☼☽

They say to live the life you dream of, you have to work hard. Some people can start from the bottom and work their way up to the top. While others are fortunate enough to start directly from the top due to the resources that are available to them. 

Unluckily for you, you are not one of the latters. You worked hard to get where you are now, being the CEO of Bloom. You didn’t earn the status of CEO through being the heir to the company, no. You built Bloom on your own, and now you’re one of the youngest, as well as the richest, in the business of the gaming industry. 

However, as it was said before, you’re one of the youngest and richest. There’s another that you’re currently ahead of in the business, some claim to be your rival in the industry. The two of you are always clashing on the charts, always competing at the same time. Since you just recently launched a new update for your game, you’re higher on the ladder than him. For now. 

Kim Mingyu, the CEO of Ainsoft. At the age of 19 he inherited the money to start up his own gaming company, which ended up being incredibly successful. As he is now 23, and one of the youngest and richest in South Korea. Right beside you on the charts, but you started from the ground up, while he had a bit of help. 

What you don’t know is that Mingyu is truly out of this world. Tall, handsome, and rich, yes. However, he is actually not a part of this world. For he is one of the seven deadly sins, 

The Sin of Envy.

And you, yln yn, are at the top of his list. 

“Nah, he’s a villain. If you wanna make him look the part, he should look less soft. Taller, broader, dark hair, nice tan skin. Yes! Perfect.” You clap your hands once your game designer makes the changes you requested. Minghao turns to glance at you with a look that basically says, ugh! this bitch. 

“... What?” 

“You literally just had me draw Kim Mingyu.” You purse your lips once you see the resemblance, and turn your head away, letting out a whistle tune. Minghao chuckles, deleting the edits he made so that the drawing is back to its original rough draft. 

“You know, it’s not my fault that he looks like the perfect villain.” You say to Minghao, and he waves his hand away at you, flashing you a grin. “I’ll work on this and show you the draft when I’m done, deal?” 

You smile, giving the black haired beauty a thumbs up. “Deal.” 

And with that, you turn and stroll back to your office. You check in with your other employees on the way there, seeing how the design and coding is going for the upcoming game you plan to discuss with investors in a month or so. 

With a smile and wave of your hand, you step into your office, shutting the door behind you and walking over to your desk. You sit down, letting out a breath and closing your eyes as you rest your head on the back of your seat. 

You quickly get interrupted by a knock on your door, and you call out that they can come in. Sitting up straighter in your seat, you watch as your COO, Chan, steps into your office with a straight face. You raise an eyebrow, knowing that he brought news you must not like. 

“What is it?” You ask as Chan sits down in the seat in front of your desk, and he lets out a sigh. He places the small envelope before you, and you purse your lips, reaching out and taking it. You carefully open up the red paper, and pull out what seems to be an invitation.

You immediately frown at what you read, and you glance up at Chan to see him also looking at the piece of paper as if it were cursed. You place it back down onto the table, letting out a sigh and slumping in your seat. 

“Why is Kim Mingyu inviting me to his gala?” You ask, pointing to the invitation in disgust, and Chan shrugs in response. He looks rather tired as well, and you feel a bit bad for your friend. 

His black hair isn’t as put together as it was in the morning, showing that he must’ve been running his hands through it a lot during the day. His tie is a bit loosened as well, and he’s more hunched over. You know for a fact that once he leaves your office, he won’t be showing any sign of fatigue to your employees. You don’t blame him for being tired though, it’s a stressful process trying to create a new game. 

“I think he might be planning something.” Chan mutters, squinting at the invitation from his seat. You tilt your head, wondering what Mingyu could possibly be scheming. You’ve never met him before, as you’re not one to go out to galas or many public events, and he’s never invited you to one of his galas before. Chan is usually the one who attends those things because he knows you’d much rather work on new game developments or on updates for any existing games than waste time at a party. 

“Of course he is. He never invites me to these things, and I’ve also never met him, yet we’re each other's biggest competitor. You’re the only one who has spoken to Mingyu before.” You say, pointing to Chan, who is now rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. Once he’s done he glances at you, giving you a shrug of his shoulders. 

“All I can remember is that he’s really tall, and pretty cocky.” 

“Only a little bit?” 

“Nah, like. The type that knows everyone loves him and can get anyone he wants without trying.” You purse your lips, turning your head away with a scowl. From what you’re hearing, Kim Mingyu is the worst type of man. 

“I’m not going.” You state with finality, turning back towards your computer. You begin typing away for a minute, only to pause when you realize that Chan is still sitting in your seat, staring at you. Your eyes immediately widen and you shake your head, while Chan stands up and raises his hands towards you. “Absolutely not!”

“You didn’t even hear what I was going to say!”

“Because I already know what you were going to say!” You exclaim with a baffled expression on your face, and Chan gives you a defeated look in return. He purses his lips and you squint back at him. After a moment Chan finally says, “I think you should go.”

“Give me one good reason why.” You tell him and Chan grins, having already expected you to say that. 

“It’s an opportunity to get information on the enemy.” Chan states, and you raise an eyebrow. Leaning back into your seat, you signal for him to go on.

“Listen. Mingyu is known to hold these big galas when they’re planning on launching a new game, right?” Chan glances at you for your reaction, and you nod your head. “So, you can go to try and get information. You’ve never met Mingyu, and he’s never met you. What if you managed to even swoon him?” 

You roll your eyes, grabbing your stapler to throw it at your partner’s head, and he raises his arms in surrender, letting out giggles at your reaction. You place the almost weapon back down on your table, and bite your finger, a habit you do when you start to think heavily about something. 

Chan has a point. It’s a dirty way of playing the game, but hey, you’re in the gaming industry. What you and Chan are planning on doing isn’t that bad anyways. You’re just going to see what his next game may be, report it back to your employees, and make sure your new game release will be a thousand times better than his. 

Which is why you turn back to Chan, a newly formed smirk on your lips, and he grins evilly back. You rest your chin on the palm of your hand, “Guess I have plans this Saturday.”

“Ms. yln, the CEO of Bloom, has just arrived at Kim Mingyu’s gala. This is her first time attending Mr. Kim’s gala since they are the two biggest competitors in the gaming industry. She’s wearing an emerald green…” 

You ignore the voices of the reporters as you step out of your bugatti chiron with a knowing smile on your face. You hand your keys to the valet, giving them a nod as you walk down the red carpet. You flip your hair over your shoulder, before walking up the steps and into the grand venue. 

You feel the eyes on you when you step in, and you bow to those around you. You walk further into the ballroom of the hotel, running a hand through your hair as you walk up to one of the tables. You take out your phone from the strap on your leg, sending Chan a quick text that you’re going to curse him for not coming with you. To which he replies, 

chan: love you too sexci :D

“Champagne, Ms. yln?” You turn to glance at the voice, to find a young waiter standing before you, holding fancy glasses filled with the expensive alcohol. You give him a small smile, and watch as a blush rises to his cheeks when you take one. “Thank you so much.” 

He bows, before turning and walking away. You take a tiny sip and let out a pleased noise once you taste the unexpected sweetness to it. You ponder your luck on your favorite alcohol getting served at the gala you dreaded going to, only to receive an answer from the voice beside you. 

“Montaudon Brut, your favorite.” You turn your head to find none other than the Kim Mingyu standing close beside you, a knowing smirk on his face as he stares at you. You raise an eyebrow, turning your body to face him as you look back into his eyes. 

“How’d you know?” You ask with a small smile, and he shrugs, running a hand through his perfectly styled hair, damn you kim mingyu, before giving you a mischievous look. “Did a little bit of research.” 

You let out an, ah, before turning your head away to sweep the room. You lock eyes with a few onlookers, but they quickly glance the other way, making the corner of your lips tilt upwards a bit. You take in the decorations on the ceiling, from the bright pink and white flowers, to the green leafy plants hanging next to the fairy lights. What used to just be a golden ballroom inside a hotel now resembles what you’d consider a great option for what heaven may look like. 

It’s rather ironic actually, considering that the Sin of Envy is standing right beside you. Mingyu watches you with fire in his eyes, having not expected you to be more gorgeous in person than in pictures, let alone when the fairy lights cast an iridescent glow over you.

“The decorations are lovely, did you pick them out yourself as well?” You ask, turning to glance back at Mingyu, just to feel your breath get caught in your throat when you catch the intense look in his eyes. He tilts his head at you, opening his mouth to say something when the sound of the mic turning on catches both of your attention. 

Mingyu flashes you a mischievous smile, “That’s my signal to go and greet everyone. I’ll see you later?” 

You find yourself smirking, nodding your head and waving off the handsome man with your hand. “You know where to find me.” 

And with that, Mingyu turns and walks off the stage. All while you head off in the opposite direction to go and get some info on his upcoming game. You notice a group consisting of a few women and men who are eyeing you, and you walk over to them. They seemed to not have expected you to go up to them due to their eyes widening slightly, and you let out a grin when you reach their table. 

“Ms. yln, what an honor it is to meet you.” The tallest male says, and you extend your hand out to shake his. Only to bite the inside of your cheek when he raises your hand up and presses a kiss to the back of it instead. He leans back and you glance at the rest of the people around him, just for them to immediately bow to you. You bow back, before giving the man a smile. “What’s your name?”

“My name is Cha Eunwoo, I’m Mingyu’s game designer.” You nod your head, mentally patting yourself on the back for finding one of the main people in charge of making Mingyu’s newest release. You run a hand through your hair before turning to ask, “What got you into game design?” 

The two of you spend the next hour talking about Eunwoo’s experience working with Mingyu. You find yourself enjoying the pretty man’s company. He’s nice, witty, charming, and rather funny. You wish he could be a part of your team, but alas. At least you found out small bits and pieces of what could potentially be Ainsoft’s next release. 

What you’ve gathered so far is that there’s mentions of a dystopian universe, and a team. You’re worried that may be all you’re able to get, but you think that it could be enough. You wave bye to Eunwoo, and he tells you he was happy that he got to speak to you, before you turn and walk back over to your table. 

You raise an eyebrow when you see that your table is now full, so you decide to walk around. Other than doing the occasional bow, you don’t feel like talking to anyone else for now, so you continue to roam around. You tilt your head when you find a hallway close to the stage, so you walk down it. Taking in the hanging green plants on the ceiling, finding the interior decoration of the gala to be impeccable. You see doors leading to a balcony once you’re closer to the end of the hallway, and you step out. 

You take a sip of your champagne when you find Mingyu looking over the ledge, staring out at the city. You raise an eyebrow and walk over, but he doesn’t seem startled by your presence. He just continues to look at the skyline, taking in deep breaths of the cold, night air. 

“Thought you said you’d find me?” You joke after a moment, and Mingyu turns to glance at you. He lets out an amused grin, shaking his head at you. “Wanted to give you a little adventure.” Is all he replies, and you find yourself smiling. 

The two of you stare out at the skyline together in silence, and you feel that you’re the calmest you’ve been in months as you stand beside Mingyu. Glancing up at the night sky you notice a shooting star, and you nudge the man. He turns to look at you, and you point up at the sky with a glimmer to your eye, “Look! A shooting star.” 

Mingyu looks up at the sky, and he catches the very last second of the shooting star. He chuckles, knowing that means one of the stars is on their way to fulfill a quest, but of course, you don’t know that. So he turns to glance at you, just to find that your eyes are closed, and your hands are clasped together as you make a wish up to the shooting star. 

Mingyu feels something in his chest at the sight, and he wonders whether he may be having a heart attack, but then he remembers that he’s immortal. You open your eyes and turn to glance at Mingyu, and that’s when he feels his heart stop. 

He realizes that your eyes outshine all the stars in the sky with the way they brightly bore into his, and he finds the visual so enchanting, that he forgets to speak. You tilt your head to the side at his silence, and you take the last sip of your champagne, before placing the empty glass onto the ledge. 

“So quiet now. Have you just realized how pretty I am?” You tease, and Mingyu snaps out of his trance. He leans in closer to your face, and your eyes widen when his nose almost touches yours. The handsome man lets out a smile, “I’ve always known you were stunning, yn. However, I didn’t expect you to be even prettier in person.” And with that, he leans back at his full height, chuckling at your surprised expression. 

You squint at him, “Shut up.”

“Awe, is my biggest rival shy now?” Mingyu asks, and you roll your eyes. You nudge him with your shoulder, and he hides his smile behind the glass of champagne, taking a large sip of it. You feel your phone vibrate in the strap on your thigh, so you stick your leg out of the slit of your dress. Mingyu glances down and his eyes widen slightly at the sight of you taking your phone out of the strap. 

“You kept… your phone there?” You nod your head without looking at Mingyu, seeing that Chan needs you to come home so he can discuss one of the character designs for the game you’re creating. You place your phone back in the strap, before hiding your leg from view. Turning towards Mingyu, you give him a grin.

“I have to take my leave now. Thank you for inviting me to your gala, I had a wonderful time.” You tell Mingyu, and he purses his lips at the fact that he feels the slightest bit of disappointment in his chest from you leaving already. 

“So soon?” Mingyu asks and you nod your head, muttering that duty calls. You’re about to turn around to leave when you feel a hand grasp your wrist, and you glance behind you to see Mingyu staring at you with a small smile.

“Will I see you again?” 

Your eyes widen at the question, having not expected for there to be a next time. While Mingyu continues to look at you with a glint in his eye, and you wonder why he wants to initiate a relationship between the two of you. However, you also enjoy Mingyu’s company, so it really has you thinking. 

“Maybe. Depends on what the Gods have in store for us.” You answer, and Mingyu finds it so painfully ironic that he lets out a laugh, to which you find yourself smiling back. He nods his head, letting go of your wrist so that you can leave the gala. 

“I’ll see you, yln yn.” You flip your hair over your shoulder, waving bye to Mingyu. “See you, Kim Mingyu.” 

And with that, you walk off the balcony. Leaving Mingyu alone underneath the night sky. He lets out a breath, turning back towards the ledge as he decides to head back into the gala after a few minutes. 

Mingyu glances up at the stars, and he comes to realize that you’re all he can think about as he does so. 

“Minghao!” The black haired beauty turns in the direction he heard you call, just to find you quickly walking over with an excited smile on your face. He raises an eyebrow, about to open his mouth to ask how much espresso you got in your coffee, just for you to slam your journal onto his desk. “Someone’s excited.”

“I had a dream.”

“So did Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.” You squint at Minghao, and he gives you a smile that convinces you not to reach out and smack the back of his head. So you instead open up your journal, showing the drawing you made at four in the morning the night before, and Minghao’s eyes widen slightly in awe.

“These are…”

“Perfect.”

“An incredibly different vibe from the characters we had drawn out before.” Minghao points out, and you nod your head. Running a hand through your hair, you give him a grin. “Don’t you think they suit the game so much better though? I was unsure of the direction we were going in, but after what I learned at the gala, I think these characters will be better.” 

Minghao nods his head in agreement, turning back towards the drawing. You stare at the drawing as well, “I had a dream last night and as soon as I woke up I just had to draw the characters I dreamt of. This is what I got. I want you to show this to the team and make these characters come to life by the end of next week.” You tell Minghao, and he purses his lips. He grasps the journal and raises it up towards his face, taking in the detail of their outfits, the brightness of the hair, and their varying facial expressions. 

“What kind of dream did you have?” Minghao asks after a moment, and you tilt your head at the thought of it. Perhaps you had that bizarre dream because you watched that one alien episode of buzzfeed unsolved to try and stop thinking of Mingyu, but you’re not sure. 

“These weird aliens kept trying to peg me with their tentacles.” You mutter with a look of unease displayed over your features, and Minghao just stares at you in concern. You snap out of the memory, turning back towards Minghao and giving him a small smile. 

“You can create these by the end of next week, right?”

“You dreamt… of tentacle porn?” You let out a laugh, reaching out and resting a hand on Minghao’s shoulder. “Remind me to not watch anything involving aliens before I go to sleep.” 

Minghao nods his head, “Noted.”

And after he confirms that he’ll be able to have the characters drawn out and will show them to you as soon as they’re done, you walk back to your office after checking with your other employees. You’re about to turn the corner to your office when Chan stops you, a bright smile on his face that has you suspicious. 

“...What?”

“You want coffee?”

“I don’t like coffee.”

“Well, let’s make you like it! Let’s go!” Chan says quickly, hooking his arm with yours and pulling you in the opposite direction of your office. With a frown you pull your arm away, squinting at Chan. “Why are you stopping me from going into my office?”

