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harrysmimi · 1 year

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CEOrry Pt. 4

Synopsis: it's end of new beginnings with new found feelings

Series Masterlist | More of my work

YN had a blast.

Kayla found her perfect dress on day one, she didn't wanted to try anything else!

She was going to get a promotion soon at her first job. That means she doesn't have to beat herself up with two jobs, plus she got a few side projects like writing new textbooks, which was going to make her life easier.

Kayla's getting married at Strouhead gardens, at the Apollo Temple to be specific-- where a scene of Pride and Prejudice was filmed. Kayla's huge fan of that movie. It was perfect for her and Josh, the venue and the dress amd everything. And they were going to go bridesmaid dress shopping the next day. Kayla and Josh were having a small wedding, with just a bridesmaid and a maid of honour by Kayla's side, and a groom's man and a maid of honour, Josh's sister by the groom's side. And a few of their closest family and friends.

It was going to be an intimate ceremony but people were allowed to bring a plus one. Now, Harry had crossed YN's mind a few times but she can't ask him to join her, can she? It would be awkward.

Especially to look at the pictures later on, when she can't see the baby ever again. She inevitably will not be seeing him as well. If he stays out of pictures, she'll still remember her being there and the baby being there.

But she headed to his place after, taking a cab as he kindly asked her to instead of taking a crowded public transport. Walked upto his door and rung the bell, not so scared or nervous this time around. There was a brand spanking new Bugatti Chiron stood in front just out of his garage. She knew, from the green protective coverings on the side mirrors.

She could sell herself a ten times but still won't be able to buy that car. It took her breath away.

She didn't realise he had already opened the door, "what are you staring at, darling?"

"Oh my god, you scared me!" She was spooked.

"I'm sorry, do you want to come in?" He stepped aside so she can get in.

Nothing was new since the last time she came by. She set her bag on the sofa carefully, as someone in the kitchen caught her eye.

It was Harry's chef and house keeper. She was certainly making something familiar to her by the smell of it. But it almost made her sick. Like the late lunch she had with the girls almost wanted to make it's way out from the way it went in.

"Harry?" She asked stopping him on his way to the kitchen.

"Hm?"

"Where's bathroom?" She asked.

"It's down that hallway," he pointed behind her, "you alrigh--" before he could finish she was speed walking towards the bathroom covering her mouth. He found her throwing up there. "Hey, hey it's alright." He assured her rubbing her back.

She said she never got sick. Or maybe this is her first time getting sick.

He didn't had to hold her hair up as she was wearing a braid. But she looked miserable, she started crying as she puked in the toilet bowl. Sobbing, to be exact. She already looked tired and worn out when she stepped in to his house.

"Hey YN, it's alright." He tried his best to assure her there.

YN felt like she was puking her internal organs out, she didn't eat that much!

"I'm gonna die!" YN coughed whilst still feeling like throwing up, But she couldn't anymore. Gagging and she cried and sobbed.

"You're not, you're not." He held onto her, careful to make sure she doesn't hurt herself. "Just stop if you can't anymore, darling." He pulled her away and reached to grab a bunch of tissues to wipe her mouth. She took him by surprise as she clung into him tight, and almost passed out. "You're okay, you're okay!"

Harry sat there patiently with her, still holding her close to his chest and whispered assuring words to her. Until she calmed down and wasn't feeling dizzy anymore, but she still appeared shaken up.

"Was this your first time getting sick?" He asked just to earn a nod from her for an answer, "well, morning sickness doesn't only happen during morning, does it now?" He tried to make light of it but earned no reaction from her, "do you feel like getting up now?"

"No." She mumbled, "the smell of food is making me sick, I'm sorry."

"It's all fine, love," he assured her again, "I'll go ask Lizzie to make something else, okay?"

"I'm not hungry." She shrugged finally pulling away from him.

"Okay, we'll get something later then." He helped her up, "there is everything in the drawer you'd need, I'll go ask Lizzie to put everything away, yeah? You'll be fine here?"

"Mhmm." She nodded and watched him go out.

She panicked and flushed the toilet and put the lid down. It was disgusting!

She found herself a new toothbrush and a clean towel to herself get cleaned and fixed. But Harry came back to her rather quickly for her liking, she in midst of brushing her teeth there. He placed a bottle of water next to the sink for her and left, closing the door behind him to give her some privacy.

YN hated the feeling of throwing up, she always took care of what went down her mouth for the exact reason. It's nothing out of norm for a pregnant person to throw up, and she's certainly aware that morning sickness doesn't always happen during morning.

Trying her best to gather herself before she headed out of that bathroom. It was going to give her nightmares now.

When YN went out she found Lizzie packing up portioned food into some containers as a pot of what looked to be a some sort of soup and grilled cheese sandwiches on the dishes.

"Hi, I'm YN, sorry about that." YN introduce herself to the lady. She was about her mum's age.

"It's alright. I am Lizzie by the way." She smiled, "it's nice to finally meet you, love."

"Nice to meet you too." YN smiled, "what are making now, if you don't mind me asking."

"I quickly fixed up some potato, tomato and cauliflower soup, with toasties." She spoke, certainly with a very thick Scottish accent. It took YN a minute to figure out what she was saying.

It's sometimes harder for her to understand even Harry, given the fact he talks really calmly and slow.

"What will you do with this food, I feel so bad. I really can't help it!" YM felt really guilty thinking the food would go to waste, including all the efforts Lizzie had put into preparing it. Probably on Harry's request.

"This will to the homeless, darling, don't worry about it." The blue eyed woman said, "I'm headed out now. You have a great night!"

"You too, Lizzie. Thank you and sorry." YN shook her hand and gave her a hug.

"I said, don't worry about it. I get paid to do this job." Lizzie chuckled, she packed up a little reusable back before she was out the door.

YN found Harry by the door to his backyard, talking over a phone call to someone. The soup smelled amazing and did not make her sick, but she still felt like not eating anything in fear of throwing up again.

"Hey darling, you feeling alright now?" Harry asked as he made his way to the kitchen, stuffing his phone in his pocket.

"A little better." She nodded.

"You want to eat up some fruit before dinner then?" He suggested, "I don't know if you want to eat just now."

"I don't want to eat anything now, I'm going to puke again." She shrugged.

"Doesn't mean you should skip a meal because of that," he shook his head, "now and sit at the breakfast bar for me." He'd rolled up sleeves of his baby pink button down shirt to his elbows as he fetched for some fruits kept next to the fridge and some inside.

He placed a bowl of fresh bananas and grapes in front of her as he washed up some strawberries and raspberries.

"Harry--" she stopped once he gave a deadpanned look, and ate some grapes.

"How was your day?" He asked.

"It was amazing." She she yawned covering her mouth. "Got a good news that I'll be getting a promotion soon at my first job, Kayla found her wedding dress on her second appointment for the day. It was amazing, until now."

"Focus on good things, love." He suggested as he cut off the heads of the strawberries and placed on a place with a paper towel.

She's tired okay!

"Hmm."

"When's her wedding?" He asked.

"In about two months." YN shared.

"I'll ask Jeremy to drive you that day, yeah?" He suggested. Quickly he fixed them both a bowl of soup each and set it on the breakfast bar. He walked around the kitchen counter to go sit next to her.

"Where is your god daughter?" She asked, trying her best to get that one grape down her throat.

"Just called her parents and told them can't take her in tonight." He shared, "you want anything else with this?"

"No," YN shook her head, "why did you do that? I'll go back home, don't feel that good anymore."

"I'll get the guest room ready for ya, so don't worry about it, now eat up!"

Harry ended up somehow convincing her to eat up and they just talked about what she did all day, because his day was nothing much other than attending a meeting. She seemed excited for her best friend's wedding.

"Do you want to lounge on the sofa while I go set up the room for ya?" He asked.

"I think I should head home, but that you for offering." She carefully got down from the chair.

"YN, please." He insisted, "just stay the night and drive you home first thing in morning, yeah? I know your friends are not home mostly, don't want you to be alone. I hope you know what I mean. Saw yoh almost pass out and I'm worried for you, that's all."

YN took in a deep breath, mostly to think of what he said through clear mind and not lash out on him to later regret it, then not apologise and feel guilty for it. She'd rather take time to understand that he's hust trying to help her.

"Okay." She nodded.

"Put on anything you want to watch on TV, and just have a relaxing time, okay?" He suggested, "I'll go get the guest room fixed."

"Hmm," she sounded, "thank you."

She made her way to the living room area. His sofa was expensive but it was very comfortable.

Hella comfy!

The remote was on the coffee table, with her legs tucked under her bum she sat there watching her favourite TV show on a low volume. She text her friends letting them know where she is.

When Harry got the guest room all set up for with fresh and washed sheets, amd everything she might need for the night all set up, YN went to bed. Or did she?

She had her laptop in front of her as she graded paper of her last semester teaching at a highschool. She just wanted a way to clear out her head. She just had so much going on in her head in that moment.

"Why haven't you slept yet?" She heard a deep voice spooking her.

"Oh my god, Harry!" She sighed, slightly lowering the lid of her laptop, "I am not sleepy yet."

"Can I come in?" He asked. Her door was ajar and he had his head peeking through crack, she just nodded for his permission to go in. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She shook her head, "this is just last semester of me teaching at the highschool and I've got a bit of work to do."

"Mhmm." He sounded, not buying any of it, "do you want to talk about it?" He stood by the foot of the bed, his arms crossed around his chest.

"There is nothing bothering me, Harry, it's fine. I'm, I'm fine." She assured him.

"You sure?"

"Positive!" She smiled.

"Hmm." He gave it up for now, not wanting to overwhelm her. "But you can continue working tomorrow, now go to bed. Please?"

"Okay." She agreed.

"Just wake me up if you need anything, yeah?"

"Yeah, I will." She nodded. He almost left room before she called for him, "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind taking me to Josh and Kayla's wedding?" She asked, but soon found the need to make up as excuse. "Instead of having Jeremy drive me there? I, I, I mean he needs days off, too right? And it will be summer."

Harry took a moment gathering himself up from not breaking into a smile. "Sure, he needs a break. I won't mind driving you."

"Okay." She smiled the smallest and the sweetest smile he's seen, "good night, Harry."

"Good night, YN." He left closing the door behind him.

......................................................................

Next morning YN woke up early as if on autopilot, before her alarm went off.

She had the best sleep ever!

On the comfiest mattress and cuddliest blanket and the softest pillow she has ever slept on. In her entire life probably.

That's when she realised she wasn't in her own room, and she really asked Harry be her chauffeur to her best friend's wedding next month and it wasn't just a dream. She shouldn't have done that!

No!

What the fuck!

She got out of bed reluctantly and walked out, the quietest rattling of pot and pans could be heard. But it was Lizzie in the kitchen and not Harry.

YN found him fast asleep on the sofa with one of his leg thrown over the back rest, his arm rested on his forehead to block the sun bothering him, and the same kinda blanket which she had thrown over his torso and thighs. His hair looked crazy curly not styled the way he usually styles them. He had a worn down gray tshirt on and what looked to be black sweater pants. YN could finally see what kinda flower was inked above his elbow. It was a rose!

A name 'Jackson' written just above the rose. He's got many god children, maybe it's one of their names, and a ship on his bicep, a anatomical human heart with three nails above it.

But she wondered why he slept on the sofa all night?

"Good mornin' love!" Lizzie chirped in a quiet voice, YN walked in the kitchen.

"Good morning." She smiled.

"Did you two had a fight last night?" She teased.

"It's not that, I fell sick I stayed the night in guest room. I don't know why he slept on the sofa." YN shrugged. "Oh, I'm about to--" and she back into the guest room and straight to the bathroom feeling the need to throw up.

She felt a familiar warm hand on her back rubbing up and down in soothing strokes. How did he get there so fast?

"Hey it's alright!" He assured her watching her panic all over again. "You're okay."

It was false alarm. She didn't throw up or she can say there was pretty much nothing in her stomach to come out. But she kept gagging as if she really want to throw up.

"Hey, do you want me to take you to the doctor?" He asked to which she agreed immediately. "You want to go now."

"No, no, I'll--" she grasped onto his hand in a bome crushing grip, "I'll wait till tomorrow."

"YN, come on, I'll call in for an appointment after breakfast, yeah?" He wasn't asking, more like telling her the plan for the day. "Said don't try if you can't puke."

"I'm going pass out. Please..." She tried her best to keep herself together.

"Do you mind if I hug?" She nodded. "C'mere!" He sighed and pulled her in for a hug. "It's okay, I'm here. We're going to see a doctor soon, yeah?"

"Yeah!" She nodded clinging onto him. Scared that she'll fall down even though she's sitting on the floor.

"Here, have some water," he gave her a glass of water, still holding onto her so she wouldn't loose her balance.

