in which texting the wrong number lands you an internet crush and denial.
pairings: idol!yeonjun x gn!reader
genre: one part smau, fluff, humor, s2l
warnings: language, pet names, y/n is in denial and yeonjun is just a lover boy simp i fear
rea’s 💌 — the way this has been in my drafts since november?? guys please yell at me to be more consistent with posting bc i like making these silly little stories 💔 um happy new year and valentine’s day lol hope y’all enjoy this one! reminder that you can always send an ask to be a part of my taglist ⋆˙⟡♡
❪ 永遠に光れ ❫ fluff comfort est. rs taehyun x f!reader 707 cw ノ periods symptoms (hormonal) and cramping mention, crying, not proofread 〃 @starryterry ⸝⸝⸝ just know tae would be the sweetest while ur on ur period and he is such an attentive and acts of service type of boyfriend :( / 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄
All it takes is Taehyun making eye contact with you after he walks in the door for you to burst it into tears.
You're not crying because he didn't kiss you before he left for work, or because you haven't seen him in twelve hours, or even because of the petty argument that kept circling in your head the hours he was gone. The reason for your tears is ridiculous.
Taehyun looks incredibly cuddly, but you're not sure you can tolerate anyone touching you right now. That is what tips your emotions over to their breaking point. Your body wants him closer while your mind screams at the thought.
How cruel is it that you would get your period on one of Taehyun's longest work days? You don't have the energy to greet him at the door like usual. You can't surprise him with a delicious dinner or a spontaneous date. The only sight he's greeted with when he comes home is you in your pyjamas fighting off how overwhelmingly miserable everything feels right now.
He must be exhausted too, but he still smiles at you.
That makes it even worse, because god, Taehyun has always been too good for you. At least, that's the thought your brain takes absolutely no time in jumping to.
"What's wrong?" his voice is soft and sweet. He's still smiling as he sets his bags down and finds his way to the couch you've been lying on for the past two hours. He doesn't seem concerned at the sight of your tears, as if he can tell they aren't indicative of anything horrible happening right now.
You think Taehyun must have some magical ability to know exactly what you're emotions mean. At a glance he can always tell whether your frustration stems from something he did or something so far removed from you both; whether your tears have just come on spontaneously because of your hormones or whether it's more serious. Taehyun always reads you like it takes no effort at all.
"Do you want me to touch you right now?" comes Taehyun's next question. It's patient and non-judgemental towards whatever your answer might be. Your stomach twists when you look at him. The earlier repulsive feeling that the thought of being touched had surged up dissipates with one look, as if your mind and body are realizing who is standing before you.
"Please hold me," you tell him after a moment. He doesn't hesitate in pulling you into his arms, wiping your cheeks with his hands and wrapping you safely against his chest. It feels like instant relief—and not just for you.
It isn't a secret how much Taehyun misses you during lengthy work days. The longing lives in his eyes, clear to anyone who knows the look of it. He knows you started your period today. He has a tracker for it on his phone. Even when you don't tell him, he knows.
They've been more strenuous on you lately, combining with outside stress factors and your body deciding to wage war on you. Lighter flow, but heavier cramps that last multiple days. You're sick of it. Taehyun wishes he could fight it off for you. Unfortunately, he's powerless in this situation.
"Did you warm up your heat pack?" he asks, rubbing your back up and down. You shake your head against his chest, face buried against his hoodie.
"I'll get it for you," he offers, starting to pull away. You cling to his hoodie firmly and tug him back as forcefully as you can. He smiles.
"No? I can't take care of you if I can't get up, sweetheart. My hug does nothing to help your cramps."
"It does help," you insist. Taehyun could argue that from a scientific perspective, him holding you does nothing to relieve the pain. You could argue back that from a psychological standpoint, his hug does much more than a heat pack ever would. You would both be right, and as usual, you would win the argument easily.
Taehyun stays on the couch with you half lying on top of him. Despite your cramps, it's the most comfortable you've felt all day. There is nowhere you feel safer than in his arms.
the night was gloomy, with the moon shining bright and fog hanging low. cold breeze would make a passerby shudder but right now, a party taking place made people ignore the temperature outside.
since inside the common room, everything was just the opposite. loud music, lights low, air hot and sticky from sweaty bodies.
you found yourself in one of the nearby dorms, with some of your friends and some people you didn't know.
and your prey.
you've been crushing on choi soobin ever since your mutual friend, kai, introduced you.
the guy was so shy it almost made your blood boil, yet it only kept you craving him more.
just like now.
you were staring at him shamelessly, drink in your hand. soobin felt your piercing gaze; moreover, he literally caught you watching. yet, he kept turning his eyes away, blush just deepening on his rosy face.
he was fiddling with his long fingers, occasionally wiping his damp palms against his jeans. you could almost sense his nervous heartbeat: thump, thump, thump, thump–
"–you in?"
you frowned and looked at kai, who grinned enthusiastically.
"to what? sorry, i zoned out" you replied honestly.
kai looked at you, then at soobin.
"yeonjun offered seven minutes in heaven. since, you know, his closet is huge" kai hummed.
"you have so much clothes i'm even shocked the closet didn't explode yet" taehyun snickered.
"yeah, i'm in" you grinned. "what about…"
"soobin?" kai whispered, leaning closer to you. "he was the first one who eagerly agreed"
you just chuckled, winking to kai.
"seven minutes in heaven is all that i need when i get with him" you mumbled to kai.
because you knew that in fact, soobin had a big fat crush on you too. you found out by accident, when you were playing games on kai's phone and soobin started texting him… ranting about you. that he was desperate at that point.
which was good, you liked your men pathetic.
the company sat down, the buzz of excitement filling the room. music was playing quietly but still present as a background noise.
beomgyu wolfed down the rest of his beer and placed the empty bottle in the middle, wiping the corner of his lips.
"yeonjun should go first, he came up with the idea!" some girl offered and everyone agreed, too nervous to go first.
yeonjun smiled slyly and leaned to spin the bottle, eyeing the options in the circle. his homies, you, and a couple of girls he knew. not bad.
he spun the bottle, air in the room becoming stuffy. everyone's eyes were fixed on the bottle, except your and soobin's. you were looking at him, small smirk tugging at your lips.
and he was too hypnotized to look away.
"what the fuck–!"
everyone burst into laughter, seeing that the bottle pointed at beomgyu.
"okay, whatever man" yeonjun laughed and stood up. beomgyu followed him right after, making kissy faces and winking. what he didn't know, yeonjun would confront him about the disappearance of his favorite belt.
someone turned up the music a little bit, and you walked up to the window, eyeing the moon. she was as pretty as ever; the sole sight of the moon giving you an adrenaline rush.
kai approached you, gently tapping your arm.
"just go easy on him" he giggled mischievously. he, too, knew it was a matter of when rather than if.
seven minutes passed faster than one could think and everyone was back in the circle. beomgyu looked like a kicked puppy.
"soob, you now!" he insisted, wanting to avoid any questions.
soobin gulped and awkwardly spun the bottle. you watched with anticipation, breath halting. the bottle was going slower and slower, tauntingly hinting at stopping between you and some other girl.
you sent kai a quick look and his fingers twitched ever so slightly.
just when everyone thought the bottle had stopped, it moved fairly, not even ten millimeters.
but just enough to point at you.
you exhaled a shaky breath and looked up, meeting soobin's wide gaze. yeonjun yelped excitedly and rushed to stand up, pulling soobin to his feet.
