Till’ The End of Summer - Chapter 2
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Pairing: Choi Yeonjun x Reader
In a Nutshell: College!AU, Rich Kids, Friends to Lovers, Fuckboy athlete Yeonjun, Overprotective Best friend Soobin, contains all of TXT and other Idol cameos, Omnipresent perspective.
Synopsis: You and Yeonjun are caught up in a cat and mouse game because of unspoken feelings and endless pining for each others’ attention. With the summer break approaching and lots of college parties, will you finally get a chance to explore your feelings for each other; even though the world and Yeonjun’s reputation makes things complicated?
Word count: 7.2K
Genre: Angst, Fluff.
Cameos: NCT Johnny, Ateez Wooyoung, ITZY Ryujin & Yeji.
Warnings: Heavy drinking, sexual implications, arguing and conflict.
A/N: English isn’t my first language, pls don’t come for me ;)
“Dang,” Soobin exclaims as you get in the car. He turns around to check out your attire, make-up and jewelry.
You chuckle crossing your legs and posing for them dramatically. “How you like that?”
Mia looked at you with proud eyes as she nods checking you out. “I approve,” she practically yells. She probably already had a few shots at home before she left judging by her enthusiasm.
“I don’t,” Soobin raises his eyebrows and Mia rolls her eyes at him. “Ok grandpa, how about we just get going.”
Soobin pouts at Mia’s comment and in order to calm him down she gives him a quick peck on the lips.
You smiled at the two of them, hoping that one day you get to have what they have.
The remainder of the car ride was filled with laughter. You guys were singing, or should you say, screaming along to the music that was blaring through the speakers. The time practically flew by and before you knew it, the three of you had arrived at the entrance of the huge rustic looking frat house.
You had never been here before, and you were amazed to say the least. Your jaw dropped in awe of the size of the house. It was like a damn villa.
Sometimes you forget that 90% of the people at your school are rich brats who only got into this college because of their parents’ hefty wallets. You forget because you on the other hand, actually worked your ass off to get where you are without being an athlete or curing cancer in your spare time.
It suddenly made you think of Yeonjun again, about how little you actually knew of him. How did he get into this school? Was he already here? Who did he come with?
Soobin snaps you out of your daydream as he opens the car door for you. “The escort service is on the second floor,” he jokes helping you get out of the car.
You slap him on his chest but take his hand anyway. You’re used to his low key protective behaviour by now, so nothing really bothers you anymore. “Keep those snarky comments coming boy, I still have your whole embarrassing childhood to expose to your lovely girlfriend,” you say as the three of you start walking to the front door.
Soobin just shoots you a glare as he instinctively wraps an arm around Mia’s waist. “Don’t you dare,” he says pouting, making you and Mia laugh in response.
The door opens with a dramatic swing and a tall, handsome-looking dude with sharp features greeted you with the warmest smile ever. It made you giddy inside, and you cursed at yourself for how easily impressed you are by any type of tall man.
You could hear the loud music and feel the base send vibrations through your spine. You looked past his tall figure and noticed how the house was packed with people already.
“Sooooob, what's up my man,” he exclaims pulling him in for a bro-hug, Soobin smiled at Johnny fondly. “This is my girlfriend Mia, and this is y/n, my best friend” he explains, introducing both of you.
“His single, best friend,” Mia chimed in giggling.
Your eyes grow wide and you slap Mia’s arm in response. “Don’t mind her. She has the alcohol tolerance of an underweight toddler,” you joke apologetically, which earned loud laughter from the tall guy who was dressed in white jeans accompanied with a loosely hanging Hawaiian blouse which was almost completely unbuttoned. Classic.
“Well, it’s a pleasure. I’m Johnny, feel free to make yourself at home. The booz and snacks are in the kitchen,” he said smirking, obviously checking you out from head to toe. “Come in,” he stepped aside so the three of you could walk in. You had to admit. He was charming. But as soon as your eyes landed on Yeonjun sitting on the couch with Beomgyu, Hueningkai and Taehyun next to him, you completely forgot about Johnny’s existence.
He looked absolutely ravishing. When he wasn’t wearing baggy sweatshirts and sweatpants he actually had an incredible fashion sense.
He was wearing a satin black button-up blouse that loosely hugged his figure, paired with dark denim jeans. He had his signature hoop earrings in, while also wearing a chained LV necklace and bracelet to go with it. You forgot to breathe for a second, and your eyes meet for the first time that night.
His eyes were looking around the room before his gaze lingered on your figure. His mouth fell agape slightly. And he swallowed harshly looking at your attire. “Damn,” he says under his breath. It was inaudible to you but you could tell what he was saying.
You silently take the win and smile at him knowingly.
You hadn’t even realised yet how nicely the house was decorated and just how crowded the place was. Your eyes reluctantly leave Yeonjun’s dark orbs to look around the living room and quickly noticed that Soobin and Mia had already abandoned you to get drinks. How nice of them.
You awkwardly look around and make your way to your friends, who were all sitting on the same couch, not noticing how most of the people there were staring at you as you made your way through the crowd.
“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” You joke as you give Hueningkai a nudge on the shoulder.
He scoffed in response. “You need to stop babying me,” you gasp, mocking him. “Never.”
He just smiled at you, giving you a quick hug. “It’s good to see you,” he hums into the hug, and you smile at him as you let go.
“Wow y/n you look incredible,” Beomgyu says smiling up at you, Taehyun nods in agreement giving you a warm smile as well. “Total bad bitch,” Taehyun adds giving you a thumbs up.
“Thanks,” you chuckle, absentmindedly looking around for a place to sit.
Beomgyu noticed and got up so you could sit down instead of him, as there was no place left on the couch. Instead, he sat down on Yeonjun’s lap, who still hadn’t said a word to you since you walked in. For a quick second, you wish it was you on his lap, but then you notice that all he does is stare at you. Given the fact that you were feeling yourself tonight, you just stare back at him, which made him smirk in response. He licked his lips, ready to break the silence before Johnny appears in front of you with two red cups in his hands.
“For the lady,” he says handing one of the cups to you.
You look up in surprise, giving him a friendly smile as you accept the cup. “Thank you, that’s really thoughtful,” you say a little too flirty and you instantly curse at yourself for not having control over your tone of voice; even though you’re completely sober. You take a sip, realising it’s your favourite. It made you look up at Johnny and he just smirked at you knowingly.
