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in which you and your best friend of many years start dating, causing awkward tension between the two of you due to the new title.
❝ ( アンドチーム ) . nicholas wang x fem!reader | 1,269 words. | fluff, new relationship, kissing, skinship, boyfriend!nico
you and nicholas had been best friends for as long as you could remember.
he knew all your weird habits, your laugh, the way you’d crinkle your nose when you were concentrating.
every embarrassing moment of your life had happened with him either cheering you on or laughing at you afterward.
but now, things were drastically different—things had changed in a way that made it feel like you were meeting him all over again, only this time with a fluttering in your chest that hadn’t been there before.
the two of you had crossed that invisible line between friendship and something more, and it was all so weirdly new.
the kind of new that made your heart race whenever he looked at you a second longer than usual, or when his fingers brushed yours by accident.
the kind of new that made you forget how to act around him.
it was silly, really, considering this was nicholas—he’d seen you at your messiest, your silliest, your most real self—and yet now, with every little thing between you feeling heightened, it was like you were on some sort of invisible tightrope.
tonight was the perfect example. you were at his apartment, a familiar place where you’d spent countless nights before.
it was supposed to be like old times—the two of you curled up on the couch, some random movie on in the background, a bowl of popcorn between you. just two friends enjoying a movie night together.
but instead, both of you were sitting a little too far apart.
the popcorn bowl was nearly empty, but neither of you dared to reach for the last few pieces.
the silence was comfortable but tinged with this somewhat strange awareness.
your knees were close enough to touch if either of you shifted just slightly, and you found yourself too aware of every time he glanced over at you.
you caught his eye once, and for a second, his gaze softened, his lips curving into a gentle smile that made your heart flutter.
but then he quickly looked away, clearing his throat, and you did the same, focusing on some random scene in the movie you weren’t even paying attention to.
the tension in the air was thick, and you could almost laugh at how strange it felt—this was nicholas, your best friend, and here you were, both acting like it was your first time in a relationship.
eventually, the movie ended, leaving you both in a silence that felt louder than anything else.
nicholas reached over to grab the remote, his hand brushing yours, and you felt a warmth rush to your cheeks at the simple touch.
he paused, his fingers lingering against yours for just a second too long before pulling back.
“you know,” he said softly, his voice barely breaking the quiet, “it’s weird, isn’t it?”
you turned to look at him, your heart pounding. “what is?”
“this,” he murmured, gesturing between the two of you. “being… like this. with you.”
you smiled, feeling your nerves settle just a little.
“yeah. i guess it is a little weird.” you glanced down, finding comfort in the way his fingers still rested on the couch cushion near yours, close enough that you could feel the warmth of his skin. “but it’s nice, too.”
he nodded, his gaze still on you. “i just… i never thought we’d end up here. i mean, we’ve always been close, but now…” he trailed off, looking away, the tips of his ears turning the faintest shade of pink.
you’d seen him blush before, but this was different. he looked almost vulnerable, like he was trying to piece together something he didn’t quite know how to say.
“yeah,” you whispered, not trusting yourself to say much more.
your voice felt too loud in the silence of the room, and you almost wanted to pull back, to crack a joke and bring things back to normal.
but there was something in the way he was looking at you that made you stay right where you were, letting the moment stretch out between you.
and then, slowly, like he was testing the waters, nicholas leaned a little closer.
his eyes searched yours, and you could feel his breath, warm and steady, mixing with yours in the small space between you.
your heart pounded, your own breath coming shallow, and you saw his gaze flicker down to your lips for just a fraction of a second before he looked back into your eyes, as if asking a silent question.
you nodded, feeling an excitement and nervousness swirling inside you, making your hands tremble a little as you reached up, touching his cheek.
his skin was warm beneath your fingertips, and he leaned into your touch, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment before he opened them again, the warmth in his gaze sending a shiver down your spine.
he tilted his head, bringing his face closer, his lips hovering just inches from yours.
your heart was beating so fast you could feel it in your throat, and you closed your eyes, waiting, feeling the anticipation build until you were sure you’d burst from it.
and then—he stopped. you opened your eyes to find him looking at you, a mischievous grin spreading across his face, and he let out a quiet laugh.
“what?” you asked, confusion flickering in your mind as you tried to ignore the way your cheeks burned.
“just… i can’t believe i’m about to kiss you, and all i can think about is that time you had that horrendous garlic breath during your first kiss,” he said, his grin widening as he tried to stifle a laugh.
your mouth dropped open, a mix of embarrassment and amusement bubbling up in you. “nicholas! why would you bring that up now?”
he laughed, a deep, warm sound that filled the room and eased the tension that had been building all night. “i can’t help it. you told me about it right after it happened, and i just… i guess it’s something i’ll never be able to forget.”
you groaned, covering your face with your hands. “you’re actually the worst, you know that?”
nicholas gently pulled your hands away, his laughter fading into a soft, affectionate smile.
“i’m just saying, if i kiss you, i want it to be better than that,” he teased, his voice low and warm.
your heart softened, and you couldn’t help but smile back. “well, lucky for you, i didn’t eat any garlic today.”
“good,” he murmured, his voice dropping even lower as his fingers brushed a strand of hair behind your ear.
this time, he didn’t hesitate—his lips found yours in a kiss that was slow and gentle, each second drawing you closer as he wrapped his arms around you, holding you like you were the most precious thing in the world.
when you finally pulled away, the two of you stayed close, your foreheads touching, a quiet giddiness settling over you.
“guess it’s not that awkward anymore,” he murmured, his thumb brushing over your cheek as he held you close.
you laughed, feeling like everything had finally fallen into place.
the two of you spent the rest of the night cuddled up on the couch, teasing each other about old memories, talking softly about things only the two of you knew.
only now, every touch, every smile, felt a little warmer, a little more special.
as old memories resurface through easy conversations and lingering glances, you begin to wonder if your feelings were never as one-sided as you thought.
asakura jo x reader | 1,021 words. | fluff, teasing, light banter, college!au
“oh—you’re [name], right?”
the voice alone was enough to make you look up from your laptop.
rain tapped softly against the café windows while students filled the space with quiet conversations and keyboard clicks, but none of it mattered the moment you recognized the person standing in front of your table.
jo.
one of your brother’s friends, your first crush, and the one person you thought you’d gotten over years ago. except seeing him now proved otherwise.
jo looked different from high school—broader shoulders, sharper features, hair slightly messy like he’d been running his hands through it all day. but his expression stayed the same. calm, gentle, and easy to look at for way too long.
“oh,” you said, trying not to sound caught off guard. “hi.”
a smile slowly appeared on his face, like he was genuinely relieved you remembered him.
“so it’s really you.”
you closed your laptop halfway. “it’s been a while.”
“too long, honestly.”
the answer came naturally, and for some reason, that affected you more than it should have.
jo glanced at the empty chair across from you. “mind if i sit here?”
you nodded quickly.
as soon as he sat down, old memories came rushing back without permission—jo showing up at your house after basketball practice, stealing food from your kitchen while your brother complained beside him, the sound of his laugh carrying through the hallway while you stayed hidden in your room pretending not to care.
back then, talking to him felt impossible.
not because he was mean or distant, but because your teenage self could barely survive eye contact without panicking.
“you go here now?” he asked.
“transferred last semester.”
“no wonder i haven’t seen you around.” he leaned back slightly. “nicho never mentioned it.”
“you still talk to him?”
“almost every day.” jo sighed dramatically. “i’m suffering.”
you laughed before you could stop yourself.
his eyes immediately flickered toward you, and something about the way he looked at you made your chest tighten.
“you changed a lot,” he said.
you raised an eyebrow. “that sounds weird.”
“no, i mean…” he paused, choosing his words carefully. “you just seem different. more confident, i guess.”
heat crept into your face at the unexpected compliment.
“you changed too.”
“hopefully in a good way?”
you pretended to think about it. “still deciding.”
jo laughed quietly, shaking his head.
there was something strangely easy about talking to him now. the nervousness was still there, buried somewhere underneath, but it didn’t feel unbearable like before.
“what class are you skipping?” you asked.
his eyes widened slightly. “how did you know i was skipping?”
“you’re carrying an untouched textbook around like a prop.”
“that’s actually embarrassing.”
“so i was right.”
“i had a three-hour lecture.” he groaned softly. “i chose freedom.”
“you used to lecture my brother for skipping classes.”
“I still judge him. but now with an understanding.”
you laughed again, and jo smiled immediately after hearing it, almost unconsciously.
“you still laugh the same,” he said.
your fingers tightened slightly around your drink. “you remember my laugh?”
“i remember a lot about you.”
the words settled between you more heavily this time.
because back in high school, you were sure jo barely noticed your existence outside of being nicholas's younger sibling. meanwhile, you remembered everything about him without trying.
the fact that he remembered things too felt unfair.
“you used to follow your brother everywhere,” he added teasingly.
you groaned instantly. “can we leave sixteen-year-old me in the past?”
“she was funny.”
“she was embarrassing.”
“she was cute.”
you blinked.
jo seemed to realize what he said a second late because he looked down at his coffee, hiding a smile behind the cup.
your heartbeat became noticeably harder to ignore.
“you cried when your brother forgot to pick you up once,” he continued.
“i did not cry.”
“you called him seventeen times.”
“that doesn’t prove anything.”
“it proves you were dramatic.”
you pointed at him accusingly. “you’re enjoying this way too much.”
“a little.”
the two of you fell into another conversation after that—classes, mutual friends, the weird adjustment to university life. nothing particularly important, yet somehow you didn’t notice time passing at all.
talking to jo now felt different from what you imagined back then. like the distance you created in high school had disappeared without either of you noticing.
his phone buzzed against the table, breaking the moment. jo checked the screen and sighed. “my friends are looking for me.”
“you should probably answer before they assume you dropped out.”
“tempting.”
you smiled into your drink.
then jo looked at you again, quieter this time.
“can i ask you something?”
“depends what it is.”
his fingers tapped lightly against his phone before he finally spoke. “can i get your number?”
your breath caught slightly, though his expression stayed careful, almost uncertain.
“we barely talked before,” he said. “and i think that was a waste.”
there was no practiced charm in the way he said it. just honesty, and somehow that made your heart react even more.
you held your hand out for his phone before you could overthink it.
the moment your fingers brushed, jo glanced up immediately. it lasted less than a second. still, neither of you pulled away quickly.
after saving your contact, you handed the phone back.
jo looked down at the screen and smiled to himself. “you still use this emoji?”
“oh my god,” you muttered. “delete it.”
“no. it suits you.”
“you’re annoying.”
“and you still get flustered easily.”
you hated that he was right.
jo stood a moment later, slipping his backpack over one shoulder.
“i’ll text you later,” he said, more certain this time. it sounded less like a question and more like a promise.
you nodded, trying to ignore how warm your face felt.
as he walked toward the café door, he glanced back one last time before leaving. and unfortunately for your peace of mind—
your old crush on jo suddenly didn’t feel old at all.
Summary: Alfred (with the help of batmom) convinces the family to do press work or the Wayne family do a series of popular internet interviews.
Pairing: Bruce Wayne x Batmom; Batfam x Batmom
Warning: Sibling Dynamics, chronically online batkids/chronically offline Bruce, Jason was missing presume dead in this universe, usage of Y/N
Wordcount: TBD
Notes: there are people asking, so yes there will be a taglist. Just leave a comment and I will add you to my list and you'll be notified when the first part comes out. (5.18)
PARTS:
I. Wired Autocomplete Interview
II. Mr. & Mrs. Wayne Take Lie Detector Test
III. Wayne Siblings | Hot Ones Versus
IV. Mr. & Mrs. Wayne Joins Brittany Broski's Royal Court
V. Bruce Wayne Tries Pregnancy Cravings | Snack Wars
VI. The Wayne Family Test How Well They Know Each Other
synopsis: asakura jo is very quiet. he never demands attention and yet you find him taking all of yours
genre: uni!jo x gn!reader, friends to lovers, fluff
cw: cursing, mentions of internally dying, stupid insults between friends, kissing, not proofread
wc: 2,636 words
a/n: hii i'm lynn, a new writer!! i finally pressured myself into writing and im so glad i did (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶).ᐟ.ᐟso i hope you enjoy this fic for jojo -> please don't copy or translate ~^^
asakura jo does not scream. physically or emotionally.
when you first met him, you thought it was strange how someone so quiet was in a friend group so loud. while the world around him demanded attention, he simply accepted what was given, gently absorbing its energy with a soft smile. a guy like him could easily fade into the background which is why you never paid him much mind. forgettable.
however, that calm air of his was exactly what was so dangerous. asakura jo. so quiet that you didn’t notice how he sneaked into your life. gracing you with that bright smile of his every single day. you wonder when you started to crave those smiles. maybe it was when nicholas invited you to his party.
friends from the same calculus class, you watched nicholas down drinks in celebration after receiving his most recent test results. full fucking marks. the party was definitely unnecessary but who complains about a time to celebrate with drinks. despite your love for him, two hours of heavy bass music, drunk people yelling over the noise not realizing they’re adding to it, and the overall heat from sweaty bodies pressing together became quite overwhelming for you. hence why you bolted the room as soon as nicho’s eyes left you. now you just had to find a quiet room to recharge in.
“sorry. i didn’t realize someone was here already,” you said, ready to back away from the minimalistic room.
“ah, it’s fine. you can join if you’d like,” he shyly gestured to the space beside him on the balcony, scooting a tad to give you some room.
you nod in thanks before taking up his offer. a relieved sigh slips from your lips as you take in the cold night air. crystal clear with small hints of cologne. must be from him. “jo, right? nicho’s friend.” he briefly looks at you to nod. he’s not much of a talker, huh. “i’m y/n, from his calc class.”
“nice to meet you.”
…
shit, this feels really awkward. you really should’ve just chosen a different room. of course you end up disturbing the peace of the quiet guy. fanfreakingtastic!
“do you not like parties?”
oh. “sort of? i have fun at parties but it gets to a point where it feels like too much to handle even if i only come as a guest. sorry that sounds really all over.” you replied, chewing the inside of your cheek.
“i get that,” he mumbled. you looked over in surprise, seeing his ears turn the lightest shade of red at your sudden attention. “the guys throw a lot of parties, and while i like celebrating with them, it gets really loud and unfamiliar. i’d rather have my own space.”
“exactly! you know, i think i heard at least four people yelling complaints about how loud the room was, yet it never clicked in their heads that yelling was making the noise worse. pretty sure your friend k was one of them.”
a chuckle slips from his lips at the idea of k yelling at maki to turn the volume down, only to be met with him turning it up. the house would probably be a mess by the end, with cups littered all over the place and crushed up snacks stuck to the floor from the stickiness of spilled drinks. an utter nightmare to clean up, but for now, jo just wished to relish in this quiet with you even if it was a little awkward. strange how you, a random stranger or acquaintance, made him comfortable.
his smile, so soft and at peace. it was pretty. asakura jo was already a person whose visuals challenged those of a model, but with his smile on top of it, one that made his cheeks puff and eyes soften. all of a sudden, the party music didn’t seem to bother you that much, overtaken by the steady thumping sound of your heart. all you could focus on was that he simply looked–
“beautiful.”
his eyebrows furrowed at the soft mutter of the word, glancing your way only to catch you staring at him so intensely. were they calling me beautiful? cough cough cough. wow, real smooth jo.
“t-the trees.. they’re uhm- like absolutely beautiful. with their long spiky leaves and trunk? making pinecones during christmas… yeah.” you rambled on, hoping he didn’t actually catch you staring like a weirdo.
“i think that’s a shrub.”
“ah.”
you two stayed silent for the next few minutes. with you internally dying from embarrassment, cursing your life with your eyes shut, steadily biting your lip to avoid saying something stupid again. and him, internally dying of laughter, the corners of his lips ticking upwards into a peaking grin as he tried to hide and cool down his obviously red ears. he shifted his attention towards you once more, feeling his cheeks flush from either the cold or from the sight of you, he didn’t know. nicholas’ friend, huh?
speaking of the devil, nicholas, who was between tipsy and drunk, barged his way into the bedroom, body clumsily bumping against the door. “there you are! y/n come drink with me. last i remember, you also got a high score on the test. not as high as me though~” his voice radiating through the quiet space, breaking the trance you had jo in.
“jeez nicho, how much did you have to drink?” you stressed, rushing over to pull him off the door. your eyes look over at ej, another friend from calculus, who was massaging his temple at the sight of his now jacketless friend (he tossed it to juju after his nth shot).
“oh jojo, you’re here too!”
“..this is my room.”
your palm makes contact with your forehead, shaking your head at nicho’s current state. “okay! enough of that, let’s get you some water nicholas. no buts!” finally pulling him off the door and into your side, arm hanging around your neck. “i’ll take care of him. it was nice meeting you, jo.”
“you too, y/n. thanks for.. this.” he offered a tender, relaxed smile, one corner of his lips higher than the other, the kind of look that said he enjoyed your presence despite your slip ups. a weird warmth spread in your chest at the sight of him, face and ears tinged with pink, fingers fiddling with the hem of his sleeve.
you returned the smile, breaking his gaze before slowly closing his bedroom door with much difficulty because of your drunken friend. just as he was about to turn back to the scenery, he could faintly hear the teasing voice of his friend. “so you and jojo, huh?”
“shut up, nicho, you’re drunk!”
and although he couldn’t see it, he could hear how uneven your retort sounded. he let out a long exhale, body slumping against the railing as he looked out at the scenery once more. so many things to look at and yet, all he could see was the stumpy shrub you thought was a tree. that looks nothing like a pine tree. he laughed to himself, already wondering when he’ll see you again.
or maybe it was when you started hanging out with their friend group, sitting a few seats from him. even with all those voices stacked on top of each other– harua and yuma playfully bullying taki again after he slipped with his words, fuma, nicho and maki laughing their ass off, k doting on taki as always, and euijoo just trying to continue the conversation– the only thing that stood out to you was asakura jo actively listening to his friends, face flickering emotions that consisted of laughs, nods, smiles, and frowns.
the more time you spent with him, the more you noticed those little quirks of his. how he would patiently wait for his turn to speak. his manner of maintaining eye contact even if that meant his ears would flush a bright red. how his eyes sparkled and brows furrowed at the taste of good food, especially a warm bowl of white rice. his shyness when it came to affection, how he silently tugs at the hem of clothes before initiating a hug. his habit of gravitating towards a pen or pencil, to spin or scribble a little drawing in the corner of your notes (with your permission). the joy radiating from him when his eyes would crinkle and his grin would be so wide when laughing or talking to his friends.
forgettable? what a joke! jo was everything but forgettable. he was unknowingly so intoxicating to you. every moment with him felt like relaxation and acceptance of the present. even if the world constantly told you to hurry up, he would calmly remind you there was time to slow down and enjoy your surroundings. now you can’t even close your eyes without picturing that pretty smile of his.
“he’s invaded my fucking life without so much as a please and thank you.” you complained, head dropping into your hands with a groan at the laugher beside you. another party with this band of chaos, jo nowhere to be found thankfully. at least your heart could have some peace even with this club-like music pounding in your ears.
“no one forced you to like him, you know. that’s all you.”
“that’s what jojo does best. quietly invades. this time he did it to you, a little too well.”
“he’s got that silent rizz.”
“you should probably learn from him, taki.”
“oi!”
what a great group of friends you have. offering not a single piece of advice in your time of romantic crisis. “guys come on! i’m being serious here, what do i do? jo’s a really good friend. i don’t wanna make things weird between us.”
“do they not realize it’s already weird?” taki quickly gets elbowed to shut up. his comment only made you groan louder, head falling on the table with a thump. ow!
“okay. your solution is really simple actually.” you immediately peeked up at nicholas, hoping his answer would solve everything. he leaned in with a playful grin, “confess.”
your face instantly dropped as you pushed yourself away from the table and started to walk away, a hand ruffling your hair in annoyance. “c’mon, where are you going?”
“to find a better solution!” you yelled in irritation, pushing past overly heated bodies and stepping over crushed red solo cups littered over the floor. you feel sick here. from there, you followed your instincts, excusing yourself every once in a while, turning left then right then up until you found yourself standing in front of his bedroom door. “seriously?”
you subconsciously brush your thumb against the wooden panel hanging on the door. a bold ‘asakura jo’ in the middle, with little doodles positioned around the sides to fill the empty space. a forest, with wolves howling at the moon and a little heart hovering over a shrub. idiot.
“oh. hey y/n.”
