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hcuyk · 18 days

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OUR INFERNO | CHAPTER ONE

SYNOPSIS ✧ despite being your greatest archnemesis/rival/enemy/frenemy/whateverthefuck he was, hyunjae had always been by your side. that changed when your boyfriend was brought up, creating a newfound rift in your whateverthefuck relationship with hyunjae

PAIRING ✧ rival!hyunjae x fem!reader

GENRE ✧ high school au, enemies to fwb, angst, smut, fluff(?), humor(?) (these mfs bicker a lot), pining

WARNINGS ✧ 18+ MINORS DO NOT INTERACT — cheating, profanity, mentions of physical fight/bruises, underaged drinking, obsessive/possessive hyunjae : NSFW TAGS : outdoor/semipublic sex, dubcon recording, spit/drool/tears, oral and fingering (fem receiving), penetration, scratching/ripping, humping, minimal praise, degradation, sub!hyunjae for 0.002 seconds, petnames (princess, good girl, babe/baby, slut)

WORD COUNT ✧ 19k

⋮≡ [ OUR INFERNO EXCLUSIVE ] @deoboyznet @flwoie @sanaxo-o — fill out the form or comment/send an ask/dm to be added!

. . . . . . OUR INFERNO M.LIST ✩ next [ TWO ]

⋮≡ [ PERMANENT TAGLIST ] @armysantiny @stealanity @zzoguri @nyujjan @tinisprout @the-kpop-simp @sunwoosberrie @winterchimez — fill out the form or comment/send an ask/dm to be added!

THE BOYZ MASTERLIST | NAVIGATION

AUTHOR'S NOTE : in honor of my three years of officially stanning the boyz on this very day, let's celebrate with my smut debut and writing comeback 😋 enjoy my loves

PART ONE: CHASING THE SPARK (THE FIRE TETRAHEDRON) — fuel, oxygen, and heat | CHAPTER ONE

“Genuine question.”

“Shoot.”

“Who the fuck does Hyunjae actually think he is?”

Unphased by your up-and-coming rage rant, Kevin resumed snacking on the protein bar he had brought with him. He tossed his free arm over the camera equipment and backpacks sitting next to him on the bench, watching you stride back and forth within one of the many hallways in the recreational center.

“Well, he is your boss.”

“No, he’s the student executive producer,” you corrected, your legs unwavering as you kept a consistent pace to release your frustrations. Kevin shrugged and tossed one leg over the other, staying relaxed despite the hot fumes emanating from your upright and angered figure. You paused momentarily to look him in the eye.

“Emphasis on the student,” you clarified.

“Emphasis on the executive, Y/N.”

Baffled at how he was defending your greatest archnemesis (well, more like your greatest frenemy), you ignored his rebuttal and started pacing again. Your steps slowed as you envisioned the sensations you experienced just minutes before, back when you, Kevin, and Hyunjae were at the indoor pool to report for your school’s broadcasting channel. Technically, you were the one reporting and filming while Hyunjae was the subject of interest, and Kevin was there for physical support.

Chills latched onto your skin as you remembered what it felt like to have Hyunjae’s bare torso looming over you, his eyes peering over your shoulder to glance at your footage. While staring at the camera, his gentle, irregular breaths would continuously hit your skin. Water from the pool would trickle down his hair and into your shirt, reaching your backside. When it happened, you could barely comprehend Hyunjae’s ‘advice’ and instead focused on feeling every cold droplet travel through the crevasses created by your spine. You winced at the thought of that happening again, yet somehow you could still hear his irritating voice near your ear, telling you all the reasons why your B-roll of his lap swimming was ‘trash’ and ‘unusable.’

For a moment, you stood there in the hallway frozen, unsure of how to move, before realizing you were just reliving a moment from earlier and that Hyunjae was still in the locker room changing.

“I’m going to make a complaint,” you declared, turning back towards Kevin for his encouragement. Alternatively, you were met with the sight of your best friend completely failing to conceal his judgment and disapproval towards your suggestion.

“Against Hyunjae? You gotta be kidding, right?”

“Yes,” you answered confidently. “Wait, I mean no, I’m not kidding, but yes, against Hyunjae.”

Kevin eyed you skeptically, trying to decipher why you felt threatened enough to report someone like Hyunjae. You may not have spent all your previous years in high school with an affinity for Hyunjae, but it wasn’t like you hated him either—not in the way you truly loathed others. If that were the case, you wouldn’t spend nearly every day with him, bickering until the sun chose to set.

“Sure, maybe my B-roll was trash, I can attest to that, but that does not give his bitchass the right to not only shit on how ‘awful’ I was doing, but also yank the camera out of my hands and delete all the footage I got because they weren’t ‘perfect enough.’ What kind of psycho is that?” You glanced over at Kevin, trying once again to get him to back you up, but the most he gave was a slight nod. Everything you were spurting was half-mindedly being decoded because he had ended up placing more significance on inhaling protein. Regardless, you continued.

“And you would think, hey! As the student executive producer of a high school broadcasting team, he would understand that no! I indeed do not record half-naked people swimming in a pool, whether it be for a career or a hobby. He should also at least have the decency to not swim seven hundred miles per minute while I’m recording. Of course I’m not going to catch up, especially when he barely told me how he wanted things to be recorded? Isn’t he fucking insane for that? Not to mention all the goddamn splashing because of how fucking long his limbs are—”

“You’re explaining this like I didn’t witness the whole exchange,” Kevin grumbled.

“And you would think he knows, right? That Mr. Executive-slash-Captain-of-the-Swim-Team should either be more considerate when, A, he’s kicking water in my direction when he’s swimming or, B, station me away from the edge of the pool? Just a thought, but fuck me, I guess.”

“Well yeah, but the—”

“Also! Not to mention the camera has the fucking ability to zoom in, so why was there even a need for me to stand by the pool anyway?” You scoffed at the absurdity, almost tempted to cackle like a villain because of it. “The least he could do was tell me how to record it or find a way to adjust and compromise without occasionally soaking me with water on purpose, which I know damn well he was—”

“That’s just how-”

“We have a tripod, for god’s sake!” you exclaimed. By now, Kevin had given up on providing you with his input. He opted to rest against the wall, finishing up whatever he had left of the protein bar, and occasionally would roll his eyes.

“But even then, who the fuck wants to see him swim anyway? We’ll probably only need like…what? A minute of the footage for the B-roll? So why the hell is he treating it like it’s about to be nominated by the goddamn Oscars for Best Picture? He just loves to nitpick and control me like a fucking puppet—”

“Keep talking and you’ll potentially strain your throat,” a new voice interrupted.

You jerked around to find Hyunjae, the culprit of your rant, exiting the locker room with a small duffle bag that contained both his swim gear and his school clothes from earlier in the day. His brown hair was only halfway dry, some strands still stuck to his forehead as he approached where you were pacing.

You halted in your path and stared him down. Hyunjae immediately caught onto the mood you were in, and instead of being shocked or hurt, he grinned.

“You.”

Your attempt at threatening him with one word made Hyunjae laugh.

“Hey, I’m just looking out for you.”

“Oh here we go again,” Kevin mumbled, tossing the wrapper of the protein bar to the side. He pulled out his phone and went on TikTok, deciding it was more worthy of his attention than listening to you two banter—something he had been experiencing for well over five years.

As a mutual friend of yours and Hyunjae’s since middle school, Kevin understood the frenemy dynamic better than either of you. Eventually, over the long years he had known you both, he learned to leave you two be.

“What about me, though? Are you going to try and tattletale on me?” Hyunjae feigned sympathy as he gave you an exaggerated pout, tilting his head like a puppy’s. “C’mon. I’m just doing my job.”

“Sorry, but I don’t remember ‘being a dick’ being listed under the requirements for your oh-so-important position of power.” You huffed at him and crossed your arms, choosing to face elsewhere as you rooted the soles of your feet to the ground.

Hyunjae furrowed his brows, his eyes never leaving you, as he addressed the third party within the shared space.

“Kevin, was I being a dick, or is Y/N exaggerating?”

Kevin glanced up at his phone and scrunched his nose at Hyunjae in annoyance.

“Don’t even try to bring me into whatever…this mess is.”

“No, tell him,” you demanded, now looking at him. Your glare was enough to burn Kevin into ashes, but it was nothing compared to Hyunjae’s gaze piercing into your back. Knowing that he never looked away made you shiver, hating how fixated he seemed to be—and seemingly without reason too.

“Listen, I wasn’t being a dick. I was treating you the same way I treat everyone else. I’d honestly argue that you’re just narcissistic and think everything is about you when—”

“Oh wow, thank you for admitting that you’re a dick to everyone else!” You tossed your hands up for dramatic appeal as you spun back around to look at him. He scoffed, but his demeanor was quickly shadowed by a smirk that appeared on his lips, testing you with the arch of his brow.

“Oh really? Do you see anyone else complaining?”

“I’m complaining,” Kevin muttered.

“People don’t complain because they’re scared of you, Sherlock,” you retorted. At this point, Hyunjae had already caught onto your bullshit of making evidence up, and it was why this exchange ended up lasting for as long as it did. Nevertheless, his ego continued to build the more you spoke.

“You’re not scared of me?”

And you keep falling for the bait.

“Why should I? You’re nothing.” You approached him and pressed a finger into his chest, taunting him as you stared straight into his eyes.

Suddenly a competition seemed to have materialized because now you both were locking eyes, too stubborn to look away.

“One day you’ll wake up and realize your position doesn’t mean shit. You take it too seriously and make everyone’s job your job when this should be a learning experience for the rest of us.”

“And who exactly is ‘us,’ babe?”

You narrowed your eyes at him.

“Don’t call me that–”

“And it’s also starting to sound like jealousy to me.” Hyunjae’s eyes finally shifted, but instead of looking away from you like you initially wanted him to, you trailed his line of sight down to your lips. He eyed them shamelessly—technically making you win the unspoken eye contact competition, but at what cost? “I won’t believe you until I receive firm evidence and testimonies from the other students in the club, then maybe I’ll consider your concerns. Deal?”

What you despised most was how well Hyunjae knew and provoked you to get under your skin. He was a raging flame, making your blood boil from both irritation and excitement. You couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, but after nearly six years of banter with Hyunjae, you knew damn well you enjoyed every second of it. It was like a nonstop competition, and you were always on the edge of winning.

Maybe it was also because you were so used to him constantly being above you. He was the president of the student council, the swim team’s captain, and specifically the one who snatched the executive position away from you in the broadcasting team, yet somehow you were still able to compete at his level of arrogance and egotism.

Even though you may never be able to top him in the foreseeable future, you at least knew how to match his fury—his fire, with your own.

“You’re pathetic.” You took a few steps back to gain some distance while his eyes flickered back up to yours. He bit his lip playfully, his smile only growing even wider.

“Woah, Y/N. Exposing my degradation kink so soon?”

“I-...you- w-what?!” you sputtered, your jaw falling slack as Kevin’s head snapped up, staring at the two of you in disgust.

“Get a room—!”

“I’m going to make sure you get degraded from your position, you freak!”

“Not exactly how that word works, princess, but I’m glad you’re at least passionate.” His cooing made you want to slap the living shit out of him, your eyes protruding from their sockets are you glared.

“Are you fucking bricked up or something right now—?”

“Hey guys,” a woman’s voice called out. Your heads turned to look at the end of the hallway, catching one of the recreational center’s workers waving in your general direction. She pressed her lips together and smiled, attempting to be as professional and understanding as possible. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but is it okay if you guys turn it down a notch?”

You and Hyunjae both nodded and whispered apologies, feeling like kids who just got scolded for shoving paintbrushes down the drain. Fortunately, the worker’s smile radiated genuine warmth and consideration, providing you some sort of reassurance that you guys weren’t too much of a disturbance (even though you guys totally were).

“You two are the most childish fuckers I know,” Kevin deadpanned, finally shoving his phone away as he switched between looking at you and the man by your side. His eyebrows bunched up.

“And apparently horny too.”

“I would move across the country if it meant I never had to see him again,” you grumbled, striding back to the pile of equipment to pick up your backpack and the bag with all your reporting necessities (boring script, stationary, and a couple of notebooks shared with all the broadcasting students to collect notes and inspiration in).

“Hello? I’m still here.”

“Look at that. He already misses me.”

“I’m going to hurl,” Kevin unnecessarily announced, and Hyunjae’s face soured.

“Ew.”

“Exactly. That’s how you two make me feel whenever you guys are together.” Kevin got up on his feet and grabbed the wrapper to shove into one of his pockets (no littering, kids) before outstretching his limbs dramatically.

“I swear I developed back pain from always listening to you guys bicker.”

“Or, hot take,” Hyunjae interjected, “maybe it’s because you’re always sitting with your back arching forward like it belongs in the Arches National Park–”

“Yeah yeah, shut the fuck up.” Kevin waved him off with his hand and rolled his eyes. “I came here to help carry stuff, not listen to your bullshit.”

He picked up the bag that contained the camera and passed it to Hyunjae. He offered to hold one more thing, but with only his backpack and the tripod left, Kevin didn’t see much need for his friend’s assistance.

Kevin then faced you, his face stern and rid of emotion.

“You too, Y/N,” he stated seriously. “None of this ‘he said this,’ ‘he said that,’ ‘please fuck me’ bullshit from you either.”

You gaped at him, arms wrapped tightly around the crew’s bag.

“Now why the hell do you think—”

“Zip it.”

Without giving you much of an opportunity to continue, Kevin sped off in front of you, ready to leave the building. You couldn’t even look at Hyunjae as heat rushed to your cheeks, struggling to trail after Kevin’s speedy steps.

Despite carrying heavier items, Hyunjae caught up to you with ease. You wanted nothing more than for Hyunjae’s feet to either slow down or speed up tremendously, but of course he purposely chose to walk by your side, attached to you by the hip.

“He sees it,” Hyunjae sing-songed. “Everyone sees it.”

“Sees what?” you snorted, oblivious to what he was indicating.

“That you want me,” he replied nonchalantly.

The moment you two stepped outside the doors of the center, you stopped to face him, trying to confirm what exactly he was implying.

“You can’t be serious.”

Hyunjae, who also stopped with your steps, shrugged.

“You’re the one in denial.”

Realizing that he was serious, you felt every muscle in your body tense up.

“Hyunjae,” you stated firmly. “I have a boyfriend, remember?”

Instead of receiving something witty from Hyunjae like normal, his relaxed facial features suddenly scrambled into one that expressed remote shock. His lips were slightly parted, eyes searching yours for any hint that indicated you were lying or messing around with him, but you were serious.

The aggressive playfulness from earlier had evaporated faster than boiling water, and you watched as he became stilled. Your heart started pounding, anxiety creeping up within you due to not being able to read Hyunjae like you normally do.

“Since when?” he asked. His voice was quiet, his tone firmer, and by now, Kevin was already by his car, too far from the two of you to understand what was going on. Hell, even you could barely understand what was happening.

“Earth to Hyunjae?” you joked, nervously laughing in an attempt to eliminate the newfound tension looming in the atmosphere. “It’s always been Jiwoong, remember?”

For a moment, Hyunjae could feel his mouth drying up. All his thoughts were held captive in his throat, and his lips remained parted as if they weren’t meant to collide at all. He stared at you like you had just teleported in front of him.

“Y/N,” he stated calmly, “he cheated on you.”

Your initial response was to get defensive, claiming that you already knew that because hell, it was your relationship, but then your brain acknowledged the true elephant in the conversation.

“How-...how the hell do you know about that?”

“I- You know word just-…That doesn’t matter. What matters is why in the world—”

“It was a mistake, okay?”

“A mistake?” As Hyunjae’s brows raised, so did his tone. “You know, people—decent people, don’t make mistakes like that.”

Seeing how Hyunjae was gritting his teeth, how his eyes were locked on yours, built up a foreign frustration within you. Something about the way Hyunjae was behaving felt like he was trying to control you.

All the rage from before had now returned, yet this time, there was no more leniency from you—not when Hyunjae was being more condescending than he had ever been.

“You know nothing, Hyunjae, so frankly, I really don’t care about what you think about my relationship with my boy-”

“You’re still with him??”

“Look,” you snapped. “Just because you have the luxury of crushing my hopes and dreams on a daily basis, it does not give you the right to dictate what’s wrong or right about my love life and my decisions. Understood?”

And just like how you always are, Hyunjae refused to shut up.

“How is it dictating when it’s common sense to dump a shitty person?” He dropped the bags onto the ground, and not once did he look away from you. “He’s never treated you well either, and you know that—”

“It’s not your decision to make,” you repeated. You could feel the three key elements of creating a fire stir up within you. You had the fuel, the oxygen, and the heat, and Hyunjae was the chemical chain reaction that would set it off. “How dense can you fucking be to not back down?”

“He cheated on you,” he reasserted, and there was a rage in his eyes that you had never once encountered. “He’s done so many shitty things, and he hasn’t changed–”

“Again, none of your fucking business–”

“And I’m pretty sure I saw—”

“I am not going to repeat myself-”

“Can’t you just listen to what I-”

“Drop it.” You were seconds away from yelling at him, ready to unleash all your anger because never once has someone threatened your love life—Jiwoong, the man you considered your soulmate. Your flame had officially engulfed his, and all Hyunjae could do was stare at you in disbelief and disappointment.

Turning to look away, you gazed up into the sky and scoffed, not understanding why tears had begun to pool up in your eyes. At the end of the day, Hyunjae meant nothing to you—you didn’t even consider him a friend.

After moments of experiencing what it was like to be suffocated by a tension so unbearable, you eventually found a way to ground yourself.

“I can’t blame him, you know,” you whispered, using the back of your hand to wipe away your tears. “We were angry. He just–...he needed an outlet, and at that time, that outlet happened to not be me, okay?”

Hyunjae stared at you, his mouth desperate to say something, anything, to make you see what he sees—a relationship that isn’t meant to be. That you didn’t deserve to be treated this way. Maybe you were no more than an acquaintance to him, but he knew you have always deserved better.

“He isn’t someone worth fighting for.”

“And that’s none of your business,” you scowled.

“It isn’t right—”

“Stay in your fucking lane, Jae.”

Hyunjae clamped his mouth shut, and the sight of you completely breaking down tore him apart. Possibly it was all the years you spent together growing up, constantly arguing, yet he knew he was always one to look out for you.

You sucked in a cheek, gnawing at it as your chest urged for you to forgive him, to apologize for lashing out without much notice, but in the end, you prioritized your pride over him.

Not only was Hyunjae’s persistence a stab to your heart, but you suspected that Kevin was the one who told him. By spilling your secrets, it was as if Kevin saw the knife that impaled you and yanked it out of your chest, causing you to bleed to your death.

“I’m done with this conversation,” you muttered, dropping the bag in your arms to the ground by his feet. Your plans had changed to you walking home alone, wanting nothing to do with the other two boys for the next hour or so.

When you turned around to walk away, you knew Hyunjae was going to try and say something. You knew him best whenever he was at his worst, so you spun around to face him for the last time that day to cut him off.

“Never fucking cross that line with me again, got it?”

And with that, you left.

Kevin apologized to you the morning after.

He normally drove you to school, and you debated getting into his car when he showed up. Thankfully you chose to do otherwise because the second you stepped inside, Kevin was apologizing profusely. He talked about how anxious he was all night when Hyunjae told him what happened, and he wouldn’t have known what to do if you didn’t forgive him. Obviously you did, and the rest of the car ride was spent with him explaining his side of the story.

According to Kevin, he only told Hyunjae about how you got cheated on because it seemed like Hyunjae already knew. As Kevin recalled the whole scene, you two assessed the signs, such as how Hyunjae didn’t provide any sort of reaction when Kevin dropped the news. In fact, it had seemed like Hyunjae had brought it up to Kevin instead.

Regardless, it became the last of your worries because all that mattered was that you were back to being on good terms with your best friend.

But avoiding Hyunjae felt like lighting a match in the rain.

It was your agonizing reality for the next two months, and although you could argue that you had gotten closer to your boyfriend during the supposed ‘Hyunjae Drought,’ you were still plagued with him being everywhere around you.

He was in all your classes, and you never truly processed the extent of how involved Hyunjae had always been throughout high school with you. You weren’t on the swim team, but you were stuck with him during meetings for both the broadcasting team and student council.

Yet it all felt so different.

Unless he was called on, Hyunjae would talk much less unprovoked and would never look at you during meetings. When he would address the entire team, he would glance at you for a split second before looking elsewhere, no longer watching you like a hawk.

You had also gotten quieter because without Hyunjae to banter with, you recognized that you barely had friends in any of those classes either.

There was no longer a fight between your flames, and you two kept as much distance as possible. You were thankful that there hadn’t been an instance that interrupted that, such as being forced to record more B-roll with him, and you could only hope that the rest of your senior year would remain the same.

Then you would never have to see him in college.

Now you were back to being the mediocre student that faded into the background. People knew your name at best, but none have ever tried to become your friend aside from Kevin. No matter how involved you tried to get, the closest you were to anyone was a classmate.

Hyunjae had always overshadowed you too, and for the first time in years, you were detached from his fumes—yet somehow, some way, the smoke from his fire would remain in your lungs, continuing to suffocate you even more than it had before. It didn’t give you that breath of fresh air of new friends or a better life; instead, it helped you realize that you didn’t matter. It was a miracle that you even scored Jiwoong as your boyfriend.

But then that begged the question: why did Hyunjae bother spending his time ridiculing you?

From the very beginning, you had always meant something to him, and you couldn’t pinpoint how or why. When there was no competition in academics, he treated it as if there was. Every time you ranted, he would listen, whether it be about him or something else. Even when you talked about how your chicken from the cafeteria was burnt, he would give you his own before calling you stupid for not noticing until you sat down.

He never shrugged you off like you were nothing or shut you down because your emotions were invalid. He entertained you each time with ease, and most importantly, he knew when to respect your boundaries. Hyunjae was probably the most mindful person you knew and could often tell when you were distressed or needed another form of reaction from him.

He knew when to stop.

Yet when it came to the one instance involving Jiwoong, he crossed the line multiple times. Why?

“Hyunjae isn’t here today.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t show up for a single class.”

Kevin watched you play with your food with a fork, rolling the cold, barely spherical peas around and into the stale rice.

“That’s not like him,” he replied.

“Yeah.”

“I wonder why.”

“I wonder too.”

After the driest possible conversation in existence, you sighed and dropped your fork into your tray.

“I need to stop forgetting to pack myself lunch. This shit makes me lose my appetite, I swear. We should call the police and tell them the food they’re serving is illegal and a disgrace to this country.”

“Keep it away before I lose my appetite too.”

You didn’t react nor respond to what Kevin said, letting the conversation rot as you pouted at your food. The cafeteria was unusually louder today, making it easier to space out into thought.

Kevin took out his sandwich with a wide grin and started eating, grateful he never had to deal with what the school was feeding thanks to his mom, but eventually his eyes shifted over to you. You were unmoving with your gaze locked onto an empty spot on the table, so after moments of debating between asking you what’s wrong and ignoring you to devour his lunch, he opted to set his sandwich aside and stared straight at you.

“Why are you thinking about him?”

That was enough to garner your attention, your head snapping up to stare at your best friend like he was the craziest person you knew for mentioning Hyunjae, much less suggesting that your mind was wrapped around him.

“What?”

“Hyunjae. With his perfect attendance, a day without him should be a blessing, yet you brought up how he didn’t show up today and then moped harder than anyone I’ve ever seen mope. You should be over the moon, dancing on the tables and stealing people’s food, not-...” Kevin waved a finger at you, “whatever this is. You seem out of it.”

“Well it’s not because of Hyunjae, I’ll tell you that,” you snorted. Your eyes fell back down to your tray, and the more you looked at it, the more nauseous you got. You scrunched your nose. “If anything, it’s probably because of this shit food.”

Kevin rolled his eyes before tearing his sandwich into halves. You perked at the sight and ogled the half Kevin taunted you with. You were about to thank him and take it into your possession before Kevin jerked back his arm, making you whine.

“Throw away your food, then I’ll give you it.”

“Fine,” you grumbled. As Kevin returned to his delicious, most scrumptious, packed lunch you had ever seen, you picked up your tray and walked it to the nearest trash can. As you dropped the whole thing inside, you heard your name being called.

“Y/N!”

You whipped around to check to see who it was and smiled at the sight of Eunseo waving at you. You wouldn’t consider her a good friend, but you knew her well enough since she was the vice president of the student council.

She ran over to you with a stack of paper in her arms, relieved to have caught you.

“Y/N, hi! I’m so glad I found you. I was scared I wouldn’t because of how packed it is.”

She flashed you her usual glowing smile, and you noticed that she was a bit more giddy than usual, making you question why she was choosing to talk to you in the first place. All your conversations normally took place before, during, and after student council meetings, so this was slightly out of character.

“What’s up?” you asked. As you looked at her, you noticed how her outfit was slightly more put together than it normally was. She had on a cute top that suited her chest perfectly and a skirt that you had never seen her wear.

“Your outfit’s really cute today.”

“Really?!” Her bright demeanor then faded into concern. “Wait, is it too noticeable or out of the blue? Is it bad?”

“No, no. Not at all!” you reassured. “It’s just the right amount of perfect.”

“Great! God, that means the world coming from you. It’s because!...” She stopped to glance around, making sure that no one was eavesdropping, before taking a step closer to whisper. “It’s because I was finally asked out on a date by my crush!”

She could barely contain her excitement, holding back a squeal with her bottom lip latched between her teeth. Her sunshine-like energy made you grin.

“That’s great! I’m glad you’re making progress.” Your eyebrows pinched as you tried to recall the last time Eunseo had updated you about her crush. “You’ve been pining after him for so long—whoever ‘him’ is, anyway.”

The question of who Eunseo liked had always gone unanswered. She never told anyone, not even the ones who knew her best, but she loved gushing about her mystery crush to everyone she knew. All people really knew, you included, was how down bad she was.

A part of you wondered if it was someone you knew—someone pretty like Juyeon or well-known like…Hyunjae.

“Oh, I wish I could tell you, and maybe I will if things go really well and we become official!” She squealed and hopped in her spot, unable to resist giving you a half-hug with her free arm. “This is so exciting, Y/N!”

“I’m really happy for you.” Your smile was genuine until you thought about why she was looking for you, starting to doubt that she called you over just so she could tell you about her date.

“I’ll let you know how it goes, swear. But! That aside, I also have something for you.”

You knew it.

Your brows raised, and when you didn’t catch on, she gestured to the papers in her arms with guilt.

“I know this is kind of a dick move, and I’m really really sorry, but I promised to put up fliers for prom today. My date is right after my last class.” Her frown had deepened, and for a split second, you found yourself sympathizing with her because who wanted to let down such a cheerful personality, especially when this was life-changing for her?

“So you want me to do it?”

“Exactly! Please, that would be great. It shouldn’t take too long, too.”

You thought about how you would have to give up an evening of playing on your switch or extra time to study for an upcoming exam, but you knew it was your duty as secretary to help out whenever needed.

Not to mention that it would also make you a decent friend not to hold Eunseo back from her soon-to-be love life despite her poor date planning. If you were in her shoes, you would have wanted her to do the same for you too.

“Sure,” you accepted. “Why not?”

“You’re the best, seriously!” She handed you the fliers as she began to fill you in on the extra details.

“I already told Mr. Barajas that I wasn’t feeling well and that you were going to do it, so he said it all worked out and to not worry about it,” she rambled, happy to give the extra weight (both literally and metaphorically) to you. “I just printed these out, so everything should be perfect to go. Oh, and don’t worry about any extras! Just set them on Barajas’s desk when you’re finished. Hyunjae will also be in 142 with tape ready for you.”

The mention of the forbidden name nearly made every cell in your body halt.

“What?”

Eunseo tilted her head at you, confused, before finally realizing.

“Oh crap, I forgot! I’m so sorry, I really did forget you guys weren’t on good terms. I hope it’s okay that he’s helping you out. I mean, he’s supposed to, but it was meant for him and me to do it together, not you two, so…God, I’m really sorry Y/N.”

Before you could even react to the newfound information, she continued.

“I really have to go now. Thank you again! I promise I’ll make it up to you!” And with her rosy pink cheeks and a stunning shade of red on her lips, she basically skipped away and waved goodbye to you with a smile, so you reciprocated it with an awkward one of your own.

When she turned her back, your smile immediately dropped and you sighed heavily.

“Have fun on your date,” you mumbled, your eyes falling to fliers in your arms. As you skimmed the one on top, you noticed it was to promote going to prom while also including a big QR code to vote for who should be your school’s prom king and queen. You expected it since it was the last meeting’s topic of discussion, but what you weren’t aware of was who were listed as nominees.

There were eight names listed under ‘Prom Court,’ and while you expected Hyunjae’s, Eunseo’s, and your boyfriend’s names on it, your jaw nearly hit the ground at the sight of your own.

With every passing class period, your anxiety would kick up a notch.

The dread of talking to the face you had been avoiding for two months engulfed you, and it caused you to develop the urge to ditch your current class to go hunt for Jacob, the student council’s historian. You wanted nothing more than to dump the stack of fliers into his arms, and knowing Jacob, he wouldn’t ask any questions. Hell, you were certain that if you asked him nicely, he would do it for you because of how naturally sweet and endearing he was.

But the guilt of ditching your secretary duties kept picking at your skin, and besides, all you had to do was treat Hyunjae like a colleague. That should be easy, right?

As you suffered through the last few minutes of class and your teacher’s incessant ramblings about the upcoming exam, your thoughts drifted over to what would happen the moment you stepped into room 142.

Hyunjae hadn’t shown up to a single class all day, yet he was expected to set up fliers after school. As your thoughts snowballed, you arrived at the baseless conclusion that maybe Eunseo wasn’t aware that Hyunjae was absent today, therefore someone else (like Jacob) would take over.

Suddenly, your back had straightened with feigned interest in your teacher’s last few words. Something about Jacob being there instead of Hyunjae had excited you; it felt like you were free and that the universe was listening to your prayers. The gamble of seeing whether it would be Hyunjae or Jacob (or literally anyone else) had your right leg bouncing, eyes on the clock, and when the bell rang, you shot up from your seat, backpack over your shoulders and fliers in your arms, before dashing out of the classroom.

You sped down the hallway to 142, Mrs. Zhang’s room for Chemistry, bug-eyed, before having your delusions crushed at the sight of Hyunjae’s stupidly large height leaning against one of the counters. Your feet stood glued to the ground by the doorway, your eyes locked onto him.

Covered from head to toe in sweats, Hyunjae was immersed in whatever was on his phone, scrolling through something as his brown curls peeked out from inside his hood. Without any hint of him acknowledging your presence, your shattered hopes slowly began to rebuild.

Maybe if you were quiet enough, you could sneak out with the tape and do everything on your own, avoiding him at all. Actually, scratch that. You didn’t even need the tape. All you had to do was go to another teacher’s room, steal their tape for half an hour, and then return it with ease.

The plan was effortless, and you mentally smacked your forehead for not thinking of it earlier. Right as you were about to execute it, your backpack slammed against the doorframe as you turned on your heels.

“Nice try.”

You groaned out of embarrassment (and slight pain) and forced yourself to turn around. Hyunjae’s phone was now face down on the counter, and his arms were crossed over his abdomen. His face remained stoic as his eyes met yours, wielding a tension you didn’t recognize.

Now that you could properly look at him, you noticed a few details that you hadn’t before, such as the small tear on his lower lip and the bandaid on his cheekbone. If you looked long enough, you could catch light patches of purple across his skin, and the sight hindered all your thoughts, your brain too occupied with piecing together how he ended up like this.

“What happened?” you blurted, your gaze shooting up from his lips to his eyes.

Hyunjae staggered at your suddenty, but he managed to keep himself stilled, his brows pinching.

“What do you mean?”

Even if Hyunjae didn’t mean to, his question became an invitation for your unfiltered thoughts to spill out of your mouth.

“You didn’t show up for any of our classes today,” you began, “but now you’re here? For some stupid fliers? You’re barely dressed properly like you normally are, your hair isn’t straightened, you look pale, Jae, and what’s up with the bruises or the bandaid on your cheek–”

“Are you seriously psychoanalyzing me?” he asked with a scoff. There was no humor in his tone. Instead, it looked as if he was irritated, perhaps even more than you were.

Hyunjae barely met your eyes, and his arms closed himself off from you.

“What–?”

“You’re evaluating me like I’m some sort of lab project, Y/N.”

“No, no I’m not,” you rejected. “I’m just saying things are a little off.” You kept your eyes firm on his, even as he pushed himself off the counter with his phone and made his way over to you. “And you know, you really can’t blame me for being somewhat worried when one, you don’t show up, and two, you look like a whole mess—”

“Just hand over the fliers—” he interrupted, gritting his teeth as he outstretched his arm in your direction. You dodged him by turning your body 180 degrees and stood your ground.

“What happened?” you repeated, this time more firmly.

Hyunjae looked at you, a blank expression on his face, before turning back around to grab the roll of tape left on the teacher’s desk. When he returned, he shoved it into your arms while simultaneously stealing half the stack. You protested with an exclaimed ‘Hey!’ yet he didn’t bat an eye and skimmed over the contents of the flier on top.

Bothered by his lack of response, you frowned and made sure to block the doorway, refusing to let him leave until you received answers.

“Why are you acting like this? Pretending that I’m not even—”

“I’ll do upstairs, you do downstairs,” he muttered.

“Did you get into a fight? Why weren’t you here today? Why are you here now—”

“You’d think you’d know,” he finally answered, pushing past you like you weighed none less than a feather.

Your brain had fully malfunctioned at that point, unable to decipher what he meant as Hyunjae walked off to the nearest staircase. As his footsteps echoed down the hall, you thought about what he was implying yet came to no resolution. Did he assume that you were caught up in your school’s latest gossip? Or that you were the main admin for his biggest fan page on Instagram?

The idea made you snort, and you scowled bitterly at his childish attitude. It wasn’t like you were a complete stranger intruding on his personal life—hell, you felt like you deserved an explanation because of how you were forced to do this with him.

As you stormed off past the remaining lingering students to the nearest bulletin board, you questioned how you were going to do this on your own.

You had put up fliers countless times in the past few years yet never alone. Luckily, you had a general idea of where the fliers should go when it came to the school’s hallways, but as you approached your first destination, you struggled with ripping off pieces of tape while holding the stack at the same time. It would’ve been easier with a partner by your side, one who either did the tape ripping or placing of the fliers, but you weren’t desperate enough to fall into the role of a helpless princess in need of her pretty (useless) prince.

After some trial and error, you found a method that consisted of setting the stack on the ground occasionally so you could rip off pieces of tape. Then you would slap said pieces of tape onto your wrist, having them readily available as you put up a few fliers at a time.

Although slightly time-consuming, it was working well and kept you at a steady pace until you heard crashing footsteps behind you from afar. Without paying any mind to it, you bit back your curiosity in order to focus on the wall in front of you, but then you made the mistake of taking a step back, bumping into the person who was sprinting.

You lost your balance and fell forward before catching yourself shortly after. However, the fliers had already flown out of your arms, scattering across and down the long hallway.

Ready to curse out the offender for running down the hallway, you were surprised when you saw that it was Eunseo behind you, pouring out apologies while a loopy grin was smacked onto her face.

You steadied your anger and told her it was okay, getting down onto your knees to collect all the fliers. Her ‘sorry’s could only go so far with her smeared lipstick, a dazed gaze, and her hair holding the mold to someone else’s (presumably her crush’s) hands in them, but you still excused her, knowing that she was over the moon right now.

“It’s okay, Eunseo, I promise.” You forced out a chuckle as you crawled to scavenge for the ones that flew a few feet away.

“I really didn’t mean to,” she pouted, but it was shortly followed up with bubbly giggles. “God, Y/N, can you believe this? Oh, it’s going so well! I think I love him, I do.”

“Good for you,” you grumbled, hoping that she didn’t hear it as you continued to move down the hallway, hating how far the fliers had escaped from you. You also hated how she just stood there without intent on helping you at all.

“I have to really go now. Got volleyball practice soon, but I think I’m seeing him tomorrow too!” She waved you goodbye.

And just like that, she continued running off.

You stared at how you were only able to collect half the mess, hating how Eunseo had somehow managed to delay you even further from being in the comfort of your bed. You were also salty at how her date was taking place at the school, wishing she could’ve dragged him around while she taped stuff up before getting dick-downed of some sort.

Deciding that she and her business weren’t worth your time, you continued to pick everything up as quickly as you could, wanting nothing more than to go home.

When you finally finished collecting every last flier, you were prepared to get back into the groove of things before feeling your phone vibrate in the side pocket of your backpack. Wondering if it was something important, you took it out and beamed at the idea of it being a new message from Jiwoong.

Dating him felt like falling in love with him all over again whenever he texted. Your heart would pound in your chest when you thought about him and explode whenever he gave you his attention and time. You were addicted to him, especially knowing that he was yours after liking him since middle school.

So to say you were disappointed was far worse than an understatement. It was from a number you hadn’t saved yet always recognized and undoubtedly remembered by heart.

Of course it was Hyunjae.

You had Hyunjae’s phone number due to previous class projects and group chats, but you had never once saved it because you thought he was undeserving of being a contact in your phone. Nonetheless, with how the years have passed and how much his number infiltrates every group chat you were in, it was only fair that your brain had unintentionally memorized all ten digits.

The message he sent consisted of him saying that he was done with the fliers, and you rolled your eyes. Even after the way he treated you earlier, he still chose to let you know and brag about how fast he was.

You shoved your phone away vigorously, ready to return to your slapping-fliers-on-walls duty, before perking at the sound of footsteps behind you once more.

Automatically assuming it was Eunseo or another student staying after for a club or sport, you were stunned when you heard his voice.

“You’re not even halfway yet?”

In no fucking universe are you turning around; not for him.

“Go gloat somewhere else,” you snapped. The next flier you taped up was nearly slammed onto the wall, but Hyunjae was left unphased by your sudden outburst. He stood next to you and remained quiet, even when you left to place the next flier a few feet away on the opposite wall.

