S.COUPS In April Shower For @97-liners (just Because!)

S.COUPS in April Shower for @97-liners (just because!)

DRABBLE MARATHON #1:

LEE SEOKMIN + internship

1,7k words /// genre: fluff (?) /// warnings: food mentions.

In which Seokmin becomes your own ray of sunshine.

Hands shaking and panic in your mind, you entered the office. 

What had been a goal and a dream just a few weeks ago was now your reality. You had scored the very internship you had aimed for. But that didn’t make you any less anxious about it all.

People dressed in business casual scurried around you, a cup of coffee in one hand and a printed report in the other. No one seemed to notice you.

Unsure who to talk to, you stood off to the side, offering a polite smile to anyone who gave you a curious look as they passed by. None of them seemed to realise who you were or what you were in their office for.

The door opened, startling you just a little, and revealed a young man. He entered and politely bowed to a woman who walked past him. His hands seemed to be shaking as much as yours were as he also stood off to the side, a little away from you.

“Are you–” He cleared his throat and leaned closer to you. “By any chance, do you work here?”

You shook your head. “Just an intern.”

He seemed relieved at your words, his body visibly relaxing as he took in the information. Realising he must’ve looked like a fool to you, he put on a smile. “I’m Seokmin. I’m an intern too.”

You smiled back at him. “Really? What’s your major?”

“Marketing. You?”

“Translation and localisation.”

He looked a little stunned at your answer, a dumb expression on his face. “Translation?” A lightbulb seemed to go off in his head right at that moment. He lit up again. “Oh, maybe we’ll get to work together then.” 

“Right,” you replied with an awkward smile. 

You feared he’d interpret your expression as unfriendliness – a bit unfortunate because you were only socially anxious and actually wanted to make a friend at this internship – but he seemed to see right through you. 

He offered a bright smile and gentle nudge, as if you were friends already. “Hey… I’m scared too. This is my first ever internship. I’m not even entirely sure what I’m going to be doing here. But that’s okay. We’ll be fine.”

“Do you really think so?” you asked him, feeling a little better at the display of camaraderie. 

He nodded confidently and that was all the assurance you needed.

You were given a desk near a ceiling-high window. Though you first couldn’t believe your luck, it quickly became clear why they gave this seat to an intern: the afternoon sun shone right through the glass and onto your desktop screen. This made your work just a bit more difficult, but hey: dream internship.

Your schedule had you coming to the office for full days on Mondays and afternoons on Wednesdays, right after your lectures. The first Wednesday proved to be challenging. You were overcome with the urge to take your post-lecture nap and yet you had to drag yourself to the office where a folder full of documents to be translated had been placed on your desk. 

The sight made you both giddy and weary. But at least the chair was comfortable. 

“I knew we’d be working together!” you then heard a familiar voice. When you looked up, Seokmin was smiling brightly at you as he approached your desk. His eyes shone in the afternoon sunshine – it was easy to get lost in them. 

He placed a folder on your desk. “My supervisor told me to bring these to be translated, but then the translators here told me to bring this to you instead.”

“What are these?” you asked, opening the folder to find the answer to your question. “Oh. What do I do with these?”

“I honestly have no idea,” he answered, his eyes widening to convey his apologies for him. He quickly squinted his eyes again as the sun began to hurt them. “Can you even see anything here?”

“Barely.” You sighed, still eyeing the marketing materials he had brought for you. 

He frowned. “Why not just close the blinds?”

“Because this is the only window in this department that doesn’t have working blinds,” you replied and offered him a tired smile. “Yeah, I can’t believe my luck either.”

“Well,” he paused and tried to find some comforting words to say. It took him a moment, but he got there eventually: “There will probably be less sunshine when autumn sets in.”

You hummed in agreement. “I both dread it and can’t wait.”

“Right?” He offered you an encouraging smile. “They said those materials need to be translated by next Wednesday. Can you do it?”

“I can try,” you answered hesitantly, looking up at him and once again getting lost in the pretty golds and browns of his eyes. 

