#eric fluff

[sohnric]

millennium bug – e. sohn

pairing: eric sohn x fem! reader

genre: 90s au, twenty-five twenty-one au, brother's best friend au, childhood friends au, fluff, slice of life, coming of age. older brother! sunwoo. essentially just eric being baek yijin. oct-nov scenes inspired by weak hero class 1. no plot just vibes im sorry

warnings: minimal swearing and thats all lol

word count: 19k

a/n: posting a fic for a new fandom is always so scary pls be nice to me deobiblr bc im literally abt to cry. also yes i am calling this a 2521 au bc the plot is so heavily inspired it might just be one. a special thank you goes out to @csenke for dragging me into stanning this group i am enjoying myself 🤞

there are some pros and cons to not having friends growing up. cons: you're always forced to tag along with your brother and his group wherever he goes. pros: his childhood best friend is kind of hot.

JUNE OF 1999

Being Kim Sunwoo’s younger sister is no bed of roses sometimes.

Sure, you get the occasional excitement of having him bring you rollerskating with you down the hill or the ever so rare moments of him defending you in front of your mother when you two have done something wrong (while never saying he was in on the bad act as well, of course), but more than often, you are met with his disgusted looks and insults whenever the two years older boy passes by your room and casually bangs at the door just to spite you.

His snarky looks are especially ones to remember. Maybe it’s because he offers them to you often– much like in this very moment, completely unprovoked, and completely not by your fault.

“But mum–”

“I already told you, Sunwoo,” your mother looks at him with a stern look in her eye, the one that makes chills run down your spine, “you can go if you take Y/N with you.”

“But nobody’s bringing their sister! Mum, come on–”

“Take it or leave it, young man.”

And see, your brother may be 19 years old, but he’s still in need of getting permission to leave the house if it includes an overnight stay. It’s an unspoken rule he always follows, since he’s usually granted the right to leave, but the result of his conversation was different than what he expected this time. And see, you may be just two years younger than him (one year left until you are an adult), but even though your mother is too busy to take care of you and entertain your slowly adultling self on most days because of her highly demanding job, she always makes sure that you don’t stay alone for long, and that’s exactly why (you realize, contrary to your brother) she insists on making you tag along on Sunwoo’s trip to the beach house with his friends.

The male grunts and turns on his heel, not giving your mother another response– and with this, you know she won. And that means you’ll have to pack your bag soon, because you know that there’s no way Sunwoo would miss going to the beach house with his friends– even if it meant making his little sister tag along.

And sure enough, Lee Juyeon’s minivan pulls up into your driveway only a few hours later, and the sound of the honking outside is enough for your older brother to aggressively drag you outside of the house, shutting the door behind you and hollering an angry “Bye mum!” to your mother. Your figure is handled with the least amount of care possible as you’re thrown towards the white van, the door opened and 5 heads already peeking out with expecting eyes, waiting for your brother’s arrival.

“My mum made my stupid sister go with me, so I hope we have space for one more,” Sunwoo huffs as he throws his bag into the trunk, slamming it with more force than was necessary (boy does he know how to throw a scene), an encouraging voice of none other than Juyeon– the driver himself– landing in your ear. 

“Sure, just hop in!”

With that, your feet finally unglue themselves off the ground and bring you into the vehicle. You’re familiar with his friends– since a scenario like this hasn’t happened for the first time and you had to spend your fair time with Sunwoo’s circle growing up, mainly because you never really had many friends yourself. You’re not close with any of them, though, and you’re sure you haven’t seen half of them for ages. 

Lee Juyeon is the responsible one of the group. You’re comfortable with the fact that he’s the driver, since you’re not entirely sure if you’d trust any of the other men in this space behind the wheel (you fear the day your brother gets a driver’s license. You'd bet a million dollars that he’ll die while driving recklessly one day). Next to him on the passenger’s seat is Choi Chanhee, his best friend, carrying a map in his hands and twirling it in all possible directions to get his friend on the right track. In the three-seat behind those two is Ju Haknyeon, Ji Changmin and your brother himself, and in the very back of the whole van, almost in the trunk, you’re sat next to Eric Sohn– your brother’s childhood best friend.

“Hi guys,” you offer a greeting to all of them, settling into the uncomfortable leather seat (that’s peeling off, just by the way), watching as the rest of the men pay you no mind and ignore your voice, falling into a comfortable conversation with each other.

Sighing, because this always happens– your brother gets too annoyed because he has to bring you with him all the time, and you imagine his friends aren’t fond of the fact either– you settle deeper into the seat and cross your hands on your chest, looking outside of the window. You can’t imagine enjoying your trip now, since you feel like you’re a nuisance, a child they have to take care of (yes, it embarrasses you just the tiniest bit, you have to admit. Although, you do enjoy getting out of the house from time to time), and the fact that your feelings were probably more than justified and also true has you pouting, an unsatisfied feeling weighing at your lungs.

“Hi,” a voice resonates from your side, the sight of a smiling Eric peering at you taking you off guard. You didn’t expect anyone to react to your greeting– not so delayed anyway– and the sight of your brother’s best friend carrying on in the conversation with you has you shocked beyond belief. “Excited?”

Finding yourself hum in agreement– how much you are still excited for the pool and for the sun, you’re not really sure– and although you are upset, something about his open and nice demeanor has you visibly relaxing, the sparkles inviting themselves back into your eyes. “I’ve never been to the beach,” you admit, seeing Eric gasp at you in surprise.

“Really?” he asks. “I go every year with my parents.”

“Well,” you hum, “you know how my mother is…” you sigh, chewing on the inside of your cheek. It’s easier to joke about it than to actually let the fact get to you– with your mother being the main news anchor, she is too busy to actually go on trips and form bonds with her own children sometimes. That’s why you spent most of your childhood at Eric’s family’s house in the first place– this is what made you the closest with Sunwoo’s same aged friend. His parents were nice enough to let you stay over and have sleepovers whenever your mum had to leave suddenly and take week-long trips abroad, or have emergency shifts during late evenings. 

Eric hums, sympathizing with you. “Well, at least you get to experience it now!”

“Yeah,” you awkwardly nod, playing with the hem of your jean shorts. It’s the shorts you made yourself by cutting the legs off your favorite pants after you grew out of them and they got too short, and they’re starting to look a little worn-out now. Maybe you should beg your mum to get you some new clothing.

The conversation between the boys grows in volume, doing nothing to help you to relax in the crowded vehicle. You can’t really find a place to fit yourself in and talk, the topics too unfamiliar for you and the feeling of not even being welcome in the discussion sitting heavy on your chest, when a finger bears itself to the flesh of your thigh, making you snap your head around to gape at the source of the contact. Eric looks at you with a boyish grin, sparkles evident in his eyes.

“Wanna see something?” he asks.

“Sure.”

The male digs around his backpack, hands searching through the contents of his bag for only a couple of seconds– since he’s the neat one, contrary to your messy brother– before he takes out a small gadget: a square with a little screen on top, a silver, circular button space sitting big in the very middle of the device. Eric throws the thing into your lap, smiling when you take it into your hands and examine it with curious eyes.

“Have you seen one before? My dad got it for me last week,” he boosts, satisfied with your reaction to it. 

Your mother’s job pays quite well– meaning that you usually have the latest gadgets, the latest trends– but if you’re being honest, you haven’t seen one of these in real life before. Yes, you caught a glimpse of an ad for it in the town center, on one of the big billboards while passing by to get to school in the morning, so you know that it’s an MP3 player, but still; this was your first time touching one and examining it in real life. 

“How does it work?” you ask, watching as the boy scoots from his seat to the middle one, so he is now sitting directly next to you, before he takes out wired headphones from the first department of his backpack and turns the little square over in his hands, finding where the jack goes.

“You put those in,” he says, plugging in the headphones, “and then you press this…” he explains, taking the device out of your hand and pushing on the power button for a few seconds, “and then it should play.”

Watching him with expecting eyes, the boy finally puts the MP3 player back into your hold. Then, his fingers swiftly put the respective earphones into your ears– like you’d do to a little kid that has no idea how they work, making you a little flushed at the action– and after that, you’re left with the sound of an unfamiliar song playing in your ears, making the sound of the chatter in the van completely tune out. Eric keeps on watching you, a sense of pride in his eyes as you nod at him, all excited with the new explory, before he takes one of the earphones out of your ear, grinning.

“Cool, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” you nod. “The song is good,” you dumbly say, watching as the boy next to you pridefully nods at the compliment, resting his back against the car seat. 

“It’s the H.O.T album. My dad says they’re good,” he mumbles, moving the headphone he took from you and placing it into his ear, making you nod at him in acknowledgement. The action has your insides bubble with disappointment, thinking that the fun is over as you reach for the other earphone as well, offering it to the male.

Eric looks at you with a shocked pout, shaking his head. “No, we can share!” he says, pointing towards your ear. “If you want, of course.”

The action has you smiling, a shy nod escaping out of you as you reach and put the earphone back into your ear, letting yourself fall deeper into the car seat, listening to the song from Eric’s MP3 player. You’re grateful for his presence– he didn’t have to keep up a conversation with you. He could ignore you, just like the rest of his friend group always has. Maybe it was something about the two of you growing up together that always made the boy at least a bit more affectionate towards you than the rest.

You spend the car ride to the beach house with Eric leaning on your side, listening to music and his occasional blabbering about how his previous days went. 

Somehow, you're glad the seat beside him was the only vacant one when you arrived to the vehicle.

YOUR SEVENTH BIRTHDAY, 1989

You don't quite remember when you met Eric for the first time, if you’re being completely honest. The first memory you have of him is of your seventh birthday party, although you’re almost certain the boy’s been present at some point of your life before– at one point, you think you saw a picture of him and Sunwoo, two chubby toddlers, watching you as you laid on a blanket on the ground somewhere in your photo album. As far as you’re concerned, he may as well have been there when your mother brought you back from the hospital– although you think he must have been too young for that back then.

The first memory you have of Eric Sohn is the day you turned seven– a gloomy, sad day that in the moment, you prayed you wouldn’t have to remember in the first place.

It was already established that while your brother is the social butterfly, you don’t have a big friend group. Actually, you could count the number of your friends on one hand, and since the amount wasn’t as big, your mother allowed you to invite them all over to your house to celebrate your birthday with you. 

She baked a cake, she decorated the living room, hell, she even took a day off from work– something you deemed special, for it doesn’t happen often– and as you sat on the floor of your living room, the cake standing proud on the small coffee table, waiting for your friends to arrive, you hummed a song under your breath, the clock slowly passing the time you agreed for them to come over and celebrate.

At first, you didn’t mind it– everybody gets late sometimes, it’s okay. It was just a birthday party, and you had a lot of time. Not everything had to be set on schedule.

But the closer the clock moved to being one hour, than two after the time your friends were supposed to come, you grew worried. Your mother’s nervous pacing around the living room and her heavy sighs as she sat next to you on the floor, smiling at you in what you can only explain as sad way made you more and more anxious about the fact that you only had three friends, but all three of them seemed to not care enough to come celebrate your birthday with you. And as your mother finally took the final bow in the form of a soft hand on your inner thigh, her tone gentle as she called your name– “Y/N, I think we should light the candles,” you began to tear up.

You were supposed to eat the cake with your friends. You were supposed to hear them sing the birthday song to you. You were supposed to turn on the radio and dance around with your classmates, eat the sweets and unwrap the cheap, but heartfelt gifts they brought along with them to celebrate your birthday. 

But none of these scenarios were happening, and you felt incredibly, incredibly lonely and sad. Forgotten, if you will. Not cared for, definitely.

Hiding your face into your hands, you started to cry. This disappointment was too big for your small heart to take, and you no longer cared about the cake, the candles, the seaweed soup your mother cooked for you to celebrate, the gifts, or the party. All you wanted to do was hide in your room and never come out– something about the whole situation felt deeply embarrassing, and to this day, the moment before the whole day turned around still makes you feel a bit ashamed of yourself. 

Too busy crying, you didn’t notice your older brother watching you with big bambi eyes, a worried glance sent your way each time your sobs grew louder and louder. And maybe the boy only wanted to taste the cake (he’s been bugging your mum about it since the very morning, but he was always sent off with a scolding look telling him that he’ll get a slice when everyone arrives), but no matter what his true intentions were, his actions still managed to pull your seventh birthday party together in a way you never imagined.

The sound of the front door faintly resonated in your brain somewhere in the middle of your aimless sobbing, but you paid it no mind, thinking it was just Sunwoo going out to the yard to kick the ball. See, your older brother had never really known what to do when you cried growing up– it didn’t matter if he was the reason for your tears or if anyone else was. If he was the reason for your emotional outbursts, he tried to shut you up with his palm and get you to stop crying before his mother found out and gave him a scolding, but if someone else was, the small boy sometimes turned angry at the source. Kicking his classmate that once made a snarky comment about you and made you tear up or punching his friend when he was too harsh with you was all he knew to do in these situations, so he wasn’t the one to comfort you with words or hugs. It was only natural for him to escape in this situation.

You were brought to a state of shock and surprise when a hand landed on your shoulder, a familiar voice breaking you from your emotional turmoil.

“Why are you crying? We have to eat the cake!” you heard, your big, sad eyes meeting the small figure of the boy living next door, your brother nervously stepping from one side to the other right behind his best friend. “Can you light the candles, Mrs?” Eric politely asked your mum, pointing towards the cake waiting sadly at the coffee table, the figure of your mother leaving your side only shortly to get the matches from the kitchen and illuminate your face with the small flames.

Confusion mirrored your features as you watched your brother and his best friend sing the birthday song to you while your mum lit your candles, both boys clapping and dancing around, acting silly just to get a laugh from you. You didn't know how Eric got there, but you guessed there are some good sides to having him as your neighbor. The energetic boy did his best to brighten up your mood a bit, and when you blew out the candle, making a wish, Sunwoo even went as far as smashing your face into the cake to bring in the full birthday authenticity.

That got him a slap to the back of his head from your mother, as well as made you stand up from your position– no longer making you look like a disappointed bulk of pity– and chase him around the room, icing falling off your nose to the laminated floor. You got your revenge and smeared the chocolate all over his forehead (he let you chase him down only because it was your birthday and he really, really hated to see his sister cry, but he won’t ever tell you that) and as the three of you sat back down to the floor, watching your mother slice the cake and offer it to you on small white plates, you realized you suddenly weren't as sad anymore.

“What did you wish for?” Eric asked you, mouth full of cake and face messy with chocolate.

“I can’t tell you,” you hummed, eyebrows furrowed. “Then it won’t come true.”

“You probably wished for that doll you saw in the store the other day,” Sunwoo snickered as he swallowed, having you glare at him and send a sharp kick to his shin, unwatched by your mother (thankfully), as the boy fought you back, having no mercy.

Music suddenly filled the room as Eric stood up and put the radio on, his 9 year old brain smart enough to know how the device worked, his small figure dancing away to the songs playing on the single radio station you could play without carefully sorting out the antenna so it faced the north, and truly, you didn’t know how it happened, but it had you standing up and dancing around, exactly how you'd imagined doing with your friends from school.

The day wasn’t ruined– quite the opposite, really. It was one of your favorite birthday parties, and ever since then, Eric was invited to every single one you had after. And while Sunwoo may act like he doesn’t hate anything more in this world than having a younger sister, every time you feel like a burden to him, you remember this very afternoon.

You will never tell anyone what you wished for that day– but just to let everyone in on the secret, 

it was to somehow, just like Sunwoo, find someone like Eric for yourself as well. 

JUNE OF 1999

Standing at the side of the pool, eyes squinting from the inevitable force of the sun, you’re starting to regret your decision of coming along just a little. See, you usually don’t protest whenever Sunwoo aggressively drags you around and brings you everywhere he’s supposed to, because even though you love to see your brother angry (especially when you’re the reason behind the emotion), you’d also hate to see him miss out, but now, as the scorching hot sun is having no mercy on every exposed inch of skin– and believe me, there’s a lot of it, since you’re wearing your swimming trunks– and the sweat on your forehead is no longer culminating in beads, but rolling painfully slowly down your forehead, you do admit you’d be a little bit happier in the shade of your little room than here, watching the guys play volleyball in the comfort of the freezing cold pool.

And as the only female around the house, you settle with the patriarchy and bring out a small folding chair and a camping table alongside with a big, sharp knife, struggling to hoist up the giant watermelon you got in a grocery store on your way to the beach house, with the intention of cutting it and serving it to the guys later. Who knows, maybe they’ll like you a little more after that. 

The knife sinks into the thick green skin of the watermelon easily, and so as you accompany yourself with the excited (and not so excited screams coming from the losing side of the game– mainly your brother himself), you cut up the fruit into halves, then quarters, and as you stare at the moon crescents settled on the camping table, you decide to play nice and cut up the fruit into smaller triangles as well, to really get on everyone’s good side.

The yearning for male validation awakes in a woman pretty early on in life. It’s an inevitable misfortune.

“Told you Sunwoo’s all talk but no game!” you hear Haknyeon yell out as the game seemingly ends, the younger boy lunging at him in the pool, fighting him for the truthful words. Glancing at the commotion, you notice the guys slowly getting out of the pool, making you heave out in victory– you’re finally gonna have your turn in the pool. Well, if they don’t decide to occupy it again before you even get a chance to get in.

“Y/N! You cut up the watermelon?” Eric asks a very obvious question, walking up to you with beads of water all over his half-naked body. His dark hair is damply sitting against his forehead, making him look like a wet puppy, but as the male gets closer to you, he drags his palm through the locks and pushes them back, revealing his forehead– a sight sweet to your eyes, but you refuse to pay it much attention in the heat of the moment. It’s just the sun making you delirious as the idea of finding him attractive flashes through your brain, that’s all. 

“I did! Take one,” you smile, watching as the rest of the guys walk over to your little stand– while also obnoxiously swatting out water out of their hair like dogs, refusing to use towels like normal people– and finally, there it comes: appreciative smiles appear on their faces as they each take a piece, biting down on the fruit with delighted sighs.

Sunwoo walks up to you with a surprised look on his face, sighing as he messes with your hair. “If I knew you’d be our servant, I wouldn’t have even minded you going in the first place.”

“You do something nice for people and they jump on the chance to exploit you,” you hum, shaking your head in disbelief. “That’s just like you, Kim Sunwoo.”

“No, that’s just me having older brother privileges.”

“I hope you choke on that, you know,” you bite at him, pointing towards the piece of sweet watermelon in his hands, the smile on his face turning bitter. There’s a satisfied look on your face when your brother does, indeed, choke on a watermelon seed a few seconds later– and they say dreams don’t come true.

“You didn’t have to,” you hear Eric speak up from the other side, your head turning to face the male, his features appreciative and warm. “Thank you,” he beams. There’s redness on the tip of his nose and his forehead, signaling his quickly approaching sunburn, and you can’t help but laugh out at his clueless, Rudolph the red nosed reindeer self. 

“What’s so funny?” he asks, furrowing his eyebrows at you in question.

“Nothing,” you peep, “you just look like you forgot to use sunscreen,” you mumble, watching as the male gasps and touches his face, a horrified expression overtaking him when the skin under his fingertips burns to the touch. 

“I didn’t forget! It must have rubbed off in the pool,” he mourns, “I must look stupid!” 

“Only a little,” you tease, a grin overtaking your features. See, there’s something about the fact that you’ve known Eric for the entirety of your whole life that makes you more prone to teasing him– you’re familiar with your dynamics and just how far you can go, so his next actions startle you just the tiniest bit as the male looks sternly at you, throwing the half-eaten watermelon slice to the camping table. You thought you had the risks calculated– apparently, you didn't.

“What did you say?”

Examining his features, seeing no signs of anger– just the stoic, fakely-offended face of your brother’s childhood best friend– you shrug. “That you look a bit stupid with your face like that.”

“Oh, okay,” he nods, “you’re going down for that.”

“What do you mea–”

Your words are cut short when the male lunges at you, his arms enveloping your thighs and holding you up. The contact of his cold skin from the pool and your heated figure makes goosebumps appear all over your body, your hands instinctively reaching around him to support yourself as he walks closer to the pool– his intentions are suddenly painfully clear and you start to panic. 

“This will teach you to respect your elders,” Eric huffs, the turquoise surface of the water slowly coming into your point of view.

“Stop! Stop-stop-stop,” you squirm, kicking your feet and trying to take down the predator, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, alright?”

The male takes a halt for a split second– making you foolishly believe he’ll let you off– before he breaks out into a devilish grin and continues to walk to the edge of the pool. “Too late.”

“Eric!” you scream, the volume of your voice resonating through the whole beach, your heart thumping wild against your ribcage with the awaiting process. You’re not even sure what you’re scared of anymore– you can swim and you bet the water will feel nice against the scorching sun– but still, you’re absolutely terrified as the male has no mercy on you, carrying you steadily towards the water. “At least let me tie my hair first! You can dump me in after, I promise,” you mourn, trying to buy yourself more time.

“Alright,” he nods, waiting at the very edge of the pool, leaving you to take the purple scrunchie off your wrist and gather your hair together, preparing to tie it into a bun so it doesn’t get in your way when you’re in the pool. The hair tie is just at the tips of your fingertips, the first loop over the hair ready to be done, when a scream cuts out of your throat.

The feeling of falling suddenly overtakes your body, leaving you no time to prepare yourself for the impact of the cold water against your skin and all up in your nose, since you didn’t pluck it when you were dumped into the pool. The fall only lasts a split second until you’re below the water, the force of it resonating in your ears, and when you finally act on your instincts and stand up in the pool (it wasn’t even that deep in the first place, only reaching to your upper stomach), you cough out all the water and pray to gods you don’t throw up chlorine into the freshly cleaned pool. After you’re done catching your breath and getting oxygen into your lungs again, you do your best at getting all the hair out of your face. 

There is laughter landing into your ears as soon as you manage to get all the water out of them by leaning your head to the side and violently slapping each one, and when your eyes look up, you see an amused Eric Sohn bending over in his waist at your disheveled appearance. 

Grunting and pointing a finger to the criminal that almost made you drown, you huff out. “I’ll kill you! Just you watch.”

Your scrunchie nowhere to be found, forever lost somewhere outside of the beach house, you think, as it flew off your hand in the impact of the attack, shock makes your figure shake alongside of the coldness of the water, making you audibly sigh. 

Yes. You do regret coming along just a little.

JULY OF 1999

Somewhere along the way, Eric Sohn starts acting as if he’s your second older brother. Sure, you’ve known the male your whole entire life and he’s seen you grow up, but it took him 17 years of your life to come to a point where he gives you equal amount of attention whenever he’s over at your house than he does to your brother, and even asks Sunwoo if you’re coming along with them whenever they leave to hang out somewhere else. It’s a change that comes naturally and slowly, and you welcome it unknowingly– the revelation shocks you on a hot summer day, though, when the idea finally comes to you in full force.

You would even argue and say Eric acts more like your brother than your actual sibling does– he asks if you’ve eaten and listens to you when you talk (which Sunwoo never does, well, except from when he’s arguing with you). Eric even compliments your outfits sometimes and lets you borrow his MP3 player from time to time– Sunwoo would never share his things with you, no matter how hard you pleaded and threatened to tell your mum. Yes, your brother's an adult and you’re one year away from becoming one– you still resolve your conflicts through your only parent, though. Some things, you never grow out of.

“I wanna try using the skateboard now, Sunwoo,” you order sternly when the boy finally reaches your destination. You’ve been sitting on the sidewalk for quite some time now, since your brother and his friend decided that they’re gonna try out their new skateboards on the hottest day of the year. Your town doesn’t have fancy skateparks and ramps like the ones you’ve seen in the music videos on TV, so you don’t really know what initially made the two buy those things, but you do admit that even driving up and down the road in front of your house does seem a little fun– so much you’d love to try it.

“What a shame we all wish for things we can’t have,” he shrugs ironically, shaking his head at you from his position above. The male reaches down for his bag, taking out a water bottle and putting it against his plush lips, all while you glare at him from below, still seated in your initial position. Eric comes up to you two, squishing at the soft plastic bottle in Sunwoo’s hold, making the water splash your older brother in the face, leaving a winning grin to be shared between you and the shorter boy, an expression that makes you all warm on the inside. See, at least Eric always has your back.

“You can try mine, if you want,” the latter shrugs, offering you a smile.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he nods, “why not?”

“I don’t know,” you shrug, “I just didn’t expect you to offer, since as you saw, my dear brother just refused when I asked…” you mumble, standing up from the sidewalk and taking the skateboard into your hand. Eric offers it to you with an outstretched arm and watches as you put the board on the floor, squinting at it with much examination.

“Do you know how to ride it?” he asks.

“No,” you shake your head, “but I mean, if Sunwoo can do it, how hard can it really be?” you joke, seeing as the said boy glares at you, finally finishing his water and dropping the bottle to the ground. 

“I’ll remind you of that statement when you eat shit on the pavement,” he shushes you, rolling his eyes. 

Not paying more attention to the grumpy being that is your own brother, you relocate your attention back to the skateboard on the heated road. You’re lucky you live on a street where cars don’t often drive by, since your neighborhood is on the very edge of the town, so you don’t really fear being run over by a pickup truck. What you do worry about, though, is your lacking sense of balance, which you discovered when you learned how to ride the bike for the first time. While your brother was a professional in no time, it took you weeks to get it right, and so with the idea of riding a board that provides you zero sense of security, you get a bit worried for your own life.

Dragging your hair out of your face and aimlessly trying to tuck it behind your ears– there’s no use in trying though, as the strands slip out just as fast as they found their place– you keep staring at the board only a few centimeters away from your feet, mentally calculating your next move. There’s a noise of a backpack being opened and rustling around in the background of your miserable thoughts, and when you look up to see what’s going on, you notice Eric offering you a small, purple bundle of fabric. 

“What’s that?” you ask, even though the answer is clear as the day– you recognise your own scrunchie with no problem. You’re just surprised to see it in his hold. You thought it was forever buried somewhere in the beach house, since you weren’t able to find it after you got out of the pool, no matter how hard you tried.

“Oh,” he shrugs, amidst a little too nonchalantly, “I found it and figured it was yours, but I forgot to give it back to you then… it seems like you need it now, though,” he offers you an explanation, lips pressed into a thin line that slightly signifies a smile.

“Ah,” you gasp, nodding as you take the hair tie out of his outstretched palm, gathering your hair into a bun and tying it up on the crown of your head– the staring contest you’ve been having with the board is much clearer now, when you don’t have your messy strands in the way. The idea of Eric keeping your scrunchie after finding it at the beach house makes your stomach do a weird kind of turn– you guess it made you a bit weirded out, if you’re being honest.

“Want some help with that?” he asks, pointing towards his skateboard.

Nervous, cracking your knuckles as you meet his eyes– he looks a bit amused, but still genuine– you nod, admitting defeat. There’s no way you’re getting on top of that board without help and not falling down. It’s always better to be safe than to be sorry, and so when Eric laughs airly at your composure and takes a few steps closer towards you, you let the male lead you, finding comfort in his secure words and actions.

Eric offers you his arms to hold when you try to get on the skateboard. He is peering at you from under his eyelashes when you put one of your legs onto the wood, his grip on your forearm getting firmer when you try to get your other foot on as well– and you must admit that you suddenly don’t feel like you might die anymore when there’s someone holding you and standing by your side. 

“See? It’s not that hard,” Eric mumbles, his voice low and reassuring from the proximity. You notice your hands sweating a little when his palm envelopes yours– damn the sun and its unbearable heat making you embarrass yourself– but he doesn’t mention it as he firmly holds you and meets your eyes. “I’m gonna drag you around a bit so you get used to it before trying yourself,” he says before taking a few steps forward, preparing to be your own type of personal driver.

Having him instruct you and help you around makes you feel more comfortable on the board. Sunwoo would never do such a thing for you– he’d enjoy watching you fall down and break your neck and possibly die– so you’re more than happy to have someone in your life that takes care of you in ways your older brother refuses to. 

The skateboard moves forward a little, starting slow, but then picking up speed as Eric jogs a little, making you laugh at the action. He does not have to go above and beyond, but he still does– but you guess it’s good for him to let out his energy somewhere. After a while, he looks back at you and meets your eye with a warm gaze, making you nod at him reassuringly and hold up a thumb of the hand he’s not holding right now, signaling that you’re okay and enjoying yourself. That has the male let go of your hand and let you take the road with the laws of physics, moving forward by yourself with the force he created. 

It’s nice. It’s fun. 

Yes, you totally understand why Eric and Sunwoo wanted skateboards after seeing them on TV. Hell, you want one now.

“Try it yourself now!” Eric encourages you as the board naturally comes to a stop under you, and his smiling face is enough for you to take initiative and nod, relocating one foot off the wood and placing it on the floor, then kicking it and making yourself move on the simple vehicle.

A moment of surprise envelopes you like a warm hug when you manage to not fall off and keep your balance, the joy of it making you try to go faster on the board, kicking once, twice against the pavement with the sole of your old, beaten up shoe. “I’m doing it!” you yell, glancing back at Eric standing on the sidewalk, watching you with excited eyes. The male offers you a victorious holler, something that makes you break into a laugh, makes your confidence blossom in marvelous ways.

Confidence rises in you so much you try to take a U-turn and go back to your teacher– perhaps showing off that you really got the hang of it now, or something– but as you try to maneuver the board and turn right, there it comes: the moment where you realize that you were, once again, too overly-confident in your abilities that are, sadly, very poor. Your body sways from side to side, your poor balance laughs at you and points an accusing finger at your attempts, and, well, to put it frankly, your whole life flashes in front of your eyes and the moment plays in slow motion as you lose the board from below your feet– the wood flying somewhere to the opposite side of the road, not at all where you meant to go in the first place– and your body inevitably comes crashing to the ground.

Awaiting the hard pavement meeting your nose and breaking it, you brace yourself with palms outstretched in front of you, the last remains of self-perseverance entering the sane parts of your brain in what you think are the last seconds of your miserable life. Another moment of surprise greets you when your yelp is muffled against something soft and your hands don’t hit the hard pavement, your ears filled with a grunt that belongs to another human swiftly chiming in and catching you before you fall.

Firm hands hold your waist– the touch somehow familiar, enveloping you in a strange sense of deja vu– and even though your body goes limp in terror, the male has you back on your feet in no time, his palms on the exposed skin of your stomach. The realization has you burning up as you look up and meet Eric’s eyes, gasping at the closeness of his face to yours. 

“You okay over there?” he asks as you unconsciously study his face– you never noticed his nose looked this nice up close– before you wake out of it and nod urgently, breaking away from his hold. You’re not gonna try to calculate the effort he must have put in just to chime in and catch you from where he was standing in such a short moment, but something about the passing thought of it has you weak in your knees from gratefulness. 

“Uhm- yeah,” you nod, kicking the pavement with your stained shoes, “I just… miscalculated my skills, that’s all,” you sheepishly hum, hearing the boy snicker at your shaken-up composure.

Watching him take off and retrieve his skateboard from where it wandered off against the curb– much to his golden retriever energy– you sigh and prepare to go sit back on the sidewalk, having enough of new experiences from the shock still lingering in your fingertips. You take a glance down the road, seeing your older brother cruising on the street– when and how he got there, you truly have no idea– when you hear Eric, who seemingly has different ideas for your next actions, call at you from the middle of the pavement.

“Where are you going? Come back!” he asks, having you look at him in surprise, mouth agape and eyes big, staring at him. He now has the board under his shoulder, but puts it back on the road and points at it, shrugging to himself. “I’ll push you down the road, it’s gonna be fun!”

“Eric, I’m literally going to die–”

“No, you’re not. Come on, I promise,” he says, but still, he doesn’t have you convinced. Your feet move against your best conclusions, though, and when you come to a halt right in front of your companion, he offers you a boyish grin. “Sit down on it, that way you’re more balanced. I swear you’re not gonna fall off, okay? I got you.”

“You promise?”

“Yes,” he nods, determined.

“Pinky swear,” you mumble, holding up your pinky finger– all thoughts of seeming childish pushed to the side in the desperate moment– and the male in front of you shakes his head in disbelief, breaking into a laugh.

“Cute,” he huffs, “yeah, okay. Pinky swear,” he nods, interlacing your pinky with his and bumping his thumb against yours, the seal foolishly making you feel more secure as you follow his order and take a seat on the skateboard, your hands gripping the bottom of the wood so hard your knuckles turn white.

“Okay, ready? 3, 2, 1–” he chants as he pushes you, two steady hands coming in contact with your shoulder blades, force making you move on the board, wheels taking you down with gravity. The sound of Eric’s shoes hitting the pavement fills your ears as you go faster, and as you finally get to the part of the hill that takes a downwards slope, he offers you a final push, sending you down the road. 

Wind makes your hair fly back, your surroundings blurring as you yelp and scream, but you can’t say you’re not enjoying the ride. Eric was right– it was fun, you liked it, and something about the gesture had you all warm on the inside. The breeze has you cool down a little in the summer heat, and the board continues to move even as you pass your older brother standing at the bottom of the slope, away from your trajectory. 

Body relaxing when the skateboard finally slows down, you let out a heartfelt laughter. Turning back and seeing Eric jog down the road with a humongous grin on his face, you offer him two thumbs up above your head, watching as he returns the gesture and makes his way back to the two of you on the bottom of the small hill.

