#14ways2

He freezes, recognizing your voice. For a split second, he thought you were in pain from the way you whimpered, but then you moaned over and over again. He’s not stupid, he knows what you were doing and it’s taking everything in him not to sneak a peek like a horny teenage boy (that he technically is) but he steps away instead until he’s back in the living room.

He stares at the flowers — that ironically symbolizes innocence, too — a little embarrassed for catching you in a very private and personal… moment. He’s heading for the front door, trying not to dwell on it. He’s shamefully jacked off to the thought of you, t— 

Jaehyun pauses with his hand on the door. Were you thinking of him?

He scolds himself; he shouldn’t care about who you were thinking of at this moment. But still he stubbornly turns around and clears his throat.

“[Y/N]?” He hates himself already for disrupting you, “Are you home?”

And then you come stumbling out of your room, flustered and panting with a light sheen of sweat all over your skin. You looked like you were glowing and it sent reactions to his dick. When he took your hand, he tries to convince himself you weren’t using the same hand to pleasure yourself before he interrupted. On the way to the living room to show you the reason why he was in your home in the first place, he hears a buzzing sound — thinking a bee came in, but it didn’t sound like one. In fact, he can definitely pinpoint when and where he heard something similar. As the buzzing continued while he explained why he was there and your expressions were forced, it dawned on him; you had a vibrator in you.

It was a miracle a boner didn’t pop out of him *immediately* and he pretends to be oblivious to it all. He hadn’t intended to hug you, but it was out of character for him not to do so after you just told him you had a “nightmare.” When your hands grasped onto his shirt and your body lightly shook in his hold, he knew you were cumming so he held you against him until you recovered.

He wanted to tease you so badly, but he bit his tongue and left after pretending Mingyu’s text was from his parents. If you only knew he wanted to get out just as much as you wanted to take care of the growing problem in his own pants. 

So now he’s in his bathroom, sticking his hand down his pants and wincing at how hard he was. He holds up his shirt to his chest and pushed his bottoms down enough until his cock is free, bobbing up and down.

Jaehyun backs up until he’s pressed up against the wall, a fist around his length and squeezing lightly. His eyes are shut as he remembers your expression; eyes blown out, and shy, bottom lip swollen and red, your cheeks flustered and glistening with sweat. Your dress was haphazardly fixed, leaving a very generous amount of cleavage he could have ogled a little longer. When he was about to leave, he saw your essence dripping between your legs and he wondered how you tasted. It was a crude thought to think about his best friend, but he could add it to the list of other obscene things he’s thought of doing with you (and it guilts him everyday.)

He could hear your moans again, how delicate they were. He’s always found porn annoying because of the exaggerated moaning that he had to turn it halfway down and put some music on when he did watch them. He wants to hear you moan again; hell, he wants to watch you. But he knows it’ll be a long time before that could happen — it probably never will.

“Fuck.” He hisses, arm straining as he chases his high. Letting go of his shirt, he brings his hand under to gently knead his balls with his palm. He could imagine your soft hands on him, working them over his length. The brief image of you on your knees in front of him with your mouth agape is what finishes him. He comes with a choked groan, shooting his load onto the floor. 

Jaehyun catches sight of his reflection in the mirror, disappointed in himself yet again. He’s not the pure, golden boy everyone — including you — cuts him out to be. Maybe people can expect him to jack off to porn, but no one would ever think he’d get off to the thought of you.

Despite the whole heated fiasco the two of you dealt with individually the day prior, you and Jaehyun still sat by each other in your living room like nothing had happened and continued on with the movie marathon you planned. After you cooked dinner for the both of you, you let him choose the movie and he picks the first one recommended in the landing.

Neither of you have seen it, but have heard about it. With your respective movie snacks and drinks laid out on the table, you and Jaehyun sat on the couch with too many pillows and a blanket each. As the movie plays, like always, you both made commentary about it; disagreeing with the character’s views on opposite sex friendships.

“He should take a look at us.” You huff, tossing a few pieces of popcorn into your mouth.

“17 years and counting.” He adds with a little laugh.

When the scene turned a little steamy, you both involuntarily leaned away from each other and focused on eating your snacks. You’re feeling your cheeks heat up at the reminder of yesterday’s events, pulling your legs up to your chest and pretending to be cold from the air conditioning. 

Jaehyun is quiet until the movie finishes, even when you started sniffing at the little clips of old real life couples sharing their love stories. If there’s one thing you’re both certain of wanting, it’s growing old together. He wants to pull you into a hug, but he hesitates and watches you skip the credits.

You chose Descendants of all movie choices and when he makes a face at you, you playfully threaten him, “Shut up, I like the songs. We’re watching all three.”

“Fine. But we’re watching all three HSM movies after.”

You don’t have a problem with that, you liked their soundtrack, too. After agreeing to his conditions, you leaned back down and ripped open a new party pack of chips. Jaehyun sticks his hand in after you, humming when the taste of honey butter hits his tongue.

You space out for a minute, genuinely enjoying this moment with him. Movie marathons were a monthly occurrence for the two of you until SATs happened and your friends wanted to hang out more because it might not happen as frequently after everyone graduates.

“Why are you staring?”

It hadn’t occurred to you that you were, but there’s no point in denying it. “Because we haven’t done these in a long time… we haven’t done a lot of things we used to do before senior year and honestly, I don’t think we’ll be able to do them when we’re in college.”

Jaehyun purses his lips, “Well, I can take up Child Education with you.”

“What? Why?” The movie is just background noise at this point, “That was just a suggestion.”

“But I love kids, you know I do. And I get why you want to be a teacher because I want to be around kids, too, and help them learn and grow. I don’t know what other options I have aside from going pro.”

In the back of your mind, you don’t think it sounds so bad if you two both took Child Education and had the same schedule. But you start thinking about Jangmi or other potential, future girlfriends he could have. You would have to deal with them and although you’re hoping you wouldn’t care at that point, you’re a little reluctant to push him. “What’s Jangmi’s plans for college?”

He looks surprised that you asked. Jangmi had specifically told him not to talk about her or even mention her name or any other girl’s name when he was with you, but you had asked and it would be rude to ignore it. “Uh, Zoology, I think?”

“Oh!” You perked up, “Taeyong is taking up Veterinary Medicine.”

His face slightly falls, “Really?”

“Mhm. He loves animals so much, like, think of us with kids, but with him it’s animals. He told me he’d take me to the animal sanctuary he wants to work in next week.”

“Next week?”

“Yeah, for that… auctioned off date. I can’t wait, actually, he keeps talking about it.”

Jaehyun nods, looking back at the ignored movie. “Well, if it’s great, then you should take me there.”

“We should all go!”

That’s not what he meant, and he had every intention of correcting you, but then “If Only” starts and you gasp, “Wait, I need to sing along.”

His somber mood is uplifted immediately, laughing as you exaggerated your actions as you sang along with Mal. From then, you both watch animatedly, singing along whether or not you know the lyrics. After the Descendants franchise and you’re on the last movie of HSM, Jaehyun couldn’t help himself and said after singing along, “We have a garden like that in school.”

You glance at him, “We do?”

“Yeah, Jangmi—” He pauses, “Uhm, when we had those Japanese exchange students, as a bonding activity, they had the students plant and arrange flowers. Jangmi hangs out there sometimes; it’s nice and cool. She accidentally skipped a class once because she fell asleep there.”

You always, always had the butterflies in your stomach after watching the scene for “Can I have this dance?” but it felt like you got punched right in the gut as he tells you this.

“I can take you there during our break.”

“What? But that’s Jangmi’s place.”

Jaehyun frowns, “She doesn’t own it. She actually told me that we can hang out there with her some time. Come on, it’ll be a nice change.”

“Alright.” You relent, taking an extra pillow and hugging it to your chest.