“hey jo,” you breathed. what exactly did you expect when you came here? of course he would be in his room genius, it’s his room. he looks so good just sitting on the floor beside his bed. even if he could just sit on the actual bed, that would probably be better for his back.
“y/n?” you snap out of your thoughts, turning your attention back to the current situation. he chuckled at your stiff self, “i asked if you wanna sit with me?” you wordlessly nodded, feet dragging across the floor before quietly sitting beside him. your body tensed at the feeling of his shoulder bumping against yours, heat radiating from him. it felt like fire burning.
“reminds me of the first time we met.” you stayed silent. this distance wasn’t helping your feelings. his scent filled the room, with strong notes of laundry detergent and coffee, and a hint of cedar pine as its undertone. it reminded you so much of him and all the moments you spent together.
the quiet laughs shared over a cup of coffee, the late night walks with him humming a favorite song of yours, the cheesy grin he flashed at you when he caught your eye every time you came to support him during his basketball games. you never expected to grow such intense feelings for jo. you were weak for him. he never demanded attention, yet you still wanted to give him every ounce of yours like it was his to own. shit. you should probably leave before you do something stupid.
“i’m really glad i met you, y/n.” you froze, eyes shifting to look at him nervously. his words were cautious as if he didn’t want to scare you off.
but i'll pray for you all the time
“you make me feel really comfortable with myself. i like being with the others, don’t get me wrong, but i especially like being with you.” stop. please stop saying things that’ll only make these feelings worse. “i don’t have to force myself to talk, but if i do you always listen so attentively. the quiet with you feels different and i like that. it’s like background music, the way you’re like a rhythm flowing through my days to relax and ground me. i’m really happy.. with you.” say it.
if i could be by your side
his pinky shyly grazed yours, sending a spark of static through the air. he gulped. it was agonizingly slow, his movement unhurried as it gently curved around yours, his skin warm and a touch rough, before locking perfectly into place. his gaze on both your linked pinkies remained steadfast, lightly lifting it and grazing the rest of your fingers with his. your eyes stayed constant on him, gut wrenching at the sight of that heart-pounding smile gracing his face again. say it!
i'll give you all my life my seasons
“jo,” he hummed in response at the soft call of his name, eyes focusing on yours, gaze pulling you in. say it now! “i like you.”
by your side i'll be your seasons
his shoulders stiffed, pinky tightening around yours. the room felt like it was closing up on you with every passing moment of silence. you nervously muttered his name, scared out of your mind, “jojo?”
“can i kiss you, please?” voice barely above a whisper, already leaning hoping you would say yes. his ears are a bright red, eyes flickering between your eyes and lips. you don’t miss the way his breathing grows heavy.
you nodded and instantly felt his lips press against yours. shaky and uncertain until he feels you ease into it, hand sliding up his chest before carefully cradling his flushed cheek. his hand wrapped around your waist, gripping the fabric of your shirt tightly before pulling you close, perfectly fitting in between his arms. like you were always meant to be there.
both your hearts pounded strongly. the beat ringing in your ears in tune with the muffled sound of the music outside. breathless, you broke the kiss only to see him chasing after it. a laugh slipped before he captured your mouth once again, the two of you now smiling into the kiss like lovesick fools. “jojo..”
“i like you too. a lot. for a while actually,” he breathlessly said, giving your lips little pecks. his eyes were dazed, breath heavy, and lips just a tad swollen. his finger thumbs your bottom lip, pulling at it as he asked, “can i, pretty?”
without an answer, you leaned back into him, arms around his neck and his around your waist, quickly falling back into the rhythm with his lips against yours. asakura jo. a man that easily slipped into your life and now you can’t imagine a day without him.
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wherein; a photo booth strip is the perfect thing to remember your first date by.
(756 words)
pairing: non-idol!jo x f!reader
genre: fluff, first date, mutual pining
warnings: like.. none just lots of fluff!!, kissing
a/n: this is so short but i had fun writing this!! ( ⸝⸝´ ᵕ `⸝⸝) first time writing jo so i am still getting the hang of it... idk how to feel abt this one but i hope ygs enjoy! <3
your first date with jo is softer than you imagined.
it’s made up of small things–shy brushes of hands, jo carrying your bag before you can protest, shortening his strides just enough to walk beside you instead of ahead.
and every time you catch him staring, he looks away so quickly it almost makes you laugh.
it’s everything you’ve ever wanted.
he’s everything you’ve ever wanted.
and as much as you wish you could bottle this moment up and keep it forever, you suppose a photo strip will suffice.
you take his hand, dragging him toward the photo booth tucked in the corner of the arcade. jo nearly stumbles after you with a startled laugh, ducking his head as you both squeeze inside.
there’s barely enough room for him. his long legs are awkwardly crammed up toward his waist, shoulders brushing against yours every time either of you move.
as you slip the bill into the machine and scroll through the photo frames, warmth radiates from jo beside you. his hands rest stiffly in his lap, like he doesn’t quite know what to do with them.
you glance over.
“you nervous?”
jo’s ears turn pink almost immediately. “a little.”
you let out a short giggle, finally selecting a frame. a robotic voice begins to count down and you rest your head on jo’s shoulder, a soft smile playing at your lips.
3… 2… 1… click!
the camera flashes and jo chuckles at the photo. “i look so awkward,” a pink flush creeping up his cheeks.
“i think you look cute,” you argue as you grab his face, pressing a kiss onto his cheek as the camera snaps another photo. his face heats up underneath your touch as you let go.
he turns to look at you with parted lips, eyes wide. his breath hitches as his gaze drops to your lips, licking his own.
you feel your own cheeks warm at the eagerness in his eyes, like he’s trying not to look too hopeful. but you remember the way he looked at you earlier that day, the way his body mirrored yours without thinking, his gaze fixed on you like you were the most captivating thing in the room.
like he’s liked you for far longer than he knows what to do with.
he tucks your hair behind your ear, his knuckles brushing your cheek. “can i kiss you?“ barely above a whisper, he asks, ignoring the click of another photo.
his words are bold but you don’t miss how his tips of his ears have turned a bright pink, or the shaking of his leg as his foot bounces on the ground.
it’s cute.
it almost makes you want him more.
you nod, “please do.”
3… 2… 1…
the camera flashes just as he presses his lips to yours, slow yet certain, like this is all he’s ever wanted. like he’s imagined it hundreds of times before.
maybe you have too.
he cups your face in his hand, angling his head so that your faces slot perfectly together. firm, yet almost shy. you taste the sweetness of your own lip gloss along with the delicate bitterness of the matcha you shared just minutes before.
your hands find his way into his hair, ruffling it up ever so slightly. jo lets out the quietest breath against your lips–surprised, almost–before kissing you once more, softer this time. lingering.
not rushed.
like he wants to remember every second of it.
the faint whirr of your photos being printed brings you back to reality. back to the noisy arcade outside the booth, to flashing lights and distant game machines and the rest of the world that suddenly feels unimportant compared to this.
when you pull away, jo’s breath is heavy. his hair is messy where your fingers ran through it, lips slightly swollen. his face beet red as he brings his hand to his lips, the ghost of yours still lingering.
you reach over to grab the photo strip as it slides out of the machine.
your eyes catch on the last photo. your eyes closed, fingers tangled in his hair, jo smiling into the kiss so softly it makes your chest ache.
for a moment, you think maybe this is what happiness looks like.
a tiny moment captured on glossy film. small enough to fit between your fingers, yet meaningful enough to stay with you forever.
pulling you from your thoughts, still slightly breathless, jo glances at the strip before looking back at you.
Summary : You're the Navy's most reserved systems specialist. Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw is the loud, golden retriever pilot who can’t stop watching you work. He starts with coffee. Then conversation. Then a playlist. But you're silent, guarded… until the jukebox plays his song, and you finally speak in the loudest way you know how.
Bradley Bradshaw x f!reader/groundsystemstech!reader
Warnings : mutual pining, jealousy (brief flirtation), sunshine x quiet introvert, playlist flirting, he’s loud for both of you
Words : 5K
»» ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── ««
There was a certain stillness to the sim bay when you were in it—not silent, exactly, but quieter in a way that wasn't just about decibels. It was the kind of quiet that made people talk softer when they walked by you, as if your presence created a ripple of calm in the mechanical hum of monitors and diagnostic lights. You weren’t unfriendly. Just focused. Precise. A whisper in a world of voices raised too loud too often.
Bradley Bradshaw was not quiet, he was everything but quiet.
He was energy and swagger and sun-soaked charm, tall and golden, never without something to say. Usually something funny, sometimes something stupid, but always with that boyish confidence that made people laugh even when they didn’t want to.
And for some reason, lately, he kept orbiting around you.
Today, it was coffee.
You barely registered the footsteps until he was standing beside your desk, one hand curled around a cup, the other sliding the second one in front of you with practiced ease, like he’d done this before, like he’d made this part of his day.
“Hazelnut,” he said, voice low but cheerful, like you two were already in on some inside joke as he offered you the sweetest smile. “With oat milk. Thought I’d take a gamble, you look like an oat milk kind of girl.”
You paused mid-keystroke. Your eyes flicked up to his face—those soft brown eyes, wide and too curious for their own good—then down to the coffee. ‘Oat milk kind of girl’, what the hell does that mean ? Anyway, you took it without hesitation, your hand wrapping around the warm cup like it was familiar, though it wasn’t. At least not yet.
A quiet breath left your lips. “Thanks.” You murmured, voice just above the whir of the nearby fan: soft, clipped, barely there.
Then, you turned back to the screen, like the moment had never happened at all. Bradley stood there a beat too long, blinking once, then scratching the back of his neck with a sheepish kind of grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“…Cool.” He said to no one in particular, and walked off. Glancing back once to see if you looked at him again.
You didn’t.
»» ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── ««
By the time lunch rolled around, the mess hall was its usual mess of uniformed pilots, engineers, and stray conversations about upcoming tests and simulations. Bradley slouched into a seat beside Phoenix and Bob, stealing a chip off Bob’s tray like it belonged to him.
“She never talks,” he said, more to himself than anyone else, watching you across the room as you sat alone, quietly eating, headphones on. You were scrolling something on your tablet—a manual, probably, or flight logs. You looked like you’d be anywhere else if you could, and still, you glowed in your own strange, distant way. Like a lighthouse in fog.
Phoenix didn’t even blink. “Whisper ? That’s her whole thing.”
Bradley raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, but she literally never talks. I’ve said good morning to her for like four days straight and got exactly two words in return. One of them was ‘thanks.’ The other was ‘hmm.’”
“She doesn’t waste words,” Bob offered gently. “I like that about her.”
“Yeah, but how does she communicate ? Like, with other humans ? Does she just telepathically vibe what she wants across the room ?”
Phoenix smirked. “You’re not mad she’s quiet, you’re mad she’s not talking to you.”
Bradley opened his mouth to argue, but nothing came out. He glanced across the cafeteria again. You were sipping the coffee he brought. Slowly. Still the only one you’d had all day. He watched the way you bit your lip, thinking intensely. How your hair fell back when you let it go, slightly hiding your face. But suddenly, a question popped in his head. “Why do we even call her whisper ?” He said still looking at you, not really waiting for an answer, more to make a statement.
“We talked once,” started Bob, cutting the brunet off from his observation. Rooster turned his head quickly, interested in what the blond had just told him. “Said she was a former pilot. Real good one too.”
His interest peaked, “Former pilot ? I thought she was a ground systems tech.”
“Well she is now.” The blond said. “But she used to fly, so people still use her call sign. Top of her class, sharp as a tack. Then she switched to ground, said she liked the quiet shadows better than the spotlight in the cockpit.”
Rooster took a slow sip of his glass of water, thinking about what his friend had just told him. “Guess I’ve got a mission then.”
Nat raised an eyebrow, “What kind of mission ?”
“To get her talking.” He answers, grinning like a kid who just found a new puzzle.
Bob laughed. “Good luck with that one.”
But that didn’t discourage Bradley, not even a little.
The sim bay had the kind of buzz that never quite went away—humming computers, faint whirring fans, a voice or two in the background reviewing telemetry. It was comfortable in a mechanical sort of way, and you liked it that way: your space, your rhythm, your quiet corner of the world. You were back at your console, headphones on, lips parted ever so slightly in focus as you adjusted a variable in the flight response program.
Bradley Bradshaw, on the other hand, existed in full color. He lingered in the doorway, pretending to look for someone, but mostly watching you work. He moved like someone born in the sun, all wide smiles and long limbs, always cracking a joke or throwing a casual wink in someone’s direction. So, when his boots thudded up beside your desk for the second time that day, coffee in hand again, you felt him coming before you even saw him. You slipped one of your headphones off as he stopped beside your desk, and he couldn’t help but smiled at the anticipation.
“You always drink coffee after lunch,” he said, setting the cup beside your keyboard like it was already tradition. “But I figured I’d switch it up. This one has vanilla instead of hazelnut. Dangerous, I know.” He chuckled for a bit.
You paused, glanced at him, and took the cup with both hands like it might vanish if you didn’t. “Thanks,” you murmured, the word barely above a breath.
He smiled like it was a full sentence. And then, to your surprise, he didn’t leave. He leaned against the edge of your console, arms crossed. “So… do you always have your headphones in, or is that just to avoid me ?”
You blinked, looked at him—not startled, just unreadable. Then: a quiet, short answer.
“No.”
His brows lifted. “Oh ? So it’s not personal.”
“No.”
Another beat passed. He was clearly trying to decide if that was good or bad.
“What do you listen to ?”
“…Music.”
That made him grin. “Wow. The mystery deepens.”
You looked back at your monitor. You weren’t trying to be cold, you just didn’t know what to do with all that energy, all that focus pointed at you like sunlight through a magnifying glass.
Still, he stayed.
“What kind of music ?” he asked, voice dipping into something gentler.
You hesitated. “…Instrumental.”
“No lyrics ?”
You shook your head.
“Okay. So you like stuff that doesn’t talk much. That makes sense.”
There was a tiny flicker at the corner of your lips. Not quite a smile. But almost. Bradley caught it like it was gold dust.
“Are you from around here ?” he tried again, as casually as he could.
You shrugged. “Sort of.”
“That’s not an answer.”
You glanced at him. “It is.”
He chuckled, arms dropping as he leaned a little closer to your screen, trying to read what you were working on. “You calibrating the response latency on Phoenix’s sim log ?”
“Yes.”
“Wanna explain it to me like I’m five ?”
“No.”
He laughed—this full, warm thing that drew glances from two other pilots on their way out. You didn’t laugh with him, but you did nod, slow and almost amused as you went back to work. And that was something. Bradley stared at you for another second. Then, without a word, he picked up the half-empty coffee cup you’d been nursing since morning and pulled a black Sharpie from his back pocket.
He scribbled something near the rim, just above the sleeve, and set it gently back beside you. You didn’t look up. But you didn’t tell him to go, either. He turned and left with a smirk playing at his lips.
Once you were sure he was gone, you reached out, fingers curling around the cup like it was something private. You turned it, just slightly. In dark, careful handwriting, it said:
‘Don’t worry,
I talk enough for both of us.’
You stared at it for a second. Just long enough for the smallest smile to touch your lips—the kind you’d never let him see.
Not yet.
»» ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── ««
The Hard Deck was buzzing, already alive by the time you stepped through the doors. Half-empty beer bottles, familiar voices crashing over each other like waves, Phoenix’s laughter echoed from the pool table and a Springsteen song rumbled from the jukebox. Bradley was already there, leaning back at the bar, flashing that easy, sun-warmed smile at anyone who passed. As usual, he was dressed in an open Hawaiian shirt with a simple white T-shirt, his aviator pair on the tip of his nose, and his stupid moustache making him looking good as ever.
You hovered at the threshold longer than you meant to—long enough to wonder why you came, short enough that no one noticed—then slipped in quietly, the familiar hum of chatter wrapping around you like a cocoon. It wasn’t nerves, not exactly. You weren’t afraid of noise, just tired of being swallowed by it. But tonight, something pulled you in. Maybe it was the ache of loneliness that crept in when the hangar emptied you. Or maybe it was just the memory of Rooster’s smile earlier that morning, when he handed you coffee just to hear your thank-you.
“Watch this.” Bradley said to Phoenix, next to him, as he saw you cross the room.
“You're gonna make a fool of yourself.” She laughed as he stood up, walking with a determined step towards you.
You found your usual corner near the window, sliding onto a stool with your drink and earphones already tucked in your jacket pocket. Not quite ready to drown out the noise, but ready to keep some space from it. You hadn’t even settled on a stool before a shadow fell beside you.
“There she is,” Bradley drawled, smooth and pleased, sidling up beside you with his usual beer in hand. “Didn’t think this place was your scene.”
You glanced at him sideways, eyes unreadable, and shrugged. “Got bored.”
“Oh, come on,” he said, leaning one arm on the table next to you, his attention all yours. “You in a bar full of pilots ? That’s not boredom. That’s anthropology.”
You tilted your head. “Maybe I’m observing.”
He grinned wide, taking that as a win. “See ? She does talk.” He says loud enough so Nat could hear it.
You didn’t reply. Just looked at him with wide eyes and sipped your drink, letting the silence settle again.
Bradley seemed content to fill it. “You always just… listen ?” He asked, watching over the rim of his bottle.
You gave a small shrug. “Someone has to.”
His eyes softened, “I like your voice.” He said unbothered by your silence.
That pulled something from you—the tiniest exhale of laugh, gone before fully formed. But he caught it, and his grin widened even more when he saw the way you avoided his eyes for a second. “There it is,” he said, mock-dramatic. “A sound. We’ve got confirmation of life.”
You rolled your eyes, but there was no heat in it.
Across the room, near the jukebox, Fanboy nudged Payback and nodded toward you both.
“Ten bucks says he won’t get her to say more than four words tonight,” Fanboy said.
Payback chuckled. “I’ll take that bet. Bradshaw’s relentless.”
Back at the corner, Bradley didn’t care. Didn’t even notice. He was too focused on you—on the way your fingers traced the rim of your glass, the way you listened like it mattered. Then, he seemed to be slowing down, leaning against the edge of your space like he might stay there all night.
“You ever drink anything stronger than water ?” He asked, nudging his empty bottle toward your glass.
“I had whiskey last week.” You murmured.
Bradley arched an eyebrow. “One whiskey ?”
You let the corner of your mouth twitch. “Two.”
He laughed, the sound full and bright, startling in the close space between you. You turned slightly toward him, just enough to give him your attention—not more, not yet.
“I think people forget you have a voice,” he said, his tone quieter now, like he didn’t want anyone else to hear. “I mean, I see you every day. Running diagnostics, fixing our busted egos in the sims, headphones always on. But nobody really talks to you.”
“I don’t mind,” you said, fingers tapping the base of your glass.
“Why’d you stop flying ?” He asked suddenly, not unkindly. Just… curious.
You glanced away for a beat, surprised he knew that, then shrugged. “Liked control more.”
Bradley’s smile softened, fading into something more thoughtful. “You ever miss it ?”
You paused. Then, so quiet he almost missed it: “Sometimes.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment, just looked at you, like he wanted to remember the sound of your voice exactly as it was. Then someone brushed past you on the way to the bar, a blonde woman in a sundress, tall and glowing, with a spark in her eye and a laugh that cut clean through the room. Confident in a way that glittered, she moved like she already knew who would be watching her, and her eyes locked onto Bradley.
You caught the way his eyes settled on her. Not just a glance, but a long, lingering stare, the kind that said he was interested, curious, maybe even impressed. His usual playful charm softened into something quieter, more focused, like he was seeing something worth leaning into, and for a moment, it was like you weren’t even in the room.
Anyway, he stayed with you a little longer.
And unconsciously, you gave him more than usual tonight. A full five minutes of quiet conversation, soft answers barely audible beneath the noise, a trace of a smile when he teased you about something you just said. It was the most you’d spoken to him outside the sim bay, and for a moment, it felt like something shifted. Like maybe he saw you a little more clearly now.
Then your glass emptied. You stood slowly, nodding toward the bartender on the far end. “Be right back.” You took his empty bottle in your hand, without asking him.
He thanked you and straightened, stretching his arms back just enough for the fabric of his shirt to pull across his broad shoulders. The movement was effortless, the kind of thing he didn’t even know he was doing. “Don’t disappear on me.” He called, half-laughing, as you stepped away, weaving through shoulders and laughter. You didn’t answer, just slipped into the crowd, quiet as ever.
