#tbzfluff

"Sorry, Kev, I guess I got too wrapped up in my piece," You chuckle, quickly closing your sketchbook and packing up your things so he wouldn't have to wait on you any longer. Tossing your bag over your shoulder, you jog up to Kevin and greet him. 

"How was your day?" You ask, taking out the lollipop you had stored in your pocket and unwrapping it before placing it in your mouth. 

"Raspberry this time?" He asks. "Also, today was okay before I shouted at my best friend so we could go home, but they ignored me and proceeded to doodle in their notebook. Let me just tell you, it made me feel like I was as worthless as the p in raspberry. What were you drawing that had you so engrossed, anyway?" 

Kevin pushed the school doors, and you made your way to his car as you recounted how much of a luxury it was that your best friend was also your neighbor. 

"You know, just someone," You mumble, putting on your seatbelt. 

"Someone? You don't normally draw people. Is your obsession with Lee Dongwook getting so extreme that you started drawing him?" Kevin giggles, thinking back to your avid Viki sessions of watching Goblin and Tale of the Nine-Tailed together. 

"No, I'm not that weird," You laugh, lightly shoving him to the side. 

"So, who is it?"

Your mind drifts back to yesterday, the day of the encounter. Sceneries: Forests, mountains, valleys. That was more of your expertise when it came to art, however, nothing was as scenic as the boy you met yesterday. 

Kim Sunwoo. Everyone knew him. Everyone wanted to date or be him, there was no in-between. You didn't think much about the kid before because your paths never clashed, not until yesterday. 

"Woah, I'm so sorry!" He said, his chest heaving from running from the direction of the soccer field. 

"Oh, you're fine!" You replied, picking up your sketchbook that fell out of your hands. You were just about to enter the art room, the safe haven where you would draw until Kevin was done with choir practice. 

"Y/N, right?" Sunwoo asked. You couldn't help but remember the shocked look on your face when he knew who you were. 

"Yeah, Y/N," You replied. 

"Y/N," He had repeated, this time with a small smile on his face. It was the most beautiful way you had ever heard your name said, to a point where you swore you heard it echoing in your head right now. 

"Y/N."

"Y/N."

“Y/N, we're here you weirdo, snap out of it," Kevin shrieked, smacking your arm to get you out of your daze. 

"Oh shit," You mumbled, realizing that you were no longer in the school parking lot and instead at your house. 

"You zoned out for like ten minutes after I asked you who you were drawing. Is everything okay? Are the paint fumes getting to your head?" He mocked. 

"No, just thinking. Anyway, you were right earlier. I wanted to try drawing people, so I was like go big or go home and started sketching Dongwook's face today," You reason. No one needed to know that the only thing running through your head was Kim Sunwoo on repeat, even when you saw him passing by the art room once again.

And that's how the next week passed. You continued your sketch of Sunwoo, trying your best to remember exactly what his face looked like up close. However, he continued to pass by the art room every day, just close enough for you to recognize the familiar tan skin and soccer uniform. Though you never made eye contact with him, you knew when he passed by, your eyes catching the movement across the room every time. 

"Aish," You groaned out, erasing his eyes for what felt like the fifteenth time that afternoon. 

"Everything alright in there?" You heard a familiar voice say, causing you to look up from the drawing. Upon seeing his face, you immediately close your sketchbook. 

"Sunwoo!" You exclaim, half in fear and half in genuine excitement. 

"The one and only," He laughs. "I heard you from outside, are you okay?"

There was worry in Sunwoo's voice, causing your heart to clench. "Yeah, I just suck at drawing," You chuckle. 

"Oh, I doubt that. You're always in here, so there must be some artistic bone in your body," He reassures you. 

You sit there in silence for a moment before Sunwoo's eyes widen, and he begins to shake his head from side to side. "Not that- not that I've been watching you or anything, I just like to pass by the art room now cause I always see you in here. Wait, that sounds weird. I don't just come to see you, but you're just always working really hard, and it's really admirable to see you and you look really nice when you draw. Not that you don't look nice any other time! But also the only time I've ever really seen you is in the art room, so I guess I really don't know what you look like any other time. Not that I wouldn't be opposed to it! I just-" Sunwoo heaves, letting out a heavy sigh before standing there with his head in his hands. 

"Sunwoo, calm down!" You giggle. "I mean, I noticed that you were passing by too, and I glance every time whether you notice it or not. The soccer uniform really suits you," You compliment. You could feel your heart beating out of your chest, his sudden outburst making you want to laugh and cry at the same time. 

"Oh, this?" He says, looking down at his jersey. "This is nothing, I would much rather be good at art than soccer."

