do with that what you will LOL the ending is lowkey a little rushed, but i'm still satisifed with it i think. - dividers by @uzmacchiato

to join my taglist, please fill out the form here xx

It was a quiet evening, with nothing but the sound of the cars below the terrace passing by every several minutes. This time of night was your favorite, because it meant the noise of the world was off. Most people hated being alone with their thoughts, but it was the only way you could cope with the insomnia that usually took over your nights. Thinking, processing—working through whatever the day has given to you. 

You are hugging your knees against your chest, feeling the cold metal of the fire escape against your bare neck as you lean your head against the brick of your apartment building. There is a warm breeze passing through. Closing your eyes, you feel it fan your cheeks as you draw in a deep breath. 

Today wasn't much different than any other day, other than the fact that you received an invitation to a wedding you didn't want to attend. 

Which, fine, in hindsight, that made the day pretty shitty. 

It was one thing when your ex broke up with you, but for him to have the audacity to send you that invite just crushed you. You'd known he had moved on for a while, now. Seungcheol was never shy about showing off his significant others online, as you were once familiar with. When he began posting with his new girlfriend (Yuna, you think her name was), it was easy to deal with because he didn't live near you anymore. But then that pretty little envelope was stuffed into your mailbox today, and you weren't even sure why he felt inclined to send the invite. Did he feel bad for you? Was it some kind of pity invite, seeing as life hadn't been as kind to you since the breakup that it was to him?

When you open your eyes again, you hear a slight rattling coming from above you. Turning your head up, you notice your upstairs neighbor, Chwe Hansol, climbing out of his window. You'd never spoken to him much outside of a quick nod in the hallway, or typical "weather" small talk in the elevator. But you did know that he was a fellow insomniac. This had become an unspoken routine between the two of you: you'd climb out first, spend a few minutes alone. Hansol would follow suit, light a cigarette, and offer you one. Then you'd just...sit in silence. You were always the first to leave, the second that dawn started to break. Hansol always stayed a few minutes after you left before retreating to his own apartment. 

Your gaze turns back to the alley below, and you can hear the flicker of Hansol's lighter. When the smell of the smoke invades your senses, you hear him cough slightly. 

"You want a cigarette?" He asks hoarsely. He had either just woken up or been crying before joining you. You don't know him well enough to make a verdict, however. 

You push yourself to your feet and begin climbing up the stairs to the landing by his apartment. He passes you a cigarette, then quietly lights it.  When you press the butt to your lips, you sit. Your legs hang off the landing as you lean forward against the rail. 

"You look rough," Hansol observes aloud. 

You take a slow drag of the cigarette, then look over to him. "What happened to silence?"

"I don't want silence tonight." He answers. "Is that a problem?"

"I guess not." You shrug. The smoke curls out of your nostrils as you exhale and look ahead again. "Yeah, it was a rough day. What about you?"

"Same." Hansol presses his lips into a thin line. 

The silence returns, and in a way, you're thankful for it. It's not that you had anything against Hansol, but this was unfamiliar. Talking wasn't something the two of you ever did, so why now?

You take another drag of the cigarette, letting the breeze take the smoke away with it. After a few moments, Hansol sits next to you. His shoulder bumps yours momentarily before he quickly moves away. 

"What's your name?"

You laugh, flicking the ash off the end of your cigarette. It falls through the fire escape as you look over to him. 

"I know your name."  You comment. "All these months of living next to each other, and you never figured it out?"

"I guess I never paid attention before." He admits. 

Rolling your eyes, you give him your name. Hansol repeats it, like he's engraining it into his memory. 

"Pretty." He mutters. "It suits you."

You choose to ignore the compliment. "Hansol suits you. I guess, as much as I can assume."

"I guess," Hansol repeats as a smile creeps up onto his face. "You want to talk about your shitty day?"

The truth was, talking about it would be really nice. But you didn't know Hansol well enough to feel like you could dump your issues onto him. So you opt to keep things vague. At least for now. 

"I heard from someone today." You spoke slowly. "I, uh, haven't heard from them for a while. It kind of felt like a slap to the face, you know?"

He hums in agreement. "I get it. Did you say anything back?"

"It wasn't like that." You clarify. Sighing, you decide ‘fuck it’. "My ex is getting married. He sent me an invitation, and I don't know why."

That gets Hansol to look at you. His eyes are widened in amusement, and you almost want to wipe the dumb grin off his face. 

"Fuck," he laughs in disbelief. "What an ass. I'm sorry."

You shrug. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Why was your day shitty?" You clarify. "You can't expect me to share and think you'll get away with not sharing as well. You're the one who wanted to talk."

"Right." He mutters. He reaches behind the two of you, grabbing the ashtray. You both put your cigarettes out, then turn your gazes back to the alleyway. "My girlfriend broke up with me. Work sucked, too. I guess the universe has it out for me right now."

"For both of us." You grunt. "I'm sorry. Do you want to talk about the breakup?"

"Not really." He says casually. It's like he's unaffected by it, which seems odd to you. You push the thought away, though. "It was a matter of time. We weren't good for each other. I guess I was expecting to do it before she did, though."

You scoff at that. "What, you got a bruised ego now?"

"So what if I do?" Hansol retorts. "Besides, it seems like you're not much better off. Your ex invited you to a wedding–one that isn't with you, by the way."

It's quiet for a second, and then you laugh. It catches Hansol by surprise, but you couldn't help it. It bubbles out of you before you have the chance to stop it.

"Fuck." You manage through your laughter. "What a bunch of losers we are, huh?"

That elicits a laugh from Hansol. "Well, she called me a scumbag, but loser works, too."

"They're interchangeable." You fire back as you look over to him. "Well, for what it's worth, I'm sorry you had a shitty day."

"Yeah." Hansol sighs, meeting your gaze. "You too."

The two of you fell back into your normal routine after that night. A week passed without any conversation, but there was a shift in the air: like you both understood each other a little bit more, now. 

Meanwhile, the RSVP on your table remained. It is gradually approaching the date to send it back, and you aren't yet sure which path to take. The idea of asking Hansol his thoughts left as quickly as it came. You weren't sure if the conversation from last week warranted a pass to ask him for life advice–especially when it was about your ex. 

The rattling of a window pulls you from your thoughts. You glance at the clock on your stove.

6:43 pm.

He was early...eight hours early. Your feet begin to move before you can think twice about it. The window sticks a moment before you get it fully pushed up. You're greeted by Hansol walking down to your window, looking flustered and angry.

"Can I rant?" He asks, a bit winded from making the descent to your apartment. 

You blink a few times. "Sure."

Stepping to the side, Hansol hesitates before climbing into your apartment. As you close the window again, you catch him studying the inside of your home. You're suddenly very aware of the fact that you let a stranger into your living room, and begin to pace back to your kitchen table. Back to the invitation.

"Nice place." He comments. 

"Thanks." You mutter. You like to keep things minimal. The place consists mostly of white decor and furniture, with a few pops of color here and there. Everything is always kept clean, and clutter is always tucked away. 

Hansol clears his throat before collapsing onto your couch. "I'm sorry for just showing up. I don't really have any friends in the area anymore, and I just need to get this out of my system."

"Don't worry about it." You wave him off. "Do you want something to drink?"

He thinks for a moment. "What do you have?"

You pad into your kitchen, then open the rickety door on your fridge. It squeaks slightly as you peek inside. 