You didn’t see the blonde until you were halfway to the bar, but he saw her. She brushed past you with the kind of scent you couldn’t name but somehow noticed. And by the time you looked back, his eyes were already on her. Focused. That warm, open grin of his softened into something more curious, the kind of look he gave to things he wanted to figure out. The same look he gave you earlier that morning. When she glanced over and smile, he smiled back like it was instinct. The blonde placed a hand on his forearm, light and lingering, nails painted in a summer pink. And he didn’t move an inch away.
He tilted his head, smiling down at her like they’d known each other longer than thirty seconds. That familiar warmth in his eyes—the one he gave you—was now entirely hers. Your grip on his bottle tightened and you turned back toward the bar, but not for the bartender anymore. Instead you set the bottle and your glass gently on a vacant corner.
“Doesn’t need his beer anymore.” You muttered under your breath.
“Ditching the golden boy already ?” Phoenix’s voice came from beside you, light but knowing.
You didn’t flinch, just gave her a small shrug, eyes fixed on a spot somewhere past the jukebox. “He’s got company.” You said quietly.
She followed your gaze. Her expression didn’t change, but you caught the way she exhaled slowly, like she wanted to say something. Instead, she offered a soft nudge to your shoulder. “Come shoot a round with me. Before Bradshaw says something stupid dumb and ruins both your nights.”
You nodded once, grateful, and let her steer you away—away from the laughter from the blonde, from the part of you that had started to hope he’s look for you first.
»» ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── ««
The next few days passed in a blur of drills and simulator runs, but something was off. Bradley felt it before he even saw it. A shift in the air, subtle and sharp. The way people say you can sense a storm rolling on, not by the thunder, but by how still the birds go.
You were still there in the sim bay every morning, like clockwork. Still perched at your console with your headphones draped around your neck, fingers flying over diagnostic keys. Still responding to reports, confirming flight data, calling out corrections with crisp professionalism.
But you weren’t there. Not like before.
You didn’t glance over when he leaned on the edge of your desk with his usual swagger, coffee cup in hand, teasing tone ready. You’d just take the cup without eye contact, said a flat, “Thanks”, and go back to the screen like he hadn’t just offered you the sun.
No smile. No soft voice. No quiet moment like before. Bradley stood there a second longer, watching you scroll through diagnostics. The first time, he brushed it off. Maybe you were tired or busy. The second time, it tugged a little. But the third ? It started to sting.
“Rough morning ?” he asked that day, testing the waters. He watched you from just a few feet away, trying to catch your expression through the edge of your hair. But you didn’t even blink. Didn’t even lift your head. Just muttered, “No”, and continued typing.
Bradley lingered awkwardly for a few seconds longer, waiting—for a smile, a glance, anything. But you never looked up. He left the coffee on the corner of your console and walked away like a door had closed behind him.
And it stuck with him. It gnawed at him all day. During simulator drills, debriefs, even lunch where he barely touched his food, through endless conversations with teammates where he found himself half-listening, distracted by the feeling of something slipping out of reach. By the time evening rolled around, he couldn’t shake it. He found Phoenix on the flight deck catwalk, where the sky was bruising purple, and the air still carried salt and heat.
“What did I do ?” He asked impatient.
She didn’t looked away from the horizon, “To who ?”
He looked at her like it was obvious and sighed, “Whisper.”
Now she looked at him, one brow lifted. “You mean besides not shutting up around her ?”
Bradley narrowed his eyes. “No, I mean lately. She’s been…” He exhaled hard. “Different. Cold.”
Phoenix tilted her head, giving him a long, pointed look. Then she asked, “You really don’t get it ?”
His expression didn’t change, but there was hesitation in his eyes. “Get what ?”
“She saw you Bradshaw.”
He blinked, “Saw me what ?”
Phoenix pushed off the railing, folding her arms. “You flirted with some random at the Hard Deck right after spending all night talking her out of her shell. And she saw you. Every second of it.”
Bradley’s mouth opened slightly. “What ? No, I wasn’t— I just talked to her for a second—”
“Bradley,” Phoenix’s voice dropped, serious now. “She was holding your damn beer to get you a new one. She wanted to come back to you.”
He stopped. Actually stopped. Like the weight of those words landed straight on his chest. “I didn’t…” He scrubbed a hand down his jaw. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” He muttered.
She softened a little but didn’t let him off the hook. “Didn’t have to.” She waited a beat, then said more gently, “She’s quiet, not stupid. You think that kind of girl opens up to just anyone ?”
He didn’t answer. Because he was thinking about the bar now. About the way your eyes had briefly flicked toward him when the blonde leaned in. About how your expression had shuttered before he could even recognize the look behind it.
Phoenix watched him closely, then nudged his shoulder. “So. Fix it. Or at least don’t make it worse.”
»» ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── ««
Two days went by.
Long enough for Bradley to feel every inch of it—in the clipped responses, in the polite nods, in the way you passed him in the corridor like he was another file to be sorted and ignored.
And it was driving him insane.
Because you weren’t the kind of person to shut people out impulsively. You were calculated, quiet, deliberate in everything you did. And this coldness wasn’t sudden. It was chosen. Thought through.
Which meant it hurt.
He spent hours turning it over in his head, reliving that night at the Hard Deck, the way you’d said ‘Be right back’ like it meant something, like you were truly planning on coming back to him and not just disappear as he thought you would. And how he’d let himself be pulled into a meaningless moment with a girl he didn’t even remember the name of. He hadn’t even realized what he was doing. Not until Phoenix spelled it out for him in painfully clear words.
So now he sat with that. The guilt, the frustration, the quiet hollow ache of knowing he’d hurt someone who barely let people close to begin with. And he wanted to fix it. But with you, big gestures didn’t work. He knew that. You didn’t want spectacle, you wanted sincerity. Something simple. Something honest.
So that morning, before anyone else was in the sim bay, he left a flash drive on your console. No note. No explanation. Just slid it onto the edge of your desk beside your water bottle and walked away without a word.
You noticed it the moment you sat down.
A plain silver drive, no label. But when you hovered over the files on your screen an hour later, curiosity finally won over.
“Songs You Should Smile To — A Rooster Original”
You stared at the name for a long moment, your finger paused above the track list. You didn’t open it right away. Didn’t smile, either. Just… paused. Then clicked. The first song was soft, warm around the edges. The kind of sound that lingered like late sunshine on concrete. It played in your headphones for exactly thirty-eight seconds before you stopped it. Then closed the window. Then unplugged the drive.
You slipped it into your pocket like it was something fragile.
Later that day, while the rest of the pilots were out on deck, Bradley circled back into the sim bay. You were alone at your station, typing quietly, brows drawn together as you reviewed a diagnostic thread. He lingered by the edge of the console—not leaning in like usual, not crowding your space—just there. Treading softly.
“Hey,” he said gently, scratching at the back of his neck. “Did you, uh… open it?”
You didn’t look at him. Just nodded. “Yeah.”
That was it.
A single syllable, flat as an ocean on a windless day. You didn’t elaborate. Didn’t offer a smile. Didn’t even glance his way.
Bradley hesitated, thumb rubbing the edge of his palm. “Cool,” he said, too quickly. Then added, “Just figured… you might need a better soundtrack. Y’know. For… stuff.”
No reply. No warmth. Nothing to hold on to. You didn’t ignore him, but you didn’t give him anything, either. And that was somehow worse. He lingered for a second longer, then gave a small nod and turned away. Chest tight, mouth pressed into a thin line.
But he didn’t see the way your fingers curled slightly as he walked off. The way your eyes flicked toward the flash drive, still safe in your pocket. Or even the way you waited until the door hissed shut behind him before reaching for your headphones again.
You started the playlist over. From the beginning this time.
»» ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─── ««
The Hard Deck was loud that night. Louder than usual. Full of laughter, clinking bottles, half-sung choruses to half-remembered songs. Bradley was already two beers in when he dropped onto a stool by the bar, half-listening to Hangman brag about something no one cared about and trying not to look toward the door every few minutes like some hopeful idiot.
You hadn’t showed up yet.
He told himself he wasn’t looking. That he didn’t care. That it was just a normal night, and he was just enjoying the bar like everyone else.
But then he heard it.
The song.
Soft drums, rising gently above the noise, his heart stuttered.
“I want to know what love is” by the Foreigner.
It wasn’t one of the Hard Deck bangers, not on Penny’s usual rotation. It was his song. The first track on the playlist he gave you. One that made him grin when it came on during drives, made him think of wind in his hair and summers that never quite ended. It wasn’t loud enough to cut through pool games or Payback’s booming laugh across the room. But loud enough for him to hear it.
He blinked, turning toward the jukebox automatically.
And there you were.
Alone, standing quietly with one hand still resting lightly against the machine, like you weren’t quite sure you were allowed to touch it. Head bowed just a little, listening. You looked soft in the amber glow of the neon bar lights.
Playing his song.
Bradley was on his feet before he could stop himself. He crossed the floor slowly, weaving through the crowd as his pulse ticking somewhere behind his ribs, watching you with a quiet disbelief. You didn’t turn until he was almost beside you. Then, finally, your eyes lifted to meet his. There was something unreadable in your expression: something brave.
He opened his mouth to say something, but you beat him to it.
“I liked this one.” You said simply, your voice barely louder than the song.
Just that.
No buildup. No grand declaration. But your voice was warmer than it had been in days, and your eyes held a softness he hadn’t seen since before that night at the bar. And Bradley melted. A breath escaped his chest like relief and hope all tangled into one. “Yeah ?” He asked, the corner of his mouth tugging up. “I thought you might.”
You gave a tiny nod, barely there. “Had it on repeat all night.”
He smiled then. Really smiled. The kind that stretched across his face like a sunrise. His heart clenched in his chest, and for once, he couldn’t find a smooth comeback. Just stood there, quiet in front of the quietest person he knew, feeling every word like it had weight.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally. “For that night. I didn’t mean to— I wasn’t trying to…”
“I know.” Your eyes didn’t leave his.
And then—finally—you smiled. Bradley exhaled slowly, like he’d been holding his breath since that night. You looked at him for a long time, longer than you ever had before. The jukebox kept playing as the music wrapped around you both like velvet.
Bradley laughed under his breath, “There it is.”
The jukebox’s glow flickered softly across your face, casting colors that shimmered like stained glass: red across your jaw, blue across your lashes. You were looking at him like he’d said something sacred. Like he hadn’t messed it all up.
Bradley’s throat tightened. His hands ached to move—to reach for you, to tuck that strand of hair behind your ear, to do something—but he didn’t. He didn’t move. Didn’t trust himself not to screw it up by rushing. So he stood there, holding his breath, watching you like he’d watch a sunrise he was afraid to blink through.
And you… you just looked at him for a moment longer. Eyes calm, unreadable, but soft. Then slowly—so slowly he almost thought he imagined it—your hand reached up. Fingers brushed lightly against the collar of his shirt, then steadied there, like an anchor. You leaned in, hesitant, but sure, eyes locked on his, not breaking even once. Bradley’s breath caught. His lips parted just slightly. He still didn’t move.
But you did.
You kissed him.
Not tentative. Not shy. Not loud, but louder than anything you’d ever said before. It was soft, but certain, the kind of kiss that said everything you never did. And Bradley melted into it. When he finally kissed you back—deeper, more grounded, hand slipping gently around your waist—it felt like exhaling after months of holding his breath. Like gravity stopped pulling and just let him float.
And in the background, Kelly Hansen sang on :
I wanna feel what love is, I know you can show me…
jsyk# make sure to read part one first , oblivious yushi x oblivious reader , texts between reader and wish members talking about yushi , a whole lotta memes , slide 4 riku is supposed to say hear not here 𐔌՞ ܸ.ˬ.ܸ՞𐦯
extras : slide one is sion texting yushi , slide two is y/n to riku ofc
ꨄ︎ warnings : very awkward, skinship?, reader is kinda mean, euijoo is just desperate, fuma cameo
ꨄ︎ word count : 1.8k
ꨄ︎ author’s note : this was actually a maki req that i received a while ago but it got lost somewhere 😓 i hope you don’t mind that i switched it to euijoo anon!! there is a juju drought on my blog… anyway yearning euijoo 🤤 all support is appreciated. hope u enjoy jokitties 🪽
since the first day he had met you, euijoo had been certain he would be able to make you his. you were just so perfect, he had to. not to be dramatic, but his life depended on it.
despite being a rather timid guy a lot of the time, when you were in the vicinity his demeanor shifted until something completely different. more shameless. more desperate.
he’d text you the same thing every morning:
- good morning!
- have a good day :)
and the same thing every evening:
- goodnight!
- sweet dreams, pretty
it was rare that euijoo would get a response, and even then they were brief:
- you 2
it frustrated him, but euijoo wasn’t one to give up that easily.
---
he would try during group hangouts after uni, moving across the couch until he was sat right next to you, thigh pressed against yours, and he would give you his signature smile.
“uh, hi, y/n. good day?” he would curse himself when you shift away, not interested in conversing with him.
“you’ll get ‘em next time,” his friend yuma would tease from his other side, nudging euijoo with an elbow.
---
euijoo constantly tried to make moves on you, and you somehow always managed to avoid him before he could realise his advances weren’t working. he was so confused.
it wasn’t that he thought you hated him, because you still willingly hung out with him (in a group setting obviously), but more so that he couldn’t figure you out. couldn’t figure out how you felt.
so he would test it, test your feelings for him. he just wanted an answer. and boy did he get one.
“y/n,” he whispered into your ear on movie night, careful as to not let the others hear. “this is fun. um… would you ever have a movie night w-with me? just me?”
you glanced at him, unimpressed. he was really asking you this now? in the middle of the movie?
“euijoo, come on. not now.” you brushed him off, turning back to the screen. euijoo turned too, cheeks burning in embarrassment.
fail number one.
---
another time, you and your friend group were on your way to the beach, walking down the sidewalk, soaking in the sun. each of your friends were split off into smaller groups, all busy and absorbed in their own conversations. you lingered at the back on your own, simply enjoying the view.
“hey,” euijoo said, slowing to match your pace. you greeted him briefly in return. “it’s such a nice day, don’t you think?”
“yeah, it’s pretty good.” you replied, giving him a small smile.
your expression quickly faltered when you felt euijoo’s hand slip into yours. his touch was delicate, careful, but that only made it all the worse for you.
“euijoo what are you doing? not now.” you whispered, pulling away from the contact. away from euijoo.
fail number 2.
not now. not now not now not now not now.
not ever, it felt more like.
euijoo was utterly hopeless.
---
every rejection left euijoo buried in questions he didn’t know the answer to.
did you hate him?
was he being too overbearing?
was he not trying hard enough?
why were you so distant?
questions, questions, questions. so many questions. no answers.
---
“hyung, i’m useless,” he whined, his long body splayed across his bed. fuma sat in the desk chair on the opposite side of the room. if anyone was to walk in, they’d think it was a makeshift therapy session.
“she never responds to my texts, like, ever. she hates me.”
fuma sighed, adjusting the glasses resting on the bridge of his nose.
“no, she doesn’t.” he replied, folding his arms. euijoo groaned. “i’d know better than anyone.”
“but… but she’s constantly rejecting me!” he let out a helpless huff. “do we mismatch? i think we do. every little thing i do somehow pushes me further from her-”
“-because you’re doing too much, euijoo.” fuma cut him off, causing him to sit up.
“huh?”
fuma cleared his throat.
“she doesn’t like all the grand, upfront gestures. that’s not y/n.”
euijoo listened quietly, fascinated at this new information. he’d been approaching you the wrong way the whole time.
fuma continued.
“she likes simple. she prefers the types of things that say more internally than externally. sudden confessions and bold touches aren’t what will work for her.”
all of the questions floating in euijoo’s head had finally snapped into place at fuma’s words, pairing with the answers he had been desperate for. everything made sense now.
“earth to euijoo~”
“oh! right, um… i’m listening.” euijoo shook out of his daze. “so, hyung, what should i do? to… to make her like me.”
he watched as fuma leant forward in the desk chair, elbows resting on his thighs.
“let me enlighten you.”
---
that day with fuma had changed euijoo for the better, and he was sure that he could make you his now.
even you had noticed the difference in how he acted. euijoo was no longer pushy, didn’t invade your personal space, and refrained from asking you out on a date a minimal ten times a day.
euijoo was more subtle now, his actions simple but still there.
he’d show up at your friend’s apartment with your favourite drinks and snacks in his backpack. you couldn’t recall telling him that these were your favourites, but he knew.
“i remembered.” he’d say, a timid smile on his lips. “you told me when we first met at freshers week.”
when your voice was lost in the sea that was your friends’ chaotic conversations, loud and energetic, euijoo would cut through, giving you a chance to speak. a subtle way of saying ‘i hear you’.
when you and your friends would be heading home from the library, late in the january evenings, euijoo would offer you his jacket, silently draping it over your shoulders. you had only shivered once.
everything euijoo did was subtle, and it seemed to be working. you were more comfortable around him, more willing to talk to him - he’d even managed to convince you to facetime him when the two of you couldn’t sleep.
it was going steady. it was going great.
---
friday’s movie night with the group had ended roughly 30 minutes ago, everyone dispersing from the apartment gradually. you and euijoo were some of the last people to leave; he was walking you to the train station.
euijoo had been fidgety all night, and you weren’t oblivious to this. a few blocks from the station, he had quietly asked you to stop, standing face to face with you.
“can we talk?” he asked, expression doing nothing to hide his nervousness. you nodded, urging him to continue.
“well, um…” a moment of awkward silence filled the space between you before he found his words. “i actually wanted to apologise for something.”
“go on.”
“listen, um… i’m really sorry for how i acted before. i was… weird. i was so pushy and annoying and it was all because i wanted you to like me. and i learnt that what i was doing was, in fact, what you hated.”
he could barely keep eye contact with you, eyes glancing around the street.
“so i went to fuma. he told me what you liked, what you didn’t like. and i changed. for you, i mean.” his voice cracked slightly, his emotions bubbling right below the surface. “i put so much effort into doing what would win you over. you should see how many texts i sent fuma. it’s embarrassing.”
he chuckled self-deprecatingly. you noticed how his bottom lip trembled.
“i just… i really want you to like me. because-” euijoo stuttered again, his hand covering his face for a moment. he was crying. “b-because i love you.”
you were shocked, to say the least. you knew that euijoo liked you, but to hear him actually admit his feelings to you was a whole different story. he was more genuine this time. he was laying his feelings out in front of you, raw and defenceless, hoping you’ll accept them.
“my feelings all depend on you. n-no… i depend on you.”
tears ran down euijoo’s cheeks, and his hands trembled at his sides. he didn’t want to wait anymore. all he wanted was you.
“i’m trying so hard, y/n.” he whispered, finally making eye contact with you. “i just… i just want to know if my efforts are paying off.”
you looked up at him, his tear-stained, pink cheeks, his big brown eyes, his hair that fell over them.
“please, y/n.” he begged, voice broken from crying.
you were quiet for a moment, letting the moment process in your mind before you said anything. here euijoo was - the shy try-hard that would rush to sit next to you in the car, the guy who’d be caught staring at you during movie nights, the guy who would constantly try to be the center of your attention - baring his heart out to you on a friday night. crying and begging. about a month ago, you would’ve told him to stop, probably even walked away. but now, you found him sweet, endearing.
“i like you too, euijoo.” your words cut through the silence.
“wait, w-what?”
“i said i like you too.”
euijoo wrapped his arms around you almost instantly, his wet cheek pressed against your shoulder. his arms were squeezing you so hard you could barely breath.
“thank you so much,” euijoo said, and by the sound of his voice you could tell he was crying again. “thank you for giving me a chance.”
“…you’re welcome.”
your hands rested firmly on his lower back, grounding him. letting him know that you were here now, and you weren’t going anywhere.
“i’m sorry i was so closed off before. i just didn’t know how to react to everything.”
“don’t apologise, pretty.” euijoo shook his head instantly. he didn’t like the idea of you apologising for how you were as a person. because in his eyes, you were perfect. “but… this means you’ll go on a date with me, r-right?”
he lifted his head, looking at you with such a desperate look in his eyes you couldn’t deny him any longer.
“of course.”
success number one.
---
euijoo had just got into bed when his phone buzzed. his face lit up when he read your messages.
ʚɞ pairing: idol boyfriend!jo x non-idol girlfriend!reader
content: established relationship // idol!au // fluff // imagines
word count: 1k
synopsis . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. jo, your idol boyfriend, comes home late after an extended (unexpected) practice, finding you quietly worried.