"You? You're not just good at soccer, you're freaking great. I mean, you've been on varsity since freshman year," You exasperate. A small smile breaks out on Sunwoo's face once he hears a small fact of his life slip from your mouth. 

"Oh shit, speaking of soccer," Sunwoo mumbles, glancing at the clock that was inside the art teacher's room. "I gotta go. I forgot that break was only five minutes. It was really fun talking to you Y/N. Good luck with your drawing!" 

Before you could even say goodbye back, he ran back to the direction he came from.

"Was that Kim Sunwoo?" Kevin says, appearing in front of the doorway from out of nowhere. 

"Don't ask," You breathe out, still breathless from the interaction you just had. "Did choir practice end early today?"

"Yeah, you know Jacob Bae?"

"Brown hair, super cute, part of the basketball team?" You ask, wondering if he was talking about the same guy that was in your calculus class. As you await his answer, you pack up your supplies for the day, leaving the portrait of Sunwoo incomplete for yet another day. 

"Super cute? That man is like jacked. I fell in love with him as soon as he walked into the room. Anyways, apparently, the choir teacher has been trying to recruit him for like two years, and he finally came by to audition. Mr. Lee kicked us out right away and told us we were done for the day.”

"Oh my god, I hope he joins! Maybe you could finally get a boyfriend," You tease, making your way towards Kevin's car. 

"Yeah, well, you aren't much better, sketching Dongwook’s face for the past two weeks."

"Right, Dongwook," You mutter. 

It was truly ironic that the amount of time Kevin thought you were thinking about the famous Korean actor, Lee Dongwook, was actually devoted to Sunwoo. Even after talking to him daily when he passed by the art room, you were still just as enamored by him. 

"Long time no see," Sunwoo smiles, swinging his body across the doorframe. 

"You're right," You look up to see the familiar face that you had quickly grown to love. "It's been a very long 24 hours."

“And how is my favorite artist doing?” Sunwoo asks, making his way over to you. You admire the soccer player, slight sweat beading against his forehead, and his face flushed from the heat outside. 

“You know, you’re not supposed to be in here without Mrs. Park’s permission,” You say, knowing that if the teacher found him in here, he would get in trouble. You wait for a witty response back, but you soon find Sunwoo squinting past your shoulder and looking at something. 

"I- Is that me?" Sunwoo whispers. 

Your head whips back to the sketchbook that you had forgotten to close, Sunwoo’s half-colored face on display for him to see. You shoot up from your chair, hoping that you could somehow fix this, but as you stand up, Sunwoo takes a seat next to the drawing, moving the sketchbook closer so he could examine it. 

"I mean," You strain, wanting to burst into tears right then and there. You were finally getting to know Sunwoo and becoming friends with him, and now he was going to think you were a creep, an absolute loser. "I mean yes, but it's not done yet. I still have to color like half your face. Don't be weirded out, please. I don't really draw people, but when I saw you, I thought I just had to. I'm sorry if you think it's weird, I'll scrap it. I promise," You ramble. 

You glance at Sunwoo from the corner of your eye, but he continues to look at the sketch you made of him. You couldn't tell how he felt from his reaction, the only expression he was making was a look of ponderance. 

"I- You know what," You begin to say, getting up from your seat and reaching for the sketchbook. You pull at the perforation of the page, beginning to tear it out. "I'll actually just get rid of it. It's weird, and I'm really sorry-"

Sunwoo grabs your hand before you can tear it off completely, an exclamation leaving his mouth. "No!"

"What?" You whisper underneath your breath. 

"I love it. You're really talented Y/N," He looks up at you from underneath his eyelashes. A soft smile played on his lips. 

"But, isn't it weird?" You ask, confusion laced in your words. 

"I mean, I passed by the art room every day for three weeks just so I could look at you for a little bit. Every time I passed by, I debated with myself on whether or not I should ask you out. If anyone's the weird one, it's me," He confesses.

The room is silent for a few more seconds, your brain whirring at what felt like a million miles per hour. 

“I didn’t think anyone saw me like this,” Sunwoo says, a soft smile on his face as he traces his drawn eyes with his fingers. 

“What do you mean?” You whisper. “Everyone sees you like that.”

“Not like,” Sunwoo breaths out, his eyes glimmering with something you couldn’t quite place. “Not like this.” 

“Do you think, I don’t know, maybe you’d wanna see me outside of this place? Cause I really fucking like you, and I hope you do too considering you drew me like I hung the stars in the sky,” Sunwoo says, turning to face you. 

You break out into a wide smile, relief flushing through you. 