"I have sparkling water." You announce. "I also have soju and–"

"I'll take the soju." He quickly cuts in. Then adds, "please."

Grabbing two bottles, you kick the door closed again, then meander back towards him. He happily takes the drink from you as you sit on the opposite side of the couch. You both drink in silence, almost as if the two of you were allowing the space to be made before approaching the topic. When Hansol pulls the bottle away from his lips, you see his Adam's apple bob as he swallows.

"My ex called me today." He finally says. "Not for any reason. Just to pick an argument."

"Over what, exactly?" You glance at him. He runs a hand through his hair, then takes another drink. 

"I still have some of her shit at my apartment." He explains, meeting your eyes. "I told her last week to come get it. When she ignored my texts about it, I stuffed it all into a garbage bag. I didn't want to look at it anymore, you know?"

You nod to let him know you're listening. He continues.

"Anyways, she finally came over about three hours ago to get it." His gaze shifts down to his lap. "She called me fifteen minutes ago to accuse me of throwing one of her stupid shirts away. Then, she went on a whole tangent about how I never took care of her things and how careless I am. She told me that my carelessness was what drove her away from me, and some other bullshit after that. She barely let me get a word in, and just hung up before I could say anything."

"Jesus." You grumble, taking a sip of your drink. 

"Yeah." Hansol scoffs. 

The silence returns, and this time, you're not sure if you should offer him anything else. He's sunken lower into your couch, like he's trying to be swallowed whole by the cushions. His expression is blank, and you're not entirely sure what to make of it or him right now. You take another swig of your soju, then set your half-empty bottle on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Um, I know we don't really know each other," you lean back, looking over to him. His attention is still on his lap. "But I think it's good you're not in that relationship anymore. Not that it's my place to say, but you shouldn't be with someone who talks to you like that."

Hansol lifts his head towards you, then takes another drink as he holds eye contact. When he pulls the bottle away again, he drags his tongue across his bottom lip. You're not sure you like the way he's looking at you. There’s something behind his eyes that you aren’t quite sure how to read. Shifting slightly, you decide to change the topic. 

"If it's any consolation, things aren't much better for me, either," you laugh bitterly. "I have to RSVP by the end of the week for my ex's wedding."

Hansol laughs. "You're considering going?"

"I don't know." You say softly. Your shift in tone causes his laughter to slow, as he realizes that the thought was actually weighing on you. You groan, then lean back against the cushions. "I just feel like he's expecting me not to be there. He knows that I've been dealt a shitty deck of cards since he left, but my pride wants to prove that things aren't as bad as they really are."

"So, what, you want to go pretend like things are okay?" Hansol questions. 

"Maybe?" You roll your head to look at him. He is already staring at you. "I don't know. I don't care if everyone else knows how bad things are, but I just want him to think they're good. Kind of like rubbing it in his face that I'm fine without him."

Hansol pauses. "You're not?" 

"Obviously not." You roll your eyes. 

Your voice catches slightly, so you will yourself to look up at the ceiling. You were not about to cry in front of a man you hardly knew. It's Hansol's turn to be quiet. The gears in his head were practically audible; you could tell he was trying to think of something to say. You didn't necessarily need advice, but talking about it helps. Even if you're not sharing the full story. 

"Would it help if you had someone go with you?" He finally asks. 

You hadn't thought about that. Even if you did, though, you didn't exactly have friends to ask. There was Jun, your cubicle neighbor. You've gotten coffee with him a few times, but never enough to call him a 'friend'. Aside from that, your best friend, Joshua, recently moved back to the States to be with his family. Between the two of them, you were pretty isolated.

"Maybe." You respond. "But, much like you, I don't really have anyone around here. I don't have anyone I could ask."

He shrugs. "I could go with you, if you want?"

It's your turn to laugh. You sit up, then shift your body so you're facing him. He quickly sits up in response. 

"As far as I know, you could be a serial killer." You quip, grabbing your soju again. 

"Please," Hansol scoffs, but there's hardly any bite to it. Instead, a coy smile is painted across his face. "If I were a serial killer, I would've killed you by now."

"Hm," you hum as the soju trickles down your throat. You swallow, then rest the bottle in your lap. "Not a coaxing type, huh?"

"Nah," he shakes his head. "I think I'd be right to the point about it. I mean, why coax if I'm just gonna kill you anyway?"

The smile that creeps its way onto your face is easy. If you'd known Hansol was this fun, maybe you would've taken the chance to talk to him sooner. Then again, maybe that was just the alcohol talking. You were starting to feel the slight buzz as you took another drink. 

"I mean it, though." He adds. "I know it's, ah, weird to go with someone you just met, but, I dunno, we could play it up, I think."

You press your brows together. "What do you mean?"

Hansol clears his throat, then shifts his body to face yours. "Well, you want to make it seem like you've got your shit together. Right?"

You nod. 

"So, if I go with, we could both clean up real nice," he explains. "I could pretend to be your new boyfriend for the weekend. It gets me away from my ex, and paints a pretty little picture for yours."

The words don't form right away. It wasn't exactly a bad idea, but would it even work? You haven't really been secretive about the fact that you've been a sinking ship for the past couple of years, but you've also never been one to post your relationships online–so it could work in that capacity. 

Would Seungcheol even buy it? 

As if Hansol is reading your thoughts, he leans in slightly. Your knees brush. "You're overthinking it. It'll be foolproof. I'm a great actor, you know?"

"In case you’ve forgotten, we just met." You deadpan. "Plus, don't you think it'll be, like, weird traveling with someone you don't know?"

"Only if you make it weird." He shrugs. "It's obviously your call."

You take a moment to absorb Hansol's appearance. Part of you was really questioning if he truly could clean up well–you'd only ever seen him wearing the same pair of ratted, grey sweatpants and matching hoodie. You were also pretty positive the beanie he tends to wear had never been replaced. Did he own any other clothes? Now that you really thought about it, what did he even do for work? Hobbies? Obviously, he's had at least one relationship before. If you decide to take him up on his offer, you guys would really have to get to know each other.

Because right now, you knew nothing. 

Finally, you ask, "What's your favorite color?"

He falters for a moment. "Why?"

"If you're supposed to be my fake boyfriend, I need to know you." You counter. "I don't know you, Hansol."

"Oh, right." He nods. He tosses the last of his soju back, then sets the bottle down on the table. "Um, well, I like all colors, truthfully. I guess I lean towards red and black the most."

You don't even realize you're making a face until he smiles in amusement. 

"What's wrong with those?" He argues. "What’s yours?"

"Pink." You answer quickly. "I like blue, too. But pink has always been my favorite."

"Pink." He repeats. "I could've guessed that."

"Oh yeah?" You quip. "On what grounds?"

Hansol kicks his legs up, making himself at home on your couch. Without hesitation, he stretches his legs across your lap, as if he'd done it a million times prior to this moment. You should be weirded out, but much to your own surprise, you don't mind it too much. You find yourself warming up to Hansol's easy personality as you finish off your own soju and set the bottle beside his. 

"You're always wearing something..." he trails off, folding his arms across his chest, "...pretty."

"Pretty?" You raise your eyebrows at him. 

His eyes widen momentarily. "No, not like that. I just mean, you're always wearing something so girly."

You hum. "I am a girl, you know."

"I know." He groans. "God, I just mean that your wardrobe is so frilly and bright. Do you even know how surprised I was when I found out you smoked?"

