meet cutes nyc — j.sc
tags sungchan x reader, meet cutes, fake dating, fluff
wc 2k
summary two strangers, a single question, a pile of lies and the (real) story of how you first met
author's note a birthday gift for my friend baixu <3 two other parts may or may not come... the story is based on the "meet cutes nyc" acc on tiktok lol it's so cute
"Excuse me, sorry, are you two a couple?", a male voice asked.
Your steps momentum cut short by the stranger. Although the sight of his face was a total discovery, the sound of his voice happened to sound quite familiar in your ears. It has taken you a few seconds of looking around to unconcerned flashes of passing by New Yorkers, to realize you were the one that was meant to be interrogated.
You’ve been meaning to confirm your suspicions, asking an innocent « Me? », plucking your messed-out hair by the wind behind your ears. You were still walking, though, caught in the relentless flood of rushed Americans, when a tall silhouette swooped in from nowhere, protectively ghosting his hand over the small of your back.
« Yeah, man. » He quickly answered. His tone coming off thoroughly annoyed at the question. He immediately went into a defense mode, assuming that the man was one of the thousands of cat-callers that would ruin city girls’ days and nights.
To both of your surprises, the man kept on following you, even after the tall stranger’s cold response. « Would you mind telling me the story of how you first met? », he followed up.
You slowed down, as did your makeshift guardian. Realizations slowly washed over you, security eased your heartbeats, but a rush of adrenaline started pumping in your veins.
Your expression shifted to a beaming smile. You turned your face to the first look of who you slowly figured happened to be your new fake partner, catching the sight of the most adorable line of teeth you’ve ever seen. It only took a shared glance for mutual understanding to sync the two of your minds, telepathically agreeing to playing a role you were both lucky and silly enough to play, right there and then.
« Oh, my bad man I thought you were bothering… my girl. » He apologized, attempting to dab him up in pure new yorker style, though the interviewer’s hands were fully occupied by his phone and microphone. A friendly pat on the man’s shoulder seemed to suffice as an apology, to which he replied « No worries. »
This whole awkward interaction has given you enough time to get into character, giggling your role in. You felt confident enough to answer the previous question. You figured you’d go the classic route, an authentic, basic story that the interviewer might not even select to post on his feed later. You felt confident enough to retell the quick tale you just mentally crafted, smiling proudly at the rush of inspiration that has miraculously come to you, when you’ve heard the sound of your voice being smashed by his.
« So, we met at work. » You said.
« We actually met at a wedding » He also said.
You exchanged confused glances, him, through his dark brown framed glasses. You, with a twisted dimple framed smile. He embarrassingly chuckled at the slight grimace that bloomed on your face, allowing himself to fix his mistake of speaking over you, crossing his arms.
« We technically met at work, but I fell for her at a wedding. » He calmly explained, as you deeply nodded in agreement and relief for the salvage of what you almost believed was the premature end of your cover.
Watching him unravel a huge pack of lies gave you time and space to take a mental step back, and feel. You felt oddly free, randomly speaking to two strangers at once, in a country you most likely won’t ever set a foot again in. The nature of this exchange was the strangest, scariest and most thrilling you’ve ever been in. So you’ve wondered, watching the two men talking over your head, what about this very conversation didn’t make you want to run away?
« Basically », he started, searching for his words in your anticipating gaze, only to feel furthermore destabilized. « We were both… interns at this law firm and I just thought she was, like, really really cute but I didn’t act on it, at first. » His words slowly but surely fell out of the lips you were growing quite attached to observing.
« I had a huge, really secret crush on him, though » You added with inexplicable braveness. He looked just as taken aback by your statement as you were, in a way that made his teeth shine through yet again.
« I didn’t know that, love? » He chuckled, calling you that name in a way so natural that it may have triggered the first ounce of nervousness, since the beginning of this improvisation.
« Um… » You started, knowing that you had to come up with something as quickly as possible before your flustered state and growing anxiety would take the better of you, making you run away from the spontaneous kind of moment you’ve knew rarely occurred in your train of life. « So a coworker of us invited us to his wedding, a destination wedding in… »
« South of France. » He completed your sentence, naturally placing his hand on your shoulder. You shared a glance, yet again, both of you about to explode out of your smiles, and break from characters as you wondered if this detail was too much.
« What changed at this wedding? » The interviewer you almost forgot the presence of, asked, ripping you out of one of the eye contacts that seemed to bring you closer and closer.
« Everything. » He breathlessly answered, his mind going back to the lavender scented wedding that had never happened. « She… well she just had the kind of beauty that made me want to like, snatch the bride’s bouquet and marry her on the spot you know. » He softly spoke, his gaze still glued onto yours.