“Thanks…” you say taking another sip, giving Johnny a smile that he could think about for the rest of the night.
You could feel Yeonjun’s eyes bore in to the back of your head. He was paying attention and what you would do next would determine the tone you had set for that night. So you knew you had to escape.
“I’m gonna look for Mia, I remember I had to tell her something, If you could just excuse me for a second,” you said apologetically getting up. You pull your dress down a little trying not to expose your ass cheeks.
“That’s okay, the night is still young,” Johnny smiled at you brightly. It wasn’t the creepy type of smile or comment though. The tone in his voice was overbearingly friendly. His aura made you want to get closer to him. As friends though.
You smile at him and walk off, making your way through the way too large house looking for your friend.
You finally find her and Soobin in the kitchen with a bunch of other people. You recognise a few of them, but you couldn’t be bothered enough to greet them first as you grab a hold of Mia’ arm.
“Oh hey, y/n! They have jello shots. Look!” She wiggles the shot in front of you and you could tell she had at least 5 of them already.
“Bitch, fuck your jello, I’m not off to a great start,” you say whining.
Soobin turns around, suddenly interested when he sensed the desperate tone in your voice. He was eating some type of chocolate pudding.
He smacked his lips a couple of times before he decided to chime in. “What do you mean?”
You ignore Soobin and focus on Mia only. “I could tell he wanted to say something, but then Johnny appeared in front of me like I was in some type of Disney movie. It’s like the guy is glowing?” You say animatedly wiggling your fingers around to mimic sparks flying to make Mia’s drunken state understand better.
“Johnny is a great guy,” Soobin states butting into the conversation. “He’s into you, just date him.”
Mia just giggled, nothing was registering to her. Fuck. She was drunk. Too drunk to give you rational advice.
“Jesus Soobin, how do you even know that?”
“Because he came over here and asked us what your favourite drink was. He’s trying to impress you, so I just gave him a little nudge in the right direction. And like I said, he’s a great guy. Date him.”
You roll your eyes at his pushiness. You don’t know what it is, but the more Soobin tries to push you into one direction, the more you don’t want to follow. It’s like you’re a defiant teenager while he’s the parent. It made you want to act out even more. It’s childish, you know that. But the fact that he even played matchmaker between you and Johnny was doing the most.
“I saw you cozying up to Yeonjun today at the park you know.”
“Oh did you now,” you roll your eyes at him.
“Damn it y/n,” Soobin took a step closer to you. He was getting mad and you could tell. Mia turned to her boyfriend giving him a warning look.
“I’m trying to befriend him. I literally had my legs draped over Beomgyu’s and you don’t bat an eye, but I can’t even talk to Yeonjun before you jump to all of these conclusions!?” You were raising your voice at him to get your point across but Soobin wasn’t having it.
“You didn’t admit your feelings for Beomgyu to me now did you,” he bites back at you.
“You’re being so fucking annoying right now, I told you not to worry about it,” you yell back at him, making Mia flinch in the process.
“What’s going on here?”
His voice startles you and you feel his hand on your shoulder.
You look up and see Yeonjun standing by your side, almost protectively standing between you and Soobin.
“Oh hey,” Soobin said, calming down at the sight of his friend.
“So much for a fun night,” Mia pouted, tugging at Soobin’s fingers.
Soobin just blinked a couple of times, apologetically looking into his girlfriends’ eyes. He tried to look you in the eye as well but you avoid his gaze.
“Nothing,” you say stoically. “I was just about to leave.”
Yeonjun’s eyes grew big. “Leave? You just got here all of five minutes ago?”
You sigh. “I meant, leave the kitchen,” you say waving your arms around.
Yeonjun didn’t quite understand what was going on, but he could tell that you were tense. He contemplated asking about it one more time because he was curious. But decided against it, not wanting to push you over the edge.
Instead, he nudged your shoulder. “Wanna go take a walk?” he asked giving you a hopeful look.
You visibly relax at his request, your heart skipped another beat and you just nod at him in response.
“I-” Soobin starts, but he doesn’t finish his sentence. He knew he was going overboard with it. And if he pushed another one of your buttons, you might just swing at him for real this time. He figured he just had to trust your judgment for once. Even though he knows of your terrible track record of dating incompetent men.
You send him a glare before boldly taking Yeonjun by his hand and leading him out of the kitchen with you.
You sigh in relief as fresh air fills your lungs when you step outside. The temperature had dropped so much since this afternoon. A shiver ran down your spine and Yeonjun noticed.
He turned to you. “Wait here ok,” he said confusing you as he ran off.
Did he just leave you out here? Alone? What the fuck.
Not even 15 seconds later he returns with a leather jacket. He ran up to you and covered you with it.
You stare at him in silence. Dumbfounded by his chivalry. You couldn’t help but blush, and you curse at yourself as you do so.
“T-thanks,” you say fixing your hair.
“It’s nothing, I realised I had the jacket in the trunk of my car,” he says giving you a warm smile.
God damn it. You melt once again. He’s making it too hard for you to stay away. But why would you?
He hasn’t given you a reason to. Nor did he give you any red flags. The whole’ he’s a fuckboy and doesn’t want a relationship’ story didn’t add up.
“Are you okay?” Yeonjun asked cautiously, trying not to tick you off.
You shrug absentmindedly. “Soobin is just getting on my nerves.”
He nods, noticing how he should probably drop the topic, but he decides against it.
“You know. He talks about you so much. About your adventures from your childhood, the trips you took together, everything. I can tell he loves you a lot. I don’t know what your fight was about but I don’t think you should be too mad at him. He’s just trying to look out for you,” Yeonjun says carefully. He knows he’s overstepping a little bit, but he doesn’t care. He hates to see Soobin upset, so he’d try his best to meddle between you two.
Oh Yeonjun. If only he knew that the fight was about him. And here he is, sticking up for Soobin even though he is trying to make Yeonjun out to be the asshole.
“Also, I am just starting to get to know you more and more. Soobin is our only connection, if you two fight, then when will I be able to see you hmm?” He says chuckling.
Wow, okay. His flirty self is back again.
You laugh at the cute shift in his personality. “Don’t worry, I’ll pencil you into my busy schedule if you’d like.”
