#in a context where it was very much relevant idk why I wasn't expecting it but it's really great to see
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Going to Miku Expo as a someone who's not a vocaloid fan
Hi!! I went to the Miku Expo last night!! I wanted to do a fun little retrospective on what happened! No hate obviously, these are just things I've noticed. Just a lot of rambling ahead LOL
So a bit of a disclaimer: I'm not a vocaloid fan, I never have been. The main reason I went was because it was my bestie's birthday and I wanted to tag along. Even though I wasn't going for the music, I love concerts and ofc I want to hang out with my bestie. Also this will be kind of relevant, but the concert was at the Prudential Center and I went there not even a month ago to see another concert (specifically Sabaton opening for Judas Priest).
First thing I want to mention, this place was PACKED- Like both merch lines were wrapped around the building. The Judas Priest concert wasn't nearly as packed and the merch lines were nothing compared to the Miku Expo.
Me and my friend sat in one of the sections closest to the stage, so the idols on stage looked a bit flat. I'm not sure if this would have looked different if they used the hologram screen since I've never been to a hologram concert before, but it was definitely something I noticed. I also noticed how they looked to take up only a little bit of the screen which was kind of jarring? Again I've never been to a concert like this before (most of the recent concerts I've been to have been in small venues that are mostly standing room) so I don't know if that was to make things more immersive like she's actually on stage? If I were to do the animations, I would have made the models bigger so they took more attention and could be seen more clearly from farther away. I think the only time where most of the screen was filled was the one duet between Kaito(?) and Meiko(?)(I think that was their names idk shit about vocaloid).
I know a lot of the hardcore Miku fans were complaining about the screen, but I honestly didn't find anything wrong with it? Besides the models looking a bit flat and being kind of small, it didn't seem like a huge deal.
During the show I found myself more watching the background visuals, the band, and even the crowd more than I watched the stage. Personally I loved a lot of the visuals even if I didn't have the context of why they were relevant to the songs. I remember during one Miku song all the lights were CYMK and that really scratched my brain especially when they faded between colors. I also loved watching the band, they were so into it (especially Vixen's Diary, she was adorable) and I always love seeing how bands preform together. I wasn't expecting them to do a band introduction, I really enjoyed the fact that they did.
My friend taught me about light stick culture and honestly it might be my favorite thing- Not only did I love seeing all the lights in the crowd (even if it took my attention bc of ADHD) but also seeing everyone change their colors to fit their favorite idols I just- that is so fucking CUTE we need light stick culture at more concerts (or, just as someone who was dangerously close to a mosh pit before and who hates being touched by strangers, replace mosh pits with light sticks)
I heard from other people who were in more crowded areas that some of the fans were rowdy and misbehaving, but I don't think I saw that as much? Then again we were also sitting in an area that had a few open seats, so that definitely played a part. I definitely felt a difference in atmosphere though, since I felt like the crowd was very engaged while I didn't feel as interested. It felt like the opposite of the Sabaton concert, since there the crowd didn't feel very engaged while I was SUPER excited (I blame that on a bad band pairing, since while Sabaton and Judas Priest are both metal, they're two different subgenres with two different appeals). If I had to compare it to anything, it would be like my first Powerwolf concert, since it was their first time in the USA and everyone was super excited to see them. I don't know if there's been Miku Expos in the USA before, but I definitely felt that same kind of energy/sentiment.
There's also the transitions between songs that I remember someone else saying they felt awkward and I can't help but agree. A lot of the other concerts I've been to the bands would speak in between songs, whether it was hyping up the next song or just making silly jokes. I would have loved to see the vocaloids talking to each other and interacting on stage. Not only would it keep fans hyped and not make the crowd die down between songs, but it would still give the band a chance to prepare for the next song. Also maybe for songs where Miku would change outfits, I would have loved to see her magical girl transform between outfits.
I definitely feel like this is going to be a hot take, but as someone who's not a vocaloid fan, I'll say it: I wouldn't go to a Miku concert again, it just feels like a concert you go to so you can say "I've been to a Miku concert!" Usually when I go to a concert and I don't know who is preforming (usually the case for the opening band), I find myself walking away with a new band to listen to but I don't think I felt the same this time. I don't think there were any objectively bad songs, I just think it's the classic case of "this music isn't my taste". While I didn't enjoy the music, I did enjoy the vibe there. I got to meet up with friends, trade little trinkets, and have a good time regardless of the music. Anyways I hope everyone enjoyed the show, Miku is the best AI, and I will treasure the trinkets I got forever :D
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first i wanna say whenever i said âdifferentiationâ above i actually meant âindividuationâ. sorry got them mixed up theyâre kinda similar words
#op had no clue you were looking at the tags thank you for the very #very smart addition with all your sources (wow) #felt like I was reading a paper I felt educated! #I love how I didnât get that into what I was trying to say in tags but you completed my thought anyways #multiple times I went âthatâs EXACTLY what Iâm sayingâ
whaaat of COURSE i'm looking at the tags. i soak up what people have to say like a sponge. i think i was looking for a discussion and you got the ball rolling by bringing new information to the table i didn't know, but immediately knew how it fit into all the connections i've made, and i accidentally just gave birth to an essay?
i swear i wasn't even intending it to be a full-fledged essay. i just have a lot to say. there is a LOT i keep in my head because i donât expect most people to have as in-depth of an understanding as me about it, but when it can actually pass as relevant to a discussion iâm so happy to be able to put it out there without alienating myself. from my perspective, twas a normal post for me to make when i have a lot of information i've been sitting on. and i like citing sources so that people can read more if they're interested. but this is probably unusual or for most of the people reading this, i mean who else have you seen casually posting something like this, BE REAL
also, YES "that is EXACTLY what i'm saying" that is one of my favorite feelings ever. i live for that. so glad i could expand on your thoughts!
#also jung in the houseeee!! idk if itâs just my family but we love jung over here #I really gotta read up on it my grandma is a therapist who practices only in jungian(?) #clearly im uneducated on the proper word here itâs also 4 am so forgive me #anyways yeah my gma big into jung then my mom and my brother and I was just talking about the dream book he has today #so I went âomg! Jung!â while reading this #itâs always so nice to see someone with knowledge and passion throw down #I was just gonna stick to canon or in text examples
canon or in-text examples are great too, theyârereally the basis for everything. but i see connections between my interests and canât help but smash them together in a way that deepens them individually cause they complement each other.
personality typology, carl jungâs ideas, socionics, etc. are given living breathing context to manifest within so it's not just a cerebral abstract theory. itâs reunited with the substance that these psychodynamic theories originated from in the first place.
the venture bros is inextricable from its creators because so much of themselves and their experiences are put into the show. i remember doc once said in some interview âwe plumb our own livesâ. in the commentary jackson said one of the streets in the show was designed based on a block from his childhood and that these are the same kinds of steps he'd sit on. or in the art book, âwhatâs one of the most embarrassing things that happened to me in my life that i can write from?â their philosophy is both very âwrite from what you knowâ (thatâs also what i do). so analysis of the show and its characters, and by necessary extension, the creators, is deepened with tools that allow the analysis into the nature of self that complements the development of characters.
#also I didnât want to get too into it in my tags bc I do feel uncomfortable theorizing the existence of a character #bc I knew Jackson mom passing had to be such a strong part of him but I felt uncomfortable going into that #they also made this show in their 20s? 30s?#the time frame where you end up thinking about your identity #thereâs a commentary where doc mentions he at the time couldnât let go of internally gay bashing himself #a thing his bullies did that he has now internalize but he found it weird bc heâs so old now and alone so why is he doing it? #and then I went there it is there is that proof I needed to know this is a breathing art
to tell you the truth, when i was writing i actually wasn't thinking about that at all. âfeeling uncomfortable theorizing the existence of a character because you knew jackson's mom passing had to be such a strong part of him but felt uncomfortable going into thatâ. so reading you think that made me feel a smidge guilty/embarrassed in hindsight now for not even considering that. because, yeah, i donât know jackson in person, iâve never interacted with him personally. but i know enough about him as a person just through the show itself and how he reveals his personality through his relationship with doc hammer, his own words, his actions and writing decisions and that makes me justâŚ..objectively confident about what he can handle?
i think the reason i didnât feel uncomfortable talking about it is because i have no reason to think that jackson himself would mind it if he were to hypothetically read this. i donât think iâm being presumptuous when i say i believe heâd find it interesting and insightful that i linked those things. i think heâd find it a lot more interesting and perceptive than... i dunno, a lot of the interview questions theyâve been asked? from my perspective it's like a âhey, i see youâ kind of thing.
i mean come on they had the episode Assisted Suicide which LITERALLY depicts rustyâs id, ego, and super-ego as characters with their own clever designs and shit (it was written by doc hammer but still jackson publick was part of the production and the idea of it.) i really doubt either of them are averse to psychological exploration, so long as it comes from an informed foundation and not someone who literally doesn't know what they're talking about.



like yeah it is personal in the sense that it is personal to his life, but that doesnât necessarily mean uncomfortably sensitive. you can talk about personal things and still have an ability to neutrally reason about it as a fact of life, or even joke about it. if you think about it that's basically what the whole show kind of is. thatâs a big part of the actual spiritual composition of the show, right? (and based on comments i've read around, that's probably why it's got an antidepressant effect for a lot of people.)
as doc says, "we grew up weird and we're doing our best to just spread our version of love. Which is trying to find out who we are." well that's exactly what i'm doing too. exploring psychological forces is the stroke that's underlying the entire show. âhow did these actions affect the internal development and emotional development of xyzâ. i believe that's part of why why the narrative is so effective and plays off the character's dynamics so well and how they organically evolve.
(p.s. iâd love to have a new edition of the art book that accounts for the movie, assuming theyâre not under some NDA about the scrapped season 8 ideas.)
and youâre right it IS breathing art. thatâs how the show was made. the creative process was more spontaneous than having the whole thing planned out.
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10:28
Chris: But I want to talk about the creative process here. I think fans of Venture Brothers will know the feeling that thereâs this kind of amazing tension that drives the show, between planning and discovery. And youâll have whole seasons or specific episodes that are kind of these amazingly intricate clockwork plots with these insane payoffs, but then thereâs also this element of pure discovery, of something that was a toss-off joke or someone who happened to be a background character in one scene, because they were a background character in that scene having to become a main character three seasons later. So, I was just wondering... could you speak to that tension between planning and discovery?
Jackson: Uhh, more discovery than planning. And then just having a dumb memory and ticking on stupid things. And always like, from day one, the least important background character... I insisted that everybody look a little interesting. You know, like everbodyâs appearance implied a story we werenât telling you. And that paid off a few times. We got a few main characters out of that, ultimately. You know, like White and Billy were just these two weirdos at a science convention. And Doc was like, âI wanna write for the little eyepatch metal hand guy. Why does he have that?â You know? And then once you start doing that, you're like... âI gotta tell the story of how he got his metal hand! Cause I got nothing else.â
Chris: Yeah.
Jackson: So yeah, mostly discovery and accident and uh... mental catalogue of everything... that, you know... that sits in the back of your memory for years and these molecules just bounce off of each other.
Doc: Yeah. And we talk about these characters- we spoke in their voices for months. (Jackson laughs) Every day, at the expense of every relationship weâve ever been in. (Jackson laughs harder) When we invented Sgt. Hatredâs voice, the guy at the deli-
Jackson: Oh my god... (wheezing laughing)
Doc: The guy at the DELI was like âwhat is WRONG with youâ, Iâm like, â(Hatred's voice) Eyeah, Iâll be havinââŚ
Jackson: (laughing)
Doc: âThe black and white...â
Jackson: (mic peaking, Hatred's voice) âEYEAH go ahead and uh Slap auh smidge a mustard on that, would ya?â
Doc: Through the voice we developed the character, and everything came from that. And since weâre obsessive about these voices and these characters, we lived them... We canât have a conversation for more than ten minutes without doing an impression of one of our characters. And usually ones we donât do. So you get to hear our horrible impressions of each other. That is just the way we thought.
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Sean: So this season, why did you decide to explore so much of the Venture past?
Doc: Did we?
Jackson: Did we?
Doc: I think the season before this we got even crazier. We had to answer Billy questions that nobody asked.
Jackson: Right. Yeah, that was the season with old Billy, ORB, uhh..
Doc: Yeah. We went 100 years into the Venture past. So this one we kinda stayed...
Jackson: We did a little Spanakopita, we did a little um, in the Rose stuff and the... but those were pretty quick flashbacky things.
Doc: Little quick flashbacks...
Jackson: But also the show is all about these people who are kinda.. haunted by, and trying to live up to their pasts and what the promise of what their life was supposed to be like. And itâs... the history is constantly pouring more shit down on their heads. Like, weâve always had a show where things come back to get you like that.
Doc: Even things that happened so long ago and nobody knew about until that moment. Yeah, we work in past, present, future... itâs that kinda show.
#vbros is still to me and morel Orel shows that are created with intention #and by people who were working through a thought so clear you can see it from space #and that intention is something so interesting and unique #anyway amazing analysis
youâre also so right, and thank you for kind words
if i had the opportunity to talk to doc and jackson, iâd love to see what they have to say about what we touched on: about hankâs developmental arc always feeling like it would fit the end of the vbros and kind of culminating in its overarching theme of individuation (whether they explicitly knew it or not. itâs in the material no matter what because thatâs what organically happened to the show itself), and what they had wanted to do with him before they had to cut it down to movie size. was hank going to really Go Through the psychological ringer or what. how much were we going to see of that that was cut out.
also the unintentional retreading of jungian ideas in the show (though a lot of superhero stuff is about playing with identity in these ways that could be examined through analytical psychology like bruce banner and his other side, the hulk.) i wanna hear about how playing with the self and personalities and self-discovery factors into it all. hankâs alter-egos being a personification of psychic structures, or complexes/sub-personalities? (was i right about my interpretation?)
how similar is the relationship hank has to his alter-egos to the relationship jackson publick has to hank and the monarch as characters he created? like hank's alter-egos, they could both be considered autonomous mini-personalities stemming from jacksonâs own self, as he said hank (and monarch) contained the most of him, drawn from his âown dumb thoughts, actions, and misbeliefsâ. like a meta fractal thing. and thatâs part of the creative process just as much as anything else about the show, probably one of the most vital to the quality of the characters yet subconscious and not really talked about. i'd looove to dive into that with them.
especially with hankâs no mommy plotline and how personal that was to hank, which reflects jacksonâs reality. we canât really see who worked on what scenes since the movie was collaborative, but i want to know who was writing hank. his emotions felt so authentic but it also felt big because weâve never seen hank so serious, you could feel a shift with hank buckling down which made it feel important. my guess would be jackson since his understanding would enable him to channel that masterfully into hank which makes it so compelling. but i could be wrong since i know doc said he can write eight pages for psychological issues (look at me doing it too god fucking damn it) but writing action is like a tiny footnote.
basically i wanna talk to them about everything i said up to this point in this post. if anyone reading this has connections, get me in contact. iâm invested in this now.
whereas dean was tormented by being a clone and hank wasnât, not having a mom or mother figure seemed to torment hank a lot more than dean which is interesting.
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Sorry. I got carried away with the gay stereotypes. I too have a lot to learn. And I went a bit too far sending Elena to kidnap you. Iâm sorry. Ana, you and I are a team and complement each other perfectly. And youâve taught me a lot about the business world, but I know other things as well that I can teach you.
Bonus: Anaâs reaction to Mariana saying she could teach her other things...Â
#madre solo hay dos#ana servĂn#mariana herrera#shitty screencap posts (TM)#buckle up here's a numbered list of all the things I loved about this scene and them in this episode#1) the fact that they weren't even pretending here#they were just hashing things out being their usual cute supportive selves with each other#and it's still indistinguishable from them acting like a couple to the point that the driver himself was like 'naww y'all are so cute' :)))#2) the fact that aside from the characters who need to be against them being a couple for plot reasons#they're having random characters be outed as straight-up shippers (first ceci and now the driver apparently) idk it tickles me#3) the fact that what this scene is aluding to is mariana knowing more about being lgbt than ana#I really appreciate them not only not forgetting that mariana is bi but actually leaning into it and bringing it up very matter-of-factly#in a context where it was very much relevant idk why I wasn't expecting it but it's really great to see#4) the fact that even though mariana is fully intent on keeping ferrĂĄn on as a sidepiece (lol)#her scenes with ana even when they're not having to pretend don't feel like she's just counting down the minutes to see ferrĂĄn again#especially here like the way the 'we complement each other perfectly we're a team you've taught me sooo much' just comes so effortlessly#it doesn't feel like she's saying it to keep up the couple charade for the driver's benefit bc a) we know what she sounds like when she acts#and b) it only seems to occur to them that the driver is listening and that they may have to continue pretending AFTER they say all that#so this is really just mariana wanting to gently assert herself to ana and try to resolve the issue they've been having#and her way of doing that is to praise her and talk about how great they are together becase that's what comes naturally to her#idk idk I'm rambling the point is that that earlier scene at the restaurant with the forced handhold made me a wee bit apprehensive#like maybe ana would go overboard with the pretending and mariana would act uncomfortable every time they had scenes together#esp knowing that she would rather be kissing ferrĂĄn at the moment#so this was nice to see and once again I like how they are choosing to frame this storyline and their scenes together#especially considering the radically different places they both are at emotionally
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"Itâs safe to say you were absolutely head over heels for Choi Yeonjun. If he was a bright, blazing flame, then you were like a moth, unable to put up a fight as you found yourself drawn to him."
HOLY SHITTTTTT this was a whole movie and i have SO many things to say about it so pls be kind.
Its been a while since i last read a monster fic, i haven't had much time recently but i missed reading and figured this was a perfect start! While i also knew what to expect bc since i read it was cruel summer tagged with angst i knew i was in for a trip and WASN'T DISAPPOINTED AT ALL!! Also i listened to the playlist while reading which was a great choice of music may i add!!
anyways lets start with the review!!
You wished she had been more insistent. You wished you had listened to her from the beginning.
WHEN I SAY I READ THAT I KNEW LIKE HELL I KNEWWW it wasn't going to end well, but it intrigued me to know more about it like, why is reader saying this, how bad could it be? (spoilers: it was bad!)
AND Then we have this whole scene of reconnecting childhood and i also like that reader had a canon event happening to her bc of her mom and that it was actually important, because sometimes authors give like tragic backstories to characters when its not relevant but here even if it was something "minor" it was very well used through the whole narrative of the fic!
aND AND !!! THISSS
The thought of falling in love, and having to experience the same heartbreak you watched your mom go through for the last few months made you feel sick. So, out of fear, you had been sort of avoiding Yeonjun for the last week. Which was kind of hypocritical of you, considering you had gotten angry at him for doing that to you before. But, at least you had a good reason, right?Â
LIKE THIS IS WHAT I MEAN! it makes sense reader feels this way its not ooc, and while i didn't agree with her choice (bc remember choices are important!!) i could understand where she was coming from. and btw was the word choice used just bc its meaning or is just a coincidence he's called "choi" yeonjun which kind of rhymes with choice???? LMAO anyways.
i also idk imma be honest since i knew it was angst i was like having trust issues but as i read i realized that "maybe he's not as bad" bc i thought that them parting ways was only bc of context and uni and stuff, but like i think it was the august segment where they say that they officially became a couple on august first I HAD TO listen august on loop and then played betty and cardigan because GOD taylor swift wrote them for me to cry when reading, bc i think that's how reader felt when she realized she was augustine, and idk if ur a swiftie or not and if u even understand what i want to say lol but still
alsi the HUMOR LMAO PROPS TO THAT BC DIALOGUES WENT HARD, each duo chaer/lia and woo/gyu were so funny so here's like one of my favorites where:
âEither way, heâs stupid.â Chaeryeong pointed out, and the three of you started nodding in affirmation. âWhy did you take a Womenâs Studies class?â You laughed in disbelief. He glanced away. ââŚBecause the TA was hot.â
anyways, i dont know how to feel about the ending, i was crying !!! i remember i was listening to favorite crime and Good Enough by olivia rodrigo and that kept me crying so baddd and like I'm just so ??? about the ending bc i do understand the feeling and that the context reader is living in is hard but oh god he's such an ass sending a "hey" text what a jerk move bc he ends up calling her !!! and while i should be happy bc that's like the pairing "we wanted" i don't think i wanted it in these conditions BUT LIKE its an open ending, so that call could mean many things and not necessarily that they will go back together, but the fact it left me such big impressions means how well written it is and how easily it is to get inmersed in the story.
anyways that would be all, have a nice day author <3<3
cruel summer!
âi love you, ainât that the worst thing youâve ever heard?â


masterlist | moodboard | playlist
paring: choi yeonjun x fem!reader
genre: summer romance/fling, childhood friends to strangers to lovers, fluff, angst
word count: 30k
warnings: profanity, suggestive content, cheating, divorce, implications of sex but no smut, alcohol consumption, mentions of smoking weed i think, thatâs it afaik
summary: following a painful divorce from your father, your mother is desperate to escape from reality. it turns out, the best way to do that is to visit your childhood vacation spot you hadnât been to in nearly a decade. youâre reunited with your old friend, choi yeonjun, who has grown from some annoying, scrawny kid into a handsome, charming man. when yeonjun sets his sights on you, itâs practically impossible to resist his charm. the only issue is summer canât last forever, and neither can your romance.
authors note: this fic is literally six months in the making so i am beyond enthused iâm finally able to post it! this is truly a massive fic i am so so sorry but i hope youâll enjoy reading it!! thanks to everyone whoâs supported my adventure writing this thing, especially linny and sav!

