latteseungs

april 2023 7:46 pm

“Hi baby, how was your day?”

You felt a pang in your chest once you heard your fiancé’s voice. He was in the kitchen as usual, drinking his favorite homemade coffee as he watched kdramas on his phone, even if you have a fully functioning large tv in the living area.

“It was alright,” an outright lie.

Work was shit. Co-workers were shit. But even if everything in your work life is slowly coming into flames and you have no choice but to face some of the shittiest people ever as your clients, you can’t believe that the shittiest out of all of them was still you.

Seungmin seemed suspicious of how you answered, probably sensing that you were lying right through your teeth. How he knows you like the back of his hand was absolutely endearing. But sometimes, all it felt like were a ton of bricks on your back.

“You sure about that, babe?” He asked, starting to put down his phone on the table. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

You hate him.

You hate how so damn perfect he is. You hate how much he loves you.

But you hate yourself more for not loving him the same way.

5:15 pm that day

“You should have told them that it wasn’t possible then?”

“It was possible, but not with the time frame they gave me!” You exclaimed exhaustively as you crashed on the couch. You pulled Minho’s button down tightly around your body, finding comfort in his scent.

“And don’t you dare tell me that I should have told them too because you, of all people, know how much I need this deal closed.”

Minho scoffed, “Shouldn’t your fiancé know about this too?”

You abruptly fixed how you sat on Minho’s couch, pushing a hand through your bed-ruined hair. Seungmin knows about the deal you have been trying to secure for almost six months now, but he doesn’t know as much as Minho does.

And that’s on you.

“Please, he also knows about this,” you were defensive, holding up your arms to your chest as you tried not to overthink.

“Then you wouldn’t be here ranting about it again for probably the third time this week alone,” he petted Soonie on his lap as he gulped the rest of his beer. His eyes never landed on yours as he talked about your fiancé.

“He’s a lawyer, for god’s sake. He would have probably closed this deal of yours months ago.”

Minho was right. He always was. Even if he was one of the most outstanding chief marketing officers out there, you sure as hell needed a good lawyer to back you too. But your fucking pride and independent mentality are in the way. You knew Seungmin could have helped you ever since you talked about the terms and conditions of the contract. You knew that Seungmin could have easily discussed how you could have agreed with better terms. You knew that Seungmin could have lessened the stress that you were going through now. But you didn’t even share a peep with him, only the tip of the iceberg.

“You know me and my tendencies to not ask for help.”

“Yeah, I know,” he grimaced. “But I can’t help but think you have a different purpose; why you didn’t ask your Seungmin to rescue you.”

He sounded cocky and bitter, but you pushed that thought to the back of your mind. You didn’t ask your oh-so-perfect fiancé because you didn’t want to seem like a damsel in distress. You didn’t want to look like you were using his career to boost yours. This was your work, your business, so why the hell would you cry out to be saved?

“Care to enlighten me?” You poked, knowing damn well that Minho wouldn’t dare explain his thoughts.

“You did it to have reason to be constantly here, using my job as a cover-up, and not make it look like you’re cheating on your soon-to-be husband.”

december 2022

“Don’t be stupid,” Chan throws you a judging stare. “And don’t you dare look at me like that because I know you came to me for a reality check and not some advice you want to hear.”

You kept your mouth shut. Thinking about leaving your perfectly good boyfriend to get back with a borderline-toxic ex might be one of your stupidest thoughts to date. Chan, being one of your closest friends for the longest time, is verbalizing it because you can never admit it to yourself.

He sighed, plopping down beside you as he handed you the beer you requested. “Cheers,” he mumbled, raising his bottle of energy drink.

“It’s stupid, no?” You groaned. “Even the thought of it is stupid.”

“Yes, it is, and I’m glad to know that you actually recognize that.”

“But—”

“But, what?” He immediately cut you off, probably knowing what you’ll say next. “It doesn’t feel the same way with Seungmin? There’s no thrill? There’s no rush?”

Shame. You were the one who would judge people for leaving their partners just for a speck of thrill before. And now you’re the one being judged. You can’t lie to yourself because you know for a fact that you deserve it.

“People would kill to be in a relationship you’re currently in, y/n. That peace you’re feeling with Seungmin? Some people crave that because they know that ‘peace’ in a relationship is what you call home. It makes them realize they’re finally with the one they’re meant for.”

