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readerinsertdepot · 4 years

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Wonderful: Chapter 1

Pairing: Iwaizumi Hajime x fem!reader

Summary: An American in Paris au except there is minimal singing and dancing and no one is actually American nor is anyone really French.

If you are unfamiliar with the 1951 musical starring Gene Kelly, here is a summary from imdb I rewrote to make this au work:

Hajime Iwaizumi, a struggling painter in Paris, is "discovered" by an influential heiress with an interest in more than Hajime's art. Hajime in turn falls for [y/n], a young French girl already engaged to cabaret singer, Tooru Oikawa. Hajime jokes, sings and dances with his friend, Tobio Kageyama, an acerbic would-be concert pianist, while romantic complications abound.

Rating: T (for now)

Tags: Love triangles, cheating, mutual pining... sort of. Eventual smut?

Word Count: 3.8K

A/N: Let me start off by saying that I am aware that my desire for this au is very niche, but An American in Paris is one of my favorite movies and the idea for this just popped into my head one day. I will warn you, [Y/N] doesn't really show up until Chapter 3, but stay with me. Also even though I am writing fem!reader, I did my best to keep descriptions of [Y/N] to a minimum to maximize insertiveness. lol.

I am thrilled that you're here and I'm excited that you're taking this journey with me.

Paris. The mecca for artists with big dreams. Hopefuls of all levels of talent would flock to this star on the map just to get a taste of the bountiful inspiration the city offered. Traffic almost at a standstill as cars did their best to rush through roundabouts. The streets lined with specialty shops containing elegant dresses and glittering jewelry. Cafes and bakeries that filled the air with the sweet smell of chocolate and butter. Young lovers walking hand in hand along the Seine. The hustle and bustle of the city was difficult for some to get accustomed to, but its beauty is well worth the frustration. It is a paradise.

The day was just beginning for a small street down on the Left Bank. An old woman made her way down to the bakery for her weekly loaf of bread as children laughed and played. The florist was accepting his daily delivery of fresh cut daisies and roses. A quaint café was buzzing with its usual clientele, excitedly chatting over their morning coffee. And just above dwelled their resident artist. Hajime Iwaizumi. After he had graduated from high school he decided, much to his parent’s chagrin, to journey to the city of lights to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a painter. A lot of folks back home had said he had no talent. And perhaps he did not. But the criticisms, to him, sounded much better in French.

The bright summer sun shone through the open window of his small studio. There was hardly room for a bed, let alone his canvases and paints. A stray ray of light hit his face, causing him to lazily open his eyes. Sleep still heavy on his lids, they fell closed again. He was not ready to wake up just yet. Hoping to escape from some of the brightness, he rolled over to his opposite side. The coolness of the pillow against his cheek combining delightfully with the warmth of the sun on his body. He sighed, sleep beginning to take over once again. Until there was a knock at the door. He frowned and cracked an eye open. Three more knocks. He rolled his eyes and sat up, stretching the stiffness out of his arms before turning behind him. He held himself up on his knees and left hand as he reached over the head of his bed for the doorknob which was no more than half a foot away. He opened the door as much as the space allowed and a hand popped through the crack holding a brown bag. Hajime took the bag and the hand silently darted back into the hall, closing his door behind it.

The floorboards squeaked under the weight of Hajime’s feet as he rose from the bed. He lifted his arms up, allowing his whole body to stretch and free the sleep trapped within his muscles. As he let out a loud yawn, he made his way over towards the corner of the studio where a rope hung beside one of the portraits he was working on of an older gentleman who would sit and read the paper on the balcony of the next building over. After placing the bag in his mouth, Hajime tugged on the rope. Placing one hand over the other, the cot he used lifted up off the floor, vanishing into the ceiling. Once out of the way, he slipped the contents of the paper bag onto the plate that sat on his bedside table. His usual morning bagel.

With his free hand he reached up for his washcloth and towel, which rested on the rod that connected the legs of his cot. As soon as he retrieved them, he made sure to push the legs back into the cot -- many little red welts in the past had taught him that this was an important step. He rolled a stool out of his path with his foot as he walked across to a wall, which he kicked, causing a small table to pop out. After tossing his plated breakfast onto the table, he turned to push a plush desk chair out of the way so he could open his closet. Revealing a white smock, two dark sweaters, a dresser, dining chair and another small, but slightly larger, table. He pulled the latter two out and placed them in the middle of his studio.

The little square table was decorated with a tin containing delicate purple blossoms from the florist down the street. He pulled out his French press and mug from the top drawer of his dresser and placed them next to the flowers. While pulling his dark green sweater from out of the closet, he reached up with his left knee to close the dresser drawer. He tossed the garment and his towels on the plush chair and then turned to face the doors leading out to his balcony. Using both hands, Hajime pulled open the doors, letting the morning light directly hit his face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the cool morning air, allowing it to rest in his lungs a few beats before releasing. He then reached down and grabbed his fruit bowl and water pitcher to complete his breakfast table. Once the final items had been placed, he stood at his full height and placing his hands on his hips surveyed the room. His eyes turned into thin slits and a frown began to slowly form on his face as he focused on the portrait of the old man.

