skz imagines

You watched as the woman clicked on the screen a few times. “Your name is on the advanced list, so I’m afraid you’ll need to attend that class.” She directed a sad look at you.

“Isn’t there a way to change it? Transfer me to the easier course?” you pleaded.

“You can, but only after the first semester has passed,” she said after shrugging.

You sighed. “Okay, thank you.”

It seems you’ll have to survive until the end of the semester.

When you checked your schedule that morning, your heart stopped for a second when you noticed the small “advanced physics” printed, and immediately headed towards the university’s administration to figure out what was happening.

Turns out you probably messed up when you were selecting your classes.

Anyways, there was no use to cry because of it now. You resignedly headed to the physics room, mentally preparing yourself for what was about to come.

You were standing in front of the classroom doors, pondering whether to go in or not. To say you were confident would be a complete lie. However, you needed the attendance if you wanted to pass, so you took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

You sat down on the second row and took out your materials, and were completely prepared to pay attention to try and save yourself from failing.

Oh, but it was not going to be so easy.

Only half an hour had passed and you were suffering. Physics was never your forte, and now that you had to learn things way above your level, you’d have to work twice as hard. You were trying your best, taking notes of everything the professor was saying, your hand aching every once in a while.

Some time later the lesson ended, and you quickly packed your stuff and left the classroom, feeling exhausted from all the information you had to engrave into your brain.

This was definitely going to be a tough semester.

-

“Why is this so difficult?” you whined as you buried your head into your hands.

You were currently at the library, your physics notes and a book opened right in front of you, trying to absorb as much knowledge as you could.

It was not going very well.

You were a humanities major, for God’s sake! All these formulas and theorems weren’t going to be of any use to you, but if you wanted to do well on your upcoming test you’d have to learn all of them by that time.

Frustration was quickly building up on you, but you picked up your book and delved right into it again.

You were jotting down a few definitions when you suddenly felt a soft voice addressing you.

“Excuse me?”

You looked up towards the voice and were met with a boy sitting on the table next to you, looking at you curiously.

“Um, yes?” you asked, wondering what he would want.

“Are you studying for the advanced physics class?”

“I’m trying,” you sighed.

“Do you want some help? I think I don’t suck that much at physics,” he said, shrugging.

At this point, you’d take any help you can get, even if you didn’t know the boy.

“If you don’t mind, that would actually be good,” you said, a small smile forming on your lips.

He returned your smile and picked up his things and moved to go sit right next to you, setting his supplies down on the table.

“Oh! I just realized I haven’t told you my name. I’m Seungmin.” He extended his hand for you to shake, and you took it.

“I’m y/n. How did you know I needed help?” you inquired.

“Well, let’s say I could feel your frustration from where I was seated, and you look like you’re one second away from having a meltdown during class.”

You laughed a bit and looked at the floor. “Yeah, I’m hopeless.”

“Don’t say that! Look, I know it may be difficult but just take a deep breath and let’s start with the basics, okay?” Seungmin said softly.

You looked up at him, and you could swear you were staring at an angel. This boy, who was very cute you might add, offering his help to you? Maybe choosing the advanced class wasn’t a complete mistake.

-

“There, you got it right!” Seungmin exclaimed and high-fived you.

“Looks like I’m not that hopeless after all,” you said with a smile.

Seungmin had spent the past hour teaching you, and you could say that you had understood everything. It was like he had a special way with words, he made the complicated terms you learnt in class make sense and everything sound way more simple than it probably was.

Whatever it was, you were grateful.

It was when Seungmin yawned you noticed how late it had gotten. “You must be tired, sorry for keeping you here so long trying to teach my humanities major brain,” you said, closing your books.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind. By the way, why are you taking the advanced class?” he tilted his head, like a cute puppy.

“I made a mistake when registering my classes, so now I’m stuck until the first semester ends,” you said sadly, both of you standing up and heading towards the library’s exit.

“Well, if you’d like I could continue tutoring you, I’m not that busy this semester.”

You stopped on your tracks to face him. “You’d really do that?”

“Yeah, why not? You shouldn’t have to suffer because of your mistake, and if I can help in any way, then I’d be happy to,” he finished with a smile.

Perhaps angels did exist in real life, you thought.

“If you’re sure… I would really appreciate the help.”

You both traded numbers and went your separate ways, the image of the nice boy stuck in your mind.

-

Some time had passed, and you had met up with Seungmin a few times to study.  Well, at least most of the time, because you sometimes got off track and ended up talking about random topics and getting to know each other. You weren’t complaining, though.

You found out that the boy was actually a physics major, hence his deep understanding on the subject. He loved it, so he also loved teaching it to you (you found this piece of information especially endearing).

Every time you studied, you brought him food as to repay him, because he wouldn’t accept money and he was, as he himself put it, a “starving college student”. Turns out, you were meeting at least twice a week to eat and occasionally study, only when it was necessary as you thought it was way more fun to just talk for hours about anything and everything.

You wouldn’t deny that your heart would race a little every time you met.

However, you’d have to ignore such thoughts because you had a final exam coming up, and a large part of your grade for the course depended on the score you got. You wanted to do well so you would be able to transfer to the easier class without any regrets.

You texted Seungmin so you could meet up to (actually) study.

you (15:34 pm): hey I need help for the final exam, are u free today? (^▽^)

seungminnie ♡ (15:36 pm): do u have food

you (15:37 pm): who do u take me for, of course

seungminnie ♡ (15:38 pm): then I’m free ヽ(^◇^*)/

you (15:40 pm): see u at the library dork

You locked your phone and headed to the library.

When you got there, you immediately spotted Seungmin, who was sitting on the table you two used every time you studied there. You went over and said hello, sitting down next to him.

After talking about random topics for a few minutes, you took out your physics supplies and watched as Seungmin did the same thing.

You were looking at the amount of information you’d have to internalize, and your leg immediately started bouncing up and down, nerves flooding your entire system.

Seungmin seemed to notice your nervousness. “Y/n, you’ll do fine,” he said, resting his hand on top of your leg, stopping its bouncing. “Relax.”

How is he asking you to relax when his hand is right there, you didn’t know.

“It’s just… A lot of information,” you sighed.

“And we’ll go through it, don’t worry.” He directed a smile at you, instantly calming you down.

You trusted him, definitely. After all, he was one of the people you had grown closer to during your time in college, and you knew he did his best to teach you, taking time out of his day to help you out.

And you appreciated that.

You watched as he opened the physics book, getting everything set up for you to review. You got into your studying mindset, ignoring the way your heart jumped when of your hands brushed when reaching for your notes.

This would be a long evening.

-

“Come on y/n, I know you know this,” Seungmin said.

You sighed, burying your face in your hands. “I think I’m just a bit distracted.”

Oh, damn right you were. You didn’t know what was happening to you that specific day, but you weren’t paying enough attention to your textbook or Seungmin’s attempts at explaining. Instead you were paying attention to the way his hands moved enthusiastically when he was trying to express something, the way he slowly blinked when reading, or the way his mannerisms resembled a cute puppy (you couldn’t explain how, but he did).

And all this was affecting your concentration.

“Okay, you know what? Let’s take a break.” He closed the textbook. “We’ll take a nice walk around campus and come back to finish studying, how does that sound?” Seungmin said.

That definitely was better than staying in there dealing with whatever was happening to you. “Okay, let’s go.”

You both grabbed your things and went outside, and started strolling along the buildings on your campus.

The atmosphere was serene. Not many people were outside at that particular time so you both walked in a comfortable silence, Seungmin’s presence comforting beside you. You didn’t talk much except for some punctual comments here and there, preferring to just enjoy the moment and relax before going back inside.

Before you had a chance to do that, though, you both walked next to one of the green areas on campus, some trees, grass and benches adorning the area. That’s when Seungmin turned to face you.