But it doesn’t feel that way with Seungmin.

It was smooth sailing with Seungmin. It was actually a breeze with him—safe. He treated you like royalty. You don’t even want to think about how he looks at you because you would feel guilty even contemplating leaving him. He would hold you in his eyes like you had the entire universe. And in his world, maybe you did.

“Look,” Chan cleared his throat. “I am in no place to say this, but you need to hear it.”

You took a gulp of your beer before looking at him, prepared to hear the most heart-wrenching speech that would finally wake you up to reality and stop with your fantasy land.

But the words that came out of Chan’s mouth were something you would have never expected. Not at least for another two or three years.

“What do you mean he’s going to propose?” You gasped. It wasn’t impossible, considering the two of you have been dating for at least three years. The both of you had a stable job, your family adores him, and you’re both living together… it made sense. It would be more unusual if he wasn’t thinking about it. But to you, it felt too soon, like you were rushing into it.

“I’m not that kind of person who wants to put words in other people’s mouths, but just hear me out, okay?” he squeezed his hand on top of yours.

“Say yes. Accept it. Nothing gets better after Kim Seungmin. Trust me. Minho gave you nothing but heartbreak.”

7:58 pm

“No, baby, it’s okay, really. I’m just tired from work,” you said, kissing Seungmin on the cheek.

He sighed as he got a whiff of Minho’s perfume off of his fiancée. He wasn’t sure how many times he got to smell it that week, but he stopped counting right after knowing that this would be a regular thing for you.

You were being distant again. You always were right after being with Minho. Even if you try your best to hide that you were with him that day, a scent always lingers. Seungmin honestly doesn’t know if you were sleeping with your ex or doing anything physical with him; the fact that you would rather be with someone else hurts the same way.

Seungmin tried. He really did. But it seems like he was never really enough for you. Seungmin wasn’t dumb. He knows you were still madly in love with your ex-boyfriend even after you said yes to his proposal. He knew what he was getting into when he first started dating you, but he thought that over time, he could finally replace Minho in your heart. So maybe he is a little stupid, thinking you could get over the love of your life.

“Do you want me to run you a bath, babe?” Seungmin asked as he entered the bedroom. You were a little startled because you were in the middle of changing, but you immediately settled down when you turned to see him.

“Thanks, baby, but I’ll just cha—”

Seungmin interrupted you with kisses trailing down your neck from behind. His hands swiftly made their way to your bare waist as he gently pulled your back to him. He made sure that you felt the growing bulge from his pants.

He wanted to see if some part of you still belonged to him.

A soft moan escaped your lips, but you held Seungmin on the nape, making him halt his ministrations to your skin. “I’m not in much of a mood today, Seung.” You whispered apologetically.

That felt like a gunshot to Seungmin’s chest. He rested his head on your shoulder in defeat.

“We haven’t had sex in almost a month, y/n,” He breathed, honestly ready to raise a white flag. The way he said your name was so full of emotion and pent-up exhaustion.

He wasn’t trying to force you to do anything with him. He wasn’t some sex-deprived maniac. He can keep his dick in his pants. He doesn’t even mind if you both don’t fuck for more than a month. What worries him is that you don’t want to do it with him. This was one of the things that Seungmin was holding on to, one of the things to see if you were still even slightly attracted to him, whether it may be purely physical, he’d accept it.

It was a desperate move. But Seungmin was desperate.

You stiffened in his hold after you heard him. Twisting in his linked arms, you circled your own on his neck. “Has it really been that long?”

Seungmin didn’t even try to look at you, his eyes locked on the floor.

“I’m sorry, Seung,” you rested your palm on his cheek, turning his head in your direction, getting him to look at you. “I’ve just been so busy with the deal.” You sounded so guilty, and of course, as always, Seungmin ate it up. He always drops down his walls whenever he feels even an ounce of love from you.

“Let me make it up to you,” you started to go down to your knees, but Seungmin immediately pulled you up.

“Baby, you don’t have to do that,” he said, holding onto your arms.

“But I want to,” you dragged, starting to pepper his face with kisses.

And that was it. Seungmin folded. You have him wrapped around your fingers once again. At least he knows he was not entirely out of the picture yet.

