“I cannot believe you finally agreed to visit me!” He smiled and hugged you, lifting you in the air. “It has been such a long time!”
“You know, work keeps me busy,” he left you on the ground and pouted.
“You always say that but I see your Instagram filled with party and trip photos,” you remained silent, so he decided to talk: “Let’s pick your luggage, I bet you’re tired”
You were staying at Christian’s for the week, and then you would go back to your country. The ride was a bit awkward since you didn’t feel like talking too much. Okay, maybe you had been trying to avoid him for a while, but you had a perfectly reasonable excuse to do so. Of course, you missed him, you missed him a lot.
You met Christian during high school, while you were an exchange student in Sydney, and you were friends since then. You dated for a while at that time, but in the end, the distance was too much. However, you never lost your friendship. You chatted and did Skype calls all the time, and met whenever he was on a tour with DPR or you visited your friends in Seoul. You used to joke about boyfriends, girlfriends and those high school days on which you used to date. It was fun and you were totally comfortable around each other.
Although you broke up because both thoughts it was for the best, leaving him was the worst thing you ever did. You tried to convince yourself that your relationship had a date of expiry, you fell more and more in love with him.
He didn’t date too many girls, he was always busy with work, his greatest passion. And you… Well, after years of failed relationships, you had finally realised you never got over him, that it was your problem; and that was painful.
You couldn’t help but feel the way you felt. Of course, he didn’t know that. You had been making excuses for the last couple of months to not see him, but he could be really persuasive, so there you were. Maybe it was for the best, you couldn’t avoid him forever, you didn’t want to. You loved him, and not just romantically, he was important to you.
“You are lucky, the weather is nice, no monsoon rains this week,” said Christian, obviously trying to break the ice.
“That’s great, we will be able to go out and do stuff instead of spending the whole week ordering food and playing video games.”
“Like you didn’t like that.”
“Okay, you’re right. I love it, but I’ll like to enjoy Seoul a little bit.”
“Are you sure? Or is it because you’re afraid of being alone with me? I don’t bite… Too much.”
“Shut up, asshole.” You could almost sense him winking at you, but you looked away. You hated how he could read your mind perfectly, as he always had.
———————————————————————————————————
Well, you could say you had survived the first couple of days, and the situation was getting better. How could not that be, he was charming and hilarious, you would never be able to be mad at him or ignore him for too long. It wasn’t awkward between you two anymore, but it wasn’t normal, either. You couldn’t help but be tense around him. Everything he did caused a reaction: they way he ran his hands through his hair, the way he smiled at you, with that goofy smile of his, and don’t get me started on the way he walked around the house every morning, wearing just a towel and making you suffer at the sight of his body.
“Damn, Christian,” you thought as you finished doing your makeup. “Tonight is party night, not Christian night.”
You put your heels on and looked in the mirror one last time: short, casual, black dress, high heels and nice make-up. Yes, you looked really good.
The guys were already there, playing video games while waiting for them to be ready. They started screaming and hitting each other as they saw you, making you laugh. You loved them.
“Nope, always late,” answered Scott. “Hey, don’t take advantage, I wasn’t paying attention,” he took the control of the PlayStation and continued which seemed to be a one versus one fight against Cline.
You headed to the kitchen and saw Dabin bending in front of the fridge.
“Already starting the party?” You asked, leaning against the table.
He got up, holding two beers. He opened them and passed you one of them, smiling.
“You know me, always ready for the party.”
You took a sip and smiled back. You really liked Dabin. He was sweet and funny and kinda naughty when he smiled the way he used to do like he was doing now. He was a good guy. Christian had the best friends in the world, and that made you extremely happy.
“Promise me you will dance with me,” you said almost without thinking.
“Okay, but just one song or Ian will get mad.”
“Why? He doesn’t want me to steal his best from him?” You inquired, raising an eyebrow.
“I think it’s the other way around.”
Dabin smiles at you, mysterious, and was about to say something, but Ian came to the living-room and shouted something like “Let’s party”. Dabin and you looked at each other and went back with the others, laughing.
Just for a moment, Ian’s eyes met yours and you stayed like that, staring at each other. He was wearing jeans and a plain black t-shirt, and he was freaking hot, as usual, with wet messy hair and a confident attitude.
Gosh, it was going to be a difficult night.
———————————————————————————————————
The sound produced by the cups was muffled by the music of the club. You were sitting between Christian and Dabin. As soon as the toast finished, Christian got closer to you and whispered to your ear.