IT WAS INCREDIBLE TO YOU HOW all it took was one little choice to completely alter the course of someoneâs life. When you were eleven, youâd opted for a different way to walk home from school, and just happened to pass by a ballet studio where a group of dancers were practicing. From that moment on, youâd become infatuated with dance, convincing your parents to let you enroll in a studio and beginning your own career as a dancer. When you were seventeen, you chose not to go to school one day just because you didnât feel like it, and the bus you usually took had gotten into a bad wreck that morning.
Most notable, though, was when you were twenty-one, when your dad had made the choice to sleep with your familyâs housekeeper, and your mom chose to come home from her business trip a day early to surprise the family. Those two choices led to your mother catching your father in the act, and then to her retaining an attorney to draft up divorce papers. Before you even had a moment to stop and process everything that was going on, your parents were split up, and your dad disappeared without so much as a goodbye.
You expected for your mom to be more upset. After all, her husband of 25 years had just thrown away the trust theyâd spend so long to build away like it was nothing, but she wasnât. Her focus remained on her work, the same as it always had. Work was always something very important to your mother, even since you were just a little girl. Consequently, she wasnât home very much when you were growing up, which you thought you were fine with at the time. It wasnât until you were older you reflected back on your childhood and how it affected you. At some point, you wondered if it was part of the reason your parentsâ marriage ended the way you did, but you knew it was still your dadâs fault at the end of the day.
You never suspected anything to be wrong with her until she randomly suggested the two of you go spend the summer at your old family beach house together. There was no reason she would have proposed taking an entire three months away from her work--alone with you, nonetheless--unless she was searching for some kind of distraction from all of the events that had transpired in the earlier months.Â
It had been nearly a decade since the last time you visited your old beach house. You had gone nearly every summer of your childhood there, spending the long hours of the summer days building sand castles and swimming with the friends you had made while you were there. Then, when the sun was starting to set, you would wander around town with your parents, getting dinner together and then some ice cream that you would eat while you pointed out different constellations in the stars. You had amazing memories associated with the little beach town, but that's all they were. Memories.
You were now finishing up your junior year of college, and those three months of summer were the last youâd have before you started your senior year, and prepared for graduating. So, truthfully, spending an entire summer in some rinky-dink town alone with your mother did not sound too enticing. However, you knew she was going through a difficult time, and frankly so were you. You convinced yourself that this bonding experience was exactly what the two of you needed, and even though you would rather stay in your hometown and have some fun with your friends before being thrust into the real world, you decided to go.Â
The little beachside town was exactly how you remembered it. Warm, friendly, and full of life. Everywhere you looked, there were people out and about, taking advantage of the city sidewalks and the nice weather to get to where they needed to go. It was a beautiful little town, and even though you hadnât really wanted to go in the first place, you found yourself reveling in the familiar feeling. You even caught sight of the little ice cream stall on main street your family always went to in the past. A thick wave of nostalgia washed over you, and suddenly you felt like a little girl all over again. But when you looked to your left, the sight of your mother driving the car and not your father grounded you to the reality of your situation.
âAw, look, Y/N? Remember that store? You would always pick something out to bring home.â Your mother laughed as you cruised down main street, and you peered out the window to see the little souvenir shop you always visited while you were in town. Instinctively, your fingers leapt to your neck, toying with the shell necklace you chose to wear for your trip.
âAnd there! Isnât that where your little friend used to live?â She looked the most excited youâd seen her in awhile as she scanned the buildings you passed by. It made you feel better about your decision to agree to this trip.
âYou mean Jisu?â You asked, tilting your head to get a better look at the house. Jisuâs family actually lived in the town, and she was one of the friends you had made when you were younger. You never really kept in touch with her outside of your time spent together, so you had no idea what she was up to these days. You werenât even sure her family still lived in town.
âYes, Jisu! Oh, the Chois were such a lovely family, we should stop by and see if theyâre still around, maybe we could even ask them to dinner.â
She continued to point out random landmarks and recall old memories as you drove through the little town, but at some point you had drowned her out. You instead took in the surroundings for yourself, letting your own memories play out in your head. You, Jisu and your other friend Chaeryeong would ride your bikes around the town and use the money your parents gave you to get giant snow cones together. It was crazy to think that you once considered those girls to be your closest friends in the whole world, now you could barely remember what they looked like.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of your mother blabbing on about all the things your family used to do, and all the things she wanted to do now, you reached your old beach house. As soon as you saw it, you were reminded of all your childhood memories of that little house. Playing board games in the sun room, sitting on the porch and watching the sun dip down below the waves, eating waffles for breakfast every morningâŚ
âY/N, come on, your bags.â Your motherâs voice interrupted your little slideshow of memories playing in your brain. You would have more time to reminisce later.

A COUPLE OF HOURS AFTER YOUR ARRIVAL, most of your belongings were unpacked, and you were ready for dinner. Unfortunately for you, though, your mother was not ready, since she had apparently decided to bring her entire closet on the trip and had barely made it halfway through unpacking by the time you were finished. More fortunate, however, she told you to just go pick up dinner for the both of you from a local restaurant while she worked, so you wouldnât have to sit around and wait for her.
Jakeâs was an old burger shop that was very popular amongst the town, and for good reason, too. Their cheeseburgers were some of the best youâd ever come across during your twenty plus years on earth, and you were very excited to finally have one again after all these years. You hoped they still held up. As soon as you walked through the door, the aroma of all the different foods filled your nose, and another thick wave of nostalgia hit you like a truck. You were immediately reminded of the nights your family spent in a booth there, your mother and dad talking about whatever nonsense while you contently sipped on your milkshake that was nearly twice the size that you were.Â
You had already called in the order before leaving, so all you had to do now was sit and wait for them to be ready with your food. Two double cheeseburgers, two medium fries, a large chocolate milkshake and a large strawberry milkshake. The thought of getting to drink one of those milkshakes after all these years made your mouth water.
âY/N?â You heard a voice call out, and whipped around to face the direction it had come from. At first you thought it was your food being done, but instead it was a familiar face you hadnât seen in years.
âJisu! Hi!â You greeted your old friend, holding your arms out to envelop her in a warm hug. The interaction felt somehow foreign and familiar at the same time, but mostly the latter.Â
âWow! Itâs been, what, nine years since we last saw each other?â She asked after pulling away from the hug, her hands still rested on your forearms.
âSomething like that.â You laughed softly, taking a moment to really take in how much she had changed over the years. She obviously looked completely different, since she was a grown woman now, but she also looked exactly the same. âYou still live here?â
She nodded, looking you up and down as she did the same thing you did. âYep. I mean, I go to college out of town so Iâm gone during the school year, but I always come back home when I get the chance.â She smiled fondly at you, and she had the kind of smile that made you feel all warm and fuzzy all over just at the sight of it. âWhat about you?â
The two of you continued to chat, catching one another up on the basics of how things had gone over the last nine years. It turned out both she and Chaeryeongâs families still lived in the area, and the two were still very close friends. She even suggested the three of you get together sometime soon, for old timeâs sake. You filled her in on how you were also attending school, and still did dance as a hobby to keep you busy. You chose to leave out the part of your life where your dad cheated with the housekeeper that was only a few years older than you, and the part where your parents got a divorce. It wasnât something you were quite ready to tell people about, not even Jisu.
You were interrupted by your name being called, which meant your food was finally ready.
âWell, I guess we should probably head back to our own places before our food gets cold, right?â Jisu suggested, clutching her own bag of food between her hands.
âProbably. I think my mom will kill me if I let her shake melt.â You replied, which earned a laugh out of Jisu.
âHey, um, a few of my friends are having a big bonfire party on the beach tomorrow night, you should come.â She told you as you both exited the small restaurant, an invitation that made your heart flip. You suddenly felt horrible for never keeping in contact with her, because she was much sweeter than any of your friends at home. You had been in town less than twenty four hours, and she was already inviting you to spend time with her.
âReally?â You asked her, raising your eyebrows. âYeah, I would love to come!âÂ
âReally?â She echoed, eyes widening as if you had just told her you would give her a thousand dollars. âThatâs great! Iâll let them know youâre coming, Iâm sure most of them will love to see you again!â She spoke giddily, nearly leaping out of her own skin from excitement.
You bid each other goodbye, and then went your separate ways. The entire walk back to the house, you couldnât hide your happiness no matter how hard you tried. Maybe, just maybe, this trip wasn't going to be as bad as you had anticipated. You shouldnât have spoken so soon, though, as you still had three months to go.

FOR THE LIFE OF YOU, you could not figure out why this party was making you so nervous. Youâd spent nearly an hour in your closet, digging through your clothes and throwing them around so by the time youâd finally settled on something, your floor had disappeared under a sea of clothes. Maybe it was because you were going to be here for three months, and if you didnât make friends now, you were going to spend all that time alone with no one except your own mother, who would surely drive you insane.
At first, you felt a bit guilty about leaving her home alone all night, but luckily for you, she had found some old friends of her own to go out with. And now, here you were, standing on the sidewalk and staring down at the beach where the fire was already going, and a lot more than a few friends had gathered to party. You were trying to find Jisu amidst the crowd of people, so you could easily approach her first, but you were having a difficult time locating her in the darkness. And you probably looked like an idiot, just standing there and waiting for something, but you would rather do that than have to go down there alone.
It had been a long time since youâd been to a proper party. Sure, you had lots of friends of your own back in the city, but most of them were too school oriented to ever attend parties, and you were afraid of going to one without at least one of your friends. So, you were definitely afraid now.Â
âYeri!â You heard a voice behind you shout, and nearly jumped out of your own skin when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You flipped around to see some guy youâd never met before standing behind you, a panicked look on his face as he held up his hands in surrender. âOh, sorry. Definitely not Yeri.â
âNo, not Yeri.â You laughed nervously, reaching up to protectively hold your shoulders.Â
âHmm, I donât think weâve met before? If youâre not Yeri, who are you?â He asked inquisitively, taking a step closer to you as you tried to turn away from him.
âOh, my name is Y/N.â You replied, your cheeks warming at how close he was standing next to you. In the darkness of the night, you couldnât quite make out his face, but guessing by the few features that were illuminated by the glow of the bonfire, you could guess he was quite handsome. The realization suddenly made you even more nervous.
âY/N? Like Y/N L/N?â You glanced over at him to see him gaping at you in surprise, and furrowed your eyebrows together.
âUh, yeah? Why?â
He laughed softly. âSo, you donât recognize me?â He rose an eyebrow at you, and you fought the urge to roll your eyes. You could barely see his face, how were you supposed to recognize him?
âNo⌠Should I?â You queried, tilting your head to the side as if it would give you a better view of his face.
âI donât know⌠Does Crab Castle ring a bell?â And ring a bell it did. Those two words immediately gave you flashbacks to one summer youâd been in town, and one of Jisuâs cousins had come to visit as well. He and you had been building sand castles on the same beach, when you first ran into each other, and at first you had decided he was your rival. You tried everything in your power to sabotage his castles, and he destroyed yourâs. But, another kid had showed up on the same beach, and his castles were much more intricate and sophisticated than either of yoursâ. So, you proposed the two of you teamed up to make the best castle that beach had ever seen.Â
That was how Crab Castle was born, the sand castle that you had, at the time, thought was the greatest sand castle ever to be built. It had multiple towers, and archways, and you even made your own custom crab emblem to decorate the castle. It took you from sunrise until sunset to build it, and before you were dragged home by your parents, you decided to destroy it together, which had honestly been way more fun than your time spent building it up.
Your eyes went wide.
âYeonjun?!â You laughed in disbelief, taking a step back to get a better look at him. Compared to the weird little boy you had competed with on the beach ten years ago, he was a completely different person. A taller, more muscular, and definitely more good-looking person. You couldnât believe it was Yeonjun standing in front of you. âHoly shit, you lookâŚâ
âTaller? Hotter? More muscular?â He grinned, raising one of his arms to flex his biceps, but you hurriedly smacked his arm before he could.
âDonât do that, weirdo.â You wrinkled your nose, and he laughed at that. âWhat are you doing here? I thought you lived in the city?âÂ
He shrugged. âMy friends and I wanted to do something fun this summer, have an adventure, I guess, and I thought it would be a good idea to come spend time down here.â His gaze shifted over to the bonfire, where you assumed these friends he was talking about were hanging out. âWhat about you? You guys havenât been down here in forever. I didnât think Iâd ever see you again.â
âMy mom wanted to take a girls trip, just the two of us.â You told him.âAnd since Iâm graduating next year, I thought it would be good to have one last adventure before I have to get a real job.âÂ
He nodded slowly, and you watched as he looked you up and down slowly, as if he was taking all of you in. âCool, cool⌠So youâre here all summer then?â
âYeah.â You answered, and began to chew the inside of your cheek. âYou?â
âYeah.â He echoed, and you felt your heart begin to race. An entire three months in the same town as Yeonjun, a boy you hadnât thought about in half a decade, but a boy who had grown into a very, very attractive man. âWeâll have to hang out sometime. Outside of a party, I mean.âÂ
Your eyes widened. âOh, sure. If I have the time.â You blink at him, completely aware of how stupid you must sound. But he didnât seem to mind, instead letting out a little laugh at your comment.
âWell, try to pencil me in your busy schedule, okay?â He smiled at you, a smile that made your heart flutter. Jeez, you couldnât believe how tremendously down bad you already were, after spending less than ten minutes with him. This definitely wasnât normal for you.Â
He started to walk away, as if that was the end of the conversation, but you quickly panicked. âWait! Do you know where Jisu is? She invited me, and I should probably go and talk to her.âÂ
Graciously, Yeonjun led you down to the party, letting you trail behind him like some kind of lost puppy looking for its owner. Once you were down by the actual fire, the party felt a lot smaller, like there werenât nearly as many people as you thought. Or maybe it was just because you were so focused on Yeonjun, you barely noticed the other people around you. Either way, your nerves were starting to feel much more at ease than before.
âAhh! Y/N!â Jisu greeted you once Yeonjun had finally delivered you to your old friend, and she threw her arms around your neck to pull you in for a tight hug. You could smell the cheap beer on her breath, giggling to yourself at how tipsy she already was. âLook, Chaer! Itâs Y/N!âÂ
She pulled away from you to let you get a good look at your other old friend, Chaeryeong, who had that same phenomenon of looking completely different yet exactly the same. She greeted you with a hug as well, cooing about how good it was to see you. As she hugged you, you glanced over at Yeonjun, who was watching the whole interaction, and mouthed a silent âthank youâ. He gave you a salute before turning and disappearing into the crowd.
âWere you just with Yeonjun?â Jisu asked, eyeing you suspiciously.
âHm? Oh, yeah, we ran into each other on the way in. I barely even recognized him.â You explained to her, letting out a little laugh as you spoke. You expected her to laugh, too, but instead her suspicious eyes narrowed.
âHeâs hot, right?â Chaeryeong giggled, leaning onto your shoulder as though you were the best of friends. Your cheeks heated up at the comment, as you frantically began to shake your head.Â
âNononono, thatâs not what I meant! Itâs just crazy how much people can change in ten years, isnât it? One day, theyâre a little kid throwing sand in your eyes, and the next theyâre, like, a mature adult.âÂ
Jisu snorted. âHe is not mature. You should have heard him whining yesterday when his friends were making fun of him for liking mint chocolate chip ice creams. Heâs more like a baby than a grown adult.â She told you, then took a long sip of her drink. âAnyway, you should be careful around him. My aunt says heâs dated, like, six girls in the last year. Heâs a whore.â She said, and Chaeryeong nodded in agreement.
âMhm! Guys like him, Y/N, they only want one--â she leaned forward and wagged a singular finger in your face. â--one thing!â She warned you, and although you believed her, it was hard to take her seriously with how obviously out of it she was.
âOkay, I think I get it.â You laughed nervously, holding your hands up in defense. âNo talking to Yeonjun. Iâll just hang out with you guys instead.âÂ
They seemed to like the sound of that idea, letting out loud cheers and pulling you in for another hug. âItâs so nice to have you back, Y/N! Hey, tomorrow, we should go get snow cones! Just like old times!â Jisu sang. âBut, first, letâs get you something to drink!âÂ