When he didn’t follow, you sighed out of relief, yet somehow you couldn’t help but peek at him, eyeing his hands that were tucked into the pockets of his sweatpants. He was staring straight at the lopsided flier you had put up, and when you decided you had enough of peering at him, he was back by your side.

“What are you doing?” you grumbled. He was the one who pushed you away, yet now here he was, glued to your side like how he was two months ago.

“You’re taking too long.”

“I had a mishap,” you explained, “but that’s none of your concern.” The lines on your forehead bunched up, and you waved him off, bending down to place the stack on the ground. Figuring it wasn’t weird at all, you continued your method of ripping off pieces of tape and slapping it onto your wrist.

And Hyunjae was totally judging.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Just go home.”

Despite being on the ground and sitting on your heels, you could physically feel the heat on the back of your head due to his eyes burning a hole into your skull, and for a split second, you knew exactly what he was thinking.

“I can do it myself,” you explained.

“What are you even doing?”

“Can you just go?” You picked up the stack once again as you rose to your feet, doing your best to avoid whatever look was on Hyunjae’s face. He was probably stifling a laugh or keeping his expression smug, but when you did cave and peek, his face was still solemn, his eyes on your wrist with concern.

“You’re struggling.”

“Thank you for your observation, Mr. Obvious,” you retorted.

“Let me do it.”

Taken aback, you whipped your head over to his direction.

“You’re kidding.”

“You don’t even want to be here,” he reasoned through gritted teeth. “Just go, and you can thank me later.”

“Thank you?!” Appalled at his audacity, you couldn’t help but laugh out of disbelief. “Seriously, Hyunjae? You want me to thank you for stealing my job? Again? You can’t be fucking serious.”

“Because you can’t take any criticism ever, or in this case, any form of help, so just let me do it.”

Hyunjae was eerily calm about the whole ordeal, his energy far from matching yours.

“I do take help,” you refuted. “I just don’t take yours, and neither do I need it, too.”

“You’re so goddamn stubborn.” And within a blink of an eye, he had managed to snatch the stack of fliers from you.

“Hey!” you yelled, feeling as if it was deja vu from earlier (you really needed to step up your defense), and reached out to take them back, but he was quick to turn his body, shielding them from you.

“Give me the tape and go,” he urged, emotionless. The Hyunjae in front of you now was someone you truly didn’t recognize because the Hyunjae you knew would have made fun of you and held the fliers above your head, teasing you for being so weak.

Yet he stood still, creating a barrier between you and the duty that was forced upon you. You didn’t want to be here anyway, yet you were so insistent on making sure Hyunjae wasn’t stealing your work again. You weren’t incapable, and you hated how he always managed to be faster.

Even now, he was miles away from being playful with you, and yet he still had a way to shove it in your face.

“Hyunjae, I swear—”

“Give me the tape, and you can run off to your little boyfriend waiting for you by the entrance.”

Your lips parted at his words, eyes wide as you worked to comprehend his words. You questioned how he knew about Jiwoong’s whereabouts, how he knew that Jiwoong was waiting and that you didn’t, but knowing that he was serious, you reluctantly gave up and dropped the roll of tape on the ground, forcing him to pick it up.

You were sick of constantly arguing with him, and even if he was lying about Jiwoong, at least you would be away from Hyunjae. There was no point in fighting for your dignity anymore, not when Hyunjae’s narcissism was insufferable.

By walking away with heavy and quick strides, you hoped he felt humiliated by how poorly he was treating you—how he had always treated you like this.

As much as you wanted it to be true, you hoped Hyunjae was lying just so you had more evidence against his self-absorbed and shitty personality, but alas, you found Jiwoong standing precisely where Hyunjae said he was.

Regardless, all stress and frustrations had lifted from your being, and you called out to your boyfriend with a smile that would make your cheeks ache in minutes.

“Woong!” You waved your hands with a small bounce in your steps as you rushed over to him.

Your boyfriend’s head shot up, surprised to see you. His utter shock quickly switches to one of sheer happiness, tucking his device away before opening his arms for you.

“Hey, baby!”

You tossed yourself into his embrace, hugging him tight after pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

“What are you doing here?” With your face in his neck, your voice came out muffled, and it made Jiwoong laugh.

“Had to stay after to discuss my grades with a teacher, then I decided to stay back a bit for you.” He cooed and kissed the top of your head, holding you incredibly close. When you pulled back, his hands had moved from behind your backpack to your hips instead, holding them as you stared up at him.

“You were waiting for me?” you asked, eyes wide with stars in them.

“Of course I was, baby.”

You were radiating, feeling happier than ever. The last time you saw Jiwoong was a week ago, and with your clashing schedules, you two very rarely get the opportunity to make plans. Your hands rested atop his shoulders, and when he pulled you in for a kiss, you smiled.

But then it fell.

Something felt off.

If someone were to inquire Hyunjae about who his heart belonged to, your name would be his answer—whether he intended to say it or not.

Hyunjae had always been considered the school’s favorite. His intelligence may not be up to par with others, but his authority was what made him a prominent member of your high school. Some blame it on his looks, but most were aware enough to know that wasn’t the case.

Hyunjae knew how to think on his feet, and his problem-solving skills outwitted everyone within his grade level. Reaching tranquillity had never been an issue for him, allowing him to be levelheaded while making decisions. He emitted an aura that made classmates truly listen to him and the ideas he shared, and overall, it made him a great contender to lead every group and organization he was in.

Additionally, Hyunjae’s heart was what won over most people. His lack of vulnerability seemed to be his only flaw, but it was an obstacle he could overlook when it came to empathizing with others. By actively being involved in the community through volunteering and holding fundraisers, everyone could recognize Hyunjae’s devotion to hope for humanity.

All these traits were what led Hyunjae up onto the pedestal and the public eye, a household name for all families in the district. Titles and awards naturally gravitated towards him throughout the years, resulting in him winning the vote as president of your school’s student council and enough scholarships to provide him a full ride at most universities.

It was safe to say that competition against Lee Hyunjae was sparse, and you were no different.

Your grades would teeter around his standard, hence how you two collectively ended up in the same classes, but aside from that, you had nothing else that could compare to what he was capable of.

Except for one thing; your fury.

There was an inferno inside you at all times, and instead of your body shielding off your heart with steel, people around you would come to find out that your heart was the reason for that large blaze of fire, possessing a passion unlike any other.

Hyunjae had never once seen a peer with as much fight as you. It was a trait only you encapsulated, one that you weren’t afraid to express. You stood up for yourself and your beliefs, and it was easy to pick fights with him when he had been troubling you from the very moment you two were assigned to sit next to each other in seventh-grade algebra.

Hyunjae yearned for you ever since, his only want being your attention. You gave him the drive to succeed in high school and thrive in his senior year, and he was positive that he wouldn’t be doing this well without a reason to show off in front of you. He wanted your praise, your acknowledgment, but he loved the chase the most.

Unfortunately, that was the exact reason he ended up here.

The chase was what made him fall for every part of you, wanting nothing more than your lips on his and the ability to have you by his side at all times, but it was also what landed you with your current boyfriend.

It was like his life was a video game with God giving him the hardest difficulty setting by making sure you were obsessed with someone undeserving of all that he wanted. There wasn’t even a chance of you two possibly being friends in your eyes. Meanwhile, Hyunjae would argue that you two had more chemistry than any other couple in your class, but that hope was crushed, shredded, and stomped on when he found out you still devoted your love to Jiwoong.

Regardless, it didn’t change who you were as a person. Your heart was still just as large and beautiful, and your drive to succeed hadn’t lessened. The bickering never faltered, and it wasn’t like Hyunjae was opposed whenever you expressed disgust at the thought of him being turned on because of you (and that was because he found the idea of you thinking about him hot—yes, his expectations were that low).

So it was why after two months of almost zero to no contact, you treating him as if those months didn’t exist created the largest dilemma he had ever faced. He spent the next week thinking about your intentions and why you seemed to care so much, specifically right after when Hyunjae had willed himself to believe that he meant jackshit to you. You effortlessly toyed with his heart, leaving him in everlasting misery, while you seemed to do completely fine.

What was a typical and ideal lifestyle for you was a nightmare and tormenting hellhole for Hyunjae. He didn’t just crave the warmth and comfort from your undying flames.

He wanted to burn.

Insanity engulfed him on the days spent without you, leaving him to wonder why you had to make things extensively worse by pointing out his absence or how he had put less effort into his hair. Why did it seem like the concern you expressed was genuine? Why pretend that you cared for him as much as he cared for you?

He was going insane—so insane that he drove to a college party with three other friends in his sedan on a Wednesday night.

It was being held by a fraternity he and his friends were far more than familiar with thanks to Jongin, an upperclassman he met in his sophomore year and remained friends with since then. The beginning of the senior year marked the origin of parties and hook-ups in weak sporadic attempts to get over you.

At this rate, Hyunjae could argue that he was more experienced than half of the current college freshmen class. Getting girls in bed was the easiest part; the hardest part was forgetting about you. From what was a method created to move on from you became one that prepared him for when you wanted sex with him.

But with your constant longing for Jiwoong, Hyunjae made sure that this party would be different.

Although accustomed to having sex with various women, Hyunjae had never been one to drink. This was a fact about him that raised brows, specifically Jongin’s when he first tried urging Hyunjae with a drink, but tonight he vowed to change that. He was normally their designated driver, but when Hyunjae informed Sangyeon of his plan, the elder was more than delighted to remain sober so Hyunjae could get a taste of alcohol.

“Hey, man! It’s about time!” Jongin exclaimed the instant he found out about Hyunjae’s willingness to drink, pulling a fresh bottle out of the cooler specifically for his friend.

“That’s what I told him!” Sangyeon projected his voice over the music, giving Hyunjae a supportive pat on the back.

Hyunjae rolled his eyes at his friends’ remarks and thanked Jongin for the beer, hanging around by the counter as the three conversed and caught up. The two laughed at the way Hyunjae’s face scrunched up at the taste, Sangyeon shoving him lightly with the claim that Hyunjae was being overdramatic.

With his earlier mindless decision of tossing on a mesh long-sleeve shirt over his black tank top, Hyunjae had attracted another partygoer by his side momentarily after his first sip. She wrapped her arms around one of his and inserted herself into the conversation with hopes of getting Hyunjae in bed by the end of the night, and crazily enough, he considered it for a moment before feeling his phone vibrate in his back pocket.

Normally it would be something he’d ignore, but it remained persistent, signifying that he was receiving a call. He didn’t know who would be calling at this hour—well, aside from Minghao and his usual complaints about Hyunjae partying as a high schooler on a school night.

After setting the glass down on the counter to grab his phone, any urgency to intoxicate himself as quickly as possible vanished the very second he saw your name glowing on his screen. With an awkward retraction of his arm and a forced cough, Hyunjae excused himself and answered the call.

“Hello?”

With music pounding inside his ear canals, it was expected that he couldn’t hear anything you were saying. He navigated through various crowds to reach the entrance of the house, his heart replicating the booming vibrations from the loudspeakers as he prayed that you wouldn’t hang up on him.

“Okay, I…I should be free now,” he stammered after stepping outside. The sudden stillness of Mother Nature was a drastic change from the party scene, coercing him to focus on his racing heartbeat and the anxiety accumulating in his tightening chest. He was breathing heavily, both from pushing through people in a rush and also because of you.

You never failed to render him weak and helpless, leaving him like a puppy longing for their owner’s guidance.

There was a silence, but he could hear your gentle breaths hitting your phone.

“I need a ride.”

Hyunjae blinked, his body tensing up, as the many thoughts in his brain scrambled to make meaning of what you meant. However, it didn’t matter because you hung up shortly after, leaving him alone to revel in your words.

Your bluntness and suddenty made Hyunjae malfunction, his thoughts leading him to question if he had even heard you correctly. Rarely did you ever reach out to him, and what could you need him for? Especially after lashing out at him and ignoring him for two months? Of course, there was that one day a week ago when you two were forced to talk together, the day he was given a one-day suspension, but you two returned to treating each other like strangers like it was natural.

He stared at his phone in hopes of receiving more information, that you’d perhaps call again to reconfirm or say you had the wrong number. He felt like he was dreaming—that the person he had wanted for so long needed him for once, but he couldn’t help but also believe that this may be the beginning of another nightmare.

But it was you, and Hyunjae was willing to risk it.

After checking his call logs to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, he rushed back into the fraternity house, thankful he didn’t proceed with drinking any more than he did.

He found everyone exactly where he had left them (the girl included) and announced his departure. The girl made sure Hyunjae knew how disappointed she was, but that was his last concern as he grabbed the beer bottle and handed it to Sangyeon, giving him a pat on the back.

“Drink up and find an Uber.”

“No fucking way you’re leaving us this soon, man.” Jongin shook his head in disapproval, his forearms resting against the countertop.

“Another time, I promise, yeah?” Hyunjae started walking away, waving to them as his heart continued to thrum in his chest.

“He’s lying,” Sangyeon snorted, taking a swig before bidding Hyunjae a bitter goodbye. “You owe me!"

Hyunjae ran out of the house, his legs making quick and long strides as he ran to his parked car down the block. His newfound adrenaline made him think about what he was sacrificing to be with you. Was leaving the party and betraying his friends worth spending even a second with you? What if you were asking him to drive you and your boyfriend somewhere? Could his heart even deal with being used like that?

But as much as Hyunjae hated it, he knew he was making the right choice. The self-respect he had for himself was buried six feet deep beneath the surface of the earth when it came to you.

God, he really hoped he wasn’t hallucinating.

For a split second, Hyunjae truly debated what he was doing after getting into his car. He was already driving, but he didn’t know where to go. Luckily, it didn’t take you long to send him a text with your location, and it was a place he was familiar with.

It was a park that he often frequented as a kid since it resided by his old neighborhood, and he was thankful he knew exactly where to go because he knew he would’ve definitely crashed the car while pulling up your location on his GPS. Hyunjae was doubtful it was the alcohol in his system making his fingers shake and his mind uneasy. He blamed you for his hysteria, one that had developed over years of endless longing.

Luckily the drive wasn’t long thanks to the roads being mainly void of other vehicles (and maybe he did speed a few times, but he considered it justified). Before pulling into the parking lot, he spotted a lone figure curled up on a nearby bench. A small weight had been lifted off of him, relieved it was just you, and he parked aimlessly while his eyes rested on you.

You seemed unphased by his added presence, your arms unmoving as they stayed wrapped around your legs. The bench you were sitting in was facing away from the parking lot, but with his headlights illuminating the view in front of you, you certainly had to know he was there.

In an ideal world, Hyunjae would leave his car, join you by your side, and, if he was lucky, he’d pull you into his arms and hold you close against his chest. He wanted to be there for you in whatever way he could, but he ended up being a deer in headlights, too afraid to make the wrong move and lose you again.

He sat there for a minute, watching you, and as soon as he received the confidence to reach for the handle of his door, you were up on your feet. His fingers paused midair as he traced your movements, his arm eventually falling to his side as you approach his car.

Despite how slow his mind was working, Hyunjae knew to unlock the car right as you opened it (he would’ve died out of embarrassment if he had forgotten), and neither of you greeted the other.

Without any explanation from you, Hyunjae refrained from staring at you like he normally would, but your outfit made it incredibly difficult. It wasn’t much, just an oversized long-sleeved shirt that reached your thighs, but it was far from the usual clothes he’d seen you wear, like jeans and a nice-fitting blouse. For a moment, he believed you had no pants on, but then he knocked some sense into himself, realizing that you were probably wearing shorts that were hidden.

While Hyunjae attempted to keep his composure and respect your boundaries, you were eyeing him shamelessly, once again analyzing every detail about him. Beads of sweat pooled up on the back of his neck, and his hair was straightened yet fuzzy. As your eyes trailed downwards, you noticed how the mesh hugged his biceps, catching every crease that defined his muscles. He was quiet, his index finger resting against his lips.

Where did he even come from?

And why was he so quick to listen?

You held back your tongue from dumping out your thoughts, knowing your questions would end up unanswered like before. Your body instinctively rested against the divot between the car door and your seat, keeping your distance from Hyunjae. He was meant to be a stranger, perhaps someone you loathed, yet there was an odd comfort that encased you from him just sharing the same air as you.

You cleared your throat, turning your head to look away when he flinched and snapped his gaze towards you.

“Drive.”

Your demand was no louder than a whisper, but Hyunjae picked it up effortlessly and was already backing out.

“Where to?”

“Anywhere.” Hyunjae raised a brow at your answer, and you buried yourself further into his seat, directing your gaze out the door. “Just-...anywhere, Jae.”

The nickname had his throat tightening and his chest leaping, nodding in your direction as he drove on autopilot. With no destination in mind, he strolled through familiar roads, his fingers tapping against the wheel.

You stayed silent, creating a tension that was unbearably thick, yet none of you felt the need to leave; neither of you wanted to leave the other, even if it meant having to deal with the looming elephant in the room (or in this case, Hyunjae’s car).

After spotting the recreational center from afar and its empty parking lot, he instinctively pulled in. There wasn’t a proper explanation for why he decided it’d make a great destination, especially when it was the place that created a rift in your relationship with him, but it felt right.

It was empty, open, and serene—a perfect place to stay as the moon shined.

Hyunjae stepped out of the car after parking in the middle of it, and when you didn’t follow, he moved to your side and opened the door. He was hesitant but took the risk of offering his hand to you, a warm, nervous smile on his face. He wanted you to know he was there to listen, to be there for you, because, Lord, he would hand you the world if he could.

“I’m not in the mood for walking,” you mumbled, but Hyunjae shook his head.

“We’re not going to walk, I promise.”

Your eyes flickered up to his briefly, skeptical of what he had planned, but ultimately caved. You ignored his hand, and he pulled it back with regret. When you stood there, your eyes on the sky, he closed the door behind you and guided you to the hood of his car.

Without a second thought, he sat on top of it and gestured for you to do the same.

“I sit here all the time. Helps me think.” He leaned back against his windshield, his hands holding the back of his head as he kept his eyes on the sky. When you didn’t move, he started to feel stupid, wondering if you two were better off in the car, but then you joined him.

You copied his position, staring upwards as your hands rested over your abdomen.

Hyunjae opted to keep to himself, deciding that he didn’t want to make this worse for the two of you. Instead, he fixated his thoughts on the stars in the sky.

There were only a few, but it was a rare sight due to the constant air pollution in your city, so he considered it a miracle. You, on the other hand, were spacing out in thought, and Hyunjae could tell through his occasional peeks. Without much control, his eyes started tracing down your arms. They then landed on where the hem of your shirt rested, now looking at your bare thighs.

Feeling as if he just reverted back to being the shyest virgin in the country, he gulped and immediately looked elsewhere, trying to get you off his mind despite you being right next to him. His racing heart was all that he could hear, and now he wondered if you could hear it too—if you knew how much you affected him.

And your voice broke the silence.

“How long have you known?”

Okay, maybe his brain did fall out of his skull because Hyunjae had no idea what you were talking about. He turned his head and caught how you stared up at the sky. Your eyes were glossy, holding the reflections of the whole galaxy within them. They sparkled, and for a beat, Hyunjae had forgotten your question, too infatuated with your beauty.

His silence resulted in you turning your head, gaze meeting his, and that was when he noticed the tears.

“About Jiwoong and Eunseo.”

Your light, your flames, his burning desire; all were gone in a flash.

Your voice was delicate, and Hyunjae knew that with one move, he could break you.

Directing his gaze heavenward, Hyunjae sighed and brought his arms down to rest over his chest. Somehow he was able to feel all the pain you were experiencing, his heart twisting while his stomach churned and sloshed around in his body. He thought about how to respond as he chewed on the inside of his lip, questioning if he should answer at all to avoid hurting you.

But you asked, and as always, Hyunjae delivered.

“I don’t think I ever really knew until last week,” he explained, “but I could always tell.” Suddenly, the fight from a week ago had resurrected, and Hyunjae was forced to relive it all.

The hallways were empty when Hyunjae left the broadcasting room, a backpack strap slung over his shoulder while the other dangled behind him. He was in the middle of scrolling through his emails when he picked up on the sound of Jiwoong’s voice around the corner.

His footsteps halted, and Hyunjae caught Jiwoong’s fatal words.

“How does tomorrow sound?”

Eunseo’s squeals followed after, and Hyunjae stood motionless.

At first, Hyunjae had no thoughts circulating in his brain, but after hearing their lips collide, he started coming up with solutions, such as interrupting or taking a video to send to you. Unfortunately, before he could act on either of them, he heard footsteps dashing off, practically skipping, as the two bidded one another goodbye.

Hyunjae couldn’t pinpoint the reasoning behind his upcoming actions, but he knew how to describe how he felt.

Anger was the first and only emotion to surge up within him, his fingers instinctively balling up into fists. His muscles had tightened while a forest fire ran rampant through his veins, causing his blood to boil.

Then with quick strides, Hyunjae shoved his phone away and made a sharp turn around the corner, tossing his backpack on the ground after spotting Jiwoong against the lockers. The latter had a dazed look on his face, his lips curled into a smirk as he typed away on his phone, but that was changed once he looked up at the sound of Hyunjae’s backpack crashing against the ground in front of him.

There wasn’t a second in between Jiwoong’s face of surprise and Hyunjae’s arm being raised, and before Jiwoong could react, Hyunjae’s fist had slammed into his jaw.

It was a blur from there, but Hyunjae knew he had won even after authorities dragged him off Jiwoong’s body. He had received a few jabs in return, but it was nothing compared to the black eye Hyunjae gave him.

The fact that Jiwoong managed to cover it up with makeup the day after was a miracle, and no one in the school knew about the fight since it happened after school. Hyunjae wanted it to stay that way, but a selfish, cruel part of him wished that everyone knew how sick your boyfriend was.

Well, now he was unsure if he was still your boyfriend.

Hyunjae turned his head back towards you, his cheek meeting the cold metal of his car.

You pursed your lips at his response and nodded slowly. If it were any other day, you wouldn’t have believed him. There was no universe where you’d choose to listen to Hyunjae over Jiwoong, but after a week of investigating and getting your head out of your ass, you found out on your own terms, and all the pieces made sense.

“I didn’t mean to.”

Hyunjae’s voice jerked you out of your thoughts, and as you adjusted to look back at him, you were surprised to still find him staring at you.

“I’m not a violent person, Y/N,” he whispered, an enduring hope lingering in his eyes. He wanted you to believe him, and for once, you did; you truly understood the man you hated most.

“I know, Jae.”

Hyunjae eased at your words, and the two of you fell back into a more comfortable yet aching silence. His fingers drummed against his abdomen, and after a while, he got sick of looking at the same four stars, so he closed his eyes, focusing on enjoying the light breeze instead. His heart was still racing, but it was less alarming. Regardless, he hated knowing that he potentially contributed to how much you were hurting right now.

Maybe if he had done something to prevent it earlier, whether it be telling you as soon as he found out or keeping completely out of your business so you could live in bliss, or, if he wasn’t so scared, he could’ve asked you to be his far before Jiwoong had. Maybe it wouldn’t have changed much, but Hyunjae would never know since he never tried, and now he was going to beat himself over it because now you’re devastated over losing your boyfriend and it was potentially his faul—

You laughed.

Hyunjae snapped his head towards you, his brows raised at your sudden change in mood—but it wasn’t the type of laugh he expected. Your laugh was one filled with pain, and he watched you shake your head, trying to refuse the tears that were rapidly welling up in your eyes once more. You sniffed and wiped the tears away with the back of your hand, choosing to look in the opposite direction because the last thing you wanted was for Hyunjae to see you vulnerable.

“It’s stupid,” you murmured. “This entire thing is stupid. I’m so fucking dumb.”

His lips parted to interject, to tell you that you were, in fact, ‘not dumb,’ but he clamped his mouth shut, knowing that his words probably wouldn’t help. From what he’d learned in the past, you liked it least when he tried telling you otherwise, no matter the situation.

“I should’ve known. I did know. The whole world knew. Even you knew, but it makes me think, was Eunseo just flocking around, flaunting to everyone that she had a crush on my boyfriend and managed to win him over? I just—I…I don’t know-...” You paused to catch your breath, beginning to choke on your tears as your chest shook, “I don’t know what I did wrong, you know?”

You shut your eyes, allowing the pain to engulf you. You knew fully well that your punishment was to deal with the pain, but you felt like you didn’t deserve it—that you deserved none of this. Why was this a penalty for being in love?

It was humiliating having everyone witness the reality you shielded from yourself, choosing hope and love over the truth.

“I just never felt more stupid in my life, and I feel even more stupid knowing that I still love him.”

Hyunjae sucked in his lips, gnawing on them as he bit back all his feelings, from his brain shredding to his heart weeping.

“I love him so much that I would let him do it to me all over again because I keep thinking he’d be better. I know he can be better, so why-...It’s just- Why do I do this to myself?”

Tears cascaded down your cheeks, each one leaving behind a trail for others to fall. They started pouring out of you rapidly, soon sobbing at the heart-wrenching pain of being betrayed by everyone in your life, Hyunjae included, because why, out of everyone, was he here for you when he should be the last person who cared?

You always wanted Hyunjae to be the antagonist of your life story, to have him as your biggest enemy and threat, so why was everyone else but him hurting you? Why was the villain of your fantasy taking the role of your knight in shining armor?

And yet, as much as it pained Hyunjae to process all your emotions, his mind wasn’t running correctly; he had you alone for the first time in months. He wanted nothing more than to pull you in his arms and whisper words of comfort in your ears, knowing you deserved it more than anyone, but he also wanted to shake you awake and slap you out of your misery, praying that you’d forget about Jiwoong; that right now, you being vulnerable was his chance to swoop in, to set whatever you wanted him to into flames, as long as if it meant you’d end up okay.

You sat up because if you lied down any longer, you would’ve started drowning in your own tears. Your sleeves were soaked, and he sat up alongside you, figuring that he should do something about it.

Hyunjae got back onto his feet and stood in front of you. He barely knew what he was doing, but that didn’t stop him from replacing your sleeves with his cold, clammy hands over your cheeks. There wasn’t a time that Hyunjae could recall where he had been this gentle with someone, and when you didn’t push him away, he tilted your head up to look at him.

Even with tears running down your cheeks, you looked angelic as ever.

Each droplet mirrored a star from the sky, and your eyes sparkled as they stayed locked on his.

“Take me,” you whispered, and Hyunjae’s whole world stopped.

“...What?” Hyunjae had only intended to wipe your tears away with the pads of his hands, perhaps whisper something along the lines of him being here for you for the night (and the rest of his life, let’s be honest), yet your first words were—no, he had to have been hallucinating.

Your hands trembled as they reached for his wrist, and although you were severely broken, the grip your fingers created was firm.

“Please.”

Like a moth to a flame, Hyunjae admired how pretty you looked, your lips plump and eyes wide, and he wanted nothing more than to take you into his backseat and treat you the way he’d always wanted to, especially after hearing your pleas, but he knew better. You both knew better.

“What exactly are you implying?” he asked, feeling like you had just inhaled all his oxygen and left him breathless.

You released his wrist and opted to hold onto his sleeve, tugging on it as you tried to get him to understand you.

“I want it to hurt, Jaehyun.”

Your tears were gone, and there was a hint of dominance in your tone that would’ve had him dropped to his knees in front of you. You were also one of the very few who resorted to calling him Jae, and now his actual name. He favored Hyunjae, but after hearing ‘Jaehyun’ from your lips, his preference had completely made a turnaround.

But Hyunjae worked to collect his thoughts, fully aware that this was wrong and he’d have to be the bigger person here. As much as he hated himself for giving up the perfect opportunity to have the girl of his dreams, he couldn’t ignore the large concern over your current mental state.

“You’re not thinking straight, Y/N,” he reasoned softly, his fingers reaching up to brush your hair out of your face, and for a second, Hyunjae swore he felt the alcohol kicking in—or perhaps it was you instead. The thought of being able to have you right now, to touch you and press his hands over your skin, to have you as his for just this night, was so intoxicating that he was seconds away from foaming at the mouth.

“I don’t need to think straight. I don’t want to think at all.”

Everything felt hotter and tighter, but he kept his composure, though with his eyes dropping to your begging lips and then your delicate fingers, he knew he was beginning to lose whatever was left of his sanity.

But he also knew you were using him; you had to be. There was no other explanation. It was only minutes ago when you professed how you continued to feel about Jiwoong—that your heart still belonged to him, and Hyunjae was allowed nowhere near it. He was your backup, your second option, yet that happened to be better than nothing, right?

Especially when he could have you right here, right now.

“You’re using me.”

Your expression didn’t falter.

“Then say no. Make us go back into your car and drive me home.” Your hand dropped from holding onto his sleeve but that was so you could wrap your arms around his neck, slowly bringing yourself closer to him. His cheeks were flushed as his mind flooded with possibilities of what could happen. Never had you ever wanted him, and he’d been dreaming of a moment like this for years. Your tear-stained cheeks, your pouty red lips—he wanted all of you.

“But you won’t,” you whispered, your breath hitting his skin. Your eyes landed on his lips, now craving him as much as he craved you. You needed a release, an outlet, to justify Jiwoong being better than Hyunjae. Hyunjae was worse in every way possible, and you wanted him to prove that to you. “You’d do anything I’d say, wouldn’t you?”

“What makes you say that?” Little did you know Hyunjae was crumbling inside, completely melting as his fingers grew weak at the idea of your lips on his. His hands, although wary, traveled to your waist, feeling your curves before trailing his hands down to your hips to grip them.

“You love me, don’t you?”

His heart stuttered, all words caught up in his throat, but he knew there was no defending himself—not when he was practically drooling at every move you made; he was hyperaware of the hand playing with the hair on his nape, the way your lips nearly hovered over his, and how your tears glistened under the moonlight.

His entire existence was confirmation of your words, and you knew it.

“You’d do anything for me, Jae. What’s stopping you now?”

There was a stillness as you two stared at one another. He swallowed and pulled slightly back.

He knew better.

“You don’t want me.” He was brokenhearted, a part of him understanding that you’d never be his, yet he wanted you in so many ways, wishing to have your mewls fill his ears and the smell of sex staining his clothes. The bulge in his pants was forming and pressing up against the tight confinement, making him groan.

He dropped his head downwards, his forehead leaning to rest against yours, as he closed his eyes and did his best to regulate his breathing—repeating in his head and out loud, again.

He knew better.

“You’re using me.”

You both knew better.

Yet with your lips ghosting his and your eyes half-hooded, you were prepared to give into the dark side.

“And I say take advantage of it.”

Hyunjae dived and pressed his lips onto yours, hunger driving his every movement. There was no stopping when he felt your lips curling up into a grin, his hands shifting to wrap around your torso to drag you closer. His heart burst at how perfectly his lips molded with yours, and it seemed as if there was fire shooting up into the sky and exploding—they weren’t fireworks, and the explosion was far bigger and more dangerous. It lit the entirety of the sky, the moon and stars included, into flames, a desire unlike any other.

Your left hand pressed firm against the back of his neck while the other traveled through his hair. Meanwhile, his hands had snuck beneath your shirt and felt for your lower back. Heavy breaths left the two of you as desperation crept through your veins, dictating your every movement.

The cold touch from his hands ignited your nervous system, every sense activated and overstimulated by Hyunjae as you released a breathy moan into his mouth.

You didn’t want him, but fuck, you needed him.

When you would pull back, his lips would chase yours, and you two fell into an endless cycle. He couldn’t even fathom how you were pulling away for air when you were his oxygen. Maybe you weren’t oxygen itself, but the fumes you emitted had already replaced his need for air, deluding him into believing that you were what he needed to stay alive.

You were suffocating, toxic, and destructive, and he wanted more.

After retracting from the kiss for the nth time, you turned your head to hold Hyunjae back from continuing. You both were panting, your cunt soaking, and he stared into your eyes like a puppy awaiting their next direction.

“Good boy,” you praised, and he laughed lowly and sheepishly, dropping his head as he processed what happened and the idea of it being potentially over.

“You’re lethal,” he breathed out.

“And you’re pitiful,” you spat. There was a playful grin on your lips, but those words ignited something within Hyunjae. He raised his head and cocked a brow at you, questioning your genuinity.

Just minutes ago you were crying over a guy that treated you terribly, and yet here you thought you had the authority to call him weak.

Perhaps he was; he was falling deeper into your pitless trap, enticed with every movement of yours, but he knew for a fact you weren’t any better than him.

You both were sick in the head for falling for people that treated the other like shit, yet your drive, your fuel, to win over the hearts of the people you loved was so strong, and it made you two unstoppable.

Hyunjae would punch Jiwoong all over again if he could.

Without a second thought, Hyunjae ducked his head down and ruthlessly attached his lips to your neck, eliciting a gasp from you. He kissed your skin fervently, his fingers teasing the rim of your shorts, and your hands shifted to hold onto his shoulders for support. You found yourself tossing your head back, providing him more room to do as he pleased, that if Jiwoong were to see you with marks on your neck, then maybe he’d want you back.

“Bold of you to call me pitiful,” he grumbled, sucking onto your neck until a blot of purple began to form.

“But it’s true, no?”

“You’re just as bad, Y/N.” He licked a stripe up your neck and over the mark, and the sensation made you cringe, disgust itching at your skin due to being covered in his saliva, but you wanted more of it. You wanted Hyunjae to treat you like you were nothing, to treat you worse than Jiwoong ever had, so you could direct your blame over to Hyunjae instead of your unknowing boyfriend.

You turned your head and slotted your lips with his again, already addicted to how perfect they were for you. Hyunjae knew the exact way to kiss you, to keep you on your toes, as your slick pooled up in your underwear at the mere thought of Hyunjae touching you.

The kiss was eager, a fight for control, and when Hyunjae didn’t surrender, you raised your knee, forcing your thigh to brush up against his crotch.

He gasped at the sensation and pulled away, bangs hanging over his eyes as he looked down at the sight. You teased him by keeping your touches gentle, but you made sure to keep your leg moving. Nothing intrigued you more than seeing Hyunjae beg or rut against your thigh, further proof of how pathetic he was for you. You gained a sense of ego knowing that he could have any girl in the world, that he has had every girl, and yet he would always come back to you. Now that you had him, it would be harder for him to return to a life without you under him, moaning his name.

You wanted to be his downfall.

Your nails latched onto the mesh, taking note of how easy it would be to rip the material, before pressing your thigh firmly up against his dick, making him jerk.

“You’re-...oh my god, Y/N,” he gasped, breathless. His eyes meet your devious ones, how you were basically Satan himself, and somehow, someway, he wouldn’t ask for anything different. “You’re playing a losing…a losing- game.”

“What more do I have left to lose?” There was some truth in your words as vulnerability struck you. Your leg then lowered as you regained a slight sense of reality, realizing that you were forcing Hyunjae into being your selfish source of relief. You hated Hyunjae, sure, but you knew this was the last thing he deserved—to use him when he’d been nothing but accommodating to you.

And your sick and twisted plan was that after this encounter, you’d leave him to rot.

Hyunjae didn’t deserve that at all.

But Hyunjae was already too far gone, too intoxicated, to even consider the repercussions of how he’d end up after this. The loss of contact with his crotch was what had him picking you up from his car, the tips of his fingers digging into your thighs, as he led you to the backseat.

Your eyes widened, your senses fully back, but you made him like this, and you were going to pay for it. Although scared for about what’s to come, the anticipation had you drooling, your lips pressing fierce kisses onto his skin while he opened the door with you in his arms.

He laid you down gently and crawled over you, keeping you trapped between his arms.

“This is what you wanted, right? For me to tear you apart until you can run back to Jiwoong and justify how poorly he treats you?”

Your brows bunched up at his words, your legs getting antsy being under him. There was no answering him, not when Hyunjae already knew how you were going to respond.

He brought one of his hands into your shorts and made the aggravating decision to slide his fingers over your underwear, depriving you of contact with his fingers.

Yet even with your underwear being a divider, he found your clit with ease and immediately started rubbing circles into the bud, making you buck your hips with a whine. The friction of the cloth was something you were unfamiliar with, and lord did it mess with you.

“You want me to treat you how he sees you? Worthless and undeserving of respect?” He flicked your clit and kissed your jaw. “If that’s what you want, that’s exactly what my princess is going to get.”

“Fuck,” you moaned, using your hands to push onto his shoulders and force him down. The drive to ride his tongue was strong, and if he kept teasing you, you would have lost it.

“I know you inside and out, Y/N. I know you better than him, and this is how you treat me.” He sucked in a cheek but ultimately decided to comply with what you wanted. He pulled off your shorts yet left your underwear on, and his brows raised. He wasn’t sure how his fingers had missed the texture of lace, but what you were wearing was certainly lingerie.

You looked down to see why he stopped, and when you realized why he froze, heat rose to your cheeks.

“I wanted to feel pretty,” you whispered, shutting your eyes after turning your head. It was embarrassing, now that you thought about it, but Hyunjae’s heart soared, and he wanted nothing more than for you to know how ethereal you looked.

But he shoved the feeling away, allowing his frustrations to get the better half of him.

When he pulled off your underwear, he cooed at how your essence oozed onto the material and raised the undergarment into the air, waiting for you to look.

“Did I do this?”

His mocking tone kept you from looking, but your curiosity got the best of you. You were met with the sight of a large wet, dark patch on your underwear, biting down on your lip as you looked at him with wide eyes. If you thought about it, you couldn’t remember the last time you felt like this, or if there ever had been a time when you craved someone this badly.

He tossed it to the side and his hands massaged your thighs, keeping them spread open so he got a proper view of your core on display for him. The sight truly stunned him, reminding him that this was you he fantasized about and replicated with other girls—no one else.

“Do you normally take this long?” you rasped, tossing your head back against the seat, and Hyunjae rolled his eyes.

“I do you a favor, and this is how you treat me.”

“A favor is a stretch—”

Hyunjae plunged two fingers into your mouth, having them press firmly down against your tongue. He latched onto your jaw and pulled your head forward and up towards him, having your eyes meet his.

“Remind me, Y/N, who was begging for this?”

He dropped your head back down against the seat before you could even respond and used whatever saliva accumulated in your mouth as temporary lube, figuring that your slick would help him with stretching you out. You grunted at the impact, feeling helpless, as Hyunjae finally inserted his fingers inside of you.

