SYNOPSIS: Huening Kai would do anything for his best friend Taehyun, and this one small favor is no exception. It appears that Kai’s fellow campus journalist Y/N has caught his attention, and Taehyun needs help connecting to them. Befriending someone outside of his small social circle wasn’t something Kai did often, but he comes to find that it’s easy to get close to Y/N—maybe even getting a little too close.
word count: 1k
“Two nacho platters, please.” This phrase had been spoken as regularly as Y/N did their laundry. With how frequently they visited this nameless food truck situated comfortably amidst other stalls in the outdoor food hall, the vendors behind the counter no longer needed to look twice to know Y/N’s order. At this point, Y/N only spoke it out of formality (and for the joy of it).
The vendor with the tattoo sleeve replied without looking up from his pan, back against Y/N. “Actually, Y/N, I was told to give you two platters for free.”
That was not part of the routine Y/N was used to practicing.
Y/N laughed in shock. “On the house? Is it a reward for being a loyal customer?”
“Nope, someone else paid for you.” He finally turned around to lay their order down the counter, void of any required cash transaction. Y/N stood astounded.
Of course, this was bound to be news as piping hot as the platter to Y/N’s friends. When Y/N relayed it over their table, Soobin was the first to react. “Jay got you those for free?!”
They violently slapped a hand over his mouth. “Say it a little louder for the rest of Asia to hear, how about that?” They hissed sarcastically.
“Well, I’ll be the first to thank him at rehearsals later for treating me with my favorite.” Beomgyu licked his lips and didn’t hesitate to dive into the free meal.
“How many times do I have to tell you? We don’t even know if it’s him for sure!”
“You’re just in denial at this point, Y/N.” Soobin shrugged, taking his own piece of nacho chip.
But they weren’t—and they knew they weren’t because they’ve been spending enough time with Jay lately to know.
Y/N wasn’t oblivious; they would have been able to spot if Jay had any sort of feelings toward them. In between the nights of practices that ended with both of them lying on the volleyball court’s floor to catch their breath and the cordial waves exchanged whenever they coincidentally passed by each other in the valley of their buildings, not once did Y/N feel Jay’s eyes linger on them beyond that. Not once did his cheeks flush and his words stutter around them the way they did around him.
Y/N was simply a coworker with friendly tendencies to him.
Slumping down opposite their friends, they started delving into the platter in defeat. Proving them incorrect was useless if it was just one stubborn soul against two. “Things would be so much clearer if the person sending all these gifts to me would just magically show up at this very moment.”
“Kai!” Soobin and Beomgyu suddenly exclaimed, waving frantically over Y/N’s shoulder. They looked behind to find that the tall, dark haired boy was indeed standing a few feet away from them, holding a food tray and grinning sheepishly.
“My friends are ditching me for today. Mind if I sit with you?”
“What makes you think we’d ever mind?” Soobin happily gestured at the spot beside Y/N. They shuffled slightly to the side to make way, unknowingly directing their gaze at anywhere but him. They coughed out the uncomfortable lump in their throat.
“We’re celebrating because Y/N just got treated with free nachos.” Beomgyu reported between bites.
“Woah! Today’s your lucky day, huh?” Kai smirked, nudging Y/N’s arm with his elbow.
“Here’s the best part,” Soobin added. “This is already the fifth in a series of gifts that Y/N’s been mysteriously receiving over the past few weeks.”
Beomgyu nodded excitedly. “It started with a daisy, then a basket of strawberries—“
“—then a pack of glitter stickers and a book of affirmations—“
“—and now we have deduced that they’re all obviously from Jay.”
“Beomgyu! Soobin!” Y/N’s face was heated. This was the last thing they wanted to discuss in Kai’s presence right now.
“Jay?” Kai glanced at Y/N, chuckling loudly. “Why am I only hearing about this now?”
Y/N wanted nothing more than to shrink in size at that moment. “I just, uh, wanted to make sure I confirmed the identity of this person—“
“Secret admirer.”
“—shut up, Beomgyu! Of this person before telling anyone else about it. Besides, these two bozos got the investigation covered already… but they’re doing an ass job at keeping it unbiased.”
“A secret admirer, huh…” Kai repeated.
Y/N found themself studying Kai carefully. His voice didn’t tremble in panic, nor was his face as red as theirs. His hands were not playing with the paper placemat beneath him like he usually did when deep in thought or uncomfortable. His eyes stayed with Y/N, cheekbones raised in a smile. He didn’t look like he was getting caught in the act of what they were describing.
It’s a relief Y/N didn’t jump into conclusions.
(Is it really a relief?)
“The thing is this person leaves no hints about their identity in these gifts, like they don’t want me to find them at all.” Y/N said. “But we can tell they know my specific interests enough to leave meaningful gifts.”