While you still feel uneasy about invading Jangmi’s special place in the school, Jaehyun is excited. He remembered Jangmi dragging him there after school and suggested he’d confess there; it was quiet, secluded, filled with flowers, and overall, romantic.

You put on a horror movie next, thinking you can handle it, but the jumpscares had you grabbing onto Jaehyun that made him tease you for choosing it in the first place. Eventually, you had settled yourself onto him, cheek pressed over his chest while his arm came over you for extra warmth. It had initially bothered you, thinking this seemed too intimate, but it’s past midnight and you’ve wasted all your energy from screaming at the horror movie.

The last movie you remembered watching was Love, Rosie. It felt a little odd for him to choose it, but you were nearly drifting off to sleep to even contest his movie choice. As it goes on, you found yourself almost in Rosie’s shoes: pining for her best friend while he was with someone else.

Jaehyun, on the other hand, dreaded this film when searched up movies about friends to lovers; this one was the embodiment of his fears. Sure they ended up together, but if they had cleared it up in the beginning then they would have been together from the start. The last thing he wanted was for anybody else to come in between you and him because he’s already having a hard time from both yours and his actions interfering with his attempts at confessing. He must have been imagining it, but he hears you sniffing again, probably crying at the scene playing, and he instinctively rubs your arm. 

“Just wait until tomorrow, [Y/N].” He thinks, leaning closer until his chin is grazing the top of your head. 

You woke up startled when you hear a bang, almost panicking if you hadn’t opened your eyes to an action scene playing on the television. You must have fallen asleep. Glancing up, you see Jaehyun’s head tilted away from you with his mouth just barely parted as he softly snored.

You would have moved away or woken him up, but when else would you be able to be like this with him? The clock on the wall tells you that you have 5 hours left before you should start preparing for school, so you encircle your arms around Jaehyun’s waist and nuzzled his chest.

“Jaehyun?” You whispered, softly and barely audible. He continues to snore and you hum, “Jaehyun…”

His heartbeat is nice and slow, like a lullaby coaxing you back to sleep. As it thumbs against your ear, you let out a sigh.

“I love you.”

He doesn’t move and his breathing remains the same, so you continue.

“More than just a friend… but if you’re in love with someone else, it’s okay. As long as we stay best friends, it’s okay.” Your bottom lip quivers and your eyes start to sting, so you shut them as tightly as you can, “I just don’t want to lose you.”

Before you know it, your silent tears are soaking his shirt. You can always say you had a bad dream from the horror movie you watched, you’ve been using that as an excuse lately, because it is — losing Jaehyun would be an absolute nightmare.

It’s been months since you last used this; you didn’t have much privacy since you don’t really keep to yourself and it always raises suspicion when your door is locked. You dust the box off and opened it, revealing the contents inside: the 6-inch silver bullet vibrator and a smaller box that’s still wrapped.

“Cheers to self-love.” scrawled over the wrapping in Yebin’s handwriting. 

You pick it up and tear right down her little message, throwing the paper aside and inspecting Yebin’s recent gift. It was a love egg that had 10 speeds and patterns, and was controlled by an app you had to install on your phone. 

This is the only time you can try it out. You’ve only done this twice. It helped you get through the hormonal stage of your PMS.

You take it out of its’ box and went to the bathroom to clean it. Once it was clean, you put it down on a towel to dry while you stripped your panties off. Honestly, you liked going commando at home. You would wear a sundress or a large, loose shirt (sometimes you’d wear shorts under them) and forego any undergarments. You picked up the small bottle of lube you bought online, along with journaling items to hopefully hide it in case someone sees the receipt, grabbed the vibrator after patting it down, and returned to your bed.

After installing the app on your phone, you sat in the middle, with your back resting against the headboard, and pulled the skirt of your dress up to your waist. Parting your legs, you sigh when the air touches your pussy and you involuntarily clench at nothing.

When you masturbated before, you just focused on feeling good. There was no imagining of a man handling you, just you making yourself feel good. However when you tentatively touched your clit with the tips of your fingers, your mind flies to how Jaehyun’s hands felt; how the pad of his fingers are calloused but his palms were soft. 

You mewled at the thought, although you knew it was wrong to think of Jaehyun — your best friend — like that. You’re starting to get wet, your slick covering your fingertips as you card them through your labia. At this point, you don’t think you’ll need the lube. You want to stop thinking about Jaehyun, but every time you chant it in your head, your mind disobeys and you remember all the times he’s been shirtless around you. 

“Oh god.” You cried out, plunging two fingers inside of you. You push down the shirred bodice of your dress down and cupped your breast, giving it a hard squeeze.

“Fuck it.” You whined, letting your inhibitions go and your imagination run wild. It’s not like Jaehyun would know you were thinking about him; specifically his fingers, plunging in and out of you, making that squelching sound, or how it would feel to touch his abs. You moaned, your hands practically moving on their own and speeding up.

You hated how your brain just suddenly reminded you about that light dusting of hair he had that trailed down beneath his cute little outie belly button, making the room seem too hot despite the air conditioning blasting above you. 

Honestly speaking, you and Yebin have had this conversation with Jungwoo. Yebin was brash and Jungwoo was blithe; you don’t know how the conversation turned south — literally — and Jungwoo had described each of the guy’s dicks very vividly from what he could remember when they had to shower in the locker rooms after gym.

It should have been concerning to you as to why Jungwoo was looking in the first place — more so, stared long enough to remember each one so clearly. Now your brain is letting those memories resurface, letting you visualize your best friend’s cock. You bite down on your lip, just thinking about how much he could stretch you more than your fingers or vibrator can.

You pull your fingers out of you and grab the love egg, turning it on and syncing it to the app on your phone. You take the vibrator that’s not bigger than your palm and pushed it through your entrance, jaw dropping at how easily it slipped in, until it was completely swallowed up by your pussy and left the little thin strap dangling out. You wait a few seconds to adjust to it before grabbing your phone and starting up the app. You press the power button and it starts out with light buzz, almost tickling your walls. There’s a plethora of options of patterns, intensity, and combinations, but your eyes zoomed in on the icon that read ‘Randomized.’

When you pressed it, it asked how long and gave 5 options, ranging from 5 minutes to an option that read manual. You opted for that, dropping the phone on the mattress when the vibrations grew a tad stronger. “Oh my god.”

You push yourself down the bed so you could lie down properly, latching your hands around your breasts and tweaking your nipples. Your mind is clouded with lust, the little speck of reserve you had left about jacking off to Jaehyun was out the window. You’re a moaning mess, trying to contain the lewd noises by biting back down on your lip. Planting down your feet against the sheets, you push your hips up as if you’re trying to meet someone’s thrusts. 

“Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck.” You can feel yourself about to cum, releasing one of your boobs to rub your clit.

“[Y/N]? Are you home?”

You’ve never moved so fast in your life; eyes snapping wide open and hands prying themselves off your body. You push your dress back up your chest while trying to grab your phone to turn the vibrator off but you can hear his footsteps coming closer and you accidentally pushed it off the bed instead while fixing your sleeves. Fortunately, the vibrations went down to soft buzz; and you toss the lube under the bed before running to the ajar door.

“Jaehyun!” You exclaimed, squeezing your body between the door and its frame. 

“[Y/N]? I thought you were out with Yebin. Are you okay?”

The love bullet starts to pulsates and you force out a grin, “Y-yeah, I was taking a nap and I, uh, had a nightmare.”

He nods slowly, looking like he understood as to why you were so flustered and sweating.

“What are you doing in my house?” You cleared your throat, trying to maintain your composure.

“Oh. I was planning to surprise you. I used the emergency keys your mom gave me.”

Your mom what— “Well, I’m very... surprised.”

Jaehyun grins, “No, wait. Come with me.”

He grabs your hand and all you can think about is how he’s holding the hand that had two of your fingers that were deep inside of you just moments ago while you jacked off to the thought of him. You wanted to tell him to wait for a second so you could go back into your room and turn the damn thing off, but the words leave you when he takes you to the living room.

