| DESIGN OF THE HEART ♡ CHAPTER. 4
"it's as if even atom in my body gravitates towards you." - anonymous
♡ you try to keep your head down, focus on finishing your last two years of university and keep to your friend group. however, when meeting an enticing boy in your photography elective has you learning to love new friends, experience loss and falling in love while doing so, you’ve realized he’s opened your heart up to him before you could even stop it from happening.♡
## design of the heart masterlist
Genre: smau, university!verse, non-idol!au, fluff, comedy, angst
Pairing: art student!hyunjin x writer major!reader
Warnings: swearing, mentions about bullying and depression but nothing detailed, suggestive innuendos but again, nothing detailed, drinking, alcohol, horrible flirting, mentions of anxiety, please let me know if I missed something!
Word Count: 7, 481
Taglist: open
“Who’re you smiling at?” A voice rings out to you, grabbing your attention from your phone as you turn it off and place it onto the counter.
You look up to see Wooyoung eyeing you, as if he’s looking at a complete stranger. “No one, just. . . Just an email from one of my professors.” You lied, though you know it’s a terrible lie. You’re a horrible lier, Wooyoung has always told you that you are, from the day you met. And from the way he raises an eyebrow at the words you spurt out, you know he’s seen through your lame attempt.
“Really? What, did he send you all the answers for an upcoming exam? That’s the only reason you should be smiling that much at an email from your professor, though that doesn’t explain the blush on your cheeks. Oh my god, do you have a thing for one of your professors?”
Your eyes widen slightly, and you raise a hand to your cheek, pressing the back of your knuckles to your cheek and unsurprisingly your cheek was above normal warmth. Your heart stutters and its moments like this that scare you with just how well Wooyoung knows you. “No! It, I - It’s nothing.” You try again. It’s not that you want to hide anything from him, but more so, you don’t want to hear the ‘I told you so’ from him when you tell him about your little interaction with Hyunjin. Honestly, within the two weeks that you’ve been having classes with Hyunjin, you and Hyunjin have grown oddly close. Not to oddly like you don’t want it to happen, but rather, oddly quickly.
You weren’t complaining. There was something comforting about him. Other than Wooyoung, Hyunjin was the one that made you feel safe, comforted and. . . Well, weirdly enough, taken care of. Not that you needed it, but just that, if you needed something, they were there, or you could rely on them to watch your back, keep an eye on you when you zoned out, or were too immersed in a book to notice your surroundings, they were there to watch out for you, so you could safely go to another world.
As if it was possible, Wooyoung raises his eyebrow up even higher in disbelief. “Really? What, next are you gonna try to convince me Crocs do actually have a left and right shoe too? That they’re not interchangeable?”
“I - Okay, first of all, we’ve talked about this, Crocs do have a right side and a left side in a pair, and they’re really not interchangeable. We’ve literally had an emergency meeting for thi-“
“Okay, you know what, that’s besides the point.” He cuts off, dismissing the topic with a wave of his hand. “The point is, Y/nnie, stop trying to lie because you literally suck at it and it just makes me sad to see you try and I can’t get emotional before my party.” You roll your eyes at the dramatics, but allow him to continue on with his tangent. “So just tell me who you were talking to or the mystery is gonna -“ He quickly comes to a halt before he can finish his sentence. Realization dawns on his face, then, as if in slow motion you watch as his big round eyes, widen even further in excitement, his mouth spreading into a large gleeful smile and he squeals. “Holy shit!” He doesn’t yell, he doesn’t shout, but screams and you wince. He covers his mouth and points at you. “You! You’re- you were! OhmygodIcan’tevengetitoutIcan’tbreathe!”
“Woo, breathe or you’re gonna pass out and instead of a party we’re gonna have to take a trip to the hospital.” You say, reaching your hands out in front of you, bracing to catch him in case he really does pass out, because it’s Wooyoung you’re dealing with, and you wouldn’t put anything past him at this point after years of knowing him.
“It’s Hyunjin! It’s him! That’s who you were talking to!” He finally gets out. “That’s who you were blushing over! Holy shit!”
“No! I mean yes, I was talking to him, but no, I was not blushing.” Again, a horrible lie tumbling past your lips before you could even attempt to stop it.
“I’m a magician.” It’s as if he doesn’t even hear you anymore. “My match making magic worked.”
“Woo, there is no match. He was just seeing if I was going to be here at the party.” You explain with a shrug.
“Why though?” He asks with a smirk, as if he already knows the answer but just wants to hear your lame hypothesis just for his entertainment.
You shrug again. “He knows I’m uncomfortable in large groups and crowds so just wanted to warn me about the extra people coming. That’s all.”
