#17writernet

[seventeendiary]

First Kiss

First kiss with Dino/Chan.

“Today was amazing!” You exclaim, your hands hiding behind your back since you are nervous about expressing about it. You both were quiet with your steps making music on the ground so you decided to thank him for the little date first before you both reach your house. You had a really fun day with him, even though you noticed how he kept getting lost in his thoughts. You didn’t let that bother you as you aren’t looking at Chan and only smile forward shyly, letting you hair fall to one side. He, on the other hand, can’t help but to smile back as he sees your face blooming into flowers. He admires it as he wants to tell you that you’re beautiful, but he resisted because he is also nervous since he promised himself to kiss you for the first time today, meaning, your first kiss together.

You both have been dating for a few weeks already and Chan can’t bring himself to express that kind of affection for you yet, even though you blush whenever he holds your hands or hugs you tightly in his arms. Maybe it’s because he thinks you both are not ready yet but he also figured that both of your times spent together make it possible to be comfortably to do so, so he sighs happily, grabbing a hidden hand of yours and slips your fingers together.

“That’s great because better dates are coming.” Your eyes meet Chan’s and his lips turns onto a smirk.

“Oh, I like that.” You laugh, then you look away, feeling shy again and grinning afterwards. “I will be expecting a lot then.”

When you both reach your house, you are delighted to a long hug from him. You can feel his heart beating so calmly, you makes you feel warm inside. A night after a date always make you feel like that because even after you both aren’t together, you always look forward to seeing him again. The short smiles and admirations of each other lasts a while before you really say your good nights to him as he does too.

That last good night from you leaves him breathless. It looks like the kiss won’t be happening as he sighs, watching you walk away, but he made a promise to himself so he won’t let it get broken. Quickly thinking, he calls your name and when you turn around, he has already caught you, holding your arms as he connects your lips together.

It’s warm, the way his soft lips press against yours. It makes you feel tingly and it makes your face feel hot before you close your eyes as you hold onto his arms too.

When he pulls back, he grins with success brushing over his face, seeing your face turn red. “Good night, for real now.”

“G-good night, Chan.” You stutter, touching your lips with a finger. “Text me when you get back.”

“Okay, I will.” Chan almost giggles, letting all of that kiss anxiety go away. He waves at you before leaving then you watch him make music with his feet, happy music. It makes you smile until he disappears, turning on a corner of the street.

Tonight can’t be as magical to you somehow, especially kissing under the moonlight that is flashing in the perfect night sky.

[hoshitalk]

Everything’s Gonna Be Alright

pairing: jihancheol | rating: g | warnings: mentions of character death, light angst

a/n: i wrote this a while back for a 95line fic exchange but haven’t posted it here until now cause i was on vacation haha. it’s my longest fic ehehe. as usual, this is also on ao3 and will soon be put on aff too 

“I think that’s the last of it.”

Jisoo sighs deeply, wiping his brow as he straightens back up after setting the last box down along the wall with all the others. He’ll have to sort through them and decide where the contents of each should go, but right now his legs are screaming at him to take a break. “So what’s for dinner tonight? Takeout or pizza?” he asks as he flops back on the couch and drapes an arm over his eyes. He grunts when he feels a weight on his stomach and tiny hands insistently smacking at his chest. “Pizza, pizza, pizza!” “Alright Channie, I’ll order it in a minute” Jisoo smiles, slightly lifting his arm off his face to see his little brother pouting at him. “Hyung is tired right now.” Chan whines at him, flopping onto his chest. Jisoo chuckles at the pout on his little brother’s face, ruffling Chan’s hair with his other hand. Neither of his roommates are back yet; Jeonghan’s off running an errand with his sister and Seungcheol’s at work. It’s just him and Chan at their shared apartment right now.

He sighs quietly, lightly stroking Chan’s hair as the four year old babbles at him about his favorite pizza. Normally around this time, he’d be coming home from work while Chan would be eating dinner with their--

He swallows, shaking his head. He can’t dwell on that right now, not when Chan’s still with him. He’s gotta stay strong, for him, for both of them. Jisoo ruffles his brother’s hair fondly, stretching his arm out and grabbing his phone before dialing his usual pizza place and making the orders.

“Okay Channie, pizza’s gonna be here in fifteen minutes,” Jisoo says after hanging up, tossing his phone on the table. He grunts when Chan squeals happily, bouncing on his chest. It doesn’t bother him though, he’d do anything to make his little brother smile brightly like he is right now. He scoops the child into his arms, making airplane noises as he runs around the apartment, pretending Chan’s an airplane. “Wheee!” Chan cries happily, laughing brightly as Jisoo hugs him to his chest, patting the older’s cheeks. At the sound of the front door unlocking he grins, telling Chan that Cheol hyung’s back. Chan doesn’t pay attention, demanding for more airplanes.

“Well, it looks like someone’s having fun.” Jisoo turns to the doorway, laughing at the sight of Seungcheol hopping about while trying to toe off his shoes. Chan hides his face in Jisoo’s shoulder, shyly peeking out as his brother goes over to help with Seungcheol with his things. “Heya Channie,” Seungcheol coos, gently pinching his cheek before turning to his roommate. “Did you get settled in yet?”

Jisoo nods, jerking his head in the direction of the boxes as Chan squirms in his arms. “Just gotta unpack the boxes now. We’re having pizza for diner by the way; Chan’s request.”

“Pizza?” Chan asks eagerly, perking up only to pout when Jisoo says it’s not coming yet. That makes Seungcheol laugh and ruffle Chan’s hair before he asks Jisoo if he needs any help unpacking.

“I was gonna leave it for tomorrow actually,” Jisoo says with a quiet laugh as they go over and sit on the couch. “Chan’s bed is already set up in my room and I’ve taken out some of his clothes for tomorrow.”

“Don’t you have work tomorrow?” Jisoo frowns, letting his brother squirm out of his arms and run around the apartment. Seungcheol’s right, he does have work tomorrow and he hasn’t looked up daycares for Chan yet with how busy he was in the aftermath of his parents’ funeral.

“I do,” he says, biting his lip in thought. “I don’t know anyone who can take care of him last minute though. You and Jeonghan work tomorrow too, right?”

“I don’t know about Hannie, but I actually have off tomorrow,” Seungcheol shrugs, chuckling at Chan running around making airplane noises. “I can look after your brother while you’re gone.” Jisoo nods, eyeing him scrutinizingly. Seungcheol shrinks a little awkwardly under his stare, staring back at him slightly bewildered. “Is that not a good idea?”

“Yes and no,” Jisoo says with a shrug, catching Chan before he can run into the coffee table. “I think I’d feel better if Hannie was with you.”

Seungcheol pouts at him, about to protest when they hear the doorbell ring, still pouting even as Jisoo heads to the door, Chan close on his heels.

“PIZZA!”

Jisoo laughs, ruffling his brother’s hair fondly as he opens the door, coming face to face with his other roommate instead of the pizza delivery person. He can’t help but laugh again when Chan eagerly asks if he’s the pizza man.

“Pizza man?” Jeonghan blinks, stepping into the apartment. “Last time I checked, no.”

“Hyung, want pizza!” Chan whines, clinging onto Jisoo’s leg with a pout. Jisoo grins, penguin wobbling out of the way with Chan clinging tightly on him so Jeonghan can toe off his shoes. Jeonghan laughs, bending down to Chan’s height and poking his cheek.

“Are you not happy to see Jeonghan hyung?” he says with a pout, making puppy eyes at the child. Chan immediately shakes his head, stubbornly insisting he wants the pizza man now! Seungcheol cackles at Jeonghan’s put out expression, sticking his tongue out at him before the doorbell rings again.

“Third time’s the charm Channie,” Jisoo smiles, asking Seungcheol to grab his wallet while he opens the door once again. Thankfully it’s actually the pizza man, much to Chan’s delight. Once they’re all settled around the coffee table, they dig in eagerly, occasionally getting scolded by Jeonghan to chew and then swallow by how quickly they were scarfing down the pizza.

“Hannie, do you work tomorrow?” Jisoo asks, carefully wiping leftover sauce around Chan’s mouth. Jeonghan nods in the midst of bickering with Seungcheol over who would be stronger between Superman and Wonder Woman.

“Yeah, but I get off early tomorrow,” he shrugs, jabbing Seungcheol’s ribs. “Why do you wanna know?”

“Cause I’m not sure if I can trust Cheol to look after this lil squirt while I’m at work,” Jisoo says simply, petting Chan’s head as his brother giggles at the other two bickering in front of him. “I didn’t look up any daycares yet with all the stuff that’s been going on and Cheol offered to take care of him.”

Jeonghan nods understandingly; since his parents’ funeral, Jisoo’s been throwing himself into taking care of Chan while dealing with the aftermath of his parents’ death. It’s a surprise he hasn’t broken down yet. He tells his friend he’ll be back in the afternoon, making a little jab at Seungcheol.

“I’m sure he can take care of a kid for a couple hours,” he snickers, flopping over when Seungcheol shoves at him. Jisoo rolls his eyes when they start wrestling, picking Chan up so he can give him a bath.

“Try not to knock over the coffee table again please,” he calls over his shoulder, jostling Chan a little bit on the way to the bathroom. His brother’s eyes are already drooping a little as the child smushes his face against Jisoo’s shoulder. Jisoo laughs softly, making a detour to his room to grab Chan’s pajamas and a spare towel.

Once he’s finished giving Chan a bath and tucking him in bed, he goes back out to the living room where his roommates are curled up on the couch watching some drama (and still bickering). They scoot over a little, making room for him to flop in between them with a tired sigh.

“You sure you can take care of Chan?” Jisoo teases, nudging Seungcheol with his elbow. Seungcheol groans, head knocking back on the back of the sofa while Jeonghan and Jisoo snicker at him.

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of kids,” he says with a huff, scowling at the two. “Is that really so hard to believe?”

Jisoo doesn’t dignify that with an answer, sticking his tongue out at him instead. Seungcheol grumbles at him, lightly kicking his shins.

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see how you really do tomorrow,” Jeonghan snorts, flipping through the channels. “I’m betting you’ll call Soo in three hours panicking cause you can’t find Chan.”

“Alright, no fighting you two, you’ll wake him up,” Jisoo laughs, getting comfortable between them. They watch some movie Jeonghan settled on while Jisoo tells Seungcheol everything he needs for tomorrow. When the credits start rolling, Jisoo stands up, stretching his arms as he yawns, telling them he’ll head to bed first and reminding them not to stay up too late. The other two bid him a good night before he disappears into his room with a quiet click of the door behind him.

“Still betting you’ll call him in three hours.”

“Shut up!”

“I left some emergency numbers on the counter if you can’t reach me,” Jisoo says hurriedly as he quickly checks his things, Jeonghan passing him a piece of toast. “But text me after if anything happens, got it?”

Seungcheol nods, yawning a little as he watches them bustle around the kitchen. He would’ve slept in, but Jisoo woke him up, saying he needed to tell him important things about taking care of Chan.

“Really, we’ll be fine Shua,” Seungcheol says reassuringly, snagging a piece of toast for himself. “Promise.”

Jisoo still looks a little unsure, but he nods, dashing out the door after a last reminder to stay out of trouble. Jeonghan leaves shortly after with a lazy wave of his hand, door shutting behind him, leaving Seungcheol alone in the apartment with a still sleeping Chan. Seungcheol yawns, heading back to his room after taking a look at the clock to catch a few more hours of shut eye until Jisoo’s brother wakes up.

“Hyung?”

Seungcheol stirs a little, blinking as he rolls over only to startle when he comes face to face with a wide eyed Chan.

“Uh, Chan, you’re up!” he coughs, sitting up on his bed. “How long have you been awake?”

Chan frowns, staring at him before padding out of his room. Seungcheol quickly follows him, watching as the child wanders into the living room and the kitchen, calling for his hyung. He opens his mouth, about to say he’s right there before Chan calls for Jisoo hyung, a confused and scared expression on his face.

“Oh, Channie, Jisoo hyung’s at work,” Seungcheol says quickly, jogging over to him. Chan looks up at him, eyes already shiny with tears. Seungcheol panics a little, he’s gotta calm Chan down before he starts crying.

“Work?” Chan asks, clutching his elephant plushie tightly. Seungcheol nods, bending down to his level, explaining that Jisoo will be home before dinner. Silently he prays that’ll be enough for Chan to calm down as the boy pouts at him.

“Hyung come back later?” Chan asks after a few moments, still looking a bit unsure. Seungcheol nods, petting his head as he promises Jisoo will come back.

“Do you want breakfast buddy?” he asks, holding out his hand for Chan to take. Chan hesitates a little before grabbing his hand and nodding, letting Seungcheol help him sit at the table. Seungcheol opens the refrigerator, grabbing the milk and a couple ingredients for their breakfast, pouring the milk in a cup for Chan and setting it in front of him.

“I’ll have breakfast ready soon,” he grins, ruffling Chan’s hair. Chan nods, setting his plushie on the table before drinking the milk and Seungcheol has to hold back an ‘aww’ at how cute Chan looks.

So far, so good. Seungcheol smiles to himself as he starts making eggs; he can totally take care of a child. He’s only met Chan a few times before he came to live with them, and he seems like a pretty mild mannered, if not slightly hyper, kid.

Once he’s done preparing their breakfast, he sets a plate in front of Chan, chuckling as Chan thanks him and eagerly digs in.

“So what do you wanna do today kiddo?” Seungcheol asks, cutting into his pancake. Chan puffs his cheeks in thought, nose scrunching up cutely.

“Park!” he says happily, munching on a yummy pancake. Seungcheol grins, telling him they can go after they finish eating and get dressed. It takes a bit of chasing and playful wrestling after they eat for Seungcheol to get Chan dressed and ready, but soon enough they’re walking to the nearby park, Chan babbling about elephants on the way there.

He lets Chan run off to the playground after taking his backpack and elephant plushie, settling himself on a bench not too far away from the playground. Seungcheol smiles, keeping a watchful eye on Chan as he runs around with the other children there. Jeonghan’s so gonna lose that bet; it’s only been about twoish hours and he still hasn’t called Jisoo. They really didn’t have to worry, he’s more than capable of looking after Chan.

“WAHHHHH!”

Or maybe not. He’s immediately on his feet, eyes darting over the playground looking for Chan only to breathe a sigh of relief after seeing it was someone else’s kid screaming. He sinks back onto the bench trying to calm down a bit as he scans the playground for Chan, finally relaxing when he sees the child on the monkey bars. God, that nearly gave him a heart attack. After that little incident, he keeps a closer eye on Chan making sure he doesn’t get hurt.

Jeonghan yawns, glancing over at the clock on his desk, only to groan when he sees the time. He’s still got quite of bit of time left before he can leave, even though he’s pretty much done with all the work for today. Maybe he should check up on Seungcheol, make sure he isn’t getting into any trouble of anything. Yeah, he’s gonna do that, he’s due for a break anyway. He grabs his phone and mug off his desk, heading to the break room as he dials Seungcheol’s number.

“Hello?” “Yo, Cheol, still alive?” he asks with a snarky grin, filling up his mug with water. He sniggers, he can practically hear Seungcheol scowling at him over the phone as his friend tells him to shut up.

“We’re over at the park right now,” Seungcheol says, sounding a bit out of breath. Jeonghan hums, leaning against the counter.

“Why do you sound like you ran a marathon though?” he asks, taking a sip of water. He smiles when he hears Chan babbling over the phone while Seungcheol tells him he got roped into playing a game of tag with Chan and the other children at the park.

“We’re actually about to go eat something,” Seungcheol adds, making sure Chan has his backpack and plushie with him before they start walking to the bus stop. “You wanna come with?”

“Are you paying?” Jeonghan asks, laughing when Seungcheol gives him an exasperated yes. “Alright, you pick the place and I’ll meet you guys there.”

Jeonghan heads back to his desk after hanging up, making sure to drop by his boss’s office to tell him he’s heading out for lunch soon. He plops into his chair with a sigh, opening up his program and fiddling around some more with it until he gets Seungcheol’s text with the location of a local sandwich shop nearby. With a grin, he grabs his things and heads out of the office. Thankfully it’s actually not that far of a walk, and he can see Jisoo’s brother running around Seungcheol when he gets close to the shop.

“Haven’t called Shua yet?” he asks as he reaches the two, bending down to ruffle Chan’s hair. Seungcheol rolls his eyes, flipping him off as he opens the door for them, ushering them into the shop.

“Nope,” Seungcheol says, holding Chan’s hand to keep him from running off. “Seriously, you two gotta have more faith in me, as you can tell, I’m perfectly fine looking after him.”

“You say that now, but what about later?” Jeonghan teases as they get in line. Seungcheol rolls his eyes, ignoring him in favor of picking up Chan and asking him what kind of sandwich he wants.

As soon as they finish ordering, they grab a table outside on the patio at Chan’s insistence. Jeonghan smiles as Chan eagerly tells him about what he did at the park, laughing when he catches Seungcheol dozing off in the corner of his eye.

“I think you tired out Cheol hyung, Channie,” he says with a grin, nudging Chan to look over at Seungcheol. Chan giggles, reaching over and patting Seungcheol’s cheeks, telling him to wake up. Seungcheol groans, telling him he is awake.

“You have way too much energy kiddo,” he says fondly, patting Chan’s head. Chan just smiles proudly at that, brightening up when he sees a server coming to their table with their sandwiches.

“You’re getting old Cheol,” Jeonghan teases, biting into his sandwich. Seungcheol rolls his eyes, cutting Chan’s sandwich into smaller pieces. They eat in silence for a little bit, hunger taking over socializing for a bit. When they’re halfway through lunch, Jeonghan asks what they’re gonna do next, wiping a bit of sauce from Chan’s mouth.

“Haven’t decided yet,” Seungcheol shrugs, yawning a bit. “I’m down for a nap though. What do you think Chan?”

He frowns when he doesn’t get an answer from the child, looking down to find him staring off at something. He shares a look with Jeonghan, both of them looking in the direction of his gaze to find a family of three nearby laughing and chatting together.

Jeonghan bites his lip, looking down at Chan again, noticing his forlorn expression. He moves to kneel in front of Chan, asking quietly if he’s okay, gently squeezing his hand. Chan swallows, hesitating a little before shaking his head.

“I miss Mama and Appa,” he mumbles, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. Jeonghan nods understandingly, giving Chan’s elephant plushie to him, quietly comforting him. Seungcheol frowns, wondering what he can do before a thought comes to him.

“Do you wanna visit their graves Channie?” Seungcheol asks kindly, pulling out a tissue for him. Chan blinks up at him, nodding his head as he squeezing his plushie to his chest as he climbs off the chair, taking Seungcheol’s hand.

“I have to get back to work,” Jeonghan says quietly to Seungcheol, grabbing his bag. “But I’m gonna see if I can take off so I can go with you guys.”

“You don’t have to-” Seungcheol protests, pausing when Chan tugs at his hand.

“Han hyung come too?” Chan asks, looking between the two. Jeonghan smiles, bending down to his level as he tells him he can if Chan wants him to come. Chan nods at that, saying he wants Jeonghan to come too.

“Okay, Hyung’ll come too,” Jeonghan says with a kind smile, straightening up again before talking to Seungcheol. “Give me a few minutes to talk to my boss and then we can go.”

Seungcheol nods, leading them out of the shop before Jeonghan’s calling up his boss. Chan’s still a little quiet, lightly swinging Seungcheol’s hand back and forth as they wait for Jeonghan. A few minutes later Jeonghan hangs up, telling Seungcheol he got the okay to leave early.

“Do you wanna get something nice for your parents Chan?” Jeonghan asks as they head back to the bus stop. Chan nods before pointing at a nearby flower shop, saying he wants to get flowers for them as he tugs at Seungcheol’s hand.

A few minutes later, Chan’s roaming around the flower shop, frowning as he looks for the perfect flowers to take. Jeonghan keeps an eye on him while Seungcheol answers a text from Jisoo, asking if his little brother’s doing okay.

To: Shua

We’re fine, just ate lunch

To: Shua

Hannie got off early so he’s hanging with us for the rest of the day

From: Shua

Don’t get into any trouble! I gotta head back now but I’ll be home around usual time

From: Shua

Chinese sound good for dinner?

To: Shua

Sounds good to me

“Hyung!”