“Why… not?” You stare at Chan with a bored expression, before turning around and opening the door to your office, promptly ignoring Chan’s sounds of protest. You find yourself staring at the back of Mingyu’s head, who is sitting in the seat placed in front of your desk.

“Kim Mingyu.” You state, and the man turns around, flashing you a smile. His black hair is up in the style he had at the gala, revealing his forehead and strong eyebrows. He’s wearing a black dress shirt, the top buttons being unbuttoned, revealing a bit of his chest, and you raise an eyebrow. You take notice of his sharp canines for the first time as he smiles at you, and for some reason, you’re intrigued. 

“To what do I owe the pleasure of having you in my office right now?” You ask as you walk up to your chair, feeling Mingyu’s eyes on you the whole way there. You sit down in your seat, and look up into his eyes, finding the same intense look that he had at the night of the gala two weeks prior. Mingyu smiles, leaning his head back into the chair, and your eyes trail down to his Adam's apple, watching it move as he swallows. 

“You weren’t making any moves to come and see me again, so I decided to pay my rival a visit and ask her out for coffee.” You choke on your saliva at the end of his sentence, and Mingyu smiles at that. You stare at him with wide eyes, and he rests his chin on his hand, looking at you with amusement dancing in his deep brown eyes. 

The two of you weren’t supposed to meet again. By you going to the gala it was simply for your own gain, to learn more about his upcoming game. However, you ended up learning more about the enemy himself. You know that you shouldn’t entertain him like this, but here you are, wanting to get to know your rival more.

And so you regain your composure, and tilt your head to the side, now grinning back at Mingyu. “After your research on me, I thought you’d learn that I’m more of a tea person.” 

Mingyu bites his finger, letting out a smile at that. “Guess the internet isn’t always that reliable.” 

You nod your head, before standing up from the chair and heading over to the door. Mingyu raises an eyebrow at you moving to leave without another word, and you turn your head to look at him. You smirk, “Are you coming or what? I know a good tea place down the street from here.” 

Mingyu laughs, standing up from the seat and grabbing the maroon jacket that was laid over the back of it. He puts it on, and you find that he looks like the epitome of a God as he walks up to you. Once he’s standing in front of you, the two of you stare into each other’s eyes for a moment. 

Mingyu thinks that emerald green complements your eye color as he stares at you, curious as to how he didn’t notice it when you wore that emerald green dress at the gala. While you wonder how cursed you have to be for your rival to be one of the prettiest people you’ve ever laid eyes on. So you grin, opening the door for him and pointing out with your arm. “After you.” 

Mingyu chuckles out, “How sweet of you.” as he steps out of your office. 

The two of you walk over towards the elevators, and you glance over to see Minghao staring at you with a small smirk on his face, while Chan looks like he’s shitting himself. You raise an eyebrow at them, and Minghao makes his hands look like they’re kissing, and Chan just makes the motion that looks like he’s praying to the Gods. You roll your eyes, before turning back towards Mingyu to see him bowing his head towards your other employees that are looking at the both of you. 

at least he’s respectful.

“Are you gonna pay for my tea?” Mingyu asks once the two of you enter the elevator, and you smile, turning to look at your rival. You reach over and press the star button, and the elevator makes its way down. After a second of silence you respond, 

“Sure, I’ll pay for your tea as a celebration for the fact that I’m in the #1 spot right now.” You answer, giving Mingyu a cheeky smile, and he rolls his eyes. 

For now, Mingyu thinks to himself bitterly once the elevator doors open. 

“You fucking suck at fall guys.” You mutter to Mingyu once you hear him yell out beside you. He chooses to ignore that comment so that he can try and make it into the qualifying round, and you let out a squeal once you take the last spot. Mingyu glares at the screen, seeing the word eliminated flash across it while you celebrate. 

Mingyu removes his headset, and turns to glare at you on the other side of your gaming room, clapping your hands happily. He lets out a groan and rests his head on the back of the chair, causing you to let out a laugh at his reaction. 

“Who would’ve thought that the CEO of Ainsoft is so terrible at fall guys?” You tease, and Mingyu rolls his eyes. He stands up from the seat without another word and walks over to you. You open your mouth to ask what he’s doing, only for your whole world to be flipped upside down when he throws you over your shoulder. You let out a laugh, “Put me down!” 

“No.” Mingyu states, smiling as he spins around, hearing you let out a squeal as he does so. You threaten that you’re going to throw up onto the back of his shirt if he doesn’t set you down, and he laughs. “Then apologize and tell me I’m the best player ever.” 

“Lying is a sin, Mingyu.”

“Bruh…” And so, Mingyu spins you around a few more times before setting you down onto the couch with a laugh. The two of you freeze once you realize the position you’re in, with him hovering over you and you laying flat on your back. 

It’s been a couple months since the gala, and you and Mingyu have gotten close. What started out as you trying to beat him, led to you wanting to get to know him, and now you can’t help but think how nice it must be to kiss him as you stare down at his soft, pink lips. 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Mingyu thinks as he stares into your eyes. He didn’t even think he was capable of feeling this way towards anyone. But it’s when he lifts up his hand and rests it on your cheek, and he watches as your eyes glance down towards his lips that he realizes,

“I want you.” Mingyu murmurs, and your breath hitches at his words. 

And so the two of you stare at each other for a moment in silence, before you let out a small smile. 

“Only if you can beat me at fall guys.” Mingyu squints at you, and you giggle at his reaction. He rolls his eyes before leaning down and capturing your lips in a kiss for the first time.

“Fuck!” You hear Mingyu yell as you step into his office. It’s already late at night, almost one am, and yet Mingyu is still here working at his desk. He glances up at you when he hears the sound of the door close, and he turns off his computer when you walk towards him.

His hair isn’t perfectly put together anymore based on the way it’s falling over his forehead now. His tie is loosened and is just hanging around his neck, the first few buttons now unbuttoned on his shirt as well. You take notice of the bags under his eyes, and you realize he’s been lacking sleep. 

“Yn, how did you get in?” Mingyu asks tiredly, standing up from his desk and walking over to you. You chuckle, holding up the spare keys that he left at your house a week prior and dangling it in front of his face. He opens up his hand, and you drop the keys onto the palm of his hand. Mingyu lets out a small, “Ah.” and you chuckle. 

You wrap your arms around his waist, rubbing his back and he finds himself smiling softly at the feeling. He lets out a breath of relief and cradles your head, pressing a kiss to the top of it. After a moment you pull back and give him a smile, “Let’s take you home, mm? You’re overworking yourself.” 

Mingyu opens his mouth to protest and you shush him, shaking your head. He stares at you for a moment, not used to anyone taking care of him when he stays late at the office, and he feels his heart warm slightly. He lets out a sigh, before giving you a smile and nodding his head. He leans forward and presses a kiss to your forehead, “Just let me pack up, okay? I’ll be out in a sec.” 

You walk out of his office and wait by the door for a few minutes, just scrolling through your phone when Mingyu finally walks out. He reaches out for your hand and you intertwine your fingers with his, and the two of you talk about your day as you head to his car. 

“Eunwoo choked on tteokbokki?” You ask, and Mingyu laughs at the memory of Eunwoo choking in his office. He starts the car and backs out of his parking spot, and begins driving out of the parking garage. “He absolutely did. I wish I got it on video.” 

You giggle at the thought of the pretty man turning red in the face and choking on the small rice cake. Mingyu smiles at the sound, finding it to be one of your best qualities. The two of you drive in relative silence the rest of the way to his place, as Mingyu’s sleepy, and you’re also tired. 

When you both finally arrive, you step out of his car and walk into his house. Mingyu makes a beeline for his room, taking off his dress shirt and belly flopping onto his bed. You laugh at his antics, sitting on the edge of his bed and slapping his back. “Go and change into your pajamas at least.” 

“Can you do it for me?” Mingyu asks teasingly, lifting up his head to glance at your reaction. He wiggles his eyebrows at you, and you glare, reaching out and slapping his back. He lets out a whine, before getting up from his bed and walking over to his closet. 

He comes back after a moment, changed into fluffy pajama pants and an old t-shirt. He throws one of his t-shirts at you for you to change into and you chuckle. He climbs back into bed and looks at you with a confused expression, wondering why you haven’t changed.

“I’m not staying the night Gyu.” You mutter, pushing back the strands of hair that are falling into his eyes. He frowns, “Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.” 

“Mingyu, I have a meeting at work in the morning.” 

“And I’ll drive you there.” Mingyu offers and you giggle, shaking your head at him. He whines, making a grabby hand towards you, and you bite the inside of your cheek. 

Mingyu has come to realize that he sleeps a lot better when he’s holding you after the first time you let him spend the night a couple weeks ago. He realizes he shouldn’t have let himself get so attached to you, but he just wants one more night. One more night with you. 

“Please?” Mingyu asks in a softer voice, and you sigh. You nod your head, grabbing the shirt and walking into his bathroom to change, before waddling back over to the bed and climbing in. It’s like second nature to you and Mingyu when you both go into your cuddling position. With you draping your arm and leg over him, and Mingyu wrapping his arm and leg around you. He rubs your back, and you slowly find yourself falling asleep.

“Don’t forget that you promised to drive me to my meeting tomorrow.” You mumble before you fall asleep, and Mingyu nods his head. 

Mingyu watches as your breathing evens out, and he knows that you’re asleep. He stares at you for a moment, finding that you look so pure when you sleep. There’s no frown to your forehead, no tiredness to your eyes, you’re just at peace. He presses a kiss to your forehead, before letting out a sad smile. 

“I’m sorry, yn.”

“You hear that your boyfriend is releasing a game tomorrow night?” Chan asks as the two of you walk back to your office from the meeting on how far along your guys’ game development is going. You giggle at the term, and nod your head, feeling a sense of pride at the sleepless nights Mingyu has spent on working on the release of his game. 

“Yeah, he’s been working hard on the last minute touches. I had to drag him out of his office at like, one am last night. I plan to surprise him after his launch party.” You tell Chan as you enter your office. You sit down in your seat, placing your notes down by your keyboard, and Chan takes off his blazer and hangs it on the back of the chair before sitting down. 

“Has he told you anything about the game?” Chan asks, and you shake your head with a smile. “I told him I wanted him to surprise me, so I don’t know anything about it other than the little pieces of info I got from Eunwoo at the gala a few months ago.” 

Chan nods his head, letting out a grin at the happiness radiating from you as you login to your computer. Chan chuckles, “Who would’ve thought that by you going to the gala to get intel on the enemy, you ended up falling for the man?” 

You smile, shrugging your shoulders in response. You mutter how life works in mysterious ways, and Chan agrees wholeheartedly based on how life has turned out for you.

Everything is going great so far. The development of your new game is on its last stages, and you’re so happy seeing your characters come to life on the screen from what your employees have shown you. It’s one of your best works yet.

And you’re finally dating after years of just dedicating all your time into work. Chan hasn’t seen you so happy before, and he’s so glad to see you glowing. So Chan reaches over and rests his hand over yours, giving it a small pat, and you let out a smile. 

“I’m proud of you, yn.” Your eyes fill with fondness as you stare at your best friend who has been with you since the very beginning, and you feel your heart swell with love. “Thank you Chan, I love you.”

Eunwoo and Mingyu eat silently as they look over the game character designs and the gameplay. Mingyu can’t help but feel a sense of guilt as he stares at them, and he mentally slaps himself for feeling that way. Eunwoo glances at him, taking in the furrow between Mingyu’s eyebrows, and he lets out a sigh. Mingyu turns to look at him, “What?”

“If you feel guilty, then why did you suggest to even do this?” Eunwoo asks, and Mingyu scoffs. “I don’t feel guilty.”

Eunwoo rolls his eyes, reaching out and poking the prominent furrow that’s been hanging out between Mingyu’s eyebrows the whole day they’ve been working. The game release is tomorrow night, and they’re still here at the office working. Mingyu whines, rubbing the area that Eunwoo poked, and Eunwoo lets out a grin. “Lying is for sinners.”

Mingyu lets out a cocky grin, eyes turning red for emphasis, “Good thing I’m not a virtue.” 

Eunwoo lets out a tired sigh, pushing Mingyu’s face away, causing the sin to let out a laugh at his friend’s antics. Eunwoo is the only one who knows of Mingyu’s true form, it was an accident honestly. 

“I’m so sick of this fake love! Fake love! Fake love!” Eunwoo raises an eyebrow at the sound of Mingyu’s singing, and he steps into his friend’s room to see the tall man dancing in front of his mirror. His eyes are glowing a bright red rather than the deep brown he’s known him for. Mingyu pauses, slowly turning the sound down on his phone when he locks eyes with Eunwoo, and he turns his eyes back to brown.

“Eunwoo, let me explain-” 

Eunwoo passes out onto the floor.

Mingyu’s just lucky that Eunwoo’s his best friend and didn’t have any plans on outing him for being one of the seven deadly sins. However, he’s both blessed and cursed on the fact that Eunwoo can read him better than an open book. 

“You love her, don’t you?” Eunwoo watches as Mingyu turns rigid, and he tilts his head at him. Mingyu turns back towards the screen, choosing to ignore the way his heart throbs at the thought of you and him slow dancing in the kitchen the other night. Eunwoo decides to press him a bit more, “Gyu?” 

“I’m the Sin of Envy, there’s no such thing as love for me.” Mingyu mutters, making himself look like he’s staring intently at the gameplay on the screen. Eunwoo runs a hand through his hair, taking a sip of his water. “But you love her.” 

Mingyu bites his lip, choosing to stay quiet as his response. The silence is everything Eunwoo needed to know, and so he leans back into his seat and stares at Mingyu a bit longer. Mingyu turns to glance at him after a moment of silence, and he sees the judgmental expression on his best friend’s face. “What?”

Eunwoo just shakes his head, glancing over at the journal full of notes about the game before saying, “You could live a hundred lifetimes, and never deserve that girl.” 

Mingyu turns back towards the game, seeing the characters come to life on the screen, and he bites the inside of his cheek. He nods his head slowly, knowing what he’s going to lose as he quietly mutters, “I know.” 

Mingyu takes a sip of water as he looks at himself in the mirror, deciding that he looks good. He glances down at his phone when he hears a ding, letting out a smile when he sees your text on the screen.

yn: good luck !! i’m so proud of you, can’t wait to beat you at the game stinky >:D

Mingyu looks back up when he hears that it’s almost time for the game to launch, and he stands up from the seat. He turns around to see Eunwoo standing there, and he tries to ignore the disappointed expression on his best friend’s face. 

“You know you can still stop this, right?” Eunwoo insists, and Mingyu shakes his head at his friend. He bites the inside of his cheek, ignoring the feeling of guilt that’s building up in his conscience. He finds that emotion annoying, guilt. He’s the Sin of Envy, how is he able to feel that?

“Because you fell in love.” Eunwoo states. Mingyu’s eyes widen, turning to Eunwoo and wondering how he could hear his thoughts, who briefly explains that Mingyu said it out loud. 

“You can stop this, Mingyu. You’re going to ruin something you’ve been blessed with. Just listen to me-” Mingyu raises his hand up at Eunwoo, stopping him from speaking. Eunwoo lets out a tired sigh, and Mingyu gives him a smile.

“Let’s go celebrate our game launch.” Mingyu says, and walks out of the room. Eunwoo bites the inside of his cheek, before following after his friend.

While you hangout with Chan at his house, staring at the TV that displays OGN. They’re about to announce Ainsoft’s game launch and show the commercial for it as well. You let out an excited smile, seeing that Chan is staring at the TV expectantly. 

“Oh! It’s 8:00!” You exclaim, and right as you say that, you see Mingyu’s pre-recorded announcement of the launch of the game. “He looks so handsome…”

“Okay we get it, you have a boyfriend.” Chan jokes, and you let out a laugh. You watch as Mingyu gestures to the large screen beside him on the TV, and it zooms into it as the commercial begins to play. 

Your smile slowly drops from your face when the main character shows up on the screen, and Chan squints at the TV. “Wait a minute.”

You raise a hand to your mouth when the other characters start coming in, hearing the voice in the back of the video explaining the gameplay and the adventure the characters have to go on. You stand up from the couch with shaking knees, and Chan looks over at you. 

This is your game. This is your creation. This is the game you’ve spent months working on. 

It’s gone. 

All of it is gone. 

“Wait, yn-” Chan begins as you grab your car keys from the table. You walk towards the door, ignoring Chan’s calls as you hurry to get to your car. “Yn, you’re not in the right frame of mind to drive.” 