The truth is, this was the day you realized Eric Sohn has always found his way to make you feel included and safe. 

You can’t help but feel grateful.

AUGUST OF 1999

“Sunwoo, you have to tie a knot here and then– no, you dumbass, you’re doing it completely wrong,” you mourn as you watch your older brother with a mess of thread in his lap, a focused scowl on his face. There’s a fan standing across from you, blowing cold air into your face, but you still feel yourself grow heated with frustration as Sunwoo just can’t help but not understand the art of making friendship bracelets. It’s not like you’re forcing him to do them– he was the one that asked you to show him how to, muttering something about offering one to his classmate Yeji once he’s back in school– so in theory, he should be putting in effort, no? 

Or maybe he is. Maybe he’s just… incompetent.

“I don’t get it,” Sunwoo hums under his breath, sighing as he leans against the sofa in your living room, the two of you sitting on the floor accompanied by his best friend squinting at you from the opposite side, a comic book in the latter's hand. The myth of men not being able to multi-task is quickly thrown into the bin as you watch Eric pay equal amount of attention to the comic book and the dialogue between you and your brother, and when Sunwoo seems to give up on the art of making friendship bracelets, his best friend can’t help but laugh.

“You’re giving up already? This is how you want to get a girlfriend?” you poke your brother to his side and take the threads off his lap, examining the mess of a safety pin and meters of yarn, all knotted up and not coming along in the shape you taught him to at all.

“It’s not to get a girlfriend, I just-”

“Sure,” you roll your eyes, huffing as you roll his poor attempt at friendship bracelet into a ball and throw it to the corner of the room, making a mental note to pick it up and throw it to the bin later. “You know what, just give her this one and pretend you made it,” you mutter, taking a bracelet you'd already made to demonstrate in between your fingers and throw it into Sunwoo’s lap, the older one catching it and examining it under his nose.

“That looks pretty good,” he hums, making you snort at his appreciative comment. The bracelet is pink and red, the colors just screaming romance and cute energy, which is exactly what a girl needs to be swayed by your brother. You can’t really believe a bracelet will make her swoop into his arms, because truthfully, with your brother’s face and manners, every living thing is keeping a fair distance, but hey, it doesn’t hurt to try, does it? Maybe his classmate is… majorly blind? That might do it?

“Of course it looks good,” you scoff, “that’s because I made it,” you nod, averting your gaze towards your lap, threading your fingers through the yarn you attached to a safety pin on your sweatpants to keep the growing friendship bracelet in place. 

“Then why is the one you’re making right now so ugly?” Eric asks, pointing towards the creation. 

Glancing up at the male slowly, mentally throwing all different kinds of curses at him for daring to talk badly about your craft, you huff. “What do you mean, ugly?”

“The colors… they don’t… they don’t really go together,” Eric sheepishly admits, scratching the back of his neck, quickly averting his gaze from you and gluing it back into his comic book. You think that if he doesn’t stop being a smart-ass and throw jabs at your artistic choices, he’s gonna have to protect his comic book with his own body– and you bet he’d do that, because he borrowed it from the library. The fees for damage are high.

“That’s just… not true at all,” you muse, but groggily take a look at the creation once again, but now, thanks to the remark, seeing it in a completely different way. Shades of orange, brown and purple stare back at you amidst a little disappointedly, and as you thread the yarn and make a couple of knots to end the bracelet, you can’t help but feel a pout growing on your face from the realization. Eric might be right. It does look a little bad…

“Whatever. Your taste is just bad,” you snap as you finish off the craft piece, unclasping the safety pin and sliding the bracelet off the inside, freeing it from the hold. Eric laughs a little at your frustrated state– similarly to what you do when you manage to get Sunwoo upset– and with that, you sigh and put the bracelet on the coffee table.

“I’m going out to the store to get some chocolates,” you say as you stand up, goal clear in your mind, “have fun, losers.”

“You’re still collecting the stickers from these?” Sunwoo asks, a mischievous smile growing on his lips. The teasing is inevitable and coming very soon, and there’s nothing you can do about it– you’re fully aware, which only further makes you want to escape the situation more quickly. Rolling your eyes at your brother’s antics, you move towards the door. 

“Yes, Sunwoo, I am. They’re cute and make me happy, do you have a problem with that?” you point an accusing finger at the male, having him shrug, tongue poking the inside of his cheek.

“You’re such a kid,” he huffs, averting his gaze from you when he lands the comment, the jab coming straight at your fragile heart.

“Okay, then,” you note, “I’ll just have my pretty and cute bracelet back, and you can get your girlfriend something else-”

The male quickly regains his previous composure, swatting his hands in hurry just to make you halt in your sentence. His eyes are big and his mouth is a little agape in terror as he tries to save his ass, plea written all over his face. “I was just joking! Don’t be so petulant… go get your cute stickers, they’re so fun!”

Humming to yourself, your face is tugged up into a victorious smile. “That's what I thought. So, as I was saying, have fun, losers.”

“Wait!” Eric suddenly calls for you, making you turn on your heel in the middle of your escape, eyes peering at the male. “Don’t I get a bracelet too?”

The request catches you off guard. There’s a certain kind of spark in Eric Sohn’s eyes as he asks the question, and you can’t really place it in any category, but it has you nervously shrugging at the preposition. You’re not really sure why Eric would want a bracelet from you, but to avoid confrontation and also the weird leap of your heart surely leading you into cardiac arrest, you only shrug and move back inside of the living room, chewing on the inside of your cheek as you scan the surroundings, searching for something.

“Sure,” you nod, taking the ugly bracelet off the table and offering it to him, “you can have that one.”

You hold a staring contest with the older boy for a couple of seconds, his head undoubtedly swirling with arguments and comments about the apparel of the friendship bracelet, but he’s smart– he must know the survival of his beloved comic book must be at stake. So, he only nods and smiles at you, outstretching his hand to you and nudging his head in its direction.

“Okay,” he hums, “tie it for me?”

A second comes by– a heartbeat, really– in which you chew on your bottom lip and gasp at the request, but still, you nod and come closer, crouching down to be at his level and taking the thread into your fingers. You wrap the bracelet around his wrist, making sure to leave a bit of wiggle room before you tie a knot, bringing the ends together, all while feeling the eyes of Eric glued to your face, watching every micro expression flash through your unsettling composure.

When you’re done, making a move to hide your hands behind your back and standing up, your limbs bump into each other and send an unspoken sense of electricity all through your body. The sensation is so strange you don’t meet anyone’s eye before you leave the room, yelling out a goodbye as you hurriedly open the front door and run out to get fresh air (it’s August, though. The air is humid and only makes your head spin more).

You clear your throat before you take off to the grocery store. It's only when you're halfway there that you realize you'd forgotten to bring your wallet with you. It's okay, though– you take this chance to walk around, regaining your casualty.

You bet Eric will take the bracelet off in a matter of a week.

SEPTEMBER OF 1999

The leaves start turning orange and the weather a bit colder when you become hyper-aware of your shifting composure whenever Eric Sohn is around. The way you feel heat rushing to your cheeks whenever he calls you cutie, a nickname he’s had reserved for you since you two were little kids, the way you feel weak in your knees whenever he casually brings his arm around your shoulders or when he bends down to tie your shoelace in the middle of the sidewalk. You don’t really know what those sudden changes are, yet, you feel a bit embarrassed by them whenever they take place. You don’t think it’s normal to feel this way around your brother’s best friend, and the more you hang out with him, the more you wish you read less books as a child– because now, you’re also hyper-aware of the title those feelings may have. 

Still, it only comes to you on one September afternoon– you wake up from blissful unawareness and jolt with the quickly opening pit in your stomach at the strange revelation.

“Eric! Sunwoo isn’t home, though?” you mumble, confused as you notice the boy standing on your doorway, a plastic bag in his hand and a red Nike jacket enveloping his frame.

“I know, he said he’s hanging out with Juyeon hyung today,” he nods, “I brought you something, though,” he says, holding up the bag and making sure you get a chance to see it, offering you a boyish grin.

“Oh?” you gasp, furrowing your eyebrows at the male. When you do nothing to invite him inside, he does so himself– slightly nudging you in your side as he passes your figure and enters your house. He acts like he owns the place, and by the amount of time he’s spent in your home, you’d think he does– he doesn’t, though. The only thing he owns is just a lot of audacity.

The male takes off his shoes in the entryway and walks his way over to your room– a surprising act, considering he’s spent the least amount of time in this very place– and when he’s sure you’re following his every move, he empties the contents of the bag to the middle of your freshly made bed. Watching as approximately ten items fall out of the plastic, your eyes widen with surprise as you recognise your favorite chocolate– the mini bars with stickers inside, the ones you collect and stick into your journal and look at in the middle of the night, giggling to yourself and kicking your feet at the adorable pictures in your make-shift collect book.

“Woah,” you gasp when the male looks at you, seemingly awaiting your response, and when he gets the wished outcome, pride overtakes his features, shrugging to himself.

“My mum got some for free because she bought a lot of cabbage for kimchi yesterday,” he explains, “I thought of you when I saw them, so I bought you some more.”

“I- you-” you stutter, emotions too big for your own good swelling all inside your fragile, little self, hands running into your hair and tugging at the roots to wake yourself up from the dream. “You didn’t have to!”

“We got them anyway, and I know you like the stickers,” Eric shrugs, scratching the back of his neck, completely ignoring the fact that he said he bought you some more, your heart skipping a beat at the sentiment. Clearing your throat, you tentatively take a step closer to your bed, gathering a bar of chocolate into your hand and opening it, taking a bite.

“You can have the stickers if you give me some chocolate,” Eric says close to your ear, almost as if he was creating a masterplan, to which you eagerly nod and plop onto your bed, moving the bars of sweets into one pile. As you continue to munch on the first one, you unwrap the sticker and look at it, praying to yourself as if you were checking if your lottery ticket was worth any cent– hoping you get a sticker you don’t own yet.

The image of a cute panda would cheer anyone up even in their darkest moments– not you, though, as you mourn and sigh, disappointment clear in your features. 

“What?” Eric asks, eyes big pools of worry.

“I already got that one.”

“Ah,” he nods, seemingly understanding– much to your surprise, “well, we got 9 more tries, let’s get to eating.”

Wrappers are rustling in your bed sheets as you and Eric eat the concerning amount of chocolate, gathering the stickers in a little pile on top of your notebook, promising each other to not look at the stickers as you go and just make a grand reveal at the end. Eric’s full cheeks are a sight you enjoy, telling him he looks like a squirrel– to which he sends a light flick to your forehead, telling you you don’t look much different– and soon enough, the nine bars left disappear from your plain sight (you only had 3 and Eric ate the remaining 5. He’s a growing boy, though, so you understand. He needs to get his undying energy from somewhere.).

“Ready for the reveal?” you ask, locking your gaze with Eric.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

With that, you get to the pile of stickers in the middle of your bedsheets. Looking at the first one, there’s a happy squeal cutting out of your throat, the image of an adorable yellow duck warming you up with euphoria. 

“You don’t have that one yet?”

“I don’t,” you nod, “this is just perfect.”

Eric nods and watches you with a certain kind of warmth in his gaze as you open up your notebook and stick the newest addition to your little sticker farm– or a ZOO, however you wanna call it. The next sticker from the pile is added as well– a brown, big bear– and the next one too, the most adorable colorful parrot slapped to the corner of your page. 

The rest of your stickers are the ones you already own, though– a displeased look takes over your features at the knowledge, but still, you can’t help but beam at the fact that you have 3 new additions to your collection, and they were a gift from Eric Sohn himself. Someone who doesn’t make fun of your childish habit. Someone who feeds your little interest, watches you with excitement in his eyes as you indulge. Someone not like your brother. 

Someone you could never see the way you see your brother.

“What do you do with the duplicates?” Eric asks, pointing to the sad pile on the top of your notebook. His figure is closer to you now, since he wanted to watch you stick the animals into your notebook, his crossed legs almost pressed against yours on the small bed.

“Well, usually, I just throw them out,” you shrug, “but since you’re here…” you muse, the idea plopping into your head like the newest discovery you should probably patent, peeling the back of one of the dog stickers off and swiftly turning towards your companion, mischief sparkling in your eyes.

You put the sticker on his left cheek, making the boy jump. “Hey!”

Giggling, taking another one of the stickers and pressing it to the middle of his forehead, Eric starts to fight you, your bodies wrestling on the bed. You don’t think he puts much effort into getting you off him– that, or he’s insanely weak– and in no time, his face is adorned with all different kinds of animals, his hair messy from tussling in your bedsheets. The image has you laughing before you realize you’re basically straddling him on your bed, his big eyes gaping at you from below, his appearance enough to make something in your brain short-circuit and make you leap off him, clearing your throat.

Heat rushes into your cheeks as you take a seat next to him, playing with your fingers. You pray for anything to come and ease the awkwardness you caused, and sure enough, today must be your lucky day. “Hey, look here!” 

You call for the boy as you swiftly take your polaroid camera off your bedside table– the one that belonged to your dad, the one you fought with Sunwoo about, the one your mum said was yours because Sunwoo is too careless with his things to keep it safe– and snap a picture of the puppy-like boy, laughing at the fact that now, you have the image of him looking dumb and covered in stickers forever. Or at least until he doesn't take it away from you– which he attempts quickly.

“Hey!” he yelps again, huffing as he lunges at you, trying to take the picture out of your grasp as you drop the camera into your soft sheets. Your feet take you to the living room, navigating through furniture, and when you don’t hear footsteps follow you, you think you’re safe– Eric does have a lot of energy, but chasing you around gets tiring for him quickly when he knows you'll never let him win.

Entering your room once again, prepared to find him on your bed like before, you’re taken by surprise as a shutter sound goes off right after you open the door, a polaroid picture taken of your face making you temporarily blind at the flash.

“Eric!” you whine, hating that there’s a picture of you standing shocked at your doorway now forever in the universe– not really caring that the boy just got you back with the exact stunt you pulled on him just a few minutes ago. Before you get a chance to blink out the blind spots in your vision caused by the flash and run after him, though, you feel him gently press you out of the doorway and slip outside, the sound of the front door opening and closing after him resonating along his slowly disappearing, amused laughter.

Serves you right, doesn’t it? 

Sighing, you shake your head and take a seat on your bed, the picture of the boy still in between your fingertips. You only take a look at it when your vision comes back to normal, and as the image of Eric covered in stickers, hair messy and cheeks rosy below the animal print comes into your sight, the revelation arrives the same second a starstruck smile plays with your features.

And with that, you’re absolutely terrified. 

Throwing the polaroid picture onto the bedside table and lunging yourself into the sheets, you scream into your pillow and wish for the feelings to disappear– because in what world does a crush on your brother’s best friend ever come to a happy ending?

OCTOBER OF 1999

Once October hits, you find yourself home alone more often than you’d like. Sure, you don’t mind having some me time to read comic books or watch the TV uninterrupted in the living room, but still– alone turns lonely pretty quickly, and somehow, you start to regret the fact that you’ve been relying on your older brother and his friends for so long instead of making some connections on your own.

Sunwoo started to play soccer at school– something is telling you that he might go far if he keeps it up– and that’s why he’s been stuck at practice every single day, coming home late in the evening all tired, but happy, so you’re not really complaining. Eric works in the little bistro downtown now, since he wanted to make some money and not rely on the allowance Mrs. Sohn gives him every month, and it’s not like you were that close to begin with, but the fact that the boy is now too busy to meet you is making your spirit fall just the tiniest bit. And with your mother always being at work, you find yourself alone in your room, laying in your bed and staring at the ceiling. 

Sometimes, you journal. About anything and everything, really. You don’t really think you’re ever gonna read back the entries once you’re older, since they would just be a reminder of how miserable and boring your teenage years really were, and that’s why you allow yourself to be authentic. On most days, you write about your assignments for school. Sometimes you bad mouth a classmate or two– gossiping with the diary pages, because you don’t really have any human beings to do so in real life– and seldom, you allow yourself to get into topics that evoke the slightest bits of existential crisis in you.

Topics like college. Growing up. Your lack of hobbies and social interaction with the outer world. The newly found crush on Eric Sohn…

Okay, maybe you do write about the boy with brown hair and dark eyes a little too often. You can’t help it, though– when he’s not giving you any new interactions to dwell on, you have to just pick apart the old ones. You think it’s a natural reaction.

And that’s exactly what you’re doing one October afternoon, the lamp in your room on, since the evening comes faster when the weather is colder, as you’re laying in your bed and kicking your feet back and forth, chewing on the end of your pencil. The sound of your doorbell resonates through the house suddenly and startles you, making you jump awake from your delirious delusions.

Mentally going through the list of possible visitors you could have– because it can’t be your mother or your brother, since they never forget to carry their house keys– you’re lost, not really finding any fitting candidates. Furrowing your brows, lost in thought and frankly, a bit confused, you plant your socked feet onto the wooden floor and walk over to the front door just in time for the bell to ring again. Scratching the back of your neck in nerves, thinking of precautions you could take for your own safety– since your front door doesn’t have a peep hole and you don’t want to open the door to a complete stranger– you clear your throat and yell over the door.

“Who is it?” you ask.

“Delivery!” a voice calls through the door, making you huff. 

“I didn’t order any food?” you yell back, confused. “Sir, there’s another house behind ours, sometimes the mailmen get confused and we get their mail. Maybe try there?” 

“The address is right, though?” the voice calls again, and somehow, it sounds kind of familiar… no, it can’t be, you dumb goose. You’re just imagining things because you’ve spent the last 20 minutes writing about the curve of his nose into your diary.

“There must be a mistake-”

“Come on, Y/N, open the door,” the voice on the other side mourns, the mention of your name making you jump, completely startled. The tone the man says it in is sweet like honey, though, so familiar in your ears, that you mentally want to slap yourself– so you weren’t dreaming. It is him.

Dragging your hand through your hair to smooth it down, praying you look at least a little presentable– although in your stained sweatpants and the Pokémon shirt you inherited from Sunwoo when he grew out of it, you doubt that’s even possible– you open the door and try to offer Eric a warm smile. “What are you doing here?”

“Food delivery,” Eric shrugs, pointing with his thumb in the direction behind his back, where his bike undoubtedly stands up against your gate.

“Oh…. but I already told you I didn’t order anything,” you mumble, confused. Studying his face– because a girl can indulge when she has the opportunity, am I right? – you notice his hair has grown a little longer, falling into his eyes. You bet it’s hard for him to see, but you must admit it looks nice, and you almost tell him, before you catch yourself and break away from the sentiment. 

The male snickers. “I know, I was just joking,” he says, “I did bring you food, though.”

“Why?” you ask, confused when he bends over and picks up a plastic bag off the ground, a container of food inside, the warmth of the contents making condensation appear all over the red sack. 

“We made this by mistake and it was just gonna be thrown out if nobody took it,” he shrugs, “and I figured you haven’t eaten yet– or if you did, you just had those cold kimbap rolls from the store– and I wanted to get some warm food into your stomach.”

“Ah,” you gasp, nodding at the explanation. It does explain the source of the food really well, but truthfully, it explains nothing about the fact why Eric thought of bringing you the food instead of taking it home with himself– he’s a foodie if you’ve ever seen one. The idea of him worrying about if you were fed or not is equally as strange and interesting in your head– still, you clasp your hand around the bag and take it, the smell making you involuntarily hungry. “Thank you.”

Eric only nods at you, a smile beaming at his face. “Well,” he sighs, “I’d love to stay longer and hang out, but I’m still on the clock, so…” he mumbles, taking a hesitant step backwards towards his bike, eyes never breaking contact with yours.

“Oh, right,” you nod, “that’s okay. Have a fun day at work!” you muse, watching him as he grins and finally retrieves back his bike, opening up the gate to your property and escaping, waving at you as he gets on.

“I’ll see you soon!” he calls as he rides off, your eyes following him until his figure disappears behind a corner, your ears buzzing with excitement and your lower lip trapped between your teeth with the innocent promise.

Walking back into the house, you grin as you close the front door behind you and carry the food into the kitchen. You quickly get the containers out of the damp bag, putting them onto the wooden table, and gasp when you find a sticky note on the very top one, a messy handwriting scribbled in a rush, but stuck to the food with care.

Eat well and don’t skip meals, Y/N-ie!! – Eric x

Not being able to battle your smile anymore, you decide to open up the containers and stuff your mouth with the food instead– only to find your favorite dish inside, staring back at you in what seems to be a dream that’s too good to wake up from. 

And sure, you are delusional, but are you delusional enough to believe that this wasn’t all a coincidence? You’re not so sure.

Still, you eat the food with feet kicking back and forth as you sit in the silent kitchen, the empty house no longer feeling so lonely. When you’re done, you throw the trash out– everything but the sticky note, which you glue into your diary a few minutes later, hoping to keep the memory forever.

NOVEMBER OF 1999

The world around you is dark as you step outside of cram school, your eyes are tired and your skin is prickled with goosebumps in the chilly air. You despise going to cram school, but your mother told you you have to– since you didn’t have any athletic features that could get you far in life like Sunwoo, you had to be good at studying, or else you won’t get into university. There was a lot of work ahead of you, but since you didn’t really have anything else to do in the day, you didn’t protest and went anyway.

The days are usually very long and you get off very late, resulting in you being tired almost all the time. When you get home, you undress yourself and change into your sleep clothes and doze off until the morning, when you have to wake up and go to school again– it’s an exhausting cycle, but you know you have to endure it for your own sake.

Walking down the steps that lead out the cram school building, you stretch your body and huff, cursing at yourself for the fact that you didn’t bring a jacket– you forgot that evenings get really chilly, and frankly speaking, you didn’t have much time to think when you were rushing to get ready in the morning. You’ll just have to get through it, you think to yourself as you walk in the direction of your house– the last bus to your neighborhood already left an hour ago, when you were in the middle of revising division– your sneakers kicking the stray rocks below your feet as you tug the sleeves of your hoodie lower, desperately trying to feel more heat.

“Do you never watch where you’re going? That’s gonna get you in trouble one day, you know,” you hear a familiar voice say, the joking tone making your heart skip a few beats as you place the owner of the saccharine voice to its face. Looking up, slightly alarmed at being caught in such a distressed state, you gasp.

“I was… watching my step, I guess,” you shrug as you come into a halt in front of him, shivering both under Eric’s gaze and the cold weather at once. “What are you doing here? Deliveries?”

“I just got off,” he says, “so I figured I could stop by. Sunwoo said you’re going to cram school, I thought you might enjoy some company on your way home.”

Gaping at his explanation, you nod, completely startled. The idea of your brother talking about you in front of Eric, the boy you have a very embarrassing, very big crush on scares you, to say the least. See, it doesn’t really matter that the boy grew up with you, pretty much seeing you at your lowest whenever he was around over at your house when you were both just little kids– the image of Sunwoo telling Eric about finding you sobbing at your comic book (the scene got too sad, nobody can really blame you) or about how your favorite jeans ripped right before you had to go to school one morning is terrifying. You don’t really want him to know about these things. He may act like your brother sometimes, but you never really saw him in that light in the first place.

“Well, then,” you clear your throat, “it’s… it’s good to see you,” you say. Eric shows you his boyish grin as your lips utter out the words, and you can’t help but mirror it, your eyes locking with the male. As if you just took a step back, your eyes see him in a light you’ve never seen him before– as if this was your first time meeting your brother’s best friend– and something about the sentiment has your stomach feeling all uneasy, heat rushing to your face. His hair is styled in a way that tells you that he didn’t really style it (or if he did, it looked truly effortless in your eyes, so props to him), pushed back a little and revealing his forehead, a few of the strands carelessly falling into his eyes. His jawline is sharper than how it was when you first met the boy, and with the realization of a foolish teenage girl, you have to admit that Eric Sohn grew up to be a very attractive, attentive man.

“You’re cold?” he says, although the sentence sounds more like a statement rather than a question, before he shakes his head at your antics and heaves out a sigh. “You should’ve taken a jacket with you when you went, you know it gets cold in the evening,” he scolds you. In those times, he reminds you the most of your brother– because although you and Sunwoo act like you hate each other sometimes, you know the older male still cares about you. He just hates showing it, which translates in his scolding tone whenever you do something wrong or against his wishes. 

In those times, Eric reminds you the most of the way your brother treats you, and you somehow hate it. You despise the fact, because that means he must only see you as someone like his younger sister– he never had one, so maybe he just likes to compensate for it by taking care of you all the time. Maybe he feels responsible to do so because of Sunwoo. The thought makes you equally as nauseous– you’d never want him to hang out with you just because he feels like he has to. 

“I didn’t have time in the morning,” you grunt, rolling your eyes at him. You avert your gaze from the male, for it makes you slightly uncomfortable after your previous thoughts, so when the noise of a zipper being pulled down and the weight of fabric on your shoulders brings you back to reality, you snap your head around at him all alarmed. 

“What? Wear it,” he says, head shrugging towards the direction of his jacket on your figure. “You’re gonna catch a cold if you don’t.”

Trying to wrestle out of the red material, you squirm in the hold of the windbreaker– Eric’s hands gripping each side of the jacket, as if predicting your next moves, making sure it stays on you and doesn’t fall down. His strong arms tug you closer to him to make your fight more difficult– and he’s successful with his efforts, because the proximity of him and his smell engulfs you and unarms you, heat rushing to your cheeks as you halt in your movements.

“Stop,” you mourn, “I don’t need it.”

“Yes you do,” he insists, “so stop being a baby about it and wear it.”

Staring into his eyes, as if to mentally tell him to stop what he’s doing– to stop how he’s treating you, how he’s making you all weak in your knees and sleepless at nights because of how much you think of him and hope he’s doing well each day, to stop being so gentle with you and taking care of you, because it brings all sorts of both doubts and delusions into your head– but he doesn’t back down. You’ve known him for quite some time, you should already be aware of just how stubborn he can be.

“Arms in,” he hums, holding on to the jacket and waiting for you to wear it properly. One thing about you– you can always admit your defeat. So, with a sigh, you put your arms through the sleeves of Eric’s red windbreaker, shrinking a little under his firm gaze. He looks at you with a look full of something you can’t decipher, and it’s all making you so, so insanely lost in the many thoughts and feelings swirling around your head, not helping your current state.

“I already have a brother, y’know,” you mumble in a moment of weakness, looking at your feet– your dirty white sneakers almost touching his from how close you are standing right now, “so you should stop treating me like one.”

A moment of silence overtakes you two, and you suddenly feel like you’ve done something wrong. Still, Eric’s hands are holding on to the sides of the opened jacket, keeping you close to him. “Hm?” 

Clearing your throat and shaking your head, you snicker to yourself. “Forget it.”

“No- I mean,” he blurts out, tone of voice a little nervous, “do you see me as your brother figure?” he asks, tone of voice more quiet now, more gentle.

Breathing in the crispy air, taking a moment before you reply, you shake your head in disapproval. “No,” you say, “no, I don’t. I- I don’t think I do,” you say, scared of what your answer will bring out of him. You don’t really know why, but at this moment, you feel insanely fragile– as if any bad move could make you break in his hands, waiting for him to glue you back together. 

Metaphorically, he does just that. “Good,” he nods, leaning down towards you, hands gripping the zipper of his jacket and zipping it together, making sure no cold can get to your bones as his fingers tug it up towards the very top, under your chin. “Because I’ve never seen you as my sister either.”

His answer once again startles you– but when you take a step back from the situation, you think it was in a good way. His hands grip your shoulders for a second as his eyes meet yours and he offers you a warm smile. “Come on, let’s get you home,” he says, tugging you towards the fence where you find his bike, his motions guiding you like a rag doll sucked out of all life.

“Hop in,” he motions towards the back of the bike, where the basket would usually be– Eric moved it towards the front, though, leaving enough room for you to sit at– and as you do, he takes a seat in front of you and looks back at you over his shoulder. “Hold on tight so you don’t fall.”

Like in a trance, your arms sneak around his middle– this was the first time you had this kind of physical touch with him, and just the thought of it makes you want to scream your throat out– before the male takes off on the bike, riding towards your neighborhood. With the cold wind slapping your face, you foolishly rest your cheek on his shoulder blade and close your eyes, enjoying the closeness of his body keeping you warm. 

If anyone asked you about the action, you’d tell them you were just tired.

DECEMBER OF 1999

Socked feet make their way through the room, the sound of footsteps resonating on the laminated floor, as the short male comes up to you with a bowl of potato chips in his right hand and a bottle of soda under his left arm. Eric Sohn sighs at you, shaking his head in disbelief, before he places the items onto the coffee table and takes a seat next to you on the floor, opening up the bottle and pouring the three of you drinks.

“Can’t believe I’m spending New Year’s Eve with you losers, of all people,” Eric snickers, having you roll your eyes at the male and grumpily furrow your eyebrows at his sentence.

“No one’s stopping you if you wanna go, y’know,” you grunt as you take the filled glass off the table, taking a sip of the sweet drink and sighing at him. If he’s gonna take a leap into the new year with you while making you annoyed, he may as well leave now and do whatever his initial plan was– once again, no one’s stopping him if that’s what he wants to do.

“I’m just saying,” he shrugs, “it would’ve been so much more fun if we all went to Juyeon hyung’s. Everyone’s there celebrating, but we’re stuck here in your room.” 

“Well, Eric,” your brother smiles ironically at him, shrugging to himself, “it’s not like it’s my fault you’re not over at Juyeon hyung’s right now. You chose to spend the new years here with me. My mother prohibited me from going there, not yours.”

The argument has the male shrug, his eyes averting your brother’s gaze once his comment gets a bit too honest and realistic. It’s true and he’s right– it’s not like Eric’s mum told him he can’t go celebrate with his friends, because she didn’t. Eric’s mum trusts him and wants him to have fun and do what all the kids his age are doing. Your mum, on the other hand, is making you and Sunwoo stay home for New Year’s Eve to celebrate with your family, because, as she quoted, New Year’s Eve the only time she gets time off work, and she wants to spend it with her kids– forget the fact that you’re currently sitting locked in your room with your friend, protesting the family time just because you can– and when Sunwoo told her she has to stop treating him like a little kid, she told him she has all the right to do so, because he is her kid. And that’s how the party he was supposed to attend with Eric (the party you foolishly thought you’re gonna have to tag along to, not hating the sentiment as much as before now) got canceled from your brother’s plans.

“Well,” Eric chews on the inside of his cheek, “I did it for you two. Be grateful.”

“Whatever,” you hum, “let’s turn on the TV. I bet there’s some variety show on.”

Eric heaves out a sigh as he reaches for the TV remote, clicking the power button and making the boxy device in front of you light up. Your mum got you a TV in your room when you complained about being too bored one November day, and although the box of entertainment didn’t really help like you imagined it to, you’re glad it’s of service at least today. Instead of the expected variety show, though, there’s news on– the face of the old announcer looking at you with a serious look on his face, the professional tone making chills run down your spine, for he reminds you a bit of your mother when she scolds you. You think that’s a common news announcer trait. 

“As the year 2000 approaches, computer programmers realize that computers might not interpret the 00 in the software as 2000, but 1900. The softwares currently running only use a two-digit code for the year, excluding the 19. The data was excluded because the data storage is costly and takes up too much space. Activities that were planned on a daily basis could be damaged or flawed,” the announcer says, making the three of you look at the screen with interest. Maybe it’s true that when you get older, you get more interested in news– you think it’s good to know what’s going on around you, although the topic discussed right now might not even concern you in the slightest.

“Banks, which calculate the interest rates on a daily basis, could face real problems. Interest rates are the amount of money a lender, such as a bank, charges a customer, such as an individual or business, for a loan. Instead of the rate of interest for one day, the computer could calculate a rate of interest for minus almost 100 years!” 

“Oops,” Eric lets out next to you, a reaction so far away from what a real adult would think of the situation. See, you are all just kids, after all.

“Centers of technology, such as power plants, are also threatened by this issue. Power plants depend on routine computer maintenance for safety checks, such as water pressure or radiation levels. Not having the correct date could throw off these calculations and possibly put nearby residents at risk,” the announcer continues, the information coming out of his mouth suddenly making you hyper aware of the reality you’re experiencing right now.

“Do we have a nuclear power plant nearby?” you ask in a hushed whisper, watching as the men next to you almost comically widen their eyes, shrugging.

“I’m not sure,” Sunwoo peeps.

“The worst of all, this software and hardware issue could cause such a big problem in nuclear energy facilities, where nuclear bombs and missiles could be set off, causing the world to go into utter chaos, or worse, an end,” the announcer concludes, the last word making you gasp in terror. 

“An end?” you chirp, sitting up straight in your seat as you look at the two men, now equally as terrified. There’s something in Sunwoo’s gaze that makes chills run down your spine, the reality crushing down on you with heavy measures. 

“I knew I shouldn’t have fought with mum. What if the last words the two of us exchanged before we die are the harsh words I had said yesterday?” your brother mourns, seeing as his best friend chews on his bottom lip, lost in thought.

“What did you say to your mum?”

“That- that I’ll never forgive her for ruining this for me,” he mumbles, his voice breaking at the end, “and… other things,” he adds, the hint of incoming panic making his best friend frantically wave his hands around and try to make your brother relax before he has to deal with the breakdown. If the world is ending, this is not how any of you want to go.