THE NEXT MORNING YOU WOKE UP with a throbbing headache. You werenât sure how much you drank the night before--actually, you werenât sure of anything from the night before. Your memory was foggy, leaving very little that you could actually recall.Â
You can remember trying to shotgun one of your cans of beer (you canât remember if you were actually able to do it or not), and you remember telling Chaeryeong and Jisu all about your first boyfriend, and then you remember being wet. You donât remember why you were wet, or rather how you got wet, you just remember being wet.Â
You were barely given any time to adjust to the sunlight that was currently flooding the entirety of your bedroom when your mother was suddenly opening your door, the sound of her voice causing you to groan out in pain.
âY/N, I need you to pick us up some breakfast.â She told you flatly, and you slammed your pillow down over your own head to try and muffle her.
âWhy canât you?â You asked, dragging out the last vowel. You said a silent prayer that someone would strike her down so she would stop talking to you. But also that they would do it in a quiet way as to spare your already sensitive skull.
âBecause, Iâm busy. Besides, you can pick yourself up some coffee, itâll help with your hangover.âÂ
You rolled your eyes. âI am not hungover. Itâs just allergies.â You lied, though you werenât totally sure why you even bothered when you knew that she knew exactly what was wrong with you. âBut fine. Give me a few minutes.â
With your surrender, she made a small âhmphâ and closed your door, finally leaving you alone. Getting up, going outside, walking around and talking to people was your absolute worst nightmare at the moment, but you knew your mother. If she wanted you to do something, she wouldnât leave you alone until you did it. She was stubborn, in that way, determined to get exactly what she wanted.
So, despite your body screaming at you to go curl up under your covers and die, you forced yourself off of your bed and pulled on the first clothes you could find--your old Stranger Things t-shirt your cousin had gotten you for your fifteenth birthday, and a pair of sweat shorts. To complete the look, you threw on the singular pair of sunglasses you owned--which were big, red, heart shaped ones. Personally, you thought it was the peak of fashion.
Even under your sunglasses, you were attacked by the outside light when you stepped outside. You half contemplated crawling under the porch to sleep there, since even that would be more bearable than this, but your mother would probably burn you alive if you did that. And as badly as you already wanted to die at the moment, you would prefer it if it wasnât by your motherâs hand.
And just when it seemed like your morning couldnât get any worse, it did.
âY/N?â Oh no.Â
You were stopped in the middle of the sidewalk by the sound of your name. Reluctantly you turned around, filled with dread when you saw none other than Yeonjun standing behind you, observing you with an amused expression. Now you were praying it was you who would be struck down.
Yeonjun, the man you had once been enemies with, who was now extremely attractive. Yeonjun, who you were not supposed to talk to. That Yeonjun was staring at you, a smile tugging on his lips as he looked you up and down to get a good look at your current state.
âJeez, how much did you drink last night?â He laughed, and last night you probably would have enjoyed the sound of his laughter, but now it made you want to throw up.
âI donât know. Too much. My memory is all clouded up, you know.â You responded, raising your hand to protect your eyes from the sun like a visor.Â
Now that it was daytime, you were finally able to get a good look at him. You already knew he was pretty, after seeing him last night, but you didnât really get to see how pretty he was. His dark hair was grown out into a mullet, which wasnât always the best look, but he pulled it off like no other. He was wearing a tank top that let you get a good look at his sun-kissed skin, which was perfectly smooth like he had been airbrushed or something. He looked like how you would have imagined one of the Greek Gods to look like.
And then it hit you. He looked too perfect, especially for a morning after a party. And especially when your friends had basically told you he was the kind of guy to party hard and take a new girl home every weekend. âWhy arenât you dying? I thought you were some kind of party boy now.â
He cocked an eyebrow at that, like heâd never been called that before. âParty boy? Who told you that?â
âJisu and Chaeryeong.â You shrugged.
He hummed in response, looking a little less amused than before and instead a little bit more annoyed. âYou know, you really shouldnât listen to everything they tell you. Especially when theyâre drunk. Chaer likes to lie for fun.â He informed you, though you werenât all too convinced he was right about that.
You rolled your eyes. âYeah, yeah, whatever you say.â And with that, you were just going to leave, since you were way too hungover to even be having this conversation in the first place, but then that led you to think of the cause of your hangover, and the panic that you had done something stupid the night before rammed into you full force. âUm⌠Did I do anything⌠Embarrassing last night?âÂ
âIf you count convincing yourself you were on fire and running into the water at full speed while screaming at the top of your lungs as embarrassing, then no, youâre good.â A teasing grin appeared on his lips, and you could feel the color drain from your face.Â
âOh. So thatâs why I remember being wet.â You realized, mentally slapping your forehead over and over again. âGod, I think I have no choice but to steal my momâs car and leave the country. I think thatâs the worst thing Iâve ever heard.â You groaned loudly.
âHey, hey, relax, it really wasnât that bad. It was kind of cute, honestly.â
You gave him a deadpanned look. âDonât lie.â Feeling way too embarrassed by that point, you were ready to go back to picking up your breakfast and trying your best to never be seen again, but you could hear him jogging up behind you as you started to walk away.
âWhere are you going, anyway? Can I walk with you?â He asked, slowing to a steady pace once he reached your side.
âUm, Iâm supposed to pick up waffles for my mom and I. And coffee. She said that I need a coffee.â You informed him. If your head had been hurting you a little less, you might have noticed how close he was to you, and how your fingertips were barely centimeters away from one another. And the realization would have made you nervous. Good thing you were hungover, then.
âWhat a coincidence! Iâm supposed to get coffee, too.âÂ
You narrowed your eyes at him, although he wouldnât be able to see due to your glasses. âYouâre getting coffee, too? What about your friends? Shouldnât you be out with them, or something?â
âWell, âGyu might be in worse condition than you are, and Wooyoung is still asleep, so I thought Iâd go get us some coffee before they wake up.â He explained to you, glancing over at you with that same, stupid smile.Â
âAw. Youâre so thoughtful.â You cooed at him, to which he playfully rolled his eyes. âWill you get me my coffee, too?â
He shook his head. âNah, not today. Another day, when youâre not all messed up, Iâll buy you some.â
âWhy does it have to be when Iâm not messed up?â You queried, faking a dramatic pout.
âBecauseâŚâ He stopped in front of you, then leaned down so his face was closer to yours--much closer. The proximity made your heart start to hammer against your chest. âIt wouldnât be a very good date if you had a god awful headache the whole time, would it?â He spoke lowly, in a half-teasing, half-sultry tone that made your heart go crazy.Â
His fingers reached out to gently brush against your skin, the contact setting your skin ablaze, and you thought he would tuck a strand of loose hair behind your ear like some kind of romcom. But, he instead tapped the edge of your sunglasses. âCute glasses, by the way. They suit you.â He straightened back up, then started walking as if nothing had happened.Â
You stood, completely dumbfounded as you watched him walk along the sidewalk, beaming with pride because you knew that he knew that heâd already started to have an effect on you, only hours after being reunited. You hated the stupid, cocky smirk he wore on his lips, and you hated the playful raise of his eyebrows as he turned back to look at you with those stupid, perfect eyes you also hated.
âCome on, slow poke. Letâs go get some coffee.â

YOU KNEW IT WAS WRONG, you knew Jisu was going to be upset at you, but you couldnât help it. For the next week, you could not stop thinking about Yeonjun. You couldnât stop thinking about how it felt when his face got all close to yours, and how all of his features looked up close. His dark, intimidating yet inviting eyes. His plump, very kissable looking lips. You couldnât stop thinking about the way his fingertips dragged against your cheek, and the electric feeling of his skin against yours. You had spent an embarrassing amount of time imagining what it would feel like if he brushed his skin against other parts of your body.
It had only taken twenty-four hours for Choi Yeonjun to infect you. You thought it couldnât get much worse--you were wrong.
Your mom suggested a day of lounging at the beach--pulling up a couple of lounge chairs, an umbrella for shade, and a book for each of you to read. It sounded like a perfect day to you, so you agreed. So long as you got to get some ice cream to cool you down while you were out there, because lord knew it was going to get hot.
âHave you been having a good time?â Your mother asked as you played with the corner of the page you were reading, dragging your attention away from the book. You glanced over at her through your sunglasses (not the heart-shaped ones, after your horrible walk of shame, you bought a new pair), closing your book and resting it on your lap.
âYeah, I have. Itâs nice to be back here, to see everyone again.â You smiled at her, and she smiled as well.
âGood. See? I told you this trip would be good for us.â She told you matter-of-factly, pointing her own book at you for emphasis. âThereâs just something about a small town like this, and getting away from everything⌠Itâs rejuvenating.â She let out a long sigh, and you rolled your eyes at her dramatics.Â
âWell, I guess you could call it that.â You agreed with her. You thought the conversation would end there, and you could go back to reading your book, but she wasnât ready to stop talking to you yet.Â
âSo, youâve been hanging out with Jisu and Chaeryeong a lot? Itâs nice to see the three of you together, after all these years.âÂ
You nodded. âIt is nice. I feel bad for not staying in contact, I feel like we missed out on years of potential friendship.â You confessed. Truthfully, you were already enjoying the last week with the two girls more than the last few years with your other friends. Sure, your friends back home were nice, but you had never clicked with them the same way you were clicking with Jisu and Chaeryeong. You hoped that when you left at the end of the summer, youâd be able to keep up with them unlike in the past.
âAw.â She clicked her tongue, glancing away from you. âThatâs great. We really need to go have dinner with the Chois. You know, I saw Jiwoo--You know, Jisuâs mother--at the store a few days ago--â She was cut off by her phone ringing, and you watched as she picked it up and walked away, saying a silent thank you now you would have some peace and quiet.
At least thatâs what you were hoping for. But, of course, that was too much to ask for.
A volleyball bounced across the sand in front of you, and unsurprisingly, it was followed by a group of guys chasing after it. And just your luck, one of the guys happened to be none other than Choi Yeonjun.Â
You gulped, quickly lifting your book and opening it up in an attempt to hide your face from his view. Since your last run in with him, you had been avoiding him to the best of your ability. Mostly because the more time you spent around him, the more your feelings seemed to grow, and the more guilty you felt.Â
The first night Jisu had warned you about him, she had been extremely drunk, so you had considered just ignoring her, since there was a chance she didnât really mean it. But, a day after youâd gotten coffee with him, you had hung out with her and Chaeryeong, and told them all about what happened. She was completely sober when she warned you a second time, telling you she was just looking out for you, so you decided that meant she was serious, and that you wanted absolutely nothing to do with Choi Yeonjun!
âSorry!â One of them yelled at you, and you barely lowered your book to see it was the one with the shaggy hair. He made eye contact with you, and suddenly his entire demeanor changed. Instead of cowering down, like he was scared you would yell at him, he straightened up, holding the ball under his arm and you swore you saw him flex his muscles.Â
âItâs fine.â You quipped, praying Yeonjun wouldnât hear you. Thankfully, he looked too busy cursing out his other friend for throwing the ball out of bounds.
The shaggy haired boy ignored his friends, his eyes remaining on you. âThe Summer I Turned Pretty? Is that any good?â He asked, and at first you thought he was spewing nonsense, then you realized he was talking about the book glued to the front of your face.Â
If you werenât so worried about his stupid friend noticing you, you might have actually tried to have a conversation with him. He was good looking, and seemed friendly, but you were trying to get them to go away as soon as they could, so you just gave a short nod, hoping he would take the hint and go away.
âSorry again.â He apologized, flashing you a pearly white grin, and he started to walk away. You let out a soft sigh of relief. You had officially avoided conversation with Yeonjun, and could return to actually reading.
âOh, hey, Y/N!â
Never mind.
You finally put your book down, since your cover had obviously been blown already. Yeonjun had spotted you, and was flashing you that same, stupid, confident grin you hated (read: loved). You reluctantly raised your hand to wave at him, giving him the best smile you could muster up. âHi, Yeonjun.â You replied.
âOh, Y/N! Youâre the girl who thought she was on fire! I knew you looked familiar!â The shaggy hair boy announced, your cheeks becoming set ablaze at the realization that was what you were known for now.
âYes, that was me.â You managed to get out through a pained smile.Â
âDude, that was hilarious! Iâve never seen someone more scared for their life over nothing!â Yeonjunâs other friend began to laugh, and you frowned as the other two joined in. Not in the mood for their mockery, you looked down to the pages of your book, trying your hardest to drown out their hyena-like laughter.
Yeonjun noticed your annoyance, and quickly stopped laughing, clearing his throat. âHey, sheâs also one of the greatest sand castle builders in the whole country.â He pointed out to his friends. The compliment that called all the way back to your childhood caused your cheeks to heat up again, but this time it was more out of flattery than embarrassment.
âItâs true. Better than him.â You informed his friends, gesturing towards him with your head.Â
The shaggy haired one shrugged. âYeah, I believe it. Iâm Beomgyu, by the way.â He approached you, holding out his hand to shake, which you gladly did.Â
âIâm Wooyoung!â The other friend interrupted, pushing Beomgyu out of the way to have his turn shaking your hand.Â
Yeonjun was watching his friends smothering you, his eyes narrowed and arms crossed. âOkay, okay, she doesnât want to know you guys, she doesnât care.â He told them, rolling his eyes when Beomgyu shook your hand again. âHave you been sick or something? Itâs been a week since I saw you.â He changed the subject, much to your dismay.
âNoâŚâ You responded.
âWeird. I guess weâve just been missing each other all week.â He shrugged.Â
âSheâs probably been avoiding you because she can tell youâre a fucking loser.â Wooyoung said matter-of-factly, and Beomgyu laughed in agreement.Â
Yeonjun rolled his eyes at their immature comments, but chose to ignore them. âI think I still owe you some coffee, you know.â He told you, and bumped the edge of your chair with his food. âMaybe you should give me your number. Then I wonât have to worry about trying to track you down.âÂ
Your eyes widened, and Beomgyu started to cough loudly. You werenât sure how you were supposed to get out of this one. You could try to lie and say you lost your phone, or give him a fake number, but as soon as he realized it was wrong, he would probably get mad. Maybe he would get so angry he would decide âif I canât have her, no one can!â and murder you in your sleep. That was probably not going to happen, but you could never be sure these days! Right?
You were frozen in your beach chair, and the longer it took for you to form some kind of a response, the more awkward things were becoming. You began to regret every little decision that had led you to this moment--from you deciding to join your mother for a day at the beach all the way back to letting Yeonjun build that stupid sand castle with you in the first place.Â
And then, like some kind of miracle sent down from God herself, you were saved. Although, you werenât sure if you could call it saving, since you had a feeling it was only going to make the entire interaction so much worse.Â
Appearing out of seemingly nowhere, Jisu and Chaeryeong stood beside your chair, arms folded and eyes narrowed at the boys.
âOh, hey, Jisu.â Beomgyu was first to break the painfully long silence, and the sound of someone speaking again after so long caught you so off guard you nearly jumped. âAnd Chaer.â
 âHi.â Jisu greeted, then risked a glance down at you. âWhatâre you guys up to? I thought you were playing volleyball or something?â
âWe were, but then Beomgyu almost hit her with the ball.â Wooyoung explained, gesturing over towards you. Beomgyu rolled his eyes, but made no effort to dispute Wooyoungâs words.
âI thought you were here with your mom?â Jisu asked, recalling your text messages from earlier in the morning.
âYeah, I was. Am. She just got up to take a call.â You explained, feeling a bit like a little kid getting caught red handed, even though you really hadnât done anything wrong. âThen Yeonjun and his friends decided to come say hi.â
Jisu nodded slowly.Â
âYeah, we were keeping her company while she was alone. Anything can happen to a pretty girl sitting out on the beach alone.â Yeonjun said, and you hated the way your cheeks heated up because of his stupid words.
âHey!â Jisu was quick to scold. âStop flirting with my friends, weirdo!â She snapped, jabbing her finger in his face.Â
He held his hands up in defense, taking a step back to avoid his eyes being poked out by her fingertips. âI wasnât flirting with her! I was just being honest! Sheâs a pretty girl!â He attempted to defend himself, but that just seemed to bother Jisu even more.
âStop it!â She told him again, and Wooyoung began to giggle.
âYou look like an angry little chihuahua. So cute.â He teased her, and you thought she might have really smacked him across his amused face if it wasnât for Chaeryeong putting her hands on her shoulders in an attempt to relax her.Â
You felt like maybe it was time you stepped in, and stood up, joining Chaeryeong in trying to calm down your friend. âItâs fine, Ji. Theyâre just stupid boys, ignore them.â You told her, then shot Yeonjun a glare. He tilted his head at you, like he couldnât figure out why you might be annoyed at him.Â
Stupid boys indeed.
âOuch!â Beomgyu gasped at your words, feigning hurt and clinging onto his chest. âYour words hurt Y/N, they really do.âÂ
âGo back to your stupid volleyball and leave us alone.â Jisu groaned, wrapping her hand under your arm to cling onto you. âYou guys are so annoying!â
Yeonjun rolled his eyes. âFine. Can I at least get that phone number before I leave?â Yeonjun asked, a grin creeping onto his perfect lips.
âNo!â Chaeryeong and Jisu shot back in unison, making a swatting motion with their hands to tell them to get away. Finally, Wooyoung and Beomgyu began to slowly back away--Beomgyu was still acting like he was bleeding out of his chest or something. Yeonjun lingered, though, letting out a deep exhale.
âWhat was it that Romeo said? Parting is such sweet sorryâs, or whatever?â He sighed, and placed a hand over his heart. âIâm gonna get that phone number, though. I swear, just wait and see!â And with that, he gave you a wink, then rushed away after his friends before Jisu got the chance to curse him out again.Â
You stood quietly for a minute, mulling over his words. You felt like there was a not-so-thinly veiled threat hiding in his words. With an uneasy sigh, you glanced over at Jisu, who had her eyebrows furrowed closely, and her lips pressed together into a frown, like she was thinking about his words as well. Chaeryeongâs gaze flickered between the two of you, as she was obviously awaiting some sort of acknowledgment of what happened.
But the acknowledgement never came. Maybe Jisu had finally given up on trying to keep you away from Yeonjun, because she didnât say anything about it. Instead, she gave you a quick hug, promising that she would see you later, before taking Chaeryeong and disappearing back to whatever they had done before.Â
You wished she had been more insistent. You wished you had listened to her from the beginning.

FOR WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A RELAXING Summer getaway for you and your mother, you sure were having a difficult time destressing. Youâd been trying to sleep for at least the last hour, tossing and turning under your sheets. The millions of thoughts running rampant in your mind were what were preventing you from getting any sleep, and no matter how hard you tried, you werenât able to put any of them to rest. The longer you laid there, feeling absolutely exhausted but unable to shut your mind down long enough to sleep, the worse your annoyance became.
At some point, youâd finally had enough. With a frustrated groan, you threw your bedsheets off of you, and swung your legs over the side of the bed. You sat for a minute, rubbing your eyes in an attempt to get them to accept you werenât going to sleep, then finally pushed yourself to stand up. You wandered over to the large window at the edge of the bedroom, and slid it open enough you could feel the cool ocean breeze against your face.Â
Finally, you were beginning to feel that relaxation youâd been longing for. With the air against your skin, and the sound of the waves rolling against the beach out in the distance, you felt your thoughts begin to dissipate. You werenât thinking about your dad, or Jisu, or your senior year waiting for you back home, or Yeonjun, in fact you werenât thinking about anything at all. Except, maybe, about how much you wished your bed was closer to the window.
Whack!
You were completely startled when you felt something tiny collide with your cheek, and you let out a quiet curse. Once again, you found yourself annoyed that these windows didnât have any screens on them to protect you. Cautiously, you poked your head out the window in hopes of finding the source of whatever had hit you.
You apparently werenât cautious enough, though, as another tiny object hit your face once again. âOw, what the fuck!â You shouted, reaching up to rub your forehead, and then you spotted it--the source.
Standing on the lawn outside your house, with a handful of what you assumed to be pebbles, was none other than Choi Yeonjun, whose grin quickly turned into a grimace when he noticed you finally see him.Â
âShit, did I hit you? I didnât mean to!â He called up to you in a whisper shout.Â
You stared down at him, and you swore you could feel your eye twitch as your annoyance doubled. âWhat the hell are you doing here?â You whisper-shouted back to him, leaning forward so your upper body was now completely hanging out the window.
âYou wouldnât give me your number!â He abandoned the whisper-shout, so now it was just a shout. You quickly shushed him, glancing back at your door and half expecting to see your mother there demanding to know who was yelling outside. Thankfully, she wasnât. âJust come down here so we can talk!â He attempted to be quiet this time, beckoning for you to go meet him.
You rolled your eyes. Of course, he just had to show up right when you were about to get some much needed sleep. If you were a smart girl, you would have just shooed him away and went back to sleep, but you werenât. There was something about Choi Yeonjun that made you desperate to hear what he had to say.Â
So, you let out a defeated huff. Without responding, you leaned back into your room, and picked out what was supposed to be a swimsuit cover to put on over your pajamas. Once youâd tiptoed through the house, careful not to wake your mother, you carefully opened the back door to see Yeonjun still standing in the bushes, calling up to your window like you might still be inside. You laughed softly at the sight, closing the door behind you.
When you stepped into the moonlight, he finally spotted you. âOh! I didnât know where you went. I thought you got sick of me and went back to sleep.âÂ
âMm, I thought about it.â You hummed, folding your arms across your chest in an attempt to keep your coverup from blowing open from the soft ocean breeze. You watched as his eyes drifted down to your outfit, and he lifted an eyebrow.
âCute pajamas.â He said.
Your face warmed. âShut up.âÂ
He grinned.
âSo, what are you doing here?â You asked, tilting your head at him as you got closer.Â
âI told you. You didnât give me your number earlier.â He replied, and you fought the urge to roll your eyes.
âSo, you thought you would just show up here in the middle of the night, and Iâd just give it to you?âÂ
âDuh. That was how Edward seduced Bella in Twilight.âÂ
âI really donât think it was.â You laughed. âAlso, Edward was a hot vampire who sparkled under the sunlight. Youâre not quite on his level.â
He furrowed his eyebrows. âOuch? Youâre mean, Y/N, really mean.â
âJust to you.â You teased him, surprised at your own flirtiness.Â
âHow can I convince you to give me your number?â He whined. It was funny, a lot about him had changed in the last ten years, but at the same time, he was exactly the same. Annoying, whiny, but also cute.Â
You eyed him carefully, taking note of how his features seemed to glow under the luminescence of the moon. He may not have been sparkly like Edward Cullen, but you thought he might be more beautiful than the vampire. âProve it to me.â You said to him.
âProve what?âÂ
âProve to me that youâre not just some player, messing with me until you get bored and move onto the next girl.â The words tumbled out of your mouth, words you werenât sure you were normally brave enough to say. But you did say them, and now your heart was racing, and you hoped you hadnât said something wrong.
Yeonjun stared back at you, like a deer caught in headlights. âIs that what Jisu told you?â He asked, his voice coming out a bit quiet.Â
You nodded, tightening the grip your arms held around your stomach. âShe and Chaeryeong warned me, basically called you a whoreâŚâ Your voice trailed off, the last word basically a whisper.Â
He said nothing for a minute, just continuing to stare back at you like youâd just dropped a huge bomb on him, then burst into laughter. âYou date a few girls and suddenly youâre a whore⌠Sounds about right.âÂ
Now it was your turn to stare back at him, eyebrows furrowed as you waited for some kind of explanation. Finally, his eyes met your own confused ones, and his laughter dwindled.Â
âSorry. Look, I donât know what Jisu told you, but itâs not true. Iâm not someâsome fuckboy that jumps from girl to girl.â He laughs nervously and runs a hand through his dark hair.Â
âThen it shouldnât be hard to prove it to me.â You replied, and once again, the air went quiet.Â
Maybe you had been too bold. Maybe he really was just some player, looking to get a quick fix and move on, and youâd completely turned him off. It wouldnât be the worst thing, if you had, since it would save you the hurt. On the other hand, the idea that he had set his sights on you when he first saw you at the bonfire just to hook up with you and drop you stung more than you liked to admit.Â
The soft breeze that rolled in with the sea tousled its way through his hair, a few stray strands falling in front of the dark eyes that bored into your own. You thought he was just going to stand there forever, and never utter a single word to you, but then, to your surprise, there was movement.Â
Before you had the chance to react, he was towering over you, and his fingers had hooked themselves under your chin to force you to look up at him. The moonlight reflecting off the back of his head caused him to look like he was glowing.Â
âY/N.â The drop in his tone sent goosebumps down your back.Â
âYeah?â You answered in the loudest voice you could conjure, which was barely a squeak.Â
His eyes flickered between your own, like he was searching for something inside of them. âYouâre not just some⌠Game to me. I want to get to know you. I want to take you on datesâŚâ He leaned forward, so close you could feel his breath fan against the shell of your ear. âI want to kiss you.â
A shaky breath fell from your lips, and you were sure he could hear it. You wanted to kiss him, too. So badly that you wanted to cup the back of his neck and crash your mouth onto his right then and there. You upheld some restraint, though, keeping your arms pinned to your side.Â
He pulled away from you, a sly smirk appearing on his lips that were very kissable, by the way. âNot now, though. If you give me your number, weâll plan a date, and you can let me prove it to you, okay?â
It was like you were under some kind of spell, and the man glowing under the moonlight in front of you was some sort of sorcerer. You nodded dumbly.Â
You caved in. You gave him your number. Then, he kissed your cheek, and bid you goodnight. Still in a daze, you watched as he disappeared into the night, leaving you alone in the sand with only the soft sounds of the waves rolling against the beach to keep you company.Â
That was your first mistake.Â

