Discover Top Posts Tagged with #changbin romance

Winter and Spring Go Hand-in-hand

Pairing: Reader x Changbin

Word count: 22.6k

Summary: Changbin lives a quiet life in his little apartment. Every once in a while, he talks to his buddy Chan, who moved across the country to fulfill his dream of being a professional rugby player, and on other nights, Changbin heads to his regular boxing gym a few minutes away from his place.

No one on campus approaches him because Changbin looks like he would punch your lights out. It doesn’t have anything to do with his resting bitch face or his relatively soft tone of speaking, Changbin just looks scary with his giant muscles and tattoos. It’s not like he actually openly talks to anyone either, he’s way more shy than anyone on campus thinks.

At least until you sit next to him with your pastel yellow shirt tucked into the waistband of your white jeans, mismatched socks showing from right above where your low cut sneakers end.

Or in other words: The scary looking yet shy guy falls in love with his energetic and outgoing classmate over blueberry juice boxes and muesli bars…

Warnings: Physical fighting | Mild descriptions of blood and injuries | Implied sex | Mentions of alcohol

Masterlist | Teaser | Ao3 Link

One

Changbin’s silent as he pulls the wraps off of his left hand with his right. Sweat drips down the side of his face and mixes in with the blood from his nose as they reach his chin, breath heaving. The area clears out with a handful of people stopping momentarily to give him a congratulatory pat on the back before walking past him and out of the basement.

He looks around the, now empty, room. The single light is shining directly onto the boxing ring that’s covered with blood, sweat, tears, and spit. Changbin knows that the person who owns the gym, Nyra, only ever turns the lights off when she’s not in there, and judging by how he can still see her moving around in her office a level above the ring through the long mirror, she’s not leaving anytime soon.

Changbin debates whether or not he should shower immediately or after he gets home, where he can take his time and spend as long as he wants until the hot water runs out. He stays seated on the wooden bench for a moment longer as he battles his thoughts.

Showering at the gym means he can sleep immediately when he gets home, but showering at home means… being at home.

Home is tempting.

Tempting enough to get him off of the bench and throwing his hoodie over the sweat drenched t-shirt that he always wears when he boxes. Changbin turns around with his gym bag slung onto his shoulder, but just as he’s about to leave, he hears the sound of glass being knocked.

Turning around, he sees Nyra waving at him from her office with a smile on her face. Her hair is freshly cut, going from her mid-back to slightly above her shoulders and Nyra had made the decision to dye it a dark red colour.

The boxer returns the wave smally, but doesn’t make much effort to smile back. He wonders how a woman like her maintains such a polite and friendly attitude when she owns a boxing ring that has illegal boxing tournaments.

Changbin would think that the owner would be a bit… meaner. Not Nyra. Not with the way she’s always smiling when she greets everyone and how she’s so willing to hip bump some of the fighters without even knowing them for that long.

Whereas Changbin prefers his own company. He doesn’t like getting too close with people and he doesn’t do anything other than boxing, studying, and going to bars on the weekends when there aren’t any matches. The only other person that he’s ever actually taken a liking to had moved across the country to finish his studies.

Changbin has missed Chan ever since.

He hadn’t seen the blond haired Aussie in the past three years. The most he gets from Chan is a Discord call every few nights and a parcel from him containing random balls of yarn that Changbin can make use of.

By the time the boxer gets home, there’s a small box sitting right outside his apartment door. Changbing smiles slightly at the sight of Chan’s doodling at the right side of the box and a, “Changbinzzz” doodled onto the left.

He unlocks the door and lifts the box up, holding his door open with his backside as he slides into the small apartment.

The management that owned the student accommodations off-campus were too much of a hassle to get through, leading Changbin into buying an apartment a bit further away from campus but at a cheaper price.

The apartment is small. Big enough for a single person and cosy enough for Changbin. The walls are beige, wooden flooring throughout the lot. The kitchen is small and open with the couch right outside of it facing an old TV he had inherited from his grandparents.

On the coffee table sits a plethora of stuffed crocheted toys handmade by the boxer. He had arranged the octopus toys by colours of the rainbow and on the other side of the table sits a pair of crocheted deers.

The only thing that Changbin does other than boxing, sleeping, eating, studying, and shitting, is crocheting.

The repetitive weaving of the yarn is enough to soothe his mind and distract him from the rest of the world for a few hours. Changbin gets so immersed in crocheting that he quite literally spends hours on end just making a new stuffed toy to place somewhere in his apartment that somehow always seems to have space for his new friends.

But Changbin keeps his crochets secret. Even if he does make friends, he’s never really invited them to his apartment with the distance it is from his university campus. And he wants to keep it that way. He stares at the crocheted pig sitting on his bedside desk and smiles.

He can keep his adoration secret.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Class drones on as Changbin somewhat listens. His pen dances across his knuckles repeatedly in an attempt to keep him feeling more occupied rather than just listening to his professor explaining something about how the world is slowly becoming more and more digital.

He doesn’t remember exactly why he decided to choose media as his major, but Changbin’s also too lazy to even think about transferring to any other courses.

“Don’t forget that you have a paired project later in the semester,” his professor reminds as she stacks her books. “If you guys are clear with the lesson, you can leave. Those with questions, feel free to stay behind.” Changbin’s quick to shut his laptop and stuff it into his bag, standing up from his seat a little too eagerly before making a beeline out of class.

He can always read through the notes and the PowerPoint slides later on when he’s at home since the gym won’t be having any matches for another two or three days. Changbin sees it as a good thing. His bruises from the night before have started showing; scattering his face along with the more obvious scarring on his lip and split eyebrow.

Even Changbin felt a bit intimidated when he saw himself in the mirror. There isn’t a single wonder in his head on why people don’t approach him that much, but he’s also sure that the large snake tattoo climbing from his wrist up to his shoulder is probably one of the few things that scares people off.

His quiet and aloof personality is most likely the biggest reason. Changbin’s been keeping it that way since he was in high school. He got along with people when he needed to, but he never went out of his way to really introduce himself to anyone.

Changbin goes on with his day like he usually does: quietly and undisturbed.

But the next day isn’t. And, admittedly, he finds it a bit strange.

“Hi!” The person that sits next to him visually seems like the complete opposite of Changbin with your bright yellow coloured t-shirt tucked into your white jeans. He returns the greeting with a small wave, but it doesn’t seem to deter you at all. “I’m (Y/n). Transferred from biomedicine to media because med is a total pain in the ass.”

“Cool,” he says.

Changbin doesn’t outwardly question why you chose that specific seat out of all of the tens of different ones you could’ve chosen, but he doesn’t really want to chase you away either. You’re not bothering him that much, just a bit of a chatterbox, he thinks.

Class goes on oddly. You continue to try and make conversation with Changbin while only receiving one word responses or just silent nods or shakes of his head, yet, you still seem interested in being friendly with him.

You make a small joke that seems to break Changbin’s cold demeanour and the corner of his lip raises slightly, in which you gasp quietly and smile widely.

You have a nice smile, he thinks to himself.

As soon as your professor dismisses the class, Changbin’s stuffing his laptop into his bag and leaving the lecture hall. He expects you to leave, thinking that he’s either not that friendly or just not interested.

But you don’t.

“Hey, Changbin, what class do you have next?” you ask while jogging to keep up with his fast paced walking.

“Music theory,” he mutters.

“You’re taking music?” Changbin nods in response and you let out a small breath of awe. “That’s so cool! I would’ve loved to take music, but I don’t think I have the right rhythm in my mind for that. It’s why I thought biomedicine would be a good idea… but there’s too many terms for me to remember.” He continues to nod aimlessly as you talk.

Changbin listens to the way you talk about your old classes and how boring you thought they were until you finish with talking about how much you enjoyed photography, gushing about how pictures can hold more meaning than written words.

By then, you’ve unknowingly accompanied him to his next lecture hall where you wave at him and rush off to your own lecture hall. You hadn’t mentioned what class you had next and which building it was in, but Changbin doesn’t find it in himself to actually ask you when you wish him goodbye.

He doesn’t see you for the rest of his classes and, for a moment, Changbin wonders whether he had imagined the whole ordeal.

Until he hears you calling his name from across the field.

Changbin turns around to see you excitedly running up to him with your dark brown bag slung across your torso. He notes the small camera keychain that hangs off of the latch to the front, but doesn’t point it out when you’re standing in front of him.

“How were your classes?” you question as you start walking beside him.

“Alright,” Changbin states softly.

“Is Professor Jeong always this boring?”

“Mostly, yes,” he nods.

“I thought I was going crazy in his class! All he does is drone on and on without any emotion at all,” you claim in slight frustration. “I couldn't focus on anything at all. It was getting to the point where the words in my book just looked like they were all jumbled up!” Your hands move around frantically, physically showing your frustration, and Changbin takes note of it. He thinks you’re very animated.

Which, again, seems to completely contrast his own body language of rigid and straight movement.

“Do you live on campus?”

“No.”

“Ooh, that means you get more freedom and no curfew,” you wiggle your eyebrows, but he doesn’t do much to reciprocate the energy. “Do you have any classes tomorrow?”

“No,” he states.

“Then I’ll see you on Friday,” you say with the same smile on your face as before. The same one that Changbin thought was nice. “Bye, Changbin!”

“Bye.” His hand raises slightly to wave when you do as you run off in the direction of the dorms. Changbin lets out a breath that he hadn’t realised he was holding throughout your entire conversation. Well, he thinks that it was barely one with how short his replies were, but it’s the most that he’s gotten in a while.

By the time he gets home, the day he’s had with you starts fading away with the hours. He goes on with his evening routine of making himself dinner with music playing from his small baby pink speakers that looks like a mini gramophone; something that Chan had gifted to him on his 22nd birthday. He actually quite likes how cute it is because he thinks it sits nicely among his stuffed toys.

Changbin’s phone rings on the counter right beside him, the ringtone playing through his speakers and making it louder and even more irritating than it usually is. He answers it and sets it to speaker mode without even looking at the caller I.D.

“How’s my favourite buddy?” Chan’s voice coos from the other end.

“Hi, Chan,” Changbin chuckles.

Chan has a tendency to baby Changbin despite them being the same shoulder width and almost the same height. Changbin’s not even that much younger than the rugby player, but he remains the victim of Chan’s babying.

“How was your day, dude?”

“Kinda weird,” Changbin confesses without hesitation.

“Why so?”

“Someone actually sat next to me in class and spent their entire day talking to me.”

The line goes silent and Changbin can just imagine the shock on Chan’s face. He knows very well that it isn’t because Chan doesn’t think he’s friendly, but he knows very well that Changbin isn’t an easy person to approach.

“Interesting…?”

“It was weird. They kept talking to me even though I was… I guess talking the way I usually do around people I don’t know.”

“Ah, the one word responses,” Chan hums knowingly.

“Exactly,” Changbin nods—despite his friend not being able to see him—as he dumps salt into the boiling pot of water. “I just found it weird. There wasn’t anything weird about them, though. They’re pretty cool. They transferred to my course recently, which explains why they’re just here out of the blue… but I wasn’t expecting them to just sit next to me and start talking to me.”

"Did you stop them?"

"Why would I?"

"I thought you didn't like talking to strangers."

Changbin lets out a sigh at that, "that doesn't mean I'd straight up tell them to leave me alone. They weren't doing anything wrong."

“Are you going to actually talk to them eventually?” Chan asks with the sound of rustling and movement coming from his end. Changbin isn’t entirely sure of what Chan does in his free time other than gaming mainly because Chan doesn’t get the luxury of having a lot of free time.

Chan had left the neighbourhood they had grown up in together to fully immerse himself with being a professional rugby player, but with the lack of professional training centres in the area, Chan left to find one.

Which leads to the separation of the two. While Changbin spends most of his time crocheting or boxing, Chan spends most of his time running across fields and crashing into other people. They both decided that aggressively physical forms of sports were the ones for them.

It wasn’t like it was a surprise anyway.

Both of them are built for how rough the sports are. Changbin and Chan are considered buff with how much muscle mass they’ve built throughout the years, and it truly wasn’t a surprise that they both have the most fun with sports that require full body movement and impact.

“I guess I’m technically talking to them already,” Changbin says with a shrug as he stirs the pot of cheesy sauce. “I’m pretty sure they’ve managed to get more words out of me than any of my professors ever have.”

“I still find it a little comical that no one’s approached you because you look scary; talk about being judgemental,” Chan snorts.

“I wouldn’t blame them. I wouldn’t approach me either.”

“You’re the cutest person I know.”

Changbin lets out an exaggerated gasp at that, “you have no idea how hurt my ego is right now.”

“It’s true!” He laughs heartily. “You’re so insanely cute! If people actually took the time to know you, they’d know that you’re just a giant softy. I mean, look at your apartment, Binz. It’s filled with crocheted toys that are pastel coloured and look like they’re meant for babies. You have a little pink gramophone speaker that matches your creations and you’re only boxing because you think defence stances look really funny.”

“I don’t think anyone actually understands how funny that stance looks when you’re looking at them head on!” Changbin exclaims.

“Changbin, if any other person was in that stance, they’d be more scared of being hit in the face,” Chan chuckles.

