squishysvt

Living in a lake town was really quiet in the winter. Houses on the shore were empty, the residents floated through the streets boredly, and the occasional dedicated fisherman sat on the docks with their hook in the water. Summer, when the sun obnoxiously beat on everyone’s skin, was when the town was as busy as Times Square. Well, at least you liked to think it was. You had never been.

Very often you would be able to spot the people who were in town for a vacation. They were louder, younger, and brighter amongst the residents who grew tired of seeing the same things every day. In technicality, yes you were also a lifelong resident, but in your heart you were just like the fresh faced tourists that drifted through annually.

“Honey–”

You jolted in your spot at the sound of the voice behind you. Knowing exactly who it was, you winced as you turned around to face your mother.

“Jesus kid, how many times do I have to tell you about being so close to the lake? It isn’t safe!”

Your groaned as your mother yanked you away, her grip paralleled with that of a bear’s. Part of you wanted to whine about how overbearing you mom was being, but you also understood it.

Your dad had died in the water. His boat too small and too far from the shore on such a stormy night. So rather than complaining whenever you were denied permission to go play in the deep water with friends, you would listen and find something to do by yourself.

“Hey, Mom? Could you at least let me go?”

Steps faltering, she did as requested and rubbed her hands on her pants. Your mother cleared her throat before speaking again.

“Go stop by the corner store before coming home, alright? We need more juice and and eggs.”

You sighed and nodded, splitting from your mother. You decided to go ahead and run the errand as you had nothing else to do. A loose rock on the ground kept you entertained throughout your journey as you kicked it, not having to pay much attention to your direction. You knew the town like the back of your hand.

Getting to the shop did not take long, with it being located two blocks away from the boardwalk, just on the edge of the gated residents. It’s where all the rich people lived, or stayed rather, in their large lake houses during vacation. The area was beautiful from what you could decipher whenever you got curious enough to peek through the gates.

As you walked in you saw a boy looking quite exasperated as he dug in his pockets. The cashier, Donghyuck (you were familiar with him, he typically worked the day shift)(he might have also been in your class once? He tended to stay to himself), tapped his foot loudly against the floor.

Finally, the boy huffed and dropped his hands.

“Sorry, I’ll just take the milk then.”

You noticed the pack of gel pens that the boy also had placed on the counter. Donghyuck began to slide the pens away before you stepped in.

“How much are they?”

The boy jumped as you settled next to him. Donghyuck looked at you tiredly.

“10 bucks.”

The boy gasped, eyes wide as he looked at you.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to!”

You smiled, “Don’t worry about it. Its my good deed of the week.”

Donghyuck snorted at the conflicted look on the boy’s face.

“Just take it, man.”

You hummed as you slid a ten dollar bill from your pocket and handed it to Donghyuck.

“I’ll pay you back, I swear.” said the boy.

You rolled your eyes. Then, an idea made way into your head.

“How about you tell me your name and you can help me carry my groceries home?”

“Its Renjun,” the boy said, shy smile stuck on his face as he took his now paid for items and followed you to the produce section.

        You and Renjun fell into a comfortable rhythm as you talked. It wasn’t as if you were conversing about anything profound, just small talk. Unlike most small talk, filled with forced smiles and awkward pauses, it felt like you were catching up to an old friend. You learned that Renjun was only staying the summer with his aunt (she stayed in one of the fenced off lake houses) and that he liked to draw in his free time (hence the neat gel pens he were struggling to buy). Renjun learned that you lived with your mom in a condo above a flower shop (his eyes lit up at the fact).

Time flew, and before the both of you knew it, you were standing right in front of the said flower shop. Renjun began to turn around, but you couldn’t help that you wanted to stay with him longer.

“I guess I’ll just–”

“Uhm, do you want to come inside?”

Even to your own ears you sounded terribly desperate. Despite that, Renjun grinned.

“Sure, I mean,” he frowned, “is that okay? With your mom?”

You nodded, “Don’t worry about it.”

Your mother being fine with Renjun would be an understatement. She was quite charmed with how polite he was. She even had the gall to wink at you (very conspicuously, may you add) when you recounted the events that led to you becoming friends.

Your mother giggled at one of Renjun’s stories about his friends back at his home town. Then, she shot up at the sound of her phone alarm dinging.