“You are stunning in that dress.”
You had to do your best to avoid melting, his breath almost against your neck, a chill running down your back. Gathering all the mental strength you could to sound normal, like you didn’t care, you answered:
And it was so hard that you immediately took a huge sip of your drink, maybe too much. Well, to be honest, you almost finished your drink in one sip.
Without even looking at Christian, you grabbed Dabin’s hand and dragged him to the dancefloor, feeling as if Christian’s eyes were fixed on you.
And you danced with Dabin, and with everybody. And you avoided Christian all night. Maybe it was childish and selfish but you didn’t know what else to do. A lot of bad things could happen if you told him the truth: it would get awkward, you would drift apart, he would get mad, he would hate you… That just couldn’t happen.
You drank, a lot, a freaking lot. At some time, everything started to get blurry.
———————————————————————————————————-
You opened your eyes, confused, and your head started hurting like hell, and you had to do your best to get up. It was a bad idea. As soon as you put your feet on the ground, you felt dizzy. Without being able to help it, you started falling, but someone held you. You felt two strong arms holding you. Then you realised. You were at Christian’s. You were wearing only Christian’s t-shirt. Actually, the arms holding you were his.
“Are you okay?” He asked, sounding really worried.
“Yes, sorry,” you managed to look at him, embarrassed. The bare skin of your thighs against his shorts was warm because of the contact. He kept holding you in his arms, not letting you go. Finally, you dared to talk. “What happened yesterday? I don’t remember.”
“Really? Who would imagine it,” he raised a brow, half-smiling, cocky.
You punched his chest and tried to let go of his grip.
“Sorry, sorry,” he apologised, refusing to let you go.
“Let me sit on the bed, I’m a bit dizzy.”
He did so and you sat, sighing. “I’m sorry.”
“About what?” He sat by your side. “About ignoring me all night? About being really rude to me?”
“Oh, that was actually funny. Dabin and I had to take you home while you were babbling and tripping every two minutes. And then you confessed to Dabin just before we had to undress you and get you in bed.”
“Sorry… Wait, what? I did what? Did I confess to Dabin?
“That’s impossible, Ian.”
“I’m telling you that’s impossible.”
That was so impossible… How could have you possibly confessed to Dabin? He was handsome, sweet and a really good person, interesting and funny… But your heart belonged to someone else. And he was sitting by your side, telling you that you had confessed to his best friend.
Suddenly it was all too much, you couldn’t handle it and burst into tears.
“Hey, hey… Y/n,” Christian hugged you. “Hey, I was kidding. You didn’t confess to anyone. Okay? Why are you crying? It’s not a big deal.”
“I don’t want you to think I like Dabin.”
“Well, you honestly made me think that last night. You’re seriously driving me crazy. What’s going on with you?”
“I don’t want to tell you.”
“But you have to, we’re friends.”
“THAT’S EXACTLY THE PROBLEM.”
You pushed him hard, harder than you intended to. But it didn’t matter. You got up, ignoring your headache and the fact that you were almost naked, the fact that Chris undressed you the night before.
Christian got up and held your arm tightly, not letting you go.
“Don’t leave,” he repeated.
“Because I want you to stay with me.”
“Ian… I’m so tired of this,” you turned to face him, giving up. He seemed to hurt.
“Of this? Of me? Is that why you’ve been avoiding me for so long?”
“How can you possibly think I’m tired of you? I would never be tired of you. I love you, Ian. And not as a friend, and that’s the damn problem. And that’s why I’ve been avoiding you and acting weird. And I’m so tired of it. I don’t want to lose you. So please…” Tears didn’t stop running through your face. “Please, ignore I said this.” You looked away, tired, embarrassed and hating yourself.
Ian’s hand held your chin, making you look at him. His face was serious, making your heart race crazily.
“I never thought it possible that you felt that way about me… That’s why I kept my feelings for myself.”
“You’re such an idiot, Y/n” Ian smiled, his eyes shining.
Suddenly, his lips joined yours in a slow, sweet kiss. At first, your eyes were wide open with astonishment, but soon you gave up and kissed him back, not entirely believing it was happening.
Finally, Ian pulled away to catch his breath, reluctantly.
“But… Our friendship, our jobs, everything… It didn’t work before.”
“Shhh, we’ll make it work. I’m not letting you go ever again.”
And he kissed you again, while he laid you sweetly on the bed.
