#do x reader

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom real quick.” Kyungsoo places a hand on your lower back to let you know. You smile at him, holding the cue upright, and reply with a short and sweet “okay”. 

Your eyes linger on his body a little longer, watching it disappear behind the door. 

“It’s so cool that you’re okay with all this, Y/N.” Jiho catches your attention. He’s looking at you with a smile. The same friendly smile he used to give you on his shifts at the shop. You missed it. 

You wished things had been different. Maybe if you hadn’t been such a geek back in the day. Not that you are any cooler now. He was always nicer with you within the confines of his dad’s shop. In the hallways of high school, he was a lot different. At the time, you never really understood why.  

It got a lot worse one day. His attitude shifted completely. Even at his dad’s shop. He began to treat you like everybody else: like you were nothing. You couldn’t understand what you had done wrong. All you knew was that you didn’t feel comfortable shopping at his dad’s store anymore. 

“With all what?” You reply as you wait for Hyoseob to shoot. 

Hyoseob seems too distracted to do so. He straightens and gives Jiho a warning look. 

“Stop. What’re you doing?” He nudges his friend with a worried expression. He ignores him. 

“With the bet?” Jiho’s head tilts innocently.  

You laugh uncomfortably. “The bet?” The words don’t settle well in your stomach. You stare back at the bathroom door, hoping Kyungsoo would show up and ease the tension. 

“Jiho, he’s gonna kill you. Please shut up.” Hyoseob makes it worse, begging Jiho to stop whatever he was about to confess. 

“You know he only asked you out because we dared him to sleep with you by the end of the semester, right?” 

The polite smile on your face falters as you feel your heart sink from your chest. You think back to the time he approached you. You were skeptical. You were careful. You did the steps to protect yourself from him. And you believed him anyways. 

Of course it was all a lie. A guy like Kyungsoo would have never gone for a girl like you. 

Your breaths become shorter, desperately gasping for air. Your hand rests on your chest, trying to settle the heaviness. 

Hyoseob tries checking on you but you push his arm off you. You can feel your heartbeat through your ears as you try and find your way through the door without passing out.  

Once you find the door to fresh air, you walk. 

You walk as fast as you can for as long as your legs take you. 

You didn’t want Kyungsoo going after you to explain himself. You believed his lie once. Who’s to say you wouldn’t fall for it a second time? 

Every single moment repeats itself like a joke in your head. Your first kiss. Your first time driving a manual. Your first date. 

Fuck. 

The comic book. You halt in your steps and just stand in the middle of the sidewalk. You grab the issue from your tote and stare at it. A tear falls onto the vintage copy. You immediately panic, blotting the wet mark with the end of your top.  

You wanted to throw it away, ruin it. Ruin the memory of that fake date.  

You can’t find it in you to. 

You scoff, “A fucking bet.” 

This couldn’t be your life. It can’t be.  

Your phone rings in your pocket and you laugh at how predictable this all is. You think of what to say. You want to think of some snappy comeback. Anything to hurt his feelings the way he’s hurt yours. But you can’t come up with any. It doesn’t feel natural to be mean to Kyungsoo. 

He made you fall for him, hard, and you didn’t know how to be mean to the person who has shown you nothing but kindness this past month. How could it have been fake? 

Reluctantly, you pick up the phone. 

“Y/N? Where are you?” He sounds panicked. It hurts to hear your name come from his mouth like this. Was he worried you left or that he lost his chance at winning the bet? 

The anger returns at the thought that he wasn’t calling from a place of genuine concern. It makes you lose control over your words. You almost regret it. 

“Don’t call. Don’t text. When you see me in class, don’t even look at me. Fuck you, Do Kyungsoo.” 

You hang up before he can say anything. You wipe your tears under your glasses before gathering yourself to call your brother. You take a deep breath, trying to keep your voice as neutral as possible.   

He answers after a couple rings. 

“Hey.” Chanyeol greets you casually with the grave voice he uses when he’s out with friends. 

“Hi. Are you busy?” You ask, using all your energy to stop your voice from wavering. 

“Kinda. I’m at Myeon’s. What’s up?” You hear him stand up and walk to a quieter area. “You okay?” 

“I- Can you pick me up?” You don’t tell him how you are, knowing that if you do, you would break down in tears again.  

Chanyeol’s big brother senses were tingling though. He knew something was wrong. You can tell he does by how quickly he agrees. 

"I’m Baekhyun’s ride. Is it okay if he’s in the car?” He asks while your patience runs thin. 

“I really don’t care. Just come get me.” Your words spew out in frustration. 

“Fuck, Y/N. You good? You don’t sound good.” Chanyeol’s concern speaks through the phone. 

“No, I’m not.” 

Chanyeol hears you loud and clear, grabbing Baekhyun who whines with a red cup in his hand. 

“K, we’re coming.” 

-------- 

“Y/N! You look so pretty today. Went on a date with that gu-- Ouchie.” Chanyeol hits Baekhyun when he gets to the end of his sentence. If it isn’t clear to Baekhyun yet, it definitely is now that you’ve started sobbing in the back of Chanyeol’s car.  

“Oh no.” Baekhyun gasps. 

Chanyeol gives him a pleading look and Baekhyun is hurriedly by your side in the backseat, wrapping an arm around you so you could cry on his chest.  

“Did he break up with you? Who was it again? Do you want us to take care of it?” Baekhyun threatens in the softest voice imaginable. If you didn’t listen to the words, you’d think he was simply comforting you. 

“It’s not even worth it.” You say in hiccups. You straighten yourself out and move away from his chest. Although it feels nice to be held like this, they’re not the arms you want to be wrapped in. 

“Give us his name, Y/N.” Chanyeol chimes in. “We’ll just talk to him.” 

You wince – finding it a lot more threatening coming from your brother’s mouth. You all knew what ‘taking care’ and a ‘talk’ meant to guys like Chanyeol and Baekhyun. The first time you ever told them you were being bullied was when you were 7 and they were 8. You were only venting. You didn’t expect them to do anything about it. Chanyeol and Baekhyun have never hurt anyone prior. They can’t even kill spiders without screaming. 

They had your classmate in a chokehold, turning purple in front of you, the very next day. You vowed to keep quiet from then on, realizing how insane your brother and pseudo-brother were.  

It didn’t stop them from finding out about Jiho though. 

You didn’t approve of it. You never told them about Jiho’s sudden cold behaviour towards you. They found it weird that you were ordering your parts online instead of in person and went to ‘talk’ to Jiho. 

Jiho didn’t come to school for a week after that. 

“No. Really, I’ll be fine. It was just a bad date.” You downplay your hurt, wiping the tears with the back of your hand. “Thank you again for picking me up.” 

