#loving him was red | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

neowinestainedress · 2 years

Text

Everything has changed ; lee haechan

title: everything has changed | part of the “loving him was red” series

pairing: lee haechan x oc | side members: oc best friend!kim jungwoo

genre: coffee shop!au, strangers to friends to lovers, fluff, mutual pining, getting together, (tiny little bit) angst

warnings: none

summary: She would’ve never imagined that the person that would’ve turned her life around was going to show up in that small cafè where she worked every day and hated so much. But sometimes, it only takes a coffee shop, brown eyes and a rain storm for everything to change.

words: 11.937k

taglist: @meowniee @commentgirl @b1kon131 @blossom-rea @kyungsooislifeu @jenosbliss @multistan30 | if you’d like to be added comment on the masterlist of the series

a/n: I should’ve published this one ages ago but I just couldn’t finish it and somehow I’m still not quite satisfied with the result. I feel like something is missing (probably it's the pain so that's a personal problem) but anyway it's here and I still hope you'll like it! Feedback is always appreciated, I’d love to know what you think about it.

All I knew this morning when I woke, is I know something now know something now I didn't before. And all I've seen since 18 hours ago, is green eyes and freckles and your smile, in the back of my mind, making me feel like...

Mondays were always the same for Iseul, a traumatic start for yet another stressful week. It wasn’t like she didn’t enjoy working at the small coffee shop on Jeju Island. People were nice, but seeing the same old faces made her feel stuck. Being born and raised on a small island can make you feel trapped, and that was exactly how she felt. Trapped.

Grandma Park’s sweet smile wasn’t enough to make her feel better. Just like the curious questions of the three-year-old Sooyoung, or the stray dog that always ran on the back to get some leftovers and let her cuddle him.

But she had to bring money home and take care of her family. Her grandmother had always been there for her, and she surely couldn’t leave her behind right now when she needed her the most. So, shaking the sleep off her face, she got up, ready – more or less – to face another day.

The strong scent of coffee filled her nostrils as she greeted the nth customer of the day, bidding goodbye. It was almost five in the afternoon, and she felt exhausted.

“God, I hate full-day shifts,” she whined, sitting on the stool in front of the cash register, resting her elbow on the desk and placing her cheek on her fist to stare at Jungwoo that was washing the cups and plates of the last customers that just left.

“At least people here are nice,” he commented, putting the pottery in its place. “And they aren’t always in a rush, pressing you to get their coffee done in two seconds.”

“But it gets so boring here,” she complained, twirling on the chair.

“It’s because you make it boring,” Jungwoo replied, shrugging. “Look at me, I enjoy the little things of life and live amazingly.”

She glared at her friends and shook her head. She also enjoyed the little things of life, but sometimes, they just weren’t enough. Most of the time they weren’t enough. The idea of spending her whole life like this wasn’t appealing at all, especially when it wasn’t what she had studied for and craved. She saw her dream break right in front of her eyes when her grandmother’s conditions worsened, and she had to give up flying to Seoul to take a degree in psychology to look after her grandmother and her little brother.

“I have to go check the back, look at the customers,” Jungwoo announced before disappearing without giving her time to answer.

She nodded, even though he wasn’t there anymore and stood up to stretch her back, not hearing the doorbell ring.

“Though it was a bar, not a gym,” a voice said playfully and she stilled before recomposing herself again and turning around to meet what appeared to her like the most handsome boy she had ever seen.

She coughed, shaking her head and trying not to get lost in his golden-brown eyes, or his tan skin, or his plump pink lips and his silky brown hair… “Oh, yes, sorry,” she apologized, bowing politely.

The boy chuckled, passing his tongue on his lips, “Oh, no, there’s really no need for all this formality, I get it, really.”

She smiled shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and said, “It was a really long day.”

“No worries,” he reassured, resting his elbow on the counter and peeking his head to see what sweets were left behind the window. “It was a long day also for me, waking up early to prepare the last things and fly here from Seoul. I’m starving,” he confessed, letting out a huff and rolling his head back.

“Wow, you’re from Seoul? What brings you here?”

“I used to live here, then moved to Seoul and now I came back because my grandpa needs help.”

“Shit,” she mumbled under her breath, “I’m sorry for being inconsiderate.”

He shook his head, “You’re not being inconsiderate for asking me a question I decided to answer, but for not proposing anything to eat,” he chuckled, dragging a stool closer to him, and sitting on it.

She snapped out of her trance, cursing herself for being so dumb and grabbed tongs and opened the small glass window where they kept the food, “Sorry. So, what’d you like?”

“That sandwich will be fine,” he answered, pointing at the one closest to her.

“Can I serve you anything else?” She asked while placing the bread on a clean plate and handing it to him.

“No, I’m fine for now. Can I pay when I’m done?”

“Sure,” she smiled, and right when she was about to ask him something else, Jungwoo came back from the storage room.

She turned around, not even trying to hide the big smile on her face and that made Jungwoo furrow.

“Are you okay?” He asked, tilting his head before walking close to her.

She nodded, “Yeah, why?”

He shrugged and started to walk around the desk, ready to serve a new customer who sat down at a table, “Nothing. You’ll tell me soon, anyway.”

She rolled her eyes and then turned around, making eye contact with the boy from before, he was staring at the scene with curiosity while eating – more like devouring – his sandwich.

She lowered her head, smoothing the creases on her apron and grabbed a cloth before walking out of the counter to go clean some tables. In reality, they were already clean, but she needed to keep herself busy and don’t stand near that handsome stranger.

But as she moved around the small coffee shop, she could feel his gaze burn on her skin as he kept ordering other things; first a glass of water, then coffee and then a sweet. And there weren’t other tables anymore, so giving up, she came back behind the cash, throwing the cloth in the bin.

“I feared I had to buy the whole cafe to have you here again,” he teased, chin resting on his intertwined hands.

She raised a brow and cocked her head, looking at him, “And why?”

“You started to serve me, I wanted you to finish,” he explained before standing up from the chair and fixing the leather jacket that wrapped his upper body perfectly. “It seemed fair since I let you know why I’m here.”

She nodded, “Okay, here I am,” she smiled, hand pointing at herself, focusing on what he had ordered to give him the bill instead of getting lost in him. “It’ll be 9.325 won.”

When he paid and walked out of the door, she felt her world go still once again. It was the middle of May, so it wasn’t cold at all, yet she felt cold wrap all around her body.

But his eyes, his smile and his nose didn’t leave her mind. His face was on every same old customer that came in to grab something to eat or drink. His face was in the back of her mind while she cleaned the dishes and fixed some boxes of food in the fridges in the back. His face tormented her all the driveway back home, when she greeted her brother and her grandma and even when she went to sleep.

