umi

you: hey are we still meeting ?

only seconds had passed, and you didn't even get to put your phone back in your pocket before it vibrated against your hand.

sion: ofc <3 at the same cafe

you: omw :')

like every other week, you were supposed to be meeting with your friends for your weekly study sessions. when you first started meeting, you thought nothing of it. sure, half the group had different majors to study for, but it was the commiseration you shared and each other's presence that mattered most. you treated it like a hang-out almost, a breather from the usual stress of classes, but now, it all made your heart thrum like a seasoned drumline as you walked down your memorized path to the café.

the shrill ding of the door rung as you tentatively opened it. warmth enveloped your shivering frame with open arms, and the homey aroma of coffee wafted towards your face and up your nostrils. that paired with the quaintly decorated interior made a cozy atmosphere that made this place a refuge. an employee greeted you from behind the counter, and you offered a shy wave back.

as your eyes scanned around the café, you spotted a familiar face in a booth near the corner. he was sitting in front of a laptop, lips slightly jutted out in concentration. he leaned back in his seat with a small sigh before looking around and immediately making eye contact with you. his whole face brightened up as he smiled and clumsily waved a hand at you, mouthing a quiet 'hey'. you returned his smile as you made your way over to him. you set your backpack down on the vinyl-coated seat, sighing as the weight slid off your shoulders.

you slid into the other side of the booth and finally got a good look at him. he was wearing black-rimmed glasses and a plain hoodie, a thicker coat discarded to his side. he swept a hand through his almond brown locks that somehow fell back into place perfectly. this was the reason why the thought of your study sessions brought you off balance. he was just sitting there, but was already so distracting, how would you get anything done? you were afraid that your developing crush on sion would reveal itself soon, but for now, you were holding it down the best you could.

he greeted you back and slid his laptop to the side. "it's been so long since i've seen you." he leaned forward on his elbows, his head resting in his palm.

you tilted your head. "it's only been two days?"

"exactly." it draws a small laugh out of you. you wouldn't admit it, but those two days had dragged on without his warm presence disrupting the cold weather.

"how was your day?" he asked as his eyes followed you hands as you pulled out your notebooks. his gaze met your again, bright as ever. he listened as you briefly went through your day, the same it was every monday.

"it seems like your day was more interesting than mine."

you narrowed your eyes. "i doubt that. i think you just like to hear me talk." you're only confident in your accusation because he's said so. multiple times. and each time, you brushed it off as one would with lint from clothes straight of the dryer, not quite sure how to deal with such attention.

he simply smiled. "guilty." soon, the smell of coffee floating through the air was too tantalizing for him to ignore.

"hey." you looked up from your notes. he looked towards the counter, tilting his head in that direction. "did you wanna go get something?"

you softly nod with a smile. "yeah." you both got in line, waiting for the few people before you to order as you stared up at the menu in thought. soon, you were next up with sion trailing right next to you.

you ordered your usual drink before your eyes trailed down to the plethora of colorful desserts sitting in the display case. they were rather tempting. maybe a small treat wouldn't hurt. "and a slice of tiramisu." you added.

she turned towards sion without a second thought. "and for you, sir?"

"oh, it's separate," you interjected as you searched your jacket pockets for your wallet. before you could pay, a hand laid on top yours, gently pushing it out of view, and you swear electricity shoots through you when you touched. you looked over to him in confusion.

"it's together." he chimed in before continuing the order.

"what are you doing?" your quiet, whisper-shouted protest went unheard as he finalized the order and gave you a coy smile after the cashier walked away. you shook your head as you dejectedly slide your wallet back into your pocket, biting back amusement. "you didn't have to do that, you know."

"it's the least i could do, with you walking all the way over here to be with little old me." the excessive bat of his unfairly long eyelashes made you laugh.

"well, thank you." he was always taking care of you in little ways, so you couldn't be too surprised. by now, you thought you would've learned how to accept his impromptu gestures.

"of course." he looked down at your hands tucked in your pockets. "your hands were freezing by the way."

"i forgot my gloves this morning," you blurted out to drown out the thought of him warming them up with his own hands. after a while, you both headed back to your seats after getting your orders.

the plastic lid crackled as you removed it and stabbed the spoon through the tiramisu's cocoa-dusted surface. you brought the spoon to your mouth—first, it was the airiness of the mascarpone, then the taste of deep-roasted coffee that hit your tongue, and your eyes lit up instantly.

"how is it?"

"it's great, and it tastes even better since it's free." he laughed as you took another spoonful into your mouth. "do you wanna try?"

"hm," he gave it thought, fingers thrumming around his coffee cup as he let it cool down.

"hold on." he watched you with curious eyes as you fetched another spoon, hastily unwrapping it. you cut into the tiramisu again, bringing it to his lips. he shook his head in disbelief, though the smile on his face betrayed his true amusement with the situation.

"no wonder she thought we were together. you're feeding me?" you realized what you were doing, but before you could lower the spoon, he gently grasped your hand, bringing it closer and wrapping his lips around the spoon. the warmth of his touch and his gaze that never broke away from yours made you malfunction.

you gingerly let your thoughts escape your mind, your spoon going still in your hand. "did she?"

"maybe." he tilted his head with an innocent look. "would that be so bad?"

of course, just when you thought your heart had finally settled, he had the nerve to tease you again. your lips twitched into a bashful smile, your voice going quieter than you'd like as you waved away his question.

"i might have to steal that from you, though. it's really good." you jokingly shielded the dessert away from his stare, but really, you wouldn't hesitate to share with him if he asked.

another ding of a bell came from the entrance along with a pair of voices and a new rush of cool air. you turned towards the door mid bite to see the other half of your friend group shuffling into the cafe—late as usual, but not by much this time. minju walked over to where you were sitting with jaehyun following suite.

"hey guys! sorry we're so late." her eyes scanned the scene before her before a teasing smirk flickered on her face, an accusatory finger pointing between you two. "my bad, are we interrupting your date?"

"mm, i think we are," jaehyun whispered, through it was still in ear show.

"what? no-"

"yes, actually." sion interjected. you looked over to him with furrowed brows, swatting at him.

minju looked over at you with the slightest smirk before she slid her backpack off her shoulders, asking you to scoot over. you slid toward the window to let her sit down. sion did the same, letting jaehyun scoot in next to him and immediately chatting it up.

of course, she had caught on to whatever was going on between you and sion a long time ago. her look was yet another wordless acknowledgement of it all, a query of why you haven't made a move yet. she knew exactly why, so you returned her scrutinizing stare with narrowed eyes and focused your attention back on your half-eaten dessert.

it was getting late, and eventually the study session had to come to an end—if you could even call it that because there was more talking going on than studying. everyone parted in their separate ways, but because you were going in the same direction, sion insisted on walking with you to your dorm.

walks with him were nice, but fleeting. sometimes, your conversations from the cafe would carry on, and other times you walked while surrounded by a comfortable silence, like now. on the way there, your shoulders bumped into each other every now and then, your fingers brushing once, but surely enough to be the main topic of your thoughts for the next few days.

the soft sounds of your steps against concrete came to a slow halt. you both looked at the building and back at each other, knowing that your time together had come to an end.

"i guess this is it," you quietly announced. you realized you were alone together once again.

"sion, i.." you had half-prepared a confession in your head during your walk, but the look in his eyes made you pause. the atmosphere had felt right, or so you thought. the street lamp illuminating his skin, the deafening silence, the barely-there distance between you two. when did he get this close?

it all felt so intimate and scary, and your breath, along with your words, caught in your throat. the wind was why your eyes grew glossy, and the wind only.

effortlessly, he managed to melt away your icy exterior with his sunshine like energy after you met him. now, you were soaking in the cold wet puddle made by his love. it slowly seeped through your clothes, and you sat there no matter how unfamiliar it felt. how could you possibly explain that without sounding out of your mind?

you weren't ready, you told yourself. your expression faltered for a mere second. it was almost imperceptible, but sion noticed, and his expectant gaze waned along with it.

"i.. appreciate you for walking me to my dorm," you spoke into the air, watching thin clouds of vapor leave your mouth. he softly smiles back at you, barely there but still warm.

"of course." he opened his arms, inviting you into a hug, and you attached to him like a magnet. you've hugged countless times before, but this time felt different. it lingered for just a bit too long before one of you felt the urge to pull away.

"i'll see you later?" his voice was hopeful, and as soft as his jacket.

you nodded and bid him a goodnight before reluctantly walking towards your building, turning around to wave at him one last time. when you entered your dorm, a deep exhale left your nose as you closed your eyes, the tension on your body leaving along with it.

as you were getting ready for bed, his words still rang loud in your mind.

'would that be so bad?'

you groaned. no, it wouldn't, is what you wanted to say, but your mouth clamped shut at the thought. as your mind kept going back to your time at the cafe, the walk to your dorm as you braved the biting cold together, you were sure you wanted nothing more than to do it all again, but as more than friends.

but once again, you'd failed to make him understand what was going on your head. how could you when you barely understood it yourself?

anxiety arose as you racked your mind for a solution, ruminating over every little interaction. was it all just a joke? were you reading too much into it? you've never doubted yourself to this degree, and never had someone invade every square inch of your brain. you were almost never alone with your thoughts because he was always there; his eyes, his smile, his laugh when he found even your worse jokes funny.

a distant knock on your bedroom door interrupted your spiraling thoughts. you went to open it to see your roommate, haewon, standing there with a knowing look.

you breathed out a sigh of relief. "oh, hey,"

"hello." her voice was awfully chipper for the hour, and you already know where the conversation was leading to. your eyes trail her as she invited herself into your room, plopping down onto your bed with her pajama-clad legs crossed. "so, how was your day?"

"it was alright." it came out more flat than you meant it to.

"what? your study date didn't go well?"

"okay, don't call it that." you playfully rolled your eyes. the door creaked closed behind you before you joined her on your bed.

her eyebrows slightly furrow as she tilted her head. "what happened?"

you scratch the back of your neck as you attempted to sum it up, everything up until the second you came home. you winced as you finished your last sentence, bracing yourself for her response. "and i didn't end up telling him."

she blinked at you, her expression puzzled. "y/n, what are you so afraid of? you know he's like in love with you, right?"

"oh, come on."

"so you don't notice all the flirting?"

"i mean yeah, but he's like that with everyone." you blinked at her, confusion laced in your features as she laughed at you a little too hard.

her laughter dwindled out as she caught her breath, steadily straightening out her expression. "sorry, i just.." haewon looked at you with pursed lips, carefully scanning your anxious figure. "you don't have a clue in the world."

she huffed out a breath in finality and reached her hand out in front of you, her palm towards the ceiling. "here, give me your phone."

you quirked an eyebrow at her. "for what?"

"just trust me." with narrowed eyes, you cautiously handed her your phone. the intention of her taps across the screen didn't even register in your mind until it was too late.

"wait, what are you doing?" your attempt to grab your phone back failed as she pulled away, continuing to tap at the screen.

"inviting him to a movie night with you and your friends." she flashed you an accomplished smile, the phone screen lighting up her face rather ominously in the dark room.

"what? since when are we having a movie night?" you snatched your phone back, quickly reading over the message she sent masquerading as you.

"since now."

"haewon." your hands gradually grew sweaty around the phone case. "how do you even know if he's available? and why on earth did you add a winking emoji?" your nervous inquiries faded away as 'delivered' turned to 'read' and dots flickered within the text bubble.

a single, chirpy ding played throughout the room.

"you sound so surprised." haewon laughed, "i told you." you were mostly scared of whatever she had planned, if she did. with her, things weren't always what they seemed to be.

"i'm never giving you my phone again, by the way,"

she pursed her lips with a singular, defeated nod. "noted."

"damn it," sion stared down at the screen connected to the printer. it would usually be functioning, a tad bit too bright and ready from him to input commands, but today it was covered with a sheet of paper that stubbornly read OUT OF ORDER.

he looked around the library. surely, there had to be another printer on that floor, though he wouldn't have to play this scavenger hunt if his professor didn't insist on everyone turning in a hard copy of their essay. tall, wooden bookcases filled majority of the space, occasionally broken up by study spaces occupied by groups of students. when he got to the end of the lengthy corridor, he spotted it; another printer, fully operational with no flimsy sign, and he breathed out in relief.

he planned to quickly print out his essay and head back to the comfort of his dorm, but he heard a familiar laugh. he whipped his head to the side; it was your laugh cutting through the clutter of quiet voices, and you were sitting with some guy he had never seen before.

his eyes carefully raked over the scene, standing so still that anyone who passed by him would be convinced he's a statue. watery sunshine slanted in through the window behind you two, illuminating your forms. of course, he was only looking at you and how you practically beamed at whatever this guy had just said.

you turned your head towards him, eyes filling with recognition as you waved, which urged his feet to move. before he knew it, he was walking over there greeting you both.

"hey, sion." you hopped out of your seat, wearing that shy smile he'd come to memorize. your hands went to fiddle with your back pockets like you didn't know what to do with them. "what are you doing here?"

"just wanted to print out an essay." he pointed his thumb behind him towards the printer. "what about you?"

"oh, i was meeting with my lab partner, taesan." you turned around to properly introduce him to sion. taesan waved and sion returned it with a greeting that was more rehearsed than he intended. he didn't want to come off as jealous. besides, sion knew nothing about him or his intentions.

he just wished it was him meeting with you instead, him hearing you complain about how lab was kicking your butt. it was usually him who'd you talk to about it, but he had barely heard from you all week. he was under the pretense that you wouldn't be on campus that day, because it's what you told him.

"it's nice to see you. i thought you wouldn't be on campus today," he pointed out, his mouth moving before his mind could catch up.

you gave him a tight-lipped smile. "i guess my plans changed." you said through a nervous laugh. you only met his eyes for split second before they shifted sideways. suspicion manifested within the slight raise of his eyebrows before he could stop it.

you were avoiding eye contact with him more than usual. sometimes, he found it cute. and sometimes he just wished for those pretty eyes to look at him, to gaze at him with unbridled want even for a second, like you did that one night.

his grip around his backpack strap tightened. he was reminded of how you would chide him for wearing one strap because it would 'mess up his back' and slid his arm through the other one out of habit. "so, are we still having movie night this weekend?"

"yes." you nodded. "if you don't mind, i kinda already picked the movie out. i've been wanting to watch it for so long." your hands clasped together in front of you, unable to hide your excitement, and there was no way he would say no.

"of course, it's whatever you want."

"great! i can't wait." light returned to your face full force at his words. "well, i should get back to my meeting, then. it was nice to see you."

a small part of sion deflated at your words, but he knew you were busy, and he'd be able to spend more time with you later that week. so, he quickly plastered a smile on his face, waving a small goodbye. sion knew he was going to take any opportunity he could to spend time with you. he was greedy with your time in a way.

somehow, the tepid hi's exchanged when you bumped into each other in between classes, the occasional calls, the time you guys spent together in cafes or libraries to study—too distracted by your presence to commit anything to memory— it wasn't enough for him.

he wanted to hear your voice, bright when you talked about your interests, or whiny when he teased you. he would be with you everyday if he could.

he didn't want to push you away by expressing that, because the thought of losing you all together was scary. every time he thought there's was a chance for something to develop, you'd pull away. he was going at your ever-osculating pace, but a part of him was growing restless. as he left, the whole interaction only motivated him further. something had to change soon, and he didn't how much longer he could keep his feelings to himself.

the situation you were in could only ever be seen in a sit-com.

the movie night you had planned—or the one haewon forced you to—was falling through right in front of your eyes. one by one, your friends had pulled out last minute with various excuses; haewon had to pick up an extra shift at her job, minju had to make her friend a last-minute gift, and jaehyun had to babysit his friend's.. turtle?

you read over the messages for the umpteenth time in disbelief and let out a grumbled noise. you were annoyed. not so much by them backing out last minute, but by the quality of their excuses, especially jaehyun's.

everyone was completely on board just a day ago. something was up, and you were sure haewon had everything to do with it.

it was more important to tell sion the news and interrogate haewon later. you let the dial tone ring in your ear, biting your lip until he finally answered the phone.

"hello?" his sing-songy voice played through the speaker.

"hey, um," you breathed out, sliding your hands behind the lenses of your blue light glasses to rub the drowsiness away. "i don't think the movie night is gonna work out."

"wait, why?"

"well, it turns out no one else can make it tonight. we can just do it a different da-"

"no, no," he replied hastily, accidentally interrupting you, and you stopped in your tracks with a lifted eyebrow. "i mean, you don't have to do that. maybe it can just be us."

it was just then that haewon's plan was truly coming into fruition. it had went from a group hangout to something reminiscent of a movie date. you realized you've been silent for too long, and he was still waiting for an answer.

"oh, yeah, i'd love that." hm. now it really sounded like you were accepting a date. you'd love it? you rolled your eyes at your word choice. "i'll see you later, then?"

he agreed, and you hung up the phone with a soft goodbye and closed your laptop, deciding to save your assignment for another day. you looked around at your room, which mirrored the disheveled state of your mind, but there was nothing a quick sweep through couldn't fix.

as you were cleaning up your room, the gravity of your situation slowly settled in your bones. the uncertainty of it all echoed within the silence of the empty apartment.

"i can't believe i agreed to this," you grumbled to yourself. you silently picked up the clothes scattered across your bedroom floor with an impossibly stern expression as you become more entangled within the sticky web that was your thoughts. you let out a sigh as you threw the last of your clothes into the hamper.

what would you even say to him? the look in his eyes always managed to dissolve the words on your tongue before they could even form. maybe inviting him over was a mistake; or an opportunity for you to finally set things straight. there were no obstacles in your way this time, and no excuses you could rationalize.

sion eventually arrived with a firm knock on the front door that pulled you away from your thoughts. you quickly made you way down the hallway and to the source of the sound, opening the door and greeting his devastatingly handsome face with a soft 'hi'

he greeted you back with that coquettish lilt to his voice that made you bite the inside of your lip.

"it looks terrible out there," your eyes wandered across the gunmetal grey sky. cold air billowed into the apartment, and momentarily, you regretted your choice of attire. "come in." he slid past you as you opened the door wider and close it behind him.

"i was thinking that we can watch the movie in my room since it's just us." he was taking his shoes off, and pauses to look up at you. you fiddled with your hands behind your back. "only if you want to," you quickly added, eyes a bit wide.

he immediately smiled at the newfound nervous tone in your voice. you peered down at him through the lenses of your reading glasses. your oversized shirt was ridden off your shoulder, the strap of your tank top in its place.

"yeah, that's fine." he had been to your apartment on one other occasion, but it'd be the first time he's in your room, alone with you.

"please, lead the way." you softly nodded and lead him down the hallway to your room, shouldering the door open and letting him inside. immediately, his eyes wandered around your room, taking it all in. he plopped down into the swivel chair in front of your desk and gave it an experimental spin.

you grabbed your remote and sat down on the edge of the bed before whipping your head towards him, watching him as he spun around in the chair again. "having fun?"

"yeah, actually," he answered matter of factly, and you both giggled. "i wasn't expecting your room to be this pretty."

sion's eyes started to wander around your desk, surveying the hodge-podge of stationary and trinkets laying across the dark wooden surface. above it was a corkboard with countless pictures and notes pinned to it that piqued his interest.

"this was the movie i was talking about," you said as you finished flipping through the titles on the screen. when you didn't hear an answer, you turned away from the TV to see his eyes fixed on the corkboard sitting above your desk.

he languidly read out the words to himself. there was a haphazard array of other similarly intimate blurbs thumb-tacked across the board. your heart was beating restlessly against your ribcage as you watched his eyes trace over the individual words.

your body moved on instinct, springing up from the edge of the bed and over to your desk. you grabbed the rounded corners of the chair, rotating the chair and his attention away from the wall.

"sion."

"y/n." your name on his lips was one of your favorite sounds. you wanted to hear it all the time. he stared back up at you with those chocolate brown irises that hid behind his long lashes, the same ones that turned into pools of honey in the sunlight. they scanned over your face, snagging on your lips for a moment too long. his fragrance was comforting, warm, and it forcefully invaded your senses, inviting you to get impossibly closer, to do something you'd thought through countless times before.

"i never knew you were such a hopeless romantic."

you straightened back up. "huh?"

"the words on your bulletin board. unless.. they mean nothing?" he proposed, tilting his head like he already knew the answer.

you thought this crush would be fleeting, just like any other time, like a bus passing you on the street. you'd watch it drive past you because it was nothing special, another one was soon to come in it's place.

but sion stuck around longer than expected.

he made the butterflies in your stomach rustle around with growing ferocity each time you saw him. your cheeks would grow tender from smiling so much. all of a sudden, every love song you listened to made sense. at night, there'd be endless moments of rumination, wondering what kind of partner he'd be, or how his hand would feel in yours, how his lips would caress yours.

talking your friends' ears off wasn't always an option, so you started scribbling down your thoughts, whether they were coherent or not, because there were so many of them. you couldn't decide if you were writing drafts of your long overdue confession, or words that were never to be uttered.

you stepped backwards, planting yourself back on the edge of the bed and taking a moment to steady your tongue. "i'd like to think i'm good at hiding it."

"why hide it?"

it was a question that had a myriad of answers, reasons you couldn't put into words. all you could offer was a dainty shrug of your shoulders.

your voice shrunk in volume unconsciously. "i don't know. don't you think it's a bit cringe?" your fingernails bit into the fabric of the sheets beneath you as you forced yourself to meet his eyes. they demanded your attention yet remained soft, willing you into a vulnerable state and gently dismantling your defenses brick by brick. the only sound accompanying your words was the soft pelt of rain starting up against your window.

"no," he answered carefully.

"you're just saying that so i don't feel like a loser," you laughed, though it was humorless, self-pitying. his eyebrows scrunch together, his natural pout deepening.

"i promise you i'm not," he defended himself.

you could tell he was being earnest, but you still raked your mind for any way to escape this situation to collect your scrambled thoughts.

you stood up with a soft sigh, body stiff as a board. "do you want popcorn? i'm gonna go make some." you started with rushed steps towards the door, but something stopped you.

"wait." you felt a warm, urgent grasp around your hand that made you stop in your tracks. slowly, you turned around to the image of your hands intertwined so intimately. sion was already looking up at you when you finally tore your eyes away to meet his gaze.

"i'd honestly eat anything you made me." there were a couple seconds of silence, the hush of the empty apartment intensifying before his next words hit you like a freight train.

"because i really, really like you." your eyebrows went up a tick, eyes slightly widening in surprise.

his other hand joined in, closing around yours, and they were just as soft as you'd imagined. there was a swift rise of red to his cheeks, and the same tint stained the tips of his ears. his usual bold demeanor was replaced by something quieter, more sincere.

he continued, "i like being around you. i like when you’re happy, making you happy. i wish this didn't take me so long, but i wasn't sure if you felt the same." there was the slightest waver in his voice, like he was treading a tight rope, afraid to say the wrong thing. "i feel you're always running away from me."

that sentence made your heart sink to your stomach, because it was true. but it was in an attempt to escape the way you felt around him. to think how his mental turmoil mirrored yours for who knows how long, guilt struck you like lightning. if you ran now, you'd be running away forever, trying to escape your thoughts of what could've been if you were just braver.

your movements were arrested by his sudden confession aside from a blink, trying to decide if you were dreaming or not.

the heat that rose to your cheeks, the grasp of his hands around yours were all so palpable that you were positive it was all real.

"i do," you started, your voice soft. "i do feel the same, more than you even know. more than i could even express."

you looked down at sion, whose eyes were sparkling at your words and laced with a bit of surprise. "really?" you answered with a fervent nod.

"i was just.. scared," you confessed, finally letting the truth out along with a quiet breath. his hands grasp yours a little tighter, like he was urging you to continue. "i've never been in a real relationship before."

"you want to be in a relationship with me?"

"gosh, yes, sion." you were starting to think he liked to see you flustered.

he stood up. "it's okay. we'll just take it step by step, if that's what you want." his words made your heart swell, and cleared all the doubts in your head like clouds parting on a stormy day. you never even gave yourself the opportunity to be a good partner, yet he saw a different version of you, a version that was worthy of love.

"i do want that," you nodded. "i also want to know what your lips would feel like on mine,"

"me too." you could feel your heartbeat pick up in your chest with excitement. your faces were a mere inches away from each other. you were inches away from what you've wanted this entire time. you realized he wasn't going to move unless you said something.

"can that be the first step?"

"gladly." gently, he removed your glasses and laid a warm palm against your cheek. he pressed his lips against yours, and you knew you'd get addicted to this feeling. it was with gentle urgency, like it was just for you. you grasped onto his hoodie and wrapped your hand around his forearm, pulling his body closer to yours and relishing his body heat. your teeth slightly bit into his bottom lip, which made him groan into your mouth. he pulled away from you, breathless but smiling. "what happened to going steady?"

you laughed, an embarrassed grin on your face. "sorry, you don't know how long i've been waiting to do that."

he laid another delicate, teasing peck on your lips as his thumb caressed your cheek.

"go ahead and pick the movie. i can take care of the popcorn."

"you don't even know where it is, silly."

"don't worry, i'll find it," he said with unfounded confidence.

you tilted your head, and opted to just tell him instead of sending him on a popcorn scavenger hunt in your kitchen. "first cabinet on the left."