YEONJUN WASTED NO TIME IN texting you the following morning. You were just finishing eating some waffles with your mom when you heard your phone buzz against the table, and picked it up to see a text message from an unknown number.Â
hey ;-)
It didnât take a genius to know who that text had come from.Â
When you saw the message, a giddy feeling overcame you, and before you knew it, you were releasing the most heinous giggle you had ever let out in your life. Your mom had given you an incredulous look when the noise slipped through your lips, and you gave her a quick shrug as an apology.Â
You snuck off to your bedroom, collapsing onto the mattress stomach first. You looked like a girl straight out of some Disney Channel romcom, legs kicked up in the air behind you and your lip tucked between your teeth as you tried to bite back an embarrassingly wide smile.Â
After Yeonjun left, you had barely gotten any sleep. All you could do was replay that moment over and over again, the way his warm breath felt against your skin, the low vibration of his voice so close to your ear, as he told you he wanted to kiss you⌠It sent shivers down your spine every time you thought about it, without fail. So, it was safe to say you had been anticipating his text message for hours.
You finally typed up a response, hitting the send button then anxiously staring back at your screen as you awaited a response. Like most phones due, the screen dimmed after about ten seconds of nothing happening, and you let out a defeated huff. Right as you were going to give up, and let it turn itself off, the screen brightened again, as a thought bubble appeared at the bottom of the screen.
wanna grab lunch today? a little birdy told me ur a big fan of jakes
You were no longer able to bite back the smile. The grin spread across your lips as you texted back a yes.
There was no point in driving from the house you stayed in over to Jakeâs, since it was only about a ten minute walk, so you assumed you would just be meeting Yeonjun there. About fifteen minutes before youâre supposed to meet, though, you walk out the front door and are surprised to see the man of the hour standing on your porch, back leaning against one of the columns and phone in his hands that kept him from noticing your presence right away.Â
He was wearing the most casual clothes you could imagineâa soft blue button up shirt and some shorts, but he still looked like he walked off the set of some modeling shoot. He still hadnât noticed you, yet, typing away on his phone. Or maybe he had, and was teasing you.Â
You cleared your throat, which was apparently enough to grab his attention as his head snapped up. âOh, hey. I was just about to text you.â He grinned at you, and you tried to ignore the way his voice made your stomach churn.Â
âWhat are you doing here? I thought we were going to meet there?â You asked bluntly.Â
âI told you I would walk you there, didnât I?â He tilted his head at you, and you shook your head. âOh. Oops. Well, Iâm walking you there.â He smiled, and pushed himself off of the column.Â
You shook your head. âYou didnât have to do that.â You told him, as you started to descend the porch stairs.Â
âI know. Thatâs what makes it so charming, isnât it?â He hummed, following behind you. âYou look nice, by the way. I like your dress.âÂ
The compliment slipped from him so casually, your face immediately felt hot. Your gaze drifted down to the little sun dress you had spent so long picking out, and now you were glad you had. âThanks. You look nice, too.â You muttered.Â
âWhat did you say?â He used his long legs to advantage, catching right up next to you so he could lean down close. He wasnât nearly as close to you as he had been the night before, but it still flustered you, nonetheless.
âI said, your shoes are goofy.â You responded, pointing down to the Crocs he was wearing.Â
He gasped. âYou donât rock with the crocs?âÂ
âEw. If you say that ever again, Iâm going to go home and block your number.â You laughed, your nose scrunched up in disgust.Â
âYou wouldnât do that. You and I both know you canât resist my charm.â He spoke confidently, basically puffing out his chest.Â
You rolled your eyes at him, but you couldnât help a small giggle.Â
The two of you kept up the casual conversation on your venture to the diner, and you were surprised by how easy it was to talk to him. Even though you felt beyond nervous, the words fell smoothly from your lips, and by the time the two of you were situated in a booth inside Jakeâs, you could feel the nerves melting away.Â
It didnât take long for them to resurface, though. Once your food was ordered, you were sitting directly across from him, and it was becoming harder and harder to avoid his intense gaze. Yeonjun was much more confident than you, his eyes locked onto yours, while your own eyes darted around to avoid him.Â
The waiter brought over your drinks, and you noticed as he lowered onto the table that his nametag read Jake.
âJake? Did you start working here because your name is Jake, or is your name Jake because you work here?â You asked him.
He smiled at you, and you thought he had a nice smile. âItâs funny, actually. My parents opened the place up before I was born, and called it Jakeâs. Then, I was born, and they thought, âyou know what would be a good name for our son? The name of our restaurant.â Awful, right?â He asked you, and you giggled.Â
âA really, really sad story.â Yeonjun pretended to pout, then his expression morphed into a nasty glare. Jake looked uneasy, giving you a small nod before returning to the kitchen. You frowned as you looked back at Yeonjun.Â
âWhat the hell was that?âÂ
âHe was totally flirting with you.â Yeonjun grumbled, tucking his straw between his lips.
âHe was not. He was just being nice.â You rolled your eyes, and Yeonjun quirked his eyebrows up in response, like he was saying whatever, but he didnât say anything else about the subject.
He cleared his throat. âSo, youâre in college, right?âÂ
You nod.Â
âYouâve gotta be graduating soon, Iâm guessing? Whatâs your major?â He asked you, leaning back in his seat comfortably.Â
âEnvironmental science.â You replied with a shrug. âWhat about you? Are you in school?âÂ
He winced at the question. âNah. I tried it, after I graduated high school, but it just⌠It wasnât for me.â He said, rubbing his arm.Â
âI get that. It sucks, I honestly donât know how I made it this far.â You laughed. âIf youâre not in school, then what have you been up to?â
His cheeks started to redden. âUh, I work at a phone storeâŚâÂ
You could tell he was hiding something else. âThatâs it?â You tried to encourage him to keep going.Â
âNo⌠Promise you wonât laughâŚâÂ
âI promise.â You leaned forward, becoming intrigued.Â
He pulled his lips into a tight line, before letting out a deep breath. âOkay, I post dance covers online. Iâm trying to get scouted.â He confessed, and for the first time since youâd come on this trip, it looked like he was the nervous one.Â
Before you could stop yourself, you let out a laugh.Â
âYou just said you wouldnât laugh!â He shouted at you accusingly, and you quickly shook your head.Â
âNo, no, Iâm not laughing at the dance! I just thought it was funny that you were acting all shy about it!â You jumped to exclaim, your hands instinctively darting out to hold his wrists. âI think itâs really cool!âÂ
He eyed you suspiciously, before his gaze lowered to your hands. You pulled them away, afraid you were making him uncomfortable, but he grabbed ahold of one of them before it got too far.
You flushed. âSo, you dance? How long have you been doing that?â You grabbed your drink to take a big gulp, suddenly feeling very hot.
He hummed in thought, his cool demeanor quickly making a reappearance. âI think I started when I was 12? Iâm not sure. Iâve been doing it so long, itâs hard to keep track.â He told you, dark eyes trained on your hands. âIn college--the one year I was there--I was a part of the schoolâs dance team. But, something happened, and I decided it wasnât for me.âÂ
âWhat happened?â
âYou donât want to hear about all of that. Trust me, itâll bore you.â He gave you a reassuring smile, and you didnât want to push him to talk about it, instead just giving him a short nod. âSo, graduating next year, huh? Is that why you decided to come visit for the Summer?âÂ
Not exactly, you thought to yourself, but you werenât exactly ready to drop all the gritty details about the last few months of your life, and your parentsâ messy divorce onto him. Instead, you settled on a âyepâ, and took another sip of your drink.Â
That was how most of the rest of your lunch went. Discussing the little details of your lives with one another, but purposefully leaving out the stuff he didnât really need to know about. When Jake came back to give you your food, Yeonjun once again glared at him as though he could ignite him with his eyes if he tried hard enough, even though he hadnât done anything wrong that you could think of. You wondered if they knew each other and had some past drama with one another, or maybe he was just incredibly jealous.
Throughout the date, you hadnât been able to decide why Jisu had been so adamant about warning you to stay away from Yeonjun. Sure, maybe at first you got a bit of those vibes from him, but it didnât take much conversation to prove he was more than all of that. He was genuinely sweet, and you could feel he really cared about you. You challenged him to prove himself to you, and he was already winning the challenge.Â
He walked you back to your house, his hand brushing dangerously close against yours the whole way. You wished he would just grab it and hold onto it the way he did back at the restaurant. He didnât, though. Instead he kept teasing you, bumping his fingers a giant your own, and acting as though he was oblivious to the contact.Â
âThank you for lunch.â You told him once the two of you had made it back to your porch, where you knew your mother was spectating from one of the windows.Â
âThanks for coming with me.â He smiled down at you, and of course, his charming smile made your stomach flutter.Â
The two of you stood awkwardly, neither quite sure what to say, but what you were sure of was neither of you were ready to say goodbye yet.Â
âSo? Have I proved myself to you yet?â He asked.Â
You hummed in response, knowing your answer was without a doubt yes, but you werenât ready to tell him that. âIâm not sure. I think itâs going to take a few more burgers. Maybe a milkshakeâŚâÂ
He laughed. âOh really?â He raised an eyebrow, and you nodded. âOkay. Iâll buy you as many burgers as my phone store salary can afford.âÂ
âAnd a milkshake?â
âAnd a milkshake.â He suddenly reached out and tapped his finger against your nose, startling you to the point you jumped at the touch. He giggled at your reaction.Â
The familiar tune of an Ariana Grande song started playing, and you watched with furrowed brows as he dug his phone out of his pocket. He glanced at you with a knowing look before answering the call.
You watched as he talked on the phone, presumably to Beomgyu or Wooyoung, once again finding yourself admiring his beauty. You could look at Yeonjun a million times, and never get over how gorgeous he was. In your twenty-one years on Earth, youâd never wanted to kiss someone so bad. A part of you thought maybe he would do it now, on your doorstep, but you also knew it wasnât time. Besides, you didnât want to share your first kiss with him in broad daylight where your mother was watching.Â
âYouâre such an idiot, Beomgyu⌠Alright, alright! Iâm on my way!â He hung up the phone, a frustrated groan escaping from his mouth. âIâm sorry, Y/N, my friends are idiots who apparently donât know how to make ramen in the microwave.â He rolled his eyes.Â
âItâs okay. Iâve had stupid friends, too, I understand.â You smiled at him, reaching out to pat his arm comfortingly.Â
Just like the night before, he bent down to kiss your cheek, and just like the night before, you were desperate for more. âOkay. Iâll text you later, alright?â
âYeah. Later.â

