feels like my world has grown.

charlie was excited. she didn’t think her day would turn into this. it felt unreal to her that they’ve got a house now. together. “oh, there’s a lot we have to do, but… i like it. it’s a bit bigger than the living room in the boys’ house.” she smiled widely, her hand holding his tightly. “so how many rooms are there?” 

charlie was just as bad as expressing her affection with words, so she had no idea what to do. all she can do was reach up to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. “i’d love that… i love you.” she smiled at him. she was a bit hesitant just a little moment ago, feeling like it was rushed. but she thought about it again, and honestly, what’s the harm? they spend a lot of time together everyday anyway. “i dont mind it, at all. i do like it a lot so far. but you’re gonna have to show me around.”

charlie’s eyes wandered around. she could tell it was still a bare home, but she could see woosung living here and making it his own. she stood by the island, clearly amazed by the size of this place. although what woosung said next was something she was expecting, but didn’t have high hopes on. “… are you serious?” she asked, looking down at the key and then back at him. “w-woosung, that’s a big step… i mean, i would love to, but… are you sure?” 

“where are we…” charlie asked when woosung parked his car in the driveway of a house she’s never been to before. she was skeptical, but she jumped out and followed him, still a little behind him. she watched in confusion as he opened the door. “wait… what?!” charlie asked, eyes widening. her mind was running with possible thoughts, and yet she didn’t want to assume. they never talked about this. “you… got a place?” she repeated, taking a step inside and looking around. “what the fuck?”

charlie stayed quiet. she didn’t know what to say for a moment. she sighed and shook her head. “it’s fine. don’t worry about it. i don’t blame you for that… i honestly thought the same about you.” she admitted. charlie looked up at him, smiling a little for the first time. “please?” she opened her arms, waiting for her long awaited hug. “i missed you.” 

“i… of course i care, woosung. just because we broke up, doesn’t mean we can’t be normal friends who catch up sometimes.” she answered. charlie sighed, taking a few steps closer so that she wasn’t so far from him. “it’s never too late. i didn’t know you’d think that… i really thought we were fine. and… and honestly, seeing you there all of a sudden without a warning threw me off. i’m happy to see you again, but not like this. i didn’t want to feel like i wasn’t wanted anymore.” 

charlie pushed through people and left the house as quickly as she could, not wanting to stay anymore. this was too much. the noise and her thoughts running quickly weren’t a good mix. she tried to stay calm. she didn’t want to be angry, but she didn’t understand why her own friend didn’t tell her he was here. her thoughts were interrupted when she heard woosung’s voice behind her. she stopped and turned around, arms wrapped around herself because she truly didn’t know what to do with them. “that’s what i thought…? but clearly no one wanted to tell me you were here. including you.” she answered, looking very hurt. “you’ve been here for three months and everyone knew? and no one bothered to maybe say ‘hey, charlie, he’s here’? there weren’t any hard feelings in the first place, i don’t understand why you didn’t talk to me.”

three months ago. charlie wanted to punch someone. she crossed her arms and looked over at the boys who were obviously watching them, now stupidly pretending like they were talking about something else. “i came here with choon and our friends…. hold on-” she stopped herself, eyes wide. “so she knew you were here? this whole time?? what the fuck?” charlie pushed her hair back, actually frustrated with her friend. she didn’t know how she was supposed to react. of course she was happy to see woosung again, but she was also conflicted because they weren’t together anymore and she didn’t know if he even wanted her again. “i… this is too much for me” charlie shook her head, walking past woosung once again and heading straight for the door to leave. she’d rather be in a quiet place on her own than have to face everyone around her. 

woosung simply rolled his eyes when she mentioned choonhee, not at all surprised she’d known something they didn’t this whole time. “sounds like choon.” he chuckled, but it was a little sour. he went to speak but she moved past him before he could even response, mouth a little agape as he stared head through the ghost of the girl that had been haunting him long before this moment. he shook his head at his friends who looked him questioningly, only for them to all whisper shout at him to hurry up and move. 

