apple pie
🍎Warnings: food mentions, some angst
🍎Pairing: college!Wooseok x college!(gender neutral)reader
🍎Summary: where i twist my (irl) first year university experience and give it the happy ending i wanted :D
🍎Word count: 5k
🍎first year of university is annoying. some tall guy keeps stealing your seat, making your mornings a little more frustrating. when you find the guts to take your seat back, your feelings of anger develop into something else. but like a poisoned apple, though seemingly sweet, some things, or some people, are just forbidden. yet when an apple is baked with love into a pie, a pie that needs much care and time to bake properly, won’t the outcome be a good one? 🍎
You always sit in the front. It helps you to stay focused and it’s very important that you sit in the same spot everyday.
It always took a few weeks of getting to class early before everyone would stay away from your seat, since in university, there aren’t any seating plans. Consequently, it didn’t normally bother you if someone took your seat.
But this time, it did.
Getting to your chem class from calc involved rushing from one side of campus to the other, so by the time you arrived, someone was sitting in ‘your seat’. You sighed and sat somewhere a few rows back, glaring at the figure of this intruder. He had his black bag on the seat next to him, and you wondered who he was saving his seat for.
It was hard to focus in class, especially when you realized that this boy had not been saving the seat next to him, but was just putting his bag there. I could have sat there... you thought.
During class, there would often be multiple choice questions that you would have to answer on your phone called ‘iclickers’. It was a method of keeping track of attendance and who was paying attention. Your eyes were glued to your intruder’s back for the first twenty minutes of class, so you got the first iclicker wrong. They were supposed to be easy marks, but you got it wrong.
It’s all his fault, you thought. If only he hadn’t sat there!
From that day on, he’d always beat you to your seat. If he only sat there once, you would’ve been able to forgive him, but the fact that he was there everyday made you angry. Even worse, his bag took up the spot next to him. A perfectly good spot taken by a bag...
One day, you stomped up to him and without saying ‘excuse me’ or asking if the seat next to him was taken, you slid into the spot where his bag was, forcing him to remove it.
I did it! You thought. Front row spot secured.
Everyday, you would sit next to him, and the two of you never exchanged a word. You didn’t want to start the conversation because he was the intruder and you wouldn’t do that for him.
Yes, at first, you hated him just a bit. He’d taken your seat! Why wouldn’t you?
You started to notice how he would clear his throat every few seconds right before sniffling. How he’d push up his wire-rimmed glasses after looking down at his notes. How he removed his cap so he could fix his overgrown, dark locks underneath. The sound of his black jacket crinkling as he shifted his arms so he could rest his chin in his palm... Cute, you thought. No! Cute? Intruder man? No no no...
Your crush was in full swing before you knew it. You were excited to come to class everyday just to see him. That was it. See him. Not talk to him, but see him. You were too scared to suddenly start a conversation after sitting next to him in silence for a week, but you knew you would regret it if you didn’t try.
After frantically texting your friends for courage and advice, you walked to class early on Monday so you could be there before him. When he came to sit next you, your heart was racing. Okay, I’ll just ask him about the lecture notes so I don’t seem weird, then I’ll ask for his name, then...
You took a deep breath. Your heart beat was like an earthquake, shaking your entire body. Were your ribs crumbling inside? Why did it feel like your body was collapsing?
“Hey um...” he didn’t hear you, so you gently poked his shoulder and he turned to look at you. You were too scared to meet his eyes, so you stared somewhere to his left.
“Um, do you know where we left off in the lecture notes last week?” You asked. I did it, I’m doing it !
“Yeah,” he said, shuffling a few pages around and pulling out a paper, pointing to something. “Here.” His voice was deep.
“Ah, thank you,” you said, pretending to go through your own notes. “I know I always sit next to you, but I’ve never spoken to you before, what’s your name?”
“Me?” he asked, pointing to himself with wide eyes. “Wooseok.”
“Wooseok... My name is [y/n],” You said. He nodded, looking back at his notes.