He looks up, laughing a little at the sight of Chan trying to hold a bouquet of lilies a little too big for him to handle without stumbling. Quickly he tucks his phone away and grabs the bouquet before Chan can fall over, ruffling his hair.

“Ready to go?” he asks as Jeonghan walks over, Chan’s backpack and plushie in his hand. Chan nods, grabbing their hands and tugging them out of the shop, telling them to hurry up. They both laugh at his eagerness before Jeonghan leads them to his car. Soon enough they’re on the way to the cemetery, Chan singing along to the radio.

When they get there, Chan’s quiet again, insisting on carrying the bouquet of lilies as they walk over to his parents’ grave. Seungcheol cleans the area a bit before Chan places the bouquet between the tombstones.

“Hyung, what do I do?” Chan asks, looking unsure of himself. Seungcheol crouches down to his level, suggesting that he tell his parents about what they did today. Jeonghan agrees with him, settling down on Chan’s other side, nudging at him to sit. After he does so, Chan’s quiet for a bit before he hesitantly starts talking, telling his parents about the fun he had with Cheol hyung and Han hyung.

Seungcheol and Jeonghan share a smile as Chan goes on, becoming more animated as time passes. He tells them about living with Soo hyung and all the yummy food he had before he gets quiet again, sniffling a little as he tells them he misses them.

“Soo hyung said heaven’s nice place,” he says, rubbing his eyes. “Said I see you much, much later.”  

Jeonghan gently pats his head as Chan tells the tombstones he’ll be okay and not to worry about him because he has Soo hyung and hyung’s friends!

“I come visit again with Soo hyung too!” Chan says with a bright smile, though Seungcheol can see tear tracks on his cheeks. After bidding them a goodbye, Chan gets up, turning to them and saying they can go now.

“Do you feel a little better buddy?” Seungcheol asks, gently wiping Chan’s cheeks. Chan nods, taking his backpack from Jeonghan before they leave the cemetery. He ends up falling asleep on the drive back, cuddled up in the backseat with his plushie.

“He’s handling their death better than I thought,” Jeonghan says quietly, looking back at the sleeping child. Seungcheol hums, saying that Chan’s got a good support system helping him cope. His friend smiles, agreeing with that as they reach the outskirts of the city before asking Seungcheol to call Jisoo and let him know they’re on the way home.

Jisoo’s just finished setting the takeout on the coffee table when he hears the front door unlock. He jogs over to open it up, smiling at the sight of Chan fast asleep in Jeonghan’s arms as he lets his friends in.

“How was he?” he asks softly, shutting the door behind them before they sit on the couch.

“Energetic,” Seungcheol laughs, letting out a deep sigh as he sinks onto the couch. “You really didn’t need to worry at all Soo.”

Jisoo rolls his eyes, shoving at him playfully before he takes Chan from Jeonghan, telling them to dig in. While they’re doing just that, he gently pats Chan’s cheeks, murmuring for him to wake up. His brother whines, blinking blearily at him before he focuses, letting out an ecstatic squeal at the sight of his older brother.

“Hi Channie,” Jisoo laughs as Chan hugs him tightly, ruffling his hair. “Food’s ready, wanna eat yet?”

Chan nods eagerly, impatiently squirming as Jisoo fixes a plate for him while he tells his brother about what he did with Cheol and Han hyung today.

“We visited Mama and Appa too,” Chan tells him, digging in once Jisoo sets his plate in front of him. Jisoo frowns, looking at his friends at that.

“He saw a happy family while we were out and missed your parents,” Jeonghan explains with a sad smile. “So Cheol suggested we go visit them.”

Jisoo lets out a quiet ‘ah’ before Chan gets his attention again, telling Jisoo that he told Mama and Appa that they’ll visit again. As they eat dinner, Chan tells him more about today’s adventures, yawning a little when his plate’s nearly empty.

“Sleepy now?” Jisoo asks, wiping Chan’s mouth and smiling fondly when his brother nods. “Alright, bath time and then we’ll get you to bed squirt.”

“We’ll take care of clean up,” Seungcheol tells him, waving him off when Jisoo starts to protest. “You go take care of him.”

Jisoo nods gratefully, scooping Chan up in his arms as he carries him off to the bathroom, leaving Seungcheol and Jeonghan alone in the living room. When he finishes washing Chan up and tucking him in bed, Jisoo finds Seungcheol knocked out on the sofa and Jeonghan cleaning up the leftovers.

“He wasn’t kidding when he said Chan had way too much energy,” Jeonghan laughs. Jisoo rolls his eyes, helping Jeonghan clean up before they take the other couch after draping a blanket over Seungcheol.

“You visited my parents?” Jisoo asks quietly. After a nod from Jeonghan, he asks how Chan was during the visit, biting his lip a little.

“He told them about what we did today,” Jeonghan says with a smile. “And that he’ll be okay because you’re with him.”

He laughs a little at Jisoo’s surprised expression. “Shua, you’re a good brother,” Jeonghan says. “It’s because of you that he’s handling this so well. Have a little more faith in yourself.”

Jisoo smiles sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. “I’ll try,” he says softly, rolling his eyes at Seungcheol’s snoring. “But it’s.. Difficult. Half the time I don’t even know if I’m doing things right and I don’t wanna screw things up with Chan.”

“You don’t need to do this all on your own,” Jeonghan reminds him, patting his shoulder. “Cheol and I are here to help you know. And before you say anything, no you’re not being burdensome, we’re happy to help out whenever you need us to.”

Jisoo sighs, leaning his head on Jeonghan’s shoulder, quietly thanking him. “If I didn’t have you and Cheol, I think I’d be a lot more overwhelmed.” He confesses, smiling fondly at a sleeping Seungcheol.

“That’s what we’re here for,” Jeonghan smiles. “We’re always gonna be here for you Shua, don’t forget that.”

Jisoo nods, yawning a bit as he gets comfortable, tugging another blanket over them. With a soft good night, he shuts his eyes, dozing off on Jeonghan’s shoulder. He may not know what the tomorrow’s gonna throw at him and Chan, but with Seungcheol and Jeonghan by his side, there’s no doubt they’ll get through it together.

[the1the8]

Daydreaming

Cheolsoo (Seungcheol & Jisoo), fluff, modern au(?) 

Summary: How soft Seungcheol’s eyes look and his pink smile flashes, Jisoo wonders about the things he notice when it’s quiet. Seungcheol’s eyes that speak careness, he can sense that a part of himself is becoming like him as he is fighting a small cold. Length: 1524 words A/N: awkward summary but in short, cheol takes care of a sick soo; all of my cheolsoo fics will probably be just for you sica @cheolhaos​ / @hoshitalk​ ♡ 

// also posted here ~ 

It’s probably the fifth time Jisoo tried to sleep to the point that he can’t tell whether he had fallen asleep or was just listening to Seungcheol’s moves across the living room. The pain in his head has died down a bit and his hair is damped with sweat when he wakes up. Seungcheol has turned off the lights in the living room except the table lamp above him, thankfully the couch is facing the TV so that the kitchen lights won’t bother Jisoo when he slept. His empty porridge bowl is still sitting on the table in front of him and he almost gives a smack from his lips, remembering to tell Seungcheol to take it back after he finished about two hours ago. Speaking of the devil, Seungcheol makes his way to Jisoo from the kitchen in that cute apron and a spatula in his hand. In that kind of look, it makes Jisoo blush though it’s hard to tell when he’s sick. When he sees that bright smile from his love, he can’t help but smile back as it makes him feel as if he’s not in pain anymore, and that also include forgetting about that bowl on the table.

“You’re awake.” Seungcheol whispers even though it’s just them in Jisoo’s apartment. “I’m making more porridge. I’ll feed you after a bath.”

Jisoo hums tiredly and hears Seungcheol walking back to turn off the stove after tasting the porridge. He imagines Seungcheol smiling after it, he bet it’ll taste great even though he can barely taste anything since that morning. Jisoo didn’t think that it was the recent rainy days that made him sick. He just suddenly woke up cold and Seungcheol thought he may be sick. He hasn’t been sick that much anyway as far as he can remember. Whatever caused this, Jisoo guessed it’s okay to be sick once in awhile.

When Seungcheol comes back after taking off his apron, he removes the blanket from Jisoo then he lifts him in bridal style from the couch to take him to the bathroom.

“I can walk.” Jisoo insists, but Seungcheol shakes his head with his eyes closed and a smile on his face.

Jisoo has his clothes off already after Seungcheol tests the water temperature to fill up the tub. Jisoo still feels cold even after sitting in it with a warm helping hand from Seungcheol. The water reaches up to his collarbones as his toes curl on the tub floors. Seungcheol giggles softly, grabbing Jisoo’s hand. It feels strange to Jisoo, not because he doesn’t like it but because he isn’t used to it. Everything that happened today are new to him: being sick for the first time after dating Seungcheol for a long time, getting carried when he’s weak (even though he doesn’t know that Seungcheol carried him many times when he fell asleep in the wrong places in his apartment), and now getting bathed by him. Jisoo has bathed together with Seungcheol before but never alone with him just beside him, and that somehow feels refreshing rather than weird to him. When Seungcheol starts to clean Jisoo’s hand with a warm and wet towel, all Jisoo can do is admire his face. That little touch makes his heart flutter like the time they first kissed, but it’s much softer because Seungcheol left a mark on his lips that didn’t heal until days after.

“How are you feeling now?” Seungcheol asks, still cleaning Jisoo’s hand.

“A little better. My head still hurts though.” Jisoo replies, rubbing his leg under the water.

“That’s a relief.” Seungcheol smiles. “Hopefully, a little more sleep can help.” Jisoo rests his chin on the edge of the tub and looks at Seungcheol for a while again. When Seungcheol finally notices him, he plants his cheek with a soft kiss. “Already tired?” Jisoo nods, then Seungcheol tells him, “I’ll do this quickly.”

Jisoo gets into a warm sleeping outfit before sitting on the bed. Seungcheol comes over and starts to dry his hair with a towel. As Jisoo waits for him to finish, he grabs the blanket to cover himself. “You’re cold?” Seungcheol asks.

“Yeah.” Jisoo’s eyes are closed when Seungcheol finishes drying his hair. He lies himself down on the bed as Seungcheol helps him, fixing the blanket on him.

“Socks.” Seungcheol leaves his side and brings over a pair of ankle socks for Jisoo to wear to sleep. He comes upon his long toenails then his finger starts to play at the tip of them, tickling him as he offers, “Would you like me to trim your toenails? They’re getting long.”

“Tomorrow.” A soft but tired smile, Jisoo shows. Seungcheol nods as Jisoo waits for him to finish putting the socks on him. He finally fixes himself when Seungcheol gets off the bed.

“Are you hungry?” Seungcheol asks, remembering himself cooking not long ago.

“I can eat when I wake up later since I’m already comfy here.”

“Do you need anything else then? Like extra blankets or something to watch, or maybe a plushie to hug to sleep or-”

“Seungcheol,” Jisoo laughs, closing his eyes and cozying up the blanket against his neck. “I just need you to be with me in the silent.”

“Okay.” Seungcheol does what he says then he gets comfy on the bed beside him after walking around it.

Jisoo opens his eyes and gives him a judging look. He asks, “What are you doing?”

“I’ll just be right here.” Seungcheol’s smile is so pure, a part of Jisoo wants the lights to be brighter so the memory can stay in his mind longer.

“You’re gonna get sick if you do.” Jisoo giggles then Seungcheol pulls him into his arms in surprise. “Seungcheol!”

“Just for a minute.” Seungcheol smiles innocently. “I already miss cuddling you.”

“We cuddled this morning.” Jisoo returns the fight after remembering their short cuddle in the morning when he felt cold, but he gives up because he doesn’t have any more energy. He rests on Seungcheol’s chest as they cuddle there in silence, enjoying a moment together in each other’s embrace.

“Jisoo, before we sleep, I wanna say, if you feel any better tomorrow, let’s go eat some ice cream.” Seungcheol’s hand is caressing Jisoo’s head before it rests over Jisoo’s shoulder.

“Isn’t it gonna rain though?” Jisoo asks after thinking for a second.

“Ahhh no?” He sounds like he’s lying as Jisoo laughs. Seungcheol laughs too even though he’s embarrassed for not knowing or even checking beforehand.

“You’re lying.” Jisoo has a habit of checking the weather every morning. He found himself doing that during one of his half-asleep session that afternoon so he’s so sure it is going to rain.

“Then you must be nuts.” Seungcheol plays with Jisoo’s hair, adding onto their lighthearted time together in bed.

“Totally. I know I’m full of almonds.” Jisoo smiles in amusement as he fixes himself out Seungcheol’s arms. He looks at Seungcheol’s laughing face after resting on the other pillow.

Seungcheol then he taps his index finger against his lips and nods, quite understanding where Jisoo is getting at. “Okay, you said you wanted it to be quiet.”

“You started it.” Jisoo chuckles as Seungcheol can tell he has a sore throat. It reminds him to bring him a cup of warm water and some medicine.

“I’m defeated. I’ll go get some medicine for you so you can get some sleep.” He says as he caresses Jisoo’s soft face with his thumb, feeling his hot red cheek before getting up.

“You should too.” Jisoo smiles back at Seungcheol before he leaves the room.

When Seungcheol comes back and Jisoo has eaten his medicine, they go back to cuddling despite Jisoo insisting again that Seungcheol will get sick if they do. At least, at his chest, it’s warm. Jisoo’s cheeks rose, one side hiding at the pressure against Seungcheol’s shirt, then he whispers his name. In response, Seungcheol hums. It vibrates against Jisoo’s face and ear, as if a signal is being sent throughout his body, a signal that waves love and sincerity. There’s so much things that Jisoo wants to tell him, words like that signal. Jisoo is the type that is apologetic, he hates it but he knows that he has so much more to learn from Seungcheol who appreciates rather than be like him. He’s still working hard on it but being with him, he realizes that Seungcheol does that so the person he’s talking can feel better for doing something that someone can be thankful for. So instead of saying “sorry for being sick,” Jisoo tells him, “Thank you for looking after me.”

Seungcheol smiles and hums happily in response then he pulls him closer even though there’s no space left between them. It’s like he’s been waiting for those words to be said. He is relieved as he sighs softly. “Good night, Jisoo.”

Jisoo smiles too, and this time, he’s sure that he isn’t sleep talking or daydreaming to say those words to Seungcheol. To assure that, he whispers the same thing back before falling asleep tightly in his arms.

[seungsols]

[A] We Could Have (Fallen in Love)

Title: We Could Have (Fallen in Love) Pairing: Gyukwan (Mingyu x Seungkwan) Length: 6,986 words Summary: Seungkwan thought he was out of his mind to fall for someone like Mingyu, but it turned out he was just out of time.

Everyday feels like a Monday to Seungkwan.

In the aspect that Monday meant the dread of waking up from such a nice, relaxing Sunday off from work and a slap back into the reality of constant routines that consisted of getting ready for work, working, and getting off from work. He was in no rush when his alarm rang at the side of his bed on the desktop he would eventually clean. The annoying and constant beep were what motivated him to turn it off and sit up in bed.

Seungkwan left the coffee machine on with the mug his best friend, Choi Hansol, gifted him for his birthday as he was humming to himself in the shower. After the quick rinse, he dressed up in his usual work attire—white dress shirt, black dress pants, Oxfords (with brogues), and his messenger bag. With his coffee mug finished and in the sink, he headed out from his quiet, little abode to the loud, large city that surrounded him.

He took his usual route as he checked his phone with his left hand as his right one was shoved into his pocket. Jihoon emailed him that there was a meeting this morning at ten o’clock sharp, making the Jeju boy grimace as he quickened his pace a bit. He wasn’t used to cities and their fast pace, they were nothing like his hometown. Seungkwan couldn’t do anything about it though, there was no point in complaining. He had no time to complain anyway.

With his foot through the meeting room of his company building in the nick of time, Jihoon nodded as he motioned Seungkwan to sit down while he started his presentation.

He sat down next to Hansol as he shuffled quickly to open his laptop to the page of notes that he had made—bullshitted— the night before about the last customers with the problems and solutions he had encountered.

“You’re usually not this late,” Hansol whispered as he kept his eyes on his own laptop while he was typing what Jihoon was saying. “Subway jam?”

“Backed up more than usual,” Seungkwan sighed quietly as he began typing as well. “How were your clients last week?”

“They were alright,” Hansol shrugged. “I had to reboot this one therapist’s whole hard drive and that took me the whole day on Wednesday.”

“Yikes.”

“It wasn’t too bad. He paid for my lunch and even offered to buy me dinner, which, of course, I gladly accepted. I can’t deny free food.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes.

“Oh, shush. It wasn’t a date. You know I’m not into that scene.”

With Jihoon quickly wrapping up his presentation—which was surprisingly only twenty slides compared to his usual thirty—he assigned his employees their clients for the week. Seungkwan left to go to his desk as Lee Chan, one of their newer employees, complained about one of the clients. Jihoon sighed and nodded before patting Seungkwan’s back at a job well done for last week’s performance.

“Keep it up,” Jihoon whispered with a smile before he continued to walk.

Seungkwan sat at his desk and looked at his client’s name for a moment of silence before pulling up his email and proceeded typing up an introduction before listing the appointment times.

Kim Mingyu Cookbook Developer

Surprisingly, the client replied to the email within the next ten minutes. (Seungkwan’s previous client was rather bad at responding to emails, hence his need to call them to realize that they were unable to attend to their emails because of their computer. He made sure to attend to the client immediately.)

They scheduled for an appointment the day after tomorrow, giving Seungkwan enough time to ready himself as he began scheduling two other appointments following it. They were minor problems since he could access the computers’ remotely, but he preferred to do it days apart and one at a time.

Mingyu’s problem seemed more severe than usual, a case of a virus that infiltrated the user’s hard drive and deleted all the files. Though it was not uncommon, Seungkwan rarely had such cases.

He whined when Hansol threw a piece of paper at him over the cubicle. He pouted and threw it back over as he stood up to look at Hansol. “First of all, that’s rude,” Seungkwan scrunched his nose. “Second of all, why?”

“One, I’m your best friend, I do this all the time.” Hansol grinned as the other rolled his eyes. “Two, this client just emailed me again asking if I wanted to join him for lunch—what do I do?”

“Don’t you always accept free food?”

“When there’s nothing attached.” Hansol stood up as he watched Seungkwan sit back down at his seat. He leaned over and watched his friend type away, still waiting for a solution.

“You’re basically friends with benefits but the benefit is a meal.”

“True, that sounds very accurate. But… I feel bad making him pay again... especially since I know that it’s not because I just rebooted his driver.”

“Well,” Seungkwan stopped typing to look at his dumbfounded co-worker, “let’s just discuss this over lunch.”

“So you two already did it…” Seungkwan glared at Hansol as the spoon fell from his right hand and slipped into his bowl of soup. He grumbled as Hansol just rubbed the back of his neck and tried to reason it out while trying to grab the spoon out of the broth.

“It… just one thing led to another—”

“I really thought you just got food and then he fell for you. But, no, you made things more complicated by actually sleeping with him? Hansol Vernon Choi—”

Hansol whined as he picked his bowl up and slurped it loudly as an attempt to tune out Seungkwan’s lecture. There was no use though since Seungkwan paused and continued when Hansol put the bowl down. “I just wanted to vent, I didn’t want a lecture…”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes as he continued to swirl around the noodles in his bowl that was reaching room temperature. “You need a lecture, you dumbass.”

“Well, what do I do then?”

“Do you like him?”

“I don’t know.”

“What did you say to him in the email?”

Hansol blinked. “Huh?”

“You replied back to the lunch email… right?” The silence and blank expression on Hansol’s face was enough for Seungkwan to stand up and flick his friend’s forehead across the table. “You really are an ass. You should make it up to him.”

Hansol grumbled as he rubbed his forehead and nodded. “Fine, fine. I’ll see if we can do dinner tonight… what about you, Boo?”

“What about me?”

“Anything going on in that part of your life?”

“My love life is dryer than the stale bread I found under your couch last Saturday.” Hansol snickered even though that was a direct attack at him and Seungkwan shrugged. “Guess it’s not my time yet?”

Hansol shrugged back. “Who knows? Maybe you’ll have a thing with your client too.”

