A Guidebook to not Getting Rejected (With Suho)
genre: fluffy college!au, sister's (not best) friend suho x reader, chanyeol x reader (not really) summary: you get rejected by your crush and ask your sister for help to talk to boys </3 lots of misunderstandings and miscommunications heheheheh 7.3k words
You’re pacing back and forth in front of your sister’s room, debating in your head. This feels insanely stupid and childish. You were close to Stephanie. This shouldn’t be hard to ask.
“I can hear you drag your feet out there.” She finally calls out to you, tired of the incessant noise you were making.
“Sorry.” You open her door and carefully shut it behind you. “I need a favor.”
“What kind of favor?” She continues to type on her laptop. Her nails are freshly done in her classic pink shade. Her hair is curled so effortlessly. Her lash extensions look so natural on her. She’s beautiful. She’s always been so beautiful.
“Um,” You find a spot on her freshly made bed and find a plushie to hug to ease your nerves. “There’s this guy...”
The typing is put to a halt and Stephanie slowly turns around to face you, jaw dropped. You have never been interested in boys before. You asked your parents to enroll you in an all-girls high school, that’s how uninterested you were in them. Stephanie cannot believe her own ears. “Say that again.”
“Steph... Please, it’s so embarrassing.” You hide your face in the plushie.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! You’ve just never been into guys like that before.” She sits next to you on her bed, wrapping an arm around your shoulders comfortingly. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“I told a guy I liked him and...” You can’t even say it. It’s too humiliating. “He said I was too... ‘sweet’.” You groan, wishing that the memory of your crush rejecting you dissipates from your mind.
“And what’s wrong with that?” She rubs your back gently. She’s so comforting and warm, sometimes you wonder if all sisters come built like this.
You finally sit up straight and pout in her direction. She tilts her head with a consoling smile.
“Nothing’s wrong with being sweet. Kindness is a strength and anyone would be lucky to have someone as kind as you are.” She gently places a hand on your cheek. “He doesn’t know what he passed on.”
You feel like crying. She is one of the sweetest people you have ever met. She is the definition of perfection. You don’t know what you did in your previous life to deserve a sister like her.
“It’s just...” You think for a second, biting your lips nervously. “I realize I don’t think I even know how to approach guys. Can you teach me?”
Your sister’s brows rise in surprise.
“You’ve had boyfriends before and you have guy friends.” You try to explain the logic behind the thought. You watch her think for a bit, examining your pitiful state (you imagine but you know she’s too sweet to think that of you).
Then, like the fairy godmother that she is, she perks up and agrees.
You have no idea what you just signed up for.
--------
Stephanie, or as her friends call her: Tiffany, invited you to come study with her and her friends at the library. You hadn’t put too much thought into it. So, really, you should have expected this.
You were met with a room of four men and your sister. Sorry, you forgot to add a bit more context. You were met with four extremely attractive men. How your sister met all these guys. You have no clue.
“You found it!” Your sister stands up excitedly, hands settling on your shoulders. “Guys, this is my sister, Y/N. Please take care of her as if she was your own.”
She introduces you to them individually.
There was Minseok: the sports science major with fox-like eyes you wonder how many people have fallen in love with him just by staring into them, Yixing: the fine arts major who smiled sweetly at you before he went back to work, typing away on his laptop, Chanyeol: the music major with the loud voice and who was by far the friendliest and welcoming, and finally Junmyeon: the poli-sci major who immediately caught your eye – you couldn’t tear your eyes off him.
You gulp nervously when Junmyeon smiles at you, his eyes look like they're shining. You weren’t aware how beautifully handsome someone could be. You wonder if he and your sister have ever dated. You feel like they would be the picture-perfect couple.
“Sit here.” Your sister sits you beside Chanyeol who is already beaming at you. It’s kind of freaking you out. You cautiously take out your laptop and shoot him a nervous smile. Were all guys this friendly?
"You look terrified.” Chanyeol grins at you. He’s right. You are. You have never been in the same room as these many guys before. “Don’t worry, we don’t bite.” He says before shooting you a comforting smile and putting his headphones back on.
Curiously, you peek a glance at his screen. Your mouth opens in amazement when you see a complex looking screen with a bunch of colourful bubbles that you don’t think you’ll ever quite understand. Chanyeol feels your stare and pauses his work. “Do you want to hear?”
You nod timidly. He smiles and puts the headphones over your ears. He presses play for you, biting on his lip in anticipation. Your eyes immediately widen in amazement. His voice was the perfect mix of smooth and raspy. Your ears couldn’t believe what you were hearing.