Yeonjun throws his head back in laughter. “When Soobin talks about you, he makes you seem so chill and funny, it made me want to get to know you better. But now that I’m with you all you seem to do is flirt with everyone.”
You stop in your tracks giving him a look of confusion, but you can’t help but laugh. “Flirt? With everyone? Who’s everyone?”
“Johnny,” Yeonjun says shrugging. “And Beomgyu, in the park…and well…Me.”
You nearly choke on air. “You’re kidding? Right? I didn’t flirt with Johnny nor Beomgyu, Also Beomgyu is like a little brother. That’s gross,” you laugh nervously.
Yeonjun just stares at you and starts to smirk again. “So you don’t deny flirting with me?”
Your eyes grow big at his observation. Shit. You really exposed yourself like that. “Well…I eh…” you stammer. You just singlehandedly boosted his ego with one sentence. He developed a child-like grin on his face as realisation hit him.
Yeonjun took a step closer to you. “You…what?” he’s getting cocky now.
His face was inching closer and closer to you by the second. He looked at your flustered facial expression as he crouched down a little to get to eye-level with you. When he sees the fear in your eyes he burst out laughing.
You look at him in shock and he inches away from you again. “I’m just playing with you. You should’ve seen the look on your face.”
“Dick,” you exhale.
“Dick!?” he repeats all fake defensive, poking your side.
“That’s the only pet name you’re getting if you keep playing with me,” you giggle as he poked your ticklish spot, and you swat his hand away playfully as you continue to walk down the street filled with massive villa’s.
“I prefer da- never mind,” he stops himself immediately.
You nudge him laughing hysterically. Not believing he was about to say that. You take a mental note, hoping you would need it in the future.
Being with Yeonjun was easy, it felt like breathing. He was able to switch your mood in all of 2 seconds and you’re thankful for that. You genuinely thought your night went to shit.
Before you knew it, the two of you walked around the whole block. You talked about anything and everything and there is so much you had learned about him in such a short time.
He was an only child, he took dance classes since he was little and still practices from time to time, he loves to travel, especially to warm and tropical countries. He’s not a picky eater but can’t handle fishy flavoured foods like oysters. He is passionate and competitive, oh and his favourite dog breed is the Welsh Corgi.
You were surprised at how easy it was to talk to him since he always seemed so distant and unreachable. But you figured he was just shy because, in reality, he was the biggest sweetheart. Maybe that’s his charm? Girls pine after him because he seems like a bad boy, but when he lets his walls down, he’s the complete opposite.
“Wait, so…you’re telling me that Soobin got a sports scholarship and you got one because of your grades alone?” Yeonjun asks wide-eyed.
You nod. “Yep, total nerd over here,” you huff. “So…that means you’re like smart, smart?” Yeonjun asks while holding you back before the two of you cross the street to check if there weren’t any cars coming your way.
The sudden skinship startled you a little as he held you back by your arm before he decided it was ok to cross the road, back to the house. His manners were dumbfounding, and you could tell he wasn’t even trying. It’s just the way he is. Always looking out for others before he looks out for himself.
“I mean…it’s nothing special,” you say lost in thought. you were getting kind of sad as you approached the house, knowing that your quality time would soon be over because of his immense popularity. Once you got inside you knew that everyone would want something from him again.
“That’s cool y/n, you really earned it,” he gives you a warm smile before the both of you enter the house again. You reciprocate his smile, feeling warm inside at his compliment.
You take off his jacket, handing it back to him but he shakes his head in response. “Keep it with you for the night. Just in case,” he says wrapping it back around your shoulders. “Besides, I don’t think I’m ok with the fact that every dude can just gauge at you in that outfit” he swallows harshly.
You meet his eyes confused at his comment, but he doesn’t budge. “You’re lucky it goes with my outfit,” you giggle. The sound made his heart jump and his lips curl up into a smile. “Even if it didn’t. I’m sure you look good in a potato sack y/n,” he compliments you once again, moving a piece of your hair behind your ear so he could see your pretty features a little better.
His actions and words were laced with affection. And not once had he tried to make a real move on you yet. You weren’t sure if you were happy or sad that he didn’t. But the more he showed this side of him to you, the more you felt the butterflies in your stomach go crazy.
“Yo Jun!” Another tall guy with long black hair yelled out for Yeonjun’s attention. Making both of you snap out of your bubble as he approached. “We’ve been looking for you man; we need the king of beer pong in our team, alright?”
Yeonjun chuckled. “Wooyoung, chill. I’ll be right there,” he patted his friend on the back to signal him to leave the two of you, but he didn’t seem to get the hint.
“Oh, who’s this?” He questioned giving you a smirk while holding out his hand for you to shake.
You took his hand, weakly shaking it as you introduce yourself. “I’m y/n,” you smile.
“Well hello y/n, can I just say, you look very pretty,” Wooyoung winked at you and you awkwardly smiled back. Damn these horny and drunk college boys really do be something else.
“Ok. I think that’s as far as that introduction goes,” Yeonjun says chiming in. “How about that game you were talking about?” he diverts his attention to Wooyoung, but gives you a last look before he walks off.
“You coming?” Yeonjun asks holding out his hand for you. But you just shake your head in response.
Given the crowd that had formed around the beer pong table, you decided against it. You didn’t like to be the center of attention, but you knew Yeonjun did. When you were with him you could feel so many eyes on you, but he didn’t seem to care or notice.
“I’ll be fine, just go,” you say shooing him away playfully. He nodded, taking one last glance at you before he disappeared. It didn’t take long before he was completely engulfed in the game. You just stood there, watching him from a distance. He really was the MVP. Everyone was cheering for him as he kept making shot after shot. And of course, you noticed the females around him as well. He’s thriving off the energy and you don’t know why but it made you sad since you were pulled back to face the reality of things.
He’s just out of your league.
Suddenly your mind flashes back to what Mia told you this afternoon.
“The problem is that a lot of girls have eyes for him too and that can become a problem. The issue is if YOU can handle that.”
Can you handle that? You sigh turning around, wanting to find either of your friends but you couldn’t get far as you bump into a wall of a person.
“Oh, sorry,” you say looking up. It was Johnny.
“Hey,” he smiled at you. “All by yourself out here?” He asked chuckling.