Realizing that he wasn’t going to continue the conversation, you decided to try asking him a question while mentally kicking yourself for doing all the hard work in the conversation.
He answered, telling you that he was studying Humanities. Unsure of which specific program he wanted to pursue, he was taking a variety of courses, including chemistry for some reason.
“Just keeping my options open,” he said with a chuckle.
It felt a bit awkward, like you were interviewing him, but you were glad to have started the conversation, proud that you were brave for once despite being so scared of initiating conversations.
The professor strolled in and class begun, so you decided not to bother Wooseok anymore for the time being.
The next day, you tried again, asking him more questions. He told you how he was an international student from Korea, living here without his parents and family. You felt a little upset, knowing that his family was far away. It made you want to be kinder to the intruder who stole your seat. And your heart.
Each day, you tried to talk to him more and eventually, he seemed to feel more comfortable around you.
“How’s your day going?” he asked you for the first time as you sat beside him. You responded while smiling, earning you a grin in return from the tall boy.
At some point, he also started saving your seat for you. He had stopped placing his bag beside him when you forcefully sat next to him the first time, but he started placing his bag there again now, removing it as soon as he saw you rushing through the double doors to the front row.
He didn’t want anyone to sit beside him except for you.
Those brief moments before class were something that you treasured. The two of you talking and getting to know one another, Wooseok’s eye smile as he spoke... it was so lovely. Even during class, you’d share answers for the iclickers, explaining your thoughts to one another and debating the answers. You’d both groan when you got them wrong and grinned when you got them right.
The front row experience meant an up-close view of the demos, so the two of you would share your amazement with every explosion, trying to predict what would happen next.
During your bleak and often stressful first year of university, your crush on Wooseok and his presence had become your solace. That was, until February 14th. The day before reading week. A Friday. Valentine’s day.
Frankly, you were worried that Wooseok was seeing someone from the very start. He was so pretty, and pretty international students were known for having s/os. You used Valentine’s day as an excuse to see if you could find an answer to your question.
“Woah Wooseok, it’s Valentine’s day. The days are passing so quickly, I didn’t even notice!” you said, trying to play it cool.
“Oh yeah!” Wooseok said, scratching the back of his neck. “I should buy something for my s/o...”
s/o. There it was. The answer that you expected but dreaded.
You felt your heart drop but tried to keep it together. Wooseok returned to his notes, unaware of the fact that you were falling apart right beside him.
Even when the professor began to lecture, you were unable to pay attention, drifting in and out of sadness. You didn’t realize how big your crush on Wooseok was until now.
That’s okay! you told yourself. I can still just be his friend. I should ask for his socials later to see if he’ll want to meet during the break.
Wooseok was in a rush to leave as soon as the professor dismissed the class. A big smile on his face, he quickly packed up.
“Finally, the break is here!” he exclaimed.
You tried to keep up with the tall boy’s pace, scurrying behind him and quietly asking him if he would want to meet during your week off school. He seemed to be in a daze, grinning while he took your phone to search for his sns account.
He left you standing there.
You were happy that you could contact him but sad that he would be nothing but a friend.
🍎
During the break, you decided to ask him what he was up to while you were sitting in the boba store at your local mall. He told you that he was in a nearby city, staying at his friend’s house. Damn, he probably won’t want to meet me since he’s so far away.
You were glad that he wasn’t alone though, and after quite a dry text conversation with him, you slipped your phone into your pocket and walked off.
By the time the break was over and you were back in your chemistry class, Wooseok seemed sad again. When you asked him what was up, he told you he was sad because the break ended so fast and he hadn’t gotten much done. A lot of deadlines were waiting for him. It wasn’t even your problem, but you felt upset seeing him stressed.
You had gotten used to recognizing his moods by the way he acted. He was a little more quiet when he was tired, sad or stressed, but when he wanted to talk to you, you could tell he was feeling happier, which also made you happy.