“Silly, you couldn’t have hung the stars in the sky,” You sigh, reaching down and brushing the hair that was covering his eyes out of the way. “They’re all in your eyes.”

Sunwoo lets out a breathy laugh at the cheesy line before closing the sketchbook and placing it underneath his arm. No matter how hard he denied it though, a light blush littered his cheeks. 

“C’mon, we’re skipping soccer practice,” Sunwoo holds onto your hand and drags you out of the room while you struggle to get your backpack and throw it over your shoulder in time. 

“Sunwoo!” You laugh, trailing behind him as he pulled you all the way outside of the school and to your first unofficial, official date. 

The local art museum. 

-

“What the fuck?” Kevin mutters, finding an empty art room with colored pencils scattered where you would usually sit. 

“Maybe they were drawing so hard that they turned into the colored pencils,” Jacob says, peeking into the room. 

“They probably went out with Sunwoo, I had a feeling something was up with them anyway. They tried to convince me they were drawing Dongwook from Goblin, but I don’t think they know that I look at their sketchbook when they get snacks at their house,” Kevin shrugs.

“Dongwook? What an attractive man,” Jacob mumbles, staring into space.

“But not as hot as me, right?” Kevin jokes, turning back around to leave. He was excited to introduce you to Jacob, but it seems like there was something else on fate’s agenda.

“Oh, never. Actually, since Y/N is busy with their lover, want to go to this coffee place I really like? It’s on me,” Jacob says, throwing a wink in Kevin's direction. 

“What? No, I couldn’t do that,” Kevin refuses, a blush overtaking his face. 

“Nonsense, it’s a date,” Jacob affirms, dragging Kevin out of the very doors Sunwoo pulled Y/N earlier. 

The answer had been yes but as you were on the plane to Jeju Island with Haknyeon by your side, your leg wouldn’t stop shaking and the butterflies in your stomach swirled at a faster pace than you expected. 

“It’s odd right?” You asked Kevin over the phone, three days ago, as you were regretting your life decisions. “It’s odd to invite your friend slash something more yet not your girlfriend to your farm in Jeju to meet your mom?”

Kevin had chuckled on the other end, biting into a carrot as Changmin screamed at Sunwoo in the background about misplacing his shoes. “It’s a bit odd considering not many of us have seen where he was brought up but I’m like 99% sure he’s in love with you so what did you expect?”

The words lingered in your head as you got off the plane and as you drove in the taxi to Haknyeon’s farm and even when you prepared to meet his mom. 

If you were strictly his friend or girlfriend, it would’ve made sense for you to visit his hometown, however, you were in a weird limbo of somewhere in between and had been like that for at least a month. It was the same routine that began one day when Haknyeon slept over at your apartment, something he did when he didn’t have a schedule early the next morning. He had called your name out to ask if you were sleeping but it was nearly impossible when your heart was beating erratically at the proximity of Haknyeon which was how his heart was as well whenever he was near you.

“Y/N,” He asked one more time when you didn’t respond the first time. This time you hummed back, wondering what he wanted at nearly three in the morning. Most nights you had your emotional talks earlier, reserving anything later than midnight for sleep, or pretending to be asleep in your case. When you felt a hand on your shoulder, you turned around only to be met with Haknyeon’s lips colliding into yours.

You never strayed any further, kissing each other only in the depths of the night when it felt like no one was awake but the two of you. You waited for Haknyeon to say anything to indicate that he wanted to be something more, but he never did, so you never did either, because then that would be weird. Right?

Kevin’s words struck you the wrong way because if Haknyeon loved you, as in if Haknyeon felt the same way you did, he had a bad way of showing it. The only indication he had made of wanting you as more than a friend would be the secret kisses you shared in the dark with him. 

“I’ve heard so much about you!” Haknyeon’s mother said, excitedly taking the flowers out of your hand that you had bought for her. No matter how confused and irritated Haknyeon’s mixed emotions made you, that didn’t mean you would show up empty-handed to his mother’s house. 

She’s heard so much about me? You questioned, however, you didn’t have much time to ponder upon it because she soon dragged you into the kitchen to show you what she prepared for dinner.

She talked nonstop that night. It was fun hearing childhood stories of what Haknyeon was like as a kid and although he blushed furiously everytime she spoke of his odd habits as a child, Haknyeon seemed to be having fun. 

Haknyeon’s mother had a child-like excitement in her words when she told a story and she dotingly repeatedly offered you food even after you assured her you were full, eating almost as much as Haknyeon did, but you knew the gesture meant she was caring for you.

That’s when you decided that Haknyeon was a lot like his mother.

