#jaehyunfluffblurb

[juhakx]

Sweet and Sour- Hyunjae

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1.7k

Being neighbors with the star of your local high school jock was never fun, per say, considering it mostly consisted of small smiles and head nods but you didn’t know much about him other than the fact that you guys both loved playing with legos when you were seven. 

However, just as people say it does, growing up made the two of you drift apart. It all started in middle school when Hyunjae joined the basketball team and you joined, well, nothing. There wasn’t something you were particularly good at, not in the way Hyunjae was at nearly every sport he ever attempted. 

Then, came high school and most recently, the rumors surrounding his reputation. More than anything, you guys were in two completely different social circles, and that’s just how it was meant to be.

Well, until today.

“Fuck you, Kevin,” You shout, shoving him aggressively to the side. 

Kevin throws his head back, laughing, “I didn’t know someone could suck so bad at Uno until I met you. Why would you reverse it knowing I only had one card left, after I just played a reverse?”

“I didn’t know you had a reverse! Who keeps a reverse as their last two cards,” You pout, throwing your cards down to cross your arms over your chest. 

Kevin begins to mindlessly shuffle, knowing there were only two minutes left of your last period of the day which did not give the two of you enough time for another round that you would undoubtedly lose. 

“I’m still coming over to study after school, right?” Kevin asks, thumbing through the cards. As if it was a consequence to his question, the bell rings signifying the end of the school day. 

You begin to pack your things which were mostly ready and you couldn’t help but be grateful that your last period was statistics, the biggest blow-off class you could’ve taken. “I think we’re the only weebs who would study for AP biology on a Friday night,” You scoff. 

“Yet somehow I know that we’ll study for thirty minutes before we give up, order take-out, and end up watching My Hero Academia until it’s too late for me to go back to my house.”

Your lips purse in response, knowing Kevin was right. Though you pretended like there was something more entertaining out there for you to do on a Friday night, nothing sounded more right than spending it with your best friend.

You and Kevin exit the school, making your way to your house. It was only a seven minute walk from the school, thus why study sessions and hang outs were frequently at your house. That and your mom was a doctor who often worked night shifts that started before you got home and after you and Kevin fell asleep. 

When you near your house, you reach into your pocket attempting to find the key before you hear a familiar voice. 

“Lemonade! Fresh lemonade!” 

You don’t believe it at first and although you had to squint to make out what was happening, Kevin quickly affirms what seemed to be in front of your eyes.

“Is Hyunjae selling lemonade? Also who’s that little girl next to him? I thought he didn’t have younger siblings?” Kevin turns to face you but you just shrug, not understanding the situation either. 

Everyone knew the basketball players usually scheduled early release, allowing them to leave school early so they had time to do homework before basketball games or- not- in most of their cases, however, you didn’t expect Hyunjae to be with an unknown little girl selling lemonade. 

“Let’s go buy some!” Kevin exclaims, grabbing onto your wrist and dragging you to arrive at the lemonade stand faster. 

You immediately begin to panic, this being the first real interaction you had with Hyunjae since you were a child. “Can’t, I’m allergic,” You quickly say, pulling back so your shoes scraped against the concrete. 

“No you’re not, you love lemonade! Now, grow some balls because I’m thirsty,” Kevin replies, standing behind the woman who was currently conversing with Hyunjae. 

“You know, you shouldn’t say grow some balls, what do balls do? Nothing. You should say grow a pussy, now those things can take a pounding,” You ramble on, your nerves speaking for you. Kevin simply brushes your comments off, however, knowing rambling was another habit you picked up whenever you got nervous. 

When the woman moves out of the way, Kevin immediately jumps into conversation with the little girl standing beside Hyunjae and you watch as the two interact. 

“Hyunjae oppa is helping me raise money to buy a dog! Right, oppa?” She turns to Hyunjae, pulling at his shirt so he would focus his attention on her. For the first time in years, you make eye contact with Hyunjae and even as the little girl tugs on his blue shirt, his gaze lingers on you until he’s quite literally torn away by the girl tugging harder. 

“Yah! Byeol, gentle!” He scolds, taking her hand in his and smoothing away the creases on his shirt with his other hand. 

“So the pretty little girl’s name is Byeol!” Kevin says, ignoring whatever was occurring and turning his attention back to the girl running the lemonade stand. 

