#theboyzfluff

"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. 

“So, you see,” You squeamishly begin, moving away so you weren’t guarding the door anymore. Sunwoo’s eyes travel down towards what you were holding, and if it had been possible, you were sure his eyes would’ve widened even more after he saw you jiggling the doorknob that opened to no avail. 

“Let me try,” Sunwoo pleads, gripping the doorknob that was once in your hands and shaking vigorously. 

Losing all hope, you sit down on the shabby, wooden floors of the haunted house you were currently in and take a look around, hoping no other jump scares awaited. “Sunwoo, I think you should just give up.”

As soon as Sunwoo lets go of the doorknob in defeat, a familiar voice calls out from the other end. 

“Hey! Sunwoo, Y/N, can you hear me? Are you guys there?” Haknyeon shouts on the other end, lightly banging on the door to get your attention. 

“Haknyeon! Haknyeon! We’re in here! We’re stuck though, the door won’t budge.” Evident fear ran through Sunwoo’s voice, and you couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy that was in the room with you. Even if you didn’t have a huge, colossal crush on him, you would still feel bad that he was stuck in one of his worst fears. 

“Stay where you are, we’re getting help!” Before Sunwoo can say anything else, you hear Haknyeon’s boots clamp away from the door and out of hearing range. 

“Great,” Sunwoo mutters, taking a seat next to you. “I’m done for. The zombie that was two doors down is going to eat me for dinner.”

You can’t help but laugh at Sunwoo’s dramatics, but you quickly stop when he glares at you.

“Hey, think about it this way,” You say, putting a hand on his shoulder for comfort. “Aren’t you grateful that you’re at least stuck with me? Imagine getting stuck with Eric. He would’ve been crying by now.”

Your attempt to reassure Sunwoo only causes another glare to be thrown at you, but his tough demeanor doesn’t last long before you guys hear a loud crash come from a few feet away. 

Sunwoo flinches at the sound, immediately reaching for the first thing he could, which happened to be your hand that wasn’t on his shoulder. “Holy shit! What was that?” 

“Sun,” You pause, taking your other hand off his shoulder and putting it on top of his hand that was clutching yours. “That was the same exact noises we heard earlier. You know, the one’s they play over the speakers to scare the people in the haunted house?”

Even in the darkness of the room, you could see Sunwoo’s cheeks become littered in a soft pink. “Right, I knew that.”

“You’re more than welcome to keep holding my hand though,” You tease, noticing that he hadn’t let go. You hear Sunwoo lightly curse under his breath, but much to your joy, he keeps his hand in your grasp. 

“Well, since I’ve embarrassed myself enough in here,” Sunwoo lets out a shaky breath before continuing. “If we die in here, I just wanted to let you know that you’re really pretty, and I really, really regret not taking Eric’s advice on asking you out earlier.”

You feel your heart skip a beat at the sudden confession, but when you look back at Sunwoo to see if he was being serious, he avoided your gaze and played with the fake spider webs that littered the floor. 

“Earlier?” You question. “So, if we get out of here, then will you take me on a date?”

Sunwoo whips his head to look at you, his mouth slightly agape at your adherence to his words. You squeeze his hand in reassurance, which remained intertwined with yours. 

Before he has a chance to respond, both of your eyes are drawn to the sudden toggling of a key inside the cursed doorknob. 

“Dang, I was pretty content staying in here with you,” Sunwoo sighs, letting go of your hand to get up and brush off the spider webs and dust that resided on his pants. 

You let out a laugh before he offers his hand to help you get up. You gratefully take it, appeased by the fact that even after you stand up, your hand was still in his. 

“Oh my gosh, I was so worried!” Eric screeches, moving the man who fixed the doorknob out of the way. He wraps his arms around the two of you, one around Sunwoo and the other around you. 

“There, there buddy,” Sunwoo consoles, lighting stroking his back until he lets go. “We were fine. In fact, I think haunted houses might be one of my favorites places now.” Sunwoo throws a discrete wink in your direction, causing you to playfully punch his shoulder with your unoccupied hand.

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