#only to have their innocence stripped away by having front-row seats to the earth of their blonde-haired mentor (mami and nanami)

[cherryys]

if i had a nickel for every time a dark-haired introvert with attatchment issues tried to save a pink-haired extrovert with self-worth issues from an eldritch horror, only for the pink-haired to step in for the ultimate sacrifice to save the dark-haired introvert, i'd have two nickels. which isn't alot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right?

[daysswithyou]

Proud of You

Characters: DAY6 Young K x OC

Genre: fluff, slice of life, humour

Words: 1.9k

Description: happy, tipsy Brian :’)

Inspiration: 

That the sun will rise and the storm will cease, and the aftermath will not be as messy as the calamity but it will be beautiful, it will be a glorious.

Dance

Author’s note: For the lovely @lily-blue: this one is for you – for being such a great friend and supporter :’) 

---

Tap. Tap. Tap

Drum. Drum. Drum.

Click. Click. Click.

All around you, students were waiting in anticipation for the announcement that would signal their freedom for the next three months. With every student around you playing with the objects around them, your surroundings turned into a cacophony of mismatched sounds, amplified by a hundred fold. To your left, Jae was continuously clicking on his pen, sending the tip in and out of its casing. To your right, Sungjin was shaking his leg against the table, sending mini tremors to your side. To your diagonal right, Wonpil was drumming his fingers against the table and on the other side, Dowoon was tapping his pen against the table, creating a new beat.

And right in front of you was your best friend Brian Kang, which you can see swaying his head to the imaginary music playing in his head.

As the presiding examiner turned to face the front, the entire hall transited into pindrop silence, everyone waiting with bated breath to hear the words leave his mouth.

“The examination is over, and all of you may leave now. Happy holidays to all.”

On cue, the dragging of hundreds of chairs across the polished wooden floor filled the entire hall and the excited chatters followed soon after. As you got up to leave, you caught wisps of people’s conversations; exciting plans for the holiday and new year ahead.

As you picked up your bag to leave, Brian’s voice boomed through the horde of students to reach you.

“Y/N! Are you up for karaoke tonight? I’ll call you.”

A smile spreading over your face, you showed him a thumb up sign before turning to leave.

-

“I’M LIKE TT, JUST LIKE TT!”

“Ok Brian that’s enough, you’ve had too much to drink.”

Completely intoxicated and incapable of coherent words, all Brain did was laugh really loudly before collapsing in a heap beside you, hands still clutching the karaoke mic firmly. With your hands, you tried to extricate the microphone from his fingers gently so that he wouldn’t notice. But the alcohol seemed to have heightened his senses instead – so even before you could actually touch him, he had snatched the mic back before screaming into it.

“Y/N…you…NEOMUHAE NEOMUHAE! Don’t take my mic away from me!”

With that being said, he passed the mic to Jae for safe-keeping before taking a swig from the bottle in his other hand.

As you stared at Brian with daggers in your eyes, the boys tried to stifle their laughter in the background although Wonpil was already on the floor, rolling in silent laughter.

Jae was the first one to speak up amidst the chaos.

“You know something, Y/N?”

“Hmmm?”

“Just let Brian let loose for tonight, it’s the end of the exam season and the new year is starting in a few hours anyways so…”

“So…?”

“So for tonight, just let everyone go wild, and you should let your hair down too. I know that you’re naturally a very nervous person but for tonight, just take a break. Don’t worry too much about the aftermath – I’m sure it’ll be better than the calamity.”

Before you could reply him, Brian’s excited voice broke through the system, leaving you to swim in your own thoughts.

Jae’s right, when’s the last time I took a break?

Sinking back against the soft leather couch, you blocked out Brian’s singing and transited into your own world as you reflected upon the last year.

-

As images of the past year flashed past in your head, some brought tears to your eyes but some left a smile on your face.

Having just entered university, you had a hard time adapting. This entire year passed in a blur and somehow, all you remember is sitting down in front of your readings and papers completely exhausted before tears of frustration came. Despite being near your breaking point, you refused any help from your friends, insisting that you needed the time to do work instead of taking a break. This vicious cycle eventually took a toll on your health and you felt your string slowly snap by the second.

But… despite the bad year, there were good moments to look back on as well.

Nights spent with your best friend Brian walking along the riverside as you talked about anything between the sky and earth, being able to watch their night club gigs from the front row and more recently, meeting a bunch of lovely coworkers at your new workplace.

It then dawned upon you that whilst you might have had a year filled with more downs than ups, it’s the little moments that make life worth living. Those small, little things that make you happy everyday – be it the cute little puppy that decided to walk over to you today, or a kind stranger that held the lift for you, it’s all these small, kind gestures that made the world of a difference.

And you also realised that it doesn’t pay to keep studying – someone once said: “Work hard, and play harder.”

This time round, you decided to take the advice.