“Ah, I have to pull my lasagna out the oven.” she scurried into the kitchen area.

Renjun leaned towards you, making eye contact. He mouthed the words “I love your mom,” causing you to snicker. Your mother placed the lasagna on the kitchen island and started decorating the countertop with other food items.

“Hey, sweetie, ask Renjun if he wants to stay for dinner!”

You rolled your eyes, as if Renjun couldn’t hear her.

Said boy glanced out the window and gasped. The sun was starting to set on the horizon. You caught on and placed a reassuring hand on Renjun’s shoulder.

“Actually, Mom, I don’t think he can. He was probably supposed to bring his milk home a long time ago.”

Renjun gasped again, “I totally forgot about the milk.”

Your mother laughed at that.

“That’s fine! I’d love to have you over another night, though.”

You looked at Renjun hopefully, and he smiled back at you.

“Of course, thank you for having me over!”

You stood up, making your way towards the door, “I’ll walk you out.”

You watched as Renjun gathered his things and shuffled your way. Once out of the building you both could hear your mother yelling from out the window.

“Come by whenever you want, young man!”

Your mother’s enthusiasm cracked him up, and the sound made you feel giddy. When he finally calmed down, Renjun cleared his throat and started rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. You tapped your foot, trying to think of something to say.

“If you don’t have anything to do, you can come over tomorrow and hang around the shop.” You said, ending more on a question.

“Definitely.” Renjun said.

You didn’t notice the tightness in your chest until it was gone. With that, Renjun waved and finally left. He vanished around a street corner, and the remnants of his shadow followed.

        The next day, you were awoken by the sound of your phone dinging. You groaned and grabbed for the device. The screen said that it was five past noon, which caused you to groan again. Getting your sleep schedule back in check will be a pain.

Still sleepy, it took you a second to find out what was the cause of the noise that woke you up. It was Renjun, causing your eyes to open a little wider. He had sent a string of nervous messages; they asked when he should come over and apologized if he had woken you up. You chuckled before a yawn overcame you. So he was an early riser? For some reason that didn’t surprise you.

Eventually, you managed to get dressed and come down stairs into the flower shop. You jump as the first thing you see is Renjun tripping through the door, your mother rearing behind him.

“Look who I found out and about!” She chirped.

You rolled your eyes, unable to help the goofy smile growing on your face. Renjun walked towards you hand held up, and you appropriately responded to the gesture by high-fiving him.

“Sorry I didn’t text back, I just woke up a few minutes ago.” You had the sense to look embarrassed

Renjun shook his head, jabbing a thumb towards your mother’s direction, “Its cool, your mom told me all about it.”

By now your mother had snuck into the store’s back room, most likely to continue putting together a few bouquet orders. The sounds of foliage could be heard and you knew that was precisely what she was doing.

You made your way behind the cashier counter, putting on a beige apron with the words “Le Jardin d’Eden” scrawled on the front in blue. Renjun was glancing around the store; he seemed especially entranced by the orchids in the far corner. You pulled a stool next to you behind the counter and patted it loud enough to get Renjun’s attention. He got the message and sat next to you.

“So, what were you up to so early in the morning?”

“I guess you consider 9am early in the morning,” Renjun chuckled, “I wasn’t doing much. Just planning a few pieces for my portfolio.”

You parroted the word “portfolio” in curiosity.

Renjun cleared his throat and looked at his hands. “Yeah, I’m trying out for an arts school.”

“That’s so cool,” you nudged Renjun, causing him to look back up to you, “You should totally show me what you have so far.”

He smiled and let out a breath, “Totally.”

Then, a customer walked into the store accompanied by the bells on the door jingling. You got up to help, and when you finished with him a new customer walked in, and another. It seemed like a busy day, which was a bummer. You wanted to spend all your attention on Renjun. Every time you glimpsed at him he was drawing a new flower in the sketchbook that he, from what you know, conjured out of nowhere. Sometimes you met eyes with him and his mouth twitched at the corners. Attempts at smiles while his mind was concentrated on his art. He looked like a painting himself, but you blushed at the thought and continued to work.

        You fell against the door after turning the “open” sign to say “closed,” officially ending the working day. Your mother started sweeping the floors and Renjun disappeared into the back room a while ago to do something for her. He said he felt bad for doing nothing while you and your mother worked. You began to pick up cleaning supplies yourself until your mother waved her hand.

