☆ I don’t understand why but I love you || vernon
fanfic: idol!vernon x fem!reader wordcount: 3.8K PART TWO spotify playlist
vernon learnt two things that day.
lesson number 1: when a woman asks you what inspired you to write a song, NEVER say it was her
lesson number 2? especially when that woman is the one you can’t stop thinking about
as soon as the words left his mouth, vernon knew it was the wrong answer. (y/n) blinked at him a few times before pressing the button to the next floor and fleeing from elevator before he could stop her.
It wasn’t even the floor she intended to get off on.
now she was avoiding him. she would show up to training with coffee for everyone but wouldn’t meet his eyes. today was vocal training with cardio, which meant exercising while singing for half an hour straight.
vernon knew this was the moment seungkwan and dokyeom would crack jokes to lighten everyone’s moods. everyone was running around in circles while singing 10 minutes by lee hyeri when he felt (y/n)’s gaze on him. but when he looked in her direction, she looked away at jeonghan who was right in front of him.
nobody seemed to notice her discomfort around them, and it was vernon’s fault. If only he could talk to her about what happened, but it seemed like she already knew what he was thinking, and she was running away from it. It was a miracle he wasn’t facing a HR suit for crossing a line with her. he didn’t expect such a cold reaction from her, especially when he didn’t even explain what he had meant.
this happened for an entire week until she couldn’t avoid him anymore. It was time for her meeting with him and jeonghan hyung.
(y/n) did some calculations for everyone’s enlistment dates and told them to all make a solo for the new album. tentatively, they were calling it “happy birthday” to celebrate seventeen’s 10-year anniversary.
(y/n) wanted focus on every member before they had to take a break, which would include solo performances in their next tour. It was an interesting strategy considering how close jeonghan hyung’s enlistment was, so (y/n) wanted to focus on his track first. vernon felt grateful he was also being consulted for the lyrics.
jeonghan was nervous to sing what he had prepared, but as vernon expected, he had a solid demo, which impressed both jihoon and (y/n). vernon could imagine it being an ost for a romance drama, which was just the magic in hyung’s voice. he couldn’t help but hug jeonghan as he left the recording studio.
he took one look at (y/n) and started laughing. “why do you look like you ate a bug?”
(y/n) sniffled. “sometimes I can’t control my emotions, okay? that was beautiful.”
“did I just make our manager cry? am I going to face the consequences of ‘the ice queen’ now?”
(y/n) laughed, smacking his arm. “shut up, I’m not the ‘ice queen’, and even if I am, your song is enough to melt to.”
“are you calling me elsa?”
“you’re olaf,” jihoon laughed.
everyone was making jeonghan feel supported, which is exactly what worried vernon of the future. he would have to say goodbye to 9 of his best friends for months before they could all be together again. seeing jeonghan hyung handle everything in such a mature manner, but still cracking jokes around everyone, broke his heart a little.
“goodnight (y/n)!” jihoon hyung said as he left the studio with jeonghan to discuss the ending for the song, leaving vernon alone with (y/n), who was busy packing her stuff.
It was like deja vu, but they clearly needed to address the elephant in the room. “um, (y/n)-nim?” she looked at him for the first time in 3 hours since he entered the studio. “can we talk?”
“I have to go home soon. I have an early morning tomorrow.”
“It won’t take long.” (y/n) looked as if this was the last place she wanted to be “I promise,” he added.
(y/n) nodded reluctantly, setting her bag down and facing him. “what’s up?”
vernon suddenly forgot what to do with his hands. should he fold it across his chest? place them inside the pockets of his hoodie? “I just wanted to clarify what happened in the elevator-“
“let’s forget about what happened,” she said hurriedly. “that’ll be the best solution. I’m your manager. I’m responsible for seventeen’s work. nothing can change that, which means….” she pointed between the two of them. “nothing can happen between us.”
vernon’s jaw dropped slightly. “got it.”
“I mean, we can be friends, I guess? we will be working together after all, but there’s a line I need to draw, I hope you understand.”
(y/n) put her hand out towards him. “friends?”
he couldn’t help but smile. even after being rejected, she surprised him. “friends,” he shook hands with her.
(y/n) bid vernon goodnight and left the studio, leaving him glued to where he stood. he couldn’t believe what had just happened. obviously he hadn’t expected a love confession from her, but a firm yet subtle rejection hurt a lot more somehow.
but when he thought back at it, why didn’t (y/n) just tell him that in the elevator? why did she practically run away from him? which meant she liked him too, or at least felt something unexplainable towards him. but he couldn’t prove it without her slipping up again.
