“Please! I promise you that I won’t be too much trouble! I’ll just walk behind. You guys won’t even notice me there.”

You sigh, turning around to face a customer. You hand them their coffee, saying a quick bye before turning around to face Mai.

“Now you’re just starting to sound like a stalker. If you really want to go with us, just come.”

You check the orders, twisting in place to grab another large cup. You can see the way Mai’s eyes light up at your words, her mouth curling up into a relieved smile. 

You knew she liked Eom Seonghyeon for a while, her crush dating back since her first day of middle school.

She had always been too shy to say anything, but now that you were in the first year of high school, she had decided it was finally time to ‘make a move’.

“Really? Thank you! Oh my gosh what am I going to do…” she jumps around, almost squealing in excitement.

“You can start by pumping the fucking caramel.”

The next day, Mai invites you to her house, telling you that she was stressed and needed more help than ever.

“Which shirt should I wear?”

She holds up two, a pretty pink polo and a white long sleeve.

“Just layer the pink over the white, it’s gonna be cold out anyway.” You yawn, relaxing into her bed.

“But, I want him to offer me his jacket…” she pouts.

“Then wear the pink one, if you’re really that desperate.” The last part earned you a slap to your shoulder.

“Whatever.” She turns back around, switching through her hangers for a few moments before holding up two skirts. 

“What skirt should I wear?” 

You mentally slapped your forehead, realising it was going to be a long morning.

She ended up wearing a pink button up, paired with a short denim skirt you picked out from the depths of her closet. She had even sprayed the citrus perfume that he had once called nice.

“Do you think he’ll think I’m cute?”

“Mhm, and with this outfit he’ll also get down on one knee and propose to you.” You remarked dryly, scrolling through whatever text messages Seonghyeon had sent now.

Today 11:34 am

Priss/prick

when are u comingggg

bro people keep staring at me

are you sure my fit doesn’t look weird?

you know ive just stopped trying with my fits now

You

Why tf are u typing with ur caps off

Ik damn well u don’t know how to turn auto cap off

Are u doing it manually like a loser?

Priss/prick

Shut up

Also finally u responded

What took u so long

You

Js wait

Mai is coming w us

Priss/prick

Your friend?

Why is she coming?

I js wanted it to be us two

You scrunch your nose at his words.

You

Broski watch ur words

We are NOT a couple

Priss/prick

Yk damn well that’s not what I meant

Wtv js hurry uppp

I keep getting Grandma’s come up to me and ask if I want to date their granddaughters

You

Maybe they js feel bad bc u look so ugly

Priss/prick

Sybau

You chuckle, locking your phone and shoving it into your pocket.

“Maiii, are you done yet?” You drawled, walking over to the outside of her door.

“Yes, I just couldn’t find the sambas he told me looked good!” A short moment later, her apartment door finally opens.

You both say a quick goodbye to her parents before walking to the elevator.

“By the wayyy, has he said anything about me coming?” She asks, her eyes filled with hope.

Although you’re not too sure about what she’s expecting.

You shrugged. “Nothing much.”

She deflates a little, pursing her lips.

“Don’t worry about it too much. Just be yourself.” You try to comfort, patting her shoulder gently as the doors open.

She nods, taking a deep breath to reassure herself.

You meet Seonghyeon at a park 20 minutes later.

He had sat on some random picnic table, his long legs crossed over each other. “Finally, what took you guys so long?”

You shrugged and Mai just awkwardly smiled behind you, a pick tinge already at the corners of her ears.

“Hi.” She says.

Seonghyeon stands up and waves at her before staring at you.

“What?”

“I thought Saturdays were just for us two. Why did she have to come?” He doesn’t say it with any malice, his tone light and barely harsh. He just seemed…curious? Maybe confused? 

Your eyebrows connect for a millisecond at his words. He can’t be serious, you think.

“She just wanted to come. Also, be nice to her.” You say, taking a step closer and flicking off some lint on his hoodie. “You’re acting like the whole hangout is ruined just because she came.”

He shrugs at that. “I’m not saying it’s ruined.”

“Then why do you keep asking me why she came?”

You don’t realise how close his face is until you make eye contact. His eyes almost soften as they look down into yours, or maybe you’re just imagining things. 

“I just like it better when it’s us two.”

The hangout went as well as you expected it to.

Although it had a rocky start, with a few uneasy silences and awkward comments, by the end of it everyone was laughing.

He had even offered her his hoodie when it got colder, an action that made her almost as red as Martin when he was embarrassed. 

He also treated her to açai, buying her a bowl and when you had visited a cafe after, he had opened her water bottle for her.

She had gushed all about it after, pacing around in her room in happiness.

“And he even knew the sidewalk rule! Gosh, he’s just so…perfect!” She says, plopping down onto her bed and smiling. 

She grabs her plushie and lays down next to you, staring at the ceiling as she probably recalled the whole day once more.

You had been scrolling on your phone the whole time, responding to her sentences with various hums.

“He’s just so nice! And handsome, and cute…”

“You gonna name him the whole dictionary of nouns?”

She hits you with the plushie, turning on her side to face you.

“Say, how come you never liked him?”

The question makes you furrow your eyebrow. You look over at her, her curious eyes looking right at you.

“Well, I mean I’d never thought of him that way before.”

“Reallyyy? You can tell me anything, I won’t be mad.” She says, but you can see the way her hands tighten around the plushie, the twitch of her jaw telling you that she was nervous to hear what you had to say.

You sigh. What have you gotten yourself into? “Don’t worry, it’s not like I’d catch feelings for him anytime soon.”

The first time you had met Eom Seonghyeon was on the first day of middle school.

It wasn’t anything special, just an assigned seat in math class.

At first he was quiet.

He didn’t talk much, and he was quite shy.

Others would even tease him, calling him a princess because of how his demeanour and looks were.

You didn’t really care about that though, just as long as he wasn’t a snitch.

You would try to say hi every morning, trying to at least be polite.

After a week of awkward conversation, you had both finally started getting comfortable around each other.

You would both offer the other a snack snuck in through your bags, give each other answers, and even laugh at the most stupid jokes together.

A month after you had met, you went over to his place to meet his parents for the first time.

They were nice to you, offering you food and making sure you never went without a drink. His younger sister also quite liked you, discussing and watching dramas with you, something she had called ‘the intellectual’s talk’.

You found yourselves talking more outside of math class, even sitting together in classes you hadn’t before.

Then when you started working at your parents cafe, he started showing up there. You would mess around with him during breaks, sometimes even taking bites out of his food. When things got too crazy, he would come behind the counter just to help you out.

“So when can I apply to actually work here? You know I won’t be doing free labour forever–“

“Hyeon, I’m going to smack you if you ask that question one more time.”

