#type:scenario

“rise and shine, love!” you called, the sun illuminating your thin lace curtains as you stretched your hands overhead, a groan and yawn simultaneously slipping past your lips. the room was flooded with golden morning light, you attempting to shuffle out of your spot in bed as you tugged at the hemline of your boyfriend’s dress shirt.

turning to the window, you pulled the curtains apart with an appreciative sigh at the sight of the late spring surroundings. trees were still in full bloom and the air was fresh and cool, making it the best type of weather to be outside. all you’d wanted to do was take an early trip to the park—though, some might not consider ten in the morning to be early, exactly.

if only a certain someone would get out of bed already.

“baby, c’mon~” you attempted to gain his full attention, crossing over to his end of the bed and taking a seat so you could thread your fingers through his messy bedhead. he mumbled incoherently, burying his head further into the sheets as he rolled over a bit. “alright, that’s it.”

“WAKE UP!” with all the strength you could muster, you swung a pillow down at his head, the action making him grunt out of surprise and grab your hand quickly. if you thought your reflexes were quick, his were twice as fast. you whined in an attempt to pull away, his strength in a single arm too strong as he singlehandedly managed to tug you back into bed.

brushing your hair out of your face, you watched silently as his eyes slowly opened, brown orbs staring back at you as a sleepy smile grew on his face. it was moments like these that made you fall in love even more with doyoung, knowing you were the only one who would see him like this. wrapping a bare arm around you, he pulled you closer so that you could feel the heat radiating off of his body. the warmth that enveloped you acted like a switch, you beginning to feel sleepier even though you’d just been bursting with energy.

“five more minutes,” he muttered into your hair, holding you tightly as he blindly searched for the bedsheets to pull them higher up over the both of you.

“but babe,” you sighed, though your eyes were already shut and your legs resting against his.

“no.”

-

“rise and shine, love~”

the mocking tone broke you away from your nonsensical dream, the palm trees and giant ice cream cones once surrounding you now gone as your vision slowly cleared. the room was still flooded with light, though it wasn’t as blinding as it initially was. you looked up, noticing doyoung tugging on a shirt as he grinned an infamous toothy smile at you. rubbing at your eyes, an inaudible yawn slipped past your lips as you groggily pushed out of bed. doyoung scooped you up almost immediately, making you laugh and fully alert as he carried you into the kitchen.

“what is all this about?” you questioned quietly, suddenly less energetic compared to an hour ago when you’d woken up first.

“shh—” he instructed, fidgeting with cupboards and dishes until he was able to fix up a quick meal for the both of you, consisting of gourmet bowls of cereal. your head lolled as you struggled to stay fully awake, your legs slowly swinging as doyoung looked up at you with a laugh to himself. it was amazing to him, how fast your energy depleted. “open.”

you refused to part your lips, the cold metal spoon filled with frosted flakes not amusing you until he tickled your side and got you to yelp, the cereal entering your mouth with ease. “that’s not funny,” you grumbled, your mouth full as you chewed. you watched as he leaned against the opposing counter, the two of you slowly waking up with the sugar in your system.

“do you have busy schedules today?” you questioned after you were through, watching him stack the two dishes into the sink with a long yawn. it was as though you already knew the answer but still attempted to gain some type of free time out of him.

“yeah,” he shrugged, quickly noticing your disappointed expression. “hey, hey, hey! it’s a music bank performance and then a fansign at 8. once i get to the broadcasting station by 2, i’ll be okay. and then when i get back we can have some more time for ourselves, got it?”

“got it,” you sulked, leaning against his touch as he cupped your cheek with a pout.

“besides, i have even worse news for you.”

“what is it?” you asked wearily, not able to imagine how something could be worse than your boyfriend not being able to spend time with you.

“you have to wash the dishes.”

“hey!”

“open your mouth!”

“no!”

“open it!”

“no!”

“this is all because you wouldn’t listen to me when i said to not get wet!”

“it’s not my fault!”

“you’re the one that ran into the playground in the rain!” taeyong hollered, still poking at your lips with the spoonful of the disgusting red liquid that would apparently rid you of your sniffles. you glared at him from your blanket cocoon, your eyes narrowed slits as you hugged your knees to your chest.

“i don’t want it.” you pouted though he couldn’t see, sneezing soon after and causing the male to shake his head.

“too bad—you don’t know that i brought cheesecake and it’s in the kitchen.”

“where?” you gasped, falling victim to his tricks and in turn being force fed the cough syrup. you spat and choked violently, as though he’d given you poison that would kill you immediately. glareing at him as you were betrayed by him and the bottle of robitussin, you rolled onto your side on the sofa. facing away from him, you stared at the cushions angrily as the bitter liquid burned your throat.

“oh, come on,” he coaxed, pulling at your shoulder so that you’d face him. he was seated on the floor, equipped with a number of things in a mysterious black bag he wouldn’t let you examine. “lemme see that cute little face of yours.”

“look at this!” you turned back for just a moment, flashing him your middle finger as you stuck your tongue out. realizing you were childish, you laughed and sat back up, rubbing at your arms to give yourself warmth.

“you cold?” he questioned, glancing outside at the stormy weather that might very well prevent him from walking back to his own place. “i’ll be stuck here for a little while, look at those clouds.”

“oh joy,” you grumbled, reaching for the tv remote and allowing it to play for some type of background noise. leaving it on a rerun of some variety show, you turned back to him and motioned to the stack of books between you. “we still need to finish our assignments for tomorrow.”

“you need to rest,” taeyong retorted, pushing you away from the unfinished papers for your physics class the next day. you lived with your sister, but considering you were a high school senior, she often left you alone at home and would spend nights at her boyfriend’s house. for a while, taeyong’s presence was simply you excited to show your close friend around the place being alone, but you’d grown used to his being around even on school nights. he lived a couple blocks off, in an apartment alone that you’d never brought yourself to question. “do you want tea or something? what do sick people take other than medicine? i’m no nurse.”

“nurse taeyong~” you teased, poking at his cheeks before covering your mouth to cough again. your voice was barely a whisper, though he caught on to what you had said and smacked your leg. “ow!”

taeyong scoffed, leaning back on his hands as he watched you begin to focus intently on the tv show. he observed you silently, the way you still were full of personality even though you weren’t feeling well. though you were both simply good friends for a while, he’d always had a soft spot for you. and no, not in a brotherly way; more in a way where he wanted to feel your lips against his, you laying in his arms while he played with your hair.

or well, some cheesy shit like that. who knows.

“baby!” you cried, forcing him to sit up as though he’d been smacked in the chest immediately.

“huh?”

“baby,” you repeated, pointing in a dumbfounded manner to the toddler running around on the return of superman. “isn’t he adorable?”

“uh, sure.” he nodded half-heartedly, digging through the bag and grabbing hold of the ramen he’d bought. considering he’d be around for a while, he figured he should eat.

“you don’t have to—” shuffling out of your seat, you followed him into the kitchen with the blanket draped over your shoulders. taeyong scolded you immediately, grabbing you by your hips and seating you on the island counter.

“you’re not doing anything!” he instructed, proceeding to tear open the packaging and add ingredients as you looked on. “anyway, do you want cheese in it?”

“do you like anyone, taeyong?” you questioned suddenly, throwing him off completely and causing him to freeze in fear. how the hell did you figure that out, out of nowhere?

he turned to you wearily, his eyes bulging with suspicion as you swung your legs in anticipation. you weren’t smiling; rather, you stared at him intently, waiting for a reply. gulping, he picked at the collar of his shirt, beginning to stammer as he looked around to avert your eyes.