Something about him made her heart lit up, finding a flame she thought she had lost long ago. She knew nothing about him, he was just a complete stranger, and he easily could’ve just been added to the mass of people that crossed her path only once in her life. And that night, that thought made her heart break a little as the fear of never seeing him again crept into her bones.

I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now. I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now. I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now. I just wanna know you, know you, know you...

Maybe it was luck, maybe it was destiny that for once reserved her something good, but that mysterious boy started to show up every morning at the coffee shop.

And every time that his head popped from the front door, her day lighted up. Just seeing his face, hearing his voice and seeing his beautiful smile, was enough to turn her day around.

He never stayed a lot, just grabbed his over caloric pumpkin spice latte and a chocolate muffin and then sprung out of the door. It killed her; she wanted to know him more, at least know his name, but he was always out of reach.

“What’s with that sad face?” Jungwoo asked her, sitting next to her since the bar was empty. “It’s because Pumpkin didn’t show up?”

“Pumpkin?” She laughed, trying to play it cool and avoiding his interrogating gaze. “And who’s that?”

Jungwoo rolled his eyes and grabbed her knees to make her turn around to face her. “Don’t play dumb, you know who I’m talking about.”

She huffed, crossing her arms on her chest. “Fine, I’m just worried. Maybe something happened.”

Her friend raised a brow, “Sure, whatever. It’s not that you miss him and are dying to know him better, right?”

“Why do you care? I care for him just like I care for any other regular customer,” she defended, standing up from the stool to start to set up the dishwasher that had just ringed, letting them know it had finished cleaning.

“Yeah, you’re super worried when Mr. Kim doesn’t show up for a day, I saw you crying in the bathroom the other day, terrified something terrible happened to him,” he ironized, helping her with the dishes.

She stopped for a second, fist resting against her waist, “Maybe I care for him a little bit more.” It felt so humiliating to admit that she cared for someone she barely even knew, but it was the truth. And Jungwoo already knew it, they grew up together, and she always acted the same when she had a crush... if she could call him that. Jungwoo was just waiting for her to admit it out loud.

“I knew that!” her friend chanted, throwing up a fist. “So, it’s a crush. Finally, you have eyes for somebody that is not Oh Sehun?”

“Oh, shut up! You make me sound delusional if you say that.”

“You were the one saying to me that no men on this island come close to him.”

“And, in fact, Pumpkin is not from this island.”

“Who’s not from this island?” His voice resonated in the room and Jungwoo winked at her before leaving her all alone, disappearing in the back again. She damnded her best friend and then took a deep breath before turning around.

“We were discussing the drinks we sell here, and how small is the Korean offers,” she lied, heart skipping a beat when he smiled at her.

Jungwoo peeked from the back door and stared at the scene while pretending to be busy doing something.

“And Pumpkin spice latte with an extra whip is surely not typical,” he joked, running a hand through his hair, it seemed damp as if he had run there.

“No, definitely not, but I guess that’s what you’ll take, right?”

He nodded with a big smile on his face, and all the worries of the day left her mind. It didn’t matter he didn’t show up this morning, he was there now, and even if he seemed tired – even stressed – he looked beautiful as always and somehow found the strength to be positive and joyful.

Once she was done preparing the drink and handing it to him, she gathered the courage to ask his name, but before she could open her mouth, he was already out of the door.

And somehow it always happened like this, some morning she couldn’t even take him because she was already busy with other people and – as much as he loved her – Jungwoo couldn’t make him wait forever solely for her to talk to him.

It felt like a stupid game; life wanted to give her a reason to wake up in the morning and carry through every day, no matter how terrible it was, but without never letting her get to the prize. It was tiring, and she had no idea what else to do to get closer to him.

'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello". And your eyes look like comin' home. All I know is a simple name, and everything has changed. All I know is you held the door You'll be mine and I'll be yours. All I know since yesterday, is everything has changed

Iseul yawned as she finished fixing the chair around on of the tables. She was alone since Jungwoo had to leave early, but anyway they were closed, and she was just trying to keep herself busy waiting for the storm to calm down before heading home.

“Sorry, we’re closed, I’ve forgotten to lock,” she turned around and gasped when she saw him. “Oh, hi.”

“I can leave if that’s a problem.”

“No, no,” she said immediately. “I might do some company.”

“Why are you still here?”

“Jungwoo had to go. So I was just finishing things up to don’t leave a mess in the morning,” she explained and then looked at him. “What are you doing standing there? Come here.”

He smiled at her, “I don’t want to make a mess, I’m a little… wet,” he chuckled, head lowering to point at his wet clothes.

“It’s fine, come sit here. I’ll get you a cloth,” she said, before turning on her heels and going on the back to grab something dry to help him warm up a little.

“Do you want something to drink? I can’t give you your usual sugary favourite drink but maybe… some tea? I don’t know.”

“I don’t want to be more of a pain in the ass,” he laughed, wrapping the cloth around his body.

She giggled, trying to hide how fast her heart was beating right at the moment. “You’re not. Actually, I rather don’t be lonely. Nothing ever happens here, but you may never know.”

“Aren’t I just a stranger?”

“I guess, you never told me your name,” she dared to say, subtly trying to let him take the hint she wanted to know it. “But we see each other every morning, so we’re not so strangers to each other.”

“I’m Haechan,” he replied, reaching his hand out.

“I’m Iseul,” she replied, trying to don’t blush when their hands touched. “So, what were you doing around here? You’re here in the morning usually.”

“I was coming back from work, actually. But I lost the last bus and since it’s raining, I guessed you were still open, but you aren’t.”

“I didn’t kick you out, though,” she chuckled.

“With all the money I give to this bar every morning, it’s the bare minimum,” Haechan joked, leaning his back against the table, scrolling the towel in his hair to shake out more water. And it was a miracle her mouth didn’t gape at the sight.

Shaking her head and giving him a small smile, she said, “Not my fault I make the best pumpkin latte.”

“I don’t come here for a drink,” he replied, wetting his lips and staring at her straight in the eyes.

“No?”

He shook his head. “There’s somebody I really like that comes here too.”

She felt her heart drop. Did he like somebody else? Who was she? He never stayed there for long, how could he even see somebody and fall for them?

“Oh, who is… do I know her?”

“It’s you, dummy.”

Her brown eyes widened in shock as she felt her whole body heat up, “Me?”

“You’re the reason that drink is so good, if I went to any other bar, it wouldn’t be so good.”

Oh, he meant it like that.

“Oh,” she whispered, looking down on the floor. What a fool. Of course, he couldn’t like her in any other way.

“You never told me why you work here, you don’t seem really excited to be here,” he said, “Wait, let me explain, you smile a lot and you’re super polite with people, but it had happened I just stopped and stared at you, and when no customer is in front of you your face changes.”

She stammered silently, attempting to find the right words but she had no idea what to say. Should she lie? Or tell the truth? What did he even care?