He took your silence for worse than it was. “Do you want me to beg my supervisors for an extension for you? Because I can do that. I’ve practically perfected the whole ‘getting on my knees and begging for an extension’ thing.”

You laughed. “How come?”

“I suck at meeting deadlines. It’s a miracle I’ve made it this far, honestly,” he confessed before offering again, “So, should I?”

“No, no,” you shook your head quickly, grinning, “I’ll be fine. I’m a quick worker.”

“You sure?” 

You weren’t entirely sure why this stranger – an acquaintance at most – was so hell-bent on getting on his knees for your sake, but it was a sweet gesture. You offered him one last smile. “I’m sure.”

He narrowed his eyes at you as if he had a built-in lie detector, but if he did have one, it proved to be ineffective. Before long, his scowl melted back into a warm, sunny smile. “Well, I’ll come back for these in a week then.” He turned to leave. But before he got more than four steps away, he turned on his heel and made a cheering gesture, bellowing, “I believe in you!”

You hid your embarrassed (yet flattered) face in your hands and waved him away. He laughed and waved you goodbye for the day.

Lunch breaks quickly became your favourite part of internship days for three reasons: 1) lunch, 2) break, and most importantly 3) Seokmin. 

Without fail, on every Monday, at 1 pm sharp, Seokmin appeared at your desk with a sweet smile. Every time, he’d invite you to get lunch with him – even when marketing team members invited him instead. 

“Eating in the park was a great idea,” you told him on this Monday, happily eating your salad. “The weather is so nice today.”

He smiled at that. “It’s the last nice days of autumn. Might as well enjoy them before it gets cold and rainy.”

“I can’t believe it’s been a whole month at the company already. Feels like we met just yesterday.”

“I worried I’d get bored, honestly,” he responded. “I’m not actually a big fan of marketing.”

You chuckled. “Then why are you a marketing major?”

“Mom told me to study something useful,” he grimaced before bursting into laughter. “It’s not all bad though. It’s more creative than business, at least. Or engineering. God, I would’ve sucked at engineering.”

“Yeah, I figured maths wasn’t your strong suit,” you joked and pinched his cheek. 

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Slander.”

You laughed as he dramatically turned his head away from yours. You laughed because you knew that any second now he’d burst out laughing with you. He always did. 

He did it because he knew that it would make you laugh even harder and make your day better. He did it because he had fallen in love with your smile.

Seokmin was good at pretending he wasn’t nervous. Years of drama club participation had paid off in that aspect even if he could never fulfil his dream of becoming an actual actor. And yet, you seemed to see right through him at your last lunch together.

“I can’t believe it’s our last week here,” you breathed out, watching people pass by the otherwise empty break room. 

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” was all he offered, apparently more interested in the fried noodles his roommate had so kindly packed for him.

You looked at him, seated across from you at the table, his back facing the hallway and his face the sun shining through the windows (he always sat on that side, not wanting you to suffer with sun in your eyes). Today his usually sunny expression had been replaced with gloomy skies. 

You reached for his hand across the table. “Are you okay?”

He glanced up, startled by your touch. “I– Yeah. I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not,” you replied. Weeks of knowing him had made you more perceptive to his moods. “You can tell me, you know. I won’t judge.”

He took a deep breath. “... You promise?”

“Of course.” You had thought it was a given.

He took another breath, even deeper. He fingers wrapped around yours and squeezed them tightly. Then, he said, “I have a confession to make.” You nodded for him to continue. “I… (Y/n), I like you.”

“You… like me?” Your eyes widened and you almost slipped your hand out of his on instinct. 

His grip only tightened. “I like you. I’ve liked you since the first day we met. You’re so kind and so sweet and so, so dedicated to your studies and the work you do here. You’re gorgeous inside and out. I can’t help but like you, as more than a friend, and I’m scared that you won’t–”

“I like you too, Seokmin,” you breathed out and rushed to stand up and round the table to hug him. He tensed only for a moment before relaxing into your embrace, relishing in the feeling of your lips against his hair. You repeated and kept repeating, “I like you too. I like you so much. Gosh, of course I like you. How could I not? I like you.”