“Haknyeon, take her suitcase like a good boy!” Haknyeon’s mother had scolded, watching Haknyeon drag his suitcase to his room. 

“I will when I set these down,” He had affirmed, not arguing with her, however, you knew he would have fought with you if you had tried to take it anyway. 

“Tomorrow, I’ll show you the pigs,” Haknyeon smiled, falling onto the mattress. You were sharing a room with him, but there were two rooms in the bed. Haknyeon had spoken with his mother about the sleeping arrangements without you but you were fine with them considering you guys had done more than share a room. 

“I look forward to it,” You said with toothpaste in your mouth. The bathroom connected to the room was nice because as you got ready for the night, you could also observe Haknyeon when he wasn’t looking, a secret he didn’t need to know about. 

Haknyeon was silent as you spit the toothpaste out and he was also silent when you washed your face and he continued to be silent as you moved the comforter out of the way to get into bed.

“Penny for your thoughts?” You asked, curious. Haknyeon simply shaked his head, a light smile on his face.

“Nickel for yours?” 

Though you turned the lights off before you got into bed, you regretted the decision knowing there was courage in the darkness. 

I’m like 99% sure he’s in love with you.

“Hak,” You called out after a few moments of silence. “What are we?”

“What are we?” Haknyeon had repeated in a whisper. You knew he understood the question so you remained silent, waiting for his response. It was now or never. 

“Well,” Haknyeon clears his throat. “To me, we’re not friends, right?”

You feel your heart drop to your chest when the words escape his lips. 

“You know me better than I know myself. When I’m with you, I feel secure and protected. When I get sad, you’re the first voice I want to hear. When you’re near me, I feel complete but when you leave, I feel my heart begin to break,” Haknyeon was speaking barely over a whisper and his breath was shaky making you feel that maybe, just maybe this was going where you wanted it to.

You were shocked at his words and you racked your brain for a response, not understanding if this was Haknyeon’s way of saying he felt the same way you did. When you heard him get up, you realized that he wasn’t done yet. 

He took his usual spot on the bed, the left side, and immediately reached for you. Though it was dark, the tiny bit of moonlight seeping through the window made it possible for Haknyeon to see the outline of your face. As his hand cupped your face, you closed your eyes, finding warmth in the familiarity that was Haknyeon. 

“I think we’re more than just friends. Soulmates, maybe?” He mumbled, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead before pulling you closer so your head was on his chest. 

You don’t know how you didn’t notice it any other time, but his words were quickly proven true when you felt his heart beating at the same speed as yours. 

“I love you, Haknyeon. More than a friend. More like a soulmate,” You whispered. Although you knew you wouldn’t be able to see his reaction, your eyes were shut tight in fear.

You feel him press another kiss to your face, except this one on the side of your head. “Oh Y/N, I’ve loved you for years. My heart was always yours. In my last life, this life, and the next.”

a/n

When you finally entered the stadium, your eyes scanned the room as you searched for bright, red hair. 

“There! There!” Eric whispered, tugging at your sleeve and pointing to the boy with a scowl on his face as he noticed the latecomers. Though the ceremony was well over halfway done, there were still two seats saved next to the glaring teenager. 

“Took you guys long enough, they’re already on J,” Sunwoo muttered as you took a seat next to him, Eric on the other side of you. 

“Well, we had to get flowers! And Eric forgot his yearbook in the car after we already started walking, so we had to turn back and get it,” You explain, however, your eyes were searching for someone on the ground floor of the stadium.

“Fuck! I knew I was forgetting something,” Sunwoo cursed, tilting his head up. Eric let out a giggle at Sunwoo’s annoyance, causing Sunwoo to reach over you and smack Eric upside the head. 

As Eric prepared for his attack, you notice the name on the screen and immediately sit up, your attention on the ceremony in front of you. “Guys, stop! He’s next!”

Sunwoo and Eric immediately put aside their differences and focused on the stage as the familiar name boomed throughout the stadium.

“Ju Haknyeon. President of the debate team and member of the dance team, graduating with a perfect grade point average! Congratulations.”

As soon as his introduction was over, the three of you jumped from your seats to cheer on the upperclassman.

“Yeah! That’s my best friend!”

“Go Haknyeon!”

Cheers littered the stadium, some of his friends from his grade cheering along with his family who were seated a few rows below you. 

You waved your hands in the air, forgetting the flowers that were in your hand, resulting in the few petals that were left on the flowers to fall on the cemented ground. 

You scratched the back of your head as you gazed at the ground in embarrassment. 

“You have got to be kidding me,” Sunwoo mumbles, pulling your hand to force you to sit down as they called the next name. “I can not take you anywhere.”