Wooyoung rolls his eyes with a scoff. “Bull. He knew you’d know, since I’m your best friend and would 100% tell you about the change in number of people, that was just an excuse.”
You furrow your brows and slightly tilt your head at him. “How would you know?”
Wooyoung’s smirk simply grows as he leans down closer to your face to whisper. “Because even though we’re best friends, I’m still a guy.” Then he leans back away and claps his hands together. “Alright! Tonight is the night to implement my match making skills to the max!”
“Wha-No! Wooyoung!” But he’s already walking past you and back into the living room, not letting you talk him out of it. You sigh and massage your temple as you begin to dread the chaos that was about to take place tonight.
In comical timing, Dosie walks into the kitchen, jabbing her thumb in the direction of where Wooyoung walked past her and into the living room. She glances at you in question. “What the hell is he freaking out about now?”
You sigh in defeat, knowing that at this point, it was no use to try and hide your interaction with Hyunjin, because Wooyoung would make sure that all your group knew. It’s a blessing and a curse with your friend group in that aspect. You guys talked and relied on one another for everything, but that also meant, that you all knew pretty much everything about each other. “I was texting Hyunjin and. . . I guess I had a look on my face and now he’s calling himself a match making magician.” You explain in bullet points.
Dosie chuckles, shaking her head. “What a guy.” She reaches for the stack of red solo cups and pulls a couple bottles of liquor and juice from the fridge. “Help me?” She asks as she twists the top of a bottle open. “So, what kind of face did you have?”
You shrug as you begin pouring portions of juice into the cups and Dosie follows with the alcohol. “I don’t know. . . He said ‘blushing’ but he was also looking at me like I grew two heads, so clearly something extreme.”
Dosie lets a little huff of a laugh out. “Babe, that sounds like crushing. And as absolutely batshit crazy as Wooyoung can be, he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to pining and crushing on someone but doing nothing about it.” She doesn’t have to elaborate, you know she’s referring to the situationship between him, Goeun and Sunwoo. She glances up at you. “You sure you don’t like Hyunjin?”
You hesitate. Did you? You never really considered yourself as a person that someone else would even consider as a romantic interest, hence why you never really pursued something more than friendship with anyone. You always thought you were the quiet girl that guys hung out with either out of pity or to come to for advice on how to get another girl, save for Sunwoo, Seungmin and Wooyoung who happened to be the odd ones that actually wanted you as a friend. So why would you even consider crushing on someone like Hyunjin who was way out of your league when he probably only pitied you. “I. . . No, no, I don’t. He’s just a friend.”
You miss it, but Dosie rolls her eyes and gently shakes her head at your denial. “A pretty enticing friend though, no?”
“Alright, these cups are done.” You ignore her insinuation and slide the cups closer to her.
“Just because you ignored my question doesn’t mean I won’t come back to it and check in again.” She warns with a teasing jab into your side. You laugh along with her, ignoring her attempt at threatening you, but appreciate her dropping the topic for now. You weren’t sure if it was because you didn’t have an answer for her yet, or if it was because you weren’t ready to admit something that you weren’t ready to face yet yourself.
Seungmin pops his head into the kitchen, “If you guys don’t come out here and help out I refuse to be held responsible for anything that may happen to Wooyoung. He won’t shut up out here and I don’t know how much more of it I can take.”
You and Dosie bring the cups to the pony-wall that will be dedicated as the alcohol bar for the night and continue helping set up. Moving furniture and making sure everything is ready for when the guests arrive, and by the time you’re done and the first group of guests arrive you’re slightly tired from moving furniture and making sure the apartment was set for a party, but you were pretty impressed by your outcome, and the apartment looks good and ready for a bunch of college kids to mingle in.
-
It’s about thirty minutes after the time people can arrive that you see Goeun and Sunwoo walk through the front door, Sunwoo’s arm around Goeun’s shoulder as he lazily closes the front door behind them. Goeun quickly spots you, Dosie and Seungmin by the alcohol bar sipping your drinks, Wooyoung off somewhere entertaining his guests. Goeun smiles gleefully and does a hybrid of a skip and hop, over to you three and wraps her arms around you and Dosie. “My gosh! Look at you two cuties in your dresses!” She gushes, keeping her hands on both your and Dosie’s shoulders as she steps back slightly to take you two in, resembling a proud mother.