He made his way over to his work. Suddenly unhappy with the shading of the man’s nose, he smudged the charcoal with his thumb near the bridge. Then the corners. Hajime ran his hands through his hair and let out an exasperated sigh. Realizing it was not meeting his standards, his hand found a nearby rag and took to wiping away the whole piece. Small shouts of his name shook him from his actions. He made his way over to the open window facing the street. Three tiny hands wave up at him from below. Some of the neighborhood children had become fond of him after they had received a few gifts of sweet candy. Hajime playfully stuck out his tongue at them before waving back. The children laughed and continued running down the street. A familiar sound caught his attention. The soft tinkling of piano keys filled the air. He closed his eyes and focused on the melody that floated over from nearby.

Just a few windows over lived Hajime’s friend, Tobio Kageyama, an up and coming concert pianist who unfortunately had not been able to find much work recently. He moved to Paris after being awarded the Hackenwall Prize. It was the eighth scholarship he had been awarded for his musical talent. Quite an accomplishment for someone so young. Even with this and the amount of raw talent he had possessed, he felt like he did not have much to show for it. Upon discovering his lackluster communication skills, most companies were less than thrilled to continue their work with him. His worst fear was being forced to quit and take up an average desk job. So, he was constantly working to improve his interpersonal skills along with honing his musical genius.

While he was fairly homesick, Tobio had a soft spot for Paris. It was a place he could feel comfortable, especially knowing that it was near impossible to run into old acquaintances. Though that had never necessarily been an issue for him in his hometown either. Surprisingly to him, it had been quite easy to make friends in Paris. Perhaps it was the bond over a shared mother tongue between Hajime and himself that had made them close, or a shared project, like the one that had brought Tooru Oikawa into his life.

Tooru was a French music hall star just about the same age as Hajime. Both young, yet old enough to know what to do with their young feelings. Though Tooru had considerably more name recognition. With his smooth vocals and devilish charm, his popularity had grown like wildfire. According to many he was easy on the eyes to boot. The singer had grown fond of Tobio during their work together. Tobio did not share the same fondness however, but he could not deny the amount of skill the singer possessed. Over time a strange, almost competitive, friendship formed between the two. Tooru made it a priority to visit between shows to catch up and attempt to pressure Tobio into working on another collaboration.

Which is exactly what the young cabaret singer found himself doing on this lovely summer morning. Eyes followed him as he briskly walked down the street while admiring the architecture of the old quarter. Good mornings and other greetings from pedestrians and fans alike met his ears which he made sure to return with a dashing smile. He stopped only once to adjust his appearance in the reflection of a store front window. His tie had come a little loose on his journey over and his hat was not quite where he wanted it. Once everything was settled, he shot himself a wink and continued on his way.

Upon arriving at the café, Tooru was immediately met with a warm hug from its owner, pulling him in under the awning. “Tooru Oikawa?!” the owner exclaimed. Tooru laughed and returned the excited hug.

“Why Ittetsu, how have you been?” Tooru asked, extending his hand out to shake the spectacled barista’s.

“Very good, thank you!” Ittetsu answered while vigorously shaking the young singer’s hand. “But why haven’t you come to see us? I’ve only been able to read about you in the paper! It’s been a while.”

“Then perhaps you should come see me at my next show!” Tooru countered.

The melody from the flat above slowly sank down to the street. Tooru’s ears perked up at the familiar tune and he quickly ran back out into the street trying to guess from which window the sound was coming from. “That’s Tobio! Isn’t it?” he asked Ittetsu with a twinkle in his eye before singing along.

“And then taking that vow. Oh, that’s nice work if you can get it.”

Tobio’s concentration broke suddenly hearing someone accompanying him, but his playing did not falter. He continued on, a look of confusion adorning his face before melting into a scowl upon realization. Tobio rose from his seat, fingers still gliding across the keys, trying to get a look at the performer below.

“And if you get it, Dites-moi, won’t you tell me how?”

Just as he had suspected, there was Tooru Oikawa, arms outstretched, casually putting on a show in the middle of the street. Some things really do not change. “You used to sing it a tone higher!” Tobio called down after finishing up his song.

“I’m a big boy now! My voice is changing!” Tooru playfully answered back. Tobio rolled his eyes at the cheeky response. “Shall I come up?”

“No!” Tobi answered. “I’ll be down.”

The pianist made his way through the hallway and down the stairs. The scowl on his face only slightly softening. He would never admit it to himself, but he secretly looked up to the young singer. Though he did not often seem like it, Tooru was a disciplined artist. It was not simply his good looks and charm that skyrocketed him to fame like some would lead you to believe, it was his passion and dedication alone, he made an excellent mentor. Annoying and a bit egotistic, but talented nonetheless. Tobio truly enjoyed Tohru’s quick visits. Besides, they always had the potential to lead to new projects.

