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chanis-banani · 9 months

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Reply - Part 1

Inspired by: [Han Seungwoo] 'Reply' - M Countdown

Note: Today is the 3rd anniversary of Seungwoo's solo debut and it would be an understatement to say this album changed my life. I just had to write something for it, I couldn't contain myself...

Note 2: stop calling me a seungwoo simp

Synopsis: after a week of contemplation, Seungwoo finally brings up the courage to send you a message. As he waits anxiously for you to reply, all he can do to kill the time is reminisce about the first time met you.

Genre: fluff and very slight angst maybe? Let's just say it's the wholesome start of a slow burn romance

Pairing: Seungwoo x gn reader

Word Count: 3,4k

Contains: some swearing, mentions of alcohol, mentions of cigarettes (but no actual drinking or smoking)

Tic, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick-

With a frustrated grunt, Seungwoo yanks the batteries from the clock and tosses them onto the cabinet. When he tries to hang the clock back on the wall, he struggles to get the little hook on the nail. It only takes two failed attempts for him to be fed up with the stupid thing and he angrily dumps it on top of the furniture. The clock lands next to the batteries, one of which tumbles off the edge and rolls under the cabinet. Seungwoo watches as it disappears from his vision and he scoffs. Piece of shit.

He takes his phone from his pocket and checks his messages. Even though he has the volume of his notifications turned all the way up, he can’t stop himself compulsively checking his phone. There is always a slight chance the sound just didn’t come through, right? Maybe you messaged him and his phone is just lagging. He can’t risk missing anything. But despite his hopeful delusion, there is still nothing.

First he puts his phone back in his pocket, but he immediately changes his mind and places it on the dinner table instead, making sure the screen faces up so he can see everything that comes in. A deep sigh escapes him as he stares at his phone for a while. He is too restless to bring himself to sit down. All he can do is stand there and pace around the room. Once again, he sighs and goes into the kitchen to grab himself a glass of water. When he returns to the dinner table, he sets the glass on one of the coasters to check his notifications again.

It had only been about a week since he met you, but it felt like more like a month. He couldn’t stop thinking about you. The way you smiled and the way you talked… The way you made those snarky comments at him when he approached you. It hadn’t been the most fairytale-like encounter. And yet, he couldn’t stop thinking about it, no matter how hard he tried.

With another sigh, Seungwoo puts his phone on the table again and he leans back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. He wanted nothing more than to talk to you, hear your voice again, and observe that little twinkle in your eyes when you talked to him.

It was impossible for him to forget how stunning you looked last Saturday. Your clothes were very neat and complimented your body well, which contrasted with your slightly messy hair. This contradiction intrigued him. He needed to get to know you better, wanted to explore what other interesting contrasts he might encounter. Perhaps it was specifically the difference between you and him that captivated him the most. You were exhilarating to him.

Seungwoo jumps up when his phone suddenly rings and he answers it without hesitation. “Hello?” he says, voice shaking a little bit. “Hyung!”, he hears from the other side of the line, “Did-” Without letting Sejun finish his sentence, Seungwoo hangs up on him. Idiot. How could he have been so stupid to call right now? He knew that Seungwoo was waiting for your call. What if you had finally reached out right when Sejun was hogging the line?!

Seungwoo sits back down and rests his elbows on the table, burying his face in his hands with a desperate little cry. “What am I doing…” he murmurs into his hands. All he wants is to hear your voice again. He keeps reminiscing about the evening he met you.

That evening, he entered the venue with Sejun at 8 pm. Seungwoo offered to get drinks for both of them, so he made his way through the crowd, towards the bar on the other side of the large space. While he waited for the bartender to fix his drinks, he felt someone bump into him. It’s when he turned around to look, that he laid his eyes on you for the very first time.

“Sorry!” you said quickly, officially marking that as the first word that was ever exchanged between the two of you. “That’s okay,” he replied with a smile, “It’s pretty crowded here, so accidents can happen.” Seungwoo had to try his best not to smile too widely at you. Right away he found you incredibly attractive. Your voice sounded lovely. He wanted to hear it again.