He wasn’t sure which was warmer: your embrace? the warmth of a blush on his cheeks? the sun shining on his hands as he wrapped his arms around you?All three. He liked all three. But he liked you the most.

A/N: is this my best work? no. could i have written a full slow-burn-ish fic out of it if i was in the right space of mind? yeah. am i proud of it? meh. however, i wrote this, like, a day before scoring an internship so i think it deserves to be uploaded anyway :)

Mission Possible

genres: elementary teachers au, fluff pairing: reader x seungkwan words: 1.2k warnings: none! notes: a short fic for seungkwan day!! I'm slightly late because I am me, but an anon requested early education kwannie and I thought that was so cute!! hopefully this lives up to their idea 😊

One of Mr Boo's students sees his brand new engagement ring.

Mr Boo's fourth grade class has been on a group mission ever since their orchestra field trip.

Their mission — and they did choose to accept it: get Mr Boo (the funniest and most glaringly obviously single teacher at Greenfield elementary school) together with you (the new music teacher Mr Boo's students always catch him smiling at while you're not looking).

Future president ten-year-old Kim Sujeong is at the head of the operation. She was behind most of the class's best efforts, including but not limited to running allllllll the way across the school from the music room to his classroom and telling him you had fallen and died and that he needed to come help! or else you might, er, die harder. Despite the flimsiness of Sujeong's story, Mr Boo had gone running full-speed down the halls to you (whom he found perfectly fine and not dead, just wide-eyed at his sudden — and out of breath — appearance in the music room with Sujeong beaming behind him when you were certain she was supposed to be in the bathroom), so she counted that as a success.

Now, future marine biologist Kim Sujeong — she’s still between that, president, or interior designer — is in a fit, arms crossed as she watches the kids of Greenfield elementary run around the playground. She huffs. Can’t the rest of the fourth graders take this seriously? Will they let the mission go? Just like that?

Recess is great, sure, but this is no time for play!

This morning, though Sujeong didn’t notice until a couple minutes before the first recess bell rang, Mr Boo showed up with a shiny silver ring on his finger. His left ring finger.

Sujeong huffs again.

“Are you okay there, Sujeong?”

On supervision duty today, you sit down on the park bench next to Sujeong, slightly concerned. She looks up at you, uncrosses her arms, and whimpers out your name. “Are you devastrated?” she asks you on the verge of tears.

“Devastated?” You point at yourself. “Me?”

Tears brim at the corners of Sujeong’s eyes, and her bottom lip quivers. “Mr Boo!” she cries out. “He’s getting married!”

You blink.

For a few seconds, you say nothing, just staring at Sujeong, and she thinks — oh, heartbreak! — you must have already given up on Mr Boo, must’ve heard about it already and cried before recess started, and, oh! What a cruel man Mr Boo is, to do this to you!

“Oh, sweetheart,” you say, smiling and gently taking Sujeong’s hands in yours. What a strong person you are, she thinks, to smile through such pain… You smooth down her hair, which, although her mum had done it in pretty braids today, has gone a bit wild in the wind. “Mr Boo getting married doesn’t make me sad.”

Sujeong sniffles. “Why not?”

You chuckle slightly, but Sujeong doesn’t know what’s so funny. “I’m happy for him. It’s not every day you find someone willing to marry you. I bet he loves that person very much.”

“But…” Sujeong pouts, breath a little shaky. “I thought… he loved…”

Your left hand comes down from her hair to hold her hands again. “Hm?”

Dropping her head, Sujeong is about to mumble “you”, but instead, she gasps at the sight of your ring finger.

Which sports a silver ring she’s never seen on you before.

“Not you too!” she squeaks, utterly betrayed.