“Well, yes. Every time I blink my friends keep disappearing from my sight because this house is just too huge,” you say looking around you, trying to spot any of them.
Johnny laughed at your comment. “Do you want to see the rest of the house? I can give you a tour if you want? There are three floors. And we even have our own gym,” he said proudly.
“Your own gym? What the hell. Now that, I want to see,” you say intrigued.
Rich kids really are something else.
Johnny laughed at your sudden enthusiasm and put an arm around your shoulder as he led you upstairs.
Before you reach the top of the stairs, you see Beomgyu, talking to Ryujin, a girl from his class that you were also friendly with.
“Oh hey, y/n, where are you going?” Beomgyu asks, his big eyes darting from you to Johnny. He squinted his eyes at the sight of Johnny having his arm around your shoulder.
“I’m getting a house tour. Did you know they have a gym?” You say with your mouth agape.
Ryujin chuckled. “Wait till you see the sauna.”
“Sauna!?” You repeat in awe.
“Oh yeah, that’s on the third floor. We’ll get there,” Johnny smiles at you innocently and leads you further into the second floor opening the first door on your left. “This is Jaehyun and Jungwoo’s room. It’s kinda messy.”
Beomgyu watched the two of you like a hawk. He heard you laugh at every joke Johnny threw your way. But the further you went into the hallway, the more your voice became white noise.
“Ryujin, I’m really sorry but I have to find my hyungs,” Beomgyu says apologetically diverting his attention back to her.
“That’s ok, I was just about to get back to Lia en Yeji anyway,” she smiled at him knowingly. He was going to warn his friends about you disappearing into the rooms with Johnny, and she knew it.
“Raincheck?” Beomgyu carefully asks, taking Ryujin’s hand. She smiled at him brightly. “Of course.”
He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and ran down the stairs making his way through the crowd.
Mia, Soobin, Hueningkai and Taehyun were sitting on the same couch from before. “Soobin hyung!” Beomgyu exclaims slightly out of breath.
Soobin looked up from his phone, Mia was situated on his lap, nearly passed out from the jello shots and Kai and Taehyun were lost in conversation with her. “What's up?” he asks putting his phone away.
“Johnny took y/n on the house tour.”
“….She knows that tour always ends in his room right?” Taehyun chimed in. “She can be so naïve sometimes,” he says clicking his tongue.
Hueningkai’s eyes grew big. “Eh, should we…save her?”
“Save her? For what. She went with Johnny herself, she’s an adult. Why would we interrupt them?” Soobin coldly states, obviously still angry with you. Mia rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, still too drunk to really judge the situation, her head falls back on his shoulder as she giggles.
Beomgyu raised his eyebrows in disbelief. Soobin would rather die than let a guy take advantage of you, so his sudden attitude towards the situation surprised him.
“Y/n is with Johnny? Upstairs?” Yeonjun overheard the conversation as he approached.
He was confused, to say the least. He thought the two of you had something going, especially after the walk you took together just minutes ago. He looked down, visibly upset.
“Yeah, I saw them…” Beomgyu says scratching the back of his head.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I feel uncomfortable about it,” Hueningkai says shrugging.
“Me too,” Yeonjun says under his breath, earning a look from Soobin. “Why, did you want to fuck her first?” Soobin says, his voice laced with venom looking straight into Yeonjun’s eyes.
“What?” Yeonjun's eyes grew big as he looked at his friend in confusion. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Yeonjun bites back taking a step towards Soobin.
The younger ones all shifted uncomfortably in their seats. But Beomgyu knew better than to let this escalate.
“Guys, stop,” he said putting himself between Soobin and Yeonjun. “Are we gonna go up there or no? Time is ticking,” Beomgyu asked indifferently.
“I know I sure as hell am,” Yeonjun says tearing his eyes off of Soobin’s burning look, heading for the stairs without thinking twice.
Beomgyu panicked and ran after him, while Taehyun and Hueningkai shifted their attention to Soobin.
“Hyung, what was that about? Why did you come for Yeonjun’s throat like that?” Taehyun asks.
“Y-yeah, everything was fine this afternoon, I don’t get it,” Hueningkai adds.
Soobin sighed, placing Mia next to him on the couch and off of his lap. “I’ll tell you some other time. Look after Mia for me. I’m going to go after them.”
The younger ones just nodded at Soobin as he left, sprinting up the stairs two steps at a time.
Johnny was the biggest clown you had ever met. He pretended as if you were an interested buyer as he was showing you around. Cracking joke after joke. He had opened at least 3 doors to rooms where people were either making out or doing the dirty. And every time he did he looked so flustered it was adorable.
“I’m gonna need them to put a sign on the door or something,” he says scratching the back of his head.
You laugh at his comment and you realise you finally made it to the infamous gym-room.
“There better not be any people having sex in here right now or else I’m going to throw up,” Johnny says opening the door carefully. He peaks his head through and sighs in relief. “Ok. It’s safe for us to go in,” he whispers opening the door for you, letting you walk in first. You giggle again at his comedic antics and you step inside. Your eyes skim the place and you swallow harshly.
“Damn,” you say in awe of what you were seeing. “This room is as big as my whole apartment.”
“And it looks better than the campus gym,” you say letting your hand graze over the fancy equipment.
“It is, isn’t it,” Johnny says sitting down on one of the benches. “So…” he starts.
You turn around and look at him. There’s a sudden tension that filled the room since you were secluded and the music from the party was barely audible. You were waiting for him to finish that sentence, looking at him expectantly.
“You’re dating Yeonjun?” he asks out of the blue.
You almost choke on air, coughing, widening your eyes at his sudden assumption.
“N-no, why?” you ask. “Does it seem that way?”
Johnny chuckled at how flustered you got and leaned back, making himself comfortable on the benchpress. “Nah, I just noticed the two of you walking outside together, and when you got back, he wrapped his jacket around you and stuff. It was very cute. Also, he glared at me when I gave you the drink. I swear Soobin told me you were single,” Johnny says putting his hands up in defeat.
“He glared at you?” You blink a couple of times, letting his observations register and sigh. “It’s complicated,” you say.
“Ahh, it’s one of those huh?” He smiles at you knowingly.
You just nod. Not really knowing what else to say. “Well, if you ever get bored of him. You know where I live,” he says wiggling his eyebrows and you laugh at his bluntness.
