Ooh ok how about a meet ugly (idk if that’s an official term?? but like where they have a meet cute except it goes wrong in a funny way) with hmm bongjae or jibeom, up to you <3 go wild with the meet ugly prompt, whatever you want!
this ended up just being a normal world au but I hope you enjoy it!!
[head, meet wall] "Listen man." Jangjun put both his hands on Jaehyun's shoulders and nodded his head toward you, where you were leaning against the same gymnasium wall he and Jaehyun were standing by. "You think they're cute, don't you?"
"Well, sure, but--" Jaehyun had no idea who you were. You seemed to have come to support someone on the basketball team, but he didn't know who. "I can't just go up to them."
Jangjun frowned. "Why not? That's literally how people meet."
"Maybe to you, Mr ENFP! Some of us are normal."
"Have you ever heard of a meet cute?" Jangjun suddenly asked, oddly serious.
Jaehyun shrugged. "Sure, but don't those only happen on TV?"
"Yup. And right now."
In a matter of seconds, Jangjun spun Jaehyun around and shoved his hands into his back, propelling him with such force that he practically launched into you.
Which, theoretically, could have been cute.
Could have, if he'd braced his hand on the wall before he bonked his forehead directly into yours.
Could have, if that didn't result in the back of your head hitting the wall.
Could have, if he wasn't now standing awkwardly next to you in the locker room, explaining why he attempted to murder you in the first place while you hold a bag of ice to the growing welt on your head.
"Sorry." You put a hand up to pause his muttered explanation. "You hit me in the head so hard I think I saw the afterlife because... you thought I was cute?"
He still thinks you're cute, but Jaehyun decides now isn't the best time to say that. Instead, he focuses on the floor and scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah..."
"Wow." You let out a long sigh, and Jaehyun wishes the floor could just open up and swallow him whole. Then you say, "Give me your phone."
He lifts his head. "Huh?"
"It's only fair, right?" You smile, and oh gosh, maybe Jangjun doesn't deserve to get beaten up for this. You have a really nice smile. "Since you gave me something, I should give you something."
"I don't... get it."
You hold out your hand, palm up, and gesture for his smartphone. "You gave me a concussion, so I'll give you my number. Fair trade."
A laugh escapes him. Is this seriously going... well? "I don't think that's a fair trade at all." But he gives you his phone anyway.
"Alright then." You smirk as you type in your information. "How about you owe me a date, too?"
Tumblr originals presents: 산 채로 죽은 (Dead Alive) written and directed by Key
Starring: Lee Daeyeol, Choi Sungyoon, Lee Jangjun, Son Youngtaek, Bae Seungmin, Bong Jaehyun, Kim Jibeom, Kim Donghyun, Hong Joochan, Choi Bomin and Choi (Y/N)
Teaser
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 2021 1 season HD 5.2
January 25th 2018. That’s the date that marked the beginning of the end. You have spent an amazing day hanging around with your brother and your longtime crush, enjoying the little fair that has been mounted on the promenade for the last week like if you were kids. And once the sun starts to fall, your brother decides to give you some alone time with your crush, making the night even better for him to finally confess his feelings for you.
You swore to your older brother who patiently waited for you at home and was now curiously listening to your story that night was the best night of your life so far. Everything was so perfect and for the first time in a long time, you didn’t regret moving together with your brother. But perfection does not exist, and all the happiness fades away with a simple bomb.
The night that started as the most beautiful dream you have ever had, suddenly turned into your worst nightmare as your brother asked you to stay inside the house while he checked the outsides, trying to find a coherent explanation for the explosion you have both heard in the middle of the night.
Now, three years later, you find yourself in the middle of an apocalypse caused by the nuclear explosion that took place that night because of a small leak in the nuclear station of the city. A virus has taken over humanity and now you all tried your best to survive. But unfortunately, in one of those times you, your brother and Bomin went out to get some food and water, one of them bit you, leaving a terrible wound on your arm and, what was worse, infecting you.
