This was my first college/university au fic on ao3.
I Hope You Remember That I Love You
“Lee Chan, are you done with your essay now?” Seungkwan's voice called out, sounding mildly annoyed. Chan sighed as he looked past his computer at his roommate leaning against his door and peeling an orange. “I'll be done right about now, I think.” Chan answered but the words sounded like a lie, even to him.
“You've been saying that for the past 2 hours! Just do it tomorrow! Let's eat dinner together! We'll both be too busy for it later!” Seungkwan, being a journalism major, wasn't exactly lying about having no time as both Chan and Seungkwan were gonna have to start preparing for their midterms by September. The thing is, Chan knew that he won't be able to work on his essay tomorrow. Hell, he won't be able to work on anything tomorrow.
“Seungkwan-ah, I won't be able to work on my essay tomorrow. Have you checked the pollen count? It's going up by the minute and it's low enough right now that I can take my antihistamines but it'll be too high tomorrow and taking a higher dose is just gonna leave me too drowsy to do anything.”
Seungkwan pouted from the door and Chan sighed. “Don't give me that look, Seungkwan-ah. I promise, if I'm up to it, we can have dinner tomorrow.” That cheered Seungkwan up a bit and he left Chan alone after a quick goodnight. Chan sighed again, knowing full well that he won't be up to it tomorrow.
When tomorrow came, Chan immediately felt the effects of the pollen count before he even fully woke up. Groaning, he sat up in bed, stretching his tired muscles from working out the day before. Even though Chan went through his routine without his allergies disturbing him too much but he knew that peace wouldn't last too long.
Bracing himself, he walked into the living room where he found Seungkwan, eating some buttered toast, and 2 iced americanos on the table. “How're you feeling?” Seungkwan looked worried, knowing just how bad Chan's allergies were. Chan smiled softly as he took a seat next to him, taking a sip of his coffee. “I'm fine right now. But I can feel the pollen getting to me slowly. And I have like 5 classes today!”
Chan buried his head in his arms and Seungkwan ran his hand through his hair comfortingly. “You'll be fine. I hope.” Chan raised his head to glare at Seungkwan before burying it in his arms again. Seungkwan laughed as he resumed stoking Chan's hair. “No, seriously. You'll be fine. You have Mingyu in marketing and Soonyoung hyung in modern dance, right? They'll make sure you survive.” “Why do I even have allergies?!” Chan whined and Seungkwan smacked his head gently. “The question should be why did you move to Seoul? You know there's like double the amount of flowers here.”
“I didn't know that!”
“Sure you did.”
“I didn't!”
“Then you're just dumb.”
Chan lifted his head and leaned his body against Seungkwan dramatically. “Don't you feel any pity for me?” He asked, pouting.
“Nope.”
Chan laughed at that as he finished his breakfast, helping Seungkwan with the dishes. As they were getting ready to leave, Chan put on a mask, hoping that it would lessen the effects of the pollen. But as they stepped out of their shared apartment, Chan immediately felt the pollen trigger his allergies. He felt his eyes grow watery almost immediately.
He felt a tickle build at the back of his sinuses and he felt his nose start to run as well. He sniffled softly as Seungkwan turned to him. “You okay?” Chan just nodded. As they lived in an apartment close to their campus, they walked to their classes most of the time. But that was proving to be extremely difficult today. Chan felt the tickle grow exponentially at the back of his sinuses and it took a lot of his energy to keep from sneezing, despite his breathing getting more desperate by the second. As Chan pinched his nose to stop the upcoming sneeze, Seungkwan turned to him.
“Just let yourself sneeze, Chan-ah!” He sounded irritated and Chan knew it would be useless to argue with him. Instead he pulled down his mask a little, rubbing at his nose and as the air hit his face, Chan felt himself gasp softly, his eyes fluttering shut as he aimed his head to his shoulder.
“hhkChuHhh!- hh'ItShuhHh!- hh'KShuHhh!-”
Chan blinked the tears out of his eyes, sniffling wetly. “Bless you.” Seungkwan's voice was gentle as he put an arm around Chan, pulling him closer. Chan let himself lean into the embrace, just wanting the day to be over. The walk had made his nose ten times more irritable and he just wanted to sleep, already tired out by his small sneezing fit. As they parted ways to go to their respective classes, Chan rubbed his hand across his face. Today was going to be a long day.