So when Brian passed you the mic to sing a duet with him, you didn’t object.

-

For the rest of the night, you did exactly what Jae said: Take a break and let your hair down.

After another 2 bottles of alcohol, happy, tipsy Brian made its appearance and before you knew it, both of you were decked out in rainbow wigs and sunglasses, screeching out notes into the mics (at this point in time none of you were singing anymore). Being the good sport he is, Brian broke out into dance moves that you didn’t know he possessed.

“Y/N.”

“Hmmm?”

“Watch this.”

Trailing a finger gun down his body, Brian ended it off with a hip jerk and being the extra person that he is, he had to end it off with a lip bite at the end.

“KANG YOUNGHYUN! WHAT WAS THAT?”

“Nothing, just a little sexy dance for my best friend HAHA”

“Who are you, and what have you done to my best friend?”

“Gone is your best friend, for he has now decided to worship the dance deities as his master.”

With that being said, Brian stripped off his outer wear before flicking the material at you with a smirk on his face, leaving you breathless from the wrecks of laughter. He then continued to dance around the room by himself, seducing the boys to join him.

One by one, the rest of the boys decided to join in the fun and Wonpil’s booty dance at the end had you screaming in embarrassment as you covered your innocent eyes. Before you knew it, the boys were twirling their hips together, flinging things all around the room in a private stripping show for you. This is the wildest they had been and needless to say, you had everything videoed down to be used as blackmail in future. After all, what are best friends for if not to embarrass you from time to time?

Despite the chaos around you, your heart felt full. Seeing the boys enjoy themselves, you didn’t stop the bubble of laughter rising in you and for once, you let yourself truly feel happy without worrying about the future. You might not have had the best year, but at least you had the best night.

-

“Thank you. You can keep the change. Brian we gotta go…”

“I’m sorry…what?”

“Brian, you’re drunk. Let’s just get you out of the car first.”

Lifting his arm over your shoulders as you supported his waist with your other hand, you dragged him to his porch before seating him on the porch. He was simply too heavy for you to handle alone, and you needed a break. Placing him between the railing and yourself, you leaned him against the metal railing so that he wouldn’t collapse face first into the floor.

You saw the colours flash across his face before hearing the boom of the fireworks. Turning to look at the beautiful spectacle that lighted up the night sky in the colours of the rainbows in various shapes, your attention was only broken by Brian’s breath against your shoulder.

“Happy New Year Y/N and I’m so proud of you.”

“Happy New Year too Brian, but why are you proud of me? I haven’t accomplished anything great this year, and you know that.”

“You did, just that you aren’t able to see it.”

“Then tell me about it.”

“You might not have achieved your version of success but for those watching like the boys and I, we can see how hard you’re working. Despite the negativity, you never gave up.”

“But still… that isn’t something very note-worthy…”

“It is! Will you stop putting yourself down?”

Snapping his head upwards, he flicked his fingers against your forehead, causing you to let you a howl of pain as you slapped his chest.

“Stop abusing me!”

“I need to knock some sense into your stubborn brain. Would you just hear me out?”

“Ok ok! Carry on, your Highness, geez.”

“It doesn’t matter if all you did this year was simply to get through it. That in itself is an achievement. Have you ever wondered why everyone celebrates the new year, even if they aren’t, say, great politicians? Why, say, ordinary people like you and I see cause for a celebration when the new year arrives? That’s because we’re grateful to have been able to live through another year – and that in itself is enough. For trying your best this year to overcome your challenges, that in itself is enough – don’t you see? I’m proud of you, best friend, for getting through this year, even if you felt like all you did this year was survive.”

All this while as he spoke, you gave Brian your full attention, your eyes never leaving his face. You watched closely as your best friend poured out his inner feelings to you, sincere and absolutely raw. By the end of it, tears were dripping down your face as you hastily tried to rub them away.

“I hate you Brian Kang.”

“Hey! Why?”

“I hate you for making me emotional on New Year’s Day.”

“Wait, are you crying?”

“Yes! Thanks to you…”

“Awww don’t cry…” Cupping your face between his hands, Brain wiped your tears with the pad of his thumbs whilst whispering comforting words to you.

“Do you need a hug from me right now?”

Incapable of words, you nodded as Brian opened his arms and you gladly ran into them, soaking his shirt with your tears.

“Stop crying you silly girl…”

“Blame yourself for making me such a sobbing mess.”

“Are we really going to do this now?”

“No…”

For a few more moments you let silence envelope the space between the two of you until you spoke up again.

“Thank you Brian…”

“What for?”

“For putting up with this mess known as me.”

“I’ll always be proud of you, and I meant every word I said, you know?”

“I do, and so for that, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I love you best friend.”

“Love you too Burger Kang.”

Perhaps Brian is right.

It doesn’t matter if you haven’t achieved your version of success yet, you’ll get there someday. Even if all you did this past year is survive, that is something to be proud of.