Tooru’s grin widened once he spotted Tobio entering the café. “Ah Tobio! You made it!” he exclaimed, raising his arms to pull Tobio into a hug.

Tobio’s eyes narrowed at the oncoming brunette, “Don’t do that, I just ate breakfast.” Tooru dropped his arms but his grin remained. Tobio managed a small smile and extended a hand to the singer who gleefully took it. “You look good.” He examined his excessively cheerful friend as they made their way over to a table so they could sit and chat. Tooru had always been a sharp dresser but there was something different today about his crisp navy suit and freshly polished shoes. And his usual cocky grin and mischievous eyes had some softness to them. “Weirdly… great actually. Did you take a vacation or something?”

“Oh, something much better.” Tooro’s eyes sparkled when he answered. He removed his hat and placed it on the table before sitting down.

“I hear your show’s a big hit.” Tobio said as he moved to sit down as well.

“It is. Naturally.”

“Yeah, naturally.” Tobio repeated with annoyance in his voice. There was that usual cockiness.

“When did you get back from touring?"

“I’ve been back since March. I phoned you but no one answered. I would have phoned you again, but I was afraid you might actually answer.”

“Oh in March?” Tooru mused, ignoring his reluctant friend’s slight dig. “I wasn’t in Paris then. [Y/N] and I were visiting friends in Juan les Pins.”

Ittetsu scurried over to the table and set down a plate of fresh baked brioche. Tooru thanked him and Tobio requested some coffee for the two of them.

“What are you working on?” Tooru asked, biting into the soft bread.

“Same old concert.”

The singer laughed. “When are you going to give it?”

“When I can’t figure out any more reasons not to.” It was Tobio’s passion project. A concert he had been working on for the last five years or so that he could not seem to perfect.

The excited café owner arrived at the table once again with a plate of butter for the bread. Tohru licked his lips and hastily spread some on what was remaining of his piece. Tobio once again asked for some coffee.

“I took [Y/N] to hear Weingarten play the other night. It was her first concert and her eyes were shining for two days.”

“Why didn’t you take her to the eye doctor then?” Tobio asked sarcastically. He was about to take a bite of his brioche but stopped short. It occurred to him that the name [y/n] was unfamiliar to him. “Wait, who’s [Y/N]? That’s the second time you’ve brought her up.”

“Tobio, I am very happy these days.” Tooru reached into his suit pocket to pull out his wallet. “I’ll show you her picture.” He retrieved the small photo from his trifold and handed it off.

“Are you married?” Tobio asked before taking a peek at the girl in the picture.

“Not yet.”

“Pretty,” Very pretty Tobio thought. Her [h/c] was done up in an elegant style and her [e/c] eyes complimented her [s/c] skin beautifully. “She looks familiar…”

“She’s Ikkei Ukai’s granddaughter.”

The young pianist gave an affirmative hum while he pieced together the few memories he had of the Ukai family. He smiled when Ittetsu finally came around to pour a cup of coffee for Tooru. He held out his own cup expectantly, but his smile quickly turned sour when Ittetsu flew from the table back towards the kitchen without pouring him a cup. Tooru laughed as Tobio angrily called Ittetsu back for his coffee. The owner hurried over, face pink with embarrassment and spouting out apologies. Tobio glanced at the owner out of the corner of his eye in annoyance while he poured.

“Her parents fell ill, the poor thing.” Tobio’s anger cooled and he brought his attention back to Tooru as the singer continued, “I took care of her through it all. She lived in my house for a while after they passed.”

Tobio choked on his coffee at the scandalous information. “Your house?” His eyebrows rose, “Shocking but generous.”

Tooru balanced his chin in his hand and let out a wistful sigh, “We were both young then,” he scrunched his face into a pout, “We didn’t fall in love until after she left.”

“She seems a little young for you.” Tobio accused, recalling how young the girl looked in the photograph.

“No, not really. She’s about your age even.”

“Well, what’s she like?”

The sparkle returned to Tooru’s eyes, “She has great vitality and joie de vivre. She loves to go out, have fun and dance. She could dance all night.”

“Sounds tiresome,” Tobio could think of a thousand other things he would rather do than go out for a night of dancing. It sounded like this [Y/N] was the perfect match for his energetic friend. “So she’s kind of wild like you, huh?”

“Wild? Like me? I have no idea what you are talking about,” Tooru placed his hands over his heart in feign shock, “No, she’s very demure. She works all day at the Maison Nicole, the perfume shop.”

Tobio let out another affirmative hum, hoping Tooru would catch the hint that he had no further interest in this conversation whatsoever. Tooru had a reputation for skirt chasing, even though most of his escapades ended up fruitless. Honestly, this instance was no different from the last dozen save for the fact that this girl was insane enough to actually agree to go steady with the famous singer.

“Oh she’s an enchanting girl, Tobio. She’s so wonderful I just can’t stand it.”

“She’s more reserved you said?” Tobio asked. Knowing there was no way he was going to get out of this conversation until Tooru was satisfied.