There’s a vase of flowers you were very sure wasn’t there before and a small box of cupcakes from your favorite bakery. “You liked the gardenias so I got you some and I passed by the bakery after work and thought I’d get some as well.”

You inhaled sharply, the love egg suddenly spiking into a very harsh vibration. “Ohh, Jae.” That sounded so close to being inappropriate, “You didn’t have to—”

Your body flinches at the pattern change, making your grip around his hand tighten.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

You vehemently nodded your head, “Uh huh, I just— the nightmare was pretty intense.” like the throbbing of your very core as your climax approaches.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m right here.” Jaehyun pulls you into a hug and you don’t know whether it’s a good thing because your knees almost gave in so you used him as support. You hated, however, that you inhaled his scent; and it wasn’t the scent he smelled like when he got out of the shower, or his deodorant working when he’s sweating. It was that distinct scent he naturally had and it’s invading your nostrils and fueling your hormones. When his hands soothed your back and he kisses the top of your head, like he always does when he comforts you, that was when you lost it; gripping onto the back of his shirt for dear life as your orgasm hits.

You still do your best to keep your composure, keeping your breath steady unlike your heart beat that was running wild. The love egg is still buzzing and you need to take it out now; you already came in Jaehyun’s arms without him knowing and you can’t guarantee he’ll still be in the dark about it if another hits you. Pulling away, you sighed as nonchalantly as you can, hoping he doesn’t look down to see the evidence of your climax dripping down your legs.

“Thanks.”

Jaehyun pats your head, “You’re a little warm and red, [Y/N]. Maybe you’re coming down with something.”

“Uhm, yeah, maybe I am. I should… get some more rest.”

“Do you want me to tuck you?”

Your mind is so clouded and still high from climax that you swore you heard him say ‘fuck’, but you gasp from the love egg picking up pace again and swat Jaehyun’s arm, “I’m not ten! I’ll be fine. I-I would have loved to share the cupcakes with you a-and thank you for the flowers.”

He shrugs his shoulders, “Don’t mention it. I just—”

His phone beeps and when he checks it out, he lets out a groan. “Jay’s made a mess in the living room again.”

“Should I be regretting giving him to you?” You shift your weight between your legs, which helped with your shaky stance, but not the impending second wave of your climax. 

“No! Don’t ever. I love him.” Jaehyun laughs, “I’ll go now, see you later. Oh, and I think there’s a bee in here somewhere. I swear I can hear it.”

“I’ll take care of it, ha ha ha... ha.” You stood in place, waving your hand at him as he leaves your apartment. As soon as he closes the door behind him, you drop to your knees and pulled the love egg out. “Oh, god.”

It continues to vibrate on the floor, minutely spinning as it does. Guilt, shame, and relief washes over you all at the same time when you reprocessed what had just happened. You fucking masturbated to your best friend and he held you, without knowing what was going on, when you came undone from his touch and scent. You feel gross, grabbing the egg and standing back up to head back into your room to turn it off. You discard it on the bed and grab the other vibrator, shamelessly deciding to finish off the second orgasm in the shower.

a/n: the surprise gift here was actually the orgasm :--) loljk 

“Yebin is in charge of the drinks, but to be fair, we need two other people to buy other drinks.” Minkyung brings out her phone to list everything down on her notes app.

“I can buy cola and,” You squint at Yebin, who bats her lashes at you, “Chasers.”

She looks pleased with your suggestion, doing a little shimmy with her shoulders. “Jungwoo said he has tequila he can try and sneak in.”

Jungwoo nods, “I’ll bring that and some snacks, too.”

You sipped on your chocolate frappe, listening to your friends volunteer on their contributions. Jaehyun says he’ll bring chips or maybe try and bake something with his mom that gets everyone riled up.

The day after the movie marathon, you felt paranoid that Jaehyun heard your little confession that when he asked you to come with him to the greenhouse, you lied and said Joohyun needed help. You told her about it and she was annoyed at first, accusing you of running away from your feelings but relents, confirming to Jaehyun that she needed you and all you did was bum in the council room with her.

Even yesterday, Jaehyun tried to bring you there, but you insisted you weren’t feeling it and wanted to eat lunch at the cafeteria with everyone else. He didn’t try asking you today and you thought he’d be hurt or annoyed, but he doesn’t seem bothered by it.

“[Y/N],” You look at Minkyung and she pouts, “I said, can you ask Taeyong what he can bring?”

“Oh, okay.” You open your phone, “What else do we need?”

As you type out a text to Taeyong, you don’t see Jaehyun slumping back on his seat and Mingyu nudging his shoulder. Jungwoo puts his head on your shoulder and peers at your phone, “Ooh! You’re going on a date with Taeyong on Saturday?”

“Yeah, the one he won.” You try to shrug Jungwoo off of you but he whines, clinging onto your arm. 

“Ooh, he says he can bring sweets.” Jungwoo reads off the new message notification that popped on your phone and you push him away, annoyed. “Bring jellies!”

“We leave early in the morning on Sunday.” Mingyu says, “Let’s sleepover at someone’s house on Saturday night and just go to the airport all together.”

Jaehyun snorts, “Just ask me and [Y/N] already.”

Minkyung smiles, clasping her hands together, “Thank you so much for offering!”

“We weren’t offering.” You and Jaehyun said in unison, sharing a defeated glance at each other.

“So girls at [Y/N] and guys at Jaehyun’s.” She ignores the both of you and turns to Miyoung and Sora, asking if they knew where you lived.

You move your attention to Jaehyun and watched him push around the crumbs of the chocolate cake he had. He looked a little bored… almost peeved? He hasn’t minded the guys inviting themselves over for a sleepover before; his parents were more lax with him inviting people over when he moved up to high school. He catches you looking, gaze almost pointed and piercing right through her, but she gives him a small smile and his expression softens to return it.

On Friday, as you made your way to the cafeteria, you overhear the passing maintenance staff talking about how the flowers have started blooming in the greenhouse and you’re curious to see them now. You dart towards the back of school, promising just to take a peek and feeling a little guilty that Jaehyun had been asking you to come with him but you kept denying him.

You’re going to assume the greenhouse is the little building by the soccer field hidden by the looming oak trees. You trec over there, cautiously peering inside to make sure Jangmi or anybody else  was in there When the coast looks clear, you push the glass door open and gasped at the sight. There’s shrubs of varying heights and budding flowers in every color, a seedling table with benches, and even a persimmon tree. You don’t want to stay for too long, taking another appreciative glance around before stepping back.

Someone was behind you, though. You bumped into them and practically shrieked in their face until you realized it was only Jaehyun. “Oh my god! Why are you sneaking up behind me?”

Jaehyun laughs, eyes crinkling, “Why are you sneaking around in the greenhouse? I asked you thrice to come with me here and you refused.”

“Well,” You shrugged, “I didn’t feel like it until now.”

“Then let’s go inside.”

“Oh, we should probably meet with others—”

He has a firm grip on your shoulders, spinning you around and guiding you inside, “Five minutes, [Y/N]. It’s not like they’re going to file for missing persons..”

It’s a little warmer in the middle of the greenhouse, but it was nice; there was still a soft breeze going around that picked up the subtle floral scent of the area.

“No wonder could Jangmi fall asleep in here.” You quietly comment, letting your eyes soak up every corner. “Imagine if it was on the rooftop… I’d sing my heart out to any song.”

On cue, music starts playing and you spin on your heels to find Jaehyun seated at the bench with his phone out, playing ‘Can I have this dance?’ He cheekily grins up at you and urges you to sing when you missed the first lyrics.

“Keep your eyes locked on mine,” You sing along with a roll of your eyes, “And let the music be your guide,”

“Won’t you promise me,” His voice will never fail to make you feel something whenever he sings. You’d never be caught dead doing this in public, but you two were alone; you might as well indulge yourself.

