#wooa reblogs

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@wonrangwoo

love or letter: woozi version

pairing: l. jihoon x fem! reader

summar: reader accidentally sends head producer jihoon into popularity, creating tension within their office

word count: 13k+

genre: semi-enemies to lovers, office romance, fluff

playlist

love or letter series

“Hello and welcome back to… Boo!”

“...Seok!”

“...Soon!”

“Radio Show!”

Chorus of laughter could be heard from around the recording room as the three hosts finished the final portion of the introduction together. Papers could also be heard being shuffled as the hosts eased themselves out of their advertisement break and into their next segment.

“Thank you very much for the love and support you sent us on our official Instagram page during our short university break. I hope all of you enjoyed my takeover for that day—”

“Yeah, I’m sure everyone enjoyed the tiger room tour you gave to our poor listeners, Hoshi.” DK interrupted. A thump could be heard, along with DK yelping in pain for a split second. “Just so listeners know, Kwon Hoshi just hit me, his coworker/host.”

Hoshi could be heard yelling something at him in rushed sentences, though it sounded as if he were underwater from the quality of the mics. They only seemed to stop themselves when a tapping from glass could be heard. Both sounded to be settled back into their seats as they continued with their show.

“Right, onto everyone’s favorite segment: Love or Letter!” Hoshi said excitedly, though there seemed to be a lack for it’s usual excitement in the studio as weak claps could be heard instead. Hoshi seemed to have picked this up as he asked, “Huh? Is something wrong?”

“I know that most of you are here for our most recent Love or Letter, but this one is a little strange. It’s only about half a page long but it’s quite… A tell-all, that’s for sure.” Seungkwan commented, letting out an awkward cough as he shook at the letter in front of him. Scraping from chairs could be heard, which was followed up by laughter from the two other hosts. “Kwon Hoshi, you read it since this is your undoing.”

Laughter had yet to cease, the sound of what’s mixed between a snort and crying could only be heard from the studio. Seungkwan did not hesitate to yell out his fellow host’s name once more, only earning a winded “Okay, okay!” from the other man.

Hoshi cleared his throat, remnants of a laugh ready to slip from his lips as he spoke. “Okay… Dear BooSeokSoon, usually this kind of letter comes from cliche shows and I dearly hope this letter becomes buried amongst the many letters your Love or Letter Team receives on a daily basis, but this is not much of advice and more of a confession…"

Tapping from the glass could be heard once more, a little more panicked than last time. Hoshi let out a hum, as if ignoring whoever was tapping on the other side, continuing. "...to your producer, Jihoon. The moment I saw his picture on Hoshi's Instagram post, I couldn't help but fall for him. I understand if he won't accept my affections, but if he ever sees or hears this letter, please know that Kim Gi—"

"AHHH!" Someone interrupts. Seungkwan. "We read the letters, not expose their names and addresses."

"How could he? She put her name and number down for our PD Jihoon to take." DK says, laughing. The knocking turned more erratic, silencing anything else anyone had to say. DK coughed. “Well… Dear writer, I’m sorry to say this will be a Letter. Our PD Jihoon is pretty anti—”

“Caught up with work!” Hoshi interrupted. “Anyways, sorry to cut the segment so short, we’ve hit a bit of a little issue here at the radio station. Tune in tomorrow night for our other special segment, Paranormals With Peachy, and to hear our daily campus news! Thank you again for listening to BooSeokSoon Radio and have a good night everyone!”

A chorus of goodbye’s from the other hosts could be heard. A final awkward sigh could be heard before the radio cuts off—

[Name] wasn’t sure if she wanted to peel away from the glass just yet. She could feel him staring at the back of her head, which would’ve frightened her if she wasn’t so exhausted. Her palm stung from how hard she was hitting the glass to make the hosts stop talking.

How am I supposed to take tomorrow’s exam if my palm’s going to bruise up? She asked herself, eyes never leaving Seokmin, who offered her a passive smile as he, Soonyoung, and Seungkwan settled their headsets on their respective mic stands. They were deliberately slow this time, much to [Name]’s chagrin.

“You let one of those letters slip through.” His voice held no such emotion, like it usually does, but the emphasis could be heard even if it was verbal.

[Name] closed her eyes, mentally bringing her walls up as she turned around to look at Jihoon. “I swear I made sure to separate the piles properly.”

“Not properly enough.” Jihoon chastised. The hosts were sure to be quiet to shut the door as quietly as possible, though it didn’t stop Jihoon from snapping his head at them, eyes narrowing at the three men. “And why did you three just keep reading?”

[Name] was glad everyone else from their respective teams were kind enough to clear away from the room before the radio show ended. At least this way they wouldn’t have to hear four of the five members that drove the show to be chewed out.

“Because it was entertaining.” Soonyoung answered honestly, sending a teasing smile toward Jihoon, who only rolled his eyes. “C’mon, Jihoon, it was a little funny. Those confession letters honestly just come from pure intentions—”

“And somehow makes a fool out of me—” Jihoon snapped.

“—and cut [Name] some slack. She spent the whole week separating your confession letters from the actual confession letters, printed out apology notes to any of the addressed senders, and was the one to narrow down the possible stories for us to use. And that was on top of everything else she’s usually supposed to do.” Soonyoung explained, giving the younger woman an easy smile.

Seungkwan nodded. “I’m sure someone just mixed up the papers when it was brought over to us. [Name] would’ve spotted it if she was the one to physically take it over to us herself.”

Jihoon was only seething in silence, [Name] fighting off the urge to tear at her hair in frustration. Her eyes narrowed in on her hand, finding the bruise forming on her wrist more interesting than the conversation. Though if she were to be honest, any conversation could be better than this one.

Her mind replayed every single moment that happened up until she handed off the stacks to her assistants. Had she told the wrong person to bring it to Seokmin? Why hadn’t they double checked like she asked them to? Either way, she knew it was her fault some way or another and she wasn’t sure how long she’s going to keep her job after this.

“I’m sorry.” [Name] said finally, bowing deeply to Jihoon and the three other hosts. “I swear I separated them—”

“Yeah, I know.” Jihoon started, only stopping when [Name] sent him a look that only seemed befitting to his own special glare.

“At least let me finish?” [Name] suggested, voice quipped as if she were a school teacher talking to a child. “I should have double—no, triple checked those stacks of letters. If I had done that in the first place, the segment wouldn’t have to be cut short and we wouldn’t be here.”

Seokmin shook his head. “No it’s okay. I should’ve checked on the papers before the show started too instead of handing it over to the other two. Besides, this is just your first mistake. You haven’t made any since you were moved up from production assistant to head producer for the Love or Letter team.”

[Name] nodded, appreciating the hosts' understanding, though she wasn’t sure if Jihoon would accept her apology. She bowed again to Jihoon, muttering another quiet apology to the man.

“Just… Don’t do it again. And make sure to keep your team in check and I want you to be the one to physically bring it over to Seokmin so you can triple check you have the right story next time. Got it?” Jihoon asked. At [Name]’s nod, he turned for the door, stopping as he turned to take a good look at [Name]. “And next time, don’t stay up so late trying to separate those letters. You’ve got five other people on your team to help you with those.”

With those words, Jihoon exited, Soonyoung following shortly after. [Name] sat on the leather couch behind her, digging her head into her hands as she let out a tired sigh. The couch dipped, Seokmin’s hand patting her back. “Don’t sweat it. Everyone makes mistakes all the time.”

Sungkwan hummed in agreement. “And it’s not as if Jihoon’s picture perfect either. He made plenty of mistakes before he became the radio show’s producer.”

“That’s the thing: before he was a producer. I’m a producer now and I made a mistake even rookies were able to avoid.” [Name] grumbled, rubbing at her eyes.

Sungkwan and Seokmin let out noises of discontent at their friend. “Don’t be so hard on yourself; the school year’s just begun and you’re still adjusting. Jihoon’s pretty forgiving after he’s finished with his chastising; he’s too busy to stay too mad.”

[Name] rolled her eyes at the last notion. “Sure, sure. As if he hasn’t had it out for me the minute I stepped foot into the building to meet up with him this summer.”

She hadn’t been wrong; when she had just been a production assistant to Yeri a year prior, Lee Jihoon had been nice to her—or polite, at least. Always offered small bows of acknowledgement whenever she was trailing behind Yeri or was by herself in the small office space provided to the Love or Letter team.

Once Yeri had graduated, Mr. Yang had been the one to announce [Name]’s step up into the open position her mentor left behind, suddenly making Jihoon become colder for some reason toward her. 

The meet up she had with him and Mr. Yang had gone smoothly on the surface, but she could still feel the coldness behind Jihoon’s tone when narrowing down expectations needed once she became a producer. 

Regardless, she kept her temper from rising and did her best to keep her composure throughout the meeting, though that didn’t stop her from dropping certain comments at him afterward. Especially when she felt as if she wasn’t wrong or trying to amend her wrongdoings.

Maybe she was just overthinking, but she was sure Lee Jihoon had it out for her and she was more than ready to hold her ground. Except now, though. That blunder was definitely her fault.

“Don’t be like that.” Seokmin responded, nudging her shoulder. “You probably just need to get some more sleep; there’s been a lot of confession letters sent to Jihoon after Soonyoung posted a picture of him last year and it accumulated during the summer. He seemed to understand in the end anyways.”

“Right… Right…”

“You have been getting enough rest, right?” Seungkwan asked, though all three of them knew the answer already. “How have you been?”

[Name] sighed. “Fine, I guess.” Silence had never felt louder as she could feel her best friends eyeing her suspiciously. “I’m just… Here, okay? It’s better than the last time you guys asked me if it makes you feel better.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Seungkwan asked, standing up. “We can go get food and head back to my apartment.”

“No, I just wanna get my stuff and head home.” [Name] responded honestly, making sure to offer Seungkwan a kind smile. “Thank you for being concerned for me, though. I really mean that.”

Sungkwan nodded. “Any time.”

“We’re always here, you know.” Seokmin said, offering her a side hug before they stood up.

They all walked out together, separating when [Name] walked over to her office and the other two moving toward their own. “Don’t stay up all night!” Sungkwan said.

“I won’t!” [Name] responded, well aware she was most likely going to, in fact, stay up all night. Her bag had already been packed and her coat folded on top of her chair. With a quick swing at both items, [Name] walked out of her office, fishing for her headphones as she walked out.

Two familiar voices and her name could be heard at the other end of the hall, however, making [Name] stop under the assumption her name was being called. [Name] was ready to call back and ask what was needed before she registered what was being said.

“...some slack, already, man. Do you not see how exhausted the poor girl is?” Soonyoung asked. “And you can tell she’s definitely going to make up for it. I swear she would have broken the glass with how hard she was tapping the glass earlier. She’s really trying her best.”

Jihoon sighed. “Her best isn’t enough. I don’t understand why Yeri and Mr. Yang wanted her become a producer with only a year under her belt. She’s too young to work with that kind of role and it’s obvious.”

“Why are you so hard on her anyways? The Lover or Letter team liked her before and after she became a producer.”

“I’m not being hard on her; I just don’t like something I spent four years building up with you come crumbling down by some second year.”

[Name] held her breath. Did he really think she was that incapable? Enough to tear down a four year radio station? She was almost ready to jump out of her hiding spot, ready to tell Jihoon off and ask him if he thought of Seungkwan and Seokmin, who were also second years with higher positions at the radio station, that way as well.

She only halted when she heard Jihoon yelp. “Ow! You dick!”

“You’re the one being a dick.” Soonyoung admonished. “Like I said, cut her some slack. She’s definitely trying so give her a chance. It’s only the beginning of the school year, too, so let everyone adjust. Besides… I think something’s going on with her.”

Jihoon huffed. “Why?”

“I don't know. She just seems like she’s keeping herself busy from something and she wasn’t like this last year. Of course, you wouldn’t know because you never spoke to her.”

“Hey—”

“That being said, be nice to her. She really did work her ass off this week; I swear she practically lives here if she’s not in class…”

Their voices faded out and [Name] could only wonder to herself how much had she changed and how obvious was it to the point that even an acquaintance like Soonyoung noticed it. Her brain was too muddled to think of anything, though, exhaustion clinging to her tighter.

She put on her headphones, immediately allowing the sound of instrumental music to flood her senses. She walked with the intention of slumber, though her mind continued to replay the continued conversation in her head, fighting off the sting whenever she remembered Jihoon’s words.

Naturally, news made its way around campus about last week’s fiasco on Love or Letter. Everywhere [Name] went, she could hear someone talking or spreading word of what happened in Love or Letter. And she never felt more embarrassment in her life.

When she found herself at the office of BSS Radio, she was quick to speed off to the Love or Letter office. [Name] evaded any probing questions the other segment teams had for her. 

She wasn’t sure she was ready to explain her mistake and be the focus of ridicule just yet, though it seemed she had been the only one to view it that way. The segment’s events spread around like wildfire—interesting everyone and essentially inviting more people to listen to the radio station, Love or Letter in particular.

[Name] had expected some kind of termination request from Jihoon, especially after what she had heard from him from that night, but she hadn’t heard from him at all since the incident. She had wondered for the duration of the week as to why, though a quick call from the Love or Letter production manager, Colette, telling her to come to the station nearly sent her into a panic.

Like usual, [Name] speed walked to her office, more curious as to what exactly Colette needed from her if she was needed so desperately at the station. 

Maybe I’m getting fired and Colette was promoted…? [Name] had initially thought as she opened the door.

“[Name] wait—!” A voice called out, cutting off when [Name] let out a gasp as a pile of letters fell at her feet. Evelyn, one of the new production assistants, had made her presence known as she leaned over the remaining pile in front of the door to pick up the fallen letters. “Sorry, I should’ve moved them.”

[Name] leaned down to help her. From behind the girl sat Colette, who was opening letters and sorting them into bins. Her eyes only furrowed in confusion when their eyes locked, silently asking her what was happening. 

“Ever since word went out on what happened, more people have sent in letters.” Colette explained, waving a piece of paper around. “Those piles on your feet are unopened ones. Come in and help us sort it out.”

[Name] nodded, speechless at the information as she stepped over. From another side of the room stood the Love or Letter writers, Amelia, Eunwoo, and Jian. They offered a wordless nod as they filtered letters into more bins. “How many people sent letters?” She asked, a little afraid of what the number was.

“Almost three hundred—that’s twice as much as what we usually get on a usual basis.” Amelia informed, an excited smile on her face. “Almost all of them are actual letters instead of the ones we’ve been getting. Of course some of them are kind of useless, though—majority love confessions to Jihoon and others just writing crude things to see if they can get it on air—”

“Which we won’t.”Colette said. “Because all six of us are gonna sort this out together instead of leaving [Name] in the dust with this pile. And we won’t be giving the wrong files without checking over with everyone, will we?”

Everyone nodded in agreement and [Name] made use of their cooperation as she sat down on her desk and started working on sorting papers out with them.

“You should’ve seen the look on Jihoon’s face.” Evelyn said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him express anything past irritation until he came to the letter box today; he had to call every single one of us to help with moving these letters to this room. He looked like he was stuck in a daze!”

“Why did he call all of you and not me?” [Name] inquired, only earning a shrug from the younger girl. She shot Colette a look in confusion. “Does he not trust me anymore or something?”

Colette shook her head, eyeing her oddly. “Quite the opposite. He asked me where you were and I said you’re probably still asleep since you’re done with class. Told me to only call you unless it’s necessary.” She motioned for the piles of letters. “It’s kind of necessary right now so sorry if I woke you up.”

“You didn’t.” [Name] reassured, opening the letter in her hands, sorting through the papers as if it were second nature once she found herself moving.

Almost an hour had passed through their sorting and [Name] only listened to her team’s conversation, only passing in conversations with Colette every now and then. A knock on the door brought her back to reality. Leaning her head over the pile of letters in front of her, she spotted  Jihoon hovering at the doorway, red envelope in hand.

His eyes scanned the room, mouth ajar as he checked the space around them. "Uwah…" Was all he could manage out. "This is a lot."

"Yeah it is." [Name] agreed, watching as he tried to carefully step over the pile of envelopes at the doorway in amusement. He shuffled his way over to [Name], staring at her curiously.

"I thought you were supposed to be asleep."

"Couldn't." [Name] answered simply, seamlessly opening another envelope as she quickly filtered through it to decide on which pile to place it. Jihoon frowned at her words.

"Why?"

[Name] shot him a strange look. "I just couldn't. Why are you so concerned anyways?"

She bit back her tongue when she realized how sharp her tone was, though she had no means of apologizing. If he was more than willing to express his displeasure with her whenever he felt like it, she most definitely can do the same thing.

Her eyes were trained on his, noticing the slight twitch when she sent out her biting words toward him. She waited for him to respond to her in some sort of tone similar to her’s, half expecting him to mention that her job is still currently being evaluated for a clause of termination.

Instead, Jihoon only sighed, rubbing the back of his neck before moving his hand up to push back some of his hair. “Nothing. Here’s information for next week’s radio show.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you.” [Name] said half heartedly. She stood up, accepting the red envelope and setting it on her table. She returned her attention back to the letters right afterwards, though she could still see Jihoon hovering around longer than expected. “...do you need anything else, Jihoon?”

“Huh?” Jihoon asked, clearly in a bit of a daze. As much as he attempted to remain as stoic as possible, he was horrible at hiding his embarrassment. “Oh—uhm, no. Good luck with all of this. And, uh, don’t push yourself too hard this time. Wouldn’t want something like last week to happen.”

[Name] felt irritation bubble up in her chest, though she pushed it aside as she watched Jihoon awkwardly turn and walk out of her office. She waited for the door to shut before turning to make eye contact with Colette, who looked just as confused as she was.

Since when did Jihoon become so concerned? Or, even more shocking, when did Jihoon ever hold a conversation with her for more than five minutes when it’s not a staff meeting?

If there was anything [Name] hated more than anything, it was phone calls. She wasn’t sure why she was so irked by them; maybe it was because she was so used to speaking to people in person? Or it could be the fact she wasn’t able to gauge what people were actually able to feel if she can’t see their face.

Whatever reason it may be, [Name] hated them to the point she would avoid them if they weren’t work related. Though, recently she’s been needing to answer personal ones more frequently, much to her chagrin.

“Are you coming home this weekend? It’s your dad’s—”

“I’m well aware of what this weekend is, Mom.” [Name] interrupted, letting out an irritated groan when he hip knocked onto a stack of paperwork to the ground.

It was late into the afternoon and [Name] was already behind on whatever needed to be finished before she left today. She cursed herself for answering the phone and having to prepare herself for an argument with her mother.

“Well then are you coming? You hardly leave campus since you went back to school. Honestly it’s kind of selfish of you to leave like that.”

[Name] snorted out a laugh, temper rising at her mother’s backhanded comments. “So, are you trying to get me to come visit or just helping me find reasons to not come home?”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just… You haven’t been home to help out like you promised.”

Seriously…? “Last time I checked, I was helping pay for the twins’ uniforms and cram school funds.” [Name] said, voice tense. “And I’m paying for their fees for their daily tutoring every week.”

A growing headache was blooming on the side of her head and [Name] was more than ready to hang up any minute to tend to it. She barely processed the swing of her office door, which revealed Jihoon walking in with courteous silence.

He rocked on the balls of his heels as he pointed at his watch, indicating the time for her to turn in one of her written proposals for next week’s segment. [Name] nodded, standing up with one hand on her phone as she rifled through the pile of papers she had all but forgotten on the floor.

“I mean, can you just be more present with us?”

“Honestly, with the way you talk to me, no.” [Name] said, anger almost bubbling over as she cast a glance at the still waiting Jihoon. Once she found the right papers, she double checked for a moment. “Mom, I have to go. I’ll call you later, bye.”

She hung up before she could hear whatever else her mother had to say stepping over the piles of papers to make her way over to Jihoon, who eyed her strangely.

“Everything alright..?” He asked.

[Name] only sighed. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

“Okay.” Jihoon replied, shrugging. For some reason, the simple response brought her shoulders to relax slightly, glad someone wasn’t going to press her for answers at the moment. “Anything you want changed for next week’s segment?”

“Not much. Evelyn mentioned something about Love or Letter needing a catchy tune now that the segment’s been spiking in popularity, though.” [Name] said, watching as Jihoon’s face morphed into slight disdain. She fought off a laugh, reminding herself to not question his obvious dislike if he wasn’t going to question her phone call.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Was all Jihoon said instead. “Though I would need someone from your team to work with so I can see what you all want.”

[Name] hummed, thinking back on who on her staff was available the following month. “Hmm… Colette is out of town for her internship and Evelyn is visiting her grandma for the next two weeks. And the writers are working on an upcoming event already but I think I can pull one of them out to help you.”

“What about you?”

“Huh?” [Name] asked, eyes that were once downcasted on her phone shooting back up to stare at Jihoon’s face.

He motioned to her. “What about you? Maybe you can just help me.”

“I’ve got a family obligation this weekend.” [Name] said, motioning to her phone as if to remind him about the conversation earlier.

Jihoon shrugged. “Just tell me when you come back and we can work on it together. It’s not as if you don’t practically live here anyways.”

