The Only Exception
Part 1 of the "Anyone Else But You" series
Pairing: Huening Kai x Reader
Summary: It's starting to feel like you're the only person in the world that Huening Kai isn't best friends with, and you're determined to figure out why.
Tropes: enemies to friends to lovers, slow burn, mutual pining, fluff, angst
Word Count: 2.5k
Warnings: swearing, mentions of sex (mdni), reader has an inferiority complex
“I never had a doubt that You would come through I always adored you I always ignored you” —The Prince of the Hanging Gardens, Beatenberg
If there were any reason for Huening Kai to dislike you, you had no clue as to what it was. The two of you would get along perfectly fine on paper, but despite you and Yeonjun being best friends for over a year now, his roommate has never warmed up to you.
He isn’t like this with anyone else. Kai bounces from stranger to stranger, laughing and chatting away as if he’s known them for years. With you, he won’t even look you in the eye or mutter more than a few words.
For Yeonjun’s birthday party last month, you baked him a cake from scratch. It was a smash hit with the guests, but when Kai sang praises and asked around for who made it, you could tell he was disappointed that it had been you.
“Oh, Y/N. It was good,” he said, offering a weak thumbs up and declining to say anything else. You’d been watching him in deep conversation with every other person at the party, his obnoxiously loud laugh interrupting some of your own chats every so often. So why did he never have anything to say to you?
It’s not a big deal that he doesn’t like you. Really. He almost never comes out of his room when you’re around, so there’s not many opportunities for things to be awkward. At least until this morning.
You’ve got breakfast plans with Yeonjun at Seoul’s hottest new café, and even he can’t get a reservation. So, that means lining up with the rest of the city before the sun’s even risen.
You tiptoe around the apartment so you don’t somehow wake up Kai. The last thing you need is for another reason to hate you to be added to his list.
Sitting at the kitchen table to drink your first coffee of the day, you can listen to the soft sound of the shower running. Great, you think to yourself. Yeonjun’s barely started getting ready and you’ll most definitely be last in line now.
While you’re scrolling on your phone to find less popular alternatives, a creak in the floorboards catches your attention. You look up to see a barefoot girl with messy hair and a short dress attempting to sneak out.
When you catch her eye, she looks like a deer in the headlights. No doubt one of Yeonjun’s many conquests from his latest excursion to the club, this doesn’t faze you.
That’s what you think until Kai pops his head out of his bedroom.
“Hey, wait,” Kai’s hushed voice calls. He steps out in his boxers and a t-shirt, the girl still too stunned to speak. In his hands are a small wad of lacy fabric—her underwear. “Don’t forget these.”
He flashes a perfect, pearly-white smile at her before pulling her in for a much-too-long kiss. The crazed look in her eyes afterward tells him that something is wrong.
When he glances over to the kitchen table and meets your gaze, his smile drops.
“Get out,” he tells her, his mood shifting somewhere between embarrassment and anger.
“Are we still on for Saturday night?” she asks, making you think that Kai must’ve really liked her to make plans to see her again.
“No. Get out,” he says again through clenched teeth, refusing to look away from you. She scrambles out the front door without another word.
Kai’s mouth twitches, as if he’s finally going to lay into you, but instead he presses his lips together and turns away. His bedroom door slams behind him.
Half of you is used to Kai treating you like this. The other half wonders if maybe you were as pretty as she was, he would be nicer. Suddenly, you don’t feel like getting breakfast anymore.
By the time Kai comes back out of his room, fully dressed and finally calm, you’ve already left.
He sits down, your coffee abandoned on the table, nearly full with lipstick smudged across the lid. He lifts the paper cup, inhaling the coffee’s sweet aroma, and takes a sip. It’s cold now.
—————-
It was your job on the styling team at HYBE that introduced you to the boys. You had just graduated college and moved to Seoul, and fashion was the only way you could really express yourself.
Instantly, Yeonjun noticed how shy you were and took it upon himself to bring you out of your shell. Now, the two of you are inseparable.
“Where the hell were you the other day?” he asks as you organize clothing onto racks. You’re not even dressing him today, but he’s hunted you down in the building like a bloodhound. A hairstylist trails him and attempts to put his bangs in a roller. “I woke up at the crack of dawn for nothing.”