YEONJUN DID NOT TEXT YOU BACK LATER. When your mother dragged you out to the beach again, you kept your phone close to you, nearly falling out of your beach chair every time it buzzed. But, never did one of the buzzes belong to the person you were most waiting for.Â
When you and your mother visited a local barbecue restaurant for dinner, you turned your phone off completely, hoping that pretending to be uninterested would make the text come faster. About halfway through eating, though, you excused yourself to the bathroom and powered your phone back up, waiting for the text to come through.Â
It didnât.Â
When you couldnât sleep, once again, you crept over to your window and half hoped he would be down there, and throw a pebble at you again. At first, you thought you saw him standing in the beach grass, but it was just an old fence post. No matter how hard you tried to will it, he wasnât coming, and he wasnât going to text you.Â
Youâd given up all hope by the time you woke up, and there was no message. Honestly, you were prepared to sit around all day and feel dejected, but thank god for Choi Jisu and Lee Chaeryeong. Apparently, there was going to be a big party that night, and they wanted the three of you to go together. And, lucky for you, a party was the perfect way to get Choi Yeonjun out of your head.Â
âSo, you got lunch with Yeonjun yesterday?â Jisu asked you, the question causing you to flinch and nearly stab your own ear with your earring. You were all currently in Jisuâs room, getting ready for the big party.Â
âHow did you know about that?â You slowly glanced over at her, slipping the earring through your piercing.Â
Jisu shrugged. âItâs a small town, Y/N. Word travels fast.â She paused, looking over at Chaeryeong. âPlus, Chaerâs boyfriend works at Jake's.â
âHeâs not my boyfriend!â Chaeryeong immediately exploded, and Jisu rolled her eyes.Â
âYeah, sure heâs not. But, he said he saw Yeonjun come in with a girl, but he didnât know her name, so we put two and two together.â Jisu explained.Â
âOh. Well, yeah, I did⌠Are you mad?â You meekly asked, shifting your gaze towards her to gauge her reaction.Â
Jisu froze for a moment, a finger pressed against her lips as though she was deep in thought. âHmm⌠No. Iâm not mad.â She decided after a minute. âIf you really, fully believe that heâs not playing you, then Iâm happy for you. Heâs a good guy, just really, really, really deep down.âÂ
Chaeryeong giggled, and you frowned. âThank you, Jisu. Really. Although, you might be rightâŚâ
âWhat?! What happened? Iâll kill him!â Jisu exclaimed, flipping around to face you.Â
âNothing! Itâs just⌠He told me he was going to text me yesterday, after our lunch, and he never did.â You averted her gaze, realizing how stupid it all sounded the minute the words left your mouth. The two of you had barely been apart for 24 hours, it was normal for him not to text you, right? You probably sounded insane and boy-crazy.
Your friends didnât think so, though.Â
âWhat?! Heâs such an ass! The least you can do after harassing a girl for her number is text her!â Chaeryeongâs outburst instantly made you feel much better about your insecurities.
âWhat a loser. See, Y/N, I told you!â Jisu pointed at you scoldingly as she made her way over to her vanity.Â
âBut that doesnât mean heâs a player, right? We havenât even kissed. If he was just messing with me, he would have at least tried to have gotten something before he ghosted me, right?â You started rambling, the fear that you really had been played overcoming you.
Chaeryeong shrugged. âMaybe heâs a different kind of whore. Maybe he just wants emotional attention, not physical stuff.â She suggested, which made you feel even worse.
Jisu must have noticed you starting to freak out, as she let out a sigh and returned to be by your side. âHey. Heâs probably just an idiot who forgot. That doesnât make him a fuckboy, it just makes him stupid. But if he is purposefully ghosting you, then heâs even more of an idiot, and you should just forget about him.â She rubbed your shoulder, and gave you a soft smile through the mirror you stood in front of.Â
âEither way, heâs stupid.â Chaeryeong pointed out, and the three of you started nodding in affirmation.Â
With all of that in mind, the three of you finished getting ready, and headed over to the party. You werenât sure if Yeonjun was going to be there, but you hoped he was. Jisu and Chaeryeong had helped you pick out the perfect floral top, and a cute little skirt to go with it. You could confidently say that you looked good. A smaller part of you hoped he wasnât there, though, because you deserved at least one night to yourself without thinking of him.Â
The party, you discovered, was being hosted by none other than Jake, the waiter you had met the day before. Apparently, his parents always took a trip for one week in the Summer, and on the Saturday of that week, he always threw a huge party. It had become a tradition. And, more importantly, the Sim family owned a huge house right on the beach, which made it the perfect spot to party.Â
âWow. So, Jakeâs family is rich.â You breathed out once you all made it to the destination. You thought they had been over exaggerating about the estate, but they were rather under exaggerating.Â
âYep. Aside from the diner, Jakeâs dad owns tons of real estate in the area. The burger shop is more of a hobby for him.â Chaeryeong explained to you, looking over with a big smile.Â
You nodded in understanding, shifting your gaze back over to take in the size of the house once again.Â
âChaeryeong!â The three of you craned your necks in unison to see a guy you recognized from the diner approaching your little group. âIâm glad you made it. Save me a dance?â He grinned down at her, and though it was dark outside, you swore you could see your friend start to blush.
It was cute, you hadnât really seen her get so shy before. You assumed he must have been her âboyfriendâ from the diner Jisu was talking about. âIn your dreams, Seungmin.â She replied, her hand coming up to push against his shoulder.Â
Seungmin laughed, then looked over to you and Jisu. âHey, Ji. And heyâŚ?â
âY/N.â You filled in, giving him a polite smile.Â
âAhh, so youâre Y/N. Chaeryeong was telling me about you.â He said with a nod, and you shot Chaeryeong a questioning glance.Â
âGood things, I swear.â She was quick to reassure you, then shot Seungmin a glare.
âYep! Good things only! Like how you were so drunk you thought you had caught on fire.â
âChaer!â You scolded your friend as Jisu and Seungmin started to laugh together. She shrugged in response, giving you a weak smile.Â
âIâm sorry, Y/N! It was just a funny story, you have to admit!â She giggled, and you rolled your eyes. âCome on, I know what will cheer you up!âÂ
You huffed, slumping your shoulders dramatically as you followed her, Jisu and Seungmin inside. You were surprised by how many people had turned up to the party, you didnât even know that many people lived in the little beach town. Though, you supposed some of them might have been vacationing there, the same as you.Â
Your friends led you back to the drinksâaka the back porch, where a keg had been set up as well as a table filled with all sorts of stuff. You were nearly kicked in the face as a girl swung her legs into the air to do a handstand on the keg, and a small group of people started to cheer loudly for her. You wove your way in and out of the small crowd, and over towards the table to get a drink.Â
âHere. Let me make you all the Jisulada.â Jisu announced, grabbing four plastic cups and placing them in a line in front of her. You watched as she began to combine random ingredients into the cups, and you could feel your stomach churn at the sight.Â
âThereâs no real recipe. She just adds random shit every time.â Seungmin leaned down to inform you, and you laughed as you watched her pump random bottles of syrup.Â
âAnd yet, somehow itâs always delicious.â Chaeryeong watched Jisu with furrowed eyebrows, complexed as to how all the ingredients could turn out good.Â
Jisu handed you each a cup. âCheers!âÂ
You all bumped your plastic cups against each other, then took a sip. Chaeryeong was right, the drink was actually pretty good. It was too bad Jisu made it up on the spot, and probably wouldnât be able to teach it to you.Â
Once you had your drinks, Seungmin and Chaeryeong split off to go talk alone, leaving just you and Jisu. You two wandered back into the house, finding an empty patch of wall to lean against that was just far enough from the speaker you could hear each other talk.
Just as you were finishing the last sip of your drink, you finally saw him. He was just wearing a dark blue button up shirt and a pair of shorts, but just like everything else he wore, he managed to make it look like high fashion. He was with Beomgyu and Wooyoung, as expected, arriving fashionably late. And it was a good thing he did, since he managed to capture the attention of everyone at the party.Â
You watched him with hopeful eyes as he walked through the room, waiting for him to look in your direction and come talk to you, but he never did. Next thing you knew, he was gone just as quickly as he arrived. You swore you could feel your eye twitch.Â
âY/NâŚâ Jisu started, as though she could read your mind.Â
âItâs fine.â You waved her off, tilting your cup as much as you could to get every last drop of the drink. âCan you make me another Jisucolada?â
âJisulada.â She corrected.Â
âYeah, one of those.â You grumbled, and Jisu frowned.Â
âHow about we go do some dancing instead?â She suggested, pulling your hands into her own. âWeâre here to have fun, right? Not to think about my stupid cousin.âÂ
You sighed. âI guess youâre right. And, theyâre playing a really good song right now.âÂ
Jisu grinned, and started shaking your hands. âThatâs the spirit! Come on, letâs dance!â Before you got the chance to change your mind, she dragged you out into the sea of people, and gave you no choice but to dance with her.Â
As you jumped around to the beat of the music, you could feel the effects of her Jisulada starting to kick in. Your head was starting to feel fuzzy, and you were fighting the urge to giggle at every little thing going on around you. When you thought about Yeonjun, you wanted to giggle. When you thought about Chaeryeong and Seungmin and felt the need to giggle. When you thought of your mom, all alone at the house with a book and a bottle of wine to keep her company, since your stupid dad had to abandon you guys, you couldnât fight it anymore and started to giggle.Â
You werenât sure what Jisu had thrown into the drink, but it was working wonders for you.Â
A finger touched your shoulder and you spun around, prepared to punch someone in the face. You relaxed, though, when you were met with the familiar smile of Jake the waiter.Â
âOh my god, Jake! You gave me a heart attack!â You exclaimed, and once again started to laugh.Â
âSorry. Y/N, right?â He managed to ask over the loud music, and you nodded. âI didnât know you were friends with Jisu.âÂ
âYep! BFFs from childhood.â You told him, slowing down your jumping so you could properly talk to him. Jisu, however, kept dancing, seeming to completely ignore the conversation.Â
Jake nodded in understanding. âYou used to live here?âÂ
âNo. My family used to come every summer.â You responded. âAnd then we stopped, because⌠Actually, I donât know why we stopped. But my mom and I decided to come back.â You giggled again, and watched as he chuckled down at you.Â
âCool, cool. So youâre here all summer?âÂ
ââTil August 27th!â You sang.Â
âWell, from now on, if you come into the diner while Iâm working, Iâll start giving you a discount.âÂ
You gasped. âReally? Youâd do that?â You looked at him with wide eyes, and he nodded. âGood, because I love those burgers. Damn, now that I think about it, I could really go for a burger right now.â You realized, your hand falling to your stomach as your mind wandered off to the thought of stuffing a burger in your mouth.Â
âHey, tell you what, you stick around another hour, we can ditch this party early and go get one.â He nudged you, and you thought you were going to explode from excitement.Â
âOh my gosh, that would be so awesome. A post-party burger sounds amazing.âÂ
âHi, Y/N.â A familiar voice greeted you from behind, and you felt the color drain from your face. You slowly turned to see the man you both most wanted to see and least wanted to see standing behind you, and he didnât look too happy. You didnât feel much like giggling anymore.Â
Jake let out a nervous laugh. âUh, Iâll talk to you later, Y/N.â
âNo you wonât.â Yeonjun rolled his eyes, and Jake gave him one last glare before slipping into the crowd. You glanced to your side, hoping to find Jisu still dancing beside you, but she had disappeared as well, leaving you alone with Yeonjun.Â
He wasted no time in grabbing ahold of your wrist, and dragging you out of the crowd of dancing people. âWhat the fuck are you doing?!â You shouted over the music, and although you were pissed he just forced you to leave, you werenât exactly fighting him. He didnât respond, though, just kept walking with his eyes narrowed and hand held tightly around your wrist.Â
Once he got you outside, though, he led you down to the side of the house, and finally decided to talk. He dropped your arm, turning to face you with a burning expression. âWhat are you doing here, Y/N?âÂ
âUm, partying? The same as everyone else.âÂ
âNo, I mean here. At fucking Jakeâs party.â He spat.Â
Your expression turned cold. âWhat? Am I not supposed to be? Youâre also here, arenât you?â You snapped at him. He pressed his lips together tightly. âYou donât get to fucking ignore me for a whole day then act like a big, jealous baby, Yeonjun.âÂ
âI wasnât ignoring you.â He groaned in frustration, reaching up to run a hand through his silky hair. âItâs complicated, Y/N, you donât get it.â
âThen make it uncomplicated!â You shouted into his face. âYou told me you were serious about wanting to get to know me, and you werenât just playing with me, but it sure as hell doesnât feel that way.âÂ
He rolled his eyes at you, and you couldnât help but scoff. âYouâre the one flirting with another guy out in the open for everyone to see.â He pointed out, his finger following suit.Â
âOh my god, I was not flirting with him!â You explained in exasperation, leaning back against the side of the house. You couldnât believe how ridiculous he was acting, but you were pretty sure the smell of alcohol wafting off of him had something to do with it. âBesides, even if I was, it doesnât matter. Because we are not dating. We went on one date, and you didnât text me back when you said you would, and you didnât even kiss me--â
âIs that what you want? You want me to kiss you?â He raised both of his eyebrows at you, as if you were asking for something so stupid.Â
âYes!â You didnât mean to sound so desperate, like you were begging for it, but you couldnât help it. For days, all you had been able to think about was what it would feel like to have his lips on your own, to run your fingers through those locks of his, and to have your body pressed flush against his own. So, yeah, no matter how badly you wanted to hide it, you couldnât deny just how desperate you were.Â
He froze for a moment, then stalked over towards you. Your heart started to hammer against your chest in anticipation when one of his hands slid past your face to prop him up against the wall, caging you beneath him. The other cupped your cheek, and he leaned down so close that your noses bumped against each other. âTell me again, Y/N. Tell me what you want.â You felt his breath fan against your lips, and even though you were supposed to be mad at him--you were supposed to be pissed--you could feel yourself crumbling.Â
âI want you to kiss me.â You whispered, blinking up at him through your eyelashes.Â
His eyes searched your own, his breath seemingly caught in the back of his throat. It looked like he was having some sort of internal battle with himself, on whether or not he should kiss you. God, if he left you hanging again, you were going to knee him right between his legs before he got the chance. âFuck it.â He breathed out, then (finally) smashed his lips against your own.Â
There was an urgency in the way he kissed you, his grip on your cheek tightening and his lips rough against yours, like he was going to starve to death if he didnât get a taste of you. There was just as much desperation on your end, though, as one of your hands crawled up his shoulder and the other began to entangle itself in the hair that fell right at the back of his neck.Â
Just as you had predicted, kissing him was electrifying. Every inch of your skin his fingers came into contact with felt like it was being lit ablaze. You were perfectly in sync with him, and your lips melded together as though they had been made for the other. You had kissed people before, but nothing had ever come close to this.Â
He pushed you so you were pressed flush against the wall, and the hand that had been propping himself up before found a new home on your waist. You clung to him tightly, and if you pulled him any closer against yourself, you were sure your bodies would melt into one another. Still, you raised one of your legs and wrapped your leg around his hip, and you felt him grunt against your lips at the contact.Â
After what felt like an eternity, he pulled away from the kiss, briefly pausing to look down at you. His lips were puffy, his eyes were heavy with lust, and he looked absolutely gorgeous. He leaned back down, only to attach his lips to your neck this time. Your breathing grew deeper as he peppered your skin with kisses, and an occasional nip with his teeth.Â
âIâm sorry. For not texting you.â He breathed against your skin between kisses.Â
You werenât totally sure if you forgave him or not, yet, but your lips moved faster than your brain did. âItâs okay.â You replied breathlessly, and bit your lip to hold back any noises when his mouth found a particularly sensitive spot.Â
He leaned up and away from your neck, so his face was in line with your own again. âDonât talk to Jake anymore, okay?â He asked, and you immediately nodded. He smiled, and dove back in to connect your lips for one more kiss. âYouâre mine.â He whispered against your mouth, and once again, you caught yourself nodding fervently.Â
âYouâre all mine.âÂ

YOU STARTED SEEING YEONJUN MORE REGULARLY AFTER THE PARTY. In the deep hours of the night, he would appear outside your bedroom window, trying to throw pebbles at your window and missing every one. One night, he even attempted to crawl up the trellis lining the side of the house, but a piece broke off and he fell before he got the chance. You would usually end up sitting on the porch swing on the backside of your house, talking and⌠Kissing.Â
You hated yourself for ever letting Jisu get into your head. Yeonjun had proved to you over and over again that he was interested in you for more than just hooking up, that he had genuine feelings for you. It made the realization that the summer would end in two months, and you would be going back to the city, sting. So, you decided not to think about it. Which was easy, because when you were with Yeonjun, he was just about all you could think about.Â
âDid you tell your mom I broke the trellis?â He asked you a few nights after heâd tried to scale the side of the house, a grin playing on his perfect lips.Â
You giggled, shaking your head. The two of you were sitting opposite of each other, out on the swing. âNo. I told her I didnât know anything about it. Must have been a wild animal.â You told him, and he laughed at that.Â
âOkay, good. Itâs bad enough that you witnessed that, I donât need anybody else knowing about it.â He said, reaching up to rub the back of your neck.Â
âOh. Well, I definitely didnât tell Jisu and Chaer about it, then.âÂ
He paled. âY/N! Now Jisuâs gonna tell her mom and sheâs gonna tell my mom! Theyâre all gonna bully the shit out of me!â He whined, leaning forward to lightly hit your knee.Â
âMaybe you deserve it.â You shrugged, and broke into a smile when he looked at you with the saddest look he could muster up. âAw, you poor baby. Iâm joking, I didnât tell themâŚâ You leaned forward, putting your lips close to his ear. âThat can stay between us.âÂ
When you started to pull away, he caught the nape of your neck in his hand, looking at you with one of his eyebrows cocked up. âYou promise?â He asked, using his other hand to hold up a pinky.Â
You were immediately flustered by the proximity. You could feel your face getting hot, and your heartbeat in your ears as your wide eyes darted down to look at his pinky. Slowly, you lifted up your own, looping it together with his. âI promise.â The words came out barely above a whisper, and a thick silence filled the air.
For a second, you thought he was going to kiss you, as he leaned forward close enough to brush his nose against yours. But, then he pulled away, a smirk finding its way onto his lips as he observed your reaction. Â
âYouâre cute.â He said, unlacing his pinky from your own so he could poke the tip of your nose. He let go of you, leaning back against the arms of the bench to laugh at you.Â
You frowned, then smacked his chest. âShut up! I hate you so much!â Now you were the one whining, all the while he kept giggling at your reaction.Â
âCome on, we all know thatâs not true.â He said matter-of-factly, sitting back up so his face was closer to you again.Â
âIt is. I seriously hate you, Choi Yeonjun.â You replied, folding your arms across your chest.Â
He tilted his head, and gently laced his hand through one of yours. He pulled it away from your chest, then rose it up to his lips. âDo you hate me when I do this?â He asked, then placed a kiss against your knuckles.Â
You turned your head away. âYes.â You said defiantly.Â
You could feel the swing shift as he scooted closer to you, and this time he kissed your cheek. âDo you hate me when I do this?âÂ
You nodded, keeping your head turned away from him. âYep.âÂ
His breath was hot against your jaw when he pressed his lips there next, asking the question again. Only this time, you were starting to get so hot and bothered, you barely heard him ask. You just nodded quickly, swallowing hard.Â
Finally, two of his fingers pressed against the other side of your jaw, and gently turned you to look at him. âWhat aboutâŚâ He leaned forward, touching his nose against your own just like he had done a minute earlier. âWhen I doâŚâ His breath fanned against your lips, and you couldnât take it anymore. âThi-â
You cut him off by taking charge, capturing his lips in a heated kiss. Honestly, from the minute you first heard him trying to throw pebbles at your window, you had been dying to kiss him. Really, kissing Yeonjun was one of the only things on your mind since Jakeâs party. The feeling of lips on yours like a drug, and you were past the point of calling yourself addicted.Â
He must have been wanting it just as bad as you, as he wasted no time slipping his hands onto your waist and pulling you onto his lap. Your hands rested on his shoulders, steadying yourself as the swing started to gently sway from all the movement. His fingers sliding under your t-shirt and finding home on the skin of your waist feel like tiny little wildfires lighting every inch they brush over ablaze.Â
You felt like you were going crazy, like you were some kind of feral animal that found its next meal. All you could think about was how you wantedâno, neededâmore of him. It was like your body had gone into autopilot, as your fingers moved from his shoulders down to the hem of his shirt, which you found yourself toying with.Â
He paused for a minute, pulling back from the kiss to look at you. His lips were swollen from your kisses, and his dark hair was disheveled, his bangs falling in the way of his eyes. Yeonjun always looked good, that wasnât up for debate. But, it was nothing compared to how he looked right now. Right now, the only word that came to mind to describe him was perfect.Â
He dove back into your lips, and you were starting to have a difficult time keeping up with him. If you had to guess, Yeonjun was a lot more experienced than you. Sure, youâd had a few make out sessions in your life, but never enough to consider yourself an expert, and youâd never done anything further than that. His mouth moved with such expertise, his tongue prodding against your lips to let you in, you were starting to feel a bit overwhelmed.Â
When his hand slipped up under your shirt, thatâs when you knew you were in trouble. As much as you were enjoying it, you forced yourself to pull away from him. He quickly retracted his hand, gazing up at you with furrowed brows.Â
âSorry, Iâ, I think we should slow down for just a minute.â You breathed out, letting a nervous laugh slip past your swollen lips.Â
He nodded. âYeah, okay. Sorry, I didnât mean to make you uncomfortable or anythingââ
âââNo! Thatâs not it!â You cut him off, tightening your grip on his shoulders. âItâs just⌠Iâm not very⌠Experienced in this stuffâŚâ Iâm scared, you thought, but you didnât dare tell him that out loud.Â
âI understand, donât worry about it.â He leaned forward and gave you a gentle peck that made your heart swell. âSo⌠Are youâŚ?â
Your face grew hot. You nodded in response, too embarrassed to say the words yes, Iâm a virgin out loud. You were about to graduate college in the next year, and you were still a virgin. Everyone always told you it was nothing to be ashamed of, but you still couldnât help being a bit embarrassed when the subject came up.Â
âOh, okay. Well, donât be afraid to tell me if you donât want to do something. I want you to be comfortable no matter what, okay?â He stared you dead in the eyes, like he was looking for any sign of hesitation.Â
You tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear as you nodded in understanding. âOkay.â You said quietly, and he smiled at your answer. You couldnât believe how sweet he was being about the whole thing. Surely he had to have some sort of flaw, right?
With that, he leaned in to kiss you just one more time, only this time it was a lot more gentle and intimate than your previous kisses. It was the kind of kiss that gave you butterflies, the kind of kiss that made you realize you might be falling in love with him.Â
Oh, god. You were falling in love with Choi Yeonjun.

ONE THING ABOUT JISU WAS SHE LOVED PLANNING PARTIES. So, when her friend Keenaâs twentieth birthday rolled around, she practically leapt at the opportunity to plan something. You hardly knew Keena, youâd only met her a few times through Jisu, but your friend insisted you come to the party anyway. According to her, it was going to be a huge party, and everyone was going to be there anyway, so it wasnât going to be weird!Â
It had been about a week since your revelation. You were falling in love with Yeonjun, and you were falling in love fast. The realization terrified you.Â
The only time youâd seen love had been with your parents, until you found out they werenât as in love as you previously thought, since your dad had been hooking up with your housekeeper. He might not have loved your mother anymore, but you knew she still loved him. You saw it in the way she was still fighting to get over him, even now.Â
The thought of falling in love, and having to experience the same heartbreak you watched your mom go through for the last few months made you feel sick. So, out of fear, you had been sort of avoiding Yeonjun for the last week. Which was kind of hypocritical of you, considering you had gotten angry at him for doing that to you before. But, at least you had a good reason, right?Â
Tonight, though, at Keenaâs party, it was more than likely he would be there. Part of you was excited to see him, and had been missing him, while the other part was scared of confrontation, and having to explain to him why you had been avoiding him.Â
âY/N, could you pass me that bag of Doritos?â Jisuâs sweet voice yanked you out of your sea of thoughts, reminding you that you were supposed to be helping her set up for the party, not thinking about Yeonjun.Â
âDid you get enough chips?â Chaeryeong asked incredulously as Jisu popped open the bag and began to pour them into a plastic bowl.
Jisu rolled her eyes. âThis house is going to be filled with a bunch of guys that are just finishing puberty. Trust me, in my experience planning parties, they eat a lot.âÂ
Keena, who was wearing a âBirthday Girlâ tiara on top of her head, let out a small giggle. âTrue. Umm, speaking of guysâŚâ She paused for a minute, looking over at Jisu nervously. âDo you know if Yeonjun is coming tonight?âÂ
Everyone froze. Including you, who nearly choked on your own spit.Â
âOh. Uhh, no, Iâm not really sureâŚâ Jisu answered, then glanced over at you. âY/N might know, though.âÂ
Keena furrowed her eyebrows. âWhat? Why might Y/N know?â She asked slowly, her intense gaze flickering between you and Jisu. Then, you watched as her eyes widened, and the answer seemed to dawn on her. âOh! Iâm sorry, I didnât know you and Yeonjun were--â
âItâs fine.â You quickly waved her off. âYou know what? I think Iâm gonna go check on the drinks really quick. Just make sure everything is in its place.â You forced the best smile you could muster up, and started to leave.Â
âOh, Iâll come with you! I think I left my bracelet out there earlier.â Chaeryeong raced after you, and you had a feeling she was as desperate as you were to escape the awkward tension that had suddenly filled the air.Â
The two of you slipped out the door and into the backyard, where all the different soda and alcoholic drinks Jisu had gotten were being stored. With a long sigh, you bent down and opened up one of the coolers. You half considered dipping your head into the ice in an attempt to calm yourself down, but then you would ruin the makeup you had spent so much time on.Â
Chaeryeong watched you awkwardly, toying with a ring on her finger. âThey made out once. Last summer. At a bonfire.â She suddenly spoke up.Â
You looked back at her over your shoulder. âWhat?âÂ
âKeena and Yeonjun. I think sheâs had a crush on him since forever, and they made out last summer. I think thatâs why she was asking.â She explained.Â
âHe kissed her?â You asked in disbelief. âHow many girls that are coming tonight has he made out with?âÂ
She shrugged. âLike, 6. There are a few guys, too, I think.âÂ
You groaned, and the idea of sticking your head in the cooler was sounding more and more like a good idea.Â
âBut, you really shouldnât worry!â Chaeryeong was quick to reassure you, kneeling down next to you. âHe always ended up ghosting them after. Iâve seen Yeonjun kiss a lot of people, but Iâve never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you!â She smiled, and rubbed your back reassuringly.Â
You looked over at her. âReally?âÂ
She nodded. âReally. I know it sounds so cliche, but heâs⌠Different, around you. I really think youâre more than just a quick hookup to him.âÂ
She was right. It was so cliche. And she was probably just saying it to make you feel better, but it still made your heart swell up. You couldnât help smiling back at her, leaning into her touch.Â
âThanks, Chaer.â It was hard to remember that you would be leaving her at the end of the summer, and probably rarely talk to her again after that. Your old friends back at home would never have been able to cheer you up the way she did. In fact, you could hear Haeunâs voice now, telling you heâs just a manwhore, Y/N! Thereâs no way heâs into you!Â
You wished you could stay there forever.Â
The door flew open, and your little hug was broken as the two of you jumped to turn around and look. There was Jisu, standing with her hands on her hips. âCould you at least close the cooler? Youâre going to melt all of the ice!â She snapped at the two of you. âAnd come back in here! We need to get the beer pong table set up before people start arriving!âÂ
You and Chaeryeong shared a brief amused look. âYeah, yeah, yeah, weâre coming.â She rolled her eyes, standing up.Â
Initially, you had gone out there to escape from the insecurity starting to inflate inside of you, but thanks to Chaeryeongâs words, you were starting to feel a whole lot more secure in your relationship with Yeonjun. Who cared if he kissed Keena a year ago, and she was still into him?
Yeonjun had his eyes on you. Not Keena. And if what Chaeryeong had said was true, that he was different towards you⌠Maybe there was a small chance he was falling for you, too.Â
There was nothing to worry aboutâŚ
Right?