"This is so bad, I can't, I can't!" She cried, this time she actually threw up. Leaned over the toilet bowl she coughed like there was no tomorrow. It was mostly her panicking over the situation.

"Hey, hey, hey YN." He grabbed onto her arms firmly, "I want you to look around and tell me whatever you see, can you try to do that for me, yeah love?"

That sounded stupid to her!

She's feeling like she's going to pass out and her heart is pounding into her chest as if it's about burst out and keep pumping on the bathroom floor all bloody. It was driving her crazy but he was pretty adamant on making her tell him what she's seeing around. All she could think of was the baby, as she kept a hand on her lower tummy.

"I, I see the shower curtain." She stuttered, seeing everything blur around her.

"Yeah? And what colour is it?" He asked.

"Can't you see--" she stopped a second as the fear of her throwing up came back, "it's, it's gray!"

"Yeah, what else do you see?"

The closest thing she saw was him, "you, you. I, I see you."

"Keep going." He encouraged her, "keep focusing on breathing." Soon she calmed down there. That was the longest hour of her life. She was all sweaty and gross. "It's alright now."

"Yeah, yeah." She nodded, huffing and all tired. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"

"No, don't apologise." He rushed, resting his hand on hers which was on her little baby bump. "You want to go lay on bed for while?"

"I, I need to wash my face. I'm feeling a little better now." She explained.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Mhmm."

"I'll be here." He helped her up on her feet and he just stood there. By the door. Being her personal watch guard as she brushed her teeth and washed up her face. He helped her to the bed.

"I meed to go back home before we go to the hospital." She realised, "I need to change."

"Will find you a change of clothes and wash these off, we're going to the hospital after breakfast." He said firmly. "Don't move, I'll be back."

And she just did that.

Mainly because she was so shocked. She threw up twice since last night. She's never thrown up since she was a toddler and a little bit older than that maybe. She's got no memories of that.

Harry on the other hand, tried to find a smallest one of his hoodie so it doesn't fall off her. But he failed. He can only hope it's ot to big for her, he also picked out a pair of his black sweats which were a bit too short for him so he never wore them. The tag was still on it.

He made sure to cut the tags off before he was headed to the guest room.

"Hope this is not too big on you." He set the clothes by the foot of the bed. "If you want to get changed. Breakfast's not ready yet."

"I'm not hungry. But can I use your shower please?" She asked.

"Of course, love."

Of course she's not hungry. After puking what she ate last night. She slept through the afternoon after calling a day off at work. But later that evening she had gone to see Doctor Wilson, she was finally back, she prescribed her a few medications to help with her nausea and she was good to go.

Later that day she went out with her friends, it was Harry's suggestion that she goes out to get some air and not sit at home. Her friends were very supportive as well, which Harry was grateful for.

She went back to hers after, but he called her twice to check up on her. And the third time before he was off to bed himself.

......................................................................

Harry was miserable the next day. He haven't seen YN in two whole days.

Don't get it wrong, she's in the same situation. She couldn't focus on dress shopping her best friend's wedding and she's the maid of honour!

But after the very next day to her emergency (sort of) visit to the hospital, she decided to call up her dad and tell him everything. Spoiler alert, at first he was a bit disappointed but he understood as she explained the situation.

At the end of the day, her dad's an educated man and he wouldn't tell his daughter what she can and cannot do. He was glad that his wife didn't het the chance to break the news to him, and that YN told him first herself.

And she wanted to talk to him because it was her birthday the next day.

He told her he got a job at the same university again, he can work from home and that he'll help her pay off every penny back to Harry; which YN was already planning to do. Little by little.

"Are you feeling any better?" Her dad asked.

"Yeah, a little. Went to doctors and got some meds." YN shared, "are you taking your medicines on time?"

"I am, I am!" He nodded, "I'm your father you don't need to remind me, I meed to remind you." He's of course joking.

"Ha-ha! Very funny!" She joked back.

"So, who is this guy?" He asked, "you told me he's single and all."

"Not happening Papa. He does not seem interested in me that way, he already friend zoned me." And she regretted the moment those words came out of her mouth.

"What do you want to be his friend?" Her dad chuckled. "True love starts with friendship."

"Oh my god! Can you please be like a regular father!" She whined as he laughed.

Yeah, her dad's cool. He still likes to pull her leg reminding him of her silly crush on this boy in Kindergarten. Which she remembers somehow. She was also best friends with that boy, bht she lost contact once she switched schools in fifth grade.

"Why not, remember the boy from your class?"

"Here we go again!" She groaned.

"You can at least tell me his name you know." Her dad was being very stubborn.

"Harry Styles." YN sighed.

"You said he's like super rich?" She saw him pick up his phone from beside him and she knew exactly what he was doing, "he's decent looking. Along with how he treats you I'd say he seems like a good person."

"I've been mean to him." She reminded herself more than to her dad, "for no reason at all."

"Oh look, it's midnight!" Her dad celebrated and she saw her little brother bring out her favourite cake carefully taking each step. They sang her a little birthday song and cut the cake for her. It was something she craved, to spend her birthday with her family. Which haven't gotten to from past couple of years.

And she talked to her dad for a little while longer before she tucked herself in bed, it was nearing midnight for her as well. Her phone chimed in that exact moment there. It was a message from Harry checking in on her. He sent her same message twice a day:

Harry Styles

- You feeling good?

And she'd reply depending upon how she felt. She did felt good in the moment.

- I'm feeling better now. Thank you for asking.

- Just talked to my dad about this so I feel extra at ease.

He instantly saw her message and started typing.

Harry Styles

- I hope he's doing well too.

She feels too guilty now. Even though half of the time her lashing out of him wasn't intentional. Still.

- Yeah, better now too.

Just as she saw him typing up his response, she heard a knock on her door before her friends busted in her room screaming.

"Happy birthday the mother of our group!" They all yelled at the same time. Julia was holding the cake Josh and Kayla's had a few things in their hands as well.

"Oh my god!" She gasped in surprise, "thank you so much guys!"

"Come on, come on, it's midnight now." Julia sat next to her, Josh handed the a wooden knife there. They celebrated and clicked many pictures of her and with her.

They made her open the presents they bought her. Julia got her two Squishmallows she was obsessing over when they went shopping for their graduation dresses, Kayla and Josh got her blanket hoodie with cartoon cats printed on it with a whole ass kit of makeup from Rare Beautiful.

"Oh my god, you guys really didn't had to get me anything!" YN gasped seeing every.

"Come on you get us gifts all the time, it's your birthday!" Kayla gave her a bone crushing hug. "This is just a fraction of what you do for us."

"Yes, remember you stayed up for three nights because I was sick, and once you drove to hospital because I broke my arm even though you don't have a lisence to drive here?" Julia ranted, "yeah that!"

"Yup, and you helped me complete three of my assignments in two days--" Josh was interrupted by YN chuckling awkward.

"Okay, okay..." YN sounded.

Acts of service is her love language, and recieving gifts instead of giving gifts have always been awkward for her.

......................................................................

Next morning, all three of YN's friends were taking her out for breakfast just before she had to go to work.

YN got dressed in the dress she bought for her convocation as that was the only thing which how fits her comfortably. It's not tight around her belly and it's stretchy over her chest. And she won't overheat in it as well. Julia curled her hair, which she didn't wanted but still went for it because her hair was starting to look nicer lately.

She was just trying to put her shoes on which was getting harder everyday, she just hoped there is still one baby there, the door bell went off. YN opened the door as she was sitting right next to it on the little ottoman putting her shoes on. It was Harry, he looked quite worried there.

"Hey!" She was surprised.

"Hi, sorry came unannounced, just wanted to check up on you as your phone is switched off." He explained his unexpected visit.

"Oh!" YN realised and turned moved aside so he can get in and she can reach for her phone.

Last night after the impromptu party her phone just turned off completely, this morning she did put it on charge but forgot to turn it on. She did now!

"Sorry to worry you, it turned off last night and I forgot to turn it back on." She looked at him sheepishly.

"It's alright, just wanted to make sure you're okay."

YN swore she saw the smallest and sweetest smile on his face. He doesn't smile that often, even when he's joking. Which he should, to show off his dimples at least!

"It's on now." She showed him her phone. "Thank you."

"Of course." He nodded, "you want me to drive you to work?"

"It's fine, I'm going--" she was interrupted by an over excited Julia.

"Is the birthday girl ready yet?" The blonde almost yelled from down the hallway, just to notice YN was by the door. With a visitor.

"It's your birthday today?" Harry asked, now he's surprised.

"Yeah." She nodded sheepishly.

"Oh, happy birthday!" He smiled. Actually smiled. The dimples and his bunny teeth showing and all kinda smile.

"Thank you." YN felt her cheeks grow warmer.

WTF!

"We're taking her out for breakfast, do you mind if we steal her?" Julia asked Harry.

"Of course. Why would I mind." He rushed. Though he really wants to do something for YN today. He'll have to see what he can do later. He bid YN for now left, but not before wishing her one last time.

......................................................................

YN was on her lunch break, she had ordered in her favourite takeout for lunch. Though she wasn't hungry, she had to eat to take her daily supplements. And she needs to hearty meals anyway because there is another human growing inside of her in that moment. But smelling the food made her hungry. She was confused with her own self at this point.

She got a call from Harry, which she answered.

"Hi, what's up?" She propped her phone in between her head and her shoulder as she held the take out box in her hands.

"Hi," he chirped, sounding nervous, "when do you get off work?"

"I have extra office hours today," she tried to speak with food in her mouth, "I'm sorry I'm eating. I just have some work to do and help a few students."

"You want me come pick you up after?" He asked.

She'd have to work till at least half past six, check and grade final assignments. She's got three more classes to teach, that means she's got be on her feet. Walking to the tube station seems like a nightmare to her. After calculating her cons, she came to a conclusion.

"Please, if you don't mind!"

"I offered darling of course I don't mind," YN could hear him smiling through the phone call, "just text me a half an hour before, I'll be there, yeah?"

"Okay, I will. Thank you."

......................................................................

YN somehow got herself to outside of the school building. Her legs felt heavy to walk in. She can only imagine how she'd be able to walk when she's nearing full term. It took her ten minutes to walk out and she was already half hour late because she spaced out whilst grading assignments, she was informed by the janitor that she's been here for too late.

But Harry was already waiting for her there by his car outside. Dressed in a different suit from this morning, it was a black suit changed from his sea green one, a white shirt underneath with half of it's buttons undone. The same cross necklace in gold he always wore.

"Hi, thank you for the ride!" YN approached him. "And sorry I'm late."

"Don't worry about it, darling." He even opened the door for her there. He'd brought his Range Rover today. He took her bag and put it in the backseat for her and closed the door after she got in.

The most he does is open the door for her most of the times.

She put on her seatbelt and said nothing until he started driving. He was going in the direction to her place until he took a left turn instead of taking a rught this time.

"You took a wrong turn." She pointed out giggling to herself because, well, he's acting a bit nervous and unusual to say. Not like he'd kidnap her or harm her. She thought it was an anxious mistake he made. He stayed silent for a few minutes, luckily for herself YN has learnt to really control her emotions around him. Doesn't she can pash out in hik or cry in front of him just because he willingly (he says so) listens to her.

That's a very fucked up way to behave.

They both sat there in silence, in heavy traffic for next god knows how long. The vibe was weirdly calm. At least that's what YN felt.

Harry just rubbed the tip of his nose with his knuckle nervously before saying, "Thought, could take you out to dinner. It's your birthday, innit?"

"It is my birthday, but you really don't have to Harry, it's fine." She said politely, "thank you though."

"Well, we're already here, might as well go in." He search for a spot to park in, which took another five minutes. By the time they were inside it was almost eight.

"Harry you really don't have to." YN felt bad, because he's already spending enough money on her with all the hospital bills and check ups, he's got his personal driver drive her wherever she wants to. That's just more that enough.

"Come on," he opened the door for her but he saw that she was wearing the seatbelt wrong over her baby bump. But kept in mind to show her later as she already took it off before he could say anything at all.

So he helped her out of his car, grabbed her bag in case she needs anything from it or she doesn't have to bother about anything else. He found them a table in the booth by the side.

The restaurant was very pretty, everything was aesthetic with vintage themes and pops of colours here and there. It was a weekday so it wasn't crowded, she bet there was another floor and the floor they're on is very huge. The menu served three different types of Asian foods, it was Indian, Indonesian and Korean, according to Harry.

"It's really nice here." YN commented still admiring the decor and taking mental pictures of the quirky chandeliers.

"Yeah?" YN found Harry smiling at her there. The waitress came over and gave them the menu and took their drink orders. YN went with water and so did Harry because he's driving.

YN looked through the menu and everything was very expensive. She can feed a group of six people, it was that expensive. She noticed Harry had already chose what he was going to get as he closed the folder and kept it aside.

