blue.

he looked at her with a smile as she spoke nodding his head in agreement. “so, downstairs there’s the kitchen, the bathroom, and the living room.” he led her back out of the living room into the hallway, gesturing to the closed door that was for the downstairs bathroom. “there’s another bathroom upstairs. this one has a shower, upstairs has a bath. then there’s our bedroom, and two other rooms. we could have a guest room and a study, i guess?”

her kiss was enough to make him relax. he was worried she’d say no, which he would understand, but he didn’t want things to feel awkward. “okay, good.” he laughed a little, letting go of her waist and reaching for her hand, leading out of the kitchen and towards to living room area. there was a big window that looked over the street, and a large blue couch facing a tv that was mounted to the wall. “i think we should get some shelves in here, for books or something?”

he watched her carefully as he waited for an answer, the nerves making his stomach tie itself in knots. when she said she’d loved to he sighed like he’d been holding onto the breath, pushing himself back from where he was resting forwards on the counter. he moved around to her side, reaching out to gently rest his hands on her waist. “i know it’s a big step, and it’s one i want to take. i love you, charlie. and i… i want to keep being with you for a long time.” he was never good with verbal affirmations, but he was trying his best. “and i hope you don’t mind that i wanted to surprise you and got this place without you seeing it. we can still make it ours. there’s lots left to do.”

“yeah, i thought maybe it was time to get a place of my own. not that i hate living with the boys, but it’s been years now.” he shrugged, stepping in behind her and closing the door. there was some modern furniture around, but there were gaps in the interior and a clear lack of any personal touches, like a house waiting to become a home. he led her down the short hallway into the kitchen, which was so clean it was like it had never been touched. it wasn’t massive, but it wasn’t overly humble either. “but i was thinking,” he placed the key onto the island counter, sliding it towards the direction she was stood in. “you could move in with me. if you want to.”

closed for @charlietheblue​

“alright, charlotte.” woosung teased as he switched the engine off, slipping his jacket on before getting out of the car. he had parked on the driveway of the blue house in front of them, not saying anything to explain as he went up the steps to the door. he reached into his pocket and pulled out a single, new key, slotting it into the door. “so,” he started as he pushed open the wooden front door, waiting for her to walk in first. “i got a place.”

“down, please.” yuna helped her move it off and down, putting it down on the counter to save them having to take it somewhere else. “thank you, sorry for shouting.” she smiled as sweetly as she could. “i had a memory moment and there’s something in here i want.”

“hello? can someone-… hey! struggling here!” yuna’s voice was raised as she stared up at the cupboard shelf, arms getting shaky as she was reaching up to keep a heavy box from falling on top of her. “if i try to move this on my own, it’s not going to end well.”

a smile slowly took over his previous frown as she opened her arms, and he nodded his head. he wrapped his own arms around her and swayed slightly. “i missed you too.” he was quiet and honest, head resting against hers. but he caught himself lingering and pulled back suddenly, clearing his throat. “people are going to think there’s some drama if we stay out here too long.” he joked, tapping her leg lightly and playfully with his foot.

he wasn’t looking at her properly anymore, hand stroking his own arm just to busy himself. “it’s not that i’m mad at you, or anything.” he replied more quietly than before, hating how heavy he was feeling now. “it’s not about not wanting you, it isn’t. i almost told you,” he took in a deep breath, looking up at her. “but i think i was scared that-… i just thought maybe you were onto a new chapter, that i didn’t fit into.” he shrugged. “can we maybe start tonight over?”

woosung felt an awful kind of realisation come over him at her response. seeing her so hurt was something he never wanted to experience again, but here he was living it over again like the day they’d ended things. “i didn’t think you’d want me to.” he confessed, sounding uncharacteristically shy. “it felt too late, like i shouldn’t bother you? i didn’t know if you’d even care.” he sighed, not liking how it sounded now he knew how she felt about him being there. it sounded ridiculous when she clearly wanted to know he was around. “i didn’t want to be the ex that came back into your life annoyingly, i guess.” 

woosung simply rolled his eyes when she mentioned choonhee, not at all surprised she’d known something they didn’t this whole time. “sounds like choon.” he chuckled, but it was a little sour. he went to speak but she moved past him before he could even response, mouth a little agape as he stared head through the ghost of the girl that had been haunting him long before this moment. he shook his head at his friends who looked him questioningly, only for them to all whisper shout at him to hurry up and move. 

against better judgement, he followed her to the door, but didn’t stop her leaving. instead he followed her out, jogging to catch up with her. “charlie, hey. come on.” he reached out to take her hand but stopped, deciding it wasn’t appropriate even if he was only trying to stop her leaving. “i know this is a shock, and really weird but… you can still talk to me. you know that, right? there’s no need to run away from me.”

he was just as surprised as she was that their paths had crossed like this. having her walk right through his front door was the last thing he’d expected. “to study, yeah.” he confirmed, wondering what she was thinking of him. he hadn’t told her when he moved because he thought it was too late to come back into her life. “three months ago.” he answered, gesturing to his friends who were not-so-subtly watching them from the couch, immediately all looking different directions when he pointed them out. “i know nick. he told me he had a spare room and it just happened.” he shrugged. “so, why are you here? who did you come with?”

woosung realised in the silence that he didn’t know what he was supposed to say to her, feeling increasingly awkward with each passing second. which wasn’t something he was used to around charlie. he shook his head, folding his arms, new tattoo on his arm peaking out from his sleeve. “i live here, actually.” he corrected her, looking at her properly with a small smile. one that seemed a little uncomfortable. “literally.” he added with a short laugh. “this is my house.”

watching charlie walk straight past him made him feel like he was punched in the gut, looking down at his lap and tilting his head in response to the knock. losing charlie was something he still hadn’t healed from, and her acting like he wasn’t even there hurt him. he knew her well enough to know she had chosen to act like they hadn’t noticed each other. “who is that?” nick muttered to him, noticing where he had been looking before. woosung whispered her name back to him, receiving widened eyes from his friends in response. “like… the ‘love of your life’ charlie?” youjin commented, and woosung smacked him on the arm as if he’d shouted it even though it was barely above a whisper. 

a few minutes later, he was swallowing his pride - and a shot of yejun’s vodka for something stronger - and approaching charlie. he lent against the wall where she was, sliding into the free space of the girls. “hey, can i steal her for a minute?” he asked the other girl, not quite braving meeting charlie’s gaze just yet. 

closed for @charlietheblue

parties were usually uneventful for their group of friends, at least when it came to any negative drama. so woosung was relaxed, sitting on the arm of the couch whilst laughing along to one of nick and yejun’s stories. he was just making a joke, beer bottle moving closer to his lips, when he stopped still suddenly. “what, did you forget the punchline?” yejun teased playfully as the rest of their friends looked at him curiously, but woosung was too focused on the person he’d seen walk in. she was looking as beautiful as ever, and he felt like his heart was in his throat as he struggled to drag his eyes away from her. 

“we’re having a lovely time. i haven’t seen kitae since he was… what… 12?” hyewon looked at her husband whilst she thought before looking back to charlie. “it’s so funny that little sung just happened to end up being friends with him again. you know, when they were really little and kitae visited us, they had a tea party together.” she told the story like any endeared mother would, and woosung was leaning so far against the the wall like he was hoping it would swallow him up. “woosung would pour the tea for all their bears, it was adorable.” she laughed, and woosung was just shaking his head, a slight smile on his lips. “what about you? i hope grumps over here isn’t being too bad, and you’re actually having a good time.” his dad chimed in to tease some more, in classic yoon fashion.