jeong yoonchae! x fem reader! x hong eunchae!
You ask your best friend Narin to secretly leave gifts on Eunchaeâs locker the schoolâs star cheerleader. You start getting sweet thank you letters in return and assume theyâre from Eunchae⊠only to discover Narin misheard you and placed every gift on Yoonchaeâs locker instead, the cheer captain.
You had been in love with Hong Eunchae for exactly four months, twelve days, and according to the stopwatch app you definitely did not have open right now sixteen hours.
It started innocently enough. She flipped into your life during the first pep rally of senior year, ponytail whipping like a comet tail, smile bright enough to power the entire gymnasium. You were in the bleachers holding a bag of chips you forgot to eat because Hong Eunchae had just landed a perfect back tuck and waved right in your direction, she was actually waving at the mascotâŠ
From that day forward you became a professional creep. You knew her schedule better than your own. You knew she liked strawberry milk, that she doodled little stars on the corners of her notebooks, that she laughed with her whole body when something was really funny. What you did not know was how to speak to her without turning into a human tomato.
Thatâs where Narin came in.
Narin your best friend since kindergarten, chaos in human form, and the only person who knew about your hopeless crush found you one afternoon hiding behind the vending machine, staring at team from approximately thirty meters away.
âY/N,â she said, popping her gum loud enough to make you jump, âthis is getting sad. Youâre basically a wildlife documentary narrator at this point. âHere we see the rare cheerleading team in their natural habitatâŠââ
âShut up,â you hissed, face burning. âIâm working on it.â
âYouâve been âworking on itâ since September. Operation Speak To Her has failed. Time for Operation Secret Admirer.â
You blinked. âWhat?â
âGifts. Anonymous. Locker. Boom. She falls mysteriously in love with the poetic soul who leaves her cute things. Then you reveal yourself at the perfect moment and live happily ever after. Itâs foolproof.â
It was not foolproof. It was insane. But you were desperate, and desperate people do desperate things.
âWould you deliver it, to Eunchae?âÂ
So every morning for the next two months, you handed Narin a small gift wrapped in pastel paper, a strawberry lollipop with a note that said âHope your day is as sweet as you are - Locker 314â, a tiny succulent in a painted pot âSomething small to grow with youâ, a mixtape USB labeled âSongs that remind me of your smileâ , Stuffed toys, even a scarf, and every afternoon, like clockwork, a letter appeared in your locker 314.
The first one was folded into a perfect little heart.
Thank you for the lollipop. I smiled so big the whole squad asked what happened. Whoever you are⊠you made my day. âĄ
Your knees actually buckled. You read it seventeen times in the hallway.
That succulent is the cutest thing Iâve ever seen. I named him Sprout. He sits on my windowsill now. You have good taste, stranger.
The playlist? Iâve had it on repeat. Track 4 made me tear up on the bus. How do you know me so well already?
They were sweet, thoughtful, funny in the margins with little doodles tiny stars, just like Eunchae drew. Your heart grew three sizes every day. You started writing longer notes back, pouring your soul into them. You told her about your fear of college applications, how you secretly loved cheesy romcoms, how you once cried because a pigeon looked sad.
And she wrote back. Every time.
Two months in, you were gone. Completely, hopelessly in love with Hong Eunchae.
You had never actually spoken to her, but that was fine. This was better. This was romantic.
And then Narin ruined everything.
It was a Thursday. You were walking to the cafeteria together, you clutching the lavender scarf that matches what you gave to Euncahe, because winter was coming but youâd noticed Eunchae always forgot hers.
âOh, by the way,â Narin said casually, âJeong Yoonchaeâs locker got moved to the east wing now. Some boys prank flooded the main hall lockers. Took me forever to find the new one this morning.â
âWhat do you mean âJeong Yoonchaeâs locker got movedâ?â you asked carefully.
Narin blinked. âUh, because of the flood? I just saidââ
âHer locker was always in the east wing.â
âNo? It was always in the main hall. Right between the trophy case and the water fountain. Jeong Yoonchae. Captain of the cheer squad. The one you stare at like a lovesick puppy every single practice.â
Your stomach dropped through the floor.
âWhat did you just say?â
Narin frowned. âJeong Yoonchae? Your crush, silly. The captain? Tall, gorgeous, cute, terrifyingly competent? The one you always watch when sheâs running drillsââ
âNO!â Your voice cracked. âMy crush is Hong Eunchae. The flyer. The one who does the flips. The one with the ponytail and the stars on her notebooksââ
Narinâs face went blank.
âI swear I thought you said Yoonchae.â
âI said Eunchae! Hong Eunchae!â
âThey sound the same when you mumble! You always mumble when youâre embarrassed!â
You were going to die. Right there in the cafeteria line. Spontaneous combustion.
All this time⊠the notes⊠the playlist responses⊠Sprout the succulentâŠ
Youâre in love with Yoonchae, Not Eunchae.
