𝒜.

she/zhe 20 nctzen

[donghyuque]

unknowingly. ᵏⁱᵐ ᵈᵃᵉʸᵒᵘⁿᵍ

female mc x boy best friend jaehee (who secretly likes her)

genre: college au, short story, ficlet, slow burn, (slight) angst, fluff

status: done

major characters: reader (as fmc), kim daeyoung (jaehee), zhong chenle

the mc serves as an insert for the reader but could also be read as her own character

A/N: i saw jaehee's finding psyche teaser pics back in feb and thought "damn he looks like the unassuming boy best friend that secretly likes you" and it rewired my brain so after the semester ended, i immediately wrote it. i can't write second-person pov, so just imagine the mc as reader: same difference. also, i used chenle as another major character and not another wish member because they're jaehee's friends here, though not highlighted much.

chapters

➳ Ⅰ ➳ Ⅱ ➳ Ⅲ ➳ Ⅳ ➳ Ⅴ ➳ Ⅵ ➳ Ⅶ

please don't reupload and plagiarize my work, thank you.

©DONGHYUQUE 2025

[donghyuque]

unknowingly. ᵏⁱᵐ ᵈᵃᵉʸᵒᵘⁿᵍ

female mc x boy best friend jaehee (who secretly likes her)

genre: short story, ficlet, slow burn, (slight) angst, fluff

status: done

major characters: reader (as fmc), kim daeyoung (jaehee), zhong chenle

the mc serves as an insert for the reader but could also be read as her own character

A/N: i saw jaehee's finding psyche teaser pics back in feb and thought "damn he looks like the unassuming boy best friend that secretly likes you" and it rewired my brain so after the semester ended, i immediately wrote it. i can't write second-person pov, so just imagine the mc as reader: same difference. also, i used chenle as another major character and not another wish member because they're jaehee's friends here, though not highlighted much.

chapters

➳ Ⅰ ➳ Ⅱ ➳ Ⅲ ➳ Ⅳ ➳ Ⅴ ➳ Ⅵ ➳ Ⅶ

©DONGHYUQUE 2025

[donghyuque]

unknowingly. ᵏⁱᵐ ᵈᵃᵉʸᵒᵘⁿᵍ

➳ Ⅶ

wc: 3.2k words

previous: ➳ Ⅵ fic masterlist

Yeon-ae's quiet and cold living room greeted the two of them as Daeyoung unlocked and pushed the door open to her apartment. After taking off their shoes, he placed her wet ones outside, making a mental reminder to properly wash and dry it later.

Though Yeon-ae had been absent-minded all the way back to her place, she couldn't help but glance in Daeyoung's direction when she saw him removing his gray jacket, revealing him in his black tank top. He placed the discarded clothing on the couch before returning to her side to assist her towards the bathroom on the second floor.

"Go wash up while I make some chicken porridge. You can come down once you're done." He said, patting her cheek and opening the bathroom door for her before making his way back downstairs to the kitchen. Daeyoung has not changed his behavior at all, so why is it that his gestures just now made Yeon-ae close her eyes and bite her lower lip in internal frustration?

She shook her head as if doing so would remove her thoughts about it and entered the bathroom, taking off her wet clothes. Yeon-ae put it aside on the sink for now and stepped inside the shower, turning the warm water on. She let out a sigh and brushed her hair back with her hands at finally feeling a bit more relaxed, with her mind clearing a bit.

Her thoughts drifted back to the confrontation with Chenle earlier, and she felt her chest constrict once more when she remembered the words he left her with. He mentioned that her closeness with Daeyoung would not have bothered him at all if it weren't for the fact that Yeon-ae's entire affect significantly changes when she sees her best friend — or was Daeyoung really just that?

They spent most of their lives being around each other so much that if she were to recall the memories from her younger years at this moment, she was sure that Daeyoung would be right there beside her. She didn't even notice when things began to change between them, because for her, being with him has always been so easy. The actions they do for each other came out naturally, and she had always known in her heart that she loved him.

Yeon-ae couldn't deny that in the past, when she was an adolescent, she had some thoughts of what it would be like to date him, and she recalled deeply pondering over it before concluding that things would barely change in their relationship since they were already close and affectionate. She hadn't even considered the idea of him dating someone, because even if the slightest intrusion of such a thought came across her mind, she would immediately expel it. Besides, Daeyoung had also told her that he wasn't interested in dating others—unlike her—and his words were, in a way, a promise that he would stay by her side. But could there be a reason for his indifference in the dating scene?

Despite her years of dating — well, "dating" — other people, she realized she was never as committed to it as she was with maintaining her relationship with Daeyoung. None of them had ever been remarkable for her because she would drift back to him without fail. Chenle was right about her connection with him being different; she does think about him often and always wants to spend time together with him. Perhaps those small and vague emotions she paid very little attention to had been the signs all along that she loved him in a way that was different from simply loving someone as a friend.

She was so confident in thinking that Chenle was her true love because even though she swore that she would take things seriously between them, at the end of the day, nothing changed, for she constantly goes back to Daeyoung.

Of course, she also had some other friendships where she cared for the people in her friend group, but as she was comparing that now to her "friendship" with Daeyoung, even she could tell that the two were wholly different matters. Most of what she feels with him was not present when she's with her other friends, and at that point, it was already telling that her dating endeavors were useless since the lines between platonic love and romance were so intertwined for her, much like her and Daeyoung.

She remembered another thing that Chenle mentioned. What was it that he said? 'My own feelings can never compare to what Daeyoung feels for you. ' Yeon-ae wondered what he truly meant by that, but was that statement really something worth overthinking when she knew it was exactly what it meant?

Daeyoung, for a fact, is as committed to maintaining their connection as she is, and goes through more lengths for her; from his simple actions of buying food or doing things to make it easier for her, to his gestures of treating her well, such as that time back in high school when he wore a hair band or two on his wrist so he can hand it to her whenever she needed it and when he handed her the scarf he was wearing to keep her warm during the time he picked her up on her date with Chenle.

Maybe one of the reasons why she didn't ascertain sooner that things had become more serious between her and Daeyoung was because of the fact that he had always treated her the same. He has been consistent with his behavior towards her all these years, but wouldn't that mean...

Yeon-ae snapped out of her reverie when she heard Daeyoung call her name, and she had just noticed that her shower head had been running for a while now, and her fingers were beginning to turn wrinkly. She quickly washed herself up, then replied to Daeyoung that she would be in a minute when she exited the bathroom to get to her room. She put on a pastel purple sweater and some beige sweatpants after taking into account how cold it was.

She brushed her hair as she headed downstairs, making her way to the living room and sitting down on the couch. At the corner of her eye, she saw Daeyoung pouring the porridge he made into what she assumed were two bowls for the two of them to eat from, and as usual, his cooking smelled amazing. He glanced in her direction from where he was standing, and seeing her already done showering, he carried the tray that contained their food and placed it on the coffee table.

"Here," Daeyoung sat beside Yeon-ae as he took one bowl and handed it to her along with a spoon. "Be careful, it's still hot." She nodded and whispered her thanks before starting to eat her share, while he followed closely after.

For the next few minutes, the two of them sat together in silence as they ate the newly cooked chicken porridge. It wasn't an awkward silence — 'awkward' was no longer a word in their vocabulary ever since a long time ago — but Daeyoung could somehow feel that there was a lingering tension coming from Yeon-ae after she confronted Chenle.

He was working with some of his group mates in the library late into the afternoon before he left the campus to head home, and by that time, he could already see from a distance that Yeon-ae was under the shade of a bus stop, who was talking with Chenle. The latter said some last words to her before stepping inside the bus, and Yeon-ae was fortunate enough that Daeyoung was nearby to shield her from getting further soaked from the rain using her own umbrella. He couldn't tell what the two of them had possibly spoken about, but judging from her expression, he must have said something to confuse her to a certain degree.

After a few more moments, when Daeyoung's bowl of porridge was already half-empty, he managed to finally muster up the courage to ask her regarding what went down earlier, "What did Chenle tell you?" It was the right question to ask, since he was aware that she only wanted to know why he was avoiding and hiding from her.

Daeyoung turned to face her and saw that she had paused from putting her porridge-filled spoon into her mouth. It was quite dark since he forgot to turn on the lights in the living room, and the source of brightness only came from the bulb above the stairs' midway and from the kitchen, but despite that, he could vaguely detect Yeon-ae's face flushing. She cleared her throat before setting the bowl down on her lap, her eyes looking at the coffee table across her.

"It's... kind of complicated. I don't know where to start," She scratched the side of her head, her lips pursed, thinking of how she should say it. After a few seconds of humming to herself, as if trying to get her thoughts together, she finally continued, "He said that he felt as though I'm only obligated to date him for some reason because I kept rescheduling our hangouts — you know, to make way for our meet-ups.

"He also included it didn't feel like I was entirely interested in dating him because I prioritized you over him," Yeon-ae looked at Daeyoung to examine his reaction and it was what she expected it to be; disbelief at being jealous at their date's closest friend, similar to hers a while ago. But before he could say anything, she raised her hand to stop him from spouting any pointless words.

"That's not it. He was talking more at the fact that instead of him, I looked happier to see you and when mentioning you, and he said he knows he can never evoke those same emotions out of me like you do, even if he spent years trying to do so," Yeon-ae's grip on her bowl tightened, and she would have burnt her hand if it hadn't cooled down by now. Daeyoung still gave no reply, but much like her, his heart started to race, his eyes also looking to his front.

"He also included that he could say the same thing about you, about what you feel towards me, about how you look at me. That you would do anything for me, but that much I already know." She said as she looked at the surface of her bowl of chicken porridge with a small smile. At this point, Daeyoung's pounding heart was ramming at his chest, and his entire body tensed up as it dawned on him that Chenle was implying that their current feelings for each other might be something more than the friendship label that they claimed it to be.

After Yeon-ae finished speaking, Daeyoung found himself at a loss for words, trying to process and organize the new information and its meanings in his head. For a while, he didn't say anything, and Yeon-ae was starting to grow anxious as each second ticked by without a response. This was starting to drive her insane.

The reply she received in question was him turning his head away from her, towards his right, and one simple nod, only being able to reply with, "I see." Daeyoung briefly cleared his throat and placed his bowl on the coffee table. This isn't normal, Yeon-ae thought to herself when she saw what he just did, and before he could stand up to avoid any topic being raised that was related to what was just said, she already grabbed him by his arm.