“If you want to make it up to me, let’s do it properly,” Seungmin grumbled before kissing you fervently. He tried to kiss you with so much passion; maybe there, he could make you feel all the raw love he has for you.

Even if you don’t feel the same way.

He laid you gently on your bed, a soft moan escaping your lips when his knees came in contact with your center. Seungmin did it again and applied some pressure, making you squirm under him.

“Seung,” you moaned out, hands lifting his shirt. Your hand ran through the expanse of his torso as Seungmin shivered lightly with the way you traced his toned stomach.

He made his way down to your legs, two of his fingers tracing your clothed, wet core. He placed kisses on the inside of your thighs before pushing your underwear to the side. He tentatively placed his tongue on your clit, and you covered your mouth to stop yourself from letting out a loud groan.

He ran a stripe of his tongue on your sex, making you hold onto his hair with greater force than you intended. Seungmin felt his pants restrict even more with every sound you make, with every pull of his hair that you do. But even if he started to feel uncomfortable with how his cock went hard, he continued to lap you, making sure that no one else would make you feel the way he was making you feel right now.

“Fuck, Seungmin!” You let out, not stopping yourself anymore.

With the scream that left your lips, Seungmin couldn’t help himself. He took out his cock from his pants and pumped himself off as he continued to push his tongue in you, his other hand circling your clit.

“Yes, baby. Don’t stop. That’s so hot,” you were panting, feeling your release coming to a close when you saw Seungmin getting himself off with his hand while he ate you out.

When you started to feel the buildup in your lower stomach, Seungmin stopped altogether. You almost complained before you felt him enter you with no warning. He bottomed out immediately with how wet you were. You could instantly feel his cock in parts of you that only felt like heaven.

Seungmin tried to muffle his groan by kissing your chest, but his voice still resonated. He undid your bra quickly as he started to thrust into you. He palmed your breast, the other being sucked into his mouth while he slammed his hips into you.

“Oh my fucking god, Seungmin!” You practically screamed.

His hands on your tits were now placed around your neck, adding a little pleasure you always liked.

“You’re mine, right?” Seungmin suddenly asked.

“Yes.”

“Say it.”

You can feel your release starting to build up again on your lower stomach as you continue to take your fiancé’s cock in you. He was hitting all the right spots, and you were starting to see stars.

“Say it!” Seungmin demanded again.

“I’m yours, Seungmin!” He felt you come around him, your constraining walls feeling perfectly around his throbbing dick, your moans filling the bedroom.

“You’re mine,” he mumbled, his thrusts starting to feel erratic as he came too close to release. “I’m the only one who gets to come inside you.”

Seungmin was surprised by the words that left his mouth. He was never this possessive. Not even during sex. But maybe all the feelings that he’s been trying to bottle up were slowly spilling.

“I’m yours, Seung.” You whispered again before feeling Seungmin shoot his hot cum around your walls.

1:43 am

“Do you hate me that much to call me at this hour? Are you for real right now?” Minho grumbled from the other end.

“Then why did you answer, you dipshit?”

“Because I have no self-control when it comes to you.”

A silence enveloped the two of you. All you could hear was rustling and maybe one of the cats trying to lay beside Minho in bed.

You snuck outside your bedroom just to go out the balcony so you could call him in peace, ensuring that Seungmin was sleeping soundly in bed. After what happened with Seungmin earlier, it made you wonder if you were really not paying that much attention to him anymore. He rarely showed that vulnerable side of himself to you because he was always so composed and put together. Seeing him somewhat defeated earlier made your chest hurt.

You admit you’re unfaithful, but it doesn’t mean you don’t love him even, if that sounds so messed up.

“C’mon, what do you want? I have to leave early for work later, and Doongie is getting real chatty.”

You chuckled after hearing the constant meowing from the background; Doongie was probably grumpy that you woke him up too.

“It’s nothing. I just…” You sighed, not even remembering why you called Minho. Now you have to think of something important because he would probably not let you hear the end of it the next time you see him. If there is a next time, at least.

Thoughts started to leave your mind as your heart calmed at just hearing the sound of Minho’s breathing. No matter what others say about him or what he did to you when you were together, nothing would amount to how he makes you feel. Who would have thought that breathing through a call would calm you down? He didn’t even need to say anything.

“If I… if I break it off with Seungmin… Would you take me back?”