“You made that?” You can’t tell if you’re yelling but Chanyeol is laughing at you and you can’t help but smile back. Interacting with a man seems easy. He nods, shoulders shaking from laughing. “It’s really good!”
Chanyeol loses his shit and throws his head back before taking the headphones off.
“Sure, Chanyeol, destroy my sister’s hearing.” Tiffany says sarcastically before she turns back to Junmyeon who laughs subtly through his nose. She listens intently to him as he gets serious again and explains a concept to her. You watch as his lips purse as he talks – pink and glossy, likely from the constant licking he was doing from talking so much. Your sister doesn’t even look at him when he explains. It’s blowing your mind. This is the first time you are seeing your sister do something wrong. Because Junmyeon looks absolutely stunning. You don’t think you would even be able to concentrate if he was your tutor. You don’t even notice that Chanyeol is asking you a question.
“He’s handsome, huh?” Chanyeol leans in closer so only you could hear him. You jump in your seat and almost fall off when you see how close he is to you. He catches you before you fall.
“What did you think of my song? It’s my final project.” He asks as if he didn’t just catch you ogling his friend.
"I-It was really good!” You stutter like an idiot. You make the mistake of glancing at Junmyeon and your sister who are both staring at you with concern. Of course they are. They’re perfect people. Perfect people who check on the condition of others.
You avert your attention back to the comforting presence that is Chanyeol.
“Ohh! Thank you! I’m so glad you like it.” He cheers and grabs something from his pocket. “Here, have a candy.”
“Are you Pavlov-ing her to like your music?” Junmyeon finally talks loud enough for you to hear and your ears melt. His voice is soft but not in the way that makes him look weak, more in the way that makes people want to listen to what he has to say. But most importantly, you melt because he’s funny too.
“No! She genuinely likes it. Right, Y/N? You’re not lying to be polite?” Chanyeol looks at you expectantly, head tilted playfully with big eyes staring into you.
“N-No! I would never!” You shake your head quickly and turn to Junmyeon to show him that you do enjoy Chanyeol’s music.
When you do, your hearts races.
He’s fully smiling at you, eyes crinkled into crescent moons, wrinkling the corners of his eyes beautifully. You don’t think you’ve ever seen someone smile so brightly like that before.
“I’m just teasing, Y/N.” He laughs it off before returning his attention to your sister.
The heavy feeling in your chest returns as you spend the entire study session sneaking glances at your sister and Junmyeon.
--------
Stephanie’s first step in her guidebook to getting familiar with men is a success. She’s happy to see that Chanyeol has made an impression on you.
“Oh, hey Chanyeol. What’re you doing in my kitchen?” She asks in her pink silk set and matching fluffy pink slippers. She just woke up, yet she looks so put together.
“Chanyeol and I are going to go for a run!” You exclaim, blender in hand.
“That explains the headband.” She taps Chanyeol’s head teasingly before she clicks on the kettle to start boiling her water. Stephanie has a glass of warm water every morning, says it’s good for her metabolism and gut health.
Your sister takes care of her body with a fragility and femininity touch, focusing on what feels right for her body. You take care of your body by putting it through heavy lifting and tracking your macros.
Stephanie does pilates and spin while you powerlift and jog.
“That’s good. You finally found a jogging buddy.” She scrunches her nose at you, booping it affectionately. “Chanyeol, I didn’t know you ran.”
"Not as fast as Y/N.” He smiles in your direction as you pour your magic smoothie that boosts your energy before a run. He has a taste of the green coloured mix, still skeptical. You watch the light in his eyes return and his ears perk up realizing that you haven’t poisoned him. “This is delicious!”
Chanyeol chugs the rest of the drink while you giggle, pouring yourself a glass.
Stephanie stops the kettle midway as not to get to a boil and eyes you both as she drinks her warm water.
“Hm...” She hums, small smile appearing on her lips.
“What’s so funny?” You raise an eyebrow in confusion.
“Nothing.” Her grin doesn’t get any smaller.
Weird.
--------
Stephanie had texted you that the group would be meeting at the same study room you’ve all grown accustomed to. You arrive a lot earlier than the others, opting to study a bit more before you had to be in the same room as Junmyeon. You were in for another distracted session for sure.
You find a spot on the couch near the room that’s still being used by other students. You check the time and pull the tiny coffee table closer to you and get settled. There’s still lots of time to get some work done. You manage to get a head start on your final essay at the end of the semester, drafting the structure and topics you want to highlight. Maybe you should do a bit more of the reading too.
A hand waves in your face, disturbing the current flow state you were in.
