#HAS A HUGE ADMIRATION FOR RYU JUN YEOL

[kalopsius]

lemon coke,

only lee donghyuk could turn a failed blind date into something more.

blind date au, fluffyish // 1.94 k words

author’s note: working on like four 3/4 done drafts, one mark, doyoung one and one renjun! they will be longer ones so i will not be that active until i finish one of them.  i am not that satisfied with this one, but when am i ever happy with anything i write. ;;; the ending was a bit ehh.. because i don’t know how to end things. but please enjoy it though < 3 

p.s i love ryu jun yeol! (THIS WAS A PSA. THANK YOU)

pathetic.

the single word clouded your once happy thoughts as you sat at a restaurant table alone. the noise of the light chatter and the clicking of plates had faded into silence as your attention was now on a staring match with the glass of water in front of you. surely you wouldn't win it, but trying to not let the tears that were welling up in your eyes to leak on your cheek was something you were forcing yourself to win.  your grip on the glass tightened as a single tear rolled down your cheek, betraying you in the process. with a shaking hand, you wiped the wetness off your face.

your friends said it would be fun. sending you on a blind date with a guy would finally get you away from your room and away from your laptop for once to socialize because apparently, you didn't get enough of that at school. you, of course, being the proud single "i am married to my studies" type of a person did not fully agree to this, but you still had a bit of excitement inside. your friends all had significant others already and you were edging the age of nineteen with a tracklist of no boyfriends and no first kiss. although academics were always first in your mind, years of reading romance novels and k-drama had spurt some type of feeling of loneliness within you.

so you agreed to this setup. his name was junsu or something of the sort. your friends had excitedly explained to you how good looking he was and that he was perfect for you, something you doubted. no one could ever replace ryu jun yeol in your heart, even if he was dating hyeri. nevertheless, you arrived five minutes early to the restaurant, your eyes darting around the restaurant for someone who looked like the description that your friend gave you.

your ounce of excitement was shattered as one minute of waiting turned to two to five to ten to twenty. every passing person was just another disappointment that walked by. you could feel their eyes as they glanced from the empty seat across from you to you, pity clouding their eyes. too embarrassed to leave the restaurant without ordering anything, you decided to save whatever sliver of reputation you had left by just sitting and waiting.

"if you are going to hold that glass any harder, you might break it miss." a familiar voice from in front you rang out in a joking manner, yet you couldn't place a name on the voice. his tongue clicked against his teeth as he slid into the empty seat across from you. he grabbed the glass out of your hand, placing it just out of your reach. you, not expecting him to sit down, just stared at him wide-eyed as he adjusted himself and his stuff on the chair.

"you are my blind date, right?" he placed his elbows on the table and his face on his hands, gazing at you expectingly.

"i.. you..i." you could only stutter out in shock as it finally clicked in your brain who he was. lee donghyuk or as most people knew as haechan. the mischievous troublemaker of his friend group called dreamies, one of the popular friend group in your college. everyone seemed to love him, male and female species alike. even professors doted on the boy that always had a twinkle in his eyes. you had never interacted with him, him being a completely different major than you and the major building positioned almost the opposite side of campus. you had heard some here-say about him, but that was about it. never did you expect that donghyuk was on a blind date too. never did you expect donghyuk to be here with you.

"sorry that i was a bit late. mark was hassling me about cleaning my room." he muttered something under his breath before he smiling at you, the edges of his lips turning upwards. "i will make it up to you, i promise!"

you didn't reply back to his comment though. a single thought clouded your mind, distracting you from answering. his smile was so pretty. even though you had never met junsu, you bet that his looks would cower in the presence of donghyuk. as your brain registered this thought, you instantly cursed yourself for having such foolish thoughts. as if that would matter anyway.  a red tingle slowly grew on your cheeks, embarrassment heating up your face. luckily, it didn't seem that donghyuk noticed as he was too busy fidgeting with his fingers.

silence fell upon the table as you stayed quiet stirring your straw in your glass of water and he awkwardly adjusted his tie from one side to the other, only the clicking of the ice cubes against glass could be heard. donghyuk would frequently look up at you, grazing your face. you, feeling his gaze would look up and meet his eyes, only to quickly lower your eyes back to stare at your glass once again.

a waiter, not noticing the awkward atmosphere, almost skipped to the table. the smile on his face seemed permanently plastered on his face to the point that it seemed too rehearsed.

"good evening. what would you like to drink on this lovely night?" the waiter's sickeningly sweet voice rang out.

"lemon coke." your response made haechan's nervous expression turn into one of pure confusion as he stared at you, surprised at your choice of drink.