Chan walked into his first class of the day and immediately spotted Mingyu who was sitting near a window. Mingyu looked over at him from his laptop, waving brightly. Chan tried to smile but it came off as more of a grimace. Mingyu looked at him sympathetically as he took a seat next to him. “Allergies, huh? You look terrible.” Mingyu deadpanned and Chan rolled his eyes. “Thanks.” He replied dryly as he went over his notes of the class. “Do you need anything?” Mingyu asked, his voice so sweet that it made Chan smile.
“I'll be fine. Just take notes for me if it gets too bad, okay?” Mingyu nodded at that, determined. Chan laughed softly as the professor walked in. The gust of wind that came from the hallway as the door opened and closed was enough for Chan's breath to start hitching. He turned away from Mingyu as he pinched his nose, silently stifling the sneeze.
Mingyu nudged him, his eyes holding a clear warning, don't stifle your sneezes. Chan looked straight ahead, choosing to deal with the warning later. As the class went on, it was getting increasingly difficult for Chan to hold back his sneezes. At some point, Chan felt the tickle in his nose peak and he turned away from Mingyu again, bringing his arm up to his face as his breath hitched desperately.
“hhkTChuhhH!- hh'NgtChhhH!- Hhh...hh'NgTChuHh!-”
Chan sniffled wetly as his eyes got even more watery than before. Mingyu silently passed him a tissue and Chan, grateful, took it as he blew his nose softly. It did nothing to clear his sinuses but at least the burning urge to sneeze left him for a while. He tried to focus on the class but all he could think about was how much his nose was itching. As he felt the urge to sneeze again, Chan ducked behind his table, leaning against Mingyu slightly, Mingyu's arm wrapping around his shoulders instinctively. He felt his chest rise and fall with desperate breaths as his eyes closed, hands coming up to cup his nose and mouth.
“hhtKChuhhH!- hih'IKChuhHh!- hhKShuhhH!-”
Chan rested his head on the table, the sneezes having drained a lot of his energy, and Mingyu ran his hand up and down Chan's back. Chan felt miserable. He had known that the day would be tiring but he hadn't expected it to be this tiring. And he still had the entire day left for him to survive through. How fun.
When the class finally ended, Mingyu turned to Chan. “Are you sure you'll survive the rest of the day?” Mingyu asked, raising an eyebrow. Chan groaned, rubbing his hands across his face. “I don't know?! I do need the attendance, though.” Mingyu looked sympathetic when Chan looked back up at him. “Just…take care, okay.” Chan smiled at that despite himself. Soon, both of them were walking into their next class together. Reaching the seat farthest from the door, Chan immediately dropped his head on the table. Mingyu chuckled softly as he took the seat next to him. Chan turned to look at Mingyu, his head still resting on the table. “Could you take notes for me? I'm gonna try and fall asleep.”
Mingyu cooed internally at Chan. “Yeah, I'll take the notes. Just try to sleep, Channie. You definitely need it.” Chan nodded as he turned away from Mingyu and closed his eyes. He felt his eyelids grow heavy as he drifted off, the noise of the classroom fading into the background. After what felt like an hour or so, Mingyu shook Chan awake. “Wake up, Chan-ah! You have a modern dance class, don't you? You're gonna be late.” Chan immediately sat up straight, panicking a little as he packed his belongings and the notes Mingyu made leaving the class in a hurry, shouting out a thank you to him before running to the Arts building.
Thankfully, he was only a few minutes late to his modern dance class. Soonyoung had reached the class before him and was already going through some stretches. Chan gave him an apologetic smile as he dropped his bag and started stretching as well. The run across buildings to his class exposed Chan to the insanely high pollen count, making his breath start hitching again but he was determined to at least get through stretching without sneezing. That thought, however, was basically a lost cause. Chan hadn't been stretching for even 2 mins when his breath started hitching as the tickle in his sinuses piqued and he brought an arm up to his face, his head ducking towards his chest.
“hhAkTChuhHh!- hhKtChuHh!- hhkShuHhhH!-”
Chan's vision blurred as allergic tears filled his eyes. He sniffled wetly, rubbing his wrist against his nose as harshly as he could. That did nothing to make his nose stop running, instead making his breath catch as he brought his arm up to his face again, eyes fluttering shut.