That was an argument you couldn't counter. He wasn't wrong: your wardrobe has always consisted primarily of dresses or skirts. God forbid a girl likes to dress nicely. Even your pajamas, which Hansol often found you in, were 'frilly', as he worded it. You like matching sets and very seldom wear mismatched clothes. Nighttime was no exception to that. Even now, sprawled across your couch, you were donning a tank top and pants set you had gotten from a small boutique a few weeks ago. 

"I'm a woman of many surprises." You wink as you kick your own legs up onto the coffee table. "I got into smoking back in high school. I guess I thought I could try a rebellious phase, but it didn't work. The nicotine addiction ended up staying, though. Seungcheol hated it."

"Seungchoel?" Hansol frowns. "Is that your ex?"

"Yeah." You sigh. "But you'll meet him later. You're not missing out on anything exciting, really."

Hansol perks up at that. "Later?" He asks. "So, we're doing this?"

You stare back at him, silently cursing yourself for the slip of tongue. But really, it couldn't be all that bad. Conversation seems to flow easily with him, and this trip could be a good opportunity to get the closure you fully need. Having company would be nice to handle any fallout that might happen afterward, too. 

What's the worst that could happen?

"What the hell?" You sigh. "Sure. You can be my date to this wedding."

Hansol bites back a smile. "Cool."

You were juggling a handful of groceries when you felt your phone vibrate in your back pocket. You curse slightly before dropping everything onto your kitchen table, not even caring that your new bag of apples just fell onto the floor. You push the door shut with your hip, then pull your phone out.

Seungcheol.

He must've gotten the RSVP. Your breath hitches as you hold the device to your ear. "Um, hello?"

"Hey." He exhales, like he wasn't sure if you'd really answer. You couldn't blame him for that, though. You weren't even sure when you last spoke to him. An awkward silence fills the air between the two of you, as you try to debate whether you let him talk himself silly, or if you try to manage a conversation. He beats you to the decision. 

"Uh, Yuna and I got the RSVP!" He exclaims a little too loudly. "A plus one, huh? Is Joshua coming?"

"No, he moved back to California." You answer. "I'm bringing my boyfriend."

There's no response. You smirk in victory as you begin to clean up your groceries and put them away. There's a light tap on your window, where Hansol is waving back at you. You silently wave him in, as Seungcheol draws in a deep breath. 

"You're seeing someone?" He questions. "That's...wow. Nice."

"Yeah, I am." You respond as Hansol walks over to you. He's carrying something under his arm, but you can't tell what it is. It looks like some kind of clothes. He gestures to your phone, and you mouth 'Seungcheol' to him. He chuckles.

"What's his name?" Seungcheol asks. 

You roll your eyes. "It's on the RSVP, Cheol. Hansol. If you don't need anything else, he just got here. I'd like to spend time with him."

"Oh, sure." He almost sounds disappointed, but you don't let yourself dwell on it. "Yeah, uh, we'll see you in a month, then."

"See ya." You hang up before he can try to say anything else, then toss the phone onto your table. 

"No pajamas?" He gestures to you. 

"Hansol, it's only four." You reply. "I just got off work. I see you’re already comfy, though."

He grins at that. "Yeah, I had the day off. I found some old suits, and I didn't know what you were wearing. I figured we needed to match." 

"What do you even do for work?" You question, carrying a handful of bags into your kitchen. Hansol hesitates before grabbing the remaining bags and following behind you.

"I manage a skate shop." He answers. "The one downtown? It's next to that coffee shop that Mrs. Lee owns."

"Oh, I think I know what you're talking about." You nod, picturing it in your head already. The downtown area has always been pretty worn and grungy-looking, but it's also one of the oldest strips in the city. You wouldn't have imagined Hansol owning his own business, but you were pleasantly surprised with that answer. A skate shop suited him, too. 

"What about you?" He asks, setting his bags down on the counter beside him. He begins to unload the groceries as you put them away. You fall into a good rhythm before you look over to him. 

"I don't do anything exciting." You grin. "I'm a secretary for a law firm."

"Gross." Hansol teases. "Have you always wanted to do that?"

You shake your head. "Not necessarily. But it pays well, and I get my weekends off."

He nods as he watches you put the last of the items away. You pat down your dress, then look over to him. He's staring absently, like he isn't sure what to say next. 

"So, uh, your suits?" You remind him. "What do you have?"

"Oh." He looks under his arm, where the clothes were still neatly tucked away. "Right. Yeah, I haven't worn these in forever. I hope they still fit."

"I can alter them if you need." You shrug. "My mom taught me how to sew, you know."

The two of you make your way to the living room again, settling on the same couch you sat in several nights ago. 

"I didn't know that." Hansol comments. "But I guess I could see it. It fits you."

When you were a kid, your mother was a firm believer in teaching you basic life skills. You’d learned everything between cooking, sewing, gardening, baking–whatever she deemed would be necessary to live in case of emergencies. 

"Okay,” Hansol announces as he unfolds and lays out the clothes, “I've got two options. I have this plain black-and-white one, or a tan suit jacket with matching pants. I could wear a white button-up under it?"

You lean in closer, running your hand along the material of each outfit. They both look fine, but you hadn't even taken inventory of your own closet yet to find something to wear. It was almost endearing how eager he was to go on this trip. You push the thought away. As you try to make a decision, you remember a nice cocktail dress you had bought shortly after your breakup with Seungcheol: it fell just above the knees, and was a very nice shade of brown. An elegant color that complemented your skin tone nicely. If you remember correctly, Seungcheol's invite also had a dress code. Earthy tones. 

"Let's go with the tan one." You look up at him to find him watching you intently. You scoot away from him again. "I have a dress that will match."

Hansol clears his throat. "Yeah, cool."

The two of you fall into your usual silence. Hansol glances out the window, where you notice the faintest shimmer of silver dangling from his ear. You gasp, playfully shoving him. 

"An earring?" You ask as he turns to look at you. "I didn't know you had your ears pierced."

"All these months of sitting next to each other, and you're just now noticing?" He smirks. "Yeah, I've had them for a while. Will I need to take them out for the wedding?"

You quickly shake your head. "No, no. They're fine. I was just surprised to see them, I guess."

"I am a man of many surprises." He winks. "What're your plans for the rest of the evening?"

Really, you hadn't thought that far ahead. You figured your usual terrace-time (as Hansol has now dubbed it) would be on the agenda, as it was every night. They were enjoyable now, too. The new conversations are always enjoyable, but now, the company is growing on you, too. It was funny how Hansol already had a slot in your day-to-day life, but somehow managed to fit himself into it even more. Not that you were complaining. You were nowhere near complaining. 

"Not much." You answer. "I mean, probably change and make some dinner. Then, of course, terrace-time."

Hansol laughs. "Uh, how would you feel about skipping terrace-time?"

"What, why?" You frown. 

"I was thinking," he draws in a deep breath, "since we have to play these...roles...what if we just hung out today? Like, a normal hangout. No wallowing on the fire escape and smoking. I'm talking about proper conversation. I can make dinner."

You stare back at him, a little taken aback at the suggestion. If you didn't know any better, that would sound an awful lot like a date. But you knew it wasn't. It was strictly business, of course. It was probably smart, too. You knew the two of you needed to come up with a fake story about how you met and how long you'd been dating... you'd need to flesh out any details now so it didn't bite you in the ass later. 

"Is that too much?"