“Um,” you start, looking over your shoulder. You lock eyes with him and then gesture towards the hairstylist, now clipping in lime green extensions.
“Hey, could you give us some privacy?” he asks, although it’s clearly more of a command. They nod and walk away, leaving Yeonjun with a half-done head of hair.
“You look ridiculous.”
“And you’re acting ridiculous. Since when do you stand me up?” Yeonjun pouts.
“Stand you up? You’re not my boyfriend,” you scoff.
“You wish I were,” he quips back. You roll your eyes. Not in a million years would you be each other’s ideal types.
“Shut up, Jun,” you say, walking towards the storage closet to grab a steamer. He follows.
“Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll stop busting your balls. Just tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s Huening Kai. I sort of… walked in on him… with a girl.” Yeonjun’s eyes go wide.
“Holy shit. Like they were in the act? Please tell me this wasn’t on the couch or in the kitchen or—”
“No, ew. She was just on her way out.” Now he’s rolling his eyes at you.
“Come on, Y/N! Why’s that such a big deal? He has girls over all the time.” The last statement makes Yeonjun stop himself and regroup. “Well, I mean, every once in a while. Look, what I’m trying to say is that Huening isn’t a virgin, okay?”
“This is the first I’ve seen or heard of any of this,” you state. The only Huening Kai that you really knew was the innocent maknae role that he played up for the cameras. Plus, you figured with how often you were over, you would’ve noticed another girl at least once.
“Well, we try to not talk about our sex lives around you too much.” That’s a lie. Yeonjun loves talking about his sex life.
“Thanks, I guess? Is that because I’m a girl?”
“No,” he replies. “It’s because Hyuka asked us not to.”
You raise an eyebrow. “And why would he do that?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care. So what was so bad about seeing him with some girl?”
You don’t really know how to put your feelings into words. Your hesitation makes a sly grin spread across Yeonjun’s face.
“Y/N… you’re not jealous, are you?”
“Oh my god, no! I’m just… confused, I guess. I kind of figured that he wasn’t very good with girls, considering that he never wants to have a conversation with me.”
“Trust me, Huening is very different when he’s had a few drinks. You’d know that if you ever went out with us.”
“You know clubs aren’t really my thing.”
“They could be. Come on, we’re going out tomorrow night. Why don’t you wear this?”
He pulls a sparkly black dress from the rack, a rejected look that you pulled for one of Le Sserafim's performances. Its straps criss cross over an open back, showing way more skin than you’re comfortable with.
“You know I can’t take anything from here. Besides, what’s wrong with my own clothes?”
Yeonjun looks you up and down. Today, you’re wearing a maxi skirt, button down, sweater vest, and your glasses. Okay, maybe it’s serving grandma-chic, but you like it.
“Y/N, you are so adorable. Really, just the cutest. But at the club, the goal is to be sexy. I’m sure under all of those layers, you’re super hot. Hot enough for Huening to bring home next.”
He says the last sentence with a wink and your ears suddenly feel hot. You get the feeling he’s not going to take no for an answer.
“I’ll think about it,” you say, snatching the dress out of his hands. “But if I go, it’ll only be for an hour, tops. And it has nothing to do with Kai, okay?”
“Whatever. Just don’t forget to make me the best man when the two of you get married, alright?”
“I hate you.”
“I know,” he muses, planting a kiss on your cheek and strutting away.
—————-
At the end of the work day, your feet ache and all you want is to get home and take a nice bubble bath.
A sudden change in concept meant that you had spent several hours past when you were scheduled to leave, calling designers in order to secure samples for NewJeans to wear in an upcoming music video.
Trudging into the elevator, you let your eyes drift shut as you lean against the wall.
“Hey, wait!” someone’s voice calls, sounding eerily familiar. Your eyes shoot open. A hand shoves itself in between the closing doors, opening them back up.
Huening Kai slips in, sweaty and out of breath. Despite seeing him just a few days ago, his hair has changed from jet black to a dirty blond.
You glance at your watch. Is this really the hour that idols tend to go home?
He checks to see that the ground floor button has been pressed and stands facing the doors. Either he hasn’t noticed you or is choosing to ignore you.
“Hi, Kai,” you say, contempt in your voice. If he won’t acknowledge you on his own, you’ll make him.
Kai turns around slowly to face you, his expression completely blank. “Oh, hi, Y/N. I didn’t know it was you.”