“I like your tattoo,” you said, and Seungwoo could swear that his heart made a little jump in his chest. He was wearing his shirt with its sleeves rolled up, so the colorful tattoo on his arm was clearly exposed. You had been observing him just as closely as he had observed you and this notion gave him goosebumps.

“Thank you! I have a few more.” Was it weird for him to say this? He immediately felt embarrassed and at the same time he wished he had worn his shirt just a little more unbuttoned so the tattoo on his chest could have been exposed to you. Luckily, you smiled at him, so he probably hadn’t weirded you out too much.

He wondered what to tell you next, trying his best to think of something to keep your attention. But his brain wasn’t working properly anymore. All he could think about was how intrigued he was by you. He involuntarily tried to imagine what kind of person you were and what kind of things you would like. And before he got the chance to open his mouth again, his drinks were ready and Sejun called him impatiently from across the room.

Every person who tried to speak to Seungwoo that evening was in for a disappointment. When they tried to approach him, there was a chance he didn’t even notice them at all. Even when he tried to engage in a conversation, he couldn’t stop his gaze from drifting back to your figure.

At one point during the evening, he had lost sight of you. His eyes looked for you anxiously, but you were nowhere to be seen. He panicked. There was no way he could possibly let you go like that. He started to move through the crowd, pressing himself through the clusters of people.

At least fifteen minutes were spent searching for you, until he found you outside, away from the crowd, with your phone up to your ear. You ended the conversation just when Seungwoo stepped through the venue door, into the fresh air. He needed to know who you had been calling with. What if you already had a partner? The thought alone was enough to make him nauseous.

He stood there for a while, unsure of what to do next. Your mind was clearly elsewhere since you hadn’t noticed him yet. With his head tilted slightly in curiosity, he observed how you stared absentmindedly into the distance while playing with your phone. But the silent moment of appreciation was ruined when Seungwoo suddenly had to sneeze. You looked his way and he looked at you, completely terrified. Thank god it was dark outside so you weren’t able to see his expression very clearly.

Fuck, now things became weird. He had to act quickly, otherwise you would think he was some kind of weirdo. Even if there might have been some truth to that, he obviously didn’t want you to feel that way about him.

Before he could even make up his mind on what he could possibly do to make this situation seem normal, you opened your mouth and spoke to him with a snarky, yet enchanting tone. “You should wear a jacket if you’re going to be outside,” you said. God, maybe he was in love.

“Oh? Uhh, yeah,” he replied awkwardly. Nice, Seungwoo. Real smooth. This was definitely the way to win somebody’s heart. “I’m uhh- It’s not that cold?” God with every word he uttered, he just managed to mess up even more.

You snickered at him and looked at your phone again. Somehow this made Seungwoo feel at ease. You didn’t seem uncomfortable about him. Even if he made an absolute fool of himself just now, it seemed like you didn’t really mind having him around. He straightened his clothes a bit and ruffled his fingers through his hair while you didn’t look. Then he cleared his throat and took a careful step in your direction.

“Actually,” he began somewhat more confidently now, “I could use a little breeze. It’s quite stuffy in there.” Without looking up, you just replied with a little “Mhmm.” While doing his best to hide his timidness, he took another step in your direction and said “Is it okay if I sit here? I could also find someplace else, if you-” “Oh, sure, it’s fine!”

He blinked a few times when you interrupted him with such a sweet tone. You had put your phone away completely and looked straight at him. The eye contact made him feel like his blood was rushing through his veins at twice its regular speed. The dizziness that ensued made him feel almost relieved, because it meant he wasn’t really lying to you anymore. At this point, he really could use some fresh air.

He sat down next to you on the curb, making sure to keep a good 6 ft distance between the two of you so as to not make you uncomfortable. You were still looking at him with those eyes and it nearly drove him insane. “So, do you smoke?” you asked him. He shook his head, and you grinned. “Me neither.”