You feel Chan grasp your arm and you shake it off, pointing at him with a shaking hand. The anger that Chan feels is not even close to the betrayal you must be feeling as he notices there’s no trace of happiness to you anymore. “Let me go.” 

So Chan lets go, and you step out of his house. You quickly walk to your car, pushing back the tears so that you can be able to see as you drive. Millions of thoughts flow through your head as you back out of Chan’s driveway and speed down the street towards Mingyu’s house. 

Was that his agenda all along? When did he get the info on your whole game? Is that why he spent so much time with you? 

You bite your lip when you think,  

Did he ever even love you?

“Great job on the game guys, it’ll be a big hit.” Mingyu tells his employees over by the glasses of champagne. They all smile and tell them their thanks, and he waves his hand at them, saying that this wouldn’t have happened without their help. 

Eunwoo stares from across the room, drinking the sweet champagne that he knows you enjoy so much. However, it just tastes bitter once it goes down, reminding him of the sin he’s committed as he watches Mingyu act like everything’s fine. 

He stands up straight when he hears the front door open behind him over the chatter, turning around to see you walking in. Eunwoo’s eyes widen, and he reaches out to stop you but you push his hand away. “Don’t fucking touch me.” 

You walk over to the glasses of champagne, and grab one. Mingyu’s employees stare with wide eyes when they take notice of you, wondering what you’re even doing at their launch party. Mingyu raises an eyebrow at their sudden silence, and he turns in the direction that they’re staring in, only to get a face full of champagne. 

“What the fuck?” Mingyu growls, wiping his eyes so that he can see who did it. Only for his heart to drop when he locks eyes with you. You’re standing there, eyes full of rage as you stare at the man that you love, the one who betrayed you.

“Yn.” Mingyu breathes out, and you bite the inside of your cheek. 

“You fucking BITCH!” You scream, slapping Mingyu across the face, and the whole room turns silent at your outburst. You reach out to start shoving him, but he grasps your wrists to stop you. Mingyu glances around at his employees, and he gestures for them to leave, to which they slowly do. Once the living room is empty except for Eunwoo, he finally lets go of your arms, and you shove him away.

“You stole my game. You stole my fucking work!” You yell, and Mingyu just stands before you, face void of any emotion as he lets you scream at him. You tightly squeeze the glass between your hand, and Mingyu’s eyes widen when the glass shatters within your grasp. He tries to reach out to remove it from your hand but you step back, the blood from the wound dripping down your wrist as you stare at him.

“Was this your plan from the beginning? Since the gala?” You ask, and Mingyu stares. You bite the inside of your cheek, reaching out to grab another glass, but Mingyu steps forward and blocks your view of the table so that you can’t grab it. You throw the remainder of the broken champagne glass in your hand towards the floor, hearing it shatter into thousands of tiny pieces. 

“Answer me!” You shout, and Mingyu slowly nods his head. You stare down at the floor, and you feel nothing but betrayal running through your veins. You look back up into his eyes, and you wonder how you allowed yourself to be so naive. 

“So you just used me.” You mutter, and Mingyu just stares as he watches you break right before him. His hand twitches at his side as he holds back from falling onto his knees to beg for forgiveness, because this was all his fault. 

“How did you even do that? How did you even find out about my characters? The plot-” You pause when you remember the nights he spent at your house, the days he’d surprise you at your office to go get lunch. They were all just a ploy to get more information. You let out a pained laugh when you realize he must’ve gone through your stuff when you were asleep, while you were thinking he was holding you at night.

how pathetic.

You open the palm of your hand, staring at the tiny pieces of broken glass that have edged themselves into your skin. The blood continues to trickle down, and you know that you’ll have to get stitches, but for some reason, you can’t feel any pain. 

Mingyu takes a step forward when he sees the severity of your wound, “Yn, let’s go to the hospital so you can get stitches-”

You push him away, pointing directly at him with your other hand. You press the area where his heart is with your finger, and you bite your bottom lip harshly when you feel it beat beneath your finger. The familiar pattern is something you’ve gotten used to from the times the two of you have cuddled.

“You made me trust you, fall in love with you, just so you could steal my game? My work? Just to get on top? Just to be above me? Were you that envious of me?” You ask, and Eunwoo glances down at his feet when he hears how fragile your voice has become. Mingyu just stares at you, and he feels his heart break within his chest when he notices the glassiness to your eyes. He no longer sees anger or rage, he can only see the pain and betrayal in your gaze. 

There’s no trace of all the stars that he once saw.

“Did you even,” Your voice cracks, and you don’t realize the tears have formed in your eyes until you can only see Mingyu as a blurry blob. You blink, and Mingyu watches as the first tear escapes from your left eye, and falls onto the floor. “Did you even love me?” 

Mingyu stares at you in silence, the answer on the tip of his tongue as you look up at him with tears silently falling from your eyes. He looks down at the floor instead, breaking eye contact with you, and you have your answer. You let out a pained laugh, taking a step back as you stare at the man you love. 

The one who betrayed you.

The one who broke you. 

The one who lied. 

“Fuck you, Kim Mingyu.” You state, before turning away and walking out of his house. The sound of the door slamming echoes through the home, and that’s when the tears finally fall from Mingyu’s eyes. He watches as they fall to the floor, mixing with your blood. 

Eunwoo leans against the wall, and he runs a hand through his hair as he watches Mingyu just stare at the floor in silence. He stands up at his full height, and he claps his hands. Mingyu glances up at the sound, finding Eunwoo just standing there, applauding him. 

“Well. Was it worth it, Sin of Envy?” Eunwoo asks, pulling out his phone and turning the screen around to show that Ainsoft is now above Bloom in the market. Mingyu watches as the numbers keep rising, and he just stares at it.

A few months ago, Mingyu would’ve been ecstatic to see that he was above you. The craving to beat you and earn your spot would’ve been fulfilled.

But now, all Mingyu feels is pain. 

And so he smiles at Eunwoo, and his friend takes notice of the tears falling from Mingyu’s eyes as he responds, 

“No. No it wasn’t.”

“Are you seriously going to walk out on me? Without an explanation?” Juyeon asks from behind you, and you clutch the door handle in your hand. You don’t dare turn around, because you know that if you do, you’d fall back into the toxic cycle. 

“Yn, please?” You stare at the wooden door, wondering how the cycle first began. How Juyeon became someone you cared about too much, to the point that you’d die for him if necessary. It’s scary how fast you go to him when he needs you, how you’re the shoulder he cries on every time his newfound relationship didn’t work. What’s scarier is that he could never see how much it hurt you each time.

how could he not see that you loved him? You wonder to yourself. You feel his hand rest on your shoulder, causing your breath to hitch. 

“Please stay, yn.” Juyeon mumbles, staring at the back of your head with tears filling his eyes. He clutches the back of your t-shirt in his hand as a means to make you stay, and it almost works. 

almost.

“I can’t anymore. It hurts too much.” You state, biting the inside of your cheek once a tear falls from your left eye. “What hurts?” Juyeon asks quietly. 

The two of you stand in silence for a moment. With him wondering what he did wrong, and you questioning whether you should simply just risk it all. 

You decide on the latter.

“Loving you, but seeing you fall for everyone else.” You answer, before opening the door and stepping out of Juyeon’s apartment. You quickly run over to the elevator, pressing on the buttons before Juyeon can make it over to you. 

“Yn! Wait!” You hear him call, and you thank the heavens that the doors open just in time. You push the button that closes the elevator doors, and you scream internally at how slow it takes for them to shut. You hear Juyeon’s running feet, and you watch through the sliver of the door, catching his heartbroken expression before they finally close. 

You let out a breath, feeling a sense of pain when the elevator begins to go down. You wonder whether it was better to have talked out your feelings with him, if you should’ve stayed. What would’ve happened if you did? 

no, juyeon doesn’t love you back.

Your thoughts get cut off when the elevator doors open, and you step out into the main lobby. You head over to the entrance, only to freeze when you hear the call of your name. Turning your head, you see Juyeon standing where the stairs are, and your eyes widen. 

“Yn!” You run out the doors, sprinting over towards the crosswalk so that you can get farther away from him. The closer you are to the bus stop, the closer you are to getting away from Juyeon. 

“Yn, please! Hear me out!” Juyeon yells from behind, begging for you to slow down and talk to him. You continue to run, not even thinking twice when you step onto the crosswalk. Juyeon’s eyes widen when he sees that it’s not your turn to cross the street, and he turns to see a truck not making any means of slowing down. 

“YN!” Juyeon screams, running faster to get to you. You finally turn around at the desperate call of your name, a tone you’ve never heard from Juyeon before. Juyeon’s sprinting towards you, yelling words you can’t decipher. You see bright lights out of the corner of your eye, and you glance to your left to see a truck heading straight towards you. 

“Juyeo-” You get cut off when you get pushed out of the way, landing hard on your side. You hear the loud screech of the tires and the slam of the car, and you stare at the ground with wide eyes. The crosswalk light turns green and the signal begins to repeat itself like a mantra. Telling you to walk, walk, walk, as the blood drains from your face when you turn your head to look at what happened. 

The signal soon gets drowned out by the sound of your screams.

you never get to learn what Juyeon wanted to say to you, or why he wanted you to stay.

you still wonder what would’ve happened if you stayed.

three years later

“Yn, I need you to go to the coffee shop down the street and buy four iced americanos.” You glance up from your desk, shooting a glare at Joshua, who simply gives you a bright smile in return.

“Why would I do that?” You ask your peach haired coworker. At first glance he seems like an absolute angel, and could never do anything wrong. After working with him for a year though… you learned he’s the exact opposite. However, you have a lot of love for the guy. Even if he makes you do all his small jobs.

“Cause you love me.” Joshua says in a singsong voice, and you let out a sigh. You look back towards your computer, showing no means of getting up from your desk, and Joshua pouts. “Okay, I’ll treat you to pork belly at that new high-end restaurant when it opens next month if you do this for me.” 

You smirk, turning off your PC and standing up from your desk at the mention of meat. Joshua lets out a sigh, knowing that paying you back in food always works. It’s a win/lose situation for the man. The pro, he doesn’t need to walk down the street to buy the coffee. The con, his wallet pays the price whenever he treats you to food for doing his job for him every time.

“Four iced americanos, correct?” You ask, and Joshua nods his head. You grin, reaching your hand out for him to give you the credit card. To which he carefully places into the palm your hand. 

“I’ll be back in a few.” Joshua gives you a thumbs up, letting out a sigh as he watches you leave the office.

“Maybe I should just buy the coffee from now on.” He mumbles to himself, turning around and walking back over to his own office. 

You step out of the hospital, walking down the sidewalk with your hands in your pocket. The weather is a bit breezy, with the slight winds tousling up your hair. You glance up when you reach the coffee shop, stepping inside as a warm burst of air hits you. 

Letting out a breath, you walk up to the register and order the four americanos. The whole interaction takes less than a minute, and the preparation of the drinks is rather quick as well considering that there’s not many customers at this time. Within fifteen minutes you’re back outside, the wind hitting you as you walk back towards the hospital. 

You’re close to the building when you hear the sound of tires screech, the sound of cars crashing following soon afterwards, and you fall to the ground immediately, the iced americanos spilling around you. You glance up towards the road, seeing a car crash right in the middle of the intersection. Those around you all begin to hurry over towards the site, pulling out their phones to call for emergency services, while you sit there, the memories flashing past your eyes. 

You reach up and cover your ears when the sound of those talking worriedly fills your senses, reminding you of the horrid night. You close your eyes, hoping that it’ll calm you down, but all you can hear is the sound of the crosswalk signal telling you to walk, walk, walk. 

You feel tears fall past your eyes when the sight of Juyeon floods your brain, and you rock back and forth as you try to calm down. Those passing by begin to look at you strangely, all except one. He walks over and kneels down in front of you. He reaches up and rests his hands over yours, startling you into looking up to see who is helping you cover your ears. 

His hair is pitch black, parted down the middle but you can still tell that it’s rather long. His eyes bore into yours, and you get distracted from the noise for a short moment. He mouths the words, it’ll be okay, and for some reason, you feel that he spoke the truth. 

The two of you stay like that for a moment, just staring into each other’s eyes until you feel your heartbeat slowly go back to normal. You close your eyes, lowering your head as you take deep breaths. Suddenly, the feeling of his hands over yours disappear, and you look up to see Joshua staring at you with concern written over his features. 

“Yn, let’s go inside.” He tells you, but you can’t hear him. Joshua lets out a sad smile, mouthing that he’s going to pick you up and that you should just close your eyes. One arm goes under your knees, and the other around your back as he lifts you up from the sidewalk, quickly taking you into the hospital, away from the chaos of outside.

You slowly remove your hands from your ears when the two of you are farther away from the entrance of the hospital, and you wipe away the tears on your cheeks. He steps into the elevator, pressing the button for the sixth floor. You pat his shoulder, signaling that it’s okay for him to let you down, but he just shakes his head. Once the elevator doors open, he brings you over to your office where you counsel your patients.

“I shouldn’t have let you go alone, I’m sorry.” Joshua says sadly, as he sets you down onto the small couch in your office. You shake your head, giving him a small, reassuring smile. 

“It’s not your fault Joshua. I’m sorry for the coffee.” You respond, and he scoffs, muttering how you guys will just order coffee for delivery from now on. Joshua sits down beside you on the couch, turning his head to glance at you, “Besides, that’s not what’s important, yn. What matters most is your mental health.” 

Your breath hitches and you turn away, staring at the childish painting on your wall that was painted as a joke by Juyeon. It’s the two of you as dinosaurs, him holding out a pink flower in your direction. You were never able to tell what the type of flower was, and Juyeon refused to tell you. You ended up keeping the painting though, and you don’t plan on ever taking it down. 

“Can I just be alone for now, Joshua? I’ll talk to you when I feel better.” Joshua lets out a breath, feeling slightly disappointed at the fact that you’re avoiding the topic once again. He hardly knows the story, no one really does. All he knows is that you’re terrified of car crashes, and the sound of the crosswalk signal is a trigger for you. However, he won’t force you to open up.

“Of course, yn. I promise to get you the best pork belly when that new place opens next month.” Joshua tells you, and you give him a soft grin, nodding your head. He gets up and steps out of your office after your response, and you immediately rest your head into your hands, feeling mentally exhausted.

The memory of the handsome stranger who helped you a few minutes prior lingers in your head, and you find yourself wondering who he is, and why he helped you. 

You look through your notes on your last patient, pausing when you hear a knock on your door. Without looking up from your journal you say, “Come in!” 

You hear the door open, and you glance up to see Joshua standing there with a small smile, holding a matcha latte in his hand. He steps over to your desk, placing it beside your journal, settling down in the seat across from you. 

“This for me?” You ask with a smile, and Joshua rolls his eyes at you, knowing that you already know the answer. You mutter a quiet thank you, and he nods his head.

“How was your last patient?” Joshua asks, smiling at your reaction of you pursing your lips. You let out a sigh, taking the latte and taking a sip. You lean back into your seat, giving Joshua a tired look. 

“He told me about his sex life in great detail when I asked how his day was, so that was rather interesting.” Joshua frowns, before breaking out into a laugh that sounds like music to your ears. You find yourself giggling as well, the common effect of Joshua’s contagious laugh. 

“That sounds lovely.” Joshua jokes once the two of you finish laughing, and you stick your tongue out at him. You close your eyes for a moment, feeling tired from a long day, and Joshua lets out a small smile at the sight. 

“You want me to drive you home?” Joshua asks after a moment of the two of you just basking in each other’s company, and you open an eye to glance at him. He chuckles at the sight, and you grin, shaking your head at him.

“It’s okay Joshua, I need to stay a bit later tonight anyways.” You answer, and Joshua nods his head slowly. He stands up from the chair, running a hand through his wavy peach colored hair. You find yourself staring a bit longer than usual, and Joshua takes notice of this. He smiles, “Want me to stay with you?” 

Your breath hitches at the question, and you look down at your desk. Joshua bites the inside of his cheek, wondering if he asked the wrong thing based on your reaction. You let out a shaky breath, before glancing back up and shaking your head at him. “Nah, I know you’re tired too. I’ll see you tomorrow Joshua.” 

He nods his head, reaching out and giving you a soft pat on the head. You smile at the gesture, and he puts his hands in his pockets once he’s done. “Don’t stay too late working. I’ll see you tomorrow, yn.” 

