OKAY AU @okayau - Tumblr Blog

omg LOVED the eunseok angst !! can you pls write a pt 2 !! maybe with sungchan using prompts 61 & 63 🙂‍↕️ <3 a good angst

61. “I know you think we aren’t right for each other, but we’ve run into each other too many times for you to tell me that this isn’t fate.”

63. “People like me aren’t supposed to have someone like you, I think fate was being harsh on you.”

-

[sungchan x reader (ft. eunseok) ; college au; strangers to lovers; angst, fluff, some crack (?) because i wrote this in a haze at 4am; sungchan is a hot nerd; word count: 16.0k (i got carried away) ]

(a/n: i <3 hot nerd sungchan agenda)

read pt 1 here since this fic picks up right where pt 1 left off

-

Your hands covered your face, palms pressing into your eyes as you sobbed into the quiet air. Every image of you and Eunseok flashed through your head - from the way he’d kissed you in this same courtyard when you first met to the way less than an hour ago he’d told you that he wished you’d never met.

How could you be so stupid? How could you think that he loved you too? You’d been hanging around for almost a year and you mostly met up at night, alone in his room. Most of your meetings outside of that happened because your roommate was dating his and even then, you never told Hana how you had been hooking up with Eunseok. You couldn’t tell her now either, not when your skin flashed with hot embarrassment as you recalled his rejection over and over.

Almost a year of shared touches, stolen moments, and conversations you’d only trusted him with - just for him to tell you he didn’t even care about you. Your heart felt like it was crumbling with the reminder and your lungs were on fire as you gasped for breath in between cries.

Your throat and chest felt tight, muscles overwhelmed with the pressure from each sob that tore through your body. You weren’t even sure how long you’d been out here, crouched on the floor crying your heart out. You were oblivious to your surroundings, not even noticing a figure approaching from the side.

The man stopped in his tracks when he first saw you, glancing around the empty courtyard warily before taking careful steps towards you.

“Um..” He reached a hand out towards you before stopping himself in fear of spooking you. He glanced around again, bringing his hands to the straps of his backpack as he did so. His brows furrowed as he turned back to you, watching as you struggled to even out your breaths as your head slunk between your knees.

He cleared his throat, watching as your body stiffened for a moment at the noise, “Excuse me. Are you..” His words trailed for a moment as your head lifted to look over at him. Your eyes were puffy, cheeks wet and nose pink as you sucked in rapid, choppy breaths, “Are you okay?”

Your vision was blurred by tears, only registering the tall appearance of the man before you before your lips wobbled at his question. A whine vibrated against your throat as you shook your head and dropped it between your knees again, resuming your crying. The boy’s lips parted as he watched you, suddenly feeling at a loss with the situation he found himself in. It was almost 1 in the morning and he’d just gotten back from a late night study session. This was the last thing he expected to deal with tonight.

What was a guy even supposed to do when he found a random girl crying alone at night? He swore he’d seen a video on Tiktok a few days ago about how crying women showing up alone at night was the latest ruse to rob people. The creator had said something about how there was always a second party around the corner that would jump good samaritans in situations like this. He hadn’t thought much about it then but now, he was a little wary. It didn’t help that you looked so pathetic, crumpled into a little ball that made him not want to leave you alone. What if one of the creeps from Alpha Delta Whatever tried to take advantage of you like this? He knew the frat guys weren’t all like that but he’d heard enough stories to stay rooted to his spot near you.

He thought for a moment that if you were trying to rob him, he was about to make it really easy.

“Hey,” He sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he took a step closer to you, “It’s not really safe for a girl to be alone this late at night,”

He didn’t expect you to respond but as you mumbled an incoherent I don’t care in between whimpers and sobs, his shoulders slumped in distress.

He thought for another moment that if you weren’t trying to rob him, you would make it really easy for others to rob you.

“I think you should care,” He cocked his head to the side, “Statistically we live in a safe area but colleges can be an outlier in that data and college campuses actually show a higher rate in crime related to property damage and theft. You lifted your head, peeking over at the random man that was privy to your breakdown and for some reason was telling you about criminal statistics. It was bizarre enough to make your cries come to a halt for a moment. Your breaths were still shaky as you wiped at your eyes, faintly registering the throbbing pressure in your head.

“What?” You blinked up at him through wet lashes, finally taking a good look at the man. He was tall, really tall, and clad in a boxy zip-up grey hoodie, t-shirt peeking out from underneathm and black sweats. His hands held onto the straps of his backpack and a pair of glasses sat perched up on his nose. Behind the frames sat a surprised expression and a head of fluffy brown hair.

“Hey,” He perked up just a bit, lips tugging into a gentle smile “You stopped crying,”

“Yeah,” You sniffled, pulling at the neckline of your shirt to dab at your nose, “Because you started to talk about property damage statistics while I’m here crying over…” Your words got caught at the reminder of why you were here and as the memory of Eunseok’s cold stare and harsh words hit you again, the waterworks started again. The man in front of you could only watch in dumbstruck awe as you leaned backwards to sit on your butt, bringing your hands over your face as your cries resumed.

“No, no, no,” He stumbled forward, slowly crouching down as he brought a hesitant hand to your back. He winced as he felt your body shake against his touch, “Hey I can talk about other statistics,” His brows furrowed as he racked his brain for something to say to get you to stop crying.

“Um,” He sucked in a breath as you folded in on yourself, “Did you know that giraffes are 30 times more likely to get hit by lightning than people,”

When you continued to cry, ignoring his fact, he felt himself panicking, “Uh..The…Oh! Snails! Snails have teeth. They actually have between 1000 to 12000 teeth if you want to be preci-”

“Stop,” You croaked, shaking your head as you shut your eyes tight, replaying the entire conversation you had with Eunseok earlier over and over, “I don’t give a shit about snails and I really don’t need you to comfort me right now,”

The man froze for a moment, frown cementing on his lips as another whine left your lips.

“Well I can’t just leave a crying girl out here alone. It’s not safe this late at night,” He sighed, shifting to sit down next to you. As a chill ran through the air, he noted how you were only in a t-shirt and jeans. With a sigh he took off his backpack, setting it down next to him, before unzipping his hoodie and draping it over your shoulders. You noticed the smell of his cologne as soon as the fabric set over your body, notes of black pepper and raspberry settling into your nose. You felt the man’s hand on your back again, this time rubbing gentle circles into your skin. You hated to admit it but as he continued his reassuring movements, offering silent support, you felt yourself calming down little by little until your cries dissolved into sniffles and hiccups.

“Here,” You felt the man next to you shuffling until he nudged your arm with a half-full water bottle, “You don’t want to dehydrate,”

You stared at the bottle and then up at him, noting the kind smile on his face.

“I don’t know,” You swallowed thickly, wiping at your eyes with the back of your hand, “Statistically ⅔ of people globally have oral herpes. How do I know you’re not one of them?”

The man blinked at you in awe for a moment before his head fell in a quick fit of laughter. Had you not been in a state of turmoil, you would have stopped to admire just how cute his laugh sounded.

“I promise you I’m clean,” He lifted his head, pushing his glasses back up his nose when his eyes met yours again. He held the bottle towards you once more and this time you took it from him. You took a few sips, welcoming the cool feeling of the liquid soothing your throat before handing it back to him with a quiet thank you.

“I’m Sungchan by the way,” He set the bottle back inside his backpack before settling into his spot next to you. You met his introduction with your own, quietly offering your name in between sniffles.

“So….” He awkwardly hummed as he pulled his legs up and rested his elbows against his knees, “I know I’m just a random guy but want to tell me why you’re out here crying in the middle of the night?” You swallowed at his question, setting your head down against your knees before heaving out a big sigh.

“I met a guy last year,” Your bottom lip wobbled as you started to recount your saga with Eunseok. Sungchan, despite being a total stranger, listened dutifully. His hand was on your back again, gently rubbing every time you would let out little cries between speaking. He thought it was definitely a big improvement from the debilitating sobs he heard moments earlier. When you finished recounting the moments that led up to your arrival at the courtyard, Sungchan was silent. You braved a glance his way, finding his face set into a deep frown.

“That…” He huffed, having difficulty with finding the right words before settling for a few simple ones, “He sounds like a dick,”

That managed to pull a soft laugh from you and Sungchan’s expression softened at the sound.

“He does, doesn’t he?” You sniffled as another wave of tears washed over you, “I should have realized it didn’t mean anything to him,”

“Whoever this guy is,” Sungchan patted your back before bringing his hand back to his body, “He’s an idiot for not realizing he had someone who loved him this much. It’s his loss,”

You nodded at Sungchan’s words, trying to convince yourself to believe them. You sat like that for a while, your breaths slowly calming down as Sungchan patiently sat by. He leaned back at some point, letting his palms press into the ground behind him as he looked up at the stars in the sky. You weren’t sure how much time had passed when you heard Sungchan yawning.

“Fuck,” You winced, grabbing the boy’s attention as you moved to stand, “I’m so sorry. I should probably get home. I’ve held you up, huh?”

