pairing: juhaknyeon x fem! reader ⤷ ゛ ˎˊ˗

genre: fluff, best friends to lovers

cookie for your thoughts: usage of y/n · they're sooo cute and wholesome · mall romance · feels a little cliche · they so obviously like each other, just admit it already!!

[a/n]: my first oneshot that i've wrote in years, i'm so rusty, so i hope this wasn't too bad and was enjoyable, lol + also, there might?? be errors, i proof read this like a bajillion times but i feel like i could've missed something still, lmao

You were always in your head, constantly spacing out. It was so easy for you to space out; your imagination always pulling you from reality.

"Whatcha' thinkin' about?" You looked up, meeting a friendly, familiar pair of eyes, "Hak! You scared me!" He half smiled, placing your drink and food in front of you, sitting down next to you.

"I scared you? Y/n, you knew I'd be right back." He spoke as he took his food out, really really eager to begin eating. "Is everything okay with your food?" He spoke, looking up to see you already staring at him, a small, loving smile on your face.

"It's perfect." "You didn't even check it yet." He said with a small pout, opening it for you and checking, "Oh! It's perfect, you were right!" He exclaimed, nodding at you. "Yes-yes," You pressed your pointer finger against your forehead, squinting your eyes at him, "I used my superhero-spy powers to see through the box! The chicken is fried to perfection, and the fries are extra seasoned and delicious!"

He snorted at you, reaching for one of your fries, "Well," He dragged out the L, smirking at you, "I'll be the judge of how seasoned these fries are." "Huh? You're stealing!" "You can't steal from a friend." You both stared at each other, a long silence between the two of you.

"You can steal from a friend, are you crazy!" "Well," He leaned close to you, pressing his cheek against yours. "I'm sorry, Y/n!~" He dragged out your name, a slight whine in his voice. "It's just, these fries!" He put the fry in his mouth, letting out a long, exaggerated hum, "They're so good! I can't help myself!"

He grabbed another fry, holding it up to your mouth. "The fry spoke to me, Y/n, it was begging me to eat it! It's speaking to me again!" He pulled the fry from your lip to his ear, "Mmm.. mhm, yeah... I see..." He nodded to the fry as if it were really speaking to him, "It told me, you need to eat it next, so you won't be mad at me, so you'll understand why I ate a fry!"

You snorted, shaking your head at him. "Okay, Haknyeon... You can eat that fry." "Okay!" He wasted no time to eat it, the both of you laughing.

The laughing between you two stopped, a soft sigh slipping past his lips, he stared at his food, his brows furrowed.

"Hak..." You looked at him with concern. You expected him to immediately begin eating as soon as the chit-chat was over with, but to see him now spacing out, that concerned you.

"Hak? You okay?" You placed a hand on his back, leaning closer to him.

"Y/n, you always share your food with me, why?" He softly asked, picking up a chicken leg, a cute pout on his face, staring at the chicken as if it had made him sad.

You giggled at his words, placing a hand on his lap, staring at him with a smile. He stared back at you, his cheeks a faint shade of red. "You live to eat, I eat to live... I love seeing you happy, that makes me feel full enough." He felt himself get shy, but kept eye contact with you.

"But what about you?" "What about me? I love seeing you happy, and food makes you happy." "But you should eat too..." "I eat plenty, you just eat more." He chuckled softly at your words, looking at the chicken leg he still held,

"I may love food, but..." He placed the chicken leg in your box of food. "I love you more." Your eyes widened, "W-Wow, you must mean it! You just shared your chicken with me!" You felt your face heat up, "Hey! Don't make it sound like I never share with you!" "Right, riiight, you're always so gracious and kind to me, JuHak." He shrugged, rolling his eyes. "I know."

When he noticed your silence, he glanced at you, smiling and nudging your shoulder. You giggled softly, the both of you finally beginning to eat your now cooled off food.

╰┈➤ˎˊ˗

"Wah! That was good! I'm sooo full!" Haknyeon whined, leaning back against his chair. You looked him up and down, laughing at his unbuckled belt. "I love you when you love food." "So you love me always?" You looked up, tapping your chin as if you were in deep thought. "Yeah!" He tilted his head at you, smirking a little. "I know." You shook your head at him, cleaning up the both of your mess,

"Y/n..." "Hm?" You answered but kept your eyes on the trash you were picking up, not sparing him a single glance, "Uh, give me a second." He quickly grabbed all the trash from your hands and off the table, rushing to a trash can to throw all of it away. You stared at him with wide eyes, locked on him all the way until he plopped right back in the seat next to you.

"Y/n, there's something I wanted to give to you." The usually confident Haknyeon couldn't even bring himself to look at you, the tips of his ears red, his brows slightly furrowed.