“I don’t practically live here…”

“You have pajama pants to change into when it gets too late.”

[Name] shot him an odd look, not sure if she should question how he knew about her Hello Kitty printed pants that she thought she had hidden away in one of her desk drawers.

“Fine, fine. I don’t get why you’re so adamant that it has to be me, though.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “You’re the only producer for this team. Producers are supposed to work with each other, right?”

"Right… I just wasn't sure if—" [Name] bit her lip back, not wanting him to find out she overheard his conversation with Soonyoung. "I'll let you know once I get back on campus and we can work on it that day."

"Working the day you get back?" Jihoon questioned, earning a lackluster nod from [Name]. “Don’t you ever get sick of this place?”

“Not really; I kinda like my job.” [Name] said, though the tone in her voice was unconvincing.

It was true; [Name] did like her job, despite all the trouble she’s recently had to undo. Something about the process of turning an idea into reality fascinated her and being a producer provided that type of environment for her. 

[Name] had lost count of how many times she found herself pooled into her work to the point she’d have to get dragged out of the office by Seungkwan or Seokmin.

Right now, [Name] was more than tempted to see if she can go push her limits since she ended her phone call with her mother. She was sure this would also most likely cause Jihoon to not want to work with her if he ever saw her working conditions.

“If we’re done here, I need to head home now instead of later. I’ve got a few bags to pack right now.” [Name] said, clear with her intentions of wanting to end the conversation.

Jihoon stared at her, though what was going on in his mind, she hadn’t a clue. He only nodded once he let the words process through his brain. “Yeah, go ahead. I’ll see you when you come back; I’m working late so this is probably the last you’ll see of me.”

“Working late on a Friday? Aren’t you sick of this place?” [Name] asked, holding back a smile when she echoed his words. He only huffed out a laugh—a rare thing from him, honestly, [Name] should’ve recorded it to show Seungkwan and Seokmin—shaking his head as he moved aside to let [Name] out the door.

They didn’t bother greeting each other goodbye—a habit they both formed with one another due to the weird work tension they had. [Name] made sure to remind herself to change that once she came back now that some of that pressure had all but subsided.

Strange. That was the word Yeri had used when she mentioned her for the first time to Jihoon.

“She’s kind of strange, according to Professor Im. But talented. Super talented. He was practically begging me to take her under my wing so she can have a taste of production life early. Mr. Yang seemed impressed with her too. Just give her a shot this year, Jihoon, so you can see what they’re talking about.”

Jihoon had almost believed the upperclassman, expecting some kind of extraordinary freshman to be making waves at the radio station. Instead, he was met with a frantic looking girl always cowering behind Yeri whenever there were staff meetings.

Regardless, he was nice to [Name] during her first year, even taking in her recommendation of bringing Seungkwan and Seokmin in to be new possible hosts for the radio show after the previous two hosts graduated. 

He had thought whatever Yeri was spewing out previously had disenchanted her before she graduated, choosing a different employee to be her successor for the Love or Letter segment team. Yet, she had still chosen the cowering girl and irked him beyond a point.

His doubts only subsided slightly when Soonyoung had mentioned to him she was acting differently than she had the previous year. He hadn’t believed his friend, thinking Soonyoung had some sort of soft side on the girl for being younger than them, until he had admitted that, yes, [Name] was anything but that frightened girl now.

Honestly, if the circumstances would be different, Jihoon would be glad someone like her broke out of her shell. He wasn't, though. Something just felt off about her behavior—like it was forced. Regardless, the strange girl he remembered was still around, evident from watching her stare at herself in muted horror at the gym for a little too long.

And the strange girl definitely hadn't left as he heard a crash sound from the other side of her apartment door, making him jump at the sudden noise he wasn't able to see. A shriek that definitely didn't sound like [Name]'s rang through from the door.

"Kill it! Kill it!"

"I can't if you're running so much—you're scaring it away!"

Those two voices definitely sounded familiar, though.

A sudden thump! could be heard, followed with a soft, "You're going to get us kicked out before the lease ends, you know." [Name].

Footsteps could be heard making its way to the door and [Name] stood before Jihoon, a slipper with a thoroughly squished spider  in her left hand, still retracted as if ready to smack another one. Jihoon could only offer a stuttered, "He-eyy." in shock, eyeing the two figures behind her.

If they hadn't already been embarrassed, then Seokmin and Seungkwan definitely were with the way they made eye contact with Jihoon—who suddenly remembered he was their boss. [Name] hadn't seemed to care, however, setting the slipper down on the tiled floor of the entrance and stepping back.

"Oh, you weren't kidding when you said Jihoon was coming over." Seokmin said, gaping as the man walked in and took off his shoes (which was deliberately placed far away from [Name]'s spider'd slipper).

[Name] only offered a frown. "You didn't believe me?"

"No one would believe the idea of you and Jihoon working together, period." Seungkwan chimed in, also watching as [Name] and Jihoon exchanged awkward glances. "Why are you two working together?"

"Love or Letter jingle." Jihoon finally stated simply. He motioned toward the guitar strapped to his back. "We were supposed to meet a few days ago but—"

"I got a stay at home order from a certain someone." [Name] interrupted, giving Seungkwan a pointed look.

"You barely got home before you started spewing nonsense about going to the studio!" He countered back. “You’ll overwork yourself ag—”

Seungkwan bit back his words, sharing a knowing look with [Name], who only stared back at him blankly, as if attempting to stay unreadable. Seokmin shuffled his feet awkwardly, trying his best not to glance between his friends and Jihoon.

Jihoon could only raise an eyebrow. That was the first time he heard that. When they had been messaging each other back and forth, he had been under the impression that [Name] was already back home when in fact she was probably still with her family? He watched as [Name] shifted uncomfortably, as if not wanting to talk further about it.

He only sighed. "Workaholic lifestyles are hard to break." He said instead, offering [Name] a sympathetic glance. "Are we going to your room or staying out here?"

[Name] frowned at him for a moment, staying silent a little too long for his liking before she pointed toward a door. "My room. If we stay out here, Seokmin and Seungkwan might try giving unwanted input."

"Hey—" Seokmin started.

"Or squawk like a bunch of chickens if they see another spider."

"HEY!" Seungkwan countered this time, face bright red. 

[Name] ignored her fuming roommates, motioning for Jihoon to follow her. He didn't bother to think twice, finding her nonchalant behavior more amusing than offending.

When he entered the room, he hadn't expected it to be so… Was girly the right term? He eyed the heart shaped pencil sharpener and the various plants being held by Sanrio themed pots.

No, cute. He thought as he made eye contact with a Badtz-Maru pot. "Nice pots." He mused to [Name], who was cleaning up her space. She glanced at him, then the pot.

"He looks like you." She says instead, making him give her a strange look.

He pointed at a Gudetama shaped pot on her window. "And that looks like you."

[Name] glanced at it, offering a small laugh. "Yeah, it does. Doesn't it?"

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up for a moment, caught off hearing her laugh—genuine and not the little huff of air he usually hears from her when she’s trying to amuse someone. He shook it off, however, reminding himself why he was here.

They worked together a little too well. It almost scared Jihoon with how well they got along tonight. Though, he had been anticipating some arguments so maybe he was just stupid for making such presumptions. Hours had gone by and the only reason they had to stop was when Seungkwan knocked on the door, popping his head in after [Name] called his name out.

He motioned to something in his hand. “Take it.” He commanded, shaking the bottle of water in his hand.

[Name] rolled her eyes, glancing at the clock on her desk. “It’s not even 8PM yet.”

“You almost forgot to take them last night. It’s better to take them early.” The blond answered back dismissively.

“You worry more than me.” Jihoon heard her murmur under her breath as she pushed herself off her seat.

“What?” Seungkwan challenged, eyes sharp when he locked eyes with [Name]’s.

“Nothing, dad.” [Name] teased, holding her hand out. A set of capsules escaped from Seungkwan’s hands and spilled onto her. [Name] took them quickly, drawing the pills down with the water bottle Seungkwan handed over to her right after.

Seungkwan nodded in approval, casting a glance at Jihoon before saying, “Okay, back to work.”

“M’kay.” [Name] answered back dismissively, settling back down on her seat. She kept her eyes on the door until it was fully shut, letting out a sigh once she heard it click in place. She looked over at Jihoon, who was still silently watching. “Sorry… He gets worried too much.”

“He’s a good friend.” Jihoon complimented, pausing for a moment. “Or boyfriend..?”

[Name] huffed. “‘Stand in-parent' is a better term for him.” She countered, shaking her head. “I didn’t balance school and work properly last year and he’s worried it’ll happen again if I keep working—which, fine, I get but I kinda wanna not get behind on anything for the studio—”

She cut herself off, biting at her lip to keep her from saying anything further. [Name] shifted back into her seat, eyes nearly burning holes onto her computer screen.

For some reason, the hairs on the back of Jihoon’s neck stood up again. “It’s fine. I get it.” He offered her. She sent him a sparing glance—as if silently begging him to change the subject. Again, he nodded, setting his guitar back on his lap again, though not before adding something. “It’s okay to, y’know…Not hold up a persona around me. I don’t bite.”

He only offered an awkward smile as he noticed, again, she was giving him a long, hard stare.

“Let’s go back to the song.” She said.

Whether she took his words to heart or not, a weight seemed to have lifted off [Name]’s shoulders, sitting a lot more relaxed in her seat. A wave of relief washed over him when he noticed the strange girl from last year had come up just a little bit to the surface as he watched her for a moment before turning his attention to her computer screen.

Pacing. Jihoon noticed that was a tendency she had when she was overwhelmed. She'd move from one end of the room to another in such a short span of time, no matter how big the distance. Jihoon was impressed; in fact, he wasn't sure if he could even take his eyes off her from how quick she did it.

Was he trying to figure out how she moves so fast or was it because he just wants to stare at her? He couldn't figure it out; he was still trying to figure out a bigger problem: why was she pacing so much?

“You wanna calm down, you’re distracting me.” Jihoon said, watching as [Name] halted in her footsteps.

“I don’t know how everything else in your room doesn’t distract you.” She says, eyes looking around the constellation ceiling. 

They had gotten into a weird rhythm of going to each other’s apartments once a week to work on Love or Letter’s opening music. It was Jihoon’s turn to host, though he had a difficult time trying to think (let alone, play) anything with the amount of pacing his guest was doing.

“You act like you’ve never seen my room before.” He mumbles, glancing down at his music sheet, trying his best not to stare at the wandering girl. He couldn’t, however, after seeing her inch closer to his figurine shelves. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” [Name] responded, eyeing his Cardcaptor Sakura figurine intently. She cast a glance back at him. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to touch your prized possessions, Mr. Lee.”

[Name] laughed as she watched Jihoon roll his eyes at the nickname she gave him after showing him a love confession addressing him like that. He set his guitar down, leaning back in his chair as he turned himself to face her.

“You only pace when something’s wrong. Now, tell me what’s wrong so I don’t have to worry about having to clean up broken glass later.” He said, pushing the empty chair beside him out. [Name], albeit a little annoyed, made no move to argue as she sat down.

“I failed my exam today.”

Jihoon shot her a confused look. A part of him wanted to ask her if that was all, if that was really the reason why she was doing all this incessant pacing. The sullen look on her face was enough to tell him to do anything but that at the moment.

“Oh… That sucks.” He says, earning a hopeless look from [Name].

“You really suck with reassuring people, you know that?” She states. He only offered a silence of agreement to the statement, staring at her and waiting. “But, yeah it does suck; I studied just about everything and still managed to fail. Not really the best feeling.”

“So why the pacing?” Jihoon asked.

[Name]’s face morphed to one of embarrassment as she said, “I didn’t want to bother you with my life problems and pacing around helps me keep quiet… Clearly that didn’t work out.”

Jihoon smiled at the small joke. “Well, I’m in need of a break anyways. I lost track of time trying to figure this music out. Let’s just sit for a few minutes. Or pace.”

“Huh, Lee Jihoon admitting to a break? Didn’t think your little robot heart could do that.” [Name] said, earning a soft elbow to her side.

“You’re one to talk.” Jihoon responds, smile widening as he watches [Name] feign hurt when overdramatically rubbing her side. “I heard from Colette you barely even pay attention to time and just hold yourself up in the office. She’s also the one who told me about your Hello Kitty pajama pants.”

He nearly burst out into laughter when he heard [Name] whisper “Traitor” under her breath. Jihoon held himself back as he reminded himself that it might end up bringing one of his other roommates into his room, essentially bursting whatever safe bubble [Name] felt with him right now.

“You’re kinda funny if you try.” [Name] says, earning an odd look from Jihoon at the backhanded comment. “Almost made me forget about my failed exam.”

“Ahhhh, don’t think about it.” Jihoon said, waving a hand. “The more you dwell on it, the more you spiral. You shouldn’t try to think too much about a bad grade unless you want to go insane.”

A sigh was her only response and Jihoon watched as [Name] nodded at his words, shaking her head in frustration. “It’s just—I studied so hard but my mind was wandering so much that whole time and now I’m just wondering if I should even ask to re-take it or not.”

“Wandering?” Jihoon asked.

“College life would be so much easier if my family didn’t hound me every other day.” Was [Name]’s only response, making Jihoon hum. “They were asking me when I was going to visit them again, which by the way, I honestly loathe since it always ends up with me babysitting my idiot siblings.”

She shrugs, seemingly defeated as she was clearly thinking about her stressful family life. Jihoon could only watch on, thinking to himself if this was actually the girl he had butted heads with months ago. 

“She just seems like she’s keeping herself busy from something and she wasn’t like this last year. Of course, you wouldn’t know because you never spoke to her.”

He nearly kicked himself right then and there as Soonyoung’s words rang through his ears. Did it really take him this long to realize that was probably why she was always pooling over her work and school, barely getting any sleep to the point of mixing things up?

She was doing it to forget about her family problems. And he might not have been a big contributor to her stress, but he was a contributor nonetheless, remembering all the times [Name] did her best to not upset him. Guilt swamped him, making him question what he should do next.

“You should ask your professor for a re-take.” He says instead. [Name] offers him a confused look. “It doesn’t hurt to be a little honest with them, you know. I think if you tell them that you’re taking care of your brothers, they’ll let you do something to save your grade.”

“But that might get in the way of work—” [Name] motions to the computer.

“Don’t worry about it.” Jihoon says. “It can wait. I definitely can wait. Just focus on studying until you make up the grade.”

“Jihoon, are you sure?” [Name] asked softly, brows turned down in a frown.

Something in Jihoon’s stomach turned from the way she said his name but he ignored it as he nodded. “Yeah.”

“Thanks. For the talk, I mean, but obviously the time off working—” Jihoon snorted as he watched [Name] stumble over her words.

“It’s no problem.” He said, swiveling himself back to his seat. “Now let me take the rest of your work time before you leave me alone.”

"You again?" Jihoon asked, narrowing his eyes as he watched [Name] enter the Love or Letter office. "I told you to take a break."

"I am on a break. I brought offerings." [Name] countered, waving the cups of coffees in her hands. Jihoon rolled his eyes.

"More like a bribe to see the plans for Love or Letter." He responds, holding up a hand when [Name] opened her mouth to counter him. "Evelyn told me you stopped by yesterday when I was away and offered her money if she says what I had planned for this week."

[Name] chewed at her lip as Jihoon stared her down sternly before she shook the cup of coffee again. "Bribe or not, it's still an offering. You look like you need it anyways."

She held the cup out to him, eyes bright as she waited for him to take it. Some part of Jihoon wanted to refuse, saying caffeine might affect him later when he works out. He didn't, though. He couldn't. Especially with the look she was giving him.

Wide eyed and hopeful that he'd accept her "offering". He didn't try to look at her as he closed his fingers around the cup, not sure if he can handle the look on [Name]'s face and a little embarrassed when his fingers brushed at her's as they handed the drink off to one another.

“Why are you here?” Jihoon asked, not willing to let up on the fact [Name] was supposed to be on her break.

She chewed at her lip again, a habit she had whenever she tried to think about an answer. And something Jihoon wasn’t sure if he should have noticed or not. He moved his eyes from her lips (though, he wasn’t sure why he struggled so hard) to her eyes, glad she wasn’t staring at him, but at the stack of confession letters on his—or her, actually—desk.

Carefully, Jihoon pushed the notes protectively to his side, shaking his head at her. Even with no words being exchanged, he could definitely tell [Name] wanted to say something.

Instead, a pause only came for a moment until [Name] offered a nervous smile. “It was to bribe Evelyn, but she’s clearly not here… But then you’re here so not really a bad thing, right?”

For some reason, he fought off the turning in his stomach at that notion. “To give me coffee?”

“Exactly.” [Name] said, smiling wider. Again, fighting off the urge of his stomach turning. “You always look like you’re about to fall into a grave; it’s getting worse since you took some of my load. I kinda feel guilty…”

“It’s not a problem.” Jihoon said dismissively, making [Name] scoff.

“You’re starting to look like me when I haven’t slept in 48 hours.” She counters in response. “You’re in your last year of college, too, so I know you barely sleep from school work anyways. Have you gone outside yet at all?”

“Yeah. To walk to work.”

[Name] rolled her eyes. “Okay, smartass, I mean what about not work related? The leaves are changing.”

“Should that mean something to me?” Jihoon asked.

“It means you’re going on a walk. With me.” [Name] said, matter of factly.

Jihoon only blinked up at her, not sure how to react. “A walk?”

“Mhm.”

“With you?”

“Yep.”

“When?”

[Name] walked around the table, ignoring the way Jihoon nearly shot out of his seat but nonetheless let her look at the time displayed on the computer. “Right now.”

Jihoon shook his head. “No way. I’m—”

“Busy?” [Name] guessed, shaking her head as she grabbed his coat from the chair and threw it at him. “Don’t care. You look dead and I feel bad since you’re doing my work at the moment. I’m taking you out.”

Jihoon felt his face heat up. Why does she have to word things so weirdly? He hadn’t much time to think about it, however, as he felt himself being pulled away from the room. 

“Why?”

[Name] rolled her eyes. “So we can talk.”

“We spoke to each other on the phone yesterday. And you visit the studio when you’re not working on school.” Jihoon points out, which was all true.

Ever since he had offered to take over for [Name] while she was gone, a sort of camaraderie developed between them. They’d have conversations outside of work, though it was usually to gossip about Soonyoung’s sudden interest in a girl or [Name] telling him about Seungkwan and his rivalry with one of the other hosts for the radio station.

Not to mention, her little stints on trying to get back into the radio station to sneak in some information for weekly Love or Letter segments.

The first week, it was Jihoon who had caught her, dragging her out the building himself and telling her to study for her make-up exams (apparently, her professors loved a good sob story and it didn’t take much convincing to let her re-take them).

The second week, Soonyoung was with him when they caught sight of a blurry figure running into the Love or Letter room when no one else was there. This time, it was Soonyoung who dragged her out as [Name] and Jihoon argued on their way out the door.

It was currently the third week and Jihoon was more than surprised to see that she was the one trying to drag him out this time, though he might see why she did it; she seemed to have picked up on when someone wasn’t looking out of themselves.

“Well, we can talk more. Outside. In the fresh air.” [Name] comments and before he could think about anything else, he found himself on the side of the building, facing a population of trees.

“It’s great the radio station is near the forest, don’t you think?” [Name] said, eyes glancing up at the treeline. Jihoon only hummed, kicking at the leaves beneath their feet as they made their way toward a trail. They let themselves enjoy the environment around them, taking in the chirping birds and the cooling breeze for a while before trying to utter anything else.

Once they had reached a certain point to not see the building anymore, Jihoon finally spoke up. “You’re looking better.”

[Name] blinked at him. “You think so?” She asked, smiling.

She’s been doing that a lot. Jihoon thinks, noting how easily she offers her grins to him. Though, a lot of things have gradually changed in [Name] since she had gone on her break.

 Clothes became cohesive, her demeanor was slowly becoming more like last year’s (though he wasn’t sure the spitfire attitude she harbored this year is going to leave, not that he’s complaining though—he’d rather have a co-producer who can speak up more).

She had done her hair up this time instead of keeping it down or tying it away from her face, letting more of her face become visible. Yeah, she definitely looks better. Healthier.

“That’s what you should look like all the time.” He says, regretting it immediately as soon as the words came out of his mouth. “I mean, that’s what you should look like if you actually balance your school and work life better.”

“Uh-huh.” [Name] said, though the smile never disappeared. She walked a little further ahead before saying, “I’d say you’re looking better, too, but I’d be lying. I wouldn’t have dragged you on a walk with me like this if I didn’t see how dead you were when I walked in.”

“Reading love confessions gets a little exhausting. Especially if they’re just about me.” Jihoon responds, shivering as he remembered a few not so safe for work confessions regarding him and his unwanted fangirls. “Seriously, who even has the courage to say those things to a bunch of strangers.”

“Welcome to my world.” [Name] comments blandly. “Gotta hand it to them, though; some of them are kinda creative.”

“Okay, ew.” Jihoon starts, watching [Name] laugh at his disgust. “You just say anything that comes to mind, huh?”