The line goes silent for a moment with the sound of what Changbin can only assume is Chan typing something on his laptop before the man speaks again, “I’m coming back home for the Winter, by the way.”

“Wanna go bowling?”

“I’m shit at it, so no.”

“I wanna go to see you trip over the ball again,” Changbin snickers.

“Fuck you,” Chan scoffs out a laugh. “I get that you find a lot of things funny, but my bowling skills? Really?”

“Your atrocious bowling is considered a skill?”

“Wow, okay. Whatever you say, buddy.”

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Two

Changbin has to admit that he is a bit more beat up than usual today. For the first time in quite a while, he feels like his entire body aches from the boxing match he attended the night before. He’s also been having a shitty day so far with the way he overslept, had to basically sprint to class because the bus was late, and hadn’t had anything to eat in the past four hours he’s been on campus grounds.

Now, he’s sitting in the lecture hall waiting for his professor to arrive with a grumbling stomach and an aching everything. Changbin notices you walking in almost immediately. He thinks that you stand out a bit more than the other students in his class do. Your presence is bright and it’s prominent in a crowd, but he doesn’t know whether it’s because you’re always dressed in pastel colours or if it’s because you just naturally carry that sort of energy.

“Hey, Changbin!” you greet as you sit beside him just as you did two days ago. Changbin turns to you and nods in acknowledgement. He keeps his hood pulled over his face to try and hide the black eye and the broken skin that covers his face, but one glance in your direction makes you do a double take. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he nods and quickly turns away from you.

You have enough sense to not ask him any further, but it doesn’t stop you from trying to at least make Changbin’s day better. He misses the way your eyebrows knit together and your lips pursing. However, he does notice when you reach into your brown messenger bag and rummage through it for a moment before pulling out a small rectangular packet.

“Take it,” you urge as you place the muesli bar right beside where his hand rests on the table.

Changbin pauses when he stares at it, the realisation coming to him very slowly that you’re offering him a snack, before he looks at you completely.

“What?”

“You look like you could use a pick-me-up, so take it,” you say. “It has chocolate chips and strawberries. It’s one of the less oatmeal tasting types and has a bit more sweetness to it.” Changbin blinks twice before slowly picking the bar up.

“Thanks,” he mutters. The boxer wastes no time in ripping the top of the packet open and eating the muesli bar. A small sigh of relief leaves past Changbin’s lips at the taste of his first meal of the day despite it already being one in the afternoon.

“Feeling a bit better?” you ask once he’s finished.

Changbin nods and actually looks your way with a small smile, “yeah. Thank you.” You return the smile and reach into your bag once again to pull out five other muesli bars.

“If you need anymore, I still have some in stock,” you hum.

“I think I’m good for the rest of class.”

“Just let me know if you need anything else. I have a lot of things in this bag—you’d be surprised how much I could fit in here,” you ramble as you pull your bag onto your lap and start looking through it.

Changbin watches as you start pulling out random things such as your white and blue polka dot umbrella, the fluffy milk carton pencil case that you had bought from a Daiso, and two small boxes of blueberry juice.

“Here,” you place one of the juice boxes on Changbin’s side of the table, “you can have this one.”

His eyes widen in surprise and he can’t help but feel a bit bad that you’re offering him juice after giving him one of your snacks.

You lift your gaze away from your bag to smile at the boxer who opens his mouth to reject the juice but you quickly raise your hand in front of his face and shake your head, “no rejection. I wasn’t giving you a choice—you need the juice .”

“O-Okay,” he stutters, “thank you.”

Changbin quietly takes the plastic straw off of the side of the juice and stabs it into the top, sipping on it slowly throughout class. He feels the hours go by slightly faster with you chattering beside him as quietly as you possibly can to avoid being caught by your professor, still receiving the same short replies and body language answers until you’re both dismissed.

“What do you do in your free time?” you question as the two of you leave class side-by-side.

“Boxing,” Changbin answers.

“With people?”

“Yeah.”

“Is that why you’re covered in bruises?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s cool,” you claim gleefully. “It sounds like a lot of adrenaline.” Relief floods Changbin. He hadn’t even realised he was somewhat dreading your answer. The only person he’s met who was alright with his boxing habits was Chan. Most people just assume he’s either a sadist, a masochist, or a way too aggressive person.

Changbin wasn’t expecting you to be alright with it considering the gentle personality you seem to have. But, then again, you’ve only known each other for not even a week.

“I’m not one for sports,” you continue despite him not saying anything, “the only sport that I enjoyed when I was in high school was football, but even then, it wasn’t enough to keep me going.”

“Never really liked football,” Changbin claims.

“Why so?”

“Didn’t like running around a field.”

“But you like pacing around a boxing ring with some other dude?”

“I have my reason.” He glances at you with a smile on his face.

The black hoodie has lifted slightly, and now, you’re able to see just how much damage was done to Changbin’s face. The skin surrounding his right eye is splotched purple, the white of his left eye filled with red, and there’s a small scratch on his left cheek. His eyebrows have definitely split open a few times considering how they look uneven; his left having a slit running through the tail and his right looking more sparse with the more recent scar he had gotten.

But Changbin’s smile tells you that he genuinely doesn’t mind the injuries at all. The look on his face as you talk about boxing shows just how much he enjoys it.

“I can’t imagine how tired you feel after a match,” you mutter when you see the way the left corner of his lip struggles to raise with the smile with the cut on it.

“Very, but I like the sport.” Changbin’s hands dig into the pocket of his hoodie as the two of you step out of the media building and out into the open walkway of the campus.

The Autumn breeze is cooling as it brushes past you both and he lets out a content sigh at the idea of not having to worry about sweating too much while he’s attending classes.

“Do you have a favourite season?” you ask as you two start walking in the directions of the cafeteria.

“I like the colder ones,” Changbin states.

“Autumn or Winter?”

“Winter. I like snow.”

“I like Spring,” you hum. “I love seeing the flowers bloom. They make nice pictures.”

You seem like the type of person to like Spring, Changbin thinks. Everything about you just seems to follow the same kind of feeling that Spring radiates. He wonders whether you’re aware of that.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

“This assignment will be done in pairs,” your professor announces. “You can either choose your own partner or let me know if you want them to be assigned instead.”

The entire class immediately opts for choosing their own partners and you immediately turn to Changbin.

“Assignment partner?”

“Sure,” he nods. You pull your phone out of your pocket, unlocking it and tapping the screen once before you hand it to him.

“Leave your number in there with whatever name you want,” you say as Changbin takes it. He saves his number into your phone and keeps his name simple; Changbinz.

He sends himself a message through your phone so that he can save your number and hands the device back to you right before your professor starts briefing everyone on the assignment. It’s a simple presentation essay where you have to go out and interview someone who does something that's interesting.

Once class ends, you're still stuck by his side until you part ways in the centre of campus where you return to your dorm and Changbin makes his way towards the campus gates.

He keeps his ears plugged and his hands stuck into the pocket of his hoodie as he stops at the bus stop, eyes glued to his phone when the notification banner appears.

(Y/n): Attached image (1) Look how pretty the leaves are!!!

Changbin breathes out a small laugh when he sees the picture. It’s a picture of a branch with only three leaves; golden, red, and brown. It’s so simple and normal to see the bare branches that bear leaves of those colours—especially halfway through the semester—but Changbin feels adoration filling him at how jovial you sound towards something as small as that.

Changbinz: Cool

Changbin could get used to this.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Three

“Do you not sleep early?”

The voice tears Changbin away from the punching bag he had been using, his body relaxing when he sees Nyra standing behind him with her arms crossed over her chest. He doesn’t say anything and shrugs in response, which only earns a sigh from the older woman.

“You’ve been coming to this gym for almost five and a half years and I don’t think I’ve ever heard you speak more than three words in the same sentence,” she quips.

“Not a talker,” he claims as he turns his attention back to the punching bag.

“Didn’t peg you as one. Chan always seemed to be the one who did most of the talking between the two of you,” Nyra chuckles. She lets out a small sigh and takes a step closer to him. The approach effectively stops Changbin from punching the bag and makes him turn his attention to her once again. “There’s this guy that’s been coming to the gym lately. He looks pretty brutal.”

“He’s a boxer.”

“He might be joining a match soon. I want you to be careful when you go into the ring with him. Remind yourself that these matches are still illegal," she advises. "You're a good kid and you’re a damn good fighter, but don’t be stupid. The last time you went against a guy who was stronger than you, we had to send you to the hospital.”

Changbin doesn’t say anything as he turns back to the fabric punching bag. He’s taking in the information from Nyra, but he honestly doesn’t know what to say, so he prefers not to say anything at all. She’s spent enough time around Changbin to know that he’s listening even if he doesn't say anything back.

“Your hooks are sloppy,” she points out after a moment of silently watching him. Changbin pauses for a moment before trying again; throwing a hook to the bag with his right arm. “Better,” Nyra claims. “I’m closing early today. Something’s come up and I figured you would be the only one around at this time.”

Changbin stops and nods, “I’ll leave.”

“If you wanna stay for longer, I can leave you the spare keys,” she offers, but the boxer shakes his head.

“It’s fine,” he reassures her as he picks his towel off of the rubber mat layered floor. “I’ll cool down at home.”

“Hey, that’s five words!” Nyra laughs.

“You’re getting there,” Changbin chuckles. He picks his hoodie off of the bench nearest to the punching bag and slips it on before he picks up his bag. “Do you want me to walk you to your car?” he offers.

Nyra shakes her head with a reassuring smile on her face, “I’m not the only one who stays here until the dead hour of the night. My fiancé insists on staying behind with me.” Changbin nods his head and makes his way towards the door. “Walk safe, Changbin.”

“You too, Nyra.”

He makes a quick movement towards the exit to avoid holding Nyra and her fiancé back from leaving. Phone in hand, Changbin’s ears are plugged the moment he’s outside of the building and he’s running through the messages he had gotten throughout the two hours he spent in the gym as he walks.

(Y/n): Someone’s playing with fireworks outside of campus Attached video (1) They look so pretty!

Changbinz: Yeah it is

(Y/n) : What are you doing?

Changbinz: Walking home Gym's not that far

(Y/n): At midnight?? Doesn't sound that safe

Changbinz: Dw 10 min walk I'm used to it

(Y/n): I worry though D: At least let me know when you’ve reached home so that I know you’re safe

Changbin stops in his movement. There’s a mixture of emotions that run throughout his body as he rereads your message a few times. Why would you worry about him?

Changbinz: You don’t have to worry It’s alright

(Y/n): We’re friends🙄 Ofc I’m gonna worry Who am I supposed to sit next to in class if anything happens to you

Changbinz: Haha I’ll be fine, (Y/n) Trust me I walk safe

There’s an array of thoughts that run through his head. Changbin looks around the empty streets and continues walking, his mind going through every single thought as he does.

He hadn’t realised just how much time the two of you have been spending together until now. You sit next to him in all of your shared classes almost everyday and you insist on getting lunch with Changbin to make sure that he’s eating well. Whenever he looks a bit rougher than usual, you’re shoving snacks and drinks into his hands to make sure that he’s at least had breakfast.

You take care of him really well, he realises. A strange feeling seems to overtake every other emotion Changbin has and, suddenly, it seems as though you’re glowing now in a completely different light in his eyes. Changbin hadn’t taken the time to actually try and take apart what sort of relationship the two of you shared; you just seemed to always be there.

You would send him random pictures of plants, animals, the sky—anything that you seemed to find joy in—and Changbin would reply as he usually would or he would sometimes forget to reply altogether. He wouldn’t reply after too long if he did forget, thinking that maybe it would be a bit awkward to reply about six hours after you had sent him something.

Changbin realises that you’ve suddenly become such a strong constant in his life in the past month of knowing each other and he wonders whether it’s a naturally building bond or if one of you seems to be fighting for it.

The moment he steps through his front door, he’s sent a message letting you know that he’s arrived home safely. Changbin moves around his apartment, taking a long shower, tossing his clothes into the laundry bag, before he starts rummaging through his fridge to find something to snack on before he goes to bed.

As usual, his speaker is perched on his kitchen counter playing one of his more chill playlists. The buzz of Changbin’s notification disturbs the constant flow of music and it tears him away from the inside of his fridge to check his phone.

(Y/n): I’m out for the night getting ramen You wanna join? It’s a few minutes away from campus

Changbinz: How far? I usually take the bus to campus

(Y/n): About like a ten minute walk I’ll send you the location and you just let me know if you wanna tag along Attached location (1)

Changbinz: Oh That’s not too far I’ll meet you there

(Y/n): Okie :D

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

“Do you have any plans tomorrow?” you ask right before sticking a spoonful of ramen into your mouth. Changbin shakes his head, chewing on his own serving silently. “Do you do anything other than box?”

“I like walking around at night,” he admits.

“That sounds super sketchy,” you claim.

“It clears my mind,” Changbin chuckles. “I like being alone. It gives me a lot of time to think.”

“That’s good,” you say just as you stick a fried wonton into your mouth, “it’s good to have time to yourself. I’ve been spending a lot of my time alone ever since I moved into my dorm and it’s given me chances to think about who I am and what I want in life.” He nods along, showing that he’s listening. “The amount of time I spent thinking was one of the reasons why I decided to switch from biomed to media.”