“Night Joshua.” You call when he places his hand on your doorknob. His heart warms at your soft voice, and he opens the door, stepping out of your office. Once the door closes, you’re left alone once again. You let out a tired groan, leaning back into your seat and closing your eyes. 

The incident from last week still recurs in your head. You’ve done a decent job at suppressing the memory of Juyeon over the past three years, but ever since last week you’ve been having nightmares again. The sound of the crosswalk signal plays in your head once you wake up, reminding you of what you dreamt moments before. 

“When are you going to forgive-”

“WHAT THE FUCK!” You scream, standing up from your chair and staring directly at the black haired beauty standing in front of you. You notice that his black hair is a bit wavy this time, a bit curled around the back of his neck. His apparel is all black, and your breath hitches when you realize his black turtleneck is cropped, revealing his toned stomach. 

“You’re the guy from last week.” You mutter, and he nods his head. He glances around your office, hands stuffed into his pockets as he awkwardly stands there.

“How did you get in without making a sound? The door was closed. Wait. How did you disappear last time-”

“If you sit down then I can explain everything.” He states, and you frown slightly. The man lets out a sigh when he sees how apprehensive you look, and he does a quick spin for you. 

“I don’t have any weapons on me if you think I’m going to murder you.” The man tells you, and you purse your lips. He lets out a sigh, showing you his hands, and you take notice of his slender fingers.

“My hands are too pretty to try and choke someone to death as well.” He adds, and you finally sit down in your leather seat after a second of thinking. He sits down in the chair across from you, resting his chin on his hand as he tries to make you out. 

“Are you going to explain?” 

“In a second.”

You raise an eyebrow, and he gives you a small smile. He leans back into the seat and runs a hand through his hair. 

“Well yn, this is going to sound ridiculous, but I’m not human.” He begins, and you frown at him. 

“Yeah, and I’m a furry.” The pretty man pauses, glancing at you to see if you were serious. 

You squint, “I was joking.” 

He nods his head, muttering a quiet, thank god, before continuing. To which you glare, not appreciating the fact that he thought you were serious. 

“Anyways… you know the seven deadly sins I’m assuming, correct?” You nod your head at the pretty man. “How about the seven virtues?” You nod your head again, and he lets out a relieved smile.

“Okay great. That makes this easier. Well, I’m the virtue of forgiveness, Xu Minghao.” You stare at him in silence, and he stares back at you. You close your eyes, resting your head in your hands, and he tilts his head at you.

“Are you… okay?” You look up at him, seeing how he may not really be human even though he looks like it. There’s no way a man can be this pretty and be human at the same time. We humans are not worthy of living alongside a man who is as ethereal as Xu Minghao. 

“No.” You answer after a moment, and he purses his lips. 

“How do I know you’re not lying?” You ask, and he shrugs. 

“I could disappear for you or something.”

“Damn, deadass?”

“Yeah, I’ll do it right now if it’ll make you believe me.”

“Okay, bet.”

You watch as Minghao literally disappears from the seat for a moment, and you stare with a blank face when he appears back in the chair. He raises an eyebrow at how unimpressed you seem to be, opening his mouth to ask what you think, only for you to fall out of your seat.

“YN?!” 

You blink your eyes open, only to shut them with a loud groan as you roll over in bed. You quietly thank God that it was just a weird dream as your hand roams around the sheets, only to pause when you realize you’re not in your bed at all. You sharply inhale when you recognize the leather surface you’re laying on, and you open your eyes when you realize you’re on the couch in your office. You turn your head to see Minghao sitting in the seat across from you. He tilts his head and gives you a soft smile, “Morning.” 

“It’s morning?!”

“Nah, it’s only been about fifteen minutes. I ordered us chicken since you haven’t had dinner yet, and I assumed we’d be here for a while.” Minghao explains as he opens up the cardboard boxes holding the fried chicken. You find yourself unable to argue with the grumble of your stomach, so you sit up on the couch and reach out to grab the small paper plate Minghao set out for you. You place two pieces of chicken onto your plate and begin eating. 

The two of you eat your food in silence, but it’s not uncomfortable. It’s more of you slowly taking in the fact that Minghao is not at all human, while Minghao wonders whether or not he regrets not ordering soda with the food. 

As he takes another bite of chicken, he decides that he does regret it.

Once the two of you finish, you help clean up, placing the cleaned up chicken bones into the box that once held them. Minghao swipes the crumbs off the table and into the plastic bag. You hand him the box holding the bones, and he places it into the bag too. He ties it up, and leaves it by the door, telling you he’ll take it out later. 

Once you settle back down onto the couch, the silence soon becomes awkward. With Minghao staring at you, and you looking at anything but him. He lets out a breath, leaning back into the seat, “Do you know why I’m here?” 

You glance at him, shaking your head. He gives you a look that basically says, now i know you’re fucking lying. While you give him an expression that says, I’m absolutely lying. 

“Why do you blame yourself for Juyeon’s death?” Minghao asks, reaching forward and grabbing the water bottle you offered him. You freeze at the mention of his name, and Minghao takes a sip of water, gauging your reaction. 

“I don’t.” You mumble, looking down at the floor. Minghao shakes his head, “But you do.” 

“I don’t wanna talk about him.” You say, reaching forward and drinking from your water bottle. Minghao purses his lips, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. “If you don’t talk about him now, then when will you?” 

You don’t respond, instead standing up from your couch and walking over to your desk. Minghao spins the chair so that it faces your direction, continuing to stare directly at you as you begin packing up your stuff to head home. 

“Yn-”

“Can you just leave me alone? Please?” You plead, and Minghao lets out a sigh after a moment. He stands up from your chair, brushing off some crumbs on his black jeans with his hands. He runs a hand through his black hair, watching as you zip up your bag.

“Sometimes forgiveness doesn’t just mean forgiving another person.” Minghao begins, and you glance up at him from your bag. “It’s forgiving yourself too.”

You bite the inside of your cheek, looking away from the man. He walks over to your door, picking up the trash bag holding the food the two of you ate. He turns back towards you, giving you a small smile. 

“I’ll always be there when you need me yn, I’m sorry it took me so long to get to you in the first place.” Minghao says, before opening the door and stepping out. You fall into your seat, feeling tears fill your eyes from all the weight on your shoulders. You shake your head, resting it onto the cold surface of your desk as you close your eyes. 

“Why would he use the door when he can teleport.” You mutter quietly as tears fall down onto the carpeted floor, all alone in your office once again.

“Yn, you wanna get lunch with me?” You glance up from your pc, seeing Joshua standing at your door frame with a smile on his face. You look at the time, seeing that your next patient won’t be coming in for about half an hour. Turning back towards Joshua, you see him waiting expectantly for you to come with him. 

but you won’t.

“I’m sorry Joshua, I have to sort out of notes for my next patient.” You tell him, and you almost regret turning him down when you see his smile drop slightly. He gives you a nod, “That’s okay. Next time.” 

You smile, but don’t agree that there will be a next time. Joshua closes the door behind him, and you turn back towards your computer, letting out a sad sigh.

“Why didn’t you go with him?” You’re not shocked at the fact that Minghao is in your office again, considering that this is the fifth time you’ve seen him today. He has made it his mission to randomly appear at your workplace whenever you’re alone for the past week. The two of you have built a relationship of sorts, and you’ve grown rather fond of Minghao, as he feels the same towards you. While he may have made his appearance present whenever you’re at work, he hasn’t made any means of showing up at your apartment yet. 

You glance up at him, finding that he’s wearing an oversized maroon and cream colored cardigan, paired with a white turtleneck and cream colored pants to match. You wonder why he’s so stylish, but you hold back on asking the question as you remember what he just brought up.

“Cause I’m busy.” You mutter, reaching into your drawer to grab a granola bar to chew on. Minghao frowns, placing his hands on your desk and leaning close to your face. You look up into his eyes, and your breath hitches at the close proximity between the two of you. 

“Is it that? Or is it because you’re afraid?” Minghao asks, and the quick flutter of your heart soon disappears due to the question. You frown at him, reaching up and pushing his face away with your pointer finger. 

“No.”

“You need to be a bit more descriptive.” 

“Fuck you.”

“Rude, I’m the virtue of forgiveness you know. I could report you.” You give the black haired beauty a bored look, and he purses his lips. He quietly curses to himself at the fact that you’re now seemingly unaffected by his otherworldly status. 

You try to work again, but let out a sigh when you feel Minghao’s eyes still on you. You glance up at him, seeing that he’s giving you one of his looks that basically he means he’s seeing right through you. You lean back into your seat, taking a bite of the granola bar before beginning. 

“I just. I’m scared.” You mutter quietly, swallowing the chewed up granola. Minghao nods his head, feeling a bit happy that you’re finally beginning to open up. “Why?” 

You think back on Juyeon for a moment, remembering how beautiful your friendship was. You glance back down at your pc, letting out a sad smile at what could’ve been. You begin typing away on your computer again, promptly ending the conversation before it got anywhere. Minghao runs a hand through his hair, before reaching out and patting the top of your head softly.

“We’ll talk when you’re ready.” Minghao says, before disappearing from your office once again, leaving you alone.

“YN!” You hear Juyeon scream, and you turn around at the desperation in his voice. You watch him sprint towards you, and you see bright lights flash at you out of the corner of your eye. You glance to your left to see a truck heading straight towards you, and your heart practically stops. 

“Juyeo-” You’re shoved out of the way, landing hard on your side. You hear the loud screech of the tires and the slam of the car, and you stare down at the road with wide eyes. The sound of the crosswalk signal goes off, telling you to walk, walk, walk. The blood drains from your face, and you turn your head to see Juyeon laying on the ground, motionless.

You quickly stand up and stumble over. Your heart practically stops when you make it to him, and you fail to notice the tears falling from your eyes. You fall to your knees, and with shaky hands you reach out and touch his wrist, seeing if there’s a pulse. 

It’s incredibly faint, and you almost let out a breath of relief. You turn your head to see the driver standing in front of his truck in shock, and you hold back from screaming at him. Glancing around, you find people stopping around you, phones held close to their ears as they call emergency services. 

“Yn…” You turn your head immediately, seeing Juyeon giving you a tired smile. Your heart drops at the amount of blood beginning to surround the two of you. You try to rip off some of the fabric from your shirt to try and soak up the blood from his wounds, but Juyeon tiredly rests his hand over yours. 

“I’m sorry.” Juyeon mutters, and you shake your head, tears falling from your eyes as you give him a smile to try and reassure him that you’re okay. 

“No, it’s my fault. I’m sorry, it’ll be okay.” You ramble, sobs slowly building up in your chest as you do. Juyeon tries to raise his hand up towards your face, but he grimaces in pain, and you shake your head at him. “The ambulance will be here soon.” 

Juyeon doesn’t listen, instead attempting to reach up to cup your face again. His hand makes it to your cheek this time, and he slowly wipes away the tears with his thumb. He opens his mouth to say something, and your eyes widen in horror when his arm falls back to his side, eyes closing.

“Juyeon. Juyeon, please. No, no, no.” You try to feel his pulse, and your heart sinks when you don’t feel anything. You get pushed away by a fellow witness, and they begin to perform emergency CPR on Juyeon as you stare at his lifeless body in shock. 

The sound of the crosswalk signal goes off behind you, telling you to walk, walk, walk. The tears fall from your eyes at a rapid pace, and the sob builds up in your chest as more people begin to surround you and Juyeon. You shake your head, trying to reach out and hold him, but get held back by another witness who tries to calm you down. 

“Juyeon! JUYEON!” You scream, voice cracking as you continue to scream his name in agony. 

“Yn!” You ignore the call of your name, screaming loudly as tears fall from your eyes and onto the road. Your throat is hoarse as you sob, continuing to try and reach Juyeon but being held back by the arms of one of the witnesses.

“JUYEON!”

“Yn!!”

“YN!” You gasp awake, sitting up in bed and locking eyes with a worried Minghao. He reaches out and cups your face, attempting to wipe away the tears falling from your eyes as you stare at him in fear. He watches as your lip quivers, taking notice of the tight grip you have on his shirt.

“Leave.” You mumble after a moment of silence, dropping your hands and looking away from him. Minghao raises an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Leave, Minghao.” You repeat, the tears falling silently past your eyes as you stare blankly at your bed. Minghao shakes his head, resting his hand on your wrist. He opens his mouth to tell you that he’s not going to leave, but you snap.

“I said leave! Go!” You shout, looking up into his eyes and hitting his chest with your hands. The saltiness of your tears is all you can taste as you yell. Minghao stares at you with a pained expression, just standing there and letting you punch him. 

“Did you hear me? LEAVE! GO! GET OUT!” You scream, voice cracking as you cry out in pain.

“GO BEFORE YOU DIE TOO! LEAVE!” Minghao glances down at your hands now tightly clutching his shirt, and he lets out a shaky breath. You open your mouth to scream again, but get cut off when Minghao wraps his arms around you, pulling your head into his chest as you begin to sob. He rubs your back to try and calm you down as you wail into his shirt, and he bites his lip at how your sobs are filled with nothing but pain.

“I’ll stay. I’m not going anywhere.” Minghao mumbles, cradling your head softly in his hand as you cry loudly into his chest. He blinks when he realizes his vision is blurry, and he takes notice of the tears falling from his own eyes. Minghao’s crying. Something he’s never done for a human. 

Minghao bites his lip as an attempt to stop from hiccupping or showing any indications that he’s crying, and he rests his cheek on the top of your head. Closing his eyes, he holds you close until your sobs slow down. 

“I’m not going anywhere, yn.” Minghao whispers, and your eyelids flutter shut, the last of your tears falling past your eyes and landing over Minghao’s heart. 

“It was my fault.” You state as you and Minghao stare up at your ceiling, laying on your bed side by side. It’s long after you finally calmed down, and you’re left with swollen eyes and the inability to breathe through your nostrils. Minghao almost left when you calmed down, but you pulled him into bed with you, and now here the two of you are. At three in the morning. Staring at your off-white ceiling. 

Minghao turns his head to glance at you, seeing that you’re finally ready to open up. He rolls over onto his side, resting his head on his arm as you take in a deep breath. He chooses to be quiet now to let you express everything you’ve been suppressing for three years.

“Juyeon is- was. He was my best friend. We've known each other since we were kids.” You begin, letting out a small smile at the memory of a small Juyeon first introducing himself to a tiny you back in kindergarten. “We grew up together. We went to the same school all the way up to university.” 

Minghao watches as a tear escapes your eye, and you quickly raise your hand up to wipe it away. Letting out a wet laugh, the pain strikes your chest again. “They always said I’d fall for him, and I never believed it. Until he told me he met someone for the first time, and I felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest.” 

You suck in a shaky breath, and Minghao reaches his hand out towards yours, to which you gratefully intertwine your fingers with his. You bite the inside of your cheek before continuing. “After things didn’t work out with that person, I ran to his apartment as fast as I could. That’s how the cycle began. After every newfound relationship didn’t work, I’d run to him no matter what I was doing. But he could never see that it was hurting me in the process.” 

Minghao squeezes your hand, and you close your eyes. You take in deep breaths to try and control your breathing so that you can be able to finish. Minghao watches with sad eyes, but he knows that you opening up about what happened is important in the steps on finally letting you forgive yourself. 

“I loved him. He was everything I wanted my forever to be, but I wasn’t his. I knew that from the start, but I still had hope, you know? But it became too much for me. The day Juyeon died, I ran out of his apartment after telling him I couldn’t do it anymore.” More tears fall from your eyes, blurring the sight of your ceiling. Minghao props himself up in bed to get a good look at you. And you shake your head at him, motioning for him to lay back down, to which he slowly does.

“I was so fucking stupid, Minghao. I didn’t look at the road before going onto the crosswalk, so I couldn’t even see the truck coming my way.” Your voice cracks, and you let go of Minghao’s hand to cover your face with your hands. Minghao feels his own heart shatter at how much pain you’ve been harboring to yourself, wanting nothing more than to take it away from you. “Juyeon saved my life. If I would’ve just stayed then he wouldn’t have die-”

“Yn, it’s not your fault.” Minghao interrupts, and you shake your head as more tears spill from your eyes. “It was my fault.” Minghao rests his hand on your wrist, rubbing circles on the bone with his thumb as he shakes his head.

“Sometimes we can’t control our actions when we’re going through a lot emotionally, let alone think properly. You’re not the cause of Juyeon’s death, he saved you on his own accord. He knows you would’ve done the same for him.” Minghao explains softly, and your shoulders shake by how hard you’re crying. Minghao pulls you close to him again, nuzzling your head into his chest as he rubs your back. 