« With her pink dress, » He added, scanning you up and down, smirking at your undeniably flushed state. « and flowers in her hair. »
The words effortlessly spilled out of his mouth, with the sole and accomplished goal of making you into a babbling, flustered mess. Where was his sense of team work, you wondered, as you decided to turn away from him, acting embarrassed from the fictional memory, when really, the chilly weather of early autumn started to have no effect on your heating body.
« Don’t act shy, you knew you looked amazing. » He said, nudging your shoulder, leaning down to your search for your face, giggling at you, like he would to a baby.
« It was just the first time you saw me out of my wrinkled shirts, that’s all. » You shrugged, as you helplessly tried to regain a sense of confidence in this conversation. He couldn’t stop laughing. And you were growing addicted to the sound of it.
He then asked if he could continue the story, or if you wanted to finish it. You let him do it, only now realizing how impressive his story-telling has been so far.
« So I kept admiring her during the week-end, but I was like, absolutely terrified to make a move. And the right time never really arrived, you know. » He kept on confidently lying, now moving around his free hand. « So we came back to the firm, and it took me a whole month to gather up my courage… to finally ask her out. »
« He left me notes. » You added, mentally apologizing as you noticed interview’s mouth opening a little too late. « He’d leave notes on my desk, for work stuff, or just to wish me a good day… until he once told me to go to the rooftop, and then he asked me out. » You teasingly glanced at him. « Get your facts right. »
He chuckled, yet again. His eyes glowed with mischief, when he added a new turn to the story that was being crafted before the interviewer’s, and perhaps the world’s eyes « Yeah, but you rejected me that time anyway. »
You failed at hiding the surprised look on your face, though you were quick to react. « Well obviously, I didn’t want to lose my internship because of a guy? »
« And I didn’t want to lose you over an internship. » He stated, with a whole new gaze now, that was close to making your knees tremble. He was charming, you were now realizing. Way too charming. « Which is why I kept leaving her notes, bringing her her afternoon coffee whenever the office’s machine was down, or when it wasn’t. I was practically begging her to go out with me. » He stated, pulling you closer to him, proudly smiling at the interviewer, who now arbored a matching expression on his face.
You scoffed at his imagination. « And I fell for it. »
« For me, » He corrected you, bringing his attention back to you. « You fell for me. »
You would’ve thought of this line as one of the corniest you were even given to receive, but something about him made you relax into his touch, nodding at his words, losing yourself to him, really, and liking everything he’d say to you.
« How long ago was it? » The entranced interviewer asked, completely falling for it all, just like you did.
« Well, tomorrow is actually our anniversary, so 12 months ago. » You instinctively responded, the overwhelming amount of fun you had in lying plastered all over your face.
« I still have a hard time believing it has been this little time » He added, slightly leaning himself over the microphone, since the street grew louder from the incoming sirens. He turned back to you, waiting for the police car to rush down the entire street. As it’s alarm, died down, he took in your entire features, and in a soft voice that fell like a feather on your ear, clashing against the stumbling and rumbling of the concrete jungle, he said, « I feel like we’ve known each other since forever. »
« And after almost a year, what’s your favorite thing about each other? »
« Well… » You looked at him, and remembered, in a flash, that you actually didn’t know a thing about the man who had wrapped his arm around your shoulders. You couldn’t help but burst a little laugh, him joining you in the act. You hoped the camera captured it as a flustered moment between the two of you, instead of your characters completely breaking out of their shells. Your search for answers on the lines of his face ended up with the realization that this happened to be the easiest question to answer so far.
« He is so funny, one of the funniest person I have ever met. And he is… full of surprises, so easy to get along with. » You truthfully answered.
« So easy to… love » You ended up adding, his undeniable handsomeness catching you in a mirage that would make you say any fucking thing on camera.
It was now his turn to be taken short by the natural flow of your words. His smile slowly faded into a more serious expression. An epiphany of the absurdness of this very minute crashed upon him, a storm of feelings rising out of the pile of lies he tried to bury himself into.
« He’s very gentle, too. I always feel safe with him. » You concluded your statement, now staring at the interviewer’s face with a soft smile, patiently waiting for the same kind of vague compliments to be placed upon you.
« As for me, the more time I spend with her, » His voice sounding clearer now that you weren’t looking at him. « the more I want to know her. Like fully know her, more than she knows herself. There isn’t a single thing about her that isn’t my favorite. »
You turned to look back up at him, as he turn to look back in front of him.
« But if I really really had to choose… it would be her dimples. » He giggled as he watched yours dig inside your cheeks.
« Finally, what are you most excited to do in the future together? » User @meetcutesnyc asked.
You looked at each other, knowingly.
« Learning about each other. » You both answered.
« More. » He added.
GOTHAMGF©