“Do you enjoy it?”

“Media’s fun! It feels like it offers a lot of branches for me in the future,” you nod. “Maybe I could finally get into becoming a professional journalist. Put those photography skills to use for once. I’ve spent so long wondering what I wanted to do as a kid, but I never really knew until I started using a camera, you know? It’s like something that I’m both good at and something that I really enjoy.”

“I get that,” Changbin claims. “I box because it’s something I’m good at and something I enjoy doing. I could make pretty good money doing this in the future.”

“Beating people up for money? Sounds like highschool,” you quip.

“Would you believe me if I said highschool was the other way around?"

"No way…" you trail off, chopsticks slipping from your hand and splashing into the bowl of half-eaten ramen.

"Had my lunch money taken from me almost everyday," Changbin chuckles. "I realised looking a certain way makes it harder for them to want to bully you. So I started lifting weights, building muscle—anything that could get me to look like someone worth leaving alone."

"Oh…" You give him a sympathetic look but he only shakes his head with a smile.

"It's all in the past, (Y/n). Nothing to worry about."

"Oh wow, you've actually said my name," you point out, which earns a questioning look from the boxer. "We've known each other for over a month, spoke almost everyday, but this is the first time I've ever heard you say my name."

"Never had the need to. You'd always be the one calling my name from across campus," Changbin claims.

You grin, "I like it." He freezes. His hand has stopped halfway towards his mouth and Changbin looks up to see you smiling fondly at him.

He's aware that he hasn't said your name at all whenever you were talking, but it rolled off of his tongue so naturally that Changbin hadn't realised he even said it.

He likes it.

He likes saying your name, Changbin thinks as he returns the smile. "What's the plan after supper?" he asks after a moment of letting the moment settle.

"There's a plan?"

"You seem like the type of person who doesn't just eat at some ramen stall in the middle of the night. What's in that bouncy head of yours?"

"I'm sorry, did you just call my head 'bouncy'?" you gasp with a laugh.

"It seems like there's a lot going on in there; I assume your thoughts bounce around in there like an unending bouncy castle," Changbin jokes.

"Wow—Wow! Is this what you're like when you're chatty? I think I prefer when you're just nodding blankly," you quip.

"I could easily go back to that if you'd like."

"No! I was joking! I like when you talk," you quickly shake your head with a smile. Changbin feels the corners of his lip rising into one as well before he purses them to try and hide the bubbly feeling in his gut. "I think you have a nice voice."

"Thank you." He's honestly surprised that his voice isn't wavering or cracking from how flustered and giddy he feels on the inside. "I like your voice, too."

There's a silent sense of comfort shared between you two as you simply look at each other over a spread of cooled ramen and fried wontons, the scene simple yet enough for the both of you.

"I'll walk you back to your dorm after this," Changbin offers, breaking the silence.

"I'd feel bad making you walk all the way back to your apartment," you claim as you pick your chopsticks back up.

"I don't want you walking around alone late at night."

"But you do it all the time."

"I look like I'd kill you if you came too close," he deadpans. It immediately stops you from talking, sheepishly lowering your head when you realise that he's right.

You finish the rest of your meal and leave the warmth of the stall, stepping into the colder temperature of Autumn with your hands stuffed into the pocket of your thin jacket.

"What's life on campus like? Last I was there, the curfews were ruthless," Changbin asks as he walks beside you.

"They never really stop me nowadays, honestly," you say with your shoulders raising into a shrug. "To be fair, I am on good terms with the hall warden, so she's not really too worried about my whereabouts."

"Are you on good terms with everyone?"

"Mostly," you nod. "I learned pretty early on that acts of service and being nice can take you a long way. It's nice having people you can turn to whenever you need to, ya'know?"

"Odd. I've always thought that it was better to just do things yourself," he mutters.

"I think that it's good to ask people for help whenever you need to. Can't do everything yourself." Your conversation is abruptly cut short when you gasp and start running in the direction of the park. "I almost forgot about this! They light up the park for a whole week around this time of the season."

"I forgot they did this," Changbin hums as he looks around the park. Fairy lights hang from the trees and lead down the path towards a clearing right in the middle.

"This is so pretty," you breathe out in awe right before grabbing his shoulder and dragging him to the centre of the path. "Stand here and look pretty."

"What?"

"Just look around! Pretend I'm not even here!" you shout as you take a few steps away from him and pull your trusty film camera out of your bag.

"H-Hold on, I don't do pictures that well!" Changbin squeaks upon seeing your camera.

"Changbin, just look around!"

He lets out a sigh and stuffs his hands into the pocket of his plushy jacket as he looks up at the trees. Changbin has to admit that the park looks magical with the way it's decorated.

The lights are orange and yellow as they lead down the path, the leaves slowly falling with every gust of wind almost as if they were programmed to make the area appear more beautiful.

Your shoes crunch against the dried leaves on the ground and it makes Changbin turn around to face you.

"Now we wait until I've developed them and we'll see what it looks like," you chirp as you fiddle with the rewind crank.

"Do you develop them yourself?"

"When I have the time," you nod, still preoccupied with making sure your film is cranked enough. "Usually I bring around my digital camera, but sometimes, it's nicer to use a film one. I feel film cameras hold memories better."

"Did you bring it out here because you invited me?"

"Yes, and no. I invited you out because I wanted to hang out and I decided on the film on a whim." You wrap the sling of your camera around your hand to secure it. "Come on! Let's walk around more."

Changbin barely has any time to react when you grab onto his wrist with your free hand and start pulling him around the park, but he honestly doesn't mind.

It's been a while since he's been out with someone like this—out and enjoying being with someone. You seem to make it so easy to walk around with and your energy is contagious enough that Changbin can't help but feel your excitement as it waves off of you.

He obediently listens and follows whatever instructions you give him for a picture, standing underneath a tree or sitting at a bench, looking at the sky wistfully or at the leaves in thought.

Changbin doesn't think he's ever truly felt this comfortable around someone before—at least after Chan. But, even then, Chan sticks to what Changbin tells him. The rugby player rarely ever does anything new around him and he waits for Changbin to tell him what he wants.

You're different, but it works. You're glowing in a way that Changbin's never known a person could glow before.

If Changbin likes Winter because he's always associated himself with the cold and silent weather, then you're Spring that comes afterwards; gleaming sunlight to melt the blankets of snow to bring the bloom of flora.

Maybe if he was more poetic, he would actually be able to properly put his feelings down on paper and shove it into your face without having to talk to you about it, but Changbin was never one for words.

So he'll show you instead.

As you're taking a picture of the gazebo at the centre of the park, Changbin waits until you pull your camera away from your face before he silently holds onto your wrist and turns you around, pulling you closer until your chests are almost touching and his cheek is inches from yours.

"Huh?" you squeak out at the sudden action and you feel heat creeping up your neck at the sudden closeness of Changbin's body. "H-Hi," you swallow nervously.

He silently takes the camera from your hands, your fingers loosening as your eyes stay glued to his face out of the sheer anxiousness of what he's about to do next.

Changbin smiles at your flustered state before bringing the camera up with the lens facing you.

"Smile," he says before turning to look at the lens. It takes a moment before you realise what's happening, but for a split second, you completely lose yourself in Changbin's presence.

You turn to the camera and smile. Maybe this is what it's like falling in love, you think as the 'click' emits from the camera.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Four

More time passes and Changbin realises that he's started waiting for the sound of your voice calling out to him from across the campus fountain.

He managed to get you to spill your schedule, which leads to him waiting outside your lecture halls at times where you're not sharing classes.

"Last class?" Changbin asks.

"Yep, all I wanna do now is just curl up into a ball and take a nap," you say with a yawn as your arms extend into a stretch over your head. "What about you?"

"I was going to just head home, finish some work and then head to the gym," he explains as you start walking. "I feel like I haven't done enough lately, so it'll be nice to do something intense."

"Do you have a gym partner?"

"Why? You wanna join?" he jokes.

"Why not?" Your head tilts curiously when Changbin's face washes with panic.

"It's…"

"Oh come on, I've always wanted to try boxing."

"It's not that," he shakes his head. "It's…" Changbin sighs and leans his head closer to yours, "the gym I go to is pretty… sketchy. The boxing matches there are illegal. They happen without any proper supervision and there aren't any rules. You could do whatever trick you know and, as long as you get the other dude down, you're the winner."

The curiosity on your face is slowly replaced with mild horror with the way your eyes widen.

"But if you wanna come down and watch the match I have tonight, then sure. I won't stop you," Changbin shrugs. He pauses when you don't say anything and turns his entire body to face you. "Do you want to?"

"I… I guess, yeah," you nod albeit hesitantly.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, you know."

"I'm kinda curious to see what kind of stuff you do outside of school," you claim as you begin walking.

"Then I'll pick you up at your place at six and we can grab dinner before heading straight over." Changbin scans your side profile at the suggestion and you nod.

This is the first time he's seen you relatively uncertain about something or more hesitant to enter new territory.

Changbin's honestly quite worried at how you'd react upon seeing the actual fighting right in front of your eyes, but you reassure him—when you've reached the gym—that you'll be fine.

"Just… don't talk to anyone. They can get a bit freaky, if you need anything head over to her—" Changbin's hand raises to point at Nyra from across the room, "she owns this place and we're on good terms."

"Alright," you nod nervously. "Are you… you usually win these things, right?"

"Most of the time," he nods. You think he's being a bit too nonchalant about going in to get himself beat up, but you trust that he knows what he's doing. "Just let me know if you're going anywhere or if you wanna leave. I don't like the idea of leaving you in the middle of this crowd alone."

"Y-Yeah, I won't leave this spot," you reassure him. Changbin gives you one last look where his hands raise to grip onto your shoulders. He opens his mouth to say something, but chooses not to, and sighs instead.

"Don't follow or talk to weird people," he repeats after a moment of hesitation.

"I promise. I'll be fine, Binz. I'm more worried about you, honestly. Now, go and get ready. I'll be here." Changbin gives you one last look before he disappears to the side of the stage.

You catch sight of the woman he had mentioned as she approaches Changbin, her head leaning towards him when he mutters something. Immediately, she raises her head and makes eye contact with you.

You feel more nerves filling you as she approaches you, hand extended, she gives you a warm smile, "(Y/n), Changbin's asked me to bring you somewhere a little less crowded but in a place where you can watch the match. Come on, I'll take you to my favourite spot to watch everything."

You follow the woman through the crowd and out of the room. The hallway is empty and the loud chatter and cheering from the crowd has faded away. Nyra leads you further down until you reach a door on the right which opens up to what looks like an office with a horizontal window that overlooks the boxing ring.

“This is my office,” Nyra announces as she closes the door once you’ve stepped inside. “I’m usually overlooking the entire match from here because the crowd can get pretty wild and I’d rather not have blood or sweat spurted onto me.”

Your face contorts in disgust at the thought of it and a, “oh god,” leaves past your lips in a hiss.

“Yeah, it gets pretty gross. We can just watch it from here and Changbin will still be able to see you from the ring,” she hums. Nyra pulls a chair out for you right in front of the metal desk flush against the window before making her way over to a clear-door fridge on the other end of the room. “Beer?”

“No thank you. I only drink on occasion,” you answer just as Changbin steps into the ring. His fists are wrapped with dark red wraps, no gloves whatsoever to soften the impact on his knuckles, but most likely provides stronger punches. He isn’t wearing any sort of shin guards either; casually dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a muscle tee that he had worn a hoodie over.

“What about sprite?”

“Sprite’s alright.” You don’t tear your eyes away from your classmate when you see his opponent stepping into the ring.

The man is taller than Changbin—very obviously—but shoulders aren’t as broad and his build doesn’t look as fully muscled as Changbin’s does.

“That’s Jisoo,” Nyra starts as she takes the chair beside you, her right hand placing an opened can of Sprite on the table and the other holding an opened bottle of beer, “he’s a regular here, too. Doesn’t join matches as often as Changbin does, but they’re a pretty decent match-up.”

“I asked Changbin earlier, but I’m just worried it’s an ego thing; he wins most of the time, right?” you ask while sparing a glance at her.

“Mostly, yes,” she nods. “Changbin’s in the top three. He’s won every fight he’s been in so far and he doesn’t seem to be intending to lose anytime soon.”

It’s small, but the relief that floods throughout you is enough to calm your nerves when you see Changbin and Jisoo circling each other. There’s a certain look in Changbin’s eyes that you don’t think you’ve ever seen before. His eyes, which typically hold barely any emotion in them, hold a fire within them.

Whether it’s the passion he has for the sport or if it’s the intention to avoid a trip to the hospital, you’re uncertain what’s actually fueling him from within to look as deadly as he does now.

Only now do you truly understand why a lot of people often avoid Changbin. Out of the gym, he doesn’t look much different, but actually seeing him in the ring right in front of you, you can understand why he’s not scared of walking around at night.

Changbin looks like he’s ready to destroy anything in his path and the look is enough to even send chills down your spine despite knowing that he’s anything but deadly.

