• He's the clingiest man with you, adores everything that involves being around you, from cleaning together to just sit and watch some show with you.
• He's so caring – he likes to know what you're doing or going, not in a possessive way but in a caring one; if you go to a party with your friends and need someone to take you home, call him asap and he'll be the happiest to know he can take care of you!
• He loves to give you presents everyday, some random little note on the fridge next to a homemade breakfast or some new shoes you stared for more than thirty seconds when you both went shopping.
• His love language is cooking for you! He adores watching you eating delicious food, and he also likes to go out to try different restaurants or coffee's together!
• Puppy energy! He wants to go on dates almost every day, some picnic here, some shopping day there... always wants to try new dates ideas with you.
• He's bragging almost all the time about you "Have you seen how pretty my gf/bf is?" "Oh you like this shirt? My gf/bf choose it for me hehe".
• He has you as his wallpaper in all devices... most loyal man you've ever known for sure
• Although he seems pretty confident I feel he would a bit shy meeting your parents or friends, he wants to cause good impression.
• I mean he's big... he opens jars for you, reaches for high places for you, if you both go to the gym he helps you with weight lifting...
• Sighs and pouts when you ignore him. You're texting with friends while he's talking to you? Pouts. You ignore him watching your fave TV show when he wants to cuddle? Pouts.
• He absolutely loves to see you wearing his comfy clothes! Big sweatshirts that started being his and finished being on your wardrobe and smelling like you.
• I also feel like he likes to be cared of, he likes to feel loved. It's so important for him that you show him your love for him every day! He never goes to sleep without saying "I love you" and letting a soft kiss on your forehead, pressing you against his chest.
So Close Yet SO Far - Mingyu x Reader - Chapter 4 - A Bitter Pill, A Bittersweet Reunion
Synopsis: Your college friend, Kim Mingyu, has had a grip on your heart since the first day you met. Over the past few years, as you acquired more friendships and memories, those feelings only grew. However, recently, Mingyu has seemed a bit more distant, at least when it comes to any ideas of romance. It only gets worse when rumors fly that he's off to Japan to receive a marriage proposal! Unsure what to do, you wonder how you can keep Mingyu by your side without jeopardizing your friendship or your growing feelings. You never expected that waking up one drunken morning next to two hot angels would be your ticket into Mingyu's heart.
Genre: Romance, College!AU, Modern Fantasy, Comedy, Angsty
Length: approx. 5.8k words
Feat. Mina of TWICE
Chapter 4 -A Bitter Pill, A Bittersweet Reunion
Sunday came and went without anything eventful occurring. You had spent the day watching TV, allowing your hands to finish healing so you could have the bandages off by Monday. The last thing you wanted was for your hands to be practically useless for taking notes. Finals were mere weeks away, which meant the semester was coming to a close. It also meant that if the weekend was coming to a close, then Mingyu would be heading home soon! The idea made you a bit excited, but you had to calm yourself. You had to remind yourself that you were not his girlfriend, and had no reason to be this excited. However, the more you thought about knowing he was here and putting the rumors to rest once and for all, the more your heart was pounding in your chest.
As the TV played and you sprawled out on your couch, you heard a knock at the door. Looking over, you waited to see if the person on the other end would speak. They didn’t. They just knocked again. Sighing, you stood up and made your way over.
“Who is it?” you asked. When there was no reply again, you blinked. Mingyu? You thought to yourself. Quickly, you opened the door and flung it open, smiling for whoever it was on the other end.
When you saw Joshua and Jeonghan standing there, your smile dropped.
With no intention of saying it out loud, you had honestly forgotten these two had miraculously entered your life less than 24 hours ago. With them gone, you spent the rest of yesterday and half of today in blissful normalcy. However, as the duo stepped past you and into the house, you sighed. “Disappointed? No.” you clarified.
“Well, you looked it.” Jeonghan smiled. “Don’t worry. I can wipe that frown right off your face. We have good news.” Your ears perked up as you closed the door behind you. Resting your hands again them, you felt them still tingle a bit as they continued to fully heal.