“It’s okay, don’t worry,” Eric says, clearing his throat and pointing to the TV, “look! The show is on, we should watch before the year ends,” he proposes, taking the remote into his hand and turning the volume up to hopefully drown out Sunwoo’s thoughts and have him focus on something else. And it works– noting that your brother has an attention span of a 5 year old– he can hardly remember what he was worrying about just 30 seconds ago.

Still, the thought keeps bouncing around your head like a child in a bouncy castle. The words of the news anchor keep repeating in your brain, making your ears ring as you look at Eric from the corner of your eye, watching his angelic face. Oh how you hate disturbing the peace now that you’ve all calmed down– but still, you can’t deal with the worries alone. Checking the clock hung above the TV, noticing there’s at least 5 minutes left before midnight, you clear your throat, feeling your whole body on fire.

“Do you really think the world is gonna end?” you ask, cracking your knuckles in a nervous manner. Looking at Eric, pupils shaking, you find your brother’s best friend seemingly lost in thought. The music of the variety show program serves you three as a background sound now, none of you paying attention to the TV anymore, instead, focusing on all the things you've done wrong in your life and how somehow, this feels like karma for all of it.

“I dunno,” Sunwoo shrugs, “I mean- they said it’s possible! It was on the news, and they wouldn’t lie on the news…” he nervously mumbles, scratching the back of his head. 

“That’s what’s worrying me,” you sigh, “we shouldn’t have turned on the TV.”

“It was your idea in the first place!”

“And I’ll carry the burden into my grave,” you admit, gulping as you press a forced smile onto your lips.

Momentarily looking back at the TV, you desperately want to keep the thought of the world being over out of your head before you spend your last minutes on this earth going crazy– but now that you started, you can’t keep thinking about it. “Man, the world can’t end yet. There’s so many things I haven’t tried yet! I’m too young to die!”

The men don't reply to that– you presume they’re too busy trying to find other things to occupy themselves with instead of the inevitable– which has you dissatisfied as you throw your body back into the sofa, heaving out a sigh. Seconds go by painfully slow but also painfully fast at the same time, given the circumstances, as you listen to the cheerful song playing in the background and nudge your friend into his upper arm with your pointer finger, feeling his arm encircle your shoulders and pull you closer to him. The contact of his fingers on your upper arm makes you squirm and break out into a smile, feeling a particular lightness in your stomach at the action, a sensation that has you in shock. 

“I’m gonna talk with mum before we die,” Sunwoo suddenly calls as he stands up from his seat on the floor, sighing to himself, “I can’t go with the thought of her being upset with me,” he sentimentally adds before he’s out of the door, rushing towards the living room.

The space falls into momentary silence now that your brother is gone, having you chew on your bottom lip with nerves. You think now is the time to beg for forgiveness with the higher forces– I'm sorry for not studying well. I'm sorry for being rude and ungrateful towards my mum. I'm sorry for being greedy– when the sound of Eric’s voice resonates through the place as he speaks up again, waking you up from the anxious slumber, the clock now striking 2 minutes before midnight. “What would you wanna do before you die?” he asks.

The question is simple. You presume he wants simple answers– things like getting into college, getting a good job and making a lot of money, growing old– but as you lean away from him and get back to your place on his left, your eyes locked with his, you’re left clueless. There are so many things you have yet to achieve, and the idea of not being able to pushes a burden to your chest, but at this very moment, you can’t really name one. 

Shrugging, you chew on the inside of your cheek as your eyes scan his face. His firm eye contact has you a bit flustered, making you shrivel in your seat, and as the sound of the TV morphs from the song into a countdown from 55, you’re overwhelmed with the thought that your friend is insanely pretty– and he always has been, you just hated admitting it to yourself for the past few months, despite still being fully aware– and that now, when the world ends, you’re dying unkissed and alone.

Well, not completely alone, since Eric’s here. And he’s always been here– your whole life, since you can remember, and he’s here now as well, even though he should’ve been at Juyeon’s house. As the clock strikes 30 seconds away from midnight, your eyes involuntarily travel down to his chapped lips, all air knocked out of your lungs, the thoughts in your brain picking up on speed the closer you come to the end.

You’re dying soon. You’re dying in 30- now 29 seconds, and you’ve never kissed anyone before. You’re dying before you get a chance to hold hands with someone and have a partner, and you’re dying before you get a chance to tell Eric how you feel about him. There’s 28 seconds left until the end and you’re just staring at him like a coward, because you don’t really let yourself indulge in the silly warmth of your heart whenever you’re around your friend, but god, you can at least admit it to yourself before you die.

And as the clock gets closer and closer to midnight, now only giving you 20 seconds before it all ends and a missile lands on the top of your house, blowing up the whole town and making you all disappear, Eric’s question repeats itself in your brain. What would you want to do before you die?

The answer is suddenly painfully clear as you take action– leaning towards the boy on your right, face closer to his than it’s ever been before, your eyes counting all his eyelashes and focusing on his surprised, yet unmoving face– and as you hear the countdown reach 15, you close your eyes and press your lips against his. 

The contact makes you weak in your knees as your hands reach to his face to steady him, your own firework show erupting in your stomach, and suddenly you’re completely content with dying tonight– because at least you’re with Eric, at least you did something. You kiss your friend with something close to an unsaid confession, your lips staying on his throughout the rest of the countdown, the taste of soda you’ve both been drinking the whole evening mixing in the contact of your skin. You’re not sure you’re even doing this right– again, you’ve never kissed anyone before– but it doesn’t matter to you much as you let go of your worries, aware of the fact that in a few seconds, nothing will matter anymore when neither of you are going to be around to say anything to each other after the kiss is over.

The countdown rings in your ears– coming down from 5 as you scoot yourself closer to Eric, 4 as you run the pads of your thumbs along his cheekbones, 3 as you still in your movements, 2 as you notice your knees bumping into each other on the ground and finally, 1 as you get ready to die, kissing your first and only love– when the sound of cheers and fireworks from the TV fills your ears instead, the world around you stilling and completely unchanged.

Your kiss started in 1999 and ended in 2000. Your love for him passed a century.

Eyes fluttering open and your mouth letting go of his, the image of the boy with his lips slightly parted, eyes closed and cheeks rosy comes to you in the yellow light of your room, making your heart fall down to your stomach. He looks absolutely angelic, his hair slightly messy and the fabric of his shirt a little disheveled in the front, and even though you’d love to indulge in your foolish desires and kiss him some more, you’re quickly taken aback with the noise of the door to your room opening and making you jump away from Eric, your brother appearing out of thin air in the presence of your room. It serves you like a weird kind of reality check, Eric’s eyes opening and looking at your brother, and even though you two haven’t been caught, the male clears his throat and bites down on his lower lip, looking almost guilty.

Oh no. What have you done?

Suddenly, you feel insanely silly.

JANUARY OF 2000

“You’ve been awfully quiet the whole day,” Sunwoo mumbles from beside you, his whole body engulfed in a pile of snow, “not that I care, but are you okay?”

“I thought you liked it when I don’t talk,” you mutter, playing with the frozen white all around you, seated on the red plastic sled at the top of the hill. You got tired after dragging it up from the bottom, and when you noticed that the rest of Sunwoo’s friends– Eric included– are still on their way up, you figured you could use up the time to relax and sit around for a while. It’s been quite some time since all of Sunwoo’s friends gathered to hang out at the same time, which made you surprised to see that your own brother invited you to tag along with them as they decided to go sledding on the second day of January, using up their break to best of their abilities. Which is also why you didn’t say no to the invitation– you thought sitting at home and moping around wouldn’t help you much.

“I do,” he says, nodding, “that’s why I’m asking what’s up– so I know what to do when I need to shut you up later,” Sunwoo hums, making you roll your eyes at the masked worry.

Shaking your head in disbelief, you scoff. “It’s nothing.”

“Sure,” he shrugs, “so you’re just going through puberty?” he teases, to which you take a handful of snow into your palm and lunge the white at him, satisfaction running through your veins when the snowball lands into his unsuspecting face, the male coughing and swatting his arms around to defend himself.

“Hey!” your brother screams at you once he gets the ice out of his eyes and his mouth, his body jumping into a standing position before he chases you around, the bubble of a laugh escaping your throat for the first time these days– they’re not wrong when they say malicious joy is the best kind of joy.

Running at the top of the hill, not really looking where you’re going– instead looking over your shoulder to see Sunwoo’s actions, preparing yourself to duck if he decides to turn your small quarrel into a snow fight– your legs get tangled with the red sled you left before you started a war with the angered man, a yelp cutting out of your throat as you get prepared to fall over and knock your teeth out.

Your body comes in contact with something half-firm, half-soft, and as your feet slip and the snow-covered ground disappears from below your legs, two arms wrap around your waist and steady you, making sure you don’t get hurt.

Turns out Eric Sohn is there to catch you every time you are about to eat shit. You hate this kind of deja vu.

As you open your eyes (that you had closed on instinct, not wanting to see your own death) once you’re sure you’re safe and sound, the world around you invites itself into your ears in an overwhelming noise. The laughter of Sunwoo’s friends– some hollering at your fall, some at the redness and last remains of snow covering your brother’s face– and the hushed arguments over who’s going down first– with Haknyeon screaming that he’s stealing Sunwoo’s (yours) sled and Juyeon following him. After all those happening in the matter of a few seconds,  you realize you’re left on the top of the hill alone with the male, terror shaking through your insides.

Clearing your throat and taking a step back from him, you tuck your hands into your pockets and avert your gaze from Eric. You two haven’t spoken since you decided to kiss him on New Year’s Eve, and with the awkward tension in the air, you don’t feel like doing so ever again in your whole entire life. 

“Thanks,” still, you hum.

Eric seems a little more light-hearted than you, shrugging as he replies to you. “Haven’t I told you to start watching where you’re going?”

“I’m not good with listening sometimes,” you mutter, huffing. Taking a look around yourself– noticing that there are no sleds left on the top of the hill, therefore, if you wanted to escape the situation, the only way down would be to roll around like a human version of a snowman, you once again admit your defeat, standing around nervously and shifting your weight from one foot to the other.

The silence is uncomfortable. It makes you want to dig a hole in the snow and bury yourself alive, to suffocate under the weight of the icy cold and never see Eric’s face again. You know that you ruined whatever friendship you had with the male– by being stupid and foolish, not really thinking about consequences (because there were supposed to be none and you were supposed to be dead), and the weight of the guilt makes you want to puke and hide away. 

Still, Eric comes out of his way to talk to you. Honestly, you’re kind of surprised– he should be disgusted with you. Realistically, he should be the one avoiding you, not the other way around.“They’re gonna take long to walk back up,” he notes, “wanna get hot chocolate with me?”

“I’m good, thanks,” you shake your head, not once breaking eye contact with the overwhelming white of the hill.

“Come on,” he sighs, “it’s just around the corner. They built a hot chocolate stand because they knew kids would come sledding here. Honestly, it’s an astute business tactic, but I promise the hot chocolate actually tastes nice,” he says, nudging you slightly with his arm, as if to make you look at him and change your mind.

“Thanks, but no,” you definitely say, chewing on the inside of your cheek.

“Are you avoiding me?” he asks, tone of voice casual– as if it was the most normal thing in the world, as if nothing ever happened and he was genuinely curious about the reasoning behind your actions.

“I’m not, I just don’t really like hot chocolate,” you sheepishly mutter, trying hard to avoid the topic.

“So you are avoiding me,” he hums, as if it wasn’t obvious before– and not only because you’re a bad liar. Plus, you love hot chocolate. Somehow, you think Eric knows.

“Look, Eric,” you sigh, running your hand through your hair, “can’t you just drop it?”

“No,” he shrugs, shaking his head, “and that’s why we’re talking about the reason why you’re avoiding me over a cup of hot chocolate. Let’s go.”

His persistence is terribly overwhelming sometimes. You wonder how the male does it. “I already told you-”

“You owe me for the stickers and the meal and everything,” he corners you, and you know you can’t argue with that. He’s kind of right, you suppose– you never paid him back for all the chocolates or for the free meal he brought you that one evening. And that’s exactly why you find yourself sighing as you follow him, mentally preparing yourself for the talk.

You hate how he can always get his way. Walking up to the stand, you crack your knuckles in the pocket of your jacket, nervously coming up with possible arguments to tell him. I didn’t kiss you on purpose, it was an accident. I only did it to know how it feels. We are both supposed to be dead, it’s not my fault the world didn’t end like it was supposed to! Each sentence sounds more stupid than the previous one, and so with that, you shake your head, wiping the thoughts away, smiling at the elderly lady in the stand. You’re just gonna have to be honest, you figure. 

“Two hot chocolates, please.”

Rummaging through your pockets to find your wallet– you do owe Eric, so it’s only natural for you to pay– you’re caught off guard as the male next to you swiftly takes out his own and unzips it, preparing to pay for you. 

“I thought I owed you?” you mumble, hand reaching to tug at his forearm to stop him, to which Eric only grins at you and sighs.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you have to pay,” he says.

“I think that’s exactly what that means.”

“Just take it,” he huffs as he brings out a note from his wallet, the force making something else fly out and fall to the ground with it, having the boy swiftly crouch down and pick the item up, attempting to hide it before you get a chance to see. And now, you don’t have 20/20 vision, but you recognise your face when you see it– that, and you also recognize the small white sheet to be a polaroid picture, and as far as you’re aware, you’re the only one who has a camera in his circle.

The boy hands you the drink with red-tinted cheeks. The idea of him carrying a picture of you that he took back in September makes you flush as well, and when your gloved fingers accidentally meet as you take the cup from him, he forces out a laugh. “We can talk about that after you tell me why you’re avoiding me.”

His nonchalance has you relaxing only for a few seconds. The boy walks with you as you try to heat up your cold hands on the boiling surface of the cup, and when you see a bench a few meters away from you two, you instinctively take a seat.

“So?” he becomes you, eyebrows rising as he takes a sip from the melted sweetness.

Sighing, you try to come up with the best way to go around this. Do you apologize? Do you promise to never do it again– and you won’t, even though you want to so badly and his lips look surprisingly soft today? Furrowing your brows at the war in your head, you place the cup on the bench next to you and put your head into your hands, hiding away from him when you realize the only way to do this is to be completely, utterly honest.

“I’m just so embarrassed, Eric.”

The only noise meeting your eardrums in the moment is the faint yelling of the crowd sledding in the background, your companion remaining quiet for a bit. When he sees you won’t explain yourself, he goes ahead and asks the question. “Why?”

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” you sigh, not believing his so casual composure.

“Maybe,” he laughs, the airy sound taking all breath away from your lungs.

Well, not all of it, since you have enough oxygen to go on a tangent, it seems. “Because I kissed you, goddamnit. And- and I don’t even know why I did it, honestly, I’ve never thought of kissing you before! It’s just- when I heard the world is ending, I realized I hadn’t had my first kiss yet, and that just felt like such a miserable way to die, and then you asked what I wanted to do before I die and I couldn’t think of anything else,” you say, progressively taking out your head from your hands and facing the male, big eyes staring into his soul. 

To your surprise, he doesn’t seem mad. Or disgusted. Or any of the reactions you expected, really. Eric stares at you with a soft, but amidst a little star-struck look in his eyes, and you’re suddenly painfully aware of every slight shift in his composure.

“Did you kiss me because you wanted to kiss me, or because you thought the world was gonna end?” he asks, awaiting your answer.

And if you’re being honest, 2 days after New Year’s Eve, you do admit the thought of the world actually ending sounds a bit stupid. Why did you even believe that theory? Why did they talk about it so seriously on the news? They tricked you into ruining your own life. 

But still, nothing can be done about it now. “Both,” you admit, shrugging, “I… I kissed you because I really didn’t want to die unkissed, but also… I wanted it to be you, y’know? Like… I thought we were really going to die, and so I thought kissing you might be a nice way to go. I really wanted to spend my last moments with you, I guess,” you sheepishly say, averting your gaze from the male.

Eric offers you his silence again after you’re done explaining. While you do admit you feel a little tense to hear what he has to say, you also realize you feel lighter now that it’s out in the universe and out of your system. A major weight was taken off your shoulders with the confession, and suddenly, you’re kind of glad that your friend was so assertive and insistent on talking about this– who knows how long you’d go before managing to face him. You think you could honestly go on… forever.

Taking a sip of the luscious liquid, you feel your body warm up once the anxiousness slips away from your bones. The boy next to you hums, making you face him with expecting eyes. “Then why were you avoiding me?”

Sighing, you shake your head. “I just told you. I’m starting to think you’re the one that’s bad at listening.”

“No,” he laughs, “that’s still you. Because if you were good at listening, you’d remember me telling you that I’ve never once seen you as my younger sister.”

Shrugging, kicking the pile of snow in front of you with the tip of your winter boots, you’re not quite following. “So?”

“So you should’ve realized that I’m not doing all of this,” he theatrically swings his arms around, “for nothing, you know?”

“All of what?”

“Taking care of you. Feeding you, helping you collect those stupid animal stickers, walking you home…” he mumbles, sighing. “Keeping your picture in my wallet,” he adds with a playful tone, making you smile.

“I thought you were just being a good friend,” you shrug.

“I don’t keep a picture of your brother on me at all times,” he says, tugging off his gloves. The sleeve of his jacket rides up a little as you watch him take his cup of hot chocolate off the bench, surprised (and flooded with warmth) to see the ugly friendship bracelet you made still adorning his wrist.

Grinning to yourself, excitement welcoming itself into the tips of your fingertips, you shrug. “So?” you mirror your own question from a little while ago, wanting him to say it to you instead of relying on your own brain– you think there’s still a possibility of you just being too delusional to see the reality for what it really is. You need to make sure you’re not imagining things.

“So,” he starts, sighing to himself as he turns a little in his seat to face you, “you should stop avoiding me, because I liked the kiss. And you. And we should probably do it again, because I didn’t get the chance to kiss you back the first time,” he says, once again taking all oxygen out of your lungs with the casualty of his preposition.

Locking his eyes with you, having you two staring at each other like two rays of sunshine warming up the cold January, he grins. “How does that sound?”

“Good,” you breathe out, “very good.”

The male takes it as an invitation as he scoots himself closer to you on the bench, his body turning a bit to face you. His free hand cups your cheek, leaning closer to lock his lips with you like he asked you to, your eyes fluttering close at the proximity, the fuzzy feeling in your stomach already expecting to kiss him again. The situation feels a little too idyllic to be real, though– you should’ve expected it to get ruined again.

Something cold and wet comes into contact with the side of your face, and when you sharply open your eyes, you see Eric staring at you with shock and terror in his eyes, the snow dripping down the side of his face as well. Whoever threw the snowball has good aim, you think– managing to target two people at once (even though your faces were that close to each other that it probably wasn’t even that hard), and before you get a chance to look around and see who cut off your kiss, there’s a scream coming from the left side of the two of you, the sound of feet quickly darting in the snow landing into your ears.

“Eric Sohn, what the fuck do you think you’re doing with my sister?” the voice hollers, and before you get a chance to react, the said male fastly stands up from the bench and runs to the other direction, laughter resonating all throughout the place as Sunwoo and his friends chase their shortest friend down.

Snow starts falling as you watch your brother tail his childhood friend, and with a foreign sense of warmth, you get reminded of the birthday wish you made while blowing out the candles on your seventh birthday.

You wished for someone just like Eric. You didn’t know the universe would be so kind to give you him instead.

[stealanity]

[ sohn eric ] ꕤ birthday present(s)

word count : 1,033 genre : best friend to lovers, very cheesy

« happy birthday. » he said playfully, a rainbow of good cheer in the timbre of his voice. you watched him tenderly, your eyes sparkling in the sunlight streaming through the large windows of your now completely deserted school corridor. eric reached into his pocket and flicked his tongue lightly, trapping it between lips glistening with lip balm. after a good five seconds of concentration, a medallion appeared in front of your face : squinting at the pendant hanging from the end of the chain, it suddenly seemed strangely familiar. opening your eyes wide as you realized what it was all about, you turned your gaze to your best friend's neck, noting that it was now bare of all jewels.

opening your mouth to speak, you were cut off by the devastating smile hanging over his mouth. you have to admit that your mind is currently occupied with a single thought : see by yourself if his lip balm actually tastes of passion fruit. but you looked away again, your eyes gazing into the beauty of his for a few seconds, and you had to fight with all your might not to melt like ice in the sun. « may i..? » he asked you, so sweetly that your heart flustered, his eyes juggling between yours and your neck. stretching your lips into a shy smile, you nodded slightly, holding your hair up so as not to interfere with his actions.

eric leaned gently towards you, his hands grazing the sensitive skin of your neck. his face was so close, you could feel his warm breath caressed the hollow of your neck as he tried to hook the jewel around it, in a precise and delicate manner so as not to risk pinching you with the clasp. under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have had any trouble hanging the collar ( he could do it around his neck with his eyes closed and mind half asleep ) but he couldn't help it with you : you were distracting him. your breath crashing against his ear, the smell of your shampoo tickling his nose, your bare shoulder so close to his lips. he was so fond of you, he couldn't help but find every little detail baffling. after a few seconds, when he finally succeeded, he moved away from you again, admiring his work with victorious eyes.

you looked so beautiful in the late afternoon sun. eric couldn't help but admire you : your always sincere gaze and the twinkle in your eyes drove him crazy. but the one thing he didn't allow himself to think about was your lips. those who always looked so, so kissable. in all honesty, he longed to kiss you, to call you his, to hold your hand proudly, in a way that's different from that of simple best friends. eric had been thinking about you day and night for years now, the young man no longer doubted his more than friendly feelings towards you — but confessing them to you was a lot harder than he thought.

diverting your eyes from his, you brought your fingers to the jewel, fiddling with it as if it were the most precious jewel on earth — was what it really meant to you. stretching your lips into a radiant smile, you gazed at it for a long moment before speaking, « thank you eric, i'll cherish it to the end of the world. »

eric couldn't stop his heart from missing a beat, his puppy dog eyes can't look away from your flawless face. he didn't know what was happening to him, but he knew he had no control over what he did next : in the madness of the moment, with a surge of adrenalin coursing through his muscles, a step forward and the taste of his lip balm spread to yours. on the spot, surprise took over your body, your eyes becoming as round as marbles, and your arms flailing along your chest, not knowing how to react. but the warmth of his lips, similar to that of a summer sun, helped your body relax — and in less time than it takes to say it, your hands found themselves clutching his cheeks, holding his face close to yours.

it was warm, soft, a little clumsy : just as you'd imagined. the sensations were just like in the books : the tingling in the fingertips, the fluttering in the stomach, and the heart racing like never before. who would have thought that a single person could cause so much trouble with a simple kiss? you were so lucky that he was a good kisser — and this simple thought made you smile against his lips, causing the principal concerned to unhook himself from you slowly, his eyes planting themselves in yours directly afterwards. under a rambling gaze, you could see a slight pinkish tinge embrace the apple of his cheek, betraying the shyness that took hold of his features.

« you should lend me your lip balm. » you suggested, a crystalline laugh escaping from eric's mouth just afterwards. the pretty boy nodded, his hands taking hold of your hips to move you slightly, pinning you between the wall behind you and his own warm body. « i could put it on you myself. » he replied, a little too sure of himself for you, his words underscored by a wry smile that brought a pleasant warmth to your belly. raising an eyebrow, you tilt your face slightly to the side, your pupils juggling from his eyes to his lips in the blink of an eye, « ah yea? » you had time to say, your words suddenly cut off by a pair of lips mingling with yours once again. so, so warm, you thought, your arms reaching around his neck a few seconds later to prevent him from escaping.

you don't remember how long you kissed before being chased away by a teacher, but you knew for sure, in your mad rush, under the radiant sun of this beautiful day, his hand clinging firmly to yours, and his bright laughter lulling your mind, eric's love was the best birthday present ever.

[taeyongers]

Creature Comforts

pairing: eric x reader genre: fluff... protective best friend eric who is fake boyfriend for 1 night... college au... friends secretly in love summary: best friend Eric protects you at a party then makes you feel better warnings: harassment, alcohol word count: 1.3k

“I don’t want to go,” you whine. “What’s so good about being stuck in a confined space with like a hundred sweaty strangers who you don't know if they're good people?”

Eric is currently drinking alcohol out of a red cup because he claims you have to already be tipsy before you get to the club, which you don’t understand. “Because it’s fun.”

You sigh, glaring at your own cup he filled for you. “You know what’s more fun?”

He gives you a look, as if telling you not to start, but you start anyway. 

“Reading textbook glossaries. Watching snails. Buying food from a convenience store and eating it by the curb in front of an empty parking lot at midnight.”

“That’s awfully specific,” he remarks absent-mindedly.

“It is,” you nod. “Awfully specific things such as these are much more entertaining.”

“Come onnn don’t be a wuss. Now drink up and let’s go.” he taps your cup. You grumble, following his orders.

Once you’re there, it takes you all but five minutes to start feeling tired and uncomfortable. Too many bodies, mostly scantily clad, pressed together. The stink of alcohol on everyone’s breath. And the music, by god, the music is loud, way too loud. Do they know they’ll suffer from hearing damage after just five minutes of listening to anything this loud? You figure your entire generation will suffer an epidemic of hearing loss by middle age. 

To make things better, Eric runs into an old friend and they decide to catch up. Alone for now, you decide that the bar is the least exciting thing in the entire place and of course, it becomes your doom.

A man, much much older than you, finds you there. His smile is creepy, his eyes leering. You’re nice to him at first, but he takes it as interest. He slides into the seat beside you, grinning, leaning too close and now you’re looking for Eric, who is still speaking to his friend while talking animatedly and laughing.

You text him help several times so that he can feel the buzzing of his phone. You watch as he slides the phone out from his pocket to check it, before looking over at you in confusion. Then, his face is twisting in slight shock, processing the scene before him as you plead with your eyes.

The stranger leans in too close, his breath fanning your face. You lean away in disgust. “What are you looking for?”

“I think I’ll spend the rest of the night with my friend if you don’t mind.”

The man frowns. “Why?”

You shrug. “I just don’t know you that well.”

“Well, you can get to know me.” He comes closer. You stand up from the seat.

“It’s alright, have a good night,” you wave at him.

He grabs your wrist in a vice grip. Sheer anxiety and dread well up inside you. Eric’s voice suddenly erupts from behind you.

“What’s going on?” His voice is sharp, sharper than you’ve ever heard before. His eyes are hard. The man immediately frowns and he deflates, having lost his chance to prey on another young woman.

“Nothing. We were just talking.”

Eric eyes the man’s hand clamped around your wrist. “Then let her go.” He drags your wrist towards him, forcing the man to release.

Eric tucks you in towards him and a little protectively away from the stranger, his hands on your shoulders.

Unbelievably, the man still persists. “I just wanted to-”

“The lady said no.” Eric bites out, cold and devoid of empathy. It nearly makes you shiver. You barely recognize him.

The man stands to approach and Eric steps in front of you, shielding with his body. His entire frame is tense, arms taut, fists clenched.

“Who do you think you are? She said you’re just her friend.”

“I’m her boyfriend, now get the fuck away from her.” Eric leans in a bit in the man’s space. With a final glare, he backs off, mumbling some misogynistic curse words. 

Eric doesn’t relax or stop glaring until the man retreats completely from view. Then, he’s turning around to face you.

You sigh shakily, tears in your eyes. “Thank-”

He pulls you into his chest without a word. You melt against his soft hoodie, grateful for the comfort. His arms hug you tightly to him, hand pressing your head to his chest, his chin resting on top. You sigh, all the stress and tension draining out of you. It’s a few moments before he lets go, but you don’t. Your arms hold onto him, face buried in his chest, relishing in the rare feeling of safety. 

“Are you okay?” He asks, arms coming back around to hug you. You sigh again, the feelings of relief and safety giving way to frustration.

“I’m tired. I can’t go anywhere without this happening.”

He makes a soft noise in sympathy, stroking your hair gently. It’s a few moments of silence filled with the party’s noise, the music, the talking, everything around you before you hear his comforting voice again.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.”

You glance up at him. He’s smiling softly. Then, he presses a single, soft kiss to your forehead that has your stomach doing flips. He takes your hand and guides you through the crowded bodies to the sweet, cool air outside. 

“Where are we going?”

He only gives you a smile and tugs your hand towards the convenience store across the street. 

At the store, he rummages through the aisles before picking up some hot dogs from the food stands nearby. His hand never leaves yours. He can tell you’re still jittery and makes sure you’re always pressed to his side in some way. It calms you. It’s only at the cash register when he lets go and steps away that you panic.

You clutch onto him, tugging him back towards you a little. His eyes widen in surprise. He observes you for a moment, but you don’t say anything, the jitteriness still evident.

“I’m just going to pay, okay? It will only take a second.” His eyes roam your face with concern, his hand squeezing yours that’s still clutching his hoodie.

You release a breath. “Okay.”

He gazes at you with knit eyebrows before taking your hand in his and approaching the cash register. He makes sure you’re close to him when he lets go of your hand to pay. Then, he takes your hand again and steps out the door.

“Come on,” he brings you to the curb in front of the nearly empty parking lot and sits down.

You blink down at him. “What are you doing?”

“Exactly what you said,” he unwraps the hot dog from the wrapper while imitating a high voice. “ ‘You know what’s more fun? Buying food from a convenience store and eating it by the curb in front of an empty parking lot at midnight.’ ”

You stare at him, slightly stunned that he remembered, and slightly annoyed that he mocked you. “I don’t sound like that.”

You plop down next to him and he hands you your food.

“You do a little,” he chuckles fondly. You shake your head, unwrapping the aluminum. It's a few moments of silence before he's speaking again.

“Are you okay?” His voice is gentle, shoulder brushing yours.

“I.. don’t know,” you mumble.

He grits his teeth. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone like that. Especially since you didn’t want to come.”

“It’s alright," you wave him off.

He gazes at you. “You know I'll always be here for you, right?”

You glance at him and note the endearing sincerity in his eyes. Something warm swells in your chest. “Yes, I know. Thank you, Eric,” you smile. “And thank you for being my boyfriend tonight.”

He smiles a little, eyes alight as if he’s about to say something. If you were to guess, it's probably along the lines of I could be your boyfriend every night, teasingly. But he seems to decide against it.

Taking another bite, you both watch over the empty parking lot, quiet, spacious, safe, under the stars. 

He chuckles. “You were right. This is way more fun.”

[kimsohn]

𓇼 3:04 am

pairing . eric x gn!reader about . 499 words, fluff warnings . none! tagging . @gfksn @invuwrld @stealanity

honestly, eric has to applaud how committed you are to this.

it's pitch black outside, and even though he doesn't know the exact numbers, he can tell it's far past your bedtime. it's far past anyone's bedtime, really, as he sees sunwoo knocked out next to a half-asleep sangyeon. the long hours of partying after another successful award show win seem to have taken a toll on everyone in this car, and he can't blame them for resting.

you especially have been nodding off for the entirety of the ride. however, the only thing keeping you from falling asleep is a surface to rest your head on, so every time your head veers even slightly to the left, you readjust yourself only to nod off again.

eric doesn't know whether to find it funny or maddening. he wants to yell at you that his shoulder is right there and that he would literally be the last person to care about you using it. however, you don't seem to have any plans of popping the question, opting to try and sleep upright (and fail) instead of being comfortable.

so eric does it for you.

"y/n, you know you can sleep on my shoulder, right?" he whispers, tapping the side of your head to wake you up.

"hm? oh," you respond, rubbing your eyes awake, "are you sure? it might be uncomfortable."

"it's fine, really. i don't mind."

normally, you would've argued more, but eric can tell you're too tired to care. you curl up into his side, wrapping your hands around his right arm like a pillow and resting your head on his shoulder.

your head on his body does make it a little hard to breathe, but he can't tell if it's because of the weight of your head or if he's hyperventilating at this close proximity. maybe the sleep had made him delirious, but he'd completely forgotten that yes, he did indeed have a major crush on you and yes, you clinging to him like a koala bear would make his heart palpitate.

he wonders if you can hear his heart beating out of his chest or the deep breaths he's having to take in this position. whatever he feels doesn't matter though, because he would sacrifice his breathing for the rest of eternity just to make sure you were safe.

okay, that might be a little too much (nothing is ever too much when it comes to you).

you feel as if you were meant to be there, so correct that eric is already imagining waking up next to you every day, your head on his chest and your hands around his torso. he closes his eyes, envisioning a lazy sunday morning with you and just you.

and maybe the party had taken a toll on eric too, or maybe your very presence had lulled him to a dreamy sleep, because as sangyeon wakes up when the car reaches their destination, he spots eric's head resting atop yours.

he'll give you two lovebirds five more minutes of peace. the universe can thank him later.

[dlrvuio]

22:19

genre - fluff, bf!eric x fab!reader

warnings - none

“I hate you..” You mumbled, tears starting to fall once again but he wiped it with his thumb. “Sure you do,” Eric chuckled looking down at you, “you wouldn’t be in my arms and hugging me this tight if you still love me, right?” You smacked his chest at the sarcasm “Crazy”. “Crazy for you.” He winked causing you to make an unpleasant facial while possibly blushing. “Now lay down and rest, I’ll watch over you.” You followed, laying on your side to stare at him.