-------- 

Chanyeol is extra careful with you these days. He doesn’t pry as much ever since that night. 

So it’s weird when he lingers at your door.  

He checks on you while you’re studying, entering your room nonchalantly with a protein shake. He shakes it obnoxiously, to your annoyance, and checks himself out in your mirror. You don’t understand why he does this. He has his own mirror. 

“I’m trying to study.” You tell him with a flat tone. “Go be annoying elsewhere.” 

He doesn’t say anything, choosing to plop on your bed instead. He shakes his shake one more time. You sigh. 

“What? Run out of snappy comebacks?”  

He has your attention now. He wants something and he wasn’t going to leave until he got it. 

“Nah, it’s not fun when you’re moody.” He says with a sarcastic smile. “So... I learned something new the other day.” 

“What did you learn?” You indulge in what he has to say, fully turning your chair in his direction. You spin your pen, bored.  

“Kyungsoo... Remember him? Used to date the cheerleaders? Hangs out with that Jiho kid?” 

Your pen falls to the ground. 

Chanyeol watches it fall from your hold and raises an eyebrow.  

“He asked to hang out. Thought it was a bit weird considering we haven’t hung out in the past year. But then he mentioned you.” Chanyeol continues, tone becoming serious and almost scary. And he knows you understand where he’s getting at.  

Your blood runs cold. Kyungsoo’s an idiot. 

“Don’t.” You warn him, heart racing.  

“I’m meeting him in,” He checks his watch. “15 minutes. At the park.” 

“Chanyeol, please. It’s really not worth it.” You plead. You get flashbacks to that kid turning pale and shudder. 

“We’re just going to talk. We’re friends remember? I’m just gonna find out what he wants.” He shrugs and chugs his drink like he’s not threatening to snap his neck. “And then I’ll judge if it’s worth it.” 

He gets up from your bed and pats your head patronizingly.  

“Don’t worry. I know how much you like him. I’ll be nice.”  

You swallow the lump in your throat. Fuck.  

You’re stuck in your chair, unable to move from shock. Did you have to warn Kyungsoo? You groan, you really didn’t want to talk to him. Why did he have to be so stupid? He knows what Chanyeol’s capable of. 

Really, this was his own fault. What did he think would come out of this? You weren’t going to text him. He dug his own grave.  

You pick up your pen and return to your studies. You won’t get involved. 

You read the sentence over and over, even taking your glasses off to focus. Your poor pen was being chewed up to bits with how stressed you were being over this. Damn you Kyungsoo. 

You quickly get up from your seat and run off to the park.  

By the time you got there, Chanyeol was already long gone and you almost sigh in relief thinking that he didn’t go through with it. You’re about to leave when you see a familiar back slumped over the water fountain. Your heart softens at the sight of Kyungsoo scooping water and washing his face. 

You suck on your bottom lip, gathering the courage to walk away. He isn’t as bad as you thought he would be. You should walk away.  

Seeing him wince at the cool water makes you weak and before you knew it, you were at his side.  

You don’t look at him right away, focusing on wetting your sleeve with the running cold water. Your eyes drift to a scratch on his knuckles. You can feel his stare on you - strong and heavy. Your eyes sting knowing that he’s watching you.  

Once soaked, you finally look up and your heart breaks at the sight of his face. He was looking at you with a warm expression and a solemn smile on his lips. You felt your lips shiver as you apply your wet sleeve on the scrape at the side of his face. Kyungsoo leans into your touch and shakily places a hand on yours.  

“Y/N, I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you.” Kyungsoo’s voice was low and apologetic. You can’t bring yourself to believe him. “It was a stupid bet that I forgot about. I fucked up. None of it was fake to me.”  

Your watery eyes flicker to his. You watch them soften under your touch. Your heart can’t stand icing him out. 

“Why’d you call Chanyeol? Are you an idiot?” 

Kyungsoo smiles sadly, “You blocked my number. I needed to talk to you.” 

You frown, taking your hand away from his face.  

“You knew I’d come here?” You ask, feeling betrayed yet again. Kyungsoo reaches to hold your hand again, but you pull it back instantly. “I should have never come here. All you know how to do is manipulate me.” 

“No- That’s not what I-” 

Kyungsoo is about to defend himself, but you cut him off. 

“I was doing fine without you. Do you know how stupid I feel because of you? I thought you lik- I thought you were my friend. And- and- now you call my brother and pull this act? To what? To get me to pity you? What you did was fucked up, Kyungsoo. I was fine without you!” Your tears fall somewhat endlessly across your cheeks. Your hands are shaking in anger, sadness, frustration when Kyungsoo wraps his arms around you.  

You hate this. You hate that your body melts in his hug. You hate that he was the one to break your heart and the only one to be able to mend it. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He whispers into your hair, holding you so close and clinging onto you for as long as you’ll let him as you sob in his chest. 

“Tell me how to fix this. I’ll fix it. Please, Y/N. I’ll fix it.” He pleads, holding the side of your face gently. You shake your head, unable to talk for yourself. “I’ll fix it, Y/N.” He pleads, repeating that sentence like a broken record. 

“I don’t trust you, Kyungsoo. You really hurt me. I can’t trust you.” You struggle to say, throat aching from crying. 

“Then let me build that trust again. Let me prove it to you, please.” He wipes the tears from your cheeks with his thumbs. “I’ll fix it.” 

You let him hold you a little longer as you shake your head in his grasp. How could you trust that any of this was real? How could you trust him again? 

-------- 

Despite rejecting him at the park, Kyungsoo is still making it extremely difficult to avoid him. You caught him sitting in your spot before class one day, away from his friends. He had two cups of coffee, leg shaking anxiously. You found a seat in the back, near the exit. You thought it would be enough to hide from him.  

The minute the professor started the course. Kyungsoo looked back towards the door and found you staring down at him. It took everything in you to look away and focus on the professor and your laptop. You took your notes as well as possible, but it was hard when you felt the weight of Kyungsoo’s stare on you.  

As soon as the class was done, you bolted out of the lecture hall.  

You meant it when you said you didn’t want to see him anymore. You knew it was unrealistic, taking the same course and all, but if you could just get through this semester, you would be okay. You convinced yourself you would be. 

It was even hard to study in the library now. You were afraid that he’d come find you at any given moment, even though you had found yourself a spot in a hidden corner. He has proven to be persistent. It was only a matter of time til he tried to find you here. 

You throw your head back and sigh, closing your book. You’ll just head home and hope your family wasn’t home to make any distracting noise. It was getting late anyways. 