When he started swimming, you would show up to his practices, timing his laps and giving him towels when he needed. Some of his club members would even joke that you were like a housewife, except after a few weeks of ass-beating, they stopped calling you that.

During his meets you would cheer the loudest for him, even resorting to buying a megaphone just to yell his name out.

It wasn’t really helping your reputation, but you just thought that was what friends were supposed to do.

You met Mai during your second year.

You hadn’t exactly planned to become friends with her. You were polite when you needed to be, but never nice enough to say you wanted to be ‘best friends’.

But then she started getting bullied.

You had caught them in an alley close to the school.

They had been kicking at her, making her curl up into a ball.

You had run in, grabbing one of the beer bottles off the floor and smashing it against the walls.

They had run off quickly after that, scared that you would actually hurt them.

She looked scared and her lip had been bleeding. You walked her home, carrying her bag and making sure she was alright.

The day after that, she started sticking around you more. She sat close to you and Seonghyeon during recess, even following you around until she reached her class.

At that point you just decided to become friends with her.

She told you about her crush a couple months later, saying that she saw him sitting next to you at the back of the classroom and thought he was the prettiest guy she had ever seen.

Now here she was, sending him love eyes from across the cafeteria.

He sat right in the middle next to Martin and Keonho, two guys he met through swimming. James and Juhoon sat across from them, both eating silently as the three bickered over something else.

She sighs wistfully, staring at him like he was a work of art. “Do you think he ever thinks about me?”

“No.” You had said immediately.

She smacked your shoulder, making you rub the spot she hit.

“Just tell him you like him already. The worst thing he could say is no.”

“See that’s what you think! I just want to get closer with him. Like how close you two are!”

You turn, raising an eyebrow at her statement.

You think about it for a moment. How close were you two? You never thought of being ‘best friends’ with him, but you were close enough that you could probably show up to his place unannounced and he wouldn’t even care.

You shake your head, pressing your lips into a thin line. “I don’t think we’re as close as you think we are…”

“Well how close do you think you are? Because back when I first started having a crush on him, I thought you two were like, close to dating already.” She reaches over your lunch, taking a few bites out of your sandwich.

“I wouldn’t say we’re close, but we’re not exactly strangers either.”

“So what would you call yourselves?”

You look back over at him. He’s laughing at another joke when he catches your gaze, his eyes staring right back at you. He waves at you before turning back around and talking to his friends.

You look back at Mai, who seems to be finishing up the sandwich now.

“Casual. I’d say we’re casual friends.”

“You think we’re casual?” Seonghyeon asks. 

He sits in front of you, tilting his head against the train window.

Your parents had both decided to go on a strawberry picking trip together, saying that they all needed to try something new. Much to your disappointment, his little sister was at a sleepover, so it was just you two.

You hadn’t told him about Mai’s crush, but you did bring up the topic of what you had been talking about.

“Is that how you see it?”

He shakes his head, looking out the window now. “I did think we were a little more than that though.”

“Really? What did you think we were?” You’re not sure why you asked that, knowing that some part of that question could have alluded to something more.

He seems to think for a moment before sitting up, staring at the train ceiling.

“I don’t know. A lot of the stuff we do together are things that best friends would do, and sometimes we grow a little too distant but still come back to each other.” He shoves his hands into his pockets, thinking about his next words. “We talk, at least once everyday even though we’re not in the same classes anymore, but we also went through that period where we just didn’t have the time to be close, but we understood each other enough to know that we didn’t mean to hurt each other.”

You stare at him as he speaks, the way his lips form different shapes to speak, the way his eyebrows twitch as he recalls all the memories, the way his hair falls over his eyes as he moves around. 

You realise that everything he says is true.

To say it simply, you had stopped talking for about three months in your last year of middle school.

It wasn’t anything abrupt, and it wasn’t like you guys had some big argument.

You just stopped.

He stopped sending you those nonsense reels and you stopped calling him.

It wasn’t like you guys had been rude or said something unforgivable.

You were both just really burnt out.

The cafe wasn’t doing well and he kept getting injuries that prevented him from swimming.

He kept getting some type of shoulder and neck pain, which prevented him from doing his events, while your parents kept struggling to pay the cafe bills.

You ended up having to take a few other jobs around town, getting one at a record store and another cafe.

It started off small, with missed calls and texts. Sometimes you would both leave the other on read, too tired to respond back. 

After a while, Mai found it awkward to choose between sides.

“So don’t. You don’t have to stick around either of us–you have other friends.”

You don’t know what caused you to say that. You had smacked your hand over your mouth, and had apologised immediately after. She knew you didn’t mean it in a bad way, you had just said it in a bad manner.

She knew you were too stressed and tired to care, so she ended up taking your advice just to make it easier.

You still feel bad months later, but it ended up helping her as she actually began to put herself out there more, even hanging out with girls she had once told you terrified her because they were so pretty.

The interactions with Seonghyeon before the break were just filled with ‘sorry for missing out’ or whatever favors your parents needed from the other. You two just got too busy to keep each other in your lives, so you let go of it.

You remember his last message before the break being ‘See you.’

The odd thing about it was that you didn’t miss him at all during the three months.

You were too focused on trying to keep things at your jobs together while also keeping up with your studies.

It didn’t feel awkward seeing him at school, but it didn’t exactly feel comfortable either. 

He didn’t disappear from your life. His presence was still there, just quieter. 

You didn’t wave to each other like you always did, instead just making eye contact before looking away. 

You remember the day you had reconnected.

The cafe was doing well again, and your parents could even hire another person to work so you didn’t have to. You didn’t hear much about him, maybe a few updates from Mai, saying that he was doing really well in swimming now.

You had just been sitting around your room, watching some random show when your phone started vibrating.

It was a facetime call from Seonghyeon.

The photo that popped up was an old baby polaroid of him, something that his parents had shown you last year. You had forgotten you had set it to that picture, remembering his protests about it.

You didn’t know how to feel.

You weren’t shocked, but you weren’t upset either.

Were you happy? Overjoyed? You didn’t know.

You simply swiped to answer, as if you didn’t just spend weeks not talking. 

You find his face staring back. 

You recognised the swim lockers behind him, but that wasn’t the point.

He held up a gold medal, smiling stupidly as Keonho and Martin cheered behind him. Water was still dripping down the sides of his hair, the pink towel you had always brought for him now wrapped around his neck.

“I won.”

Back to the present, you sit down on a wooden bench in the shade, fanning yourself as hot air blows past.

Your parents all had scattered across the field, both your mothers taking pictures almost everywhere. Your fathers had decided to do a little bet, something about who could pick the most.

A few school kids ran around the bushes, playing some random game and even seeing who could pick the biggest berry. Their yellow hats peeked out just above, the bright sun shining down on the plastic.

You stared at the ground, watching some ants crawl across the dirt.