“I told you to rest, not stare.” Eric sternly said as a joke, “I’m regaining my strength.” You mumbled, closing your eyes and opening one again to glance at him. Eric sighed sitting up, “My lady being stubborn again.” He pinched your checks making your face even more redder. “Close your eyes and rest, I won’t leave you.” He added, with a more softer tone. After closing your eyes, he sat on the chair right beside the bed and once you sensed him sit down you reached to hold his hand and intertwine it together, keeping him close.

2023 | please do not copy, repost, or claim my work

reblogs, likes, and comments are appreciated

[sanaxo-o]

Fire Eyes (Eric Sohn)

|| for Deoboyznet summer event dbn: summer on you ||

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, kissing, strangers to lovers, reader is very much heartbroken in the beginning, kind of inspired from the scene Eric had with the girl from Lip Gloss MV and obviously Fire Eyes, fluff

Sana: This is quite literally the first time I had fun writing this kind of fic. I am not that good at expressing the things I have in mind yet but I am getting there hehe. As a girl who always mostly wrote yandere I am quite proud of this even tho it's not the best thing I have ever written lol. Thank you for always liking my work even tho it wasn't always the best 🤧. It really mean a lot to me 💗

Word count: 1886

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

🎵깊은 밤 저 하늘 위에

Warning sign🎵

Deep in the night, you sat alone on the stool which was by the bar. Taking small sips of your drink you stared at the wall ahead of you with no thoughts in your mind.

Who would have thought or guessed that a two year old relationship will break off in summer like this? With no warning signs ahead?

Everything was perfect. You were happy with your now ex, life was great when out of nowhere you get a text from him saying your two year relationship was over.

Having no motivation to do anything after that heartbreaking news you just thought that it'd best if you came to a club which was by the beach.

Looking around the crowded club you felt yourself getting tired of the view which was in front of you.

People living their life to the fullest, having their own fun, making out, having a fun night out with their friends.

You were never able to experience that. Your whole teenage life all you did was study just to impress your parents and then when you entered university you started living again only to get tied down by the end of it.

Getting in a relationship made you feel tied down to some unknown boundaries. Your whole life you were never able to see who you really were.

Always going ahead with what others told you were. They said you were too gentle? Then you thought you were. If they said you're too rude to others? You thought they were right. And that behaviour made you fall behind while others walked all over you.

Getting tired of your own thoughts you walked out of the bar with the drink in your hand. You were not planning on getting drunk. You hated the headache it left you with the next day.

All you wanted for now was to get over your ex and never think about him again. You wanted to find your true self and not what others told you you were.

Walking down the beach the night air blew your shoulder length hair. The cool salty air calmed you down a bit as you closed your eyes and took a deep breath in.

Walking towards the sea you sat down on the sand. Your drink long forgotten by you. Staring down at the golden sand you started playing with it. Drawing random things only for it to get washed away by the sea water.

From the corner of your eyes you could see a figure approaching you. Stopping what you were doing you stared up at him as you saw him walk toward you calmly.

Sitting down beside you he forwarded his hand towards you "Eric," Shaking his hand you introduced yourself "Y/N," it was silent after that as you continued what you were doing not in the mood to make a long conversation with anyone at the moment. You were far too busy with your own thoughts which were playing in your mind.

Clearing his throat Eric spoke up again "Why are you sitting here all alone? The nights still long. Loosen up, have some fun." You chuckled lightly at his words and shook your head.

"I am not someone who just has that kind of energy. I don't know how to have fun.." you said softly as you looked at him. There you saw him already staring at you. You felt some kind of sensation in your stomach when you stared in his eyes.

🎵첫눈에 번쩍 튀는 spark

아래 you and me🎵

It some kind of spark you had never felt before. It felt nice but weird. You were scared of this new feeling. Is this a good sign? Or is it a warning sign? Ignoring your feelings you looked away from Eric and rubbed your arms when the cold breeze hit them.

"I can teach you how to have fun. Do you know how to ride a skateboard?" Eric asked making you look at him questionably

"No? Why?"

"Come with me," Eric stood up from his place and offered his hand to you. Staring at his hand you hesitantly reached out and held his hand. Standing up you dusted your dress trying to get the sand off.

"Where too though?" You ask while walking side by side with him.

"Skating rink.." Eric replied as he looked around the quite street of the town.

"What about the skateboard? Where will you get that?" You ask curiously.

"There might be some lying around in the rink. Let's see.." he said unbothered making you furrow your eyebrows.

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

"Oh look! There are a bunch of skateboards there!" Eric said in excitement as he went to fetch one of the skateboards.

"They just...leave their skateboards like this lying around?" You ask him confusion and slight shock evident in your tone.

"Meh I mean they don't really care much. But we got what we needed. Come on. Let me show you how to ride it." Eric grabbed your hand and dragged you to the centre of the rink.

Getting on top of the skateboard Eric demonstrated on how to use it. Riding it effortlessly he showed you some skills he knew off making you look at him in astonishment

"Woah...you're so good at this.." you said in amazement. Looking at Eric with wide eyes you saw him coming towards you. Stepping aside for him he stopped right beside you.

"Come on. You try it now." Eric said while holding your hand and leading you towards the skateboard.

Shaking your head as a no you stood still on your place, "No, I will just embarrass myself in front of you." You tell him and refuse to get on the skateboard.

"It's not that hard Y/N. Come on. I will help you." Eric said with a smile on his face, his face wrinkling in a adorable smile which made your heart skip a beat. That feeling came again. Sparks. It made your stomach churn again but it was not a awful feeling it was rather something you liked. It felt nice. It was like there were fireworks in your stomach.

"Promise me you won't let me go?" You say your voice slightly shaking. You were excited to try something new but at the same time you were scared. Scared of disappointing yourself if you fail in succeeding it.

Giving you a smile Eric nodded at your words and helped you stand on the board. Holding both of your hands in a gentle yet tight hold he helped balance yourself on top of it.

"Not so hard, is it?" Eric said as he looked you in the eye with a soft smile on his face, "Now try to push yourself ahead. Remove your right leg of the board and settle it down on the ground. Give it a light push and balance yourself. Don't worry I will not let go."

Nodding at his words you did what Eric said. Carefully placing your foot down you gave yourself a push and moved ahead slowly and steadily. Looking up at Eric with a huge smile on your face you said in excitement, "I just did that! Did you see?" You looked him in the eye.

There it came again. It was like you were possessed whenever you looked in his eyes. This feeling you were having was filled with spark. Something you never knew you needed until now. It was exciting.

"Go ahead. Try again. This time do it with more force." Eric said encouragingly. Nodding at his words you pushed yourself ahead. By instinct you let go of his hands and continued with what you learned a moment ago.

Going forward in excitement you looked back at Eric and saw him smiling at. Getting caught in the moment you failed to notice that you were starting to lose your balance.

🎵Slow down baby, slow down

이미 trippin', trippin'🎵

"Eric! I am gonna fall!" You yelled in panic only to lose your balance and fall down on the hard surface.

You heard footsteps coming towards you, "Y/N! Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?" Eric asked in panic as he frantically looked around for any signs of injuries or wounds.

Seeing him so worried made you laugh a bit. Looking up at you Eric furrowed his eyebrows, "Why are you laughing?" Eric asked in confusion.

Seeing him so confused made you laugh more. Falling down on the ground you stared up in the sky. "What...?" Eric looked at you as he smiled staring at your laughing figure.

It was as if you were drunk all night. Tapping on the ground you told Eric to come and sit down beside you.

Sitting down beside you Eric stared up in the sky, the moonlight shining it's light on both of you. With him you felt like you were finally able to find yourself which you never knew existed. It was like a destiny which shined brightly like a dream.

Scooting closer to Eric you got yourself comfortable and leaned your head on his shoulder. You felt your heart thump in your chest. It was a nervous feeling you knew you never felt this before.

🎵떨린 첫 느낌대로 (fallin' in love)

이 밤을 갈라 what you wait for (what you wait for)🎵

Staring up at him you saw his perfect jawline which complimented his tanned skin. Feeling your stare on him Eric stared down at you.

You noticed his gaze looking down at your lips for a split second before he looked in your eyes again.

Leaning closer to him you you felt it again. The fireworks in your stomach. Slowly you saw Eric inch closer to you. Grabbing your chin Eric pulled you closer and attached his lips on yours.

🎵물든 on your lips

자극된 상상 가득히 날린 confetti🎵

The whole night you spent talking with Eric. Getting to know each other more. Till sunrise you both were in the same place, together.

Time passed by quickly when you were together. Watching the sunrise together you stared down at the hands which were entangled together.

This was what you needed. Something new, something exciting which did not made you feel like you were tied down to it. Eric made you forget about that feeling you always felt.

Staring in his eyes again, you could see the fireworks in his eyes while you felt the fireworks in your stomach making you give out a smile.

"You would be here the whole summer right?" Eric whispered as he bought your hand closer to his lips and gave a light peck on the back of hand.

"Hmm..all summer.." you whispered.

"So you're mine the whole summer?" Eric said while coming closer to you

"Why only summer? Why not your whole life?" You said with a chuckle

"I don't mind that. Calling you mine for the lifetime sounds better then just saying that for this summer.." Eric grinned as he kissed you on the lips again. Holding onto your waist he pulled you closer to his body.

This felt like a destiny which shined brighter then the flames ever could. It was like a fairytale you never knew you needed.

🎵'Cause you are mine, mine, mine

The fireworks in your eyes🎵

🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁

[cupidjyu]

you’ll get sick

(maknae line) what do they do when you’re sick !!

genre: FLUFF, cuddles, they’re such cuties, sickfic notes: second post! uh since i’ve been sick for multiple days (suffering) and bored rn LOL i wanted to indulge myself! also i decided to write the maknae line because i am so so so happy that sunric will be coming back!! i love them so much <3 also for the person who asked for the other members in the other post, dw!! ill get to it, i’m just incredibly busy rn :(( word count: 1k

haknyeon

“i’m home!”

haknyeon frowned when there was no response. he navigated the apartment and opened the door to the bedroom. and there you were, huddled in a bunch of blankets. your nose was slightly red, your eyes puffy, and your hair was frazzled.

his eyebrows immediately furrowed as he set down his bag and rushed over to the bed. your eyes widened at the sight of him.

“oh no,” your voice sounded clogged, as you sat up in a hurry. “I’m sorry, hak i didn’t hear you get home-”

he brought one finger up to his lips, “shh.” he gently put his hands on your shoulders and pushed you back down. he brought up one of the blankets and tucked you in. “it’s okay. just wait here.”

and then he quietly rushed out of the room. you stayed in bed, exhausted, sniffling, and with a pounding headache. even through your blocked ears, you could hear the sound of haknyeon in the kitchen, opening cabinets and dropping items. 

then, he finally entered the room, a bottle of medicine and a spoon in hand. he padded over to you, poured the right amount, and handed it to you. you always hated the taste of medicine. so, you just turned away the spoon, refusing to drink the disgusting concoction.

he pouted adorably as he sat on the edge of the bed. then, an idea went off in his head. 

“i’ll give you a kiss if you take it.”

your eyes brightened at that as you lurched forward, grabbing the spoon and downing it in one gulp. you gagged at the taste but the way he smiled so endearingly at you was what was worth it.

he placed the spoon on the nightstand and leaned forward. “okay, let me kiss you.”

but, in a rush of panic, you shoved a hand in his face, stopping his advancement. 

“wait, nevermind, don’t,” you said hurriedly. he looked at you questioningly. “you’ll get sick…”

“pff-” he giggled. “like i care.” and then he practically tackled you, kissing your face all over.

sunwoo

you were doomed. you and your boyfriend had planned the most perfect date today. eating at a reserved restaurant and then taking a walk along the river… 

you really wanted to go but with the fever you had caught and the exhaustion that weighed you down, you knew that it would only ruin the occasion. so you groggily reached over for your phone and pressed on his contact. 

he picked up immediately.

“sunwoo…”

“what happened, my love?” you could hear the shuffling of his bedsheets. it was early in the morning anyways. you wanted to sleep more but your throat was killing the ability to go back to rest.

“i’m going to have to cancel.” you replied, guilt dripping from your voice. 

he hummed, sleepily, “why? are you okay?”

it was silent. you didn’t give him a response. you didn’t want to worry him any further and bother him. knowing how caring he is, you knew that he would definitely rush over to you. it was just too early in the morning.

and rush over to you, he did.

even though you didn’t speak, he could recall how scratchy your voice sounded and your clogged breathing.

“hold on, i’m coming over.” he ordered.

you widened your eyes, “wait what-”

your apartments weren’t far from each other. in fact, it was only a few minute’s walk away. so after a short while, almost falling asleep, you heard the door open. not bothering to move, you waited for sunwoo to burst into your room.

his lips pulled into a worried pout. he was dressed in a cozy hoodie. he looked so soft. you just wanted to… hug him. 

he walked over to where you were lying and set a hand on your forehead to check your temperature. you were still warm. 

“hi, beautiful,” he said quietly, stroking your hair. you blushed slightly at his words, especially because you were so convinced you looked horrible as of right now. “do you need anything? oh wait- let me go out and get medicine…”

you rushed to grab his wrist, preventing him from standing up. 

“no.”

he let out a confused hum and sat back down on the bed. 

“i want to… to cuddle.”

he laughed and pinched your cheek. he opened the blanket and climbed in almost immediately. he brought you closer by the waist, wrapping his arms around your body. his chest provided the perfect amount of warmth, since you were feeling chilly. 

“as you wish.”

eric

the sound of the apartment door shoving open made your heart jump. there eric was, standing at the doorway, a bag in hand.

“guess what!” he was yelling so, so loudly. your headache pounded more. “i just found a new game we can play together- what-” he paused abruptly. it was then that he noticed your state. you were laid out on the couch with multiple used tissues on the table.

you looked dead, really. and that made his happy face turn into one of worry. he put down the bag and ran over to you. he cupped your face in his hands.

“oh no… are you feeling okay?” his tone has quietened down.

you sniffed, eyes watering. you always loved when eric showed his more gentle side. it always made your heart melt. “no.”

“my baby,” he cooed, smiling at how cute you looked. “sorry for being so loud.” he giggled, looking at you apologetically.

“no, no,” you shook you head quickly. “its okay, i missed you, eric.”

“it hasn’t been that long.”

“it has for me,” you replied, grumpily. you reached your hands out to signal for him come closer.

instead of coming closer, he simply jumped into the couch with you and climbed under the blanket. he snuggled closer to you, since the space was so limited. then, he laid an arm over your waist, hugging you even more.

“did you take medicine?”

you nodded, your eyes closing from exhaustion.

“okay,” he stroked your hair slowly. “let’s go to sleep then.” 

he placed a kiss on your lips. then on each of your cheeks, then your forehead, and lastly, your nose. you giggle at his actions. 

“you’ll get sick,” you whispered.

he laughed in response, cuddling furthermore. 

“anything for you, my love.”

(goodbye he’s so cheesy i love him)

[viastro]

glimpse of us | eric sohn

ミ★ synopsis: they say that you get flashes of your life when you’re dying. what they fail to tell you in this life, is that it also happens when you move on to somebody new. you could be the person that you never think you’d be, but somehow in the new cycle you may adapt to, you’ll always somehow find glimpses of your past mirroring through your new choices of living. requested !

ミ★ genre: exes to lovers!au, angst, some fluff, some humor

ミ★ warnings: miscommunication is the devil

ミ★ word count: 19,769 (oh my god.)

ミ★ pairings: eric x gender neutral reader / younghoon x gender neutral reader / eric x oc

ミ★ notes: hi everyone ! long time no tbz oneshot... hehe... but as you can see, this oneshot is based off of joji’s new song, glimpse of us. this was requested by anon, so whoever you are, i hope this fic is to your liking ! as always, make sure to give eric lots of love <33

Eric walks through the quad, his headphones blasting music into his ears as he scrolls through his phone. He raises an eyebrow when he gets a notification, and he swipes down, letting out a light chuckle when he reads who it’s from.

sunwoo: hey stupid whore <3

hyunjun: i have a name

sunwoo: bold of you to assume i’m referring to you

eric: bruh... bitches blowing up my phone 

sunwoo: ah yes, there’s the stupid whore

hyunjun: LMAO

Eric rolls his eyes at the message, moving to type out a response when he hears someone call his name through his headphones. Looking up from his phone, he watches as that familiar head of blonde hair comes running down the path and towards him. He chuckles when she immediately jumps into his arms in greeting, making sure she’s secure before setting her back down onto her feet. 

“Someone’s excited to see me.” Eric teases, and she shrugs her shoulders while trying to hide her smile. 

“Just happy to see the guy I like.” Daeun tells him, the smile finally appearing as she lets her arms fall back to her sides. He lets out a grin and pats the top of her head, before pulling out his phone to check the messages he missed in the groupchat.

sunwoo: you busy tonight ? i want kbbq

hyunjun: never busy for food

especially kbbq during the winter <333

sunwoo: where’d eric go

hyunjun: stupid whore*

sunwoo: oh right

where’d stupid whore go 

hyunjun: prolly on his way to class

he’ll just respond later

Eric snorts and sends a quick reply telling them he’s down for kbbq, before turning to Daeun to point in the direction of the cafeteria. “You wanna get food? I have some downtime before my next class.” 

She nods her head excitedly at the idea, “Yes! I’m actually super hungry right now.” 

“You didn’t eat breakfast?” Eric asks with a chuckle, and she scoffs at the mention of the early morning meal. She raises her hands up for emphasis on what she’s about to say, making the redhead raise an eyebrow. “Eric, I’m a third year university student. You really think I eat breakfast?” 

He grins at that, nodding his head in respect as he turns away to mutter, “That’s valid.” 

As Daeun begins to talk about how her day has been so far, Eric listens quietly as he gazes at their surroundings. He blinks when he sees someone bump into another person, and he clenches his fist at his side when he immediately recognizes them. 

You’re giving the person who bumped into you a small smile as they apologize, even waving your hands at them to signal that it’s okay. Your eyes are warm as you say your goodbyes to them, and he feels his heart stop when you suddenly glance over in his direction, and accidentally lock eyes with him. 

The warmth that was in your eyes almost immediately disappears, now being replaced by an emotion that’s indecipherable to him as he refuses to look away. The world around the two of you seems to come to a slow, the sound of his heartbeat beginning to pick up in his ears when he finds that you don’t turn away either. 

The world returns back to normal when someone else comes into view, and Eric bites the inside of his cheek when he recognizes who they are. He watches in silence as you turn your head to your boyfriend, a bright smile taking over your features when you lock eyes with Younghoon. You immediately wrap your arms around him in greeting, and Eric feels his heart pang when Younghoon kisses the top of your head in return. 

He turns away from the sight of you and your boyfriend, being reminded of the times where he was once in Younghoon’s place. 

“Yo! Where are you going? Don’t you want to go to karaoke with Hyunjun and I?” Sunwoo calls out when Eric starts rushing down the steps of their building. The brunette at the time glances back at his two friends, giving them a big grin, “Yn gets out of class in five minutes, I want to be there to greet them!” 

Hyunjun chuckles at his friend, while Sunwoo laughs and waves him away. “Simp! Make sure to say hi for us!” 

Eric just holds up a thumbs up towards them, not turning around to see their reaction as he runs in the direction of the Chemistry building. He feels giddy at the idea of your reaction when you see him. Will you look surprised? Happy? Will you smile and give him a hug? 

The possibilities are endless.

Eric brushes past people through the quad, making sure to apologize if he accidentally bumps into them on his journey to you. 

Adjusting the strap on his backpack, he lets out a breath of relief when the Chemistry building comes into view, and he pushes himself to run a bit faster. When he finally makes it to the bottom of the steps, he immediately checks the time on his phone, and he grins when he sees that he made it with a minute to spare. 

The sound of the doors being pushed open from above gathers his attention, and he glances up to see the beginning of the rush of students leaving the building. He waits expectantly, gazing at every person’s face until he finally notices the top of your head. 

He watches as you look up from the steps, mid-way through putting in one of your airpods when you lock eyes with him. His heart stutters within his chest when your face visibly brightens, your eyes beginning to sparkle like they hold the whole galaxy in them, and your smile.

God, your smile.

“Eric!” You cheer in greeting, rushing down the steps and practically leaping into your boyfriend’s arms. He lets out a laugh at your excitement and stumbles back a bit from the impact, making sure to wrap his arms around your waist tightly as he takes a deep inhale of your comforting scent. 

You pull away with a bright smile on your face, a visual so beautiful that Eric feels warmth flood his face from the sight alone. 

“What are you doing here? I thought your class ended at the same time as mine.” You ask, and the brunette just shrugs his shoulders to try and act all nonchalant. “We ended a few minutes early, so I wanted to come and surprise you.” 

You giggle and nod your head, wrapping an arm around Eric’s waist as he places his arm over your shoulders. You point in the direction of another building, “Want to walk me to my next class?” 

“Of course I do.” Eric answers without any hesitation, and you grin warmly at this. The two of you walk in a comfortable silence in the direction of your next class, and the blonde takes this moment to glance at you, seeing the small smile still playing on your lips from earlier. 

He giggles, “Are you really that happy to see me?” 

“Of course! Who wouldn’t be happy to see their lovely boyfriend waiting for them to get out of class?” 

Eric feels his heart warm at this, and his brain quickly starts to think of ways he can come pick you up from your classes throughout the week if it truly makes you this happy. 

“Are you happy to see me?” You ask, looking at your boyfriend with an expectant look in your eyes as you await his answer. He brings the two of you to a stop, and turns so that he’s facing you. He reaches out and gently cups your face, looking at you with nothing but love in his eyes as he responds with a shy smile, 

“I’m always happy to see the love of my life.”

“Eric!” The redhead quickly snaps out of the memory, turning to find Daeun looking at him with an amused expression on her face. She points towards the cafeteria while lightly laughing, “I’ve been trying to tell you that we made it for like, a minute now.” 

“Oh, sorry.” Eric says with a strained smile, one that she fails to notice as she begins to bring them towards the cafeteria again. “It’s okay, I’m just curious as to what you were thinking about that made you space out like that.” 

And Eric just lets out a short chuckle, glancing at the blonde as he quietly replies, 

“Just remembered something, doesn’t matter anymore though.” 

“Grilled meat is a gift from the Gods.” Sunwoo states after he finishes chewing on some brisket. Hyunjun nods his head in agreement as he flips some of the meat, “If I was religious, I’d pray to the Gods and thank them for this delicacy.”

Eric chuckles at their conversation, taking a piece of brisket and dipping it into the sesame oil. Sunwoo looks up at the redhead, noticing that he’s been more quiet than usual.

“Eric, are you okay?” Sunwoo asks as he takes a sip of soju, and Eric blinks at the sudden question. He nods his head with a quiet laugh, “Yeah, why?” 

“You just haven’t been as loud as you usually are.” Sunwoo says, pouring Eric some of the alcohol before picking up a piece of kimchi. He rolls his eyes at the statement, “You’re always complaining about how loud I get, but now I’m thinking that you actually like how noisy I am.”

“Personally, not getting kicked out of this restaurant because of you being too loud is quite nice–”

“Hyunjun.”

“What? We always get kicked out cause of Eric.”

“Don’t act like you don’t play into Eric’s shenanigans after only two shots.” Sunwoo points out, making the redhead chuckle and Hyunjun laugh as well. “Alright, alright. You got me.” 

Eric’s about to retell the story of when Hyunjun danced on the tables after two shots when his phone suddenly dings, and he glances down to see a new message from Daeun. Hyunjun notices the notification from his seat, and he moves to place the onion onto the grill as he asks, “How are you and Daeun?”

Sunwoo watches as Eric turns rigid at the question, and he shares a knowing glance with Hyunjun, before turning back towards the redhead. Eric gives the two a small smile, “We’re alright. We’ve only been on like, four dates? I think?” 

“You think?” Sunwoo chuckles, and Eric nods his head. “Daeun’s really sweet.” 

“And?” Hyunjun presses, placing some pieces of pork belly onto the grill. Eric bites his bottom lip at the question and takes a sip of soju, before beginning to create a lettuce wrap. “She’s nice.” 

Sunwoo watches as Eric quickly shoves the wrap into his mouth after he finishes making it, and he lets out a breath. 

He’s concerned for his friend. Sunwoo and Hyunjun have been concerned from the moment you and Eric broke up. It was like they witnessed the five stages of grief right before their eyes. They watched the redhead go from getting wasted every night, to dying his hair, to getting rid of all traces of you in his apartment, to doing everything that he couldn’t do while the two of you were dating, and to this stage. 

Dating.

Daeun’s the fifth person Eric’s been on a date with since the two of you broke up six months ago, and she’s also the only one who’s made it to a fourth date. 

“Sweet and nice are synonyms.” Hyunjun points out as he cuts up the pork belly. Eric stays quiet at this, knowing that his friends can tell that he’s obviously distracted. He lowers his head towards the table, before reaching out towards his glass of soju and downing it all in one go. 

Sunwoo’s eyes widen at the sudden action, “Eric!” 

“Can we just… not talk about my love life tonight?” Eric asks after placing the empty glass down, looking up towards Hyunjun and Sunwoo to see their expressions. The black haired beauty just looks at Eric for a moment, before patting his back and continuing to grill the meat without question.

While Sunwoo stares at Eric in silence, an indecipherable look in his eyes as the concern he feels heightens a bit. Pressing his lips into a thin line, he lets out a strained smile and nods his head at his friend. 

“Yeah, we can talk about something else.”

“Eric Sohn!” You exclaim when he belly flops onto your bed as soon as he steps into your room. Your newly dyed blonde boyfriend rolls over onto his back and flashes you that pretty smile of his, “Yes, my love?” 

You raise an eyebrow at him, “I told you no outside clothes on my bed.” 

Eric blinks, before glancing down at his jeans and the grey hoodie he wore to his classes. Biting the inside of his cheek, he looks up at you with a slightly guilty expression on his face. You sigh and reach out to drag him off your bed, but you fail to realize that he was expecting this.

He takes hold of your hand and pulls you on top of him, eliciting a squeak from you when you land. You push yourself up onto your elbows and glare down at him, but this doesn’t affect him at all, considering the happy smile on his face as he wraps his arms around your waist. 

“What are you doing?” You ask with a blank expression, and Eric just pinches your sides in response, making you slap his shoulder. He chuckles at your reaction, and leans up to peck your lips, but you raise your hand and cover his mouth. 

“Eric.” 

“I’m trying to kiss my beautiful significant other, but they’re not letting me.” Eric answers, voice muffled by your hand. He watches as the corner of your lips quirks upward, and he grins at your resolve slowly melting away. 

He reaches up and grasps your wrist, moving your hand away so that you can see his smile. You press your lips into a thin line when he puckers his lips, closing his eyes as he waits for you to grant him his kiss. 

“Come on, you know you want to.” Eric says through his puckered lips, biting back a laugh when he hears you snort. His grip on your waist tightens a bit when he feels you lean in, and his heart thrums against his chest as he waits. 

He blinks his eyes open when you suddenly turn away and he feels your lips against his ear as you whisper, 

“You can get a kiss when you get your outside clothes off of my bed.” 

The sound of your bedroom door opening slowly wakes you up from your dream, and your eyebrows furrow as you glance over at the entrance of your room to see Younghoon peeking his head in with a shy smile.

“Younghoon.” You murmur sleepily, and he waves at you as he places his bag down beside your desk. He pads over to your bedside and presses a kiss to the top of your head, “Sorry, did I wake you?” 

You shake your head even though him opening the door was the reason that you woke up, but you wouldn’t ever want Younghoon to feel guilty. He grins happily at this, gently brushing away the hairs that fell over your face while you napped. 

“Are you going to join me?” You ask in a quiet voice, and he nods his head while looking into your tired eyes. “I’ll join you in a second, I just need to change into the clothes I brought.” 

Your gaze trails over to his bag that’s laying by your door, seeing the sleeve of his sweatshirt poking out. Glancing back at your boyfriend, you give him a small smile, “Ah, okay.” 

He kisses your forehead one more time, before turning and walking over to his bag. You watch in silence as he takes out his clothes and leaves your bedroom, the sound of the bathroom light being switched on heard from a distance. 

You’re painfully reminded of the dream that you had as you roll over onto your back, staring up at your white ceiling. Biting your bottom lip, you let out a breath as you close your eyes, trying to rid yourself of the memory.

But you’re left with guilt as the visual of Eric’s mischievous eyes while he lays in your bed with his outside clothes appears instead.

“This is our fifth date, you know?” Eric looks up from the table to see Daeun looking at him with a small smile, leaning forward to take a sip of her boba as she stares at him with hopeful eyes. He nods his head with a strained grin, picking up his drink and sipping some boba as well. 

As he chews on the tapioca pearls, he turns and glances out the window of the boba shop, seeing the bright lights coming from the arcade. Biting the inside of his cheek, he places the cup down on the table and turns back towards the blonde. 

“Do you want to go to the arcade?” Eric asks, and she turns to look at the arcade, before glancing back at him with an excited smile. “Only if we can play dance dance revolution.” 

Eric snorts and stands up from the table, holding out his hand for Daeun to take, “I would be a fool to not play dance dance revolution when we’re at the arcade.” 

The blonde looks down at his hand, and he watches as a faint blush forms over her cheeks at the gesture. She reaches out and grasps his hand, grabbing her cup of boba as he helps her stand up from the table. Grinning, he leads her out of the boba shop and towards the arcade, feeling her squeeze his hand happily.

He fails to ignore the fact that her hand is cold, matching his own. 

“Should we go straight to dance dance revolution, or do you wanna play some other games first?” Eric asks after he receives the card that holds all their credits. Slipping his debit card back into his wallet, he turns to Daeun to see her glancing around while thinking. 

“Let’s play dance dance revolution first.” She says with a grin, and the redhead nods his head in agreement. She pulls the two of them in the direction of the game machines, and Eric chuckles with the knowledge that this is definitely not her first time going here.

“Are you ready to get your ass kicked?” Daeun asks once they arrive at the machine, and the redhead releases her hand to crack his knuckles, “I don’t know, I feel like I should be asking you that question.” 

She smirks and gets up onto the machine, swiping the card on both machines as Eric steps onto it. She pockets the game card and turns to the pretty boy, “You can choose what song we dance to.” 

“Wow, someone’s confident.” Eric teases, and the blonde shrugs her shoulders. “Just waiting for you to believe that I’m actually a God at dance dance revolution.” 

“We’ll see about that.” He replies, a playful grin on his face as he chooses one of the harder songs to dance to, Egoism. He glances at Daeun to see her reaction, only to raise an eyebrow when he sees the calm expression on her face.

Maybe even a bit of excitement laced in as well.

“You ready to get your ass kicked?” Daeun asks with a confident smile, and Eric just shakes his head with a quiet chuckle. He rests his hands on the handle behind him, watching the screen as the song starts to play. 

Once the arrows begin to show up, he quickly realizes that he completely forgot how difficult this song is to play. Stomping his foot on each arrow, he spares a glance towards Daeun, and sees her as the epitome of ease as she lightly dances to the song. 

“You having trouble?” He hears her ask when he almost misses a key, and he rolls his eyes teasingly as he shoots her a look. “Eyes on your own screen, hotshot.”

Daeun lets out a laugh at this, and he blinks at the sight. Biting the inside of his cheek, he turns back towards the screen to try and ignore the memory that’s playing behind his eyes.

“Eric, you already know that I’m terrible at this game.” You say with a laugh as the blonde swipes the card through both machines. He just turns to you with a smile, reaching out and grasping your hand to pull you up onto the arrows. 

“Which is why this is a good game for us to play, so that I can win and you can lose.” Eric tells you, and you scoff at this. He squeezes your warm hand with his cold one, “It’s only fair since you always make me play air hockey when you know that I’m bad.”

Pressing your lips into a thin line, you sigh in defeat and gesture towards the game. “Alright, choose a song.” 

He grins and turns towards the screen, scrolling through until he finds the song he wanted to dance to with you. After making his selection, he steps back and grasps onto the handle behind him, giving you a smile as you bite your bottom lip in anticipation. 

“You ready?” Eric asks when the first notes of the song plays through the speakers, and you just shake your head with a furrow beginning to form between your eyebrows. He giggles at your expression, before turning towards the screen once the arrows start to show. 

It’s only a few seconds into the song and he can already hear you struggling, and he bites back a laugh when you start cursing out the game moments later.

“WAH! Why is it going so fast?!” You exclaim, and Eric glances at you to see your desperate attempts at trying to stomp on the arrows at the right time. He’s unable to hold back his laugh this time, making you turn to see him smiling widely as he starts to focus on the game again. 

He’s caught off guard when your arms suddenly wrap around him, messing him up in the game as he laughs at your sudden intrusion. You quickly pull him down into a headlock, “You think my suffering is funny?” 

“Yn! The game!” Eric says through his laughter, and you shake your head. 

“No more dance dance revolution!” You tell him, letting out a laugh when he makes an attempt to keep stomping on the arrows. He giggles at the sound, glancing up to see the bright smile on your face as you continue to try and sabotage him. 

“Eric! I thought you were good at this game!” He blinks out of the memory when he hears Daeun’s voice, and he curses to himself when he realizes he zoned out in the middle of the song. He quickly makes an attempt to get back on track, but the memory of that day prevents him from doing so.