"thank you." he gave your waist a gentle squeeze before heading out your room and down the hallway.

your excitement only intensified as you plopped down on the bed and picked out the movie. eventually, the smell of fresh butter filled the room when sion came back with a bowl of popcorn. you scooted over to make room for him.

the popcorn slowly depleted as you both shared it, making random commentary on the characters' actions and scenes. the movie slowed down in pace before the big climax, and you were feeling sleepiness overcome you. sion noticed how quiet you'd been and turned to look at your way, and you were resting your head on his shoulder fast asleep.

the week must've caught up to you, he thought as he admired your sleeping figure. he didn't even want to wake you. it was obvious that you needed to rest if you were falling asleep during the movie you were so excited to show him. he watched you for a moment, listening to your shallow breathing. he was grateful to see this side of you, vulnerable like he had never seen from you before. when he gently rocked your shoulder, whispering your name, all you did was wrap your arms around him tighter, grumbling something incoherent yet adorable.

"hm?" you mumbled, looking around the dark room before your sleepy eyes landed on him.

"hi, sleepy head." his voice was low in your ear, careful not to startle you.

you sat up with furrowed brows, sleep still evident in your groggy voice. "how long was i out?"

"i wasn't counting." you rubbed your eyes with a small groan, feeling heat slowly creeping up your neck.

"shit, i'm sorry. school has been draining me," you mumbled into his shoulder, closing your eyes once again. "guess i was tired."

he moved the bowl from between you to properly face you. "you're okay, it's been a long week." his voice was so soft, you'd let him lull you sleep again.

"i should get going though."

"what? but i want you to stay," you whined indignantly. you both knew it wasn't the best idea, but you gave it a shot anyway. you hoped it would be convincing enough for him to finish the movie and stay cuddled up next to you.

he laughed at your stubbornness. "me too, but you need to get some rest, love. we can finish the movie some other time." you didn't even have the energy to comment on his newfound pet name, mustering up a small smile instead.

"yeah," you reluctantly agreed. "let me walk you out, then."

he was right because as soon as your head hit the pillow after he left, you were out again in no time.

the next week, you met up with sion outside the building of your last class before walking over to the cafe. your arms were linked together as the cold wind whipped around you, slowly walking to savor the feeling of him next to you. you talked about your day, which was just about as uneventful as any other day, yet he still listened like it was the most interesting story ever. soon, you were just a block away from the cafe, biting at the inside of your lip.

"what do think they're gonna say?" you were unsure how bad the teasing was going to be, but regardless, you definitely had some choice words for them.

"i have no idea, honestly. what, are you scared?" he teased softly.

"no," you said, but it came out a bit too quickly to be convincing.

his unraveled your arms and reached down to hold your hand. "well, i'm right here beside you. i'm not going anywhere." your lips twitched into a content smile before you rested your head against his shoulder, breathing in the crisp air around you.

you eventually get to the cafe, and to your surprise minju and jaehyun are already there, sitting in a booth near the front. they must've wanted front row seats to the results of their plan.

"hey, guys." jaehyun greeted you both, his eyes traveling to your connected arms. "i guess some things changed?"

"yeah." you answered with narrowed eyes. you sat down next to minju and sion sat across from you. "how's your friend's turtle doing, by the way?"

jaehyun looked over to minju with a slightly confused expression, completely missing minju's brief but warning glare. "what? my friend doesn't have a turtle." a small smirk played on your face as you let out a scoff in disbelief.

minju closed her eyes with a sigh, her eyebrows pinching together. all jaehyun offered was a confused shrug her way.

"okay, fine." she huffed out and turned to you before confessing. "we might've lied about why we couldn't be there." you blinked at her, surprised that it didn't take as much grilling as you anticipated to get the truth out. "but, nothing would've happened if we didn't do something."

your gaze shifted to your laptop. "we would've gotten together.. eventually."

she made a sound between a scoff and a laugh. "eventually? as in, by the time i'm married with grandchildren?"

your head whipped back towards her with vengeance on your mind. just then, jaehyun let out a small laugh which only grew louder at the scowl on your face. you'd be lying if you said she was wrong. perhaps, a small part of you was grateful for their scheme despite them technically lying to you.

when the study session ended, and they both went their separate ways again, with you and sion walking side by side again to your dorm. you stopped in front of your dorm, looking over to sion. he was already looking at you with that love-dazed expression. for once, you allowed yourself to look at him the same way instead of stealing glances.

you hug him again before you part ways, and it lingered like always. you could allow yourself to relax in his gentle arms, letting your body melt into his as the tension in your muscles slowly dissipated.

"i'll let you go now," he whispered after some time, yet his arms didn't move from around you. "but, before you go, i have one more thing to confess." you slipped your way out of his hug, bringing all of your attention to sion.

"i was the one who came up with the plan." your brows snapped together.

you let out a dramatic gasp, backing away from him in shock. "no way." to your surprise, you were wrong about haewon. it turned out that she was just one of his minions.

you crossed your arms, wearing the sturdiest expression you could muster up. "you're lying to me already? not a great start to the relationship, sion."

the look of triumph on his face morphed into one of worry at your words. this wasn't how he thought it was going to play out.

"what? no, please don't be mad at me. i didn't know what else to do, and the opportunity just feel into my lap." you fixed your graze on the ground, feigning a hurt expression. a sigh left your lips as you finally looked over to him. a familiar flush crept up his face, a glossy pout on his lips. it was getting harder to mask your amusement with the whole situation.

"i'm not mad at you, but i do feel a little betrayed. i know how you can make it up to me, though."

"how?"

"maybe.. take me out on a date?" the suggestion brought the color back onto his face and the breath into his lungs.

he reached for your hands and gave them a firm, reassuring squeeze. "i can do that."

"great." you pressed a chaste kiss against his cheek. his eyebrows rose up in shock, and a hand came up to rest on the same spot. "just text me, okay?"

he simply nodded while looking stuck in a daze. "i will."

to your dismay, you had to let go and bid him goodnight, though with your luck, he would somehow slide his way into your dreams.

Your blood spikes, your heart roars in fear.

And rage, definitely rage.

Han Taesan—standing with his arms crossed and nose upturned, in all his disgusting, pompous Slytherin glory. He smirks sideways, face inches away from yours when he's leaned down to hear you better.

Or maybe the jerk just wants to goad his advantageous height over you.

You swivel back around, facing front. "What the heck are you here for?? Did Professor not ban you after…"

"You speaking to air?" he quips. "Because all the ghosts are too busy trying to smell the pastries, plus they suck at small talk."

You huff, turning around once again to look up at him. He grins in victory, the fool.

"I was saying," you grit your teeth, "that you aren't allowed to join the choir this year."

"And miss out on the festivities!?" he feigns a dramatic gasp, a hand at his chest.  "How can I go to bed knowing you’d be all alone over here? What if you forget the words? What if you slip and fall? Who’s gonna make sure it’s documented on camera for the progeny!?”

Your face heats up and you puff your cheeks in anger.

“You won’t have any progeny to document for, Han Taesan!” you shove your lyric sheet into your robe’s pocket and begin to fumble for your wand, ready to empty the Slytherin hourglass of house points. 

But the Head of Ravenclaw clears his throat loudly, commanding the student choir into place. You hesitantly pull the sheet out again, but not without throwing a nasty look back at Taesan, to which he responds with a satisfied, goofy smile. 

“In 3… 2… 1…”

The organ music rises to the midnight blue ceiling, magically siphoned and amplified, moving along to the non-verbal instructions of Professor Boo’s wand. You take a deep breath, ridding your mind of unnecessary tensions, fingers absently soothing Mr. Ribbit with gentle strokes; it does more to calm you than it does for him.

You start singing with a perfect smile, focussing on Eunchae's encouraging thumbs up from some distance away. 

Double, double, toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Double, double, toil and trouble;

Something wicked this way comes!

The words are morose and dramatic, but the choir had rendered the song to add a slight flair to it, spinning it in a more theatrical direction. You punctuate as practised, leaping from one verse to the next with whole-hearted attention.

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog,

Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,

Lizard's leg and howlet's wing.

You don’t see anything but your sheet of music, and the tiny notes you’d added to certain lines. You tunnel-vision, missing the happenings behind you—the eerie stretch of Taesan’s smirk, the slinking way he slides out his wand from inside his shoes, the way Keonho and Seonghyeon exchange an excited look of impending doom, the way Taesan’s mouth pronounces a transfiguration spell instead of the song he’s supposed to be joining in on.

“In the cauldron boil and bake, fillet of a fenny snake—” your voice lilts over the edge, maintaining harmony with the rest of the choir.

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf

Mr. Ribbit croaks uncharacteristically. You feel him shrinking in your arm, his skin turning less slimy and more…scaly. You make the terrible mistake of looking down, feeling your stomach lurch in shock. 

“Witches' mummy, maw and gu—AHHHHHHH!” you shriek before the verse ends.

Instead of holding your precious pet toad, there’s a spindly, dry, rattlesnake wrapped around your forearm!

You scream at the top of your lungs, pausing only to heave every time the snake hisses at you; the choir continues to sing, paying no attention to your hysterics, thoroughly loyal to Professor Boo’s teachings of ‘The show must go on!’. 

“Get it off, get it off, get it offffffff!" You're flailing around with tears in your eyes, ears accidentally tuning into Taesan's hearty cackle. "HAN TAESAN, I'M GOING TO DIE!"

“Don’t worry, they’re rarely fatal," he says easily, doing nothing to curb your freaking out.

"Rarely!??? Oh My God, I'm going to die. It's going to bite me—Mr. Ribbit, it's me, your Y/N, please don't bite!"

You've lost it, throwing your arms in wild circles to flick off the snarling serpent, no longer seeing any of the apathy of your lovely pet toad in his eyes. With one final ungraceful flourish of your left arm, Mr. Ribbit—no, the snake—flies overhead and lands right on top of an unassuming Professor Boo's head. It twists in anger, hissing loudly at a wide-eyed second year, who takes one shaky breath before letting out a shrill, "SNAKE—!!!".

The choir instructor is the first to react, shrieking, "SNAKE!!!? WHERE!?"

With a trembling finger, the kid points at the top of his head, freezing Professor Boo in his spot. He inhales sharply, face going sour, and brings a terrified hand to the reptile's skin and—

"FUCK! OH MERLIN! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE— I'M NOT EVEN MARRIED YET!" he heaves, sobbing through the wonky music now that he's no longer in control of its instruction. Several students look his way, confused about what to do next; Keonho snickers under his breath, Seonghyeon doesn't even bother to hide the way he pulls out his enchanted camera and snaps a loud, embarrassing shot of the Professor's snot.

Then there's Taesan, with a Cheshire cat grin and twinkly eyes, his attention solely on you and your mental breakdown, thoroughly enjoying every crumb of it.

"100 points off from Slytherin!" you choke out through a sob. "150 if you don't change him back to Mr. Ribbit, right now!"

"Term hasn't even started yet and you're already taking points off?" Taesan quirks his head, smiling when you clench your fists together in an attempt to stop the waterfall of tears threatening to spill.

"Detention!" you huff, sniffling and wiping your eyes. "Turn him back!"

"Say please," he retorts, earning more giggles from his minions at the back.

"Turn him back or else—"

"Or else, what? You'll send me to detention again? Oh, the horrors!" he mocks, making his voice shriller, evidently a cheap imitation of yours from a minute ago. Taesan reverts back to his default expression, which just happens to be the most insufferable thing you've been cursed to witness—that sideways smirk that looked too much like an evil cat plotting your demise, topped with his signature way of looking down at you. "Relax," he says when you continue to stare daggers at him through wet lashes, "Professor Jeon took care of your frog already."

You turn your head to where he motions, seeing the Quidditch coach cradle Mr. Ribbit in one of his hands, kneeling down to comfort a wailing Professor Boo (although you can distinctly tell that Professor Jeon is trying his hardest to hold back a snicker or two).

"Aren't you the Care of Magical Creatures Professor? This is like your entire job," Professor Jeon chuckles, helping the other man to his feet.

"That's offensive to us Magizoologists," Professor Boo retorts, rubbing his swollen nose. "Also, I'm not good with reptiles."

Mr. Ribbit leaps twice and straight into your open arms; you hug him close, saving your last couple sobs to apologise to him for ever letting him near Han Taesan's wand, kissing the top of his slippery head as a consolation offering.

"Kissing frogs while you wait for a Prince Charming? You're not supposed to take the saying literally, Y/N," comes the teasing comment from behind.

That's it. You are done crying—Han Taesan would have to simply be punished with lifelong detentions… Or at least until he'd graduate in two years.

You pivot around to do just that, but the calculations are off when it lands you a hair's breath away from his body.

"You look nice like this," Taesan does not drop his tone, his hands resting behind his spine as he leans further down to look you in the eye; your stomach coils anxiously. "Really, you've never looked better—the crying makes your cheeks all red, and the snot is really working in your favour—you're positively glowing. Say cheese!"

Before you know it, a resounding flash goes off, blinding you in a bright white light.

It makes you dizzy, as though under a concussive hex; when you come to, it's to face all 32 of Taesan's teeth, and the notoriously wicked look in his eyes.

You process the events in slow motion, blinking awake. The confusion blearily turns into utter embarrassment as Taesan begins to wave a shiny Polaroid in your face, snapping you awake with your own wet, flushed face staring back at you.

"I—" He slips the picture into his pockets, away from where you can grab for it. "You…"

"I'll make sure to put it up on my wall and pray to it every morning for good luck," Taesan nods sagely, slick in the way he returns the camera back to Seonghyeon.

First, you feel the shame—the utter indignity of the moment. How he's always doing this to you, making sure he doesn't go a day without making his presence known.

Then comes the red, hot, burning fury that surges when you look up to see his grinning face, almost serpentine in the way it grows wide.

He's having fun.

"Han. Taesan," you fume, furiously wiping away the last dregs of your tears. "Burn that photograph or I will haunt your nightmares, you evil, evil snake."

"Not the worst predicament I could be in," he shrugs. "I could get a pretty penny for this picture, y'know, if I sold it to the school paper. Isn't that right, Seonghyeon-ah?"

His mini-me nods enthusiastically from the back, chiming in with a, "Could go for some thirty galleons, give or take."

"However," Taesan leans forward, both hands casually in the depths of his pockets, resembling a giant, lazy cat. "Since I'm so gracious, I will take one for the team and keep this award-worthy picture to myself. That way the world will not have to suffer—"

"You will do no such thing! Give it to me. Now!" You launch for his pocket, but he sidesteps, dodging without even moving his arms.

"Missed," he sneers.

You try again, but that ends with your toad slipping out of your hold and leaping away onto the closest surface—which just so happens to be the Slytherin table, and right into some poor kid's open bowl of pudding. Naturally, chaos ensues, the fountain of pastries toppling over as students begin to yelp and scream, moving out of the way.

You look at Mr. Ribbit, then at Han Taesan, at your wit's end as to who to prioritise right now.

Taesan decides to lift the burden off your shoulder and takes off towards the door, where your toad has also sprung forward to. He looks back at you, offering his menacing sparkly eyes and juvenile grin, and a quick, "Catch me if you can!" before speeding faster.

You run after him before your thoughts can catch up. "200 points from Slytherin!" you shriek, only earning a funny look from the other house tables and a too-happy skip in the step from the boy that has tormented your peace for the past five years.

Han Taesan will pay for his sins.

Gryffindor common room

You must have murdered a sacred unicorn in your past life to deserve this fate.

"It's because you react exactly how he wants, Y/N," Chaewon is sitting with her chin propped up on her knees on the couch, voice slurred from sleepiness. It's been a long day of classes and club activities, and you're in no better shape.

"I still think he's into you," Eunchae mumbles through a cheekful of jellybeans, having shaken a whole packet right into her mouth. "Boys do stupid things for attention."

You make a disgusted face, wanting to give the younger girl a nice scolding but reluctantly restoring to just wiping the drool off the side of her lips; she looked too close to a chipmunk for you to manage to berate her right now. Maybe another day.

"Well he's definitely stupid," you grumble, sinking back into the foot of the couch, splaying your legs on the carpeted floor, sighing as Chaewon offers some placating pats on your head. "Sometimes I think he just likes to see me cry," you pout.

Chaewon and Eunchae's eyes meet at once, their faces contouring knowingly.

You narrow your eyes, gaze ping-ponging between them. "What?"

"Well…" Chaewon grins awkwardly. "It's not like you make it difficult in that department…"

"Hey!" you protest, offended.

"She's right though," Eunchae doesn't bother to soften the blow. "You cry when you panic. And you panic a lot. Like a lot, a lot."

Chaewon chimes in before you can start whining indignantly, "And you are afraid of every living thing on this planet—except for your toad that is—"

"He has a name."

"—Spiders, clowns, heights, exams, fish…"

"Dogs," Eunchae continues the lists, "primates, rats, flying, balloons—"

"Hey, balloons pop really loudly and it can be very startling," you reason, huffing. "And flying and heights are a single point, okay?"

"—Blood, needles…"

"Worms."

"Nightmares."

"Oh," Chaewon concludes with a pointer finger in the air. "And snakes!"

"The only other Gryffindor who can come even close to giving Y/N a run for her money is Myung Jaehyun," Eunchae adds, throwing another bean into her mouth. "And at least all his fears are on the ground; that guy turns into a whole different person in the air, dude."

You pout harder, scrunching your nose up and swivelling around to grumble into your lap. Eunchae giggles, finding some amusement in how cute you look when you're sulking. Chaewon just throws her arm around you from the back, squeezing your petulant form like she always did.

Eunchae offers you a jellybean as a peace offering. You pout but open your mouth anyways so she can toss one in.

"Scaredy cat Y/N is still our Y/N-ie," Chaewon appeases with a peck to your cheek; you pout harder and she giggles.

"Our lovely cowardly lion," Eunchae sing-songs, grinning.

They're not entirely wrong.

Scratch that—they aren't wrong at all.

Gryffindors were built on chivalry and guts. True blooded lions—hot-headed, competitive…determined—all bared teeth and fire. You, though, on the other hand…

Your list of fears exceeded your strengths. Sure, you could manage a decent petrification charm in the face of a pixie, and sure, you were the first in your year to fight off a boggart—but that was mostly because the shape-shifting creature couldn't decide on what phobia of yours to pick on; your brain had kept racing between ten-foot tall pythons and the image of Professor Park gifting you a giant, red FAIL on your Potions essay. Eventually the boggart confused itself to death.

So yeah, you're not made for the Gryffindor life.

Sometimes you even wonder if the sorting hat was stupid enough to make such a silly mistake with you. Surely, it should have known the second your eleven year old self sat on that wobbly stool and begged for the nicest house to take you in, hoping to get through your schooling unscathed. "The house that bullied the least, please," was your tight-lipped plea.

The hat has a cruel sense of humour for putting you in the midst of the Lions, you think.

"See, at least you're aware of all your fears—you even keep a list in your diary—I'd say knowing yourself is halfway to improvement," Chaewon tries, but you cut her off with a loud sigh.

"The only reason I know what I'm scared of is because Taesan has experimented every single one on me…"

Eunchae muffles a laughter behind her palm, and when you turn to glare at her, she feigns it as an attempt to stuff her face with candy.

"That's," Chaewon is racking her brain for any excuse to make you feel better, coming up empty. "Surely, he hasn't tried everything…?"

You huff, give her a long and pointed stare, and then dig into your satchel on the floor to bring out a thick, leather-bound book. Diary. If found, return to L/N Y/N, it reads.

Flipping open to one of the first few pages, you inhale a sharp acidic breath and begin to read—though it comes out more like a spit of words than a steady flow of sentences.

"First year, a Slytherin kid—you know who that is—stuffed a pocket dragon into my robes during flying lessons and my clothes caught on fire," you bite down on the words, chewing on them and spitting them out. "Professor Jeon told him to apologise but he didn't. I cried…"

"Of course, you did," that's Eunchae.

"I cried," you say, lifting your head to toss her a sour look, "and he started laughing like it was funny. He didn't care that he got a week of trophy-cleaning duty as punishment."

"So that's where your Pyrophobia comes from," Chaewon nods.

"And my Acrophobia," you sigh. "And my distaste for Slytherin."

"Hey, some of them are kind of okay-ish," Eunchae chimes in, carefully meeting you and Chaewon's eye. She backs down defensively when it's met with incredulous looks. "I said okay-ish. Some of them! Haerin is super sweet to me; she lets me sleep through Potions all the time and wakes me up when Professor Park does his rounds. Oh! And Chaewon unnie, I've seen the way you ogle at their Seeker."

"Me!?" Chaewon gasps, choking on air. "I wasn't… Sakura just annoys me, alright!? She's always parading around like she's better than everyone else."

"Sure," Eunchae doesn't poke, even though her tone indicates no hint of belief. She masterfully turns to you instead, "Keep going, I want to know the extend of distress this Han Taesan has caused our sweet Y/N."

"Second year," you're only too pleased to satisfy her craving. "Han Taesan—" You slash an angry line under his name with your nail. "—put Whizzing Worms into my breakfast juice. I almost drank it, but Chaewon stopped me, and there were worms wiggling in my cup—"

"I remember that," Chaewon reminisces with a smile; she schools it sheepishly when you swivel around to glare.

"—in my cup, and one almost bit my nose off. I was so scared I almost peed myself. Then I cried."

"And that's why she's scared of worms. Terrified, actually," Chaewon nods. "Didn't he also dig up worms from his home to bring to you?"

"A whole terrarium," you groan at the memory. Twelve year old Taesan had returned from winter break with an entire fish tank filled with dirt, grass, and twigs, and handed it into your shivering hands as though he had brought you a gift, like a cat dragging in a dead rat for their owner, but without the affection that went with it. An apology—he'd said—that his mom had coerced him into make amends.

Oh, how naive you were.

You had taken one look at the numerous wiggly little worms, hands trembling over the glass, and dropped it before anything worse could happen. It had shattered into a million shards over Professor Boo's precious cabbage field.

Granted, it was still a win for him, given the worms just made better fodder for his magical creatures, you had still spent the rest of the day picking broken glass out of leaves.

The worst part?

Being banished to detention for a month with Taesan, having to grit your teeth and bear with his annoying fist yanking at your pigtails, giggling at how easy you were to tease, how easy you were to trick.

"Third year," Eunchae gently pries the diary out of your death-grip, reading it for you lest you bend it in half. "I developed a fear of cats."

She looks up, amused, trying very hard not to guffaw at your pain.

You motion her to continue, leaning back into Chaewon's hug for comfort. Eunchae follows as told.

She recounts the moment back when you were thirteen and still as innocent as a baby rabbit, determined to bust Taesan for breaking out of his mandatory sit-in-silence-for-an-hour protocol for another one of his pranks. You'd barged in to find an empty seat and a suspiciously sly black cat on the otherwise barren desk.

But the moment you'd come back with Professor Jeon in tow, spewing your theories of Taesan jumping out the window on his broomstick—and the Head of Gryffindor assuring that it was impossible since his Stormrider was safely locked up inside the staff office—you'd slammed open the door to find Taesan casually leant back on the chair, whistling a merry tune at the ceiling.

"Miss Y/N, have you considered using a Reparo charm on your glasses; you can't have missed Mr. Han when he's right there," Professor Jeon had offered unhelpfully.

You had almost lost it right then and there.

Almost.

"I DON'T EVEN WEAR GLASSES!" you had flailed, but the Professor kept insisting you go visit the Matron for an eye check.

You could handle a lot, but the memory of the Professor's eyes looking at you in pity, the bubbling feeling of shame that surfaced to your throat when he had so clearly thought you were making things up—or worse yet, seeing things that weren't there… You hate it. You're terrified of a repeat of it.

You're also terrified of the potential existence of ghostly cats.

"Fourth year—" Eunchae begins but Chaewon slams the diary shut, aware of how you'd gone so still suddenly, mind floating far away, a stone sinking into your belly.

"Prefect duty soon, c'mon," the girl announces, helping you up by the arms. Her short dark hair sways as he grabs your wrist and pulls you along towards the common room entrance, making sure you've got your wand on you. "We'll see you later, Manchae! Patrol and meeting might take some time, so don't stay up for us!"

Eunchae waves back with another clump of jelly beans squeezed into her cheek.

The stairwell is dimly lit when you step outside, a criss-cross of railings running over and underneath each other, several feet of empty space between them. You immediately take the hand that Chaewon offers, too terrified to trip and fall to your untimely death. One would think it has to do with the phobia of heights again, but deep inside you know that there's a bigger fear of having your body be discovered by a bunch of stupid Slytherins—or in the worst case scenario, the image of Han Taesan guffawing at your obituary.

"She's not going to sleep early," you comment fondly, even though it's pretty redundant. As sure as the sky is blue, the youngest of the trio has always stayed up to gossip once you and Chaewon returned back from your responsibilities—a tradition since she'd bulldozed her way into your friendship a few years back.

Chaewon grins back, matching your softened gaze. "When has she ever? That girl talks more than she breathes; you'd think the world is about to explode tomorrow the way she simply has to know everyone and their mother's business."

"I think those Fifth year friends of hers enable her too much… "

"Who? Woonhak?" Chaewon giggles, swinging your arms as you turn around an alcove. "I hate to say this but I think the blabber-mouthing might be an official Gryffindor trait. That Kim Woonhak knows half of Hogwarts' business, and if he knows, Manchae knows."

"And if Manchae knows, everyone knows," you finish for her, sighing with an exasperated shake of your head. "Do we coddle her too much?"

"Hmmm…" Chaewon pretends to think for a beat, then meets your eyes with a chuckle. "Totally."

"Ugh, that makes us the enablers."