You blink a few times, realizing you spaced out on him. You quickly shake your head, then push yourself to your feet. 

"No, sorry." You smile at him gently. "I'm just tired. I think that would be a good plan, though. The more we know about each other, the better. Right?"

"Right." He quickly agrees.

You hesitate for a moment when you realize you're still in your work clothes. 

"Um, I'll change, then." You announce awkwardly. "If you want to get the stuff for dinner...?"

Hansol's eyes widen. "Oh, right." He quickly gathers the suits again. You watch as he retreats back out the window and disappears up the fire escape.

By the time the dreaded weekend rolls around, the realization that you’re seeing Seungcheol again settles like an unwelcome guest in the pit of your stomach. You’re sitting on the airplane beside Hansol, who is bobbing his head along to whatever music plays through his headphones. 

The only plus side is that, within the last month, you and Hansol have gotten fairly close. You’ve learned a lot about him, and you guys came up with the perfect cover story for your fake relationship. You’ve both recited it a million times by now: you’d run into each other one day when you were both coming home from work. When you found out you were neighbors, you started spending more time together, and Hansol finally asked you out. 

You were just hoping the story would be enough to get through this weekend. 

As you sink lower into your chair, you feel Hansol tug on the sleeve of your hoodie. You roll your head to look at him, and he takes his headphones off. 

“You okay?” He asks. 

Shrugging, you look back out the window. “I haven’t seen Seungcheol in almost five years. I’m just nervous about what kind of emotions I’ll feel when I see him again. It’s been easy to avoid him since we didn’t live near each other, but now…” You trail off. Below, the sky is clear and blue. 

“You won’t be alone, though.” Hansol nudges you gently. “I’ll be there with you. Besides, we can make fun of how gross the food is and how fancy everything will be compared to our shitholes of apartments.”

You snort at that. “Knowing Seungcheol, the whole place will probably be dripping in his parents’ money.” You sit up to face him again, and his body is already facing yours. 

“God, to have that kind of money.” Hansol clicks his tongue. “You think I’ll ever reach that point selling skateboards?”

“Highly unlikely.” You respond. You don’t remember when the two of you got closer, but you don’t mind. His knee occasionally bumps your leg as you talk. “But it’s okay, because I won’t make that much answering phones, either.”

He laughs, laying his head back against the headrest. “Damn, we won’t have terrace-time this weekend.”

“Hm,” you sigh, “what’re the odds our hotel room has a balcony?”

Hansol crosses his fingers as he turns his attention back to his phone. He doesn’t move away from you, though, as he gently leans against your shoulder with his own. You close your eyes, trying to get comfortable. Having Hansol here may actually be really nice, you think. 

And maybe, hopefully, having him with you means this weekend will be manageable instead of intolerable. 

Good news: the hotel room has a balcony.

Bad news: it only has one bed.

You and Hansol have been standing in the entryway for a few minutes now, unsure of what to say or do. You couldn’t exactly fault Seungcheol for booking it this way, though, because he was under the assumption that you were coming with your boyfriend. You just didn’t account for the fact that hotel rooming would be an issue until now. 

“Okay,” Hansol finally speaks, taking a few steps into the room, “we can be mature about this, right?”

“Right!” You reply, but the way your voice wavers hardly hides the fact that this makes you nervous. Maybe if you just slept really close to the edge of the bed, it wouldn’t be noticeable that your friend was only a few feet away from you.

Hansol tosses his suitcase into the chair in the corner of the room. You watch as he opens up the blinds, then steps onto the balcony. Trailing behind, you set your suitcase on the bed and flop down beside it. 

“Damn, who knew that Hawaii would be so…” Hansol trails off. “Hm. Hot?”

A laugh bubbles out from you as you hear him wander back inside. He flops beside you onto the bed. 

“What were you going to say?” You ask, turning your head to look at him. He shrugs, then brings his hands up behind his head. 

“I was going to say cool, but we’re supposed to hate this trip, right?” He replies. “Or, at least hate the person who booked it and invited you.”

You hum. “I don’t think Hawaii needs to catch our smoke because I’m mad at my ex.”

“True.” Hansol agrees, then shouts, “Sorry, Hawaii!” Out the window. 

You playfully smack his side before sitting up, but Hansol is laughing. When you glance down at him, his laughter slows and something shifts. 

It wasn’t noticeable immediately. It starts with your stomach flipping at the way he is looking up at you. Then, your heart quickens and you can feel your smile falter. It seems like Hansol feels it, too, because you see the corners of his mouth twitch and the tips of his ears turn pink. 

In all the months you’ve known him, you’ve never realized how attractive he is. Sure, you always thought he was decent-looking. But right now, as he stares up at you with his soft eyes and messy, brown hair, it really registers to you that Hansol is beyond cute. Beyond handsome. You’re not sure you have a word to describe it. 

You clear your throat and stand, quickly pushing whatever that feeling is out of the way. It has to just be the change of location, right? Don’t people usually have flings when they go on vacation? You’re nervously tucking your hair behind your ears when you hear him stand from the bed. 

“Um, do we want to shower and go check out the beach?” You ask, not daring yourself to look at him just yet. Your cheeks feel hot, and you’re not even sure why you’re blushing. Nothing happened. He just looked at you, and you feel a bit ridiculous for letting it fluster you so much. “I think I want to freshen up, but then I figure we can explore? There’s supposed to be a bar somewhere in here.”

“Sure.” Hansol says, his voice low. “Uh, you can shower first. I think I need a smoke break after the plane ride.”

God, you’d kill for one, too. But you think you need the distance from Hansol more, as you slide into the bathroom to start the shower. 

Yes, distance will be good. 

You’re finishing off your second margarita as you and Hansol sit in the sand. The waves crash against the shore, bringing a refreshing breeze with it. Beside you, Hansol is pressing the butt of his cigarette to his lips and inhaling slowly. When he pulls it away again, he glances over to you. 

“You know, I think this beats our fire escape by a long shot.” He states. “The air here feels more fresh.” 

You set your empty glass in the sand next to you, then lay back. Your hair fans out behind you. “That’s because the air pollution in Korea is so much worse than here.” You pause. “Plus, we’re on vacation. I think everything feels better on vacation.” 

Hansol sighs, and your usual silence falls between you once again. It’s a clear evening, making the stars totally visible from where you lay. You can make out a few constellations like the big dipper and orion’s belt. As the alcohol settles in your system, you can feel the tequila catching up to you as your head begins to feel light. 

The shower earlier helped, and you think that fleeting moment in the hotel room was just a combination of exhaustion and all the extra time you’ve spent with Hansol. The rest of the night has felt normal, and you were grateful for it. It’s not like you have anything against him, but you’d be lying if you said a portion of you wasn’t nervous to get involved in anything romantic again. 

Assuming that was what Hansol felt too, anyway. 

“Hey,” he says as he stretches out and lays beside you, “you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to but…what happened between you and Seungcheol?” 

You shift slightly. “Oh.”

“Sorry if that’s crossing some kind of boundary.” He quickly adds. “I was just curious. It seems to be weighing on you a lot, so—“

“It’s okay,” You reassure him. “I don’t care that you asked. I just haven’t talked about it in a few years.”

Hansol is quiet, as if to give you the space you need to either share more or stop the conversation all together. You draw in a deep breath. As if the margarita has made a decision for you, you begin to feel the words spill out before you can stop them. 