~~~~
it was 12 am.
certainly too late for you to be staying up.
your corporate office today was in complete chaos, and your mind was filled with great stress— not a so good day of work.
all you wanted after your shift was your loving boyfriend, jo.
but where was he?
he had texted you previously and throughout the day that he’d be home by 11 pm, just like usual… but today, he hasn’t shown up.
a small hint of worry spiraled in your brain, sending him multiple text messages.
y/n: hey baby???? where are u????
y/n: it’s getting a little late
y/n: please be safe
y/n: could u text me when u see this???
of what you sent were gentle words to let him know your concern— but honestly, you were just trying to reassure and convince yourself through those texts that everything was fine.
jo had never. and you mean, ever not texted you about his every move and every concern.
it wasn’t that you forced him to, but it was because he himself wanted to— so no replies or updates from the time being made you a little nervous, but you pushed it off and waited patiently in your bed.
12:30 am.
you were exhausted.
your eyes started to slowly flutter.
you tried to stay up to wait for him.
you drank coffee, scrolled on your phone, and turned on the big overhead light in the living room— but nothing helped.
1 am.
the doors to the apartment opened slowly and the sound of keys dangling filled the room.
jo shuffled his shoes off near the door as he closed the door quietly.
he laid his bag and things onto the kitchen table before he made his way over to the very couch you had drifted to sleep on.
he crouched down beside you and put his hand on top of your head cautiously.
he rubbed it slightly, before placing a soft kiss on top of your forehead.
you shifted, opening your eyes to see jo smiling.
“why didn’t you text me?..” you said in obvious annoyance, half asleep.
“m’ sorry my love..” he lowered his head down again, kissing your nose. “they pushed it last minute, we were occupied and i couldn’t text you.”
he pulled out his phone, showing you his call log and text messages. “i sent you some texts and calls when it ended, but you fell asleep then.”
“yeah, you were too late..” you wrapped your arms around his neck.
he then picked you up swiftly into his arms in one movement, placing his arm under your legs and cradling your back.
walking you towards the bedroom, he placed you down on your side of the bed, tucking you into the covers.
“were you worried?” he said, smoothing out the wrinkles in the blanket.
“what kind of question is that?” you furrowed your eyebrows. “of course i was..”
“i’m sorry, if it happens again— i’ll text you no matter what.”
“no, jo.. you don’t need to do that for me. i understand how busy you are.”
he took his finger and strayed a little hair from your face, putting it behind your ear.
“why not? you’re my girl.”
you blushed and squinted your eyes.
“stop flirting and go shower so we can sleep together.”
“yes ma’am.” he leaned down to press a kiss to your lips— soft and slow before pulling away.
“don’t fall asleep without me,” he said, brushing his thumb lightly over your cheek.
“hurry up then,” you mumbled, sinking deeper into the pillows.
he disappeared into the bathroom, the faint sound of the shower starting filling the quiet apartment. the tension you didn’t even realize you were holding onto slowly eased out of your body.
by the time he came back out, hair slightly damp and dressed in loose sweats, you were half-asleep again— eyes barely open, but still waiting.
he noticed immediately.
a small smile tugged at his lips as he walked over, turning off the lamp on the nightstand before slipping into bed beside you.
the mattress dipped, and almost instinctively, you shifted closer.
his arm automatically wrapped around you, pulling you into his chest, tucking your head right under his chin out of habit. his hand rested behind you, gently tracing along your back.
“you waited,” he whispered.
“i said i would,” you replied softly, voice drowsy.
he pressed a kiss to the top of your head, lingering there for a second.
“thank you..”
you hummed, fingers lightly gripping his shirt.
“why are you thanking me..?” you mumbled.
there was no hesitation in his voice, "because, you make this easier."
his hand moved up to cradle the back of your head, holding you a little closer, like he was making up for the lost time without needing to say anything.
“my schedule’s a mess half the time,” he continued, voice low. “i’m always running late, getting called in, disappearing for hours— sometimes days.”
his hand pressed a little more firmly against your back.
“and you’re still here. you rarely get mad at me for anything. you just.. wait. and trust me.”
your grip on his shirt tightened just a little.
he smiled softly, even though you couldn’t see it. “not everyone could do that.”
his thumb brushed slowly over your arm now, a quiet, comforting rhythm. “so yeah,” he murmured, pressing another soft kiss into your hair, “i’m thankful.”
you stayed quiet for a moment, letting his words settle- then you shifted closer, if that was even possible, your face pressing deeper into his chest.
“you’re worth waiting for,” you whispered.
his arms tightened around you, pulling you in a little closer.
“..i'm sorry for worrying you earlier.”
you let out a quiet, sleepy laugh. “it's okay, i know you were busy.”
he exhaled, shaking his head slightly against you. “i don’t like you sitting there thinking something’s wrong.”
you smiled against him, eyes finally closing for real this time. "jo, i think you care too much."
"i'll keep caring forever."
his arms wrapped around you— he didn’t let his grip loosen.
~~~~
.𖥔 ݁ ˖𓂃.☘︎ ݁˖ authors note: canonically, i just know jo would be the most loving bf that would literally let you do anything and everything,, i NEED thatt
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ʚɞ pairing: boyfriend!euijoo x girlfriend!reader
content: fluff // imagines // established relationship
word count: 579
synopsis . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁. your boyfriend, euijoo, insists you to not get up from the bed yet to get ready for the day— all because he wants you to be by his side, all to himself.
buzz. buzz. buzz.
you lazily reached behind your head without moving your body to turn off the alarm with just your hand—not because you were lazy—but because ej’s arms were wrapped way too comfortably around your body.
you were on a family vacation with your long-term boyfriend’s family for the first time. it’s now the morning after you all arrived the night before— the exact time on your phone read 7AM.
the sun peeked through the semi-sheer curtains, allowing the morning light to flood into the hotel room you and ej were staying in.
you groaned roughly, attempting to stretch your arms above your head, while the rest of your torso was held in a firm grip by ej himself.
you looked down at the obvious obstacle that was not allowing you to move freely. “ej, i need to get ready.” you spoke softly, moving your head back to get a better look at him.
he scrunched his face before making any noise.
“mm..”
“i can’t get up,” you patted his chest.
he let out a big groan and shoved his face into the crook of your neck. “what’s the time..”
“it’s 7.”
he let out a big inhale and exhale, as if he was breathing you in. “we don’t leave till 9..”
“i have to do my makeup and my hair, don’t you know this by now?” you said slightly agitated.
“baby, it’s too early.. just.. just stay in bed for a bit.” he said as he was literally half asleep.
you tried to squeeze yourself out of his grasp, but he just held on tighter. “euijoo, please—“
he placed a kiss onto your neck. “you smell good. you’re so comfortable right now, y/n.”
you groaned, “i love you too, but i really need to get up.”
“miss you so much though..” he dragged out the sound of the last word in his sentence, tracing small circles onto your back with his thumbs.
he nuzzled himself further into your neck, letting out small noises—the kind of noises you’d make when you’re trying to get yourself in a comfortable position.
you let out a long sigh, trying your best to ignore the way his voice was still thick with sleep and how his arms felt impossibly warm around you.
“euijoo,” you whispered, though there was far less protest in your tone now. you glanced over at the time on your phone.
if you skipped breakfast, threw on some clothes, and left your hair alone.. maybe you could spare a little more time.
euijoo tightened his arms around you the moment you stopped resisting, letting out a content little sigh as he tucked you closer to his chest.
“there we go,” he murmured, his lips brushing your skin. “knew you’d stay.”
you rolled your eyes, though your hand had already found its way into his hair.
a sleepy smile spread across his face, and he gave your waist a gentle squeeze, clearly pleased with himself.
“i guess i'll skip doing my hair.. that gives us 30 minutes..”
you could feel his small smile form against your skin. “thank you, my love.. you look cute with your natural hair anyways too.” he lowered his head, pressing an absentminded kiss on your shoulder.
you grinned and let out a tiny chuckle. “don’t tell me next that my natural face looks better too.”
he hummed, “it's true.. but i won’t. these 30 minutes will be enough for me.”
summary: jungwon, your cousin, had to borrow your laptop as his laptop broke down in the middle of the semester. when he opened the email (not his, yours) he found a draft titled ‘email I can’t send’. unbeknownst to you, your menacing cousin decided to send the email after reading it. the rest…is history.
pairing: byun euijoo x reader
featuring: jeonghan from seventeen, jungwon from enhypen and chaewon from lesserafim, mentions of nicholas from &team.
genres & tropes: best friends to lovers, fluff, angst (a fight scene with jungwon if that matters), mentions of reader having a tough front yet a softie, happy ending! inspired from to all the boys I've loved before <3
word count: 5,583 (including summary)
author's thoughts: hi, this is my debut fic as a lune writer and also a writer on tumblr! this might feel rushed, so I apologize in advance! please drops comments or asks to help me improve my writing :) enjoy!
i’m writing this to regulate my emotions. i’ve been having emotional outbursts and might lose my grip of myself if I don't write this. as more time passes, I find myself falling for you more. I tried my best not to, but the harder I try, the harder I fall. You’re so easy to be loved – is that why everyone is head over heels for you?
and somehow, loving you makes me become gentler. is it because you’re such a gentle person, that I begin to mirror you? they said people tend to mirror each other when they’re in love. is that why?
loving you… extinguishes the fire in me. the rage to burn the whole world down. maybe I no longer want to burn the whole world down because there’s you in it. you, who is so kind, so gentle, so careful with your words. you, who cares deeply. I admire you greatly, euijoo. I don’t think I’ve ever loved in the way you love, and probably never will.
maybe it’s true that loving people will makes you want to be the best version of yourself. maybe that’s why I’m trying my best to be gentle. maybe because I want to be the best person for you. maybe, because you showed me the way to be gentle. maybe, because I learnt from you on how to be gentle.
rambling, rambling, rambling. can’t quite sort my thoughts out probably. luckily this is an email I can’t send. and won’t send. so it’ll just contain my raw thoughts. maybe when I want to send… maybe when I want to tell you about my feelings later, I will worded it prettily. just like how pretty you wrap your words. Godddd i’m so down bad for you and your word choices. is it because my love language is word of affirmations? or maybe because it’s so hot of you for being emotionally intelligent?
how does it feel to be God’s favourite? pretty, kind, tall, handsome, intelligent, clever, quick witted…. blah blah blah, proper name, place name, backstory stuff…. you’re insane and you’re driving me insane…
ending this email here because I’m dozing off. Byebye.
You felt iffy.
Ever since you opened your eyes this morning, you felt something unsettling in your chest – it’s not heavy, or warm, so you can’t tell if there’s impending doom, or if there’s something good about to happen, because it’s just… there. You had thought that you left something on before you went to sleep, so you ran to the kitchen to check if any of the gas was turned on, or the microwave, or the washing machine – none were.
You didn’t go out yesterday even though it’s Sunday, so you’re pretty sure that it’s not something related to leaving things at the cafe, or in your friend’s car. But still, you double checked – your wallet, phone, accessories – everything is at its place, so you can’t quite grasp why you’re feeling like this.
And no, it’s not the Monday blues. Because if it is, you would’ve known. Waking up with Monday blues means you feel like your heart is being torn apart as you have to leave your warm bed and go to work which consists of white lights, monitors that you can’t change its brightness, and dealing with that one particular colleague that sucks as hell.
“Are you okay?”
Jeonghan, your cousin, asks while pouring coffee into his mug. You’ve lived with your cousin ever since you attended university, because Jeonghan happens to rent in a strategic place which is close to your university, and now, close to your work.
“Maybe,”
You said before you chew on the toasted bread. You still have plenty of time before you have to go to work, so you’re taking your time eating while trying to figure out the cause of the iffyness. You even checked on your shower gel earlier, just in case if the iffyness is due to Jungwon stealing your shower gel and refilling it with water (he did it once), but nope, everything that belongs to you is just fine.
“You look troubled,”
Jeonghan puts down his mug on the table and fills the seat in front of you. You shifted your gaze from staring at the table to your now concerned cousin, before you heaved out a deep sigh.
“There’s something wrong, but I can’t quite figure it out. My heart feels weird,”
“Have you checked on Jungwon? He’s using your laptop, right?”
You nod – it almost slipped your mind that you had lent your laptop to Jungwon as the younger’s laptop broke down out of nowhere and is now being repaired. You believed that Jungwon takes good care of your laptop, since he’s pretty good at taking care of his things too. His laptop breaking down is inevitable as he had been using it since middle school, and now he’s already in his second year in university.
“I’m thinking to buy him a new one,”
You said. Having a laptop is essential to go through university life, plus, once it breaks down, it just keep going to have some sort of trouble – you had went through that phase, and it was stressful, so you didn’t want Jungwon to go through the same thing too, considering that the younger already studying in a stressful course (he’s studying in pharmacy).
“I’m planning the same thing too. Let’s go buy one this weekend,”
“Let’s,”
“Good morning,”
Both of you and Jeonghan turns to Jungwon who just came down with his bag, ready to go to his morning class.
“Good morning, come eat. I already made hot chocolate for you,”
Jeonghan’s words make the younger quickly waddle over to the dining table in excitement. He puts down his bag on the chair next to you before he goes to wash off his hands, getting ready to eat the toasted bread. You stare at the bag, well, it’s no harm for you to check on it, right? Just in case.
“Won, do you mind me checking my laptop?”
“Huh, why would you ask? It’s yours, just take it. It’s in the bag,”
“Just… because,”
You unzipped his backpack and immediately saw your laptop, looking good with no visible damages. After taking it out, you turn it on, unlock it (Jungwon didn’t change the password), and a familiar wallpaper appears on the display (Jungwon didn’t change it either). You then begin checking the laptop health – CPU, memory, task manager, apps, etc. and it looks great. You let out a defeated sigh, if your laptop is fine, then what would be the cause of this iffyness?
“Maybe something will happen at your office, y/nnie,”
You press your lips into a thin line while turning off the laptop and putting it back in Jungwon’s backpack. Honestly, you are hoping that that would not be the cause of your iffyness, because you’re already on the verge to resign and if something happens, you might submit the resignation notice immediately.
“What’s wrong?”
Jungwon asks before he takes a bite of the toasted bread, and Jeonghan explains what you had been feeling – the younger nods, understanding your situation.
“If something happens, call me immediately, okay?”
Jeonghan pats your hand in an attempt to assure you, and you just nod. Jeonghan and Jungwon leave right after Jungwon finishes his breakfast – usually, it would be you who drops Jungwon off at his university, but Jeonghan decided to be the one who takes him there today, hoping that it will ease your iffyness.
It doesn’t, but you’re thankful for the thoughtful actions. You double checked everything again before you left for work, trying to find and get rid of the reason for your iffyness. Everything had been turned off and unplugged – you even recorded a video to confirm, but the iffyness stayed.
Maybe it’s really the office.
You exhaled a deep sigh while tightening your grip on the steering, trying to mentally prepare yourself for any kind of disasters that you will come across today. Maybe you’ll get scolded. Maybe you’ll get humiliated. Maybe you’ll get fired. Whatever, you think, you never planned to work that long in this company anyway.
It’s not the office.
None of the countless possible scenarios that you had in your mind occurred, instead, opposite things happened. When a client personally called you, through your work phone, you prepared yourself to get cursed by the said client – but you got praised instead. When you were called into your boss’s office, you believed that you would be fired, demoted, scolded, possibly humiliated for any mistakes that you have made. But it turns out, your boss wanted to congratulate you on your impeccable performance and informed you that your salary will be raised, and it will be effective immediately.
“Are you okay? You seems antsy ever since this morning,”
You realized that you had been staring at nothing when Chaewon, your closest colleague, threw the question. You already got off work about half an hour ago, and grabbed coffee with your colleagues as they had invited you to join them – just a quick chit chat after work, which is a normal occurrence.
“I’m feeling iffy,”
“Since this morning?”
“Yeah. I thought I would get fired etc, but nope… everything is going well. I’ve checked everything. Every file, every text, every proposal, slides, emails, and I can’t find any reason for this feeling. I’ve checked things at home too, and everything is fine. I’m feeling defeated, really,”
You lost count over how many deep sighs that had escaped your lips as you exhaled another one, making Chaewon pats your back, hoping that it will make you feel a bit better, while her brain racks to find ways to help you.
“What about your email? Did you check your personal email?”
Right. Your personal email. It didn’t cross your mind as you were fixated on believing that your work would be the cause of your iffyness. You pries out your phone from your pocket and begins checking on your three personal emails – one is for your university purposes, one for bills and payments and another one is where you link every social media that you use.
“There’s noth…”
Your words die in your throat immediately and your eyes grow wide – the number 1 in your draft is gone. That one email, that you kept in your draft, is gone.
“Y/N?”
You can feel your palms begin to sweat, and your fingers are trembling – you tapped thrice on the icon to check whether you’re seeing the correct email. It is the one that you had kept your draft, but why is there no draft? Your breath begins to shorten as you panic – you keep refreshing on the draft section, but still, nothing is there. You then pressed on the sent section.
Fuck.
The email has been sent.
subject: emails I can’t send
You checked on the time of the email being sent – 4.47 p.m. It can’t be you who sent it, because you were in your boss’s office at the time.
What the fuck.
“Hey, are you okay? You’re trembling,”
You were about to reply to Chaewon when your phone buzzed, and a familiar contact name appeared on your screen.
Euijoo.
Your body freezes up immediately, causing the phone to slip through your hand. Your heart is beating against your chest as if it’s going to jump out of your ribcage, while the tinnitus rings in your ears like you had just broken your eardrums.
“Y/N, hey. Breathe,”
Chaewon managed to catch your phone before it hit the ground, and held onto it first as you looked like you just saw a ghost – all the colours drained from your face, your pupil is shaking and your hands are trembling.
Chaewon guides you to get your breathing rhythm back and tries her best to ground you, which takes about 20 minutes before you finally feel your heart beat slowed down and the tinnitus goes away.
“I have to go home,”
You said almost immediately after you felt slightly okay. The best place to crash out over these things are at home, in your room, with every light turned off.
“Okay. I’ll drive you there,”
“No, I, I can drive by myself. Can you turn off my phone for me? I’ll keep my work phone on just in case anything happens,”
“Okay,”
Chaewon pressed the power button for you, but you have to verify your face before it can shut down. You licked your now dried up lips while closing your eyes tightly, praying that you won’t see any text messages from Euijoo. Luckily, you didn’t, and once your phone’s screen turns black, you tuck your phone into your pocket.
“I’m going home,”
“Be careful. Call me if anything,”
“Okay,”
You walks to your car without turning back to give Chaewon her usual goodbye wave, and once you gets into your car, you drives straight to home. The drive was silent, but your mind was extremely loud as you were trying to find out how the draft got sent – did you accidentally scheduled it to send? The email wasn’t supposed to be sent, it was supposed to stay in your draft.
The email, full of your confession towards Byun Euijoo, your long time best friend, can’t be sent, because it will ruin the friendship between you two.
How did it get sent?
You exhaled a few deep sighs in an attempt to regulate your breathing. Your hands still tremble by the time you reached home, but it wasn’t as severe as the time when you found out the draft was already sent.
“Y/nnie? Are you okay? Did something happen at work?”
Jeonghan approaches you with eyes full of concern, and firmly holds onto your shoulder. He scans your features, hoping to find any kind of answer to why you’re looking so distraught.
“Um, no, no–”
As you were about to say more, Jungwon, who’s eating a popsicle, comes into your view. Something clicked in your head immediately, and your eyes grew as big as saucers.
Right. He’s using your laptop.
Which has access to your emails.
“Yang Jungwon, did you use my email?”
“Why would I use your email?”
“Yes, or no.”
Your voice turns into a cold, firm one, and Jeonghan takes it as a cue to slowly step out from the situation that is about to unfold. Jungwon on other hand, tries to act nonchalant, but you can see through him – he’s your cousin afterall, and you’ve grown up together, so you definitely would be able to read him like a book.
“Yang Jungwon!”
You yelled as the younger didn’t respond immediately to your question, which means he definitely did it.
“Fine! I used it, I sent your draft,”
“Why would you do that!”
You shouted while clenching your fist as you marched to Jungwon, and the younger unconsciously took a few steps back.
“I’m, I’m trying to help?”
“What the fuck is wrong with you,”
You throw a punch on Jungwon’s shoulder, making Jungwon wince as it hurts as hell. You had never shown this kind of strength – maybe it’s true that you do get different kinds of strength when you’re angry.
“You love Euijoo and Euijoo loves you back! I’m trying to help!”
“By sending my drafted email?!”
“I mean, I can’t exactly push Euijoo to confess,”
“You don’t even know if he’s in love with me! Fucking hell, you might have just ruined my friendship with him!”