"cherry coke." haechan affirmed, crossing his arms. you raised an eyebrow at him, still perplexed by his sudden change of attitude.

"you do realize that lemon coke is one of the worst coke flavor ever." the tone of his voice was the most serious that you had ever heard him, but by the slight sparkle in his eyes, you knew he was just teasing you. the awkward atmosphere of the table dropped immediately as the single statement dissolved the once quiet table. light bickering ensued due to the random topic, causing you to giggle out loud. his eyes widened at the sound of your laugh.

"hey! i finally made you laugh."

" no, it was because of the drink. you aren't funny at all, cherry coke boy."

this bickering continued as the dishes were served and, sarcastic remarks were exchanged after each bite full of food. question after question was exchanged as topics from favorite color to if it was okay to chew yogurt filled the conversation. the memories of the disappointing blind date quickly faded from your head.

only donghyuk remained in your mind.

the walk from the restaurant back to your respective places was silent. each one of you just minding your own, your shoulders and hand occasionally brushing against each other. it was a comforting silence, though. you took deep inhales of cold night air in, letting the cold air settle into your system. a heavy warmness on your shoulder made you turn your head to the side as donghyuk slipped his jacket onto your shoulders. you could only merely smile at him, avoiding his gaze.

"i never had a blind date." donghyuk remarked curtly, his sentence cut through the comfortable silence of the night. he must have seen the confusion cloud your eyes as he continued quickly, not leaving you any time to respond. "i am interested in you."

you whipped your head away from him. your eyes now finding the cracked sidewalk below more interesting than ever before.

"no in that way.. yet at least. " a red tint blossomed on his cheeks as he waved his hands frantically to deny what most would assume the phrase had meant.

"you always sit in the corner of the library.. near the history section with your duck pencil bag. my friends would go there and i would always see you. i.." he stuttered. it was a sight that only a handful of people could ever see. donghyuk at a lost for words. "i would wonder what you were doing there everyday. yeah. that."

he inhaled deeply, letting out a shaky exhale before continuing.

"i saw you at the restaurant." his voice now trembling slightly, a habit you picked up on that only happened when he was nervous. "and you looked lonely and thought.... it would be a great opportunity to finally meet you."

you hummed a response that was a mixture of not knowing what to say and also not needing to say anything. your expression was have been of disbelief and confusion, one donghyuk couldn't read. the rest of the walk was once again silent. a contrast to the noise of thoughts in your brain. donghyuk would nervously dart his eyes from the sidewalk to your face and back, not again meeting your stare. no words were exchanged, only hidden stares and filled hearts.

"i am glad you came." your comment made him perk up from whatever state he was in. the once nervous expression dissolved from his face. his lips lifted once again to display that smile that you came to love. you hoped that he would be able to show it more to you in the future.

the closer you got to your house, the heavier the saddening feeling grew in your chest. it was inevitable. school was tomorrow and, you would be off, back to your own lives. only if your house was a bit farther away from the restaurant, maybe you would have had more time.

he led you up the steps to your house and up to the door before facing you. his arms were back behind his back and, the pre-dinner awkwardness had once again set in.

"we should do this again."

"definitely." his face seemed to almost glow as he tucked his hands back in his pocket.

"bye, cherry coke boy."

"bye, lemon coke girl."

he turned away, giving you one last wave as you watched his figure disappear into the shadows.

the memories of date seemed to replay in your mind as you walked through campus, ignoring your surroundings as the noise of the crowds seemed to silence by your own thoughts. two weeks later and you hadn't had any contact with him, not even a sight of him on campus. it was a nice memory that you would cherish for a long time, but next to that, that was it. but yet, you kept your head down just in case there was a chance that he was around. even the thought of him made your heart beat a little faster than it usually did.

you knew nothing of your relationship with donghyuk had changed. he would be laughing away with his friends, while you would be in the corners of the library, tucked away in your book. but something did change. he was no longer was an afterthought or a whisper in the wind.

your route to your lecture room was stopped by a pair of shoes. looking up at the figure, you heart dropped a bit at the sight of a person who wasn't donghyuk.

it was jaemin, one of donghyuk's friends.

"there you are."

a look of confusion was cast over your face. he pushing a familiar looking bottle in your hand with a knowing smile on his face. sprinting off before you could ask him what that was all about, you could only watch his figure dissolve into the crowd of people that littered the hallway. you turned the slightly wet glass bottle around to see a post-it note, tapped to it.

"to my lemon coke girl. cherry coke is still better."

only cherry coke boy.

you smiled.