-

Seungkwan arrived at the client’s address the next day five ‘til noon. Walking in quietly, he was surprised by how brightly lit the hallway and foyer were, compared to what he was used to with his dimly lit apartment and office. The assistant at the desk led him down the hallway filled with various pictures of whom appeared the be his client with chefs.

He eventually was on his own after the assistant knocked on the door and left, leaving Seungkwan a bit uneasy being so deep in a building he was unfamiliar with. His body jolted when he heard the gears of the doorknob turn and it opened as a man about the same stature as him stood before him and pushed up his glasses over the bridge of his nose.

They greeted each other formally with a polite bow and handshake before Seungkwan was invited into Mingyu’s workspace. Just as the rest of the building, it was brightly lit, something Seungkwan was beginning to envy. The natural light from the window that stretched from the ceiling to the floor lit the books sprawled over Mingyu’s desk as he unlocked his desktop for Seungkwan to see the problem.

“I haven’t been able to access my files since three days ago,” Mingyu ruffled his hair before coughing and fixing his glasses once more. “It’s a good thing the book draft isn’t due anytime soon but, y’know, the sooner the files can be recovered, the better.”

Seungkwan nodded as Mingyu stood up from his seat and Seungkwan sat down, scooting the chair much closer than originally. Mingyu leaned in with his left hand on the desk as Seungkwan placed a thumbdrive into the monitor and began installing the company’s software. Mingyu nodded as Seungkwan explained what the software does with its algorithms that look into every piece of information left on the hard drive to see where the files were physically stored.

But he wasn’t paying much attention to that. His eyes were caught by how the sun that filtered into the room lit Seungkwan’s hair to a soft beige, much like latte photos he shot last week. The way the worker’s hair swirled reminded him of the caramel swirl that was also prevalent in the photoshoot. It was a habit that only photographers in his field could relate to, but Mingyu’s comparisons had him entranced to Seungkwan.

“So, what exactly do you do?” Seungkwan coughed as he kept scrolling through the coding on the screen in front of him to break the awkward silence.

Mingyu shook his head to fall back into reality as he coughed in reply. “Oh, I’m a cookbook developer.”

Seungkwan glanced over and blinked in confusion, the two of them sharing a quick glance, before he quickly looked back at the screen. “So… you take pictures?”

“Not only that. I work with chefs, try their food, and watch them create their recipes step-by-step in order to make it easy to follow for average kitchen experimenters.”

“You sound like you’ve answered that question before,” Seungkwan snickered as Mingyu smiled back and joined in. “That sounds pretty cool though.”

“Yeah, it’s not a common job to have. But it is pretty nice.”

“Seems nicer than my job,” Seungkwan sighed.

“But you make a good amount of money, right? I bet you have a lot of clients as well since you guys are a software company.”

“I suppose. It puts bread on the table, but it isn’t anything exciting.”

Mingyu tapped the pads of his fingers on his thigh as he leaned over a bit more, close enough to properly observe the monitor and computer technician but far enough to keep a respectable distance. He wasn’t really sure why, but there was a comforting aura that Seungkwan emitted that filled Mingyu’s office space with something undeniably yet unknowingly serene.

Seungkwan leaned back in the seat as he watched the monitor restart and Mingyu gasped in excitement as he saw his desktop appear back to normal with the files present as if they were never deleted.

“Wow, thank you so much!” Mingyu gasped in relief as they traded spots again, Mingyu scrolling through, making sure every single file he needed was located. Seungkwan nodded as he pulled his jacket from the back of the chair and began putting his arms through his sleeves.

Mingyu smiled to fill the awkward silence as he led Seungkwan out of the room towards the exit. They walked somewhat side by side, Mingyu a step ahead as he was the one who mastered maneuvering through his building with Seungkwan following him. As Mingyu glanced back, Seungkwan’s gaze was glued to his phone as he looked up slightly to follow Mingyu’s shoes against the hardwood.

“Am I your only client today?” Mingyu asked, an attempt to start a conversation.

Seungkwan looked up and nodded. “Well, the only client who scheduled an appointment. I might be assigned someone else when I get back.”

“Why don’t I treat you out to lunch?” Mingyu offered. Seungkwan looked up and the two made eye contact, the younger holding a surprised facial expression.

“Oh, you don’t really need to, I can just grab a bite to eat nearby.”

“No, please, let me. It’s the least I could do for what you did for me. Plus, I know a great restaurant. Believe me, I personally know the chef.”

He knows better, Seungkwan definitely knows better since this is how Hansol’s love life ignited. He kept his eye contact duration at a minimum as he did not want to spark any interest in Mingyu. But it was free food, he would be a fool to throw that offer out the window.

It was one lunch date with a client. It was barely a date, it was just an outing. A professional outing with a purpose of gratitude. Surely this couldn’t lead to anything more serious to Seungkwan.

But surely, Seungkwan was wrong.

The following week, Seungkwan had Thursday off and decided to pay a visit to Soonyoung who relocated to Mapo for a job promotion. He knew he could trust him with these thoughts of Mingyu that raced through his head, especially since he had too much pride to admit to Hansol that they were in a similar situation. It has only been less than a week and yet Seungkwan can’t get the lunch date—he admits it being a date now— with Mingyu out of his mind.

During the lunch date with Mingyu, Seungkwan made a promise to himself not to allude to any future meetings with each other, which was quickly broken when him and Mingyu started to talk about themselves.

Seungkwan was surprised that Mingyu opened up to him—a data recovery employee he had just met a few hours ago. “I really love to cook,” Mingyu smiles as the two of them were waiting for their food to arrive at their table. “I’ve always been interested by it, it’s fascinating how I could combine a few ingredients together to create something new—a totally new creation.”

Mingyu grinned and Seungkwan couldn’t help but smile back. “Sounds like you’re really passionate… but, then, if you don’t mind me asking, why didn’t you become a chef?”

“Money,” Mingyu sighed. Seungkwan nodded in understanding. The taller one sipped his water and placed it on the table gently, sliding it back to its original position as he pulled his hand back and rubbed it on his thigh. “Plus, I lived with my grandma when I was younger so she couldn’t really afford to pay for culinary school… but I enjoyed my time cooking with her when she was alive.”

Seungkwan pouted. “Condolences.”

“Thank you, but she’s in a better place.” Mingyu smiled. “I got a communications degree at university and somehow ended up being hired by a company that develops cookbooks.” He chuckled a bit. “It’s pretty ironic, isn’t it?” The two nodded before Mingyu blinked and shook his head. “Oh, gosh, sorry. I’m talking too much about myself— what about you?”

“Me?” Seungkwan blinked. He shrugged before putting his water down. “I… there isn’t much really. I like computers and went to university with my best friend for it and now we work for a software company.”

“That’s pretty exciting,” Mingyu nodded. “I’m pretty bad at computers… hence, why we came into contact in the first place.” They shared a laugh before their waitress came over with their plates of food. Seungkwan oohed at how ornamented the food was displayed when it was set down on the placemats. They thanked her before Seungkwan grabbed his fork excitedly. “Wait!” Mingyu gasped.

Seungkwan blinked up and froze in his position and watched as Mingyu took out his phone while standing up before reorganizing their plates as he began shooting photos. “Um…” Seungkwan coughed, still in position, “what are you doing?”

“Oh, sorry,” Mingyu hummed as he walked around the table for a better photo angle, “this is something I do a lot… I appreciate the aesthetics of food as much as the creation of it.”

As intriguing as it sounded and as attractive as Mingyu looked while he was passionately taking photos of Seungkwan’s pasta, Seungkwan’s stomach had a mind of its own as it kept rumbling. He continuously rubbed it before Mingyu sat down and they could proceed eating. Sighing in relief, the younger one started eating and his eyes widened at how delicious the dish he ordered satisfied his taste buds.

Seeing the reaction, Mingyu grinned as he began eating his own food. “Good, huh?”

“Really good!” Seungkwan exclaimed with a mouth full of food. Mingyu snickered, Seungkwan blushing in embarrassment but also from Mingyu’s adorable expressions—which he didn’t admit until hours later.

The second Seungkwan stepped back into his apartment, it quickly dawned upon him that his routine had been broken. The Monday vibes that followed him throughout the week came to a halt when he finally realized it was only Wednesday afternoon and he had just came back from a lunch date with his client.

“It wasn’t a date,” he kept mumbling to himself as he set his bag down in its usual spot as he walked to his closet to change into more comfortable clothes. He came out in jogging pants as he went back to the kitchen, catching himself off-guard when he searched on his phone for pasta recipes for tonight’s dinner. He knew his usual routine of ordering jajjangmyeon is unhealthy but it was his routine. Cooking was not his routine. Neither was thinking of someone—whom he just met that day—the entire day.

Mingyu was not part of his routine.

But he could be.

When Soonyoung heard about his younger friend’s intuitive thoughts he gasped happily and hugged him tightly. “A-ah, hyung—” Seungkwan heaved as he felt the oxygen being squeezed out of him.

“Sorry, sorry!” Soonyoung giggled as he pulled back and fixed Seungkwan’s shirt. “I’m just really happy for you.” They continued their conversation at a nearby cafe as Soonyoung was on an hour break anyway. “You should stay the night,” Soonyoung hummed as he offered a spoonful of the bingsoo to his friend. “The subway ride isn’t that bad here, right?”

“It’s only an hour.” Seungkwan nodded as he opened his mouth and let his hyung feed him.

“Perfect! I’ll pull out the couch for you. So this guy, Mingyu, right?”

“Y-yeah that’s his name… Hyung, it’s weird though… I shouldn’t fall for someone so fast, right? Shouldn’t it take some time?”

Soonyoung paused with the spoon hovering over his tongue as he smiled cheekily. “So you admit you fell for him?”

Realizing the words that had just escaped his mouth, Seungkwan dropped his own spoon on the table and rubbed his cheeks. “Shit… Hyung, I’m really new to this.”

“I can tell. Do you want to talk to Junnie about it? He’s better at this sort of thing than me.”

Seungkwan shrugged. “Ah, maybe… but I’d rather just keep it between us. I don’t really want anyone else to know. Hansol doesn’t even know.”

Gasping, Soonyoung held his shirt dramatically as his chair scooted back a bit. “Really? I know before your best friend?” He pretended to sniffle and dabbed the napkin over his eyes. “I’m so touched, I really am your favourite hyung.”

“You’re about to me second after Jihoon hyung,” Seungkwan grumbled as he picked his spoon back up and kept eating. “Should I ask for a second date?”

“Do you have his number?”

“I have… his email.”

“That’s a bit weird, don’t you think? Shouldn’t emails be, y’know, professional?”

“It’s all I have.” Seungkwan pouted. “What? Should I personally ask him at his work building?”

“That’s a good idea!”

“Wha— no, Hyung that’s a terrible idea! And I’ll tell you why!”

“I’m listening,” Soonyoung leaned over and grinned to tease Seungkwan. Seungkwan pouted in response. Before looking down and silently admitting defeat. “I know you’re shy and emailing seems like the best way to handle this, but maybe you should do it in person. It shows you’re more interested too.”

Seungkwan never really believed in pep talks, especially ones to himself, but he constantly gave himself pep talks the whole way back to Gangnam. From his subway stop to the next subway line towards Mingyu’s building, with the five minute walk in between before reaching the actual address. He stood in front of the door, just like the first time he had, and took a deep breath before marching in with the plan of walking straight to Mingyu’s office.

He forgot about the front desk as soon as he stepped in and sheepishly walked over to her to ask for Mingyu. She replied that he was out of the office and at a restaurant working with a chef at their restaurant as they currently speak. A bit discouraged, Seungkwan was about to give up but he boldly asked for the location address, which she kindly gave to him.

It took another forty-five minute subway ride as Seungkwan attempted to casually walk by the restaurant before he almost lost his balance when he saw Mingyu through the window plating a dish with cameras and lighting surrounding the table. Thankfully, Mingyu spotted him and waved him to come inside so Seungkwan wouldn’t make a fool of himself.

The hug—the warm and secure hug—that Mingyu greeted Seungkwan with was surprisingly pleasant and left him dazed as Mingyu pulled back. “Funny seeing you here, I’m just getting ready this plate of food ready for its shoot.”

“I thought you just write cookbooks.”

Mingyu shook his head before shrugging. “Well, I do do that, but I also do this on the side for another company. Funny, my whole life revolves around food,” he chuckled. Seungkwan blushed a bit and nodded.

He took a deep breath before sighing. “Actually, I was wondering… are you… when… um… I… what are you doing after this?”

“Um… probably going to just head back to my place and edit these pictures… why, do you have plans?”

Seungkwan shook his head. “I… do you want to go to dinner? I mean— out to dinner? Or maybe into dinner? If we decide to go to my place… oh gosh—” he turned his head and coughed as Mingyu smiled.

“I’d love to have dinner with you. Actually, maybe I can cook something for you and bring it over? I love cooking for people.”

“I love eating other people’s cooking,” Seungkwan joked, smiling when Mingyu laughed at his at attempt of a corny joke. They exchanged numbers and Seungkwan sent him his address before he waved at Mingyu to leave him to his business. “I’ll see you at seven?”

“Seven’s good for me,” Mingyu grinned.

-

“You usually don’t call this early,” Junhui snickered into the receiver as Seungkwan grasped on the other line. “Soonyoung’s still asleep and he left his phone in the kitchen to charge.”

“Ah… Hyung… I was just—”

“Dont worry, he told me everything. You know your Hyung.” Seungkwan groaned but accepted it as Junhui hummed. “So? How was your home dinner with Mingyu, was it?”

“Yeah, his name is Mingyu,” Seungkwan nodded before sighing. “Hyung, I think he’s too perfect for me.”

“What do you mean?” Junhui asked as he unplugged the phone and walked back to the bedroom and smiled when he saw Soonyoung sprawled across their bed. “I don’t think anyone can be too perfect, Seungkwan.”

“Hyung, you haven’t met Kim Mingyu. He can cook, he can clean, he’s tall, he’s handsome, he’s—everything.”

Junhui chuckled. “I don’t think that’s everything, Seungkwan,” he replied as he fixed the blanket and pulled it up to Soonyoung’s shoulder as he sat down next to him. “But it seems like you really like him.”

Seungkwan whined as he lied back down on his own mattress as he turned his head to look at the kitchen where he remembered when Mingyu taught him how to cut tomatoes properly the night before. “I just… maybe I need to slow my roll.”

“Did he spend the night?”

“No, he has another restaurant photoshoot thing in the morning. I would have let him stay though otherwise. Or is that moving things too soon? Oh my gosh, Hyung, this is so hard.”

“Just breathe, Seungkwan,” Junhui suggested as he continued to stroke Soonyoung’s head as he scooted closer to Junhui on the mattress. “Are you guys official yet?”

“What does that mean?”

“Y’know, you’re actually dating? An official couple? Though, I take it from that question that you two aren’t.”

“We… aren’t.” Seungkwan sighed.

“Do you want to be official?”

“I don’t know, Hyung. I just… don’t know.”

“Still no response?” Seokmin asked, pouring a cup of tea in the kitchen as Mingyu leaned back against the couch and sighed before locking his phone.

“Nothing. Won’t even respond to my texts even though I know he read them.”

Seokmin walked over with the two mugs to accompany his friend. Mingyu pulled out the coasters before Seokmin set them down on the table. “Maybe he’s busy?”

“I don’t think it’s possible to be busy enough to ignore someone’s messages and phone calls for practically a month.” Mingyu sighed and blew on the tea before sipping it carefully, feeling the warmth distribute throughout his entire body. “I think… he got over me.”

“Mingyu, don’t say that,” Seokmin frowned as he held his own cup of tea, keeping his palms warm. “I’m sure there’s more to this than you think.”

Sitting up and placing the mug back on the coaster, Mingyu shook his head. “You’re giving him too much benefit of the doubt, Seok. I wanted to tell him so much, I thought we… I thought we clicked really well, but I guess the feelings died down on his end.”

“Well,” Seokmin sighed as he rubbed the taller one’s back, “what about that job interview you have next week? What if you get it?”

“It’s my dream job. I want it more than anything,” Mingyu exhaled before turning his head to look  over at his friend’s sympathetic expression before smiling. “If I get it, it’s surely meant to be. But… I just wish that I’d get his opinion on it. It would mean a lot to me.”

“You don’t have to be strapped down for someone, you know that.”

“I know that. I definitely know that. But… I just… Seok, I would stay for him.”

“Wow, this is really something, huh?” Seokmin asked, smiling when Mingyu shyly nodded before rubbing the back of his neck. “You know normally, I would have texted Minghao to come over and smack sense into you, but I think he would be behind me when I say that if you really like him, then let’s see what happens then.”

“You mean—?”

“I mean, if you get the job and he answers your call and convinces you to stay, then we won’t stop you from staying for him.”

“—and for you guys—”

“No, you know we’d always stay in contact with you,” Seokmin grinned. “If you and Seungkwan are meant to be, then let’s wait until after that interview.”

“You’re awfully quiet these days during lunch, even for you,” Hansol observed as he nudged Seungkwan by kicking his ankle under the table. Seungkwan shook out of his train of thought and shrugged as he went back to eating his food. “And you don’t really eat anything except salads either… Are you… okay?”

“I’m peachy,” Seungkwan responded with a mouth full of lettuce in his mouth.

Hansol snickered and offered a napkin when part of the dressing dripped from Seungkwan’s fork. He watched his friend wipe it before he pouted a bit. “You’re not telling me something.”

“I tell you everything.”

“Except whatever’s on your mind right now, apparently.”

“There’s nothing on my mind now.”

“You ignored my whole spiel of how Seungcheol Hyung and I are official.” Hansol pouted before jumping when Seungkwan dropped his fork on the floor and his eye twitched. “Something’s definitely going through your mind, Boo.” He offered to help clean up but frowned when Seungkwan nudged him not to as he cleaned up the spill and fork off the floor. “Seungkwan…”

“I fell in love with a client too,” Seungkwan confessed.

Hansol blinked. “Oh, you did? That one you had like two months ago?”

“Yeah, that’s the guy. Kim Mingyu. Mr. Perfect. He’s so perfect, Hansol, oh my gosh—”

Processing the information, Hansol gradually smiled. “Well, I’m happy for you—”

“We haven’t talked in three weeks,” the other sighed. He began eating his salad once again as Hansol pushed his plate of pasta on the side before leaning his elbows on the table.

“Why?”

“Did you not hear what I said? He’s so perfect… I can’t fall in love with someone like that. Not someone like me.”

“Whoa whoa, slow down,” Hansol leaned in closer and patted his best friend’s arm. “Nobody said anything about falling in love yet. Just if you like him and he likes you back.”

“That’s the problem… I think we like each other but I don’t think we should fall in love with each other.”

It was silent for the rest of the lunch break. Hansol didn’t want to push Seungkwan too far with questions and Seungkwan didn’t want to vent that much about the subject. This was new to them, being quiet to each other, but they began to open up into conversation again as they headed back to the office.

“Has he been trying to talk to you?”

“I’ve been ignoring his texts and calls…”

“Seungkwan… that’s not how relationships work.”

“I know—no, actually no. I don’t know how relationships work. I don’t know how any of this shit works!” Seungkwan ruffled his hair as Hansol patted his back. He sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell you earlier but… it might be too late now.”

“You know it’s never too late to fix this, right? And, who knows— maybe he feels the same way about you.”

He took a long and thoughtful look at his best friend before Seungkwan shook his head back to reality. “I’m sorry, I’m just surprised that you actually gave me good and legitimate advice.”

“Oh, fuck you too,” Hansol grunted before the two of them laughed together. “Let me stay over, it’s been awhile since I have and I want to be there for you when you talk to Mingyu.” Seungkwan raised an eyebrow at Hansol’s kind gesture before his friend sighed. “Yeah, okay, Seungcheol might be out of town for the weekend and I might need company so—” Seungkwan snickered as Hansol’s cheeks turned red out of embarrassment before smiling when Seungkwan offered his place.

“That’s strange,” Seungkwan grumbled as he was brushing his teeth in the bathroom while pulling the phone away from his left ear.

“What strange?” Hansol asked loudly from the living room, causing Seungkwan to jump surprised.

“He isn’t picking up. His phone leads straight to voicemail.”

“Why would you call him while brushing your teeth?” Hansol laughed. “Were you really going to talk to him with all that foam in your mouth?”