You raise your gaze at the culprit in annoyance, brows furrowed.
They quickly raise in surprise instead when you see Junmyeon’s bright smile directed at you. Your mouth is slightly agape. Your hand shakily moves your headphones from your ears, wrapping your neck instead. It’s a bit hard to breathe when he’s looking at you so prettily.
“Can I sit with you?” Junmyeon gestures the empty spot next to you and you scooch a bit to make space.
“O-Of course! Come sit!” You feel like hitting yourself on the head. If Stephanie was here, she would 100% be giggling to herself with how ridiculous you’re acting around him. But how can you act normally when he smells like a fresh basket of laundry and his smile is bright enough to light the city?
“Looks like there’s still people in there.” He makes small talk as he situates himself beside you. He gets comfortable in his seat. He’s wearing the university’s hoodie paired with baggy denim jeans. It’s a simple outfit most people throw on lazily but on him, it looks curated and intentional like he was going for the college boyfriend look. You must be going crazy. Junmyeon’s chuckle breaks you from your reverie.
“Sorry? I wasn’t listening.”
“I figured. I was asking what you were working on.” He’s amused by you. You would too if someone acted a fool around you.
“Oh.” You say, as if you couldn’t believe he would be interested in what you were doing. “My final essay for intro to psych. I was just drafting it. I figured I’d start early so I don’t rush it later.”
“Psych?” He tilts his head. “I thought you were a Kinesiology major.”
You’re surprised he knows this. He’s never asked you this before. Stephanie probably told him when introducing you to the group.
“It’s just an elective my advisor suggested.” You shrug. It wasn’t your first choice but you were growing to like it. It’s just a course to get through the first semester.
“I took it my first semester too. Let me see.” He scoots closer to you and turns your laptop slightly to see your notes. The whole library probably heard the sharp breath you just took the second he got close to you. “Relax, I’m not going to judge.”
He scoffs at your reaction; the edge of his lip rising in amusement. You wonder if the library also hears how loud your heart is racing right now.
“Colour-coded notes... Cute.”
Your hand flies to your mouth to cover the ridiculous smile growing on your face. Your cheeks were burning and hurting. You look around the library, anything other than Junmyeon’s unnecessarily perfect and smooth face and pursing lips as he concentrated to read your notes. Your eyes set sight on Chanyeol and you can’t help but feel relief, letting go of the breath you were holding.
“Chanyeol!” You exclaim, jumping up to greet him. He raises an arm for you and you give him a side hug.
“Hey Y/N.” His smile eases the tension built in your chest. “Hey Junmyeon. Were you guys studying together?”
Junmyeon slowly leans away from your laptop and gives Chanyeol a small nod. “I was just looking at her notes.”
“Ah.” Chanyeol says, shifting his eyes between you two. “The study room’s empty if you guys want to move in there.”
Junmyeon nods politely, closing your laptop. He grabs it and your backpack too.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that!” You reach to take your stuff from him but he pulls it slightly away, insisting.
“It’s right there, Y/N. I got it.” He reassures you with that warm smile of his.
If the library didn’t hear your heart before, you’re sure they’ve heard it now.
--------
“I don’t know about this, Steph...” You pull down on Stephanie’s skirt she lent you for this party.
“It’ll be fun! Chanyeol will be there.” Your sister hooks an arm around yours excitedly. She’s like a puppy the way she yaps and jumps around you.
“Okay?” You raise an eyebrow at the mention of Chanyeol. You didn’t want him to see you like this either.
“All I’m saying is this could be the perfect opportunity to practice how you flirt with guys.” She explains, dragging you to the front entrance where a line has already been formed to get in.
“It’s a frat house.” You say, scanning the crowd of beautiful women and attractive men. She is throwing you into the ocean and you can’t even swim.
“They’re normal guys too, you know.” She senses your judgement.
“No, they’re not! They drink and party, probably do keg stands too!” You try to say it as lowly as possible as not to offend literally everyone here tonight.
“Not all of them.”
“Name one.”
“Junmyeon.”
“Oh.”
“Tiffany! Y/N! Come inside!” Minseok’s voice disrupts the moment, waving for you both to come in. You hear a bunch of groans and complaints behind you that you will choose to ignore. Of course your sister had an in to this party. You just didn’t know it would be because of the same boys you formed a study group with.
“Just try to have fun. If you feel uncomfortable, find me or Chanyeol.” It’s the last thing she says before she’s being dragged in all sorts of directions by different people. You don’t even get the chance to respond. This is her second time mentioning Chanyeol. Did she like him or something?