"come on, soob" you taunted and passed him by, entering the closet first.
suddenly, he got pushed inside. he bumped into you, the door behind him slamming.
his chest was glued to your back, his breath rigid.
"soobin?" you asked quietly.
no response.
only his sharp breath and nervous pitter patter of his heart.
"choi soobin" you repeated, finally turning around. despite there being basically no light, you saw the outline of his silhouette. his chest was rising up and down irregularly, hands clammy.
"y/n…" he stuttered, breath hot and alive against your cheek.
"say it, soobin" you hummed, placing your hands on his arms. you slowly traced them up, to his shoulders.
he hesitated.
"can you…" soobin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. everything in him was about to explode, his feelings unable to say hidden anymore.
"mhm?" you teased, stepping closer. chest against his, you thought his heart would jump out of his ribcage.
"can you kiss me?" he asked, almost whining. "please. please—"
it was all you needed.
you dived in, attacking his plush lips. soobin made a muffled sound, something between a whine, plea, and a moan. his hands traveled to your hips, squeezing them firmly.
buzzing in the back of your head was becoming more intense by the second, your hands finding their way to soobin's hair. as you tugged on it, he gasped.
"y/n—" he breathed out.
"i got you, pretty boy" you purred and soobin swore his stomach just did a somersault. the twitch of his fingers told you he liked this nickname.
you tugged at his lip, a small whine escaping his throat. he felt you going lower with your kisses, and his throat went dry. the corner of his lips, his chin, his jaw… down to his neck.
with every love bite you left, he was becoming louder. especially when you found his sweet spot, so sensitive that he shuddered at a mere lick. you looked up at him but soobin's eyes were squeezed shut.
"relax, bunny" you chuckled quietly before diving in.
he went light-headed, panting intensely. his fingers snuck under your shirt, and he wasn't sure it was the feeling of your cold skin against his fingertips or the sensation of being caught that left his heart hammering. sweat rolled down his temples.
"y/n, i—" he groaned, his back suddenly losing balance against the closet wall. the sound of clothing hangers dropping on the ground reminded you of the small proximity as one of them dug ito your heel. you ignored it.
"i know, soobin." you finally left his neck, only to lick the spot you were just attached to.
"more, y/n, please, please, pl—" he sounded like a broken record, your name repeatedly mixing with pretty pleases. you really tried to pull away but his taste was just too hypnotizing.
however, soobin couldn't wait no more, chasing your lips. you giggled when your noses bumped into each other but he didn't waste any more time.
"need to kiss you" he huffed, lips his finally finding yours. deepening the kiss, his hand landed at the back of your head, effortlessly angling your head. your hand tangled in his hair again, his locks soft against your fingers.
soobin's tongue just started discovering the inside of your mouth when a sudden beam of light hit you despite having your eyes closed. he didn't stop, though, only pulling you closer; tasting you like man starved.
"holy shit, soobin!"
"get off her, you freak, we already gave you more time!"
even that didn’t do the trick; you had to shove him away with a laugh.
and that was when you and everyone else saw the final results of your masterpiece.
"what?" soobin panted, barely audible, eyes blown wide. his hair was messy and disheveled, shirt crooked and revealing the bouquet of fresh red and pink hues (which cutely matched his flushed face and ears). especially at the side of his neck.
"girl, you're worse than a vampire!" taehyun joked and you just scoffed, discreetly licking off the sweet aftertaste of soobin's blood on your fangs.
in which choi yeonjun keeps trying new hair colour and you simply love him through all of them
alternatively; yeonjun tries to make sense of his own identity while being away from home for the first time while your just trying to graduate in peace
pairing: yeonjun x fem!reader + childhood friends to lovers
wordcount : 8.2k (are we proud)
author's note : this chapter was supposed to be much longer but i relaly liked the way it ended so i already have the next chapter planned ... also can you tell ik jack shit about uni and im also highkey projecting my hate for stem through this reader and im trying to figure out what her major should be so lemme know if you have any ideas
previous . masterlist . next
orange symbolizes warmth, change, and creativity
Yeonjun wanted to curse every teacher who said that university cared about your attendance.
By the third week of his first semester at Yonsei, it became painfully clear that the professors could give less of a fuck whether you showed up or not.
It wouldn’t have been an issue, as Yeonjun was very much willing to skip his 9 am morning lecture on the ethics of corporations, except his teachers had done a great job in drilling into him that if he missed a class he would probably miss something that would alter his brain chemistry.
Yeonjun wanted to drive back to his high school just to yell at his teachers that they were wrong and that nothing has altered his brain chemistry since he came to Yonsei.
Instead, he just sat there, supposedly learning about how Lululemon succeeded despite their racist brand names and foundation while all he really wanted to do was go to bed.
He sighed, it wasn’t even like he had friends in the class yet, considering that everyone here was still trying to gather their bearings.
It was moments like this where Yeonjun missed you the most, it would be so much simpler with you. There would be no awkward small talk, where you’re trying to understand what type of jokes you can say in front of someone, it would just be hidden glances to convey inside jokes or lightly giggling when the other choked on their water.
Yeonjun pouted in his hoodie, he wanted you and your familiarity back.
He wanted it back now, he wanted it to arrive yesterday.
He sighed, not caring if the other two students beside him were rolling their eyes at him. He took his phone out, looking at the teacher drone on and on about some graph in the textbook, and instead chose to open your contact.
It was 9:30 in the morning on a Wednesday morning, and he was stuck in a lecture. However you should be on the way to second period by now, meaning that you probably have time to spare.
After all, grade twelve wasn’t that hard.
Right?
Grade twelve felt like it was made to make you want to smack yourself with your textbook.
Because how else would you explain the overwhelming urge to burn your chemistry and math textbook and forcing your teachers to watch. Preferably while making them to the twenty practice questions that they each wanted to be completed by the end of the day.
You sighed as you grabbed your textbook and walked your way into Chemistry class, not even bothering to greet the teacher like you would have in the previous years and simply opting to sit beside Soobin who was also half-asleep.
You didn't even bother checking your phone after sitting down. Whatever notification was there could wait until after school.
You scoffed lightly, Soobin’s growth spurt over the summer made it so even when he was curled up he was taking the majority of the space on a three person desk.
You took your materials out and took the liberty to poke him with your pencil, right where his shoulder met his arm, knowing that it would hurt most there.
You didn’t say anything when he got up, clutching his arm, instead opting to be the one who lied down on the desk, trying to soothe the burning feeling in your eyes that you got because you were doing your homework until 1:30 last night.
You sighed against the hardcover of your textbook, not having the energy to get up.
You really wished you had prioritised your grades last year, maybe then you wouldn’t be struggling to get good marks to apply to university this year.
You swallowed down the frustration, instead opting to keep your eyes closed for the next three minutes before the teacher started talking again.
It wasn’t until you felt a hand in your hair did you get up, only to realize that instead of you lying down for three minutes, you had fallen asleep for thirty.
You turned to Soobin, whose hand was gently untangling from your hair, “Why the fuck didn’t you wake me up?” you hissed at him.
He smiled apologetically, “You looked really comfortable,” he said.
You glared at him, “Unless you want to explain to me whatever was taught today, you should have woken up,”
Soobin just continued smiling at you like one would look at a cat, “Well that’s not an issue,” he pointed to where the teacher’s desk was, “considering we didn’t learn anything today,”
You let out a groan, “If we had a supply, then why did you wake me up?”