Unfortunately, the one time you desperately needed the house to be empty, you found that your parents had just gotten home from their business trip and Chanyeol was doing god knows what in his room by the loud screaming he was making. Your mom squeals in excitement at the sight of you. She hugs you tightly. 

“I missed you my lil batgirl.” She squeezes your cheeks like you’re still a little girl. You rarely saw your parents but when you did, you swear you didn’t grow in their eyes. You’re still their youngest daughter who isn’t studying to be an astrophysicist, but the little girl who wanted to grow up to be Barbara Gordon. “Speaking of batgirl, a gentleman dropped these off for you.” 

Your mom lets you go, excited to show you what was delivered. You wince when you see the same yellow bouquet he got you on your first date. You had dumped the first one onto the compost pile, letting it rot for the plants.  

“I didn’t know you were seeing someone, Y/N! He must really like you if he’s getting you Batman themed bouquets. This is so exciting. Tell me everything. Did you go on a date yet?” She means well. It’s not her fault that she and dad had to work all the time. It’s not like they’ll be home any longer than a couple weeks before they have to go off again. Kyungsoo will probably move on to the next too. You didn’t want them to worry. 

So you lie to her.  

Kind of. 

“Yeah, he’s a guy from my astronomy class.” You tell her, giving her a small smile to make it believable. Your mom gasps at the sound of you finally having a man in your life. 

“Oh, I’m so glad! Where did he bring you? What did you guys do?” She grabs a vase and fills it with water, anticipating your response.  

“Um, he brought me to brunch.” You realize instantly how hard it is to fake it. Your mom notices the falter in your voice almost immediately - her face scowling at the sound. “And then he, um,” You take a deep breath when you feel your eyes sting. She lets you finish. “brought me to a thrift store and,” tears start falling from your eyes again. She comes to your side and sits you down at the dining table.  

“Did something happen?” She transforms into a parent in an instant. “Was it a bad date?” 

“No, it was perfect!” You cry out, covering your face in your hands. “He got me a vintage comic book even though he found it first and he got me flowers! Just like those! Even opened and closed the doors. He was the perfect gentleman.”  

“Then what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” She moves your hands down so she could look at you, her daughter who has never ever cried to her mom this much.  

“He did all of it because of a bet.” Your lips turn upside down into a pout. Your mother’s face mirrors yours and pulls you in for a hug. She doesn’t say anything. Her warmth is enough for you. “Gosh, I feel like I’ve been crying so much lately.” 

“It just felt so real. I thought he was actually interested.” You scoff, laughing at yourself yet again at how ridiculous you were to believe him. “I feel so stupid.” 

“You’re not stupid. Don’t talk about yourself like that. He seemed very apologetic at the door.” Your mom finally speaks. “Have you talked to him?” 

“A bit. Chanyeol punched him and I went to see him.” You fold your lips into your mouth after revealing your brother’s antics.  

“Chanyeol what? We’ll get back to that.” She shakes her head. “And then what happened?” 

“He kept saying he’ll fix it. But this doesn’t seem fixable to me, mommy. He lied to me.” You explain, pouting at her. Your mom places a warm hand on your cheek.  

“Why not? He says he wants to fix it.” She tucks your hair behind your ears and looks at you with compassionate eyes. Your mother was always the optimistic parent. She believed everything and anything was easily fixable. You were a lot like your dad who was the opposite. He believes some things should just be left alone. He says only someone like your mother would be able to fix anything with her passion. 

“How could I trust someone like that?” You ask, voice small. 

“You said it yourself. It didn’t feel fake. To be honest, he stayed a bit to ask about you. He seemed very genuine.” Of course, your mother wouldn’t understand that your pain was far too great to give him a second chance. “Life isn’t as black and white as you think, Y/N. There’s not always a right and wrong. Sometimes there is gray. And I believe this is the gray area. I know you don’t believe me but think about it. Bruce Wayne himself is a morally gray hero too, you know. You mean to tell me what he’s doing is ethical? He arrests these villains who commit heinous crimes, only for them to escape and do it over again. Doesn’t sound safe for Gotham, in my opinion.” 

She gets up and smiles. “Just think about it.” She moves towards the stairs, presumably to knock some sense into Chanyeol for your little slip. “Oh, and I think you’re right. He is a perfect gentleman.”  

-------- 

There were two more courses of ASTRO101 before the final. You could handle being late to classes for 2 more weeks. You try to open the heavy door as quietly as possible. You wince when the door shuts loudly, catching the attention of some students. Your eyes search for Kyungsoo’s but they’re not a part of the looming stares. 

You find the same empty spot in the back and squeeze through your peers. You mutter apologies before settling down in the awkward seats of the hall. 

“Y/N?” A guy in front of you turns and whispers your name.  

“Yeah?” You answer, heart racing again. Last time someone approached you, they were doing it for a bet. 

“This is for you. From Kyungsoo.” He grabs a cup of coffee and hands it to you.  

You frown. “Oh, you can keep that. I don’t drink coffee.”  

He freezes awkwardly, stuck in between accepting the offer and fulfilling his promise.  

“I think it’s hot chocolate.” He tries to persuade you to take the beverage from his hands.  

You feel bad that he would be stuck with a drink he didn’t want. And you do like hot chocolate. Albeit, you don’t know how hot it actually is, considering you’d deliberately shown up late. He never did anything wrong to you, neither did the hot chocolate. You shouldn’t punish them for Kyungsoo’s wrongdoing. 

“Ok.” You grab it with a polite smile. He nods thankfully, happy to get more space on the tiny arm desk. You take a sip and watch a light pink post it fall from the cup. 

unblock me please :) - dks 

You scoff quietly and stick it in your notebook. Not that you wanted to keep it. You were just going to throw it in the recycling bin, like a good samaritan. Though, you do have to turn the page to cover it when you catch yourself staring at it a few too many times. 

The professor prepares to end the lesson. You begin to pack your things and mentally prepare yourself to squeeze by the same people you bothered at the beginning. You mutter quick apologies, holding your bag close to you as not to hit anyone. 

Like some cliché, you open the door to reveal Kyungsoo waiting for you on the other side, leaning against a wall with a plastic bag and phone in his hand. He doesn’t realize you’ve come out the door. Not with the way he keeps his eyes on his phone.  

You frown and move as swiftly as you can.  

The rush of wind catches Kyungsoo’s attention. And it’s too late for you to speed before he’s already by your side.  

“Can you slow down a bit? Please?” He has the audacity to ask.  

“No.” You try to walk faster but you fail. Kyungsoo was the jock after all. 

“I got you ice cream.” He waves the plastic bag your way.  

You finally stop walking and look at him, his expression hopeful. You grab the notebook from your backpack and take the sticky note out. 