“What are you thinking about?”

You hear his voice behind you before something cold is pressed against your neck, making you flinch.

You turn, staring at him in annoyance.

“Where did you even get that?”

Seonghyeon opens the soda one handed, giving it over to you while sitting down.

“Receptionist? I don’t know what it’s called but there was a vending machine where you had to sign up.”

You hum in acknowledgment, taking a quick sip.

“How many strawberries did you pick?”

“Like 30? I gave them to my mum though, I’ve no idea what she did with them.” You shrugged. “What about you? How many did you pick?”

“Hmm, 40? I just picked whichever ones looked good. I think my mum wants to make a jam out of it.”

“Is she on a baking spree again?”

The conversation flowed easily after that. 

The topic went from school to work, swimming to basketball. After that, you both decided to walk through the fields, taking photos off of the digital camera he bought you last spring. 

Although for some reason he ended up taking more pictures of you than himself.

Weird, but you didn’t question it.

After about an hour, you returned back to your parents, only to see a frantic woman screaming out some kid's name.

“Wooju! Wooju! Where are you?” Her voice echoed across the farm, making a few other visitors turn their heads. Her voice was hoarse and starting to crack, clearly tired from how many times she had probably called out for the kid.

20 kids were already around her, calling out Wooju’s name with their shrill voices. A few were even starting to cry, their wails becoming louder than the teacher.

Your dads had decided to help the lady, while also dragging you two along. A few of the other visitors ended up looking as well, along with a bunch of other teachers from different schools.

You and Seonghyeon walked to the far edges of the farm, calling out the kid’s name.

Your voices echoed right after the other, the calls becoming much more intense as the search went on.

“He can’t have gone into the forest, right?”

“Don’t jinx it. Let’s just keep our search in the field and if we’re really desperate, we’ll go into the forest.”

After a few minutes, the sky had started to go dark. The previously blue skies were now turning into a muddled orange.

Luckily your mother’s had brought flashlights, so you and Seonghyeon had delved deeper into the fields while sticking closely together.

At this point, a whole search party was out for the kid.

Farmers from across the town were all in the field, along with a few big helpers who decided to go into the edges of the forest in case the kid had really gone that far.

After a few minutes of searching with Seonghyeon, both of you stared into the forest close by. The forest looked way darker than it was this morning, looking more like a horror film set rather than a peaceful painting.

“Should we check?” You had asked out of worry for the small boy.

“It wouldn’t hurt.”

You didn’t want to seem scared in front of him, so you hardened your resolve and walked forward. You stood in front of it, the fence only reaching your thigh. It felt forbidden to cross, but you bring your leg over, pushing yourself onto your arms and landing on the other side.

He hopped over the fence right after you, staying very close to you in case something happened. You both walked tentatively, cautiously looking around for anything that even looked slightly dangerous.

You couldn’t hear anything from the fields, and the ground in front of you was starting to get darker. The trees were starting to get denser as well, the path now only able to fit three people.

You were a little scared, but you tried to push it down, knowing that the kid was probably more scared than you.

You took another step forward, bringing your flashlight anywhere in front of you. You could only recognise the sound of your breathing and the faint crunch of the leaves underneath your shoes.

“Hey..” 

You flinched at hearing Seonghyeon’s voice so close to you. In the silence, you realised your heart started beating against your chest loudly, adrenaline and fear raging through your body.

“What?”

Your tone came out a little brash, sounding harsher than you meant it to be.

He didn’t seem to care, just sighed and switched over his flashlight to his right hand.

“Hold my arm.”

“Huh?”

You couldn’t process what he had said properly until he held out his arm, offering it to you.

“If it makes you feel safer, hold my arm.”

You were about to refuse until a cold breeze blew in, the darkness around you starting to seem much more clearer than before. The branches rustle all around you, the trees suddenly feeling much, much bigger. You hear crows cawing out far away from you, but it’s loud enough that it sends you shivers up your spine.

“Fine.”

You wrapped your hand around his arm, the fabric of his long sleeve soft and warm.

This doesn’t mean anything. You thought to yourself.

Mai was the one who liked him, not you.

Every step you took forward made you feel more nervous than the last, but at least you knew Seonghyeon would be next to you the whole time.

It’s not that his presence comforted you–

Well, maybe it did.

But, maybe it was more like ‘if something happened you could just push him as bait and run away’ type of comfort.

“Wooju?”

You had called out, trying to hear anything else other than your thunderstorm of a heartbeat.

“Wooju!” Seonghyeon had echoed, looking over to the left.

It’s too quiet.

You want to turn back, but the image of a little boy curling up and crying pushes you forward. You can’t imagine how scared he must be–you just hope that he’s okay.

“Hello?”

The small voice comes from the left, interrupting your thoughts.

You both turn immediately, finding a yellow hat peek out from behind a tree.

Two eyes pop out as well, their pupils dilating as you immediately point the flashlight in towards that direction.

“You were saying my name.”

You immediately let go of Seonghyeon, rushing over to the kid and making sure he was okay.

You look all over him, seeing if there were any injuries. You see a giant red smear on his calf, calling Seonghyeon to come over as well.

Wooju notices your gaze, looking down at his legs. “That’s just strawberries; Kana rubbed all of us with it!” He had laughed out, giving both of you a toothy smile.

You notice the top part of his gum bleeding, immediately making you lean back down.

“What happened here?” You pointed at it, making sure he was comfortable with you pulling his lip up.

“I bit into a really big strawberry and lost my tooth! It’s in my pocket-wait,” the small boy rustles around his short’s pockets, digging through whatever trinkets he had in there.

“Here!” He pulls the large strawberry out–almost deformed with the ridges and leaves at the top. Stuck right in the middle is a small tooth, the dried residue of blood staining the part that was attached to his gum.

You look at Seonghyeon, who also looked relieved but also exasperated.

“My mummy said that the tooth fairy gives you more money for bigger teeth!”

Seonghyeon snorts, pushing his free hand into his pocket. “Oh actually the tooth fairy isn’t–“ you kick the back of Seonghyeon’s leg before he could say anything.

“That’s very sweet Wooju. Now, has she also told you that you shouldn’t go into forests without anyone with you?” You try to say in a soft voice, reminding yourself that you were still in the forest where anything could happen. 

You already knew that Seonghyeon was probably making fun of you behind your back, probably pretending to gag at your soft act.

Wooju frowns, a pouty expression now on his face. “The lady said we could go anywhere!”

“Right. Well, you have to go back now.”

“No!” He shakes his head, crossing his arms over his puffed out chest.

You sigh before Seonghyeon steps in front of you, leaning down just enough so that he’s the kid's height. “Do it or we’ll feed you to the wolves.”

“Do you think Seonghyeon likes me back?”

You wake up to hearing those exact words, already having regretted opening your eyes.