“u-uh, well—i don’t really think i—”

“yes or no?”

“why are you asking so suddenly?” taeyong snapped, trying to mask his fear with annoyance. you began to laugh, grinning at him mischievously as he furrowed his brows at you. “what’s so funny?”

“i was just messing with you! don’t you remember the random girl at school that came up to you and asked you that because she wanted to give you flowers and confess to you? poor girl sat alone in the library watching the flowers all by herself.”

“not my fault, she’s too cute.”

“so she’s cute,” you instigated, leaning towards him with an arched brow. he pushed at your face, returning to the food so he could take the two bowls into the living room. hopping out of your seat, you followed him yet again and sat cross-legged across from him before the low coffee table. about to reach for your chopsticks, he yelled, making you jump. “why?!”

“gimme.” he grumbled below his breath, something about you being unable to listen to him as he slid his bowl to the side and yours in front of him. twirling the noodles quickly, he instructed you to open your mouth again though this time the food was greatly welcomed. you chewed for a moment, observing the way taeyong seemed so dissatisfied with taking care of you though he was doing so much.

“am i cuter though?” you asked, sending him back into a frenzy. he began to stammer again, shakily attempting to feed you more noodles as he gave a weak nod. “that’s right!”

the two of you talked about random things, discussing what needed to be done for your class tomorrow and the amount of work that needed to be covered. you talked about pretty much everything under the sun and before you knew it, the medicine had you forcibly holding your head up and your eyes open to look up at him.

“you’re sleepy.” taeyong cleared the dishes effectively, being the neat freak that he was as you crawled back onto the couch. without a word, he draped the blankets back over you, ensuring the light wasn’t in your eyes and you were far from the books.

“taeyong?”

“mm?”

“thanks.” that was the last word that slipped past your lips before you fell into a deep sleep, taeyong smiling to himself as he lay back on the floor and reached for your textbooks. considering he couldn’t spend the next few hours just staring at you without feeling like a creep, he might as well have worked.

a solid two hours had passed and taeyong was nearly finished, when the storm seemed to take its toll further. a bright flash of lightning caused him to look up, the expectancy of loud thunder crackling through the skies any second now.

and when it did, you somehow managed to jump up in a disheveled state, your eyes still half open though you were practically shaking from the loud peal of thunder.

“what’s wrong?” he asked, noting the concern in your face as you shifted around uneasily.

“i…don’t really like thunder,” you whispered, your voice small as you hugged yourself. you were still half awake, groggy from the medication and unable to register much aside from the loud booming from outside. “ahh, stop already!”

“_____, it’s okay,” taeyong replied, shifting over to you so he was seated near you. shifting up a bit, you laid your head on his lap with a soft groan, taking him by surprise as he looked down at you to push the loose strands of hair out of your face. “just a little thunder, it’ll go away.”

“mmm,” you grunted again, somehow falling asleep as quickly as it came. taeyong looked down at you silently, taking the chance to admire your features as you slowly drifted back into unconsciousness. brushing a thumb against your cheek, he sighed, mentally beating himself up for not being able to be straightforward with you. he’d seen enough cheesy dramas with his own sister to know that girls would find themselves wrapped up in some other guy and he’d be left in the dust.

his heart pounding against his chest, he leaned down to press a gentle kiss to your forehead, immediately smacking the back of his own head for the stupid idea. it wasn’t even as though you’d felt it—

“i’m sorry, i don’t get what you’re—” you squinted at the new boy before you. he looked a strange combination of confused and enthusiastic, as though there were words running through his mind that he failed to enunciate. his eyes were bright, though they shook nervously as he darted around in hopes of communicating with you. your eyes observed his every move carefully; he was cute, that was a given—watching as he rummaged through his bag to pull out a sheet of paper and a pen.

scribbled in rather broken korean, you squinted as you tried to make out what exactly he was trying to say. his letters weren’t formed properly, but it only took you a second to realize what he was saying.

“you’re the new exchange student, aren’t you?” you asked in korean, earning a tilt of the head and a sheepish laugh. you wracked your brain in hopes of figuring out how you could respond properly, it finally hitting you that he was a thai student and you were placed in the advanced foreign languages class. thai was something you’d picked up a bit of while your father was back and forth on business trips, despite it not being offered as a subject at your school.

“ahh, you’re thai!” you chirped in his native tongue, causing him to sigh in relief before nodding excitedly and chattering at the speed of light.

“that’s what i’ve been trying to say!” he groaned, rubbing at his forehead out of frustration. “my korean isn’t very good because i haven’t been here for more than a week or so; i’ve actually transferred to finish my studies here because i’ve been accepted by a big entertainment company!”

though his thai was fluent to the point you had to pay careful attention to what he was saying, it wasn’t difficult to fathom a reply whenever he was finished. he seemed so excitable that it was almost a strain to not focus on him.

“let me guess, sm?” you laughed, shaking your head as he nodded again. “they’re a really great company, that’s so exciting! i have a few friends who are trainees there—do you know doyoung? or maybe jaehyun?”

“i do, they’re about the same age as me.”

“then you’re about the same age as me,” you pointed out, noting that the bell had rung and everyone was hurrying in various directions to their classes. “they actually go to school here, but we have class now or i’d show you around a bit and help you meet some new people—what class do you have now?”

“uh, world history—” he lifted his schedule to your eyes, the korean sprawled off in tiny letters that you easily understood. you nodded in reply to his assumption, seeming to relieve him more and more every time his korean was passable. “you?”

“same class,” you smiled warmly, the sight making the foreigner’s heart swell in response. only after gaining your understanding was he able to look you over properly, noting that you were rather pretty and had a nice personality to match. “if you want, come with me! i can help you with your korean as well, if anything. lunchtime too, if it helps!”

“that’d be great,” he replied, following you into the adjacent building where your class was located. “it sucks because i can understand it, but i can never seem to get my replies right.”

“don’t worry about it, people here are pretty friendly! do and jae can help, as well. ah—” stopping dead in your tracks, you turned to him with a smack to your own forehead. “how could i forget!? my name’s _____, by the way.”

“pretty,” he blurted out, seeming amazed by anything you did for some unknown reason. “i have a long full name, i don’t know if you’ll be able to remember it…i guess you can stick to calling me ten!”

“ten, like the number in english? i got you.” the both of you hurried up the staircase, earning a glance from your teacher as you entered the room in unison. everyone seemed to fall silent upon the arrival of a new student, the teacher calling ten over to gain his information. you gave him an encouraging smile, squeezing his hand before hurrying to your seat near the windows where your friends were. ten failed to even pay attention to half of what the older man attempted to explain to him, staring at his hand with a dumbfounded grin on his own face.

-

it had been nearly four months since your first meeting and it was safe to say that by now, you and ten were inseparable. you had managed to introduce your friends to him and he’d quickly gotten acquainted with your little circle, though the two of you had often run off so that you could show him little things about the school that you liked and would spend the majority of your time together perfecting his korean. truthfully, it was near impossible to believe that he’d gotten fluent to the point that you couldn’t believe it was the same person you once spoke to with a locker that so happened to be assigned next to yours.

you hadn’t come to school that day, which quite honestly shocked ten—he’d gotten so used to your presence around him, in and out of school (aside from his training schedule, of course) that you being absent was taboo. doyoung had explained to him that you were out of town for a few days, the school sending you along with a few other students to participate in an academic triathalon. needless to say, ten had gotten a bit grumpy knowing you hadn’t told him about this, but you knew better than to do so. he’d whine and harass you until you somehow gave in so that you’d have more time to spend with him, though this was something important you couldn’t pass up.