Daeyoung froze in his place, not daring to brush her off from him when he had always yearned for her warmth. The sound of his heart beating only grew louder by the second, already anticipating the words—no, the question—that would come out of her mouth. Yeon-ae stared at him with pleading eyes as she tightened her grip on him.

"Daeyoung," She began softly, "Please be honest. Do you have feelings for me?"

At that moment, Daeyoung heard the very words that he feared the most, feeling his heart halt to a stop from excessively pounding, then drop deep down into the abyss of his stomach. He didn't speak again for a few seconds, contemplating whether he should answer her honestly or spout a lie in her face to make her look like a fool, but he couldn't possibly do such a horrible thing as that to his beloved.

He inhaled a deep breath, then sighed heavily, finally turning his head in Yeon-ae's direction to meet her eyes with his own, and if she hadn't been sitting down, the yearning look in his gaze would have brought her to her knees. She then felt something bloom in her chest when he whispered the word, "Yes."

Yeon-ae felt like she was sent to heaven and back when she heard him say that, and maybe there really was truth to Chenle's words. She couldn't believe that she had no idea before the events happening right now that their feelings for each other were much more than what it was and that it had always been there.

"For how long?" She asked. There was no point in asking him to what extent he truly loved her, because she had always known from his gestures. "Ever since we were in high school," Daeyoung replied truthfully, thinking to himself that it was now or never and all or nothing. He doesn't have it in him to fabricate the truth. After all, he only knew how to hide, especially concerning his feelings for her.

"I don't know how it came to be either. I just woke up one day, and when I saw you that morning, I knew I had fallen in love. I thought it might have just been a crush or something, but I found myself feeling jealous when you were going out with someone at that time, despite knowing that it wasn't serious," He went on, even though Yeon-ae was no longer prodding him with another question.

"I also noticed that you loved calling and declaring me as your best friend, and what right do I have to take that away from you? I was afraid to tell you the truth of what I really feel about you, because what if you weren't interested in me like that at all? What if I'm not even as good as the people that you were dating?

"I didn't want to lose what we have if I told you the truth and it ended up that my feelings are not reciprocated. Besides, you were so set on searching for your true love; I was not about to risk making what we currently have into that ideal if it were just to break our friendship and my love is unrequited. It's not that I couldn't take a rejection; it's just that if you didn't feel the same, you might distance yourself from me, and I can't bear that possibility. I didn't want to lose you, that's why I kept it a secret.

"To be honest, I would have never told you the truth until or unless you yourself became interested in me, but that wasn't the case. Unfortunately, that Chenle guy somehow managed to see right through me and told you all of that." Daeyoung then touched Yeon-ae's hand, the one that had been holding on to him all this time. "I won't blame you if you avoid me starting from now on. I have already come to terms with the fact that—"

Before he could finish speaking, Yeon-ae reached for his face with her other hand, holding him still in place and stopping him from saying anything more. She gave him a stern look, "I know that I'm an idiot, but apparently, so are you, and an even bigger one." The sudden remark caught Daeyoung off guard, causing him to blink in confusion.

"Did you not hear what I said? That 'I'm always happy to see you and talk about you'? I didn't think too much about those emotions because I care about you so naturally. In fact, I'm a dumbass for not realizing sooner that out of all the relationships that I had, no one could compare to what you make me feel. You mean the world to me, Daeyoung. And you really think that I can avoid you after all this revelation and truth?"

Daeyoung looked at her as if she were not real, then he suddenly brought his hand up to cover his eyes and bit his lip, making Yeon-ae's hand on his cheek fall back on her lap. "Wait, wait, wait, this all feels too surreal. I feel like I'm being given false hope. Am I dreaming?" He muttered, and Yeon-ae saw that he was slightly shaking. He really is quite an idiot for thinking that she was playing with his heart.

She let go of his arm and instead, snaked her hand towards his to hold it tightly. "Daeyoung," She said firmly, which made him slightly lower the hand that was covering his eyes. God, what is she going to say this time? "I know I'm late in identifying my own feelings for you, but will you still have me?"

He blinked once, repeating her question in his head before he brought down his hand and held the one that was on his other palm, tightening his hold on her. Daeyoung looked her in the eyes as if she were everything that he had always wanted. "Why would my own heart ever deny you?" His response elicited a wide, bright smile from her face, and it led to them bashfully laughing at one another, finally processing everything that had just happened.

What Daeyoung used to fear the most from happening resulted in what he only used to dream of. He truly didn't plan to tell Yeon-ae about his feelings and he thought that he's going to take all of his love to his grave, but because of a certain turn of events, she also ended up feeling the same; just that her fixation on 'finding true love' has hindered her from identifying and settling for the truest love right beside her.

Daeyoung intertwined his fingers with hers, bringing the back of her hand towards his lips. Yeon-ae felt like her face was set on fire when he placed a kiss on it while looking her in the eyes, "I promise I'll be good to you," He whispered as she felt the movements of his mouth on her skin. This display of intimacy could make her pass the fuck out right then and there.

He then rested his right cheek on where his lips had just been, fluttering his eyes close as he breathed in her familiar scent. Yeon-ae, on the other hand, could only look at his serene countenance as her heart rammed inside her rib cage. She had thoughts of being intimate with Daeyoung before, but considered that it might be inappropriate given their previous label, but now that everything had come crumbling down, she couldn't believe that he was just as eager to hold her like this.

"You have no idea just how much I've loved you all these years."

➳ END. ♡

Bonus (from Daeyoung's POV):

➳ thanks for reading! much love ♡

©DONGHYUQUE 2025

[donghyuque]

unknowingly. ᵏⁱᵐ ᵈᵃᵉʸᵒᵘⁿᵍ

➳ Ⅵ

wc: 1.9k words

previous: ➳ Ⅴ fic masterlist

The next day, Yeon-ae once again tried to track down Chenle around the campus, staking out the spots he told her that he would usually be in during break times. On the bright side, unlike the past days, she could finally make out a semblance of his existence since she started to see him among the crowd. Maybe he was so successful with avoiding her before, since she was asking where he was from people who could easily warn him. That was her mistake.

Unfortunately, she didn't get to catch him leaving the campus, so she swore to herself that by Friday, she's going to have her hands on his collar and shake off any information from him.

Friday was much like the day before, but she finally saw him at his usual break spots. But before she could get to him, Chenle could already see her figure from a distance and get up to quickly leave. If it weren't illegal, she might set his hair on fire once she catches him next time.

Yeon-ae was free for the entire afternoon since her two classes were cancelled, but she promised one of her classmates, Kyungja, that she would participate in a different club's team-building activity as her group mate. Thus, she was left to wonder where she could find Chenle later once the event was done.

The activity came to a close around five in the afternoon, and because of the time, Yeon-ae was silently praying to herself that her prey was still within or at least not too far from the campus. She exited the front gate of the university and began walking back to her apartment, eyes glancing around her surroundings to find Chenle's build.

As if by some miracle, she actually spotted the guy she was looking for, who was walking just a few meters ahead in front of her, seemingly approaching the nearby bus stop. For a second, she was confused about why she would use public transport when he had his own car (lots of cars, in fact), but she immediately realized that it might be because of her anticipating him leaving. A change of tactics on his part... how clever, but not clever enough.

It was the perfect opportunity to talk to him, seeing as no other people were waiting at the stop. Yeon-ae then rushed to follow him there, and as she ran, she felt raindrops falling from the sky. Just great, she groaned to herself as she slowed down a little to sift through her bag for her umbrella, but after patting for a while, she couldn't feel the familiar shape of it. She clicked her tongue in mortification when she remembered that she had left it in Daeyoung's apartment when she came over. She must have forgotten to put it back inside.

Yeon-ae was near the bus stop anyway, so she just sprinted as fast as she could under the shade, panting as she slowed down once she no longer felt her clothes getting damp. Chenle was wearing headphones the entire time and was scrolling through his phone, so he didn't even notice her arriving. She reached out a hand and tapped him on his shoulder, clearing her throat even though he couldn't hear her.

One quick glance in her direction made Chenle flinch, and the reaction that he showed when seeing her made Yeon-ae stare at him with a poker-faced expression. So he really has been avoiding her like the plague.

Chenle took off his headphones and rested them around his neck, while at the same time pushing his phone back in his coat's pocket. He didn't even show any signs of distress or fear on his face; it was as if it were just another day. "Hey, Yeon-ae. I didn't expect to see you here." She folded her hands and rolled her eyes at his first statement to her after not talking for a week. When did he become so puny and annoying?

"Oh, I'm sure. I'm not interested in what the hell you have been up to. Let me get straight to the point: why have you been avoiding me?" Yeon-ae raised a brow, making it clear that it was both a question and an order. Chenle stared at her in silence for a few seconds with a look on his face that she couldn't decipher, before she added, "Explain everything. No hidden details."

The black-haired guy sighed in dejection, knowing that her stubbornness would not leave him in peace until he had told her why he was acting the way he was. "Fine, fine. I'll give you your answers," He inhaled deeply, as if to prepare himself, then exhaled, making direct eye contact with her, "When we go out together, I didn't feel like I was your date, and I was afraid to confront you with that."

Yeon-ae was left dumbfounded by his confession, but she still didn't understand, and so she asked, "We haven't been dating for long, but I'm sorry I made you feel that way. But what exactly do you mean by that? Was I not assertive enough? Did I lack any qualities you find in a partner? What is it?"

"It's not that. It's just that it feels like you're only obligated to go out with me since you kept rescheduling most of our dates, and you always make way for those meet-ups with your best friend. It's like you're prioritizing that guy over me."

"It's not even an assumption, Chenle. I am prioritizing Daeyoung over you. I'm doing exactly that because he's my best friend and he means a lot to me. I always prioritize my friendships over my love life, and he has been with me through the highest and lowest points of my life. But I still cleared my schedule to hang out with you, didn't I? It has only been a few weeks — we could have had more opportunities to get to know each other better in the future. You can't simply leave me hanging for being envious of someone who is close to me."