“Juyeon wouldn’t want you to blame yourself either, yn. He would want you to live.” Minghao whispers, and you quietly sob into Minghao’s chest at his words. His hand trails up and cradles your head, resting his cheek on the top of it. 

“I don’t know what to do anymore.” You say, and Minghao bites the inside of his cheek. He rubs your back, quietly muttering that it’ll be okay. 

“We can’t change the past, but we can take charge of our future. You just have to forgive yourself for any change to happen.” Minghao responds in a soft voice, and you let out a shaky breath, closing your eyes. 

“I miss him so much.” You mumble tiredly, the sobbing having taken a lot of energy out of you. His breath hitches when your arm wraps around his middle, having not expected you to hold him. He rubs your back slowly, trying to regulate his heartbeat so that you can’t hear it. Through the last tears falling from your eyes you add, “I don’t care if he didn’t love me back, I just wish he was here.” 

“He’s always here.” Minghao mutters after a moment, fatigue taking over as you find it hard to keep your eyes open. However, you fight your exhaustion to hear Minghao’s words.

“So live for him.” Is the last thing you hear before you succumb to sleep. Minghao follows soon after, hand stilling on your back as the stars shine brightly in the sky. 

You type away on your computer, quite a bit of weight lifted off your shoulders since the heart-to-heart you had with Minghao a week ago. Your heart is warm, and you feel a bit airy as you turn to glance out the window of your office, seeing the birds flying high in the blue sky. 

While you may still be fearful of crosswalks and trucks in general, you’ve felt better since you let out all the pain you’ve been feeling. As well as remembering Minghao’s words to you, because deep down, you know that Juyeon wouldn’t want you blaming yourself. So you’ve taken the steps into looking into therapists, even though you’re one yourself. Minghao’s helping as well, knowing that this will be good for you in the long run. 

There are still moments where you feel the weight back on your shoulders, and you want to hide from the world. However, it’s understandable. You can’t forget the trauma and internal self-conflict you’ve dealt with for years based on one heart-to-heart talk. It’s helped push you into taking the proper steps to fully heal though.

Hearing a knock on your door, you glance up to see Joshua poking his head in with a big smile on his face. You find yourself smiling back, as both his laughter and the sight of his smile are contagious to you. 

“Hi Joshua.” You greet, and he steps into your office, two bobas in hand, causing you to clap your hands excitedly. He places it before you, sitting down in the seat in front of your desk. You smile, glancing up into his eyes. “You spoil me.” 

“It was a two for one deal, couldn’t resist getting one for you. It was basically a sign from the heavens telling me to get you boba.” Joshua jokes, and you roll your eyes, shoving your straw through the plastic seal after shaking up the drink. You take a sip, letting out a content sigh at the sweet taste of milk tea. 

“How was your last patient?” You ask, and Joshua grins. “He’s opening up a bit more each time, it makes me feel happy to know that he’s slowly trusting me.” 

You nod your head with a smile, understanding the feeling. The two of you converse for a moment, occasionally taking a sip of boba mid-speech as the drink just seems to be too addictive. You glance down at your keyboard when Joshua clears his throat, causing you to look up at him. 

“So you know how I said I’d treat you to pork belly once that new place opens?” You nod your head, taking another sip of boba and chewing on the tapioca pearls. Joshua lets out a shy smile, running a hand through his peach hair. 

“Well, it opened, and I was wondering if you wanted to go next Friday?” You pause for a moment. Something in Joshua’s invitation seems different this time around, from the slight blush rising to his cheeks, as well as the nervous smile he has on right now. Your heart pounds against your chest when you realize, and you bite the inside of your cheek.

After a second you nod your head, and Joshua visibly relaxes. “Yes, I’d love to go with you.” 

“Nice! I’ll text you the details, okay?” Joshua says as he stands up from his seat, and you glance at your watch, seeing that his next patient will be coming soon. You give him a thumbs up, and he lets out a breath, sending you another smile. 

“It’s a date!” Joshua calls, and you nod your head, giggling when he shoots you finger guns before closing the door behind him. You let out a sigh, glancing down at your keyboard when you feel a presence right in front of your computer. 

You look up to find Minghao leaning against your desk, a peaceful look on his face as he stares down at you. His hair is straight this time around, still parted down the middle. He’s wearing a burberry plaid shirt with ripped black jeans, showing off a bit of his thighs. 

“Hi.” 

“Hey.” 

The two of you stare at each other in silence for a moment. Minghao takes in the slight glow to your aura, showing that you’re healing. While you stare into his eyes that hold so much depth to them, but you never know what he’s truly thinking. 

“Going on a date, huh?” Minghao teases, and you glare at the virtue. He chuckles at the furrow to your brow, reaching over and smoothing it out with the pad of his thumb. Your heart leaps in your chest at the contact, but you stay unimpressed until he places his hand back on the table. 

“It’s not a date.”

“You sure?” 

“... no.” 

Minghao giggles at your response, causing you to softly laugh as well. He rolls his eyes, standing up from your desk and raising his arms above his head. You lean back into your seat, taking a long sip of boba as you wait for him to speak. 

“Well, I hope you have fun.” Minghao tells you, and you let out a small smile. Nodding your head, you give him a thumbs up. “I’ll make sure to tell you all the details after it happens. However, I have to pee so I’ll be right back.” 

Minghao watches with a fond smile as you get up from your leather seat and scurry out of your office. It slowly drops from his face once the door closes, and he bites the inside of his cheek. He lets out a sad laugh, resting a hand over his heart, clutching the fabric of his shirt with a tight fist. 

“I’m so happy, but why am I so sad too?” Minghao mutters to himself after a moment, only to quickly switch back to his happy persona once he hears your door open again. You give him a smile, walking to your desk and sitting back down in your seat.

“Wanna play among us?” You ask, and Minghao smirks. He sits down into the seat in front of your desk, wiggling his pretty fingers towards you. “I hope you know that I’ll win, sweetheart.” 

You begin cursing at the man, and Minghao just laughs at your reaction. He lets you ramble, promptly ignoring the dull pain in his heart as he chooses to instead watch the way your eyes sparkle at him. 

Minghao finds you beautiful when you’re happy.

and that’s all that matters.

“I’ll see you next week Doc.” You nod your head with a smile, glancing down at your notes, only to pause when you realize your door hasn’t shut yet. You look up to see Jacob staring at the dinosaur painting Juyeon created years ago. 

“Is there something else you wanted to speak about, Jacob?” You ask, effectively startling the boy out of his thoughts. He turns and gives you a smile, shaking his head. 

“It’s just that I noticed the flower. I don’t see it painted that much.” Jacob answers, and you raise an eyebrow. You walk over and stand beside your patient, staring at the familiar pink flower that Juyeon refused to tell you the name of. “Oh yeah? My best friend never told me the name of it for whatever reason. Guess he just wanted to be more knowledgeable than me.” 

Jacob chuckles, turning to glance at you. You look back at him, and he gives you a knowing smile, causing you to raise an eyebrow. “What?”

He points at the flower dinosaur Juyeon is holding towards dinosaur you, “That’s an arbutus flower.” 

You purse your lips at the unfamiliar name, turning and glancing back towards the painting. You tilt your head to the side, wondering where Juyeon learned of such a flower. Jacob giggles, resting his hand on the doorknob of your door to open it, before turning back to you. 

“It means that you’re the only one he loves. It’s basically a promise that the love he has for you is not only warm, but will last a lifetime.” Jacob says, before stepping out of your office, the door closing behind him. You stare at the painting in pure shock, your heart already dropped into your stomach as you stare at the pink flower dinosaur Juyeon is holding out to you. 

“He. He loved me?” You mutter to yourself, resting your hand over your heart as you stare at the painting. The tears fall from your eyes before you know it, and you slowly fall to your knees, laughing quietly at the ridiculous way Juyeon confessed his love for you. 

Minghao appears beside you in an instant, and you immediately turn to him, resting your head in his chest as he wraps his arms around you. After a moment of the two of you staying like this as you silently cry, you mutter, “He loved me, Minghao.” 

Minghao nods his head, running a hand through your hair he softly whispers, “I don’t see how anyone couldn’t fall in love with you, yn.” 

You close your eyes, wrapping your arms around his middle as you quietly cry into his chest. Minghao rubs your back, letting out a soft smile when he recognizes this as being the last stage of closure you needed. He hopes in another life that you and Juyeon ended up together, but he’s grateful that he was given the opportunity to see you forgive yourself and open up to someone you liked again.

“I can’t believe he’d confess through painting us as dinosaurs.” You mutter, letting out a laugh and Minghao chuckles in response. 

“I expect nothing less from him though.” You whisper, closing your eyes with a soft smile gracing your features. Minghao glances down at you, and he grins, “Has he done something like this before?” 

“Are you kidding me? Of course he has.”

Minghao watches as you slowly light up, explaining the different things Juyeon has done, as well as the weird quirks he had. A stark contrast to the pain and sadness that would be etched across your features when anyone would so much as mention his name. Minghao lets out a soft smile, feeling his heart warm knowing that his mission is done. 

“You ready for your date?” Minghao asks, and you let out a nervous breath at the thought of Joshua about to pop up in front of your apartment building any second now. Minghao’s waiting with you outside of your building as you wait for Joshua, considering the fact that you didn’t want to wait alone. 

A small squabble ensued where Minghao was like what if he sees me doofus?! To which you replied, just disappear before he can tinkerbell!

“I think I’m gonna shit myself.” 

“Well, don’t do that.” Minghao states, and you shoot him a glare. He rolls his eyes at you, reaching out and patting your head. “It was a joke.” 

“I know what jokes are.” You bite back, and Minghao purses his lips at your reaction. He lets out a sigh, wrapping his arm over your shoulders. You glance up at him and see him staring down at you with a small smile on his face. Raising an eyebrow you ask, “What?”

Minghao just shakes his head, and you watch in a slight state of awe when you take notice of the fact that he holds the whole galaxy in his gaze as he stares down at you. “I’m proud of you.” 

You purse your lips at his sweetness, feeling a blush rise to your cheeks as you push him away. Minghao lets out a giggle at your reaction, finding it rather endearing. He turns his head to see if he can spot the head of peach hair, and his eyes widen when he does. 

“It’s time for me to disappear. Have fun on your date, okay?” You tilt your head to the side when Minghao shuffles from one foot to another as he debates on something. You open your mouth to ask what, only for Minghao to lean down and press a soft kiss to your forehead, before disappearing. 

You raise a hand to your forehead, feeling warmth flood through you at the sweet action. You silently curse Minghao for being such a sweetheart, knowing that as the virtue of forgiveness, he should be rather nice. 

“Yn!” You turn your head to see Joshua smiling at you, and you wave your hand at him, quickly walking over so that the two of you can meet in the middle. “Ready for pork belly? I heard their meat is really good quality.” 

You smile, nodding your head excitedly. “Of course I am! What kind of whack ass question-”

“Are you trying to fight me? On our first date?” Joshua teases, and you roll your eyes, nudging him with your shoulder as you try to hide the blush rising to your cheeks. The two of you begin walking in the direction of the kbbq restaurant, playful banter between you both as you do. 

At some point Joshua intertwines his fingers with yours, and the two of you can’t hide each other’s blushes from each other, but promptly choose to ignore them as you continue to converse. You feel your heartbeat a bit faster when you realize you have to cross the street, and Joshua pauses. He glances down at you, “We can go the other way?” 

You stare at the crosswalk for a moment, before shaking your head at Joshua. You turn your head and look up at him with a bright smile, “No, I’ll be okay.” 

Joshua mentions that if you change your mind the two of you can just go the other way a few more times until you make it to the edge of the sidewalk. You reassure him that it’s okay, even reaching out to press the button which signals that you want to cross the street. You squeeze Joshua’s hand, biting the inside of your cheek as you stare at the white lines on the crosswalk. 

You watch as the crosswalk signal turns green, hearing it say, walk. Glancing back down at the white lines, you suck in a deep breath, before taking your first step. You hold Joshua’s hand tightly as the two of you cross the street, and he gives you reassuring words until you make it all the way across. 

You look up at the peach-haired man with a happy smile, and he smiles back down at you, eyes full of endearment as he does so. You’re about to open up your mouth to make a joke, only to pause when you smell the lingering scent of grilled meat coming from your right. You and Joshua turn your heads to see the new kbbq place, and let out excited grins. 

“To the grilling of meats!” You shout, and Joshua laughs at your antics. 

All while Minghao watches from the other side of the street, a proud smile gracing his features at the happiness radiating off of you. He lets out a breath, before turning around and walking the other way, hands shoved into his pockets. 

mission: help yn forgive herself and open her heart again [COMPLETED]

In life, you have to work hard. As someone who’s been on the Dean’s honor roll since you were in your freshman year, you would know. You’ve been working hard on your grades for as long as you can remember. You wanna get out of Daegu, you want to go to Seoul. 

The main reason for you wanting to leave the place you were raised? 

To get away from your aunt and cousin, who took you in when your parents passed. However, they’ve done nothing for you except let you under their roof. You practically raised yourself from the moment you could start doing addition and subtraction. 

It doesn’t help that your cousin, Yeona, is an absolute shithead. 

So here you are, walking back to your house from the after cram school to make sure you pass the exam to get into SNU, Seoul National University. It’s 8 PM and you’re wondering if you should go and get fast food before going to your shift at the convenience store your aunt owns. 

Your schedule is basically wake up, go to school, attend classes at the cram school after school ends, go to work at the kbbq restaurant for a few hours, then work at the convenience store. There’s no time for fun or meeting your friends, not that you have many. You dedicate most of your time into making sure that you have enough money to financially support yourself once you finally leave Daegu, and that’s all that matters to you. 

“Maybe I’ll get fries.” You mumble to yourself once you notice the grumble of your stomach. You walk down the street to head towards McDonald’s, only to freeze when you hear the sound of guys yelling. Raising an eyebrow, hand sneaking into your pocket to grab the pepper spray you keep, before continuing your route to the fast food place. 

“You’re not gonna do anything? You’re just gonna let us beat the shit out of you?” You frown at the sentence, wondering why the person won’t fight back. You twist off the cap when you look down the alleyway to your left and see a group of guys surrounding one man laying on his side. 

“What a bitch-”

“Hey!” You shout out without thinking, and all the guys turn to glance at you. You’re standing at the entrance of the alleyway, pepper spray in hand as you quietly think to yourself that maybe, just maybe, you should’ve closed your eyes and pretended nothing was happening. 

it sucks being a person with morals.

“What are you doing here, little girl? This business doesn’t involve you.” You glare at the man who assumed you were a child when you’re now an adult. You glance down at the guy on the ground, only to raise an eyebrow when you realize he has on your school’s male uniform. “What are you guys doing beating up a student? You’re all like… thirty.”

One of the guys growls and moves to go and get you, only to be held back by the first man who spoke to you. He shoots a glare at you, “Go. I won’t ask twice.” 

You let out a sigh, before walking up closer to the three men. It’s when you stand before them that the guy your age lets out a groan, sitting up from laying on the ground. He turns around to glance at you, and your eyes widen slightly when you immediately recognize him.

Chwe Vernon Hansol, the guy at your school who puts no effort into things. However, he’s second best to you. He’s one of the naturally gifted students. 

you despise him for that.

“Get the fuck down, bitch.” The guy tells Vernon, and the blonde lets out a tired sigh. You question whether you actually heard him mutter, “I told you, you’re literally beating up the wrong guy.” 

“The fuck did you just-” Without thinking, you reach out and pepper spray all three of the guys before they can make another move on Vernon. They begin screeching, and Vernon’s eyes widen, immediately standing up and grabbing your hand. The two of you make a run for it with Vernon pulling you as you hear the men roar out in pain from behind you.

The rush you feel is exhilarating. Your heart is beating wildly against your chest, your hair being blown past you by the breeze as you run. You feel free as you run with Vernon, his hand tightly holding yours until you both feel that you’re far enough. 

You double over, hands on your knees as you try and catch your breath. Vernon runs a hand through his hair, hand clutching his stomach as he feels a cramp coming on. After a moment of you two just heavily breathing, you stand up straight and look directly at the blonde. 

His uniform is dirty with footprints and some blood, his tie now hanging loosely around his neck. He runs a hand through his messy hair, before turning and glancing at you. A flicker of recognition flashes past his eyes, and he tilts his head at you, “You’re yn.” 