“Don’t worry,” Nyra reassures you when she sees how tense you look. “So, how did you meet Changbin? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him bringing anyone here to watch a match or even talk to anyone else here.”

“He’s my classmate. We’re in the same course,” you explain softly.

“How’d you break through that shell of his?”

“Juice boxes and muesli bars.”

The sound of the referee blowing a whistle causes both you and Nyra to go silent as you watch the boxers. Jisoo throws the first punch which Changbin dodges with ease, following up with a hook to the skull that has his opponent stumbling to the left.

It’s not as bad as you originally think it is. There’s not as much blood as you had expected and there’s mostly a lot of pacing back and forth between the two as they make their way around the ring.

“Why aren’t they doing anything?” you wonder after a moment.

“They’re waiting for an opportunity,” Nyra answers. You glance at her with wide eyes, not realising that your thoughts were spoken. “Changbin’s always like this. He’s mostly on defence until the golden opportunity appears and he strikes them down.” You let out an ‘oh’ with your eyes moving back to the boxing ring.

Just as you turn back, Changbin’s fist hits Jisoo right in the centre of his nose, blood staining his knuckles. The punch seems to click something in the both of them, because now, the fight seems to have only begun. Punches and kicks are thrown left and right, more blood starting to spill and more obvious injuries starting to form.

Jisoo remains one of the bloodier of the two from his—now broken—nose and the various cuts that cover his face. You quickly notice that Changbin’s first tactic is to aim for his body before throwing strikes to his face.

“If you watch closely enough, Changbin’s trying to tire him out,” Nyra explains. She leans closer to you and raises her hand to give a more visual explanation, “watch how Jisoo punches mostly with his left because that’s his dominant hand. Changbin is more likely to punch him in his left shoulder before aiming for his face. But Changbin’s also a bit more rash. His unpredictability is both a flaw and a strength. The less his opponent is able to guess what his next move is, the better it is for him to win, but if he stays too rash, he won’t last that long.”

“It’s like he’s sprinting,” you breathe out in realisation.

“Exactly. Changbin has a lot of stamina, but he burns it extremely quickly.” Nyra continues to explain both of their tactics as the fight goes on and the more you see Jisoo losing, the more hyped up you get. Changbin kicks Jisoo’s torso, sending the man backwards and onto the ropes of the ring. “There you go! Kick his ass!” she cheers.

“Oh!” you gasp when you see Jisoo recovering way quicker than you expected and immediately elbow Changbin in the jaw. “Oh, no,” you hiss when he hooks Changbin on the other side of his jaw.

“Get his ass, Changbin!” Nyra shouts, shooting up from her seat to lean closer to the window. “Come on!” Another hook to the face has Changbin stumbling backwards onto the ground.

“No!” you cry out as you shoot up from your seat as well. “Come on, come on,” you chant, hoping that he wouldn’t lose this fight.

“Get up, Changbin!” Nyra yells. The boxer does as you hope he would, standing up with his fists in front of his face in defence as he glares at Jisoo. “You can do this!”

“Come on, Bins,” you whisper as you watch. Even from a distance, you’re able to see the way his chest heaves and the sweat drips off of his face, dripping straight onto the floor that’s been stained from many years of fighting.

“Oh?” Nyra tilts her head curiously, noting the way Changbin’s eyes seem to flit around the ring as he and Jisoo circle each other. “(Y/n), lean closer to the window,” she orders.

“What?”

“Just do it.”

You give her a weird look but do it anyway. Changbin’s eyes flit around when he’s facing your direction. He makes eye contact with you almost instantly and you give him a thumbs up and mouth, “you got this.” For a moment, his shoulders relax when he sees you and the change in attention worries you when Jisoo suddenly lunges towards him.

But Changbin immediately grabs onto the back of his head and slams his face right onto his knee, the man dropping to the ground and going limp.

Pure joy and relief floods you at the sight of the referee climbing into the ring and raising Changbin’s arm into the air.“He did it!” you gasp while bouncing on your feet excitedly. “He won!” You start jumping up and down in joy as you see the way he looks around the crowd.

“Hell yeah!” Nyra cheers. “I knew he could do it. Jisoo’s not strong enough to go against that beast.”

From Changbin’s view, the sound of the crowd has turned into muffled buzzing. One of the hooks from Jisoo had definitely hit his ear which has most likely temporarily fucked up his hearing.

His first thought as he looks around is looking for you. And he knows where you are, so he turns to face Nyra’s office to see you excitedly jump with the gym owner. A smile makes its way onto Changbin’s face as he watches how happy you look upon his victory and your energy seems to still find its way to him despite being separated by walls.

He watches as you quickly leave the room, his smile dropping when he no longer sees you only for you to come running through the door and into the ring to hug him.

“Oh, you did such a great job!” you squeal with your arms around him. You’ve completely ignored the way that Changbin’s covered in blood and sweat as you hug him tightly and the suddenness of the entire act makes him struggle to process what’s happening with how he’s trying to also pull himself out of his boxing mindset.

Slowly, Changbin returns the hug; his arms wrapping around your waist as he rests his chin against your shoulder, eyes shutting as he starts to catch his breath in the comfort of your embrace.

Changbin wonders whether you’ll come to more of his matches. He wonders whether you enjoy watching him fight as much as he enjoys the act of it. He wonders whether you’d share all of his wins and losses with him because, as he watches the way you react, Changbin wants you to share the experiences with him.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

“That was so cool!” you excitedly babble as you follow Changbin down the streets. “I was so anxious when you fell over. I was worried that you would’ve gotten way more hurt than you’re used to!”

“Is that so?” he chuckles.

“Of course! I didn’t mind whether or not you would win, I was more worried about how hurt you would be afterwards,” you nod. “But that was so cool, Bins! It was like watching something straight out of an action movie. Nyra was explaining everything to me while you were fighting and it was so interesting watching it play out exactly like how she said it would.” Changbin smiles as he listens to you ramble on about what it was like from your point of view. “It wasn’t as bloody as I thought it would be and it was really exhilarating to watch.”

“Imagine how it feels being in the fight,” Changbin hums.

“What do you feel when you’re in the ring?”

Changbin lets out a small sigh, his lips jutting out slightly as he thinks about it. “It feels like I’m aware of nothing but my opponent. I don’t hear anything from the crowd other than my own heartbeat and my own breathing. I don’t see anything else except for whoever I’m fighting,” he explains after a moment. “My mind was basically, ‘where’s the punch coming from?’, ‘when’s the next hit and where do I go next?,’ you know? My head’s completely filled with trying to predict what he’s doing and trying to find a way to avoid or counter it.”

“Amazing,” you breathe out. “You can actually think like that while you’re fighting. I would’ve thought that you would only be feeling adrenaline.”

“The adrenaline is always there. I think it fuels my thinking while I fight because I know that if I lose, I could be losing more than I possibly expect. One wrong move and I could lose my sight or my hearing. I’m essentially fighting for survival since there aren’t any rules and a lot of illegal moves are used. I used to be scared when I first started, but now, the fear is what makes me better at fighting.”

“I can only imagine how terrifying it must’ve been the first time.”

“Yeah, well, I won my first match by chance,” Changbin claims with a small laugh. “I only won because I panicked and punched the guy so hard, I broke his nose and knocked him out. I ended up winning a thousand bucks from how many people had bet on the match.”

“How are you feeling now, though? I’m going to assume you feel extremely sore right now, but does anything hurt extra?” you ask as you hold onto his wrist to stop him from walking and forcing him to look at you.

Changbin’s surprised by the sudden action and he’s even more surprised at the way your hands quickly move around his torso to see if he’s in any extreme condition, but he only laughs and holds onto both of your wrists, “I’m fine, (Y/n). I promise. It’s nothing more than a few bruises that’ll last a few days that I can just cure with a few ice packs and muscle patches.” He lowers your hands and smiles.

“Are you just saying that so I won’t worry?” Your eyes narrow accusingly at his claim but Changbin shakes his head.

“I promise. Now, come on. Let’s get your cute butt back home,” he hums as he starts walking, unaware of the way his right hand still holds onto yours as you walk. You feel heat creeping up your neck at the realisation that Changbin has not noticed that you’re holding hands and you hesitate to bring it up.

“Bins, do you mean to hold my hand?” you ask teasingly.

Changbin looks down and immediately rips his hand away from yours out of shock, his cheeks flushing immensely as he stares at you in mild horror, “s-sorry. I didn’t—”

“I don’t mind,” you quickly cut him off as you held onto his hand again. Changbin looks down at your hand with wide eyes, his lips sealed shut. “Are you okay with it?”

“Y-Yeah,” he nods, shoulders slowly relaxing the longer you both stand on the streets with your fingers locked. “Yeah, I’m fine with it,” Changbin grins. He squeezes your hand lightly as he starts walking in the direction of your campus.

“Don’t you wanna stop by your place first? You can shower and get all of this sweat off of you,” you suggest, knowing that Changbin’s apartment is along the way to campus.

“I don’t mind,” he shrugs, “but you’ll just be spending a bit of time in my living room, then. I take really long showers after a match to just burst my muscles with hot water.”

“That’s fine,” you reassure him.

“Yeah, I think you’ll have a lot of things to do in my place, actually,” Changbin wonders with a small laugh.

You tilt your head curiously at his words, but he doesn’t say anything more on what he means. So, you follow Changbin back to his apartment with your hand still securely held in his, the feeling of comfort filling you every time you remember that your hands are still locked.

Maybe you’re more into Changbin than you initially thought, but friends hold hands, right? That’s totally normal… right?

You don’t let your thoughts dive into it that much and simply allow yourself to enjoy the moment. The air is cold, but not too cold to the point where your jacket isn’t enough, but it’s cold enough to send you shivering slightly every time a breeze blows.

The walk to his apartment doesn’t take that long. It’s a generic looking apartment building that only goes up to the tenth floor judging by the numbers in the lift and Changbin presses only to the third floor. He leads you down the hallway until you reach a door on the left and he unlocks it.

“Help yourself to anything in my fridge or any of my snacks,” Changbin says as he locks the door behind the both of you. “I have a lot of power bars and protein… if that’s your thing.”

“Not a protein-pumped person, but good to know,” you chuckle, turning around and immediately freezing in your tracks when you reach the living room.

“I have some other stuff in here, too, hold on,” he sighs as he rummages through his fridge. Everything in it is mostly high protein meals that only Changbin would eat considering he lives alone, but there are a handful of goodies in there that he thinks you might enjoy. “Ahah!” Changbin triumphantly cheers as he pulls out a carton of lime flavoured yogurt. “Do you like lime flavoured things?”

He turns around only to be faced with your frozen form. Your eyes are glued to the lines of crocheted stuffed toys that decorate his otherwise empty living room, looking around slowly in disbelief.

“Did you make these?” you ask as you take a step closer to his coffee table. Your hand reaches to gingerly pick up the pastel green octopus out of the neatly arranged line of rainbow coloured octopus.

“Yeah,” Changbin hums as he places the yogurt on the coffee table. “I crochet in my free time. It’s fun.” You turn around to look at him with an expression that he can’t read and it sends a sense of anxiety throughout Changbin’s mind.

Do you find it strange? What if this isn’t what you had in mind when you imagined Changbin’s home? He stands awkwardly as he watches you slowly approach him until you’re standing right in front of him.

“Changbin, this is amazing,” you breathe out in awe, pure adoration filling your eyes as you look down at the octopus in your hands. “I… I don’t know what I was expecting coming into your home, but I wasn’t expecting this. You’re an absolute gem, Bins.” You lift your head to meet his eyes and you smile, “I don’t think anyone really has seen how amazing you are past this whole ‘I’ll punch your lights out’ exterior. I’ve never met someone like you before. One of a kind.”

Changbin stares at you with wide eyes. He can feel his eyes stinging with tears and an unknown sensation overwhelming his entire being as he just looks at you.

“No one’s ever told me that before,” he whispers as he takes a step closer towards you. The closer Changbin gets, the more he realises what the sensation is; adoration and what he can only call love. “I know we haven’t known each other for that long, but (Y/n), I think I’m falling for you.” The confession leaves his mouth smoothly, not a single ounce of hesitation stopping him from speaking. There isn’t any kind of insecurity of whether or not you don’t return the feeling because, somehow, Changbin feels like he knows that you love him back.

“I was questioning it before, but I think I have too,” you chuckle.

“Is it okay if I…” Changbin’s hand raises to your cheek and you nod when you realise what he’s talking about.

The boxer takes a step closer, leaning his face until his breath fans over your face, before he presses his lips against yours. There’s an exhilarating feeling that floods him the moment your lips touch and it has your hands nimbly raising to both sides of his waist as he deepens the kiss just a bit more.

Changbin pulls away after a moment. He lets out a breath before smiling and resting his forehead against yours, “how are you this wonderful?” It makes you laugh slightly. “You can spend the night here. Stay in my bedroom—I’ll sleep on the couch. I don’t want you walking around so late at night, it’s dangerous.”

“I’m not opposed to staying the night,” you hum. “I wanna see more of you. I know you have so much to offer and I want to explore every part of it.”

“I wouldn’t stop you if you did.”