“Ah, no. Go accompany your friend, I got this.”

You rolled your eyes at your mother’s antics but internally thanked her as you approached Renjun in the back room. He was trying, and failing, to wrap a bow around a basket. He whispered what you could only guess to be swears under his breath as the bow turned out crooked.

“Do you want me to help?” You grinned at the way Renjun’s arms fell like weights to his sides.

Renjun let out a groan before answering in a whine, “Yes, please.”

You moved in front of the basket and untied the ribbon. Renjun leaned towards you to get a better view of your hands. You tried your best to ignore the way his breath was warm as it hit you. While walking Renjun through the steps it was hard to will the shake out of your voice, but you managed.

After what felt like forever, you finished tying the bow. Renjun’s brows furrowed, and for a second you thought you actually did worse than you thought until he spoke again.

“How did you manage to do that so easily?”

You laughed and shook your head.

“I said almost the same thing when my mom taught me. It just takes a couple of times until you get the feel for it.”

Renjun smiled, “I’m definitely gonna impress you with a cool bow next time I see you.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

There was a lull in the conversation, but neither of you minded. You looked over Renjun’s shoulder as he worked in his sketchbook. He had a page full of flowers that were on display in Jardin d’Eden. Everything looked perfect to you, but Renjun would grunt and fill in another part of a large hydrangea in the corner of the paper.

        That’s how you spent the next weeks. Renjun would come to the shop and distract you while you worked. At least not deliberately. You just couldn’t help your eyes from drifting to him and whatever he did. Most times he’d be drawing, but sometimes he’d also be engaged in conversation with a customer or your mom.

Finally, Renjun took you to meet his aunt. She was just as friendly as Renjun when she spoke, but was otherwise distant as she left you and Renjun to your own devices. You both would often spend time together on the balcony of her house looking over the lake when you weren’t working.

Sometimes Renjun’s friends would video call while you were with him. They were all very friendly (and loud) and would make sure to explain inside jokes to you. Especially if they were at the cost of Renjun’s embarrassment. Often you would find yourself crouched on the floor, holding your stomach from the laughter. Jeno and Jaemin, you had noticed, were the ones most often poking fun at him.

One day, Jeno popped on screen, interrupting the deep conversation you were having with Jaemin about snacks.

“Injunnie! Have you taken (Y/N) onto the boat yet?” Jeno’s eyes blinked into the camera, them being the only part of his body you could see.

Renjun coughed, face flushing as he shook his head.

“Uh, no. Not at all. Completely forgot auntie had it, actually.”

Another of Renjun’s friends, Chenle, shoved Jeno out of the way to be seen.

“What do you mean ‘forgot’? Didn’t you help your aunt repaint it the other day?”

You caught a glimpse of Jaemin behind Chenle, smirking as if he knew something. Renjun was too busy studying the lake to see you tilt your head in question. Then you remembered your mother.

“Its cool if he didn’t,” you shrugged, “My mom probably wouldn’t have let me anyway. She has a thing against the water.”

Renjun seemed to finally snap out of whatever he was thinking, as he whipped back towards you.

“You literally live in a lake town, why would she have anything against you being in a lake?”

You sighed and looked up to the sky. Stars shone, and you remembered one of many nights where you stayed out and tried to ignore your mother’s crying.

“You know how my dad was a fisherman? He died when I was little, drowned during a storm. My mom hasn’t let me swim in the lake or get on a boat since.”

Your father’s absence wasn’t something you felt often. You could barely remember him. More than anything, your disconnect to the incident was what bothered you the most. You swallowed down the weird feeling that you got from it and looked back down to Renjun. He wasn’t saying anything, but you could tell what he was thinking from the downturn of his lip and the hurt in his eyes.

“We’re sorry.” Jeno whispered, him along with Chenle and Jaemin mirroring the same look.

You smiled, “Don’t worry about it. If I’m honest, I’ve been wanting to rebel just a little and swim in the lake or something. I can’t remember the last time I did.”

“Then why don’t I take you?” Renjun blurted, then blushed. His eyes flickered to the side towards his phone screen before he looked back at you.

He took a deep breath and started again, “Why don’t I take you on my aunt’s boat?”

Jaemin leaned into the screen and somehow managed to whisper loudly as he spoke, “Sneak out when your mom’s asleep and can’t wonder where you are.”

