liyah

It was late, nearly midnight. You were lying in bed, mindlessly scrolling through your phone, unable to fall asleep. You had been in the same position for what felt like hours. You’d gone to bed early, hoping to get a good night’s sleep, but apparently, your plans had other ideas.

With a frustrated groan, you tossed your phone onto the mattress beside you. The sound echoed through your otherwise empty apartment.

You stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before deciding you’d had enough. Throwing the covers off, you sat at the edge of your bed and rubbed your tired eyes.

Just then, your stomach rumbled loudly.

You paused.

“…Okay.”

You hummed to yourself and nodded, taking it as a sign that getting up wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

You walked over to your closet and pulled out a comfortable sweater and a pair of sweatpants. After changing, you slipped on your shoes and grabbed your phone and wallet.

Thankfully, there was a 24-hour gas station only a few blocks away.

The walk was only about ten minutes, and honestly, the night wasn’t half bad. The air was cool and quiet, with only the occasional car passing by. There were still a few people out despite the late hour—some walking their dogs, others stumbling down the sidewalk clearly having had a little too much to drink. A few people lingered in the shadows, keeping to themselves.

You kept your hands tucked into your pockets as you walked, enjoying the quiet.

Eventually, the familiar glow of the gas station came into view.

The place looked almost completely empty. There were only a couple of cars parked outside, one of which you recognized as belonging to one of the employees.

You walked up to the entrance and pushed the door open.

Ding!

The familiar bell above the door rang throughout the store.

The young man behind the counter briefly looked up at you before immediately returning his attention to his phone.

You paid him no mind.

You already knew exactly where you were going.

You followed your usual path through the aisles and made your way toward your favorite snacks. You grabbed your usual choices, satisfied with yourself, and turned toward the counter.

You were halfway there when—

Thud.

You suddenly crashed into something—or rather, someone.

Hard.

Your snacks slipped from your hands and scattered across the floor.

“What the—”

You looked up, irritation already building, only to find yourself staring at a guy with black hair that fell messily over his face. He wore a navy-blue sweater with a pair of black jeans, his hands already moving toward the things you’d dropped.

You opened your mouth, fully prepared to tell him to watch where he was going, but before you could get a single word out, his eyes widened.

“Oh—shit. I’m so sorry.”

He immediately crouched down, hurriedly gathering your snacks from the floor.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am. I wasn’t looking. I really didn’t mean to—”

He kept apologizing as he picked everything up, clearly embarrassed by what had happened.

You stared at him for a moment.

And then you actually got a good look at him.

…Oh.

He’s fine as hell.

You blinked, quickly pushing the thought out of your head before your face could betray you.

“Are you okay?” he asked, reaching a hand toward you.

You looked at his hand before shaking your head and getting to your feet yourself.

“I’m fine,” you mumbled.

You took the snacks from him, avoiding eye contact as much as possible.

“Really, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

You turned around before the conversation could continue and practically speed-walked toward the counter.

Your cheeks felt warm.

“So fucking embarrassing,” you muttered under your breath.

You placed your things on the counter and waited while the employee lazily scanned everything.

You could feel the other guy somewhere behind you.

You refused to look.

Not after running into him.

Not after realizing he was attractive.

And definitely not after making a complete fool of yourself in front of him.

Once everything was bagged, you quickly paid, snatched the bag from the counter, and gave the employee a quiet thanks before practically rushing out the door.

The bell rang again behind you.

You walked home much faster than you’d walked there.

By the time you finally reached your apartment, you let out a long sigh of relief and kicked your shoes off by the door.

You dropped your bag onto the kitchen counter and immediately dug into your snacks.

Despite the embarrassment from earlier, you couldn’t deny that the food was exactly what you’d needed.

After eating, you finally felt yourself getting tired.

You took a warm shower, changed into your pajamas, and crawled back into bed.

For the first time all night, your eyes actually felt heavy.

You pulled the blankets over yourself and closed your eyes.

Your mind briefly wandered back to the stranger at the gas station.

His messy black hair.

His nervous apologies.

The way he’d immediately tried to help you.

You groaned quietly and buried your face into your pillow.

“Forget it.”

You were too tired to think about it anymore.

Within minutes, you finally drifted off to sleep.

It had been two weeks since your little incident at the gas station, and honestly, you’d completely forgotten about it.

The embarrassing collision, the snacks scattered across the floor, the attractive stranger apologizing about a hundred times—it had all faded into the back of your mind.

That was until you found yourself walking into the exact same gas station.

And what a coincidence.