You smile and wrap your arms around him, nuzzling your face into the crook of his neck. “Thank you for showing me this side of you, Changbin.”

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity.”

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Five

“Chan’s spending a few nights in my place around Christmas,” Changbin says as you both walk down the streets. The moon is sitting high in the sky as you walk under the yellow lit streetlights and towards the gym.

“Chan?” You turn to him with questioning eyes.

“Yeah, the guy that sends me yarn every few weeks. Have I never told you about him before?”

You shake your head, “don’t think so.”

“He’s my best friend. Left to a sports university to get his rugby dream running. He usually stays at my apartment for Christmas because his family moved with him and he spends every Christmas here with me,” he explains. “He’s the only other person that I’ve actually gotten close with.”

“How did he do that? Nyra said that you don’t talk to anyone else at all,” you claim.

“We grew up together. I think it was the fact that we were in the same class throughout elementary and high school, so we just always sat next to each other and we just ended up talking to each other eventually. I used to box with him at the same gym, so Nyra knows who he is. Are you going anywhere for Christmas?”

“Not really. I’m not feeling any Christmas parties this year.”

“You can stay over with us if you’d like,” Changbin offers. “We can spend an entire week like it’s a giant slumber party until after Chan leaves.”

“Would Chan be alright with that?” You glance at your boyfriend, unsure. “Feels like I’d be invading on time with your buddy.”

“He wouldn’t mind. He might actually be more excited than I was knowing that I have a significant other now,” he snorts. “I’ll give him a heads up, but Chan’s usually down for anything.”

You let out a small hum at that and continue the walk in mostly silence. There isn’t much of a plan as to what the both of you have planned for the day since you’re both finished with class and there’s still a few more hours before Changbin heads to the gym to workout.

He brushes your hand with his before completely holding onto it. “Is there anything fun to do around this area?” Changbin asks right after you’ve stepped past the campus gates.

“In this area, not really,” you sigh. “But I do know that if we find a bus and head towards the edge of town, there’s a farm that lets people pick pumpkins.”

“A bus to the edge of town?” Changbin considers the idea but then he shakes his head, “I’m too lazy to do that.”

“Pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Starbucks isn’t too far away from campus. Ten minute walk into town and there’s one right on the street corner, and while Changbin doesn’t typically drink coffee, he still doesn’t mind getting a pumpkin spice latte just as an excuse to hangout with you.

With your hands locked, you walk in the direction of the town. The weather has slowly started getting colder and colder as Winter nears, which explains the puffy jackets you both have on. In your pockets are hot packs to keep your hands warm and with the new baby pink scarf that Changbin had crocheted for you, your neck is warm underneath the soft yarn.

You make sure to put on the scarf everyday before you attend your classes. Especially with what happened the day you had forgotten and Changbin was about ready to crochet you a new one right in the middle of class because he just so happened to have some extra yarn in his backpack.

Ever since you had started dating him a few weeks prior, Changbin had been nothing but doting and caring. You hadn’t realised how caring he was from the way he always seemed to be forgetting to take care of himself, but you realise very quickly that Changbin just… doesn’t realise that he’s not actually doing much for himself.

“Are you going for the Christmas ball?” Changbin asks a few minutes into the walk.

“Probably not,” you answer with a hum.

“Why not?”

“Don’t feel like it.”

“Seems like something you’d like, though.” He glances at you with a curious glint in his eyes, but you only shake your head.

“I went last year and it was pretty boring. It’s just a bunch of drunk college students dancing to really questionable Christmas jingles in the middle of the park when it’s super cold,” you huff. “My friends don’t really enjoy it that much either, but Felix goes because his favourite booty call is always there.”

“Which one?”

“You know what? I'm not sure either. I just know that he has Yeji and Wooyoung’s numbers pinned so that he doesn’t have to look that far to get to their contacts,” you snort. It’s amusing to you how Felix has friends that he has a lot of casual sex with. He’s not the type to settle down—that much you learned in your second year in the same course as him—but it still surprises you just how often he gets around without catching feelings for anyone. “If you ask me, I would be in love with at least one of his booty calls from how often he spends in their rooms.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t catch feelings when he has sex without any sort of emotional relationship built up to it,” Changbin guesses. “Chan’s like that, too. He’s always talking about this one guy in his class who he meets up with almost every Friday, but Chan doesn’t like him emotionally and the feeling seems to be mutual. They just have lots of sex.”

“That’s fair,” you wonder out loud.

“It’s probably just his way of having fun and relieving stress.”

“I get that, I’m not the type of person who has casual sex that often, so the idea is still a bit baffling to me,” you claim. “I always think it’s better to keep sex as something intimate, ya’know?”

“Then it’s a good thing that you’re dating me and not Felix,” Changbin quips.

You laugh at that, sending a gleeful feeling throughout his chest. “I wouldn’t date Felix if he was the last man alive. That man acts like a toddler who needs constant care and affection; it would drain the life out of me,” you joke. “Imagine taking care of a twenty year old who cries if you buy him the wrong orange juice brand.”

“You can’t be mad at that!” he gasps loudly. “Not all juice brands taste the same, (Y/n).”

“I made sure to get him the one that tasted exactly the same; the effort was there!” you defend yourself with a scoff that does nothing to hide the amusement on your face.

“Don’t blame a man for wanting his orange juice,” Changbin scolds. “I would be upset, too, if you gave me a different brand of blueberry juice. The one you usually get is better than the others!”

You open your mouth to counter before you gasp and cover your mouth with your hand. The realisation that you have the same exact reasoning for the blueberry juice as Felix. “Oh god, I’m sorry,” you say with a laugh.

“But, I get it, Felix does act like a love-starved toddler,” he quickly adds with a snort.

“You should’ve seen him in our first year. He would barge into my dorm at midnight and just cuddle me while I was trying to finish my work. Felix might actually start cuddling you now that we’re dating.”

“My initial reaction to people getting too close to me is punching them in the gut… I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he mutters while awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

“Felix will find a way to get through that,” you chuckle.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

“I warned you,” Changbin states. Felix is hunched over on the floor while violently heaving after being punched in the chest when he tried to hug Changbin without any notice.

“Changbin, it’s Felix! He can barely even throw a punch properly!” you exclaim as you help Felix stand.

“It’s fine,” Felix heaves. His arms hold onto his stomach tightly as he straightens himself as much as possible. “I just… It’s alright, man,” he reassures him. “I think that was the wake up call I needed.”

“You really need to stop hugging random people,” you nod. “Especially not Changbin. His first instinct is to hit people who get too close to him.”

“I wouldn’t have thought otherwise,” Felix chuckles lightly.

Changbin smiles at him sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, “yeah… I’m not used to physical touch that much.”

“It’s alright,” he reassures him once again. “I should’ve seen it coming, honestly. I’ve heard about you before; the dude who doesn’t really talk to anyone and spends most of his time at a boxing gym, so I really should’ve expected it. I just thought that maybe you wouldn’t hit me because you’re dating (Y/n).”

“(Y/n) is the only person who I won’t hit upon contact,” Changbin hums.

“That’s ass,” Felix huffs.

“It’s fair,” you hum with glee as you skip over to Changbin and press a kiss to his cheek. He pulls away slightly in surprise at the act, a big smile on his face as he looks at you. You return the smile as well before turning back to Felix, your smile dropping slightly when you see the look on his face, brown eyes flitting between both you and Changbin.

“That’s kinda cute, not gonna lie,” he points out.

“Say that again and I’ll punch you,” Changbin warns as he takes a step closer with his right hand curled into a fist. Felix visibly panics as he takes a step back but you only laugh and place your hand on Changbin’s chest.

“He’s just joking, Lix. Nothing to worry about,” you reassure him. “Now, come on. I wanted pancakes, so we’re getting pancakes while you two talk to each other and try not to beat each other up.” You grab onto both of their wrists with both of your hands and start pulling them into the pancake house right in front of you; the original reason that you were standing in the middle of the mall with both your best friend and your boyfriend in the first place.

You order your respective plates of pancakes before taking a seat at one of the booths, Changbin sitting across from you while Felix sits beside you.

In truth, Felix didn’t really give Changbin much of a choice as he immediately took the seat beside you the moment you sat down. The boxer didn’t question it as anything more than him being just a tad big protective of you—which he thought was understandable.

Anyone in this world would protect you the more they’d hang out with you, Changbin thinks. You’re just that bright enough that even someone as distant as Changbin had decided that he would do anything to keep you safe.

“So… Changbin,” Felix starts as he rests his elbows on the table and clasps his hands in front of himself. “(Y/n) said you’re a boxer.”

“Yeah,” he nods.

“Competitive?”

“Sort of.”

“You earn money from it?”

“Yeah.”

Felix stays silent as he stares at Changbin before he glances at you.”You weren’t kidding when you said he wasn’t much of a talker,” he whispers to you.

“Well, yeah, I wouldn’t have said it if it wasn’t true,” you mutter.

“Is it usually just one word replies?”

“He’s literally sitting right there, Lix,” you scoff while smacking his shoulder. “Dude, at least talk to him if you’re going to talk about him.”

“Right, right,” Felix quickly nods, clearing his throat. “My bad, dude. I think I’m just not used to reading this sort of short replies.”

“It’s fine,” Changbin reassures him with a slight raise to his hand. “I don’t really like… talking.”

“That’s alright,” he smiles.

“(Y/n) usually does the talking,” he adds. Changbin glances at you slightly and you flash him an encouraging smile when he does.

“Changbin doesn’t really mind people when they approach him, but he won’t exactly reciprocate the energy, you know?” you explain.

“I’ve never been able to. Wouldn’t stop people from talking, though”

“I see,” Felix nods. “I’m chill with that. You would answer if I ask you stuff, right?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s chill then.”

“I have one question,” Changbin claims just as the pancakes arrive, laying in front of all three of you.

As Felix would, his is filled with chocolate chips and topped with whipped cream and strawberries. Changbin went with a simple plain pancake batter with maple syrup while you got plain pancakes topped with fruits and honey.

“Shoot,” Felix says as he stuffs his mouth with a forkful of pancakes.

“(Y/n) mentioned your… uhm… I don’t know how else to put it,” Changbin mutters.

“Is it the booty call thing?” you ask. When he nods, you turn to Felix who glances between the two of you.

“What about my booty calls?” Felix questions.

“Not the kind to settle down?”

“Felix won’t settle down until he finds someone who will baby him to the max,” you groan.

“That’s exactly it,” he nods just as he sticks another mouthful into his mouth. “The people I have casual sex with now aren’t exactly the caring types—if you get what I mean—but what I look for romantically is different. If I met someone who was the really doting and caring type, then I’d consider that, yeah.”

“This applies to both…” Changbin trails off slowly.

“Anyone, basically. Gender doesn’t matter to me,” Felix finishes. “It’s not something I look for in a person. I see what kind of person they are, how they’d mostly treat me, how sweet they are, and how they treat animals and their family.”

“Ah, that’s an important one,” you nod in agreement.

“There’s a lot of things that I actively look for, but the most important one is probably whether or not they’ll care for me. The reason why I never had a thing for (Y/n) was mainly because they don’t baby me.”

“You’re a full grown ass man, Felix,” you snort.

“I like being babied,” he grumbles. Changbin stares at him for a moment as he nods slowly.

“You know what? I know someone that I think you’d get along with,” he claims.

“Really?”

“Yeah, he’s a good friend of mine who’s staying over for Christmas. Maybe you two should meet.”

“You think so?” Felix turns to you for any sort of explanation, but you only shrug. You have an assumption that Changbin means Chan, but you haven’t actually met Chan let alone spoken to him even through text.

“He’s a good guy,” Changbin adds.

Without saying another word, he sticks a forkful of pancakes into his mouth.

“I’d like more of an explanation on that, but you can explain it eventually,” Felix says with a nod.

“I can just—” Changbin pulls his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and places it onto the table unlocked and on an Instagram profile. “His name’s Bang Chan. He’s twenty-five this year, last year of uni. Sends me stuff every few days and calls me almost every night to make sure I’m alright since he can’t be here with me. He doesn’t do selfies that much, but you could probably find one.”

Felix pulls the phone closer to the both of you and scrolls through the profile. “Oh, wow.” His jaw almost drops to the floor when he finally finds a selfie of Chan in the profile. “Holy shit.” Felix brings the phone closer to his face with his eyes practically bulging out of his skull. “Jesus Christ, hot buff people are really just casually friends with more hot buff people, huh?”

You glance over at Changbin’s phone as well and your own eyes widen. “Holy shit.”

“Chan’s pretty hot, yeah,” Changbin nods nonchalantly as he continues eating his pancakes.

“Dude, he’s not just hot—he is hot,” Felix laughs in disbelief as he continues scrolling through the profile. “What’s he like?”

“Honestly—from the point of view of an old friend—he’s like a dad.”

“From what I know, Chan’s basically constantly babying Changbin. Almost subconsciously, right, Binz?”

“Yeah,” he nods. “A gentleman, too, I think. But that’s only what I’ve heard from his past partners.”

“Sweet, buff, and caring?” Felix repeats when his eyes move to Changbin. “Sounds like a dream come true.” He places the phone back onto the marble table and slides it back to its owner. “I’ll drop by during Christmas. (Y/n)’s spending the entire Christmas week at your place, right?”