"I wasn't talking about that, Yeon-ae. That's not the point. I don't care about a potential partner's close best friend. It's just that..." He paused from continuing his words as if he was stressed out over something. Yeon-ae gave him a bewildered look. "Well? If it wasn't that, then what is it? You can't just stop explaining that—"

Chenle sighed in exasperation and looked her once again eye to eye, "Have you never noticed the way your eyes brighten up when you see him? Or when you talk about him?" He finally asked, and Yeon-ae was momentarily confused before she processed what he was talking about, and for some weird reason, it made her heart skip a beat.

"..What.. what are you talking about?"

His slightly furrowed brows and knowing stare sent a hidden message towards her, while also partially showing a bit of pity as she didn't notice the obvious much sooner. "Whenever you mention him to me, there's this certain look in your face that I can't even begin to evoke from you. You speak so fondly of him, and you smile... differently when you're with him.

"I know that it could have been just the product of a strong friendship that has remained unwavering for years, but during the short moments that I saw you with him, you felt like... yourself. And even though I knew you were honest with me about your personality and interests, it felt as though you had bared your soul to him, and I know I can't compete with that."

Yeon-ae could hear her own breath shaking at his statement, stunned at his observation of her relationship with Daeyoung. He was not entirely wrong; she had long bared her soul to him, and she was sure Daeyoung did the same for her too, but did whatever they had really more than just the friendship that she claimed it to be?

"I could also partially say the same for Daeyoung," Chenle added, and just like always, much like before, her pounding heart rose at the very mention of his name, "I even know him less than you do, but I can tell just by the way he looks at you that he will do anything for you. Don't you realize it, Yeon-ae?"

His question briefly brought her back to thinking about all the years she has spent with Daeyoung, and there was some merit to his words — lots of merit. For a fact, Daeyoung keeps her out of trouble, and she knows without a doubt that they always have each other's backs. He has told her countless times in the past, from their childhood and adolescent years up until now, and he will most likely continue telling her the same in the future.

"Even if I spent months, maybe even years, dating and dedicating myself to you, I know that you can never fully give your heart to me when you have already given him yours and his to you. Besides, my own feelings can never compare to what Daeyoung feels for you. I only realized that after that museum date that I never had a chance with you from the start." Chenle paused for a bit and sighed again, only this time, it was more calm and composed.

Yeon-ae felt her heart beat even faster at what he was possibly insinuating. "What does that mean?" She asked as she tried to reach out to him, her voice a whisper. Before she could take out another answer from him, the bus that Chenle had been waiting for finally arrived.

He turned to face her and gave her a sincere smile. "I felt like a lot of pressure was just removed from my shoulders. I should have spoken to you sooner instead of avoiding you like a wuss. Take what you will about what I said, but know that I told you the plain truth of what I saw." He stepped backwards in the direction of the bus' open doors, "Goodbye, Yeon-ae. See you." He then boarded the transportation vehicle, and she watched as it slowly drove away.

"Wait a minute!" She exclaimed, and in another desperate attempt to get further explanation from him, Yeon-ae subconsciously chased the bus, soaking herself in the heavy rain. She knew full well that she could never catch up to it, but she just needed to know if he was sure of the implications that he mentioned.

Her running legs slowly came to a stop on the sidewalk when the bus was far enough from her to be reduced to a small dot in the distance, until she couldn't see it anymore. Yeon-ae was now fully wet from head to toe, standing there under the merciless downpour of the rain.

She blinked the remaining raindrops away from her eyes when she no longer felt the dampening pressure on her head and heard some sort of dull material block the rain. Yeon-ae looked beside her and her heart began to race faster once again when she saw that it was Daeyoung, holding an umbrella over both of them, with more of the shade covering her than him, as evidenced by his soaked left shoulder.

Yeon-ae also noticed that there were some apparent wet spots on his jacket. He must have been looking for her relentlessly to be in such a state of disarray. She turned her own eyes to his, and she really must have been a fool to have missed the way he had always gazed at her.

Daeyoung wrapped his right arm around her shoulders, carefully placing his hand on her and lightly rubbing it to comfort her. "Let's get you home." He softly said and walked with her back to her apartment.

next: ➳ Ⅶ

©DONGHYUQUE 2025

[donghyuque]

unknowingly. ᵏⁱᵐ ᵈᵃᵉʸᵒᵘⁿᵍ

➳ Ⅴ

wc: 1.5k words

previous: ➳ Ⅳ fic masterlist

Yeon-ae told Daeyoung of her plans on how she can spend a bit of time with Chenle starting next week considering how busy he claimed to be, and that is through simply chatting and catching up with him during the last meeting they're going to have in their organization, which is intended to plan their next steps right after winter break. Daeyoung wished her good luck and hoped that the worst-case scenario wouldn't happen.

After their noon classes on Monday, Yeon-ae mentally and emotionally prepared herself to face Chenle in the meeting room. He usually sat beside her during the planning for the documentary showcase program two weeks ago, but now that it's over, he might return to where he was originally seated, but she was hoping that he would still stick by her.

As she stepped inside, she was met with disappointment once more when she saw Chenle's familiar silhouette sitting at the opposite row from hers, speaking with his classmates, while her current seatmates were back to Baekhee and her other classmate, Kyungja. Chenle's eyes turned to the door as he was chatting and saw Yeon-ae standing there. She then felt her heart drop to her stomach when he only gave her a tight-lipped smile and went back to diverting his attention to his friends.

Her eyebrows furrowed in dismay as she went to her seat, immediately sensing that Chenle was acting weird, and she feared that the worst-case scenario that Daeyoung spoke about had just happened. Baekhee saw the expression on her face and figured out what she was concerned about, since they knew that Yeon-ae and Chenle were not hiding the fact that they were dating.

"Hey, Baekhee," Yeon-ae started, turning towards her friend with pursed lips, "Did Chenle say anything to you when he got in? Did he come here or something?" She tried to mask her worry, but Baekhee sensed it anyway. Despite the harsh truth, she shook her head as a response. "No. He didn't come in this direction at all. He went straight to his seat there."

What the fuck?, is all Yeon-ae could think of when she heard that. What is his problem? The sudden change of attitude from him is starting to throw her off, and she doesn't even know why he was acting like that when their date ended on good terms last week. Was it because he's ashamed of not showing up to their carnival date last Friday? But he apologized for that, didn't he? The mere fact that he still managed to look at her meant that that part was at least true to some extent.

So just what the fuck is going on with him?

Before she could stand up and confront him, their president had already called their attention and began their last meeting before winter break. Unlike the program planning, the mapping of future activities when they returned in February didn't require much brain power, so Yeon-ae didn't need to be overly focused. Besides, she was too distracted by looking back and forth at Chenle's direction, and even as time passed by, he didn't even spare her a glance.

The meeting lasted for only thirty minutes or so, and when their president finally ended things for the day, Yeon-ae swiftly shot up from her seat to follow Chenle and demand an explanation from him. She was about to catch up to him when a few more of his other classmates blocked her vision, exiting the room first before her.

By the time she stepped outside, she failed to find any signs of Chenle in the hallway. She let out an infuriated scoff, wasting no time on taking her phone from her pocket and messaging him.

With how he has been acting lately, Yeon-ae doesn't expect him to read her texts, and especially won't be bothered to reply. She then informed Daeyoung of what happened again, telling him that she would try again tomorrow in hopes of catching Chenle unaware and finally forcing him to explain himself.

There was no organization meeting the following day, but because Yeon-ae had been acquainting herself with his classmates, she managed to ask where their room was for their last class that afternoon. When she got there, students had just began pouring out from the doors, and she skimmed through the countless heads poking out for Chenle's familiar pale features.

Even as the room was emptied of the students left inside, she didn't find Chenle coming out from any of the doors. She couldn't possibly be wrong because she greeted his classmate from whom she asked about their schedule, but it's also possible that her eyes were not focusing enough and she missed his exit. Up until now, Chenle has still not responded to her texts, and it was really starting to piss her off.

Yeon-ae made an attempt again on Wednesday and tried to find him in the school cafeteria during lunch this time. She remembered that his and his friends' usual spot was at the farthest left corner, so she tried her luck there. When she was close enough to see all the faces of the people surrounding the table, she couldn't spot Chenle there either.

Twice is a coincidence, thrice is a pattern. At this point, she has already came to the conclusion that Chenle was actively avoiding her. The reason for that, she doesn't know, so she went up to the table that was filled with Chenle's friends to try asking them, "Hey, guys. Uh, have you seen Chenle? I wanted to talk with him."

One of them, Mark was his name, if she recalled correctly, also had his eyebrows furrowed when thinking about his friend's whereabouts. "We saw each other earlier today and invited him for lunch, but he said he wasn't feeling well, so he passed on our offer. He didn't look sick though, and we have no idea where he is. Sorry, I couldn't tell you more, Yeon-ae. This new behavior of his is just as weird for us as it is for you." He said with an apologetic tone.

"That's okay. Thank you, Mark. Enjoy your lunch." She waved goodbye at them and exited the cafeteria, her heartbeat racing — not from nervousness but from anger. Even if her suspicions of him dating another girl over her or at the same time as her would be proven right, she doesn't care as much about that as him telling her the whole truth of exactly why he was avoiding her.

She couldn't believe his audacity in showing interest in her first, then backing out on her after only a few weeks of going out together. Yeon-ae had already considered that as a red flag by now because of his inability to have an upfront communication with her, and instead, he resorted to hiding and sneaking away. She doesn't care what he's up to now; she just wants a proper explanation.

It was ridiculous of her to have thought before that he was different from the others — that he would be the true love that she had been looking for — but she only made a fool out of herself once again. Her stupidity should have knocked her down a notch this time around, but Daeyoung's emotional support whenever she feels down about her dates had always brought her back on her feet, which allowed her to continue going out with others.

Yeon-ae then decided to hunt him down for the explanation that she was seeking from him, but of course, chasing him down the hall and around the campus was not a choice, as it would only startle him and could even get her in major trouble with the administration. If she were lucky enough, she might find him outside of the campus instead, and he would have no choice but to tell her everything.

She brought her newly-found bloodlust-ridden determination to her meet-up with Daeyoung, and when she opened the door to the cafe, he could already sense the ominous aura emitting from her person. Yeon-ae had a dark look in her eyes as she approached their table and sat in her seat, gripping both of her palms together to restrain her rising wrath and calm herself down.