The exact same guy was there, too.

You stopped just outside the entrance when you noticed him.

You immediately considered turning around.

There was another gas station a little farther down the road. You could just go there instead. It wouldn’t be that much of a hassle.

But before you could make up your mind, his eyes lifted from whatever he was doing.

He noticed you.

Your eyes met for a brief second.

You immediately looked away.

Shit.

Turning around now would make it painfully obvious that you were avoiding him.

So, instead, you swallowed your embarrassment, pushed the door open, and walked inside as casually as you could.

Ding!

The familiar bell rang above you.

You kept your head down and made your way toward the snacks.

You didn’t notice that he was watching you.

He followed you with his eyes as you walked through the aisles, all the way to where you’d gotten your snacks two weeks ago.

From his perspective, it probably made him look like a creep.

But he couldn’t help it.

Ever since the night you’d bumped into each other, he’d felt awful about it.

He’d replayed the moment more times than he’d care to admit. He knew it hadn’t been entirely his fault, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he should’ve been paying more attention.

And now you were here again.

He finally had another chance to apologize properly.

Lucky him.

He took a quiet breath and stood there for a second.

He hesitated for a moment before making his way toward you.

You noticed him almost immediately.

Your hand froze halfway toward the shelf.

Oh, no.

You could hear his footsteps getting closer.

Your mind immediately started scrambling for something to say, but before you could come up with an excuse to leave, he stopped right behind you.

“…Excuse me.”

You slowly turned your head.

You gave him your best blunt, unimpressed stare—the kind that usually made people realize you didn’t want to be bothered.

It normally worked.

Apparently, he didn’t get the memo.

He stood there with a slightly nervous expression, looking like he was trying to figure out exactly what to say.

And then you remembered.

Oh, yeah.

He was ridiculously good-looking.

You’d forgotten just how attractive he was.

Today, he was wearing a black shirt with the top few buttons undone, exposing a small part of his collarbone. The shirt was neatly tucked into his black jeans, giving him a surprisingly put-together appearance.

Fuck.

He somehow looked even better than he had two weeks ago.

You quickly looked away, hoping you hadn’t been staring for too long.

Meanwhile, he cleared his throat.

“I’m not sure if you remember, but we bumped—”

“Yeah, I remember.”

You sighed, turning your attention back toward the shelf.

He paused.

Right.

Of course you remembered.

He suddenly felt like he’d forgotten how to speak.

He’d spent the last two weeks thinking about what he’d say if he ever saw you again, and now that you were actually standing in front of him, every single thought had disappeared.

He needed to say something.

Anything.

Before he completely embarrassed himself.

“Could I pay for your stuff?”

The words came out much faster than he’d intended.

You stopped.

Slowly, you turned around and looked at him.

His eyes widened slightly.

Too late to take that back.

“For making you fall,” he quickly added.

You stared at him.

He stared back.

There was a brief silence between you.

Then you shrugged.

“Okay.”

He blinked.

That was it?

You weren’t going to argue?

He quickly nodded, trying not to look too relieved.

“Okay. Yeah. Great.”

You turned back toward the shelves.

You weren’t finished shopping, after all.

So you continued browsing, picking out a few more things while he followed a short distance behind you.

You glanced over your shoulder at him.

He immediately looked away, pretending he hadn’t been watching you.

You raised an eyebrow.

“Are you going to follow me around the entire store?”

He chuckled nervously.

“I mean… I did offer to pay.”

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t stop the tiny smile from appearing on your face.

As you continued shopping, he finally seemed to relax.

“My name’s Nicholas, by the way,” he said. “So you know the name of the guy who’s buying all your food.”

You let out a small laugh.

Nicholas smiled when he heard it.

“Y/N,” you replied, turning to look at him. “My name is Y/N.”

“Y/N.”

He repeated your name quietly, as if committing it to memory.

You didn’t know why, but the way he said your name made your heart jump.

You immediately turned back toward the shelves.

What the hell?

Why was your heart suddenly doing that?

This was the same guy who had made you fall in a gas station two weeks ago.

And now he was walking around the store with you and offering to pay for your food.

You shook your head slightly and tried to ignore the strange feeling in your chest.

You quickly finished the rest of your shopping and brought everything up to the counter.

Just like he promised, Nicholas paid for everything.

You looked down at the bag in your hands, still slightly surprised that he’d actually gone through with it.

Once you stepped outside, Nicholas followed you to the entrance.

“Would you like some help carrying those home?” he asked.

You looked at him suspiciously.