The question suddenly came out of you. It wasn’t even what you were planning to say. But the long pause that Minho gave as a response was already an answer.

When you were about to say you would hang up, Minho cleared his throat.

“Would you leave Seungmin?”

one week later 7:50 pm

“Aren’t you supposed to be rich?”

You scoffed at Minho’s snarky comment, but you continued to stir the pot in front of you.

After the little call that you made with Minho last week, it really shook something inside you. But you, being the coward that you are, ignored it. You promised yourself that you would start coming to Minho for business-related purposes only. Still, here you are again, cooking a meal for the both of you instead of doing it for your boyfriend.

“You probably have a personal chef at your beck and call in your huge penthouse, so why the hell would you ransack my barely stocked cupboard and refrigerator for food? You do know that I have three cats to feed, right?”

“Shut up, that’s nonsense.”

“How dare you call my cats nonsense? Look at those little devils enjoying their playground that’s worth at least a month of my sala—”

“Idiot!” you playfully hit Minho’s arm after he misunderstood what you said. “I was talking about having a personal chef; that was nonsense. I’m not rich.”

“Yeah, say all you want. But your fiancé is probably swimming in money.”

There he goes again. You sighed, turned off the stove, and removed your apron as you entered his living room.

Minho has been quite vocal about you being with Seungmin lately. It was like an unspoken rule between the both of you to rarely talk about him when you two were together. Seungmin doesn’t exist when it’s just the two of you. But recently, he keeps pointing out how you were with someone else.

You heard his footsteps follow you to the sofa, but you didn’t even want to look at him. He called out your name, but you didn’t respond. When his voice went stern, you finally glanced in his direction. He stood a few feet away from you, hands bawled into fists.

“Leave him,” Minho’s voice was barely above a whisper, but you heard him clearly. So loud that you felt like it echoed throughout the whole apartment.

“What?” You feel breathless, feeling like you were underwater; your body suddenly doesn’t want to move to gasp for air.

“Be with me.”

Minho was determined. He was finally tired of hiding. He was tired of pretending he was okay when you didn’t stay the night or hurry home before the two of you get caught. He was so sick of trying to meet you in secret or only seeing you when there was no sun outside.

He wanted to hold your hand, grab you by the waist, kiss you on your forehead. He wanted all those things back. He loved you and wanted everyone to know how much he did. He may have fucked up before, but he swore he would do better when you decide to be with him instead.

He was sick of all the sneaking around and all the lies he needed to remember. He doesn’t think he has the stomach to hold it all together much longer.

“Choose me.”

Tears were pricking your eyes, and your vision blurred with the image of Minho waiting for your answer. All you could do was open your mouth, but no words came out. You weren’t sure of the answer the day he asked if you would leave Seungmin for him. You thought that some part of you could do it and finally be with Minho. He was your greatest love and you thought you could drop everything just to be with him. But right now, with Minho almost begging you to be with him, leaving Seungmin suddenly became a clear-cut picture in your head.

You couldn’t do it.

Seungmin was too perfect. His love for you was so pure. You know that you can never return the amount of love he has for you, but you know for sure that you love him enough to stay.

And you don’t love Minho enough to choose him.

“I—”

A single tear fell from Minho’s eye. He knows.

“No, don’t,” he sighed. “you don’t need to say it. He’s good for you.”

8:06 pm

The silence between you and Minho was ear-piercing. Even after deciding that you’re not leaving your boyfriend over him, you can’t believe he still has the heart to lead you outside his apartment and volunteer to take you to your car because of how dark the streets get.

It would have been pitch dark outside if not for the dimly lit street lights and the flashlight on Minho’s phone guiding your steps on the pavement as you looked for your car. You were so used to leaving Minho’s apartment at this time that the darkness didn’t even bother you anymore.

Not until a voice so familiar called out your name from a distance.

“What’s this?”

Your heart dropped to your feet.

“Seungmin—”

“Is that Minho with you?”

Minho was suddenly in front of you, his body covering yours as Seungmin stepped closer to the both of you.

“What the hell are you doing with my fiancée?” Seungmin’s voice was raised, a voice you had never come out from him through all the years that you were together. He doesn’t look like himself. His eyes were blazing with mixed feelings, anger, hurt, betrayal, and it was all because of you.