Seungkwan spit out the toothpaste in his mouth before rinsing and walking out with a pout towards the couch where his best friend was settled with a blanket and extra pillow. He sat down and whined. “I can just spit out the foam, you know…” He sighed. “He really didn’t pick up though.”

“Well, maybe his phone died,” suggested Hansol. Seungkwan sighed and nodded, mumbling how he’ll call in the morning before Hansol looked over and saw the voicemail icon on the status bar. “Have you not checked your voicemail.”

“You know I never check my voicemail.”

“Do you see how much voicemail you have?” Hansol gasped as he picked up Seungkwan’s phone. “There’s so many! These are all probably Mingyu Hyung too, I think you should listen to them. He probably wanted to tell you a lot… It would also be polite to when he picks up the phone tomorrow morning.”

“Y-yeah… I guess that’s fair,” Seungkwan nodded as he picked up his phone and put it to his ear to hear the messages. He felt his heart melt at the sound of Mingyu’s voice, but that smile began to fade with every message he heard.

“Hey, Kwannie. I had a really fun night cooking for you at your place last week. I’m really sorry I couldn’t stay over. I would have loved to. Maybe we could do it again? I was thinking this weekend. Let me know!”

“You’re pretty bad at responding these days,” Mingyu chuckled. “I hope you’re doing well. Anyway, I was really inspired by all of the encouragement you gave me the other night and, well, I decided that I was going to pursue cooking again. Not only for my grandma, but for you as well. I’ve been talking to the chefs I work with to help me see what I can do. Ah, I just wanted to thank you again for that. I hope I can repay you for this.”

“Are you doing okay? I don’t really hear from you as much. Or at all,” Mingyu mumbled. “Anyway, I have an interview in two days and, well, it would mean a lot if I could get your opinion on it? The job, I mean. It’s just that, if I get it then it means that I would leave the country to pursue culinary school. The chefs put in a good word for me too, so I might actually have a chance but I don’t want to make a decision before I hear your input because, well, it means a lot to me. I hope you call me back.”

Seungkwan never bothered hearing the last message in his inbox as he threw his phone onto the loveseat adjacent to the couch, making Hansol squeal at the action before he saw Seungkwan sniffling, tears dripping onto his thighs.

“Kwan?” Hansol softly called out as he frowned and saw Seungkwan burst into tears. He quickly scooted over and threw the blanket over the crying one’s shoulders and pulled him closer. He rubbed his shoulders and let Seungkwan lean on his own. “Kwan, what happened?”

“I’m such a dumbass… he… he really felt the same way.”

He couldn’t stand seeing his friend like this. “Then, l-let’s camp out of his company building tonight!” Seungkwan looked up, shocked, while wiping the continuous tears rolling down his cheek. “I’m serious! Since you don’t know where he lives, at least you know where he works, right? We’ll just wait there until he comes to work! And then— then, you two can work things out, okay?” Seungkwan couldn’t speak but just nodded as Hansol stood up and pulled the blanket off the two of them and went to get their shoes. “We’ll make it work, Kwan.”

Seungkwan was surprised to wake up to the front desk worker nudging him as he leaned against the building, sitting on the concrete floor covered in a blanket with Hansol sleeping on his shoulder. “Oh good,” she sighed in relief. “I just came to open up and— are you looking for Mingyu?” Seungkwan’s eyes quickly widened after he rubbed his eyes to adjust to the bright atmosphere before he felt his heart drop as her smile changed. “He doesn’t work here anymore.”

“W-what?” Seungkwan asked in disbelief. “B-but— w-what happened?”

“Did he not tell you?” she pouted as she kneeled down to his eye-level. “He got a new job—his dream job—so he resigned here and moved just this morning.”

From the conversation, Hansol woke up and was also surprised to see the worker in front of them. He pouted when he looked over at Seungkwan and saw how much his hands were shaking while gripping his legs tightly close to his chest.

“W-where did he move?”

“Paris.”

Hansol blinked. “Mingyu moved to Paris?”

“That’s right. One of the chefs here gave a recommendation to his alma mater about Mingyu and they accepted him just two days ago.” Before Seungkwan could ask where Mingyu went, she stood up when her alarm went off as she bid the two farewell and entered the building. Seungkwan sat completely still, processing what had just happened before he frantically pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Mingyu’s number.

The number you have reached is unavailable as it is no longer in service.

“Fuck, no,” Seungkwan’s voice trembled. He redialed at least four times, persistently hearing the same message before Hansol grabbed the phone out of his hands. Seungkwan covered his face and began to sob. “I’m… too late…”

“No, no don’t say that. We’ll find a way, Kwan—”

“I don’t think... there are anymore... ways around this, Sol,” Seungkwan shook his head while still covering his face, both of them paying no attention to the increasing number of bystanders that kept glancing at them as the morning rush came around. “We really weren’t meant to be…”

Hansol frowned before gripping onto Seungkwan’s shoulders and shaking him. “Kwan, listen to yourself, you sound like a complete fool!”

“I am a fool!” Seungkwan wailed. “A fool who was in love and a fool who let that all slip away from such stupid and foolish thoughts!” Hansol let Seungkwan cry on his shoulder, rubbing his back as an affectionate sign of solace—the only thing he could offer at this time. The two headed back to Seungkwan’s apartment, thankful that they both had the day off.

Looking over, seeing his friend mumbling to himself—of probably negative thoughts—Hansol nudged him. “Seungkwan…” the other looked up as Hansol sighed. “We’ll find a way, okay?”

“Okay…” Seungkwan replied hopelessly.

“Hey… if you two were really meant to be, it’ll happen. It was just the wrong time.”

Seungkwan sighed. “Sol, I told you before. I don’t think we’re meant to be together.”

“Yes, Hyung, I heard you loud and clear,” Seungkwan rolled his eyes as he was filing through paperwork on his desk that Jihoon handed him just this morning. “I’m almost done with this and then I’ll go grab the other files from the third floor after lunch.” After Jihoon gave more instructions, Seungkwan sighed in relief as he hung up his phone. He checked his watch and grumbled how he had to meet Hansol downstairs in a few minutes for lunch.

He rushed down after going through all the papers, thankful that Chan was his assistant now so that he could finish the job for him. After being promoted two ranks, Seungkwan’s focus from work transitioned from client work to paperwork. He didn’t mind though, he didn’t have to run in and out of the building every other day, but he shifted between the third and fourth floor constantly. It was less of a demanding task to his mind and body though.

Seungkwan managed to walk out of the building just in time as Hansol showed up outside the door. “Hey, wow, look at you with your cool pin Jihoon hyung gave you,” Hansol snickered as Seungkwan pushed his face away.

The two walked to the new restaurant that had just opened last week that became a local favourite to their little pocket of town. Hansol managed to squeeze a reservation last minute thanks to Seungcheol for knowing the management. They both oohed at the sight of the building’s interior as the host led them to their table.

“Shit,” Seungkwan whispered, “the food here must be really expensive then.”

“Good think you’re paying then, huh?” Hansol snickered as they both sat down. After looking over at the menu and ordering their food, they began catching up as Hansol was complaining about graduate school. “Yeah, it’s been rough,” Hansol sighed as he rubbed his neck, “but Cheol hyung has been a really good support line… I mean, you know, besides my best friend.”

“Yeah, you better not forget about me!” Seungkwan rolled his eyes. “Leaving me and going back to school to pursue a master’s degree? I mean, who does that?” Hansol raised his hand and laughed when Seungkwan kicked his leg under the table before sighing. “I’m happy for you though, Sol. You two seem serious too, huh?”

“Thank you,” Hansol smiled. “Yeah, Hyung and I moved in together just last month. It was a big step for the two of us but… we’re happy. I’m happy for you too. You’ve been doing alright, right?”

Seungkwan shrugged, eyeing the food coming over to their table before smiling. “Yeah, more or less. Same old, same old.” Before eating, Seungkwan told Hansol to freeze, causing him to squeal, only to sigh and chuckle when he watched Seungkwan take his phone out and stand up, rearranging the plates before taking multiple pictures.

“Wow, you still do this?” Hansol snickered.

“Old habits, I guess,” Seungkwan hummed before he sat back down and Hansol started scarfing down his food. Just by the mere smell of the food, Seungkwan felt a sense of comfort, a sense of familiarity, a sense of love. Then again, he was probably just hungry. With that first bite, he paused. Hansol looked over while wiping his mouth and blinked at his friend’s blank expression. Seungkwan, shaking out of his trance, called over their waiter. “C-can you send my compliments to the chef? Or can I… possibly see the chef?”

“Well,” the waiter hummed, “since this is still considered opening week, let me call him out for you.” Seungkwan smiled thankfully as the waiter left, leaving Hansol puzzled.

The second those double doors opened and their eyes met, Seungkwan’s heart started racing just as it did before. Hansol, still confused, turned around to see the sous chef— fitting a familiar description of someone Seungkwan had met and grew fond of years ago. Hansol snickered and nudged Seungkwan under the table. “Great timing, huh?”

[wonpluswonistwo]

A Touch to Remember (Wonwoo Scenario)

Pairing: Wonwoo x Reader

Word Count: 988

Warnings: None!

Type: SchoolAU!, Fluff

Summary: You’re partnered with Wonwoo, a boy you don’t really know from your class, for a project and you both learn more about each other through your working together, a rewarding surprise waiting after all your hard work.

A/N: Sorry for any mistakes, and sorry for the really long wait!

Mingyu and Sarah. Jinyoung and Katherine. Phillip and Somi. (Y/N) and Wonwoo. You looked around the room, looking for a boy with a tall stature, brown hair, a sharp jawline, and pretty eyes bordered with silver rimmed glasses. To the left? All desks were abandoned and messy. To the right? Just a few girls eating their lunch. To the middl-

“Looking for me?” Wonwoo stood in front of you, one eyebrow raised, arms crossed, and a playful smirk plastered across his face. But all you could see was a white t-shirt nicely hugging a male chest and as you looked up, you realized who was talking. 

“If you’re Wonwoo, then...yeah.” You weren’t really sure how to talk to him; you knew of him, but you didn’t really KNOW him. He simply nodded and motioned you to follow him, which you obliged.

“So, just a heads up, I’m not sure if you’re a straight A student or what, but um-” He nervously looked around, remembering that he wasn’t a very talkative person and wondered what had triggered him to suddenly burst out sentences so confidently. “I’m not exactly smart, and so I’m apologizing in advance if my participation in this project brings our grade down.” He looked down, slightly embarrassed and slightly hopeful that you would be forgiving. You simply looked at him confused, wondering what aspect of you made him think you were a straight A student.

 “Wonwoo, I’m literally nowhere from a straight A student; I have no idea what you’re talking about!” He looked up immediately, relief evident in his eyes.

“Oh, okay...that’s good…” He whispered, the introvert inside him suddenly swallowing him up again after a short burst of confidence.

 And that’s how your and Wonwoo’s partnership continued for the next week. Him showing up at your house an hour after school ended, silently walking into the kitchen and shaking his head when you offered him water, and just dead silence as both of you worked separately on two different computers, two different sections, two different worlds.

 That is, until one day when it was finally time to construct the main poster, the poster which you had to present and the only part of the project that you dreaded most. You weren’t sure how you were going to stand in front of a class of 20 people and explain to them why the Ancient Greeks were important to the modern society. You were even more unsure how Wonwoo was going to even talk, at all.

 Shaking your head to get the thoughts out of your mind, you turned around to get a piece of construction paper, but instead of feeling the rough surface of the colored paper, you felt soft skin. Soft skin that was warm and sent tingles up your arm, forming goosebumps and a happy feeling inside your head. You looked up and saw Wonwoo looking straight at you, a special glint in his eyes and a soft smile creeping up.

 From that day on, every bit of silence, awkwardness, and peace disappeared. Sounds of laughter, lectures, explanations, jokes, stories, and small arguments filled in the silence, while the warm friendliness and close friendship replaced the awkwardness that was present before.

 Before you both knew it, doomsday had finally arrived: the day you and Wonwoo had to present your poster that you both had spent countless hours working on. Sitting next to each other in the classroom, you and Wonwoo exchanged nervous looks, each explanation running through both your heads.

 One presentation went by. Then another. Then another. Then another.

 “Wonwoo and (Y/N)?” the teacher asked, looking around the classroom. The moment you heard your name, a small shiver went through you, which Wonwoo noticed. As you both stood up to walk in front of the classroom, Wonwoo rubbed your arm to give your strength, warmth, and the assurance of a friend. Nevertheless, each step you took was like stepping in sticky cement, as if your feet would stay stuck to the ground and suck up all of your energy. After what felt like a thousand years, you were facing the class of 25, alongside with Wonwoo who was visibly trembling from fear.

 You looked over at him the same moment he looked over at you, and a mutual feeling of security and hope grew inside you both. Suddenly smiling, you and Wonwoo, in harmony, presented the project together, with no mistakes, no hesitations, and no fear.

 It wasn’t only 6 days later that you both felt the same fear in your hearts. The familiar thump, thump, thump of the heart, the increase in the rate of breathing, and the dilation of your caramel colored eyes. Sitting together, you reached your hand out and placed it in his larger hand, wanting someone to comfort your nervousness and fear. He flinched slightly at your sudden touch, a smile trying not to creep onto his face.

 The teacher walked by, dropped the white computer paper onto your table face down. You bent down, lifted the bottom left corner of the report, and in bright, red pen markings, a big fat:

 A

 You eyes and mouth opened so wide a fly could have flown in and made a nice home. Dropping the corner, you practically leaped across the aisle and flung your arms around his neck, breathing in the scent of his cologne and smiling widely.

 “Wha-um I uh-what-” Wonwoo stammered uncontrollably, not knowing what was going on. The wind from your movements had caused the paper to slowly float to the ground, showing a bright red “A.”

 His eyes opened wide, like big saucers, and grabbed you by your shoulders, pulled you off him, and said,

 “Oh my god, (Y/N), I really love you.” Upon realizing what he just confessed, he released you from his grips and ran off, his heart beating fast and his mind going crazy with scoldings.

-Admin Gene

[jishua-moved]

Light Me Up | Chapter 3

gif credit

Pairing: Vernon x OFC featuring S.Coups & Jeonghan

Genre: fluff, humor, mild angst

Word Count: 4143

[ Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 ] + Moodboard

Summary:  Just as the moon had her scars and imperfections, so did she. And he loved every bit of it. To him, she was the moon that shone brightest in these rare moments. The moon who’s light had been dimmed. To her, he was the sun that would eventually, light her up in every way. Only she hadn’t accepted it yet. She hadn’t yet accepted the light slowly growing inside her chest, but it wouldn’t be long until she did.

“If you can love the wrong one so much, just imagine how much you can love the right one.”

A/N: Wow. This chapter really hates me. Through a whole lot of struggle and debating, I finally finished it! I’m so, so sorry it took thing long! A maaajor thank you to my lovely editor & best friend @kaviea for helping me read, edit and write this. It wouldn’t be this great without you. Bless you. Also, to those who have been waiting and hyping the heck out of this story, thank you so much! Thank you for waiting patiently and loving it. I hope this chapter is good enough and that the story will be loved. Thank you again <3

She walked in, just a few minutes before opening time. A week had passed since she’d hired Vernon.

Seungcheol, of course, had to jump in front of her, screaming, “You hired him!”

“Shhhh,” She pressed a finger to her lips, looking around a few times. Vernon was up on stage, a safe distance away from hearing them, so she continued.

“Yeah I hired him,” she threw her hands in the air dramatically, “Don’t even ask how it happened.”

Seungcheol shot her a satisfactory smirk and said, “So, did you tell uncle yet?”

She smiled, put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Oh. I’m not telling uncle. You are.” With a couple of pats on his shoulder, she casually walked towards the bar, flashing Vernon a welcoming smile.

Seungcheol didn’t tell uncle. Not that day, nor the next. Despite much debate between them, she eventually decided to keep it quiet, because the number of customers doubled. They were mostly girls, coming to see the newly hired rapper Vernon. She didn’t give these girls much thought, as they kept their distance and the security guards were always on the lookout for any harmful behavior.

Vernon did a good job. No, better than good. People loved him. They loved him for the obvious things: his messy hair, which somehow fell in time with his rhythm; his perfectly shy, but sometimes confident smile; for the way he looked down before gazing up with fire in his eyes. Energy radiated from him and pulled in everyone in the room, including her.

To her, above all of the obvious things, Vernon was still that sweet, clumsy boy who’d taken the stage and made it his. He’d even impressed Seungcheol with his lyrics and stage presence.

Vernon sat at the bar counter, talking to her, between his ‘performances’ while Seungcheol took over. They talked about the most random things and she found herself laughing at his quirky humor. Slowly, she started coming to work more often than just on the weekends. She loved seeing both of her friends perform so much and decided that staying at home wasn’t as enjoyable as this.

She was unaware of the effect Vernon suddenly had on her. At least not until she found herself mouthing his lyrics...

Several times a day because of you My head is bombarded, there is no space I’m trying to forget you But the thoughts of you are blocking my view.

Two weeks had passed by in a blink and during that short time, Vernon had found interest in the little things, like the rare laugh that she’d utter every time he attempted to be funny. She, in return, appreciated his efforts and enjoyed their conversations. She loved the way they could sit in complete silence sometimes; the way he didn’t have to fill it. Most of all, she loved his smile. It was too contagious, and even she couldn’t resist it.

Somewhere along those days, Seungcheol decided to take Vernon and her out to a karaoke bar, of all places. He said it was to celebrate the “growth in female customers thanks to their prodigy,” a sentence that made her roll her eyes.

She’d put on her favorite pair of out-of-work-skinny-jeans and a striped black sweater. Her ivory coat and scarf kept her warm.

Vernon rarely wore his snapback, but the bomber jacket was still very much attached to him. She always told him how he should’ve gotten a warmer jacket by now, or gloves for that matter, but no, Vernon was always finding unconvincing excuses not to dress warmly.

The bar was surprisingly empty, even though it was two days before New Year's Eve. The three of them settled down at a table in the corner, next to the single small stage. One of the waitresses took their orders and a few drinks later, Seungcheol was attempting to sing the chorus to a somewhat familiar song.

Vernon’s grin spread across his entire face. He furrowed his brows with amusement every time Seungcheol strove to hit a high note and then proceeded to clap joyfully when he managed it.

The two boys got along as if they had known each other for years. They were able to be simply boys, something she had never been able to be for Seungcheol. It was always fun to watch and even more fun being part of it. A little happiness along the usual monotonous days was much needed, as Seungcheol would say.

Somewhere along the fits of laughter, high notes, and Vernon’s claps, Seungcheol decided to ask her to sing.

“Your turn,” he gleamed.

Her brows shot up and she shook her head a couple of times while waving her hands around in denial, “Nooooo. No way. I can’t sing.”

Seungcheol moved over to Vernon’s side, placing both hands on his shoulders, “She’s lyiiiing,” he teased, with his eyes fixated on hers,“She can totally sing. In fact...”

He shifted his body over to her this time, placing his hands on her shoulders and squeezing lightly, “...She’s the best singer I know. Top of her class.”

She shook her head, switching gazes between Vernon and Seungcheol. “Stop bragging about me,” she complained, her voice soft and squeaky. She didn’t want to dig back into her college days.

Seungcheol pouted and she could see Vernon’s little smile vanish. She perceived that he had a glint of interest in his eyes, a kind of hope and expectation. He was curious, wanting to hear her sing, wanting to know more about the mysterious “ice queen.”

They locked their eyes together for a moment. A string of silence between them was interrupted by yet another plead from Seungcheol, “C’moooon. Please? Pretty please?”

She held Vernon’s expectant gaze and got up stubbornly, “Fine.”

While she walked over to the stage, Seungcheol cheered her on a little too loudly. She shot him a sharp gaze and he sat down silently. Vernon was almost on the edge of his seat at this point, his eyes glued to her face.

“Which song, though?” she asked. Looking around, she realized that she had zero clues as to what she could sing.

“How about the one you’d always play last summer?” Seungcheol suggested.

“Fine?”

“Yeah that one!” he said excitedly, flipping through the songs catalog until he found the one. “Got it,” he said and sat back down before pressing the play button.

She nodded, shuffling her feet in place and looking down at them. The first few notes played and her eyes met Vernon’s; goose bumps ran up her arms. An unexpected feeling. It had been long since she sang. She took a deep breath and she started.