The reminder sets off something in your head and you’re met with the realization that you really don’t want to be here. Your skirt was way too short. There were too many people screaming, drinking and dancing. You just don’t fit in.
You try scanning the crowd for Chanyeol but you don’t find that giant head of his anywhere. Feeling hopeless, you go up the stairs. It might be a bit quieter there. Without thinking, you open the first door you see.
“Oh, sorry!” You say when you see a pair of legs on a bed.
“Y/N?”
You freeze at the door then come to your senses when Junmyeon leans forward, guitar on his lap. He waves you in with a smile on his face. He removes his headphones and puts his guitar back on the stand. You enter, closing the door behind you.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were in here.” You apologize and sit at the edge of his bed, pulling on your skirt before it rides any further. His room is a bit messy which was not what you expected of him. He just seems like such a clean guy – he does smell like one after all.
There was a chair with a bunch of clothes on it. There were also a bunch of rock posters plastered on his walls: The Beatles and Coldplay for instance. You thought he’d be more into classical music or maybe musicals. Something classy. He is full of happy surprises.
“Don’t worry about it.” He waves you off. He gets up from his bed and grabs a hoodie and sweatpants from the pile of clothes. “You look uncomfortable. Do you want to borrow these?”
Your heart races once again.
You nod and Junmyeon hands you his clothes before turning around to let you change. You wear the sweats over your crop top and skirt. It smells so ridiculously like him. You take one last sniff before sitting criss-cross on his bed, a lot more comfortable now.
“You play guitar?” You try to avert your attention from the overwhelming feeling in your chest.
He turns around, hearing you get on his bed. He’s staring at you with a glint in his eyes. His cheekbones pop out when he grabs the guitar again.
“Yeah! Do you want to hear?” He sounds so excited to show you, grabbing the headphones and handing them to you. You smile and let him put them over your ears instead - his fingers brushing over your red ears. You’re glad your hair is covering them.
“Tell me if it’s too loud.”
You nod, biting on your lip unconsciously. The more you got to know him, the more your attraction for him grew. He was different from your expectations in the best way possible.
He starts playing a beautiful riff. There is something about the electric guitar that makes it sound as sensual as it is romantic. You stop yourself from leaving your mouth agape, biting on your cheek nervously. There’s a pit growing in your stomach that you’ve only ever felt once in your life when you read a explicit book for the first time. You avoid eye contact with him when he stops.
“Was that bad? You didn’t seem to like it.” Junmyeon’s smile is present, but his brows show you that he seems a bit embarrassed.
"No!!” You shake your head vigorously and finally meet his eyes. It’s taking a lot in you not to cry, finding it frustrating that you don’t know how to be comfortable around him. “It was genuinely beautiful. I’ve never heard that song before.”
“Oh, thank you. I wrote it.” He tells you casually.
This man can’t be real.
“You wrote that? You’re so talented! Why aren’t you in music with Chanyeol?” You ask in disbelief. He shrugs, leaning forward to help you take off the headphones.
“It’s just a hobby. I want to be a lawyer.” He places the blue strat back on the stand next to his bed and leans against the headboard. The image is a bit too much for you. Seeing him in an oversized t-shirt and pyjama pants feels too intimate. You stare into his eyes, distracting yourself from how good he looks sprawled out on his bed.
“Ohh, well I think you’re really gifted.” You compliment him one more time. “What other hidden talents do you have?”
He laughs, his eyes smiling at you brightly once again. “You’re cute.”
You swoon. You’re shocked you haven’t fallen off his bed over that comment.
Maybe it’s because making him laugh feels like one of your greatest accomplishments. You hope you can make him laugh over and over again so you can hear that beautiful sound nonstop.
“Just the one. What about you? Can you play?”
“No, no. I only listen to music. I can’t make it.” You wave your hands embarrassingly. You don’t really have hobbies, unless you count the gym as one.
“Sure you can. Here, I’ll show you.” He moves off the bed and nudges you to turn your body to the left. You follow, letting your legs fall off the bed. He places the guitar on your lap and crouches in front of you. His fingers wrap around your wrist and places them on the neck.
“Relax your fingers.” He taps twice on your knuckles and for the first time tonight, he eases your tension even with the next thing he says. “Good girl.”
He does all the work, placing your three fingers on three strings in a row. There’s something so calming with the way he touches you. He’s being so gentle with you.
“Strum.”
You listen to him, strumming the guitar with your thumb like you see musicians do all the time. You’re shocked to hear a cohesive sound.
“Woah.”
“Not bad, right?” He beams as he looks up at you with those dark and glossy eyes. You’ll probably dream of them tonight.