KEENAâS PARTY WAS EVEN BIGGER THAN YOUâD ANTICIPATED. It seemed like there were as many people as were at Jakeâs party, if not more. You doubted everyone there knew Keena, and were intending to celebrate her birthday. Most of them were probably just looking for a good time.Â
You had been hoping to run into Yeonjun soon. You wanted to apologize, and explain why you had been so distant the past week. After you had gotten so angry at him for doing the same thing to you, an explanation was what he deserved, right?Â
So far, though, you had yet to see him anywhere. You wondered if maybe he had decided not to show up after all. If youâd learned one thing about Yeonjun, though, it was that he was not one to miss a party. Especially not a rager like this one. So, you knew he was somewhere in the house, it was just a question of where.Â
You had just finished combing through the kitchen unsuccessfully when you wandered over towards the beer pong table, releasing a frustrated sigh. You were prepared to give up and just text him and ask where he was, but thatâs when you saw him.Â
No, not Yeonjun. It was Beomgyu, playing a game of beer pong with some random people you didnât know. Relief washed over you as you trudged over to him, praying that your search was nearing its end.Â
âBeomgyu!â You called out, then realized he had just been preparing to toss his ball, and your shout had totally thrown him off. He frowned as the ball bounced off the edge of a cup, and the perfect throw heâd been aiming for was ruined forever.
With a defeated sigh, he finally looked in your direction. âY/N? You wanna play, or something?â He asked, gesturing to the cups.Â
âNo, Iâm not very good. Uh, no, I was just going to ask if you knew where Yeonjun was?â You smiled hopefully at him.Â
He tapped a finger to his lips, as though he was deep in thought. âHmm, no. Wait! Yes, last time I saw him he was out on the back porch. Actually, that might have been Wooyoung⌠No-no, it was definitely Yeonjun. Yeah, heâs out on the back porch.â
You cocked an eyebrow. âYou sure?â Clearly, he had been playing too much beer pong, and was already drunk.
âYeah, one hundred percent, lady. Oh, if you see him, will you ask where he put my Air Force Ones? I know he stole them, I just donât know where heâs hiding them.â
You blinked, then nodded slowly. Yeah, you werenât really sure just how reliable Beomgyu was, but it was the closest thing you had to a lead at that point. âSure. Iâll ask.â
With that, you started walking away, ready to wrap up the conversation, but before you got the chance, Beomgyu caught your wrist. He tugged you back, a bit closer to him, then leaned in close so you could feel his breath on your ear.Â
âBe careful around him, Y/N.â
You felt the hair on the back of your neck stand up. âWhat?â You whispered.Â
He smiled. âI said have fun with him, Y/N! Bye!â He let go of your wrist, and returned to the game, leaving you standing there dumbfounded.Â
Be careful around him. He really said that, didnât he? You hadnât imagined it? He had recovered from it so nonchalantly, and returned to his game without any hesitation, you wondered if maybe you were going crazy and hallucinated it. During your time exploring the party, youâd had a few drinks, so maybe you were just a little intoxicated.Â
For now, you decided to just ignore it. Instead, you started to make your way up through the house, and in the direction of the back porch. You were glad you did decide to have a few drinks, otherwise your nerves might have been on fire. Granted, you werenât completely relaxed, but your hands werenât shaking, so that was a good sign.Â
You pushed through the crowd of people until you finally found yourself out on the back porch where you had been hiding out with Chaeryeong earlier in the day.Â
Iâve never seen him look at someone the way he looks at you!
Be careful around him, Y/N.
You shook your head, trying to shake the voices of your friends loose from your mind.Â
Finally, you spotted him. He was leaning up against the railing, appearing to be deep in conversation with someone, but you couldnât see who. Then, the person blocking your view moved out of the way, and your heart sank. Suddenly, you wished you hadnât seen him.Â
He was talking to Keena, who had her hand resting on his arm, and was leaning in close to laugh about something he said. And the worst part was, he wasnât trying to get her to move, or anything like that. No, instead he leaned down as well, so their faces were practically inches away from each other as their loud laughter drifted across the patio to you.Â
You were trying really, really hard not to think the worst, but you couldnât help it. She was basically all over him, and he wasnât doing anything about it.Â
But what did you expect? It wasnât like he was your boyfriend or anything.Â
You made the mistake of standing and staring for too long, though. Because he must have felt your gaze burning into the side of his face, and glanced in your direction. Except the glance turned into a wide-eyed stare when he realized it was you watching them.Â
He started to say something to Keena, peeling her hands off of him, but you were out of there before you saw what happened next. You spun around on your heel and stormed back into the house, feeling tears brim in the corners of your eyes. You didnât know why you were crying. You were the one who had stopped talking to him for the last week. You had come clean and told him you were a virgin. It was no wonder he had gotten bored of you and moved onto someone else.
You turned down a hallway, and threw open the first door to a bedroom you found. There was a couple making out on the bed, who jumped when you flung the door open, then glared at you. âExcuse you, canât you see weâre in the middle of something?â One of the girls asked.Â
âGo do it somewhere else!â You snapped at her, and she scoffed at your exclamation.Â
âListen, girl, we were here first--â
âGive us the room!â You didnât even notice him come up behind you. With an annoyed groan, you buried your face in your palms. This room was supposed to be your escape from him, and now he was ruining it. You had half a mind to elbow him in the stomach.Â
The girls rolled their eyes, but were apparently not in the mood to argue--not with Yeonjun, at least. You were both quiet as they walked past, and you tried to follow them out of the room, but of course he stopped you. He tugged you back into the room, and shut the door before you could run back out.Â
âY/N, look, it wasnât what it looked like--â
âOf course it wasnât! It never is, is it?â You were trying not to be angry at him, but he was making it so difficult!Â
He sighed as you went to sit on the bed. âLook, I donât even know why youâre that upset. You havenât talked to me all week, so I thought you were⌠Done with this, I donât know.âÂ
You shook your head, pressing your elbows into your knees as you cradled your cheeks with your palms. âNo, itâs not that. Iâm justâŚâ Your voice trailed off, and suddenly it became hard to talk. His presence looming in the doorway wasnât exactly helping, either.Â
When he finally left his spot to come sit on the bed next to you, you werenât sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. âWhat is it, Y/N? I need you to talk to me.â He said softly.Â
You looked over at him, to see his dark eyes gazing down on you. He should be annoyed with you, and your childish behavior. But heâs not. Instead, his eyes are so full of fondness, you canât help but think back to what Chaeryeong told you.
Iâve never seen him look at someone the way he looks at you!
You suppose itâs time you did what you had intended to do when you first went onto the porch--tell him the truth.
âThatâs not why I was ignoring you⌠I was ignoring you because--and this probably sounds really silly and stupid, but--I think I was scared.â The last word slipped through your lips, barely above a whisper.Â
He furrowed his eyebrows. âScared? Scared of what?â He asked you.Â
âI just⌠I really like you, Yeonjun. Like, really like you. And I was scared of how fast I was starting to like you.â You knew it was stupid before, but now that you had actually said it, it sounded really stupid.Â
He didnât say anything for a few seconds, didnât react, but then he slowly started to smile. âYou really like me?â He asked.Â
You rolled your eyes, and punched his shoulder. âShut up! Iâm serious!âÂ
He winced, reaching up to rub where you had hit him. âOkay, okay, sorry. I guess Iâm just a little confused why that would be scary. Shouldnât that be a good thing? Because I really like you, too.â
There was only one way you could really make him understand. You sucked in a shaky breath, and braced yourself. âCan I⌠Tell you something?â
He nodded. âYeah, of course. Tell me anything.âÂ
âThis summer⌠The reason me and my mom came down, just the two of us⌠Earlier this year, my mom came home to find my dad hooking up with our housekeeper.â You paused, looking over at him for a reaction. âI thought he loved my mom, but I guess he didnât--or at least not enough. And I saw how badly that hurt her, I had to be there to help pick up the pieces of her broken heart. So, I guess I was really just scared, that I could see myself falling in love with you, and that means you have the power to break my heart, just like my dad did to my mom.â
The room was silent. Yeonjun was staring down at you, his eyes wide, and you thought they were starting to look a bit glassy. His lips were slightly parted, like he was getting ready to say something, but nothing came out. You werenât sure you had ever seen Yeonjun at a loss for words before. Quiet Yeonjun was a lot scarier than talkative Yeonjun.Â
âSee, I knew it was stupid.â You heaved a defeated sigh, and stood up to leave, but for the second time that night, Yeonjun grabbed ahold of your wrist.Â
âItâs not stupid.â He reassured you quickly. You looked down at him, to see him gazing up at you with a pleading expression, then decided to sit back next to him. âIâm sorry your dad did that, Y/N. Your mom didnât deserve that--you didnât deserve that. But I promise, I wonât ever hurt you the way he did. You have nothing to be afraid of.âÂ
You could feel your eyes growing wet again. âReally?â You breathed out. âYou promise?âÂ
He nodded fervently. âI promise.âÂ
Then, the two of you leaned in at the same time, connecting your lips in a passionate kiss. Your heart was hammering against your chest, and you were overwhelmed by how strong your feelings for him were growing. It was still a scary feeling, but it was a little less scary now that he made that promise to you.Â
The kiss didnât last for long, though, as you pulled away and instead buried your face in his shoulder. âIâm sorry for not talking to you.âÂ
He laughed softly, resting one of his hands on the back of your head. âItâs okay. Iâm sorry for letting Keena flirt with me. I should have shut that down a long time ago.âÂ
You smiled. âYeah, you should have. But⌠Itâs her birthday. You can tell her later.âÂ
âYeah. Later.â He leaned back, and you looked up so you were at eye level with him again. He pressed his lips against yours again, and snuck a hand around your waist. As you kissed him, he pulled you up so you were straddling his lap. âCan we stay here all night?â He whispered against your lips.Â
You giggled, shaking your head as you kissed him again. âNo. I need to go check in with Jisu and see if she needs anything.â You told him, and he whined.Â
âJisu is fine, what about what I need?âÂ
You rolled your eyes. âYouâre like a baby. We can make out later, let me just go--âÂ
Suddenly he fell back onto the bed, taking you down with him. He rolled over so he was hovering over you, looking down at you with a playful grin. âNow youâre trapped, so I guess youâre stuck here with me.âÂ
âOh yeah?â You laughed, and reached up to wrap your arms around the back of his neck.Â
âYeah.â He breathed out, and leaned down to once again capture your lips in a heated kiss. This time, you didnât try to protest. Jisu could wait. You had gone a whole week without this, and now that youâd gotten another taste of him, you were reminded of how you just couldnât get enough of him.Â
Thankfully, the girls who you had kicked out never came back, and nobody else barged in to interrupt you. You had no idea whose room the two of you were in, but for that night, it belonged to you.

WHEN YOU WERE A KID, YOU ALWAYS LOOKED FORWARD TO the annual fair that took place out on the boardwalks. There were rides, games, snacks, and best of all, they would end the night with a sky full of fireworks. Your parents would always buy you some cotton candy, pay off the people running the games to help you win some stuffed prize, then take you up on the ferris wheel to watch the fireworks. It was perfect.Â
You couldnât believe it when you found out the tradition was still going strong. As soon as you found out it was happening towards the end of July, you knew you had to be there. And more importantly, you knew you wanted to go with Yeonjun.Â
Unfortunately for you, though, Beomgyu and Wooyoung also wanted to go with Yeonjun. You decided to make it a group outing, inviting Jisu and Chaeryeong to tag along as well. It wasnât ideal, but you couldnât lie and say you werenât looking forward to it a little bit. Besides, you could always steal Yeonjun away later, right?
âI think we should go through the haunted house first.â Beomgyu suggested as the six of you wandered around the boardwalks.Â
Due to you now being in the last couple of weeks of July, it seemed like the heat of the summer was at an all time high. Even in the shade, in a pair of shorts and a tank top, you were still melting in the heat. The humidity radiating off of the ocean wasnât helping much, either.Â
âNo! You know those things scare me!â Yeonjun exclaimed, jabbing a finger in Beomgyuâs direction.Â
You grinned. âAww, donât worry Jjunie, I can protect you from the scary ghosts.â You cooed at him, hugging his arm close to you.Â
Beomgyu and Wooyoung exchanged a look as Yeonjun began to giggle at your antics. For some reason, it reminded you of what Beomgyu had told you the night of Keenaâs party.Â
Be careful around him, Y/N.
Jisu cleared her throat. âStop being gross. I think Beomgyuâs right, letâs go to the haunted house.â
Yeonjun frowned, but you looped your fingers together with his in an attempt to soothe him. He smiled down at you, and you assumed it was working.Â
âCareful, Y/N, heâll break your hand off.â Wooyoung commented as the six of you started heading towards the haunted house. âOne time, we went on a group date to see a scary movie, and I swear he broke the girlâs fingers.â
You tensed up at the mention of another girl. Of course, you knew Yeonjun had dated other people before you, and after your conversation at the party, you knew you had nothing to be jealous of. Still, the comment stung a bit.Â
âOh my god, remember when we played with that VR set last summer, and Yeonjun started crying while playing Five Nights at Freddyâs VR?â Chaeryeong started to laugh loudly, and Yeonjun glared at her.Â
âShut up! Jisu started crying too, but nobody brings that up!â He snapped defensively, and you couldnât help laughing.Â
Jisu shrugged. âThatâs because youâre a man. Youâre supposed to be strong and macho, or whatever. Girls are allowed to cry.â
âIsnât that a little anti-feminist of you?â Beomgyu asked with furrowed eyebrows.Â
âSo what if it is? Girls are allowed to be anti-feminist.â She teased, and Beomgyu rolled his eyes.Â
âIn my Womenâs Studies class, they taught us that was a bad mindset.â Wooyoung said.Â
âWhy did you take a Womenâs Studies class?â You laughed in disbelief.Â
He glanced away. ââŚBecause the TA was hot.â
Finally, you all made it to the haunted house. It looked exactly the same as it had when you were a little girl, too afraid to dare go inside of it. Your dad had tried to convince you to go in with him multiple times, but you always told him no! You were still a little bit scared, but after the way they had just clowned Yeonjun, you absolutely were not going to let anyone know that.Â
Instead, you just clung on tightly to Yeonjun, assuring him you were just doing it to make him feel better. But when the two of you rounded a corner to be jump scared by someone dressed as a zombie, and you screamed as you buried your face into your chest, it was obvious you were just as scared as him.Â
âYouâre kinda cute when youâre scared. Maybe we should go through haunted houses more often.â Yeonjun commented once you were out of earshot of the actor.Â
âNope. You better get a good look and savor scared Y/N now, because Iâm never doing this shit again.â You said sweetly, tilting your chin to look up at him. You were still nestled against his chest as the two of you walked, clinging onto one another for safety.Â
âOh trust me, I am looking.â He flashed that stupid, flirty grin that always gave you butterflies, then started to lean down.Â
There was a loud gagging sound. âGod, is this why you two are so far behind? Itâs not enough to make out everywhere else, you have to do it here, too?â Wooyoung asked incredulously.Â
You pushed yourself away from his chest. âNope! I was just wiping away his tears!âÂ
Yeonjun gasped. âWhat?! Donât lie! She was scared, too!â He shouted after you as you jogged to catch up with the others.Â

BY THE TIME THE SUN WAS STARTING TO SET, and fireworks were just a short while away, you were exhausted. You were pretty sure the heat was slowly killing you, and you had spent several hours playing stupid carnival games because Wooyoung insisted on beating each one. Which was how he ended up with arms full of plushies that he started giving out to random children.Â
Yeonjun won you a fox plushie at the ring toss after you informed him that it reminded you of him. He said it was so you would always be reminded of him, which reminded you that in about a month, youâd be going back to the city, and you didnât know if youâd ever see him again.Â
But, today wasnât the day to be thinking about that. You wanted to focus on the fact that you were there with him now, and ignore that the future was creeping in closer and closer. Stressing about it wasnât going to make things any easier for when the time came, so what was the point?Â
The two of you were once again lagging behind your other friends as you walked around, relishing in the cool air that was starting to set in as the sun prepared to dip below the horizon. In one hand, you held the fox plushie close to your chest, and in the other, you held Yeonjunâs hand tightly.Â
âUgh, Iâm so tired. I think my feet are going to fall off.â You groaned to him, leaning over to rest your head on his shoulder.Â
He gently shook with soft laughter. âYeah, I know. When I was a kid, I could run around here for hours, but now I just get worn out so quickly.â He said with a sigh. âI had an idea, though. I know you wanted to go watch the fireworks from the ferris wheel, but I think I might know a better place.â
âOh yeah?â You looked up at him curiously.Â
He nodded. âYeah. Itâll be a good view, and there will be way less people. Nice and secluded.âÂ
âOoh, I like the sound of that.â You giggled. Of course, youâd been hoping to watch the fireworks the way you used to, but more than that you were dying to get some alone time with Yeonjun. Your friends were being third, fourth, fifth and sixth wheels, and ruining everything.Â
You blamed stupid Choi Beomgyu and Jung Wooyoung.Â
âWe just have to sneak away from our friends firstâŚâ His voice trailed off as he glanced around, as though he was looking for a way to escape.Â
You hummed in thought. âHmm⌠Oh! I have an idea!âÂ
You tugged him by his hand in the direction of your friends, picking up the pace to switch into a jog. He didnât question you, he just jogged behind you, still holding tightly onto your hand, like he was afraid of you slipping out of his grasp.Â
Once she noticed you approaching her from behind, Chaeryeong let out a low groan. âIf you guys are going to keep being gross, you should go do it somewhere else. Youâre going to ruin some perfectly good fireworks!â She whined.Â
You smiled over at Yeonjun, realizing this was going to be a lot easier than you thought. âSo⌠You wouldnât mind if we snuck away and left you guys to watch them together?â You inquired slowly.Â
âWhat?! No! You canât steal him away from us! Letâs split up, boys and girls!â Wooyoung grabbed Yeonjunâs other hand, trying to tug him away from you.Â
âDid they teach you to do that in your Womenâs Studies class?â Jisu raised an eyebrow.Â
Wooyoung hissed at her.Â
âEw, Iâm not going with you after you did that, freak!â Yeonjun snapped his hand out of his grip. âIâm actually feeling a little sick after The Zipper, so I just want to turn in early.âÂ
It was so obviously a lie, a lot worse than the one you had been planning to use, but it looked like your friends had given up hope. âFine⌠Make sure you take care of him, Y/N.â Beomgyu released a sigh of defeat.Â
âIf you throw up on her, Iâll kill you.â Jisu threatened. Chaeryeong nodded in solidarity.Â
âIâm not going to throw up on her!â
âHe might! Because heâs so very sick. Come on, Jun!â You waved to your friends as you started to pull him away, smiling widely at them. âIâll text you guys later!âÂ
âDonât forget to use protection!â Wooyoung shouted once you guys were practically out of earshot.Â
Your face grew hot, and you were suddenly overwhelmed with mortification. Did he want everyone at the fair to think you two were sneaking off to have sex? You hoped Jisu punched him for that. She and Chaeryeong were the only people other than Yeonjun that you had told about your⌠Predicament. At least you knew that those two knew you werenât running away to hook up. You just hoped nobody else you knew heard him.Â
âIgnore him. Heâs a fucking idiot.â Yeonjun glared over his shoulder, and you watched as he held up a middle finger towards Wooyoung.Â
âYeah, Iâll say.â You muttered, looking down to find interest in your sandals.Â
He let go of your hand, and you were about to complain but he instead wrapped his arm around your shoulder and pulled you close to him. âCâmon. Let me show you the super special spot I had in mind.âÂ
The entire walk to his âsuper special spotâ, he kept a firm grip on you, keeping you close to him. You knew that Yeonjun was a touchy guy, you discovered that pretty early on. Tonight, though, he seemed clingier than usual. You didnât really mind, in fact you liked staying close to him. There was just something about being so close to him that made you feel safe, and secure. Like nothing bad would happen as long as you were with him.Â
His super special spot, as it turned out, was your house.Â
You gave him a deadpan look.Â
âNo, I know what youâre thinking! But, look, you have a perfect view of where the fireworks go off! Especially if we climb out of your window onto your roof!â He beamed down at you proudly.Â
âAbsolutely not. My mom might actually wring our necks and kill us if she finds out weâre climbing up there.â You started to laugh, shaking your head at the idea.Â
âBut you said your mom is out with friends tonight, right? Sheâll never even know we were up there.âÂ
You tucked your bottom lip between your teeth, biting down as you mulled the idea over. He was right, you did tell him about how your mom was out drinking with some of her old friends. And if she did come home and see you up there, you might be able to convince her that she was so drunk that she imagined it, or something like that. âOkay, fine! But if I fall down and break my neck, youâre paying my medical bills.âÂ
âNope! If you go down, I go down, too!â He sang, hot on your tail like a lost puppy as you wandered up your porch stairs.Â
You laughed softly as you picked through your keyring to find the right one. âIâm not sure if thatâs really stupid, or really romantic.âÂ
Suddenly, you felt his arms wrap around your waist from behind, and his breath against your neck, causing goosebumps to spread across your skin. âWhy not both?â He asked, then leaned forward to press a kiss against your cheek.Â
As you finally got the door open, you giggled, and tried to push him off of you. âCome on, this way!â You raced up the stairs, and just as you had hoped, he began to chase after you. He was barely inches behind you, filling you up with adrenaline as you screamed and turned down the hallway in the direction of your bedroom.
Unfortunately, your door was closed, which gave him plenty of time to catch up to you as your nerves made it difficult to wring the doorknob open. The second the door opened up, he caught you, wrapping his arms around your waist and lifting you off the ground. The air was filled with giggles and screams as he carried you over to your bed.Â
âYeonjun, stop--!â You barely managed to get out between your laughter, and you let out a loud yelp when he dumped you onto the cushy mattress, then crawled on top of you.Â
You were out of breath as you laid against your bed, chest heaving up and down as you tried to cool your giggles. He was hovering over you, and you recalled the last time he had caged you in back at Keenaâs party. As the two of you were catching your breath, though, something in the air felt different. His dark eyes were flickering between yours, like he was searching for something inside of them.Â
You were suddenly overcome with a warm feeling, and before you got the chance to stop yourself and ask if this was a good idea, you whispered to him. âI think Iâm in love with you.âÂ
For some reason, you thought you would regret telling him that. You thought it would ruin things between the two of you, and make him regret ever going out with you. But, you werenât regretting it. You had been thinking it for over a week now, and finally, you were able to get it off of your chest. And even if he didnât feel the same, even if he thought you were rushing into things too fast, you were just glad that you had finally worked up the nerve to tell him. Because it was true, and he deserved to know.Â
He stared down at you, blinking. âYou are?â He asked, barely loud enough for you to hear in the silent room.Â
You nodded, taking a good look at his face. His long, pretty eyelashes, his pointed nose, his perfectly shaped lips⌠As you were taking him in--all of him--there was absolutely no doubt in your mind.Â
âYeah. Iâm in love with you.â
The second the last word left your mouth, Yeonjun wasted no time diving down to connect his lips with yours. By that point, you had kissed him more times than you could count, but you didnât care about any of those other times, because nothing compared to this one.Â
He didnât need to say it back. You could feel it in the way he gently pushed your stray strands of hair out of your face, and in the way he cupped your cheek as he kissed you, like you were the most precious object in the whole world to him. When he pulled away from your lips to press kisses all over your face--your eyes, your nose, your cheeks, your chin--you knew that he loved you too.Â
A bright light flooded into your room through the window, followed by a loud boom. The two of you looked to see the fireworks you had been dying to see finally going off, and he was right. Your bedroom had a perfect view.Â
He looked back down at you, his lips slightly swollen from all the kissing. âDo you--still wanna--watch?â He asked between breaths.Â
A wave of confidence rushed over you, and you shook your head. With a shaky breath, you lifted one of your legs, hooking it around his lower back to pull him close to you. âYeonjunâŚIâm ready for you.âÂ
The room glowed red. âAre you--Are you sure?â He whispered, furrowing his brows as he examined your face.Â
Before now, youâd never really felt the desire to be with someone intimately like that. Nobody had ever made your heart race the way he did, and if you were going to give a piece of yourself away to anyone, you wanted it to be him. The first boy you had ever really, truly loved. In an attempt to show him just how serious you were, you reached down, grabbing the edge of your shirt and slowly pulling it up over your head so you were left only with your bra.Â
His eyes widened, then he leaned down to kiss you again. Now, his kisses were getting rougher, more aggressive, like you had woken something up inside of him. His hand roamed down to the side of your thigh, as his lips moved to attach themselves to your neck. âI need you to tell me. Tell me youâre sure about this.â He mumbled against your skin in between kisses.
You grabbed a hold of the sides of his face, pulling him away and forcing him to look at you. You pressed one more kiss against his lips, then said the magic words.Â
âIâve never been more sure about anything.âÂ