“As if you don’t.” [Name] responds back, elbowing his side gently. “I’m just a little less shameless about it. You, however, act like you don’t do the same thing I do. We are one in the same, Lee Jihoon, just accept it.”

Jihoon stared at the back of her head, wondering just how true that statement was. From what he’s gathered since his time working with the Love or Letter team, apparently they weren’t any different from one another when it came to working.

“It’s like nothing’s changed.” Eunwoo commented to him last week. “[Name] always sits back there and sometimes doesn’t even talk the whole time she’s with us. Similar to you.”

“Yeah, keep talking like that until you get fired.” Jian comments to him, hitting his shoulder with a folder. He offered an apologetic look to Jihoon. “He just means you both get caught up in your work a lot. Eunwoo is right, though; you do both seem like the same person when you work. It’s a wonder how you two haven’t become friends yet.”

Friends. An odd term for Jihoon whenever he thinks of that and [Name] next to it. Still, he does wonder…

“Are we friends?” He asked [Name], making her turn around. Her eyes became a little distant. Jihoon wondered if he crossed a line for a moment before he heard her hum in thought.

“I’d say a few months ago we weren’t.” [Name] admitted. “And now? I think so. We talked a lot since I went on break. We text each other a lot more now, too. Do you not?”

It was a brief flicker in her emotions, but Jihoon was sure he saw a flash of worry cross her features. He was silent for a second, looking at the fallen leaves on the ground as he kicked them out from the path. Finally he spoke. “Yeah, I think we are. If that’s how you see it.”

“I do.” [Name] said, Jihoon was a little touched at her immediate response. “Hopefully we grow closer.”

Something in Jihoon’s stomach turned again at the notion. He felt his throat dry up as he let the words echo in his head until something finally clicked in him about something. His eyes glanced over at [Name] and the way she kept her eyes trained on the changing leaves. 

Well, shit. 

His brain almost felt like it was exploding. Just when he asked her if they were friends too, such great timing. He did his best to ignore the nervousness crawling up him, trying to find the right words.

“Yeah.” Was all he could offer, ready to give a big sigh as he realized how lame that sounded.

[Name] didn’t seem to mind the one worded answer, giving a satisfied nod as they continued to walk the trail. “Let’s walk for another 10 minutes and then you can go ba—”

“Oh, [Name]? Jihoon?” A voice interrupts, making the two look up to see Soonyoung’s towering figure jogging up to them from the other side of the trail. The blonde was clearly out for an afternoon jog, his blonde hair covered in a cap and wearing warmer clothes. He gave an excited wave once he found himself standing in front of them. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Dragged him out for a walk.” [Name] explains plainly, watching Soonyoung cautiously. Clearly, she was well aware of his tendency to get excited. 

Jihoon was the next one to speak up. “Why are you so excited?”

“Because you two are the last people I’d expect to see outside.” Soonyoung says. “Not to mention together. Alone. Not glaring at each other.”

“I’ll have you know we haven’t expressed wanting to strangle each other with our eyes in the past three weeks.” [Name] says, almost proud at the notion the two of them have had a normal interaction for so long.

Soonyoung let out a noise that could only be compared to a deflating balloon. “Sure.”

“Don’t believe us? Walk with us, then, and see.”

Just when Jihoon thought he could have some peace and quiet… Quietly, he muttered to himself, “Don’t say yes—”

“Okay! While we’re at it, let’s take a selfie…”

Working for a radio station had its perks. Due to receiving bigger funding for its popularity, the station let each segment team have their own office to work in, meaning distractions didn’t happen as often as possible.

[Name] was also allowed to work her own hours without question, meaning she could come in any time she wanted when they weren’t on air. Most times she spent her nights there, working on homework from classes and filing in any paperwork that was needed for Love or Letter.

She let out a groan as she finally pressed submit on her final comment on the discussion board, shutting off the music playing on her laptop before shuffling around to look for the papers she had to deliver to Soonyoung. 

Rubbing out the exhaustion in her eyes before leaving her office, she maneuvered around the office floor as fast as she could to the host’s space, the idea of sleep already grasping at her.

[Name] let out a soft knock, waiting for Soonyoung’s tired “Come in” to signal her to open the door. She let out a laugh mixed with shock and amusement when she opened the door to see two stacks of papers on his desk. “Geez, Soonyoung… Did you wait for paperwork to pile up again?”

Soonyoung only glared at her, though she sensed no type of malice behind it, only an exhaustion she was unfortunately familiar with. His eyes shifted over at the pile in her hand. “Don’t tell me that’s more paperwork I need to look at.”

“Yeah…” [Name] said, waving the thick wad of paper in her hand as she placed it onto the corner of her desk. Something tells her Soonyoung wasn’t going to be able to look at it for a while. “I feel a little behind on work even though Jihoon covered for me.”

“So that means you make me have more paperwork?” Soonyoung cried out, offering an exaggerated cry.

[Name] rolled her eyes. “Oh, relax. You just have to sign it.”

Still, she watched as Soonyoung let out a tired groan, collapsing his head onto his desk in annoyance. “Why did I wait to push all my work? I could’ve done so much more fun stuff on a Friday night…”

“What, like go on a date with a certain someone?” [Name] jibed, covering her mouth as she remembered Jihoon swore her to secrecy about Soonyoung’s love life.

Picking his head up, Soonyoung glared at her. “Where did you hear that?”

“Um…” [Name] started, shifting to get ready to leave.

She was more than glad to not come near it, however, as it swung open so fast, it made the both of them jump. Their heads snapped over to see a panicked looking intern, eyes wild with adrenaline. A piece of paper crumpled in his hand, he shook it in front of the two as he tried to catch his breath.

“Jihoon… Papers… Important… Sign!”

Soonyoung set his pen down, standing up to help the new worker onto his couch while [Name] took the paper in his hand to see it had been an approval request form that was due tomorrow morning.

She handed it off to Soonyung once he stood back up, eye straining to read the paper. “Damn, so much for trying to finish as much paperwork as possible. Why wasn’t this given to him when he was still here?”

“No one saw it until now.” The intern explained. “We tried calling and messaging him, but he won’t respond.”

Soonyoung hummed, as if knowing what he was going to say. “Yeah that sounds like him. Once he’s out of the office he doesn’t respond to work calls unless we find him personally.”

“Yikes.” [Name] muttered. “Well, we kinda need this approval form turned in, though. Any chance you know where he is?”

“Either eating somewhere or at the gym. I dragged him to lunch with me so I’m assuming he’s probably at the gym.” Soonyoung explained. He walked away with the paper. “I’ll just find him and give it to him to sign.”

[Name] watched as he heaved himself onto his seat, clearly too tired to even kick the intern out of the office. He leaned his head onto his hand, picking up where he left off, hardly letting himself breath as his eyes scanned through the papers faster than the last time.

She sighed, offering her hand out. “It’s fine. I can find him before I go home and have him sign the paper. I’ll take it back with me to the station since I come in tomorrow.”

She cast a concerned stare at the intern on the couch, then back to Soonyoung who waved a hand her way, as if to say he’ll take care of him. [Name] was more than happy to offer a nod, not wanting to take care of whatever might come from dealing with him.

By the time [Name] was out of the building, Soonyoung had already texted her the location of the gym with the words “don’t scare him” written right after it. [Name] could only wonder what possessed him to send the last comment but didn’t think much of it as she found the campus gym illuminating in the dark.

She offered a polite greeting to one of the student workers, ignoring the way they stared at her, mouths agape. She could only assume it was because of the way she was dressed—a long coat and a tote bag that looked ready to burst any minute, nothing near gym clothes—as she walked around to look for the producer.

Surprisingly, the gym was close to silent, despite the large population of students in attendance, the music faintly playing in the background as the clinking of metal was the only disruption. Still, she did her best to keep her head low as she peeked around large contraptions that she would have assumed were death traps if it was outside.

She nearly gave up until she spotted a familiar black hat and red watch. [Name] was quick in her steps, careful to not run into anyone as she made her way to Jihoon, who had his head leaning down on his phone.

[Name] opened her mouth, ready to call his name out but choked up when she caught sight of him. Usually he wore the same clothes he was wearing now: black shirt with black pants, and black shoes with the same black hat that covered his head. 

A clear indication he either came back from the gym or his intention was to go to the gym after he finished his tasks at the radio station. She was never close enough before but now she was seeing him and was he always built like some body builder? 

[Name]’s mind could only immediately go to a certain celebrity known for having the same build as she fought off the thought. Composing herself, she walked over machines, offering polite “excuse me’s” to anyone she passed by and giving polite smiles to anyone who looked at her.

It was clear he couldn’t hear her, his earbuds tucked and volume probably louder than she could bear to think of as he kept his head ducked down on his phone. He only looked up when his eyes made contact with her shoes.

Jihoon blinked up at [Name], almost frozen in his spot. “What are you doing here?” He asked, making [Name] snicker.

Straight to the point, like always. “I wanted to work out with you.” She jokes as she fishes out for the papers, taking note of the fluttering in her stomach when she heard the small huff he let out in amusement. “One of your interns barged into Soonyoung’s office saying you needed to sign this. I was on my way out and I told them I’d look for you to sign them.”

"You could’ve just waited, you know.” Jihoon informed, taking the papers to sign anyways. [Name]’s eyes widened as she made eye contact with his arm, which looked like the size of her head from the way he leaned down on it to sign the paperwork. Hercules. He looked like Hercules.

As if sensing her, Jihoon glanced up from the rim of his hat, only spotting the swivel of [Name]’s head to a random spot at the gym. 

Was she just…? Jihoon frowned for a moment, mouth opening slightly then closing it. How was someone supposed to ask their work enemy turned friend if they were checking him out? He wasn’t sure he needed to ask anything if his thinking was correct.

He leaned back down, signing the final page and coughing to catch [Name]’s attention. Jihoon offered [Name] an amused smile as he watched her turn back to him in cartoonish panic, seemingly doing her best to keep her eyes glued on the paper and not him.

“Thanks.” [Name] responds stiffly, stuffing the papers back into her bag before straightening up. She felt a sense of welcoming dread fall in her as she realized Jihoon had watched her haphazardly shoving papers into her bag.“Well, uh… Happy lifting?”

She gripped her bag, giving a bow so fast that she nearly fell over, waving Jihoon’s hands away when they reached out to steady her as she regained her balance. [Name] hadn’t made it far, only about three steps away when she felt a jolt shoot through her as Jihoon stopped her, hand reaching out to grab her wrist.

Jihoon felt something bubble in his stomach as [Name] looked over at him, eyes wide in confusion as he kept his hand on her wrist a little too long. He was quick to let go, doing his best to not focus on how doe eyed [Name] looked as she turned herself toward him.

“Are you heading home?” He asked, watching [Name] offer a slow nod. Jihoon didn’t need to hear anymore as he lifted himself off his seat. “I’ll walk you home.”

“You don’t have to—” [Name] started, only stopping when Jihoon interrupted her, taking off his hat and shaking out his messy hair. When was the last time she saw him not wearing a cap? Usually he keeps them on so his hair wouldn’t get in the way during work. She felt like she was seeing something scandalous, even if it was just his hair.

“I don’t feel comfortable knowing you’re walking home alone in the dark.” Jihoon said, essentially cutting off any argument she had ready. He logged 15 minutes into his watch, the other days indicating 60 or more, mocking him for not finishing his usual work out schedule. He was quick to exit, however, when [Name] shuffled herself a little closer to him as he made his way away from the machines. “I was already finishing my workout anyway. Just wait by the door while I get my stuff.”

He walked away to the locker rooms, ignoring the feeling of [Name]’s eyes on him. He packed quickly, only bothering to change into his sweatpants and shoving all his materials into his bag haphazardly before exiting.

[Name] had been standing by the door patiently, hands clasped in front of her as she rocked on the balls of her feet. Relief washed over Jihoon, glad that [Name] hadn't actually left like he initially thought she would.

Words didn't need to be spoken as they walked out the gym together, Jihoon opening the door for her to exit first, smiling slightly as he watched her face wrinkle at the biting wind. [Name] kept herself moving forward, leading the way to her home.

Jihoon listened intently to the crunch of the leaves underneath his feet while [Name] did her best to kick them away as they walked quietly along the sidewalk. A sense of nervousness bit at her, a little afraid why Jihoon was so quiet. 

Their newfound friendship was built on a basis of quiet understanding since the day she dragged him to go on a walk with her. Neither of them had to speak to one another during meetings to know what the other was thinking now. A single glance at each other gave them the ample opportunity to understand if something was a yes or no.

It seemed quite the opposite right now, however. An unexplainable paranoia followed her as she eyed Jihoon, who looked as if he wanted to say something but wouldn’t.

Sick of the awkward silence, [Name] decided to speak up. “Have you seen Soonyoung’s post?”

Jihoon groaned, rolling his eyes. “Don’t even remind me…”

She let out a quiet snicker, watching his ears burn red in embarrassment, [Name] recalling the post.

hosh_soonie: unexpected guests on my run!!!

His arms had been spread out in the picture, head thrown at the clouds as if screaming into the sky. [Name] and Jihoon right behind him and watching in amused judgment. Neither had thought nothing of it, assuming all the focus would be on their eccentric friend.

A quick look at the comments had proven otherwise, however.

dj_boo: two house cats and a hamster

imdeekay: best producers!

0_tkm_0: pd jihoon looks so good here

notjiyeul: JUST A MOMENT IF YOUR TIME SIR 🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️

.kimgi: his dimples omg

user087261846: who s the girk next to him?

[Name] had never brought it up, feeling a bit embarrassed herself as she read a few of the comments asking about her and hoping it had died down until someone had came up to her a few days ago in class.

“You know that guy you were standing next to in Hoshi’s picture?”

“Jihoon?”

“Yeah, do you know if he’s… Um, single?”

The people pleaser she was, [Name] had agreed to ask him next time she saw him, despite the sinking feeling in her stomach when she had agreed to pair them up together. She continued to ignore it as she spared a glance at him. “You seem like you’re getting popular again, though…”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well I’m not too sure I like the attention.”

“Really?” She asked, elbowing his side gently. They had made it to the crosswalk that was leading to her apartment. A car slowly turned into the same street, making  Jihoon maneuver to her other side when they had crossed. “Some girls have been asking me if you’re single or not. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

“Sure, I guess.” Jihoon responds, ruffling his hair and looking lost in thought. “I’d rather have as much privacy as possible. I’d be more confident without a bunch of eyes on me.”

“Ah,” [Name] hums, a settled agreement coming between them. With such a popular segment like Love or Letter and dealing with the radio station as a whole, [Name] wouldn’t put it past Jihoon to want to have some semblance in his life. “Well, you’ve been doing great at work so if you’re feeling pressure there, don’t stress about it.”

“Well yeah.” Jihoon said, matter-of-factly, mouth gaping open for a moment as he let out an awkward cough. “It’d also be good to have more confidence so I could’ve asked you out sooner.”

Pause. [Name] felt like the wind was just knocked out of her as she registered his words, head whipping toward him. “Huh?”

“I, uh…” Jihoon faded off, eyes darting left and right as he stopped, facing [Name]. “Wanted to ask you out? Like on a date somewhere this weekend…” He analyzed her face, trying to understand her reaction as he continued to ramble on. “Or not? If you don’t see me that way. Or if its too awk—”

“Jihoon I’d like that.” [Name] suddenly scrambled out, unable to control herself when a smile settled on her face.

“Right.” Jihoon said, face burning as he looked at [Name], her face tinting a shade probably similar to his but he definitely didn’t look as cute. “Cool. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

[Name] nodded, suddenly remembering they had been walking to her apartment. She turned to the stairs, ready to walk up as she said, “Yeah, tomorrow. And this weekend.”

Jihoon laughed, walking backwards as he watched [Name] make her way to her door. “Yeah, this weekend too.”

An urge suddenly seemed to stop her as she noticed him turn around, however, making [Name] go back down the stairs of her townhouse and jogged back up to him. “Jihoon, wait!”

“Yeah?” Jihoon asked, feeling [Name]’s hands reach for the side of his face and bring his lips to her’s. The suddenness of their closeness made Jihoon grab her waist to balance himself as he finally registered that they were kissing. It was short and [Name] was running out of breath from her jog, making her pull away too early for Jihoon’s liking.

“This weekend.” She breathes against his lips, Jihoon squeezing her waist as he feels her smile against his own. He only nods, making [Name] pull away and run back to her apartment, scrambling to grab her items as she finally disappeared through her door, the last thing he commits to memory for the night the feeling of her smile against his as he walked home.

[mangocustard16]

seventeen's reaction to you playfully dodging their kisses ✧

| genre: fluff

| warnings: none

| w.c: 180

| a/n: please reblog if you enjoyed, feedback is always appreciated✿

vocal unit version | hhu version | performance unit version

Jeonghan:

"Jagiya give me a kiss", he said coming back from practice.

You move your hands in front of you but he's kissing your palms

He hears you giggling and smirks in your palms

His kisses trail from your fingers to your neck and you're squirming at his touch.

Joshua:

Joshua would smile and playfully shake his head, saying, "You're such a tease."

Joshua would have a subtle smirk on his face.

He might try to sneak in a surprise kiss when you least expect it.

Woozi:

At first, playfully acts unimpressed, but his eyes give him away.

He might act a bit shy but would still try to pull you in for a kiss.

Woozi may use his charms (Wooa-hae) to make you reconsider and give in to the kisses eventually.

Dokyeom:

Will try to laugh it off but is deeply hurt.

He could playfully say something like, "Oh, you got me there," but you might notice a subtle hint of sadness in his eyes or voice.

You feel bad and kiss him, explaining your plan.

"Don't do stuff like this babe"

Seungkwan:

Seungkwan pouts and pretends to be hurt, saying, "Oh, you're playing hard to get, huh?"

He might tease you and ask, "Am I not kissable enough for you today?"

Seungkwan will make exaggerated kissing sounds in the air just to make you laugh.

[evrlies]

nazwałbym każdą gwiazdkę na niebie twoim imieniem.

source: reblog if you want cute message today.status: currently accepting

wooa. to ponad przemiłe wyznanie, nawet nie będę ukrywać, że bardzo mocno przykuło moją uwagę. chciałabym przynajmniej jedną gwiazdkę, która nosiłaby moje imię. 

[wooawrites]

“Not immediately, angel.”

ARE YOU KIDDING ME

⚬ pairing: prince!seokmin x fem!reader ⚬ word count: 12,690 ⚬ warnings: none. ⚬ genre: enemies to lovers, arranged marriage, angst, teasing, some slowburn romance, superfluff toward the end.

✧✎ synopsis: the time has come for prince seokmin to meet his arranged marriage, which forces you to confront a strange predicament: if you truly hate the prince, then why does the thought of him being with someone else hurt this badly?

✧✎ a/n: yeah… i’ve wanted to write some prince!lsm since his excalibur pictures. evidently, i am very late! i hope u enjoy nonetheless :-)

Hiking up the long, heavy layers of your dress, pale and coloured like lilacs, you retrieved a small carving knife that had been clandestinely strapped against your outer thigh. Buried a few feet away from you in the grass was a smooth, palm-sized piece of beech wood, which you quickly picked up before walking back to the bench. You sat down horizontally, stretching out your legs and taking up as much space as possible whilst you started carving down the edges of the beech wood, flicking away the occasional shavings.

Keep reading

[wooawrites]

literally such kayoot fic i lost track of how much i read this alr

Paper Rings || ljh x reader (Inspired by Paper Rings by T.Swift*)

Summary: A quiet night in with Jihoon is the perfect excuse to reminisce on the evolution of your relationship with him. It evolves a bit more when he wakes to find you trying on one of the paper rings he's been leaving all over the house.

Word Count: ~4000

Content Notes: this is not smut ! this is just fluff ! very happy and probably tooth-rottingly sweet !!

also from reader's pov! i know i usually write from svt's pov but i felt super soft and fond and emo after his live (we're in the same timezone and it was at 2 am on the one night i went to bed early kms) and this is the outlet lol

Warnings: his friends (seokmin and soonyoung) are high (just weed but i don't mention it) when they meet, it's not heavily discussed, just a blip; mentions of drinking; mentions of meat; eating; cramps mention (not specified as menstrual so even if u don't menstruate you should be good to go), mentions of having kids but its even smaller a blip than the drugs; he lifts reader up (lbr this man is massive and i believe that if he couldn't lift you he'd just work out till he could), i mention his body a lot bc im obsessed with it what can i say, he's asleep for like half of it sorry, a bit of crying but not as much as in bartender!seungkwan pt 2

tagging: @confusedbansheee @lenireads @junhui-recs @burningupp-replies @heeseung-lover686 @favehoshiposts @gyvswhore @jaysawake @1004luvangel @bangchanbabygirlx

“Sleepy?” Jihoon asks from bed with a soft voice, face nearly expressionless, but you can see the love in his eyes, like always. You’ve gotten good at reading Jihoon over the two years you’ve been together but the man doesn’t always offer up his emotions freely. In his music, sure, but in life? Unless he’s laughing, it can be hard to tell how exactly he’s feeling. If you ask, the answer will usually be hungry, or most often, tired.