“I don’t want it, Kyungsoo.” You push the plastic bag into his chest along with the tiny pink paper. “The flowers, the hot chocolate, the note, the ice cream. I don’t want any of it. Don’t you understand? You didn’t just hurt my feelings. You deliberately lied to me to win a bet and crushed me. This- Material crap won’t make any of my insecurities go away. I’m not going to immediately start trusting you again after I taste something sweet.” 

Kyungsoo reaches out to you, but you flinch and take a step back. You put a hand out to stop him from getting any closer. 

“I hate that I let you into my life. I hate that you made me like you. I hate that I can’t even fully hate you for doing this.” 

It’s embarrassing yelling at him like this in front of so many people. It’s even more humiliating realizing that you’ve been shedding tears. 

“So please, if even an ounce of it was real to you, like you said it was, please understand that this isn’t something you can easily fix with gifts or an apology. I need you to leave me alone.”  

“Y/N, I-” He tries again, his eyes becoming watery too. His hand twitches as if he’s trying to stop himself from reaching out to you. You can’t even tell if he’s still playing the game. It all feels so real. But you’re not sure anymore. 

“Kyungsoo, please.” You shake your head, lips quivering and cheeks wet. Kyungsoo stands there awkwardly as you plead in front of an audience of judging students’ eyes.  

That’s when he takes an assertive step towards you. 

You let him take your hand as he puts the bag in your hold. It’s warm and makes your heart calm down just a bit. It’s nice, even for just a second, to have him hold you like this.  

“Take this, at least, and I promise I’ll leave you alone after this.” His voice is shaky.  

You stare at his hand in yours for a second too long. He’s smiling at you despite his eyes telling – no, screaming at you that he was not okay with leaving you alone. Not at all.  

Your heart breaks a bit more than it already has. You lower your hand with the ice cream and Kyungsoo finally lets you go. You swallow nervously and walk away from him. 

You wanted to believe that there was gray - that what he did could be forgiven. But your heart was far too weak and would simply not allow it. All you wanted to do was close yourself off, return to who you were before Kyungsoo. 

And you couldn’t do that if he was there every single day, reminding you why you fell for him in the first place. 

-------- 

“Um,” Chanyeol interrupts your sulking on the bed. Your face first in your black sheets so when you look up at him, it’s hard to see where you cried. “Me and Baek are going out. Did you want to join us?” 

“Not really.” You plop your face back into the pillow.  

You had originally been studying for your finals, but evidently, could not focus. 

“Come on. Let’s do something. We’ll go wherever you want.” Baekhyun’s voice is loud and bright. Most importantly, convincing. Hanging out with Baekhyun does sound fun. You peek from your pillow to find Baekhyun’s beaming smile. He gives you that knowing look that gets you smiling within seconds.   

“Can I drive?” You ask, voice muffled from the pillow. 

“No way!” 

“Absolutely!” 

Baekhyun smiles as he hits Chanyeol. “This is the perfect time to teach her stick!” He exclaims as both you and Chanyeol wince for different reasons. Chanyeol is nervous about his car while you get reminded of your driving lessons with Kyungsoo. 

“I’ve been learning.” You mutter, glancing at Chanyeol for a reaction. He doesn’t look impressed, rolling his eyes, but nudging his head towards the door. His cool way of telling you “yeah okay”.  

Baekhyun, on the other hand, is ecstatic for you. He doesn’t have a manual but he knows Chanyeol and he knows what a big deal this is for you. Baekhyun himself has only driven it a handful of times. He excitingly waves for you to come quickly, despite not being dressed.  

“We’re not going anywhere crazy.” Chanyeol says, wanting to leave the house right away. 

As promised, your brothers let you take them to wherever you want to go. Wherever you want turns out to be a board game pub in the city you’ve always wanted to visit but could never find anyone to go with. 

“You’re so annoying.” You complain when Chanyeol builds yet another road to block yours, giving him the longest road award.  

“And you’re a sore loser.” Chanyeol sticks his tongue out as he steals the road card with your 2 points. You roll your eyes and turn to Baekhyun. 

“Please tell me you have 2 secret points in your cards.” Your eyes are pleading. If anyone could humble Chanyeol, it’s Baekhyun. His best friend only smiles and shrugs, not giving away anything.  

You roll the dice and laugh pitifully when you roll a 7. Normally, you’d steal from Chanyeol but he just used all his resources to build that massive wall of a road.  

“Sorry.” You apologize to Baekhyun who can only smile.  

“It’s just a game.” He says as you pull a sheep from him.  

“I guess I’ll pull a development card.” You exchange the cards for a special one. You groan when you see another knight card.  

“Are you done?” Chanyeol smiles teasingly. 

“Yes, I’m done, Chanyeol.” You say, bored. 

“Okay, I’m going to build 2 roads with my development card. Build a settlement. And I win.” Baekhyun talks you through his winning hand. He steals the road card and reveals the 2 secret victory points. You immediately start laughing at Chanyeol’s face of disbelief. Only Baekhyun is capable of defeating Chanyeol. And oh, did that make you happy. 

“I love this game.” You exclaim as you start cleaning up the board game. “Did you guys want to play a different game?” 

“Whatever you like, Y/N. We really just wanted to hang out with you.” Baekhyun says for the both of them. It warms your heart that you had brothers like them to come cheer you up like this. You and Chanyeol butt heads most times, but when it counts. He’s there.  

“Want another drink?” Chanyeol asks, already over being the loser. You nod, about to get up to join him and maybe look for a different game to play. Baekhyun gently grabs onto your wrist. You turn back, confused. 

“I was just gonna find a game.” You tell him, pointing in the direction of the shelf. 

“I know. Sit for a sec. I wanna talk to you.” His smile is always so bright and comforting. You forget he holds a black belt in hapkido and has beaten people’s asses before. You return to your seat. 

You’re not really sure where Baekhyun is going with this. Your relationship was more of an extended brother, one that would make you crouch so he could practice his jumps. There were never deep-talks at night. Chanyeol and Baekhyun kind of left you alone when you were feeling down. They would ask to hang out to get you smiling again. They would give consequences to those who put you down. 

Talking. Talking is new. 

“I wanted to ask how you were doing. Chanyeol told me what he did, but other than that. I don’t really know how you’re doing. Clearly, not great.” Baekhyun jokes as the image of you plopped face down on your bed flashes into his mind.  

“I’m ok. I told him to leave me alone yesterday.” You purse your lips, doing your best not to pout. Baekhyun leans back, taking a sip of his drink. “And I don’t know. It’s sad. I’m sad. He says he likes me but what if he’s still trying to win the bet. I don’t know. I feel like I should feel lucky that Kyungsoo even ‘wants’ to date someone like me, just accept his apology and ignore this all happened. But I can’t. It’s weird. I feel so weird.” 