Daeyoung already knew what she intended to do just by observing her, and just like always, he fully supports her decision, especially this one in particular. The drinks he previously ordered arrived, and he slid the glass of lemonade towards Yeon-ae, including a small pack of mint candies. "How long do you think it would take for you to find him?" He asked; he really was curious.

"By the end of this week. And I will make sure of that." Yeon-ae replied, and he could detect the resolution in her voice. She gulped down a quarter of her lemonade drink, then popped two mint candies into her mouth. Daeyoung smiled in amusement to himself when her facial features finally softened and she deeply inhaled and exhaled, indicating that she was starting to calm down. "Do you feel a bit better now?"

She nodded at his question while chewing on her candies and looked at him appreciatively. "Yes. Thank you, Daeyoung." Yeon-ae held his hand in hers, her grip tightening just a little. Only he was capable of knowing her well enough to make her relax like this. Daeyoung soothed her knuckles with his thumb, and she thought then if he had always been this warm. "You're welcome. You know you always have me."

—

next: ➳ Ⅵ

©DONGHYUQUE 2025

[donghyuque]

unknowingly. ᵏⁱᵐ ᵈᵃᵉʸᵒᵘⁿᵍ

➳ Ⅳ

wc: 2.6k words

previous: ➳ Ⅲ fic masterlist

Winter break is now only two weeks away, and Yeon-ae was slowly but surely seeing the light at the end of the tunnel because their professors seemed to have gained angel haloes and wings for lessening the workload on them, saying that they, the students, should be prepared to relax for their upcoming break instead. After months of constant hell, her schedule finally lightened up, and now she has quite a lot of free time, all of which she spends hanging out with her friends, Daeyoung, and going on dates with Chenle.

For the next couple of days, Yeon-ae and Chenle started to see each other outside of organizational matters and went to some diners and leisure spots around the area, some considerably farther and cheap, while others were quite expensive. Chenle was kind enough to let both of them split the bill whenever they go out (except at the fancy and pricey restaurants since she's simply not as wealthy as he is) so that she won't feel too guilty about having him spend so much for the two of them.

They managed to go on to that delayed arcade date, and Yeon-ae could not believe herself that Chenle was so mediocre at most of the games that they played (except the basketball hoop one, of course). He was just as embarrassed because he wanted to show off since he was usually good at it, but fate seemed to work against his favor at the time, though she only found this loser-like behavior quite charming.

When their afternoon classes were cancelled on a certain Thursday, Chenle took her to a zoo thirty minutes away from the university campus. Yeon-ae didn't expect this kind of date until after a few months of going out, but she didn't particularly dislike it. In fact, she thoroughly enjoyed herself, especially after finding out that the peacocks had shown great interest in Chenle.

He then brought her to a museum, since he remembered that she had mentioned a while back that she hadn't been there for a long time. Compared to their zoo expedition, this date was considerably tame and chill, and it allowed Yeon-ae to know his thought processes and what he thinks about history. As far as she can tell, he's not the intellectual that she thought he was, but compared to her previous dates, he was certainly better. Not any better than Daeyoung, for sure, she thought, since he's a History student and everything here is merely a breeze for him.

As their tour in the museum was coming to an end, Chenle asked her why her meet-ups with Daeyoung are only study sessions and not hangouts where they go to different places, because if that were the case, they could have visited the museum more often. "Well, they are both study sessions and hangouts, Chenle. I guess we just didn't really see a reason to go anywhere else since we're simply satisfied with having one another around," Yeon-ae replied with that fond smile on her face.

Their heads turned in the direction of her hand when they heard a notification sound from her phone, which she was holding. She opened her screen to be greeted by a message from Daeyoung, which said that he was at a store near the museum to buy some groceries and asked her if she wanted him to pick her up from her date in a few minutes. She checked the time to see that it was already six in the evening. They already had an early dinner, so she doubted that Chenle would ask her to eat again.

"Oh, Daeyoung is near here. He's going to pick me up in a bit." Yeon-ae informed Chenle as they slowly made their way out of the building. He glanced at her, saying, "I thought you two meet up on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It's Monday though." She noticed the slightly jealous tone in his voice, but she only ignored it because it really was not something to get worked up over.

"Hm, yeah, but he's still my best friend. Besides, I do think he needs some help with a task this time. Just a gut feeling," As they descended down the stairs, Yeon-ae caught sight of Daeyoung just arriving at the front and in the act of taking his phone from his coat's pocket. He stopped himself when he saw her and instead waved hello, half of his smile hidden by a dirty white scarf wrapped around his neck.

Yeon-ae hopped towards him with Chenle tailing her, beaming at the presence of her dear friend. "Right on time, my trusty knight." She exclaimed as Daeyoung removed the scarf from him and wrapped it around her instead. "I hope you had a good date, Your Highness. God, why didn't you bring any type of warmer? The weather is getting cold lately," Daeyoung's gaze then glanced at the man behind her, and he gave him a small smile and a nod. "Hello. Chenle, right?"

The mentioned guy nodded, responding with a tight-lipped smile. "Yep. You're Daeyoung, if I remember correctly. She mentions you a lot." He chuckled, and it made Yeon-ae lightly hit Chenle on his arm. "Don't tease," She quickly turned back to her best friend, "It was only because you'd be more knowledgeable of the stuff inside this museum since, you know, History student and all."

He patted her hair, then her cheek. "You honor me with your confidence in my skills." Yeon-ae rolled her eyes at him playfully, then looked back to her date. "Thanks for today, Chenle. I enjoyed it as usual. Like we agreed, it's my turn to choose our date spot next time, so just wait for my text, okay? Bye!" She began walking away while motioning for Daeyoung to follow her.

As he gave her an 'ok' sign, Chenle didn't miss that subtle and fleeting look in Daeyoung's eyes as he watched Yeon-ae from a short distance, and the possible implications that his mind concluded from that made him furrow his eyebrows. Is that what he thought it was? It was there for barely a second, but he could sense whatever feeling the guy in front of him was potentially concealing.

Before Daeyoung could take a step to follow her, Chenle spoke, which stopped him in his tracks, "Hey, Daeyoung, do you..." He trailed off the rest of his question and let the words linger in the cold early winter air. Despite not finishing what he said, Daeyoung already seemed to know what he meant, and he solely responded with a blank smile. "There is nothing to be said. It doesn't matter." He answered, bowing to him before catching up to Yeon-ae.

It was a vague response, like the murky waters of an unkempt and abandoned pond, but it was as clear as day to Chenle, and he already knew that he was proven right.

—

That night, after getting back home to her apartment, Yeon-ae immediately messaged Chenle on where she wanted to go for their next date this Friday, which is at an erected carnival near the beach. She always had that in mind ever since they started going out, and she thought this would be the perfect time to go to such a place.

She recalled Chenle having seen her text before going to bed, although he didn't reply or send back a sticker to acknowledge it. She didn't read much into it since he's probably busy, so she let it go and went to sleep.

Within the three days prior to their date on Friday, Yeon-ae hadn't seen, bumped into, or passed by Chenle around the campus, which she found a bit odd since sometimes, she usually comes across him at the university cafeteria during lunchtime. He hasn't responded to any of her messages as well. On one occasion, she recognized one of Chenle's classmates and asked where he was. He replied that the guy has been busy with a group project that is due this Thursday. For some reason, Yeon-ae was relieved to hear that, assuming that he might have been carrying their workload because he had incompetent group mates.

On the morning of their carnival date, Yeon-ae texted Chenle that whoever arrived first on the designated time at one in the afternoon would wait at one of the food stalls near the merry-go-round. Much like the past few days, he only read her message and didn't reply. Even at that point, she was still not suspicious, thinking that he was too busy getting ready. Once she had packed her things in her handbag, she then headed to the carnival.

When Yeon-ae got there, she was a bit confused that Chenle had not shown up yet, since the two of them arrived at their meeting place around the same time. Though she was starting to worry, she still held out some hope that he would be running late and sat down on one of the tables near a cotton candy stall.

For thirty minutes, Yeon-ae checked her phone again and again for any sign of reply from Chenle, but as the time ticked from one o'clock sharp to one thirty, she was starting to grow nervous. She immediately texted Chenle on where he is, asking if he got lost, and if he's still busy, but even as another thirty minutes ticked by, there was still no reply from him. He didn't even bother to open her messages.

She must have been a fool to continue waiting for someone who's never going to come, but after another hour (it's currently three in the afternoon), Yeon-ae finally received a text from him.

Excuses, excuses, excuses, Yeon-ae thought to herself as she read his lengthy message, one slab after the other. She couldn't believe that Chenle stood her up on their date, and when she decided on the place too, no less. She understood his responsibilities, of course, but he still should have let her know way ahead that he couldn't meet her today or in the next two weeks before winter break. She could've done much more productive tasks at the time that she was waiting for him to show up.

Yeon-ae didn't know that he had it in him to be so... obtuse. She thought that he would be at least upfront and honest about the current busy state of his schedule, which hindered him from meeting up with her. Instead of only leaving her messages on read, he could have spent that time sending her a text that he's caught up in a lot of things in his personal life.

With an annoyed and dissatisfied sigh, Yeon-ae shoved her phone into her handbag and stood up from the stool she had been sitting on for hours. She's already here, so she might as well make use of her remaining time this noon to get into the rides she hadn't been to before. It would be a bit boring being all alone, so she decided that next time, she would bring Daeyoung instead so they could have one more memorable moment shared with each other.

The next day, Daeyoung messaged her in the morning if she could come over to his apartment instead of meeting up at the usual cafe, since he had too many papers containing their quizzes that he had to sort through, and he couldn't possibly bring them outside. Yeon-ae then replied that it was no problem, and internally, she was thinking that a certain date could have also done the same thing.

She arrived at his apartment around lunch and was just in time to see Daeyoung finishing up cooking his signature soybean paste stew, the delicious scent warding off the remaining disappointment she felt in her gut because of yesterday's experience. "Oh, perfect timing. Can you get the utensils, please? I'll go take care of the rice." Daeyoung said as he placed the big bowl of soup down, then strutted back to his small kitchen.

"Yes, chef," Yeon-ae responded with a salute and went to do as she was told. Daeyoung walked back to the small dinner table with two smaller bowls of rice and placed them down, while she set the utensils on top of the bowls. The two of them sat down on their chairs on opposite sides and began to eat.