“how come she told you and not me?” he sulked, looking across at doyoung as the two were sprawled off on the field bleachers during their free period together. “does she like you?” ten sat up with the frightening assumption that slipped past his lips, mentally scolding himself for letting his impulsiveness get the best of him.

“i mean, i have confessed to her before—” doyoung began casually, ten suddenly riled up as he looked down at his lap angrily. “but she doesn’t like me. she’s been all over someone else lately.” he laughed to himself, looking at ten with a shrug. “it’s not like i’m heartbroken over it, though, it was waaaaaaay before we became such good friends. i thought she was cute and she laughed.”

“but who does she like now?” ten inquired again, more intently this time as he turned to face doyoung completely. “i need to know! why do i care so much? i mean, i think she’s cute and you know, we’ve hung out a lot but how come she hasn’t told me she likes someone? what?!” by that point, he was shaking the other by his shoulders with every question that left his mouth, his eyes darting left and right as though he’d find an explanation.

“first of all, stop shaking me!” doyoung scolded, laughing soon after as he adjusted his uniform. “second, you should probably ask her yourself.” a smug grin donned his face as he raised his eyebrows at a confused ten. “i think you’d like her answer.”

“what do you mean?” ten groaned, now holding the sides of his head out of pure confusion. it was as though his own personal feelings were in a pit of turmoil; he liked you, simple as that. he’d been thinking of confessing to you, but this was a whole other angle he was forced to take this from! with that, doyoung laughed again and patted the younger’s shoulder, making his way onto the field where jaehyun was waving wildly for his attention.

-

“care to explain why you’re being so weird?” you eyed ten from across the booth, the two of you holed up in a café near school since you had late arrival. you weren’t required in school for another hour or two, which was why it confused you when ten said be ready as per usual and meet him at your favorite drink spot.

ten was near silent, even more so than when you’d first met—it was a strange sight, since you’d gotten so used to the chatterbox he was.

“hello? earth to ten!” you tapped at his forehead, half jokingly while you were actually beginning to feel a bit concerned as to why he was behaving this way. had he found out you like him?

“s-sorry, i was thinking of something!” he chirped over excitedly, tapping away at the tabletop as he looked out the window and fell silent again.

ten, meanwhile, was an internal mess. he’d spent the entire night before your arrival attempting to practice his impromptu confession, barely getting a wink of sleep as he’d put his homework aside even, for this. he’d skipped dance practice at the agency as well, lying and claiming that he was feeling ill the entire day.

“doyoung told me there was something important you wanted to talk about?” you began, a bit more confused as he furrowed his eyebrows angrily.

“damn you, doyoung,” he cursed under his breath.

“huh?”

“ah, nothing!” he glanced at his wrist, though there was no watch as he slid out of the booth. “look at the time, we should be getting to school—”

“but it’s 11, we don’t have to be in class until 12:30…”

“we should be getting to school, anyway! can never be too early!” without another word, he grabbed your hand and led you out into the early spring air. it was something that never ceased to amaze you, the pink and white that graced the steely streets and walkways on your way to school. you struggled to keep up with ten’s pace, though he wasn’t much taller than you. he refused to answer any more of your questions, not stopping until you’d logged in at the school gates and were standing in the center of the roadway that led towards the main building.

“you know that spot near the river behind school? where the gardening club has all their plants?” he questioned randomly, taking you by surprise.

“uh, yeah. the spot where i took you on your first day?”

“exactly. we’re going there.” again, he began dragging you along, though his grip in itself was far from brutal. you watched as he swallowed uneasily, not having the slightest clue why he seemed so out of his element, either. doyoung had called you the night before, saying ten seemed off to him as well though he had a better idea of what was about to take place in comparison to you.

“so.”

the two of you stood amongst the azaleas, the daisies and the hydrangeas, each blossoming from their various colored pots and troughs. you eyed each of them, intrigued by their beauty as you awaited for ten to continue.

but he didn’t.

he stood there, his eyes never leaving your face as his chest rose and fell in an attempt to regain his breath. he stared at your eyes, your lips, your hair, your everything. you felt a bit intimidated by his gaze, growing nervous as you tilted your head in confusion of your own.

“are you sure you’re okay, ten? why are we here? you could’ve spoken to me back at the café or something!” you tried to begin reassuringly, unsure yourself as to why he would have done all of this in the first place.

“do you remember what you said the first day you showed me here?” ten quizzed, putting you on the spot. you chewed at your bottom lip, thinking back to months ago when you’d shown him the various spots you spent your free time at when he first arrived. even more so, you were beyond forgetful. how did he expect you to remember?

“n-not particularly,” you stuttered, a solemn expression masking your confusion.

“you said that even if i felt like i didn’t belong with any of the other kids because they might not understand me sometimes, i could always find you here and know i had you.”

the memory came flooding back.

the two of you had been seated on the grass, looking out on the riverbank while you attempted to have a heart-to-heart with him. surprisingly enough, he’d told you everything firsthand; why he’d left thailand, how he was worried about not getting along in your school, the stress of becoming a potential idol. you felt for him and wanted to make sure he knew he could count on you as a friend, at least.

though, you thought to yourself, that wasn’t exactly what you hoped he saw you as anymore.

“we haven’t been here since my first day here. we always end up hanging out somewhere else, right?” he continued, his expression becoming serious as he stared in hopes of a reply. you nodded, convincing him to go on. “there’s something i wanted to tell you that’s super important and i figured this was the best place to do it.”

“…okay, what is it?” you asked after he’d remained silent for a good thirty seconds.

“i—” suddenly, he swallowed nervously; he’d been going so well and it was as though someone had grabbed his throat and shut him up. his thoughts were suddenly a jumbled mess of korean letters and words, nothing but stammers leaving his mouth. “i…just wanted to thank you for being a great korean teacher for me these past few months!”

“…that’s not what you were gonna say, is it.”

“no.” ten groaned, pulling at his hair exasperatedly as he looked around in hopes of inspiration. “i don’t know what to say. or, how to say it.”

“then say it in thai?”

ten took a deep breath, as though the words just suddenly managed to form themselves and fly out of his mouth in a haste.

“i like you, okay? i like you a lot. ever since the first day we met, as cheesy as it sounds, all i wanted to do was spend time with you and get to know you better. and you know what? i did. i got to know that you’re a wonderful, caring, intelligent and beautiful girl that makes me nervous all the time for no reason and makes me laugh and smile and…and it started scaring me that i realized i liked you. i know so much about you now but i still have no idea how you’re going to react to any of this, but you still need to know. even if you don’t like me back, the same way you said that i could always find you here and know i had you, i want you to know you’ll always have me.”

and you were silent.

it was as though the world was set on pause, your eyes wide and your mouth slightly open as you tried to comprehend all the emotions just flung at you. the breeze was the only thing making noise at that point as it rustled the leaves on the trees above you and the flowers that surrounded your feet, your eyes fixated on ten’s face as he awaited a reply.

“i like you too,” you stated simply, the words leaving your crescent lips in perfect thai. the grin that graced your face stretched from ear to ear, unable to contain your happiness as ten raised his eyebrows in shock, as though he hadn’t the slightest clue that you felt the same way. “i like you a lot. and i mean, a lot.”

ten hadn’t any idea what to do with his excitement, deciding to wrap his arms around your waist and spin you around in response. you burst into a fit of laughter, struggling to link your arms around his shoulders before he set you down. leaning in just a bit, you pressed your lips to his cheek and earned a newfound disarray of yells and random thai outbursts that had you holding your sides from the pain of laughter.

“she said she likes me, too! holy fuck, oh my god, whoa, this is happening—” he rambled on and on until another male voice interjected the atmosphere.