“’S not weird. It was a really shitty thing to do.” He replies, scoffing to himself at how insane this situation is. “You still like him?” 

“Unfortunately.” You sigh, not needing another reminder. It was so easy to fall for him. 

“Then wait til after the semester’s over. See if he’s still interested after.” Baekhyun leans closer to the table and places the glass on the coaster. “I promise a guy who actually likes you would not leave you alone that easily.” 

“I guess.” You shrug, leaning back against your chair.  

You don’t think you have it in you to actually wait 2 weeks for Kyungsoo. You’ll try to move on in the meantime, but there was no harm in seeing if Baekhyun was right. 

-------- 

You don’t know what you were expecting. 

Kyungsoo actually leaving you alone did not surprise you, but you would be lying if you said you weren’t a tiny bit disappointed. You did tell him to leave you alone after all. Who were you to be upset that he respected your wishes?  

Finals pass in a blur and so did your feelings for Kyungsoo. 

It helped that you didn’t see Kyungsoo or his friends this past month, not once. You couldn’t find them in the lecture hall. You scanned every seat for them, and not a single one had Kyungsoo in it. He didn’t surprise you after class with ice cream. 

Kyungsoo listened. And you finally felt at peace knowing that you could truly move on. 

Now you knew, Kyungsoo was never really serious about his feelings for you. Now you knew, he was just a liar that would have done anything to win a bet.  

To congratulate yourself for getting this far, you take yourself out for a self-love date. It doesn’t take long for you to stumble across the thrift store where Kyungsoo found the Spider-Man comic.  

You haven’t been since Kyungsoo. You’ve been aching to go since finals ended, but you didn’t have the courage to go til now.  

You beeline to the mountains of comics and take a deep breath, eyes shining at the marvel in front of you. You started at one corner, crouching down and flipping through the frail books.  

Before you knew it, a pile was growing at your side. Every single time you’d find something interesting, you’d put it aside. You didn’t even care to check for the value on some of them. Today was for you. You didn’t want to think about anything else, just superheroes. 

The bell to the front door barely breaks your focus. Not many people have been coming in here today. You don’t pay them any attention. 

“I’ll be right with you. I’ll just grab them in the back.” The store clerk says in a giddy tone.  

Flip ‘Burn Nightwing Burn!’ You add it to the pile. 

Flip ‘Gotham City Sirens’ Hmm, it’s a pretty cover, you think. You add it to the pile. 

“Thank you so much for your help.”  

You freeze at the unmistakably familiar voice. You crouch even more than you were, attempting to hide. There was no way he knew you were here right now. You shake your head. He hasn’t reached out in a month. He doesn’t like you. You’re over that. You try to remind yourself of the efforts you’ve made and how far you’ve come. You return to what you came here for.  

Flip ‘War of the Worlds’ Maybe you’ll pass on these for today. 

Flip - 

“It’s no worries. You can always go through me if you need to grade anymore. My friend works there so you don’t need to drown in all those fees. Alright?” The clerk says. Grade? What could Kyungsoo be possibly be grading? 

Your body straightens as your curiosity rises. Your neck stretches as you try and take a peek at what Kyungsoo bought. You purse your lips when all you see is a box in his arms. Without thinking, your legs follow him out the store, leaving the poor pile of comics on the dusty carpet. 

You don’t even know what the plan was. Were you just going to follow him until he turns around and shows you what he got? You didn’t plan on confronting him at all. You never even planned on meeting him at all! 

It was supposed to be: get through ASTRO101 and never see him again.  

Not get through ASTRO101 and follow him out of the thrift store. 

You don’t realize how insane you are until he’s getting into his car, and you stealthily hide in an alleyway, away from his mirrors. You know you’ve completely lost it when you haul a cab soon after and ask him to follow Kyungsoo’s car.  

You’ve gone crazy. That must be it. You’ve truly lost your mind. Because there was no way you were making a taxi follow Kyungsoo out of curiosity. It had to be because you were becoming clinically insane.  

This must be how Harley Quinn felt following The Joker. Maybe Kyungsoo was your villain origin story. 

You shake your head, no, you don’t like him anymore. 

You reach for your wallet and pay the driver when he parks the car to the side and waits for you to quit daydreaming. 

“Sorry.” You apologize timidly, embarrassed by all of this. Kyungsoo was already out of the car and walking up the stairs to an apartment you assume is his. “You can keep the change.”  

You stumble out of the backseat and watch him from below. Your heart races seeing him again. He’s wearing a baseball cap, a white shirt and some cargo pants. It’s so effortless, and yet so cool. You hesitate to go up. You’ve come this far. How could you stop now? 

Kyungsoo struggles to open the door with the box in his arm. He turns around and sets it on the floor, catching your curious stare. Busted. You gulp when you think you catch a glimpse of his eyes lighting up at the sight of you. 

Your mood sinks when his eyes shift elsewhere. He turns around and unlocks his door instead of acknowledging you. He quickly grabs the box and shuts the door, leaving you agape at the bottom of the stairs. 

It was unbelievable. He saw you. He definitely did. 

You know you begged him to leave you alone, but a quick wave would have been polite, at the very least. 

Your legs irrationally bring you up the stairs. You don’t even know what you’ll say to him. All you know is that you’re upset he’d ignore you like that. 

You knock on the door. 

He opens it, surprised. Not sure why he’s so surprised, he literally saw you. 

“Y/N... Hi.” He says awkwardly. 

“Yeah hi. I get that I said to leave me alone. But why would you ignore me like that? You clearly saw me!” You frown. You don’t think you’re yelling, but the way he looks behind him at the other door makes you think you’re being a tad bit loud.  

“Come inside. My neighbours will hear you.” He gently places a hand on your arm to get you to come in. You eye the box, still in his hand. You shut the door as he takes off his shoes. You follow, biting your lip nervously. You’ve never been to Kyungsoo’s place before.  

You’re right behind him as you climb up more stairs to his place. It’s small, perfect for one person. There’s a living room as soon as you reach the top and the bedroom is right next to it. Your eyes scan to the right to find an office space and some recording equipment. His place is minimal. Not heavily decorated.  

It makes the sole box on the floor seem out of place.  

“So, you came all this way to yell at me for following orders?” He places the box over the other and crosses his arms, lips dying to curve as he teases you. 

“T-They weren’t orders.” You stutter, finding his stance a bit too belittling. “I just think it’s rude that you didn’t even give me a smile back there. You saw me.” 