Between the meaningless jokes, back-and-forth conversations And all the people, I look like I’m fine I pretend to be numb and I try to smile I try to turn around from your shadow but...

Her voice was a little shaky and unpracticed but pleasant to the ears. Seungcheol’s smile spread wide across his face. He remembered how she used to sing to herself in her apartment, dancing in place with a smile as wide as it could get. If only she could go back to being her old self.

Vernon sat in silence, taking in her every move and every sound with his lips slightly parted in awe. The way she carried herself on stage was beautiful. It was like she was engulfed in the rhythm and lyrics, blocking out the world around her. 

She heard herself singing the words as if she was somewhere outside of herself. It felt like she was choking on the lyrics that felt too raw, too personal, too real -- just like the memories that she so desperately tried to obliterate.

...I keep thinking About our last moment A calm goodbye with the words “take care”  “Not yet” I tell myself, like a fool...

She didn’t realize how much the song would hurt her. She was a fool indeed. A fool to love Jeonghan and a fool to come here with Seungcheol and Vernon. She regretted singing, let alone singing in front of them. She pretended so well, hiding her pain from Seungcheol, hiding it from herself and everyone around her. 

With the last few verses, she felt the tears crawling down her cheeks and the lump that grew in her throat didn’t make it any easier. Instead of stopping, she continued, with a voice more powerful than ever. The words came through her tears, her voice cracking at the very end.

...I can’t swallow the words that linger in my mouth It’s not fine Ah ah ah it’s not fine oh Ah ah ah it’s not fine

With her last shaky breath, she lowered her head in an attempt to hide the tears that were already apparent. She let out another, steadier breath but it was too late to hide anything. Her voice had made her into a mirror, reflecting her true, broken self in front of them.

She saw Seungcheol’s smile drop instantly. He understood immediately that she was anything but fine and that all this time she just pretended. He thought she’d gotten better over the year, but unfortunately, he was wrong.

Vernon, on the other hand, had a million thoughts running through his head, trying to piece together a puzzle of the story that no one told him. How bad was this break-up? What did that guy do to hurt her so bad? Bad enough for her to hide all good things inside herself, bad enough for her to cry unconscious tears while singing a song that seemed somehow familiar to her?

Before anyone could endure any more of the awkward silence, she placed the microphone down and made her way off the stage.

“I should get going,” she mumbled under her breath, trying to steady herself yet again. Raising her head, she flashed a fake smile to both of them, her glassy eyes not able to fool anyone.

Cheol

10:43 A.M.

Do you want to talk about what happened last night?

11:22 A.M.

You’re clearly not “fine”, so please talk to your best friend at least.

12:00 P.M.

:(

12:32 P.M.

Okay, at least promise me you’re coming to the New Year’s Eve Party. You’re in charge after all. You can’t not come...

12:33 P.M.

And besides, it wouldn’t feel the same without you.

12:34 P.M.

Plus, Vernon’s gonna perform a new song that he wrote! I know you wanna hear it.

12:35 P.M.

You totally wanna hear it, don’t you?

Her phone kept beeping throughout the rest of the day, but she couldn’t handle talking to Seungcheol, not yet. Now that he could see how unhappy she really was, he would find any excuse to stay, but she couldn’t let that happen. She was too much of a burden to him already.

Then there was Vernon too, who looked at her last night with so much curiosity and sincerity in his eyes. She couldn’t begin to imagine what had been running through his mind and the questions he’d probably asked Seungcheol. Eventually, he would ask her, but she hadn’t yet decided if she was going to answer those questions. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to face him just yet. To her relief, the New Year’s Eve Party wasn’t until tomorrow.

The dance floor was already bustling with the crowds of different people. Tonight, everything looked like a blur of glitter and color, only she was on the less sparkly side. A full-length black dress with a v cut hugged her curves. The lack of sleeves compensated for the lack of sparkle. Her perfectly straightened hair was swept to the side, revealing a silver dangling earring. She looked nothing like the girl who choked up over a song. Once again, she put on her polished mask. The mask that seemed to fool everyone, even Seungcheol himself.

She hid her sadness so well that her best friend didn’t even notice, and he usually noticed everything. Well, almost everything, Seungcheol thought as she finally walked up to him.

“…Are you really okay?” he asked carefully after a while of small talk and exchanged hellos. Noticing how she furrowed her brows, he quickly added, “I mean, I know you’re not but…”

She sighed, “Let’s not. At least not tonight, okay?”

He nodded, pursing his lips. He knew better than to pressure her and besides, it was New Year’s Eve. At least she tried being happy and he wanted to make sure she stayed that way even when he was gone. If he could leave her, that was.

Her expression softened, a smile appearing on her face and she added, “I like your suit by the way. Very sleek.”

It was a simple black one, with a white button up underneath his jacket. No tie, typical Seungcheol.

“Then you’ll love Vernon’s suit,” he smirked. “He’s backstage,” he added, taking note on how she automatically turned her head towards the stage at the mention of Vernon’s name.

She shot him a glare, unable to wipe a small smile off her face and made her way towards what they called a “backstage.” It was more of a tiny storage room behind the one big curtain.

As she approached the door, reaching out for the handle, Vernon burst out of the room coming face to face with her.

“Hey! You’re here!” he exclaimed excitedly. His face lighting up at the mere sight of her, as he was afraid he wouldn’t see her again. He quickly brushed the ridiculous thought off, replacing it with a thought of her smile instead.

He wore a black men's dress shirt that was embellished with silver along the seams and a matching black tie. His hair was an utter mess, as usual. His hands were always fidgeting with his bangs and no matter how many times he pushed them away, they always seemed to fall back into place.

She almost stumbled back on her heels when he swung open that door, but regained her balance coolly, brushing her hair to the side.

“I’m here,” she smiled softly. She noticed the way his tie was sitting and suppressed a small laugh, shaking her head instead.

“C’mere,” she beckoned, pulling him gently by the hem of his collar.

Even though a little stunned by her bold action, he obeyed and shifted his body weight towards her. Her hands reached over his head, lifting up his collar. She put her delicate fingers around his tie, folding it as easily as she’d wrap a band-aid around her finger.

He watched her, not her hands, but her eyelashes and the way she’d curl her lip with every fold of the tie. He couldn’t help but think of the streaks of tears that ran down those pink cheeks last night. Despite wanting to know more and ask her endless questions, he kept quiet. This wasn’t the night to bring it up. Let her smile, he thought.

“There,” she patted him on the chest, “Looks perfect now,” she said, looking up at him through her lashes.

He held her gaze, smiling softly. A private smile that she liked to think was just for her.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“You’re welcome,” she whispered back.

The wave of excited screams broke their muffled silence. The screams of young girls weren’t anything new, but today it sounded twice as grand. Everyone waited for Vernon to take the stage, to perform those couple of songs before the clock would strike twelve. Then, everyone would get back to dancing and drinking, wishing each other a happy new year. She would most likely be at her table in the far back, admiring him as usual and singing along to his lyrics.

“They’re waiting,” she whispered, and distantly knew that the cheering had grown louder, but all she could feel was her heart beating and his electric breath on her face.

“Vernon, man! Get out there sometime BEFORE midnight,” one of the stage crew yelled.

He nodded slowly as if coming out of a dream. He forced his eyes away from her with an effort that was visible to everyone but her. He grinned, “I’ll come find you later. Hope you enjoy the show!”

And he opened the curtains and ran out to the screams. She was blinded by the stage lights, outlining only his figure, which was shining like the most brilliant of diamonds.

She says she loves my rap “Men that make music have a cool vibe” I say without thinking that it's nothing And then she said, are you always going to front like this? And then she like, where are we going? How about the Han river until the late night? With the river next to the cool wind Forget everything while talking Rest your head on my shoulders next And look up at me slightly from there, yeah I try to play it cool But eventually, you make me laugh. Yeah, that’s you...

...And the crowd went wild. Several pairs of hands clapped cheerfully. There were men in suits and ladies in miniskirts. Not a single person hesitated to clap or cheer Vernon on, especially not her and Seungcheol.

Vernon stood on stage, waving to every single corner of the crowd and bowing humbly in the process.  He seemed happy and unphased by anything else and that’s when she realized: amongst all those people she was but a speck of dust in his rapidly expanding universe.

“You’re leaving?!” Seungcheol gasped as she got up and threw her coat over her shoulders. “It’s almost midnight!”

She shook her head in denial, “Not leaving, just getting away from all the noise.”

He knew exactly where she was going: the balcony upstairs. It was the one place in the club where she could be at peace and no one knew about it but her and Seungcheol.

He frowned, “You sure you wanna spend the last few minutes of this year alone?”

"I'm a strong and independent woman, I can handle my own bar fights and everything," she squeezed his shoulder for emphasis, trying to convince them both.

She walked off, unable to resist stealing a few glances at Vernon, who had left the stage to be in the midst of the dancing crowd.

The air was cold, and yet there was no snow. Another disappointment. The clear sky was filled with tiny specks of stars, sparkling in the distance. Only a few minutes remained until midnight and she stood there alone. She tried to ignore the feeling of loneliness, but she couldn’t. She scolded herself for being like this. It’s not like Seungcheol didn’t want her down there. He was her best friend after all, but then again, it wasn’t Seungcheol’s attention that she craved in that moment.

But to her, it didn’t seem like Vernon was very eager to find her. He’d lost himself in the crowd, probably enjoying every moment of it. Those toxic thoughts crept into her mind as she stood there, hugging herself.

“Uuuugh, get it together!” she suddenly snapped. “You don’t like him. You don’t need to like him and he most definitely doesn’t like you.”

“Who doesn’t like you?”

Her head snapped back to meet eyes with Vernon, who stood there dumbfounded (without a jacket) by her one-on-one conversation with herself. She’d hoped he didn’t hear the first part. How did he even know how to get up here? She asked herself but then quickly realized it was the work of Seungcheol.

“Vernon?” she furrowed her brows, “What’re you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be downstairs celebrating? It’s almost midnight.”

“I could ask you the same question,” he teased and then scrunched his nose and shrugged, “I was looking for you. Seungcheol pointed the way.”

She chuckled, avoiding his gaze, unaware of the tingling sensation in her stomach. Smooth, she thought.

“Did you like the song?” he asked, in an attempt to lighten the mood even more. He stepped closer and leaned against the railing and their shoulders brushed as he shifted even closer.

“I loved the song,” she replied and met his gaze, “Han river, though? Not Hudson? Hudson’s jealous,” she teased with a chuckle.

He laughed. His eyes, being the color of burnt honey, sparkled even in the midst of the night. The tingling feeling in her stomach grew when his smile stretched so wide that it threatened to swallow her whole and she found hers answering his.

“I’m sorry, Hudson,” he joked, with a dramatic pout, “but I’m glad you loved the song.” He looked like a kid who’d just received an A+ for his homework. It was heart warming.

Once again, he’d tossed all her concerns out the window. Somehow, he never seemed to fail. It hadn’t been too long since they’d met and she was more than used to seeing him almost every day. The thoughts of him eventually leaving and living his dream threatened to break through again, but she pushed them back, focusing on his contagious smile.

“Oh!” she gasped as if remembering something and turned to walk back inside, “Wait here.”

She reappeared in a couple of moments, holding a large packet wrapped with shiny gift wrapping paper.

“Consider it a late Christmas gift,” she said as she handed him the packet.

He unwrapped it as carefully as he could to reveal a black puffy winter jacket.

“Oh my God. You didn’t have to! Thank you,” He smiled and immediately put it on, struggling with the zipper.

She shook her head comically. “You’re welcome and that’s not how you work a zipper,” she said, pulling him closer (a second time this night) by the hem of the jacket. She zipped up the jacket and reached behind his neck for the hood, pulling it over his head.

“There,” she smiled, tugging at the edges of the hood, “Now you won’t freeze to death in that snapback and bomber jacket of yours.”

“Thank you,” he breathed, looking into her eyes with a smile as wide as it could get.

The strike of a clock somewhere in the distance broke their silence and the muffled cheering of people was coming from downstairs. The countdown began.

“Already? Oh my God,” she gasped, looking at her watch.

“Sounds like it!” Vernon said cheerfully, not looking anywhere but her face.

Both of them started counting down as well, loud enough just for the two of them to hear. The distance between them seemed to be shrinking with every uttered number until they both said, “One.”

More distant cheering came from downstairs, signaling the beginning of a New Year.

Vernon and she just stood there. Her hands for some reason still held onto the hem of his jacket, while his own were tucked in the oversized pockets.

“Happy New Year,” he said.

“Happy New Year,” she replied.

Then more silence. It was a peaceful silence, not awkward in any way, almost like they were the only ones in this world. Somewhere along those tiny moments, Vernon’s hand reached for hers and when he touched her, countless little tingles danced along her arms. Despite the cold air, Vernon radiated only warmth.

His heart raced a million beats per second, along with her own while he held onto her hand. She looked down at their palms, fitting so perfectly into each other and thought of all the good things that had happened since she met him.

For some reason, her eyes had filled with tears and a lump forming in her throat that made it hard to even breathe. She refused to bring her head up, knowing Vernon had already noticed her tears. Instead of throwing any unnecessary questions at her, he pulled her into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her. She breathed out into his new jacket, hoping not to get any lipstick stains on it and they stood there in complete silence.

With him, she felt at peace and her heartbeat steadying, but once again, like the devil, dreadful assumptions flooded her mind. In a moment something clicked inside her and she wiggled out of his grasp.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, blinking her apparent tears away and rushed back downstairs before he could say anything to stop her.

She didn’t come to work the next day, or the day after that, leaving both Vernon and Seungcheol mildly confused and utterly worried. No matter how many calls or texts she got, there was no answer. Both boys debated whether or not to go see her but always ended up with an excuse not to.

Did I do something wrong? Did I say something wrong? Vernon kept asking himself as he held a velvety box in his hands: the present he never got to give her.

Seungcheol knew it must’ve been something to do with Jeonghan, as there was nothing Vernon could say to hurt her. Despite the questionable looks he got from Vernon, he kept quiet, knowing that if anyone had to tell Vernon what happened in the past, it was her.

[captcoups]

seungcheol x 447 words x prompt-based “i’m an emotional wreck.” “it’s okay, you’re a cute emotional wreck.” ☀︎

some days you wake up feeling like a champion. the sun clearly rose to your feet and kissed your skin as it came up, drawing clouds your way to make sure the weather wouldn’t kill you and everything felt like the perfect puzzle piece to form a great day ahead of you. those days were the ones you lived for, ached for, wanted to breathe it in and let it sink deep into your body to remember what it feels like to win at life. those days are the ones that seungcheol comes home to summer when it’s winter.

some days... aren’t like that.

some days you wake up with the intention of never wanting to. the sun felt like it’s torturing you just as it rakes through your skin and drags you awake with the light blinding your eyes. those days were the ones you wanted to bury down in your chest and never speak of it again. those days were a reminder of what it feels like to lose at living when the only thing you do without trying is living. those days were the ones that seungcheol comes home to winter when it’s summer.

whichever, however, as long as it’s you, he’s prepared.

he starts off with a quiet coo of your name that announces his presence. though, the sound of the door closing and rummaging of items onto the dining table and cabinet really gives him away. but he’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you’re not quite in the position to pay attention to any of that.

he continues with getting on your level, in other words, his knees because you tend to squeeze yourself in small spots by the balcony window and that is beside the sofa, on the floor. he tries to lure you out with arms reaching in, and even though you look like you’re about to sock him in the face because i want to be alone, cheol.

yeah? then why are you moving already?

seungcheol doesn’t press on it too much, chuckling when you crawl onto his lap where he rests his bum on his folded legs and finds leverage to balance you on him. it’s not long until his aura, one that you’re certain god spent a long time in perfecting cradles you in and he feels the tearstained cheeks re-staining themselves as his fingers go through your hair, the other latched onto your waist as a safety belt.

yet, it’s humorous when you say past your hoarse voice: “i’m an emotional wreck,”

he only responds with a kiss on your head, a smile soon after, “it’s okay, you’re a cute emotional wreck.”

[imaginesvt13]

Imagine Mingyu lifting you up in the store to get something from the highest shelf

[maeniie]

in the heat of the moment

pairing: wonwoo/junhui (wonhui) length: oneshot, 1,285 words summary: submission for check in, wonhui city; junhui does things in the heat of the moment after his monthly skype call with his family and regrets everything.

( read on AO3 ! )

[awkwardaverageturtle]

SoonSeok PartTime!AU

Summary: Soonyoung and Seokmin’s part-time job adventures. A Drabble Series.

A/N: Hope you enjoy~ If you like it, check out the rest or drop by my inbox with more ideas of what part-time jobs you want to see SoonSeok do.

Pet Shop

Cats, Dogs, Rabbits, Hamsters and Birds; it was the only shop in the town that had those animals to be sold legally, a pet shop. Being lovers of pets and having one of their own, Soonyoung and Seokmin sought for a part-time job at said shop when they passed by and saw the ‘JOB VACANCY’ sign at the door.

How was it that wherever Seokmin goes, he manages to argue with a customer while still displaying that sunshine smile that instantly defeats some competition. This time, he somehow debates with a regular about which dog breed was the best in the store. The part-timer had his money on Pugs while the customer thought the Maltese were on top. The result was to be decided by fellow customers, co-workers, and messaging friends.

Near the back of the store, Soonyoung was stuck on the more physical work as compared to his best friend. He had to clean the cages, bathe the animals with another worker and feed them. Honestly, the workload took a toll on him and he was too tired once that he almost set loose one of the cats and now, the manager puts him to deal with the stock listing, which she should know he isn’t good at if she checked his previous supermarket experience.

That was the end of SoonSeok’s pet shop adventures.

[17writer-net]

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[the1the8]

Whisper to Me like a Flower

Seokwoo (Seokmin & Wonwoo), light angst, fluff, wedding planning, roommate au(?), love denial(?), short appearances of Seungkwan & Chan 

Summary: It takes a lot to confess but it also takes a lot to deny. (Seokmin and Wonwoo are in denial of their feelings.) Length: 5233 words 

// also posted here 

The afternoon skies are still grey and the city is starting to get damped from the pouring rain. Seokmin and Wonwoo are on their way to their best friends, Mingyu and Soonyoung’s wedding, located at a rural area outside of the city in their suits and ties.

Seokmin listens to the rain and the squeaky windshield that he has been too lazy to change after becoming more busy to work, as well as Wonwoo, and today is an exception for him to take the day off just for his best friends.

Seokmin fixes his tie, losing it from feeling stuffy due to the humidity from the rain. He notices how quiet it is in the car as it is rare for it to be. He would usually have conversations with Wonwoo about the most random thing while the radio was playing. The most memorable was when they talked about how to raise a turtle to which Wonwoo said he would raise one when Seokmin moves out as a joke. It was so funny that Seokmin laughed when Wonwoo compared him to one since he’s typically slow in action. This time, that kind of conversation doesn’t seem to be happening. He knows how tired Wonwoo is from running around all morning, organizing their friends’ wedding reception, going from designing the place to the food that the soon-to-be weds wanted. It’s the only time Wonwoo gets to rest since he came back to their shared apartment when Seokmin was getting ready to head there, being a bit late.

Seokmin decides to take a quick look at Wonwoo and laughs. "What a bad day to do a wedding."

It is as if Wonwoo startled when his eyes shot open to the sound of his voice. He automatically and quickly responds, “You’re right.”

Wonwoo knows Seokmin is up to something the moment he hears Seokmin laugh. It is probably to help keep him up before the reception, but he seriously wants to rest or else he won’t have enough energy to do so later. Seokmin seems to always be up to something, which gives Wonwoo deja vu. It naturally reminds Wonwoo of all of the times when Seokmin kept him up despite how tired he was when he was working on his wedding files for his clients. Seokmin was giving ideas that Wonwoo might want to suggest to his clients, which was always helpful, and he would tell him that getting his work done is better than late. Besides, last minute things always ruin Wonwoo’s mood. He should keep his advice in mind because he woke up in the late afternoon anyway with plenty of rests after that, which was something he ended up enjoying.

“Let me nap until we get there. You know how much I didn’t get to sleep last night.” Seokmin hears Wonwoo shuffling at his side then he smiles. He realizes he got caught, which he always does but he doesn’t mind because he’s already used to it.

