chimivx

[chimivx]

okay im crying because even after reading this part you are STILL YUNROR TEAM HWBSNNSKDLOSSHAKSKSK. I for sure thought this would turn you im dyyyying

thank you for always being so kind nana 🥺🫶🫶

‘after all the boys and girls that we’ve been through, could you give it all up if i promise to you, that i’ll never talk again, and i’ll never love again’

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➳ college!teez x fem!reader (oc) - nice for what cast ➳ 7.9k (part six of ???) ➳ 18+, sexual content, drugs/alcohol, college life, all the drama, angst, mentions of anxiety/depression… IF I MISSED ANYTHING PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

september 21st ~ sunday ~ 1:45 pm

{three men and a baby}

[tae bae]: tell me why yunho and aurora walked into blend together ordered together and sat together at t h a t booth…

[kee]: how dare you send this scenario in this groupchat

[tae bae]: i’m serious.

[tae bae]: *1 Attachment*

[wooyo <3]: Holy shit??????

[wooyo <3]: She’s m.i.a all morning and this is what happens?????

[kee]: her dinner was last night we don’t even get to hear about that first and we’re here

[wooyo <3]: Ro moves fast are we surprised

[kee]: no especially since it’s yunho

[tae bae]: guys he loves her so much, i can see it, and i’ve been seeing it. you both can’t see the way he’s listening to her, ugh.

[wooyo <3]: Keep an eye on them

[kee]: yeah let us know if you need backup babe

[tae bae]: i’m gonna bring them more coffee… gonna see if i can hear what they’re talking about…

september 21st ~ sunday ~ 2:23 pm

[tae bae]: oh it’s on. it’s so on. he said, and i quote, ‘it’s over? you’re mine?’

[wooyo <3]: Possessive much?

[kee]: awh

[wooyo <3]: No awh, that’s weird.

[kee]: give it up, she wants him, he wants her

[wooyo <3]: Okay, first of all, rude. Second of all, there is nothing to give up, Keeho, it’s done. As Yunho said, it’s over.

[kee]: hehe yeah okaaaaay whatever you say

[wooyo <3]: ENOUGH

[wooyo <3]: Where’d Theo go, get back here please, update.

[tae bae]: hang on princess, some of her sisters just got here

september 21st ~ sunday ~ 2:41 pm

[tae bae]: think we’ve got a problem.

[wooyo <3]: What.

[wooyo <3]: What happened

[kee]: am i getting in my car

[kee]: taeyang

[kee]: taeyang.

[kee]: TAE

[tae bae]: sorry, talking to shota. ror and yunho just left, they didn’t even say bye to me. all her sorority girls are still here. something happened at the frat, i don’t know, i can’t get words out of my brother. he’s really upset. 

[you]: someone has a video of me. allegedly. tae you can tell soul he has one hour to speak or he’s dead to me.

september 21st ~ sunday ~ 3:00 pm

“It can’t be that bad.”

Scoffing, you sunk further down his leather seat and groaned. “Why must there always be something.”

Yunho reached a hand over and slipped it behind your neck, digging his thumb and his finger into the muscle while he focused on the road. “I’m telling you, it can’t be that bad.”

“You don’t know that,” you muttered, then threw your hands up. “I don’t know that. Half the shit I did this summer? Everything I did with Soul? Who’s to say he didn’t do something one of those times, or filmed something without me knowing, when I was drunk, or whatever.”

The car came to a screeching stop in the middle of the road, the car behind Yunho swerving as you jolted forward, your seatbelt catching you. 

“Yo!” Hands flying for the dashboard, you sat backward and sucked down a gulp of air. His jaw tensed. His eyes narrowed. “What are you doing?”

He thrust the car in reverse, and down a one lane road drove backward, glare burning a hole in his rearview mirror.

“Yunho,” you sighed, grabbing onto his wrist gripping the shifter. He flipped his hand, offering it to you.

“Wooyoung know about any of this?” he asked, pulling the car out onto the street Blend was on. 

You held in a groan. “No.”

“San?”

“No, if either of them did, they would tell me.”

He raised a brow and shot you a look. “You sure about that?”

“Positive,” you said.

He wound the steering wheel, cutting across the opposite lane to swing back into a spot in front of the coffee shop. Throwing off his seat buckle, setting your hand gently on your lap first, Yunho kicked his door open.

“Stay here,” he ordered, bending in half to stick his head in the car before slamming his door and storming inside.

Through the shades hanging in the windows, the booths shoved up against the glass, the slight tint preserving privacy behind it— Yunho disappeared, and you were certain all of the girls were still inside.

Pushing hair from your face with the back of your hand, you scrambled for your phone and swiped through messages.

[wooyo <3]: What the fuck??? Aurora???

[kee]: nahhhhhh, tell me not the kinda video i’m thinking

[wooyo <3]: Where are you

[kee]: it hasnt even been a month back yet what the hell

[wooyo <3]: Ro where are you

[wooyo <3]: I’m coming to the house. I’m sorry

[kee]: genuinely hate living so far from campus

[tae bae]: yunhos in here. hes pissed. 

[kee]: live updates pls

[tae bae]: can’t really look down, he’s yelling at everyone

What the fuck?

Throwing off the seatbelt, kicking open the door, not a worry that the key still sat in the ignition, your feet burned holes in the concrete with every step, even as you walked into Blend, all eyes pointing toward you with the jingle of the door.

Then, they all looked back at Yunho.

“And, what about you?” he said, his tone stern, slightly raised, but he wasn’t yelling. He leaned over the counter, toward Theo.

“What about me?” he sassed back, slapping one hand on the linoleum. Yunho glanced at it. “I’ve been around a lot more than you have.”

“At her discretion,” Yunho snapped. “You going to let your brother get away with this shit?”

Theo curled his lip and narrowed his eyes. “My brother didn’t do anything.”

“Bullshit, he’s been causing her problems for a while now,” Yunho shot his glare toward Soul, “You gonna speak up or what?”

You hurried to his side, pushing past a few of the girls. Your sisters. “Okay, Yo, let’s not… let’s go.” Reaching for his arm, you gave it a tug. He didn’t budge, solid mass of muscle. “Yunho.”

“No,” he said, looking from you to the girls around you. “Who the fuck do you all think you are?” He shook his head, then nodded at Kaz who cowered behind Eunchae. “You,” he scoffed. “Manners exist. You always greet your seniors the way you did when you walked in here?”

Some type of panic erupted within you, forcing a nervous laugh from your lips. You tugged on him once more, and he gave in. “Yunho, please, we’re leaving.”

Theo watched in awe, taking it all in, a half made coffee sitting in his hands. Lips parted, eyes amused, you gave him a look before finally pulling Yunho out the door.

“What the fuck was that?” you spat, releasing him on the sidewalk.

Stumbling in his rage, he drug a hand through his hair and then tossed both of them aside, letting them slap against his legs. “I’m not gonna let people treat you like that.” Taking a deep breath, he slipped his hands into his pockets, searching. After a moment, he blinked and spun around, realizing he had left his keys in the car. In the ignition. Still running. “Shit.”

“Yunho,” you sighed, following him to the car. He pulled the door open for you, shutting it oh so gently after you slid inside. Much different behavior then the Yunho who just blew his top in front of many people you’re involved with. “Treat me like what?” you asked after the subtle slam of his door.

“A show,” he muttered, peeking over his shoulder before pulling out of the parking spot. “Their entertainment. You’re a person, Rory.”

Your heart skipped a beat.

Rory.

It didn’t feel real.

After he pulled onto the main road he relaxed in his seat, a slight slouch in his shoulders, a shimmy of his hips, the stretch of his legs in front of him. His sweats hung off of him, his thighs protruding through the fabric. He was driving, but you longed to straddle his waist and wrap your arms around him. Just the mere thought of existing in his hold flooded your belly with butterflies, like you were sixteen beside a crush. He suddenly made it hard to breathe.

“It’s fine,” you whispered, tearing your eyes off of him. Lacing your hands together you laid them over your lap. “I’ll handle it. I always do.”

The sigh through his nose filled the car with disappointment. “You don’t have to do it alone.”

“I’m not, I-”

“Rory,” he said, one of his big hands reaching over to cover both of yours. Your heart leapt into your throat, the butterflies were on speed. “Let me be here for you. Please.” He turned his chin, and it took you three whole seconds to muster up the courage to look back at him. 

Honey brown eyes.

Devastating.

Sleepy, undone hair.

Devastating.

The butterflies flew up into your chest and ripped your heart to shreds. Devouring it entirely. Not a crumb left behind. As if each one bore his name.

“Let me make up to you the last year and a half.”

The last year and a half.

You didn’t need to ruminate. There was nothing to discuss, nothing to clarify.

The last year and a half, there wasn’t a single detail left unturned. There was no need for him to say what it was.

And as much as you couldn’t wait to watch him try, the butterflies choked. Gagging on memories, a poison in your heart, they overdosed on betrayal, beautiful wings withering into a pit of hurt that manifested as nausea. 

“Fine,” you whispered, and he squeezed your hands. Phone buzzing in your pocket, you took a quick breath and removed your hands, his returning to the steering wheel. Pulling the text out, you said, “Just don’t talk to the girls like that again, please.”

He glanced toward you and held both hands up to address his surrender. And you trusted him.

[choi asshole #1]: Heading to the dr’s, I’m with Yoongi

Damn, that’s today.

[you]: keep me updated. <3

You swiped and rolled your eyes.

{three men and a baby}

[tae bae]: NOOOOOOO WAY

[kee]: what what WHAT

[tae bae]: yunho spoke on SHOTA

[kee]: shut the fuck u p

[tae bae]: okay so actually maybe he’s crazy, ror, are you good, where is he taking you, are you going to die

[kee]: okay hold up

[kee]: what did this man say

[tae bae]: i’ll call you.

[kee]: wooyoung where tf are u u’ll eat this up lolol

[you]: *replied to ‘wooyoung where tf…’* going to ignore this, cause…???

[you]: *replied to ‘okay so actually may…’* not going to die. he’s not crazy. he’s on edge. remember how everyone else was last year? he’s living it now, we never got to deal with this together.

“Three men and a baby?” Yunho asked, scaring you. Your phone dropped into your lap as you jumped and he laughed.

“Christ,” you gasped, lobbing a hand at his shoulder. He’d been leaning over the center for a few seconds. 

He laughed, taking the blow. “Am I the only victim of this physical abuse?”

“No,” you glared at him, rubbing your hands together, his shoulder hurting your fingers more. “Keeho gets it too.”

Yunho pursed his lips and nodded, the tiniest smile gracing his lips. “I’ll take it. Who’s baby?”

Your stomach rolled and plummeted all at once. Whirling around in your seat after recognizing you were parked in front of ITZ, you grasped your chest, eyes wide, sighing, “What?”

He giggled, nodding toward your phone. “The groupchat, who’s the baby? Three men? Is it you?”

‘Who’s the baby?’

Must’ve missed that part.

Relief washed over you, your entire body going lax. “Oh, no, fuck no.”

He bobbed his head, slow, eyes dragging over your body. “Oh-kay,” he sang, then laughed again. “Then, who is it?”

“Kee,” you said, shoving your phone back in your pocket. “How much of that did you read?”

Rubbing his cheeks with one hand, he squinted and cocked his head. “Uh, not much, just that we… We get to deal with this together… Or, something.” His smile grew tenfold as you rolled your eyes and threw another fist at his shoulder, him actually catching this one. Yanking on it, he pulled you into him, your noses centimeters apart.

The butterflies twitched. Wings yearned to take flight.

“I know I said what I said before,” he spoke softly, “About stuff… being over, and us… happening,” he blinked, “But, I know there’s a lot that has to happen before that.”

“Talking,” you whispered.

He smiled. “Yes, talking. Lots of it.”

It sucked your body knew him. Really knew him. 

There was no other word to put in that sentence. It sucked. Every fiber of your being needed him, screamed for him, needed him. Something primal, a deep rooted instinct, one you’ve ignored for a year that you didn’t realize was pure cause of-

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked, pulling you out of an early onset spiral.

“L-Like what?”

He scrunched his brows together. “Like,” his voice dropped drastically, “Sad.”

Because you knew if he knew, he’d-

“I’m not,” you breathed. “Trust me, I… My dad is going to the doctors today.”

“It’s Sunday.”

“He sees a specialist,” you said, and he nodded. “They have select patients, and Junie fits the criteria. They schedule whenever the doctor can see them.”

Yunho drug a thumb over your fingers, you’d forgotten he’d been holding onto you. “I hope it goes well.”

With a smile you pulled your hand back and moved to get out of his car. “Thanks, they usually do, but… I get scared every time he goes.” Pushing his door open, he did the same, following you up the lawn.

“You’re allowed to be scared,” he shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets, taking up the space beside you. “If this guy is a specialist, he’s gotta be good right? Your dad’s in good hands.”

Giving a him look, you winked. “She.”

Yunho’s eyes went wild. “She, forgive me,” he bowed slightly, laughing with you. “She’s taking good care of him.”

Stepping up the porch of the quiet house, odd for a Sunday, an off day, you turned to Yunho who stood on the ground, tipping his chin up a bit to look up at you. “I’ll… see you later?”

Shrugging, hands still in his pockets, he gave you a smile. “Do we need invitations?”

Barging through bedroom doors, crawling on rooftops, pulling up a chair at the library when one spotted the other… It used to be easy.

His smile persuaded yours, corners of your lips perking as you shook your head. “No. We don't."

He nodded once, lips pulling down boyishly as he tapped a step with the toe of his sneaker. “Okay,” he said, hushed, like his own butterflies devoured his own heart, each one bearing your name. They called out to yours, an energy you could feel brewing between you, intensifying as he blinked soft eyes up at you, brows flipped and… down bad crying at the gym.

Theo was going to die.

Reaching out your arms, your hands brushing his shoulders, you leaned forward and let him catch you, all of your body weight hanging onto him, his strength keeping you on your toes on the porch. Wrapping your arms around his neck, he released a sigh into yours and chills shot down your spine. His hands pressed into your back, his grip, his hold, that feeling of safety, godamnit, you were balancing on your toes off the porch, and he was not going to let you fall…

It woke up.

The ten months you spent shoving it into a box, wasted.

Tears welled in your eyes. Your throat, it tightened. Butterflies wept, and it was going to take a lot more than just one day before they could fly again.

Gulping, you remembered what he said in the car.

You don’t have to do it alone.

Sucking in a shaking breath, you whispered, “Yunho…”

And the door to ITZ flew open behind you, Yunho meeting the startled gaze of the culprit catching you in the act before you had the chance to jump away.

But you heard her first.

“...I can place these orders, then we can- Oh!”

Tori.

Using your balance, you pushed off of Yunho and turned on your toes to face her and Mingi who wore the world's biggest, cheesiest grin. Tori however, glanced between you and Yunho suspiciously, almost like she didn’t believe what was happening in front of her.

“Okay, so you were right,” she said to Mingi, “They did leave together.”

He put a hand on her shoulder and bounced on his knees, his eyes stuck on Yunho. “I told you.” Sparing you a glance, he pressed his lips together, but couldn’t contain his joy. 

Tori steadied her gaze, pointing it to the titan at the bottom of her stairs. Stepping forward, she crossed her arms and tipped her chin. “Why did I get multiple messages that you were harassing my girls?”

Breath catching in your throat, you turned to her, shock overriding every sense. She stood on business. Never faltering. Never taking back a word. She’d been prepped, informed, and ready.

Yunho held up his hands. “It was directed at Soul, I swear, I-”

“Let’s be honest with ourselves.” Tori narrowed her eyes.

He dropped his hands and his brows shot up. “I am, I just-”

“Blame me,” you said, trying to step in front of her. “He was defending me, I-”

She wouldn’t let anyone finish a damn sentence.

“Ror, those were my underclassmen,” she said with a snap of her jaw. Flashing you her done up eyes, fresh lashes, bronzed cheeks, she stood her ground, with or without noticing how your world shifted before you in less than a second.

“...Your-”

She turned. “Yunho, I’m glad this,” she gestured toward you, “is working out today, but please don’t yell at my girls again.”