"What is it?" You watched him like a hawk, staring at his hand as he reached into his pockets, pulling out a small box. You let out a small hum, wondering what it could be.

"Y/n, we've been friends for so long- best friends for so long, right?" "Right! The bestest of friends!" "And Y/n, we've been through thick and thin with each other. We've seen each others flaws, our less desirable traits, we've had our acts of selfishness with each other, times where we couldn't stand each other." "Geez, Hak... is there a restraining order in that little box?" You joked, causing a quick laugh to slip past his lips.

"No, never. I couldn't live without you by my side." He looked up at you, laughing softly once more. "What I'm trying to say is, we know all of each other, inside and out, and..." He sighed, deciding to show you better than he could tell you. He opened the little box, watching your eyes widen. "A ring! It's so cute! It's heart shaped!"

He took the ring, turning it, showing you the backside of the ring. "It says my name?" He nodded at your words, his hands a little shaky. "On the outside, it says your name, and on the inside it says my name... Because, I hope forever I'll be in your heart... You won't be able to see my name, but you'll know it's there, kinda like how I hope to be inside your heart?" He almost cringed at his own words, his voice as shaky as his hands.

"This is such a romantic gift to give your best friend, Haknyeon. It feels like a gift you'd give to your girlfriend..." You mumbled, your face feeling hot, your heart beating quicker than usual.

"Y/n, enough beating around the bush." His nervousness quickly brushed off, returning back to his usual self. "I like you, and I'm not dumb, I think you like me too, I mean come on. Calling me perfect?... You weren't talking about the food, come on — Be real... I don't want to accidentally let you go by trying to push the 'We're just best friends' thing. We're always gonna be best friends, but I want to also be your boyfriend, and... hopefully more in the future,"

Your eyes widened at his words, an overwhelming feeling of happiness washing over you. Before you could respond, he grabbed your hand.

"Y/n, I love you. I'll admit it, it's about damn time. We've known each other since Middle School. I want to try, even if you don't feel the same, I just need to know I tried, so I won't live with regrets, and feeling what if's... What if I tried, and you did love me too. We'd live happily ever after, what if I tried, and you rejected me, at least we can go on being just best friends, but no confusion on my end..."

Instead of putting the ring on your finger, he placed it in the palm of your hand, closing your own hand for you. You slightly pouted at his actions, looking down at your closed hand, and his hand that still rested on top of yours.

"Haknyeon... You gave me a ring, aren't you supposed to put it on for me? Wouldn't that like, make this official, or seal something? I don't know..." He took his hand off of yours and you opened your hand immediately. You were staring down at your hand, not being able to look at him, though you wore a shy smile, your face hot, and maybe even a little, or very red.

"You were always so smart, so sharp... nothing could ever get past you, JuHak." You giggled, holding the ring up to him. "I think you knew all along that I liked you... That I love you." He laughed softly, shaking his head and grabbing the ring in your hand, he gently grabbed your left hand, turning it over and hovering it against the tip of your ring finger. He paused, looking up at you,

"Haknyeon, I want you to be my boyfriend, and I want to be your girlfriend... Do you want that too? Really?" He nodded eagerly. "Of course, you're the only I want." You both smiled at each other, looking down at the ring, "Then... when you put the ring on, that's when I'll be your girlfriend." He slid the ring on, a warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest.

He's usually calm, cool, and collected, but around you, he feels giddy, almost like a child again.

He doesn't normally get such 'Warm' and 'Fuzzy' feelings, not unless you're involved.

You blinked a few times, your smile growing bigger, "So... we're officially boyfriend and girlfriend... Just like that?" You said happily. "Sorry I confessed to you in the food court of a mall, of all places..." Haknyeon sheepishly said as you both looked around at the nearly empty food court.

You shook your head at him, grabbing his hands, "Haknyeon, it doesn't matter, this mall has so many memories... We've hung out here so much. You should be sorry if you didn't confess here," You both laughed. "this was the first place we met up with each other at, I was so nervous to finally meet you out of school... This is our spot. This was the most perfect, most right place, ever."

He leaned his forehead against yours, his eyes fluttering shut, feeling extremely happy, confident, and relaxed. He felt like he was on top of the world right now, with you right by his side. As it should be.

"Remember how you said friends don't steal?" You said softly, he hummed in response. "Well, you stole my heart, so friends definitely do and can steal." Haknyeon groaned at your words, his groan quickly turning into laughter,

"Corny..." He mumbled loud enough for only you to hear, wearing a big smile on his face. He gave you a quick, small peck on your cheek, that familiar warm, fuzzy feeling washing over the both of you.