“Now won’t you promise me,” You pluck the phone out of his hands and set it on the table, taking his hands into yours, “That you’ll never forget.”

He smiles at you, widely, and stands up, “To keep dancing,” 

“Wherever we go next.”

You owed him a proper dance from prom and this is it, with a hand in his and another on his shoulder. This was so much better than dancing to some slow songs; even better that you’re both singing along.

There’s pure mirth in your voices, almost laughing out the lyrics when he spins you around. When he pulls you back to him, you hold your breath at how close he was.

“Take my hand, I'll take the lead,” He sings, twirling you once more, “And every turn will be safe with me.”

Something in his eye changes; his gleeful expression morphing into something you could describe as melancholic, “Don't be afraid... afraid to fall, you know I'll catch you through it all.”

You lean your head on his chest for a moment, “Even a thousand miles can’t keep us apart.”

“‘Cause my heart is wherever you are.” He squints at you, cheekily as you pull away to sing with him.

All of a sudden, he picks you up by your waist and spins you around, making you shriek in panic. He bursts into laughter, putting you down on top of the bench and stepping up to join you. It wriggles a bit at the sudden addition of your weight, your hold on each other instinctively gripping harder. When you were both balanced out, he still tries to lead you into dancing a carefully paced waltz, stepping forward and backward together in the sliver of wood of the bench.

He jumps back down to the ground, scooping you behind your knees and supports your back as he carries you down from the bench with a dramatic twirl. 

“At least it won’t rain in here.” You quip, pertaining to the scene in the movie when it starts pouring all of a sudden.

“But there are sprinklers on timers, I think.” He hums, nevertheless continues dancing with you to the rest of the song. Neither of you were singing anymore, smiling to yourselves at the thought of how funny it would be if the sprinklers were to turn on all of a sudden. 

You adjust your hand over his shoulder and before you were aware of it, you trailed it up his neck to his nape, until it reached the soft, little hairs on the back of his head.

The wall you built up between the platonic and romantic areas of your relationship had reduced itself to a line; blurring so quickly when your eyes meet and you’ve let your guard down. 

His lips are soft and warm, perfectly slotting your bottom lip against them. You don’t know how long your lips are pressed together until you feel his hand cup your jaw and you’re reminded of what you’re doing and who you’re with.

You pull away with a gasp, eyes wide and face burning. His expression mirrors yours, but his brows are knitted together. 

“[Y/N].” He cautiously says in a low voice and you step away from him, shaking your head.

“I… I don’t know why I…” You catch his eyes flitting behind you and you glance back. Your heart drops when you see Jangmi stopping in her tracks with tears streaming down her face. You look back at Jaehyun, “I’m sorry. I-I shouldn’t have—”

“Wait, [Y/N].” You rush away from him before he could grab you, trying to avoid Jangmi as well but she stops you.

“[Y/N],” She sniffs, holding your arm. As she quickly wipes her cheeks with the back of her hands, you see Jaehyun coming after you and you break free from her hold to run away.

They’re calling after you but your legs don’t stop until you reach the entrance of the school building. Before going in, you glanced back at them to gauge how far they are to know where you can hide from them, but you falter a step; seeing Jaehyun’s hand on Jangmi’s shoulder as he shakes his head.

The same bottom lip that was between his lips moments ago is now trapped under your teeth in hopes to stop them from quivering. Everything felt like it was burning; your face red with shame, eyes stinging as they begged to shed tears, your throat wanting to let out a scream.

As you walk aimlessly along the empty hallways, you hear your name and the voice doesn’t belong to either of the people you want to see right now.

Taeyong has a worried look on his face when you face him; he had a water bottle in hand and a lollipop in his mouth.

“I don’t want to be here.”

He blinks at you, probably noting the signs that you were about to break down, and nods his head. He holds out his hand, “Okay.”

The next day, the final games the council prepared take place. Your team had lost by the second game and by then, it seemed to spark back the same ruthless competitive Jaehyun that won them first place.

Their victory and the end of the games were celebrated through a massive bonfire later in the evening. Some students had spiked the refreshments just for a little kick as people drank, and the council prepared a multitude of snacks for everyone to share. You and Jangmi helped distribute the roasting sticks for the marshmallows.

Taeyong came over, already had his selection of snacks on a paper plate. You pretended to grab something from the table behind you, forcing her to hand him a skewer. When he leaves and you return back beside her, she hisses through a forced smile while still handing out the sticks to other students, “Really, [Y/N]?”

You simpered at her, “I couldn’t help it.”

Jangmi sneers, “Well, an eye for an eye.”

She hands you all the roasting sticks she had all of a sudden and announces she’ll get the remaining box of skewers. You were confused for a second until someone asks for a stick and you turn to face Jaehyun. 

“Uh,” You droned out, balancing the skewers onto one arm while handing one to him. “Here.”

“Thanks.” He stands there, awkwardly fiddling with the stick you had handed to him. “[Y/N], I—”

“Hey, Jaehyun.” Jangmi pops back up beside you, much to your appreciation. “Glad you’re here. I, uh, need your… help.”

“With what?” 

She gestures towards the back area, “Can you help me carry the box of roasting sticks?”

He looks between the two of you before relenting to her request, giving her the stick you handed before walking to where she directed.

“Thank you.” You whispered once Jaehyun was out of earshot.

“Hey, I’ll hand out the rest of these. Go ask Joohyun if they need help with anything else or go hang with Minkyung and the others; I’ll be with you guys in a minute.”

Jangmi takes the roasting sticks from you and just as you start walking away, she stops you, “[Y/N], not to let the hopeless romantic in me get the better of me, but… you should try and talk things through with him tonight or tomorrow morning. We’ll be out having fun all day, it would be a shame if you two were still awkward by then. I only diverted him just now because you’re clearly still not ready.”

“I… okay.” Behind her, Jaehyun is making his way back with the box he was told to retrieve and you quickly go away to find your friends.

As you left, Jaehyun stalks up behind Jangmi and puts the box down, “What are you doing?”

She gasps, almost dropping the skewers. She pointedly glares up at him, “You said you’d give her time to think things through. She’s clearly not ready yet.”

“So you and the other girls are just going to keep shielding me away from her? I can see what you guys are doing. I’m not blind.”

“Oh, so you finally noticed that but not when she was obviously in love with you for weeks before you found out?”

Jaehyun makes an indignant sound, “Why are you attacking me? Where is this coming from?”

“Because now I know how she feels; I’ve been — still — in her shoes; still hopelessly in love and you know,” She growls, “that I empathize with that.”

While the bonfire party was in full swing with one group loudly singing random songs, somehow the rest of the senior populace have segregated themselves by gender. You’re feeling a little lightheaded, but oddly elated — probably from the spiked cola.

“What did they put in the drinks?” You asked Yebin, a self-proclaimed alcohol connoisseur.

“Rum in the cola, soju in the cider… I think tequila in the juices.” She slurs, “God, we still have more to drink back in the room.”

Minkyung whines, “Save that for tomorrow! It’ll be a great way to unwind after the free day.”

The boys on the other side of the bonfire all exclaim as if someone made the best comeback at a retort. Jangmi rolls her eyes, “They’re always so rowdy.”

Miyoung raises her glass to that, “It’s annoying!”

“I wonder what they’re going on about.” Yebin mumbles into her cup.

The boys grew noisier and almost frantic; from the cacophony of voices, you were able to discern common words they were screaming.

“Jaehyun, stop!”

You don’t know you went from sitting at one of picnic blankets laid out to pushing away the people crowding the scene in a blink of an eye, but whatever you uncovered freezes you on the spot until Jangmi’s concerned voice rings beside you.

“Taeyong!”

You snap out of it when Jaehyun’s fist connects with Taeyong and sends him stumbling backwards. Jangmi moves faster than you, running up to Jaehyun and pushing him away. “What the hell?!”

She immediately turns around to tend to Taeyong. Jaehyun huffs, but once his eyes move to you; he looks guilty and remorseful for what he’s done.