Yunho, standing up straight with his arms tucked behind his back, nodded toward you. “I’ve already received those orders.”

“Well, now they’re official,” she smized, “And, if you-”

A black BMW pulled in front of the house, bumping music, parking across the street. Mingi perked up, Tori rolled her eyes, Yunho hadn’t moved. He gave you a look, one curious, one analyzing. You met his eyes, and all at once, a new found anger flowed through his veins. 

“Is Wooyoung here?” Mingi asked.

You released a breath. “Oh, thank god.”

Familiarity fueled your feet, in seconds you’d flown from the porch halfway down the lawn.

“Hey,” Yunho called after you, “Where you going?”

Wooyoung's tinted windows begged you to keep moving, to come closer, to get inside, but you stopped at the sound of his voice, and you turned as he got closer. Behind him, Tori and Mingi whispered to one another, heading toward her car.

Shooting a thumb over your shoulder, you said, “To talk to him.”

Yunho stood centimeters in front of you. “Why?”

“Uh,” you stammered, not knowing you needed a reason. “Because, he’s my friend.”

He glanced at the car, then at you. “Friend? He’s your ex.”

“No he’s not, he’s my friend,” you said with a tilt of your head.

It took everything in him to not react how you knew he wanted to. “Aurora, everyone says you broke up.”

“Y-Yeah, well, we don’t… hook up anymore. We… ‘cooled off’, or whatever.”

“Oh,” he mumbled, looking down at his feet, “Okay, yeah.”

“Ro!” Wooyoung shouted from his window, the beat of the song he played flooding the quiet street.

Yunho looked at you and something flashed across his face.

“Just give me a few minutes, please?” you asked, and he shook his head.

“It’s okay, go,” he shrugged his shoulder toward the music, “I have a meeting I have to get ready for anyway, text me.”

Swallowing, hard, you nodded. “Okay,” you whispered.

A small smile snuck onto his lips. Closing the space between you, he stepped forward and leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss to your cheek. 

A flutter.

“I’ll see you later,” he whispered.

Smiling, you whispered back to him. “You gonna sneak onto my roof?”

“Maybe,” he smirked.

You furrowed your brow. “We have classes tomorrow.”

His nose brushed yours, your lips ghosting one another. Knees buckling, heart thumping, your yearn suffocated you.

“Who cares?” he whispered.

“Yo,” the sound barely came out, “You care, I know you do.”

His eyes fluttered shut, his forehead pressed to yours. “I care more about you.”

“You,” you whispered within the shared air, eyes glazing over with something rose colored, “Shit, I don’t even know your schedule, I have nothing to use against you…”

He smirked, whispering, “Checkmate.”

And his hands grabbed your waist, telling you what he wanted, what his lips couldn’t, what he didn’t want them to say just yet. He kissed you, a delicate moment in time, sealing his promise, this kiss much different than the one in the hall. This one was new. This one meant something new.

This was new.

It would be new.

“I want you to be mine, Aurora,” he whispered against your lips, pressing one more soft kiss to your hungry lips before he forbade you from taking more. “Thank you for today, for talking to me.”

A silly thing to share gratitude over, but necessary you supposed. “We should do that more often.”

He huffed. “Yeah, we should.”

Blinking open your eyes, finding him already gazing down at you, you blushed. “I have a lot of questions for you.”

“I have a lot for you, too.”

You smiled, biting at your bottom lip. “Bring your notes, come prepared.”

“For you, I will be.” Smiling with you, he stepped back, the loss of him more devastating than anything ever before. 

Taking a deep breath, reeling in the drama, you told yourself that it meant he had to come back. You would have to see him again. And you would. You would make that happen almost immediately.

Reading you like a book, for filth, like he always could, he gave you a glimpse of the Yunho who sat beside you in English. A glimpse of the Yunho who used to wander two steps behind you in the library. After a once over, he shot you half a smile, then started for his car, leaving you weak in the knees.

This time you knew why.

How you never saw it before is beyond you.

It’d been a few hours and he already had you screwed.

Wooyoung honked his horn and you jumped, slapping a hand to your chest. Ripping your eyes from Yunho’s ass as he walked away, you glared at the tinted window and charged for it, leaping into the passenger seat, somewhat out of breath.

With one look he told you every thought in his head. “Already?”

You whined, throwing your hands up, ragdolling in his seat. “It’s too easy, I dunno.”

He pulled away from the curb after Yunho passed by, the two not sparing each other even a look. “What did you guys talk about?”

Sliding your hands over your face, you sat up and folded your arms over your chest. “You.”

“Great,” he deadpanned. “He have a problem with you getting in my car?”

“Not really,” you said. “I think. I explained,” you sighed, glancing out the window as he pulled onto the main street. Everyone and their mother were out for the day apparently, couples littered the sidewalks, walking dogs, shopping bags in hand. “We’re friends.”

Wooyoung shot a look and a scoff your way, spinning you around.

“What’s that for?” 

He huffed. “Friends is funny.”

“Why?” you asked, narrowing your eyes.

“Nothing.”

“Wooyoung.”

Lifting a hand, he dropped it back on the steering wheel. “He lost you, twice. And still let you go get in my car.”

Mouth going dry, you asked, “Twice?”

Keeping his eyes on the road, he pulled into a highway entrance and bobbed his head. “When we first got together, before you guys existed, and then again, after the… thing happened. He must just really trust you.”

Staring him down, his unruly waves and his black hoodie and his dark denim baggy jeans and his silver jewelry, you scoffed. “Are you saying if you were him you wouldn’t trust me?”

He slapped the steering wheel, his teeth peeking through his lips as he breathed through a laugh. “I knew you were going to say that.”

“No, you didn’t,” your tone mocked him.

“Yes, I did,” he teased you right back, “And as much as you’re butterflies and rainbows right now about him, something is bothering you, what happened?”

Groaning, flopping backwards again, you asked, “You have somewhere to be?”

“Nope, I’m yours,” he said.

“Keep driving,” you half whispered, “My dads at the doctors, I don’t wanna sit anywhere.”

september 21st ~ sunday ~ 4:17 pm

“Since we’ve been back you’ve been with San,” he said, voice low, eyes pointed, taking in information, piecing it apart, “And… me.”

You nodded, facing him entirely, legs crisscrossed over the seat. “Yes.”

Holding up a hand, he said, “I did not do anything, you know that.”

Taking it in yours, you laced your fingers with his and set it down in your lap. “Of course,” you smiled, “If you did, I would cut your dick off.”

He cocked his head and snickered. “Sounds about right,” he released a breath and shook his head, “As much as San fucks… I don’t think he’d ever cross a line like that. Not without consent.” You agreed with a hum, and he smirked. “And he sure as hell wouldn’t share it with anyone else. He’s a freak, he’s not a jackass.”

“I don’t even know who he shares a room with though,” you said, thinking back to that night at ATZ with San. You had told Wooyoung almost everything. “What if his roommate did something?”

Thinking to himself, his smirk grew. “If San was in a sex tape, we’d be hearing about it right after it happened.”

A giggle slipped through your lips. “That night…”

The sound outside in the hallway grew. Doors were opened and shut, more voices filled the space. Muscles tensing, San felt it. Not worried in the slightest, he slid a hand down your back and leaned over you, pressing kisses to your shoulders.

“Don’t listen,” he whispered between slow kisses, the soft smack of his lips and gentle rutting of his hips into your center grounding you, keeping you in the room with him. “You and me,” he whispered. 

“You and me,” you whispered, but your words twisted with a moan. Hooking a finger in your thong he tugged it aside and had his zipper down in a flash. He wore nothing beneath his pants, because of course he didn’t.

“Shut the fuck up!”

Your body jolted.

Soul shouted in the hall, laughter following.

His dipshit asshole friends.

“There were boys in the hall… I thought it might be Soul, or Jongseob, ‘cause it sounded like they were in their room,” you mumbled, toying with his fingers.

Giving you a once over, watching your fingers play for a second, he focused back on the road. “You think Soul would do that to you? The guy who would… forgive me… fuck you like an animal, then infodump Pokemon to us for an hour after?”

You laughed, but you didn’t want to. Soul was something else entirely, something you’ve never experienced. A little weirdo, but a sweetheart all packed into one gangly body wired with stamina. “I don’t know, what if it’s revenge or something?”

Wooyoung screwed his face up. “Revenge for what?”

“I dunno.”

He pulled his hand away to grab onto one of yours. Shaking his waves around, he sucked in a breath and let it out with a groan. “Not everyone is out to get you, Ro.”

Widening your eyes, throat tightening, for the very first time you felt as though he couldn’t see you. “Feels like it,” you whispered.

Like he could hear the thoughts in your head, his grip tightened, and in mere seconds, without a word, he steadied your heart.

You used to hate to admit it, but he was right.

Another aftershock of Yeji.

Minutes passed before you spoke again, the radio filling the comfortable quiet you used to speak to one another with a mere touch of your palms.

“That’s why he went into Blend and got mad,” you whispered.

“Wild way to handle that,” he muttered.

Dragging your thumb over his, tracing his knuckle, you smiled. “That’s Yunho… Wildcard.”

“Yeah,” he sighed, rolling his eyes. “Wildcard.”

Consistent, though, he was in his wildcard status. Yunho, the textbook definition of never let them know your next move, partnered with that one friend who always has a new hobby, new job, new circle of friends… No one knew what he would say next, no one knew what he would do next, no one could predict the pattern, because there was no pattern, Yunho flew by the seat of his pants. Forever unsatisfied. Insatiable for more. More, more, more. His big brain needed it, craved it.

Nausea sat in your stomach, forever associated with him.

Voice meek, you asked, “Where are we going?”

Wooyoung said quietly, “I’m just driving.”

“Okay,” you whispered, and he looked at you.

Clearing his throat, he started, “How was the dinner last-”

“I gave up my spot.” 

Lips parted with an unfinished thought between them, he sang, “Uh… What?”

“President,” you said, then laughed involuntarily, “I gave it to Tori.”

He almost slammed on his brakes, frantically glancing over his shoulders at the traffic around him. “What!? Why?”

Letting go of his hand, you waved yours around. “You really have to ask?”

“No, I don't," he sighed, sitting forward, merging lanes, shooting you a glare all at once, “But, Ro…”

Clenching your jaw, you returned his glare. “She deserves it. I don’t.”

Silence.

After a beat, he sharpened his glare, and you wanted to gag. Stomach rolling into a ball, heavier than ever, your chest squeezed.

“I make and cause problems,” you said, trying to keep your cool, hiding the shaking of your voice. He dropped his head backward and loosed a breath. “I’m also irresponsible. I couldn’t handle the spot, she did it all anyway. I was in the way.”

A chill shot through him, one that had him figuratively shaking your words off and out of his energy. “Have you gotten any schoolwork done?”

Your brows flatlined as you snickered at him.

“Any?!” he asked, strength in his tone.

“Some.”

“May I suggest something?” He placed his elbow on the console separating you and pointed a finger at your face.

A smile tugged at your lips. “Always.”

Spinning his finger around, he came to a stop at a light and dropped his chin to give you a look. “Put the boys away, and focus on Aurora. You have to graduate with me, that’s an order.”

You giggled, and he smiled, his cheeks dimpling. “An order?”

“An order,” he breathed, grabbing the steering wheel with both hands, sitting backward in his seat. 

On the screen in front of you, the one that told you what songs were playing through the speakers, a text popped up, from someone named Cirrus, in a group chat called, senior philosofuckers.

“Who’s that?” you asked, sitting forward to tap on it.

Wooyoung grabbed your hand and gently redirected it to his lap. “Someone in my psych courses, not important.”

You watched the message disappear, then turned toward him, fighting the urge to lean all the way over and pop a kiss to his cheek, or his nose. God, his nose.

“All your classes are going good?”

He nodded, ignoring your gaze. “For the most part. Not too hard yet.”

Rocking with the car as he pulled onto an empty street, you tucked your bottom lip between your teeth and nodded with him. “I hope they stay good,” you whispered, dropping your eyes to his lips. 

Hitting you with a quick side eye, he almost laughed. “Me too, thank you.” Turning into a parking lot, he returned your hand to your lap and tapped it twice. “It’s been a week. You can do this.”

You retracted from him faster than he let you go and curled your lip. “Shut up.” 

Shifting further from him, leaning against the car door, you peered out the window and perked up. You knew that building. You knew those cars. You knew this asphalt, every bump, every dip. The one story tall brick hell hole with tiny windows and sliding glass doors.

He’d driven you out of Delo and into Soro.

Parking right out front, he pulled off his buckle in time with you. “You, uh… You didn’t tell Yunho about-”

“No,” you said swiftly, twisting your brows in utter confusion, “And, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Right,” he said, lifting his chin, “What am I talking about?”

Narrowing your eyes, you whispered, “You’re crazy.”

He shrugged. “I am clinically insane.”

“You’re getting memories mixed up, you’re pre-dementia, or something.”

Sighing, he pursed his lips. “Something like that, damn.”

Tossing a hand toward the building, you pouted. “You really brought me here?”

Wooyoung took in the building, his gaze softening. Months stood in between you, hours spent inside this building together, endless time he selflessly gave up, for you. For your dad. He tried to smile. “You need him.”

Tears brewed beneath the surface as you blinked at him. “Come with me?”

Within a breath, he whispered, “Of course.” Stepping out of the car and onto the curb, you latched yourself to his bicep, wrapping yourself around his arm, curling your fingers in his. Pulling open the door for you, he led you inside with the occasional glance. A soft smile sat on his face, one small enough to go unnoticed by others, but this face you knew. 

And if your heart could blush, she’d be a flushing mess of pink hues.

Wooyoung tucked your hair behind your ears before you stepped through the main doors of the lobby, a flicker of the past, a few months back, muscle memory. Except now you weren’t teary eyed and sporting bed head after a weekend of anxiously pacing your bedroom floor wondering how the next appointment would go.

He’d fix your hair. His thumbs would brush along your lashes, drying them. With a kiss to your cheek he’d aid you with a deep breath.

But today he stopped at the hair.

And you cursed your greedy heart for wishing he’d take it further.

Memories, that’s all it was, all you were left with. It’s what you asked for, it’s what you wanted, you said it yourself, that there was nothing left between you, that you were better this way. Friends. He’s the one person who never needed an explanation, he’s never once questioned you, who you were, what you wanted, nor has he ever gone to lengths to hold you back, from what you want, from what you need. 

In a single year he’d completely rewired your brain, he’d taught you things you never once considered to be true, things you never thought existed, how to live, how to survive, how to be happy. Taught you how to enjoy life when it feels like there’s no end to certain suffering, then taught you how to reel back the dramatics for no other reason than to protect your own sanity.

An emotionally mature hot head, if the two could be true at once, Wooyoung earned the title, and he wore it with pride. 

The things he’d done to protect you, and the things he continued to do to protect himself, logically moving through decisions with precision and thought, but for himself. No one else.

Unless you stood in front of him.

“Aurora! Wooyoung!” Her voice bounced off the cream colored walls and enveloped you in a hug, just as she did with her arms. Kamara, a five foot ten curvy beauty with espresso colored skin and a personality to match. Old enough to be your mother, she didn’t look a day over thirty. “Good to see you,” she sang, rocking you both back and forth in her arms.

“Kam,” you sighed, burying yourself in her, staying for as long as she’d have you. Wooyoung slipped from her arms, but his hand still cradled the small of your back.

“Want me to bring you back? They just got to his room,” she said, looking down at you, her eyes a warm milk chocolate. 

You gave her a small smile. “We’ll wait out here, if that’s okay?”

Kamara glanced over your head into the empty lobby that housed six chairs, a coffee table, a singular bookshelf, and a TV on the wall. “We’re slammed, baby, I don’t know if you’ll find yourselves a seat.”

“Damn,” you mumbled, taking a step back under Wooyoung's arm, “Wanted to come hang behind the desk with you.”

Flashing you her stunning white grin, she shook her head. “Too bad this place has a rat,” she spat, glaring at the woman behind the computer on the opposite side of their office space. Edith was her name, a retired woman in her seventies with a long silver brain down her back.

