#before fanfiction I absolutely hated romcoms and the romantic genre

[soft-persephone]

Turns out consuming romantic media can help you get better at creating it. Who knew?

[mingiatz]

Summary: What happens when relentless teasing turns into something more? Sophie and Wooyoung have spent years bickering and pushing each other’s buttons, but when feelings get involved, their dynamic shifts in a way one of them definitley didn't expected.

Pairing: Jung Wooyoung x Sophie (OC)

Tropes: Somewhat Enemies- to -Lovers

Genre: RomCom, Drama & Angst, Push-and-Pull Tension, Flirty Banter Turned Romantic, Slow Burn with Explosive Chemistry

Featuring: Ateez, Emilia, Hana, Harin and Noah (Previous Fanfics), OCs

This Series will have multiple Chapters with around 2000 words. I hope you like it. Please be kind this is my first Fanfiction and English is not my first language. (I am open for constructive criticism). I will try to upload a chapter everyday.

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Chapter Three

Wooyoung’s POV

Stress levels were high.

Ateez was deep in preparations for the upcoming tour, and our schedule was brutal. Between endless rehearsals, promotional shoots, and meetings, we barely had time to breathe.

But that wasn’t my problem.

No, my problem was Sophie.

More specifically, the fact that she’d barely paid attention to me all day.

And I hated it.

She was running around like a machine, making calls, finalizing schedules, handling managers, and keeping everything under control. She was in full work mode, which meant I had been completely ignored for the past six hours.

Unacceptable.

So, naturally, I did the only reasonable thing.

I bothered her.

Leaning against the practice room wall, I watched as she flipped through her clipboard, too focused to notice me approaching.

Time to change that.

I sidled up next to her, leaning in just enough to get on her nerves.

„Wow, Sophie,“ I drawled, „you look very intense today. Is that your serious manager face, or are you just thinking about me?“

She didn’t even blink. „I’m thinking about how much smoother my life would be if you developed a sudden allergy to talking.“

San snorted from the other side of the room.

I grinned. „Ouch. Harsh. But that means you are thinking about me.“

Sophie sighed dramatically and turned to face me fully. „Wooyoung, I am too busy for your nonsense today.“

I gasped, clutching my chest. „Too busy for me? Impossible.“

She pinched the bridge of her nose. „If you don’t have something useful to say, please go… I don’t know, dance or something?“

Now, that was just rude.

„I can dance and annoy you at the same time,“ I pointed out.

She exhaled sharply, visibly resisting the urge to strangle me.

Perfect.

Mission accomplished.

Or so I thought—until she turned on her heel and walked away.

Wait.

She never just walked away.

I stared after her, frowning.

That was new.

And I didn’t like it.

Not one bit.

Sophie’s POV

I was going to explode.

Work was chaos. Absolute, unfiltered chaos.

The tour schedule had been revised three times in the past twenty-four hours, sponsors kept shifting promotional requirements, and I still hadn’t figured out the last-minute venue changes.

To make things worse, KQ’s upper management had just thrown another unexpected press event onto my plate.

I was drowning.

And Wooyoung?

He was pestering me.

All. Day.

Usually, I had the patience to deal with his antics. I knew he enjoyed getting a reaction out of me, and sometimes, if I was in the right mood, I even found it entertaining.

But today?

Today, I didn’t have the time or the energy.

I had too much on my plate, too many things to handle, and I needed him to just—for once—not make things harder.

So, I walked away.

And yet, not even ten minutes later, I felt his presence again.

I was at my desk in the office, typing furiously, when a shadow fell over me.

I already knew who it was before he even spoke.

„So, Sophie,“ Wooyoung began casually, „if you had to choose between spending a week trapped in a room with me or being attacked by seagulls every morning, which would you pick?“

I closed my eyes. Breathe.

„Wooyoung,“ I said slowly, „go away.“

He gasped dramatically. „Excuse me? This is a high-quality debate topic.“

„I’m going to strangle you.“

„With love?“

„With my hands.“

He laughed, completely unbothered, and plopped down into the chair across from me.

I clenched my jaw, fingers twitching against my keyboard.

„I’m serious,“ I said tightly. „I don’t have time for this right now.“

He waved a hand. „You always say that, but you secretly enjoy my company.“

No. Not today.

Today, I had had enough.

I snapped.

„Wooyoung, just stop!“

The words came out sharper than I intended.

For the first time in a long time, he actually froze.

The usual teasing light in his eyes flickered.

„You’re so annoying,“ I continued, frustrated beyond belief. „I have a million things to do, and all you ever do is waste my time. It’s like you don’t care that I’m trying to keep everything from falling apart!“

Silence.

Wooyoung just stared at me.

And then—something I hadn’t expected.

His expression changed.

It was slight—just a flicker of something in his gaze.

Something that looked an awful lot like… hurt.

Shit.

I had gone too far.

But before I could take it back, he stood up.

His usual playful energy was gone.

„Got it,“ he said flatly. „I’ll leave you alone.“

And then he walked out.

I sat there, stunned.

Why did it feel like I had just kicked a puppy?

Wooyoung’s POV

I didn’t talk to Sophie for the rest of the day.

Which was weird.

For years, she had been my favorite person to mess with. It was our thing. She snapped at me, I flirted back, and we danced around this endless cycle of teasing.

But today…

She actually seemed mad at me.

Not just annoyed. Not just pretending to be frustrated.

Genuinely mad.

And that sucked.

I wasn’t used to her walking away from me.

I wasn’t used to being the one left speechless.

And, worst of all—

I wasn’t used to realizing how much it bothered me.