“I like working here,” she said, forcing a smile on her face. “But it’s not what I really had in mind when I imagined what my life was going to be.”

“Things gone wrong?”

She shrugged and crossed her arms to her chest; she didn’t like talking about that. There was nothing she could do to change that, and she already dwelt on it by herself.

“What about you? What do you do back in Seoul?”

“I work for a company, kind of boring, to be honest, but it’s all experience and then if everything goes well when I’ll get back I’ll have the chance to work as a script supervisor in another agency.”

“Wow, that’s cool,” she said, smiling at him. “So you plan on going back?”

“Yeah, with all respect, here is not really where I want to be.”

She nodded. “And are you going soon?” She knew this was going to happen, she was the first one that wanted to leave, but she hoped that the only person that made her look forward to the new day wouldn’t leave already.

“No, it’s not happening soon,” he said, before stretching and yawning.

“Tired?” She chuckled, leaning onward to rest her arms on her knees.

“A little bit,” he replied, “What about coffee? I don’t think the rain is going to calm down soon, maybe we could avoid falling asleep here.”

She nodded, she was tired too after the long day, so she could use some coffee. “But I only have instant coffee, sorry but I don’t want to clean the machines again,” she said, standing up and heading behind the counter, followed by him.

“That’s fine,” he replied, before taking off the cloth and folding it, leaving it on the desk in front of him.

“Do you work tomorrow?” He asked, watching her grab two cups and the other things she needed to make coffee.

“I’m always here,” she reminded him. “I don’t think you look at me very much,” she joked, adding two spoons in the cup.

“I do,” he replied, “I look at you attentively,” he added, voice low, almost provocative.

She gulped and tried to hide the excitement with a nervous laugh.

“Like right now, for example, you’re blushing.”

She almost choked on air and then laughed awkwardly, “You’re just making things up.”

“Whatever,” Haechan shrugged, before grabbing the cup from her hand and bringing it to his lips. “You’re really pretty by the way,” he added, smiling smugly as he watched her blush brightly and almost choke on the sip of the drink.

The rain calmed down just when the clock hit eight, and they talked and talked, so much that they almost didn’t realize they were finally free to go home and enjoy a warm shower and a hot dish after a long day out.

“So, this is it,” Iseul said, locking the door of the cafe and then pulling down the shutters before turning around to face Haechan that was waiting behind her with his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans.

“Yep. Thank you for letting me stay,” he repeated for the nth time, making her roll her eyes.

“How many times do I have to tell you it was no problem? I would’ve died from boredom all alone,” she reassured him, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ears and then hugging her black purse tighter so it wouldn’t have slipped from her shoulder.

Haechan beamed and then scratched his neck, looking around.

“Wait, you don’t have a car…” she realized, tilting her head. “Come on, let’s go,” she ordered, before opening the umbrella and waiting for him to get underneath. He smiled and she felt her heart jump in her chest when he intertwined their arms and started walking to her car.

“By the way, you could’ve asked, I would’ve dropped you home anyway,” she said, chuckling lightly, when they finally arrived at the car.

The drive home was spent with the radio keeping them company while they kept talking about this and that, mostly about stories they shared of growing up there, finding it weird how they’d never crossed paths before that moment.

“We don’t live that far from each other,” she noted as she pulled up in the driveway and parked in front of his place, well, his grandfather’s place.

“Really?”

“Yep, I’m just a street away, actually.”

“Well, then, maybe next time I could take you home,” he smirked.

“Without a car?”

“I can drive, I just don’t have it here.”

“Oh, and what are you going to do? Use my car to drop me home and then you drive here? And what will I do in the morning?”

“I could pick you up,” he winked.

She chuckled, shaking her head. God, he was really making her go crazy.

“Goodnight, Haechan,” she greeted, watching him open the door.

“Goodnight, Iseul,” he replied before handing her a small paper and rushing to the door before she could ask him what it was.

She froze on the spot when she opened the paper and read his number.

What had just happened that night? When did she get so lucky?

And all my walls stood tall painted blue. But I'll take 'em down, take 'em down, and open up the door for you.

There was a reason if Haechan didn’t let people in. He had no time for that. He had one thing very clear in mind, and that was his future. He just wanted to get there; to the finish line, and finally, do the job he so long worked hard for.

And well, there was also another reason. He wasn’t exactly lucky with relationships. He had to admit that half of the time – all the time – it was his fault for running away when things went well – too well for his liking. He didn’t picture himself settled with somebody at his side for the rest of his life, not yet at least.

So he couldn’t understand what was the feeling he got with Iseul. He couldn’t understand how she slipped past his walls so easily. He couldn’t understand how he looked forward to meeting her in the morning at the bar, smiling behind the counter with no need to even ask him the drink he wanted. He couldn’t understand why the only thing that made him look forward to the end of the day was knowing that she was there, ready to pick him up to go back home. And he couldn’t understand why he hated the bus so much when they had different shifts and she couldn’t do that. He couldn’t even understand why every time he looked at her, he pictured himself settled in a house with somebody at his side, her.

“I shouldn’t be doing this and if my boss sees me, she will kill me. But we were going to throw them away anyway,” she said, lifting a little box full of sweets as she rushed out of the workplace, Jungwoo was going to close tonight. “You know, dumb rules about not selling food after a day.”

Haechan smiled and then grabbed the box from her hand. “And are they for me?”

“Yeah, I know you always eye them but can’t eat them because you’re in a rush in the morning so you can enjoy them tonight."

“Maybe we could eat out?” He asked hesitantly, eyes not finding the courage to look at her. What happened to his openly flirty personality?

“Us?"

“Well, we did that once, right? Two weeks ago, for lunch.”

“Maybe not tonight.”

He almost felt his heart break in his chest at those words. He was doing too much, and he had just crossed a line, scaring her forever, right? “You don’t want to?”

“I do. But let’s go on a date, a proper one,” she proposed, no idea where the confidence came from. But she felt like she just couldn’t wait any longer. The lunch they had together wasn’t a date, but she wanted to seriously go out with him and get to know him better. “Saturday night? I’ll come pick you up at 7:30.”

“Oh, fine by me,” he replied with a shrug, but he had to lower his head to hide the happy grin that curled his lips as they walked to her car.

He had no idea what was happening, but she was making his walls fall down, and for some reason, he wasn’t scared at all.

And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies, the beautiful kind, makin' up for lost time, takin' flight, makin' me feel like...

Iseul had no idea when it was the last time she felt like that. Electrified. On edge for something that was about to happen. Probably it was because she didn’t have a date in ages, and also because she never asked someone out. Or more easily because she never liked someone as much as she liked Haechan.

Calling it love was a big word, but she was now more than sure that she felt something for him, and whatever it was, was big.

So now she was rocking on her tiptoes as she waited for the clock to hit seven in front of her mirror, trying to fix the last details. He had seen her worn out after work, like a mess in the morning during those days when she couldn’t even find the strength to fix the eye bag under her eyes, yet, she wanted to be perfect for that night.