"Fancy anything on the menu?" He asked, watching her flip back to the first page for the second time. YN looked at him nervously and leaned in as if she wants to share a secret, so did he.

"Everything is so expensive!" She whispered exclaimed.

"Doesn't matter!" He whispered back but ended up giggling.

"I can't--" she was interrupted.

"You don't have to." He said knowing exactly what she's going to say, "it's your birthday were celebrating. Take your time."

When the waitress came over so she ordered a Butter Chicken with some Roti whilst Harry ordered a biryani.

"Thank you for this." She smiled.

"You got to stop thanking me now." He warned her.

The rest of the dinner was quiet, just them talking about her day and the next doctors appointment. Harry was asking her if he should remember something to tell or ask Doctor Wilson. He also said he wants to know the sex of the baby just because. Which she was fine with. It is his child at the end if the day.

By the end, before Harry asked for the bill, the same waitress came in with a dark chocolate pastry cake on a white china dish. She placed it in the middle of the table, and left but not before mumbling a little wish to her. YN was shocked.

It said, Happy Birthday YN with chocolate sauce on the dish, and one little candle on he top next to a strawberry cut up up like a rose next to it.

"Make a wish!" Harry seemed more excited than her.

Well, she's still processing. And maybe he wants to eat the cake too. Who knows...

But she did, she closed her eyes and made three wishes like her mother made her do every year on her birthday. She said, the other two wishes are just bonus, at least one of them would come true.

And most of the times. Almost all her wishes came true, or at least one would. She blew out the flame when she was done.

"Happy birthday!" Harry cheered.

"Thank you!"

"What did you ask for?" He asked. He's just curious okay!

"They won't come true if I tell you." She said.

"Just a little curious." He shrugged. YN picked up the fork to take a bite for herself. She's been craving a lot of chocolate lately. They both ended up sharing the pastry cake before Harry paid the bill and he walked her out.

He opened the car door for her again, and waited till she got in. "You wore the seat belt wrong earlier." Be started, "it's just for your safety, darling got me wrong okay? I'm gonna show you how you can wear it properly so you don't hurt yourself." He reached for the buckle of the seatbelt, leaned in buckle it in place first. "You tuck the horizontal part under your belly, instead of wearing it over it."

With that he proceeded to show her exactly how it should be tucked under her belly even though she knows ut wouldn't stay. Her belly is still a little small. She's just entering her second trimester. His hand brushed her thigh which made butterflies in her tummy go wild. And she could smell his shampoo. A single curl fell onto his face.

He pulled himself away too quick for her liking there.

"You good there darling, everything comfortable?" He asked.

"Yeah, yeah." She nodded stuttering and released the breathe she didn't know she was holding onto.

"Okay," he gave her a quick smile before he shut the door and jogged towards the driver's seat around the front of the car. "You want to get some ice cream?"

"Of course, I never say no to ice cream." She agreed and he drove to a ice cream place.

This time Harry got one for himself too. He'd abandoned his suit blazer in the back of his car, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The white shirt he wore was too sheer, the outlines of his tattoos clearly showing through. He sat on the chair next to hers, instead of sitting in front of her.

"So you're going with someone to your friend's wedding?" He asked, awkwardly shoving a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.

"If Noodle counts as a date, then yes." She nodded.

"Would you, would you mind going with me? I really don't know anyone else, don't want to feel left out." He stuttered as his nervous tic kicked in, he rubbed a knuckle under his nose.

"You're going?" YN was surprised because, she had planed on asking him sort of last minute when he'd have more chances of turning her down due to his busy schedule. This was an unexpected turn of events.

"My assistant gave me the invitation this morning." He shared.

"And I thought my friends hated you." She scoffed in disbelief, still stuffing her face with ice cream.

"Especially the blondie." He nodded with pursed lips.

"Hey, only three of us get to call her that!" She warned him, "but yeah, I think they did hated you. Especially for how you dragged me that night I got drunk for the first time."

"Because you were advised not to drink." He reminded her. Politely. "By a Doctor, might I add?"

"I know, I'm sorry about that." She smiled sheepishly, "they just dragged me there because they didn't know about all this. And I gave in because I was feeling too guilty. I never had a drop of alcohol before that night."

"YN, I hope you know that none of it was your fault, don't you?" He leaned in closer, sincerity laced through his tone.

"I know now." She nodded. But she's gonna carry the grief with her because she did wanted those babies, she felt the connection with them. But is it really right to share it with him? Maybe not. "Anyways, I don't mind going with you. Though I'm Maid of honour, you'll have to sit alone for the ceremony."

"I can survive that." He shrugged, "is there any theme, or prohibited colours?"

"The theme is blue and white." YN explained, "blue for the guests, if they can wear that colour and white for the bride and groom."

"Got it."

"I told my dad." She confessed, "last night about all this."

"Hmm, what did he say?" He asked. YN felt at ease because she really didn't need to share it with him, what's he going to do with that information anyway? But he looked interested.

"He was a little, just a little bit mad at first but he understood." She shared, "I was a bit scares to tell him as well. And you probably don't want to hear this I'm sorry."

"No, I want to hear. Never apologise for speaking about what's bothering you." He assured her. "I'm happy he came around, hope that put you at ease."

"It did actually," she agreed. Busy with her ice cream. She's already feeling heartburn, especially when she's stressed or doing something physical, like doing the laundry and other chores where she's got to bend over carefully.

Ice and ice cream is the only thing helping her. She's just too tired of taking the vitamins and heartburn medication prescribed to her. But she gotta do what she gotta do.

Harry on the other hand was awed by her. She had her hair down, in soft curls which looks more like waves now. He knows he needs to keep his feelings in check but the thing is... he doesn't want to.

He also didn't know what to talk about with her, it's like he knows her but at the same time he doesn't.

"Do you want to know what you're having next appointment?" She asked. To his dismay, she only ever talks about the baby and everything related to that with him. He does like to talk about it but he doesn't always.

Well, he won't talk about himself either so that's fair, he guesses.

"I never thought about it." He admitted, "I just them to health that's all, I don't really care. But..." He cleared his throat sheepishly, "I do wanna know."

"That's okay." She assured him, "what are you expecting?"

He felt his cheeks grow warmer, "I want a little girl." He felt a bit embarrassed for wanting one thing where he doesn't have a control. "Sorry. But I'm fine either way."

"That's sweet." She added, "daughters are viewed as goddesses of power, fortune and prosperity. There's nothing wrong with wanting that. There's definitely nothing to be sorry for."

"That puts me at ease." He sighs in relief, "what about you?"

"What about me?" She chuckled nervously, "I don't think I have a say in this. This is your baby."

He didn't know what to say further but he was going to say words before he was cut off with his phone going off with texts. He glanced at her asking to be excused as he looked over the notifications. "It's my sister. Do you mind if I...?"

"No, of course not."

He picked up his phone and swiped on the notification. A look of confusion took over his face as he lowered his phone and looked around. Until he found someone. YN followed his gaze to find find someone familiar. It was the girl from the mall she met whilst shopping with Julia.

"Gemma?" She muttered, but managed to catch Harry's attention. He glanced at her surprised before his sister had finally walked upto their table.

"Am I interrupting a date?" Gemma chirped, "I suspected you were onto something, but I never expected my brother to ever go on a date."

"Gem." Harry stopped her, "it's not what you're thinking. Please have a seat!" So she did. "Let me start by introducing you, this is YN and YN this is Gemma, my sister."

"I think we've already met." Gemma beamed, "at the mall right? Yeah. Dress still looks much better on you."

"Oh, thank you!" YN smiled back sheepishly.

Harry found her reaction adorable but he could feel his sister staring st him as he looked at YN, "I see you have already met."

"Yeah. And this isn't a date." YN chirped in, "we're just hanging out."

"Oh?" Was her initial reaction. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't know that."

"Yeah..." Harry sounded. He seemed disappointed. YN could sense that but she sat there as the sibling duo included her in their conversation. She didn't mind, Gemma is actually very interesting and kind person to spend time with. They talked about what she did for living, and they told Harry how exactly they met the first time around.

He never mentioned to his sister that she's the gestational carrier of his child. Maybe it is something he wants to keep to himself, or he doesn't want anyone to know.

......................................................................

Harry eventually drove YN back to hers. The drive was very silent.

She didn't know what went wrong, but she didn't wanted to ask him either. If he wants, he can share it with her. She just unbuckles her seat belt and grabbed her bag to leave.

"Hey, YN." Harry called for her, his voice soft enough to make her turn to look at him. He undid his seat belt so he could reach for sometime in the back. A white paper bag with a pearl colour ribbon on top. "Your birthday present. Hope you like it."

YN was put in spot right there. It definitely looked expensive as hell but she doesn't want to assume. For all she assumes, there might a three pound teddy bear in it. But it looked heavy.

"Harry you didn't had to get me anything." She sighed, "dinner and ice cream is more than enough."

A slightest smirk threatened to take over his features, "well, I already bought it." With a shrug he placed the bag on the centre console. "Open it."

"You sure?" She was still hesitant.

"The whole point of getting gifts is to get to see the reaction." He explained, "I am sure."

"Okay." She dragged the sound as she tugged the ribbon open. Her hands were shaking as she removed the ribbon off the bag. There were several little boxes in there. She can see four of them to be exact. "You said there is present and not presents, Harry."

"Did I?" He acted surprised. But YN went ahead picked out the first box she could. It was a phone case.

"You did not." She gasped.

"Hmm?" He's still acting surprised, not even trying to put in any effort to make it seem legit. She pulled out the one of the main gift, it was the newest iPhone. In black. He beamed at her watching as she didn't know what to say. "You can't not accept it, darling."

"You've got to be kidding me Harry, this is so expensive. I can't take this." She whined, "I feel so bad already."

"Come on you haven't even got everything." He got her to take a look at the rest of the boxes. She chuckled seeing the charging brick, which hilariously enough, doesn't come with the phone.

"This is ridiculous." She shook her head laughing, "Harry, this is too much, I--"

"There is one more thing in there." He interrupted her. She glanced at him once before she reached in the bag and pulled out the last box. It was a blue hexagonal box, size of her palm. A very familiar swan logo in the middle.

"Harry!"

"Open it, open it." He seemed more excited than her there. She opened it, and it was a Swarovski tennis bracelet.

"Harry I--"

He interrupted her again, "here lemme help you put it on." He took out the bracelet and placed it around her wrist. It was a little looser but not too loose that it would fall off. He missed her eyes tearing up as he admired now she made the already pretty piece of jewelry even more prettier. "Hey, what's wrong darling?"

"It's stupid. I'm sorry." She sniffled, "I still I don't know if I can accept this Harry, this is too kind of you."

"It's not stupid." He said, firmly, "you can share what's bothering you with me."

"It's nothing. I mean there is nothing bothering me." She looked down at her wrist to distract herself from looking at him, "it's just that I haven't been home in last five years. I miss home..." She stopped to take in a deep breath, prevent herself from starting to sob. "I miss my family so much. But just realised I have one here too. My friends are too generous and kind. And you, you really took your time out to take me to a nice dinner. It just means a lot. And this, this is just too much."

He cooed, "this is nothing. In compare to what you're doing." He started, "and we're friends too, right?"

"Right." She nodded.

"Happy birthday!" He said in a sing-sang voice, holding his arms out like a toddler wanting a hug. YN chuckled and hugged him.

"But honestly Harry--"

"Please?" He makes a sad kitten face bht ends up breaking into a big grin.

"I..." She sighs, "okay."

"Yay!" He chuckles, "happy birthday, YN."

"Thank you Harry." She smiles, "really. For everything. And for these. How thoughtful of you." She held up the charger box jokingly.

"Hey!" He whined, "it's sas they stopped giving chargers with the phones."

"Yeah." She nodded, "now you can delete WhatsApp off your phone, eh?"

"I didn't got you that so I can delete WhatsApp off mine." He looked at her with more serious eyes, "your phone keeps dying, you literally keep it plugged to a power bank in your bag all the time. It died on you last night. I just want to make sure I can reach to you, to make sure you're doing fine and well. You're my responsibility. As much as you-- or me, because I know you're a responsible person-- might not like it, that's true."

"Okay..." She sunk of her seat sheepishly.

She thinks about saving up to buy herself a new phone but ends up spending that money somewhere or other. Or send it back home to help her family.

"Don't have to embarrassed, darling." He assured her.

"Yeah." She pulled herself together, "I should go now... I'm very tired."

"Mhmm." He nodded.

YN gathered everything in the paper bag as she watched him sink into his seat next to her from the corner of her eye. Giving him one last glance of hope before she slipped out and waved him bye before she walked into her building.

......................................................................