He walks away, parting the people that crowded behind him, and before you could lose sight of him, you pursue after him.

“Jaehyun!” You scold, trying to catch up to him as he takes long strides across the park. 

“Not now, [Y/N].”

“What was that back there? What is wrong with you?”

“Do you really want to know?” He spins on his heels, taking one step forward towards you.

You almost bump into him, skidding to a stop. He looked so frustrated, nostrils flaring and breathing shallow. “Jae, what’s wrong?”

“[Y/N].” Jaehyun closes his eyes and breathes in deeply, before staring into your eyes. “Do you remember how I promised I would tell you when I’m in love?”

You feel your heart drop, your throat feels raw for some reason. “Y-Yeah… w-why? How… is that related to Taeyong?”

He looked… scared, almost nervous. “Well, there’s this girl and she’s…”

But Jangmi said he didn’t like her that way; not unless he didn’t at first and he ended up falling for her. You don’t want to look at him; you always thought you’d be prepared for this moment, but you can already hear your heart shattering.

“She’s beautiful,” Jaehyun sighs, the corner of his lips quirking as his gaze softened, “She’s kind and amazing. She’s funny; always so snarky - but in a good way, no one in school even dislikes her.”

You don’t know what to say to him; afraid you’d let out a sob if you open your mouth so you let him continue. Jangmi had told him about Taeyong; how he rejected her and how she still pines for him. That day back in the greenhouse, she must have explained why she was crying.

“She’s incredibly bright and talented.” He licks his lips and for the first time ever, you see tears welling up in his eyes, “I… I love everything about her; her eyes, her lips, the way she smiles, all her little habits, and even her flaws.”

It’s starting to hurt now: how he’s lost all his nervousness and is getting excited and more confident about telling you, how he’s using the word ‘love’ so easily. With every reason he states, the tighter your chest feels and you could feel your resolve in keeping a straight face waning. 

“She’s… she means the world to me.”

“D-does she make you happy?” Your voice fails you as the question comes out in shaky, muted whispers.

Jaehyun smiles, “She does.”

Your eyes start to prick and your vision started to blur, forcing you to look down at your feet. You really don’t know what to say and you really don’t want to ask him even though you already knew the answer, but you remind yourself that you’re his best friend and him telling you all this means a lot to him. “So who is it?”

You’re holding your breath in; maybe the impact of his confession would cushion it. Internally, you’re promising that you won’t hold any grudges against Jangmi. You already know her side of the story.

“She’s…” His voice trails off and he doesn’t continue until you peer up at him to question his silence. When your eyes lock, you realize he’s crying with tears gliding down his reddened cheeks. There’s a smile on his face, bringing out the infamous dimples, “My best friend.”

Your hand flies to cover your mouth as you gasp, staring at him with a bewildered expression. 

“I’ve been trying to tell you since your birthday but it either comes out wrong, you misinterpret it, or I get interrupted, and I’m so frustrated! I tried giving you hints after hints, but none of them worked. I just…” He gulps, “I’m in love with you, [Y/N].”

“I… Are you…” You can feel yourself crying now, “You must be joking.”

“I’m not.”

“B-but… Jangmi.”

“I told you; we’re only friends, [Y/N]. She’s in love with someone else. She’s not even my type.” He sucks his lips in and lets out a little chuckle, “She’s not you.”

You could hear your own heartbeat in your ears, “Since when?”

He reaches up to wipe your tears with his thumbs with visible hesitation. When he rests his palms on your cheeks, you could feel his fingers tremble. “I’ve been in love with you before I even knew what love was.”

You cover his hands with your own, replaying everything he said in your head. You think this is all a dream; you’re probably at home and asleep. When you wake up, everything will be back to normal - although a part of you wish that if this was a dream, you wouldn’t want to wake up at all.

“Please say something.” Jaehyun murmurs.

“I… I’ve been denying the fact that I’m in love with you. I,” You pause to stop yourself from sobbing, “I didn’t want to risk it - our friendship… You mean everything to me, Jaehyun. I was so scared that I’d lose you if you didn’t feel the same way a-and even if you promised that it didn’t affect our relationship… you know, nothing’s going to be the same after.”

An anguished cry leaves you as the nightmares came back to you; all the painful possibilities you thought about late at night digging up the ache you worked so hard to cover up. He wraps his arms around you, pulling you tight against his warm body like he always does but you have to admit that even this felt different now.

“I was scared, too.” He admits, “But I’m more scared about losing you to someone else.”

You pull away, “Is that why you punched Taeyong?”

Jaehyun exhales, heavily, “Some of the guys were talking about the girls and someone made a comment about Jangmi that Taeyong didn’t like. I just found it weird how he suddenly cared about her when all he did was hurt her… and I said that to him. And he said that’s what I did to you… and I snapped, I guess.”

He’s stopped crying already, but his eyes were still glistening. “Did I… ever hurt you like that?”

“The only reason why it hurt was because I misunderstood everything… I really believed that you liked Jangmi and before she told me last Friday that she liked Taeyong, I thought you two were already dating behind everyone’s backs.”

“What? No, I only hung out with her to help her brother or to… talk about you.” He feebly admits, “Wait, last Friday…?”

You nodded, “She came over to explain everything. I guess it helped that before that, Taeyong already told me that it was his fault she was crying.”

Jaehyun snarls at that, “What’s his problem?”

“He likes her, too, but because of their past, he thinks he doesn’t deserve her. I hope they can work things out.”

“I hope so, too.” He licks his lips, “I should go apologize to him.”

When he steps back, you realize that there was practically no space in between you as you conversed and now you shivered at the evening wind. He starts to lead you back to the vicinity of the bonfire, but you grab his hand and pulled him back.

“Wait,” You whispered; he faces you again and you tug him closer to you. Hopefully you’d get used to being so close to him like this, but somehow the butterflies in your stomach didn’t feel so bad anymore. “I love you, too.”

It takes a second for him to respond, breaking into a contagious wide grin. He draws you by your waist and before his lips touched yours, he teasingly warns you, “You better not pull away all of a sudden.”

“I won’t.” You sling your arms over his shoulders, “I promise.”

This kiss was a lot better than the first one; it was nicely paced and chaste. For a good minute, you kept your fingers running through his hair as you kissed while his tenderly massaged the small of your back. Both of you pulled away, a shy smile on your faces, before going back to the bonfire while holding hands. 

Everything seems to have cooled down back the bonfire, some students were already heading back to their rooms. Jangmi and Taeyong were nowhere to be seen. The first people to approach you was Joohyun and a very stressed out Doyoung.

“The teachers want to talk to y—” Doyoung starts, but Joohyun grabs his arm and gasps.

She’s staring at your hands and then looked between the two of you, “Are you… oh my god!!”

“Holy shit!” Yebin screams from the other side of the bonfire, tipsy but not drunk enough to miss you and Jaehyun holding hands. “Are you two finally fucking together?”

Her outburst definitely attracted the attention of everyone left, which was probably still more than half of the senior population. Everyone erupts into applause and cheers, congratulating the two of you. You can feel your face heat up and you almost want to retract your hand, instead you held him tighter.

“I swear, I’m only friends with her because of you.” Jaehyun mutters under his breath and you hit his shoulder. His ears looks like it could bleed from how red they were, even under the glow of the orange fire.

Congratulations were cut short when one of the teachers appeared to scold Jaehyun, asking him to come with him to the teacher’s quarters for an explanation regarding the whole scuffle with Taeyong.

You slipped out of the bonfire as well, wanting to check up on Taeyong, also hoping to avoid everyone else. The clinic of the retreat house was towards the back end of the building so you ventured towards the back entrance instead of the front. Turning the corner of the building, you gasped and practically tumbled over at what you witnessed.

Taeyong and Jangmi both pull away from each other, faces beet red at your sudden presence.