“Gosh, Mingyu and Soonyoung are making you do more than you should.” It makes Wonwoo’s lips curve to a side of his cheek. He’s not wrong. Everything had to be detailed when they explained what they wanted for their wedding. From flowers to food to colors for every chair and table and how everything should be set up, Wonwoo has been too exhausted the past two months preparing it for them.

“I can’t believe I even call them my friends.” Wonwoo jokes, almost laughing. Seven years of friendship since meeting in the same dorm floor during his second year in college, he thought he knew them more than ever. But he lets it go because it was their special day and because he already got everything set up at the reception. Everything was prepared and done for, and the only problem is cleaning it up later and he knows he won’t be able to get a hold of himself probably not even halfway through the event.

Seokmin parked their car in a ramp that is connected to the building where the reception is being held at and follows Wonwoo into the elevator. Wonwoo is still taking a call the moment they arrived while Seokmin presses the floor number. Wonwoo gives him a smile before looking up at what their floor number is. When the door closes, Seokmin can’t help but stare at Wonwoo’s reflection. The way his lips curve to the side when he talks on the phone, it is as if he’s happy about something that Seokmin might want to know. Seokmin watches Wonwoo fix his tie with one hand, making it look like he’s a businessman who is about to meet with an important client. He looks really good, Seokmin has to admit it, so he ends up smiling at him when Wonwoo notices. Wonwoo has ended his call already when he looks behind his shoulder and calls out his name. Seokmin’s smile slowly disappear and an eyebrow roses as his eye meet his. “Yeah?”

“You okay?” Wonwoo asks, a little worried though he’s still smiling.

Seokmin nods quickly, “Yeah, why?”

“You’ve been staring at me since we got in here.” Wonwoo chokes a laugh at Seokmin’s red face and slips his phone into the pocket hidden inside his jacket, “Anyway, I got Chan and Seungkwan to clean the place up later tonight. I’m just gonna leave after we eat. I’ll let Mingyu and Soonyoung know.”

“T-that’s good then.” Seokmin stutters upon his words and laughs to make it unnoticeable. “Wait, that means we’re going to leave right after dinner.”

“Why? Did you want to stay longer?” Wonwoo hopes Seokmin won’t plan to stay, especially if they came together in one car and since they both haven’t had enough sleep in the past few days. All he can think about after leaving is sleeping.

“I was thinking maybe after the bouquet toss.” The elevator door opens and they both start to walk side-by-side.

“Okay,” Wonwoo replies with a nod then he looks at Seokmin, “I need to go check on a few things in the reception room. Let’s meet at our table.”

“Keep up the good work, Mr. Jeon.” Seokmin waves at him with a happy smile then Wonwoo gives him a stare for calling him that before leaving.

Seokmin watches him until he disappears from his sight before heading to the newlyweds in the waiting room.

-

“Wow, I can’t believe you both are leaving us in the single world.”

“Single?” Mingyu bursts a laugh and somehow, it seemed to Seokmin that Soonyoung is laughing in sync with him.

“Oh, don’t fool yourself.” Soonyoung smiles, giving a slap in the air before he whispers to Seokmin, “I know about you.”

Dumbfounded and about to lose his mind, Seokmin looks at Mingyu with a surprised but also confused look, wondering what Soonyoung meant. Mingyu smiles in defeat and Seokmin just knows that Mingyu have told Soonyoung about his long-time crush on Wonwoo.

“It’s okay, Seokmin. It’s just like me and Mingyu’s first year together.” Soonyoung smiles until his eyes are invisible. Those memories flutter his mind as Seokmin recollect their story.

Mingyu and Soonyoung had a crush on each other but they didn’t confess until the end of their second year in college, which would have been a year since they met. Nothing was really happening between the two until one finally confessed their feelings to find out that the other also like them. It took one confession and look at them today, Seokmin smiles at the thought of it. They are happily married after six years and are soon moving onto a new chapter in life. Seokmin wondered about how things would look like if he confesses to Wonwoo. Similar, right? But there is one thing that stops himself from confessing: courage. The feeling of rejection may put him into a prolonged dejection. It would only make his heart race due to nervousness.

Suddenly, Soonyoung’s phone rings. He looks at the two and excuses himself to the other side of the room to answer it. Mingyu starts to hit his lips after Soonyoung leaves.

“So, it was bound to slip from your lips anyway.” Seokmin nods as he pats Mingyu’s back.

“Sorry.” Mingyu lets out a deep sigh then he look at Seokmin with those puppy eyes of his. “But when are you really going to confess?” Seokmin looks away from him, obviously knowing what he’s saying and doesn’t say anything. “You know what I mean, Seokmin. The wait has been long enough. You don’t want it to be too late, do you?”

Seokmin forces a smile at him. He just knows anything can happen in the same situation.

-

The room is dimmed, a spotlight flashes at the end of the room where the entrance opens a door to Soonyoung and Mingyu, arms locked together. Their smiles welcome the guests, including Seokmin and Wonwoo, who are standing. The two lovers walk through the red carpet as their walking song starts. They turn, facing their friends and families once they reach the main table where the emcee stands. The emcee starts the reception, having Soonyoung and Mingyu state their long vows with plenty of face pokes, to which they have always done since they started dating. It’s something Wonwoo finds disgustingly cute about the two. Luckily, he doesn’t get to see it as he is leaning on his chair, falling asleep.

Seokmin smiles, turning to Wonwoo almost naturally so they can laugh together for the two but only sees him asleep. He lets him sleep for now and hopes dinner later will wake him up.

-

The bouquet toss is happening as Soonyoung is calling Seokmin over across the room a little after dinner. Seokmin shakes his head, smiling with a rejected wave. He looks at his side to find Wonwoo missing. The worse scenarios come to mind as he gets up from his seat and take a quick look around the room before leaving the room, hoping to find him in the bathroom.

When Seokmin enters the bathroom, he hears a loud cheer from the reception room but he ignores it as he continues to check for Wonwoo. Wonwoo ends up not being in there so Seokmin goes back to the reception room when it’s time for some entertainment.

Seokmin finds Wonwoo talking to Seungkwan near the stage where people start to fill the dance floor in front of it. He doesn’t see the bouquet in Seungkwan’s hand and makes his way to Wonwoo, his steps fill with relieve and a few stomps of unnecessary jealousy.

Wonwoo turns around, noticing Seokmin after Seungkwan left his side. He flashes a smile at Seokmin, who is approaching him. The slow song being played makes Wonwoo get lost in his thoughts. He can’t tell if it’s actually Seokmin coming over because that’s what he wants. He dreams of it lots of times before but he doesn’t know when it’ll actually happen.

Seokmin grabs Wonwoo’s wrist once he reaches over, dragging him to the dance floor and confusing Wonwoo with his action.

“What are you doing?” Wonwoo asks, almost panicking. Seokmin stops in the middle, turning himself around. Wonwoo, who is waiting for an answer, suddenly feels numb at the sight of Seokmin’s intense yet soft eyes. It makes his cheeks turn red, especially if this has never occurred in his life before. Seokmin’s lips curve, his hands positioning Wonwoo’s onto his body.

“I just thought a dance would wake you up until the end of the night.”

“How considerate of you.” Wonwoo plays along, hiding his shy smile in a smirk. He holds firmly where Seokmin set his hands at, the shoulder and waist. Seokmin blushes, almost laughing. He’s shy about it even when he’s the one who provoked him. “I guess we can stay for another minute or two like this.”

They both smile at each other and dance along the song as if it’s theirs without realizing their two best friends looking over with their unnoticeable screams and giggles.

-

The ride home is unusually quiet with a few secret smiles lingering here and there. Seokmin and Wonwoo don’t realize it when they end up doing something that seems like what potential lovers do. It happened before but they just budge on telling if they like it or not.

The rain has already stopped when Seokmin and Wonwoo enter their shared apartment. As Wonwoo slips off his shoe, he says, “I didn’t want to complain during the car ride but you gotta fix that windshield. It’s been annoying me since this afternoon.”

Seokmin laughs after sets his jacket on the closest seat in the kitchen. “I’ll get it fixed tomorrow after work.” Wonwoo walks over to the kitchen, loosening his tie when Seokmin asks with his eyebrows playing with his words, “How about a few drinks tonight then?”

“Don’t you have to collect golf balls tomorrow though?” Wonwoo tries not to sound concerned because he doesn’t want Seokmin to know that he wants him to quit his golf ball diver job since it’s hard. It’s not only difficult but Wonwoo can’t always see him around when he’s out. It doesn’t seem like a problem to Seokmin because he once said he enjoys it, which is why Wonwoo hesitates every time when he wants to tell him to quit.

“I think it should be okay.” Seokmin nods, knowing he doesn’t have to start early in the morning. He then shrugs, a smile slipping on his lips, “Besides, we should celebrate a bit. You’ve done so much the past few weeks.”

“You’re right.” Wonwoo laughs, thinking about Mingyu and Soonyoung. All of his hard work paid off. He then offers, despite how tired he is at the moment. “I’ll get the drinks.”

-

About an hour in on chatting and laughing, it suddenly turns quiet. Wonwoo becomes too tired to think while Seokmin is lost in his thoughts.

Seokmin starts to look around the room, reminiscing the memories he has with Wonwoo in their shared apartment the past year. He sighs, looking at Wonwoo’s rosy cheeks as he wonders about leaving him. It is either his job or Wonwoo. He thought fate was playing with him when he came down to those choices. Wonwoo has already renewed his lease of their shared apartment since he's planning to continue working as a wedding organizer in the city. The problem is that Seokmin never talked to Wonwoo about it since they were too busy with their own work the past month. It popped up once or twice but they were occupied with more important work conversations. He is stuck between the long distant drives and the high pays or a new job and the person he might not even have a chance with. Whatever he chooses, Seokmin has to make the decision right now.

“I want to kiss you.” So bad.

"What?" A cute hiccup comes out of Wonwoo’s mouth. He’s more drunk than he think he is when he hears Seokmin’s words echoing too much in his ears to the point that he can’t depict them.

"I said I want to kiss you, you turtle." Seokmin gently smiles with their inside joke, a slow and soft whisper only quiet enough for him to hear.

Seokmin is actually quite sober despite feeling a bit dizzy and he knows how bad Wonwoo is with alcohol. He feels like whatever he’s going to do will be the last if he plans to leave. He wants Wonwoo to know he likes him but he also doesn't, probably because he isn’t sure about Wonwoo’s feelings. He thinks he doesn’t like him as it seems. They’ve been living together for over a year and most of the things they do together are the same, not lovers-like. That gave Seokmin no hope even without asking Wonwoo.

Seokmin’s eyes gaze and admire the features of Wonwoo’s face, let alone the hidden spaces of them that he wants to fill, that he wants to plant kisses on. Seokmin wants to be soft right now, and not show his goofy side nor his witty side. He’s finally going to do what his heart wants.

Seokmin finds himself moving closer to Wonwoo, a hand landing on his thigh unintentionally yet so naturally that he doesn't even realize it. Wonwoo gives him his usual poker-face look that consists of a few soft blinks and his lips stuck together, almost perking at him. He moves back as Seokmin moves in, their noses almost touching as Seokmin’s eyes never leave his tempting lips in the dimmed room. He takes one last breath before his lips connect with his like two lost matching puzzle pieces being put together perfectly.

-

Wonwoo wakes up with a hangover the next day, still in the same outfit from last night. There is a blanket lying over him which probably smells worn out like him now as he moans in pain on the couch, his palm appearing from under the blanket to rest at his temple.

“Good morning.” Seokmin greets him as he comes over with a bowl of hangover soup. He set it down on the table in front of him where he cleaned out their alcohol bottles last night after putting Wonwoo to sleep. The sunlight reflects on Seokmin, letting it hit Wonwoo as he covers his eyes from the brightness. Seokmin’s smile is as bright is the sun that is shining on him.  “How are you feeling?”

“Sick.” Wonwoo gets up and fixes himself to sit. He looks at Seokmin with one eye still shut from the light and asks, “How much did I drank last night?”

“Around one bottle, maybe?” Seokmin’s his index finger is pointed up by his thinking-like face, paralleled to his words then he laughs, “Eat this and go shower. You’re gonna stain the couch with their scent.”

“Okay, I will.” Wonwoo sounds like a whiny child and starts to eat the soup as Seokmin walks away with a smile. Wonwoo notices him standing by the door, grabbing his keys. “You’re leaving already?”

“Yeah, it’s almost 12pm.” Seokmin quickly gets his shoes on and waves at Wonwoo as if he’s late to work. “I’ll see you later!”

“Yeah, drive safe!” Wonwoo forces a small smile and goes the door closing.

It’s odd to Wonwoo that he tilts his head to the side. He tries not to be too suspicious as to why Seokmin seemed so eagering to leave and thinks it’s probably because he was waiting for him to wake up before he leaves, kinda like wanting to let him know just in case he suddenly disappeared out of nowhere though he might assumed he would have gone to work already. A text won’t hurt in the process of it too.

Wonwoo shrugs it off to finish his food and to clean himself up.

-

Wonwoo enjoys the sunshine and city view that late afternoon at the patio by the wall of just windows, reading a book and checking his Instagram. He smiles at how cute Soonyoung and Mingyu are at Soonyoung’s post of them at their honeymoon. Then he gets a call from work, asking him to come to the office tomorrow for a quick meeting. A schedule is made already as he agrees to be there.

He spends the rest of the day watching movies and making enough of a quick and easy dinner of his speciality, chicken and spinach pasta, just for the two of them.

It’s almost past 11pm when Wonwoo notices Seokmin isn’t home yet. He sets his dish in the sink and looks at the clock near the front door. He thinks maybe Seokmin is on his way home already so he sends a “get home safely” text before he knocks out to catch his meeting in the morning.

-

Morning comes and Wonwoo sees Seokmin sleeping on the couch, which he doesn’t do often. He brings a blanket over and covers him with it before he finds himself staring at his face, starting from his closed eyes, to the bridge of his sharp nose and his lips that are slightly opened. It’s as if something is trying to recall back into his mind as the scene is familiar to him, but he gets interrupted by a sudden phone call awaiting him.

“Hello?” Wonwoo answers, he stands up and looks across the living room.

“Hello, Mr. Jeon Wonwoo. How are you doing today?”

“I’m doing good. Is there a problem?” Wonwoo asks the landlord of the apartment, not knowing why he would call him when he has already renewed his lease.

“I’m wondering if you want a roommate after Seokmin moves out. I think it’ll be hard to pay the monthly fees without having one.”

“What?” Wonwoo is so confused. He quickly analyzes the situation in his mind and repeats back to confirm it. “Seokmin is going to move out?”

“Well, today is the last day to renew the contract. Please let him know that he has until 6pm today.”

The call ends and Wonwoo slowly turns to look at Seokmin. His mind is everywhere and anger fills his entire body, but he can’t find himself to say anything because he doesn’t know where to start. He sighs, trying to cool himself down from not being able to speak to Seokmin yet and since he’s nice enough to not ruin his sleep. He knows they’ll need a talk about it urgently before stomping away, leaving a sleeping Seokmin without any notice.

-

At the office, Wonwoo is greeted by a skipping Seungkwan, who is carrying the bouquet that Wonwoo caught at their last client’s wedding. He hands it over to Wonwoo and happily says, “I took good care of it for you as you said, Wonwoo.”

“Thanks, Seungkwan.” Wonwoo takes it from him with a small smile.

The bouquet, how lucky of Wonwoo to have caught it. The flowers that Seokmin helped chose when their best friends couldn’t choose between, Wonwoo remembers the meaning of why he chose each of them.

Narcissus in yellow: the meaning of spring and a new beginning that promises happiness to represent the ‘when’ of their wedding in March.

Gladiolus in white: the meaning of remembrance that represents August, the month they first met.

And finally, Hyacinth in blue: the meaning of their sincerity of love for each other.

Wonwoo finds it beautiful, still, on how Seokmin came up with those meanings. At the thought of how his eyes sparkled and how his lips perked together when he was thinking, they only make Wonwoo wish they were still there, discussing and working together until late.

Seungkwan has noticed a little sadness in Wonwoo’s eyes when he smiled. His face turns worrisome. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo smiles wider and to avoid any more questions, he asks, “Which room is the meeting at?”

“Conference room 125.” Seungkwan responds and quickly asks again, “Wonwoo, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, don’t worry.” Wonwoo assures him with the same smile before leaving with Seungkwan following him.

-

Throughout the meeting, Wonwoo is trying to figure out why Seokmin would leave, and to find reasons to make him stay. There shouldn’t be a reason for him to leave, right? Wonwoo remembers Seokmin saying he would renew his contract, but he haven’t heard back if he did already. That was probably almost three weeks ago, Wonwoo wonders why they couldn't discuss it. They could have with their little relaxing times after working together too. Wonwoo sighs, still not believing that Seokmin would suddenly want to leave even though he kinda figured he would most likely stay since they’ve been together for so long.

Wonwoo rests his eyes by closing them and leaning back on his comfy chair, causing Seungkwan, who is presenting at the board, to suddenly stop talking for a second. He looks at the other people in the meeting, including his best friend Chan, but continues after Chan whispers to him. It happens so often, Chan almost laughs.

Wonwoo is trying to collect his thoughts, including not suddenly getting angry when he meets Seokmin later again. He trying to understand him, but he really doesn’t want him to be away too. Why is this so hard, Wonwoo thinks to himself.

Maybe it’s he himself too. Wonwoo opens his eyes, knowing how much he loves Seokmin too. He has been trying to find the right moment to confess and hopefully it’ll stop him from leaving as he too can’t find himself to do it.

Wonwoo thinks about the bouquet and the night they came home together. He realizes it seems like Seokmin was avoiding him since that night. The kiss suddenly appears in his mind as his eyes widen. Wonwoo almost loses it, not believing he’s just remembering it just now.

Seokmin kissed him that night and Wonwoo responded, kissing those unavoidance soft lips he craved for so long.

Wonwoo is one of the firsts to leave the conference room with the bouquet in his hand, heading back home is the first thing on his mind. He’s going to be so mad if Seokmin tries to avoid his own feelings. He’s not going to let that happen as he drives home in speeds he has never gone over before.

-

Seokmin is still fighting with himself when he arrives at the apartment. He is looking out at the window, gazing at the city view. How odd that it was just sunny yesterday and now it’s cloudy and gloomy. He sighs in determination as he wishes that it’s sunny so he can leave happily. Just then, Wonwoo enters the the door in a rush. He’s catching his breath when Seokmin turns his head around, a surprised look on his face. Wonwoo doesn’t look happy and walks over to him after setting the bouquet he brought without realizing down by the counter that he passes by in the kitchen, his eyes never leaving Seokmin’s eyes.

"Are you really going to leave?" Wonwoo asks. His eyes are at tears though they aren’t visible behind his rounded glasses. “We haven’t had a proper talk about it. Have you ever considered looking at my point of view?”

"I think I can survive living alone.” Seokmin says shyly with little laugh.

“I don’t think I can.” Wonwoo’s words sound blunt but to Seokmin, they sound like his real feelings. Seokmin looks at him in surprise. He looks at the softness of his eyes, trying to read them then Wonwoo confesses, “I need you, Seokmin.”

His words makes Seokmin feel hot. His cheeks burn so badly, he stutters, “I-I need you too, but Wonwoo, I think we can live apart without needing each other.”

"Are you stupid?” It makes no sense to Wonwoo as he has enough. He knows Seokmin is lying about his feelings. He chuckles, “I said I need you. I can’t live without you.”

“What are you saying? Of course you can.” Seokmin laughs, thinking Wonwoo’s just playing around even though he knows that he’s not. Wonwoo’s deep sigh makes his smile go away.

“Is it that hard to say I like you?” Wonwoo whispers, knowing it’s hard for him too, but he needs him to say it so he can be assure of his own feelings.

"I already know how you feel.” Seokmin whispers back.

“No.” Not from me to you but from you to me. “You don’t. You never asked about it.”

“Yes I have.” Seokmin turns away and bites his lower lip, denying all things being said to him.

“You’re lying. You’re assuming my feelings, and I know that’s something that you would never do.”

“Why are we talking about this now?” Seokmin covers half his face with his hand, trying to relieve the pain of denial and hoping Wonwoo would stop because it’s making him want to stay more.