“No. It was really fun-”
“Junmyeon, have you seen-”
Your head turns to see Chanyeol at the door, holding onto the doorknob. He blinks once, twice, before saying something.
“... Y/N.” He finishes his sentence with a blank stare. You’ve never seen him like this before. Chanyeol was always so perky and happy to see you.
“Hey Chanyeol! Junmyeon was just teaching me a chord.” You say innocently, not putting too much thought into it. Junmyeon stands up from the ground and that’s when you see Chanyeol’s eyes widen ever so slightly.
“You’re wearing his clothes.” He says, completely ignoring what you just said.
“She looked uncomfortable, so I lent her some clothes. I hope that’s okay.” Junmyeon clears up any misunderstanding for you.
“Of course it’s okay.” Chanyeol’s usual tone and facial expression returns. “Your sister is looking for you.”
“Ah.” You try to put the strat back on the stand but Junmyeon grabs it for you. “Thank you for spending time with me, Junmyeon.”
“No, thank you. Good night, Y/N.”
You shoot him one last smile before disappearing behind the door and back into the loud party with Chanyeol. Your heart is still in disbelief of what just happened.
Chanyeol escorts you to the kitchen where Stephanie is talking to some other friends. She finally sees you by Chanyeol’s side and tilts her head curiously with a sly smile. You wonder what she’s up to with that mischievous grin on her face.
“Hi Y/N~” She says with a little playful tone. She must be tipsy. She suddenly looks up at Chanyeol with the brightest smile. “Thanks, Chanyeol, for bringing my sister to me~”
“It’s no problem.” He replies, tone still a bit different than you’re used to.
Stephanie hooks her arm around yours with the same cheeky grin she’s been sporting since you got here.
“I’m so happy for you!” She randomly squeals in your ear, making you laugh at how silly she’s being.
“Happy for what?” You indulge her, just happy that she’s happy.
“Come on, you’re wearing Chan-”
“SHOTS!!” Yixing comes out of nowhere with a tray full of tiny cups and shoves them in our faces. Your sister grabs two: one for her and another for presumably you. She doesn’t say much, only winking at you and downing the drink.
You follow her lead and immediately gag at the awful taste and burn in your throat.
You wish you could sneak back into Junmyeon’s room and learn the guitar just a bit longer.
--------
You can’t stop thinking about Junmyeon. Even as you’re highlighting notes in your textbook, you don’t halt your thoughts for a second. The way his fingers were delicately touching yours. The way he smiled when you complimented his song. And the way he noticed immediately how uncomfortable you were in Stephanie’s clothes. Junmyeon was making it insanely hard to get over this silly crush on him.
“Y/N.” Chanyeol calls your name and your bubble bursts. He smiles when he sees you come back down to Earth. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”
“Sure.” You say, adding the cap back on the highlighter and put all your attention onto him.
“It’s a bit out there. And I hope this doesn’t affect our friendship.” Chanyeol looks really nervous. He’s rubbing his pen with his thumb and you can feel his leg shaking under the table.
“It won’t. I can’t afford to lose a jogging buddy.” You joke, taking a sip from your bottle.
“I just want to make sure I’m not reading this wrong. But do you like Junmyeon?”
Caught off guard, you choke on your drink. You tap your chest to clear the liquid from your throat. Chanyeol also helps, patting your back.
“W-What- How did you?”
“You’ve liked him since the day we all met, right?” Chanyeol cuts you off. He’s looking at you expectantly like he’s being a good cop and you’re the criminal he’s interrogating. “I can tell by the way you look at him. And I’m saying this to you as a friend who wants to give you advice - which you can take or not of course.”
You didn’t know you were being that obvious around Junmyeon.
“You should tell him how you feel.” Chanyeol’s eyes soften and he looks... sad? He isn’t - hasn’t been his usual jolly self since the party and you’re unsure why.
“But what if he rejects me? Like the other guy? I’m so scared, Chanyeol.” Your gaze lowers to your hands on your lap. This is embarrassing. Chanyeol was able to read you at first glance and you were still stuck in square one, unable to talk to your crush without dysfunctioning and having your heart jump out of your chest.
“You won’t know how he feels until you tell him. You have to tell people how you feel when you feel them, Y/N.” He stops and thinks for a second before resuming. “Otherwise... You might miss out on other opportunities.”
“I can’t even be myself with him. I get so nervous and jittery. I’m not ready.” Your head falls onto your textbook in embarrassment. “I just want to be as calm with him as I am with you.”