“Seungcheol and I first met at university.” You explain. “He was going for law, and I was going for business. We shared a few classes, and started going out in our second to last year of our undergrad programs.”

Hansol is quiet, so you keep going. 

“Things were fine for a while,” you continue as you fold your hands across your stomach. “We dated for three years. I guess somewhere along the way he decided that he didn’t love me anymore. He just forgot to tell me that before he started seeing someone else.”

You hear Hansol sit up beside you. You turn your head to find him frowning. 

“He cheated on you?” He asks. 

“More or less,” you shrug. “Anyway, the girl he’s marrying is who he did it with. That’s why this whole invitation has felt like some sick joke.”

Hansol’s jaw tightens, as he looks out at the ocean in front of you both. “What a dick.”

“That’s a nice way of putting it.” You scoff. “But, yeah. I’m really appreciative that you offered to come with me, though. It’s only been eight hours, but I’m having fun so far.”

When he turns to look at you again, you feel the same shift as you did back in the hotel room. With the tequila in your system, though, the feeling is a lot more intense. His features seem amplified in the moonlight as the breeze sweeps through his brown hair. 

“I’m having fun, too.” He replies as a smile teases at the corners of his lips. “It’s easy to have fun with you. I haven’t had that for a while.”

Your breath catches in your throat. “Oh. Well, good. I’m glad. Me neither.” 

Hansol stays like that for a beat before laying down again beside you. You’re suddenly very aware of how close his arm is, and how it brushes against yours when he moves or shifts in the slightest. You don’t move, though, and neither does he. 

Desperate to break the silence this time, your tipsy mind begins to scramble for a topic change or something else to bring up entirely. You try to swallow down your nerves, but it doesn’t do much. 

“Uh, Hansol?” You turn your head to look at him. “Why do you think it took us so long to finally talk to each other?” 

“Hm,” He muses, stretching his arms out before folding them across his chest. It’s his turn to stare up at the stars, and you wonder if he sees the same constellations you had a few minutes ago. “Well, do you want the truth?”

“Depends on what the truth is.” You mumble nervously. 

Then, completely serious, he says, “I was coaxing.”

You blink, not understanding initially. When Hansol turns his head to face you, it’s obvious he’s trying (and failing) to hold in his laughter. That’s when you remember the serial killer joke you’d made to him when you first met. You gasp, and the laugh practically bursts out of him. 

“I knew you’d be the coaxing type!” You exclaim, quickly scrambling to sit up. “You’re too nice to kill right away. You know? I think you’d need to warm up to the idea first before giving yourself enough courage to do it.”

His laughter slows as his smile falters for a moment. “Yeah,” he says, his tone softer than before, “I’d definitely need the courage, first.” 

“Just, do it in my sleep, okay?” You tease as you push yourself to your feet. “If I need to go out, I’d rather not be awake for the whole suffering part.”

Hansol hums. “Noted.”

The morning sun seeps through the curtains in the hotel room, and you’re unbelievably warm. As you shift to push the blankets off of you, you begin to register the fact that half of Hansol’s body is currently draped over you. Your legs are a tangled mess, and he has his arm strewn over your stomach with his head in the crook of your neck. 

It takes all but sixty seconds to fully process its Hansol before your breath catches in your throat. You freeze, unsure if you should move or not. You definitely did not fall asleep this way–in fact, you were so close to falling off the bed when you first got in last night, that you were wondering if it would actually happen. Not this. Not the exact opposite.

When Hansol shifts slightly, you feel your heart drop completely. He lifts his head enough to look down at you. You watch as he goes through the same motions you just had: letting his eyes adjust, realizing where he is, and registering the position he’s waking up in. His eyes widen as he quickly scrambles back. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” He says, his voice low and groggy from waking up. “I did not mean to–”

“No, it's fine.” You sit up. “Um, it just surprised me is all, you know?”

Hansol nods, running a hand through his messy hair. The silence is awkward as you both sit across from each other, unsure of what to do next. You dare a quick look at him, as he is distracting himself with his phone. He’s got bags under his eyes, and you wonder how long it has been since he got a full night’s rest like that. You knew for yourself it had been a while. More specifically, since Seungcheol left. 

You didn’t even remember falling asleep last night. The last thing you remembered was laying on the edge of your side of the bed, and laughing at some horrible reality show that Hansol had put on the TV in the room. When you laid down, you were out cold. The craziest part is you slept really well. It was a heavy kind of sleep that made you actually feel well-rested and not just more tired. 

Glancing at the digital clock on your bedside table, you realize just how long you guys had slept. 

11:38 am.

You got into bed around nine o’clock last night, which means you slept for fourteen hours. The thought makes you laugh before you fall against the mattress again. Hansol’s attention shifts towards you as he lowers his phone into his lap. 

“What?” He asks, laughing lightly with you. 

“It’s just been forever since I’ve slept.” You reply, looking up at him. “Did you even see what time it was?”

The corners of his mouth twitch. “Yeah, uh, I did.” He says. “We missed breakfast, though.”

“Do you usually eat breakfast?”

He grins at that. “Nope.”

You laugh again as Hansol lays beside you once more. The screen door to the balcony was left open last night, and you can hear the sounds of people talking outside and cars driving past. Something about the laziness and simplicity of the morning makes you feel light–like you were getting everything with Hansol you could’ve had with Seungcheol. 

You’d talked with Seungcheol in the past about moving in together. Sleeping in like this or wasting the day away in bed were the things you used to daydream about with him, but here you were, sharing it with your next door neighbor instead. Truthfully, though, Hansol was now past the point of ‘just your neighbor’. He was more, but the capacity of which wasn’t fully clear to you. If you’d asked the week prior, you’d say platonic in a heartbeat. But now, you weren’t sure. It was muddy. You wondered if Hansol felt the same. 

“You know what I’d love, though?” He blurts.

You look at him, and he’s already staring back at you. “What is that?”

“I’d love some terrace-time.”

After each taking a quick shower, you and Hansol find yourselves comfortable on the loveseat that sits on the balcony. Hansol is leaning back against the wall behind you, while you’re leaning forward, looking at the view of the beach below. Despite the atmosphere being a bit more cozy than the fire escape, you almost miss the rickety stairs and sketchy landing outside of his apartment. 

“What time is Prince Charming’s dinner tonight?” Hansol muses as he finishes off his cigarette. He tosses the butt into the ashtray, then lifts his head to look at you. 

You glance at him over your shoulder. “I think he told guests to be there at five.”

“So, we’ve got some time?” He checks the time on his phone. “They have rental bikes at the beach. I was looking at them last night. How would you feel about a bike ride around the island?”

You smile, pressing your own cigarette into the ashtray. “Is this more coaxing?”

“Oh, well, of course.” Hansol nods. “Gotta get your guard down.”

“I guess a bike ride could be fun,” you hesitate, “but I haven’t rode one in years.”

He laughs, then leans forward with you. His knee bumps yours, and your heart skips a beat. “You gonna crash and burn on me, or do I need to teach you how to ride one all over again?”

This is flirting, right? This has to be flirting. Or maybe you were reading too much into the past twenty four hours. You aren’t even sure anymore. Your thoughts are moving faster than your brain is able to catch up, at this point. Deciding to test the waters, you choose to tease him back. 

“Maybe I’ll need you to teach me.” You say lightly, trying to match his tone. “I think I’ve forgotten all of it.”