You're giggling, letting the evening air settle onto your skins, when your calm is disrupted by the sound of a boy talking in the distance, and the uneasy feeling of dread spiralling inside you.

"Powdered Poison Ivy for two Galleons!" Keonho entices a passerby, luring them in with a neon-green can of something evidently illegal. "Sprinkle some into Professor Park's collar and get two weeks of Potions off!"

Chaewon and you exchange weary glances.

The closer you creep, a free hand wrapped around your wand, you come to see exactly what you expect.

Seonghyeon sits to the far right, rearranging a long line of Extendable Ears and Inflatable Tongues on a pair of boxes pushed together and draped with a silky cloth. And between his two third-year minions, sits—no, lounges—Han Taesan. He wears a smirk at the corner of his lips; it extends as those sharp eyes move to notice you, hair messy, necktie askew and tied wrong.

You have the burning urge use it to choke the living daylights out of him.

"Y/N," he drawls, perking up at once—like a cat marking its prey. "Here to buy a Kissing Concoction? I fear it only works on humans, though. I'm still working on a formula that affects the Amphibia."

"I was not kissing Mr. Ribbit!"

Chaewon grabs your arm to ground you before you can shriek embarrassingly high.

"Excuses, excuses." Taesan clears his throat, getting up to part his robes. For a second your pulse raises, but then you see what he's showing you. "Handmade and proven to yield results."

A neat array of pink, bubbling vials line the inside of his robes, clearly stitched or magicked into place. Some are bright magenta, fuming dangerously, smelling like something minty mixed with apples and newly brushed fur, clouding your senses.

"We've got all the varieties—Heartbreak Teardrops, Twilight Moonbeams, Beguiling Bubbles," he says almost proudly. "Created to perfection by yours truly."

Keonho pokes his head in to chime in with an, "After effects may include nausea, uncharacteristic vertigo, and death!" His smile is exceptionally bright on the last item.

Your eyes dart between the three of them, processing the audacity of the scene before you.

"You're selling Amortenia to students!? As in, number one on the list of contraband items banned in Hogwarts?"

"Semantics," he rolls his eyes. You hope it gets stuck far up his skull. "We don't use words like illegal and contraband in modern magical systems anymore, tsk. The more appropriate word is 'suggested against'."

"You're dealing it to people; that's illegal!" You stomp your foot in exasperation. Chaewon sighs.

"… Okay yeah, maybe I am dealing—not that I like your little muggle vocabulary all that much," he responds in ease.

Taesan stands so casually, so normal that one would never think he'd been just leading a love-potion-smuggling ring around school. Everything would be suave about him—if it isn't for the juvenile quirk of his lips that reveals just the corner of his teeth, and the way he raises a single brow in victory. Like some kindergarten playground bully.

It sparks a fuse in your brain.

"I'm gonna report you, Han Taesan. Oh, I'm gonna bust you so hard that it'll go down in Hogwarts Prefectorial history!"

"Don't threaten me with a good time."

You grip your wand tight, ready to spring an Immobulus on him, but your hands barely make it out when you hear someone loudly clear their throat behind you.

"Shouldn't you be on patrol?" the Head Boy muses, brows knit.

Park Sungho stands there, his Ravenclaw robes neatly ironed, his badge shiny and good as new, not a single hair out of place even after the tens of hundreds of classes you knew he was taking for his final year. Picture-perfect as always.

"It was him!" You throw an accusatory finger in Taesan's direction, eager to end his unlawful joke-career once and for all. "Taesan's selling love potions to students—a direct violation of the Hogwarts penal code, Article 1, Subsection—"

"She's being dramatic," the raven-haired Slytherin yawns, and you whip around. "I was just selling off my old Potions apparatuses to first years that need them. Charity, if you will. Unless that's illegal too." His eyes narrow mischievously, glancing from Sungho to you.

"Sungho, I swear on the Head Girl—"

"Don't swear on my girlfriend; she has enough on her plate," Sungho sighs, though the way his face lights up at her mention is undeniable.

"I swear on my pet toad, he has extremely dangerous goods stored inside his robes."

Taesan doesn't even flinch; when Sungho prompts him to show, he simply pulls the material apart with a bored roll of his eyes.

Instead of the prior rows of potions, you're met with just empty space and fabric.

"Huh..? But—"

"Taesan hyung is telling the truth." Keonho nods, blinking his angelic eyes up at Sungho, and Seonghyeon joins in alongside him with several innocent bats of his lashes. Those absolute gremlins.

"Do not listen to them!" You jump in front of Sungho to block his view lest he falls prey to their conniving charms. "They're Slytherins; you know… Snakes!? I can prove they're lying, look!" You swish your arm to point at the makeshift table, hoping to dramatically unveil Taesan's gimmicks.

Instead there's some old, empty cauldrons, a worn out brass scale to match, and three pairs of seemingly innocent eyes blinking up at you.

"Enough, Y/N." Sungho nurses his forehead, tired. "Anything else?"

"But…"

"If that's all, I expect the two of you to be at your mandated spots in five minutes. Nothing more. Understood?" His voice is sharp, lacking any cruelty but still hitting a sour spot. "Oh, and figure out whatever this immature thing you've got going between the two of you. Both your houses are getting points taken off the next time I catch you in the act."

You hang your head, nodding slightly, letting Chaewon do the talking before the Head Boy marches off towards his Common Room.

"So…" Taesan's slimy voice interrupts your woe. "That's a no to the love potion?" When you look back up, he's flipped the hidden inner layer of his robes to reveal his merchandise tucked safely underneath (an innuendo you'd curse your brain for thinking of if you weren't preoccupied). "Good ol' magic trick. And it doesn't even need a spell! Muggles do have their occasional genius," he nods approvingly.

Deep breaths, Y/N. Deep breaths. You suck in air, ignoring every cell in your body pleading to melt into a puddle onto the floor. Tears prick at your eyes where they threaten to fall.

But you shouldn't. You can't—not when Taesan looks as though he's patiently waiting for it to happen, a gleeful smile ghosting at his lips.

"C'mon." Chaewon's voice steadies you, turning you around to move past everyone. "He isn't worth it."

Even as you shuffle away from prying eyes, even with Keonho and Seonghyeon's excited voices following you, making a ruckus as they pull out the quickly hidden joke items from underneath the chairs and table, and some from thin air, you hold it all in, blocking the bubbling feeling of resentment in your chest.

The only thing you fail to shake off is Han Taesan's watchful eyes prowling at your movement, carefully following you until you're nothing but a shadow in the distance.

The prickle at your nape lingers long after he's out of view.

THE ART OF IGNORING YOUR MORTAL ENEMY

It starts like this: an advice, and you reaching your final straw.

"Ignore him so he gets bored of you," Eunchae had mumbled through her breakfast the next morning. "Ooh! Or double down and get more spiteful; that way you can intimidate him into backing off."

"Does this face say anything remotely close to 'intimidating'?" Chaewon deadpans, holding a palm under your cheeks. You nod, agreeing.

The conversation naturally detours to other things—classes, hefty amounts of homework, mixed with the occasional croak of Mr. Ribbit every other beat when he wants you to feed him blueberries. (Thank god for his affinity for fruits and veggies, because no way in hell were you about to touch a worm or a cricket by hand).

But when you lay in bed that night, tossing and turning and unable to get Taesan's evil smirk out of your head, your mind strays back to Eunchae's words of wisdom. Ignore him so he gets bored of you.

Maybe that's what it would take to finally get the Slytherin off your back, to get him to pivot to a different target—some other poor soul you didn't think too hard to empathise for. You end up pulling out your diary from beneath your pillow, switching on your wand-light and turning to a fresh page to scribble a wonky THE ART OF IGNORING YOUR MORTAL ENEMY at the top.

And so it begins.

With the Quidditch season in full swing, you see less of Taesan these days. Maybe an occasional smirk from across the Great Hall, sometimes an 'accidental' bump into your shoulder when you're just trying to make it to class. And each time he does it, he turns around with a casual "Oops".

He compensates with what little time he does get.

"We'll be working with non-verbal defensive spells for today's class," Professor Moon, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher announces, tying her long blonde ponytail back, prompting everyone to get into stance. "Each of you pick a partner from the other house."

This earns multiple offended gasps from both sides—the Slytherins and Ravenclaws grimacing at the simple thought of having to breathe the same air as Gryffindors. Unfortunately, the Hufflepuffs didn't share the same hours; without the resident peacemakers, the two groups fume from opposite ends of the room.

"Quick," the professor's voice is cold as ice, even when she barely lifts the volume.

The sixth years obey, albeit begrudigngly. Gyuvin ends up sulking in front of Ricky from Ravenclaw, making Gunwook look like a withering flower as he's forced to separate from his friend.

You yourself are no different—dreading this demonstration already. Chaewon offers you a sympathetic look before sprinting off to get dibs on Gunwook before she's stuck with a less tolerable partner. The room reeks of sulky teenagers.

One person, however, seems more than happy to oblige.

"Shame I haven't seen you in a while," the sleazy voice greets you, goosebumps springing up your neck. "Did you miss me?"

"Like a bullet to the head," you mumble under your breath.

"What was that?"

Ignore him so he gets bored of you.

You huff, turning away at once, not dignifying him with a response.

"One person handle the offensive charm—the choice is yours—and the other person will defend with an appropriate counter spell, got it?" Professor Moon is met with tired nods; she takes what she can get.

Taesan turns to you with a sly grin. "You wanna shield? All that practice from Boggart training must have worked like a charm."

He's talking about the time he stole a Boggart from the class cabinet and let it loose in the Gryffindor common room while you fell asleep on one of the armchairs. You'd woken up to the painted face of the clown of your nightmares, staring down at you with ballooning eyes.

And Taesan, ever the opportunist, had waited until you ran out screaming, tripping over the tiles and dry heaving onto the floor, to offer you a supposedly helpful hand—which you'd taken gratefully because God, were you naive.

His hand had come off in one swift motion, and you ended up crying even harder with a fake arm hanging loosely from your sleeve.

Not your best moment.

But it did force you to pull all-nighters to perfect your shield charms.

"Hm," you agree to his suggestion, giving nothing more for him to weaponise against you. Taesan shrugs, flipping his wand in one hand, drumming it on his thigh until you've taken your stance for the duel.

Ignore him so he gets bored of you, you remind yourself, internally taking a deep breath.

"Bow," the professor instructs, and you do as told. Taesan does it too, but his is a bare quirk of the neck and an evil smile that could be akin to a psychopath's if it were any less dopey. "Count of three—one, two—"

Ignore him so he gets bored of you.

"—Three!"

Ignore him so he gets bored of you.

Ignore him so he—

Taesan hits you with a silent stunning spell which you almost fail to react to. Your mind rushes through the category of defences until you decide on Protego, deflecting his shot of green just in time.

"Definitely improved," he quips. "I remember the good old days when you would have been Stupefied with a single stunner."

You open your mouth to argue, but shut it just as quickly, remembering your mantra.

Ignore him so he gets bored of you.

Taesan quirks his brow in curiosity, slightly confused by your reaction—or lack thereof. He decides to test your tenacity again, throwing a motion that matches the pattern for the dangling jinx.

You deflect it once more; a relieved sigh settles in your chest, and you squeeze your wand in triumph.

Taesan doesn't take kindly to your composure. His lips twist into a displeased scowl, carefully observing you before he fires another bolt of green towards you.

You repel it at first, but before you can ready yourself, he begins shooting another, then another, then more—without any sign of stopping. You dodge all of them with what little natural instinct you have, the last of them singeing the hem of your robe.

You stare at him incredulously.

"What?" he shrugs, as though you were the madwoman between the two of you.

Ignore him so he gets bored of you—Eunchae's advice rings inside your skull; you right yourself once more, wand at the ready.

Taesan clicks his tongue, clearly unimpressed.

He shoots the same spell once more, and you successfully foil his attempt.

"Have you gone mute?" he sounds annoyed. "Non-verbal spells doesn't mean you have to leave me talking to myself; it makes me feel psychotic."

When you purse your lips and refuse to respond, Taesan's face twists into something bitter. He bites the inside of his cheeks, chewing and prodding a tongue against it, eyes narrowed to a glare.

He's angry.

Green zig-zags past your shoulder, followed by another at your feet that you have to duck to deflect—the speed of them accelerating at an alarming rate and making your pulse jump out of your body. Taesan keeps stepping closer with each spell he throws, crowding you into a corner until the cold wall of the classroom hits your back. You can barely see the rest of the students from his shadow looming over you, wide shoulders blocking your way from the safety of the outside world.

You may be screwed, to say the least.

"Keep pretending I'm air and I won't stop," he snarls, finding some satisfaction in the way you gulp.

You shove your panic and fear aside, meeting him head on with a shake of your head.

Taesan's grin grows; just when you think he's slowed down, he blasts a line of green at the spot over your shoulder, too fast for you to predict what spell it is.

It doesn't take too long for you to find out.

"Serpensortia," Taesan says as he smiles down at your cowering form. "A Slytherin speciality—just for you!"

He'd hit you with the fucking snake summoning spell, conjuring a living, breathing, hissing serpent that curled lazily around your upper arm.

You begin to choke on your words, too stricken to remind yourself to inhale.

Not again, you think, downright mortified at the deja vu of your current predicament. It lay mixed in with the feeling of your heart thundering out of your ribs, begging to be let out so it doesn't have to witness you being eaten alive by a snake.

"Y/N?" Chaewon's voice finds you, a distant echo even when her silhouette is visible.

Professor Moon says something about reversing the spell, and you slowly feel the weight around your arm melt away, leaving just a bit of an ache. When you come to, you're met with Taesan's stupid pout.

"Mr. Han, see me in my office for your punishment," the professor's voice cuts through the space in-between. "And Miss Y/N, I expect better results next time—defensive spells are the crux of my subject, and your N.E.W.T.s are barely a year or two away. I will not have you taint my name."

"Sorry," you mumble, bowing in apology.

She doesn't wait to hear excuses, dismissing the class when the bell decides to grace you with an escape.

Before you can bulldoze past the threshold with Chaewon in tow, a long arm at the door's frame blocks your path.

"Don't think the threat of detention can stop me," Taesan leans down to whisper, his confidence back at full force now that he's out of the professor's earshot. "This isn't over yet."

He doesn't wait for a response; Taesan is gone as quickly as he came, strutting off with a wink and a mock salute, with all the pomp of someone set out to ruin your peace.

//

Han Taesan, you realise—though a prick—is also be a man of his word.

He plagues you everywhere you go, haunting your vision like a curse on your life. He's sticking his foot out to trip you during lectures, swapping your Mandrake fertilizer with chocolate pudding when you're distracted, even going as far as bribing the House ghosts to sneak up and spook you—trying every possible means to get you to look his way, to pay attention to him.

You make it through by barely saying a word. You grit your teeth, pull yourself together, and wait until you're in the privacy of your dorm to collapse onto the floor and calm yourself down by imagining a scenario where Taesan gets put in Azkaban and you're free of his shenanigans for a long, long time.

A temporary fix.

The latter half of November brings a steady mount of lectures and assignments, the calluses on your palms hardening with how much they press into quills and parchment, leaving ink-stains smudged at your fingertips. Not to mention prefect duty keeping you as busy as a bee, with students growing lazier to follow the uniform code and too many of them slacking off about curfew and rules.

Then there was your inability to say no to every request thrown your way that had also landed you juggling it with club activities, having you sprint from the Gobstones meeting to the knitting club, even though you were interested in neither.

You're dizzy, you're exhausted, and you're fucking hungry.

"Damn, you look worse than Woonhak after a match," Eunchae announces without zero tact.

She's got a lime lollipop sticking out the corner of her lips, around ten shopping bags divided between her two hands. The fifth years had just returned from their Hogsmeade trip while the upperclassman slaved away.

"Clean up duty," you heave, hands on knees. "No time."

"Did you volunteer again?" She shakes her head disapprovingly. "Man, this school really spreads its prefects thin." She looks down at your pitiful state, the far-off look in your eyes that could only mean that you were slowly beginning to black out from hunger. Eventually, she relents. "Here, I was gonna wait until we were back at the dorm, but you need it pronto."

You look up to see her wagging a long golden packet in front of you.

A limited edition Merlin-themed Sugar Quill.

"Got it for you from Honeydukes," Eunchae says, and you see an angel in her stead, singing gospels down at your needy form. "You look like you could use some energy."

She unwraps it and you take it from her gratefully, tears of appreciation prickling at your eyes. It's the first proper food you would have had in days, a golden stick of miracles—it's a shiny new bone and you're a drooling dog, stomach grumbling loudly at the sight.

Chomp.

The light in your eyes dim. Your soul dies.

"I—"

"Tfanks!" Taesan licks his lips, grinning through a mouthful of the quill.

That… that thief!

You stare down at your empty hand, the tiny crumbs of powdered sugar dusting your skin, and feel like he'd just stolen your firstborn straight out of your loving arms.

Taesan cackles loudly from in front, throwing his head back in the purest form of joy anyone has ever witnessed in the history of the wizarding world.

//

Meditation is your new best friend—Chaewon is not impressed at being replaced.

The muggle magazine you'd snuck back from home tells you to follow a series of simple steps: find quiet spaces, count breaths, be mindful of your thoughts. They seem easy in theory, but it takes all of your willpower to really get down to business. You sit cross-legged on the armchair, eyes tightly shut, and try.

It expels your worries for all of three seconds—right up until Taesan's evil presence manifests like a night demon in the corner.

The magazine ends up being burnt to a crisp in the fireplace.

"You're really overestimating my abilities, Y/N," Chaewon tuts, pointing the tip of her wand at the dark shadows under your eye. "Can't you just use that muggle concealer thingamajig like last time?"

"Can't. Taesan ruined it with that colour changing potion that turned my face pink, remember?"

"Oh, yeah…" she replies in apology.

You slump back into the vanity chair, staring up at the little stickers on the ceiling. Mr. Ribbit croaks at a black cat at the windowsill until it slinks away in defeat—but not without a defiant meow and a whip of the tail.

The dormroom is warm and golden under the winter sun, a spill of sunshine breaking through the foggy air.

"You're my best bet right now," you groan. "Doesn't matter if it takes my eyes out, just blast me with that charm."

"Your priorities scare me," Chaewon sighs; regardless, she's already reading out the incantation, following the instructions off The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6 that's propped open in her wandless hand. A light tap against your skin and she withdraws. "There."

Tilting your head, the mirror shows a satisfactory job; you no longer share an uncanny resemblance to a ghoul.

"Whew! At least I won't totally embarrass myself in front of the Gobstones club today," you sigh in relief, prodding and stretching your cheeks to recheck.

"Hate to inform you that literally no one in the Gobstones club is exactly the definition of 'cool'—not enough to embarrass yourself in front of."

"Hey!" you gasp, offended. Chaewon challenges you with a raise of her brow, and after a beat of mulling over her statement, you concede with a pout. "Fine, you're not wrong, ugh," you say. "But they're relying on me and I'm afraid to mess up. After Woonhak quit because of Quidditch, they've been at a losing streak. And if it stays the same, I'll be blamed for sure."

"No one's gonna blame you," Chaewon squeezes your hand. "And if they do, I'll Avada their asses."

You chuckle at her attempt to cheer you up, realising it somewhat works.

She bids you goodbye at the staircase, having been stuck with prefect duty over the morning. You hate to let her go, a pout marring your facade, but she promises to find you after your match.

The finals were hosted at the club's usual hangout spot—which was to say the Room of Requirement took the shape of a circular conversation pit, members convening together around a chalk-marked wooden board, multicoloured marbles methodically scattered over it. Enough secrecy that no outsider could slip in without notice; they'd need to accompany a member, or at least, have the intention to play.

When you arrive, the door opens upon your silent request.

"You're here!" Danielle's voice is pure sunshine, accompanied by her signature bear-hug greeting. "I could not take another moment of Jake's goading."

"What a liar," Jake chimes in, stretching as he tosses a marble into the air, catching it with a practised hand. "She was enjoying herself until you came in. Ask Riwoo."

"I don't pick sides," Riwoo says flatly from across the seat. "Unless the side is my girlfriend's. Then I absolutely pick sides."

This earns him several eye-rolls, and a couple agreeing nods from Leehan who stands behind him, massaging his shoulders as though he was about to compete in a wrestling match and not a glorified game of marbles.

The Hufflepuffs chatter back and forth between setting up the table. You take your spot on the opposite side amongst the smaller flock of blues and reds, thanking god there was no hint of green to be seen—you'd have forfeited and ran for the hills.

"You got this, Y/N! All you have to do is wait until Riwoo runs out of wind and strike." Rei pats your arm in encouragement.

"You better win!" Eunchae pops up over your shoulder, scaring the living daylights out of you. "I'm draining your Gringotts account if I owe Leehan even a single sickle." She sticks out her tongue in his direction, which he simply shrugs off with the exact nonchalance of a flobberworm.

You clutch your weak heart as Rei laughs at the sight. "What are you doing here!? I thought you had O.W.L mocks…"

"Meh," she waves it off in disgust, rolling her eyes dramatically. "This is way more entertaining than having to sit through Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration for the hundredth time. Like…we get it dude, Gamp had issues. Why make it our problem?"

You ignore scolding her when Riwoo places his last marble on the outer circle, signalling the game's about to start.

Suddenly, your palms go cold.

You've never been good at regulating your performance anxiety.

But the alternative timeline where you fail, make a fool of yourself in front of friends, and get ostracised for bringing shame onto the long-standing legacy of the Gobstones club is much, much worse.

So you follow the mantra from the meditation magazine:

First, you rid your mind of loud thoughts, focussing on nothing but colours and the blotches of light behind your eyelids, letting yourself loose.

Quiet space, check.

Then, you inhale once. Exhale slow.

Count breaths, check.

Last—

"And, begin!" Jake is already refereeing with a swift motion of his arm. You feel the panic rise, tick tick ticking up your tummy like a time-bomb.

Riwoo makes his play, taking a shot with his yellow stone; it slides across the board and taps on your red, but stops short of the hole at the centre. He winces as you breathe a sigh of relief.

"C'mon, end him," Eunchae whispers menacingly, making sure that Leehan hears. He does—if the way he pouts is any indication to go by.

Right, you can do this. You can win as long as you keep your cool and don't let Lee Riwoo of all people intimidate you. Your hands stop shaking as you direct your energy into your stance.

The split second you flick your marble, a crawling voice ghosts across your nape, "Good luck, Y/N. Try not to crash and burn, yeah?"

Your finger bends a little too wide, the marble flies a little too far, and your dignity ends up falling into the hole along with it. It's met with a squirt of some foul liquid straight onto into your eyes, reeking of garlic and shame. Ugh… Wizards and their knack for modfiying every rule to be somehow more insane than the original.

Jake notes down a point for Riwoo as you rub at your face with the handkercheif Eunchae offers.

The Hufflepuffs would usually be celebrating in good nature now, but every pair of eye is on the person behind you. Your own narrow in fury as you join them.

"What. Are. You. Doing. Here," you grit your teeth.

"Watching," Taesan replies easily. "Thought you people would appreciate an audience. Must be new to you, right? You're welcome!"

Eunchae groans. Rei turns around in secondhand embarrassment. Danielle and Leehan just pouts. Riwoo bites his tongue, clearly in a moral dilemma between his house values and his instinct to bite back.

In stark contrast to his fellow Hufflepuffs, Jake has no interest in playing nice. "How did you even get in?" His lips twist acidly. "Didn't know the snake traits extended as far as literally slithering into other people's affairs."

"What, can't I come to support a dear friend of mine?" Taesan quirks his head, a smirk blooming. "Y/N here doesn't want me to leave. Right?" His eyes flick down to you.

You open your mouth to refuse loudly, but then the words begin to float in your mind.

Ignore him so he gets bored of you.

Ignore him until he goes away.

Right. Yes. Ignore the snake in the room and focus on the task at hand. Yes—you could do that much.

Sheer willpower has you turning back to the game, leaving the onlookers stunned, and Eunchae proud of listening to her. Your first move succeeds smoothly; Riwoo's marble gets knocked out of the circle and he faces the penalty of taking a putrid spritz to the face.

"Not bad," Taesan comments. You ignore him in favour of calculating the next move.

The game continues on, with an annoying add-on from him at moments, but otherwise without dents. Riwoo and you go point for point, your focus unwavering as you line up a potentially winning shot. Everyone holds their tongue, waiting.

Everyone that isn't the Slytherin menace of menaces.

"Hmm… terrible angle. Flimsy posture. And don't even get me started on that method," he says in a theatrical imitation of a sage old wizard.

I don't need your opinion. Or your advice—you think instead of verbalising.

It doesn't deter him; Taesan squeezes into the spot between Eunchae and Rei—an easy task with his mountain-like shoulders—and bends down just enough to ghost his gross breath across your neck, the scent of something fruity and wintry engulfing your senses.

"Ignoring me again, hmm? Sure you wanna play that game?"

Your hand curls into a fist in your lap, the other quivering just the slightest over the gleaming red marble. Taesan notices—of course he notices—making him grin into his words. "Nice try… But you'll never escape me."

Just as he utters, the peace of the room dies in a flicker. A dungbomb goes off under the table, blanketing every single person that isn't Taesan in murky dust and the stinkiest odour to grace the earth—rotten eggs, wet cat, and something akin to decomposing flesh. The club members cough into their sleeves, eyes watering. You barely have enough wind to shield your own nose.

"Han," you cough, "Taesan."

"Yes, dearest?"