“What?” you asked. You watched as the two men shared a glance. Joshua was the one who spoke.
“We saw Mingyu, and it didn’t look like he was there to set up an arranged marriage with anyone.” Hearing that made your heart soar in your chest. “We followed him the entire day. He did some shopping, met up with some friends, and it looks like was on the phone with someone when he was back in the hotel.”
“Which he stayed the rest of the night. No visitors.” Jeonghan made sure to add. Both of them were smiling almost as wide as you were. Knowing that Mingyu really was in Japan for a business trip in his father’s stead just made you feel so much relief.
“Shopping?” you asked. Joshua nodded. Your mind couldn’t help but race as to what exactly he got while he was out, if anything at all. However, as your eyes fell over to the Statue of Liberty snow globe on your TV stand and the wind chime hanging up by the window to your balcony, you could only imagine what you would get this time. The phone call that was mention replayed in your head as he spoke about the plans he had for the following day. You felt butterflies in your stomach and a part of you was a bit embarrassed at just how giddy you felt.
Just then, when you looked at the men once again, you immediately remembered why they were even telling you that in the first place. You looked down at your hands, a soft cherry red as the palms and fingers still worked on healing the slightly burnt skin. “What does that mean for you guys?”
“Well-.” Joshua hummed. “We actually might be able to do all of this sooner than we thought. If he’s not in a relationship, and he already has the intention of coming home, it’ll be easy to help make you happy~.”
“You already look it.” Jeonghan smirked, pointing to his own cheeks. When you looked over into your mirror, you saw how red and flustered you looked. You covered your cheeks, unable to hide a shy giggle.
“I worried for nothing.” You admitted. “Jeez. I feel kind of silly.”
“Now, we can all relax today until school starts tomorrow.” Jeonghan said. You blinked as the duo took a seat on your couch, satisfied with a hard day’s work as they began watching whatever you had on. You blinked, walking over to them and looking down at them from behind the couch.
“You’re not…you’re not really enrolling, are you?” The men tilted their heads up to look at you.
“Of course, we are.” Jeonghan said, very matter-of-factly.
“Yeah. We actually enrolled right before we all first met, just in case. They said everything should be in order by tomorrow.” Joshua added. You blinked, recalling their presence at the school the night you had met.
“Wha-.”
“Will you show us to the registrar’s office tomorrow?” Jeonghan turned to you, playfully batting his eyelashes. You heard Joshua snicker a bit in amusement, also turning to look at you.
“I might actually be in hell.” You said, sinking down to the floor. The men peered over to look at you, sprawled out on the floor of your apartment. “Do you know what kind of chaos this will cause in school?”
“Chaos?” Jeonghan asked. “What chaos?”
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Your worst fear had come true, much as you predicted. Joshua and Jeonghan had woken you up earlier than you would have liked; two eager children waking their mother up as soon as possible in order to open Christmas gifts. You groaned, sitting up in bed as the duo stood before you, dressed their most casual white fits with backpacks slung over their shoulders.
“Ready.” They said.
The second you walked onto campus with the two of them, you heard it. The sound of whispers. The sound of swooning. The sound of every girl in a ten-foot radius being stopped dead in their tracks by the gorgeous men at your sides. How desperately you tried to tune them out, quietly walking with Joshua and Jeonghan to the registrar’s office so both of them could grab a hard copy of their schedules. When you looked over your shoulder, curious as to how the men were handling the attention, you were somehow not surprised at the response.
Jeonghan and Joshua were walking straight ahead, poised and elegant in their movements. Joshua ran a hand through his hair to make sure none was in his face, and Jeonghan fixed the strap on his bag. You could have sworn there was an almost angelic glow behind the both of them, but you tried to remind yourself that these were the same two morons who had Joshua crawl into your bed the first morning you two had met. It must have been the lack of coffee making your brain think such ridiculous things.
“You two are such humble angels, aren’t you?” You asked curiously.
“Hm?” They cocked an eyebrow in confusion. You shook your head as you led them inside the office.