Jihoon is always tired, working long hours in the studio as a producer and even longer hours at home as a songwriter. You can always hear him singing in the spare bedroom turned home studio, and every time one of his songs comes out, you wish it was his voice instead. He sings for you, sometimes, when you can’t sleep. Most of the time, he sings when he thinks you’re already asleep (he doesn’t need to know you're faking and you don’t need to know he knows you’re faking). 

You realize you’ve forgotten to respond to him and nod with a gentle smile, bending down for a kiss which he returns contentedly. He’s used to it, knows you drift off sometimes, especially when he sparks a thought in you. 

You’re still thinking as you crawl into bed beside him, leaning in for one more kiss before nuzzling your head into his shoulder. 

You have a lot of thoughts about him, at all times.

You didn’t last long as friends, maybe two or three months, because your traitorous brain just wouldn’t shut up about him. 

His friends had been high the night you met, bragging to you about what a star Jihoon was and trying to get you to date him. Jihoon, meanwhile, looked like he wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole, especially when the platinum blonde one (whom you now know as Soonyoung) held his hand up and curled his fingers at you, hissing, “Tiger’s gaze!” and then stared at you with narrowed eyes for approximately 45 seconds. 

It only got worse when his other friend (sweet, kind, loud Seokmin) started singing something from King Arthur at the top of his lungs; his voice would have been beautiful if it wasn’t directly in your ear and echoing off the empty streets.

Jihoon did his best to wrangle them, apologizing sincerely before dragging them away and shooting one last pinched smile over his shoulder at you.  

You’ve never told him but that night, you went home and googled the fuck out of him. You’d tried every combination of Jihoon and producer and music and songwriting you could think of, throwing in other random words just in case they worked. Nothing did and you fell asleep that night frustrated, and no more informed than you were when you started. 

Now obviously, you know you didn’t find anything because he produced under a pseudonym. 

Your eyes wander over the shelf of awards, all won by Woozi or Universe Factory. Jihoon had been reluctant to put them up, being the humble man he is, but you wanted to celebrate him. You wanted him to look at them and feel proud. And then look at you and feel supported. He may not say it but you know he does. 

You can feel Jihoon’s breath even out and look up at him to find his heavy eyelids closed and his lips open just a bit. His throat will be sore tomorrow if he sleeps with his mouth open like that, and he won’t absentmindedly hum around the house if it is, so you hold your breath and carefully push his chin up with one finger to close it. You wait, just to make sure you haven’t woken him, and thank your lucky stars he’s a heavy sleeper. 

Now that you know he’s sleeping and won’t perceive you (as he so often does), you let your mind wander. 

You think about how you’d run into him again, on that same street, with the same friends, just a few weeks after the first time. You’d pretended you didn’t remember him, or that night. 

Even then he knew you were lying. Jihoon’s always been able to see right through you, down to the insecure and messy parts you try to hide. 

He let it slide though, let you pretend, knowing somehow you needed to protect yourself just a little bit longer. Soonyoung and Seokmin (they repeated their names to you what felt like a hundred times) somewhat desperately attempted to convince you to join them on their night out.

Jihoon had tried to free you, give you an out by saying that you were probably busy and had plans of your own, his eyes boring into you to make sure you knew what he was doing. 

You only needed a few seconds to decide you didn’t want to be free. 

So you joined them, and learned you shared mutual friends, and suddenly two friend groups became one, and then you were seeing him every weekend. You always thought you could feel Jihoon’s eyes on you, but when you’d look over he’d be in a seemingly deep conversation with someone else, usually Jun. 

Jun was one of the friends you had in common, you’d met him at work and Jihoon had known him since middle school, and he was perhaps too delighted when your friend groups merged. 

You honestly couldn’t tell if Jihoon even liked you as a person until your friends insisted on swimming in Jun’s apartment complex’s pool. It was freezing out, halfway through November and mid cold-front, and the absolute last thing you wanted to do was jump in a cold ass pool.

Everyone else had gone in, everyone but you and Jihoon. Your friends had tried to goad you for a bit but eventually gave up and started trying to drown each other, as boys do. 

You’re sure Jihoon could tell that you did want to get in, but you didn’t want the teasing or punishing splashes that were sure to follow, because he came and sat next to you on the lounger, and said quietly, “what if I go in first?” 

With wide eyes, you’d turned to him, shocked that A) he was talking to you unprompted, and B) that he was offering to get in the pool at all. He’d been adamant he didn’t want to get his clothes wet, saying that he hadn’t brought anything else to wear, that he hated the way water felt in his slides. Jun had offered a shirt, but you and everyone else knew it wouldn’t fit Jihoon. He was just too big, so very big and dense and muscular and…

You shake your head, reminding yourself that he’s asleep and values his rest and wouldn’t appreciate you awakening him by feeling him up. 

Maybe he would though, he always gets the cutest blush whenever you appreciate his body in any way, shape, or form… and his form is so…

No! Jihoon needs his rest, he doesn’t sleep enough and he works too hard for you to wake him up now, even if you desperately want to trace your fingers over his pecs. 

Your mind wanders to when you’d accidentally went from friends to more than friends to lovers to partners. 

Jihoon wasn’t much of a drinker, and neither were you, so you were often paired up as designated drivers. Neither of you minded, preferring to keep a clear head and make sure your friends didn’t concuss themselves or impregnate anyone, but it meant you spent a lot of time together.

A lot of time together, late into the night, surrounded by drunk people who wouldn’t remember what you said in the morning. 

So you and Jihoon entertained yourselves by making fun of your friends’ antics. You shared secret smiles when Seokmin inevitably climbed on a table and started belting out show tunes. You giggled to each other when he launched himself onto Mingyu’s back and declared himself king of the world. You blindly slapped at each other’s arms and stifled smiles when Soonyoung started trying to make out with whoever was closest to him and subsequently got pushed away with a palm to the forehead. 

That’s usually when one of you would decide the group had had enough for the night, and worked together to corral everyone into your respective cars. One night though, after assigning seats and buckling everyone in (thank fuck you both drove SUVs), Jihoon gently caught your hand before you opened the driver’s side door and pulled you aside. 

He’d looked nervous, which was uncharacteristic of him, and you were instantly worried he was going to tell you he was tired of chaperoning.

Terrified you’d be on your own from now on, left to somehow babysit twelve grown men without Jihoon’s firm, large hand, you twisted your fingers together and stared at him apprehensively. 

“Do you think you’d maybe… some time… want to get-” Jihoon pushed out a breath, shaking his head from side to side a little, before continuing.

“Would you wanna get a drink sometime? With… just me? We could leave the kids at home for once.”

A half-smile pulled at his lips, nerves evident only in the bunching of his muscles and the way he couldn’t quite meet your eye. 

It had taken everything in you to pretend you didn’t just see a flash of the two of you dropping toddlers off at your mom’s house before running back to the car together and escaping into the sunset.

Jihoon must have taken your wide eyes and silence for a rejection though, because he started backtracking. He didn’t get far before you interrupted him.

“Actually there’s a place nearby where they wander around with various grilled meats on sticks and cut it right there onto your plate. It’s all you can eat. We could go there instead?” You offered hopefully. 

Jihoon had looked right at you then, like he was seeing all the way down to your bones and into the annoying, stupid organs they protected (a heart that beat too hard around him, and a brain that he could scramble with a single touch).

But his face was more open than ever, eyes clear and focused on you. It was scary almost, to have all of his attention, all of his concentration, on you like that. Scary until he broke out into a full grin, eyes crinkled and dimples creased in his smile lines.

And that was all it took, just one smile and he’d burrowed his way deeper into the depths of your heart and every groove of your brain, and you knew somehow you’d never be able to disentangle them from him. 

Jihoon’s been stuck there ever since, carving out his own space in you with every late night spent cooking together, every early morning spent staring at each other, every long day spent caring for one another. 

His care always shows in the little things: in the way he makes two portions when he has to leave early for work so he’s sure you eat breakfast, in the way he noticed that you hate when his toes touch you in bed and started wearing socks without you having to ask, in the way he can always tell when you have cramps and appears every four hours to give you pain meds because you’d forget they exist otherwise. 

The longer you’re with him, especially now that you live together, the more sure you are that you want this to be your life, forever.

You’ve already read all of the books on his side of the bed, even though they’re about songwriting and you don’t have a poetic bone in your body. There’s a picture of him on your nightstand, framed carefully, and he’d bemoaned the fact that it was just him and not you together. 

But how could you resist? His mouth was open wide, kabobs in each hand, and uninhibited, ravenous joy in his eyes. It’s one of your favorite pictures of him, and you know Jihoon knows it’s because it reminds you of that first date at the Brazilian steakhouse. 

You smother a giggle in his shoulder, remembering how Jihoon had invited you back to his place after. 

You’d worried things were moving too fast until he turned on a movie and immediately fell asleep, his massive shoulders tipping into you until he was practically in your lap. You hadn’t been able to move for hours, both because you didn’t want to disturb him and because he was just too heavy, and even with dead legs and a screaming bladder, you still wouldn’t change a single thing about it. 

You don’t mean to, but sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back asleep, so you just lay on your side and watch his chest rise and fall. It’s soothing to you, the pattern of his breaths and the sound of air moving through his lungs. A reminder that he’s here with you and feels safe with you and loves you (Jihoon can sleep anywhere but he doesn’t like sharing a bed, a fact that changed with you). 

This usually happens on rainy days or Mondays or when things feel a bit more complicated than normal.

Being with Jihoon isn’t always easy; it’s not even close to his fault but it can be hard contending with his demanding schedule, and sometimes he pours so much emotion into his music he doesn’t have a whole lot to spare for you. You never doubt that Jihoon loves you, but there are days that he’s a bit closed off, a bit unavailable. 

Those are the nights that you stay awake on purpose, just so you can watch him sleep and remind yourself that he wants to be here with you, and that he’s here to stay. 

You’re still not sure if Jihoon thinks you haven’t noticed the paper rings he’s been leaving all over the house. He has to have noticed that they disappear though, snatched with delicate fingers and deposited straight into your jewelry box as soon as you find them. You’re too scared to put them on, worried you’ll tear the paper or get them wet or lose them, but you know they’re for you. 

He’d told you somewhere near the six month mark that his writing changed when he met you, got deeper, truer, his words finally tied to real experiences, and you’ve listened to every song he’s put out since then. 

Same dream, same mind, same night was basically a proposal in itself, even if it was sung by someone else. Last month, he’d led you into his studio, gently pushing you down by the shoulders to sit in his chair before starting the guide track of IF you leave me and immediately running from the room.

You’d emerged fifteen minutes later, your face wet with tears and sobs caught in your throat, walking straight into his arms and staying there for hours. 

Your mind lingers on one lyric in Same, same, same.

Promise me eternity, if you feel the same way as I do

You feel the sudden urge to look at the rings, to try one on for once, so you carefully roll out of bed, thanking yourself for not having wormed your way into his arms yet. Shuffling on quiet feet to your dresser, you open your jewelry box, holding your breath and praying it doesn’t creak. 

The paper rings are there, as expected, but you notice something new this time. 

A metal one, white gold, with a diamond wrapped in delicate golden vines, dotted with tiny gemstones. You look closer, realizing that the gems are his and your birthstones. 

Your breath catches in your throat, tears welling up immediately, and you almost curse Jihoon for making you cry so late at night, before you hear rustling behind you and his tired voice. 

“Took you long enough, that thing’s been in there for days,” you can hear the smile in his tone, hear the way it forms his words and coats them with love, “didn’t you notice I stopped leaving paper ones for you to find?” 

You can hear blankets moving through the roaring in your ears, fingers quivering around the ring until Jihoon reaches around you and takes it from your grasp. He must know you’re frozen, unable to turn around on your own, because he lays a gentle hand on your shoulder and spins you slowly himself. 

Your gaze meets his and you’re shocked to see inklings of tears in his eyes, your eyebrows raising and the fondest smile stretching your lips. Jihoon tries to kneel but you follow him, sinking down onto your knees until you’re both sitting on the floor of your bedroom, in the home you share. 

He rolls damp, playful eyes at you, and you can only shrug and let your watery smile grow.

Jihoon should know by now that you’ll always follow him. 

“I had a plan, if you didn’t find it in the next few days,” Jihoon begins, voice quiet but strong. 

“I bought you a music box programmed to play the song I wrote the night I first asked you on a date, one you’ve never heard before, and I was going to have it waiting with all the rings inside when you got home from work.”

You nod, biting your lips into your mouth to stifle the sob, forcing yourself to focus on him even through the fogginess of your tears. 

Jihoon just narrows his eyes at you lovingly, a little chuckle escaping under his breath, before shifting to sit with his knees crossed, and pulling you to sit sideways in his lap. His arms wrap around you, cradling you and letting you gather yourself enough to listen to him, and he carries on with his speech. 

“You know I like to have control over my life, over who’s in it and what happens and where it goes, but when I met you, I started wondering what could happen if I didn’t control everything. It felt like a sign when I saw you again, and then when we had friends in common, it felt like the pieces could fall into place if I would just let them.”

Jihoon disguises a sniffle in a cough and like the loving, caring person you are, you pretend to be fooled. 

“So I tried to let go. I wasn’t successful at first,” you snort, remembering the way he always pretended he hadn’t been looking at you, and he bops you gently on the head with his nose in retribution. 

“I wasn’t successful at first,” Jihoon continues pointedly, digging his chin into the top of your head a bit. 

“But I got better at it, better at letting go and letting things happen, and being around you got so easy I didn’t even have to try anymore. And then I asked you out for drinks, and I thought you were turning me down but you proposed meat instead, and that’s when I knew,” Jihoon nods with finality, seemingly finished. 

“Is that- Are you… done?” You ask, tilting your head to stare at him. 

Jihoon stares back, face flat, before he breaks out into laughter, his cackles bouncing off the walls of your bedroom and your heart. You can’t do anything but join him, resting your head on his shoulder and giggling into his neck. 

“No, I’m not done. I was pausing for dramatic effect, I thought you’d appreciate it!” He says breathlessly, pressing a kiss onto your forehead, pausing to let his lips rest there a moment. 

“That’s when I knew that I was in trouble. That if I got to be with you, got to love you, I’d never want anyone else. But I was ready, I am ready. And if you are too, then,” Jihoon pauses to pull away enough to look at you, voice soft and serious.

“Marry me?” He unwraps one arm from around you and holds out the ring, nestled in his palm and looking so so delicate compared to the size of his hand. 

You feel like your throat is closing up, clogged with joy and love and wishes fulfilled. You can only nod, reaching shaking fingers out to Jihoon, watching as he slides the ring onto your fourth finger. It fits perfectly, sparkling even in the moonlight and warm from his skin. 

Staring at it on your finger for just a second, you take a deep, steadying breath before tackling Jihoon to the floor and kissing him like your lives depend on it.

He goes willingly, you know because Jihoon’s withstood your attempts to tackle him before, and he lets you kiss all over his face with his eyes scrunched shut and the brightest grin you’ve ever seen him wear. 

You lay there together on the floor, his body cushioning yours from the hardwood and you promising him in your mind to massage away all the aches tomorrow, talking late into the night and falling asleep together, breaths in sync. 

You wake up in bed, eyes swollen from crying the night before, and jerk as your phone vibrates again on the nightstand. 

Oh, so that’s what woke you up, you think, reaching over to flick the button and silence the buzzing. 

Jihoon’s not in bed with you, but you can hear him singing in the kitchen, a song you don’t recognize. Something about being ready and wanting to run away and someone being his escape? 

You start to roll out of bed, toes tapping to the beat of his song, but stop when you see your phone light up again. Your eyes grow wide at the amount of notifications, the such a beautiful night groupchat being responsible for all of them.

Rubbing your eyes blearily with the back of your hand, you scroll through the messages, trying to catch up. 

You see apple cash being exchanged, demands for pictures, requests for the full story, and know Jihoon must have told the guys.

Some people might be upset that he’d shared the news without asking, but you just smile, because it had been them who brought you together in the first place. 

It was Soonyoung who growled at you when you were passing him in the street, forcing Jihoon to grab him by the arm and apologize profusely to you.

It was Jun who called the night you first agreed to hang out with them, who recognized your voice and shouted at Jihoon until he passed the phone to you.

It was Seungcheol who begged you both to be designated drivers, desperate to the point of offering the two of you gas money and his firstborn child.

It was Seokmin who broke out into love songs every time you and Jihoon so much as glanced in each other’s direction, and Mingyu who carried him away before either of you got too embarrassed and annoyed to even look at one another. 

Memories flicker through your brain like vintage film, your mind recalling moments you and Jihoon shared with each and every one of the guys.

Moments that led you to each other, brought you closer together, allowed this love to grow.

Facilitated it, even. 

You’re so lost in thought you don’t notice Jihoon coming in until he scoops you up into his arms bridal style and hauls you into the kitchen, setting you down on the counter and placing a plate of steaming scrambled egg mess on your lap and a fork in your hand.

You reel a bit, trying to catch up to the abrupt location change, and ask Jihoon, “what was that for?”

Jihoon smiles at you, dimples on full display and cheeks pushed up high, and says, “Practice.”

AN: so if y'all couldn't tell by my blog, woozi is my ult and i fear i may be straight up in love with him, evidenced by this fic. i made myself cry with this one and you're legally obligated to tell me if it made you cry too!

this is the pic reader has framed

:'-)

Ps do u guys know what I’m talking about when I said his exhale head shake thing bc I love when he does that and if u dont know I will find it and gif it and reblog it onto the post

[wooawrites]

CRYING SOBBING THIS IS SO GOOD

then came you | l.jh

genre: opposites attract au, highschool au, strangers to friends to lovers; fluff, comedy, angst!!

pairings: introverted!woozi x extroverted!reader (y/n uses they/them pronouns, but small scene where it mentions that y/n wears a skirt)

word count: 7.9k... jfc

warnings: swearing, a fight scene (not violent, more like a lot of swearing), and the fight scene has a lot of repetitive swear words because i don’t swear that much help :”)

description: in which you, the student council vice president, and lee jihoon, the quiet boy in the back of the class, fell in love despite your differences.

a/n - this was a lot of fun to write but near the end of editing it i was literally pushing SHOVING this out of my drafts to publish im so sick of it now. i rushed the editing so ... forgive me pls. ***fight scene is also inspired by the ep 3 of the kdrama “our beloved summer.”

one. meet cute

well, if it wasn’t for the consequences of your actions smacking you right on the face. yes, you should’ve studied more for that physics test. and studied harder. but also yes, student council duties needed attention. that group project for math was very time-consuming as well in your defense!

all those excuses and yet you still broke down.

sitting and hiding under a table in your school’s music room was becoming familiar. sometimes you wish you weren’t so outspoken or eager because now you’ve bitten off more than you can chew and are suffering the exhaustion from it.

but anyways, thank god for sound-proof music rooms! (your sniffles were beginning to inch their way towards sobs…)

“you okay?”

you shriek at the sudden voice, head bumping against the desk with a heavy ‘thud.’

you blink up at the voice’s owner, furrowing your brows in annoyance.

the pale boy stammers in shock, struggling to put together his words. he heard you crying while entering the room, but seeing your puffy and bloodshot eyes made him wonder if he should’ve just made a 360 and left the room the first time he heard sniffles.

“s-sorry! i didn’t mean to scare you!” he stutters, rushing to you as you make your way out from under the desk. he quickly puts a hand under the desk, making sure you don’t bonk your head a second time.

you get up, quickly wiping your tears away from your face with the sleeves of your school uniform, the boy could get a good look at your face.

l/n y/n. student council’s vice president and class representative. he knew you very well. everyone did really. you were always all over the place talking to people, socializing, getting things done, and leading the way. you definitely didn’t know him though (he was right).

“it’s fine. don’t worry about it,” you assured, smiling slightly in an attempt to ease his obvious nerves.

you sigh before adding, “just don’t… tell anyone, yeah?” you read his name tag pinned on the chest of his uniform. lee jihoon.

“of course, don’t worry about that.”

“okay well, i have to get going now! see you around!” you send a friendly wave, walking for the door as jihoon interrupts you.

“wait! here, ta-take this,” he hands you a wrinkled napkin he had just pulled from his pockets.

when you stare at his outstretched hand, jihoon explains, “for your tears… although you’re not crying anymore, huh.”

you hold in your smile seeing the napkin most definitely from lunch that was just placed in your hand. so cute.

jihoon watches as you make your way out of the music room, thanking him, making him promise to not tell anyone about today, and saying the last goodbye.

so when you close the door behind you, he sighs with a gentle smile on his face. so cute.

two. i hate everyone but you

“lee jihoon!”

before becoming friends with lee jihoon, people should know that jihoon hates five things: when people touch him, annoying people, talkative people, being told what to do, and opening up.

and you haven’t seemed to pick up on these things yet after being friends for about… two months? but for you, it was bearable.

so whenever you march up to his desk, he doesn't complain.

“your group mates just told me how you haven’t attended any of the work meets they planned!” you sighed, pressing your lips together. “and take those damn earbuds out!”