“Because you’re leaving me and your feelings behind.” Wonwoo says, leaving a silence between them. “You kissed me that night. I know you like me, but seriously, don’t you want to know if I like you too? Because I do, Seokmin.”

Another silence breaks, and this time, Wonwoo confesses with real and true feeling, hoping Seokmin would do the same back. “I like you too.”

Seokmin looks at Wonwoo, the apple of his eye. His eyes begins to get wet and nothing is coming out of his mouth. He looks at Wonwoo’s lips that are about to move then he shakes his head and says truly, “I love you.”

And at that moment, they pull against each other with their lips colliding, making up the mishaps of holding their feelings for each other. It’s full of lust but they are also making up so much of the times spent not doing so when they started to live together. Their hands and lips never leave each other as the unexpected rain begins to fall.

-

Seokmin and Wonwoo are cuddling on the couch with Wonwoo resting on his chest. The rain continues to fall, making the room dark as his fingers are playing with the buttons on Seokmin’s shirt, wanting to close them until Seokmin’s hand covers his, probably thinking he wants to do something else. Wonwoo looks up to see Seokmin looking at him.

“I thought you were asleep.” Wonwoo blushes but it can’t be seen in the dimmed room.

“I wasn’t.” Seokmin fixes himself, connecting his fingers with Wonwoo’s and wrapping his arm tighter so he can feel his breath against his neck. “You weren’t asleep too?”

Wonwoo responds with a hum then he snuggles against his neck, closing his eyes, but they are awake again when Wonwoo thumb rubs against Seokmin rough hand when they lock them together. It must be from his diving job, Wonwoo thinks then he asks, “What about your job?”

“I quitted.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” Seokmin smiles. “I found a new one in the city. It’s closer to you now.”

Now that Seokmin decided to stay with Wonwoo and renew his lease with him for a long time, it makes Wonwoo happy since the long distant drives for Seokmin made him worry a lot. A relieved smile forms on his face. Wonwoo’s arms too, wrap tighter around Seokmin as he closes his eyes. Seokmin feels tingling with Wonwoo’s touch so he smiles and whispers, “What’s with you?”

“I just thought,” Wonwoo’s smile turns to a big grin. He wants to tell about the bouquet, that he caught it during the wedding but maybe next time, so he says instead, “If told you how much I wanted to be in your arms when we started living together, you won’t be able to handle it.”

“How much?”

“This much.” Wonwoo gives him a peck on the lips and smiles like before. He looks at Seokmin with his sparkling eyes then Seokmin gives him a peck too.

“Me too.” Seokmin smiles at him. He isn’t afraid to say his feelings anymore. It makes Wonwoo feel relieved as he smiles back before they snuggle again.

“I love you too.” Wonwoo whispers close enough after a long quiet while that his lips could almost touch Seokmin’s neck, assuring that he does too when Seokmin said it a while ago.

They listen to the rain and their soft breathings before falling asleep in their warm embraces, knowing that when they wake up, they’ll still be together in the same place, in each other’s arms.

[svtrarepairexchange-blog]

All Cats Are Wonwoo in the Dark for yoonbot (iverins) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi & Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Kim Mingyu/Lee Seokmin | DK Characters: Jeon Wonwoo, Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi, Wen Jun Hui | Jun, Kim Mingyu, Lee Seokmin | DK, Xu Ming Hao | The8 Length: 26k Summary:

Wonwoo's not an existentialist, but finding out that magic is real makes it hard to know what to expect.

[seungsols]

[F] New Message (2)

Title: New Message (2) Pairing: OT13 Length: 1,498 words Summary: Chan thinks that everything is an acronym now, Seungkwan finally knows how to use hashtags, Jihoon realizes there is no escape from this group chat, and who the hell is Jeffrey? A/N: #2YearsWithSeventeen #WhoIsJeffrey

Please note: this chat is being recorded and archived.

sugoixboy95: i can’t believe you guys almost forgot about me :c sugoixboy95: but the important thing is that i’m back now!!! :]

choi_scoups added woozihoon to the chat.

  woozihoon: I was so close to freedom...

choi_scoups: you’re stuck with us, buddy :)

hvcny98: lol, sucks to suck hyung

thechanman: lol?

hvcny98: ...you’re kidding, right chan?

thechanman: ...

thechanman: …

thechanman: no?

m_gyuxx: omg protect the maknae

naega_hosh96: too pure for this world

angelic1004: nobody taint my baby

angelic1004: that includes you, shua

sugoixboy95: D:

sugoixboy95: why me??

xX_w0nd3rw@ll: your ‘waifus’

sugoixboy95: WHAT HAVE THEY EVER DONE TO YOU??

woozihoon: Oh yeah, definitely guard him from Hyung

junhui_the_way: (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ～『✧~*protect Chan from Jisoo*~✧』

__b00n0n: lmao #rip hyung

minghaomie: i love how nobody answered chan’s fucking question yet

choi_scoups: language!

minghaomie: i love how nobody answered chan’s f**king question yet

seokmyass: hyung ur talking 2 the king of foul mouth

m_gyuxx: lol that’s true

m_gyuxx: and sass

minghaomie: my f**king sassy kingdom

xX_w0nd3rw@ll: omg i can’t believe that 97 line is agreeing on things

naega_hosh96: QUICK, 96 WE HAVE TO ONE UP THEM!

junhui_the_way: ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* \(◕‿◕✿)/ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

junhui_the_way: (ﾉ⊙ヮ⊙)ﾉ～『✧~*96 LINE IS THE BEST LINE*~✧』

junhui_the_way: ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* \(◕‿◕✿)/ *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

woozihoon: ...I guess that’s one way to do it, Jun…

naega_hosh96: lol junnie’s the best

thechanman: THAT

thechanman: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

thechanman: “LOL”

hvcny98: lol came back just in time

hvcny98: lord of lizards

thechanman: really??

hvcny98: rly

thechanman: what does rly stand for??

choi_scoups: chan, that doesn’t--

hvcny98: roaring lizards yodel

choi_scoups: …

choi_scoups: oh well then

sugoixboy95: wow there are so many acronyms i didn’t know existed

angelic1004: ...y’know i’m just going to roll with that

xX_w0nd3rw@ll changed their username to jeonu.

  jeonu: oh wow i found this cool new feature

naega_hosh96: !!!! I TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT LIKE FIVE SECONDS AGO

thechanman changed their username to lolchan.

  lolchan: WOW WONWOO HYUNG YOURE SO COOL

naega_hosh96: EXCUSE ME??

__b00n0n changed their username to hitthekwan.

angelic1004 changed their username to jeongel.

  choi_scoups: jeongel?

jeongel: its my name + gel from ‘angel’

jeongel: thanks for mentioning this, wonu

naega_hosh96: !!!!!

seokmyass changed their username to seokmybutt.

  m_gyuxx: what was the point in that?

seokmybutt: we have to keep it pg for chan, remember?

seokmybutt: wonwoo hyung youre a lifesaver

jeonu: i try

seokmybutt: you succeed

naega_hosh96: =____=

m_gyuxx changed their username to gyuhao.

  gyuhao: TO SYMBOLIZE MY LOVE FOR MY FRIEND, HAO OVER HERE--

  minghaomie changed their username to stfumingyu.

  gyuhao: …

  gyuhao changed their username to haoloveme.

  stfumingyu: nah you good

gyuhao changed their username to lonelygyu.

junhui_the_way changed their username to jeffrey.

  jeonu: …

woozihoon: …

naega_hosh96: ...

naega_hosh96: jeffrey?

jeffrey: that’s me (◕‿◕✿)

jeonu: jun why

jeffrey: no, my name is jeffrey not jun

woozihoon: …

  woozhihoon left the chat.

choi_scoups added woozihoon to the chat.

  choi_scoups: nice try

woozihoon: It was worth a shot.

hitthekwan: JIHOON HYUNG CHANGE YOUR USERNAME TOO

hitthekwan: TO ‘OURLOVELYHOON’

woozihoon: Why in the world--

hvcny98: guys i just took the best shit of my life

hvcny98: oh yeah jihoon hyung, do it

hvcny98: its cute

choi_scoups: LANGUAGE

hvcny98: he won’t know, hyung

lolchan: wait what’s shit stand for?

hvcny98: i told you

hvcny98: it stands for ‘stop helping ignorant rats’

lolchan: OH OKAY :D

choi_scoups: i have no words

hvcny98: chan why did you add ‘lol’ to your name

lolchan: because i’m lord of the lizards :0

sugoixboy95: jihoon-ah, change your username with me :3

woozihoon: To what?

sugoixboy95: OURLOVELYHOON xD

sugoixboy95: it’s cute :3c

woozihoon: ...I don’t know...

sugoixboy95: please?

sugoixboy95: PLEASE?

sugoixboy95: :3

sugoixboy95: please with a cherry on top?? :3

hvcny98: hyung doesn’t like cherries

sugoixboy95: with a banana on top?

woozihoon: ...Okay.

woozihoon changed their username to ourlovelyhoon.

  sugoixboy95: THE BANANA WORKED xD

ourlovelyhoon: ...sure it did, hyung.

hitthekwan: WHY DID YOU DO IT WHEN HYUNG SAID IT

hitthekwan: BUT NOT WHEN I SAID IT

hitthekwan: #RUDE

hvcny98: whoa

hvcny98: you used the hashtag correctly and not excessively

jeffrey: ( ^▽^)

stfumingyu: congrats kwan

naega_hosh96: GO DONGSAENG THATS MY DONGSAENG THATS MY DONGSAENG

hitthekwan: :’) i’d like to thank the academy

naega_hosh96: okay back to important matters

hitthekwan: >:0 SO RUDE

naega_hosh96: ARE WE GOING TO IGNORE THE FACT THAT WONU TOOK CREDIT FOR MY DISCOVERY?

jeonu: yes

jeonu: anyway

stfumingyu: lol savage

stfumingyu: wonwoo hyung join me and my f**king sassy kingdom

jeonu: most definitely

jeonu: i’m honoured

stfumingyu: jeonghan hyung you can join too

choi_scoups: WHAT

choi_scoups: MY JEONGHAN IS AN ANGEL

jeongel: your jeonghan?

jeongel: i’m my own man, cheol

hitthekwan: hao, make hyung the royal advisor of your kingdom

ourlovelyhoon: I second that.

hitthekwan: OH SEE JIHOON HYUNG AGREES WITH ME :’D

hitthekwan: AND HE LOVES ME!

ourlovelyhoon: I do, but don’t push it.

lolchan: what does that stand for?

hvcny98: what does what stand for?

lolchan: push

jeonu: chan, not everything is an acronym

seokmybutt: people use shocking herbs

seokmybutt: (wonwoo hyung just roll with it)

jeonu: (oh okay)

ourlovelyhoon: (You both realize he’s reading this too, right?)

naega_hosh96 changed their username to fightmewonu.

  fightmewonu: ALRIGHT WE’RE DOING THIS RIGHT NOW

fightmewonu: JUNNIE YOURE WITH ME RIGHT?

jeffrey: no, i’m jeffrey (✿◠‿◠)

jeonu: jeffrey, you’re with me right?

jeffrey: YES (◕△◕✿) !

fightmewonu: JUNNIE NO!!!

ourlovelyhoon: No, it’s Jeffrey.

fightmewonu: JEFFREY NO!!!

stfumingyu: i never thought i’d see the day when i saw 96 line fight

seokmybutt: lol i kno

lonelygyu: hao, are you ever going to change your name?

stfumingyu: probably not

lonelygyu: :’) okay

seokmybutt: lol maybe 4 ur bday hao will change it

stfumingyu: i won’t but good attempt

sugoixboy95: IS IT SOMEBODY’S BIRTHDAY??

sugoixboy95: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

jeongel: shua, it’s nobody’s birthday

sugoixboy95: where’s the cake? :3c

choi_scoups: … hey, can someone order cake?

fightmewonu: OH SO IT IS SOMEONE’S BIRTHDAY?

hitthekwan: IT IS?

hitthekwan: WHO’S BIRTHDAY IS IT?

jeonu: not soonyoung’s

fightmewonu: YOU KNOW WHAT, WONU??

jeonu: WHAT KWON??

jeffrey: it’s mine (⊙△⊙✿)

sugoixboy95: HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFFREY! ♡

jeongel: shua, it’s not jeffrey’s birthday

sugoixboy95: it’s not? :(

choi_scoups: (JEONGHAN, DON’T MAKE HIM SAD)

jeongel: (IT’S NOBODY’S BIRTHDAY THOUGH)

choi_scoups: (I KNOW, BUT WE CAN’T MAKE SHUA SAD!)

jeongel: (UGH, FINE. JIHOON, GET THE CAKE WITH SOONYOUNG.)

ourlovelyhoon: (Why me?)

fightmewonu: (DOES THAT MEAN HOONIE IS ON MY SIDE?)

ourlovelyhoon: (Sure, Soon.)

fightmewonu: (YEAH SUCK MY ASS, WONU!)

seokmybutt: (no you have to say suck my BUTT)

fightmewonu: (YEAH, SUCK MY BUTT, WONU!)

hvcny98: (why are we talking in this?)

hitthekwan: (yeah, doesn’t everyone see this?)

sugoixboy95: oh why is the chat so quiet suddenly? :3

hitthekwan: (i stand corrected)

hvcny98: (lmao)

lolchan: (I KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS)

lolchan: (LEMONS, MANGOES, APRICOTS, ORANGES!)

lolchan: (:D)

stfumingyu: (okay, but someone should really talk to jisoo hyung)

lonelygyu: (why don’t you?)

stfumingyu: (why don’t you stfu?)

lonelygyu: (:’) so mean…)

choi_scoups: (xu minghao)

stfumingyu: (fine fine, sorry gyu)

lonelygyu: (it’s okay, i forgive you)

seokmybutt: (OH, LOOK AT MY LINE!! ALL HAPPY AND SHIT!!)

sugoixboy95: is anybody still on? :0

lolchan: (what does shit stand for again?)

jeffrey: hello, jisoo hyung ヽ( ˃ ヮ˂)ノ

sugoixboy95: OH JEFFREY!

sugoixboy95: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :D

hvcny98: (chan, it stands for someone hit innocent rakes)

lolchan: (i thought it was something about rats?)

hitthekwan: (no it changes sometimes)

hitthekwan: (#languagesareconfusing)

jeffrey: thank you,hyung ｡：ﾟ(｡ﾉω＼｡)ﾟ･｡

sugoixboy95: what would you like as a gift? :3c

ourlovelyhoon: (What kind of cake does Jun like?)

fightmewonu: (no, it’s jeffrey!)

jeonu: (aren’t you guys at the same place for the cake?)

fightmewonu: (we are)

lonelygyu: (then why are you two not talking to each other?)

ourlovelyhoon: (soonyoung’s in the bathroom)

hvcny98: (soon hyung, are you taking a shit?)

lolchan: (HYUNG, DON’T HIT INNOCENT RAKES! OR RATS!)

ourlovelyhoon: (Pardon?)

hitthekwan: (#lol ignore that)

choi_scoups: (we should just pick a cake that jisoo likes)

jeongel: (just pick whatever, he just loves cake in general)

stfumingyu: (he should just change his name to cakeboy95)

sugoixboy95 changed their username to cakeboy95.

  cakeboy95: (Guys, I can see this. I hope you realize that.)

cakeboy95: (This is all just a front I put.)

jeongel: (HOLY SHIT)

lolchan: (STOP HARMING THE RAKES AND RATS!)

choi_scoups: (what the hell jisoo??)

cakeboy95: (The chat is being archived and recorded. What if the government sees this? I can’t risk anything!)

cakeboy95: (But let’s pretend I never said any of this and get on with our acting, alright?)

cakeboy95: (Also, I like chocolate cake the most.)

cakeboy95: JEFFREY, YOU NEVER TOLD ME ABOUT YOUR GIFT? :3

ourlovelyhoon: (Wow, 95 line is something else.)

fightmewonu: (yes sol, i took the best shit of my life)

hvcny98: (ayyyy lmao)

jeffrey: anything you give me is fine, hyung

butwenjunhui entered the chat.

  butwenjunhui: hey guys. sorry my laptop froze before seungcheol hyung added me into the chat.

butwhenjunhui: what’d i miss?

choi_scoups: …

jeongel: …

seokmybutt: …

lolchan: …

cakeboy95: :3

jeonu: ?

ourlovelyhoon: ...Wait a minute…

hvcny98: …

hitthekwan: HOLD ON

fightmewonu: JUNNIE IS THAT YOU?

butwenjunhui: ...yes?

lonelygyu: WELL THEN IF THATS JUN HYUNG--

stfumingyu: THEN WHO?

jeffrey: i told you

jeffrey: my name is jeffrey (≖△≖✿)

[wonpluswonistwo]

Mingyu , 10 and 19 pls and thank you ! :D

10) “Am I supposed to be scared of you?”

19) “Ahem, my eyes are up here.”

The soft wind blew the leaves across the green field, disturbing your daily reading by flipping the pale yellow pages of your book, the sharp sounds piercing your ears. Frowning, you looked up at the crystal blue sky and wondered how much longer you had to survive in senior year. April, May, June. 3 more months of pure torture and boredom as you would live out the last days of your youth.

Feeling a stronger wind than usual, you reached for your bag behind you to get your jacket, only to find your bag missing. Strange, you thought. I swear I placed it behind me.

“Looking for something?” You heard a low, humorous voice from the trees on your right, sounding vaguely familiar but also sending chills down your spine. One person came out, a boy with tan skin, brown hair, and a scar on his left cheek: Mingyu, the leader of the school’s “gang.” It wasn’t really a gang, but they often were involved in fights around the town and always got in trouble. “I said, are you looking for something?” Mingyu repeated, not happy that you weren’t paying attention to him. You didn’t notice the signs of annoyance and just rolled your eyes, wanting a jacket.

“Can you give my bag back? I need my jacket.” With those two sentences, you pointed your finger toward the ground next to you, motioning where you wanted your bag placed, and then proceeded to flip through your book to find the plage where you left off before the wind disrupted your peaceful day.

Mingyu just stared, shocked at your lack of surprise or horror. Usually girls who saw him would run away, scared that he would do something to them. But in all honesty, Mingyu never wanted to fight or harm anyone, it was only when annoying, ignorant people made fun of his friends or his family he couldn’t help himself. Your reaction gave him a warm feeling, a strange feeling, in his heart.

“That’s it?” You looked up in confusion, standing up and walking towards him with your head tilted.

“Mingyu, am I supposed to be scared of you?” you asked, your hand quickly snatching away your bag. Mingyu responded by grabbing your wrist and pulling you towards him, your two bodies making contact from the force.

“I don’t know, are you?” You brought your head down in embarrassment to the close contact with Mingyu, not sure what to say.

“I….I don’t know….” All you heard was a slight chuckle and a clearing of the throat before Mingyu interjected;

“Ahem, my eyes are up here.” Rolling your eyes, you looked up at him, slightly taken aback by the soft look in his eyes. “And, (Y/N), you should have no reason to be scared of me.”

“How come, Mingyu?”

“Because…I really like you.” Knowing he usually would never say that to anybody, you decided to tease him a bit.

“How much?”

“Enough to do this.” With that, he took your face into his right hand and pressed a kiss onto your forehead, pressing you closer to him with his left hand.

The wind blew gently, his cologne filled your nose, his body radiated heat to yours; Everything, Mingyu thought, is perfect.

The only thing left Mingyu could wish for was for time to stop forever.

-Admin Gene

[jishua-moved]

Light Me Up | Chapter 2

Pairing: Vernon x OFC featuring S.Coups & Jeonghan

Genre: angst, fluff, humor

Word Count: 4539

[ Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 ] + Moodboard

Summary:  Just as the moon had her scars and imperfections, so did she. And he loved every bit of it. To him, she was the moon that shone brightest in these rare moments. The moon who’s light had been dimmed. To her, he was the sun that would eventually, light her up in every way. Only she hadn’t accepted it yet. She hadn’t yet accepted the light slowly growing inside her chest, but it wouldn’t be long until she did.

“If you can love the wrong one so much, just imagine how much you can love the right one.”

A/N: I don’t even know how to start this note lol. It has been too long since I posted chapter 1 and I apologize greatly for not posting this sooner. I had the worst writer’s block! I would like to thank my lovely secret admirer Vernon anon for giving me that little spark of inspiration that I needed. A huge, enormous thank you to my @kaviea ! You are the best! This would be nothing without your help. Thank you! Once again, forgive me for not posting sooner, so here’s basically a double chapter for y’all. I hope you enjoy!