“Oh no, she’s quite exciting!”

“So… she’s pretty… experienced?”

“Well, not really. She’s so sweet and a little shy.”

“So, she’s old fashioned?”

“Of course not! She’s vivacious and modern!”

“So she never shuts up like you, huh?”

“Quite the opposite! She always has her nose in a book.”

“Dating you must make her pretty moody.”

“Never! She’s always cheerful and has the most beautiful smile!”

Tobio’s eyebrow twitched in irritation, “Tooru, you just described at least five different women.”

“Oh! What can I say, Tobio? I’m crazy about her! She’s perfect. She’s indescribable.”

As the two musicians chatted below, Hajime was finally making his way out of the studio. Both his hands where full of canvases as he walked down the stairs and out to meet his friend in the café. When he entered, he found Tobio working his fingers excitedly along the keys of the old piano by the patio, playing a jazzy tune, while a familiar, well dressed gentleman playfully heckled him. “That’s not music! It’s uncivilized. It’s noise.”

“G’ morning.” Hajime greeted.

“Morning,” Tobio greeted back, “Hajime, you remember Tooru Oikawa, right?”

Hajime walked over to the table where Tooru was still enjoying his breakfast. “Of course I do. I’ve only heard you sing about a thousand times. How are you doing?” Hajime extended his hand in greeting and Tooru cheerfully accepted.

“Well, thanks. And you?”

“I could be better. I’m broke.”

“Broke?” Tooru gave a light laugh at Hajime’s straight forward answer.

“Yeah, and the trouble is when I have no money I don’t eat. When I don’t eat I get tired and depressed. When that happens the only thing that’ll help is wine and women.”

“Oh well that should be very simple, Hajime. You’re in Paris!”

“Yes, but even in Paris that takes money. Which is what I don’t have in the first place… Speaking of,” Hajime made his way over to the piano, “Hey, Tobio, you got three hundred francs on you? I’m going to Montmartre and I need lunch money.”

“Sorry, Haji. I bought a postage stamp yesterday and it broke me.”

Tooru jumped out of his seat and strode over to the two while reaching for his wallet, “Here, allow me.”

Hajime quickly held his hands out in protest, “No, thanks. I don’t like taking money from strangers.” Tooru whined at the comment, hurt that Hajime would even think to call him a stranger even though they had met at least a few dozen times.

“I wish he was a stranger,” Tobio muttered under his breath. His playing stopped for a moment, smirking at the sneaky idea that popped into his head. “Hey, Tooru. Lend me three hundred,” he commanded.

Hajime frowned. Catching on to what his friend was doing. Tooru happily slipped the bill into Tobio’s outstretched hand. With a smirk on his face he pushed the money into Hajime’s chest and continued where he had left off but with more force. Hajime caught the money before it fell and reluctantly pocketed it. He stopped in front of Tooru on his way to sit at the once occupied table and said, “I wouldn’t lend him money if I were you. He’s a bum risk.”

The excitement and volume by which Tobio was playing intensified. Tooru hunched his shoulders to his ears, trying to hide them from what he considered to be unpleasant banging. “Tobio, is this really what you won your scholarship for?” he asked, followed by mocking the music with childish da-da-das.

“What’s wrong with it?” Tobio snapped.

Hajime perked up from the table, mouth full of scavenged brioche, “Evidently, the man doesn’t like jazz.”

“I’m against it,” Tooru said, folding his arms in front of his chest.

Hajime scoffed and walked back to the piano, coffee cup in hand, “What else is there?”

“Oh I know what he likes.” Tobio spat before changing his tone to something mockingly sweet, “He’s strictly a three-quarter man.”

When Tobio began to play a pleasant waltz, Tooru’s body relaxed. Unconsciously swaying to the rhythm. “Now that’s the ticket.”

“Ah,” Hajime’s eyes grew wide with realization and a wicked grin formed on his face, “Old Vienna and all that crap.”

Tobio attempted to stifle his laughter with minimal success.

Tooru scoffed, offended by the comment. “The waltzes of middle Europa charm you and warm your heart. What Broadway would lead you to believe is music, is nothing but emptiness pounding on tin. When I want a melody lilting through the house, then I want a melody by Strauss.”

“Why, I didn’t realize the emperor himself would be visiting us this morning.” Tobio commented, attempting to cut off the passionate rant.

“I’ll take om-pah-pah over ha-cha-cha any day!” Tooru aggressively answered back.

Hajime quietly eased his way out of the argument and placed his empty cup on a nearby table. “Well gentlemen this has been,” pausing a moment, struggling to come up with the appropriate adjective, “… nice… but I should be on my way. I’ll see you later Tobio. Tooru.” He gave a small, unnoticed wave before collecting the canvases he had placed at the table. Leaving the two musicians to continue quarreling without him.

A/N: I hop you had as much fun reading this as I had writing this.

Shout out to my friend, Emily, for being my beta and ooc checker!