A taste of the stew sent Yeon-ae squealing in joy, feeling as if she were in heaven. "Daeyoung, you are always impressive as ever." She praised and took a few more bites. The flattering comment made Daeyoung's ears redden while he ate his own share. "You keep acting like you haven't tasted my cooking before. By the way, how was your date yesterday?"

Yeon-ae paused from further devouring the vegetables in the stew and set her bowl down on the table, her tongue clicking in annoyance at remembering what went down, or rather what didn't go down as planned. "I was supposed to meet Chenle at the carnival, right? Well, he didn't show up." That made Daeyoung freeze from whatever he was doing, his eyebrows creasing at this information.

"I waited for a few hours for him, thinking that he might just be late, but I only received these texts from him at three. Mind you, I was waiting since one," She took her phone from her pocket and handed it to Daeyoung, showing him what she was talking about. "He better be grateful that I'm not suspicious about his actual whereabouts. Knowing him, he might be telling the truth... I think." She wanted to say it with confidence, but found that she couldn't because she had only known him for a few weeks.

Daeyoung rubbed his chin as he studied the messages that Chenle sent, and Yeon-ae noticed that he looked like he was about to come find that guy and force an explanation out of him. "Well, that's... rather weird on his part," He commented, his voice low, while handing her phone back to her. "I don't want to jump to conclusions either, but he better be truthful about his words." He added as he resumed eating, silently listing this off as a red flag.

The girl found herself agreeing as she set her phone aside. "Yeah, but let's not overthink that right now. Your soybean paste stew is way too good to be paired with thoughts of a disappointing date," Yeon-ae handed him some of her tofu, since he enjoys it more than she does, while Daeyoung laughed at her remark.

Once again, she found herself no longer thinking about whatever happened yesterday after chatting a little with Daeyoung, and it was times such as these that she was grateful that his mere presence could easily dispel any problems she might have in mind. Without much thought, she told him, "I really like being around you, Daeyoung."

He turned his head back at her in surprise, wondering where that came from. Instead of prodding for any details, he just silently smiled back and gave a nod, "I also like being around you, silly," Daeyoung replied as he raised his spoon filled with soup to his mouth, and before he could gulp it down, he whispered lowly to himself, "More than you know."

She raised a curious brow at him when she caught sight of the bobbing of his Adam's apple from her peripheral vision, "Hm? Did you say something?" Daeyoung simply shook his head in dismissal and refilled his bowl with the stew. "It's nothing. Let's finish eating soon so we can start sorting out my quizzes and doing our assignments."

next: ➳ Ⅴ

©DONGHYUQUE 2025

[donghyuque]

unknowingly. ᵏⁱᵐ ᵈᵃᵉʸᵒᵘⁿᵍ

➳ Ⅲ

wc: 4k words

previous: ➳ Ⅱ fic masterlist

For the next few weeks in the month of November, Yeon-ae has been preoccupied by both her curriculum workload and responsibilities as one of the members of their organization's logistics team. As always, it was stressful, but the next meetings became more tolerable since she was working with Chenle most of the time, and it looks like she was right about him being fun to talk to.

They have only excessively spoken to each other on three of those meetings and occasionally chatted with one another through messages, but Yeon-ae's confidence about him being interested in her only grew stronger. It was getting apparent in those moments, and of course, she shows back that she also wants to take their relationship to the next level.

Despite only speaking face to face during meeting hours, Chenle made the work progress enjoyable and occasionally jokes around with her and their other fellow members to lighten up the mood. In a way, it did help remove some pressure that Yeon-ae was putting on herself, and as she continued to converse with him, he fortunately is the smart person that she initially thought he was.

Naturally, she updated Daeyoung with these "developments in her love life", as she called it, and as much as he secretly tried to nitpick on the smallest details about the guy to be worried about, it generally didn't bring up any red flags. Though Yeon-ae's stories might be a bit exaggerated, they both know that Chenle was a decent man at best.

The meeting that will be held this Tuesday afternoon is their last before the program will be held on Friday, and the room was packed and hectic when Yeon-ae got there. Their president asked the respective committees for updates on their work and if things are ready to go for the upcoming event.

One of the members from Yeon-ae's own team raised a concern that she forgot to tend to one of her responsibilities, which is to get mini bouquets made from crochet to give to the judges as tokens of appreciation, and being a new member and originally from a different city, she was not sure where to buy them around the area.

Chenle suddenly raised his hand, "Noonah, Yeon-ae and I will take care of that. I know where to find them." Yeon-ae jumped at Chenle mentioning her name then gave him a look. "Is it really no trouble, Chenle?" The worried member asked and bowed to him in acknowledgment again and again when he confirmed that it's fine.

"Now, why are you dragging me into this, Zhong Chenle?" Yeon-ae asked once their president concluded the meeting, with Chenle laughing at her addressing him by his full name. "Hey, don't say my government name like that. Also, we're partners in this anyway, so where I go, you go," He stood up and reached his open hand out to her.

Yeon-ae glared at him, though she was not actually that mad, but as she was about to put her hand on his, he added, "Besides, with how busy we are, isn't this a good time to go on a date?" She completely froze when she heard him say that, and she spent a lot of seconds properly processing the words that he just spit out.

She stared at him with wide eyes, while Chenle only looked at her in anticipation, one brow raised as he waited for her answer. After a few more beats of silence between them, she spoke with careful consideration, "Chenle, did you just ask me out on a date?" She clarified, thinking that she might have misheard him a few minutes before. She truly could not believe her ears.

He nodded, motioning his outreached hand once more. "Yes. Is.. that fine with you?" He asked, and if Yeon-ae had no shame left, she would have outright admitted that she had been waiting for him to say that to her and that she expected this ever since their first encounter, but since she has self-control, she smiled sweetly as an answer, taking his hand in hers. "Sure. But we still have to buy those mini bouquets for the program, you know." She reminded.

Chenle grinned as he pulled her up from her seat and made their way outside the room. "I know, I won't be forgetting that. And don't worry, you'll get yours from me, too." He made a shushing gesture and winked at her. She laughed in amusement as she stepped aside to make way for him to get out.

Yeon-ae turned around to face the hallway where they would be leaving from and was surprised to see Daeyoung waiting nearby. An even wider and brighter smile broke out on her face upon seeing him, fueled by the cute hand wave that he greeted her with. She quickly made her way in his direction, putting her hands on her hips. "I didn't expect to see you, Daeng. What are you doing here?" She asked.

Daeyoung brought up the small box that he was carrying, "Mom sent me some homemade cookies, and I received way too many, so I thought I would give you a few. I already gave some to Sion hyung and the others earlier; this should be the last extra batch. Of course, I chose the flavors you like best." He reached out for her right hand and placed the bottom of the box on her palm.

"I literally can't stress enough that you're the best." She looked at him with shiny eyes, and Daeyoung covered them with his hand. "Oh, don't start giving me that look," His gaze caught sight of Chenle from across the hallway, standing rather awkwardly while waiting for Yeon-ae to finish speaking with him. He then returned his eyes on her, "Is that the Chenle guy I've heard so much about?"

Yeon-ae quickly glanced at the other guy, maybe smiled at him since Chenle smiled back as well, then turned back at Daeyoung with a nod. "Yup. And Daeyoung, my gosh, he asked me out on a date..! My foresight doesn't fail me." She whispered-shouted, shaking one of his shoulders with her free hand.

Daeyoung's eyes widened a bit at her words, and he felt his chest tighten once more. He doesn't know why it did that. There's no point overthinking it.

His partially shocked expression then changed into a half-smile, and he put an arm around her shoulders to serve as a hug. "You're a wizard, Yeon. I didn't know you had it in you. Successfully manifested a date but not Miss Gong's retirement." He winced when she pinched his side all of a sudden in response to his comment.

"I can multitask, you know! Just you wait, I'll manifest that hag's retirement harder after this." Yeon-ae took Daeyoung's hand for a pinky promise while he was partly slouched, recovering from the pain caused by her wicked pinch. He only laughed and ruffled her hair. "Fine, fine. Good luck on your date, witch. Don't stay out too late."

She stuck her tongue out at him as she walked back to Chenle. "I know that, pup. See you!" Yeon-ae waved goodbye and headed to the mall with her newly found date (and to run last-minute errands for their program). Daeyoung waited for their figures to step into the elevators before heading in the opposite direction, going back to his apartment with a somehow heavy heart.

Yeon-ae and Chenle reached the mall, where he said there's a shop on the third floor selling crafts similar to crocheted mini bouquets. The two decided to get the most important thing done first before going around the establishment at their own leisure. They used the funds handed to them by the member originally appointed to buy the tokens, and Chenle used his own money to purchase a different mini bouquet for Yeon-ae to serve as a remembrance of their first date.

Unlike the past three dates she had in college, Chenle was more considerate, proactive, and especially not boring. Their conversation flowed smoothly like water in a stream, and she saw that as a good sign that their chemistry is a new and different matter altogether.

As they roamed around each floor of the mall, starting from the ground up to the third, they talked about things they found interesting that were displayed behind the glass in the stores. Yeon-ae shared that she's been getting into fashion lately with how many outfits she has swiped to her cart and was planning to buy a few of them, leaning towards pastel color palettes. She also told him of her hobbies of watching dramas from different countries and posting blogs on a website to share her thoughts on certain news and social issues.

She mentioned playing chill and fun games such as Animal Crossing, and Chenle happily chimed in that he plays it as well (and both have not logged in for a few months now because of their busy schedules). Yeon-ae decided to let him have his turn, and Chenle added that he doesn't actually play it as often since he mostly focuses on playing basketball.

When they got to that topic, Chenle became even more talkative, and Yeon-ae could easily tell that this sport is one of his biggest strengths and passions. He even fondly mentioned his favorite player, Stephen Curry, and how one time he was fortunate enough to meet him during one of his games.

Chenle continued to describe that experience of his in perfect and meticulous detail, and as they walked in front of a long line of restaurants, both of their heads turned to look at his stomach when it let out a loud rumble. He chuckled in embarrassment at letting Yeon-ae hear his hunger, but she only laughed, saying that it doesn't bother her. She checked the time and saw that it was already six in the evening, so she invited him to grab dinner.