You’ll have to stay strong if you want to survive and you’ll have to do inhumane things if you want your heart to keep beating before you become one of them. But having in your way 6 other boys that are also looking for a solution and that doesn’t want you around will make everything more difficult. Will Bomin be able to kill you and end your suffering? Or will he be able to find the vaccine before you become dead alive?
Warnings: mentions of blood, mentions of disease, mentions of a vaccine, mentions of death, death threats, brief mentions of suicide, mentions of heatstroke, mentions of medicine (specific warnings will be made for each chapter)
Genre: Apocalypse AU, zombie AU, fluff, angst
Casting information
Chapters
Prologue
Chapter I: "The Beginning of the end."
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this all just … tumbled out throughout this past week so .. only slightly edited + can only hope it makes any sense PFPFPF — hope you enjoy ! please like/rb if you do :)
With his hand in yours, Jibeom watches the zombies bang on the doors as you settle back down onto the small couch; the feeling of fear having faded into one of acceptance in your heart, but your hands still tremble ever-so-slightly as you accidentally make eye-contact with one of the bearers of your end after pulling a blanket over your thighs.
The bite on your leg itches; as if to remind you that you were going to die whether your group’s safe-base was attacked or not, that the hoard was — if anything — speeding up the time you had left as you. Your goodbyes to the rest of the people you’d spent months with happened only — what feels like — a few minutes ago; Joochan’s ‘no goodbyes, only see you laters!’ still ringing in your ears, which reminds you that you should probably —
“You need to go.” You let go of Jibeom’s hand, looking toward him and away from the hallow eyes. “They’re waiting on you, dummy.”
You’re met with silence — or as much silence you can get with the banging and snarls — and you realize that Jibeom hadn’t even been looking at the crowd of monsters, but at the bruising bite on your calf. Fighting back a groan as you move it away from his sight to gain his attention, you say, “Jibeom.”
He finally hums, before looking over at you; his eyes shiny while his mouth was twisted into a frown. “I’m still not sure this is the best—”
“Don’t do this.” You sigh, looking away and bringing the blanket around your shoulders closer as if to shield yourself from Jibeom’s continuous protests. When he opens his mouth to continue his speech, you add, “It hurts to move anything below the waist at this point — this is the best.”
“And you need to go — your window of opportunity is closing.” His face scrunches up more after you add this, as if to try his best to oppose your decision in any way he can.
“I just hate the thought that your last moments are of us leaving you to them.” He finally states, all of his face flattening out aside from his mouth, which was still stuck in a deep frown. Your heart twists as you realize that that was what was bothering him — that you wouldn’t be able to comfortably pass away. You look at Jibeom for a moment, trying to ignore the feeling of hey, you’re dying! sinking into your bones.
“My last moments will be knowing that you guys are safe.” You point out, “Not of you guys ‘leaving me to them’. I’d like to think that you’d know I wouldn’t think of you like that.”
A sharp sound of glass breaking echos just as you were about to teasingly click your tongue, bringing your and Jibeom’s attention back toward the groaning monsters’ banging on the windows and doors. “Shit, okay —”
Your hands begin to lightly shake again, the fear of Jibeom not making it out in time growing larger at the sight of the large crack appearing on one of the windows; a clear sign that it wouldn’t be long before the entire window would give in to the weight of who-knows-how-many zombies. With a growing knot in your throat, you wince as you reach over to pull Jibeom’s bag over; a sharp pain spiking up your spine at the sudden movement.
“You need to go, love.” You state, swatting at his worried hands he had stretched out the second you moved to grab his bag. “Before we both end up food for them, and Jaehyun tries something stupid to get you.”
Although slightly slow — as if to still silently argue with you — in his movements, Jibeom finally stands up; pulling his bag over his shoulders, and shuffling toward the back entrance everyone else had earlier.