Chanyeol scoffs and makes you turn your head so your cheek was on a page and you were facing him instead.
“I promise you you’ll get there with time. That’s just what having a crush feels like.” He pats your head gently and smiles at you comfortingly. You could always count on him to cheer you up.
You straighten yourself and go for a hug. “Thank you so much Chanyeol.”
It takes him a second before wrapping his arms around you tightly. His head rests at the top of your head while his hand rubs your back.
“Don’t mention it.”
The hug is cut short when you hear the door to the study room open.
“Oh, sorry we didn’t mean to interrupt.” Stephanie comes in with the same twinkle in her eye as that time at the party. Junmyeon is right behind her. He shoots you a faint smile before shifting his eyes to the floor, not even greeting you or Chanyeol with enthusiasm like he usually does.
Did you offend him somehow?
Maybe you accidentally said something at the party. You think hard to that night. But nothing comes to mind. You thought Junmyeon and you had a really good time for the short time you were together.
You purse your lips, trying not to let it get to you. What if you missed the window of opportunity like Chanyeol warned you?
“Oh shoot. I forgot my textbook in my locker. I’ll be right back.” Stephanie says as she rummages through her purse. “It’s so far though…”
“I’ll walk with you.” Chanyeol stands up and follows your sister out the door, passing you with a comforting pat on your back. You exhale as you realize what he’s doing.
Your eyes follow Junmyeon as he sits in his usual spot across from you. He’s still quiet, refusing to look at you.
A thought crosses your mind.
“Um, Junmyeon…”
He lifts his head instinctively, finally meeting your eyes. You can tell he’s silently regretting it. There’s a gloomy look in his gaze and you really want to make him feel better.
“I just wanted to thank you for lending me your clothes on Friday. It was really nice of you.” You clear your throat to calm the nerves. Somehow you’ve convinced yourself that the reason he won’t reply and probably hates you is because you haven’t returned his clothes yet. “I promise I’ll get them back to you. I just wanted to wash them first.”
“There’s no need for that.” Junmyeon’s smile returns but it’s too polite… too nice. It doesn’t feel like him. His genuine smile is contagious and warm, not cold and foreign. His gaze goes back to his laptop as yours don’t leave his form.
You’re pouting now. This somehow feels worse than the first time you got rejected. Probably because you actually know the guy this time.
You have to tell people how you feel when you feel them.
“Junmyeon!”
His eyes widen and he’s staring at you all freaked out. You don’t think you’ve ever raised your voice at anyone before.
“I- I-” The confidence is quick to fade away but you have to keep going. “I like you. And I’m sorry if I’ve offended you somehow but I thought we got along really well on Friday and- and whatever it is you have a problem with, please tell me now because I’m going crazy here.”
Junmyeon stares at you in what you think is a look of disbelief.
“Or don’t. Please ignore what I said.” You sit back down and focus on your laptop, moving your cursor all over your screen, not necessarily clicking on anything.
“You like me?” He breaks the silence, lips curving into a smile.
But it’s quick to leave his face. And there’s a pit growing in your stomach.
“Yes.” You say nervously, biting on your lip. It feels like an eternity waiting for him to say anything else. He’s thinking really hard, you can tell by the way he purses his lips. The face is all too familiar. It’s the same face your first crush had when he was rejecting you. You want to bury yourself under a bunch of sand and let the ocean take you out with a big wave. “I-It’s okay if you don’t feel the same. I won’t take it personally-”
“Wait, no.” Junmyeon’s eyes shift to you then to the door. “Um, come.”
Before you knew it, Junmyeon grabs your wrist and pulls you up and out of the study room, leaving all your belongings behind.
“My laptop...” You pout as he brings you to one of the empty aisles of the library.
“They’ll be back soon. Don’t worry.” Junmyeon comforts you but it’s not enough to ease the anxiety that’s blown out of proportion inside of you. You just want to shake out the rejection from his mouth. He brought you here so you wouldn’t be embarrassed in front of your friends. That must be it. You’re Stephanie’s inexperienced younger sister, of course he wouldn’t want you-
“Listen,” He starts and you hold your breath. “You’re really nice and sweet.”
Here it comes.
“I just... want you to think about this a little bit more. We’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks. You’re just getting over a different guy. I don’t want to rush into things so quickly...” He says a bit too fast, like he’s trying to get rid of the words and get this over with. He’s looking at you with a softened gaze like he’s handling a dried bouquet of flowers and trying not to make a mess before he throws it into the trash.
“Oh, no worries. I get it.” You wave him off like it’s no big deal; the sting in your eyes burning extra hard. The shake in your voice isn’t hard to ignore either. “I’m sorry for making things weird.”