Typing away, Edith shook her head and muttered, “Protocol. HIPAA. Safety violations. Patient privacy. Insurance fraud…”

Kamara flickered her eyes over to the two of you and almost lost it at the smiles you and Wooyoung wore. “She’s gonna keep going.”

“...Security breeches. It’s small back here. If I roll over a toe, she can sue me…”

“Oh, the toe,” you whispered, and Kamara widened her eyes.

“Look out for the toe,” she squinted, then she winked at Wooyoung. “Make yourselves at home, please.”

Edith turned around for only a second. “Nice to see you, kids.”

It wasn’t until she faced her screen again that Wooyoung whispered, “I think she smiled,” and accepted your gentle slap to his chest with a laugh.

Bringing you with him, he turned to the chairs and plopped you into one, facing the TV, and flopped down beside you. Pulling out his phone, he scrolled for a solid minute, eyes scanning texts. He typed one out with fervor, then slid it back into his pocket and sunk backward in the chair, his thighs parting as his feet stretched out, resting on the heels of his boots.

He was wearing jeans, and a hoodie, when he wore a hoodie here he would…

Fold his hands together inside of the pocket.

Like he just did.

If he wore a t-shirt sometimes his hands would slip under the hem and rest on his belly.

If he wore sweats instead of jeans he’d put his hands in those pockets, or he’d tuck his legs under him on the chair. 

Sometimes he’d sit on the floor in front of you, and he’d let you play with his hair. One time he fell asleep, his head between your knees, resting on the chair, and you used the top of his head as a bookstand. You’d read almost every book that lived on that singular shelf, the fantasy series, the children's chapter books, the smutty mom novels that ‘weren’t porn’. At one point you’d woken Wooyoung up to have him read a page or two, the look on his face priceless when he read what the CEO’s beefy secretary would do to her before a very important meeting…

To think a little over a week ago you sat here as a different person.

Before your dads birthday, before everyone knew you and Wooyoung were over, before you made San your crutch, before your alleged OnlyFans career took off, before you ever heard your mothers voice…

Nine days ago you were the president. 

Nine days ago you were Choi Yeonjun’s daughter.

Just his daughter.

And now you’ve kissed Yunho three times, you stepped down from the biggest position of your life to date, Wooyoung won’t let you get closer than holding his hand, Tori took on her new role really, really quick, and hasn’t even given you a chance to talk about it again.

Not even a message. A check up. An, are you okay?

Maybe you didn’t need one. You were pretty certain about giving it up, and it’s not like you were the world's greatest president, they were clearly fed up- Tori, Seonghwa, Hongjoong…

Seonghwa and Hongjoong… Still top of their board, in the highest positions, regardless of what happened last year, regardless of their involvement with Yeji and her master plan. Sure, Seonghwa owned up to his bullshit, he took your side, he had been threatened by the bitch as well, he did what he had to do for his safety, but Hongjoong?

Former president who kept Wooyoung on a short leash, who ran ATZ like his own personal cult rather than the organization it should be, personal growth and networking. He allowed the parties to rage, to rally on endlessly, people waking up there to do it all over again, a tumultuous loop. After Seonghwa stepped up the hype slowed, the parties varied, he managed them with strategy, the boys were happier, a certain freedom lingered in the air.

You shook your head and sighed.

The TV on the wall changed from a cooking show to an old sitcom from the 90s, one your dad raised you on. Glancing over to the desk you caught Kamara lowering the remote and shooting you a wink. It was a random episode this time, but the entire month of July, you and Wooyoung binged the show from start to finish, right here in this lobby.

All ten seasons, arm in arm, or with your legs slung over his lap, your head on his shoulder.

Peeking at him, he had his head resting on the wall, his neck stretched.

You did not want to sink your teeth into it. You did not. You really didn’t.

Clasping your arms across your chest to keep from reaching for him, you bit down on your lip and bounced your knee. Taking a short breath, you looked up at the show, the three sisters on the screen bickering over stuffed animals, and you took another short breath.

Hongjoong could totally be doing something. He has the money, he has the power, and if he has Seonghwa wrapped around his finger like you know he does, he can get that boy to do anything.

He’d need a motive though, and as far as you can see, there’s no reason for Hongjoong to want to pull you out of your spot or spread a video of you, aside from ITZ needing a legitimate actual president who pays attention and doesn’t fall into spirals speculating that everyone around her is trying to steal things from her and humiliate her at every given moment of the day.

Wooyoung grabbed onto your knee, ceasing your anxious bounce.

You froze, turning only your chin. 

“You are going to fly away,” he mumbled.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, and he frowned.

“Don’t be,” he shook his head, then slid an arm around your shoulders, “C’mere.” Melting into him, your head laying on his shoulder and your arm sneaking into his lap, into the pocket on his hoodie to hold his other hand, you sucked down a deep breath of pure Wooyoung. Comfort. “Have you been hearing from your mom?”

“I told her to lose my number today,” you muttered, and he perked a brow.

“You spoke to her?”

“Yeah,” you rolled your eyes, “And then I made Tori president.”

“I wonder if we could get the police involved,” he whispered, like he meant to keep the thought to himself.

“Uh,” you stammered, then laughed sarcastically, “Very bad idea.”

“I know,” he sneered through his teeth, “But, like, regarding her, yanno?”

You looked up at him from where you laid. “And have them trace everything back to my dad? I love him, but he’s not a fucking saint. With everything… They wouldn’t listen to us. We’ve started anew. No cops.” 

He sighed, his eyes focused on the TV. The episode was at the cry your eyes out part, toward the end, where everyone kisses and makes up and the dad drags on and on about the life lessons learned…

“Neither of you know what she wants?” he asked.

“Nope,” you said. “We have absolutely no money, so it’s not that. I still have to pay you back for vacation by the way, I didn’t forget.”

He grimaced. “Please forget.”

“No, I owe you.”

“Ro, you don’t.”

Sitting up, you pulled your hands to yourself and faced him. “Yes, I do, you gave me-”

He looked at you directly. “Tori never cashed the check.”

The check he wrote you to give to her to pay for the vacation her father paid for because you felt bad for ruining her time in Haos. You never owed her money, you wanted to make it up to her. It being your guilt and assumption that you ruined her vacation. She’d done so much for you, too much, you owed her more than paying for half of the time you spent there.

“You’re kidding me?”

He smacked his lips against his teeth. “Serious.”

Just serious. Not dead serious. Not in this building. In this building where the walls listened and that lingered amongst the halls. Just serious.

Whipping out your phone you pulled open her thread.

[you]: you never took the Haos money???

[honey sweetie light of my life (no she didn’t make this her own name in your phone)]: what haos money?

You clenched your jaw.

[you]: hysterical. why didn’t you take it?

It took her two minutes to answer.

[honey sweetie light of my life (no she didn’t make this her own name in your phone)]: Ror literally what are you talking about

Gulping, you slid down the top panel and tapped on Do Not Disturb, putting your phone into your back pocket. Slouching, you dead weighted onto Wooyoung's side and sighed.

“What’d she say?” he asked quietly.

Blinking at the TV, a new episode began, you said, “She didn’t take it.”

“I told her to,” he whispered. “Trust me.”

You took a deep breath. “I do.”

Locking in to the TV, the new school episode that had you and Wooyoung doubled over in laughter before tearing up, you relaxed into him, hoping to turn your brain off, to shut everything out for a little bit. That worked last year when you came home, when you stayed with your dad, when you had a weekend with him and Keeho. Away from Nasara life felt lighter. Easier. Better. Happier.

To your right, the door to the office opened, professional voices giving their thanks, saying that they’ll see you next time, and take it easy… And then, your dad spoke.

Yeonjun said goodbye to his doctor, and your heart shot out of your chest, and you leap to your feet. Without a word, you rushed his way and threw your arms around him, sending him stumbling backward into Yoongi who carried papers from the doctor.

“Aura,” he released a breath and grabbed onto you, his cheek pressing to the top of your head. “I missed you,” he whispered, meeting eyes with Wooyoung who stood up to give him a wave.

Gripping fistfuls of his shirt, you swallowed away the lump in your throat, his presence enough to rid of the shadows you brought home with you. 

You had to tell him.

“I missed you too.”

NU home ✧ speechless masterlist ✧ talk to me ✧ ao3

you do not have permission to copy or translate my works without my consent.

[chimivx]

write that down WRITE THAT DOOOOOWN

call me sick cause i find this extremely attractive

[chimivx]

~ I'm drunk in you ~

[chimivx]

just bc @wyngigi has sparked this in me…

context here

[chimivx]

I hope you realize we are all ferociously debating your work because you are, in fact, a genius

ME WAKING UP AND READING IT ALL AND CRACKING THE FUCK UP. holy shit you guys are FUUUUUNNY… and so right… yanno… some of those points… hmm….

[chimivx]

2 Kids Room 2025 Ep.07 Felix x Seungmin💙

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the vote for yunror omg hi i love you

just bc @wyngigi has sparked this in me…

context here

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she so purdy <3

if you don’t mind me asking what kind of business did you guys open??

a salon suite ‼️ we do hair 😎

this is our baby

[chimivx]

yeonjun giving soobin a wedgie 😂

[chimivx]

AHAHAHHHWHAHHHHAHAHH. HAHAHHHA. HHHHAHHAHAHHAHAH. HAHHAHHHHAHA. HAHAHAHHAHA. OKAY. OKAY. OKAY. OKAY. HAHHAHA. OKAY. SURE. SURE.

okay say hypothetically you're besties + a little more with yunho, and you have a bad day, and you're in need of some distraction and/or comfort and/or anything to help you feel better

how do u think he would go about it

jdhskshsjKDHSKDJSKS SUSKSHDKSBSKSH

yunho is already lounged out in your living room when you stick your key in the unlocked lock, a curse escaping your lips that someone was inside because you already had a bad fucking day and all you were looking forward to was laying in bed, maybe shedding a tear or twelve.

“what’s wrong?” it’s immediate when you step through the threshold of your apartment, he heard the hiss of your curse before the door groaned as it opened, his eyes wide and prepared for anything.

you run a hand through your hair as you kick off your shoes, “bad day. i’m going to bed.”

he’s off the couch without a second thought, making it before you too fucking fast. his eyebrows are upturned, concern etched into all of his features, “you can tell me what’s wrong, and then you can go to bed.”

frustration curls in your gut, clawing at your spine, locking your jaw in place. you didn’t have the energy for him and his everything-is-fine attitude. “i’m gonna go to bed,” you bark, “and you’re gonna go to your own apartment.”

his eyebrows raise, a slow blink of his eyes, a half-smile prying at his lips. “yeah?” he asks with a small nod, “that bad of a day?”

you hold his eye, red hot rage swimming through each one of your veins, teeth clenched as you say, “i don’t have the energy for you right now.”

he takes a step forward, his face twisting into something completely different, “you don’t need to have the energy, baby.” his hands land on your arms, heavy and hot, fingers tucking beneath your sleeves, “why don’t you tell me what’s got you so angry?”

his voice was saccharine, syrupy and reaching each nerve ending in your brain, long fingers pulling at your sleeves, cotton sliding against your raging, burning skin, your neck craned to the side. he smiles, knowing he’s got you, just a few more tries and—

“boss wants me to work a fucking double tomorrow,” he lets your bag fall to the ground, hands right back on your sleeves, tugging them upward, your arms going over your head. “i worked a double today, with no help, mind you. everyone’s just fucking around while i’m the only one busting my ass.”

he’s got your shirt crumpled on the floor, fingers already working on the button of your jeans, “you’re the reason they’re even open still, baby.”

“i know!” your head falls back, legs stepping out of the deep denim, “and they just expect it of me now. no thank you, no days off, no sign of appreciation or gratitude to be seen.”

you barely register that yunho’s on his knees, “i just want one sunday. one sunday to sleep and recharge, that’s it.”

he’s slipping your panties down your legs, eyes glued to your face, “you should just no call no show. what are they gonna do, fire you?”

he lifts one of your legs, throwing it over his shoulder, and you grip on to his hair for support, “they wouldn’t survive without me there, yun— oh!”

his eyes are closed, tongue slipping between your folds, one hand on each of your thighs. your head falls forward, body clenched, one hand falling to his shoulder to keep yourself up.

“fuck, yun, i didn’t even realize—”

“i know, baby,” he pulls away from your center, lips and chin already shining, “just let me take care of you.”

you cry out as his tongue meets your core again, his hands traveling upward to feel each inch of skin exposed to him, a palm covering the fabric of your bra, thumb putting pressure onto one of your nipples.

you’re a moaning mess, holding onto him as your hips roll against his face, shameless and selfish, his favorite. yunho is strong, he keeps you steady, a rock beneath your moving body, mindlessly using him, letting him pleasure you, allowing him to pull each thought from your mind.

he’s smiling into you as he realizes it worked with such little effort, you trust him so much, even though you weren’t together. close friends for years, he knew every inch of you by now, from your mind to your body, he knows what makes you tick. his hands on your skin, his words in your ear, that tone he uses when he wants your mind to go a little fuzzy, when he wants you to give in. it works every damn time, just like he knows it will.

your moans bounce off the walls, high pitched and unabashed, you needed this more than he thought you did. a hand twisted in his hair, the other clawing crescents into his shoulder, he let you feel.

“shit— fuck, i’m gonna cum.”

he hums into you, tongue sticking out flat as you ride it, hips grinding from his nose to the tip of the muscle. he holds you tight as your hips stutter, as the rhythm you created becomes maniacal, shameless, as if yunho was nothing but a toy. he loved you like this, careless, selfish, searching for your own pleasure, putting yourself first. he wished you did it in all areas of your life.

his grip tightened on your thighs as your hips slowed, your high washing over you, standing on one tippy toe to be able to grind against the length of his nose to tongue.

he licks up every last drop of your release, pulling away after a swift kiss to your clit, “all better?”

your chest is heaving, face flushed, thighs shaking where you stood. you shake your head, “not even close.”

[chimivx]

MOTHER OF GOD I WASNT RESDY I WASNR READYY JENNENSHAHHAHAHSHSHSHHAHAH

seonghwa eating u out (im not sorry)

hehehehehehehehhe

he’s patient with it, first and foremost. he takes his time kissing you, his hands sliding across your body, slipping beneath your clothes. he waits until you’re panting in his mouth, impatient needy and desperate, that’s when he finally slips his tongue between your lips, when his teeth catch your bottom lip between them. he’s smiling smugly then, his chuckles genuine as you gasp a moan beneath him, hips bucking upward for more.

his thumbs tuck into your waistband, your panties, or his palms sit heavy on your hips as he makes his way down your jaw, long tongue making sure he tastes every bit of you as he dips lower, being so patient it has you twitching and bucking beneath his weight. he takes time working on your chest, swirling his lips around each nipple, the pad of his thumb of the one untouched, bare chest heavy on your stomach. he’s quiet— listening, understanding, making sure he doesn’t miss a beat.

when he’s finally between your thighs, you’re a whining, moaning mess. begs falling from your lips, chest heaving, wanting to feel the soft, wet weight of his tongue between your folds. he obliges, licking a fat stripe up your slit, tongue flat and heavy. he’s smiling into you, at your taste, your smell, your reaction, oh he’d die right where he was, having you stare at him the way you were.

your hands fly to his hair, tugging at his roots and he moans, his eyes fluttering shut, as much as he knew you, you knew him. arms curled around your thighs, he’s working up a rhythm, tongue swirling around your clit, lips wrapping around it, sucking until he pulls off with a harsh pop. your eyes had flown back long ago, fingers tangled in his hair, feeding him the pleasure of pain as he loses himself between your thighs, eating like he’d never taste you again. because that’s how it always was with seonghwa— it was never rushed, always savored, always treated as if he’d never experience it again.

when the pressure in the belly begins growing he’s nothing but consistent. tongue flicking against your clit with precision at the perfect pressure, he’s getting you there easily, practiced movements, with endless stamina. you’re crying, hips chasing a stone, bucking into his face like he’d go anywhere else, until you finally go silent. breath caught in your throat, finally reaching your peak, his fingers grip at your skin and the sting is throwing you over the ledge, blood pressing against your skin, a silent scream passing through your slack jaw.

he’s smiling again as you come down, lips kissing your clit sweetly, chuckling as your hips twitch and legs come to a slow shake. focused, consistent and successful, every single damn time.