“I know he loves you,”
“Did he tell you that?”
“No…”
You licked your lower lips that dried up, and you can feel your blood reaching a new boiling point from the amount of rage that you’re having right now – you never knew that you can be this angry, especially to your younger cousin that you doted on a lot.
“You assumed. You assumed he loves me. What if he didn’t? You know he’s a good guy. Every gesture of his probably means nothing,”
Your voice trembles as your overwhelming anger begins to form a familiar lump on your throat, and your vision begins to blur.
“You– Yang Jungwon, why would you do this to me,”
You choked up on your tears while finishing your words, before you let your tears fall freely onto your cheeks. The consequences of your email begins to haunt you – you’ve been best friends since you were 10, and that’s the biggest reason why you didn’t have any courage to confess. You’re afraid to risk your friendship, you’re scared if it would drift Euijoo away from you. You prefer to keep your feelings at bay if it means you can be with him.
Growing out of a friendship with someone who understands you deeply, and having been there for more than half of your life hurts as hell – you know it all too well, because just earlier this year, you had drifted away with your high school best friend due to circumstances.
“I’m, I’m sorry,”
Jungwon didn’t think it was a big deal at first. He discovered the draft on accident – he meant to open his email draft, but he didn’t change the user in the email, so he found it and was giddy the whole time he read through the email. He knows that you had feelings for Euijoo, hell, almost everyone in their circles know. He believes that Euijoo feels the same too, but your words make him rethink his belief.
“I’m sorry, I’ll, I’ll clear this up with Euijoo, I’m sorry,”
Jungwon apologizes as you crouched down, sobbing out loud – he kneeled down, and reached out his hands to wipe your tears away, but you just slapped his hand. You grit your teeth and stare at the younger with eyes full of tears, before you stomped to your room and slammed the door loudly. Jungwon bites his lower lips as the guilt takes over him, and he turns his head to Jeonghan, who then shakes his head, finding the younger’s actions absurd.
“You should call Euijoo and clear everything up, Won.”
“I will,”
You slowly open your eyes as the ringtone of your work phone pierces through your ears. You reach out your hand to find it, and immediately slide your finger on the screen to answer the call.
“Hello?”
You’re surprised over how hoarse your voice sounds – you cried hard yesterday, out of surprise, disappointed and scared, and you didn’t even realize when you had fallen asleep.
“Hey, Y/N. Are you okay? Mr. Kim was searching for you earlier and found you’re not in your cubicle,”
Chaewon’s words make you turn to look at the clock – it’s 10 a.m. You let out a defeated sigh as your work starts at 8.30 in the morning, and you had just slept through your designated waking up time as you turned off your phone yesterday.
“I don’t know,”
You truthfully said. You feel your body is extremely weak right now, maybe it’s because you just woke up. Maybe it’s because you sobbed your heart out yesterday.
“I’ll let Mr. Kim know that you’re off work today. You should go to the doctor if you’re unwell, okay? If you need me, just call, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Chaem,”
“Mhm. Bye,”
“Bye,”
You heaved out a deep sigh as you stared at the blank ceiling, while trying your best to sort your thoughts out. After staring for a while, and feeling a wave of courage slowly washing over you, you get up from your bed. You charge both of your phones first, then take a long shower, before wearing your favourite hoodie to give you more comfort and courage. When you open your door, you’re greeted with a tray filled with your favourite takeout food container. You crouched down and found a note, taped on one of the containers.
“I’m sorry. Even though this doesn’t compensate for what I did, please take it. Please eat it :((( – Y.JW”
You slightly chuckled after finishing reading the note, and took the tray into your room. You then open the container, and are greeted with your favourite foods and drinks, which make your lips curled into a soft smile.
You begin to eat while watching Studio Ghibli movies to further give you courage and comfort. It helps a lot, because by the time you finish watching Spirited Away, you decide to turn on your phone.
12 messages and 7 missed calls from Euijoo.
[5.53 p.m]
| Euijoo: Y/N
| Euijoo: Where are you?
| Euijoo: Can you please call me back?
| Euijoo: We don’t have to talk about the email
| Euijoo: I’m just worried
| Euijoo: Send me your location
| Euijoo: Please, y/n
[ 7.17 pm]
| Euijoo: Jungwon called
| Euijoo: Text me back when you’re okay
| Euijoo: We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to
| Euijoo: And, I’m still your best friend
| Euijoo: Take care, Y/N.
You press your lips into a thin line, before biting your lower lips as you rack your mind for a reply that will work for both of you. After staring at the texts for 15 minutes, you finally typed out a reply and pressed send after thinking thrice, or maybe more (the whole process takes about an hour).
| You: Can we meet at the park after you finish with work?
You squealed after pressing send and quickly put your phone away. Seconds later, the same phone buzzed, causing you to yelp and flinch in surprise.
| Euijoo: Sure. I’ll see you there
The reply that comes as fast as lightning makes you wonder if Euijoo is in the same situation as you. He must have been worried sick, because it's rare for you to turn off your phone, and also not answer his calls.
Or maybe…
You quickly shake off your head, trying to get rid of any bad thoughts that are about to form in your mind. You decided to shut everything out by continuing binge watching Studio Ghibli movies – from Howl’s Moving Castle, to My Neighbour is Totoro (you left out Grave of Fireflies, because it will only make you cry a lot and become more anxious).
You try your best to not feel nervous and anxious, but as time flies, you can feel your mind becoming messy. In order to not add to the messiness, you choose to just meet Euijoo in the hoodie you’re wearing right now. If you think about what to wear, it’s going to overwhelm your nervous system, plus, this hoodie is somewhat making you feel comforted and courageous. So if, if things go south, you wouldn’t be falling apart like the apple crumble that you always have during autumn.
You take the bus to the park for the same reason as you wear the hoodie – trying to not overwhelm your nervous system (and also because you’re preparing to get rejected, because if you do, you can’t cry and drive. And also drunk and drive. So it would be better if you take the bus and pretend like you’re filming a sad music video). By the time you get off at the bus stop, your phone buzzes – a photo from Euijoo, showing where he’s currently waiting for you.
| Euijoo: Be careful on your way here
| You: Okay
You begin abusing your lower lips due to your anxiousness while walking deeper into the park, heading to the place that Euijoo had shown through the photo. As you approach the meeting point, you begin huffing and puffing, trying your best to regulate your nervous system.
When you see Euijoo’s back side, your legs feel like it’s being glued to the ground. Whatever idea you had in your mind begins to blur, and the voices in your mind are persuading you to run away. Saying that this is a bad idea. That you should’ve just done nothing.
Then, Euijoo turns. He’s sighing away, eyes wandering as he’s trying to find you. Your heart softens at the sight, and somehow it gives you a boost of courage – so you bite your lower lips hard, while making your move to Euijoo.
Because if you didn’t talk about the email right now, it’s going to hurt both of you.
A proper closure would be the best, for both of you. In case you need to move on.
“Euijoo,”
“Y/N,”
Euijoo looks so relieved upon seeing you, and it makes your heart go softer, while warmth blooms in your chest – honestly, how can you not fall for him when he cares deeply like this? Like you’re the most important person in the world?
“Hi. Um, about the email,”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“I do,”
“Okay. Go ahead,”
You bite your lower lips again and fiddles with the hem of your hoodie as you try to string your words together, before you exhale a really, really deep sigh. You fix your eyes on your shoes, because only God knows the effect of Euijoo’s eyes if you look at him while talking.
“I love you. The confession in the email, everything is true. The email wasn’t supposed to be sent, hence why the subject is like that, but Jungwon had sent it. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same, I’m just, well, things happened like this and I figured out it would be best for me to just, confess. I mean, it feels nice knowing that someone loves you, right? Even when it doesn’t work out, so, and, um, yeah, that’s it,”
You manage to stop yourself from rambling further – unbeknownst to you, Euijoo was smiling fondly at you while listening to your words, finding you cute.
“Then, it must be nice knowing that someone loves you too, right?”
You instantly looked up – your eyes growing as big as saucers, surprised by Euijoo’s words. Euijoo softly giggles upon seeing your reaction, that is like a deer caught in headlights – the corner of his lips twitched a few times as he looks into your eyes.
“Wha– what,”
“I love you. I love you too. I called you yesterday because I’m worried that you were drunk or something, hence the email. I wasn’t trying to get you to talk about the email, I was trying to make sure you’re safe,”
You can immediately feel your face begin to burn while your body freezes upon hearing Euijoo’s words.
“I called both Jeonghan and Jungwon too, but they didn’t answer. And then Jungwon called me back. He immediately said that he’s the one who sent the email, and clarified that you wrote it, but it wasn’t supposed to be sent. He must have panicked, because he was rambling. He even said that he hopes that I won’t feel awkward with you, etc. because it will kill him inside,”
You can imagine Jungwon pacing around in his room while talking to Euijoo – a habit that he usually does when he is panicking. You feel a bit guilty for making the younger one feel that way, but he has to face the consequences of his actions in order for him to learn, grow and become a better person.
“When I told him I love you, he stopped talking and began cheering instead. He wanted to force you to talk to me on the phone, but he found you asleep, so, here we are,”
You feel somewhat embarrassed because you sobbed your heart out for nothing, panicking for nothing… and nervous for nothing. But hey, as a human, you should prepare for worse, right?
And it embarrasses you further that Jungwon’s words are true – Euijoo loves you. And you loves Euijoo.
“Do you feel okay now?”
You bite your lower lips while slowly nodding as your eyes fall onto the grass – you’re unable to fix your eyes on Euijoo because of the embarrassment, and also because you suddenly feel shy under his gaze.
“Then, may I have the honour to be your boyfriend?”
Your eyes quickly shift back to Euijoo, and you find Euijoo smiling widely with his cheeks dusted in pink. You can feel your body physically melt, like an ice cream being put under the hot, scorching sun upon hearing his question and seeing his face.
“Yes,”
Your response makes Euijoo press his lips into a thin line – he slowly turns his head away, in an attempt to not lose his cool. You giggled as you can see his cheeks going up higher, and Euijoo too, giggles before he turns his head back to you.
“Can we go on a dinner date then?”
“But, I’m wearing a hoodie…”
“What’s wrong with it? You look pretty, my girlfriend,”
“Shut up,”
Giggles fill up the air, and Euijoo tugs your hoodie’s sleeves to guide you to the nearby restaurant, grabbing a dinner together. It’s nothing grand – Euijoo in his work clothes, and you in your hoodie, but it was great. Both of you keep giggling, out of happiness and relieved that you no longer keep anything hidden from each other anymore. A part of you is grateful that Jungwon sent the email, but you won’t say it out loud, at least, for now.
“Check your email later,”
You freeze instantly and your eyes widen upon hearing Euijoo’s words – you’re now standing in front of your house’s door, with Euijoo, as he decided to drive you home earlier. Euijoo laughed over your reaction as you looked very surprised and possibly traumatized over the word ‘email’.
“Email?”
You ask for confirmation, and Euijoo nods.
“Yes, email, my girlfriend,”
“Oh, okay,”
Euijoo couldn’t help but laugh again over your reaction, before he lightly pats your head.
“Bye, y/nnie. Goodnight,”
“Bye, Euijoo. Goodnight, have a safe drive home,”
“I love you,”
Your eyes widened again as you’re taken aback over the confession, before you began to feel shy again, and your lips curled into a soft smile.
I’m writing this email as a reply to your confession. I love you too. I have loved you since we were 16. If you said loving me is easy, then for me, loving you is natural. It doesn’t feel forced, nor feel obligated. It feels like a part of me, like breathing for air – we do it naturally, don’t we? And when we try to stop breathing, it suffocates us. Or when we try to do it manually, we find it weird. To be breathing in a rhythm our body isn’t accustomed to. To be doing it unnaturally. When I tried to stop loving you, a part of me almost died. Nicholas hit my head with the dictionary when I told him about this, and called me stupid, idiot, nincompoop… lol.
Why did I try, you may ask. Because I was overthinking. You probably would’ve said, “stop thinking, byun euijoo,” but I can’t stop overthinking it because it’s you. It’s you, that I’ve fallen in love with. A beautiful, wonderful person who excels in everything they did, and stood tall despite storms that they’ve been in.
You’re not becoming gentle because you’re in love with me, y/n. You’ve always been gentle, but in your own way…like a tofu that had been fried…? God, Nicholas would throw me out of the window if he reads this email because I said you’re like a tofu that had been fried but it’s true! You’re tough, yet soft inside. People can’t misuse your gentleness and kindness, and that’s the part of you that I admire the most. And despite all the hardships you went through, you still choose to be kind, even though you could’ve become a villain.
If you said loving me feels like extinguishing fire in you, then loving you feels like having a fire in me. It drives me to become courageous, like you. It drives me to go far, soar higher, and be ambitious. And honestly, loving you makes me become studious. Back when we were in school, I hated studying, but because of how much you liked it, I began to study a lot too. Just so we can study together.
I’m not satisfied while writing my part of confession, but honestly, isn’t the rawness of the confession makes it feel human? I’m trying to word it as pretty as I can, but I don’t think any words can express how I feel, to be in love with you – none of it can describe how wonderful and beautiful it is to experience falling in love with a person like you.
How does it feel to be pretty, courageous, clever, kind and gentle, beautiful, wise and witty? If I’m God’s favourite, then you must have been the same too. And maybe you’re God’s and Angel’s favourite, given that the angels gave you plenty of kisses on your pretty face.
Ending this email with confessing my feelings once again: I love you.
This email won’t be the last one by the way ;)
Sincerely, your boyfriend,
And always yours,
Byun Euijoo.
additional notes: thank you for reading till the end <3
summary: you have a crush on Jo. and your friends... decided to do something about it (frame Jo into becoming your boyfriend).
pairing: asakura jo x reader
featuring: yuma from &team, taesan from boynextdoor, jungwon from enhypen, minju, moka and yunah from illit.
genres & tropes: friends to lovers, fluff, a sprinkle of angst (really... really slight misunderstanding).
word count: 1,819 (excluding summary)
author's thoughts: it's jyuugoya season! the reason why Jo's one take sooo long is because I made three version of this story and I decided on the third version because it captures the menacing attitude (lovingly) of the cats (yuma, taesan and jungwon). have fun reading <3
oh and it is highly recommended to listen to jyuugoya while reading!
“If Jo wins this game, Y/N will be his girlfriend!”
Jungwon loudly and cheerfully said, making your eyes grow wide while your jaw drops to the floor, surprised over his words that come out of the blue.
“Jo, you have to win this game! Y/N is going to be yours if you do!”
Taesan added, supporting Jungwon’s words – you, on the other hand, are frozen, finding the whole situation absurd.
“Me?”
That’s the only response you were able to come up with, and Taesan looks at you with a face full of disbelief, as if you just said something out of pocket.
“Yeah? Is there anyone else named Y/N here? Or are you too happy with the offer?”
Taesan ended his remarks with a playful smirk and chuckle – it caused your head to spin, so you pressed your fingers on the temple of your head, massaging it lightly in an attempt to make the dizziness go away.
Minju, Yunah and Moka – your best friends – don't defend you. Instead, they laugh out loud, finding the entire situation extremely funny. Minju did it while patting your back, attempting to comfort you (which is meaningless, because you know it well that she’s enjoying your misery), while both Yunah and Moka are truly having the time of their life, throwing their bodies on you while laughing, almost sending you into a deep despair.
Well, you have an enormous crush on Asakura Jo.
And Taesan, Jungwon, and Yuma have somehow made it their life’s mission to make every mankind know about your feelings – including the person you have a crush on, Jo.
The crush isn’t new – You’ve liked Jo for a while now, and your best friends already knew from the first day you realized about your feelings. They gushed over Jo’s action towards you, fanning your delusions and supporting the agenda of you and Jo being together – Minju talked you into confessing your feelings for a few times, but you can’t gather your courage to actually do it.
Then here comes the menaces (Jungwon, Taesan and Yuma), who discovered your feelings out of nowhere (you have a feeling that Moka probably slipped about it to them), and openly teases you. At first, you were about to cry because you feel so embarrassed, but now, you’re desensitized to it (however, it never fails to surprise you).
“Do you think I’m a trophy or something?”
You attempt to retort back and you can hear Yuma snickers as he bounces the ball, causing you to sigh as you know he’s about to say something that will humble you.
“Isn’t that what you want, Y/N? To be someone’s trophy wife?”
He said while smoothly throwing the ball into the hoop, scoring one point.
“Ohhh! You can be Jo’s trophy wife Y/N!!”
“Yeah!! Like those NBA players’s wife,”
You can only hang your head low as you hear all sorts of comments from your friends. You should’ve just slept, you think to yourself, why did you let greed take over you and come here to watch them play outdoor basketball? In the middle of the night too…
You only lifted your head once the teasing died down, paying full attention to Jo who’s up against Taesan, Jungwon and Yuma.
The game somehow turned serious in the middle – Taesan continuously scored, thanks to great assist from Yuma, and Jungwon managed to successfully steal the ball from Jo almost every single time. You can see the frustration written all across Jo’s face, making you feel slightly upset over the unfair number of players, even though Jo was the one who insisted on doing it in the first place. Jo thinks he needs something challenging to improve his performance, hence the 3 vs 1. Plus, his team is up against the strongest team next week, so he can’t be caught lacking.
“Asakura Jo, fighting,”
You mutter, trying to cheer for him (that’s the best you can do, because only God knows what happens if you do it loudly). Lucky for you, Jo caught your words and turned to you, before he smiled widely.
“Oi oi, I see you. Win the game, and get the girl. No flirting,”
Yuma’s words stirred another round of teasing, and you could only sigh while shaking your head. After 40 minutes of playing, Jo wins – he scored really well after you cheered for him (this might be your delusions). Minju, Moka and Yunah didn’t waste any time and instantly dragged you into the court, while Jungwon, Taesan and Yuma pushed Jo to walk to you – you really wish that you have some sort of superpower, because God, you want to be invisible right now.
“Congratulations! Now you’re a couple! Oh and congrats on winning the game, Jo! Walk Y/N home, okay? We’re off, byeee!”
“Bye bye!! Let’s go, run away!!”
“Bye Y/N, let us know the details later okay?”
Yunah said while giggling – Minju and Moka too, giggles – evoking another sigh to escape from your lips. Six of them disappeared into the night almost immediately, and you shake your head before you turn to look at Jo.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to walk me home. You should take a proper rest, Jo. See you tomorrow,”
“I– I’ll walk you home, Y/N.”
You blinked your eyes repeatedly at Jo, slightly taken aback by his response, while he rubbed the back of his nape with a sheepish smile on his lips.
“I, I have to. They’ll kill me…”
“We can just lie,”
“Do you, not like walking home…? With me…?”
Great. Now you’re going to make your crush misunderstand you.
“Uh, I, I didn’t mean it in that way! We can walk home together, of course, I’m just worried about you because, well, the time spent walking me home can be used for extra rest, especially since you were up against three people earlier, and we have morning class tomorrow, so I’m just, I’m just concerned! I’m, uh, I’m being considerate? I’m proposing a solution that works the best for your condition,”
You ramble as you explain yourself, completely missing the fond look and smile on Jo’s face.
“Cute,”
“Huh?”
You freeze while doubting your ears – did your crush just call you cute? You didn’t misheard it, right?
“Let’s go, Y/N,”
“Oh. Uh, yeah, let’s go,”
You walk next to Jo, down the familiar path that leads you to your home – silence surrounds both of you, as you’re busy looking at the stars that’s exceptionally bright tonight.
You’re not actually busy looking at the stars, by the way. You’re trying your best to take your mind off the fact that your crush is walking you home in such a romantic setting. Like, in the middle of the night? Accompanied by the moon and stars? It doesn’t help that Jo looks extra good after playing basketball – messy hair, glistening sweats still prominent on his skin that makes his face look like it’s glowing – your heart beats like it’s going to jump out of your ribcage, but you’re putting your best effort to play it cool.
“Y/N, about being my girlfriend earlier…”
Jo suddenly breaks the silence by bringing up the embarrassing topic that was started by Jungwon, making you mentally sigh. Maybe you should confess to clear things up. Poor boy being framed into being your boyfriend.
You halted your steps and Jo did the same thing too – you heaved out another sigh while gathering your courage to confess – it might be because it’s already in the middle of the night, hence your courage is more than ever – like they said, the deeper the night gets, the honest you will be.
“I didn’t plan to confess like this but I–”
“Jo, look, I have a crush on you since forever so–”
Both of you speak up at the same time, overlapping each other's words before both of you abruptly stop. Jo looks at you with his eyes as big as saucers, and you’re pretty sure your eyes too, are as big as his now, as you realized what he had said.