“But hey,” you start, making him pause halfway to turn to look at you one last time, “I’ll find you, alright? Maybe not as human - or one of those things - but maybe as something smaller. So stay safe, you hear me?” You give him a small, but stern, glare with a teasing smile, sitting back against the couch arm.
Jibeom hums, continuing his way toward the exit while shaking his head, “I’ll try - until next time, right?” And with a tight grin and two-fingered salute, he leaves; the sound of his footsteps just barely audible over the banging and groans of your soon-to-be-guests, and you wait ten more minutes after he disappears before moving again, grabbing an object off the floor with a shaky sigh.
There’s nothing more romantic than dying, you think one last time just before pulling the trigger; the sound echoing with a loud bang! just as the doors break under the monsters. The commotion causing Jibeom — and your group — to look over and watch as the monsters stampede the building that had once held a warmer life.
henlo my beloved ursa!! i hope ur doing well 💕 if you still wanna do the first kiss prompt: baby blue and jangjun golcha? he is. admittedly in my thoughts too often nowadays 😳 (get him out of there)
[the antithesis of tranquility] Lee Jangjun is talking.
Lee Jangjun is always talking.
And it's no surprise to you, of course, not after all these years in which you've known him as the guy who never stops talking.
It's weird, though. Seungmin -- after Jangjun introduced you to his friends and then fucked off to do something stupid with Joochan while the rest of you watched -- helpfully informed you that, yes, Jangjun talks a lot...
...but only when you're around.
Sure, he's the life of the party in any social situation -- you can't remember the last time you had to put yourself out there without Jangjun by your side loudly proclaiming every good thing about you to anyone who'd bother to listen. (You hate when he does that, but you also take pride in his sincere compliments. He'd never say them straight to your face, so you've never told him to shut up, even though, in the moment, you often feel like burning yourself at the stake.) Any sort of situation in which he's around people he doesn't know, he'll know them soon enough. You're pretty sure everyone you've met since forcefully osmosis-ing yourself into their friend group has gone, "Oh, Lee Jangjun? I know that guy."
Except the thing is: Seungmin says Jangjun is actually a rather quiet dude.
You think it's bonkers, really, to want to live with nine other guys in the same house. Jangjun says the rent is killer (positive) when they all split it up, but you seriously can't believe the idea of two and a half bathrooms working between all of them. Not to mention the Watermelon Rind Incident of August 2022, in which only you sided with your newly proclaimed favourite of the house, Donghyun.
(Jangjun whined for three whole hours until you told him that, fine, he's tied for first place.)
Anyhow, despite living with a bunch of guys who are shockingly (and yet you're surprisingly unsurprised) capable of keeping up with Jangjun in terms of the volume you've borne witness to, Seungmin assures you that Jangjun tends to zip those lips of his whenever he's alone.
Seungmin actually said whenever he's not around you, but you don't think that makes much sense.
"You make him nervous," Seungmin teased one day, while you watched Jangjun laugh at Jaehyun, who was chasing Jibeom down the street for unknown reasons.
"Nervous about what?" you asked, but Seungmin just shrugged and smiled. He's annoying that way.
But now, while Jangjun rambles on and on in the space just outside of your front door, you think you get it.
He came running to your place on one of the grossest days of the year (it rained but it's also unbearably hot, which is so messed up, by the way) to make sure he caught you before you left for your blind date. He hasn't said a word (aside from hundreds of dumb, unrelated ones) about why he'd try to catch you before leaving, but that's not the problem.
You're not going on a date. You're headed out to watch your favourite guilty-pleasure feel-good movie at the old Selenite theatre, the one with only two showings rooms and unaffordable popcorn. Sure, you might call it a treat-yo-self date, but whatever this blind date shit he's spewing at you is so wrong you don't even know what to say as your brain shifts the puzzle into completion like an all-green rubiks cube.
Jangjun ran to your place through the hell-combination of rainstorm and heatwave because some shit-stirrer in his house (you suspect someone born in 1999...) told him you were bringing a date to your one-person party.