The conversation went silent. For a minute, all you and Seungwoo could hear was the sound of passing cars in the distance and the buzzing voices of the people inside. He wondered why you would ask him such a question if you didn’t smoke either. Could it be that you were lying? Did he just fail a test? What if you didn’t want to date anyone who didn’t smoke? He felt nauseous again.

The breeze really was quite cold and Seungwoo’s blouse didn’t do much to protect him from it. The tip of his nose and his ears became red and he shivered, but it didn’t matter to him. In fact, he was barely aware of the cold at all. Being so near to you made him feel almost feverish inside. His heart was beating wildly in his chest and his cheeks felt hot. Even if he had lost almost all feeling in his fingers, the rest of his body was simply buzzing with life.

His breath created a tiny cloud in the air, drawing your attention to his shivering figure. “You’re cold!” you laughed at him. Your breath formed a little cloud as well and Seungwoo watched how the little clouds drifted in the same direction for a second, until he snapped back to reality. “I’m really not that cold,” he sputtered, “I just tend to shiver when I’m feeling dizzy.”

“So you’re still feeling dizzy?” you asked. Your voice didn’t sound exactly concerned, but not like you were mocking him either. Seungwoo couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He sure was dizzy now, slowly going crazy from the way your eyes were scanning him. There was something about your look that gave him the feeling this was more than a casual conversation. It felt like he was being inspected, your eyes studying every detail of him and your mind interpreting what you saw. He could tell you were on your guard around him. Not in a defensive way, but much like a researcher would be on their guard around the subject they’re researching. As if he were some kind of experiment and you were waiting to see what he might do next.

“I bet you would feel less dizzy if you wore a jacket,” you continued with a little grin. Seungwoo observed you closely, noticing something like a little twinkle in your eyes. He wondered if you always had that twinkle when you talked to people.

“I was too dizzy to grab my jacket,” he replied with a little scoff, “I just wanted to go outside quickly. And you should know that I’m already beginning to feel better.” He fully expected you to say it was nice that he felt better, but you just scoffed right back at him: “Pfft, if you say so…”

Before he could come to his defense again - even though you were completely right - you already bombarded him with the next question: “So who do you know at this party?” “Oh, I just know Sejun,” Seungwoo replied, “Sejun and I are close, so when he got invited to this party, he asked me to join him.”

“Ahh, I’m here because of Sejun too! We aren’t close at all though. He just invited my friend and told her she could bring more people. So really, I don’t even know Sejun at all."

"I see. The party must be quite boring for you then, if you only know your friend. Is that why you'd rather sit here and call your boyfriend?" The words had left Seungwoo's mouth before he fully realized what he was saying. And now that he said it, he wished he would never be able to speak again.

You raised an eyebrow at him and turned your body a little to face him better. Seungwoo's heart was beating like crazy in his chest. It felt like minutes of silence were passing by while he anxiously awaited your response. He knew he fucked up.

“You are so obvious,” you said eventually. Your voice was low and almost a little threatening. Seungwoo gulped. “We met like seconds ago and you’re already trying to figure out whether I have a partner or not.” For a second it was silent again. ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it,’ Seungwoo thought to himself, trying to suppress the impulse. But he couldn’t possibly contain himself. He just had to know, so he asked: “Well do you?”

He felt like he was about to faint.

Clearly you were a little perplexed by his bluntness, but that didn’t stop you from responding immediately with “That is none of your business. Besides, I don’t find this party boring at all.” You showed him a little smile, but Seungwoo couldn’t make out whether you genuinely enjoyed this moment with him or not. He had to find a distraction, quickly. He needed to come up with something interesting before you felt scared off. This conversation was getting worse by the second and he knew that he only had one last chance to save it.

“I don’t think this party is boring either, now that I found someone so interesting to talk to,” he said. And he regretted it immediately. This was the nail in the coffin. It was over. He could nearly feel his heart breaking in his chest. But to his surprise, you laughed.

“You’re a little pathetic, aren’t you?” you asked him. The tone of your voice was playful and warm. Even though what you said was quite sour, the sweetness with which you said it was like music to his ears.