He tilts his head to the side with a sly lift of his lips.  

“You wanted to see me smile?” He was enjoying this and you just wanted to go back to the thrift store to bury yourself under the mountains of comics.  

“No, wait, that’s not what I meant. I just- You were really rude!” You try to explain. You came marching to him with confidence, and here he was, deteriorating all your efforts with a single smile.  

He approaches you, backing you into the stairs with nowhere else to go, except down.  

“What’re you even doing here? This is far from your place.” He raises an eyebrow curiously.  

“I... was at the thrift store.” You say, feeling caught. 

“I was just there.” Kyungsoo says surprisingly. “It’s a coincidence that you’d walk right by my place as soon as I got home. Did you get anything cool?”  

He glances at your empty hands. He smirks and takes it upon himself to peek in your tote bag, using a single finger to open the bag a little wider for him. He turns to look at you knowingly. There was not a single comic book in there, just a water bottle and your Batman wallet. “Couldn’t find anything?” 

“N-No.” You gulp, his face inches away from yours. His plush lips were right there. It was taking everything in you not to glance at them. 

“Did you follow me, Y/N?” He asks, towering over you. You were well under his hat - heels centimeters away from falling off his stairs. He was so close to you. There was no way out. 

But you couldn’t help it. You didn’t want out. Not with the way he was looking at you. 

You stand on your tiptoes and kiss him, tote bag falling off your shoulder and down the top step. Without hesitation, Kyungsoo places a hand on your lower back and pulls you in closer. His hat bumps into your glasses. Kyungsoo quickly removes it, throwing it on the sofa, before hurriedly returning to your lips.  

“It was killing me. Not seeing you anymore.” He admits through breaths. “I really missed you. Did you?” 

His eyes search yours for a sign that you did miss him too. 

Despite convincing yourself that you moved on, you really haven’t, did you?  

“A bit.” 

Kyungsoo’s face beams upon hearing your words. He grabs your face and kisses you enthusiastically.  

“I’m really sorry again for everything. I didn’t mean to hurt you. None of it was fake-”  

You frown and cut him off with a kiss, walking him into the couch. He trips and falls onto the cushion, taken aback.  

“I was apologizing.” Kyungsoo blinks in disbelief. He doesn’t seem to mind that much by the way he’s rubbing your denim covered thighs.  

“I know. You didn’t change your speech.” You try and suppress the smile growing on your face. 

“It’s not a speech! I really feel that way. Yes, I approached you for the wrong reasons, but the bet went out the window the moment I got to know you and spend time with you. Teaching you to drive, getting ice cream, ‘studying’ with you. I didn’t care what we did. I just wanted to spend all of my time with you. How can I make you see that?” Kyungsoo doesn’t stop massaging your side. His eyes are begging you to hear him.  

You sigh, tired of all this.  

Your heart was exhausted, listening to Kyungsoo, falling for Kyungsoo, beating for Kyungsoo. He made you feel so seen and wanted. Your heart was tired of the never-ending loop of should you or shouldn’t you, wanting to find a way to convince that stubborn mind of yours. 

“I think I’m tired of pretending I’m not able to forgive you.” You say lowly. Kyungsoo darts his eyes to your pair expectingly. 

“You forgive me?” He’s looking up at you, unable to hide the stupid grin on his face.  

“That’s not what I said.” You scoff, returning a small smile. You push your glasses that have fallen a bit lower from the bridge of your nose because of how long you’ve been looking down at Kyungsoo. 

His grip suddenly tightens around your thigh, not too tight that it hurts, but enough for you to know you did something to trigger him. You gulp when he tugs you a bit closer so you were standing in between his legs. 

“Then what did you mean?” He questions you, stupid grin still visible. It looks like you didn’t upset him. His hands were rubbing your lower back, mindlessly massaging you for an answer. Your mind can’t think when he’s biting his bottom lip and staring up at you so cunningly. “What can I do to make you forgive me? Hm?” 

“Can you stop that?” You force his smile down in annoyance with two fingers, making his lips frown like some reverse Joker. “It’s making me nervous.” 

You can’t lie though. Being like this with Kyungsoo felt like a dream. You, yourself, could not stop the grin growing on your face.  

“It’s hard to forgive you.” You sound like a broken record. You think this conversation isn’t going anywhere, just like the last two talks you had with him. 

“Then why did you come here? What do you want from me?” You don’t stop him from rubbing your thighs comfortingly. He doesn’t ask with malice or hurt in his voice. He asks with a complaisant tone. 

So you say the one thing your heart’s been begging you to confess. 

“I really just want you right now.” It comes out breathier than you intend, not realizing how long you’ve been holding your breath for. Kyungsoo’s smile grows under you. 

“Then have me.” 

You feel a knot growing in your stomach as you watch his warm gaze scan you. He has your whole body heating up on his lap. 

Like a moth to a flame, you lean down to press your lips softly against his. His hands shoot up to encompass your body, running up and down your back. 

This didn’t feel real.  

Kyungsoo smiles between kisses. His tongue dances with yours, making that knot grow especially heavier. It makes you suddenly aware of how experienced Kyungsoo is and how inept you are. 

“I don’t know what to do.” You admit between breaths, resting a hand on his chest. His heart’s racing in the palm of your hand. The privilege of feeling the warm beat of his heart is taken away when he takes a hold of your fingers and brings it to his lips, kissing your palm sweetly.  

“I’ll show you.” He says lowly near your ear as he shifts under you. You feel your chest get heavier and you take a deep breath to ease the nerves. Kyungsoo sees this and pauses. 

“We can stop. I’m happy just being here with you.” 

“No, I want to.” You fold your lips into your mouth, trying to hide how shy you are feeling right now. You play with your hair cluelessly, tucking them behind your ear.  

“I’ve wanted this for a long time.” You confess, avoiding his gaze, still shy.  

“Me too.” Kyungsoo chases after your eyes with a smile. He’s looking at you the same way he did before he became the man who played you for a bet. And for now, that’s all you want to remember him by.  

“Take these off.” He unbuttons your jeans for you and plays with the waistline until you shimmy it off, leaving you in your underwear. Kyungsoo is unable to hide his smirk when he sees the little yellow bat logo. He rubs your side, looking up at you and making that knot grow inside of you.  

“You’re so pretty, Y/N.” He says before placing a kiss on your inner thigh. You feel your heat pulse when he runs two fingers across your folds. “So warm.” 

“Put your leg up for me?” He asks but he’s already moving you the way he wants you to, lifting your inner thigh so that your knee was near his head. You don’t know what to expect, letting him take control of everything. You gasp and grab a hold of his shoulder when he pulls your underwear to the side and laps his tongue on your slit.  