With schedules in hand and a list of textbooks – which normally students don’t get ahead of time, but Jeonghan once again batted his eyelashes and you watched in stunned silence as the woman at the counter practically offered to order their books right then and there – you all headed out of the building.
“What’s your first class?” you asked, hoping and praying it was on the opposite side of the campus. Not because of them, but because of the absolute distraction they would cause in any class they were in. So yeah, maybe just a little bit them.
“Mmmm…Literature.” Joshua said.
Nope. “Great. That’s my class.” You said. You could basically hear the gasping and sighing girls staring you down as you began walking. “Follow me.” The duo quickly joined up either side of you, and you sighed. “Please don’t entertain the girls the entire class period. I don’t want them staring at us.”
“Don’t worry. We won’t.” Joshua said simply.
They fucking lied.
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶So Close Yet So Far🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
Despite their pleading, you prompted them to sit in the far front of the classroom. At least if they were there, all the students would face forward. As everyone shuffled in and waited for their professor, you were quietly skimming a book a few seats away from Joshua and Jeonghan. It was the book you had taken from the library on Thursday when you had gone with Mingyu, and you had barely gotten the time to read it this weekend. Now was no different, however, as you felt a tap on your shoulder. When you turned around, a swarm of four girls leaned down from the next row up. You felt like you were in a prison interrogation with how harshly they were staring.
“Hey.” You said hesitantly. One of the girls, wearing brunette braids and sharp bangs, spoke up. Jiyoon was always known to be nosey.
“You need to spill the beans.” She said simply. When you raised a confused eyebrow, she motioned to the two men sitting a few seats down. They were also talking to a group that had swarmed them, a mixture of curious, swooning girls and jealous men. You sighed. “How did you end up being friends with those two hotties?”
“I’m just helping them adjust to their transfer.”
“What are their names?” another girl asked.
“Joshua and Jeonghan.” You said simply.
“Joshua? Is he a foreigner?”
“There’s no way, he totally looks Korean.” Another girl, Jiwoo, said. When she tapped your shoulder, you felt your eyebrow twitch as you looked back over. “Where is he from? America?”
I’m not playing matchmaker if that’s what you’re thinking.” Hoping to end the conversation, you turned back to your seat, opening up your book. “If you want to know so bad, ask them.”
“I cannot believe you’re gatekeeping all the hot men on this campus to yourself!” Jiyoon said. She was also known to be sassy. You huffed.
“That is not what I’m doing here, Jiyoon.” You said simply. “They are literally right in front of us, talking to other people.” You pointed to the duo. “Don’t blame me because you’re to shy or whatever.”
“What? Shy? No.” Jiwoo’s cheeks tinted red. Then, she leaned forward again. “Do you think they’re totally taken, though?”
“Doubt it.” you groaned. I don’t even think angels can date. You thought to yourself.
Jiyoon and Jiwoo looked back up at the duo, just as they had turned in your direction. You caught them both smile, waving over in your direction. You sighed, giving a small wave in their direction again. You never thought you would be so happy to hear your professor enter the room, the entire class going silent as her footsteps clacked along the floor.
It was the same in every other class you shared with the duo. It was the same in all of the hallways, down all of the paths, and even at all of the study spots you and your friends usually attended. You were making your way to one now, knowing Minnie, Hoshi and Seungkwan were most likely already there waiting for you.
“We’re going to be late.” Joshua pointed out.
“We would have been on time if your newly formed fanbase let us walk out of the history building in peace.” You pointed out, tugging your hair up into a ponytail to give the back of your neck some much needed cool air. You could still feel to suffocating pressure of girls pressing their way to the three of you just minutes ago, each trying to talk to the men and learn more about them. “What are your names?” What are you majoring in?” “What made you transfer?” “You’re so handsome!” It was like a ping pong match of compliments in your head.
“Human girls are so…impure.” Jeonghan said. Joshua nodded in agreement. You immediately looked at him.