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shwazzberryswriting · 3 years

Text

Raising Liberty

Pairing: Yangyang x Original Female Character|Reader (MAIN), Bae Jinyoung (CIX) x Original Female Character|Reader

Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Romance, Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Angst, Hook-Ups, Angst

Summary: As he helps Chenle take care of his condo, Yangyang gets to know one of the neighbors

Word count: 13.7k

Rating/Warnings: Mature / Explicit Sexual Content, heavy usage of swearing *Part 4 of my "The NCT Frat House Series"*

Author’s Note: I hope you enjoy this Yangyang fic. I had so much fun writing it although it gave me so much trouble, because I just could not stop writing. I couldn't help myself when I put Bae Jinyoung in here, either, which did not make the writing process go by any faster. I feel like I could have edited this more, so apologies ahead of time for any errors or shortcomings! **13.05.2021: Tumblr's been weird with this fic, I keep finding snippets missing for no reason at all. I'm trying to figure out what's going on, so I'm sorry if the story doesn't make sense? Blame my bad writing, IDK**

*Special Thank You to @toastedqueso for suggesting Bae Jinyoung for this fic*

------

The apartment at the other end of the hall was blasting hip hop music, and the skunky smell of marijuana was strong even from where Bian stood. Smoke was lazily drifting out down the dimly lit hallway, and she could only ignore the couple making out next to the stairs as she opened the door to her apartment. She shut the door behind her and locked it, the music only slightly muffled now.

She tried to take her usual three steps to the left to turn on the light in the kitchen. However, her feet immediately collided into something that should not have been on the ground and fell flat on her stomach. Her bag of hair dye and candy crashed loudly with her onto the tiled floor as she shouted, “Goddamnit!”

She was met with two breathless voices.

“Ow! What the-”

“Fuck, what was that?”

The first belonged to her roommate, Kayla.The second voice she didn’t recognize.

Scrambling to her feet, Bian placed her hands on the wall for support before turning the lights on in the kitchen. She looked over to see two naked bodies intertwined on the cheap grey Ikea loveseat she and Kayla bought 6 months before. Her face grew hot as she turned her back to the sight of Kayla with her date. She could hear them frantically picking their clothes up off the floor. Bian looked down to her feet and saw what tripped her, a pair of red and white high top Nike’s.

“Bian! What the fuck?” she heard Kayla say.

“You have a bedroom,” Bian replied, walking sideways toward her bedroom while trying to keep her back to the living room. “You knew I was working tonight.”

“I just got home! I thought you were in bed already.”

“I had to work late!” She whipped around to look Kayla in the face, a different sort of heat hitting her. She was getting tired of Kayla’s bullshit, and she didn't care how naked the pair were anymore. “Even if I had come home on time, I would have been sleeping in my bed. What the fuck would have happened if I woke up and walked out of my room? We agreed to keep bedroom activities in the bedrooms. Privacy!”

“I should, uh, leave,” Kayla’s date said as he walked over to grab the Nike’s, flipping his shiny brown hair out of his eyes.

“Yeah, you should.”

“Bian! You don’t have to be so fucking rude! I’m sorry, Yangyang.”

Rolling her eyes as Kayla and her date said goodbye to each other, Bian walked into the bathroom and locked the door. Fuck Kayla, she was turning her hair blue. She’d had a crappy night at her job as a stocker in the Walgreens near the university campus. Not only did she have to work on a Friday night and miss out on partying with her peers, but she had to stay a couple hours late. She didn't make it home until nearly 1:00 AM.

Before leaving work, Bian purchased one box of Splat’s Blue Envy hair dye kit with a bag of gummy bears. She had decided that she needed to do something exciting in her life. As she mixed the bleach powder with the toning liquid in a plastic bowl, Bian thought about walking in on Kayla having sex with a guy. She begrudgingly gave them a point for being part of the excitement.

“Bian.” She heard Kayla knock on the door. “That was really rude. Do you know who my date was? What are the NCT fraternity going to think of me now?”

“I don’t give a fuck,” Bian replied, looking over at her door. “Our contract's up at the end of the month."

She smirked as she heard Kayla's footsteps walk down the hall. Kayla had been begging Bian to extend their contract for another month since Kayla was still looking for a new roommate. After the shoe tripping accident, Kayla was shit out of luck with the contract extension. Bian had signed up for the student housing program she found at the local YMCA.

She already had a studio apartment set up for her to move into soon with the assistance of a privately funded non-profit. They helped students find a rent controlled studio in various complexes surrounding the university throughout the city. She had given the roommate thing a try, but clearly it wasn't working out.

It was nice to come home to a quiet place all to herself. And if there was a mess waiting for her to clean up, Bian appreciated that it was her own mess she had to clean up. The only downside was that whenever anything scary or alarming happened she was on her own. There was no one around to bounce off her reaction, and she took action before thinking under high stress too often.

Her first scary encounter happened on her third Saturday living alone. She’d woken up late and was preparing coffee when she heard a strange noise, like squeaky wheels. Looking around for the source, she set her phone down onto the countertop as she walked toward her fridge, where she thought the noise was loudest. Right below the door of the fridge was a small grey mouse, and its tiny toes were pattering away toward her stove.

Screaming at the top of her lungs, Bian ran out of her studio apartment. She jumped around and swiped at her arms and legs, the mental image of the pink and very tiny paws of the mouse making her skin crawl. There was a slight breeze that caused the warm air to whip her shoulder length hair into her eyes. Another gust of wind caused the hem of her shorts to brush against the curve of her ass cheeks.

Flipping her hair out of her eyes with one hand while her other adjusted her shorts to cover her ass cheeks entirely, Bian felt embarrassed. She was standing outside in nothing but a pair of pastel blue shorts and an old grey tshirt. She jumped backwards as she saw the mouse run out of her apartment through the front door.

She felt her yelp catch in her throat as her feet tripped on something lumpy. She fell backwards into the door behind her. Groaning as she grabbed the door frame, Bian’s back hurt from slamming into the door. By kicking her left leg behind her slightly she was able to plant her feet flat onto the ground, but scraped the side of her pinky toe against the concrete floor.

“Shit.” She groaned again as she stood up straight. Looking down, she saw that the skin near her toe had been scratched hard enough that small beads of blood began forming. A familiar pair of red and white high top Nike’s were lying on their side beside her feet. “No fucking way.”

The door behind her opened, and she turned around to come face to face with the very person that had come up in her mind when she saw the shoes. His angular face was as sharp as ever, and his skin looked as smooth as she recalled it to be. His hair was a lumpy mess, but still very shiny. He wore nothing but a pair of black boxers, an improvement from their first encounter.

Her gaze locked on him, and his brown eyes widened after a couple seconds. His mouth had been slightly ajar, but he closed it before turning to grab something beside the door. He turned back to face her, throwing on a black leather jacket.

“I heard loud noises,” he said, his eyes drifting down to the ground. “Shit! Are you OK?” He pointed to her bleeding toe before looking up and holding his hand out to her. “Let me help. Does it hurt?”

“Your fucking shoes,” she couldn’t help muttering, though she placed her hand in his, seeing his cheeks turn pink. “Why are they outside?”

“Sorry,” he muttered, “...drunk night, bro.”

She inhaled sharply as her pinky toe screamed in pain when she applied pressure on it. She couldn’t even walk ten steps to fall onto her couch in misery.

“Your place?” he asked as he looked at her, moving her arm to drape around his neck.

He hooked his arm around her shoulders so that he could support her weight as she tried not to put too much pressure onto her injured toe. Nodding, she let him lead her into her place. He helped her sit down onto her olive green loveseat at the far right end of the room.

“You live with Chenle?” was the first thing out of her mouth once she was seated.

Chenle lived directly on the other side of the hall, and a fellow university student. She suspected he didn’t need to go on a student assistance program to find a place to live on his own. For starters, she lived in a small studio while he lived in a 3 bedroom condo by himself.

They met a couple days after she finished unpacking during her first week living alone. She had been throwing out her cardboard boxes, and he was leaving his place to take his dog out for a walk. She struck up a conversation with him. Middle age tech workers and their young families made up the majority of residents in their complex, so it was nice to see a fellow young adult around.

Bian and Chenle had completely different schedules, however. They’d been able to have random 5 minute hallway catchup conversations. Usually, Chenle was coming home from his job at a radio station when Bian was leaving for her job. At most, they were friendly, but Bian would have preferred to have Chenle see her in such a pathetic state. At least she’d never seen Chenle naked.

“I’m flat sitting,” the stranger replied, standing up and gazing around her place. “Where are your bandaids?”

“My bathroom is behind the kitchen, medicine cabinet to the left.”

She set her foot onto the edge of her coffee table, and groaned. Blood was starting to trickle down the side of her foot. Wordlessly, the guy returned and knelt down. After wiping the injuries clean with an alcohol wipe, the shirtless stranger rubbed antibiotic cream onto her skin before covering her cuts securely with bandaids.

"Thank you," she said softly when he sat down beside her. He seemed unable to look at her, so she blurted out the only thing going through her mind. “Your shoes need to be burned.”

“What?” He whipped his head up to meet her eyes. “No way, bro. Those are Air Jordan 1’s. They’re thousand dollar shoes.”

“They’re cursed. I tripped on them twice. I drew blood this time.”

“I’m sorry,” he said immediately. “I...you have blue hair now."

She ran a hand through her hair, and gave a shrug. His shoes and her hair were the only things she wanted to talk about in reference to their first meeting. She tried to remember his name, but all she recalled was Kayla mentioning the NCT fraternity.

"You're in the NCT fraternity?"

He nodded.

"I'm Yangyang."

"Bian," she said, holding her hand out. He grinned and they quickly shook hands. "So you're watching Chenle’s dog?”

“Daegal went to China with Chenle. He’s gone for a month, so I offered to take care of his place.”

“Are you tired of living with all those guys in that big frat house?”

He chuckled and nodded.

“So what happened?” he asked, looking around her place again. “I heard screaming.”

“I saw a mouse in my kitchen.”

He laughed, throwing a fist over his mouth. She was just about to ask him if he wanted coffee, but changed her mind. Clearing his throat, he turned his laughs into a cough, which sent an irritation up the back of her neck, an eye roll threatening to come.

“I saw it leave my apartment when I was freaking out,” she said. “Maybe bring your shoes inside? It’s probably shitting inside one of your Air Jordan’s right now.”

He immediately got up and walked out. Taking careful steps with her left foot, Bian walked to close her front door. Outside, Yangyang was holding his shoes upside down, shaking them before taking a peek inside each shoe.

“Yangyang.” He looked at her. “Thanks.”

He nodded with a faint smile before turning around to walk back into Chenle’s condo.

Two days after a small mouse terrorized her, Bian was Facetiming with her best friend, Lulu, when there was a knock on her front door. Turning away from Lulu's face on her laptop monitor, she got up from her desk and walked to open her door. Yangyang was fully clothed with a measuring cup in his hand.

“Can I borrow some milk?” he asked after greeting her. “I’ll go shopping after I eat, and I’ll buy you a big carton of milk to return the favor.”

“Come in,” she said. “Don’t worry about buying me milk.”

“Hey!”

Yangyang looked over to her desk that sat behind her couch. Bian grinned as she saw Yangyang wave to Lulu, who was waving frantically. Lulu’s arms were a pixelated mess. Bian took the milk out of her fridge and handed it to Yangyang. He set his measuring cup onto her kitchen countertop before pouring the exact amount he needed. He thanked her before leaving.

“Who was that?” Lulu asked after Bian put the milk away.

“Air Jordan 1’s.”

“No fucking way! He’s cute.”

“He hooked up with Kayla,” she replied, seating herself at her desk again.

“So what? You were just roommates.”

“Lulu, if you’re horny, you can go have a sex life of your own. I’m not interested.”

“It’s too bad I’m not there. I would totally ask that guy out.”

“He seems like a player.”

“I’m fine with that. One night? Cool. Fuck buddies? That’s cool, too.”

“What happened to Fernando?”

Lulu pursed her lips before sitting back in her seat and replied, “We’re not supposed to talk about him.”

“My bad.” Bian threw her hand over her mouth for a moment. Fernando had been a Fuck Buddy Lulu caught feelings for. Things didn’t work out well when Lulu confessed her feelings to Fernando. “Uhh, did I tell you that the back of my neck is blue now?”

Lulu smiled, rolling her eyes.

“You’re going to make people think you have a skin condition,” she said, pulling her hair up into a bun. “How long are you going to keep your hair blue?”

“Until I run out of the blue dye,” Bian replied, twirling her hair with her index finger. “My hair’s going to be a mess for awhile. Did you finish your paper about parasocial relationships on YouTube?”

“No. I hate homework.”

Bian laughed. Lulu had thrown her face down onto her desk and groaned.

“I’ll let you go so you can finish your homework. Think about your scholarship. Think about the money. You need to do well.”

“When we see each other again, I’m totally taking you out for drinks. Nothing will get done without you, BB!”