"Detention until your graduate!"

His voice is bright and shiny when he says, "Oh good! You're talking again!"

As soon as the bomb clears up and you catch your breath, you feel the Gobstones table flip over and something furry run under your legs. Frightened, you jump up onto the couch, scrambling upwards and accidentally landing yourself right against Taesan's chest.

"F-fff…" you stutter, fingernails digging into his shoulders, too terrified to care about anything but the shock of auburn blinking up at you. "FOX—!! THAT'S A FOX!"

"Good to know you can tell your fauna apart," Taesan shoots a toothy smile, unbothered by you clinging to him; he seems more attuned to the terror in your eyes, if anything.

"Han Taesan, there's a fox staring at me—oh my god, why is it staring at me!!??? Is it hungry!?"

"Foxes don't eat witches," he sing-songs when you clamber tighter over his robes, using the necktie as a lifeline to keep your feet off the floor. A melodramatic enactment of the-floor-is-lava. "At least not witches with no spines."

"Get it away from me! Get it away, pleaseeeee!!!"

"Let me think on it."

"Taesan, please," you sob. "It's got that look in it's eyes… "

"That's called confusion. He's seen mouse less chicken than you… or like, actual chicken less chicken than you."

"You—"

WOOF!

Your heart drops again. When you finally look in the direction of the bark, there's a eager looking puppy at its side—droopy ears, brown and black splotches on his back, and a overexcited tongue hanging out his mouth. You swear it winks at you before bumping into the fox, pouncing into a play-fight right over the mess of marbles and wood, cleaving the table into two, uneven parts.

"Why is our club room a zoo, what the everliving fuck?" Jake watches in shock, mortified when the dog tears right into his score sheet.

The only two people who seem to be enjoying themselves are Danielle and Leehan—two sweet Hufflepuffs with sparkly eyes in the face of the baby animals. Leehan even coos at the way the fox snarls at a nearby student, teeth sharp despite its small size.

"Get them both out of here!" you plead. "Leehan, work your animal-whispering magic. Don't you have some sort of enchanted flute or something to lure them away?"

"No. I do have some fresh berries I stole from breakfast up in my room. But I wanna stay and watch," Leehan provides uselessly. Riwoo pinches his nose-bridge.

"How did they even spawn into the club room? We don't have windows…" Rei comments, bearing the only functioning brain-cell in the group.

Her logic gets abandoned in favour of you shrieking loudly as the puppy steps on a marble, squirting the putrid fluid up at you, your violent jerk barely stirring Taesan. Leehan ignores you to crouch down in front of the tussle, approaching with a gentle hand.

Then something lights up in his brain.

"I thought we were banned from bringing animals to the club because of Y/N." Leehan frowns. "I'd have never abandoned Guppy and Snapper if you'd told me earlier."

"Your fish?" Jake raises a brow.

"No, my flobberworms," Leehan says as though it was obvious. "My fish is named Squiggles, obviously."

"Right… my bad."

"People—save the fish talk for when we're not being attacked by wild animals!" Eunchae brings the boys back to the point at hand. "Y/N looks like she might faint—"

BOOM—!

The tapestry on the longest wall crashes down to the floor, sending dust motes flying into space. Sparks go off at the hems of the fabric. A line of fire catching, trickling upwards like water until The Gobstones Club banner dwindles into a blackened rag.

Danielle squeals as it catches onto her robes, using Jake's hands to put it out; he squeals even louder. Thankfully, Rei has the quick thinking to remember that she has the power to use a wand, and flash a quick Aguamenti at her, spraying a jet of water to smother the flame.

Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there. The couch is but a relic of ash when the fire is done with it. And Jake's neatly stacked ledgers on the shelf topple over one by one before he can reach, quickly perishing.

Tiny bundles of fireworks begin to set off in the corners, each boom a wring to your chest. In the middle of absolute commotion, you freeze in Taesan's arms.

It's deathly silent when you finally let yourself down.

"Taesan…"

"I know, I know," he raises his arms in mock defeat. "Detention."

"No." When you lift your face up, it's stiff. Cold. A stark contrast to the scorched room in your periphery. Your voice is venom. "You are, single-handedly, the worst person to ever walk this planet. You are vile and despicable and I don't know why you feel the need to ruin good things."

Taesan's face doesn't change—an apathetic stare, the usual haughty way he looks down at you—but there are signs. The suddenly shallow breaths. A muscle in his cheek twitching.

He's affected.

He's stung.

But now that you've dipped into your emotional trove of anger, something so new to you unlike the plethora of fears it hosted, it flows out with the force of a waterfall.

"I used to think it was because I was easy to pick on… But… time and time again you've shown me that you're just projecting your need for attention onto me. Your itty bitty ego just needs a sink, right? Somewhere for you to empty it into. Well, guess what? I. Don't. Care. Not anymore. You can take that insecure, validation-seeking, big head of yours, and get eaten by a Hippogriff, you absolute pathetic Asshole!"

He stares.

You stare back, a little giddy from your rant. Your chest feels both heavy and light somehow, a feather of pride sprouting inside it.

You did it….

You cussed out Han Taesan. The manifestation of your horrors. The bane of your existence.

You… You were brave!

Every eye is on the two of you, holding their breaths. Eunchae's eyes are watery—like a mother looking at her daughter all grown up. Jake's mouth is open in shock. Riwoo looks impressed. If a pin were to drop on the floor, you would hear it crystal clear.

"I—" It's unexpected when Taesan starts to speak, but he closes his mouth just as quick.

You meet him head on this time, chin raised, voice commanding—a mirror of his from before. "You?"

Taesan blinks down at you, clearly processing the shock of your sudden change in demeanour. It's uncharted waters. You don't bite. You're meek, difficult at most, never one to choose fist over compromise. And in all the years he's known you, you've never cussed him out.

You notice the dazed look in his eyes, the slow gulp that travels down his throat, but the blush that creeps up his neck and ears—they're his to be tormented by, invisible to anyone else.

The fox comes to curl around his leg, and the puppy tilts his head in confusion—as though even the animals were taken aback by the role reversal. The door bangs open at once, and the two of them sprint underneath the couch to take shelter, an almost practised move to stay hidden from outsiders.

"What happened here!?" The icy voice has everyone turn their heads. Professor Park stands at the open doorway, assessing the mess before him. "Names. Now!"

"It was him," you point at Taesan, tired of explaining further. Taesan doesn't argue, nor does he defend himself; he just stares in a daze, feet swaying a bit. For a second you wonder if he's drunk.

"Both of you." The Slytherin Head of House wags a ring-clad finger between Taesan and you. "Professor Jeon's office. NOW!"

The club flitters out one by one, most of their excuses falling to deaf ears before the unforgiving professor. You follow after with enough respect to hang your head in shame.

Taesan stands in the same spot, not having moved an inch.

"Han, do I need to invite you out personally?" Professor Park doesn't shout, but it's more scary this way.

Taesan nods once, blinks twice, then begins to move.

Before the Room of Requirement closes on him, he spares a quick look at your slumped silhouette in the distance, evidently not wanting to walk alongside him to the office.

Instead of feeling annoyance—or the much more frequent feeling of needing to poke at you, to elicit any big reaction from you—he feels… quiet. Quiet but scared.

Taesan wonders if he's genuinely fucked up this time.

And for a beat of insanity, he wonders if he had been the coward all along, not you.

The heat of his ears follows him all the way to the Gryffindor head's office.

── .✦ next: PART 2/3

── .✦ for more hogwarts! aus, check out the signed, sealed, spellbound series!

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Sion really thought today was the day.

He’d carried the chocolate around in his pocket all afternoon, fingers brushing against it every few minutes like it might disappear.

He’d practiced the words in his head, paced the hallway once or twice, even told himself 'don’t overthink it', which, of course, did absolutely nothing.

And then he checked his pocket.

This was supposed to be the moment. The excuse. The bridge...

“…You’ve got to be kidding me,” he mutters, staring at his hand with a quiet devastation.

The chocolate he’d bought hours ago, carefully chosen, wrapped twice, hidden like a secret, had melted into a tragic, misshapen lump.

Warm. Sticky. Completely ruined.

So was his courage.

Weeks of building it, gone. He stuffs the wrapper back into his pocket, shoulders slumping.

Unfortunately for him though, he lives with people who notice everything.

𓏲ּ𝄢

Jaehee clocks Sion’s mood almost immediately.

The way he’s quieter than usual, keeps sighing, looks like he’s carrying the weight of the world over something very small.

Later, Jaehee ends up helping you with something small, cleaning up, setting something aside, nothing important. His tone stays casual.

“Do you ever feel like some people are way harder on themselves than they need to be?” he asks, almost offhandedly.

You pause, thinking. “Yeah. I guess.”

Jaehee nods. “They think everything has to be perfect. Timing, words, everything. When really… sometimes it’s fine if things aren’t.”

He smiles a little, not teasing, not pointed. Just gentle.

When Sion passes by and catches part of the conversation, Jaehee glances at him, just briefly, a knowing look in his eyes, mixed with mild exasperation.

Sion looks away, ears red, pretending like he heard nothing. He absolutely did.

Jaehee exhales quietly. 'Please survive this,' he thinks.

𓏲ּ𝄢

Yushi debates with himself for a while before doing anything. This really isn’t his role.

He doesn’t feel like interfering, and he especially doesn’t like saying the wrong thing.

But he decides that watching Sion sulk around is worse.

So he tries.

He sits beside you, quiet for a second too long.

“Sion’s… um,” he starts, then stops. Clears his throat. “He’s actually really nice and dependable.”

You look at him, confused. “I know?”

Yushi nods a little too fast. “He just doesn’t talk much about himself. Or his feelings. He thinks a lot but also he cares a lot.”

There’s a pause.

You tilt your head. “Is there a reason you’re telling me this?”

Yushi paused. “…Not...really...”

Which is obviously a lie.

He excuses himself shortly after, looking relieved and embarrassed at the same time.

You’re left mildly confused, but now you can’t help noticing how quiet Sion seems today, how distracted.

Yushi avoids Sion’s gaze for the rest of the evening.

𓏲ּ𝄢

Riku's been waiting for this confession longer than Sion has. Possibly longer than you have.

So when he catches you alone, he doesn’t even pretend.

“Oh, hey,” he says, leaning casually against the wall. “Do you know how bad Sion is at confessing?”

You blink. “Confessing… what?”

Riku shrugs. With that smile. “Things.”

“He also practices. A lot before doing things,” Riku says, smiling. “Then waits until the moment passes.”

You laugh lightly. “That’s kind of cute.”

And then, deliberately, he glances past you.

Riku meets Sion’s eyes and raises his eyebrows like saying 'any day now.'

Sion nearly melts on the spot.

Chocolate has nothing on this.

𓏲ּ𝄢

Seeing the older man sulk around, Ryo decides that subtlety isn't working anymore.

But hey, he really meant well.

Unfortunately though, his version of helping involves a lot of “accidents.”

“Oh, you’re sitting there?” Ryo says, cheerfully pushing Sion toward the seat next to you. “Perfect.”

“Oh, you’re both free?” Ryo beams. “Let’s go together!”

“Oh no, there’s only two spots left.”

"Wait... Are you guys wearing couple shirts?!"

Ryo gasped like he didn't hid the actual shirt Sion was meaning to wear.

Every single time, Sion is suddenly right beside you, trying not to resemble a tomato.

Ryo watches with bright eyes, genuinely proud of himself.

Sion catches him later. “You’re doing this on purpose.”

“You’re welcome,” he simply grinned.

Sion exhales. “Please stop helping.”

Ryo does not stop.

And well, Sion couldn't pretend like he wasn't secretly a little happy. Just a bit.

𓏲ּ𝄢

Embarrassment was what Sakuya felt as he watched the older man.

And he lasts exactly two seconds before he had enough.

“This is unbearable,” he mutters. “Why are you like this?”

Before Sion can react, Sakuya grabs his wrist and gently but firmly pulls him forward.

“Here,” Sakuya says, placing him in front of a surprised you. “Talk.”

Sion’s soul leaves his body.

Sakuya looks at you, expression surprisingly sincere yet with a deadpan voice. “He’s been stressing over this for weeks. It’s awkward. I hate it. Please end it.”

“Sakuya!” Sion squeaks.

But it’s too late.

𓏲ּ𝄢

When it’s quieter and the others have finally backed off, Sion takes a breath.

“I was going to give you something,” he admits quietly, hands clenched. “But it melted. And I kept waiting for the right moment.”

He laughs under his breath, embarrassed. “I think I waited too long.”

You look at him. Still there. Still listening.

“So… I’ll just say it,” Sion says, voice steady despite everything.

“I... like you. I have for a while.”

No chocolate. No plan. Just honesty.

Somehow, that’s enough.

From down the hall, you can hear Riku whisper, “Finally,” and Jaehee shushing him immediately.

Sion pretends not to hear.

He’s too focused on your reaction.

𓏲ּ𝄢 Bonus !

“…We’re not doing this,” Jaehee sighed immediately. “That’s rude.”

“We’re not doing anything,” Ryo replies, already crouching slightly. “We’re just… nearby.”

“That’s the same thing,” Jaehee mutters.

Yushi hesitates, shifting his weight. “We should probably give him space.”

There’s a brief pause.

Then all of them lean just a little closer to the door.

Jaehee sighs and joins them last, clearly disappointed in himself.

Though they couldn't hear much. Just muffled voices, low and careful.

Riku presses his ear closer. “Is he talking?”

“Shh,” Sakuya whispers loudly. “You’ll scare him.”

A few seconds pass. Then longer.

Ryo’s smile slowly spreads. “He’s quiet. That means he’s serious.”

From the small gap in the doorframe, they catch a glimpse.

Sion is standing there, shoulders relaxed for once, rubbing the back of his neck. His ears are red, but he’s smiling,small, shy, unmistakably real.

Not nervous. Not panicked.

Happy.

You’re smiling too, looking at him like he’s the only person in the room.

Yushi’s eyes soften. “Oh.”

Riku straightens up, satisfied. “Finally!”

Jaehee immediately shushed him but watched for a second longer, a quiet smile tugging at his lips. “Good,” he says softly. “He deserves that.”

Inside, Sion laughs quietly at something you say, still embarrassed, still flustered, but lighter. Like something heavy finally lifted.

The others back away from the door, one by one.

Sakuya nods. “Finally indeed.”

Ryo shrugged. “Worth it.”

Jaehee clears his throat. “We’re never speaking of this again.”

And for once, they all agree.

....!

taglist: @mayflyfr ,, @slytherinshua <3

“What’s up?” Sion greets his fellow underclassman—Ryo. His gaze lowers to the camera in Sion’s hands, leaving Sion confuzzled. He slightly tilts his head as the awkward silence slowly increases. 

“You haven’t taken a break yet, have you?” Ryo points at the camera in his hold with his gaze on his upperclassman’s face again. Sion is quiet as he sheepishly rubs at the back of his neck and slowly hides his camera behind him.

“Come on! It’s the school's last festival. You deserve a break.” He exclaims, grabbing at Sion’s wrist. He’s taken aback by this sudden interaction as he (helplessly) follows behind Ryo, who drags him to his next destination. 

His grip on his camera tightens. “I’m fine with taking photos, really,” the words leave Sion’s throat in a shaky manner because of the speed. Since when could Ryo move this fast? 

A scoff escapes from Ryo’s mouth before they’re brought to an abrupt stop. He turns on his pivot foot, facing Sion with a thin-lipped smile. It’s quite scary to say the least.

“No, you’re not.” Says Ryo. 

“What do you know?” 

“That you still like (Name), and that it’s your last chance to confess to her before your graduation—” Sion is quick to cover Ryo’s mouth the moment other student bodies appear in their previously empty hallway.

“Alright! That’s enough, Ryo.” He says with an eye-closed smile. The students disappear off into another classroom to participate in another booth and Ryo takes this as a chance to remove Sion’s hands off his face. Sion puts his hands together and brings them up to his face in an apologetic motion. 

“We know that won’t happen. She doesn’t like me back and I’m not trying to graduate with embarrassment.” Sion explains.

Ryo sighs and places a hand on Sion’s shoulder.

“If you’re not going to confess, at least look around the festival and enjoy your time. It’ll be better than the regret you’ll end up graduating with from not confessing.” 

Ryo’s voice echoes throughout Sion’s head as he stands at the entrance of the crowded gymnasium of their school. Students are everywhere: they are standing in single file lines, working at booths or walking around with their friends. 

Maybe Ryo’s right. Sion should take a break from snapping pictures for their yearbook. It’s the duty of the photography club, meaning he couldn’t slack off. However, he’s taken enough to risk twenty minutes of free time.

There’s a tap on Sion’s shoulder. It doesn’t fail to startle him, causing him to cautiously turn his head.  “Fancy seeing you here.” You say with a smile which causes Sion’s heart rate to increase. 

“Hey.” The flustered boy greets.

“What’re you doing here? Were you sent on break too?” Your attention is turned to the filled gymnasium as you move to stand beside Sion. 

“Too?” He questions, already forgetting your previous one. 

“My friends begged me to take a break from taking pictures.” You inform him, eyes glancing around the area.

“That booth seems interesting…” You whisper to yourself, pointing at a station from afar. He looks in the direction your finger is pointing, eyes lighting up at the sign. It reads the words handmade keychains. It does seem interesting.

It’s your last year at School of Wish, the two of you might as well make the most of the school festival, right?

“Let’s go together.” Sion suggests while intertwining his hand with yours. The moment the warmth of his palm collides with your own, you’re a blushing mess. 

Is he even aware of what he’s doing? Hell, does he even know what you look like right now? What if he’s doing all of this to toy with you? What if he only has friendly intentions for this? 

It wouldn’t be shocking if he did.

You and Sion are both members of the photography club, which is a prime aspect as to why both of you got close. What started as only club members from your first year of highschool became feelings that you’ve had ever since then.

You remember the first time you saw him. He was standing in front of the club room doors, looking into the window with cupped hands to help his vision. At first, you were weirded out by it. Why was a random student trying to take a peek inside the club room? The club that you wanted to join.

That being your first impression of him obviously made him out to be a creep. However, you were completely wrong the moment you saw him sitting in your second block class—media arts. He seemed to have a thing for the arts, which only made you curious about him. Was he truly the creep you thought he was? Or was he a nosy art student who had intentions in joining the club too? 

Your questions were answered later on once you were paired up with him for the first class assignment—a photography challenge. With the given prompts, he was able to nail the vibes of all of them in his pictures. Since that day, you took a liking to his skill (and later on to him). 

Your feelings could possibly make the two of you become more than close friends or club mates, really. Nevertheless, that’s only if you confess to him. That clearly won’t be happening anytime soon, especially since he obviously doesn’t like you back. 

Sion’s laughter cuts through your overcrowded thoughts, gaining your attention immediately. “What’s so funny?” You ask while peering over his arm to see what he is looking at.

“It reminds me of you.” He forces out through his laughter and pointing at the silly monkey keychain. With furrowed brows, you give him a soft hit to the back, a huff leaving his lips in response. As he recovers from the blow, you’re moving up to the stand to get a better view of the keychain. 

It’s a brown monkey with a pink flower on its head and a banana in its hold. It’s cute, there’s no doubt about it. 

“It would be a lie to say it isn’t cute.” Sion utters after regaining his composure. He’s quick to pick up the keychain and the matching one beside it, handing it to the working student. Then, Sion reaches into his pocket for his wallet. It all happens too fast for you to register until he’s handing you the keychain he was laughing at. 

“What’s this for?” You ask, holding it awkwardly in your palm.

“Matching keychains,” Sion begins as he pulls his camera out of his blazer pocket. “See.” He holds up the camera after tying the keychain around the holder. He points at your bulging pocket where your camera must be, hinting for you to do the same.

A smile makes its way on his face at the sight of your cameras. This is the closest he’ll ever get to showing his feelings for you. Although it’s a subtle act, hopefully you’re able to pick up on his true intentions.

“It’s nice, right?” Sion asks, but you don’t reply. You’re silent.

“Sion,” you call. Your voice is quiet as if a higher pitch will put you both in trouble. You’re scaring him. Did you not like the idea or did you find out about his feelings? Are you disgusted by it or what? He’s confused and your unreadable expression isn’t helping his case.

“Let’s go to the photo booth.” Your voice is back to normal and you’re pointing at the photo booth with a table filled with headpieces near it. He mutters a soft okay before giving in and following behind you. It’s almost as if he hallucinated that reaction of yours. Did it really not happen with how fast you pushed it aside?

To be honest, you’re dying on the inside. You don’t know how to feel about Sion getting you two matching keychains. He said the keychain reminded him of you, then proceeded to call it cute five seconds later. What was the meaning of that? 

You grab a silly headband and rush into the booth and try to calm down your burning face before Sion joins you. It takes a while, but it works. Hopefully he didn’t suspect anything. 

The curtain is gently pulled to the side as Sion walks through, ducking his head to avoid hitting it. You move over to make space for him, or so you try. You don’t remember the photo booth being this cramped the last three years. Your shoulders and legs are touching one another. One wrong move and it would be over for the both of you.

“I paid before coming inside, so you can press the button when you’re ready.”  

“You shouldn’t have, I could’ve paid…” You reply, turning your head to look at him.

“Well, you kind of rushed inside before I even fully arrived…” Sion says, turning his head to look at you. You’re much closer than the two of you expected. 

Flustered, the two of you turn back around in a haste motion. Locking eyes in such a tight space was the last thing you expected to happen between you and Sion.

“Let’s start!” You exclaim as you quickly press the button. You hope it's enough to distract both of you from the earlier incident. In silence, both of you start to pose. It’s awkward, definitely awkward. Being close to Sion is unbearable for you.

You can’t focus on what’s in front of you. As much as you want to tell him what’s on your mind, you don’t know how he’ll react. 

Sion’s twenty minute break is almost up, meaning he’ll have to return to his previous tasks and graduate with the regret Ryo spoke about earlier. He wants to confess. 

What if you reject him and everything gets ruined?

What if he rejects you and everything gets ruined?

There’s good and bad consequences from whatever the two of you choose to do. A fifty-fifty chance that it'll go right or wrong. There’s no saying what the outcome will be. At least, not unless nothing is said.

“Sion.” Your voice is shaky when you say his name. What if it’s your last time saying it? What if you end up ruining practically everything the two of you built up since freshman year?

Sion gulps as hesitation settles in his throat. “Yeah?” 

The timer is at five seconds. In five seconds the next picture—the last picture will be taken. He wraps his arm around your shoulder and you let your head rest against his out of reflex. This isn’t the first time you sat with him in a position anyway. 

“I like you.”

The camera snaps, taking the last photo of the four and Sion is left shocked. He’s quick to remove his arm from around your shoulder and turn to face you.

“Say that again.” He says. He can’t believe his ears. Perhaps the five hours of sleep is starting to catch up to him.

“I said, I like you.” 

“You like me? Like me as in you have feelings for me?” His eyes are searching yours with an eagerness you’ve never seen before. You nod at his question and Sion’s hands gently grip at your shoulders.

“Are you telling the truth?” 

You nod again.

“Since when?” He asks.

“A little into freshman year…” Your voice trails off, getting quieter as every nanosecond goes by. Regret slowly starts to settle into your system. With the way he's acting, you can’t tell what he’s thinking. Maybe this was a bad choice after all.

“It’s fine if you don’t see me the same way. I can deal with it.” 

“What do you mean?” Sion asks with a puzzled expression. You remove his hands from your shoulders and place them into his lap. 

“I like you too, (Name). Ever since our assignment together in photography class. I thought you were pretty,” he lets out a sigh, hands turning to hold yours. “However, the moment I saw you in the club room during the new members welcome party as well, I thought it was too good to be true. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d have a chance, yet here we are now.” 

You’re sitting in silence, blinking at him dumbfounded. The boy you’ve liked all this time, feels the same way about you. 

“Let’s go outside, it’s too cramped in here.” You say, letting go of Sion’s hands and leaving the photo booth. You reach into the dispenser to grab the two copies of the polaroids as Sion exits the booth. 

“They turned out nice.” You say while taking a look at them. Sion hums in agreement as he peeks over your shoulder from behind, startling you in the process. 

“Here.” You hand him one of the copies and slip the other one in your pocket with your camera. Although he looks like a deer caught in headlights in the last picture upon hearing your confession, it’s still a cute photo. 

“We should get back to work, our break is definitely up by now. Bye!” You start walking away from Sion, but he doesn’t let you get so far until he’s grabbing onto your wrist, halting your movements. Your ‘great escape’ failed miserably.

“Is that it?” He asks, turning you around. The look in his eyes is more than a plea. 

You’re hesitant. “...Is what it?”

“The confessions,” Sion lets go of your hand, bringing it back to his side. “Is that it between us?” 

You shake your head. As much as you want to progress further, you don’t know if he wants to. What is he possibly hinting at asking a question like that?

“You don’t want to try us?” Sion’s questioning your silence. Maybe you don’t, and that’s fine with Sion, yet he can’t help but feel a strain on his heart. 

“Of course I do.” His eyes light up at your words like a child in a candy store. 

“Then, would you allow me to be your boyfriend?” Sion asks, risking it all. There’s a beat between his question and your confirming nod which makes Sion smile. He’s happier than ever, but before the boy can do anything physical, you’re quick to put it to a stop.

“Okay! Now we seriously need to get back to work. It’s been ten minutes since our break ended.” You give him a smile and reach for your camera in your pocket. 