“Huh?” he laughed a bit. “You’ve been chatting them up all day, and now you want to act all angelic?”
“Excuse me, I’m always angelic. Thank you.” He said simply, playfully nudging you. You rolled your eyes, shaking your head as the three of you continued to walk. In the distance, you saw your friends at a nearby table. The idea of having more people to help balance out your morning felt like a blessing.
Then, you saw Hoshi stand up, and immediately flash his tiger paw greeting as he shouted out “AAAAAAAAAAAAH! HELLO!!!!!!!” Jeonghan and Joshua’s eyes widened in surprise at how loud the small guy’s voice was. However, they were unable to controlled their amused laughter.
“Here we go.” You laughed to yourself. As the three of you sat down, once again, nearby people began gawking at Joshua and Jeonghan. However, they remained focused on you and your friends as they gathered together. Minnie was already studying in a book, Seungkwan was typing away on a computer, and Hoshi was eating a snack, wiping crumbs off his face as he caught his breath from his incredibly loud greeting.
“Finally, you made it. How’s your first day been?” Seungkwan asked, mainly towards the men sitting across from them.
“Fine.” Joshua said.
“Busy.” Jeonhan added.
You saw your friends looking at you, most likely waiting for your answer as well. “Great.” You said. I did not take long after for the group of you to quietly start studying. Joshua and Jeonghan had taken out their book from literature, and you – reluctantly- offered to help them catch up. You had no idea why they were taking the role of college students so seriously. However, as you glanced up at them, watching the duo follow along with the current chapter of the book, you simply shrugged it off as a way to keep the boredom away. What else are they supposed to do while I’m at school all day?
As you let the men go off on their own allowing you to get your own studying done, you looked down at your phone. It had been pretty silent all day today, apart from texts from the group making plans to meet here after class. No word from Mingyu. You sighed, turning your phone over and hoping to get a few minutes of studying done before time was up. However, it became very hard when your ears wondered to the conversations of others around you.
“I can’t believe she’s been with them all day.”
“What about Kim Mingyu?”
“Right? I could have sworn those two were dating.”
“No way. You think?”
“I heard he moved away to get married.”
“What? No way. I don’t believe that.”
“I do. He hasn’t been back yet. It was so sudden.”
“Even so. He leaves for one weekend and she shows up immediately with two hot men on her arm? If I were Mingyu, I would be so upset.”
You immediately closed your book, alerting the attention of the rest of your friends. You stuck it into your backpack, and zipped it up. Without a word from anyone, you rose from your seat and looked at Joshua and Jeonghan. Both looked up at you with confused expressions on.
“I told you it would be chaos.” You said simply. Before you allowed them time to respond, you immediately headed off down the path, slinging your bag over your shoulder.
“Hey wait-.” Jeonghan tried to call to you, but Minnie was already up and chasing after you.
“Let Minnie handle it.” Seungkwan said to the obviously confused men. “She’ll be okay.”
“I think she’s upset because Mingyu isn’t back yet.” Hoshi added. “Don’t take it personally. She’ll come back like nothing happened.” Hoping what the duo said was true, the angels decided it was best to stay put, and not aggravate you any longer. If they followed with a trail of fan girls in their midst, it would only allow things to get worse.
Jeonghan decided to take this time to ask the male duo a very important question: “So.” He leaned forward, alerting the duos attention. “As new friends and assumingly your very admired Hyungs, we have a question for you.” Joshua, despite being a bit confused, leaned forward with Jeonghan, elbows resting on the table.
“What?” Hoshi asked, setting his snack down.
“What is the relationship between the two of them? Mingyu and-.” He motioned in your direction. Seungkwan looked over at Hoshi.
“They’re totally in love.” Seungkwan said simply when he looked back at the older duo.
“So, they’re dating?” Joshua asked.
“No, but when you see them together for the first time, you could totally believe they were. The way they look at each other is kind of…” Hoshi trailed off as he tried to think of the right word.
“Disgusting.” Seungkwan said quickly. Hoshi nodded.