At that, the door swings open. The sudden bang of the door making impact with the wall made you jump and you knock over one of the dumbbells in the process which caused a loud thud as it made contact with the wooden floor.
The first one you see is Soobin, which made your blood boil. The second is Beomgyu, which made you realise that he’s probably the reason why Soobin is even standing here right now. But then you see Yeonjun’s face, making your eyes nearly pop out of your skull and suddenly, all the anger in your body subsides.
“What the f-” you can’t finish your sentence before Johnny cocks his eyebrow at the three musketeers standing in the doorway of HIS gym room. “Eh, hey guys?” He says a little confused at the way they barged in.
‘Ah, y/n. W-we were looking for you,” Beomgyu starts.
“Having fun here?” Yeonjun says crossing his arms. He looked upset. And he wasn’t hiding it.
The temperature in the room dropped below zero due to his tone alone. Shit. He’s mad.
“Oh…guys, guys. Please don’t get the wrong idea here. Y/n was curious about the gym room since I mentioned it. I was just showing her around. Besides she was standing out there all by herself,” Johnny explained lightly.
Soobin sighed closing his eyes. “Ok so, Johnny. This might sound unbelievable since this is your house and all. But could you maybe like…give us the room…please.”
You just stand there frozen in the same spot as Yeonjun’s eyes are still peering into yours. You were trying to read his facial expression, but you couldn’t. If only you could read minds.
“You’re right. That does sound unbelievable. But I get it” Johnny chuckles shrugging.
“Just don’t break anything,” he jokes as he got up. You gave him an apologetic look and he just winked at you, signing to you not to worry about it too much.
You’re lucky that he’s so chill. Otherwise, this could have ended a lot differently.
When the door closed, the loud music from the ongoing party was muted again. Silence engulfed the room which made the atmosphere so much tenser than it was before. For some reason, your heart was pounding uncontrollably fast. You didn’t know whether to be sorry or angry or why they even barged in the way they did.
“Guys,” you start, exhaling. “I’m…lost? What’s going on?” You ask crossing your arms.
Yeonjun leaned against the wall, biting the inside of his cheek nervously. You didn’t do anything wrong, or did you? He expected to see a different image, maybe you on top of Johnny or vice versa. But it wasn’t anything like that. He didn’t understand why he felt so angry. He should’ve just taken you with him to the damn beer pong table, but the fact that you didn’t want to, confused him. Were you just playing him? Did you enjoy having him in the palm of his hands like that just to drop him? All of these thoughts were circling his mind, but he wasn’t man enough to voice them. He hated how hard you were to read. He hated how you had him in the palm of his hand like that. It was a foreign feeling to him.
What are you doing to him? He swore he was ready to fuck Johnny up if he was touching you in any way. But why? Why did the thought alone bother him so much?
Soobin sighs, awkwardly shifting his weight from his left leg to his right leg, looking at Beomgyu giving him a sign to speak.
“Eh…I saw you going up with Johnny and I thought he was somehow going to take advantage of you…so I told Soobin hyung and here we are,” he shrugged, fumbling with his fingers trying to avoid your burning stare. “I’m really sorry y/n. I was just worried,” Beomgyu explains.
You close your eyes for a second, letting it sink in. “I…appreciate the concern. But you know and especially Soobin knows, I’m not the type for one night stands. Especially with someone I just met all of two minutes ago….and also…not surrounded by exercise equipment,” you say waving your arm around at the room’s surroundings.
“We’re sorry for jumping to conclusions,” Yeonjun suddenly said, breaking the silence. “It was wrong of us to interfere. We had no right to do so. It won’t happen again. Even if you were to mess around with Johnny it’s none of my…I mean our business.”
Before you could say anything, Yeonjun had walked out of the room, leaving you speechless and confused. You wanted to run after him but you decided against that since it didn’t make sense to do so. Nothing made sense to you at the moment.
What would you even be running after?
A million different questions circle your mind as you’re trying to understand why he looked so incredibly pissed at you.
Did you mess up? Did you blow your only chance to get close to Yeonjun for good? You can’t really comprehend what just happened, but sadness washes over you as you stare at the spot where Yeonjun was standing just seconds ago.
Soobin’s eyes followed Yeonjun out the door and then his focus shifts to you. He noticed that you were upset and his harsh demeanor softens at the sight. “Beomgyu, can you go check on him?” Soobin asked softly still looking at you with worry emitting from his pupils.
The younger one nodded and walked out the door, confused as ever.
As the door closed behind Beomgyu, you break. You put your hands over your eyes and a small sob escapes your lips.
You really don’t know why you were crying, but at the same time, you do.
You unintentionally blew the one chance you had with the guy you’ve had a crush one for over a year now and you didn’t know how to fix it. Because honestly, all of your feelings were unspoken, and before today you didn’t even realise you stood an actual chance with him.
But given the way he reacted to finding you with Johnny, you just knew that he had felt the same way about you too. With an emphasis on the word ‘felt.’
On top of this, the frustration and pent up anger you had towards Soobin made you even more emotional. You hated fighting with him more than anything, especially if he is the one that’s right.
Soobin’s face literally crumbled at the sight. He’d probably seen you cry all of 5 times during your life long friendship, so he panicked.
He walked towards you, bending his knees to get to eye-level with you. He tried to remove your hands from your face but since you didn’t budge – because you were embarrassed – he just pulled you into his arms, patting your hair.
“Shhh, w-why are you crying…please stop, or I’ll start crying too,” he sighs into your hair, still patting your head to comfort you.
You remove your hands from your face and look up, trying to sniff your tears back into your head.
“Soobin I-” you look at him not able to finish your sentence as more tears escaped from your eyes.
He inhaled sharply. “It’s ok, it’s ok. Take your time just please stop crying, you don’t need to explain right away,” he says quickly wiping your tears with the long sleeve of his shirt.
“No, I do,” you sigh untangling yourself from his embrace. You shake off your bitch ass behaviour and collect yourself, taking deep breaths as you fix your face in the mirrored wall behind you.
Soobin watched you like a hawk, afraid you would suddenly start crying again.
You sit down on the bench press and rake your hands through your hair.
“Look, first off I need to apologise to you,” you said calmly.