In other words;
Jangjun likes you.
"--and, I'm just saying, what about Saturday crossword competition day! We haven't done that in forever and you promised we could do it this weekend, I, uh-- I'm pretty sure!" He's grasping at straws, straight up gaslighting you into thinking you made plans for today when you know you were planning on kicking his ass at crosswords tomorrow, when the big bad Sunday edition comes out. "I haven't done the past week of crosswords just so we could do them together." You're pretty sure he doesn't do crosswords unless you're there, anyway. "And-- and Sungyoon made his famous cookies last night! You want them to just go to waste? All his hard work? You'd break his little ol' fragile ol' heart, shatter it into a million pieces. You want to ditch Sungyoon's cookies -- ditch our crossword coliseum? Oh! Oh! Jail for you! Jail for you for one thousand--!"
So you do the only thing you can think of to shut him up. You plant your lips on his, and smile at the sweet sweet sensation of utter silence.
(You suppose his lips pressing eagerly back onto yours is nice too. And his hands on your cheeks. And the fact that he's stupid crazy in love with you.)
((Later, when you drag Jangjun to the theatre you assure him you were planning on going to alone, you accidentally glance at his phone, where he's sent twenty or so frantic messages to Sungyoon. He needs him to make some cookies ASAP.))
Genres: spy/secret agent au, romance
Pairing: Reader & Bomin (Golden Child)
Words: 1.6k
Warnings: guns, injuries, a lil makeout. reader wears a suit
Notes: ah yes, a baby fic that's too long to be a blurb and too short to really be a full fic 💕 we love consistency here on thepixelelf.com
On his first ever mission, Bomin decides to play hero.
Bomin watches you with narrowed eyes from across the room, leaned up against the wall between two floor-to-ceiling windows, a champagne flute in hand that he's yet to sip from. You, in the gorgeous, blood red waistcoat and slacks two-piece everyone at HQ said you just had to wear for this mission, don't notice Bomin's stare at all. Or, if you do, you ignore it. Your champagne glass is near empty, and it's your second one of the night.
Of course, that's your job. Get all smarmy with the target until they're drunk and enamoured with you — enough so that they'll give you the information you need so that you can pass it off to Sungyoon, who's making his own rounds within the party dressed as one of the many waitstaff.
You laugh at something the target says, and Bomin knows it's not real, but no one around you does. He scoffs at the way the target looks at you; like you're naive and easy. They have no idea they're being played.
But do you really have to stand that close?
"Easy, loverboy," Jibeom says through Bomin's comm. "You're gonna burn a hole through the target before we get anything out of 'em with all that glaring."
"I am not glaring," Bomin hisses. He should be thankful that Jibeom is in charge of communications and can make a separate channel with just him and Bomin in it, but since Jibeom is the one teasing him in the first place...
"Sure, sure. Just relax, yeah? Agent Carmine is your superior officer, Rookie. They know what they're doing."
Bomin scoffs again. "Yeah, and they're good at it."
"Okay!" Jibeom whoas out. "Let's just reel in that big green monster real quick before—"
The line goes dead, and Bomin frowns at the sudden, ominous silence. "Agent Grey?" He uses Jibeom's alias first, but when no answer comes, his brows furrow, and his hand instinctively goes up to his earpiece. "Hey, Jibeom? You there?"
A burst of static explodes in Bomin's ear, making him flinch and wince. Bomin stretches his jaw out to try to wave off the high-pitched ringing the burst left behind.
"—been made. Sungyoon—" Jibeom's voice cuts in and out, interrupted by static and, even worse, silence. "—he's down. Seungmin— They—"
Bomin's eyes frantically flit over the party, but he can't see Sungyoon. Nothing in the room even seems amiss, like everything that's so obviously going wrong on their end doesn't even matter to the rich people on the surface.