“You look gorgeous too Goeunnie!” You compliment back with a large smile, happy to have your second girl here with you now, taking in her long silky hair, make-up done perfectly and of course, her legs and figure shown off by her adorable dress. You’ve always been confused as to why she would go into lyricism - hidden behind the scenes and not in the spot light like she should be - when she could go into fashion design, make-up artist or costume design, she has the eye for it, it comes so easily to her. One glance at anyone and she can pick out the most flattering garment of clothing for them and match the make-up to the clothing and their facial features in thirty minutes tops. It always shocks you when you’re out shopping with her, you guys will walk into a store and she’d snatch something up in a matter of minutes and tell you to go try it on, nine out of ten times it’s one of the most flattering piece of clothing you’ve tried on.
She does a little pose with a bashful smile, though you know it’s all for show as she’s the most confident person you’ve ever met. “Thanks lovey.”
“You guys took your sweet time getting here by the way. Good job on making sure you didn’t have to do any of the set-up.” Seungmin comments as Sunwoo comes and joins you guys, giving the two accusatory glares.
Goeun smirks and gives Sunwoo a sultry look. “Yeah. . . We got, um. . .”
“Something came up.” Sunwoo offers, barely attempting to cover up what had gone down - you could only guess - mere minutes ago.
“Gross.” Seungmin speaks for the three of you, as everyone but him laughs at his disgust.
“C’mon Seungie, just because you don’t get laid doesn’t mean you have to take your frustration out on us.” Goeun teasing with a wink.
Seungmin simply rolls his eyes, taking another sip of his drink as you and Dosie chuckle. “He’s just grumpy cause he had to listen to Wooyoung talk his ear off the whole evening until people started arriving.” Dosie explains.
“Speaking of, what’s going on with the people here?” Goeun asks twirling her index finger in the air, motioning around you guys as she surveys the area. “This is way more than two groups of friends in here, what happened?” She asks picking up two red solo cups, keeping one for herself and passing the other to Sunwoo.
You nod, “Yeah, one of Wooyoung’s friends from his dance group invited a few others and then Wooyoung decided to just make it a,” You lift your hands and make air quotes, “‘Beginning of the Year’ Party and invited more people as well.” You answer, shrugging to which Goeun nods in understanding.
“Nice,” Then she gets a glint in her eye and smirks at you. “So, where is this infamous Hyunjin that’s been the topic of conversation lately?”
You feel your cheeks flush almost instantly as you try to subtly look around to make sure no one heard that. Dosie lets out a gasp, “Oh! You should have seen Wooyoung earlier when Y/n was texting him!”
Goeun raises an eyebrow at you. “Texting him? Like texting about the homework due, or texting like, flirty and cute?”
You want the floor to swallow you whole as your cheeks now feel like they’re on fire and you stumble for words, so Dosie takes it upon herself to answer for you. “Flirty cute. He was asking if she’d be here tonight.”
“Aww, my baby!” Goeun coos at you, “What else? Did you ask him back if he’d be here, please tell me you did!”
“Yeah, I asked. . .” You mutter as you look down at the cup in your hand.
Dosie and Goeun both squeal. “Alright, you guys gotta calm down, you do realize that Y/n is admitting to literally just having a conversation, right?” Sunwoo speak up.
But Goeun slaps him on the chest. “But this is with someone she likes, and someone that isn’t any of us! We can be happy our baby is stepping out of her comfort zone a little,”
“Yeah, don’t be such a grouch.” Dosie teases.
He rolls his eyes, then turns his attention to Seungmin. “I could think of a million better things to do than stand here and listen to them talk about their love lives, wanna go play some beer pong?”
“Yes. Please.” Seungmin responds, sounding relieved to have an excuse to escape.
“Whoa! Hold up!” Dosie interrupts, stopping the two boys from walking away just yet. “Beer pong? And you think you’re gonna leave me behind? Fuck that.” She says then looks to you and Goeun. “Sorry babes, but I gotta go show these boys how to play a drinking game.”
Sunwoo and Seungmin both laugh at this, but let Dosie follow them as they head to the other side of the room where an eruption of cheers resounds. “Go show ‘em babe!” Goeun shouts after Dosie. Then she looks back to you. “She’s so small she’s gonna be absolutely plastered tomorrow.”
“Yeah, should we have let her leave with them?” You chuckle, glancing in the direction they left, but can’t see them anymore as they blended into the crowd.
Goeun waves her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Eh, the boys will watch out for her.” Then her eyes shift behind you, towards the front door and it seems like she’s seeing something show stopping. “Holy shit, who’s that?”
“Who?” You question and look over your shoulder, and in that moment your heart flutters, a warm sensation spreads throughout your chest and you already feel the corner of your lips tilt up. Hyunjin. But he’s not alone, to his left is an equally attractive boy, his hair brown with an orange tint to it, his skin golden silk honey, but his eyes hold something that has you on edge, mischief and danger. To Hyunjin’s right is a well built guy, short curly black locks that make his otherwise intimidating build a little softer. Behind Hyunjin is a somewhat dorky looking guy, but his eyes are big and round, curious and cute, he reminds you of an energetic puppy.