Bian and Lulu said their goodbyes, and Bian got into bed to take a short nap. As she closed her eyes, she thought about how much she missed her best friend. If only Lulu had decided to move out West with her instead of going off to Penn State. Then again, Bian and Kayla were friendly classmates when they decided to become roommates, and now they didn’t talk. She was going to remain grateful that she got the occasional Facetime chat with Lulu.

There was a knock on the door. Bian opened her eyes slowly as the knocking continued. Her place was completely dark. She turned over to lie down on her back, closing her eyes again.

“Bian? Are you home?”

It was Yangyang. Would this man give her no peace? She sat up to grab her phone, and shook her head after seeing that it was close to 9:00 PM. So much for a short nap, she’d slept her whole evening away. The knocking continued. Wordlessly, Bian dragged her feet as she made her way to her door, taking her time to turn on the lights in her place.

“Hey,” she said when she opened her door. Yangyang was running a hand through his hair, and he glanced over his shoulder before turning back to look at her. “Is everything OK?”

“Did you hear any weird noises?”

“I can’t say,” she replied, leaning up against her door frame. “I was napping. I woke up when I heard you knocking. Did you hear something?”

“I mean, it might be nothing.”

“What were the noises?”

“Uh...like,” he reached over and scratched his fingers on her door, “and,” he tapped his hands against the door in a gentle pitter-patter. He took a step back, and she bit the inside of her cheek as she tried not to laugh or smile. Her cheeks hurt as she sucked on her bottom lip, attempting not to smile. He frowned. “I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

“Right, my safety is of your utmost concern.” She cleared her throat, her laughing fit finally having passed.

“Hey, I’m your neighbor now. I understand that means we should look out for each other.”

“Well, all right, neighbor. I’ll keep my ears out for horror movie noises.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you,” she said, standing up straight, “I just think maybe you’re exaggerating.”

“I don’t exaggerate,” he said, tilting his chin up slightly. “The best I can explain it is that way.”

“So it might be a ghost?”

“It can be anything.”

“Yangyang, are you afraid of ghosts?”

“No. I’m not afraid of anything, bro. Besides, you’re the one who thinks my shoes are cursed, and you’re going to make fun of ghosts?”

“Good night, Yangyang. I’ll listen for the scratching and...tapping.”

He ran his hand through his hair again, and turned away. She shut the door and locked it, leaning against the door for a few moments. It was rude of her to mock him. But he was so childish to pretend that he wasn’t scared when he clearly was.

Shrugging, she turned on the light in her kitchen, and began making herself a late dinner. An hour hadn't even passed when she was eating her fried rice and there was another knock on her door.

“Bian?”

She rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to the Netflix drama she was watching on her laptop. Yangyang was a shitty neighbor. Even when they were arguing he was knocking on her door. She missed Chenle. She was going to bake him cookies when he returned.

Thanks for not annoying me, Chenle. You’re the neighbor of the year.

“I’m sorry. I am afraid of ghosts. When I was a kid, my best friend and I heard some noises in the shed in his backyard. We went in there, and I thought he was playing with me, but we saw something. The screwdriver, bro, it fell, like, like, we weren’t even near it.”

She paused her show, and set her bowl down onto the coffee table. Yangyang had to legitimately be scared if he was knocking and telling a childhood story to her door. She couldn't sleep anymore anyway.

“Bian? Are you there?”

“It’d be funny if you were talking to the ghost, and not me,” she replied when she opened the door. “I’m sorry for mocking you. Did you want to come in?”

“Thanks,” he replied, taking a step in. He took his slippers off, and chuckled as he sat down on her couch. “This is way more comfortable than the grey one.”

“Yeah, Kayla kept it.” He gave a guffaw. “Are you hungry? I made fried rice with chicken and shrimp.”

“Thanks.” He sat back in his seat as she walked to her kitchen. “I’ve heard about this phenomenon where people wake up but they can't move, like there's something heavy on their chest. In Mexico, they refer to it as the devil sitting on your chest.”

“That’s creepy. Now I won't be able to sleep, even if I was tired." She opened her fridge as she heard him give another laugh. "Do you want water? Milk? Soda?”

“Soda! Fancy, bro. Thanks.”

They sat side by side, and watched National Treasure. Nicolas Cage movies always cheered her up, and National Treasure was second only to Face/Off in terms of her favorite Cage movies, but she watched Face/Off exclusively with Lulu. Yangyang was fun to watch the movie with. They spent the majority of the movie plotting their own treasure heist in Washington DC.

When the movie was ending, Bian froze as she heard a noise at her front door. It sounded like a soft scratching. She reached over and shook Yangyang’s knee, feeling a cold sensation creep over her. The scratching continued.

“Do you hear that?” Yangyang whispered.

She turned to look at him and nodded. They stood and slowly made their way to the door. The scratching continued, and then there was a soft mewling. She shivered. Weren’t there ghost stories where monsters made animal noises to lure victims? Yangyang seemed to mistrust the mewling too as he picked up her red umbrella hanging on her coat rack. She looked through the peephole, and saw nothing. She shivered again.

“I don't see anyone,” she said softly.

He took a deep breath and unlocked the door before opening it slowly, cracking it open just the slightest. The mewling continued, and Yangyang swung the door open before stooping down to pick something up. Bian stepped closer, and saw a small black cat with a white tail in his arm. He set the umbrella back onto the rack.

“It looks like it hurt its paw,” Yangyang said, pointing to the cat’s front left paw. It dangled over his arm while the right paw was resting on his arm.

“What should we do?”

“Maybe we should take it to the vet? I don't know how to dress animal wounds. Is there one nearby?”

Bian grabbed her phone to do a quick search.

“There’s a 24 Hour Veterinary clinic 10 minutes away from here. It says the wait time is about 45 minutes.”

Wordlessly, she grabbed her jacket and purse. Turning around, she saw Yangyang walk to Chenle’s condo with the cat. She put on her socks and sneakers before double checking her purse for her keys and wallet. Once she locked her door, she stared at Yangyang’s shoes as he locked his door. He was wearing his cursed Air Jordan 1's. Their eyes met. She chose not to say anything, though she saw him trying to disguise a smile.

“Is it a 10 minute walk?” he asked as she led them down the stairs.

“Yes." She turned over to see Yangyang petting the cat on the head. “Do you think it’s a house cat?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem feral, but it doesn’t have a collar either. I looked online and I think it can’t be older than, like, 6 months old.”

They were at the veterinary clinic for a couple hours, both worried for the unnamed cat as they pet it to keep it calm. The cat had a sprained ankle, and had its paw wrapped up. They discovered the cat was a girl, and decided to name her Liberty in honor of Nicolas Cage stealing the Declaration of Independence.

Making a quick visit to her workplace, Bian and Yangyang bought Liberty some supplies. They returned home around 3:00 AM, but Yangyang set up food and water while Bian placed the cushion next to the couch. Liberty sat beside Yangyang as he poured water into a small metal dish. She drank the water while he poured some dry Meow Mix into a separate dish. Yangyang set up the kitty litter next to the patio door, walking Liberty back and forth from the food dish to the kitty litter.

It was nearing dawn when Bian talked Yangyang into sleeping on her couch with Liberty. It was late, and Liberty was attached to him. They hadn't heard back from Chenle on whether or not cats were allowed in his condo. As soon as she got into bed she fell asleep with her jeans still on.

When she woke up, she heard soft meowing and Yangyang singing. He was singing in a foreign language. Bian wasn’t very good at distinguishing languages. She could speak English and some Viet (very casually only), but beyond that she couldn’t distinguish foreign languages apart easily. Sitting up, she turned to look at her couch.

Yangyang was sitting on the floor with his legs stretched out. Liberty was resting in his lap. He was clapping and singing, but not very loud. Liberty meowed a few times, as if she was singing with him.

Bian smiled as he continued to sing when Liberty got off his lap. Bian used that moment to turn around onto her back, and stretch her arms. When she sat up, Yangyang had stopped singing, and was getting up onto his feet.

“Morning,” she said, slowly getting off her bed. “Have you been up long?”

“Nah. I got up like, 5 minutes ago.”

“What were you singing?”

He winced, his left eye squinting as he looked away from her. He tried adjust his face to seem nonchalant.

“Just ‘Schnappi’.”

“What’s that?”

“Nothing,” he said looking over to Liberty. "German nursery rhyme. Did you see? Liberty knows how to find her food and kitty litter. She’s a fast learner.”

Bian walked over and sat down next to Liberty, watching the cat lap up water with her bright pink tongue.

“Do you think we should ask the property management office about finding a cat?” she asked, taking out her phone. She took a few photos. Yangyang sat down close to Liberty and joined in on taking pictures of her. “Maybe someone will report their pet missing.”

“We could knock on the other neighbors’ doors. I don’t know how an injured kitten could have climbed up a flight of stairs.”

“You think she fell from above?”

“It would explain her injury. We should ask the neighbors on the ground level, too.”

Bian got up and fried some eggs to eat with her leftover fried rice. As they ate, they went over their day’s plan. She was able to send an email to the property management with a picture she’d taken of Liberty. They planned to take Liberty out to knock on their neighbor’s doors after they freshened up for the day. An hour after they finished eating, Bian brought Liberty outside before shutting and locking her door.

“Are we ready?” Yangyang asked when he’d come out and locked the door to Chenle’s place. Liberty lifted her head and began mewling, turning her head around.

“She’s already picking favorites,” Bian said, frowning. She held Liberty out to Yangyang.

“Liberty,” Yangyang said, holding the cat in his arms, close to his chest, “you have to be nice to Bian. It’s her home you live in. She’s the one who bought you your food and bed. Be nice.”

He scratched her head, and Bian reached over to stroke her back. Liberty set her head down, settling comfortably in Yangyang’s arms. With his free hand, he brushed his hair out of his eyes and held the cat out to her. Wordlessly, she shook her head and led the way to the stairs. She knew when to accept defeat.

“Come on. I think we should start at the fourth floor and make our way down.”

After an hour of knocking on doors, and telling the same story about the weird noises and finding the hurt cat multiple times, there was no owner for Liberty. Of the 14 other apartments in their building, 10 opened their doors and none of them had a missing kitten. They left a note at the front door to the 4 unanswered units.

“I have to work tonight,” Bian said when they returned to her place. “Chenle texted me to remind you that absolutely no cats in his place. Do you think Liberty will be OK alone?”

“I can watch her. I’ll bring her with me to my room at the frat house. I’ll come back when you’re off work.”

“You’re OK with taking the bus?”

“It’s a ten minute ride, it’s cool.”

Bian had finished her morning shift, and was excited to go home. Yangyang had invited her to the NCT frat party that was being thrown that night. She hadn’t been to a house party in months. She was in need of getting liquored up. She wanted to have a drunken smoke while rattling off about nothing with some friends. When she made it home, Yangyang was sitting at the top of the stairs with Liberty in his lap.

In the 3 weeks since they’d found Liberty, no one had contacted either of them about the cat they found. They had walked around the neighborhood to look at Missing Pet flyers while posting up Found Cat flyers to share. Since there were still no answers from anyone, Bian and Yangyang worked up a schedule to watch Liberty since she was still recovering from her sprained ankle. Yangyang brought Liberty to classes with him, hiding her in his jacket or bookbag. When he had to leave for dance classes or sports, Bian was home doing her homework or winding down after work, which provided her quality time with Liberty.

Every night, Liberty slept in Bian’s place, and that meant Yangyang had been sleeping on her couch. In the first week, Bian and Yangyang attempted to be strict, trying to get Liberty to sleep in her bed beside the couch on her own. Without fail, though, she’d walk over to the front door to whine and scratch at the door. Bian would have to knock on Chenle’s door and ask Yangyang to sleep with Liberty on the couch. Early in the 2nd week Bian tried to take Yangyang’s spot, but the scratches on her shoulder and arms was a clear sign Liberty only wanted Yangyang.

“Hey!” she greeted as she rushed up to sit beside him. “Getting some fresh air?”

“Management came by,” he said, his eyes fixed on Liberty in his lap. “One of the neighbors at Lot 12 said his cat had a litter of kittens a few months ago. He has pictures of Liberty with her mom at his place.”

“Lot 12 is at the far west end,” she said. Her building was Lot 5, which sat at the north east end of the complex. He gave a dry chuckle, and looked at her.

“Don’t do that. I tried to think about how it’s not logical or that it doesn’t make sense. Liberty belongs to the Silva family over at Lot 12. All of their kittens were documented at their vet’s clinic.”

“So, Liberty is...she’s going back to her owners?”

“I told management the SIlva family can come here at 7:30, so you’d have time to say goodbye to her. They want to see her ASAP.”

Bian had grown attached to Liberty, and she had become good friends with Yangyang due to their time spent together. She knew this didn’t mean she and Yangyang would stop being friends, but she wondered if this meant they'd stop seeing each other every day.

