#maybe I’ll go to the coffee shop near campus after class tomorrow to trick myself into needing to focus on class and not bullshit.

[autopsytableromance]

Somebody please shoot me with a real gun if I don’t work on my damn speech tomorrow

[byungchaan]

friends to lovers!au subin

your literature professor had instructed the class to share your favorite poems with the student sitting next to you

“you can share the title, name of the poet, give a little summary, or if you can even recite a few lines that would be great!” the professor, who was a balding man in his early 50s with tiny circular reading glasses perched on top of his nose, exclaimed with much excitement, clapping his hands together

his enthusiasm seemed to make up for the lackluster atmosphere that was currently enveloping the classroom

idle chatter began to fill the room as students started their verbal assignment

the boy next to you finally shifted his gaze shyly onto his desk and in a small voice said, “i guess i’ll go first. i don’t remember the entire poem, just this one line.”

to your surprise he actually began to recite a poem in a small, calm voice: “just then, i am like newton’s apple. i rolled toward them without stopping until i fell on them with a thump, with a thump.”

you snickered as you realized what poem he was reciting

his semi-serious expression transformed into a small smile when he notices that you caught him. “i was binge-watching goblin last night and ‘physics of love’ by kim inyook has been stuck in my head,” he explains sheepishly, offering you a reason why he seemed to know the poem word-for-word

“don’t worry, it’s a good poem. and i’ve watched goblin quite a few times myself,” you replied with a goodnatured laugh, which made him feel slightly more at ease. “my heart keeps bouncing between the sky and the ground. it was my first love,” you finish the poem for him.

his smile widens into a grin. “you’re good. my name’s subin by the way!”

that was the start of your casual friendship

you and subin often worked together in class projects out of convenience because your desks were right next to each other

with these projects, the two of you grew closer at a fast pace

even outside of class, you and subin would hang out to go on coffee runs (during which he would only get a green tea latte), trips to the aquarium, or visits to eateries that just opened around campus

during exam season, there was one night where you were particularly exhausted and he showed up at your house when you were studying with some snacks and your favorite drink

“don’t overwork yourself okay?” he had told you with a smile, setting the items down on your desk

it was after this little act of care he showed you that you guys became INSEPARABLE

you promised to protect and cherish subin no matter what because... he really DID care so much about you, enough to remember what your favorite snacks were

maybe that little act of kindness tugged at something in your heart? but at the time you just thought, i am forever indebted to this guy, my BEST FRIEND SUBIN

anyway fast forward a year and the two of you are as close as ever

there’s this cute boy in one of your classes, and you find out his name is sejun and he’s a graduate student

of course subin is the first person you tell

“his name is lim sejun and i gotta say.............. HOTTIE ALERT”

“god can you close your mouth y/n you’re drooling a little bit”

he has to deal with your constant gushing about this sejun for weeks on end

“he dropped his pencil today and gUESS WHAT????”

subin is just absentmindedly on his phone, barely listening as he says, “you picked it up for him?”

“n-no......... i was too far away to pick it up for him so he picked it up himself but HE LOOKED SO GOOD DOING IT LIKE HOW???”

cue subin eyerolling so hard his eyes go back into his head

you find out sejun also works at this coffee shop near campus and you make note of what shifts he has so you can drop by and catch a glimpse of him

you drop by WITHOUT subin of course because you have a feeling subin would just ruin it for you by marching right up to sejun and being like “my friend thinks you’re cute so....... are you going to give them your number or what”

sejun is VERY popular it seems as whenever he’s around the coffee shop seems to be twice as crowded

but you don’t mind sitting at a table in the back and just catching glimpses of this god who has descended upon earth

subin is always a little annoyed whenever you bring up sejun and you attribute it to him being jealous of sejun’s popularity

“it’s okay subin, we can’t all be angels like sejun”

“..... i hate you”

you, texting subin as soon as the clock strikes three on thursday afternoons: i’m gonna go get coffee, do you want anything?

subin: yes, a green tea latte WITHOUT your sejun-induced drool in it pLEASE

you: shut up subin i’ll do what i want

one day, you’re walking through the halls after your class just ended when you feel a light hand on your shoulder

when you turn, you see a familiar face; you think his name is heo chan and he’s in one of your classes. he’s also one of subin’s friends

“hi, you’re y/n right? are you going to see subin anytime soon? sejun told me he left something important over at subin’s house but subin hasn’t been answering his texts,” chan explains to you, slightly out of breath

at first you’re like, “oh sure i’m on my way to see him right now! i think his phone is off because he has an exam---” and then you realize that chan had said SEJUN and SEJUN left something at SUBIN’S house and--- they KNOW each other??????

you tell chan that you’ll pass on the message to subin and chan thanks you before scurrying away

you’re not mad at subin but you’re just confused why he’s been pretending like he doesn’t know sejun this whole time??? when (it seems like) they’re friends????

you bump into subin right as he’s leaving his classroom and cut to the chase immediately: “chan told me to tell you that sejun left something important at your house?” you don’t miss the way subin’s face hardens immediately. “i didn’t know you and sejun were friends. why didn’t you tell me?”

subin runs a hand through his hair in exasperation and lets out a sigh. he answers your question with another question. “why, so you can ask me for his number?”