“Yeah,” you nod.

“Then, sure, but also on the condition that you guys feed me for the entire week.”

“Deal,” Changbin smiles. “Chan usually does the cooking when he’s over, so I just let him do whatever he wants.”

“By the way, this is going to be invasive, but have you guys had sex yet?”

“I’m fucking leaving you here,” you start shoving Felix out of the booth while Changbin immediately starts choking on his food.

“It’s a genuine question!”

“Get your head out of your dick, Felix, or I’m going to kick you onto the floor,” you warn.

“No, we haven’t,” Changbin answers for you after a moment of coughing. “We’ve only been together for like… less than a month. I don’t—I think it’s—you know?”

“I totally get it; new relationship, getting to know each other—that whole thing,” Felix nods.

“What is wrong with you?”

“I’m trying to make conversation!”

“Talk about class, the gaming club—the fucking football team—I don’t know!”

“I don’t know what Changbin finds interesting!”

“Not our sex life!”

“I’m alright with it,” Changbin mutters, but you or Felix don’t seem to hear him.

“That’s not something you should ask people!”

“He’s the first guy you’ve dated since we’ve met, I—your sexually active best friend—am obligated to know if you guys are doing alright!”

“Oh my god, Felix.”

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Six

With Winter rolling in and the temperature getting colder, your break comes way sooner than you realise and you’ve realised you’ve been spending more and more time at Changbin’s apartment.

Changbin’s even taken the liberty in clearing out some of the space in his closet to make way for your clothes, partially because he’s giving you more reasons to stay at his place rather than heading back to yours whenever you forget to bring your overnight bag with you. And even though your main concern with the meetup you had with Felix was that Changbin would’ve been scared of being intimate with you, it didn’t exactly seem to stop him.

“Chan’s supposed to be coming over soon,” Changbin mumbles, knuckles gently running over the skin of your cheek.

“What do you wanna do while waiting?” you ask as you readjust yourself in his bed so that you were facing him.

“We could do a handful of things,” he shrugs, “we can watch a movie. I could teach you how to crochet your favourite animal.” Changbin moves slightly closer and his hand traces your jaw before his thumb and index hold onto your chin. Leaning in slowly, he presses his lips to yours.

It’s a slow kiss that doesn’t really feel like it’s leading anywhere, but Changbin’s lips feel warm on yours and it sends a comforting feeling throughout your entire body.

When he pulls away, the only thing in Changbin’s eyes is adoration. “We could just do this until he gets here.”

“What? Make out for hours?” you giggle.

“I mean, we don’t have to just make out.” You stare at him for a moment before pulling away slightly.

“Now?”

“Why not?” Changbin sits up slightly and rests his weight on his arm. “I mean, we don’t have to if you’re not ready. I’m just saying that I’m ready for it.”

You push yourself up so that you’re in the same exact position as him, “like… right now?”

“Yeah,” he nods. “If you don’t want to, it’s totally fine.”

“I do!” you squeak, but you shut your mouth immediately when you realise that you may have sounded a bit too eager. “I’m just… a bit surprised… I guess. I wasn’t expecting anything until another few months—but I’m alright with it!”

“You sure?” Changbin asks.

“Yeah,” you nod. He moves closer once again with his hand on your cheek, kissing you with the same pace as before before he pulls away abruptly.

“You’re certain that you want this?”

“Yes, Changbin,” you laugh slightly. “Hundred percent.”

“If you wanna stop anytime, just let me know.”

“I promise I will,” you smile.

Changbin leans back in, his body closer to yours and his touch a bit more firm as it runs over your shoulder and down your back until he’s hovering over you.

And honestly, maybe you two should’ve been keeping more track on time, because when Changbin’s doorbell rings and he looks like he’s just done a full-body workout, it doesn’t really give that many options when he opens the door to see Chan standing there with his luggage bag and a huge smile on his face.

“Woah, man, you must’ve been doing some crazy workouts; look at you,” Chan laughs as he steps into the apartment.

“Yeah, something like that,” Changbin nods. His hand runs through his hair as he still tries to catch his breath. Chan leaves his bags in the living room and his coat along the armrest of his couch.

“So, what do you want for dinner? I can head to the grocery store and buy some stuff,” Chan offers while he runs through his phone. His head snaps up when he hears the sound of Changbin’s door open even with the boxer standing right in front of him and Changbin’s eyes widen, staring straight at the floor when he hears it as well.

“Hi,” you wave at Chan as you poke your head out of the room. The man blinks twice at you before at Changbin.

The dots connect but it’s an extremely slow process even though you’re wearing one of Changbin’s bigger hoodies and you look as worn out as he does. His eyes practically pop out of his skull when he does make the connection and Chan lets out an extremely loud sound at the realisation.

“Who is this?!” he exclaims, but Changbin’s still staring at the ground because he’s realised that he hasn’t told Chan that you’re dating.

You take another step out of Changbin’s room, “I’m (Y/n). We’ve been dating for a few months.”

“You’ve been dating for a few months?! Why didn’t you tell me?!” Chan turns to Changbin with what you could only explain as the most shock you’ve ever seen on a person’s face before.

“I think I forgot,” he confesses softly.

“Forgot?!”

“I’m sorry! I was so caught up with school, and boxing, and (Y/n)!”

“Dude?! You don’t talk to people! I’m your best friend—I’m supposed to have this whole ‘I’m super protective of my bro’ shit prepared!”

As you stand in Changbin’s living room while they go back and forth, you realise that maybe this is what Changbin felt when you and Felix were arguing at the pancake house.

“We spoke like every weekend ever since you brought them up the first time!”

“I know! But whenever you called, it had already slipped my mind!”

“But still!”

“I said I was sorry!”

“Okay!” you exclaim as you step in between the two. “Hi, Chan, I’m (Y/n)! You guys are just going to keep going back and forth on this because the same exact thing happened to my friend and I a few weeks ago when I introduced him to Changbin,” you say while looking at Chan. You turn to Changbin right after, “Changbin, honey, I’m so sorry Felix and I argue so much because now I understand how you feel whenever we do. Anyway, I’m hungry and Felix just texted asking what time he should come over.”

“Felix?”

“He’s (Y/n)’s best friend,” Changbin says right before he turns his attention to you. “He can come over any time and stay over for as long as he’d like.”

“Are we spending the entire week of Christmas together, then?” Chan asks.

“Pretty much,” you nod. “If you want alone time with Changbin, just let me know. I can head back to my dorm anytime.”

“It’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting to find out about his partner so suddenly,” he chuckles.

“My friend Felix is probably going to crash here, too. He doesn’t want to be lonely on Christmas and all of his booty calls are busy,” you claim.

“I get that. I’m here for Christmas for two reasons; one, I don’t see Changbin often, and two, my own booty call isn’t around during Christmas.”

“Ah, so you and Felix are exactly the same,” Changbin quips. “I have a feeling you two are going to really like each other.” He glances at you and you have your lips pressed together into a straight line to stop your smile from showing.

“I’m going to assume you guys have inside jokes now that I’m going to learn about eventually because Changbin can’t keep his mouth shut,” Chan snorts.

“Oh, it’s nothing. We just think that you and Felix are pretty similar in character, so you might get along really well,” you explain briefly with a dismissive wave of your hand. “You’ll understand when he gets here—trust me.” The rugby player gives you an amused look as he tosses his phone onto the couch and crosses his arms over his chest.

“Bet.”

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

“This isn’t going to work,” Changbin laughs.

“If I know anything about Felix, it’s that you just need Chan to baby him and Felix will go falling like it’s nothing,” you hum. “If we can get them to spend a whole day just together, Chan’s bound to baby him eventually.”

“You’re not wrong about that.”

“Yeah! So it’s the perfect plan!”

“The perfect plan to get two guys who have their own booty calls into finally settling down with each other?” Changbin summarises, amused. You nod your head excitedly which only makes him smile further. “Fine, we can give it a shot. I still don’t know how it’s gonna work, both of them are too invested in a no-strings-attached relationship than anything.”

“Well, Chan likes someone he can take care of and Felix likes being taken care of. It’s a perfect dynamic!” you claim. “Plus, you heard what Felix said! If he finds someone who will baby him or take care of him, he'll consider it. We just have to play cupid for a little bit.”

“I thought you weren’t the kind to meddle in other peoples’ love lives.”

“This isn’t meddling,” you snort while shaking your head. “It’s just… pushing them closer to each other.”

“(Y/n).”

“Okay, fine, it’s meddling—but you can’t say that maybe it’s time they both find someone! Chan’s twenty-five, last year in college and Felix is in his third year of biomed! Maybe they’ll end up getting married!”

“Okay, now you just sound crazy.”

“Can we just try? Pretty please?” You clasp your hands together and jut your lips into a pout, doing the best puppy eyes you can manage in order to convince Changbin. He stares at you a few times before sighing.

“Fine, we can try.”

He doesn’t know what he was expecting. Changbin just knew that you wanted to plan a whole day just for Felix and Chan to spend together so that, in your words, ‘they would realise that they’re perfect for each other’, which Changbin honestly thinks is a little bullshit, but he’s in love with you at this point, so he doesn’t mind.

Your ‘perfect plan’ has led to you convincing Felix to take Chan to a bar downtown for the night while you and Changbin have your own date night at a hotpot restaurant not too far from his apartment.

“They’ll be fine, right?”

“I don’t know, baby, this was your idea,” Changbin chuckles as he watches how hesitant you’ve become while swishing a strip of meat around in the boiling pot of broth.

“Do you think they’ll get along?” you ask.

“They’re both relatively nice people,” he hums.

“Okay, but what if they don’t end up liking each other as much?”

“Then it just means they’re not as compatible as we initially thought.”

“What if we’ve just ruined their relationship completely?”

“Okay, that’s just being irrational.”

“I’m serious!”

“(Y/n), baby,” he puts his chopsticks down onto the table and reaches out to hold both of your hands, “trust me. We haven’t just ruined their relationship completely. You never know! Maybe they will like each other way more than we thought. Right now, let’s not focus on those two and just focus on the hotpot.”

Changbin’s honestly hoping that you do drop Felix and Chan’s relationship because he can’t be too bothered to worry about whether the night ends with them fucking or if the night ends with them deciding they wanna give it a real shot.

But you don’t and Changbin just lets it happen.

“Wait, what if they actually end up deciding they’re perfect for each other? Would that mean we make perfect wingmen?”

“Probably. What’s the worst that could happen, honestly?” Changbin wonders out loud.

“They could end up hating each other and then possibly hating us for making them hang out with each other.” He freezes in his movement and stares at you. Changbin’s honestly speechless at how far your thoughts go.

“(Y/n), you’re overthinking this. It’s going to be fine, alright? Just let it go with the flow. You can’t force anything between them.”

“I know I can’t, but now I’m just a bit worried,” you sigh.

“‘A bit’ is an understatement,” he chuckles. “How about we head to the arcade later so that we can take your mind off of things. By the time we get home, they’re probably already there, too. So… let them do their thing while we do ours. Alright?”

“Alright,” you nod.

You finally drop the topic there and spend the rest of the evening enjoying your date night with Changbin. As promised, he takes you to the arcade across the street to try and keep your mind too busy from thinking of whatever situation Chan and Felix could have possibly ended up in, and while you’re both playing one of the ring toss games, Changbin gets a message from Chan telling him that the two have already reached his apartment safe and sound.

“See, (Y/n)? They’re fine!” Chan yells over the loud arcade ambiance and you smile at him.

“I’m already over it, Binz. I think I'm just worrying for Felix,” you say.

“It’s alright to be worried, I was a bit too for Chan, but you were just throwing shit around, babe. It was funny,” he laughs. “This is exactly why I initially called your head bouncy.”

“Yes, I gathered.”

Changbin gives you a cheeky smile as he raises his finger to your cheek to poke at the skin, “you’re adorable when your head is being all bouncy.”

“Out of context, that sounds like it could’ve easily come out of a serial killer’s mouth,” you quip.

“I’m just trying to be nice!” he exclaims.

You take a step closer to him and laugh, “I know, honey. I think it’s sweet.” Pressing a kiss to his cheek, Changbin lets out a gleeful giggle when you do and wraps his arm around your waist to keep you close to him. “But I think I’m out of tokens, so we should probably head back before we waste more of our money here.”

“Agreed.”

Changbin keeps his arm around your waist as you leave the arcade and start the leisurely walk in the direction of his apartment, giggling and laughing at nothing as the cold air brushes past you. But the two of you pay it no mind with each others’ warmth doing more than enough to stop the cold from biting your skin.

“I am going to bet my entire lunch for this week that Felix has kicked Chan out of the guest room and claimed it as his own,” Changbin says as you walk through the corridor of his apartment building.

“Oh please, I have faith in them to have at least come to some kind of a civil agreement,” you laugh while rolling your eyes.

“Really? Those two?” He smiles.

Changbin unlocks his front door and pushes it open, but his eyes immediately widen and a yell rips through his throat when he realises what’s going on.