Yangyang placed Liberty in Bian's lap and they spent their last minutes with her in silence, petting her. Feeling Yangyang wrap an arm around her waist, she felt a familiar rush of blood ride up her neck to her cheeks. For the past 3 days, he began showing her physical affections. They were mostly him holding her hand when they walked or sat next to each other, and she liked the attention, but she only allowed herself to enjoy it by reminding herself that they were strictly friends.

“Kitty!”

A girl who could be no older than 8 was rushing over to them, her black pigtails bouncing wildly. A dark haired middle aged man was walking behind her. Yangyang stood up as he and the man raised their hands to greet each other. Holding Liberty in one hand, he offered his free hand to help Bian stand up.

Yangyang and Bian greeted the man and his daughter, who was jumping excitedly and clapping her hands. After introducing themselves, Yangyang and Bian explained how they found Liberty and what they had been doing for the last month with Liberty. The man, Dave, found the story amusing, and thanked them for taking good care of the cat. He liked the name Liberty after Bian confessed that the movie National Treasure was the inspiration for the name.

“What’s her real name?” Yangyang asked, handing Liberty over to Gloria.

“Kitty!” Gloria exclaimed.

“That’s a cute name,” Bian replied, giving the cat one last scratch on the head. “Why didn’t we think of that?”

“I did, and you said it was too simple,” Yangyang said. “I said, ‘Kitty, cuz she’s like, a kitten.’”

“I’m sorry,” Bian threw out sarcastically. She smiled as she felt Yangyang squeeze her hand. “Kitty has gotten used to us calling her Liberty. I hope she’ll respond to Kitty.”

“Can I name her Libby?” Gloria asked, staring from her dad to Bian to Yangyang and back.

“She’s yours, of course you can,” Yangyang said, giving her thumbs up. “Libby suits her.”

After exchanging contact information with the Silva family, they said a final goodbye to Libby. He hadn’t let go of her hand, so Bian led Yangyang back up the stairs. She was feeling sad, much sadder than she thought she’d be to say goodbye to a cat. He glanced at her when they reached her door.

“At least you can finally sleep in Chenle’s place now,” she said, letting go of his hand to find her keys. Chenle was returning in a couple days, so that didn’t really mean much. “You won’t have a cat sleeping on your stomach either.”

“It was nice,” he said, rubbing his stomach. “You still want to go to the party?”

She nodded, though she was beginning to feel anxious. The party seemed like such a juvenile thing to do, given the new circumstances. It felt like much more work than she wanted to do, having to change her clothes, take the bus, walk to the frat house, talk to people...she wanted to watch Peggy Sue Got Married, one of Nicolas Cage’s early works. Yangyang had been vocal in his excitement for the party, and she didn’t want to flake out on him.

“I need to shower and change. Knock on my door when you’re ready to leave?”

“I’ll give you at least an hour.”

“Oh, I need an hour to get ready? Weren’t you the one who forced me and Liberty to sit in your smelly dorm room for 3 hours when you wanted to switch up your shoes?”

“My shoes are what give me swag.”

“Your shoes literally hurt me.”

“Are we going to keep talking shit or are you going to shower?”

Bian laughed and rolled her eyes, finally unlocking her door. He hid a laugh behind his hand as she watched him enter Chenle’s place. She immediately took a shower after removing her clothes. Though he’d made her laugh, she was still feeling down. She tried to sort out why her mood had shifted so strongly.

Liberty was a cute cat, and she had been surprisingly fun to take care of, but the sadness and anxiety seemed too much. As she stepped out of her shower, Bian had to admit to herself, at last, the truth. She liked Yangyang.

Working out a schedule to take care of Liberty that first week had been something she and Yangyang did without thought. They saw a hurt kitten and took care of it. That time together quickly turned them into friends. In the following weeks, every day felt like an adventure, given that they were always actively looking for LIberty’s owners.

What really set her nerves off and made her stomach muscles ache as if she’d been doing sit-ups all day was the realization that she wouldn’t be spending every day starting and ending her day with him anymore. She knew it wasn’t because he made a good friend and roommate. They argued for at least 15 minutes every night when it was dinner time. He always wanted to watch a TV show, and she wanted to watch movies.

But she smiled every time she thought about him. She’d spent the last week half hoping, half dreading that he would lean over and kiss her every time they were close together. There were more than a handful of occasions in which she’d gone to sleep, envisioning Yangyang sleeping beside her, instead of on her couch. But she’d been excusing it on the fact that she was just feeling bad for him.

With Liberty gone, there was no excuse. She wanted Yangyang to sleep in her bed, because she wanted him in her arms. She wanted to kiss his cheeks and touch his chest, take his clothes off, finally admit to him that she’d been spending more than just a few days wanting to kiss him, to touch him intimately. Did he feel the same way?

Bian had been in denial about her feelings due to the memory of their first meeting still lingering in her mind. In that moment though, thinking about what Yangyang’s lips would feel like against hers, she was able to burn that bridge and never look back. Would he be able to? Neither of them had really been able to talk about it much, aside from mentioning his Air Jordan 1’s and her fading blue hair.

“Bian?”

The knock on the door made her jump, and she threw her hand up to her chest. She’d been thinking so hard and focusing on her makeup, she hadn’t realized an hour had passed already. Her lipstick had smeared at the bottom left corner of her lip. Grabbing a tissue, she got up and opened the door for Yangyang. She gave a gentle laugh as she saw that he was wearing his cursed Air Jordan 1’s.

“I told you my shoes give me swag,” he said, sitting down on the couch. He threw his left foot up in the air to show it off some more. Instead of returning to her desk to fix her makeup, Bian sat down beside Yangyang.

“I think I like you,” she said. She pressed the tissue to her lips. She needed to work on her “act now, think later” approach to certain situations. He sat up straight as his eyes widened for a couple seconds. He touched her wrists and she let him take them into his hands. He held her hands in her lap. “I mean, if you don’t, that’s fine. If you just want to be friends, we can be friends. But like, I think, I’m pretty sure, like, I think I like you.”

He pulled her hands into his lap, and leaned over to get closer to her.

“I like you, too,” he said, his eyes drifting to her mouth. His lips were close, she could feel the warmth from his breath.

“Don’t say that just because,” she said, moving back slightly, trying to capture his gaze. He smiled at her as his eyes moved up to meet hers. “If you want to be Friends with Benefits I can’t give you that. I like you too much. If you want this to be a one time thing, we can’t be friends anymore. I want us to be clear with each other.”

“Yeah.” He nodded and lifted their hands to kiss her hands. “I thought you wouldn’t want me coming around anymore.”

“I want you to come here whenever you want, so long as we’re exclusive and like, dating.”

Her tongue had felt heavy as the last five words came out of her mouth. She’d had shitty exes before. The rules needed to be clear. She was putting her trust in Yangyang by being this upfront and hoping he would not only agree to this but be true to his word.

“I was going to tell you that I wanted to confess to you that I like you on the bus,” he replied. “That way if you reject me, you would have to be nice to me because we’d be in public.”

“I’m not the mean one,” she said, slowly retrieving her hands from his hold, squaring her shoulders. He tightened his grip, a smile crossing his lips as he leaned in closer to her. “You laughed at me when I told you about the mouse.”

“I’m sorry,” he said softly before brushing the tip of his nose against the right side of her jawline. “You’re not mean. I wanted to tell you awhile back, but I didn’t want you to reject me. I like you too much to fuck this up.” He paused and licked his lips. “Can I kiss you now?”

“Yes.”

She was barely able to say it above a whisper. He released her hands as one hand reached to grab her hip. He pulled her closer to him as his other hand rested on her neck. They stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments. Bian savored the way his eyes gazed into hers before drifting to her lips, and then he kissed her. She reciprocated the kiss immediately, both her hands touching his neck.

His lips were warm and tasted musky, like inhaling the air on a rainy day in the forest. She took in a small breath as their lips parted. Right as she opened her eyes, he kissed her, making her furrow her eyebrows as she shut her eyes again. The tension in his lips loosened as she felt the tip of his tongue push against her lips. He traced the shape of her lips with the tip of his tongue before pushing it into her mouth. She pushed back, and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her chest against his. He placed both hands on her hips.

“You’re so fucking sexy,” he said breathlessly when he broke their kiss. He kissed her lips quickly before moving his head back. He guffawed as she frowned at him, running her fingers into his hair. “Want to go to the party?”

“No.” She grabbed onto his hair with her right hand, and then stroked his cheek with her other hand. “I like it right here.”

“Really? Couch sex sucks.”

“We’re going to have sex?” She guffawed as his hold loosened. She kissed his neck, licked his Adam’s apple a couple times, and ran a hand down to his chest before planting a soft kiss onto his cheek. His eyes were shut tight, and he groaned. “I’m kidding. Do you want to have sex?”

“After the party?”

“I don’t want our first time to be drunk sex.”

“We won’t drink.”

“I don’t want to be high during our first time either.”

He chuckled with a head shake, seeming to be scoffing at her. Reminding him what they were compromising about, she placed a hand on his hip before kissing his neck a few times.

“We won’t toke. Easy. We can drop by for a couple hours?”

“You really want to go?” she asked, already feeling tired just thinking about having to grab her shoes to put on.

“You don’t?”

“I want to stay in. Saying goodbye to Liberty made me a lot sadder than I thought I’d be.”

“That’s why I want to go out. I need stress relief.”

“Compromise?”

“What do you have in mind?”

She stared at him for a few moments. She was going to make sure they weren’t going to leave her place for the rest of the night.

“So for stress relief, how about you take me to my bed right now? You can fuck me in any position you want.”

Immediately, he stood up with her hands in his. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she kissed him, resting her hands on his shoulders. She carefully walked backwards as they continued to kiss.

Once she felt her body come into contact with the foot of the bed frame, Bian’s hands slid down his body, caressing his chest and the side of his body before finding his belt buckle. He breathed heavily as he stopped kissing her. She planted kisses on his neck. He helped her remove his belt and unbutton his jeans.

Wordlessly he palmed her tits, and as she moaned his hands grazed down to grope her ass. She moaned as she sucked onto the skin of his neck, and gyrated her hips against his when he squeezed her ass cheeks roughly. She immediately moved back up to kiss him, and moaned into his mouth.

She felt his hand slip between her legs to squeeze the inside of her thigh. He stroked his fingers up and down against her thigh, paying no attention to the growing heat in her core. Slowly, he moved both hands up to unbutton her jeans. They stopped kissing to finish taking their clothes off.

As soon as she kicked her underwear away and was completely nude, she walked to the left side of the bed, and sat down on it. She cupped her breasts with her hands and massaged them as she looked at Yangyang. He licked his lips before walking to stand beside her, his eyes never leaving her. Her cunt throbbed with an aching heat as she looked at his toned body, wanting to plant kisses onto every curve of his muscles on his shoulders, chest and abs.

“How do you want to do it?” she asked. She could only meet his eyes for a couple seconds. His eyes were focused on her chest before going back up to meet her gaze making her face grow hot.

He sat down beside her, and caressed her neck before they kissed. She rested her hands against his chest. His skin was soft to the touch, but as she ran her fingers down to his stomach his muscles felt firm and strong. He moaned into her mouth as she pushed her tongue into his mouth. She felt his fingers stroke the inside of her thigh before they moved up to brush against her stomach.

She stopped kissing him, and gave a soft moan. His mouth captured her earlobe and he sucked on it for a second before kissing her shoulder. Her hands shot up to grab his shoulders as his hands pushed for her to open her legs wider.

She looked at him lick his lips when he made gentle circular motions against her stomach with his fingers. With every centimeter lower he applied more pressure. His fingers brushed against her pubes before crawling to the folds of her pussy.

“Yangyang,” she breathed out, feeling the pad of his middle finger touch her clit. It’d been throbbing, wanting attention. She felt a jolt deep inside her stomach, but it disappeared just as harshly as it came. His fingers left her as she tried thrusting against his hand. “Don’t stop.” His eyes were focused on her lips, and his eyes drifted up to meet her gaze. “Please.”

“OK, because you said please.”

He smirked before leaning over to kiss her, his tongue working hard to keep her mouth preoccupied as he kissed her roughly. His fingers glided along her folds before going down to touch her labia as his palm pressed into her vulva. She felt his fingers stroke into her slick heat. His palm applied pressure onto her clit, and she began thrusting her hips gently. She whimpered against his lips. Her mind was spinning as flashes of heat flared inside of her with every motion of his hand on her pussy.

“How do you want it?” she panted, breaking from his kiss. “Yangyang, how-”

His hands touched her hips and he moved to get off the bed, but she placed her hands on his arms, stopping him.

“You have to tell me,” she said. She kissed him. “If you can’t say it I’ll just give you a hand job.”

She pressed her palm flat against his growing erection, and he threw his head back, taking in a sharp inhale. He exhaled loudly, and groaned as she wrapped her hand around his cock. She gave it a couple pumps, and used her other hand to touch his balls. She pressed the pads of her index and middle fingers against the bottom of his ballsack and rubbed it back and forth.