The rest of the ceremony went by quickly, much of it being Eric whispering his opinions about the graduating class into your ear as you tried to collect every petal on the floor and put it back in the flower bouquet. 

When the ceremony ended, the three of you followed Haknyeon’s family out of the venue to meet up with him. 

His mother hugged him first, tears spilling out of her eyes. Haknyeon smiled down at her, questioning her sentimentality. 

A light smile decorated your face as you watched him interact with his family. It was hard not to admire the guy you were undoubtedly in love with as he laughed with his sisters and relatives. 

Although being underclassmen, Sunwoo, Eric, Haknyeon, and you have been best friends since you were children. You guys met in daycare, and in the funny way fate worked, your moms became friends, and the rest was history. 

However, much to your demise, you had just recently fallen for Haknyeon, not realizing you were in love with your best friend until Eric pointed it out one night. It was too late for anything to happen, anyway, considering Haknyeon was going off to college after summer. 

“Hey, lovebird, let’s go,” Eric waved his hand in your face, snapping you out of your gaze. You scowled at the boy as he laughed, Sunwoo lightly shaking his head at his antics before walking towards Haknyeon. 

“Congratulations you old man!” Eric shouted, wrapping Haknyeon into a hug. Haknyeon laughed in return, lightly hitting the back of his head at the insult. 

When Sunwoo and Eric finally moved out of the way, you extended your arm out, offering Haknyeon the now-ruined flowers. 

Haknyeon merely laughs at the state of the flowers, however, he thanks you nonetheless. “How did you know I liked my flowers torn apart!”

You shook your head in response, playfully pushing him to the side with your now free hand. “I went through a lot of trouble to get those for you, so you better enjoy them.”

Suddenly noticing the disappearance of Sunwoo and Eric, you turn your head to find the two boys. 

“They’re talking to my sisters,” Haknyeon replies, somehow already knowing what you were looking for before you could even verbalize it. 

The two of you laugh as you watch Haknyeon’s younger sister grab the yearbook in Eric’s hand and lightly hit him atop the head with it. 

“Probably deserved it,” You laugh, turning your attention back to Haknyeon. “Oh, that reminds me! Can you sign my yearbook? I know we usually don’t do stuff like this, but it’s your last year, so I thought better now than never.”

You extend your yearbook out to Haknyeon, a pen clipped on top of it so Haknyeon could be the first to write whatever he wanted in the book.

Haknyeon looks down at the yearbook, a small frown on his face. “No,” He adamantly says, shaking his head. 

“What?” You question, your eyebrows furrowing at his denial. 

His frown only deepens as he looks back at you and slightly pushes the yearbook away from him as if he was warding it off. 

“I’m not signing it,” He states again.

“Why?” You look up at Haknyeon in bewilderment. You felt lines form between your eyebrows as you tilted your head to the side. 

“Because,” He starts, pausing to think about how he wanted to word his sentence. “Because only people who are going to part ways sign yearbooks, and we’re not doing that.”

Your heart clenches at Haknyeon’s words, and though you had already decided against it, your eyes begin to water thinking about Haknyeon leaving you behind.

“We’re never going to do that,” Haknyeon affirms, a serious look on his face. You could’ve sworn you hadn’t seen Haknyeon this serious in years.

When you feel the first tear roll down your face, you lean your forehead on Haknyeon’s chest, not wanting him to see how upset you were. 

“Hey,” Haknyeon wraps his arms around you, the bouquet going back to its original state as the petals fall on the floor once again. “Don’t cry. I’m not going to leave you, ever.”

You nod your head, knowing that although he couldn’t see you, he could feel your head against his chest. However, what he didn’t know was the double meaning behind your tears as you tried to calm yourself down. 

“Yah! You made her cry?” You hear Eric exclaim as you hear him walk closer to you. Soon, another pair of arms wrap around you and then another. You assume them to be Eric and Sunwoo, and your beliefs are affirmed as someone whispers in your ear. 

“C’mon, don’t cry,” Sunwoo soothingly says into your ear, patting your head with his hand. 

As you pull away from Haknyeon’s chest, you miss the knowing looks exchanged between the three boys. 

-

When Haknyeon’s family urged the four of you to get ice cream after the dinner you all had commencing Haknyeon’s graduation, you couldn’t help but find it suspicious that Sunwoo and Eric declined the offer. 

“C’mon, it’s on me!” You urged, not wanting the boys to feel left out. 

“Well, if they don’t feel well because they ate too much, you can’t force them to go,” Haknyeon rebuttals, almost as if he was arguing with you. 