“I… sorry?” You feel yourself blush as well, trying to hide your amusement behind your hand as you raise it up to your lips.

“I guess I deserve it for what happened last Friday.” Jangmi dismisses your apology.

“Are you gonna run away? I can distract him for you.” You joked and Jangmi laughs, but Taeyong pouts and holds her by her shoulders.

“I don’t think so.”

Jangmi leans into him, “Thanks for the offer, but I’m good.”

You grin at them, a little too widely that your cheeks almost hurt. You’re genuinely glad that they were able to talk as well.

“Wait,” Jangmi pushes herself away from Taeyong and rushes towards you, “Where’s Jaehyun? What happened?”

You bit on your bottom lip and half heartedly shrugging your shoulders  “We talked.”

She frowns at you, “You don’t look happy. Why? How did he fuck up this time?”

“No, it’s not that I’m not happy.” You correct her, “It’s just that, I guess, my best friend is now… my boyfriend.”

Jangmi’s face splits into a wide beam before she throws her arms around you, “Oh my god! [Y/N]!”

“I feel so stupid for being so scared.”

“I hate to say I told you so.” Taeyong pipes up from behind Jangmi and she scoffs.

She looks back at him, “You’ve been telling her? I’ve been telling Jaehyun!”

“You have horrible advisers.” He steps a little closer and you see the bruise Jaehyun left on his face, just a little to the side beneath his eye.

“Does that hurt? He wanted to apologize but Mr. Ahn took him to their room to talk to him in private.”

He touches his bruise, but doesn’t react to it. “It doesn’t hurt that much. I should go over to them and have this settled.”

After he leaves, you suggest to head back to the room and get ready for bed since you had a busy schedule for the free day tomorrow. The rest of the girls were already passed out on their beds with Sora claiming yours when she and Jangmi were supposed to share the queen-sized bed.

“Let’s just share the bed,” Jangmi offers, “And you can tell me what happened! What did he say?”

“Okay, and then you’d tell me how I ended up finding you and Taeyong kissing.”

She stifles her laughter, not wanting to wake up the others.

You spent almost hours talking; from what went down between you and your now-boyfriends, to plans for tomorrow, and even as far as talking about college. You don’t even know who fell asleep first or what you last talked about, but you woke up to all 8 alarms of everyone’s phones ringing at 8AM.

After an hour of getting ready, making sure you’ve packed the camera Jaehyun got you for your birthday, you and the girls met the guys downstairs for breakfast before setting out for the beach. It was a 15 minute walk, but no one complained. You and Jangmi took photos of everyone and the scenery. 

Jaehyun holds you back as the group crossed the bridge and you think something’s wrong, but he just stares at you, fondly.

“Is something wrong?”

“I just wanted to tell you,” He licks his lips, “I love you.”

You can't stop yourself from grinning, but you roll your eyes before snapping a photo of him and quickly spinning around to catch up with the others, laughing when he whines for you to say it back.

Time flew quickly when you arrive at the beach; all of you wished you could stay forever, but at least it’s treasured in your memories — even better that you and Jangmi took plenty of  photos and videos. 

Before heading back to the retreat to pack up for the flight back home tomorrow morning, everyone sits on the sand even after they’ve washed off the salty sea water off their bodies to watch the sunset. As the waves continued to thrash against the shore and the sky painted everything in shades of yellow and orange, no one talks to savor the moment. This could be the only time everyone could be together like this; spending the last days of high school before separating for college. 

Doyoung and Joohyun regretfully tell everyone that they had to go because of their curfew. Yebin reminds them to sneak into the girls’ room for the rest of the drinks, although she wishes they had it here instead. As everyone dusted themselves and started trudging back to the route you have taken, you took one last glance at the setting sun.

You were reluctant to go on this trip, especially since it started out with you avoiding Jaehyun.

“[Y/N]? Let’s go.” He calls out to you, ambling towards him. 

His eyes looked even warmer in the rays of the sunset, gazing into yours that made your knees weak.

Now you’re glad you still came; you’re thankful for Jangmi for coming over last Friday because it was her words that put your mind at ease, and even though he got hurt, you’re thankful for Taeyong because if he hadn’t pushed Jaehyun, who knows when you and Jaehyun would actually talk about what happened.

You step closer to Jaehyun and pull him into a kiss, which he doesn’t mind of course, pulling away when your friends started loudly teasing the two of you and you find Jangmi unabashedly pointing her camera towards you.

“Come on, lovebirds! You can still do that back home!” Yebin screeches, making everyone — including the two of you — laugh.

this is the fmv trailer i made for 14ways2 uwu

You had slept in a little bit, waking up around 11 because your stomach was just crying for food at this point. Your mother had left last night for a conference so you had to feed yourself for today. Routinely, you check your phone first before getting up; checking the notifications and messages. You reply to Jaehyun’s inquiry about you being awake already that was sent hours ago with an, “I am now. Feed me :(” 

It was a joke but Jaehyun had replied seconds later with a thumbs up and tells you to come over. You had no qualms about it; stretching your limbs for a moment before freshening a bit.

You’re in Jaehyun’s apartment in no less than 10 minutes, cooing Jay the Junior in your arms as you sat yourself on the couch while Jaehyun heated up their breakfast.

“Mom’s grocery shopping for lunch and dinner, you should stay over.”

“I’m capable of cooking for my own! But if your mom insists, then I wouldn’t turn the offer down.” You laugh, setting Jay the Junior down and eyeing the photo album on the coffee table. “Why is this out here?”

Jaehyun peers over to see what you were asking about and almost blanches when he realized he had left out the album when he was trying to scan them earlier. “Oh, uhm, I was cleaning out the shelves and I found that.”

You open it up and immediately smile. You and Jaehyun were together so much that his mom had taken an album’s worth of photos from your childhood. Both before and after he went away for America. “Oh my god, you were so cute before!”

He takes full offense to this, “Before?”

“Your cheeks were so puffy back then.” You pouted at him, “And you were chubby! Oh! I loved to hug you so much before.”

“You can still hug me now.” He gripes, walking over to bring you a bowl of bibimbap.

“It’s not the same.” You accept the meal and place it on your lap, diligently mixing it up with the spoon he stuck in. “You’re mostly muscle now.”

Jaehyun gets the album from the table and looks down at his photo with a contemplative expression, “Yeah, well that’s what playing for varsity basketball does to your body.”

He flips through the pages, laughing at the backstory of each one. “Do you remember this day? We wanted to eat the brownies my mom just made so we snuck one of the pans to my room and ate it in my closet.”

You peer over to see where his finger was pointed and saw a picture of the two of you, probably around 4 years old, with a spoon each in both of your hands and faces smeared with chocolate. Your faces looking into the camera in surprise after being caught. “Your mom didn’t find out until the photos were developed later on! How did she even miss a pan of brownies missing?”

“Ah,” Jaehyun laughs, “Dad told her he took it.”

“He did?” You paused from eating to gasp. Your eyes drifted onto the next photo and you snorted, “Wait! This one, though! You fell down halfway climbing up the tree that my kite got stuck on and cried so much!”

He scoffs at you, “I cried because of you!”

“Hey! I didn’t tell you to climb up a tree for me.”

“If I didn’t do anything, you would have started crying.”

You jut your lower lip out into a pout, mixing the contents of your bowl some more. “Whatever. You used to cry just as much as I did before. Oh! Like when you left for America! It’s like you grew a heart of steel over there. You never cry anymore.”

“I don’t have a reason to. Why would you want to see me cry now? I don’t even like it when you cry.”

“It’s not that I want to see you cry!” You defended, “I would hate it just as much as you do, but if you need a shoulder to cry on. I’m right here. You can cry to me if you need to.”

Jaehyun stares at you, eyes soft and happy — the kind of expression that makes your heart beat faster. “I know. You’re the only one I’ll ever cry to if everything’s too much already.”