“okay, okay. sorry,” jihoon leans back in his chair with tired eyes before explaining, “i’ve been doing my share of the work anyway, so why does it matter? i can’t be needed that much.”

you pout before sitting at the empty desk in front of him. you also notice how his eyes seem so focused on his hands all of a sudden.

you poke his forehead with your forefinger, making him look up to look at you with wide and confused eyes.

“it’s just me, be honest,” you say in the gentlest tone jihoon’s ever heard from you.

he takes a moment to think before nodding. you smile and lean in, ready to hear his side of the story.

“they’re not the nicest people. i overhear them sometimes and they’re always gossiping. i don’t think i’d be able to stand being in a room with all of them talking for like two hours,” jihoon finally explains, but he’s taken aback as he sees your attentive and genuine expression.

he clears his throat and adds, “in conclusion, they give me a headache, and being with them for hours would drain my social battery for the day, no, week.”

jihoon forgets to mention that being around his group would be unbearable also because you were a common topic amongst their gossip. he remembers the day when one of his partners said you were such a teacher’s pet only for the sake of impressing the student council’s president, choi seungcheol.

he quite literally had to take a step outside before he said something he regrets because l/n y/n doing something for male validation? he would laugh in their faces if he had the courage.

“i see… it’s alright, i’ll see what i can do. don’t worry, jihoon! just focus on your part of the work and let me do the talking!” you grin, standing up abruptly.

jihoon just smiles up at you and nods, not surprised at how you were going to speak in his defense once again (this was becoming the new norm as you two became friends).

before turning to leave, you reach a hand out to ruffle his dark black hair, messing it all up. you quickly dash off, not letting jihoon scold you.

he hides his smile and growing blush as he reaches up to fix his hair.

jihoon still hates five things: when people touch him, annoying people, talkative people, being told what to do, and opening up. but if they come in the form of you, he doesn't seem to mind so much. especially if every time he reluctantly opens up, you always seem to understand him.

three. what was this feeling?

“i swear to god if i don’t beat her, she’ll never let me hear the end of it!”

jihoon was about to lose it. you were pacing back in forth in front of him. every time you had finally stopped moving or talking, he would place the sunscreen in your hand so you could apply some on your face yourself before your race. but every single time he did, you just gave him a look and shoved it right back into his hands and continued your rant.

“she keeps going on and on about how the class representative should be good at everything including athletics and so sports day should be a breeze for me! why do class representatives have to go last in the relay? it’s so weird! i could be helping student council pass out waters right now or something like…”

your words fade away as his attention diverted to the couple a few feet down the bench from you two. the girl squeezed some sunscreen onto the back of her hand before applying it to her boyfriend’s face.

and to be honest, he couldn’t even remember who you were talking about anymore! yuna was it? or maybe yuri? yura??

so fuck it.

“i think she’s just jealous she’s in a lower class than me! because what other reason could—"

jihoon grabs your hand, pulling you down next to him. as your mouth hangs open in surprise and confusion, he twists the cap off, throwing it to the side and squeezing some onto the back of his hand. he lastly takes a deep intake of breath.

jihoon slaps (not that hard actually) his sunscreen-covered fingers on your forehead making you freeze. unable to form words, sounds even, you just stare at his focused eyes, the slight furrow of his brows as he spreads the sunscreen on your face.

you curse the heat, maybe also your flustered emotions, as your cheeks warm up when you take in the proximity between you two and also because his cold, pretty hands were on your face!! he was so gentle and cautious with you that you had a feeling he was as panicked as you were right now.

as you were freaking out and praying he couldn't hear the pounding of your heart, jihoon was busy wondering if this was too much. was this weird? was he making you uncomfortable??

jihoon, now much more uncomfortable with the sudden silence, began to change the subject. “you know someone so thoughtful of their skincare shouldn’t forget to put on sunscreen.”

when you responded with a flustered silence, he snorts as you refused to maintain eye contact with him.

he takes your silence as pre-anxiousness for your event, instead of it being because of his bold actions. “you’ll be fine in your race. so beat yuri, get this day over with, and let’s do something after school together, yeah?”

so he did listen to your rants.

it made you think. when was the last time someone paid attention to your rambling? when was the last time someone cared enough to want you to put sunscreen on? when was the last time someone comforted you even when you didn’t show you were troubled?

"anyways!" jihoon yells as he jumps up from the bench, "you still have some sunscreen on your face, but I've done enough so..." (way to ruin the moment, jihoon...)

you felt your heartbeat quicken when jihoon pulled you up from the bench by hand and gave your head a couple pats to calm the anxiety.

“so remember why you wanna win and use that to motivate you. you got this, y/n!” he holds a fist up, truly wishing you the best even though you very well knew he had no care in the world for today’s sports day.

what was this feeling?

four. it's love

the moment you start running, jihoon felt his hands get clammy and heart start pumping though he wasn’t even running. okay, so maybe he was completely listening to your rants even if he didn’t want to. maybe he did want you to beat yuri because he loved seeing you so passionate about something and always rooted for your success.

so as you passed yuri in your relay right before the finish line, maybe he did jump from his seat and start cheering. for once, he ignored all the stares from people around him who were shocked to hear his voice louder than class-speaking volume. he was just so so excited to see you sprint past the finish line with the biggest smile on your face as your classmates rushed over to congratulate their class representative.

he watches as you scan the bleachers, eyes lighting up as you find his eyes and mouthed the words, ‘i won!’

jihoon nods with a smile, sending you two thumbs up as you laugh before turning away to talk to your friends.

despite you being surrounded by so many people and him on the bleachers by himself on sports day, he still can’t help but finally realizes he likes you. he always has despite all the differences. lee jihoon likes you. and his smile never fades away upon processing this fact.

five. the argument

it’s been 11 days, 10 hours, and 34 minutes since jihoon had spoken a word to you. at first, you decided to keep track of the days so you could use it as a point to argue with jihoon. but that was ultimately thrown out of the window when jihoon remained giving you the silent treatment and no argument, not a single word from him was in sight (you did not expect this). he probably just needs some time alone... right?

on the other hand, jihoon could always feel your burning, infuriated stares burning a hole in the back of his head. it came to the point where walking by you in the hallways felt like he was on fire.

lee jihoon was conflicted. he enjoyed being your friend (even if it felt like it should be more sometimes), but at what cost? his mind just kept going back to your friends' conversation that day.

just as jihoon was about to unlock the restroom stall, his hand freezes at the mention of your name from someone's mouth. his name as well.

"you think y/n is actually friends with that loser?"

"who?"

"the nerd who always listens to music in the back of the class!"

"ah, lee jihoon? i mean... i doubt it. they're probably hanging with him to make him feel like he belongs, you know? he has no friends so that's probably why."

"holy shit, that's so depressing."

"right?"

and when jihoon is conflicted, he did what he does best: stay silent. because yes, being your friend made his year. should he keep being your friend even if he knew you were doing it out of pity? would he go that far for his crush?

as jihoon makes his way to the music room after just finishing his lunch, he decides to just stay silent forever! confrontation is difficult... so none of that!!!

he reaches his hand out to turn the knob of the music room, but lets out a pained groan as the door flies into his face unbeknownst to you who just got too excited at his presence because now you could finally talk to him alone!

"jihoon! i knew you'd come here! let's talk," and suddenly all your angry, violent thoughts that said to be angry at lee jihoon for ignoring you for so long flew out of your head. all rational thoughts: gone. you grabbed his hand that wasn't rubbing his now red forehead and pulled him into the room.

jihoon sighs. so much for no confrontation.

when jihoon closes the door behind you both, you take a deep inhale of breath and exhale to calm your nerves. you've been thinking about this moment for ages, don't mess it up now!

you turn swiftly to face jihoon with a bitter expression on his face, making you gulp as the nerves begin crawling back.

"li-listen, whatever i did i'm sorry. i truly didn't mean to hurt you, so please, tell me what i did wrong so we can talk it out and i can apologize properly!"

for the first time since being pulled into that room by you, he looks at you to meet your eyes. how could they be so... genuine?

he looked at you in a way that made you want to sink to the floor. "well? are you gonna say anything?" you frown as he stares at you wordlessly.

"why are you friends with me?"

you blink at him in shock. "w-what?"

jihoon sighs and repeats, "why are you friends with me?"

you struggle to form the right words to say. "well... we kept running into each other and i liked talking to you so i just stuck around.” that could be worded much better, you think.

he didn’t believe you.

“you’re only friends with me because you’re vice president and it’s your job to help your peers, right?”

your jaw went slack.

“where did you get that from??”

this look was different. not mad, but hopeless. “not important. just answer me, is it true?”

“of course not! who told you that? why would you even believe that?” okay, now you were starting to get worked up because that’s such a horrid thing to assume of you! did he have that little faith in you?

his fists tighten because suddenly pin-pointing all the flaws in his friendship with you became easy.

“hey, but to add on to that, why do you baby me?”

your eyebrows knit together because you just got even more lost if possible. “baby you? since when? how? where did any of this come from, jihoon?”

“can you quit being so focused on where this is coming from? it’s coming from me, okay? it makes sense anyways, i am nothing like any of your friends. why me? why be friends with me—“

“why can’t i just be friends with you because i want to?? do all my friends need to be the same?”

he lets out a menacing scoff. “okay, so am i some charity case then? a friendship made out of pity because i can’t seem to ever speak up for myself and you always have to swoop in to save me? i can defend myself, y/n. why do you act like i’m a defenseless loser that needs to be protected and babied?”

“i have never thought about you that way! first of all, whoever told you i was friends with you because it was my job has no idea what you and i are. you’ve never given other people the time of day to listen to their stupid opinions, so why now, huh?”

because it was about you.

“second of all, you always complain about people not understanding you or mistreating you! you always let people walk all over you! i am sick of having to watch you pretend like you’re cool and unbothered at what people say about you, so forgive me if i’m standing up for you because i care. it’s not my job, i’m doing it because i’m your friend. and if you were uncomfortable about it, just tell me! set boundaries! not give me the silent treatment.”

“well i don’t want to be your friend anymore.” his words eerily cold. he gave up. he clearly didn’t want to try for this or you anymore.

your gentle pants from your yelling fill the silent and tense atmosphere of the music room where you two first met. silent because his words were still processing in both of your heads and tense because this was probably the end of your friendship. you both couldn't meet each other's eyes.

as jihoon was gauging your troubled expression, a pool of heavy guilt filled his stomach. that sentence was not how he imagined it would go. he always thought it would be said bravely. lovingly. like in a confession. not like friends breaking up!

so you decide to give up too because what’s the point in trying when he doesn’t trust you.

“okay then. i respect that. i have nothing else to say. do you?”

he grimaces at the way your voice shakes. the way your nose scrunches unpleasantly. and his heart regrets the way your eyes shine over with tears. jihoon would never believe that he would one day be the cause of your pain and tears.

“no.” goddammit, that’s not what he wanted to say. why was he such a coward?

“okay.” your voice was just a whisper as you breeze past him, not wanting him to see you cry a second time.

when the door of the room shuts behind him, he cries. for the first time in a long time.

he can’t even remember what he was mad about. he could only remember your broken expression and your broken tone. he messed up something beautiful all because it was hard believing that someone as amazing as you would want to be his friend. and possibly like him.

six. right person, right time

22 days, 12 hours, and 16 minutes. why are you even keeping track anymore at this point. you are not friends. period.

you weren’t even friends with him for that long! you had your other friends too anyways so why did cutting things off with him hurt so much? (i wonder why).

after not talking to jihoon, you start to realize how being his friend was such a breath of fresh air. a break from life. a good and genuine change. it was great. this was probably because how jihoon had no care for social cliques or no expectations or just no interest in things outside of grades and music!

and so for the first time in a long time, someone wanted to talk to you about something that had nothing to do with student council, clubs, school, volunteering, or community service. meeting jihoon was a quick and sharp realization that all your friends, all the people you surround yourself with, are people from the student council or simply smart-popular people! over-achievers! nerds!

maybe jihoon was right when he said you were the definition of a nerd who also happened to be popular… (which you refused to believe because how could a nerd be popular, jihoon?)

nevertheless! jihoon’s interest in music, critiquing animes, playing instruments for fun (not just in school like what), and best of all his carefree attitude, truly make all these nerds around you so bland and basic.

like finally, someone who busies themself with something, not about school or accomplishing something worthy to put on a college application.

and about his carefree attitude, it’s crazy how you never noticed until jihoon mentioned how uptight some of your friends were after hearing a close friend of yours, who was also secretary of the council, talk to you about something school related.

so yes, being friends with lee jihoon was beyond eye-opening and more life-changing, but it also made you view your friends differently. were they even your friends? if you weren't a part of all your extracurriculars, no, if you just weren't smart or outgoing, would they care about you at all?

this epiphany has let you see your friends for the people they are. you indeed saw this for yourself when some dumb boys began picking on him.

"seriously, i get if you don't like us. i respect that even. but failing us just because you think we're inferior to you makes you look like a fucking loser," park junghyung laughed cynically as he pulled a chair next to jihoon's desk, getting all up in his face.

if you don't see it, it doesn’t exist. jihoon has been repeating this sentence for the past five minutes because junghyung and his friends couldn't stand not being carried through group assignments for the first time in their lives.

"i didn't fail you, that's up to ms. lee."

with that, junghyung's tight-lipped smile dropped and his "patience" ran dry. he shot up from his seat and kicked it to the floor, the loud clanging sound making people gasp and begin to watch the situation unfold.

yeah, maybe removing his entire group's names from the presentation before submitting was too bold of a move. well, they should’ve done shit to help if they didn’t want a failing grade, right? after all, you always told him 'be bold and be strong! don't let stupid idiots walk over you! run over them instead!' wait, why as he even thinking about you in this situation?? damn it!

so, cue you walking toward jihoon's classroom, ready to confront some bullies and you’re only doing this because it’s the right thing to do, not that you still like him or anything (lie)! you don’t dare to hope you two might reconcile and maybe even become friends after this because that’s so dumb (lie). and hopefully, jihoon won’t think you're babying him, you just want to clear his name! (truth).

however, seeing your crush (100% truth) lee jihoon being cornered by park junghyung who was grabbing his collar while everyone was staring and recording was not what you expected! are you seriously about to walk into a fight for your crush… (yes).

"you must think you're all that to pull such a move, huh. in reality, you're just a pathetic shit who can’t even pull bitches because they all pity you.” was he talking about you?

now that he thinks about it, the voice in the restroom that day was him. it was park junghyung.

honest to god, jihoon 100% firmly believes the best choice in this situation would be to run because he cannot fight. he guesses he can try, but unfortunately, junghyung is a fit dude. a big dude. if only he didn’t talk about you and insinuate you were a bitch.

jihoon grabs junghyung’s collar and throws him off. he’s at his limit right now.

“if you didn’t want to fail, maybe stop partying and getting drunk of your ass to get away from your fucked up home life? maybe actually use that empty shit brain of yours and do something with it? maybe then you wouldn’t have to ask your rich dad or student council friends to pull favors so you don’t get pushed down a class. or kicked out of school even.” jihoon is suddenly very memorable of all the gossip you’ve told him before.

junghyung laughs in disbelief. “you’re asking for it, you little fucker.”

well. this was it. this is when jihoon gets sucker punched.

“y-you dickhead!”

woah, was that… you??

everyone, including jihoon and an impatient junghyung turns to see you pushing through crowds, and marching your way in between junghyung and jihoon.

junghyung rolls his eyes when you grab jihoon’s hand reassuringly and glare up at him.

“come on, y/n. quit the charity act. it’s getting annoying now. move aside, yeah?”

a slap resonates through the filled classroom. gasps fill the room as even more phones go up to record the student council vice president slapping it boy park junghyung across the face.

jihoon’s eyes go wide. wide! he instinctively pulls you behind him, shielding you from a fuming, red junghyung.

he side-eyes you who was also very shell-shocked at your own actions.

“y/n, what the hell are you doing?” he whispers as junghyung’s group goes up to him to ask if he was okay.

“to be honest, i don’t know. just know i am not babying you. i’m doing this and have always been doing this because i care about you, now move. i’m not done.”

jihoon’s eyes soften as he caresses his thumb over the back of your hand. he doesn’t deserve you.

junghyung lets out a laugh of disbelief. “you know what, you two deserve each other. you’re both fucking insane.”

“well, you and your friends are all fucking stupid.”

yes, you knew his friends (also your friends) were in the room watching. yes, you knew you would be losing a lot of friends today if you continued talking. yes, it’s worth it if it’s for lee jihoon especially if they all think of him the same way junghyung does.

junghyung clenches his jaw before taunting, “oh really! i wonder what our friends will think about that,” he turns around to the crowd of people with arms wide, “what do you guys think about the genius and model student y/n swearing and assaulting other students? their own friend at that too!”

you scoff and roll your eyes at this boy’s sheer audacity. he was never your friend.

junghyung gets more pissed off at your reaction and says, “since when were you such an annoying bitch?”

you cross your arms across your chest impatiently. did he think he was that intimidating? “i’ll be a bitch starting now because it’s sickening watching you push everyone around. what? do you think i’m like everyone else?”

jihoon panics when he feels you try to push past his arm as junghyung does the same also while his friends attempt to hold him back.

jihoon laughs awkwardly, trying to calm the situation. still making sure to keep an arm between you an junghyung, he apologizes, “they’re just a bit mad at the unnecessary crowding and recording haha, please understand.”

you whip your head to glare at jihoon, “quit apologizing when you’re not in the wrong. now move.”

you move closer to junghyung staring at you with cursing eyes.

“woah junghyung, you gonna slap me back? punch me? like you do with your friends and call it messing around?”

“man, this bitch is fucking insane!”

“i’ll show you how insane i can be if you keep taking advantage of jihoon or anyone else just because they’re nice people.” you feel jihoon turn around to face you completely, but refuse to look at him because you knew you would melt instantly. you missed him.

you hold his hand tighter before concluding, “now you’re always gonna be known as an idiot who bullies smart kids because he can’t do shit in school. i really won’t let it slide if you mess with jihoon again,” you turn to scan everyone who was in the room recording, “send that video to the principal if want i don’t care!“

you pull jihoon away from junghyung who slams the nearest desk with his hand before letting out a frustrated yell.

“move. move!” you shove your way through the crowd as your friends, well, maybe not friends anymore after they had just seen you slap and swear at someone… but it didn’t matter you’d see them tomorrow for student council stuff anyways if you still had your position after this.

you and jihoon walk away from everyone who began to disperse, gossiping because how could model student y/n act so aggressively?

but that was the last thing on your mind because you felt like there was a lot to discuss with jihoon.

jihoon who just trails behind you, hands still entwined with yours, was zoning out thinking about what just occurred. you stop abruptly, making him walk into your back.

“s-sorry-“

you pull him into an empty classroom and shut the door behind you, letting go of his hand.

you sigh and put your hands on your knees, trying to catch your breath for a moment. you had so much adrenaline running and you could even hear your heartbeat in your ears.

you still manage to slap jihoon’s hand away when he attempts to turn on the lights, “no lights right now.”

he nods, staring at your tired figure awkwardly.

jihoon scratches the back of his head, not knowing what to say. does he thank you? scold you for nearly getting beat up for him? risking your spot and position in the student council?

his thoughts clear as you begin rambling. he sighs internally hearing your panicked tone. “i know, i know! we’re not friends anymore and you didn’t want me to speak for you or to you anymore, i know. i’m sorry. i just… i care about you so so much, even if we're not friends. i never approached you after you caught me crying because i pitied you and felt it was my duty to be there for you. th-that was never the case. so please don’t be mad at me, we can go our separate ways after today. just know—“

jihoon grabs your arm, pulling you towards him so he could wrap his arms around you. he cups the back of your head and in a hushed tone says, “it’s okay. i’m sorry. i was wrong. it was my fault. i still wanna be with you. i was just lost for a moment, i’m sorry i hurt you. you didn't deserve to be treated like that by me. i hope you can forgive me even if i don’t deserve it.”

tears brim your eyes as you nod, sniffling. you hope he understands what you were trying to say wordlessly when you wrap your arms around his waist tightly, not wanting to be apart from him again.

jihoon never knew what to say to people, especially when it came to comforting someone. but then came you. and the words flowed so easily.

seven. because i like you

your phone buzzes in your pocket, you glance down cautiously, avoiding getting caught by your teacher. back then you would have never check your phone for anyone else, but you had started to for jihoon. you blame him for being a bad influence on you, but he said you were being a bad influence on yourself.

hoon: i’m in the music room rn. can we talk?

you: yes, please. i’ll be there in ten after my council meeting

you sigh. this felt like deja vu. hopefully, it wouldn’t end up too much like last time you both were in here though.

you turn the knob and pull the door open, making eye contact with a lee jihoon who was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall.

he couldn’t even say a word as you let go of the door, closing it in your face. you were not as mentally prepared as you thought you were.

moments later, the door swings back open and you speed walk over to him, plopping down on the floor in front of him.

