nia ! ✦ 18 y/o 🎀 she/her <3

currently listening to... forever only.mp3 ☕️

"sorry for dragging you into this," you apologetically whispered at haechan with your sight set on your plastic cup, once you finally had some time alone after pretending to be a couple in front of so many people.

"it's okay," he reassured you with a smile you didn't get to see. "i agreed to it."

still, that didn't make it feel right. specially since you were enjoying it more than you were supposed to.

new beginnings usually meant new friends, but making friends was never an easy task for you. haechan was the perfect example of that, being that he was the only friend you managed to make during your high school years.

not that you needed any more.

but now, the situation was a bit different. with your best friend no longer by your side, you didn't want to depend on him anymore and decided that it was time for a change. you wouldn't be facing college as the loner everyone assumed you were.

and without noticing it, you had already made yourself part of a very noisy friend group of three. you were more than welcomed by them, and most importantly, you felt comfortable.

however, that didn't stop you from inevitably feeling excluded after you learned that each one of them had a significant other. with your little to nonexistent love experience, you felt the need to pretend you actually had a boyfriend in order to fit in.

twisting a few words from anecdotes you had experienced with a certain someone did the trick, and that's exactly what led you to today's situation, where your friends arranged a party to get to know the renowned boy who stole your heart—the imaginary boy who stole your heart—and where your best friend immediately came to the rescue after explaining the situation.

"then, thank you for pretending to be my boyfriend," you said sincerely to his eyes, with a little bit of uncertainty in your heart that made you wonder at what point all of this was fake and at what point you wanted it to be real.

"just," haechan let out a deep sigh before continuing, "don't look at me like that." his eyes softened as he put a strand of your hair behind your ear.

"like what?" you delicately asked, hiding the fact that you were taken aback by his response, although you knew exactly what he was referring to.

"like you're actually in love with me."

"or what?"

"or i may have to kiss you," he admitted, letting the hand that was on your ear go to your cheek.

you closed your eyes to lose yourself in haechan's touch, and when a pair of warm lips embraced yours, you realized that the boy you'd fallen in love with wasn't imaginary after all.

warnings: descriptions of being sick.

you hadn't seen jaehyun in a long time, so you were excited to finally spend some time with him during the dinner you both planned.

but things couldn't go as contemplated, because this morning you woke up to find yourself sweating with a hot body.

you felt awful, not only from the throbbing pain in your head but also because of the plans you had to cancel. you had lost your appetite, so what was the point? leaving behind the fact that you couldn't bring yourself to get out of bed.

you spent almost the entire day sleeping, losing track of time, and only waking up because your phone kept ringing.

"hello?" you answered the call in a tired voice without really paying attention to the caller id.

"i'm outside." you heard the only voice on the phone that could make you feel better.

with clumsy steps, you made it to the door and opened it only to find jaehyun on the other side, who had brought with him a couple of bags from the grocery store and pharmacy.

"what are you doing here?" you asked him because you weren't expecting to see him in your apartment, especially after you explicitly told him to stay away in case he caught a cold as well.

"i didn't want you to be alone," jaehyun admitted with a little smile.

it wasn't until he came into your place that you finally took proper care of your cold; thanks to him, you ate a bit of food and took enough pills to make you feel better. your fever wasn't as high as it was in the morning, but you still felt quite uncomfortable, so, at jaehyun's suggestion, you cuddled next to him on the couch with a blanket around your body.

as you heard jaehyun's soft voice talk about his week, you let yourself close your eyes and let the sound of his voice embrace you. the warmth of his touch made you feel the most at ease you'd felt all day, which made you realize how much of a safe haven he was for you. you were grateful that your paths crossed and allowed you to meet.

"jaehyun," you said, interrupting what he was saying to you.

"yes?"

"i love you," you said as you felt your cheeks get hot, but not from the fever. "thanks for taking care of me."

"i love you, too," he replied, pressing a loving kiss against your forehead.

in one of the many evenings in which the hot weather took over, you found yourself taking a walk through the beach with jeno, whom you hadn't seen since summer break started.

maybe it wasn't the best hangout plan out there, but it was the first thing you came up with after finally having free time for both of you.

the silence wasn't uncomfortable at all, but it made you wonder what kind of relationship you had with him, because even if the simple greeting you two shared could be qualified as a friend's one, to you it felt much more than that. but was that enough to assure you he felt the same way?

"you're probably just getting bored here with me," you said quietly to him, while watching your own toes get buried in the sand with each step you took.

you didn't hear an answer, so you lifted your head to find jeno's soft gaze, illuminated by the orange hues of the sunset, fixed on you.

you were about to tell him you could go back if he wanted to, but the sudden grip of his hands over yours took you by surprise enough for the words on your throat to fade away, because when you least expected it, jeno dragged you to the seashore.

in which the water was as warm as the touch of his hands.

"what was that for?!" you asked him between laughs as you mimicked his attempts at splashing you with water.

"i don't know," jeno answered you, putting an end to the water war as he pulled you closer. "just to show you that there's no one i'd rather be with right now."

"so... did you enjoy the movie?" mark asked you once you were outside the theater.

"yes!" you nodded with your head. "to be honest, i didn't have a lot of expectations," you revealed to him. "but in the end, i really liked it!"

"i see…" mark sighed with relief as he smiled. "that's good to hear."

"what would you like to do now?" you asked him as you two started to walk with nowhere in mind.

"if you don’t mind, I'd like to check a music store that's nearby," he said while searching it with his eyes. "i need to buy…"

before mark could continue with what he was saying, his eyes widened at the sight of a man running with no caution in your direction, and without hesitation, he grabbed you from the waist and brought you to his side.

it wasn't until mark took you next to him that you noticed the guy who seemed to be running from the police; you tensed up at the thought of what could have happened if it wasn't for mark.

"that was close," he finally said when the man was far enough away to not cause any harm. "you should really watch your step next time," he softly muttered as he directed his gaze to your face that was buried in his chest.

but before you could get away and thank him, an old lady who was nearby and had observed everything decided to voice her thoughts.

"what a wonderful boyfriend you have, dear; i wish i had someone to protect me like that." she smiled at both of you and continued on her way.

"s-she's not my girlfriend!" mark attempted to clarify any misunderstandings awkwardly and far too quickly for your liking.

you had no idea how good it felt to be perceived as a couple, and you had never wished so desperately in your entire friendship that you were more than friends.