Hyunjae’s fingers were enough to have your eyes rolling, but it was the ring that he wore that stimulated you the most. You weren’t aware that he was even wearing one, yet the cold band against your raging wet heat made you whimper and desperately grasp for his hair.

“Jaehyun, please,” you begged.

He chuckled and kept his movements slow, forcing you to fuck yourself onto his fingers weakly. When you did, he was in awe at how stunning you looked, how you seemed to be in your own world, and how you were enjoying him. By curling his fingers, a moan was pulled from your throat, making your eyes open as you looked at him. You continued to pool around his fingers, your voice weakly begging for so much more than his fingers and the cold air that brushed against your skin.

Never had you felt more vulnerable, but Hyunjae never once made you feel like you were doing something wrong, making you cling desperately to him. You forced his face down into your crotch and jerked at the feeling of his nose brushing up against your clit.

“Shameless, aren’t you?” he commented, laughing lowly, but you were too out of it to care.

“Shut the-...F-fuck, oh my god.”

Your whines had gotten more incessant the more useless he became, his fingers now completely stilled inside of you as he watched you roll your hips with a cheeky grin. He wanted to drag this out for as long as possible, knowing fully well that he could last all night.

When he took out his fingers, you were yanked out of your bliss and nearly begged for him to put them back in, but before you could get a word out, he had replaced his digits with his tongue. Your slick was dripping onto his lips, and as he dragged his wet muscle up and down your folds, he made sure to collect a small puddle of you onto his tongue to eventually swallow, wanting to savor you.

“Oh-...Oh my god, Jae—” Your orgasm was approaching, unsure of how it was here so soon, but you recognized the signs from the coil in your chest tightening to losing every sensation to the man beneath you. You rocked your hips continuously onto his tongue, and his thumb attached to your clit, making you see stars with how rapid his movements were.

He pulled his face back and forced his fingers back into you, and the final curl was what made you reach your peak, your hips in the air as you cried out his name.

As you came down from your high, you caught a glance of the way Hyunjae was looking at you; to him, you were otherworldly, and it was a sight he’d never forget. He wondered if Jiwoong ever saw you like this, if he ever made you feel this way, and suddenly his admiration had soured and contoured to something of darkness, rid of any empathy as he now looked at you with some form of disgust.

“All this for me, and you still have the fucking audacity to choose him.”

The mention of Jiwoong had your eyes wide open, tears reappearing at the mention and while being in your most vulnerable state. Your legs shook from the aftermath, feeling too weak to continue, yet Hyunjae seemed to have other plans.

Instead of shoving his fingers back into either of your mouths, he hovered over you and made sure you saw the way he dragged his fingers around your abdomen, drawing aimlessly over your skin with your essence before dragging a hand up to your breasts, massaging one of them as his other hand rested by your waist.

“Tell me, Y/N, did you buy this for him and never got to use it? That’s why you’re wearing it now with me? Am I your sloppy seconds?”

There was a slight growl under his tone, and while you shook your head subconsciously, he worked to remove your shirt, wanting a better look at your bra, before being met with a necklace you had been hiding; one with Jiwoong’s name.

And Hyunjae took no time breaking it from your neck.

Your jaw dropped, and you snapped out of your daze by sitting straight up, yet as you were about to yell at him for breaking your necklace, he shoved three fingers back into your pussy, shutting you up by having you moan at the intrusion.

“It looked cheap, anyway,” he muttered, forcing his mouth against yours momentarily to nip on your lower lip, tugging on it so your focus remained on him.

“That was—he’s mine,” you forced out, gasping at every thrust he made with his fingers, your sweet spot being abused as your hands latched onto his shoulders. You made sure your nails dug into his skin, wanting it to hurt, before pulling onto the mesh, wishing for it to tear.

“He’s not yours, princess. Tell me, how can you say that when his dick has been up other girls?” With his free hand, he grabbed your face and made sure you were staring straight at him before shoving it to the side.

“You need to fucking wake up and realize that you can dream all you want about how he’d react if he saw you hopping on my dick, but guess what? He wouldn’t care.” Hyunjae pulled out his fingers and left you alone in the backseat.

You sat there, a wreck and vulnerable, as you tried to catch your breath. You lay back on your forearms, curious eyes following his every movement.

“There’s a reason he hasn’t left you yet,” Hyunjae explained, opening the front door to his car to grab a condom and his phone. He tucked both into his back pocket before returning to you, bringing your lips to his before continuing to talk within the kiss.

“He’s stringing you along so you can boost his ego. He knows you will always be there for him, and you allow him to use you like that?”

You wrapped your fingers around Hyunjae’s neck, squeezing it before pushing it away to keep your distance, your frustration starting to grow.

“I’m beginning to think you’re all bark and no bite, Jaehyun,” you muttered, and with whatever strength you had left, you pushed him against the seat and got into his lap. Without hesitation, you started rocking your hips over his clothed dick, hoping your slick would seep in so he could feel you.

He hissed but allowed you to do as you pleased, his grip tight on your hips.

“I-...I think…if you asked me, you’re the one who’s projecting. I’m the one in a relationship, and you’re just a side piece.”

The speed of your hips increased, and Hyunjae felt ecstasy on the tip of his tongue, the confinements of his pants physically paining him the more you continued.

“You’re jealous, Jae. Just admit it.”

You pulled at his hair, loving the absolute control you had over him at that moment, but in one languid motion, Hyunjae managed to push you back down, this time with your stomach against the seats. You could feel your bodily fluids sticking to the nylon, and with how hard Hyunjae was pressing down into you, you were barely given a chance to move.

With one hand on your lower back, he kept you still as he took out both his phone and condom, making sure to place both on top of your bare skin.

“What’s there to be jealous of when you’re here under me? You want to be fucked stupid? Fine. Don’t fucking complain when you want me to be the villain.” You lurched at his words, refusing to let him win, but you were completely unable to do much damage as Hyunjae kicked off his pants and boxers while still keeping his weight on you.

He then picked up his phone and pulled up the camera, making sure to take a photo of you in his car before clicking record and tossing the phone onto the ground, hoping it was close enough to pick up on your sweet noises.

“Make sure to be loud for me, yeah? I’m sure Jiwoong would love it if I sent that video to him.”

“You wouldn’t fucking dare,” you bit back, your hand reaching out in an attempt to grab the device, but Hyunjae was quicker to grab your wrist, pinning it behind your back.

“I wouldn’t because I know how to appreciate what’s mine.” Hyunjae released his hold on you to roll on the condom, giving you the opportunity to move and take his phone as you pleased. To your dismay, there was no more effort left within you, only an ache to feel Hyunjae inside you.

“He appreciates me,” you mumbled, trying to convince yourself otherwise as you waited.

“Does he record you? Jerk off to your moans every night? Because I would, Y/N, just for you.” His voice was now by your ear, and when you turned your head to look at him, he pulled you into another hungry kiss, his dick now grazing against your hole.

“You’re fucking insane,” you bit back into the kiss, and he grinned against your lips, guiding his dick into you as he spoke.

“Psychotic, just for my princess.”

Venom laced his voice, dripping menacingly, and the insertion of his tip had you grasping for something in front of you, anything, and it was only then that you were able to process how thick his cock was.

“Can you take it?” he asked, his voice slightly softer than before. When you gave him a curt nod, he continued pushing in further. Maybe lube should’ve been an option, but you were so wet for him that it didn’t matter, knowing that the stretch probably would have hurt regardless.

“Fuck, fuck—he really doesn’t know what he’s missing,” Hyunjae gasped, his head resting against the back of yours. It was better than anything he’d dreamed of, better than any girl he imagined, because it was you, and your body was made for him.

“When was the last time he fucked you?” He was fully inside of you now, and when you didn’t answer, he decided to take it as a sign to move. With a firm grip on your waist, he pulled out just to slam back in, making you yell as you clawed at the seat, wishing there was something to bite on as you endured the pain that was quick to morph into pleasure.

Every glide pushed you further into the car, your forearms occasionally hitting the door, as his hips moved vigorously, working up to a pace that had you moaning without pause. Tears were flowing down your cheeks at the overwhelming pleasure of being manhandled—of being Hyunjae’s rag doll when he was meant to be yours, and your body seized up, being worked up to your orgasm once more with how precise each thrust seemed to be.

He adjusted to raise one of your legs to his hip, giving him a new angle to pound into you as he worships you with his dick, and you shook out of pleasure, whining as you saw white and reached your second orgasm for the night. You pulsated around his cock, strangled moans ripping from your throat as tears mixed with your drool by your chin.

And Hyunjae showed no signs of stopping.

He made sure to press your face down against the seats, wanting every liquid to fall and stain his car, giving him something to remember you by.

Oh, and there was the recording too.

While kneeling inside of the cramped car, he slowed his movements and inclined his torso towards you. In one swift motion, he wrapped his arm around your neck and pulled you up, locking you inside his elbow as he forced you to look into your reflection in the car window.

“Look at you, the school’s favorite slut. What happens if the recording drops? The whole school would know you’re mine, wouldn’t they?” He pressed his chest against your back, the mesh rubbing against your skin as his lips remained near your ear, forcing you to listen to every word.

You limped against him, your flames completely burnt out, and your fingers tugged onto the mesh around his arm, successfully ripping it after some time, but Hyunjae seemed unphased. In fact, it turned him on even more knowing that he had you locked in, that you were his.

“Look at your pretty cunt taking me in so well. It was so wet for me, wasn’t it? It still is. And guess what? You’re in my car. You belong to me, and my good girl is only now just finding out about it, isn’t she?”

“I-I’m…I’m not-...not yours,” you retaliated, creating red angry marks into his skin with your nails as you endured being used, stifling your moans as you looked at how wrecked you were, how bare you seemed to be compared to Hyunjae. You were much more of a mess, from your hair to the bruises on your neck. Your pussy kept tightening up around his dick, convulsing occasionally with every hit toward your g-spot, and you held onto Hyunjae each time.

Your head drooped down, thinking about how your heart ached for Jiwoong, yet the rest of your body was meant for Hyunjae.

“Whose fucking dick is inside of you right now?” He scoffed and pulled on your hair, forcing your head back up so he could directly speak into your ear. “Wake up, Y/N,” he demanded. “You’re mine.”

He dropped you back onto the seat like you were nothing, leaving you completely helpless, your throat void of any words as your eyes closed and met the back of your skull, too fucked out to communicate. You tried reaching for the door handle, just something to hold onto, yet you couldn’t.

“You tell me I’m pitiful, that I’m basically delusional when you’re going to be the reason my car will smell like sex for weeks.”

Your face was forced back into the puddle of liquid you created earlier, being shifted back and forth against the seat as if you were made for his dick and not vice versa.

“It’s crazy how pathetic you are, how willing you are to break yourself down in front of everyone just to have him. That-...fuck…that you’re so convinced he wants you and you two are soulmates.” He dragged his fingers through your hair and grabbed your roots. “You called me, you wanted me, and I have you right now, moaning my name, and you have nothing.”

Something about his words kept bringing out your orgasms, each thrust adding to the pleasure immensely. You didn’t know how much you could handle—afraid you may pass out from how much he was using you, from his tight grip around you to his dick hitting inside of you mercilessly.

Hyunjae whispering ‘I won, Y/N’ was what had you losing it, your high this time ending up stronger than the rest. You were fully crying now, and yet he continued as if you were nothing.

He peppered your shoulder with kisses and had the slight decency to slow his pace, but he also took note of your sobs.

“Don’t tell me you still want him,” he began rambling, his lips still on your shoulder. “Don’t tell me after this that your heart still belongs to him, because if that were the case, I’d make you call him right now. Say you wish it was him instead of me, and that he’s the love of your life while you’re stuffed with my dick. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

You could no longer think, and what you hated most was how reactive your body was—how you were just able to come for the third time, but Hyunjae’s dick solely being inside you snapped some other straw you weren’t aware you had, finding that your last high was incoming.

Hyunjae had picked up the pace by then, and by knowing your body incredibly well, he reached down to your sensitive clit to relieve you. You both knew your fourth was arriving, and you held on tight to his arm.

“J-Jaehy- hyun, I’m—”

“Mine.”

You cried out, your entire body shaking, and Hyunjae pulled out, immediately releasing onto your back with a guttural moan after yanking off the condom. He was forced to catch his breath, watching you float in and out of consciousness.

Your eyes were closed, struggling to breathe through your sobs, and Hyunjae consoled you with a kiss on the back of your shoulder.

“You’re mine, Y/N, whether you like it or not.”

He then pressed a kiss to your cheek before leaving to grab paper towels from his trunk. You were heaving, still shaking, and left alone as a mess in his backseat, yet with him gone, you felt even more useless, wanting him back by your side instantly. You weakly cried out for him, your nails dragging against the seat in hopes of being in his arms soon, and maybe he was right.

Maybe you were his.

OUR INFERNO [ M.LIST | TWO ]

NAVIGATION — THE BOYZ

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winterchimez · 8 months

Text

emails i can't send fwd: a tbz x enha series!

hi hello!! 👋🏻 @sanaxo-o and i are thrilled to announce that we have decided to do a collab where we will be writing fics based on, you guessed it, sabrina's carpenter's emails i can't send fwd: album! we will be alternating and writing for different songs from the album, and this will be an ongoing series! so come along & join us on this exciting journey!!

we would deeply appreciate it if you could reblog this to help spread the word!

send either of us an ask/comment to join the taglist! those who are already in our perm taglist will automatically be added!

💌 STARRING: the boyz & enhypen x f!reader/g.n!reader

💌 GENRE: fluff, angst, humour, suggestive, assorted pairings (more to be added)

💌 WARNINGS: (will be stated in each respective fics!)

💌 A/N: hiya this is ally (winterchimez) speaking! so originally i have written read your mind way before this collab happened, and sana (sanaxo-o) & i have agreed to just include it here so that we won't have to write for the track again :))

TRACKLIST

♫ emails i can't send

♫ vicious

♫ read your mind

member: Lee Hyunjae (tbz)

written by: @winterchimez

♫ tornado warnings

member: Eric Sohn (tbz)

written by: @winterchimez

♫ because i liked a boy

♫ already over

♫ how many things

♫ bet u wanna

member: Lee Juyeon (tbz)

written by: @sanaxo-o

♫ nonsense

member: Jacob Bae (tbz)

written by: @winterchimez

♫ fast times

♫ skinny dipping

♫ bad for business

♫ decode

♫ opposite

♫ feather

♫ lonesome

member: Ji Changmin (tbz)

written by: @sanaxo-o

♫ things i wish you said

winterchimez masterlist | winterchimez perm. taglist

sanaxo-o masterlist | sanaxo-o perm. taglist

taglist: @deoboyznet @kflixnet @k-films @flwoie @hokupi @zzoguri @kyusqult @tinkerbell460 @cheonsafics @sulkygyu @jaerisdiction @vernyangel @fylithia @stealanity @lngwayup @daisyvisions @djidfk

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atolua · 2 years

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📁 … LUA’S PRETTY IDOL SQUAD !

masterlist !

INKA OF SKZ !

can we say number sign bestie goals? uh huh, we can—cause that's what these two are. inka is the sun to lua's moon, she's one of the few who stuck by her even though the latter could be a little standoffish during the initial meetings. don't tell the boys but lua responds quicker to inka's messages than she does in the teezers' group chat. from enduring years of training to burning the stage with their respective members like the queens they are, how can you not admire them?

SUNMI !

and the award of most successful fan goes to.. zhang yuehua! the admiration lua has for the older woman is so obvious, the room ends up stinking with jealousy whenever the members hear her loud fangirling. although it doesn't seem possible, lua gets even shier when she's around sunmi, especially when her elder pinches her soft, squishy cheeks. they've been friends for almost ten years? yeah no, lua is still going to melt in a puddle if sunmi calls her bambi one more time.

CHIARA OF HOURGLASS !

initially, she thought the senior idol hated her because of how stiff she looked whenever they greeted each other. but after getting the chance to finally hang out one on one, the younger girl eventually confessed that she was intimidated by lua, especially by her visuals and talent, and didn’t wanna do anything embarrassing. almost three years later, chiara still acts like she’s the junior but hey, at least she’s warmed up to her.. kinda-

VIVI OF LOONA !

an accidental meeting blossoming into a beautiful friendship; the formula to most of lua's friendships. maybe they're not very showy about the things they do together, but the two females really do care about each other and frequently communicate through social media. if they're ever caught together, it would usually be at a restaurant since they love taste testing cuisines, especially dishes that remind them of their respective hometowns.

YUQI & SHUHUA OF (G)I-DLE !

look, lua loves both of her kids, she'd have to be very drunk to pick her favorite. even though they're her seniors, they still see her as their role model because of her caring and persevering attitude that she uses to get through the industry. and maybe they also love her a lot because she gives not only them but their whole group plenty of treats whenever they have an achievement to celebrate. the price? nothing. she just wants to reward them for being amazing. (blue 3d square, take notes.)

NEW OF THE BOYZ !

let's admit it, kingdom was less of a competition and more of an excuse for idols to hang out with their friends or develop such relationships. thanks to the show, lua was able to get a chef for free—kidding, she had to pay him by being his friend. not that she regrets accepting his condition because whenever she's in a daydreaming mood, chanhee's there to accompany her and add in his own thoughts.

HWANWOONG OF ONEUS !

until now, lua's still trying to convince hongjoong to let her give wooyoung to oneus in exchange for hwanwoong. (she'll get there, she swears.) whenever they hang out, hwanwoong's usually helping her improve her dancing. of course, she makes sure to mention him during dedications regarding her performance, unintentionally fueling the dating rumors.

LESSON LEARNED !

author believes that lua's courage to cheer louder for her friends than for her teammates is very funny to watch. oh, and companies better take notes from this heroine 'cause she promotes their artists better than they do.

lua’s taglist : @stealanity @ateezivy

#୫ ⋄ … relationships ˖ better an oops than a what if #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #ateez 9th member #ateez oc #kpop oc #kpop addition #ateez blurbs #kpop blurbs #ateez timestamps #kpop timestamps #ateez female member #ateez additional member #kpop female member #kpop additional member #idol oc

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eoos · 1 year

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MASTERLIST REC.

THE BOYZ✪

(none of these fics were written by me, all credits go to the authors)

OT11

SANGYEON

☞ Look of Love (by @cloudykyu) genre : fluff, idiots/friends to lovers, mutual pining, slight humor, college au

☞ tattle-tale (by @sankyeom) genre : teacher au, fluff

JACOB

YOUNGHOON

HYUNJAE

JUYEON

☞ We’ve got chemistry (by @mavericsohn) genre : fluff, humour

KEVIN

NEW

JUHAKNYEON

SUNWOO

☞ you're safe (by @stealanity) genre : fluff, angst, slice of life, roommate to lovers, college!au

☞ Heart Shaped Exhaust Pipes (by @yolkyeomie) genre : street racing au, strangers to lovers au

ERIC

#the boyz #the boyz x reader #the boyz imagines #kpop #kpop imagines #sangyeon #jacob the boyz #younghoon #hyunjae #juyeon #kevin #new the boyz #q the boyz #ju haknyeon #sunwoo #eric the boyz

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sangyeonsofthours · 2 years

Note

hi! ☆ i’m not sure if you’ve answered this already, but i was wondering if you had a rec list. or if you have any writings that you absolutely loved for sangyeon. love your page! bye ! ♡

this is such an interesting question and it's such a shame that i haven't been reading much things about the boyz lately :( plus, i just found out that @chaoticdeobi deactivated their account! it was a blog i used to read and i'm so sad right now! i hope they're okay! but i do have some recs, and i'm gonna list them for you!

@theboyz-engup i think you can go through their masterlist, but their sangyeon stuff is the best, especially wine & cheese!

@thepixelelf i think the same goes for them, you can check out their mastelist, but i'll be honest, Red is something that never left my mind since i read that!

@stealanity i just noticed i never went through their masterlist, bc i've only read this one! (i'll take their work as a rec for myself too hehehehe).

@milkmemory oh, their masterlist is carefully saved here bc there's so many things. i don't remember much of what i read, but i remember i went not just for the sangyeon ones! i remember i thought there were pretty cute scenarios.

PLUS there's writers that interect with me here, even though i haven't read much of their work. i'll list them so i can remind myself to check out more of their work too ♡

@jasminexox

@armysantiny

@hvae

that's all i found on my archive. oh, im so sad that it is just a tiny list :( i'm so sorry! im sure that would be more, but i keep hitting the like button on so many posts, that i lost them. i'll try to find some time to search for them tho.

and im glad you asked, bc that made me realize i should read more. i know that since kingdom our fandom grew up a lot, there must be a lot of new things to read. i also should reblog/rec writing i like, so you guys can read it too!

thank you so much for asking and just so you know, i'd love for you to recommend your own writing or other writers on my askbox/chat too!

♡

#anonymous #answered #recs #the boyz #sangyeon #lee sangyeon #sangyeon the boyz #sangyeon fluff #the boyz au #sangyeon au #sangyeon drabbles #sangyeon imagines #the boyz drabbles #the boyz scenarios #the boyz imagines

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pockyandme · 2 years

Text

hiding something from him | l.juyeon

full series masterlist: what’s trending?

pairing: tbz juyeon x reader

genre: fluff, comedy

warnings: mentions of food

wc: 0.75k

network(s): @kflixnet

listened to: roses by finn askew

not proofread

// my 200 days with tbz special

# now playing juyeon’s ver ! 𑁋 hiding something from him

juyeon would trust you a lot so if you did this to him, he wouldn’t think that you were cheating on him

he’s quite innocent so he might think you prepared something for him

like presents (or hello kitty merchandise)

it was around 8 in the evening but the two of you had yet to eat dinner. the rice cooker broke down when the two of you were about to cook together, leaving you with no choice but to order in.

“it’s okay, baby, i can just get it repaired tomorrow,” he said, patting your head to comfort you. the two of you were leaning against the counter, your arms folded and your face pulled into a frown. “why did it have to malfunction right now,” you cupped your face in your hands, internally groaning at the trouble caused.

“don’t worry, okay? how about i go get some chinese takeout? i’m getting hungry,” he said, bending down to your level so that you would directly be looking at him. your boyfriend’s visuals honestly never ceased to amaze you. you simply nodded and offered to come along but he asked you to stay at home. “i’ll do everything, just sit there and look pretty like you always do,” he chuckled, guiding you to the living room so you could watch the television as he left the apartment after kissing you goodbye.

about ten minutes after watching a show, the doorbell rang and you thought that it was juyeon who had forgotten something but you were met face to face with the mailman. he obviously had made quite an effort to bring up your parcel due to the sweat dripping down his forehead. “sign here, please,” he said, catching his breath. you did just as he said, finally understanding why he was so tired.

it wasn’t exactly easy carrying an almost 6ft parcel up four flights of stairs...

˚◞♡ ⃗*ೃ༄

the sound of the front door swung open just as you put the said unopened parcel in the closet. juyeon walked into the room, seeing that you weren’t in the kitchen nor living room and that was when you slammed the closet door shut, scaring juyeon at the loud noise. “what are you doing?” he let out a laugh at your panicked state instead of being angry. “nothing!” you muttered, guarding the closet door.

he started to walk towards you and eventually wrapped his arms around your waist, “why? did you get me something? it is my birthday soon..” he wondered what you were trying so hard to guard. did you get him the latest special edition of the hello kitty figurine? he was dying to know what you were hiding so he came up with a plan.

“anyways, i bought the food already, it’s on the dining table, let’s go,” he pulled you by the hand and released you as you reached the kitchen before bolting back into the room, alarming you. “no, no, juyeon, don’t open that!” you shouted, trying to stop him but he wouldn’t reply.

you came rushing into the room and saw your boyfriend gaping at the jaehyun cardboard cut-out that you had bought and received from the mailman earlier. you stood by the door, scratching your head, awaiting his reaction. “why the hell do you have a cardboard cut-out of someone else.. he’s not even from the boyz!”

he was very much in shock since it wasn’t something he was expecting

it became a joke for the two of you guys

because.. how long do you think you could’ve hidden a whole cardboard cut-out...

“so that’s why i saw the mailman struggling to carry something up the stairs! it was you!”

permanent taglist: @stealanity @yengyangyo @jaerisdiction @zwiehe @heojangmi @paralumanniluna @luvrbin @odxrilove @ryuflix <3

(fill the google form in series masterlist to be added to series taglist)

i know i strayed a bit from the tiktok trend but i think this would be better than actually not hiding anything??? i hope you guys get it (っ◞‸◟ c)

love, leona!

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yunkiwii · 2 years

Text

·˚ TKCM, CHAPTER 1 ·˚ — it's a hedgehog ray

pairing: yn x ??? , genre: fluff, crack, slight angst , warnings: none

profiles⤺ ·˚MASTERLIST·˚ ⤻next

·˚ taglist: @boba-beom @bobateastay @su-lix @icedcoffeesunwoo @wooyoungsbae @hwarora @shiningstar-byulxx @flrtsbin @taeyongslilkitty @wooyoung-a @stealanity @etherealcherrie @one16core @en-boyz

·˚ send an ask/dm to be added to the tkcm taglist, fill this form to be added to the permanent taglist ♡

#·˚ ༘ the kitty cat movement ·˚ ༘#txt smau #txt scenarios #txt fluff #txt angst #yeonjun fluff #soobin fluff #beomgyu fluff #taehyun fluff #hueningkai fluff

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stealanity · 2 months

Text

playlist one , the boyz ( lsg to kvm ) :

ꕤ lee sangyeon ,

someone

⠀

[ 7:02am ]

[ 5:12pm ]

[ 6:14am ]

⠀

ꕤ bae jacob ,

summer love

birthday cake

melatonin

co-lover

white lily

⠀

ꕤ kim younghoon ,

corny jokes

reassuring hands

kinda miss you

i didn't forget

⠀

[ 1:02am ]

[ 2:45am ]

⠀

ꕤ lee hyunjae ,

suffocating ( written serie , discontinued )

this special look

stay

waffle

loser, lover

crazy

too late

only for practice

⠀

[ 9:32am ]

[ 4:35pm ]

[ 10:37pm ]

⠀

ꕤ lee juyeon ,

his s/o waking up in the middle of the night

cute little intruder

bad day, but good boyfriend

daydream

terrible idea

the bet

cold hands

risky

sick of you

⠀

[ 5:34pm ]

[ 10:45pm ]

[ 7:52pm ]

[ 8:57pm ]

⠀

ꕤ moon kevin ,

bad words

the little prince

⠀

[ 3:37pm ]

[ 11:23am ]

⠀

. . . link to maknae line !

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hcuyk · 19 days

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[ 18+ ] . . . . . . . . OUR INFERNO MASTERLIST

⧉ OUR INFERNO // elaborates the complexities within a relationship—the spark, the blaze, the pain. your love with hyunjae is a never ending fire; it's something so strong, so beautiful and powerful, that it suffocates you both into believing that your relationship would last, only for it to go down in flames ( ☄︎ )

╰ · · FROM THE BACK TO STRANGERS COLLECTION

› 〉 PAIRING // nonidol!hyunjae x fem!reader

› 〉 GENRE // varies every chapter : includes but is not limited to — high school au, college au, single dad au, enemies to fwbs to lovers to strangers to fwbs to ????, potential bad ending, smut, fluff, angst

› 〉 WARNINGS // varies every chapter : 18+ MDNI : includes but is not limited to — excessive profanity, cheating, toxic relationship(s), underaged drinking, these two are corruption itself : NSFW TAGS will vary and be stated in every chapter

˖⋆ STATUS ☆ ONGOING

˖⋆ STARTED ☆ 041424

⋮≡ [ OUR INFERNO EXCLUSIVE ] @deoboyznet @iloveu143 @flwoie @sanaxo-o @blue-rainydays

˖⋆ LAST UPDATED ☆ 041424

˖⋆ WORD COUNT ☆ 19k

⋮≡ [ PERMANENT TAGLIST ] @armysantiny @stealanity @zzoguri @nyujjan @tinisprout @the-kpop-simp @sunwoosberrie @winterchimez @mamuljji @prodsunwoo — lmk if you're a minor/uncomfortable with nsfw and i'll remove you from the taglist for this series!

||| ⧉ . . PART ONE: CHASING THE SPARK (THE FIRE TETRAHEDRON)

— —|— — i. FUEL, OXYGEN, AND HEAT

(일 ✧ 0001) — 4/14 — 19k

despite being your greatest archnemesis/rival/enemy/frenemy/whateverthefuck he was, hyunjae had always been by your side. that changed when your boyfriend was brought up, creating a newfound rift in your whateverthefuck relationship with hyunjae

— —|— — ii. THE FOURTH COMPONENT

— —|— — iii. CORRUPTION’S AFTERMATH

||| ⧉ . . PART TWO: LETHAL INCARCERATION (THE REIGNITION)

— —|— — i. SMOKE INHALATION

— —|— — ii. ASPHYXIA

— —|— — iii. VICIOUS TEMPTATION

NAVIGATION | THE BOYZ MASTERLIST

╰ · · AUTHOR'S NOTE : vae's nsfw debut let's hit it | lovely credits to my beta readers — @drunkdrazed @winterchimez @stealanity @simpforsunwoo

#OUR INFERNO | lee hyunjae #deoboyznet #the boyz series #hyunjae fluff #hyunjae smut #hyunjae angst #tbz hard hours #the boyz fanfiction #the boyz au

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deputyjuyeon · 2 years

Text

JUMPSHOT ✢ HYUNJAE┇13

how y/n got her flowers pt.1

❊ warnings: profanities

wc: ±480

the other day after going to the mall..

Y/n pov

"Y/n, Hyunjae, we're gonna head home first yeah? You two have fun," Yujin linked her arm on Wonyoung's, "But don't do anything stupid kay?"

Hyunjae chuckled and waved, smirking at her comment.

"Wait that means I gotta go too. Yujin wait up!" you panicked, imagining all the possible scenarios that would happen if you hadn't gone home with the two of them.

It wasn't late at all, they'd just finished lunch, but you were desperately trying to avoid being alone together with Hyunjae.

But wait.. don't I like him? You're probably wondering. Yes, you do, that's exactly why.

"Y/n, Hyunjae literally lives two floors below you," Yujin's sudden glare made you startle.

"It's one floor actually," Hyunjae added.

"That's even better!"

While keeping her gaze stuck on you, Yujin reached for her phone and sent a text message.

A ring was heard from inside your pocket.

Frowning at Yujin's text, you blurted out, "But he wants to go somewhere else first no?" you turn to Hyunjae only to be disappointed by his answer.

"No, I can take you home," his eyes turned into crescent moons and his cheeks looked extra adorable that you felt like pinching them.

You melted from his smile till you realize you weren't standing straight.

Hyunjae was quick to catch you in his arms. Concerned, he asked a million questions, "Y/n, are you okay? Are you not feeling well? Should we go home? Do you need me to carry you?"

Holy shit. You're so fucking gorgeous.

You were still out of it. You couldn't hear anything or see anyone but him. Your faces were merely inches apart. You experienced a light tingle when his breath came in contact with your lips. Your heart skipped a beat—maybe even two. Good thing you hadn't forgotten how to breathe.

"See, I think it's pretty alright to leave you both together. We'll be going then, bye!" Yujin saw her chance to escape and she did, leaving you two together at last.

The both of you turned to Yujin while you were still in Hyunjae's grasp. Soon, you two realized that the position you were in was awkward and he let go, still making sure you were feeling okay.

"Are you sure you're alright Y/n? We can go home right now, if you want."

"No, it's okay, I'm okay. You still have a place in mind?"

"I think there's just a park outside. Wanna go? You're a hundred percent sure you're fine right?"

Nodding to his question, you take a few deep breaths to prepare yourself for whatever this boy could do to you. Be it puking from a single smirk from him or passing out just because the Lee Hyunjae is walking together with you, alone, because he wants to.

Yeah, I'm fine. As long as your pretty face doesn't stare at me for too long.

❊ synopsis: for years of being a basketball prodigy, everything seemed easy for you, but things change when you need to take on a whole new challenge on the court: to face 12 men with immaculate talent for sport and unbelievable good looks.

❊ pairings: fem!reader × tbz!ot12 (this is the path for hyunjae's ending! if you'd like to read other's endings, check out the masterlist at the end of the post!)

❊ a/n: don't really like this chapt but what can i do 😭 also its been a while since i posted a written chapter and ive gotten suckier UGH i hate this

❊ taglist: send an ask or a message to be added in the taglist! (or if you're shy form's here 😉) @suzy-rainbow @jaerisdiction @zvae @mingiandbaconjam @friendshipbear @minsikluv @sunjae1924 @plonys @givememunjang @svtfilms @s0ngk4ng @grassbutneo @stealanity @sanghak-enthusiast @jumilzzz @sofie296 @hidejeon @justalildumpling @paralumanniluna @planethyuka @moonieric @skylions-den @djmalikzayn @en-sun @sunwoahkim @taem-min @i6hoons @yunkiwii @allorysayshi @theskzvibe @en-boyz @teti-menchon0604

❊ permanent taglist: @cottoncandy-kiwiin @wooyoung-a @grassbutneo @justalildumpling @kyswoo @yourjaylaks @cloudykyu @zvae @taem-min @en-sun @allorysayshi

❊ can't tag ☹: @yannew @liahjyeonz @jujucloudz @princessmingiuwu @my-summer-night @fluttering-tbz

↺ | masterlist | ↻

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stealanity · 2 years

Text

THE BOYZ FIRST MASTERLIST : here !

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀( first vinyl : the boyz, pt. 2 )

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ( f = fluff / a = angst / h = humor / s = suggestive )

001. lee sangyeon

coming soon...

002. bae jacob

coming soon...

003. kim younghoon

coming soon...

004. lee hyunjae

drabbles :

( a ) ⋆ too late

( f ) ⋆ only for practice

005. lee juyeon

drabbles :

( f ) ⋆ risky

timestamps :

[8:57pm]

006. moon kevin

coming soon...

007. choi chanhee

coming soon...

008. ji changmin

coming soon...

009. ju haknyeon

coming soon...

010. kim sunwoo

drabbles :

( f, a ) ⋆ just friends

( f, a ) ⋆ easier

( f, s ) ⋆ unashamedly

011. sohn eric

drabbles :

( a ) ⋆ all over

( f, a ) ⋆ one bed

012. ot-eleven

the boyz as.. :

the vamps' songs

42 notes · View notes

stealanity · 3 years

Text

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀( first vinyl : the boyz )

⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ( f = fluff / a = angst / h = humor / s = suggestive )

001. lee sangyeon

drabbles !

( a, f ) ⋆ someone

timestamps !

[7:02am]

[5:12pm]

[6:14am]

002. bae jacob

drabbles !

( f ) ⋆ summer love

( f ) ⋆ birthday cake

( f ) ⋆ melatonin

( f ) ⋆ co-lover

003. kim younghoon

drabbles !

( h, f ) ⋆ corny jokes

( a, f ) ⋆ reassuring hands

( a ) ⋆ kinda miss you

( f ) ⋆ i didn't forget

timestamps !

[1:02am]

[2:45am]

004. lee hyunjae

drabbles !

( f ) ⋆ this special look

( a ) ⋆ stay

( a, f ) ⋆ waffle

( a, f ) ⋆ loser, lover

( a ) ⋆ crazy

timestamps !

[9:32am]

[2:35pm]

[10:37pm]

series !

suffocating : the transfer student overtakes your position as captain on the swim team right when he's recruited, causing a rivalry to form between the two of you. / ft. hvae

005. lee juyeon

drabbles !

( f ) ⋆ cute little intruder

( a, f ) ⋆ bad day but good bf

( a, f ) ⋆ daydream

( f, s ) ⋆ terrible idea

( idk- ) ⋆ the bet

( a ) ⋆ cold hands

timestamps !

[5:34pm]

[10:45pm]

[7:52pm]

reactions !

( a, f ) ⋆ to his s/o waking up in the middle of the night after a nightmare

006. moon kevin

drabbles !

( h ) ⋆ bad words

( h, f ) ⋆ the little prince

timestamps !

[3:37pm]

[11:23am]

007. choi chanhee

social media au !

( f, a ) ⋆ the so-called boyfriend

drabbles !

( a, f ) ⋆ better

( a ) ⋆ yarrow

( a ) ⋆ cry for me

( f ) ⋆ strawberry flavor

timestamps !

[8:42pm]

[10:42pm]

[11:12pm]

[5:25am]

008. ji changmin

drabbles !

( a, f ) ⋆ you did well

( a, f ) ⋆ lying eyes

( a ) ⋆ first love

( idk- ) ⋆ dream of you, ( s ) ⋆ part two

timestamps !

[10:32pm]

[2:24am]

[6:17am]

[6:14pm]

009. ju haknyeon

drabbles !

( f ) ⋆ our secret little date

timestamps !

[12:24pm]

[8:23pm]

[9:36pm]

010. kim sunwoo

social media au !

( f, a ) ⋆ color palette

series !

game over, ft. eric sohn

one shot !

you're safe : little by little, some special moments made you think differently about your annoying roommate : late night conversation, stolen kisses in the dark... yes, life made you fall hard for kim sunwoo, letting you wrap yourself in this feeling of having a safe place created just for you.

drabbles !

( f ) ⋆ late night kiss

( f ) ⋆ old toy

( f ) ⋆ a to z being your boyfriend

( a ) ⋆ new toy

( s, f ) ⋆ ghost train

timestamps !

[3:47am]

[3:45am]

[9:45pm]

[6:38pm]

[11:57pm]

[11:25pm]

011. sohn eric

social media au !

( a, f ) ⋆ endless race

series !

game over, ft. kim sunwoo

one shot !

age of love : twenty is the age of discovery, the age of new horizons, new decisions, and especially : new feelings. eric didn't expect that certain little attentions to make him fall in love with the person he least expects. especially when it comes to his pretty cute manager.

drabbles !

( a ) ⋆ broken night

( a ) ⋆ never be you

( f ) ⋆ roulette to your heart

( f ) ⋆ because of you

( f, s ) ⋆ black hair and red lipstick

timestamps !