“Ah— Sujeong, it’s not—”

“They’re not better than Mr Boo, are they? I know he’s a meanie because he’s getting married but— but, you’re doing it too! You’re getting married and he’s going to be sad because he loves you! He does! I saw! He looks at you like the boys in the movies! And he talks about you all the time — even when it’s math time! You’re the music teacher! There’s no music in math!” Sujeong is starting to lose her breath, using it all up, but she can’t stop. “So you can’t marry someone else because Mr Boo loves you! He— he shouldn’t marry someone else either, but that’s why we have to stop him! I can take you to him right now. We can show him how sad you are, because you are devastrated—”

“Devastated, sweetheart,” you say, then shake your head because that’s really not important right now. “I mean, I’m not devastated. I’m very happy.” Smiling, you hold up your hand and show her your engagement ring. “I’m going to marry someone I love, and so is Mr Boo. It’s a good thing. We’re both happy.”

Sujeong looks up at you through wet eyelashes, taking in deep breaths. She pouts, but doesn’t say anything.

You sigh, still smiling. “So be happy for us, okay?” You lift her chin with one finger, your other hand giving her smaller one a soft squeeze. “Don’t worry about our boring grown-up problems, and go play with your friends while it’s still recess. You know it’s social studies after, right?”

Sujeong lets out a little gasp. That’s right — there must be only a couple minutes left of recess, and she needs to gather up her classmates for an emergency meeting.

New mission: find out how to break an engagement.

Two of them.

Future president marine biologist interior designer divorce lawyer Kim Sujeong has her work cut out for her.

⭒

Once all the students have been picked up and all his prep work for tomorrow gets finished, Seungkwan packs his things and heads to the music classroom. The door is open, but he raps his knuckles against it and leans against the door frame when you look up from your desk and smile at him.

“Ready to go?” He smiles back.

“Just a second, Mr Boo.”

You throw your things in the backseat of the car before getting in to the passenger seat next to Seungkwan.

“Sujeong seemed pretty put out with me today,” he says as he starts the engine, a slight smile teasing at his lips. He lifts his left hand and wiggles his fingers at you, the silver ring glinting in the sunlight. “Didn’t like my choice of accessory, maybe?”

You snort. “Yeah, that tie is pretty ugly.”

Affronted, Seungkwan gasps and puts a hand over his heart — and pink, star-patterned tie. “You love this ugly tie.”

“I do,” you admit with a sigh. “I really do.”

He likes it when you smile at him like that. You’re tired from the day, but you still laugh with him. It’s a beautiful feeling.

“Sometimes I feel like we should just tell everyone,” you say, staring at the ring on Seungkwan’s finger.

He chuckles. “You’re the one who said you wanted to hide it.”

“Yeah, from the faculty while I’m still new — I could already tell they wouldn’t want a couple working at the same school just from the interview.” (Seungkwan thinks that the rings are a dead giveaway, but you seemed so excited to wear them this morning that he hadn't said anything, and he's not going to now.) “I didn’t think the kids would get so invested, though" you continue. "Sujeong’s mad at you for ruining her OTP, by the way.”

“Just me? You’ve got a ring too, y’know.”

“Yeah, but Sujeong likes me more.” You stick out your tongue at him.

Seungkwan scoffs in disbelief. He reaches over the gear shift and grabs your hand, linking your fingers together. “Whatever. Sujeong will have it all figured out by next year.”

You raise an eyebrow, but give his hand a squeeze anyway. “She will?”

“Well, it’ll be pretty obvious when you have my last name.”

It’s your turn to scoff. “As if. You’re taking my last name.”

Seungkwan doesn’t argue, he just pulls your hand up in his and presses his lips to your knuckles.

“I don't mind the sound of that.”

once again, user haoboutyou has obtained another reason to live

Through the night, through the day - Seungcheol (unfinished)

A/n: a little something from my discontinued wip that i really wanted to finish but no longer has it in me to. Happy three years to this blog, here's to writing for yourself and not validation of others 🍻 thank you for all of you who have been reading my stuff up until now.

Loosely inspired by: AKMU - Last Goodbye, Adele - All I Ask

Seungcheol isn’t sure who’s to blame for the current situation he finds himself in.

Is it his because he fell out of love first?