“hhhKShuHhh!- hhkTChUhHh!- hhKtShUhhH!-”
Chan groaned as he sniffled again cautiously, standing up to warm up for class. He spotted Soonyoung, out of the corner of his eye, giving him a look. Before the other could say anything, Chan spoke up. “I'm not sick, hyung. I just have really bad pollen allergies. That's what's causing me to sneeze so much.” Soonyoung took in Chan's words before looking at him incredulously. “Shouldn't you be at home? Preferably somewhere with no pollen?” Chan rolled his eyes. “Hyung, I have my classes. I can't just skip class because of my allergies.” Soonyoung raised an eyebrow at him.
“Chan, I don't think I've ever seen you sneeze that much even when you're sick. How're you planning to dance today? Your sneezes sound really tiring and I doubt you're gonna stop anytime soon.” Chan wanted to argue with him but since their professor walked in, he just sighed.
Learning and practising choreography when he couldn't keep his eyes open for long enough without sneezing was a different kind of hell altogether. Chan was starting to regret stepping out of his apartment, his allergies getting worse by the second. He'd hate to admit that Seungkwan, Mingyu and Soonyoung were right but they were. He didn't think he could survive through any more dancing that day.
When their professor told them to split up and practice in different rooms, Soonyoung took Chan by the arm into another practice room and quickly shut the door. He then proceeded to walk up to Chan and pull him into a tight hug, Chan's body practically melting into the older one. Soonyoung stroked Chan's hair softly, a gesture similar to Seungkwan's as he urged Chan to relax. He did, almost leaning his entire body weight onto Soonyoung, his head on his shoulder. Finally, Chan pulled away from the hug, smiling at Soonyoung slightly. “Thank you, hyung. You don't know how much I needed that.” Soonyoung patted Chan's head.
“Believe me, I do. Do you still wanna practice?” Chan rolled his eyes but didn't stop smiling, Soonyoung smiling back at him. The moment was broken when Chan felt the urge to sneeze again. He cupped his hands over his nose and mouth as his chest rose and fell with hitching breaths.
“hhhkCHuHh!- hhKtShUhhH!- Ugh.”
“You should really get some rest, Chan-ah. And by that I mean, go home. Seungkwan's probably home by now.” Chan didn’t ask how the other knew about Seungkwan's schedule or the fact that he had been thinking about Seungkwan, instead deciding to pack up and go home for the day, for real. After saying his goodbyes to the rest of his batch mates, Chan walked back to his apartment, grateful for finally being able to get some rest.
When he walked into the apartment, he found Seungkwan seated at the table with an iced americano and his phone in front of him. He looked up when Chan walked in. “Hey! Didn't your classes end at 7? Why are you back so early?” Chan slumped on the couch in front of Seungkwan. “Soonyoung hyung told me to go home as I was getting pretty exhausted.” Seungkwan sighed heavily. “Didn't you tell me that you were gonna be okay? Though I can't say that I'm surprised. Just go take a shower. I'll order takeout later.”
Chan moved to hug Seungkwan, craving the comfort the older's hugs provided. Seungkwan pretended to be disgusted but he let Chan cling to him for as long as he needed. Chan whispered a thank you to Seungkwan before heading to his room to take a shower. As Chan entered the bathroom, he immediately turned the shower to the highest heat as he stepped in, the heat helping his tense muscles relax a little. He stood there for a while, the steam helping his congestion lighten. That in turn made his nose run and made the tickle at the back of his sinuses return. Chan rubbed a hand over his face and leaned his head on the cool wall next to him. His breath hitched with the oncoming sneeze and his eyes closed, his head ducking to his chest.
“hhhKtShuhhH!- hh'IkkShuHh!- hh'ItkChuhhH!-”
The sneezes made his nose run even more but at least he could freely breathe through his nose now. Chan quickly finished showering after that, throwing on a hoodie and sweatpants as he joined Seungkwan in the living room again. Seungkwan had moved to the couch as he casually flicked through Netflix, picking something to watch while eating. Chan took a seat next to Seungkwan, immediately resting his head on Seungkwan's shoulder. Seungkwan turned on a drama and Chan yawned widely, the exhaustion from the day fully catching up to him. Seungkwan laughed from his side. “You're that tired, huh?” Chan pouted at that. “I took a nap during one of my classes. I guess it's the constant sneezing that tired me out.” Seungkwan giggled at the indignation in Chan's voice as the drama began to play.
