#jjh

turning your dominant leg to your left, you pushed yourself out of that situation and started sprinting down the hallway. you were probably 13 feet away from him before he finally figured out what was going on.

"wait, wh— are you running?!" he exclaimed. you said nothing in response, letting your footsteps do the talking but shortly after, you heard his steps start behind you.

so here you were, running through halls, up some stairs, more halls, a lot of halls actually, and he was right behind you. the whole. time.

"y/n! at least slow down! or say something!" he tried. you could hear him huffing. he was a few seconds behind you but he still hadn't caught you yet. if you just ran a little faster you could get to your dorm and have time to lock the door too.

"can we talk about this?" he pleaded, his voice getting farther away. were you a track star or something? where was all this stamina coming from?

you were so close. just one more hall and you were there. a few more steps. a little longer...

as soon as you could, you got your key, shoving it into the door and forcing it open as fast as humanly possible. by the time he caught up the door slammed shut in his face.

he huffed outside your door, catching his breath, "what the fuck?" you could see him through the peephole. your whole entire body was pumping adrenaline, not processing how long you ran for. it was like you drank four cans of red bull back to back.

"why—" breath, "—why would u fucking run away?"

"just go away! i have my answer."

"how?" still catching his breath? god, wasn't he on the basketball team?

"you sat there for thirty seconds! hesitating—"

"i was processing it! let me in unless you want everyone in this hall to know our business!"

"just leave!"

you heard him take a deep breath and then silence. but not for long.

"y/n, you just confessed your feelings to me. im not leaving until we talk." his voice wasn't loud like before but you could still hear it clear as day through your door. it came through bearing truth and responsibility. you couldn't just hide from your feelings.

but you did run from them.

and honestly, you told jaehyun your feelings so you didn't have to carry the burden! you should totally be able to hide from your feelings! what type of fucked up world would this be if you couldn't?

"y/n," oh whoops. you forgot he was out there for a second.

"come on jaehyun. you already rejected me so just go."

"what..?" he let out another breath. this one was because of confusion, not because of the mini marathon from before. "when did i... y/n let me in. i can't tell if you're joking or not."

"why would i be joking? you stood there gaping at me! for thirty seconds—!"

"it wasn't thirty seconds! why would you even be counting that? that doesn't make any sense— and for gods sake! i was processing it!" the neighbors were definitely listening in. it was a sight to see: the star basketball player, jeong jaehyun, outside YOUR dorm room pleading to be let in. you just wished he would leave or something.

"that's an excuse!! if you don't like me you could just say that!"

"we're not doing this out here. let me in," as he spoke those last three words you heard the doorknob jiggle. and then the door opened. and then you were met, face to face, yet again, with jaehyun.

"huh, guess i forgot to lock it," you forced a smile onto your face as he stared you down, "well, hello again."

he turned to close the door before looking back at you, "what were you saying before? if i don't like you then say it?" wow, he opened the door just to reject you to your face. what a jerk— "but what about if i do like you?"

um, what?

i'm sorry, beg your pardon?

what did he just say?

"if you do...?" you were still staring at him, your eyes afraid to break contact. you saw a tiny smile forming on his face and hope started to blossom in your chest. was he serious? did he know he was making you imagine a reality where he reciprocated your feelings? did he know how dangerous that was??

"y/n, why would i chase you down all these halls and wait outside your dorm if i didn't like you back?" by now the smile was fully formed on his face, "you're amazing, how could i not like you? especially with you cheering in the bleachers for me every game."

you rolled your eyes but a smile started to inch it's way onto your face as well. because of your crush on jaehyun you started to go to your school's basketball games with your friends. they would cheer for the team and you would cheer for jaehyun.

one of the games was against a rival school so it was kind of a big deal. everyone showed up and cheered for their respective school by bringing signs and pompoms and so you decided to join the fun. you made a sign with your friends and brought it to the game. for majority of it, the sign sat at your feet while you cheered vocally for jaehyun. but there was a point in the game where it was neck to neck and the rival team had a chance of winning. then jaehyun came out of nowhere, taking control of the game and practically gliding across the court where he dunked the ball into his basket. that was when you reached for your sign and screamed at the top of your lungs.

you didn't think he would notice you but he did. he definitely did. he took a few moments to high five his teammates and smile at the crowd and that was when he saw your sign.

high in the crowd of people, it read: ♡ jeong jaehyun, you dunked your way into my heart! i only come to the basketball games for you!!（╹◡╹）♡

because of your sign, jaehyun made it a point to win the game and at his future games, he would look for you in the crowd before they’d start. you’d always be there, in that same spot in the middle of the left-side bleachers. and he’d always smile because of that. because of you.

a few weeks later, he found out you both had a class together: organic chem.

not being able to sleep the night before, jaehyun showed up to class a little earlier than usual. he was getting his laptop ready to take notes when he heard someone enter the classroom a little loudly. it was you. you tripped. but despite the rough entry, jaehyun was super excited to see you. he found himself thinking about you often after his games so to learn that you shared a class was great news for him.

the first time he approached you in class, you were shocked. you were pretty sure he hadn’t known you were in this class. since he was seated closer to the front, he hadn’t looked back in your direction ever this semester.

wait, actually you were pretty sure he hadn’t even known you existed at all so for him to walk up to you during a lab and ask if you knew the answers for a section he was stuck on was just baffling.