“Shut up.”

You turn, begging for sleep to take you back, only for the windows to be abruptly opened.

You groaned, opening your eyes and finding Mai’s silhouette standing right next to the bed.

“Can you please help me?”

You sigh, propping yourself up on your elbow and rubbing your eyelids. You notice from the corner of your eyes that she starts to pace around the room, her hands scrunching the hem of her skirt.

“I really like him, but I realised last night that he barely knows me!” She sighs.

“I know he’s probably just being nice, but I really do like him! And I don’t want to be confused about anything when I’m with him, so can you help me?”

“No.”

You turn, about to cover yourself in your blankets when she rips them off of you, the covers thudding against the floor.

“Please! Even if it ends in rejection, I still want to try!”

You sighed, staring at the ceiling. “If I help you, can you give me my covers back?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

You sit up properly, watching as she almost jumps at you.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

She smiles, her eyes sparkling in excitement.

“So, what’s the first step I should take?”

You get off your bed, grabbing your covers and folding them onto the bed. “Well, first, I’m gonna tell him that all three of us should hang out, and then I’ll pretend to cancel so that you two can get some alone time.”

“If that’s your plan, couldn’t I just ask him to hang out?”

“Well, are you going to ask him?”

She thinks about it for a moment before shaking her head, her lips pressed into a thin line of embarrassment.

“So, is that it?”

“Yep.” You say, popping the ‘p’ a little too loud. “I’ll text him and say we’ll be going to the mall.”

“But what if he gets suspicious?”

It wasn’t anything noteworthy–matter of fact, it wasn’t even anything to care about.

Just a small bow to each other.

And suddenly it all blew up.

In a world of boys he’s a gentleman #seonghyeon #eomseonghyeon #cortis 

At first, it was okay. 3.5 million views, comments all praising his manners.

ungwoion: He has such good manners 🥹

— lngshot warrior: lmao you guys just love the bare minimum

chao yufine asf: omg James behind him 🤤

gojosbbl: Awww he’s so cuteee 

Stella’s my gf: omg I just realised she’s technically his senior

No one questioned it, after all he was just a rookie at another music show, paying his respects to another group.

Until…

Jaehyuns big left toe: I dont go here but I swear he likes her

The comment got 20 thousand likes. 

It wasn’t much, but it was enough for people to get the message.

It started slow, a few more comments here and there. 

Miaaa: Bro her and Seonghyeon would be so cute togetherrrr

—eommmmjiii: OMGGG THATS WHAT I WAS THINKING TOOOOO

Again, it was slow. Mainly because there was so much push back against the shippers, but of course a few cracks were beginning to show.

It started with edits–mashups of your groups songs and clips of you two actually talking in interviews suddenly started going crazy viral, almost every single edit getting over a hundred thousand likes.

There was a particular one where both of you were in separate interviews, talking about your passions for music. Ian had replayed it hundreds of times around you, playing the audio so loud that it started annoying everyone else.

Then photos started coming out–fake ones of course, but they looked real enough for everyone to start believing it.

You didn’t mind it, matter of fact you didn’t care at all, you didn’t even know the guy anymore! You just wanted to focus on your group's music, so you ignored it. 

Dating someone while in the industry was messy enough, but to date someone else also in the industry? That was basically a nuke for your career.

Although you had gone to the same elementary school as him, you barely remembered anything from back then. Maybe a few shared laughs and jokes, but you had moved away soon after. You had even taken and passed the middle school equivalency exam when you turned 12 and the high school equivalency exam the minute you turned 14, so you had absolutely no experience in dating in your teenage life at all.

You had no idea how the media thought you could date anyone, but nevertheless they persisted.

It was late at night when it started getting serious.

You went on live with Ian, eating a late night dinner after a fanmeeting in Japan. At this point, most of your fans were convinced something was happening between you two.

The minute you waved to the camera thousands of comments started flooding in, all about the same thing.

ThebigTTTS: Are you dating someone?

Obviously you knew why they were so curious, but it wasn’t like something was going to happen between you two.

Ian knew it was meant for you, but had replied to it nonetheless and said no, also indirectly saying no for you, bringing up how the whole group was too busy for such things. 

So you thought his obsessive fans could rest, knowing their precious prince was single.

It worked a little, some of the edits and comments starting to wane.

Then, a few days after, Seonghyeon and Keonho had gone live.

The comments were pretty much the same thing, and they had also said no to dating someone.

You thought that was it, the rumours would go away, and you wouldn’t have to care about anything to do with him anymore.

Then came the MAMA awards.

Both your groups had won Rookie of the year, a few tears here and there but overall you were happy.

You had been walking off the stage, other groups walking around you. Ian was next to you, smiling and laughing about the award. A few fans on the ground floor had their phones out, holding banners and waving them up in the air. 

You had waved to a few, not paying attention to what was in front of you when you had suddenly bumped into someone. The collision was soft enough to not hurt, but nonetheless you had decided to apologise and bow. 

You hadn’t seen their faces as you were too busy being embarrassed and bowing, mentally slapping your forehead for not looking at your surroundings.

You were about to walk away when the person’s voice cut through your apologies.

“It’s okay, boyfriends are supposed to forgive their girlfriends for something small, right?”

The sentence made you stop mid bow, looking up to see the person’s face.

Eom Seonghyeon stood in front of you.

An amused look was on his face, his hands in his pockets. His earpiece hung loosely around his neck as he stood back casually, the proximity between you two close enough that you could reach an arm out and touch his.

His hair fell perfectly styled over his face, his plump lips curled up into a small smile. His dark brown eyes stared right at you, crinkled at the sides in enjoyment at the situation (although you aren’t sure whether he’s laughing at you, or he’s just really happy after winning).

You couldn’t react, too frozen in place to even offer a polite laugh to his joke. 

The stage was too crowded with idols, a few even almost bumping into you as you stared at him. Fans were still cheering around you, the fans close to the barricades in particular being the loudest. You couldn’t hear what they were saying, but you could feel the eyes on you.

You felt too exposed, your skin suddenly prickling up.

You were lucky that the fans were far enough to not hear his words, but everyone could see how close together you were. 

You stepped out of your trance, giving him a polite smile before waving and walking off. He waved back too, a small chuckle escaping his lips.

You don’t get why he seemed so amused–what if fans took that the wrong way? Cameras were everywhere, and if you got into another dating scandal with him, you were sure that would be the end of your career.

Your group members had walked off without you, already backstage and telling you to hurry up.

“What were you doing?” Stella had asked, pulling you close to the group as you walked through the halls. 

“I’ll tell you later.”

“Seriously? That’s what he said?” Stella exclaimed, but because she was wearing a face mask, her words had come out almost strained.

“Did you say anything back?”