Is it yours because you refused to break up with him even after he honestly told you what love he had left for you is barely romantic at this point?

Or is it his because he had let you refuse the break up simply because he felt too bad about forcing it on you?

But he believes as much as it’s a mutual decision to start a relationship, it’s also a mutual decision to end it. He certainly still loves and cares for you enough not to simply leave despite your refusal to end the relationship; but what he has for you is not something he thinks he should be feeling for a girlfriend.

He misses that spark. That thrilling sensation and the way his heartbeat would pick up at the sight of someone’s–your–smile.

And, unfortunately, it’s practically nonexistent now and, at some point, he hates himself for losing it because you still look at him like he holds the universe while he simply feels a pinch in his heart because he feels bad.

His phone lights up with notification, a picture of you and him grinning at the camera flashing before the screen turns black again. He sighs as he takes another sip of his drink, the alcohol burns his throat the same way your smile burns his heart.

Jeonghan’s right. He needs to be stern and stop dragging this more than necessary. The both of you deserve better; him, to finally stop feeling guilty because he can’t leave you behind, and you, e to find someone that will love you like you deserve to be loved.

At some point, Seungcheol knew the role was his to fill, but that’s no longer the case and prolonging this would only hurt the both of you in the future.

Like the two of you aren’t hurting on your own already now.

He bites his lip as he imagines the hurt in your eyes and the forced smile you’d give him.

Fuck.

He downs the shot and orders another.

*

Seungcheol imagined you’d be pressing your lips together as you suppress your tears, shoulders tense and jaws tight when he tells you once again he thinks it’d be better for you two to break up.

After all, that was your reaction the first time around.

What Seungcheol did not imagine, however, are your empty eyes and the way your hands limply stack against each other; your shoulders hunch in defeat and a corner of your lip twitch a faint smile for a millisecond before it turns straight once again.

Like you know it’s coming.

Like you’ve been bracing yourself for it.

There’s a painful squeeze in his heart at the way you’re not meeting his eyes, and he fights fights fights the urge to take your hands and apologize because he’s the one that’s ridding himself of that right.

How is he supposed to handle you like this?

Then again, isn’t this an attempt to let go of that responsibility? Because he doesn’t know anymore how to handle you without the romantic filter over his gaze towards you?

He’s starting to think it would be much better if you had been crying instead.

“Okay.” You say softly, voice barely even a whisper. But it doesn’t matter because he’s heard it and his eyes widen because he doesn’t think you’d agree so easily after the fight you put out last month. “But… Can I ask you one last favor?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you take me to that camping ground we went to two years ago?”

He blinks, not expecting it at all.

“The one we went to for our first anniversary?”

For the first time in so long, the smile you give him doesn’t make his heart lurch with guilt.

He suddenly tries to think back when was the last time you actually, genuinely smiled at him with happiness in your eyes.

You always have that fond look in your eyes–something so soft and full of love–even after he asked for the break up last month. You still look at him that way after that and even right this second.

But happy?

When was the last time you laughed happily in his presence?

“Yeah. I’ve always wanted to go back but don’t really have any reason to…” You frown to yourself, your lips purse in a way that makes him want to squish your cheeks like he used to. “A farewell trip… if you will. Is it okay?”

“Sure.” He says without thinking. That’s the least he can do for you; he hasn’t exactly been the best boyfriend nor even person in general the past month, and the fact that he’s staying with you out of obligation because he doesn’t know how to break it off after your argument has been eating him inside out. If this is what you need to finally let him go, he doesn’t see why it would be a bad idea.

He still cares for you. Just not in the way people in a romantic relationship should.

For you, he’d still do anything if it’s within his reach.

For you, he'd still do anything to make sure you're happy again.

You’re still his friend before anything and Seungcheol always always tries to do his best for his friends.

“When do you want to go?”

“This weekend is fine if you’re free.”

“It’s Mingyu’s birthday, I already promised we’d go out for a drink. Is next weekend okay?”

“Sure. Do you want me to make the booking?”