He just shook his head, “Because it’s the type of supply who is about to write your name down for doing nothing all period,”
You scowled, those were the worst kind of supply teachers, the ones who cared too much about a class that wasn’t theirs.
“Fine,” you grumbled, opening your notebook and textbook on a random page.
You grabbed your pencil and laid back down on your notebook, “Now it’ll look like I’m doing something,”
Soobin just laughed quietly at you, ignoring your stubborn glare, “Come over today after school.”
You shook your head, “Can’t, I have to do my homework,”
He snorted, “Why else do I want you to come over,”
You shrugged, “I don’t know, didn’t you mention a new video game that came out,”
Soobin slumped at the mention, “I wanna play the new update so bad,” he pouts, “but every time I sit down to do it there’s suddenly a new test to study for,”
You moved to pat his head to soothe him. It was a feeling you knew all too well, after all.
“Come over,” Soobin pleaded, “Mrs. Kim did say that misery loves company,”
You furrowed your eyebrows at him, “Since when do you pay attention in English?”
“Since she started telling us about her cheating husband,” Soobin replied casually.
You let out a small laugh, “Fine,” you said, “I’ll come over if you tell me everything,”
Soobin grinned, “Deal,” he patted your head once more, “now go back to sleep before you explode on me.”
You huffed and rolled your eyes.
Homework will simply be an issue for later.
The more Yeonjun spent time in university, the more aware he was of everyone’s awkwardness.
Everyone was awkward.
It didn’t matter how many people you talked to in high school, it was pretty much ground zero in university.
Yeonjun was thankful that all his friends ended up coming with him, but even he knew that he needed to talk to other people.
It’s been three weeks, twenty three days to be specific, since he started going to university, and Yeonjun has talked to one other person, and that was because that guy was sitting on his pencil.
Yeonjun knew that he wasn’t the only person dealing with this sudden inability to talk to people. But he couldn’t help but feel bitter as he watched Wooyoung drag not one, but two new people to their lunch table.
He just stared as Wooyoung ushered them to their table, smiling and laughing with those two as if he had known them for years and not exactly twenty minutes.
He watched as the two came closer, taking time to give them a full body scan.
He swallowed the ball forming in his throat and let out a smile when the three came.
“Where’s San?” Wooyoung asked, ignoring the people that were looking at Yeonjun.
Yeonjun shrugged, “Last I heard, he was being held up in a shitty lecture,”
Wooyoung nodded, taking a french fry from Yeonjun’s plate.
It was quiet for a moment, no one saying anything as Wooyoung continued to munch loudly on Yeonjun’s fries.
Yeonjun hated this, he hated the awkward silence.
He let out a cough, successfully grabbing Wooyoung’s attention who looked at him with a mouthful of fries.
Yeonjun raised an eyebrow, “Do you wanna say who these people are?” he asked.
Wooyoung swallowed his inhumane bite of fries and nodded, “This is Yeosang,” he said pointing to the prettiest, most fairy-like boy Yeonjun has seen, “and this is Yeosang’s friend Seonghwa,” he pointed to the most intimidating boy Yeonjun has ever seen.
Yeonjun nodded, “I’m Yeonjun,” he offered.
The two boys nodded.
It was silent for another moment.
Surprisingly, the one to break the silence was Seonghwa, who gently asked Yeonjun, “Are those strawberries on your plate?”
Yeonjun looked down, he was trying to grab whatever looked decent, not really looking at what he was grabbing, so the cup of freshly cut strawberries was a surprise even for him.
He nodded, answering Seonghwa’s question.
“Can I possibly have some?” the boy dressed head to toe in black asked.
Yeonjun nodded, “You like strawberries?” he asked, while handing over the cup.
Seonghwa nodded, looking at the plastic cup with sparkly eyes, “They’re my favourite fruits,” he said.
Yeonjun pursed his lips, not knowing how to comprehend how the walking bad boy stereotype Seonghwa could look like a little kid over strawberries.
“That’s great,” Yeonjun replied.
It was silent for another moment.
This time, Wooyoung broke it.
“Seonghwa also studies cooking sciences,” he said, “he’s actually very good.”
Yeonjun nodded, taking in this information.
“I study business,” he offered.
Yeosang smiled at him, instantly reminding him of Tinkerbell, “I’m studying Digital Tech Design,”
Yeonjun tried not to show how shocked he was at Yeosang’s deep voice, and instead commented, “Like graphic design and stuff?”
Yeosang nodded.
His phone buzzed on the table, and Yeonjun tried not to pick it up too eagerly.
Unfortunately, all he saw was another spam email from Spotify, enticing him to upgrade his student plan into an all time premium plan.
Yeonjun closed his eyes.
He was going to make friends, and Seonghwa and Yeosang would be his first victims.
He let out a little breath before smiling and opening his mouth.
He needed friends, and he would do his best to get them.
Have you ever mentioned how much you despised chemistry?
If you hadn’t, you clearly were hallucinating the past two weeks.
As you closed your chat with Yeonjun, consisting of you pestering him to ask him about university only to be sent voice messages about how you should cherish what you have left of high school, which was entirely unhelpful.
You still smiled at his nagging tone, but you couldn’t help but stare at your notebook littered in drawings of organic compounds that needed to be named, and wanting to yell how exactly you were supposed to enjoy high school.
You turned to look at Soobin, who had also given up and was now playing games on his phones.
You sighed, turning to look at Beomgyu who was the only one doing his homework.
So much for studying at Soobin’s house.
You got up from the floor, where all of you were spread out around the living room coffee table.
You don’t really know what you were looking for, you were just looking for something else to do.
In fact, one thing that you have successfully learned since the start of school was the obvious lack of female friends that you had.
You had Arin to thank for that, with her constantly being around you, you didn’t really feel the need to talk to anyone else, considering that you had Soobin and Yeonjun with you since you moved here.
But now that Arin and Yeonjun were gone, you were left feeling painfully aware that you really didn’t have any female friends of your own.
Another thing to worry about in grade twelve.
You looked around Soobin’s kitchen, moving out of habit to get yourself a cookie and a glass of milk.
As you moved around the kitchen, looking over the cookie jar that your grandma and Grandma Choi shared custody over, your phone let out a small ding!
You paused your movements, thinking it was Yeonjun messaging you another selfie of him pouting in a lecture.
However, you couldn’t help being confused as you saw who actually messaged you.
It was Chaewon, the pretty girl who was in three of your four classes.
You gulped, trying to manipulate your notification bar so you could read the message without having to show that you read it.
You never really talked to Chaewon, not really wanting to or needing to talk to her.
Which is why you found yourself anxiously biting your lips as you read through the messages.
The notification bar showed,
chae_chae : hey ! I saw that ur in my math class, i was wondering if you would want to study together at some point ??
You kept chewing your lip.
You looked back at the kitchen, looking as Soobin successfully coerced Beomgyu into playing Roblox with him instead of doing any form of math homework.
You closed your eyes as you clicked on the message.
What’s the harm in another friend?
With this perseverance you willed your fingers to type back a nice enough response,
http.y/n : hi chaewon !! i’d love to study with you sometimes, im free whenever so lemme know when your able to ?!
You grimaced at the amount of exclamation points and put your phone face down on the kitchen counter, slightly mourning your social life.
You closed your eyes and took a bite of the cookie. This week was double chocolate chip cookies, with a peanut butter drizzle, a cookie that was lucky to last three days between you and Soobin.
Another thing you noticed this year was how much easier people were when Yeonjun stood beside you. He always knew what to say first. Somehow conversations never felt awkward when he was there. Without him, every sentence suddenly felt like something you had to rehearse first.