The cheer captain. The girl everyone admire. The one who ran practices like a military operation and still managed to look unfairly beautiful doing it. The one you definitely stared at every practice, but only because well because she was right there! Leading everything! It was professional observation!
Okay, fine. Maybe you had noticed how her eyes crinkled when she laughed at her teammates. Maybe you had memorized the way her hair fell over one shoulder when she was focused. Maybe you had, on multiple occasions, forgotten how to breathe when she walked past.
âIâve been flirting with the cheer captain for two months,â you whispered in horror. âI told her I cried over a pigeon.â
Narin wheezed. âThis is the funniest thing thatâs ever happened to anyone.â
âIâm going to transfer schools. Iâm going to move to Antarctica.â
But you didnât transfer schools.
Because the next day, there was another note in your locker.
This one was different. Longer. Written on pale green paper that smelled faintly of vanilla.
I think I figured it out.
Iâve been trying to guess who you are for weeks. At first I thought it was someone from the squad playing a prank, but the notes got too personal. Too kind. Too⊠you.
I kept thinking, who watches practice every day from the bleachers? Who makes playlists that feel like they see right through me?
And then yesterday my locker moved, and I overheard someone say something about âEunchaeâs lockerâ and it clicked.
You meant Hong Eunchae, didnât you?
Iâm not mad. Iâm⊠flattered. And a little heartbroken, honestly. Because I really, really like you. Whoever you are.
If I got this wrong, ignore this note and Iâll pretend it never happened.
But if Iâm right⊠meet me after practice today? East wing, by the vending machines. Iâll be the idiot holding a strawberry milk.
Then you screamed into your backpack.
Narin found you twenty minutes later sitting on the bathroom floor.
âSo?â she asked, barely containing her glee. âWhat did the captain say?â
You shoved the note at her.
She read it. Her eyes went wide.
âY/N. She likes you back. She likes you. This is the best day of my life.â
âI canât go,â you whimpered. âI canât face her. I sent her a scarf. I told her I think pigeons have feelings. What will I tell her? I like your personality but I imagine youâre Eunchae?â
âAnd she named your succulent gift. She knows the mix match, but still wants to meet you! Sheâs obsessed with you. Go!â
Practice ended at 5:15. You hovered near the east wing vending machines from 4:58, heart trying to escape your ribcage.
At 5:17, Jeong Yoonchae appeared.
She was still in her practice clothes and oversized squad hoodie, hair in a messy bun, holding two cartons of strawberry milk. She looked nervous.
The cure terrifying cheer captain was nervous.
She spotted you and smiled small, shy, nothing like the confident grin she wore on the mat.
âHi,â she said softly. âY/N, right?â
You nodded, incapable of speech.
She handed you a strawberry milk. âI, um⊠I brought this. For you. Since you always leave them for me. Or⊠for Eunchae. But still.â
Your brain short circuited.
âIâm sorry,â you blurted. âMy friend misheard the name and I didnât know and I thought it was Eunchae writing back but it was you and I told you about the pigeon andââ
She laughed. It was the same full body laugh youâd heard from the bleachers a hundred times, and it was even better up close.
âI liked the pigeon story,â she said. âIt was cute.â
You hid your face in your hands.
âHey,â she said gently, stepping closer. âI meant what I wrote. Iâm not upset. Iâm⊠really happy it was you.â
You peeked through your fingers. âWhy?â
She shrugged, cheeks pink. âBecause youâre sweet. And funny. And you notice things. Like how I forget my scarf, and you sit in the bleachers every practice even though you pretend youâre just waiting for your friend.â
She grinned. âI notice things too.â
Silence stretched. Comfortable, terrifying silence.
âSo,â she said finally, rocking on her heels. âSince all your gifts technically went to me⊠does that mean I get to keep the scarf?â
You laughed actually laughed, loud and embarrassing.
âYes. You can keep the scarf.â
âCool.â She bit her lip. âAnd⊠maybe I could take you out? Coffee? To thank you properly. For two months of the best gifts anyoneâs ever given me.â
Your heart exploded into glitter.
âLike⊠a date?â you asked, voice barely above a whisper.
âYeah,â she said, smiling so wide her eyes turned into crescents. âLike a date.â
Later, Narin demanded a word by word.
âSo the mix up worked out?â she asked, grinning like a maniac.
âYouâre the worst best friend in history,â you told her.
âAnd yet youâre welcome.â
Because sometimes the wrong locker leads you exactly where you were meant to be.
And sometimes the cheer captain likes your weird pigeon stories.
And sometimes miraculously the girl youâve been staring at for months has been staring right back.
A/N: oh my! this is my first yoonchae fic! been living in my drafts for almost 2 months now, itâs fluff of course! thatâs the only genre i will write for her. i hope you guys like it!