“i have no idea what either of you just said, but i’m guessing it was great. fuck yeah!”

“johnny!” you shouted, watching as him and your other mutual friends peeked out from around the corner of the nearest school building. the group of them cheered altogether, making you and ten glance between each other and the ground and laugh to yourselves.

“do i have to say it korean too, so it’s official?” ten asked, making you roll your eyes and smack him in reply. “JOOOAAAAAHHHHHHHAEEEEEEEYOOOOOOOO!”

“yell a little louder, why don’t you?” you groaned, covering your ears jokingly. “i don’t think the people in the next city heard you yet.”

“oh, you’re right.” clearing his throat, he opened his mouth to holler again.

“TEN.”

“boring…seen it already…lame…” you rolled your eyes as your thumb pressed incessantly against the + on your television remote, the late night reruns failing to amuse you as you awaited your boyfriend’s arrival. glancing at the clock and registering that it was past midnight and you’d forgotten to eat dinner, you shook your head at the disappointing show lineup and tossed the remote aside after turning it off.

“he said he’d be back by midnight.” the thought crossed your mind casually, though a nervous churning in your stomach proved otherwise that there was something you should have worried about. jaehyun wasn’t one to get into fights often, though when he did it proved to be ugly. not for him, of course, but for the opposer. the two of you had attended high school together and he was far from your typical, well-behaved young man; he had a short temper and often slipped up hastily, getting him into trouble many a time. it wasn’t even as though he intended to get himself into sticky situations; more so, he was a true klutz that somehow managed to save his own skin every time.

it had shocked you, really—the adorable, goofy dork he proved to be underneath the tough exterior. you had a lot in common, only realizing after you were long past your high school days on a casual coffee catch-up. there was something about each of you that brought you closer together irresistibly and you couldn’t be happier.

halfway though your bowl of impromptu ramen, your eyes wandered to the front door uneasily, still unsure as to what trouble jaehyun could have gotten himself into this time that would make him run this late, even more so to not bother checking his phone.

without even realizing, you were already tugging a large coat over your old t-shirt and joggers, grabbing your phone just in case he did decide to call before you’d caught up to him.

truthfully, you wouldn’t even attempt leaving the house at this ungodly hour on a weekday, but knowing that jaehyun went out with his friends that weren’t exactly the most well-behaved either gave you an idea as to what he might have gotten himself into.

hurrying down the fire escape that was luckily near your shared apartment, you kept an eye out in the dimly-lit streets if you caught sight of the man in question. one hand trailed along the railing while the other gripped your coat tightly, out of fear that it might’ve blown open and lead to you freezing from the chilly night air.

skipping down the cobblestone alley that led into the main street, you glanced around more carefully, in an attempt to register any pale-skinned, tall men wandering around aimlessly like you expected him to.

it wasn’t until you rounded the corner of the block near the café you often visited that you heard a voice you knew all too well.

“she’s going to kill you.”

“you don’t think i know that?”

“well, we didn’t expect you to swing at the guy just ‘cause he tried to make fun of taeyong!”

“i-i don’t know why i did either, but they’ve been bothering us since high school! you guys always let it slide, anyway. i’m the one that got my ass handed to me.”

“i can’t believe jaehyun finally lost a fight! who would have thought!”

“i let him win!”

“no, you didn’t.” you interjected, taking slow and deliberate steps until you came face to face with the person you’d spent the last five minutes looking for. the three guys before you fell silent; hansol, taeyong and jaehyun each in a line, propped up against the curb that bordered the coffee shop. the dim streetlight fell over their faces, not clearly but enough for you to realize that neither of the first two were covered in bruises and scrapes the way your boyfriend was.

“u-uh, hey ______!” taeyong called nervously in an attempt to sound cheerful. being one of your closest friends since your school days, he knew fully well that you didn’t take very well to their constant fights. “what brings you out here?”

“well, might have something to do with the fact that it’s almost two in the morning and i was a bit curious as to where jaehyun was, y’know?” you questioned sarcastically, tossing a spiteful glare in jaehyun’s direction. he gulped in reply, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck as he attempted to pacify you.

“babe, come on—it’s no big deal, let’s just go home.”

“of course it’s not!” you smiled in an overly sweet manner, reaching up on your tiptoes so that you could grab him by his ear and drag him down to your height. turning back to hansol and taeyong you waved, the two snickering under their breath at the way you manhandled jaehyun. “nice seeing you guys again!”

ignoring jaehyun’s pleas for you to let him go and let him explain, you continued taking long strides back into the apartment complex, grinning at the doorman who shook his head amusingly.

“again?” he questioned, making reference to the way jaehyun appeared battered and bruised.

“again,” you confirmed, giving him a playful eye roll as you stepped into the elevator with your boyfriend in tow.

“babe, you’re going to break my ear off if you don’t let go now,” he began whining, trying to push your arms away and only succeeding by the time you managed to open the door to your apartment.

“really? ‘cause i’m sure if whoever you fought this time had a chance, they might’ve broken more than just your ear.”

“look—i’m sorry, i couldn’t help it.” jaehyun grumbled, slipping off his jacket and giving you a closer look as to how bad the damage was. his muscle shirt failed to hide the scratches along his biceps and the marks on his cheek and near his jaw seemed to be getting bluer with every passing second. you felt your heart sink out of concern rather than anger, though you didn’t forget that you had told him yourself many a time to stay out of these stupid fights in the first place. “i know it’s dangerous, but—”

“but what, huh?” you shook your head, speaking as you entered the bathroom for the first aid kit stowed away in the medicine cabinet before returning and leading him to the couch. “every time you get yourself in a situation like this, you always expect me to just be okay with it. one day you might come home in a state that i won’t be able to take care of you myself, ever thought of that?”

“i always do! it’s just that i hate these stupid thugs, thinking they’re better than us guys just because we don’t cause trouble randomly around toOOOOWWn.”

jaehyun flinched as you applied antiseptic to his wounds, the stinging liquid causing him to flail around and yelp in pain.

“stay still!” you ordered, continuing to dab away with the cotton pad. “you didn’t complain about pain when they beat you up, did you?”

“you’re still missing the point here! i beat them up because they were causing trouble, not me!” he hissed again as you sprayed at his arms, only feeling relief after you’d managed to cover every wound up with large band-aids and gauze of different shapes and sizes. “if you think of it, i’m sort of like a superhero.”

“a superhero that got his ass kicked.” you scoffed, returning the medical contents to where they belonged before finding a seat next to him on the couch once more. he draped an arm over your shoulder, allowing you to bury your face in his chest with a soft sigh. “just…enough of the fighting for a little while, please.”

“why?!”

disgust.

pain.

embarrassment.

those were the only emotions you could feel at that moment, your eyes frozen but not focused on the laptop screen before you. the combination of words and images blurred through your unstill vision, you yourself not even realizing that your hands gripped the sides of your laptop until your knuckles flushed a white color.

[ CONFIRMED ] Doyoung of NCT dating, SM Entertainment addresses rumor

On Wednesday, April 20th, 2016, rookie idol Doyoung of NCT was found rumored to be involved in a dating scandal as addressed by Dispatch. The sources claim that Doyoung and his female counterpart were seen at a restaurant near the SM Entertainment main building, engrossed in a very important conversation and even ending the supposed “date” with him leading her out of the establishment and lending her his jacket.

SM Entertainment refused to comment yesterday, today releasing an official statement that the two had been good friends since Doyoung’s trainee days and had since been allowed to get to know each other better under the consent of the agency.