Sure, he didn’t. There’s still twelve floors to go, and it’s going to be a long way down.
It’s silent until floor seven, in which Hana from makeup steps in. Her hands are full of Olen’s latest release. How many colored contacts does one group need?
“Hi, Hana! Long time no see,” Kai says, bowing his head slightly. Hana’s much older than the two of you, so it’s hard to gauge whether that makes her easier to talk to or he just happens to have a thing for age gaps. For your sanity, you decide it’s the former.
“Hi, Kai! And Y/N, I almost didn’t see you there!” Go figure. You’re invisible to everyone. “Are you two headed somewhere?”
“No, we just happened to get in at the same time. Nice coincidence, though, right?” he says, much happier now than when it was just the two of you. “It’s so great that we ran into each other! Are you done for the day, too?”
“Oh, no! I still have lots of work to do, but you two have fun with your night. You’re both so young,” she laughs, stepping out onto the fourth floor. “And by the way, you would look very good together.”
When the doors shut, it’s silent again. You’re so close to the lobby now.
Except the numbers stop counting down. Kai looks up from picking at his cuticles and shoots you a knowing look. It’s stuck at three.
“That’s not good,” he says, although he doesn’t seem as worried as you. How can he stay so calm right now?
You press the emergency button and the line buzzes before connecting. The sound is muffled.
“Can anybody hear me?” you say into the mic. More incoherent noises reply back. “Hello? We’re stuck in an elevator in HYBE’s east wing. Please, send help!”
The line goes dead. You’re going to cry. You’re trapped in an elevator with the person who dislikes you most and now you’re going to cry in front of him.
You clench your fists and squeeze your eyes shut as hot tears begin to stream down your face.
“Y/N,” Kai asks, his voice soft. You’re too busy trying to steady your breathing to hear him. He places a hand on your shoulder. “Y/N, are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay! I just want to go home!” you snap at him, your voice trembling. “I’m tired and it’s been a long day and now I’m stuck here with you and I—I just can’t believe this!”
Kai takes a step back. Even through your tears, you can see that you’ve hurt his feelings. He stares at his feet. “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to be upset.”
His words make you choke up even more, like you’re somehow the villain. You crouch down to hug your knees. He kneels next to you and places a hand on your back.
Maybe you’re overreacting. Maybe he doesn’t hate you. Or, maybe, he just feels really bad for you this one time and has decided to be nice.
“Y/N,” he says again. You raise your head and look at him with puffy eyes. The sight of his face, so full of worry, makes you cry even harder. What the hell is going on? Who is this guy and what has he done with the Huening Kai who can’t stand to even be in the same room as you?
Kai’s hands find yours and bring you to your feet. Before you can say anything, he’s wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into a hug. You bury your face in his chest as one of his hands smooths your hair.
His body is warm, his heartbeat strong and steady. Yours slowly begins to match its pace. As you breathe in and out, you notice that he smells like freshly brewed black tea and ripe peaches in the summertime.
You’re so relaxed now that you don’t notice that the elevator has started to descend again. A ding attempts to tell you that you’ve reached the lobby, but it’s too late.
“Holy shit,” Yeonjun laughs from the other side of the doorway. Has he been waiting here the whole time? “Y/N? Kai? I fucking knew it!”
Kai immediately pulls away from you and exits, his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he speedwalks towards the building’s front doors without so much as a goodbye.
Yeonjun does a double take, eyeing your red eyes and smudged mascara. He sits you down on a bench and places a hand on your shoulder. “What happened?”
“Ask him,” you mutter, crossing your arms. “You guys live together.”
“Will do,” he concedes. “Do you want me to walk you home?”
“I’m fine,” you say, although that’s debatable. “Really, you’re good to go.”
Yeonjun sighs, knowing that something’s clearly bothering you, but he’s already learned his lesson when it comes to pressing you on certain matters.
“Well, goodnight, then.” He pulls you into a hug and ruffles your hair before getting up. “I love you. Call me on your walk if you need to, or at least text me whenever you get home.”
And just like that, he’s gone and you’re left all alone. Tomorrow is sure going to be something, you think to yourself.
—————-
Taglist: @orangesodafoam
P.S.: Please shoot me an ask or a reply if you’d like to be added to (or removed from) the taglist!