“Y/N... Wait, that’s not-” He tries to reach for you but you retreat first.
“No, really, it’s okay.” You force a smile before turning back and rushing to the study room. The tears come out a lot easier than it is to stop them.
You open the door and are met with four pairs of eyes staring at you.
Stephanie is the first to get up and check on you. You dodge her and grab your things, slinging your bag onto your shoulder before you head to the door.
“Y/N? What’s wrong? Where’s Junmyeon?” You hear Chanyeol’s voice behind you and his chair screech to check on you too. Overwhelmed, you leave the room and head anywhere else.
“Y/N, slow down.” Your sister is quick to follow you. She’s always been fast to be by your side. You don’t slow your pace though, walking even faster so she doesn’t see the tears running down your face.
So she follows. She’s with you the only way you’re letting her.
She trails behind you when you finally walk out the doors of the university and stop, unsure where to go next. She places a hand on your back and pulls you in for a side hug.
“Come, my car’s this way.” She says, pulling you in the direction of her parking spot. It’s not a far walk but it’s enough to calm you down from the heightened emotions.
“Tell me what’s wrong, Y/N. So I can help you.” She asks when you finally get inside her car, giving you a moment to settle your breath before speaking.
Stephanie’s voice is filled with warmth and comfort. She feels like the sun and you can’t help but look her way.
“I confessed to my crush.” You tell her shyly. “And he rejected me. Again.”
You can’t believe you let this happen again.
She frowns.
“But you came in crying and Chanyeol was in the room.”
It’s your turn to raise your eyebrow at her.
“What do you mean by that?” You ask, unsure what she’s hinting at.
“Your crush? Isn’t it Chanyeol?” She asks like you’re the one who is lost.
You blink at her, once, twice.
“… Junmyeon. I told Junmyeon I like him and he rejected me.”
You can see the horror flash in Stephanie’s eyes and she covers her mouth.
“What?” You ask, mirroring her reaction. “Why’s this so hard to believe?”
“I’ve… I’ve been telling Junmyeon how you’ve been crushing on Chanyeol…” She says quietly, voice low and ashamed of what she’s done. You frown. When have you ever told her you were into Chanyeol?
You’re just getting over a different guy. Suho’s voice rings in the back of your mind. And that sentence finally starts to make sense to you. You thought he was talking about the first guy who you were definitely over.
“Y/N… I am so sorry. I can fix this!” Stephanie immediately goes on her phone and starts typing on her phone.
“Steph, what are you doing?” You watch as she nervously types, erases, types and erases.
“I’m texting Junmyeon right now.” She says frantically. You’ve never seen your sister so stressed out before.
“What? Why?” You take her phone and delete the message. “He doesn’t like me! That's not going to change.”
She steals her phone back and puts it away on her lap.
“No, Y/N, I think he does.” She deadpans.
“I was so fixated on you and Chanyeol. I didn’t put two and two together that you would be interested in Junmyeon. Oh god, I think I made a mess.” She continues. Her face is mixed with embarrassment and an eagerness to share her new-found revelation. “But Junmyeon definitely likes you.”
You don’t even know how to respond to her. She must have lost her mind. As if she sees the confusion on your face, she persists.
“He’s always asking about you.” She insists.
“Stop lying. He’s just being nice.”
“No, before I introduced you to the guys, he’s never once asked how my sister was, what your major was, what your schedule was or if we were meeting with you and the study group - even though I’m pretty sure you’re very comfortable talking to the opposite sex now and the study group is very much not needed anymore.” Stephanie looks very serious and… convincing. You can’t tell if this is just Stephanie’s communications bachelor’s talking.
“Y/N, how exactly did he reject you?”
You fold your lips into your mouth nervously.
Now that you think of it… You can’t remember the exact words.
It felt like a rejection.
Stephanie sees the hesitation in your face and for the first time, you see your sister get annoyed with you.
“We’re fixing this.”
--------
Stephanie has you pacing back and forth in front of Junmyeon’s fraternity house. She had dropped you off under the premise that you were going to a cute coffee shop to study for the upcoming midterms.
It’s been 15 minutes and she still hasn’t returned. She really did abandon you at the front steps like some stray cat. You feel your stomach turn as you approach the door. With a big gulp, you ring the doorbell.
You release the tension from your shoulder when Minseok opens the door with a bright smile.
“Y/N! Tiffany said you’d be stopping by.”
Your shoulders tense up again. You hope she didn’t tell them anything. Although, they did see you walk into the room with tears in your eyes. It would be weird if they hadn’t figured it out on their own.