His now-girlfriend is identified as ________, the two formerly training together under SM Entertainment until NCT was scheduled to debut after upholding the name “SM Rookies”. _______ will continue to train diligently until her debut is announced along with the company’s soon-to-be rookie girl group.

the article initially brought a sense of relief to you, knowing your relationship with doyoung wasn’t something of secrecy anymore. the two of you had been interested in each other ever since you’d been admitted the same year as trainees, something that you’d kept from the adults you worked with out of fear that you’d be forced to stay away from each other and focus further on your separate practice.

however, this didn’t stop the unisex choreographer from picking up on the not-so-subtle hints you both left. doyoung would stay back and wait until you were finished practicing, continuously cheering you on and bringing snacks or water when you were breathless. he’d walk in and out of the company with nobody but you, having lunch with the other guys at times but usually with you. while it flew over some of the trainers’ heads as a form of friendship that was beginning to grow amongst their rookies, he wasn’t that naïve.

you’d had countless sleepless nights over knowing that someone in authority was aware of your relationship after he’d confronted you both about it, thankful that he wasn’t attempting to scold either of you but making it known that SM staff wouldn’t be their happiest knowing you two had a tendency to slack off.

“don’t worry, baby,” he’d coax you over the phone, his voice soothing your worries as you’d lay in bed nervously biting on your nails and staring at the ceiling thinking of any possible way this wouldn’t work out for either of you. doyoung was unlike any guy you’d ever met; true, you’d never had a proper boyfriend aside from the occasional date, but he made you feel as though he had the answer to everything and you trusted him. he was the only person that gave you peace of mind in situations like these, especially after living with parents that’d rattled your brain to the point of little to no communication.

“everything will be fine. jungil won’t tell them anything. he wouldn’t sell us out; we’re practicing fine now, aren’t we?”

“i guess,” you’d reply uneasily, still worried about the possible consequences you’d face.

“you guess?” he’d question, laughing and feigning as though he were offended by your answer. “hey, i’m not hanging up until you’re smiling again. everything will be a-okay.”

“mhm.”

“you’re not smiling! i’ll sit here all night and wait until i hear you even laugh if i have to.”

“ha ha ha, does that count?”

“no.” you could’ve practically heard his pout over the line, the way he’d frown and scrunch his nose with furrowed eyebrows as if he were furious.

“doyoung,” you’d call, the both of you laughing by the end of it.

and when the scandal was confirmed, you had expected him to be right. that everything would be fine, you’d have nothing to worry about.

but then you read the comments from his fans.

[+256, -13] Yahhhh…she’s so ugly —— since when does SM not take kids for their looks?

[+197, -26] Ey, our Doyoungie~ how could you lower your standards this much ㅠㅠ I don’t understand how someone so cute can have such bad taste…I’ve lost faith in him

[+95, -7] ㅎㅎㅎ SM really knows how to gain attention with these dating scandals within the company. This b*tch isn’t even that pretty, how will she get fans when they debut when her name is already slandered? “The Doyoung Stealer”…good luck!

[+84, -3] She’s probably already been in their dorms…kids these days don’t wait to do anything anymore. What a wh*re mentality.

[+66, -1] Watch this follow her around for the rest of her idol career. So much for being successful hm

and then the messages you once received from loving fans encouraging you towards your nearing debut turned completely to nothing but hatred, as though they spat venom at you.

- Yah, you think you’re so good you can date our Doyoung? You’re not ㅎㅎ just go back to practicing and work on fixing that ugly face of yours

- Have you slept with him? You probably have. I never trusted you when SM announced your name. ——

- This is worse than Baekhyun and Taeyeon’s dating rumors. You’ve ruined Doyoung for me

- I hope we never have to see your face when you debut ㄱㄱ you’re not even that cute and you can’t perform well. SM will drop you any minute now

- You’re a worthless brat, I hope you’re happy ruining Doyoung’s image for us ㅋㅋㅋ

“stop reading those messages!” your friend and fellow trainee yelled over the other end of the line, her voice stricken with concern as you called her spur of the moment and began bawling your eyes out. “the sm staff are accepting of your relationship and so are the rest of us. don’t you think these fangirls will stop soon enough? they will!”

“no, they won’t!” you shouted, furiously scolding yourself mentally for the tears that streamed down your face. “look at what they’ve done to jongin and soojung! everyone loved them so much and now they can’t stand soojung because everyone’s found out she’s dating him. doyoung just started out with nct, we’re supposed to debut soon. do you think this will go away just because sm is more lenient now?”

“listen, it’ll be okay—just talk to him and—”

“i’m not telling doyoung.”

“not telling me what?”

and you froze.

your eyes shifted to the front door of your apartment, doyoung dangling the spare key you’d cut for him from the keychain around his index finger as he rested the food he’d brought along on your kitchen counter. you’d never seen him this concerned and felt ashamed of yourself for allowing him to worry like this. hanging up the phone quickly, you tried your best to move aside your laptop and wipe at the stains on your face and the tears that continued to well along your waterline.

“don’t touch the damn computer.”

you broke down by that point, unable to contain how frustrated you were by that point. the comments were still fresh in your mind, knowing they were probably right. you probably were as ugly and untalented as they claimed and you did not, in any way, deserve doyoung.

hell, why was he even here? you never wanted him to see you like this.

“…you’re not listening to any of this, right?” he questioned uneasily, his eyes narrowed at you as he awaited a reply. his expectancy only made you cry harder, shaking your head as you attempted to cover your face with your hands. you were ridiculous enough to think that you had any right to put him through this type of treatment from his fans in the first place.

“_____, please tell me you don’t think it’s true. whatever they’re saying.” doyoung outstretched his arms in an attempt to console you, hurt when you flinched and shifted further away from him on the sofa. his heart was practically shattered at that point, seeing the way someone as bright and optimistic such as yourself was able to crumble like this. he couldn’t even explain the feeling that was rising inside of him, his head spinning in a confusing mix of rage and disappointment in his fans. he repeated your name and you remained silent aside from your sobbing and sniffling, unable to accept that you wouldn’t even speak when you so often were unable to shut up on a regular basis.

“just go, doyoung,” you spat out weakly, slamming your laptop shut and trying to move towards the door so that you could lead him out. he grabbed onto your wrist, frantically repeating your name until you stopped for the slightest second and he managed to pull you back towards him.

“where the hell would i go when the girl i’m in love with is clearly in the worst of moods?”

“oh, i’m sorry—should i be jumping for joy because i’m ugly and worthless? because i have no future as an idol like they say? because you’ve got horrible taste in girls? i’m sure they have it all figured out,” you snapped, a dry laugh laced with sarcasm slipping past your lips and taking doyoung aback by the fact that you were beyond offended by this point.

“baby—”

“you really think you should waste your time at this point?”

“____!” doyoung shouted, causing you to jump as he grabbed your shoulders and looked you dead in the eye. his own eyes brimmed with tears, anger reading across his face as he rested a hand on your cheek. “do you love me?”

“h-huh?”

“do. you. love. me.”

“…of course i do,” you croaked, biting at your lip as you spoke so that you wouldn’t start crying again. his expression alone was enough to knock you back off of your feet, hating yourself even more for being the reason he looked so broken.

“and don’t i love you?”

“…i guess—”

“you guess?” doyoung emphasized, glaring at you as he dropped his hand from your face and pulled you closer forcefully by your arms. “the girl i’ve known for nearly four years, that i’ve seen at her worst and her best, that doesn’t let anything get to her—do you not think it bothers the hell out of me that i have to see you like this? because of my fans? you didn’t do anything wrong. get that idea out of your head right now.”