The rest of the boys in the call grew mischievous smiles on their faces. You gulped.

“I mean, I’ve never–”  

“Of course you’ve never snuck out,” Chenle rolled his eyes and you held back the desire to frown, “There’s nothing to do there. You probably never wanted to.”

You finally did frown. You heard a smack from the phone and Chenle rocketed out of frame with a hiss.

Jeno looked at you apologetically, “Don’t take what Lele says seriously. We sneak out all the time to do stuff together, Renjun would too. You’re just a good kid.”

From there the conversation branched off. Renjun told you a story of how Jeno once actually stole candy from a baby. Everyone laughed, void for Jeno, who buried his face into Jaemin’s shoulder. Then your mother called, and it was time for you to leave.

Renjun walked you home. His hands fidgeted with the loops of his jeans the entire time. His nervous energy made you nervous. Before you knew it your home and the shop were in sight and you and Renjun hadn’t said a word to each other. That was, before Renjun cleared his throat, causing you to jump.

“You know, I wasn’t joking.”

You tilted your head, confused about what he was referring to.

“I mean, about taking you out on the boat. If–” he looked to the ground, “If you wanted.”

You tried to bite down the goofy grin you knew was trying to inch across your face. You lightly stepped on Renjun’s foot to make him look up at you.

“Honestly, I totally do.”

You didn’t realize Renjun’s hands were still moving until they stopped.

Renjun let out a breath, “Yeah?” his voice soft.

“Yeah,” you matched his softness, “I haven’t had my life-changing summer adventure yet.”

Renjun snorted as you turned to walk into the building. You’d deny the skip in your step as you made your way to your room.

        “Are you sure this is fine?” You couldn’t help from wringing your hands as you followed Renjun on the small path through the trees.

Renjun chuckled before turning around to you. It was hard to ignore how the lights of the fireflies twinkled in his eyes and the moonlight rested on his skin.

“I promise its fine,” he held his hand out to you, “to make you feel better.”

You had only known this boy for a few weeks, but all rationale initially flew through the window when you decided to sneak out in the middle of the night for the first time. So, you nodded and grabbed his hand as he lead you towards the dock. It didn’t take much time before you reached it. The water was placid and the only things that seemed to disturb its surface were the water striders gliding across and the occasional fish.

There alongside the dock, a sailboat bobbed in the water.

“This is your aunt’s?” you said.

Renjun only nodded at you before looking back at the boat. You stared at it as well. It was pretty, painted in a coral color with blue cursive letters on its side. You squinted to try and read what they said. Renjun kicked at a nearby rock and tugged on his hair.

“The Moomin,” he coughed, “My aunt, uh, she had me name it when I was little.”

You couldn’t help the teasing smile on your face, “That’s precious.”

“Please shut up before I push you into this water.”

Renjun continued grumbling under his breath, and the chokes resulting from holding back your laughter almost caused you to fall in all by yourself.

Renjun climbed into the boat first. You followed, easing your way on with Renjun’s help. The boat rocked from the movement of you both sitting down. You tensed, and both your hands shot out to stabilize yourself. Renjun sat right across from you. He touched his ankle to yours, and you eased. Your mouth still twitched in displeasure, for some reason he felt too far away.

The boat eventually stopped rocking, but your stomach still felt tingly. Renjun eyed you worriedly as you tugged at your hair. You couldn’t get your eyes to stop jumping from one thing to the other.

Renjun stood slowly and moved to sit next to you. Your breath hitched as the boat rocked again.

You shot Renjun an anxious glance, “Aren’t we supposed to be on opposite sides? Isn’t it dangerous?”

Renjun smiled, and suddenly it wasn’t so hard to breath.

“Its fine,” he took your hand in his, “Are you okay?”

You sighed and squeezed Renjun’s hand. He squeezed back.

“I’m going to be. I think.”

Renjun doesn’t speak after that. You look up at the sky and see the full moon shining bright. All the noises you hear are crickets and Renjun’s breathing beside you.

The warmth from Renjun’s hand spreads up your arms. Your stomach still feels tingly, but its different, and the thought that you could stay on the boat forever crosses your mind.

“Renjun?”

“Yeah?”

The words don’t make it out of your mouth but Renjun seemed to already know what you wanted to say, his lips pressed against yours.