“I-” You furrow your eyebrows at his behavior. “Ok, well, we can always go another time.”

You begin to get up from your seat at the restaurant, the four of you being the only people left after Haknyeon’s family left. 

“No!” Eric and Sunwoo shout simultaneously, their eyes wide. The two must have noticed their weird behavior as Sunwoo quickly clears his throat and fixes his composure. 

“I mean, Haknyeon graduated today! You have to treat him, or else it’s bad luck.”

Though Sunwoo’s logic didn’t seem to be, well, logical, you still found yourself walking along the sidewalk with a vanilla ice cream cone in your hand with Haknyeon next to you. 

It was oddly quiet between the two of you, the atmosphere still stiff from the interaction earlier today. 

“I- I have something to say,” Haknyeon finally says after a few more moments of silence. 

“It looks like you were in your head ever since we left Sunwoo and Eric. What’s up?”  You ask, questioning Haknyeon’s odd behavior. 

“I,” He takes a deep breath before continuing. “I don’t know how I ate that entire cone, I wasn’t even hungry, and my stomach has been hurting this entire time.”

You stare at Haknyeon for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter at his admittance. “Haknyeon, if your stomach hurts then you shouldn’t have eaten it. I told you we could’ve done this another day.”

Haknyeon meekly smiles before walking again, staring at the ground as he does. Though Haknyeon confessed, you couldn’t help but feel like there was something else he wasn’t telling you. 

You were only able to take one more bite of your ice cream before he spoke again. 

“I like you,” Haknyeon stops in his tracks as he blurts out the statement. Not registering his words, you take a few more steps forward, but immediately stop as his sentence registers. You abruptly turn around to face Haknyeon. 

“What?” You whisper, not wanting to take his words the wrong way. 

“I like you, like, I want to hold your hand and kiss you and tell you that I like you, every day,” Haknyeon rambles, his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. 

You shake your head in disbelief, the words not seeming true. “This isn’t funny, Hak. If Sunwoo or Eric put you up to this then-”

Your words get cut off as Haknyeon takes two long strides to get to you before tugging at your shirt to pull you closer and smashing his lips against yours. 

The ice cream in your hand is long forgotten as you drop it onto the ground to cup Haknyeon’s face. 

The kiss was short, yet passionate, as if this was the last time his lips would ever be on yours. There were no fireworks like they say in the movies, but it was just him, everywhere. 

You pull away first, getting dizzy from the entire situation and feeling the erupting butterflies in your stomach. You take a few seconds to catch your breath as Haknyeon does too, lightly heaving.

“I,” Haknyeon takes a breath of air. “I forgot we were in public.”

A small laugh escapes your mouth, and as soon as Haknyeon sees your reaction, he smiles too. When you take another step away from Haknyeon, you hear your shoe step on something as a loud crunch rings. 

“My ice cream!” You exclaim, stepping away from the puddle and hitting your back against Haknyeon’s chest. 

“Tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll buy you a new one,” He affirms, placing a light kiss to the side of your head before taking your hand in his and lightly pulling you to start walking again. 

“It’s a date,” You reply, a dimpled-smile and a light blush overtaking your cheeks as you stare at the ground. 

“That was the plan,” Haknyeon says, a similar smile on his face. 

And at that moment in time, it didn’t matter whether Haknyeon was going off to college because he wasn’t planning on letting you go anytime soon, no matter how many dropped ice creams and ruined flowers he had to endure. 

a/n

“Fuck you, Kevin,” You shout, shoving him aggressively to the side. 

Kevin throws his head back, laughing, “I didn’t know someone could suck so bad at Uno until I met you. Why would you reverse it knowing I only had one card left, after I just played a reverse?”

“I didn’t know you had a reverse! Who keeps a reverse as their last two cards,” You pout, throwing your cards down to cross your arms over your chest. 

Kevin begins to mindlessly shuffle, knowing there were only two minutes left of your last period of the day which did not give the two of you enough time for another round that you would undoubtedly lose. 

“I’m still coming over to study after school, right?” Kevin asks, thumbing through the cards. As if it was a consequence to his question, the bell rings signifying the end of the school day. 

You begin to pack your things which were mostly ready and you couldn’t help but be grateful that your last period was statistics, the biggest blow-off class you could’ve taken. “I think we’re the only weebs who would study for AP biology on a Friday night,” You scoff. 

“Yet somehow I know that we’ll study for thirty minutes before we give up, order take-out, and end up watching My Hero Academia until it’s too late for me to go back to my house.”

Your lips purse in response, knowing Kevin was right. Though you pretended like there was something more entertaining out there for you to do on a Friday night, nothing sounded more right than spending it with your best friend.