He shakes his head. Perhaps it’s him wanting to compensate, but if this is going to be a farewell trip, might as well do everything for you so he can convince himself it’s okay to let go of the guilt he’s been holding over himself if only a little.

“I’ll do everything. You just wait and be pretty, okay?” He smiles cheekily, which you can only smile back in return despite the way your heart cracks little by little at how easy the words tumble out of his lips.

And he wonders why you find it hard for you to let go.

*

“Why are you brooding like your screen has personally offended you?” Jeonghan asks, plopping on the sofa next to Seungcheol.

It’s game night, something he and his friends promised to hold at least once a month. It’s Jeonghan’s turn to host the night, and Seungcheol has come almost two hours early only to focus on his macbook and barely even says anything to him, the owner of the place.

Not that it’s a rare occurrence, Seungcheol does have the tendency to do this from time to time. Just barge into his place, grunts a greeting, and leaves after an hour or two.

“I’ve been trying to book this spot in the camping ground but it’s not available.” He sighs.

Jeonghan tilts his head, interested. Seungcheol hates planning with passion, yet he's apparently doing a very thorough research for some reason.

He looks at the amount of tabs open on his laptop, and when he asks about them, Seungcheol simply says he’s making an itinerary and is currently checking all the possible places he might visit around the camping ground. He points out some places, says their pros and cons and where he currently stands about visiting them.

“Who’re you going with again?” When he mutters your name, Jeonghan can’t help but get more interested. “Didn’t you say you’re breaking up with her?”

“Yeah. She said she wants to go there one last time… I don’t know. For old time’s sake, maybe? Anyway, I don’t see anything bad about it so I guess why not.”

“You’re breaking up with her.”

Seungcheol sighs and puts away his laptop. His best friend can get like this sometimes and, at the wrong times, it really gets on his nerves.

“I am. It’s a goodbye trip of some sort, okay? She said we’ll break it off after that. Just one last trip, that’s what she asked; how can I not give her that?”

“Why would you go on a trip with someone you’re breaking up with? Isn’t that kind of the point? To stop seeing each other?”

“Look, I’ve been with her for three years, almost four, even. And it’s not like we’re breaking up because we’re fighting or what–I fell out of love. It’s on me. And I still care about her and treasure the time I’ve shared with her. If there’s anything I can do to make this breakup bearable for her, I would.”

Seungcheol clenches his jaw at the way Jeonghan is looking at him; his eyes calling him stupid and pathetic at the same time without his lips saying anything.

“You’re just compensating because you feel guilty, then.”

“And it’s wrong for me to do that?” He fumes, not getting where his best friend is going with the talk. If he thinks this is one of those days when it’s fun to push all his buttons just for the sake of it, Jeonghan definitely chose the wrong topic to do so. “Why are you complaining, anyway? It’s not like I’m making you come with me. Do you not like the idea of me giving her closure? Do you secretly dislike her all this time?”

Jeonghan looks at him sharply, daring him to say more about how he feels about you. He knows Seungcheol threw the last sentence just to spite him, because of all his friends, you’re closest with Jeonghan and the feeling is pretty much mutual. Of all the partners Seungcheol has had, you’re the one that clicks with him the most; you seem to care about Seungcheol’s friends the same way you would your own friends. If there’s anything Jeonghan appreciates, it’s loyalty.

Always loyalty.

He’s sure he would also be devastated due to your break up with Seungcheol if it means he might lose someone he treasures as much as you.

“It’d only be harder for her, you asshole.” He grits his teeth. “Why would you give her hope by doing this much preparation for a fucking goodbye trip?”

“Because she asked for the trip!”

“What you’re arranging is a romantic getaway not a goodbye trip!”

Seungcheol falters a little at this, and before he can say more, the intercom beeps, signaling the other guys’ arrival. They share one last look with each other before Jeonghan gets up and opens the door, Mingyu’s rowdy voice followed by Wonwoo and Seokmin immediately dissipates the tense in the living room.