Soobin head snapped in your direction as you spoke. He walked over to you and sat down next to you on the way too small bench.
“You? Apologise?” he nudges you playfully trying to lighten the mood. “That’s new.”
You chuckle at his statement and sigh. “I don’t know why I was so mad at you. You were just looking out for me and I broke a promise I made to you by going after Yeonjun anyway and I’m sorry.”
Soobin frowns, blinking a couple of times.
“Y/n. I can’t tell you who to date. I certainly can’t tell you who you should and shouldn’t have feelings for. It was wrong of me to push you into a direction you didn’t want to go in, but-”
“No,” you interrupt him, looking him in his eyes. “I get it. I do. It’s just that…the whole ‘Yeonjun just wants to fuck’ story doesn’t add up? He was so sweet. We have a lot in common, and I could tell he genuinely cared. He didn’t try to get in my pants ONCE, he didn’t even try to kiss me when we were alone together. He was just interested in me, as a person. Not as…some lust object,” you explain to your best ability.
Soobin sighed, letter your words register. “I have to admit; I’ve never seen him so worked up over a girl before.”
You raise your eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that…he was upset y/n. He didn’t like seeing you with Johnny. When Beomgyu told me you went up with Johnny, you should’ve seen him. He overheard and immediately sprinted upstairs. I think he might really like you. Meaning that I was wrong. But you never know with him. It’s like he doesn’t want anyone to get close to him like that,” Soobin says rubbing his forehead. His head was pounding just thinking of the whole situation leading up to this very moment.
“Well, I just blew any chance I had with him,” you say playing with the rings on your fingers.
“Not necessarily, I mean. It’s not like we caught you in the act or something. Nothing happened. Right?” Soobin asked looking at you.
“No. Nothing. Nothing at all,” you assure him.
Soobin just nods, licking his lips as he’s lost in thought. “Let me fix this,” he says determinedly.
“W-what?” you look up to him in surprise.
“I’ll talk to Yeonjun,” Soobin says reluctantly. “If I didn’t push Johnny into your direction this would have never happened. And also, I can’t see you cry. It hurts my insides,” he says avoiding eye contact.
For the first time in a while, you crack a smile, you nudge him. “Don’t get all soft on me now, you giant baby.”
He just smiles, looking down at his hands that were situated in his lap. “Just don’t make me regret helping you out with this,” he said sighing.
You wrap your arms around his waist hugging him, squeezing him to your best ability. “You’re the best, best friend in the whole entire world,” you say squishing your cheek against his. This earned a heartfelt giggle from him and he tries to push you off but you don’t let him.
“Ok, ok, ok. Stop it or else I won’t do it anymore”, he threatens and you let go immediately.
“Now let’s get you drunk. You’ve been through enough,” he chuckles getting up and pulling you up with him.
“Oh my god. Yes, please.”
You arrive in the kitchen again, ready to get to Mia’s level of brain dead as you watch the jello shot jiggle in your hand.
“You’re not having anything?” You ask Soobin, but he just shakes his head. “I’m driving, remember?”
you nod, understanding. “Right, I guess I’ll just cheers you with your Coca Cola,” you snort.
He smiles at you widely, before you bump your cups together. “To never fighting again,” you say raising your plastic shot glass.
“Agreed,” he says doing the same. And just like that, the shot slid down your throat. You were surprised at the amount of alcohol in it, but then you remembered you were at a frat party.
Soobin smiled at the face you made as you tasted the jello. He put his cup down on the counter and looked around the room. Soobin’s eyes wandered from you to the hallway and he froze. Not being able to register what he just saw.
You noticed his gaze stopping, and you wave your hand in front of his face. “Soobin, my dude. You good?” You ask him, but he doesn’t respond. His eyes fixed on something behind you.
You frown at him, turning around to follow his gaze, and just as your eyes landed on what Soobin was seeing, your heart sank.
It was Yeonjun, sticking his tongue inside Yeji’s mouth as he pinned her against the wall. Passionately kissing each other like no one was watching.
“Oh, no,” Soobin said under his breath.
A/N: Sorry.
ATW’s in mine and the character's perspectives are open.
Chapter 3.
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Paul/Jane excerpts (within the context of Beatles’ details)
MEETING THE BEATLES:
On 18 April 1963 Jane did a photographic assignment for Radio Times at a concert called ‘Swinging Sounds ’63’ at the Albert Hall... When the Beatles came on stage she screamed. Jane met all four Beatles backstage – apparently all four were very impressed by her – especially George, it was alleged later – but she got on better with Paul. They were seen in public together for the first time shortly afterwards and from then on Paul was continually asked whether he was going to marry Jane. Paul even made fun of this in ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ when answered ‘No, we’re just good friends’ even before the question was asked.
— Richard Porter, Guide to the Beatles London
They invited her back to their hotel, the Royal Court in Sloane Square, before moving on to the Kings Road apartment of Chris Hutchins, a journalist.
The others left Paul alone in the bedroom with Jane, after a lot of winking. They set the evening talking about gravy and what was their favourite meal. ‘I realized this was the girl for me. I hadn't tried to grab her or make her. I told her, “It appears you're a nice girl.”’
‘They couldn’t believe I was a virgin,’ says Jane.
— Hunter Davies, The Beatles
[John’s masturbation comment]
Previously John, Paul, George, and Ringo had hoped to end their evening at the Ad Lib club, a celebrity hangout that had lately become a favorite late-night stop. But as the throngs of girls outside continued to wail, they realized they had better stay out of sight. [Chris] Hutchins invited the entire group back to his apartment King’s Road in Chelsea, so off they went, with two girls in tow…
Whether it was her cool confidence or her posh accent, something about Jane goaded John to direct his caustic eyes in her direction.
“Well. Let’s all play a question-and-answer-game!” He announced a bit too cheerily. Then he turned to Jane. “So tell us, luv, how do girls play with themselves?”
Silence. Jane’s eyes widened. Paul, sitting close to her on the floor, put his hand in the air, as if he could wave John’s words back into his mouth. “John! John!” he yelped. “Stop it. You can’t do that.”
John just smiled, peering intently through his glasses. “No, you can tell us. Come on. We all want to know, come on.”
Paul, looking aghast, shook his head vehemently. “John. For christsakes, John.”