"—knew we were com— the whole time. I can't—" Jibeom sounds more and more frantic with each fragmented sentence. He's used to always knowing what's going on. Always knowing what to do. "—Agent Carmine. Their comms— down."
Rattled, Bomin returns his gaze to you, and his heart sinks when he realizes you're still talking to the target like nothing happened. You can't hear anything. You don't know the entire operation's going under.
"The target knows— Carmine— Rookie, you gotta— out of there. I'll—"
Jibeom's broken voice cuts out again, lost for more than a few seconds. Heart racing, Bomin can't remove his eyes off you to assess the situation like he knows he's supposed to. All that training never prepared him for this: a mission going sideways. Every other mission he's been allowed on, even though it was just backup, like now, went smoothly. He barely had to lift a finger.
But now, Sungyoon might be down, Seungmin might be god knows where, and Jibeom can't even reach you.
The target cradles your wrist in their hand, admiring your expensive cuff links, and before Bomin even knows what he's doing, he's next to you. He takes your arm in one hand and uses the other to remove the target's stupid fingers.
"We're going," he whispers, only to you.
Unaware of anything ado, you paint an awkward smile on your face and try to gauge the expressions of those around you. In your eyes, he sees you make the decision to pretend not to know him. "I'm sorry, sir, but—"
"But the party's just begun, don't you think?" the target speaks, seemingly unbothered by the way Bomin is now holding your wrist. That only makes Bomin want to hold you tighter. The target smiles, and it sends a shiver down his spine. "Wouldn't want to cut off the fun too early."
You laugh politely, nervously, and try to pry yourself out of Bomin's grip. "Of course, we can't..."
"Rookie—" Jibeom's voice returns, more panicked than ever. "—out of there. Now!"
Bomin doesn't really think.
(Well, he does, but the only thing in his mind is holy shit I might die before I ever kiss them. And that's not a very helpful or intelligent thought, so.)
All he does is spin you around, put his hands on your cheeks, and muffle whatever ass-kissing words you were trying to say by planting a big fat one on your lips.
You push him off, a scowl stretching the corners of your lips, your facade dropped. "The hell are you—?"
Bomin pulls the gun hidden beneath his suit out, pointing it directly at the target.
They just laugh. "Now this is fun."
Behind Bomin, you mutter, "What the..." just as the rest of the people you'd been talking to pull out their own concealed firearms, pointing them at you and Bomin. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."
"It's cute that you got yourself a little guard dog, Agent Carmine."
Your eyes widen at the target's words. They even know your alias— Bomin tightens his grip on his gun, his trigger finger itching — what else do they know?
"Fortunately for me, I have a few of my own." They gesture to the people now circled around you.
"I always knew you were a coward," you spit at them. "What? Can't hold your own?"
The target doesn't fall for your taunts, though, chuckling in a way that sends a shiver down Bomin's spine. "That's cute, Carmine. I'll bother holding my own when I run out of people to pay to do it for me."
They laugh again, full-bellied with their eyes almost slipping shut.
Under your breath, you whisper just loud enough for Bomin to hear. "You wanna be helpful to this mission, Rookie?" You don't wait for an answer. "I'm gonna need you to do me a favour."
"Name it."
"Duck."
=
"You kissed them?!" Jibeom screeches, making Bomin scramble to cover his mouth with his hand. It's too late though -- probably the entire medbay heard him.
"I thought we were going to die!" he whispers harshly.
"Die?" Jibeom echoes, voice at a normal volume. His face is scrunched up from holding in his laughter. "With Agent Carmine? You saw how they single-handedly took down all those gunmen and the target, right?"
Bomin grumbles, "Yeah. I was there."
"Oh my god. You kissed Carmine--" Jibeom wipes away an actual, real tear from the corner of his eye. "Oh my god. They're gonna kill you. You're so dead!"
"Rookie."
Both of them turn to see Sungyoon walking into the medbay. His shoulder is messed up from the mission, but he refuses to take pain killers because of his stupid pride, so he winces when he cocks his head toward the exit.