“Kyungsoo.” You moan when he brings his face closer to your opening, letting his mouth devour you – sucking and licking you with intensity. Your grip on him tightens, feeling bad that you might be hurting him. You do your best not to hold him too strongly, eyes shutting tightly to compensate. When you thought you wouldn’t be able to handle anymore, he slides a finger inside, slowly fucking you. 

“Look at me.” He finally comes up for air. “’s it feel good?”  

You nod, using the back of your hand to stifle your moan when he adds a second finger. 

“D’you like it?” He tries angling his fingers different ways until he finds the reaction he’s looking for. And when he gets it, the back of your hand isn’t enough to cover that moan.  

“Kyungsoo!” You call out his name, unconsciously pushing him away from the overstimulation. He’s stronger than you are though, keeping himself steady as you lose it above him. He continues to hit that spot in you as he devours your cunt with his tongue.  

“You’re not looking. I want to remember the first time I make you cum.” His other hand grabs onto yours and places it on his other shoulder – still fucking you with his fingers by the way. 

“Just squeeze here. You won’t hurt me.” He tells you before returning his mouth on your body. His eyes are looking up at you, compelling you to hold the eye contact. You can feel him smile as he continues eat you like it’s the last meal he’ll ever get.  

Your glasses slide down your nose once again and you almost push them up until Kyungsoo goes faster, sucking and slurping your juices. Your grip tightens on his shoulder and you feel your glasses fall even further.  

“Don’t.” Kyungsoo warns when you try to push them back. “The glasses don’t move.” 

You immediately come undone, body shaking as Kyungsoo’s fingers fuck you through your orgasm. Your heavy breathing as Kyungsoo takes his fingers out and shows you how wet you got, spreading his fingers to create a web of your juices.  

“Well, how was that?” 

You can’t help but laugh. You straddle him on the couch and tackle his lips. 

“So good.” You smile and finally, push your glasses up.  

“Good enough to forgive me?” He tucks a hair behind your ear, eyes shining as he scans your face, glowing in sweat. 

“Mhmmm.” You feign thinking. 

“Oh, that’s not a good response. Let me try again.”  

“Kyungsoo!” You squeal when he flips you on your back and situates his head at your entrance again. 

“Gonna make you cum til you forgive me.” 

-------- 

You stay over at Kyungsoo’s, unable to move too much with the throbbing pain between your legs. Kyungsoo hands you a mug with hot chocolate and joins you on the couch, spreading a blanket across you two.  

“Is this really your favourite Batman?” Kyungsoo turns to you with a questioning look.  

“I know it’s not the coolest, but it reminds me of my childhood. We had the VHS and we would always watch it.” You take a sip of the hot drink before setting it down and resting your head on his shoulder. Snuggling Kyungsoo was a lot warmer. He kisses the top of your head and pulls you in closer. 

“Kyungsoo,” You say, tone serious. “Were you really gonna leave me alone?” 

He looks down to find you already staring up at him.  

“You asked me to.” 

“I know... But-” 

“It’s what you wanted. I didn’t want to hurt you anymore than I did.” He continues, cutting you off. “I like you, Y/N. A lot. I don’t want you out of my life, ever, but if letting you go meant you’ll see how much I respect and care for you, then it would have been worth it. I hope I can spend every second together proving that my intentions are true.” 

You place a hand on his jaw and reach for his lips, kissing him. 

“I really thought you’d keep bugging me. I’m glad you didn’t.” You laugh, turning back to watch the movie. 

“And I’m glad you followed me from the comic book store.”  

You freeze and slowly turn to him instead. 

“I didn’t follow you!” You deny, deny, deny until you feel the blood rush to your cheeks in embarrassment. 

“Yes you did! I saw you get out of that cab!” He laughs at you, squeezing your cheek teasingly. 

“I just- What did you have graded?? I didn’t even know they did that there.” You pout. 

“Wow, you really did stalk me.” He scoffs, shaking his head disapprovingly.  

“I did not!” You shout. “What’s in the box?”  

Kyungsoo gulps. You look at him suspiciously, then to the box on the floor. 

You quickly get up from the couch, the aching now forgotten from your adrenaline rush, and run to grab the box. You open it and find multiple graded comic books. Not just any. All Batman themed. Some of them weren’t even valuable but he got them graded anyways. 

Were these for you? 

“Ok, you caught me.” He says, towering over you. “I wanted to build this massive collection for you after our first date to try and win you back but then you told me off and that plan went out the window.” 

“You’re welcome to have them if you’re still interested. I was going to sell them if you threw them in my face or something.” Kyungsoo laughs, rubbing the back of his neck.  

“This must have cost a lot...” You scan through the comics in awe. You tear up thinking about him scanning through the dusty piles of comic books, picking ones he thought you’d like then paying to have them graded. If you didn’t forgive him before, you certainly did now.  

You drop the box and wrap your arms around him tightly.  

“You like me.” You mutter in his chest to yourself, finally feeling convinced. 

“I do. I really, really do.” Kyungsoo smiles, pulling you close and kissing the top of your head. 

minseok - acts of service

its basically built in as part of his personality - that dependability, the feeling that whenever you break, he'll be there to put you back together. he's quiet about the things he does for you, playing them off if you ever ask about it - "its nothing, really". but small things add up, and you really do appreciate how there's always a mug of coffee just the way you like it waiting for you on your nightstand when you wake up, or how whenever you have a long day all your chores are magically completed by the time you get home. he likes knowing that he can help you out, that his stability is a pillar for you as well.

junmyeon - gift giving

he blurs the line between boyfriend and sugar daddy at this point. at least once a week you'll come home to a box on the kitchen table with the name of some luxary brand on the face of it - jewelery, clothing, shoes, bags, or anything else you could want, he'd get it for you. early on in your relationship, you were almost hesitant to accept all of this, but he quickly set those worries aside with how dead set he was on what he would call providing for you. making you happy, and carrying along little reminders of him wherever you go.

yixing - physical touch

a sweetheart. and more than that, a dedicated one. he's always got his hands on you in one way or another - he rests his hand on the small of your back, or clasps it together with your own, or drags his thumb across your cheek when you're on the verge of falling asleep. he's recently taken a liking to playing with your hair, braiding and unbraiding it slowly as your attention is on the tv, or a conversation with a friend. his touch is grounding, reflective of him as a person, a silent reminder of his love and devotion.