“Disgusting.” He repeated. Joshua and Jeonghan glanced at each other. “But recently, Mingyu’s been acting kind of weird.”
“How?” Jeonghan asked.
“He gets kind of weird when people tease him about dating. He used to brush it off and laugh or something. But he’s not like that anymore.”
“People think he’s being forced into blind dates by his father, to find a future wife.” Seungkwan added.
“Has he ever said so?” Jeonghan asked.
“No.” Seungkwan said.
“Why so interested, Hyung?” Hoshi eyed the duo, eyes landing on Joshua before asking: “You guys think she’s cute or something?”
Joshua laughed quickly. “No, not at all. It’s just that she speaks so highly about him all the time. And it seems whatever was said just now upset her, so…”
“That’s fair.” Seungkwan said as he turned back to his computer. “Don’t worry. When Mingyu-Hyung comes back, it’ll all be sorted out.” Joshua and Jeonghan spared one more glance behind them, but you were long gone, most likely for the best.
🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶So Close Yet So Far🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶🐶
By the end of the day, you were more exhausted than usual. Even when the duo weren’t in any of your classes, people kept asking about them, wanting to know all they could. You tried to avoid it, but how could you when you were surrounded by curious minds.
“Did Mingyu tell you when he’s coming home?” One guy asked, known for playing casual games of basketball with Mingyu in the gym from time to time. You sighed, closing your book and looking over at the guy.
“No.” you sighed, desperately hoping not to have to ask the same question again.
He almost looked offended at your sassy remark, but you were so numb to the answer you could care less. “Oh. I figured if anyone on campus did, it might be you.” He turned back to his friends. You heard him mutter: “Yeah, she has no fucking idea.”
“Shocker.”
“Maybe he really did go then. I wouldn’t tell my girlfriend back home if I was leaving the country to get hitched.”
Opening your book, you tried to distract yourself from the chatter right beside you. The classes were almost over for the day, the sun starting to set. Yet, still there was no message from Mingyu. No update on his arrival home. I thought Jeonghan and Joshua got the idea that he was coming back home. You thought to yourself. There’s no way they were wrong. Right? You flipped the page of the book, resting your cheek in your hand as you did so. They’re angels. I’m sure their divine powers or whatever make it so
I’m sure he’ll call back when he’s able. You said. There was no way that Mingyu of all people would simply blow you off, especially when he made an effort to call you each night that he was away thus far. Also, you had to remind yourself of one thing.
You were simply his friend. What did you have to get upset for?
Just as the sun was being pulled down beyond the skyline, you made your way out of the building of your last class. You were exhausted, looking forward to returning home for some dinner and a nice, hot shower. Immediately, you saw Joshua waiting for you. You sighed, walking over to Joshua. It looked like he had something in his hand.
“Are you okay?” He asked curiously. “You left so fast this afternoon and we haven’t heard from you.”
“I’m fine…” you said softly. You looked around. “Where’s your posse?”
“Oh, I think we managed to get them to leave us alone for today.” Joshua said.
“I meant Jeonghan.” You smiled a bit. Joshua chuckled.
“He said he was going to head back to the apartment and start dinner so you didn’t have to.” He said simply. You felt your heart beat just a bit faster at the idea of a meal waiting at home, and you smiled. Joshua seemed to realize something, because he handed you the thing in his hands. Upon closer inspection, you realized it was a strawberry milk from one of the vending machines. “Seungkwan said you liked these. I thought it would be a nice pick me up after today.”
You didn’t hesitate taking the milk, looking up at the brunette angel. “Thank you.” You poked the straw through the top, and took a long sip. The sigh of relief that left your lips made Joshua smile.
“I apologize about today.” He said.
“No worries. Nobody can resist a pretty face. I’m sure everyone will calm down eventually.”
“Hah. Yeah. I meant more so that Mingyu wasn’t here like you had hoped.” He saw you look down at the milk, clutching it tightly in your hands. A bit of it bubbled out of the top, splattering against your finger. Joshua stepped closer to you. “He’ll come back. He has to. No person worth his salt would just up and leave to another country without giving some kind of a warning eventually.”