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vernon was staring at his phone. (y/n) went offline shortly after he texted that. maybe he was being really bold texting her like this. at first it was just a joke to her “let’s be friends” comment, but he genuinely loved talking to her. she understood his sense of humour and never put him down for what he said.
the dance studio was still buzzing with the gift she’d sent. everyone was praising her. It was almost like listening to people talk about regina george.
“now I want her to join the going seventeen games,” mingyu said.
“no I wouldn’t want her in the opposite team as me. she’d be scary if she’s competitive,” jun said.
“worse than us?” minghao asked.
“worse,” everyone agreed.
right then, a loud screech echoed through the dance studio. “IMO!!!!!”
jeonghan shook as something grabbed onto him. everyone looked at him and saw two small hands gripping the back of his legs.
“IMO!” the child said again but when she looked up, she looked confused. “wait you’re not my aunt.”
she was 4-5 years old, wearing a black frock. she had two pigtails and rosy cheeks. what was a child doing in pledis’ building?
jeonghan knelt down to face her as she took two steps backward. “kid, are you lost? do you need us to find your aunt?”
“hyeri! come back here,” an old woman opened the door to the room and urged the little girl towards her. “I’m so sorry, young men. we’re a little lost here. the building is so complicated.”
“can I stay here, grandma? please?”
“no you’ll be disturbing them. come we’ll go find your aunt.”
“we’ll take care of her,” seungkwan said. “we were taking a break anyway. I promise we’re responsible.”
“yes we’ll keep her company,” jihoon agreed.
the kid looked up at him and smiled, something becoming decisive in her head. the lady looked sceptical. room full of 13 strange men?
“would that be alright?” the woman asked.
vernon walked towards her, recognising the english accent in her korean one. “yes, we can look after her. I can show you around in the meantime,” he said, switching language.
“oh how kind of you! we’ve been waiting for a while for my daughter. I really want to see where she works.”
“follow me,” vernon said, taking her arm and leading her out.
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(y/n) had a LONG day. It was meetings after meetings with the ceo, discussing what to do when all the members get discharged. It was still far ahead but a long term plan was what was missing in the previous regime, which led to improper management of funds and ultimately led to stealing.
It was almost lunch time when she realised she needed to make plans taking out the group. she checked their schedule and walked towards the dance studio, talking to the group’s managers to ask if they’d be free for a meal soon.
but as she entered the studio, she was met with chaos.
everyone was dressed up in pink and blue, their signature colours, but with wands and wings on their backs. they were crowded around someone, laughing as if she didn’t exist.
not until a little head popped out and shouted “IMO”, running towards her, careful not to trip. that’s when (y/n) saw jihoon seated in the middle of the floor with a flower crown on his head and rouge circles on his cheeks.
“what is happening here?”
joshua jumped out wearing a cape and a mask trying to scare hyeri who wasn’t there, and froze when he noticed (y/n) standing there.
“what are you doing here?” (y/n) knelt down to hug her, a huge smile on her face.
“we came to take you out for lunch?”
right then, the door to the studio opened behind her, and in walked vernon laughing with her mom.
wait, her mom was laughing?
“and that’s when we realised wonwoo was the mafia and we’d all been fooled. oh hi (y/n)!”
“mom, what’s happening here?”
“ah (y/n), come here,” she hugged her, lingering for a while before letting her go. “have you not been sleeping properly? why are your eyes so puffy?”
“mom, hold on. I gave you a card for emergencies. you can’t disturb their practice like this.”
“this IS an emergency. we need to have a family lunch and you’ve been deflecting our calls. so I’m here to take you with us.”
(y/n) looked at vernon, begging him to get her out of this, but there was nothing he could do. “Is that what she’s been doing, mrs lee? (y/n), what is this behaviour?”
mrs. lee laughed again, making (y/n) scrunch her eyebrows. “this young gentleman showed me around pledis entertainment. what a lovely building! and what polite boys. I’m really happy you’ve found a place here.”
“thank you, mom. but first,” (y/n) turned to hyeri, who had her hands wrapped around (y/n)’s legs. “hyeri, what were you doing with them before I got here?”
all the seventeen members had lined up, forming a barrier. even vernon was confused as to why they were all dressed up with makeup on.
“we were playing dress up,” minghao said, adjusting his glasses.
“yeah. I’m playing the princess,” jihoon said.
“and I’m the prince,” jeonghan said but he had a pink bow on his hair. was that supposed to be the crown?
“and what are you supposed to be?” (y/n) asked joshua, trying not to crack up.
“I’m the prince’s evil twin who’s also a monster.”
hyeri giggled. the team had been entertaining the child by role playing fairy tale characters. It was seokmin’s idea once the child got enamoured by jihoon’s long hair and wanted to braid it.
“I picked the roles for them,” hyeri said.
(y/n) looked like she wanted to be anywhere but in this situation. she walked over to the team and put her hands together. “I am so so sorry about this. I didn’t realise they would come and disturb you guys.”