[chimivx]

Seungmin helping you destress after a rough day by placing you between his legs, back against his chest. Just lazily circling the clit.. and once he gets you allllll worked up and whiny, he pounds you into oblivion.. lovingly !! I love soft but rough minnie <33

soft seung would be such a giver too!! soley focused on ur pleasure and he wouldn’t even pay any mind to his cock twitching against his thigh, just letting you rest against his chest as his fingers play with your pussy, kissing the side of your neck and eating up all your little sighs and gasps of pleasure, chuckling and shushing you softly when you let out a strangled moan the second his fingers pump into your cunt, thumb pressing down on your clit. 

“baby, we have neighbours remember? don’t want the hyungs to hear you, now, do we?” but he wouldn’t care about how loud you are the second he sinks into you, spooning you close to his chest as he fucks you real good and deep, getting rid of all your pent up stress and frustrations from the day, telling you how you’re such a good girl for him and how you don’t need to lift a finger as long as he’s here UGH

[chimivx]

KEY Ending Fairy - HUNTER (Inkigayo, 250817)

[chimivx]

does everyone hate me or is it just a sunday night

[chimivx]

[chimivx]

IN TEARRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSS

guys the live updates i received yesterday while she was readinf LMFAOJEJDLMDLANSKMDLSMA

‘after all the boys and girls that we’ve been through, could you give it all up if i promise to you, that i’ll never talk again, and i’ll never love again’

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➳ college!teez x fem!reader (oc) - nice for what cast ➳ 7.6k (part three of ???) ➳ 18+, sexual content, drugs/alcohol, college life, all the drama, angst, mentions of anxiety/depression… IF I MISSED ANYTHING PLEASE LET ME KNOW! *pay attention to time stamps <3 *

monday ~ september 15th ~ 6:37 pm

ITZ hadn’t been this busy in years. In your four years of experiencing this day, these tours, this month, you’d never seen the foyer so crowded, full of excitement, happy, smiling girls with the brightest eyes. Standing on the bottom stair to get a couple more inches on you to look out above everyone, you folded your hands over your middle and pressed your lips into the smallest smile.

Tori, in her flared jeans that hugged her hips just right, and her ITZ recruitment shirt, she beamed at the recruits, the absolute babies walking by her, yapping it up with the ones who lingered by her side. Bracelets jingled on her wrist whenever she twisted her arms around to show off her tattoos to the recruits who asked about them. Some sororities didn’t allow tattoos, or piercings, except yours. Tori’s been loud and proud about them since day one, and for the new girls she intended to keep it that way.

Chaewon kept close to her, her chestnut hair swishing over her shoulders as she directed girls around the house with a point of her finger or a wave of her hand. Since she’d been appointed Tori’s former position she’d become somewhat of a shadow of your best friend. Keeping her chin held high, her shoulders on straight, when she wasn’t answering questions or giving directions she was peeking over at Tori, for only a second, either to make sure she’d been doing enough, or to monitor how to act.

In a fit of giggles, Yuna and her group of five she’d been wandering around the first floor with, they rounded the staircase and greeted you with smiles and tiny waves, some afraid to look up at you. Their nervousness made you smile. Giving them space to move upstairs, you greeted each of them individually, extending a hand to shake, one they took tentatively. 

Visions of Yeji flashed through your mind as the night progressed, how effortlessly she’d danced over the floor on this very night, how she captured the energy and made it her own, took the attention for herself. She’d allowed the girls to wander by themselves, letting Mina handle some walk throughs, but ultimately, she’d treated this night as some sort of publicity stunt for herself. She micromanaged. This had been but one night in her plot to turn ITZ into Yeji-TZ.

Standing on the stairs, overlooking them all, the variety, the passion, the drive to do something for themselves… You couldn’t imagine what it felt like to want to take that away. If anything it blew open a wound within you. A fear. 

You were their president. Soon they’d look to you for direction, some already doing so. 

You were in charge.

Sakura and Eunchae brushed by you, snapping you out of your thoughts. Two girls who were recruited last year, the pair you met sitting on the counter at the ATZ party you sneaked out of the house for. These were two girls Yeji could’ve burnt out, and she wanted to. Written on her face, you could see it. Sakura and Eunchae, they walked into the house and she shifted into defense mode, profiling them before she had the chance to speak to them.

Luckily you got to Tori and Yuna before decisions were made, and the freshmen, now sophomore pair were safe. In fact, they were the most active two of the recruits from last year, and tonight proved that further. Saying hello to you, landing playful fists on your shoulder, they trekked up the stairs with a few new girls behind them, touring groups without being told it was something they needed to do.

The sight of it all, from Tori, to Chaewon, to Yunjin at the door greeting girls who’s profiles you’ve sifted through thoroughly, it warmed your heart as much as it weighed down on you.

It worsened the cloud hanging over your head, the dread looming over your shoulders, the darkness that could take you any second.

The voicemail in your phone.

You’d deleted it after you called your father, forcing Keeho awake into a three way call, telling them both at once what had happened between hurried breaths and a pounding heart. Unable to focus in class, the roars of your angry father lingering in every thought, you could still hear them now. Him absolutely freaking out worried you more than the voicemail that you called him before you even stepped out of the classroom at dismissal, to make sure he was still on his feet.

 Keeho left you with messages full of plots and plans that made you smile, but not enough to relieve the urgent panic of ‘how the fuck did she get my phone number?’

You’ve never spoken one word to the woman.

You’ve never once seen her face.

The stories kids tell, ones from movies and television shows, of dreaming of their mother, yearning for her or someone of the sort- the thoughts never crossed your mind.

Maybe once, when you were young, too young to understand how mothers and fathers and birthing children worked, but other than that, nothing. Yeonjun had been honest, you think, about their love story, of how you came to be, how he acquired you and what it’d done to him, and for you it had been enough. You had your dad, what more could you need?

It’d been an uncanny sort of way of thinking. For a few years in high school you and Keeho would joke that Yeonjun made you himself, you came from him and only him, and you were content believing that.

You couldn’t pick apart these feelings, nor the reason why they felt so heavy. It shouldn’t bother you. The messages could be deleted, numbers could be blocked, and you’d move on. You supposed what it’s done to your father could be the reason why, but even then, he could delete the messages, block the number, and move on.

A tiny thought lingered just beneath the surface. One you weren’t ready to open up or even consider. It worsened the anxiety induced nausea.

What if he wants her back?

As much as he said he wouldn’t entertain it, there were a lot of things he said he wouldn’t do that he ended up doing anyway.

Taking a deep breath, scanning over the floor once more, you meet Tori’s eyes. She gave you a soft smile, and before you knew it she was grabbing your hand, pulling you out onto the front porch. Planting you in a white wicker chair, she relaxed into the one beside you and let out a sigh, crossing one of her legs over the other. 

Sitting on the edge of the seat, your nails picking at each other, she reached over and nudged your shoulder, easing you backward.

“Take it easy,” she said softly, watching you rest against the cushion on the back of the chair. Sliding her hands over her thighs, the dark denim she wore, she breathed in the fresh September air that seemed to clear up from this morning. “It’s going really well in there,” she nodded, “Better than I imagined, honestly.”

Clenching your jaw, you focused out on the lawn, the plush green of the grass, the leaves of the trees lining the street bustling in the light breeze that melted over your skin. The quiet of the street, the noise that echoed over from the heart of the city, the life in Delo that never ceased. Voices that carried from a few blocks down at ATZ where the boys hosted their own tours for their new brothers joining the fraternity. 

Yunho was down there. Probably standing tall in a nice shirt with his hair all tidy wearing that charismatic smile that would guarantee all the new recruits would stay, rambling on and on about all the good ATZ had brought him, all the success he’d acquired. 

He wouldn’t include your name. He didn’t have to. You didn’t want him to.

But you hope you’re in his head. A mere thought lingering behind it all, that if the two of you never joined these organizations you’d probably not be where you are now. Not speaking. But, then again, if you never went through recruitment, you aren’t sure if the two of you would’ve ever escalated past classmates freshman year.

Whatever people say about blessings and curses.

Tori broke the silence. “What are you thinking about?”

“Yunho,” you whispered without hesitancy.

She shifted in her seat, letting her head shake her brown layers about. “At this point, I don’t get it.”

Looking over at her, you asked, “What?”

She turned her head and softened her expression. “You want him,” she shrugged, “He wants you.” 

Averting your eyes to the porch, you kicked your feet about and murmured, “It’s more than that.”

Dipping her head backward, she groaned. “It’s always more than that with you two.”

Wooyoung’s words came back to bite. You smiled, and said, “Can’t have us without the drama, can we?”

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” she said. “You don’t need to keep having these tragic things happen, you can have peace.”

Pressing your lips together, you laughed to yourself and shot her a look. “The entire time we were hooking up, all summer, up until he told me he loved me,” you narrowed your eyes and she sighed, “He was hooking up with her.” Tori lowered her gaze, letting you speak. “I want him, I wanna be with him, but how can I trust him? I know I’m not innocent, I said it to my dad, there are some things I’ve done too, the reasons he’s not speaking to me and maybe more, but…”

“I get it,” she whispered.

Throat tightening, fists clenching, you whispered, “I love him. And as much as I think not talking to him hurts worse than what he did…”

“Then, talk to him,” she said, and you smirked.

Giving her a look, you both shared the same thought at once, but you spoke it alive. “I’m scared he won’t talk to me if I do.”

She sucked in a breath. “So, then you’re stuck living in this in between. This limbo.”

“Doesn’t hurt as much as the thought of him turning me down.”

Tori reacted physically, her chin turning, her eyes squeezing shut. “Damn.” Quiet fell for a moment, until she turned to you and asked, “You really think he would?”

“I don’t know,” you said, tone flat, face expressionless.

She leaned forward to catch your eyes. She wore worry in hers. “Are you okay?”

Her words processed in your brain, and you gulped. Fixing yourself, sitting up straight, rolling your shoulders back, lifting your brows, livening your lips, you nodded.

She made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. “Yeah, okay. He’s got you fucked up.” She didn’t know anything. Your phone burned a hole in the back pocket of your jeans.

“My mom called me, Tor.”

“I just think…” She’d begun to pop off, but reeled herself in. From her hands shooting out at her sides, to the way they took sanctuary on her chest as she lurched forward in her seat, her eyes bore into yours. “What?”

Her reaction had been much like Keeho’s. Disbelief, utter shock, disgust.

“Yeah,” you shrugged again, “And she’s been calling my dad since, like, July.”

Her parted lips widened. “Aurora, I don’t… What?”

It wasn’t easy to render her speechless, but this got her.

From behind her the front door opened. Kazuha stepped outside onto the porch with a curious Yuna behind her. Once your friend spotted where you sat, she broke out in one of her infamous flashy grins.

“Hi cuties,” she sang, then nodded toward Kaz, “Ror, Miss Nakamura’s been looking for you.” 

“Thanks, Yuna!” Tori beamed, leaping to her feet. The senior’s chocolate brown curls disappeared behind the door. Giving you a glance, Tori said, “I’ll let you guys talk,” she smiled toward Kaz, then gently touched your shoulder, “We’re finishing this later.” 

Sending her off with a nod, you watched as she waltzed effortlessly around the freshman with the sweetest greeting, and whisked herself away inside the house. 

Taking careful steps toward you, dressed in ripped baggy jeans and a cropped black tee hanging off her shoulder, Kazuha held up her hand to wave.

“Come, sit,” you said, nodding toward the chair Tori had been in. “How are you?”

With a breath and a smile she hurried to take the space beside you, and said, “I’m good, how are you? I’m sorry about this morning.” 

Laughing, you waved the matter off. “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.” Setting your chin in your hand and your elbow on the arm of the chair, you took her in and put on your best presidential face. “Where were you headed?”

Kaz sat backward, stretching her legs in front of her. Her wispy black hair danced over her cheeks in the breeze. “The library,” she popped her brows, “I’ve been rushing to get my stuff together, like my books and stuff like that. I still don’t have them all.”

Knitting your brows together, you asked, “Did you get the rest of them today?”

Kaz cringed. “No?” Thinking to herself, her gaze traveled out to the lawn. “It was hard for me to find things, that library is huge.”

Sharing a knowing laugh, you cocked your head and sat backward like her. “It really is, it took me a while my first year too. One of my classes, I didn’t have a textbook for two weeks.”

Kaz grinned. “What’d you do, then?”

Warmth spread over your chest, filling in some of the cracks your conversation with Tori left behind. “I shared with a friend. We did our homework together at Blend, you been there yet?” She shook her head and you clicked your tongue. “We’ll get you there soon. He and I… We’d spend hours there. And then, one day I came to class and his textbook was waiting for me at my chair.”

Kaz asked, “What’d he do about his?”

Shaking your head, you said, “He bought one for himself.” She smiled and bobbed her head. “I got to keep the one with our scribbles in it. I swear half the time we weren’t even doing homework.”

Sliding her feet under where she sat, she lowered her chin. “Sounds like more than a friend, Aurora.”

Squinting at her, you whispered, “You have no idea.”

She giggled. “Did you guys date or something? Who is this friend?”

With a hard swallow, you half rolled your eyes. “Yunho, he’s in ATZ.”

She sat forward and narrowed her eyes. “The history major?”

A pit formed in your stomach, forcing you to whisper, “Yeah. Why?”

“I didn’t take him as your type,” she said. “That’s all.”

“How do you know him?”

Kaz smiled, and you studied it. Maintaining your composure, you analyzed hers. She smiled, and spoke, and moved in a way that attempted to impress you.

She said, “I made a friend in ATZ, we have a class together, I’ve been getting to know him. Jongseob? You know him?” You grit your teeth together and she noticed, letting out a laugh. “Of course you know him, that was stupid of me, you’re the president, I just mean… He’s… Yeah! He’s how I got more info on joining here and stuff, he said it’s a really great experience.”

Keeping your rage under wraps, you made yourself smile. “I’ll have to thank him for sending you our way.”

You hoped to never speak two words to the spawn of Satan ever again. His adversary, however, he you still longed for, but whenever you got too close, Jongseob snatched him away. You’ve had a few short text conversations with Soul, but they never amounted to much. Twenty year old apologies that didn’t surface in person, only lived within the thread between you and him on your phone. No matter how much you proclaimed your worry for him, he found a way around it.

Even Wooyoung has tried. Texting him, calling him, trying to catch up to him around campus these past few weeks… Nothing.

Not even Seonghwa could get a grip on the sophomore.

Kazuha blushed, and your curiosity piqued.

“Don’t tell me you’ve got a crush on him, Kaz,” you tried to joke.

She laughed and shook her head, glancing down to her lap. “No, no, not Jongseob. I actually, uh, I met them this summer. My sister and I went on vacation with a group of friends from back home, and we met them in a bar. Major coincidence they went to school here and I’d be heading here just after we got home-”

“Them?” you questioned, raising a brow. 

She blushed again, the girl incapable of hiding emotion. “Jongseob and his friends.” 

“His friends,” you said without realizing how snarky it came out. You were leaning forward over your legs now, your elbows living on your knees.

“You know them, I think, right?” Kaz asked.

“I know them.”

“Intak, Jiung,” her voice softened, you aren’t even sure if she noticed, “Soul.”

“You like him,” you breathed, leaning closer to her.

A smile broke onto her cheeks, a cheesy one, and her shoulders lifted to her ears. “I don’t know, we… We had fun this summer, and I guess I… I guess I do.” She lifted her gaze to meet yours. You wiped away any emotion you wore and tried to smile. 

She wasn’t horrible, Kaz. An eighteen year old, age appropriate, style sharing freshman. Their personalities were similar enough, both of them chill, but for some reason none of it sat right within you. Behind his need to rebel, his need to follow his friends along in what he thinks is right or cool, Soul was pure. He’d be innocent if he never got caught up with Jongseob, Intak, or Jiung. If the right people had gotten ahold of him sooner, his life would be much different.