“Scratch that, who the hell are all of them?” Goeun continues as you keep your eyes on Hyunjin who looks around the apartment, but as if he senses you, his eyes wander to yours and meet your gaze. You offer a quick shy smile then look back to Goeun.
“I don’t know about the other guys, but the tall one in the middle is Hyunjin.” You answer.
Goeun’s eyebrows shoot up, then she quickly glances back to him. “Damn, he’s hot and his friends are hot. No wonder you couldn’t stay indifferent, I’d be dropping my panties for him in a second.”
You gape at her. “Goeun!” But she just wiggles her eyebrows at you as she takes a sip from her cup and you can’t help but let out a breathy chuckle at her, shaking your head. “You’re insane.”
“That’s part of my charm babe.” She responds. Then her eyes quickly glance behind you, but in split second they’re back on you. “He’s heading over here with his entourage.” You whispers, but can’t hide the slight smirk
“What!? Really?” You ask, feeling heat spread across the back of your neck and for some reason feel a little panicked.
She nods, then continues whispering to you, “You want me to stay or go?”
Your eyes widen at her. “What!? Stay!” You whisper shout back to her.
She nods quickly then looks slightly above your left shoulder and flashes a huge pretty smile, so Goeun like. “Hi!”
You swallow and turn to see Hyunjin about a foot and a half away from you. “Hey,” You greet softly, but can’t hide the smile that spreads across your lips.
“Hey,” He greets back, his warm smooth voice feeling like a breath of fresh air to you. “Sorry I’m a little late, someone,” He emphasizes looking to the mischievous brunette to his left, who simply flashes him an adorable and misleadingly innocent seeming smile. “Got us a little caught up in something.”
“It was all justified, I promise, Hyunnie just wanted to get here as quickly as possible for some gir-“
“Anyway.” Hyunjin cuts him off quickly and you feel Goeun tap at your lower back, out of the boys view, repeatedly. But you ignore her, keeping your eyes focused on Hyunjin. “How’s the party so far? We miss anything?”
You shake your head. “Not much, but then again, we’ve been mostly staying here,” You glance in the direction that the beer pong game that caught three of your friend’s attention. “There is a loud game of beer pong being played though."
“Ah, sounds like something they’d be into,” He speaks, nudging his head to the buff guy to his right and the puppy-like boy behind him.
“Hey, at least introduce us before you make us sound like party animals.” The boy behind Hyunjin speaks, tapping Hyunjin’s shoulder in feign annoyance.
Hyunjin chuckles at the boy’s annoyance, but you can see the affection in his eyes. They must be really close, because you don’t think you’ve ever seen that softness around Hyunjin’s eyes, and oddly enough, you feel the slightest bit of envy. Not in a malicious way, but just in a sense that you want to see Hyunjin look at you like that. But you quickly dismiss the thought from your mind, you must be crazy. And you suddenly want to grab another red solo cup and chug the whole thing in that moment.
“Right, this is; Haechan.” Hyunjin continues, pointing to the boy to his left, “Changbin.” He names the boy to his right, “And that one back there is Jisung.” He continues, nudging his head towards the boy who just spoke.
“‘That one back there’? Man, really feeling the love dude.” Jisung comments, patting the spot over his chest.
“And who’re these pretty ladies?” Changbin asks, looking more than interested in you and Goeun.
“I’m Goeun, this is my best friend and soulmate Y/n.” Goeun answers for you both, flashing a charming smile to the boy. “Nice to meet you guys.”
Changbin reaches out his hand to shake Goeun’s. “You too beautiful.” To which Goeun giggles and delicately places her hand in his to shake.
“Ahh, so this is Wooyoung and Hyunjin’s little friend!” Haechan exclaims with a big smile, his eyes glittering, and you can’t help but smile to him at his friendliness. He seemed warm and welcoming, but still a little bit of edge and mischief to him that’s hidden just beneath the surface.
You can’t help the blush that warms your cheeks and look down to the floor bashfully. “Who’s this Wooyoung dude? I wanna find and thank him for the invite. I’ve needed to party for a while now.” Jisung speaks
“Dude, we literally just had one for your birthday two weeks ago.” Haechan replies.
“Yeah, that was two weeks ago, not this week.”
Haechan raises an eyebrow and turns to look at Jisung in disbelief. “You’re telling me you need to party every week? Is that what you’re saying right now?”