“Doggy style-fuck!” he blurted out before giving a moan.

A thrilling heat hit her chest and cheeks as she saw how she turned him on. He reached up and groped her breasts, keeping her hot for him too, his fingers flicking her nipples. The jolts of pleasure from his hands on her breasts were almost enough to bring her to the edge of her orgasm. She stopped rubbing his ballsack, but continued to stroke his cock as she felt like her stomach was going to twist into knots. He leaned over and kissed her before asking for a condom.

She released his cock, and turned over to grab a condom and a bottle of lube from her nightstand. He took the condom after kissing her again, stroking her cheek after nibbling on her bottom lip. Immediately, she kissed his neck and sucked gently on it for a few seconds, hearing him tear open the packet.

“I like that,” he panted when she massaged the inside of his thigh.

She kissed his neck again. Once he had the condom on securely, she kissed him, nipping his bottom lip before releasing him. She stood up so she could face the bed, and bent forward after grabbing some pillows for cushioning under her stomach. Planting her feet flat on the floor, she arched her back to stick her ass out to him.

She moaned as she felt his fingers rub her folds, spreading the lube over her cunt. As he pressed his front to her back, Yangyang planted kisses onto her shoulders and back. His fingers teased her clit as he rubbed his fingers up and down against it before leaving to play with her entrance. He pushed the tip of his finger into her hot core, but pulled away as she’d push her hips back, wanting more of his touches. She felt his fingers return to press down on her clit.

“Yangyang,” she panted, feeling his fingers leave her body. “Please.”

“‘Please?’” he said softly against her ear, his hands sliding up the back of her thighs to massage her ass cheeks. His left hand continued to palm her ass as she felt him slide the tip of his cock against her slit. She gave a loud inhale of breath and panted out short, sweet moans.

“Fuck me?” she asked in a loud whisper, gyrating her hips, desperate for more friction. “Please, Yangyang, fuck me.”

Her hands grabbed onto the duvet under her as she felt the pressure of his cock enter her. She shut her eyes and opened her mouth, losing her voice as every sensation of his cock sliding into her cunt sent a rapid heat up to her head. He moaned as she felt the weight and heat of his body leave her back. Both of his hands clapped onto her hips, and he groaned as he pushed in deeper.

Right as she thought that he was going to fill her up all the way, she shut her mouth to muffle a moan as the friction of his cock sliding out of her sent a new wave of heat into her body. The sounds of her ass clapping against his thighs mixed in with their shared moans seemed to encourage Yangyang to fuck her faster, and she could only push back against him.

“Fuck-yes!” he groaned as she felt his hand reach under her body, between her legs, to try to rub her folds.

“Right there,” she managed to pant out as she felt the tips of his fingers tease her clit, rubbing up and down in a small and fast motion.

As she was about to reach down to shove his torturous fingers away, his fingers pushed down with more pressure, going in a circular motion. The grip on her hip tightened and he thrust into her in fast, shallow pushes. She could only lay down flat onto the mattress, resting her head onto the mattress with her hands still fisting the duvet, and enjoy the way he was fucking her. A strong heat rode up her back before she felt her pussy squeeze onto his cock, her orgasm washing over her.

“Fuck.”

His curse was barely audible as she felt him slow his thrusting, carefully pulling out an inch before slowly pushing back in over and over. As he continued to rub her clit, the over-stimulation was too much. She began whimpering, wiggling her hips, all of her nerves seeming to be jumping around wildly inside of her.

He groaned as he gave a deep push, his hold on her hips tightening as he came. She panted heavily, unable to move, listening to Yangyang move around after he withdrew from her. With concentrated effort, she tilted her head up slightly to see him tying up the used condom before walking to her bathroom to discard it.

When he returned, he ran a hand down her arm before he helped her move to get into bed. They kissed when they were lying in bed together. He brushed her hair aside as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She rested her head onto his chest, and closed her eyes as she felt his body relax.

Bian didn’t know what woke her up, but the sun was just rising when she opened her eyes. The golden rays of the morning sunshine radiated through her windows, lighting up her living room. She rubbed her eyes before sitting up, and felt her drowsiness disappear as she saw Yangyang quietly put his boxers and jeans on. He silently walked toward her front door with his shirt and jacket in his arms, and a heat hit her chest and face that made her see red.

“Yangyang,” she called out when he’d opened the front door. She was hoping that she was misunderstanding the situation.

Yangyang turned around and his face remained blank as he froze. His eyes were unable to meet hers, and she felt a pain inside of her, like her stomach was going sour. Wrapping her bed sheet around her body, she jumped out of bed, and picked up his shoe and threw it in his direction.

“You asshole!” she shouted at him as he ducked away from the shoe.

He continued to avoid her gaze and quickly grabbed his shoes before rushing out of her place, shutting the door behind her. She could only fall onto her bed and took in a deep breath as she felt tears blur her image. Shutting her eyes, she grabbed a pillow and cried into it. Yangyang was the asshole who lied to her, but she still blamed herself for falling for his sweet lies.

“Welcome back, Chenle,” Bian said when she saw him. It had been about a week since he’d returned.

She’d just returned from a full day at work, and was relieved to see that it was Chenle who was leaving his condo. He looked to be taking Daegal out for a walk. The tiny white furry dog was standing next to Chenle as he was locking up. He gave Bian a friendly smile as he waved to her.

“Hey. How was Yangyang as a neighbor? Too bad I never got to meet the cat.”

“It was OK,” she lied, hoping her tone sounded casual. “Will you hold on for a second before you leave? I have something for you.”

He looked surprised but nodded politely. She quickly went into her place, and took the large blue box on her coffee table after putting her purse down onto her couch. Handing it to him, she gave him a bright smile.

“Yangyang made me realize that you’re the best neighbor I’ve ever had. Thanks for returning.”

Chenle gave out a loud laugh, and took the lid off of the box.

“Thanks, Bian. You didn’t have to bake me cookies. I didn’t do anything.”

“Exactly.”

He laughed again before putting the cookies away. They had a short conversation where he told her that he went back to China for an uncle’s wedding. His family had thrown an elaborate wedding, and he had composed the music for the wedding and for the reception. Bian could only guess how opulent the wedding was if it took his family an entire month to help throw it.

Returning to her empty apartment, Bian sat down on her couch, and considered doing her routine of listening to Mariah Carey’s “Breakdown” on repeat and sob for a while. She’d spent every night after her morning with Yangyang sitting on her couch, crying to Mariah Carey, hating Yangyang. And hating herself for falling for him. She didn’t want to be so hurt, because it wasn’t like they were lovers, but the bond of their friendship was ruined.

She’d laid it all out to him with clear rules, and he’d lied through his teeth. The risk of trusting that he cared enough for her to be honest hadn’t paid off, and now she was an emotional wreck. It was a wonder she was able to keep up with her schoolwork. She was tired all the time, but was only able to take short naps.

The night before, she’d woken from a dream with Yangyang in it, and she didn’t want to sleep again. After baking some sugar cookies and decorating them into yellow smiley faces, she had enough time to find an old jewelry box. She’d cleaned it and decorated it before lining it with parchment paper so that she could place the cookies inside.

She did appreciate that Chenle was her neighbor. He’d never spent an entire month being a good friend to her, having a lot of laughs and jokes as they took care of a small cat together. He’d never followed that up with telling her that he liked her too much to fuck up a relationship with her only to do exactly that hours later.

She knew Yangyang wouldn’t be stupid enough to come visit her. He’d been a coward to try to dip out after sleeping with her. In her emotional distress she hadn’t bothered to touch her phone. When she had to pick herself up and get ready for her evening shift at work, Bian saw that Yangyang hadn’t tried to contact her. She’d laid in bed for 6 hours. Even then, she chose to block him entirely, if not for him, for her. She didn’t want to end up drunk calling or texting him at some indeterminate point in the future.

Tired of crying, Bian thought about how angry she felt thinking about Yangyang, and decided she had to treat him like her last ex. She couldn’t let this pain rule her life. He was the one who should feel like shit, not her. Lulu had been the one to tell her to blast Big Sean’s “IDFWU” as her first official, “I’m Over It” move.

“I’m over it,” she said out loud before playing “IDFWU”.

Opening up her Bumble app, Bian decided that she should at least become friendly with someone out there. It wasn’t like she was looking for romance when she got to know Yangyang. At least now, she could knowingly choose her potential dating partner.

Bian was touching her hair, pressing her lips together as she checked herself using her phone’s camera. She’d gotten her hair done professionally just 3 days previously. Her hair was back to black, and the back of her neck was no longer blue. She fixed the red lipstick that had bled at the center of her bottom lip, dabbing a tissue against it.

“You look gorgeous,” she heard a familiar voice say.

Looking up, she felt blood rush up to her cheeks. Despite this being their third date, Jinyoung always had the same effect on her when his dark eyes pierced into hers. He bent forward and kissed her cheek before sitting across from her.

They’d talked and flirted on Bumble for a couple weeks before meeting. Jinyoung and Bian were upfront about their relationship. They were friendly, and were sexually attracted to each other.

The first date had been a coffee date, to get a feel of what their relationship could be. The sexual tension was instant. The second date was at the movie theatre where they spent the majority of the movie making out. For their third date, it was another coffee date since she’d just gotten off work. She needed caffeine after a long day stocking diapers and dozens of brands of shampoo.

“Have you ordered your drink?” she asked, putting her phone away.

He nodded. They shared their day’s events with each other while they waited for their cappuccinos to arrive. Bian had to deal with pretending like she didn’t know that she was ringing up her Philosophy TA’s pack of condoms and pregnancy test. Jinyoung’s story was much more light hearted as he spent his day completing his essay on Music Composition in the 21st Century.

“Did you want to watch a movie at my place after this?” she asked him. “I have to get up early for work tomorrow though.”

“What movie do you have in mind?”

“Maybe a mindless Roland Emmerich film? Like, Independence Day?”

“You really like crappy action movies?”

“They’re fun!”

“No judgment,” he said before taking a sip of his drink.

She laughed behind a hand as he set his cup down. He had a thick foam mustache on his upper lip.

“You have foam,” she said, pointing to her lips.

“Here?” He pressed a napkin to the left side of his lips.

“Everywhere.”

He sat still as she reached over and wiped the foam off of him, touching his chin with her left hand. The way his eyes were focused on her made her feel the heat on her cheeks once more. She didn’t want to let go of his chin. Their eye contact broke as someone bumped into Jinyoung’s chair. She released him as he looked over his shoulder.

“Excuse me,” he and Yangyang said at the same time.

“Yo,” Yangyang said to him, throwing his hand up to greet Jinyoung. He froze as he and Bian locked eyes. The smile on his face disappeared. He lowered his hand and looked from Bian to Jinyoung. She wasn’t sure if she was even breathing.

Yangyang was once more fully clothed, wearing another pair of his expensive designer shoes with his leather jacket. He looked just as handsome as she remembered him to be. The sight of him pissed her off just as much as the last time they’d been together, too.

“You’re here together?” he asked, his tone soft but his eyes were focused on her.

“Do you know each other?” Jinyoung asked.

“Yeah,” Yangyang replied immediately. “You should go, bro. We gotta talk.”

“Jinyoung, I’m sorry,” Bian said politely as she stood up. She took hold of the sleeve to Yangyang’s jacket. “Can you excuse us for a moment?”

She rushed them out of the cafe, and walked them away from the windows of the store. Turning around, she crossed her arms over her chest.

“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.

“You like me so much you’re fucking around with Bae Jinyoung?”

“What right do you have to be acting like this?”

“Like what? I can’t be insulted that you’re fucking around with someone like him?”

“‘Someone like him?’”

“Yeah, like, like, a dude who fucks around a lot.”

“At least he’s honest about what he wants.”

“Did I ever deny being a player?”

“I’m not going to do this,” she said, wanting to throw more shoes at him. “I told you I couldn’t be friends with you if you just wanted to hook up. If your feelings are hurt that I’m dating other people, that’s on you. You said you liked me too much to fuck it up. You were the one who got up and tried to leave quietly. Your words and your actions, not mine.”

She dug her nails into her palms as she turned away from Yangyang, refusing to let him have the last word. Returning to Jinyoung, she was able to blink away the tears that had threatened to come out. She wasn’t going to let Yangyang make her cry again. And she sure as shit wasn’t going to let him ruin her date.

“Everything good?”

“Yes,” she said to Jinyoung as she stood beside him. “I’m pretty tired. Did you still want to go to my place?”

Wordlessly, he stood up, and offered his hand to her. As they walked to her apartment, Bian made sure to rest her hands onto his biceps, and complimented his strength. From their flirty texts before they met, she learned early on that Jinyoung was very receptive to compliments about his physical traits.