Sungchan followed your lead, dusting off his pants before shaking his head with a smile, “It’s fine. I couldn’t just leave a lady in distress,”

“Still…” You shrugged off his hoodie, holding it out to him, “I don’t live too far from here so I’ll just get going…”

Sungchan’s brows raised at your words, “You don’t live here?” When you shook your head in response you knew he was going to offer to walk you home from the look on his face. Before he could even present that option, you assured him you were fine to walk yourself.

“I’ve taken up enough of your time and it’s only like a 15 minute walk if I go fast,” You assured. When Sungchan’s concerned expression didn’t fade, you were giving him a little sigh before pulling your phone out and handing it to him, “Here, text yourself so you have my number. I’ll text you again later so you know I got home safe,”

While Sungchan would have rather made sure you got home safely himself, he didn’t want to push too hard considering he’d just met you. In the back of his head, he thought you might still be able to rob him. So, instead he just entered his number into your phone and pushed his hoodie back into your hands. You raised a brow at the action.

“It’s cold out. I live in the Bio house which is just right there” He pointed behind you to a house that stood at the corner of the courtyard, “So I’m fine but if you have to walk home alone, I’d feel a little better knowing you aren’t freezing on the way,”

You sighed at his explanation, “Thank you…” Your words trailed as you realized you had forgotten his name. He couldn’t help but snort at this.

“Sungchan,” He smiled as he slung his backpack over his shoulder, “The names in your phone too if you forget,”

And so, you found yourself quietly slipping into your apartment a little over 15 minutes later. You were glad that you and Hana had gotten a new place for your last year of college - one that gave you both your own rooms. You didn’t have to worry about waking her as you settled into the bean bag that sat in the corner of your room and pulled out your phone. You navigated to your messages, a small laugh leaving your lips at the name Sungchan had set for himself before you sent him a text.

[ to: jung sungchan (guy from the courtyard)

i made it home. thank you again for listening. i’ll be sure to wash and return your hoodie. ]

His response came almost instantly.

[ from: jung sungchan (guy from the courtyard)

of course. make sure to get some rest tonight

and fuck that guy.

not literally.

sorry…. ]

You couldn’t help but laugh again at his texts. You could imagine him panicking with how fast each message came through.

[ to: jung sungchan (guy from the courtyard)

good night sungchan :) ]

-

“I’m so pissed at Wonbin,” Hana told you over breakfast a week later. You raised a brow as you shoved a spoonful of cereal into your mouth, signaling her to continue, “He and Eunseok have been playing video games until 3 in the morning for the last couple of days. He missed our date yesterday because he overslept,” You stiffened at the mention of Eunseok but tried to play it off as you continued to eat your meal. Hana didn’t seem to notice as she poured herself a glass of orange juice.

“He said he was coming over today to make it up to me but unless he’s hanging the stars from our ceiling, I’m still going to be pissed,” She huffed before taking a sip, “This is Eunseok’s fault too you know,” You hummed in response, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling burrowing into your chest at the continued mention of the man that broke your heart. It wasn’t Hana’s fault though. Neither she, nor Wonbin, seemed to have any idea you and Eunseok had been hooking up. You weren’t sure why you had never told her but at some point, you’d gotten so far in that you didn’t know how to tell her that you were having sex with her boyfriend’s roommate for months and were falling in love with him.

It felt too embarrassing to tell her now with the way things ended, especially since it seemed that Eunseok wasn’t as affected as you were- given the fact that he was happily gaming every night since.

“The only time he doesn’t get on my nerves is when we all hang out together,” She gestured between you both, “It’s like you neutralize the annoying part of him,”

“Yeah,” You gave her an awkward laugh in response.

“Honestly,” She sat down at the kitchen counter next to you with a snort, “maybe you two should get together so he can be more tolerable,”

You said nothing to that, mouth running dry as it only served to remind you that he had rejected you - harshly, at that. Hana seemed to notice your silence, raising a brow as she faced you.

“Hey, you okay?” She asked, snapping you out of your quick wallowing.

“Y-yeah,” You nodded a little too quickly, “Sorry. I was just thinking about how I needed to grab some groceries today,”

“Oh,” Hana hummed, “Can you grab some of those protein shakes I like?”

You gave her a nod in response, mumbling a quick sure before finishing up your cereal.

Once you were at the grocery store later that day, you weren’t even sure what you needed to get yourself. You had stopped by for your weekly grocery run just two days ago so you didn’t actually need to re-up yet. You’d grabbed Hana’s protein shakes already and found yourself in the produce aisle, staring at the mangoes and wondering if you had enough fruit at home or not. You hadn’t realized how intently you were in thought until someone was tapping on your shoulder, causing you to jump with a start. Your hand came to your chest in an attempt to calm the sudden spike in your heart rate.

“Shit- sorry,” Your head snapped up at the sound of a familiar voice, lips parting in surprise at the sight of Sungchan standing before you, “Didn’t mean to scare you,”

He offered you a small smile as you stared at him, taking in the sight of him in a well-lit area. Unlike the night you met, he didn’t have his glasses on - likely having swapped them for contacts. He wore a track jacket, unzipped to reveal a tank top below, and a pair of sweatpants. His skin was slightly flushed and you assumed that he must have come here straight from the gym, especially with how his hair still looked a little damp from sweat.

“Sungchan,” You met his smile with one of your own, “Hey, Um, I meant to text you earlier this week about your hoodie,”

“Oh!” Sungchan’s brows raised at the reminder, “I forgot I had lent that to you,” A soft laugh left his lips as he brought one of his hands to the back of his head, “I actually just saw you when I walked in and wanted to say hi…and uh, see how you were doing. I hope that’s not weird?”

You shook your head in response, assuring him that it wasn’t weird and that you were doing fine.

“I think you got to see the worst of it,” Your cheeks burned at the memory, eyes dropping to the floor as embarrassment settled in, “It’s been a bit hard but I’ve been managing,”

“He hasn’t messaged or called you or anything, has he?” Sungchan asked and you shook your head, making the man before you click his tongue in annoyance, “Dick,”

You chuckled at his tone, raising your head to meet his eyes again.

“He really is, huh?” You said matter of factly.

“I bet he’s ugly too,” Sungchan shook his head, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he did so. When your brows furrowed at his words, Sungchan gave you a sheepish smile, “Too much? I was just trying to make you feel better,” At that, you couldn’t help the laughter that left your lips. Sungchan’s grin grew wider at this.

“You’re really funny, you know that?” You shook your head.

“Am I?” Sungchan tilted his head to the side.

You nodded, “I mean, you found me crying in the middle of the night and one of the first things you said to me was college crime statistics,”

“Hey,” He put his hands up, “You stopped crying for like 10 seconds after that,”

“Because it was so random.” You rolled your eyes.

“Still,” He shrugged, still smiling down at you. A bit of a silence settled between you two with that. You sucked in a breath, looking over at the mangoes as you remembered you were still in the middle of your impromptu grocery run.

“So hey,” You swallowed, turning back to him, “I did wash your hoodie. I live just down the street in the apartments if you wanted to stop by and grab it..maybe?” You weren’t sure why you suddenly felt nervous. Maybe it was because this man had seen you at one of your low points and you barely knew him. Or maybe it was because he didn’t seem to have any judgement towards you despite seeing you like that.

Sungchan nodded at your proposal, “Sure. I brought my car with me so I can drive us and our groceries there,” He glanced down at your cart, “Are you just getting mangoes and protein shakes?” You sighed at his question before settling with a nod. You really didn’t need anything else and weren’t in the mood to waste your money.

You ended up following Sungchan around for the next 45 minutes, laughing at the little comments he would make here and there. You learned that he was a Biology major and that he was studying to become a doctor. He hadn’t settled on the indication he wanted to focus on but was really leaning towards pediatrics.

“I really like kids,” He shrugged as he told you about it, “My sister’s kid is the greatest little guy you’d ever meet and he makes me want to make sure kids like him are healthy and happy. You know they say kids are the future,”

In turn, you told him about how you were majoring in Education, wanting to become a kindergarten teacher and Sungchan listened intently.

“I’ve had to do some classroom observations as a part of my major and you know, those kids are just so bright. I know a lot of people talk about the pay not being the best compared to a job in STEM but I really think this is something I’ll love doing even 20 years down the road,”

Your fingers tapped against the handles of the shopping cart as you realized this was one of the things you would talk to Eunseok about. You’d told him how you were worried because your parents had always pushed a STEM major for you. When you’d taken an alternative, they weren’t the happiest and you’d always wondered if you were making a mistake despite being passionate about education. Every time, he’d just tell you how it was your life and that you shouldn’t stress too much.

“I think that’s great,” You blinked at Sungchan, realizing that he was beaming at you from across the cart. “At the end of the day, if you’re happy and you’re doing something that makes everything feel worth it, that’s what matters right? I think you’d be a great teacher and besides the whole argument that teachers don’t make good money is pretty subjective,”

You were left awestruck at his words, not knowing how to respond. Thankfully, you didn’t really have to as he started to tug your cart towards the self-checkout counters. You hadn’t even realized that talking to Sungchan had made your chest feel lighter compared to earlier that morning as you loaded everything into his car later.