“sorry. i just needed a moment,” you mutter, looking down at your shoes.

he chuckles at your cute antics, “that’s okay.”

jihoon then pulls out a wrapped triangle gimbap in one hand and a yakult in the other, hands both outstretched to you.

you blink owlishly at the two snacks in his pretty hands as he sighs with a slight smile, “it’s for you. i know you didn’t get to buy lunch because your student council meeting just ended.”

when you still didn’t move after his explanation, jihoon just places it down in front of your legs.

“a-ah! thank you, jihoon! you didn’t have to…” you clear your throat, realizing how affected you sounded by his actions.

“i wanted to,” jihoon replies nonchalantly, taking off his jacket at the same time.

you peel back the wrapper of the gimbap with a throbbing heart and smile, also trying to change the subject before you combust, “is it hot in here?”

without a response, jihoon drapes his jacket over your legs, which were also sitting uncomfortably because of your skirt.

you look up at jihoon looking off to the side with timid eyes, “sorry, i shouldn’t have sat on the ground. you can use my jacket for now.”

you punch his shoulder with a giggle, thanking him as he groans.

“since when were you such a gentleman, gosh jihoon.”

he rolls his eyes in a joking manner, “since always, you just never notice.”

“sure sure. anyways, what…. did you want to talk about?”

the light and comfortable atmosphere and banter between the two of you just now had made you completely forget this was the first time you talked to jihoon after the junghyung incident. though it was only two days ago, you were busy talking to the principal and dealing with the whole situation, which left you no time until now to talk to him. which still wasn’t even enough time!

“oh yeah,” jihoon looks up from his lap to make eye contact with you, suddenly in a serious mood, “i just wanted to see how you were. did you get in trouble?”

“mm, yes and no? like principal han was pretty mad, but all those years of sucking up to her did me good because she said she still thinks i’m a good student, i just handled the situation wrong,” you say while trying to peel off the lid of the yakult.

jihoon notices, taking the drink from your hands and poking a straw through it for you…….

was he hiding the straw from you just so he could do that….cheeky idiot. anyways!

“continue?” jihoon inquires softly, handing the drink back to you.

“t-thanks. uhh, i have to make a formal apology to several classes tomorrow morning! i think just the classes in our hallway because those were the ones that gathered to watch us the most, which was so rude by the way?? why would they just stare and record? couldn’t someone get a teacher? ugh, but i also have to do a buuunch of community service this weekend with everyone who hates me now after the whole thing.”

jihoon frowns. he forgot that you defending him that day ended up making your friends distance themselves from you. he can’t help but feel at blame. at fault. did you even have friends anymore?

your eyebrows furrow when jihoon’s expression began to get cloudy and disturbed all of a sudden.

“jihoon? what’s up?”

“i’m sorry,” he replies almost instantly, making you blink in shock.

“i’m sorry that helping me that day made you get on bad terms with everyone. god, they’re your friends and fellow members… you’ll have to see them everyday a-and i made them all turn on you. i’m sorry, i shouldn’t have said anything to junghyung that day. i shouldn’t have let you talk to him. i shouldn’t have—“

you lean forward on your hands, landing a peck on jihoon’s cheek, successfully shutting him up from his intrusive thoughts.

“geez, jihoon… i thought you said you have trouble expressing your feelings! why are you only expressing the negative ones to me??”

jihoon’s cheeks grow and feel fiery as his hand goes up to his cheek, fingers ghosting over where your lips were just a moment ago. the feeling was still there.

not noticing his blushing state, you continue ranting, “even if i knew the outcome of that fight, i still would do it all again in a heartbeat. a heartbeat! i did it because i like you, okay? i wanted to. it’s not your fault, so why would you apologize?”

jihoon’s eyes shoot up to meet yours. “you like me?”

now it was your turn to become shy. did you really say that…?

your heartbeat pounds against your rib age, not knowing what to say. “do you?”

“yes. and i have for a while.”

you nod, managing to calm your heart. you suddenly find your gimbap very interesting now. “good. we’re on the same terms then.” but then you remember how jihoon remembered you had meetings on wednesdays and never got the chance to eat lunch.

your heartbeat goes wild again. (gosh, him and his acts of service!!!)

jihoon shakes his head with a quiet laugh at your response, “i guess we are.”

sensing how you seemed very overwhelmed with the unexpected confession, which was not how he imagined you would react if he ever confessed (not that he imagined it or anything…..), he decided maybe making another move or establishing anymore between you two would be for another day. for now, he likes you and you like him. that’s enough for the both of you to be on cloud nine.

eight. closest to the heart

today was the day. lee jihoon will be giving you his nametag today because even though you kissed him that day, nothing has been established since you two refuse to talk about it! although you both can tell the other has some sort of interest or feelings for the other, that was all. nothing more, which was enough for a few days. then jihoon got sick of it and wanted to officially be yours.

hoon: music room after school?

you: yes but buy a cola for me this time too please

hoon: of course :)

you: last time you forgot

hoon: no i ran out of money and offered you mine anyways

you: you’re a bad liar

hoon: i’m sorry

you walk into the music room with a bright smile. any bad memories of this room were quickly replaced with fun, heart-aching memories of him. memories of spending all of lunch eating in here, gossiping away at your now ex-friends. memories of watching him in amazement as he composes a beautiful melody with the several instruments in this room just with the talent of his mind. memories of your feelings only growing more and stronger for him.

waiting for jihoon to arrive, you walk around the room, smiling at all the instruments jihoon has played for you. he was so different from you in such a good way. you who only took up extracurriculars for the sake of having something to put on a college application versus jihoon who did non-academic activities just because he genuinely found peace and joy in them. he was so amazing in your eyes. you wish he could see himself the way you saw him.

while scanning around the room, your eyes land on a piece of paper with writing on a table. you raise an eyebrow. barely anyone else comes here and jihoon always comes here with you? or so you thought?

you walk towards the paper, picking it up to read it. instantly, you recognized it to be jihoon’s writing. you have never met a boy with such nice handwriting before until him.

he had made a short bullet point list.

don’t stutter. look them in the eyes. don’t ramble and be straight to the point. be honest. finally, give them the—

a high-pitched yell interrupts your reading. “Y/N!!”

you yelp as jihoon comes speeding at you, swiping the paper off your hands and into his pocket.

he pants, a hand gripping the table as you look at him bewildered.

“jihoon, what the heck?”

“s-sorry, just boy stuff, you know?”

you stare at him with a blank expression, not believing his lie for a moment. “no, i don’t know.”

jihoon laughs awkwardly with gritted teeth, desperate to move on to another topic.

“oh! i have something to tell you! that’s why i asked you to come here today.”

you nod, gesturing for him to continue.

he clears his throat, fixes his posture, and takes a breath.

“y/n. i already told you this, but i want to tell you again. i like you. i’ve liked you since the early days of our friendship when you kept following me around and i tried to make you leave me alone by constantly saying that you ramble too much. that was a lie. well, you do ramble, but i didn’t mind because i do too. i just didn’t know how to deal with such a pretty person wanting to talk to me every day.”

he smiles unconsciously because even the thought of you made him smile. just the thought of you alone.

“i began to like you more when you would come to the music room with me during lunch even when you said your friends wouldn’t stop complaining about it. i liked you more when you texted me good morning and goodnight, when you asked me if i ate, when you wanted to listen to my music, and when you were just you. i don’t think i’ve ever shown my music to someone before, but you’re a special person to me. you will always be a special person to me. and… i hope to be a special person to you as well…”

with a shaky hand, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his nametag. jihoon grabs your hand and places it in your palm, closing your hand around it.

your confused expression sends jihoon into a whirlwind of panic.

“i like you too, jihoon. you’ve always been a special person to me, though.” jihoon falters when you undo the pin of his name tag and attempt to pin it back on his uniform.

“are you rejecting me?”

the absolute seriousness but also slight wavering of his voice makes you nearly drop the name tag.

“what?” you shriek, “of course not! i thought we were making this official!”

jihoon thinks, trying to connect the dots together... nothing’s connecting.

“we are. and i wanna be your boyfriend…but why are you giving me back my name tag?”

you glance down at the his name tag in your hands puzzled.

“i thought you wanted me to pin it back for you. as in like ‘i like you so much here’s the honor of letting you pin my name tag on me,’” when you take in the horrified look on your now boyfriend’s face, you laugh awkwardly, “isn’t that what you wanted me to do?”

“no! oh my gosh, i would never confess to you in such a douchey way. ever. i just…” his words trail off when he realizes maybe you didn’t know what giving a name tag to someone meant. that never occurred as a possible situation in his head. and trust when i say he thought he mapped all the possible situations that would result from him confessing.

“wait, don’t you what giving my name tag to you means?”

you blink twice.

jihoon lets out a sigh of relief and then laughing at your adorable, lost state.

he collects himself, but one look at you makes him melt and throw his arms around you in a hug.

your breath halts when jihoon practically puts all his weight on you, snuggling his head into your neck.

his soft voice makes your body shiver.

“there’s basically this … tradition where a boy gives his name tag to his crush as a way to confess his love because name tags sit close to the heart.”

the wheels in your head begin turning again.

“so … in way, i’m giving you my heart.”

when you response with a sniffle, jihoon pulls back from the hug immediately.

“are you crying??” he looks at you with wide eyes, cradling your head.

you pout, “no, but i might. that’s so cute, jihoon. i love it so much.”

your hand grasps his name tag tighter. he just gave you his heart.

you pull his hand, closing the distance between you two once again.

you lean your head on his shoulder, whispering out five words so quiet so only he could hear, “i love you so much.”

“i love you too,” he responds almost immediately.

you hold in a giggle when you feel his pounding heart as he holds back a quip when he also hears your heart beating erratically in the silence and comfort of the music room.

nine. a love that lasts

“highschool love never lasts.” okay tell that to you and jihoon then.

“are you… crying??”

when those words slip from jihoon’s mouth, a sob escapes your throat.

you hid your face with your sleeve, tears falling nonstop and crying, “you wrote a song for me!”

jihoon gawks at you because he was baffled. were these good tears? bad tears? shocked tears? angry tears??? he should be good at reading your emotions by now! he’s been dating you for seven years now. eight years as of today because it was your relationship’s anniversary! and he's written you several songs before??

he stumbles out of his chair to you as you continue to cry (sob).

“y/n, what-what’s wrong? whatever i did, i’m sorry. it's my fault,” he sits beside you on the couch of this recording studio, rubbing your back comfortingly.

“no, you did nothing wrong at all,” you sniffle, “i just love the song so much. i love you so much.”

jihoon bites his lip, holding back a chuckle. he turns your face toward him with both of his hands, cupping your face so he could wipe your falling tears away with his thumbs.

his hands pause as he squeezes your cheeks. “i love you too. i’m glad you like the song so much. happy 8th anniversary, y/n. thank you for loving me all these years even though i was so difficult and still am.”

you close your eyes, more cries erupting as jihoon dares to laugh at you and pulls you in for a warm, but a crushing hug.

you sometimes wonder how you would’ve survived high school without jihoon. then and now, he has been someone who helped you breathe when things began to get overwhelming. he was your anchor. for jihoon, he was speeding through life, wanting to grow up as soon as possible. that was until he fell in love with you. you made him feel want to cherish his days and live happily. his life had meaning all of a sudden. his days had the motivation to do more. you brought out the best in him.

he now begins to wonder how you’ll react when he pulls out the rings and asks the biggest question of his and your lives. however, he has a feeling it’ll be a good cry as well.

[wooawrites]

this fic has 700+ notes omg i can die happy but also nervous for the next love or letter installment 😭

love or letter: wonwoo version

pairing: j. wonwoo x fem! reader

summary: hopeless in her endeavors, [name] turns to a radio show for love advice and somehow causes her situation to become worse.

word count: 10k+

genre: childhood friends to lovers, fluff

playlist

love or letter series

“Welcome to Love or Letter, a segment of BSS Radio Show dedicated to answering and advising our very own university students with their current (and maybe even future) romantic ailments! Depending on your story, we’ll either deem it a success by claiming it as a love or will call it a letter if our experts believe the sender should reconsider.”

Collective clapping could be heard in the background, courtesy of the grainy mics provided by the university. “Our first sender seems to have a pretty big problem—the paper is almost three pages long!”

Chuckles could be heard. “Wow, I’ve never had someone even send me a paragraph through text message.”

“That’s because you don’t have anyone to let them do that to you, DK.”

A chorus of shouting soon followed after, though a sharp hush ended the argument before it could continue, prompting the previous host to start speaking. “Dear Love or Letter team, my name is Sender A (F22) and I’m undoubtedly in love with my childhood friend (M22). He has always been a part of my life—from the minute he helped me to the bench when I scraped my knee at the local park to even now, where we both attend the university.”

“That’s so disgustingly cute.”

“But…”

“...But I think my childhood friend sees me more as a sister than he does a girl friend.”

“Girlfriend?”

“No. Girl space friend. Do you think Sender A would be writing to us if she was already his girlfriend, Seungkwan?” The host reading clears throat, ready to continue the note. “Whenever we go out, people always assume we’re related in some way since we’re roommates and apparently the only explanation for opposite sexes to become roommates is if one or both are gay or if they’re related.”

A hiss of annoyance followed soon after. “So outdated.”

“I know.”

“While I tend to correct people that we’re actually childhood friends, he, on the other hand, doesn't bother to correct anyone. In fact, he even seems to like that idea by mentioning that ‘it’s practically the same thing’ when I asked him why he never bothered correcting it to anyone.”

“Oof.”

“On top of this, he has a tendency to lean on me when it comes to relationship advice. He’s only dated a few girls casually here and there throughout our years of knowing each other all these years, however it's become more frequent ever since we started attending the university. While it’s not by much, I’ve heard enough of his stories about his previous girlfriends more than I’d like to admit and it doesn’t help with my situation.”

“Talk about a punch to the gut.”

“Right? Sender A continues by mentioning that she’s been wanting to say something to him but all these signals are pointing to a completely opposite direction and believes she might need to move out if something doesn’t get done. Sender A ends it with ‘I usually don’t ask three random strangers on a radio show to help make decisions like this, however none of my friends know about my situation. Please help me out, BSS Radio hosts. Sincerely, a hopeless romantic’. Man…”

“That’s tough. Thank you for choosing us to help you out though!”

“Dokyeom, you punk! They clearly said we were her last resort so speak carefully.” Seungkwan’s voice chimes in, followed by an irritated sigh. “From the sounds of things Sender A, you sound like you’re at odds with this situation at the moment. You want to tell someone you’ve known your whole life something serious while also keeping whatever dynamic it is you have the same, which will no doubt change if you do end up following through with your plans. In my opinion, I’d consider this a Letter, since you aren’t entirely sure how he feels yet.”

A hum followed, clearly agreeing with Seungkwan’s response. “I think this feels like this might be a Letter, too—but that doesn’t mean you should give up! Afterall, just because you don’t know how he feels doesn’t mean anything, right Hoshi?”

The host who had read let out a strained cough. “Y-Yeah… Definitely not the end of it just because we deemed it a Letter. Like Seungkwan said, you just seem unsure of your decisions and this Letter can turn into Love with the right course of action. This has been the Love or Letter segment of BSS Radio Show, onto other campus news—”

The quick shut down of the radio show invited the bustling noise coming from the cafe that [Name] had forgotten she was even in. Frustration bubbled up in her stomach as she thought back on the declaration of her current predicament. For a moment, she had the childish belief that the BooSeokSoon Radio hosts had the answer she actually wanted; that all came crumbling down as she listened to her submission being read out loud.

Embarrassment flooded through her as the story relayed in her head. Had it sounded that obvious he wasn’t into her? If it was, then why did she even bother sending that kind of message for a huge crowd to hear? [Name] could only ponder this question as she took a sip of her coffee, mouth pursing as the bitterness washed the piece of cake she had eaten just a few minutes ago.

Her eyes glanced over at the cafe’s door, body shaking in anticipation. She felt as if she had been at the cafe for hours on end, though she was sure it was only less than an hour. The radio show had taken up the majority of her time, her term paper long forgotten the minute she noticed an email saying BooSeokSoon would present her message for this week’s segment.

“A waste of time that is…” [Name] hissed under her breath, blowing at a fallen stray of hair.

“What’s a waste of time?” A voice asked. [Name] nearly froze in her spot, eyes flicking back to the door before going back to the owner of the voice, who stood so close, her face nearly ran into his stomach. [Name] gave him a slight shove, ignoring his humored chuckle and the fact he clenched his abdomen when her hand made contact with him.

“Being here and waiting for your class to end.” [Name] responded, motioning for him to sit across from her, a cup of coffee similar to her’s waiting for him. “I don’t know how you can enjoy that coffee so much. It tastes like sadness and dead poets.”

Wonwoo laughed. God it’s a cute laugh. “That’s… Actually a good way of putting it. How’d you figure out I was a tortured artist?”

[Name] watched him sit down, his larger frame towering over the small chair as he shifted. She almost laughed at how he hunched himself over, something he always had done since they were children to appear smaller than he originally would. However, it looked as if something was poking at his lower back and he was avoiding it.

No matter how many times [Name] pointed out to Wonwoo how strange he looked, he never failed to put himself into that position. She wasn’t sure if it was to be considerate of others or just to make her laugh at this point.

“Maybe because we’ve known each other for 15 years of our lives? Or you’re a literature major. And you dress like someone’s grandpa. You even sit like one—”

“I get it, I get it.” Wonwoo replied, raising his arms in surrender. He shuffled through his bag, pulling out his laptop and notebook, casting a glance at [Name]’s unopened laptop and earbuds. “Did you get any far with your paper?”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah…” [Name] said dismissively, looking away as she snatched her phone. Wonwoo narrowed his eyes at the action. As if on instinct, he offered his hand. “Won—”

“Phone. Now.” He commanded, face stern for a second before a pacifying smile made its way to his face. “Please. We made a deal, remember? No phone until you get a page done.”

“Yeah, yeah.” [Name] grumbled, handing her phone over to him, breath hitching for a second when she felt the tips of his fingers grazed her wrist lightly. Wonwoo let out a gentle thank you before shoving the phone into his pocket, a smile still settled on his face. He pulled out an earbud, handing one half over to [Name] as he played one of her favorite songs for the both of them.

Work followed soon after, [Name] typing furiously at her term paper while Wonwoo flicked through pages of a book written by some writer older than their own grandmothers. Every now and then, [Name] glanced across, taking in her friend’s appearance.

His hair was windswept from the autumn breeze, clearly slicked back just a few moments ago before entering the cafe. He had just recently changed his glasses prescription, finally listening to [Name] when she suggested a pair of circular glasses instead of his usual blocky choice. It framed his face nicely, highlighting his cheekbones whenever he smiled, though it always drew [Name] to look at his lips right afterward.

How can someone be so… Wonwoo? A strange way of putting it, yes, but what else was [Name] supposed to compare him to? She could imagine all the beautiful and fascinating things possible and all of that pales in comparison to him. For some reason she couldn’t make up her mind if he was one or the other at this point.

“Were you listening to the BSS Radio Show again?” He asked all of a sudden, making [Name] jump back to look at her paper again just in case he looked away from his book.

“It’s scary how well you know me so well.” [Name] commented with a shiver.

“What’s so interesting about their radio show anyways? I’ve never seen you pay attention to that until now.”

[Name] knocked her fingers against his, a smirk etched on her face. “Maybe I think one of the hosts is cute. Y’know one of them, Seokmin, is in my Speech 101 class?”

Wonwoo frowned at the notion, gently flicking his fingers at the tips of her’s as a response. “You can’t even talk to someone if you find them remotely attractive.

That’s what you think. [Name] stuck her tongue out at him. “They’ve got… Insightful moments.”

Wonwoo raised an eyebrow. “They only say insightful things when they’re doing Love or Letter, which I know you definitely don’t listen to.”

[Name] almost threw up at the mention of that dreaded segment. She straightened her back at the comment, however. “What’s that supposed to mean? That I’m not romantically available?”

Wonwoo gave her a shocked look. “No—like, I mean like you’re not the type to be into listening to that kind of show.”

“What type of person do you see me as then?” [Name] challenged, eyes glinting for a moment as she gave Wonwoo a pointed look as he opened and closed his mouth for a second. For a second she wondered if he understood her double meaning, her thoughts completely flying out the window when he let out a sigh of defeat.

“I offended you, didn’t I?” Wonwoo asked. “Sorry, I just meant to say that you usually don’t pay attention to people’s plights for entertainment, especially if it’s personal like romantic issues.”

This idiot. Maybe [Name] shouldn’t stick to dropping hints. If she continues on with this kind of confession style, Wonwoo would most likely be in a grave by the time she has the courage to confess her feelings. [Name]’s stomach dropped at the idea. She wasn’t sure she wanted to wait that long; she’s waited long enough.

“Wonwoo—”

“Oh my God, Wonwoo is that you?” A new voice chimed in, making [Name] stop her words, glancing over at a girl—a pretty girl—waving her hand at the lines their way. [Name]’s stomach nearly dropped as she watched Wonwoo’s face light up and wave an arm in return, pushing himself off his seat.