“How strong are you, really?” she asked him, stroking his arm as they approached her apartment. “Show me.”

He smiled, giving a small guffaw, before picking her up into his arms and carrying up the stairs. She laughed as he set her down next to her front door after she pointed to the right. Once they were inside of her place, she turned on the lamp next to the coat rack. She felt his large hands touch her hips from behind, and he pulled her to him before he kissed the back of her neck.

“I’ve waited all day to kiss you,” he said as he wrapped his arms around the front of her body, pressing his body against hers.

One hand cupped her breast and he kneaded it over her layers of clothing. His other hand reached to the front of her jeans, undoing the buttons and zipper, while he kissed her neck again. She gyrated her hips back into his body, making his hand at her jeans stop to hold onto her body for a few moments.

She panted heavily between a few soft chuckles as she felt his erection grow against her. He loosened his hold on her as she turned around to face him. Immediately, he pressed his body up against her, pushing her back to the wall. The heat of his cock against her stomach made her so wet she felt her heat start to dampen her underwear.

He kissed her and she squeezed his muscular arms before moving to massage his shoulders. His hands were pushing her jeans off her hips, and stopped to grope her ass before pulling them down her thighs.

They broke their kiss as she pulled her jeans and underwear off. He pulled his shirt off, revealing his well toned, muscular body. Every piece of Jinyoung seemed too good to be real. Placing her hands onto his hips she kissed his right nipple before licking it. He took a deep inhale before giving a loud, fast exhale.

“I like your lips,” he panted out before placing a hand on her cheek so she would stand up straight. He kissed her and ran a hand through her hair before reaching down to knead her breast. She reached over to palm the shape of his hardening cock over his dark denim jeans.

“Fuck me,” he panted as she reached under his jeans and briefs to wrap her hand around his cock. She stroked him and planted wet kisses onto his neck. “Give me a moment.”

He retrieved a condom from his pocket before removing the package, and unrolled it onto his cock. Using his hands, he directed her to wrap her arms around his shoulder before putting his hands onto the back of her thighs so that he could pick her up. She hooked her legs around his waist, and they kissed before he pressed her body up against the wall when he wrapped an arm around her waist.

After she rested one hand onto his arm to loosen their embrace, he lifted her shirt up and dipped his head down to kiss her breasts. Eager to gain access, Jinyoung hooked the fingers of his free hand along the underside of the front of her bra. With a little tugging, her breasts fell out from under the underwire of her bra before he pushed her bra to bunch up over her chest with her shirt.

His tongue licked along the side of her left breast. She moaned softly as he wrapped his mouth around her hardening nipple. When his mouth released her breast, he lifted his head up and kissed her neck. They looked down together as he used his free hand to rub his cock against her slit.

She moaned and said, “Right there,” in a soft pant as he pressed it up against her aching clit. He rubbed it harder, kissing her neck, before pushing his cock down lower to enter her. His cock sent the nerves in her clit wild and she could only gyrate her hips in a shallow back and forth motion as an intense shiver went up her back. They kissed as he thrust up into her.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Bian broke from the kiss and gave out a soft moan as she felt him begin a deep and rough rhythm. He held her hips firm against the wall with both his hands. His hips pushed up into her, and she felt the heat intensify between them as the pace and force of his thrusts were heavy. She let go of him to run a hand through his hair as his teeth nipped at the skin of her shoulder.

Lifting his head up with one hand, she kissed him. He roughly pushed his tongue into her mouth. She moaned against his lip as she came. She gently pushed her tongue against his as she recovered from her orgasm. He planted kisses down her chest before his tongue flicked her nipple harshly. His mouth wrapped around her breast and he sucked on her sensitive nipple. Her orgasm had one last gasp of air and her hips shook against his firm hold as she felt a hard crash of pleasure hit her gut. He came as he thrust up into her. He panted heavily as she planted soft kisses along both sides of his neck.

“How are you?” he asked her when he pulled his head back to look at her. She stroked his neck gently.

“Good,” she said, feeling like her body was glowing.

The feel of his softening cock inside of her filled her with a radiating heat. No sound escaped from her as the sensations of his cock leaving her sent sharp waves of heat snapping around her insides. She had to shut her eyes as his cock withdrawing from her sent her nerves on edge.

He gave a dry chuckle as he gently set her down on her feet. They held onto each other as they walked to her bathroom to clean up. When they were both clean and properly dressed, Bian walked Jinyoung to her door.

“Hit me up if you ever want to watch a movie again,” he said, touching her chin with his left hand. “You were amazing.”

“Have a good night,” she said before planting a kiss onto his cheek. “Thank you for a lovely night.”

When she was alone, Bian returned to the bathroom to set up a bubble bath. She felt good after hooking up with Jinyoung. He was a good kisser, and the sex was exceptional, too. Jinyoung texted her when he’d reached home, wishing her a good night. She put on some relaxing music before getting into the bath.

Bian had been looking for someone to have a good time with, and Jinyoung had been upfront that he was looking for a short fling. He had said that he was open to a potential Fuck Buddy setup. In that moment, Bian was fine with leaving things as they were. Jinyoung was good in the bedroom, and she got along with him, but she didn’t get boyfriend vibes from him. It was a good situation to be in, knowing that a guy like Jinyoung was likely available if she was ever in need of some sexual release.

Bian was cramming for her finals when there was a knock on her door. She shut her eyes for a few moments before slowly getting up from her desk. Looking through her peephole, she saw a face she hadn’t seen in weeks.

“Gloria, hi,” she greeted the little girl, who had her hair up in a high ponytail. “What’s up?”

“Have you seen Libby?” she asked. “Um, this morning she didn’t come eat, and I haven’t seen her.”

“Do your parents know?”

“Yeah. My dad told me not to come bother you, but...well, Libby came here before, you know?”

“OK,” Bian said as she turned around to grab her phone and purse, “let’s take you back to your place, and I’ll call the cat whisperer.”

“Who’s that?”

Shrugging her shoulders in response, she scrolled through her Contact List and had to do some Settings changes. She pressed her lips together as she held her phone up to her ear and slipped on her orange Converse Chuck Taylors. She stood with Gloria at the front of her door as she waited and hoped that Yangyang would pick up her call. It’d been 5 weeks since she’d seen him at the cafe, and though he didn’t take up a lot of mental or emotional space in her daily life, she’d be a liar if she said that she didn’t think about him every other day.

What he did was shitty, for sure, but she couldn’t stop herself from missing him. He’d made her laugh. They were able to trade insults all the while working well enough together that they nursed a cat back to health for a month. She didn’t want to get too sentimental so she always allowed herself moment to remember the anger she felt when she threw his shoe at him. Watching Nicolas Cage movies also didn’t carry as much joy as they used to, and she blamed it partially on him.

“Um, hello?” she heard Yangyang say softly.

“Hi. Um, Gloria said Libby is missing.”

“What? Libby? As in our Liberty?”

“Yeah.” She swallowed hard, fighting back tears. There were few people in the world who could make her feel such strong, conflicting feelings as Yangyang did. “So, um, can you do me a favor and uh, help Gloria and me find her?”

“I’ll try to be there in like, I don’t know, 20 minutes.”

“Don’t rush.”

After talking with Gloria’s parents, Bian learned that the last time anyone saw Libby was around 8:00 AM when the nanny had gotten the mail, and Gloria had a quick morning hello with a couple of the neighboring kids. Gloria realized Libby was gone when her food remained untouched a couple hours later. Assuring Gloria that she would return with Libby, Bian sent Gloria home when Yangyang met with her at the playground to the complex.

He was wearing his Air Jordan 1’s, which set off Bian’s temper, and she crossed her arms over her chest to keep herself in control. They walked toward her apartment building as she told him all the information she had collected.

“You have to do it,” she said as they stood at the bottom of the staircase when she said that Libby had been missing for at least 6 hours.

“She’s not missing,” he said, standing up straight, looking at her with suspicion. “You just want me to do this because I was a piece of shit.”

“You’re still a piece of shit. I’m not lying. Call Gloria’s dad. They’re worried.”

She smiled, thinking about Yangyang singing the German nursery rhyme he used to sing to Liberty. It had become his song with Liberty. If he sang it, chances were Liberty would start meowing, just like that first morning together. He groaned, but took a deep breath and began singing in German. Despite herself, Bian began giggling. It was a very serious situation, and she was still mad at him, but the cute nursery rhyme coming out of his mouth made her laugh and smile.

“Liar,” he said, abruptly stopping his singing.

“I’m not! I’m not!” she protested between fits of laughter. She had her hands on her stomach, her body hurting from the giggling. “I swear, she’s missing!”

She threw her hands over her mouth and he seemed like he was about to say something, when they heard a faint mewling nearby. Yangyang turned around and began singing again. The meowing started once more, and Bian followed Yangyang as they walked closer toward the large trash bins at the far east side of the complex.

“No,” she moaned softly, “Libby found a way into the trash?”

“What the fuck?” Without hesitation, Yangyang climbed up to look into the giant yellow painted metal trash bin, and glanced inside. “Libby, baby, what are you doing in the trash?”

He jumped in, and groaned.

“Is she OK?” Bian asked, walking close to the bin.

“Yeah. She probably smelt the tuna in one of these bags. Fuck, bro, it stinks.”

A few moments later, she saw Yangyang climb out of the bin, a filthy looking Libby tucked into his left arm. She helped him climb down, and they walked back to her apartment.

“I should go home,” he said as she unlocked the door.

“No, you smell! Clean up before you go home. I can’t give Libby’s baths either. It was always you.”

Once they entered her place, she led Yangyang to her bathroom, and offered him a couple towels before leaving him to clean up. She sat down on the ground next to the door, and listened to him wash Libby in the bathtub.

“I have my washer and dryer out here,” she said loudly, hoping he heard her over the noise of the water running. “If you want to give me your clothes, I can give them a quick wash. You’ll, um, have to be here for awhile though.”

“I’m fine with that,” he replied. “Thank you, Bian. You don’t have to.”

“You’re the only one who can find Libby. Don’t think I’m doing this because I want to mend things or whatever.”

“I’m sorry, Bian.” She gave a loud snort. “You’re right, this is all on me. If you don’t want to see or speak to me after this, like, yeah, like, I get it.”

“Why did you sleep with me if you didn’t want to date me? I mean, I know why, but like...why did you do it to me?” She felt tears forming and let them fall down her cheeks. “My friendship really meant that little to you?”

The door opened, and Yangyang knelt down next to her. He handed her a tissue, which she accepted wordlessly.

“I fucked up,” he said, sitting beside her in nothing but a towel. He set a bundle of grey towels down in front of him, and she realized Libby was resting at the center of the bundle. After her frightening day in the trash, Libby was knocked out. “I fucked up our friendship. I would do anything to be your friend again.”

She reached over and rested her hand over his. They shared a smile.

"You didn't have to come here today. Despite our bullshit, you showed up. That's definitely friendship material.”

“So we’re friends again?” he asked.

“You jumped into the trash without even thinking twice about it. You got your designer shoes dirty. That’s like, boyfriend material.”

“Boyfriend?” he asked. He gave a half smile, though it faltered as his eyes locked with hers.

“I mean,” she said with a shrug, “will you be my boyfriend if I told you we won’t have sex or kiss for at least a month?”

“No kissing?” he asked, but looked at her, and then glanced at Libby. “That’s more than fair.”

“You won’t cheat on me.”

“You’re the one who went on a date with Bae Jinyoung.”

“Do you want to go there?” she asked looking directly into his eyes. She could ruin their relationship if he was going to push it. It would hurt him a hell of a lot more if she were to reveal what she and Jinyoung did on their date. “What’s your history with him?”

“Nothing, really,” he said, throwing his arm over her shoulder. “Are you hungry?”

“We play some sports against each other. He’s good at football, and I’m good at basketball. That’s it. He’s...he was a bro.”

“OK,” she replied. “Is it like, a frat thing? Because if it is, I really don’t want to know.”

She sat up as he remained close lipped. Her butt felt numb from sitting down on the tiled floor for so long, she stood up. Glancing into the bathroom, she asked Yangyang to roll up his dirty laundry into one of her towels so they could wash them.

Seeing his shoes covered in grease stains and thick brown grime, she threw her hand to her mouth. His Air Jordan 1’s hadn’t just gotten dirty. They were ruined. He shook his head, his face morose, as he picked up the shoes with one of her stained hand towels hanging on a hook.

“I’m sorry,” she said as she followed him to the kitchen.

He threw the shoes into the large red trash bin before turning around to embrace her into a hug. His body was pressed against hers and as she wrapped her arms around his back she felt her body heat up. His skin felt soft, but the muscles on his back were firm as she held him tight. Her mind clouded with relief. He gave a dry chuckle before speaking.

“Fuck the shoes.”

Now, with a sequel: 7 Step to Forgiveness

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