I Need To Achieve Big Heights In My Career... No I Want To Achieve Big Things In My Career. But When

I need to achieve big heights in my career... no I Want to achieve big things in my career. But when surviving takes up all my energy and dealing with people who only seem to enjoy tearing me down, I have no energy left to go after my goals. I am tired of curing myself and getting back up on my own. How hard is it for me to be left alone, unbothered... I am not asking for support, I just need 5 minutes of peace.

this is the height of romance

Stuck with me - Kim Seungmin

Pairing: Kim Seungmin x Reader

tags: fluff, clg bf Seungmin, popular singer boy seungmin, mention of previous breakup, oc gender not specifically mentioned, friends to lovers, puppy seungmin

a/n: not proofread, just trying to live my delulu through writing, Seungmin in glasses has been stuck in my head

masterlist

"You what?" Your voice comes out in a screech that turns many heads in the cafe you frequented often, like most other students from your university.

Seungmin, who stood in front of you, looking calm and gorgeous as ever stared back at you with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"You heard me." He says in a cool way that throws you off more.

"I- I need a minute." You manage to let out and cover your head in your hands. The embarrassment from screeching in the middle of the cafe and the shock of what had just happened was all too much to take in at once. You need to breathe.

It was yet another normal weekday filled with assignments, delusional romcoms and endless caffeine ingestion. After a rough summer filled with heartbreak and a depressing start to the fall semester, you had finally gained your footing. The fall had brought with it a lot of changes in you.

You found new classmates who had helped you through the rough times and cared about you. Amongst those classmates was also Seungmin, the menace of the group but surprisingly your favourite confidante. He had been nothing but a little prankster and a comedian who ensured the other boys- Hyunjin, Changbin and Jeongin, never got a single second of peace.

He went a little easier on you and Ryujin, the other girl in the group, and you figured it had less to do with your gender and more to do with the fact that he was positively scared of both of you. While he had been a little less annoying with you, it didn't mean you were entirely free of the classic Seungmin pranks either.

Which is why your first instinct on b being asked out on a date by the Kim Seungmin was to believe he was pulling a prank on you.

Seungmin might be a comedian amongst his friends but you were very well aware of his status as the golden boy of the university's band and the boy with the golden voice. On top of that angelic voice, the boy also had a face that could make everyone melt. That smile had made your heart skip beats on several occasions too.

You had met him on a very surly day of your class during the first week of the semester to discuss forming project teams. What began as a purely academic bond evolved into a sureshot friendship as his friend group got acquainted with you and your friend. You had grown very fond of the boys as they helped you forget your pain.

Seungmin was the first one to reach out and notice your melancholy and something about him made you open up about your struggles. It had been two months since then and he had been your source of support through the entire time. While the other boys were also sweet and Ryujin was your primary pillar of support, Seungmin gave you a comfort that felt worlds apart from the others.

You had your fair share of childish fun with him too. You started to notice how he let only Jeongin and you tease him. Changbin and Hyunjin never stood a chance against Seungmin and despite the latter's fear of Ryujin's brash honesty, he never let her off the hook easily either. It was not exactly a surprise to realise that Seungmin had a soft spot for you.

The surprise was that he had walked into the cafe on a random Tuesday afternoon and chose to utter the words "Will you go on a date with me?" in the most nonchalant Seungmin way with absolutely no warning.

And an even bigger surprise was how your heart was skipping several beats on hearing it and your brain was practically shouting at you to say yes even though you had never let yourself think about Seungmin in that sense.

Correction- you had consciously tried your best to not let Seungmin and his actions, smile, voice, hair or even his pranks affect you in a romantic way. You had just come off a horrendous romantic experience that should keep you sworn off romance for a decade at the least. But you would be lying to yourself if you said you hadn't thought about being with Seungmin at least a couple hundred times in the last month alone.

It had all started with that dream. One cold October afternoon, you decided to make the mistake of taking a nap and ended up dreaming of cuddling with Seungmin while watching the snow from your window. The dream threw you off balance and ever since you have been trying and failing to remove Seungmin out of your mind. The random blushes creeping up your cheeks and a pang of jealousy weighing down your mind every time he performed on stage and you had to watch all the girls drool over him. It was all really frustrating, to have to act normally around him while convincing yourself that you are better off as friends.

Especially since he had started wearing his new prescription glasses and smiling at you randomly. Everything he did got magnified and took up extensive real estate in your brain. Each night you convinced yourself you don't have feelings for him and each morning he would do something so small that would have you fighting for your life trying not to melt.

And now he had the audacity to prank you with something as big as a date and you had no idea how to react.

You parted your hands from your face to look up at him through the gaps in your fingers to find him missing. This made you sit upright and look around, part of you hoping he had left and another part sighing in disappointment at the idea of it being a joke after all. But no, there he was, waiting in line at the counter for his order- which you knew was an iced americano, no sugar and extra ice. You watched as he politely thanked the lady who handed him a drink, then turned around and smiled at the group of freshman girls giggling at him. An involuntary eye-roll escaped and you turned toward your laptop waiting from him to take the seat opposite yours.