“Hey, how about we continue studying outside? I read that a change in scenery can do the brain good when retaining information,” he said, nudging you with his elbow.

You raised your eyebrows at him. “Oh really? And where did you read that?” You asked, unconvinced.

“I don’t know, Pinterest?” he shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, it’s probably true.” He didn’t give you a chance to respond when he grabbed your hand and dragged you to sit on the grass, under the shade of a big tree.

You weren’t going to lie and say that studying there didn’t sound like a good idea.

You took out your supplies and got to work, a slight breeze surrounding you both and the feeling of soft grass under your fingertips accompanying you.

-

The moment you handed in your finished test, you could physically feel a weight being lifted off your shoulders. You wouldn’t have to worry about physics until after you got your results back, and you could confidently say you thought you did very well.

A week after that day, you were walking along campus next to Seungmin (“y/n you need to get out of your dorm and stop stressing over your test, you told me you did well!”), checking your phone every ten minutes to see if you got your grade back.

When you heard the typical notification sound, you froze. On the screen, an email from your physics professor was displayed for you to open.

A few seconds later, Seungmin spoke. “So? What are you waiting for, a damn invitation? Open it!”

You snapped out of it and tapped the notification, and you skimmed through the email to see how you did.

A big 87/100 was written, next to “grade”.

“I passed!” you exclaimed, jumping up and down. “Eighty-seven out of a hundred!”

In the thrill of the moment, you threw your arms around Seungmin, embracing him into a big hug. It was all thanks to him, after all.

“Thank you so so much Seungmin, I couldn’t have done it without you,” you said, retreating your arms from around his neck.

He smiled widely at you. “Please, you were the one that answered that test, I just helped,” he shrugged.

You rolled your eyes, smiling. “Don’t be modest. Hey, check your grade too!” you suddenly exclaimed.

You watched as Seungmin took out his phone from his pocket and unlocked it. He tapped the screen a few times before announcing his score, “I got a ninety-five,” he smiled at you.

“Wasn’t expecting anything less from you, to be honest.”

He playfully hit your arm because of your comment, before speaking. “This needs a celebration. Want to grab some food? It’s almost dinner time, I’ll treat.”

“Oh? What happened to ‘I’m a starving college student, please feed me?’” You raised your eyebrows at him teasingly.

“Maybe I want to treat my date to some food, I can’t do that?”

You stopped in your tracks when you heard him say that. A date? Did Seungmin like you back? Wait, you didn’t even conclude that you liked him, you just thought he was cute and had an amazing personality, you loved his laugh, the way he talked, how he was so patient with you whenever you studied, and all his little quirks and traits.

Oh.

Maybe you did like him.

“A date? As in… non-platonic?” you asked, just to clear things up.

“I mean…” He scratched his neck, not meeting your gaze. “If you don’t have a problem with it, I would like to.”

In a sudden urge of confidence, you grabbed his hand into yours, making him look up at you. “I would like to,” you said while smiling.

“Are you here alone, buddy?” you said in the typical baby voice you use to talk to dogs. You checked if the puppy had a collar around his neck, but he was just sporting a bandana and no identification plaque.

You were about to deliver some last few pets and walk away, when you just stopped. It was very unusual to see stray dogs inside of the apartment complex you lived in, so the puppy had to belong to someone living there.

You felt a bit lost as you pondered your options. If you went to your apartment and left the dog alone here you would feel very bad. What if he wandered far and couldn’t find food or water? What if something happened to him? You weren’t heartless. Besides, a company of a puppy wouldn’t kill you, in reality, you adored dogs.

“Let’s take you home buddy, see if your owner comes around looking for you.” You said, not caring about the fact that you probably looked a bit weird right now, talking fondly to a puppy when no one was around.

You scooped the dog into your arms and walked towards your apartment. With a little difficulty you searched around your pockets for your keys using one hand, careful not to drop your new companion. You managed to successfully make your way into your apartment and put down the puppy, closing the door behind you. You watched as it immediately started to roam around your small living space, exploring every corner.

You sighed. This is not how you planned your evening would go, but you weren’t going to complain when you knew you had a soft spot for dogs. You were going to keep him for a few hours and if the owner didn’t come looking for him, you would talk to the building administrator. Yes. That sounded like a good plan.

-

About an hour after you let in your new friend into your apartment, the doorbell rang.

You weren’t expecting any company, so using your deduction skills you came to the conclusion that it was dog owner guy. Or girl. You would find out in a second.

You stood up to open the door, the puppy perking up to stare at you. The little guy (yes, you had checked) had fallen asleep on your carpet a while ago, exhausted after having played around the apartment for a while. No, you didn’t take a picture. Of course not.

When you opened the door you came face to face to a guy around your age. A very attractive one, you may add. Said guy looked slightly out of breath, but he straightened up before smiling at you.

“Uhm,” started saying mysterious man. “Hi, I was looking for my dog? Slightly small, black and white fur, very cute?”

So this was indeed dog owner guy. If the puppy was wandering around this close to your apartment you figured his owner lived close to you too, but you had never seen this guy around. If you had, you would’ve definitely remembered his face. He had dark brown eyes with a mole under one of them, a cute nose and disheveled light brown hair he probably achieved by running his hands through it too many times.

Before you could say anything, you heard the sound of paws tapping on the floor behind you, and stepped aside so the guy could see into your apartment.

“If this is your dog, then you’ve come looking for him at the right place,” you said.

The boy’s eyes lit up when they landed on the puppy, and he broke into a smile as he kneeled down to greet him.

“Kkami!” he exclaimed happily. “I’m never leaving you alone for more than five minutes, oh my God.”

You watched as the stranger picked up Kkami (as that was his name, apparently) and turned to stare at you.

“Thank you so much for finding him and taking him into your apartment! I was rehearsing my dance routine and my friend probably left the door open. I’m so glad he didn’t go far, I wouldn’t know what to do if he went missing, honestly.” The boy looked fondly at his dog, and your heart may have melted a little.

“It was no problem, really. I wouldn’t have left him out there alone, especially with how cute he is!” you said with a smile on your face.

The boy giggled, and you noted what a nice smile he had. “By the way, my name is Hyunjin, I live a few doors from here.”

“I’m y/n, and how come I haven’t seen you before? I’ve been living here for a while,” you inquired.

“I moved into my apartment about a week ago, I guess our schedules haven’t lined up.” He smiled sheepishly. “Well, I actually have to go feed Kkami, and catch up on some homework. Thank you so much again for taking him in, maybe I’ll see you around!”

“Yeah, hopefully it won’t be because Kkami escaped again.” You joked, smiling a bit.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. Bye, y/n!”

“Bye, Hyunjin.”

-

Turns out that was the exact same reason why you saw Hyunjin again.

Not even a week after the dog incident, you were walking up the stairs towards your floor when you spotted Kkami happily strutting down the hallway.

“Kkami?” You called.

The dog spotted you and started wagging his tail, walking towards you. You petted him and wondered how he escaped again, if Hyunjin was so sure he wasn’t going to let it happen. You just laughed to yourself and picked Kkami up, taking him into your apartment for the second time.

You didn’t know Hyunjin’s apartment or his phone number, so you couldn’t just tell him his dog escaped. You’d have to wait and see if he came around again looking for him.

Around half an hour later, you were playing around with Kkami when your doorbell rang.

“Let’s hope that’s your owner.” you told Kkami, who just responded with a head tilt.

You stood up to open the door, and were greeted with Hyunjin, a worried look adorning his face.

“Did you perhaps take Kkami in again? I can’t find him.” He said with an urgent tone.

“Luckily for you,” you started saying, “I have.” You stepped aside to reveal the small puppy.

Hyunjin smiled widely when he saw his dog, and scooped him up into his arms.

“I’m so sorry baby, I promise it won’t happen again.” He said in a baby voice.

“Are you sure about that?” You said in a teasing tone.