Hansol clicks his tongue as a smirk plays on his lips. “Tragic. I guess I’ll have to, then.”

When he leans back again, you feel your face warm. Hansol is flirting. Chewing on your bottom lip, you turn your attention back to the beach. 

You find out very quickly that you definitely did forget how to ride a bike, as your foot is planted firmly on the ground beside you. As embarrassing as it is, you’re terrified to push off and the worst part is Hansol can tell. 

Once his helmet is on, he glances back at you, trying to hold back any laughter that might come out. You groan. “Seriously, I don’t even want to hear it.”

“I didn’t say anything.” He replies, his grin becoming more apparent. 

“You were thinking about it.” You pout, sitting down on the seat. “I mean, I’m almost thirty and I can’t ride a bike. That’s a little pathetic.”

“Nah,” Hansol waves you off as he props the stand, then rests his bike on it. He walks over to you, patting the helmet on your head. “We’ve all got our quirks.”

You roll your eyes. “Okay, what’s yours, then?”

He thinks for a moment, then says, “I’m allergic to peanuts.”

“That’s not a quirk, that’s just a fact.” You argue. He laughs as he walks behind your bike, then leans forward. 

“If you’re done, I’m ready to get this show on the road.” He announces. “You wanna put your hands on the handlebars?”

“Not really.” You sheepishly admit. You shift in your seat, feeling how close he is as his black t-shirt gently brushes your back. You swallow nervously, feeling grateful he can’t see the blush creeping up onto your face. 

“It’s okay, I’ve got you.” He reassures you. “I won’t let go until you’re ready.”

After a few grueling seconds, you lean forward to grab the handles. At the same time, Hansol leans forward, resting his hands on yours. Your heart skyrockets at the touch, and you wonder if you’ll go into cardiac arrest on the spot. The two of you sit like that momentarily, before he clears his throat. 

“Okay,” he says, “when you push off, I want you to pedal. I’ll keep you upright and help you steer, so don’t worry about that.”

“What if I’m already worrying?” You turn to look at him, when you about bump your head into his from how close he was. It clearly catches you both off guard, as Hansol blinks a few times. Then, he manages to give you a smile. 

“Just trust me, okay?” He replies. “I’m not going to let you get hurt.”

The statement feels like it carries more weight to it than just riding a bike. You feel it settle deep inside of you, like it’s trying to make a home in the parts of your heart that still haven’t healed from Seungcheol. All you’re able to muster is a meek nod, as you look ahead at the sidewalk again. 

“Ready?” Hansol asks. 

“Ready.” 

Drawing in a deep breath, you push off and bring your feet to the pedals. The bike wobbles at first, but Hansol keeps it steady like he said he would. You go slow at first, when slowly the motions start to come back to you. 

As you gain a bit more confidence, Hansol says, “the left handle is your break. You want to try stopping?”

He gives your hand a gentle squeeze, which does nothing to calm the nerves that have been brewing since you got here. You do as he says, though, and slowly press down on the break. The bike comes to a stop, prompting you to sigh in relief. 

“You did it!” He exclaims. You look up at him, unable to contain the smile on your face. He returns it, then sticks his hands into the pockets of his joggers. “Told you I’ve got you.”

“Yeah,” you laugh a little breathlessly. “That wasn’t too bad.”

“Want to try it on your own?” He hums. “I’ll stay right by your side for the whole ride.”

This time, it feels easier to believe him. So, you quickly nod, already prepping to push off. 

“Ready when you are.”

You and Hansol sit outside of the restaurant when you arrive as you stall for time before walking in. Just beyond those doors was Seungcheol and the same girl he left you for five years ago. You hadn’t faced either of them since, and you were feeling a bit sick to your stomach. Thankfully, Hansol was in no rush as he stood beside you. 

The two of you cleaned up, and put on some nicer clothes before coming here. Contrary to your initial doubt, Hansol cleans up very well. It was almost weird to not see him in his usual comfy clothes as he wore some nicer jeans and a button-down top. His hair was pushed back slightly, but still had the endearing messier look that you’ve grown fond of. It was true to him, and familiar to you. Kind of like a nice reminder that despite the facade, this is still the same Hansol you’ve sat next to for almost a year and spent all your sleepless nights with. 

“How are you feeling?” He asks as he leans against the wall behind the two of you. 

“Sick.” You laugh. “I don’t really know what to expect when we go in, you know?”

He hums, then holds his hand out. “Good thing you’re not alone, remember?” He reminds you coyly. “Just think about it this way: the faster we get this over with, the faster we can go back to the hotel for some much needed terrace-time. Maybe another reality show–?”

You make a face at that. “God, no more reality TV. But terrace-time sounds nice.”

Tentatively, you put your hand in his. Hansol smiles down at you before giving it a squeeze, then leading you both into the restaurant. It’s a nicer venue, with dim lights and light jazz music playing. The hostess directs you to the back party room, where the rest of the wedding guests are already mingling and drinking. Hansol pulls you closer to him as the two of you navigate towards an empty table to sit. Your eyes begin to wander, when you find Seungcheol at the front of the room. He’s laughing with Minghao, one of your mutual friends. 

“That’s him,” you lean towards Hansol, tugging on his sleeve. He follows your gaze towards Seungcheol, and his jaw tightens. He mutters something under his breath, but you don’t have time to register it before your ex notices you, and begins walking over. 

Your eyes widen, and Hansol is quick to throw his arm around you, pulling you into his side. Seungcheol offers an awkward smile as he looks between the two of you. He looks the same as he did five years ago, only his age is beginning to show on his face a bit. 

“Hey,” he breathes, “you made it!”

“I did RSVP.” You reply, forcing a smile. “Uh, Cheol, this is my boyfriend, Hansol.”

Seungcheol takes one look at Hansol, and his demeanor changes instantly. He straightens his back a bit, then extends a hand towards him. 

“Hey, man, glad you could make it.” He says evenly. You almost laugh. 

Hansol shakes his hand, and is quick to drop it. “Yeah, congrats.”

“Well, we aren’t married yet.” Seungcheol laughs awkwardly. “But, uh, I’ll take the early congrats. Thanks. So..how long have you two known each other?”

Before you have the chance to reply, Hansol cuts in, “almost a year. We live in the same apartment building.”

“Ah,” Seungcheol’s expression twists as he looks over to you, “is it still that shitty place near downtown?”

“Well, not all of us can live off our parents’ wealth.” Hansol retorts. “Besides, it’s not that terrible. You know, if you’re humble enough to acknowledge that it’s a roof over your head.”

Oh god, you want to hide. You’re not sure what kind of stand-off these two were starting, but you did not want to be in the middle of it. You can feel Hansol’s grip on your shoulder tighten slightly. Seungcheol folds his arms across his chest. 

“You’re right.” He nods curtly. “I should be more mindful of the fact that I’ve grown up a bit more privileged than others. Sorry to offend.”

His tone doesn’t quite match the words he’s saying, and Hansol seems to notice. You don’t want to give either of them the opportunity to keep arguing, so you decide to butt in. 

“I’m sure you have a lot of people to catch up with.” You say with a gentle smile. “You know, people you know better than us? I mean, Hansol and I are here all weekend. We can talk more later.”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol sighs, glancing between the two of you again as if to size Hansol up. Then, he returns your smile. “Really, I’m happy you could make it. I’ll just…see you around, then?”