Your eyes widen slightly at the fact that he knows your name, and Vernon takes notice of this, letting out a chuckle. He stands up straight, stretching out his back, wincing slightly at the pain from what will most likely be bruises the next day. He turns to you once he’s done and says, “You’re at the top of the Dean’s honor roll, of course I know who you are.”

You bite the inside of your cheek, words not seeming to form proper sentences as you try to come up with a response. Vernon lets out a sigh after a moment, before turning and giving you a close-lipped smile. “Thanks for saving me back there.” 

You raise an eyebrow, “I couldn’t just let you get beaten up, but I’m curious.” Vernon tilts his head to the side, and you purse your lips at the memory of him just letting himself get kicked everywhere. “Why didn’t you try and stop them? You were just laying there.” 

Vernon smiles at you, and you find that he has a rather nice smile. You almost protest when it goes away once he shrugs his shoulders, “I was lazy.”

Your eyes widen in confusion, making you momentarily forget about his nice smile. Vernon laughs at your reaction, before turning and beginning to walk away. He only stops once he’s a few feet away, turning back and waving at you with a devilish grin on his face. 

“See you at school tomorrow!” 

You continue to stand there for a moment, wondering why the hell he let himself get beat up simply because he was lazy. Letting out a sigh, you realize there’s no reason for you to continue to think about Vernon. You have a shift to get to.

And with that, you walk towards the convenience store, stomach grumbling slightly at the fact that you were unable to get any McDonald’s. However, you still find yourself thinking of Vernon, that feeling you got when he was pulling you through the streets. 

It lingers hours later as you eat the stale kimbap while you stay behind the register. 

“Yn, can you go and get the printed papers from the staff room?” You glance up from your desk to see your teacher staring at you, and you give her a nod, standing up and walking out of the room. Once you’re closer to the staff room, you raise an eyebrow when you hear the familiar voice. 

“I’m doing well in the subjects, why did I get called in?”

“Vernon, you’re a naturally gifted student. However, you have to stop sleeping during my classes.” 

You chuckle quietly, knowing that the blonde enjoys sleeping during classes. You never had an idea as to why he takes naps while the teacher is in the middle of lecture, but after last night, you have a vague idea as to why he’s always tired. 

You try to quietly slide open the door, only to cringe when the loud squeak resonates through the room. Vernon glances up at the noise, and finds you cursing the door for ratting you out. The corner of his lips tilts up in a smile, before he turns back towards his teacher. 

“I’ll try my best.” Vernon says, and his teacher nods her head. She motions with her hand that he’s free to go, and Vernon makes sure to walk past you at the printers as he does so. You turn your head when you see Vernon walking up to you, and you catch a glimpse of his smile. 

“Hey, yn.” Vernon greets before walking out of the staff room. You stare at the printer with wide eyes, questioning why heat is rushing to your face simply from his smile. Quickly grabbing the papers needed for your class, you leave the staff room.

“You look nice toda-” You screech at the sudden voice beside you, almost dropping the papers, but clutching them close to your chest instead. You’d rather sacrifice yourself than pick up at least 50 papers off the floor. Vernon stands beside you, trying to hold back his laugh at your reaction, and the blush rises to your cheeks again. Except this time, it’s due to humiliation. 

“Please ignore that ever happening.” Vernon shakes his head with a smile, running a hand through his blonde hair as he chuckles. 

“It was really funny, so I don’t think I will.” He tells you, and you squint at him, before turning and continuing to walk down the hallway towards your classroom. You hear Vernon’s footsteps following behind you, causing you to frown. You stop walking, and turn back around to see Vernon standing there, hands in his pockets. “Why are you following me?” 

“Because I think you’d be interesting to hangout with.” Your eyes practically bulge out of their sockets, and Vernon finds himself having to hold back another laugh. You point towards yourself in confusion, and the blonde nods with an amused grin on his face. “Why would I do that? No, let me rephrase. Why would you want that?” 

Vernon just shrugs his shoulders, leaning against the wall as he looks you up and down. You try to hold back the heat from rushing to your face again at the way his eyes rake your body, feeling slightly self conscious of the fact that your uniform is no longer as put together as it was this morning. You freeze once Vernon’s eyes lock with yours again, and he smiles. “Cause all you do is school shit, seems boring.” 

You immediately squint at the blonde, no longer interested in what more he has to say as you decide to walk past him and into your classroom without another word. Leaving Vernon alone in the hallway, somehow more intrigued by you than he was previously. 

“Just get me an iced americano before you get back!” Before you can respond, Yeona hangs up the phone, and you curse to yourself. Now annoyed and hungry, you step out of the cram school and begin walking towards the coffee shop. 

“What am I? Cinderella? I fucking hate it here. She has legs, she has money, why can’t she just get her own coffee? We literally live right on top of a convenience store. We have instant coffee at ho-” You’re cut off when you accidentally walk right into someone, and their hands grasp your arms to make sure you don’t fall backwards. You immediately begin to mutter out a bunch of apologies, looking up to only lock eyes with those familiar caramel colored eyes. 

shit. 

Vernon lets out a small smile, tilting his head to the side as he watches your eyes slowly turn into slits as you stare at him. “Well, I thought you didn’t wanna hangout with me?” 

Scoffing, you push him away, and you hear him chuckle at your reaction. You brush away any dust on your uniform before crossing your arms and glaring at the blonde. “I don’t.”

“Then maybe fate has other plans, considering the fact that this is the third time we’ve met coincidentally.” Vernon tells you cheekily, and you roll your eyes. “That or you’re stalking me.” 

Now it’s Vernon’s turn to scoff at you, and you bite back a smile. Letting out a sigh, you step past him so that you can go and get Yeona’s coffee, only to realize he’s now walking right beside you. You turn and glance at him, just to find him looking up at the stars in the sky. 

“You seemed pretty mad when you bumped into me. It was like a whole scene from those movies where the antagonist realizes they’re going to be evil. From the furrow to your brow, to the whole monologue you did. I’m glad I stopped that character arch.” Vernon says and you let out a laugh, shaking your head when you realize how what he said was true. The blonde smiles at the sound, feeling a sense of accomplishment. 

“My cousin, Yeona, she’s in your class. She was really pissed off and told me to buy her coffee right as I got out of my cram school classes. I didn’t get the chance to tell her no cause she hung up on me.” You explain, only to immediately regret it a second later because why did you open up to Vernon? Why did you just negatively talk about your cousin when you know she’s well liked in school. You open your mouth to say you were joking, only for the words to die in your throat when you see Vernon nodding his head in agreement. 

“That’s ass. She shouldn’t be acting like it’s your job to buy her coffee when she’s asking you to do something for her.” Vernon says, turning to glance at you. He notices the way your eyes shine brightly back at him, and he looks away when he realizes that you’re rather pretty. You bite your bottom lip, staring down at the pavement as the two of you walk side-by-side. 

No one’s ever agreed with you when it came to matters such as these, let alone take your side. You’ve lived most of your life under the impression that your cousin is, and always will be, superior to you. Yet Vernon didn’t care, he immediately tried to sympathize with you. 

maybe he’s not that bad, you find yourself thinking as the two of you walk in silence. It’s when you both stop in front of the café that you finally speak up, “I’m going to go and buy the americano, thanks for walking me.” 

Vernon nods his head, giving you a small smile. “Anytime.” 

The two of you stand in an awkward silence for a moment, and you question how the silence when you were both walking together was comfortable. You purse your lips and give Vernon a wave of your hand, before turning to walk inside the cafe. Your hand rests on the doorknob, and you bite your lip, before glancing back at the blonde, “Vernon?”

The blonde looks up at you, and he tilts his head to the side. “Yeah, yn?” 

“You’re not so bad.” You say, flashing him a smile before stepping into the cafe. Vernon grins after a moment and walks off, staring up at the night sky.

“Yeona! You look so pretty today. Did you dress up to get Vernon to notice you?” You hear Yeona’s friend ask beside you as you get your portions for lunch. You just continue on with getting your food, turning away to go and sit down without hearing the rest of their conversation. 

You move to sit down at one of the empty tables, only to pause when you hear Vernon call out your name. Cursing to yourself, you glance up and see him walking over to you with a happy smile on his face. You know for a fact that Yeona and her friends must have heard Vernon call you, so you’re internally shitting your pants at what she might say. 

“I thought I told you to act like you don’t know me at school.” You whine when Vernon now stands in front of you, and he just chuckles at your childish behavior. He reaches out and grasps your wrist, and you raise an eyebrow at the blonde. “I wanted to show you something.” 

“Since when were you the one wanting to do stuff? I always have to plan our hangouts.”

“Whatever.” Vernon responds with a grin, and you sigh.

“If it doesn’t make me shit myself, then you owe me tea.” You tell Vernon, and he smiles before pulling you out of the cafeteria. Completely ignoring the glances and whispers the two of you receive. 

It’s been about a month since you and Vernon had that moment in front of the coffee shop, and the two of you began hanging out after classes were over. Whether it be him just walking with you to the cram school, him walking you home after cram school, or him bothering you during your shift at the kbbq restaurant. The two of you are usually together.

Recently you’ve even been skipping cram school classes to go and hangout with Vernon, as you’ve come to realize you rather enjoy his presence. However, even though you guys are close outside of school. Within school grounds you two only spared glances at each other because you knew your cousin would go feral if she found out the two of you were on speaking terms. 

You already knew that you were dead when you turned around and saw your cousin staring at you and Vernon’s connected hands as you left the cafeteria.

“Your mind’s about to be blown.” Vernon tells you as he takes you up the stairs, and you squint at the male.

“If it doesn’t I swear to God I will call upon thousands of demons-” The threat dies off in your throat once the two of you push through the doors and you find yourself staring out at a beautiful view of the city. You walk over to the ledge, resting your hands on the railing as you take in a deep breath of the fresh air. 

Vernon grins, walking up beside you and letting out a happy sigh at the silence. He knows that you won’t be calling upon thousands of demons, or else he would’ve heard it as soon as he opened the doors and you weren’t impressed. However, you’re quiet right now, just staring out at the view. 

“So you won’t be making that curse?” Vernon asks, turning to glance at you with a cocky expression on his face. His jaw falls slack slightly when you turn to and face him with the brightest smile he’s ever seen on you. 

“It’s beautiful. Thank you, Vernon.” You tell the blonde, basking in the moment of peace settling the turmoil that runs within you. You turn back towards the view, letting out a happy sigh at the view.

All while Vernon just stares at you for a moment longer, wondering how his heart got the ability to beat so fast at the sight of your smile. 

“Mmm… I don’t know Vernon. The college entrance exams are in a few weeks. I’ve been skipping my classes too often recently.” You tell him as the two of you walk towards the cram school, and Vernon lets out a yawn. He shrugs his shoulders, holding up the bag of box dye that he bought and swinging it in your face. “You’re the one who told me I’d look nice with black hair. I got the hair dye, all I need is you to color my hair.”

You squint at him, “Why can’t you dye it yourself? You have two working arms.”

Vernon yawns, turning to glance up at the sky, “Too much work. Besides, this was your idea.”

You let out a sigh, seeing that the cram school is about a block away now. You look at Vernon, seeing him walking with a calm expression on his face as he awaits your response. The sound of the plastic bag rustling against his legs gaining your attention, as you glance down and see the box of black hair dye through the thin plastic.

You quietly wonder to yourself why Vernon decided to take your word for it and dye his hair black. You just said it randomly a couple weeks ago as he was following you around the kbbq restaurant while you cleaned up the tables. 

“Why did you even come with me to work? You already know I’m not going to give you any leftover meat.” You tell the blonde as you pick up any trash that was left behind on the countertops. Vernon rolls his eyes at the table beside you, taking a sip of water that your boss gave him. 

She strongly believed that the number of customers increases when Vernon accompanies you to work because of how handsome he is. You didn’t believe it at first, but as you take a quick look around, you soon come to realize that a lot of the customers who are eating are all just staring at Vernon.

“Pretty privilege sucks.” You mumble quietly as you place the dirty plates and chopsticks into the bucket. You turn your head to glance at Vernon, finding him quietly scrolling through his phone. His blonde hair is over his forehead today, hiding his strong eyebrows from view. You tilt your head to the side, and Vernon glances up at you when he feels your gaze. “What?” 

You shrug, turning back towards the tables to continue cleaning as you mutter, “I think you’d look good with black hair.” 

Vernon types up whether it’s better to dye his hair black at home or at a salon when you move to clean the next table.

“Alright, I’ll dye your hair this time. This is the last time I’m skipping my cram school classes though, I have to focus for the college entrance exams.” You tell Vernon with a serious tone, and the blonde nods his head. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go back to my place.” 

The two of you turn and begin walking in the opposite direction, and the corner of your lips tilt upwards at the thought of teasing the blonde. So you turn your head and ask, “Do you live like a slob?”

“No.”

“I feel like that’s a lie.”

“Damn, it wasn’t a lie.” You mutter as you slide into the pair of slippers Vernon handed you. He scoffs, walking into the bathroom to prepare the towels without a response. You giggle, knowing that’s all the answer you’re going to get on that topic. 

“So you live alone? Already?” You ask as you walk into the bathroom. Vernon nods his head, handing you the gloves that come with the boxed hair dye. “Yeah, I like being alone.”

You frown, turning to glance at him as you put on the gloves. “You and I hangout almost everyday though.” 

Vernon doesn’t respond to that, instead handing you the already mixed hair dye. You raise an eyebrow, and he just grabs his phone to scroll through, causing you to squint at him. Before you open your mouth to scold him he turns and says, “You’re the one who said I’d look nice with black hair.” 

“You’re the one who bought the hair dye!” You exclaim as you dip the brush into the bowl. Vernon grins at the raise of your voice, knowing that he pushed your buttons. He places the towel over his shoulders when you begin to brush the hair dye onto his blonde locks. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll buy us chicken afterwards, so don’t worry.” 

You purse your lips at the mention of fried chicken, deciding to forgive Vernon as you continue to dye his hair. Vernon glances up at you in the mirror and smiles at your pursed lips. You feel his eyes on you, and let out a small grin. The two of you begin to converse, telling each other about each other’s day when suddenly a random question pops up into your head as you use the last of the black hair dye.

“Are we friends, Vernon?” You ask quietly, and Vernon pauses, looking up at you in the mirror. You stare at his hair as you brush the dye onto it, refusing to make eye contact as heat rushes up to your cheeks. 

Vernon doesn’t have many friends. Keeping up relationships takes time and effort, if there’s an imbalance, then it becomes hard. Vernon doesn’t have many friends because of this quality of being the Sin of Sloth, but he doesn’t mind being alone. 

However, he’s grown to enjoy your presence. You’re not demanding or needy, and the two of you only see each other after school. Vernon’s eyes flash red in the mirror when he sees the blush on your cheeks and how shy you’re acting, so he glances down at his phone, now having an answer to your question.

“Yeah, we’re friends.” You bite back a smile at his response, nodding your head. 

“I don’t have many friends.” You mutter quietly, and Vernon looks up at you in the mirror as you walk over to the trash can and throw away the now empty bowl that once held the hair dye. He lets out a breath, 

“Well, now you have one.”

“And then we divide by…” You mutter the steps to the equation as you do extra practice problems at your desk in your room. The college entrance exam is in a week, and you’ve been trying not to slack off as much as you’ve been doing in the past month and a half. 

You set ground rules with Vernon, telling him that this week that you’re going to dedicate all your time into attending the classes and studying after school. The black haired beauty didn’t put up a fight with your decision, just nodding his head and drinking his coffee aimlessly afterwards.

You purse your lips when you mess up the equation, reaching over towards your pencil pouch to grab your eraser, only to jump in your seat when your bedroom door slams open. You turn your head to see Yeona standing there, staring at you with the fiercest death glare she can muster. You let out a breath, “What is it?”

“Have you and Vernon been hanging out after school?” She asks, and you shrug. 

“We just walk together.” 

Yeona squints, stepping forward when you open your mouth to explain that you’re not interested in Vernon, only to be cut off when you receive a harsh slap to the face. You stare at your paper, the sting on your cheek only registering when you slowly turn your head to look at your cousin. 

“What the fuck was that for?!” You shout, standing up from your seat to face her head on. She scoffs, running a hand through her hair and pointing directly at your chest. 

“You know exactly what I meant when I asked if the two of you have been hanging out. You know that I like Vernon!” 

