#shua ready to beg for forgiveness is always the best shua

[synthetickitsune]

I WOULDNT SAY IT BETTER MYSELF

promise ring with joshua hong.

a/n: at first i was like "haha shua brainrot" but now i don't think it's a laughing matter anymore. once again, i would like to blame this on @synthetickitsune bcs whose fault is it if not theirs?

something feels different to you tonight. maybe weird, even.

it's close to 10pm when you decide to leave your room to see what joshua was up to and you find him in the living room, at the far end of the sofa with his back towards you. you see his box of colourful beads and various other materials laid out on the armrest and you know he's making more of his diy accessories again. that wasn't the weird part though, it's the fact that he didn't ask if you wanted to join him that felt off to you because he always does. or he'd at least asks if you want to watch him as you tell him about your day.

"what are you doing?" joshua jumps slightly when you appear behind him and tries to look past his shoulder.

he quickly lowers whatever was in his hands in an attempt to hide it with his body. "nothing," he twists around to look at you and he sees your eyes scanning the materials scattered before him.

"are you making something for the guys again?" your eyes leave the mess to land on his face.

you watch him knit his brows together like he's thinking hard about something then he's shoving the thing he was holding below his crossed legs.

"you should go to bed, i'll be done here soon." he says instead of answering your question.

"oh, i was going to offer my help." you try again but he's quick to shake his head.

"it's fine, i'm almost finished anyway." joshua silently prays for you to leave so he can go back to working on it.

you look like you're about to say something else but ends up only giving him a small nod and a soft mumble of "i won't get in your way then, don't stay up too late" that he almost didn't catch before heading back into your room. he doesn't miss the disappointment on your face and he can only hope that the finished product he ends up with will make up for it. once he hears the door click shut, he quickly goes back to what he was doing and he can't stop admiring his own work when it was finally done after nearly 20 minutes of threading tiny beads onto a thin wire.

by the time he was done cleaning up everything and ready to go to bed, it was almost midnight. he opens the door to the room gently, trying to make as little noise as possible in case you were already asleep and he knows you're still awake when he sees the dim light coming from your phone. you don't greet him or tell him to him to hurry up so you can cuddle like you usually would though, which was strange to joshua. instead, you just look up at him briefly then set your phone aside and goes to sleep with your back turned to him.

"hey," he murmurs behind you as he crawls into his side of the bed. "are you upset with me?"

"no," you mumble then turns to face him. "why? does my secretive boyfriend finally want to spend time with me now?"

joshua lets out a whine then he protests, "i always want to spend time with you, babe. you know that."

"then why didn't you want me around earlier?" you let out a dramatic sigh, "i always knew i wasn't as good at handicrafts as you are but i thought you appreciated my effort and enjoyed my company at the very least."

"i do! you have no idea how much i love it even when you're just sitting there and watching me," he rushes to tell you. "i just thought you should get some rest earlier since you had a long day at work today."

his arms wrap around you instinctively and he's relieved when you don't move away.

you tilt your face up to look at him and give him a questioning look, "really?"

joshua immediately gets up to turn the light on and retrieves his box of materials from the closet to lay them out in the middle of the bed. "let's make something together right now."

you start laughing at his reaction and joshua feels his heart blooming with every sound of it.

"fine, i believe you. put them away. it's getting late."

he packs them up and goes to sleep with you enveloped in his arms that night.

you wake up the next morning and everything seems normal until you finally notice it in the mirror as you're brushing your teeth. a small, beaded ring you have never seen before is sitting on your finger. you rush outside to find joshua in the kitchen preparing breakfast.

"babe, what's this?"

he turns around and sees you standing there with a very confused look on your face and your hand up. he quickly turns the stove off and sets the spatula down before making his way across the kitchen to stand in front of you.

his bright, glistening eyes meet yours and there's a small smile tugging on his lips, "a promise ring."

you don't say anything and the confused look is still on your face.

"you don't have to promise me anything back but i just wanted you to know that i want to be in your life forever, if you'll have me." his hands reach for yours and he brushes his thumbs against the back of your hands softly. "especially after last night when i thought you were actually upset at me, i started thinking about what would happen if i don't have you in my life anymore."

tears begin to well up in your eyes and you feel a lump in your throat. you pull a hand out from his to slap him lightly on the chest, "what the hell, joshua hong. you can't just make me cry right after i wake up."

he chuckles as he pulls you into an embrace then you feel him pressing a kiss to your temple before you hear his soft voice in your ear, "so what do you say? will you let me stay in your life forever?"

the smile on his face grows when he feels you wrap your arms around him.

"only if you let me stay in yours."