"So?" He says, placing his drink on the table and placing his hands on the table as he leans forward.

God, that smirk on his face made your stomach do a backflip.

"So what?" You forced yourself to look and sound as normal as possible. And judging by the smirk that has taken on residence on Seungmin's face you weren't doing the best job.

"Y/N, come on. Stop playing hard to get with me."

"Seungmin what the hell! Stop trying to play one of your stupid pranks on me." This broke his stance. His face turned from playful to serious and it only made your heart beat faster.

"I'm not playing pranks y/n. I am serious." And he looks it too. You gulp down the ball of anxiety forming in your throat.

"You want me to go on a date with you? For real?"

Seungmin flinches at your tone. "Is that really such a weird thought for you?"

The doubt flashing on his face tugs at your heart and you immediately leap to say "no".

This brings the faintest hint of a smile back on his face. He takes a sip out of his drink and says "So it's a yes?"

You say the only thing that comes to your mind at that moment. "Why?"

"What do you mean why?" Seungmin's voice is barely above a whisper.

"Why me? Why now?" Your voice falters at the thought of being vulnerable only for him to end up calling it a prank or a mistake. But the way his face softens at your question removes the worry from your mind. He reaches out and takes your hand in his. The butterflies are doing a full ballet routine in your stomach and your heart thrums in your ears in anticipation.

"Y/N, I knew you were dumb but never thought you were this dumb!" You pout in response and he chuckles. "Okay okay, I was joking. But what I mean to say is... I've liked you for a while now. So I thought I'll ask you out on a date, see if it is an infatuation or something more and then figure out what to do."

It was very Seungmin of him to say that.

"What about my feelings for you?" You questioned out of curiosity.

"That's obvious. You're already head over heels in love with me." He says it with a shrug and you remove your hand from his in frustration. "Ya Seungmin, do you have a death wish?" you exclaim and roll your eyes. Of course, you knew he was joking but your stomach still churned in anxiety.

"Jokes apart, I really do like you y/n and I hope you give me this chance to show it to you. I was waiting all this while for you to take your time after your breakup and move on. Yesterday when you said you didn't even think of any of that mess or feel sad anymore I decided it is time to make my move. And of course, there is no force on you and I won't hold it against you if you reject either. But I really hope you give me this chance. The semester is almost over and we can go on one small date during the break and then figure out everything else. Please?"

Everyone called Seungmin a puppy and you were wary of the nickname initially but at that moment he was looking at you with the softest eyes, lips in a pout and a questioning look that made him look like the cutest puppy on the planet.

His heartfelt confession gave rise to a gazillion butterflies and everything beautiful in your stomach. The big smile formed on your face involuntarily.

"Seungmin that was... cute", you said chuckling. "Who knew you could be this wholesome!"

His pout intensified. "Hey, I am very cute always. But the fact that you haven't slapped me yes makes me hope I might get a yes?" The last sentence sounds more like a question even to Seungmin and you let out another chuckle.

"Yes, Seungmin. I will go on a date with you. Just one though." You feign nonchalance but he sees right through you.

"Y/N, please! I know you are squealing with happiness on the inside right now."

"Yea sure, like I am one of your cringe fangirls ugh! I am just doing this as a favour to you."

"Ahha I see. How kind of you ma'am." He says with a mock bow while his face is glowing with joy.

"Ya stop teasing me or I will back out." The ultimatum sounds like a joke even to your own ears but you keep up the act for the fun.

"No, you're stuck with me now. No backing out!" He said with indignance.

"Do you mean just about the date?" The question left your mouth before your brain could understand it and you regretted it the instant his expression turned serious again.

Seungmin looks into your eyes for a moment too long before responding, "You're stuck with me. That's all."

And just like he leaves for his next class, leaving you to smile to yourself like an idiot. A ping from your phone distracts you.

Seungmin: I'd be wholesome to you forever if it meant seeing you smile like that.

You didn't know what the impending winter would bring but for now, you decided to bask in the happiness and this new facet of Seungmin.

Neurodivergent culture is your parent/guardian yelling at you because they don't understand why you have meltdowns and then you're just trying to calm down and they're making it worse by trying to talk to you

.

Romantic academia:

Going on study dates to pretty libraries, fighting to find a seat next to each other.

On discord listening to them go through a powerpoint the night before their big presentation.

The Arts/Humanities one proof-reading the STEM one's motivation letters/long emails.

Reading through interesting research in bed together, sharing the one phone screen.

Alternating between who is the one making tea for the study session. (Bonus: matching study mugs)

Study breaks include marveling over some super niche knowledge acquired during the study session.

Emailing an article as a pdf, and titling the email "I thought you'd find this interesting :-)"

Setting a timer for a cuddle break when the assignment work gets too overwhelming. Celebrating together when the assignment gets done.

Sharing the excitement of finding a new productivity app / stationary shop / study hack.

don’t want to do academia, can’t deal with mind numbing imposter syndrome because my prof mentioned an exam and now i’ve to overachieve south asian eldest daughter my way out of it (i am in europe, no one gives two craps about my grades, it’s just me and the voices)