🍎
A few days later, there was a day when the professor didn’t come to class. Half an hour had passed and he still wasn’t there, so you decided to leave. Wooseok wanted to stay to do some work, so you left alone.
You passed a boba shop in the student centre on your way to your next class and quickly messaged Wooseok asking him if he wanted you to buy anything. It was another stressful day for him it seemed, and you wanted to cheer him up.
He thanked you but said he didn’t want anything, so you trudged away to your next class, feeling defeated. You wished you had just asked him to come along with you.
It was your biggest goal and dream to see Wooseok outside of your chemistry class. It seemed like he only existed there, and you wished that you could randomly run into him on campus or have a study date with him... It felt like he wasn’t even real, since you only saw him in chemistry.
One day, it actually happened. Your next class was cancelled so you had an extra two hours, and Wooseok was also free for the next two hours. When you asked him where he was going to spend his time, he said, “the library. Wanna come with me?”
The fact that he wanted you to come along, that he asked the question with his eyes widened and a small smile on his face, eager for an answer, all of this was enough to make your heart flutter.
As you left the lecture hall while walking right next to him, the cold winter air hit your face and both of you almost tripped on a pile of snow right outside the door. You laughed along with him, thankful that you see him outside of the lecture hall.
I guess he is real and not just some figment of my imagination...
The library was packed, buzzing with the sound of students studying for their midterms. The two of you managed to find an empty table though, sitting side by side and opening your books.
Wooseok complained about his crazy final exam schedule, and as you showed him your own schedule on your laptop, he shuffled over to lean in closer, trying to get a better view. It made your heart race; he was so close.
Even as the two of you studied, he would lean in to see what part of the mock test your were on.
When it was time to head to class, the two of you walked side by side for as far as you could until you had to part ways. Wooseok’s tall frame towered over you from your right, and the fact that you had to look up at him every time he spoke made you feel small and cute. He was the only person who could make you feel this way.
Waving goodbye, you checked the time and began to ran as you realized you were late. Quickly shuffling into a seat, your friend elbowed you from beside you, asking you where you had been.
“In the library with Wooseok,” you whispered.
“A library date?!” your friend exclaimed. You slapped their shoulder shyly and tried to pay attention in class, but your head was still spinning. Finally you had gotten to hang out with Wooseok outside of class... Could this mean that your friendship was growing?
🍎
You and Wooseok would leave class together more often, sometimes meeting when you were both free to study. Even though you were both only close enough to talk about school and not your personal interests, you still tried to learn more about him and his love for anime, music, and his weird sleeping schedule.
Sometimes the two of you would only talk instead of studying, which you didn’t mind in the slightest bit.
Things were going well. You even got to hang out with Wooseok on a weekend, walking around town and exploring some shops.
You stole glances at him as his long fingers thumbed through jackets, his eyes focused, trying to find something he wanted. When he pulled out a funny T-shirt that he wanted to show you, you quickly looked away and blushed, not wanted him to know that you were staring.
“[y/n], look! Isn’t this funny?” he asked you, grinning cutely. You nodded and walked over to look at the shirt, which has quite a weird design on it.
“I kind of want to buy it...” he admitted.
“You should do it!” you told him, lightly nudging him.
When you got hungry and found a place to eat, Wooseok shared his food with you.
“Hey, I shared mine with you so you better give me some of yours!” he demanded jokingly. He only ended up taking the smallest amount of your food, not wanting to take a lot from the dish that he noticed you were enjoying.
At the last store that you decided to check out before leaving, you found a keychain that you really liked. You rubbed your thumb over its edges, turning it over and over in your hand. Eventually, you left it there. It was too expensive and you didn’t want to spend your money on something you didn’t really need.
When you and Wooseok were about to part ways, he handed you a small plastic bag, eyeing you eagerly. When you opened it and looked inside, you found the keychain you had looked at earlier.
“I noticed you liked it... it would look pretty cool on your bag,” he said nervously, scratching his neck.