Hyunjin looked up at you. “I swear it isn’t my fault. My friend apparently doesn’t know how to close my door properly, because it’s kind of broken and if you don’t hear it close completely it can open with the wind. It’s weird.”

“Maybe you should teach your friend how to close the door, because if I see this guy,” you pointed to the puppy in his arms, “wandering the halls alone again I’m going to laugh at you for breaking your promise.” You said playfully.

Hyunjin smiled. “I’ll teach him, don’t worry.”

-

Apparently, either Hyunjin didn’t teach his friend or his friend didn’t learn properly, because there was Kkami, laying down in front of your door.

You sighed as the puppy perked up when he heard you, running towards you wagging his tail. “I’m not even surprised you’re out here now.” You said before opening the door to your apartment, Kkami entering as it was his.

“Let’s see how long does your owner take to come looking for you.”

Fifteen minutes later, your doorbell rang.

Hey, new record, you thought. You opened the door to reveal Hyunjin, and didn’t say anything as you stepped aside to let Kkami greet his owner.

“Um… Hi?” Hyunjin said with an embarrassed smile.

“Nice job teaching your friend.” You teased him.

“Okay, I swear I did. I’m getting that door fixed; I can’t have Kkami running around the halls, even if you’re there to rescue him.”

“That sounds like a nice idea.” You laughed.

A somewhat awkward silence took over the both of you, no one really knowing what to say next. That was, until Kkami started wiggling in Hyunjin’s arms, so he put him down and the puppy immediately ran inside your apartment again, swiftly jumping on your sofa.

“Uhm, looks like he really likes your apartment,” Hyunjin said, smiling apologetically.

You stared at Kkami, and then turned to look at the boy. “Do you maybe want to come inside? All of our conversations have been on my doorstep, I think it’s time we change it up a little.”

Hyunjin chuckled a bit thanks to your words, but a second later he was nodding his head. “Why not? As long as Kkami doesn’t abandon me for you, I’m fine.”

You moved aside so the boy could come in, closing the door after him. He went to sit next to his dog, who lost no time in climbing over his owner’s legs and settling there.

“Looks like there’s nothing you need to worry about,” you said after laughing. “Do you want anything? Some juice? Soda?”

“Juice is fine, thank you.”

You nodded and headed to the kitchen, pouring a glass of juice for your guest and some water for you. As you headed back to the living room, you were met with the sight of Hyunjin holding Kkami’s face between his hands and making kissy faces at him, softly telling him he “was the cutest dog in the world” and “you’re such a good boy, aren’t you?”

It was pretty adorable, if you said so.

As soon as he felt your presence leaned back to his original position as casually as he could, accepting the glass from your hands while a subtle blush arose on his cheeks.

“Thank you,” he said, taking a sip.

You nodded in response and sat down on your other sofa, the puppy perking up a little to look at you. No one was saying anything again, the both of you just looking at Kkami as if he was the one responsible of breaking the silence.

It was Hyunjin who spoke first, after a few seconds. “Oh, I taught Kkami how to do this cool trick the other day, let me show you,” he said excitedly.

Well, that was an unexpected way of starting the conversation, but you’ll take it.

-

That evening, besides playing with Kkami , you and Hyunjin got to know each other. Questions and answers went and came, and you could definitely say you found the boy quite interesting. You learned that besides college he taught dance at a local studio, loved animals, had three loud best friends and homemade food was his favorite.

It was becoming quite late when Kkami stopped indulging in your attempts to play with him, so Hyunjin decided it was best that they went home so the puppy could rest.

He scooped Kkami into his arms and headed to the door, you opening it for him.

“I think I can speak for the both of us,” Hyunjin started saying, gesturing towards his dog, “when I say thank you for inviting us over, I had lots of fun.” He softly smiled.

“I had fun too, this boy here is pretty cute,” you said, petting Kkami in the head. “And it was really nice to get to know you.”

“Same here.” He locked eyes with you. “Maybe we should exchange numbers. Just in case he escapes again, you know.”

You laughed at this, but then you took out your phone and quickly added his number to your contacts (adding a puppy emoji next to his name, of course).

“See you around?” Hyunjin asks.

“See you,” you say before he heads towards his apartment, and you close the door.

-

In the weeks that followed, you and Hyunjin became really good friends. Hanging out together became pretty common (almost always with Kkami, of course. You invited him over pretty often, thanks to conversations like this:

hyunjin (16:47): hey

hyunjin (16:47): kkami misses you :(

you (16:48): …

you (16:48): come over fool

It reached a point where you even had dog treats and toys at your apartment, Kkami entertaining himself with those while you and Hyunjin talked.

You weren’t going to lie and say you weren’t a bit charmed by the boy, his personality just making you feel that you knew him for way longer than you actually did. His way of talking, his passion and silliness just made you look forward to the next time you would see him, your heart maybe speeding up a bit every time you open the door.

This time your encounter wasn’t planned, though.

You were going up the stairs towards your apartment, keys in hand. That’s when you saw a familiar puppy strutting towards you, the very same way as the first time you met.

Kkami came up to you and you reached down to pet him. “What are you doing alone? Did Hyunjin leave the door open again? I thought we were past that,” you said to no one in particular.

That was when you noticed something strange attached to his collar.

It was a… note?

You muttered a small “huh” but quickly removed the paper from the collar, unfolding it so you could read what was inside.

y/n

don’t worry, Kkami didn’t escape again. this is just so I could ask you something without embarrassing myself, and possibly soften your heart a bit with a cute puppy. genius, right?

so, what I wanted to ask is something simple, really.

would you want to go on a date with me?

if your answer is yes, then please head over to my apartment so we can talk. If it’s no, then just take Kkami into your apartment and I’ll come over later and we can pretend nothing happened here :D

hyunjin

… Woah.

That was surely not what you were expecting.

You looked up in the direction of Hyunjin’s apartment (as you lived pretty close together), and saw how a head that was peeking out quickly disappeared inside an apartment and a door clicked shut.

You laughed to yourself because of his antics, and looked down at the note again.

You heart was beating fast, not wanting to believe that Hyunjin actually wanted to go on a date with you and this wasn’t some kind of prank.

Despite all that, the answer was clear in your mind.

You picked up Kkami and swiftly walked over to that apartment, ringing the doorbell with your other hand.

You heard rustling inside, then a few seconds of silence, and then the door finally opened.

“Y/n!” A smiling Hyunjin greeted you. “What brings you here?” he asked.

Very casual, Hyunjin.

You playfully rolled your eyes. “Maybe the fact that you decided to use your dog as a delivery boy.”

Hyunjin laughed, and you detected a hint of nervousness as he brought a hand to scratch his neck. “Yeah…”

You stayed in silence for a few seconds, and you knew he was waiting for your response, even though it was clear already given the instructions on the note.

“I’m here, so I’m pretty sure you know what my answer is.”

“I mean, you could also be here to tell me to fuck off in person, who knows.”

You playfully hit him in the arm with the hand that wasn’t holding Kkami (who was getting impatient, by the way.)

“I could never,” you said. “But if you want to hear me say it, then my answer is that I would love to go on a date with you.”

The boy instantly broke into a smile that brightened his whole face, and you quickly decided it was your favorite smile on him.

“Oh, that’s good. That’s really good, wow.”

Your heart softened a bit at his reaction.

“Uh, can I come inside so I can put Kkami down and we can discuss details?”

“Oh, yes, of course.” He quickly moved to the side to let you walk inside, and closed the door.

Once you left Kkami on the floor and turned towards Hyunjin, you could see he was happy. And you were happy too, not wanting to wait until you could discover more things about this wonderful boy.

"You were already sleeping? At eleven pm?" he said with an amused tone, an eyebrow shooting up.

"I'm tired from finals, don't judge me." You rubbed your eyes, trying to make yourself feel more awake. "Wait, why are you here this late?" 

Your words made him look down and you followed his gaze, and that's when you noticed the way his arms were folded as if he was cradling... something? 

You didn't know if your eyes were deceiving you due to your sleepy haze, but that was definitely a cat. A very small one, that is.

"I may or may not have a problem."

You opened your mouth as if to say something, but instead opted to stay silent and just move aside to let him come inside your small college dorm. The both of you went to sit on your bed, a soft meow coming from Minho's arms. 

"So... do you mind telling me why you showed up on my door holding a kitten?"

"I... need your help." He let out a deep sigh before continuing. "I was walking towards my dorm and heard some loud meowing coming from somewhere, and I looked around and found this cutie." He smiled and petted the animal's soft fur. "I picked him up and walked around to try and find his mom, but I had no luck. I wasn't physically able to leave him there, so..."

You noticed the hesitation in his tone, and tried egging him on with a motion of your hand.

"You don't have a roommate, right?” He continued. “And you never get any complaints from your floor manager."

Oh, you though you knew where this was going.

"Can you keep him here for a while, please? I know we're not allowed to, but you'd never get told off for it and my roommate wouldn't let me keep him in our room. I would help you, of course," he hurried to add at the end. "I'll drop by and help feed him, I'll also stay with him when I can."

The both of you glanced down at the kitty, who had made himself very comfortable in Minho's arms. The boy scratched behind his ears softly, before looking back up at you. "I just need to keep him here while I figure out what to do, but I didn't want to leave him out there alone, in the cold. Who knows what could happen."

You saw the way his eyes glistened with worry and something inside you softened. It wouldn't hurt to keep the kitten with you, right? After all, how hard could it be to take care of him, especially if Minho was going to be helping you?

"Okay, I'll do it."

Minho's face lit up as he broke into a wide smile. "Oh, thank you so much! You'll love him, I swear. I've known him for just a little while but you can tell he's a calm ball of fluff."

You chuckled at his words, watching as the kitty lifted his face to look at Minho as if he knew he was talking about him. 

Cute.

"He'll need a bed or something, though," you said thoughtfully. "Oh, and we need to get him food, too."

Minho pursued his lips in a pout while he seemed to meditate his answer, an imaginary lightbulb lighting up when he apparently remembered something. "I bought some shoes a few days ago, and I still have the box laying around. I can bring it here with some blankets and that can be his bed! And I'll go to buy him some food first thing in the morning, don't worry."

You nodded at his words. "Okay, go get the box and leave the little guy here in the meantime."

Minho carefully put down the kitty on your bed, just as he perked up and took in his surroundings. The boy stood up, and quickly went out the door to go get what he needed.

That left you and the cat alone, and you slowly started stroking his fur to try and get him accustomed to your presence.

Well, you were certainly not expecting your night to end like this.

You watched as the kitten travelled along your bed before jumping down to the floor in a swift motion, and you weren't too worried at first because he was certainly not a newborn and you thought he was old enough (a few months, perhaps?) to explore freely on his own.

However, it's better to be safe than sorry, so you kneeled down to join him on the floor.

That's how Minho found you when he came back, box in one hand and a soft blanket on the other, right as the kitten was cutely trying to climb up your legs.

"See? I knew you guys would become friends very quickly."

-

The way your routine had morphed around taking care of your little companion was surprising, to say the least.

You hadn't expected to grow so accustomed to the presence of Rocky (that's what you and Minho had decided to name him), but now it would've been weird if you opened your door and the kitten wasn't immediately at your feet, greeting you in the cutest way possible.

Minho had earned himself a place in your daily routine too, dropping by basically every day after both of your classes and staying the rest of the evening in your dorm. He had kept his promise and helped you in everything that he could, probably trying to make up for the fact that he had just suddenly dropped the weight of a new pet on your shoulders. 

You weren't complaining, though.

He often brought his schoolwork along with him when he stayed at your dorm, using the time in between his studying to plop of the floor next to Rocky and entertain him for some time, doing kissy faces at him and making him play with his fingers as he wiggled them.

You couldn't decide who was cuter, in all honesty.

You didn't even notice when your heart had started to do a little backflip every time you saw Minho fondly play with the cat, but you were sure that it wasn't solely because of the fact that you found them cute. This whole situation had proven to be a very good opportunity to start spending more time with the boy, and it was taking a toll on your feelings. Yes, you had always found him handsome and alluring and whatnot, but seeing such a soft side of him whenever he played with Rocky, carefully picking him up on his arms and speaking in such an adorable manner to him, caused you to maybe start falling for him a little. Just a bit.

(Maybe it got worse when you saw the boy sleeping in your bed with the cat resting softly on his chest, but no one had to know.)

While Minho was the one who originally brought in Rocky, he quickly started feeling like your child too. You knew you were gone the day you took him to get his vaccines (which was the very next day after Minho had shown up at your door with him) and felt a wave of protectiveness come over you, understanding how Minho felt regarding the small creature.

You even started to spoil him, buying him cute toys he could play with when neither you nor Minho was around. You guys felt like proud parents whenever you found him doing something remotely interesting, which led to the both of you sharing fond gazes over him.

However, there were some times when, in true parenting fashion, some very, very serious conflicts ensued.

"Hey, you've been cuddling with Rocky for way too long, it's my turn," Minho said with a pout adorning his lips, and it took some strong endurance from your part to not immediately give in.

You failed.

"Ugh, okay take him." You reluctantly picked up Rocky from his comfortable position and passed him over to Minho, who immediately put him on his chest and started stroking his fur.

You almost melted at the cute sight, but managed to head over to your desk to start doing some homework you had pending.

That was one of the things that you loved about this whole situation; just you and Minho hanging out, either each one on their own world or the two of you engaging in conversation throughout the whole evening. It was easy to get carried away with him, his way of talking being so soothing and so charming it made you want to share things with him for hours. Whenever you couldn't do that due to some more important responsibilities at hand, his sole presence in your room was comforting, only interrupting you every once in a while to point out something cute that Rocky was doing or to make a random comment to make you laugh and distract you from your stress, at least for a few moments.

Because that was Minho for you, he brought joy and comfort everywhere he went, and that's exactly what you had received since you started spending more time with him. And exactly the reason why you started to fall deeper.

-

Overall, it was safe to say that you didn't regret accepting Minho's offer of letting Rocky stay in your room. You knew how fond he was of cats and that he wanted the best for your little companion, and he was trying to figure out what to do with him, as sadly keeping the cat with you wasn't a permanent solution. You hadn't had any incidents involving your floor manager, except for one time he had come knocking on your door to ask you something and Minho had to hide in the closet with Rocky carefully held in his arms.

Other than that, everything was going smoothly.

It had been around two weeks since the whole arrangement had started when you heard a knock on your door, and you didn't bat an eyelash because it was most probably Minho coming over like (now) usual.

"I have good news!" He announced right after he came inside, giving Rocky a few pets before going over to sit on your bed. "I was about to give up in finding Rocky a home, but I convinced my parents to take him in!" he exclaimed, eyes crinkling as he smiled widely. "It was tough, because we already have three cats and they weren't sure about getting a fourth one, but they said yes in the end."

"Oh, that's great!" You glanced over to the kitty, who stared back at you like he knew you guys were talking about him.

A second later a bittersweet feeling invaded your chest; on one hand you were extremely happy for the fact that Rocky was going to be in a permanent home where he could live comfortably, but on the other hand you felt sad you were going to have to part ways.

"The good thing is," Minho started saying. "We can go visit him whenever we feel like it, my parents will have no problem." He almost was guessing your thoughts, and his words did provide some kind of reassurement.

And that was how that very same evening you hopped into Minho's car, the do-it-yourself bed you had made at the start of this whole situation placed on your lap, Rocky comfortably resting on top of the blankets.

You looked out of the window, being met with the sight of people walking along the sidewalk wrapped in warm clothes, the chill breeze of early autumn starting to cool the air. A popular pop song was playing on the radio, Minho humming along under his breath while bopping his head to the beat every once in a while.

It wasn't a long ride, but that didn't stop your thoughts from running wild due to the presence of the boy beside you.

You'd definitely miss hanging out this much with him, having grown accustomed to all his little quirks and details. The way his eyes crinkled when he laughed, his eyebrows furrowing when he didn't understand something, his mindless rambling whenever you had free time to talk...

It isn't that you weren't friends before (if not, he wouldn't have proposed for you to take care of Rocky in the first place), but you weren't nearly as close as you were now, after all that had happened.

Who knew what was going to happen after you dropped Rocky off? Would you go back to being mere acquaintances? Would you still hang out? All of these doubts were clouding your mind, but you were sure of one thing: when you accepted taking in a kitten you hadn't agreed to the crush you had managed to develop in the process, and it didn't come with a receipt to return it, so you had to accept it.

Because that's what it was: a crush.

Your thoughts were interrupted as you pulled up to Minho's parent's house, the boy opening the car door for you and then ringing the doorbell due to the fact that your hands were busy with Rocky’s makeshift bed.

You were greeted with the smiling faces of Minho's parents, and you introduced yourself and said hi before quickly stepping inside as to not let the cold slip into the warm house.

A few seconds later you came face to face (kind of) with Minho's three cats, the boy instantly crouching down to greet them. The two that looked more grown were quick to respond, rubbing their heads against his hands and legs in an affectionate manner. The remaining one, a cute and tiny grey cat, glanced over at Minho for a few moments before turning away, making a pout appear on the boy's face.

"That's Dori, he was adopted recently so I guess he doesn't know me as much," he explained.

You watched the interaction with a small smile on your face, when suddenly Rocky perked up on his box and looked over the edges, trying to catch a glimpse of what was happening.

"They should be introduced one by one, so no one gets scared," you said while glancing at the cats.

"We'll do that throughout the next few days, you don't have anything to worry about." Minho's mom smiled sweetly, and you knew that Rocky was in good hands.

After engaging in conversation with Minho’s parents for around twenty minutes, you left the new kitten in one of the rooms separated from the other cats, as it was time to leave. You crouched down to be on Rocky’s level and petted his soft four, saying your goodbyes affectionately as he looked at you with curious eyes. Suddenly Minho kneeled down next to you, scooping the kitty into his arms and peppering kisses all over his face, talking to him in his usual soft voice.

(Your heart sped up for the nth time that day, but we aren't talking about that)

You parted ways with Minho's parents, the ride back to campus feeling a bit emptier now that you didn't have Rocky resting on your lap anymore.

Maybe Minho noticed your sulkiness, because he suddenly spoke. "Hey, I told you that we can come visit him anytime, right?"

You sighed. "Yeah, it's just that I had already gotten used to his presence. But he's going to be better off with your parents than in a small college dorm where he isn't even allowed to be in."

Minho chuckled softly, and you found yourself staring at him for a millisecond too long before diverting your gaze to look out of the window again.

- 

While you had quickly been able to adjust to your new routine when you took Rocky into your dorm, growing out of it was more difficult than you expected. You missed him and Minho, also due to the fact that your relationship with the boy had indeed gone back to how it was before, barely interacting if it wasn't for the times you passed by each other on the corridors or when casually texting the other something.

It was making you sad, if you were being completely honest.

The added factor of you happening to have a crush on said boy wasn't helping, either. Pre-Rocky era, you would've been fine with how things were, but you had discovered how much fun it was to spend time with Minho and the way his presence made you feel at ease and happy. And you missed it.

That was partly the reason while you currently were laying on your bed, homework in the process of being ignored resting on top of your desk.

A knock on your door snapped you out of your sulkiness, and you reluctantly stood up and went over to open it.

"Minho?"

"Uh, hi." Your excitement to see him almost made you miss the way he nervously looked around, a soft blush dusting his cheeks.

You waited a few moments but it didn't seem like he was going to continue, so you spoke instead. "So... what are you doing here?"

The boy inhaled deeply, finally meeting your gaze. "I miss you."

Oh. Oh.

And that's exactly what you said. "Oh."

Minho didn't wait for you to elaborate more, as he continued speaking. "During the time Rocky was staying here I realized how awesome hanging out with you was, and I was sad for a while because we didn't really have a reason to continue doing it now that he's staying at my parent's house. However, now I also realized that I don't really need a reason to ask you out on a date, other than the fact that I want to get to know you even more and spend more time together." He stopped for a second to breathe after he poured out all those words. "What do you say?"

"A date? Uh, now?" was the only thing you could muster to get out.

"I mean yeah, if you're not busy, I would like to take you in a cute, totally non-platonic date." The way he smiled when saying that completely melted your heart, and suddenly the homework waiting for you was the least importing thing to do on your list (not that you were planning to do it, honestly).

"Okay, let's go then," you said, your lips automatically adopting a smile.

You grabbed your things before stepping out the dorm and closing the door behind you, following Minho all the way to his car.

You managed to instantly fall into an easy conversation, as if the brief period of time when you were separated didn't even happen. 

Minho took you to a small cafe next to a park, the both of you ordering some coffee and pastries before sitting down on one of the tables with a window right next to it.

The feeling of being back to how you guys were when taking care of Rocky filled your chest with fondness, not believing how fast the boy had made his way into your heart.

The time you spent eating was way too short, so you decided to head over to the park and walk around for a bit. The atmosphere was calm, your voices blending in with the sound of birds chirping and kids laughing. With each moment that passed you found out even more details about the boy, his history, his passions and his thoughts. You didn't even realize the moment when your hands found each other and interlocked softly, continuing the walk with them swinging by your side.

Time with Minho flied fast, and you suddenly found yourselves back at the dorms with your soft spot for the boy having increased at least ten times. A giddy feeling settled on your chest after imagining what the future would bring to you, the prospect of you and Minho being together making your heart beat a tad faster.

However, everything also felt so natural, the image of the both of you walking over to your door after a date, hand in hand, could be something that you would quickly get used to.

Hair disheveled and breathing quickly, a boy made his way into the small space with you, immediately leaning on one of the walls as if to rest.

"Thank you," he let out in your overall direction.

"No problem," you nodded before turning to look at him, taking in his appearance.

Oh, he was the boy who you had crossed paths with a couple times before, sometimes sharing the elevator early in the mornings before you headed to class or during the evening, after they had ended. It seemed like he had moved into the building not too long ago, as you only started catching sight of him recently.

Your few interactions so far had consisted of just exchanging a short greeting, each of you going your separate ways after the elevator doors opened.

You didn't know the exact reason why, but you thought that he exuded this cool aura that made you want to know more about him. Maybe it was the way his messy, brown hair fell in front of his eyes, maybe it was the mask resting on his chin, or maybe it was the headphones hanging loosely from his neck.

Either way, he was mysterious, but in a good way. 

"Which floor are you going to?" you asked after realizing that you were indeed on an elevator and you had to press a button for it to move.

The boy looked like he had also forgotten he needed to go somewhere, as he muttered a small "oh right" before speaking at a normal volume. "Can you press the fourteenth floor for me, please?"

You did as he said and then pressed your own floor number, the fifteenth. You both exchanged a quick, polite smile before turning to look in front of you, the doors of the elevator closing before it started heading up.

You stood there, the silence that characterized elevator rides surrounding you two: the one where you don't really have anything to say, but it isn't needed anyways. You watched as the number displayed on the tiny screen right on top of the buttons went up, pointedly trying to ignore the entrancing presence of the boy next to you.

The number turned into a ten, and all of a sudden the elevator made a loud thumping noise right as it abruptly came to a stop, making you lose balance slightly. A second later all of the lights turned off, and you found yourself in total darkness for few moments before the dim emergency lights were prompted to turn on.

Well, it seems like you were stuck.

Oh, and remember how you said that the boy had a very captivating and cool aura? Well, it completely shattered the second the elevator came to a stop, a high pitched squeal leaving his lips as he tried to grab onto the wall for support.

"What's happening?" he blurted out, eyes wide open like plates.

You looked around, feeling slightly shaken up. You went up to where the buttons were located, moving carefully as to not cause any more commotion. You quickly identified a red button labeled with a speaker symbol, and pressed it to try and communicate with someone, as you had seen other people do. Obtaining no results, you resolved to try and press it a few quick times in succession, giving up after a few seconds when nothing happened either.

You sighed in defeat and turned to look at the boy, who was still pressed against the wall and breathing heavily.

He looked pretty shaken up, so you tried to reassure him. "The power probably went out, we just need to wait until it comes back."

Your words seemed to do nothing to soothe the boy, who looked more distraught by the second. "Oh my God, we're trapped. We're going to be in here forever. What about my family? My friends? Isn't my friend's dog going to notice his favorite uncle is gone?" His rapid rambling caused an amused smile to appear on your lips.

"Look, calm down. It’s not that bad-"

"Help!" He suddenly shouted, making a move to head towards the closed doors, which caused the elevator to sway a little. This instantly made the both of you hold your breath and freeze in place, waiting for everything to stop moving.

"Okay, no sudden movements," you muttered, just a little bit of uneasiness filling your body.

"Shouldn't that red button work? Why didn't it do anything when you pressed it?" The boy inquired.

A shrug of your shoulders was the only response you could muster.

"Oh my God, we're actually trapped," the boy said again, his fear seemingly being replaced by a feeling of disbelief.

You tried to adopt the most confident tone you could. "Look, this is not like those clichés you see in movies, we won't be stuck in here for hours. Someone's going to notice the elevator isn't working and we'll be out of here in no time, give it five minutes."

-

Around fifteen minutes had passed.

"So? Where's the help we should be getting?" The boy, who you had learned was named Jisung, asked.

The both of you had moved to sit on the floor, backs resting against opposite walls. You lifted your gaze from the floor to stare at him, trying to ignore the way the dimmed lighting made his features more alluring.

(you finding the boy attractive didn't help the situation at all.)

"Okay, for sure they should've noticed by now that something is wrong. But, in all honesty, I have a feeling we're not getting out here in the next few minutes." Your tone was soft, trying not to make the boy panic again.

Jisung's lips formed into a pout, and he rested his chin on top of his propped up knees. You looked around, not sure if you were trying to avoid his pretty eyes or to find a way out. Preferably the latter.

You had tried to make small talk to pass the time, exchanging names and some basic information about yourselves. Still, the mere fifteen minutes that had passed felt like so much longer, and it seemed like no amount of wishing for someone to get you out would work.

"I'm hungry," you heard Jisung blurt out all of a sudden, moving to rest his forehead on his knees, hiding his face from view. "Everything I have inside my fridge sounds really tempting right now, and that’s including three-day old chicken." 

Your first instinct was to retaliate with a snarky comment of some sort, but you promptly remembered the unopened bag of candies you had inside your backpack.

"I have some candy if you want some."

This immediately made Jisung perk up and look at you with wide eyes, giving a few quick nods. You chuckled as you reached into your backpack and took out the bag, opening it in a swift motion before placing it on the floor between you two. Jisung immediately reached into it to take out some of the candies, putting them into his mouth. He made a sound of contentment before he started chewing, his cheeks puffing out while he ate.

(he kind of looks like a cute squirrel, your brain provided before you promptly shut it up.)

"You know," he started saying in between munches. "We probably have a lot of time left on this hell device," you let out a laugh at that, which made him smile in return before continuing. "So we could get to know each other! Who knows, maybe the universe meant for this to happen, we should take advantage of it."

You contemplated his words for a few seconds.

You had this -very- cute boy sitting right across from you, the both of you sharing a small bag of candies with the prospect of not getting out of this faulty elevator in the near future. Not the situation you expected to find yourself in when you left your apartment that morning, but people did say that the best moments in life were the unplanned ones. Or was it a quote you read on Pinterest? Either way, it didn't really matter in that precise moment.

You saw no faults in his reasoning, which led you to nod your head a little and let out a quick "Okay, I don't see why not."

-

Thirty minutes later and you were still sitting on the floor, trapped inside the elevator, bag of candy resting emptily on the floor.

However, you now knew pretty much all of Jisung's life story, and he knew yours in return. You surprised yourself as you felt strangely attached to the boy already, after only knowing him for less than an hour.

You found that his way of talking was very unique. His eyes seemed to sparkle whenever he talked about something he was clearly passionate about, his hands always were always gesturing along wildly while he was telling stories, and he was very quick to switch between different voice tones according to what he wanted to express.

Not only that, but whenever it was your turn to talk, you could tell that he was actually paying attention and taking in whatever you were saying, always adding a little "Oh", "Really?", "That's cool!" or a cute smile after each of your sentences. It made you want to keep talking to him forever.

You would've done exactly that, if it weren't for the sudden voice interrupting the story Jisung was telling you involving him and his friend's dog.

"Hello? Are there any people inside the elevator? Please speak while pressing the red button if you’re there." 

You hurried to stand up and walk over to the board with all the buttons, putting your finger over the red one before you spoke.

"Yes, there’s two people in here." Hope filled your voice, as you kind of were staring to think that you two would be in there trapped for a long, long time.

"We're really sorry for the inconveniences,” the voice said, and you heard Jisung scoff in the background. "Apparently there was a problem with the power, and the elevator shut down. We're not really sure what caused it, but we're trying to solve it. Please hold tight."

Well, that was... helpful?

You released a heavy sigh and turned around to face Jisung again, and you found him sporting the same terrified face he had at the start of this mess, his eyes wide open.

"They don't know what to do. They don't know how to get us out. Oh my God, we're actually going to be in here forever." He hid his face in his hands, his knees brought up to be closer to his body, as if wanting to look smaller.

You didn't like to see him in that state, you much preferred the cute giggly boy he was when talking to you. You felt the need to comfort him, to be closer to him, so that's exactly what you did. 

Instead of sitting down across from him like you were doing before, you made your way to his side and plopped down, grabbing his hands in yours and getting them away from his face.

"Hey, look at me." You waited until he did what you asked, turning to stare at you with his deep, brown eyes. "We're going to be okay. The people working on this are professionals, our best shot is to trust them and stay calm. I can assure you that at the end of the day we'll be able to walk safely into our apartments and we'll laugh about this whole experience."

That managed to get a small smile out of Jisung, and maybe you stared at his lips a tad bit too long, but he hopefully didn't notice.

"The best thing we can do," you continued, "is to distract ourselves and forget that we're trapped here in the first place. I bet that while we were talking you didn't even notice we were inside of an elevator."

Jisung seemed to think about that for a moment. "Yeah, that's true," he muttered. "So you suggest we... talk?"

You thought you saw him leaning in a bit closer to you, and suddenly you were hyperaware of everything surrounding Jisung. The way his hands were still placed between yours, the way your legs were touching, the way his eyes seemed to be locked with yours.

"I... I mean," you managed to let out. "If you want to talk, then we... Uh... Can talk, yes."

Jisung moved a bit closer to your face. "What if I want to kiss you instead?" 

Oh.

Thoughts of "you just met him", "you're literally on the floor of an elevator" and "you're literally trapped in an elevator" probably should've ran through your head, but instead every part of you was screaming at you to close the distance between you and him and do what you desperately wanted to do.

"Then I suggest you do it," you answered, your heart beating slightly (much) faster than normal.

At your words, Jisung broke into a smile before placing his hands at the sides of your neck, leaning in closer until your lips connected in a soft kiss.

You were surprised for a few fractions of a second, until your eyes fluttered closed and you slowly started to kiss back. 

Your senses were filled with nothing else but Jisung, Jisung, Jisung. The smell of his cologne invaded you, something resembling fresh laundry and rainy days. His delicate hands holding you, the metal of his rings touching your neck slightly sending chills down your spine.

After a few seconds of just kissing, Jisung pulled away just a little bit and you resisted the urge to chase his lips.

The corners of his lips curled up into a smile. "Well, you're a good distraction," he muttered, and didn't let you give an adequate response as he immediately leaned forward to connect your lips again, this time with more purpose and less careful.  

You let yourself get lost in him for a few seconds, when you took notice of the awkward position you found yourselves in, twisted towards each other as you were sitting side to side.

In one swift motion you brought your leg over his lap, effectively settling yourself on top of his thighs.

This time it was your turn to pull away just a little, and mutter a few words right on top of his lips. "Glad to be of help."

You went back to kissing him, now having parted your mouths so you could freely explore each other. He tasted faintly like the chocolate candies you had offered him earlier, which you thought was so, very him.

Sweet, and a little entrancing.

Your hands now were resting on his shoulders and his had found a place on your waist, the contact making you forget that you should probably be paying attention to the fact that someone could come rescue you any second now.

You had more important things to do, though.

You kissed for what felt like ages, his lips moving with yours like they belonged there. You weren't planning on stopping anytime soon, but a sudden thump along with the elevator lights coming on made you two quickly break apart and look around in surprise.

Well, it looked like the power had come back.

You felt as the elevator started moving upwards, and you were suddenly aware that you were still kind of sitting on top of Jisung's legs. You made a move to stand up, extending a hand over to him so he could take it and get on his feet too. 

A small part of you felt disappointed in the fact that they decided to fix the elevator right when you had started to enjoy your time in there the most, and dreaded what would happen when you stepped out of those doors.

The both of you didn't say anything for the short travel to Jisung's floor, the button indicating the number fourteen still being lit up from when you pressed it some time ago. The elevator made a "ding" sound when it reached the correct floor, and the doors opened to reveal the hallway.

Neither of you made an effort to move, the atmosphere having turned somewhat tense after the safety of being in between four walls had been broken, reality settling in your bodies.

Jisung made the first move, stepping out of the elevator. Once he was out, though, he turned towards you and extended one of his arms to prevent any attempt of the elevator doors closing.

"So," he started saying, and you looked curiously into his eyes. "Remember how I said that the universe meant for this to happen and all that?"

You nodded at his words, a little spark of hope igniting inside of you.

"Well, the universe also told me that I should get your number, to, you know, maybe hang out someday? Preferably not inside a scary compartment that could break down in any second."

You let out a chuckle at his cute antics, before quickly nodding in response to his request. He stepped closer and took out his phone from his bag, handing it over to you so you could put your number in his contacts. 

"Text me, okay?" You let out as you handed back the device to him.

"Yeah, I will." You noted how a faint blush had taken over his cheeks, making them look more adorable that they already were.

"I'll hopefully see you soon then.” You smiled at the boy, watching as he stepped away fully into the hallway.

"Kim Seungmin?! As in, Stray Kids' Kim Seungmin?" you asked your manager, your eyes wide open.

"Yes, and you should start practicing because you start in a few weeks." That was all the response you got before being left alone with your thoughts.

You were a little intimidated to say the least, as you knew that Stray Kids were an incredibly talented group and facing one of its members wasn't what you expected to come out of this job. Additionally, have you seen Kim Seungmin? You were supposed to MC alongside that face? And not mess up?

That sounded a little hard, in all honesty.

The weeks went by way too quickly between schedules with your group and rehearsing your lines, and suddenly it was already time for you to start your MCing job. You arrived to the studio pretty early to practice on set, heading over to the backstage area to meet up with everyone.

You being nervous was an understatement. While you were sure that the delivery of your lines should be good with the amount of time you practiced, you forgot to take a crucial factor into consideration... Seungmin's presence.

The first thing you had to do when arriving to the studio was to meet him, seeing as he would be your partner for a (hopefully) long time.

As you came face to face with each other, you greeted him with a bow that he quickly returned, and directed you a cute smile as he introduced himself. The air filled with something close to awkwardness, the both of you having never interacted with the other, but you didn't really have a chance to do anything about it before the staff was rushing you two to get ready for rehearsals.

While sitting in the stylist's chair, rather than taking advantage of the free time to get some sleep like you usually did, you decided to take the chance to get a good look at Seungmin, who was sitting on the chair situated right next to yours. The mirror allowed you to see that he was concentrated with something on his phone, which gave you the opportunity to shamelessly stare with less chances of getting caught.

His brown hair matched his deep brown eyes, and it was being styled to be more fluffy than usual, which looked like something that would suit him well. His overall appearance was very boyish-like, and was accentuated by the outfit he was put in (it was color coordinated with yours, which you thought was pretty cute).

Okay, enough staring.

Soon enough it was time to head over to the space reserved for the MCs and to start practicing your lines for that day together. Seungmin shot you a reassuring smile before starting the dialogue, and you tried your best to follow along without getting too lost in the way his lips moved or how his eyes met yours.

For some fortunate reason of the universe you managed to get through all your lines without greatly messing up, which earned you a small break before recordings started for the real thing.

“Hey, y/n,” Seungmin called after you before you had a chance to head backstage. “Nice job, you’ll do great for the cameras,”

You managed to let out a small “Thank you, you too,” before hurrying out of his sight so he wouldn’t be able to take notice of the flushing of your cheeks.

-

two

After a few times of successfully MCing with Seungmin, all of your initial nervousness had faded and you started feeling way more comfortable while being in the presence of the young boy.

Actually, being partners with Seungmin was fun. Outside of recording, you often found yourself looking forward to the times you would get to engage in conversation with him, using up your small breaks to speak about whatever was brought up that day. He also helped you a lot with any doubts you had about your lines or acting, and you tried to do the same in return.

On screen you had great chemistry; even though you had to stick to a script, everything flowed very naturally between you two. There were some instances where you’d have to exchange painfully cheesy lines as per request of the production team, that, while being delivered with a straight face in front of the camera, had the both of you bursting out in laughter whenever the cameras were off.

One of those instances went as it follows:

“Y/n! Seungmin! You’re up!” You heard the director shout in your overall direction, and the both of you were quick to stand in front of the cameras. You noticed that in addition to his script, Seungmin was holding a single rose on his other hand, and put it behind his back.

Right, it was time for that part.

The director shouted “Action!” and you immediately shifted into “idol mode”, a wide smile plastered on your face as you started to recite the first lines.

“That last stage was incredibly powerful! Right, Seungmin?”

“Totally!” he exclaimed with excitement, before his expression turned gloomier.

“Is there something wrong?” You asked with a tone that denoted much more curiosity than a normal person would probably show.

“It’s just that I’ve been meaning to say something for a long time, but I’m a bit nervous.” He turned towards you.

“Oh? And what’s is it?”

That’s when he pulled out the rose from his back, offering it to you in a gracious manner. “Will you stay by my side forever?” He said with a flirty smile, eyes opening up in… expectation?

You allowed yourself to get lost on his gaze for a few moments, forgetting that the whole crew was right there, recording your every action.

Until you had to mentally remind yourself that this was all pretend, that those were lyrics from a new song a group was promoting and that Seungmin wasn’t actually asking you something of that scale.

You stood there, frozen, maybe for a second too long before you remembered that you actually had to continue with the dialogue, and thankfully your brain decided to be useful and allowed you take the rose from Seungmin’s hand, offering a “lovesick smile” at the camera (the script’s words, not yours) and thanked the universe for the fact that the producers didn’t think of making you actually reply to his question.

While Seungmin proceeded to introduce the next group coming up on the show, you just stood there, mindlessly nodding along to his words but not fully registering them, rose in your hand.

It isn’t real, you repeated like a mantra in your head.