By the time she got up to her apartment the morning light had already crept into her living room. The light shone through her window, making her realize she’d forgotten to pull down her blinds.

She kicked off her boots and hung her coat by the door, making her way into the bathroom. A warm shower was exactly what she needed right now.

Her makeup needed to be washed off first. Applying makeup was something she’d do every weekend, and sometimes she really hated the trouble that went with it. She mostly hated having to look into the mirror in order to remove it and seeing a bleary-eyed reflection of herself. She was tired of washing off the same unyielding eyeshadow and mascara over and over again. Although taking the makeup off was a pain, it wasn’t as hard as applying it, and it was worth it, as the makeup did make her feel prettier. But it was still something that she’d rather not do routinely.

Eventually, she got out of the shower, put on her PJs and walked over to the window to roll down her blinds. Taking a look outside, she saw Vernon. He still sat at the bus stop, wearing his red cap and rubbing his bare hands together frantically.

She opened the window and called out to him, “Hey! What are you still doing there? The bus should’ve come and gone a while ago.”

He looked around, shrugged and was about to reply when she noticed how he was shivering. Decided, she beckoned a couple of times for him to get up and told him to make his way across the road.

“Apartment 3A.”

He stopped warming his hands together and went completely still. “What?”

“Get up here,” she added before closing the window and pulling down the blinds. She never considered that he might not come up into the apartment of an older woman who he had just met.

He hesitated for a bit, surprised by the fact that she had popped her head out of a window and invited him up to her apartment like that. As cold as it was, though, he eventually got off the bench and crossed the road.

She scanned her living room, making sure it looked presentable, but her eyes, in their mad dash around the room, crashed to stop on her coffee table.

It was a mess of bills for the club, so she kneeled down and frantically started gathering them up.

“Shit!” she hissed, jerking her hand away. Of course, she’d managed to get a paper cut now of all times. The doorbell rang and she quickly shoved the papers into the first drawer she saw, closed it hastily, and made her way to the door.

When she unlocked the door, both of them unconsciously ran their eyes over each other from top to bottom.

He stood in the doorway, his hands shoved into the pockets of his bomber jacket. She noticed how his nose and ears were slightly pink from the cold. The cap wasn’t doing a good job of keeping him warm, and neither was the jacket.

He, on the other hand, noticed her completely different outfit. It never occurred to him to picture her wearing something other than her chic black dress. He was pleasantly surprised that she owned anything as comfy-looking as those PJs, but now that he had seen her in them, it somehow fit. It pleasantly surprised him and he couldn’t help but smile. Was this what she was really like beneath her controlled professional appearance? He found that he desperately wanted to know.

His smile grew even more when she tucked that same lock of hair behind her ear. Only now, her hair wasn’t in a neat ponytail, but in a messy bun. Her locks were dripping with water and her face was bare.

“You coming in?” she asked, as she pushed that stubborn lock of hair behind her ear yet again.

He nodded a couple of times and shuffled into her apartment, mumbling an apology.

“Were you a dollar short again?” she teased. “Or did the bus not come at all?”

He ran his fingers through his brown hair and admitted with a sheepish grin, “Both.”

His grin softened something in her expression, and she chuckled quietly. He felt a little strange, standing in her living room like that, not knowing where to go, but strangely feeling like he very much wanted to belong there, until she pointed to the couch.

“You can sit down there. Just take your shoes off here,” she said. “You can stay until Coups answers his phone if you like. You look like you could use some sleep and the bus certainly doesn’t look like it’s coming anytime soon.”

“That’d be nice, thanks, but I wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome. The bus ought to be along any minute now,” he replied.

She didn’t mind him staying. It was just a gesture of kindness in her mind. She wouldn’t be able to sleep if she thought he was freezing to death outside waiting for a bus that was never coming.

“Don’t worry. You’re not,” she shook her head and extended a hand to take his jacket from him. Their hands brushed and she gasped, “Oh my God! Vernon, your hands are like ice!”

He ignored what she said, as his eyes had dropped to her finger with the paper cut, “You’re bleeding!”

“Shit, I forgot.” Instead of going to find her first aid kit, she hung up his jacket on one of the hooks near the door and went into her bedroom.

He was still staring at his jacket next to her coat when a minute later she came out holding a soft purple blanket. It wasn’t folded but rolled into a mess of a ball. She awkwardly dropped it onto him where he was sitting and hurried to her drawers that stood near the window. “I’ll make you some tea in a minute,” she added.

He watched her as she carefully rubbed ointment on her finger. Then, she neatly wrapped a band-aid around it, tucked the first aid kit back into the top drawer and peered out the window. The wind outside was stubbornly pushing the trees back and forth and the streets were empty.

“I don’t think the bus will be coming anytime soon and the wind just got worse. Why don’t you wait this out and get some rest? I’ll get your tea now. Make yourself at home.”

The way she talked to him, it was like he was her longtime neighbor and friend. There was no awkwardness or typical fear of a stranger. He felt warm and welcome. It was something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

She handed him a cup of warm tea, wished him a good night (morning) and shuffled away into her bedroom nonchalantly.

He watched her take those couple of steps towards her bedroom door, smiling to himself. She looked so comfortable and happy. A huge contrast to the girl he met at the club. That girl was a polished piece of perfection, but this one, this girl was clumsy enough to injure her finger while picking papers off her coffee table at 5 am in the morning and then treat the tiniest wound like she was a nurse in training. This girl openly invited him into her home and made him tea, keeping him warm and comfortable.

What was astounding, was that she was the same girl. He wondered which side was the real her and why she appeared so different from the first time they met. There were a million questions in his head, but he tried not to think too much. Regardless of which girl was the “real” one, he liked them both.

His eyes were shutting and his body was filled with drowsiness, but, he pulled out his notepad and scrawled down a couple more words before sleep overtook him.

Does she love me Does she love me not I am counting flower petals all day long Does she love me Does she love me not What will the petals answer to me?

In a few hours, he woke up. Now that he was wide-awake, he rose from the couch and took a few steps around the living room.

The place smelled like freshly ground coffee and chocolates. It must have been the scented candles, which were neatly positioned on the shelves, he thought.

It was a small, but comfy space. There were two doors. One that led to her bedroom and the other, which he assumed led to the bathroom. The way to the kitchen was just an opening in the wall.

In contrast to her dark clothes and makeup, the interior of her place was much lighter. In a corner, there was the bright blue three-seater couch that he’d just slept on. It stood next to an ever brighter pink armchair. The drawers that’d she’d rummaged through earlier stood next to her window, which had its blinds pulled down. Amongst the many shelves filled with books, boxes, and DVDs there was a TV positioned right across from the seating area.

One shelf particularly stood out, as it was wrapped in fairy lights. Stepping a little closer, he noticed that it was stacked with movies, some dating back to the 90s. He lightly ran his fingers across the endless boxes, mouthing the titles of the movies that he recognized.

He stopped at one particular spot, reading the words on the box to himself, “School of Performing Arts - Seoul.”

As if struck by a sudden realization, he decided to pull the box out and take a closer look. It was a simple black DVD box, labeled as “SOPA. Annual Talent Show.” There were a couple more similar boxes that stood next to it on the shelf, dating back two years.

The sudden creak of the door made him turn his head towards the noise. She was awake. She wore the same clothes from early morning, but now, a silky lavender robe hugged her shoulders. Groggy from her sleep, she mumbled, “Hey.”

“Hey,” he echoed.

“Find anything interesting?” she asked softly, pointing at the box in his hands.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to snoop, but...” he hesitated, but continued, “...you didn’t say you attended.” He held up the DVD. It was more of a question than a statement, as he remembered the things he told her a few hours ago. She never mentioned that she had attended his dream school.

“So that was the dream school you were talking about,” she replied with an ever softer voice. One that was barely heard. “I didn’t realize.”

“I dropped out anyway,” she added, lowering her gaze.

His eyes widened, “You dropped out?! Why?!”

To him, it seemed like something almost impossible. He couldn’t comprehend how someone like her would leave something like that behind.

“It doesn’t matter. I just left and didn’t go back,” she sighed and shook her head, refusing to tell him anything else.

She’d met Jeonghan at that same school. It was her first week there along with Seungcheol. They’d both applied and had been accepted for showing exceptional talent. Most of her breaks were spent with Seungcheol in the cafeteria or roaming around the campus.

One day, when Seungcheol had to stay home, she decided to wander the corridors of the campus. It wasn’t too long until she heard the sound of someone singing through the thin walls.

The noise came from the auditorium. She made her way towards the door and quietly went inside. The lights were dimmed and the only one who stood on stage, was him, Yoon Jeonghan, the talented senior that everyone talked about, the one with the voice of an angel.

He didn’t notice her at first, so she chose to sit down in one of the comfy chairs at the far back. She sat there and listened for a while. His voice had hypnotized her, but it wasn’t the only thing that caught her attention.

His hair stood out the most. It was onyx black and pulled into a short ponytail, with not a strand out of place. He wore an elegant white button-up and sleek black pants. His patent leather shoes were polished to perfection. He had the aura of a sleazy rich boy, or so everyone said.

When the music came to a halt, she found him directly looking at her. Despite the distance between them, she felt his gaze to be piercing and yet gentle. In that moment, she somehow knew that this young man would be the end of her.

It was love at first sight, a true fairytale. “Prince Jeonghan,” she’d call him. She was overwhelmed with feelings towards him and much to her joy at the time, he’d soon returned them without hesitation. Looking back, she knew that their relationship consisted of late night drives and dates that lasted hours. Some nights they’d lay on the bed in his apartment in Seoul, talking about little nothings including what their days were like in college.

It was everything she’d ever wanted. It was perfectly perfect. But it wasn’t.

And in another year, she would quit her school, move to New York, and become a completely different, secluded person. She would hide away her traitorous heart that she once so eagerly wore on her sleeve. She would forget about ever performing again.

But for now, she lived her fairy tale happily, unaware of the near future.

The way Vernon talked about attending that school, made her feel guilty for quitting. But she’d never let him know the real reason why.

They stood in silence as the memories ran through her head. Vernon looked genuinely shocked but didn’t try to ask any more questions. Somehow, he understood that it wasn’t money that held her back. It was principle. 

Her ringtone cut through the awkward silence. S.Coups finally called back.

“Heeeeey,” he said in the most innocent tone he could before she could flip out on him. “I know you’re mad. I’m sorry, but--”

“Don’t ‘but,’ me Choi Seungcheol. Where were you all morning?!” She snapped, turning sideways to avoid direct eye contact with Vernon, who was very grateful that she wasn’t yelling at him, as she was barking curse words at Seungcheol.

While she was on the phone, Vernon slowly put on his boots on and slipped the notepad into the pocket of his bomber jacket that still hung on the wall hook.

“That’s all,” Seungcheol finished, “I just got a little carried away and completely forgot about Vernon,” he abruptly stopped, “Vernon! Shit! Did he get home alright?”

She glanced back at Vernon who flashed a small smile at her from across the living room.

“Well,” she lingered.

“It’s okay, just tell me when I get there. I’m coming up now,” he said cheerfully and dropped the call.”

“Wait--”

Get there? Oh crap. Her best friend had a key to her apartment, of course. What would he want at this hour? Couldn’t he just call me as always? She thought.

The sudden noise of a key turning startled Vernon just as much as it startled her. They exchanged wide-eyed looks and she reluctantly made her way to the door.

Just as she thought he would, Seungcheol froze when he saw Vernon in her apartment. After a moment, he gave her the most accusing wide grin and he pushed past her to stand between her and Vernon, who uneasily sat back on the couch. Seungcheol looked back and forth between them as if fishing for words to say.

She hoped he wouldn’t find them and glared at him with denial in her eyes. No, Cheol this is so not what you think it is, she told him mentally.

“Vernon!” he finally said with a grin and greeted the boy. “Wait, are you two..?” He was gesturing with his hands in a way that made her want to crawl into a hole somewhere and hide.

Vernon scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and she slapped Seungcheol’s shoulder, “Cheol,” she barked, “really?”

“That’s true you haven’t had a guy over since you broke up wi--”

“CHEOL!” She practically shrieked. Unbeknownst to her, Vernon tilted his head to the side, as if curious.

“Well, it’s about time,” Seungcheol protested.

She threw her hands in the air and muttered, “you try to do a nice thing--I don’t know why I bother.”  Exasperated, she gave Cheol another look and he gasped as if he was remembering that he was not actually there to mortify her, and made his way to her bedroom. 

“Jacket! I forgot my jacket here the other time!” 

Vernon, surprised, realized just how familiar Seungcheol with her place. He seemed to stroll around like he owned the place. But what he didn’t know was that though they didn’t live together, Seungcheol would often spend weekdays watching movies here and just lazing on her couch. 

Vernon couldn’t help but wonder if there was something between them. Unaware of what the sudden feeling in his gut was, his eyes darkened with jealousy.

Seungcheol came out of the bedroom, with his jacket in hand and beckoned to Vernon, “Let’s go then, if you two are done,” he mockingly grinned at her expected angry expression, “we’ve got things to do.”

Vernon snapped out of it and nodded in agreement. He quickly got up and flashed a polite, more reserved smile in her direction. She hesitated at the change, but returned it and gave a slight wave of her hand as both went out the door.

Before she closed the door, Seungcheol leaned in and said in a lower tone, “Do me a favor, come to the club an hour earlier tonight. I’ve got something to show you.”

Not having a single idea what it could be, she hastily agreed to get him out of her apartment and shut the door.

Tonight she wore her black ripped skinny jeans and a striped crop top with long sleeves. It was exactly an hour before opening time and Seungcheol was on stage, fiddling with the mics. For some reason, there were two of them.

She still didn’t understand why until Vernon came in through the doors. Were they practicing something? If so, why did she have to sacrifice another hour of her free time to be here? Making herself comfortable at her usual spot at the bar counter, she gave Cheol half a wave signaling that he had her attention.

He smiled and spoke through the mic, “Thanks for coming, boss.” He tapped both mics with his finger, but instead of staying on stage like she guessed he would, he strolled over to her and stood right behind her.

“You gonna sing from here now?” she joked.

He shushed her, cupping her ears and turning her head to the stage, “Just listen.”

The music started up and Vernon pulled the mic from its stand. His cap was off, letting his brown locks bounce freely as he bopped his head to the beat. He took a breath and started rapping.

Lean on me Lean on me

If I am in your heart If I am really in your heart Wherever you are I will follow you

Even if we’re so busy That we can’t see each other often If we get drunk on each other and fall asleep In the dreams, don’t hesitate Lean on me

We are doing well So have strength Even if you wake up from your dreams If I’m really in your heart Wherever you are I’ll be there

As the words left his lips, hers parted in awe. She couldn’t believe how talented he really was. The fact that he wrote these lyrics himself was impressive, but that was not just it. The way he carried himself on stage was incredible. He was the complete opposite of the shy, polite boy that she met less than a day ago. On stage, he was a confident, charismatic young man.

When he stopped, he pushed his hair back with his fingers and humbly smiled, bowing his head.

Seungcheol started clapping at a ridiculously fast pace, but she could only nod in agreement.

She turned to face Seungcheol, raising an eyebrow in question.

“Hire him,” he said simply.

“What?” she snapped. “You know I can’t do that, for a multitude of reasons.”

“Those being?” he shrugged.

She glared at him, “You know more than well that I do not own the club. And he’s only nineteen! Uncle would kill me.”

“No, uncle will listen to you,” he protested.

As they distractedly whispered to each other, Vernon got off the stage and walked over to them, ceasing the whispers.

The three of them exchanged little smiles. She and Seungcheol looked like concerned parents talking about their only child. Vernon seemed relatively unphased and like he wasn’t really waiting for any kind of opinion or answer. She wondered if Seungcheol told him about his hiring plans.

What confused her most was why Cheol would let anyone rap beside him on his stage. She thought about it all night, and then remembered that he would be going back to Korea next year, which was very soon.

Seungcheol had moved to New York with her that one summer, dropping out of school as well to be there for her. Somehow, he never really left and decided to stay with her for a year. Just one year, he said, for reasons he changed each time, but she knew it was until he was convinced that she was truly okay. 

Faster than she liked, her time with the last person on the earth who could actually bring a genuine smile to her lips, was coming to an end. She realized that even though he was leaving, he was still trying to look out for her. A part of her wished she could ask him to stay, but she knew he would, and after all he had done for her, she owed it to him to at least pretend she was okay, which sadly, she wasn’t.

The sun was slowly rising once again as she stood at the club’s entrance, with her knuckles curled up in the pockets of her navy coat.

She didn’t just wait for Vernon this time, but Seungcheol as well. Vernon walked out first. The wind blew his hair all over the place and she could clearly see that he regretted not wearing a cap today.

Seungcheol came right behind him, with much more enthusiasm. He wrapped his arms around both their shoulders and they started crossing the road.

The walk to the bus stop was shorter than expected, with small talk, most of which was from Seungcheol, here and there. He talked about going back to SOPA and how he’d miss rapping on the club’s stage. His tone wasn’t sad in any way. Honestly, it never was. Seungcheol was always the positive type, keeping the atmosphere far from gloomy.

Vernon, though, was a little too quiet, forcing a laugh every once in awhile. Seungcheol didn’t seem to notice and kept chattering on about anything and everything, not leaving her any time to interject and ask Vernon what was on his mind.

Once they finally got to the bus stop, Seungcheol gave her a hug and whispered in her ear, “Hire him.”

She gave him another one of her glares and waved goodbye.

“You okay?” she asked Vernon, who had sat heavily on the same bench she saw him on last night, as soon as Seungcheol was out of sight.

She walked over and sat down next to him. This time, she decided, she would wait for the bus to come.

His face lit up, almost like there wasn’t a hint of worry in his heart, but that wasn’t the case. She could somehow tell, which surprised him.

“I’m good,” he lied with an unconvincing smile.

“Then why were you so quiet all the way? Is it because I didn’t hire you right away?” she asked.

His eyes widened and he shook his head a couple of times, “No! Nonono! That’s not it! I promise.”

“Look,” she started, making sure her tone wasn’t too harsh or overly sweet, “You’re so talented, why would you want to waste your time rapping at a club like that? Why don’t you just get on a plane and go live your dream?” She made a lot of hand gestures while she said those things. It was a mystery to her why he’d waste his time like that.

He silently looked at her and then said, “Well, I'm kind of a few dollars short...” He paused, “Few thousand actually.”

All she could blurt out was, “Oh. I see.” He could make it seem like a joke. Somehow that boy always had a smile on his face, no matter how serious the subject was. He was always so positive about things, it was astounding. But after tonight, she knew there was more to that smile than it seemed and despite herself, she was intrigued.

In a few awkward moments of silence, he finally decided to ask her what was bothering him the entire day.

He blurted,“So, are you and Cheol...?”

She immediately understood what he meant and the entire night flashed before her eyes.

“Oh! No! Nononono,” she laughed. “Cheol and I aren’t like that. We grew up together. I guess we give off that vibe sometimes because we have known each other so long and even work together, but no, we’re not a couple. And we never have been.”

She could see the relief wash over him like a cold bucket of water pouring over his head. At the same time, she wondered if he thought she was afraid he’d “outshine” her “boyfriend” on stage. That was clearly not the case in her head.

“Ah, I see,” he nodded awkwardly, catching a quick glance at her and then glancing away.

It was cute that he thought Seungcheol and her were a thing. It was even cuter than he cared at all.

The bus pulled over just in time. They both got up at the same time and exchanged casual goodbyes.

As he took that one step to get into the bus, she grabbed him by his sleeve. “Hey, you know what? You’re hired,” she heard herself say, with shock. She couldn’t believe she’d just hired him! Her Uncle would kill her! There was something about this boy that was always making her do unexpected things!

He turned around and grabbed her hand with the both of his. He shook it a couple of times, thanking her more times than she could count. That’s what finally made her chuckle and as the bus driver called Vernon in, he finally had to let go.

As soon as the bus took off, she crossed the road and continued making her way to her apartment as usual. To her surprise, she couldn���t seem to control the smile that tickled her face. She rubbed her hands together over and over again. Her cheeks burned crimson.

It wasn’t because of the cold, and this time she turned around.