The rest of you laugh at Haechan’s tone of outrage. “You know, you’re taking my way of life a little too personally right now and I’m not sure how I feel about that.” Jisung quips back, a look of suspicion on his face as he eyes Haechan up and down.
“That’s because the rest of us have to deal with your hungover ass the next morning.” As Jisung and Haechan begin to bicker, you look to Hyunjin with an amused smile and he gives you a look as if this is just the way things go in their friend group, and you suppose it is. “Sorry about those two, they literally don’t know when to shut up.” Changbin speaks to you and Goeun. “They both refuse to ever stop talking.”
You shake your head though. “It’s okay, it’s entertaining.”
Jisung looks to you with a big smile. “I like this one! She has a good sense for people.”
“You’re just saying that cause most girls see you and runaway, and she’s not.” Haechan mutters with a roll of his eyes.
“You know, I’ve had just about enough of you.” Jisung huffs, shoving at Haechan’s shoulder to which Haechan swats back at Jisung.
“Ugh, guys, go somewhere else and do that.” Hyunjin complains, giving them both a look of disgust.
“Alright, c’mon Thing One and Thing Two, let’s go and leave the normal people alone.” Changbin speaks up, beginning to push both Jisung and Haechan’s backs to get them away from you and Hyunjin.
“How about we grab some drinks and go mingle, shall we?” Goeun suggests, picking up a red solo cup and offering it to Changbin.
“Sounds like a great idea sweetheart.” Changbin responds, accepting the cup from Goeun, Jisung and Haechan following, then Goeun leads the three boys further into the crowded apartment, leaving you and Hyunjin to yourselves. Definitely all part of her plan, and you didn’t know whether to thank or curse her. But as you glance up to Hyunjin you can’t help but feel a little relieved that you two were left to talk with one another without interruption.
“Wow, she really knows how to handle them.” Hyunjin comments as he watches the group of four wander off, looking back to you with a smile.
“Yeah, well she has to deal with Wooyoung so I think it’s just practice.” You respond with a light chuckle.
“Oh, so are they dating?” He asks, reverting his gaze back to you.
You hesitate, “Um. . . Well. . . It’s a little complicated.” You answer, biting the side of your cheek, but Hyunjin seems to get it and nods slightly.
“Got it.“
You smile at him slightly thankful for him not pressing the matter further. Then you gesture to his empty hands. “Not drinking tonight?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, I’m the DD tonight, gotta make sure everyone gets home safely tonight, and you saw the two bickering idiots, they wouldn’t be able to get themselves home anyway without me.” Then he adds, “I really am sorry about them. They’re a lot.”
But you laugh and shake your head. “No, they were cute, I like them a lot.” And Hyunjin seems relieved at this. “Besides, I have to deal with Wooyoung too, so it’s not much different, just two more.”
“They’re good guys, just sometimes a little abrasive and loud. But never bad intentions.”
You nod again, “I know, they’re friends with you, so I would figure they’re just as good hearted as you.” You assure.
Hyunjin gives a little smile, looking a little bashful at your words, which in turn makes you a little shy yourself. “Thanks, but you might be giving me a little too much credit.” He teases with a slight smirk. “Do you wanna go find a place to sit?”
You look at him in slight shock. “Oh, you didn’t want to go be with your friends?” You ask.
He looks at you with a glint in his eye. “Well, I am. You’re my friend, aren’t you?”
You feel like at this point you’re just digging a hole for yourself, causing your cheeks to stay in a constant blush. “Oh, well, yeah, I mean - I think we are. . . If that’s - if you’re okay with that. . .?” You drop off, feeling like you’re now sounding like a babbling idiot and making a fool of yourself.
But Hyunjin simply chuckles at your rambling, and you don’t know if you should feel relieved or embarrassed, but judging by the soft glint in his eye and gentle smile of his, you assume the latter. “Yes, Y/N, of course I am, I like talking to you and I feel like after working as pairs together in class, we would be considered friends at this point, no?”
“Yeah, right.” You concede and try to hide your elation at his words. “Um, there’s a little corner in the living room we can sit in.” You offer, unsure of how to go about this.
“Lead the way.” He smiles, following behind you.
As you two weave your way through the crowded center floor of the living room that’s become a make-shift dance floor, you feel his hand gently cup your shoulder and lead you away from the clumsy dancing bodies, when someone accidentally bumps into you. You want try to keep your cool, control yourself and keep your composure as you focus on keeping your feet sturdy against the wooden floors.
Once you finally find the chairs that were tucked into the corner for a small nook for people to sit, you plop yourself onto the metal seat and Hyunjin takes occupancy in the one next to you. You feel his leg brush yours, but decide to quickly change your attention onto something else to distract yourself. “So how’d you end up meeting Haechan and the others?”