If Kaz was the girl for him, you’d need to get to know her better, and not just through conversation. This was one you had to watch.

“Does he like you back?” you asked, and she pouted her lips in thought.

“I’m not sure,” she said, then pushed her hair from her face, “It’s still early, I think I plan to get closer to him, and then I’ll find out.” Her eyes drew sideways, looking at you through her peripheral. “Is it true?”

Nerves shot through you. “Is what true?”

Kaz turned her chin to flash you a smirk. Taking in your body language, you caught her right as she finished and changed how you were sitting, but you weren’t quick enough. “It is.”

Crossing your legs, you shook your head. “Kaz, what?”

“You guys used to fuck,” her sudden language made me stifle a laugh, “You don’t have to pretend you didn’t, they all still talk about it.”

Rolling your head backwards, you groaned. “Of course they do,” another laugh came out of you, “Kaz, it’s not what you think, that was a… weird time. For a lot of us.”

She rested her lips in a gentle smile, her head hanging to the side. “So, what they say, it’s true?”

Through another groan mixed with a sigh, you said, “I don’t know what they say, and I don’t think I want to, but probably. I’ve hooked up with Soul, and me and… I guess, boyfriend, you could call him at the time, we… did it together.”

Kaz blew a laugh through her lips. “I’m not a kid, Aurora, you can say threesome.”

A chill shot down your spine. Her smile vanished.

“We don’t have to talk about it,” she said quickly within a whisper. 

“It’s fine,” you nodded, “Those days’ll be rewritten eventually.” Relaxing back, letting your legs uncross, you grabbed the arms of the chair and sighed. Kaz watched you, waited for you to speak. “Nakamura Kazuha,” you said and she straightened out. Turning your head, you smiled at her. “Majoring in graphic design, minoring in business, you want to join ITZ to…”

Catching on to how you trailed off, she cleared her throat and finished your sentence. “Change.” Her answer filled you with intrigue. Tilting her head around, she continued, “Myself, my life, my past, my future… My family’s reputation.” You both looked at each other with some sort of know. “Not to trauma dump…”

Holding out a hand with a sly smile, acknowledging all that's been shared between you thus far, you whispered, “Please.”

Kaz gave you a soft laugh. She shoved her hands between her thighs and popped her shoulders. “I”m the first one to go to college,” she said, a hint of pride glistening out of her, “My mom didn’t go, my dad didn’t go. My sister wants to go, but she doesn’t think she’ll get the grades. I got here on my own. I worked really hard through school, I kept my grades up, I had two jobs- One on the weekend and the other after school four days a week… I did this myself. For myself.”

Giving you a look, you smiled at her, encouraged her to keep going.

“My parents were never married,” her voice lowered immensely, “They lived together, they coexisted, but they never got married. I was two when my mom got pregnant with my little sister, and if you can take a guess,” she shot you a wink, “We have different dads.”

You pressed your lips together. “Doesn’t make her any less your sister.”

Kaz’s smile perked up. “It doesn’t, she’s my best friend. I keep trying to get her to stay on track with school, with her job, but she’s too much our mother, yanno?”

With a roll of your eyes, you breathed out a laugh. Resting your chin back in your hand, you blinked toward her. “I’m too much my father.”

“Me too,” she said, her spirits lifting at the sound of your words. “I don’t wanna blame it on the fact that her dad is awol, but our mom and my dad is all she knows, and even then my dad has some sort of animosity towards her. He swears he doesn’t, they fight about it all the time, but it’s obvious he does. That happens when your wife’s a cheater, I guess, right?” 

Nodding along as she spoke, understanding her story all too well, you affirmed her words and gave her insight of your own. “I never knew my mom,” you said, and she settled back in her chair. “She,” pausing, you huffed, surprising yourself with how this story was about to come out to a partial stranger, “She dropped me off at my dads when I was two months old. We haven't seen her since. It’s been me and Junie since the start, downtown Tamoe is home.” You took a deep breath, glancing down at the porch. “Was home.”

“We live down in Contramano,” Kaz muttered, and you nearly broke your neck to look at her. She met your eyes and laughed. “Yeah, I know.”

“What in the hell is that like?” You didn’t mean to highlight the awfulness of the town, but you couldn’t help it.

That place took too much from you.

“Kinda nice if you… close your eyes,” she said, and you shared a laugh. “Not many people get out of ‘Mano, yanno? I think that’s why I’m so hard on myself and my sister. I don’t want us to be stuck there.”

Lips melting into a smile, you held out a hand for her to take, which she did tentatively. Giving her palm a squeeze, you whispered, “My dad did.” She shared in your smile, glancing between you and how you held her hand. “It’s possible. You can do it, you did do it, you’re here. I’m sure your sister can do it too.” A shaky breath ripped through her, the topic clearly a hard one for her. “You’re gonna be at this dinner on Saturday, Kaz. You’re a guaranteed in.”

tuesday ~ september 16th ~ 11:10 am

[choi asshole #1]: What do you mean it shows up as a new number?????

[you]: i don’t know, if i knew i’d be able to keep her blocked. she called again and it’s a new number

[choi asshole #1]: Fuckin hell. She left a message???

[you]: yessir.

[choi asshole #1]: Send it to me. Let me hear it. Did you listen to it?

[you]: * 1 Attachment *

[you]: i don’t wanna listen to this. any of it. any of her. you can.

You didn’t listen to it, but you did read it.

‘Hi, Aurora, it’s Seori, again. I know what you both are probably thinking, I know what you both are probably saying, and I do not blame either one of you. I couldn’t get much out in the message I left you yesterday, I was hoping you would pick up this time, but then it wouldn’t go through, and I guess you, uh, you blocked me, which I’m not surprised by. Your father hasn’t blocked me yet, I figured he’d be the first one to do it! You don’t know me, I thought we’d be able to get to know one another, after all this time, I want to know you. And I know, god, I know how it all sounds, how it all seems, but Aurora, you’re my girl, you changed my life, you taught me so much, I just want to see you, want to talk to you, even if only for a minute. You can call me back at this number. I’ll answer. If I don’t, it’s my partner Johnny. Just say it’s you, he’ll give me the phone. Aurora, I know it’s been too long. Trust me. I know.’

Clutching your phone in your hand, letting your father assess the damage, you stepped up to the front door of Blend and pulled it open. Theo slaved away behind the counter with an effortless precision, charming his guests, his regulars who didn’t even need to speak their orders into existence. It’s only the third week of school and he’s gotten the schedule of his people memorized. A master of his craft. 

The line extended toward the back of the shop, students like you looking for their next caffeine fix before trudging away to another class or a dorm room for hours of studies. Adjusting your bag on your shoulder you smiled at a few faces that glanced your way. Eyes lingered, and mouths whispered to their friends beside them. 

You wore your title on your forehead.

Your many titles.

It depended on who it was that determined what they read. What they saw.

This started last semester, the spring of junior year after Yeji’s cancelled era. In true social media fashion, the views were split. Some hated you, some applauded you. Yeji and her family tried to run stories to ruin Nasara, to ruin the sorority, to ruin you and your friends, but with great success your friends and their families, with their own ties, they’d been able to protect you all. Seonghwa’s uncle stepped up, the city listened. The students, your peers, remained split.

[choi asshole #1]: I didn’t block her so she wouldn’t go to you!!! You understand that right??? Shes crazy!

[you]: don’t start with the women are crazy agenda

Bubbles appeared, then disappeared, then they appeared again.

[choi asshole #1]: Aurora you know what i mean i don’t mean that 

You breathed out a laugh.

[you]: chill junie, i know. i’m not answering her and i’m blocking this number too. whether it’s her ‘partners’ or not. who even says that still.

[choi asshole #1]: Johnny. Some partner.

[you]: you know him???

[choi asshole #1]: I met him briefly. He’s alright.

Scrunching your brows, your smile deepend.

[you]: feeling jealous???

[choi asshole #1]: Fuck no. Don’t ever say that again.

[you]: take your meds <3

[choi asshole #1]: Done >3

[choi asshole #1]: Fuck

[choi asshole #1]: <3

Theo, behind the counter with his newest barista partner, one you knew you’d approach without a greeting, but would receive one, they worked quickly. You didn’t stand in the back of Blend for too long, your fathers texts keeping you occupied in the time it took for them to whip out a dozen coffees, lattes, and teas. The tables filled with some of the students in front of you, their books littering the tops, their bags living on chairs or the booths beside them. Glancing about, finding some sort of comfort in it, you stepped up to the counter and met Theo’s sideways smile with a wink.

“‘Sup sugar.” 

Your sarcastic flirt made him laugh. Behind him, wiping down counters and blenders, Soul peeked over his shoulder. Giving him a smile, he stopped what he was doing. Theo followed your eyes with a heavy exhale. He and his step brother exchanged a glance.

“She wasn’t talking to me,” he said to Theo who nodded toward you. Soul took in a gulp of air and waved his hand. “Hey, Aurora.” Without a word back to him, he snatched his rag off the counter and hurried through the double swinging doors to the kitchen in the back of the shop.

Theo turned back to you, a snicker on his lips. “That’ll never get old.”

“He’s got a little girlfriend yanno,” you said, wiggling your brows.

“One that isn’t you?”

You gave his laugh a glare. “Let it go.”

He slapped his hands on the counter between you and shook his head, his smile still bright. “Eventually,” he rolled his eyes, “Changing it up on me today, or what?”

Squinting to look behind him at the handwritten menu in light blue chalk marker, you smushed your lips together and hummed. “Probably.”

Theo waited patiently. “Kee and I are going to that farm in Sicuro this weekend, they’ve got apple trees and stuff, we wanna go pick some,” he leaned over the counter and picked at his nails, “Do you wanna come with?” Looking up at you from the marble, his big eyes almost got you.

“I have the dinner this Saturday,” you said, and he twisted his lips in disappointment. “Recruitment shit, you know how it goes.”

“I do,” he sighed, then stood up straight. “Fine, we’ll go by ourselves.”

A smirk danced at the corners of your lips. “How’d you convince Keeho to go to a farm, Tae?”

He poked the tip of his tongue out and narrowed his eyes. “You really wanna know?”

“Not anymore,” you giggled, leaning forward, then you whispered, “Tell me later.”

He grinned, flashing you dazzling teeth. “What do you want, Choi? You have class in an hour, I can do whatever you want.”

The last of your management classes, you couldn’t believe it. This entire year would be full of them, the last tier, the highest level of class you worked three long years to get to.

“Coffee,” you said. “Black.”

He looked at you like you insulted his grandmother.

Laughing, you shot him a, “What!”

“No, you know what,” he said, fluttering his eyes shut, his long lashes splaying over his cheekbones. Holding up a hand, he said, “You’re going through something, I won’t say nothing. Coffee, black, coming right up.”

“I got another call today,” you said, leaning against the counter, watching him hurry away to make your fix. Eyes going wild, he groaned aloud. “I know, it’s ridiculous. I don’t know what she thinks is going to come of any of this.”

Pouring the, you noticed, espresso into an adorable cup with Blend written across the side, Theo said, “This is all Keeho can talk about by the way.” Your laugh tore through the angst sitting on your chest. “I know. He’s putting it all on me ‘cause he doesn’t wanna drive you crazy.” Slapping a lid on the cup, he hurried in front of you and handed it over.

“Sorry,” you whispered.

He shrugged. “I’d rather get the crazy. You don’t need it right now.”

Pressing the spout to your lips, letting the steam waft over your cheeks, you pouted. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” he nodded once, “Just know that he’s got your back. Even if he won’t speak on it much. The move and everything, it… It’s all been hard on him. He loves you.”

A lump lodged in your throat. “Damn, Tae, gonna make me cry on a Tuesday morning.”

Batting his lashes with utmost sarcasm, he whispered, “You’re welcome.”

Taking a sip of your coffee, you watched his eyes and how they looked at you with a purpose, then darted to the booth behind you to your left. He looked at you once more, smiled, then moved on to another guest who had walked in just moments ago. Stepping aside from the counter, you turned around slowly, your gaze flickering everywhere like it had when you walked in.

You sipped from the steaming cup once more and let your eyes move over to the booth Theo pointed out. The coffee almost shot out between your lips.

Head hanging over a book with both of his hands knitted in his dusty brown hair, Yunho focused on the pages. His glasses nearly slid off his nose with how downturned his head hung. Moving to flip the page, he pushed them up with his knuckles and sighed. He leaned backward against the booth and swiped both of his hands over his face, rubbing at his eyelids vigorously. 

Tired again.

With how far into the book he’d read you can only assume he’s been losing sleep to finish it, and already knew that not a soul in ATZ would hold him accountable for his sleep habits. Yunho established very early on that he moved how he wanted, did what he wanted, and no matter what anyone said, or told him, he’d do what Yunho wanted to do. Even if it meant exhausting himself for the sake of good literature. 

Licking his lips, he sat with his eyes closed for a few seconds.

When he popped them open your heart sank to your knees.

He looked at you.

And he definitely wasn’t expecting you to be already looking at him.

Flustered, he snapped his head to look down at his book, but then after half a second his eyes flickered back up, but not for long.

He knew you walked in, he’d scoped you out the second you walked in the door.

And here he sat, afraid to look at you.

Sending a soft thank you to Theo over your shoulder, you started for the door. Yunho’s head hung back over his book, but his eyes kept track of your every move. You could feel it. You took careful steps, slow steps, sipping your coffee as you strolled by his table, making sure your eyes were glued to him, just in case he happened to make eye contact again.

You wanted to sit down. Slide across from him, grab his book, flip through a few pages, nudge his knees with your own. 

With how he caged himself within his arms, that wasn’t a table you belonged at anymore.

wednesday ~ september 17th ~ 4:55 pm

“I don’t think he fucking loved me at all!”

Groans sounded from the floor and the sofa.

“Don’t do that to yourself…” Wooyoung.

“Aura, stop!” Keeho.

“He looked like he did yesterday.” Theo.

Pacing in front of them, a beer can half crushed in your hand, in the dim light of Wooyoung's apartment, you’d been monologuing for fifteen minutes, dishing out to them the events of the last three days. Your mothers calls, Tori’s updates of the dinner, how the girls in the house have been asking you questions you didn’t know the answer to, and now, Yunho.

Wooyoung’s last class ended at three thirty. When he stepped off the elevator and rounded the corner of his floor, the three of you were waiting by his door with devious smiling faces that he greeted with a snicker. Within the hour food had been ordered and devoured, music had been turned on, beers had been slammed, and voicemails had been listened to.

Keeho, on the couch, with his third beer in his hands, shook his head around like mad. “First of all, this is insane to hear considering, like, four days ago y’all were together.” 

Jumping on your two feet, you pointed at him and laughed. “We haven’t been together since July.”

Your best friend almost leapt off the ouch, but Theo held him back by the collar of his shirt.

“And you said nothing!” he shouted, falling back into his boyfriend's lap. 

Gulping the beer you held, you waved a hand. “I didn’t talk to anyone this summer.”

Wooyoung, from the floor, mid bite into his pizza, raised a finger. “I can vouch for her, she didn’t.”

Keeho rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He shared a look with Theo, settling into his arms. “I can’t believe we’re back on this Yunho bullshit.” 

“Me either,” you scoffed, slapping your hand against your thigh. Knocking back the rest of the beer in your hand, you sat the can on the table Wooyoung sat on the floor in front of and went back to pacing across his hardwood floor. “He sees me, pretends not to, doesn’t say anything, which I know!” Whipping yourself around to their open mouths with an argument ready, you swatted the air toward each of them. “Don’t start.”

Keeho giggled, nudging against Theo. “I know what you could dooo!”

Hardening your glare, you shot it toward him. “I said, don’t start.”

“Look, Ror,” Theo sighed, sitting himself up as best as he could with a tipsy Keeho latched to his side, “I saw him yesterday, I spoke to him yesterday. Not only is he also going through something, but the entire time we spoke,” he paused for an emphasis you did not need, “He couldn’t not look at you.”