[3:22pm]

[2:56pm]

[2:24pm]

[2:04am]

012. ot-eleven

series !

sorry, for breaking your heart

one shot !

kiss or kill? : on the night of october 31, the students of cre.ker university are invited into a huge halloween party, organized by the director. but once there, they're facing the biggest labyrinth they have ever seen in their life.

scenarios !

how the boyz would kiss their s/o for the first time

how the boyz would react to their s/o asking them « can i have one last kiss? »

october 19 : international kiss your crush day !

they always having an extra scrunchie for their s/o

reactions !

to their s/o having a habit of sitting on their lap

to watching a horror movie with their s/o

to their s/o being drunk

to their s/o cutting their hair short

to their s/o holding their hands whenever they are anxious or clingy

to their crush not being touchy before getting to know them better

to sharing a bed with their s/o / crush for the first time

to accidentally outing their relationship on vlive

682 notes · View notes

hcuyk · 2 years

Text

꒰ synopsis ꒱ from a dance to acting major, college student juyeon is taking a massive risk by making this huge leap of change—especially when he's casted as prince charming in the university's upcoming children's play 'cinderella'

꒰ pairing ꒱ collegestudent!juyeon x fem!reader

꒰ genre ꒱ college au, strangers (with a mix of enemies and childhood friends) to lovers, fluff, angst, huge dosage of crack. sf9, the rest of the boyz, and bvndit all make an appearance

꒰ warnings ꒱ profanities, bits of a toxic relationship. if you find any more, please inform me

꒰ word count ꒱ 12.5k+

꒰ perspective ꒱ second person omniscient

‘ author's note!! 🍃 — this fic is for @ateez-elena and @nayuyeons exchange fic event. the due date is arriving soon, and this fic is nowhere near done. i feel absolutely terrible for procrastinating, and i decided that it's better to post something rather than nothing. hi dear @jeongjaebae, i was your 🐳. what a surprise 😭 /s. can't believe you found out who i was after like, the first ask i sent you LMAO. i really, really hate how i have to separate this oneshot into two parts (maybe even more...unintentional series? 😅), but i really do hope you enjoy this :( it's all crack in all honesty, so i hope this fic makes you laugh. i'm so incredibly sorry for being disappointing, but i'm so glad we became closer through this event! i hope this fic makes a wonderful end to your 2021 :] a huge thanks to @stealanity, @yangkiwi, @fullsunfluff, @tinisprout, @bbanghoonie, and @decembermoonskz for all beta reading this fic. in fact, all of this part has been beta read EXCEPT for the last scene, so that's my surprise to you six <3

‘ taglist ›› @yourjaylaks @wooyoung-a @kimaya2209 @armysantiny @changminurheart @moonieric @sunfics @lcvekdy @deputyjuyeon @simpforsunwoo @nyujjan @jaekiths @i6swoo @fairycob @karsohn @nilesig @twentysixofmays @changmin-wrlds @mavericsohn @lilyujin

NAVIGATION | TBZ MASTERLIST | PART TWO

It’s every rising celebrity’s dream to walk the red carpet in Hollywood. To take a step out of a luxurious limousine whilst dressed in the finest clothes your stylist has to offer is a dream come true—especially when accompanying the flashing lights from paparazzi and calls of your name would be a bright red carpet waiting for you to walk all over it.

Juyeon knows that day hasn’t arrived for him yet; why would it? He’s still a broke college student attending an elite performing arts university, and the only reason he’s surviving is because of the constant dependency he has on his three not-so-academically-smart roommates.

This point is proven when Juyeon opens the door to his dorm with groceries lining his arms. Immediately, Juyeon’s roommates greet him with a loud pop of confetti and the unraveling of toilet paper on the ground, providing him a pathway. He flinches when his roommates start screaming—and for all the wrong reasons.

For one, the screams aren’t even directed at Juyeon. Instead, Changmin’s scoldings are towards Jacob for popping the confetti unexpectedly. His booming voice fills the dorm when he rushes to his fish tank by the front door, and slowly—but surely enough—his temper morphs into despair as he begins to sob over how some of the confetti managed to make its way into his precious fishies’ home.

Jacob is continuously pouring out apologies although his attention is fully focused on the toilet paper roll he kicked from the entrance. The roll had traveled a tad bit further than expected considering it’s now rolling around the dorm like it was nobody’s business, forcing Jacob into a game of chase.

Juyeon is left appalled by the chaotic scene, and all he could focus on was the red scribbles on the wasted toilet paper that swept the ground as if it were to mimic a red carpet. He assumes they all tried coloring it with red Crayola markers since he can see a pile of the stationary item by the dining table, but then he realizes there is one more roommate he hasn’t spotted.

His groceries drop to the ground when his gaze finally lands on the youngest out of the four in the corner of the dorm, holding a piece of printer paper with ‘WELLCuM HoME, CHEE-TAR’ written with the same red marker. Haknyeon’s bright demeanor doesn’t falter when he approaches Juyeon with it, shoving the message in front of his face.

“Wrong sign, Haknyeon!” Jacob informs from across the room, tripping over his feet in the midst of his chase for the runaway toilet paper.

A ‘huh?’ leaves the shorter male when he turns to face the paper, and his face becomes pale at the sight of what’s written.

“Shit, my bad.”

He crumbles it up instantly and drops it to the ground before shoving his hand into the pockets of his jeans in search of the correct sign Jacob was referring to.

Meanwhile, Juyeon’s jaw falls slack when he sees Changmin cupping his hands in order to collect the gold pieces of confetti from his fish tank, dumping it all on the ground shortly after. His mumbled profanities are loud enough for all of them to hear, but it really only reaches Juyeon’s ears considering the other two were occupied.

“Found it!” Haknyeon announces, fumbling to unfold it. He then shoves it back into Juyeon’s face, making him stumble backwards.

‘WELCOME HOME, CHEATER’ is what the new sign said.

Haknyeon’s shit-eating grin is smacked right back onto his lips, and he has no shame when he waves it in front of his face.

“Welcome home!!”

“I thought we agreed to not use either of those signs,” Changmin mutters, closing the fish tank shut after shaking his hands free from the water.

Haknyeon’s smile falls along with his arms, dropping them to his sides as he turns his body to fully face Changmin.

“Mind you, Mister Fish-Man, you were the one who suggested this idea.” Haknyeon points the paper at Changmin, shaking it aggressively.

“I got it!” Jacob exclaims, victoriously raising the toilet paper roll in the air from behind the couch for the other three to see.

Changmin provides no change in temper by grabbing Haknyeon’s hoodie, eyes burning into the smaller figure before using the material to wipe his drenched hands.

The younger male gasps, and before he could retaliate by grabbing and yanking Changmin’s hair out of his scalp, Jacob pulls Haknyeon back from his opponent. He pushes the smaller male aside and drapes an arm around Juyeon’s shoulders, distracting him from what the male had just witnessed. He places the roll of toilet paper onto the ground while also leaving Juyeon’s groceries by the door and drags him over to the dining table.

“How was the audition?” he asks, nonchalantly taking a step over the manmade puddle of fish tank water Changmin created with bits of confetti floating amidst it. He has a bright smile on his face like everything that had just happened was a daily occurrence which Juyeon eventually comes to accept because again, he has been living with these losers for the past three years.

“Cheater!!” Haknyeon yells when the two sit down by the table. The boy is then tackled onto the cushions of the couch by Changmin, a hand clamped tightly over his mouth.

Jacob rolls his eyes, dismissing Haknyeon’s name-calling with the wave of his hand.

“Ignore him. You know he’s just sad about losing the second greatest dancer at this school.”

Juyeon’s eyebrows shoot up, straightening his back.

“Second?” he questions. He then scoffs, shaking his head as he crosses his arms over his chest. “I mean, I still go here. I’m just no longer a dance major.”

“Duh, but Haknyeon doesn’t care about that.” Jacob pauses. “Also, the greatest dancer is me, obviously. No one can beat me. I’m superior.” He taps his fingers against the surface of the table, a look of contentment dancing on his face.

Changmin’s head shoots up from his temporary brawl with Haknyeon to glare at Jacob.

“Say that again?!” he growls from across the room. He has Haknyeon pinned beneath him, and the younger boy takes his chance to knee Changmin in the abdomen while he wasn’t looking.

Changmin yelps in pain and attempts to reciprocate the action, elbow pressing down onto Haknyeon’s rib cage.

Jacob has his head turned 180 degrees, watching the two resume their physical fight. He shakes his head before turning back to Juyeon, calling back out to Changmin.

“Just be grateful Juyeon changed majors and stepped down from his position for you.”

“Whatever,” Changmin carelessly yells, trying to restrain Haknyeon’s feet with his own.

Juyeon snickers as he watches, truly wondering how he became friends with his roommates.

“Anyway, back to the audition talk.” Jacob snaps his fingers in front of Juyeon’s face, receiving his attention once again. His hands clasp together and provide a stand for his chin, looking at Juyeon with a tilted head. “How was it?”

Juyeon stays silent for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders, choosing to give Jacob a lackluster response.

“It was...okay.”

The creases on Jacob’s forehead bunches up.

“Just okay?”

“CHEA-...close my mouth one more time and I won’t hesitate to bite your fingernails off,” Haknyeon threatens, eyes piercing straight into Changmin’s.

“Cut it out, you two,” Jacob groans, unconsciously slamming his fist onto the table. Not only does the noise stop the fight from continuing, but it also scares the shit out of the other three in the room.

Changmin hesitantly removes himself from Haknyeon before sluggishly walking over to the table. The younger does the same, no longer caring about the wet fingerprints soaked into his hoodie.

Jacob’s lips curl up in satisfaction when the two sit down, bringing his attention right back to the male in question.

“Seriously, Juyeon,” Jacob tries again, “how did it go?”

The three roommates are bent over the table, pupils bursting with curiosity as they all lock their invested gazes on Juyeon’s figure.

Oddly enough, the undivided attention doesn’t faze Juyeon in the slightest. He rests his chin on top of his crossed arms, looking up at all of them with an impending smile lingering on his lips.

“Actually? I think it went pretty well.”

The casting director for the children’s play is Sangyeon, an upperclassman that you’ve known since freshman year. He’s only two years older, but he’s always proved way more mature—whether it be through his actions or his looks—so to you, he has always been someone you looked up to.

But the one thing you despised about him was how unpredictable he could be.

Usually, callbacks would be announced a day after auditions had finished. Emphasis on usually.

What you didn’t expect was for him to text group chat about the cast list being posted an hour shortly after auditions had ended, being the reason why you and your boyfriend are currently racing past the dorms, pushing past students in your way.

Heavy steps down the stairways echo off the narrow walls, and you’re holding Hwiyoung’s hand throughout all of it.

You wouldn’t be this desperate if it was regarding callbacks, but since the official cast list is out, your mind is spiraling with your heart praying that you got in.

Although you and Hwiyoung manage to land every main lead role, the rush of adrenaline remains inside the both of you. Nothing could replace the victorious wash of relief when you see your names on the cast list.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t help how the auditorium is across campus, but this doesn’t stop either of you from pushing forward. You two are adamant on beating the crowd, but as time passes, that little hope has faded.

Hwiyoung’s hand falls out of yours when his steps slow to a stop on the sidewalk, checking his phone for the notification he just received.

You whip your head around as you still your tracks, brows furrowed as you urge him to follow.

“Hurry up, Hwi. By the time we get there, we probably won’t even get a good look at the roster,” you say with a huff, keeping your hands on your hips.

He snorts at your remark, eyes unwavering from his screen.

So you approach him due to sparked curiosity, looking over his arm. His screen shows a text message from Kang Chanhee, or more better known as Chani, that says ‘sorry, man’ with a photo attached right below it. Taking a closer look, you realize the photo was the cast list you two were racing for.

As expected, your name sits right next to the role for Cinderella, but that isn’t what has your eyes bulging out of their sockets.

Lee Juyeon is the name that replaces your boyfriend on the cast list. You and your boyfriend are fully convinced that he got the role for Prince Charming due to the high praise he received during the audition, but that only lands him as the understudy.

“Un-fucking-believable,” he mutters, shutting off his phone.

While Hwiyoung is processing the fate he’s led to, you’re busy trying to pinpoint the familiarity of the name Lee Juyeon.

“Lee Juyeon,” you whisper, trying to rack up your brain in order to recall the face the name belonged to. It’s a name that easily rolls off your tongue, giving you a sense of butterflies in the process, yet you couldn’t remember where you’ve heard it.

Hwiyoung watches you with a clenched jaw and gritted teeth. Irritation becomes etched onto his features when he notices that you aren’t just as outraged as he was, making a show out of angrily running a hand through his hair with a sigh of frustration slipping past his lips.

“Forget it.”

His suddenty disrupts you from your thoughts, snapping your head up to look at him.

“What?”

“Forget it,” he repeats, tucking his phone into his back pocket. He then gestures to the two of you, circling his index finger in the air. “Whatever this is? Forget it.”

It takes you a moment to comprehend what he’s referring to, and the pause only makes him even more bothered.

“Are-...are you being serious right now?” you stutter, unsure if you were understanding his point.

Eyes begin to shoot your way with whispers surrounding you as a pair. While attending one of the elite schools for performing arts, you and Hwiyoung are known to get the main lead in every single play the university has to offer. It became no secret when you two got together after the well-known play Romeo & Juliet, being the campus sweethearts everyone has come to know and love.

To see a mix of distress and confusion washed over both of your faces is certainly groundbreaking in the drama department, and Hwiyoung couldn’t bear the humiliation.

So he snickers.

“There’s no use in us when you’re going to be up on stage sharing the main lead with another man,” he hisses, avoiding the glances from others.

“What the hell is your problem?” your voice raises, growing defensive at the sudden change in attitude.

“My problem is that some dick we don’t even know took my role in the play.” He turns around and starts to walk, avoiding the gazes of others. “Understudy my ass. I’m done. We’re done.”

Your jaw locks in place as you pull him back by the arm, making him face you. “Hwi, don’t play around right now. You don’t get one fucking role and you want to break up with me?”

His eyes meet yours, and it’s a look you’re more than familiar with.

“I’m sick and tired of always being seen as one step behind you. I get the role as the main lead just as much as you do, yet it’s always ‘Y/N this, Y/N that’. No need to shove it in my face that you’re able to land every single role you audition for,” he spits. This has been a conversation you two have shared more often than not, but you would’ve never thought he’d break up with you because of it.

“Are you even listening to yourself?” your voice lightens, reaching out for his arm in order to comfort him, but to Hwiyoung, your words come off as condescending, so he shoves your hand away.

“Again, forget it,” he grumbles, tongue poking his cheek. His eyes are downturned, and he gives you one last look before taking a few steps back.

“We’re done.”

“It feels weird to not have you and Hwiyoung making out every second in front of us.”

“It feels weird to not even have Hwiyoung here for the casting celebration,” Songhee corrects, elbowing the male beside her.

Your eyes instinctively roll at your two friends’ unnecessary comments, fingers tapping against the surface of the table while Jungwoo keeps replaying the video of you and Hwiyoung that has been going around campus.

Casting celebrations have always been more lively from what you remember. Hwiyoung would have his arm around your shoulder while everyone laughs about the roles they’ll be playing. This time, the diner feels lifeless and empty with just the four of you sitting at a booth in the corner.

Younghoon shoots her a stern look before his eyes magically shift to having sparkles within them at the sight of the waitress approaching your booth. He thanks her with a courteous bow of his head when she hands him his milkshake, eyes curving into crescents when he takes his first sip.

You thank her through a whisper when she hands you the slice of cake you ordered, cheek propped up on your fist as you use your free hand to poke your dessert with a fork.

“You’re still watching that?” Songhee questions, diving straight into the burger she just ordered.

“More like analyzing it.” Your friend sighs, slouching back into her seat. When you lean over to see, Jungwoo doesn’t hesitate to show you her screen, having you experience the scene once again. You could barely hear what the argument was about, but that didn’t even matter with how Hwiyoung had treated you in public.

“I still can’t believe someone filmed us from their window,” you mutter, shaking your head in disappointment after seeing how Hwiyoung pushed your hand away.

“He really lost his temper, huh?” Jungwoo turns off her phone and sets it aside to focus on the fries in front of her.

“People don’t get roles they audition for. Big deal. I don’t know why he made such a fuss about it.” You shove a forkful of cake in your mouth in an attempt to cheer yourself up, but it comes as no use.

“I wouldn’t be here either if I was casted as an understudy.” Younghoon stirs his straw around, eyes focused on you. “None of the understudies are even here.”

You scoff. “Half of the cast isn’t here.”

“I agree with Younghoon,” a new voice inputs, completely disregarding your previous statement.

The door falls shut after the three males enter, bundled up in coats as they greet you guys with the wave of their hands.

Kevin continues what he was saying as he chooses to sit in the booth behind you.

“I mean, imagine getting the main male lead for every play and then become an understudy out of nowhere. Like, this is Hwiyoung we’re talking about. He didn’t even get a role.”

“Well you got the role of the evil stepmother’s cat,” Jungwoo retorts, turning her head around to look at the boy with glasses. “I’m sure Hwiyoung would’ve reacted the same way if he had gotten your role.”

“What’s wrong with wanting to expand my horizons?” Kevin cocks a brow as if he was testing your friend. “Not to mention it’s a children’s play. We’re performing for children. You don’t see the mice complaining about their roles, do you?”

Kevin juts his chin towards the pair that chose to sit at the bar, lips pressed into a line. You and Jungwoo go to look at the two, watching how easily Sunwoo and Eric got into a quarrel after deciding what to get.

“You pay, I’m broke!” Eric exclaims, showing Sunwoo his empty wallet.

“I don’t think Hwiyoung would’ve wanted to be chosen as a mouse either,” Jungwoo later adds, going back to facing Kevin.

The boy shrugs, adjusting the beanie on the top of his head. “Hey, I’m just saying it’s better than being a second choice.”

“Well you didn’t have to go that far,” Songhee chuckles, patting her lips clean with a napkin.

“Where’s everyone else?” you ask in an attempt to shift the topic.

Kevin darts his gaze towards the clock at your question before providing you a useless answer.

“I have no clue. I only know Yiyeon won’t be coming because she’s with Sangyeon right now.”

The door to the diner is pushed open, introducing another group of the casted members.

“We’re here!” Seungeun sing-songs, announcing her presence with a worn-out Choi Chanhee tailing after her steps.

Seungeun, the youngest out of the entire cast, is a freshman that proved to be one of the more talented actors on her first day here, so it came as no surprise how she got casted as the queen.

Chanhee, on the other hand, usually gets the second male lead, so it was a shock to everyone when he received the narrator role. Then again, there is no second male lead in Cinderella, so the decision makes sense on Sangyeon’s part.

Hyunjae walks in and keeps the door open for Simyeong before revealing the brown bags in their hands by raising them in the air for you all to see.

“We made cupcakes!” Simyeong grins, jumping her way over to your booth.

Sunwoo and Eric leave the bar to join Hyunjae and Chanhee at Kevin’s table, starvation causing their eyes to peek into the bags.

“We made enough so everyone could get two,” Simyeong explains while Seungeun urges Songhee and Younghoon to scoot over. Seungeun sits down while Simyeong remains standing, taking the boxes out of the bag as Jungwoo helps.

“We may have more than intended though,” Seungeun huffs, taking the bag from the two after it's emptied.

“Are the understudies not arriving?” Younghoon asks, looking up at Simyeong after taking an obnoxiously loud sip out of his milkshake.

“How would I know?” She shrugs, opening the box in order to distribute the cupcakes to everyone.

While your table is invested in sweets, your eyes couldn’t help but wander out the window, watching the stars overtake the sky as the sun sets.

“Why would they be?” Hyunjae interjects from the other table, already taking a bite out of the cupcake he made himself. “We all already saw how Hwiyoung reacted. I’m sure the other people that didn’t get in are just as disappointed.”

You sigh at the reference Hyunjae made towards the video everyone on campus has seen by now, but you continue to keep silent. You truly didn’t want to think about how you got publicly dumped for the stupidest reason on earth. It wasn’t like you had chosen the roles. If anything, Hwiyoung should’ve been throwing a fit at Sangyeon.

Considering you’re sitting right across from him, Younghoon easily spots all the signs your figure is radiating. He looks at Hyunjae and motions him to not continue any further and purses his lips. Hyunjae receives the hint and decides to exit the conversation, joining Kevin’s one instead.

Jungwoo taps your arm and slides over a cupcake, a warm smile wavering on her face.

“It’ll be okay. Just know Hwiyoung was a dick for acting like that.”

You thank her through a whisper and scoop the frosting onto a nearby napkin, earning a look of disgust from Jungwoo.

“I just don’t get it,” you mutter, keeping your voice low. “How could Hwiyoung not have gotten that role?”

You look up from your cupcake and see Younghoon eyeing your frosting.

“Do you want it?” you warily ask, hesitantly sliding it over to him.

He nods and collects it from you before dumping it into his milkshake

“I don’t even get why we’re friends with you,” Songhee grumbles, discreetly moving away from Younghoon.

“It’s better than plainly wasting it. Besides, frosting on its own is disgusting.” He mixes his milkshake with his straw once again, leisurely stirring the beverage.

“Who’s this Juyeon kid anyway?” Simyeong suddenly asks while pulling over a chair, sitting down before directing her gaze straight at you for an answer. “He’s not even in our group chat dedicated to the drama department.”

“There’s no Juyeon in our department?” The slight shock in your tone has everyone at your table looking at you puzzled. You could only shrug your shoulders in response and pop the rest of the cupcake into your mouth, speaking through muffles. “The name Juyeon is oddly familiar to me.”

“Well he certainly isn’t in our department if he isn’t in our group chat.”

Younghoon nods his head, agreeing with Songhee.

“If you think about it, you’ve been stuck with us since your very first day here. If you knew a Juyeon, we would at least know of him.”

“He has a point,” Kevin quips, joining in on your conversation once more from behind.

Jungwoo heaves a sigh and turns to look at him, flicking his forehead. “Go focus on your table’s conversation, kitty.”

Kevin frowns, and before he could face his group, Jungwoo uses her thumb to remove some of the frosting from his cheek.

“Maybe he was somebody you knew from high school,” Simyeong suggests, “or possibly someone you knew from your childhood?”

“What are the chances of that happening?” Songhee licks her lips clean and sets the cupcake wrapper down on the table. “IST is a pretty big school. It could just be somebody with the same name.”

“But his surname is also vaguely familiar,” you murmur. You curse at your brain for forgetting such a name, but you shrug it off, realizing that it probably isn’t as important as you’re making it out to be.

“Eh, forget it.” You try to move on from the subject, but that attempt fails when Jungwoo chooses to pick it right back up.

“But don’t you find it weird how some random kid that—mind you—isn’t even part of the department just auditioned and somehow got the main role? Prince Charming is literally every guy’s dream to play.”

“You know Sangyeon is picky with who he chooses for plays,” Younghoon reasons. “Besides, he attends our school, right? He’s probably just really talented and managed to somehow get the role.”

“But to beat Hwiyoung? That’s-...that’s different.”

“It doesn’t make sense, right?” Jungwoo looks at you for confirmation before turning to look at everyone else. “Sure, I’m a talented actor, but I won’t suddenly win a dancing competition one day, you get me? We may all be part of a performing arts university, but it really doesn’t mean shit when our departments are completely different.”

“I wouldn’t really say they’re completely different, but I see your point,” Younghoon replies. “It’s not impossible though.”

“Sangyeon really must’ve been out of his mind for choosing some nobody over Hwiyoung,” you mutter, finally finishing the cake on your plate.

“Are you guys talking about Juyeon?” Chanhee asks. He gestures for Jungwoo to slide over so he could join your booth.

You perk up at the mention. “Yeah, we are. Why? Do you know him?”

“We’re talking about Lee Juyeon, right? The guy that got casted as Prince Charming?”

Everyone at the table nods, eager for Chanhee to continue.

“Oh, then yeah. I’m friends with his roommates.”

Noises like speeding footsteps clashing against the surface of the ground and chairs falling provide a regular day at Juyeon’s dorm. Jacob locking Changmin out of their shared room is also deemed rather normal, and it’s the reason Haknyeon becomes his source of entertainment.

But it really all backfires.

“Get back here, Ji Changmin,” Haknyeon demands, dodging the obstacles in his way as he chases Changmin around the dorm.

Juyeon sits on the couch unbothered with the volume turned up unnecessarily high to overpower the screams from the two children he considered his friends. His hand is buried in a bowl of popcorn, enjoying movie night by himself while Haknyeon snatches his underwear back from Changmin.

“The next time you steal my underwear, I’m shoving your toes down your fishes’ throats.”

Changmin returns Haknyeon’s scowl with a gasp that fills his lungs to the brim and quickly tosses his arms around his fishes’ tank. A pout is smeared across his face as he presses his cheek into the glass.

“Don’t you dare bring my fishies into this!”

“Okay guys, shut it,” Jacob says after exiting his room. The light from his phone screen illuminates the relaxed features on his face as he walks into the living room, choosing to join Juyeon by the couch. “Hey Juyeon, remember the audition you had this morning?”

He taps his shoulder, looking up from his phone to see how his roommate reacts.

“Uh...yeah. What about it?” Juyeon remains clueless as he picks up the television remote from the coffee table, lowering the volume.

With underwear bunched up in his hand, Haknyeon’s footsteps lead him over to the couch and joins the two by sitting next to Juyeon.

Both Jacob and Juyeon look at him weirdly with expressions that question what he was doing, but they gradually move on with their conversation as they realize he probably just came for the popcorn.

“You know Chanhee, right?” Jacob questions.

“Chanhee? As in Choi Chanhee?” Changmin’s voice squeaks and immediately detaches himself from the fish tank in order to join his friends, choosing to sit on the ground considering the lack of space left on the couch. He crosses his legs, only having eyes for Jacob due to his piqued interest. “Like, my bestie since third grade?”

“The one you introduced me and Haknyeon to?” When Changmin nods his head, Jacob continues. “Then yeah, that’s him. I have his number.”

He obnoxiously shows off his phone to Changmin and bobs his head.

“What does this have to do with me?” Juyeon interjects, gaze shifting between his three roommates. Juyeon would say he’s equally close with all of them, but sometimes he does feel a bit left out. Then again, he couldn’t really put them at fault since he was the one who switched majors.

He’s only ever heard of Chanhee through Jacob and Changmin, but he knows Haknyeon is fairly close with him as well.

“He ghosted me last night,” Haknyeon murmurs, grabbing a throw pillow to hug while shoving handfuls of popcorn into his mouth.

“Deserved.”

The next thing Changmin knows is that a pillow is tossed at his head in an attempt to knock him out.

“Anyway,” Jacob states rather loudly in order to cover up his roommate’s wrongdoing, “he got casted as the narrator for that Cinderella play you auditioned for. He also said you got Prince Charming.”

Juyeon’s eyes bulge out of bewilderment, unsure if he has heard his friend correctly.

“What?? Aren’t callbacks being announced tomorrow? Is he saying I got called back?”

Jacob shrugs, giving his phone over to Juyeon so he could check for himself. “He specifically said cast list, so I’m assuming there’s no callbacks for this play.”

“No way, man! You got in?” Changmin slaps his friend’s feet playfully, a grin graciously placed on his lips for once.

“You’re growing up way too fast,” Haknyeon sighs, exaggerating the frown on his face.

“Did you think you wouldn’t get in?” Jacob asks, giving Juyeon’s shoulder a light shove.

“I would’ve thought I’d get in as an extra mouse or something,” Juyeon murmurs, staring at the text messages in front of him.

“It’s not a middle school play,” Changmin retorts, earning himself another pillow being thrown at his head.

“Well apparently the cast list is official. They’re celebrating right now.” Suddenly, Jacob locks his arm around Juyeon’s neck, pulling his head to his chest before messing up his hair. “I’m so proud of you!!”

“That’s our boy,” Changmin coos, grabbing his ankles and aggressively shaking them.

“Just because you miss your own dog doesn’t mean you should treat Juyeon like one,” Haknyeon blandly states through a mouthful of popcorn, poking Changmin’s side with his feet.

Juyeon falls oblivious to everything happening around him when he sees Chanhee send a photo of the cast list as evidence. He shoves Jacob away so he could look at it, eliciting a laugh out of the elder. His eyes scan through the photo eagerly, and he could’ve sworn his heart stopped at the sight of your name next to Cinderella.

“Y/N...?”

The laughter and upcoming quarrel fades into the distance when Juyeon looks up from the phone.

“Do you know her?” Jacob asks, arm propped up against the backrest of the couch.

“Isn’t she the one that always gets the main roles in plays? There’s this girl in literature that always complains about it.”

Jacob snorts at Haknyeon’s response, and Changmin decides to pitch in what he’s also heard.

“I heard it’s deserved though! Everyone is always talking about how talented she is on stage, and Chanhee is always praising her after every show they’re in together.” Changmin adjusts his posture, straightening his back.

“It really isn’t surprising since the drama department is the most well known department at IST,” Jacob comments, nodding his head along with what everyone else has been saying. “She’s really bound to become a celebrity once she graduates.”

“Not before me, though!”

Changmin dodges the next pillow that was aimed at him.

“Y/N as in L/N Y/N, right?”

The three heads turn to look at Juyeon.

“Duh.” Haknyeon deadpans. “Who else? You know who she is, right?”

“I didn’t know she goes to this school,” he mumbles, fiddling with the phone in his head.

“Am I missing something here? Are we missing something?” Changmin asks whilst also speaking for both Haknyeon and Jacob. “Have you known her in the past?”

“I guess you could say that.” Juyeon gives Jacob back his phone, but your name continues to float around in his mind.

“Come on, Juyeon.” Changmin whines, tugging on his pants. “We need more information.”

All the boy could do is shrug his shoulders, not willing to explain everything, so he opts to say something rather vague with his head facing his lap.

“It’s just a name I’d never forget.”

After informing your group of friends about his connections with Juyeon, Chanhee wasn’t given another chance to say another word when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He excused himself from your table and isolated himself in the opposite side of the diner, fingers constantly occupied with typing into his phone.

You kept an eye on him for the rest of the night, detailing every bit about his expressions while the conversation shifted to how costumes would turn out for the play. Simyeong even brought up how you’ll be able to pull off a dress transformation, but you didn’t hear a word she said until Jungwoo nudged your arm to drag you back into reality.

Until the very end, your mind felt occupied with the amount of questions you had for Chanhee. He never returned to your table and instead left in a blink of an eye.

Once everyone departed from the diner, you dedicated all your time to spamming him through text. Chanhee would often ignore your messages or leave them on read, and for good reason too, but this matter was urgent.

Sure, you and Chanhee both share the same first class in the morning—and you’ll definitely get to see who this Juyeon person is the day after—but the sense of familiarity from his name wouldn’t allow you to sleep into the next day. You stayed up for hours, expecting a response, but you eventually allowed your eyes to gradually fall shut. You figured he was just exhausted after dealing with Seungeun, Hyunjae, and Simyeong all in the same kitchen as they struggled to bake cupcakes.

Having English Literature first thing on a Monday morning was never to your liking, but this time it came in your favor.

“Chanhee!” you scream out, waving your hands in the air when you see him leaving his dormitory.

He looks at you for a mere second before purposely turning his back, walking in the opposite direction. You run to catch up to him, hands grabbing at the hook of his backpack to slow his steps. He scowls at his failed attempt to make an escape, but you know it’s all jokes considering you always pick him up from the front of his building.

“Why didn’t you respond to any of my texts last night?” you interrogate, skipping down the sidewalk with him by your side.

“I was asleep, duh.”

“Woah, no need for you to be a weisenheimer.”

“...A what now?”

“We’re getting off topic, Chanhee,” you deadpan, slowing your steps as he begins to slow his.

“Why are you so interested anyway?” he snorts. “I already responded to your question.”

“Oh come on, Chanhee.” you whine, grabbing one of his arms to shake. “Put yourself in my shoes, yeah? I basically got utterly humiliated by the love of my life publicly because of him.”

“Okay one, don’t call Hwiyoung the love of your life. That’s just weird. Two, you really can’t blame Juyeon for your breakup, you know that right?.” He eyes you from his peripheral vision and releases a sigh at the sight of your desperate state. Your hair isn’t properly styled like usual and your face is bare of makeup.

“Please, Chanhee?”

“It’s not like I know much about Juyeon to begin with.” Upon reaching the building where your class is located, Chanhee provides you entrance when he pulls the door open.

“Just give me whatever info you got.” You watch as he tails after you before sticking by his side.

“They’re all dance majors,�� he reveals, finally giving into your antics. He lists their names from the top of his head without hesitation. “Changmin, Jacob, and Haknyeon. Juyeon was one too, but from what I recall, he switched.”

“I guess that explains the sudden appearance of his name on the cast list,” you murmur, connecting the dots. “Why’d he switch?”

“How would I know?”

You return Chanhee’s previous favor by pulling the door open to the lecture hall, giving him the privilege of sliding inside first as he continues talking.

“I’m only close to his roommates because we all share social sciences. Well, that and I’ve known Changmin since I was eight, but that’s besides the point.” He leads you up the steps and into your usual seats in the back. “I went to one of Changmin’s performances in the past, and Juyeon was the opening act there. Honestly? He’s extremely talented. His stage presence is flawless, and Changmin always praised him too.”

Your friend’s words have your brows furrowed.

“Why would someone that talented switch majors? I’m sure he’d want to be a professional dancer, right? Or a choreographer? So why Prince Charming?”

All Chanhee does is shrug when he sits down, giving you a lack of response.

“Ask him when you see him at the script read through tomorrow.”

Improvisation as your last class of the day has always been your favorite.

Your professor, Kim Inseong, is only five years older than you, but he’s one of your better professors for the semester. Granted, it’s only improvisation, but he teaches it better than all of your previous high school drama teachers.

You love every second of his teachings. The way he engages each and every student is something you look up to, and his feedback has always been very genuine and helpful.

You would’ve been excited to see him—especially since he’s the director of the play—if you didn’t share the exact same class as your ex-boyfriend.

At first it was a blessing, but now it seems like it was a plan just to bite you in the back, cursing you for the rest of your college life.

Two days without your boyfriend has felt like hell.

When you enter the lecture hall, your two close friends remain in the center of the room whilst Hwiyoung is nowhere to be found. It takes you a few seconds to realize that he’s settled for a spot in the back with his feet kicked up onto the seat in front of him. He’s surrounded by his personal group of friends, and they are people you were never really fond of.

“You were almost late,” Younghoon hums when you choose to sit next to him, picking at his fingernails.

“Let her be, Hoon.” Songhee sighs from behind the two of you, leaning forward to flick the back of his head.

“Happy Monday, everyone,” your professor sing-songs. His booming voice startles the entire class due to its suddenness, and he enjoys the faces you all make because of it. His six-foot-tall composition moves to sit on the only stool in the room, hands resting in his lap as he eyes all his students.

“I heard auditions went well,” he, unnecessarily, comments. “And I believe Sangyeon did a wonderful job with choosing the cast.”

A scoff can be heard from the back of the room, and you could only assume it was from the one and only ex-boyfriend of yours, yet your professor doesn’t seem to bat an eye in his direction.

“Round of applause to everyone that made it in!”

Everyone claps, and you could just feel Hwiyoung’s eyes burning into the back of your head.

“Ignore him,” Younghoon whispers amidst the applause. “He’s just being a spoiled brat.”

“Don’t call him that,” you whisper quietly because deep down, you feel like you would’ve acted the same way if you got casted as an understudy.

“Now, before we continue with where we left off last class, let’s do a quick warm-up, shall we?” Your professor scans the room with his chin between his thumb and index finger.

As much as you enjoy the improv games he makes you all play, you’re praying that you don’t get chosen to come up.

Unfortunately, he’s an unpredictable man that enjoys playing with students’ anxiety.

“Younghoon, Vivi, Jaeyoon, Yves, Hwiyoung, and…” Professor Kim takes a pause to look around the room once more, a mischievous smile making its way up his lips when his eyes land on his final target, “Y/N.”

“You’re fucking kidding me,” you say louder than intended.

“I know right? Why does he always call on me first?”

Songhee snorts and pushes Younghoon out of his seat, but she stops you from leaving the row by grabbing your wrist.

“Hey, you know you could always tell him you’re not feeling well,” she whispers, but all you could think about is how pathetic you’d look in front of Hwiyoung if you used that lame excuse.

“It’s only a warm-up,” you reassure. “I’ll get over it.”

Songhee pouts when you leave her alone, and you’re joined by Vivi when she approaches you.

“Congrats on getting Cinderella,” she whispers, accompanying you to the front of the room.

You thank her with the slight bow of your head, and soon enough you’re both joining your peers on the platform.

Professor Kim has his hands clasped together after moving the stool to the side, making sure he was out of the way.

“Now, you all might be asking ‘what improv game will we have for our warm-up today?’.” He stands up. “Perhaps it’s Bus Stop? Late For Work? Questions Only?”

“If it’s Late For Work, I’m actually going to stop, drop, and roll out of this course,” Younghoon mutters, bringing his arms over his chest.

“Younghoon!” Professor Kim calls out, and your friend nearly jumps in his spot. He points at him, then you, and then Yves. “You three, go stage right. The rest of you? Stage left,” he directs.

You do as you’re told, and deep inside you’re grateful that he didn’t place you and Hwiyoung together.

Well, that is until you realize what game he has up his sleeve.

“Yes, no, and I are the forbidden words for today’s game.” He leaves the platform and settles down in one of the seats in the front row, kicking his foot over his other leg. “The person in front of each line will step forward and begin the scene with a prompt I give you. Say yes, no, or I and you’ll be eliminated from the platform. You can’t take too long either.”

You’ve played this game multiple times in the past, but this is the first time you’ve ever felt jittery during an improv game. The last thing you need for the day is to share the same stage with Hwiyoung.

Jaeyoon raises his hand. “Can we say yeah?”

“No,” your professor replies immediately. “No saying yeah, nah, uh-huh, mhm, I’m, or any of that sort.”

“He’s cruel,” Younghoon mutters, pushing you in front of him. You glare at him, but you’re also not complaining since Hwiyoung is at the end of his line.