“I’ll be right back.” Wonwoo said quietly, making sure to be quick with his strides as went up to talk to the girl. A frown settled on [Name]’s face as she recalled him never being so hasty with his actions with her like he had with the girl. She did her best to go back to the paper instead of putting all her attention on the two people in front of her, who looked painfully good together.

His mouth was quirked up, being attentive to whatever the pretty girl was telling him by providing a nod or simple response to her as they spoke. They didn’t speak for long, Wonwoo pointing at their shared table. [Name] cast her eyes back at the screen, pretending to be focused on her essay instead of them. Her eyes didn’t let up from the screen until she noticed Wonwoo come back, a content look etched on his face.

“Friend of yours?” [Name] teased, half hoping he’d give her information and the other half to dispel the drop in her gut as she thought of the best and worst things possible.

Wonwoo only let out a hum, smiling down at his work. That certainly wasn’t an answer [Name] expected. Or wanted, for that matter. She wasn’t sure what to respond with so she made sure to look back at her own work, typing nonsense instead of actual meaningful words that might help affect the course of her grade.

The silence lasted for only a moment, however, as Wonwoo’s gaze lifted towards her, eyes alight as he asked, “What did you wanna ask me again?”

“Huh?”

“Before I went up to Chaewon. You had something to say to me, right?”

[Name]’s mouth fell open for a moment, unsure of her circumstances anymore. If it had been just a moment ago, she was sure to have told Wonwoo about her affection. After witnessing his reaction to that girl—Chaewon—though…

“I… Can’t remember.” [Name] said, feigning an apologetic smile. Wonwoo only let a hesitant nod, eyes not leaving her face. Unwavering, [Name] motioned to his book. “You better keep reading unless you expect the book to write your analysis, do you?”

An exhausted sigh escaped [Name]’s lips once she found herself shutting the door of her apartment. If she hadn’t been at school or studying for exams, she found herself working on campus, a task that is almost as exhausting as studying and attending classes.

If it hadn’t been for the millions of accidents coupled with the slow coworkers, maybe her work day wouldn’t have been as stressful as it had been that day. [Name] could already feel her eyes drop heavily as soon as she stepped foot into the comforts of her home. She had almost missed Wonwoo lounging in the living room had she been any more tired.

“Welcome back.” Wonwoo greeted, a smile erupting when [Name] groaned in reply. She wasted no time tossing herself over the couch he was sitting on, staring at the ceiling as she felt Wonwoo’s leg shake beneath her head from the laugh he let out. For a second, [Name] shut her eyes, relishing in the laugh. “That tired, huh?”

“You don’t even know. How can someone be in their twenties and not know how to be an effective worker? Am I in some alternate universe where I’m in a constant state of being Punk’d?” [Name] complained, not stopping to take a breath as she let her bottled up irritation finally burst. A hum could only be heard from her friend, urging her to continue. 

“Not to mention how irritating customers can be—ugh, don’t even get me started on them, Woo. One of them got mad when I asked if she already purchased an item that was set aside and started grilling me on some bullshit about ‘not believing her’. I was just making sure she bought the item! The nerve of some people…”

“That sounds frustrating.” Wonwoo agreed, reaching out to grasp at the hair tie on [Name]’s head and gently pulling it off. A hand ran through her hair, putting a pause on [Name]’s rambles. She wasn’t sure how long they stayed that way—Wonwoo basically giving her a massage to help destress. She kept her eyes closed either way. She was unsure if she wanted to risk getting a good look at her best friend, who was most definitely staring at her right now.

She wasn’t sure why it was such a habit of his—the incessant staring. It was a bad habit Wonwoo had; [Name] lost count of how many times she had to drag him out from places when his staring habit put him into unnecessary trouble.

[Name] hadn’t minded his staring—he was usually lost in his own thoughts and not bothering her since he was so quiet. Not to mention he had killer massaging skills.

She opted to let the silence continue. Wonwoo seemed to not mind, equally enjoying her presence as much as she had with him. His fingers, deft and soft, worked out the tangles in her hair. He was careful to be gentle when facing harsh knots, massaging at the tender spots if he tugged too hard, earning a small hum in appreciation of his efforts.

“You’re spoiled, you know that right?” Wonwoo suddenly commented. [Name] responded with a sharp slap to his knee. “Ow! I’m just saying! Who gets treated like this by their roommate?”

“Oh so we’re just roommates now, huh?” [Name] teased, opening her eyes. “Let’s just throw away a decade worth of friendship. I see how it is, you heartless jerk.”

“Ahh, you gaslighter.” Wonwoo groaned, poking her side in retaliation. A laugh escaped from [Name], fighting off his hands as she tried to get herself off of her friend. He seemed to have known what she was doing, though, from the way he dropped his other arm to wrap around her shoulders and bring her to his side to keep poking at her sides with his other one.

“Woo, I swear to God—AH!” [Name] shrieked, smacking at his arms to get him away from her after his fingers coincidentally found its way to a certain spot that made her laugh a little harder than she liked. “I swear if you tickle me anymore I will be putting honey in your hair while you’re sleeping.”

“Oh really?” Wonwoo asked, turning her over and holding her arms in place.

“Yes really—”

Her voice caught in her throat as Wonwoo looked down to stare at her. Usually, she had been pretty good at hiding her feelings toward him—a quick change in facial expressions when she caught herself smiling for too long when he was failing at cooking eggs in the mornings, keeping her glances fleeting when they studied together, opting to tease him instead of complimenting his appearance to keep up with appearances.

[Name] wasn’t exactly sure how she could evade this moment. Or if she even wanted to move at the sight in front of her. Wonwoo had clearly been home hours before [Name] came home. Besides the soft pajamas underneath her head, his hair had not been touched and was angled every which way. His glasses looked like they were on the verge of falling as he kept his gaze down toward her. It didn’t help that his chest—Jesus, did his chest always feel that muscular?—was taking deep breaths, clearly just as winded as she was of their wrestling match.

The sight was endearing. She was more than sure Wonwoo could do anything and make it look beautiful in her eyes, though, so she might have a bit of a bias. [Name] chewed at her lip as an all too familiar thought passed through her head. Now’s your chance. Her mouth opened for a split second, trying to form the words she’s been so desperate to let out for the past few months.

“I’d consider this a Letter, since you aren’t entirely sure how he feels yet.”

A Letter. A chance of rejection is probably high. Should she really risk a friendship over a love confession? Maybe. It’s highly tempting, especially with how he looks right now—so effortlessly handsome, it was irritating, honestly.

Wonwoo’s eyes softened for a brief moment. Carefully, he brushed the tips of his fingers against her cheek to grab her attention. “You good?”

[Name] felt her throat dry up, immediately getting up from her spot. “Y-Yeah. Just remembered I need to take a shower. I’ll make dinner tonight!”

Wonwoo looked as if he were ready to reach out a hand to stop her, but [Name] made sure to keep a distance from him. “Are you sure? You seemed pretty worn out today, though. I can make—”

“No, it's fine! I’ll get my energy back after I wash the stink out of me. I’ll be back soon!” [Name] interrupted, making her steps quick as she turned around to run to the bathroom.

Once she found herself in their shared bathroom, [Name] slid down the door in a huff. Her heart was nearly ready to jump out of her chest as the moment replayed in her head. She could feel her face heat up as she remembered her original task of confessing, which was a complete failure again.

“I’m so screwed…” She whispered to herself.

Three weeks. It had been three weeks since [Name]’s embarrassing attempt of admitting her feelings to Wonwoo. The moment replayed in her head more times than she’d like to admit, constantly beating herself up at missing the opportunity of confessing again.

“Hey, if you’re going to have that lovesick look on your face all day, you might as well take the rest of the day off. You’re gonna scare the customers.” Chan chastised, words harsh, but the smile on his face indicated he wasn’t at all irritated in the slightest.

[Name] huffed. “I do not look lovesick.”

Chan snorted in response. “You must think I’m stupid then.” A crumpled up coffee filter found its way bouncing off his dark hair and a blank stare from the girl as a response. Chan let out a sigh. “You don’t have to talk about it if you’re not comfortable. You just seem… Sad lately.”

“Sad?” [Name] inquired, Chan nodding. It had only been a week and half since [Name]’s second failed attempt at her confession and if she were to be honest, [Name] was a little upset with herself after she managed to overcome her embarrassment. The moments continued to relay in her head, letting her self pity overtake at times.

But was she that obvious? [Name] worried if Wonwoo ever caught on; he always had a tendency to read the room, especially when it came to her. He always seemed to understand when she was overdoing or uncomfortable before she was even able to comprehend her emotions. What’s the possibilities if he picked up on her recent habits? A high chance, only making her question why hadn’t he mentioned anything to her?

This only sparked her worrisome behavior even more, eyebrows furrowing further, though she wasn’t able to spiral any further when the sensation of a sharp poke to her forehead brought her back down to reality. “Ow?” [Name] prompted, hand covering her forehead as she looked at Chan.

“You’re doing it again.” He admonished, frowning too. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Honestly? No, not really.” [Name] admitted, leaning back to watch the entrance of the café to see if anyone had walked in yet. “It’s kinda complicated.”

“Complicated how?”

“A guy kind of complicated.”

“Ah…” Chan hummed. “I have no idea what that means.”

[Name] only groaned quietly, fighting off the urge to waste any more work products to throw at her younger coworker’s head. “Nevermind. It’s hard to explain.”

“We’ve got five hours until our shift ends. I think I can grasp difficult concepts.” Chan reassures, chest puffing up proudly

“Fine, fine. I don’t even know where to start. There’s this guy…”

[Name] wasted no time explaining her hopeless conundrum—her seemingly unrequited love to the Love or Letter segment and even the embarrassing, half-hearted attempts of her confessions. 

Surprisingly, Chan managed to keep up with her, despite her lack of tracking with the timeline and needing to run back and forth between explanations. She’d pause for a second, watching to see if he was even hearing her despite his nods, receiving encouraging hums whenever they made eye contact. 

For some reason, this brought her to relax more as she began to speak freely. At one point, she even brought up the Chaewon girl from their study session (or study “date” from Chan’s point of view—again, he was served a hit to the leg with [Name]’s towel). Chan had been kind enough to provide a third party viewpoint, mentioning that she could more likely have been a project partner with Wonwoo and nothing more.

By the time she finished, [Name] could almost feel the tears prick at the corners of her eyes. She hadn’t exactly expected herself to pour her thoughts and feelings into one night, albeit someone she hadn’t really expected—the sarcastic first year Lee Chan who always seemed to keep himself guarded with his own feelings despite having the most expressive display of emotions.

“Wow…” Chan said. “That sounds like a lot of unnecessary stress.”

“Lee Chan…”

“But I can see why you’re so caught up on your feelings about him.” Chan said, making [Name] raise her eyebrows at him. “Trust me, I’m having similar issues. I’m honestly making more mistakes than you.”

[Name] only nodded as a response, knowing when to not ask questions.  “Idiots in love.” She sighed out in despair, Chan holding out a fist for her to bump in solidarity.

“Idiots in love.” The younger man chanted back. “I think you should tell him, though. Despite getting a Letter.”

“...Why though?” [Name] asked, a look of horror crossing her face.

“Because you’re undeniably in love with this guy and from the sounds of things he’s acting like you’re the center of his universe.”

Chan was quick to dodge the towel thrown at his head. [Name] could only watch as the towel dropped on the ground, not ready to move just yet as she fought off the embarrassment rising from her neck.

“You—I—What part of me saying anything to you made you think that?" [Name] asked.

Chan only patted her shoulder. "You're literally hopeless. How are you about to graduate in less than a year?"

"I'm being practical."

"You're being in denial." Dino corrected, head turning when the sound of a door squeaking came to life. "If you're not going to accept it, let's just go back to work."

[Name] didn't respond, only watching as Chan walked up to the register to greet customers. Her? The center of Wonwoo's universe? In what way did she make it sound like that? [Name] could only scoff at the comment, turning away to continue with work, doing her best to find herself engrained in her tasks instead of Chan's words.

From [Name] 😒:

at the location. where are you? Sent 07:50 PM

From Wonwoo:

close by. why did i have to grab the blanket? hao was already at the apartment looking for something you asked him to get 😭 Sent 07:50 PM

From [Name] 😒:

wasnt answering my text. where now? Sent 07:52 PM

Wonwoo let out a sigh at the last text. Impatient as always. Especially when she was excited about something, It’s almost as bad as her memory when she’s in a hurry, which also seems to be something she does when she’s excited. 

He wasn’t exactly sure how many times he had to head back to their apartment to retrieve whatever it was [Name] forgot on her way to the campus grass but he hadn’t bothered to count after she frowned at him when a refusal almost slipped off the tip of his tongue.

“You’re lucky we’re friends.” Wonwoo grumbled as he handed off his backpack to [Name], who was gracious enough to offer to hold it so he didn’t need to drag it back to their home. He watched as [Name] hiked the large bag onto her shoulders, a smile forming when he noticed how much the bag stuck out from her, reminding him of a snail.

He was careful to tug off a strand of hair that was trapped under a strap as [Name] smiled up at him. “Don’t act like you don’t treat everyone with the same fake courtesies.” She teased, knocking her fist onto his arm.

Wonwoo rolled his eyes in response. “With you, I don’t think I can treat you the same way as everyone else.”

He had left shortly after that, not wanting to see [Name]’s face when he said the last part, which almost sounded as awkward as when he thought of it. Wonwoo could have died right then and there if he didn’t turn to run back to their apartment. His brain hadn’t allowed him to stop thinking about it until he got a call from Minghao, who they both deemed trustworthy enough to have a key for their apartment, mentioning he was inside to retrieve another item [Name] left behind and needed to have.

They had spent less than five minutes looking for the items before trudging back, Wonwoo with a bag full of chips and blanket and Minghao with [Name]’s portable charger in their hands. Wonwoo struggled to text [Name] back, mentioning they were nearing the clearing on campus where they agreed to meet everyone else.

“You know she can wait on that text, right?” Minghao reminded him. “Your chips are about to fall.”

Wonwoo was quick to hit send before readjusting his hold on the chips. “Yeah I know. I guess I’m just used to responding so quickly to [Name] I don’t want her to think I’m ignoring her or anything.”

Minghao hummed. “[Name] always takes forever to respond with my messages.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah. It took her a day to respond to a message from me asking what she wanted from the nearby bakery.”

The last time [Name] had taken so long to respond to him was only an hour because she was out on a lecture. “Huh…”

Minghao only opted to shoot an expressionless smile at Wonwoo’s curious hum, speeding up when he took notice of Jun’s towering figure next to [Name]. Minghao muttered something to Jun quickly in Mandarin, prompting the older man to land a slight nudge to his shoulder as a wordless response.

[Name] let out a laugh at the banter, making Jun offer an embarrassed smile in response. Wonwoo couldn’t help but frown at the small interaction, a feeling in his gut dropping. It disappeared once [Name] recognized him moving closer to them, the grin on her face never leaving as she ran up to him.

She tugged the blanket off his hand. “I promise I don’t need anything anymore.”

Wonwoo only shot her a doubtful look as they spread the blanket out together. Once all four were settled down, [Name] was quick to make the center of the blanket her spot, laying down as she stared up at the empty sky.

“How much longer?” She grumbled at Wonwoo, who settled himself to her right.

“So impatient.” Wonwoo jokes, prodding her side. [Name] squeaked, though she didn’t bother moving away from him, only keeping a hand on his wrist to keep him from doing anything else. “Vernon said they’ll start at 8:30. It’s still 8:20.”

[Name] groaned in response, rubbing her eyes. “I might be asleep by then…”

“Stay awake.” Wonwoo reprimanded, tugging her eyelid up.

“Gahhh.” [Name] grumbled, earning a “Gahh” back from Wonwoo. Regardless, she kept her eyes closed for a moment, breathing in the air. "When was the last time I laid down like this?"

"Summer before we started high school. Your brother threw a mud pie at your face and you went to my house for some reason to cry about it." Wonwoo responded. From beside them, he spotted Jun and Minghao engrossed in their own conversation, both their eyes shifting to a pair of girls on their phones a few blankets away.

"That's because I knew you'd  let me play your games out of pity." [Name] responded, laughing at the memory. "I can't believe you even remember that."

"I remember a lot of things."

"Hopefully I'm in most of them." [Name] respondes cheekily, scooting closer to Wonwoo to nudge his shoulder.

Actually you're all of them. Wonwoo wanted to say, but he wasn't stupid enough to say that, despite it being the truth. No matter how far back he can fish for memory, [Name] was always a constant in every single one of them.

 In every good or bad moment Wonwoo experienced, he always managed to remember that [Name] was with him and would do something so spectacularly outrageous or kind that he couldn't help but etch her into his mind.

His stomach turned again, all those memories rushing back in, hyperfocused on [Name]'s presence than whatever life lesson he was supposed to learn from them. He kept his gaze up at the sky, hearing a loud whizzing noise shoot up before colors burst out of seemingly thin air.

Everyone gasped. Jun's mouth dropped open wider and wider at the fireworks, grinning excitedly at Wonwoo when their eyes met for a brief period. Minghao was nowhere to be seen—Wonwoo guessed it might have to do with one of the girls he and Jun were eyeing.

Wonwoo let himself get lost at the bright skyline, marveling at the colors illuminating the campus fields. Whistles from other groups were heard, making Wonwoo laugh at their amusement.

“Ahhh, there’s always fireworks for any event the university hosts and everyone acts like it’s the first time anyone’s seen them.” Wonwoo jokes.

He had half expected [Name] to just hum or say a joke in passing, too occupied with the fireworks to hear what he’s saying. No such actions were made. Wonwoo turned his head down, curious to her silence, but was quick to learn why.

“Of course you fall asleep before the fireworks.” Wonwoo whispers to her, brushing off the curtain of hair that fell over her face. Everything was completely still for him, the sounds of cheering and fireworks falling deaf to Wonwoo’s ears as he watched a newer, more fascinating sight.

[Name]’s breathing was heavy and deep; a clear sign she hadn’t been sleeping too well. Wonwoo should be concerned at the thought, but he couldn’t help but appreciate the chance to see her this way—so relaxed, so unguarded around him. 

Recently, [Name] seemed so… Distant. Wonwoo wasn’t sure if it was something he had done and she was just waiting for him to acknowledge any mistake he made or if she was just preoccupied with school and he was reading too much into her actions. Regardless, he felt as if he hadn’t seen his best friend in forever and he was just seeing her now—beautifully flawless despite her antics.

A breeze passed by, making [Name] shiver. She stirred only slightly, though, turning her body to the closest heat source: him. Wonwoo didn’t fight against her as she curled herself into his side, letting out a sigh of relief once her head pushed itself to his shoulder.

Wonwoo froze only for a second—majority of that second consisting of him internally screaming like some lovesick school girl—before he maneuvered his arm carefully around her back, pulling her closer to him as he wrapped his arms around her.

[Name] was quick to move her head onto his chest instead of his shoulder at the new position, her arms wrapping around his middle and her legs tangling with his by the time Wonwoo finished adjusting himself. Again, Wonwoo let himself stop moving for a moment to internally wonder what life he saved in his past life to put himself into this position.

“Oh?” A voice beside him says. Wonwoo peaks over the mass of hair in front of him to see Jun grinning their way, not paying attention to the fireworks anymore.

“Shut up.” Wonwoo warned, eyes narrowing behind his glasses.

“I didn’t say anything.” Jun defended.

“Just shut up anyways.”

Jun rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the fireworks with a smirk. “Whatever. Text me once you tell her how you feel by the way. I made a bet with Hao and I wanna pool in my prize money.”

Wonwoo felt his jaw drop. “You made a bet on my love life?”

“Yeah,” Jun admitted with a shrug. “Don’t worry, though. Once you’re done with your little pining we can make a bet against Hao and that one girl he’s working with. Something tells me he’s worse than you about admitting his feelings to someone.”

“You—”A groan could be heard beside Wonwoo as he started talking. [Name] was stirring in her sleep, clearly feeling his voice reverberating against his chest as he spoke. Wonwoo was quick to stop himself, squeezing [Name] gently to keep her from waking up. “You’re lucky she’s asleep.”

Jun chuckled. “You’re lucky she’s asleep.”

Damn Jun. Was the only thought that went through Wonwoo’s head. He gave up on his argument with Jun, half afraid of waking [Name] and half afraid of admitting the truth that, yes, he’s the biggest idiot alive for not realizing until now just how undeniably in love he is with his childhood friend and all those years of him watching her back wasn’t just out of friendly courtesy.

By the time the fireworks died out, Wonwoo was still pondering on his next move. Minghao came back, a small smile edging on his usually stoic face. He made no argument against Jun as they helped pack Wonwoo and [Name]’s stuff while the taller of the three men woke [Name] up.

“Hey, come on.” Wonwoo urged, grinning when [Name] opened her eyes. “We have to go back home.”

“Did I miss the fireworks?” [Name] grumbled, staring at the nearly empty field. Wonwoo nodded. “Damn…” She knocked her head against his chest. “At least you’re a really comfortable pillow.”

God take him now. “Thanks.”