So, I did the only thing I could think of.

I ignored her.

If she was so sick of me, then fine. I wouldn’t bother her.

I’d give her space.

Even if it felt… wrong.

Even if I hated it.

Sophie’s POV

The next day, something was off.

Wooyoung didn’t say a word to me.

At first, I thought it was just a temporary thing. But when he walked past me during lunch without a single snarky comment, I knew something was wrong.

And I didn’t like it.

I had wanted him to leave me alone. I had told him to stop annoying me.

So why did it feel weird now that he actually had?

Why did I keep catching myself waiting for a teasing remark that never came?

Why did the silence between us feel wrong?

I told myself I was overthinking it.

But when I saw him laughing with San and Yeosang later—his usual energy completely intact—something in my chest twisted.

He wasn’t ignoring everyone.

He was just ignoring me.

I had hurt him.

I had actually hurt him.

And I had no idea how to fix it.

Wooyoung’s POV

Ignoring Sophie was supposed to make things easier.

I told myself that if I kept my distance, if I stopped seeking her out, then maybe this whole thing—this stupid, frustrating, painful thing—would just go away.

It didn’t.

Instead, it got worse.

Every time I saw her, my stomach twisted. Every time she walked into the room, I had to stop myself from instinctively making a joke, from saying something just to get her attention.

I was losing my mind.

And yet, Sophie seemed completely fine.

She went about her day like nothing had changed, completely unaffected by the fact that I had stopped talking to her.

And maybe that was what finally did it.

Maybe that was what pushed me over the edge.

Because after days of silence, of pretending I was fine, of watching her go about her life like I didn’t even matter—

I snapped.

Sophie’s POV

I wasn’t going to lie—I noticed the shift.

Wooyoung had been quieter than usual. No teasing remarks, no dramatic entrances, no ridiculous attempts to get on my nerves.

At first, I thought I wanted this. I had told him to stop bothering me, hadn’t I?

But now that he actually had?

It felt… weird.

The energy between us was different. Tense. Unsettled. Like something was left unfinished.

And it was bothering me.

I wasn’t used to silence from Wooyoung.

I wasn’t used to being ignored by him.

So, when we both ended up alone in one of KQ’s meeting rooms after a schedule wrap-up, I decided to break it.

I crossed my arms, leaning against the table. “Okay. What’s your deal?”

Wooyoung, who had been staring at the floor, looked up slowly. His expression was unreadable.

“My deal?” he repeated.

“Yes,” I said, exasperated. “You’ve been acting weird for days. Just say whatever it is you need to say.”

He let out a short laugh, shaking his head. “You really don’t get it, do you?”

I frowned. “Get what?”

He lifted his gaze, and for the first time, I saw something different there. Something serious.

Something vulnerable.

“I like you, Sophie.”

My heart stopped.

The room fell silent.

I stared at him, unable to process the words that had just come out of his mouth.

He… what?

No.

No, that wasn’t right. That couldn’t be right.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

Wooyoung exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “I like you,” he repeated, voice quieter this time. “And I don’t mean in a let’s mess around and tease each other way. I mean in a real way.”

I finally found my voice. “You’re joking.”

He stiffened.

“I’m not.”

I let out a small, awkward laugh, shaking my head. “Come on, Wooyoung. Don’t be ridiculous.”

His jaw tightened. “I’m not being ridiculous.”

I stared at him, waiting for him to smirk, to make some sarcastic remark, to back out of it like he always did.

But he didn’t.

He just stood there, looking at me like—like this actually mattered to him.

Like I mattered.

And that made my chest tighten.

No.

This wasn’t how things were supposed to go.

This wasn’t us.

I shook my head again, taking a step back. “Wooyoung, I don’t… I don’t see you like that.”

There.

I said it.

And immediately, I regretted it.

Because something in him broke.

He didn’t say anything at first. Just blinked.

Then, after a long pause—

“Right.”

The word came out quiet. Hollow.

I swallowed, suddenly feeling awful.

“Wooyoung, I didn’t mean—”

But he was already moving.

Already leaving.

“Forget it,” he muttered, brushing past me. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

And just like that—

He was gone.

And I was left standing there, wondering why my chest hurt so much.

Wooyoung’s POV

I didn’t go back to the dorm right away.

I couldn’t.

Instead, I walked.

Through the city, through streets that blurred past me, through my own thoughts that wouldn’t shut up.

She didn’t like me back.

I had known it was a possibility. Hell, I had expected it.

And yet, hearing her actually say it?

It still hurt.

It hurt more than I thought it would.

I didn’t even know what I was supposed to do now.

Go back to how things were? Impossible.

Pretend like I hadn’t just put my heart on the line only to have it rejected?

I laughed bitterly.

Yeah.

Good luck with that.

Sophie’s POV

I didn’t feel right.

I didn’t know why, but something about how things had gone down with Wooyoung bothered me.

I should have felt relieved, shouldn’t I?

I should have been happy that everything was out in the open now, that we could move past it and go back to normal.

So why did I feel so… off?

Why did the way he looked at me before walking away stick in my head?

Why did I keep replaying the words I had said?

I don’t see you like that.

Was that really true?

Or was that just what I had convinced myself?

I shook my head. No.

This wasn’t something I needed to dwell on.

Wooyoung was Wooyoung. This was probably just another one of his passing feelings.

It would fade.

I was sure of it.

Except…

For the first time in a long time—

I wasn’t actually sure of anything.

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Disclaimer:This is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and scenarios in this story are entirely fictional and not intended to reflect the real lives of the members of Ateez or any other individuals. This fanfiction is purely for entertainment purposes.