“I guess so.” you had to admit that Joshua made sense with that statement. Joshua smiled when he saw you went back for another sip, sighing in relief at the cool sensation it left on your throat. “This is so good.” Joshua smiled, motioning to your lip.
“You uh-.” Following his movement, you felt a bit of milk left behind on your upper lip. You couldn’t help but laugh.
“What a way to end the day, hm?” you asked between giggles. Joshua smiled, nodding as he motioned for the two of you to head back home, changing the topic by discussing what Jeonghan could possibly be making for the two of you.
As you looked up at the stars dangling overhead, you hoped that somewhere, a plane was flying beyond the clouds, making its way back to Korea.
You didn’t realize how right you would be in that thought process.
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“Jeonghan, you absolutely need to cook more often.” You said, finishing up a bite of your breakfast. The three of you were heading back to campus the next morning. Not as early as Monday, but early enough that the idea of getting out of bed made you want to turn to dust instead. Jeonghan seemed to yawn just at the thought.
“No way. Cooking makes me sleepy.”
“But you’re good at it!”
“That’s why I get sleepy. All the effort tires me out and I have to sleep.”
“You’re so dramatic.” Joshua sighed behind a giggle. You chuckled as well, wiping your hand on a napkin you had brought with you. As you made your way onto campus, you heard people start whispering and muttered to their friends in small groups once again. You shook your head, ready to brace another long day of answering student’s hopeless questions about the new students. How long would they keep this up?
It wasn’t long before your worst fear came true, and a handful of girls pulled your attention. They began bombarding you with new information about the duo, hoping you would have the answers. “Guys, I’m not their mother.” You clarified, shocked it even needed to be said. “I know just as much as you.”
While you were warding off the fangirls, right by the gates of the school, a man was resting his back against the wall. He was looking down at his phone, typing away at something as his bag draped loosely off his shoulder. He was wearing a light blue tee shirt with a graphic design on it, and a pair of jeans with tennis shoes. Joshua and Jeonghan took a look at his features, seeing familiar soft black hair and dark eyes that they saw eyeing up keychains only a few days prior. Both of their minds immediately trying to decide the best course of action possible on how to handle this. When they turned to you, they saw you preoccupied by a few nearby students. They could hear your voice drowning as you tried shooing away as many girls as you could. Just then, Jeonghan’s eyes sparkled with a plan. He turned to Joshua, a slightly mischievous grin on his face.
“Follow my lead.” He said softly. Before Joshua could register his friends request, he was shoved back a few paces. He stumbled back. “Back off. I said I would walk her to class.”
Joshua had to refocus himself for a second as he eyed up Jeonghan, who stood with his chest puffed. Even his attempts to look tough came across as delicate. He hoped for a quick nonverbal cue of what was going on. When Jeonghan eyed you, who had not yet noticed what was about to happen, Joshua nodded. He stepped closer to Jeonghan, shoving him back.
“I asked her first.” He said simply.
“Well, tough. She doesn’t want to walk with you.”
“And she wants to go with you?” Now, the raising of their voices alerted your attention, especially when the girls you were talking to practically spun you around to see what was going on. You watched as Joshua shoved an angry Jeonghan back, only to be shoved back in response.
“What the-?”
“I think they’re fighting over you.” One girl gasped.
“Lucky~!.” Another swooned. You rolled your eyes, walking over to them. “What’s going on?”
The duo pretended they couldn’t hear her. “Why do you have to get your way? You’re not that special.”
“Tch.” Jeonghan snickered. “What, do you love her or something?”
“Do you?”
Mingyu looked up just then to see the scene going down just a few feet away. He stepped closer, quietly observing the situation before deciding what to do. He had seen many a squabble over a girl before, and knew usually they fizzled out quickly. However, when they duo stepped back from one another, his eyes widened in shock to see you standing between them.
“What are you doing? Are you crazy?” you asked. You stuck your hands in between them to prevent anymore childish shoving. “You’re causing a scene.”