“Oh, well, Haechan I met through my buddy Minho - he’s around here somewhere,” He answers, glancing around to catch sight of the boy named Minho, but you suppose he didn’t as he looks back to you. “They have. . . Similar interests and met through that, and Haechan just kinda clicked, so he’s been around ever since. Jisung I’ve known since high school, and Changbin I met through a class freshmen year of university.” He pauses as you watch him talk about his friends, he has a little smile on his lips, and you can tell that they really mean a lot to him. Just from the short interactions you saw between them when they all get here, you could see they’re incredibly close.
“You guys all seem to be really close, they mean a lot huh?” You observe.
Hyunjin nods. “Yeah, they’ve helped me through some stuff and kept me from. . . Losing myself I guess you could say.”
You furrow your brows. “Stuff?”
Hyunjin smiles slightly, but you can tell it’s a bit more forced than any other smile of his that’s been intended for you. “Maybe I’ll tell you at some point. But a party doesn’t seem like the best place to get into that part of my life.”
You suddenly realize that you might have been probing at a sensitive topic. Sure you guys are friends, but he hasn’t known you long, and you haven’t really shared anything private about yourself. “Oh! Yeah, no, sorry I didn’t mean to be prying.”
He shakes his head gently. “No, it’s not really that. Believe it or not, I actually do. . . Want to tell you these things and oddly enough trust you, even though we’ve only known each other a couple weeks. But really, I’d prefer to tell you in a different setting.”
If someone expected you to hold back the giant smile that spread across your face, they’d have to be insane. It meant a lot that Hyunjin trusts you and wants to be open with you. Because you can tell that he’s a private person, and prefers to keep things to himself and the people he’s closest to. “I get that. But don’t feel like you should be pressured to tell me anything.” You say, just in case. “And me too by the way. You make me feel comfortable too.”
When his eyes meet yours in the dim light you can see something soft and deep within his iris’. And it’s meaningful, because you feel absorbed in his dark warm eyes and like suddenly it’s just you two in this corner and you’re not cramped in a small apartment surrounded by drunk dancing college kids. But rather in a sacred little nook. The tension between you two so palpable it almost encases you like a warm, comfortable weighted blanket. “So did you think of an emoji yet?” He asks, and you can see he’s doing it to ease some of the tension between you two, you’re sure for his sake, but you’re also relieved as you’re sure you would have said something stupid in a minute.
You chuckle and tear your gaze from his finally as you look down at your hands, fiddling with your fingers. “No, I don’t think I will be able to choose one that you’d like.” You admit, flashing him a teasing glance.
He smirks. “I have one for you.”
Your eyebrows shoot up. “What!? Really!?” You laugh, unable to contain the way your heart fluttered. “What is it?”
He shrugs. “Wont tell you until you pick one for me.”
“Ah,” You deflate. “That’s not fair,” You pout, puckering out your lower lip.
He lets out the cutest little chuckle. “It’s only fair.”
You decide to tease him back. “Well, maybe I’ll just follow in Woo’s footsteps and stick with the dancer emoji.” Then you lightly squint your eyes at him to tease him further.
The handsome boy gapes at you, mouth open. “You wouldn’t!”
You shrug and sip your drink. “Maybe I would.”
It’s Hyunjin’s turn to squint at you, a frown dawning his face. “That’s just cold.”
You both hold eye contact before busting into a fit of giggles. “Don’t worry, I’m not mean, I’ll think of a good emoji.”
Hyunjin raises an eyebrow at you, gages your expression, you assume to see if you’re lying or not, then nods, seeming to to come to the conclusion that you’re telling the truth. You both fall into a fun back-and-fourth flow of conversation, Hyunjin telling you about his friends, occasionally pointing them out to you if he catches one walking by. He tells you how they got into trouble freshmen year when they broke into the football field to hang out and drink one warm spring night. You exchange that story for how you and Wooyoung became best friends in elementary school when he fell onto your ankle while you were sitting in the school yard trying to make a flower crown and he was diving to catch a ball. He ended up spraining your ankle and for the following weeks of your recovery he was at your beck and call, trying to make up for it. After that, even when you recovered, he never left your side. You learn about Minho’s legendary sarcasm, love of cats and joy in bullying the other guys. He learns about how Goeun is like a mama bear to you and Dosie and how she almost got into a fist fight in high school for Dosie when a girl posted entries from Dories journal online and exposed Dosie’s battle with depression. You guys go back and fourth until a comfortable silence falls over your little corner as you two turn to people watching, not separately, but more so together, as your arms are now slightly pressed against one another. Not yet leaning on each other, but leaving barely, if any, space between your bare arm and his sleeve covered arm. It happened while you guys were talking, just naturally gravitating towards one another subconsciously. You share each others warmth and you can feel he has toned arms under the fabric of his shirt, which makes you feel a certain way that you plan on ignoring. You have trouble not looking over to him as you enjoy the warmth emanating from his body to yours. You’ve never felt comfortable being less than a foot close to a boy you don’t know well, but with Hyunjin you not only feel comfortable, but safe. His gentle mannerisms, soft gazes and over all mellow persona all things that put you at ease. Honestly, you didn’t think you’d have a good time tonight, large social gatherings, as Hyunjin pointed out, make you uncomfortable. But you realize that easily a n hour and a half passed as you guys were wrapped up in conversation.