You sat on the bed, having finished your nighttime skin routine.

“No, I just smiled and waved him off.”

“Okay, that’s good.” She fans her face, turning away and looking into the mirror. “As long as you didn’t keep the conversation going for too long. Tell our manager about it, and just hope the fans don’t take it the wrong way.”

You had nodded at that, hoping that her words would be true. Again, it was just a mistake, plus just another bow.

As long as they had listened to your words, nothing would happen.

Obviously it did not work. 

Once again, the clip between you two went mega viral.

10 million views on twitter, with just over seven hundred thousand likes all in the span of one night.

—Suuperjellyous: They HAVE to be dating

—gojo’s left arm: omggg the way he grinned at her 🤭🤭

Those comments were the same as always; a little delusional but harmless.

But of course, hate comments were bound to follow.

Poyoyiii: Am I the only one who thinks she’s weird as shit for doing that? Like she probably did it on fucking purpose.

VOTE FOR CORTIS! | STREAM COTL: ew why would Seonghyeon ever talk with someone like her lmaooo

Hummingbird501: I fucking hate her so much. She definitely planned that shit. Now Seonghyeon is going to get hate again.

Wonyoungieee: She’s so fucking chopped holy shit

You ignored those comments for the most part. Obviously they had affected you to some degree, but it was just part of the job. You couldn’t allow them to affect you.

Getting into scandals this early into your career was never ideal. You felt bad, if only you had been paying attention to where you were walking it would’ve never reached this scale. The rumours were just starting to get cleared too, and now all that time spent mending it just went to waste.

Management had called you in the afternoon, explaining what they had planned.

They were obviously going to release a statement, mainly about anyone spreading false information and rumours that had been made clear as false would be taken legal action against. You had agreed to it, hoping that it would all clear up soon.

It did not.

In fact, it got worse.

You had just landed back in Korea, a few reporters here and there but not enough that you felt overwhelmed.

You don’t remember much, just recalling how you were just walking when a sudden, sharp pain hit you at the side of the head. It stung for a few moments and it was very much a shock, causing you to stop in your tracks.

Your members were around you immediately, A-na staying by your side while your managers started rushing you out.

You had found out later that it was a water bottle that struck you–capped, so the water wouldn’t have spilled out everywhere at least.

Clips of it were already spreading online, multiple angles of it everywhere.

Of course, there was a lot of sorrow, mainly how a lot of the fans felt bad that you were getting treated so badly.

You felt so embarrassed.

You were known to be quiet, barely grabbing people’s attention unless you were performing. Now suddenly the harsh spotlight was thrust upon you, following your every move and just waiting for you to crash.

Yuha and Juun had taken away your phone before you could read any of the hate comments.

You had to start recording soon, plus choreography and filming content. You didn’t have the time for this.

“Just…go to sleep. We have practice tomorrow morning.”

The next day, funeral wreaths were posted outside the SM building. Your heart had sunk the minute you stepped out of the van, feeling like the world had just stopped. Stella and Ye-on made you put your head down, making sure you couldn’t see it.

You were a little grateful they did, as you would’ve almost just started crying right then and there. Photographers were taking pictures everywhere, any photos of you crying would just make the situation worse. Your manager made sure to have them taken away, but the wreaths had done their damage.

You ended up crying in the hallway later, stifling your whimpers and cries, hoping that no one could hear you.

You stayed up that night, staring at the ceiling.

You couldn’t believe so many people hated you. Just for rumours? Just for a guy you didn’t even know? You were angry and sad–nothing was even confirmed, how could they hate you so much?

You weren’t just angry at the fans, you were even more furious at him.

If he hadn’t said that stupid joke, you wouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place. If you hadn’t just done that stupid bow, all of this would just stop.

You wish you could take it all back–maybe stop yourself from ever even interacting with him.

It started affecting you in practice. 

You would space out and forget choreography. You had even stopped eating, not bothering to even feed yourself after the most tiring practice sessions. Your voice would crack, and you found yourself feeling much weaker on days you were usually so energetic. Filming during variety shows had to keep getting cut short because you would forget how to do the challenge right in the middle of it.

Your members would try to take care of you, forcing you to sleep and even piling their phones up on the dinner table so you wouldn’t feel alone.

Ian and Ye-on would even invite you to sleep in their room, just so they could comfort you as you slept.

After a week, you started getting better. 

The rumours were starting to disappear, and dispatch was finally starting to stop following you around. You were eating and drinking more, and you weren’t making as much mistakes as before.

Then the elementary photos came out.

Photos of you two, posing and pressing your dimpled cheeks together. There were a lot of them–maybe about 40 photos of just you two hanging out as kids.

Hundreds of articles were out in the next hour, all talking about the same damn thing.

Childhood friends to lovers? An idol love story…

Comments were flooding the groups accounts, all ranging from blatant insults to outright death threats.

The company immediately released a statement, most of it re-stating the legal actions they would take if the discourse continued, while also acknowledging the friendship you two once shared.

Your members stayed with you for the next hour, hugging you and wiping away your tears.

Then a day after, a random number started texting you.

Unknown: I’m sorry.

You felt yourself typing before you could even think about it.

what for?

Unknown: Everything. I promise I’ll do something to make it up to you.

You scoffed at that, typing onto your phone with more annoyance and frustration than you even had.

Like what? You’re acting like you can magically fix this whole situation.

Unknown: I promise. I don’t break promises, I’m sure you remember that, right?

Don’t talk like you know me. You have no right to talk about our memories together when they’ve done nothing but hurt me now.

You watch as the gray chat bubble popped up before disappearing, leaving your message on read.

It had been two hours since. 

You felt bad about that last message–you know that the scandal wasn’t just affecting you, and yet all you did was shut him out.

But all you could do was feel angry at him.

Angry that it all happened, angry that you let it affect you and the group so much, and even ashamed that you even felt so enraged in the first place.

Again, you don’t remember much from your elementary days, but judging by the photos, you guys actually seemed really close. You wondered why you couldn’t remember any of it.

If he remembered it all, did that last message hurt him more than you thought?

You went to sleep that night, feeling almost like you were drowning in an ocean of thoughts, each bad comment or situation you remembered dragging you deeper and deeper.

What were you even going to do tomorrow?

Should you just pretend like nothing happened? Your company was already going to release another statement, it was just a matter of when. Your phone kept pinging with every notification, each one getting you more uneasy.

He hadn’t texted back since, and you were already feeling anxious as to what he was going to do.

What did he mean by his ‘promise’? This wasn’t some k-drama where everything would be solved with one little statement.

This was the real world, where things had consequences for everything. 

“Can you hold still?”

“How can I hold still when your breath smells of garlic bread.” Seonghyeon grunts.

You smack him on the shoulder.

7 am, did Seonghyeon decide to wake you up and ask if you could do his skin care. You had groaned but got up anyway.