“You could be some psycho killer.”

Nicholas blinked.

You narrowed your eyes.

“Just because you bought me food doesn’t mean anything.”

For a second, he simply stared at you.

Then he laughed.

“Got it.”

He lifted his hands slightly in surrender, smiling.

You immediately felt your face heat up at the sound of his laugh.

You quickly looked away.

Why is he so damn charming?

Nicholas stepped back, giving you some space.

“Have a good rest of your day, Y/N.”

You glanced at him.

“I hope I get to see you around again.”

Your heart did that stupid little flip again.

You hated it.

You didn’t answer.

Instead, you turned around and started walking away.

Then, as if walking normally wasn’t enough, you sped up.

You could practically feel his eyes following you as you disappeared down the sidewalk.

You clutched your bag a little tighter.

You’d gone to the gas station for snacks.

Instead, you’d left with free food, an embarrassing amount of butterflies in your stomach, and the name of a guy you were pretty sure you were going to be thinking about for the rest of the day.

It had been another two weeks since you’d last seen Nicholas.

And you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t been avoiding the gas station completely.

You’d taken different routes home, gone to stores that were farther away, and even walked an extra ten minutes just to avoid passing the place.

It was ridiculous.

You’d literally only met the guy twice.

Twice.

So why did it feel like you were some traveling sailor desperately missing his wife back home?

You didn’t even know the man.

And yet, somehow, he had managed to get stuck in your head.

You’d catch yourself wondering what he was doing, whether he was working, whether he’d remembered you, or—most embarrassingly—whether he’d actually meant it when he said he hoped to see you around again.

You honestly didn’t know what to do with yourself or these strange feelings.

You’d never met someone who had this kind of effect on you so quickly.

So, naturally, you did the only thing you could think of.

You FaceTimed your best friend, Manon.

Which was how you ended up sitting on your bed, phone propped up against your pillow, explaining the entire situation to her.

You’d just finished telling her about your last encounter when she slowly brought her hands together, looking far too pleased with herself.

“So…” Manon began.

You already knew you weren’t going to like whatever came next.

“What I’m getting from all of this…”

She paused dramatically.

“You have a gas station crush.”

“No!” you immediately protested, putting your fingers into exaggerated air quotes. “I don’t have a fucking gas station crush.”

Manon raised an eyebrow.

“Then what? You just wanna fuck him?”

“NO!”

She burst into laughter.

“Y/N, it’s time for you to get yourself a man, and I say you go for Mr. Gas Station.”

You stared at her.

“Mr. Gas Station? Are you serious?”

“I’m so deadass.”

You rolled your eyes.

Manon giggled before becoming a little more serious.

“But no, seriously, Y/N. It’s been a very, very long time since you’ve had a boyfriend. I think you should actually make a move this time.”

You narrowed your eyes.

“Is that shade?”

“A little bit.”

She grinned.

“All love, though.”

You both started laughing.

Once the laughter died down, you sighed and leaned back against your pillows.

Manon wasn’t wrong.

It had been a while since you’d genuinely tried to get to know someone. You’d gotten comfortable being on your own, and you’d never really felt the need to change that.

But Nicholas was different.

You hated admitting it, but you liked him.

Maybe you didn’t know him well enough to call it anything more than that yet.

But you wanted to.

You wanted to know him.

You wanted to see him again.

“I’ll…” You hesitated, picking at the edge of your blanket. “I’ll try and talk to him.”

Manon’s eyes immediately lit up.

She clapped her hands together.

“You got this!”

You laughed.

“You’re beautiful, you’re funny, you’re smart, okay? You’ve got this!”

“You sound like a motivational speaker.”

“I am your motivational speaker.”

You shook your head, smiling.

Eventually, the two of you said your goodbyes and ended the call.

You stared at your phone for a few seconds afterward.

Then you looked toward your bedroom door.

Would it be crazy to go there right now?

Absolutely.

Should you probably wait until tomorrow?

Definitely.

Were you already putting your shoes on?

…Unfortunately.

You grabbed your jacket and headed out before you could talk yourself out of it.

The entire walk there, your mind was filled with questions.

What if he’s not there?

What if he doesn’t remember me?

What if he does remember me and thinks I’m weird for showing up?

You tried to drown the thoughts out.

Before you knew it, you were standing outside the gas station.

You took a deep breath.

And then you saw him.

Nicholas.

He was sitting in the small eating area toward the back, casually eating from a bag of chips while scrolling through his phone.

You stopped in your tracks.

Oh.

For a second, you considered turning around.