#iwaizumi hajime #iwaizumi #iwazumi x reader #haikyuu #haikyuu!!#iwaizumi hajime x reader #wonderful #my writing

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staytheb · 5 years

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Sunflower

Pairing: SF9′s Taeyang x OC [Haneul] Genre: college!au, friendstolovers!au, slice of life, slight fluff Word Count: 3,847 Summary: Haneul has been receiving sunflowers from Taeyang since they were childhood friends. Although they’re not your typical best of friends, the two have stayed in contact with one another. It’s not until recently when they’re both in their final year of college that Haneul actually learns the meaning of what the sunflower represents. She also comes to realize that Taeyang may be something more than a friend.

Warning: partially proofread. my bad. one or two swear words. it’s not your typical childhood friends to lovers plot. so, read at your own discretion. lol

anyways, this was requested by a lovely anon and it’s my first SF9 fic ever and i’m quite happy i actually wrote it out. even better when it wasn’t that long ago it was requested. lol so good for me and to the requester that wanted this! anyways, i hope it’s okay. i tried. i like it though hahaha, but yeah, if y’all don’t know this Taeyang means Sun and Haneul means Sky, so it plays well into the whole Sunflower thing. if you don’t get it, then you’ll just have to read. alright, happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

Haneul was casually sitting and talking at a table on campus grounds with her three friends, Haeyoon, Yuju, and Mirae. The quartet were hanging out once their classes were done for the day. Haneul suddenly heard her name being called from behind her by a male school mate. She's seen him before, but she couldn't recall ever having a class with him.

"Yong Haneul, correct?" The younger male asked while holding a sunflower in his right hand.

"Yes." Haneul confirmed with a curious gaze. "And you are?"

"Kang Chani and I'm here to deliver this to you."

Chani smiled at her while extending his arm forward to present the sunflower.

"Um, thank you."

Haneul took the flower although she was wondering why this random person was handing her the plant. Before she could ask what she was thinking, the male scurry away to his group of friends. Haneul's eyes trail after the male and realized that in Chani's group of friends was a familiar face. Her childhood friend, Yoo Taeyang. Once their eyes connected did Taeyang smiled warmly at her while lifting an arm to wave at her. Out of habit, Haneul did the same with a small smile before turning her attention back onto her friends. She caught their teasing gazes.

"What?" She asked like nothing just happened.

"What do you mean what?" Haeyoon asked with a pointed look. "Who was that and why did he give you that?"

"Please tell me it's an admirer. That would be so cute." Yuju cooed playfully while leaning closer to Haneul. "Do you think he's cute?"

"Girls," Mirae interjected, "She doesn't know him since she asked for his name."

Haneul shot her friend a relieved look.

"Thank you, Mirae."

"You're welcome, but who's the guy that you waved at and smiled at you? He looked familiar, but I couldn't really see him since one of his friend blocked my view."

Haneul scrunched up her face in hopes that she wouldn't have to answer that.

"Do you have a boyfriend and never told us about him?!" Yuju exclaimed before making a pouty face. "Haneul, you're so cruel."

"I don't have a boyfriend, Yuju. He's just a friend."

"Define 'friend', Haneul." Haeyoon clarified. "I would like for you to elaborate since it's Yellow and Rose Day and only couples do such a thing and you just claimed that you don't have a boyfriend. Hmm?"

"Yeah. Explain that." The other two chimed.

Haneul rolled her eyes while tucking the sunflower gently into her book-bag.

"There's nothing really to explain. Also, I forgot today was Yellow Day and or Rose Day since he also gives me sunflowers when it's my birthday. Anyways, he's just a childhood friend and has always given me a sunflower on the fourteenth of May and the first of March."

Yuju let out a loud gasped causing the other three to look at her questioningly.

"He's the one that's been giving you sunflowers since high school!"

"No. He's been giving me them since primary school. It's just he attended a different high school than I did."

"But I first met you in high school, Haneul, so it's been high school since for me. I couldn't figure out which guy it was that was giving you the flowers and now it's because he didn't even go to high school with us." Yuju explained.

Mirae interjected with her own curiosity. "Why aren't you guys dating since he likes you a lot and are now in your final year of university?"

"Um, well there's a few reasons for that."

Mirae interrupted her before Haneul could actually explain those reasons.

"Which are?"

"Well, I was gonna tell you, but since you interrupted me, I don't feel like saying anything now."

"Oh, c'mon, Haneul. Don't be mean. I'm sorry." Mirae apologized with a big pout. "Please continue speaking."

Haneul cast each of them a look before sighing in defeat.

"Fine."

"Yay!" The trio cheered happily as Haneul rolled her eyes, but continued with her reasoning.

"Well, first of all, it's because he already has a girlfriend."

The girls let out a loud gasp, but didn't interrupt their friend. Haneul continued giving them an amused look.

"Anyways, second of all, we're not as close as we used to be since we don't hang out as often as we used to like we did in middle school. And I don't really see him like that so I never thought about dating him."

"But have you dated anyone though?" Haeyoon questioned nonchalantly.

"She has." Yuju answered for Haneul.