“I’ll see you later.” You say with a wave and he pulls you into a hug. 

He rests his chin on your head. “Could we spend time together after the festival ends?” You nod to his question, nuzzling your face further into his chest as you wrap your arms around his figure. 

Sion is overjoyed. He’s finally with the girl of his dreams and he’s hugging you tightly. He plants a soft kiss onto the crown of your head before pulling away from your hug.

“I’ll see you too.”

The two of you are long gone out of the packed gymnasium, and parting ways to continue taking pictures of the last school festival with stupid smiles plastered on your faces. 

Just a few more hours and you’ll be able to be together again. That’s the only thing getting you two through the rest of this event.

NCT WISH PERM TAGLIST — @miumura @himewonu

your boyfriend is incredibly hot. and he just like that… threw his t-shirt and ran after his friends into the sea.

you took a sharp breath, shaking your head — as if to help you shake off your thoughts. looking up, you gulped. sion was coming your way, running his fingers through his wet hair. trying not to focus on his defined stomach, you quickly stared down at the book. the words on the paper didn't make sense one bit. you were just listening in to the sounds of footsteps on the sand.

"hey, baby…" he breathed out and plopped down hard next to you, droplets of water landing on your skin. "i'm totally not taking to you to run away from saku's attempt to drown me"

you giggled and continued to stare at your book. trying your best not to peek and stare—

but he looked so effortlessly good! breathing heavily from the fun in the water, his hard… abs… moving…

"how's your book?" sion asked and smiled softly upon catching your gaze and cheeks dusted with deep blush.

"stunning. i mean, good. very." you choked out and closed your eyes, taking a deep breath. be normal be normal be normal…

"i'm glad then. anything caught your interest in partcular?" he asked, teasingly. you peeked an eye open and looked him in the face, only to look away quickly.

you and sion were both awfully shy, which often lead your friends to madness. but you both didn't mind that, knowing it brought you closer and mutually helped each other to be a little bit bolder.

"n-no" you stuttered, nervously drawing shapes in the sand. sion huffed, his ears burning. he clearly knew the effect he had on you and he'd lie if he said it didn't make him confident.

sion shuffled closer to you, his side touching yours. his sturdy arm wrapped around your shoulder and brought you closer, allowing him to see how red your neck turned.

"you know… i don't mind you admiring" he mumbled into the shell of your ear, his breath hot and sticky against your sweaty skin. you gulped, feeling your throat go dry like a desert.

"shut up…" you murmured weakly, biting your lip. blood rushed to your face and if you didn't cool down any second, you were sure to get a heat stroke. (reason? no, not the sun. the menace sitting next to you.)

sion grabbed your hand and suddenly placed it against his abs. you let out a shriek, pulling away.

"you're so mean! so hot for no reason! stop teasing me… it's not my fault… you're… shirtless for the first time…" your voice grew quieter with each word and you buried your face in the crook of your elbow, resting your arms on your knees. sion just laughed, moving your hair to the side from your back.

"and here i thought it's simply because of the weather" he giggled and placed a soft kiss on the nape of your neck. "forgive me?"

you looked up, cheeks burning. you were relieved to see that he's flustered too: his ears and neck were as red as a can of coca cola laying on the towel next to you.

you nodded slowly, unsure what to say.

"do you want to join us? you need to cool down" he grinned and quickly added, embarassed. "not… because of me… well… maybe. but like, well… you've been in the sun and— you might get a stroke. but if not that's cool. i mean— not cool if you do get a stroke but it's, like, cool if you don't want to… join… us."

you grinned and stood up, reaching a hand out to help him.

"i'd love to join you in the water. please protect me from being drowned by them, though" you smiled. he might be hot and insanely cute but he's still an awkward mess.

"sure! you can hop on my back if you want" sion sent you a boyish smile and frowned. your mind was getting dizzy all over again: the thought of being carried on his sturdy back… while he holds you… "y/n?"

"you will be the death of mine" you grumbled and hesitantly squeezed his hand.

sion just interlocked his fingers with yours, leading you to the water. completely forgetting he was, indeed, supposed to lure you in so his friends can surprise splash you.

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taglist. @l3visbby ,, @laylasbunbunny ,, @planetkiimchi ,, @mon2sunjinsuver ,, @w3bqrl ,,

@eternalgyu ,, @haecien ,, @slytherinshua ,, @1009high,, @hhaechansmoless

@loserlvrss ,, @ali1ya ,, @lexeees

Sion

Just finished the practices baby ill be quick okay 

Love you mwah

Your lips soften into a small smile. “Finally…” you whisper under your breath, and before you can even type a reply, another notification pops up.

Yushi

He kind of got yelled at because of us…

Sorry btw that was why he’s late

Also congratulations for your anniversary

So he pushed through all of that and still texted you like everything was okay? This man…

You

It’s okay, don’t worry about it. And haha thank you

Then you switch back to Sion’s chat, 

You

Come back safe okay?

Love you more

You set your phone aside, letting out a breath before standing up. You quickly changed out of your outfit, carefully hanging it back up and changing into shorts and a comfortable hoodie. Once you're done, you head to the kitchen, tying your hair up as you glance around.

You open the fridge, scanning what you have. You start moving around the kitchen- pulling out the ingredients, lighting the stove, the soft clatter of utensils filling the place.

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By the time you're done, you set everything neatly on the table, glancing toward the door. You were just walking toward the living room to grab your phone and your steps faltered hearing a soft click.

Sion steps in quickly, rushing, the door barely closing behind him as he drops his bag to the side. His expression fell instantly seeing you in your soft clothes.

"I'm so sorry, baby-" he rushed out, his hands reaching yours, gentle like he's scared you might pull away. "Let me get ready real quick, okay? We can still go- I'll be fast, I promise-"

"Sion-"

"I know I'm late, I know I messed up-" his words tumble over each other, eyes searching yours for signs of disappointment. "Just… just give me a few minutes, yeah?"

You tighten your hold on his hands before he can pull away.

"Hey stop… I'm not mad." you said softly. He paused.

"You're not?" he asks, quieter now.

You shake your head, stepping closer until there's barely any space between you.

"Nooo, I was worried. That's all love."

His shoulders drop just a little- but the guilt is still there, lingering in his eyes.

"But our anniversary-" "-still happening…just not the way we planned." you gave his hands a small squeeze, a soft smile forming on your lips.

The tension in his body melts, his grip on your hands loosening for him to pull you into a hug. He leans into you fully, arms wrapping around your waist, face burying into your shoulder.

"Thank you baby."

You pulled back slightly, "I made food."

"For me?"

You laughed softly. "Who else?"

He nodded, slower, but before you take a step, he stopped you pulling your hand back gently. He leaned in, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to your forehead.

"Happy anniversary…" he whispered.

"Happy anniversary, my love."

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You both ended up sitting close together at the table, knees brushing under it without either of you pulling away. Sion eats slowly, every now and then his eyes flicking up to you.

"…we had to redo the same part like ten times." he said at one point, letting out a quiet breath, leaning back slightly in his chair. His fingers tap lazily against the table, exhaustion still clinging to him. You reached forward without thinking, your fingers brushing against his wrist- reassuring.

"You did your best, baby." You said gently.

He looked at your hand for a second, and then you. Then something in his expression softened, "I guess…"

When the plates are empty, he already gathering the dishes before you could.

"I'll help." he said, quietly. You were quick to follow, stepping into his space just enough to take the plates from his hands. "Nuh uh, sit."

He paused mod-motion, "What?"

"You're tired" you said, turning toward the sink. "Sit."

"But-"

"Oh Sion." You glanced back over your shoulder, your expression softening instantly. "Please… Just today?"

There's a moment where he hesitated, but then he exhaled. "…okay."

Instead of leaving, he hopped up onto the kitchen counter. The movement is light, boyish despite how drained he was, and he settled there comfortably, legs dangling slightly.

For a few seconds, neither of you said anything. but you could feel his steady gaze. You tried to ignore it, focusing on the plates, but it doesn't go away.

"…What?" you mumbled, glancing over your shoulder.

He was still staring. Chin resting on his palm, elbow propped against his knee.

"Nothing." he said softly.

You huffed quietly, turning back to the sink, though there's a small warmth creeping up your neck.

"You're weird." you mumbled.

He let out a quiet laugh. "Maybe…"

Another moment passes. Then his voice comes again.

"Thank you…" He said. You turned your head slightly, just enough to see him again.

"You don't have to thank me, baby." You said gently. You turned off the tap.

"Come here." You said gently. He tilted his head softly but sild off the counter without question, walking towards you with slow steps. When he's close enough, you reached for his hands, pulled him closer. And before he could ask anything, you leaned in and your lips met his gently. An act of affection that said everything words couldn't.

For a second, he freezes-caught off guard- but then he melts off into it, his hands tightening around yours. When you pull back, his eyes are still half-lidded, love dazed.

"What was that for?" he murmured, stepping a little bit closer.

A small smile tugged at your lips, "Just because I felt like it."

He lets out a soft laugh, shaking his head faintly.

"Whyy…" You tilted your head, whining,"Don't you like it?"

"I love it…so much…" he said, leaning in again.

His lips met you gently, but needy. His hand slides from yours to your waist, resting there. You melt into it instinctively, one hand coming upto rest against his chest. When he pulls back, he rests his forehead against yours.

"I love you…" he murmured softly. Your heart stuttered not expecting him to say those three words out of nowhere. Your expression softened, something warm settling in your chest as your thumb brushes lightly against his wrist.

"I love you too." You whispered back. Then his arms slide around you, pulling you into a full tight hug. His face buried into the crook of your neck, breath warm against your skin. Andyou felt the tired weight of him immediately.

"It was that bad?" you murmured softly.

He hummed faintly, barely even a sound. His grip tightened just slightly, and then he went still. His body started to relax more and more into yours, his weight leaning fully against you now.

"Sion?" you whispered. You pulled back just a little, enough to look at his face and you almost laughed. His eyes are closed, half asleep, right there in your arms.

“Hey.” you mumble softly, brushing your thumb lightly along his cheek. “Don’t fall asleep here.”

He barely reacts, just nuzzling closer into your shoulder, mumbling something incoherent. You shake your head, smiling to yourself.

“Come on.” You gently pull back, keeping one hand in his as you guide him.

“Bathroom.”

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The bathroom fills with steam quickly. Warm air wraps around both of you as the water runs, the soft sound grounding the quiet. Sion sits on the edge of the tub, shoulders slumped, hands resting loosely on his thighs as he watches you through half-lidded eyes. You test the water with your fingers, adjusting it carefully until it’s just right.

“You don’t have to do all this,” he mumbles, voice low and drowsy.

You glance back at him, a small smile forming.

“I want to. Now stop talking and come here.”

He huffs softly, pushing himself up, though there’s a tiny smile tugging at his lips.

“Bossy.”

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Sion leans into your touch without thinking, head tilting slightly to follow your hands. You could feel the way the tension slowly melts out of him. Your fingers slow just a little, nails lightly grazing his scalp as you rinse through his hair carefully. You smile to yourself, using one hand to shield his forehead as you rinse, making sure the water doesn’t run into his face. He hums quietly, barely audible.

“Feels… really good…” he mumbles again, voice softer now, almost slurred with sleep.

You take your time, rinsing everything out, your touch gentle. When you’re done, your fingers linger for a second longer, brushing through his damp hair.

“Sion?”

You tilt your head slightly, watching him.

“Don’t fall asleep in there,” you say softly, though there’s a quiet fondness in your voice.

A faint shake of his head.

“I’m not.” he murmurs weakly.

You raise a brow, amused. “Liar.”

You reach for a towel, unfolding it as you stand.

“Okay, come on,” you say gently, holding a hand out to him. “Let’s get you out before you actually do fall asleep.”

You help him up carefully, steadying him as he steps out, immediately wrapping the towel around his shoulders before he can even react. He exhales softly, leaning into you.

“You’re taking such good care of me,” he murmurs.

You smile, adjusting the towel around him, patting his hair dry gently.

“Someone has to.”

He lets out a quiet laugh, though it’s soft, tired.

“Stay with me tonight, Please?”

“Of course, baby,” you whisper, your voice soft and certain.

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By the time you’re both in your pajamas, the apartment feels warmer somehow. Sion’s in one of his oversized hoodies, the sleeves falling over his hands, making him look even softer than usual. His freshly washed hair is still a little damp, fluffy and falling naturally over his forehead. You grab a blanket and flop back onto the bed, patting the space beside you.

“Come here.”

He doesn’t hesitate. The second he settles next to you, he’s already leaning into your side, like it’s instinct. His head finds its place on your chest so naturally and you pull the blanket over both of you, tucking it around him gently.

“What are we watching?” he asks, his voice quieter now, sleep already creeping back in.

You hum, reaching for the remote.

“What do you want to want, love?”

“Haikyuu.” he mumbles, shifting closer, his hand lightly gripping the fabric of your hoodie near your waist. Your thumb pauses on the remote, you glance down at him. His eyes are already half-closed again. A small smile spreads across your face. Your fingers find his hair again, gently running through the soft strands, soothingly. His body sinks further into you, completely relaxed now, one arm loosely wrapping around your waist under the blanket.

“Comfortable?” you ask softly.

“Mhm…” His eyes flutter.

“You’re gonna fall asleep,” you tease softly, your fingers still lazily combing through his damp hair.

“No I’m not,” he murmurs, voice barely there. “Well… maybe.”

You let out a quiet laugh, the sound warm and fond, your hand never stopping its gentle rhythm. The show plays on in the background, voices blending into soft noise as the room grows dimmer.

“Sion?” you whisper after a moment, just to check.

You glance down at him, a small smile tugging at your lips as you adjust the blanket over his shoulders, tucking it in a little more securely around him.

“Happy anniversary, baby,” you murmur, leaning down to press a soft kiss to his forehead.

Your own eyes begin to grow heavy, blinking slower, your head resting gently against his. He shifts instinctively curling closer into you and his hand finds yours under the blanket, fingers loosely intertwining, holding on in the softest way. You don’t even realize when your eyes fully close.

And by the time the screen quietly asks-

“Are you still watching?”

You’re both already asleep, tangled together like two little kittens.

this is so bad im sorry...also can you guys tell that i was forcing myself to write this... but then i enjoyed writing this and also thank you so much for requesting... hope you enjoyeddd

“Sorry, sir.” Heeseung mumbles as he bends down to grab his cauldron.

“Five points will be taken from Gryffindor.” Snape announces and Heeseung immediately stands straight, eyes widening as he puts his cauldron back on its place.

“Sir, I didn’t do it on purpose.” Heeseung defends. “I wasn’t even touching it.”

“And that’s for not being too careful, Mr. Lee.” Snape says as Heeseung frowns. His eyes go around the classroom, landing on you. You were looking at him, watching the scene unfold. When nothing is said anymore, you turn your head to your book as you read the lesson. “Who knows what else you could have broken?” Snape adds and you look at your teacher as he scowls at Heeseung. 

Snape turns around to go back to his discussion and then, you smirk. You turn your head to Heeseung, raising your eyebrows as you properly put your wand back in your robe. Heeseung shakes his head, rolling his eyes as he scowls through the entire class, cheek resting on his palm.

It had always been like that with the two of you. Ever since your first year, you always hated Heeseung and he felt the exact same towards you. Then in your second year, Heeseung accidentally dodge a bludger and sent it straight to one of the teachers’ office. While you didn’t know what was going on, you had a bat on hand as well when Heeseung let go of his. Then suddenly, the professor went to you and started scolding you while you were still confused. You were given a month’s detention and ten points out of you, but of course, you wanted to have revenge. So you pulled a prank on one of the teachers and framed Heeseung on it, causing him to get the same punishment. Ever since then, you two would always have each other getting in trouble.

“Jay, come on.” Heeseung turns to his friend who shakes his head as they get out of the classroom. “Please, I’ll do anything you want. I’ll give you 24 hours to let you do anything you want.”

Jay huffs. “Seriously, Heeseung, this thing with you and Y/L/N is getting silly. It was silly from the very start, but we’re 6th years now!” Jay says as they walk towards their common room. “Even sillier because you act like you hate her when you look at her as if she made the stars and moon.”

Heeseung immediately jabs his elbow on Jay’s side, causing the poor boy to groan. “Great way to convince me!” Jay says, shaking his head as they get to the common room. Heeseung says the password as the Fat Lady opens the door for them.

“Please, Jay?” Heeseung says and Jay sighs. “Last one and I’ll stop.”

“And if your plan goes to shit? What the hell are you going to do with me?” Jay asks.

“Who said I’ll do it? We’re going to get Jake.” Heeseung says with a grin to which Jay groans.

With Jake sighing as he follows Heeseung out of the great hall, he speaks up. “I swear to Merlin, Heeseung. If we get into detention because of this, I’m hexing your ass.” 

Heeseung laughs, shaking his head. Jake is a Ravenclaw, but somehow Jake is always with the two Gryffindors. As Heeseung turns to the left, out of the great hall, he is met by you with Sunghoon right beside you. Perfect timing. You stop, preventing yourself from running against the tall guy. 

“Hey, I was looking for you.” Heeseung says and you only look at him.

“The hell do you want?” You said and Heeseung holds his hands out, holding a small puppy. “The hell am I going to do with that?”

“Maybe it’s a new way of proposing?” Sunghoon suggests and you turn your head to him, questioning his response. “And then, I don’t know, you two would finally get together and you would go around wearing his house scarf.” Sunghoon teases, giggling to himself as he nudges you gently.

Jake was laughing lightly, holding his hand up to which Sunghoon claps with his. “Disgusting. I rather go to Azkaban than wear scarves from the other houses.” You dramatically say, looking at Heeseung. “Especially yours.” You say, pointing at him and he rolls his eyes.

“Come on, it’s my peace offering.” Heeseung says, holding the cute dog.

“No, I have a cat and I don’t have anything to take care of a dog.” You say, moving away from him, but Heeseung blocks your way. “Get out of my way, Lee.” You say and Heeseung shakes his head. “Stop it!”

“No!” Heeseung says. “I am giving you a gift and you’re not accepting it. This is very offensive.”

“It would be more offensive if I punched your face. Get out of the way.” You say and he only shakes his head. You groan. “Would you leave me alone if I take it?”

“Yes.” Heeseung says, nodding and you grab the puppy out of his hands, carrying it gently as its two paws rests on your shoulder, the puppy’s head snuggling on your shoulder.

“He’s cute.” Sunghoon says, petting it and the puppy barks, biting Sunghoon’s finger. You smirk, looking at Sunghoon who pouts, massaging his finger.

“You deserve it.” You say as Jake and Heeseung chuckle. You move away from Heeseung who doesn’t stop you this time.

“No thank you? Seriously?” Heeseung says and you roll your eyes. “Professor, Y/L/N turned Jay into a dog.” He says as soon as he sees his teacher along the entrance of the great hall. You turn around with wide eyes.

“What?!” McGonagall says, looking at you.

“WHAT?!” You shout, looking at Heeseung who’s just pointing at you.

“Ms. Y/L/N, I know you two have some sort of rivalry with each other, but you did not have to turn Mr. Park into an animal.” McGonagall scolds.

“Professor, no. I didn’t—”

“Ten points from Slytherin and detention tonight.” McGonagall says. “Put Mr. Park down.”

In defeat, you put the “dog” down on the ground and McGonagall flicks her wand, the dog growing as Jay. McGonagall lightly glares at you as she walks past to enter the great hall. You hit Sunghoon’s arm, turning to him.

“Ow!”

“Why didn’t you defend me?” You say as Sunghoon rubs the spot you hit.

“I thought you didn’t want me to stop whatever this… thing you and Heeseung are doing!” Sunghoon defends. “And seriously, man, did you have to bite me?” He says, turning to Jay who just shrugs, smiling.

“I didn’t tell you to not help me get his ass in trouble!” You say and Sunghoon laughs sheepishly. You turn to Heeseung. “You are so going to regret this.” You say, walking away with Sunghoon following you as he says bye to the three boys.

“24 hours, Lee.” Jay reminds.

“Not tomorrow.” Heeseung says and Jay raises an eyebrow. “Any day but tomorrow.”

Jay sighs, glaring at Heeseung. He just knows he will never get the 24 hour deal.

“Hey,” you hear, causing you to turn around. Heeseung smiles, but still, you had a scowl on your face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you’d get detention.”

“McGonagall thought I turned Park into a fucking dog, Lee. What did you expect? For her to give me some reward? Give me a hundred points?” You say and Heeseung chuckles. “I had you deducted five points and you got to deduct ten points from me and had me detention.”

“I’m sorry.” Heeseung says and you shake your head, shooing him away with your foot as you hug yourself. “Are you cold?”

“No, I’m Y/N.” You say and Heeseung laughs. He comes closer, pulling you into a hug and you softly sigh, wrapping your own arms around his waist as you snuggle against him.

“I thought you’re mad at me?” Heeseung asks and you softly pinch his side to which he lightly jumps at. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He says, kissing your forehead. “Where’s your scarf?”

“I forgot to bring it.” You say and Heeseung pulls away as he removes his red and gold striped scarf, putting it over your neck. “You don’t have to, Seungie.” You say, shaking your head and he stops his actions, raising an eyebrow. 

“Right, you'd rather go to Azkaban than wear my disgusting scarf.” Heeseung says and you close your eyes, breathing deeply which causes him to laugh loudly. He fixes the scarf around your neck. When he’s done, he grabs the front, pulling you to him as his lips catch your cold lips. You kiss back, Heeseung smiling against your lips.

Yeah, you two have been dating since last year. When your plan semi-failed, causing you and Heeseung to have detention together, you two went to the Forbidden Forest with one other kid. You two were partners, it led to Heeseung holding your hand with you trying to yank your hand off, but he pulls it to him, saying, “Listen here, Y/L/N. I’ve had feelings for you for the longest time and I’ve been dropping hints that I do. It’s time for you to tell me you like me back because I know you like me, too, okay?”

You being you, answered, “How sure are you? What if you’re wrong?”

“I just… know.”

“You know I hate admitting when someone’s right, you know that?” You asked to which he nodded. “I’ll make an exception just this one time.” You say as you pull him to kiss you. Then it began with you two sneaking around, but never did you stop getting each other in trouble.

He pulls away after a few beats, grabbing your hand. “Come on, let’s go to the Three Broomsticks. While our friends and mostly everyone are still in Honeydukes.” Heeseung says as you two walk through the snow.

“Ugh, you’re really going to make me walk around Hogsmeade with your disgusting scarf.” You say, holding his hand tightly as he gently pulls you with him.

“You say it’s disgusting as if you didn’t almost hex me when you saw Yeji wear it.” Heeseung says.

“If I wear Beomgyu’s would you be happy?”

“Whose girlfriend are you?” Heeseung says.

“Whose boyfriend are you?” You question back. Heeseung only chuckles, pulling you closer to him as you pass by a big tree. 

Where Sunghoon was hiding. He goes around the tree, making sure neither of you see him. He watches the two of you walk away as you jokingly pinch his side to which Heeseung jumped on again. Heeseung yanks his hand away from you and you hug him from behind as he walks further away with you waddling behind him.

For a second, Sunghoon thought you two were going to fight until Heeseung hugged you. He thought he just mistook you from someone else, turns out it was you. The girl who said that Lee Heeseung is the bane of your existence. Turns out, he’s the love of your life. He couldn’t even believe his own ears when you called Heeseung ‘Seungie’.

So, when you two were out of sight, Sunghoon runs to Honeydukes as he calls Jake and Jay… and everyone in there.

“Good luck on the match, Y/L/N.” Heeseung says as he passes by where you and Sunghoon are sitting. “Hope you miss the hoops.”

“Hope I hit your face with the quaffle.” You answer.

“Hope you fall off.” He says.

“Hope you get hit by a bludger.” You say.

“Hope you—”

“OH MY GOD. SHUT UP!” You two get cut off when the head boy, Seungmin shouts.

“But she—”

“But he—”

“I DON’T CARE!” Seungmin says, glaring at the two of you. “BOTH OF YOU. SHUT IT.”

You look at Heeseung who looks at you as well. He winks and you raise your middle finger to him as he walks away. You drink your juice before your captain calls you for the team has to go prepare. When you stand up to go with your captain, Jake sits beside Sunghoon.

“I really don’t see it.” Jake says. “I mean, it could be seen they like each other, but them dating without anyone knocking some sense into them? Impossible.”

“I’m telling you!” Sunghoon said. “Y/N even called him ‘Seungie’.”

Jake shrugs.

“Seungie! Not Lee, little shit, not fucker, not any of that, but Seungie!” Sunghoon says and Jake sighs, shrugging again.

“I did see them together in Hogsmeade.” Sunoo, a Slytherin who was a year below the two joins. “Just last Saturday. Y/N’s wearing Lee Heeseung’s scarf. And honestly, they’re very obvious, you know? And like, last week, I saw them sneaking at night. Lee Heeseung even walked her back to the common room.”

Jake and Sunghoon turned to the younger boy who just shrugged at them. “How did you know they sneaked—”

“Snuck.”

Sunghoon rolls his eyes at Jake. “That they snuck out?” He continues.

“Jungwon, Riki and I snuck out that time, too.” Sunoo says, raising his eyebrows as he stands and walks away from the two. Jake and Sunghoon only look at each other, but Sunghoon is smiling smugly.