As soon as Wooseok was out of sight, you attached it to your bag right away.
🍎
The two of you had become closer as friends. Things were going so well, and even though you still had a crush on Wooseok, you controlled yourself and reminded yourself that you were only his friend. He was in a happy, long term relationship and you didn’t want to ruin anything.
You didn’t ruin anything, but someone else did.
Strangely enough, even though you never saw Wooseok on campus, you saw him on this day, walking towards you while scrolling through his phone. His cream coloured winter jacket bounced up and down with every one of his long strides.
You nudged your friend beside you.
“You know how you’ve never seen Wooseok before? There he is, that’s him,” you told them.
Your friend followed your gaze and laid eyes on Wooseok.
“Yo! Wooseok!” they yelled. Wooseok looked up, confused, but smiled when he saw you next to your friend.
The three of you stepped off the sidewalk and onto the grass, since there were a lot of people walking around, trying to get to places and you didn’t want to cause what you and your friends called a ‘hallway traffic blockage’.
“Hi Wooseok, this is my friend,” you told him. He greeted your friend and your friend seemed quite excited. They were very outgoing, and finally having met your crush of a few months made them even more ecstatic.
“Nice to meet you, Wooseok! I’ve heard so much about you and now I finally met you... I’m like ‘ohhh, so this is the guy who [y/n] has a phat crush on’, they’re always talking about you I swear-” your friend rambled.
What? Crush? Did they just...
Your friend slapped their own mouth, turning to you with wide eyes.
You started laughing out of nervousness, making Wooseok, who was quite speechless, chuckle along.
“You’re so funny!” you said to your friend. “They’re just joking, Wooseok. Anyway, we’re so busy, gotta go I’ll see you soon!”
You grabbed your friend and pushed them forward, both of you speed-walking away from Wooseok.
“What are you doing?!” you asked your friend.
They looked down, completely guilty.
“I don’t know why that just slipped out; I have no idea...”
How am I going to face him again?
You couldn’t. Even though you thought you shook it off as a ‘joke’ quite smoothly, you still couldn’t face him knowing that he heard what he heard.
You started to skip lectures. So full of embarrassment, you followed along with the podcasts and recorded lectures instead, doing the iclickers from the library and teaching everything to yourself. It was difficult, but for the sake of hiding your shame, you would work hard.
Wooseok messaged you after a few days.
Hey... Have u been ok? why aren’t u in class anymore?
You responded by telling him that you were extremely sick, but after a few weeks passed and the end of the term approached, Wooseok continued to message you.
Is it really bad? It’s been a couple of weeks now... Do u need any help? Will u be able to write the exam?
I can write the exam... it’s just hard to come to lecture, I’m sorry
After the final exam, you spent the rest of the summer ignoring Wooseok’s messages out of pure embarrassment. He didn’t message you often, but tried to check up on you every few days.
hello? r u still sick?
are you feeling any better yet? is everything ok?
it’s not bad... right?
pls if you need any help, pls tell me
He stopped messaging you after a month, but your friend told you that they got a message from him asking about you.
“Tell him I’m fine, I’m just busy,” you told them.
“That’s not a good enough excuse, [y/n]... you can’t keep hiding just because he found out you like him. He probably thought it was a joke anyway, just message him back, okay?” your friend told you.
You never got the courage to message Wooseok, but your friend was pulling tricks behind your own back.
A month later, your doorbell rang, and you cautiously approached the door. Not expecting anyone, you peeked through a window beside your door and saw Wooseok, who waved at you with a worried look on his face.
My friend did this, didn’t they... I’ll get them back for this..
Wooseok had seen your face, so you couldn’t ignore him anyway. You slowly opened the door, ducking your head down.
“[y/n], are you okay? Are you still sick? What’s going on?” he asked.
“Do you want to come in?” you asked him. You let him into your house and he politely removed his shoes, shuffling into your living room.
“Do you want anything to drink?” you asked him, hovering in the kitchen.