[Name] groaned as she picked herself up, offering a hand to Wonwoo to help him up. She only offered small conversation with Jun and Minghao, too focused on trying to find her footing after napping for so long. Wonwoo was quick to put an arm on her shoulder, leading as best as possible.

He shot Jun and Minghao a warning look when he heard one of them snicker to one another, conversing in Mandarin through hushed whispers (though, he was more than sure he heard [Name] and the word money be passed around a bit).

“You okay?” [Name] asked suddenly, making Wonwoo jump at her sudden concern. [Name] gave him a funny look. “You look constipated.”

“I’m fine.” Wonwoo said, voice a little too stiff for his liking. [Name] didn’t seem to buy into it either, though she didn’t bother to push further, most likely for privacy’s sake.

“Whatever you say…”

Wonwoo let a comfortable silence they were familiar with wave through them, the scraping of their sneakers against the pavement being the only sounds to come from them. Every now and then, he shot glances their way, watching as [Name]’s eyes blinked a little too hard at street lights.

Heh. Cute.

“What?”

“Huh?” Wonwoo asked, heart hammering out of his chest as he realized he just verbalized a very, very private thought. “I said, ‘Huh. Cool.’ at that star over there.”

[Name] glanced up at the sky, a frown on her face as she attempted to find whatever star it was Wonwoo was pointing at. “I don’t see a star—”

“You’re just blind then.”

“You—!”

She was about to cry. He didn’t even need to look at her to tell that she was crying; he could hear her sniveling all the way from the kitchen. Peaking over the window counter, Wonwoo glanced over at [Name] narrowing her eyes at her computer screen.

Yeah, she's definitely going to cry. And she definitely hadn’t eaten yet. No matter how many times Wonwoo warns her about her health, [Name] had a tendency to avoid eating until she was finished with whatever assignment it was she was working on. And crying was just a natural response out of her for papers at this point—meaning she was dehydrating and starving herself at this point.

Wonwoo glanced at his plate, which consisted of a sloppy looking burger at what Mingyu had attempted to teach him earlier.

“How can someone so independent be so useless at something like cooking?” He remembered Mingyu complaining after another failed attempt at making a burger with him the other night. Wonwoo had essentially trapped his poor underclassman, under the guise of offering to edit his literature papers for the rest of the next semester if he helped him achieve the impossible: cooking a decent meal.

“What even made you want to do this in the first place? You never found it interesting until now.”

“Something came over me.”

“Well let’s hope it passes over soon because you’re an impossible student at this point.”

Wonwoo was surprised he hadn’t managed to burn down a portion of their kitchen when he made the meal. Still, it didn’t stop the fact it looked like it was going to come to life at some point.

He sighed. “Even I wouldn’t eat something like this…” He mumbled, looking over at [Name], who is still engrossed in her paper. Her hair was down, a sight he was the only one he was able to see often since she kept it tied up and away when they weren’t at home. Her eyes were watering, from the computer screen or tears of frustration, Wonwoo wasn't sure anymore. 

[Name]’s lips were chapped too, obviously neglecting any water despite the water gathering behind her eyes. She licked at them in an attempt to ignore the growing sahara in her throat. Wonwoo swallowed down his nervousness, the burger thrown into the trash and a cold glass of water in his hand as he made his way to [Name].

Gently, he placed the water against the back of her neck, causing her to jump up with a scream. [Name] gripped at her laptop screen as she spun around, eyes wide awake now. Wonwoo could only offer a dismantling smile, offering the water to her wordlessly. [Name], still quite offended at his sudden presence, took it gratefully, chugging the water without question and setting it down on the table.

“Let’s get some food.” Wonwoo suggested, nudging her arm with his hand gently.

Surprisingly, those words alone were enough (or it could have been the part when Wonwoo offered to pay for her meal). Wonwoo could only watch in amazement as [Name] seemed to have some sort of skip to her step as they made their way to their favorite restaurant, a hole in the wall noodle shop known to be open in the late hours.

The server, an older woman who seemed to practically live there, offered a smile and wave to the both of them as she set a bowl down to a table where a lone man sat. “It’s been a while.”

“It’s the time for finals.” [Name] admitted, flinching when Wonwoo placed his large hand on her head.

“I’m just dragging her out to eat.”

The older woman smiled. “How sweet of you. I’ll get your usuals out and you can take a seat anywhere.”

Both nodded, situating themselves against a wall as they sat and waited for their food. [Name] mindlessly tapped at the table, humming an English song—Taylor Swift?—to herself as she examined the people in the restaurant. Her eyes stopped a little longer at the table the woman stopped at earlier, eyes narrowing slightly as she examined the man.

Wonwoo recognized him, but wasn’t entirely sure where exactly he was from. Regardless, it’s hard to even notice him with the copious amounts of black he’s covered himself in, making him blend into the dark wall. A red watch was around his wrist, which seemed to constantly light up with messages he didn’t bother to look at as he sipped mindlessly at his noodles.

A frown settled on his face as [Name] continued to stare, though he bit back whatever jealousy was bubbling up in him. “You think he’s cute?” Wonwoo teased, hoping the smile on his face didn’t match the bitterness he bit back.

[Name]’s widened, face morphing to embarrassment. Clearly, she wasn’t expecting him to be watching her long enough to notice. “No! Nothing like that; I just know him. He’s one of the producers for BooSeokSoon Radio. I can’t remember his name. Lee Jimin?”

“Jihoon.” Wonwoo corrected, finally remembering him. “Isn’t he the one that got popular around campus because Hoshi posted a selfie with him when he wasn’t looking?”

“Yeah and everyone thought he was hot?” [Name] whispered quietly. They both looked back this time, examining the man’s side profile. “I mean, they aren’t wrong.”

She laughed when she felt Wonwoo tug at a strand of her hair. “Superficial.”

“I’m just saying something we’re all thinking, Woo.” [Name] answered with a cheeky grin. Wonwoo rolled his eyes, though the bitterness was well pushed aside in favor of the easy going conversation.

Time flew by as they continued to speak, most of it being meaningless conversations, though Wonwoo hadn’t minded. He wasn’t much of a talker, meaning [Name] was the one who continued with the rambles and he was more than willing to not talk if it meant just watching and listening to her.

It seemed like forever when the food arrived. Wonwoo wasn’t exactly concerned with however long it took, if he were to be honest, but something in his stomach flipped when he watched [Name]’s eyes widen in excitement when favorite noodles were placed in front of them. [Name] made sure to smile up at the old woman and provided a grateful thank you before turning to her food.

Wonwoo watched her push her loose hair out of the way as she slurped at the noodles, not caring how messy it looked. She had been hungry and clearly hadn’t realized until now. A laugh almost escaped him at how her cheeks looked filled with noodles. Kind of like a chipmunk. A very cute chipmunk.

[Name] turned her eyes up, nearly making Wonwoo’s eyes widen when he realized two things: 1) He had yet to put his head down to eat his own noodles and 2) he was definitely smiling like an idiot right now.

“You okay?” [Name] asked curiously.

Wonwoo only nodded, wordlessly dipping down to eat his meal, so he wouldn’t be able to say no, he most definitely wasn’t okay. Especially when someone like her was always around him and he couldn’t seem to find any sort of courage to do anything about it.

“Wonwoo’s acting weird.” [Name] muttered. She was currently frowning at her paper, eyes practically glued to her computer. Chan nodded, clicking at his keyboard loudly as he listened to her.

After [Name]’s cry session with him, their friendship had graduated past the usual ones co-workers fall into—polite conversations turned into confession nights about their respective tumultuous love lives. Chan liked to call it a newly found kinship, while [Name] liked to call this an emotional support coworker situation.

There were even a few times both met outside of work settings to study together when no one else was able to come with them, like right now. They were sitting in a library, [Name] mulling over her research paper while Chan studied for his physiology final.

“What do you mean by that?” Chan inquired.

“He’s just been… Weird.” [Name] frowned at the word, not liking the sound of it to describe the taller man, though she hadn’t been wrong.

It was no secret that Wonwoo was quiet. But not as quiet as he’s been as of recent. [Name] could be sitting in their living room or eating whatever was left in their fridge in the kitchen and she wouldn’t notice him suddenly standing behind her, which frightened her a little too much.

Naturally, she would chastise him for making her jump, but he’d only reply with a quiet apology with a follow of silence afterwards once he made himself comfortable. 

His eyes were always seemingly focused elsewhere, too. Wandering or gliding somewhere else whenever she found herself staring at him. Usually [Name] would come to some kind of conclusion as to why he was acting so differently, but even after a week of trying to figure him out, she couldn’t figure him out.

“Maybe he’s mad at you.” Chan suggested, eyes still trained on his notes.

“Mad at me for what?” [Name] muttered, mainly to herself. A buzz from her phone brought her back, looking down and sighing as she read her text. “Speak of the devil.”

Chan lifted his head, eyes trained on [Name] as she typed a response to Wonwoo. A grin spread on her face as her phone buzzed again from whatever message it was Wonwoo sent back to her. “Jesus, just date the man already. You’re grinning like an idiot. Also, you said no phones until 7:00PM.”

[Name] rolled her eyes. “It’s 6:54.”

“Yeah. Still not 7:00PM.” Dino responded, holding his hand out, to which [Name] maneuvered herself away from him. “Hey, you can’t break the rules!”

“It was a roommate situation.”

“A roommate situation or a Wonwoo is the one texting situation?”

[Name] offered a glare his way. “Roommate. Apparently something happened with the air conditioning in our apartment and we need to talk to our landlord, like, right now.”

Chan narrowed his eyes, clearly trying to see if she was fibbing. He let out a sigh, waving his hand away. “Yeah, yeah. Go deal with it then. You better be finished with your paper by the time I see you again.”

“Yeah, yeah…” [Name] said dismissively, packing her bag quickly. 

She nearly lost her grip on the bag, however, when Chan added. “And you better turn that Wonwoo texting situation into a Wonwoo kissing situation.”

“Chan—”

“Bye.”

Chan turned his head down, popping an earbud into his ear, visibly turning the volume up on his laptop so he couldn’t hear her anymore. [Name] muttered a quiet groan, face heating up as she stomped out to make her way to her shared apartment with Wonwoo.

From [Name]:

how exactly bad is the a/c situation? Sent 06:58PM

From Wonwoo 😶:

tundra. Sent 06:59PM

From [Name]:

…what? Sent 06:59PM

“Yeah, your A/C is broken.” The landlord commented. [Name] only blinked at him while Wonwoo could only respond with a stiff nod.

“Well… Duh.” [Name] said, motioning to her and Wonwoo, who were both covered head to toe in the fuzziest blankets known to man. By the time [Name] made her way home, Wonwoo had been near the door to drape a blanket over her and offer a warning that it was too cold to not have one on at the moment. “How long do you think it’ll take for the system to be fixed?”

The landlord hummed, not taking his eyes off his phone. An annoyed irk stung through [Name], only fighting off the urge to argue with him when Wonwoo placed a comforting hand on her lower back. Their eyes met briefly, [Name] clearly a bit confused but Wonwoo spoke up, albeit calmer in comparison to [Name].

“We just need to know so we can take precautions.” Wonwoo explained. “It’s starting to become colder outside and we’re at a higher part of the apartment complex…”

“I’d say maybe a week then.” The landlord said.

“A week…” [Name] mumbled to herself, wondering how they could possibly deal with something that long.

“I’d suggest maybe finding a friend to stay with for the time being or maybe even just rent a hotel room for now.” The landlord, making both only stare at him as a response. Clearly, he forgot they were college students living on a budget.

“We’ll manage.” Wonwoo said, proceeding to speak with the landlord while [Name] sat off to the side, doing her best to will the cold away with her blanket. She waited to say something until their front door closed and Wonwoo’s soft footsteps found themselves making their way toward [Name].

[Name] didn’t fight back when Wonwoo sat as close as possible to her, enjoying the heat that radiated off of him. “So… What now?”

Wonwoo only sighed, rubbing at the spot where his glasses sat as he tried to think. “I mean, if you’re really cold I’d say maybe follow the landlord’s suggestions? I can stay here and wait for when the electrician comes next week—”

“I’ll stay.” [Name] responded. “I’d feel bad if I left you alone here in the cold.”

Wonwoo nodded and they both slipped into an awkward silence. [Name] shifted slightly, not sure what to do next. Some part of her wanted to confront him, ready to ask him what was up with him for the past few weeks. Another part of her wanted to do something she’s been holding back on for so long: to confess.

From the corner of her eye, she can feel Wonwoo staring at her, as if anticipating something as well. [Name] bit at her tongue, deciding on neither as she picked herself up. “I’m going to get ready for bed. I’ll make sure to get you more blankets after I’m done.”

She walked off before she could hear Wonwoo talk. As much as she enjoyed his presence, the unaddressed pressure felt like it would have suffocated her if she stayed any longer. Maybe a warm shower might help calm her down? Maybe. [Name] wasn’t sure if something physical like that would help her in any way but it definitely was better than sitting and waiting for one of them to talk.

[Name] wasn’t sure how long she was in shower, but by the time she had been out, Wonwoo was already in his pajamas, pouring hot chocolate into two cups when she trudged into the kitchen. “Here. Drink it before you sleep.” Wonwoo offered, handing the warm cup into her hands.

Wonwoo was mesmerized. Well, for the past few weeks he’s been like that, a little mystified for his liking, but he couldn’t help it. No matter how small of a task she did, [Name] somehow managed to do it in her own kind of quirky way and Wonwoo picked up on every single habit.

Even when she was drinking the hot chocolate, he couldn’t help but notice the way [Name]’s fingers tapping at the ceramic cup every time she tilted the cup to tske a sip. He was sure his mouth dropped a little at the sight, but he was quick to close it when [Name] looked up at him. He averted his eyes to something else as well, not sure how he would react if she found him gaping at her like some lost puppy.

[Name] motioned a quick thank you, breathing in the sweet scent coming from the chocolate as she eyed the stovetop. “Did you try cooking again?”

Wonwoo was quick to hide the pan of eggs he accidentally burned earlier. “...No.”

“Jeon Wonwoo, what is with you and cooking these days?” [Name] chastised, walking around him, eyes widening in shock at the destruction behind his tall frame. She looked up at him, eyes filled with concern. “Are you sick of my cooking or something?”

“Wha—No!” Wonwoo countered. “I was just trying to learn so I could—”

He stopped mid sentence, biting back his next words. So I could impress you.

[Name] raised an eyebrow. “So you could…?”

“...cook for myself while you’re gone?” He said, hoping it sounded convincing enough.

[Name] examined him for a moment, eyebrows knit together as she processed his words.

“Are you sure?”

At this moment in time, Wonwoo wished he could just turn back time and not make up a lie like that again. “Mhm.”

“Okay then…” [Name] said, turning away, cup still in her hands. “Well, I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight.”

“‘Night.” Wonwoo said, keeping a stiff smile one his face until he couldn’t see her anymore. He dropped his head into his hands as he muttered to himself. “Jeon Wonwoo, you big idiot.”

[Name] wasn’t sure what else to do besides sleep. The energy meant for her paper flew out the window once she made it to her home. Most of it went into trying to think of their plan and the rest went into figuring out the mystery that is Jeon Wonwoo. If it hadn’t been so cold in her room, [Name] would have gotten a headache by now.

“Is he mad at me? Maybe he’s upset that I scolded him for the eggs?” She whispered to herself, thinking of Chan’s words. She shook her head. No, definitely not. But then why lie about his reasoning to start cooking?

Again, maybe it was a good thing the A/C wasn’t working for them. She’d rather focus on trying to get as warm as possible instead of what was beyond her door at this moment. She closed her eyes, thinking warm thoughts and warm places until she felt herself succumb to sleep.

At least, she tried to at least for the next two hours. She wasn’t sure how, but the cold managed to find its way under her large pile of blankets. [Name] could feel her own bones shaking at this point. She stayed under there for what felt like hours, feeling as if her body was going to freeze any time soon if she didn’t do anything about it.

A thought crossed her mind; a thought so seeded in desperation and exhaustion that [Name] thought she might be going crazy. She shook her head the minute an image flooded her mind.

If the circumstances weren’t so strange, [Name] wouldn’t even think twice in her decisions. Right now, [Name] was more than happy to stay curled up in a ball instead of whatever idea she just thought of.

[Name] was resolute with her ideas for several minutes, trying to convince herself it was warmer to stay where she was instead of ruining the little cocoon she made for herself. She had only given up when she felt a final cold breeze making its way through her back, causing goosebumps to erupt in her arms. She was quick to kick off her sheets and wrap them around her as she picked herself up and walked out her room and into Wonwoo’s.

He hadn’t been sleeping when she barged in, his glasses still attached to his face and whatever book he was reading was currently hanging off his fingertips as he looked up at [Name].

“What are you—” Wonwoo started, but was greeted with [Name] essentially flinging herself onto him.

“I’m cold and you’re the only other heater left in this place. Now, stay quiet and let me sleep because my bones won’t be as iced over when I wake up tomorrow.” [Name] responded in a rush, body pushed close enough to his body to the point that her cheek was resting against her shoulder.

Wonwoo could only look, not sure what to do next as she pulled her own blankets over his, trying to trap in as much warmth between them as possible. He set his book aside, hands hovering over her body as he tried to figure out what they should be doing next.

He decided to keep them at his sides, body barely moving as a million thoughts rounded off in his head. Why is she suddenly here? Was she that cold? God, what if he needs to use the bathroom? Her hair smells nice—

A slap to Wonwoo’s chest brought him back to reality. [Name] glared up at him. “Stop tapping your arm so much.” She grumbled, grabbing the arm against her’s. He hadn’t known it was moving so much. “Aren’t you uncomfortable laying like that? I know you sleep like you’re strapped to some target.”

“I’m fine like this,” Wonwoo answered. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

[Name] offered him an amused look. “I’m never uncomfortable if it’s you, Woo.” She responded honestly. A warm feeling erupted from his chest at that confession. “Even if you’ve been acting weird lately.”

Wonwoo laughed. “Who said I was being weird?”

He yelped when a painful sting came to his forehead. [Name] sat up onto her elbows, glaring at the tall man as if he said something offensive. “Don’t play dumb. I don’t get why, but you’ve been staring off into space lately and won’t look me in the eye sometimes. It’s a miracle we’re talking right now.”

His playful gaze softened immediately when they met her sharp ones. “Sorry, I didn’t know I was doing that so much lately. It’s just… I’m a coward.”

“A coward?” [Name] asked, raising an eyebrow.

Wonwoo nodded. “A big, fat coward.” He echoed back. “Call me an idiot, but why did it take me twenty-two years to realize I was in love with someone I’ve known my whole life?” [Name]’s eyes widened, but not a sound came from her. Wonwoo took it as his chance to keep going. “We grew up together, now we’ve lived together for almost four years so how come now is it that I realized that I’ve been hopelessly in love with you?”

“I—”

“Even before I realized, I was so annoyed when guys came up to you and I never once felt like I had to put something up whenever you’re around. And it took me this long to realize it wasn’t just because you were my best friend.” Wonwoo continued, not sure when he’ll have another opportunity to say something like this. He was scared, especially since this was so spontaneous—a trait he wasn’t exactly known for.

“Woo—”

“Look, you can reject me tomorrow but can we just stay like this—”

He wasn’t able to finish his sentence. How could he? A pair of lips slotted against his stopped him before he could utter his last words. Wonwoo stared up in shock. Half because he just confessed and half because oh my God, [Name] is kissing him. His mind blanked when she let up, a grin evident on her face.

“We can stay like this however long you want.” She offered, smiling. “Just, at least let me say that I do wonder, too, why it took you so long to figure that out when I’ve been waiting for a while now.”

Wonwoo’s jaw dropped. “You—Like romantically?”

“Would I have kissed you if it wasn’t?” [Name] countered, the pretty smile never leaving her face as she spoke.  “If it makes you feel better, I didn’t really pick up on your actions either; but that’s just because you’re a big oaf with no sense of emotional direction sometimes.”

“How long have you been waiting?” Wonwoo interrogated, turning his body fully towards her,

“Last year of high school. You earned high awards for all of high school and your parents threw you a party for high achievements. You didn’t even hesitate to take out that permanent marker and write my name down next to yours on that congratulations banner.” [Name] revealed, pushing some strands of hair out of his space as she spoke.

Wonwoo groaned. “That long?” He asked, embarrassment running through him. He laid his forehead against her shoulder, which shook from her laugh.

“Better late than never.” [Name] offered, though she wasn’t sure if she should be saying much either. She was more than ready to let her feelings for him die with her if he wasn’t going to say anything. Not to mention, she hadn’t exactly listened to anyone when they were pointing things out about him either (she had a feeling Chan was going to say something snarky when they meet again).

Wonwoo pulled her down to him, pressing himself as close to her as possible as he hugged her tightly. “Well, I guess I’ll have to make up for the four years of leaving you hanging like that.”

“That’s fine with me.” [Name] agreed, humming when she felt his lips press at the top of her head.

“That is, after you finish your essay, I mean.”

“Why do you like ruining nice moments…”