45 minutes have passed since the game started, Han Jisung from Hufflepuff announces the scores as Heeseung makes a goal. The match is just mainly you and Heeseung chasing each other around with the quaffle. How come Sunghoon never noticed this? It was entertaining to everyone how the two sworn enemies are chasing around, but what Sunghoon noticed since he started paying close attention was that you and Heeseung were never harsh with each other. 

Heeseung hits your arm with so much force, but when it’s close to your arm already, it becomes a soft pat. You would elbow Heeseung’s side, but Sunghoon realizes that you only touch Heeseung’s elbow with yours softly.

Sunghoon comes to the conclusion that you two are whipped.

Almost an hour later, the Golden Snitch finally decides to make an appearance and the two seekers chase it right away. Jay throws the quaffle to Heeseung, but you manage to get in between and catch it. Heeseung chases you right away as you dodge everything going your way, seeing Heeseung advancing beside you.

“Fuck!” You hear your boyfriend say and you turn your head quickly to see if he is okay, but you stop when you see him falling, almost meeting the ground. You feel the quaffle being grabbed from you, but you don’t care as you turn your broom around to chase Heeseung.

“Heeseung!” You call and he lands on his back with a thud. “Shit!” You curse as you get down as fast as you can. When you’re almost on the ground, you jump off your broom as you run to your boyfriend who’s unconscious. You get on your knees beside him as you cup his cheek, other hand on his shoulder shaking him. “Seungie, wake up. I’m kicking your ass, if you don’t wake up, I swear on Merlin’s beard.”

You don't care if everyone finds out now. You don’t care that the audience’s eyes are on you now as you try to wake up your boyfriend. You don’t care that even the game has stopped as everyone watches you. You don’t care even if the teachers and staff are watching.

“What the fuck?” Jisung accidentally says through the microphone of the announcer and he feels McGonagall hit him on the head.

As Madam Pomfrey and some students snap out of the trance, they run to you and Heeseung, putting him on the stretcher, taking him to the hospital wing. You follow and everyone takes a minute to process everything.

The two sworn enemies… are actually together all along? That’s something else.

The sound of whistle snaps the players up in the air out of their trance. “Resume the game!” Madam Hooch orders.

“Y/N, calm down.”

“No! You hit my fucking boyfriend with a fucking bludger. What if you hit him on the head? How the fuck would you replace his head?”

“I didn’t mean to, I’m really sorry—”

“Oh, come on! I know your hands were itching to fucking hit anyone from their team because they were on the lead.” You say as Heeseung slowly opens his eyes, seeing you sitting by the edge of his bed, your head turned to your captain. His good arm on your lap.

“Who the hell are you? Y/L/N Y/N can’t take to lose and you—”

You were quick to stand, about to grab Hyunjin, but Heeseung was quicker to hold your hand. You turn around, looking at him. “Hey, how do you feel?” You ask, sitting back as you hold his hand in yours.

“Throat feels dry.” Heeseung croaks and you stand up, helping him sit up. You grab the pitcher, putting water in the cup. You give the cup to Heeseung and he drinks it right away as you brush your fingers through his hair. You put it away when he’s done and he smiles at you. 

“Oh my God.” Sunghoon says and you turn to him, seeing him that he’s looking at you with a judging look on his face. “You’re so… whipped, Y/N.”

“Okay, if you think you’re already forgiven about telling everyone about our relationship—” You say, standing up as you’re ready to fight Sunghoon who’s already taking steps backwards. “You are so wrong, Park. You are going to—”

“Hey, calm down.” Heeseung says, arm around you with his hand on your hip as he rests his cheek on your shoulder, lightly laughing. “I’ll talk to you later, I wanna be alone with Y/N.” He tells Jay and Jake who nod, finding the scene funny as well. The two were the first ones to leave, Sunghoon smiling at Heeseung who nodded before Sunghoon left. Then Hyunjin, your captain, was about to leave.

About to.

“Hyunjin?” You call and he turns around, looking at you. You raise an eyebrow, nodding towards Heeseung while you glare at him.

“What if I don’t—”

Hyunjin cuts himself off when he sees you tilting your head, clearing his throat, chuckling nervously as he walks closer. “I’m just kidding, you.” He nervously says, knuckles softly bumping against your chin. When he gets no reaction from you, he sighs, turning to Heeseung. “I’m sorry about the bludger. I was dodging it off, I didn’t know it would hit you.”

“It’s okay, hyung.” Heeseung says.

“No, it’s not—”

You cut yourself off when you feel Heeseung squeezing your side. You glare at Hyunjin and he smiles at you. Hyunjin exits the hospital wing and you turn to your boyfriend. “You’re scaring everyone off.” Heeseung says, chuckling. “That’s your captain and he’s scared of you.”

“And?” You said and Heeseung rolled his eyes, smiling at you. “How do you feel?”

“I’m good.” Heeseung says, nodding as his hand goes up to your collar, fixing it as he notices you’re on your uniform, minus the robe. “How long was I out?”

“Three days.” You answer as you take his hand, playing with his fingers. “It’s so boring. No one got me in trouble, I got no one in trouble.” You say, looking up at him. “Don’t do that again, okay? I knew the bludger was going to hit me.”

“Then why did you make Hyunjin hyung apologize?” Heeseung asks.

“Because he needs to aim upwards, I don’t know why he aimed it sideway.” You answer and Heeseung chuckles, shaking his head. “But seriously, don’t do that again.”

“If I didn’t do it, you’re the one who’d be out for three days.” Heeseung says and you shrug.

“I could use a rest away from you.” You tease and he smiles, shaking his head. You sigh, putting your arm around him as you pull him in a hug. He wraps his arm around your waist, pressing a kiss on your shoulder. “Everyone knows now, we don’t have to sneak.” You say, pulling away and he hums.

“How?” He asks.

You hum. “Uh,” you trail off, deciding to leave out the part that the match stopped because of you going to him when he fell. “Sunghoon saw us last week and told everyone.”

Heeseung laughs, nodding and you look at him through your lashes. “I really worried you, didn’t I?” He asks and you shake your head, looking away as you tighten your hold on his hand. Heeseung knows you’re lying.  “Look, I’m okay! Frankly, I think the bludger should’ve hit me harder.”

You look at him, raising your eyebrow. “I’m okay, really.” He says and you nod.

“I know.” You say, sighing.

“You know what would cheer me up, though?” He says and you hum. “Seeing my girlfriend smile. She rarely does it, but when she does, my heart just melts because I know it’s real.”

You shake your head, placing your hand on his head. “Go back to sleep.” You say and he laughs, grabbing your hand, pulling it down to his lips to kiss your palm. “Seriously, Heeseung, I haven’t washed my hands for over an hour.”

“But I can see you like it, your cheeks are growing red.” He says and you sigh, shaking your head. “Come on, baby, smile for me.” He says and you sigh, pressing your lips against him as you close your eyes. “Okay, this works, too.” He says against your lips as he closes his eyes, causing you to laugh which makes him smile.

“Okay, lovebirds. Cut it out, now.” Madam Pomfrey says, coming into the hospital wing and you pull away, causing Heeseung to pout. You look at him, shrugging. “As much as it interests me—and the whole school—how you two got together, Mr. Lee needs his rest and I need to mend his bones. He’ll be out of here before dinner, dear, don’t worry.”

You nod. “Thank you, ma’am.” You say and she nods, smiling. You press one last kiss on Heeseung’s lips and then another one on his forehead. You stand up as you grab something from the side and put it on Heeseung’s lap, walking away as Madam Pomfrey starts to pour the bone mending medicine into the cup. Heeseung looks down to see his red and gold striped scarf neatly folded. Heeseung watches your back as you turn to him, smiling at him which causes him to smile as well.

Like Madam Pomfrey said, Heeseung was out before dinner, going to you as he teased you how you went to him right away when he fell off his broom while putting his scarf around you as he pressed a kiss on your cheek.

Yup, Sunghoon outed you. But you honestly don’t care.

Let the whole world be chaotic, you don’t care. All you care about is Heeseung.

(You’d still kick Sunghoon’s ass, though).

#⠀OO5⠀:⠀WRONG TURNS AND REGRETS.

it had been three weeks since the welcoming party for the architecture students—an event you had somehow, miraculously, survived despite being a business ad major who had absolutely no business being there in the first place. yet the mystery gnawed at you still: how, exactly, had you gotten home that night?

for days, you pestered your friends for answers, clinging onto the hope that someone, anyone, might remember. but their confusion only mirrored your own. none of them knew how they had returned either.

they had all woken up already sprawled in their own dormitory as if placed there by invisible hands.

yunjin and kazuha were tangled together in a half-conscious cuddle on the living room carpet, while chaewon had managed to claim the entirety of the sofa for herself, mouth slightly agape, a small snore escaping every few breaths.

their recollections aligned eerily with yours—except for the part where you woke up tucked neatly in your own room.

your cropped crochet open-knit bolero was gone from your shoulders, folded neatly atop your bedside table. left behind was just your black spaghetti strap crop top, the hem riding a little too high up your stomach because of how deep your sleep was, and your shoes and socks resting side by side on the floor.

the scene was unsettlingly familiar, like déjà vu reaching out and tapping you on the shoulder. it reminded you of that night, just two nights before, when jungwon had helped your drunken self wobble back home with both patience and grace.

perhaps, maybe, it was jungwon once again.

except—you hadn't properly spoken to him since that afternoon when he had helped you carry and move your furniture into your new apartment.

he hadn’t even messaged, save for that polite "you're welcome" he sent, replying to your thank you message the morning before the party, a message so brief yet so final it almost stung. you didn’t even know if he had attended the party.

you and your friends obsessed over the mystery for a few more days, exchanging theories that grew more ridiculous with each retelling, until eventually the puzzle pieces were abandoned, scattered into the corners of your minds. life simply moved on.

your days resumed their steady, predictable rhythm.

yami would occasionally grace your apartment with her presence, weaving between your legs and purring like she owned the place.

you also dedicated yourself to preparing for the impending start of classes, assembling supplies and adjusting to the small, adult routines of calling your parents, updating them on your well-being and pretending everything was under perfect control.

you often found yourself heading down to the lobby to collect yet another delivery or two—nothing screamed adulthood like ordering a random cat mug at 2am. you ran errands with your friends, laughing over the ridiculous list of essentials you somehow convinced yourselves were necessary for survival.

yet despite all the activity, one thing remained absent: jungwon.

not a glimpse. not even a fleeting shadow at the end of the corridor. despite living on the same floor, breathing the same recycled air of the building, he remained conspicuously missing.

you told yourself it was simply bad timing. maybe he was busy, after all, school was only a week away, and the looming pressure was starting to make even the calmest of students a little erratic.

yunjin, in particular, had turned into a delightful hurricane of stress, insisting she didn't have enough materials even as her arms overflowed with sketchbooks, pencils, and highlighters of every conceivable color.

you, chaewon, and kazuha simply watched her spin through the aisles of the school and art supplies store, your expressions a perfect blend of concern and secondhand embarrassment.

"she must be excited," the three of you thought in unison, exchanging knowing glances as yunjin bolted toward yet another aisle like a woman possessed, clutching a sixth sketchpad to her chest.

the last week of the month slipped through your fingers like water, and before you could truly brace yourself, it was already the morning of your first day, orientation and tour day.

now you stood frozen in front of your closet, eyes darting from hanger to hanger, as if the right outfit might magically materialize if you stared long enough.

nerves twisted in your stomach.

you were nervous—nervous that you might get lost on campus despite yunjin thoughtfully printing out campus maps for all of you, highlighting routes and buildings like a seasoned tour guide.

nervous that you might embarrass yourself, trip over nothing, mispronounce a professor’s name, or somehow make such a terrible first impression that your professors would loathe you on sight (spoiler: they wouldn’t).

but above all else, you were nervous because, even though your friends were attending the same university, they were scattered across different programs and faculties. for the first time in one month, you were truly on your own.

after what felt like an eternity of agonizing, you finally chose your outfit—something comfortable yet respectable—and swiftly packed your tote bag with every essential you could think of: a notebook, a pen, your wallet, a mini hand sanitizer, a spare charger, tissues, your mini make up bag, and a quiet hope that you wouldn’t cry in public.

you quickly ran a brush through your hair, trying to tame the chaos, then hurried out of your apartment, juggling the strap of your bag over your shoulder as you half-sprinted toward the elevators.

as you rounded the corner, a familiar figure came into view—jungwon.

your heart skipped a beat, a flash of relief blooming in your chest. instinctively, you called out to him, voice light with the kind of casual friendliness you reserved for someone you were hoping to bump into.

he looked up, his eyes locking onto yours—and for a split second, something unreadable flickered across his face.

but then, just as you reached out your hand as if to tell him to stop the elevator doors from closing. despite seeing you, jungwon did the unthinkable.

he let the elevator doors close.

right. in. front. of. you.

you stood there, blinking at the now shut metallic doors, your hand still slightly raised in midair, feeling like you had just been personally victimized by the universe.

“what the fuck was that about?” you muttered under your breath, pressing the elevator button with a bit more force than necessary, your mind racing through every possible explanation, none of which made any sense.

meanwhile, inside the descending elevator, jungwon was a whirlwind of self-inflicted misery.

he leaned his forehead against the cool metal wall, lightly banging it once, twice, before dragging his hand through his hair in pure frustration.

“fuck,” he hissed to no one in particular.

he could still see it—the exact expression you had given him through the narrowing gap of the doors. you had looked so... betrayed. and annoyed.

so wonderfully, vividly pretty despite the negative emotions plastered on your face.

this was the first time he had ever seen you wear that expression, and somehow, it managed to stab him right in the chest despite only knowing you for a month.

he wished he could rewind time, shove his foot between the doors and do anything but what he had just done. but deep down, he knew that even if he had stopped the doors, the air between you would have been thick with something worse than awkwardness.

because the truth was, jungwon had been avoiding you. deliberately.

and the worst part? you didn’t even know why.

technically, you had done something. but you were so devastatingly drunk that night, you couldn’t possibly remember it—and jungwon wasn’t planning on telling you, not now, not ever.

not if he could help it.

he let out a heavy sigh, a sound full of regret, and stepped out of the elevator, shoulders slightly hunched as if he could physically shrink away from the guilt clinging to him. he barely made it out of the apartment building when a voice cut sharply through the air, halting him in his tracks.

“jungwon!”

he gasped audibly, body stiffening like a startled cat. he knew that voice—knew it down to the very marrow of his bones.

he didn’t want to turn around. every instinct screamed at him to keep walking, to pretend he hadn’t heard. but guilt is a heavy thing, and it anchored his feet to the ground.

reluctantly, jungwon turned.

and instantly wished he hadn’t.

there you were, standing not far from him, brows knitted together in pure exasperation, confusion swirling in your eyes, and—worst of all—a tiny glint of hurt buried beneath it all.

he felt the ground tilt beneath him.

“h-hey, y/n…” he stammered, voice pitching higher than he intended, forcing an awkward chuckle out in a weak attempt to appear casual.

you raised a single, unimpressed eyebrow, the kind of expression that could slice a man’s ego clean in half. then, with deliberate steps, you closed the distance between you.

jungwon froze again, practically forgetting how to breathe as you stopped right in front of him, arms folding across your chest in a perfect display of judgment.

“earlier. at the elevator,” you said, your tone flat, leaving no room for misunderstanding. “what the hell was that about?”

your bluntness struck him like a slap, and he scrambled internally for an answer that would save him. his eyes darted everywhere—from the pavement to a passing bird to an invisible point in the sky—anywhere but your face.

for a brief moment, his brain offered him nothing but static. then, like a merciful flick of fate, an idea sparked.

“i—i misjudged!” he blurted out, straightening up a little, trying to sound convincing. “i thought you weren’t going to make it to the elevator in time!”

he mentally patted himself on the back for that one, almost proud of the quick recovery.

but you weren’t buying it.

you narrowed your eyes at him, your frown deepening. “i could’ve made it. easily. if you hadn’t just stood there like a damn npc and let the doors close.”

jungwon winced, the truth of your words hitting harder than he cared to admit.

“oh… right,” he muttered, suddenly finding the cracks on the sidewalk incredibly interesting. he shuffled his feet, searching desperately for an escape hatch, but it was obvious—he was trapped. there would be no running from this confrontation.

so, he went for the simplest, oldest trick in the book: sincerity (and his looks).

“i’m sorry, y/n,” he said, lifting his head to meet your gaze with the most devastatingly apologetic look he could summon. his big, round eyes practically screamed forgiveness, the corners of his lips tugging down in a perfect portrait of remorse.

and it worked. he saw it—the moment your defenses cracked, a twitch of a smile betraying you.

jungwon seized his opportunity like a man who had been offered a pardon.

“then—goodbye, y/n! see you around!” he chirped brightly, spinning on his heel and sprinting away like a guilty cartoon character.

you blinked, stunned into silence, watching his retreating figure with growing disbelief. it took your brain several long, painful seconds to reboot, short-circuiting somewhere between ‘he looks so cute!’ and ‘wait, did he just run away?’

“hey! wait, we’re going in the same direction!” you called out, but it was too late. jungwon was already halfway down the street, pretending not to hear you.

you stood there, blinking dumbly after him, utterly bewildered by what had just transpired.

you exhaled through your nose, trying to calm your nerves, and pulled out your phone with a resigned sigh. you booked yourself an uber—because clearly, walking in the same direction as jungwon was not on today's agenda.

as if sensing your gaze still somewhere near him, jungwon abruptly veered off to another street, almost comically dramatic with the way he ducked his head and hurried his steps, clearly trying to escape your line of sight.

pathetic. dramatic. suspiciously fast. definitely guilty.

meanwhile, in his small spiral of panic, jungwon fumbled with his phone, his thumbs moving in a frenzy as he typed out a message to riki.

jungwon: where r u. pick me up. now.

but before he could even finish cursing under his breath, riki’s familiar car came to a stop right in front of him, its timing almost poetic.

the passenger-side window rolled down with a mechanical hum, revealing sunoo, who stared at him with an expression that perfectly blended confusion and secondhand embarrassment.

“yo, you look like you just got chased by a ghost,” sunoo said flatly, squinting at jungwon’s slightly sweaty forehead and thoroughly ruffled hair. “or, like, karma.”

jungwon rolled his eyes with a dramatic groan, not even trying to explain himself as he yanked open the back door.

“long story,” he muttered, flopping into the seat like a man who had just survived a war—an emotional war, perhaps, but a war nonetheless.

riki, in the driver's seat and already smirking, glanced at him through the rearview mirror. “good. we’ve got time,” he quipped, clearly eager for some tea.

jungwon waved a hand weakly in the air, “just drive,” he muttered. “we’ll be late.”

riki turned to sunoo with a knowing look. sunoo shrugged, as if to say ‘don’t look at me’, and riki shrugged right back. without further protest, he shifted gears and pulled out of the street, the car humming softly as they began the drive to campus.

jungwon leaned his head back against the seat, shutting his eyes. he could still see your face—your expression when you caught him ditching you at the elevator, the betrayal in your eyes, the sheer ‘what the hell’ radiating off you like heat.

and worse, he could still hear the echo of your voice: “we’re going in the same direction!”

tragically… you were right.

you, on the other hand, had already slipped into the back seat of your uber, the cool leather offering a small comfort as the city passed by in a blur. the ride was quiet—your driver occasionally humming along to the radio while you stared out the window, half-lost in your thoughts. within minutes, the car pulled up to your destination.

there it was. your university. grand horizon university. standing tall and proud, like an academic kingdom with gates flung wide open, welcoming—and slightly overwhelming—its new citizens.

students swarmed the entrance like ants on a sugar cube. some were poring over crumpled maps with puzzled brows, others paced in small circles while mumbling to themselves. a few brave souls had resorted to asking complete strangers where to go, and many had approached the campus security guards like weary travelers begging for directions to the nearest oasis.

you reached into your tote, pulled out your phone, and snapped a quick photo of the chaos—a little memento of your first day. the picture captured the mix of excitement and confusion around you, and you sent it to your group chat with a quick message:

you: i’ve arrived. front gate. help before i disappear into the crowd.

you were just about to scroll idly when you felt a sudden presence behind you—followed by familiar squeals and arms flinging around your shoulders.

“boo!” yunjin’s voice rang in your ear, immediately followed by kazuha and chaewon joining in on the ambush, their smiles wide, their energy contagious.

you spun around, pretending to scowl but unable to stop the grin tugging at your lips. you hugged them all back, your nerves easing just a little with the comfort of familiar faces.

“you could’ve warned me,” you muttered with faux irritation, brushing your hair back.

“where’s the fun in that?” kazuha smirked.

together, the four of you started walking toward the main entrance towards the main building in the middle of the university, your chatter bouncing lightly between you, an easy mix of nervous laughter and unfiltered panic.

“okay but like... are we ready?” chaewon asked, adjusting her strap bag anxiously.

“mentally? no. emotionally? also no. physically? barely.” yunjin replied, flailing her arms dramatically. “but spiritually? absolutely not.”

you all laughed, and for a moment, the tension melted. but as soon as the university doors opened, the noise hit you like a wave.

inside was just as chaotic—if not worse—than outside. students were huddled around bulletin boards, craning their necks and squinting as they tried to decipher lists of names, classroom codes, building numbers and names, and professor names that sounded made-up.

you weaved through the crowd with your friends and finally found your schedules, each of you staring on your copies of the campus map.

and then came the collective groan.

“ugh! why does this university have to look like a whole freaking village?” yunjin cried, clutching her map like it had betrayed her.

“tell me about it,” kazuha added, staring at her map like it might rearrange the buildings if she blinked hard enough. “i swear, i’m about to rent an electric scooter. or a horse.”

“why,” you said slowly, squinting at the map, “does this university have two hundred and thirty buildings?”

they both turned to pat your shoulders in silent solidarity, as if sharing the same academic tragedy. you sighed dramatically, already feeling the weight of your future footsteps.

you all then looked at chaewon, silently praying she had it just as bad.

she glanced at her schedule and gave a sheepish shrug. “mine’s kinda near... but also not? like, it’s not far-far but it’s not close either.”

you, yunjin, and kazuha groaned in unison before rolling your eyes and playfully turning your backs on her, walking away as if she had betrayed the sisterhood.

“rude!” chaewon called after you three with a laugh, instantly chasing after you with quick steps, and soon enough, you were all walking again, side by side, navigating the labyrinth together.

“good thing we only have orientations and campus tours today. if we had actual classes right now, we’d probably be buried under a pile of wrong turns and regrets,” you said, half-laughing as you glanced down at your phone.

you tapped a quick message to your parents—‘i made it to school safely’—along with a photo of the university gate for good measure. your mom had already sent three heart emojis and a good luck gif. classic.

with that done, you turned your attention back to the ever-confusing campus map that you folded and tucked between your fingers, just behind your phone earlier.

“okay, so right now we’re at aurora hall,” you began, squinting at the tiny lines and icons. “and i need to get to the south part of campus.”

your words caught everyone’s attention. three heads immediately leaned over your shoulder, eyes narrowing like detectives over a case file.

“wait—you’re going to the south campus too?” yunjin asked, pointing at the lower quadrant of your map. “what building?”

you tilted your map toward her while pointing at the building. “the vanguard business hall. apparently that’s the main building for business admin majors.”

as soon as the words left your mouth, the excitement erupted.

“no way, i’m headed there too!” yunjin gasped, then quickly clarified. “well, not there—i’ve got architecture at arcadia studios, but it’s in the same area.”

“me too,” kazuha chimed in, flashing a grin. “grand horizon performing arts center. sounds dramatic. fitting, right?”

chaewon raised her hand like she was in class. “silver screen studios for film and tv. also south campus.”

and just like that, a burst of collective relief washed over the group. you all let out a synchronized squeal, followed by a group hug that was slightly chaotic and entirely uncoordinated. still, it felt good—like the universe had decided to bless you today.

at least for the trip to south campus, you wouldn't be alone.

“okay, transportation,” chaewon said, already back in planner mode. “should we rent e-bikes or ride the shuttle buses?”

you all looked down at the map again, tracing little lines between buildings, searching for the nearest shuttle stops and rental stations.

“e-bikes sound cute in theory,” yunjin mused, “but we’d probably end up somewhere in a forbidden faculty zone and get expelled before day two.”

“true,” you said, nodding. “let’s not risk accidental trespassing just yet.”

the group collectively agreed: shuttle bus it was.soon enough, you were all sprinting through the university corridors like you were in a slice-of-life anime opening sequence. wind in your hair, laughter echoing behind you, dodging slow walkers like pros, and somehow managing to arrive at the shuttle bus station just in time.

the vehicle hissed to a halt as students boarded one by one, and the four of you squeezed into the middle row, still catching your breath and trying to act like you weren’t about to melt from the sprint.

as the bus rolled forward, it passed through winding lanes, landscaped gardens, and sleek buildings that shimmered beneath the sun. the driver, with a calm voice and an obvious love for punctuality, announced each stop clearly through the overhead speaker:

“silver screen studios.”

“grand horizon performing arts center.”