You and Kevin exit the school, making your way to your house. It was only a seven minute walk from the school, thus why study sessions and hang outs were frequently at your house. That and your mom was a doctor who often worked night shifts that started before you got home and after you and Kevin fell asleep. 

When you near your house, you reach into your pocket attempting to find the key before you hear a familiar voice. 

“Lemonade! Fresh lemonade!” 

You don’t believe it at first and although you had to squint to make out what was happening, Kevin quickly affirms what seemed to be in front of your eyes.

“Is Hyunjae selling lemonade? Also who’s that little girl next to him? I thought he didn’t have younger siblings?” Kevin turns to face you but you just shrug, not understanding the situation either. 

Everyone knew the basketball players usually scheduled early release, allowing them to leave school early so they had time to do homework before basketball games or- not- in most of their cases, however, you didn’t expect Hyunjae to be with an unknown little girl selling lemonade. 

“Let’s go buy some!” Kevin exclaims, grabbing onto your wrist and dragging you to arrive at the lemonade stand faster. 

You immediately begin to panic, this being the first real interaction you had with Hyunjae since you were a child. “Can’t, I’m allergic,” You quickly say, pulling back so your shoes scraped against the concrete. 

“No you’re not, you love lemonade! Now, grow some balls because I’m thirsty,” Kevin replies, standing behind the woman who was currently conversing with Hyunjae. 

“You know, you shouldn’t say grow some balls, what do balls do? Nothing. You should say grow a pussy, now those things can take a pounding,” You ramble on, your nerves speaking for you. Kevin simply brushes your comments off, however, knowing rambling was another habit you picked up whenever you got nervous. 

When the woman moves out of the way, Kevin immediately jumps into conversation with the little girl standing beside Hyunjae and you watch as the two interact. 

“Hyunjae oppa is helping me raise money to buy a dog! Right, oppa?” She turns to Hyunjae, pulling at his shirt so he would focus his attention on her. For the first time in years, you make eye contact with Hyunjae and even as the little girl tugs on his blue shirt, his gaze lingers on you until he’s quite literally torn away by the girl tugging harder. 

“Yah! Byeol, gentle!” He scolds, taking her hand in his and smoothing away the creases on his shirt with his other hand. 

“So the pretty little girl’s name is Byeol!” Kevin says, ignoring whatever was occurring and turning his attention back to the girl running the lemonade stand. 

‘If only Kevin wasn’t such a sucker for kids,’ You think. However, he was set on his future career since he was 12, a kindergarten teacher, meaning he was in love with practically every kid he came across. 

Byeol blushes in response, moving to hide herself behind Hyunjae. 

“I think she has a crush,” Hyunjae chuckles, patting her hair as she stands behind him in embarrassment. 

“Don’t tell him that! Boys are gross.” Byeol gags from behind Hyunjae and you can’t help but let out a laugh at the disgusted noises that she makes. 

“So she’s capable of more than just silence,” Hyunjae says, smiling at you. Having absolutely no control over your bodily functions, you begin to blush furiously at the mere attention of Hyunjae. 

Kevin seems to notice how uncomfortable you were, quickly changing the topic to understand just how Hyunjae was related to the lemonade stand. 

“Oh,” Hyunjae exclaims, beginning to answer Kevin’s question. Before he speaks, he moves Byeol next to him and covers her ears with his hands, making sure she couldn’t hear anything. “My mom knows her mom and she just volunteered me. I don’t mind though, Byeol is a sweetheart, isn’t that right Byeol?”

Hyunjae removes his hands from Byeol’s ears and ruffles her hair with his now free hands, causing Byeol to giggle. “You’re an angel, right?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Kevin says, smiling. 

As Kevin and Hyunjae talk, speaking mainly of school, you take your time to take in Hyunjae. You hadn’t looked at him for more than a few seconds since he had entered high school, and it would be a lie to say he didn’t age like fine wine. 

He had broad shoulders, a gorgeous smile, and the nicest nose you had seen on any guy to date. He was currently sporting a light blue shirt with tan slacks, something you thought no one would be able to pull off but because it was Hyunjae, it looked good. On game days, the team always had to dress up, and you were never able to take in one of his dressed-up looks, at least not until today and you were definitely sure you were missing out. 

You hear footsteps coming from the sidewalk and you turn your head to the side, looking to see if someone else wanted lemonade, but it was just a lower classman who ignored the stand completely as he made his way to his house. 

“So, we have two flavors: sour and sweet. What are we feeling today?” Hyunjae asks, focusing back on the main reason the two of you were at the stand to begin with. 