“even so, they might’ve been right about a lot of the things they said, anyway.”

“nonsense. why would you be assigned any role in an idol group if you weren’t the least bit talented? or beautiful, or entertaining, or anything they care about in this industry.”

“i—”

“i don’t feel this way about you. the company doesn’t feel this way about you, your members don’t feel this way about you.” doyoung snaked an arm around you, your crying now dwindling to soft sniffs as he spoke gently, rubbing at your back in small circles. “the fans will always be there—and if they’re not, hell, i’d rather have you alone than millions of people that will resort so quickly to criticizing someone i love so much instead of being happy for me.”

“why are you so fucking nice…” you groaned, burying your face in his chest as he let out a subtle laugh.

“because i love you. and usually when you love someone, you try to do anything you can to make them happy before anyone else.” tipping your chin upwards so that your eyes met his, he pressed a kiss to your forehead; the action was small, but it seemed to ease the majority of your worries. you suddenly found yourself ridiculous for thinking you’d be so affected by something of the sort. the two of you continued staring at each other, a silent understanding that even something like this wasn’t about to break you up anytime soon.

“now then—” doyoung clapped, moving away from you and towards your kitchen. “there’s some fried chicken here with your name on it.”

“aaaaaand, cut!”

“thank you for your hard work!” the six boys lined up in their music video attire bowed simultaneously at the production staff that surrounded them. they were breathless yet satisfied, knowing their endless hours of practice were about to pay off.

“hey, you guys make sure and go change before you leave! this stuff has to be dry cleaned for our mnet performances next week.” taeyong instructed the younger members, each of them nodding and jogging towards the dressing rooms. he turned to summon the oldest to do the same, shaking his head at the fact that he was busy gushing over the most recent soccer match with one of the cameramen.

“can you believe that happened?! it was such foul play,” taeil grumbled. though his voice was soft, he was extremely expressive, throwing around his hands and shaking his head as though he were an elder saddened by how the current generation came to be.

“taeil…taeil hyung!”

“huh—oh?” looking up from his conversation, the older of the two laughed sheepishly, hands running through his dusty blonde locks as he followed taeyong towards their other members. “sorry, you know how much i love soccer—and he was watching highlights on his phone! i had to mention my two cents, too!”

“i know,” taeyong scoffed, unable to hide his grin as he tapped at the elder’s butt. “but don’t you have someone you should change and go see?”

“YOU’RE RIGHT!” he yelled suddenly, making a mad dash for the nearest dressing rooms where he’d stashed his clothes. taeil had nearly forgotten about the fact that he’d arranged to meet you at a nearby coffee shop, as he didn’t want you on set being questioned your identity by any of the managers. you and him had been dating ever since he was admitted to being a trainee; the two of you had attended the same high school and you’d been arranged to enroll under another company’s trainee program, which limited the time you spent together.

that didn’t stop taeil, though. while he was usually tired and wrapped up in filming or practice, he somehow always made time for you, even if it were for a simple date or a night out together. it was something you both felt bad for and appreciated greatly, knowing you wouldn’t find someone as sweet as him.

“are you already there?” he questioned, shoving his head through his shirt as he yelled into his phone.

“you do realize just because you put me on speakerphone doesn’t mean you have to yell into the mouthpiece for me to hear you, right?” you laughed at his silly assumption, tapping your freshly done nails against the tabletop before you. “and yes i am. there are a lot of cute guys here, actually.”

“eh?!” taeil froze, the sentence registering through his mind before he began to move twice as fast. “don’t talk to them! don’t look at them! don’t even let them breathe near you!”

“that would be sort of hard, i’m kinda in the line right now.”

suddenly the line cut after a series of crashes and soft cries, making you laugh as you set your phone down on the tabletop before you. truthfully, there was no more than about a dozen people in the shop, most of them with their significant others or work associates as they were hunched over laptops, fingertips hurriedly tapping against keyboards and tablets as they spoke in low tones. you glanced out of the window, a soft smile growing on your lips as you remembered your first meeting back in freshman year; a nerdy taeil hugging books to his chest as you were trying to hurry to the same class as him. he’d been so focused on the materials in his arms that he hadn’t seen you going by and you, of course, with your outright personality, messed around with him as though you were mad. of course, being the sweetheart he is, he thought you were downright serious and you started panicking, laughing it off and offering to have lunch with him.

and so you did for the five years that came to follow.

“back to planet earth.” taeil’s voice pulled you away from gazing absentmindedly at the array of houseplants aligning the wall outside of the café’s window, making you look up at him with a wide grin.

“hey, babe, how was filming?”

“tiring—but it’s finally over! i can’t believe we’re debuting.” the exhaustion in his voice was masked by the way his face glowed when talking about his group and you reached over for the menu near his hands. “wait. what are you wearing?”

confused, you looked down as though you’d been out in just your bra judging by his tone of voice. glancing between the oversized knitted sweater and his surprised expression, you tried putting two and two together before it finally hit you, a hand pressed to your forehead as you laughed sheepishly.

“ahhh, your shirt?” you plucked at the material, hugging yourself in its warmth as you beamed at him. “sorry, you left it at my place when you last visited and—it was kinda cold today, so i thought—”

“it looks cute,” he stated simply, unable to mask his grin under a calm demeanor. this was the first time you’d ever done something like this in the past year or so you’d been dating, considering you’d been careful not to tip your own managing staff off about your undisclosed relationship with an opposing company’s soon-to-be rookie idol. “it just looks really, really cute.”

the smile you’d fallen in love with in the first place stretched from ear to ear on his face, both taking you by surprise and also causing you to press your palms to either side of your own visage in an attempt to hide your flushed cheeks, meeting his admirer’s eyes as he laughed again.

“you should do this again sometime. actually, not sometime. whenever you can.”

“so, you’re telling me i should just transfer your entire wardrobe to my dorm?”

“well, then i wouldn’t have any clothes—”

“and where’s the problem in that?”

taeil’s eyes widened, shaking his head at your sly comment as you shrugged, a smug lopsided grin in return as he caught sight of the menu board behind you.

“we should order,” he replied calmly, eyeing the options as he slowly got out of his seat. “i’ll make sure to get you an americano just the way you like it.”

“but i like caramel macchiatos—arent’t americanos your favorite?”

“yeah and so is that shirt,” he pointed out, jokingly tugging at the fabric as he stooped beside you with a low voice. “but since you’re already busy taking things that are my favorite and you are my favorite, i thought it’d be a fitting drink for you. hm?”

“i—” you were dumbfounded, shocked by his sudden bluntness that contradicted his usually calm personality. scrunching your nose in reply, you shoved at his shoulder until he toppled over and fell flat onto the floor, lifting a hand to conceal the laugh that slipped past your lips.

“so i’m guessing that’s a no on the americano, then? give me back my shirt.”

“i thought i looked cute in it,” you pouted mockingly, your voice teasing. “really cute.”

“…caramel macchiato with extra whipped cream it is.”

“lee taeyong.”

no response.

“lee taeyong,” the deep voice repeated again, nothing to follow after but the scratchy resounding of a ballpoint pen against the teacher’s attendance sheet. everyone rolled their eyes in response, some even muttering why the older man even bothered to include his name during roll call to begin with. it was nearly least three weeks since they’d last seen or heard of the boy in question, aside from the occasional dance class or sports practice. at first, it’d been a concern whether or not he had fallen ill or if he had transferred schools, but he’d return for a single forty-minute period a day and cross the thought from their minds.

you, however, knew exactly where he was.