[unmanageable-day]

Come to me

previous chapter. 1

PART 2 - next

Summary. After what happened in a relationship in the past, you found  it difficult to trust someone with the gentleman image.  'Gentleman' seems like merely a concept and it was probably impossible  for someone to be a genuine one. Now that you're stuck with the number one gentleman at campus for a  group project, how would you cope with the one and only Joshua Hong?

Genre. College!au, non-idol!au / friends to lover

Pairing. Joshua x y/n x a little bit of S.Coups, and a sprinkle of Wonwoo

A few days later, you and your groups gathered again to discuss more for the project assignment. You and Joshua came early to a secluded spot in the library. You were worried if things were going to be awkward, but unexpectedly he was always the first one to talk to you. While waiting for Suhyun and Johnny, both of you managed to look over your schedule to find out which time should work without disturbing each other's activities. You almost dropped your jaw when you realized he almost always matched all gaps between classes, which was because you were in the same class most of the time yet you had no idea.

"I didn't know that we're in the same class like almost for all subjects," you uttered. Again, the mixed feelings of guilt, nervous and awkward made you unable to directly look at him.

He slightly smiled at your obliviousness. "Because you always sit in the front row and don't even bother to look around."

"Really?" You nervously faked a chuckle. Not even your friends had called you out like that despite what he said was actually true.

"But anyway, it's easier for us, don't you think?"

"That's right." Another nervous chuckle slipped out of your mouth. This was the time you vigorously typed a message to Johnny and Suhyun to come quickly. However you can't even be on your phone for too long since this guy literally kept talking to you, which you found it odd. This guy should hate you if he remembered the first encounter. Suddenly you were reminded of Johnny once saying one of Joshua's nickname that made him even more famous than just a 'gentleman'. The holy Jisoo.

Neither you did believe nor care about that. Sometimes you had to beg Johnny to stop talking about him as if there was nothing else to talk about. Now that you think about it, probably being forgiving could be one of the trait of 'the holy Jisoo'. But still, it was not that you care.

"Hey, now that we're classmates for almost every class, is it okay if I ask you to study together sometimes? Especially for Professor Kwon's class. I mean, I heard that even getting B from his class is already considered good."

"I know right. I don't even know why I take that class." Wait, does this mean I agree to study together with him? Wait, what?

"How about this weekend? We can finish this one quickly and proceed to discuss for other subject."

"This weekend is no good," you quickly answered. Secretly you were relieved you had other stuff to do. "Got essay due Monday and another group project assignment too before finals."

"Oh, okay. No problem. Which class though?"

"Professor Kim Jooyong it is. I believe you don't go to this class, right?"

"Yeah, no. But I think I know someone there."

"Yeah?" You raises both of your eyebrows, slightly showing curiosity.

"You know Jeon Wonwoo?"

An excited gasp slipped off before you spoke. "You're kidding! He's my partner for the group project."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, he's a life saver," you answered enthusiastically for the first time ever. "I take this class unintentionally. This guy thankfully makes it more bearable."

Without words, Joshua smiled. It was a different smile from earlier before the topic of Jeon Wonwoo arose. Of course, you wouldn't notice. The way you talked about Jeon Wonwoo definitely made him feel something. It just made him wonder if someone asked you about him, would you look that cheerful and excitedly say something good about being his classmate?

--- after hours working on the group project

"This doesn't look like we're able to finish any sooner. Should we continue tomorrow?" Suhyun stretched her arms and tilted her neck.

"You're right. I still have my essay to do," Johnny complained to himself. "I don't think I will sleep tonight."

"I told you you should have started as soon as Professor Jung gave it," you scoffed.

Suhyun and Johnny quickly packed their stuff and left. Meanwhile Joshua was a bit slow for unclear reasons. Basically he came the earliest and left the latest, which you found it odd. Again. Yes, you got a bit closer within such a short time when waiting for Johnny and Suhyun. But you still felt uncomfortable being with only him. And you can't confront him and ask 'what take you so long?', can you?

"Tomorrow we finish the class at 4, right?" Again, he was the one to break the silence when he was about to depart. "Want to continue our discussion tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure." This was a scenario which it would turn out weird if you say no. "Library?"

He paused. His face showed that he was thinking of something. "Sometimes it's crowded in the library. We got lucky today. Do you know a small cafe near the campus gym?"

"There's a cafe?"

"Yeah, it's not very popular. But it's quiet. I usually study there."

"Okay, sure. We can be more focused then," you said, nodding your head although you had no idea where the place he suggested. The last thing you wouldn't even want to imagine was this gentleman turned out to be a psycho who would abduct you in an unknown, quiet place at campus.

