Affectionately Attached
Request: first kiss w changkyun? :’)
Member: Monsta X’s Changkyun x Y/N
Type: Fluff
“Look, it just didn’t work out,” you groaned into your phone. With a muffled sigh, you pressed your face into your pillow and tried to mask a cough as it rattled through your lungs. “Sometimes that’s life.”
“I guess,” your friend grumbled from the opposite end of the line. “I just really thought you two would get along.”
You tried not to inspire another hacking fit as a laugh began to rumble it’s way up your throat. “Oh? What made you think that?”
“Well, you have to admit, he’s really good looking-” she began.
“If you like the pretty boy type,” you muttered with an eye roll. “And a musician? Like how cliche can you-”
“Oh, come on, Y/N!” your friend gasped. “The pretty boy type? Changkyun? Not even!”
“He is prettier than the average bear,” you sighed. Pulling yourself up from your sweat-drenched sheets, you sniffed, and pressed the back of your hand against your forehead. Still warm.
“Well, quit dating bears,” she hummed. Her smile radiated through her words, traveling over the phone conversation from how ever many miles away she was.
“I’ll work on it,” you hissed, letting your hand fall back down onto the mattress. You felt absolutely horrific and her words were definitely not doing anything to make you feel better.
“You sound like crap,” she confirmed, clicking at something idly on her end of the line. “Get some rest.”
“That’s what I was doing before someone started war-dialing me,” you scoffed. You flopped backwards onto your pillows once again only to become a congested mess.
“It was two in the afternoon!” she hissed defensively. “And you hadn’t told me how the date went.”
“Is it possible to have caught the plague off of a blind date?” you hummed, tapping your lip.
“Not if you didn’t kiss him,” she chuckled.
“One, that was a hard pass,” you argued. “Two, I’m pretty sure tuberculosis is an airborne illness.”
“Do you need me to bring you anything?” she asked, choosing to ignore your dramatics. “Tissues? Cough syrup? Another man, perhaps?”
“No,” you groaned. “But you can call the one you tried to give to me the other night. I’m pretty sure I left my wallet somewhere in his car, but forgot it in my attempt to flee as quickly as possible.”
“Ugh,” she gasped. If she had been in front of you, you knew she’d be shaking her head. “It was not THAT bad! Why don’t you just ask him for it? Unless you were planning on ghosting the poor kid because if that’s the case-”
“Are you going to get my wallet or not?” you sniffed. You knew your pouting meant nothing to her, especially if it wasn’t in her visual vicinity
“Why don’t you give Changkyun a call?” she hummed, the joy in her tone undeniable. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind dropping it off.”
“But-” you began.
“Let me know how it goes,” she cooed, hanging up with an echoing thud.
You let out a moan as you tossed your phone across the bed. Since the moment your friend had set you up with one of the musicians she was managing, you knew it would be more trouble than it was worth. It took a special kind of person to date someone with such a time consuming career and frankly, you weren’t that special. The date itself took around three weeks to actually come to fruition, considering he was constantly working or out of town. It gave you some time to get to know one another over Kakao, but what little you did know of Changkyun did not translate well into reality.
He was odd. He owned endless small quirks that you hadn’t mentally prepared yourself for before seeing him face to face. Your friend was correct on some assumptions though, even though you denied your attraction toward him, he was undeniably handsome. It also didn’t help that when he spoke, the simple tone of his voice was enough to send your mind into a fog.
But an aesthetic face and a rumbly voice weren’t enough to save you from the intense amounts of awkward that had followed.
As you had told her, sometimes, two people just weren’t meant to work out.
After laying face down in your bed for a few more minutes…or hours, you weren’t exactly sure do to the immense amounts of antihistamines circulating through your system, you finally swallowed your pride and reached for your cell. Just as your fingers found Changkyun’s number a steady knock landed on your door, shaking every thought of what you were doing from your mind.
With heavy breaths, you pushed yourself from your mattress and attempted to find your slippers tucked haphazardly beneath your bed. After a failed momentary search, you stumbled down the cold hardwood of your hallway and tried to keep yourself vertical. You weren’t sure if it was the fever or your medication making you dizzy, but either way, the bug you had was hitting you hard.