Kevin hums as he ponders, gazing at the table. Along with lemonade, the table also had various candies for sale. 

“I think I’ll take one sweet lemonade because of the very sweet Byeol and one Skittles packet,” Kevin says, handing Hyunjae a dollar. You can clearly see Byeol’s cheeks redden as she pours Kevin a lemonade but neither of you say anything. 

“Wait, I just have a dollar,” Kevin pouts, turning to you. “Did you want something?”

You begin to decline until Hyunjae pulls his wallet out of his pocket and places a dollar in the jar. “One sweet and one sour please, Byeol.”

Hyunjae turns to you, a soft smile on his face. 

“Oh, you don’t have to-” You begin to resist, but Hyunjae quickly cuts you off. 

“Nonsense,” He shakes his head before taking the lemonade from Byeol’s hand and handing you one. “It’s only fifty cents.”

“Yeah, it’s really good too,” Kevin says, taking another sip out of his cup. 

Your hand lightly grazes his as he hands you the cup and you would be a fool to not notice the butterflies that erupted in your stomach at the contact. 

“Is this one sweet or sour?” You ask, curious as to which one Hyunjae assumed you would like. 

Hyunjae doesn’t respond and takes the other lemonade from Byeol before downing it. As soon as he sets the cup down, his nose scrunches up at the sharp taste that touches his taste buds. You quickly realize that the sweet lemonade remained in your hands. 

“Life’s been pretty sour without you, want to make it sweet?” Hyunjae says, laughing. He nods his head down to your cup and you can’t help but laugh as well, the cheesy dialogue not being something you expected from Hyunjae. 

“I think they like each other,” You hear Byeol loudly whisper to Kevin who was nowhere near close enough for her to whisper to. 

“I think so too,” Kevin replies.

The three of them watch as you make a decision on rekindling the friendship you once had with Hyunjae, realizing that maybe even after all these years, he was still the same Hyunjae who would intentionally step on a lego if you had stepped on one so you wouldn’t be alone. 

The movie moves on from the intense scene, the girlfriend in Paranormal Activity not finding any peace from the demon that was following her. 

“I had the best idea,” You claim, moving away from leaning up against him to look at him. He was still spooked from the movie, jittery eyes following your every movement, and you couldn’t help but let out a little laugh at how easily Eric got scared.

“Just because you like horror movies does not mean you can scare me like that,” He pouts, crossing his arms over his body. 

“I’m sorry,” You giggle, poking his cheek in retaliation. “I just had a really good costume idea for Halloween.”

Eric becomes more interested in the conversation now, realizing that the holiday was only two days away, and the two of you had yet to come up with costumes. “What?” He asks. 

“What if we do matching costumes,” You reason, watching his face for any indication that he was pleased by the idea. The ideas mentioned before all seemed to be a fail because Eric didn’t want to be a baseball player three years in a row, and you had no creative bone in your body. 

“I mean,” He ponders, thinking of matching costumes that weren’t too abnormal. “I’m surprised we didn’t think of doing couples costumes earlier, what were you thinking?”

A scream emits from the screen causing Eric to look back for a second before jolting back to you, terror evident in his eyes. “Bad idea,” He whispers.

“I was thinking,” You continue. “What if you be my boyfriend for Halloween, and I be your girlfriend.”

Eric’s face morphs into disgust, backing away as if you had come up with the worst suggestion he could think of.

“We’re literally already dating,” He scoffs, rubbing his forehead like he had a headache. 

“I know, but it was a good pickup line, right?” You grin, popping another piece of Hi-Chew in your mouth. 

“I really question why I’m dating you sometimes,” He sighs, turning his attention back to the screen. As soon as he does, the main character in the movie gets dragged from her bed by an invisible figure, causing Eric to immediately shout and hide into your side. 

“Probably because I’m the only one who’ll watch horror movies with you,” You say, groaning as you feel your side begin to ache from his tight grip.

Eric shakes his head, glancing over your shoulder to look at the screen. “Changmin will watch them with me,” He reasons, eyes fixated on the scene in front of him. 

“Okay, then go date Changmin then,” You scoff. You try to pry his arms off of you, only to be pulled into him more, practically sitting in his lap. 

“Nah, I’m good,” He whispers, placing a light kiss on your neck before turning to look at you. “Everyone needs their guardian angel with them to protect them from demons.”

You can’t help the heat that arises on your cheeks, the sudden change in his behavior causing you to become flustered. 

“Yeah, well, you are the demon,” You playfully mutter, locking your arms around his neck and snuggling into him- the sudden drowsiness hitting you after your change in position.