‘If only Kevin wasn’t such a sucker for kids,’ You think. However, he was set on his future career since he was 12, a kindergarten teacher, meaning he was in love with practically every kid he came across. 

Byeol blushes in response, moving to hide herself behind Hyunjae. 

“I think she has a crush,” Hyunjae chuckles, patting her hair as she stands behind him in embarrassment. 

“Don’t tell him that! Boys are gross.” Byeol gags from behind Hyunjae and you can’t help but let out a laugh at the disgusted noises that she makes. 

“So she’s capable of more than just silence,” Hyunjae says, smiling at you. Having absolutely no control over your bodily functions, you begin to blush furiously at the mere attention of Hyunjae. 

Kevin seems to notice how uncomfortable you were, quickly changing the topic to understand just how Hyunjae was related to the lemonade stand. 

“Oh,” Hyunjae exclaims, beginning to answer Kevin’s question. Before he speaks, he moves Byeol next to him and covers her ears with his hands, making sure she couldn’t hear anything. “My mom knows her mom and she just volunteered me. I don’t mind though, Byeol is a sweetheart, isn’t that right Byeol?”

Hyunjae removes his hands from Byeol’s ears and ruffles her hair with his now free hands, causing Byeol to giggle. “You’re an angel, right?”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Kevin says, smiling. 

As Kevin and Hyunjae talk, speaking mainly of school, you take your time to take in Hyunjae. You hadn’t looked at him for more than a few seconds since he had entered high school, and it would be a lie to say he didn’t age like fine wine. 

He had broad shoulders, a gorgeous smile, and the nicest nose you had seen on any guy to date. He was currently sporting a light blue shirt with tan slacks, something you thought no one would be able to pull off but because it was Hyunjae, it looked good. On game days, the team always had to dress up, and you were never able to take in one of his dressed-up looks, at least not until today and you were definitely sure you were missing out. 

You hear footsteps coming from the sidewalk and you turn your head to the side, looking to see if someone else wanted lemonade, but it was just a lower classman who ignored the stand completely as he made his way to his house. 

“So, we have two flavors: sour and sweet. What are we feeling today?” Hyunjae asks, focusing back on the main reason the two of you were at the stand to begin with. 

Kevin hums as he ponders, gazing at the table. Along with lemonade, the table also had various candies for sale. 

“I think I’ll take one sweet lemonade because of the very sweet Byeol and one Skittles packet,” Kevin says, handing Hyunjae a dollar. You can clearly see Byeol’s cheeks redden as she pours Kevin a lemonade but neither of you say anything. 

“Wait, I just have a dollar,” Kevin pouts, turning to you. “Did you want something?”

You begin to decline until Hyunjae pulls his wallet out of his pocket and places a dollar in the jar. “One sweet and one sour please, Byeol.”

Hyunjae turns to you, a soft smile on his face. 

“Oh, you don’t have to-” You begin to resist, but Hyunjae quickly cuts you off. 

“Nonsense,” He shakes his head before taking the lemonade from Byeol’s hand and handing you one. “It’s only fifty cents.”

“Yeah, it’s really good too,” Kevin says, taking another sip out of his cup. 

Your hand lightly grazes his as he hands you the cup and you would be a fool to not notice the butterflies that erupted in your stomach at the contact. 

“Is this one sweet or sour?” You ask, curious as to which one Hyunjae assumed you would like. 

Hyunjae doesn’t respond and takes the other lemonade from Byeol before downing it. As soon as he sets the cup down, his nose scrunches up at the sharp taste that touches his taste buds. You quickly realize that the sweet lemonade remained in your hands. 

“Life’s been pretty sour without you, want to make it sweet?” Hyunjae says, laughing. He nods his head down to your cup and you can’t help but laugh as well, the cheesy dialogue not being something you expected from Hyunjae. 

“I think they like each other,” You hear Byeol loudly whisper to Kevin who was nowhere near close enough for her to whisper to. 

“I think so too,” Kevin replies.

The three of them watch as you make a decision on rekindling the friendship you once had with Hyunjae, realizing that maybe even after all these years, he was still the same Hyunjae who would intentionally step on a lego if you had stepped on one so you wouldn’t be alone. 

You tilt your head back and down the lemonade, the coolness of it refreshing you leaving you feeling almost brand new.