“I’m not stealing him from yo-” Yeona raises her hand up to slap you in the face again but you grasp her wrist, effectively stopping her from dealing another blow to your cheek. She lets out a scream, and your eyes widen. 

“Why the fuck are you screaming! You’re the one who came into my room and fucking slapped me!” You shout as you let go of her wrist, taking a step back from her so that she won’t try and hit you again. 

“What is all this noise?” You and Yeona both glance towards your door, finding your aunt standing in the doorway glaring at you. You feel your heart sink into your stomach when Yeona begins to cry, showing her mom her wrist and claiming that you hurt her. 

“Auntie, that’s not what happened at all-”

“I take you into my home and let you go to school. I gave you the food and clothes on your back, and yet you give my daughter and I an attitude like this?” You stare for a moment, feeling tears rush to your eyes, knowing that it’s not true. All they’ve done is treat you as some house maid, the only thing they’ve done is let you go to school and stay at their home. 

“I didn’t do anything wrong Auntie, can’t you see from the obvious red mark on my cheek that Yeona sl-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence if you still want a place to stay.” Your aunt threatens, and your eyes trail over to Yeona’s, to find her smiling at you. 

Biting your lip, you turn away, grabbing your phone from the top of the desk and pushing past them as the tears fall past your eyes. Ignoring your aunt’s shouts, you slip on your sneakers and run out of the house, wiping your eyes as you do so. 

You run as far as you can, ignoring the burning within your chest at your lungs desperate attempts to tell you to take a break. You run, and you run, and you run as the tears fall past your eyes. It’s only when you slam into someone and fall backwards that you stop. 

Vernon’s ready to mutter a complaint towards the person who bumped into him, only to pause when he sees you with your head in your hands, shoulders shaking as you cry. He crawls over to you and rests a hand on your shoulder, “Yn, what’s wrong?” 

You glance up at the familiar voice, finding Vernon staring at you in concern. A sob escapes you, and you cover your mouth to try and silence it. Vernon immediately pulls your head into his chest, wrapping his arms around you as you cry. Those walking by glance at the two of you in concern, but the both of you pay no attention to it. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Vernon asks quietly, running a hand through your hair to try and calm you down. You close your eyes as your breathing slowly goes back to normal, shaking your head in his chest. You wrap your arms around his middle, silent tears continuing to fall. 

“Let’s just stay like this for a few more minutes, please.” You request in a small voice, and Vernon nods his head without a second thought. 

“Yeah, of course.” He mutters, feeling his heartbeat against his chest as he holds you.

Vernon wonders why his heart is hurting at your sadness, and when he came to care. 

You stare at the screen of your laptop, your heart going feral within your chest as you wonder whether or not you should check if you got into SNU. You took the college entrance exam a few months before, and the results of whether you got in or not all depends on you logging in. If you don’t check, then you’ll have a stroke. If you do check, you’ll have a stroke. 

You rest your head in your hands with a low groan, “I’m gonna have a stroke either way.” 

You recall Vernon’s words, telling you that you should’ve passed based on the fact that you didn’t have any friends before because of how much you studied. To which you called him a bitch and proceeded to put him in a chokehold. 

“I can do this.” You mumble, now more motivated as you type in your login. You press enter without a second thought, and stare at your screen as your results now look directly back at you. 

REJECTED. 

Your eyes trail over the word, and your whole world comes crashing down at that one word. You fall out of your chair, hand over your chest as your heart beats wildly against it. 

“No. No, no, no. I have to go, I have to have gotten in.” You mutter to yourself as you stare at the screen, your hopes of being able to leave this hell hole sooner now being pushed back. However, you don’t know if you can stay at this house any longer. 

Your phone vibrates beside you on the floor, and you glance down to see Vernon’s name on the screen as he calls you. You reach out and grab it, slowly raising it to your ear. “Yn, did you get in?” 

“Can we meet?” You ask quietly, and Vernon’s smile slowly drops from his face at the tone of your voice. He nods his head even though you’re unable to see, “Yeah, yeah of course.” 

“You didn’t get in?” Vernon asks, and you nod your head, staring down at your hands as he looks at you with concern in his eyes. You bite your lip in an attempt to stop the tears from flowing, and Vernon reaches out and rests his hand over yours. 

“It’s okay, yn. You can just take it again, and then-”

“But I have to leave now. I can’t take it there anymore, Vernon. It’s just been worse since I ran out of the house a few months ago.” You explain, looking up at your friend with tired eyes. 

Vernon’s used to seeing your eyes being bright, sometimes even sparkling when you laugh at something he said. So seeing the dark bags under your eyes and the dullness to them is a shock, making him wonder how tired you must be.

“It’s the only option right now, but you can do it. You just have to push through for a little bit longer.” Vernon tells you, and you bite the inside of your cheek, looking back down at the cement as the feeling of defeat continues to linger in your chest. You shake your head, “I shouldn’t have skipped those extra classes.” 

“Yn…”

“I shouldn’t have skipped them! If I continued with my plan then I would’ve gotten in, and then I would’ve been able to leave this fucking shit town!” You exclaim, tears now falling past your eyes as you turn your head to look at Vernon. He just stares down at his hands in silence as you continue to cry, and you wonder why you let yourself slack off on your studies because of him. 

“Why did I stop trying as hard for my dream because of you? Because of this feeling you gave me?” You ask quietly, letting out a sad smile. While Vernon comes to a standstill at your words. He turns his head to look at you, and you wipe away your tears before turning to stare directly into his eyes. 

“What?” 

“It’s because of you. Whenever I’m with you, I feel this… this sense of comfort. I feel the weight get lifted off my shoulders, like I don’t have any worries anymore. I would forget about my dreams of leaving this place when I was with you, because it felt like I was already home.” You confess, and Vernon stays silent. You bite the inside of your cheek, turning away after a moment, letting out a small chuckle at how ridiculous you’re being.

“Do you… have feelings for me?” Vernon asks, and you let out a breath, shrugging your shoulders. 

“Yeah, I think I do. Considering that I skipped cram classes at the cram school for you.” Vernon looks away, standing up from the bench, and you glance up at him. He stares at you with a blank expression on his face, and you raise an eyebrow. 

“I… I don’t do that stuff, yn.” Vernon tells you, and you feel your heart sink slightly in your chest. You cough into your shoulder, thinking of how to respond when Vernon continues. 

“I don’t even know why I became friends with you. I don’t do relationships at all, but you weren’t that hard to deal with.” You stare at Vernon with a painstricken expression on your face at his harsh words, but he just continues. “If I had known that you were going to fall for me, then I wouldn’t have even-”

You stand up and slap Vernon across the face, and the silence afterwards seems to engulf the both of you. He slowly turns his head and looks at you, seeing the tears falling from your eyes as you harshly bite the inside of your cheek. 

“How… how dare you?” Vernon just stares as you begin to cry harder, reaching up and slamming your fists against his chest. He stays still, not moving as your cries turn into sobs as you hit him. “Y-you ruined everything for me, and you tell me that I wasn’t that hard to deal with?”

After a moment you stop, covering your face with your hands to try and calm down. You’ve decided that today is quite possibly one of the worst days of your life, and you want nothing more than to turn and run from all your problems. So you look back up at Vernon after a moment, and you see his eyes void of any emotion as he stares back at you.

“Don’t ever speak to me again. Don’t you ever try to talk to me, got it?” You state as you poke his chest directly over his heart, and he still stares at you silently, making the pain in your heart grow.

“I can’t believe I thought you could be my new dream.” You mutter quietly. You bite the inside of your cheek, before turning around and walking away from Vernon without another word. 

He watches as you grow smaller and smaller as the distance grows between the two of you, until you’re out of sight. He’s used to being alone, he doesn’t do friendships or relationships because of the effort you have to put in. However, a single tear falls from Vernon’s left eye as he glances down at the pavement, only having one question in mind as he does so. 

why does it hurt to be alone now?

Be kind. 

It’s one of those life lessons everyone learns as a child. You hear it all the time in Disney movies, with the protagonist who has unnecessarily rude family or friends and yet they always grows up to be a sweetheart. 

a bit whack you believe.

You would think that those Disney movies would really stick with you, but you learned at a young age that being nice led your classmates to think you were a pushover. So you were the main target of all of their sick jokes. That is, until you punched a guy in the face in front of the swings. 

You decided at that moment, at the young, tender age of seven, that that was a lot more fun than being kind to everyone.

And now here you are, 19 years old in your second year of university. With a total of two best friends (thank god for Joshua and Jeonghan) whom you met under very suspicious circumstances, but it’s fine. The three of you pair well together, and you don’t feel the need for other friends. It’s not like your peers try to be close to you either, due to you earning the title of ice queen at Seoul University. 

They ended up calling you that when one guy tried to ask you to be his girlfriend in the square. He had a bouquet of flowers and everything, it was truly the whole shabang. With everyone’s eyes on the two of you after he poured out his heart, you coldly rejected him, turning around and leaving the square without another word. Leaving the poor guy standing there in shock. 

In your defense, you hardly knew the man. He was your partner once for a Chemistry project and suddenly he wants you to be his girlfriend ?? No. 

Not to mention the fact that Jeonghan and Joshua told you they were waiting for you at the water fountain so that the three of you could go and get kbbq together. 

While that was the main incident that made everyone come up with the name of, ice queen, what really got people to start calling you that was when they realized you were best friends with Yoon Jeonghan and Joshua Hong. AKA, two of the most charming gentlemen on campus that almost everyone wants to marry. They’re the epitome of the man you’d want to take home to introduce to your parents. They’re that nice.

But they’re evil when it’s just the three of you, with all the pranks the two pull and the cheating they do during games. You have not once beaten them in mario kart, and you’re on a mission to absolutely destroy them. 

Your peers just thought it was rather strange seeing you in between these two bright and happy guys. Who seemed to always have a smile on their faces. While you were just stone faced as they spoke to a fellow acquaintance or waved to someone they knew on campus. 

You think being called ice queen is great honestly. No one really tries to bother you, and if they do you kinda just… squint at them. This whole routine is wonderful for you. 

“Hi! Do you know where the café is? It’s my first day here, I just transferred.” You look up at the voice, prepared to squint at the man for bothering you as you sit on the bench waiting for the two stooges, only to feel your breath get taken away at the sight of his kind smile. 

His hair is blonde, and it’s fluffy over his forehead, making you think of a puppy. You feel the strongest urge to reach out and squish his cheeks as they remind you of bread. His eyes are full of nothing but happiness, and you swear to the Gods above that this man needs to be protected.

“I-it’s over there.” You stutter, pointing in the direction of the campus café. The man smiles happily at you, “Ah, thank you so much. Have a good day!” 

He walks off in the direction you pointed, leaving you absolutely breathless in your seat. You begin to question the authenticity of the sun in the sky when you’re 100% sure that you just saw the whole sun in that man’s smile. 

“I see that you met Chan.” Jeonghan states once him and Joshua walk up to you on the bench. They watch as you stare off in the sun’s direction. Joshua chuckles at your awestruck state, reaching out and patting your head. 

“No, that’s the sun.” You mutter unconsciously, watching as a guy walks up to the man named Chan and wraps his arm around his shoulders in greeting. You feel your cold heart warm at the sight of Chan’s smile, even if you’re only seeing half of it. 

“Maybe Chan is the cure for the ice queen’s heart.” Joshua jokes once you finally stand up from the bench after Chan is no longer in view, and you turn to glare at the two. Jeonghan coos, tilting his head to the side with a grin, “Andddd she’s back. I missed you yn, almost thought he thawed your cold heart.” 

“Shut up, Hannie.” You mutter, and the two laugh at your response. The three of you begin walking in the direction of Joshua’s car, and your eyes trail over towards the university café, your thoughts still on the pretty boy with the beautiful smile.

Maybe the routine can be tweaked a bit. Just a bit.

“You should’ve seen him yn. He literally panicked when he saw Minghao and ran into the wall. I almost pissed myself, shit was so funny.” Jeonghan tells you as he flips the meat that’s being grilled. Joshua reaches out and slaps his shoulder, a small blush prominent on his cheeks at the reminder that he embarrassed himself in front of the pretty exchange student from China. 

“I was nervous! He was walking in our direction and I almost passed away.” Joshua exclaims, causing Jeonghan to laugh at the memory. You just continue to stare at the meat, mind still stuck on Chan, the physical embodiment of the sun. Jeonghan takes notice of your silence, and lets out a grin.

“Wow, never thought I’d see the day where someone would be able to swoon you.” Jeonghan teases, and you finally glance up, shooting the lavender haired male a glare. He sends you a wink, and you take a piece of brisket and shove it in your mouth. “He was just… very pretty.”

“And we’re not pretty?” You glance up at the two, finding Joshua biting his lip aggressively and Jeonghan smiling widely at you. While you know your two best friends are very pretty, you’re not attracted to them. You see them as Thing 1 and Thing 2. You also don’t want to boost their already overly large ego, so you shake your head no. Joshua gasps while Jeonghan squints at you, and you shoot them finger guns. 

“So you gonna talk to Chan?” Jeonghan asks after placing some meat into your bowl, and you shake your head. Joshua’s eyes widen in confusion, “Why not?” 

“I stuttered when I spoke to him today. Stuttered. I don’t think I’m capable of having a whole ass conversation-” You pause when you realize something. 

From the moment Jeonghan and Joshua walked up to you after Chan left, they already knew his name. How could they know his name when he just transferred? How do they know him? Are they acquainted?? 

And so you slowly look up at the two, and they feel their heart drop into their asshole with the intense stare you’re giving them. Jeonghan gulps, and Joshua shoves some meat into his mouth. You tilt your head to the side, and Jeonghan quickly grasps Joshua’s hand under the table with the way your eye is twitching. 

“How did you know his name?” You ask, and Joshua lets out a tiny squeak with the thought that this might be the last thing he ever sees before his death.

he didn’t even get to tell minghao his name yet.

“H-he’s in our economics class.” Jeonghan answers, and you stare at the lavender haired man, the information processing in your head. You lean back in your seat, still glaring at the two as you still feel suspicious. Joshua catches onto what you might be thinking so he adds, “We didn’t send him your way, just so you know. We only knew of him cause he walked into class and smiled so brightly we swear we saw the gates of heaven.” 

You finally nod your head, feeling satisfied with their answers as you begin to eat again. Jeonghan lets out a quiet breath of relief, and Joshua runs a hand through his hair, feeling glad that he’ll still have the opportunity to tell Minghao that his name is Joshua. 

“His smile is rather nice.” You mumble, and Jeonghan chuckles. 

“It really is.”

“Hey Chan! Come sit with us!” Jeonghan says in a cheerful voice once he sees the young new transfer step into the auditorium. Chan smiles happily when he sees them, walking up the steps in their direction. Joshua lets out a grin, “Damn, his smile is so sweet I might just melt.” 

“Bro, same.”

“Hi guys! How was your weekend?” Chan asks as he settles down in the empty seat beside Jeonghan. The lavender haired beauty begins to tell Chan about how fun his weekend was. While Joshua recalls how you fell off his bunk bed at his shared dorm with Jeonghan, ending with you getting a large bruise on your thigh and holding Joshua in a headlock for five minutes. This information Jeonghan chooses to leave out as he and Chan discuss their weekends.

“How was your weekend, Joshua?” 

“What’s she doing here?” 

“Don’t make direct eye contact, I heard her glare is terrifying.” 

Joshua refrains from answering when he takes notice of the increased whispers around them. Jeonghan turns his head once he hears the mutter of the name, ice queen, and he glances up towards the entrance of the auditorium. 

“Oh neptune.” Joshua breathes out when he sees you standing there, holding one of Jeonghan’s sweaters in your arms. He squints when he realizes that’s the sweater Jeonghan’s been missing. You lock eyes with Jeonghan, letting out a breath and beginning to walk up the stairs. 

“Oh! She gave me directions last week. Is she your friend?” Chan asks as he watches you walk towards them, glancing around at all the stares and whispers you’ve been receiving. Joshua nods his head, waiting for the moment that you finally notice that the man you believe is the sun is sitting right beside Jeonghan. 

“Hannie, you left your sweater at my-” You pause when you make eye contact with the guy sitting right beside Jeonghan. Otherwise known as Chan, the man who you stuttered out a sentence to because he’s so fucking bright. 

Ah, there it is. Joshua thinks to himself as he smiles at your reaction.