“And didn’t you say that Tori said he was a mess at the party,” Wooyoung said mid chew, leaning against the couch. Standing before them, all their gazes locked upon you, you felt as though you stood before a council. “Crying about you and shit? That doesn’t sound like he doesn’t love you, Ro.” Keeho bobbed his head, his glassy eyes focusing down on the top of Wooyoung's head. “It sounds like he does.”

“All this time passed,” Theo said. “And he’s still down bad crying at the gym over you.”

Keeho eyed him. “You are so gay.”

Theo nearly broke his neck with how fast he looked at his boyfriend. “Say that to me again next time I’m pushing you headfirst-”

“Okay!” Your shout brought them back, both Wooyoung and Theo laughing at how Keeho’s face went pink.

Wooyoung gestured toward Theo. “Did you try that little trick I told you about?”

Theo nodded, smiled, and went to speak, but Keeho cut him off before he could start.

Lunging forward, eyes shooting open wide, he gaped at Wooyoung. “That came from you!?”

Pride wasn’t a strong enough word to describe what Wooyoung wore on his face. Holding up his hands in defense, he bit his bottom lip and feigned innocence. The way Keeho looked at you turned your stomach.

“Not surprised you didn’t talk to anyone all summer,” he said, and the boys fell into fits of laughter.

Standing equally on your feet, you folded your arms over the hoodie you wore and looked at him in a way only he’d be able to decipher. He sat up and set his beer down. Sliding away from Theo on the couch, he opened up his arms and you tiptoed toward him, falling into his hold, his lap. 

Wooyoung smiled. Theo relaxed the other way and sipped his beer. 

Keeho slid his hand over your arm, taking the other around your waist to hold you close to him. He took a deep breath, and in how you rose and fell with his chest he somehow telepathically let you know that you were going to be okay. That it all sucked, he knew that, but in time things tend to work out. They have in the past, and they will again.

“What in the twin brain is going on over there?” Theo asked after a few minutes of revelling in the quiet thump of the music. 

Wooyoung looked up from his phone that he scrolled through and tapped his knee. “You’ll never know,” he said quietly, “Don’t even try to understand it. They speak a different language.”

“They aren’t even speaking!”

Wooyoung winked. “Exactly.”

“I am team Aurora talk to Yunho,” Theo said between sighs when no one seemed to move. 

Keeho nodded in agreement. “I am too.”

They both looked at Wooyoung who looked at you, then Keeho, then Theo. He held up both his hands again.

“I am team Aurora do what you’re comfortable with.”

Keeho pursed his lips. “Of course you are.”

Wooyoung flattened his brows and tipped his gorgeous nose down toward him. “Yanno, you and Tori are the same person.”

“That’s a compliment,” Keeho smized.

Wooyoung smiled. “Yes, it is.” He glanced down at you. “It makes sense.”

From beside your empty plate your phone buzzed. Not once, not twice, it kept going. Moving off of Keeho’s lap, his arms hesitant to let go of you, Wooyoung reached over for your phone first, glaring at the screen.

“Who is it?” 

Sitting down next to him, his face softened as he handed it over.

“Tori.”

“Hah!” Keeho cracked, crawling over the leather to curl back up in his boyfriend's lap. Theo’s fingers threaded through his hair as his face buried in his neck.

Answering the phone you clicked it on speaker.

“You’re in the room with Wooyoung, Kee, and Tae. Hi honey bunny,” you teased, gentle giggles leaving them all except Tori.

“I knew it,” she groaned. “Okay, well-“

“What’s wrong?” you asked, furrowing your brows, turning on the floor to face your friends. You laid your phone on Theo’s shin.

“It’s fine, I can ask Chaewon, she’s here.” Her exasperated tone brought back that dreaded cloud over your head. Wooyoung pressed his lips together and glanced away.

“Tori, what is it, I can-“

“Don’t worry about it. Enjoy the boys.”

She hung up.

Mouth wide open with more words to say, she silenced you with three beeps. 

Staring at the screen of call logs, you didn’t know what to do. 

“Come on,” Wooyoung said, voice hushed. Wiping his hands on a napkin he got on his feet and moved to slip into his shoes by his front door.

“Where are we going?” Standing, you followed him and did the same, put yourself in your shoes.

He almost rolled his eyes. “Taking you back to the house,” he said above a whisper, then turned to the boys on the couch, “Stay here, I’ll be back.”

Keeho sat up, blowing you a kiss.

“Bye, Ror!” Theo called out as Wooyoung had you half pushed out the door.

You haven’t been one to wish for silence as of late, but for the fifteen minute car ride you prayed for him to shut up. Unable to process a word, you sat utterly still with your hands shoved between your thighs. 

“You can always come over, but not when you have stuff to do,” Wooyoung went on and on, “Your responsibility is huge, I get that, and it’s a lot, but that’s why you have Tori and Yuna, even Seonghwa and Hongjoong…”

They would be waiting there with papers. This happened the first week. You had dinner at Wooyoung’s, Tori called you home to sign off on recruitment stuff.

Her, Chaewon, Yunjin, Yuna… They would all be in that room, standing around the desk, or sitting around it, talking, discussing, flipping through books, filing through sheets and packets of paper, and you were going to show up late.

It wasn’t an official meeting. You weren’t missing anything.

But, that’s not what mattered.

“Stop running away from it,” Wooyoung said as turned down the street where both houses resided. 

“I’m not running from it,” you spat, and he shook his head.

“Yes, you are, and for no good reason,” he mumbled. “Over a boy who- oh god,” he grumbled, and you wanted to be sick.

Passing by ATZ a few boys hung out around the porch that wrapped around the house entirely. Some shirtless, they were all sweaty, back from a run. Yunho included. He stood at the bottom of the stairs with a smile on his face, laughing at Jongho who ran his mouth, both of them wiping their foreheads with the tees they held in their hands. 

Fixating on the car, Jongho lifted a hand to point at it and wave. You could make out Wooyoung on his lips, the car incapable of incognito. Yunho shook his sweaty hair and looked out onto the street, meeting your eyes for the few seconds it took for you to drive by.

He didn’t smile.

Peering into the side view mirror once you got too far, you watched as he fisted up his t-shirt, threw it to the concrete, drug his hands through his wet hair, and vanished into the house.

“Yeah, this pissed him off,” Wooyoung muttered, watching through the rear view mirror. He gave you a look and popped his brows. “Still think he doesn’t love you?”

thursday ~ september 18th ~ 1:03 am

[soulie]: was nice to see you when we’re not drunk

[you]: hello???? are you really talking to me right now????

[soulie]: i am. did u delete my number its soul

[you]: i know, i didn’t delete it. just shocked you’re texting me

[soulie]: …

[soulie]: …

[soulie]: …

[soulie]: i don’t know how to ask this

[you]: you can tell me anything soul

[soulie]: …

[soulie]: can i see u, can we talk

[soulie]: i get it if u dont want to but i need to

[you]: yes, please, i’d love to. 

NU home ✧ speechless masterlist ✧ talk to me ✧ ao3

you do not have permission to copy or translate my works without my consent.

[chimivx]

YES I CAN SEE IT LMFAO HNEKDNQKDNKSKDKSKSK IM SORRRRRRRYYYHSBNSKSKS

‘after all the boys and girls that we’ve been through, could you give it all up if i promise to you, that i’ll never talk again, and i’ll never love again’

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➳ college!teez x fem!reader (oc) - nice for what cast ➳ 8.6k (part two of ???) ➳ 18+, sexual content, drugs/alcohol, college life, all the drama, angst, mentions of anxiety/depression… IF I MISSED ANYTHING PLEASE LET ME KNOW! *pay attention to time stamps <3 *

saturday ~ september 13th ~ 11:49 pm

Burying your face into his neck, tightening your arms around his torso, you slung a leg over his waist and scooted even closer. 

“You can’t take up the same space as me, Ro,” Wooyoung mumbled, lifting his chin for you. Taking the win, nuzzling yourself further into him, you took a long, deep breath. “That was good.” His whispered compliment made you smile.

His cologne lived on his skin, his bare chest you laid on top of, the soft scent now intertwined with remnants of him. Comforting. 

An hour ago he was driving you home, holding onto your hand from the driver's seat, his thumb massaging into the palm of your hand. A few silent tears had slipped down your cheeks, ones he hasn’t asked you about yet, but you knew the questions were coming. He couldn’t ask you during the drive. Your father sat in the backseat.

His surprise birthday dinner had been a success, he had no idea where you were going, what had been planned, and amidst any and all delusional distractions, he’d had a great time. Wearing a smile for most of the evening, taking photos of himself, of you, of Wooyoung, of Keeho and Theo who had joined the three of you… Your father was happy. He sat beside you, talked with you, and laughed with you. Light lived in his eyes. It’d been a weary two months, so to have him upright, smiling, and speaking in full sentences, relief wasn’t enough of a word to describe how it felt.

Wooyoung dipped his chin and looked down toward you. Taking a hand from your back he swiped his thumb over your cheek and whispered, “You’re crying.”

“No m’not,” you mumbled into his shoulder, and he let out a quiet laugh.

“Ro, your tears are dripping onto my chest, you’re crying.”

“I’m drooling.”

This time he laughed for real, and you couldn’t help but smile.

“You haven’t drooled over me in a while,” his hand caressed your cheek, tilting your chin up, “Either you’re crying, or we need to have a conversation.”

His black waves, shorter now that he’s cut them, they lived over his forehead, dusting his lashes that fluttered around his deep brown eyes. Golden skin, a beautiful curved nose, a freckle on his cheek… The two of you used to spend nights devouring one another, famished, never getting enough. Hands palming skin, teeth grazing curves, tongues teasing sweet spots, breath heavy, bodies sweaty.

Now they’re spent like this. Tangled up with one another. Platonically. Mostly. 

Okay, maybe there’d been one ATZ party a week ago where he pushed you up against the bathroom wall and brought you to orgasm twice, but, platonically, of course.

That love and relationship mess, neither of you had the time or patience for it, which in turn led your situationship to an almost hard stop. Mutually. You’ve grown up in the near complete year you’ve spent together, you’ve helped one another in more ways than one, you learned about yourselves, you made it through hardships with someone by your side, and realized that the love you had for each other wasn’t romantic in the slightest.

Someone else held onto that within you.

“Why the tears?” he asked gently, dragging his thumb beneath your lashes.

Pouting, you whispered, “They all think we’re dating. You heard Keeho tonight.”

“The wedding joke?” Wooyoung asked, and when you nodded he clicked his tongue. “Didn’t bother me.”

“My dad loves you, what am I supposed to say to him?”

Shifting beneath you, he let out a breath. “You tell him the truth.”

“You know what he says about you,” you mumbled, “He’s said shit to your face.”

Wooyoung is incredible, I don’t know where you found him, but he’s unlike any other boy your age.

Bring Wooyoung over for dinner, or after, or let’s go to Haven, I need to talk to him about something…

How’s Wooyoung doing? That kid is great, I’m so happy you found him.

Haven’t seen Wooyoung for a minute, he alright?

Wooyoung is fine. Wooyoung is alive, and well, and thriving, and fine.

You just weren’t dating him.

And to roll with the truths, you never were.

The relationship you shared never escalated past a mere friends with benefits type of level, and you were okay with that. He had been there for you when you needed a crutch, when you needed someone to catch you, someone to step up for you. You’ve had the conversations, you’ve heard his theories, everything had been discussed at some point or another, even more so since Yeonjun had been hospitalized. 

You never used him, you never took advantage of his feelings nor did he take advantage of yours. At one point you both felt that feeling, that this is mine feeling, but then July came to an end. Life had been put into extreme perspective. You almost lost your best friend this summer, the boy you love won’t speak to you, and your father has to go see a cardiac specialist once a week for the rest of the year.

On top of that, recruitment hung over your head like a dark cloud. ITZ, buzzing with life and an energy so light that the new girls seemed to skip around the hardwood floors, twirling like they belonged in some Disney film, she was your responsibility, the sorority. The big decisions, they fell on you. Just tonight at dinner you received three texts from Seonghwa with questions about the dinner, when it was going to be planned and if he was going to hear from Chaewon, the newly appointed social chair, Tori’s old position, or hear from you, the president.

It all felt so big, the unease something you scrambled to hold within your hands, an attempt to control it though it’d be impossible. 

“Aurora,” Wooyoung whispered, dragging his hand over your cheek. His thumb brushed away stray tears. “We know what we are. I know what we are, if you’re trying to spare my feelings, don’t. You love him.”

“You don’t like him,” you whispered.

Wooyoung perked his brows. “Can you blame me? It’s something I can work on, but he hurt you, and he continues to hurt you. I don’t like what he said to you, I don’t like how he’s been treating you.”

Taking a breath, you whispered, “If I can get over that, can’t you?”

“It won’t be easy,” he said, blinking toward you, his long lashes brushing his cheeks. “But, I can try. 

“Tori kinda doesn’t wanna talk to me about him,” you said, pushing your hands into his bare chest, “I need someone to say things to, Wooyoung, you can’t leave me hanging.”

He smiled and took his hand away from your cheek. “Why won’t she talk about him?”

“Because… They’re all friends again,” you whispered. Wooyoung’s lips formed a frown. Laying back down on his chest, he nestled his chin in your hair. “Her, Yunho, Mingi… The three of them, they’re good. She doesn't do it on purpose, I just know that she doesn’t wanna hear the stupid shit anymore.”

Wooyoung breathed. “So, you agree that it’s stupid? This thing going on with him? Not talking to each other?”

Scrunching up your face, you groaned. “Of course it’s stupid,” you muttered. “But, this is how it goes. The drama.”

“Can’t have you guys without it, can we?” he half asked, following up with a giggle.

Laughing with him, one half hearted, you picked up your head and smiled. “Why do I enjoy it?”

Placing both hands on both of your cheeks, he squished your lips and shook his head. “‘Cause as long as you’re playing this game you still have him. Does he talk about you? Does Tori tell you anything he says?”

Blinking, you averted your eyes to his chest. “He does,” you whispered. “She’ll tell me, but it’s small mentions, nothing more.”

“So he’s interested, then,” he said, and you pursed your lips. “What’s stopping this from happening?”

You whispered so quietly, “He’s the worst,” and Wooyoung cracked a laugh. 

“He’s mad you tried to cut him off and attempted to move on with me,” he said. “We all know this. He hated me from the start ‘cause you liked me first.”

Furrowing your brows, you said, “He had every chance to make a move then, and he didn’t. He waited until I was crying in his arms. What’s that say about him?”

Wooyoung huffed. “That he doesn’t know how to make a move.” 

You slumped on top of him, face into chest. “And it’s adorable.”

Rolling his eyes, throwing his hands out, Wooyoung laughed and slid them around your back. “You’re something else, you know that? Make up your mind, is he a jackass, are you in love with him, does he suck, do you want him?”

Muffled by his chest you mumbled, “Hell yeah, I want him.” Wooyoung laughed. Picking up your head, your eyes softened. “My dad doesn’t like him. There’s too much happening right now, I can’t tell him any of this.”

He drew one of his hands in a circle. “Ro, you have to. You can’t lie to him. This isn’t something we can pretend to do for the rest of our lives. You want Yunho, you want to be with Yunho, and eventually I’m gonna find someone too, and they aren’t going to be okay with me having an imaginary girlfriend.”

You pouted. “I guess not.”

Wooyoung narrowed his eyes. Sitting up, he brought you with him, your legs wrapping around his waist. Glancing down between you, he sat your hands on your lap and maneuvered you off of him. “Let’s start with this,” he said as he moved over, giving you space to sit beside him. “No more physical stuff between us, okay?” A smile broke out on his face at the sight of yours, distraught. “Ro, you want to be with him, you can’t be doing these kinds of things with me.”

Shoving your hands in your lap, you sighed. “Yeah, okay.” You dropped your head. He took a hand beneath your chin and lifted it, forcing you to look at him.

“What happened to Aurora?” he asked, voice soft, tone gentle. “You were once a girl who didn’t take anyone's shit, now you fawn any chance you get.” 

Gulping, he felt it. “Shouldn’t you know the answer to that?”

He smiled. “I do know the answer to that,” he said, pressing his fingers into your cheeks. “I can remember those first two years, freshman and sophomore year, how different they were from the last… From the start of this one. You were loud, in the best way possible, and I thought,” he paused to laugh, “Either this girl is the shit, or she’s fighting to be seen.”