Once the song ends, and it’s clear that Daeun beat him by a landslide, the blonde walks up to his side with a happy smile on her face.

“See? Told you that I’d win. I am just too good at dance dance revolution.” She tells him cockily, and Eric lets out a strained chuckle as he glances around the arcade for another game to play.

“I thought you were doing well in the beginning, though. What happened?” Daeun asks as he starts leading the way towards the racing games, and the redhead doesn’t respond. He bites his bottom lip when he remembers the bright smile that was on your face that day, and he feels his heart pang at the fact that he’ll never be able to see it directed towards him again.

“You were distracted, just like you are now.” Daeun says in a soft voice, reaching out and grasping Eric’s hand. He stops at the physical contact, finally turning to glance at the blonde who’s looking at him with a bit of concern. He lets out an awkward laugh, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. “Sorry, I was thinking about something. What were you saying?” 

“You’re distracted, Eric.” Daeun repeats once they arrive at the racing games, and he blinks at her slowly. Turning away, he just nods his head as he climbs into the driver’s seat, removing his hand from her grasp while he mutters, “Yeah.”

Daeun stands there for a moment, staring at the back of Eric’s head as she tries to ignore the feeling of her empty hand. Clenching her fist, she moves and sits in the driver’s seat beside him, resting her hands on the steering wheel as she turns to him with a small smile, “You ready to play?” 

And Eric can only nod quietly, obviously distracted as he swipes the game card in the slot. 

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

“How’s your relationship with Younghoon going?” You look up to see Hyunjae looking at you with an inquisitive expression, and you give him a grin as you take the sliced apple from his plate and pop it into your mouth. “It’s going alright, it’s close to our three months.” 

Hyunjae nods his head at your response, taking a sip of water while he watches you quietly. 

You and Hyunjae have been close friends since elementary, with the two of you watching each other grow over the years. He was the one who had actually introduced you to Eric in your guys’ first year of university, deciding to play cupid due to the feeling that you both would get along. 

He never expected for your relationship to end the way that it did.

“You like him a lot?” Hyunjae asks, and you nod your head without looking up at your friend. Scrolling through your phone, you can feel the brunette’s eyes on you as you avoid eye contact, and you let out a breath when the tension becomes too much for you. Putting your phone down, you finally lift your head and look at Hyunjae, “Yes. I like Younghoon a lot.” 

“Someone’s snappy today.” Hyunjae points out as he takes a bite of an apple slice, and you roll your eyes at this. “You ask me this question every time we meet. How do you expect me to not be annoyed by now?” 

“Because as your childhood friend, you love me a lot.” He answers confidently, only for his eyes to widen when you rub the back of your neck and look around at anything but him.

“You love me… right?” 

“Wow, I think there’s a breeze in here.” You mutter, and Hyunjae gently kicks your shin underneath the kitchen table, eliciting a laugh from you when you finally turn back towards him. Reaching out across the table, you pat his head fondly, “Yes, I love you very much.”

He grins when you retract your hand, and you smile back at him. He picks up another apple slice, biting into it as you pick up your phone to scroll through your feed once again. Biting the inside of his cheek, he decides to ask one more question. 

“Do you see you and Younghoon having a future together?” 

You physically pause, glancing up to see Hyunjae looking at you with that same inquisitive expression on his face. Except this time, you notice an indecipherable emotion in his gaze, a look that you can’t make out as he stares at you. 

Biting the inside of your cheek, you set your phone down, “Why do you ask?” 

“You know exactly why.” Hyunjae answers with ease, and you clench your jaw. 

You do know why. You know exactly why Hyunjae is asking you this, but you don’t want to acknowledge it. You don’t want to look back on the past, not now, and not ever, if you’re being honest. 

Turning away, you glance out the window of his apartment, “We are not talking about this right now, Hyunjae.”

“Then when will we?” He asks, and you just shake your head. Hyunjae lets out a sigh and leans, patting the corner of the table closest to you to try and get your attention, “Yn, we have to talk about it–”

“No!” You exclaim as you stand up from the table, turning to Hyunjae with wide eyes. He’s just staring up at you with genuine worry etched across his features, and you clench your fist at your side. 

“We will not talk about it, not now, and not ever. Younghoon and I are doing fine, there’s no reason for me to be thinking about a possible future when we’ve only been dating for less than three months!” 

Silence fills the room after your outburst, and you blink your eyes as you turn away from him. Bending down, you pick up your bag and throw it over your shoulder, “I’m going back to my apartment, bye Hyunjae.”

You hurry over towards the door and slip on your sneakers. Right as you’re about to rest your hand on the door handle, the soft call of your name has you stopping in your tracks. Slowly, you turn back to find Hyunjae standing by the kitchen table, looking at you with a sad smile on his face. 

“You told me you saw a future with Eric when the two of you had only been dating for three months.” 

You lower your gaze towards the floor, remembering the day you had confessed to the brunette that you really wanted things to work out with Eric. You would’ve thought that Hyunjae would’ve forgotten about such a thing, but you underestimated him. 

Raising your hand up to gently scratch at your cheek, you pause when you feel the wetness to your skin. Blinking, you reach up and wipe at your face with the back of your hands, only to realize that you’ve been crying this whole time. 

Quietly cursing to yourself, you rest your hand on the doorknob once again and turn towards Hyunjae one last time, 

“I may have seen a future with him, but he didn’t want one with me.” 

Eric lays on the floor of Sunwoo’s room, tossing up a baseball and catching it as he waits for Hyunjun to come back with some snacks. Sunwoo spins his chair around to check on his friend, just to snort when Eric completely misses the ball and it falls on his nose. 

“Shit.” Eric mutters to himself as he sits up from the floor, rubbing at the bridge of his nose in hopes that it won’t bruise. Sunwoo chuckles quietly to himself, watching as the redhead even goes so far as to roll the baseball to the other side of his bedroom. 

“You good?” Sunwoo asks, pointing to his own nose when Eric turns to glance at him. He lets out a quiet chuckle, squeezing the bridge of his nose as he responds, “A bit. I just hope it doesn’t bruise cause it’ll look like I got in a fight.” 

“I highly doubt that.” Sunwoo tells him, and Eric purses his lips. “But what if they did? Does it look like I won?” 

Sunwoo blinks at Eric for the question, before breaking out into a loud fit of laughter that has him bending over and punching his desk. Eric squints at his best friend, wondering what’s funny about the question as Sunwoo practically loses his mind. 

“What’s so funny about that question?” Eric asks as he reaches out to slap his peach haired friend’s leg, watching as he makes an attempt to calm himself down. He rolls his eyes when Sunwoo goes as far as wiping away a tear that managed to escape his eye from his laughter. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just.” Sunwoo begins, only to slap a hand over his mouth as another round of laughter threatens to break through. Eric sits on the floor, waiting patiently for his answer while he tilts his head at him. “It’s just so funny to think about you winning a fight.” 

“AYO?! I have won a fight before!” 

“Pft, no you haven’t.” A third voice pops into the room, making the two glance towards the door to see Hyunjun walking in with snacks he stole from Sunwoo’s pantry. 

“While I love you for bringing us snacks, what the fuck do you mean I haven’t won a fight before?”

“Don’t you remember that one guy who was flirting with yn at the frat party in your freshman year and you immediately tried to swing at him?” Sunwoo asks, red in the face from how hard he was laughing moments prior. Eric bites his bottom lip at the memory, before laying back onto the floor again as he’s flooded with embarrassment. 

“Okay, but I was really scrawny back then.” 

“And you think you can beat him now?” Hyunjun jokes, and Eric tries to inconspicuously feel his biceps before answering. Sunwoo snorts at the sight and turns back towards his pc, attempting to finish writing his essay as his two friends talk behind him. 

“How was your date with Daeun? Didn’t you guys go to the arcade?” Hyunjun asks as he throws a piece of popcorn towards the redhead, cheering when Eric manages to catch it in his mouth. He nods his head as he chews on the kernel, “Yeah, she was really passionate about dance dance revolution.” 

“Must’ve sucked for her to find out that you’re practically a God at that game.” Sunwoo chimes from his desk with a small laugh, and Hyunjun nods in agreement as the two remember how competitive Eric is when it comes to arcade games. 

Eric tilts his head to the side at the memory of that day, drinking some soda as he avoids eye contact with his friends. “Actually, she beat me.” 

The two fall silent at the news, with Sunwoo even turning around in his chair to look at Eric with a flabbergasted expression on his face. He points at the younger, “What song did you two dance to?”

Eric reaches up and rubs the back of his neck, glancing down at the floor as he quietly answers, “Egoism.”

Hyunjun blinks, before turning to Sunwoo to see the look on his face mirrored on the latter. The black haired beauty turns back to Eric, “Is she really that good at dance dance revolution?”

Eric nods his head, and Sunwoo gasps quietly at the easy answer. Bending down, he grabs a handful of popcorn and tosses a few pieces into his mouth. He lets out a breath, before glancing at Eric, “So you’ve finally met your match then, huh?” 

Hyunjun watches as an indecipherable emotion flashes past Eric’s eyes at Sunwoo’s choice of words, and he bites the inside of his cheek when Eric just shrugs his shoulders. The redhead moves to lay on his back again, staring up at the ceiling in silence as Sunwoo and Hyunjun exchange concerned glances. 

“Eric–”

“I… I keep…” Eric begins, and Sunwoo looks down at his friend, only for his jaw to drop slightly when he sees the tears welling up in his eyes. “Eric, what’s wrong?” 

“I keep seeing them.” He mutters, so quiet that it almost goes unheard by Sunwoo and Hyunjun. The black haired beauty frowns, “Seeing who?” 

Silence falls over the room, the question lingering in the air as the two wait for Eric’s answer. They watch as Eric just blinks up at the ceiling in an attempt to get the tears to go away. He fails though, because the tears escape from his eyes when he finally confesses,

“Yn. I keep seeing yn.” 

Sunwoo immediately gets up from his chair and kneels down beside the redhead, eyes laced with worry as he watches more tears trail down the side of Eric’s face. Biting the inside of his cheek, he rests a hand on Eric’s arm, “Eric, let’s go get some water–” 

“Everytime I look at Daeun, I can only see them. Everytime we do something, no matter what it is, I get glimpses of what we used to be. Daeun coming to greet me on campus? I see me surprising yn after class. Daeun being good at arcade games? I see yn being bad at them.” Eric cries, the sobs slowly beginning to pour out as more memories push past his eyes so that you’re the only thing he can think of. 

He raises his hands up to his face, “I can’t get them out of my head, but they’ve moved on. How could they move on? After almost four years together? Do they still think of me? Think of us?” 

Hyunjun’s eyes widen when Eric begins to hyperventilate, and he and Sunwoo try to help Eric sit up from the floor. The redhead sobs loudly into his hands, hiding his face from his friends as the feeling of heartbreak floods his chest. 

Sunwoo feels his eyes fill with tears as he reaches out and gently pulls Eric into his embrace. He pats his back as Eric cries loudly into his shoulder, this scenario being all too familiar for him. 

“Sunwoo.” Your voice rings out from the other end of the phone, and he bites his bottom lip as he grabs his jacket from the back of his door. “Is he there again?” 

He hears rustling on the other end, and he can only assume you’re nodding your head, “Yeah, can you come get him? I don’t want him to fall asleep out there.” 

“Yeah, I’m already on my way.” Sunwoo says once he steps out of his apartment and hurries towards the elevators. He doesn’t end the call right away, and his eyebrows furrow when he hears you sniffle. 

“Yn, are you really sure you–” 

“Thank you for coming to get him. Goodnight, Sunwoo.” You interrupt, and he blinks when you quickly end the call. Letting out a sigh, he pockets his phone and presses the main floor button of the elevator. 

It’s only 15 minutes later when he’s made it to your front door, finding Eric asleep on your step, a blanket draped over his shoulders. He can only assume that it’s from you, and he gently removes it from around the blonde, folding it nicely and setting it on the step. 

He gently pats Eric’s shoulder, “Eric, wake up. I’ll take you to my apartment.” 

The blonde’s eyes slowly open at the voice, feeling disoriented as he reaches up and rubs at his eyes. Sunwoo grasps Eric’s arm and throws it over his shoulder, helping him up from the step and bringing him in the direction of his home before his drunk friend can question anything.

“W-Where’s yn?” Eric slurs after the two cross the street, and Sunwoo just tightens his hold on Eric’s wrist as they keep walking. “S-Sunwoo, where’s yn?” 

“They’ll meet us at my apartment, okay?” Sunwoo lies, hoping that his answer will appease the drunk blonde. Frowning, Eric rips his arm out of Sunwoo’s grasp and almost immediately falls to the ground, “Liar.” 

“Eric, please.” Sunwoo begs as he bends down to try and help his friend up, only to freeze when he hears Eric sniffle. Biting the inside of his cheek, he tentatively rests a hand on his back, “Eric?”

“Why?” Eric mutters, tears falling from his eyes and onto the sidewalk below him. Through his drunken haze, all he can think about is the breakup and nothing else. “What happened to us?” 

“Eric, let’s go to my apartment.” Sunwoo tells him as he makes an attempt to help the blonde up again, only to stop when Eric’s shoulders begin to shake as he holds back his sobs. 

“W-Why won’t they talk to me? W-Why won’t they try? W-What happened? Why are we like this now?” Eric cries out, feeling his body become wracked with sobs as he lowers his head to the ground. Sunwoo blinks back his own tears as he shakes his head, reaching out and helping Eric sit up, before pulling his friend into his arms. 

“S-Sunwoo, it hurts. Everything hurts.” Eric sobs into Sunwoo’s shoulder, and his friend can only pat his back in silence as he stares up at the night sky with tears in his eyes. 

He finds that there’s no stars in the sky tonight.

“I-It still hurts. Why does it still hurt so bad?” Eric sobs, and Sunwoo stays quiet as Hyunjun tries to soothingly rub the redhead’s back. Eric shuts his eyes tightly as the memory of your breakup comes to mind, more tears trailing down his face as he cries out, 

“W-Why did they leave me?” 

“How’d you and Younghoon start dating?” You look up from your food to find Nayeon waiting for you to answer her question, the food on her plate starting to go cold. Snorting, you gesture towards her rice, “Your food’s gonna go cold if you don’t eat it now.” 

You watch as she quickly gets a big portion of food on her spoon, before shoving it into her mouth. Biting back a laugh, you try to focus on your own meal as Nayeon practically chokes from how much she’s trying to swallow. Rolling your eyes, you hand her a napkin, which she quickly grabs to cover her mouth as she coughs. 

“When I told you to eat your food, I didn’t mean shove it down your esophagus.” You giggle, and she waves her hand at you while she takes a large gulp of water. Setting the glass down, she lets out a breath and points at you, “In my defense, I underestimated how much was on my spoon. However, this isn’t about me.” 

“How is you almost choking not about you–”

“It’s about you telling me your love story with Younghoon since we haven’t been able to catch up over lunch for,” Nayeon pauses and lifts up her wrist to look at her imaginary watch, before looking back at you. “For three months. Three months! Which is how long you and him have been dating, so it’s time for my yearly update on your life.” 

“You sound like my mother.” You mutter as you eat a spoonful of your bibimbap, and Nayeon shoots you a glare for the side comment. Sighing, you place your spoon down and make sure to properly chew your food before you glance at your friend.

“He had liked me for a while before the two of us got together since we were always paired together in projects.” You begin quietly, looking out the window of the restaurant as you remember the day you and Younghoon started dating. 

Stepping out from the library, you let out a huff when you see the rain falling from the cloudy sky above you. Reaching for the pocket of your backpack, you bite your bottom lip when you don’t feel the umbrella where it’s supposed to be. 

“Of course I’d leave my umbrella at home when it’s raining.” You grumble, tilting your head up towards the sky as you wonder whether or not you should just wait it out. 

A sad smile forms on your face as numerous memories come to mind, and you lower your head to the ground, “Eric always came to get me on rainy days like this.” 

“Yn!” Your head snaps up at the voice, and you glance over to see your classmate standing at the bottom of the steps, umbrella over his head as he looks at you with a grin. You blink in surprise when he climbs up the stairs, and holds out the umbrella so that it’s protecting the both of you. 

“Younghoon, what are you doing here?” You ask with wide eyes, and you watch as his cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink as he looks at your surprised face. “I remembered that you didn’t have an umbrella after our class ended earlier, so I came to the library since you’re always here.” 

“You knew I didn’t have an umbrella?” Younghoon nods his head at your question, looking rather shy as he looks at everything but you. “I noticed that your umbrella wasn’t in the pocket of your backpack where you usually keep it.” 

You stare at the black haired beauty standing before you, feeling conflicted as you look into his soft eyes. You’ve known for a while that Younghoon likes you, maybe even from the moment the two of you met. He’s one of the more well known students on campus because he’s handsome, tall, kind, and intelligent. Anyone would be thrilled to have the attention of Kim Younghoon.

“Younghoon, do you like me?” You ask, making the latter’s jaw drop slightly at how straightforward you are. He lets out a cough and turns his head away from you, face turning red as you wait for his answer. You watch as he clenches his fists at his sides, gathering all his courage before turning back to you, “I like you, yn. I’ve liked you for a long time.” 

Silence falls over the two of you, the sound of the rain falling onto the pavement being the only thing that you can hear as you stare at the handsome man before you. His confession slowly sinks in the longer you look into his eyes, seeing the hope that floods them as he awaits your answer. 

“Younghoon, you know that Eric and I only broke up three months ago–”

“I know!” He exclaims, and you blink at the interruption. He gulps, rubbing the back of his neck as he reiterates softly, “I know.”

You bite the inside of your cheek, “Then why do you want to date me knowing that I’m still trying to get over him?” 

Younghoon turns his head back towards you with a warm smile, “Because you’re worth every minute of my time, and every drop of love that you deserve to feel.”

Nayeon stays quiet after you finish retelling the story, watching as you take a sip of water while looking out the window. She bites the inside of her cheek when she notices the faraway look in your eyes, before letting out a low whistle, causing you to glance at her. 

“Wow, he’s brave.” Nayeon tells you, and you smile softly while nodding in agreement. “I was surprised too.” 

Taking another spoonful of your food, you’re about to take a bite when you hear her add, 

“I really thought you and Eric were like… endgame. I was surprised to find out you started dating someone else, to be honest.” 

Blinking, you promptly place the spoon back into the bowl. Staring down at your food, you quietly wonder why he keeps being brought up recently. Why now? After thinking you’ve finally moved on. Why does he keep making his way into your life, even in the smallest of ways? 

“Well, I guess life just had other plans.” You respond, mustering a tight smile to try and show that you’re tired of this conversation. However, Nayeon was never the type to back down. 

“Life had other plans, or did you?” She asks, and you stay quiet. Tapping your foot against the floor, you choose to not answer her question as you finally take a bite of your food. 

Nayeon lets out a sigh at your silence, before reaching out and resting her hand over yours on the table. You glance down at where your hands connect, pressing your lips together when you realize that your finger was tapping the top of the table subconsciously.  

“Look, yn. My friends and I are hosting a party next Friday, and I think you should bring your boyfriend. He sounds like a nice guy, and I want to meet him.” Nayeon tells you in a soft voice, and your eyes trail up towards hers, feeling conflicted when you recognize the emotion in her eyes. 

Concern.

Giving her a tight smile, you nod your head, “Yeah, I’ll try my best to go.” 

Eric sits on the bench, staring out at the quad as students walk past him, rushing to make it in time for their classes. He glances down at his phone, checking to see if he’s gotten any new messages, just to turn it off when he sees no notifications. 

After he calmed down from his breakdown a week before, he knew that he couldn’t keep going on dates with Daeun when he still wasn’t over you. He planned out how to talk to Daeun and end things in the nicest way possible, having even prepared to get hit by Sunwoo and Hyunjun taking turns boxing with him. 

“Eric?” He looks up at the call of his name, finding the blonde standing before him, a smile on her face as she fiddles with her fingers. He immediately stands up and gives her a tight smile, gesturing to the bench he was sitting on, “Hi, Daeun. You should sit.” 

She giggles at the fact that he stood up just to tell her to sit down, and she nods while patting his shoulder. “Always such a gentleman. You didn’t have to stand up to tell me that, ya know?” 

“I wanted to. Besides, my mother raised me to be very polite.” Eric tells her with a grin, and she chuckles with a nod of her head. “And that she did very well.” 

Daeun turns to look at him with warmth dripping from her eyes, and Eric’s heart swells with guilt at the sight. Turning away, he glances out at the quad as he mutters, “Thank you for agreeing to meet me here.” 

“Of course, we usually meet at this time anyways. What did you want to talk about?” Daeun asks, and the redhead bites the inside of his cheek when he turns back to face her and sees her unsuspecting gaze as she waits for his answer. Feeling his hands begin to shake on his lap, he slowly folds them together in an attempt to get them to stop as he looks into her eyes. 

“I don’t think we should keep seeing each other, Daeun. I’m really sorry.” Eric says in a soft voice, and he watches as the warmth in her eyes slowly morphs into shock at what she just heard. She blinks and turns away, hearing the sound of her heartbeat against her ears as she comprehends what he said. 

“W-What do you mean? I thought things were going well?” Daeun asks, turning back to the redhead to see the look of guilt on his face. 

Letting out a breath, Eric rubs his hands on his jeans out of nervousness, “Things were going well, they were great even. I just don’t think I’m ready for a relationship yet, and it’s not fair for me to string you along when you could be with someone who’s more deserving of your time and effort.” 

He watches as Daeun’s eyes turn glassy, and she glances down at the ground as she lets his words sink in. She’s had feelings for Eric from the moment he stopped and helped her pick up all the papers she had dropped from her folder. He was so kind, funny, radiant—everything she heard about him through her peers was right. 

But he was dating you at the time.

When the two of you broke up, it was almost as if a piece of him left with you. No one knew why things ended, and she could only imagine what happened between you and Eric. However, Daeun realized she had a chance.

She was thrilled when Eric said yes to her offer of going out for coffee five months after the two of you had broken up, but she knew the reputation he was slowly building. Before her, he had gone on dates with four other people, but they didn’t work out. 

She didn’t want to be like them—she wanted to last with Eric.

But deep down, Daeun’s always knew she could never be you.

“Is it cause of yn?” She asks in a quiet voice, and Eric turns away at the question. She slowly glances up to look at him, and she lets out a breath when she sees that familiar faraway look in his eyes again. 

Ah, so he was thinking of you, Daeun thinks to herself when she remembers all the times he would get distracted whenever they were together. 

“Yeah, it’s because of them.” Eric murmurs, and she fails to notice the flash of pain in his eyes at his answer. Biting her bottom lip, her eyes trail down to his shaking hands, watching as he fiddles with his thumbs to try and get them to stop. 

“Why would you try to go on dates if you still have feelings for yn?” 

Eric just stays quiet for a moment, knowing exactly why, but not wanting to say the answer. He turns towards Daeun, “That’s why I’m ending it with you now, because it’s not fair to you.” 

The blonde looks into his eyes in silence, knowing she should be angry at him. She should be screaming at him right now, maybe even hitting him for just stringing her along. 

She can’t bring herself to do any of that right now, though. Not when she sees how heartbroken he is over you. 

Pressing her lips into a thin line, she manages a small smile as she reaches out and rests her hand over his shaking hands. Rubbing circles with her thumb in an attempt to get him to calm down, she looks up into his eyes. 

“I’m angry that you said yes to me when I asked you out that day a month ago, but I’m also glad that you did, because I got to know you.” Daeun tells him, and Eric feels tears prick the back of his eyes. She pats his hands, and stands up from the bench, looking down at him with a sad smile on her face. 

“Goodbye, Eric.” She says in a quiet voice, and the corner of Eric’s lips quirks upwards at her. Nodding his head, he raises his hand up and gives her a small wave, “Bye, Daeun.” 

And with that, she turns around and walks away from him. He watches as she leaves, staring at the way her blonde hair flows with the cold, Winter wind. A tear finally falls past his eye when the cursed memory comes to mind, the sight of Daeun getting smaller and smaller as she walks away being all too familiar to him. 

Eric steps out of the elevator and hurries over to the entrance, heart thrumming with excitement at finally meeting with you this week. Ever since last weekend, he hasn’t been able to see you because you were so busy, so when he got a text that you were outside of his apartment complex? 

He immediately sprinted out of his apartment wearing his shark slippers. 

Pushing open the doors, he smiles widely when he sees you standing by the garden, scrolling through your phone as you wait. 

“Yn!” Eric calls out as he hurries down the stairs and walks over to you. You don’t look up at the call of your name, and he comes to a stop when he’s a few feet away from you, but you still don’t look at him.

“Yn?” He says in a smaller voice, wondering if you’re okay when you bite the inside of your cheek. He watches as you pocket your phone, and he feels anxiety settle in his chest when you finally look up at him.

Your gaze is hard, no sight of the stars that he’s come to know and love over the years. 

“I-I was surprised when you texted me that you’re outside of my building. I even sprinted out here wearing my beloved shark slippers, see?” Eric explains with a small laugh, gesturing towards his slippers in an attempt to make you feel more at ease. He glances back up into your eyes, and his laughter dies down when you stay quiet, no emotion in your gaze. 

Biting his bottom lip, he points back towards his apartment, “Do you wanna come inside? I can make your favorite–”

“Let’s break up.” 

The rest of the sentence dies in Eric’s throat at your words, turning to you with furrow to his eyebrows as he tries to gauge what you just said. He blinks, “W-What?” 

Staring at him with cold eyes, you let out a breath and turn your head to the side. He can hear his heartbeat in his ears as he looks at you, wondering if he had just misheard you while he waits for you to repeat what you said. 

But his heart sinks when you turn back to him and repeat, 

“Let’s break up, Eric.” 

His eyes widen, and he stumbles back a step like your words physically dealt a blow. He looks at you in confusion, “Why would we break up? It’s almost our four year anniversary, and we’ve been doing great–”

“I’m tired.” You cut off, and Eric just stares at you in silence. Running a hand through his hair, he takes a step forward, searching your eyes for any sort of humor, like this is all some kind of sick prank you’re pulling on him. 

But he doesn’t find anything. 

“What’s wrong, yn? Why are you saying this? Are you going through a tough time right now? You know that we can handle it together.” 

“I don’t want to date you anymore, Eric. Don’t you understand that?” You ask, a blank expression on your face as you look at him. He sucks in a breath, before violently shaking his head at your words. 

“N-No. What happened, yn? What happened in the week that we didn’t see each other? Did I do something wrong? What did I do? I’ll fix whatever it is that I did, just, please. Can we please talk about this?” Eric asks, tears pricking the back of his eyes as he feels himself beginning to grow desperate. You can only stare at the ground in silence, and the blonde reaches out to gently grasp your warm hands in his cold ones. 

“Yn, please. I-I love you, and you love me. We can work this out if you just talk to me and tell me what happened. If it’s something I did, I can fix it. I’ll do anything to fix this, so please–” 

“What makes you think I still love you?” You ask, slowly lifting your head until you’re staring directly into his eyes. 

You see the exact moment his heart breaks, and the pain that floods his gaze as he looks at you. A single tear falls past Eric’s eye, and his hands fall back to his sides as he shakes his head. 

“You don’t mean that.” Eric mutters, and you just stare at him in silence, and that’s all he needs to realize that you’re being serious. 

“I'll drop off your stuff later this week, and you can just drop off my stuff whenever.” You tell him, before turning around and walking away without another word. The blonde bites his bottom lip and shakes his head, shouting out after you, 

“Why do we have to break up?! How can you just end it, after everything?! How could you leave me?!” 

But you don’t turn around, and Eric just stands there like a fool, tears falling from his eyes as he just watches you get smaller and smaller, until you eventually disappear. 

You stare at the top of Younghoon’s head while he studies, nose deep into his book as he tries to focus on the material. You’re debating on how to ask him to attend Nayeon’s party with you on Friday, because you know that he’s not a fan of social gatherings. 

You’re so deep in thought that you fail to see him look up at you, an amused smile forming on his face when he notices the dazed look in your eyes. It’s only when he reaches out and taps the tip of your nose that you realize he’s caught you staring, and you let out a quiet laugh. 

“How long was I daydreaming?” You ask, and the black haired beauty shrugs his shoulders while giving you a grin. “About a minute or so.” 

“That’s not that bad.” You say, and he points at you with the highlighter in his hand, “But you were staring at me for at least ten minutes before that.”

“Damn, you noticed?” 

“You were practically burning holes into the top of my head from how hard you were staring at me. I can tell that something’s on your mind though, what’s up?” Younghoon asks you as he glances down at his book to highlight a sentence really quickly. You tap your nails against the table, slightly annoyed at how easy it is for him to read you now. 

It really puts a dent in your plans.

“So… you know how Nayeon and I got lunch the other day?” Younghoon nods his head yes, and you bite your bottom lip as you try to think of how to phrase the next part. He bites back a giggle at the slight frown on your face, and he reaches across the table, making you freeze in your tracks when he gently rubs his thumb on the crease between your eyebrows until you relax. 

“What’s making you so concerned that you’re frowning?” He teases in a gentle voice, but you can only swallow the lump that’s formed in your throat as you stare at your boyfriend sitting before you. From his pretty smile, to the fondness in his eyes as he looks at you, you want nothing more than to just focus on him. 

But you find your mind trailing to the thought of those warm brown eyes that often held mischief in them, and that sweet smile that had the ability to brighten even the darkest of days. 

“Eric! Stop throwing turtle shells at me!” You shout from the couch, and the blonde just lets out a cackle as he throws another turtle shell at you. You let out a loud groan when you lose once again, tossing your controller onto the couch beside you. 

“You are so bad at Mario Kart.” Eric tells you, and your eyes trail down from the TV and to your boyfriend that’s seated on the floor in front of the couch. He’s looking at you with a shit-eating grin, knowing damn well that he only won because he had decided to ruin your day. 

Blinking your eyes, you stand up and whack the back of his neck, eliciting a squeak out of him. Stepping over him, you head in the direction of the kitchen to get a snack, a deep frown setting on your features since you are a very competitive person. 

But so is Eric.

“Yn! Come on, I was kidding!” You hear Eric call out from behind you, the sound of him scrambling up from the floor to follow after you. You refuse to turn around and enter the kitchen, opening the door to the pantry to look over your chip collection. 

The feeling of arms wrapping around your waist from behind makes your heart rate speed up slightly, but you’re still too stubborn to turn around in his hold. He lets out a breath when you reach out and grab a bag of chips to check if you want to eat it, knowing that you’re ignoring him because you’re mad. 

“I’m sorry, darling. You and I both know that you’re the best at Mario Kart.” 

He bites back his smile when you physically pause at his words, and he internally celebrates when you finally turn around in his hold. He immediately lets out a coo when he sees the frown on your face, finding you to be incredibly cute as he stares into your eyes while you glare at him. 

“We’re having a rematch after my snack break.” You order, and he nods his head at you with a grin. Feeling slightly satisfied at his compliance, you’re about to turn back around when he lets go of your waist and reaches up to cup your face instead. Moving to ask him what he’s doing, you’re rendered speechless when he suddenly leans in and presses a soft kiss to the crease that was between your eyebrows. 

Leaning back, he smiles softly when he sees that the crease is now gone, your features now more relaxed as you look at him in surprise. He gently pinches your cheeks, before murmuring with warmth dripping from his gaze, 

“My pretty, pretty love.”

“Yn? What was it that you wanted to ask me?” Younghoon’s voice snaps you out of the memory, and you bite the inside of your cheek at the fact that you were reminded of him again. Your foot taps against the floor as you remember what you need to ask your boyfriend, and you let out a shaky breath. 

“Nayeon is hosting a party with her friends this Friday, and she wants you and I to come.” You tell him, and the black haired beauty purses his lips in distaste at the mention of a party. He reaches up and rubs the back of his neck, “Yn, you know that I’m not a big fan of–”

“I know.” You interrupt, and he waves his hand to signal you to keep talking. Nodding your head, you continue, “I know you don’t like parties, but I really want you to meet some of my friends. We don’t even have to stay that long! Just a couple hours, and then we can go back to your place and watch a movie or something.”

Younghoon stares at you for a moment once you finish, letting your words settle in as you await his response. Pressing his lips into a thin line, he eventually lets out a small smile and rests his hand over yours on the table. 

“Since you really want me to go, I’ll go with you and make sure that we have fun together.” Younghoon says, and a relieved smile takes over your features. You give his hand a squeeze, “Thank you, Younghoon. I really appreciate you doing this for me.” 

And the black haired beauty nods at you with an indecipherable emotion in his eyes, “I’d do anything for you, yn.”

“Alright, Eric. It’s time to get out of bed!” The redhead lets out a groan at the loud voices, and he rolls onto his stomach so that he can cover his ears with his pillow. 

He sighs when the pillow is snatched out of his grasp, and he turns his head to find Sunwoo and Hyunjun standing over him. He blinks at the two of them, noticing the subtle waves in Sunwoo’s peach colored hair, and the dangly earrings that adorn Hyunjun’s ears. Leaning back a bit in his bed, he quickly realizes that the two are dressed very nicely for just coming into his room to wake him up.