The place they were going wasn’t even expensive but she still wanted to be beautiful and wanted the night to be flawless.

She took a deep breath, fixed her hair one last time, and then rushed to the front door after bidding goodbye to her grandmother and brother.

She had been driving down that street for weeks now but she had never felt like that before. And maybe these butterflies in her stomach were rather stupid, maybe for Haechan it meant absolutely nothing. They were good friends and that was it, but she still couldn’t control the way her lips stayed curled for the whole drive to his house, or the way her palms were sweating, making it hard for her to grip the wheel and how her thighs were bouncing nervously against the leather seat as she waited for him to come out of the door.

And there he was, jumping down the few stairs that lead into the small garden, his black boots at the feet, the black tight jeans highlighting his beautiful long legs, the white shirt and the leather jacket wrapped around his torso.

“Hi,” he greeted cheerfully, entering the car and smiling at her.

She blinked twice, drifting her eyes from his handsome face and the way his hair fell around it, and greeted back before coughing and starting the car again.

“The restaurant is quite close,” she said, trying to fill the silence even if they had been together for less than a minute. Why was this so awkward? Why did it feel so different? They used to do this every single day basically. But this was different, they weren’t driving to work, they were going out on a date, a real one, and it felt so surreal.

But Haechan wasn’t listening, too caught up to stare at her. His eyes ran over her figure over and over, wondering how she could be real, now more than ever as she didn’t carry the tiredness of a whole day of work.

“You look amazing,” he said with no hesitation, not even realizing those words slipped past his lips and didn’t stay in his brain until she turned around, almost swerving with the car.

“Wow, wow, I didn’t want to scare you,” he joked, hoping that in the dim light of the evening she couldn’t see the way his face blushed.

“I just, I wasn’t expecting that,” she reassured him with a small smile, hands gripping the wheel tighter and then her eyes focused on the street again.

“Pink looks good on you,” he complimented again and this time she didn’t shake but she simply mumbled ‘thanks’ and smiled.

The rest of the drive went smoothly as they chatted about stupid gossip they read on Twitter and sang along to the songs passing on the radio. It wasn’t much different from their usual drives, but the atmosphere between them was different.

“Do you come here often?” He asked when the food arrived and they started eating. They had arrived at the small restaurant for around fifteen minutes, but the talks between them were still centred around what they talked about in the car.

“I don’t really go out, I prefer my grandma’s homemade cook,” she admitted, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes curling up in a smile.

“I need to try it someday, then,” he said, winking at her. A sneaky, subtle remark, for her to invite him home.

“I’m sure she’d love you. She’s very picky with people I bring home, that’s why I have like two friends allowed,” she joked.

“Jungwoo included, I hope.”

She chuckled, “Yes, he is for now, but I’m not sure how long it will last. She’s very protective of her porcelain collection and last time he almost made one piece fall to the ground.”

“Okay, if you’ll ever invite me I’ll make sure to don’t go near them. I can be quite clumsy if I want to.”

“Another thing in common, I guess. When I was younger I broke so many things because I couldn’t stay still.”

“And not only when you were young,” he teased, referring to the cups she made fall the day before at work.

“Listen, that was a mistake, they were still full of soap because the dishwasher broke,” she defended herself, rolling her eyes. Out of all the times it could’ve happened, they slipped out of her hands right in front of her boss. And Haechan sitting a few tables away from the crime scene, laughing under his teeth didn’t help her keep a straight face.

“’Kay, ’kay, I believe you, but just because I love you,” he said, a small smile on his face as he looked at her.

“You love me?”

He froze, suddenly realizing what he had said and then laughed it off, “As friends, of course.”

“Oh,” she mumbled, trying to pretend that the absolutely heartbroken gasp was a breath of relief. “You scared me for a second,” she kidded, head lowered, trying to focus on the food in front of her, her fingers struggling to hold the chopsticks as her hands started shaking.

“Were you single back in Seoul?” She asked, trying to change the topic, trying to hurt herself more by reminding herself that it was better like that. He was going to go back there without her, falling for him was just so stupid. But maybe it was far too late...

“Yep, almost never dated in my life,” he said, not really understanding why she asked that.

“You? Single your entire life?” She asked incredulously.

“No,” he chuckled, “I had a fling or two, mostly very superficial things. Love’s just not for me. I’ve always prioritized my studies and my career,” he added. “And you?”

“Single, and not because as Jungwoo says, Sehun doesn’t know about my existence.”

“You’ve never, never, dated?” His voice was full of surprise, not only she was gorgeous and he couldn’t believe people wouldn’t find her attractive, but she also seemed to be extremely romantic, at least, that was what he could guess about her in the last weeks they got to know each other.

She shrugged, averting his gaze, “Just had a… had a life that didn’t give me much time to focus on relationships, let’s say,” she then forced herself to look up and force a smile at him. She never talked about what her life had been, too painful, a weight that still felt too heavy to carry around and she didn’t want to ruin this date with sad things. A talk about her parent’s death was the last thing she needed that night. “But let’s not talk about it,” she cheered, clapping her hands and then leaning to grab the bottle of Soju. “We should cheer.”

Haechan nodded, smiling shyly at her, deciding to let the topic drop. “Cheer to what?”

“To our future, for it to be as bright as possible and to be full of all the things we want.” And probably the thing, the person, she wanted the most wasn’t going to be in her future, surely, it was going to be like that, but she wanted to hope anyway. She deserved a miracle.

And maybe that cheer had been useful, brightening up the date once again. Probably Haechan got that their last conversation made her sad and he did everything he could to make her smile again. Staying around him was so easy that she forgot about everything else. He was such an easygoing person and she was surprised how far under her skin he had gotten in such little time.

And when at the end of the night, she dropped him home, she wondered if it was a good thing that they got so along with each other.

“I had fun,” he confessed, leaning against the passenger seat, staring at her before he would’ve had to go back inside and put an end to a night he just wanted to last forever. “We should do it again,” he proposed, hoping she was in just as much as him, and when her lips turned up in her usual warm smile, his heart warmed up.

“I loved spending the night with you, we should definitely do it again.”

Haechan nodded, turning his head to look at the door, feeling his heart sink in his chest at the thought of leaving. “Well, I should go, now. Don’t want to make you go home too late.”

“Yeah,” she hummed, waiting for him to open the door. “Goodnight, Haechan.”

“Goodnight,” he replied, waving at her one last time, and then getting inside.

She sighed, standing there in the driveway for some minutes, trying to take in what had just happened and calm the beat of her heart.

The butterflies were taking flight, but they were flying so high that she feared their wings were going to get burned by the sun.