Blinking, a tear slipping down your cheek, you whispered, “Which one was it?”

Wooyoung brushed your cheek clean and brought his hand back to himself. Tilting his head, he smiled. “She’s the shit. She’s everything you could ever want. She’s kind, she’s thoughtful, she’s in a thousand places at once at all times, but she won’t ever forget to let you know that she loves you.” He took you in, then sucked in a deep breath. “She knows where she belongs, but she’s afraid to admit it. She’s scared, of a lot, and she has every right to be,” he leaned forward to wipe your cheeks once more, the tears streaming, “Her life hasn’t been easy, but it can be. She just has to remember who she is.”

Falling forward, catching him in a hug, his arms strapping around your body tight, through a shaky breath you whispered, “Thank you. For everything. I do love you, Wooyoung. So much.”

Taking a hand to the back of your head, he grazed his nails against your scalp and smiled. “I know. I love you too, Aurora. I’ll always be here for you. You can do this.”

A sob thundered through you, your hands clutching onto him tighter. From a tiny spark of a crush, to a sophomore fling, burning out to utter heart broken strangers, blazing back into full time lovers, cooling off to friends hurt more than it should. 

“What if I miss you,” you whispered between sniffles, “What if I can’t do this?”

“You can,” he soothed, running his fingers through your hair.

“But, this is it,” you said, pulling away from him. With hands on his shoulders, you squeezed him. “I tell him this, and it’s really over.” Wooyoung tried to keep a light smile on his face, but his pout persevered. “He’s getting calls from my mom, Wooyo. I can’t handle that. He can’t handle that. What if it gets worse with her, what if she tries to show up, what if she tries to… I don’t know, get to him?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’ll be here for you, we’re friends, you’re the closest one I have right now, I’m not going anywhere. If she tries to do anything else, anything more, I’ll be the first one beside you to kick her ass. You’re not alone in this. Ending our,” he searched for the word and came up with a shrug, “Relationship, doesn’t mean we’re ending our friendship, this connection we have and share. I don’t want to lose that, whether you get with Yunho or not.”

Nodding, you wiped your own cheeks and tried to take a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll tell him.” Moving off of the bed, Wooyoung followed you, kicking his legs off the side.

“Wait,” he said, hushed and rushed, “Right now?!”

Stepping into the center of your room, you gave him a look. “Yes, right now. If I don’t do it now, I never will.”

He dug his fingers into the sheets. “I’m still here, what’s he gonna say about that? Are you going to tell him the actual truth?”

Tossing your hands aside, you let them clap against your thighs. “The truth or not, what do you want me to tell him, Wooyoung, I’m confused!”

He slid his hands over his sweatpants and took a deep breath. “You tell him whatever you want to tell him, Ro. I just wanna be prepared if I have an angry dad barging in here or not.” 

Taking yourself to the door, you yanked on the handle and pulled it open. “He can’t move that fast right now,” you said to him, and gave him no further context. He nearly leapt off the bed as you winked at him through the crack of the door as you pulled it closed.

Crossing your arms over your chest in the silent hallway, you took a moment to breathe. Empty walls stared at you, the vacant space sent a chill down your spine. To your right, the sight of the kitchen made your stomach sink. Empty. Taking a few steps toward it, you peeked into the living room and clenched your jaw. Only the couch and chairs remained. Everything else had been packed up. You and your fathers life, almost thirty years of it, in boxes. 

The clothes you didn’t take with you to Nasara got folded into cardboard and duct taped shut. Shoes, books, plushies, bed sheets, bath towels, picture frames and polaroids that used to hang on your walls, all of it. Packed up. 

Memories lived within these beaten up walls, every scuff and knick in the paint courtesy of you and Keeho. All of your firsts happened here, you took your first steps down this hallway, your first A+ got hung up on the fridge that still stood in the kitchen, your first kiss happened on the porch, your first time on the couch in the living room, your Nasara acceptance letter opened in the kitchen, your dad helping you pack your suitcase the summer before freshman year…

He was going to live with Yoongi for now, until you graduated, though he tells you indefinitely so that you can move on with your life. You once dreamed of moving out on your own, somewhere up in Iloa had always been the goal, the city, but now, after this summer, everything’s changed.

You couldn’t leave him alone. Even now that the first semester has started you’ve spent more time at home then school it seems. Wooyoung willing to drive the two of you back and forth from Delo to downtown Tamoe, either dropping you off for the weekend or spending a night with you and Yeonjun, he did it for you, to ease your mind, to put an end to your worries about him.

The idea of leaving him, of moving out and not living in the bedroom next to him- terrified you.

His door, white and scuffed like yours, one you’ve opened many times in the middle of the night as a child, and a few times as of recent, though the nightmares that plagued you now were much different than the monsters that haunted you at seven years old. When he first came home, Yoongi stayed with you for a while, he either stayed in your bedroom or on the couch. You slept next to your father, starting on the floor, until you migrated into bed beside him, sitting up against the headboard, knees tucked into your chest, watching him sleep.

Those nights left you scatterbrained, sleepless hours exhausting you, a walking corpse who couldn’t drink enough coffee, who Wooyoung couldn’t snap back to reality. Some days you couldn’t place your left from your right, your actuality from delusion. He cooked for you and Yeonjun, he drove to some doctors appointments if Yoongi wasn’t available, he called Yeonjun to check in if he hadn’t been around in a couple of days.

Your rock once again. Selfless, compassionate, caring.

Whipping around to glare at your bedroom door, you sucked in a breath and released it with a sigh.

Maybe it’s a mistake walking away from him. Maybe putting an end to what the two of you shared would do more damage than good. There’s the chance that Yunho would never look at you again, never speak to you again, and here you were walking away from one of the greatest things that's ever happened to you. In these months you’ve shared with him he’s taught you more than you’ve ever known in your twenty two years of living.

Footsteps sounded behind your bedroom door and before you had the chance to scurry off somewhere, he opened the door, surprised to see you. Looking from your pout, to your folded arms, to how you barely made it down the hallway, Wooyoung shut your door as quietly as he could and stepped in front of you. 

Taking his hands to your cheeks, he smoothed his thumbs beneath your lashes and smiled. “I’m not letting you not do this,” he whispered.

“Where were you going?”

The worry in your tone made him frown. “The bathroom,” he assured you, “I’m not leaving.”

“Promise?”

He nodded once, coming closer to you. “Promise,” his eyes flickered to your lips, “I’m gonna give you this one last time, okay?”

Breath hitching in your chest, eyes fluttering shut, you nodded, whispering, “Okay,” and he pressed his lips to yours, catching them in a kiss so soft your knees buckled. Sliding your arms around his shoulders, an attempt to deepen what he gave you, he allowed it for a few seconds, then pulled away. 

With eyes on your lips, he smiled. Brushing his nose against yours, he whispered, “I’m officially off limits, Ro.” 

A whine caught in your throat. “I don’t get San rules, what is this? I can control myself.” 

Pulling away from you completely, starting opposite down the hallway, he shrugged and cracked a hushed laugh. “Think it’s more for me than it is for you,” he said with a cock of his chin, his bronze skin on display. Holding up both hands, walking backward, he opened and closed his fists twice and grinned. “You’re off limits now, too.” He disappeared behind the bathroom door.

If you knew that this would be it a half hour ago, that that kiss would be the last thing the two of you share, you would’ve crawled on top of him sooner, held off your tears for a moment, and let your lips dance across his skin persuading him into one more night before it all came to end.

Even if you tried, he wouldn’t let you. Whether he knew what you were doing or not, whether or not he knew he was ending everything tonight. That the two of you were ending everything tonight. This was mutual. You both wanted this to happen. 

It split your heart in two, and to make matters worse, the thought of Yunho didn’t glue it back together. The thought of Yunho grabbed both broken ends by the throat, twisted them together, strangled them, squeezed the life out of them, and threw them to the ground. You could watch him do it, you could visualize it now, similar to that night on the beach, on the porch in Haos, Yunho screaming at you, red in the fucking face. You never wanted him more. 

Tori told you of the night the two of you spent at Wave, the nightclub you ran into Yunho at. You barely remembered a thing, but she told you all about how he didn’t speak a word to you, how he was still respecting what you had told him no matter how silly it all seemed to everyone else. He helped you, he kept you on your feet, he carried you out of the bar, he sat with you on the beach, he held onto you like he couldn’t lose you, like getting to be with you that night even if you told him to his face how awful he was, it’s the one night from this summer he’ll never forget, one he still thinks of, because even for twenty minutes, you were his.

Then it went back to shit.

She told you what you called him. What you said about Wooyoung and your relationship, that you were jealous of her and Mingi, how they were soulmates, and yours hated you.

He hasn’t acknowledged you at an ATZ party yet this semester. You’ve walked by him on the way to class this past week since they’ve started, he doesn’t spare you a glance. The only message you got this summer since leaving Haos, one about Yeonjun, short and respectful, all centered around your father and how Yunho sends his healing prayers. It’s something you could dive deeper into, but you got a message from all of them, every guy, every single one of your friends, they all sent something similar. Yunho’s wasn’t special. 

But, it stuck with you.

Those sleepless nights, eyes locked in to the rise and fall of Yeonjun’s chest, leaning closer if he’d turned over in his sleep just to make sure he was still breathing, all that time spent awake on your own, you thought of him. Crawling into bed alone, it was him you imagined beside you, holding you, listening to you cry and ramble off your fears. You knew he’d make them his own, he’d hold onto them, cage them within himself so he’d never have to watch you feel them ever again. Wooyoung could help heal, but Yunho would immortalize you given the chance.

At least at one point it felt that way.

You wanted it back, you wanted it all back, even if it meant arguing for months before breaking through solution. You’d rather have screaming match after screaming match instead of this devout act of silence. 

The toilet flushed. Wooyoung was about to come back to bed and you were still standing in the middle of the hallway.

Clutching your arms tight, you whirled around and gripped the handle of your fathers bedroom door. Swallowing away nausea, tensing your muscles to rid of the nerves shaking through you, you pushed open his door and stepped inside, closing it carefully.

Sitting up, leaning against the headboard scrolling through his phone, he nearly broke his neck when the door opened.

“Aura,” he said swiftly, sitting forward, watching you walk around his bed, unable to meet his eyes. “What’s the matter?”

Throat tightening, tears welling up in your eyes, the sob fell from you just before you were face down on his pillows, flopping onto his mattress, rolling yourself up in a throw blanket laying across the comforter he laid beneath. 

“Aurora,” he said again, voice raised, glancing from his door to you. “Did something happen? What’s going… What’s…”

His voice trailed off. It only made you sob harder, wondering what went through his mind, what he could be thinking about right now.

His dinner had been perfect, and though you and Wooyoung appeared to act as nothing more than close friends, no one clocked the act. You sat beside him and lied to him, there’d been no inkling as to whether or not you two were breaking up.

Then again, just before the check arrived, taking photos of Keeho, Theo, and your dad who never wanted to be in any photos ever, the unimaginable happened. Your mother, Seori, called him, while you held onto his phone, leading you to sift through his missed calls, his unopened voicemails he seemed to be ignoring, and at first you scoffed at his ignorance and wanted to help him clear them out, but then you listened. Reading over the AI script left behind underneath a thirty second message, you pressed the phone to your ear, and you listened to her voice.

For the first time in your life, you heard your mother speak. 

Moments like this have always played through your mind at random, mostly when you were a child, imagining what it’d be like to have a mother, or to have her come back. Seulgi had been the closest thing you had, her and Keeho’s mother who treated you more like a daughter than her eldest son’s best friend. But, to have that connection with one, a mother, one you came from, you figured it’d feel more cinematic than sitting in a restaurant listening to her beg your father to see him over voicemail. 

The first experience you had with her.

Desperate, near tears.

Not in the slightest the strong woman Yeonjun made her out to be.

She’d been bothering him, and that infuriated you most of all.

It all came out of you at once, in one big jumble of words lost in the pillows, mere gibberish Yeonjun couldn’t even make out.

Wooyoung, your mother, Yunho, the presidency, your worries about him and his health, you spewed as much of it as you could, words overlapping, words half cut off by sobs, sentences broken in two and merged with another.

Yeonjun scooted closer to you and placed a hand over your back, drawing it in circles.

“Aura, sit up, please,” he said softly. Your mumbles didn’t stop. “I can’t hear a word you’re saying, please, sit up. Calm down. Talk to me.” 

Lifting your head, face stained with tears, little hairs sticking to your dewey forehead, Yeonjun pouted his lips and pushed your hair back. He palmed both your cheeks and wiped your tears, then swiped a thumb beneath your nose. Muscle memory.

“Do we need a snack?” he asked. An attempt to get you to smile. Teary nights used to end with him carrying you on his hip into the kitchen, sitting you down on the counter so he could search through the cabinets over your head for cookies or something to make the hurt sweeter. 

You used to think he didn’t care. Somehow those memories got overshadowed by his disappearances down to Contramano, the time he’d spent away from the house, the business trips he’d take. Your mind focused on all those moments, days without hearing from him, detainment, picking him up at the station, leaving him there one night because you were fed up.

It took a lot for you to remind yourself that in between all of that he would walk you into the kitchen and feed you sweets while you cried. Even if he didn’t know what to say, if he couldn’t understand why you were crying, he still tried. 

Flopping back down face first on his bed, you sobbed again. Remembering hurt. Especially now. You’d do anything to go back in time before July, anything to relive those moments, to appreciate them a little bit more, to thank him for everything he’s done for you. You sobbed.

Yeonjun pressed his lips together and sighed to himself.

“It’s because of her, isn’t it?”

The hurt in his voice had you springing up to your knees.

“No,” you spat. Dragging the back of your hand over your cheeks, you choked back a sob and muttered, “Yes?” Meeting his eyes, his brows flipped over as he watched you. “I don’t know?!” “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he said. 

Shaking your head, forcing yourself to take a deep breath, you said, “It’s fine, it’s not that, I didn’t need to know, you know that, we’ve talked about her before,  I just…” Swallowing a sob, you met his gaze and frowned. “I don’t want her bothering you,” you whispered, tears slipping down your cheeks. “She needs to leave you alone, she doesn’t matter, you’ve got too much going on, and she’s never done anything for you, she-”

“She gave me you,” he said with utmost care, silencing you and your cries. Eyes glistening, his lips perked into a tiny smile. He slid a hand over his chest, over his heart. “If not for you, something like this would’ve happened to me a long ass time ago, Aura. I’ve said it to Yoongi, but I don’t think I’ve said it to you.” He thinned his lips and bobbed his head, his words knocking the breath from your lungs. “You saved my life.” 

Your sobs came back, a laugh sparking at his lips.

“Aurora,” he nearly roared, tipping his head backward, a grin on his face, “The drama, who are you? You’re supposed to tell me to shut the fuck up, or shove me, or spit an ‘Ewe!’ to my face!”

Moving over the comforter you nestled into his side to his surprise, taking your hands over one of his, slinging his arm around you. “That was before I thought I’d never lose you.”

He scoffed, his hand dragging across your arm, soothing you. “Please, nothing can take me out. All the shit I’ve been through? It’s gonna take a lot more to get rid of me.”

“Don’t talk like that,” you whispered, and he laughed again.

“Seriously,” he breathed, “You’re different. And as much as I appreciate it, it’s throwing me off.”

You grit your teeth together. “Apologies, Junie, that the sight of you unconscious in a hospital bed has changed me.” 

He let out a quiet laugh. “There you are,” he whispered. “Just thought my girl was losing her bite.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” you mumbled, “She’s got plenty of that left.”

Yeonjun nodded, then tapped his fingers on your shoulder. “Why don’t you tell me about it. There’s more bugging you. I can feel it. We’ll leave the Seori stuff alone.” Her name made you shiver. “I’m not answering her calls, and they aren’t bothering me like you think they might be. Let’s leave it at that.”

“If it gets worse you have to tell me,” you whispered, and he nodded quickly.

“Deal. Now tell me what else is going on.” 

Taking a breath, you let it out in a pathetic attempt and closed your eyes.