“Did I wake up at Paris Fashion Week or something cause why the fuck are you both dressed so nice?” Eric asks as he points to the both of them, and Sunwoo raises an eyebrow at him. “I told you that Ryujin is hosting a party with her friends tonight.”

Eric bites his bottom lip and rests his head against the mattress, “Ah, you did tell me that.” 

“Exactly, so start getting ready or else Hyunjun is going to make you take three shots of vodka if you’re not done in ten minutes.” 

Eric immediately sits up in bed and squints at the black haired beauty, “You wouldn’t.” 

To which Hyunjun just smirks at him with a quirk of his eyebrow, before turning around and leaving the room. Eric lets out a loud groan when he hears the sound of his kitchen cabinets opening only a moment later, and from there he’s got his answer. 

“Is there a dress code?” Eric asks Sunwoo once he climbs off his bed and walks over to his closet, pushing through the hangers to see what shirt he should wear. His friend just shrugs his shoulders, plopping down onto his bed as he watches the redhead search through his clothes. 

“No, why would there be a dress code?” 

Eric snorts and shoots Sunwoo a look, “Considering the fact that you and Hyunjun dressed like you’re about to walk the runway, I was assuming I should dress like I’m about to meet the fashion god.” 

“And who would be the fashion god?” Sunwoo asks with a grin, to which Eric quickly answers once he pulls out his black button down from the closet,

“Xu Minghao.” 

Sunwoo purses his lips and nods his head in agreement, getting up from his bead with a sigh once he hears the sound of glasses clinking together in the kitchen. He points out the bedroom door, “I think Hyunjun’s about to clear your liquor cabinet since he’s too eager to drink, so I’m going to go and put a stop to the menace.” 

“He said he’d give me ten minutes to get ready, but that bitch is already taking my alcohol.” Eric mutters, and Sunwoo chuckles with a roll of his eyes. “Hurry up and come out so that Hyunjun won’t go feral.” 

“Got it.” Eric says with a quiet laugh, and with that, Sunwoo steps out of the room. When he hears the sound of his two friends laughing in the kitchen, he rests his forehead onto his hanged clothes as a frown takes over his features when he remembers something.

“Isn’t Ryujin roommates with someone I know?” 

You’re sitting on the couch with Younghoon as you listen to him and Nayeon chat enthusiastically about how Tata’s character design doesn’t deserve the hate that it gets. There’s a small smile playing on your lips at how passionate the two are over the heart shaped character, feeling a bit tipsy from the few shots you and Younghoon were forced to take with Nayeon as soon as you walked in.

You suppose this was good for your boyfriend though, considering how much more talkative he is now that he’s slightly inebriated. 

Letting out a breath, your eyes gaze around the living room, seeing groups of people doing different things. It ranges from those dancing to the music playing through the speakers, to people playing cup pong over near the stairs. You glance over at the kitchen and see the doors leading to the balcony down the hallway, and the corner of your lips quirks upwards at the thought of fresh air. 

Turning to Younghoon and Nayeon again, you see your boyfriend nodding his head enthusiastically to every word the blonde is saying about Tata. Biting your bottom lip, you reach out and rest your hand on Younghoon’s knee to get his attention, to which he just rests his hand over yours without glancing back at you.

Letting out a chuckle, you squeeze his knee, and he slowly turns to look at you. A smile immediately forms on his face when he looks into your eyes, and you grin back at him. 

“I’m going to go outside for a bit, it’s too hot in here.” 

“Do you want me to come with you?” Younghoon asks, and you shake your head with a teasing smile on your face as you stare into his brown eyes. “It’s okay, I’ll only be gone for a few minutes. Besides, you’re having a very serious conversation with Nayeon about the hatred Tata faces.” 

You watch as a wave of determination floods his eyes from the reminder of his last conversation, and you laugh at the sight. Standing up from the couch, you signal to Nayeon that you’re going outside, and she gives you a thumbs up. As you start to head towards the back door, you can already hear Younghoon and Nayeon sparking up their conversation once again. 

“Eric~ take another shot with me.” Hyunjun says in a singsong voice as he holds out the shot glass to the redhead, and Sunwoo grimaces slightly when Eric grabs it and downs the alcohol right away. He already knows that his two friends are shitfaced, and while he’s a bit drunk himself—he’s sure that he won’t be throwing up in the morning. 

Sunwoo lets out a sigh when Eric rests his forehead onto the kitchen counter after Hyunjun disappears to get some more alcohol, and he walks up and gently pats his best friend’s back. “Eric, do you want me to go get you some water?” 

Eric only groans in response, which Sunwoo takes as a yes. He lets the redhead know that he’ll be right back, and walks in the direction of the fridge to grab a couple water bottles since he’s already decided on forcing the water down Hyunjun’s throat as well. 

You squeeze past the different groups of people, your lips pulling downwards in distaste at all the sweaty bodies you’ve had to push through. Your eyes brighten when you finally see the doors to the backyard, and you hurry past the kitchen and into the hallway. 

You suck in a deep breath of fresh air when you finally push through the doors and walk out onto the balcony, feeling grateful that you’re alone as you walk over to the railing. Resting your forearms onto the cool surface, you stare up at the stars that adorn the sky with a sad smile playing on your lips. 

“Why do the stars always remind me of him?” You whisper to yourself, letting out a sigh as you lower your head.

The doors bursting open behind you make you jump up and glance back, eyes wide as you stare at the top of the person’s head. They’re slouched against the door, head hanging as they stare at the ground in their drunken state. 

“Are you okay?” You tentatively ask, staring at their red hair as their grip on the door handle tightens. You’re about to step forward to check on the person, only to stop when they finally look up and lock eyes with you.

Eric’s standing there, hand gripping the door handle for dear life to keep his balance as he stares into your eyes. The two of you haven’t been this close in months, having kept your distance a month after the break up. You know he’s not in the right state of mind based on the alcohol you smell on him, because he knows better than to try and talk to you. 

“Yn.” Eric slurs out, and you clench your jaw at your name falling past his lips. He blinks slowly as he looks at you, and he can start to hear his heartbeat against his ears when he’s reminded of how beautiful you are. 

“I didn’t know you were at this party.” He murmurs as he attempts to take a step forward, and you’re about to reach out to catch him when he almost immediately loses his balance once he lets go of the door. However, he catches himself by grabbing onto the railing, and the sound of the door closing behind him is heard as you slowly lower your arms back to your sides. 

“Nayeon invited me and Younghoon.” You tell him, and you fail to notice his grip tightening around the railing at the mention of your boyfriend. He blinks at you slowly, unable to believe that you’re real as the moonlight casts a pretty glow over your features. 

And you stare at him, feeling your heart pang when you see all the stars make its way back into those warm brown eyes of his the longer he looks at you.

Biting the inside of your cheek, you turn away and face the door. Pointing towards it, you mutter, “I’m leaving now. You can have the balcony to yourself.” 

You walk past him to get to the door without waiting for a response, and right as you reach out to grab the handle, you feel his cold hand gently grasp onto your wrist. You freeze in your spot, staring at the door with wide eyes as he continues to hold onto you. 

“Eric, let go.” You say, but he doesn’t move. Silence falls over the two of you as the cold Winter air breezes past you, and you find yourself wondering why you aren’t doing anything. 

Why are you just standing there, allowing him to hold onto you? Why aren’t you cursing at him, removing your arm from his grasp? 

Why is your heart pounding against your chest at the fact that you’re alone with him after six months of staying away?

You shut your eyes, knowing that your boyfriend is just waiting for you inside of the house. Sucking in a breath, you try again, “Eric—”

“I miss you.” He finally says, his voice being well below a whisper that you almost didn’t hear him. You don’t move, blinking down at the ground with tired eyes as he clings to your arm like a lifeline. 

You bite your bottom lip, refusing to look at him as you respond, “Eric, we can’t do this.” 

“I miss us, yn.” 

You stay quiet, trying to fight away the tears that are threatening to spill from your eyes. You tilt your head up towards the night sky, staring up at the stars to try and distract yourself from your ex-boyfriend. 

“You don’t miss me?” Eric whispers, and you blink up at the sky, feeling a wave of frustration wash over you when all you can think about when you look at the stars is him. Eric feels tears flood his eyes as he stares at the back of your head in a drunken haze, wanting nothing more than for you to turn around so that he can see your face again. He takes a small step forward, “You don’t miss us?” 

Your eyebrows furrow at the question, and you slowly lower your head so that you’re staring at the door handle again. You finally turn so that you’re facing the redhead, and you feel your throat constrict when you see the glassiness to his eyes as he stares at you. 

Your eyes are cold as you look at him, similar to that of the night you broke up with him. However, he notices an emotion to them that he knows all too well, for it’s the same one he sees whenever he looks at himself in the mirror.

Pain.

“No, I don’t miss you. I don’t miss us.” You state and yank your arm out of his grasp. You watch as his hand slowly lowers back to his side, and you silently curse to yourself for the guilt that’s flooding your chest as you look at him. Sucking in a breath, you turn away and point towards the door, “Can I leave now?” 

He stays quiet, just staring down at the ground as you wait for his response. Letting out a sigh, you turn around and walk towards the door. Reaching out to grab the handle, you’re about to open it when you hear him mutter something that makes you stop in your tracks. 

You glance back at him, “What did you just say?”

Eric’s staring at you, leaning against the railing as he lets out a dry laugh. Running a hand through his red hair, he turns away as he repeats himself, 

“Leaving me is as easy as ever for you, isn’t it?” 

Your eyebrows furrow at this, “That’s not true.” 

“Isn’t it, though?” Eric asks, turning back to face you with a tired gaze. Your eyes latch onto the tear that’s managed to escape his eye, following it as it slowly trails down his cheek. He gestures to you with his hand, “You suddenly left me after almost four years of being together, and never gave an explanation as to why because you cut off all contact with me. And now that we’re here, you’re leaving me again.” 

You squint at him, “That doesn’t mean it was easy for me.” 

“It sure as hell seemed easy.” Eric retorts, and you press your lips together in a thin line. Rolling your eyes, you turn back around, “Whatever, I’m not doing this right now cause you’re fucking drunk.” 

“You LEFT me, yn. You left, not me!” Eric exclaims right when your hand rests on the door handle, and you feel a burst of anger flood through you at his words. Turning around, you walk right up to Eric and poke his chest, causing him to take a step back as his eyes widen. 

“YOU’RE the one who wanted me to leave!” You yell, and his eyebrows furrow in confusion.  

“What are you talking about–”

“YOU’RE the one who fucking got drunk and moped to all our friends about how you weren’t ready for commitment and that you wanted to be single again! It was YOU!” You shout, and his eyes widen when he’s reminded of that drunken night six months ago.

“Eric, why did you have to get so shitfaced?” Hyunjun whines after Eric’s head almost slams forward onto the table, but Sunwoo had shoved his hand out right away so that he could catch the blonde before he hurt himself. 

“I already called yn, so they should be closeby now.” Sunwoo tells Hyunjun, to which he nods his head while patting Eric’s back.

“I’m scared.” Eric mutters, voice muffled by the table. Sunwoo and Hyunjun exchange a glance, before leaning towards the blonde, “What are you scared of?” 

“The future. Adulthood. Marriage.” Hyunjun raises an eyebrow at Eric’s answer, and he turns away to take a sip of water. 

“Is that why you decided to get shitfaced?” Sunwoo asks, and he watches as the blonde nods his head against his hand. He lets out a small smile at how drunk Eric is, waiting for his friend to continue speaking as he glances out the window of the restaurant to see if you’ve arrived yet. 

Eric lifts up his head and glances at Sunwoo, before turning towards Hyunjun. He sniffles and wipes at his nose, “Yn and I were talking about what we’ll do when we graduate, and when we think it’ll be a good time to get married. I freaked out after they left because I realized that we’re like, actually growing up and have to save money to start the rest of our lives.” 

Hyunjun presses his lips into a thin line, understanding his friend’s fears as he continues to pat Eric’s back. “I understand where you’re coming from, but you’ll have us and yn to help navigate this whole adulting shit with you.” 

“What if I’m not ready though?” Eric begins, and Sunwoo bites the inside of his cheek when he notices the slight panic in his eyes. “What if I can’t find a job that’ll help support yn and I when we get married? Everything is so expensive nowadays, and then we’re eventually going to start a family—oh God. I need another shot.”

Sunwoo frowns when the blonde reaches out and downs another shot, “Are you saying you don’t want to get married to yn?”

Eric blinks tiredly at his friend after he sets the glass down, before his head falls onto the table a second time, with Hyunjun there to catch him this time. 

And you stand by the wall, hidden from the three as you stare down at the floor with wide eyes at what you just heard. Feeling a tear fall past your eye, you cover your mouth to hold back the sob from escaping your lips, and turn around and walk out of the restaurant.

Something wet falls onto the tip of your nose, snapping you out of the memory. Blinking in confusion, you and Eric both look up towards the sky, watching as the first snow of the year begins to descend down onto the two of you. 

You let out a breath when the saying comes to mind, and you let out a quiet laugh at the irony of it all.

If you witness the first snowfall with someone, true love will blossom between both and it will be long-lasting.

Lowering your head so that you’re facing him again, you find Eric already staring at you with tears falling from his eyes. You bite the inside of your cheek, ignoring the way your vision blurs with tears of your own as you harshly poke his chest while you hiss out,

“I may have made the decision to leave first, but mentally? You had already left.” 

And with that, you turn around and move towards the door, only to freeze when you lock eyes with Younghoon. His hand is on the door handle, a pained expression on his face as he looks between you and Eric. There’s snowflakes melting on his black hair, signaling that he’s been out here with you and Eric since the snow first began to fall. 

You quickly wipe away the tears falling from your eyes and take a tentative step forward, reaching out to rest your hand over his, “Y-Younghoon, when did you get here—” 

The rest of the question dies in your throat when he flinches away from your touch, and you slowly let your arm fall back to your side. You stare into his eyes, feeling your vision begin to blur when he doesn’t make a move towards you.

“Younghoon, you know that I—”

“I knew that it would be hard for you to get over him.” Younghoon finally speaks, looking at the redhead with an indecipherable emotion in his eyes. Eric bites his bottom lip and shakes his head, “I was the one who kept yn here, they didn’t want anything to do with me—” 

“Yet I would’ve thought that you had gotten over him by now, but based on the tears falling from your eyes… I can see that I was bold to even think that.” Your boyfriend states, and before you can utter another word, he turns around and walks off the balcony. Guilt floods your chest, and you immediately fling open the door and follow after him to try and talk it out. 

Leaving Eric alone outside, the first snowfall of the year falling around him as he stares blankly at the door you had left through. Tears fall from his eyes, and he glances down at the ground as he lets out a dry laugh. 

“It was all my fault.” He murmurs to himself, unable to remember what happened the rest of that night because he blacked out.

He slowly sinks to the ground, bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. Another laugh escapes him, then another, until it eventually turns into sobs as he sits alone on the balcony.

It’s only moments later when Sunwoo finds him, shivering from the cold as he sobs into his best friend’s arms. He’s only able to mutter that it’s his fault, that it was all his fault, until he passes out. 

You’re sitting at a bar, cheek resting against the table as the bass of the music vibrates through the furniture. You came by yourself an hour ago, and downed five drinks on an empty stomach within that hour alone.

And now you’re drunk.

It’s been a week since the party, and Younghoon hasn’t answered any of your calls or texts. You haven’t seen him on campus either, and you can only assume that he’s doing his best to avoid you.

Not that you can blame him, though.

You bite the inside of your cheek at the reminder of his pained expression when he looked at you, another wave of guilt washing over you as you let out a groan. You raise your hand up without lifting your head, and you hear the bartender ask you what you’d like. 

Right as you’re about to answer, you feel your hand get lowered, and a familiar voice replies from behind you, “I think they’ve had enough, thank you.”

Your eyebrows furrow, and you lift your head to look behind you, just to see Sunwoo sitting down in the seat beside you with a grin on his face. Your frown deepens when you realize that there’s a hand still resting over your own, and you turn your head, just to lock eyes with Hyunjae, who’s giving you a small smile. 

Your bottom lip quivers when you see your best friend, and he lets out a quiet laugh when tears immediately flood your eyes. He opens his arms without a word, and you quickly step into his embrace, a sob escaping your lips as soon as his comforting scent floods your nose.

He rests his cheek on your head, gently rubbing your back as you cry into his chest. He quietly mutters, “Cry it out, it’s okay. It’ll be okay, yn. I promise.”

And you cry. You cry so hard that you can barely breathe as you cling onto Hyunjae like a lifeline. 

But deep down, you don’t want to accept just who exactly you are crying over.

Sunwoo comes up to the table and places a glass of water in front of you, giving you a comforting smile as he sits down across from you. You let out a small grin, “Long time no see, Sunwoo.” 

“I would ask how you’ve been, but I can already see that you’ve had better days.” Sunwoo says, and you poke your tongue into your cheek as you turn away. Hyunjae snorts at your reaction, and Sunwoo chuckles while reaching out to pat the top of your head. 

“You sobered up a bit?” Hyunjae asks, and you nod your head as you take a large gulp of water, having not realized how dehydrated you were. “I’m tipsy at best, but not as shitfaced as I was earlier.” 

Sunwoo glances at Hyunjae after your answer, and you watch as they seem to start talking through their gazes. Feeling a bit left out, you pat the table, getting their attention back on you.

“Can I ask why you and Hyunjae came to get me? I understand Hyunjae since he’s my best friend, but you and I haven’t spoken since…” You trail off, finding yourself unable to say the two words for some reason. Sunwoo presses his lips together and finishes the sentence for you, “The break up.” 

You bite the inside of your cheek and nod your head, feeling a bit more guilt weight itself over you for practically cutting off all contact with Sunwoo and Hyunjun after you and Eric broke up. You already knew that they were shocked when you ended things with him, and you had assumed they had ill feelings towards you for the way you broke it off. 

You felt even worse when you had to keep calling Sunwoo or Hyunjun to come and pick up Eric from your doorstep for two months straight. 

“When I found Eric on the balcony a week ago, he told me what you said.” Sunwoo begins, and you glance down at the reminder of your argument. He shares a glance with Hyunjae, before letting out a breath, “I don’t think you got the whole story of that night Eric got shitfaced.”

Your eyebrows furrow, and you look up to see Sunwoo looking at you, trying to gauge your reaction. You rest your hands on the table, “How could I have gotten the story wrong when I heard everything you guys said? You were the one who even called me to come and pick Eric up.”

“But you left and called me to come pick up Eric instead, who was passed out by the time I got there.” Hyunjae interjects, and you shake your head. “I only left after hearing that Eric wanted to break up with me.” 

“Eric never said he wanted to break up with you.” Sunwoo states, and you blink at this. Leaning closer to the table, you look between Sunwoo and Hyunjae in confusion, “What do you mean?” 

Sunwoo sighs, “That night, you didn’t hear everything that was said.” 

“What if I’m not ready though?” Eric begins, and Sunwoo bites the inside of his cheek when he notices the slight panic in his eyes. “What if I can’t find a job that’ll help support yn and I when we get married? Everything is so expensive nowadays, and then we’re eventually going to start a family—oh God. I need another shot.”

Sunwoo frowns when the blonde reaches out and downs another shot, “Are you saying you don’t want to get married to yn?”

Eric blinks tiredly at his friend after he sets the glass down, before his head falls onto the table a second time, with Hyunjun there to catch him this time. 

“Eric, I get that you’re shitfaced, but you gotta stop trying to get a concussion.” Hyunjun murmurs sleepily after a moment of silence falls over the three of them, taking a sip of water as he feels the frown that forms on Eric’s face from what he said. 

Sunwoo nudges the blonde’s knee, “Eric, do you not want to get married to yn?” 

Eric shakes his head, reaching out and slapping Sunwoo’s arm for continuing to bring up that question. “Why do you keep asking that? When did I say that?” 

“It’s what you’re making it sound like.” Sunwoo says with a soft laugh, rubbing the part of his arm that Eric smacked. The blonde shuts his eyes and lets out a short burp, eliciting a grin from Hyunjun, “I’m just scared about not being enough for them, you know? What if I fail at being able to give them the life they deserve?” 

“That’s not only your responsibility though, Eric. You and yn need to work together to be able to attain the life that you both deserve.” Hyunjun tells him, and Eric lets out a yawn as he keeps his eyes closed. A small smile forms on his lips as your smile comes to mind, and he quietly murmurs before he passes out, 

“I’m in love with yn, I don’t ever want to be apart from them.”

You stare down at the table with wide eyes after Sunwoo finishes telling you the whole story, tears flooding them as you think of what you’ve done. Hyunjae watches in concern when you clench your fists over your legs, biting your bottom lip to try and fight the sob that threatens to escape. 

“Yn, say something–”

“It’s my fault.” You whisper, raising a shaky hand up to your head to push back your hair. You shut your eyes tightly as you reach up, covering your face with your hands, “It’s all my fucking fault.”

“Yn?” 

You let out a sob, all the flashes of Eric’s pained face whenever he looked at you coming to mind as your mistake sinks in. You grip at your hair, trying to take a deep breath but ultimately failing when you find yourself crying even harder. 

“Almost e-every night for two months, h-he came to my door and waited for me so that we could talk, but I just left him out there.” You cry, and Hyunjae reaches out and softly rubs your back to try and comfort you. 

You slam your hand down onto the table, and Sunwoo bites the inside of his cheek when he sees how heartbroken you look as you keep your gaze casted downwards. “If I h-had just given him the chance to talk to me, then this wouldn’t have happened. Instead, I was just so fucking cruel to him because I thought he didn’t want to be with me anymore. I’m such a bitch.”

Hyunjae takes a table napkin from the stand and holds it out over your nose, and you shoot him a glance, but he just shakes the napkin in front of you. “Blow your nose.”

“T-That’s gross.” You hiccup, and Hyunjae squints at you while pushing the napkin onto your nose. “We’ve been friends for years, I don’t care. Blow.”

Much to your dismay, you lean in and blow your nose into the napkin that Hyunjae’s holding for you. Sunwoo gives you a sad smile when you lean back from the napkin, and Hyunjae stands up to throw it away. 

“Yn, you know that you need to talk to Eric, right?” You slowly nod your head, staring down at the table with a faraway look to your eyes as tears trail down your cheeks. You blink when the feeling of a hand falls over yours, and you look up to see Sunwoo’s thumb rubbing circles onto the back of your hand.

“But before you talk to Eric, you need to sort out your feelings first and figure out what you want.” Sunwoo tells you, and you bite your bottom lip when you remember the pained expression on Younghoon’s face when he saw you with Eric. 

You look at Sunwoo, feeling helpless as you murmur, “Sunwoo, I don’t know what I want.” 

And he wordlessly raises his hand, reaching out and wiping away the tear that escapes your left eye. He gives you a small smile, 

“I think you know exactly what you want, you just have to figure out how to accept it.” 

You’re sitting at a table by the window of the cafe, staring down at the foam design on your matcha tea as you wait for Younghoon to arrive. You glance up at the sound of the bells coming from the entrance, just to let out a breath when you see that he’s not the one who entered.

It’s been almost three weeks since you and Younghoon spoke at the party, and after spending a lot of time thinking, you reached out to him and asked if he wanted to meet at the cafe where the two of you had your first date. You weren’t expecting a response, but he texted you back moments later saying that he’ll meet you there.

“Yn.” You look up from the table, just to stand up from your seat when you find yourself staring into Younghoon’s eyes. 

“Younghoon, hi.” You say in a soft voice, and he musters a small smile as he nods his head in greeting. You gesture towards the seat in front of you, “Sit, I already ordered your drink for you.” 

He glances down at the latte art on top of his coffee, letting out a breath as he mutters a quiet thanks before sitting down. You sit down as well, watching in silence as he takes a sip of his coffee, and gently lowers the cup back down onto the saucer. 

Silence lays itself over the two of you as you both just stare down at the table, unsure of how to bring up the elephant in the room. You know that you should speak up first, but the fear towards how he may react makes it hard for you to say something.

“We had our first date here.” Younghoon starts in a soft voice, and you look up to see him facing the window, a fond look in his eye as he remembers that day. You nod your head, letting out a soft laugh as you mutter, ��I spilled my matcha onto your shoes.” 

“And they’re still stained, thanks to you...”

“I said I was sorry!” You choke out, and Younghoon laughs at your reaction. You bite the inside of your cheek, leaning back into your chair with a lingering smile on your face as he casts his eyes downward towards his coffee. 

“I always knew from the moment you agreed to go out with me, that our relationship would just be temporary.” Younghoon mutters, and you slowly glance up to see him staring at you with a sad look in his eyes. The corner of his lips quirks upwards, “But even with that knowledge, I was still happy that I got the chance to be with you.” 

You bite the inside of your cheek, “Younghoon…” 

“I know I’m a fool to think like this, but back then, I fell in love the moment I saw you smile for the first time.” He confesses, and you feel tears prick at the back of your eyes as he smiles softly at the memory. “Every time I saw you on campus, you were just so… radiant. You were like a star in the sky that I knew I would never get the chance to see from up close, but I was content from watching you shine from afar. That was until you and Eric broke up.” 

He lets out a shaky breath, folding his hands together underneath the table before continuing, “I became greedy? I guess you could say? When I saw that I had a chance, I took it, knowing very well that there would be a deadline to our relationship. Even then, I still had the smallest bit of hope that maybe I was wrong—that maybe we could last.” 

A tear finally falls past your eye when Younghoon’s gaze trails up back to you, and he gives you a smile with tears flooding his own eyes as he looks at you. He tsks to himself, reaching out and resting his hand on your cheek. He tenderly wipes away the tear that escaped your eye as he mutters, “Always such a crybaby.” 

“I’m sorry, Younghoon.” You blurt out, and he shakes his head. “I knew what I signed up for the moment I confessed to you, you don’t need to apologize.” 

“How can you say that? You should be angry with me—hate me, even! You should be cursing me out, swearing that you never want to see me again!” You exclaim as more tears fall past your eyes, and Younghoon just continues to smile at you with a loving gaze. You bite your bottom lip and lean back, pointing at him as his hand slowly falls to the table, “D-Don’t look at me like that!”

“Like what?”

“Like I didn’t do anything wrong!” You cry out, and he stays quiet as you wipe away the tears falling from your eyes. You clench your fist at your side, “I agreed to date you when I was still in love with Eric, I stayed with you for three months when you and I both knew that I still wasn’t over him. I’m a fucking… rat bastard, I don’t know. You shouldn’t be so kind to me when I was just leading you to believe that we would last.” 

Younghoon just stares at you as you cry even more, silence falling over the two of you with the sound of your sniffling filling the air. A small smile forms on his face after a moment, and he coos at you as he moves to wipe away the tears falling down your face, but quickly stops himself. Biting the inside of his cheek, he reaches out and picks up a napkin instead, before holding it out to you. 

You look at the napkin, and glance back up at him. He waves it at you silently, and you let out a breath, taking it from his grasp and blowing your nose with it. He lets out a chuckle when you take a deep breath after using the napkin, and you shoot him a glare. 

“You think this is funny?” 

“So now you’re going to scold me for laughing at you blowing your nose like an elephant?” Younghoon asks, and you press your lips into a thin line. He grins at your reaction, before sighing and leaning back into his chair. “Yn, I could never hate you.”

“You should, I’m a—”

“You’re a rat bastard, yes, but I can never hate you or wish for you to be gone from my life.” Younghoon tells you, and you feel your bottom lip begin to quiver as another wave of tears threaten to break out. He glances down at the table, “Of course, I don’t think I can be friends with you until my feelings are gone, because it honestly hurts to see you right now.” 

You nod your head in understanding, and he looks back up at you, the corner of his lips quirking upwards when he sees your puffy eyes. He lets out a breath, “But when the time comes that I can be around you without feeling hurt, then I’d really like for us to be friends, yn.” 

You let out a small smile, a tear escaping as you nod your head. “I’d really like that too, Younghoon.” 

He stares at you with that familiar look of love in his eyes for a moment, trying to ingrain your lovely features into his mind before he distances himself from you. Letting out a breath, he stands up from the table, and you quickly follow suit. 

“Thank you for a lovely three months, yn.” Younghoon says softly, and you huff at the lump that quickly forms in your throat at his words. You reach out and slap his arm, eliciting a laugh from him as he pulls you into his embrace. 

You let out a smile, wrapping your arms around his waist as you close your eyes. Voice muffled into his shoulder, you mutter, “Thank you for a great three months, Younghoon.”

The two of you begin to sway side to side, only for you to let out a squeak when you feel your hip bump into the table. The sound of a cup falling over rings in the air, and you cling onto Younghoon tighter when you don’t feel any liquid fall onto you. 

“Yn.”

“Younghoon.”

“Are you holding me even tighter cause you know that your matcha tea just spilled onto my new shoes?” Younghoon asks you in a quiet voice, and you bite your bottom lip. 

“I’ll venmo you.” 

He sighs, “I’ll send you the price later.” 

Eric sits on the step outside of your apartment, sniffling to himself as he rubs his arms for warmth. He drunkenly rests his head back against the door, blinking his eyes slowly as the fatigue begins to lay itself over him. 

Holding his knees to his chest, he feels himself beginning to fall asleep when the door suddenly opens from behind him. He blinks his eyes open, just to find himself staring at your pretty face as you wrap the warm blanket around him. You look up once you’re sure that it’ll stay on him when you move to go back inside, only to pause when your eyes lock with his.

The two of you stare at each other in silence, with Eric’s bloodshot eyes looking into yours as sleep threatens to pull him under, and you looking at him with a pained gaze as your hands slowly fall back to your sides. 

Biting the inside of your cheek, you move to stand up and head back inside when his cold hand reaches out and grasps your warm one. 

“Yn, can you please talk to me?” Eric murmurs in a sleepy voice, and you feel your breath hitch at his words. He stares at your hand, having missed the warmth of them as his eyes slowly trail up towards your side profile. 

“I want to fix us. If you give me a chance, I’ll do whatever it takes to fix what I did wrong.” He tells you, but you continue to stare at the inside of your house, knowing you should go back inside without listening any further. 

He blinks tiredly, not even noticing your lack of response as his vision blurs. He softly squeezes your hand, “Why… why did you leave me?” 

You tilt your head up towards the ceiling at his question, fighting back the tears that threaten to fall past your eyes as you remind yourself of why you ended things. 

He’s the one that doesn’t see a future with you, not you.

“Do you really not love me anymore?” Eric asks quietly, and you turn to see the tears trailing down his cheeks as he clings onto your hand. Biting the inside of your cheek, you kneel down so that you’re facing him as you adjust the blanket around his shoulders. He blinks at you sleepily, fighting to keep his eyes open so that he can see you properly.

You tentatively reach out and rest your hand on his cheek, wiping away the tears falling from his eyes with your thumb as he leans into your touch. When his eyes begin to fall shut, you quietly whisper, 

“I’ll always love you, Eric.”

He gasps awake in his bed, reaching up and rubbing at his face, just to let out a breath when he feels the wetness to his cheeks. He groans, rolling over onto his stomach so that his face is smushed by his pillow. 

“It’s not real, it was just a dream.” He mutters to himself, voice muffled by his pillow. He frowns at the fact that it was a memory he dreamt of, but he shakes his head when the possibility that it was real comes to mind. 

Sighing, he reaches out blindly towards his bedside table and grabs his phone. Turning his head, he holds his phone close to his face as he reads through his notifications, only to bolt up in bed when a name catches his eye.

yn: eric, can we talk?

i’m outside of your apartment complex

i’ll wait for you

Eric’s eyes widen when he reads the time stamp, and he practically leaps off his bed when he realizes you sent those messages two hours ago. Throwing his sweatshirt over his head, he slides into his slippers and sprints out of his apartment.

He frantically pushes the button for the elevator, the thought that you’ve already left coming to mind once the elevator doors open. He rushes inside and presses the button to go down to the main floor, tapping his foot against the floor as he reaches into his pocket to get his phone so he can send you a text.

Only to pause when he realizes that he left his phone on his bed. 

Cursing to himself, he hurries out the elevator once the doors open to the main lobby, and he practically bursts through the entrance. He breathes heavily as he looks around the front of his apartment complex, but he doesn’t see you anywhere as he lets out a sigh. 

“I missed them.” Eric mutters to himself, about to turn around and head back inside, only to stop in his tracks when he sees you sitting on the staircase beside him. Your head is resting against the wood, fast asleep as you hold your knees to your chest. 

His eyes widen when he sees the goosebumps on your arms, and he quickly takes off his sweatshirt and lays it over your shoulders. You slowly blink your eyes open at the sudden warmth, and you look up to see those familiar brown eyes boring into yours. 

“Eric?”

“Why would you wait for me out here when I didn’t answer your text? You should’ve known that I didn’t see it and went home! It’s the middle of Winter, what if you get sick?!” Eric exclaims in worry, continuing to dote on you as he tries to get his sweatshirt to stay on your shoulders. You bite your bottom lip at the fact that he hasn’t changed at all, he still takes care of you and scolds you like you didn’t completely shatter his heart over a misunderstanding. 

“I don’t know why you would only wear a short sleeve shirt in 40 degree weather—”

“You waited outside of my door for two months after we broke up.” You murmur, making the rest of Eric’s sentence die in his throat when his gaze finally makes its way back up into your eyes. He blinks at the tears that flood them as you look at him, and he glances down when he’s suddenly struck with the cold memory of your last encounter.