You didn’t really know how to explain it to anyone, not at your mom who hugged you as you dropped Yeonjun off to university, not to your grandma who always told you how much she missed him, and definitely not at Soobon who has made a few off-hand comments about how you finally hang out at his house.
You swallow the cookie, and look down at yourself.
You missed him, he was a part of you, someone who ended up filling all the cracks in your life.
You really did depend on Yeonjun, and you weren’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.
However, as your phone dinged again, and you flipped it over to reveal a
“Yayyy! i’ll lyk asap!!!” from Chaewon. You couldn’t help but feel lighter, because you could be a person without him.
You just needed to try.
Yeonjun found solace in the library.
It was one of the quieter places in all of campus that was always guaranteed some form of peace of quiet, he just needed to find the correct spot to find it. The only sounds were pages turning, keyboards clicking, and the occasional squeak of a chair being pushed back.
University was fucking exhausting.
There was something about introducing yourself over and over again, trying to figure out which version of yourself to give people, remembering names you knew you'd forget by tomorrow, smiling even when you were tired. It was exhausting.
And it was another thing to realize that any confidence that he had in his academic skills in high school was wrong and that he should be grateful to be passing his courses.
And while being in the library reminded him of his studies, Yeonjun couldn’t help but find the silence calming.
While being left alone with his thoughts was scary, and all he really wanted to do was watch something online, he couldn’t help but find comfort in the idea that a lot of the people here were alone as well.
He would always come after class, especially on the days when Wooyoung was still in a class or hanging out with other people. Sometimes, before bed, Wooyoung would come into their shared dorm and tell him about how he spent his day talking to seniors, teachers’ assistants, and even making friends with random professors, and despite being proud of Wooyoung, Yeonjun couldn’t help the bitterness creeping in his chest.
How was it that Wooyoung made friends so easily?
Was he not friendly enough?
Did he look too intimidating?
Did everyone already have their people?
Why was it so fucking hard to walk up to someone and just say hi?
Maybe sitting in the library was a bad idea, the silence got to his head, and now Yeonjun found himself blinking back tears as he stared at his textbook.
He swallowed his emotions down, and went to his phone, only to be hit with a photo memory of you and him joyriding carts at the local grocery store.
He remembers pouting, begging, and even acting cute, just so the two of you could let Beomgyu and Soobin settle a bet between who was the fastest as Arin recorded.
The emotions were coming back up.
It was different without you around.
He missed your room, how your hands would always go up to his hair, how you would gently talk to him and listen to all his points before helping him make any kind of decision.
He missed you.
And that was a harder thought to admit. Especially because he had told you not to miss him.
He was about to click on the memory, watch the video and then maybe video call you for a study call, but was interrupted by a hesitant tap on his shoulder.
Yeonjun was expecting to see San, maybe along with Yeosang, as all his high school friends seemed to fawn over the fairy boy for his awkwardly endearing charm.
San had made it a mission to see Yeonjun and Wooyoung at least once a day, and while it endeared Yeonjun, it also made it abundantly clear that San had so many other things to do rather than spend all day with him.
Meaning that Yeonjun turned around, expecting the dimpled boy standing beside a fairy one ready to initiate a conversation.
Only to be stumped when it wasn’t any of those options.
It wasn’t even Seonghwa.
It was a boy. A small boy.
Yeonjun turned his body to face the boy, who was starting to remind Yeonjun of a squirrel.
The boy cleared his throat, “You're in Mr.Song’s class about HR Management right?”
Yeonjun nodded.
The squirrel looking boy continued, “I need help,”
Yeonjun blinked, his finger pointing at himself as if asking ‘Me?’
The boy nodded,”Yeah, you,” there was a moment of silence, “I’m Kang Taehyun, and I need help in that class,”
Yeonjun opened his mouth, wanting to offer the seat beside him, but all that came out was, “How the fuck are you failing that class?”
Taehyun pursed his lips, moving to take the seat beside him, “I’m not really good at,” he paused, “human stuff,”
Yeonjun nodded, acting like he completely understood how that worked.
“I’m Yeonjun,” he offered, “and I’ll help you, I guess,”
The boy beamed at him, letting Yeonjun scan over him.
“Your small,” is all that Yeonjun found himself saying.
Maybe he should stop being so blunt.
"I'm sixteen," Taehyun said matter-of-factly. "I'm not exactly expecting to tower over anyone."
Yeonjun felt his heart stop, “You’re sixteen?” he exclaimed, trying to ignore the subtle stares from everyone around him.
Taehyun nodded.
Yeonjun felt his heart stop, "You should be doing homework about fractions."
"I graduated," is all that Taehyun replied with.
“I have so many questions,” Yeonjun breathed out.
Taehyun nodded calmly, “And I will answer all of them when you help me,”
Yeonjun nodded, part of his brain trying to reel in the fact that his first friend that he himself made was a sixteen year old.
He let out a small smile to Taehyun.
He could work with that.
Chaewon was the epitome of a girl friend, at least by your standards.
She had invited you to study at the library the week before your next math test.
Somewhere between radians and trigonometry, you ended up learning more about Chaewon than you did about math.
You had learned that she was kind, that she was funny, and that she didn’t hesitate to call out on bullshit.
You learned this when she told you that she sent an email to your math teacher, telling her to move the test for the following week as she didn’t give adequate time to prepare.
“Just because her life is falling apart and the entire math department hates her, doesn't mean that she could just ruin our lives you know?” she told you, while sipping on her iced coffee, careful to make sure that no condensation drips on to her math notes.
“You can do that?” you had asked her, trying to swallow your shock for something so normal to her.
She shrugged, “I’m not saying anything wrong,”
You nodded along, acting as if she hadn’t just challenged all your beliefs on teachers and their authority.
Other than that shock, Chaewon was actually a wonderful person to hang around with.
It made going into class easier, and made studying seem something to look forward to.
It made making fun of Soobin even more fun, and even he couldn’t deny how fun lunch had gotten due to the debates that would take place. Yesterday’s debate was: is it gay to do something homsexual for $5. You and Chaewon argued yes, while Soobin was just trying to tell you that this was gossip from last week’s party.
"I'm less concerned that it's gay," Chaewon said thoughtfully, "and more concerned he valued himself at five dollars."
Soobin sighed, “That wasn’t even the question Chae-” he was hushed by the girl who turned to him with her eyes narrowed, “Would you kiss a guy for five dollars Soobin?”
You turned to your friend, curious about where this conversation was going, “Yeah Soobin,” you egged on, “would you?”
Soobin visibly gulped, “There’s children here,” he said weakly, pointing to Beomgyu who was on the far end of the table talking to Heeseung.
Your eyes widened in shock, “So you would do it for five dollars?”
“No,” he stammered out.
"That took you way too long to answer," Chaewon asked slyly.
Soobin looked at the two of you and then down at his lunch, “I fucking hate it here,”
You and Chaewon shared a look and simply burst into giggles.
Another reason why you were coming to adore talking to Chaewon was the discovery that even she was struggling through this school year.
The realization came when you got back the test that you and Chaewon had studied for.
Your grade was lower than you expected.
Again.
Meaning that you were simply looking for something to distract yourself from the grade circled in red ink at the top of your paper, when you noticed Chaewon staring at hers with the same disappointed expression.
You couldn't help but feel a little lighter seeing it.
It was harsh.
You understood that.