Days went over and so did the dates together. It was ‘just one more’ until going out on Saturday became a little tradition between them, whether it was going out to eat dinner together, a walk in a park, or an afternoon spent at the arcade while she cursed because she couldn’t win a single game against him – a big thank you to Jungwoo for often switching their shifts so she could go out even in the evening.

Being around Haechan made her feel good. He just had a personality and a way of being that made her heart feel light, light enough to fly. And his mischievous grins and jokes were a plus that made him so intriguing and exciting. The more she knew about him, the more she wanted to know. And he surprised her every time, he always had a story to tell her, an adventure, anything. And the way he was so free, made her realize even more how many occasions she had lost in her life. And that was the hanging reminder of how this little patch of paradise was meant to be over soon. He needed to fly, and he could do that, and as much as she needed to do it too, she couldn’t just take everything and leave.

It was that stinging pain that hit her every time she took time to look at him more than usual, and when her heart would let itself go more, her brain was always there to put her back on the ground.

“You still didn’t take me home,” Haechan whined while they were walking around the Spirited Garden. They decided to prolong their usual Saturday trip and drive all the way to the other side of the island to visit it and some other parks near to it. Just them and three days immersed in nature.

“You really want to eat my grandma’s food, I get it,” she joked.

“Yeah, and I want to hear embarrassing stories about your childhood.”

“I was good as a kid, a little clumsy, but good,” she told him with a pout on her face.

Haechan sighed, clicking his tongue and shaking his head, not believing her, “I need to hear it from who knows you better.”

A small smile crept on her face while her brain tried to come up with something fast, “She’s a little bit tired, now, that’s why.” Lie. She didn’t bring him home because she knew her grandmother would’ve read right through her and never let her breathe again. She already sensed something just from the way she acted without him around, there was no need to make it worst. ‘It’s either a raise on the check or someone that makes you smile so much,’ her grandma had told her one day and she just laughed it off before running out of the door to go to work.

“Don’t worry, I can understand that. We need to take care of them, right?” He smiled and she nodded.

“We should take some pictures here,” Haechan proposed, pointing ahead of them where a small bridge stood, letting go of the topic of their conversation. “We still don’t have a pic together, that’s a scandal after so many months,” he exclaimed, dragging her by the hand and running on the bricks.

“Oh God, at least warn me when you decide to sprint like this,” she laughed, holding her chest as she tried to regain her breath. “I’m not athletic as you can see.”

Haechan laughed, rolling his head back, shaking his hair out of his forehead.

“You can fully feel the breeze if you do these things randomly.”

“You follow your heart a little bit too much,” she replied, trying to adjust her hair for the picture.

“And you take things a little bit too seriously,”

She sighed and then fixed her skirt and top, hands tight around the bag as she walked closer to him. “Let’s take our first picture then,” she said, ignoring his comment because it was true but she didn’t want to think about it.

“Say ‘cheese’,” he exclaimed.

“Nobody does that anymore,” she huffed, side-eyeing him.

“Okay then just come here, close to me,” he said, wrapping a hand around her waist.

“Here.”

“Closer,” he whined, pressing his cheek flat against hers before lifting the phone again and snapping the photo. She smiled, feeling her skin burn up against his and starting to giggle when he started leaving kisses all over her face.

“Stop! You’re embarrassing,” she screamed through the laughs, trying to squirm away from him, trying hard to pretend that those kisses weren’t the highlight of her day so far.

“You love kisses,” he replied, letting her go, but still close enough that if just one of them leaned in, the kiss would’ve landed on a portion of skin they never dared to graze. And their eyes fell right there, on top of their lips, staring intensely, throats gulping and hands reaching to touch each other. And she was about to give in, she could feel the voice in her brain, the one she never listened to, scream to just let go and kiss him, and for once she wanted to listen, she was going to listen to her impulses and close her eyes and lean in.

But Haechan didn’t want to listen to the voice inside his brain. No matter how much he wanted to give in and finally get a taste of her cherry-like lips. He took a step back and turned around, coughing lightly.

“Should we keep going?” He asked and only his voice brought her back to reality and made her feel so stupid for how vulnerable she showed herself to him.

“Yes, sure. We still have a lot to see,” she replied, trying to hide the shame she felt with a giggle. But that wasn’t enough to stop herself from repeating the memory over and over again and damn herself.

The remaining two days there passed quickly as they tried to brush off the awkward feeling of knowing they were so close to kissing each other, but the embarrassment was only getting bigger thanks to other countless flirty words and other almost given kisses.

And it was their last night there, Iseul stood by the small balcony of their hotel, letting the breeze caress her skin and blow in her hair as her brain flew far away from there, far away, where she wanted to be the most.

“A little pensive tonight?” Haechan’s voice made her snap up, head turning around to look at the man leaning against the frame of the window.

“You should be in your room,” she said, surprised he was there, even mad, maybe, because right now he looked just so… so real, he looked as if he could be hers. He didn’t look like her friend, but her boyfriend, just casually standing there, staring at her with his shiny brown hair and his deep eyes that felt like something she couldn’t define, but oh, if it felt so good and right. And he was just wearing his boxers and a long white shirt, he had nothing to hide as if she knew his body by heart, but she didn’t. She knew so much about him, and yet she knew nothing. He was like a dream, he also looked like one.

“I couldn’t sleep,” he replied, voice lower than usual, full of unspoken words that he had no idea why he couldn’t say. He was straightforward usually, and even if he knew exactly what he wanted even right now, he wasn’t so sure he could risk it all.

Her lips curled in a small smile, closer to a smirk, while she turned her head to the side, just enough to see him rest against the rails too, perfect profile cutting the view of the city around them, showing her the small moles on his cheek and neck, the ones she loved so much because they reminded her of the Ursa Minor constellation. And she loved the stars, they shine so bright in the pitch-black sky and are so far from there, she wished to be like them. And she loved to think that Haechan was a little star sent from above to light up her darkest night because that was what he felt to her.

“Maybe you are the one that thinks too much,” she whispered, eyes drifting in front of her back again.

A snicker left his mouth, “Staying around you turned me into this,” he joked, this time he turned around to stare at her, windblown at the way she looked and heart jumping in his chest for the way all of this felt. He had no idea what it was, or probably he did, and just didn’t want to put a name on it because it was scary and because it was a feeling he knew he never wanted or cared to feel, but it still felt comfortable. With no names or labels, the way they just existed around each other felt good.

And he would’ve paid to stay there just a little longer, lost in their small bubble. He would’ve even given up Seoul for her.

“You’re beautiful,” he said straight from his heart when he felt that he couldn’t take the silence any longer, it wasn’t awkward, but he needed to fill it with words. Words he needed her to hear. He needed her to know that he loved the way her nose scrunched up when she laughed, and he loved the small scar on her left cheek, close to her ear, and he loved the small acne scars on the right side of her forehead that she hid behind her bangs.