“You know, I didn’t think I would have a good time here.” Hyunjin speaks, almost as if reading your mind. You look over to him, his profile taking your breath away, you honestly didn’t know how someone could be so beautiful. “But, you made it really fun. So thanks for sitting with me, I’m sure there are a bunch of other places you’d rather be.”
“Believe it or not, but I think sitting here with you was the most fun thing I could have chosen to do during this party.” You respond, giving him a smile.
He smiles back. “Well, for my sake, I’m glad that’s the case, but for yours? I hope you up your standards of fun if you think talking with me is the funnest thing here.”
“No way! I would take sitting and talking with you for hours over any party any time.”
“Don’t say that or I might actually believe you and hold you to it.” He teases, and you can’t help but hope that’s true. You hope you get more chances to do just this with him. But before you could form a reply, a big roar of cheers from the ping pong catches both his and your attention.
You look over to see Dosie jumping up and down cheering, and beside her is the boy that Hyunjin, about twenty minutes earlier pointed out as Minho, also cheering. But what catches you off guard is when Minho leans over and whispers something in Dosies ear. The Dosie you know is calm, collected, for the most part serious, and has great control of her facial expressions. But the moment Minho whispers whatever it was he said to her, her face melts into a giddy smile, if it wasn’t so dim, you’re positive you’d have seen blush bloom across her cheeks. She looks down bashfully for a moment, then back to the table of red solo cups. But you see her lean just slightly closer to Minho as he does the same, practically leaning their shoulders on one another. “Well, looks like they’re having a good time too.” Hyunjin chuckles.
“Yeah, looks like it. Minho must be magic ‘cause no guy has ever had that affect on Dosie.” You comment, blinking in their direction, it was the oddest thing you’d ever seen and you offhandedly wonder if Goeun was witnessing this as well.
Hyunjin scoffs. “Oh, trust me, Minho has a way with words and girls.” You frown at this and look back to Hyunjin. He looks back to you too and seems to catch on to his insinuation and quickly back tracks. “Not like that! Minho doesn’t juggle girls, Changbin on the other hand. . . But Minho doesn’t do that. Whether or not it’s because he’s too lazy, or because he does actually have a moral compass. . . That I couldn’t tell you.”
You continue to frown and look back to the couple still in each other’s personal space, like they want to be close, but are still weary of the boundaries as having just met, but still curious about one another and there being clear attraction. “Well he better not be playing her.” You mutter.
You hear Hyunjin chuckle. “Yeah I guess he better watch out. Or he’ll have to face the wrath of Y/n.”
You glare over to him. “He will.”
“I know, that’s what I’m saying.” But you can hear the teasing mockery in his tone and your pout only grows. Hyunjin looks at you and the smile on his face is both endearing and infuriating to you. “But you might want to change your expression before that, it’s way too cute to be considered threatening.” You short-circuit at that and suddenly forget every word you’ve ever learned in your life time. He notices this and gives you a smirk. “What? Cat got your tongue?”
“I - No - I just,” But everything fails you, your vocabulary, your tongue, just your whole brain at this point and you don’t know where to start or how to begin. You fumble and begin twiddling with your fingers.
His smirk broadens, “It’s cute when you do that, stuttering and your face gets all pink.” He says, and you glance up at him, unsure, but when you see the genuine soft smile on his lips, as if all he did was just say something normal, a warmth spreads across your chest and you feel like you’re about to combust.
“I, um, th-thank you. . .?” You say, barely above a whisper that you’re surprised he even heard it.
He chuckles and his eyes gaze at you in the softest of ways that you have to look away, or you might just cry. What was this boy doing to you? “Are you asking me?” He teases, leaning closer to you to nudge your shoulder with his.
“I - I don’t know! You caught me off guard, I didn’t know what to say,” You rush you, pouting and sending him a quick glare for teasing you when you feel so flustered.