“no it’s completely fine!” jihoon said, taking the flower crown off his head.
“we were fooling around anyway,” laughed soonyoung, hitting mingyu in the process. they were dressed up in some sort of guard costume.
“I’m so sorry, jeonghan. I know you don’t like it when people stereotype your looks-” she knew he didn’t like it when people dwelled on his feminine features, which is probably the first thing hyeri would’ve noticed.
“I had fun, (y/n)-nim. It’s actually a huge compliment. It’s not everyday I get to be the prince to woozi’s princess.” he winked at jihoon, making him laugh out loud.
“we all let out some steam. It was like shooting for going but we had to be responsible adults,” chan said. “or atleast jeonghan and joshua did.”
(y/n) was so embarrassed, especially because the 12 men were being so nice about it. she bowed and apologised again.
“tonight, dinner is on me.”
the room erupted with roars and cheers as seokmin and mingyu shoulder bumped each other, and joshua got jun into a bear hug. chan thanked her personally by shaking her hand, which vernon got a glimpse of. he couldn’t help but clench his fists but he had to hide it from his expressions.
(y/n) turned around and started walking towards her family, and he forced himself to smile.
“mom, I’ll meet you outside in 2 minutes.”
“I’ll wait at the entrance. It was so nice to meet you, hansol. come home sometime with everyone.” mrs. lee thanked everyone for keeping them company while hyeri high-fived everyone and kissed jihoon on the cheeks before hopping away.
(y/n)’s face was red. she couldn’t believe what had just happened. she dragged vernon outside the room to talk. “why were you showing my mom around?”
vernon was confused. he crosses his arms across his check. “why would I not show her around…friend?” he bumped his fist on her shoulder lightly, just to see how she would take it.
she raised her eyebrows at him, a hint of a smile on her face. “thank you. I don’t know what else to say. I know you hate translating everything to english for people, so this means a lot. I owe you one.”
a part of vernon was touched she knew that about him. It made him feel closer to her somehow. “ahh this was nothing. I enjoyed her company. she was very impressed by our discography. I ended up showing her some clips from the previous concert we did. I see where you get your spunk from.”
“that’s amazing, because my mom doesn’t get impressed a lot,” she laughed. “she’s really bold. I wish I could be like that.” vernon opened his mouth to say something when she interrupted, “and do not call me elsa, I will not hesitate to punch you.”
vernon laughed. “alright.”
there was a moment of silence between them which made (y/n) say bye and walk towards the exit when vernon called her name out, making her turn around.
“I’ll see you at dinner tonight.”
which he couldn’t wait for. he was practically watching the clock tick by, every second bringing him closer to dinner. he felt like a child wanting to find the best seat to reserve for him and the girl he liked. god knows he did that at one point, and that relationship led nowhere because he became an idol soon after.
something changed between him and (y/n) in the last few weeks. he could feel himself opening up to her. the question was, could she? he needed to figure out how she would slip up. the best way for that to happen? drinks.
(y/n) got them off practice at 8 and they all went to a barbecue restaurant nearby. (y/n) had booked the whole place for the evening for the entire team. everyone was so excited to be there. she was going to sit with the producers when chan dragged her to their table.
vernon’s fists clenched again, seeing chan hold her hand. It didn’t seem like she drew a line with him, which was really strange. that’s what made vernon wonder if dino was the one she really liked. but because there were no other empty seats, chan got a chair for her and placed it at the head of the table, with vernon on one side and chan on the other side of her.
(y/n) was still a mystery to them, so when everyone wanted to play a drinking game, truth or dare was most voted on. everyone wanted to get to know how (y/n) was, not just as their boss but also as a person.
after a couple of rounds of embarassing tasks, (y/n)’s turn came.
“(y/n)-nim, truth or dare?” minghao asked.
“ayeee,” jeonghan complained beside her.
“I’ll choose dare next round, I promise,” (y/n) said.
minghao asked something to jun in chinese. “okay, what is your real age?”
“ayeee you never ask a woman her age!” jeonghan shouted, supported by seungkwan and mingyu.
“everyone is curious! I know you wanted to ask her too,” minghao snapped back.
everyone looked at (y/n), who looked around the table because taking a shot for not answering. half the table banged the table while the others cheered for the secrecy.
vernon laughed his heart out. he was trying to keep the drinks to a limit because he had to drive back, but whatever was going on made him tense up. every time he would pass a dish to (y/n) she would politely decline. but when chan insisted on her taking second servings, noticing how she wasn’t touching her food, she didn’t complain. there was no resistance at all.