You divert your attention back to the album, not wanting to keep the eye contact any longer. “I wish we could stay like kids forever. No responsibilities, no worries. Just playing around and enjoying life. It seemed so easier and simpler back then.”

“Right?” He chuckles, flipping to another page and smiling at the nostalgia the photos brought. “You know, when I was in America, every new thing I learned, discovered, and did… I always said “Ah, [Y/N] would like this or dislike that.” for the first few months I was there. And then I just stopped… until my parents told me we’d be coming back years after.”

You ate the last bit of your meal and placed the bowl on the table before looking back up at him.

“I felt guilty, you know.” He offers you a half-hearted smile, “Because for a few years, I forgot about you.”

His eyebrows scrunched up a bit as he bites down on his lip. You could tell how bad he feels about it.

“Jae, it’s fine. We were kids and thousands of miles apart. It’s understandable.”

“What if we never came back, though? I would have probably forgotten completely about you because I had no reminder of you while you walked by the front door every day and would remember the boy you grew up with. We couldn’t send letters because it was expensive.”

You put a hand on his knee, “It doesn’t matter now because you and your family did come back. And I remember vividly how we reacted when we saw each other for the first time when we met again. There’s photographic evidence hung up in my room.”

The corners of his lips finally curl upwards and his eyes squint as his smile grows.

“Did you know that was the happiest day of my life?”

“Why?”

The butterflies you thought you had tamed for weeks now are taking flight once more. You quietly gulp, hoping your voice doesn’t quiver, “I got my best friend back.”

Jaehyun’s expression falters. He lets out a slow exhale, “I-”

There’s the sound of keys jingling and the front door unlocking before it opens with a squeak, making you and Jaehyun move your attention towards it. At the sound of crinkling plastic, Jaehyun stands up and opens the door wider, “Mom, let me get that for you.”

His mom lets him do so, smiling at him briefly before glancing at you, “Oh! [Y/N]! Is your mom out of town again?”

You nod and take the bowl from the table, rising from your seat to wash it at the sink. “She is. I woke up late so I asked Jaehyun to feed me.”

“Then stay for lunch and dinner! You know you’re more than welcome to eat with us, [Y/N].” 

Jaehyun sets the groceries down on the table and looks at you as you make your way past him. You scrunch your nose at him, “If you insist, auntie, then how can I say no to you?”

As his mom reassures you its fine, Jaehyun rolls his eyes at you but snicker along with you; leaving his mom unaware of the little interaction.

Taeyong doesn’t hold your hand when he leads the way and you’re grateful for that, he must have guessed the root of your problems already. He ignores your questions about where you two were heading off to, hopping onto the bus, and asks about the upcoming Jeju trip after finding a seat. He’s careful about mentioning Jaehyun, skirting around any topic that could possibly bring him into the conversation.

After half an hour, you get off and walk a few minutes until you reached an animal shelter.

“A shelter?”

Taeyong nods, “They’re all rescues; the shop is always looking for volunteers to help around. When I’m sad, I come here to be surrounded by puppies or kittens that just wants to love a human.”

He leads you inside and he greets the man behind the register, bowing slightly and you follow after him.

“Taeyong-ah! Isn’t it a little too early for school to be out?”

“Ah… it is, but it’s sort of an emergency.” He gestures to you, “My friend is sad and I know a few little friends who can help.”

You offer a polite smile to the man when his attention is brought over to you and he exclaims, “Oh! You must be the girl Taeyong talks about! Jangmi—”

“No!” Taeyong cuts in, cheeks blushing and using both hands to dismiss him, “This is [Y/N], she’s just a friend.”

“My apologies! Hello, [Y/N]. I’m Dongju, the shelter’s general manager. The puppies have been bored with each other the last few days, I’m sure they’ll enjoy your company. Taeyong, don’t give them treats! They broke into their snack bin this morning so luckily for you, they’re all freshly bathed.”

The phone rings and Dongju gestures for them to head on back while he answers the call. You follow Taeyong to the back door that leads to an open space with multiple play areas for the animals. There were puppies chasing each other that stopped when Taeyong opened up the fence to let you in and started running towards him.

Your heart melted at them, dropping to your knees when some of them paid attention to you instead and jumped onto your lap to lick your face. “Oh my god! They’re so cute!”

He sat beside you, trying to entertain three pups at once. “That’s Pretty, she’s been here the longest.”

The small dog was white with a light dusting of tea colored fur on her ears that spread out to the top of her head. She was soft, too, forcing your hand to pet her by nudging her head under your palm. “Hello, Pretty.”

She sits on your lap and just looks up at you, panting with her tongue out while her tail wagged vigorously.

Taeyong introduces to the pups he remembers, telling their back stories and things they liked and hated, funny anecdotes he knows of them. Both of you played with them — throwing sticks, discs, and balls for them to fetch, handing them chew toys — until they were tired and napped around your seated bodies.

With a mixed Jindo pup named Geumgang on your lap drifted off, you curiously asked, “So you talk about Jangmi with the people here?”

He looks away from, probably hiding the color rising to his cheeks, “They’ve been trying to match me up with their sisters or nieces when I first started volunteering here. I only used her as an excuse so the matchmaking won’t push through, but… in the end, I couldn’t stop talking about her.”

Silence befalls both of you, letting the sound of nature and distant car engines take over. A few pups snored and whimpered in their sleeps when you spoke up again, “Aren’t you going to ask me what’s wrong?”

“Do you want me to?” Taeyong cards his fingers through the long fur of the pup beside him, “If it was enough to convince you to ditch school for the first time with a panic attack about to happen, then I’d rather wait until you’re ready to talk about it.”

“I kissed Jaehyun.” You blurted out, waking up Geumgang, who moved off your lap to continue his slumber.

He smirks at you, “Nice.”

“No, not nice!”

“Oh, okay… not nice.” He wipes the grin off his face and clears his throat, “Uh, what happened?”

You pull your knees up and hugged them to your chest, “I mean, the kiss was nice, but… I pulled away in panic a-and when I turned around Jangmi was there and she was crying and—”

“Jangmi was crying?”

You nod, burying your face in the crevice between your knees, “God! I told you! They don’t have to tell me. I know they’re dating! You should have seen their faces— Jaehyun’s after I kissed him and Jangmi’s when she caught us. He must have been weirded out with me… he didn’t even chase after me.”

Taeyong is quiet as you simmered in your emotions, replaying the entire situation in your head despite yourself. After awhile he shakes his head, “No, [Y/N], I think Jangmi was crying because of me.”

“You,” You sniffed, “What did you do?”

He lets out a heavy sigh, “I might have snapped at her. I just… panic when she’s too close or being too friendly. It’s either I think I don’t deserve her or my paranoia from middle school is still lingering.”

You watched him fold his legs like you did and leaned his chin on one of his knees, “She came up to me after our class and asked me to join you guys for lunch so it wouldn’t be awkward on Sunday — and I would have agreed if she hadn’t said Yebin sent her. She terrifies me — Yebin, I mean. She has the same vibes as the guy who liked Jangmi back in middle school.”

“What did you say to her?”

“To stop trying to force me into her friend group.” He mumbles, “Stop acting so buddy-buddy with me… I might have asked something along the lines of why they didn’t send you instead.”

“Oh, Taeyong.” You lightly scolded, “I think you’ve gone too far.”

He exhales harshly, clicking his tongue, “Well, that’s my mess to deal with. Now you know that she was crying because of me, not because she caught you and Jaehyun. Where did she see you guys?”

“The greenhouse.”

“The greenhouse,” Taeyong repeats, “The one she likes to sneak off to.”

You drop your head in embarrassment at the realization of what he was trying to say. Jangmi was crying and they were at the one place in school she can run off to for some peace of mind.”Okay, she wasn’t crying because of us, but… how about Jaehyun’s reaction? His face was just… surprised… not in the good way and when he said my name… he sounded so concerned like… an older brother talking to his younger sibling.”