-

three

You were not having your best day.

“What can we expect for the next performances, y/n?” Seungmin asked you, before turning to stare at the cameras with a curious look on his face.

Wait, what were you supposed to say again? Oh, right, introduce the groups coming up. Yes.

“Well, we will watch an explosive performance from The Boyz with their new song ‘RPM’, and then our hearts will be exploding because of SF9’s ‘Bloom Bloom’, so stay tuned!”

Wait.

You barely managed to catch the look of confusion that flashed through Seungmin’s face before he quickly spoke. “Guess the excitement for these stages can make anyone’s head spin! Here’s ‘RPM’ by SF9 followed by ‘Bloom Bloom’ by The Boyz,” he exclaimed before the cameras showed that they stopped recording live.

Shit, you had mixed up the group names with their songs.

And of course, Seungmin, being the angel he is, had tried to make it go unnoticed, but the way your eyes comically opened right after the sentence came out of your mouth probably hinted that something was not right.

Feeling a mixture of anger and embarrassment, you quickly flew past the staff into your dressing room, closing the door with more force than necessary and just stood there, in front of the mirrors.

You knew that something was going on with your head that day, but you should’ve been cautious enough to not let it affect your work. Any second now you would be getting a scolding from your manager, which wasn’t very ideal for your current state.

While all kinds of bad thoughts ran through your head, you heard the door of your dressing room click open and you quickly blinked away the tears that threatened to fall from your eyes.

“Y/n?”

Oh, great. Seungmin.

The last thing you wanted was for him to see you in the distressed state you currently were in, but you reluctantly turned around and plastered on the most serene expression you could muster.

“Yeah?”

Seungmin stepped forward a little, cutting some of the distance that separated you two. “What’s going on?” he asked, a worried expression taking over his features.

You sighed while trying to avoid his eyes by focusing your gaze on the floor, while you internally debated about whether to avoid the subject completely or just tell him the truth.

It was Seungmin, though, and you knew that he would be the last person to laugh at anything that was bothering you.

“It’s just that my stupid self messed up the lines even though I had them all memorized, and I don’t even know what happened? I can’t believe I mixed those groups up, their fans will probably be very mad at me and that’s the last thing that I wanted to happen, and for worse you were the one that had to step up and fix my stupid mixtape as if you weren’t a good enough person already and-“

“Woah, okay, breathe.” Seungmin held on to the sides of your arms, grounding you.

You closed your eyes and inhaled a deep breath, getting back all the air you used while rambling.

“I’m sorry,” you muttered after opening your eyes, meeting Seungmin’s soft ones.

“Hey, there’s no need to apologize. The only people who could’ve noticed your mistake were the ones that knew the script, but otherwise it went unnoticed by everyone. Don’t bring yourself down because of one little slip up.” He tilted his head, as if to make sure you were listening to him. “Besides, it was cute.”

His last words made you break out into a chuckle, and you hit his arm playfully. “Shut up, it wasn’t.”

“Good thing you can’t tell me what to think, because it was.” You were about to retaliate again, but Seungmin was faster. “Now stop sulking and get ready, because we go out again in a few minutes.”

He directed a last smile at you before heading out the room, leaving behind a warm feeling inside your chest that made any bad thoughts that remained inside your head a bit duller, being replaced by just Seungmin, Seungmin and Seungmin.

-

four

Falling for Seungmin was something that came gradually, and, in all honestly, didn’t surprise you.

Who could blame you? When he was the sweetest, funniest and most caring human being you happened to stumble upon?

As time passed, the both of you seemed to be getting closer and closer, which earned a few pointed looks from your managers. It all escalated when you found yourself wanting to hang out with him outside of your MCing schedules, which, considering the nature of the industry you were a part of, was difficult. You had to resign to the second-best thing, which was taking advantage of any little instance you could find to be with him before, during and after filming.

You weren’t about to jump to conclusions and say that your feelings (feelings?) were reciprocated, but you had found yourself quickly spiraling down a Seungmin-shaped rabbit hole and your only option was to hope. Hard.

Though…. Hope for what, exactly? For you guys to be in a loving relationship and turn everything into sparkles and rainbows? It wouldn’t be that easy. For starters, one of you would have to confess (and you wouldn’t be the one to do it first), and then came all the challenges surrounding the fact that you two were idols and doing normal, everyday stuff was one hundred times harder.

It didn’t hurt anyone to be greedy and want a little bit more than you already had, though. The small conversations in the hallways, the fleeting gazes, the skits you had to do that maybe sped up your heart more than they should…  Yeah. You hoped for more.

And, surprisingly, more is what you got.

You were heading over to your dressing room, hoping to eat a little something before you had to continue recording for your segments. You reached for your bag, as you always carried a snack with you to your schedules, but instead found a folded piece of paper resting on top of your stuff.

Huh, weird.

You took the paper and carefully unfolded it, revealing a note that was written in black pen, and neat handwriting.

meet me at the back of the building after the broadcast ends

seungmin <3

Oh. Oh.

The door suddenly opened to reveal one the hair stylists, and you quickly tucked away the note deep into your bag before it could be noticed.

A few minutes later you were called to your position in front of the cameras, and headed over to stand next to Seungmin so you could start the segment. You tried catching his gaze to see if you could get anything out of him, but to no avail, as the only times he directed his eyes at you was when it was required for the script. All in all, he seemed shyer than other days, which had you expecting the moment the director called the final “cut” so you could head over to the place Seungmin expected you to be.

If your heartbeat was a tad too fast during the rest of filming, no one had to know.

When the crew wrapped up, you resisted the wish to just drop everything and zoom over to the back of the building, but that would probably be suspicious. Instead, you calmly headed over to your dressing room, helped pack up some stuff, and told your manager that you would be having a conversation with one of the producers, and to just wait for you on the van.

A few moments later, you found yourself taking small quick steps through the corridors towards the back door, hoping that no one saw you and wondered why you looked so wary of your surroundings. You internally cheered when you managed to turn the handle and step outside with no one figuring out what you were doing, and quickly closed the door behind you before taking a look around.

And there was Seungmin, standing with a single rose in his hand.

 -

five

“Can’t you guys go and be gross somewhere else?” You looked up as you heard Minho’s voice, and proceeded to roll your eyes at him.

“We aren’t even being gross.”

Analyzing your current position, that was definitely true. You were sitting on the couch right next to Seungmin, one of his arms draped over your shoulders, and his other hand holding a phone that was displaying the performance Stray Kids had just recorded. Okay, you were in their dressing room, but that had become such a normal thing that it shouldn’t even surprise the others anymore.

You had to take full advantage of the fact that the boys were promoting, as seeing Seungmin only during your MC duties was hard. You missed him way too often. That’s why you found yourself heading over to his dressing room right after they finished prerecording their performance, trying to enjoy some time with him before the actual show started.

“You guys did well,” you told the room in general, earning a few thank you’s and smiles.

After the video showed their finishing poses and came to an end, Seungmin put the phone down and nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck. “I’m too tired to go out and MC,” he muttered, the sound becoming muffled due to his current position.

His actions made you chuckle before answering. “Think about the fact that you’re going to be MCing with me and you’ll feel better,” you said jokingly.

He lifted his head from your neck and looked at you with an amused smile, one of his eyebrows raised. You stared at each other for a few seconds before promptly bursting out in laughter, earning a few pointed glances from the rest of the boys.

“Shouldn’t you lovebirds be getting ready by now?” Chan asked, making you catch a glimpse at the clock before abruptly standing up, leaving a shocked Seungmin sprawled on the couch.

“Shit, yes.” You quickly headed to the door, but right before leaving you turned towards Seungmin and directed a small smile at him. “See you in a few!”

You were about to close the door behind you when you heard a shout from your boyfriend. “Remember not to mix up the groups!”

“That was one time!” you huffed before shutting the door.