The game starts off with the only other two girls on the platform, and with loud cackles from the other students, Vivi is shortly removed from the game after instinctively responding with ‘yes’ after panicking for ten seconds.

Yves also manages to eliminate Jaeyoon after four minutes of acting out a plumbing scene, leaving her alone with Hwiyoung.

Well fuck.

All you could do is hope that she manages to eliminate him too.

“And your prompt will be...interesting. Friends in the same shopping aisle. Hwiyoung, start it off.”

Unfortunately for you, Hwiyoung has always been good at these games, and you don’t know how he does it.

“Oh, My. God.” He slaps a hand over his mouth as he eyes the imaginary shelves, head snapping over to Yves. “Can you believe we could’ve gotten our matching walrus tattoos for fifty percent off if we bought a bottle of tylenol at Walmart?”

The randomness from his act stuns Yves for seconds beyond end, and just like Vivi, she panics and responds with ‘how the hell do I respond to that?’ whilst looking at Professor Kim. This causes her to get booted off the platform, and your eyes widen when you realize you’re up next.

You turn around instantaneously and try forcing Younghoon in front of you, but he refuses to budge an inch.

“Ah, our infamous onstage couple.” Your professor sighs lovingly, and neither of you attempt to tell him otherwise. You hated how your heart rate picked up at being labeled as a ‘couple’ with Hwiyoung.

You discreetly stomp on Younghoon’s toes when you hear him snicker at your fidgeting, evoking a muffled scream from him.

“Well, let’s see what prompt I have for the two of you.” He looks down at his phone. “Oh! I like this one. You two are trapped in an elevator. Y/N, start it off, and...scene!” he announces.

You push your finger forward repeatedly into the air as if you were poking at a singular button, masking your worried state with a frustrated face.

“The button to open the doors won’t work,” you mumble loud enough for everyone to hear. Giving up, you retract your hand and look heavenwards. “We’re at my floor, but the stupid doors won’t even budge.”

“Here, let me see.”

Hwiyoung leans over your shoulder and squints his eyes. His lips are close enough to your ear, and you could feel his breath on your skin. You’re begging that he doesn’t see the effect he unfortunately remains to have on you, wishing for this scene to end quicker than usual.

“Have you tried pressing the button?”

You being tossed off guard makes everyone in the room laugh, and he shoots you the infamous smile that has your heart running for miles.

“Wow, didn’t really think of that. Thanks, Sherlock,” you say sarcastically with your hands on your hips. “Maybe you should try pressing it.”

You look straight up at him, but he isn’t looking back at you.

Although you two have broken up, the scene somehow manages to last for another minute without either of you failing. The anxiety of standing next to someone you felt butterflies for overtakes your nerves, yet the sight of Hwiyoung acting like everything between you is completely normal makes you ease a bit.

But you have to remind yourself it’s just all an act.

He runs a hand through his hair while his tongue creates an indent in his cheek, foot impatiently tapping against the ground.

“Looks like we’re stuck here then, aren’t we?”

He finally connects his eyes with yours, and you couldn’t help but get lost in them.

“I guess we are,” you whisper.

“And Y/N is out!”

You dart a glare at your professor, but his eyes are trained on Younghoon, waiting for the not-very-composed boy to step forward.

“You really couldn’t have stayed up there longer?” your friend scowls through a hushed tone, huffing as he waves you off. “Can’t believe you’re having me deal with your ex-boyfie.”

You roll your eyes at his words and return to Jungwoo. By the time you sit down, the next scene has already begun.

“Oh no! I said no!” Younghoon exclaims in the driest matter you’ve ever seen. “Looks like I’m out. Gosh darn it!”

The class slowly, but surely, begins to clap for Hwiyoung when Younghoon exits the platform, and only then could you get a better look at your ex. Behind his disingenuous smile lies the expression you recall from two days prior: the eyes that looked at you ever so fiercely and the heart that fell out of love. The slight twitch from his lip proves the urge to frown and curse everyone out, and his hands have probably formed into fists in the pockets of his jeans.

You could tell because you know Hwiyoung well enough. You know he sees behind all the fake praise when he landed the pathetic role of being an understudy for a children’s play.

Still, he takes a bow and accepts Professor Kim’s compliments despite everything the teacher had said earlier, and he’s about to head back to his seat before the door cracks open, freezing all movements.

It makes the entire class go silent, the noise sparking everyone’s presence.

From where you are sitting, you can barely see who was at the door, but you manage to catch a glimpse of the intruder’s raven hair.

“Well you’re certainly a new face,” your professor comments. “And you must be...? Ah wait, don’t tell me. Allow me to guess.”

Although you can’t see who was being covered by the door, you could see Hwiyoung’s expression fall blank on stage after the professor’s exact words.

“You’re our Prince Charming, correct?”

The read through for the script of the play takes place in the drama department’s auditorium with the cast sitting in a circle of chairs on stage. It’s the reason why Juyeon is sitting directly across from you, causing you to do all you can to ignore how he keeps taking glances at you.

Chanhee says the final lines from the script as the narrator, and claps erupt from the cast members. Soon enough, chairs are being shifted around as people go into their respective groups of friends, hence why Chanhee is now sitting right beside you.

“You spent an entire night asking me about Juyeon only to not even look at him throughout the entire read through?” Chanhee questions, cocking a brow.

Younghoon joins you two shortly after, dragging his chair over.

“I feel bad for him,” your friend interjects. When he sits down, he jabs his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing towards the said cast member.

Juyeon remains in his own seat with his nose buried in the script, unconsciously tapping the stage with the light movement of his foot. His motions are what make his anxiety evident, and little does your friends know that you have actually been analyzing him the entire time through the corner of your eye. While the script read through was going on, you noticed him fidgeting while going through his lines with stutters and constant clearing of his throat.

You’re certain he got the main male lead because of his looks. How could someone who’s completely new to the drama department manage to snatch Hwiyoung’s role away like it was nothing?

“He sat alone in improv too,” Younghoon adds, snapping you out of your daze.

“Improv? Juyeon is in your improv?” Chanhee’s voice raises as he looks at Younghoon. “Since when did that happen?”

“I’m wondering the exact same thing,” you mumble through gritted teeth. Your fingers flip through the script in an attempt to keep yourself occupied while also quoting your ex-boyfriend. “Un-fucking-believable.”

“She wouldn’t stop staring at him in class,” Younghoon exposes with a snicker hiding behind his tone.

“I don’t blame her,” Chanhee dreamily sighs. “I wouldn’t either.”

Then he stands up.

“Where are you going?” Younghoon asks.

“I’m going to go talk to him,” he nonchalantly answers. His friend slaps his arm, and Chanhee shoots him a look.

“What? Do you want to come?”

Younghoon motions over to you looking at Hwiyoung from afar.

The understudies are all huddled together in the audience area of the auditorium, and Hwiyoung is sitting on top of one of the armrests with everyone’s attention on him. He’s cracking jokes that have everyone clutching onto their stomach, and his bright smile proves contagious when everyone wears the exact same one on their faces.

You miss it.

You miss when he was like that with the cast—with you.

Younghoon gives you a gentle smack of his hand to your head, scowling.

“Snap out of it, Princess. You can’t focus on him when Chanhee is literally approaching your Prince Charming right now.”

“Don’t call him that,” you murmur, soothing the area your friend had hit by rubbing it. “He’s just some stranger.”

“Oh really?” Younghoon tests, making a show out of crossing his arms. “So he’s just some stranger when you keep bringing up how familiar he is? He’s just some stranger that you keep blaming for your breakup? Honestly, Y/N, I’m starting to become inclined to believe that it’s about time you and Hwiyoung have parted. I don’t think you two were that healthy together anyway with how much he complained about you in front of you.”

You raise your hand up to your friend’s face, preventing him from saying anything else.

“Don’t meddle into my business, okay? Just join Chanhee or whatever. Seems like he’s having a great time with Juyeon.”

He stares at you in disbelief before slowly shaking his head. He stands up with his script in hand. “You’re unbelievable.”

You don’t look at him when he walks away, and you hate how Chanhee begins to scream at everyone shortly after.

“Everyone!” Chanhee grabs Juyeon’s hand and makes him stand up, making sure everyone sees the smile that reaches his feline-like eyes. “We’re getting coffee! Anyone want to come?”

An endearing shade of pink falls on Juyeon’s cheeks at the received attention, and the pair falls unprepared at the amount of people rushing towards them as they claimed that they were also thinking of getting coffee. A lot of your close friends, Younghoon included, even mention that they wanted to know Juyeon more, and all you could do is scoff as you remain in your seat. You turn to look away, hating how you aren’t the center of attention anymore, and it causes you to miss the hopeful glance Juyeon sends your way.

“You coming?” Sangyeon asks after approaching you. You already hate him for choosing Juyeon over Hwiyoung, and now finding out that he’ll also be your stage manager makes you want to regurgitate your breakfast all over him. You love him, as a friend, but you can’t forgive him for also making Hwiyoung an understudy.

He visibly eyes your entire figure, and his tone is rid of all malice.

“I think you could use some coffee with how tired you look right now.”

“Haha, very funny Mr. Stage Manager,” you say sarcastically. You stand up from your seat with your script gripped tightly in your hand.

He shrugs. “Your loss then, Ms. Cindy.”

As everyone leaves the auditorium, you’re left with one other person in the room.

“Hwiyoung!” you call out, shoving your script into your miniature backpack. You slip your arms through the straps as you run over to him.

He’s completely thrown off by the call of his name, and when he turns around, he has his drawstring bag slung over his shoulder. He eyes you skeptically, and you try your best to contain yourself.

You hate how you feel like one of those schoolgirls in movies approaching the popular male lead.

“What’s...up?”

“Do you not plan on getting coffee with everyone else?” you ask, sparking a conversation.

He purses his lips. “Not a coffee guy, remember?”

“Right.” You pause as you mentally scold yourself for not knowing simple details about Hwiyoung.

He then raises a brow. “Are you not going?”

“Uhm...no? No, no I’m not, uhm...homework. I have homework.”

He slowly nods in response to your oddly phrased reply.

“I actually have a question!” you insincerely rejoice as you try to get rid of the tense atmosphere. “So, you know, how...uhm, you know-...” You laugh awkwardly, unsure how to approach the situation. “We always, uhm, kind of practiced our lines together, and I mean...well, you’re still technically Prince Charming...right?”

“...Right.”

“So I was just, uhm...kinda wonde-”

“You want to practice lines together?” he interrupts.

“Yes! Yes, exactly that.” You eagerly nod your head.

He chews on the inside of his cheek as he stares into the distance, and you can tell he’s thinking with how his eyebrows bunch up.

“Sure,” he finally answers, causing your face to brighten up. “Meet up at the diner later? 5pm?”

You beam, unable to remove the happiest smile on your face.

“That’d be perfect.”

You didn’t know what you were expecting, but you know it wasn’t this.

Two hours have never felt longer, and all you’ve done throughout the time period was watch your milkshake melt between the palms of your clammy hands. Your gaze no longer falls out the display window and instead has dropped to your lap in humiliation while tears brim your eyes.

You should’ve known. All the signs were right in front of you, but you had blatantly ignored it for your own bliss.

Being stood up has to be the worst feeling you’ve ever experienced.

Defeated, you grab your bag and push past the glass door, leaving your milkshake behind. You aren’t adamant on breaking out into tears until you catch sight of Hwiyoung and his group of friends lounging by an adjacent building. They’re laughing when they see you leave, and one of them even announces the time on their stopwatch, indicating that they were waiting for you. A smirk settles on the lips you once kissed, and his eyes don’t leave you until you’re out of his sight.

Your attempt to mask how you’re feeling shatters instantaneously when you collapse into the first lecture hall you reach once entering the nearest building, and the pain of utter humiliation and realization strangles your heart. The lecture hall you’re in happens to be the one dedicated to your improvisation class, yet you couldn’t even be bothered to turn on the lights as you clung onto the platform to stabilize yourself.

The bag you’ve been clutching on for dear life has fallen out of your grasp, and all you could think about is how embarrassing you are for falling for his enticing aura.

You still love him, you truly do, but you’re now beginning to understand that Hwiyoung never did; not one of his smiles held an ounce of love for you. It was all just an act since the very beginning, and you didn’t realize it until now.

He was playing the main character and used you as practice considering you always happened to be his love interest in plays. He made you fall in love with him, a facade, and you failed to see past it. So now, when he has nothing to practice for, he drops you like you were nothing and never cared to acknowledge you as someone he’s ‘loved’.

The creak of the door silences your strained cries, and you’re convinced that the intruder would be able to hear your nearly working heartbeat. The lights flicker on, and you shield the brightness with your hand. The action leaves you unable to see who interrupted you mid-cry, but it doesn’t matter because all you could think about was getting out of there. You grab your bag and decide to make a run for it, but you don’t make it far when you finally see the figure looking at you.

“I-, uhm...” he stutters.

“You,” you mutter, glaring into his appalled eyes.

“I’m- I’m so sorry. I didn’t, uh, think anyone would actually be in here. Then again, I kinda thought- uhm, sorry.” His hand reaches to rub his nape as if to release the tension in his neck while clearing his throat to get rid of the unsteadiness in his voice.

“You,” you repeat, yet this time it’s through a scowl and is much more projected.

“Uhm...are-, uh, is everything alright?” he hesitantly asks.

“Is there something you want?” Your head quirks to the side as you interrogate him, leaving him intimidated with how condescending your words come across.

“Uh, actually, yeah. Do you, perhaps- know where the auditorium is? I-I kinda left my script there, and I can’t really remember which door it is…” His voice trails off into the distance as he weakly pushes out a chuckle.

Your laughter blares throughout the entire lecture hall, and it alarms a very puzzled Juyeon.

“You’re an acting major, and you don’t even know where the auditorium for the drama department is?” The laughs that proceed to escape your lips add more evidence to your malicious intent, and you rest your hands on the dips of your waist with the click of your tongue. “And to even think you got casted into the play.”

Juyeon pushes the door even wider with his forearm, and it gives you a better look at the disbelief worn on his facial features. Though, he continues to try a gentle approach with you considering he understands what you’re currently going through.

“Chanhee told me everything earlier. I-I know about you and Hwiyoung, and I can understand why you’re mad,” he explains. It’s amusing how he’s trying to make ends meet, and you make it known by refusing to comply with a snicker following immediately after.

“Awe. That’s so cute. Do you want me to congratulate you for finally finding out?”

He breaks.

“I auditioned for this play just like...you,” he counters, keeping his arm firmly pressed against the surface of the door. “You shouldn’t belittle me just because that little ex-boyfriend of yours didn’t get a goddamn role.”

“You don’t get to compare yourself to me,” you hiss, purposely lacing your voice with venom as you approach him. Tears from earlier begin to resurface and prick at your eyes, but it all goes unnoticed when your glare burns into his oh-so familiar pupils. “The difference between you and me is that I actually have the talent and experience for a ‘goddamn role’. You? Oh, don’t even get me started.”

Juyeon’s jaw clenches with every passing second, and his knuckles begin to redden with how tight he’s gripping the edge of the door.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Your scoff comes out more viciously than expected.

“It means your pretty face is the only reason why you got casted.”

You don’t regret a single word that’s left your mouth, but your head hangs along the sag of your shoulders when you’re recklessly tossed back into despair.

“Go back to your little dance crew, Juyeon,” you whisper with a crack piercing your vocal cords, unable to face him anymore. “You don’t belong here.”

You somehow manage to catch one last glimpse of the pain smeared on Juyeon’s facial expression before he shuts the door on you, leaving you alone with your faded vision and choked sobs.

From previous experiences, first rehearsals alway seem to last for hours on end. Regardless, you do your best to keep an open mindset as you go through each and every one of your classes.

You didn’t tell your friends about what happened with Hwiyoung; it isn’t like they need to know anyway. You’re already more than well aware that they’ll reprimand every reasoning you’ll put out, so the entire idea of informing them feels pointless. Not to mention Chanhee will scold you with the same three sentences repeatedly for months straight, and you’re way more than unwilling to listen to him.

This is why you don’t arrive at the auditorium with anyone by your side. You even decide to get there later than usual because you didn’t want to risk bumping into anyone—especially Hwiyoung after what you’ve just dealt with. You hate what he did to you that day, but your heart can’t help but continue to race at the thought of him.

You’re truly head over heels for not him, but his act.

You stand in front of the doors that lead into the room, and you’re scared. You’re scared you’ll be out of place because for one, you’re not in Hwiyoung’s arms.

A sigh exits your mouth as you steady yourself before pushing the doors open. You do it slowly, and it works because you fall unnoticed by everyone around you. You peek inside and hear all the bursts of chatter coming from every nook and cranny of the room. Though, despite this, you only manage to catch two fully audible conversations.

One on stage:

“I can’t believe you chose me for the king. Do I look short and old to you?!” Younghoon whines, script balled up in his fist. He stomps his feet angrily, startling the couple in front of him. “I’m not withering!”

“Should’ve casted you as an extra,” Sangyeon grumbles, rubbing the back of his neck before yelping when his girlfriend, Yiyeon, slaps his shoulder.

And another a few feet away from you:

“It’s unlike Lee Sangyeon to cast someone because of how they look,” an unfamiliar voice mumbles.

“Hey, but can you blame him? Anyone could be swayed by that face,” a second voice says.

“It’s just such a shame, you know? To see how talent can be overlooked by beauty. Poor Hwi.”

Their conversation shifts, and you find your jaw clenched. Although you wholeheartedly agree with what the pair was saying, you can’t help but feel a bit defensive for your co-actor.

But you fight against the small tug at your heart and bite your tongue, pushing the doors even wider and finally entering. All heads turn toward you when they hear the doors shut behind you, and you plaster on a fake smile as you greet those.

But your act gets cut short when Sangyeon exclaims ‘finally!’, rushing down the steps of the stage to reach you. His girlfriend and Younghoon follow, standing behind him as Sangyeon plants himself in front of you.

He grabs your shoulders, and looks at you with a stare that bore into your eyes.

“Have you seen Juyeon?”

You hesitate then shift your gaze to look at Younghoon. His face looks just as curious, and desperate, as Sangyeon’s, and it makes you raise a brow.

Has he not been here?

The entire room is quiet, and Sangyeon snaps you out of your daze by repeating the question. A sense of panic is washed over all of his features while his eyes beg for an answer.

“Please tell me you know where he is,” he cries, shaking you repeatedly. “He was supposed to pick up his script from me a week ago, but he hasn’t contacted me since!” His lip is jutted out, pouting, and you do your best to prevent the dizziness from affecting your response.

Man, you understand that everyone in the auditorium is a drama student, but you’re starting to believe that perhaps Sangyeon takes it a tad bit too seriously.

You open your mouth to speak and Sangyeon stops shaking you instantly, eyes widening to the size of a disney character’s. Yiyeon mirrors his same gaze, and Younghoon looks at you with anticipation, just like everyone else in the room. The attention makes you struggle to find the right words, so you opt for a ‘...I’m sorry, what?’.

“Juyeon, have you seen Juyeon at all this week?”

Your eyes immediately scan the room, in denial that this man isn’t here. You spot everyone, Hwiyoung included, but the figure of the one man you dreaded to see after the ‘incident’.

Well, it’s not like you’re going to complain.

“No, no I haven’t.”

A scoff breaks through the silence, and you fully expect it to be from your ex-boyfriend, but when you trace the sound, it matches the face of your best friend.

Choi Chanhee.

Sangyeon’s loud groan has you turning back to face him, and he drops his hands from your shoulders to bury his face within them. “No one, not one single person in this room, has heard or gotten sight of him. We need to block the entire show today, and we can’t continue on if the main lead doesn’t even have his script. What will I do?!”

As he visibly, and mentally, crumbles in front of everyone, his girlfriend reaches to comfort him before Sangyeon is swooped into another person’s arms.

Hwiyoung.

“Hey, Sang, it’s alright! Don’t worry about Juyeon. You got me, yeah?” He slings an arm over Sangyeon’s shoulder, leading him out of the auditorium. He pulls a door open for the sulking male. “As understudy, I can replace him for the time being.”

You catch his fake yet dazzling smile before the door closes, and you find yourself biting back a scowl.

“I’m, uh, just going to keep everyone sane,” Yiyeon mumbles, leaving you and Younghoon alone.

Then, you and Younghoon lock eyes. You both instantly share the same thought, causing you guys to get into action right after.

As you two run up onto stage, Younghoon grabs a chair while you grab Chanhee’s wrist, pulling him away from a conversation with Kevin.

He protests, but it’s ignored when you go behind the curtains, Younghoon trailing right after. He tosses the chair into the open area, waiting until it skids to a stop before you yank Chanhee onto it. You lean against a wall with crossed arms, watching as Younghoon approaches the suspicious friend of yours.

“You know something, don’t you?” Younghoon asks, standing in front of him.

“What is this? An interrogation?” Chanhee snorts.

“Yes, in fact it is, so I recommend you answer his question,” you bite back. Chanhee rolls his eyes, no longer looking at you.

Your words make you come off as curious when in reality, you couldn’t really care much about Juyeon and his whereabouts.

Yet somehow, someway—something seems to irk you. Seeing how Hwiyoung took advantage of a vulnerable stage manager earlier doesn’t sit right inside you, and Juyeon not even showing up and disassociating with everyone in the cast is out of character. You just know something is off, and you have a feeling it was because of you.

But you refused to believe so.

“Look, I haven’t been able to contact Juyeon either.” His tone is softer, and his voice could easily be overpowered by all the other incessant chatter coming from the other side of the curtain if it wasn’t for the secluded space you three are in. Your friend has his gaze darted elsewhere, clearly avoiding eye contact with either of you.

“You have been his closest buddy ever since he’s joined the cast,” Younghoon reasons.

Chanhee laughs, then turns to look at Younghoon.

“What? Jealous?” He smirks, almost winking, but Younghoon startles him by slamming his hands onto the head of the chair, gripping the ledge whilst trapping Chanhee between his arms.

“Y/N and I have known you long enough,” Younghoon says, sucking in his cheeks. “You don’t act like this unless you’re keeping something from us.”

“And your breath stinks,” Chanhee retorts.

“Okay that’s enough, this clearly isn’t working.” You pick yourself off the wall and approach the two.

“I could get physical if you’d like me to,” Younghoon says, tilting Chanhee’s chin upward with his script.

“Yeah, no,” you mutter, pushing him aside. He frowns but watches you in amusement, interested to see how you’d handle the stubborn boy. You then face Chanhee, craning your head to the side as you analyze how his features become stiff. “Since you won’t tell Younghoon what you know, why don’t you tell me? What the hell are you hiding from Sangyeon?”

Chanhee purses his lips, licks them, then stands. He looks at you with barely any expression on his face.

“...No.”

“No?” Perplexed, you stop him from leaving, keeping him in front of you. “What do you mean by no?”

He laughs. Then, he shakes his head.

“You don’t get to know shit after what you said to Juyeon on the day of rehearsal,” he spills, refusing to look you in the eye. Your eyes grow into the size of bowling balls, freezing as your friend continues to tower over your figure with crossed arms.

“So you know…”

“I was there,” he seethes, snapping his head back your way. “I saw him, chased after him, and caught him talking to you.”

“So you both are hiding shit from me,” Younghoon mumbles, clearly appalled and annoyed with how his best friends chose to handle things.

Chanhee ignores him and steps forward, making you stumble backwards after losing your balance.

“I tried to get to him, Y/N. I called him, I texted him, I even reached out to his roommates. But guess what? Not a single one of them responded to me.”

You part your lips to retaliate, but he cuts you off.

“No, not a single word from you. As much as I love you as my best friend, all you do is spill excuse after excuse,” Chanhee snaps. Every word he spurs has an arrow aimed at your heart, leaving you stunned after each one. “You’re always spewing shit about an innocent person, blaming him for your breakup when he had no control over who got what role. Now, Y/N, it’s my turn to blame you for not only making me lose a friend I recently made, but the three other people that have always stood by my side.”

He stops, looks towards the ground, and snickers.

“So, Princess, instead of interrogating me, why don’t you tell me where he is?”

“Alright that’s enough,” Younghoon states, stepping into the conversation. He pulls Chanhee away from you, allowing you to release the breath you’ve been holding in the entire time.

Chanhee’s chest heaves as he settles his breathing, eyes burning into your skull as you avoid his glare. You feel like the smallest person on earth, especially since you’ve never had your best friend turn his back on you. Younghoon shows no empathy when he sees the fear in your eyes, only shaking his head in disappointment as he holds his other friend close.

They trusted you to play smart, but all you did was hit rock bottom.

You leave from behind the curtain, revealing yourself to the people inside the auditorium. They look at you with worry, and some of them have actually even overheard the conversation you had with your friends, but you push them all away, running to the doors. You don’t want to deal with anyone, and although your mind is spiraling, you could only decipher one of many thoughts.

“Where are you going?”

A voice pulls you back into reality when you’re met face to face with your ex-boyfriend, Sangyeon standing right behind him. He’s smirking, even compressing a snicker, when he sees the look of desperation and urgency in your face. He holds the door open, blocking you from leaving by standing in the middle of the doorway.

You look him up and down, breathing heavily, before snorting. You shove him to the side as if he was nothing, giving him silence as a temporary answer. The corners of his lips drop, and he watches you leave in bewilderment. You only make it a few feet away before turning around, looking at him with the same smile he wore earlier as you slowly walk backwards.

“I’m on a search for a prince.”

NAVIGATION | THE BOYZ MASTERLIST

487 notes · View notes

hcuyk · 3 years

Text

KIDULT 1/2 | J.CM

꒰ synopsis ꒱ changmin always believed he was never fond of children, especially when he took the job at your daycare. little did he know the child in him was playing hide and seek, finally revealing itself after growing to love the kids. oh, and you too

꒰ pairing ꒱ daycareworker!changmin x genderneutral!reader

꒰ genre ꒱ strangers to lovers, daycare au, slow burn, fluff, angst, features hyunjae and the rest of the boyz as children

꒰ warnings ꒱ children, car accident, major character death, descriptions of blood, sprinkled bits of profanity and capitalization, and an overall merry bad ending

꒰ word count ꒱ 26.8k+

꒰ perspective ꒱ 2nd person omniscient

‘ playlist one ›› spotify, youtube

‘ author's note!! 🍃 — this fic is for @junjungsunwoo's merry bad ending collab!! biggest thanks to @pjmaparty, @fullsunfluff, @bbanghoonie, and @heejojo for beta reading!! this is the first part out of two <3

‘ taglist ›› @nilesig @reniqt @sunfics @wooyoung-a @kimaya2209 @frickyratz @deputyjuyeon @stealanity @hwallswrld @kyu-rious @changminurheart

NAVIGATION | TBZ MASTERLIST | PART TWO

As the seconds on the clock progresses with every tick, you are already starting to lose hope in your only recruit arriving at all.

Not many liked to work at daycares, that much you knew, considering they didn’t like the idea of loud cries and touchy fingers from kids they weren’t even acquainted with, so it was nearly impossible to find anyone in the small town you lived in willing to help out. Changmin was the only person that approached you at the front desk without a kid of his own, stating that he saw the hiring post on Facebook and wanted the job.

Ecstatic by the news, the interview took place right then and there immediately, and you began spurting out questions for him to answer. Though, while answering, he seemed so uninterested in the job, making you wonder if he really even wanted it in the first place. Unfortunately, your desperation took over your conscience, hiring him on the spot once the short interview had ended.

Now, here you are, waiting for him to come through the front two doors so you could show him around the playroom and help him understand the activities you plan on having the children do. But you were left with little to no hope as the seconds tick by, starting to believe that he bailed on both you and this job.

Right as you begin to sulk, the jingle from the glass doors rang through your ears, making your ears perk.

“I’m here.”

The familiar voice makes your head shoot up, looking at the person who had just entered. Your smile widens at the sudden sight of him, relieved that he chose to come after all. You fix your posture by the desk and bring the clipboard with your written notes into your hands, welcoming him.

“Sorry for being late,” he mumbles. Although he apologies, he doesn’t seem to be apologetic at all, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his sweater with half hooded eyes, looking like he had just woken up. “I slept in.”

It was impossible to prevent the snort from leaving you, but it didn’t even alarm Changmin in the slightest, the boy looking like he just wanted to get everything over with.

“Well if that’s the case, just make sure you don’t sleep in on your first day on the job,” you hum, walking out from behind the desk. “We really need you here.”

“We?” he asks, letting out a snort of his own.

Thrown off guard, you stutter. “Y-yeah...me and the kids…”

He then nods, keeping his mouth shut as he stands there.

The happiness you received minutes earlier from seeing him is quick to vanish into thin air, making you press your lips into a firm line. “Well then, follow me.”

He does as he’s told, watching you open the only door that stood not so far from the front desk.

“Unlike most daycares, ours only has one playroom,” you sigh, pressing your clipboard up against your chest as you lead him inside. “I’m basically the only person that works here, from what I told you previously, so I truly do appreciate the extra help you’re offering this summer.”

Changmin, the only person deemed ‘interested’ in the job, trails after your steps with long, heavy strides, lazy eyes roaming around the new environment.

You show him around each and every nook and cranny of the room, from the round tables and the circle of big bean bags to the massive reading rug surrounded by bookshelves. It was hard to miss the way he pretty much yawns after every explanation you give him, but you ignore it to maintain your pride.

“These are the sinks that catch the paintbrushes after an hour-long painting session,” you introduce, obvious disappointment featured in your tone. “I always tell the kids to never put their brushes inside the sinks when they’re done rinsing them, but they never listen. It often results in me shoving my hand in and digging the brushes out of the drain.”

And for the first time that day, you notice his eyes widening from the corner of your vision at the sudden information. He peeks over your shoulder to get a glance at one of the sinks being completely covered with dried up splatters of paint, scrunching his nose. “You’re not giving that job to me, are you?”

His grimace made you laugh, shaking your head disapprovingly. “Trust me, I’d love to say no, but I’m afraid I’d be lying.”

He grunts, clearly expressing how much he really didn’t want to do any of the work you plan on assigning him. You brush it off, knowing that he is very much needed for the upcoming summer wave that will be hitting the daycare.

You gesture for him to sit down at one of the round tables, joining him a few seats adjacent. “Okay so, we’re going to have ten kids for the summer. Specifically ten boys. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but they’re quite the hassle when they’re together,” you explain, eyeing your notes while Changmin is just staring, maybe even spacing out, as you speak.

Despite this, you continue, speaking as fast as you could to get this entire thing over with. “We’ll be having four six-year-olds: Sangyeon, Joonyoung, Younghoon, Hyunjae. Three five-year-olds: Juyeon, Hyungseo, Chanhee. And three four-year-olds: Haknyeon, Sunwoo, Youngjae.” Creases form on your forehead when you notice that Hyunjun wouldn’t be attending this summer, but you don’t mention anything about him to Changmin. Hell, you aren't even sure if he even got the names considering how fast you spoke, but it isn’t like he was paying attention in the first place.

“I think that’s-...actually all I have for you today,” you murmur, flipping through your notes to see if you truly have concluded the tour and introductions. You then pass the clipboard over to him by sliding it across the table, making him flinch and stumble to catch it. “Can you check to see if I missed anything? I’m kind of exhausted after all of this prepping.”

He shrugs his shoulders and skims through it in an instant before giving it back to you. “I think you’re good,” he deadpans, not giving you much of an expression to work with as he slides it back over to you.

You cock your brow at how quick he was with searching through everything but chose not to question it, bringing it back into your grasp. “If that’s the case...do you perhaps have any questions?”

He slouches in his spot and averts his gaze out one of the bigger windows, attempting to suppress a yawn by raising a hand over his mouth. “...Not really,” he finally responds.

You eye his features, tilting your head in the slightest as you stare. You then stop when realizing that he caught your gaze, the male growing visibly uncomfortable afterwards. He was shifting in his seat, not sure what to say considering he doesn’t want to opt for a ‘can I go now?’.

“Sorry,” you apologize, straightening your back. “It just seems like you really don’t want to work here.”

“I do!” he counters with his eyes darting over to you, copying your actions by sitting up straight. It then clicks when he realizes that you saw right through him, giving up and allowing himself to surrender. “...Okay fine,” he mumbles, falling right back into his seat. “I really don’t, but I need the money.”

“That’s understandable.” You end the conversation by standing up and putting out your hand. “Even so, I am very excited to work with you.”

“Same here,” he blatantly lies, giving your hand a weak shake after rising onto his feet. “Uh, so when’s my first day here?”

“This upcoming Monday.” You pull your hand back and grab the clipboard, hurried steps making their way back over to the door. “Make sure you arrive at 6 in the morning. Sharp, please. I truly need all the help I can get.”

He takes one last look around the room with pursed lips before wearing one of the fakest grins you’ve ever seen when you open the door for him. “I’ll see you then.”

After aligning all the boxes onto the shelves, you exit the playroom to find Changmin resting against the front desk, elbow propped up against its surface as he scrolls through his phone.

“You’re here!!” you exclaim, making him startled at your sudden appearance. “And-...early?” You look at the clock, noticing how it was ten minutes before the designated time.

Unexpectedly, his laid-back attire has been replaced with a casual button-up shirt that is partially tucked into his jeans, looking quite presentable for someone who would be working with preschoolers, but the same uninterested expression from a few days prior still remain on his facial features, barely being able to remove his gaze from his phone screen.

“I couldn’t really sleep,” he sighs out, setting his phone face down onto the desk. He hums, tapping his fingers against the surface, allowing the silence to fill the room before continuing. “Hope I didn’t scare you, by the way. The doors were unlocked.”

“Oh uh, no you’re fine. I just really wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.” You smile warmly towards him before walking behind the desk, pulling out one of your drawers to search through your nearly empty files.

“Is there anything you’d like me to do?” He peers over the desk to see what you’re doing, watching your every movement as you hum in return.

“Could you go into the playroom and check to see that everything is organized? Just tidy up anything that looks out of place before our first kid gets here. After that, you can start greeting all the boys when they arrive.”

He visibly cringes at your last sentence but affirms your words with a nod, picking himself off the desk before dragging his feet over to the room, leaving the door wide open.

Meanwhile, your fingers tap against every file within the drawer in search of the one that would be needed for today, taking and setting it out onto the table once you retrieved it. You open the file to reveal a sign in sheet, making sure the paper will be facing the front door for when the parents and their sons start to file in.

You are bending over to find a pen to provide when you hear your name being called with a loud shriek, making you nearly scream.

“Teacher Y/N, Teacher Y/N!!”

The childish voice makes you look over your desk, gasping at the sight of the little six-year-old standing there with the brightest smile.

“What th- how’d you-...? Hyunjae?!?”

The door slams open and presents a disheveled mother panting, breathless concerns pouring out of her. “Oh dear, he’s here. Alright okay, oh my. My apologies, Y/N. Jaehyun got so excited to see you that he rushed out of the car when I was on the phone with my husband.” She frowns and walks over to her child to pick him up, holding him in her arms as she starts interrogating him.

“How on earth did you get inside??”

“I followed a man in,” he giggles, making grabby hands towards you before becoming distracted at the sight of a curious Changmin leaving the playroom to check on the disruption that was happening outside.

Though, he immediately regrets doing so when Hyunjae points at him, clapping his hands loudly. “Him!!”

His mother’s head turns toward to face Changmin, confused at the presence of another adult since she would always be the first one in the daycare with her child.

“Oh!! Mrs. Lee, this is Changmin, Teacher Changmin. He’s going to be helping me out at the daycare for the summer,” you introduce with a warm smile, urging Changmin over by motioning him your way.

Hyunjae’s quicker though, jumping out of his mother’s arms to race over to him. “Hi!!! I’m Hyunjae!!!” He reaches up and extends his hand, wearing the brightest smile Changmin has ever seen.

“Uh-...hi.” Changmin slowly brings his hand to Hyunjae, and the boy grabs it, shaking it aggressively.

“I’m six!!”

“I’m, uh, twenty-three…” His words trail off when he sends you a worrying look, one that said ‘I don’t know how the fuck to deal with kids’, but you ignore it, turning back to face Hyunjae’s mother.

“I’m really glad you have a helping hand this summer,” she comments. “I remember the amount of chaos you had to deal with last year.” A frown works its way back up to her lips when she pulls out her wallet, paying you beforehand. While she continues talking, you go back to looking for a pen, handing it to her in the middle of her sentence.

“I really do appreciate all the work and love you’ve given my son, especially since his father and I barely have time to even talk to him nowadays. It makes me so happy to see him continue being the bright and sweetest kid from the crowd ever since he’s joined this daycare.”

Her words make you grimace, knowing a majority of what she said was a lie. “Of course, but it’s really nothing,” you respond quietly, playing with your fingers.

“Ah, but it’s true!” she reasons, her frown disappearing as it’s replaced with a gentle smile, signing her name into the sign in sheet before reaching to hold onto one of your hands. “Trust me when I say this; many people who work at daycares absolutely despise being with children, but it’s clear that you absolutely love what you do, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Your eyes smile at her words, wishing her a warm goodbye when she leaves. You turn to see what Changmin and Hyunjae were up to, seeing the elder crouched down while Hyunjae plays with his cheeks, endless rambles leaving the child.

A grin forms on your lips at the sight of them together, and it took the two a while to realize that Hyunjae’s mother had left. Hyunjae halts his actions with Changmin and runs over to you, grabbing onto your hand to pull it. “Can we go into the playroom now? Pretty please??”

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to ask Teacher Changmin about that. He’s going to be the one in charge of you little guys.” You point back over to Changmin, flashing the teacher a bright smile.

Changmin raises a brow at this and holds back from scowling at you, eyes piercing into yours when Hyunjae sprints back over to him with a loud squeal. The boy grabs one of Changmin’s hands, looking up at him when Changmin walks him inside.

“I’m six!!”

“Yes Hyunjae, I know. You said that already.”

“You really weren’t lying when you said there would be ten boys.”

“Ten chaotic boys,” you correct, shutting the door behind you when you enter the playroom. There you could see all of them chasing each other, aside from Sangyeon and Joonyoung. The two were playing with dolls and action figures, making up a story while mindlessly ignoring the other kids nearly running over one another. “But why would I lie?”