"Okay, but how about an actual boyfriend then?" Haeyoon prodded.

"Oh yeah. Her first and last boyfriend was in our second year of high school." Yuju confirmed. "But they broke up some time in our first year of university."

"Oh why?!" Mirae exclaimed with widened eyes. "How come I didn't know?"

"Because we weren't openly affectionate about our relationship and also the fact that he cheated on me while we attended different colleges." Haneul explained with a shrug. "It's nothing now since I don't have to bother with him ever again and there was no need to bring up my past relationship."

"Alright then. Let's talk about your current relationship status." Mirae grinned.

"Single as fuck." Haeyoon inputted with a laugh before side-eyeing her mischievously. "Or so she tells us."

"I am single, Haeyoon." Haneul stated firmly. "I'm not hiding anything."

"Yeah you are." Yuju disagreed with a shake of her head while indiscreetly pointing in the direction of where Taeyang and his group of friends were some distance away. "That guy who's been giving you sunflowers since y'all were kids."

"Don't point. It's not nice."

Haneul swatted at her friend's hand.

"Ugh. Fine."

Yuju crossed her arms over her chest in a sulking manner.

"You're such a child." Mirae commented, but Yuju stuck her tongue out at her in a playful manner.

"Then can you at least give us a name?"

Yuju then turned to shoot Haneul her puppy eyes.

"Eww. Stop doing that."

"If I stop, then will you give us a name?"

"No."

Haneul shot them an amused look.

"Why are y'all so curious about my love life and even about who I was childhood friends with?"

"Because the meaning of a sunflower is quite deep, Haneul." Haeyoon reasoned while reading something off of her phone. "Do you even know what the sunflower symbolizes and mean?"

"Not really. I never thought about looking it up."

"Okay, well then let me informed you about them."

Haeyoon grinned at her before casting her eyes back onto her mobile device.

"Sunflowers symbolizes adoration, loyalty, and longevity."

Haeyoon began with a giddy smile as the other two girls let out contented sighs with a dreamy expression upon hearing the meaning. Haneul rolled her eyes at their behavior, but let Haeyoon continued.

"They are also known for being 'happy' flowers. They're the perfect gift to bring joy to someone's or your day."

Haeyoon finished with an even giddier smile as she directed it at Haneul.

"Are you sure you still think of him as a friend, Haneul? Because I think he thinks of you as more than that."

Haneul scoffed. "Please. No one's like that nowadays. Hardly anyone makes romantic or sweet subtle hints like those."

Haneul then stood up while gathering up her things. Her friends noticed how delicate she was when she put her things into her bag as to not crush the sunflower and when she settled the bag onto her shoulder in a gentle manner.

"Anyways, ladies, I have other things to do so I'll see you three tomorrow."

"Fine. If you won't tell us, then we'll just ask him when he gets here." Yuju remarked with a smug look.

Haneul's eyes furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean when he ge-"

"Neul."

Haneul quickly turned around upon hearing the familiar nickname she hasn't heard since childhood from her childhood friend while her facial expression turned to one of puzzlement.

"Taeyang?"

"THE Yoo Taeyang?!" The trio chorused at once upon recognizing the male.

"Haneul. You know The Yoo Taeyang of Sigma Phi Nu?" Mirae questioned with an awe tone followed by Haeyoon who was also in awe.

"And the main dancer of the school's dance team, Knights of the Sun."

"He's also like the Fashionista King of Neoz University." Yuju exclaimed excitedly. "Omo, Yoo Taeyang, I'm such a huge fan of yours!"

Taeyang smiled at Haneul's friends in a calm manner while nodding his head at them.

"Thank you." He thanked them before gesturing towards Haneul. "Would you mind if I borrowed Haneul from you for the rest of the day?"

Just as Haneul was about to declined his offer, her friends accepted his words and Haeyoon who was the closes to Haneul pushed her towards Taeyang causing her to stumbled into him. Taeyang caught a hold of Haneul and helped her to steady herself. Haneul was a flustered mess, but she calmly held her own and would throttle her friends when he or anyone else was around.

"Are you okay?" Taeyang asked with a worried tone while trying to catch her eyes.

Haneul avoided his gaze while answering him with a forced smile.

"Peachy."

She cast a dark look towards her friends who abruptly stated that they had somewhere else to be while avoiding eye-contact with Haneul. The trio bid the pair a goodbye soon afterwards. A laugh sounded from beside her and her dark gaze softened when she turned her her eyes towards Taeyang questioningly.

"What's so funny?"

Taeyang's laughter died down, but the amused smile was still on his face.

"I see that you're dark gaze still holds up to this day."

"You remember that?"

"How could I not? You would give them to me whenever I shoved a bug into your face before chasing me after doing so."

"You were such a jerk. You even put a frog in my bag in the fifth grade and now I can't stand them or insects to this day."

Taeyang let out another heartily laugh upon the memory.

"Ahh, those were the days. I missed them. I missed you, too."