Regardless, the idea that someone else was struggling just as much as you while putting in the effort made you feel better.
Maybe you weren't the only one who found grade twelve hard.
Regardless, you smiled at her when she looked at you, offering a quiet sense of comfort to the girl who was clearly not used to needing it.
She simply looked, and let out a small smile.
The great thing about Chaewon was that she didn’t dwell on a lot of things, until it came to her friends.
You had invited her over one day after school, letting her lie on your bed while eating your grandma’s strawberry jam-filled cookies as she told you about her friend’s horrible relationship.
You simply leaned against the wall facing her, trying to comprehend how people your age were making out and everything.
“And then,” Chaewon said, eating her third cookie, “she told me that she found her boyfriend making out with some chick from the other school,”
“Chick?” you asked, wondering if that was the most appropriate way to describe the girl who apparently kissed a guy despite knowing he was in a relationship.
"I mean, I asked around," Chaewon said. "Apparently she collects boyfriends like Pokémon."
You nodded, as if you weren't holding your giggles at the thought of a random girl summoning a Pokeball to pick a man at her will.
“What about you?” Chaewon asked, moving to sit up on your sheets, “do you have any guy drama?”
You blinked.
Chaewon rolled her eyes playfully, "Why are you looking at me like I just asked you to do stoichiometry in your head?" she shifted closer to the edge of the bed, “You’re pretty and all, so I was just wondering if a guy had ever asked you out or something,”
You opened your mouth, despite your brain being unable to formulate a response.
“Uh,” you started, “nothing has really happened to me that way,”
Chaewon shook her head, “Didn’t you go to prom last year?”
You nodded.
“Well, prom is an invite only event,” Chaewon stated.
"Wooyoung asked me," was all you said.
Chaewon's eyebrows lifted, "Jung Wooyoung?"
You nodded, "As a friend," you clarified quickly.
"Maybe," Chaewon hummed. "But guys don't usually ask girls that they're only friends with to go to prom."
"Besides," Chaewon tilted her head. "Doesn't Yeonjun basically follow you around?"
You weren’t really sure where this conversation was going, and you're not really sure if you liked it.
“He doesn’t follow me around,” you defended, “he is just one of my closest friends, that’s all,”
Chaewon hummed, seeming like she was absorbing the information.
“Well,” she said, “do you like him?”
You felt your heart stutter, not knowing how to finally verbalize your feelings, after all, it’s not like Chaewon could do or say anything if you confessed.
You looked down at your lap, “Would it be horrible if I do?”
You couldn’t see Chaewon’s small smile, “I don’t think so,”
The room was silent for a moment.
You didn’t really know what to do, after saying your feelings out loud for the first time.
Yeonjun didn’t really know how to explain that a sixteen-year-old genius had somehow become his closest friend at university.
In fact, he didn’t even think he would have to explain it until Wooyoung barged into their dorm one afternoon and found Taehyun sitting cross-legged on the floor, physics textbooks sprawled around him like he was trying to solve the meaning of life.
Wooyoung simply looked around at the complicated diagrams littered across the room and then asked Taehyun a very important question, “Does your mom know you're here?”
Taehyun looked up, seemingly startled, “Does your mom know you're here?” is all that came out of his mouth.
Wooyoung pursed his lips and nodded, “Touche,” is all he said.
That was the moment that Yeonjun found himself walking into.
He knew he had let Taehyun study in his room because he knew that the kid needed to be somewhere other than the library, what he was not expecting was that Wooyoung would also be there.
Yeonjun walked in the room, letting his two cat-like friends stare each other down for the two sides that they’ve claimed.
He broke the silence the only way he knew how, by letting out a small “Hey,”
The two let out a small mumble of greeting, still staring at each other.
Yeonjun gulped, “Taehyun this is Wooyoung, he’s my friend since like forever”
He turned to face said friend, “Woo, this is Taehyun, I met him a few weeks ago in the library,”
Wooyoung nodded, “He’s small,”
“He is sixteen,” Yeonjun added helpfully.
Taehyun let out the perfected smile that Yeonjun himself used whenever one of his aunts pinched his cheeks too hard.
The room was silent for another moment, letting everything settle in.
A few weeks later, during one of the many afternoons Taehyun had claimed their dorm room as his study spot, Wooyoung looked up from his phone.
“What are your plans for winter?”
Yeonjun felt his calm smile break, turning into more of a grimace as he turned to his roommate, trying to indicate that maybe asking that was not the best topic for their first conversation.
Yeonjun would know, he was the one who asked first anyways.
It was the week before midterms, and Yeonjun was letting Taehyun teach him about biochemical engineering, a field that involved all the three subjects that Yeonjun was the worst at, when the topic of break came up.
Yeonjun didn’t hesitate, he quickly showed Taehyun pictures of you, the messages shared between you, and how excited he was to make jokes with you at the Choi Cousins Movie Night ™ the moment he got back.
“She sounds fun,” is all that Taehyun responded with.
Yeonjun nodded, letting out a toothy smile, as he swiped up through your chats consisting of the two of you sharing random memes and talking shit about school. He didn’t let Taehyun’s dry response shake his resolve, he knew that Taehyun was a little more dry with his emotions.
“What about you?” Yeonjun asked mindlessly, trying to hide his grin as he reread your rant about hating tomato juice and its titration.
While Yeonjun may not have seen, he definitely felt the kid tense up beside him, and it told him enough to drop the question, making him mutter a “You don’t have to tell me if you want,”
Taehyun shook his head, “It’s not a huge deal,” he replied, “it’s just not as fun going back home when all that’s waiting for you is talks about your future that’s been decided for you,”
Yeonjun stilled, absorbing everything being said.
He looked beside him, at Taehyun with his glasses that were a little too big for his face.
His heart stuttered, Taehyun reminded him of how much he wanted a younger sibling, with his big hoodies and his berating tone when he caught Yeonjun eating Froot Loops for the fifth time in a day.
“Do you want to come home with me?” he asked.
Taehyun turned his head around, eyes wide.
“Actually?” he asked Yeonjun.
Yeonjun simply nodded, “I mean you can probably sleep at my house or even Soobin’s house, depending on if his brother comes this year, but you are welcome,”
Yeonjun watched as the boba-like eyes of Taehyun water a little, before turning back to his textbook and nodding, “I’d like that hyung,”
Yeonjun wouldn’t dare admit it, but he really liked it when the honorific slipped out.
He felt warm.
You really needed to talk to Arin more.
The more time you spent with Chaewon, the more your heart ached to be with Arin.
You missed your first girl friend.
It was nearing midnight, and you had finally finished your homework so there was nothing to do over the weekend, and you decided that rather than watching youtube for the next three hours you might as well do something productive.
After all, you had already watched two videos you weren't paying attention to and refreshed every app on your phone twice.
You scrolled through your contacts as you laid on your bed, the only light being the koala lamp your grandma got you when you were born and your phone.
You found Arin’s contact and hovered your finger over it.
You missed her.
Chaewon was great, but she wasn’t Arin. There was nothing wrong with that, but it felt weird having to explain parts of your life to someone who wasn’t there to experience it with you.
Besides, you didn’t really hear much from Arin. You messaged her a few times but it always seemed like your timings were off, making her reply to you two weeks after.
You tried not to take it personally, tried hard not to let it show how much you missed the time where she would be online the minute your typing bubbles appeared.
With a leap of hope, you pressed on her contact, Arin's baby picture appearing on your screen as the phone began to ring.