A few hours later, it’s still a little awkward between Seungcheol and Jeonghan, Wonwoo and Seokmin approaches them separately, and when the only thing they get is a set of reassurance that they simply had a disagreement, they let it go and decide it’d be best not to bring it up for now.

“By the way,” Seokmin opens the talk as Mingyu puts down cans of beer on the table. Seungcheol immediately reaches for one and the others wait for Seokmin to continue talking. “Is your girlfriend okay? I saw her in the hospital today.”

The way Seungcheol immediately chokes on his drink would’ve been funny otherwise. He wants to make sure that it’s his girlfriend Seokmin is referring to, but he’s currently one of the only two people with a partner in this room and one of them is Seokmin himself.

“I–what?”

“Oh… you didn’t know?” The younger guy winces, though he thinks it’d be best to tell Seungcheol anyway. No matter how small it might’ve been, he would want to know if his girlfriend somehow had to visit the hospital. “I was visiting a friend and I saw her walk out of the building but she didn’t see me and she was already too far away for me to call for her.”

“She didn’t say… I didn’t even know she went to the hospital.”

Jeonghan holds back a snicker, of course he wouldn’t know. Seungcheol hasn’t exactly been attentive to you since the moment he realized he’s falling out of you, head too deep in guilt and his own thoughts that he forgets to actually take a look at what’s in front of him.

The conversation goes elsewhere, and once Seungcheol is sure the attention is no longer on him, he whips out his phone and texts you to ask if anything happened.

[20:31] did you go to the hospital today? seokmin said he saw you

[20:44] 💜: oh, yeah. severe cold case, no worries tho! Is seokmin ok?

[20:45] you literally said severe, how am i supposed not to worry?

[20:35] why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve gone with you to the hospital

[20:47] 💜: it’s still just a cold haha. i simply got checked just in case. but they made sure it’s nothing but cold.

[20:47] Calling 💜

“Please stop trying to make it look like you’re not sick.” Seungcheol cuts immediately into the case, standing in the kitchen where it’s less noisy. “Why didn’t you tell me? I was with you a few days ago.”

Huh. Wait.

Was that why you looked a little out of it?

He closes his eyes in contempt and curses himself for not noticing. No wonder you looked so lethargic. So much for a boyfriend.

“It’s really just a cold, Cheol.” You try to reassure him, though your strained voice nor the cough that follows right after aren’t really doing a good job doing so. “You know the weather has been crazy these days.”

“Still. Why would you go to the hospital alone?”

It’s not easy for you to blink back your tears as you press your lips together, hoping Seungcheol would mistake your heavy breathing is due to your cold. You wonder if Seungcheol does all of this purposely. What a cruel man he is, asking you to break up with him and then scolding you for not telling him you’re sick, that he’s worried and asked if you want him to come over tonight.

Does he or does not want to cut ties with you?

“Cheol… Look–I… I simply thought you’re busy and it’s no big deal. I should be fine after a few good night sleep, they didn’t even prescribe me that much medicine and that should say something, right?”

Something stirs in him at how exhausted you sound, and he imagines you’re laying down in your room by the sound of rustling he hears across the phone.

“Have you had dinner?” He asks instead, looking at the digital clock on Jeonghan’s fridge.

“Not yet. Maybe later.”

“Alright, I’ll just wrap it up here and come over.”

“What?” You immediately sit up, not exactly pleased with the way this conversation is going. “No, Cheol. Just hang out with the guys, I’ll be fine.”

“You’re sick, why would I be here?” He argues.

You sigh, not sure anymore the cause of your headache.

Is it your cold?

Is it him?

Probably both.

Why is Seungcheol so adamant in taking care of you when he has asked to break up last month and then asked once again not even a week ago?

Why couldn’t he be a jerk and just leave you alone?

Why does he feel the need to make sure your feelings are still intact when he has, according to himself, no longer felt the same intensity he thought one should have when they’re in a relationship?

It’s really your fucking fault for asking for him to reconsider. But, then again, you didn’t expect him to accept it at once–what was even the point of asking for a break up if you’re going to crumble after one refusal?