As you pull out of the parking lot and into the street, it dawns on you that you don’t exactly have a place to go. Most establishments aren’t open at midnight, and the only type of people lurking outside at this time of night aren’t the type that are pleasant to encounter. Also, you have a grand total of two friends, and both like to turn in early.

Your car dings and you look down at the dashboard. Almost empty. At least there’s a gas station nearby.

You leave your car to fill up when you walk into the gas station. There’s no one else inside but the person at the register and a man in the back looking at the drinks. A little late for beer, you think, but you probably shouldn’t judge. You shrug and start looking for snacks. The aisles are littered with donuts, chips, candy and jerky.

After you you grab a pack of licorice and powdered donuts, you decide to get a drink as well. You look over to see the man still hovering by the coolers. Maybe he doesn’t actually seem all that threatening. Or maybe your lack of sleep is causing you to overlook his leather jacket and neck tattoos. Either way, you don’t make the trip around the aisles and go up to him instead.

“Excuse me.”

The tattoo man turns his whole body to look at you, scowl on his face.  However, as soon as it forms it disappears.

“Oh, sorry.”

You cock your head as he moves out your way. His voice is a little higher than you would’ve expected. He’s also really pretty. You reach for a bottle of iced coffee, still checking out the man in the corner of your eye. He’s been looking at the drinks for way too long now.

“Having trouble?”

The man startles, but tries to cover it with a stretch of his arms.

“Uh, no I’ve just been a little spaced out.” He chuckles and offers his hand to you.

“I’m Junhui.”

You take his hand, shaking it. Its a little odd, you’re used to shaking hands with old men with practiced smiles.

“I’m Y/N,” you turn your eyes towards the beer that Junhui had been eyeing, “So did you plan on buying any or is this just a comfortable place for you to stand and think?”

Junhui reaches up to scratch the back of his neck and his jacket sleeves slide down to reveal a dainty music note on his wrist.

“I mean-- yes, I was. But then I realized I didn’t really have money on me and then my thoughts ran off from there.”

You hum, deciding to indulge in this nice stranger as you have nothing else to do. You opened the fridge door and took a pack of beer. You smirked at the widening of Junhui’s eyes.

“You don’t have to--”

“Yeah, but I want to.”

You walked up to the register, looking over your shoulder at Junhui who trailed behind you.

“I can’t pay you back!”

The person at the register took your things to scan them, looking like they absolutely didn’t want to be there at the moment.

“Pay me back with your company then.”

Jun stammered before letting out an extravagant sigh. His mouth smiled, but you couldn’t help but notice the weary look in his eye.

It’s a two bedroom apartment but you both end up sleeping on the couch in a heap more often than you’d like to admit

You’re both in uni doing ur own things so when its time to come home and relax, you’ll find yourself curled up next to him on the couch with your laptop open and writing a paper while he’s munching on some snacks and watching a game of soccer he missed bc of classes

And you’ll quickly fall asleep bc papers are boring!! And yuta doesnt want to move bc your laying on him and doesnt want to disturb you so he’ll just quietly cheer to himself when his team scores and eventually falls asleep

But sometimes he has no problem lightly shoving you off and going to his own bed bc the couch isnt really that comfortable and hurts his back after awhile, but he brings your duvet out so its more comfortable for you at least

And although you two are pretty much joint at the hip, your bedrooms are private from one another

Like its nice being with yuta, but its also very important that you have time to yourself and so neither of you are intrusive when the other person is in their room with the door shut

If either of you need anything you’ll just shoot each other a text or quietly knock on the door rather than just barging in which is something that both of you really appreciate

And you obviously have other friends besides yuta that you love dearly! And you make sure that you get to see them often and that yuta goes out with his friends too bc its easy to get sick of each other no matter how much you love one another

And this makes for your friendship to be healthy! Which is like, the most important thing bc being your own person is important and having close relationships/friendships is also important! But its easy to get too attached and end up hurting yourself down the road

And yuta is aware of this as well and so it makes things a lot easier bc he knows when you need your space and when to distance himself if he needs it too

But living with yuta is a lot of fun!