this was strange. charlie wasn’t used to being awkward around him like this. it felt so, so wrong and she wished that wasn’t the case. her eyes landed on the dark mark on his arm, never having see that one there before. but before she could let that thought process; the fact that some things changed and she didn’t know about them, he broke the news. she looked up at him with surprise. “… what?” she asked. “you… moved here?” why did that hurt? the only reason they broke up was that they couldn’t be in each other’s lives anyway because he was away and because they got busy with their own lives. she couldn’t believe that the only thing she wished for happened after they broke up. “s-since when?” she didn’t mean for her voice to crack, and she quickly cleared her throat to act like she was fine. 

thankfully, it was someone from her class, and someone who she actually liked talking to casually. so it wasn’t too hard to talk to her and not be so obviously awkward about how she’s avoiding looking at woosung. her heart couldn’t handle this. she still couldn’t move on. and she had no idea if woosung even missed her at all. she momentarily forgot that he was there, that is until she actually heard his avoid near her. she took one quick glance at him before looking down at anything else. the girl with her had no idea what was going on, but she nicely smiled and “sure.” before walking away. that’s when it had gone quiet. charlie had no idea what to say. she turned to him, but wasn’t looking at him just yet. “so… you’re visiting your friends?” she asked quietly, not knowing what else to say.

charlie didn’t want to go to this party in the first place. choon kept talking about nick and yejun’s party nonstop, begging her to go with her and the other girls. charlie eventually had no choice but to say yes, otherwise she’d have all of them ramble about how ‘awesome’ it was later. she’s been in this house for two minutes. two minutes, and she walked into the living room, only to meet someone’s eyes that she didn’t think she’d see again. never again, let alone here. in london. in her friend’s house. her eyes were stuck on him, not being able to move them away. she couldn’t even pretend like she didn’t see him. but was she going to do that? yes. luckily she saw a girl she knew standing a bit further behind woosung and pretended like she was looking at her. “hey! how’s it going?” she grinned, passing by him and going to the familiar girl. 

watching charlie walk straight past him made him feel like he was punched in the gut, looking down at his lap and tilting his head in response to the knock. losing charlie was something he still hadn’t healed from, and her acting like he wasn’t even there hurt him. he knew her well enough to know she had chosen to act like they hadn’t noticed each other. “who is that?” nick muttered to him, noticing where he had been looking before. woosung whispered her name back to him, receiving widened eyes from his friends in response. “like... the ‘love of your life’ charlie?” youjin commented, and woosung smacked him on the arm as if he’d shouted it even though it was barely above a whisper. 

there was a small but growing smile on charlie’s face. she knew what was coming for her boyfriend: embarrassment. and honestly, she was very amused with how his parents were already exposing everything. charlie took a glance at woosung, laughing a little at how embarrassed he was. “that sounds so cute. i mean i could see it coming from kitae, but not woosung over here.” she patted his arm playfully, shaking her head. charlie smiled at his dad, the two parents somehow managing to make feel less nervous than she had been earlier. “i’m having a great time, don’t worry. he’s not always so grumpy. big softie, actually.” 

the moment charlie saw woosung’s parents approaching, she turned away and tried to keep herself together. she’s never been so nervous about something so small. she downed her entire drink as a courage boost and turned back to look at the little family, standing a bit behind while they greeted each other. she could just tell how embarrassed woosung was. it was a little funny, she wasn’t going to lie.

“uh, h-hello.” she spoke when woosung introduced her, but she really couldn’t say anything else because of how eager his mother seemed it be. it was sweet how excited they were. she shook the woman’s hand, trying her best to smile nicely. “it’s nice to meet you too.” charlie stood back next to her boyfriend, her hand linking with his arm. “are you having fun?” she decided to ask, trying not to be awkward.

“oh, crap.” woosung muttered under his breath before taking a long sip of his drink, seeing his parents approach. he wasn’t nervous because they wouldn’t like charlie, he knew they would, he was nervous about getting embarrassed. “woosungie!” his mother beamed as she pulled him in for a huge hug, then kissing his cheek before totally pulling away. “where’s this pretty girlfriend of yours then, kiddo?” his dad asked as he placed a hand on his shoulder, and woosung just wanted the ground to swallow him whole.