After placing their orders, they went to find a table, which was just right beside the counter. As Yeon-ae settled into her seat, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She fished it out and opened the notification from Daeyoung, who sent her a photo of his dinner and of himself enjoying his food. She then opened her front camera and took a photo with a peace sign, sending it to him with a reply that they are still waiting for their food.

"Was that the friend earlier?" Chenle asked curiously, pointing at her phone with a finger. Yeon-ae nodded as a reply, a calm smile apparent on her lips. "Yes, my childhood best friend, Daeyoung. Even now, during college, we spend the most time together. I'm glad to have him around," She looked down at her phone, fondly staring at something on her screen — perhaps the selfie Daeyoung sent.

Subconsciously, she stroked his cheek on her screen with her thumb. "He's one of the most important people in my life," There were a few seconds of silence before Yeon-ae raised her head back at Chenle with an apologetic smile, then chuckled. "Sorry, I got a bit sentimental back there. Daeyoung has always been a comforting presence for me, especially this crazy semester. Oh, our drinks are here." She turned to the waiter to receive their refreshments, and while she was doing so, Chenle couldn't help but think over those previous seconds — something like a short moment of vulnerability, and maybe, even a tinge of a hidden truth.

—

The first date went really well, and Yeon-ae, excited as ever about development in her love life, informed Daeyoung of how much she enjoyed strolling around with Chenle, also hoping that in the future, they can go to other places to further get to know one another and deepen their relationship. She couldn't spend her time giggling over this experience though, as she had to make sure everything was prepared for the program this Friday.

The day of the said event finally came, and though it is supposed to start at one in the afternoon, she had to be there in the morning already to help out with finalizing the preparations. She greeted and passed by Chenle, who was arranging the decorations on the stage, while she put down her things in the staff room behind.

For the entire morning, they ran through the entire program flow and made sure every designated activity was done within its set allocated time. They only had a quick lunch around eleven in the morning, as they had already started to entertain fellow students from their department when they began to flock inside the venue not much later.

Both Yeon-ae and Chenle are responsible for making sure that the time for each segment does not overlap with the next one, and thankfully, the early opening of the venue made it easier for them to let students get there on time. Once the clock struck one, the long-awaited program finally started.

The flow went exactly as the duo planned, though they overlooked the fact that the open forum segment became longer than intended because of how much some students inquired about the documentaries. Fortunately, that did not interrupt the time slots for the next activities, and after a few hours, the program wrapped up to a satisfying end.

The professors who stayed after the majority of the students left congratulated the officers for their hard work (and unsurprisingly, the evil Miss Gong was no longer there — probably tending to matters that need her attention more or whatever). With the help of the university janitors, they cleaned up the venue and packed up their stuff. Yeon-ae bowed in acknowledgment to her fellow members as she exited with Chenle.

"It's finally over!" She stretched her arms over her head and grunted at the pop she heard from her shoulders and the rumble from her stomach. "Oh, God, it looks like I'm more exhausted than I initially thought." Chenle chuckled, realizing that they're both even now (heard each other's stomach growling).

"It's getting late already. Come on, let's eat. I know a really good place." The black-haired guy grabbed her hand and led her to a Chinese restaurant near his house (yes, he bought a house a few minutes' drive away from the campus).

Yeon-ae ate dishes one after the other until she physically couldn't anymore. She couldn't bring herself to worry about her other pending tasks right now when she feels like she's both in heaven and about to burst her stomach and spill her organs. She wanted the two of them to split the bill, but Chenle had already paid for everything before she could even offer. She just realized then at that moment that he was disgustingly rich. At least he's not a major asshole like other rich boys and actually regularly uses his brain.

Chenle was kind enough to drive her home to her apartment, and when her head hit the soft pillows and her body collided with the mattress, she immediately passed out from exhaustion and fullness.

She would have been fucked if the next day had not been Saturday because she woke up at ten in the morning. Thankfully, her meet-ups with Daeyoung on this day usually start during lunchtime, so she groggily rose from her bed to start bathing and dressing up.

Yeon-ae was brushing her hair when she sifted through her missed messages from last night, most of them coming from a worried Daeyoung. Instead of replying to his texts, she called him, to which he immediately answered, as if he had been waiting for it, "Yeon-ae! Are you okay? What happened after the program?" He began to ask.

"Hush down, Daeng. I'll tell everything... later, when we see each other at the cafe," She heard him groan at her reply, thinking that she would talk of things over the phone. This made her click her tongue, as if scolding him. "Don't be impatient. I'll be there in thirty minutes, I promise I'll tell you everything. Don't you know that best?"

She smirked to herself when she was greeted with silence, knowing that Daeyoung was rolling his eyes in defeat on the other side of the phone. "Ugh, fine. I'm already here. Have you had brunch yet? I can order for you now so you can just eat when you get here."

Daeyoung's understanding and considerate behavior have convinced her that gods somehow do exist, and she was surely in their favor to be lucky enough to be friends with a guy such as him. "My lovely Daeyoung, you flatter me by keeping me in your thoughts." She said in a singsong voice while putting away her comb.

He only chuckled at that, and unbeknownst to her, his ears reddened. "The usual, then? Or—" Before he could finish, Yeon-ae already replied with a 'mmhm' to confirm. "Alright then, see you. And don't be ridiculous. I always think of you." Daeyoung answered back before ending the call.

His words momentarily caught her off guard, even though he had said similar and more flattering things in the past. Though it warmed her heart all the same that he thinks about her, because she thinks of him often as well. He's a person that she would never want to lose.

After the call with Daeyoung, she saw messages from Chenle as well, who was inviting her to go on an arcade date later at night. Yeon-ae whispered an 'oops' to herself since she responded to her best friend's texts first before her date's. That doesn't matter anyway, because even if she had read Chenle's messages first, she still would have declined, just like now, since it was Saturday, meaning that she had a study meet-up with Daeyoung.

Once she texted Chenle back, she quickly put her essential stuff inside her bag and then set out to their regular cafe. Yeon-ae entered to see Daeyoung at their table, taking a photo of the food he ordered for her along with her favorite drink, which is lemonade. "I'm here, don't go ahead and eat all that." She said as she drew closer to him, settling down on her seat. Daeyoung gave her his usual adorable smile.

"You know I don't eat past my limit," He replied as he set his phone aside and placed the plate in front of her. The glass of lemonade followed after he took a small sip from it, which made Yeon-ae give him a look. "What? I paid for that." This time, she was the one who sighed in defeat because she lost count of how many times Daeyoung had brought her food without reminding her to repay him (yes, it was free).

The guy across her rested his chin on the back of his hand, as if waiting for something. "Well? Aren't you going to update me on what happened after the program?" Without much more prodding, Yeon-ae shared that she didn't get to check her phone again after the event concluded since she remembered it being at ten percent battery life.

She then told him that Chenle bought her dinner at a Chinese restaurant and even dropped her off at her apartment. "As you can see, my date is also a gentleman, so you can rest easy. And then you know, I woke up late — but I did immediately call you after I took a shower." She stated matter-of-factly.

The heavy breath that Daeyoung let out led Yeon-ae to believe that he was holding it in anticipation as she recalled the events last night, and was only relieved now after she finished speaking. "That's good to hear. At least you're safe."

While Yeon-ae was rummaging through her bag for her things, she remembered the other messages she received from Chenle and thought that she should share them as well, "Oh, Daeyoung, something crazy happened, too. Right after you dropped the call, I saw that Chenle messaged that he wants to go to the arcade later, but I had to decline."

That brought Daeyoung to a state of confusion. "Why did you decline your date? We have all afternoon, and we can end the day at six so you can meet him this evening." He tried to reason since Yeon-ae had always looked forward to going on a date with someone, and hearing her turn down one baffled him.

She gave him a deadpanned stare, grabbing both of his cheeks with one hand. "Because Wednesdays and Saturdays are our time together, you idiot. I may want to have an active love life and find true love, but you are more important to me than any of that. I won't let such a thing hinder our relationship, you understand, Kim Daeyoung?" Yeon-ae snapped her fingers, and he only nodded with his ears red again (he couldn't say much anyway with how she was holding him).

"Good." She let go of him and brought out her tablet while Daeyoung massaged his cheeks, reaching for the half-empty cup of oolong tea he must have ordered earlier on his right and drank from it.

The presence of the beverage made her raise her brow, since it normally signifies that he is stressed and lacks sleep, which rarely happens. "Hey, Daeng, what's up? Do you need any help?" She asked, reaching out for his free hand and gently holding it. Daeyoung glanced at his tea, then back at her, realizing that she had already made the connection. "It's such an embarrassing thing to be stressed about, honestly. I don't think I can share it with you."

"You do know that I have witnessed more embarrassing things from you, right?" This made him scoff, then laugh, even though Yeon-ae knows she's not even that funny. "It's just that... one of the requirements for our major before winter break is to pass written notes of ten chapters on our main reference book. I could do it by myself, but the deadline is this Monday, and I have only finished the first chapter last night. I might need some help." Daeyoung shyly said.

"That's not even something to be embarrassed about. Geez, Daeyoung, "Yeon-ae motioned her hand at him, "Give me some pages from your ring binder and send me a PDF of your main reference book. Four chapters for you and five for me, then?" She further inquired as Daeyoung did exactly as she asked him to, and he nodded at her question.

He then registered what he was asking of her in his mind, "But wait, aren't you busy, too? I can't possibly—" Yeon-ae brought her pointer finger in front of his lips to stop him from talking any further. "Yes, and you can help me with that once we finish yours. See how busy we are, and you wanted me to go on that arcade date with Chenle? You must be going mad too, Daeng," She teased, which made him pout.

"I just wanted you to be happy..." He murmured under his breath, and yet Yeon-ae still managed to hear it, making her laugh out loud. "Goodness, you act like you don't make me happy. Maybe you forgot that I'm also reliable. You know that I have your back too, right?" She smiled at Daeyoung this time to reassure him, and it was working like a charm.

"Besides, you look a lot like a wet puppy right now. How could I ever refuse you, you adorable thing?" Before he could move his face away, she had already caught his cheeks once more and squished him hard, much to both his devastation and enjoyment. Daeyoung grumbled as Yeon-ae scrambled his face and removed her hands from him again.

"Alright, I got it. Let's get started so we finish this early." Though he wasn't sulking anymore, he still had that pout on his lips, and Yeon-ae had to physically restrain herself from pouncing on Daeyoung, who must have been a humanized puppy — a puppy who is apparently too tall.