He likes to cook sometimes so you’ll always have a full tummy with yuta around!! And if he's not in the mood for slaving over the stove, he’ll just make some instant noodles and call it a day

He really tries to make as many traditional japanese dishes as he can so he can have a slice of his home whenever he’s feeling down, and he just really enjoys sharing that part of his life with you too

Undoubtedly his favorite part is when he gets to hand feed you with a spoon and witness the look on your face as you chew bc it’s really rewarding for him

Sometimes your schedules kind of clash on days so whenever he’s home and you’re in class, he’ll make food for himself and leave you tupperware containers of food in the fridge for you to heat up when you get back bc he knows you’ll just crash and not eat which is really bad

And yuta cares about ur health!!! He’s attentive as heck!!

But you’ll do the same thing for him, and even if you aren't a world renowned chef, you’ll lay cash on the counter for him to call in a pizza or something quick

If you know he’s been craving something then you’ll leave the number for the place next to the money you leave so it makes ordering a bit easier for him!

Also, yuta is very organized! Sometimes he’ll throw his jacket here and there or have some things where they shouldn’t be, but yuta really likes having a clean and tidy apartment!

He hates doing the dishes, but he’ll literally do anything else

He likes to vacuum for some reason you dont know but you’re like okay have at it! One less thing i gotta do! And he’s really happy once he’s done bc BAM you have clean floors

And you’ll just be sarcastic about it but in a loving way and he laps that shit up bc sarcasm!!! His second language <333

You two have a nightly routine that ensues when neither of you are busy the next day so  you’ll watch a movie on netflix you’ve been eyeing together and crash

Sometimes when yuta gets home on these nights you’ll still be in the shower or getting ready for bed, and yuta will come in and sit on the counter and you’ll talk about your day and just chill while shampooing ur hair (which yuta is obsessed with btw..he loves touching and playing with it)

But he’ll just be there,,listening closely and telling you about his own day while drawing squiggly images on the mirror like hearts and stick figures holding hands (its always you and him, but when you ask, he insists its him and winwin)

And you laugh bc boy does ur bff ever have a massive crush on sicheng!!

But yuta is just cute and likes your platonicness with him

Bc he really does love you! People often ask you two if you’re dating and you can see why people would ask that bc you and yuta are super close, but it’s also kind of an odd thought to both of you bc yeah you love each other but,,,not as lovers

And so you’ll laugh it off and talk about it afterwards bc you really cant see each other in that light because you tried dating in high school and it just felt kind of weird

Yuta loves to tease and joke around with you, sometimes be a little (read; lot) sarcastic with his jokes but he really does care about u and thats how he shows his affection!!

He’ll hold ur hand when ur out at the grocery store or shopping together and likes to pat your head and plays with your ears but thats about it for physical affection!

You’re emotionally bonded more so than physically which is not a bad thing uwu

Yuta finds it kind of hard to openly joke around to the same extent with others as he does to you and knowing this makes you feel really special

Like yeah!! Thats right!!! Im his best friend!!

Yuta also LOVES to dance with you

It doesn’t matter if it’s serious or not, he will not hesitate to pull you up onto ur feet and have you dancing with him

ESP to sistars shake it! Y’all have so much fun when that song comes on

At first this was embarrassing but then yuta would just NOT stop shaking his butt so you were like oh well lets both look cutely dumb i guess

And you’ll get noise complaints a lot bc the walls are thin and you’re moving around, creating a lot of noise and you feel especially bad when this is all happening at like,,,3am

Anyways you live kind of a fast pace life so whenever you gotta be somewhere you kinda fly out the door with ur feet shoved into ur shoes with the backs down and yuta will silently come behind you and remind you to slow down and will bend down and personally make sure they’re on properly so you don’t trip and die

It annoys him sometimes bc you should be taking better care of yourself and he’s not always going to be there to look after you and that worries him!!!

To allow him to sleep a little better at night, he bought you slide on shoes that you can easily shove on and fly out the door so he won’t have a heart attack at the thought of you falling down some stairs due to the hastiness of which you put your sneakers on improperly

And he’s also the one who is like “hey its been a couple of months so i bought you a new toothbrush bc dental hygiene is important” and you’re like “okay nice i just bought some new toothpaste on sale the other day, it’s minty so i think you’ll like it”

And this is how you two co-exist in ur shitty lil apartment

Yuta is also into soccer so you always make sure to go and support him at his games! Even if they’re just practices or whatnot, you’ll always be on the bleachers cheering for him!