"Anyway, can I sit next to you tomorrow in class?"

Again, a scenario that would turn out more awkward than it already was if you say no. "Well, yeah, sure.." This dude must know that many people avoided sitting in front row seat, so your side was empty most of the time.

"Okay, cool. I'll see you tomorrow?" He flashed you a smile.

That was the first time you noticed the way he smiled. You had no idea he looked like that. Now you know why everyone always calls him a gentleman. That smile and the way he talks softly explained his nickname perfectly. That smile made you look away because suddenly you got too shy to look at him.

"Yeah. See you."

--- the next day

Joshua was right. The small cafe near the campus gym was quiet, as if it was located outside the campus. You wondered what makes this cafe underrated. Was it new that no one knew? Was it that secluded? Was it too far? Well, Joshua and you had to spend at least 10 minutes of walk from your building to this place. Honestly that was the most awkward walk you've ever had. You kept your distance, but he kept going closer every time you took a step away. You were nervous most of the time. You were really worried if he would try to do something funny you wouldn't even want to imagine. You actually had Johnny's number ready to be dialed if there was a sudden emergency.

"This place is not so bad, right?" As always, he started conversation while you prepared your notebook and laptop.

Flashing your smile with your best effort, you nodded.

"Oh! It's Shua!" An excited exclaim filled the quiet place. "And it's Park Y/n!"

"Seok-Soon, is that you?" You got excited too as two guys, a black haired one with a well-built tall body and the other one with dark blonde hair, paler skin and slimmer figure proceed to your seat. The three of you hugged and cheered loudly, happy to reunite again. "I miss you guys. What are you doing here, Soonyoung? Seokmin?"

"We should ask you the same." Seokmin broke your group hug.

Soonyoung darted his eyes to you, then to Joshua. "I didn't know you're close with Shua hyung," he said, flashing his hamster teeth.

"’Shua’?" you asked back in confusion. Soonyoung nodded, gesturing at Joshua with his head and his expressive eyes. That was a clear hint that the guys were close friends.

"I didn't know you guys know her." Joshua managed to stay calm, totally contrast with the rest of you.

"Yeah, we met during the orientation week," you explained happily without looking at him. Your attention was now fully on the other guys. Your linking arms with the Seok-Soon duo proved how close you were with them.

"And after that the class schedule always separates us," Soonyoung responded dramatically, faking a sniffle.

In Joshua's eyes, this was the brightest version of you and your smile. He noticed the drastic change of your expression when Soonyoung and Seokmin entered the cafe and called them. To him, you were like a chameleon. Your expression, the way you talk, and even your behavior kept changing as if you were adapting to who you were with. Soonyoung and Seokmin were famous to be the mood maker, they barely can keep quiet or stay still. You kept giggling at whatever they said since they joined your table, kinda forgetting that you were supposed to get your work done with Joshua. It didn't look like he minded though. In fact, he could use this time to quietly observe the new side of you. He remembered even when with Johnny, you never looked this cheerful and hyped up. No wonder you always became much more quiet when it was only him. Compared to Johnny, Soonyoung and Seokmin, he was indeed the calmest.

Soon, another guy came in. Soonyoung called his name and the new guy joined you immediately. With a big, mischievous smile, you stood up and bowed, singing his name, "Kim Mingyu sunbaenim."

"Oh, hi, Park hoobaenim." He raised a hand waving at you with his smug smiley face, trying to give more of the sunbae vibe, which always made you and the others almost lose it. "Long time no see," he spoke in English with his strong Korean accent.

Soonyoung and Seokmin still laughed at how you and Mingyu addressed each other, leaving Joshua puzzled by himself. Basically it was their inside jokes within the guys only, so it surprised him how you had any idea about it. It also confused him how you got to know his bestfriends.

"Mingyu repeated the history with Jeonghan hyung. He thought she was a freshman at the first day of school after spring break. So he was like, 'Oh, are you lost? Let me help. Oh, by the way, my name is Kim Mingyu. You can call me Mingyu sunbaenim.' when she was standing in front of Communication 101 class."

"She really looked like she was lost though?" Mingyu defended himself when the others recalled that dark memory.

You blended very well with the boys that it felt strangely nice for Joshua. It was kind of odd to feel alienated when the guys were his best friends, yet they seemed closer with you. But again, he didn't really mind that. It was just for him, to click with someone new was never easy. Moreover, his instinct could tell easily that you were not comfortable with him. That was why he always tried to speak first. Seeing you obviously close with his best buddies made him want to know more about you. Now he needed to boost his confidence to be more open up. Starting from you as a groupmate.