He hesitates before leaving, but once he does, you sink into Hansol’s side and let out a breath you didn’t even realize you had been holding in. Your head rests against his shoulder. Hansol stiffens slightly at the gesture before relaxing. 

“Well,” you announce, “that was fun.”

Hansol laughs, sinking lower into his chair. “He sucks.”

You can’t help but laugh in response as you pull away from him. He looks over to you as the annoyance washes off his face, turning into a lopsided grin instead. 

“I think we need some drinks.” You comment. “I’d definitely like to drink.”

“Awesome.” Hansol quickly nods. “I’m right there with you.”

“Whoooaa,” Hansol steadies you as you both stumble back into the hotel room. 

You’re laughing and everything feels good. Your head has the perfect amount of buzz, and you feel warm and happy and the stress of the weekend is miraculously gone. As you flop onto the bed, you kick your heels off and stretch. 

“They made some good cocktails,” you hum. “Really strong.”

“A little too strong.” Hansol teases as he sits beside you. “You should drink some water.”

“I’m fine.” You slur, rolling your head to the side to look up at him. His focus is on his shoes as he slides them off, but the only place your drunken mind can wander to is how good he looks.

You think about how nice he’s been, and how fun it was riding bikes today, and waking up beside him, and how hot it was when he stood up to Seungcheol. You tug lightly on his sleeve, prompting him to look back at you. 

“What is it?” He asks, leaning back on his hands. “You want me to go grab you some from the front desk? I think they’re selling water bottles. I thought I saw some Gatorade, too–”

“You’re so pretty.” You coo happily, cutting him off from his sentence. “You’re so nice, too. So nice to me.”

His smile falters for a second, like you caught him off guard. He laughs a little breathlessly. “You’re so drunk.” 

“Mmm but I think that when I’m sober, too,” you muse. “I wish we talked sooner.”

“Yeah.” Hansol mumbles. His gaze softens. “At least we are now, right? Better late than never.”

Your eyelids begin to feel heavy as the alcohol threatens to let sleep take you over. Bringing your hands to your eyes, you attempt to rub away the fatigue. It doesn’t work. 

“Can we sleep together again?” You ask as you sit up. 

Hansol blinks. “Like, what, cuddle?” 

You nod as you push yourself to your feet and stumble towards your suitcase for some pajamas. As a yawn slips past your lips, you look back over to him. 

“It was comfy,” you hum. “The only time I've ever slept well was with you.”

Hansol hesitates as he watches you close your bag again. Finally, he clears his throat and says, “Yeah. That’s fine.” 

After clumsily changing in the bathroom, you drag yourself into bed, where Hansol already sat, watching the TV. He changed into his familiar sweatpants and hoodie combo that you usually saw him in, and you felt your heart flutter. The longer you were around him, the more he began to feel like home. 

Though, maybe in a way he always had been. 

The headache you wake up with is violent, and out to seek vengeance on you for the amount you drank the night before. The sunlight in the room is too bright, the soft whirring of the AC is too loud, and you want nothing more than to hide and stay in the room. 

Beside you, Hansol’s presence is warm and grounding. He’s still snoring lightly, with his arms lightly wrapped around your waist. Your face is cozy against his chest, and he smells like a linen closet. No overbearing cologne like Seungcheol would always wear, just fresh and clean and comfortable. 

You softly grab ahold of his hoodie, pulling yourself closer to him. If you could live like this for the day, you’ll be content. But then Hansol stirs, and your heart breaks a little that it’s over already. When you don’t lift your head immediately, you feel Hansol’s grip tighten just the slightest. 

“How hungover are you?” He mumbles, his voice low and gravelly from waking up. 

“Too much.” You groan. “I hope I didn’t do or say anything stupid yesterday.” 

Hansol is quiet. Then, “You don’t remember anything?” 

“I remember leaving the restaurant.” You yawn, accompanied with a shrug. “I don’t really remember coming back here, though. It’s a bit fuzzy.”

“Oh.” Hansol says. 

You frown, then finally lift your head to look at him. “Why did something happen? Did I say something horribly embarrassing?”

The corners of his mouth twitch before he finally smiles. It doesn’t fully reach his eyes, though. But you figure it’s probably because he’s still waking up. “Nah,” he reassures you. “Nothing too crazy.”

Before you can ask what he means, he’s pulling away and it almost hurts when he does. Hansol rolls onto his back, then reaches for his phone on his bedside table. You sigh, then follow suit, grabbing your phone from under your pillow. It’s already almost ten, and the wedding starts in three hours. 

“I’ve been sleeping so well since we got here.” You announce, glancing over to Hansol. He’s scrolling on his phone mindlessly. 

“Yeah, uh,” he looks at you briefly before his attention flicks back to his phone, “me too.”

You discard your phone again, then roll on your side to face him. “What do you think our sleeping habits will be like when we get home?” You ask. “I’m holding out hope they’re going to get better.”

“I don’t think they will,” he admits with a laugh. “Besides, what’ll we do with terrace-time if our sleep schedules get fixed?”

“Damn,” you click your tongue. “Can’t give that up. It’s too precious to me.”

You’re staring at him, hoping for something–anything. A reaction, an agreement…you begin to wonder if maybe the vacation was just getting to you both. You’ve heard countless times of friends falling into weird situationships when they’re away from home, so maybe you’ve clung onto Hansol since he’s here with you and it’s easy. Except, the amount of times you try to tell yourself that, it doesn’t fully feel true. 

“I think I’ll shower and start to get ready.” He states, setting his phone down again. “Unless you want to go first?”

You shake your head, rolling onto your back. “No, you can go. I think I need a little bit longer to wake up.”

He says something else to you, but you don’t register it. Instead, you absentmindedly watch as he gathers his suit, then disappears into the bathroom. Once the water turns on, you bury your face in your hands. 

Maybe you just need to get over it. It’d be embarrassing if you tried to push the matter further only to find out Hansol never reciprocated those feelings. Besides, now that you knew each other beyond terrace-time, you didn’t want to lose him completely over some silly feelings from the adrenaline of vacation. He’s a good person, and good people have been hard for you to come across lately. That’s something you didn’t want to take for granted.

Poking your head around the corner, you see Hansol smoking on the balcony. His suit jacket is draped over his shoulder, as he stares out at the beach below. You can’t get your dress zipped and you feel a little embarrassed by it, but you also can’t exactly show up with your bare back on display and the risk of the dress falling off. 

“Uh, hey Hansol?” You meekly call out. He glances over his shoulder towards you. “I, uh, need help with my dress.”

He tosses the remainder of his cigarette into the ashtray, then meanders over to you. After draping his suit jacket onto the bed, you push the door open slightly. You’re holding the front of your dress up with one hand, giving a lopsided smile. 

“I can’t get it zipped.” You laugh nervously. 

Hansol doesn’t say anything at first. But his eyes drag over your body before meeting your gaze, and you feel your face flush. He swallows. 

“Yeah, okay.” He nods. “Um, you need to turn around, though, so I can zip it.”

“Oh!” You chirp. “Right. Sorry.” 

You spin to face the mirror across from you in the bathroom. Hansol hesitates before grabbing your waist with one hand, and the zipper in the other. His knuckles are cold as they gently brush against your spine while he zips. You hold your breath when he’s done, and neither of you move for what feels like several minutes. His hand is still at your waist, and you wonder if he can hear how loud your heart is beating.

“Hansol–” You stop, not really sure what you were going to even say. He lifts his head, meeting your gaze in the mirror. 