They stayed like that till the takeout Seungkwan had ordered arrived at their apartment. As Seungkwan moved to open the door for the delivery man, Chan whined, not wanting the other to go. Seungkwan hit Chan lightly on the head as he pulled away from his grasp and went to open the door. Chan was left alone in front of the TV as he waited for Seungkwan to get back. Seungkwan returned with 2 plates full of fried chicken and he handed one to Chan.
Chan took it gratefully, leaning his head on Seungkwan again when he sat down. They ate together in silence only broken by the soft sniffles from Chan. After they had finished, Chan cuddled close to Seungkwan again, yawning again. Seungkwan pulled out a blanket from under the couch and threw it over both of them. The TV continued to play as Chan and Seungkwan fell into comfortable silence again. That was until Chan's breath started hitching again. His chest rising and falling with desperate gasps, he quickly buried his face in the neck of his hoodie, his eyes fluttering shut.
"hh'NgtChuHh!- hh'ItShuhHh!- hh'NgtChhH!-”
Seungkwan looked over at him, concern written all over his face. “Bless-”
Chan shook his head knowing he wasn't even nearly done sneezing. Soon enough his breath started hitching again, his eyes closing, and he cupped his hands over his nose and mouth.
“hhAkTChuhHh!- hhItShUhhH!- hh'KtShuhHh!- Ugh.”
Chan sniffled wetly, blinking the allergic tears out of his eyes. Seungkwan handed Chan a pack of tissues and Chan took it gratefully, taking some out and blowing his nose. "Bless you, Channie.”
“Thank you. And you know, you don't have to keep blessing me. You're gonna get tired of it soon enough.”
Seungkwan rolled his eyes at that. “As if. I've dealt with your terrible allergies for like 2 years since we started rooming together and I'd like to say that I've gotten used to it. Also, shouldn't you try to get some sleep right about now? You look tired as hell.” Seungkwan sounded annoyed yet fond and Chan laughed at his tone. “You're right. I should get some sleep.” He admitted but instead of going to his own bed, he decided to lean against Seungkwan instead, closing his eyes. Seungkwan let out the most dramatic sound he could muster as he let Chan wrap an arm around him, feeling his own eyes closing. As Chan drifted off, he heard Seungkwan whisper something to him.
“What did you say?” He asked groggily. Seungkwan opened his eyes and lightly kissed Chan's hair. And even though the lights were dimmed, there was no hiding the pink dusting Chan's cheeks. “You know I love you, right? Even when I don't show it? Because I do love you, Chan. I hope you remember that.” Chan stilled, Seungkwan's words catching him by surprise. He definitely hadn't expected that. “Thank you, Seungkwan-ah. And I love you too. I always have. Thank you for always being here for me.” Seungkwan pulled Chan closer to him as they both fell asleep and if Chan thought about Seungkwan's words for the entire night, no one would know any better.
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To finalise this string of posts for this second project, I will be showcasing the final piece that was created.
There was a lot of editing for the assets since I had to do a lot of planning for where things were going to go, the texture I was going to apply and the effects I wanted to create since I was using all the tools available in Adobe Photoshop.
I created the frames in segments before putting them all together.
This is the first frame which focuses on the forest area, this segment is happening at evening as seen by the setting sun. The story is set during the winter season hence the snow and the main character is walking through the forest on route to their destination.
There was a lot of effects and texture I applied to the surroundings to try and create a more natural feel as well as better reflect the time of day. This is personally my most favourite panel to work on.
This is the second frame which focuses on the character climbing a mountain to get to the top, at this point is is late evening/dusk as seen by the sky. The character and the mountain they are climbing are seen as a black silhouette while the animals and mountains in the background are in focus.
This was a personal experimentation of having what is considered to be the background to be the main focus. I was told that I could have improved the silhouette by adding effects to it but I personally liked it the way it was.
Here is the final frame where the main character manages to reach their destination at the top of the mountain where they can watch the lights in the sky.
It was fun working with the lighting effect and textures, hopefully I will be able to experiment with this further in the future.
With these pieces created, I put them into onto a document to complete the whole three cell narrative/triptych.
As part of the requirements, I had to have the final piece printed which fortunately didn't take too long when it came to printing as I had limited time for how long I could stay at my college/university.
That's all for now.
If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask.
Part 1
Part 2
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