“I’m fine, [y/n], please just tell me what’s going on. I’ve been so worried, you never missed lectures and you always messaged me... What’s happening?” he asked you.
You sat next to him, leaving adequate space to avoid making either of you uncomfortable.
There were no more lies that you could make up now. Might as well come clean and end the friendship here.
“Wooseok... did you know I liked you?” you asked, quietly.
“You liked me?” his tone was high-pitched and sharp. “So what your friend said...”
“It wasn’t a joke. I know you didn’t believe it, but I couldn’t face you anymore after that, so I lied to avoid coming to lectures, I’m sorry. I swear I didn’t have any bad intentions, I know you have an s/o but I don’t want you to break up-”
“I don’t have an s/o,” Wooseok said.
“What?” you asked, finally turning to face him. Wooseok’s face was flushed, his long, soft hair perfectly sitting around his face as he looked down.
“We broke up... Some things just didn’t really work out,” he said.
“Wooseok, I’m so sorry...” You said, carefully placing a hand on his shoulder.
It wasn’t because of me, right? What if they found out I liked Wooseok and they broke up with him because of that?
“You better not think it was your fault,” he said, looking into your eyes. “Cause it wasn’t...”
You bit your lip, trying to think of something to say.
“Do you wanna watch some movies... or something?” you asked him, carefully.
He smiled and sat up straight, suddenly towering over you.
“That sounds nice.”
You pulled out whatever snacks you could find and let Wooseok choose a movie. Despite feeling awkward at first, the two of you eventually sat comfortably on the couch.
Hearing Wooseok’s laugh when a character cracked a joke, feeling his happiness and presence from beside you filled your heart with so much joy that you wondered how you had ignored him for all this time and went weeks without seeing him. You were glad that you could be friends again.
After the movie ended, Wooseok decided to leave, saying he ‘didn’t want to bother you’, but he made you promise to answer all his messages and hang out with him over the summer.
Following that, there were many late night messages from Wooseok ‘checking up on you’.
are u awake?
yes, Wooseok, i’m awake
but why, you should be sleeping
IT’S 9PM !
yeah.. bedtime cmon, don’t stay up late
says the one with the whack sleeping schedule
Wooseok was messaging you all day and was like a reminder to drink water, eat your meals and sleep on time. It got so out of hand that you had to meet up just to tell him that you were okay. He didn’t let you go though, and grabbed your hand to pull you towards the bus stop.
“Well you’ve come all the way here, wanna go to my favourite arcade?”
He didn’t even wait for your answer, but pulled you onto the bus and to the seat at the very back. Seeing his long legs squished together and his knees hitting the back of the seat in front of him, you let out a giggle.
“What’s so funny?” he asked you.
“Your legs... you must be uncomfortable.”
You shuffled over so he could move his legs over to your side. The cute shorts that he wore and his pale, exposed skin made you want to poke his legs. They looked as soft as mochi.
While he was staring out the window, you quickly poked his leg and looked away. Wooseok poked you back in response, starting a poking war that caused the two of you to miss your stop.
It was okay though, because you got to walk back to the arcade and pass through a pretty park.
“[y/n]!” Wooseok said. “We should have a picnic in there someday.”
“That sounds nice,” you admitted, watching some kids running through the green grass, chasing each other.
The arcade was quite a small one with mostly claw machines.
“You like claw machines?” you asked the tall boy.
“Well...” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “I just really wanted to win you something.”
So he set off one a mission to win something from one of the claw machines, but it turned out to be harder than he’d thought. There were many frustrated groans that escaped his lips and he even hit one of the machines, earning the both of you a glare from the worker.
“Don’t worry [y/n], I’m going to get it this time,” Wooseok said, pouting as he carefully moved the claw around with the handle.
“It’s okay, Wooseok,” you told him. “You’ve already spent so many tokens!”
When he pressed the button and the stuffed animal was captured by the claw, lifted higher, dropping into the compartment, both of you high-fived one another in excitement.