Yeon-ae opened her phone to access the file she had Daeyoung send to her, and at the same time, received a reply from Chenle.

She smiled at the fact that her date was also so understanding, and despite the cancellation of her arcade date with Chenle, she was not actually as disappointed as she thought she would be, as she found herself here in a quiet cafe with Daeyoung. In fact, she felt happy and relieved that this time, it was her turn to actively help the most irreplaceable person in her life.

next: ➳ Ⅳ

©DONGHYUQUE 2025

[donghyuque]

unknowingly. ᵏⁱᵐ ᵈᵃᵉʸᵒᵘⁿᵍ

➳ Ⅱ

wc: 2.5k words

previous: ➳ Ⅰ fic masterlist

Apart from the busyness that her course curriculum provides, Yeon-ae is also an active member of the main organization of their department. Fortunately for her, she was not an actual integral officer but only a part of the Logistics team, but things could get worse for her (and all of them, really) when a program for the students in their department is in the works.

During their last major class for the day, Yeon-ae received a notification from their organization president announcing that there would be a meeting regarding planning a program in their department dedicated to showcasing a handful of the remarkable documentary videos that they had passed a few weeks ago, which were carefully selected by their professors. Her heart began to race upon reading it, because not only was she involved in the Logistics team (meaning she's about to get busier), but also because she was silently hoping that her group's video, which she edited, would be one of the select few.

She can only know when she gets there, so after the class ended, she, along with her friends from the same section, headed to their organization's meeting room in the next building, texting Daeyoung that she would be running a bit late to their usual meet-up. It came as no surprise that it was nearly packed with fellow members, and she was fortunate enough that their logistics head saved her a seat. After a few more minutes of waiting for the rest to arrive, the meeting finally commenced.

Their president revealed the five documentary videos that were chosen by their professors that especially stood out, and the program is meant to show them to students from other sections and first-year students. Yeon-ae's eyes widened in surprise and partly relief when she saw their video included in the selection, and one of her friends, Baekhee, quietly congratulated her.

The main focus was then turned to the logistics team, since they're going to be responsible for the overall flow of the program. As Yeon-ae was about to volunteer to plan the events within the program and their allocated time slots, their head had already given her that position and handed her a paper on a clipboard to show her the rough draft of what the flow would be like.

"Oh, Chenle, can you help Yeon-ae filter out which events to retain for the program? Yeah, she's right there, thank you." She heard their leader speak to someone as she skimmed the document, and after a few seconds, she saw from the corner of her eye that a person—perhaps the Chenle guy their head had mentioned earlier—sat down beside her. "Heya. Yeon-ae, right?"

She simply nodded, then turned to him, putting the paper in between them and only giving the black-haired guy, she noticed, a quick glance before pointing at one of the tables, "See here, can I clarify what is usually done in this event? I just joined the logistics team last semester, so I'm not familiar." Yeon-ae said rather apologetically.

The Chenle guy squinted his eyes and leaned a bit further towards the paper to get a better look at the words, as if he could understand them better like that, then nodded in realization. "Oh, that. It's sort of an open forum after certain presentations during a program. That would be good to implement this time around again, right? The professors judging the contestants can further scrutinize which members have a good mastery of the documentary content and production." He shared his thoughts, and Yeon-ae found herself nodding in agreement.

"You're right, though we probably have to limit it only to a few questions so there's still time for other activities," She began to write something of note at the corner of the paper and continued, "We should also set a category or theme for what kinds of questions will be asked by the audience as well. Any ideas?" She looked up at him and only then noticed that he was staring at her with an amused expression.

He quickly cleared his throat and played with the pen on his fingers. "Maybe questions about the members' insights about their own documentaries, and if their answers really align with their rationale." He replied, to which Yeon-ae quickly jotted down his thoughts on the paper. She tapped the pen on it, as if that's a finishing touch, then beamed a smile at Chenle. "Thanks for that. Should we decide on which ones to remove?"

As they discussed which activities to go first and which would follow after for the upcoming program, their president had already concluded the meeting, with most of the logistics team remaining in the room to finalize their initial ideas. They then managed to finish the program flow and inquired of their fellow members if they wanted to make any changes to it.

"Looks good!" Their logistics head affirmed, thanking them for their hard work for the day and mentioning that they can now leave. Yeon-ae groaned as she stood up from her seat and stretched out her arms, while the guy she was working with just a few minutes ago only whistled with satisfaction that he was finally free. She chuckled at that, "Geez, that barely took a toll on you."

Chenle grinned and folded his arms, almost haughtily, "Well, when you've been through worse before, this is nothing, really. I assume you haven't been through worse yet?" He humored, and Yeon-ae sighed nervously. "I'm currently going through the worst now, unfortunately. Your first year must have been crazy for you to have called it the worst already."

"Oh, yeah, definitely. You were not under Mister Kang last year?" He asked, and Yeon-ae shook her head. "If you think Miss Gong is evil, he's in a whole different league of it. He retired after the second semester last year, so we're the last ones to taste his wrath." Yeon-ae winced as they both laughed at Chenle reminiscing about his struggles. "I guess I should be thankful that Miss Gong is the worst that I have to go through." She replied.

He shrugged his shoulders playfully as the two of them exited the room, with Chenle opening the door for her, letting Yeon-ae leave first and following right behind her. "You're pretty fun, Yeon-ae. It's a shame I only started talking to you in the middle of this semester." He lightly scratched his head as he spoke.

"You're fun to talk to as well. And you helped me a lot with that stuff earlier. Thanks, Chenle," She adjusted her bag and hugged the clipboard she was holding onto this whole time. "I'll message you again once I have thought of the designated time slots for each activity so you can check them. Sounds good?"

"Yeah. Let's talk again soon. I hope to see you around, Yeon-ae!" Chenle waved goodbye at her as he walked away, turning to the right of the hallway to go down the stairs. The girl remained silent and stiff where she was standing, processing the words that he said. After deciphering the context, Yeon-ae's hands flew to grasp her head when she realized that he might be showing interest in her.

'Let's talk again soon' is nothing unusual; they would occasionally see each other during their organization meetings for the program, and they also work together, hence conversing with him again is not out of the ordinary. But 'I hope to see you around' could mean that he wants to see her often outside of those said meetings. She then remembered that Chenle also mentioned that she was pretty fun to talk to and showed a bit of regret for not talking to her sooner.

"Holy cow," Yeon-ae whispered to herself as she concluded that going out with him wouldn't be so bad. He's very easy to talk to and obviously smart from their exchange earlier during the meeting. It's been so long since she swiftly clicked like that with someone (or had the time for such, in that matter). She couldn't believe that she was naturally finding a potential date or even a potential long-term partner.

Yeon-ae felt a small burst of excitement within her chest, and she quickly set out of the university campus to catch up with Daeyoung in their usual cafe. When she got there, she saw her best friend eating ice cream from a cup while scrolling through his phone. Daeyoung raised his head from where he was looking and flinched when he saw the state Yeon-ae was in: disheveled hair and clothes, and sweat gathering at her temples.

"What the hell happened to you?" Daeyoung asked as if he was berating her, yet she did not miss the concern slightly apparent in his voice. He stood to hold her shoulders and push her down on her seat, taking his handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat from her face. Before Yeon-ae could tell him about the possible development in her love life, Daeyoung handed her a glass of water and pushed her hair strands away from her neck to wipe from there, too.

Yeon-ae wasted no time drinking down the water he handed her, then set the glass down, grabbing Daeyoung by his forearms. "Daeyoung, listen — okay, that's enough, I'm good now, thank you." She laughed as she held his hand, which was occupied with his handkerchief. He only gave her a look that signified for her to start explaining the whole thing so that he wouldn't prod her for more questions, then sat back down in his seat while removing his reading glasses.

"So I told you we had a meeting in our organization, right? And I was tasked to sort out which activities to include for an upcoming program, then our logistics head asked a guy to come help me. I was quite surprised that he's actually helpful — and as far as I can tell, he's quite smart — then we talked a bit before going our separate ways, and you know what he said? He looks forward to talking again soon and to seeing me around. He wants to see me often, Daeyoung, do you know what that possibly means?" Yeon-ae was undoubtedly geeking, and she shared her thoughts and experiences with Daeyoung so excitedly.

He rested his cheek on his palm, head tilting a bit, and raised a brow at Yeon-ae to further humor her. "Ah, this could only mean one thing in your personal dictionary." She nodded her head so fast when Daeyoung was finally on the same thought wavelength as her. "Yes, exactly! He might be interested in me. And the thing is, I think this would be different from the rest. I feel it in my gut."

"And what exactly do you mean by that?" Daeyoung mused, and despite his playful inquiry, for some reason, he felt his heart tighten. Just a bit.

Yeon-ae was grinning ear to ear at this point. "You know I haven't dated for months now, right? And just now, as if by some sort of miracle, someone is showing interest in me again, and I actually feel the same way! A relative period of calm, then a potential date suddenly shows up... Isn't that some sort of sign that this might develop into the true love I have always hoped for?"

"I haven't heard those two words from you for a while now." Daeyoung chuckled. What he said was true; Yeon-ae would occasionally bring up the words 'true love' whenever she found a date, was currently going out with someone, or ended a date with that person. In fact, that is what enables her to regularly go out with other people exactly because she wants to find it.

One need not look far for the origin of this fixation, since it stemmed from her own name. 'Yeon-ae' means love, romance, relationship, or romantic relationship in general, and it was given to her by her mother as something akin to a wish that in the future, once she is old enough, she would eventually find it.

Because of this, whenever she started developing a crush on someone during her high school years, she would go out with them, but she knew that it could never be serious. This then led her to think that she might finally find true love during her college years since she and her potential partner would be adults by this time. Apparently, her past three dates, including the guy from the Engineering department, were just trial and error.

Despite her lack of evidence, Yeon-ae was fairly confident in her gut feeling regarding the initial connection she had formed with Chenle, and that it would only develop as they went out together and got to know each other deeply. She believes that this might be all her years of dating experience have led up to.