“You say it’s pathetic, but I would call it being an open book. Pretending I don’t like you won’t get me anywhere.”

You analyzed him for a second, your gaze feeling almost like some kind of interrogation to him. “Perhaps,” you replied, “but it would benefit you to be a little more subtle about it.”

Seungwoo wondered what it would be like to kiss you. He tried to distract himself, tried to think of something to say again, but the two of you were suddenly interrupted by a voice: “You’re still here? Come on, we have work tomorrow, we should go home!” Seungwoo turned around to see who was calling you, but the person had already gone back inside again. When he turned back to you, you already stood up from the curb and brushed off your clothes. “Well,” you said, “that was my friend. You heard them. It’s time for me to leave.”

He clumsily stood up as well and by the time he got on his feet, you had already made your way over to the door to go back inside the venue. His heart nearly dropped upon the sight of your departure, but to his delight, you turned around to him and he got to hear your beautiful voice one more time.

“Since you seem so desperate to know about this; no, I do not have a partner. Goodnight.” And with that, you disappeared from his sight.

Seungwoo stood there for several minutes, out in the cold, completely dazed. He had managed to blow every single aspect of this encounter and yet, you almost seemed to be into it. Even when thinking about it now, he can feel the ache in his heart again. He never even got to learn your name.

After you left the party and the absurdity of the conversation slowly sinked in, the first thing Seungwoo did was search for Sejun. He needed to have your number immediately. After struggling to explain who he was talking about, he finally managed to get Sejun to ask your friend for your number. The next day, Seungwoo received a text from Sejun which included your contact information. Since neither of them knew your name, and it didn’t occur to Sejun to ask your friend about it, Seungwoo simply saved you in his contacts as ‘sour candy’. He figured it was a suitable nickname for now.

It took him ages to figure out what he should send. He spent days writing, deleting and rewriting drafts in the notes app on his phone, in a hopeless attempt to create the most perfect message known to mankind. And after days of contemplating, he finally found the courage to send this work of art to you earlier this morning.

Now all you have to do is reply.

Seungwoo stands up from his chair and walks over to the cabinet to grab the battery that rolled underneath it earlier. While feeling around for the battery, he feels something else and pulls it from under the furniture. He holds it in front of him and twists the object between his fingers while observing it closely. Between his fingers, he is holding two little magnets, stuck tightly together.

Just when he’s wondering when and how those magnets ended up there, he is startled by the loud ringtone of his phone, coming from the dinner table. This time, he doesn’t rush to pick it up. Instead, he walks over to the table rather slowly and he first looks at who's calling him. His knees just about turn to mush when he sees ‘sour candy’ displayed on his screen. Quickly, he sits down, takes a deep breath and answers the phone.

“Hello?”

“Yes, hello. You’re that guy from the party last Saturday? With the nice tattoo? You messaged me?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

Seungwoo’s hands are trembling. He can’t believe it. He is finally talking to you again. While holding the phone to his ear with his right hand, he still has the two little magnets between the fingers of his left hand, fidgeting with them nervously. The other side of the line is silent for a little moment, before he gets to hear your lovely voice again:

“We can go to a cafe. Tomorrow.”

Internally, Seungwoo is screaming.

“Yeah-... I would love that! At what time should we meet?”

“1 pm, the cafe you messaged me about. And it’s not a date. See you tomorrow.”

Before he gets the chance to say goodbye and I love you, you already hang up on him. He is fully aware you told him it wouldn’t be a date, but he isn’t even remotely bothered by it. The excitement rushing through his body is enough to distract him for now. Just because this won’t be a date according to you, doesn’t mean he can’t take you on a real date in the future.

Seungwoo observes the small magnets in his left hand again and feels the urge to press a little kiss on them. After taking a brief moment to calm himself down, he runs to his closet to gather an outfit for tomorrow. This too, happens with lots of contemplation in order to present himself in the best possible way. When he’s finally satisfied, he places the clothes on a chair and slips the little magnets in one of the pockets. For good luck.

To be continued...

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