He casually admitted while giving Haneul a thoughtful look.

"How's your day been?"

Haneul was caught off guard by his admission of missing her and then the sudden question like they were casually catching up with one another. Haneul recalled that the both of them haven't really had a serious face to face conversation after middle school ended. Then again, Haneul recalled all the small conversations they quickly had in-between classes these past four years and the text messages when they went to separate high schools. Could she really say that they were catching up when they never really lost contact with one another in the first place.

"I, well, it's going well. I just need to run some errands before heading home. Other than that, nothing really new. Um, how about you? How's your day going" She asked the same question back automatically before remembering something. "I see that you're well known around campus, Mr. Popular. I wasn't aware of that."

"Ah, yeah."

Taeyang rubbed his neck in bashful manner.

"Something like that."

His eyes then caught sight of the sunflower tucked away into her book-bag. He smiled upon seeing it.

"How do you like the sunflowers? Sorry about having Chani give them to you earlier. He was just curious to see the person I got it for and wouldn't stop bugging me about it."

"They're pretty as ever, Yang." Haneul said with a smile while also using the nickname she referred to him by when they were younger. "Thanks and it's okay about your friends. I should mainly apologize for my friends who were gushing over you not that long ago."

"It's fine. I'm kinda used to it."

"Well, not really. You shouldn't be used to something."

"I know, but it's also something I'm familiar with since you haven't noticed anything to this day either."

"What do you mean?"

Haneul wondered what Taeyang was talking about until Haeyoon's voiced popped into her head a second later about the meaning of the sunflower. Haneul then caught the movement of Taeyang's left arm reaching out and slowly plucking the sunflower from out of her bag. He calmly twirled the bright flower within his hand while staring at it thoughtfully. His eyes soon flickered onto her and Haneul suddenly felt a jolt within her body upon catching his gaze. Her thoughts immediately ran while with all the questions her friends kept asking her earlier and she was weirdly questioning if he was more than a friend all of a sudden. Haneul let out a loud gasped before clamping a hand over her mouth to restrained any further sounds to come out of it.

"Are you alright?" Taeyang asked with a raised brow.

Haneul didn't trust her voice and nodded instead while removing her hand from her mouth and back to her side.

"Are you sure?" He inquired further not believing her.

Haneul nodded again still not trusting herself to speak. Taeyang slowly cast her a charming smile that reached his eyes and Haneul inwardly asked herself when did his smile become so charismatic. She closed her eyes upon realizing what was happening to her and she now wondered if it was her friends doing by constantly asking so much questions or just something that was fated to happen some day. Like today. Or maybe both. Haneul opened her eyes slowly one at a time in hopes that maybe Taeyang wasn't standing before her and it was just her mind messing with her.

"Yong Haneul, are you sure you're okay?" Taeyang firmly asked although his twinkling eyes stated otherwise.

She frowned knowing that he was enjoying her quiet demeanor. He only ever used her full name when he wanted to tease her. Taeyang always found it amusing whenever Haneul got tongue tied or stayed silent when they were children. It was because she would finally realized something and didn't want to admit it at first.

"Yes, I'm fine, Yoo Taeyang." Haneul replied with a forced smile.

Taeyang's smiled wider upon knowing that she only used his full name when she wasn't fine or to get him to back off. Seeing his smile, Haneul knew that he knew and decided to escape the situation and brush it off like nothing had happened.

"Um, I gotta go. Bye." Haneul hastily bid him a goodbye while turning away.

Before she could dash off, Taeyang's right arm quickly reached out and caught a hold of her left arm, and brought her around to face him.

"I know it's been like several years since we actually had a personal conversation and for this long, but I think it's time."

"Time for what exactly?"

Haneul cautious looked at him as Taeyang cast her a reassuring smile while moving his right hand to grasp her left hand instead. She glanced at their held hands as her eyes also noticed the sunflower still within his left grasp before shooting him an anxious look. Haneul wasn't sure what to exactly feel as she was still trying to figure out her sudden feelings towards her former childhood friend who may now be more than what she had original thought of him to be. To which she now knew that Taeyang had always known his feelings for her despite never actually saying it.

"Well, Neul, if it wasn't obvious for the past fifteen years, but I like you. I still do." Taeyang confessed.

"But you have a girlfriend already." Haneul reminded him as she tried to rationalized her thoughts and feelings as quickly as possible. "You can like me all you want, Yang, but that won't change the fact that you're still in a committed relationship with someone else right now."

"I'm not."

"Yeah you were since I last checked like a week ago."

"Oh? So you've been keeping tabs on me?"

"Tch. It's not even like that. Your mom showed me a picture of you and your girlfriend at some party."

"That's not my girlfriend."

"Oh, yeah, sure it isn't. Likely story."

Taeyang laughed at Haneul's misunderstanding. Haneul slightly shoved him with her free hand at his reaction towards her.

"This isn't a laughing matter, Taeyang. This is quite serious."

"I know and that's why it's funny. That's my mother's god-niece. So technically, my cousin."