Now or never.

“Wooyoung and I are broken up.”

His hand stopped moving on your arm. Even his breath staggered for a second. Opening your eyes, you gave him a look. He stared down at you.

“You and Wooyoung are… Wooyoung, in the other room, Wooyoung? In your room? Wooyoung who drove us to dinner, Wooyoung?”

“Yes,” you whispered, keeping your smile to yourself. It wasn’t funny, but the way he spewed his confusion amused you.

“I don’t,” he paused, lifting his head to stare at the wall like he could see Wooyoung through it. “I don’t understand. He just broke up with you now? Is he still here? You’re telling me he broke your heart after tonight?” 

The way he raised his voice somehow calmed you. You were going to have to start from the beginning. But with how he almost shouted, he cared. Looking down at you and how you’ve ceased crying, he twisted his brows together.

“Dad, we weren’t… We weren’t ever together.” 

He snapped his jaw shut. Then, he glanced away from you, waiting for more, leaving you to wonder if any part of this story brought back memories for him. 

“We… had feelings for each other, but I think once everything calmed down and we could look at things the way they really were, we realized we were better off as friends.”

He shot you a look. “He told me he loved you, Aurora.”

You sat up to face him. “And I loved him too.”

“Then why break up? Or, break things off, or, I don’t know.” His tone started to harden, sparking worry within you. “He’s so good for you, I’ve been saying half the reason why you’ve changed is because of him. I feel like our relationship has gotten better because of him.”

Rolling your head backward, you closed your eyes. “You looked back at him and his eyes softened. “I’ve realized a lot about myself, have learned a lot about myself, and sure, maybe it is because of him, but we’re getting better ‘cause of us. I want us to be better, for us.”

Yeonjun pointed his eyes to the blanket and nodded. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” 

“Please, try to stay calm,” you whispered, and he met your eyes again with curiosity. “We ended things mutually. This… involvement with each other. I still want him around, as a friend.”

“Good,” he huffed, and you shook your head. “Dad,” you warned, and he took a deep breath. “Calm. Please. I came in here to talk about this, because if I don’t do it now, I never will.” He nodded, keeping his breaths steady. “Do you… Do you remember Yunho?”

His name tasted funny.

It took him a few seconds of racking his brain. When he finally placed him, he shot up straight, but didn’t say a word.

“I know,” you whispered, scrunching up your face, letting your eyes fall shut. “Yes, that Yunho.”

Yeonjun tried his hardest to keep his heart rate down. “The history kid? The one that’s friends with Tori and her boyfriend? You all would hang out? And he’s the one you spent last summer with? And when I asked you if there was more than just friendship there with him you laughed in my face? And then when you came home last year, and you told me all about what I already knew to be true? The rooftop confession? And then he broke your heart, and then that girl, Fa-”

You reached forward and gripped his arm, cutting him clean off. He took short breaths in and out of his lips. Taking your time, ignoring all he just threw at you, you took long, deep breaths, coaching him to take them with you. Once he calmed, you sat back and sighed.

“Yeah,” you shrugged. “That’s him.”

Through clenched teeth, he muttered, “What about him, Aurora?”

He was on Yeonjun’s list. This much you knew. After the incident there were a lot of people on his list.

Breaking into the smallest smile, a single tear sliding down your cheek, you parted your lips and breathed through a laugh. “I love him.”

You should’ve shot him instead, it would’ve hurt him less judging by the look on his face. Folding his hands in his lap, he closed his eyes and laid backward, leaning against the headboard.

“Aurora,” he said, voice steady, “Do you remember what he did to you?”

“Yes,” you sighed, lifting your hands, letting them fall into your lap. “But, I did things too, Dad, I’m not innocent in this argument, I actually slept with someone before I even knew he was sleeping with Mina, I-”

“Stop,” he cringed, looking over at you. “There are some things I do not need to know. It doesn’t matter what you did, he still kept it from you for a long, long time. He tells you he loves you, and he still stays with her? It’s fucked up, Aura, you deserve better than that.”

“I had better,” you said with a smile, then pointed at the wall. “He’s in there. He’s better. But, I still want Yunho. No one was dating anyone, there weren’t any boundaries broken, no cheating.”

“That doesn’t matter,” he said just above a whisper. “Trust was broken, your heart was broken. Whatever you guys had, it was broken. He broke it. You cannot sit here and tell me he ever respected you after what he’s done. Cheating or not, together or not, he fucked up.”

You’ve been over it before. Again and again you’ve laid out the cards, pondered over them, and each time, it ends the same.

You want him.

You’re still hurt, and you still want him.

“If I can get over that, can’t you?” Repeating the words you said to Wooyoung, the words you’ll have to say to two more boys in the days to follow, they didn’t have the same effect.

“No,” he said flat out, “He really hurt you, how can I forgive him for that?”

“That’s fair,” you shrugged. “There’s a slim chance of anything happening between us anyway, so maybe you’ll get your wish and I won’t end up with him.”

Yeonjun sat forward, his brows flattening over his eyes. “Why you say that?”

“Because,” you shrugged again. “We aren’t speaking.” You glanced down to your knees. “We’re not in a good place, at all. ‘Cause of what he did, actually. You say I’m losing my bite, but I put him in his place. I told him he can’t talk to me unless I talk to him first.”

“Good for you,” he whispered, and you laughed, looking up at him.

“Yeah, good for me,” you rolled your eyes, “Until now, when I want to talk to him, when I want to work things out with him and he’s still following the stupid fucking rule. It’s been almost a year, and even if I’m incoherent he still follows the rule. He won’t talk to me unless I talk to him. All it takes is one word too, and he’ll talk to me. But, I won’t do it.”

“Why?”

You shook your head. “‘Cause I think I’m hoping he’ll talk to me first. I think… I think I’m testing him. If he really wants me, if he really loves me like he said he does, like Tori tells me he acts like he does, he’ll talk to me first. He’ll forget what I said, he’ll come to me. He’ll fight for me.”

You heard Yeonjun take a breath. “What if he doesn’t because… Because he does love you, but he’s… respecting your boundaries?” He realized the irony in his words from what he’s said prior and let out the smallest of laughs. “God damn, Aurora.” 

You looked at him, and he smirked down at you.

With a shake of his head, he said, “You’ve got him whipped.” A smile broke out onto your face, and he groaned. “I still don’t like it. Or him. At all. Awful.”

“I’m not a big fan of him right now either,” you whispered, wiping the smile off your cheeks. “Think that’s how I know I love him. I didn’t know what that felt like before him.”

Yeonjun bobbed his head. “I know exactly how you feel. Someone you love hurting you so bad to the point of never wanting to see them again only to have your heart crying for them every night.” Giving him a look, he shot you a side eye.

“Don’t answer her,” you whispered, and he gave you a weak wink.

“I won’t.” It fell quiet between you for a moment, until he asked, “He really won’t talk to you unless you talk to him first?”

A giggle came out of you. “Nope,” you said. “Not even a word. It’s gotten to the point where he won’t even look at me.”

Yeonjun glanced away. “Damn.”

“I know,” you breathed, “If I didn’t have Tori telling me he still asks about me I’d be thinking he wants nothing to do with me.”

Silence fell. Until he said, “You’ve been with Wooyoung all this time. Surely that’s hurt him.”

Gulping, you nodded. “It has, I know it has. He told me.”

Yeonjun scoffed. “When?”

“In Haos,” you said, looking over at him with a raise of your brows. “We… Got into a fight, it’s the last time we spoke. I wish that was it, that fight should’ve been us getting over ourselves. It was almost it, but…”

“What happened?”

Giving him a look, you smiled. “You.”

He cringed. “Eesh, sorry.”

“It���s okay,” you whispered, laughing between it. “A lot’s been put into perspective since then. I wasn’t thinking that our fight could’ve been the moment until after I flew home. You changed a lot for me. I don’t think I’d be ending things with Wooyoung, or be feeling so certain about getting Yunho back, and being only with Yunho if this summer didn’t happen. Any of it.”

His hand laid on your shoulder. Giving you the gentlest shake, he smiled at you, and whispered, “Take your time. Think. Remember.” He shook his head. “Don’t let your heart get the best of you, you’re in charge. Don’t forget that.”

monday ~ september 15th ~ 9:12 am

“And I have people coming in to clean,” Tori mumbled through the phone, half distracted by the makeup she told you she was applying at the same time. You heard the click of one of her products closing and another opening. “Caterers arriving sometime in the afternoon, I can’t remember when right now…”

Pulling your zip up around you tighter in the wind that blew through Nasara’s campus this morning, the grey skies shielded the sun, keeping any and all warmth away from you. At least everything was still green, you had about a month before everything went yellow. 

“Yeah, that’s fine,” you mumbled back to her. “Anything you wanna do, it’s good.” Sidestepping a group of freshman boys running by, one of them on a skateboard, you groaned and continued your brisk walk to class, phone pressed to your ear, arm wrapped over your chest.

“You’re off,” Tori said. “Talk to me later.”

A scoff came out of you. “Damn, Tor, I had a bad weekend, give me a break. Ask me how I am before you assume I don’t wanna talk to you.”

You listened as she took a deep breath, the line silent for a few seconds before she answered. “How are you?”

“Not great,” you said without missing a beat. A gust of wind blew your hair backward over your shoulders. “We packed the rest of our stuff up yesterday, and Yoongi helped the movers put the rest of our furniture into the back of a truck. I think this weekend was the last time I’ll ever be in that house again.”

“I’m sorry, Ror,” she said softly.

You sighed. “Yeah, me too. I told my dad about Wooyoung finally, and brought up Yunho.”

Tori groaned, then her voice got louder, like she picked up the phone to speak directly into it. “Speaking of Yunho,” she started, her tone already uneasy, “We didn’t have a great weekend either.”

“Who didn’t? You and Yunho? You and Mingi? And Yunho?” You scanned the campus in front of you and partially behind you, just in case. “Was there a party?”

“Yeah, they had a party,” she breathed. “Most of us were there, except you and Hongjoong, he went home this weekend too. It was normal for the most part, but I’ve never seen Yunho drink like this before, Ror, it was insanity. Mingi had to almost carry him up the stairs, he could barely stand, he was crying, and once we got him in his room he just popped off, and not in a good way.”

Like her words conjured him up, he turned the corner of the block you walked down. Headphones lived over his ears, his thin frames sat on his nose, and he was dressed nicely. Slacks and a button down with a brown jacket shielding him from the cold. Your heart winced. His eyes were tired. Tori’s story told the truth.

“What happened?” you asked quietly, watching him walk across the street and onto the lush green park that lived in the center of the old architectural circle you wound around. 

“We think he had a panic attack or something,” she said, carrying on. “He, like, couldn’t breathe, and he kept saying he wanted you, he needed you, and he cried. He kept crying. I’ve never seen him freak out like that. Mingi and I stayed with him, we all squished together in his bed. And, oh, he got so sick right after we got him to fall asleep. He just kept saying he wanted you, he wants you, he wants you…”

“Yeah, well, I’m looking at him right now, he sure wants me alright,” you said. He scrolled through his phone like mad, eyes pointed, focused. 

“He’s drowning in internship decisions. The ones that are asking for him he doesn’t want, and the ones he does want he’s barely making it in.”

Internships. God damn. Add another thing to a long list of shit you didn’t want to worry about but should be worrying about.

“He’s not always purposefully ignoring you, you know how he gets when he hyperfixates, you gotta break him out of it.”

You rolled your eyes. “Is that what he wants me to do?”

The line beeped. Three times. Another call came through.

Furrowing your brows you pulled your phone away expecting to see your fathers name across the top, but it read Unknown Caller instead. Hitting the lock button to silence it, you went back to Tori.

“I don’t know what he wants you to do, we only talk about you when he brings you up, otherwise he shuts down. Mingi can’t even say your name without getting kicked in the shin.”

Focusing forward, your walk slowing down immensely, you stared at the ground. “What’s he been saying?”

Tori hummed. “The latest is you and Wooyoung. He doesn’t believe us when we say you’re broken up.”

“It’s been since July,” you hissed, and she giggled.

“He knows that. He sees you together on campus, it freaks him out.”

You rolled your eyes again. “Well, he should come ask me then if he doesn’t believe it!”

Suddenly, a door to your right swung open, almost wiping you flat on your ass. Stumbling back some, a gasp shooting through you, Kazhua turns out of it and gasps as well. A freshmen recruit.

“Aurora!” she shouted, reaching for you. One of her hands touched your shoulder. “I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay,” you smiled, bobbing your head, placing your phone back to your ear. She eyed it and frowned.

“I interrupted your phone call,” she lowered her voice and shook her head, “I’m sorry.”

Shrugging your shoulders you adjusted your bag. “It’s just Tori, she’ll live.”

Kaz seemed to blink away surprise that started to manifest on her face. “Oh, just Tori,” she said. “Okay, good, I’m sorry again!” She started in the opposite direction, leaving you with a wave. “I’ll see you at the house later for the tours!”

Waving her off, you stepped off to the side of the building and posted up against it. Waiting for your heart to stop racing, you answered Tori’s question.

“It was Kaz,” you sighed. “She’s sweet.”

“...Yeah, she is.”

“Why’d you hesitate?”

There was another click of a palette. “Nothing, I’m doing my makeup, it’s nothing.”

Tightening your jaw, you said, “Okay, don’t freak me out about these new girls, I already have nightmares about them bullying me.”

Tori laughed after a smack of her lips. “They won’t bully you, Ror. I won’t let them. Have a good class,” she said, shifting around on the other side, moving from her vanity, “I have to get dressed, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Tours are today?” you asked, tapping your toes on the concrete. “Yes,” she said, her voice stern, “You have to be there, tonight at five.”

Scoffing, you fired back, “Where else would I be?”

“Wooyoungs?”

“Damn, I wasn’t expecting an actual answer,” you whispered, feeling your stomach sour.

“I’ll see you tonight.”

She didn’t even wait for you to answer, she hung up before you could even pull the phone from your ear. Tipping your chin back, looking up at the thick clouds breezing by in the grey sky, you take a deep breath and try to mentally prepare yourself for the day. Two classes, easy enough, and then an evening of hosting new members at the ITZ house, your house, the house you were president of.

The tours were easy enough, all the girls wanted was to see the house, top to bottom. Experience it for a night to really figure out if this was where they were meant to be or not. You and Tori knew it the moment you walked through the doors together, ITZ would be your future.

And here you were.

Gazing around at the tree branches dancing in the wind, your eye caught onto Yunho still hanging around the park, now sitting atop the grey stone ledge of a garden. Elbow deep in the bag he had around his back, his eyebrows had plummeted as he searched for something. 

Typical, you thought. He always forgot something, whether it be his books, his assignments, or his cell phone. Something got left behind, almost everyday. You went through a period of time sending him a morning text with a reminder of what he needed for the day, and you sent it everyday until he no longer needed it and started to remember on his own.

It’s been a while.

His hands dropped in defeat. Rolling his head backward with a groan you couldn’t hear, you watched as he squeezed his eyes shut and slumped his shoulders. Whatever he was missing, it was important. 

Moving to zip up his bag, he stood and swung it over his shoulders, and then, his eyes met yours.

And for two seconds, the world stopped.

The branches stopped dancing, the wind stopped blowing, your heart stopped beating.

And he walked away. In the direction he came from.

He didn’t spare you another glance.

Two seconds was all he gave you.

You waited to move until he disappeared around the corner he spawned from. Pushing off the wall you leaned on, you continued to class, swiping your phone open to hopefully find some distraction through Instagram. Maybe Chan was active, you haven’t talked to him in over a week, you could check in and see how he’s doing, if he ever made the decision to come back to school or not.

A red notification perched on the corner of the phone app sparked your interest.

Tapping on it, the Unknown Caller had left you a voicemail. 

Your blood ran cold. 

Feet planting into the ground, the bottoms of your sneakers welding with the concrete, you felt as though you moved at halftime as you clicked on the message. Lifting the phone to your ear, mouth going utterly dry, your stomach lurched as she spoke words you never ever wanted to hear her say.

“Aurora, it’s Seori, it’s your mom.”

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