Your fingers began to blur in your vision as you worked at the locks of your door. You hadn’t even bothered to look out of the peephole and actually see who was visiting, but you continued anyway. After a few more moments and heavy sighs, you finally released the barrier and swung it toward you.
“Hey,” Changkyun whispered, already breathless from simply standing there.
“Uh…” you trailed, looking him up and down. What exactly was he doing here?
“You left your wallet in my car,” he said with a small smile. “So I went through it and found your I.D. - I mean…I didn’t like…GO through it, like I had the intention of finding your I.D. but-”
You felt incredibly hot as you stood before him. Even though you were just wearing a tank top and shorts, it felt as if the air remained uncirculated. As if the molecules around you were hot to the touch. You tried to remain incredibly still as he continued to ramble, his eyes glued to the floor as he spoke.
“-so long story short, I was vaccuming out my car and found it under the seat,” he croaked, finally chancing a look your way. Upon focusing on your face, his eyes grew wide. He tilted his head with a squint before opening his mouth slightly. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I have the flu, I think,” you groaned. “You didn’t happen to give it to me…did you?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head vehemently. “I had the flu awhile back, but cured it with this tonic I’ve adapted. You see, the main ingredient is onion and you just have to-”
“Thanks for bringing my wallet by,” you muttered, reaching forward to take it from his hands. As you shifted, it felt as if gravity gave you a swift shove in the lower back, causing you to stumble directly into his arms. Gripping your shoulders, he squeaked in surprise, and kept you held to his chest for a moment.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked quietly, slowly pushing you away from him. He leaned down to become eye level and began to gnaw on his lip. The concern was evident on his face, but you weren’t one to ask for pity. Especially not from a boy you had the full intention of never having to speak to again.
“Peachy,” you hummed, trying to regain your balance, only to slump against the doorframe.
“Let me help you back to bed,” he nodded, taking a daring step into your apartment.
“I don’t need help,” you grumbled, allowing him to take your arm anyway.
“Of course you don’t,” Changkyun cooed, shifting the bulk of your weight onto his side. A small huff escaped his lips as he began to move again, lost in how to actually navigate to your bedroom. “You could do it all by yourself if you wanted.”
“Yeah,” you sighed, feeling as if you would fall asleep at any moment. You didn’t like this sudden feeling coming over you and you weren’t sure how to stop it. “I just…don’t want to.”
“Nope, let Changkyun do the work,” he hummed, continuing slowly down your hall. He peaked in each door as he went, hoping to find a bed positioned in one of the spaces. “Let him prove his worth.”
“Yeah,” you agreed again. “Let…let Chang…”
“Changkyun,” he chuckled softly, finally locating your small bedroom. With careful hands, he situated his arms to wrap around your torso, and ease you down toward the mattress. His hand hovered lightly behind your skull, while the other remained firm at your back. As if laying a baby into a crib, he held his breath until your body was safely transitioned into the mound of blankets. “Can I get you anything?”
“Sleep,” you said quietly, your eyes already heavy. You were exhausted from the simple effort it took to navigate your apartment, even when Changkyun had done most of the work. Changkyun, the boy you had never expected to see again…still in your apartment.
“Okay,” he sighed with a small nod. “I think I’ll-”
Before you heard the latter half of his sentence you had already drifted off, your fever taking you into dreams you had never hoped for.
“I’ll just…go get you soup or something,” he continued, standing still for a moment as he watched you. He was paralyzed with indecision, his eyes hardly capable of looking away from your skin glistening with sweat.
Changkyun wasn’t a fool. He knew you had no intention of ever texting him post date. He had been awkward and you hadn’t even politely laughed at his ill-timed jokes. But even though he knew that you hadn’t wanted him, he couldn’t leave you in good conscience, especially after you nearly passed out at his feet.
It was the middle of the night before you began to stir, your heart pounding and body aching. Your stomach growled with the ghost of your last meal, causing you to almost wretch from the emptiness. Sitting up slowly in bed, you didn’t even begin to have enough strength to ease out of it, let alone make yourself food. With shaking fingers, you reached around in the sheets, looking for your phone. Maybe if you begged, one of your friends would bring you something, anything.
“Hey,” a strangely familiar voice croaked from the door. You looked up with wide eyes to see the shadow of a man outlined in the backlighting of your living room. “You hungry?”