It rang once, and then it rang twice, but when it rang a third, fourth, and fifth time, you hung up.
You let out a small sigh, debating if you should try again.
As you sat up on your bed, you found that the decision had been made for you, as you saw Arin’s contact displayed on your phone.
Smiling, you let yourself answer the call and hold it up to your ear, “Hello,”
You weren’t really sure what you were expecting, a light “hi!” or maybe a happy mutter of your name, but what you were expecting was to be overhearing Kesha songs through the small speaker.
There was no talking for a moment, making you hear the loud bass of the music with the distant mutter of voices.
You couldn’t help but say into the phone, “Arin?”
What you heard next scared you, it was a groan in a voice similar to Arin’s, you weren’t able to tell because the music was still so fucking loud.
“Arin?” you asked again, concern growing in your chest.
You knew university parties were real. You and Soobin had spent half of middle school dragging Doyoung back to bed whenever he'd stumble home from one. You also knew Arin wanted this. She wanted the parties, the freedom, the experience. But she'd called you two minutes ago, and she still hadn't said a single word.
As you let out a call of her name the third time, you finally heard her voice.
It wasn’t a happy “Hey!” or a happy exclaim of your name, instead you were met with an annoyed groan that greeted you with a sharp, “What the fuck do you want?”
"Hey," you said quietly. "Are... are you okay?"
There was a moment of silence before another groan came through, “God, Y/N,” is all she said.
You stayed silent, unable to understand what was happening.
“I haven’t ever responded to your messages on time in four fucking months what makes you think I want to talk to you right now?” Arin said, her tone filled with her signature bite, something you’ve always heard, just never at you.
“Arin,” you said, trying to ignore the quivering of your lips, “are you drunk?”
She snorted, “No fucking shit Sherlock” she exclaimed into the phone.
“I just wanted to talk,” you said, your voice getting quieter as the heaviness in your chest settled.
Arin let out a dry laugh, “Now you want to talk? After you practically didn’t call me for two months?”
“I was studying,” was all that you replied with.
You didn’t need to be on a video call to know that Arin rolled her eyes, because you know her well enough to know that she did. “Well here’s a wake up call for you Y/N, I don’t care about your studying and as a matter of fact, I don’t fucking care about you,”
And with that, Arin hung up.
You didn’t even bother to hide the tears in your eyes as you went through your phone.
You let your fingers move on autopilot, you didn’t even register clicking Yeonjun’s contact and bringing it up to your ear, you just wanted him.
You let your tears fall as you let the hum of the ringing prevent you from breaking down then and there.
How were you supposed to know? How were you supposed to know that it would only take four months for six years of hushed giggling and deep conversations to be thrown away.
It was only when you heard a small giggle across the line, followed by a “What’s up shortie,” did you register how quickly your heart was beating.
“Yeonjun,” you let out, your throat dry and lips swollen.
A small hum came through the speaker. “Is everything alright?” he asked quietly.
You didn’t really understand how to answer that question.
You gulped. “Have you talked to Arin lately?”
There was some shuffling on the other side before Yeonjun slowly said, “Have you?”
You let out a small noise of confirmation, blinking back the tears reforming in your eyes.
“Oh,” was all he said.
You heard some more shuffling on his side before a distant mutter of, “Hey, I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
“Were you busy?” you croaked out.
Yeonjun replied quickly, “Nope, just went on a walk with Seonghwa and Wooyoung, they promised to let me try their final assignment.”
You couldn’t help the small smile that formed, at least he was still the same.
“So,” he started, and you could imagine him kicking rocks on a path, “you talked to Arin.”
You hummed.
He let out a sigh. “I’ve been trying to keep in touch with her too, but I don’t really know what happened.”
“You knew?” you asked.
“Not really,” he admitted. “I just hear things sometimes. Me and Wooyoung had to pick her up from a party once.”
You swallowed. “I don’t know what to do,” you breathed out. “She felt so mean.”
Yeonjun hummed. “I don’t really know what to do, Y/N,” he replied gently, “but you have to remember that whatever she said, she probably didn’t mean it.”
“Are you sure?” you asked, feeling like your three-year-old self who would ask her dad to make sure there were no monsters in the dark.
“I’m not too sure,” Yeonjun replied honestly, “but even if she did mean it, just remember she isn’t the only one who cares about you.”
You swallowed, nodding along to what he was saying even if he couldn't see you.
“When did you get so good at being comforting?” you asked, sniffling once more.
You heard his small laugh, the one he makes when he’s shy. “I’ve had to step up my game.”
You let out a wet giggle, “Damn, must be hard trying to compete in my shadow,”
It was safe to say that the thing you missed most was simply how easy it was to talk to Yeonjun. He was familiar, his laugh had never changed, and despite the two of you being on the phone for the next three hours, it felt like he was right beside you.
In fact, when you woke up the next morning, you were expecting to see his spikey hair on your bedroom floor like you had so many times in your spontaneous sleepovers. But your room was empty, and your phone had one notification in it.
You rolled your eyes, expecting a pouting selfie from your best friend.
Instead it was three notifications from someone you were no longer sure what to call.
arinindahouse : hey i saw that we called last night ?? lmao sorry i was kinda out and drunk … but is everything okay?
You flipped your phone around and sighed.
It wasn’t like she was the only person in the world.
Yeonjun was bored.
He was bored and he needed Taehyun to stop staring at him as if he was a toddler.
“No,” Taehyun chided him for what felt like the fourth time.
It was two weeks before winter break, and he was sitting in his dorm room with Taehyun trying to convince the boy to do something, anything, fun.
Seonghwa and San were also in the room, waiting for Wooyoung and Yeosang to come back with snacks.
“Don’t you agree with me?” Yeonjun asked, pouting at Seonghwa. “You're the oldest, your word matters most.”
Taehyun furrowed his eyebrows, already opening his mouth to argue with that logic when Seonghwa let out a laugh.
“Sure, Yeonjun,” the older man said, pausing his argument with San over strawberries. “You're right and Taehyun's wrong.”
Taehyun looked scandalized, while Yeonjun got off his bed with a loud cheer.
“What are you planning to do?” Taehyun asked, already surrendering himself to whatever his hyung had in mind.
Yeonjun hummed before turning to San.
“Do you wanna actually dye your hair?”
San's eyes widened before he let out a groan and flung himself backwards onto Wooyoung's bed.
Yeonjun watched him gleefully.
“Let's all dye our hair!” he exclaimed, rivaling the excitement of a seven-year-old who had just been handed a brand new set of Hot Wheels.
San whined, “The last time we did that, my mom almost kicked me out,”
"That's what makes it fun," Yeonjun argued. "We go home with coloured hair and prove we're adults."
San flopped again on Wooyoung’s bed, “Hyung,” he whined at Seonghwa, “stop this,”
Yeonjun looked at Seonghwa, hope shining in his eyes.
Seonghwa sat there, taking the decision to dye their hair as serious as deciding the next meal.
“I think,” the tall boy said, “that I have always wanted to dye my hair pink,”
San groaned as Yeonjun let out a cheer.
Taehyun let out a sigh and simply moved to clean his glasses, “It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission,”
Yeonjun cheered even more, already putting his foot out the door, only to be met with Wooyoung and Yeosang returning with a concerning amount of snacks.
“You will not believe what we just did at the convenience store,” Wooyoung breathed out as he shoved the snacks into Yeonjun’s arms.
Yeonjun simply smiled and passed the snacks to San, who handed them to Seonghwa. The older man immediately spotted the packet of pink mochi and started eating it, letting Taehyun grab one.