YOU HAD NEVER BEEN A BIG FAN OF AUGUST. It was the last month of summer, and usually the month that school started back up again. It was like the Sunday of the year--sure, it was still a part of your break, but it was also when the dread of returning to stupid school set in. You didnât like it when you were a kid, and you didnât like it now.Â
Well, before this year you didnât like it. Now, you were starting to like it. And thatâs because you and Yeonjun officially became a couple on the first day of August. You had probably spent way too much time with him in the last week, but you didnât care. You were in the honeymoon phase, where you just wanted to be beside him constantly.Â
Your days were spent wandering around town, whether it be eating lunch together at different restaurants, or going for walks along the beach, and splashing each other with the ocean water as you swam. And your nights were spent twisted in bedsheets, and filled with pillow talk that stretched into the early hours of the mornings.Â
Itâs safe to say you were absolutely head over heels for Choi Yeonjun. If he was a bright, blazing flame, then you were like a moth, unable to put up a fight as you found yourself drawn to him.Â
The problem with the honeymoon phase, though, is that it will always come to an end.Â
On Saturday, you were rudely awakened by the sun rising and flooding Yeonjunâs room with light. You groaned, trying to roll away from the light, but his arm was wrapped firmly around your waist, and there was no chance you were going anywhere.Â
âYeonjun?â You called out weakly, and draped one of your arms over your eyes in an attempt to block out the light.Â
He hummed against your neck.Â
âJun, wake up. I need to close the curtain.â You whined, trying to shake yourself out of his grip.Â
âNo⌠Stay here.â He grumbled, and buried his face deeper into your neck. You giggled softly, but were still annoyed nonetheless.
âCome on, itâs hurting my eyes.âÂ
âIâll fix it.â He lazily reached down to grab the edge of your waist, then pulled you to help turn you to face him.Â
Finally, you were able to hide against his bare chest from the sunlight. âOkay, this is lots better.â You mumbled, and scooted closer so you could get nestled against him. It wasnât the most comfortable position in the world, but it definitely beat having the sun in your eyes.Â
âLetâs just sleep forever.â Yeonjun muttered groggily against your hair, tightening his grip on your waist to pull you closer to him. Honestly, it wasnât sounding like the worst idea in the world. You would be perfectly content spending the rest of the day hiding in his room, especially since youâd have to deal with the dirty looks of his friends as you tried to sneak out.Â
You could slowly feel yourself drifting back off into sleep when the door to the room flung open. Yeonjun was quick to sit up and see who it was, while you werenât so quick to react. You were starting to grow angry from all the things preventing you from going back to sleep.Â
âUm, Yeonjun⌠You need to get her out of here.â You could hear Beomgyu saying, which piqued your interest. You sat up, holding the comforter close to your chest to cover yourself.Â
âExcuse me?â You asked, narrowing your eyes at his long haired friend.Â
Beomgyu looked⌠Scared, as his eyes darted between you and Yeonjun.Â
âWhat? What do you mean?â Yeonjun was rubbing his eyes to try and wake himself up.Â
âItâsâŚâ Beomgyuâs voice trailed off, glancing over at you again, like he was too afraid to say the answer in front of you. âKarina.âÂ
You felt Yeonjun tense up next to you. If he wasnât awake before, he definitely was now, as he stared at Beomgyu with eyes as wide as saucers. He seemed to understand what his friend was talking about the second the name left his lips, but you were still completely in the dark about what was going on. And you hated being the only one left out of the loop. Which is why you asked the question, even though you should have known better.Â
âWhoâs Karina?âÂ
Stupid. Stupid, you were so stupid! Immediately after you asked it, you figured out the answer to your own question. And the looks on both Beomgyu and Yeonjunâs faces as they looked over at you--the looks of pity and guilt--confirmed it for you.Â
Be careful around him, Y/N.Â
âOh.âÂ
You felt frozen in place as they just stared at you, like they were waiting for some kind of reaction. But, you were in so much shock, with so many different thoughts going a million miles a minute, you didnât know how to react. Did you scream? Did you cry? Did you slap him? You didnât know what you were supposed to do.Â
The only thing you knew of for sure was you needed to get out of there. If you spent another second in that room--in his bed--you were going to lose your mind.Â
âBeomgyu⌠Can you get out? I need to get dressed.â You said slowly, your voice starting to waver.Â
He nodded wordlessly, then stepped out of the room and closed the door behind you. All it had taken was a matter of seconds for the place you didnât want to leave to become the last place on Earth you wanted to be.Â
âY/N, please.â Was all Yeonjun said as you stood up from the bed. His voice sounded far away.Â
You didnât respond as you slowly dressed yourself. Through the wall, you could hear voices talking in another room, one of which obviously belonging to a girl. There was no way you were going to be able to go out that way, which meant you were going to have to climb out the window. When you were a little girl, the idea of sneaking out of a boyâs room through the window sounded exciting and romantic. Now, it was a part of your worst nightmare.Â
Once you finally had your clothes on, you walked over to the window--the same, stupid window that had woken you up earlier in the morning. You hated that stupid window.Â
âY/N, I can explain everything, I swear I can--âÂ
âYou have a guest, it sounds like. Youâd better go say hi.â You said numbly as you opened up the window. You took note of how, like your window in your bedroom, there was no screen. Which reminded you of the night he had hit you in the face with a pebble.Â
You should have never gone out to talk to him that night.Â
âPlease, baby, just--â You didnât give him a chance to finish. Without a look back at him, you slipped out of his window, and onto his rooftop. He didnât try to stop you.
Your entire walk home, you felt numb all over. You werenât sure how to process what had just happened. All you could do was keep replaying the way Yeonjun had looked at you. The pathetic, guilty look on his face, and his sad eyes as he gazed at you. Even worse, the pity on Beomgyuâs features. Like you were some puppy that had just gotten kicked to the curb. Â
At home, your mom was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a coffee and reading the book youâd brought along on the trip. With everything that had been happening as of late, you hadnât really had much time to read, so she had decided to pick it up.Â
You were hoping to just avoid any conversation and go up to your room, but of course, you never got the things you hoped for. Your mom heard you open the door, and put the book down to look at you.Â
âY/N? Are you alright?â She asked, and you werenât sure how she was able to tell something was wrong, but it must have been a motherâs instinct, or something like that.Â
You could just lie, and tell her you were fine, but you knew she wouldnât believe that. Your bottom lip trembled, and you shook your head. âNo.â Was all you could manage to get out before you burst into an explosion of sobs. Lucky for you, your mother was quick, and rushed to your side before you could collapse onto the floor.Â
âOh, honey, what happened?â She gently caressed your hair, trying her hardest to console you. But, youâd never broken down like this in front of her before, so you werenât surprised when she didnât fully know how to help you.Â
Since you had asked that question, and gotten those looks in response, you had been trying to avoid directly confronting what had happened. You just knew something was bad, and that he had been lying to you about it. But, now, you were forced to finally say the words that had been lingering in the back, waiting to be acknowledged, that youâd been too afraid of.Â
âI think--I think heâs been cheating on me.â You cried out in between sobs, your body trembling in her arms. You could hardly breathe from how hard you were crying, could barely see through the tears nonstop flooding your eyes. âGod, Iâm such--Iâm such an idiot! I should have known, I should have fucking known!âÂ
âHey, no. Youâre not an idiot.â Your mom said firmly, gently forcing you to look at her. âYouâre not an idiot. If he really is cheating on you, then heâs the idiot.âÂ
You shook your head, rapidly blinking away your tears in an attempt to be able to look at her. More than anyone in the world, you knew she would be able to understand what had happened to you. How it had taken seconds for your world to be shattered.Â
In your time dating Yeonjun, you hadnât even told your mom about him. She was recovering from her divorce, you thought that telling her all about how you were falling for someone would be insensitive, or something, so you chose not to tell her about it. Even still, she wasnât asking you questions, like who was cheating on you, or anything like that. Instead, she was just doing her best to comfort you, and be there for you.Â
âIâm an idiot because⌠Because I think I still love him.â You whimpered.Â
âI know you do.â She whispered, and pulled you into a hug as you sobbed into her shoulder.Â
âI know you do.â

âHER NAME IS KARINA.âÂ
You hadnât left your room in days. You spent most of your time either crying, sleeping or eating. There was this heavy feeling in your chest, like your heart was physically aching, which was making it hard to motivate yourself to do anything. The fear of running into Yeonjun or any of his friends was also keeping you from leaving.Â
The worst part of it all, though, was he hadnât tried to reach out once. You had expected a bunch of phone calls, and to be bombarded with text messages, hell maybe he would show up on your doorstep and ask your mom to talk to you. But, all you got from him was radio silence. You supposed he was too busy with Karina.Â
You did get lots of texts from Chaeryeong, Jisu, and even Keena wondering where you had been. When you didnât respond, they took it upon themselves to show up at your house, asking your mom if you had died.Â
They found you curled up on your bed, watching Twenty-Five Twenty-Oneâaka the perfect drama to cry toâon your laptop. If even Yijin and Heedo hadnât been able to make it, what in the world made you think that you and Yeonjun stood a chance? At least Yijin hadnât cheated on Heedo, though.Â
After lots and lots of pressuring, you finally cracked and told them what happened. About how Beomgyu had burst into the room, and about how Yeonjun didnât chase after you when you escaped out the window.Â
âOkay, but you donât know who she is, right? How do you know he was cheating?â Chaeryeong had asked you, while Jisu seethed in the corner.Â
âIt was written all over his face. I just knew.â
After that, Jisu told you she was going to go undercover and gather information for you. You told her she really didnât need to do that, you werenât sure you even wanted to know any information, but she insisted. Because even if you didnât want to hear it then, you might want to hear it later.Â
Which led to now, where the three of you were gathered on your porch, going over the information. You had basically been forced to go outside, because according to Chaeryeong, you were in desperate need of some Vitamin D⌠The sunlight kind.Â
âYeah, I already gathered that much.â You responded, pulling your knees up to your chest.Â
Jisu nodded. âRight. Okay. According to Beomgyu, theyâd been going out for almost a year, but started fighting pretty bad this spring.âÂ
âA yearâŚâ You swallowed hard, the familiar feeling of tears prickling the corners of your eyes starting to arise.Â
âYeah⌠They decided to take a break this summer. So, technically, theyâre not together right now.âÂ
Chaeryeong gasped. âWait! This is just like that episode of Friends! I think, I dunno, I never watched that show.âÂ
Jisu glared at her. âSure. Like Friends. Anyway, Wooyoung said she just showed up that morning, looking for Yeonjun. Apparently, she missed him, and decided to come surprise him, and end their break early, or whatever.âÂ
You stared aimlessly out at the street, holding yourself back from blinking, so the tears wouldnât spill out of your eyes. âSo, this whole time⌠From the first bonfire we talked at⌠Heâs had someone else on his mind.â You croaked out.Â
Chaeryeong sat next to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. âIâm so sorry, Y/N. I really believed him, too.â
âHeâs a fucking asshole. Iâm gonna go kill him.â Jisu muttered as she paced back and forth across the porch.
âDonât do that.â You shook your head, wiping the stray tears that spilled from your eyes off of your cheeks. âI donâtâI donât want him to know how badly he hurt me. I donât want to give him the satisfaction.â
Jisu exchanged a look with Chaeryeong, then her muscles relaxed. âOkay. Youâre right.â She said with a sigh.Â
Suddenly, Chaeryeongâs eyes lit up. âOh, you know the perfect way to do that?â She asked excitedly, sitting forward in her seat.Â
You shook your head.Â
âSo, Seungmin is throwing a huge bonfire party down at the beach with his friends, maybe we could find you a guy to flirt with, take your mind off of Yeonjun!âÂ
You absolutely hated how badly your time with Yeonjun affected you. Because now, the thought of flirting with anyone who wasnât him made your stomach churn. âOh. Yeah, um, I donât knowâŚâ
âWe know youâre probably afraid of running into him.â Jisu jumped in. You wondered if theyâd been planning this. âBut, what if we can promise you he wonât be there?âÂ
You must have been visibly grimacing at the thought, as Chaeryeong was quick to start trying to change your mind. âPlease, Y/N! We miss going out with you so much! Just come and try to let yourself have fun, and if youâre still not feeling it, weâll take you home!â She was practically begging, and Jisu was nodding fervently in agreement.Â
They were probably right. A night out would be good for you, and help take your mind off of everything. There was just a part of you that didnât want to take your mind off of it. Some sick part of you enjoyed the painânot because you were a masochist or anything, but because the pain meant it wasnât completely over yet.Â
Maybe it was time for it to be over, though.Â
ââŚYou can absolutely guarantee he wonât be there?â You looked between the two of them.Â
Chaeryeong nodded. âMhm! We will tell Wooyoung and Beomgyu to keep him far away from that beach!â She told you enthusiastically.Â
With both of their eyes trained on you intensely, you realized you didnât really have a choice in the matter. You let out a sigh. âOkay, fine. Iâll go.â