Again.

But then Nicholas looked up.

His eyes landed on you.

There was a brief moment where he seemed surprised.

Then his face broke into a smile.

Not a polite smile.

A genuine one.

Your cheeks immediately warmed.

You quickly looked away and walked inside, deliberately heading in the opposite direction.

Nicholas watched you go, the corners of his mouth still slightly lifted.

He hadn’t expected to see you tonight.

But he was definitely glad you were there.

You made your way toward the shelves, pretending to be completely calm.

You’d already made a plan.

You’d grab a few snacks, pay for them, sit somewhere near him, and hopefully—hopefully—he’d make the first move.

It was a terrible plan.

But it was the only one you had.

You grabbed a few things and paid at the counter before making your way toward the eating area.

You stopped beside an empty chair.

Nicholas looked up.

You took a deep breath and sat one chair away from him, leaving a comfortable amount of space between you.

He looked at you.

You side-eyed him.

He chuckled.

“Hi.”

You glanced at him.

“Hi.”

Nicholas smiled before returning his attention to his phone and his chips.

You set your own snacks down and opened one of them, trying your best to act like your heart wasn’t beating ridiculously fast.

For a few moments, neither of you said anything.

Then Nicholas spoke.

“So, how’s your night going?”

“Fine,” you answered quietly.

He looked over.

“What was that?”

You cleared your throat.

“My night’s going fine.”

“That’s good.”

He smiled.

You couldn’t help it this time.

His smile was contagious.

You smiled back and nodded.

Nicholas immediately looked surprised.

“Whoa.”

You raised an eyebrow.

“A smile?”

You laughed, quickly looking away as your smile grew.

Nicholas laughed too.

“I’m so used to your mean, blank, resting-bitch-face expression.”

You looked at him.

“Yeah. Everyone is.”

You shrugged.

“Guess that’s just my face.”

He smiled.

“Well, it’s good to see you smile.”

You paused.

Nicholas looked at you for a second before adding, a little quieter,

“It’s pretty.”

Your smile immediately disappeared.

You stared at him.

For once, you had absolutely nothing to say.

The bright gas station lights reflected faintly off his lip balm, and there was something different about the way he was looking at you.

He wasn’t staring in an uncomfortable way.

If anything, he looked genuinely interested.

Like he wanted to know more about you.

Not just the quiet girl with the intimidating expression who bought snacks late at night.

You.

The thought made your chest feel strangely warm.

“Y/N?”

His voice pulled you back.

You blinked.

“S-sorry.”

Nicholas smiled slightly.

“It’s okay.”

You looked down at your food, suddenly very interested in the packaging.

There was a brief silence.

Then Nicholas shifted in his seat.

You glanced over.

He looked nervous now.

His fingers were fidgeting with the sleeve of his sweater.

“Y/N?”

You looked at him again.

“Yeah?”

He hesitated.

“Can I… get your number?”

You froze.

Your face immediately felt like it was on fire.

Nicholas seemed to realize what he’d just asked, and his own cheeks started turning slightly pink.

“I mean, only if you’re comfortable with that,” he quickly added. “I just—”

You didn’t let him finish.

You turned away and lightly shoved his shoulder.

“What is wrong with you?”

Nicholas laughed.

“Sorry.”

“You can’t just ask someone that out of nowhere.”

“You said yes, though.”

You looked at him.

“I didn’t say yes.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“You haven’t said no.”

You stared at him.

He stared back.

Then you both started laughing.

After a few seconds, you sighed and held your hand out toward him.

Nicholas looked at your hand.

Then at you.

“…What?”

“Your phone.”

His face immediately brightened.

“Oh.”

He quickly pulled his phone out and handed it to you.

You entered your number and saved it before handing the phone back.

Nicholas looked down at the screen.

He smiled when he saw your name.

“Thank you.”

You stood up almost immediately.

“Yeah, whatever.”

You grabbed your snacks and turned toward the door.

“Wait.”

You stopped and looked back.

Nicholas was smiling.

“I’ll text you.”

You rolled your eyes, trying desperately to hide your smile.

“Okay.”

You walked out of the gas station before he could see how red your face had gotten.

The door swung shut behind you, the familiar bell ringing overhead.

Nicholas watched you leave, a quiet smile still on his face.

He looked down at his phone again.

Your number was saved.

And for the first time, he didn’t have to wonder whether he’d see you again.

And maybe Manon had been right.

Maybe you did have a gas station crush.

And, judging by the way Nicholas had been smiling at his phone, maybe the feeling wasn’t entirely one-sided.