“What are you doing here?” you managed, unsure if you were fascinated or frightened. What kind of weirdo stayed around when he wasn’t even actively dating someone?
“I brought you soup,” he nodded to himself. Looking down at his empty hands, he spun on his heel and disappeared. In a few seconds time, he returned, a small tray having appeared where nothing was before.
“No, but why are you here?” you repeated as he crossed the room, setting the tray on the top of your knees. He began to slowly sit on the mattress, but caught himself before putting his full weight down. Springing back up awkwardly, he looked around your room, making sure to keep his focus anywhere but on you.
“Was bringing you soup not a good enough answer?” he chuckled, scrubbing a hand along the back of his neck.
“Well…I mean it’s nice and all, but Changkyun, I’m sure you have a life. You don’t need to spend it hanging out here and feeling obligated to take care of me,” you groaned, glancing toward the food he had found. You nearly burst into tears as a bowl of ramen stared back up at you, thick waves of steam entering the air above it.
You attempted to sit yourself up, but to no avail. Changkyun smiled sadly at you before walking over and helping you scoot forward. Taking your spare pillows, he managed to build a sizable cushion behind you before stepping backwards again.
“I have a little bit of time off,” he said quietly, looking away from you again. “And no pressing things to get done.”
“Thank you for the food,” you hummed, taking a large sip of broth. You reveled in the warmth for a moment before looking up at him through your lashes. “Did you eat?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. You chewed on your lip, your thoughts rushing in several different directions. Changkyun was hard to figure out. When he wasn’t busy saying and doing things that made you question his sanity, he could be eerily quiet, his thoughts consuming his ability to actually speak. As you watched him grow more uncomfortable with your intensified attention, you couldn’t help but chuckle. As the chuckle grew, it slowly turned into a groan, the movement of the laughter causing your body to remind you just how achey you were.
“So…what now?” you asked quietly, tilting your head. You didn’t think it was polite to tell him to get out, but you honestly didn’t know him. Besides sharing a few weeks worth of swapped conversations over Kakao and an awkward date over some barbecue, he was a mystery to you. A mystery that until just recently, you weren’t sure that you wanted to solve.
“I figured I’d just crash on your couch?” he asked with a wince. “And I can leave in the morning. I know you probably would rather me leave now, but I have really bad depth perception at night - I think it’s the way the headlights hit-”
“Some sleep would do you some good I think,” you said with a small smile. “There are some extra blankets in the closet in the hallway.”
“Thanks,” he breathed, grateful you stopped his small rant about near-sightedness. “Uh…goodnight, Y/N.”
“Goodnight, Changkyun,” you nodded. “Make sure to lock up in the morning.”
Which would have been a nice idea…
if he had actually left in the morning.
As the days continued to roll by, so did Changkyun’s stay at your residence. When you had woken up the next morning, you were even more ill than the previous day, almost hallucinating with every small change in focus. Your words weren’t making sense and your surroundings weren’t either. You hardly remembered a rushed trip to an Urgent Care followed by Changkyun sleeping in the chair next to your bed for several more days.
After a week and a half you had finally begun to feel remotely like your old self. You had started walking small laps around your apartment in an attempt to regain your strength, apparently having survived a super strain of flu the doctors hadn’t had the privilege of curing yet. As you turned the corner of the island in the kitchen, you met the familiar eyes of what seemed to be your permanent house guest, a timid smile on his lips.
“Sorry,” he chuckled. “Just wanted to make sure you didn’t press your life alert or anything.”
“Ha,” you muttered, rolling your eyes. Admittedly, Changkyun’s company wasn’t exactly unwanted anymore. When he went back to visit his dorms or run errands, you couldn’t help but feel a little lonely at how quiet your apartment had become. You had come to enjoy his constant humming or tapping as he was lost in thought or a song he was writing lyrics to. As he grew more and more comfortable with you, he seemed to truly open up. He began to show you that yes, he could be awkward, but it was more endearing than it was a hindrance. Once you got to really know his unique quirks and thought processes, it was almost enlightening. He asked questions and started conversations that you had never considered before, and without his presence, probably never would have.