“yeah, give me a sec,” you had said, only to turn to the page he was talking about and realize you did not know the answers. in fact, you had wrote in big letters under each question “WHAT DOES THIS EVEN MEAN??!” and “FUCK THIS” respectively. and he saw. and laughed.

“do you wanna join my study group?” he asked after you shut your book with an unreasonable amount of force. of course you had said yes, you weren’t dumb. this was a prime opportunity to get close to him. you didn’t realize his study group consisted of only him though. can’t even call it a group. jaehyun, come on. basic knowledge says a group is more than two people.

for the study “group”, you both would meet up in the library and go over chemistry questions. and neither of you would understand it. it was a sad sight, really, but to you both? it was the best part of your day. you both got closer to each other by bonding over not understanding the class until you found that jaehyun was becoming a big part of your life and you, his.

it was strange.

but you both became really good friends.

well, that is until your crush basically started to eat at you and you couldn’t take it. sitting next to him in the library while he tried to make sense of a chemistry question, meeting up after his games, sitting in the passenger seat of his car while he drove you both to get milkshakes, it was too much for you. you couldn’t take it.

which leads us back to the present: jaehyun was walking you back to your dorm after your “study session” for your upcoming exams. he left his car parked at your dorm so he could bring it up when you inevitably nagged him saying he didn’t have to walk you back.

you paused in the lobby as he pushed the button for the elevators. when the door opened, he moved to get on but realized you weren’t next to him.

“y/n? what are you doing?” he asked, confused, as he looked back at you, “come on.”

if you didn’t say it right in that moment, you feared you would never say it. nerf or fucking nothing, right?

so you rehearsed for about 10 seconds in your head before taking a deep breath and looking up at him.

“jaehyun, i really like you. like romantically. and it’s been a while. i’ve liked you for a while now,” that wasn’t really how you worded it in your 10 second rehearsal but it wasn’t too bad i guess. but he only stared. now his full body was facing you and the remnants of the smile he wore before were now gone.

you kept going though.

“i like you, jaehyun,” you took a shaky breath, “do you feel anything towards me?”

and then you waited.

and waited.

jaehyun still wore the same expression, his brows had just raised slightly since you started but he was still shocked in place. he hadn’t made any motion to say anything. he didn’t even look like he was thinking of saying anything. he was just taking in the scenario. soaking it in.

but each second that passed made you even more of a mess. you wanted him to do something, anything! twitch his eye, move a finger, blink!

but he didn’t.

and then the thirty seconds passed. and so you ran.

but after all that, after running, getting to your dorm, yelling through the door and in the hallway, after he finally opened your door so you could talk like normal people, he was telling you he liked you back?

“jaehyun, you better not be joking,” you warned as he reached for your hands.

he was smiling when you interlocked them, looking up at you, “I’m not, y/n. i really like you.” he pulled you in closer to him, smiling even more when your breath hitched out of surprise.

“should i prove it?”

you nodded.

so he leaned forward, getting closer to your lips with each passing moment until finally meeting them with his own, making your eyes close in response. it was like magic the way his lips molded with yours. magic was actually the only way how you could explain any of this.

he pulled away slowly, smiling as your eyes opened to look up at him.

“was that enough proof? or should i do it again?” the smirk he was giving you was enough to make you weak at the knees but that on top of the kiss he just gave you? there’s only so much you can handle at once.

“i’ll believe you. i don’t think i’d survive another one of those.” he laughed at you but you were being completely serious.

“i can’t believe you thought i didn’t like you back. i thought i was being obvious this whole time,” he pulled you into a hug, reveling in the moment, “i literally invited you to join my study group. i wasn’t in a study group.”

you pulled away with a gasp, “i knew that was weird! you called it a group but it was only us!”

he laughed at your shock, reaching forward to smooth your hair, “that was definitely a spur of the moment thing. I just wanted to a reason to see you more.”

“you’re a big dork,” you replied.

he smiled, “you like it though.”

thinking back to the events leading you to this moment, you couldn’t believe it was ever real. going to that first basketball game and seeing jaehyun fly across the court all night, seeing his wide smile after his team won the game. becoming his study partner after he randomly came up to you during class. and now confessing to him and having him return your feelings. it was all surreal.

“i do,”

if this was a dream, you never wanted to wake up.

masterlist.

“I think, i think we should just, End this.”

This wasn’t where you’d expected it to all end up when the two of you had gotten married. When you’d exchanged rings, vows and promises for the future at the altar before what felt like all the people in the world.

Now, holding your crying daughter in your arms, and staring at the hot tears that streamed down the face you had learnt to love, it felt as though that world was now crashing down before you.

“I’m sorry.” he mumbles, his hands dropping to his sides, and he turns away. The wails of your daughter are almost drowned out by your own thoughts, and only when you hear the door open do you realise that your knees had gone weak.

It’s… It’s over. The walls of your apartment were completely fine, yet it felt as though they were crumbling down around you. The world the two of you had built together was now gone, and all you had left to comfort you were the unrelenting wails of your daughter, and the new silence that had begun to take over your thoughts.