You pushed Minho away from in front of you and ran towards Seungmin, tears overflowing in your eyes as you tried to reach for your boyfriend’s hand.

“Seungmin, I can explain, I promise!” You sounded hysterical, trying to get a hold of Seungmin, but his eyes were zeroed in on the man behind you.

“Seungmin!” Grabbing his face in your hands, you tried to get him to look at you instead. “Listen to me. This isn’t his fault. It’s me, all me, okay?”

“No,” He removed your hold from him, the voice he let out seeming like broken glass but unwavering. “You listen to me.”

A strained whimper came out from your lips, not knowing what to do. It felt like your whole world was falling apart slowly and painfully right in front of your eyes with every tear that fell from Seungmin’s eyes.

It was you who did this.

“You know what? All this time that you’ve been sneaking around with him,” there was so much venom in the way he spoke as he pointed at Minho, but he remained quiet and still, letting all the anger fall on him.

“I know about it. I’m not naive! But I told myself that one day, one day, you’re gonna stop,” Seungmin tried his best to hold in his sob, but it was too much for him. “One day, you’ll finally feel that you belong with me.”

He tried his best to remember all the times he did you wrong. He tried to think if everything he did was too big of a mistake that you have the need to cheat on him. Did he not treat you right? What was missing from him that you found in Minho instead?

He ran a hand through his hair, furiously wiping the salty tears that kept falling. “Every fucking time I smell his perfume off of you, I told myself that I would turn a blind eye to it as long as you don’t get yourself caught. As long as I’m the one you come home to.”

The pain you were feeling right now would never amount to the pain that Seungmin was feeling. All the time he kept it all in, it finally pierced through his chest, that it felt like he was physically bleeding from the pain.

“Do I love you too much to do that?”

You sob, unable to bear how much hurt you’re putting him through right now. You tried reaching for him again, but he immediately stepped away. He looked at you like he saw a completely different person was before him, not someone he asked to marry.

“Seungmin, please. I stopped. I promise I did. I already cut things off with him to stay with you,” at that point, you didn’t care. What you said was so wretched and cruel for both of the people there with you, but you couldn’t possibly see your future without Seungmin. It was too late for you to realize that, but you’re taking all your chances here just to be able to stay with him.

He scoffed. He couldn’t honestly believe that you thought you would win him back with that. “Is that supposed to make me happy? Is that supposed to redeem yourself?” He questioned incredulously. “Do you think that you finally leaving Minho after all these months, I would forgive you?”

Minho remained quiet behind you. He just stood there, taking all of it in. He deserved it. In fact, he thought he deserved more than the words coming out of Seungmin. He probably deserved a hit in the face or a few curses and vile words from your fiancé, but Seungmin wasn’t like that. That’s how nice he was; he wouldn’t even curse the man you had illicit affairs with.

While you, on the other hand, can’t do anything but cry. It was pathetic of you, but you know there was no escape from this. This was the end of the line, and you knew there was no one to blame except you and your selfishness.

Seungmin covered his tear-stricken face as he let out a choked laugh, “It’s fucking bullshit that I still don’t hate you after all of this.”

You were going for subtle. But it looks like you failed.

“Hey, is anything wrong,” Felix asked, eyes barely leaving the mixing bowl in front of him. “Did I miss something on the recipe?”

“Hey, is anything wrong,” Felix asked, eyes barely leaving the mixing bowl in front of him. “Did I miss something on the recipe?”

Blink.

You blinked and finally felt like you were back on earth, in the kitchen, with a slightly worried Felix as he kept stirring the batter.

“N—no! You’re doing great,” stumbling on your words, you quickly grabbed your notebook and shuffled.

You were trying to follow a recipe you both agreed might be the dish that will be involved in your activity. It was actually a dessert. It was a dessert you dread to make because you’re more of a cook than a baker.

To be fair, it was just in time for you to learn to bake. You know what you put yourself into when you enrolled in culinary school. Of course, you expected that there would be baking. You weren’t just prepared that you would start with one of the most challenging desserts to bake— macarons.

Luckily enough, your stove mate in class has a passion for baking, and he makes the most exquisite desserts, especially brownies. He probably saw the look of dread on your face when the chef announced the activity because he was the one that offered to help you.

“You okay?” He asked you then.

Answering him by shaking your head no, he gave you a reassuring smile, something that you remember so clearly.