Which yuta LOVES because he’ll point you out to his teammates and be like “thats my best friend, ugly, right?” and they’ll just laugh bc of his teasing and they can tell you two really get along

And yuta is uwu x100 at this

Anyways yuta likes to show off and do fancy tricks like sliding on the grass to get the ball and he’s all dirty when you get back to ur apartment together and you wont let him touch anything bc that means more cleaning which neither of u have the energy for

So you’ll basically make him take VERY large and wide steps towards the bathroom so he can shower and leave minimal dirt behind as he does so

And then he’ll come out of the shower with wet hair and clean up the tracks he left with a paper towel but he’ll go in circles for a good 30 seconds wiping up dirt and then water from his wet hair

And you’ll observe him and laugh for a bit before you’ll drape a fluffy towel over his head and he’ll pretend to be scared and ask who turned off the lights

To which you nudge him and call him a dork, but when he takes the towel off and get to look at his face, you tell him he did a great job at the game and his eyes will change from playful teasing to filled with genuine love in .5 seconds and he’ll instantly wrap you in his arms

And you’ll find warmth in his embrace and wonder why he smells so good and then you’ll realize he’s using your shampoo

You’re like okay well, sigh, whatever its okay bc hes cute i guess so we can share

And then yuta will pull away, give your head an affectionate pat and go work on a paper or something due for school

Which you both do a lot of late night paper writing sessions and so when he tells you he’s retreating to his room for the night you’ll go and cut up some fruit and gather some snacks he likes and bring them to him before he becomes too absorbed in schoolwork

And he does the same to you except he brings you a lot of water since its “important to stay hydrated~!” and will cover you in his favorite blanket bc he claims it “helps you write better papers”

And you arent allowed to refuse bc one time you tried to and yuta was like “okay well i guess i’ll be moving out then” and you’re like okay i know you’re joking but its hot in here i dont want to have a blanket on me

And yuta starts to dramatically pick things off of shelves until he’s saying things like “i’ll be out by morning since im not appreciated” and you’re rolling your eyes so hard you think they’ll go to the back of your head but its like okay fine thank you for your magic blanket houdini

Yuta just winks at you and does a theatrical bow before putting everything back and leaving you to write your magical paper

ANYWAYS thats what most nights are like, full of playful banter and fun talks

You also both THRIVE off the dollar store which is literally everything bc you two get so excited going in there!

They have everything so its like?? This place is my Second Home and i Love it Dearly

And yuta likes to buy candy there since its so cheap and one time when you were looking for a new broom, he wanders off and comes back with his hands behind his back and is like “guess what i found!!!”

And this is nothing new because yuta gets excited about the cutest things so you’re like “gum?”

And his smile gets all wide and bright like i KNOW you know the one im talking about, it’s literally kept me alive for the past 18 years

And he’ll bring his hands out and WOW ARE THOSE ERASERS THAT ARE SHAPED AS SMALL ORDINARY OBJECTS??

And you just want to CRY bc thats literally the sole being of your friendship in his HANDS!

Yuta is proud as heck and buys two matching ones for you two and they’re of paintbrushes in honor of the one he snatched in the third grade!

Which makes your heart so happy and content

But thats the effect yuta has on you! Someone who always manages to have you smiling and happy with life

But he does end up buying candy bc its basically your duty as a human to buy some expired candy from the local dollar store

And yuta really loves the flavor blue raspberry, esp if its sour and he finds a bag of sour jolly ranchers and goes nuts

And he picks out and religiously eats only the blue ones, a red one makes the cut here and there, but you’re like?? Yuta?? Can i atleast have ONE? And he rarely ever shares but its like okay whatever enjoy your cavities heathen

And you’ll clown the shit out of him bc his tongue is blue, his teeth are blue and the area around his mouth is blue and you cant just let that pass

And he’ll laugh when you try and come up with palpable things to call him, and when you’re both giggling uncontrollably, he’ll try to kiss your cheek bc he’s all sticky and he knows that would drive you mad

And its the same with his fingers bc theyre all blue and sticky too and he’ll hold your hand so hard that your fingers stick together and youre like yuta!!!! But you really secretly enjoy it

And then you’ll go home with bags full of god knows what and struggle to find places for everything but its okay bc the memories that come with the plastic bags and erasers from your childhood remind you why you love yuta as much as you do