“arcadia studios.”

one by one, your friends got off. chaewon first, waving enthusiastically. then kazuha, who gave a little spin before hopping off, dramatically clutching her schedule like a script. yunjin followed next, shooting you a thumbs up as if to say ‘you’ve got this’.

and finally, it was your turn.you stood, your tote slung over your shoulder, and stepped off with the others headed toward the vanguard business hall—a part of the sprawling college of business and management complex.

as your shoes hit the pavement, you took a deep breath. this was it. your first real step into university life.

then, you looked up at the towering structure before you, your breath hitching slightly in awe.

the vanguard business hall stood like a monument to ambition—ten stories high, cloaked in sleek panels of silver and glass that shimmered beneath the morning light. its clean lines and polished finish gave it the kind of sharp sophistication that whispered, ‘only the bold survive here’. it was the kind of building that didn’t just exist—it announced itself.

for a moment, you stood at the base of it, tilting your head all the way back just to take it in, as if you were trying to absorb some of its power through sheer admiration. you could almost hear it taunting you, daring you to prove you belonged here.

you exhaled softly and squared your shoulders, adjusting the strap of your bag as if it might suddenly make you feel more grown-up, more prepared.

then you quietly muttered under your breath, a little pep talk to yourself, “okay... good luck, me.”

and with that final whisper of hope and bravado, you stepped forward and pushed open the glass doors—walking into the future with all the courage, curiosity, and slightly faked confidence you could muster.

just a few minutes earlier, jungwon and his friends had found themselves in a strikingly similar situation as you and your group—equally disoriented, equally overwhelmed, and just as hilariously unprepared for the sheer sprawl of campus life.

the five of them had huddled around a map, each trying to decipher the labyrinth of buildings, shuttles, and cryptic acronyms like they were decoding ancient hieroglyphs. eventually, the group had to split, though not without groaning dramatically about the injustice of parting ways on their very first day.

jake and sunghoon, after much squinting and turning the map sideways for no apparent reason, had discovered they both needed to head north.

jake was assigned to the science complex—ominously named the helix research center—while sunghoon had to make his way to the monolithic fusion engineering complex, which honestly sounded more like a boss level in a video game than a school building.

meanwhile, jungwon, riki, and sunoo were bound for the south campus. jungwon had orientation at the arcadia studios—the heart of the architecture department. riki was heading to the grand horizon performing arts center, while sunoo was off to the silver screen studios, home to film and tv production students (and future dramatic monologues, no doubt).

the farewell was brief but not without flair. sunghoon and jake darted off to their own shuttle station with mock salutes and promises not to get lost or abducted by rogue professors. the remaining three made their way to the same shuttle bus station you and your friends had used earlier.

though fate had kept your paths from crossing that morning, something about the moment had tugged at jungwon—a peculiar sense of déjà vu, or maybe just the faintest echo of your voice from that first conversation you ever had. it hovered somewhere in the back of his mind, stubbornly refusing to take shape.

the shuttle ride was short, efficient, and surprisingly smooth and now, jungwon stood before the arcadia studios.

he didn’t enter right away.

instead, he lingered at the edge of the building’s shadow, tilting his head back to fully absorb the sight before him. the arcadia studios were a brutalist marvel—raw, unapologetic concrete rising like a fortress. but the roughness was softened by its tiers of lush greenery, terraces overflowing with vibrant plants that draped down the façade like ivy at an ancient castle. it was both cold and alive, severe yet poetic.

in his eyes, it wasn’t just a building.

it was a declaration. a promise that creativity didn’t have to be polished to be profound. and for jungwon, a budding architect with dreams too big for his own good, it was love at first sight.

he smiled softly to himself, the earlier tension melting away just a little. then, with one last breath of courage, he stepped through the wide doors and disappeared inside.

once everyone had disappeared into their respective buildings, the real whirlwind began.

orientations were in full swing. professors, sharp-dressed and bright-eyed (well, most of them), made their introductions—some warm and charismatic, others slightly robotic, as if they’d already rehearsed their welcome speeches one too many times over the years.

after a short talk, students were nudged into groups of ten for the ever-dreaded yet unavoidable “get-to-know-you” icebreakers.

each person took turns standing up, voice wavering or booming with overconfidence, depending on their personality. they shared their names, the courses they’d chosen, and why they had enrolled at grand horizon university.

the stories were a mix of heartfelt dreams, practical decisions, and the occasional joke that drew scattered chuckles. one guy said he only came here because the food in the cafeteria was ranked top ten in a blog he trusted religiously. no one knew if he was serious. he probably was.

some students spoke with ease, others visibly battled secondhand embarrassment for their peers, and a few simply tried to survive the social gauntlet without spontaneously combusting. it was a chaos of charm and awkwardness.

once the introductions settled down, the next phase began: the grand tour.

sleek shuttle buses lined up like in front of the buildings, waiting to tour the new students around the southern half of the campus. professors climbed aboard alongside their groups, and designated student guides took to the front, bright smiles plastered on as they reached for the intercoms.

the tour was fairly straightforward—an overview of each building as they passed, the guide pointing out massive lecture halls, pristine laboratories, sunlit studios, and confusingly named complexes.

each announcement was followed by students craning their necks to look out windows, snapping quick photos or scribbling down building names as if they'd remember which was which by tomorrow. they wouldn’t. no one ever does.

on your side of things, the tour had turned unexpectedly delightful. two students sitting near you had sparked up a conversation, and before you knew it, laughter flowed easily among you. you talked about your majors, your expectations, the panic of navigating an unfamiliar campus, and which professors looked like they've already prepared our downfall for fun.

your nerves slowly melted away into genuine enjoyment. there was something comforting about realizing everyone else was just as lost and excited as you were.

meanwhile, on another shuttle just a few buildings away, jungwon sat stiffly in his seat, listening to the tour guide’s voice drift through the bus. he nodded now and then, more out of politeness than curiosity, but his thoughts were elsewhere—spiraling.

something was gnawing at the edges of his mind. he couldn't shake that strange pull, the feeling that he'd forgotten something important. something—or someone.

then, as if fate had impeccable comedic timing, he turned his head toward the window.

and there you were.

riding a shuttle labeled ‘college of business and management complex’. chatting animatedly with the people beside you, smiling in that way that made things feel lighter.

his eyes widened as it hit him all at once.

bsba hrm. that’s what you said when you first met. that's your major. and now, here you were, in the south campus—his campus. so much for thinking he could spend the day dodging any accidental reunions. the universe had other plans.

“oh, i am so screwed,” he muttered under his breath, dragging out his map and promptly holding it up like a newspaper in a spy movie, trying to block his face from view even though you were clearly far too engrossed in your conversation to notice him. still, he wasn’t taking any chances.

he slumped deeper into his seat, sighing into his collar. maybe if he wished hard enough, he’d turn invisible. or teleport. either option sounded appealing.

once the orientation and tours wrapped up, you were quick to text your friends, fingers flying across the keyboard as you asked if they were finished and where they wanted to meet.

the replies came fast—chaewon, kazuha, and yunjin had wrapped up too, and without much debate, you all agreed on a place: the design & arts café tucked near the college of architecture, design, and planning.

it was quaint, cozy, and boasted drinks with pretentious names like “aesthetic matcha fog” and “monochrome americano.” you loved it.

coincidentally—though destiny might argue otherwise—jungwon, riki, and sunoo had just finished their own orientations and had exactly the same idea.

“design & arts café?” sunoo asked, scrolling through his phone.

“sounds good,” jungwon mumbled distractedly, still recovering from the earlier heart attack.

and so, completely unaware of each other’s plans, both groups set off toward the same charming café… one for coffee and comfort, and the other, unknowingly, toward a collision course with chaos—or maybe just an awkward reunion.

the four of you arrived at the café first, fortunate enough to beat the incoming tide of students that soon began trickling in, like drops before a storm. the design & arts café, with its warm amber lighting and soft hum of lo-fi music, was already halfway to overflowing.

its charm lay in the deliberate mess of creativity—sketches and prints hung on the walls, mismatched chairs that somehow worked together, and menus handwritten in chalk that made even the simplest drinks sound like a masterpiece.

yunjin and chaewon, ever the designated errand duo, volunteered to place everyone's orders, slipping away toward the counter with practiced ease. meanwhile, you and kazuha remained at the table, guarding everybody’s bags and phones, nestled in the quiet lull before the café reached peak chaos.

“good thing we got here earlier,” kazuha remarked, eyes drifting toward the growing line that now curved around the entrance.

you nodded, grateful for the lucky timing. while waiting, you and kazuha exchanged stories about your respective orientations and campus tours, comparing professors, the energy of your groupmates, and the many moments of near-miscommunication that left everyone either giggling or sweating.

just as you were imitating the overly dramatic voice of your tour guide, yunjin and chaewon returned, trays in hand and cheeks flushed from the heat and noise of the café.

“they said the food might take ten to fifteen minutes,” yunjin announced as she plopped down beside kazuha, setting the drinks on the table with theatrical flair.

chaewon took the spot next to you, carefully distributing napkins, straws, and drinks before handing the empty tray to a passing waiter. “thank you!” the four of you chimed in chorus.

“what were you guys chatting about?” chaewon asked, leaning slightly closer, curiosity evident in her eyes.

“just our orientations and the tour,” you replied, already sipping from your drink, the coldness cutting through the lingering warmth in the air.

“were they fun?” yunjin raised a brow, stirring her iced latte lazily.

you all nodded enthusiastically, breaking into a rapid-fire exchange of stories—mock reenactments, dramatic gasps, and exaggerated impressions of professors who clearly didn’t know how to use microphones.

laughter filled your little corner of the café, wrapping around you like a comforter. and then kazuha suddenly paused mid-laugh, eyes lighting up as if a forgotten memory had just barged its way back into her consciousness.

“oh right!” she said, waving her hand to corral everyone's attention. “something happened earlier.”

you looked up from your cheeseburger croissant, mid-bite. “what happened?”

kazuha leaned in a little, her tone dropping as if she were about to share a scandalous secret. “this guy came up to me and said he knew me—like, knew us. he asked what happened after the welcome party, when he helped us three back to our dorm.”

chaewon’s eyes widened in recognition. she gasped, slapped a hand over her mouth, then quickly chewed and swallowed whatever she'd been munching on before blurting out, “wait! the exact same thing happened to me!”

the table fell quiet in suspense as chaewon leaned in. “a cute guy—super polite—walked up and asked the same thing!”

“cute?” yunjin perked up, clearly invested now. “did they say their names?”

kazuha squinted in thought. “he said his name was… riki? or maybe kiki? something like that. honestly, i’m bad with names.”

chaewon giggled, nodding in solidarity. “mine said something like… sunoo? or soonoo? i think? he had great skin though.”

you blinked. “you guys are hopeless.”

kazuha, unfazed, twirled her fork through her carbonara. “i asked him how he even knew about us and he just smiled and said, ‘a friend of ours is a friend of yours.’ like—hello? what does that even mean?”

“that sounds like the start of a treasure hunt,” yunjin muttered, eyes narrowed. “or a mafia movie.”

you all laughed, tossing out theories as if you were detectives in a teen mystery drama. maybe they were undercover students. maybe it was a dare. maybe one of them was a secret admirer pulling the strings behind the scenes.

what none of you realized, however, was that not far from your table, just past the display case of pastries and behind a pair of oblivious art majors discussing something color related, stood jungwon, sunoo, and riki—utterly unaware of the conversation unfolding about them.

while riki and sunoo bickered over the menu—sunoo insisting on the blueberry muse tea, while riki claimed it sounded like a shampoo—jungwon stood a little apart, tuning out the noise of their playful quarrel.

the café was now a full-blown frenzy, packed with chattering students, baristas calling out names over the whirr of machines, and the occasional chair scrape that made everyone flinch for no reason at all.

jungwon sighed softly, the way someone does when they’ve just realized they're the only sane one in the group. he turned around, neck craning slightly as he scanned the room in search of an empty table. a small miracle: tucked near the corner, almost hidden, was a table clearly meant for four—but with one chair missing. three chairs. three of them. perfect.

just as he opened his mouth to share the discovery with the others, his words caught in his throat.

at the edge of his vision—soft, golden, unmistakably familiar—was you.

you were sitting with your friends, smile wide, laughter lighting up your features in a way that made the café’s dim lighting seem brighter for a second. jungwon froze. the kind of stillness that only happens when something—or someone—unexpected reappears.

he hadn’t even realized he'd stopped moving until a light tap on his shoulder brought him back to earth.

“jungwon, you okay?” sunoo asked, eyebrows raised in concern before following jungwon’s line of sight. and then, he smiled. “oh, is that chaewon? i think that’s chaewon.”

sunoo tried waving a little in her direction, although chaewon didn’t notice—too absorbed in peeling the lid off her drink. jungwon blinked rapidly and looked away, but not before sunoo had seen enough to realize this wasn’t about chaewon, it was about the girl sitting beside her.

“what are you two doing?” riki called out from the front, motioning to them to move up in the line. “we’re holding people up.”

“we saw someone we know,” sunoo explained as he fell in beside riki. “chaewon’s here, in the café. she’s in my major too.”

“oh yeah,” riki said, recognition dawning. “i think i met one of her friends too—kazuha, i think? she’s also in performing arts.”

they shuffled forward in line, but jungwon lingered behind, staring at the floor like it had just whispered his deepest secret aloud.

“guys,” jungwon said, voice low, “can we… maybe go to a different café?”

sunoo and riki turned to him, nearly in unison. “huh? why?”

“i mean,” he started, a little too quickly, “i just thought maybe we could eat near the north campus instead? maybe link up with sunghoon and jake? it might be less crowded too.”

riki and sunoo exchanged a look—half confusion, half telepathic best friend conversation. they could see it: the slight panic in jungwon’s eyes, the nervous clench of his jaw. something was up.

but they didn’t press.

“sure, man,” riki said with a shrug, stepping out of the line as if they hadn’t just spent fifteen minutes arguing over drinks.

sunoo smiled gently, falling in behind him. “that’s a great idea, actually. i’ll text sunghoon—see where they’re eating.”

jungwon exhaled, the relief immediate and visible in his shoulders. he trailed after them, grateful, fingers twitching with the anxious energy he hadn't managed to shake off since seeing you.

as they exited the café, the soft ding of the doorbell signaling their departure, jungwon allowed himself one last glance over his shoulder.

you were still there, surrounded by laughter, unaware of the ripple you’d sent through him.

he looked away and sighed, the sound quiet but heavy, and walked out into the sunlit afternoon, where his friends were already waiting.

as soon as they received the location from sunghoon and jake, the three made their way to the stem fuel stop, a modern, industrial-style café nestled just outside the college of science and mathematics complex.

the walls were covered in chalkboard doodles and formulas no one actually read, while the smell of roasted coffee beans and sizzling fries hung comfortably in the air.

they walked in, instantly greeted by jake’s enthusiastic wave from across the room. he was already seated at a corner table, mid-bite, with a tray of fries between him and sunghoon, who looked up from his phone looking like he just aged five academic years.

“there you guys are,” jake grinned, mouth half-full, before popping another fry into his mouth.

sunghoon gave them a small nod, setting his phone down slowly, eyes shifting to jungwon, who hadn’t said a word since entering.

they took their seats—sunoo on one end, riki beside him, and jungwon in the middle, visibly tense. sunoo and riki exchanged a glance before both quietly turned their attention to jungwon, brows slightly raised.

“so… what gives?” jake asked, licking salt off his fingers. “thought you were all eating at the design & arts café?”

“we were supposed to,” riki replied casually, reaching for a fry. “but it was already packed when we got there, and jungwon suggested we head here instead.”

his voice was nonchalant, but the way he tilted his head toward jungwon didn’t go unnoticed. jake and sunghoon caught it immediately, their gazes now fixed on the boy in question.

“okay,” sunoo began, arms crossed, leaning in a little. “jungwon. spill.”

jungwon let out a sigh so deep, it seemed to come from the soles of his feet. he closed his eyes briefly, then opened them to meet four sets of expectant eyes. and so, with the weight of an overly dramatic confession pressing on his chest, he told them everything.

he began with that night—the aftermath of the architecture welcoming party. how he’d offered to take you back to your apartment, just trying to be polite and helpful. everything was fine... until it wasn’t.

“i swear, she just stopped in the kitchen,” he muttered, rubbing his face. “and then she cupped my cheeks. my actual face.”

riki choked on a sip of soda. “no way—”

“yes way,” jungwon groaned. “and before i could even process what was happening, she just—started kissing me. on the face. like how she kissed my cat. repeatedly. with affection. so much affection.”

sunghoon blinked. “you got yami’d.”

“i got ambushed,” jungwon clarified, looking pained. “i didn’t even have time to run.”

his friends looked equally horrified and amused, already piecing the chaos together.

he went on to explain that ever since that night, he'd tried to maintain distance—create space. but you always showed up. in places he least expected. like some kind of charming poltergeist with perfect comedic timing.

then came this morning’s catastrophe.

“remember earlier,” he added, shifting uncomfortably, “when you caught me hiding behind a wall just a street away from my apartment building looking like i saw a ghost?”

sunoo nodded slowly. “we thought you were being dramatic.”

“yeah, well, the ghost was her.”

the table burst into quiet laughter, and jungwon rolled his eyes before continuing.

“i just stepped into the elevator,” jungwon said, leaning forward with an exasperated whisper, “and then she just—turned the corner. like it was a horror movie. i panicked. froze. and let the elevator doors close right in front of her.”

the entire table groaned in unison, hands flying up as if trying to physically catch the level of secondhand embarrassment in the air.

“oh my god, you didn’t,” sunoo winced, clutching his chest.

“i did,” jungwon sighed, defeated. “and of course, she was already behind me before i could go outside the building. called my name. asked me what just happened. i panicked again and said—” he paused, covering his face. “the most ridiculous excuse ever.”

“what did you say?” jake asked, eyes wide.

“i said ‘i misjudged! i thought you weren’t going to make it to the elevator in time!’” he said and groaned.

they all stared at him before groaning, basically saying ‘what the hell man?’

“i know!” jungwon snapped. “and she called me out immediately. saying, ‘i could’ve made it. easily. if you hadn’t just stood there like a damn npc and let the doors close.’”

sunghoon shook his head, biting back a smile. “and then?”

“i did what any respectable man would do,” jungwon mumbled. “i gave her the puppy eyes. apologized. and then ran the second i saw her hesitate.”

a silence fell over the table.

then: laughter. loud, unforgiving laughter.

jake slapped the table. sunoo buried his face in his hands. riki leaned back like he was about to fall off his chair, while sunghoon just shook his head, muttering something about how this was better than any tv show.

“okay, but real talk,” sunoo said once the laughter settled. “don’t you think it’s a bit unfair? you’re avoiding her like she did something wrong, but she has no idea what that is.”

the others nodded slowly, their amusement now replaced with a kind of thoughtful concern.

jungwon let his head fall back against the chair, eyes staring up at the ceiling as if searching for divine intervention.

“i don’t know,” he admitted quietly. “i thought... ignoring her would be easier than explaining everything. i just didn’t want to deal with it.”

“look,” riki said, tone more serious now, “we get it. but just tell us what you want to do. whatever it is, we’ve got your back.”

jungwon sat up, looking around at the four boys who had somehow become his emotional support team. he smiled faintly, the knot in his chest loosening a little.

“she’s a business ad major,” he said. “her classes are in the south campus. there’s a real chance i’ll run into her again, and... i’m not ready for that. not yet.”

“then that’s what we’ll do,” sunoo said simply, clapping his hands once. “operation: avoid the girl who kisses like she’s greeting a house pet is a go.”

they all agreed with a chorus of nods, their expressions varying from concerned to playfully dramatic.

jungwon smiled genuinely this time, the kind of small, grateful smile you give when you feel seen—even if you’ve made a mess of things.

“thanks, guys,” he muttered.

they all smiled in return, and just like that, the conversation shifted. no more drama, no more awkward elevator encounters—at least not for now. they moved on to safer territory: their orientations, campus tours, the professors they’d met, and the weirdly aggressive squirrel sunghoon swore chased him near the library.

for now, all was calm. or at least, calm enough.

once the last bites of lunch had been savored and the cafés began to quiet, the university crowd began to drift toward a new destination: horizon square.

nestled at the very heart of grand horizon university—between the bustling north campus and the vibrant south—it stood as a kind of living crossroads, a wide-open plaza pulsing with student life. its sprawling walkways were paved with stone in geometric patterns, bordered by stretches of manicured lawn and punctuated with fountains that danced softly under the afternoon sun.

shuttle buses lined the curb like a mechanical parade and near the square's edges, street food stalls sizzled and smoked, perfuming the air with the smell of grilled meat, buttery pastries, and something sweetly unidentifiable.

this was the university's beating heart, and today, it was dressed for an occasion.

dozens of vibrant club stalls had taken over the square—each one boasting colorful tarps, makeshift banners, and enthusiastic upperclassmen who were equal parts persuasive and unhinged. this was club day, and at grand horizon university, it wasn’t just tradition—it was a requirement. every student had to join at least one club, a law more binding than some course requirement.

you stood with your friends at the edge of the square, bright pamphlets in your hands. it had been handed to you by a particularly energetic senior who’d practically stuffed it into your chest mid-walk. the paper listed every club on campus—from the usuals like student government and photography to more obscure options like the “modern escapists book society” and the suspiciously vague “club club.”

yunjin, kazuha, and chaewon had already circled their picks with the decisiveness of people ordering dessert after a good meal. you, however, stared at the list like it was written in another language.

“you okay?” chaewon asked, peeking over your shoulder as you flipped the pamphlet upside down, hoping it would spark inspiration.

“honestly?” you sighed. “none of them are calling out to me. i don’t want to just pick one because it sounds cool and end up trapped in a weekly horror show of forced interactions.”

“too late,” yunjin quipped, nudging you playfully. “that’s called college.”

she had already chosen to join the design society, which made perfect sense—she had the aesthetic sense of a pinterest board and the confidence to back it up. kazuha, on the other hand, had naturally gravitated toward the grand horizon dance company, drawn in by the familiar rhythm and stage lights. and chaewon? she surprised no one by going for the film & tv production society—if anyone was made for dramatic camera pans and chaotic editing rooms, it was her.

you admired their certainty as much as you envied it.

“i think i’ll just walk around,” you finally said, eyes scanning the lively square. “i want to see if any of these clubs actually speak to me. like, soul-to-soul.”

“sure,” kazuha smiled. “we’ll just see you at aurora hall when we’re done?”

“deal,” you nodded.

with that, the four of you drifted apart, each pulled in a different direction by color, curiosity, or convenience. the square buzzed around you like a beehive—music blasting from bluetooth speakers, laughter echoing, students juggling flyers and iced coffees, shouting over one another in a chorus of invitations.

and somewhere among that cheerful chaos, you were hoping to find your place.

or at least a club booth that didn't have glitter in the air and desperate energy in the eyes.

somewhere near the heart of horizon square—surrounded by the hum of voices, the rustling of pamphlets, and the occasional clang of a tambourine from a wildly enthusiastic music club—stood jungwon and his group, each of them absorbed in their own glossy paper map of campus club life.

the pamphlets were colorful, almost aggressively so, each one a collage of ambition and chaos. every square inch was crammed with names, taglines, and wildly optimistic descriptions. jungwon’s friends were already forming their personal paths, choices made with the kind of ease that made jungwon’s indecision feel a little louder in his own chest.

“alright, let’s split up and sign up,” sunoo declared, already folding his pamphlet like a seasoned origami artist.

“creative writers’ forum, here i come,” he added with a proud twirl, like he’d just been cast in a play.

riki, unsurprisingly, had set his eyes—and rhythm—on the grand horizon dance company. he gave a little spin for dramatic flair, earning a thumbs-up from sunoo and a head shake from jungwon.

“we get it,” sunoo deadpanned. “you’ve got moves.”

“can’t waste this talent,” riki replied, flipping imaginary hair as he walked off.

jake, meanwhile, had found unexpected excitement in the biology enthusiasts club. something about their tagline—“where science meets obsession”—spoke to the budding lab rat in him.

sunghoon stood frozen, his pamphlet flapping lazily in the breeze. “i... don’t want anything that screams ‘engineering.’ i’m traumatized already and school hasn't officially started yet.”

“so just do something chill,” jake shrugged.

and with that, sunghoon chose the chill spot: a club that promised board games, snacks, naps, and zero productivity. the dream. the sanctuary. his people.

but jungwon remained where he stood, pamphlet still unfolded in his hands like a riddle waiting to be solved. while the others peeled off one by one, he found himself flipping pages and rereading club descriptions with growing restlessness as he walked aimlessly.

he wanted something... more. something honest. something that would let his creativity breathe.

and then he heard it—a very familiar voice. a voice he would never forget.

“would you like to join our club?”

the voice wasn’t loud, but it was enough to cut through the noise. jungwon glanced up, heart skipping in recognition. there, behind one of the stalls, stood someone he hadn’t seen in a long time.

“jay?”

he didn’t even realize his feet had started moving until he was already crossing the short distance, smiling wide, pamphlet forgotten.

the man behind the stall blinked, scanning the crowd for the voice. then, spotting jungwon, his eyes lit up. a grin cracked across his face as he stepped out from behind the table.

“bro! what are you doing here?” jay exclaimed, clasping both hands on jungwon’s shoulders like he was trying to confirm he was real.

jungwon chuckled, brushing his hands away and dapping him up. “what do you think i’m doing here? obviously pursuing higher education because my parents say it's ‘necessary’.”

“classic,” jay laughed. “same old jungwon.”

he gestured toward the stall, ushering him over like he was welcoming a guest into his home. jungwon followed, sinking into the offered chair with a soft smile playing on his lips.

“how’ve you been?” jay asked, leaning against the table. “how are sunoo and riki?”

“i'm good and sunoo and riki are actually here too,” jungwon said, lighting up. “we all got in. they’re off somewhere now, signing up to the clubs they wanna join.”