“excuse me sir,” you called softly, capturing the teacher’s attention at once. “may i go to the restroom?”

earning a single nod as a reply, you smoothed your uniform with a shake of your head; for the past few times this had occurred, you could care less—you and taeyong were nothing more than classmates, but you’d caught him many a time during your free periods in a particular spot that you’d go for fresh air.

“what’s your problem?” the blunt inquiry surprised the boy, cocking his eyebrow in response as he plucked an earbud out of an ear. the two of you hadn’t even had a proper conversation considering you’d been at the same school for years, yet here you were confronting the most avoided guy in your year group.

“and why should i tell you?” he scoffed just as dryly, leaning back against the wall that bordered the building’s rooftop. his eyes inspected every inch of your body without any clear intention, other than to really take in who was rumored to be “the cutest girl at school”. he couldn’t help but laugh at your nervous demeanor, the way you fiddled with the hem of your skirt yet you retained a straight face in an attempt to look intimidating.

“well, considering we’re in the same class and i just risked taking a way too long bathroom break to come up here and get your ass.”

“never asked you to.” taeyong smirked, the expression remaining on his face as he looked away from you and out at the surrounding conservation. your school was one of the few away from the heart of the city, laden with trees and flowers of all sorts. he looked back up at you questioningly, a thought ringing in his head. “wait—how did you find me here?”

“and why should i tell you?” you snapped in reply, ignoring his seemingly impressed reaction and stepping to the edge of the building to follow his gaze. “but if you must, do you not remember me catching you up here one time when i was skipping class myself?”

“no.”

“oh.”

“i’m joking, i do.” you hadn’t even realized he’d stood up, now by your side as he nudged you with his elbow. “just feel like school’s beginning to be a waste of time. teachers handle intelligence but can’t handle the attitude that comes with it. anyway, this school is running me dry—i’m not exactly filthy rich, y’know?”

“damn, the cliché bad boy with a mysterious backstory,” you teased, earning an ironic chuckle in return. “so are you saying you can’t afford classes or something? maybe your parents can—”

“they’re not around.”

“o-oh—” biting your tongue, you scolded yourself mentally as you tried to muster an apology. “sorry to hear that.”

“hey now, never said they were dead.” his smile was bright, as if you were the one that needed consoling and not him. suddenly, you could feel curiosity burning in the pit of your stomach, questions that were all too personal threatening to slip past your lips. keeping in mind the fact that the two of you were far from friends, “yo, you should probably get back to class or something. don’t think teach would be exactly happy about you missing and i highly doubt you fell into a toilet during your bathroom break.”

“true,” you giggled, shaking your head at the drab teacher you were forced to return to listen to lecture about stock trends for the next half an hour. “it’s taeyong, right?”

“whoa, miss popular knows my name.” clutching his chest dramatically, you rolled your eyes and played along with his sarcasm.

“shocking, isn’t it? you’d think i’d be too busy running after the star athlete or something.”

“i didn’t mean it like that—”

“gotcha.” raising your eyebrows with a smug grin, you started backing away from him with a glance at your watch. “well, you know where i must go.”

“and you know where to find me.” taeyong winked jokingly, stunning you by the fact that he managed to regain his cold stare as you curved the wall leading to the staircase to the third floor. never would you have expected such a slacker to be an okay person—proves that looks aren’t everything, after all.

don’t bother looking for him again, you reminded yourself, focused on returning to class.

the next few days followed their regular pattern, the teacher calling for taeyong and no reply leading to a soft scratch across his notebook page. you constantly fought the urge to go back and look for him, more of a mental reassurance that you didn’t want to get any closer to someone who failed to even show up to class on a regular day. down to your best friend was confused by your newfound behavior, her eyes narrowed at the way you’d shift uncomfortably whenever taeyong’s name was called.

and then you were given your final grade.

“HOW COULD I GET A SIXTY-SEVEN? DO YOU KNOW HOW FUCKING HARD I STUDIED?”

“well, i would, but i don’t ever go to class in case you haven’t realized.”

the moment the red-inked paper was handed back to you, thoughts of angry parents and condescending classmates forced you to excuse yourself from class in a daze. you don’t even know why you did it, really, but you felt as though taeyong would be able to relate.

“i fucking hate his class, if he wasn’t so fucking boring, so fucking horrible when it came to lecturing!”

“watch it, potty mouth,” taeyong scolded languidly, watching in amusement as you paced back and forth in frustration. “what was the test even on?”

“stocks.”

“you got a d on a paper about stocks? you really are dumb.”

“shut the fuck up, taeyong.”

“potty mouth!”

“look, you should get back to class.”

“i’m not going back.”

“___,” taeyong began, trying to convince you that you were overreacting. it wasn’t as if he was in any place to judge, but he had enough common sense to know you were being a little ridiculous.

“no!”

“okay, look. stay here for the rest of class if you want. just this once, so you can clear your head.”

and that is how you found yourself spending every fourth period for the next two weeks on the rooftop beside the biggest slacker known at your school. no one ever thought to look for you or connect you to taeyong’s absence. you’d stay in class for a decent fifteen minutes, making sure the teacher was aware you were there before slipping out on various excuses; needing a bottle of water, bathroom, nurse’s office. taeyong was even willing to offer new reasons for your ditching whenever you became redundant. your class would run straight into lunch, until fifth period; dance. you and taeyong made sure to enter at different times and rarely spoke to each other, keeping your friendship on a low note. your friends constantly questioned your sudden dismissive behavior or the fact that you, one of the people who despised taeyong’s behavior in the past, was now eager to defend him when his name fell ill in someone’s conversation with you.

taeyong hadn’t let the newfound attention slide lightly, either. you were the only person who, in years, was willing to listen to him. you learned about everything—aside from his parent’s absence in his life. he would constantly tell you that it was no big deal, that he was taking care of himself perfectly fine. he’d grown fond of your company, finding it odd to be alone for so long on the rooftop a day or two when you were unexcused from class. his constant gaze allowed him to memorize everything about you; the way your hair fell, your laugh whenever he made a bad joke, your habit of crinkling your nose whenever you felt frustrated about something. he’d committed it all to memory without reason, unable to explain the way his heart felt an ache whenever you were around him.

the good kind, though.

“you should probably go back down to class,” he randomly blurted out one day, startling you mid-sentence. his expression was dull and it was as though you two hadn’t spent the last two weeks growing closer.

“huh—why?”

“just go,” he muttered, turning away from you and shoving his earbuds in his ears. you ripped them away almost immediately, brows furrowed as you failed to understand what made him act like this.

“once again, what’s your problem? i thought we were friends.”

“sure.”

“sure?”

“i don’t want to explain it. just go down to class.”

“…whatever.” you shook your head, angered by his nonchalant attitude and how he dismissed you so easily. you failed to even understand why you took this so personally.

“have fun staying here alone for a while, i guess,” you retorted uneasily, half of you hoping he’d call you back to sit with him. hoping that he’d actually explain why he was being cold.

“yup.”

truthfully, it bothered him to hell and back to know that he’d made you upset. he’d never expect himself to be so touchy-feely about his relationship with you; you were just a random girl from his fourth period that decided to call him out on his bullshit one random day in april.

but how was he supposed to explain that this random girl was the same girl that made him feel everything and nothing, all at once? that within two weeks, he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to be even closer to you and felt downright greedy for your attention?

“she’s not gonna know,” he nodded to himself, mentally reminding himself of his parent’s relationship as though that would convince him that he was making the right decision.

“at least, not yet.”