He stands up from the step and brushes off his knees as he mutters, “Sorry, I forgot my place.”

He moves to unlock the door of his apartment complex when your cold hand suddenly grasps onto his own, and he slowly turns his head to find you staring at your connected hands with tears trailing down your cheeks. 

“Your hand… it’s warm.” You say, and Eric presses his lips into a thin line as he chooses to stay quiet. You blink to try and get your vision to clear, but it fails as more tears continue to flood your eyes. Letting out a shaky breath, you rest your forehead onto the back of Eric’s hand, and he tilts his head up towards the night sky. 

“Younghoon and I broke up.” You confess, voice so low that the redhead almost doesn’t hear it. He blinks, and glances down at you with wide eyes, “What?” 

You cling onto his hand tighter, “I couldn’t be with him when all I can think about is you.” 

A lump forms in Eric’s throat as he stares down at the top of your head, unable to believe what he’s hearing. The sound of his heartbeat is loud against his ears, and he’s sure that you can hear it on this quiet, Winter night.

He slowly squats down so that the two of you are eye level, and you lift your head up from his hand to look into his glassy eyes. There’s disbelief in his gaze as he looks at you, but you feel a sob bubble up in your chest when you see that familiar look of love mixed in as well. 

“Eric, I’m so sorry.” You finally say, tears trailing down your cheeks as you lower your head. A sob forces its way out of your throat as you rest your forehead onto your guys intertwined fingers, “I-I was stupid and didn’t give you a chance to tell me the truth. I just went with what I heard, and was so hurt by what I thought happened that I acted like such a bitch. I s-should’ve listened to you, but I said such horrible things and I—” 

You’re cut off when you’re suddenly pulled forward, and you open your mouth to protest, but quickly stop when you find yourself wrapped in his warm embrace. Your bottom lip quivers when the familiar scent of his laundry detergent floods your senses, and you let out a loud sob into his shoulder. 

He’s holding back sobs of his own as he holds you tightly in his arms, afraid to let go for the fear of you leaving again. Tears roll down his cheeks as he cups the back of your head with his hand, finally feeling at home after months of being overwhelmed by loneliness. 

“I’m sorry, Eric. I-I’m so sorry.” You cry out, voice muffled by his sweater, and he just closes his eyes as he nuzzles his face into your neck. After a moment of the two of you just holding each other while crying, he gently leans back so that he can look at your pretty face. 

The corner of his lips quirks upwards when he sees your swollen eyes and tear-stained cheeks, and he tenderly reaches out and cups your face in his hands. You stay silent as Eric looks at you, sniffling occasionally as more tears threaten to spill over. 

He leans in and presses a gentle kiss to your forehead, whispering against your skin, 

“I love you.”

Eric pulls away with a small smile on his face, cooing when the tears you were trying to hold back fall from your eyes at those three words. You let out a quiet laugh, one that’s full of heartache and relief as you reply, 

“I love you too.”

Biting your bottom lip, you look down as you begin to mutter another apology, but you’re quickly stopped by Eric tilting your chin upwards and capturing your lips in his. 

After months of staying away, the two of you have finally made your way back to each other. The kiss is messy—desperate, even. It’s sloppy and tastes of salt from the tears the two of you are shedding, and you can’t stop crying out apologies between each kiss as your fingers intertwine with his against your cheek. 

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“I love you.” 

“I love you too, yn.”

When you finally pull away, Eric wipes away the tears under your eyes with the pads of his thumbs. While you wipe at his cheeks with the sleeves of his sweatshirt, gently slapping his shoulder every few seconds as he giggles softly at the sight of your swollen eyes.

He gestures towards his apartment complex when he takes notice of the goosebumps beginning to rise on your arms again, “Let’s go inside, yn.” 

You nod your head, and he helps you stand up from the step. His eyebrows furrow when he sees you shiver slightly when a particularly cold breeze blows past the two of you, and he quickly helps you slip on his sweatshirt that was just laid over your shoulders.

You let out a smile when he pulls the hood over your head, and he grins back at you as he leans in to mutter, 

“I’ll give you clothes to change into at my apartment. I don’t allow outside clothes on my bed.” 

And you let out a laugh at his words, eliciting a giggle from the redhead as you reach out and take hold of his warm hand with your cold one.

Later on that night, when the two of you are laying in bed, Eric rolls over so that he’s facing you. He stares at your sleeping face glowing underneath the moonlight shining in through his window, unable to believe that you’re here as his eyes trail over your pretty features. He carefully intertwines his fingers with yours while you sleep, a soft smile escaping him when he feels your hand permeate warmth into his cold one. His eyes slowly fall shut when you gently squeeze his hand in your sleep, the familiar rhythmic sound of your breathing lulling him to sleep. 

After six months of only being able to live through glimpses of what once was, everything slowly falls back into place since you and Eric have found your way back to one another. 

Now able to live through glimpses of what can be.

ミ★ taglist: @sunlightwoo​ @junjungsunwoo​ @woozisnoots​ @w8nuzone​ @jeonncafe​ @sbnchaos​ @mybbtaeyong4thewin​

[blossominghunnie]

𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞

Pairing: Eric x fem!reader

Genre: Fluff, established relationship

Summary: Studying sucks, but it sucks less when you have your sweet boyfriend by your side.

Warning: None

Notes: Just finished exams and omg, it was the worst week ever. I think I slept like two to three hours per day. 🫠

This week you were living a literal hell, it was exams week. You hated them more than anything in the world and of course you didn’t like to study.

You weren’t the best student but you had pretty decent grades. What made you a not so great student was the fact that you loved procrastinating, which you had been doing until an hour ago.

You had an important exam tomorrow morning and it was getting late, so you had to start soon.

You had learned from your most reliable source (a tiktoker) about the pomodoro method and how having a study buddy helped a lot.

So you decided to FaceTime your boyfriend, Eric, who was on tour now with his group. He was always your support system and biggest fan so you knew that he would be helpful.

“Stop distracting me by looking at me like that.” You giggled as you paused your studying for a minute and looked at him through the screen.

“Like what, sweets?”

“Like you’re in love with me or something.”

“But I’m in love with you.” He laughed. “I thought we had established that a long time ago.”

“Well yeah, but it’s distracting me.” You pouted. “You know I have the attention span of a fish.”

“But I can’t stop looking at you, you’re too pretty.” He smiled sweetly.

“Stooop.” You covered your reddened face. Which made him laugh.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop.” He smiled. “When can I look again?”

“When I finish my 20 minutes, in my breaks you can do anything.”

“Okay, I like that.”

Eric kept his promise and only really interacted with you when you where resting. Well, almost, he kept glancing at you from time to time, thinking of how cute you looked. And admiring your dedication and hard work.

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

The Boyz masterlist || Main masterlist

[sohnric]

sweet like candy – e. sohn

pairing: eric sohn x fem! reader

genre: summer au, strangers to something more ?? fluff, suggestive. very much stargazing by the neighbourgood and fantasize by the boyz capsuled into a fic. eric is a simp and a hopeless romantic because i said so. a girl romanticizes sharing a lollipop (its me im girl)

warnings: alcohol, maybe some minimal swearing, a heated make out session that hints onto a hookup (no smut mentioned!). the use of a cheesy nickname babydoll (dont @ me or i will deactivate), reader has hair long enough for a claw clip

word count: 6.9k

a/n: almost cried while trying to name this fic somebody send help. Also this doesn't feel like my best work its kinda rushed imo but 🤠 yolo

part of the @deoboyznet summer on you event! cant believe i made it on time

a summer tradition of renting out a cabin every year invented by a couple of friends takes a turn for eric when a new addition to the circle brings him to his knees - in other words, he never knew tequila could taste so sweet.

If anyone ever asked Eric Sohn if he believed in love at first sight, he would, without a doubt, say yes. 

What was the proof he had? Well, absolutely nothing. All he ever knew about love at first sight was from romance movies he watched during lonely nights with his roommate Juyeon, never having the experience of the whole world stopping and zooming in on one particular person, taking his breath away– but to put it simply, Eric Sohn is a true romantic. Call him cheesy if you want– he wouldn’t like it, but he also wouldn’t disagree. 

On one summer afternoon, though, his world tilts in its axis– the moment comes, and he is finally able to test out his theory.

You walk out of the passenger’s side of a red 2008 Toyota Auris, hair put up into a claw clip, jean shorts showing off your long legs and a pearl white button-up opened and lazily thrown over your outfit, and suddenly, Eric Sohn finds his knees buckling and his palms sweating with affection. He was aware that Juyeon’s girlfriend was bringing her best friend to tag along to their little summer retreat (more like a trip to a cabin in the middle of the woods), but he sure as hell didn’t expect the stranger to make him feel this type of way. 

Sure, it might just be him being incredibly attracted to you. But with how fast his heart was beating when you smiled at everyone after introducing yourself to the group, he was sure he was slowly, but surely falling for you. And he was falling hard.

He feels like the world is moving in slow motion as he watches the group go and unload the car– you and your best friend Yeri were the last ones to arrive– and what wakes him up from the haze is when he watches you struggle to carry a cooler out of the trunk into the cabin, his legs dragging him closer to the vehicle and near to your body.

Now is his time to shine. “Let me help!” he hurries out, sneakers crunching on the gravel. His hands firmly grab onto the handle of the blue cooler, muscles flexing under the weight (making him wonder why you would willingly want to carry the thing and not ask him or any of the guys for help in the first place), and when your eyes look up at come in contact with his, he presses a smile to his lips. “I’m Eric, by the way.”

“Ah,” you gasp, a grateful expression breezing over your features, “thanks. I’m Y/N, nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Eric hums, watching your every move. Your figure walks over to the front of the car, your head popping in close to the window to look inside, and when a satisfied look overtakes your features, Eric finds himself asking. “Is that everything?”

“Yeah,” you nod, “we can head inside, I think.”

The boy tries hard to keep his cool, he really does. But with how he’s trailing behind you like a lost puppy, attempting to find a topic that would engage him in a conversation with you, he feels like a boy that is just experiencing a crush for the first time in his life. Everything about you is enchanting– and sure, you could say he was just painfully attracted to you and this had nothing to do with love– but he was also convinced that if you asked him to jump off the Empire State Building, he would do it without giving it a second thought (which is kind of worrying, but again– it says a lot). 

You open the door to the cabin for him, and he finds himself speechless at the action. Once your eyes meet again and you offer him another subtle smile, he finds himself gasping at the sentence that comes out of your mouth.

“Hey! We’re matching, kinda,” you note, pointing towards his outfit.

And you’re right– Eric didn’t even notice at first, too enchanted with your sheer existence– but you two were indeed wearing the same thing. Jean shorts, and a white button-up– in your case, thrown over a white tank top, in Eric’s, closed (although he did leave it a bit open at the top, revealing his tanned skin). Suddenly, the boy is glad he’s wearing a red cap to cover up his hair, since he foolishly thinks the hat provides him enough shade in the face to not reveal his burning cheeks as he utters out a weak response.

“It looks so much better on you, though.”

With that, he walks into the cabin– escaping the situation, not really paying a single thought to chivalry and letting you go through the door first– and as he reaches the crowd of people in the kitchen, he prays for all high sources to find him, get to him and wipe his brain clean of all thoughts, because

even though you are basically matching (and he does think you look so much better in the outfit than he does), all he can think about is just how much more he’d like your outfit if the white button-up enveloping your body was the one he’s wearing right now instead.

The next time Eric finds courage to talk to you is when it seems like you’re not finding it to talk to anyone else yourself– the big group is currently sitting around a fire, marshmallows and sausages slowly burning in the blazing flames– and while everyone around was either talking to each other or singing along to the songs Jacob was playing on the guitar, you were sitting alone in the middle of two commotions: Chanhee and Changmin arguing about something seemingly important, and Yeri and Juyeon making out right in front of everyone’s eyes. 

And Eric was supposed to listen to Sunwoo talk about his latest heartbreak– how the man still gets no girls despite having such an objectively handsome face, Eric truly doesn’t know– but the topic of the conversation was too boring for him to engage with it. That, and he was also painfully aware of your every move– you didn’t even move much– and word– you weren’t talking to anybody– and that was slowly driving him insane.

You looked a little out of place. Eric supposes it was because you didn’t really know anyone here– except from your best friend and her awfully sappy boyfriend– but even though it was logical and a little expected for you to be a bit excluded in such a foreign circle, the man took it as his mission to make you feel as welcome and as included as he physically could.

Completely ignoring Sunwoo’s blabbering (like he was doing for the last few minutes anyway), Eric confidently (and a bit shakily– hands sweating and breath hitching in his throat) walks to the other side of the bonfire, from where he’s been watching your stone expression through the flames, and sits down in the small place between you and Changmin. Changmin wasn’t even facing you, too engrossed in the debate he was having with Chanhee, and so it was Eric’s job to wobble his bottom into the place, efficiently making the older boy move away with a light elbow jab sent into his lower back.

“Hi,” he clears his throat, “are you having fun?” he asks, but mentally curses at himself right as the question escapes his mouth– does she look like she's having fun? Of course she doesn't, you stupid idiot.

You smile at the question, though, nodding. “Yeah,” you hum, “having lots of fun listening to your friends argue and my friends making out next to my ear.”

“You seemed like it too, y’know,” Eric laughs, “they’re always like this, by the way. They’ll forget about the fight in the morning.”

“Oh, that could never be me,” you sigh, shaking your head at the sentiment.

“No?”

“No,” you shrug, “I get too petty. If we have a fight, I’m not speaking to you for at least two weeks.”

Eric finds himself laughing at your comment. “I’ll remember that for future reference.”

Straightening your back and looking at your companion– as if you were going to call him out on his subtle hint of there being any future meeting between the two of you– you suddenly gasp and swiftly turn towards the bonfire, an honest mourn escaping your lips.

“Oh fuck!” you curse under your breath as your hand reaches towards a stick that’s had its end in the flame, the device efficiently resting against a rock in a position where you didn’t have to pay any attention to the snack you were cooking– more like burning– for yourself. With a quick move for the stick, you pull the tip of it out of the scorching red of the bonfire and look at it in an examining way, as if the result would be different and the marshmallow would unburn itself if you stared at it long enough. “I completely forgot about this!”

Eric takes a glance at the burnt piece of fluff, letting out a laugh at the black marshmallow in front of your face. “That’s not how you make a good s’more,” he notes, poking fun at your annoyed face.

“Oh, no shit, Sherlock…” you mutter under your breath, but your face looks a bit sad to see the piece go to waste. “I don’t know why I even tried, I’m bad at this stuff.”

There comes his moment, Eric thinks. “Well, you’re lucky, ‘cause you just met an expert at making s’mores.”

“Does a thing like that even exist?” you chuckle, rolling your eyes at the male in disbelief. 

“Of course it does! You’re looking at one now,” he grins, leaning over you to take a brand new marshmallow out of the bag to your right– sandwiched between your thigh and the couple in love– before he reaches over to your hand and takes the roasting stick out of your hand, slides the white fluffy cloud through the sharp tip and hovers it above the flame.

“The key is to hold it above the flame, and not in the flame,” Eric chuckles as he looks at you from the corner of his eye, watching your expression change.

“Oh, but I thought the key is to burn the thing,” you ironically gasp, shaking your head at his teasing. “Where did you even learn all of this?”

“I grew up in the States,” Eric hums, “they would deport me if I didn’t know how to make s’mores.”

The comment gets a giggle out of you– a sound Eric almost folds at and falls into the open fire (thankfully, he held his composure– he doesn’t think 3rd degree burns would suit his look) – and it takes everything in him to not scream like a teenage girl at the thought of making you laugh. Yes, that’s how down bad you managed to get the male.

“Do you have a special recipe?”

“Just the basic one,” he shrugs, turning the skewer in his hand to make the marshmallow equally glazed on each side, “I will make it extra good for you, though.”

“I thought a master always does their best?” you tease, watching as the boy crumbles under your gaze.

“Not always. I don’t like to put effort into things that aren’t worth it,” Eric hums as he takes the marshmallow out of the burning fire, examining it, and after deeming it worthy, taking the skewer and holding it up in between his knees. The male takes a graham cracker and tears it in half, before adding chocolate to one of the sides. After he’s done, he carefully places the golden fluff ball onto the cracker and closes it, offering the sweet sandwich to you with a subtle smile.

“For you,” he winks as he turns back towards the fire, putting another marshmallow onto the stick to make himself a s’more as well (and also mentally kicking himself at the sudden burst of courage). He hears you take a bite out of the snack, his knee bouncing up and down nervously as he awaits the verdict.

“Man,” you hum, “this is so good.”

“Told you,” he says, “if there’s something I’m confident in, it’s making s’mores.”

“That’s a very unuseful skill to have,” you note, but continue to eat. The comment has him chuckle and shrug.

“Well, I used it now, so I’d argue it’s actually very useful.”

A hum cuts out of your throat at this, finishing the s’more he made for you with a satisfied sigh. “Is this how you got girls back in the States?” you ask, making the male choke on his spit.

Eric was too young to get girls when he learned how to make the greatest s’mores. He went camping with his dad and his older sister and he burned a couple before he got it right. He was in middle school and before what the kids call a glow-up these days (back in the days, you just called it overcoming puberty), but still– he decides to test the waters with another lazy, half-assed flirty comment. “Only the pretty ones.”

He hears a chuckle out of you– a reaction he decides to not pay much attention to or overthink, for he doesn’t really remember what a good reaction to flirting is anymore– but then, you sigh and nod. “Well, I give your s’more a 5 star review, so I’d find that believable.”

The comment has Eric press his tongue into the inside of his cheek, battling a victorious smile that wants to oh so desperately appear on his lips. Turning his attention fully to you, he looks at you with confidence coating his insides– it only grows when he notices you staring at the side of his face, the flame of the fire twinkling in your eye and making your features sharper and twice as attractive to the poor boy. 

His eyes scan you over for a few seconds before he notices a glimmer of something on the side of your lip– a chocolate stain that has him cautiously lean in and swipe a thumb over the sweetness, not even thinking twice before smoothing his finger over your skin. 

“You had a little… something there,” he hums as he licks the chocolate off his thumb. Your eyes still trained on him force him to avert his gaze back to the fire– for it was unbearable, as if sparks were flying and burning his skin, everything about the interaction making goosebumps appear over his body; even though he felt hot in his cheeks and not at all cold– when the sight of his marshmallow in flames suddenly comes to him, startling him awake.

Hurriedly dragging out the burnt snack out of the fire, he hears you chuckle at him from the side– so much for not ruining the moment. (It’s okay, though. As long as you’re entertained.)

“I thought you were a master at s’mores,” you poke fun at him, “got distracted?”

Meeting eyes with you, Eric shrugs, a lazy grin settling to his lips. “I guess you could say that.”

The night progresses quickly– with Sunwoo getting so drunk he borrows Jacob’s guitar and clumsily strums the strings, freestyle rapping about the most random topics with flushed cheeks and eyes dramatically glued to the fire; Hyunjae wanting to have a competition of who can jump over the flames and Sangyeon having to stop his drunk friend with the force of his own body– and Eric finds his eyes lacking the candy he’s been occupying himself with the whole evening. You disappeared somewhere into the house a few minutes ago, and although he didn’t want to be clingy, he walked up to the cabin with a nervous pep in his step– that’s it, he just wanted to make sure you were okay.

Eric walks through the doorway, having his body immediately be met with the joined common room slash kitchen area. The cabin is kind of small (too small for the amount of people currently occupying it) and kind of old, but it’s a tradition to rent it every year during the summer, so no one ever questioned the decision or made the move to rent out a bigger one, no matter the growing friend group.

Your figure finally appears in the dimly lit kitchen area, your back turned to the doorway. Standing at the kitchen sink, it seems like you were doing the dishes– tons of plates used to carry grilled meat and sausages dumped carelessly into the sink, forgotten in a minute and leaving the last remains of food dry up on them and get hard to scrape off, a couple of glasses and mugs with their ears broken off from their age waiting with coffee stains at the bottom– and Eric immediately feels his heart fall down to his stomach, because why would one do the dishes in the middle of the night? Those usually get left there until the morning, when the least hungover person will take mercy on the rest and take care of them. Were you feeling excluded from the conversation? Did you feel bored? 

“What are you doing here so alone?” he asks, making you turn your head over your shoulder and smile at him– a stone falling off his heart at the action– before you shrug at him.

“Washing the dishes,” you say, as if it wasn’t clear already.

“I see that,” Eric chuckles, “what I meant to say was, why are you washing the dishes in the first place?”

“Well, somebody’s gotta do it.” 

Eric huffs– and he doesn’t even know why he’s so defensive about it. “That someone didn’t have to be you, y’know.”

He’s standing next to you now– your eyes meeting as you stare at the boy for a heartbeat– a smile spreading on your face at his furrowed brows. The action has him visibly relax, watching as you shrug and get back to the dish washing. “I just wanted some alone time for a bit,” you muse, “outside was getting too loud for a second, I’m not used to crowds.”

“Ah… once Sunwoo drinks, he can’t shut up, so I kinda get that it was starting to feel insufferable,” Eric notes, nodding at you in acknowledgement before the realization hits him. “Wait– you said you wanted to be alone, so I should probably-”

You halt him with a soft laugh– the one Eric finds his heart liking a little too much, with how it jumps up and down and makes all of him feel warm inside– a soapy hand reaching out in his direction. “It’s okay, you can stay,” you muse, “I enjoy your company.”

“O-okay,” Eric stutters– so much for the smooth lines he had prepared in his head before coming in here, all of them flying out of his head straight out of the window– and to not seem so silly, he gets his hands occupied and reaches for the clean dishes you started stacking on the counter next to the sink, deciding to dry them and put them away. The kitchen falls into a comfortable silence that only gets broken by an occasional scream landing through the walls from outside, and Eric can’t help but indulge himself in the domesticity of the act.

He can almost imagine you two washing the dishes like this in your shared apartment after you two cook dinner together and eat it in your cozy living room. That scenario sounds almost too good for the boy, having warmth slowly ooze into his cheeks, and that, he finds to be the hint that he should probably stop thinking about you in that way now or else he’ll get too distracted and break the glasses he is currently putting away. (God forbid– there were not enough of them for the entire friend group in the first place.)

“Are you having a good time, though?” Eric finds himself asking through his weird delirium.

You smile– oh god you smile, you should stop doing that if you want him to survive the night– and nod at the boy, calmness overtaking your aura and slipping into his cracks as well. “I am. It’s nice meeting new people and everyone’s very nice,” you say.

“That’s good to hear. How long have you and Yeri been friends?”

“A couple of years,” you note, “we met during high school. We always dreamt of moving away to college and living together at dorms or something, so it’s… it’s nice that it worked out for us,” you say, having Eric nod at your words with a sweet smile.

“That’s great to hear,” he muses, “I met Juyeon and Sunwoo in my freshman year of college, and the rest just… came along after a while.”

“Your friend group is pretty big,” you point out, having the boy shrug.

“I guess so,” Eric mumbles, never really thinking of it this way– in his eyes, this was normal. This was how he operated, how he lived. A lot of people around him, always close– one would think such a large friend group wouldn’t be as close with each other, but it’s quite the opposite in his case, he thinks. Maybe he was just blessed.

“How do you do that?” you sigh, shaking your head in disbelief.

“I dunno,” he snickers, “guess you could say I’m quite the social butterfly.”

“I can see that,” you laugh. Eric watches you, his hands now empty of any dish– he’s been drying them quicker than you manage to clean (and rightfully so, the food is stuck on there) – he starts noticing the details of your sheer presence. How you have a slight smile playing with your lips even when your eyes are glued to the sink, how your hair slightly slips out of the claw clip and frames your face, how close you’re standing– his eyes slip towards your hands, noticing the water running down your forearms and dangerously close to the sleeves of your shirt.

Acting on reflex, mostly, the boy reaches towards your sleeves and gently tugs them up, the contact of your skin that he initiates and should realistically be prepared for making the tips of his fingers tingle, the action having you stop in your movements and glance up at him through your eyelashes– a sight he wishes he could engrave into the back of his eyelids so he could stare at it forever and always.

“Thank you,” you hum, voice barely louder than a whisper when he retracts away from you, taking his previous stance against the kitchen counter.

Eric hangs his head low for a second, clearing his throat to ease his own tension. Now is your turn to start up the conversation, a casual question falling off your lips as you get back to washing the last remains of dishes. “Yeri said you come here often?” 

The boy nods enthusiastically to your sentence. “We do. We started in freshman year, because Juyeon was going to this exchange program to Paris for a couple of months, so we threw him a goodbye party. Then he came back, so we threw a welcome back party here. And then we celebrated Younghoon hyung’s birthday here, and it kind of stuck, I guess? We go here at least once a year during summer.”

“That’s a nice tradition to have,” you sigh, turning the faucet off as you finish rinsing off the last dish– a big bowl that Sangyeon used to marinate the meat a few hours ago.

“It is,” Eric nods, smiling fondly at the sentiment. He reaches for the bowl and dries it with the now damp rag (there were a lot of dishes to dry, after all), and moves to put it back to its place under the sink. With your figure still in its previous spot, the boy puts away the towel onto the kitchen counter and gently grabs your waist with his free hand, moving you away a few inches to the left. He crouches and opens the cabinet under the sink and puts the bowl into the pyramid of other ones, straightening his back when he goes back into a standing position, catching you staring at him from above, watching his every move. Your body is leaning against the counter, having Eric mirror your stance only a few inches away from you before speaking up again. 

“You’re welcome to join us when we come back next time.”

The time reads 3AM– or at least that’s what his circadian rhythm tells him, because he doesn't bother to check as he twists and turns in the bed, too hot and too alert to fall asleep– when Eric decides to walk down the steep stairs and try to get some fresh air. The cabin is hot inside, but he still takes his lost button-up that he had thrown over one of the kitchen chairs and puts it on before he makes his way outside, knowing that the forest will make his bones get cold with the crisp breeze. 

He opens the door and moves to sit on the little patio– the silence of outside is overwhelming even after the cabin has quieted down and everyone has gone to sleep (each one on a different level of tipsy ranging from completely chill Sangyeon to doesn’t know where he is Sunwoo– with Eric somewhere in the middle of the spectrum). His legs drag a little tiredly as he scans his surroundings– god forbid there’s a bear out waiting for him– when the sight of a figure sitting on the floor takes him by surprise, their head already turned to him after hearing the sound of the door opening. 

“What are you doing here?” he asks as he walks over to you, noticing your frame dressed in a tank top and sweatpants, hinting that you at least tried to get some sleep before coming out here, just like he has.

“Couldn’t sleep,” you shrug, confirming his suspicions.

“Same here,” the man sighs, “mind if I sit with you?”

“You’re welcome to join me,” you smile at him, patting the floor next to you and watching as Eric crouches down before taking a seat on the wood, ignoring the sunbeds and old rattan chairs situated all over the patio. (If you’re on the floor, he’s on the floor– it’s as simple as that.)

You’re holding a lollipop in between your fingers, your other hand occupied with a half-empty bottle of tequila that was previously passed around the circle at the bonfire. Eric raises his brows at the sight, having you shamefully avert your gaze from him.

“I thought it would be a waste to not finish this,” you say, snickering, “and I also… kind of hoped that it would put me to sleep…”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures?” 

“I guess you could say that,” you laugh. Taking a sip from the bottle, you gulp the alcohol down before putting the lollipop inside of your mouth, sucking on it and licking your lips after. This is not the way you’re supposed to drink tequila, but Eric figures that gathering salt and a lime would be too much work anyways.

“Are you really using that lollipop as a chaser?” he giggles, making you hum.

“Yeah,” you stare at him, a grin overtaking your features, “this girl taught me to do that at a party last year. It’s not as good as literally anything else, but it gets the job done. Wanna try?” you ask, offering him the sweetness on the stick and the bottle.

The truth is, you were only a bit tipsy when the group slowly started to scatter into their beds. Eric didn’t drink as much either– only enough to make him laugh at everything that was said and make his staring at you twice as obvious as it was before– so he thinks he can take some more. As you said, it would be a shame if the bottle went to waste– and also, something about the idea of drinking with you alone on the patio was making his hopeless heart hammer against his chest in dangerous measures.

“Sure,” he agrees, taking the bottle first. The boy takes a sip, feeling the alcohol burn down his throat, and when he moves the dark brown glass away from his lips, he is met with the image of you leaning closer to him, offering him the lollipop. His hand instinctively grabs the plastic stick, thinking you’re letting go of it, when he’s met with the feeling of your flesh under his fingertips. You put the lollipop against his lips, making him open up on instinct and suck on the strawberry flavored candy, a million different sensations (all unrelated to the alcohol) swimming through his brain– you’re so close, you smell so good, he’s holding your hand, he’s sucking on the lollipop you previously had in between your lips and it’s driving him crazy– before you take the candy out from between his lips and put it back into your mouth, tongue swirling around the sweet ball. 

The lollipop had an aftertaste of tequila on it, but it was enough to chase down the faint bitterness– Eric finds himself wanting to taste more of the sweet strawberry, but foolishly desiring to get the sensation off your lips instead. His eyes stay locked with yours throughout the whole exchange, sparks flying in between the two of you even though the bonfire has long gone out, his fingers lazily dropping from the candy.

“How was it?” you ask, voice barely louder than a whisper– goosebumps appearing all over Eric’s skin when he swears your eyes flicker to his lips for a split second. 

“Good,” he admits. It’s silly how he feels so breathless at the action.

The sound of the wind playing with the leaves of the forest is the only thing accompanying you two. It’s as if you two were thinking of the same thing when you pull out the lollipop out of your mouth and offer it back to Eric, watching with utmost interest as the boy leans closer to capture it in between his lips, never breaking eye contact. The action feels a little too electrifying to him, a little too intimate, but he can't stop– can't even imagine wanting to.

Taking a sip of the tequila, but not chasing it down with the candy, you speak up again, lazy eyes practically glued to him. “This would be a perfect moment for a kiss…” you mumble, licking your bottom lip for a split second before biting down on it.

“Are you flirting with me?” Eric foolishly asks, tone of voice a bit weak, a little unsure, the candy still in his mouth, making his words come out a little jambled.

“Mhm,” you nod, grinning to yourself– Eric wonders how much of your behavior and how much of his raging heartbeat is due to the effect of alcohol in both of your veins.

His fingers pull at yours as he takes the candy out of his mouth, voice dropping as he answers you. “Then we probably shouldn’t waste the moment.”

Even though the intentions are clear, the boy can’t bring himself to make the first move– he’s completely enchanted with your presence, staring at you with tension in his shoulders and eyes trained onto your face, watching and examining it for any shift or change. Focused on the way you move, he thinks you must have realized you were going to have to be the one to take the first step– your lazily smile before you lean closer, impossibly close– making Eric’s eyes flutter shut with anticipation, your breath fanning his face making goosebumps appear all over his body.

When your lips finally touch his, he feels like he’s being kissed for the first time again, with the amount of fuzziness in his stomach and buzzing in his ears. He regains his composure quite quickly, though, as he positions his head in a way that makes you two even closer to each other, lips pressing firmer against yours now. His hand instinctively reaches out to hold your jaw, fingertips glazing the soft skin under them, your lips retracting only to go in for more. 

Blindly placing the bottle onto the floor next to your bodies, you peck his lips and sigh into the kiss. “Damn, you’re good at this…”

“We’re only getting started,” he muses, making you chuckle. 

“Oh yeah?”

“Mhm,” he nods, watching as you once again lean in and suck on his upper lip, making his eyes flutter close again. A weight appears over him as you shift in your place and move to straddle his lap, your hand moving to cup his cheek and tilt him upwards, everything about the kisses getting more hurried– less gentle, less hesitant– when you tug on his bottom lip with your teeth and grant your tongue entry into his mouth.

Sweetness mixes in between you, your hands moving around his neck, heavy breaths shared across the patio. Eric feels like he’s levitating, his body having an out of body experience, yet being awfully present– every little shift pushing him to overdrive, the slightest touch making his skin burn and heart drum against his ribcage.

You shift in his lap, making him huff under the pressure, his lips trailing wet kisses down the side of your neck. Teeth glazing the jointure of your shoulder, kitten licking the place and sucking in a bruise that will eventually be visible to everyone when you two wake up in the morning, Eric feels your hands tugging down the sleeves of his shirt, fingers feeling up his biceps. The action makes him chuckle into your neck, but the smile fades quickly as he feels your nails scratching gently at his flaming skin.

“Take this off,” you mutter, and Eric finds it endearing– helping you take him out of the button-up, sitting under you in just a white tank top and black basketball shorts. 

“Why?” 

“Your arms looked good in this,” you hiss before you hide your face into his neck, leaning down to give him your fair share of kisses and love bites, having the male teasingly joke as his hands run up under your tank top, painfully aware of the fact that you weren’t wearing a bra anymore.

He moves his head to the side to give you more access before speaking out, tone of voice husky and coated in lust. “What if I get cold now?” 

“Then I’m more than happy to move this to your room,” you purr into his ear.

Eric sighs, fingers playing with the hem of your top before he lets his palms drift towards your exposed stomach, roaming across naked skin. Goosebumps appear all over your body at the action, making the boy victoriously grin. “It looks like you’re the one that's cold, though, babydoll.”