You didn’t know what to say the first time he asked for it. Because you know… you know it’s coming. You’ve felt the way he’s been pulling away, the way he’s been less and less interested in what you have to say, and how he’s been enjoying his time not talking to you than the other way around.

It hurts.

It hurts so much because this is the person who used to listen to you like you personally hang every single star in the universe by yourself, one that used to stare at you and pay attention to everything you say because he said he doesn’t want to miss anything only to miss half the things you’re saying because he’s too busy staring at you.

And when he asked the second time… you pretend to cough to hide your sniffle, wiping the tears that have managed to escape your eyes before you try to hurriedly hang up the phone.

“Cheol, I need to–”

“I’ll be there in forty minutes.”

He arrives in thirty, fusses over dinner and your air conditioner system and forces you to rest even after you relay what the doctor told you; that you should be okay in a few days.

It’s 1 in the morning when he leaves your place, and he only does so after you pretend to be asleep in hope he’d go home instead of staying over.

You feel him caresses your cheek softly and pats your head before he leaves, and you’re pretty sure you can feel him staring at you for a good three minutes before you hear your front door click.

You fall asleep an hour later because you’re too exhausted from crying and your head is pounding because of the same reason.

Fuck Choi Seungcheol.

minghao knows he’s in a mood again, but frankly, he couldn’t care less.

his whole day had just been wrong, and he’d set about it with a frown marring his features and a biting undertone to everything he’d said. it just happened sometimes — one of those bad, awful days where nothing goes right and it feels like everything’s against you.

it was when he snapped at jun that he finally gave in, retired to moping in his bedroom. his roommate had said he understood — jun had plenty of his own bad days, after all — but minghao still feels awful about it. he’s still too irritated to apologise — he will do it, though, he promises himself.

for now, he’s thrown himself on the covers of his bed, staring at the ceiling listlessly, and blasting music through his earphones — loud, but not so loud that he doesn’t catch the soft sound of the doorknob when you twist it, and slide yourself into the room.

you do it almost apologetically, a regretful smile directed towards him. you don’t even speak, just make your way over to his side.

minghao wishes he could be annoyed, but he never can be, at you. you’re his best friend, and maybe something more that he’s not quite willing to accept yet. it’s lurking, though, at the bottom of his chest, and it pushes up every so often — like now, as you take a seat on the edge of the bed, almost as if you’re unsure; uncertain if you’re welcome here or not.

you always are, but he doesn’t quite know how to say that yet.

instead he thinks about how he knows jun must have called you, just as he knows you, too good for this world, dropped whatever you were doing to come and talk to him.

not that you’re doing much of that — talking, he means. you’ve only flopped beside him on the white duvet; and yet it’s enough to relax a little of the tension in his limbs.

it’s so easy to be around you.

it’s so easy to offer you an earbud without even looking. it’s so easy to close his eyes, slip his hand into yours. it’s so easy to interlace his fingers with yours too, squeeze gently, keep his eyes shut, pretend.

and then suddenly it gets hard. when you shift slightly, card a hand through his dark hair like you’ve always been doing it — you’ve never done it before, he hopes you do it forever — and you blur the lines even more. that makes it harder, harder to breathe with your careful hand against his cheek, the smell of your conditioner against his lips, he can’t breathe, he thinks he loves you.

you move back slightly. the moment is gone, he can breathe, but the lines are still blurred and you can’t unblur them. god knows he doesn’t want to redraw them.

your hand slips back into his, and squeezes. his eyes flutter open — yours are shut — your breath catches — minghao realises, then.

“oh,” he whispers softly. and it’s his turn to brush your cheek with slender fingers, but he’s always been the braver of you two — he leans, he brushes his lips against your cheek too.

you might not be able to call it a kiss, but maybe you could call it a confession.

an / guys i think this might be one of my fav things i’ve ever written which is so annoying because it starts off kind of badly 😭 but also it’s 12:17am and i’ve slept like 4 hours max in the last 24 hours so my judgement may be misguided. idk. possible deletion when i wake up ⁉️