—

“good morning!” a voice laced with excitement resounded from just outside your front door, your heart thumping with anticipation as you seemed to know exactly who it was. you’d checked your outfit at least four times by now, nerves forcing you to settle on comfortable jeans and an oversized sweater. sneakers graced your feet, knowing that walking on a cool spring day like this would require comfortable shoes. your makeup was far from overdone, as was your hair; either way, whether you liked how you looked or not—he was here.

“one second!” you called back, grabbing your belongings as you ensured that your roommates would have no reason to yell at you for leaving anything on or open. “ah, where’s my phone—phone, phone, phone,” repeating it to yourself as though it were a mantra, you scoured the living room until your hand fell on the device between the couch cushions. “got it! i’m coming!”

ten’s smile immediately dropped the moment he realized you were his date. his eyes widened in surprise, eyebrows raised as his lips contorted into an even huger grin. you couldn’t help but giggle at the goofy expression on his face, motioning to the flowers in his grip as you smiled back up at him.

“so you’re my date, hm?” you questioned sweetly, snapping him out of his daze and capturing his attention back in reality.

“u-uh, yeah.” he replied curtly, as though if he opened his mouth any further he’d lead to an explosion of fanboying. he was a huge fan of yours, following you closely on social media and the like. you could say the same for him; you’d been anticipating the smrookies’ debut ever since they’d been introduced and it was no surprise that he was one of your favorite members. with his dorky personality, lame jokes and constant smiles, he was practically the male version of you. “these are for—”

“the other girls? ah, i knew it!” you feigned disappointment, laughing again to ensure he knew it was a joke as the daisies were placed in your fingers. “oh, for me? you shouldn’t have! they’re beautiful though, thank you so much!”

“like you—uh, like your outfit!” ten stammered, nervously chuckling as he rubbed the back of his neck to play off his compliment. “it suits you well.”

“hm—” you hummed, plucking a white flower out of the bunch and slipping it in your hair bow. “now it’s even better. i’d have you wear one, too, but it might look pretty silly, don’t ‘cha think?”

“hey, i’m manly!” he retorted, puffing out his chest as you had gone back inside to find a vase with water to keep the flowers fresh.

“would you like anything to drink? anything before we head out?”

“no, no—it’s cool!”

and with that, the two of you hurried to the ground floor of your apartment complex. you let out a content sigh at the great weather; springtime was your absolute favorite and being able to spend time with ten simply heightened your enthusiasm.

“spring is so pretty!” you cooed, your eyes fixated on the blossoming trees that lined the streets. ten admired you from your side, following your gaze and nodding excitedly.

“now, m’lady, how’s about we get this date started?” he asked, offering his arm through which you gladly linked yours.

it was as though ten was a childhood friend, knowing everything about you and what you would have liked. he’d taken you firstly to a large playground nearby, the slides and swings large enough even though you were already more on the tiny side of the scale. he’d had you smiling the entire time, dangling from the monkey bars by his feets and him managing to beat you in a swinging contest. he’d even already hidden away a basket filled with snacks and ice-cold cola behind the seesaw, the two of you strewn out across the park’s open field as you made small talk. you couldn’t shut up and neither could he, the only time this happening when you were both stuffing your faces with food.

“so have you ever been on a date before?” he questioned, seeming more relaxed than he initially was.

“mm, once or twice. but i’ve never actually had a serious boyfriend or anything of the sort.”

“really?!”

“mhm! the girls tell me i’m out to get some type of prince charming—they say i’m a hopeless romantic; they may be right, y’know.”

“yah, there’s someone for everyone. you’re a great girl,” ten gushed, feeding you a strawberry as he spoke. “funny, insanely talented. you can eat an entire grocery store, i’m sure, and you’re loads of fun.”

“i could say the same for you!” you retaliated, laughing as you smeared a dollop of whipped cream against his cheek.

“hey!”

“too slow,” you beamed, licking the remainder of the whipped cream off of your index finger.

“there is one more thing you have to see,” ten spoke up, the two of you clearing your belongings as he offered his hand to you again.

“and what might that be?”

“a few blocks from here, come on!” the two of you had barely taken a foot’s worth of steps when he stopped suddenly, lowering himself so that he was bent over in front of you. “actually, hop on.”

charmed by his gentlemanly offer, you straddled his back, the pair in a fit of laughter as you struggled to retain your grip on his shoulders. he continued talking up at you, explaining that the direction you were going in was near to his dorm and that there was a lot of things to see during his trainee days. he pointed out a number of random sights; bakeries hidden away with the best bread you had to try, a café that made vanilla frappes that were out of this world, a small toy store with trinkets you were both familiar with growing up.

he came to a stop at a narrow pathway that led away from the main street, helping you to come down as he immediately covered your eyes.

“yah!”

“not yet! it’s a surprise,” he whispered in your ear, only adding to your impatient behavior. the evening was almost over and you were almost sure it was nearing six o’clock, meaning it would be dark soon and the date was soon to be done. though the realization hit you with a wave of disappointment, you kept your smile and followed his footsteps through the alley.

“just a few more steps…to your left…be careful—” you stumbled over a broken flowepot, falling back into ten’s arms and causing you both to topple over onto the ground. “i did say be careful.”

“sorry. not really,” you scoffed, slowly opening your eyes to adjust to the bright light as you turned to look away from him. you did nothing but dropped your jaw at the site, your eyes now open as much as they could be. you were perched behind the rookies’ dorm, which was situated rather close to the han river. the sun was setting quickly, the sky decorated with rays of pink, purple and orange as it did. the water glimmered in return, the sight making your heart swell as you turned back to him in shock. “this is beautiful! you get to see this every day?”

“when we’re home,” he commented, snaking an arm around you instinctively. “it helps me relax. the other members don’t usually come here with me, either.”

“so—”

“that’s right! you’re the first person i’ve brought.”

“it’s…amazing, ten. really. thank you.” you tried to muster the most sincere reply you could give, about to gush about how much fun the date was and how much you liked spending time with him when you heard a loud snap followed by a crowd of people running back and forth around the area. the microphone pressed against your back was starting to feel a bit sore and the cameras in your face were being lowered to the ground as directors and managers came to your sides.

“it was nice meeting you, ____.” ten smiled politely, his excessive excitement now dimmed to a calm demeanor as you bowed in reply, a smile gracing your own face.

“i could say the same! honestly, i’m so excited that we can do we got married together. the other girls were all yelling nonstop when i told them it was you,” you laughed shyly, turning your gaze to your feet as he scoffed.

“please, you should’ve seen my members. jumping around the living room, i swear one of them were bound to fall out of the room.”

the two of you laughed again, though it was different this time. you weren’t a cute, blossoming couple on a first blind date. you weren’t adorable, flirting incessantly with each other. you were simply professionals working on a show that pleased your many fans with what you’d hope they wanted to see.

“if…you don’t mind me asking,” ten began cautiously, the both of you on your way back to the nearby trailers where you were about to conduct your solo interviews to recap the date with the producers.

“hm?”

“this was…honestly the most fun i’ve had in a long time.”

“same here!”

“then,” he stopped, holding onto your hand so you’d be fully focused on him. though he looked so nervous, he was still rather handsome in your eyes. you tried to remain calm, giving an encouraging smile in response. “do you think it’d be possible if we can go on a real date sometime? not with the cameras and the scripts and all that. a real one.”

“i’d love to.”

“i mean it’s cool if—wait, what?”

“i’d love to,” you repeated slowly, his smile growing to the point of touching his ears as you poked at his cheek jokingly. “how cute! you’re blushing!”

“hey, i’m not!” he groaned, swatting your hand away as you were both carried off to your separate rooms.

“so ___,” the producer began, the orange light above the camera signaling that you were about to respond on-air. “was your date with ten anything like you expected?”