“We are going to dye our hair,” Yeonjun stated.
Wooyoung furrowed his eyebrows, "Did you not just hear that we,” he pointed to him and Yeosang, “just humiliated ourselves in that store,”
Yeosang snorted, “That was all you, I can return to that store with dignity,”
Yeonjun watched the interaction, expecting to feel a small sense of envy for how easily Wooyoung brought new people into their group.
Instead, he grabbed Taehyun's hand and dragged everyone towards the nearest convenience store.
He was happy.
Genuinely happy.
Universities should just accept everyone.
After all, why should it matter what you offer them? An education is supposed to be about what the school offers the student.
“This is bullshit,” you said, slamming your laptop shut at the dining table.
“You're telling me,” Soobin replied, gently closing his beside yours.
The one reason the two of you were in your house instead of his was because there was a family gathering happening next door.
A family gathering to celebrate all the university kids coming home for winter break, and the Choi family had decided that it was the perfect, and apparently only, time to get everyone together.
Unfortunately, it also happened to be the exact same time university applications had become everyone's favourite conversation topic, with polite discussions happening between aunties and uncles about the future of the Choi family that somehow always extended to you.
So, rather than sitting through another round of What program are you applying to? and Have you thought about medicine?, you and Soobin were hiding out in your house with your grandma's pre-prepared food while she and your mom were next door getting into the holiday spirit.
You weren’t even sure what the point of kicking the two of you out was. According to Soobin’s mom, it was so the two of you could finalize any supplementary parts of your university applications that you had yet to complete, but you had the mind to tell her that the two of you had been working on applications for the past three weeks.
“It’s just such,” you continued, stuffing your face with cookies, “such bullshit.”
Soobin nodded, also reaching for one of your grandma’s cookies. “It’s only one night too. It’s not as if we’ve been slacking off or something.”
You nodded violently, wholeheartedly agreeing with your friend.
“Besides,” Soobin continued, skipping past the pot of warm pasta and heading straight for the chocolate cake your grandma had already set aside for dessert, “it’s not like we don’t want to see our cousins.”
You let out a hum of agreement.
An hour ago you had been arguing with your mom about this whole predicament because an hour ago you genuinely believed you were going to see Yeonjun today.
However here you were, eating chocolate cake with Soobin in silence as the two of you mourned the party you couldn’t go to along with friends you couldn’t see.
“Is Arin there?” you asked Soobin, not really knowing if he knew anything about his cousin.
He shrugged, moving the piece of cake with his fork, “From what I heard, she probably isn’t allowed home this break,”
You tensed up, “Do you know what happened?”
Soobin shrugged, “I mean, I’ve heard bits of it from my parents but,” he took a bite of cake, letting the frosting smear on his lips, “I stopped really caring after she ghosted me,”
You nodded, taking in the information.
It was then that the door started moving.
Loud enough for the two of you to stare at the door and grip your forks tighter, as if they would be of any use in case of an attack.
The door shifted open, and you and Soobin stayed firmly seated on your stools.
Laughter spilled through from the harsh winter that was happening outside, providing warmth into the empty entrance of your house.
“Should we check who it is?” Soobin leaned over to whisper into your ear.
You shook your head, “It’s definitely not someone harmful,” you whispered back.
“How do you know?” Soobin argued, not letting his eyes leave the door.
“Because they’re laughing,” you pointed out, letting out a smile of satisfaction when you heard a snort.
“Serial Killers laugh too when they are about to murder helpless teens,” he retorted.
“I don’t think serial killers are usually that noisy,” you replied, listening to the quiet giggles and the repeated thunk of boots hitting the floor.
Soobin sighed dramatically. “Damn,” he muttered. “Kinda wanted to add surviving an attack to my university applications.”
You let out a laugh.
“That should be an automatic acceptance.”
Soobin was about to respond, probably to complain that universities still wouldn’t care because his math grade sucked ass, but he was interrupted by a loud crash from the entrance.
By then, you had already climbed off your stool and made your way towards the front door to see who couldn't manage the impossible task of taking off their shoes properly.
Every step was accompanied by another muffled groan or quiet hiss, the kind people made when they were losing a battle against winter boots.
When you finally reached the entrance, with Soobin slowly trailing behind you, you were greeted by the sight of a head of orange being loudly scolded by a head of blue.
You blinked. “Can I help you?”
The two colourful heads snapped up.
Orange-haired Yeonjun stood frozen with one boot still stubbornly hanging off his foot, while beside him another boy with bright blue hair looked equally guilty.
You weren't really sure what the blue-haired boy looked like.
It was hard to pay attention to anything when your heart had decided to do a cartwheel in your chest. Because Yeonjun was standing in your doorway with bright orange hair, pink lips pulled into a pout, and one boot still stubbornly on his foot.
Your lips stretched into a smile before you can even try to look stern, “Do you need help?”
Yeonjun stubbornly shook his head, “It’s not my fault that the boot wants to stay on my foot,”
The blue boy just groaned, “It’s this logic that makes you fail Stats,”
You just shook your head, moving to take both of their jackets and just letting Yeonjun complain to the other boy about why his boot probably found him attractive.
Soobin simply stood there unimpressed with his older cousin, “How do you survive university?”
The shorter boy shook his head, “He doesn’t”
Soobin nodded, “I’m Soobin,”
The boy smiled, “I know,” he pointed to Yeonjun, “he made sure to tell me all about you on the way here.”
Soobin let out a groan.
“I’m Taehyun,” the boy, whose name was now known, announced, putting his hand out for Soobin to shake.
Meanwhile, you were watching your best friend finally pull his boot off his foot, having moved to sitting down on the floor like a child. He let out a victorious grin as he placed the boot next to the other one and smiled up at you.
At that moment, as your eyes finally met for the first time since August, you felt your heart warm. Maybe the movies were right, maybe distance did make the heart grow fonder.
It felt like second nature watching him climb back to his feet, only for him to immediately close the distance between the two of you and wrap you in his arms. You let out a small laugh as you hugged him back, burying your face into his shoulder for just a second longer than you probably should have. You had missed seeing your best friend through something other than a screen.
The warmth of his hoodie that he always wore.
The sweet smell he always carried because he would spend too much time baking with your grandma.
The giggles that used to fill your bedroom.
It was all there.
Somehow, it all fit inside one very orange Choi Yeonjun.
to be added to this / any taglist please send an ask !
You reply with a sleepy 'go to bed', but he keeps typing.
🦊 Junnie: Can’t. My bed’s too big without you.
He sends a photo, just his messy hair and pouty face, and you can practically hear his dramatic sigh.
He falls asleep soon after, your last message unread, but in the morning you find a voice note.
Just his groggy, half-asleep mumble. 'Love you, idiot.'
✎ Entry 5: His Favorite Secret
When fans ask him what makes him happiest, he smiles, wide, unguarded, genuine.
The kind of smile only you ever see.
He’ll say something vague like “good company,” but the moment he’s off-camera, he texts you.
🦊 Junnie: I meant you, obviously.
Because that’s Yeonjun, charismatic to the world, utterly undone by you in private.
He doesn’t need to prove his love. He just lives it, loudly, openly, and without shame.
Bonus:
✎ Secret Entry: Public Displays (Embarrassing Version)
You hadn’t meant to distract him. It was just a random text, just a simple “don’t forget to eat lunch, okay?”, but apparently that was enough to completely derail Yeonjun during practice.