"Carmine wants you in training room B."
Jibeom puts a hand on Bomin's shoulder. "It was nice knowing you, Rookie."
=
Bomin blinks at you, hands limp at his sides. "...What?"
"You heard me," you say. The training room is empty except for the two of you, so your voice echoes off the walls. "Punch me. Have at it."
"You got shot yesterday. Twice."
Adjusting the sling holding your dominant arm, you raise a brow. "And?"
"I'm not going to punch you."
"Well, you're gonna have to."
"Why?"
You smile, gesturing to yourself. "If you want a piece of this ass, Rookie, you're gonna have to prove you're stronger than me." The smile on your lips curls into a smirk. "I have high standards, you know."
Bomin splutters, choking on his own spit as he feels every drop of blood in his body rush straight to his ears. "I... I..."
"Hit me," you tell him. "At least try. I promise you can't hurt me."
Bomin fights back the urge to pout. "That's not true... You're at a huge disadvantage."
You let out a chuckle. "How about you try to punch me and find out?"
Sighing, Bomin bends his knees and balls his hands into fists, holding them up. If there's one thing everyone in the agency knows about you, it's that you never back down. He doesn't want to hit you. As great of a fighter as you are, your dominant arm is in a sling, and you've got another bullet hole in your side. You descend into a stance too, though, and wait for him to throw the first punch.
He'll just humour you. He won't use all his strength.
Any bit of wind that was in his lungs gets knocked straight, and before Bomin knows it, he's staring at the ceiling. Your good hand pins one of his wrists to the soft mat flooring, and his other arm is trapped under your shin. You rest some of your weight on his torso.
"What the--!"
"That was pathetic, Rookie," you tease. "I sure hope you were just faking that for my benefit."
"I--"
"Come to think of it, maybe this whole thing was a ruse." Still holding him down with ease, you glance upwards as if recalling the memory. "After all, that little peck during the mission was hardly a kiss."
Bomin's eyes widen, and he struggles to free himself to no avail.
"This--" You lean down, planting your lips on his, and Bomin freezes. He feels like he's made of molasses, like he can't react for way too many seconds, but then your lips move. You take his bottom lip between yours, and Bomin lights aflame. He kisses you back with everything he felt right before he kissed you the first time. He breathes out like he's held his breath since he met you. His arms are free -- when did that happen...? -- so he brings them up, one on your cheek and one on your side, careful not to upset your injuries. The world is on fire, but just as he braves his tongue out, you pull back, a wide grin on your face. "--is a kiss."
warnings: angsty, donghyun is injured but nothing is described, future/implied death mentions, apparently it's not a donghyun fic by thepixelelf if one character isn't healing the other
[liquid sunlight] Donghyun lands on the roof with a grunt muffled behind clenched teeth. He clutches at his side with one hand, the other futilely attempting to keep him upright as his eyes squeeze shut. One of his knees hits the cold concrete.
"Some supervillain you are."
At the sound of your voice, Donghyun opens his eyes and looks up. You stand in front of him, both hands jokingly placed on your hips and a wide smile on your face.
"Here," you say, your voice so soft Donghyun wants to cry. "Let me heal you."
He doesn't.
Cry, that is.
He never lets himself cry in front of you anymore.
Instead, he lets you pretend you're helping him stand up, when in reality, he uses all of what's left of strength just so that you won't have to exert yourself at all. You're tired enough as it is. He won't burden you.
The bench you sit him in is always cold at this time of night, but he ignores it as usual. Donghyun focuses on your face, the way you inspect his wounds with soft grimaces, the way -- despite your constant jokes and playful nature -- your eyes are so much duller than they were before you both got your powers.
"Any luck this time?" you whisper before you start. Donghyun knows you're only speaking for the sake of it. If he really had any luck, he wouldn't have returned broken and dismal.
He shakes his head, and you hum.