“Yeah?” He whispers, his breath hot behind your ear. 

“I, uh,” you shake your head, like that’ll snap you out of it. You settle on giving him a smile. “Thanks.”

He returns your smile. “All I did was zip your dress.”

“No, I mean,” you turn to face him, “thanks for coming with me. This definitely wouldn’t have been as fun without you.”

“Oh,” he nods. “Yeah, for sure. It’s been great. It’s nice having a new friend gained from all of this, you know?”

Friend. “Yeah.” You agree. “Although, I do miss our own spaces. I think terrace-time at the beach feels a little too luxurious for me, you know?”

“Definitely.” He gives your waist a quick squeeze, before dropping his hand at his side. “What do you think, should we get this wedding over with?”

“Please.” You groan, following him out of the bathroom. “Do not let me drink as much tonight, okay? Unless something horribly awful and dramatic happens, then I’ll probably want to forget it.”

“Heard.” He nods, slipping on his suit jacket. “Only getting plastered in case of an emergency: you got it.”

The venue is about as lavish as you were expecting it to be. There’s a gorgeous, floral archway at the end of the aisle, and elegant green, beige, and white decorations everywhere. The second that Seungcheol is in Hansol’s sight, he grabs your hand and tugs you closer to him. 

You take your seats towards the back, and settle as the last of the crowd trickles in. Despite being out of his line of sight, Hansol keeps your hand in his as he traces lazy circles on the back of yours with his thumb. His hand is larger than yours, but seems to mold perfectly against it. 

“What kind of food do you think will be at the reception?” Hansol asks, leaning close to you. 

You snicker, turning to look at him. “Probably something fancy that I’ve never heard of.” You whisper back. He’s close and your heart is beating at a million times per second, you’re pretty sure. You wonder if he can tell. 

“I just hope it’s something edible.” He grins, his voice low. “I’m a picky eater. What if there’s peanuts?” 

“If there’s peanuts, then I guess I’m killing you first.” You comment. “I’d have the high ground.” 

Hansol’s eyes widen. “I thought I was the one doing the killing here?” 

Instead of saying anything, you give him a wink and face forward again as you hear music begin to fill the venue. Hansol squeezes your hand gently, but doesn’t bother letting go. Not yet, anyway. But you’re really hoping he doesn’t. You like the way it feels in yours—warm and grounding. 

The two of you watch the families shuffle into place along with any remaining guests who have yet to sit. A few minutes pass before the ceremony begins, and everyone stands. The wedding party seems to take their sweet time walking down the aisle, couple by couple, until finally Yuna begins to walk with her father.

She looks beautiful. Even prettier in person, and seeing her eyes light up when she sees Seungcheol makes you feel…at peace, almost. You let your gaze follow hers to where Cheol is standing, with tears threatening the corners of his eyes. They look so happy. And a sudden feeling washes over you that since meeting Hansol, you haven’t spent your nights thinking about Seungcheol anymore. You realize that seeing them commit to each other like this was the exact closure you needed. 

But you also realize that you’re pretty sure you have feelings for Hansol. 

You forget his hand is in yours until he lets go and begins to lightly rub the small of your back. For a moment, you wonder if he thinks you’re hurt by the scene playing out before you. But when you glance back at him, whatever expression you’re wearing seems to clear it up for him. He smiles as everyone sits again, then shifts his arm so it’s wrapped around your shoulders. 

You like Hansol. 

Whatever the officiant is saying quickly becomes background noise, as your mind begins to spiral. This whole time you’ve been trying to write it off by the amount of time you’ve spent together, but you’re truly not sure if that’s the case anymore. He’s kind, and funny, and seems to know how to cheer you up despite you not ever verbally telling him. You glance over to him, but his attention is on the ceremony. As if he can feel your gaze on him, he looks over briefly, then smiles. 

‘What?’ he mouths. 

You grin, shaking your head. ‘Nothing’ you mouth back. 

After some obligatory introductions to some of Seungcheol’s family and friends, you and Hansol wander outside of the venue for a smoke. The butterflies in your stomach have not left since your realization during the ceremony, and part of you really wants to ask Hansol his thoughts about…well, everything. Getting closer to each other, this trip, and every interaction in between–you know in your heart that there had to have been something simmering this whole time. 

“I’m almost sad to go home tomorrow.” Hansol suddenly says as he leans against the wall beside you. “This trip has been a lot of fun. Quick, but fun.”

You hum, flicking some of the ash off your cigarette. “It’s been…” you trail off, not really sure where you were going with your sentence. Finally, you say, “Hansol, are things going to go back to normal when we get home?”

“What do you mean?” He asks, pushing himself off the wall to stand in front of you. “Define ‘normal’.”

You shrug. “Like, not seeing each other or hanging out everyday. Terrace-time being quiet…” you clarify. “I just–I guess I don’t really want to leave here and lose all of that when we get home.”

Hansol studies you for a minute, and you feel your cheeks warm. He presses the butt of the cigarette to his lips, inhaling slowly, before pulling it away again. When he exhales, he offers you a gentle smile. 

“To be quite frank, I don’t think I can even try to force myself to go back to that.” He admits. “Uh, but I would like to ask you something. I just need to know if it’s true or not.”

“Anything.” You reply quickly, suddenly growing nervous. 

He presses his tongue to the inside of his cheek, clearly nervous as well. “When you were drunk last night, you told me you thought I was pretty.”

“Oh my god–”

“Hey, I’m not done,” he laughs, tossing his cigarette into the ashtray beside the two of you. “You said you would say it sober, too. When you said you didn’t remember anything from last night, I kinda wondered if it was true or not.”

At this point, your face is probably bright red. Hansol seems to notice as he bites back a smile, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his slacks. 

“Jesus,” you laugh nervously, turning your head down towards your heels. “Uh, that’s really embarrassing on my part but…yeah. I do.”

When he doesn’t reply right away, you’re scared he’s going to reject you or tell you he thinks of you only as a friend. You force yourself to look up at him when a few moments pass, and his smile is gone, replaced by a much softer expression. 

“Good.” He finally says, taking a step closer to you. “Because I think the same thing about you.”

“Wait, really?” You straighten your posture, putting the rest of your own cigarette out in the ashtray. “Oh my God, I thought I was imagining things.”

Hansol presses his brows together. “You knew?”

“No!” You quickly say. “Not really. I mean, I thought you might’ve been flirting with me this whole time, but I was kind of worried it was just because of the fact we were on vacation and had spent a lot of time together. I didn’t think you really–”

You barely have time to register the fact that his lips are on yours before he’s cupping your face, and backing you into the wall. Your eyes flutter closed as you melt into his touch almost immediately. His lips are soft as they move against yours, slowly and carefully like he’s savoring every moment of it–like he’ll never get the opportunity again. 

But, really, you’d like to do this every second of every day with him now that you know what kissing him feels like. 

Hansol pulls away momentarily, prompting you to open your eyes. His chest is quickly rising and falling from the adrenaline of suddenly kissing you. His own cheeks are flushed, but the way he’s looking at you makes you weak in the knees. It’s in a way that not even Seungcheol has looked at you: with so much adoration. 

“So,” he sighs, his breath fanning against your face, “do you want to be my real girlfriend or whatever?”

You shrug lazily, trying to be nonchalant with him. But your giddy grin gives you away when you say, “I mean, I guess I will. Or whatever.”

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