By now Jane was climbing to her feet, muttering icily that it had grown quite late, clearly it was time to go. Paul stood, too, glaring at John while he helped Jane into her coat, saying he’d see her into a cab. The pair of them walked outside quickly, the door clicking behind them. It was late by then, already after midnight, and the dark London air was thick with fog.
The cultured, self-possessed Jane Asher may have intimidated John Lennon, but she was exactly what Paul had been looking for. When Hutchins looked out the window, he saw the Beatle holding the actress’s arm, walking into the midst. “And he never came back,” Hutchins says. “I just saw both of them disappearing down King’s Road.”
— Peter Ames Carlin, Paul McCartney: A Life
RELATIONSHIP:
[Paul on status]
Living in the Asher house gave me the base and the freedom and the independence. That, alongside all the other things, because I wasn't married to Jane. I was pretty free. I remember John very much envying me. He said, 'Well, if you go out with another girl, what does Jane think?' and I said, 'Well, I don't care what she thinks, we're not married. We've got a perfectly sensible relationship.' He was well jealous of that, because at this time he couldn't do that, he was married with Cynthia and with a lot of energy bursting to get out. He'd tried to give Cynthia the traditional thing, but you kind of knew he couldn't. There were cracks appearing but he could only paste them over by staying at home and getting very wrecked.
— Paul McCartney, Many Years from Now
[Jane’s concerns]
That’s typical Paul (wanting me to stay inside the George V Hotel with the band instead of going out by myself to see Paris). It’s just so silly of me to stay at the hotel. It’s just that he’s so insecure. For instance, he keeps saying he’s not interested in the future, but he must be because he says it so often. The trouble is, he wants the fans’ adulation and mine too. He’s so selfish, it’s his biggest fault. He can’t see that my feelings for him are real and that the fans’ are fantasy. Of course, it’s the trouble with all boys. When I first met the Beatles, I liked them all. Then, when I found out that I liked Paul more, the others became angry with me.
— Michael Braun, Love Me Do! The Beatles Progress
[Image wise, George didn’t stay angry with Jane, there’s several cute candid photos of them looking rather peaceful.]
[London Life]
The socially omnivorous Beatle profited from his Asher connection when the world wasn’t watching, too. For now Paul had entree into the cloistered world of old money… So many secret rituals to learn, so many hands to shake and stories to hear. “It was stuff happening that I’d only ever read of in books,” Paul said. “An overhang from Britain’s genteel past.”
John, stuck out in his golf-course home with his wife and a toddler son whose emotional needs he could never quite fathom, envied his partner’s more fast-paced urban life. Though the three suburban Beatles and their wives weren’t exactly stranger to the London nightlife, Jane clearly set a very different standard. “Jane was a teenaged film star so she was part of the glitterati of London before the Beatles even appeared,” NEMS employee and Beatle wingman Tony Bramwell recalls...
If the other Beatle couples bumped into Paul and Jane in London on a night off, Bramwell continues, it was usually a night club such as the Ad Lib or the Scotch of St. James. “Paul and Jane would be there, probably with some strange people. So you’d have a drink, and that’d be it. They’d be off.”
— Peter Ames Carlin, Paul McCartney: A Life
[The Turtles run into Paul, John, Jane, and Ringo]
Inside the speakeasy, all the girls looked like Twiggy, the iconic pixie-haired waif model whose London fashion had taken the world by storm. We must have walked past fifteen look-alike on our way to our next destination and we actually heard the Beatles before we saw them. It was like being in A Hard Day’s Night.
“Aw, come on John. Leave the candles alone. You’re gonna start a bloody fire in here.”
“I can’t see anything down here, Paul. It’s as dark as a hooker’s heart.”
And then, a female voice.
“Please, Paul. Don’t humor him anymore. This is getting ridiculous. I’m going to leave.”
Graham led us around the corner, where the Fab Four were hanging with their dates at a private table in the back of the room. Well, actually it was the Fab Three — George Harrison was not in attendance. The deal was, Lennon was actually under the table taking Polaroid pictures up the skirts of his female companions while Paul lent a hand. Ringo laughed at everything, and Paul’s then girlfriend, Jane Asher, was doing her best to drag him out of there. Dressed in Carnaby Street’s finest, the Beatles were dimly lit, and a halo of light illuminating their mop-top hairdos added just the right ambience to make this already bizarre scene more surreal.
Paul was ducking under the table himself now, helping his business partner illuminate the proceeding with his disposable lighter, and Jane was searching the booth for her coat as we approached them, with Graham in the lead.
“I’ll be leaving now, Paul,” Jane said through clenched teeth as she pushed her way out of the booth and stood there, staring him down.
“Hi, Jane.” Graham was friendly but she didn’t even acknowledge his presence.
“I’m going home, Paul. And I don’t mean your home.” She made her way toward the exit as we walked up in a pack. Jim Tucker actually grabbed her army to stop her en route.
“Hey, Miss Asher. Hi. My name is Jim Tucker and I worked with your brother.” He extended his hand, only to have her push him away.
“Piss off, wanker!” Jane just blew him off and brushed past us on her way out of the club. Jim stood there examining his hand for a long moment.
“Hey, guys,” Graham greeted as Paul frantically scrambled to his feet.
“Jane! Jane! Aw, come on, baby. We’re just having a little fun.” Jane kept walking.
— Howard Kaylan, Jeff Tamarkin, Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa etc.
[Vacationing and songwriting — Yesterday]
McCartney played it so often on the set of The Beatles’ first movie, Help!, that director Richard Lester once threatened that he’d throw the piano off the set if McCartney didn’t complete it. Lennon tried to help his pal with the song, but this was entirely a McCartney joint. Lennon's only contribution was the suggestion that the song title just be one word, but beyond that, he was just about useless.
After months of struggling with the creative process, the lyrics suddenly came to McCartney in a very unlikely (and very inconvenient) place: driving down the winding hills of Portugal, where he was on vacation with Jane.
“It was a long hot, dusty drive,” McCartney told Miles. “Jane was sleeping but I couldn’t, and when I’m sitting that long in a car I either manage to get to sleep or my brain starts going. I remember mulling over the tune ‘Yesterday,’ and suddenly getting these little one-word openings to the verse.”