He asked you that day if you had an oven back at your apartment because he was more than willing to teach you, and you never agreed to something as fast as you did.

You could say that you were friends with Felix— in a way that you’re comfy enough to invite him to your apartment so he could teach you why it’s crucial to use almond flour more than any other flour on macarons. But not as comfy as hanging out with him casually at any given time.

Now the both of you are in your small kitchen, slightly covered in flour because of your clumsy ass opening the bag the wrong way, and in cute pink aprons because that’s all you had. Felix didn’t bring his own, and there’s no way in hell that you want him to have stains on his white sweatshirt.

“Okay, I think you can pipe this on the tray,” he handed you the bowl, hands brushing with yours as he did, making you take a breath.

You’ve never looked at Felix more than a friend, so you don’t know what’s up with you today, staring at him and spacing off as you do, feeling breathless when he just gave you a bowl, and you can’t even really look into his eyes.

Maybe it’s the atmosphere.

Maybe it’s because it’s your first time with Felix alone. You’ve never really been together with him outside the cooking lab; if you are, some of your common friends are there with you two. Never like this. Never feeling this intimate.

Sure the guy is attractive, gives the best smiles, and is probably the sweetest and most thoughtful person, but you know about boundaries and lines you shouldn’t cross.

“Oh, you’re supposed to do it like this,” Felix demonstrated on his tray after seeing you struggle with piping as the batter inside kept falling to your arm for some reason.

The man trying to teach you laughed when you still didn’t get how it was done. He slowly placed a hand on yours from behind, guiding it properly. He reached his free hand to help you with how you’re holding the top of the bag and placed it firmly.

“You’re supposed to squeeze the top gently and let the batter flow on its own as you circle it,” with the proximity between the two of you, it was inevitable for you to feel his breath on your neck when he instructed you.

“Like this?” You whispered, hesitant after doing the other circle.

“Yeah, like that, you did great,” he still held on to your hands, face inches from yours when he looked at you and grinned proudly.

It was only when he checked on the filling from the other side of the kitchen that you could finally let out the breath you were holding the whole time.

After a few hours of prep, the macarons were ready to take out of the oven. You didn’t even notice how nervous you were about the results until Felix took them out and carefully placed them on the counter. They were soft green, and you couldn’t be happier because they had the signature “feet” well-baked macarons have.

The time came for you to taste them. To think the most nerve-wracking part was the baking and garnishing; it didn’t cross your mind that you actually had to eat and taste. What if they looked good but tasted the complete opposite?

“You go first,” you nudged the macaron to Felix.

He laughed, having no choice but to grab it from your hand.

“Ready?”

“Don’t ask. Just bite!” You covered your eyes, afraid to even see his reaction.

A few beats passed, and Felix remained quiet. You peaked between your fingers blocking your sight, seeing Felix was just there looking at you with a still uneaten macaron in his hand, a misty look on his face with his lips turned up slightly.

“What are you doing? Take a bite!”

“Alright! Alright!”

As Felix obeyed, you heard an instant “mmm” coming from him. Retaking a peak, you see him finishing the dessert. His eyebrows were knitted; he took another bite, tongue swiping a stray crumb on the side of his lips.

“So?” You probed, not wanting to wait any further for his thoughts on the first-ever macaron you made. Well… maybe first ever macaron you semi-made since Felix helped you a lot in the process.

“It’s perfect,” he grinned, licking his fingers.

“Oh, don’t you dare sugarcoat this, Felix. I’m serious! This could make or break my—”

He caught you off guard when he placed a macaron in your mouth. It instantly made you shut up, but you still looked at him in disbelief. Finally, taking a bite, you surprised yourself with how it tasted. It was sweet but not overly done, crunchy but soft inside. It was nearly perfect.

“See? It’s good, right?” He chuckled, proud of what you made with him.

You rolled your eyes in reply, trying to find a napkin to wipe off the filling from your lips. But the baker in front of you beats you to it, his hand on your cheek as he gently wipes off the chocolate flavor.

Silence enveloped the two of you. You could feel the tension in the air when he slowly inched his face to yours. A couple of his stray hair framed his face perfectly, his freckles looking absolutely unreal up close. Starting to flutter your eyes close; you mimicked his actions by inching closer, lips slightly touching his.

Ding.