She didn’t answer, not right away, but her eyes moved on him to study his expression, and, scared from the way they were so real and honest, she looked away again. “You always say it,” she replied, awkwardness concealed behind a light chuckle. She would’ve sat there and listened to him call her beautiful for hours, but knowing he had no real intentions, those pretty words just fuelled her delusional thoughts and after the glow of the moment just brought the rain with them.

“Because it’s true, you are. Inside out.”

She nodded, lips pressed together, and teeth nervously chewing the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

“And… are you just going to stare at me?”

“Why not? Are you shy? Do I make you shy?”

She stammered under her breath, and shook her head, “I just…” Come on, think fast. “I just thought you were here to, I don’t know, talk. You said you couldn’t sleep.” Here. Another lie. Piling up with all the others she had told me to hide her true feelings.

“I did,” he replied, rubbing his chin as his eyes never left her body, attentively watching how she would fidget at every word. “I couldn’t sleep because something was keeping me up.”

“Oh, and what’s that? Your grandpa’s fine, right?”

“Yeah, he’s doing better,” he replied. And that surely was a good thing, but him getting better also meant something else… “Anyway, I wasn’t thinking about him.”

“Is it your job? Are you afraid of that?”

“I was thinking about how some people come into our lives in the most unexpected ways,” he replied, cutting her off from guessing other stuff that didn’t even cross his mind for a split second.

“Well, that’s the beauty of life, isn’t it?”

“I was thinking about you,” he confessed, and her eyes moved up, straight into his, wide open in shock. “I was thinking about us.”

“I…”

“When my mom told me to come here, I felt lost and as much as I love my grandpa, I truly had no other reason to stay, and I was terrified that everything I had worked so hard was going to be taken away from me. But then I met you. I could’ve gone to any other cafè, or simply just headed home, or convinced myself that the coffee from the machines is good just the same and we wouldn’t be here today. I wouldn’t have met the only person that gave me a reason to stay and hold on.”

She swallowed hard, feeling her heart beating so fast she was silently praying he couldn’t hear it. And she had no idea if she should’ve confessed that she felt the same, that since that day, he had been her only reason. And then the voice in her brain showed up again, and she did.

“You were the same for me,” she admitted, direct, no stammering, no hesitation. “I felt stuck, well, I feel stuck, but you, well, you are the new exciting thing I needed to give my life a shake.”

After hearing her words, Haechan let out a small breath of relief, relieved she felt the same, he could let himself believe that maybe, they were on the same track, they wanted the same thing. “If it didn’t rain so hard that day we wouldn’t have talked so much and got to know each other, you wouldn’t have carried me home. And guess what, I always hated the rain.”

She smiled, “I like it, you know. Okay, only when I have nothing to do in the comfort of home but it’s nice.”

His lips twitched into a small smile, before he whispered, “I like it now because it brought me to you.”

She felt her throat dry, gulping hard while she tried to find the right words to answer him, but nothing that made sense crossed her mind. And just when she thought she had found the right words, something silly to mumble out to don’t look like a complete idiot, she raised her gaze to find Haechan way closer to her. His hand was looking for hers, and his chest was almost pressing against hers.

“You are the best thing that happened to me here, and I know that usually, I would never go this far but, now that I have you here,” he whispered, hand raising up to caress her soft cheek, fingers brushing her face and then moving a strand of hair behind her ear, “I need to let you know how deeply I care for you.”

“I-I,” she stammered, eyes moving on his face, trying to understand if he was real or if this was one of her thousand’s hopeless dreams at night.

“You don’t have to like me back, I mean, I know this won’t work out but –” At these words, she shut him up, an unknown force pushed her forward, maybe it was the same voice she never listened to that pushed her to lean in and kiss him, hands cupping his face before one crept to the back of his head and tangled with his hair. And Haechan was caught by surprise, never expecting her to make the first move, but well, it wasn’t the first time she did. And he couldn’t care about who gathered the courage, he had her right there, and that was all he ever wanted.

So, he closed his eyes and deepened the kiss, letting his hand wrap around her waist and pull her flat against his body.

And probably they were making up for lost time because none of the two seemed to have the intention to pull away and let go of the other. So, they kissed, again and again, hands getting braver each minute that passed until they felt their lungs burn and had to pull apart.

“I like you, Haechan,” she whispered, eye to eye, nose bumping against each other, “I like you a lot.”

He smiled dearly, deeply looking into her eyes, and felt at peace with the world. After all the wandering around, he felt his place in the world, and it was her. “I like you, too, Iseul.”

Come back and tell me why, I'm feelin' like I've missed you all this time. And meet me there tonight, and let me know that it's not all in my mind.

Jungwoo huffed, moving the chairs of the coffee shop around with more frustration, trying to gain her attention, but not even the loudest alarm in the world would’ve made her turn around.

“Iseul,” he called her, walking behind the desk and turning her around. “You can’t spend the rest of your life sulking on him.”

She rolled her eyes, and swung in the chair again, attention back on her TikTok for you page – there were no customers anyway, and she needed to fill her mind with something.

“Ugh,” he almost hissed, raising a brow at her attitude. “Really? He’s not worth it,” he tried to open her eyes, for the nth time by now, he had honestly lost count of how many times he had that talk with her in the last two months. “You let summer fly by, not even enjoying a little bit of it, well, since he went back.”

She sighed, blocking her phone and standing up. Went back. He didn’t go back. He disappeared. Left without saying a word around two months ago and she still had no idea why.

“I... I’m sorry I’m not in the mood to go out with you and dance all night, okay?” She replied, trying to leave him out of the conversation. She already felt played enough, she didn’t like to mull on it, but the problem wasn’t Jungwoo. He just wanted to lift her up, he was trying his best to don’t make her fall into the oblivion once again. The problem was herself because for how much she knew she shouldn’t have focused on Haechan, she still did. She loved to hurt herself by going back on the memory train and replaying each moment together in her mind.

“Just know that I’m here for you,” he reminded her, caressing her black hair gently and then going back to work.

“I know,” she found the strength to reply. “Thank you, for everything.”

At least she had him, he was the only one that knew about Haechan and what had been between them. Jungwoo was there when they walked into the shop together, he was there when Haechan would wait outside to go home, he was there when Haechan loved to distract her while he sat at a table and she had to focus on other people. Jungwoo was the only comfort she had, because unfortunately the silent one of her grandmother that understood that the same light that brightened up her sky for these past months wasn’t there anymore, wasn’t enough.

She felt incredibly stupid, she was sure she had missed something along the way, that she misunderstood him and his words. And that was the main reason why she kept playing their story in her brain, she needed to find where they went wrong, she needed to find the exact moment when she scared him away, or when he told her he didn’t like her the same.