You sit cross legged, letting Seonghyeon put his right hand on your hip and the left on the bathroom counter underneath. His thumb traced the outline of your thin tank, his warm touch making you feel relaxed. He wore sweats and a black shirt, something you had bought years ago for him.

The cool essence of the face mask drips down your hand as you adjust it on his face, cringing as it drips down to your elbow.

“This is an unpleasant sensation.” He mumbles, his eyes closed but his eyebrows twitching.

You chuckle but ease up the pressure, making sure your fingers weren’t pressing too hard.

“Done.” You say, tapping on his shoulder to go. He gets out of his leaning position over the counter, looking straight into the mirror next to you and letting you hop off.

The mask sticks onto his face like glue, his features immediately freezing up to not make it shift off. You wash your hands as he adjusts a small piece around his eye, eventually giving up when it wouldn’t stick properly.

You walk back into his bedroom, flopping onto his bed and wrapping the fluffy blanket you always brought along whenever you slept over.

The bed dips next to you as you relax, looking up to find Seonghyeon on his phone. No doubt was he scrolling through the new rumours or ‘information’ on reels. You always teased him for it, being gullible enough to listen to what nonsense he thought was important. 

You stay like this for a moment, relaxed and unbothered about anything happening outside. You could hear his little sister talking loudly through his walls, his mother vacuuming the floor, and his father outside mowing the lawn.

“Can we get açaí for breakfast?” He suddenly asks. He shows you a video online–an açaí shop near you both. The bowl looked really good, banana slices, cream, and walnuts all around the edges.

“One of these days this addiction will kill you.” You chuckle against his sheets.

You sit up and yawn, leaning forward to see more of the video.

“Death by açaí addiction wouldn’t be too bad.” He shrugged, the face mask at his side slightly lifting.

You shoot him an unimpressed look before nodding.

“Want to go at eight?”

“Why do you keep stealing my strawberries?” You turn to him, scrunching your nose when another strawberry lands into his mouth.

“It tastes better coming from yours.” He simply says, acting as if it was a reasonable answer.

You shake your head while taking another bite out of the smoothie bowl, letting the wind blow through your hair. He wiggles closer to you, noticing you shiver slightly and letting his body heat do the work.

You wore his hoodie and jorts while he wore your beanie and rings. It seemed like second nature to share everything between you two–whether it was clothes or untold secrets, nothing could be kept from the other.

He reaches for another strawberry but you lightly smack him with the side of your spoon. He withdraws his hand, but a cheeky smile crawls onto his face. 

His other hand suddenly zooms past yours, successful in the capture of the strawberry.

“Hey!” You smack his shoulder as he coyly bites into the berry.

“Too bad, so sad.” He teases, laughing at your pouty expression.

You had been sitting at one of the outside tables, preventing you from seeing the chaos inside.

Louis smacks one of his friends at the side, gaining their attention and pointing at you both. “Yo, someone take a pic.”

Ye-on looks up from her phone, watching as the two of you argue about something else. “You do it. You have the digital camera.”

“I would, but like, I don’t want their love story in my memory card.”

Kya rolls her eyes, swiping the camera out of his hands and snapping a photo. The picture wasn’t nice, the glass reflected the camera’s glare making anyone barely able to see what the intended scene was supposed to be.

“Bro, come onnn.” Louis groans as Kya chucks the camera into his hands, Woojin at his side chuckling.

They all watched as you both walked away from the store, your hands dangerously brushing up against each other’s, and yet you didn't make any effort for it to go further. 

Seonghyeon walks you to your house, arguing with you about some new topic the school was obsessed with. 

“I’m telling you, I saw them at the arcade last week!” His words echo across the quiet street, one passerby taking a quick glance before minding his own business.

“You should’ve pointed it out to me then!” You whack the side of his torso, acting annoyed at his ‘incompetence’.

“My bad, but next time you shouldn’t be so interested in that damn driving game.” He grumbled, rubbing at the area you hit him but still keeping up with your pace.

“That’s not my fault, I was number one on that game for two months straight, I was not going to get beat by someone under the name ‘rizzler6769’.” 

“Ah, Seonghyeon! If you told me you were here I would’ve prepared those cookies you liked!”

Your mother runs over, hugging Seonghyeon as if he was her child coming home from the war.

“Wow, have you been working out? You look so much taller now too!”

He grins at her, flashing her his dimples. “Well you’ve gotten much prettier in the time we’ve been apart.”

You almost roll your eyes at his flattery, it was no wonder why your mother liked him so much. You go up to your room, letting them catch up for a bit. You hear laughter through the walls every few seconds, letting you know it was going well.

After a few minutes, your door is immediately opened.

You turn, lifting your head to see Seonghyeon take off his shoes and sigh. 

He launches himself on your bed, letting your warm sheets envelop him. He wraps his arms around your hips, burying his face into your waist.

You don’t mind his touch one bit, going back to doomscrolling on reels. He stays there the whole time, not moving once. You’d maybe feel him shift his position for a few seconds but his arms forever remained wrapped around you.

“Do you want to go out for lunch? We could go to that new restaurant around the corner.” 

He shakes his head, the hair sticking out of his beanie slightly tickling your revealed skin. You feel the cold metal of the rings against your back, making you shift uncomfortably.

He notices, immediately pulling them off and putting them to the floor, his head still remaining in its position. His breath is warm against your skin, brushing up against the exposed part of your waist.

He noticed that you had taken off his hoodie, it now hung on your chair, and was probably already added to your growing collection.

“I’m tired.” He mumbled.

You checked the time. “It’s only 11 am?”

“It still doesn’t change that I’m tired.”

You ponder for a moment, putting your phone down and taking off his beanie. He lets you run your fingers through, messing up the hairdo he spent all morning trying to perfect. “Then, do you want some buldak?”

“Sure.”

You stare at the clock ticking on the wall, watching the red hand move with each second. 

Seonghyeon sits by your side, arms folded and leaning against his desk. His eyes were closed, clearly not paying attention to the story your English teacher was telling.

It was another personal one, the kind that let everyone know to just ignore and finish whatever task that was left unfinished for another class. Of course they felt bad about it, but when your English teacher constantly talked about themselves and was unnecessarily strict and harsh, no one ever actually felt bad enough to care.

You had been one of the unlucky ones that finished early. Too energetic to sleep, and too tired to actually listen.

As soon as the bell rang, everyone rushed out. A flurry of movements passed by in just a few seconds, footsteps rampaging around you two.

Seonghyeon perked up at the noise, wondering what everyone was running for.

“Is it Taco Tuesday?” He asks. You notice a few pieces of his hair going up like a hedgehog’s quills, making you snort.