The timer went off, making you jump up from your seat.

Felix cleared his throat, eyes widening and then blinking. He suddenly stretched his arms over his head, looking at the ceiling, the cupboards, and finally, towards the oven.

“The second batch of, uh, cookie— no, macarons are done.” You stumbled on your words. Wiping your hands on your apron, you took deep breaths as you walked towards the oven.

“I think I need to get going,” Felix announced. He carefully folded his apron and placed it on the top of the now clean counter.

The both of you were silent for the rest of the time you spent together after what ensued from earlier, only exchanging simple questions and answers regarding who would wash the dishes and keep the ingredients.

It was awkward.

With every minute of silence, you can’t help but think if he was starting to regret helping you out in the first place and if doing this was a mistake.

You nodded curtly, trying to give him a smile as best as you could.

He took a last sip of the coffee you ordered before he grabbed his car keys, eyebrows deeply knitted in thought.

You managed to let out a small “I’ll take you to the door” as you followed him outside. Wrapping your arms around you, you gave him a final nod of goodbye when he smiled slightly and waved at you.

He rolled his sleeve shirt to his forearm as you watched him walk to his car, not even looking back at you, even if you waited.

Thoughts were eating you up that night.

No.

They were swallowing you.

You fought with yourself if you should text him and check in to see if everything’s alright, maybe even say sorry for what happened even if there’s nothing that happened but an almost kiss.

After hours of rolling and tossing on your couch with a random movie left unwatched on your tv, you finally decided to text him. You erased whatever you were typing multiple times. Paragraphs turned into sentences, then sentences turned into phrases until you ended back to square one with a blank screen and you staring at his contact name.

Falling into a debate with yourself for the nth time that night, you decided with a simple “thanks for today.”

You threw your phone to the other side of the couch and shielded yourself with pillows as if your phone was going to explode any minute after you hit send on the text.

Holding your breath was not a good idea when waiting for a reply, but thankfully, you didn’t need to keep it for much longer when you heard the notification.

You sighed in relief after instantly getting a reply. Closing your eyes as you finally felt at ease. You sent a quick and safe response back, not even expecting anything from there. But after seeing him react to your message with a simple heart, something in you felt iffy.

You bit your lip, trying to imagine scenarios in your head that could possibly unfold if you sent something else.

Thinking that he wasn’t the type who would look at his phone and wait for the “typing” pop-up, you decided to feed your imagination by writing a new message.

Smiling in contentment, you stared at your screen.

Oh shit.

You fell asleep earlier. You must have left your phone unlocked and your fingers on the keyboard because you just saw that the message you typed earlier was sent.

To Felix.

And it was left on read.

Panicking, you quickly fumbled to unsend the message, but you knew it was too late.

“Shit,” you mumbled to yourself, starting to think of a way out. Should you call him? Should you text him and tell him that you didn’t mean to send it to him? But then, he left you on read. And that was like fifteen minutes ago already. Was he creeped out? Maybe he left you on read because he didn’t feel the same way?

Your thoughts were interrupted when the doorbell rang. Standing up from the couch, you still grabbed tightly on your phone as if it would erase the message that way.

Not bothering to see who the person was on the other side of the door, you quickly opened it, eyes still glued on the screen in worry.

“Hey.”

Rubbing your eyes in disbelief, you look at the man in front of you. He was still wearing his white sweatshirt from earlier but wore sweatpants instead of jeans, and his glasses adorned his face.

“Felix?”

His dimples popped out when he pursed his lips in thought.

“What are you doing here?” You asked, breathless once again, still not believing he was right in front of you.

“Your text,” he answered simply.

Your mouth agape, you didn’t know what to tell him. You were thinking of an excuse or any words to say at this point, but before you could even form a coherent sentence in your head, Felix placed a quick but gentle peck on your lips.

When you didn’t react or protest, he steadily placed his hands on your waist and pulled you to him.

“I hope this is okay,” he whispered when his lips were inches from yours, “because I wish I had kissed you earlier too.”

Gently, he closed the gap between the two of you, kissing you tenderly and sweetly. Your hands made their way to his face and neck and gently held him there as you kissed him back.

You giggled when you pulled away, forehead on his.

“What?” he asked.

“I could still taste the macarons.”

Copyright © 2022. latteseungs on tumblr. reposts are NOT allowed.