“See, I got it!” Wooseok exclaimed, handing you the result of his hard work.
“It’s so cute... It even looks like you,” you said, holding it up to his face.
“Well I guess that means you’re stuck with me for life,” he said with a cheeky grin as he left the arcade.
You ran to catch up with him, trying to shrug off his comment.
🍎
After spending your summer being in touch with a worried Wooseok every day and meeting up with him several times a week, the two of you were laying down in the sand at the beach. The sun had set and it was getting dark, but the calming sound of the deep blue waves and the soothing, chilly breeze was putting your mind at ease.
Another year of classes would be starting after the coming weekend, and you were trying to get as much rest up until that point.
Kicking at the darkened sand with your shoe, you looked up at Wooseok, who was staring at the sky. There was a glint in his eyes that you’d never seen before, and he seemed to be deep in thought.
Looking up the sky for yourself, you admired the navy colour and the dim stars that tried their best to shine through. Your gaze trailed back down to Wooseok and you stared at the straight outline of his nose.
Boop.
Wooseok’s nose gently squished under your finger as you touched it, and his eyes shifted to your face.
“What are you doing?” he asked in his deep voice.
“Booping your nose.”
He shifted in his position so that he could face you, and your heart felt like it was gasping in shock at how close the two of you were.
“[y/n],” Wooseok called out softly, even though he was right next to you.
“Yes?” you mumbled.
“Has it been lonely liking me all this time?”
Your eyes shifted down to the shore where the waves seemed to hesitate before falling on top of the sand.
“I’ve been controlling my heart, so don’t worry,” you reassured him, meeting his eyes again. His facial expression held pity, but also something you couldn’t quite describe. His small smile gave you a peek of his teeth, which you always told him you adored.
“I think I owe you an apology,” Wooseok said. Then he pressed his lips together in a smirk, turning his back to you as he quickly looked through his bag for something.
He turned back to you with an apple in his hand.
“Apple-ogy,” he said, wheezing at the corny mess of a joke that just escaped him.
You pressed your lips together, supressing a laugh.
“What’s the apple-ogy for?” you asked him, lightly punching his shoulder.
“I think, [y/n],” Wooseok said, choosing his words carefully. “I think I’ve actually liked you for some time too, but I made it seem like it was only you who liked me, I’m sorry.”
“You what?” you asked. “Since when?”
“When you ghosted me in that chemistry class and things fell apart with my s/o, I found myself worrying about you more than I worried about myself. And now I can’t even go a day without hearing from you. I really think I like you, [y/n].”
“Are you sure?” you asked him quietly. You didn’t want him to mistake his feelings as any sort of love if it was something else; you didn’t want him to feel bad that you liked him.
You wanted him to be sure of his feelings.
“Yes, [y/n]. This is kind of cringe and sappy to say, but even now Ireallywanttowrapmyarmsaroundyou and hold you,” he muttered quickly.
A smile made its way on your face before you even knew it, and you reached out to hug Wooseok first.
“If you’re sure, then I’m glad,” you hold Wooseok, who snaked his long legs in between yours, pulling you closer. You were laying on his chest now while he laid on his back, your ear against his ribs, listening to his heartbeat.
His arms were the only thing that held you in place.
🍎
When classes finally began again, you and Wooseok had purposely taken the same elective. You both enjoyed it, which was a bonus, but you would also be able to see each other in class everyday.
On the first day, you had to rush to your shared class from another class. You instinctively walked towards the front row, scanning for free seats. A tall boy was sitting with his black bag on the seat next to him, and you felt nostalgia deep in your gut.
Walking towards him, you realized that this was exactly who you thought it was. Wooseok looked up just before you reached where he sat, and with a big smile, moved his bag to the floor so you could sit beside him.
“Still saving seats for me?” you asked him as you settled in.
“It’s not my fault you’re always late,” he said, fake annoyance in his tone.