You reach for his hair, and he obliges. He leans closer to you, letting you fix up the mess. He yawns, rubbing at his eyes as you stand and stretch from your prolonged sitting position.

“Hurry up, the tacos aren’t going to get themselves.” You gave him a quick pat on the shoulder before walking off. He nods, still rubbing his eyes.

He follows closely behind you, his eyes half closed and tie hanging loosely around his neck. 

By the time you reached the cafeteria line, there was only one taco left. You snatched it up and paid for it, watching as everyone behind groaned with disappointment. You felt bad, but the tacos were always too good to pass on.

You walk up to Seonghyeon, letting him take the first bite.

“Only one left.”

He hums in acknowledgment, chewing on the hard shell and lettuce. He stares into blank space for a moment, silence washing down your conversation for a few seconds. “You know what this oddly reminds me of?”

You turn, facing him as he chews on the taco’s hard shell. “Hm?”

“When I told you I was Mexican and you believed it.”

You rolled your eyes. “Okay, I never said I believed it!”

“You totally did! And when Keonho said he was Filipino too!”

“Okay, but him being Filipino was much more believable! Plus I didn’t think you’d lie about…”

Everyone at the tables watched as you two argued, your faces inches apart from each other. 

“Can they just make out already?” Wonhee groaned, watching as you pointed a finger to his chest while he stared down at you, grinning at your annoyed face, clearly enjoying it.

“Literally.”

They watched as you continued to argue with him, only to be shut up by him shoving the taco in your mouth. You chewed on it for a few moments, a small drop of the sauce clung at the side of your mouth. 

He leans forward, wiping the sauce off. He stays like that for a few moments, staring into your eyes with such adoration that it would make anyone swoon, before flicking your forehead. He drags you towards your friends table as you yell at him, still chewing on the taco.

A collective sigh could be heard around the table.

“Can they just say they’re together already?”

“I asked him about it last week and he just shrugged.”

“I just thought they were friends?”

“You do all of that with your friends?”

“I do that with the guys all the time.”

“Grab the chips bro.” James snatches a pack off the rack, tossing it into the basket absentmindedly.

You press your lips into a thin line, watching as it lands on top of the other snacks they decided to get.

“How much does this all cost?”

“Martin’s paying for it all–hey, have you ever tried Dr Pepper?”  Keonho turns around and points at the pack in front of him. They were all stacked on top of each other, a few cans missing from the sides. It was clear that the previous customers had ripped into the cardboard. Whether they stole it or bought it separately, you didn’t seem to care.

You shrug. “I heard it tastes like medicine.” 

Martin walks over, now beside you. You know by the look in his eyes that he’s curious; he eyes the pack like it’s some piece of candy

The deal is sealed when Juhoon waddles over as well, now on your other side.

Keonho asks for his opinion. “Should we get the 12 pack or 24?”

You exasperatedly hold the basket in your hands as they talk. They dragged you out of your room so fast that you had to abandon your headphones. 

What a shame, now you couldn’t block out their bickering.

“Get the 24 pack, the fridge still has a lot of space.”

Now everyone had suddenly surrounded you–James came up behind and Seonghyeon had jumped in next to Keonho. You yawn, watching them quarrel.

“No, what if it doesn’t taste good? We would’ve just wasted money for no reason.”

“But if it does taste good, everyone is going to like it and we’ll have to come back here again.”

“How popular in the states is it?”

“But it’s like 70 dollars! I don’t want to pay for something that no one likes!” You lean towards Seonghyeon as Martin and Keonho argue. 

You both chuckle at everyone’s antics as the argument goes on. He offers to hold the basket for you but you shake your head.

“But if everyone likes it, then this is the one to go with!” Keonho says while picking up the 24 pack.

“Why can’t we just get Cola like we always do?”

“The states really like this though! I just want to see the hype.”

“That’s 70,000 won dude.”

“How about we buy one, share it and see if everyone likes it?” Your manager interjects. He crosses his arms, his expression clearly unimpressed.

“You guys don’t even know how it tastes yet.”

Everyone shrugs.

“Fair point.”

You sigh in relief. After that, everyone disperses and goes off somewhere in the store.

You feel the basket get heavier when a can is put in, but get confused when another pressure of weight is added. You turn and see that Keonho had sneakily put one more can inside. 

You raise your eyebrow at him.

“Just for good measure.” He reasons.

By the time you go up to pay, the basket is so full with snacks they almost fall out. Seonghyeon stands beside you, holding a few snacks of his own. 

As you stand waiting, you pick at your polished nails. It’s a mix of random pastels–mainly pink and green. You click your tongue, noticing that the polish has gotten patchy. It had only been a few days since you last painted them, so your annoyance was understandable.

Just as you scratch a small bit off, you notice Seonghyeon mimicking your actions, checking out his own nails. They’re smooth and look clearly untouched, making you feel almost envious.

As you get closer to the counter, Seonghyeon suddenly grabs your arm. You look up and he clears his throat.

“Hey, could you…paint my nails later?”

“Can you hold still?”

“I’m sorry! You’re breathing really hard though and it tickles my hand.” He mumbles.

You look up, your eyebrows furrowing.

“I’m breathing normally?”

You shake your head and continue, but move your head a bit further back. He had chosen white and grey for his nails, the colours barely standing out in the midst of his dark sheets.

You both sit in his bed while a random show plays on his phone screen. You occasionally tuned it out to focus on his nails, careful to not let it touch his skin.

After ten minutes, you had only painted his thumb and index finger, granted you weren’t exactly a nail artist so this was the fastest you could go without too much of it getting on him. You had painted a few dots and stars on them, so the amount of time it took was excused.

“You’re actually pretty good at this.” He flexes the fingers already painted, checking out the details.

As he does that, he grabs the Dr pepper you had been drinking out of off the floor, taking a sip for himself.

A warmth crawls from your neck to your cheeks, but you try to pay no mind to it. You were comfortable enough with eachother for it to not mean anything, and yet everytime he does it always has your heart thumping just a little bit faster.

“Could you do a black on my ring finger?” He asks, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Sure.” 

You both stay like this for a moment–hands touching as the show continues. He doesn’t seem to mind the contact one bit, and yet a small part of you cares a little too much about the proximity between you two. Martin and Keonho were out in the living room, watching whatever Korean youtuber entertained them for the night so it was just you two.

The room is quiet besides the aircon humming above, the cold air blowing on both of you time to time.

“Give me your left hand now.”

He obliges, checking out your work. He makes a noise of fascination and flexes his fingers after his prolonged stillness, checking the polish in different angles. He smiles brightly at it, making you chuckle at his reaction. You shake the cramps out of your hand, watching as he blows at the wet polish.

“I should ask you to do my nails more often.”

You hum in acknowledgment–he looks almost entranced with your work. A small pink dusts your cheeks after hearing his comment, but you internally shake your head.