He shrugs, arms crossed tightly over his chest as he watches the kids, making no effort to stop their violence. “Just seems unlikely that you wouldn’t end up with at least one girl here.”

“Small town, I guess.” While Changmin stood around and did nothing, you went over to untangle Sunwoo’s fingers from Chanhee’s hair, apologizing each time Chanhee cried out of pain.

“Right.” He watches you from afar, analyzing the way you handled the situation and allowed them to carry on with their chaos. “How do you even manage?”

“Honestly?” Your feet walk themselves back over to where you were standing with Changmin previously, accompanying him. “I don’t,” you respond casually. Only then did the adults notice Youngjae chasing Hyunjae towards you two, a plastic toy train being held in his hand as he charged towards the elder boy.

“TEACHER CHANGMINNNN!!” Hyunjae screeches, begging for help as he ducks behind the male’s long legs in order to avoid the toddler.

Changmin just stands there, watching how Youngjae’s waddles come to a stop before shooting a smile up at the teacher ever so innocently. He waves the toy train up in the air for Changmin, showing it off. “Look!!”

Not knowing what to do, Changmin looks over at you, wanting you to control the situation at hand. He could feel Hyunjae wrap his arms around his legs, planting the teacher into the ground while letting out repeated whines about Youngjae chasing him. By now, you already had walked away to watch the scene unfold from across the room, amused with the predicament Changmin was brought into.

“Uhm, Youngjae,” he starts, turning back to the newly turned four-year-old in front of him, crouching down to talk to him properly. The young boy lightens up at him and his train being acknowledged by the new teacher, presenting the toy to him by holding it out in his hands. Hyunjae, on the other hand, resumes hiding behind Changmin, his arms wrapped around his back as he peeks his head out from the side, eyeing the boy that had just terrorized him seconds before.

“Youngjae,” he repeats, slowly taking the toy train out of his hands. “We shouldn’t, uh, chase other kids with toy trains and say you’re going to run them over with it…” His cheeks flush up, truly unsure if he had handled the situation correctly.

Meanwhile, you burst out laughing, making all the kids look at you for only a millisecond before resuming whatever they were doing previously. Youngjae is pouting, his bottom lip jutted out as much as it could, and yet surprisingly, he hasn’t started crying, nodding to show that he understood.

Satisfied, Changmin hands the toy back to the boy, giving him a small pat on his head. It takes a second for it to hit that everything from Youngjae was an act, Hyungseo becoming the boy’s next target.

It makes your burst of laughter return, especially when Changmin’s face drops at the sight of Youngjae tackling Hyungseo while ramming his train into the poor kid’s cheek.

“Well, at least you got him to stop doing it to Hyunjae,” you comfort, walking back over to him. Changmin rolls his eyes with a huff before telling Hyunjae to scurry off. As Hyunjae does as he was told, Youngjae catches sight of your presence, screaming loudly while removing himself from Hyungseo. You chase after the small boy, hands being outstretched in order to pick him up.

When you did, his legs started flailing in the air, not even noticing that he had been raised from the ground.

“I still don’t get how you do this entire daycare thing,” Changmin mumbles, making his way over to you. Youngjae has resulted in whining loudly when you refuse to put him back down, making him apologize to both Hyunjae and Hyungseo from across the room.

“Trust me, I don’t either, but amazingly, it’s pretty easy to calm them down.” You gently set Youngjae back down onto the ground after hearing his cries of ‘sorry’, mentioning that you’ll be taking his toy train for the time being. He doesn’t fight back, only sulking when Sunwoo laughs at him.

That’s when Changmin goes over to one of the round tables, bored out of his mind. He sits on the edge of the table with his toes grazing against the ground, analyzing every kid within the room in order to memorize the other half of their names.

“You know, Teacher Y/N says we should never sit on the tables,” Hyunjae points out after approaching him. Changmin dismisses him off with a wave, not willing to listen to whatever a child was saying.

“I’m not a kid,” he grumbles under his breath, not giving a care if Hyunjae even heard him. Though, he doubts the younger kid did. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, you heard Changmin say it loud and clear. With a scoff, you made your way over to the two boys, standing opposite from Hyunjae and adjacent to the teacher with your arms over your chest.

“Off the table,” you demanded.

“What?”

All the kids in the room stopped whatever they were doing to look at the commotion happening. Though, Changmin chose not to budge from his spot, rolling his eyes.

“You heard what Hyunjae said. Loud and clear,” you click your tongue. “You’re being a bad role model to the kids by sitting on the table.”

“There’s nothing wrong with sittin-”

“Changmin, off.”

It was then when humiliation suddenly hit him, especially since he was the one that was being scolded in front of a bunch of preschoolers. He takes one last glance around the room while avoiding your stare before removing himself from the table. What you didn’t expect was for him to storm out of the room, pulling the door open just as fast as he slammed it shut.

“God, what’s his problem?” you mutter. A loud wail is then heard throughout the room, everyone’s attention turning to the person sitting down on the rug by the box of toys. That was what made you realize the severity of the situation, knowing that you had possibly gone too far.

“No no, Joonyoung, don’t cry,” you whisper after rushing over to him, bringing him into your arms. You rub his back, easing him down after the loud sound that had scared him. “I’m so, so sorry.” His hands are bunching up your shirt when you press him close to your chest, finding comfort in your hold.

You couldn’t stop yourself from looking at the door, wondering if Changmin would return.

After one week and three very tiresome days, you knew that Changmin wouldn’t be coming back.

It wasn’t like he had called to confirm that he would be quitting or any of that sort, but it was pretty obvious with the lack of his presence. It came to a point where you didn’t even bother checking outside the playroom ever so often anymore, knowing that he would no longer be the one entering those two glass doors.

It saddens you, in all honesty. The one person that was willing to help is now gone, and it went back to just you and the ten kids you cherish the most. Though, all of them but one didn’t really mind, or more like comprehend, the lack of assistance in the playroom since you basically had all of their backs, but Hyunjae’s been alone, sitting by the bookshelves.

He would have his arms wrapped around his legs, curling up into a ball as he leans against the shelves, gazing off into the distance.

You did have to admit that the idea of him contemplating his life choices was kind of amusing, especially with him curled up into the fetus position, but you still approached him occasionally throughout the day, asking him if he was alright. It didn’t help much though, the boy turning away from you whenever you did so. After moments of silence, you decided that it would be best to give him space, apologizing each time before leaving to focus on the other kids.

Without a doubt, Hyunjae has always been the brightest one out of every kid you knew, getting along with absolutely everyone due to his expressive persona, and considering he was the mood maker, it did bring down the happiness within the daycare. Joonyoung and Sangyeon were both old enough to understand what Hyunjae was feeling, joining him in the middle of their free time to give the boy a hug. They have always been the sweetest kids in the class so you were more than positive that Hyunjae would be okay in a week or two, but it still took a major toll on your heart.

In around ten or so minutes, it would be time for Hyunjae to arrive, so here you were, preparing everything. While searching through your drawers, a piece of paper falls out of your grip and onto the ground. You reach to pick it up and realize that it’s Changmin’s phone number written down, and you debate whether you should call him or not. It wouldn’t hurt to check up on him and see if he was doing alright, maybe even ask if he would be quitting for good. You could also toss in that Hyunjae has missed him immensely ever since the incident, but you decided against it all, figuring that it’ll be for the best for both sides. You tossed the piece of paper back in the drawer, closing it shut.

Out of nowhere, you could feel small fingers wrapping around the hem of your shirt and you are about to let out the loudest scream, turning around on your heels to face the culprit.

“Holy sh-”

“Hi Y/N.”

You calm down your racing heartbeat by having a hand over your chest, taking a couple of breathers before facing the poor boy. The dejected look on Hyunjae’s face doesn’t falter, his fingers gently tugging on your sleeve.

“Y/N?” he tries again, so you prepare yourself for a talk and get onto your knees in order to reach his eye level, hands on your thighs.

“Is everything okay, Hyunjae?”

“Will Changmin be here today?” he asks, his voice breaking as he speaks softly.

The way he gazes at you with glossy eyes made you realize that even though you had lost all hope for Changmin’s return, Hyunjae was the one who still had some within him.

Without letting you answer, he continues, his fingers bunching up the fabric of your shirt into a fist. “You said he will be here all summer, right?”

Sucking in a sharp breath, you nod. “Yes, Hyunjae, he should be.” You pause, shutting your eyes as you utter the next few words. “But I don’t know if he will.” Your voice trails off into a whisper, but he pulls you into a comforting hug, knowing that he isn’t the only one missing your co-teacher.

“It wasn’t my fault, was it?” he mumbles, hiding his face into the crook of your neck.

“What? No, of course not. It isn’t your fault, okay?” You tighten your grip around him, tenderly rubbing his back with your hand.

He sniffs loudly, pulling away with a nod. He tentatively puts out his hands to cup your cheeks, the warmth of his hands bringing you tranquility. When you don’t pull yourself away from his grasp, he squishes your cheeks, just like how he did with Changmin when he first met him, a small smile forming on both of your lips.

“Jaehyun?? Y/N? Are any of you guys here??”

You mentally curse to yourself at the voice, having your eyes meet the preschoolers. “Please don’t tell me you ran away from your mommy again.”

He only grins at you, making grabby hands. With a sigh, you pull him into your arms and stand up, revealing both yourself and Hyunjae to his mother. “He’s here, don’t worry,” you reassure, removing all the visible distress featured on her face.

“Surprise!” he squeals, tossing his hands up in the air.

His mother rolls her eyes playfully. “He really keeps running off without me knowing.” Her playful demeanor turned into a sorrowful one, taking the pen from the desk to sign in. “But I guess that’s a good thing since he really adores it here.”

“I guess he does, doesn’t he?” You glance back at Hyunjae, taking a mental note of his fingers becoming entangled in your hair. “He’s made a lot of wonderful friends here, you know.”

His downturned expression is still present on his face but was easily missed by his mother, too busy talking as she wrote down the date. “He has! He’s always asking me if Joonyoung could come and visit someday. Sweetest kid, if I remember correctly.” She sets down the pen back onto the paper, looking up to see her son. “Stay safe, Jaehyun!! Don’t cause too much trouble for Teacher Y/N today, okay?”

He perks up and goes to wave his mother goodbye but with his fingers caught up in your hair, he accidentally pulls on it, making you yelp.

Maybe having the boys paint with their hands was a really, really bad idea. Especially since you are the only one in charge.

“Haknyeon, no- no Haknyeon,” you snatch the tube of paint out of his hands. “We do not eat the paint.” He starts crying due to your glower, but your attention is diverted elsewhere when you hear your name being repeated.

“Teacher Y/N, Teacher Y/N!!” Juyeon calls, waving you over. “Look, look!!” He raises the printer paper up to show you his painting, bouncy on his feet.

“Oh Juyeon!! That’s a very nice-...uhm, cow-?” You tilt your head while squinting your eyes, trying to see it from a different perspective, but Juyeon’s already frowning, bringing the paper back down onto the table.

“It’s an airplane,” he mutters, slouching back into his seat. Youngjae and Sunwoo leave their chairs and rush over to Juyeon, taking a look over his shoulder at what he painted. Sunwoo brings a hand over his mouth to contain his laughter but fails when Youngjae loudly cackles, joining him in a fit of giggles. Juyeon whips his head around, glaring at the two younger boys while they practically trip over their feet due to how hard they were laughing, hands clutching onto their abdomens.

You put the tube of paint next to his artwork before crouching down besides him, bringing a hand to his shoulder. “It’s a really, really beautiful painting of an airplane. I mean it. I’m just legally blind.” You crack a smile before looking around the room, choosing to lean in and whisper into his ear. All sadness washes away when he hears you, perking up at the suggestion. He nods eagerly and claps his hands. Then he reaches to hold onto one of your fingers when you stand up, holding his painting in the other.

Youngjae and Sunwoo stop laughing when they see you bring Juyeon over to the bulletin board, their curiosity bubbling up within.

“Teacher Y/N?” the youngest hiccups, holding onto Sunwoo’s hand before following after you two.

You ignore his call and bring Juyeon up into your arms, giving him a push pin. “Now be careful,” you whisper, watching his every movement cautiously in case something bad happens. Thankfully, Juyeon was careful enough to pin up his painting, dancing happily when you place him back onto the ground.

Sunwoo gasps loudly and sits on the ground with a huff. Youngjae does the exact same, letting out a gasp of his own before seating himself right next to his friend, crossing his arms angrily.

Juyeon skips over to them, proudly puffing out his chest. He used both of his hands to ruffle up their brightly colored hair, regretting the action immediately after. It really wasn’t the greatest idea because one, his hands were covered in paint, and two, he only angered them further, so you didn’t bother saving him when the two boys started chasing him around, Juyeon screaming in terror.

Your attention was brought over to the calmest table in the room, at least from what it seemed, only to find Younghoon and Chanhee purposely shoving their paintbrushes down the drain, acting ever so innocent when you caught them red-handed.

“Now why would you guys do this? Where did you guys even get the paintbrushes? You're supposed to be using your hands to paint,” you groan, pulling the pair away from the sink.

“It was Chanhee’s idea!!” Younghoon blatantly accuses, pointing at his best friend. Chanhee rolls his eyes and doesn’t say another word, claiming the blame as the two head back to their seats in giggles.

With an exasperated sigh, you look into the sink. They are most definitely shoved in there, at least from what you could tell, so you rolled up your sleeves, prepared to have your hands dive in to collect the dollar cheap paintbrushes.

“I could help you with that if you’d like.”

In your head, you fully expected a kid to offer their help, but you knew you couldn’t risk having a preschooler helping you out with something stuck in the drain, but to your surprise, the voice wasn’t squeaky or obnoxious like the others. It was barely a whisper that could’ve been missed if it wasn’t for the sound of the door falling shut, making the entire room turn their heads to the familiar voice.

Hyunjae’s mouth falls agape at the sight of your co-teacher, not believing his eyes considering how long it’s been. He drops the tube of paint that was in his hands and onto his painting, running over to engulf the teacher’s legs within his embrace.

“Teacher Changmin!!”

“Hyunjae!!- wait, no don’t-...C’mon man, these jeans are new,” he whines.

While he tries removing the boy and his hands from his pants, you resume to stay in your state of shock, unable to move a single limb as you look at him. You blink multiple times to see if you are truly just imagining things, but you are proven wrong when more of the boys gather around him, greeting the teacher with happy smiles.

He gives up when many fingerprints of paint end up on his jeans, his distress being replaced with a smile of his own when he sees the rest of the kids. He then locks eyes with you, freezing in his spot before leaning down to whisper something Hyunjae’s ear, earning himself a nod.

Hyunjae and the rest of the kids go back to their seats, obediently continuing what they were doing earlier, but Hyunjae couldn’t stop looking at Changmin in awe, eyes glued onto him. The male makes his way over to you and brings a bag into your view. “I hope you don’t mind, but I bought us lunch.”

He sets it down next to the sink you were standing by, hands on the counter as he looks in. He grimaces at the current state of the sink you had your hand buried in, almost regretting what he offered earlier but folded up his sleeves regardless. “I meant it when I said I’ll help you with it, so I’m going to help you with it,” he mutters lowly, hoping that you didn’t hear him talking to himself. He takes one last look into the sink before shoving his hand in, pulling out the brushes individually with a chuckle. “Who buried these in the drain anyway?”

“We did!!” Younghoon yells out, waving over to him and then proceeds to point to himself and his seatmate. Changmin laughs at his boldness and sets the brushes aside before reaching for more.

Meanwhile, you are too occupied with gazing at him, looking at him with so much adoration. The smile he’s wearing today is genuine, and the sleep deprivation is nowhere to be seen on his face. Heck, it even seems like he did his hair, truly wanting to look presentable in front of the children.

“You okay?”

His voice snaps you out of your daze, struggling to find the right words. “Uh, I- yeah, I’m just- you...you came back.”

He falls silent, focusing on pulling the last few brushes out while his mind wanders elsewhere. When he finishes, he nods, finally allowing his eyes to meet yours. “Yeah, yeah I did.”

Even with the laughter and screams from the surrounding students, the silence between you two overtook it, struggling with who should be speaking first.

“I’m sorry,” you murmur, being the one to break the eye contact.

“No, no, don't apologize. It wasn’t your fault at all. I’m the one that should be sorry…” He takes in a deep breath, making your eyes meet his before he continues. “I’m sorry for not realizing that I’m now practically a role model to the kids. I know now that I shouldn’t do anything I wouldn’t want them to do.” He clasps his hands together, having them hang over the sink as he stares straight ahead. “I’m sorry for disappearing these past few days too.”

You smile, pursing your lips. “Hyunjae missed you a lot, you know.”

He laughs, and for the first time ever, it wasn’t bitter. “I missed him too.”

“Hyunjae!! Teacher Changmin misses you!!” Sunwoo yells, capturing the said boy’s attention.

You turn around to see that he and Youngjae had been standing behind you guys all along, eavesdropping on your entire conversation, but it truly didn’t matter because the look on Hyunjae’s face made up for it. He was really eager to get out of his seat, his legs bouncing up and down with excitement but something Changmin must’ve said earlier had made him stay put.

Changmin shortly gives into his desperation, outstretching his arms for the young one. Hyunjae squeals and leaves his seat to run into them, laughing loudly when he’s picked up.

Youngjae, being the jealous one he was, frowns and starts poking Changmin’s leg repeatedly. “Did you miss me too??” he asks, mustering up the biggest puppy eyes for your co-teacher.

Changmin looks down, and the grin he has on his face, along with Hyunjae’s, is something you wish to see for the rest of your life, truly not being able to describe how much happiness you were feeling in the moment. “Of course I did. I missed you and your little train,” he coos, reaching down to boop his nose.

Youngjae lets out an exaggerated gasp at the newly found information, running away to grab his train for Changmin.

“Now look at what you’ve done,” you chortle. Seeing the way you laugh only made him happier, praising Youngjae when he comes back with his toy. He then faces Hyunjae to pinch one of his cheeks, bringing his gaze back over to you.

“I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”

“I can’t believe you made them paint with their hands before lunch,” Changmin guffaws, bringing all the dried up paintings from the tables into his hands.

“Clearly not one of my brightest ideas,” you sigh.

Your attention was brought away from Changmin when noticing two students that stood far from where they were supposed to be: by the sinks. Your eyes narrow at the sight of Joonyoung carelessly wiping the paint off of his hands with Hyungseo’s shirt, covering the fabric in stains of the nauseating brown that were the result of multiple colors being mixed together.

With a groan, you place the paint tubes that were in your hands onto a nearby table before calling Joonyoung out for his action.

“Hey hey hey, none of that, Joonyoung.” You walk over to where he stood by the bookshelves and drag him away from Hyungseo, and only then did the younger boy realize what Joonyoung did to his shirt, gasping loudly for the entire class to hear.

“Come on you two, let’s wash your hands before we eat.” You bring both of their hands into yours in order to tug them over to the sinks, having them join the other boys that were already cleaning up.

Hyungseo being on the brink of tears shouldn’t have made Changmin laugh, but it does. He picks up the tubes of paint while smiling to himself, dropping them into a nearby basket that sat on one of the tables before heading over to the table with all the paintings he hasn't collected yet. He picks them up one by one, analyzing each one while acknowledging who painted what. Right when he picks up the last painting, he isn’t even given a chance to look at it when Hyunjae immediately sees him holding it, running over to him. “Do you like my painting?” he hiccups, gazing up at the teacher.

“Hm? Oh this is yours?” He looks back at the painting in his hand. “Are these your parents?” he asks, though he was left confused considering none of the people presented on the paper resembled Hyunjae’s mother, at least from what he remembers.

“Nope!!” he quips. He brings Changmin down to his level by pulling onto his sleeve so he’s able to see the painting as well, bouncy in his spot. “It’s you and Teacher Y/N!!”

“Really? Then...why does it say family at the bottom of the paper?” Changmin turns to look at the boy, confused.

“Because you and Teacher Y/N are my family! Well, kind of. In my dream you guys were!!” Hyunjae is looking at Changmin with the brightest set of eyes, smiling brightly. “You guys were married.”

Changmin coughs loudly at this newly found information, looking away from the painting to see if you had heard anything that came from the boy’s mouth. Thankfully you hadn’t, too distracted with helping Sangyeon wash his hands to notice him talking to Hyunjae.

He barely knows you, and yet here Hyunjae is, dreaming of you two as a married couple.

“I wanted to add the other boys and the daycare in the painting,” Hyunjae continues, kicking at the ground with his crocs, “but I didn’t have enough paint.” He frowns, eyes wandering over his painting.

Changmin turns back to look at the artwork, furrowing his brows. “Wait, so if this is me and Teacher Y/N, I’m guessing that’s Teacher Y/N?” Changmin points to the figure on the right before directing his finger over to the figure on the left. “...And that’s me?”

“Nope!!” Hyunjae repeats, snatching the painting out of Changmin’s hand. He then pointed to the figure on the right. “That’s you, oh and that’s me in the middle, and that’s Teacher Y/N!” he exclaims.

“Really?” Unable to hide the shock in his tone, Changmin lowers his voice so he wouldn’t bring any unnecessary attention to the pair.

“Yeah! Oh! And you see these wings behind Teacher Y/N? Those are angel wings! Oh! And you’re the devil.”

“...What?”

Changmin reaches to take the painting back into his grasp, glancing at it, and surely enough, there are poorly drawn devil horns adorning the top of his head in the painting.

“I got bored,” Hyunjae explains nonchalantly, truly finding no issue with what he drew. “And they make you look cool!!!”

“You are terrible,” Changmin sighs out, but Hyunjae’s frown at the comment made him completely switch up his words. “...-Terribly adorable!!” He coos, giving one of Hyunjae’s cheeks a pinch.

Your voice rips the two out of their momentary fit of giggles, adding to the ruckus being caused around the sinks. Not only were Youngjae and Sunwoo splashing water at each other, but two other boys were huddled up by the sink in the corner of the counter, their backs hunching over the sink.

“Not again!” you cry out loud. “Younghoon, Chanhee, away from the sink, I beg.”

Both Hyunjae and Changmin turn to look at you out of curiosity, watching how you pull the pair away from the sink. The action reveals the bunches of paintbrushes gripped in their hands, giggles escaping the two boys. Changmin chuckles at the sight, shaking his head in disbelief at the two boys’ repeated antics before turning back to face Hyunjae.

“Do you want to help me hang these up?” Changmin raises the paintings in his hands, presenting them to Hyunjae. The boy brightens up at the sigh, rapidly nodding his head in response. Content, Changmin stands up and gives Hyunjae his hand to hold onto, leading the boy over to the bulletin board.

“That’s Juyeon’s painting,” Hyunjae points out, referring to the painting that was already pinned up. “Youngjae and Sunwoo were bullying his plane, so Teacher Y/N helped him put it up.”

“Youngjae and Sunwoo were bullying him?”

Hyunjae shrugs, not really caring. “They’re mean.”

A laugh escapes Changmin when he hands Hyunjae the painting, moving on from the topic by bringing the boy up into his arms, picking him up. When he feels like he has a firm grip around Hyunjae, he uses his free hand to open the box of push pins. “You’ll hold the paintings up to the board, and I’ll pin them in, okay?” he hums, looking at Hyunjae for confirmation.

Surprisingly, Hyunjae proves to be very cautious when holding the paintings up for Changmin. With every painting they successfully pin up, Changmin let’s out a ‘woo!’ before scooting over a few centimeters to pin up the next one.

Once the two are finished, Changmin tells Hyunjae to hurry and wash his hands. The boy complies, running over to join you and the rest of the boys by the sinks.

Changmin follows after him with a satisfied grin, picking up the baskets of paint tubes on his way over to you. He sets them by the counter with the rest of the baskets before running his hands under the faucet. While all the boys rushed to take their lunch bags out of their backpacks, you had your arm buried in the drain, fishing out the paintbrushes the two rascals shoved in there for fun.

“Want me to help again?” he chuckles, drying his hands with a paper towel after turning off the faucet.

You shake your head, rejecting his offer. “You did a lot already,” you explain, turning your gaze back to the sink. A thin paintbrush was pulled out of the drain and set aside before your arm dived in once again, checking to see if there were any remaining ones left. You turn to look back at Changmin, eyeing him. “Thank you, by the way.”

“I’ve barely done anything,” Changmin pouts, leaning against the counter as he watches you.

This time, you pull out a slightly bigger paintbrush, that one joining the tiny one to the side. “Well, it’s the most help I’ve ever gotten since I opened this daycare,” you snort, avoiding eye contact.

Changmin notices the way your face falls when the realization of the lack of help dawns on you, feeling his heart drop as he knew he was part of that cause.

But before he could apologize for the nth time that day, you smile, slowly moving your head over to look at him. “You should go eat with the rest of the kids, by the way.”

Changmin bites the inside of his lip, his gaze flickering between your struggling hand and the kids scurrying to sit with their friends. “I mean...are you sure? I bought lunch for the both of us,” he reminds you, taking a glance at the plastic bag of take-out ramen placed by one of the sinks earlier. “It’d be pretty rude of me to start without you…”

“Oh,” you murmur, recalling the gesture. You’re unable to stop the heat from shooting up to your cheeks, trying to avert your attention back to the paintbrushes in the drain. “Right, uh, it’ll be okay. I’ll join you in a bit, then.” You send him a warm, reassuring smile and turn your attention back to the sink.

He nods and leaves you to bring the plastic bag into his hands, taking it over to one of the vacant round tables within the room, setting it down.

All ten boys are quick to crowd Changmin in a matter of seconds once he has taken a seat, intrigued with what the teacher had brought for lunch. Specifically, Haknyeon was interested in the styrofoam cups being pulled out of the bag, scurrying his way through the elder boys to catch a glimpse of Changmin’s lunch.

Not being used to receiving this amount of attention, the teacher easily grows flustered with the number of kids surrounding him, not really knowing how to have them get back to their seats. So he opts to continue what he was doing, removing the lids from the cups and setting them to the side whilst ignoring the oohs and aahs coming from the children. It truly makes him flustered with every word that leaves the kids, avoiding eye contact with all of them.

“Boys, go back to your seats.”

Their heads shoot up towards you, doing exactly as you say in an instant at the sight of you. You are drying your hands with a paper towel as you approach Changmin, giving the relieved male a playful wink. Laughter escapes you when he avoids having his gaze meet yours, too embarrassed to send you a thanks.

But the remaining smile on his lips and the faint blush on his cheeks already does all the thanking, especially when you pull over a chair to sit right beside him.

Shyly, he slides over one of the styrofoam cups and gives you a set of chopsticks before focusing on his own meal. He pulls the chopsticks out of its paper covering, snapping the wooden sticks apart while you’re quick to dig into the ramen, eating happily while watching the other kids begin their lunch.

There are multiple conversations happening in the room, but with only ten other students, it isn’t hard to differentiate each one. Sangyeon, Joonyoung, and Youngjae are all talking about their older siblings while Chanhee, Hyungseo, and Sunwoo are talking about cheese. Why? You don’t know, but somehow the conversation ends up being way more interesting than expected, and it makes you tune in, listening to each word that leaves that certain table’s mouth.

Meanwhile, the last table consisted of Juyeon, Hyunjae, Haknyeon, and Younghoon. Hyunjae was the one who did most of the talking, but only two boys were listening.

Before Changmin is able to dip his chopsticks into the ramen, Haknyeon somehow manages to slip away from his table unnoticed and makes his way over to the male with quick steps. He stands right next to Changmin when he’s about to take his first bite, staring at him. His eyes do all the talking, begging for Changmin to share it with him.

Changmin sits there, frozen as the noodles hang from his chopsticks. He locks eyes with Haknyeon, and only then does the four-year-old open his mouth, pointing to it.

The ‘ahh’ that leaves Haknyeon is what makes your attention from Sunwoo’s rant about melted cheese shift over to what was happening between Haknyeon and Changmin, almost choking on the noodles due to the sudden presence of the young boy. A burst of sudden laughter erupts from your throat, letting your chopsticks rest in your cup as you bring a napkin up to wipe your lips.

You’ve been used to Haknyeon always approaching you whenever it was lunch time ever since he started attending the daycare. You reacted the same way Changmin is reacting currently, but as time passed, you eventually learned how to say no to his puppy eyes. Though there have been times when you gave in, but you made sure that he would ask politely before doing so.

But clearly, he forgot to do as such when it came to Changmin.

Well, either that or Haknyeon just didn’t care about being polite since Changmin was the new teacher.

“He wants to eat your food,” you hum, your insight snapping him out of his frozen daze. He notices the way you pick up your chopsticks and point them at his cup before continuing to finish whatever you had left.

“I figured,” Changmin mumbles. He isn’t even sure how to explain to a four year old that he himself was starving and truly needed this cup of take-out ramen to himself, so he gives up and easily caves in.

He sets the chopsticks aside before bringing Haknyeon into his lap. Carefully, he twirls the noodles around his chopsticks and brings it into the four year old’s mouth, feeding him while his free hand is placed below his mouth in case there would be any spills.

You watch the two’s every movement, continuing to stuff your mouth as you speak. “Do you not plan on eating?”

He loudly sighs with a pout overtaking his features, subtly shaking his head. Changmin then looks at Haknyeon, watching the boy eating his oh so precious ramen with the happiest smile on his face. The sight eventually brings a smile to the teacher’s face. “I’m sure this little kiddo is starving way more than I am, so I’ll be okay,” he reassures.

As Haknyeon chews, Changmin notices the sounds the boy was making while eating. He pokes his cheek with his index finger, the grin on his lips making his cheeks hurt. “Good job,” he praises after feeding him another bite. He then looks at you, deciding to mimic the noises Haknyeon made while chewing seconds earlier. “Nyam nyam nyam nyam nyam.”

You snort, holding yourself back from smiling. “Did you just- did I hear you correctly?”

The smile on his lips doesn’t falter when he brings his chin over to rest on top of Haknyeon’s head, leaning against the small boy in his arms with the cheekiest look on his face. “Nyam nyam,” he responds.

“...Oh my god, don’t start talking like that,” you groan, feeling embarrassed when he lets out a laugh.

Changmin continues to feed the boy in his lap, playing with him in the process. As continuous ‘ahh’s leave both of their lips, you choose to bring your attention back to the rest of the boys in the room. You watch as a majority of them become immersed into trading their snacks with one another, Chanhee breaks out into whines when Hyungseo scams him out of a bag of gummies.

Youngjae hears the commotion going on and seeing Chanhee triggered tears of his own, bailing while hitting his hands against the table.

With a sigh, you quickly pat your lips dry before standing up, ready to go over and calm the boy down. This easily captures Changmin’s attention in the middle of him playing airplane with Haknyeon, freezing with his chopsticks being held up in the air.

“Wait, Y/N.”

His words stop you from proceeding further, the wails only getting louder within the playroom. Joonyoung is basically slapping Youngjae’s back at this point to calm him down, but the action really doesn’t do much justice.

Changmin quickly turns to face Haknyeon and whispers a question along the lines of ‘you know how to use chopsticks, right?’ to him before having the boy occupy his seat despite Haknyeon shaking his head no. While Haknyeon starts creating a mess with the chopsticks he was given, Changmin goes over to you. “Just finish eating, I got it.”

“What? Wait what, no, Changmin it’s okay.” You remove yourself from the table, but he stops you, warily holding onto your shoulder.

“I’m serious. I want to redeem myself, I got this.”

Without giving you a chance to respond, he leaves you and rushes over to Youngjae.

You are hesitant since Changmin really doesn’t know how to deal with kids, at least from what he’s told you, and you are debating whether to join him or not. You eventually ease back into your seat, wanting to make sure Haknyeon wouldn’t choke himself with the chopsticks.

By now, Chanhee has fully shut up because of how loud Youngjae was, the boy covering his ears as he no longer cares about Hyungseo eating all his gummies. A loud groan comes from Sangyeon, telling the boy to shut up.

Changmin goes to stand in front of Youngjae, crouching down to reach his level. There is visible panic that fills his vision, mind racing with ideas on how to calm a crying toddler.

You’re about to stand up again and step in but Changmin is quick to make a decision, taking action shortly after by grabbing the toy train from the table. He dashes away from Youngjae as fast as he could with the train, running to the opposite side of the playroom.

Youngjae’s cries come to an immediate halt when seeing how his train has been stolen, sprinting after the poor teacher.

It leads to Changmin being tackled onto the reading rug by not only Youngjae, but his best friend as well, the two youngest boys falling into fits of giggles when Youngjae dances in victory after stealing his train back.

Sunwoo continues to lie on top of Changmin, having the teacher in a chokehold, but the male makes no attempt to move, lying down on the rug with a satisfied grin resting on his lips. He shoots you a smile when he catches your gaze, making you look away in an instant.

But in the midst of Youngjae dancing, the boy accidentally trips over Changmin’s ankle, falling right back into his sobs when he hits the ground.

“Not really fond of kids my ass,” you grumble after recalling Changmin’s attitude given on the day you showed him around. You are standing by one of the round tables while analyzing the way Changmin picks up the boys one by one to give them a warm hug as they begin to leave.

“Y/N!” he exclaims after hearing you, pressing Sangyeon’s head against his shoulder as if to cover his ears. “There are kids here!”

Sangyeon is too immersed in snuggling up into Changmin’s embrace to even care about you saying a curse word while Hyunjae is glued to Changmin’s side, holding onto his shirt while looking up at the two, or well, three, of you.

“Teacher Y/N always curses around us,” the one on the ground explains, making your co-teacher shoot daggers your way. “But it’s okay! Teacher Y/N even lets us curse!! Just not around our mommies and daddies,” Hyunjae hiccups, reassuring Changmin with the ecstatic smile on his face as he finds no issue with what he just uttered.

Changmin thanks Hyunjae for the newfound information, setting Sangyeon back down on the ground so the two boys can go off and play for a bit before having to leave.

“You let them curse? Seriously?” Changmin cocks his brow at you. “What do you teach these kids?”

“A lot,” you admit, shrugging your shoulders. “They’re my world though, remember? They’re all I really have in life, but trust me, they’re all very respectful. Plus only Hyungseo and Sangyeon curse! The rest just don’t care, and even so, none of them could hurt a fly.” You pause, your eyes looking around the room for the only blondie in your room. Both yours and Changmin’s gazes trace after Haknyeon’s actions when he removes one of his shoes from his feet, an excited Sunwoo and Youngjae tailing after him when he walks up to one of the bigger windows in the playroom.

“Except for Haknyeon,” you add. “I don’t really know about Haknyeon.”

Haknyeon tosses his shoe at the window, scaring the fly away that was there previously.

“Mommy!! Daddy!!” Younghoon exclaims, running over to his parents that have just entered the playroom.

You urge Changmin to follow after him, having him meet Younghoon’s parents as you watch over the rest. One by one as the children leave, Changmin waves goodbye to all the parents that enter the playroom to pick their sons up, sending a warm smile and a hug to the boys leaving.

“You like the kids, don’t you?” you ask when Changmin returns from the front door, joining you by one of the tables as you both supervise the last two boys in the playroom, watching Hyunjae excitedly show off the small building he’s made with legos to Sangyeon.

The smile on his lips doesn’t falter at the question, giving you a jest as a response. “Maybe I do.”

Though, the grin contradicts his teasing words, especially when Sangyeon leaves his spot to run over to Changmin, pulling the teacher over to meet his parents and older sister that have just arrived.

When the playroom is finally rid of all the children, except for Hyunjae, you and Changmin begin to clean up, starting with washing the surfaces of the tables first.

“When will Hyunjae’s parents pick him up?” Changmin asks, curious since it has been ten minutes since Sangyeon has last left.

“That,” you sigh. “I don’t know.” You wipe the sinks clean of their paint, washing it all down the drain. You frown when you reach the last sink by the corner (the sink that keeps being choked with paintbrushes that Younghoon and Chanhee manage to pull out of their asses), noticing that the water wouldn’t go down the drain. “God damn these kids,” you mutter, making a mental note to call the plumber.

Once every table has been wiped down and all the sinks have been cleared of paint, you and Changmin move to the small shelves that hold the countless number of toys you had bought recently for the summer wave. As you help one another put the toys back into their respective plastic bins, Hyunjae is by the bookshelves, browsing through them for a book that he wants you to read to him.

“They really do adore you,” you comment, breaking the silence. You stay focused on organizing the toys rather than Changmin’s reaction to your sudden words, avoiding his gaze at all costs.

“Do they?”

“Of course they do. You’ve only been here for what, one full day? And it’s clear you’re wonderful with kids, or at least with the kids we have here. I don’t know why you said otherwise a week ago.”

His cheeks flush up at the compliment, shyly rubbing the back of his neck after snapping the lid shut onto one of the bins. “I, uh, never really worked with kids before. Not like this, at least. I’ve always just assumed I’d be horrible with kids because I guess I always found them irritating, like, very, so today was quite the surprise for me too,” he coughs out, darting his gaze anywhere else but you.

“Well, for someone who has never worked with kids, you did really, really well with handling the situations and getting along with the boys today. I mean it,” you hum as you stack one of the bins on top of the other, pushing them back into the shelves. “You brought so many smiles to their faces when you arrived.”

“Thanks,” he murmurs.

The silence that has returned would’ve been deafening to both of your ears if it wasn’t for Hyunjae singing along to the song Kidult by Seventeen while skimming the shelves. It’s the only sound that accompanies you when you two finish cleaning up whatever was left with the toys, but the question lingering in your mind threatens to break the tension between you two.

“Changmin, if you don’t mind me asking, what-...what made you decide to come back?” you whisper.

His head shoots up to look at you. He stands up when he sees that you both have finished with the toys, hesitant on how to answer. His mouth is repeatedly opening and closing every few seconds, unable to form any words as he thinks. “Uhm…”

He looks over at the boy by the shelves, watching him struggle to reach for one of the books on the top shelf while standing on his tippy toes, pausing his singing to focus on grabbing it.

“Hyunjae,” Changmin finally answers. “Hyunjae’s the reason.”

And you. He came back for you too.

“He’s the sweetest, isn’t he?” you sigh, walking over to one of the tables to sit down.

Changmin nods along to your words. “He definitely has my heart,” he adds.