He snorts at you, prompting you to punch his shoulder. “I’m sorry! Listen, I promise you that the last thing he’ll see you as is a sibling.”

“How do you know?”

“No,” He laughs, “How do you not know?”

“Whatever! I know what I saw and I felt it.” You check your phone for the time, seeing one text from Jaehyun. 

“We need to talk about what happened, but only when you’re ready.”

The thing is, you might never be ready to talk about it. You’re hoping it could blow over and both of you would just forget it ever happened. “I should get home before Jaehyun arrives.”

There was an hour of school left when you get home and it gave you a sense of relief to know Jaehyun wasn’t home yet. As you trekked up to your floor, you faltered a step when you catch someone waiting outside your door. If weren’t for her ponytail, you would have ran away thinking it was Jaehyun.

You approached Jangmi as she leaned on the front door, spaced out as she stared at the ground until you meekly greeted her and she jerked upright.

“[Y/N].” She pauses, “I’m probably one of the last people you want to talk to right now, but if I didn’t say anything I don’t think I’d be able to sleep tonight.”

“Okay. Let’s go in?”

After unlocking the front door and letting her in, you ask her if she wanted anything to drink or eat and she only wanted water. You usher her to sit on the couch before grabbing a glass of water from the kitchen, setting it on the coffee table with a coaster when you returned.

“I’m sorry.” She starts as soon as you sat down, “I didn’t mean to walk into… you and Jaehyun. I didn’t think you two were going to be there that day.”

“N-no, it’s okay… you gave me a reason to leave.” You remember Taeyong’s words from a while ago, “Are you okay now?”

Her lashes flutter as she comes up with a response and the glint in her eyes tell you that she’s not. You might not have known her as long as Joohyun and the others, but you don’t think you’ve seen her so… upset before.

“Am I unlikeable? You probably hate me.”

You immediately shake your head to rebuff her accusation, “No! Not at all— I think you’re the hardest person to hate in school. Why would you ever think that?”

Jangmi falls back into the seat and twiddles the hem of her skirt between her fingers. “I used to be jealous of you, you know.”

“Me?” Did you hear her wrong?

She nods, pressing her lips into a thin line. “You’ve been hanging out with Taeyong these days… He’s not exactly the most social person so it comes off as a surprise to me. The only reasons I can come up with as to why he suddenly changed is because either likes you—”

“He doesn’t! I swear, we’ve talked about it—”

“Then it’s to keep me away.” She cuts you off and you’re taken aback by her statement. She chuckles, mostly to herself, “I’m sure he’s either told you himself or you asked about our past in middle school; how I confessed to him and he rejected me.”

Jangmi’s voice cracks at the last words; her jaw tense for a moment until she releases an exasperated breath and lets her face fall into her open palms.

Instinctively, you put your hand on her shoulder to comfort her but you don’t know what to say.

“You must think I’m so pathetic for still being hung up from a stupid crush I had from middle school.” She softly cries, “But I really tried to forget about him; I tried to date other guys and he even transferred to a different school! But it got worse when he left and I was so miserable, [Y/N]! Yeah, he rejected me, but at least I still get to see him at school. Even though we live across each other, we barely cross paths because he’s either cooped out playing computer games or out at the PC rooms — playing computer games.”

“I even transferred into your school to follow him and I don’t know if it’s mean of me to say that I was relieved to find out he still hasn’t dated anyone… until that stupid auction happened and he got a date with you.” She glances at you with eyes teary and wary, “So I was jealous of you… but what’s my right to be? Taeyong was never mine to begin with. He can like whoever he wants, even if it’s not me.”

“I’m so sorry, Jangmi. But I really don’t like Taeyong that way… and please believe me when I tell you that he doesn’t either.” You bite down on your lip, not wanting to confess for Taeyong.

She manages to give you a small smile, “I believe you… only because I know you like Jaehyun.”

“What— how’d you—”

“Back when you sang on stage with him, I had an inkling and then when I got closer to you two, how you two interacted just confirmed it.” Jangmi finally takes a sip of the water you brought her. “I guess it helps that I’m in the same position as you; in love and all. It’s like looking in a mirror.”

You make eye contact with her and she shrugs, “But you still have a chance.”

“With Jaehyun?” You asked, incredulously, “No, I… He doesn’t… He likes you.”

This makes Jangmi laugh; heartily enough that even you would have joined her if you weren’t talking about Jaehyun’s feelings. “No, he doesn’t. Trust me, that day we met up for the date I got; we made our intentions very clear. We don’t like each other that way.”

You should have been relieved by what she’s telling you, but it still doesn’t explain Jaehyun’s reaction after you kissed him. “Why did you… bet 800 on him for a date, by the way?”

“There was a girl that I butt heads with before the event started and she had her eyes set on Jaehyun.” Jangmi recoils at the memory, “It wasn’t my best moment to be so petty and stoop down so low like that… but at least I can assure you that Jaehyun is all yours, right?”

“I… I don’t know. What happened in the greenhouse… I just want to forget about it.”

“You don’t want to be anything more with him?”

You let your posture slump over, defeated by the conflict of your heart and mind. “O-of course, I do, but when I pulled away from him, he just looked… alarmed?”

“This isn’t a romance novel or romcom movie, [Y/N]. Almost anyone who is kissed out of the blue by the person they least expect would be surprised — especially if you pulled away so abruptly.” She says with a slight tease in her tone before turning solemn, “I just wish I hadn’t interrupted you two. You didn’t even give him a chance to talk. You were out there so quickly.”

“I panicked.” You admitted, “I was just so convinced that you two were secretly dating and with all the kissing and you catching us while crying… my mind just came up with the entire scenario and stuck with it.”

“So you’ll talk to him about it?”

“Eventually. I just need time and space to… recollect my thoughts about everything.”

Jangmi stares at you, blinking repeatedly as if you sprouted a new head.

“What?”

“Nothing… It’s just… He said the same thing.” She shrugs, “I wanted to run after you but he stopped me because he knew you needed time to think about it.”

For a few minutes, you both sat in silence; processing everything you’ve talked about. Not wanting to end the conversation with a somber mood, you asked if she had skipped classes to wait for her and she tells you that she did after finding out from other students they saw you leaving with Taeyong. 

She receives a text and she shows it to you.

“She hasn’t replied. I told you. I’ll have to wait until she’s ready to talk about it.”

“You should really tell him how you feel.” She quietly comments, closing her phone.

It’s not like you had a choice at this point. You initiated the kiss; you can’t pass that off as a ”caught in the moment” type of thing and still claim to having platonic feelings for him. “I’m just scared of the consequences. What if he rejects me like Taeyong?”

“I confessed to Taeyong because I had nothing to lose. You and Jaehyun have years of friendship between the two of you; you can’t just lose all of that for a confession. He’ll always love you — and I know because he told me himself. He’d always try to choose you over anything.”

At the little phrase he keeps telling you, you knew she wasn’t saying things to cheer you up. “He told you that?”

“He makes me wish I had a best friend like him.”

Next door, you hear Jay barking and you’re sure that Jaehyun was home now. A quick glance at the wall clock tells you that you and Jangmi had been conversing for an hour.

“I should probably go.” Jangmi starts, picking up her bag and putting it on. You stand up with her and she holds your hand, “Thanks for listening to me. I came here to explain myself, but I think I ended up overstaying.”

“No!” You dismissed, holding her other hand, “I’m glad you came over. You answered a lot of questions I don’t even know how to ask in the first… I’m sorry about the whole Taeyong misunderstanding.”

“And I’m sorry about the Jaehyun misunderstanding.”

You pull her into a hug, which she graciously accepts. As you pull away, you hum, “Uhm… in case that Jaehyun gets… impatient with me, can you distract him? Especially if I’m still not ready.”

“Of course.” She coyly smiles at you and playfully winks, “But if I personally think that it’s been way too long for you to quote-unquote think about things, then I won’t stand in his way.”