She wondered how it could’ve been all in her head, though, when no wrong step bloomed in her mind. He had confessed to her, he had kissed her back. They kept kissing and going out when they came back to town, they never called each other boyfriend and girlfriend but they acted like a couple, so why, why did he disappear like a ghost all of a sudden? Why did he have to make her worry for him?

Not that she feared he wasn’t doing good, she was sure he was doing great, back in Seoul, with his dream job, in his dream house, all by himself. But she still missed him, and she wanted him to come back.

She at least needed to hear from him that all of this wasn’t in her mind, that there had been something between them, that he felt the same, even if it was already over.

But he wasn’t coming back, and she knew that if he ever would’ve had the need to go back there, he would’ve done everything to avoid her.

He didn’t mean his words. He didn’t love her. He just let himself get carried away, it was so typical of him. She could at least say that she got to know him a little bit and this should’ve been less surprising considering he was the one that always ran away in relationships and didn’t make them last. And yet, she kept waiting. Dreaming of his eyes, his hugs, his jokes. Missing going to the arcade with him and losing, she even missed hearing him bragging about it. Just like she missed hearing him talk shit about half of his office. Or laugh loudly about a joke he had made that wasn’t that funny.

She just missed him. Or maybe she missed the way he made her feel. He was such a dreamer that, for a moment, also her, the most rational and practical person she knew, believed that dreams can come true.

“Are you sure I can leave? Can you deal with this alone?” Jungwoo asked Iseul as he started packing his stuff, about to leave her alone to clean the shop as outside rain came pouring down, he had a last-minute emergency and couldn’t close with her.

“Yes, I told you it’s fine, you don’t need to worry,” she reassured him as she put away the last cups, watching him come back again to leave a peck on her cheek.

“I love you, you’re my saviour. I owe you one!”

She shook her head, waving at him with a smile on her face before she watched him disappear.

She felt the tiredness fall on her when she was halfway done with the tables, and couldn’t help but yawn, just waiting to be done soon and hoping that the storm would chase soon and she could finally go home and sleep, she wasn’t even hungry, she just wanted to collapse on the bed and forget about everything.

Just when she was done with the last table, she heard the bell ring and rolled her eyes. Once again, Jungwoo had forgotten to turn the sign that showed they weren’t open. “Sorry, we’re closed,” she warned before turning around and almost passing out on the floor. She gasped when she saw him. This was just like the first time they seriously talked to each other. They were standing in the same position, she was still wearing her apron and he was wearing his drenched clothes, hair sticking to his forehead and chest panting for the run.

But everything was different between them.

She didn’t feel that need of wanting to know more about him anymore, because now, she had him down in the palm of her hands, or well, at least she thought. Now she knew his name, she knew his favourite song, she knew his favourite colour, she knew that his nickname was fullsun and she could totally understand why. If only he didn’t always come into her life with the rain.

But at the same time, there were still so many things she didn’t know about him. For example, the reason why he left, why he left her all alone, making her feel empty and stupid for getting it all wrong.

“We’re closed,” she repeated, not sure she could take an answer to the questions that tormented her at night. Not sure she could take him coming back with some made-up excuse because just the way he was just standing there was enough to bring her feet to move toward him mindlessly. But she didn’t, she fought it back.

“I know,” Haechan replied, his eyes never left hers, and in these few minutes he could see all the pain he had caused her. “I’m sorry,” he confessed, starting to walk closer to her but she took a step back.

“I don’t want to listen,” she stopped him, hands raised in the air to maintain the distance between them and he stopped, mortified eyes looking at hers. “You’re dirtying the floor, I had just cleaned everything and I need to go home. Please, leave.”

“But I need to -”

“I said, leave,” she stopped him, diverting her gaze, looking down on the floor to hide the way her eyes were fogging up. “Please, leave.”

Haechan swallowed the bitterness in his mouth, pressed his lips in a thin line and then sighed. And if she lifted her gaze she would’ve seen his shoulders drop and his eyes beg for forgiveness, but she never did. And so he turned around, message loud and clear.

And just when she heard the sound of the doorbell again she raised her head and tried to go on with the things she needed to do. But this time she didn’t wait for the storm to calm down, she wanted to go home as soon as possible, and when she stepped outside the raindrops were still hitting the ground violently as the wind blew, loud and strong.

“I know you don’t want to listen but I need to talk to you,” between the loud whistles of the wind and the rain, she heard his voice, making her stop in her tracks, stilling to stay under the tent to stay safe from the water. “I had to leave, I had no other choice. My grandpa was getting worst and we had to fly him to Seoul and I didn’t want to put you under the pressure of another bad news. I didn’t want to fill you with also my problems-

“Great, I hope he’s doing well,” she replied about to make her way to the car.

“No, Iseul, please,” he called, hand reaching for her even if they were too distant for him to catch her.

“Please what?” She asked, turning around to face him and make eye contact. “Listen, I’m deeply sorry for him and your family but… what did I mean to you? I guess I meant nothing to you, right? You could’ve at least let me know. I knew damn well that you weren’t going to stay, I knew that we weren’t meant to go anywhere but I deserved respect.”

“I know, I’m so sorry but we never, we never called it love. I never called anything love, I was terrified, of playing with you, of promising something I wasn’t going to be able to give, I -”

“But you did it, you played me. You told me you liked me, you kissed me, you, ugh,” she groaned, throwing her head back and stomping her feet to the ground. “We did all those things I’ve never done before, you stopped making me feel like a loser, I was so happy and then you just brought me to the ground again.”

“I didn’t mean to,” he whispered again, voice shaking.

“Fine, and what do you want? Do you think that popping here out of nowhere and standing under the rain is going to change something?” She yelled. And even if she said that, she had to admit that she found that kind of romantic. Nobody ever went that far for her, nobody would’ve let the rain pour on their skin in the middle of the street, not caring about the few people passing by. But, still, he had left her, and she couldn’t pass over it… not so easily.

“But I’m back right now, I’m back because I know what I want, now I’m sure, 100% sure that I want you, that I love you. It’s you, it has always been you. I was just too dumb to see that this was real, that I wasn’t going crazy.”

She sniffled, tears started to run down her face, and she just wanted to step forward and kiss him. Why did he make her so weak? Why did she want him so badly?

“Do you know how much I missed you? How many nights I had spent up thinking about you? Your face the only thing I knew in these past months, the only thing that haunted me, hurt me, and at the same time kept me going. I missed you so so much, I couldn’t believe we were already over, I just… I needed you. I needed you so badly and you… you, God, you weren’t there,” she wanted to appear strong but the more she spoke the more she broke down, feeling like she just wanted to fall on her knees and let the rain soak her too, maybe it would've washed away the pain, maybe it would’ve felt like she wasn’t crying all alone.

“I can only imagine all the pain I put you through, but I’m sorry,” Hachan replied, he was now in front of her, a few centimetres keeping them apart. “But I’m here to show you I only have the best intentions with you. I’m here to show you I want you, and if I have to get on my knees and beg to show you how much I love you, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything for you. I’ll take you to Seoul, I’ll take you to the end of the world, anything and anywhere you want to be, I’ll be. I just want to be with you.”