“no way,” jay said with mock disbelief. “the gang’s all here? man, time really does fly. one second we’re cramming for high school finals, the next we’re at the gates of adulthood, pretending to have it all together.”

jungwon laughed quietly, nodding. “yeah. wild.”

jay had always been like an older brother to them—cool without trying, always knowing just what to say. back in high school, he was the one they ran to when things got too loud or too confusing. even now, just seeing him eased a weight jungwon hadn’t realized he’d been carrying.

“so,” jay said, crossing his arms, “have you picked a club yet?”

jungwon hesitated. “not yet. i’ve been looking for something... art-related, maybe. i’m not really confident in my skills, but i know i have decent skills. i just don’t think it’s enough.”

jay hummed thoughtfully and, without missing a beat, took jungwon’s crumpled pamphlet right out of his hands.

“let’s find it, then,” he said, scanning the list like a detective about to crack a case. “you’ve got good instincts. we just need to find the right space to grow them.”

and in that moment, jungwon didn’t feel so lost anymore.

“how about the art & sketch society?” jay offered, handing the pamphlet back to jungwon with a confident flick of his fingers. “focuses on drawing, sketching, all that creative jazz. sounds like it’s right up your alley.”

jungwon blinked, unfolding the slightly crumpled pamphlet with renewed interest, eyes scanning the maze of club names and descriptions. “where did you even see that? how did i miss it?”

jay leaned over with the air of a man who’s done this far too many times, pointing to a modest little box near the bottom corner of the page. “right here. you need better eyesight, man.”

jungwon rolled his eyes but chuckled, the corners of his mouth curving upward. “what would i do without you?”

“probably join something tragic or something that requires anything physical like taekwondo,” jay said with mock solemnity.

jungwon snorted.

“actually,” jay added, a little more seriously, “i was gonna ask if you wanted to join our club. but, uh, figured it might not be your thing.”

he handed over a smaller, more personalized flyer—clearly homemade, slightly chaotic in design, and deeply proud of it.

jungwon read the name aloud, brow furrowed. “the... multi-maybe club?”

jay grinned. “we call ourselves the m-and-m’s. the m-m club, if you will.”

jungwon looked up, deeply confused and deeply amused. “what do you even do in a multi-maybe club?”

jay’s grin widened. “maybe everything. maybe nothing. maybe you paint a wall. maybe you'll nap under a tree. it’s a lawless land, my friend.”

jungwon burst into laughter, the kind that bent him slightly at the waist and made him cover his face for a second. jay stood back with a smile, watching fondly like an older brother watching his favorite sibling crack up at a dumb joke.

“dude,” jungwon said through the laughter, wiping at his eyes, “you just made my whole day.”

“glad to be of service,” jay replied, giving a mock bow.

as jungwon tried to catch his breath, he remembered something. “sunoo and riki need to know you’re here. they’d lose their minds. you free later?”

jay looked down at his wrist, as if checking a watch that didn’t exist. “hmm... maybe i have time.”

jungwon raised an eyebrow.

“okay, okay,” jay laughed. “i’m free. just gotta find one more person to sign up for our club, and then i can pack this whole thing up.”

he stood up straight, brushing invisible dust off his pants, and jungwon mirrored him.

“we’re all meeting at the stem fuel stop later, after everyone’s done signing up,” jungwon said, slowly backing away. “also, we met two new people—you’re gonna love them. they’re... something else.”

“perfect. i’m bringing someone too. you’ll love him,” jay replied, raising a hand in a casual wave as jungwon turned.

“see you later, m&m,” jungwon called over his shoulder with a smirk.

“go find your sketch society, art boy,” jay shot back, laughing.

with one last grin, jungwon disappeared into the crowd, pamphlet in hand, his steps a little lighter now as he searched for the art & sketch society’s stall.

you, on the other hand, were still wandering—admittedly a little lost and, at this point, thoroughly over the parade of pamphlets being thrust in your face.

upperclassmen lined the plaza like cheerful merchants at a bizarre bazaar, each one passionately marketing their clubs as if their lives depended on it. from anime appreciation societies to eco-sustainability coalitions, everyone seemed to have something to pitch. and yet, nothing called out to you.

you smiled politely, declining brochure after brochure with a soft “no, thank you,” until your feet—bored of your indecision—guided you toward a rather peculiar-looking stall.

its banner was simple yet striking: two large block letters—M M—hung above, bold and cryptic. beneath the sign, in slightly chaotic handwriting, read: the multi-maybe club.

you tilted your head. multi-maybe?

it sounded like the kind of club that didn't quite know what it wanted to be. a filler club, perhaps. the type students joined just to finish a university requirement. and yet... there was something oddly magnetic about it. as if those two bold letters were speaking directly to your soul in a silent language only lost, curious freshmen could understand.

drawn in by either fate or mild existential curiosity, you approached.

the guy behind the table was currently mid-conversation with another student, his animated gestures suggesting a practiced pitch. but then his gaze shifted and locked onto you.

“oh—hi there! are you interested in joining our club?” he greeted warmly, already reaching for a flyer. he handed it to you with both hands, like it was something sacred.

you glanced down at the handmade paper. bold scribbles, doodled stars, and a questionable amount of glitter glue outlined the text:

‘welcome to the multi-maybe club! where you can do everything... or nothing. your multiple maybes? might just happen here—or maybe not. it's your choice!’

he flashed a grin and pointed proudly at the sign above his head. “we're all about possibilities,” he said. “maximum freedom. minimal expectations.”

you looked at him, then at the sign, then back at the flyer.

“…where do i sign up?” you asked, surprising even yourself with how fast the words came out.

the guy's smile spread even wider, his eyes practically lighting up. “you just made the best maybe-decision of your life, miss..?” he declared, handing you a clipboard with a list of names. without hesitation, you wrote down your name, your major, and scribbled your signature at the bottom.

“y/n,” you said. “just call me y/n.”

“y/n,” he repeated with a nod, committing it to memory. “nice to meet you. i’m jay—vice president of the m-m club. our president’s off being a busy graduating senior, but she exists. i promise.”

you chuckled, handing back the clipboard.

jay reached under the table and pulled out a more official-looking pamphlet—actually printed, this time. “here’s our schedule, basic club info, building details. you’ll mostly find us in the lucent library next to aurora hall. the librarian kinda loves us. mostly because we either do absolutely nothing or occasionally help re-shelve books. it’s a vibe.”

you scanned the paper, trying not to laugh at how absurdly laid-back the club seemed. still, it felt oddly right.

“thanks, jay,” you said, tucking the brochure into your tote bag. “see you around.”

“yep, see you around,” he replied, giving you a small wave as you turned to leave.

as you walked away, your thoughts drifted. ‘did i really just join a filler club?’ you shook your head, a small laugh slipping from your lips as you slid the flyer into your bag, tucked just beside the brochure.

but strangely enough, you felt something warm bubble in your chest.

excitement.

not the wild, overwhelming kind—but a quiet, budding curiosity.

as soon as you managed to escape the buzz of horizon square—dodging the last wave of overly enthusiastic club recruiters—you finally spotted your friends. they were gathered on the broad stone steps leading to aurora hall, their silhouettes bathed in the golden hue of the afternoon light.

you waved both arms above your head as you jogged toward them, the crowd now thinning as students slowly trickled out of the plaza. some were heading home, others drifting into the campus cafés, tucked-away eateries, or lingering in the comfort of air-conditioned student lounges.

yunjin noticed you first. she raised a can of diet coke in the air like a sacred offering, her expression amused. you couldn’t help but let out a chuckle—she knew you too well.

you reached them with slightly breathless laughter and dropped yourself between chaewon and kazuha, letting your weight sink into the cool steps. yunjin was perched two steps above you, and with no hesitation, you leaned back so your head could rest comfortably on her thigh. she handed you the drink without a word.

“bless your soul,” you mumbled with a grateful smile as you cracked the can open and took a generous sip. the fizzy sweetness coated your tongue, and you exhaled with an exaggerated, refreshed sigh. without a second thought, you leaned back further, letting your body melt against yunjin’s warmth as she absentmindedly played with your hair.

“should we go home now?” she murmured lazily, fingers threading through your strands.

the word home struck like a silent spell.

no one answered immediately. instead, all four of you sank into an almost meditative silence. just the thought of soft pillows, cool sheets, and the sweet hum of an air conditioner was enough to temporarily sedate you all.

you each had things to prepare for tomorrow—yes, technically syllabus week, but the illusion of leisure was already wearing thin. there were class schedules to memorize, supplies to organize, nerves to settle.

after several long, deliciously quiet moments, as if perfectly choreographed, you all nodded slowly and muttered a collective, almost reverent: “yep.”

no further discussion was needed. you stood together, heavy-footed and slow-moving, like four survivors of a mild but exhausting war.

“we should head back and recharge,” you said, walking in step with them. “we’ve only got one week to mentally brace ourselves for whatever academic avalanche awaits.”

“and we find out our schedules tomorrow,” kazuha added with a groan, already opening her phone to book a ride. “can’t wait to see if fate puts me in an 7a.m. class in the first semester.”

“tell me about it.” yunjin grumbled.

chaewon simply sighed like she’d already accepted her impending doom.

you booked your own ride and the four of you migrated to the waiting shed just by the university’s gate. the air was beginning to cool as the sun dipped lower, casting long shadows along the sidewalk.

your uber arrived first.

you gave each of your friends quick hugs and soft cheek kisses—half-hearted from tiredness but no less sincere.

“text us when you get home,” chaewon reminded you just as you slid one foot into the car.

you gave her a lazy thumbs-up before disappearing behind the door and letting it close with a soft thud.

the ride home was quiet. your head leaned against the window, and the city outside blurred into pastel streaks as exhaustion settled in your bones. by the time you arrived at your apartment, you barely had the energy to thank your driver.

the moment the door shut behind you, you kicked off your shoes and peeled away the layers of your day until you were down to nothing but your underwear and bra. with a long exhale, you padded barefoot across the floor and into your bedroom, phone in hand.

a few quick texts were sent—first to your group chat: ‘home safe’, then to your parents, followed by a small heart emoji. you dropped your phone onto the bed with a soft thump and made your way to your closet, grabbing a change of clothes.

the shower was bliss. warm water cascading down your skin like a gentle reset, washing away the sweat, the noise, and the weight of navigating new beginnings.

after drying your hair and pulling on fresh clothes, you collapsed onto your bed. the mattress embraced you like an old friend. the pillow welcomed your head like it had been waiting all day.

you meant to grab your phone again.

you meant to check messages, maybe scroll a little.

but your body had other plans.

within minutes, your breathing slowed, thoughts blurred, and sleep took you—soft and soundless.

meanwhile, tucked into a corner booth at the stem fuel stop, jungwon and his group were in a state of quiet suspense—well, most of them were. jake and sunghoon were entirely absorbed in their own little worlds, multitasking between snacking and scrolling through their phones, while sunoo and riki eyed jungwon like he’d grown a second head.

“won,” sunoo said, voice laced with suspicion and a bit of exasperation, “can you please tell us why we’re still here? i thought we were just gonna meet up, take a break, maybe grab some food. but you’re not even eating. you’re just… smiling at the window.”

sunoo gestured dramatically toward jungwon, who was indeed sitting there with the faintest, most serene smile on his face. every time the café door swung open, his head would subtly turn, eyes lighting up with anticipation. it was getting weird.

“just trust me,” jungwon said, practically glowing with mystery. “you’ll be surprised. and happy. very, very soon.”

sunoo narrowed his eyes but leaned back in his seat with a long sigh, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, “i swear… him and his mood swings.”

riki raised an eyebrow and tilted his head toward sunoo, silently mouthing, ‘what’s up with him now?’

sunoo just shrugged, the universal response for ‘no clue, don’t ask me.’

riki glanced at the clock. “he sure is taking his sweet time,” he muttered under his breath, peering down at his phone, clearly considering whether this whole setup was worth the wait.sunoo shot him a look that said ‘tell me about it’, when—

“i see you two are still as impatient as ever.”

a familiar voice, smooth and teasing, landed behind them, a head popping from behind them and a hand gently pressed down on both their shoulders, startling the two boys upright.

they twisted in their seats, eyes wide.

“jay?!” they both gasped in unison, voices laced with disbelief, joy, and the slightest touch of betrayal—how dare he sneak up on them like that?

sunoo shot up from his seat and threw his arms around jay’s neck like he was making up for lost time. riki was still half in shock, but his body moved on instinct, arms wrapping tightly around jay’s waist.

“woah—hey—okay, this is happening,” jay laughed, slightly thrown off balance by the ambush hug, his arms eventually resting around both their heads, gently ruffling their hair like he used to.

jungwon, still seated and watching the scene unfold, burst into a quiet laugh. there was something so warm, so stupidly precious, about seeing his friends melt like kids at a surprise reunion.

“did you guys miss me that much?” jay teased, smiling as he tried to wiggle free from their emotional death grip.

sunoo and riki both nodded emphatically, faces buried in opposite ends of jay’s shoulder and torso.

jay chuckled, “you do realize it’s only been two years, right? not a whole lifetime.”

sunoo and riki pulled back just far enough to glare up at him, eyes narrowed.

“that is a lifetime,” they chorused indignantly, as if he’d just said something blasphemous.

jay held up his hands in surrender, laughing again. “okay, okay. two years is forever. my bad.”

he patted their heads again, endearingly like an older brother humoring two very dramatic younger siblings. “now, can i sit? or do i need to earn that too?”

sunoo finally slid back into his seat with an exaggerated sigh, while riki made room on the other side. jay sat between them, comfortably wedged in the heart of the group once again—like he’d never left.

“umm, guys?” jake’s voice sliced gently through the warmth of the reunion. it was the kind of voice people used when they were trying not to intrude but also couldn’t ignore the rising curiosity bubbling inside them. his hand hovered mid-air like a student with a question—half-hopeful, half-hesitant.

he and sunghoon had been sitting quietly, mere spectators to the emotional reunion unfolding in front of them. they didn’t want to interrupt something that was clearly meaningful, but the urge to be part of it was beginning to hum louder deep inside them.

besides, judging by the way riki and sunoo lit up at the sight of jay, this wasn’t just a casual catch-up—this was the friend reunion. and they wanted in.

“are you gonna introduce us,” jake said, tilting his head, “or should we just keep watching from the audience section?”

jay chuckled, the sound low and familiar, like laughter shared in hallways and cafeterias. he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “sorry, sorry. name’s jay. i’ve been friends with these three since high school. i’m a third year here at grand horizon—marketing major, occasional chaos enabler.”

he reached out to shake their hands.

“jake,” the boy said with a bright smile, “biology major. aspiring mad scientist.”

“sunghoon,” the other said smoothly. “engineering. part-time realist, full-time eye-roller.”

jay grinned as he shook both their hands. “i like this group already.”

“how’d you all meet, anyway?” he asked, looking around as he settled into the seat like he belonged there.

sunoo, ever ready to explain, perked up. “sunghoon’s my dorm mate, jake’s with riki, and we kinda just... adopted jungwon last month. it was very wholesome.”

“like a stray cat,” jake added helpfully.

jungwon made a face. “i’m right here, you know.”

“we know,” riki said, patting his head.

jay laughed, then, without missing a beat, leaned over and stole a fry from jake’s plate with the grace of someone who had clearly done this before.

“did you just—?”

“i did,” jay confirmed mid-chew, grinning. “anyway, it’s great to meet you guys. you’re gonna love it here, i promise. oh—and i’ve got a friend coming. he should be here any minute.”

as if on cue, the bell above the café door gave a soft chime, announcing the arrival of someone new.

and then—he walked in.

a young man with striking red hair, not the playful kind, but the bold, unapologetic shade of red that demanded attention the moment he entered a room. his presence was immediate—subtle, but undeniable.

he wore a black tank top tucked effortlessly into dark gray, high-waisted trousers tailored to perfection. they cinched his waist and flowed down with structured elegance, every step a study in confidence. layered loosely over his frame was a glossy black leather button-up long sleeve shirt, worn open, the material catching the light with each movement like a ripple of shadow.

a thin, silver chain with a cross pendant rested against his collarbone, glinting faintly. tiny silver hoops adorned his ears, understated yet intentional. and slung diagonally across his torso was a sleek black crossbody bag, the strap sitting snug over his chest, completing the look with quiet precision.

he didn’t look around frantically. instead, his eyes swept the café with the calm disinterest of someone who had no need to search—only to be found.

he looked cool—effortlessly so. intimidating, even. the kind of person who didn’t need to try hard to stand out. he just did.

all five of them froze, except for jay. the kind of freeze that wasn’t fear, but awe. they weren’t sure whether to hope this was jay’s friend or pray it wasn’t—because if it was, they were suddenly not sure they were dressed well enough for this sudden meet up.

jay raised his arm and called out with a wide smile. “yo! heeseung, over here!”

the red-haired man—heeseung—glanced over. a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips, quiet but genuine. and then he moved, heading toward them with long, unhurried strides, each step measured and magnetic.

“wait... that’s his friend?” sunoo whispered, eyes wide.

riki nodded slowly, voice distant. “he looks like a runway model who just woke up and decided to casually destroy everyone’s self-esteem.”

“and somehow he looks even taller in person,” jungwon muttered, blinking.

“i'm probably taller,” riki tried saving his self-esteem even though he wasn't sure if it was actually working.

jay was already stylish—sharp jawline, good taste, an air of familiarity. but heeseung? he walked in like a scene from a movie. red hair, glowing skin, dressed like a secret. he didn’t blend in. he redefined the space around him.

even jungwon, who had his own soft kind of charm with tousled blonde hair and a boyish smile, felt like a background character.

heeseung approached the table with the quiet composure of someone used to eyes following him—unbothered, but never arrogant. like the world always adjusted itself slightly to make room for him.

he walked past everyone at the table, his pace unhurried, presence effortlessly commanding. but instead of acknowledging the wide-eyed stares or curious glances sent his way, he went straight to jay, greeting him with a casual dap that spoke of years of shared moments and easy trust.

after the brief gesture, heeseung’s gaze swept across the table, his lips tugging into a soft, almost bashful smile. it was surprising, really—how someone who looked like a living editorial spread from a fashion magazine could also look so... shy.

he leaned closer to jay, his voice low. “umm, do i have to introduce myself first?”

a second ago, he had seemed untouchable—cool, collected, almost intimidating. now, he resembled a new kid in class, unsure where to begin.

jay chuckled, amused by the contrast, and gave heeseung a light pat on the back. “just sit down and start talking,” he whispered, then gently nudged him toward the only empty chair—right beside jungwon. heeseung blinked, then allowed himself to be pushed down into the seat like a confused but obedient hamster.

“oh, okay,” he muttered under his breath, then cleared his throat and addressed the table. “hi, umm... i’m heeseung. a friend of jay’s. third year. music composition major. we’ve also been in the same club since first year.” he nodded once, firmly, as if that sealed the deal on his introduction.

there was a beat of silence before everyone else began introducing themselves, one after the other.

first came jungwon, polite and reserved. then sunoo, bright and curious. riki chimed in with a charming smile, followed by jake, who had the enthusiasm of a golden retriever discovering a new friend. sunghoon went last, cool and composed, giving a small nod as if he were in a press conference.

the energy was a little awkward, but thankfully, everyone seemed willing to push past that initial stiffness. questions began to float into the air, light and genuine.

riki leaned forward first, his tone friendly. “so, how’d you and jay meet?”

heeseung let out a short laugh, the memory lighting up his face. “we met on the first day of uni, actually. both of us were at horizon square, just wandering around trying to figure out what club to join. then we ended up standing in front of this one weird stall that had two massive m’s on the sign. the multi-maybe club. weird name, right?”

the group chuckled.

“anyway, jay started talking to me out of nowhere—just asking random things like what my major was, what music i liked, what my blood type was. totally normal stuff.” heeseung grinned. “we didn’t know anyone at the time, so it was honestly nice he didn’t just leave after signing up. after that, we kept in touch. we’d study in the library together, eat lunch during breaks... even though we’re in different majors, he kind of just stuck around. and yeah, he’s basically the only real friend i’ve had here.”

jay, listening with an increasingly dramatic expression, slowly placed both hands over his heart like a victorian lady hearing a love confession.

“awww,” jay gasped. “i’m your only real friend?”

he reached out theatrically for heeseung’s hand, his eyes brimming with fake tears.

without even blinking, heeseung rolled his eyes and yanked his hand away—then flipped jay off with a casual flick of his middle finger.

the entire table erupted into laughter.

“well,” heeseung added with a playful smirk, “i’m actually hoping to change that by meeting all of you.”

jay clutched his chest as if he'd been shot. “and just like that, replaced. i should’ve let you eat alone.”

more laughter followed, the kind that comes when tension melts away and something genuine settles in its place. the group was still new to each other, but it no longer felt like strangers trying too hard. it felt like the beginning of something that might just be real.

the conversation continued to flow—light, casual, but slowly unraveling layers. they asked about each other's lives, traded stories of high school mischief, swapped sports preferences, and shared scattered facts with the kind of curiosity only new friendships carry. it was a soft chaos of voices, laughter, and the occasional gasp at unexpected confessions.

then, as if sensing a lull in the momentum, jay leaned forward and tilted his head toward jungwon.

“so,” he said with a glint in his eye, “anything new with you, jungwon?”

jungwon blinked, caught off guard. his mouth opened slightly, ready to reply—but sunoo beat him to it with a mischievous grin.

“he has a girl problem right now,” sunoo said in a sing-song tone, and jay’s expression lit up like a proud older brother watching his kid finally enter the dating world.

“what? finally?” jay laughed, eyebrows raised in delight.

jungwon’s ears turned an unmistakable shade of pink, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck as he let out an awkward chuckle. “it’s not a problem, she’s not a problem,” he said, shaking his head, clearly hoping to steer the topic elsewhere—anywhere, really.

but riki leaned in dramatically, eyes wide with faux shock. “ohhh, he’s defending her now? this is new.”

sunoo, never one to let a moment slip, immediately mimicked jungwon’s earlier voice. “she’s not a problem,” he repeated with exaggerated sincerity, clasping his hands to his chest like he was quoting poetry.

jay looked amused, borderline delighted, as he leaned closer. “okay, now i have to know. what happened?”

heeseung, who had been quietly sipping his drink and observing, now perked up as well. his eyes, already large, seemed to double in size, gleaming with pure curiosity. “i’m curious too.”

jungwon groaned, realizing escape was futile. “nothing happened,” he muttered. “let’s just say... i’m trying to avoid her. that’s it. end of story.”

he looked around the table, firm and resolute, like a man putting up caution tape around his heart.

everyone exchanged glances but decided—for now—to let it go. jay, however, had other plans.

with the stealth of someone used to scheming, he leaned toward sunoo and gave the slightest nod. sunoo caught it instantly.

sunoo sighed, already resigning himself to being the group's designated informant. jay then flicked his gaze toward heeseung and gave a small head gesture toward sunoo. heeseung, catching on, turned to sunoo as well. sunoo nodded once, a solemn confirmation.

a pact had been made. they were going to sunoo and sunghoon’s dorm later. mission: dig up all the tea.

it might’ve been a spontaneous plan, but in their group, that was more than enough. jay and heeseung were already honorary members. the invitation was unspoken but entirely valid. all they had to do was wait for jungwon to finally go home.

as if on cue, the topic changed, drifting into safer territory—about the orientation and tour earlier and old campus drama when jay and heeseung were first and second year. the sky outside had deepened into shades of evening, and before long, it was time to go.

the group slowly rose from their seats, gathering their things, still chatting as they made their way out of the café. they lingered at the front gate of the university, waiting under a waiting shed for their ubers to arrive.

jungwon’s car was the first to pull up.

“i’ll see you guys tomorrow,” he said casually, waving as he climbed into the vehicle.

“bye!” the group chorused.

“message us when you get home,” sunoo followed up as jungwon hops inside the car.

but the second the car door shut and his ride rolled away down the street, the rest of them turned toward each other with the same look.

it was time.

no one needed to say it. it was understood. they were going to sunoo and sunghoon’s dorm, and tonight, they would unearth the full story behind jungwon’s ‘she’s not a problem’ girl.

jake and riki, a bit late to realize what was happening, exchanged glances.

“wait—are we going too?” jake asked.

“you are now,” sunoo said, already walking ahead.

riki shrugged. “well, i do know the whole story…”

“perfect,” jay grinned. “you’re coming. we need to know every detail.”

and with that, the group disappeared into the night, drawn together not just by friendship, but by the irresistible pull of juicy gossip waiting to be spilled behind dorm room walls.

taglist⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀ @morganaawriterr @wondoras @mypolka @meowwwon @dolliehue @in-somnias-world @yjwonsgf @kirijuns @iifrui @momisanalien @vieniee @drunkjazed @hhyvsstuff @readinmidnight @noona-neomu-yeppeo @cutehoons02 @robotinvenus @starfallia @nijisanjigenshin @kkamismom12 @kinamurariki @soobundle1009 @supershy3 @nodoubtily @vrikisn @jayjw16enxp @skzfangirl143 @0leelina0 @noriiluv @o2whre @nocturnebite @userprdx (taglist is still open, comment to be added.) final notes⠀.⠀.⠀.⠀i hope you guys enjoyed! part five will probably be posted on saturday or sunday! see you guys then!

©⠀mæwphoria⠀|⠀all works belong to me. strictly do not plagiarize, copy, translate, paraphrase, rewrite or repost my works on any other platforms. if it's inspiration gained from my work then it's appreciated and i wish you good luck with your own stories. thank you.