One second he was focused, serious even, and the next he was crouched in the corner of the dance room, phone in hand, grinning so hard it almost looked painful.
Every few seconds he’d type something, pause, read your reply, and let out this ridiculous little giggle that no one had ever heard from him before. Well, not like this.
“Hyung, what are you doing?” Taehyun asked, tone flat but eyes betraying the faintest disbelief.
Yeonjun didn’t even look up. “Texting my partner.”
He said it so casually, like it explained everything, then paused long enough to feel their stares.
Finally, he glanced up, eyes narrowed as ever. “What? Get your own partner! This one’s mine.”
Then, back to typing, smiling to himself like he hadn’t just made the entire room collectively groan.
Soobin blinked, at a loss. Taehyun simply sighed, looking away with the air of someone who’d seen too much.
Kai made a face, half amused, half horrified. “This is... actually kinda painful to watch."
Beomgyu, for once, was silent. Then, suddenly, jerked, shaking his head, crossing his arms as he turned away.
﹙ 🎧 ﹚ ⸝⸝ 16 ss. smau ✦ a lot of cursing/profanity.. violent jokes probably ooc soobin being heavily shaded 😭 unedited kinda boring i fear──── like and reblog~
more under the cut !
back masterlist next
NOTES ~ it’s genuinely almost been like 7 months IM SO SORRY BABIES 😭 schools been ROUGH lately and these last two weeks are going to be even worse…. But for now I will feed you this even though this chapter was kinda boring but ITLL GET BETTER I SWEAR
TAGLIST ୨ৎ you wanna be on the taglist? ^3^ comment on this post or send me an ask (specify the name of the series if the latter) to be added~~
You rested your head against the window, letting a sigh spread past your lips for what felt like the hundredth time to the person in the driver's seat. You knew you weren’t exactly the most patient—not when it didn’t matter, that is—and it was blatantly obvious to anyone and everyone you’ve ever met; You liked to jump headfirst into things, fear not being something that could hold you down the same way gravity did.
Your friend, who was the chauffeur for the few milliseconds she could take her foot off the brake, laughed, glancing in your direction. Her lips pouted pitifully at your exasperated sound, causing you to gently push her shoulder. She dramatically gasped, gripping the wheel tight enough to flush her knuckles.
"I could've fucking crashed!"
You waved your hand in exaggeration, shouting, “We’re not fucking moving!” showing off the bumper-to-bumper traffic that was miles on end, at least.
She curtly chuckled, almost soullessly, “Oh… yeah. We aren’t, are we?”
Your lips pressed into a straight line, shaking your head in response, “I think I’ve dedicated that Ford Focus’ license plate to memory.”
She made an amused sound, like she could relate, “Hopefully they never commit a crime.”
Almost as if it was a bad habit, another sigh rolled off your tongue, your entire body having a reaction to the force. You whined, “How much longer, you think?”
"Entertain yourself!" She replied, obviously treading a thin line between irritation and solidarity, "Play a damn game or something."
"Like what?" You dragged out, sliding further down the leather and crossing your arms.
"You’re truly the worst person to be stuck in traffic with, yn, you know that? Find something."
You bit your lip, taking the hint, and mumbling out a weak, "Okay." If your phone hadn’t died, and if the charger hadn’t started on fire (literally) the other day while you were driving, you would’ve just watched YouTube, or the race you needed to catch up on. But, here you were, bored out of your mind, sitting in traffic with the most irritable person at your side—but you truthfully wouldn’t trade her, or your experiences for the world.
Concluding you couldn’t do anything fun in the car… safely, you looked out the window. Maybe you could play the alphabet game, or the license plate one. But then reality struck: You weren’t moving. How would you see anything different while stationary?
You grunted, earning a huffed-out scoff from your friend.
Then it struck you, “I know!” You shouted suddenly, making her jump, seemingly easing her irritation, as she let out a soft laugh, taking a hand off the wheel.
"Oh?" She quizzed, watching as you rolled down the window. There was a black-haired man, who couldn’t be much older than you—if not the same age. His head was resting on his palm, propped up by the frame of the door, while the other loosely gripped the steering wheel.
He looked just as bored as you.
“Hey!” You shouted, trying to gather his attention. It didn’t work, but you tried again despite the setback. He didn’t look—it must’ve been because his window was rolled up, and he probably had music playing, like a normal person in traffic did. However, you weren’t feeling particularly normal, debating on climbing out the window and knocking to get what you wanted.
Nonetheless, you opted for waving your hands as if you were in distress.
He did a double-take, giving a very, very, confused look. Holy shit. You stopped your hands abruptly, swearing that you didn’t mean to stare like you were. But he was just so… pretty.
Pushing it aside as a residual effect of boredom, you pointed to get him to roll the window down. He hesitantly did, letting a small smile adorn his lips. To which you could’ve 100% blushed at. And maybe you did.
“Hi!” You greeted, and he furrowed his eyebrows, laughing softly. Maybe he didn’t understand what the Hell had to be wrong with you to start a conversation with a stranger… in the middle of traffic.
“Hey,”
“Do you want to play Rock, Paper, Scissors?”
He pondered for a second, giving himself another small chuckle before looking out through the windshield. He must’ve realized you’d be stuck behind the never-ending pile-up for some time. As he looked back, making your heart almost jump out of your ribcage in anticipation. Then, he shrugged.
Some build up.
“Yeah, sure,” You watched as he rolled the window completely down, sticking his hands out in the iconic form, “why not?”
“Oh my God!” You copied his mannerisms, “Yay!” Then, your eyes narrowed, “You say shoot, though, right?”
“I’m not a psychopath,” He nodded, “Would that have been a deal breaker?”
As if he couldn’t get any more perfect, you thought, the sundowning making his skin radiate an alluring presence. You wondered who he was, and if you’d ever get the chance to see him again after… you beat his ass in this children's game, that is.
Maybe nothing would be a deal breaker.
“Okay, rock,” Both your closed fists smacked against your opposite open palm, “paper, scissors… shoot!”
The stranger was holding out a flat hand—paper—and you had yours in a sideways V shape—scissors—meaning you won the round.
You cheered, pumping your fist into the air.
His facade faded, and you began to see a little more of his personality. “You cheated!”
Your hands flew to your chest, “Not me, I—”
He eyed you, remarking, “I don’t know how yet, but you did.” Then he put his hands into the ready position, making you huff and roll your eyes. Nonetheless, you played again, winning… again.
You watched in amusement as he slumped into the driver's seat, “How are you this bad? Usually I'm the one who never wins.”
But before he had a chance to reply, a look of disbelief at your audacity, traffic moved a little bit forward. You jumped at the sudden acceleration from your friend, arms shooting back into the car.
You turned to her, “He’s cute,” She admitted. And you couldn’t exactly deny it—being taken aback when he first turned. His lips moved, but you swore you heard nothing, his face too loud.
“Sucks that he’s literally terrible at a kids game though. I knew it was too good to be t—”
She scoffed amusedly, “That’s rich coming from you, yn.”
Your immediate reaction was to deadpan at the girl, all emotion draining from your once upturned features.
“Hey!” You heard being voiced, your friend then pointing out the still open window. The car had come to a halt again, luckily it was still next to the handsome stranger.
“Oh,” Your smile inevitably came back, “Hi… you?”
“Beomgyu,”
“Yn”
“Well, yn, let’s play again. I won’t let you win this time.” He readied his hands after making sure the vehicles in front of him weren’t moving anymore. “And, do you think I could have your number?”