McCartney and Asher were going to stay as guests in the vacation villa owned by his friend Bruce Welch, who was also a musician. When they made it to the villa, McCartney rang up Welch and asked him if he had a guitar. Luckily, there was an acoustic guitar in the house, which made the arduous songwriting process just a bit easier. It took two more weeks to nail the lyrics… and then there was more waiting to do.
— Jordan Zakarin, “Paul McCartney Came up With the Melody to One of the Beatles' Biggest Hits in His Sleep.”
[Thoughts on marriage]
“I enjoy acting. I didn’t want to give that up.”
“I know now I was just being silly,” says Paul. “It was a game, trying to beat you down.” At various times, one of them wanted to get married but the other didn’t. Jane says it was usually something happening with the Beatles, just when it looked all settled, which made her change her mind. Paul says it was her acting, although he agreed when the big tour of America came up that she had to go on that.
“When I came back after five month [tour], Paul had changed so much. He was on LSD, which I hadn’t shared. I was jealous of all the spiritual experiences he’d had with John. There were fifteen people dropping in all day long. The house had changed and was full of stuff I didn’t know about.”
His life is much quieter and more ordered now, since Jane returned. Paul, unlike the others, is very communicative about himself. He does talk everything over with Jane. She knows what he’s thinking.
“Another problem,” says Paul, “was that my whole existence for so long centered round a bachelor life. I didn’t treat women as most people do. I’ve always had a lot around, even when I’ve had a steady girl. My life generally has always been very lax, and not normal.
“I knew it was selfish. It caused a few rows. Jane left me once and went off to Bristol to act. I said okay, then leave; I’ll find someone else. It was shattering to be without her.” This was when he wrote “I’m Looking Through You.” Jane has inspired several of his more beautiful songs, such as “And I Love Her.”
— Hunter Davies, The Beatles.
[Chasing after Jane in Bristol] [Writing Eleanor Rigby] [Busy]
The other three Beatles had already moved out into the London suburbs, with lush gardens and rolling lawns, while Paul was in the heart of London in an old period house. When I complimented him on the house, and admired his possessions, he said: ‘People think we are not conceited — but we are’.
I then got him to explain where the words of Eleanor Rigby had come from… The name which first came into his head was a woman called Daisy Hawkins, ‘picking up rice in a church where a wedding had been’. He had no idea where that line had come from. In Bristol, where he had been visiting Jane Asher who was acting there, he was walking round and saw the name Rigby on a shop, and thought that would be a better name.
— Hunter Davies for the Daily Mail
[Magical Mystery Tour]
By 1967, McCartney was making experimental films, and he traveled everywhere with his video camera. While filming Jane Asher at Denver’s Civic Center Park, he was struck by an idea. It combined the randomness of his amateur films with the stories of the Merry Pranksters that he heard during his time in San Francisco and the mystery charabanc tours that took vacationers from Liverpool to Blackpool on a bus filled with beer and accordion players. Maybe the Beatles could create and film a mystery tour of their own.
— Scott Freiman, “Magical Mystery Tour: Some “Mysteries””
[India]
Brian Epstein’s death was a heavy blow to Jane. She, too, found comfort in the Maharishi: She went with Paul to Rishikesh and felt the experience to have been rewarding. With LSD banished, their understanding returned. Paul, at long last, made ready to commit himself. They announced their engagement at a McCartney family party on Christmas Day, 1967.
— Philip Norman, Shout!
[India]
When they got engaged on Christmas Day 1967, all these problems were in the past. Maharishi for a long time was the only little point of difference, although it was all amicable. Jane didn’t fall for him when the others did. She said that she and Paul together reach a spiritual state on their own. Paul wasn’t as committed as George and John, but still felt there was something there which would help him, which might answer his questions.
The questions he’s referring to are about the purpose of life, not about the Beatles. Paul has some well-worked-out views about the Beatles, their changes, and the future.
— Hunter Davies, The Beatles
BREAKING UP:
[John starts bringing Yoko to studio — meets Jane?] [Paul reacting]
Fully aware of the enormity, John implied it was just a one-off visit, because Yoko had been depressed and needed cheering up. ‘I had no idea what he’d told the others,’ she would remember. ‘I couldn’t understand why they kept asking me if I was feeling better.’ It being unthinkable for Lennon to enjoy a privilege that McCartney didn’t, Jane Asher soon afterwards found herself invited to her first Beatles recording session in five years with Paul. As his relationship with Jane began to peter out, he took to bringing along Francie Schwartz, the New Yorker working in Apple’s press office who’d recently caught his eye.
On 17 July, John once again showed off Yoko–now no longer dressed in shapeless black but tailored white–at the London premiere of Yellow Submarine. That evening, very noticeably, Paul had no Jane doing her usual royal duty beside him.
Three days later, on the BBC’s Dee Time program, she told host Simon Dee she was no longer engaged to Paul and that their five-year relationship was over. ‘I haven’t broken it off but it’s broken off, finished,’ she said. ‘I know it sounds corny, but we still see each other and love each other… but it hasn’t worked out. Perhaps we’ll be childhood sweethearts and meet again and get married when we’re about 70.’
— Paul McCartney: The Life by Philip Norman
JOHN: So it was always the family thing, you see. If Jane [Asher] was to have a career, then that’s not going to be a cozy family, is it? All the other girls were just groupies mainly. And with Linda not only did he have a ready-made family, but she knows what he wants, obviously, and has given it to him. The complete family life. He’s in Scotland. He told me he doesn’t like English cities anymore. So that’s how it is.
MCCABE: So you think with Linda he’s found what he wanted?
JOHN: I guess so. I guess so. I just don’t understand… I never knew what he wanted in a woman because I never knew what I wanted. I knew I wanted something intelligent or something arty, whatever it was. But you don’t really know what you want until you find it. So anyway, I was very surprised with Linda. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d married Jane Asher, because it had been going on for a long time and they went through a whole ordinary love scene. But with Linda it was just like, boom! She was in and that was the end of it.
— John Lennon, interview w/ Peter McCabe and Robert Schonfeld. (September, 1971)
“I've always felt wary including Jane in the Beatles’ history. She’s never gone into print about our relationship, whilst everyone on earth has sold their story. So I'd feel weird being the one to kiss and tell.”
— Paul McCartney, Anthology
I've never particularly liked the idea of looking back; I'd rather look forward.”
— Jane Asher
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