“What—oh my god!” you scream after pushing past him to see what’s wrong. The last thing you were expecting to see was Felix and Chan scrambling off of each other and off of the floor, grabbing the nearest piece of fabric to cover themselves up.

“In my fucking living room?! Are you two fucking serious?!” Changbin shouts as he closes his front door.

“You guys were taking a long time!” Chan defends. “We didn’t think that you two would be back so soon!”

“And that gives you guys the excuse to fuck in my apartment?! And on my living room floor?! You could’ve done it in the bathroom or the fucking guest room—talk about being fucking uncivil—my parents sit in my living room!”

“What event led up to this?! Why are you guys having sex in the middle of the fucking galaxy?!”

“Jesus, it’s not my fault Chan’s built the way he is,” Felix grumbles, earning a smack from the older man and a sharp glare.

“Dude,” Chan hisses.

“Jesus Christ, I don’t even want to hear it,” Changbin grumbles as he disappears into his bedroom. You stand in the living room with your hands awkwardly rubbing together, staring at the two men with your lips pursed together and your eyes trained to the ceiling to avoid looking at something that you would regret seeing.

“Couldn’t have you guys done it in the guest room or something?” you scoff.

“We couldn’t help ourselves…” Chan confesses softly.

“In the living room? Seriously?”

“At least it wasn’t his bed!” Felix reasons, but you only glare at him in response, which effectively shuts him up.

“Both of you go into the guest room and continue your shit in there,” you say, strictly enough to get them both nodding with their heads hanging low before they scurry into the guest room. You let out a small sigh when your attention turns to the blankets and clothes that scatter the living room floor, a grimace contorting your features as you try stepping over them to avoid any… suspicious fluids… and make your way into Changbin’s bedroom.

“I think your plan worked,” Changbin jokes when he sees you coming into the room. He sat at the edge of his bed with his phone in his hand and his winter coat laid on the bed beside him.

“Might have worked a little too well,” you laugh. “I made them head into the guest room, so we’ll most likely wake up to a clean-ish living room.”

“That’s something we can joke about in the future,” he snorts. “I was expecting them to get along, but not on my living room floor.” Changbin extends his arms towards you and makes grabby hands, “cuddles, please?”

“Okay, Binz,” you chuckle as you take a step closer to him and let his arms wrap around your waist.

He pulls you close against him and practically smushes his face against your belly with his arms loosely around you. You run your hands through Changbin’s hair with a smile on your face at the way he just seems to melt at your touch.

You realise now that he’s way more into you than you had originally thought, but the more you think of it, the more you realise that you might be as well.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Seven

“I’m just saying that I don’t think it’s a good idea, Binz. Did you see him?” you reason as you both step into his apartment. Changbin haphazardly tosses his keys on the counter and turns to you while taking a deep breath.

“I understand the concern, (Y/n), but I think I can take it,” he argues softly.

Maybe you two should’ve remembered that Felix and Chan were still in the other room. Christmas had ended, but Chan decided to extend his stay for the sake of getting to know Felix more and your friend, on the other hand, just decided he had nothing else to do and nowhere else to go, which led the both of them to stay even after New Years.

“You heard what Nyra said! She’s worried about you, too”

“I don’t need her worrying about me.” Changbin turns his back towards you and it makes you shut your eyes in frustration.

You had followed him to the gym to just keep him company and explore the gym with Nyra, but when a man twice the size of Changbin walked into the gym. At the time, you were sitting on one of the machines with Nyra standing beside you, her eyes immediately flitting to the man the moment his presence was made known in the room. You watched him as well, but more importantly, you were watching the way Changbin was eyeing him.

A small conversation with Nyra made all three of you realise that the man was interested in joining the matches.

“No matches until the end of February. Gives time for everyone time to settle down after Christmas and the New Years before getting in another match,” she explained. The man nodded, glancing at both you and Changbin before going on about his business. “Stop thinking about it,” Nyra warned when she saw the look on Changbin’s face. “I don’t think you should fight him, Changbin.”

Changbin stayed silent even after you had placed your hand on his shoulder to try and divert his attention, but his eyes were practically glued to the man.

“You don’t have anything to prove in that gym,” you add as you follow him into the living room.

“That’s not the point.”

“Then why do you want to fight him so bad?”

“It feels like a challenge for myself.”

“You’re going to get sent to the hospital!”

“Then I’ll take that with my pride!” he yells as he turns around to face you. “You know that I’d get injured doing shit like this and you were fine with it before Christmas—what changed that?!”

“It changed when the woman, who’s been watching you fight for the past five years, thinks it’s a bad idea!” you retaliate.

“Nyra babies me! Of course she would! She’s like ten years older than me and I’m a college student who earns money from fighting in her gym! What difference is one match?!”

“Exactly! What difference is one match, Changbin? You tell me.”

“I’m not having this argument,” he states as he turns around.

“I don’t want to follow you to a match and then be in the hospital a few hours later,” you continue as you watch Changbin throw his coat onto the couch.

“Why do you think that I won’t win that one? It’s not like you know anything about boxing,” he huffs. Your arms cross over your chest.

“You’re right, I don’t, but I know when to trust my gut, Bin. I’m just asking that you don’t go to this one match.” You stand in front of him and take his hands in yours, “please, Changbin? Just this once.”

He stares at you for a moment, and it seems like he takes the thought into consideration before he shakes his head, “I’ll be fine, (Y/n).” You let out a scoff and pull your hands away from him, which immediately sends Changbin into the same annoyed look from before.

“Why are you so insistent on fighting that guy?”

“Because it doesn’t seem like anything will go wrong! Why don’t you trust me?”

“I don’t trust him!”

“Hey.” The voice snaps the both of you out of the argument and has you turning in the direction of the guest room to see Chan poking his head out of the room, hair messy and lips swollen, “you guys alright?”

“Yeah,” Changbin nods. “Don’t worry about it, just go back to whatever you were doing.” He rubs his fingers against his forehead in an attempt to ease the frustration as Chan looks between you and Changbin.

“Okay,” he nods. “Just checking in.” From the spot you’re in, you’re able to catch a glimpse of Felix sitting on the bed with the covers pulled up to his chest as he stares at you.

“It’s fine Chan, we’re just… at a disagreement right now,” you mutter.

“Yeah, okay,” he nods once again right before closing the door. You let out a sigh and turn your attention back to Changbin, who avoids looking at you and keeps his gaze on the floor instead.

“I’m not comfortable with watching you go against this guy,” you say softly after a moment.

“Then just don’t come for the match,” Changbin states.

An overwhelming sense of rage runs throughout your body and, before you can think, you’ve picked up one of the octopus off of his coffee table and thrown it at him.

But the problem is that the octopus is soft and it wouldn’t do any damage to anyone, so it bounces straight off of Changbin’s chest. He stares at the plush toy on the ground with his jaw dropped and his eyes wide.

“Why aren’t you worried at all?! I’m telling you that I’m worried! I’m letting you know that I’m uncomfortable because I don’t want you getting hurt!” you shout as you throw another octopus at him. The blue one bounces off of his head this time and disappears somewhere in the living room. “Are you even listening to me? Don’t you get it?!”

“I am,” he nods. “I just…You’d kill me if I told you what I noticed.”

“What?” You cross your arms over your chest and stare at him, watching him with sharp eyes.

“I thought the way the octopus bounced off of me was funny.” Changbin doesn’t think he’s ever seen you this angry before, but then again, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen you angry before, but the rage in your eyes is enough to have him shrinking in his spot.

Only for you to grab another octopus to throw it at him and he can’t help but snort when he feels the way it bounces off of his chest.

“Changbin!” you groan while throwing another one… which only makes him laugh even more. You let out an annoyed grumble without saying anything more and just watch as Changbin crouches down to pick up one of the octopus.

“It’s funny, baby, look,” he says softly as he throws it against himself, the toy going flying in the opposite direction and bouncing against the floor. Changbin laughs before he tries it again with another octopus on the coffee table, a pink one, the toy doing the same thing as before as it bounces off of his head and towards the other end of the room.

You feel your stomach bubbling and you can’t help but laugh as well when Changbin does it again.

“Okay, you’re right,” you laugh when he does it with one of the deers. You take a step forward and take his hands in yours.

“I promise I’ll be careful, honey,” Changbin promises while raising your hands to his face. “I always go into the ring wondering what’s going to happen, but I know when to tap out if I need to. I’ll just not get up if I know that something’s not right.”

“Promise me that you’ll be careful.”

“I promise,” he nods. “I understand if it makes you uncomfortable, but I need you to understand that boxing is something that I genuinely enjoy and genuinely want to excel at. If I avoid a match that I’m scared I’ll lose, I won’t ever move from this spot that I’m in. I’ll be careful.”

You give Changbin a weak smile before nodding. “Okay,” you whisper as he pulls you closer to him. “Don’t be dumb.”

“I’ll try,” he chuckles right as he presses a kiss to the top of your head.

He ushers you into the bedroom, giving you more reassurance before Changbin picks his phone up from his couch only to see messages from Chan that had been sent while you were arguing.

Chan: Yo You guys alright? Yk what Don’t answer that Do you want Felix and I to leave for a bit or smth? We don’t wanna intrude or anything We can always spend the night at his place Oh you aren’t arguing anymore What in the world did you say to them Oh man Why would you say that?? Whatever Have fun with (Y/n) and ignore whatever you hear from our room <3

Binz: Please Dude Just one night of peace and quiet I’m begging you

Chan: Hey Felix was doing just that :D

Binz: PLEASE God please I just want to SLEEP I just want one night of sleep with my partner and without the horrific sounds of whatever the fuck you and Felix do when you’re in MY guest room in MY apartment

Chan: I’ll try to keep him down He seems to like that

Binz: P L E A S E

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

The next match that Changbin attends only comes by about a month later when it’s Spring. He didn’t even know who he was going up against until he was standing in the ring and the man climbed into the ring as well, staring at him dead in the eye.

Changbin could feel his heart drop at the realisation and he glances at where you are, seeing the worried look in your eyes when you see him as well.

Whenever Changbin steps into the ring, he only has one thing on his mind:

Be the less beat up of the two.

He doesn’t care if he wins or not, honestly. Changbin’s pride lies in whether or not he suffers more injuries than his opponent, because, to him, it determines his skill in his own defence. If he can make it out of the ring with less bruises and, hopefully, no broken bones, Changbin considers himself the better fighter in general because he doesn’t have to pay any medical bills.

But now, he has another thing on his mind.

From his side of the ring, Changbin’s able to see you standing in Nyra’s office—your usual seat in the gym to avoid the crowd—smiling and cheering him on. Even with the glass separating the both of you, he can practically hear your voice whenever you cheer or curse. Nyra’s always sitting beside you with a bottle of beer in her hands and amusement painted on her face.

She’s always thought you were rather cute, even for Changbin. Nyra didn’t hesitate to make you feel more comfortable at the gym and she definitely didn’t hesitate to voice out her own opinions against Changbin going against the new guy, but she only shrugged when she realised that he had made up his mind.

He needs a clear head. The adrenaline is already pumping through his veins and his mind is mostly void of anything that could possibly distract him. There was a brief moment where Changbin had allowed himself to let you enter his thoughts, but your disapproval towards the entire match would only bother him more. And the fact that you’re willing there to watch him only makes him feel just a tad more guilty.

Granted, the guilt is honestly always there and it has been ever since you started following Changbin to his matches; he never wanted to give you any reason to worry but he simply couldn’t give up boxing.

His attention turns back to reality and the man that stands in front of him. The kind of fear that runs throughout Changbin’s body is something that he hasn’t felt in years. It’s the sort of fear that actually makes him doubt his ability to make it out of this match alive.

And when the fight begins, Changbin realises that the fear is justifiable. He hasn’t gone against someone this strong in years and he isn’t sure of his own ability as blood starts to drip down his chin and onto the floor.

From Nyra’s office, you watch anxiously, both you and the older woman knowing that Changbin won’t actually make it out of the match alive. You can only hope that he sticks by his promise of tapping out before it’s too late.

“Tap out, Binz,” you whisper anxiously. “Please tap out now.”

Changbin knows that he’s losing stamina from the way his arms aren’t moving the way they normally do. Pain overwhelms him and he feels like he can barely breathe in the room as the crowd chants his name because Changbin doesn’t lose. He knows that too well, but his fractured ankle and his, most likely, broken ribs say otherwise.

And it’s his pride that stops him from tapping out—from keeping his promise—as he throws another swing only for the man to punch him in his stomach once to disorient him and knee him in the face.

Changbin doesn’t even have the energy to let out any sort of cry as he falls to the ground. He feels his body twitching from the pain and his breathing starting to get more and more uneven.

“Changbin!” your voice cries out. There’s a moment where Changbin can feel himself being dragged out of the ring with his blood staining the floor before your face appears in his field of vision. “Changbin, hey, honey, can you hear me?” you call as you hold onto his face.

“(Y/n)?”

“Hold on, Changbin. Nyra, call an ambulance! You’ll be fine, honey, just hold on,” you frantically ramble as you lay his head on your lap.

“I’m sorry,” he mutters, “I… I should’ve tapped out.”

“No, it’s okay,” you quickly reassure him. “I-It’s alright, baby. Just keep breathing for me, okay? Just stay awake for a bit longer.”