Against the dark of night, your hand begins to glow a warm orange. The light surrounds your hand like a second skin, like honeyed amber has moulded itself around you, like a thin layer of molten glass. You smile serenely and use your other hand to position Donghyun with his side exposed to the sky. Slowly, you hover the glowing hand over his wound, and, like flowing sand, the light drips off your fingertips. It falls onto Donghyun's skin and disappears, replaced with a warmth that spreads through him. He can feel it in his toes, in his own fingertips. He can taste sunlight on his tongue.
His pain is gone, yet he cannot breathe the way he used to.
When you were fine.
"Ah..." you sigh, sitting on the bench with him and leaning back on your hands. The skyline steals your attention. "I forgot how tired using powers makes you."
Donghyun bites his lip as he sits up. He doesn't tell you his powers don't drain nearly as much from him as yours seems to take from you.
"I'll find something," he says instead. "Next time. I will."
You turn your head to him, and this time, your smile is weak. "I don't like seeing you hurt. Can't you just give up?"
No.
He can't give up.
He can't give up because the same explosion that gave him his shadows and you your light...
...it's killing you.
Because the repulsive billionaire "genius" got away with a near catastrophe only because he created superheroes, and now he's hidden himself and his research away, flanked by so-called heroes and their warped senses of duty.
Because every day, he watches you get weaker and weaker, watches you sway as you try to walk on tougher days, watches as you smile through it all.
Because he wants you to live.
Because he loves you.
Donghyun meets your eyes -- misses the way they used to shine. He'd trade the magical, inexplicable healing light in your hands any day just to see it in your eyes again.
Can't you just give up?
Like I have?
He can't bear to read the words written on your face, so he leans forward. His hand comes up to the back of your neck, gently bringing you closer so that your forehead touches his. After a moment of peaceful silence, Donghyun presses a kiss to your lips and lets it linger, nothing more than that.
But it's so much more than that.
It's a promise.
"I'll find something," he whispers upon your lips. "I will."
[electronic network love] "Whoa whoa whoa no no no no no!!" Donghyun yelps out, frantically slamming his fingers against the RGB keyboard. "Jibeom! Hey, pay attention! Are you even trying?"
"I'm not the only problem here," Jibeom retorts, though his words are muffled by the bite of corn dog in his mouth—
"Hey, that's mine!"
Jibeom scoffs through his nose, calmly moving his character around the screen. "You said I could have a bite."
"Not a gigabyte!" Donghyun pushes his rolling chair away from the table and reaches his arms out to grab Jibeom's collar with both hands. "Give it back."
Jibeom almost chokes. "Give it—? Bro it's in my—"
"Give it back!" He shakes Jibeom, who only protests more because that's so gross!, but Donghyun doesn't relent even when Jibeom successfully swallows the bite. "I can't believe—"
A hand slices through the air between the boys' faces and stops just in front of Donghyun's nose, making him and Jibeom — still in his tight grip — freeze.
"No fighting in the café."
Donghyun looks up at you, who stands there with the one arm in front of his face and the other one resting disappointedly on your hip. He feels red hot shame creep up his neck and heat up his face.
You shake your head and click your tongue. "How many times do I have to tell you guys?"
"Sorry..." Jibeom mumbles, but Donghyun says nothing.
He's always a little stupid when you're on shift at the internet café.
At Donghyun's silence, you raise your eyebrows expectantly. After a couple of excruciatingly long seconds, you go, "...Can you let go of him, please?"
Donghyun shakes himself out of it and lets Jibeom pry his hands off his collar, still staring awkwardly at you.
"We'll keep it down," Jibeom assures you once it seems like you're about to walk away and drop off the food you'd originally come by for.
Donghyun, again, says nothing.
Just before you step away, your eyes flit to both of their computers. "Better luck next time," you say.
Looking back at their screens, they see they've lost their game. Badly.
"Bro," Jibeom whispers as soon as you're out of earshot. "You've got it bad."