"Oh, well, if that's the case then I didn't want to be mean and say she got plastic surgery or something." Haneul said in a flustered tone while avoiding eye-contact with Taeyang while still speaking. "Since she didn't look like the girl in your last photo update where the two of you went to New York City last summer."

"Ah, her. Yeah, well, she was, but we broke up that same summer due to a falling out and differences within our relationship." Taeyang clarified.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She lamely apologized although she didn't know why she needed to say that.

"It's okay. It's not your fault. I'm sorry about you and your ex, too."

"Wait. How do you even know about that?"

"Let's just say that the girl he cheated on you with was also at the time the girlfriend of one of my friends."

"Soccer Star Kim Rowoon is your friend?"

"Yes." Taeyang proudly confirmed.

"Tell him thank you for me." Haneul smiled at him upon learning of that fact. "A big thank you for kicking the soccer balls at my ex when he constantly denied cheating on me despite the physical evidence on him that wasn't my doing and was also about to get dangerously physical with me that day."

"Well, then it should be me that you should thanking."

"Why?"

"I was the one that told Rowoon to do that."

"But why? I mean I can understand since you and I were friends, but you weren't really involved in that affair."

"Not directly, but he indirectly hurt you and that hurt me seeing you hurt."

Haneul was going to reply, but nothing came out. She closed her mouth and remind silent.

"I know you feel that small spark between us, but I won't pressure you into anything. If you don't want to, then that's your choice. I just wanted to let you know my feelings before I never get another chance to let you know about them."

"But why? Why now? Why not before? Why?" Haneul suddenly questioned since she just couldn't understand why it was suddenly happening now.

"To be completely honest, I was going to confess to you back in high school during our second year when I mustered the courage to do so." Taeyang admitted. "Then you told me you had a boyfriend and I backed off, but still gave you sunflowers diligently."

The former childhood friends just stared at one another as the words spoken between them mingled in the air. Their hands were still within the other's grasp with no thoughts of letting go. Taeyang watched Haneul calmly as Haneul contemplated what to actually do our their current state. It wasn't like they could just go back to being friends when Taeyang basically confessed. Also, Haneul now knew that she couldn't view Taeyang as simply as just a friend like she declared earlier to her friends. She then recalled reading something about friends turning into lovers and that it was worth the risk if there was a little spark between the two. For her, it just took a little longer to realized that.

"Alright. I lied about running errands. I really didn't have anything to do today and just wanted to ditch my friends from questioning about my love life and about you, too." Haneul admitted to Taeyang with a soft sigh. "So what did you want to borrow me for?"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Taeyang asked with a concern look. "I mean, it would be great, but I want to make sure that it's something that you wanna move forward with, Haneul. There's no turning back."

"I know, Taeyang, and I really do. Honestly. " Haneul assured him with a shy smile. "I mean, after all of these years of receiving sunflowers from you, I didn't think it was your way of cheering me up all of this time."

Now it was Taeyang's turn to cast her a shy smile.

"I did tell you when I was seven that I wanted to be a florist."

"I'm pretty sure you used the term 'plant grower' back then."

"Whatever, but the real truth of why I chose the sunflower after learning it's meaning was because of you."

"Me? Why?"

"Well, because your name means 'sky' and my name means 'sun'. The sunflower can't grow without the sun and the sun can't exist without the sky. We were fated for one another since we met the first time at the nursery."

Haneul restrained herself from cringing at Taeyang's words. He laughed knowing that it was cringe-worthy, but he had no regrets in saying them to her.

"If I recall or my mom telling me about my first day at the nursery, you kicked me during nap time because you thought it was my fault we had to take naps."

"In my defense, I was only like three years old. The staff at the time said it was the sky causing the sun to be swallowed up so that we had to take naps. I feared for my life believing you were going to eat me if I fell asleep. It took my mom about a few months to convince me otherwise."

Upon hearing his side of the story for that, Haneul couldn't help but let out a loud laugh.

"That's cute." She commented after her laughing ceased.

"Anyways," Taeyang interjected while bringing up the reason he wanted to borrow her earlier from her friends, "I wanted to take you to this cafe called Fantasy 9. They just released a new flavor containing sunflower petals today and I know how much studying lately has been stressing this past week. Also can't forget that we'll be graduating in less than a month from now, too."

"Oh, so you wanted to go on an unofficial date after who knows how long since we actually hung out physically. Then during our chit-chat you would probably confessed to me and all that other stuff that happens like in the movies and books."

"Um, something along those lines, yes."

"Well, then let's just call it an official date and see where we go from there." Haneul suggested with a bright smile.

"Alright, then, let's go." Taeyang agreed as he mirrored her smile while handing her back the sunflower. "For you."

"Thank you."

Haneul beamed at him as she happily took the flower back with her free hand. Taeyang readjusted their other hands to comfortably fit with one another while leading her in the direction of Fantasy 9. On the way there the pair converse freely like that of friends, but the connection with one another was more than that.

#staytheb #sf9 scenarios #yoo taeyang

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