“They know you too well.” Soobin nodded at the book peaking out from Y/N’s tote bag. For such a small thing, it was a large boost to their energy and self-esteem. They kind of saw it as a compact and portable Huening Kai, always there to make them feel good about themself.
Y/N took it out to show Kai. “Remember when I told you I liked hearing words of affirmation? This person thought of getting me a whole book filled with them.” They flipped through the pages until they landed on their favorite.
I am a book
with the pages worn.
the cover is tearing,
the ink is fading,
but I swear I’m worth the read.
“I thought of you while reading this one because… well, because you listen to me. It’s like you could take all the time in the world for me, even if I’m busy and kind of a mess. You’ve never judged me from the start the way others would. It’s… you’re warm to be with, yeah?”
When Y/N looked back up at Kai, his eyes still had not left them, although they were wider now. “I… you thought of me while reading that?”
“Uh,” Y/N quickly shut the book in embarrassment.
“No, no! Don’t be offended! It’s just—you’re easy to be with, Y/N. I feel like I see new perspectives because of you. You’re naturally someone worth listening to.” He laid a hand over their shoulder, rubbing his thumb consolingly. “I’m sure your secret admirer feels that way about you, too.”
Prickly were the edges of Y/N stomach. Still, they managed a small smile.
“Now how’s Jay gonna top that?”
Beomgyu was barely quick enough to dodge the flying ball of tissue shot at him.
< prev | masterlist | next >
A/N: to everyone who thought the gifts were from kai… 🤷♀️ (sorry to you to y/n ☠️)
TAGLIST: open!! leave a comment below or send me an ask to be included in this taglist ^^
SYNOPSIS: Huening Kai would do anything for his best friend Taehyun, and this one small favor is no exception. It appears that Kai’s fellow campus journalist Y/N has caught his attention, and Taehyun needs help connecting to them. Befriending someone outside of his small social circle wasn’t something Kai did often, but he comes to find that it’s easy to get close to Y/N—maybe even getting a little too close.
< prev | masterlist | next >
A/N: SURPRISE we’re getting an update today, and i’ll be posting one everyday this week bc my workload has lessened immensely and i’m feeling generous 🥳!so has y/n connected the dots 😨⁉️
TAGLIST: open!! leave a comment below or send me an ask to be included in this taglist ^^
last night I had a dream where like every notable metal band that you could imagine was coming together to make the traveling wilburys of metal (that's what they called themselves) and like the first statement they put out was "YES, we will all be dying in a plane crash like the big bopper. stop asking us"
(sorry it's almost only Hyun-Su and the Lee siblings bc I'm obsessed)
Keep in mind some stem from my No Monsters AU where Hyun-Su is actually HEALING 😭😭 also sharing music is pretty stressful for me so be kind please !!!!! Or I'll cry
(Some can be a bit hard to understand too but feel free to ask if you're interested IDKK I just love talking about songs linked with my special interests)
Also for the ppl who are too lazy to actually check every song manually here's a Spotify link (or just ask in dms if it doesn't work) :
Hyun-Su
-Rootless - Marina
-Suffering - Amelie Farren
-Home - Cavetown
-Exile Vilify - Portal 2
-Numb Little Bug - Em Beihold
-Miss Wanna Die - JubyPhonic (I listen to this version for the lyrics at least)
-Happy - Marina
-Bad Apple! - RichaadEB Version (there's another batch of lyrics who fit)
-I Feel Fine - The Ghost Club
-Valley Of The Dolls - Marina
-I Got No Time - The Living Tombstone (I KNOW IT'S A FNAF SONG BUT TRUST ME ON THIS ONE PLEASE)
-SAD (Clap your hands) - Young Rising Sons
Lee Siblings :
-The Last Of The Real Ones - Fall Out Boy (Always saw it as familial, not romantic !!)
-Thank You Family - Twice
-I Am Not a Robot - Marina (I put it here bc works for both of them)
Eun-Yoo :
-Primadonna - Marina
-Oh No! - Marina
-Forget - Marina
-Rule #4 - Fish in a birdcage (See it as metaphor she's not really cut out of the world but as an autistic and difficult person to get along with, her brother is the only one who really gets her)
-Yes or Yes - Twice (Honestly the lyrics don't rlly fit anything it just gives me her vibes in her little drama queen princess narrative)
-What You Waiting For - Twice
Eun-Hyeok :
-Numb - Marina
-Hit The Snooze - The Living Tombstone
-Slipping Through My Fingers - ABBA
Bonus because I associate it with every of my favorite dynamics and duos from this godforsaken show :
-Feel Special - Twice
Another bonus ? I'm so kind ! Def a Sang-Wook/Jae-Heon song
titsay
gummygunk
snowghoul
annaxmalina
andulkaphoto