“I, I’ll say it first. I, I didn’t plan to confess like this. Well not, like, being sweaty… but, but since the guys already outed me… I like you, Y/N,”
Jo voiced out his feelings while looking at you – his ears and cheeks are flushed in red, feeling extremely shy.
Your first thought was, wow, my crush liked me back.
Your second thought was, those damn kids knew about it.
“I, uh… I thought they said that because they know I have a crush on you…”
You said in a very small voice as the shyness too began to take over you – you could feel your cheeks burning up, and as much as you wanted to look away, you said your words while looking at Jo. You were glad that you did, because his cheeks just became redder after you confessed, looking cuter than ever.
“So… they knew about it all along…”
“I guess, I mean… that must be it?”
“May I, take you out on a date tomorrow? After class?”
Jo’s question makes you feel like combusting on the spot – this is real, you think to yourself, you’re Jo’s girlfriend now.
“Yeah,”
“Okay. Great,”
You begin giggling because, God, your crush likes you back? This is a dream come true, and you probably had used up your lifetime luck for this.
“What’s so funny, girlfriend?”
Jo asks while he too, giggles. God, hearing him addressing you as girlfriend… you feel like you’re melting inside, like an ice cream being placed under the scorching sun.
“Nothing. I’m just, happy, boyfriend,”
Jo’s lips curled into a wide smile before he nibbled with his lower lips, feeling extremely happy that things turned out well for him.
Both of you then resumed walking back to your house with a noticeable shift in the air as both of you are giggling, slightly awkward and yet happy that you take the risks.
“What are you doing, hold her hand?”
You and Jo halt your steps again as you hear Jungwon’s voice, making you and Jo look at each other. Rustles then can be heard from nearby bushes, before Jungwon popped out from it, smiling sheepishly.
“You were following us?!”
Your eyes grow wide as Taesan, Yuma, Moka, Yunah and Minju too, come out of the bushes wearing the same sheepish smile as Jungwon earlier – you can’t believe that this is actually happening.
“Why not, need to see if he’s actually walking you home,”
“Congratulations on being a real couple now! Jo, what are you waiting for? Hold her hand!! Didn’t you daydream about doing it every single day?”
“He did? Oh my god Y/N did the same thing too!!”
You sighed as your friends began to reveal Jo’s and your secret – you will never escape from this situation… won’t you?
additional notes: three mischievous cats in one friend group... chaos is bound to ensue lol... and as always, thank you for reading till the end <3
genres & tropes: established relationship, fluff, jo gaining confidence to tease you lol
word count: 1,242 (excluding summary)
author's thoughts: this has been my draft since March 18th and... yeah. Jo really gained his confidence lately and been fighting back his members, so this was purely inspired by that! enjoyy!
The view from Tokyo Skytree Cafe is magnificent – you’ve been in awe ever since you stepped out of the elevator. Though, you had to hold onto Jo tightly because the height is making you feel slightly dizzy. The cafe itself is yet to be crowded – maybe because it’s weekdays, or maybe because the cherry blossoms are yet to be in full bloom.
You and Jo looked at the menu and decided to order the seasonal food, before sitting down on the vacant table, facing each other. You then began staring out, carried away as your eyes wandered around at the sight of the vast Tokyo skyline. Both of you fell into a deep silence – the reason why Jo brings you up here is because he wants to find something to draw, so while he busies himself drawing something, you get yourself engrossed in the cityscape.
“Excuse me, here’s your order. Sorry for the long wait, and thank you for waiting,”
The waitress's voice surprised both of you, and you immediately thanked the waitress before pushing Jo’s drinks and food closer to him.
“Did you find something to draw?”
You ask Jo as you find that his sketchbook’s page has something on it – you can’t make out the thing as he covered the page with his pencil case.
“Yeah,”
“Really? What is it?”
There’s a beat of silence, and you notice that Jo’s neck and ears start to turn red.
“You.”
“Oh.”
Surprised is an understatement – you never thought that Jo would draw you. Sure, you have seen plenty of artists draw their significant others, but it just didn’t cross your mind that Jo would do the same. Before the blush was able to heat up your cheeks, a thought popped up in your mind.
“Oh! I’m sorry, I moved. Uh, what kind of pose I was doing earlier…”
You slightly panicked – you know that it’s crucial to stay still (you’ve seen the drama, like the model would spend hours standing still until their portrait completes). Jo giggles at your reaction, and shakes his head.
“It’s okay,”
“Huh?”
“I memorized it.”
He… memorized it? He memorized your pose? You look at Jo with your eyes full of questions, and your reaction causes him to giggle more.
“You, whenever you are staring at something, you always have your hand propped like this,”
He rests his head on his palm, recreating the pose that you had forgotten you did – it must be your habit.
“Oh. But don’t you need me to stay still, for, you know… to draw my eyes and stuff?”
He shakes his head at your question.
“I memorized that too.”
You can feel your cheeks begin to grow warm – the blush from earlier returns and adorns your cheeks properly.
“I spent too much time staring at you to the point I can draw you from my memory,”
You scrunched your face before turning away, feeling extremely caught off guard by his words. Yes, he’s your boyfriend – has been for almost a year now. But his words make your heart flutter still. And will make you feel like a middle schooler girl – you want to squeal, jump around, and melt over his words.
You can hear Jo giggles, before he reaches out for your hand to make you look at him again. You turn at him, trying your best to hide your love stricken face, but fail when you see Jo’s face is as red as tomato.
“Did you like me saying that that much?”
“Shut up. You’re red and still trying to flirt,”
“I’m asking a question?”
“Just draw me whatever. I’m gonna continue looking at the scenery,”
You grab your glass and turn your body slightly away from him, trying to shift your focus from blushing and recalling his words all over again, to the view of Tokyo.
“I love you,”
His words make you crumble – you turn back at him and put down the glasses before reaching out your hands to playfully tug his collar, while putting your best angry face.
“You’re teasing me!”
“I’m confessing,”
“Shut, shut! You’re red and you should calm yourself down before flirting with me again, boy.”
“Okay, my love.”
You roll your eyes and Jo laughs, finding you extremely adorable right now.
“Okay. That’s enough. You’ve spent too much time with Yuma that you’re starting to become mischievous like him. You’re not going to see Yuma anytime soon. I forbid it,”
“If it makes you happy, my lady. I’m willing to do it,”
“Okay you’re getting on my nerves. Go away,”
Jo laughs and lightly pinches on your cheeks, before he picks up his sketchbook again. You sighed in relief as he didn’t seem like he’s going to say anything more. Three hours passed in silence – you glanced at him from time to time, admiring your boyfriend's serious side. You didn’t stare at him too long, not wanting him to notice and begin teasing you again.
“I’m done,”
Jo declares as he stares at the sketchbook’s page, before smiling at himself, satisfied with his work.
“Really? Can I see?”
“No. Not yet, no, I don't think so…”
“Huh? Why? You’re not done with the shading yet?”
“No… because it doesn’t capture how beautiful you look in real life,”
Despite the blood rushing to your cheeks, you give him a deadpanned look – earning a laugh from Jo.
“What, it’s true…”
“Are you done flirting? Can we go home now?”
“Yes,”
“Great.”
You try your best to keep a cool composure even though you know your face, neck and ears are betraying you. Jo just smiles, and begins packing his things – he then reaches out for your hands, and both of you walk out of the Tokyo Skytree tower together.
“Are you seriously not going to let me see?”
You ask, breaking the silence that surrounded both of you.
“One kiss, and I might consider it,”
You quickly peck his cheek, making Jo giggle in satisfaction before flipping through his sketchbook, and shows you the drawing from earlier. Your eyes grow wide upon seeing it – he truly captures your facial features. The mole placement, the crinkles at the corners of your eyes…
“You really stared at me that much huh?”
“What can I say? You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever laid my eyes on,”
“Jooooo,”
You whine as he’s making you flustered again, and Jo just laughs as he pulls you closer to him.
“What, did I do something wrong?”
“You and your words… Stop teasing me,”
“I can’t. You look prettier than the cherry blossom when you blush,”
You decide to hide your face on his chest, causing Jo to giggle before he wraps his arm around your waist. You truly wonder when and how Jo gained his confidence to tease you this much – usually, you’re the one who has the upper hand, flustering him to the point he stutters every single word.
“Tell me, it was Yuma, right? Yuma taught you all these kinds of things, right? I’m gonna report him to Kei,”
You ask while resting your chin against his chest, looking at your boyfriend whose smile is still carved on his lips.
“Do you think I can’t do it?”
“No. You’re pure and innocent, so somebody must have influenced you into doing this,”
“It seems like you didn’t know me well enough yet, my love,”
He booped your nose before brushing his nose against yours, and grabbed your hand, urging you to move.
…What?
additional notes: thank you for reading till the end <3
summary: you're tired of love and need a little pick-me-up. the sorceress however, revealed that your lover is nearby!
pairing: byun euijoo x reader
featuring: chaewon from lesserafim, haechan and jisung from nct.
genres & tropes: best friends to lovers, fluff, reader is eldest/independent daughter
word count: 5,346 (excluding summary)
author's thoughts: this fic is written almost purely to indulge myself... but I hope anyone who reads this will be able to find comfort <3
⤷ back to The Sanctuary for Broken Hearts.
You’re not sure if your decision to visit the Sanctuary for Broken Hearts is right, until you stand in front of it. The scene that greets you looks straight out of a fairytale movie – the gentle spring breeze lifts the cherry blossom petals into the air and circles around you, causing you to giggle. The petals then drift farther, and higher, scattering across the dark, almost pitch black night sky – paired with the vividly twinkling stars and a glowing waxing crescent moon, it creates a magnificent view.
Your heart is not exactly broken per se, but you find yourself tired of love. And given the reputation of The Sanctuary for Broken Hearts, you thought it would be wise to get a consultation – perhaps an opinion, or a motivating session to make you find love interesting again.
“Welcome to the Sanctuary for Broken Hearts. Kindly be seated while I check Miss Jihyun’s availability for a consultation,”
The receptionist instantly greets you as you walk into the sanctuary – compared to the near magical experience you had outside, the interior of the sanctuary gives nothing like it. It’s a clean, minimalistic interior which resembles a clinic. You smiled at the receptionist and made yourself comfortable on the couch in the waiting area.
You didn’t have to wait long – the receptionist approached you a few moments after and guided you to the consultation room.
“Hi there. Welcome to The Sanctuary for Broken Hearts. I’m Yoon Jihyun, how can I assist you today?”
A woman – you would say she’s in her twenties – brightly greets you while motioning to you to take a seat on the chair in front of her. The whole room too, doesn’t give off any magical vibe – it feels like a doctor’s room. You wonder if the rumour about the magic things are true, or that they’re just exaggerating to gain more visitors.
“Hi, I’m Y/N L/N. I’m here because I feel tired of love,”
“Oh. That’s new.”
“Do you not… consult on cases like this?”
“I take everything related to love, Y/N ssi. It’s just, I find it amusing that you feel tired of love. Mind explaining why? Feel free to take your time, oh, and the candies too,”
She offers you a bowl full of candies – it’s a mix of a variety of candies, you deduce it from the shape and colour of the wrappers.
“Thank you. So, um, I don’t know since when but I find myself thinking that love is tiring. Like, the process of finding love itself is tiring, you know? You have to throw yourself into the dating scene which is a mess – the man doesn’t want to be a man anymore, they want to be a princess instead. And also the risk that comes with it, what if the man you met on the first date turns out to be a psychopath?”
Jihyun’s eyebrows are almost knitted together while she nods as she listens to your words. It seems like she’s agreeing that the dating scene nowadays is very… chaotic.
“The news of people divorcing here and there, getting abused in marriage etc doesn’t help either. Like, you could’ve known your partner for years and not noticing anything weird, only for them to flip their character once you’re married. Plus… the number of wives defending their men when the audience called out the red flags… I’m afraid that I would be part of that society. Like, I’m afraid that I would be the one who’s blind and thinks what my partner did is okay, even though it’s actually not,”
It’s not one or two videos – there’s plenty, countless probably, of wives that don't realize that their partner is toxic. You’re afraid to make a fool of yourself like they did.
“And… love is full of effort. I don’t think I’m capable of putting that much effort into someone. I have a very limited emotional capacity, and also my brain is full of things… so I’m not sure if I’m willing to prioritize my partner, if I ever decided to get into a relationship. I also see the efforts that I need to put in as…tiring,”
You heaved out a deep sigh after speaking out your mind. Jihyun nods, understanding where you come from and why you see love is tiring – she then takes a bite of a bar of chocolate as she stares at you.
“You’re the eldest daughter, aren’t you? Or, a very independent daughter. And also a very independent woman,”
Your eyes widens as Jihyun hits a jackpot – you are indeed the eldest, the one and only daughter out of your siblings, and well, naturally, you’re a very independent person.
“How…?”
“Only people who are managing the households find love is tiring. Because you’re doing everything you can to keep the love alive. To make love seems effortless. And because you gave a lot of love, but doesn’t receive anything back,”
You blink as Jihyun’s words hit close to home. Jihyun smiled softly at you – somehow her smile makes your chest feel warm, and makes you feel like dropping your guard as you feel seen.
“Love is indeed tiring, Y/N ssi. But, your willingness makes it feel not. That’s why people go to great lengths for their lover – they are willing to be tired, in order to make their lover happy. And all the effort, actually doesn’t feel like a burden, when you’re willing to. That’s why there’s a saying that said to be loved is to be worth of the inconvenience, or to not be treated as one at all,”
Jihyun adds, before she takes a sip of her drink. The quotes are familiar to you – you’ve read it on social media, and heard it on podcasts and radios.
“And maybe because your love hasn’t been reciprocated well, you see love as tiring. Because all the efforts you put, bear no fruits at all. And somehow, I might be wrong, but you feel like there’s no one out there that is willing to put that much effort in you.”
At this point, you feel like crying. Jihyun’s words are nothing but the truth – sure, you keep convincing yourself that it’s fine for you to love endlessly, and unconditionally. But a token of appreciation, a slight reciprocation, would’ve made you feel happy. You’re human, afterall. There’s definitely going to be an expectation that the love that you’ve given, will find its way back to you.
“Do you know about the first law of thermodynamics? It states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed. The same concepts can be applied to the love that you’ve given. It will find its way back to you – maybe not instantly, because there has to be some process to transfer or transform your love into another way, right? But it will find you again. None of what you did is useless, or a waste of energy,”
You find it amusing when Jihyun applies physics concepts to love, but somehow the logical approach makes you believe that the love that you’ve given away is somewhere, just waiting for the right moment to find you again.
“Are you… really a magician?”
You carefully ask – the rumour that you’ve heard says that Jihyun will give a potion, or even craft a partner to heal the broken heart. But your heart isn’t broken, you think to yourself, is that why Jihyun approaches your problem in a logical way instead?
Jihyun smiles at you – a glowing, shimmering blue aura, almost resembling a nebula, then encircles her arms. Your eyes instantly widen at the sight, before trailing down as you follow the aura flowing down to her clenched palm. An intense blue light greets you when she opens it, making you squint – a necklace with a star pendant then appears out of thin air.
“I am a sorceress, Y/N ssi. I don’t really like showing my magical ability, but I think a little magic would make your heart feels better, and happier, so,”
It does. As the magic comes alive in front of you, you feel like you’re living your dream life – one that you often imagine after reading Harry Potter books and watching Barbie movies. You can’t hide your smile, and a small laugh escapes from Jihyun’s lips as she finds you adorable.
“Take it. The necklace is for you,”
“Oh. Thank you. Thank you so much,”
You carefully take the necklace from her palm, and the blue lustre instantly disappears. You then bring the necklace closer to see the pendant up close – it appears like a normal silver necklace and pendant, with a small blue gemstone in the middle of the star.
“Anything to make the eldest and independent daughter happy,”
Your lips curl into a wide smile at her words – you wonder why she empathizes with you so much. Is it because she, too, is the eldest daughter?
“And, I’m glad to tell you that you don’t need to throw yourself into the dating scene to find love. Your lover is actually nearby. Maybe your lover is actually waiting for you to be ready to be in love, to confess their feelings. However, love itself has a way of unfolding naturally, taking its own course, ”
Your jaw slightly drops as you hear Jihyun’s words – your lover is nearby? You find yourself slightly excited, wondering who your lover is.
“And to lighten your mind, you will never make a fool of yourself like… whatever you said earlier. Because – bear with me, I’m about to sound like a scientist again – the first law of thermodynamics also means that the love you think you deserve is the love that you get. And being an eldest daughter and an independent woman comes with a perk – you know what kind of love you exactly don't want, and also you tend to think highly of yourself, am I right? So you will find a love that will think highly of you,”
After listening to Jihyun, you start to find yourself thinking that love sounds fun.
“Love is fun and lightweight. Love is like, having a cup of hot chocolate in the middle of freezing winter. Like being in an air conditioned room in the blazing summer. Love, should bring you peace, Y/N. And makes you willing to be tired. And to go great lengths for them. Love makes every effort feels effortless,”
Jihyun adds – she seems to have the ability to read your mind. You won’t be surprised if she actually did, because she’s a sorceress afterall. Her words put your heart at ease, and changed your perspective – she didn’t deny that love is tiring. She just adds that love makes you willing to be tired.
“Thank you, Jihyun. I feel a lot better,”
“You’re welcome. I would love to show off my magic more to make your inner child happier, but it seems like your best friend is waiting outside. You should go see him,”
Huh? You find it puzzling that your best friend is waiting outside – you assume it’s Euijoo, because Jihyun said ‘him’, so it can’t be Chaewon. But you didn’t tell Euijoo that you’re coming here, so…
“Okay. Thank you so much, Jihyun. Oh, how about the payment?”
“I take anything, Y/N ssi. A bar of chocolate, a dollar, a dime… But I see there’s a pretty mirror in your bag, can I have that then?”
You looked at your bag – the handle of the mirror that is in your bag is slightly peeking out. It is a pretty mirror, and you bought it when you were on vacation. Even though you treasure it, you feel it’s nothing compared to what Jihyun has done – she even gifted you a necklace.
“Yes, definitely. Thank you again, Jihyun,”
“You’re welcome! Come visit me again with your lover!”
Somehow Jihyun’s words make you feel giddy – maybe it’s the assurance that your love will be reciprocated that it makes you feel extra happy. You even skipped as you left the room, and cheerfully bid farewell at the receptionist.
You were about to continue skipping when a heavy rain greets you as soon as you exit the sanctuary. You panicked – the forecast didn’t mention rain, and the sky was cloudless earlier, so you left your umbrella at home.
Is that why Euijoo is here?
“Y/N,”
You jumped in surprise – you know that he’s waiting outside as per Jihyun’s heads up, but somehow his presence still surprises you.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,”
Euijoo instantly apologizes, and you quickly shake your head while smiling at him to assure that it wasn’t his fault.
“Hi, Euijoo. What are you doing here?”
“Chaewon told me that you’ll be here. And that you looked like you didn’t bring any umbrella with you, so,”
“I– You… huh?”
Euijoo doesn’t live in the area, neither do you. You find it plausible for Chaewon, your housemate and also your best friend, to be the one to show up with an umbrella, because she worries a lot about you. But Euijoo… Euijoo is going great lengths.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“No… Do you plan to go here too? Or to go somewhere nearby?”
You ask – you don’t want yourself to mistake the coincidence as… well… Jihyun’s words are still fresh so you might be mistaken that Euijoo is putting an effort into you.
“Nope. I’m here because of you. And also because I want to have dinner with you. You left without eating anything so Chaewon nagged my ears off as she can’t get a hold of you,”
So… he’s doing this because of Chaewon, right? But even if he’s not, it’s normal for a best friend to put extra effort, because, well, you’re best friends.
You definitely needed sleep to get off the high of Jihyun’s words.
“I was… too occupied I think. But now that my mind is clear, I realize that I am starving. Let’s go eat!”
“Let’s go, Y/N,”
“I’m glad that you looked happier ever since you visited the sanctuary,”
Euijoo’s voice breaks the comfortable silence that has been surrounding both of you since earlier. Both of you are currently at the cherry blossom viewing festival, sitting down on the mat laid out under the cherry blossom tree – your eyes have been glued onto the vivid blue sky ever since you sat down, admiring the beautiful view that reminds you of the night you visited the sanctuary.
“Is it that obvious? Like, do I look extremely happy?”