“They’re on their way, but we need to get him out of this room to breathe,” Nyra explains as she starts pulling him out of the area. “God, I should’ve seen this coming,” she sighs with her hand rubbing against her forehead nervously. “You’re going to give me a heart attack one day, kid.”

“I guess that’s one thing I can achieve,” Changbin chuckles right before coughing violently, only to let out a whine of pain from when pain shoots throughout his chest.

“Wait until Chan hears about this,” you huff when you see the way his hand weakly holds onto his chest.

“He’d find it amusing,” he claims.

“Sounds a lot like him,” Nyra chuckles. “What hurts, Changbin?”

“Everything. My chest hurts a lot and I’m pretty sure my ankle is broken.”

“You just sit here and look…” she trails off and sighs, “look pretty. The ambulance is almost here. You know the drill, right?”

“Tell them that I got beat up in a regulated boxing match and say that your fiance is a referee,” he mutters.

“If anything you give them his contact details.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Changbin nods.

“Drink,” you practically order as you hold a bottle of water with a straw right in front of him, the sudden appearance of the bottle almost startling Changbin for a moment.

He doesn’t say anything as he drinks from the bottle, silently watching and listening as you and Nyra seem to frantically move around the place while trying to keep him awake.

“You’re not allowed to join a match until you get the greenlight to continue fighting,” Nyra scolds just as her fiancee comes barging into the room.

“Damn, you’re still alive?” Aki laughs.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Changbin jokes, which only earns a soft scoff from you.

The man slips a business card into Changbin’s hand, “give them this if they ask about what happened.”

“You’re lucky I’m marrying a lawyer,” Nyra says while clicking her tongue in faux annoyance.

“I’m so lucky you chose the dude who you deemed was the best in bed,” he chuckles. Nyra glares at him while Aki snickers from beside her, his arm slinging over her shoulders to pull her closer.

“Aww, it’s alright, lovely. I think you’re the best in bed, too,” he coos.

“Say that again in front of these kids and I’m not marrying you,” she grumbles. Aki laughs heartily before pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

“While we wait for the paramedics and Changbin’s oddly chatty; how did this little creature break through your shell?” he asks with his hand gesturing to you.

“They fed me and kept me alive during class,” Changbin answers lazily before you have the chance to respond. “Basically kept me company everyday while we were on campus and, over time, I realised that I really like them. They’re always so cute and bubbly. I think I always just imagine them to be what Spring is.”

“Wow, okay,” you cough awkwardly as your face starts to warm, “he’s very chatty today.”

“I just think you’re very lovely,” he hums with a tired smile on his face, loving eyes glued to your face. “I always wonder how I’m so lucky that you chose to sit beside me out of all of the seats in the hall that day.”

“Changbin…” You’re ready to warn him—stop him from saying something that he would regret upon coming to his senses because Changbin’s never this open with how he feels even towards you.

“He’s not even pumped with drugs yet,” Aki laughs.

“I wonder what he’ll be like when he’s in the hospital then,” Nyra wonders.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

“Did I really say that in front of them?” Changbin chuckles. You nod meekly with a bumble bee plushy in your hands—one of the many crocheted gifts your boyfriend had gifted you throughout your relationship.

“Yeah… Aki thought it was funny and he was trying to get you to say more, but I had to stop you before you said anything else,” you explain with a small laugh.

“What about when the paramedics came?”

“You weren’t really saying anything in the ambulance.”

“In the ER?”

“The moment they got the painkillers in your system, you were as high as a kite,” you hum.

“I didn’t say anything dumb, did I?”

“Nothing that I think you’d regret.”

Changbin nods and smiles after. He watches you with half-lidded eyes as you stand up to grab something from the other side of the hospital room. The exhaustion had finally kicked in and Changbin was unbelievably tired even after being prescribed painkillers and a handful of other meds that were supposed to help him sleep better throughout his recovery.

“Here.” You place a box of blueberry juice on the table beside him and Changbin can’t help but feel warmth spreading throughout his chest at the thought that you remembered to bring a box with you when you went back to your dorm to grab clothes.

“Thank you, (Y/n).”

“How do you feel?” You return to the chair right beside the bed and gently rest your hand on his forearm.

“Nothing hurts that much,” Changbin answers with a shrug. “Either I’ve learned how to completely block out the pain or the painkillers are doing their job.” You manage a laugh at his attempt to joke about the situation, but you still can’t help the dull aching in your own chest at the sight of Changbin so beat up. “Hey,” he reaches out to hold onto your hand and it makes you look him in the eyes, “I’m fine. I’m going to heal from this perfectly fine, alright?”

“I know you will,” you claim softly as you let him pull your hand slightly closer so that it’s resting on his chest. “But you promised that you’d tap out,” you scold. You take the bumble bee with your free hand and gently whack Changbin on the chest with it.

“Ouch!” he winces, “oh, that one actually hurt this time.” The sneer on your face only makes Changbin breathe out a laugh. “I’m sorry I didn’t tap out sooner. My pride got in the way and now I guess I know more about my own limits. I think I get why you got really mad that time.”

“I just don’t want to be following you to the hospital so often when you could tap out earlier and we can patch you up at home. The feeling’s not as heavy when it’s just in your bathroom with your first-aid kit,” you sigh.

Changbin squeezes your hand lightly, “for what it’s worth, this really did a number on my ego. I don’t think I’ll be getting myself into fights with guys that look like that anytime soon.”

“You better not,” you quickly sit upright.

“I won’t, honey, I promise.” When Changbin sees the sceptical narrowing of your eyes he laughs, “I really promise this time, (Y/n). I don’t like making you worry. But I want you to promise something too.”

“What is it?”

“Promise me that you’ll stay by my side no matter how beat up I get.”

“Of course,” you nod. “That was never a question, Binz. I came to the match tonight because I needed to know what would happen. If you got hurt, I’d want to be the one who follows you in the ambulance, and if you win, I’d want to be the first to congratulate you.”

Changbin doesn’t think he’s ever felt anything like the feeling that spreads throughout his entire body and creeps under his skin. The warmth that overtakes everything else in his being as he sees the way you lift the bumble bee plushy and slowly distract yourself by poking it in the centre of its face when he doesn’t say anything else.

He wonders how hard it is to hold your attention for as long as he has because Changbin’s absolutely certain that your energy is too frantic for you to be focusing on only one person at a time, yet, he feels as though he’s accomplished something by winning your heart.

Changbin wonders whether you feel that way too. He’s only ever focused on a handful of people at once, but you’ve managed to direct his focus on you and you only. He watches for longer at the way you start trying to balance the plushy on one finger before he can’t hold it in anymore.

“I love you.” It’s the first time he’s ever said it in the past few months and it catches you off guard, the bumble bee clumsily stumbling out of your hands as you desperately try to catch it before it hits the ground.

“What?” You whip your head around to see Changbin watching you with so much love and adoration in his eyes that you’re sure his pupils are starting to form hearts.

“I love you, (Y/n),” he repeats without skipping a beat.

Mouth open, you stare at him in shock before the realisation hits you and you smile, “I love you, too.”

“Climb into the bed—I want cuddles,” Changbin demands instantly.

“I don’t think I’d even fit,” you laugh, but stand nonetheless.

It turns out that the hospital bed is big enough for the both of you with the guards lowered and the sofa chair placed right beside the bed just in case you fall out.

“Let’s move in together,” you suggest with your head on Changbin’s chest and your legs angled in a way to avoid his casted ankle.

“Okay,” Changbin hums.

“We can get a place closer to campus with bigger rooms for when Felix and Chan stay over,” you add.

“Okay,” he hums once again.

“Oh! And we can get cute paintings and wall decorations for the living room!”

“Okay, honey.”

“Oh! Oh! Can we get a display shelf for all of your crocheted creatures, too?”

“Okay.”

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰

Eight

“Honey, I’m home!” you announce as you kick your shoes off by the door. Feet pad out of the bedroom and the door opens to reveal Changbin excitedly bouncing towards you.

“I’ve missed you!” He crashes into you with his arms wrapping around your waist to tightly hug you.

“I’ve missed you, too, Binz,” you chuckle with your head resting on his shoulder.

“How was the trip? I saw some of the pictures you sent.” Changbin lets go of you to quickly pull you into the kitchen.

“It was amazing. There were so many sights to just see and take pictures of—I wish that I could’ve brought you along this time,” you sigh as you pull yourself up onto the counter to watch your fiancė move around the kitchen to make something for you to eat.

“Next time, baby,” Changbin says with a smile. He turns around to face you and pulls you into another hug.

“I know, but it’s always more fun whenever you join.”

“I can’t always follow you around the world and you can’t always be at the boxing gym, call it even,” he chuckles into the skin of your neck where he places a kiss right after. “I’m just glad you’re home and safe.”

You close your eyes and allow yourself to bask in Changbin’s embrace after a long month’s time away from him due to work; National Geographic’s travel magazines don’t write themselves and they need you to head out there yourself to bring them fresh and new ideas.

The rest of your university years are still vivid in your head from the moment you enrolled and up until you graduated. It only took a few months after you and Changbin had agreed to move in with each other before you found a small apartment right in the centre of campus and the boxing gym.

It had to have a guest room for whenever Chan and Felix stayed over for Christmas—which actually ended up becoming a yearly tradition for the four of you—and it needed to have enough space for Changbin to display all of his crocheted creations.

A year after you had graduated, you spent your time being a freelance writer. A few years later, you had been kicked up to becoming a travel writer for National Geographic which meant that you were able to travel the world on business; occasionally with Changbin by your side whenever he was able to join.

Changbin, on the other hand, had been going in and out of work until Nyra had passed the boxing gym down to him. She was getting too busy with her twins to constantly be at the gym and she thought who else would be better at it than Changbin? Of course, he agreed almost instantly and became the new owner.

It didn’t pay as much as being a travel writer, but Changbin was happy, and he was happy seeing you thrive in your own element as well. The shared income was also enough to buy you both a bigger apartment in the heart of the city with a view that you admire every night when you’re on the balcony. The three extra rooms were turned into study rooms for the both of you and a single guest room that was required for Chan and Felix even after so many years.

“Oh! What are you getting for Chan’s birthday?” you ask as you pull away from Changbin.

“I was thinking of getting him something to remind him that he’s thirty,” he snorts.

“Don’t!” you scoff as you smack his arm playfully. “Don’t do that to him! You’re thirty in two years, you know that?”

“Yeah, but I’m a fit boxer.”

“And he’s a fit rugby player.” You raise an eyebrow when Changbin fails to make any sort of come back and laugh when he does.

“You’re right,” he chuckles. “But I don’t know what to get him. He’s a professional rugby player—he gets paid thousands by being in an ad and he makes more whenever he earns a medal.”

“Mhm, and he invests in property,” you add.

“Felix isn’t that much help either. He makes more money than Chan and he’s still doing biology.”

“Make him something,” you suggest. “Where else is he supposed to get something that you made?”

“But I’ve already gifted him so many toys,” Changbin grumbles as he turns his attention to the glass display shelf stocked with the various crocheted plushies that he’s made throughout the years.

“Make him something that even you haven’t tried before. Create your own pattern to make something completely unique; I know you can.” He gives you a hesitant look before an idea actually pops into his head.

“I can crochet him something from one of the games he really likes,” he blurts out. “I can do that! Thank you!” Changbin pulls you in for another hug and almost squeezes the life out of you which makes you laugh and pat his shoulder in an attempt to make him let you go.

“We can do it together. I bought some yarn from Peru that I think you might have some fun using,” you say as you slide off of the counter and towards your luggage bag that’s still sitting in the hallway of your house.

“I’ll check it out later. Chan and Felix are dropping by soon because they said they missed you, too,” Changbin chuckles.

“How much do you wanna bet that Chan bought Felix another ring?” you joke as you start pushing your luggage bag into your shared bedroom.

“I’ll bet everything! Chan pays for everything even when Felix makes more money than he does,” he laughs. “It’s so amusing to me.”

“I mean, it’s not like Felix exactly stops him and Chan doesn’t seem to mind it either.”

“That’s because he likes spoiling him. It’s like they were made for each other,” Changbin says as he follows you into the bedroom.

“I thought you were cooking,” you say when you see him enter.

“I forgot to go grocery shopping, so I’m ordering pizza for your cute butt.” You pause in the middle of the room and turn around to face him with your hands on your hips.

“Almost seven years and you still call my butt cute,” you grin.

“Almost seven years and I’m marrying you, aren’t I?” Changbin steps closer, his lips mirroring the smile on your face. He raises your left hand to his face where he presses a kiss to the engagement ring that snugly sits on your ring finger. “I don’t care how old we get,” he says as he tugs your wrist until you’re flush against his chest, “your butt will always be cute to me—even when we’re eighty and we’re both old.”

“I wouldn’t doubt that for even a second.” He presses his lips to yours, a soft and sweet kiss that tells you how much he loves you even without him having to say it.

“I love you,” he says when he pulls away.

“I love you, too.” ⊱ ────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ───── ⊰ Tags: @deakyspuff @i-say-choco-you-say-ice-cream @gwynsapphire