Changmin does the same, choosing to sit in the seat next to yours as you both watch Hyunjae flip through the pages of the book, a frown making its way up to his face when he realizes that he’s already read it. He goes back to singing Kidult after putting the book back on the shelf, continuing to look for one that catches his attention.

You look over at the door of the playroom, it being wide open as it waits for Hyunjae’s mother to walk through the doorway. When you look at the clock, you frown, taking note of how it’s been an hour since Sangyeon has left, and there has been no message from Mrs. Lee about arriving late.

“You know how his name is Hyunjae?” you ask, sparking up a conversation about the little boy. You continue when Changmin nods. “Well, I don’t know if you heard his mother when she arrived on your first day here, but his actual name is Jaehyun.”

Changmin’s face morphs into pure shock, but he stays silent, urging you to continue with your ramble. He stares into your eyes while you look at the boy by the shelves, a smile making its way to both of your faces when you hear him attempt to reach Dokyeom’s high note in Kidult.

“When he first started attending the daycare, I mistook his name as Hyunjae. I always called him that in front of the other kids, and soon enough those kids also started calling him Hyunjae because he never corrected any of us. I didn’t actually know his name was Jaehyun until I had a proper conversation with his mother.

When I brought this up to Hyunjae, he explained that he preferred being called Hyunjae. He liked it especially because it brings him a sense of comfort and inclusivity. His parents never gave him a nickname growing up, always referring to him as ‘Jaehyun’. He says he always wanted someone to call him ‘Jae’ or ‘Hyun’, so when he heard me calling him ‘Hyunjae’, he assumed it was a nickname I’ve made up for him. He said it was the first time since someone had ever given him a nickname like that and stated how special it was to him. So because of that, I never stopped and neither did the kids. I don’t think half of them even know that Jaehyun is his real name, but I doubt Hyunjae would like them to know anyway.”

Changmin listens to your story in awe whilst Hyunjae was completely oblivious to the talk you were having about him.

“The name Hyunjae really does suit him, though. As much as I love the other boys, he truly stands out. One of a kind, if you ask me. Like his name, he’s a gift to the class. Then again, more so a gift to me, if anything. I couldn’t ask for anything better. He’s always making the other boys smile, being the absolute mood maker of the daycare. Sometimes he appears out of nowhere and scares the shit out of me, but it all doesn’t matter in the end because I’m always thankful for his presence. ‘Surprise, it’s Hyunjae, your surprise present!’ used to be his catchphrase, but it’s been a while since I’ve heard it from him...” You chew on your bottom lip, heart already aching at the reason behind why he had stopped saying it.

“Hyunjae’s mother caught him saying it to me once and told him to never say it again-...Why? I don’t really know.”

With a gulp, you’re hesitant to continue, but you push forward, wanting to dump all your thoughts out, even if Changmin was still considered only a co-worker to you.

“His parents- they’re sweet, I’m sure, but they never give Hyunjae the time of day. In the years I’ve had Hyunjae here, I’ve only met his father once. Crazy, isn’t it?”

Your laugh is bittersweet.

“I love them, but there are days when I wish I could take care of Hyunjae myself, you know? Take him back to my apartment, feed him, read him a few books, tuck him into bed. Just do anything instead of having him go back to a home where he’s barely acknowledged. If he wasn’t at the daycare, he would be at home with a babysitter...It’s not only that his parents work a lot, but they also do everything without him. Shopping, partying, hanging out with friends of their own whenever given the chance, and a year ago, the babysitter quit. There really hasn’t been any changes in their habits except they would call me to ask if they could drop him off at the daycare in the middle of the night, treating me like I’m the new babysitter. I’m honestly positive they’ll do it again in the next few months.”

Changmin finally speaks up. “Have you tried talking to his mother about it?”

You bitterly suck in some air, eyes roaming around the playroom as you nod. “Yeah, I have. Multiple times actually, stating that a child needs attention from their parents, even if it’s only every once in a while. She honestly...didn’t really appreciate me talking about it. Says it’s none of my business.

His mother has always been the sweetest to me and still is, but whenever I bring the topic up, she gets angry. She lashed out the last time I mentioned how important it was for her to be there for him and eventually yelled at Hyunjae for telling me about his personal life…H-He cried about it to me the next day, running into my arms to tell me all that had happened the night before, so ever since then I do my best to shut up about it around her.”

Tears start pooling up in your eyes when your mind replays what happened that day, wiping them away instantly. “It’s a shame, really, how she speaks so highly of him but treats him otherwise from what I’ve been told.” The topic saddens you the more you talk about it, resting your head in your arms on the table. Hyunjae has stopped singing, flipping through the pages of another book. “Your heart isn’t the only one Hyunjae owns.”

Once again, Hyunjae is shoving the book right back into the shelves, looking for another one that he would think you’d read wonderfully.

“I really do wish there will be a day where I can adopt him. I know it’s impossible, but it’d be a dream come true: to have a son like him, to give him the parenting he deserves. Though, Hyunjae’s mother loves him too much to give him to someone else, and it’s completely understandable.

I just wished that even if they couldn’t spare him a second of their time, they’d at least treat him well and call him by what he wants to be called instead of ignoring what makes him happy. He once tried getting them to call him Hyunjae, but they ignored it, sticking with Jaehyun, and we both know how that turned out. I guess that’s why Hyunjae’s mother didn’t like it whenever he used that catchphrase around me. ‘Jaehyun is his birth name’ is what she used to reason with.”

Throughout your entire rant, Changmin’s gazing into your eyes as you speak with so much love in your tone, resonating with the pain you’re feeling. He listens to everything with a broken heart of his own, wishing that he could pull you into your arms and tell you it’s alright. He fights back from doing so, allowing his hands to rest in his lap as listens to you continue.

“I really can’t express how much I want to be there for him when he isn’t at the daycare. I wish to be there for him on the weekends, but I guess this is the most I could do for him.” You suck in a sharp breath, slowing your breathing in order to calm your bubbling anxiety.

“Hyunjae—really means a lot to me. I’d honestly save him from the world if I’m ever given a chance. I’d gladly take a bullet for him any day, you know?” And for once, you finally turn to face Changmin, a weak smile being brought onto your lips as your eyes connect with his. “I saw the painting he made on the bulletin board earlier,” you add, “and it’s clear you mean just as much to him as he does to me, so thank you. Thank you for coming back. Thank you for making him so incredibly happy.”

Changmin is left speechless, especially when your eyes hold the starry nights in them. You look at him with such sincerity and vulnerability, truly thankful. The pain from leaving you and the boys has stuck with him ever since he slammed the door on you guys, making his heart drop to the pit of his stomach every time he thinks back to it.

“Of course. I’d do anything for him.” He looks right back into your eyes, reaching to bring one of your hands into his. The intimate moment causes the both of you to fall silent, and it has Changmin’s mind racing. He wishes that he had done better and had been more mature about the situation, but after a week of thinking about his actions, he knew he wanted to better himself. Not only for Hyunjae, but for you as well.

“I’d do anything for you too,” he adds through a whisper. He shortly realizes how weird it sounds for him to say that to someone he barely even knew, clearing his throat loudly before correcting himself. “I just feel really bad for ditching you...too.”

You sniff, laughing at his words. “It’s pitiful, isn’t it? How this is my job? I’m barely making a living out of it.” With a sigh, you gently pull away from his grasp and lean back into your seat. You shake your head, looking down at the ground in embarrassment. “I’m sorry for becoming so vulnerable in front of you. Everyone always becomes so- hateful when they hear about children, and it hurts my heart because these ten boys own my everything. Even if it would only be me taking care of their chaos this summer, I couldn’t be happier. I’m just, really glad to have finally found someone that cares just as much for these boys as I do. Even if you don’t verbally admit it, I see it. Something changed you this past week.” You look at him with hope, wanting him to confirm your words.

And he does as so with a nod, eyes darting down to his fingers. “Yeah, something did.”

Before you could ask him what had changed him, Hyunjae is running over to you with a stack of books in his hands, making you shut down the conversation you were having with Changmin.

“Five books today?” you ask after counting the number of books he was holding, confused.

Hyunjae hugs the books close to his chest as he looks at the clock, creases forming on his forehead. “I don’t think mommy is coming soon,” he mumbles, setting the pile of books onto the table. He chooses one for you to read and hands it to you, climbing onto your lap. He waves to Changmin with a grin before getting comfortable in his spot by shifting into your embrace, clapping his hands excitedly when you open the book.

Changmin understood everything you said earlier, but he understands how you feel about Hyunjae even more as he watches you read the book out loud with the boy pointing to every picture that you two come across. He also notices every single detail about you as you continue reading. He sees the way your eyes glimmer when you look at the boy between your arms and the smile on your lips when Hyunjae perks up at the plot twist of the picture book. His loud gasp and commentary make both you and Changmin grin.

By now, Changmin should be at home on his couch, relaxing while scrolling through a list of shows because he no longer had a use at the near vacant daycare, but he refuses to leave you and Hyunjae alone.

So he continues to listen to the way your voice glides across the pages of the book, becoming immersed in the stories made for children.

And for the first time in forever, Changmin feels at home. Your voice brings him into so much ease, and he knew at that moment he would never want to leave either of your sides.

Soon enough, two hours have passed, and within those hours, you have read eleven books to the two boys. Although Hyunjae has fallen asleep against your embrace, you continue reading the twelfth book in your hands.

Your words come to a stop when you feel a head gently falling onto your shoulder, turning to see that Changmin has fallen asleep as well.

The snores that came from the two boys accompany your silence, and you decide that you’ll stop reading for the time being. You do your best not to move much so you don’t wake either of the boys up, placing the book back onto the stack of books Changmin organized on the table.

You move to rest your head against Changmin’s, letting your eyes fall shut after tightening your grip around Hyunjae.

You aren’t given one single apology when Hyunjae’s mother comes to pick up her son, and Changmin’s pissed.

It is one in the morning when she pulls the glass doors open, the jingle waking you up from your slumber. Hyunjae remains fast asleep in your arms while Changmin is standing by the bookshelves, occupied with putting the books back into their respective spots. He almost drops the few books left in his arms when Hyunjae’s mother rushes into the playroom, gritting his teeth at the sight of her.

She doesn’t give you nor Changmin a single explanation as to why she was late. She doesn’t give you a ‘thank you for keeping him safe for me’ or an ‘I’m sorry for arriving this late into the night’, and instead she dismisses it with a tired gaze washed over her features.

All she says is ‘I’m here for my son’, and before Changmin could speak up, you already have Hyunjae up in your arms, holding him close against your chest as you leave the room with his mother.

Changmin fumbles to get the last few books back into the bookshelves before rushing to follow after you, stopping in his tracks right when he exits the glass doors. He watches you intently, noticing how you give Hyunjae a kiss to his forehead while his mother wasn’t looking after buckling him into his booster seat. You wave her goodbye when the car drives off, turning to look back at Changmin.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” His lips are pressed into a thin line after pushing out the words, arms crossed tightly over his abdomen with an intense gaze locked onto your eyes.

While it seems like you’re used to it, Changmin is extremely irritated with how the situation turned out to be.

Both of you knew this isn’t how a mother should be when picking up her child in the middle of the night.

Your rant about Hyunjae’s mother didn’t help Changmin’s thoughts whatsoever, his hatred for Mrs. Lee only increasing when you don’t give him a response.

The tears from before start returning to your eyes, your eyes becoming extremely glossy under the moonlight. You rush to push past him, ignoring the way he frustratingly tails after you inside.

“There’s no way you’re letting her do this to you. Y/N, seriously?? She’s basically using you to hold Hyunjae and chooses to pick him up whenever she feels like it. The daycare closes at a certain time, and she should know that. Hell, Y/N, she does know that.” You swing the door to the playroom wide open as Changmin speaks, blocking out his words.

“It’s whatever. It isn’t like this is the first time it’s happened,” you grumble, walking over to your desk.

Changmin stands by the doorway, leaning against it as his arms make its way back over his chest. “Doesn’t mean it’s right. You’re exhausted, and you know damn well she’s the cause. How many times has this happened??”

“It’s fine,” you spit, shoving your belongings into your bag. You don’t want to discuss the topic any further, knowing that it’ll break you if you continue, but Changmin doesn’t stop.

“You should’ve been home eight hours ago, Y/N. Eight hours ago, the daycare closed. Eight hours ago, Mrs. Lee was supposed to be here to pick. Hyunjae. Up.” You dismiss his words with the roll of your eyes, slinging the bag over your shoulder as you storm out of the playroom, Changmin trailing right after you once he turns off the lights. “And eight hours ago, both you and Hyunjae would’ve had dinner. But guess what? None of that happened.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” you mutter.

“It’s so clear. If only you would open your eyes and see how fucked up this entire situation is-”

“Oh please,” you interrupt, stopping in your steps. You turn on your heels to face him. “You’re making a fuss right now because you didn’t get to go home earlier, aren’t you? Is it because you didn’t get to eat all day? Seriously, Changmin, knock it off. It’s fine, I’m fine. It’s not my fault you were the one who chose to stay.”

Your words make his features scrunch up due to confusion. “What??? No- what? It’s none of that. Y/N, don’t you understand? I’m concerned for you.” He stops to take a deep breath, calming himself down in front of you. “I care for you.”

You just stare at him, the expression on your face being unreadable.

You’re about to leave when Changmin speaks up once again, his question having you rooted to the ground beneath your feet.

“You- you walk home, right?” he asks, unsure. “I’m just assuming because...well, my car is the only car in the parking lot right now…”

Your feet kick at the ground whilst you let out a somewhat inaudible scowl, slowly turning back around to face him again. “I do,” you mutter.

“Then can I at least drive you home? It’s late.” His eyes are begging you, and you notice the sincerity his past few sentences held. “I don’t- want you to get the wrong idea, I just- please? Can I? You’ve already had to deal with so much, and I don’t want you to wear yourself out this late in the night.”

An exasperated sigh escapes you, and you give in with the nod of your head. Changmin is more than ecstatic when you accept his offer, helping you across the street and to the park. He surprisingly opens the door to the passenger seat of his car for you, and you’re given no choice but to thank him.

While Changmin moves to settle in the front seat, you’re busy pulling up the directions to your apartment complex, putting your phone up on the dashboard for him to see.

The car ride is mostly silent, the radio being set on a low volume to accompany the two of you. It takes a while for the both of you to calm yourselves down, avoiding looking at each other at all costs.

You allow Changmin to accompany you on your way up the flight of stairs and to the door of your apartment.

He whispers an ‘I’m sorry’ when you enter your apartment, and you look at him with a warm, forgiving smile when you respond with an ‘it’s okay’.

“I’ll see you in a few hours, Changmin,” you murmur, giving him a small wave goodbye. He reciprocates the action with a ‘goodnight, Y/N’ before finally leaving, preparing himself for the hectic summer he’ll be having in front of him.

You’re busy gathering materials for the next activity you plan on having the children do when Changmin calls out for you, running over your way with Joonyoung in his arms. “Y/N!!”

“Do you need help with something?” you ask, on your tippy-toes in order to grab the baskets of colored pencils from the cabinets above the sink.

A huge grin is worn on his face when he approaches you, showing off the sleeping Joonyoung on his shoulder. “Look,” he murmurs, keeping his voice quiet in order to not wake him up. He leans his head against the boy’s while proudly smiling at you, feeling ever so giddy within.

Your gaze shifts between Joonyoung and Changmin, perplexed. “Is something wrong? Is he okay?”

“Wha- oh, him? Oh yeah, he’s fine.”

“...Then what’s the issue?” you question, closing the cabinet shut before bringing the small baskets into your arms, bringing them to the rounded tables.

Changmin follows after you, gently bouncing Joonyoung in his arms as he watches you place two baskets in the middle of each table before moving onto the next. “Nothing! There’s no issue. I just think the boys are really starting to like me.”

Once you place down the last basket in your arms, you turn to face Changmin, searching his face for any sign of a teasing demeanor, but the dimple adorning the bright smile plastered on his face makes you doubt he’s messing with you. The smile doesn’t even leave when he sees the two preschoolers behind you; if anything, it only makes his smile wider.

“You’re just figuring that out? It’s been a week since you’ve been here, Jichang, of course they like you.” You take a few steps closer to him before jabbing a finger into the middle of his chest, making him look at you. “They’ve liked you ever since your first day here, dummy.”

“Teacher Y/N just called Teacher Changmin a dummy!!” Sunwoo shrieks, alarming the class with his voice. Youngjae cackles evilly, enjoying how his best friend is the tattletale of the class.

The two kids run away when you turn around, joining the rest of the boys by the circle of bean bags.

“Were- were they always there?” you stutter, slowly turning back to face Changmin.

He nods with a laugh. “Yeah, I didn’t want to say anything though.”

Changmin glances at the sleeping boy in his arms, bringing a hand up to the boy’s face to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear. “And in response to what you said earlier, sure, some of the boys liked me on my first day here, but it took a while for the rest to like me, like Joonyoung!”

He then gently presses his hand up against one of Joonyoung’s ears as if to deafen him temporarily (despite him already being fast asleep), leaning forward in order to whisper to you through the loud laughs coming from the bean bags. “Do you know how superior I feel?”

You chuckle, gently pushing him away from you. “I’ve told you many times that you work really, really well with kids. Honestly Changmin, you’re even becoming a kid yourself.”

Sunwoo interrupts your conversation by running back to the two of you, but instead of Youngjae tagging along, it was Haknyeon. “Teacher Y/N!!” Sunwoo screams, waving up in the air to grab your attention. “Teacher teac- oh-” he stops making a fuss when he sees Joonyoung stirring in Changmin’s arms, one of the boy’s hands reaching up to rub his eyes open.

Changmin mutters a ‘darn it’, but wishes Joonyoung a good morning, quietly asking him if he had a good nap on his shoulder.

“Teacher Y/N,” Sunwoo repeats.

“Is there something wrong?” you ask, looking to see where the two boys came from. You realize that the room went dead silent, frantic gazes presented on both Sunwoo’s and Haknyeon’s faces. Your eyes trail back to the bean bags, seeing Youngjae’s body sprawled out while the other kids poke at his cheeks.

“Youngjae fell asleep,” Haknyeon explains, raising the water bottle he’s been holding in his head.

“Then let him sleep,” you sigh.

“Wasn’t he awake just two minutes ago?” Changmin wonders, setting Joonyoung down on the ground so the boy is able to join the rest of the children.

“He knocks out randomly,” Sunwoo explains.

Haknyeon starts shaking the bottle in your face. “Teacher Y/N,” he pouts, finally garnering your attention.

“Oh what- holy hell, no Haknyeon, we are not doing that again-”

“Pretty pleaseeee,” Sunwoo begs, Haknyeon being quick to join his pleas.

“A no is a no,” you explain. “The last time we did that, Youngjae threw a fit and caused all of us to go hide in the bathroom while he-”

“Thank you, Teacher Changmin!!” the boys thank in unison, running back over to the bean bags with the now opened water bottle.

You look at your co-teacher in disbelief, mouth fallen agape. His hands were on his hips, satisfied with what he had just done and the cheers heard throughout the playroom from the other boys.

Only then did he realize your wide eyes were staring into his soul.

“What?”

“T-They’re going to pour the water on Youngjae,” you sputter.

“Yeah, I guessed.”

“...He’s four. He could drown.”

“I know CPR….kind of. But hey, YouTube exists!!” he beamed.

Both of your heads snap over to the group of boys when Youngjae gasps for air, his piercing gaze darting towards the boys that had poured water on him.

“You really are a kid,” you mutter, taking his wrist in your hand before dragging him over to the closet in the corner of the playroom.

Changmin is too busy locking eyes with Sunwoo, giving the young boy a thumbs up before returning his focus back over to you. “Am not! I’m just the cooler teacher between the both of us.”

“You’re the bratty one if anything.” You pull the closet open and grab the mop after releasing him from your grip.

“Sounds like someone’s jealous,” he coos, letting out a huff when you hand him the mop. “Also, I’d prefer playful, not bratty.”

“Changmin? Playful? Well, isn’t that new?” You mimic his coo, shoving an empty bucket into his chest. “Fill it up with water.”

“Wait- how does cleaning water with water make any sen-”

“Oh just do it, Changmin.”

You’re busy playing bingo with Hyunjae, Sunwoo, and Haknyeon when Hyungseo walks up to you, shyly standing next to you with his hands behind his back. “Teacher Y/N...I have a question,” he begins.

“Oh? What is it?” you ask, pulling Hyungseo away from the table in case it turns out to be something personal.

You can hear Sunwoo saying ‘awh man’ in the background, and it makes you assume that Hyunjae won with the loud ‘HAH’ that follows afterwards.

“Why hasn’t Teacher Changmin read us anything yet? Is he not going to read to the class?” Hyungseo is kicking at his feet when he speaks, avoiding eye contact.

“That is a...very good question, Hyungseo.” You look over at your co-teacher and find him brushing a doll’s hair with Chanhee, the two looking like they were in a very deep conversation. “Should we go over to him and ask?”

Hyungseo nods and follows you over to the pair. You have Hyungseo join Chanhee before taking Changmin into your grasp, pulling him up onto his feet before bringing him out of earshot.

Changmin still has the doll in his hand with the brush tangled in its hair, waving it in front of you. “I don’t know if you can see, Y/N, but I was busy playing salon with Chanhee.”

You roll your eyes. “Guess what Hyungseo just asked me.”

“What?”

“‘Why hasn’t Teacher Changmin read us anything?’” you repeat Hyungseo’s plea word for word.

His face falls blank at the question, pushing away from you in order to avoid the question. You laugh loudly and pull him back.

“C’mon Jichang, he’s not wrong.”

“Says the one who calls me Jichang,” he grumbles, setting the doll aside on one of the tables.

“It rolls off the tongue easier,” you shrug. “But that’s not the point. July is almost approaching, which means you’ve basically been here for around three weeks, and you haven’t read a single story to the class.” You frown, loosely hugging yourself as you continue with your eyes slowly drifting away from Changmin. “I know you’re only here for the money, but it wouldn’t hurt to read to them, you know?”

Changmin internally flinches at the mention, wishing he wasn’t reminded of why he was here in the first place. “It’s not that I don’t want to,” he explains. “It’s just-...well, okay yeah, it’s because I don’t want to.”

“Exactly, but at least try it once! Just to see how it goes, and if it turns out traumatizing, then you don’t have to do it again for the rest of the summer.”

“I’m not reading a story-”

“STORY!” Youngjae squeaks, running out from behind Changmin’s legs and over to the bookshelves to grab a book.

Sunwoo awkwardly steps out too, waving to the both of you before leaving.

Changmin’s left in shock. “Were they always there?”

“Yep.”

He sighs, rubbing his temples.

Youngjae trips over his feet when he runs back over to you two with a book in his hands, reaching up to hand it to Changmin. Changmin takes it and stares at the cover, his distressed eyes turning into shocked ones.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Nope. Not doing this. The Three Little Pigs? More like not today!-”

“Great!!” you exclaim, clapping your hands. “Everyone, gather by the reading rug because Teacher Changmin has a story he’s going to read to us.”

Changmin glares at you, but you’re too busy moving the kids to the rug. You have them all sit down while facing the rocking chair you bought recently, motioning Changmin to come over.

Out of all the kids, Hyungseo is the one most excited despite having already read The Three Little Pigs on countless occasions. He’s the one sitting closest to the chair, hand in hand with Joonyoung as they anticipate the new reader.

Seeing him makes Changmin give in with a sigh, walking over to sit in the rocking chair. Changmin’s never been a fan of reading, much less a fan of reading out loud, but considering they’re only kids, he convinces himself that it can’t be too bad. Not to mention it’s a children’s book and not a presentation.

Though, it doesn’t help that all ten boys are staring at him in silence, waiting for the teacher to start.

You pull one of the chairs out from under a table, bringing it over to the rug to join the rest. You give him a warm smile to reassure his anxious state, gesturing for him to begin.

Juyeon catches your presence from the corner of his eye and stands up, almost stepping on Youngjae as he makes his way over to you. The preschooler reaches out his hands, hesitantly asking if he could sit in your lap through a whisper.

A laugh escapes you as you nod, pulling him up into your lap. While you’re checking to see that Juyeon is snug in your embrace, Changmin is constantly clearing his throat in order to spare himself some time from reading.

“Oh hurry up,” Younghoon groans loudly, earning himself a slap from Hyungseo.

“I will throw this book at you,” Changmin threatens, eliciting a laugh out of the younger boys of the group. The teacher clears his throat once more before opening it up to the first page.

When he begins to read, his voice comes off as shaky, but as time passes, Changmin grows to naturally read the words off the pages with ease, making sure to project his voice loud enough for the boys.

It all goes smoothly until Haknyeon stands up in the middle of the story to head over to you, asking you through a whisper if he could go use the bathroom. You nod as a response and give him the ‘go ahead’.

You turn your attention back to Changmin and notice his eyes looking into yours, the story coming to a halt.

‘Is he okay?’ he mouths, gesturing towards Haknyeon with a worried expression.

You reassure him by mouthing ‘he’s okay’ in return, and the stiffness in his posture fades.

So Changmin continues and even tries making it fun for the boys, mimicking the wolf by lowering his voice to the best of his abilities. The kids burst into a fit of laughter when Changmin starts to choke after attempting to recreate the wolf’s blow in the story, pulling a chuckle out of you as well.

The room is then filled with the sound of the phone ringing, making everyone’s head turn to the direction of the sound. You bring Juyeon down onto the ground in order to stand up, making your way over to the phone.

“It’s Teacher Y/N’s boyfriend!!” Youngjae screams, causing him to be shoved over by Chanhee.

Changmin hears this and perks up.

“Boyfriend?” he murmurs, setting the book down before jogging over to you out of curiosity. “Since when do you have a boyfriend?”

“Since never,” you snort. “They just like teasing me about it because I’m single.”

When Changmin parts his lips to respond, you bring a finger up to your own, motioning him to hush as you bring the phone up to your ear.

“Hello, this is Y/N speaking.”

“Y/N! Goodness gracious, I’ve been stuck in traffic for the past hour now, and I’m nowhere near home. I’m afraid I won’t be able to pick Chanhee up in time today.”

“It’s no problem, seriously,” you respond while eyeing Changmin. “Thank you so much for calling in advance.”

The playroom goes back to being filled with the children’s laughter, but Changmin is still tuning into your conversation, leaning against the cabinets.

“Chanhee is doing great here...Mhm, yeah, seriously, it’s no worries...You too! Have a wonderful day, Mrs. Choi.”

The phone call ends with a smirk on Changmin’s face, and you blatantly ignore it while putting the phone away.

“So, you’re single?”

“You stayed here during the entire conversation just to ask that?”

“No, actually. I also wanted to bring up how that is exactly how a situation should be handled—unlike what Hyunjae’s mother has been doing for the past few weeks. She’s never consistent with picking Hyunjae up and never calls to inform you.”

“Yeah yeah, I know.”

You’ve heard enough of Changmin’s scolding for the past three weeks, and he’s used the excuse that although he has never taken care of children in the past, he knows enough about the rights and wrongs of parenthood.

‘Were you ever a parent yourself?’ was what you had asked when you wanted him to shut up, but it only made him point out that he doesn’t have to be a parent to know human decency.

“Hey, I’m just saying.” Changmin shrugs and follows you out from behind your desk, hands behind his back as he looks at you from over your shoulder. “So...no boyfriend?”

He’s grinning brightly, teasing you when you continue to groan loudly.

“You really enjoy the fact that I’m single, don’t you?” you say as you mop the floors.

“Huh? What makes you say that?” Changmin is also mopping with you; ever since Changmin started allowing the boys to pour water on Youngjae in order to wake him up, you bought another mop just so he could help you clean the floors.

While you two were cleaning after the long day of making paper airplanes, Hyunjae, the only boy left in the playroom (again), is on the beanbags, humming to himself while reading a book you bought specifically for him.

“You haven’t stopped teasing me about it ever since Mrs. Choi’s phone call from a week ago.”

“I mean I just didn’t know you were single until then. I never thought about your relationship status, but if I ever had to think about it, I’d assume you were seeing someone.” He shrugs, setting the mop aside to pick up the bucket of dirty water.

“Why would you assume that?” you ask, curious. You set the mop aside as well, sitting down on one of the chairs to relax your feet.

“I don’t know. I guess because you work with kids.” The impact of the water from the bucket hitting the sink makes Hyunjae squeak at the noise, the book dropping from his hands.

“I lost the page I was on,” he frowns, picking it back up.

Changmin apologizes to the boy and brings the empty bucket back over to you, hugging it.

“Are you single?” you question.

He smiles at your sudden interest in his love life, nodding. “Yeah, I am.” He then gasps, putting the bucket down on the ground before leaning over the table to look at you. “Wait if you’re single, and I’m single, can I take you out on a date?”

If you were drinking water while he spoke, you would’ve definitely spat in his face.

“I- excuse me? Huh? You want to take me out on a date?” Your question is loud enough for Hyunjae to hear it, the young boy tuning into your conversation.

“Well it sounds weird when you say it,” Changmin huffs, scrunching his nose. “I mean since we’re going to be working with each other for the next two months, why not? It wouldn’t hurt to get to know each other more. It doesn’t even have to be the romantic kind of date, just something platonic between two friends.”

You can’t help but smile at his words, glad that you aren’t the only one that considers each other ‘friends’ instead of ‘co-workers’ now. The teasing grin on his lips also makes it incredibly hard to decline his offer.

“Okay, fine.”

His grin turns into shock, not expecting you to give in so easily. “Wait, really? You’re serious, right?”

“You guys are dating?” Hyunjae asks, voice raising as he shuts the book. He leaves it behind when he runs over to you two. “You guys like each other?”

The sudden question from the kid makes the both of you unintentionally flustered.

“No,” you deny. “Go back to reading your book.”

He frowns, sulking on his way back to the bean bags.

“Is that a yes to the date?” Changmin asks, his voice a bit lower so Hyunjae is unable to hear.

“Your enthusiasm is telling me you’ve been wanting to ask me out for the past three weeks,” you tease, standing up from your spot to gather the mops into your hands.

“Again, when you say it, it sounds really weird, but hey, it isn’t wrong for me to want to get to know you better.” He picks up the bucket and leads you over to the closet, pulling it open.

“I guess you’re right there. I kind of want to learn more about you too.” You set the mops inside of the bucket once it has been placed down on the ground, going back to sit at the table.

“Really? Am I that interesting?” Changmin pulls out the chair next to you and sits down, letting out a satisfied sigh after being finally done with cleaning the playroom.

“Yes, in fact, you are,” you scoff.

Despite working with Changmin for the past three weeks, you knew absolutely nothing about his life outside of the daycare. You don’t know the person he was (or is), and what he even needed the money for.

Though, you did learn about how cocky he could get, but you blame that on the boys in the daycare. If it wasn’t for them, Changmin wouldn’t be so comfortable teasing you whenever given the chance.

“What do you want to learn about me, then?”

“That-” you stand up when hearing the jingle from the front door, “-I’ll answer when we’re on our ‘date’.”

Hyunjae scrambles to put the book on the shelf when you go to greet Hyunjae’s mother, inviting her inside the playroom. She takes her son back into her arms with ease, rushing to leave the place right after.

She barely even gives you and Changmin a chance to say goodbye, but you shrug it off, knowing you’ll see him early in the morning tomorrow.

With everyone finally gone, you are about to go relax when you see Changmin already gathering his belongings, set to leave for the day.

The sight makes you feel uneasy, unable to stop the frown from appearing on your lips. Even when all the kids are gone, you and Changmin tend to hang around the playroom and have little talks before parting ways. Never has Changmin been this eager to leave the daycare, the corner of his lips turned upwards as he shoved his belongings into his pockets.

Your first impression of Changmin was that he was a dick, only here for the money, but he surely proved himself otherwise the past few weeks, causing him to not only grow on you but grow closer to you as well. He has been all smiles whenever he was around you and the boys, and you would be lying if you said it didn’t affect you in the slightest.

And perhaps your heart did flutter when he suggested the date earlier.

You wouldn’t say you have fallen for Changmin just yet; it has only been three weeks, after all.

But in those three weeks, he’s always brought a genuine smile to your face and helped you whenever you needed it. You felt like a preschooler again with the crush you had on him, and it was hard not to perk up whenever you heard his voice.

So to see him not wanting to spend any more time with you did unintentionally create a pit in your stomach.

“Going home already?” you ask, hesitant.

“Hm? Oh, no.” He laughs. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily. I’m stuck with you all summer, remember?” Changmin makes sure to check that he has everything before walking towards the doorway. He suddenly freezes, turning around to look at you.

“Wait, you’re available right now, right?”

“Huh? What- right now? Yeah...why do you ask?”

“...Holy shit, did I forget to ask?”

Your forehead creases, completely puzzled. “What?”

“The date. Let’s go on it. Right now. I meant to ask if we could go before Hyunjae leaves, but I guess I forgot.”

“O-oh....Right now?”

He sighs and re-enters the playroom. “Yes, right now. I remember seeing a diner on the way back to your apartment, and I was thinking we could have it there before I drop you off. I could also use a burger.”

You’re heated and at a loss of words, unable to move from your spot.

Changmin finally sees the expression you’re wearing, the excitement from his face washing away. “Uhm, I-I didn’t get the wrong idea, did I?”

His words snap you out of your daze, pushing the chair back as you stand up. “Not at all! Sorry I just-...I’d love to go on that date with you. Right now.”

Changmin stops you from pulling the door to the diner open, leaning against it as he looks at you. “So, what do you want to know about me?”

Your disbelief is evident in the scoff you let out. “Seriously Changmin? We haven’t even entered the diner. The date doesn’t officially start until we’re sitting.”

Changmin exaggerates his frown, becoming all pouty. “You’re no fun.”

He pulls the door open and follows you inside, looking around at the interior. There were only two or three other people in the diner, all sitting alone while on their phones.

“Table for two,” you hum to a waitress, soon being led over to a booth in the corner.

Changmin sits across from you and the excitement is back on his face, leaning over the table while you pick up the menu. “So, what do you want to know about me?” he repeats.

“Impatient, aren’t you?” you laugh, skimming through the menu to see what you would like.

“I got it from Youngjae,” he gloats, flashing you a smile before picking up the menu himself. He already knows he wants a burger so it didn’t take long for him to choose which one, but it takes you a few more minutes to finally decide on what you wanted to eat.

After telling the waitress what you both wanted, you answer the question that he couldn’t stop asking.

“Well, for one, I want to learn about what you did before working at the daycare. Or is this your first job? Oh! I also want to know about what you need the money for and why you took the job.”

He cracks a smile at your rambling curiosity, slouching back into his seat with his gaze settling outside the window.

“You see, after graduating college, I applied for this elite dance academy. One of the best of the best. They accepted me in a heartbeat, but it turns out I didn’t have enough funds.” He tucks his hands into his pockets before turning his head back to look at you, deciding to maintain eye contact while explaining.

“So I worked many small jobs. Fast food, cashier, pizza delivery. Then last year, I finally found a decent paying job, and I was close to reaching my goal before it went out of business a month ago. Luckily, I saw your job offer and realized that the pay by the end of the summer is the amount I need left.”

He taps his foot against the ground, tilting his head as he looks at you. “So that means when summer ends, I’ll be off across the country, attending the dance academy I’ve always dreamed of going to.”

“Ah.” you nod, understanding. “So, dance is your passion?”

He clicks his tongue. “Bingo.”

“Okay okay, my turn.” Changmin then fixes his posture by sitting up straight, going back to leaning over the table with bright eyes gazing into yours. “What made you decide to open the daycare?”

Thrown off by the sudden closeness, you gulp, stuttering as you try to form your sentences. “Uhm, well, uh, I don’t know. I opened it a few years ago after uh- kind of running away from my parents. I always loved kids, so I figured a daycare would be perfect for the town we live in.”

A look of adoration takes over Changmin’s features. “You ran away from your parents?”

You sigh at the memory, nodding. “Yeah. I cut ties with them once I graduated high school and moved here after college.”

Changmin smiles lightly at your response, finally pulling away when he sees the waitress arriving. “I’m the same! Kind of. My parents never supported my passion for dancing, saying it was useless, so I left. Haven’t heard from them since.”

The crooked grin plastered on his face makes you laugh, shaking your head. “I guess we are similar in some aspects, huh?”

“Definitely.”

The waitress sets down the plates in front of the two of you, leaving after receiving your thanks. Changmin digs in instantly, having not eaten lunch yet once again due to feeding Haknyeon everything he packed.

“Do you like dancing?” he asks with a stuffed mouth.

You twirl your spaghetti with your fork, playing with it as you hum. “Never tried it.”

His jaw drops. “You’re lying,” he accuses, setting his burger down to pat his lips clean.

“God, I wish. I just never had a reason to.” You finally start to eat what was on your plate, ignoring the bewildered look Changmin has on his face.

“Let me change that.”

“Hm?”

“Let me give you a reason to dance. You see, Y/N, a life without dancing is like-...is like, uh- it’s like a life without kids!”

You gasp dramatically, dropping your fork onto your plate to bring your hand over your chest. “You did not just go there!”

“Indeed I did!” He huffs proudly, going back to eating his burger.

“How would you give me a reason to dance?”

Changmin leans back into the booth and thinks, eyes wandering around the ceiling. “Hm. That’s a good question.”

You roll your eyes and shake your head, resuming to eat your spaghetti.

After five minutes of thinking, Changmin begins to whine. “I mean, aren’t I enough of a reason?”

“Not really,” you tease. “I mean, what? Are you going to pull me out into the middle of this diner just to get me to dance?”

“...I mean do you want me t-”

“No.”

“We could be living the life of the main couple in a movie, Y/N,” he sighs.

“Who says we’re not?” you retort, stabbing one of the meatballs on your plate with your fork.

Your words throw both you and Changmin off guard, becoming silent after hearing what you had just said.

“I did not mean to say that out loud,” you mumble, covering it up with a cough.

But a smile slowly grows onto Changmin’s lips, looking down at his burger as he can’t stop himself from feeling giddy inside.

July and August pass like a breeze. Because of this, it barely spares you a moment to even think about your developing feelings for your co-worker.