You ask as you shift your attention to Euijoo – he too, has his eyes planted onto the sky, like you.
“Not extremely happy, but you look… better. You’ve been full of whimsy and joy, but after you visited the sanctuary, you… look brighter. How do I put this into words? You, are like a star. But previously, you’re like a star on cloudy days. You can see it twinkles, but not bright. After visiting, you’re like a star on the darkest, cloudless night. So bright, so…”
“...so?”
You slightly tilt your head, wondering why Euijoo paused his words. Euijoo just smiles at you and shakes his head, before his eyes drift back to the sky.
You, on the other hand, refuse to let it go. You stare at him with an unsatisfied look written all over your face – Euijoo pretends to not notice, before he can’t help himself and breaks into giggles.
“What’s so funny? Hey. Continue your words. So bright, so…? If you want to compliment me, compliment me properly,”
Euijoo laughed out loud – he’s used to your antics of fishing for more compliments, but it’s been a while since you showed this side of yours, so he finds it funny. You’re not the type to force compliments out of someone, but given that Euijoo is your best friend, of course you would love to hear endless compliments. Chaewon even made it a habit to compliment you even on littlest things – every single time she did it, you would brighten like a lamp.
You glare at Euijoo, watching him with squinted eyes and slightly scrunched nose. His laughter slowly died down, and he heaved a deep sigh to regain his composure before he turned his head to look at you properly.
“So bright, so beautiful. So pretty,”
His lips curled into a wide smile after he finished his words, showing off his cute dimples. Your eyelids flutter rapidly as you’re being caught off guard, and you can feel your heart beating faster than usual.
“Huh? Oh. Thanks,”
Despite being shaken, you manage to respond to his words – you’re glad that you’re able to do that.
“You are welcome. I’m going to buy drinks, do you want any?”
“No… I think.”
“Okay. Stay here. Call me if you change your mind,”
He grabs his phone and leaves almost immediately, off to find any stalls that would sell drinks. As soon as he disappears from your view, you place your hand against your chest to check if it’s true that your heart rate is faster than usual.
It is. You even checked your heart rate through the smart watch, and the graph showed a slight jump compared to your previous reading.
Why would you… feel like this? It’s not the first time Euijoo called you pretty, or beautiful – you’ve been best friends for as long as you can remember, and he often compliments you. So… why?
You pried your phone out to text Chaewon, before you remembered that she’s in a meeting – that’s the reason why Chaewon isn’t here, with you and Euijoo. The original plan was for the three of you to go to the cherry blossom festival, because it’s been a while since the three of you have been hanging out together – it’s always you and Chaewon, or you and Euijoo, but never three of you together. Chaewon was so excited to go, before a call from her supervisor ruined everything.
You exhale a deep sigh while making a mental note to talk about this to Chaewon later.
Euijoo returned a few moments later, with a small box of takoyaki and two bottles of carbonated drinks in his hands – one for you, he said, just in case.
Both of you shared the takoyaki while watching the sun slowly setting down – you didn’t forget to take a few pictures to show to Chaewon later. The crowd slowly subsides after the sunset, and both you and Euijoo too, begin packing to go home.
“Should we have dinner first before going home?”
Euijoo asks as both of you walk down the path that leads to the nearby bus stop.
“Should we? Should I call Chaewon too?”
“...yeah. Why not?”
You notice the hesitation, but you don't bother asking – you quickly dial up Chaewon, only for your call to be directed to the voicemail almost instantly.
Huh?
You were about to try again when a message from Chaewon pops up on the notification – talk to you later. Don’t worry, I’m okie!
You tilt your head as you read the message, finding it puzzling because Chaewon rarely declines your call.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh… she’s not answering. But she said she’s fine, so I guess it’s just us,”
“Oh, okay. We can order something to take away, for her, if you want to?”
“I’ll ask her if she had her dinner already and if she wants something,”
You typed on the phone, replying to her message with the said questions – the reply comes almost instantly. I’m having my dinner! Don’t need anything, thank you for asking -3-
Well, she might be watching a drama on her phone, you assumed, hence why she declined your call.
“Let’s have dinner somewhere here. There’s a restaurant here that Jisung recommended me to try, but I haven’t had the time yet,”
“Let’s,”
Euijoo leads you to the restaurant – silence finds both of you as you head there, since you can’t quite shake off that there’s something going on. You think Chaewon is up to something, and Euijoo is trying to buy her some time. Frown is apparent on your forehead as your eyebrows draw closer – is there any celebration that you had forgotten about? It’s not your birthday, and you haven’t achieved anything that is worth celebrating for the past few weeks.
“We’re here– hey, are you okay?”
“Oh? Uh, yeah. I’m fine, just, thinking. Oh, this is the restaurant Jisung told you about?”
“Yeah. You’re okay, right? Not unwell or anything?”
“I’m fine, Joo. Don’t worry,”
“Okay.”
A waitress greets both of you before guiding you to the available table – it’s right next to the floor-to-ceiling glass wall, and you can clearly see the vast view of the river and cherry blossom trees lined up along the riverbank from there. You let Euijoo order everything, including your drinks – he sounded confident while ordering too, as if he memorized the food he wanted to have by heart. Jisung might have bugged him about it, you think to yourself, so it must have burned in his mind, the recommended foods and all.
“You zoned out a lot today,”
Euijoo’s words make you shift your attention from watching the view, to him.
“I’m admiring. And also, because it keeps reminding me of the sanctuary,”
“You liked that visit that much?”
“Mhm. Right, I didn’t tell you in detail what happened yet, right?”
“Yeah– oh,”
Euijoo quickly takes his arms off the table as the food that he ordered arrives, and you too, did the same, to give space for the food to be placed down. Both of you thanked the waiter, and he acknowledged it with a slight bow, before leaving the two of you alone.
“It feels magic–”
“Oh, it’s Byun Euijoo and Y/N L/N! Jisung will feel happy to hear that you’re finally here,”
Your conversation gets disrupted again – this time, by a familiar person who’s bringing your drinks. It’s Chaewon’s friend, Lee Haechan. You wonder if the reason why Jisung bugged Euijoo is because Haechan works here.
“Oh, hi!”
“Hello,”
But instead of feeling annoyed, you feel happy to see the familiar face after not seeing it for a while.
“Hello, lovebirds! How did the confession go?”
He asks as he places down the drinks, and for a moment, you can feel that the air becomes still.
Confession…?
Euijoo’s eyes widens and Haechan’s jaw drops – he instantly covers his mouth with both of his hands, while you stare at the two, feeling the puzzle slowly clicks.
Euijoo shuts his eyes tightly, and Haechan didn’t bother to do any damage control – he just scurried away, afraid to face the consequences of his own actions. Euijoo’s lips quiver as he tries to come up with something – anything, to cover whatever Haechan just said.
“Is that why?”
You ask. Is that why Chaewon didn’t pick up your calls? Is that why he hesitated to agree on inviting Chaewon for dinner? Is that why he suggested coming here? Is that why he memorized the order by heart? What is Jisung’s role then?
Euijoo’s lips trembled more before he heaved a deep sigh – he looked defeated, as his plans got busted out by Haechan. Chaewon must have accidentally told him.
“Yeah. I, I was supposed to confess while we were watching the sunsets earlier. I have planned this for a while. I let Chaewon and Jisung know, of course. Both of them become the taste tester for these,”
He paused his sentence as he pointed to the foods and drinks on the table that were carefully picked out by Chaewon and Jisung.
“I wanted to impress you that much. But I, i chickened out. You look so happy and I, I’m afraid that my confession would ruin your happiness. I let Chaewon know about it and she insisted that I bring you here, and confess to you after eating. She said she’s not letting you come home without hearing my confession,”
Your lover is actually nearby. Maybe your lover is actually waiting for you to be ready to be in love, to confess their feelings. However, love itself has a way of unfolding naturally, taking its own course.
So you will find a love that will think highly of you…
Your mind recalls Jihyun’s words – you haven’t told Euijoo and Chaewon about it yet to brush it off as careful planning. Maybe you can consider coincidence, but him wanting to impress you by recruiting Chaewon and Jisung as taste testers… carefully curating foods for you to have… and carefully scheming up with Chaewon – she can definitely pursue an acting career if she wants to, because you were falling for it. You honestly thought her supervisor really did call her, because she looked so depressed.
“You’re such a mastermind, aren’t you?”
Euijoo looks surprised at your words – he was expecting you to say something else, like, I’m sorry Euijoo. We can still be good friends!
“Huh? Yeah… I guess…”
You tilt your head as you stare at Euijoo who’s now slowly turning red, and find yourself smiling at him, finding him adorable.
“Are you still not going to say it even after getting your secret out like that?”
You don’t know where the courage to tease him comes from – you remember being flustered by his compliments, yet at the brink of his confession, you can still tease him.
Love is fun and lightweight.
You wonder if Jihyun meant that you can freely tease the man who’s about to confess his feelings to you.
Euijoo bites his lower lip, before exhaling another deep sigh. He then plants his eyes on you, firmly – you would’ve taken him seriously if his face weren’t as red as tomato. Instead, you find yourself adoring him even more.
“I love you, Y/N L/N. May I have the honour to be your boyfriend?”
A wide smile finds its way to your lips.
However, love itself has a way of unfolding naturally, taking its own course
You haven’t quite discovered your feelings yet – if you’re really in love with Euijoo, or not. And Euijoo too, wasn’t ready to confess either. But love, well, just as per Jihyun’s words, has a way of unfolding naturally, taking its own course
It doesn’t sound bad – the idea of falling in love with your best friend, you think. Suddenly, curiosity fills your heart to the brim, wondering how it feels to be in love with him. And you feel like trying. To be in love with him.
“You may. Only if you make me fall in love with you. Deal?”
Euijoo brightens at your words, and he nods while smiling widely – happy that he’s not being rejected, and feels lucky that you’re willing to strike a deal.
“Deal,”
“Do you really have to go?”
“He’s– for I don’t know how many times– we’re just going over there, Y/N! Let your man fucking go or I’ll jump into the river!”
Haechan crashed out over your question, tired of you being extremely clingy with Euijoo. It’s been a grand total of 10 months ever since Euijoo’s… unexpected confession. Needless to say, you fell for him – quick, and hard. It’s so easy to fall for him – he’s always been gentle, empathetic (sometimes he does…become extremely logical and that would slightly upset you, but he will quickly make it up to you with flowers and chocolates. You’re just a girl after all, so that definitely works on you), and he too, cares for you like his second nature.
You don’t feel well? Here comes Euijoo with a bag full of medicine, ready to nurse you back to health. You don’t feel comfortable? Euijoo doesn’t like confrontation, but he will definitely stand tall to protect you. You don’t like the food you’re having? He’ll immediately switch his plate with yours. A hair tie is always on his wrist, in case yours snap. A jacket is always in his car, in case you feel cold. There’s even a small bag full of makeup remover and mini size of the makeup you always use, in case you need to remove your makeup, or touch it up.
And somehow, every time it rains now, you will expect him to show up wherever you are – waiting for you with an umbrella. And he never failed you, every single time.
The love that you’ve given. It will find its way back to you
You have faith in Jihyun’s words now – because you’re always the one who takes care of people. And the love you’ve given finds its way back to you, in the form of Euijoo taking care of you.
“Well, just jump. This is the right chance for you to show off your swimming skills,”
Euijoo said with a deadpanned face, causing Haechan’s jaw to drop before he spirals into another crashout.
“You see? This is why I can’t be with both of you at the same time. Before the confession, everything was good. After? All hell breaks loose. I have Y/N on my right with her tendency to drive me insane, and to my left, her boyfriend, who will support whatever she does. Or even try to take it further!”
Love is fun and lightweight.
You’re not sure how to put it in words – the feeling of falling in love and being in a relationship with Euijoo. But if you were to do so, it feels like he’s just a part of a routine that you’ve been sticking on. Familiarity. It gives you a sense of peace, and ease. You understand why Jihyun said that love is lightweight. Receiving his love doesn’t give you any burden – maybe because it doesn’t come with the expectation that you should be acting in a certain way. Still, at first, you felt awkward – you felt like you should reciprocate his love, or to be exact, you feel like you should be doing something.
“Y/N, trust me, you don’t have to do anything and I will still be in love with you. I’m doing this because I want to,”
Was what Euijoo said. He keeps assuring you, and soon, you slowly come to terms that you just have to love him, in your own way, but in his language.
And maybe the perks of falling in love with your best friend is that you already get used to teasing him. Both of you would tease each other – on certain days, you will faux upset to get more attention and love from him. On other days, Euijoo would be the one who pretended to be so – his lips always betrayed him, but you pretended to not see and indulged him with more affection.
At some point, you feel like nothing big has happened – he’s your best friend still, and you are his. But when he holds your hand tightly, and kisses you on your lips, or gives pecks everywhere on your face, you’re glad that love found both of you.
You’re glad that he’s in love with you.
You’re glad that your heart too, seems to cozy up with the idea of being in love with him quickly.
And you’re glad that you visited The Sanctuary for Broken Hearts.
“Why are you looking at your man with such a lovestruck face?! Y/N, this man suggested me to kill myself! You know I can’t swim!”
Haechan’s words pulled you out of your thoughts, and you just smiled at him while reaching out your hand to hold Euijoo and cozied up in his arms.
“Don’t be dramatic, Haechan. You can swim. My man is innocent, he would never suggest something as unscrupulous as that,”
“Hah! Being in love definitely does wonders to your vocabulary!”
You giggle as Haechan continues his outburst, before looking up to find Euijoo already looking at you, with a smile on his lips. He brushes his nose against yours, before kissing you – a shriek from Haechan makes both of you giggle while breaking the kiss, finding joy in getting on Haechan’s nerves.
“My eyes! I should’ve just jumped! God have mercy on me!”
additional notes: thank you for reading this long fic until the end <3
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summary: you weren’t expecting your grumpy best friend to come and save you, on a rainy day.
pairing: nicholas wang x reader
genres & tropes: grumpy!nicholas, reader is not really a sunshine but describe as a yapper (a small ray of sunshine, maybe?) fluff, best friend to ???
word count: 2,476 words (excluding summary)
author's thoughts: this was actually meant for euijoo because he's a little weatherman. but then I thought hey... why don't we expand it a bit and make it fit nicholas instead (because Euijoo fics are plenty in my blog... can you tell who's my bias is?) anyway this wasn't proofread, I write this under 4 hours of sleep, so I apologize if the reading isn't smooth :(( hope you'll enjoy!
You look out of your office window and exhale a deep, heavy sigh, as the rain doesn’t seem like it’s going to subside anytime soon. The forecast predicted light rain, so you only bring an umbrella with you – the situation outside is a stark contrast to the forecast: it’s practically a thunderstorm.
“You’re not going home?”
Yunjin taps on your shoulder while asking, making you turn to her and presses your lips into a thin line.
“I don’t… know…”
You reply – you’re truly contemplating whether to stay a bit more, or to take a risk on a journey to go back home. You need to catch a bus, a subway, another bus, and a five minute walk from the bus stop before you reach home. So you really have to choose wisely, or else you’ll end up drenched from head to toe.
“My fiance is here, so I’ll get going first. Let me know if anything, yeah?”
You nodded at Yunjin’s words and waved your hands, bidding her goodbye. Yunjin too, waves her hand at you, before she exits the office. There’s still plenty of people in the office, so staying back until the rain stops isn’t really a bad idea since you’re not going to be alone. But a part of you wants to go home, as you begin to feel mentally sick from staying in your office for a long time, and after a long, rough day too.
You feel your phone buzzed, making you check your notifications – you’re surprised to see Nicholas’s name on it.
| Nicol the grumpy cat: home alrd?
You immediately send out a reply. And you get another surprise – he’s replying to you immediately. Nicholas always reads your texts, and replies later – by later, it ranges from 10 minutes to 10 hours later. You’re used to being left on read, and didn’t mind it as Nicholas is always like that.
You’re not sure if he’s an avoidant person or he just finds it a hassle to reply to chats, but you didn’t really care. You don’t really mind a one-sided chat, because to you, as long as you have expressed yourself, you don't care if they replied or not.
That’s how you and Nicholas ended up being friends. Well, best friends, per Nicholas’s words. You were surprised that he considered you as one, but you do think that you’re close enough to him – you just didn’t think that he would feel the same, that’s all.
| You: nope, rain is too heavy, so I’m staying at the office. scared if I get stuck in flash floods…
| Nicol the grumpy cat: until?
| You: until the rain stops…?
| Nicol the grumpy cat: come down in 10 min
You blinked your eyes repeatedly after reading Nicholas’s reply – thousands of questions arose in your mind, but instead of questioning him back (sometimes, asking him back will scare him away. Like a cat. Hence why his nickname is the grumpy cat. You have to be really careful in approaching him), you just type a simple ‘okay’ and send it.
You begin packing your things, causing Mijoo who’s sitting across you perked her head up.
“You’re going home already? It’s still raining heavily,”
“Oh. My best friend is coming, so,”
“Is it a boy? That best friend of yours?”
You freeze for a moment as you ponder if it’s worth telling the truth to Mijoo – she’s the type to act like a cupid, always shipping people together against their own will. Mijoo takes your silence as a yes, and begins to look at you with a face full of excitement.
“It’s a boy then! He’s coming to pick you up? He’s definitely going to be your boyfriend soon, Y/N!”
“Uh…”
You truly don’t know how, and what to respond – you thought freezing up will get you away from this situation. Apparently, it’s not.
“Why? You don’t believe me? He’s going through hassle to just pick you up!”
“Maybe he’s just in the area…”
“Maybe he’s in love with you!”
You shake your head and bid goodbye to Mijoo, refusing to listen to her nonsense any further. It takes you about 4 minutes to get to the lobby as your office is located on the 18th floor – there’s quite a lot of people crowding in front of the exit gate, probably contemplating to continue their journey or to stay, so you had to squeeze in to tap your card and finally enter the lobby area.
Surprised is an understatement when you found Nicholas waiting for you in the lobby, with an umbrella in his hand. You tilted your head as questions began crowding your mind again, because Nicholas never did this to you ever since you became his friend. And you’ve been his friend best friend for 8 years now.
“Nicol?”
“Hey there.”
You smiled widely at him, and Nicholas responded to you with a small smile before he began walking, heading to somewhere. You didn’t ask – you just followed him around, plus, after a long day at work and being involuntarily trapped in your office, you don’t really have any energy to initiate a conversation.
He leads you out of your office and instantly opens his umbrella, sheltering both of you from the heavy rain. He brings you to an outdoor parking area, which you figured out by yourself that he probably parked his car here. And you were right. The blinkers go off twice and you can hear the sound of the door lock being unlocked, before he opens the door for you and motions to you to get in.
“Thank you, Nicol.”
He just nods, and gently closes the door. You make yourself comfortable in the passenger seat – it’s not the first time, but you’re definitely not used to being in his car. Every hangout, you will catch a bus to go to the meeting place – you do have a driver license, but you’re more comfortable catching a bus, and using public transport to go somewhere.
Silence fills the car as Nicholas drives both of you away from your office – the navigation screen shows red, meaning that the traffic is heavy. There must be a flash flood somewhere, you think to yourself before pries your phone out of your pocket to check on the news.
“Rough day?”
You turn your head to Nicholas as you hear his questions, before you nod.
“Yeah. I had a long presentation session today. Exhausted. And being held hostage in the office thanks to heavy rain just drained me more,”
“Did you have dinner?”
“No, not yet. I don’t feel like having one, I just want to go home and sleep. You?”
“Not yet. Plan to stop by the dumpling restaurant,”
Your body perked up at the mentions of your favourite restaurant – a rush of energy surges through you, and your excitement immediately revived.
“That dumpling restaurant? The one we always go to? If we’re heading there, I’ll definitely grab something to eat! Can’t pass the chance to have a hot, nourishing soup after a cold, rough day,”
Nicholas chuckled over your reaction – he can’t believe that you instantly brightens at the mention of your favourite restaurant. He was sure that you were going to fall asleep, as you were quiet – you aren't really a cheery and lively type, but you sure do talk a bunch. So when you weren’t talking, he was positive that you will fall asleep, sooner or later.
“Let’s dine there.”
Nicholas said as the red line on the navigation screen goes quite far, and stopping by to wait for the traffic to clear sounds a good choice for now.
“Okay!”
You begin to hum as you think about the food that you’re going to order – a bowl of hand pulled noodle beef soup, a plate of pan fried dumpling, and a cup of hot lemon tea sounds heaven. Paired with the chili oil? You’re sure it’s going to heal your soul.