Either way, you had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time you saw him.

𝐴𝑦𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑦𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑐!!! 𝐿𝑒𝑡'𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑜!!

𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺! 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘺𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘴!! (𝑷𝒍𝒔 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒔😭)

➩ Euijoo is known to be a very calm puppy hybrid.

➩ His tail always swayed gently behind him with his ears relaxed against his fluffy hair as he goes about his day.

➩ Then you come home and his tail is wagging like crazy. Almost immediately.

➩ He tries his best to play it cool but you can quite literally hear the thump thump thump against the couch.

➩ He would greet you with the softest, "You're home." Completely contrasting the way his tail is going insane.

➩ Ej is very affectionate, but never overwhelming.

➩ He will sit next to and gradually inch closer until his shoulder was touching yours.

➩ Then eventually his head would rest in your lap and you would absentmindedly play with his hair.

➩ One thing he absolutely LOVES is having his ears scratched.

➩ His eyes would slowly blink close and his entire body relaxes.

➩ And if you stop scratching his ears too soon, he would blink up at you with a pout, "...Why'd you stop?"

You looked down surprised at the pup, "I thought you were asleep."

"I wasn't." He whined softly.

➩ He secretly has a spot he loves besides you on the couch and would absolutely "glare" at you until you realize you were sitting in his spot.

➩ He wouldn't call himself very possessive over you, but he does get quietly jealous.

➩ His ears would slowly droop down as he sees someone flirting with you.

➩ He doesn't like to make a big scene out of it. He'd just walk over, sit down next to you and gently rest his head on your shoulder.

➩ His ears would perk up if you tease him about his jealousy. "I'm not jealous."

Though his tail kept thumping against the chair. He was so bad at lying when his ears and tail were involved!

➩ He absolutely loves taking long walks with you.

➩ He isn't too energetic on the walks either as he stays right next to you.

➩ He'd just occasionally stop because something interesting caught his eye. Stare for a few seconds before walking away like nothing happened.

➩ EJ has a tiny habit of bringing you little gifts.

➩ Not overly expensive things!

➩ Your favorite flowers. A cute keychain. A snack he thought you would enjoy.

➩ "I saw it and thought of you."

➩ PLEASE

➩ He'd get incredibly shy when you make a big deal about it

➩ He loves cuddles.

➩ He doesn't mind being the big or small spoon!

➩ Though he loves to wrap his arms around your waist and bury his face in your neck.

➩ His tail somehow always brushes against you whenever you're standing together.

➩ When he's sleepy, he gets ridiculously clingy!

➩ You could be busy with some work and then out of nowhere there's a tired puppy attached to your side. He'd whisper in a raspy voice, "You're comfortable."

"EJ, I'm trying to write."

"I know." He hummed against your skin. "...Then why are you lying on me?"

"Because you're comfortable." He huffed out as his grip on you tightened.

➩ EJ would fall asleep while you play with his hair. No doubt in that.

➩ Waking him up after falling asleep like that was nearly impossible.

➩ His biggest betrayal was his ears...

➩ You whispered with a laugh in your tone, "EJ?" The smallest twitch of his ear.

"I know you're awake." You teased with a sigh, your fingers running through his hair.

"...I'm not."

➩ EJ loved when you kissed his forehead. Almost as much as you giving him ear scratches.

➩ Each time you left a soft kiss to his forehead, his eyes would soften and his tail would give one little wag.

➩ He doesn't bombard you with questions when your noticeably upset.

➩ He'd just sit beside you, let's you lean against him and quietly mumbles, "You don't have to talk. I'll stay."

And he actually stays.

➩ He would be protective in the same way.

➩ When you're walking somewhere, he'd automatically position himself between you and the road.

➩ He'd instinctively give you his jacket when you're cold. Even though he's just as cold.

"EJ, you're shivering." you'd say with guilt in your voice.

"I'm okay."

"You're literally shaking." you sigh as you see him slightly shivering in the cold air.

"...You looked colder." you smiled and hugged him.

➩ When he's happy, his tail gives him away.

➩ You can literally tell exactly how excited he is just by watching it!

➩ And his absolute weakness?

➩ You calling him your good boy. The words make his ears shoot straight up.

➩ He kinda freezes at first when he hears you say it, "...Don't."

But his flustered state only brings a grin to your face, "Don't what?"

"...You know what." He'd pout with a defeated expression.

➩ But then his face gets all red and warm as his tail betrays him once again. 😭

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒖𝒖𝒖. 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈!!

𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙨, 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 ♥︎