Your summer isn’t that eventful considering it was the same thing every day: go to the daycare at 5:30am, leave with Changmin at 6pm (or later if Mrs. Lee chooses to pick up Hyunjae later than usual), eat dinner with your favorite show playing at 7pm, and then sleep at 9pm.

Both you and Changmin have boring lives because of this set schedule, and there were no longer any talks about having a second date.

Maybe the first date was just platonic after all.

But you know your feelings for Changmin aren’t platonic whatsoever. The way he mimics Youngjae’s lisp as the preschooler learns to form words always manages to give you a boost of serotonin, and the way he protects Juyeon from the others whenever the five-year-old does something to piss Chanhee off has you melting.

In all honesty, with how Changmin was able to steal your heart in only two months, you would’ve already confessed.

But something held you back.

You can’t tell if it’s because Changmin would be leaving or if it’s because you don’t want to be left heartbroken.

It’s been years since you last fell in love (yes, in love) with someone, so it comes as no surprise when you finally realize that you’re head over heels for your co-teacher.

On Changmin’s last day in the daycare, you and the boys threw him a surprise farewell party after having it in the works for weeks, and thankfully it was one that completely caught Changmin off guard.

And if you remember correctly, he did cry a bit as well.

So now, after Changmin has wished all the boys goodbye, the only people remaining in the playroom are you, Changmin, and Hyunjae.

At least this time you received a call from Hyunjae’s mother, stating that she wouldn’t be able to pick him up until later in the evening.

Changmin was quick to insert a quip when you hang up, joking around by saying ‘that’s her gift to me for finally leaving, isn’t it?’.

“I’m sorry I can’t stay longer for Hyunjae.” Changmin slings his backpack over his shoulder after zipping it up.

“I understand. You need all the time to go pack.” You walk over to him with an envelope in your hand, passing it over to him. “As promised.”

He slowly brings it into his hands and takes out the final check he’s been waiting for, and he’s unsure if he wants to smile or frown. “Thanks,” he murmurs.

Changmin doesn’t move from his spot, continuing to stare at the paycheck while his fingers fiddle with the paper. You took the opportunity to head to the bulletin board, removing one of the paintings.

After a minute of silence, Changmin sighs and puts it back into the envelope, holding it in one of his hands.

And yet he’s still unable to move, but that’s mainly because Hyunjae has his arms wrapped tightly around his legs, unwilling to let the older male go.

“You’ll come back one day, right? To visit us?” he asks, looking up at him.

He leans down to give his head a pat, running his fingers through the boy’s hair afterwards. “Of course I will,” he whispers, smiling warmly.

“Promise?”

Changmin laughs and crouches down onto the ground, putting out his pinky. “I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” you tease, returning with Hyunjae’s painting in your hands. You crouch down to join the other two just so you could poke at his shoulder.

“Who says I can’t keep promises?” Changmin cocks a brow at you.

“I was just testing you,” you coo, laughing when Changmin shakes his shoulder away from your finger.

“Once I graduate from the academy, I will come back to visit the daycare, and maybe I’ll get to see Hyunjae all grown up.” He brings his attention back to the five-year-old, noticing how Hyunjae has been tearing up. Changmin wiggles his pinky, urging Hyunjae to link it with his.

Hyunjae sniffs loudly and wipes away his tears with his sleeve before linking his pinky with Changmin’s. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you more,” the teacher whispers, gently tugging on Hyunjae’s pinky to bring him closer. He presses a small kiss to Hyunjae’s forehead.

Changmin then looks over at you. “Link your pinky with ours to seal the promise.”

“Hey!” Hyunjae exclaims, making the both of you giggle.

Your dejected smile doesn’t go unmissed when you wrap your pinky around theirs.

Changmin gives Hyunjae one last, comforting hug before you’re walking him out the doors to the entrance.

As always, he pulls the glass doors open for you to walk out first, joining you shortly after.

Instead of walking to the parking lot, you two head for the bench that sits by the only active street in front of the daycare, watching the cars speed by while you sit there in silence.

The wind runs through his hair, and yet it still manages to look gorgeous as ever.

“You will come back one day, right?”

Changmin laughs at the question. “Are you really doubting my ability to keep a promise?” he looks over at you and cracks a wide smile. “Of course I will. For you, I will.”

You give him no response, and he clears his throat, going back to look at the cars. It takes a while for you to give him Hyunjae’s painting, falling right back into the silence as he stares at the paper in his hands.

A few minutes pass and you realize that you shouldn’t be leaving Hyunjae alone in the daycare for this long, so you stand up.

He shadows your action, standing up with you with both his paycheck and Hyunjae’s painting in one hand. Changmin doesn’t stop looking at you, like he was waiting for you to say something.

You knew it was now or never.

“...Changmin.”

“Yeah?” he asks.

And you chose never.

“Give me a call when you make it to the academy. Just so I know you made it there alright.”

If you were looking, you would be able to see the sparkle in his eyes vanish, his gaze no longer holding a glint of hope for what he wanted you to say.

You have your back facing Changmin, refusing to even spare him a glance. You never did too well with goodbyes; it’s the reason why you always run from people in your life or ignore the people that had to leave.

“Goodbye, Changmin,” you breathe out, and just like that, you’re gone.

The knock on your door grows increasingly louder each second, proving the person on the other side impatient.

Before stumbling out from under your blankets, you manage to capture a glimpse of the time on your alarm clock.

Who the fuck could be at your door at 2 in the morning?

It’s hard to keep your eyes open as you feel around for the lights, flicking them on before heading over to the front door.

You’re so tired that you forget to check who was outside your door, swinging it wide open just to get the knocking to stop.

And there stood Changmin dressed in his plaid pajamas, his chest heaving after running up the sets of stairs. His glasses look like they were put on at the last minute, and the mess on the top of his head is something you don’t even want to talk about.

Before you can even part your lips to speak, he raises a hand up to your face, shutting you up with just that one gesture.

He’s leaning against the doorframe, trying to catch his breath.

“T-that has, oh my god, that h-has got to be the most exercise I’ve done in months.”

“W-what are you doing here?” you stutter, having your eyes frantically scan him all over.

“Sleep, I-I coul-couldn’t sleep.”

“Changmin, do you want to come inside to rest? Is everything okay? Why- why the fuck are you at my apartment at 2am???”

“Wait just- give me a few seconds,” he wheezes, bent over with his hand on one of his knees. “Holy shit I’m so out of shape.”

You glare at him, judging eyes burning straight into his skull. You’re now completely wide awake with your heart beating against your chest, still in disbelief how your crush was standing in front of you.

“Fuck, okay okay, I-I’m better. Listen Y/N, I’ll just say everything here, in front of you, okay?”

“Say what?”

“Just listen.” He pauses to stand up straight, leaning against the doorframe as he fixes his glasses. “Y/N, I couldn’t sleep because it’s bothering me. I—I don’t know how else to say this, but fuck it’s been bothering me so much, and I just–god, I really need you to tell me.” He has his fingers wrapped around the doorframe, gripping it tightly as he continues to breathe heavily. His eyes are searching through yours for some sort of confirmation.

You remain completely oblivious to what he means, your eyebrows furrowed as you try to figure out what he wants from you. “You...need me...to tell...you? Tell you what??”

Changmin shuts his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, rubbing it between his fingers as he speaks.

“Tell me...tell me I’m not the only one who wants something….Us. I want us, Y/N. I wanted us for these past two months, but I was so stupid to hold off on confessing because I was afraid it was too early. I keep thinking I’ll eventually move on from this stupid crush on you, but I can’t, and I don’t think I will until you tell me straight to my face that you don’t like me.”

You try to interrupt him, but he doesn’t allow you to do so.

“Two months, Y/N. I’ve been feeling this way for two months, and I don’t want to move on from these feelings. I don’t want to. I can’t, and I came here to see if you feel the same about me before it’s too late.”

He’s biting the inside of his cheek as he waits for you to respond, but when you’re left speechless, he continues.

“Just—just tell me whether you like me or not, and-” he gulps, frustratingly running a hand through his hair, “and if not, if I completely misunderstood the hints you’ve been giving me in the daycare, then I’ll be on my way back. I’ll go pack my suitcases and prepare to leave for tomorrow. I’ll leave, I’ll go to the academy, and come back to the daycare in the next few years. Ju-just like I promised, but Y/N, if you do like me, please, please just tell me because I don’t know how long I can go on without knowing how you feel, and it’s bugging the fuck out of me.”

“I- Changmin-”

“Y/N, please, I’m begging you. I need closure before I leave.”

When you stare into his eyes, the desperation is clear. You’re struggling to figure out if this confession is real or not; if this wasn’t just some stupid dream you’re having.

So without thinking, your fingers reach to tug at the collar of his flannel, pulling him in to smash your lips against his.

The impact and the actual touch of his lips causes your eyes to shoot wide open, realizing what you’ve done. You push him away in an instant, gaping at him. “Fuck, holy fuck, this is real. You’re real.”

He stares at you in disbelief after stumbling backwards, blinking multiple times.

“...I didn’t run up seven flights of stairs just for you to say I’m real.”

“Holy shit, you’re real!” you exclaim. Your hand reaches for the door, slamming it shut with your back pressed up against it.

Now you’re the one left breathless, frantically looking everywhere as you try to process what the hell just happened.

It takes Changmin banging his fist on your door for you to finally open it up again, and you’re not even given time to think when he pulls you in by cupping your cheeks, pressing his lips against yours.

“I’m real,” he whispers once he pulls away, grazing his thumb over your skin.

You mirror the smile that formed on his lips, moving to wrap your arms around his waist to pull him in closer. “Are you sure?”

“...Do you need confirmation again?”

When you nod with the brightest look on your face, he doesn’t hesitate to bring you back in for the third kiss of the night.

“Good afternoon, darling.”

You roll your eyes at your co-teacher’s greeting after entering through the glass doors, setting your bag down onto the front desk.

“One night, Changmin. We’ve only known about how we felt for each other for one night, and you’re alr- wait. How the fuck did you beat me to the daycare?”

You shoot your gaze over to the open door leading to the playroom, entering the room to find Changmin standing on one of the round tables with something in his arms.

“I came here at 6am, actually. Forgot that the daycare opens later now because the kids have school, so instead of going back home, I went to go buy a projector!” He turns to face you and stretches his arms out towards your way, presenting it to you. “Look!”

“You sound exactly like Youngjae whenever he wants to show off his toy train,” you chuckle, standing right next to the table he was on with your hands on your hips.

“Oh shut up. Aren’t you going to ask me what I’m doing with a projector? Or why am I standing on a table?” He becomes pouty due to your lack of curiosity, hugging the projector close to his chest.

Unfortunately for him, you just find him incredibly adorable. “Okay okay, fine. Changmin, why are you standing on the table with a projector?”

“Great question! I’m trying to mount it up onto the ceiling.” He brings his gaze up to the ceiling, pointing up at it. “I already got the wires taped up and the base screwed in, see? I just need to hook this thing up to that thing, and yeah—yeah it should work.” He gives the projector a gentle pat before looking back at you.

Skeptical, you narrow your eyes at him. “...Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Nope!” he strangely replies enthusiastically. “But I’m sure the guys on YouTube know what they’re doing. YouTube is very helpful, you know.”

“Yes, I’ve heard….Are you sure that thing is sturdy? What if it falls onto one of the kids?”

“Easy. Just don’t put the kids under the projector.” Changmin tries to bring the projector onto the hook he’s connected to the ceiling, struggling to make it line up with the screen he hung up.

“Okay, fine. What if it falls on me?”

“...Don’t stand under the projector.”

You continue to pester him with questions as he adjusts the position of the box.

“Okay, but what if the projector flies across the room and then hits my head?”

Changmin bites the inside of his cheek, slowly removing his hands from the box before smiling proudly at himself. “Flies? I don’t think that’s possible, Y/N.” He turns to look down at you. “But if it ever does happen, I’ll kiss your head better.”

“...I kind of miss the old Changmin.”

He hums, taking the wires into his fingers as he tries to connect them to the projector. “No you don’t.”

You move to sit on the table Changmin was standing on, continuing to look up at him with a smile creeping onto your face. You couldn’t even get mad at him for the way he’s behaving; not when he’s here with you and not at the dance academy.

However, he notices this, and being the petty person he is, he nudges your butt off the surface of the table with his foot. “Y/N, off,” he mimics, reminding you of his first day here.

“We’re not in front of the kids,” you reason, watching him get him off the table.

He stares up at the projector to see if it would fall before looking at you. “Oh, so we’re going to play that game now?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

To Changmin, the question was taunting, so he doesn’t hesitate to peck your lips, catching you off guard.

“What was that for?” you ask, blinking when he rests his hands on your thighs.

“Just taking my chances while we’re not in front of the kids.”

“Gross,” Sunwoo deadpans, making your head turn towards the direction of the voice. Both he and Youngjae are standing in the doorway, staring at what you two have just done while holding onto their backpacks.

“Cootie alert,” Youngjae yawns, and the two make their way over to their designated baskets, tossing their backpacks into them before sluggishly waddling over to the bean bags.

You turn to look back at Changmin with wide eyes, and his expression mirrors yours.

“Do you- do you think they noticed?”

“Noticed the fact you’re back or the fact we kissed?”

Changmin huffs at your response before facing the two kids, noticing how they’re already knocked out with Youngjae’s snore filling the playroom.

“School tires them out,” you explain, removing yourself from the table to join the two, crouching down in front of them.

Changmin goes over to your side and sits down on the ground, poking Sunwoo’s cheek. “Hey buddy, no hello for Teacher Changmin?”

Sunwoo peeks an eye open and shuts it right after, shifting in his spot to face the other direction. “Later, ‘m tired.”

After a minute or two, Youngjae shoots up in his spot, wide eyes searching for said teacher. “Teacher Changmin?!?”

The laugh that escapes you warms Changmin’s heart instantly, unable to remove his eyes from you while Youngjae runs over to him, repeatedly poking his dimple.

“You’re here?? What are you doing here?”

By now, Sunwoo has also jerked awake, finally able to connect two and two. He excitedly wraps his arms around Changmin’s neck, almost choking him when he tightens his grip.

You watch as Changmin plays with the two boys after settling in Youngjae’s spot on the bean bag, unable to prevent the smile from forming on your lips.

“How was school?” Changmin asks, holding onto Sunwoo’s arms when the four-year-old starts jumping up and down.

“Terrible!”

“I like my teacher.” Youngjae smiles.

The difference between the two voiced opinions makes Changmin laugh, pulling both of them into his grasp. He then starts to attack them with tickles, calling it revenge for not being spared a single glance earlier.

Slowly, the other boys start to file into the playroom after being dropped off by their respective buses, many sharing gasps and screams at the sight of the returned teacher.

Hyunjae is the one who arrives last, kicking at the ground when he makes his way inside the daycare.

He stops when he sees Changmin, and the happiness that explodes within him is indescribable. He’s left speechless at the sight of his favorite person, and his backpack falls onto the ground when he stands frozen by the door. Hyunjae’s wide eyes are glued onto Changmin’s every movement, mouth falling agape.

The six-year-old rubs his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things, but surely enough Changmin is actually standing right in front of him, waving.

“I cried over you yesterday!” he accuses, pointing his finger at the teacher.

But Hyunjae doesn’t hesitate to run over to him when Changmin crouches down onto the ground with open arms.

“I thought you were going to come back when I’m all grown up,” he whispers, burying his face into the crook of Changmin’s neck.

“I mean it’s your first day of first grade, isn’t it? I’d say you’re all grown up.” Changmin holds the boy close in his embrace, and Hyunjae pulls away, bringing the teacher’s cheeks between his hands.

“It was scary,” he whispers, squishing his cheeks.

“Well I’m here now, so you can tell me everything that happens in class.”

You’re pettily watching everything unfold from your seat on the bean bag, cuddling a tired Youngjae to sleep while the other boys are scattered throughout the playroom.

“Where was this energy when I was sick for two weeks?” you mumble.

“I missed you when you were sick,” Youngjae mumbles, unintentionally slapping your chest with his hand due to being half asleep.

“Bye Teacher Changmin!!”

Changmin waves Hyungseo and his parents goodbye and returns to the playroom.

You have already begun cleaning up, and Hyunjae has his nose buried in the book you bought him, silence overtaking the room.

He walks over to you and sees that you’re dusting the cabinets, wanting to see if he could be of any use.

“There’s not much to clean today since we barely did anything.”

Changmin agrees, bobbing his head up and down. He chooses to lean against the counter, watching your every move.

This causes you to start a conversation, asking a question that Changmin hasn’t answered.

“You never explained why you bought a projector earlier.”

He tilts his head tenderly towards you, beaming at the topic you brought up. “Right! Remember when I said I’ll give you a reason to dance?”

You nod, slowing your movements just so you could spend more time listening to Changmin speak.

“I thought it would be a nice idea if every Sunday, we could have the kids do karaoke! I’m sure they’ll enjoy it. Right, Hyunjae?” He turns to look at the boy, but Hyunjae is so immersed in the plot of his book that he’s unintentionally blocking out the conversation you’re having with Changmin.

Changmin’s face falls. “He likes that book too much,” he mutters.

“It was one of my favorites as a kid,” you explain. “It’s a bit more advanced for a six-year-old, but his reading comprehension is pretty up there. Not to mention he’s mature enough to understand the topic it’s about.” You stop what you’re doing to bring the duster over to Changmin’s face, tickling the tip of his nose with it. “You should read it out loud to him one day.”

You laugh when Changmin gags, pushing the duster away from his face. “That’s disgusting, Y/N!”

“Anyway, we went off topic. So basically you’re saying you planned karaoke every Sunday without me? When this is my daycare?”

“Basically, yeah.”

You set the duster aside and fake a pout. “I’m feeling very betrayed right now, Changmin.”

“Hey, it’s a great idea! You would’ve accepted it anyway. I bought the microphones and speakers online, and I’m waiting for them to arrive.”

“...Where the hell did you get the money?”

He looks elsewhere, shifting his weight between his feet when he blows a raspberry. “The paycheck…”

You look at him concerned, your voice falling softer as you speak. “You’re really not going to the dance academy, huh?”

“...Not anymore, no.” His gaze falls to the ground, acting like a kid that’s afraid to admit wrongdoing. “I have no reason to attend when I want to share a future here….with you. Cheesy, isn’t it?”

His words bring a shy smile to your face. “Pretty much, yeah. Also, since when did you become so lovey dovey? We’re not even officially together.” You lean along the counter with him, wishing he would look up so your eyes could gaze into his.

“It’s hard to resist saying stuff like that around you,” he admits, scratching his nape. He looks up to find the cabinets still open. “Are you done dusting?”

“Oh! No, not yet.” You take the duster back into your hands and pick up where you left off, a blush forming on your cheeks when you feel Changmin’s eyes on you.

“So....how is karaoke going to give me a reason to dance?”

“Simple. We’ll give the kids the microphones and have them sing while we dance.”

You glance over at him. “You’re crazy.”

“What??” He stands up straight, getting defensive. “How? It’s a wonderful idea, if you ask me. They’ll be too busy singing to even notice us dancing.”

“Yeah, and my ears will be too busy bleeding.”

“Y/N!!” He looks over at Hyunjae to see if he’s heard anything.

“Listen, have you ever heard kids sing? Specifically, have you ever heard Youngjae sing??” You shove the duster into the cabinet before closing it shut.

“In fact, yes I have,” Changmin bluffs, tilting his chin upwards.

“It’s horrendous.”

“It is not!” Changmin defends. “He’s only four!”

You roll your eyes playfully at him, walking over to join Hyunjae by the bean bags. “And I’m only being honest.”

Changmin scoffs, crossing his arms as he follows you. “You don’t deserve Youngjae and his toy train.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Hyunjae asks, making a mental note of the page in his book before closing it.

Changmin sighs and plops down next to Hyunjae. “Teacher Y/N is being very disrespectful towards Youngjae’s ability to sing.”

“...But Youngjae can’t sing.”

“See!” You sit across the two, bringing your knees up to your chest. “I’m not the only one who feels that way.”

Shifting the topic, Changmin’s eyes dart down to the book in Hyunjae’s hands. “What page are you on?”

“I finished the book already,” Hyunjae says nonchalantly. He gives it to Changmin while you’re looking at the kid with wide eyes.

“Already??”

He nods. “The boy in the story, he….he dies, right?”

“That’s pretty much what’s implied, yeah,” you confirm. You lean over to ruffle up the boy’s hair. “I knew you’d catch on!”

“Great, you just spoiled it for me,” Changmin frowns, mainly messing around.

Due to his playful tone, Hyunjae slaps his arm, resting his head against it afterwards.

Changmin pouts and sets the book aside, wrapping an arm around the boy. “Are you tired?”

Hyunjae nods.

So Changmin brings Hyunjae into his lap, allowing the small boy to curl up in his embrace. “I’ll sleep with you,” he comforts, caressing one of his cheeks.

Changmin sends you a warm smile, and you give Hyunjae a small kiss on the head before standing up, leaving the two to fall asleep together.

“Can you believe today’s the last day of school for the boys? Time goes by fast, doesn’t it?” Changmin swings your intertwined hands as you walk down the sidewalk together.

“It does. Excited to have Hyunjae being the first kid at six am again?”

“Kinda. I’m really going to miss sleeping in and hearing stories about how Juyeon accidentally spilled paint on a girl.” He laughs, shaking his head. “Not only that, but the microphones haven’t arrived yet!! It’s been nine months since I’ve ordered them. Nine months!”

You cough loudly, immediately changing the topic. “Yeah, uhm, honestly? Nine months, and I still can’t believe–this–is a thing.” You gesture to your hand being held by Changmin’s, waving your finger.

“Hm? What? The hand holding?” He raises your hand up to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss onto your knuckles.

“I meant us, silly. I’m surprised none of the kids noticed a change in our relationship yet.”

“I mean there is a possibility that they’ve always seen us as a couple since the beginning. We do make a great one, if I do say so myself.” Changmin shrugs his shoulders, adjusting the glasses he was wearing.

You look over at him. “Are you considering us a couple?”

“...Are we not?”

“I mean not officially, no.”

He exhales loudly. “Nine months, and we aren’t even official.”

“I mean us being official won’t really change much.”

“Hey! Yes it will. I’d be able to show you off.”

“To who? Sunwoo and Youngjae? They’ve seen us kiss, stupid.”

“I have friends!” he retaliates. “Albeit friends I haven’t talked to in years, but friends nonetheless.”

You giggle, reaching over to pinch his cheek once you both stand outside the entrance of the bowling alley.

He pushes your hand away and grabs the handle of the door. “Ready to go bowling with your favorite person?”

“Oh you wish. Hyunjae still takes the crown as my favorite person.”

He pulls the door open with a huff, knowing he can’t beat Hyunjae in any aspect.

You both walk in, impressed by the neon lights illuminating off the glossy floors. The loud music is blaring through your ears, but it’s easily overridden by Changmin’s voice.

“There’s a roller skating rink here too,” he whispers, pointing over to it. You can easily tell by the pout on his face that he wants to go roller skating, so you choose to remind him why you two are here in the first place by turning him away from the sight.

“Another time,” you reassure.

You walk him over to the counter and give the worker both of your shoe sizes, clutching onto Changmin’s arm as you wait for your bowling shoes to be handed over. “It’s a nice place, isn’t it?”

“Definitely. Have you been here before?” He looks at you, bringing a finger up to brush a strand of hair away from your face. The tiny gesture doesn’t fail to bring a smile to your face, making you hum in response.

“Only once. Sangyeon had a birthday party here when he was four, and I was invited.”

Changmin thanks the worker once they have returned and collects the bowling shoes given, handing you your pair before leading you over to an empty alley.

“We should take the boys out for bowling one day. All of them. That’s possible, right?”

“This is supposed to be our date, Changmin, not you wanting the rest of the boys here,” you jest. “We already see them on a daily basis.”

“I’m just saying! Imagine if Haknyeon was here with us.” He sits down on the bench and starts removing his shoes. “He’ll honestly beat both of our asses. His precision is incredible.”

“That’s because he’s a five-year-old, and five-year-olds use the bowling ramp.” You copy Changmn’s actions after playfully punching his shoulder, taking your time with putting the bowling shoes on.

He rubs his shoulder and looks at you with a pout, dismissing your words with the roll of his eyes. Changmin then begins to input both of your names into the screen while you search for two bowling balls, choosing a purple one for him.

You come back with the two balls in your arms, and he looks at you worriedly, quick to grab the purple one from you.

“They weren’t heavy,” you pout, hating how Changmin underestimated your strength.

“You looked like you were going to drop them on your toe. I put my name first, by the way. I hope that’s okay.” But he doesn't allow you to respond, already walking up to the alley to begin.

“Oh it’s on, Ji Changmin,” you mutter, taking your seat on the bench.

Out of the past year with Changmin, you’ve never once seen each other’s competitive side during your dates. Sure, there have been times when you two fought over who was the more liked teacher in the daycare, but it was mainly you two joking around and having fun.

Today proves differently, especially when you two are constantly neck in neck with each frame that passes.

Your desperation to beat Changmin is what makes you mess up on the ninth frame, knocking down seven pins instead of eight and it causes you to become tied with Changmin.

“May the best player win,” he yawns, sliding his fingers through the holes of the bowling ball.

The way he intensely stares at the pins doesn’t intimidate you in the slightest, a smirk cockily resting on your lips. You know he is going to mess up the last frame, he has to, so you’re not too worried.

But when he doesn’t and gets two perfect strikes in a row, you know you’re completely fucked.

He zooms over to you and bends down to shove his face in front of yours, gloating. “I won!!”

You shove his face away with your hand, standing up with a huff. “You don’t know that.”

“C’mon Y/N, there’s no way you’re going to get two strikes!”

And to your dismay, he’s right.

When you see your ball shift to the right, you know you're completely done for.

Changmin runs up to hug you from behind while you’re moping over your loss, pressing your back up against his chest.

“See? I know you too well,” he coos, planting a kiss on your neck.

You whine, pushing away from his grip to make your way back over to your shoes. “You’re treating me with ice cream after this.”

“I was the one who won! That’s unfair,” he grumbles. He runs to catch up with you, beating you to the bench.

His smile returns, and his eyes are bright when he looks at you. “Want to know my secret to winning?”

“What?” you groan, plopping yourself down next to him. You rest your head on his shoulder as you wait for him to pull out something from his pocket.

Between his fingers is a folded piece of paper, and when he unravels it, you see that it’s Hyunjae’s painting of you three.

He gazes into your eyes while he shows it to you, whispering.

“It’s my lucky charm.”

“Are you sure it’s hidden?” Hyunjae questions, a frown forming on his face when he comes back after searching the shelves.

“I’m positive, Hyunjae. Help me keep looking. There’s no way the microphones aren’t here.” Changmin is searching high and low when it comes to your desk, opening every single drawer.

He groans and goes back to searching, wanting to be of some use for Changmin.

“I’m telling you, I don’t have them!” you shout, putting legos together on the ground with Haknyeon in your lap.

“Liar,” Changmin mutters to himself. He takes one more check around your desk before moving to the sinks.

Sunwoo is tailing the teacher around, mirroring Changmin’s exact movements.

“They’re not hereeee,” Hyunjae informs, referring to the bookshelves.

You laugh, shaking your head as you grab a handful of legos to dump onto the rug in front of Haknyeon.

Changmin pulls open one of the cabinets under the sink, and that’s when he finds a box (and it’s one he doesn’t recognize). He pulls it out and brings it onto a nearby table. He takes the lid off, and lo and behold are the missing microphones presented before him.

“I knew it!” he shouts. “I fucking knew it!”

“He fucking knew it!”

“...Go away, Sunwoo.”

The new five-year-old runs away and over to Chanhee and Younghoon, joining them with their puzzle.

“Y/N!! Hyunjae!!”

You mutter a ‘shit’ and remove Haknyeon from your lap, taking your time before finally making your way over to Changmin.

Hyunjae trudges his way over to the teacher. “Do I still get my five bucks?”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” He takes out his wallet and takes out five one dollar bills, handing them to the boy before turning his attention over to you.

“You’re paying him?”

“Oh don’t try changing the subject. What is this?” He picks up the box, showing you what’s inside.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” you sing-song, whistling as you look around the room.

He stares at you in disbelief. “You-...How long have you kept this here?” He kicks the cabinet door shut, referring to it.

“For like eight months,” you snort. You lean against the counter, nibbling on your lower lip to prevent a snicker from escaping you.

But it’s hard when Changmin is being brought into despair. “For the past eight months we could’ve been listening to Youngjae’s angelic singing,” he whines, setting the box back down onto the table with a thud. “Eight months, Y/N!”

“It’s not my fault you couldn’t find them.”

He exaggerates a groan, slamming the lid back onto the top of the box. “I didn’t even know they were here to begin with!”

“I know,” you giggle, bringing a hand over your lips. “Honestly? I’m not even mad you’ve found them.”

Your collected composure and failed attempt to hold back your laughter makes Changmin fall against you, resting his forehead on your shoulder. “I can’t believe you’ve had them all this time,” he whispers, allowing his eyes to fall shut.

“I know I know.” You pat his back, resting your head against his. “I’m quite the secret keeper, aren’t I?”

“He fucking knew it!”

Changmin picks his head up from your shoulder to glare at Sunwoo, watching the boy run away from the two of you and back over to the puzzle duo.

“If his parents start asking us why Sunwoo won’t stop saying ‘he fucking knew it’, you’re taking all the blame,” Changmin grumbles, going back to keeping his head on your shoulder.

“I wasn’t the one who swore!”

“Personally, I think this is the greatest decision I’ve ever made.”

You look at him dubiously, swinging your connected hands as you make your way down the sidewalk with the ten boys skipping in front of you.

“Wouldn’t that be the Karaoke Sundays idea?” you ask.

“...Okay, second greatest decision.”

You roll your eyes and let out a sarcastic ‘mhm’ as a response.

“What??” he looks at you whilst feigning offense, trying to read whatever is on your mind by staring straight into your eyes.

“How do you know this is your second greatest decision yet? I mean, we aren’t even at the park yet.”

Changmin points at the boys in front of you, raising his voice. “Look at them!! They’re already having so much fun. Not to mention how the day is gorgeous! the sun is gorgeous, the weather is gorgeous, you’re gorgeous-” He covers up his last few words with a forced cough but doesn’t hesitate to peek at your reaction.

“Didn’t know I signed up to be with a flirt,” you sigh.

Before Changmin is given a chance to respond, you hear Sunwoo screaming.

“We’re here!!” he calls out, and he’s the first one to run out into the open field.

All the boys follow after him, starting an intense game of tag while you’re figuring out a spot to sit with Changmin.

He runs over to a tree and places himself under the shade, urging you to come over.

And you do so only to realize how far you two were from the boys, concern growing within you. “How are we going to watch over ten boys?” you murmur, resting your head on Changmin’s shoulder with your hand still in his.

“You’re going to be watching them, not me.”

His nonchalant response throws you completely off guard, quick to pick your head up to stare at him. “What? You’re not leaving me, are you?”

Changmin doesn’t miss the way your grip around his hand tightens, and he clears his throat, distracting himself from the gaze that’ll only make him fall again for you once more.

Then again, he’d fall for you a thousand times, and he still wouldn’t mind.

“I’m not going to leave, dummy,” he says, flicking your temple.

“Then why would I be the only one watching them?” You rub your temple, pouting at him.

Changmin releases your hand from his grasp and chooses to wrap his arm around your waist, pulling you close against him as he stares at you. “Because I’ll be too busy watching you.”

You gasp loudly and shove him away from you, crossing your arms while he’s laughing his ass off.

Eventually he notices how you turn your back towards him and starts attempting to receive your attention, resting his chin on your shoulder while looking at you.

“I’m sowwy,” he whines, and when you don’t respond to his antics, he makes an impulsive decision to litter kisses all over your face after making you look at him.

“You guys are gross.”

“Hello to you too, Hyunjae,” Changmin greets, removing himself from you in order to wave the boy over.

The boy seats himself between the two of you, bringing his arms around his knees while pressing his back up against the trunk of the tree. Without saying anything, Hyunjae scoots over to lean against your side, and you immediately bring him into your arms.

“You okay, little man?” Changmin asks, looking down at him.

“No. Sunwoo tripped me.”

While Changmin’s laughing, you avert your attention over to the group of boys still playing their game of tag. Juyeon’s currently made the tagger ever since he fell face first into the grass but hasn’t moved a single inch. It’s the reason why Hyungseo and Sangyeon start poking his sides with their toes, evoking a reaction out of the boy.

“I knew this wasn’t a good idea,” you mumble.

Changmin calms himself down and moves to rest his chin over Hyunjae’s head, his eyes meeting yours. “Is now the time to say I suggested this idea just to spend time with you?” he whispers.

“Again, ew.”

Changmin removes his chin from Hyunjae’s head to gently slap a hand over the boy’s mouth, momentarily shutting him up.

Unfortunately for the teacher, Hyunjae is quick to lick his hand, bringing the two into a playful yet physical fight.

Changmin wins by capturing Hyunjae within his arms, falling onto the ground. He looks over at you, prepared to boast about his win, when he sees you watching the other kids instead.

Regardless, the bright smile on his face doesn’t falter, and he almost forgets Hyunjae is in his arms until he bit him.

“Okay, now that was uncalled for,” Changmin whines, rubbing at the teeth marks imprinted into his skin.

“You were choking me,” Hyunjae huffs, going back over to your side.

“You could’ve told me!”

“I did!”

“Okay shut up, you two. I’m tired.”

The two heads turn to look at you with worried expressions, noticing how you’re struggling to keep your eyes open.

“Want to lie down?” Changmin asks, scooting over to sit next to you. When you nod, he allows you to have your head in his lap, telling you to close your eyes.

He runs his fingers through your hair, playing with it as Hyunjae moves to hug one of his arms. The boy begins to ramble about the shapes of the clouds in the sky, and Changmin listens to every word with a smile on his face, agreeing with every single thing Hyunjae’s mentioned.

Because of his mini ramble about clouds, the sounds from the other boys start to drown out, and minutes later they’re joining you three.

Sangyeon was the first one who got tired of the game of tag after being considered ‘it’ more than five times, inserting himself into the conversation about clouds by sitting next to Hyunjae.

All the boys are wiped out after constantly running and screaming, so none of them seem to question Changmin’s ever so loving gaze towards you. Either they don’t notice or don’t care enough to comment on the way he’s unable to stop looking at you, but it wasn’t like it mattered anyway.

Even if everyone in the world pointed it out, he still wouldn’t take his eyes off of you.

A year of Karaoke Sundays never gave you a reason to dance with him.

Changmin couldn’t tell if it was Youngjae’s so-called ‘horrendous’ singing with Sunwoo hyping him up or Joonyoung huddling into the far corner of the playroom due to his fear of loud noises.

You were always there to comfort the poor boy by pressing his ears up against your chest while Changmin occupied the others, hand in hand with Juyeon as they all sang their hearts out into the crappy microphones Changmin had bought. Chanhee and Hyungseo definitely dominated every Sunday with their vocals, and eventually Joonyoung grew comfortable enough to sing with the two.

But even with Joonyoung gone as an excuse, you still remained by the bean bags, watching all of them have fun with a goofy smile adorning your face.

Occasionally Changmin would visit you and bring you up onto your feet, urging you to dance. He once even tried swooning you over by having Romantic Sunday playing in the background, whispering the lyrics into your ear while he tried to get you to sway with him.

Obviously, it didn’t work.

It wasn’t like you didn’t want to; you were just too embarrassed to do so.

You’re afraid you’ll pull a Juyeon and trip over your very own feet, so you refrain from moving a limb, only choosing to lean against Changmin’s touch when he brings you into his arms.

Because of this, he would never force you into joining him, even if it was just the two of you.

He would ask only once if you’d like to join him in a small dance, and when you give him the shake of your head, he’ll opt to pull you in for an intoxicating kiss, having your lips dance against his instead.

Hyunjae was always the main witness of the kisses you two shared, visibly cringing by scrunching up the features of his face, but deep down inside he’s happy for the two of you.

How could he not when he has wanted you both together since the very first day? It’s the dream of any kid to have their two favorite people together.

Not to mention Karaoke Sundays isn’t the only new idea that has been introduced the past year; you and Changmin have gotten so used to having Hyunjae around that the three of you would leave the daycare and hang out elsewhere, creating new memories.

Shopping, eating, exploring: the three of you did it all (without the consent of Hyunjae’s mother).

It was kind of like sneaking out, and the three of you would never stray too far from the daycare in case Mrs. Lee comes back early. If she ever called to ask where her son was, you would tell her that you three were on a walk and would come back immediately.

The fun little dates you all shared are the only reason why Changmin has given up on pestering you about talking to Mrs. Lee and her habit of picking up her son later than the designated time.

He taught both you and Hyunjae how to roller skate only for the young boy to skate faster than the teacher, leaving both you and Changmin confused about how Hyunjae managed to learn so quickly.

While your favorite place with Changmin and Hyunjae was the ferris wheel, Changmin’s personal favorite was the field of flowers hidden a mile or two behind the daycare.

You never saw the beauty in flowers after taking care of children for nearly four years, but that completely changed when you watched how Hyunjae and Changmin ran through them. Their sparks of happiness would always change into pure fear whenever catching sight of a bee, running far from you to the point where Hyunjae would start crying at the lack of your presence.

Changmin even got stung once, but he showed no sense of pain when taken back to the daycare, constantly making flirty remarks while you aided him.

Moments like these have always made Changmin think (something you would say he rarely did).

Silly as it is, these dates never prompted Changmin to ask you out. It wasn’t like either of you cared, but it would be nice to put a title on the relationship you both shared.

But rather than wanting to ask you out, the idea of proposing came to his mind.

Two years of being head over heels for you led him to meet every single side of you. You were great with kids, obviously, and he’s been there when you’ve brokedown or lashed out. You were real just like any other human being, and there was no doubt in his mind that he would love to be with you for forever.

He’s definitely joked about marrying you in the past, but he knew it was time.

It was time to finally give you a reason to dance.

NAVIGATION | TBZ MASTERLIST | PART TWO

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