“Stand up!” She screamed, feeling her face burn up from embarrassment when he seriously got on his knees, head low, beneath her. “Stand up, dumbass,” she repeated, lifting his head up by his chin, finally feeling his bronze skin once again. “I hate you much,” she said, face serious before a smile crept on it, twisting her lips in the grin he loved so much, “I think you proved it enough and people are already staring.”

He looked up, eyes shining with a newfound hope. “So, you forgive me? You want to give us a chance?”

She nodded, lower lips trapped between her teeth before she let go of it to answer. “Yes, but you’ll have to work extra hard to make up for the lost time.”

And Haechan hopped up on his feet, he didn’t give her time to add anything else that his arms wrapped around her waist, he lifted her up, and made her spin around while their lips met, rain now wetting them both.

And she couldn’t even complain about the wet hair and clothes, because finally she got to taste him again, finally she was in his arms, and she felt the happiest. Her heart started beating for living again, and not just for surviving like she was always used to doing. She was alive, in a way only Haechan made her feel.

“I told you,” he whispered, against her lips, still holding her up, “I’d do anything to prove to you how much I love you.”

All I know is we said, "Hello". So dust off your highest hopes All I know is pouring rain, and everything has changed. All I know is a newfound grace. All my days, I'll know your face All I know since yesterday, is everything has changed

“Maybe Jungwoo was right when he told me that people here in Seoul are insufferable,” Iseul huffed, throwing her bag on the cabinet next to the door as soon as she entered the house, shoes already discarded on the rug.

Haechan chuckled, getting up from the couch to meet her halfway, “Just hold on, soon enough you’ll be done with college and you’ll get your dream job,” he reminded her before leaning in and kissing her softly. She hummed against his lips, raising her hand to lock her fingers in his silky hair and he took advantage of it to wrap his arms around her and pull her closer.

She had moved to Seoul with him since her grandmother had gotten better, and wanted Iseul to have a nice thing in her life, the only thing she had asked for was for them to come back during the holidays or anytime they could. And finally, in Seoul, she could study psychology just like she always wanted, while she worked in a little coffee shop to pay the bills.

But the most exciting thing was that they got a small apartment together. Living together at such a young age wasn’t something Haechan ever imagined, or better, he had never imagined he would’ve lived with a partner ever, but here they were. In their little place, setting their own rules, finding out together the good things about relationships. It was new for the both of them, she wasn’t used to relationships at all, and he wasn’t used to the serious ones, but they worked, because they wanted it to work. And no matter how reckless it all felt when he proposed it to her under the pouring rain of that passed September, they now knew they couldn’t have done anything better.

“I missed you so much,” she said when they pulled away.

“See, it was better when I used to come to your coffee shop every time I had a break,” he joked while they walked to get to their bedroom and then he leaned against the doorframe, watching her get out of her clothes to change into the ones she used in the house. They didn’t want to cook that night, and he had already called her before to pick what to order, so they just needed to wait for the food to arrive.

“Yeah, it can get boring without your annoying face around,” she replied, making a face from the mirror.

“Have I ever told you that you’re beautiful?” He said, hugging her from behind, chin resting against her shoulder and nose snuggling in her neck.

She rolled her eyes, and then said, “Yeah, you always do.”

“Good, because I don’t think I’ll ever stop.”

She smiled, turning around to kiss him again, and again, until they got lost in each other. And when the food arrived, Haechan had to rush to the door, putting on the first clothes he had found while she laughed at the unpresentable state he was in, before coming back into the room.

“We’re not eating in the bedroom,” she said, stealing his t-shirt and pushing him out of the room.

“Oh, come on,” he whined. “Just for once, you could relax.”

“I am. I changed a lot over the past year,” she said. They both did, to be honest, Haechan had learned to have more sense of responsibility, while Iseul tried to be less hard on herself and loosen up, and together they had found a perfect balance.

Haechan hummed, shrugging before running to the couch, “But we’re eating on the couch. I chose tonight.”

She sighed, shaking her head before following him. “Will you ever grow up?” She asked, sitting next to him, stealing the chicken wing that he wanted to grab.

“Hey! That was mine,” he complained, trying to grab it but she only moved her hand away and laughed.

“And the answer is no.”

Haechan rolled his eyes, “As if you don’t love this side of me.”

“Oh, I do, but it’s not just a side,” she replied, chortling.

“Still, you love me, and you should be grateful that rain brought me to you,” he bragged, biting his wing.

“Never said I wasn’t.”

“Great, because I’m very, very grateful that we met and now I can have you all to myself,” he said, kissing her cheek with his dirty lips and making her push him away while he laughed evilly.

“You were sent from hell to make my life unbearable,” she joked, cleaning her face with a napkin.

“Shh, don’t reveal the plan,” he replied, before grabbing the remote control to turn the TV on.

Iseul stopped for a moment to look at him as he eat happily and then started proposing what to watch on Netflix, and she smiled, agreeing with him but not really paying attention. She still felt incredulous that he was there, that he was hers, somehow Haechan still looked like a dream, no matter how much she had kissed him, touched him, told him she loved him and vice versa.

But he was a daydream, because he was there, right next to her, chatting lively with a hand on her thighs to caress her. It wasn’t like more than a year ago when he was just a handsome stranger’s face, he wasn’t a ray of sun lighting up her clouded sky just for some minutes anymore, he wasn’t just in her dreams, being the only reason she wanted to wake up in the morning to see him.

She had never imagined she was going to be where she was right now, she never imagined that she would've finally found a way to make that handsome stranger hers. But here they were, sharing their dreams and plans for the future, sharing kisses, hugs, texts, midnight talks and breakfasts in the morning. Their future was there, in the intimacy they never imagined they could have with someone.

“Have I told you that I love you?” Haechan asked, cuddled up against her on the couch, as her fingers played with his hair and their legs were tangled together.

“Mhh, I don’t know,” she joked. “Why don’t you tell me again? I’d love to hear it again.”

Haechan chuckled, turning around, and kissing her. “I love you and I want you to know you still give me butterflies, just like the first day I saw you standing behind the counter.”

“I hope those butterflies will last forever, then,” she replied, kissing him again.

She knew nothing about what was about to come, and she knew that life could always take weird and unexpected turns, but of one thing she was sure, everything had changed and for once, she was glad that nothing went as planned.

#nct 127 fanfic #haechan fanfic #haechan fluff #haechan angst #lee haechan fluff #lee haechan angst #haechan scenarios #haechan oneshot #donghyuck fluff #donghyuck angst #donghyuck scenarios #lee donghyuck fluff #nct 127 fluff #nct 127 angst #loving him was red

323 notes · View notes