"Yes, but believe me, Daeyoung. I think this is it," She reached and clasped her hands on his own across the table, looking at him with those hopeful eyes. "I'm still a teeny tiny bit unsure, but if there's a chance that he would ask me out on a date, should I go?" She asked, and Daeyoung wondered if she was aware that he had a say on the matter, since she seemed like she had already decided on that.

He held her hand softly in response at first, then sighed, "You do know that even though I would tell you not to go, you still would anyway? And look at how ecstatic you are. You're just basically begging for me to say yes." Yeon-ae's already wide smile became even wider as she successfully convinced Daeyoung to let her go on that possible date (there was no convincing in the first place).

"This is why you're the absolute best, Daeyoung!" Yeon-ae grabbed both of his cheeks and rubbed them, messing up his hair as well in the process. Daeyoung removed her hands from his face, which didn't meet much resistance because of how strong he was. "Alright, enough, I can't see. I always support you, I know you know that, but the moment that he shows any red flags—"

Yeon-ae rolled her eyes and sighed, cutting him off, "Yeah, yeah, I run the other way and let you give him a good talking-to," Daeyoung nodded in satisfaction and grabbed another bite from his melting ice cream. She glanced at the cup and saw another spoon poking from it, so she reached for it so she can also take a bite. "You saved this for me? What a gentleman." Yeon-ae waved the small spoon in front of him.

Daeyoung scoffed, a laugh trailing it, as he wore his reading glasses again. "It's what you deserve," He replied knowingly while putting the pen she usually borrows from him right in front of her. She keeps returning it, so he might have to give her one for herself. Yeon-ae's smile softened at his response, appreciating the smallest gestures he does for her.

He then pointed at her with the tip of his spoon, "But if that guy is not going to be, I'm going to kick his—"

"Ah, I get it already! So strict." She covered one of her ears while rummaging through her bag for her notebook. As she brought it out, Daeyoung included with pouted lips, "Now, your only concern is the time on when to hang out..." He glanced at her and grinned, pleased at her annoyed expression.

"We'll figure that out as we go on, okay? Geez."

next: ➳ Ⅲ

©DONGHYUQUE 2025

[donghyuque]

unknowingly. ᵏⁱᵐ ᵈᵃᵉʸᵒᵘⁿᵍ

➳ Ⅰ

wc: 1.8k words

fic masterlist

One thing that Yeon-ae expected for her sophomore year in college was that things were about to become worse and undoubtedly merciless, and she was not proven wrong. By her standards, the first semester was fairly consistent with her prior expectations; hectic, but manageable. Perhaps it was the pure and innocent energy she had back in her first year that she somehow brought along to her second year, wanting to do really well with her subjects and tasks, to not disappoint her loved ones and herself. Much to her relief, she passed the first semester with flying colors, and she was partly terrified of what the second semester had in store for her.

She was right to be scared. Being a Communications student is not for the weak. Yeon-ae thought that she had never been busier in her entire twenty years of existence. This amount of workload, projects, and reports would have sent her high school self into a cold coma, and if she didn't have the current determination and support needed, it would have done a great number on her, too.

It did a great number on her regardless. A handful of their professors had disgustingly unreasonable amounts of expectations for the deadline of their respective submissions, and Yeon-ae had lost count on how many times she stayed up until three in the morning with her group mates to finish their pending projects on time, having to get used to only four hours of sleep.

Their busy schedule had her thinking that they already felt like they were in their internship, though that was still not even due until their third year. All this effort and nearly sleepless (yes, nearly, because Yeon-ae refuses to give up her sleep) nights should have been worth the credit it is due; she greatly thinks they should have been paid for how unrelenting the workloads are.

Despite that, she managed to find the time to watch dramas while working on less strenuous tasks that only needed a little of her brain power, such as that one time she was editing a video documentary for one of their subjects. The series has been on her pending list for a while now, and coincidentally, the plot revolves around characters who are college students. She could only focus and actively nitpick on the inaccuracy of the experience.

"How do they have the time to go on a date??" She asked herself aloud in astonishment as she watched the main characters go on that said date. The difference between the college life in dramas and real life is apparent, and she was quite envious because, despite wanting to go on dates as well, she simply lacked the time. However, she probably wouldn't have chosen another course, as this one cultivated the skills and talents that she was the most confident about - though she can't help but be bothered that she had not been on a date for so long.

The last one that she could remember was near the end of the first semester; Yeon-ae had been casually talking with a guy from the Engineering department. He was decent-looking but not particularly exceptional, and he suddenly stopped talking to her when she shared her grades with him. She initially didn't know why he did that, but later found out from their mutual acquaintance that he felt inferior to her. Her disappointment about their severed connection did not last long because the last thing she wants to do is to continue dating a fucking pussy.

When the second semester started, she wanted to reach out to people that she may have possible potential relationships with, but her plans immediately went down the drain after only the first week as they were bombarded with tasks. Yeon-ae had plans on going out with someone when she successfully finished her workloads three or two days before the deadline, but unsurprisingly, there would be new things to do even before she could attempt doing personal stuff.

At this point in time, Yeon-ae could vividly imagine spiderwebs gathering in the dating apps within her phone, because even opening them would waste much of her limited and precious time. It is a shame, but she would have to prioritize her studies first, since even though she wants to find her true love, it will not pay the bills.

The only thing that has not changed from her personal schedule ever since her first year is her bi-weekly meet-ups (every Wednesday and Saturday) with her childhood best friend, Daeyoung, whom she has known all her life. Yeon-ae felt like the heavens blessed her when she found out that he was going to the same university as her, because only the gods would know what could have happened to her mental state if he hadn't been there to mentally and emotionally support her.

She sounded like she's exaggerating, but she actually isn't. Yeon-ae and Daeyoung had been stuck to each other's hip since their parents introduced them to each other when they were three years old, and they were nearly inseparable since then. She was glad that even in their college years, Daeyoung is one of the constants in her life, and she finds herself at peace knowing that his presence is within reach, since they have promised to always look out for and be there for each other.

Their bi-weekly meet-ups are routine at this point, and Yeon-ae would have to lose her mind to change this particular schedule. In some way, Daeyoung's comforting presence calms her down and prevents her from reaching the tipping point of any possible crash-outs or mental breakdowns. She wished she could provide the equal amount of support to Daeyoung as he does to her, but her academic responsibilities prevent her from fully committing to the bit.

"Don't stress yourself over that, silly," He once said when she expressed her concern on these seemingly one-sided reassurances, pinching Yeon-ae's cheek hard to keep her awake and focused. "Having you around is comfort enough for me." And just like that, once more, he put her mind at ease.

Today was Wednesday, meaning they're going to study together, and both of them decided to meet at their usual hangout cafe a few walks away from their university. Their last subject had just ended at five in the afternoon, and when Yeon-ae checked her messages, Daeyoung had already informed her that he had been in the cafe for an hour. With a smile, she texted back her thanks and told him she would be there in a few minutes.

When she got to the small establishment, she immediately found the towering man at their usual table near the far left glass window. There were not many people around, like always, and Daeyoung is simply too recognizable for his own good. As she walked towards his direction, he lifted his eyes from his notes at the sound of her footsteps and adjusted his reading glasses on his nose, waving his hand at her, to which Yeon-ae waved back.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Daeng," She said apologetically with the use of his nickname, plopping down on the seat across him with a heavy sigh and discarding her bag beside her. Her laid-back and terrible posture made Daeyoung chuckle, raising his hand to call a waiter to get their order. That made her raise her eyebrows in curiosity. "You didn't wait a whole hour for us to grab a bite together, right? Tell me there's something inside that stomach of yours."

Daeyoung laughed again, which further convinced Yeon-ae of her theory that he finds her a clown. "Of course I ate something. I'm not that stupid to forget to eat, you know, unlike a certain someone," He annoyingly smirked while handing her the menu. Before retorting to his remark, they told the waiter their orders and then thanked him as he left.

"You're going to end up a corpse before you finish any of your projects if you keep skipping meals." He added while taking out his small casing filled with his pens, opening it, and giving one to Yeon-ae. The girl only pouted and glared at Daeyoung, taking the pen from his grasp. "Tell that to our professors, especially Miss Gong. Oh, my God, her requirements are going to make me bald, I'm sure of it." She mewled, her hands gripping her head.

"Her again? What is it this time?" Daeyoung mused as he flipped through the physical copy of their main reference book while writing down important key points in his notebook, his gaze flicking from his notes to Yeon-ae's distraught expression. "Ugh, you know, her usual tight-knit schedule for the next week without even consulting us. She wants us to pass the interview report on the day of our exam for journalism! She needs to retire, Daeyoung, I'm so serious."

He laughed at her misery again. "You said that last semester, too. You've got to manifest harder, Yeon-ae." Daeyoung chimed teasingly, which made his best friend roll her eyes. "Okay, no need to rub it on my face, Mister Consistent High Scorer. You're lucky your professors in your History course are merciful," She brought out her notebook as well as her tablet. "If things go downhill for me this semester, we've got to do an exorcism on her."

Yeon-ae sealed her lips shut the moment the waiter from earlier walked up to their table to bring in their drinks and appetizers, and Daeyoung had to hold back his laughter while thanking him when he saw her face from his peripheral vision. As he turned back to her, he couldn't help but shake his head in disbelief when she asked, "You didn't think he'd take it seriously if he heard that, right?"

Daeyoung only shrugged, which bore no apparent assurance, and Yeon-ae could only click her tongue in exasperation. "Alright, that's enough mention of exorcism for today." He placed his phone on the table and opened his clock app, looking at the girl across him. "The usual? One hour silent self-study?" He asked.

She nodded as she opened her notes app on her tablet. "Yep. Talk to you in an hour, idiot." Yeon-ae cheekily smiled and made a peace sign.

He only rolled his eyes at the nickname. "Talk to you later, idiot number one." He replied, and both of them fell into a comfortable silence.

The two had always been like this ever since middle school, when they realized that their schoolworks and assignments were getting a bit serious. They can only be focused and immersed in their own studies when not distracted, so they came to the conclusion that they can be around one another while studying, but are quiet when doing their individual tasks or reading reference materials.

Lately, Yeon-ae has been especially grateful to have Daeyoung around, since she genuinely doesn't know what to do with herself if she didn't have his support in this disastrously hectic semester and generally, her entire life. He is someone that she knows she will cherish forever, and one can say that Daeyoung feels the same way and more.

next: ➳ Ⅱ

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