“Hear that, you’re causing a scene Joshua Hong.” Jeonghan sneered. Joshua dramatically flared his nostrils and Jeonghan had to chew the inside of his lip to hold back a choked laugh.
“I think it might be you causing the scene.” He said. As you stepped between the both of them, pushing them apart, Joshua looked down at you.
“You both are! What’s with the fighting all of a sudden?!”
“I want to walk you to class but Joshua is being selfish, yet again.” Jeonghan said. He immediately put his arm around your shoulder and pulled you close to him. Joshua frowned, and Jeonghan only grinned. “Have fun walking alone, Joshua.”
“Hey-.” Before Joshua could step any closer, another, much larger hand was stuck in front of all of you. All three of you had to look up at the face of the person interrupting this impromptu fight. When your eyes locked on his face, you felt a shaky breath escape your lips.
“Mingyu…” you breathed. Mingyu looked over at you.
“Who are these guys?” he asked. Immediately, Jeonghan dropped his arm from your shoulder and stepped back. Joshua did the same. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” You assured. Mingyu looked at the two men.
“You two should know better than to worry a girl like that in public. That’s shameful.” He said simply, frowning at both of them.
“Uh, it’s fine. They’re friends.” You said frantically. Mingyu looked shocked by the sentence, so you had to explain further. Motioning to them like a prize on a game show, Joshua and Jeonghan smiled a bit. “New students. They just transferred here and I’m getting them adjusted. I’ll apologize for them, just let it go.” When you bowed to Mingyu, the men saw a lopsided smile form on his face.
“As long as you’re okay…” he said gently. He shot one more unamused glare at the two men. They had to admit, seeing the daggers Mingyu’s gaze shot at them was enough to make their hair stand on ends.
The crowds began clearing away when it was clear no real fight would be breaking out any time soon. The whispers still lingered as the crowds dispersed, however. Joshua and Jeonghan slid beside one another, one hand behind their backs as they secretly gave one another a high-five. You didn’t notice with your eyes practically glued to Mingyu. “You didn’t tell me you’d be back today. I thought it was yesterday.”
“It was. My dad’s jet broke down and I ended up taking a super last-minute flight back. I was so tired I crashed the rest of yesterday when I got home.” He sighed. “I meant to text you in the group chat. I’m sorry if I worried you.”
A smile formed on your face. “I’m just glad you’re back. Everyone on campus has been wondering where you were.”
“Oh?” He asked. “Come on. You’re being dramatic.” You laughed a bit at his nervous reaction.
“You have to tell me all about your trip over dinner.” You said. “You promised.”
“I didn’t forget.” He said simply. “Pick the place and the time. I’ll make it happen.” You nodded your head.
“I totally see why Seungkwan said we might think they were dating.” Jeonghan whispered to Joshua. He immediately nodded.
“This really is going to be easy.” The duo grinned at the thought, already picturing the green symbols popping up over your contracted hands.
It was then that you heard the sound of your friends approaching, Hoshi eagerly shouting out to Mingyu, glee exploding from his entire being at the sight of his friend. Mingyu turned his head, immediately matching his friend excited energy as the duo hurried to one another, gripping their hands together and cheering in excitement to be together again. You turned to Joshua and Jeonghan, who were simply acting as bystanders as they watched your friend group reunite.
“How was your trip?” Seungkwan asked.
“Good, but I’m glad to be back.” Mingyu assured.
“You have to update us.” Minnie said, and you smiled at her repetition of your request. The group of you began walking. Joshua and Jeonghan watched you turned your head, motioning for the pair to quickly hurry up before they got left behind. They did just that, falling right behind you. Mingyu seemed to notice, and despite being unamused, distracted himself with Minnie’s request.