“no, but---it kind of feels like you were hiding this from me...?” you have no idea why everything is coming out as a question now but you were just honestly so confused

subin leads you to a quieter place where he can explain himself, under a big tree out on campus

“i didn’t tell you because i didn’t want to be replaced,” he admits at last, looking down at the ground. “i didn’t want you to forget about me if i introduced you and sejun because i KNOW how much you like sejun”

you breathe out a tiny sigh of relief because is THAT what this is all about? “subin, i would never do that to you. i just think sejun is attractive and that’s all. you mean a lot to me. a lot more than i can put into words.” and it suddenly hits you that subin means a lot more to you than you were admitting to yourself

subin rubs the back of his neck awkwardly at the depth of your words, looking anywhere but you, but he can feel your gaze still on him and it makes him turn red. “listen, i-i---” he starts, finally meeting your eyes, and he laughs a little at how awkward he’s being and everything’s so awkward AWKWARD AWKWARD “i might regret this later, but you really mean a lot to me too. m-more than just a friend. i like you, y/n”

you know he’s putting on a brave face but over the course of your friendship you know he’s more vulnerable than he lets on. and the fact that he stepped out of his comfort zone to confess to you really allows you to release your feelings that you had locked deep inside you for who knows how long. you reach for his hand, cheeks red

when you first start dating he’s a little awkward to start skinship....... even though you guys were friends before everything’s so DIFFERENT now like.... when his hand accidentally brushes against yours suddenly his heartrate is up like 200bpm?? which is unhealthy, he’s sure

whenever he tries to hold your hand you notice his hand trembling just the slightest bit even though he pretends like it isn’t--but the way you intertwine your fingers with his gives him reassurance, so he grips your hand tighter

the early stages of your relationship start out like this: he’s a bit cautious of doing something because what if you don’t like it??? but when you give him a positive reaction it gives him a more courage

he REALLY appreciates these silent acts of confirmation that you give him

at this time he’s shy about asking his friends for advice, even though at some point he starts wondering when would be a good time to kis--

“so, have you kissed them yet?” sejun texts him one day in their group chat with chan and some others

“no i’m waiting for the right time” he wants it to be PERFECT because that’s what you deserve...... 

but one day when the two of you are at the park, watching the sunset while eating snacks from the convenience store, he’s suddenly overwhelmed with so much feeling

maybe it’s the way you laughed at some lame joke he just told??? and even though it wasn’t THAT funny you laughed so genuinely and it made him feel so so important. and he just realllyy wants to kiss you

you feel him kind of fidgeting next to you so you turn to give him a look but he’s already looking at you with this determined expression. “can i kiss you?”

so you let him (because to be honest, you’ve been waiting for him for the longestttttt time)

and the kiss is so so soft and the tiniest bit hesitant on his part but when you lean the slightest bit toward him, he gains enough confidence to cup your cheek with his hand and just GOES FOR IT

after the initial awkward stage of dating he literally won’t stop boasting about you to his friends: “did you know they can do this and this and this?” “i have a date with them tomorrow night so if any of you wanted to hang out with me you’re out of luck” 

byungchan: we get it subin, you’re dating

subin: also on the 3rd of next month we’re busy because we’re going to see a movie

hanse: .....anyway can y’all do any cool tricks with your toes

but really, subin’s friends love you because you treat him so well! you end up telling sejun about how you used to have a mild infatuation with him and you all had a good laugh about it

they always jokingly call him young master (because they’re whipped for him) so now that you’re in the picture, you’re the young master’s lover

he’s extremely protective of you, so when the others tease you for whatever reason he glares DAGGERS and they all run away like scared puppies

subin will tease you himself though, like he’s always done throughout your friendship

he’ll pretend to buy you an ice cream cone and then be like “this is mine, haha” and proceed to eat it right in front of you...... but then he buys you another one immediately because he feels bad

he can be shy when it comes to compliments from you! like whenever you call him handsome he just grins and says “i know” but the blush on his cheeks just tells you all you need to know

he will REALLY appreciate if you’re a good listener, and he’ll tell you everything; it’s not uncommon for the two of you to have late night conversations about your worries until you both fall asleep

he remembers all the little things you say; when you mention something about your feet being cold, he’ll buy you three pairs of socks the next day. when you tell him your back has been hurting lately, he buys you a pillow for your lower back when you sleep.

he secretly loves when you baby him and he acts extra cute around you..... his friends are lowkey crying because they didn’t know he could get even CUTER

he’s kind of shy about PDA in public but when you guys are alone he’ll whine for your attention

his favorite thing is resting his head on your lap

or resting his head on your shoulder whenever you’re doing something

his name in your contacts is “binnie 🐱💕” and he tells you that he has you in his contacts as just your name with a heart emoji at the end but you SWEAR one time you texted him and the notification on his phone showed up as “baby 💕💕💕”

speaking of cats, the two of you could play with his cats for HOURS

also cat cafe dates?? his heart pounds so hard when he sees you smiling and feeding a cat...... then when you glance up at him and your smile widens even more, he knows he’s in l*ve

meanwhile you notice at him staring at you dreamily and you’re just like ummm???? earth to subin???? 

“i love you,” he says in a soft voice that only you can hear, and your heart jumps into your throat as the cat you were playing with slinks away

my heart keeps bouncing between the sky and the ground. it was my first love.