GOING TO A BONFIRE FOR YOUR FIRST NIGHT OUT SINCE finding out your boyfriend had been lying to you for months was not the best idea. After all, it has been at a bonfire party earlier in the summer where you had reconnected with him. Now, at the party where you were supposed to be thinking about anything but him, he was all you could think about.Â
Even when you were talking to a perfectly attractive guy, who was very obviously into you, all you could think about was him. Some guyâTaehyun, you think his name was?âvisiting for the summer that was randomly invited by Seungmin had taken interest in you the second you and your friends arrived, and they insisted you go talk to him.Â
âYeah, I spend a lot of time at the gym. Iâm hoping to start boxing soon.â He was explaining to you as you were both walking along the beach. You nodded mindlessly, swirling around the beer in your plastic cup. âWhat about you? You in school, or anything?â
âOh, I study environmental science.â You answered, then took a long sip of your beer, reveling in the way it burned your throat as it went down. Of course, because you couldnât think of anything else, you couldnât stop yourself from being reminded of your first date with him.Â
Taehyunâs eyes lit up. âOh wow, thatâs so cool! What kind of job are you hoping to get with that?â
You shrugged, and took another drink of your beer. Jisu and Chaeryeong were going to regret letting you go off on your own later. âYou know, Iâm not totally sure. Some kind of environmental scientist or something.âÂ
He laughed, although you werenât sure why, since it wasnât meant to be a joke or anything. âYouâre really funny, Y/N.â
âThanksâŚ?â You glanced over at him with furrowed eyebrows. âPeople call me a lot of things, but I donât think funny is a really common one.âÂ
âOh really? What do they call you?â He asked, clearly amused.Â
âYou know⌠Smart, nice, prettyâŚâ You flashed him a smile, unsure where this flirty side of you was coming from. It was probably a combination of the alcohol and your desperation to get Yeonjun off of your mind.Â
âAh, I can definitely see why they might call you those things.â He replied smoothly, and bumped his shoulder against your own. Instinctively, you glanced over your shoulder, searching for Jisu and Chaeryeong somewhere. Although, you wished you hadnât.Â
âWhat? Whatâs wrong?â Taehyun asked when you stopped dead in your tracks.Â
You dropped your cup into the sand.Â
You couldnât believe the fucking audacity. There he was, with the most drop dead gorgeous girl you had seen in your entire life. You could barely see his face due to how far away he was, and the darkness blanketing the beach, but you could tell he was looking for someoneâlooking for you.Â
To say you were panicked was an understatement. The second you saw his face, you were whipping around to face Taehyun. You could feel your breaths start to quicken, and your hand darted up to press against your chest. Hadnât Jisu and Chaeryeong promised you that he wouldnât be there? You were barely prepared for a night out without him, much less a night out with him.Â
âWoah, are you alright?â Taehyun asked, gently taking hold of your arms like you might topple overâwhich, you probably might.Â
âIâum, I need to get out of here.â You answered, the all too familiar feeling of tears forming in the corners of your eyes making an appearance. âCan you help me find my friends?âÂ
Taehyun nodded, starting to lead you in the direction of the fire without a question. You raised one of your hands in an attempt to block your face from view. He really was a sweet guy. It was too bad you were still very hooked on someone else.Â
He slid an arm around your shoulderâlikely in an attempt to comfort you rather than to try and flirt with you. At least you hoped thatâs what it was. Your eyes landed on Chaeryeong, who was swaying in front of the bonfire with Seungminâs arms around her waist, and let out a sigh of relief. You were almost there.Â
Any efforts you made to hide your face from view proved to be futile, though. You discovered this when Taehyun suddenly let go of you, then you heard his body hit the sand. There was a collection of gasps, and you turned to see Yeonjun standing there, flexing his fingers.Â
He punched him! He fucking punched him!
âWhat the fuck is your problem?!â You demanded, shoving his chest with as much force as you could muster so he stumbled backwards.Â
âHey, donât touch him!â A feminine voice spoke up behind him, and you could physically feel your face pale. Karina.Â
âStop, itâs fine.â Yeonjun reassured her, then turned to look at you with narrowed eyes. âHe was fucking all over you, Y/N.âÂ
âNo he wasnât!â You spat back at him as you helped Taehyun to his feet. âBesides, even if he was, you donât get to fucking care. Not anymore.âÂ
Karina was visibly confused, but you didnât really care right now. You were too busy focusing on not crying, and instead appearing as intimidating as possible.Â
âY/N, letâs just go talk for a minute, please let me explainââÂ
âNo! I donât need you to explain, Yeonjun, I understand perfectly fucking well. You were fighting with your girlfriend, you were on a break, and in a desperate attempt to get some action this summer, you lied to me and told me you loved me.â
Okay, now you were definitely crying.Â
âJun? What is she talking about?â Karina asked slowly, looking over at her boyfriend with wide eyes.Â
He didnât look at her, though. Instead, he had his eyes trained on you, lips pressed tightly together.Â
âSee? You canât even try to tell me itâs not true. Just stay away from me, Yeonjun.â You snapped, and turned away from him before he could see you cry any more.Â
As you stormed away from the bonfireâheading god knows whereâyou couldnât hold back your tears anymore. You were drunk, and sobbing, and overall in the worst emotional distress you never imagined could be possible. Your head was spinning as you stomped away, barely able to keep yourself standing from the way your ankles kept twisting in the sand.Â
Miserable didnât even begin to describe how you were feeling. You still werenât sure where in the world you were going, but all you knew was you needed to get far, far away from that place. Far away from your friends who had pressured you into coming out tonight; far from Taehyun, who was too kind to you for you to be able to handle. And most of all, you needed to be far away from Choi Yeonjun.Â
Just a week earlier, you couldnât imagine being apart from him for more than a few minutes. Now, though, you couldnât imagine being around him for more than a second. All it took was one look at him for you to be overwhelmed with heartache.Â
âY/N!âÂ
Of course.Â
You didnât have to look back to know who was jogging up behind you. âI told you to stay away from me!â Your voice cracked as you shouted back at him.Â
âY/N, youâre stumbling all over the place, let me help you before you fall!â You felt his hands grab ahold of your arms in an attempt to steady you, and for a secondâjust for a secondâyou could feel yourself melt into the familiar touch. But, it only lasted a second.Â
âDonât touch me!â You screamed, and finally turned around to face him. His expression was wracked with guilt, and you almost felt bad. Almost. âYou promised me, Yeonjun! You fucking promised me!â You jabbed a finger into his chest as the words tumbled out of your mouth.Â
âI know, I know, and Iâm so sorry Y/N, Iâm so fucking sorry.â He ran a hand through his dark hair, and you could see the tears slipping onto his cheeks catch the moonlight. âI was going to tell you everything, I wasââ
âDid I mean anything to you, Yeonjun? Or was I just another conquest to keep your summer interesting?âÂ
His eyes widened. âDid you mean anythingâof course you did, Y/NâI mean, you do.â He told you, and his hand cupped your cheek. You didnât fight his touch, this time. âI wasnât lying when I told you I love you. I do, Y/N, I love you.âÂ
You couldnât look him in the eyes. âIf you really love me, why did you let me fall in love with you, knowing that you were never going to be mine?âÂ
âI am yours, Y/N! Iâve been yours since the first night I showed up outside your house. I knew that night that I was done with Karina, I just want you.â He was pleading with you, his thumb stroking your cheek as he tried to get you to look at him.Â
âHowâhow am I supposed to trust you, Yeonjun? How do I know youâre not lying to me again?â
He shook his head, tucking his bottom lip between his teeth. âI-I donât know, Y/N. If you just give me one more chance, let me prove myself to youââÂ
You pulled his hand off your cheek. âNo, Yeonjun. I already gave you a chance. I told you about my dad, and how badly it fucked me up, just for you to turn me into the other woman.â
âYou are not the other woman, babe, youâre so much more than that.â His whole face was wet with tears, and you imagined yours looked the same. Glimmering under the moonlight, it might look beautiful if it wasnât for the context.Â
âIâm sorry, Yeonjun. I love you, I really do, but I canât. So please just let me go.âÂ
A small part of you wished he had fought for you. If he begged for you to forgive him just a little bit longer, you probably would have given in. You were so desperately in love with him, you probably would have taken him back and one day been able to put this entire thing behind you. When he gave you a defeated nod, though, you felt your heart sink.Â
âOkay. Okay. But, please, Y/N, just donât ever think I donât love you, or that everything I said to you was a lie. Because it wasnât. I love you.â
Every time he said those three words, it was like a knife to your heart. Every time, your whole summer together replayed in your head, from the moment you two talked at the bonfire, to the moment Beomgyu said Karinaâs name. How had it all fallen apart so easily? How could two people who loved each other so much end up like this?
You knew things were over between the two of you. As badly as it hurt, and as badly as you didnât want things to be done, you knew they were. So, you decided to do one last thing. You stepped towards him, and gently cradled his face in your hands.Â
âI know. I love you, too.â You whispered, then closed the distance between the two of you.Â
If ever in your life you could choose one moment to frame in your mind forever, it would be that kiss. Even though your lips were both wet with tears, and you were still a bit drunk, it was still the most romantic moment of your entire life. His arms snaked around your waist and pulled you close to him, like if he tried enough, he could melt your bodies into one, and youâd never have to leave him.Â
You knew, in that moment, you would never get over him. No matter how hard you tried, you would never be able to shake your connection to him. Even though he had put you through hell in the last week, he had also gifted you the best summer of your life. There would always be a part of you that loved him.Â
As much as you never wanted to let go of him, you knew you had to eventually. So, you reluctantly pulled away from the kiss, and pressed your forehead against his.Â
âGoodbye, Yeonjun.â This time, when you started to walk away, he didnât try to stop you.Â
That was the last time you saw Choi Yeonjun.Â

FOUR MONTHS LATERâŚ
YOU HADNâT MEANT TO KILL THE MOOD. Everyone had just finished their finals, which obviously meant it was time to go out and celebrate. Just like every other night throughout the semester, you hadnât really been in the mood to go out, but Haeun insisted you go out tonight.Â
âLook, I donât know what in the hell happened to you this summer, but itâs been months! Itâs time to get over it!â She had told you. âPlease come do something fun with us! Just for tonight!âÂ
Haeun wasnât exactly the kind of girl to take no for an answer. Even though you would much rather curl up on your bed and watch a drama on your laptop like you did the majority of your nights since you arrived on campus, you knew deep down you didnât really have a choice.Â
Which was how you ended up in some bar on the edge of campus. Haeun and her friends were going off about some girl they all seemed to hate, but you werenât really paying much attention. You were a bit too preoccupied playing this little game with yourself where you drank as much as you could before anyone noticed and stopped you.Â
âDid you see her newest Instagram post? Sheâs so lame.â Haeunâs friend, Choonhee leaned over to show Nari, who started laughing loudly. You had never really liked Haeunâs friends. They were too mean for your tastes.Â
âY/N~!â Haeun sang to you, leaning in close so only you would be able to hear her. âThat guy over there has been checking you out all night.âÂ
You rolled your eyes, but followed her gaze anyway. Sure enough, there was a guy on the other end of the club, eyes trained on you as he took a sip of his drink. Immediately, you started shaking your head, and Haeun frowned.Â
âWhy notttt, Y/N? Heâs cute, and youâre single, just go talk to him!â She whined at you.Â
âIâm not interested, Haeun.â You took a drink of the cocktail youâd been working on.Â
She groaned. âWhy?! I know youâre shy, or whatever, but youâre about to graduate soon! And you canât graduate as a virgin!âÂ
You choked on your drink, and she raised an eyebrow at you. âUnless⌠Youâre not a virgin anymoreâŚ? Is that why youâve been acting weird since this summer?âÂ
âI donât want to talk about it.â You sighed. Great, now you were thinking about him again. And you did not want to be thinking about him again. âIâm gonna go get a shot. You want anything?âÂ
âNo. And you donât need another shot. Do you think I didnât notice you downing drinks all night?âÂ
Choonhee and Nari started to quiet down, taking interest in your conversation with Haeun.Â
âIâm fine, Haeun. I can handle my liquor.â You waved a hand at her as you started to stand up. Your skirt got caught on your chair, though, causing you to nearly fall down. You heard Chanhee and Nari start to giggle, and shot the two of them dirty looks.Â
Haeun looked at you warily, then slowly stood as well. âUm, I actually forgot but Y/N has work tomorrow. So I think Iâm gonna take her home.âÂ
Choonhee rolled her eyes. âPlease. Weâre trying to celebrate, we really donât need her ruining the mood.â She said it in a hushed voice, like you might not be able to hear her. But, of course you did.Â
You heard everything that people said about you. During your last week of the summer, before coming home, you heard Jisu and Chaeryeong whispering about you. Poor Y/N. When you were road tripping back home with your mom, and you were supposed to be asleep, you heard your mother talking about you. Poor Y/N. When you were supposed to meet Haeun for lunch, you heard her talking to Choonhee and Nari. She used to be so much more fun.Â
You heard everything.Â
Haeun led you out of the bar, before you got the urge to fight someone. Now that you were outside, with the cool air on your face, you realized just how much you had drunk. Your head was spinning, and you werenât sure you were entirely conscious. It felt like your mind was on a completely different plane from your body. Still, though, as drunk as you were, you still couldnât get him out of your mind.
As Haeun started to order an Uber, you couldnât think of anything else better to do than to pull out your phone. Maybe you would text Chaeryeong and Jisu to tell them you missed them, or text your mom really quickly. But you werenât able to do any of that. The lone notification staring up at you prevented any of that from happening.
Just your fucking luck.Â
yeonjun
hey
You absolutely couldnât believe it. That was all you got? A fucking hey?! After all that shit, he texted you hey? You had half a nerve to smash your phone onto the concrete.Â
But, before you got the chance, the Uber that Haeun ordered rolled up against the sidewalk. You stumbled into the backseat next to Haeun, who you could tell was a little bothered by your behavior. You really hadnât meant to ruin her night. Even though she was the one who had insisted you go out with them that night, she still didnât deserve to deal with you when you were acting like this.Â
You turned on your phone again to stare at the message.Â
hey
You hated him. You hated him for waiting until now to text youâyou hated him for texting you at all! He should have just left you alone. He single-handedly ruined your night, and probably your whole week with that text message. Most of all, you hated him because you missed him. So bad.Â
You didnât remember when you started crying. But you did. One minute you were fine, blinking at your screen blankly. And suddenly your cheeks were wet, and tears had dropped down onto your phone. Your vision was becoming foggy, but you were still able to make out the contents of the notification.Â
âWoah, are you okay?â Haeun asked, leaning forward to get a better look at you.Â
âFine!â You huffed, and wiped at your eyes. Your fingers moved faster than your brain did, and before you got the chance to consider if it was a good idea, you were dialing a number.Â
One ringâŚ
Two ringsâŚ
Three ringsâŚ
For eight rings, you sat there waiting for him to pick up. And he never did. Instead, you were sent to his voicemail.Â
âHey, this is Yeonjun. Sorry I missed you. Leave your name and number and Iâll give you a call back. Bye!âÂ
Just the pre recorded sound of his voice over your phone speaker made your chest tighten. The phone beeped, giving you the cue to start talking. You could feel Haeunâs stare burning holes into your head, like she was trying to figure out who in the world you were calling.Â
âReally, Yeonjun? You text me, and canât even answer the phone? You text me hey, and canât pick up the phone? Whatâs your problem? By the way, what does that even mean?! Hey?! Thatâs all you have to say to me, after everything you did?âÂ
You could feel your voice cracking as you shouted into the phone. Haeun was visibly intrigued by your voicemail, leaning in closer to hear you better--as if your loud shouts werenât occupying the entire vehicle.
âWhatever⌠Hey. I guess I just wanted to tell you that I⌠I hate you. I hate you Yeonjun, so fucking bad! When my dad cheated on my mom, and destroyed our family, I never thought that I could hate someone more than I hated him. But guess what, Yeonjun? You proved me wrong! So congratulations!âÂ
Your head was starting to pound--badly--so you leaned over to rest your head against the window. The few stray tears from before had developed into a full on rainstorm, coating your cheeks in salty wetness and worsening your headache. For a minute, you just sat there in silence, trying your best to keep your breathing steady. It wasnât working.Â
After your long silence, you finally sucked in a long, shaky breath, then spoke again. âI hate you because I gave you all of me. All of me. And you--you just threw it all away! Like it was just nothing to you!â By that point, you had forgotten all about the other people in the car with you. Now, it was just you, and Yeonjun. You didnât care about Haeun sitting next to you, or the Uber driver listening in on the conversation. All you cared about was getting the words that had been weighing heavy against your chest for the last four months off of you.Â
âYou know what I hate most though, Yeonjun?â You asked, your trembling voice barely above a whisper. âI hate that even though you broke my promise, even though you were never truly mine⌠Even though I should hate you⌠I canât. No matter how hard I try, I canât bring myself to hate you. I think about you, all of the time. Even when Jeong Jaehyun, the hottest guy in our whole program asked me out on a date, I had to say no. Because I knew that he would never be you.â
A breathy laugh fights itself out of your lips. âI sound so fucking pathetic. And itâs because I am! I am fucking pathetic! But itâs all your fault! Because for whatever reason that I still canât figure out, I love you. I still love you, so much, Yeonjun. Isnât that just the worst thing youâve ever heard?âÂ
Thereâs a tap on your shoulder, and when you glanced over at Haeun, you realized the car stopped. You looked out the window again to see you had already made it to your apartment complex. Jeez, how long had you been talking on the phone for?
âShit. Iâve gotta go. Um, if youâre going to text me again, do more than just hit me with a hey. Or, I donât know, call me. You know weâre way past sending each other heys.âÂ
You opened up the car door, mouthing a small âsorryâ to Haeun. âWe are so talking later!â She whisper-shouted back to you. You rolled your eyes as you stepped out of the car. Youâd have to make sure Haeun gave that driver a nice tip later.Â
âOkay. Goodbye, Yeonjun.â You said with a sigh, standing still on the pavement leading to your apartment as the car started to drive away. âI miss you.â You whispered, and finally ended the call.Â
Luckily, your angry ranting over the phone had helped you to sober up enough that you made it into your apartment no problem. Your head was still spinning, though, and you practically fell onto your bed as you climbed into it. You were still drenched in makeup, and wearing the clubbing outfit Haeun had helped you pick out, but you were too tired to worry about all of that. You were ready to just pass out right then and there.Â
Sprawled out across your mess of blankets, you could feel yourself drifting off to sleep. You knew you had messed up with that stupid voicemail, but you werenât going to worry about it now. That was Sober Y/Nâs problem to deal with.Â
There was a familiar buzzing, though, and you were slowly pulled back into consciousness. Your hand grappled around your bed, trying to locate the source of the buzzing, then finally landed atop your phone. With a groggy groan, you rolled over onto your side, and held your phone in front of your face. Your eyes widened when you saw the caller ID.Â
Should you answer? Or should you leave it be? You knew if you answered it, you were opening up a whole new door you werenât sure you were ready for. Answering it was dangerous. If you ignored the call, you might finally be able to start your journey of moving on forever. You might finally have the chance of leaving him behind. Either way, this phone call was a very decisive moment for you. Whatever you decided to choose, you knew it was going to change your relationship with him forever.Â
So, what would it be? Would you open that door, or leave it shut forever? Deep down, before you even made your decision, you knew what you were going to do.Â
Your phone stopped buzzing.Â
It was quiet.Â
And thenâŚÂ
âHey, Y/N.âÂ
You smiled.Â
âHey, Yeonjun.âÂ

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Watched it twice so far, spoilers below cut:
- totally solid ending to the show, made me so insane I had to watch it twice in 1 day!! Only real complaint is the lack of Brock, but they were trying to fit a Lot of characters into that movie (and Brock's been out of focus since s5 lets be real)
- invisible yuri!!đđđ seriously though Debbie was such a great character and she fit right into the story, kind of like Red Death in how she was introduced late and post-compound but really left a great impression.
- I never expected the follow that bikini concept to be more than a throwaway reference, let alone major plot fuel (and it works??? How did they make that work). Bobbi's whole backstory was so cool and intriguing, I swear all the vbros backstory could be its own show.
- some delicious fucking reveals- rusty choosing and wanting to have kids is just...idk it gives me a lot of feelings. He's horrible to them, but he Wanted them, and he wanted Both of them (they're fraternal twins: he chose to have two boys rather than ending up with two by chance, which kind of means a lot considering how hank was treated like the lesser brother- he still wanted dean AND hank), and he was raised the exact same way...auaua7a
- speaking of reveals, I'd seen the "the monarch is a clone of rusty" theory and I never thought much about it, just kinda assumed it wasn't true. Holy fuck
- that fucking. Gravity field sequence. Scariest shit vbros has ever done. Legit creepy. Fully thought Hatred was gonna die for a second.
- Hank...baby boy my love. He's so Hank. I don't know how else to put it. I love Hank.
- Oddly happy about the Dermott inclusion. He was never my favorite, but he's Hank's true friend and he did what a good friend would. He's such a product of the core of the show if that makes sense? He's Hank's connection to the compound/that part of the show (pre-NY and the brothers truly growing out of their bubble), but also to the world outside of the compound. Idk I don't think much about Dermott but he's really important to Hank's character and to the show.
-So glad they brought Ben back. He's such an underused character for how much knowledge and mystery he has surrounding major plot elements that never get fully explained. I mean I guess that's why they barely used him.
- Order of the triad brilliant as always, I'm so happy they had plot relevance again (lack of Al, but still). The big fight scene was so neat, and I guess it was the only real fight scene in the movie? Unless I'm blanking, there are other intense or action-packed scenes but no real fights. It's a very vbros move to put the only true fight scene in the finale smack in the middle for no real reason.
- "tube of lube in an orgy of evidence" Brock was literally insane for this one
- that scene though. I just liked that scene.
- Great end for the Monarch and Dr. Mrs. whole conflict. I'm glad we got Dr. Mrs. standing up for her choices, especially since it wasn't just in the context of how it affected the Monarch or her relationship to the Monarch. Everything she did she did because she wanted to, even when it was hard or a mistake. And the Monarch is screwed over by it, but that's not Dr. Mrs. fault, he's part of the Guild so the same shit would be happening. Them having a sweet little heart to heart at the end and Dr. Mrs. being his partner in crime for a (very silly little) arch is a nice way to end things.
- The animation varied so much scene to scene, like some scenes looked almost s3 quality while others were gorgeous. Kinda par the course for vbros tho
- Dean <3 my beloved baby boy dean. I don't know what to say about him, he was great, his desperation was great, yknow
- Sad that Hunter never got to retransition (lot of people have said this) but I kinda get it since the full finale takes place like 3-4 days after s7
- For the amount of characters packed into that movie, there were a couple missing. Only character I'm kinda sad wasn't in it was Molotov. Idk where she would've fit, I'm just surprised they never did anything after establishing that she was working for the OSI. Ik they hated writing her though so I guess that makes sense.
- the creators mentioned in an interview that they had to cut a Sirena scene, and they wished they could've kept it because they didn't want people to hate Sirena. I'm fully with them on this, Sirena screwed up, but she's young and fucking up is just part of being young. I'm a Sirena stan idk
- Orpheus in the Zardoz outfit đ Hank's a funny little dude for that
- Movies that make me more afraid of smart speakers than I already was
- 100/10
Oh my god oh my god I'm. Going to watch it again. This is about the vbros movie.
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