“I caught up with some friends, saw some of my father’s business partners for him. I haven’t been to Japan since Christmas so it was nice to go in the warmer weather.” You felt Hoshi nudge you, and when you looked over, he gave you a thumbs up. You nodded, returning the thumb up and smiling. “I got a ton of really cool clothes and some new books.” He pulled up his phone. “And I took some great photos at the cherry blossom festival. Here.” As he scrolled, you felt your heart beat speed up just a bit. Mingyu showed some photos of himself in a clothing store, taking mirror selfies of himself in lots of different name brand suits and casual wear.
“Oooo, how handsome.” Seungkwan teased as he peered closer. “Definitely a good choice.”
Jeonghan and Joshua shared a glance with one another. They had no idea how or when Mingyu usually approached his tradition of giving you a gift from his travels. When they looked over at you, it seemed you were waiting for the same thing. Jeonghan had no problem asking.
“Did you get souvenirs?” he asked Mingyu stopped walking, looking over his shoulder.
“Hm?” he asked.
“You know, souvenirs.” He asked. “Whenever someone goes on vacation, they get souvenirs.” Mingyu seemed to think for a second, rubbing his chin.
“Hmmm. No, actually. I didn’t.” he said simply. “I was way too busy, I guess I forgot.” Without missing a beat, he turned back around and continued showing his friends the photos.
Joshua and Jeonghan looked at one another, eyes now wide. You looked over at Mingyu’s photos, then up to him.
“You didn’t get any souvenirs?” You asked. Mingyu looked at you.
“No, I didn’t. I only have the ticket from the festival that they made.” He said. Without missing a beat, he pulled out the ticket. It was a beautiful pink color with cherry blossoms floating all throughout it. You smiled up at him.
“That’s so cute.” You said.
Meanwhile, as you and your friends continued walking, Joshua and Jeonghan kept back. They waited until you were close to the building that housed your first class of the day, then turned to one another.
“Where’s the keychain?” Joshua asked, still keeping it in a low voice.
“I have no idea!” Jeonghan gasped. “He did buy the key chain, right?”
“We watched him do it!” Joshua agreed.
“I thought she said that he always bought her gifts.”
“I thought so too! But he said he bought nothing.” Joshua and Jeonghan looked back over at the group, all of whom had stopped walking so Mingyu could finish showing off his photos with his friends. They immediately locked eyes on your face. Despite having a small smile, you looked just as confused and upset as they did.
I think she’ll love it.
Mingyu’s words send dread down the spines of the heavenly beings as they realized that somewhere, they fumbled the very heavy and very important bag needed to get themselves back into the gates of heaven. Looking at one another, they realized their expression was riddled with the same emotion.
Panic.
“...Who on earth did he give that key chain to?” The angels asked in unison.
Their simultaneous panic attack was interrupted by a low – sounding airplane that was flying overhead. It seemed to grab all of their attention, as the group also looked up at it as it flew overhead and out of sight shortly thereafter. Jeonghan and Joshua simply looked at one another, then up to the plane as it flew through the sky, getting smaller and smaller as it did so.
This might actually not be as easy as they thought.
I smiled while leaning my body to the doorway when I saw Kim Mingyu cooked; one hand on the spatula, one hand held a bottle of rice wine. The smell was magnificent, at the very least; it was just because Kim Mingyu was and is a great cook, but I won’t shove it to him.
Because ego, fam.
Mingyu smiled widely as he caught me leaning at the doorway. He moved the contents one more time before turning the stove off and hung the apron before wrapping his long limbs to my waist.
“When will the others come?”
After he asked that, the doorbell rang suddenly. I pointed to the door and winked to the Giant.
“There they are.”
I huffed instantly when Goo Serin showed up with a bottle of whiskey in her hands. She raised a brow, “What? It’s funner with this.” I waved my hand at her, “I ain’t going to send you home like last time, alright?” Serin rolled her eyes, “I won’t be drunk.”
“You said it last time, yet you’re still drunk.”
Serin shrugged and just went in to my house like a snake. I sighed and greeted the others; Choi Minri with her boyfriend Lee Jihoon, the maknae couple, and JeongCheol couple.
I smiled widely.
“Honey! Help me! Jeonghan-hyung wants to kill me!” I shook my head at my spouse’s shriek.