“Hi! I’m Chan, you gave me directions last week. What’s your name?” Chan asks you, standing up from his seat to go and shake your hand. Jeonghan and Joshua question what you’ll do next, as you’re currently just standing there, staring at Chan with a blush rising to your cheeks. 

Imagine their surprise, as well as everyone else’s when you let out a close lipped smile, reaching out and grasping his hand. “I remember you, I’m yn.” 

“Holy shit.”

“Did she just?”

“There’s no way.”

“Oh my God, the ice queen just smiled and shook someone else’s hand.” 

You release Chan’s hand after giving it a firm shake, and he giggles, making your heart do a backflip within your chest. Jeonghan and Joshua let out quiet chuckles at how pink your cheeks are, deciding right then and there that you’re going to fall in love with Chan. 

“Oh, sorry. I just interrupted you as you were giving Jeonghan back his sweater.” Chan apologizes, and you immediately lift your hands up and give him a reassuring smile. Which causes the room to erupt in more whispers at the fact that you smiled not once, but twice at Chan. 

“It’s okay! I don’t mind.” You tell Chan as you chuck the sweater directly at Jeonghan’s face without so much as a glance. Jeonghan sputters once the cotton hits his face, causing Joshua to burst into his melodic laughter. 

“Bitch!” 

“This isn’t about you Jeonghan.” You say through your teeth, and Chan laughs at the whole interaction between you three. The sound of his laugh is like music to your ears, and you want to be able to hear it again. The four of you turn when you hear the sound of the professor's voice, and you flash Chan a regretful smile. 

“I have to go. It was nice meeting you.” Chan nods his head, smiling and waving at you as you begin to head down the stairs.

“I hope to talk to you again!” Chan calls out, and you stop for a moment. You turn your head and give him a big thumbs up, before walking out of the auditorium. 

The students around Chan all stare at him with gaping mouths, and he raises an eyebrow at all the attention. He walks back to his seat, sitting down and opening up his journal. The students look away once the professor begins speaking again, calling for their attention so that he can take roll. 

“You must truly be the embodiment of the sun if you were able to make yn smile at you like that.” Jeonghan says in awe once his name is called, and Joshua nods his head in agreement. Chan just lets out a chuckle, shaking his head at the two. 

“Yn’s nice.” Chan mutters as he prepares his highlighters. Jeonghan and Joshua turn to share a glance, before bursting into quiet laughter. Chan raises an eyebrow at the two, noticing that they show no signs of letting up, and he lets out a quiet sigh. 

she’s kind to me so far, so i hope i can get her to be kind to everyone else. 

“I’ll have the jasmine green milk tea, less ice, full sweetness, anddd tapioca please. That’ll be all.” You tell the cashier. They nod their head, and you’re about to hand them your card when someone reaches over, handing them their credit card. 

“Add a green tea with fresh milk and tapioca pearls as well! It’s on me, thank you.” You frown at the familiarity of the voice, and you turn your head, only for your breath to get taken away at the close proximity between you and Chan’s faces. His eyes go wide, and you watch as a blush rises to his cheeks when he takes a step back, allowing you to breathe again.

“Sorry.” He mutters sheepishly, and you shake your head, pinching your arm to try and redirect the heat that’s rushing to your face. “It’s fine, you don’t have to apologize. However…” 

The cashier hands Chan back his card, making you both take a pause in your conversation for a quick second. Once he has the order number and the card back in his wallet, the two of you walk over to a nearby table to wait for your boba. 

Chan gulps when you turn and squint at him, finally understanding why the other students seem to fear your glare. You reach out and point at his chest, and his eyes widen slightly, before looking back up at your face. 

“I owe you now.” You simply state, before retracting your finger and running a hand through your hair. Chan shakes his head, giving you a smile, “No, no! It’s fine. I just wanted to-”

“No, I owe you.” You interrupt, and Chan shakes his head again. You find yourself squinting at the pretty guy whom you may have a raging heart boner for, and Chan lets out a nervous chuckle. “I originally wanted to treat you for coffee, but I found out from Jeonghan and Joshua that you prefer boba. Imagine my surprise when I actually saw you ordering.” 

You bite the inside of your cheek to prevent yourself from breaking out into a full blown smile. You purse your lips instead, nodding your head, “Well, this is my favorite boba spot. They make really good tapioca pearls, so you made a good choice coming here.” 

Chan grins, opening his mouth to respond when he hears the order number being called. He stands up to go and get it but you stop him by raising a hand up at his face, already on your way to the stand. “I’ll get it. You already paid for the drinks, it’d be crazy for me to make you get the boba too.” 

Chan nods, sitting back in the stool and watching you walk over to the stand. You nod your head at the employee, thanking them for the boba before walking back to you and Chan’s table. You sit down in the stool across from him, handing him his order and straw. You open up the straw, only to pause when you realize Chan is just staring at you, hands folded politely, and you raise an eyebrow. “Aren’t you going to drink it?”

Chan’s eyes widen and he lets out an embarrassed laugh, rubbing the back of his neck as he grabs the straw. “I just. Some people like taking videos of poking the straw through the lid, and I wasn’t sure if you’re that type of person.” 

You let out a giggle at how embarrassed Chan seems, and his eyes widen at the sound, looking up and seeing you smiling softly at him. The smiles he’s received from you have always been just a slight tilt of the corner of your lips, or a close-lipped smile. This is a full blown smile. With teeth and everything! 

He doesn’t register the blush rising to his cheeks due to how pretty you look with a smile on your face. He just finds himself in awe at how he believes your smile might just be his favorite in the world. You shove your straw through the plastic seal before glancing back up at Chan, “I’m not that type of person. I get boba way too much for me to do that.” 

Chan nods his head, snapping out of his temporary trance as he shoves his own straw into his drink. The two of you take a sip of your bobas, both nodding in satisfaction at the sweet taste. Your weekly boba fix is finally being fulfilled, and you’re happy. 

“How did you meet Jeonghan and Joshua? The three of you seem really close.” Chan asks, and you purse your lips at the memory. You glance up at Chan to see him waiting in anticipation and you sigh, “It’s a rather ridiculous story if you’re still willing to hear it.” 

Chan nods his head, and you chuckle, thus ensuing you spending the next half hour telling the pretty boy all about how you met the two stooges. Chan thinks you’re a great storyteller with the way you explain things. From the vivid details, to the way you perfectly mimic Jeonghan and Joshua’s voices, Chan feels as if he’s the one who met Jeonghan and Joshua in the boys bathroom. 

“So you’re telling me that you accidentally walked into the boys restroom, saw Joshua and Jeonghan, and they told you to just use the stall?” 

“Yes.”

“And you did?” Chan asks, and you nod your head. He lets out a loud laugh, and you find yourself smiling at the contagious sound. You raise your hands up in the air, “I told you it was a ridiculous story!” 

“So now the three of you have been inseparable ever since?” You nod your head again, and Chan smiles. You take a sip of your boba, feeling your heart warm at the fact that you’re spending time with the guy you wholeheartedly believe is the sun. Your phone vibrates on the table and you glance down at the screen, and you let out a sigh when you read the text.

joshushu: we’re at your dorm

we have chicken

jeongjeongie: we fought a raccoon on our way here pls come home quickly

we have battle scars

joshushu: no we don’t

jeongjeongie: shut the fuck up joshua im trying to get yn to come back quicker

joshushu: bruh

“You have to go?” Chan asks, and you regretfully nod your head. You turn your phone and show Chan the screen, and he lets out a giggle at the text Jeonghan sent. The two of you get off the stools, and walk out of the small boba shop after throwing away your garbage. 

“It was nice getting to know you, Chan.” You tell the pretty boy honestly, and he smiles. “Likewise. I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

You give him a thumbs up, and with that, the two of you turn around and begin walking your separate ways. Only for you to stop when you hear Chan shout out your name, causing you to turn back around to see what he needs to say. 

Chan smiles, feeling his heart rage against his chest at the visual of the sun beginning to set behind you. It’s as if you’re glowing as you stare at him, and he wonders how anyone could possibly call you the ice queen. He cups his hands over his mouth and says, “You look pretty when you smile!” 

And with that, he turns around and walks away, leaving you standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Your eyes are wide, mouth slightly dropped open, and a furious blush to your cheeks as you watch Chan walk off into the crowd. You raise your hands to your face, biting the inside of your cheek. 

Next thing you know you’re sprinting to the dorms, and everything is like a blur. From the moment you swipe your card to enter the building, to you running to the elevator and basically punching your floor button.

which scares your neighbors in the elevator with you but it’s fine.

You finally make it to your dorm room and shove your key into the lock, quickly unlocking the door and stepping inside to see Jeonghan and Joshua playing on your switch. They pause their game of smash bros at the sight of you panting, and Jeonghan raises an eyebrow. 

“Did the raccoon get you too?” 

You shake your head, and he curses under his breath. Joshua stares at you for a moment longer, taking in the sight of your red cheeks, to the sparkle in your eyes, and that’s when a lightbulb goes off in his head. He sits up from the floor, pointing at you, “Did you just see Chan?”

And with that, you kneel onto the carpet and excitedly tell your two best friends everything that happened at the boba shop. From the moment Chan paid for your boba, to him telling you that you look pretty when you smile, and then your sprint all the way back here. 

It’s a lot to process for Joshua and Jeonghan as they stay silent for a moment. You raise an eyebrow at them, reaching out to your desk and grabbing your water bottle, taking a long sip. Jeonghan purses his lips and he glances at you as you basically chug all the water. 

“Did you get his number though?” 

The water did not make it down when you realized that you absolutely didn’t get his number.

“Yn, can you go and ask Mingyu to come over here?” Jeonghan asks you as the four of you eat in the campus café. You raise an eyebrow at him, and Chan smiles at your reaction. “You have legs. Go use them.”

Jeonghan glares at you, and you glare back. Your lavender haired friend lets out a sigh, “I’ll get you boba later.”

“Done.” You state, standing up from the table without another word and walking over to Mingyu’s table. Chan chuckles, “She’ll do anything for boba, huh?” 

Joshua nods his head, letting out a disappointed sigh at how easy you fall into the hands of capitalism. Jeonghan just shrugs his shoulders, “If it gets her to do stuff for me that I’m too lazy to do, it’s fine by me.” 

You already notice the eyes on you as you finally reach Mingyu’s table, his friends staring at you with expressions that range from fear to trying to appear neutral. Mingyu glances up at you, and he almost chokes on his rice when he realizes you’re standing right in front of him. 

“Y-yes?” Mingyu asks in a quiet voice, and you give him a smile, “Jeonghan asked if you could go over and talk to him, he was too lazy to come over here though. He bribed me with boba so that’s why I’m here.” 

You take in the silence of his friends, and you look them over to see that all their mouths are dropped open. Your eyes fall back on Mingyu to see him also in the same state as his friends, and you bite the inside of your cheek. “Uh, Mingyu? Did you hear what I said?

Mingyu immediately stands up from his seat, nodding his head and giving you a smile. “Yeah! Sorry, yn. It’s just that I’ve never seen you smile before.” You let out an, ah, and grin at him. 

Ever since Chan told you that you look pretty when you smile two weeks ago, you made the decision to start smiling at people and being nicer last week. Today is your first day of trying out that decision, and you weren’t expecting this type of reaction at all.

You and Mingyu begin walking over towards your table, and that’s when you take notice of everyone staring at you. You seriously begin to question whether smiling at Mingyu was truly that big of a deal that you need to be stared at, but alas. 

“I’ve brought Mingyu! Don’t forget my boba later.” You tell Jeonghan as you sit down in your seat beside Chan. You pick up some rice with your chopsticks and place it into your mouth, only to register the silence at your own table. You glance up to see Jeonghan and Joshua gaping at you, while Chan just eats quietly while paying attention to what’s going on. You raise an eyebrow defensively, “What?” 

Jeonghan leans forwards in his seat, reaching up and grasping your face with his hands, looking you over. You swat his hands away and he leans back, still looking flabbergasted. “You smiled.” 

You nod your head slowly, taking a bite of katsu as you do so. Joshua leans forward in his seat this time, poking your cheek, and you smack his hand away. “At someone who isn’t us.” 

You let out a sigh, before gesturing to Mingyu who is just awkwardly standing beside Jeonghan, wondering why he was called over. This seems to snap Jeonghan out of him overanalyzing your every move for a second, and he begins talking to Mingyu about their project in English. 

“I just decided to be nice.” You mutter, and Joshua’s eyes bulge out of their sockets. Jeonghan freezes mid-conversation with Mingyu at your answer, turning to look at you. 

“You? Nice?! What happened? Did you fall out of a tree?” Joshua asks hurriedly, and you shake your head at him. Jeonghan reaches across the table and grasps your hand, “Are you sure the raccoon didn’t get you too?”

You snatch your hand away before reaching out and bonking Jeonghan in the head, making him cry out in pain. “Enough with the raccoon! And yes, I’m fine!” Chan watches in interest as you argue with your two friends, while Mingyu decides to just step away and walk back to his table.

“Listen to me!” You exclaim, and Joshua and Jeonghan quiet down. You motion to Chan, and he points at himself, and you nod your head. “I got the opportunity to become close with Chan because I gave him the time of day when he asked me for directions. I realized that I could end up meeting a lot more cool people like him if I was just nicer.” 

Jeonghan raises a hand to his mouth in shock, while Joshua’s eyes tear up at the fact that you’re being deadass. Chan just lets out a smile, happy that he was able to convince you to be nicer. However, you’re hiding the fact that the main reason for you being nice and smiling at people more is simply because Chan said you look pretty when you smile. 

“Oh my God, she’s no longer the ice queen.” Joshua mutters, and you roll your eyes. “Listen… I’m going to be nice to those who deserve me being nice too. However, it’s still ice queen to anyone else.” 

Jeonghan nods his head before turning to Chan and giving him a grateful smile, “I know I made a joke when you and yn first started talking that you’d thaw her cold heart, but I just wanted to thank you for actually thawing her cold ass heart.” 

You shoot a glare at Jeonghan, causing Chan to laugh. He reaches out and pats your head, making you freeze in your spot, “Happy to help.” 

Joshua coos when he notices how pink your cheeks are turning and you let out a whine, reaching out to bonk his head too. However, Joshua’s fast so he’s able to dodge the power of the bonk. You sigh, leaning back and taking a bite of your food. “I hate it here.” 

Joshua quickly poses by puckering his lips and winking at you, while Jeonghan smiles brightly and sends you a peace sign. You frown at how fast they coordinated their poses, before turning your head to speak to Chan, only for your eyes to widen when you see him winking and sending you finger guns. 

“But you love us, right?” The three ask simultaneously, and you stare at them in silence before you burst into laughter at their antics. The whole café turns in shock at the sound of you laughing, something they’ve never been able to see or hear before. The three all smile at the sight of you giggling at them, and Chan feels his heart burst at the sight. 

“You guys are so stupid.” You finally mutter after you calm down, and they laugh. 

“Oh wait, did I tell you guys about-” You glance up when you see Joshua frozen in his spot, and you turn your head to see Minghao entering the café with his friend Jun. They begin to walk past your table, and that’s when the most shocking thing happens. 

Minghao turns and makes eye contact with Joshua, and he waves at your best friend with a tentative smile, “Hi Joshua.” 

The three of you watch Joshua internally malfunction as he waves back at Minghao, “Hi Minghao.”

When Minghao and Jun finally walk past the table, Joshua turns his head and stares at Jeonghan with wide eyes. You bite back a smile when Joshua stands up from his seat and punches the air happily, Jeonghan and Chan congratulating him on his crush knowing his name. 

You look at the three of them with fondness in your gaze, and you finally let yourself smile, giggling as Joshua jumps happily. You shake your head, taking a bite of rice and placing it into your mouth. 

Who would’ve thought that the ice queen’s heart would thaw when the virtue of kindness joined her life? 

Definitely not you.

✧ day one: lee seokmin, sin of gluttony

✧ day two: lee chan, virtue of kindness

✧ day three: choi seungcheol, virtue of humility

✧ day four: joshua hong, sins of greed

✧ day five: chwe vernon hansol, sins of sloth

✧ day six: kwon soonyoung, sins of pride

✧ day seven: boo seungkwan, virtue of charity

✧ day eight: xu minghao, virtue of forgiveness

✧ day nine: lee jihoon, virtue of diligence

✧ day ten: wen junhui, virtue of temperance

✧ day eleven: kim mingyu, sins of envy

✧ day twelve: yoon jeonghan, sins of lust

✧ day thirteen: jeon wonwoo, sins of wrath