Rolling your eyes at the male, you shut him up by latching yourself onto his lips before you speak against his mouth. “I’ll take that as an invitation, then?”

“Wake up Eric! The girls are leaving, you should at least go say goodbye!” Sangyeon roars into the boy's room, making the male turn over in the bed and huff out in frustration. He drags his arm up to shield his eyes from the sunlight hitting his face, the intention of just rolling over and sleeping more written very clearly in his face.

“Come on man, we’re leaving in an hour too, so you should go send them off and then pack your shit so we can load the cars,” Sangyeon says when he gets no reaction from the youngest. It’s to no use, apparently, and so as the oldest and most observant out of the group, Sangyeon decides to use physical force– he knows Eric would hate to have you go without saying goodbye. He’s not stupid. Or blind. 

A strong hold on his calves drags Eric out of the bed and makes his half-naked body fall to the floor, a yelp coming out of his throat finally making Eric’s body fully alert and awake. 

“Yo! What the fuck–”

“Put a shirt on and go say goodbye to Y/N before she goes, would you, sleeping beauty?” Sangyeon huffs before rolling his eyes at his younger friend, escaping the room and shutting the door close after himself with a loud thud (to add more effect to the scolding, Eric thinks).

The mention of your name has Eric quickly scrambling out of the bed. His heart hammers at the adrenaline rush, pulling a clean shirt out of his bag and dragging it over his head, the basketball shorts from yesterday’s night found on the floor being pulled over his lower frame in approximately 0.5 seconds. Eric takes the stairs 3 at a time– with how steep they are, he questions how exactly does he not trip and break his spine on his way down– and puts on a pair of slippers he finds at the door (that are not his, or his size, for the matter, making his heels comically stick out from the back). 

Without checking his appearance in the mirror anywhere, he swings the door open and walks out of the cabin, watching as the group settles in a half-circle around your car, Yeri loading the trunk with her duffle bag before she closes it shut and smiles at her boyfriend Juyeon on the side. Eric joins the crowd, clearing his throat when his eyes fall onto your figure, the sight in front of him freezing him in his spot.

You’re standing there, in your jean shorts from the day before, an oversized white button-up enveloping your frame. A clueless stranger might not tell the difference, but he does– you put the shirt onto your bare skin and buttoned it just enough to reveal a bit of your cleavage– and it’s so similar to the outfit you had on yesterday, just with one difference. 

You’re wearing Eric’s shirt. You’re wearing his shirt and your neck is scattered with red and purple-ish bruises, and no, Eric wasn’t that drunk and he remembers everything, but the events of last night suddenly play out right in front of his eyes like a movie, still nailing him to his spot and wiping out all of his vocabulary.

The boy feels hot in his cheeks as he watches you and your best friend pay your goodbyes to the rest of the boys, the men pulling you into side-hugs and fist bumps, shared ‘It was nice meeting you’s and ‘You should come by next time too’s resonating through the place. Soon enough, you reach the end of the make-shift half circle and lock your eyes with Eric, a playful smile softly appearing on your face.

“It was nice meeting you, Eric,” you hum, “I had fun,” you note, shooting him a knowing look.

“Me too,” he nods, nervously chewing on his bottom lip. He doesn’t know where the confidence of last night went, but he suddenly feels unarmed and lost. What does one do now?

The sight of you in his shirt makes him feel like his biggest (wet) dream has come true– call him cheesy, but it also wakes up a sense of déja vu in him from the day before– you with sunlight in your eyes, hair messed up in a claw clip. He feels like he just fell in love at first sight again. Is that even possible?

It’s good you have a sense in you that makes you take the initiative and be in charge when you see him faltering. A giggle cuts out of your throat as you lean in and hug the boy around his neck, your lips dangerously close to his ear as you speak in a hushed whisper, not wanting to be heard by the men around you.

“I stole your shirt from you, by the way. You should text me if you want it back, so we can meet up, or something,” you mouth, lips gently glazing the sensitive skin of Eric’s ear, and god does he feel like he's going to suffocate from the lack of oxygen this causes in his lungs.

“You look amazing in my clothes, so I won’t ask for it back,” Eric hums, “but I’ll text you just in case you ever wanna bless my eyes with the sight again.”

“Deal. I’ll make Juyeon text me your number,” you say before you pull away from him, shooting him a wink that almost has his knees buckling like a school boy in love for the first time.

You walk backwards and wave at the group, sending Eric one last look before you join the passenger’s side and close the car door behind you, the sound of Yeri starting the engine resonating through the quiet forest. The men wave at you until the Toyota disappears out of sight, only scattering inside when it does to gather their things and load up their cars as well.

Eric is woken up from his trance by a teasing whistle coming out of Sunwoo’s mouth and a father-like slap to his back from Sangyeon.

He wonders if he’s truly being so obvious. (He's unaware of the fact that you two had very visible matching love bites on your necks. It doesn’t take much effort to put two and two together– don't tell him that, though.)

Still, Eric shrugs and goes inside with a different kind of pep to his step. 

When he licks his lips, he swears he can still taste the strawberries.

[svhnflwr]

%! butterflies — k-i-s-s-i-n-g event

× eric sohn: caressing your lover's cheek

INLUDES! fluff, established relationship, sappy and people are in love

NOTES! this feels so messy but i hope the message was delivered. surprise surprise i also wrote this one at 4am 😭

WORD COUNT! 734

Although you knew it was for the sake of being poetic, you thought that the expression of feeling butterflies in your stomach was extremely overdramatic.

Yes, you had been and are currently in love, but the feeling that everyone boasted about in any romantic situation was something you have yet to experience. At first, you believed you had yet to meet “the one”. However, now going into your third year in the relationship with your dear boyfriend, Eric, you concluded that that floaty feeling deemed essential in a romantic setting was simply a myth. 

That or everyone else had the luxury of feeling it except you. 

Even Eric appeared to be a believer in the oddly specific emotion.

“Feeling butterflies in my stomach?” he looked at you slightly in a daze at the sudden question, “I mean, if you’re referring to that tickling feeling whenever I look at you, then yeah sure!” He smiled at you with the same lovesick glow in his eyes. He was such a sap sometimes. “Why do you ask?”

You gave a slight pout. 

“I think it’s a myth.” You looked back at him to gauge his reaction. It was his turn to pout back at you. 

“So… you don’t feel anything?” You shook your head in denial. “Not even… when we kiss?”

You paused for a second to think. It was hard to determine it since for so long, you have believed against the feeling; the emotion. Of course, you loved Eric dearly, and you have been continuously for the past three years. But to pinpoint the emotion, the tickling feeling as per Eric, was something you were stuck in.

You shrugged your shoulders at him, “Can’t remember.”

His shoulders dropped a little. After a slight moment of awkward stillness between the two of you, he took a step forward, closing the gap. 

“Maybe we should try to double-check then,” his eyes fluttered at the proximity, his face inching closer to yours. Both of your heads tilted towards your rights, lips hovering over each other. His warm breath fanned over your skin, the feeling leaving a light ticklish feeling. Though you were sure this was not the ticklish feeling Eric was referring to. 

At last, your lips lock. Your upper lip was caged between both his lips. The kiss was slow and rhythmic, almost as if it was scripted. It went surprisingly smooth, even for a relationship as long as yours. 

As the kiss went on, you noticed how both of your arms were awkwardly hanging to your sides. You’ve kissed him countless times, but you weren’t sure what to do with your hands. The kiss was more intimate than it usually would be, you were simply stuck, once again. There was just so much but so little going on, it confused you. 

You slowly broke the kiss, both to have a short breather but also to break the anti-climatic awkward momentum that was going on. 

Though it didn’t last long. 

Soon enough, Eric’s hand went up to your face. His fingers were delicate to the touch as if he were handling the most fragile thing in the world. They were gentle against your skin, once again inviting a ticklish feeling. But as he started to approach your lips once again, you started to feel a different kind of ticklish feeling, and it wasn’t against your face either. 

His other hand automatically shot up as well, your face now caged between his hands. His right hand slowly drifted towards the back of your neck, deepening the kiss. 

The unknown ticklish feeling intensified.

The tips of your fingers started to tingle as well. It felt as if your nerves were getting a reflex reaction. Your hands reciprocated his actions, his tender face now wrapped in your hands as well. You felt closer to him than before which prompted you to pull him even closer, though that was not virtually possible. 

Both of you started to feel lightheaded, forcing the kiss to break once again. Foreheads were resting on each other, hands still remained where they were. You were still panting at the kiss, Eric’s hand on your cheek started to gently caress it, aiding you to regain your composure. The action was gentle and simple, but it was so full of love that your inside tickled once again.

Maybe feeling butterflies in your stomach wasn’t a myth after all.

[boyzcatchingfire]

Spooky ~ *Son Youngjae*

Summary: You promised Eric no spooks or scares tonight. It was just supposed to be a wholesome movie marathon with candy. So why did the lights just go out all of a sudden?

Pairing: Son Youngjae X G/n!Reader

Genre: Fluffyish Oneshot

Word Count: 1149

Warning: Bad attempt at a prank, swearing

Masterlist

Taglist: @foxwinter

A/N: Happy Halloween!

Ever since Changmin found out how easy it was to scare Eric, he has never known a moment of peace. Any chance Changmin can freak out his friend, he takes it. As Eric’s beloved girlfriend, you know you should be supportive and tell Changmin to stop. However, every time he got scared, he ran into your arms, crying about how terrified he was and how thankful he was that you protected him. So really you can’t complain.

When spooky month finally rolled around, you planned on watching some tame Halloween movies with Eric in costume. That is the best part of the holiday: the costumes. He was wearing a Jack Skellington onesie, while you were in your Sally onesie. You even had a Zero plush in between the two of you. It was super comfy. You both had just finished the Halloweentown series and were just starting Hocus Pocus.

It was the perfect night, really. Eric needed a night to take a breath after working so hard on their latest comeback. You also missed being curled up against him, with his arm slung protectively over you. Not only that, but it was fun to eat as much candy as you wanted and watch cute Halloween movies together. Everything was great.

And then the power went out.

“Aw man.” You groaned, blindly looking for your phone. “What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know.” Eric answered, sounding just as surprised as you. “I think a fuse might have blown? But I could be wrong…”

Turning on your phone’s flashlight, you frowned. “Damn. Do you know how to fix it?”

He shook his head. “Unfortunately, no.”

“Well, we can call maintenance I guess.” You were about to dial the number when a strange noise reached your ears.

You felt Eric stiffen next to you. “Did you hear that?” When you nodded, he then asked, “What was that?”

“I’m not sure. But it’s probably nothing.” You glanced over at him to see him pale considerably. “If you’re scared, I can go check it out.”

“What? No!” He sputtered, grabbing onto your arm so you wouldn’t leave him. “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I let you go wandering around the dorms alone when you could get hurt? Besides, I’m not scared at all!”

You couldn’t help yourself as you asked, “Are you sure?”

He scoffed. “Positive. Weren’t you calling maintenance?”

Just as you were about to reply, the noise sounded again and you stood up. “Here, you call them yourself. I’m going to go check it out.”

“What! No! Absolutely not!” Eric’s grip on your arm tightened, telling you just how scared he pretended not to be. “Haven’t you seen any horror movie ever? You go out there and something bad will happen to you or to me!”

“Oh, don’t worry about little ole me. I’ll be fine!” You assured him. “But if you’re so worried about my safety, I’ll get a knife from the kitchen and then go hunt for some monsters! It’ll be fun!”

“No! It will not be fun!” He whined. “Just stay here, with me, so I can keep you safe.”

You chuckled. “I don’t know, I think I’m the one who needs to keep you safe.”

“Rude.”

The sound was a lot closer this time. “Okay, seriously, Eric. I need to go see what’s out there. I promise I’ll be safe but I need to see what’s happening.”

“Y/n!”

But you were not deterred as he continued to pull at your arm. Grabbing your phone, you kissed him on the cheek before finally shaking him off you and leaving with the light. He watched it disappear into the kitchen with you. When the light didn’t move, he thought you were just being picky-choosy over which knife to use, but it still wasn’t moving.

Despite the feeling of imminent danger, he called out, “Y/n?”

The light went out, plunging the room into complete darkness.

Now Eric was terrified beyond belief. What the hell just happened? Fumbling with his phone, he turned on the flashlight and made his way into the kitchen. You weren’t there but your phone was. Confusion and fear made him start to shake. Why didn’t you just listen to him and stay with him on the couch?

“Seriously, Y/n, this isn’t funny! Come back right now!” But nothing happened.

Taking matters into his own hands, he started to search for a knife for himself. But he found that all the silverware was missing. Instead of pondering why the spoons were also missing, he started to hyperventilate. 

“THIS ISN’T NOT FUNNY ANYMORE Y/N! COME OUT NOW!” He shouted, his voice wavering with fear.

The door opened and Eric rushed to see if Y/n had come back. But it wasn’t her. It was Changmin. Anger started to overtake his fear as he grabbed his collar.

“Changmin! I knew you were behind this! Where’s Y/n? This isn’t funny! What are the two of you planning?” Eric snapped.

His friend looked at him like he was crazy. “What are you talking about? I just came to steal some of your candy because Sunwoo won’t talk to me after I took him to that haunted house yesterday.”

“Then why is the power out and WHERE IS Y/N?!”

“Dude, I don’t know, but whatever you think is happening, it isn’t me. Y/n told me to give you a break tonight, so I decided to just torture Sunwoo instead. I have no idea what’s going on here!” He explained.

Eric’s fear doubled. Someone was in the dorm room and they had taken his girlfriend. “Then where’s Y/n…”

“She’s not here anymore.” A voice whispered in his ear behind him.

Letting out the loudest scream ever, the lights flickered on. Kevin was laughing his ass off and even Changmin was doubled over laughing. Eric could feel a few stray tears slip down his cheeks. He wanted to throttle both of them for this stupid joke!

“What the hell Kevin!” He screamed. “That’s not funny!”

“It wasn’t supposed to be funny!” Kevin said. “It was supposed to be scary and I got you so good!”

“Shut up, where’s Y/n?”

Jacob then appeared, with Y/n by his side. You huffed, folding your arms over your chest. “Jacob grabbed me when I entered the kitchen. Seriously guys, I said we’re not doing the scary thing tonight! Now apologize to Eric, or so help me, I’ll get you back five times as bad as you got him.”

Kevin and Jacob quickly apologized to Eric. “We’re sorry. We didn’t mean to scare you that bad.”

He just scoffed and pulled you into his arms, burying his face into your shoulder. Stroking his hair, you whispered in his ear, “Want to keep watching movies with me? I can kick these idiots out too.”

Eric nodded, smiling that he had the best person ever in his arms right now.

[sunlightwoo]

fake title??? okay😁

ramen for breakfast

fake title: ramen for breakfast | pairing: eric x g.n reader | genre: fluff, humor, roommates au, no warnings (rated: pg) wc: <500 | a/n: dani im crying plssss , but these are still open!!

send me a fic title and i'll let you know what i thought of!!! 

maybe it was the comfortable silence that made you feel at ease. 

the early morning rays of the sun were pouring in through the seams and cracks of your windows, showcasing the softness of your boyfriend who had been sitting in front of you with a small pout formed on his face. the phone that was in his hand had resonated sounds coming from its speakers, making you easily tell that he was on tiktok with the amount of times that he had swiped up on his screen with audio playing. 

but the small pout on his face was formed also from the ramen that he was currently consuming, despite the fact that it was too early in the morning. 

a video that he watches makes him suddenly burst into giggles as there’s soup that splashes onto the corner of his lips from him dropping the noodles back into the styrofoam cup; you were filled with endearment by your own boyfriend. 

while scooping your own spoonful of cereal, you grabbed a napkin and wiped his lips, making him slightly jump at your sudden moves and he looked at you with a confused, but flustered expression on his face. you smile at how flushed he had looked before leaning over the counter to properly kiss him and watch as his face turns into a darker shade of pink, and suddenly you can feel your face being peppered with kisses all over. 

this was the perfect way to spend every morning with him. 

permanent taglist: @cuppasunu @morauvmi @allyg-onz @viastro @unicornlay728 @saeromiz @smolmochiminie @bbanghoonie @wooyoung-a @poutykyu @bubutaeyongie @pwttychannie @deputyjuyeon @changmin-wrlds @winterbeartaehyungbestboy @sunwoahkim @karsohn @escapewriter @awfullytiredbuthealing @fylithia @i4deonu @myluv-yeonjun @allorysayshi @nlnkm @jannine00742 @rebsmoonn @ilvaussie @beomgyugyu @theoskies @ja4hyvn @noempathyy @ilovechanhee @kurosism @ahnneyong @bambi-vixey @ksunwooqt @black-rose-29 @jaysbestie (add yourself to my permanent taglist here!)

cannot tag: @cowboyjaehyun @soobin-chois @kpoploverforever27 @Xoxozainab @jaykiths @heojangmi

[sluttywonwoo]

now 5hat you write for the Boyz, what would it be like when Eric has a crush on you/one of the boys spills the beans too

the man would panic. he’d drop whatever he was doing and immediately call you to tell you it wasn’t true— and when you’re like “what isn’t true?” he’d get all weird and say “nothing, nevermind” and hang up before he can dig himself into a deeper hole. he’d avoid you for days after 🙄 and you’d have to keep asking the other boys what was wrong with him, not even considering what kevin had told you about eric’s crush to be true— especially since he’s straight up acting like he wants nothing to do with you now. when eric finally thinks he’s in the clear to start hanging out with you again and pretend like nothing happened, you’d corner him and he’d fold instantly admitting that it was true and that he was just embarrassed that someone else told you before he could like you were high schoolers. lucky for him, it makes him even more endearing in your eyes and you’d also fess up to your crush, explaining that kevin had only told you because he knew you liked him back.

[kimsohn]

how to (not) get away with murder | teaser

pairing . ceo! eric sohn x assassin! gn reader about . wc tbd (20k+), angst + fluff (will include themes of suicide, murder, death, and the characters are stupid and unrealistic) release date . tbd tagging: @mosviqu

synopsis . you think it's a sick twist of fate when you're tasked to kill your childhood crush, but you take the job anyway in desperate need of money. too bad you happen to be the sole witness of his resurrection and the only person he trusts to help him find his supposed murderer (aka you). note . this was supposed to be a fic for a valentines day collab but i think i forgot about the cute sappy romance aspect LOLL. loosely inspired by the kdrama abyss (and not by the show how to get away with murder) 🤞 also this fic includes heavy themes so fair warning! send an ask / dm to be tagged (if you aren't already on my taglist)

“I have a question…” Eric trails off, suddenly shying away from your gaze as he curls into the back of the couch.

You raise your eyebrow, curiosity clouding your gaze as he turns off the hair dryer to place it beside him. Without the fan sound, the atmosphere feels more intimate, but you’re not exactly sure if that’s a good thing with the predicament you’ve gotten yourself into. A simple question could make or break your relationship with the boy shifting next to you, and you're praying for the former.

Eric has just come back into your life, and you don’t want him gone just yet.

“Shoot.”

“If you were my fiancé, would you have liked me? Or would you have faked it?”

You don’t know what question you were expecting, but it certainly isn’t that. For the first time since you’ve met Eric, you find yourself scrambling as you try to formulate a response.

“Why are you even asking me this question? I’m probably the most unlikely person to date you.”

You notice that Eric sports the injured puppy expression, the one that always makes you cave in. Unfortunately, this time is no different.

“Okay, fine. I guess by now you know I’m not the type of person to care about physical appearance. You have a good personality too, a great one even—"

"But would you have liked me?" he asks again, thumbing at the strands of your hair that are still dripping water.

He’s so painfully oblivious that your heart aches. You hate the mere implications of this question, and you hate that you’re torturing him this way because his expectant gaze only reminds you of how much it’ll hurt when you let him down.

"Yeah," you whisper finally, seeing him light up after your prolonged silence. "I would've liked you."

Your resolve breaks into pieces when he leans in the press a soft kiss to your cheek. The butterflies in your stomach have now turned into moths, but even the uneasiness settling in your stomach can’t prevent your flustered feelings as his lips pull away. Your thoughts wander off to how you would’ve felt if his lips had caressed yours instead, but as you stare at the dazed expression on his face, you remind yourself that he’ll probably never look at you the same way again.

“Sweet dreams, Y/N,” he whispers, flicking away a droplet gathered at one of your hair strands as he pushes himself off the couch.

You know the emotions you feel towards Eric are simply dangerous. He wouldn’t even spare a second glance toward you once he found out the truth, and you know that you’re only hurting him by keeping your identity a secret. It’s dangerous being around him, extremely, but as you fall into a restless sleep, you allow yourself one moment of lenience to fall for him completely and wholeheartedly, heart and soul alike.

Little did you know it would be the last time Eric would ever allow you that chance again.

[moonlightalanis]

Stars

SUMMARY: There has been space for Eric in your life for 12 years. He comes and goes, but tonight, he promises to stay. 

GENRE: Childhood friends to lovers, fluff

WARNINGS: Drug use, stealing

WORD COUNT: 2.7K

PLAYLIST: Nights Frank Ocean, Sun&Moon NCT 127

A.N: Hi guysssss ! I deleted all my fics again and I’m sorry but I’m back with an Eric fic ! Hope you enjoy xx

DEDICATION: Ophelia, my moon <3

1

Over the 12 years that you have known Eric Sohn, you’ve built a home in him that is always flickering, burning bright whenever he looks at you. The home hasn’t always been inhabited; sometimes you leave, finding the sweetness of life elsewhere, drinking the juice of the heavens from the cups of others. Eric doesn’t stay, either, choosing to find ecstasy in his other friends, in drugs, and not in you. It’s not like the two of you ever fall out – you just drift. Actually, you drift. Eric hurtles away, like a shooting star through the night. He’s always lived a fast life, and while you have, too, Eric Sohn is light years ahead of you. But he always comes back. And so do you. No matter how far you drift, and he hurtles, you and Eric always end up back together.

2

You know that Eric loves you. You know, because you love him, too. Neither of you will say it, too caught up in exploring life in love, and alone, to ruin what you have. Eric, especially, loves being alone. He used to be soft, used to melt under your burning touch like a candle. But the world turned Eric Sohn hard, made him a victim to his own masculinity. Never disrespectful, always feeling the need to protect, to cherish, Eric is still soft to you. Like tonight. He sits on your balcony, watching the moon with a pensive look.

‘I’ve missed you,’

It’s almost a whisper, but he makes sure you hear him with a look into your eyes that almost makes you buckle; Eric Sohn is prince-like, the slender curves of his mouth ethereal as he speaks, moonlight bouncing off the tip of his nose, his hands drawing constellations into the night, creating universes in the four walls of your brain.

‘I’ve missed you, too.’

You don’t want to disrupt the silence, so you whisper, allowing the hum of the universe to mesh with your voice, to make it beautiful, your vocal chords sliding against the current of the earth. 

Eric gives you a small smile, and you swear you could cry at how beautiful he is under the deep blue sky, how he adorns it like a star. 

‘How’ve you been, Eric?’

‘Oh, how haven’t I been? Me, Juyeon and Chanhee got chased by some security guard the other day because he caught us stealing. Still got my shit, though.’

He takes a moment to flash some jewelry, and you smile at the way the moon’s reflection bounces off of his body, covered in silver; he is starshine in human form.

‘Niceeeee. I haven’t been borrowing in ages. I miss it.’

You and Eric sometimes ‘borrow’ together, and it’s always a great time. He runs through life, and whenever you are with him, he pulls you forward by your fingertips and the promise of excitement up ahead. There’s never a dull moment with him.

‘Oh my God, (Y/N), do you remember that time I pretended a hamster escaped in that pet shop so you could set the parrot free?’

You do remember. You also remember not getting away with it, remember being kicked out, remember Eric’s laughter sweeter than the jolly rancher he threw into your mouth, claiming you couldn’t catch it. He knew you could. You knew, too. There are a lot of things unspoken in this friendship with Eric, things that both of you know but will never say. Silence is peace, he always says, and you laugh, because Eric Sohn is far from silent. He lives so loudly you’re sure you’d be able to hear him from the next town over. 

‘I’m surprised we got away. That guy was built as fuck.’

‘You should be surprised, (Y/N), you’re probably the slowest runner I’ve ever met.’ 

With a gasp, you shove Eric. He laughs, and you watch with a small giggle of your own, wondering how he got so beautiful and why you never stop to focus on it more. You have known Eric for this long, and it’s only recently that you’ve been noticing how he’s bloomed, how good the years have been to him. You think that he wasn’t born on Earth; angels cried over him, their tears melting him together, building him up into a heavenly body, one that, tonight, shines under the soft glimmer of the April moon. 

‘Well I’m sorry I can’t keep up with you, Usain Bolt.’

He chuckles, taking a joint from the tip of his ear. 

‘Oh, please. You know I’ll never leave you behind.’

Eric has a habit of doing this, of saying the most heart wrenching things to you while going about his daily life, like his words haven’t given birth to new universes in your mind, each of them spinning around him rapidly, forming new galaxies by the second. He lights the joint, taking an insanely big hit and smiling at you through the billowing smoke, his smile evoking one from you, because how couldn’t you smile back? He is contagious, you think, watching his fingers brush against yours as he passes you the joint, a shock running through your own fingers and straight to your mouth, which says,

‘So how long do we have this time?’

You never ask Eric questions like these, knowing that you both leave and return to each other whenever you feel like it, but tonight the air is different, and the stars are watching you, and you’ve missed him so much that you don’t ever see yourself letting go of all of him, even though he will leave again. 

‘I think I’m too old for this.’

‘For what?’

‘Leaving.’

You watch him, and he has a different look in his eyes when they meet yours; you hang onto the way he stares at you, because you don’t ever want to look away from the shooting stars in his eyes, how he regards you carefully, like you might break if he ever touches you. He knows that you won’t, but you don’t like being held too tightly, and Eric Sohn is always soft, letting you go when you need to and opening his arms right back up when you return. 

‘You never really leave, though, do you?’

He watches you as you blow smoke rings, and with a small smile, opens his mouth. You take the hint, inhaling as much smoke as you can, and blowing it all out into his mouth. He breathes in with a soft hum, and he sounds more than anything like the current of the universe, its low vibrations keeping the entire world turning.

‘I guess I don’t. But still, I’m gonna leave for way less time. I miss you too much to stay away for that long.’

You almost melt. 

3

 An hour later, you and Eric float, higher than the sky. Literally. You look over at him, and his eyes are a hazy red, barely open, but open enough to see your soft grin, the one you don’t realise is on your face until he says, 

‘I knew my haircut was cute.’ 

You let out a strangled laugh, too high to say anything, too high to admit to him that yes, you were staring and yes, his haircut is cute.

‘How high are you, (Y/N)? You haven’t said a word in like 10 minutes.’ 

You haven’t. You’ve been watching Eric, eyes scanning over his body like he is something to be devoured, waiting for him to say something, to snap you out of this daze that you have fallen into. You imagined, during your unusual silence, that you and Eric were together. In a way that’s similar to how you are now, his hand brushing against yours when he passes you the joint, but also different, because his hands are also in your hair, they’re on your waist, they’re brushing over your lips and they’re caressing your cheeks. In this dream, the two of you sit on the rings of Saturn, watching the stars shoot past and comparing them to each other's smiles. Starshine runs through Eric’s veins when you look down at his arms, and he glows from the inside out; you think all of the constellations in the world must have come together, sat in a circle and sculpted Eric from nothing but starshine, sending him down to you on your 7th birthday in the form of a little boy with a massive smile and a flower, because he’d just met you and it was your birthday and his mother taught him to always give, never take. But from you, Eric took. He took love, drugs, affection, hugs, joints, presents. Over the years, you have poured yourself into Eric, and him, you. So much so that tonight, when you look down, you see a little glow beneath your skin, one you recognise as belonging to Eric. 

‘(Y/N).’

He drags the last part of your name out, as he does when he’s trying to get your attention. It’s never not worked.

‘Do you remember how long we’ve been friends for?’

You ask, getting up and taking a seat next to him on the ledge of your balcony. Up here, the world makes more sense. Up here, you can be in love with Eric in peace. 

‘12 years. We met on your birthday. You said you were turning 7 and I didn’t have anything so I ran and picked a–’

‘A daisy. They’re my favourite.’

Eric thinks daisies have always been your favourite flowers. Actually, they became your favourite flower when he brought you one 12 years ago because no one had ever done anything that adorable for you before, and in your 7 year old brain, that meant daisies had to become your favourite flower. 

‘I know. Do you remember that time we chased Juyeon with a frog?’

You didn’t say anything at the time, but you were always afraid of frogs. But Eric ran up to you with it in his hands, and he had this excitable look in his eyes, and you were 17 and in love and you couldn’t say no to him. 

‘I do. You know I’m scared of frogs?’

‘Yep. You had this anxious look in your eyes, like you were scared I’d make you eat it or something.’

You smile, softly.

‘You ever pull some shit like that and I’ll make you eat something much worse.’

Eric smirks, ready to say something that he knows will make you blush, that you know will make you blush. He says nothing, a blush replacing the previously confident look on his face. 

‘We’ve had some good times, huh.’ 

He changes the subject, shifting his body to make a small home for you next to him. You move closer, the warmth of him enveloping you almost instantly – Eric is never cold. You have always wondered what space feels like, and in his embrace, you find that it is warm, comforting, exciting. 

‘We have. And we’ve got so many more ahead of us.’

You think about the times you are yet to have with Eric, the times where he will make you laugh and scream and cry and melt into the Earth, becoming at one with it. You have always thought that if you were part of the natural world, you’d be the ocean. Strong, comforting, sometimes even scary. If you are the ocean, Eric is the moon, controlling the tides of your soul, building you up into beautiful waves, and then disappearing, only to come back when you least expect it. 

‘Yeah. I can’t wait. I think I’ll know you until I die.’

You’ve never doubted that Eric will be in your life forever. It’s just different when he says it. When age catches up with you, and you can’t walk or run or even see properly, you think that you’ll still be happy, because Eric will be there, and you’ve walked and ran and seen so many times with him that when you die, you’ll be satisfied with the good times he’s given you and even the ones he hasn’t. 

‘I think I’ll know you until I die, too.’

You want to say that you’ll love him until you die, that even if, one day, Eric Sohn fades away, you will still love him, because he has given you enough of him to love for an eternity in just the two hours that you’ve seen him tonight. 

‘Isn’t it crazy how everyone dies? How one day we’re happy and we’re smiling and one day we aren’t. And it happens to everyone. Everyone dies and there’s nothing we can do about it.’

Eric smiles, and it’s beautiful, and you think about the contrast between the beauty in his face and the morbidity of his words. Instinctively, you reach out to touch him, because you think that if you can protect him, he’ll never be ripped away from you by the hands of the world or the hands of Death. It’s a stupid thought, but love makes you do stupid things. 

‘People say there’s no point in thinking about death, but I think about it a lot. Not in a depressing way. It makes me appreciate what I have more.’

‘That’s nice, Eric.’

‘You didn’t let me finish.’

You chuckle softly, saying nothing. 

‘It makes me appreciate you more. One day, you’ll die, and I’ll spend the rest of my life wondering why I didn’t tell you I loved you as soon as I felt it.’

You watch the stars sparkle for Eric, in his eyes and above his head, and you smile. You know he loves you. This is the first time he’s said it.

‘I understand. But you have shown me.’

‘Not like this.’

And he takes your face in his hands, and you feel your heart begin to expand within your chest, getting bigger as he brings you closer.

You have known Eric Sohn for 12 years. You have wanted him to kiss you for 3. Tonight, he does it, creating a new constellation with his lips against yours, one that you want to name after him. When he pulls away, he runs a soft thumb down your cheek, smiling with the soft glow of a man so deeply in love that it makes the world around you both hazy, unfocused. 

‘Why are you so sure I’m gonna die before you?’

It’s the only thing you can bring yourself to say, and Eric chuckles. 

‘I just told you I love you and that’s the first thing you say? Typical (Y/N).’

‘Answer my question.’ 

Eric smiles, wide, pressing another soft kiss to your lips and saying nothing. You pout, leaning into him, making the home you have built in him bigger, brighter, better. 

‘I love you, Eric.’

You feel him sigh deeply above you, and life is blissful in this small eternity that you have built with him. All this time, your love for Eric was a blooming star: a small, hopeful thing. Tonight, it soars, and tonight, you feel the beginning of the rest of your life start to take root in your soul. 

4

 Years later, you still feel the stars in your heart every time you look at Eric. He’s older, now, slower, but there’s a certain rapid nature in the way he kisses you, and you wonder where you went so right to have the son of the stars love you like you’re the star, like he was meant to do nothing but love you, cherish you. There’s a home for you inside of Eric Sohn that you’d never drift away from, and there’s a home for you where he waits every night, waits for you to return from your life outside of him and love him until he dies, or until you die. You think it’ll travel further than that, though. There will always be evidence of how the two of you love each other. In the stars, the moon, the galaxy, there is a thread of love that runs through it all; Eric says it’s the love he has for you, and you say it’s the love you have for him, but you both know that it’s the love you have for each other. As there always has been, there are unspoken things in your relationship with Eric. But that’s okay. The stars say it all for you.