Beyond that, he was incredibly kind. His heart was soft and he openly cared about you, whether your feelings were reciprocated or not. His whole being really wanted to be there with you, spending time to make you better, and that may have been the best part about him. You had never met someone so genuine and unafraid of being himself. He danced in the kitchen when he thought you weren’t watching, and danced even harder when you were. He squeaked and grunted and made the strangest noises, but didn’t stop until you began to smile.
He was everything you hadn’t known you needed…and even more.
“Help me back to bed?” you sighed, rounding the island for the second time. You were starting to feel weak again and wanted to make sure that you hit your mattress before you unintentionally hit the floor.
Without even one complaint, Changkyun sprung forward, taking your elbow in his palm to lead you away from the kitchen. You took a deep breath in, capable of actually smelling for the first time in weeks. His light and clean cologne was subtle against his skin, but enough to make you swoon. How could you have been so wrong about him in the beginning?
As usual, he helped you beneath the covers, and tucked you in. He turned promptly once the job was done, but you couldn’t help but stop him.
“Hey,” you croaked, nerves sweeping over your skin.
“Hm?” he hummed, glancing over his shoulder. His fingers hovered above your doorknob, waiting to give you the privacy you usually requested.
“Do you want to…sit next to me?” you asked slowly with a wince. “Maybe talk a bit before I fall asleep?”
“Oh,” he gasped in surprise. “Uh…yeah! Sure!”
He moved a little too enthusiastically to your side where he glanced behind him, backing himself into the small armchair next to your night stand.
“No,” you chuckled. “You can…sit next to me…in bed?”
His eyes grew even wider with the sentence and you thought for a moment that you had made a mistake. Maybe you were asking too much from him too soon.
“Sure,” he said more quietly. You used the remaining bit of your strength to wiggle over, making enough room for him to slide in beside you.
Silence washed over you both for a few moments as you adjusted to each other’s proximity. His skin was warm against yours, a constant reminder that he hadn’t left, an idea that had began to honestly upset you.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” you asked quietly. “Like…ask me if I think cows have nightmares? Or my opinion on if J.K. Rowling actually used the seven books of the Harry Potter series as her hocruxes?”
Changkyun looked over at you with a proud grin. “I don’t need to ask you that because I already know the answers.”
“Oh?” you chuckled. You took a deep breath as you inched closer to him, placing your cheek lightly against his shoulder.
“Cows have nightmares about eating hamburgers,” he grinned. “And obviously each book is a hocrux. Why do you think she killed exactly seven off the main characters?”
“Sometimes I wonder about you,” you clucked.
“Really? Because I wonder about you all the time,” he paused for a moment, lost in his thoughts before he sprung into another response. “Not in a bad way, or like I’m concerned about your mental health. I just wonder about you. How you’re doing…what your thinking…the little things.”
“You ask so many other questions,” you hummed, glancing at him with a side eye. “Why not ask me that?”
“Okay,” he said, nodding slowly. “Kind of out of the box…but…what are you thinking about?”
You took a deep breath before beginning to whisper. “How dumb I must have been…for not really giving you a chance.”
Changkyun gave a small nod as he chewed on his lip. “And now? After you’ve been stuck with me?”
You turned slowly to your side, setting your palm beneath your head so you could better see his handsome features. Your eyes danced down his strong nose, and even stronger jaw. They played along the lines that made up his brows and the tiny indents of acne scars and imperfections he rarely allowed for makeup to cover. His skin glowed with melanin and was the most perfect shade of brown you had ever seen. It was as if you were staring upon living art.
“’Stuck’ isn’t exactly the word I would choose,” you said quietly, gathering your courage. You leaned forward, placing a light kiss on the edge of his mouth. “I would say…’affectionately attached.’“
A small grin slowly turned the corners of his lips upwards where your own had just been. He rolled over to lay on his side as well, placing his palm beneath his temple. His eyes flicked curiously across both of yours, looking for answers.
“If I kiss you,” he whispered. “Am I going to catch the black death?”
“I’m pretty sure that died with the 14th century,” you said quietly. “But I can’t promise you won’t get the monster flu.”
“Well, I told you I have a tonic for that,” he chuckled. “You just have to deal with kissing my onion breath for a few days.”
“There are worse things I think,” you cooed, tilting your face a few inches closer to his.
“Oh?” he asked. “And what would that be?”
“Not kissing you at all.”