“Okaaayy, sorry sorry.” He giggles and pats your head in an affectionate manner that softens you on the inside, but you still want him to sweat, so stay pouty on the outside.
“You should be, first calling me cute, then teasing me. It’s not fair.” You complain.
“Forgive me?” He asks, giving you the cutest puppy-dog eyes, but you try to stand your ground.
“Hmm,” You hum, pouting your lips and squinting your eyes at him, just to make him sweat for one more second. But then you give in when he blinks at you and you can’t help the small smile that breaks past your lips. “Fine.”
He heaves a heavy dramatic sigh. “Oh thank god,” Resting his palm over his heart just for extra dramatics.
You two then meet gazes and let out small laughs until a voice rings out above you two and you look up to see Wooyoung and Goeun standing above you guys. “You two do know that you’re not in time-out, you could like, walk around, get a drink, I don’t know, even dance?” Wooyoung says, looking at you and Hyunjin like you’re two weirdos, which in hindsight, probably are considering you’re spending the majority of the party in a corner just talking.
Hyunjin and Goeun laugh as you roll your eyes. “Yes Woo, we know.”
“Just makin’ sure, cause the past two hours I’ve checked over here multiple times to see if you’re still sitting in the corner, and each time, you guys still are, so I figured I’d make sure.” He says, raising his hands in mock defense.
“Leave them alone Wooyoungie, I don’t know about Hyunjin, but you know Y/nnie would rather be anywhere else, so just be happy she’s here at the party.” Goeun scolds.
“Yeah, I’m not much of a partier myself.” Hyunjin answers with a fleeting smile.
“See?” Goeun says, lifting her hand in your and Hyunjin’s direction as she raises her eyebrows at Wooyoung. “They’re happy here and having fun. Now leave them alone. I’m sure they were having a better time without you here bothering them.”
Wooyoung whines at Goeun and pouts, she simply rolls her eyes at Wooyoung’s attempt at pouting at her and shoves him away gently. “You two have fun, I’ll keep this one away from you guys.” She winks.
“But just know I’m kicking everyone out in two hours so I can have some time tonight with my lady. Soo. . . If you have anymore flirting to get done, get it done quickly.” Wooyoung warns and at this moment, you swear, Goeun couldn’t get Wooyoung away from you guys fast enough. “Also, Hyunnie, no funny business tonight. I won’t allow it. Four dates first. That’s my rule.”
“Goeun!” You complain, looking at her with what you could only guess is a horrified look. She winces and grabs Wooyoung’s hand and begins forcefully pulling him away as she mouths an apologetic ‘sorry’ to you. You groan, “I am so sorry, he literally has no filter.”
Hyunjin simply chuckles. “It’s fine, I’m used to it with him and Haechan in the same room when we have dance rehearsals. Believe it or not, Haechan might even be worse.”
You let out a laugh. “Worse than Wooyoung? That’s crazy to imagine. I don’t know how you do handle it.”
“An endless line of caffeine being chugged into my system, headphones and using Minho as a threat to get them to stop talking.”
“You use Minho as a threatening tactic!?” You laugh.
“Oh yeah, they’re terrified of him. I think everyone is. So it comes in handy to take out my phone and threaten to text him to come to the studio to discipline them. Works every time.” You can’t help the laughter that bubbles in you at the thought of it. “But I guess it keeps things entertaining and there’s never a dull moment.” He adds, and you nod in agreement. Without Wooyoung, you probably wouldn’t have had the great memories you can recall on today. He filled them, giving you funny stories to remember and inside jokes you can still laugh about to this day.
“Yeah, you’re definitely right about that.”
“Well, we have two more hours, you want to keep talking here or go do something else?” He asks.
“Let’s stay here, please?” You suggest, looking at him, and pleading in your mind that he would agree.
He gives you a comforting smile and leans back comfortably into his chair, “Of course, should I tell you about the time Haechan flooded Wooyoungs bath tub with chicken nuggets?” You laugh in disbelief and nod eagerly as you too, lean back into your chair, your shoulders now pressed together. That last little bit of space that was once there between your bodies nonexistent, and you both seemed content with that, welcoming each other’s body warmth even.
As Hyunjin begins telling you about the story with Haechan, you realize that he’s been keeping you company this whole time, checking to see if you were okay, telling you endless stories about him and his friends. Could he have been looking out for you since you weren’t great in settings like this? Distracting you with his stories so you couldn’t focus on the crammed small apartment and loud noise? You couldn’t tell, but the thought made your heart swell with a particular feeling you’ve never felt before. It was both comforting but scary and you weren’t sure if you were prepared for what it meant was evolving.
♡ tagged: @nyasstars
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