Nicholas smiled at your hums, knowing well that you’re now in a good mood. It takes both of you about 20 minutes to reach the restaurant, and both of you were greeted warmly by the waiter. 10 minutes after placing your orders, a bowl of hand pulled noodle beef soup together with a cup of hot lemon tea appears in front of you, making your lips curled into a wide smile.
You didn’t devour it right away – Nicholas’s food is yet to arrive, so you waited for it.
“Just eat,”
Nicholas said as he noticed that you didn’t touch your food yet. He ordered fried rice, so it’s going to take a little bit longer as his food isn’t pre-prepared like yours.
“I’ll wait,”
“You sure?”
“Okay, maybe not. I’ll eat first,”
Nicholas chuckles at your words and shakes his head. You can’t help but do a little dance after having a spoonful of soup – the warmth of the broth hits just right, and makes you feel livelier (you’re a firm believer that corporate jobs will suck your soul out of you).
Nicholas’s food arrives together with the pan fried dumpling – his fried rice looks and smell delicious, so you can’t help but have your eyes on it.
“Here.”
Nicholas scooped a few spoons of his rice and put it in the dumpling plate, before pushing it to your side.
“Eh?”
“Don’t act surprised. You wanted to have a taste, didn't you?”
You smiled sheepishly, and Nicholas sighs while shaking his head again – he always looked like he’s done with your antics. You’re 70 percent sure that he’s actually not done, and find your antics amusing sometimes. Because if he does, he wouldn’t be here. Like, a cat. Cats will walk away from situations that they don’t want to be involved in, so if they stayed, it means that they’re interested. Despite appearing as uninterested.
Nicholas paid for the meals even though you insisted on paying for it – he was quicker in tapping his card on the reader than you, making your lips form a pout.
“You look ugly when you pout. Stop pouting.”
“Next meal is on me,”
“We’ll see. Let’s go,”
“Let’s go, Nicol,”
The traffic does get better – probably due to the rain slowly subsiding. The previous ETA shows that it will take 1 hour 38 minutes to get to your house when you arrive at the restaurant earlier – now, it shows 47 minutes.
“You should drive instead of taking public,”
Nicholas said, as it only takes 40 to 50 minutes from your house to the office by driving, depending on the traffic. Taking public transport consumes about 1 hour 40 minutes of your time – almost doubling the time taken by driving.
“I don’t really like driving,”
“Weird. Why did you get a driving license then?”
“Because my dad won’t stop forcing me to get one. I just prefer catching the bus, and riding subways, you know? I like watching people. Seeing the scenery. Get immersed in the surroundings. I can’t do that if I’m driving, you know? I have to focus on the road,”
Nicholas nods, acknowledging your words. Before the silence finds both of you again, you decide to ask the question that has been in your mind since earlier.
“Why did you pick me up? Were you in the area?”
Nicholas works as a freelance fashion consultant, so it won’t be weird if he was in the area, given that there’s a fashion magazine company near your office. Plus, even if he wasn’t in the area for job related things, you still won’t be surprised – given that he loves to drive around.
“Nope. I just felt like it.”
His answer surprises you, and you can feel your heart go tender at his words. See – he acts just like a cat. He will go through trouble if he wants to be troubled.
“Oh. Thank you,”
“And, because the forecast in the morning and evening are different. Figured out you won’t be prepared,”
“Yeah. Only brought an umbrella with me… wait. Oh my god… I left my umbrella in my office…”
You heaved a deep sigh as you mentally blamed yourself for forgetting your umbrella. You didn’t notice its absence as Nicholas shared his umbrella with you earlier – you’re pretty sure it’s on your desk, because you placed it down while packing your things.
“Just use mine.”
“Nah, I think the rain will stop soon. So I’ll be fine.”
“Just, take mine. In case if it rains tomorrow morning,”
You press your lips together and decide to not fight Nicholas on this – plus, the rain is unpredictable nowadays, so an umbrella is crucial to keep you dry.
“Okay,”
“If it rains too much, just let me know. I’ll… pick you up.”
You tilted your head as you wonder why he’s suddenly acting very differently. Your lips part as you want to ask why, but you hold yourself back, not wanting to scare him by your questions. I’ll just ask Euijoo, you think to yourself – just like you, Euijoo too, is Nicholas’s best friend.
“Okay,”
You replied – you deem that as the best response you can ever give, without making things escalate differently.
Your words were right – the rain stopped as soon as he arrived in front of your apartment complex. But still, you take his umbrella with you, as he insisted earlier.
“Thank you for picking me up, Nicol. Have a safe drive home,”
“You’re welcome. Get inside first.”
“Okay. Bye bye, Nicol,”
“Bye, Y/N.”
You waved your hands at him, and turned on your heel, walking away from his car – one step, two, three – then halted. He went through trouble just to pick you up, you think to yourself, he deserves a proper thank you. You turn back and approach his car, making Nicholas roll down the window.
He didn’t verbally ask, but his facial expression shows that he’s wondering why you’re returning.
“Thank you for going through the hassle to pick me up. I know you love driving, but the traffic is still annoying… right? So, thank you. Thank you for the meals too,”
“It’s… not a hassle.”
You blink your eyes at his response.
“It’s not a hassle if it’s about you… you’re never a hassle to me.”
Your heart melts at his response, and a wide smile finds its way to your lips. You truly wonder what makes your grumpy-cat-like-best-friend become soft today.
“Ditto. Goodnight, Nicol.”
“Goodnight, Y/N,”
You later found out through Harua (you called Euijoo, but Harua picked it up) that Nicholas had a bad dream about you and was worried for you the whole day. He was restless – per Harua’s words – but he tries his best to not show it (Maki was cackling because it was obvious to everyone, despite him trying to play cool).
Oh, what an adorable grumpy cat, you think to yourself as you find Nicholas cute.
additional notes: thank you for reading until the end <3
💬 。 jo has been pinning for years and all it takes to change that—is a drunken selfie
masterlist 𓋰 asakura x f!rea⠀ ✶⠀ fluff, teasing, kissing !!
wc: 2784 don't copy/translate my work. i only write on tumblr.
the fairy lights are dim, your living room a mess of blankets, popcorn bowls, and giggles echoing off the walls. your friends are sprawled across the floor in their oversized hoodies and fuzzy socks—classic sleepover chaos. maki is playing a horror movie no one’s actually watching, and you’re laughing at a story about yuma’s failed situationship when your phone buzzes for the tenth time that night.
you already know who it is before you check.
jojo ♥︎
[1:47am] why am i never invited ur sleepovers? :(
[1:48am] i see the pics on your story
[1:48am] you always invite the others
you swallow hard, thumb hovering. the truth is too embarrassing to type: because if you slept over i’d probably combust from how much i like you, and what if you think it’s weird, and what if—
another buzz. this one’s a photo.
your screen fills with jo—shirtless, golden skin glowing under the warm lamp in his bedroom, sheets pooled low around his hips, one arm lazily behind his head. his abs are unfairly defined for someone who claims he “doesn’t even work out that much,” messy black hair falling into his eyes, lips parted like he just woke up (or never went to sleep). the caption in the message bar reads: this is what you’re missing btw
your face burns instantly.
you stare at the photo way longer than you should, heart slamming against your ribs like it’s trying to escape. jo’s never sent you anything like this. ever. he’s always been the quiet one—soft smiles, gentle teasing, the kind of boy that tugs at your shirt to order for him at cafes. but this? this was not like him whatsoever.
jojo ♥︎
[1:55am] the hyungs made me drink
[1:55am] i told them everything
[1:56am] k said i was acting like a jealous baby
[1:56am] nicholas-hyung kept laughing and saying “just confess already you idiot”
[1:57am] so here i am. confessing. at 2am. i really like you. i’m sorry for the photo. i feel like an absolute loser for sending that oh my god.
[1:58am] but i want to be invited. i want to be the one next to you
[1:59am] please
you stare at the last message until the screen dims, your thumb frozen over the keyboard.
the usual jo—the one who blushes cherry-red from his cheeks all the way up to the tips of his ears and down his neck whenever you’d tease him—is somewhere in there, buried under the soju and the courage. but he still apologized for the thirst trap. still called himself a loser. your heart squeezes so hard it hurts.
you
[2:01am] jojo
[2:01am] don’t apologize for the photo… i didn’t hate it
[2:02am] i’ve liked you for so long too. since we were fifteen, probably longer
[2:03am] that’s exactly why i never invited you
[2:03am] i was scared that if you were here, under the same blanket as me, i wouldn’t be able to hide it anymore
the living room at the dorm is hazy with soju bottles and half-eaten ramyeon cups. the hyungs are sprawled everywhere—k on the couch with his legs thrown over the armrest, fuma cross-legged on the floor spinning an empty bottle like it’s still middle school, ej gone to retrieve pizza, nicholas against the wall because smirking like he knows everything. because he does... well that's the last time jo will confide in nicholas regarding his love life.
jo is sitting hunched over his phone on the carpet, knees drawn up, ears burning scarlet. his heart is hammering so hard he can feel it in his throat. the second your messages pop up, he makes this tiny choked sound that’s half wheeze, half squeak.
“fuck—fuck, she replied—”
he shoves the phone toward the group like it’s evidence in court.
nicholas snatches it immediately, eyes scanning. his eyebrows shoot up.
the slap lands square between jo’s shoulder blades, making him jolt forward with a startled “oof!”
nicholas is tipsy, grinning like a fox as he holds the phone high, reading your messages aloud in an exaggerated lovesick voice:
“'i didn’t hate it~’… ‘i’ve liked you since we were fifteen~’… bro. i think she’s been down bad for you longer than you’ve been down bad for her. this is historic.”
jo’s face is nuclear. he tries to snatch the phone back but nicholas dances it out of reach, laughing.
k lets out a loud wheeze, nearly tipping over from how hard he’s cracking up.
fuma, still lounging on the couch, kicks k’s shoulder with his foot. “you literally called him a jealous baby for three hours straight before he caved.”
jo covers his burning face with both hands, peeking through his fingers. his ears are so red they look like they might glow in the dark. “nicholas, please—stop reading them out loud… “
“you are such a loser,” nicholas teases, but his tone is warm. he finally drops the phone back into jo’s lap and ruffles his messy black hair. “a very lucky loser, though. she just handed you the green light, man. you’ve been pining like a loser for years and she was scared she’d jump you under the blanket? this is gold.”
jo makes a mortified noise and lunges again, finally managing to snatch his phone back. he curls protectively around it, knees pulled tighter to his chest, face buried halfway into his oversized hoodie sleeve. the tips of his ears are glowing crimson.
hands are trembling as he picks up the phone again. he stares at your last messages, the little heart-squeeze feeling in his chest almost too much to handle. a shy, disbelieving smile breaks across his face.
k flops down beside him, slinging an arm around jo’s shoulders and squeezing softly. “stop hiding and text your girl back before she thinks you died. this is your moment, lover boy.”
jo lets out a long, shaky breath and finally opens the chat again. his thumbs hover for a second before he starts typing, cheeks still glowing.
jojo ♥︎
[2:20am] sorry for the wait… the hyungs are being chaotic
[2:20am] nicholas called me a loser and fuma is poking my ears
[2:21am] but i don’t even care anymore
[2:21am] you’ve liked me since we were 15?? that’s…that’s so long. i liked you even before that i think. i was just too scared to say anything
he bites his lip, then adds quickly:
jojo ♥︎
[2:22am] i still can’t believe you weren’t inviting me because you liked me too
[2:22am] i thought you just didn’t want me there… it made me so jealous seeing the pics on your story
[2:25am] please let me come over
[2:25am] i’ll bring snacks or whatever you want
[2:25am] i just really really want to be with you tonight
“hyungs… i just begged her to let me come over at 2:30am. i sound so desperate.”
nicholas snorts, lying on the floor beside him. “you are desperate. been desperate for years. it’s cute though.”
fuma kicks jo’s foot lightly. “she’s gonna say yes. just wait.”
jo’s phone buzzes almost right away. he sits up so fast he gets dizzy, snatching it up.
you
[2:26am] jojo you’re so cute it hurts
[2:26am] of course you can come over
[2:27am] but… are you okay? like actually okay to walk here? you’ve been drinking and it’s late
[2:27am] i don’t want you getting in trouble or feeling sick :(
[2:28am] also warning… yuma’s here and he’s already smirking at my phone. he’s gonna tease you so bad when you show up lol
k leans over jo’s shoulder, reading the messages. “aww, she’s worried about you. she’s so sweet. i’ll take you to her—hurry reply fast before she changes her mind.”
jo’s cheeks are burning again, but he’s smiling that big, shy, heart-eyed smile. his thumbs fly across the screen.
jojo ♥︎
[2:29am] i’m okay!! promise
[2:29am] i only had like… three shots? four? not that much
[2:30am] k-hyung said he’ll take me
[2:30am] and yeah… i figured yuma would tease me lol
[2:31am] but i don’t care. i’ll take all the teasing in the world if it means i get to see you
he pauses, then adds with slightly shaky fingers:
jojo ♥︎
[2:31am] i’ll leave in like 10 minutes
[2:32am] can’t wait anymore
k grabs his own jacket and throws an arm around jo’s shoulders. “let’s go get you your girl.”
the living room is a cozy disaster of fluffy blankets, scattered popcorn bowls, and fairy lights strung lazily across the walls. the horror movie is still playing on low volume — no one’s paying attention anymore.
you’re sitting cross-legged in the middle of the blanket fort, phone clutched tightly in your hands, cheeks still warm from jo’s last messages. every time you reread them your stomach does a little flip.
“he’s coming,” you murmur, half to yourself, half to the room.
yuma immediately perks up like a meerkat, a wicked little smirk spreading across his face. he’s been waiting for this moment all night.
“ohhh? he’s actually coming?” yuma says in that sweet, dangerous voice of his. he crawls closer on his knees, peering at your phone screen even though you try to hide it.
“yuma—lay off him when he comes.” maki, who’s been half-dozing against the couch, mumbles.
“lay off him?” yuma repeats sweetly, tilting his head. “maki-ya, i would never. i’m just going to… warmly welcome our dear jojo into the sacred blanket fort. with love. and maybe a few questions about that shirtless photo he sent~”
harua snorts into his blanket. taki is already grinning, whispering something to harua that makes both of them giggle.
you shoot yuma a look. “i’m serious. don’t bully him too hard the second he walks in. he’s probably already dying from embarrassment.”
yuma puts both hands over his heart like he’s been wounded. “me? bully? i’m simply an observer of their romance. a humble narrato if you will. a—”
a soft knock on the door cuts him off mid-sentence.
everyone freezes.
your heart leaps into your throat. you scramble up from the blanket fort, legs a little shaky, while yuma’s eyes light up like a predator spotting prey.
k’s voice comes through the door, low and amused. “special delivery.”
you open the door before yuma can volunteer.
there he is.
jo is standing in the hallway, trying to remian half-hidden behind k’s broad frame despite his height, hood pulled over his hair. his cheeks are flushed deep pink—whether from the cold night air, the soju, or pure nerves, you can’t tell. his ears are glowing red. he’s clutching a plastic bag of convenience store snacks in both hands like a shield.
the second his eyes meet yours, his breath catches visibly. that shy, disbelieving little smile breaks across his face, soft and overwhelmed.
“hi…” he says, voice quiet and a little hoarse. “sorry it’s so late. i…i brought melon bread and those honey butter chips the boys like.”
yuma appears behind you like a ghost, leaning against the doorframe with the biggest, most dangerous grin. before he can even speak, you elbow him in the stomach.
“ow—!” yuma dramatically folds over, clutching his side like you just stabbed him. “betrayal! i’ve been stabbed by the hostess herself!”
he stumbles back two steps, pretending to wheeze, then immediately straightens up with a bright, mischievous grin. “fine, fine~ i’ll behave. for now.”
k chuckles behind jo, patting his shoulder once. “good luck, kid. text me if they bully you too much.” he gives you a small, knowing smile and a little wave before heading back toward the elevator.
jo is still standing in the doorway, looking equal parts relieved and mortified. his ears are impossibly redder after yuma’s dramatic performance. he glances at you with those wide, sparkly eyes, the shy smile returning full force.
“thank you…” he whispers, barely audible.
you gently take his wrist and tug him inside, closing the door behind him. the warmth of the living room wraps around both of you immediately. jo kicks off his shoes quickly, still clutching the snack bag like a lifeline, and lets you pull him straight toward the blanket fort.
the second he sits down beside you—so close that your thighs press together under the big shared blanket—the chaos resumes.
yuma flops down dramatically on your other side, resting his chin in his hands like a gossip queen. “so. jojo. be honest. did you rehearse that shirtless mirror selfie? how many takes? did you do the whole ‘one arm behind the head, sultry gaze’ pose?”
jo makes a tiny strangled sound and hides his entire face in your shoulder, burying himself against you. his voice comes out muffled and embarrassed. “yuma-hyung… please…”
harua and taki are already giggling uncontrollably. maki just shakes his head with a fond grin, passing jo a can of soda. “here. hydrate before you spontaneously combust.”
you reach up and gently tug jo’s hood down a little, brushing his messy black hair back a bit. he peeks up at you, cheeks still blazing, but his expression softens the moment your eyes meet.
“i really did bring the melon bread,” he mumbles, offering the plastic bag like a shy little gift. “and the chips…oh—and some strawberry milk because i know you like it cold.”
your heart feels like it’s going to explode.
yuma fake-cries into a pillow. “he even brought snacks. god—he’s so whipped. this is too cute. i’m emotionally damaged.”
harua and maki roll their eyes, quickly nabbing the chips from the bag.
you ignore yuma completely, and lean in closer to jo, your voice soft just for him.
“i’m really happy you’re here, jo” you whisper. “even with all the teasing.”
jo’s hand finds yours under the blanket, fingers trembling slightly as they intertwine with yours. he squeezes once, then doesn’t let go.
the room slowly settles after another round of laughter.
taki suddenly sits up straight, pointing at the tv with wide eyes. “wait—wait—everyone shut up! this is the best part! the ghost is about to appear—shhh!”
the boys instinctively quiet down (even yuma only makes one last dramatic “hmph” before flopping back into the blankets). the horror movie flickers on, casting soft blue light across the blanket fort. everyone snuggles back in, the chaos finally simmering into comfortable background noise.
you wait until the scene ends and the room is calm again. jo is still glued to your side under the big blanket, your fingers loosely intertwined. his thumb keeps brushing nervous little circles over the back of your hand.
you lean in close to his ear and whisper, “jojo…do you want to help me make more popcorn in the kitchen? i think we’re almost out.” you shake the mostly empty bucket.
jo blinks at you, then nods quickly, ears already turning pink again. “y-yeah. i’ll help.”
you both slip out from under the blanket as quietly as possible. yuma’s head pops up like a prairie dog anyway, but maki yanks him back down with a low “let them breathe, yuma.”
the kitchen is just around the corner—dim, warm, and quiet compared to the living room. the fairy lights from the living room barely reach in, leaving everything in soft shadows.
the second you’re alone, you turn to face him.
jo sets the half-empty popcorn bowl on the counter, then just…stands there, looking at you. his short black hair messy from running his hands through it—a nervous habit. his cheeks and ears are still flushed, eyes shiny and nervous and happy all at once.
“i still can’t believe i’m actually here,” he whispers.
you step closer, gently tugging the front of his hoodie. “i can’t believe it either.”
for a moment you both just breathe the same air, hearts hammering. then jo leans in first—slow, shy, almost hesitant—and presses his lips to yours.
it’s soft. sweet. a little clumsy from nerves and leftover soju courage. his hands hover for half a second before settling lightly on your waist, fingers curling into your hoodie like he’s afraid you’ll disappear. you kiss him back, tilting your head, one hand cupping his burning cheek.
when you pull apart, jo’s eyes are wide, lips slightly parted, completely dazed.
“…wow,” he breathes, voice cracking. a shy, giddy smile breaks across his face as he rests his forehead against yours. “i’ve wanted to do that for so long.”
you laugh softly, thumb brushing his cheek. “me too.”
he kisses you again—quicker this time, but still so gentle, like he’s savoring every second. his ears are glowing bright red even in the dim kitchen light.
from the living room, you hear yuma’s muffled but dramatic voice: “if they’re making popcorn, why is the microwave not on yet—?”
authors note: this was based off this ask and i loved writing this, so i made it a full post!! writing cute fluff heals something me.. i wish more people would request it ㅠ_ㅠ i hope u all enjoy this sweet piece!
dailybridgerton
jbbartram-illu
snowghoul