“How’s your finger now?” You ask, pointing to the brace around the finger he had broken a few months back.

“Ah, it’s fine now.” He says, flexing it a little. 

You nod before reaching for the grey polish.

“Can you pass me the thin brush?” You hold your other hand out while opening the bottle. Check the time–3am. You want to sigh, but also wanted to continue for Seonghyeon’s sake.

He gives it to you and you can’t help but notice the way his fingers slightly linger against your palm. His touch is soft and gentle, making you almost gulp.

You don’t question it and continue working, painting a large star on top of the white coat.

It’s not like you could even date him, so there was no point in getting flustered over this.

Eom Seonghyeon is your best friend.

You bicker and scream at each other–in a friendly way of course. Everyone sees the way you hit and punch each other, even though one minute later you’ll both be sharing your food.

Everyone knows this–students, teachers, parents, and even the janitors know about your relationship. 

“I literally saw her grab the hem of his shirt.”

“Right? And the fact that he always pays for her when they go out!”

Murmurs and chatter echo around the school hallways. It’s a daily occurrence–everyone wondering about the new adjustments to the two best friends.

You sit in maths, humming a song while working on a revision sheet next to Seonghyeon.

“You did number three wrong.”

His voice cuts through your humming. You press your lips into a thin line before rubbing it out.

“You also did number nine wrong.”

You look over to the side and find Seonghyeon’s chin on your shoulder. His eyes are focused on the revision sheet and in his hands is the jelly bean ‘bean-boozled’ pack that Keonho gave him that morning.

He tears into the plastic packaging. “You used the wrong formula for 15.”

“Are you going to do this the whole time?”

“I’m already finished–it’s not my fault you misread the question.”

You roll your eyes but make no further attempt to argue back. You hear him softly open the box, the jelly beans rolling around when he places it on the desk.

He smells of fresh linen and the vanilla cologne you got him for his birthday. Bits of his brown hair fall over his eyes and his plump lips purse when he sees the flavours.

“‘Toasted marshmallow or stinkbug’, how the hell did they even get this flavour?” He murmurs.

You look over and he turns the box to you, letting your eyes scan the flavours.

“‘Strawberry banana smoothie or dead fish’?” You scrunch your nose in disgust, your interest completely lost.

Seonghyeon snorts. “Should I give that one Keonho?”

“Yeah, do it.”

You continue working on your sheet while Seonghyeon does whatever doesn’t bore him. 

He sits close to you the whole time, his arm sometimes finding its way on top of your chair. You don’t mind the proximity between you two–yet everyone seemed to make a big deal out of it. 

In fact, you find yourself leaning into it. Sometimes, when others would gossip, you wouldn’t say anything and shrug it off. 

Seonghyeon acted the same.

When Keonho would ask, he would shrug. Of course, with these cavalier attitudes you both seemed to have towards the situation ended up with even more whispers rolling around.

“They have to be into each other.”

“Iroha they could literally just be friends.”

Iroha rolls her eyes, groaning at her friend's ignorance.

“I saw them holding hands last week! Tell me if you’ve ever held hands with your boy best friend.”

She leans in, whispering in Minju’s ear.

“The other day, they were in the cafeteria–you know how it’s always crowded? I’m pretty sure I saw him wrap an arm around her waist so that she wouldn’t get pushed around.”

She whispers it like it’s a scandal, watching Minju’s eyes widen.

“Alright. Let’s assume that did happen–it’s still none of our business.”

Iroha purses her lips.

“Go ask her if you’re really curious”

“Ask who?”

They both jump at your sudden interruption. To them, it seemed like you had just popped out of nowhere when in reality you had been standing near them for the whole conversation.

You’re not even sure how they didn’t notice you.

Minju signals with her eyes, screaming out ‘ASK HER’.

“Uhm, you actually. Can I ask what’s going on between you and Seonghyeon.”

You want to laugh at them. You contemplate it for a moment but end up shrugging like always.

They both groan, Iroha in particular looking disappointed.

“I knew this was a dead end–should we ask Seonghyeon?”

You open your mouth to say something when an arm suddenly wraps around your waist. 

“Ask me what?” Seonghyeon smoothly asks, his head cocked to the side.

They both look at the contact between you and him, their mouths dropping.

“Uh, you know what? We have this… thing in the library.” Iroha gulps, packing up her tray and gesturing for Minju to hurry up.

“Yeah, yeah. We’re going to go now so have fun with whatever this is.”

When they leave, you both look at each other and chuckle. 

You walk around for a bit, watching as students rush through the tables and chairs.

“Want to share ice cream?”

It’s a Saturday when you and Seonghyeon go out.

He holds your hand as you walk through the city, letting yourself get dragged around by him. He makes sure you don’t bump into people, and even lets you take pictures off of his digital camera whenever you wanted.

You stare down at your phone as he holds you close, him making sure to look back on you every now and then. 

The cafe is quiet when you enter. The ambiance is warm and inviting, letting you both feel more relaxed as you settle down into a booth. The slow lofi beats hum in the background, and the quiet chatter makes it all the more comforting.

He sits beside you, pulling out the menu and letting you check first.

“Did they get rid of the tiramisu?” You mumbled.

He looks over, watching as you callously skimmed through the menu. He notices the way your expression scowled, making him almost chuckle. He reaches over, taking over for the search for the dessert.

“Ah, here.”

He points to the coffee flavoured dessert, watching as your eyes sparkle in joy.

“Do you want any drinks?”

You think for a moment. “Can we just share a latte?”

He nods and calls over the waiter. 

He’s unbelievably close to you as he orders. His shoulder brushes up against yours, and you don’t seem to mind one bit. 

Across the restaurant, two people seemed to have noticed the outing between you two.

“Yo, isn’t that Seonghyeon?” Maki asks, his eyes squinting to see who was beside the mentioned boy.

Wonhee looked over–from her angle she could very clearly see you, in Seonghyeon’s hoodie, while you both argued about something.

They can vaguely hear the conversation–bits and pieces of school work and calling each other stupid leaks out.

“The answer was not five over seven.”

“Well getting nine over eight doesn’t make sense!”

They look at you two in amusement, calmly sipping on their tea.

“They have to be together, right?”

“…Wait, they aren’t?”

When you walk out, you’re laughing at some dumb joke he made. They can’t help but notice the way he smiles–his eyes crinkling at the edges as you continue to laugh your heart out.

He stays close to you, holding your items as you both walk away.

The air is cold as you walk out, hearing Seonghyeon complain about another teacher.

“He’s too strict and doesn’t even let anyone breathe–the other day, he yelled at Keonho because he emailed the draft one minute late.”

As he continues to talk, you wrap your arm around his and he simply lets you. He pulls you in closer, but still pulls out complaints about the school faculty and staff.