Sungchan’s car was nice, you found. He’d introduced the old BMW as Bella - Italian for beautiful, despite the car being German. He’d bought the car used right before college. He’d worked summers at a restaurant in his hometown’s mall during his last two years of high school and saved enough for half the cost. His parents helped him with the other half as a graduation gift and he'd boasted that he got a really good deal on it since his dad’s friend sold it to him.

After the super short drive to your apartment, Sungchan helped you carry the protein shakes and mangoes you’d picked up to your place despite your insistence that you could do it yourself. You made small conversation as you walked down the hall to your apartment with Sungchan telling you how he had applied to live in your apartment complex since it was one of the nicer on-campus housing options. Unfortunately, all the slots had filled up so quickly that he wasn’t able to get in.

“Oh I know,” You nodded as you unlocked your door, vaguely noting the sound of voices from the other side “Hana and I were refreshing the website on the dot when applications dropped and-”

Your words were cut short as you opened the door, coming face to face with three figures in your living room. Hana stood in the center of the room, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared down Wonbin with an unimpressed look. The blond looked like he had come straight here from the gym, clad in a tracksuit, and had a desperate look about his face as he tried to talk to his girlfriend - likely about their missed date. It wasn’t those two that had caught you off guard though. Behind them on the sofa sat the reason for your turmoil over the last week. Eunseok sat slouched on your couch, legs spread as he glanced between the couple. He too was wearing his gym attire and you had to wonder for a moment if everyone worked out at this time of day. When the sound of your voice had filled the room, all three turned to look at you.

Hana raised a brow at the sight of you and the man behind you, calling your name in question, “Who’s this?” Her expression was notably brighter from just a moment ago.

“Oh..” You swallowed, avoiding looking at Eunseok at all costs, “This is-”

“Wonbin? Eunseok?” Sungchan’s voice beat you to the punch and you swore that the way your head whipped in his direction must have been comical. He glanced down at you, confused by the sudden wild look in your eyes.

“You know each other?" You hurriedly whispered to him.

Sungchan, ever so confused by your sudden whispering, whispered back, “Yeah, they’re my friends. Why are we whispering?”

“Hey Sungchan,” Eunseok’s voice pulled your attention back to the living room. He had his hand raised in greeting, “Long time no see”

Sungchan snorted in response, “You’re funny acting like I didn’t spot you while you struggled in the gym an hour ago,”

You were suddenly feeling very sick, ignoring the comfortable conversation between the boys as you closed the door behind you and Sungchan. Sungchan didn’t seem to notice your sudden quiet demeanor at first as he introduced himself to Hana.

Your ears were ringing, body feeling really hot as a rush of scenarios flooded your brain - most of them being ones where Sungchan would tell Eunseok about your embarrassing breakdown and then they’d both laugh about it. You hadn’t even realized that Sungchan had called your name or that every pair of eyes in the room were on you until his hand tapped against your arm.

“Sorry - what?” You blinked up at him, taking in a deep breath.

“You okay?” He asked cautiously, lips pinching into a small frown.

“You’ve been zoning out a lot lately,” Hana chimed in, likely referencing your behavior this morning, “Have you been getting enough sleep?”

If the floor would have split apart at that moment, you were thinking that you would willingly jump through it if that would get you out of this room.

“Yeah,” You nodded, grabbing onto Sungchan’s sleeve and pulling him forward toward your room in a rushed movement, “Just been a bit tired lately,” You gave Hana a curt nod, not giving her enough time to ask any other questions as you pushed Sungchan into your room and closed the door behind you. As soon as the door was closed, you looked up at Sungchan, cursing as you saw that he was still holding the case of protein shakes and bag of mangoes. Without a thought, you grabbed the items and went back outside to drop them on the kitchen counter before making a beeline to your room. This time, however, your eyes met Eunseok’s before you could make it back. His brows raised just a fraction at the contact, looking like he wanted to say something but you didn’t give him the chance as you disappeared behind your door once again.

Back in your room, Sungchan stood stupified by your sudden change in behavior.

“Are you okay?” He asked warily as he watched you ignore him and walk towards your closet. You found his hoodie neatly folded on the ledger at the top and took hold of it.

“I’m fine,” You spoke in a clipped manner as you held the garment out for him, “Thank you again for letting me borrow this. You must be busy. Should I walk you out?” Sungchan’s brows furrowed at your words as he took his hoodie from you. His expression only contorted into even more confusion as he noticed how your hands were trembling and you avoided his eyes. He spoke your name softly, setting his hoodie onto your desk before reaching out for you. When your body stiffened at the action, he pulled his hand back to his side.

“Did…Did I do something?” His voice was low, mindful of the people outside. You shook your head, still trying to process that you’d basically overshared your relationship problems with Eunseok to one of Eunseok’s friends. Sungchan was quiet for a moment, waiting for you to speak as he noticed you tapping your hand against your thigh nervously.

“I..” You sucked in a breath, voice coming out small, “Can you please not tell Eunseok about what we talked about last time?” Sungchan was taken aback by your request, looking back towards your door where Eunseok sat on the other side before turning back to you. His confusion lasted only a few moments though as he began to put two and two together.

His lips parted in shock, “Is Eunseok the guy?” You gave him a quiet yes in response and Sungchan could only sigh at that as he ran a hand through his hair.

“I know I must look really stupid right now,” You began, forcing Sungchan’s attention back on you and the way your eyes were welling with tears, “Especially since you’re friends and everything but…Can you please keep it to yourself?”

“Hey,” Sungchan’s voice was rushed but he managed to keep a gentle tone to it, “I’m not going to say anything and I don’t think you’re stupid. This doesn’t change anything I’ve said to you and frankly, I’m just thinking how my friend is a real asshole right now and - oof ” Sungchan felt the air getting knocked out of him as your body collided with his, arms wrapping around his middle as your face pressed into his chest. Quiet whimpers filled the air and Sungchan’s body was quick to relax as his own arms wrapped around you, rubbing down your back.

“It’s okay,” He softly whispered as you held him tighter. He stayed with you like that for a few minutes, listening to how your whimpers died out until you were just standing there quietly. His grip around you only loosened when you started to pull away, wiping at your face with the sleeves of your shirt.

“Sorry,” You mumbled, glancing up at him through wet lashes. Sungchan’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of you before he shook his head.

“No. It’s fine,” He cleared his throat, “You didn’t cry as much as last time. Statistically, some people only start to feel better 3 months after a relationship falls through but look at you doing better after a week,” You stared at Sungchan silently, expression dumbstruck as his words settled into the air. Then, just as Sungchan was about to speak again, you were laughing.

It wasn’t a quiet laugh either. It was one that shook your entire body, racking past your lungs and making your stomach hurt. You weren’t even thinking about the people on the other side of the door as you wiped at the new tears in your eyes, these ones not formed from sadness. Sungchan laughed along with you, glad that you weren’t crying anymore.

“What is with you and statistics?” You breathed as the laughter faded into quiet giggles.

Sungchan sheepishly rubbed his neck at your question, “I was a bit of a nerd in high school. My friends and I used to see who could learn the most facts in a day so I just have a bunch of stats locked and loaded in my head,”

You found his new revelation exceptionally endearing, almost forgetting about the predicament you were in just a moment ago, “That’s really cute.” You offered Sungchan a smile and he couldn’t help the way his cheeks burned at your words.

“Thanks,” He nodded, eyes prying away from yours. He fidgeted in his spot for a moment before forcing himself to look back at you, “I really won’t tell him,” You sucked in a breath at Sungchan’s segway back into earlier’s conversation.

“I don’t fuck with what he did and I don’t want you to feel like I’d take his side over yours just because I am his friend,” You nodded at Sungchan’s words, mumbling a quiet thanks. Silence settled between you again before Sungchan gently clapped his hands together.

“I should probably go though,” Your lips parted into an ‘o’ at his statement, “I do have all those groceries in my car and I don’t want them to go bad,”

“Y-yeah,” You nodded, gesturing towards the door, ready to walk him out.

“Oh!” He stopped you before you could, “There’s something I know would drive him up the wall a little though. Is it okay if I try something if he’s still out there?” You were taken aback a bit by his sudden question but agreed nonetheless. Sungchan felt trustworthy enough right now.

So, as you walked out to the living room - finding that Hana’s room door was closed and only Eunseok remained in the living room - you didn’t think much of it. It was only as you opened the door, ready to bid Sungchan goodbye that you caught the mischievous grin on his lips.

“I’ll see you later, okay?” His voice was so soft as one of his hands moved to cradle your cheek and before you knew it, his lips pressed against your cheek in a quick, chaste kiss. When he pulled away his smile was just as soft as his voice and with a final wink, he was turning to walk away, leaving you dumbstruck. You slowly closed your front door as he walked away, locking it before turning back to catch a glimpse of Eunseok simply staring at you. His expression was more shocked now but you paid him no mind as you scurried back to your room, ignoring how he started to call out your name before the door shut behind you.

Back in your room, you noticed that Sungchan had forgotten his hoodie.

[ to: jung sungchan (guy from the courtyard)

you left your hoodie. ]

You stared at your screen for a moment before changing Sungchan’s contact name. A few moments later, your phone buzzed with a response.

[ from: sungchan :)

i guess i’ll have to come back for it another day.

i hope that didn’t freak you out.

he already texted me asking how we knew each other

told him we met at the library a while back]

-

Another week had passed since your fall-out with Eunseok. The man still hadn’t reached out to you and with each day that did pass, you were starting to think that maybe this was all for the best. Someone that didn’t even check up on you didn’t deserve to be in your life and certainly didn’t deserve your tears.

Still, you couldn’t help when the tears would fall. It was all still fresh and you swore that sometimes when you lay awake at night, you could still feel the ghost of his fingers on you and his warm breath fanning against your skin. It was on one of those nights that you had found yourself pressing your palms to your face in frustration before throwing yourself out of bed. A quick glance to the clock on your wall told you that it was 10pm and while you really should be sleeping so that you didn’t die at your 8am lecture the next morning, you found yourself changing into a pair of sweats and rummaging through your closet for a hoodie. As your luck would have - or more so your laziness - your laundry had piled up and the only clean hoodie you had was Sungchan’s. Grabbing the garment, you wondered how he was doing. He also hadn’t messaged you since your last run in but, in turn, you hadn’t either. It’s not like you really knew each other well enough to check in on each other and he was pre-med so you just assumed he had more important things to focus on.

Your fingers pressed into the fabric of his hoodie for a moment before you decided to throw it on over your bra. It wasn’t cold enough for you to really need to wear a shirt underneath anyways and besides, it wasn’t like you were going to wander outside for too long.

No, instead, you grabbed your backpack and decided to make the 15 minute trek to campus towards your favorite on-campus library. If you were going to be awake, you might as well get some work done. Despite being an education major, you really liked the biology department’s library. You had frequented it during your freshman year when you had to take a gen-ed biology class and maybe it was because it had become so familiar early on that you found yourself always coming back to it despite the education buildings being on the other side of campus.

You felt your shoulders sag as you walked into the familiar building, taking in the comforting smell of all the books. The building was dimly lit with just a few students occupying the tables inside. Your feet carried to the second floor, finding an empty table by the windows that gave you a clear view of the campus outside. It was like muscle memory as you sat down and emptied your backpack - laptop, textbook, earphones. You put the earphones into your ears, playing your study playlist before opening your laptop up to Canvas where you found a quiz that was due in a couple days. You fell into your routine quickly, head bopping to the songs that filtered through your earphones as you shuffled through your textbook for answers to your quiz. You went through each question without much issue, getting into a good flow as you answered every one in quick succession. You barely registered the person sitting across the table from you, shoving their backpack into the seat next to them. You did think it was a bit weird that someone decided to sit with you when you were sure you had seen so many unoccupied tables on your way up earlier but you didn’t pay them too much mind. It was only when you had realized from the corner of your eye that this person hadn’t taken anything out of their bag after a few minutes that you were glancing up at them.

Your lips parted with a small exhale when you registered Sungchan’s familiar face smiling at you giddily. Today, you found that he had opted for his glasses, fluffy hair falling over the frames. He tapped his ear lightly, gesturing for you to pull out your earphones.

“Sungchan,” You whispered his name with a smile as you turned the music off and set your phone aside, “Funny running into you here,”

It really was.

A little weird too.

Not once in the last three years had you seen this man before your breakdown but this was now the third time in the last two weeks that you’d run into him on the off-chance.

He nodded towards your laptop, “What are you working on?”

“Just finishing up a quiz,” You shrugged, glancing down at your laptop to see that you only had 3 questions left, “I couldn’t sleep so I came here,”

Sungchan raised a brow at your words and you knew he was wondering if your insomnia was Eunseok related. Not in the mood to make every conversation you had with Sungchan about your failed situationship, you changed the topic.

“What are you doing here?” You cleared your throat before throwing half of your focus back to your quiz. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Sungchan leaning forward over his elbows.

“Is that my hoodie?” He ignored your question, posing his own that had heat running up your neck as you remembered that you were, in fact, wearing his hoodie. Your eyes shot up to meet his and where you expected an annoyed look, you found his endearing smile. Before you could even begin to apologize for wearing his clothes instead of returning it like you had promised, Sungchan reached forward to grab onto one of the strings of the hood, giving it a gentle tug before letting it fall, “It looks cute on you,”

Your breath caught in your throat at his boyish grin and the way his eyebrows raised up for just a moment. You didn’t know how to respond to him, lips pursing together as your cheeks burned at the compliment. So, you didn’t respond and instead forced your focus back onto the last three questions of your quiz. Sungchan let out a quiet chuckle at your actions before leaning back in his seat.

“I was here for a study session,” He mindlessly tapped against the desk, finally answering your earlier question, “We wrapped up a few minutes ago and then I saw you,” You hummed in acknowledgement as you progressed through your quiz.

“How’d that go?” You glanced up at him for a second, taking in the sight of him slouched in his seat. He was wearing just a sweatshirt today, one that had the name of a soccer club embroidered onto it.

“It was okay,” He shrugged, brushing a hand through his hair before mussing it up from the back, “My brain is fried though,”

“Oh?” You raised a brow as you answered another question of your quiz, leaving you with just one more, “Is the pre-med life getting to you?”

Sungchan snorted at your words, “Anatomy and Physiology is tough. I want to see you memorize every bone in the human body and their position in relation to each other,”

You laughed at that, shaking your head as you finally submitted your quiz. Your score came back instantly, a triumphant 100% staring back at you. You turned your laptop screen towards Sungchan, “I think I’m good where I am,”

Sungchan gave a low whistle in response before remembering he was in the library. He nervously looked around the room but when it seemed that no one had really heard him, he relaxed.

“So are you done for the night?” He asked, sitting up straighter. You gave a nod in response as you closed your laptop and book, moving to pack up, “Can I drive you home?”

You peered over at him, surprised by his sudden offer, “Are you sure? My apartment isn’t that far and I can walk,”

Sungchan was quick to shake his head, “No, no. I know I told you about college crime statistics last time. I was glued to my phone until you texted me back that night because I was so worried,” Your brows pinched together with a smile at the new information and your shoulders shook with light laughter as you pushed your laptop into your bag. Sungchan watched with a fond smile, thinking to himself that laughter really suited you.

“Fine,” You nodded as you stood up, slinging your backpack over your shoulders, “Lead the way to Bella,” The man perked up at the use of his car’s name, a large grin spreading over his face as he mumbled a quick okay back to you.

Later that night, once Sungchan had dropped you home and you found yourself snuggled up under the covers of your bed, you found yourself texting Sungchan again.

[ to: sungchan :)

thank you for driving me home.

i promise I’ll wash your hoodie again and give it back asap]

[ from: sungchan :)

don’t worry about it

and you can keep the hoodie.]

You blinked at his reply, brows furrowing as you moved to respond how you couldn’t do that. Before your fingers could begin to write out your refusal, you saw the three dots pop up that signaled Sungchan was typing again.

[ from: sungchan :)

you really did look cute in it]

Safe to say, you went to sleep that night with cheeks that felt too warm for comfort and a weird buzz in your chest that you just couldn’t place.

-

“Come on” Hana pleaded, hands clasped together as she stood a few feet away from you in the living room two weeks later. In the kitchen, her boyfriend rummaged through your fridge for a snack. Both of them were dressed up for a frat party - one at the same house that you’d met Eunseok at. You were curled up on your couch, the tv show you were watching paused as Hana tried to convince you to join.

“I have plans already Hana,” You gestured to the television and your half eaten bag of chips in your lap. Hana whined your name in response before turning towards Wonbin, who was stepping back into the living room, taking a bite of a sandwich he’d found.

“Help me convince her,” She frowned, patting his arm frantically.

Wonbin shrugged, turning to you, “Eunseok will be there. You guys usually talk a lot when we go to these parties,” While he didn’t realize it, his attempt to convince you was doing the exact opposite. Then, however, he said something that had you shooting to attention, “But I think he’s bringing his girlfriend tonight so actually…” Wonbin’s words trailed and Hana gave him an exasperated sigh, failing to notice the way your face had fallen from what you’d heard.

Eunseok had gotten a girlfriend?

“Wonbin that doesn’t help” She groaned, smacking his chest.

“Oh,” Wonbin perked up as another thought came to mind, “You know Sungchan, right? He’s gonna be there,”

“That tall hottie you brought over last time?” Hana’s face lit up with recognition.

Wonbin feigned offense at her words, “I’m right here, babe,” Hana rolled her eyes at his words before turning to you again.

“Is there anything going on between you guys?” She was basically vibrating with excitement, clasping her hands together.

“No,” You shook your head, grabbing a chip from your bag as you turned your show back on. Your answer wasn’t a lie by any means. You and Sungchan had started texting a bit more - just a few check-ins from each other and the occasional random statistic from Sungchan. You’d mentioned in one of your messages to him that you liked them and he’d started sending you at least one every day. Just earlier today, he’d texted you about how 20% of the mammal species on Earth are different types of bats. You smiled at the reminder and thought that maybe if Sungchan was going to be there, it wouldn’t be the worst idea to go. And besides, if Eunseok could move on so easily, why should you be the only one upset over everything?

“I’ll go,” You sighed, rolling up your bag of chips - much to the delight of Hana. She squealed at your agreement, telling you to get ready and that you’d head out in an hour.

Once you were back in your room, rummaging through your closet for an outfit, you decided to send Sungchan a quick text.

[ to: sungchan :)

what is the statistic for if we’ll run into each other at this party?]

You set your phone aside as you got dressed, settling on a lacey cami top that tied at the front and jeans. You were in the middle of fixing up your make up when your phone buzzed to life.

[ from: sungchan :)

i’d say that there’s a high likelihood for it :) ]

When you got to the party later that night, you found that the frat house was just as musty as you remembered from a year ago. You leaned against one of the walls of the house, staring out at the crowd as you sipped on the bottle of beer you’d grabbed earlier. You’d been here for about an hour and that meant it had been exactly 47 minutes since Hana and Wonbin had slipped away to talk to their friends Anton and Sohee - both residents of this frat house. To Hana’s credit, she had urged you to join them but you had declined, letting her know you were just going to grab a drink and chill.

Sungchan had texted you earlier, letting you know he was finishing up a study session and was going to head over with his roommate in a bit so you found yourself just waiting for him.

It was maybe 15 minutes later that you were wishing he’d hurry up because as you caught sight of a familiar head of short, messy hair you felt your heart drop. Eunseok stood on the other side of the house, lips parted in laughter as he talked to one of his friends and had his arms wrapped around a girl you could only assume was his girlfriend. She looked familiar and when you really thought about it, you realized that she was the same girl you had seen him with on the day he rejected you. You took another swig of your drink, trying to look away from the couple but finding that you couldn’t.

God, this had to be like some stupid form of self-inflicted torture you thought. It only seemed to get worse though as Eunseok’s eyes drifted towards you. His brows raised in recognition and you sucked in a breath. Your hands suddenly felt clammy as you watched him excuse himself from the two and head towards you. The sound of the music blasting through the house dulled in comparison to the sound of your heart beat thumping in your ear.

Eunseok called your name once he was just a few feet in front of you, lips pulling into a hesitant smile.

“Eunseok,” You nodded curtly, prying your eyes away from him and setting your sights instead on a group of guys pushing each other around not too far from where you were standing.

“Can we talk?” He stepped closer to you, forcing your attention back on him. You swallowed thickly at the lack of distance between you.

“About what?” You feigned innocence, earning a frown from Eunseok. He spoke your name again, tone a bit more dejected this time and you met his frown with one of your own, “What is there to talk about Eunseok? You and I are done and from what I heard, it only took you a few weeks to find someone you actually cared about,”

Eunseok winced at your words before letting out a sigh.

“Look, can we just go somewhere private for a second?” He asked, eyes piercing into yours. You were hesitant, glancing around to see if you could spot Hana or Sungchan or anyone you knew for that matter and slip away. Eunseok seemed to catch onto your train of thought, grabbing onto your arm before you knew what was going on and hastily pulling you upstairs.

“What the hell are you doing?” You only came to your senses once he had ushered you into a random room, closing the door behind you, “You have a girlfriend. What if she saw us and misunderstood,”

“It’s fine,” Eunseok crossed his arms over his chest with a sigh, “There’s nothing going on here anyways,”

You scoffed at his words, setting your bottle down on the desk that was pushed up against one of the walls, “You made that clear last time Eunseok. So what the fuck are you doing now?”

Eunseok’s brows furrowed at your words and the harsh tone with which they came out. You’d never spoken to him like that before, “Hey, there’s no reason to be mean,”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that, disbelief clear in your voice, “You’re one to talk about being mean. Last I checked, you and I should be acting like we never met,” Eunseok let out an exasperated groan as he met your sharp glare.

“You know I didn’t mean that,” He took a step closer to you and you met it with a step backwards. He froze, taking in a deep breath through his nose as he called your name again, his voice a little more gentle this time, “You know I cared about you,”

Your lips trembled at his words and you shook your head, “That’s not what you said,” You voice became smaller as that night flashed before your eyes, “You asked me how I could even think that you cared about me,”

“I was caught off guard,” He tried to defend himself, “You told me you loved me and I never did anything to make it seem like I felt the same way while we were together,”

You felt a familiar lump forming in your throat at that, trying to swallow it down, “How can you say that?”

“Because,” Eunseok spoke with finality, “All we did was fuck. Yes we talked after and yes you would stay the night sometimes but we didn’t do much else outside of that. Even when we did hang out outside of that, it was because our roommates were dating each other. It was convenient ”

You stayed silent at his words, wondering how he could equate every moment, every conversation, every secret that you both shared with each other as just convenient.

“Look,” He continued, letting out a low breath, “People like me aren’t supposed to have someone like you, I think fate was being harsh on you.”

Your lips pressed together tightly as you nodded at his words, feeling your chest tighten and your stomach churn with nerves.

“Can you please say something?” Eunseok’s voice was softer as he stared down at you. You sucked in a breath, eyes squeezing shut for a moment before you looked back up at him.

“Fine,” You cursed at the shakiness in your voice, “What does she have that I don’t”

Eunseok’s face morphed into surprise at your words, lips parting but no words coming out.

“Come on Eunseok,” You laughed, the noise sounding pathetic in your own ears as you pressed a hand down against the desk, “You wanted to talk about this right? So tell me,”

Eunseok sighed out your name again, bringing a hand down his face, “Don’t be like this,”

“No,” You shook your head, feeling all the pain and anger bubbling to the surface, “Why don’t you follow your own advice? Don’t act like we’re friends right now and don’t try to talk me down just to make yourself better. The only reason we’re having this conversation right now is because you know you did something wrong and you feel bad. Don’t expect me to make you feel better about it when you already found another girl,”

Eunseok’s jaw clenched, “You found someone else too. What? Are you going to act like you didn’t throw yourself at Sungchan right after we ended things?”

Your blood boiled at his accusation, “He’s just a friend, not that that’s any of your business anyways,” Your eyes narrowed as Eunseok let out a laugh of disbelief. His tongue pushed against his cheek as he shook his head.

“Yeah, because friends kiss right?” He tilted his head to the side with a huff.

You scoffed in response, head dropping for a moment as you started to wish you had just stayed home, “Well, according to you, we were just friends and we did a lot more than just kiss Eunseok,”

Eunseok was quiet for a moment before clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, “I didn’t realize you were so easy,”

Your mouth dropped at his words, a huff escaping your lips as you stared at the man you suddenly felt was a stranger to you. The Eunseok you knew, or that you thought you knew, would never have spoken to you like this. As you registered the lack of remorse on his face you were settling with the fact that whatever you thought you had with him was completely gone.

“You know what,” You spat, ignoring your budding nerves, before making a move to leave, “I hope you two are very happy together and I hope you and I never have to speak again,” You shoved your shoulder against his as you walked past him and out the door. Your breaths came out rapidly as you scurried down the hall, trying to put space between you and that room. You felt lightheaded and the amount of bodies in this house didn’t help with your need to breathe. You shoved past everyone you came in contact with, mumbling out a series of apologies as the room seemed to spin and the music playing seemed to get muffled. It was only when you felt a hand grabbing onto your arm and heard the sound of a familiar voice yelling your name that everything seemed to suddenly clear. Your breathing was still off, the air feeling too stuffy, but as your eyes met Sungchan’s it was like everything else was clearing in that moment.

“Hey!” He smiled widely as he didn’t seem to notice your turmoil, “I was looking for you. I texted you I was here earlier,”

“Sorry about that,” You forced a smile back at him, willing yourself to shake away your nerves, “I didn’t realize,”

“That’s okay,” Sungchan, ever so sweet, just gave you another grin before gesturing to the boy next to him, “This is my roommate by the way. Shotaro,” The shorter boy gave you a quick wave in greeting and a small Yo. You met his wave, telling him your name with a nod.

“Have you been here long?” Sungchan asked but before you could respond you were flinching at the sight of two boys jumping onto Sungchan and Shotaro, their arms falling around their shoulders.

“You guys made it!” The shorter of the new duo cheered.

“I thought we’d never catch you both at a party this year,” The taller one laughed, his voice softer than you would have imagined for a guy his size. He seemed to notice your presence before his friend, giving you a quick apology before introducing himself as Anton. The other boy followed his lead and you found that his name was Sohee. You remembered their names from Hana and Wonbin, finally able to put their faces to the titles.

You gave them a small nod, telling them your name before letting them know you were Wonbin’s girlfriend’s roommate. The two seemed excited enough to hear that before floating the idea that you should all take a shot together. When you had declined, they let out little whines of protest but didn’t push you to join them again. Sungchan, following your lead, declined as well and the boys seemed to protest more vehemently at that but when Sungchan stood firm, they simply booed before dragging Shotaro away from you both.

“They seem…excitable,” You laughed, the absurdity of the last few minutes almost making you forget about your conversation with Eunseok from a few moments ago. Sungchan shook his head at your words, smile still gracing his lips

“You’d think but Anton’s actually quite shy. He just gets giggly when he’s had some drinks in him” He glanced back down at you, brow raising at how your shoulders sat tense and your hands were clasped together.

“You okay?” He rested a hand against your back, thumb pressing against your shoulder to help you bring them down. While you tried to feign ignorance, the way your brows pinched together for a second had tipped you off. Still, you tried your luck.

“Yeah,” You shook your head, hands dusting down the sides of your top, “I actually was about to head out. I’m a bit tired and-”

“You’re lying,” Sungchan was blunt but his tone wasn’t harsh. You hesitantly met his eyes and you weren’t sure if the way he looked so much like cared about what you had to say was making you feel better or worse, “Did something happen?”

You stayed quiet for a moment before shaking your head.

“I don’t want to ruin your night,” You swallowed, “I feel like every time I see you I’m always on the verge of tears,”

Sungchan’s expression softened at that, “You didn’t cry last time,” You knew that his words were an attempt to make you feel better but for some reason, they just made you want to cry more.

“I’m sorry Sungchan. I think I’m just going to head home,” You mustered up a smile but Sungchan could only frown back at you. He was silent for a beat before shaking his head.

“No, let’s go to my dorm,” He took hold of your hand gently, giving you enough room to pull away if you really didn’t want to be in his company. When you didn’t though, he gave your hand a quick squeeze and moved to pull you through the crowd. On the way out, he stopped for a moment and turned to face you. He leaned down, whisper-shouting how he’d be right back before disappearing amongst the groups of people. A few minutes later, you saw his head poking out over the crowd as he lifted a bottle of vodka that he had swiped. You raised a brow at him as he took hold of your hand again and pulled you outside into the cool air and towards his house that sat on the other end of the courtyard.

“What is the bottle for?” You asked as his hand shifted so that his fingers could link with yours.

Sungchan shrugged in response as his attention laid on the path in front of you, “Sometimes people feel better when they drink,”

“Is that another statistic?” Sungchan looked over his shoulder at your question before shaking his head.

“Nah,” His nose scrunched as he spoke, “Just speaking from experience,”

An hour later, you found yourself sitting on Sungchan’s bed while he sat at his desk, body slouched back against the wooden chair and his legs spread as he took another shot of alcohol. You found that his words were, in fact, right. You were feeling better already as your body buzzed with warmth and as Sungchan held out a shot glass towards you, you let yourself take it and get closer to that feeling. You grimaced at the taste and the way it burned going down your throat. Sungchan giggled at the sight and your eyes flitted towards his. His t-shirt was loose around his frame, collar laying in a way that showed the flush of pink skin below. He had opted to change out of the jeans he’d been wearing at the party and into a pair of sweat that rested low on his hips.

And then there were those glasses.

You wondered if Sungchan knew just how cute he looked when those sat perched on the bridge of his nose.

“So,” He huffed as he sat up a bit, stretching out his arms with a tiny whiny, “Do you want to talk about it,” He blinked at you, face patient as you fidgeted in your spot. Your eyes dropped to your hands as your fingers circled each other.

“You first,” You shook your head, earning a confused hum from Sungchan as he gestured for you to elaborate, “You said alcohol makes people feel better and that you were speaking from experience,”

He let out a small Ah at your words, eyes widening with understanding. You watched him curiously as his fingers tapped against his thighs before he was standing, the vodka bottle left behind. It was probably for good reason too; You both had taken quite a few shots in the last hour. He gestured for you to scoot over, which you did, allowing him to situate himself next to you. His shoulder lightly bumped yours as he crossed his arms over his chest and let his head fall back against the wall behind you both.

“I got cheated on last year by a girl I’d been with since freshman year,” You sucked in a breath at the sudden revelation, listening to him as he opened up about his last relationship. He’d met the girl during welcome week and they’d both really hit it off, going on a couple of dates that same year before he’d asked her out. Things had been going well up until last year when Sungchan had gotten busier as he took on research opportunities and volunteering. His girlfriend seemed to think that he was cheating on her every time he told her he was busy. They’d argued about that point for months and after every argument, things would get better until they'd fall back into the same hole again. Then one night, he’d gone to her place after a lab class - after her roommate had texted him to come over - and he had caught her cheating on him with a mutual friend.

“I got really drunk a couple of times after that,” Sungchan shook his head, “Shotaro was not happy one of the times because I had thrown up on a pair of shoes he’d just gotten,”

“And that made you feel better?” You raised a brow, your words making Sungchan laugh a little.

“You know, not on that night,” He looked over at you and from how close he was, you could see just how pink his cheeks had gotten, “Shotaro was really mad at me,”

“I bet,” You snickered, knocking your knee with his. He mimicked your action before letting out a huff of air.

“Okay,” His eyes stayed trained on yours, “Your turn,” He watched carefully as your lips pursed together, the memory of earlier events running through your head. He listened intently as you told him how Eunseok had found you at the party and how he had pulled you into a room to talk. His lips set into a frown as you told him the words exchanged between the two of you and his eyes widened as you told him how you’d gone off on Eunseok before he’d brought up Sungchan and insulted you, resulting in you rushing out before Sungchan found you.

“Huh,” Sungchan’s shoulders slumped as a light laugh, one that held no real humor, left his lips, “I guess I had perfect timing,”

You nodded at that, thinking back to how you’d run into him tonight and all the other times, “You know you really do have a knack for showing up when I really need someone,”

Sungchan’s eyes crinkled in triumph at that, “I guess I’m like your guardian angel,” You snickered at his comment before a comfortable silence settled between you. Your eyes traveled around Sungchan’s side of the room as you both sat there. He had some posters hung up, mostly of soccer teams you assumed he liked, and a cork board that had a few pictures of him and his friends pinned on it alongside some sticky notes that were scribbled with reminders. His desk was messy, mostly taken up by stacked textbooks and piles of notes.

“You know I’m proud of how you handled that,” Sungchan’s voice pulled your attention back to him. He bumped his shoulder against yours as he looked forwards, “Don’t know if that means much since we’ve only known each other for like a month but I am. I’m glad you stood up for yourself and I don’t think you're anything like what Eunseok said to you,”

You blinked up at Sungchan, lips wobbling just a little as his words settled in. You were really trying not to cry tonight but the combination of the alcohol and Sungchan’s kind words were making that really difficult and soon enough you felt the first tear slip through. The man hadn’t even realized that you had started crying until he heard you sniffle. His head whipped towards you, eyes wide.

“Hey,” His body turned to face yours, hands coming up to cup your face. His thumbs swiped against your cheeks, gently brushing away your tears, “It’s okay,” You nodded at his words, blinking up at him through wet lashes as you took a wobbly breath.

“I know,” You spoke softly, bringing one of your hands up to cover his, “I just really needed to hear that,” Sungchan smiled down at you, a sigh of relief leaving his body as his eyes roamed over your face. It was only for a second but you felt the air between you shift as his eyes dropped to your lips. You’d caught the movement almost instantly and as his eyes moved back up to meet yours, he knew you had too. No words were exchanged between you as your hand slowly brought his down to your waist, just beneath the loose fabric of your top. His fingers flexed against the warmth of your skin, his other hand following suit as you shifted towards him. He helped you move atop his hips, breath stuttering as your weight settled against his body. Your hands came up to rest against his shirt, fingers splaying against the soft fabric. Your chest rose and fell with nervous, charged breaths as you stared down at Sungchan. His eyes roamed over your body above his and the expanse of your skin. He couldn’t help the quiet whine that left his lips at the sight of your hips pressing down against his and you felt a shiver run down your spine at the sound. You slowly rocked your hips forward in an experimental movement, feeling your chest stir as Sungchan bit back a groan, his eyes shutting closed and head falling backwards with a thump. His fingers tightened their hold on you, keeping you in place as he peeled his eyes open and peered at you from behind his glasses. Everything felt hot and you weren’t sure how much of that was because of the alcohol and how much was because of Sungchan. All you did know was that your body was buzzing as he continued to look at you as if you were the most mesmerizing thing he’d ever seen. One of his hands slid up the side of your body, fingertips memorizing the curve of your body before they found their place against your cheek. You swallowed as he leaned forward, the space between your lips disappearing until you felt his breath fanning against your skin. You could hear your heart beat in your ears as his eyes flickered up to yours for a second, silently asking for permission to kiss you. You only answered by leaning closer to him, nose brushing against his. His lips were just about to press against yours, barely a few millimeters apart when you heard the tell tale sound of keys jingling against the room’s door.

It was instant the way you both came back to your senses, heads whipping towards the door and then back to each other before you were scrambling apart. You launched yourself off of the bed, settling quickly into the chair Sungchan sat in earlier while he pat down his shirt, smoothing out the wrinkles.

Shotaro emerged into your room a moment later, stopping in his tracks as he caught sight of you.

“Oh hey,” He offered you a quick wave before looking over at his roommate with a brow raised in question.

“Uh..” Sungchan cleared his throat, “She wasn’t feeling very well,” Despite the lame excuse, Shotaro seemed to buy it, snorting as he mumbled how Sungchan should have been the one on the wooden chair and you in the bed.

“Chivalry is dead,” He shook his head as he set his wallet and keys down on his desk before turning to you, “So are you staying the night?” Your face burned at the question even though you know Shotaro’s words didn’t hold any assumptions or intentions.

You quickly shook your head, standing up and frowning as you felt the rush of alcohol in your veins. This was really a horrible time for the vodka to hit. Sungchan sat up at the sight of your wobbly stance but you sent him a warning glance before turning back to Shotaro, “My roommate’s probably still at the party. I’m just going to ask her to take me home. It was nice meeting you Shotaro,” You turned back to Sungchan, breath caught as your brain scrambled for something to say to him as you stood there, still feeling the ghost of his fingers on your waist, “I’ll see you later Sungchan,”

Before the boy could even say anything, you were making a beeline for the door.

Your thoughts were askew, adrenaline pumping through your body as you trudged outside, hasty fingers pulling up Hana’s contact on your phone as you called her to let her know you needed to go home.

You barely registered Sungchan’s name popping up on your phone after you ended your call, agreeing to meet Hana outside of the party house.

[ from: sungchan :)

please let me know when you get home ]

-

You tried to avoid Sungchan after that night, feeling so unbelievably embarrassed by your actions that you had even screamed into your pillow the next morning. It probably wasn’t your best idea as Hana and Wonbin, who had spent the night, burst into your room with pans in hand and they thought someone had broken in.

Unfortunately for you, your efforts to steer clear of the man were for naught. It only took five days for you to come face to face with Sungchan on the one day that you had finally decided to go to the gym. You had specifically gone at a different time from when you’d run into him at the grocery store, having thought of the possibility of him being there. That didn’t seem to matter though as he still showed up.

The whole interaction was awkward. You offered him a stiff wave and he mirrored your movement.

“Hey,” You sucked in a breath as you gripped your water bottle tightly.

“Hey,” Sungchan gave you a clumsy smile, “How are you?”

“I’m good,” You nodded, blinking up at him ,”You?”

“Also good,” He replied, swallowing down the awkward air.

“Great,” You pursed your lips together, only able to stand there for one more second before you were excusing yourself with the notion that you had to finish your workout.

It was safe to say that you did not go back to the gym after that but still, you managed to run into Sungchan again two days later. This time, he was the one to approach you.

You had been studying at a cafe on campus during a break you had between two of your classes. It was the lunch rush at this time so you always made sure to dash to the cafe after your first class to grab a table before they filled up. It was routine for you and you hadn’t expected Sungchan to show up since he never had before. This day, however, you found yourself dumbstruck as he slunk into the seat across from you as you reviewed one of your lectures. He offered you a boyish grin in greeting, asking if it was okay for him to join you. You could only nod in response before watching as he pulled out his laptop.

It was weird at first but neither Sungchan nor you mentioned what had happened in his room the night of the party. Instead, Sungchan had brought up another random statistic he’d learned recently - something about how 11% of people are left handed. You raised a brow at his segway to a conversation and Sungchan only met your inquisitive star with his own hopeful one. His expression only brightened as you took the bite, asking if he knew anyone who was left handed. From there it was like an unspoken agreement that you weren’t going to talk about what happened.

Months passed like that with unplanned run-ins and ignored feelings. Whether it was at the library, the campus bookstore, or even one time at a comedy show that Hana dragged you to, Sungchan would somehow spawn like magic.

You felt the charge in the air every time you were with him. It was unlike what you felt with Eunseok. With him, it didn’t feel like this. It didn’t feel like the air would get thicker when you were around him, it didn’t feel like your heart was going to thump so hard that you were scared it would beat right out your chest, it didn’t feel like you could melt from the warmth that tingled down your skin.

It didn’t feel so all encompassing.

If you weren’t so scared to admit it, you’d say that you were falling for Sungchan.

You couldn't do that though. You hammered it in that this time you two were just friends and you didn’t dare to cross the line with any assumptions even when Sungchan would look at you with a smile so fond that your breath would stutter or when he’d help you prep for your classroom practicals with such care that you couldn’t believe someone could be so attentive or even when he’d adjusted the passenger seat of his car so that it was set to your preferences.

Sungchan was just a really nice friend - you told yourself that even if you didn’t believe it.

So, when the opportunity to be a really nice friend to him presented itself to you, you were taking it without a second thought. Shotaro had reached out to you with a proposition of a surprise party for Sungchan after he had been accepted to medical school. You had already congratulated the boy privately when he’d told you himself, having practically jumped him with joy when he dropped the news on you one night at the library. You had been shushed by several students to the point where you had to end your study session early so you could pull Sungchan outside and engulf him in a tight hug. Your arms had wrapped themselves around his shoulders as you squealed in his ear. Sungchan could only laugh with mirth as his own arms placed themselves around your waist and his face buried itself against your shoulder. You remembered giggling at the feeling of his hair tickling your skin before pulling away to tell him how proud you were of him. His face was struck with awe as he stared down at you that night before he had pulled you in for another hug, gently rocking your bodies back and forth.

With this party now, however, you and Shotaro wanted Sungchan to be able to be celebrated by all of his friends. So, that’s how you found your apartment filled with a bunch of people that you didn’t know well but who knew Sungchan well enough - at least per Shotaro.

When you looked around, you only recognized a handful of people. Anton and Sohee stood in your kitchen, munching on some of the snacks you’d set up on the kitchen counter. They were talking with Seunghan, Sungchan’s physiology lab partner that you’d met a few times when you’d met up at the library. Then in the living room sat Wonbin, Hana, Eunseok, and Shotaro. Despite your great distaste for Eunseok, you hadn’t barred Shotaro from inviting him - mostly because no one besides Sungchan knew what had happened between you but also because he was still, somewhat, Sungchan’s friend. From what Sungchan had told you before, the two had been regular gym buddies after they met back during freshman year. It wasn’t like he could just ice him out either when their friend group mixed so much.

You told yourself you were mature enough to face him for Sungchan’s sake and as he sat in your living room, you were really believing it as not a single pang was felt in your chest at the sight of him. Still, you couldn’t help greeting him with a frown before promptly ignoring him for the rest of the night - an action that raised eyebrows from Hana and Wonbin.

Around the rest of your apartment, small clusters of people were scattered, waiting for Sungchan to arrive. You had texted the boy that you needed him to help you change a ceiling light that maintenance had been neglecting and he was supposed to arrive at 7PM. Currently, it was 6:58PM so he was expected at any minute.

You were in the middle of a conversation with one of Sungchan’s soccer buddies, Taeyong, who you’d met only minutes earlier when your doorbell rang. Shushes filled the space as everyone clamored into positions, crouching onto the ground as you flipped the lights off, hiding them from view.

You opened the door slowly, a smile tugging onto your lips as the image of Sungchan and his signature glasses came into view. He met your smile with one of his own before looking behind you at the darkness with surprise.

“Wow,” He entered your apartment, letting his eyes adjust to the dark for a moment as you closed the door behind him, “You weren’t kidding when you said they were neglecting your lights. You could only giggle at his words, missing the sight of Sungchan’s brows rising in confusion. He had expected you to be more frustrated in this situation.

His confusion only grew when you flipped the lights on and he was met with the sight of an apartment full of people. In another second, every person jumped to their feet, yelling out a loud chorus of Surprise!

Sungchan turned to you, bewilderment still written on his face, “It’s not my birthday. You know that right?”

“I know,” You rolled your eyes, “Shotaro and I planned this since you got into medical school,” At that, Sungchan’s eyes sparkled in understanding and his lips slit into a blinding grin.

“Really?” He glanced at you before turning towards the group of his friends.

Sohee was the first to speak up, “I’ll be expecting some free check-ups in the future Dr. Jung,” After that, it was one congratulations after another as Sungchan was pulled into countless conversations. You grinned at the sight of him, letting yourself slink off to the living room to sit with Hana and Wonbin who were conversing about their weekend plans. Eunseok had disappeared from your line of sight at some point too - to your delight - probably mingling with some of the others around.

An hour had to have passed before you realized you didn’t have your phone on you. You must have left it in your room and moved to go grab it, but not before your eyes caught Sungchan’s. He perked up as he tried to wave you over to him from across the room. You mouthed that you would be right back and although a pout made its way onto his lips, he was sending you a nod. You snickered at his mannerisms before heading into your room, quickly finding your phone before you went back out to the party. Sungchan wasn’t at the same spot you’d seen him just a moment prior, instead having moved to the kitchen where Shotaro was pouring him and a few others a round of shots.

You decided to let him have the moment with his friends instead of joining him. You were sure to run into him again tonight at some point. It was a small apartment after all.

For some reason though, the stars weren’t lining up. Despite you and Sungchan running into each other randomly for months, you somehow couldn’t find a single moment with him now as he kept getting swept up. His eyes would meet yours every now and then and you had to hold back your laughter every time he sent you a look that just screamed help me when he’d get roped into another shot by his friends.

By the time the clock had struck 11PM, some people had started to go home and it was only as you were starting to be able to count the heads in the apartment that Sungchan was finally finding you. You were in the middle of a heated conversation with Sohee about which Justin Bieber song was the best when you felt his hand wrap around your wrist.

“I’m going to steal her for a bit if you don’t mind,” Sungchan didn’t even wait to hear if Sohee did mind as he started to drag you away, pulling you past the people in your apartment and out the front door.

You looked at Sungchan in confusion as you two now stood outside in the hallway.

“What are we doing?” You watched him curiously as he stared down at you, bringing a hand up to smooth down the ends of his messy hair.

“I wanted to tell you a statistic,” He shrugged and you couldn’t help but snort in response before gesturing for him to continue. He sucked in a sharp breath as he clapped his hands together and you jumped at the loud sound. He mumbled a sheepish sorry before clearing his throat, “Did you know that research shows that some people can develop romantic feelings for someone within 3 to 4 months?”

“Oh,” You nodded at the fact, “That's a cool one. I think I might like the ocean one you told me the other day better though,”

Sungchan jerked his head in surprise, obviously not expecting that response from you, “The one about 50-80% of Earth’s organisms residing in the ocean?” You nodded and Sungchan couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose, “Okay, but this one’s a really good one too,”

Your brows furrowed at his sudden insistence, “I mean I guess?”

“Yeah and you know,” You watched as Sungchan’s hand tapped against his side nervously, “We’ve been friends for longer than that,”

“Yeah?” You questioned, unsure where Sungchan was going with this.

He gave you an exasperated look, shoulders slumping as you were missing his point completely, “You can’t be serious right now,” He let out a huff of breath, hands coming to his hips as his head fell back so he could look up at the ceiling. When he lifted his head again, you found that his face was dusted with an unmistakable shade of pink and his lips were pressed into a nervous line.

“I like you”

You froze at his sudden proclamation, lips parting in shock as your eyes searched for any indication he was messing with you. As he met your stare with a determined look, you settled on the notion that he was serious. Still you found yourself struck with silence, brain struggling to come up with any reply to his words.

Sungchan’s face fell at your lack of response and from the look on his face, you knew he was assuming the worst.

“Look,” His eyes dropped to the ground, “I know you think we aren’t right for each other, but we’ve run into each other too many times for you to tell me that this isn’t fate. And I don’t think I can pretend anymore that I don’t have feelings for you,” Heat creeped up your cheeks as he continued to ramble, “I know we didn’t meet on the best of terms and that maybe you’re still getting over the whole thing with Eunseok but I really don’t know how much longer I can keep from kissing you when you’re next to me,”

Silence hung in the air between you as you processed everything he had just said.

“Say something,” He frowned as you just stood there.

“I..” You swallowed, mind running with a million thoughts “I don’t know what to say,”

It was the truth. You really hadn’t expected this from Sungchan but you couldn’t say that you hadn’t hoped he felt this way at some point in the last few months.

Sungchan’s face fell as your words settled and he gave you a quick nod, “Right,”

“Wait, Sungcha-” You felt panic as he started to come to the wrong conclusion, one where you didn’t feel the same.

“No,” He was quick to shake his head, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have sprung that on you,”

“No, that’s no-”

He cut you off again, much to your frustration, “I’m just going to go. Thank you for the party,” You stood dumbfounded as he brushed past you, giving you no time to clear up this massive misunderstanding as he disappeared around the corner.

-

[ to: sungchan :)

i’m going to drop off your hoodie]

You’d texted Sungchan at 1 in the morning, long after all the partygoers had gone home. You sighed as you recalled your very awkward excuse from before as to why Sungchan had gone home early from his own party. You’d told everyone that he had stomach issues and had a problem using other people’s bathrooms. You weren’t sure how many people believed you considering they all knew Sungchan longer than you had and probably would have noticed if he truly had a problem like that. If anyone did think you were full of it, they didn’t say anything. You did notice the wild look of bewilderment on Shotaro’s face though.

That really didn’t matter now though as you trudged over to Sungchan’s dorm, his hoodie draped over your figure. Your phone buzzed to life as you walked through the start of Sungchan’s housing community.

[ from: sungchan :)

keep it

i gave it to you]

You rolled your eyes at his response.

[ to: sungchan :)

i’m in the courtyard ]

You sighed as you made your way into the courtyard, stopping only as you reached the corner closest to the Biology House. It took only another minute for Sungchan to reply

[ from: sungchan :)

i’m not coming outside ]

You frowned at your screen, rereading his text before sending one back

[ to: sungchan :)

crime is high on college campuses sungchan

what if i get robbed ]

His reply was instant.

[ from: sungchan :)

i’m coming ]

You smiled triumphantly before pocketing your phone in the pocket of your jeans. Moments later, you caught sight of Sungchan emerging from his house. He was clad in an oversized black hoodie and matching sweats. You watched as he adjusted his glasses, squinting as he took in the sight of you.

“Why are you wearing it?” He frowned, “I thought you were going to wash it first,”

You deadpanned at his words, unable to believe that of all things he could have said right now, that’s what he chose to say. When he came closer and you caught sight of his puffy eyes, however, your expression softened.

“I’m not giving it back,” You shook your head and Sungchan furrowed his brows in response.

“You came all the way here to tell me that? After I just confessed to you?” He seemed to be full of disbelief and for a moment you swore you thought he was contemplating his feelings for you.

“No,” You shook your head, “I came here to tell you that you are an idiot,” You ignored the squawk of offense that rose from Sungchan’s throat, “You know if you’re going to be a doctor you really need to work on your communication and your critical thinking. You didn’t even give me a chance to respond back there,”

Sungchan’s brows furrowed together, “I swear there was literally a year’s worth of silence between us earlier,”

You frowned at that, lips pinching together, “I was shocked Sungchan and it’s not my fault you ran off,”

“About that,” Sungchan raised a finger as he recalled something Shotaro told him when he came home, “Did you really tell everyone I couldn’t use other people’s bathrooms?”

“Does that really matter right now?” You sighed.

Sungchan was quiet for a beat before nodding, “A little bit, yeah,”

You shook your head, willing yourself to calm down before looking up at Sungchan, “You really are an idiot,”

Before Sungchan could respond, your legs pushed yourself forward. You grabbed at the material of his hoodie, pulling him down to meet you as you leaned in so that your lips met his. You felt his body freeze against yours for a moment but it wasn’t long before Sungchan’s arms wrapped around your waist and he was kissing you back. You sighed against him, melting into his body as his soft lips met yours over and over again.Your chest buzzed with warmth as his hands slowly slid up your body before cradling your cheeks. He angled your head up, giving him better access to kiss you. You felt him smile against your lips before his tongue ran over your bottom lip but before the kiss could become too heated, you pulled away. You giggled as Sungchan chased your lips and you pressed your hand firmly against his chest to keep him back. You almost rethought your actions as he whined at the loss of contact but you had to make sure there were no misunderstandings first.

“Sungchan,” You panted, catching your breath as you tried to recall the statistic you had looked up before leaving your apartment, “Did you know that when you like some one, chemicals associated with the reward circuit flood your brain and that can make people experience racing hearts and flushed cheeks and sweaty palms?”

Sungchan smiled down at you, eyes crinkling in amusement, “Yeah?” His tone urged you to go on.

You nodded, pushing down your nerves with a laugh, “I think I’m feeling all of that right now,”

Your words hung in the air for a moment before a squeal vibrated against your chest as Sungchan’s lips suddenly found yours again, this time moving slower as he took his time in memorizing the way you tasted and the way your body felt pressed up against his. He kissed you sweetly, lips slotting against yours perfectly as his hands gently held your face. You continued like that, savoring the feeling of his kiss until you had to pull away for air.

“For the record,” You panted, bringing one of your hands over his, “I never thought you weren’t right for me. I just…I was just scared you didn’t feel the same way and I didn’t want things to end up like they did with Eunseok,”

“God,” Sungchan groaned, pressing his forehead against yours. You giggled as his glasses knocked against your brows, “I don’t want to ever hear Eunseok’s name come out of your mouth after I kiss you,”

You snorted at that, “Whose name should I be saying then?”

Sungchan rolled his eyes at your comment before pressing another kiss to your lips, unable to resist when you were so close to him, “Obviously your boyfriend’s,”

“Didn’t realize I had a boyfriend,” You pulled back for a moment, a pout on your lips as Sungchan peered down at you with an unimpressed stare.

“You do now. It’s me,” You couldn’t help but smile as he kissed you once again, “And I will be for a long time,”

“Mhhm,” You sighed against his lips, “Is that another statistic?”

“It’s a fact,”

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