If (y/n) felt something for chan, she clearly wasn’t doing a great job at hiding it. if she did, she wouldn’t keep repeating the fact she’s their manager to vernon. besides, that’s not what vernon felt at the elevator. he needed to sort out his feelings tonight, no matter what.
at the end of the night, everyone was way too drunk to drive. the managers had been keeping their alcohol limit in control and decided to take the members home. everyone thanked (y/n) a lot before getting into the van.
(y/n) faced vernon then, who was looking through his contacts, or pretending to, at least.
“are you not leaving with them?” she asked.
she was clearly very drunk. her cheeks were pink and her eyes were drooping. but she was managing to stay upright somehow.
vernon pulled out his car keys. “I drove here. how are you going?”
“I’ll book a cab or something.”
(y/n)’s eyes widened just for a second as she realised what he said. “no, it’s fine! I don’t want to trouble you.”
“nonsense. we live on the same side of the city. I’ll drop you. let me just get the car round the back.”
vernon left before she could argue. every step away from her made his heart race. he was going to be in the same car as her, alone, since the elevator incident. but things were fine between them. he wasn’t going to go around confessing, eventhough that’s all he wanted to do.
(y/n) got into his car and thanked him once again. “I hate to trouble you like this.”
“not a trouble at all. I couldn’t leave you alone there either. you’re my manager, after all.”
(y/n) blinked and sat still in her seat. she was trying to hard not to relax. vernon noticed her clutching the bag on her lap. she pulled at the collar of her shirt and exhaled slowly.
he was noticing every single thing about her while thinking about how to talk to her about what he felt. he didn’t want to cross a line after building a friendship with her. obviously he wasn’t jealous of whatever she and chan had going on. that wasn’t like vernon, but he wanted her to be honest if she did like someone.
even if that ‘someone’ wasn’t him.
as vernon got lost in his own thoughts, he took the highway to the city and he turned to glance at her. the car has become really silent in the last few minutes.
(y/n) had her eyes closed as she leaned back on the car seat. her breathing was even, and the lights of the night highlighted the colour of her cheeks. this was the most peaceful he had seen her be, and it made his heart race. vernon used the car controls to gently push her seat back so that she would be more comfortable.
as he neared her apartment lane, he heard her sniffling, just like he had on the night he wrapped his hoodie around her. he parked the car outside her apartment block and looked at (y/n)’s eyebrows drawn together, her head moving left and right.
“haru….” she called out that name again.
vernon’s heart dropped. he didn’t like the heaviness in her voice. there was a past to her she wasn’t coming to terms with, and eventhough vernon wanted to be a shoulder to cry on, he knew (y/n) was stronger than that. so, he did what he did best. he stayed silent and let her sleep for a bit more.
his head snapped to hers but she was still asleep. had he imagined it or had she mumbled his name? a single drop of tear threatened to flow down her cheek, which vernon caught. but doing so, his finger brushed against her cheek, which made her wake up.
(y/n) opened her eyes, processing where she was at the moment. vernon became nonchalant again, making beats on the steering wheel as he stared at the empty street before him.
“shit,” she jolted upright. “I’m so so sorry. I don’t know when I fell asleep.” she turned back and wondered if the seat was always like that. or was she that drunk to not notice how the seat had been when she got in?
“It’s fine, I didn’t even notice it. you’re a great listener, by the way,” he said, trying to distract her
he was teasing her and she knew it. she rubbed some warmth into her eyes and turned to see that they’d already reached her apartment. she couldn’t believe he’d let her sleep the entire ride, and he wasn’t even complaining about it.
“thank you for today, really. for keeping my mom company and now dropping me home.”
vernon shrugged. “not a problem.”
(y/n) nodded. “okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then?” she opened the door and walked out into the cold night. when she was about to close the door, she saw vernon handing her a bottle of water.
“I don’t want you fainting halfway. take it.”
(y/n) scoffed. “amusing,” she rolled her eyes but took the bottle from him. “goodnight. vernon.”
vernon closed the window and took the roundabout to the exit of her apartment. what had he just done? that was the only bottle he owned. vernon was going to blast on the music to noise out his thoughts when he caught a movement in the rearview mirror.
(y/n) started walking back towards the apartment but stopped for a second.
vernon’s heart beat faster. he slowed the car down on purpose as he reached the security gate. was she going to fall? was she feeling dizzy already?
right as he contemplated what to do, (y/n) turned around to see his car leave. a huge smile spread across vernon’s face as a warm feeling coursed through his veins.
she turned around to see him one last time before the night ended.
hello my lovelies my exams are finally over! I promise I didn’t mean to delay this but I want to keep writing somehow???? I have the entirety of the next part written out when I decided I wanted more tension between them before I can go to my favourite part of the story (I can’t wait for you to read). do check out the playlist! In case you want to follow my insta it’s @confettidrama more parts are on the way!