baekhyun - words of affirmation

kyoong teases you endlessly, but praises you twice as much. he's such a direct person that if he wants you to know something, he'd tell you instantly - which is why you are constantly met with "i love you" and "you look gorgeous" and compliments and toothy grins. and if you were to ever detest something he had said, maybe your insecurities were bad that day or you were just not feeling your best, he'd be soooo quick to turn around your attitude. after all, you were his girl, his angel, his one and only ... he can't have you not seeing yourself the way he does. 

chanyeol - quality time

he's a fan of literally any activity as long as you're there doing it with him. invite him anywhere and he's putting his shoes on before you can even say where you're going.  he just loves having you around, no matter where you are. even if you're too tired to go out, he's a big fan of doing things seperately but together. oftentimes he'll find himself on the couch, laptop in front of him displaying a new track he's been working on, while you have your head in his lap and a book in your hands, reading away quietly. really, as long as you're somewhere near him, he's happy.

kyungsoo - acts of service

he handles your responsibilities before you even get the chance to think about them. he's always cooking for you ... obviously, because how could you ever turn that down? following the recipes to your favorites  for dinner and experimenting away the next morning for breakfast, making notes of what you do or don't like. is surprisingly good at handywork around the house. you'll catch him fixing that squeaky chair when he has the time, or looking at that door that never fully closes. it's second nature to him, making sure you're all taken care of.

jongin - physical touch

he's such a teddy bear 😭😭 always burying his nose in the crook of your neck or giving you a back hug while you work, resting his chin on the top of your head. so much pda because he literally can't help himself. will put his arm around your shoulder or your waist, will kiss your cheek or your forehead when you're in the middle of talking, will hold your thigh while he's driving... he just can't keep away from you !! and best believe at the end of the day when the two of you are ready to go to sleep, he's clinging to you for dear life, an arm draped across your stomach and a leg hooked onto your own. he just loves feeling close to you.

sehun - quality time

if i had to describe sehun in one word, it would be genuine. and when sehun genuinely loves someone, i think the way he'd show it would be through him always wanting to be beside them. he carves time out of his busy schedule to be with you. random day trips, late nights at home, dinner dates, anything. he also has a deep appreciation for when you do the same for him, cracking a smile when you ask him if he wants to go out, and replying with a smug "miss me already?"

sorry for no jongdae 😭😭 i felt a little iffy adding him in when he has like. a whole ass family idk !! but i guess if any of you do want to see him then i can do his seperately :P just lmk!

he sighs. “will you just look at me? you don’t need to say anything.”

you turn to him, eyes fixed on his, but they’re devoid of warmth. you look…tired. and he hates seeing you that way. but he persists, swallowing a lump in his throat.

“i love you.”

silence.

“i didn’t mean for any of that to happen. at all.”

“but it did,” you say monotonously.

“and i’m truly sorry that it did. i didn’t expect her of all people to be there. i didn’t know chanyeol hyung would invite her, either.”

“doesn't he know how weird your ex is?”

kyungsoo winces. “a little, yeah. but i haven’t heard from her in months. you know that. and hyung's just..friendly.”

“just like she is, right?”

kyungsoo runs a hand through his hair, a frustrated exhale escaping his lips. “i don’t know what to say,” he says eventually. “it’s not like i called her to the party. i haven’t wanted to be around her in ages anyway. and i’m here with you, not her. i even pushed her away the second she tried making a move on me. i’m sorry you saw that, and i’m sorry it even happened in the first place. but i don’t know what else to say.”

your gaze drops to your hands resting on your lap. “can we just go home?” you ask quietly.

kyungsoo hates hearing how silent your voice is, like you’re trying not to take up space, but then—

“my home. i think i want to spend the night alone. please, soo,” you add, before he has a chance to interject.

his heart feels like it’s been stabbed. of course it’s not your fault for feeling that way, but he can't ignore how it hurts.

“yeah,” he says, turning on the ignition, hand trembling a little. hopefully you haven’t seen that. “i’ll—yeah. i’ll make sure you get home safe, at least.”

the drive home—to your home—is painfully quiet. there’s no sound of songs from the radio, or your shared playlist, or even random things from your day you always fill kyungsoo in on. it’s just silence, the occasional sound of horns from other vehicles, or the sound of gravel crunching underneath the car’s tyres.

kyungsoo doesn’t like it one bit. it’s unnatural. totally against the way your relationship works. he’s used to listening quietly while he hears you talk. he loves your voice. he loves knowing about things that make you happy. and he loves that you don’t mind him not talking as much. but when you’re silent, too, it feels like there’s something really wrong with the world.

it's not long before you reach your apartment. kyungsoo parks the car and pulls the handbrake. for a minute, neither of you says anything. then you unbuckle your seatbelt and grab your bag.

“’night, kyungsoo,” you say, not looking at him, and that’s what finally breaks him.

he reaches out to grab your hand, fingers finding yours.

he’ll take the silence. he’ll take you being upset for whatever happened tonight even though it’s not exactly his fault. but having to hear his full name?

kyungsoo may not be a softie to everyone who knows him, but he’ll be damned if he goes to bed without hearing you call him by his nickname.

“i love you. tell me you know that.”

you sigh. “...i do.”

“only you, sweetheart. there’s been no one else for me since you, and i know there won’t be anyone else again. believe me, please?”

he can almost see the cogs running in your brain, thinking over his words, and then you slump in your seat, posture no longer poised.

“you said it was going to be a fun night out tonight.”

“i know. and i’m so s—”

“i’m not mad at you, soo,” you say, finally looking at him. “just…upset. but don’t apologize to me. it’s not your fault.”

your words feel like ambrosia to a starving man. “sweetheart…”

“i just wanted to hear that from you. that you love me.”

“what can i do to make you believe me? do you want me to shout it to everyone? i can try doing that for you.”

there’s a smile on your face. finally. kyungsoo’s grip on your hand relaxes, but you hold his tighter.

“who are you, and what did you do to my usually reserved boyfriend?”

“just a man in love with you,” kyungsoo says, reaching out to cup your face in his hand.

you close your eyes and lean into his touch. “always know what to say, don’t you?”

“it’s just the truth.”

you nod. “i love you too, soo. sorry i acted like that. i didn't want to ruin your mood.”

“you didn't,” he insists, appalled at the very thought. “i'm always happy when i'm with you.”

there's silence again, but it's comfortable this time. eventually, you move away to open the door and get out.

part of him wants to follow you home, occupy his side of your bed, fall asleep to the sound of your breathing.

the other part of him, the gentlemanly part, resists. you wanted to be alone, after all.

but then you're leaning in through the open window, a confused look on your face.

“you're not coming with me?”

kyungsoo sits up. “i thought you said—”

“yeah, well, that was before my boyfriend declared his love to me like the cheesiest man in the world. hurry up now, i want to see that movie you were talking about yesterday.”