“Junmyeon’s the first to the right.” He invites you in and throws a hand in the direction of the familiar room. So he does know. Great.
“He hasn’t really talked to any of us about what happened. Just been cooped up in his room playing the guitar.” Minseok pats you on the back and lead you to the stairs. “Just talk to him.”
You nod and find your way up the stairs that brought you to him the first time. You open the door to find him in the same position, legs straight on the bed, his cute feet covered in socks and moving to the rhythm of his music. You peek your head through to let yourself be seen but find his eyes closed and headphones on. Unsure how to approach this, you shut the door a little harder than you would usually.
He doesn’t budge, still strumming along the blue strat.
You bite your bottom lip and do the unthinkable.
You tickle his foot.
Junmyeon almost kicks you, eyes wide in surprise. Once it registers that it’s you, his body relaxes and he rushes to take off his headphones.
“I’m so sorry! Did I hurt you?” He comes to your side and inspects you for any damage he might have done.
“You didn’t even touch me.” You reassure him, offering him a small smile. You don’t let him say another word before you let yourself ramble.
“Junmyeon, I came to say I’m sorry for the way I reacted. I rushed out of there and didn’t let you finish. I really do enjoy spending time with you and I hope that we can still stay friends. And maybe you can still teach me the guitar?” You finally say the words you had been practicing in your head this whole week. The heavy weight on your chest has finally been lifted and your conscience is now cleared. It’s now up to Junmyeon to accept being your friend. You wait for him to smile and say no worries, let’s just forget alllll about it. And you can try to move on from his beautiful brown eyes that disappear when he smiles.
“But I don’t want to be friends.” He frowns.
And the heavy feeling returns.
“Oh.”
“No, no.” He approaches you, hands reaching your sides awkwardly as if he didn’t want you to run off in tears again. “Please don’t misunderstand. I like you. Like, really really like you.”
“Oh.” You were so ready for him to reject you kindly that this didn’t feel like an actual option. You didn’t think Stephanie would be right, but of course she was. It’s Stephanie.
“Please stop saying oh.” He bites onto his lip nervously, almost looking like he’ll cry right then and there.
“I’m sorry. I’m just having such a hard time believing any of this is real. But that’s my problem not yours.” You say, backing away from his hold.
Junmyeon pulls you in for the hug, wrapping his arms around you and refusing to let you run away again. It takes you a couple seconds to react but you snake your arms around once you’ve come to your senses that Kim Junmyeon is hugging you. You rest your cheek against his chest and you smell the familiar scent of his laundry you’ve grown addicted to. You feel his every tense muscle soften around your body.
“I’ve liked you ever since you walked into that study room looking all nervous to meet a bunch of guys. To be honest, when Stephanie first approached me, I thought it was a bit weird. We had only been study partners, and suddenly, she wants me to help her with her inexperienced sister.” He pulls away a bit so he can look at you as he confesses to you how he feels. Your heart stops when his lips curve into a smile and he laughs at the memory of Stephanie being Stephanie and doing the most to help you.
“But when you were yelling at Chanyeol with those headphones on, I was hooked. You looked so cute. I couldn’t wait to talk to you. I wanted to know more. I’ve never felt so curious about a person before.” He admits, resting a gentle hand on your cheek. “I couldn’t understand how someone so cute could ever get rejected.”
You gulp when his eyes flicker to your lips.
“Cute.” He mutters to himself before kissing your cheek and making your face unintentionally burn up. “So no, I don’t want to be just friends with you, but I would love nothing more than to take you out on a date and take our time getting to know one another.”
Your heart races at an impossible speed.
“And maybe guitar lessons?” You manage to mutter out like an idiot.
Junmyeon’s smile quickly morphs into the one you love so much, brightening the room and warming your heart.
“Maybe.”
Unable to contain your happiness, you return the smile and give him a quick peck on his lips.
“Well, it’s a definitely, now.”
✰ bonus ova here ✰
chananyeol bong: y/n is sucha big fluff ball omfg shes so oblivious that two men are fighting for her affection. if only that was meeeeee </3 (not really i would hate that) i hope you guys enjoy!!!! this was supposed to be 2k words MAXXXX but idk i let the writing gods take the wheel on this one. 🙏🏼😊 there's going to be a part 2 but the story is basically done!! part 2 is just a bonus for us!! 💓💘
and of course a happy early birthday to kim junmyeon!!! ilysm ty for being the rock of the family you sweet sweet boy!!! 🥹😭💖💗💌💘
this is y/n btw:
