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#nostolgic!au
pinkiepig · 2 days
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Gosh my old dca art is all over on Pinterest
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ozdicaff · 1 year
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Does the DCA children’s show AU have a fanfic?
Not yet, and not for a while i think! Ive decided that i think i should focus on telling the story in comics and, sometimes, drabbles! 3k words in length every now and again, i really wanna show off this au in the medium im most confident in aka digital art!! Thank you for taking interest though <3
Hopefully, my next CTS au post will explain all the glamrocks shows! I just need to do my research on a few spacetoon shows i watched as a kid ehe
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mother-lee · 2 years
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this house is so empty without you
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frickerdoodledoo · 1 year
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Soooo... guess who got really nostolgic while having a cold and binge-watched all of Sanders Sides again after almost a year?
For the last few days I have been sucked down a rabbit-hole of Fandercontent, and let me just say... while this fandom is so creative, there are just a few things I wish people utilized more in fics, you know?
(Disclaimer, I live on angst and the Dark Sides are my three favourite characters, so most of these are about both of those subjects. Also not a huge fan of non-mindscape au's, so these are all about canon-adjacent fanfiction. My only AU is Sympathetic Dark Sides where they all coexist. Yes, even Remus.)
First and foremost, and this is what inspired this post until I found more things after, why do I see so few fics that include Virgil's Dark Side Voice™? It happens whenever he get's too stressed in canon, and from how he reacts whenever it happens, it seems to be a bit of an insecurity for him. Why aren't angst authors jumping on that?
Guys. We... we all saw the end-card of Flirt or Flight, right? How come so few do anything regarding Virgil's colour-changing eyeshadow? It's adorable, it's gorgeous, talk about it, please!
When Janus takes off the gloves in order to show himself to be truthful about his name... why??? He did that for a reason. If it was just about the typical "Cross my heart" pose, there was nothing stopping him from leaving on the gloves unless their was a reason to take them off! Theorize, go nuts! (I personally believe that his scales fluctuate in their coverage of his skin, and his hands being completely human shows that he's being honest. He wears gloves to make his lies less obvious.)
And on the subject of Janus' lies, has anybody else realized that for the embodiment of Thomas' Deceitfulness... he's actually kind of a terrible liar? While disguised as other sides, he always drops some pretty obvious hints that he's not the real Patton or Logan. And whenever he does his whole "speaking in lies" thing, he has this tone about him that makes it clear to... almost everyone, (Cough cough except Roman apparently), that he's lying, or atleast just being sarcastic?
In the Five Year Anniversary special, Virgil, Remus, and Janus refer to themselves as the Cousin, Uncle, and Aunt respectively. And I know that there actually is a fair amount of content about the Dark Sides being a seperate but related family, but I just feel like not many people talk about the low-key confirmation of that as a reality, ya know?
More.👏 Protective.👏 Dark Sides.👏 They've known eachother for so long, no matter how close the whole family is, Virgil, Remus and Janus would naturally know eachother better than any of the others.
If we are to assume that Janus even just unstably co-exists with the Light Sides, (like pre-redemption Virgil), post-Redux, but Remus doesn't... Well, that's the third person that Remus actually has a connection to that just... left him. First Roman, then Virgil, now Janus. (I personally believe that the Orange side will just be an Unsympathetic Dick, so he doesn't count, but that's just me.)
I am a "Former Paranoia Virgil" Truther, as are many others in the fandom. However, something I wish I saw more of is others not catching themselves when calling Virgil paranoid. Even better, the Dark Sides not realising how much thinking of that part of his past affects him, thinking nothing of it and then feeling really guilty.
And that's all the canon-supported stuff, but just... one last thing. Consider the following:
The Orange Side is a relatively new "Relevant" or "Consious" Side, his existance only needed when suddenly there were only two Dark Sides and still three Light Sides
Janus is Patton's foil because he represents an "immoral" side to Thomas, and Remus is Roman's foil as a flip-side to one, single concept. Virgil used to be Logan's foil before his redemption, because senseless overthinking and paranoia defies logic.
This need for a foil doesn't apply to Virgil, because he is no longer a Dark Side, but he isn't really a Light Side either. A Grey Side, if you will.
Virgil encompasses both the good and bad aspects of Anxiety, and is even capable of representing more of an excitement or sense of anticipation, hence the purple eyeshadow seen in Fight or Flirt. He is his own foil in the same way that Roman and Remus are eachother's. They're the good and bad of creativity, Virgil is the good and bad of anxiety.
I am most likely not the first person to come up with this, but this is just my specific take.
Anyway, I am probably going to go write atleast half of these prompts myself, so if any of these concepts interest you... maybe stick around?
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green-t-ea · 2 years
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Guess who's gonna post art for once in forever again (aka as usually I forget to post anything I draw but finally remembered after finishing something)
Found a super old WIP sketch when I was nostolgic about Shadow people au and decided to tear it apart and finish it up! (Ended up with 3 sketch layers to fix everything that wasn't looking right)
Sibbh's ability in dsmp spau is called Earthshaker for good reason.
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Also have the line art and some of the sketch layers just as a bit of progress work on how it changed from the original wip
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rk-ocs · 7 months
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Have you ever OC edition
(This is an old one, but nostolgic)
K: Ok now you how many times have your oc(s) been kidnapped?
E: Okay about like half of them have. Charlie gets kidnapped about 4 times, Grace twice and one Bleach oc i had got kidnapped once in all 15 chapters
E: Ok now you how many times have your oc(s) been kidnapped?
K:Well, 2 of the spies have been kidnapped by spy trainers, in the death note world. The unnamed death note OC got kidnapped by L (the story I mentioned to you with the pages Idea), I think Technically Morgan and Paige were kidnapped and conscripted by Gods, Mel had it happen to her once, and I've stopped counting for Red.
Most only have it happen once or twice, but that's a lot more than I originally thought.
I might have a kidnapping OCs problem
E: Ahaha, no problems from oc i see! :D ;D so the bleach oc i meant got kidnapped once in every chapter of the 15 chapter story.
ok which of your oc's have accidently lit something on fire?
K: Paige, when she is still learning control!
Most of My OCs have pretty good fire training, and therefore while they deliberately set pleantly of things on fire, they don't generally tend to do it by accident.
How about yours?
E: Nice Paige! Well obviously Marciela had set fire to the kitchen curtians about ten times in her life , she is no longer allowed in the kitchen when she's about to sneeze. Ivette had countlessly set many things on fire by accident off shooting or by holding in too much anger. Ravi set fire to his living room once. And poor Maria set the oven on fire twice
K:  How many OCs have some form of spy training or another?
E: hm any spy training ?No none that i can think of maybe Ivette and Erik on gathering info, Ravi learned on is own through trial and error and same for the team
And how about yours?
K: Well I mentioned two that were kidnapped into spy training. Mel does not get spy training as decide to run the "information network". Morgan and Paige I wouldn't consider spies, or trained for it, but information is important to them.
Red, does have training, and I think she's the first one I've written trained like that seriously.
E: OKAY which of your oc's had the most development. and i mean like how much they differ now compared to their original self?
fuck now i want a fic with N understanding social cues with Pokemon, like no Black stop that they think that's rude
K: I would say Red. Like she's my current of course, but also the sheer amount of changes she's gone through, between the AUs and spawning an OC male counterpart. Not to mention trying to pin down how to write her cannon. And the traumatizing backstory that crops up. Geeze she needs so much therapy.
Before that I would say Morgan and Devi.
Glad you like the reread! 
I would be curious to see Jasper with a beard. He was a bit young to have much of one in the first one with him I wrote, but now I'm curious.
I would like to see a reversal with N understanding social cues.
N: did you know it's rude to stand in the middle of the road like that?
Black: did you know it's rude to just run into people like that?
N: I've seen you run into people all the time.
Black: your aware I'm rude. Don't go using me as an example of manners.
N: you shouldn't stare like that.
Black: and you shouldn't leave before people can answer your questions or reply to you. (leaves)
E:And for the oc, it's between Ivette and a really old oc name Eclipsia/Ling a old hetalia oc that once a nation now just a human journalist from the Philippines traveling around and have a surprisingly luck with strange people
Ivette had so much revisions,  i originally had her as a oc for the lorax , but her glitch in to being a poor victim in a fucked up modern hostage game, to being  woman traveling across country with her car and picks up Grace during on of her trips to being the witch we hVe now.
K: Do you have any OCs with reservations on stealing?
I am having trouble thinking of any of mine that don't have video game morals regarding that. Except maybe Shiloh Shepherd.
On a sidenote I'm reading the sequal to viral, and in the first book there was a lot of B&E to do or swipe things, and in the first 100 pages of the sequal she has convinced her pack and succescfuly gone through with swiping a pirate treasure map. Anne Bonnys in fact!
E: Ivette has been on a long journey and now has her core story, yeah i liked the lorax so Ivette was still center with family and more level headed with the same maturity she has now. She balanced out Onceler, but again so much revisions and she took her own reigns and pulled me with her. 
Ling did the same and she is one of my precious ocs, maybe she can be reporter on our heros *laughs*
K: I love it when they do that.
Paige was originally supported to take on the Emerlan kids, but went into PJO.
That would be pretty cool to see. Reporters are a superhero classic .
E: Truthfully not many have any problems with it, well cept Erik and Daniel they may be reluctant.  Ivette has no problems with it sometimes if you really needed it, same with Malik, . Ravi has no qualms from stealing from villians,  ditto for Ling for information purposes.
Michelle definitely, but will bite her lip if you have a good reason for it. Charlie steals your food has no shame
Keep talking about Pidge bro. ^^
Definitely,  Ling is always on the scene everytime. She's more serious, however and will be the reporter to turn to for help
K: Weirdly enough that old comercial they put in about not pirating movies,or the music specifically , came into my head.
What is it about protagonists these days, and their stealing? One day I'm going to have to write a character who subverts this.
I like the viral series much better then Maximum ride, Actually. It involves more science, solid dynamic, and well built mystery.
Paige Sprickerhoff, is Morgan's apprentice. She came in when Morgan hit her lowest, and had to figure it out more or less on her own. Morgan was pretty out of it, and was more or less on autopilot. After that one, Morgan comes back a bit and trains her. Brutaly. In like about everything she can think of. She's kind of aware she messed up, and wants to make up for it as much as possible.
Morgan makes it seem easy, but Paige is having a lot of trouble getting the fire to work with her. Morgan is earth , and Paige's fight style Definitely takes on an earth style, such as a combined move where they made lava floor, and built it up.
Where Tortaral is fairly Guardian sparse, the PJO verse has a lot, and a fair bit more focus on cooperation. She needs to learn to work with people, and to ask for help.
She does become friends with Nico, in a misadventure in China. I plan on keeping the original PJO serries and the Kane chronicles intact (more or less), but I think I would like to shake up hero's of Olympus a fair bit.
Paige is Pakistani-Canadian, has a lot of family, and doesn't talk about them a lot because she misses them badly.
E: Oh any of your oc's that has appeared in the media before?
K: Well, Red probably has a thing for Grand theft auto. The media
Paige appeared in the newspaper twice. Once as a child, then as a  missing person. Reds various masks have shown up.
And Mel is in the Bingo book, and mentioned to be banned from Kiri. Oh, and Chase had a moment on Tv with his mom.
E: Ivette has shown up every once in a while in wizard newspapers with a function with the Clearwater*I'm going to give Michelle a better last name*, with the traveling doctor group and of course her getting arrested.  Ravi appears briefly on television about his father's murder, and Marciela in a news paper article for young inspiring ballet dancers. Ivette got arrested a second time then got better on getting away with it more subtlety. 
K: Have you ever used dead family as a backstory builder?
Like ok, Morgan's Dad Lex, loved his wife, she was pretty kickass, and when she is killed, is both out for blood , and struggling to keep his status.
Ax had a dead friend, and a father figure that was killed, that hits the psyche hard.
Red is the dead family member, and Godfather Raye was Jaspers. 
E: Yes i have. Ravi in this instance since his dad is dead, Ling had two of her elder siblings die in a gang related dispute that got swept under the rug became a journalist for truth, and Marciela for her father. 
K: Sometimes Red and MT share a dead twin (either Monique or Theirry) sometimes the twins have Red (Jasper or Carnelian) between them, as a dividing line. Occasionally all three of them exsist in the same space.
Paige does not have a dead family member problem.
Nor Mel, though she has a dead meantor.
Morgan does, given her mom was dead Before the series started
One of the spies sisters got shot in a swimming pool.
K: Ok, oc's that have no problems tag teaming their villains?
K:I can't think of many that would have problems with that, given the option.
Well besides Ax. Ax isn't going to drag the trainee into that sort of shit. And weirdly enough the spies.
Maybe Sara counts as well. Sort of.
Devi and Chase have their teams.
Morgan has friends, prefrably ones that can fight. Sometimes she brings them as back up.
Paige would bring Morgan. She needs to learn to cooperate with other people, other elements.
Mel is used to working with people, and Kohona trains for teamwork. They use the old one two a fair amount (zap them and wack them)
Red is trained to opperate on teams and alone.  She tag teams pretty well , and is getting really good at working with Desmond
Even the FFX oc who's name I forgot works with a team
How about you?
E: Everyone has a team or partner they prefer to work with, if its a really strong villain then everyone is on it. 
Ravi needs to keep an eye on Puma so he stop sleeping on high places
I kinda meant to phrase it as any oc willing to tag team with a villian.
K:Oh ok.
That's more based on morals.
Well Mel was willing to work with Itachi to figure out how to time travel to prevent the zombie apocalypse.
Red and Morgan work with some pretty shady people at times, and how that partnership ends depends on what lines are crossed, and the power balance. The objective also matters.
It could end with no bridges burnt, or it could end in backstabing, it really depends on how it goes down. Genraly they try to keep a reputation of not killing "alies" but they both have their lines in the sand.
Paige , besides being an occasional bank robber, is a lot less willing then morgan then to go there, though she has her less reputable contacts.
The spies, and generally any death note character, yes.
Ax, yes.
Devi and Chase are a strange case. They would tag team with N, king of the villean group, to take on the head villean. N isn't quite a villain though.
Sara, hasn't really had the chance.
I think think most of the rest of my characters wouldn't.
E: True mostly based on their morals.
Ivette, Malik, Ravi and Puma have indeed worked with some of their villains. They still keep their guard up cause it can end very badly if it went the wrong way. They have most pressure on them and they have enough understanding to push past pride to make an ally with someone like that.
Marciela hasn't had the chance to yet.
Maria probably has to with Info-chan in Yandere simulator for help on the murders on school. Info is the person willingly sells you the knife to stab people or kill them.
Ling is incredibly reluctant about it but she has too at some points.
Michelle would only if they shared one common goal, but would immediately cut off after its achieved. She wants peace.
The others are mostly leaning on no for now.
K: What is the strangest colouring you have given a character?
Surprisingly mine is Ax, of golden green eyes, and darker then usual skin.
E: Ohh! I have three actually!  One pale girl, i can't remember her name short black bob hair with bright orange eyes and the other a girl named Amourette or something with aquamarine eyes and hair color tan. Ling had darker skin, sunset red eyes and very black hair.
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warmau · 3 years
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☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au xiaojun kind of getting into the groove of writing so, happy late birthday xj! find others here: johnny | haechan | taeil | taeyong | mark | jaemin | yangyang | yuta | sicheng | chenle | kun | yukhei | doyoung | jaehyun | jungwoo | ten | jisung | renjun | jeno
"his birthday is literally a month away."
kun says and you shrug your shoulders, bringing the straw of your milkshake to your lips
"you're the one who taught me it's always good to plan in advance."
"you don't need a month to plan a birthday party, plus its xiaojun - not ten - who would probably insist on a whole gala."
ten throws a look across the table but doesn't dispute this fact
you tap your fingers on your drink and set it down to mumble something about how fine, you'll do it yourself if they don't want to help
it takes two seconds for kun to give an exasperated sigh after that and agree to help you after all
you smile and tell him you knew he would, he's too much of a micromanager to refuse
ten laughs and sicheng smirks as he doesn't look up from his phone
kun gives you the same look ten gave him a minute ago
you've been friends with xiaojun for a good year now
ever since he nearly lost bella when she got off her leash at the local park and you bolted after her like any good citizen would before she could wander off into the street
xiaojun and you have gotten closer
you kind of get him in a way that not a lot of people do
his humor can be kind of dry, and he tends to be picky about certain things
you're exactly the same way so you never really get mad about it - you both have come to learn the things you dislike and like about literally everything
being friends with someone who is as particular about movie popcorn and indoor room temperatures is a blessing more than people might think
the other members see the similarities between you two and more often than not they're happy that xiaojun, who can also be kind of reserved around strangers, has found someone that makes him so comfortable
everyone in their apartment is a character from hendery to yangyang but xiaojun meshes best with you
so it's kind of no surprise that even after a short time of being friends, and most of that time spent around the others
you two start getting the off-handed "you're so alike, why don't you just date?" comments
hendery is the first person to say it after you guys spend hours playing video games together
you and xiaojun are so in sync about everything that the rest of the team feels like you guys have to be playing together when in reality you're not even in the same room
the immediate response is for you to cackle into your headset microphone and for xiaojun to let out a high-pitched, almost theatrical 'never!'
it passes over your heads and nothing changes
but then everyone seems to be saying it
"only you two can put up with each other."
"have you ever considered being more than friends?"
"oh you're 'hanging out' again or are you just actually going on a 'date'?"
the words are supposed to carry absolutely no weight
but at some point when someone says something you end up looking at xiaojun out of the corner of your eye for some kind of response that isn't just a staunch and straightforward
"never!"
it somehow also manages to get worse the month you're planning for his party in secret, both the teasing questions and your weird hope that xiaojun will one day say something different
nearly everyone knows you're trying to put this thing together but him and maybe that's why they tease
or maybe it's because xiaojun only ever seems fully himself when you're beside him
the way the tension in his shoulders falls completely to pieces when you topple over to spread out like a starfish on his sheets
the way the look of complete boerdom on his features shift around and up into a smile when you open the door holding your favorite cold drinks from the bubble tea place next door
the way xiaojun has never let someone close to him like this before - the way he lets you get cloes.
doesn't flinch when you lean over to brush an eyelash from his cheek, seems totally content with having you put a hand on his knee when you're all seated around the table and arguing over who goes next in this game of monopoly
it's a couple of days till the party and you are standing in the parking lot of the apartment building xiaojun lives in, you both have run away from the noise of his roommates
"hey, what do you want for your birthday?"
you feel hot when you ask - and it's not just because of the summer weather
xiaojun's head tilts as he says he hasn't thought about it
"actually, i'd love it if everyone got off our backs with his 'dating' crap."
dating crap
"do you hate it that much?"
"it just feels like they're taking it too seriously."
you run your tongue over your teeth and the unusual pause makes xiaojun narrow his eyes, in the evening darkness you think maybe he won't notice the confusing expression on your face but he does
"did i say something wrong?"
it's almost like he's poking at the sleeping giant question that you both are too nervous to actually ask - do we like each other in a way that's more than just friends? is everyone just pointing out the obvious?
"no, i just got lost in my thoughts for a second."
your mouth feels dry when xiaojun looks like he's going to step closer to you but doesn't
your saving grace is hendery's head popping out over the balcony and yelling for you two to get back inside before the mosquitos eat you alive
xiaojun holds the door open, but you tell him you need to go home early
that night you look at your checklist of things to do for his birthday
you've already sent out invites, you put in the order for the cake, and you got all the decorations
two things are left, pick up cake and snacks and get present
"dating crap"
you say out loud to yourself and for some reason, it hurts in your chest. you decide you'll just get xiaojun some kind of giftcard, maybe so he can buy more games.
"dude, xiaojun is like a cat."
kun says and you try to balance the cake in your hands as you two make your way to his car
it's the day of the party, kun is lugging bags of snacks and you're thankful that the cake has xiaojun's name on it spelled correctly, but something doesn't feel celebratory about all this
the excitement of making xiaojun happy has turned to anxiety ever since your talk in the parking lot
dating crap, dating crap, dating crap - did i say something wrong?
you squeeze the thought from your mind and look at kun with your brows furrowed
"what?"
"he's like a cat ok, he'll never show how much he wants something until he gets it."
it's cryptic and you tell kun you don't know what he's talking about, the cake is cold even through the bag it's in as you place it on your lap in the passenger seat
kun sighs as if he knows you're just being difficult
"sure, anyway xiaojun will be back to the apartment at seven so we should have enough time to set everything up."
at a red light, just as you're deep in mixing thoughts about xiaojun and your feelings and his feelings and how you sometimes get embarrassed seeing him walk around shirtless or eating from the same plate as him
kun goes, "by the way what did you get him as a present?
"oh a giftcard for games."
kun taps his finger against the wheel
xiaojun is actually surprised when he walks through the door and you all jump up with balloons and cheers and brightly colored party hats
he immediately looks at you in the crowd and asks
"you did this all for me?"
your heart threatens to jump up and out of your chest because he should look normal like he always does
but he's standing there with his grey t-shirt and silver chain looking like a sculpted masterpiece bestowed on you from heaven itself
god, i have it bad.
"we did it together!"
"nah it was like all them!"
hendery counters your modesty before throwing his arms around xiaojun into a half tackle hug
the party is like ... any other party
kun was kind of write, you didn't need to take a whole month to plan, but you're glad it is all going smoothly
people are enjoying the food, people are playing the usual games and chitchatting and summer is wafting in from the open balcony door
the pets are scampering around from lap to lap and someone has put on music that's upbeat but not ear piercing or distracting
xiaojun is being passed around for presidents and hugs and congratulations for another year of his life
and you are in the kitchen constantly putting new bowls of chips out, busying yourself with your hands to fight this weird churn of your stomach
xiaojun looks so handsome i could be sick. i want all of his attention but that's such a horrible thing to think - this is his party, this is literally. his. party.
someone taps your shoulder and you half expect it to be another person asking where the dip is when you turn to see xiaojun
"thank you so much"
his voice is softer than usual
"oh don't thank me, it's your birthday, it's the least i could do."
"i guess when i said i don't want a present you went with a party which is so sweet and unexpected."
the compliment goes over your head because the mention of that conversation has you thinking about it again.
dating crap. did i say something wrong - you feel cold in an apartment of packed bodies - it's like he was saying i don't like you like that. i don't love you.
"a-ah, yeah. i did also get you a present."
you fish the gift card that was put in a pretty envelope by the employee out of your pocket and hand it to him shyly
"i know it's not much-"
"no, you know me so well. you know i wanted to get all those new skins and stuff."
he's gripping the cup of soda in his hand unusually tight, you try not to notice the way it makes the veins that run up his forearm stand out
"xiaojun!"
someone's attention is needed and he disappears with a little smile. the conversation feels so stoic. it doesn't feel the way you and him talk.
and then somehow you end up in a circle on the floor with bella in your lap playing truth or dare
it's a birthday party in a huge apartment, so it's bound to reflect some of the traditions of high school
also hendery got too excited about playing it and no one wanted to say no
everyone starts off the way these things always go, embarrassing borderline comedic dares. stupid truth questions so that roommates can out other roommates for their mistakes.
you laugh a lot, you notice xiaojun keeps looking at you
then it gets to the birthday boy himself and hendery's big white grin kind of scares you
"so xiaojun, truth or dare?"
"truth"
a loud ringing of 'oooh's' plays through the walls and you swallow
"is it true..........you aren't romantically interested in your best friend?"
all eyes turn to you and then xiaojun
bella whimpers in your lap like she's sentenced the shift, she hops out and stretches before finding a corner somewhere else - you wish you could find a corner somewhere too.
xiaojun's face is unreadable, you haven't touched any alcohol all night but your vision feels fuzzy
"no. we're just super close friends."
the smile on hendery's face falls and the crescendo of your heartbreaking thumps through your ears so much that it physically hurts
someone coughs and clears their throat
you don't even register what you're doing as you're doing it, don't hear xiaojun say your name or the hard thwack of kun's hand on the back of xiaojun's shoulder
"are you insane, why would you say that when you don't mean it?"
the question floats from someone's mouth and it's not yours and you don't stick around to hear xiaojun's answer
you only navigate yourself up to your feet and out of that apartment because your body puts autopilot into flight mode
you're maybe two blocks down the street when something warm wraps its arms around you
you don't move - your eyes are fixated on the asphalt
"im so stupid, im sorry."
xiaojun's voice breaks in a way you've never heard before
"you're not stupid for not liking me back."
your voice sounds flat in a way you've never heard before too
the arms around you drop and you start to move forward again, still wanting to get away from him and everyone else
"no. i mean im stupid for lying."
you stop
"i thought you didn't want me to be interested in you like that and then kun said that's the dumbest thing he's ever heard because you obviously-"
xiaojun can't say the rest of the sentence because he's waiting for you to confirm
kun is always right about so many things, when he'd said xiaojun is like a cat, you get this is what he meant
"that i obviously am in love with you?"
you hear the sigh escape from xiaojun before you turn full around
when you do xiaojun nods, opens his arms again and you have never felt more fit for a place than when you tuck yourself into his chest and he buries his nose into your hair
"you're so bad at truth or dare"
you muffle into his shirt and he laughs, squeezing you closer
you don't mind the way you stick to each other under the glaring heat of the last summer month's hold
of course you come back to the apartment and everyone looks like they've just been saved from drowning in the titanic
the birthday party goes to a congrats-on-finally-confessing-your-feelings-you-two-idiots party
and for all the time you two spent apart that evening, you're now glued to xiaojun's side and it finally is in a way that lets your fingers brush and hold onto each other
in a way that lets him turn his head to kiss your temple when he's had enough of the conversation or argument his other roommates are in
you refuse to let him clean when the party is over - he is the birthday boy - but he does it anyway
you get some alone time on the balcony again and you kiss some more, all shy and new and tender
but xiaojun's hand finds your hip and you stammer against his mouth
you want to stay over but literally everyone is home so you peck xiaojun on the lips and he mutters we could just cuddle instead when you say goodbye at the door
the rest of august is sweeter than summer ice cream
you and xiaojun go on dates, which xiaojun is actually good at planning because he just knows you so well and he knows you are not the type of person who wants to go to fancy, uptight restaurant or even entertains the idea of seeing sappy romance movies in theaters
he knows what to order for you two before you even come over
you know what he needs when he just offhandedly mentions that he needs to get some stuff from the store
and it's like you two are connected by something more than just a physical need for the other, it's like your souls have been intertwined and your minds too
you do finally get to come over when the rest of the members are out practicing or hanging out with other people
and you check the door to the room is locked about six times before xiaojun has to rope you into his arms with his pretty lips
before scuttling out from under the covers to check the lock himself too
it makes you laugh, he laughs too, you two kiss and you think you can only remember xiaojun's taste for hours after
no one, not even strangers, seem surprised by you being together as they learn it
an older woman at the beach says you and him just look like puzzle pieces that have found each other, she says she sees happiness in your futures
and it is all happiness - from that birthday to this one - almost ten years later
xiaojun knows you're planning a party, you always do like it's a tradition, so you can't call it a surprise anymore
but he promises to act shocked when he comes through the door anyway
"is this shocked face good enough?"
he asks, putting his hands on his cheeks and opening his mouth
age has treated him so well, he's still got the absolute best cheekbones you've ever seen in your life
you giggle and clamber over onto the sofa where he is
"no, no - more oomf!"
he tries again and then reaches out to pull you into him, you kiss his nose and he scrunches it up
"how about i just jump up and go 'no way!' or something?"
"xiaojun you're not twenty anymore."
he pouts, "fine. ill think of something."
"by the way what do you want as a present?"
you look into his eyes and the browns soften as they reflect the image of you, the person he's sworn to love for the rest of his life
he shrugs - says he got the best present of all time already
"you said that last ye-"
"and it's true, you're the only thing ive ever wanted so badly i was just too dumb of a guy to ask for it."
your hands are warm on his chest
"that's ok, you still got it in the end."
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that-fictional-dad · 3 years
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Look, I'm not a proshipper but I'm also not an anti and I think the self ship community is getting toxic as hell and has been for a while. Teens should not be upset and panicking that they're a bad person because they have feelings for a character whom it's vague whether or not they'e turned 18 yet.
If the idea of someone 18-19 having a crush on a fictional character that may be 17 or 18 makes you uncomfortable and/or grosses you out that's fine. That's your right. No one can MAKE You be comfortable with anything. That is wrong.
But you also shouldn't attack or demonize them. I'm 25. I've been in fandom for way more than a decade and I UNDERSTAND how media works. There are random people paid to change the ages of characters all ths time. Not the original writers. RANDOM people getting a paycheck. No one ever cares about that, ever! There are characters who were originally disgusting and evil and are re-written to be good by random people in the media who did not make the character.
Why is it suddenly evil and a sin for random people in fandom to do it?
I genuinely do not understand where all of these boxes suddenly came from that we're forcing people and characters into. The H.p fandom? Virtually unrecognizable from The Source material a lot of the time. Now, do I have a major issue with 33 year old women who are obsessed with writing/drawing 13 yr old boys fucking? Do I have an issue with people expressing inappropriate interests in like, middle schoolers/young higher schoolers? L.lic.n? Sh.utac.n? Absolutely it's disgusting. But i honestly do no give a shit if a character has a vague age and someone wants to fill in the blanks. I also don't fucking care if the age lines between someone ans a FICTIONAL character are slightly blurry. You're newly 20 and the character you daydreamed about going to college with last year is 18? Fine. You've got a fandom that's hella nostolgic for you because its your era and the characters are 18? Fine. Do you have a massive AU you wrote from scatch where ages of random characters are flopped around and you've romantically f/od a character who was previously 3 months shy of their 18th? Fine.
Z.mo from M..c..u is based on a N.zi and no ones petitioned the writers over it that ive seen. Characters are often MEANT to be adapted and interpreted differently, and it's usually pretty easy to tell when someone's being a pedo and when a character just doesn't live up to an AU someone wants. Pedophiles have a VERY spesifically way they talk. If you look at a problematic self insert ship like Sn.p./H.rm.on.[gross!] You'll find it's a lot of women and girls who think S is hot and have id'd with H.rmi.ne since childhood. If you dig deep you're find the bigger weirdos who ARE pedophiles and it's like a totally different language.
I've been groomed by pedophiles and protecting kids is important to me but I think Tumblr has a super agressive and harmful idea about how to do that which actually HARMS kids. I'm 25 and the idea of an 18 year old being interested in me romantically is absolutely repulsive. Actually, the idea of anyone under 21 repulses me. I've had younger people express interest in me and I always turned them away and told them I was too old for them and not interested. When I was 21, he was 18 and said he liked me and I said no pretty firmly and at one point when I was like 20??? I told a 16 year old girl not to trust people my age who show an interest in her in that way. I care deeply about protecting kids, I just don't think we're doing it correctly and it's causing more harm than good.
If you disagree with me that's OK. I don't think you're a bad person. I do not hate you, and I understand people might not want to be friends with me after this, so honestly I wish you well and hope you take care of yourself. ♡
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chaggle · 4 years
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I FOUND AN OLD COMIC WIP OF GRIAN, ISKALL AND MUMBO SINGING A PARODY OF "COME LIVE WITH US IN THE PALACE" TO WATCHER TAURTIS
IM SO TEMPTED TO JUST LINE THE PAGES I HAVE RN BUT AKDHKAB
i feel weirdly nostolgic looking at this old au even though it was a little less than a year ago qksnaksb
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warmau · 3 years
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☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au ten another late birthday au (again) but hey ten time :3 find others here: johnny | haechan | taeil | taeyong | mark | jaemin | yangyang | yuta | sicheng | chenle | kun | yukhei | doyoung | jaehyun | jungwoo
not knowing what to say isn't a foreign feeling to you, yet when you come face to face with ten outside his apartment on this summer morning, you are almost too petrified to even string a sentence together
he's really just........leaving
ten shines a big smile and from the open door you hear kun's exasperated voice asking why in the world ten is packing up his entire existence for a program that's going to last two months
"you look nervous"
ten jokes first, running a hand through his dark hair which he's spent the colder months growing out
"im the one going to a different country and yet you look like you might turn green"
his laughter tickles you and you force yourself out of the weird, frozen feeling, for his sake
"im not nervous - it's just this is our first summer apart since what, highschool?"
ten leans against the frame of his door and lets kun scuttle past him with a scowl
yangyang and hendery bounce after him with ten's insane amount of luggage
"yeah but it's two months, not two decades. plus....you know how much ive always wanted to do this."
right. and here you are being selfish.
"of course, i mean it's literally the birthplace of ballet."
"technically that's italy, but france is a close second."
"i hate you"
ten pulls you into his arms before you register that this is your goodbye hug
"i'll miss you too."
kun drives everyone to the airport, he complains and cries the most.
sicheng gives you a knowing look when ten takes your wrist in his hand and tucks your arm between his.
you ignore the look, and focus on ten. on him. and then - when the switchboard pops up his flight info - he gives a bubbly and excited
"ive gotta go!"
and then summer starts, just as he's gone
"so when are you going to tell him you're in love with him."
sicheng brings the big gulp he stole from hendery up to his lips and you keep your eyes closed behind your sunglasses
"sorry, yukhei's not my type."
"you know im not talking about yukhei."
you dig your fingers into the sand beside your towel, the beach is already so noisy so you pretend you don't hear sicheng, but you still feel him looking.
you guess a part of it is true, you love ten. who doesn't?
is that the core of the issue then, that ten is so available and loveable and charming, that it makes him also unattainable?
or at least, unattainable to you.
you hear your phone buzz inside your bag and sicheng is being dragged into the water by the rowdy rest of your friend group
it could be a text from ten?
your mind excites, but you put out that fire
it's probably just spam.
ten does text and even video call the first two or so weeks while he's away
you get blurry photos of food at cafes and the eiffel tower, random fancy looking dogs being walked on the small, cramped streets
ten's connection is kind of bad - but he still gleams through the fuzzy facetime camera as he shows you around the room the dance academy has provided
pangs of his happiness and excitement seep into you
and then there's the first sign of worry comes knocking and twirling through his door
a group of other dancers, all beautiful and strong, asking ten - from the limited amount of french you catch - if he's done, they're waiting for him to go to a show with them
ten gives you a scattered, quick goodbye. he says he'll video call again.
all you get is an update text almost five days later that has no pictures attached just a;
im ok - by the way i totally miss eating hot chips with you at midnight. ive had like a banana smoothie and that's it.
sicheng and kun are the first to pick up on the shift, you are quietly withdrawing to yourself
nothing makes you laugh
ten doesn't reply to your question about what the paris metro looks like, actually he doesn't even read it
kun nearly tugs hendery's ear red when he shares a snap story of ten pressed cheek to cheek with his new dancer friends in front of the louvre when you're in the same room
the thing is you are not jealous of any of them.
you don't go around trying to find their facebooks, clicking on their instagram profiles, comparing you and them.
you are just sad to your bones that they will understand ten in such a way that no matter how long you two have been friends
you will never, truly know
"you're his best friend"
sicheng reasons on the phone as you stare up at the wall above your desk, littered in old pictures and clippings and your gaze catches on the ticket stub from ten's first-ever solo dance performance
it had been a talent show in highschool.
it had been the first time you saw ten perform outside the corner of his cramped bedroom or the glimpse you caught meeting up with him outside the dance academy
he's in paris, he's with people who love it so much more than i do - they love dancing like he loves dancing.
i cannot understand that.
"i think you were right sicheng."
"im always right."
i do love him. when am i going to tell him?
you hang up after sicheng has his i told you so moment and stare at your screen
a notification flashes across the screen and it's a text from ten
the trains here are blue. i miss you.
you want to reply right away, so you open the message and start typing
i miss you too. actually, i think i finally understand why people who are in love are so hurt when they're suddenly left without their other half and ten you are my o-
you delete the sentence and make a face
nice. i miss you too.
you don't send it - or at least you forget to because your fingers are shaking and you exit out of the messaging app before checking
abandoning your phone, you turn on your side and stretch your hand out to reach the edge of the bed
there's enough space between you and it for someone to fit, so you remember the countless times ten has laid there
smiling and laughing and tickling your face with his sleeping breath
you can't even recall a conversation because there have been hundreds
suddenly you feel a warmth creep up your skin
hundreds of opportunities to tell him - and each time i chose to be a coward.
"you should write him a letter."
"this isn't a movie, what - you think im going to write a letter and he'll jump on the first plane from france to come to my side?"
sicheng cocks an eyebrow as if to say it is a possibility
"no. im not writing a letter. i'll suck it up and confess when he comes back."
you somehow end up writing a letter.
maybe because you really do want to just send a long text spilling your mushy, soft, pink feelings
but you know that's just not what ten deserves
he deserves (and you do too, but you won't admit this) a face to face confession
so you start retelling the moments that flutter up in your heart whenever you think about him
how he makes the room brighter when he's in it, how he dances with every bone, joint, muscle in his body - how he approaches it with no inhibition and true devotion that paints its way across his face when he practices, how he fits perfectly into the hole that grows more massive every day you don't see him
standing there across the hall - coffee in hand, gym bag with his scuffed dance shoes
by the time you're finished - the letter is longer than you imagine. there are parts crossed and scribbled out, repetitive thoughts, and stupid little comments and metaphors that compare ten to flowers or clouds or anything else pretty in nature
you cringe at yourself, but you do feel better
it could be your outline for when the time to actually tell him comes.
you shove the papers into an envelope, write ten's name and the address of his parisian dance academy just for the irony
and then make the mistake of letting it sit on your desk
in a matter of days, it has been swallowed by a bunch of other papers and trinkets
and when you're rushing around your room trying to get ready for another adventure to the beach - sicheng clinks the lollipop against his teeth and fishes it out - curious at the stamp
"do you want me to mail this?"
he asks and you're trying to find those sunglasses you literally just bought and grumble that sure, whatever - you'll meet him out by kun's car.
halfway to the beach, you turn in horror from the passenger seat to look at sicheng in the back
your eyes like saucers and a tremor in a voice
"wait. what did you ask me back in my room?"
sicheng's big smile is red from the candy, "your letter to ten."
and there comes the second pang of dread and worry that takes the overwhelming shape of your summer
oh my god - oh my god - maybe the letter won't even make it. i mean it's a letter to france....it'll take at least a month to get there. wait - it probably didn't even have a stamp on it. oh god maybe the address was totally off and some poor stranger is about to be subjected to my very incoherent feelings.....
every day you look at your phone and there's no texts or emails or anything from ten
his social media has gone quiet too
you throw your dignity down a well and ask all your friends if they've heard from him and they all scratch their heads and say no, it's been maybe a week since they did
your stress then turns from your love letter to a possibility that ten is in trouble
he kind of thrives from attention so it is very weird that he's so off-grid
you decide finally, on the day that it's been exactly a month and one day since he was gone, to call
you hover over the facetime button - should i text him first?
with a yelp, you nearly drop and crack your screen when ten's name flashes across the screen
you settle your breathing and tell yourself he hasn't gotten the letter, there's no way - since when has snail mail been efficient?
you answer and are about to ask what's up when ten waves something into the camera
"i got your letter."
maybe you go into rigor. because ten's eyebrows knit and he asks if your connection is ok, you aren't saying anything
you don't know if it's just because you miss him so much that you're able to drag yourself back into consciousness or because you are curious, in the depths of your mind, what his reaction will be
"o-oh. right- i-"
ten frowns and you think it's coming. the rejection is coming.
"is that why you didn't answer my text? you sent the letter instead?"
"your text?"
"yeah, i said i missed you and you read it and never responded."
a peek of a smile stretches on his pretty, bare face
"i never thought you were so romantic to send a letter."
something burns on your skin but you just try to make sure your hand holding the phone doesn't shake
"im not - i just, it was dumb sicheng said i should write it because - i don't know. he's the romantic, blame him."
"you're the one that said i could make a shy tulip open its petals with my laughter."
"oh god"
that smile turns into a grin
"and that my dancing manages to cast a spell on you."
you hide your expression by turning your face
"are you going to re-read the whole thing to me?"
"should i, you're so poetic."
"don't make fun of me."
your voice is serious this time, small and huddled, because you mean it
worse than being told he doesn't feel the same is to be ridiculed for holding him in your heart like this for so long
"im not making fun of you, the letter is beautiful."
you still can't look at him, it's so ten to be kind before he's cruel
"i could never write something like that - so i thought i would just call you and say it."
you don't need to love song yourself into telling me you just see me as a friend
"i love you."
your head whips back so fast your phone drops and you curse and ten can't help but laugh
"sorry, sorry -what did you say?"
he runs a hand through his dark hair, the lighting in his room is dim and illuminates him perfectly
a large white t-shirt engulfs his slender shoulders as he sits up against the wall
"i love you. i know it's corny to confess over facetime, but im guessing it's more forgivable than text?"
a bubble bursts in your stomach and it makes you feel lightheaded and inhumanely blissful all at once
"i love you too."
"more then friends right, because your letter had this part about kissing im very interested in."
you bite back your lip and nod, both embarrassed that he'd bring that part up too but also seeing ten - your close friend, your secret love - talk about kissing you
makes some of the neurons in your body go haywire
"good, i seriously was scared you might have been pranking me with thi-"
"i would never. im not hendery."
"oh how are they, ive been super busy with the practice for a review so i haven't talked to anyone."
another thing you love about him, he keeps everyone in. he leaves none of his friends behind. he pretends like he couldn't have a care in the world, but he cares more than anyone else.
"he's ok, he almost crashed kun's car yesterday."
ten shrugs, "expected."
and like that - everything is still somehow the same. there is no awkward phase after you've talked about your feelings for each other at all.
because your love doesn't come as a one hit punch because ten is beautiful, although he is to an unfair degree
it comes from the experience of being around him. having so much of him. maybe even getting a little addicted.
you do talk more on the phone, no more long pauses even though ten's practices get more grueling and you tell him to take his time to rest
but he's sweaty on the practice room floor - texting you - telling you everything is sore but the thought of seeing you soon makes it all better
it's three days before ten is scheduled to fly back that he has his review and you are biting your fingernails waiting for him to tell you about it
when you get a youtube link at like three in the morning - you click it and someone has recorded ten's performance
somehow, he looks more graceful than you've ever seen him
a new text comes in when it's almost done
'i think i did well - can i get a reward?'
'you'll get a really good one when you're home'
he sends a winking emoji and you can't fall asleep after because you wonder what he's expecting, you'd meant a kiss - had he meant more?
you wouldn't mind that at all.
xiaojun is being pulled away from the conveyer belt by kun and hendery is asking sicheng for a sip of his starbucks as you all wait for ten's plane to land in the airport lobby
you two have not told anyone - mostly because you know there will be endless questions you won't have answers too and sicheng might literally never let you live it down
so you wait for ten to be here so you can suffer together
you see the gates from his flight open and sicheng mutters that you look like you're going to pop like a goddamn balloon
for once in your life, you don't snide back at him, folding your hands in front of you and tippy-toeing to see over the crowd
and then, like seeing him for the first time all the years ago when you first met, ten comes out
hendery and xiaojun try to go for a running jump, but the older members hold them back because everyone can sense whats coming
you dash toward him and ten doesn't stay still either - you two collide so hard it almost hurts, but you don't care at all
ten's duffel bag falls over his shoulder and your hands are wrapped around his neck before he can even say your name
it's a first kiss that couldn't be more characteristically fit for you
sweet, big smiles tasted on lips, and interrupted by none other than your group of friends gasping in a symphony of shock
except for sicheng - he knew
ten tastes like you imagine he would taste, maybe because in smaller ways you've already had doses of the sunshine that radiates off him before
he keeps his hands wrapped around your waist as he looks down into your eyes
"mon amour"
"is that really all you learned in france?"
"ummm yeah, i don't know how to say let's get out of here and back to my place even though im pretty sure someone said that to me at some point."
you pout, "don't try to make me jealous."
"never!"
ten chuckles as you press your face into his neck and hug him close
the only way you get pulled apart is because someone (kun) reminds you all you're still at the PUBLIC airport
the drive back is a frenzy and everyone wants to know everything and not about just you two - because you're "two" now - but about france and traveling and ten's dancing
like you'd sensed - nothing has really changed
just this time, your fingers are locked in tens. and the warmth you longed for in silence is suddenly all out in the open.
funnily enough, you and ten don't ever write letters to each other again.
ten just doesn't like writing - it takes too much sitting down
and you are horrified everytime he fishes your love confession out of the memory box and dangles it above your head as leverage
it's how he convinced you into adopting the first cat. now you two have three.
so when you and him are deciding the best way to let all your friends know about your upcoming event you cross out mailed invitations
"we can make an email list."
your legs are thrown over his thighs on the sofa and he's resting the laptop on you them
"let's just make an instagram post: wedding in our backyard on thursday - you're invited."
ten pinches his nose
"we are not having a backyard wedding. we could not fit everyone in my dance company into it anyway."
you play with your engagement band and sigh
"fine, fine. what about.....we just call everyone and tell them. if we call kun right now he'll let all of the world know by the end of the week."
ten agrees with a hum, but then starts typing and you lean over to see
"bulk wedding invites? you're giving in?"
he closes the laptop and tosses it to the side, easily and gently pushing you down onto your back to hover over you with a small content sound
"i am. but we don't even have to write the letters - some company will do it for us."
his lips are inches from yours and all of a sudden you're young again - waiting to kiss him for the first time at that airport
"you know we'll still have to write vows right."
he is about to kiss you, he's so close and your eyes are closing
"i'll just read your letter outl-"
"TEN NO!"
he laughs, laughs until he finally does kiss you and then laughs again when he pulls back - the overflowing amount of love that exists in that moment is potent
you tell him to get over that old thing, but he shakes his head
"never, when again in all the lives i live is someone going to say i could make a shy tulip open its petals with my laughter?"
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warmau · 3 years
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☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au jaehyun exactly on time for the valentine boy! ........well....... find others here: johnny | haechan | taeil | taeyong | mark | jaemin | yangyang | yuta | sicheng | chenle | kun | yukhei | doyoung
how you end up here, you don’t know, but you blame johnny suh because when things get weird it’s usually his fault anyway
johnny’s smile is a thousand and one watts - he reaches out to pass you the beat up guitar case and again, you don’t even take it by choice, it’s nudged into your hands before you can really even say a word
“im not joining your band.”
“it’s not mine - it’s ours.”
jungwoo twirls a drum stick between his fingers and grins from his spot on the garage couch
“no johnny - we all know it’s yours.”
your lips thin and the only reason you don’t fling the case to the floor is because you actually like the guitar that’s inside. 
granted you haven’t seen it since middle school and it probably still has that horrible sticker on the back of it that you remember picking at until all the little pieces you got off were uncomfortably stuck under your nails.
“guys - it’s summer. we have nothing better to do.”
“says you, i got an engineering internship at samsung.” 
jungwoo chirps again and you try not to roll your eyes
we all know about the damn samsung internship dude.
“yeah - and i have to work at the family bookstore.”
mark lee walks in, holding as many redbulls as he can fit between his elbows, they spill out and onto the space beside jungwoo
you listen to mark open one and johnny groan
“ok you all have something to do, but we-” he motions behind him at you “don’t have anything to save us from the boredom that is about to take up two months of our youthful lives!”
“hey-”
you cut in and all three sets of eyes focus on you
“i have something i want to do this summer.”
johnny’s long figure straightens in anticipation while jungwoo cocks an eyebrow and mark gives you an encouraging smile
“im not going to tell you what it is, but it’s definitely not starting a band with you guys.”
you lean the guitar case against a nearby wall and add a half-hearted shrug
“sorry.”
the walk from johnny’s house to yours isn’t long, it takes about fifteen minutes if you’re really going slow. 
plus you’ve done it so many times, you basically set your body to autopilot.
you think about it - the thing you want to do this summer before you go away for university and home becomes a new place and a memory at the same time.
you’re not known for being sentimental, johnny has even gone so far as to label you as a bit ‘apathetic’ . but still you know this is your last chance to really enjoy the place you grew up in.
you turn the corner at the street that leads down to where you live and in the hot evening air you hear something
it’s the sound of a bike, the pedaling is light but the frame must be old because it creaks a little when it slows down slightly to maneuver to the left and pass you.
you look up and see a boy
brown hair still wet from the pool or a shower maybe, dimples at the corners of his smile, the two sizes too big white shirt fluttering behind him in the breeze
for what seems like longer than a second - you lock eyes - his match the color of autumn leaves and teddy bear fur 
and for some weird reason can’t stop thinking about them even well after you get back home
is he new in town? i’ve never seen him before?
finally managing to shake off the curiosity, you fish the shoebox you’ve been keeping under your bed out and open it.
inside there’s only three things so far: 
a copy of your graduation photo, a copy of johnny’s graduation photo, and the prom invite ticket that has jungwoo’s chicken scrawl on the back (he was technically your date, because johnny got proportioned by half the seniors and mark was too nervous to ask if you’d take him)
this is what you were talking about. this is what you want to spend summer doing.
you want to spend it remembering, gathering fragments of your life so far in your hometown with your bestfriends, so that when you move on you have a tangible piece of the memories
the reason you were keeping it a secret though was because.....even you had to admit.......this was a little much 
and you had built yourself a little bit of a hard shell so imagining telling the people you knew that this was your summer plan 
well, you could already hear johnny’s voice saying something like ‘hey, this isn’t a hallmark movie you sap and facetime exists. do you think im not gonna call you at 3 am from across the country like i do now anyway?’ 
you close the box and tap your fingers on the top.
tomorrow, i’ll start visiting all the important places.
your phone pings and it sound echoes through the otherwise empty library. 
a harsh shushing sound comes from the front desk and you quickly answer it, sliding down against one of the bookcases
you’d come here to see if you could find that old series you loved as a kid, the magic treehouse, it’s the books you and johnny fought over when you first met each other years ago
you abandon that though because poor mark sounds like he’s having a panic attack over the phone
“hey, you need to get over here - johnny is holding auditions for a guitarist since you said you didn’t want to do the band”
“ok, so what? it’s just auditions?”
mark’s pleading gets louder, “it’s auditions with JOHNNY - he thinks this is eurovision or something i don’t know please i can’t reign him in and jungwoo’s at his internship - i am dying here!”
you sigh, making it long so mark knows how annoyed you are
“put him on.”
mark’s voice drowns and johnny takes the phone from him
“what did i say with conspiring with them? we are shunning them for quitting on the band! what do you mean you had no other options? what do you mean my egomania is coming out? - anyway hey whats up?”
“stop torturing mark and all the poor kids that showed up to audition.”
“first of all, im not torturing anyone. that would be illegal and distasteful, im just giving my constructive criticism. second of all, if you want to give orders like that then let’s make this a fare trade off. come over and help me judge - i mean hold the auditions and then i will cease my so called ‘torturing’ ala my ‘criticizing’.”
you huff - fine, it’s one day out of the whole summer.
“ok. but you better have snacks.”
“do you think i wouldn’t provide refreshments? what kind of monster do you think i am?”
there’s more people than you expect showing up to audition for this band. half of them are just there to sweet talk johnny or mark,  but the others are all just. bad. 
you never knew how bad someone butcher playing an instrument, let alone a guitar, but you’ve had that eye opening experience today
“how many people left?”
you mutter, face first into your palms and looking up with happiness when mark says only one!
“hey, im jung jaehyun.”
you turn and see the boy from the bike, the one with the softest eyes you’ve ever seen, standing in the entry to johnny’s garage
he’s carrying his own guitar case - black leather and well worn but loved
“well jaehyun dude, i hope you can at least play the damn thing because i feel like no one in this town can!”
johnny groans and you straighten up a little as jaehyun comes closer
he sets himself up and you feel something inside your stomach turn when he bends down and you see a bit of the tanned skin of his back
“im not amazing, but i can play some of the classics.”
“wonderwall?” mark asks and johnny snips at him as you try to think of something to say, but suddenly....your brain is fuzzy
“play anything!” 
so jaehyun does, he plays, and he even sings and the fuzziness in your brain turns to white noise and the little drop in your stomach is a whole bundle of butterflies
you barely realize the johnny is already befriending jaehyun and mark is staring at him with those big, impressed eyes
when you get up and jaehyun smiles at you
“so what do you play?”
johnny throws an arm around your shoulder older brother style and rolls his eyes before you get a word in
“you’re actually taking their spot because they’re too busy to be in the band.”
something seems to cast a sad shadow over jaehyun’s features - “oh, you’re not going to play with us?”
words float through your head, none of which you can grasp onto, so you just shake it instead and let johnny ramble on about your so called betrayal
you look at your phone and of course it’s nearing ten and there’s no way you can go to any of the other places on your list so you motion to mark that you’re going to head home
“oh - i have to go too.”
jaehyun slings his guitar case over his shoulder, “but ill come by tomorrow for practice?”
johnny shoots him a big grin and then haggles all the social media jaehyun has out of him
you don’t know why you just don’t start walking - but somehow you end up leaving with jaehyun, making that left turn where you first passed each other
“do you live on this street?”
you jump a little as you nod, “yeah - i think i actually saw you yesterday. you were on your bike so you probably didn’t notice me.”
there’s a polite distance between you two, but jaehyun is smiling when he answers
“oh no, i definitely noticed you.”
you end up thinking about those words the same way you couldn’t stop thinking about his eyes 
except this time, instead of it lasting a day, the thought lasts nearly two and a half weeks
it seems jaehyun is doing a good job fitting in with your friends, considering you don’t get anymore calls from mark 
and you actually start to make progress on your summer project
you manage to get some ticket stubs from old movies, an old science project you did that’s still hanging on the walls of the highschool (open for summer classes), and pressed flowers from ontop of a hill where you almost break your elbow back when you were a freshman
you’re plunging yourself into your past, but weirdly enough every now and then you’ll remember that 
oh no, i definitely noticed you
the six little words make you feel giddier than whatever memento you’re seeking out to tuck into your shoebox
you try to tell yourself it’s just because jaehyun is new - he’s new and the memory of him isn’t old enough to try and find anything to represent him by 
and he kind of represents everything you’re nervous about - new places, new people, new friendships ...... the prospect of a new love
love? 
you look up at the sky as you swing back and forth on the playground you’ve come to collect something from for your memory box 
that’s ridiculous. i’ve had one conversation with him!
you swing your legs back and forth, slowing down and you think twice about jumping off when suddenly you feels someone gently push your back
the swing goes a little higher and you turn your head in surprise to see
“j-jaehyun?”
he smiles and his dimples greet you before he does
“i saw you on my way back from johnny’s.”
he gives you another soft push and you hear that fuzzy noise that always turns the gears in your brain when you try to say something around him
“is - is johnny being nice?”
is all you can muster and jaehyun laughs, the sound melodic but low, just the way the baritone of his voice is when he sang
“very nice, but he is a lot to handle sometimes.”
you kick your legs down and dig your heels into the grass a little, jaehyun grabs the two chains of the swings to help you stop it
when you turn you notice his bike is laying a couple of feet away and so is his guitar
“what about the band stuff?”
“johnny is trying to write songs and stuff, but actually mark is the one that i think has the talent for it.”
you can’t help but feel the corner of your mouth lift up a little, he already knows the two of them pretty well.
“what about you - do you write songs or music?”
jaehyun lifts his bike back up and you take the guitar case to help him
before you know it - you and him are walking side by side again 
“a little, but it’s more about playing the guitar for me. that’s the part that makes me happy.”
you play with your fingers behind your back, old nervous habits rising to the surface
“by the way - why did you not want to be part of the band? johnny said you were busy with something but you didn’t say what.”
you stop 
i should lie, make something up.
jaehyun stops too and the sounds of the bike wheels and footsteps float off into the air
but for some reason, i don’t want to lie. not to him.
“im......leaving after the summer, going to school in another place. so im spending my summer kind of.....im kind of cataloging this place. this town. i’m doing the whole put your memories in a shoebox thing which is so-”
“awesome! i think it’s awesome that you want a part of your home with you, sometimes people are way too excited to get away from their roots.”
you look at jaehyun, who returns the look with a comforting warmth you’ve never experienced before.
it’s a different comfort than the one you get from your friends or your family, it makes your heart beat flutter - slow for a second, then so fast you think your body can’t keep up
he starts walking again and you do too
the silence isn’t weird. it’s a conversation in it’s own way between your two bodies.
when you get to your house - you look at jaehyun again and you have two thoughts
one is that you should kiss him. because he looks so.....kissable.
the second, the one you ultimately choose, is to widen your eyes and go:
“promise you won’t tell the others about it though, they would not let me live it down.”
jaehyun laughs and hooks his pinkie with yours - his skin soft under the setting sun - “i promise.”
and after being caught up in thinking about jaehyun’s eyes, or the way he speaks, you find yourself in the same repeating cycle again
this time. it’s your regret. 
you should have chose option one, because it’s looking like another opportunity to kiss jung jaehyun is not coming any time soon.
and like the two times before, you throw yourself into your summer project to try and not think about it 
(although you do, multiple times throughout the day, at one point blushing at the image of what could have happened if you DID kiss him and then getting snapped at by the angry man at the local deli)
another couple of weeks pass and you swing by johnny’s because it’s a location on your summer memory list and also....
you are curious about how the band is going ...
and you kind of a little want to see jaehyun again......
you arrive and hear jungwoo’s voice to your surprise, followed by the sound of drums and johnny’s sharp “stop, stop, STOP!”
“jungwoo, what is going on - did working at samsung make you into a robot who can only produce code and not drum to save his life?”
“what do you know about drumming johnny? or coding? or anything in general?”
“hey watch the attitude, you’re embarrassing me in front of jaehyun.”
jungwoo snorts and you try to hide your own laugh but everyone turns to you just in time for you to hiccup it back
“ah - the traitor is here!” 
johnny sings and jaehyun gives him a soft elbow to the ribs
“what’s up?” 
mark smiles from his place at the keyboard and you cross your arms
“nothing, hows it going - book any shows? write an album yet?”
“actually, we did book a gig for your information”
johnny waltz his way from the microphone and to a stack of flyers from his couch
he hands you one and this time you do burst out into laughter
the flyer, pink and way over the top, is an invitation to johnny’s end of the summer party
well it’s actually his going away party his parents have planned for him, since he’s also leaving for school
“johnny - you didn’t book a gig. you’re playing your own party.”
“the parents are shelling out twenty dollars to each of us so money makes it a gig.”
you look at jaehyun who secretly rolls his eyes
“sure, sure. can i keep one of these?” 
you fold the flyer and slip it into your pocket, this will make a good addition to the shoebox
“oh are you going to put it in-”
jaehyun starts and you rush over, hand flying over his mouth as the three other people in the garage stare
“going to put it in......the trash. yes. going to throw it right out because really johnny did you use paint-”
johnny flips you off in the kindest, best friend way possible
you let go of jaehyun and throw him a look that he mouths an apology too
somehow, instead of leaving, you end up staying and listening to them practice
you consider it a break from your project and the day is filled with what you’d expect from all of them, laughter and jokes and banter that is only ok between the closest of people
when they finally finish practice and jungwoo and mark accept a gracious ride home from mr. suh 
you say you’ll be off too and jaehyun trots up right behind you, “ill walk with you.”
this time, you hear less of the fuzz in your head and can actually keep up a decent conversation without staring at jaehyun’s lips
you feel closer because of the time you spent today and you almost walk past your house until jaehyun points to the porch
“oh by the way. can i see what you have in the shoebox?”
you look over your shoulder at him, “like right now?”
he gives a casual shrug
“is that ok?”
and now jung jaehyun is standing in your room. well he’s standing in it and then he’s sitting on your bed and rummaging through some of the most personal memories you have.
his long fingers pulling out ticket stubs or notes you passed in class
he chuckles at the graduation photo of johnny and dangles yours over your head when he refuses to give it back 
you tackle him for it and he falls down against your sheets and you make the worst (or arguably best) mistake of your life
when you straddle his hips and rich out to grab it
only to look down and see him splayed open like the pages of a beautiful book
and you remember your regret
it makes your head spin, but you watch in slow motion as the photo falls from between his fingers and you lean down to catch it, but jaehyun presses up and catches your mouth with his.
it’s sloppy, awkward - but only for the first few seconds - until you can both adjust yourselves from your position and do it right and then it is 
astonishing
because it feels like you’re kissing someone you’ve been kissing for years. decades. millennia's. eons. 
it feels like you and jaehyun have been doing this since the big bang.
since humans first came to exist. 
since, gosh you don’t know, since pangea freaking broke apart.
you make out for so long that you lose track of time and it gets late to the point where the darkness of the summer almost makes you ask him to stay over
but jaehyun is just so mannerly that he slips out the back door of your house with a final kiss and a promise to call
which he follows up on earlier than you expect, showing up on your doorstep to take you out for breakfast
only to end up with you two back in your room an hour later, kissing again, and again, and with more hands and less of his shirt or yours.
the only thing that unglues you from him is his phone ringing for what must be the tenth time
“it’s johnny”
you breath against jaehyun’s neck finally
“how do you know?”
“only he calls ten times in a row.”
and like your summer project, you don’t tell your friends about what’s going on between you two
jaehyun says it’s kind of hard to hide the obvious evidence on his body - but you tell him to say it was your other neighbor, or someone from another town
jaehyun agrees just because you pull the doe eye trick on him and he really is learning he can’t say no to that or to you in most situations
but everytime before and after band practice - he’s with you
sometimes he joins you on your little visits to the places still on your lists
when you tell him the sentimental value behind them, you get a little fidgety because being vulnerable is hard 
but jaehyun listens and he says that each memory of yours he gets to watch you relive, helps him learn something about you
you don’t say it out loud - but hearing that makes you want to cry and kiss him and cry again 
an other times, you two don’t do anything heartwarming or special, you just roll around with him, tangled up in one until he has to go
with each day, summer comes closer to 
and end but you fall deeper into each other at a pace that might be alarming if it was any other two humans but the both you
and before you know it - it’s the day of johnny’s end of summer slash going away party 
jaehyun is supposed to be there from like nine in the morning but he stops at your place before he bikes over
kissing your forehead he drops something in your palm
you open it to see his guitar pick 
“won’t you need this for when you play?”
“i’m using my backup. i just thought you might want to put that one in your shoebox........since it could remind you of me......”
he flushes and you bite back your lip, part of you is happy because he’s just so cute it isn’t fair but the other is coming to the daunting idea that 
soon enough - im leaving too, will jaehyun just be another memory to me?
instead of dwelling on it, you peck him again and ask, 
“ill see you at the party?”
the party is most definitely a johnny suh party
the food is amazing, everyone on the planet is invited, and johnny is wearing something so bright it beats out the sun
when you arrive, his mother spends half an hour asking you to take care of him when he finally leaves and you don’t remind her that you’re going to two different places
you don’t see jaehyun or mark or jungwoo around - you assume they’re practicing somewhere for the performance while johnny is juggling both front lead singer and host
the party is fun - it really is - but the words “going away” somehow still make you a little sick
you’re about to escape to somewhere a little quieter, when you hear someone tap the mic on the makeshift stage in johnny’s backyard
you see him - and the rest of the band - gather on as johnny introduces them and shouts excitedly that this song they’re going to perform, written by keyboardist mark, is all about new beginnings!
jaehyun finds you in the crowd, a secret little smile on his lips before the music starts and to your surprise - and probably everyone elses - they actually do pretty good
the lyrics are so very mark, but johnny brings a flare to the way he sings it
jungwoo seems to have remembered how much he adores drumming again and the way jaehyun looks playing guitar is so enticing that you can’t help but feel a little pride in the fact that you’ve been tasting all of that for most of the summer
the sick feeling in your stomach turns into excitement which turns into just pure enjoyment as you watch your friends and your boyfriend up there having fun
when it’s over and they hop down to mingle back into the rest of the party, you really can’t help yourself and throw your arms around jaehyun
you kiss him - which earns a gasp from mark, a half smirk from jungwoo, and a loud clearing of his throat from johnny
you and jaehyun admit what’s been going on and when johnny just whistles you ask him if he’s not mad
“even if i was mad, you would still keep liking each other right - so what’s the point?” 
you hug johnny, and mark, and jungwoo, and like nothing has changed you all fall back into the swing of it
the comfort of being around each other
when you five are the last people in johnny’s messy background you finally decide to tell them all about your summer project
“i knew you’d all say it was lame so i-”
“hey hey hey - it isn’t lame. it’s not what i expect but i get why you’d want to do it.”
johnny pats your shoulder and you feel jaehyun’s hand on the small of your back
it’s the kind of moment you want to never end. 
really, you just want this summer to never end.
but when it does - when the day comes for the temperature to drop and for you to be on your way to a new place
you feel the sadness come in a big wave
johnny, mark, jungwoo, and jaehyun all come to say goodbye and you hold the shoebox in your hands - now heavy and filled to the brim with all your memories
before you say it though, each of them adds something
jungwoo drops his samsung internship ID into it
mark places the paper he wrote the draft of the lyrics to the song they performed at the party into it
and johnny chucks a burned CD version of it into the mix
finally, turning to jaehyun, you take in a deep breath
“i know the distance will be big so if you want to break up and-”
he kisses you before you can finish your sentence and slips a small box that you don’t open until you’re already in your new dorm
inside is a small bracelet, engraved on the inside are the words
“i definitely noticed you. it was love at first sight”
years later - jaehyun says those words again
as he’s reading his vows 
and you’re feeling the fuzziness, the butterflies, the comforting warmth, everything like a tsunami of all the things that are you and jaehyun
and when johnny shows up to present the rings to you two
they’re in that old shoebox 
two little bands at the bottom of all those memories
at the reception, you lean over and whisper to your now husband
“where did you find that old thing by the way?”
jaehyun nuzzles his lips against the cusp of your ear as you watch jungwoo and mark make fools of themselves on the dance floor 
“under the bed, where you put everything you care about.”
670 notes · View notes
warmau · 3 years
Text
☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au doyoung late birthday post for mr. kim! i am never on time for these posts, apologies.  find others here: johnny | haechan | taeil | taeyong | mark | jaemin | yangyang | yuta | sicheng | chenle | kun | yukhei
a sinking feeling has you rooted to the floor. staring at the lock of your front door as someone knocks politely over and over again.
“what are you doing?”
your mother’s voice gusts past you like a breeze, she leans over your frozen figure and turns the knob.
you step back to avoid being hit by the door and dread the light that washes over your mothers face
“doyoung! come in!”
he steps through and all you catch is a bit of side profile, hidden behind the gigantic plant he’s holding
“oh! that’s the orchid your mother was just up in a fit about? come here sweetie, place it on the kitchen table -”
his footsteps echo and you shrink a little, he didn’t even look at me. 
you’re thankful for your mothers insolent obsession with being a good host and trudge your way back to your room
doyoung is in your house. 
which is weird, the first time he was in your house - you knew, obviously, but he was uninvited. your mother didn’t welcome him through the door.
now - for the past month - after both his mother and yours had come to a unbreakable bond over their indoor houseplants 
doyoung has very much been a presence, an invited presence, a presence everyone but you seemed to be delighted about
“he’s such a nice boy, he’s spending his summers tutoring younger kids and i see him biking all around town.”
your mother gushes almost every time at dinner after doyoung leaves - delivering whatever ailing plant his mother has sent to yours to fix and play botanist with
you pick at your food
yeah, he’s a nice boy. that’s what makes this all so much worse.
now - you’re laying on your sheets with your hand on your stomach and staring up at the wall thinking very much the same thought.
he’s so nice, and so perfect, and everything anyone ever dreams of. why am i such an idiot for not wanting that?
you drum your fingers and again spiral back into the memory that keeps itself wedged between you and him like a piece of food that’s stuck so sternly between teeth, no pushing at it with your tongue helps.
summer starts in ten days, officially you know - by the university calendar. you’re supposed to be focusing on a final paper for some elective politics class you took, but you’re not. you’re staring at the back of doyoung’s neck. he sits in front of you for most lectures.
“hey, do you know anything about this military-first politics and nuclear armament essay prompt the professor gave us?”
doyoung turns slowly, blinking at you from behind his thin-wired classes, “yeah - it’s been the topic of discussion and reading for like a week.”
you know you sound kind of stupid to even ask - but you will admit, politics isn’t your thing and it seems to really be doyoungs - so you smile, with a please pity me kind of look in your eye. doyoung sighs, but he gets up and slides into the seat beside you - opening up the half blank word document on your laptop.
that’s it. that’s all it was going to be. doyoung helping you skid by, so that your summer isn’t ruined by a shitty grade. 
but that’s not what happens. at all. 
doyoung instead spends a lot of time helping you write a good enough paper to pull through a B-. 
that means a lot of alone time in the library, in study hall, in the empty halls of the school buildings where classes have ended and no one is around.
it’s a lot of being shoulder to shoulder with him, realizing how nice he always smells - how long his fingers are when they type - how he doesn’t have a significant other because no one except his friends ever end up interrupting you.
it’s the day after you get your grades for the semester, something about getting the paper back sparks a fire in you
you scope doyoung out at the coffeeshop and exclaim that you and him did it!
a couple of heads whip around, did it?, you quickly add some mumbling about the paper.
doyoung laughs, it’s the first time you’ve heard the genuine sound, because most of the time he just makes a half-sided smirk or chuckle.
you buy him an iced latte as repayment and somehow end up walking out of there with side by side.
doyoung asks if you live near by if you don’t dorm, you say you do. he does too. that’s weird - you’ve never seen him around the neighborhood.
after that you pretend it’s a blur. because truth be told it isn’t.
you and doyoung are going to be taking the same train anyway, why not take it together. you and doyoung are going to know the same little places around town, why not talk about them.
why not? why not? why not? 
why not invite him inside when you’re back in your hometown, why not lead him up to your room just so he can see it and why not kiss him when he leans over you.
people your age do it all the time, they hookup. that’s the only answer to that stupid hanging ‘why not?’
so when you felt doyoung’s fingers graze down your side and he’d clumsily gotten his glasses off just in time for you to pull his shirt up over his head 
you were convinced it meant nothing. you were convinced he thought the same.
then it all happens and you can’t take it back. 
especially not the part where you’re laying on your bed, just like you are now, waiting for doyoung to start gathering his things and instead a hand loops around your sweaty waist.
“aren’t you going to leave?”
the words blurt out of your mouth before you even think about it. 
the tension that stalled in the room had been so horrible you swore you’d felt it seep into every pore, damn near trickling itself down the walls.
doyoung had darkened, pulled himself away from you, and disappeared before you could string together your next thought.
part of you had been relieved, the other part felt like the biggest asshole on the planet.
you were just grateful the rest of the summer could easily be passed by keeping away from each other - until your mother had found her new best friend.
downstairs you can hear doyoung shuffling around with your mothers plants, you can’t make out what they’re saying, but you’re sure your mother is inviting him to stay and eat with you. asking doyoung about his amazing future plans to become a lawyer. enthralled by everything he is as a child and that you, most likely, are not.
when he finally leaves and the commotions die down you can’t get up
this is the most confusing moment. 
not the whole ignoring each other when he pops over, not the whole reliving the past from just a glimpse. 
it’s why - when it happened, you had been so content with it just staying nothing - you had been the one to make that decision for the both of you
yet
why does it seem like you’re wallowing in it, clinging to it, imaging it all over
every time he comes over
because you didn’t just want a hook-up. you wanted doyoung and were playing it off because having a crush on him isn’t worth it right?
your mind coils itself through a storm
you thought he only wanted to sleep with you too, because the thought of someone as good as doyoung liking you just doesn’t make sense?
despite the summer heat, you feel cold
you’re not good enough to actually be liked, to be the person doyoung chooses for something more than just your-
your phone rings and you sit up so fast it gives you a headache, you feel around and bring it to your ear without checking the number
“hello?”
“our mothers are trying to set us up on a date.”
you want to be anywhere in the world, but here. 
doyoung’s blank expression doesn’t let you know if he feels the same, but the way he won’t get in at least eight feet of you is telling enough.
you’re in his backyard, well technically you’re in his neighbors backyard, because he doesn’t want to be visible behind the hedges
rather be caught dead than be next to me, right? 
you shrill at yourself and try to bury the wince you make internally
“i think you should just tell them you have another boyfriend.”
“i can’t lie to my mother.”
you start and doyoung watches you chew on your lower lip and retreat defensively a step back
“why not?”
“she’s noisy - she’ll find out. she’ll insist until i die to meet this ‘other boyfriend’. plus i’m not a good liar.”
“really? could have fooled me.”
doyoung straightens himself as he says that, eyes unblinking behind the frames of his glasses
i probably deserve that. well actually-
“doyoung, i never promised you anything when we-”
the words wilt and doyoung suddenly looks over his shoulder.
“you’re right, you never promised me anything. im the one who was a fool for ever thinking it was something.”
you look at the grass. 
you wonder, if you had not said that one sentence - aren’t you going to leave - would this summer be different?
would you and doyoung be spending every second together, holding each other at the beach? kissing under the fireworks? sharing ice-cream and diving into pools filled of water and your laughter?
the thought blooms something in your chest
i wish - i wish it was that.
“you say i should lie, but you’re pretty good at it too doyoung.”
“excuse me?”
“it’s not like you - it’s not like you really wanted it to be anything more than it was.”
you think the grass is going to burst into flames with how hard you’re concentrating on it.
“what, you’re telling me-” you swallow “you’re telling me you actually wanted to be with me after? our mothers are trying to get us to go on a date and you called me out here just to avoid that.”
he leans forward
“if you are trying to make me the only guilty party here-”
he’s closer and you feel your voice shake a little, but you try to push to the end of your thought.
“im not, you never made any effort to make it seem like you had any genuine emotion so am i so wrong for just assuming it was just se-”
his hands, large and gentle, manage to find your shoulders and doyoung presses his lips to yours 
you stiffen from the external shock, but then relax under the light grip
his breath smells sweet, like he’s been chewing bubblegum, he’s wearing the same cologne he does at university
“i don’t just sleep with people.” 
he whispers against your mouth
“nothing against it, but i don’t think there’s a point to sharing something intimate with someone who i don’t want in every possible way.”
when you and doyoung agree to go on a date - both your mothers lose it. they’re convinced you’re soulmates.
although you and doyoung both agree they’re thinking way too far ahead in the future - it doesn’t mask the fact that the attraction that ends up forming between you two is undeniable
doyoung is so determined and intently goal orientated that you would think there isn’t the capacity to have fun in one bone in his body, but that’s not true
when he’s comfortable, he’s charming and full of humor - he makes you double over with laughter more than you could have imagined
and you aren’t as spacey and shy as doyoung might have assumed either, you have a competitive streak and you make doyoung feel like this is the summer of his life
the summer of his life that someone could probably make a decent coming of age film out of
he brings it up after you two exit a movie that was just about the same topic and you look down at your hands intertwined and shake your head
“no they’d never cast the right people to play us.”
doyoung sees the reflection of the milky way in your eyes, but he doesn’t say it
“no one on this planet is like you.”
he returns this sentiment with a small kiss that bumps this glasses against the bridge of your nose.
you get nervous sometimes when you think about how the summer started, it’s not like you’re living in the middle ages where intimacy is a sin before eternal commitment or anything
no you just get nervous because the reason you ever even made that situation as bad as it was, was because of your insecurity
does doyoung actually like me? did two weeks of being together at school make him realize something about me is worth it?
you can’t ask him that - even though sometimes you want to, so you can explain why you hadn’t just rolled over and nuzzled yourself into the dip of his chest
much like you do now - you fit so perfectly right between his arms
instead it sometimes gnaws at you until doyoung is cleaning his glasses over your sink and you’re sitting in the bathtub looking at him
your parents are ironically over at doyoungs for some wine party or whatever and although your mothers are in awe about you two being “a cute lil couple” 
they see that - cute, part of it makes you snort. you and doyoung sometimes act more mature than they do.
“i always knew you were staring at me in lecture.” he starts and a little smirk pulls at his long lips
you flick some of the water at him and he leans against the counter
he doesn’t like baths, he prefers showers, but he still stays in the room with you when you take them 
“i wasn’t staring at you.”
“you were staring at the back of my neck.”
you look away because fair, not like he spends a lot of time looking away from the professor.
“so i knew you liked me, or something about me. that’s why it hurt.”
“when we-”
“yes and i like being logical, so not having a real answer for why that all happened like it did still haunts me.”
he tilts his head and you see the line of his thin collarbones through his shirt
“i thought you’d say it first.”
he blinks
“i thought you’d say something like, that was cool. ill see you at uni come fall. and then leave. so i mean, i didn’t even say go leave - i asked, aren’t you going to leave?”
doyoung is smart so he gets what you’re saying in the most roundabout way possible
he walks over and squats down, leans over the ridge of the bath to kiss you and doesn’t complain when you bring your soapy hands up to cradle his neck
“im sorry i did leave, i should have just said what i felt right there.” 
he mutters and you nod. you should have said it too.
when you and doyoung graduate and he goes on to law school and you start working, you almost break up - twice - because of the stress
but somehow neither of you can ever ask the other one
aren’t you going to leave?
because neither of you ever really wants to.
so you don’t, you stay through all the hardships, through every argument and bump in the road. 
you stay, you choose to stay and so does he and you might not even fall asleep next to each other on some days but the heat of the person you love is always there.
and then doyoung gets his first big promotion at his job, runs all the way home with the news and ends up breathing hard and talking nonsense to you in your shared kitchen
“you need a shower.”
you say, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he shakes his head, no. he needs a bath.
you lean back against his chest, stronger and broader as he’s aged. 
he looks down at you and even the eyebags that have gotten darker with all that work he does don’t do anything to make him less attractive
you peck his chin, because it’s what you can reach.
“if we sit here any longer we’re going to prune.”
“are you going to be the first one to leave?”
he asks and you shake your head. 
you’ll sit here forever if that’s what it takes.
on the counter of the bathroom, there’s one of the houseplants your mothers keeps shipping to you. 
you don’t notice that it’s the same orchid that doyoung carried into your house all those years ago, when you thought he hadn’t even looked at you when your mother opened the door.
he curls a strand of your wet hair around his finger.
he had looked at you, quickly, but he had done it. 
even half covered by orchid leaves, you’d made his mouth dry. 
“no seriously though - we will prune.”
“i’ll get up if you get up?”
i’ll never leave, the only way i’ll leave is if it means im taking you with me. 
515 notes · View notes
warmau · 3 years
Text
☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au yukhei  happy (not tooooo late at all, for a change lol) birthday yukhei!~ find others here: johnny | haechan | taeil | taeyong | mark | jaemin | yangyang | yuta | sicheng | chenle | kun
“that’s the worst sound i have ever heard in my life.”
you stand up too fast from behind the counter and bump your head with an ouch before looking to see what sicheng is complaining about now
outside the window of the cafe, you see a group of laughing boys and the bright, loud dirt bikes they’ve started riding around town
the sound of the engines and skidding tires managing to make their way through the windows
you wipe your hand on the front of your uniform’s apron and shrug
“i think they’re kind of cool.”
sicheng swivels around on the creaky bar stool, a script open halfway through is laying beside his iced-coffee
“extreme sports is just the polite way to say hey, this shit will get you killed”
you roll your eyes and check the clock that hangs above the display of baked goods and menu - almost eight, so almost time to close
you point it out to sicheng who packs his things up, you go over to help an elderly regular clean up their table and when the customer leaves you tell sicheng he doesn’t have to wait up for you
he throws his bag over his shoulder and looks over his shoulder at the parked dirt bikes 
“hey, if one of them bothers you when you’re locking up just call me.”
“im pretty sure they’re not even going to notice me.”
sicheng still frets as he slips out of the door
you hum as you fall into your end of the day routine. you’ve been working here part-time through university, but with summer coming around, you’ve come on full-time
it’s a lot of work for one person, but the boss trusts you like their own children, and you actually enjoy having the quiet responsibility of locking up
you sweep the floor, put away all of the left over food and milk in the fridge, check the register and print-out the sales for the day
your last task is to close all of the blinds, the cafe always has them up in the summer, the tops open to let a slight breeze in when it coasts by
as you go through each them, you finally reach the last one that faces directly out of the front of the cafe. out onto sidewalk across.
it’s right in front of the intersection where the sidewalk turns into the boardwalk, and there’s a bike rack and some parking spots
the dirt bikes have all been left there, tires soiled with wear and sand
beside one of the bikes, a sleek red bodied one with various silver accents, stands a lone figure
in the summer heat, he’s still got leather gloves on that clutch the matching colored helmet in one hand, long jeans and lace up heavy boots 
the only breathable part of his outfit is the white tank top that clings to the obviously toned lines of his upper body
a silver chain hangs around his neck, the links look so small on his overall broad figure, but they still shine against his sun kissed skin
he chews on the end of a toothpick and staring -
you step back slightly - he’s staring right at you
something in your stomach feels off, the crossing wires of concern and shock tell you to enter a state of heightened awareness
scurrying back to your work, you tell yourself you are just seeing things. you should listen to sicheng, finish quickly and hurry home.
the summer sun is quietly being pushed out by the summer moon by the time you lock the front door of the cafe and drop the keys into your bag
you turn around and whisper a small - shit! - when the figure from before is still there
he’s probably waiting for his friends, but sicheng was all wound up about them so now i am to- oh wait i think he’s coming over here!
and you’re right, the figure looks both ways before he crosses the street and jogs easily up to you
suddenly your hand itches to fish those keys out of your bag because what can a guy (a very handsome guy, up close) on a dirt bike have to do with you-
“hi - do you work in the cafe?”
he asks, voice deeper than you expect, his eyes are large and the color of autumn chestnuts
“um-yes?”
he sees the way your shoulders are tensed and he immediately retracts himself a step backwards
he puts his hands up, helmet still in his right, “oh right - sorry to scare you, i was just asking because ive seen you around-” 
something like a flush coats under his cheeks
“wait - that sounds weird too, i just meant to say that i think you’re - that i wanted to know your name is all....”
you blink, your shoulders don’t relax completely, but you can tell there isn’t any bad intent coming from him
“well, what's your name first.”
he stands up taller and grins, white teeth almost blinding in the dusk
“wong yukhei! i came here for the summer with some of my buddies.”
he tilts his head toward the bikes and you nod, saying only your first name - sichengs cautiousness seeping into your own
yukhei repeats it, with an almost a bit of a goofyness in his smile when he does
“well - ill see you around then?”
you aren’t sure what to make of the situation, so you just shrug - “maybe?” - he seems satisified with this answer though, and crosses back to his bike
you don’t know why, but you feel embarrassed just standing there, so you shuffle your feet and start your walk home
at some point you turn to look over your shoulder, right at the corner that you have to take, but when you do - yukhei and his bike are gone
“really? see, this is why i should stay while you lock up.”
sicheng’s eyebrow twitches as you finish telling him what happened
it’s the next day, and it’s noon - right when the days get the hottest and most of the cafe’s customers are just coming in for the free air conditioning
“i don’t think he’s dangerous, i think he just wanted to say hi.”
you answer, fixing what must be the twentieth order for shaved ice-cream
the slices of strawberry fall gently onto the heap, and you place two pairs of the forks beside the dish
carrying it carefully to the pick up counter, you call out the order number and watch as a young couple - still dressed in their beach attire - comes up together, unable to break apart for even a second
you smile at them and return to sicheng, taking his empty glass and turning to fill it up with ice 
“you can think he’s not dangerous, but any idiot who owns a death trap like a dirtbike-”
“sicheng, it’s like a normal bike but with an engine. it’s like a car but without the-”
“the safety, without the safety. really - i didn’t think you’d be the type to be into bad guys like that.”
you make a pfft sound with your lips, filling the glass with water and setting it down beside him
“first off, im not into anyone - i talked to him once. and just because they like bikes, doesn’t make them bad - you’ve been reading too many of those cliché scripts.”
sicheng makes his own sound of disapproval, but takes the drink you offer and brings the straw to his lips
you get busy with other customers, at some point kun and xiaojun turn up and distract sicheng
the whole time you work, something in you keeps making you stop to look out of the window
last night, the row of bikes had been there, but now they’re gone - maybe they’re not coming into town tonight?
you reprimand yourself every time you do look, because really it is just like you said to sicheng - yukhei was just saying hi. 
finally it’s time for you to close the cafe again
the only reason sicheng doesn’t stay is because kun drags him somewhere else and if there’s anyone more stubborn than sicheng, it’s the elder of the pair
you take your time - calling the boss to let him know you’re leaving 
“did that group of loud boys wreck havoc again?”
“group of boys?”
“the ones on those bikes, not motorcycles the other ones-”
your hand gets a little sweaty as it holds the phone
“no, they didn’t come around today.”
“good. be safe going home.”
you think about the conversation as you subconsciously start walking after you lockup 
there’s a way to get home that’s faster, and much safer, but there’s a longer way too - that has you walk most of the boardwalk
really, it’s still safe - because of summer the beach is as bright as a movie screen till midnight - but you avoid it for the crowd and the noise
your feet urge you to turn at your usual corner, but you don’t, you make way to the little stairs that lead from the sidewalk and onto the old wooden boardwalk
there are lots of people still about, packing their things up from their time at the beach or coming to stroll by the waves when the sand isn’t burning under their feet
groups of friends, smiling strangers, couples with kids or without 
everyone is enjoying their summer, and you almost feel out of place because your summer is going just as you thought it would. completely uneventful. long days at the cafe, lonely nights in your room
“oh?”
you hear your name suddenly and turn your head left to see yukhei leaning against one of the benches
on the bench are what look like some of his fellow friends, some have those moto jackets you’ve only seen on tv  hanging off their shoulders and others are drinking out of cups and swinging the keys to their bikes around their fingers
yukhei comes over to you and everyone in his crew throws a look over their shoulder
you blink when he stops in front of you - right, you think, he’s pretty tall
“are you getting off work?”
“yep”
“it’s really late, your boyfriend doesn’t ever walk you home?”
“boyfriend?” 
you retort almost sarcastically, because where did the sudden idea that you - walking alone on a boardwalk made for summer romance - have a boyfriend
yukhei scratches the back of his neck and you notice some scrapes on his elbows
“oh there’s the guy - in the cafe with you all the time, he glares a lot - uh-”
“sicheng? oh no, he’s a friend.” you can’t help but chuckle “but you’re right he doesn’t smile often.”
yukhei seems to suddenly beam at the confirmation, which makes something inside of you feel a little warm, but awkward so you point to his injuries
“bike accident?”
he pokes at the yellowing flesh and winces, “yeah. but it happens a lot.”
“it seems like a dangerous sport, do you not mind getting hurt?”
the question is more curiosity than anything - you’re not trying to be mocking or even mean - and yukhei can tell from the way you’re still casting a concerned look at his other arm for evidence of any other “accidents”
“i mean i mind it, but i love it too much to give up” 
yukhei laughs and it sounds nice, pleasant - people with good laughs tend to have good hearts
“and im not really good at anything else. like if i was to be a waiter in a cafe like you, id probably hurt myself a lot more than i do on a dirt bike”
you want to correct him, you’re technically not a waiter - but a barista - but you stop because you are slightly transfixed by the kindness that glows from him 
you’ve never seen someone else radiate so......positively
suddenly one of his friends calls out his name, asks if he’s going to join them as they head back to get their bikes
yukhei looks at you before he answers - “i could walk you home, since it is late.”
“that’s ok, thank you for offering.” you push your hands behind your back a little as you tell him goodnight, before you’re a couple of steps away someone from his group shouts out
“yukhei’s not only good with dirt bikes - he’s a good kisser too-”
by the sound of it, yukhei jumps on his friend and tells him to shut up! you hear the aftermath of the scuffle, but don’t turn around as you giggle to yourself
a couple of times after that, you see yukhei simply in passing
sometimes you’re in the middle of your shift and he walks by the window with his friends, he looks up and sees you and waves - but he doesn’t come in
you wave back every time and a part of you pinches when he the door doesn’t open after
other times, you’ll see him after work - or you’ll hear his bike somewhere and he slows down to ask how work is before speeding off to catch up with friends
little bits and pieces of interactions, never anything more than that 
you don’t really tell sicheng about it either, he grumbles enough about the noise they make and the other things he doesn’t like so you decide not to bother even though he’s a close friend
and the twilights of a little crush on yukhei are most definitely seeping into your brain
but everything changes when you find yourself closing the cafe after a super busy saturday, where you hadn’t been able to get everyone out until it hit past eleven.
the boss had thanked you profously and promised a good overtime check since you’d stayed so late
and you were too exhausted to be too mad about having to stay past your schedule
as you went through your routine, you nearly jumped from your skin when the door opened and you turned to explain - no really, you were closed now when you came face to face with yukhei
the side of his cheek is obviously bruised, scrapes that look like bad road rash cascade down past the angle of his jaw and onto his neck
he limps a little when he makes it across the doors threshold and you see dried blood on his knuckles
“yukhei?” you rush over and take him by forearm, making sure to hold onto the skin that isn’t covered in some kind of wound
“yukhei what are you doing here - did you fall off your bike, you have to go to a hospital now!”
not anywhere close to being a doctor, you can only prematurely tend to him with the cheap ass first aid kit from the kitchen
the entire time you keep saying that he has to go to the hospital
and yukhei mumbles that he doesn’t know where one is, his friends weren’t with him either - he got hurt alone - so he came to the only place that was close by and familiar
you look up at him - he’s sitting on the same bar stool that sicheng is usually in  and you’re standing between his legs, bottle of ointment uncapped on the counter - bandages in your hand
“ok, ill take you - ill call a friend who has a car.”
“im ok.”
he lifts a hand and wraps it gently around your wrist. you can feel the wear on his skin from his leather gloves and old callouses from old injuries
he stares at you and the only light is from the kitchen, flickering on and off
“you’re not ok, you might have a more serious internal injur-”
“if i was bleeding inside, i would know.”
you frown, he says it like it has happened before - you wonder how many times has yukhei fell off his bike, or gotten hurt some other way - how many times has he done it alone 
“fine, you don’t have to go now but go sometime soon. promise me.”
he looks at you, the autumn chestnut color you saw when you first met him is glazed now in a darker brown. 
“ill promise you if you promise me something too.”
swallowing, you become acutely aware of how close you are - his knees are grazing either side of your thighs. your wrist is still in his lax hold.
you smell sweat, blood, and cologne on him. he smells the tiredness of your work on you.
“this isn’t a joke yukhei, i just want you to be-”
“i will go, i promise but promise me something too.”
“ok. ok fine, what? do you want free coffee or -”
“promise you’ll kiss me at least once before this summer is over.”
before you even realize it, you agree. simply because you want him so badly to go to the hospital, or at least that’s how you come to terms with it on your own.
you itch as the promise swirls around your head, even hours after you watched yukhei walk away from your front door - banged up and bruised and stilling insisting on walking you home
when you see sicheng the next day, you want to tell him about everything because your head feels like a tangled mess 
but you don’t - you just pick at the strings of your apron, make drinks and heat up pastries 
three days go by and yukhei doesn’t show himself anywhere. he’s not even in his group of friends who you see once again on the boardwalk one night after work
you somehow push past the nervous feeling and ask one of them where he is
“ah, his bike is all fucked up so he’s been mopping about it while it’s in the shop.”
“did he go to the hospital?”
the guy laughs, shakes his head - “knowing yukhei, probably not. but we haven’t seen him for a while either.”
you say thank you and turn to leave - you hear some kind of buzzing, some kind of mention of you and yukhei and what kind of ‘relationship’ you’re in - but you push past it
you don’t even know where he lives, let alone where he rides his bike so you can’t really go and check on him
you have to wait for him to come to you - that bothers you.
you stop and return to the group, who all simmer to silence when you come close again.
“where do you guys usually ride your bikes?”
you’ve never been this far up the beach, mostly because this part is relatively blocked off from swimming because of the high ridges of rocks and the part of the coast that disappears into the mountains 
there’s a trail for hikers that leads off and into the trees, but you don’t go there - worried you’ll get lost without a map or guidance
yukhei’s friends said they mostly biked here  - dirt bikes aren’t motorcycles you know that right babe?
you cross your hands over your chest - on your one free day of the week, you want to be splayed out on your floor under a fan. not looking for yukhei - someone who is practically a stranger to you
is he though? we might have talked less times than i can count on all my fingers but would i really call him a stranger?
you look around but it seems barren, almost eerily quiet and isolated
so when the loud sound of an engine roars from that opening into the mountains, you almost teeter back 
with a flair of dirt and sand that flies toward you in a storm, you hear a bike rip down and into dune
the red bike strikes against the sizzling backdrop of the summer day and your eyes widen when you see it do a half-circle and come to a halt
yukhei pulls the helmet off and shakes his sweaty hair from his forehead - he looks over at you and you think you have lost the ability to speak
i know im supposed to be angry and concerned, but he looks so hot it’s almost unfair
the road rash on his cheek is healing better than expected, but his wounds are all still clear as day - scabbing as they heal
he doesn’t get off the bike - just looks at you and then beckons you over with a tilt of his head
you almost protest because you came here to be all strong willed and insist that he go see the doctor, also when did his bike get out of the shop? 
but you bend to the command and make your way over
he kills the engine and stares at you - you stare back
“where have you been?”
“i went to the hospital like i promised.”
the sudden confession makes you drop your hands - “really! what did they say?”
“no internal bleeding.” he leans his body slightly over the side of his bike “told you id know if i was dying.”
“still, im happy you went. it’s better to be safe than so-” 
he drops his helmet on the sand and your sentence cuts off with the sound
“so i kept my promise, do you want to keep yours now?”
don’t be silly, im not kissing you - you don’t even like me and i don’t -
all the excuses in your brain just get lost in the jumble that’s already made a home up there, so you just decide that fine. you will keep that idiotic, dumb, heat of the moment promise.
you grab yukhei by the sides of his tank top, starling him as you push yourself toward his mouth
using the leveraged grip you let your hold relax only enough so that you can dig your nails through the fabric and into the skin of his ribs
yukhei makes a growling noise into your mouth that is somehow more sweltering than the summer sun
he cranes his neck slightly so when you run your tongue across the slip of his lips he can easily grant you any of the access you require, one hand goes up to grip the back of his neck
he takes one hand from the handles of the bike and slips it to the small of your back - then up between your shoulder blades as he pushes you closer
it’s supposed to be one kiss. one little, flimsy kiss, and yet the attraction you feel between you two is so charged that you cannot stop
you only break back to see if yukhei feels the same thing, and it is written all over his face, he does
that and the way he tells you to step back as he gets off the bike, it falls to the sand and you start to ask why in the world he’s so careless with everything when he just wraps you up in his arms and starts kissing you again
“i wont be careless when it comes to you”
his mouth is magical, even more so as it drags down to your neck and the layer of sweat between your bodies is threatening to turn to fucking cement and keep you stuck in this embrace for the rest of eternity (not that either of you would mind)
but it’s so hot and you are not about to fall back on this sand - so you somehow manage to tell yukhei to meet you later tonight
“want a ride home?” he pants, but you unglue yourself from the plane of his perfect chest and shake your head, “meet me at ten.”
yukhei is there on time. he didn’t bring his bike, which is a good idea considering the noise it would make, he looks so sweet when you come downstairs and he asks if you want to go on a date
a date, like go get dinner if you haven’t had any or play boardwalk games until midnight
you say yes. just not tonight 
yukhei’s look of childish confusion makes you laugh as you take his hand and lead him back inside.
sicheng might have warned you about yukhei being “bad”, the only little problem is you might have always been the “bad” one all along 
with how big, strong, dirt biking yukhei looks up at you with absolute awe as you forgo chitchat over shared ice-cream and push him down onto the sheets of your bed
in the morning, you have to go to work and yukhei has to leave through the window, but you kiss him one last time and he mumbles he’ll meet you after your shift
“now i do have a boyfriend to walk me home, huh?” 
you giggle and yukhei nearly trips over himself at the word
you do let yukhei take you on a date, of course you do - and it’s as soft and sweet as you expect because yukhei is the opposite of what he looks like at first glance
all the bruises, all the confidence, all the arrogant handsomeness that is ingrained in his perfect features is just a cover. he’s a big teddy bear.
refusing to let you pay, giving you his jacket, offering to come over early and help you lock up
holding your hand gently, kissing your forehead when you complain about dumb customers, the absolute sugary-sweet pillow talk that sometimes makes you feel like you’re in a hallmark movie romcom
when sicheng catches yukhei with a hand around your waist on the boardwalk - he nearly calls the police, but you explain everything - sans the more intimate details and it takes a long time for sicheng to accept it but
you are happy, god you are so happy it is pouring out of you - especially when you are with yukhei
even your boss warms up to him (only him, the rest of his buddies are basically barred from coming into the cafe) 
and yukhei, when you see him with others, it’s obvious that he is an extroverted charmer - one afternoon he helps you with orders and when he returns, the receipt is covered in numbers
of course - he crumples it and tosses it into the garbage as he lets a secret hand sneak up your shirt behind the shield of the counter
and then, the summer is whisking away, and you feel the first kisses of autumn when yukhei is helping you steady yourself on the dirt bike - even though you refuse to actually ever ride it
you shiver at the breeze and yukhei feels your goosebumps under his fingertips
“hey, are you going to leave once summer is over - i know you and your friends are just staying here because it’s a great place to bike but-”
he leans down and buries his face in your hair
“why, you gonna miss me if i leave?”
you reach behind you to try and flick him, but he dodges
“i just wanted to know - if i should get ready for heartbreak or-”
“don’t ever say that, i would never hurt you.” 
his tone drops and you know he’s being serious
“i love you and im not going anywhere.”
he helps you off the bike and then pulls you into his arms
“promise?” 
you whisper, but yukhei hears it and you feel him nod 
“promise.”
a couple of years later, you hear a loud sound from the living room and rush out to the garage 
you see yukhei rubbing his head - wrench in one hand and a broken looking bike on the floor
“what happened?!”
“i didn’t put the kick stand down all the way so it toppled over”
you kneel down beside him and examine him for any wounds, 
yukhei watches you and the concern that is always so bright and tender in your eyes when it comes to him
you turn his hand over to make sure, the engagement band on his finger catches the light as you do 
the matching one on your hand feels cool against his skin.
“you’re so careless, seriously!”
you puff your cheeks out and chide him with all the love, he smiles back and leans in to kiss your frown
“true, but im never careless with you.”
you roll your eyes, but it’s true - ever since he first said it till now. 
432 notes · View notes
warmau · 3 years
Text
☆ [nostalgic] summer romance! juyeon  birthday present for him and one of my best friends! | tw: drowning 
a soft splash of water cascades down the side of your arm and you turn your head, still floating, to see eric waving you toward him
flipping over, you dive down into the ocean and push yourself toward his direction
coming up for air - you see his eyes sparkle as he whispers, “let’s go scare chanhee!”
you scrunch up your nose and tell eric that’s not nice but he just insists he has to get back at him. did you forget the incident at the beach two days ago? you know, with the ice-cream?
you roll your eyes - recalling some argument over chanhee grabbing the last mango pop or something - but eric is gone before you can answer
you watch him doggy paddle to where chanhee and younghoon are - wrapping his arms around the other boy and pulling him down into the water
the shouts of shock and laughter wring around you like bells, everything is so happy and sweet, just how summer should be like
but something feels weirdly empty 
you look up to your left where some of your other friends are, cuddled up against each other, even in the heat people in love just gravitate to each other
to your right are strangers, strangers clearly in the middle of their own summertime loves
all of a sudden - in the middle of a crowded, bustling ocean - you are hit with loneliness
when am i going to find someone who loves me?
you sink a little down, haloed by the oceans water, when you hear another sound
this one isn’t joyful, in fact it sounds like terror, and you turn to see a flaying hand only a couple of meters away
your body freezes - is that person drowning? - your muscles act before you do, propelling you down back into the water and toward the murky outline of the figure
you’re a decent enough swimmer, making it to the person - a small boy - just in time to do something
but do what? you’ve never saved someone before, do you carry him - do you -
“help get him on my back!”
the new voice comes from your side, you turn and see that you aren’t the only person who has made it to the boy
this person, all cut angles and seriousness, is wearing the lifeguards whistle around his neck and a wave of relief overtakes you
“ok!”
you do as you’re instructed and the lifeguard tilts his head toward the shore
you follow behind him and scramble up the sand - hand on the boys back as you watch everything play out in slow motion
all you’re aware of is that you’re down beside the boy, you’re watching the lifeguard do CPR, his mother and father scurry over, people are talking and yelling
then the boy jerks up - coughing and doubling over - the lifeguard is asking him something and you don’t even notice till everything is ok
that you’re holding the boys hand in your own
it’s a blur after that - after the parents thank you and the lifeguard, named juyeon, over and over.
and now - you’re sitting in a small cabin off the boardwalk, the lifeguards cabin, and you’ve got a towel on your shoulders and eric is asking if you’re ok now
you smile and say you are - just in the time for juyeon to come out of an adjoining office room and you get to look at him seriously for the first time 
he’s tall, with wet dark hair pushed back from his forehead. 
a light golden tint runs down through his muscular proportions and his eyes are ... 
they’re captivating 
long and outlined by a perpetual darkness, long eyelashes to envy over, and a brown that almost looks onyx under the light
he’s shirtless, wearing just the bright orange swim shorts and that whistle
he comes over and crouches in front of you with a smile full of kindness, puts a hand on your knee that makes your entire body ignite
“thank you for helping me today, whats your name?”
eric answers for you and you’re thankful because up close his apparent beauty is way more to handle than you had imagined
words - no matter how hard you try to think of one - don’t even manage to formulate in your mind
that hand on your knee pats your skin, giving it a little squeeze before juyeon stands back up and says he’s gotta go back out - his shift isnt over
eric thanks him and when he’s gone, you hear him chuckle
“you know you’re drooling, right?”
that summer - you go to the beach every damn day you can
you tell your friends you’re just trying to get some workouts in, you know swimming uses all your body’s muscles
but no one is fooled
because you’re not the only one with what becomes known as “juyeon fever” around town
he just moved here, took a summer job lifeguarding at the local beach, and - to only add to your dream boy list - drives a cool looking sports bike to and from work
you get to the beach early one day, trying to hide your identity with a ridiculously sized sun hat and issue of the paper you stole from the grocery store - to see him pull up for his shift
he’s wearing those swim shorts, same color as his bike, and a hawaiian print shirt in navy (unbuttoned and fluttering behind him as he pulls up and parks)
he pulls the helmet off, shaking his hair lose, and you nearly curse to yourself - what is this? am i some extra in a movie all about juyeon, because he looks like the main character of a blockbuster for sure. baywatch level.
when he turns in your direction - you hide behind the sunday sudoku and hope he doesn’t notice - but suddenly the sound of feet on sand get louder and louder
he says your name and you try to compose yourself as you lower the paper
you smile, and ask if juyeon is here to start work
he plops himself freely down on the sand beside your towel and pushes the shirt off as he says he is, but he’s a little early
you avert your gaze and even as the sun beats down on you both, you feel yourself freeze when juyeon mentions he’s seen you around the beach alot
“well - it’s summer.”
you explain and juyeon laughs, and even that sound is perfect
“that’s true - the ocean is the best place to be in the summer.......and all the time.”
you see him stare out at the calm waves, his usual sweet smile still on his face, but those eyes of his look like they’re searching through a memory
“do you swim even in winter?”
you joke and he laughs again, “i do, at the indoor pools. oh - by the way your friend eric invited me to a barbeque are you going to be there?”
barbeque? what barbequ - your eyes widen as you remember that it is THAT barbeque the one you were supposed to come over and help set up
“right, yes i am - i actually i promised id buy the plates and stuff so i have to go-”
you scramble, rolling up your towel and reaching for your bag when juyeon says
“oh - id give you a ride back but my shift starts in five. ill see you there then?”
a ride on the back of your bike? - is what you want to ask, knees going weak at the thought - but all you do is nod, dumbfolded smile on your own face
he waves as you make your way up the sun and you don’t even have time to get giddy because your phone rings and its exactly who you think it is.
eric’s voice from the other side chides; “hey, where are you!? haknyeon just dropped the watermelon all over my kitchen!”
you keep looking at your watch
the little minute hand ticks to 11:39 and you wonder if juyeon is really going to come
the party has already been going on for a good three hours - the summer moon sparkling up above the strings of lights in eric’s backyard
everyone you know is already here and you know the public beach closes at 8:30 so it’s not as if juyeon is still on his shift
not unless something bad happened.........or he’s decided to skip out on the barbeque to go do something else, you know, which someone else-
just as you set down your drink, little umbrella pathetically floating to the empty bottom, you hear the reave of a bike
everyone else hears it too because the chatter gets more excited and you hear his name float from one person to another
“is that juyeon?” “isn’t that the hot lifeguard?” “oh my god, do you think he’s single?”
you try to hide your own anticipation - not cool to get so excited over a boy right? - but the butterflies flap in your stomach and you just turn away
if he wants to talk to you he can come up to you and if he doesn’t then well it’s his -
“hey, sorry im late - do you know where i can put these?”
you turn and see juyeon there - for the first time he’s not wearing those neon swim shorts, but a pair of black denim jeans
the shirt, still hawaiian print, is slightly buttoned this time but you can still clearly see the dip of his chest and the pretty silver chain that rests on the jut of his collarbones
he waves the bags full of chips he picked up on his way over and you lead him toward the refreshments table, every pair of eyes on the two of you
“did you get stuck at the beach?”
you try to make conversation 
“oh no, my bike had a flat tire so i had to get that fixed before i came over.”
“oh! well eric is inside if you want to-”
juyeon is looking at you, you can feel it because the intensity of his gaze is unmatched, and you don’t know why but you can’t meet it
he tilts his head and then agrees - he’ll go see eric, but he’ll come back
when he’s gone you let out the breath you’ve been holding and try to scurry away from the gazes that have wavered on you and juyeon the whole fifteen or so minutes he’s even been here
you find solace inside, past the kitchen and near the back staircase where the guest bathroom is
you’ve been in eric’s house enough times that you know it’s a perfect hiding spot so you don’t bother closing the door
you just lean back against the sink and cross your arms - what are you going to do now? juyeon is here, but that doesn’t mean anything. 
plus every last single person at this party has him on their radar
what makes you any different? the fact that you helped him ONCE?
and you didn’t even do anything that serious......you had just been there at the same moment he was......
“ah - sorry, i didn’t know anyone was here.”
you look up suddenly and juyeon is in front of you again
he has this cute, flustered expression on his face - he starts saying something about how eric told him to use the mirror in here since the main bathroom might have a line in front of it and blah blah blah
you step forward and you think it’s whatever was in that tiny little umbrella drink you had that makes you put a hand on juyeon’s shoulder and stop him mid sentence
“can you take me on that bike ride now?”
the second you ask - you think regret starts to bubble in your chest - but juyeon just breaks into another of those heart melting smiles
“of course. i actually....” he scratches the back of his neck “i actually dont really like big parties.”
you’re remembered of those lovers you had seen at the beach, tangled in each other despite the summer heat, as you press a little tighter against juyeon’s back
the wind from the bike flutters your hair - and you feel his strong figure through the thin fabric of that ridiculous shirt he’s always wearing
you close your eyes, thinking back to the shocked expression on everyones face as juyeon had pulled you through them and toward his parked bike
how they had looked so confused - and eric had just shot you a thumbs up from the back step of his door
your heart beats heavy in your ears and at the end of your fingertips you feel the flex of juyeon’s abs in response to your tight hold. it feels so intimate.
juyeon stops at the only place you’d expect him too, the beach
it looks serene and beautiful in the darkness of the summer night
the sand isn’t as scorching as usual and the waves only kiss the shore slightly
you and him walk down toward it - feet reaching just the edge before you run back to avoid getting wet
juyeon laughs and runs toward you, strong arms picking you up and before you know it, you’re up in the air and dangling above the water
you’re telling him to not let you go, no matter what and juyeon is chuckling promising over and over he won’t he won’t
i will never let you go
your laughing and playing around leaves you breathless, when you and juyeon lay back down on the sand and stare up at a starless sky
just that summer moon glistening down on you both
“why did you become a lifeguard by the way?” you ask - just to break the comfortable silence
“because i love the ocean, but know it can be a scary place too.”
you turn to look at his profile, even more perfect inches away
“i like that about it, that it’s both beautiful and a little dangerous. i like things that have that duality.”
“so you must like love too?”
you don’t even mean to say it, it simply slips from your lips and juyeon turns to face you
his smile turns to another expression, more earnest and soft
“yes, i do.”
you swallow, “ i do too, that’s why im looking for it.”
the silence that follows is coated with the midnight waves and insects that come out only in the warm months
before, when you couldn’t meet his gaze, you were just being shy and afraid
now you are vulnerable and staring back - deep into those darker than the earth browns when suddenly his large hand comes gently up to your waist
his eyes don’t leave yours, not until you’ve been pushed up flush against him in the sand and they close in time with yours as his lips ghost over yours
polite, without having to be, he whispers - can i? and you whisper back - you can.
the first kiss is chaste and pure, vanilla bean ice-cream flavored with a little speckle of a firework. 
it’s after you breach this first step that you both decide you can do better than that.
juyeon pulls you ontop of him, rolling his back deeper into the sand as you sit up on his hips and push your hands into the flimsy fabric of his shirt
it gives way, off his broad shoulders and you lean down to press kisses down from the edge of his jawline to the curve of his long throat, and then down to his shoulders
the entire time, his large hands seize you in place by your waist, he makes sounds of wordless pleasure and when you bite down into that perfect skin of his you feel like you’re marking an untouched beauty
he runs one hand up to the back of your neck and he pulls you in back to his mouth
sitting up easily as his tongue runs across the seal of your lips, you get yourself comfortable in the crook of his lap - pressed to the bare skin of his chest
this kiss tastes of fiery spice, multiple fireworks - a whole parade 
and when you grind down slightly juyeon makes an animalistic echo that runs from his lips to your spine and you think you could really just let him slip whatever you’re wearing off 
but just as you separate to help him with the task, you hear the screech of a car pull up
“who is there? the beach is closed!”
you pull back off of juyeon and gather yourself up - juyeon jumps to his feet too and you turn to help him button his shirt back up so you two look like you haven’t just been making out for god knows how long
the voice calls again, “hey - you two - you know the beach is closed right!”
you see the officer’s figure and wave back
“oh we didn’t know! we’ll leave in a moment!”
the officer motions for you two to get back up to the street and you and juyeon try not to laugh as he lectures you two on public decency
after that, juyeon drives you back on his bike and although you are more than willing to invite him back inside with you, all you do is share another kiss on your doorstep
“i should at least take you on a date before, you know?” 
he mutters against your lips and you roll your eyes - modesty in this day and age?
“fine, but after that we have all summer.”
and you do have all summer. despite the fact that half the towns population is seething with jealousy about it.
you have the entire summer to bask in the unfiltered, sweet, and hot like the sun romance you have wished for for so long
meeting up with juyeon after his shifts, taking bike rides to other towns, picnics, amusement parks, dates shopping because you need him out of that hawaiian shirt, and get togethers with your friends as everyone else who is coupled off sticks to their other half and you ......... you stick to yours, juyeon
little kisses before he has to go to work - little hand touches when you’re sitting around eric’s dinner table playing monopoly as chanhee schemes you all out of your properties - arm around your waist when you go out to dinner
and pressing close in the depths of his room or yours, the sound a symphony of little noises and the buzz of the fan on your naked skins
its a summer that you only thought was possible in a movie or at least in someone elses life, not yours
and when embarrassing tell juyeon about your theory that he’s the main character of a summer romcom blockbuster
he looks at you clearly and smiles, “and so are you - since you’re my love interest right?”
you feel a flush overtake you and you laugh, say something about how you’re not star quality, and juyeon just pulls you back into him
“what are you talking about, you’re the only star for me.”
and you don’t expect him to remember that little line all these years later
when you’re standing with your toes in the sand, back at the beach you and juyeon fell in love with so long ago
you point to the lifeguard chair and joke
“i used to watch you and think you belonged on baywatch or something - you know everyone was in love with you right?”
his hand is a comfortable, knowing weight on the curve of your waist
“well i was only in love with you.”
you scrunch your nose up and lean in to peck his lips
“that’s sweet.”
“i mean, you were the only star for me.” 
you turn, juyeon’s face - still handsome even though more mature - seems to flash for a second with a look he had when you two were much younger
“the only star for me then and now.” 
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warmau · 3 years
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☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au kun it’s late ...... but happy birthday leader kun ~ find others here: johnny | haechan | taeil | taeyong | mark | jaemin | yangyang | yuta | sicheng | chenle
there’s a sharp knock on the glass of your window 
you stare up at the ceiling and don’t move an inch from the comfort of your bed until the knock comes again. and again.
with a groan you roll off your sheets and compose yourself before walking over and pushing your curtains aside
on the other side of the window is kun
standing god knows how on the side of the second story of your house and you cross your arms
he motions for you to open the window and you shake your head
he rolls his eyes and somehow the little gesture ticks you off to no end
who does he think he is? always being so rude, even when he needs me to do something for him!
he motions again and you try not to look at the strong line of his arms - he’s wearing a sleeveless tank and jeans which really? how athletic is he climbing in those thing-
you sneer but you give in, undoing the latch and pushing open the window
stepping back, kun climbs through without a hitch and once he’s standing on the carpet of your bedroom you look up and start
“i was about to go to sleep what are you doing her-”
“where’s your cousin?”
he doesn’t even look at you.
in fact, he looks over your shoulder at your door that’s closed
“he said to meet him before we both sneak out, but that dumbass could have just met me at the party himself.”
you uncross your arms and instead curl your fingers into fists at your side
“so why didn’t you sneak through the guestroom window asshole -”
“don’t know which window is the guest room. i just knew this one was yours because of the childish curtains.”
he gets under your nerves. he really does. he has since you meet him as the naïve new kid at your towns middle school
and he - he was the ever so perfect at everything upperclassman. 
that hadn’t changed much now - as you got older you came to understand that kun could do no wrong in the eyes of everyone BUT you
your parents thought he was the shining example of a young man, your friends all wanted to date him, and now even your cousin who was staying with you for the summer was impressed with him.
they’d met at the party you had thrown to welcome your cousin and how kun even got there - you don’t know - but he’d shown up with sicheng and ten 
and then was talking to your cousin and everyone and making you irritated the entire night ....... and yet ............ here he was now 
sneaking out with YOUR cousin to go to another party. who’s party? you didn’t know - your own damn cousin had invited KUN and not YOU
you don’t want to bite your tongue anymore - you want to start mouthing off on him just like he thinks he has the right to do with you 
but if you raise your voice, you’ll wake your parents and you have the sinking feeling that if they walked in on this scene 
they might not be as angry about it as other parents would be......you cringe, thinking about how your mother had once inquired you if kun and you were considering being more than friends.
you look up at him now. more than friends? he’s going to be my enemy till i die.
you think your worry comes to life when your door opens and you turn so fast in fear of seeing your parents actually standing there, but it is just your cousin
who grins at kun and pushes past you like you’re a ghost in your own room
“ready to go dude?” he asks and kun suddenly takes this moment of all to look at you 
he makes a noise of agreement, but he keeps his line of vision on you. it makes something crawl up your skin. creep, don’t look at me like that! 
it only lasts a split second, before both boys are using your window to sneak out into the sticky summer night and you’re rushing over to shut it. 
before you do - you watch them disappear out of the backyard - two figures in the moon. 
you huff, reaching for your curtains and you don’t notice kun look back.
this keeps happening. 
sometimes kun does come sneaking back through your window (he says he can’t get the guest room one where your cousin is - there’s nothing for him to climb up on that side of the house) but rather than just that
kun just keeps appearing around you
he’s at the same parties, he’s at the same park, he’s at the same beach. the town has never felt smaller and your cousin is the reason for it all. he drags kun everywhere - like they’re the bestest of friends.
they’ve known each other for like two or something weeks.....can’t they find other people to hangout with! maybe i should just stay in my room from now on-
you turn off the shower and try to erase the thought from your head. you wrap a towel around yourself and scurry down the hall back to your room where you shut the door and sigh.
he annoys me so much that my brain can’t help thinking about him when it should just be trying to throw him out of my he-
your shoulders tense when you hear a familiar sound at the window. 
no fucking way
the curtains are drawn back now and through the glass you see the familiar outline of kun’s figure
you stomp over - you’ve been boiling over his constant presence and you think fine, he wants to come into your room, you wont let him until he hears what you really think
so you yank the window up, but not enough for him to climb through
“hey i can-”
“kun, i know everyone thinks your gods gift to this earth but what would they think of you trying to sneak into my room through the goddamn window at midnight? huh? can’t spend your summer doing something better than bothering me? that’s what the prince of this little town does - peep through wind-”
in the heat of the moment you throw your hands up to the glass of the window and the towel ....... drops
you probably wouldn’t have even noticed - how wound up you’ve gotten - but kun 
kun nearly falls straight off the side of your house and you can see the panic reflected in his eyes flash so you yank the window up and instead of letting him fall backwards
you pull him in and ontop of you
the two of you topple over onto your carpet - the thudding sound resounds and kun catches himself on his arms so his weight doesn’t crush you
you stare up - that flash of panic is still in kun’s eyes and for a second you try to figure out why when you feel the summer air gust through and all over your exposed skin
you scream, because what else can you do, and kun pushes himself off you
you reach for the towel pooled beside you and wrap yourself back up - getting to your feet with wobbly horror and staring at kun who is sitting back with that expression stil on his face
it doesn’t last long though because you hear someone pull at your doorknob - your mothers voice coming from the otherside
kun falls back and rolls himself under your bedframe - just in time for the door to open and your mother to rush in with worry laced in her voice
“what happened?”
qian kun just saw me naked!
“i- i though-i thought i saw something in the window im fine, really!”
your mother pries but you push her back toward the door gently, assuring her that it was probably an owl or a racoon in a tree. really. 
she touches your shoulder and says to call her if you need anything. you close the door again and listen to her footsteps down the stairs.
you breath in and turn around - kun has gotten out from under the bed and is now standing at the corner of your bed looking more lost than you’ve ever seen him in your life
no snarky remarks, no stupid smug look on his face 
you feel angry. you still feel all pissed off from before, but now there’s something else coursing through you. 
shame.
“get out”
you grit your teeth. 
“i - i would never-”
“get out kun, seriously.”
he stumbles, no confidence and no superiority, just an almost wounded like stride as he reaches for the window again.
he looks over his shoulder and you brace yourself - with him, he could look sad all he wants but you know deep down he could say something so cruel right about now-
“im sorry.”
you clutch the towel 
sorry for what? for being better than me at everything? for having to see me at my most vulnerable when all i ever see you at is your best?
you think - or at least you assume you think this - you don’t realize you’ve said it out loud
kun stops and swallows, “im not the best at anything. im a horrible liar you know.”
“what?”
the towel should be soft, but it feels heavy, like a lifeline you’re gripping but that just gets harder and harder to keep close
kun pushes his lower body through the window and then looks at you one final time
“im a horrible liar. the reasons i even- the reason im always around you isn’t because of your cousin. it’s because i want to be near-”
you don’t hear the last word because he disappears right after that, you stand in the corner of your room, he wants to be near what? 
you look at the shut door, the mirror hanging on the back of it, and your reflection
did he say he wants to be near me?
you don’t really go anywhere for a couple of days after that. 
your cousin is always out, but you don’t even want to go see your friends. you just know that that will risk seeing-
something knocks against your window and you look over, a new feeling swelling in your chest that isn’t like that dread you’ve felt before
but instead of kun’s figure - you just see the raindrops that are accumulating on the glass
a heavy summer storm brews up outside and you think it’s ironic. your brain feels like it is going through a tornado of its own. 
you walk toward it and think it would be nice to feel the rain though - to touch something outside of room and when you open it you do see something
you see someone in the backyard
“kun?”
you’re rushing out on the grass - barefoot and wrapping your arms around yourself in the wind of the rain
“kun why are you here - my cou-”
“im here to see you.”
you don’t understand - and then a strong chill that doesn’t come from the storm runs up your spine - he’s here to make fun of me isn’t he? mock me?
“listen, i don’t want to hear it from you of all people - you saw me naked for a second and you have no right-”
“its you. im always here to see you. do you understand?”
he’s talking over me - like usual - but why is his tone-
“excuse me? understand wh-”
the rain gets heavier and you cannot believe you’re about to do this but you’re getting soaked and so is kun and so you point to your window
“meet me up there.”
you don’t know why you invite him. you expect the worst and you expect to get hurt and made fun of it. but you do it anyway. 
part of you is saying it’s because you want to pick a fight - but another part, quieter and that’s been dormant for a while says no, it’s because you might think you hate kun but you aren’t going to let him stand out in the rain any longer.
you wish you could tell this part to shut up and go away, but you give into it every time. especially, it seems, when it comes to him of all people.
kun looks displaced again in your room - he usually sneaks through and acts like he owns the place - but this time he’s back to this awkward atmosphere
you feel sick thinking about how you kind of wish you had the other side of him back
“so why are you here kun, really. it’s embarrassing enough for me that you saw me-”
“im sick of lying.” 
you blink, looking at him more seriously
“lying?”
“your cousin is fun and all, but cmon - you said it yourself. everyone expects the best of me, why would i spend my summer partying around the town. do you think i like it?”
speechless you don’t say anything in response and kun continues
“it’s just, finally i had an excuse good enough to be around you. to sneak up through your window, to hangout with the people you are friends with, to see you. otherwise - i never get a chance to-”
he looks different tonight, maybe because he’s drenched with rain, but he looks more like the kun you’ve known for years
put together, serious, he even has his glasses on tonight which shocks you more than anything because ever since the summer started - ever since he’s been around your cousin - he seems to have ditched them
you think slowly the pieces are coming together in your head about what point kun is making
it creeps in and you think shock is going to overcome you when kun confesses - with none of that bravado he seems to have adapted - 
“i just know you hate me and without a good reason you would never let me near you so i - i just did the one thing that meant i could be close to you, because i dont hate you, i really like-”
you take a couple of steps toward him, closing your fingers around his face and you hear kun’s breath hitch up 
you pull him down and toward you and just as you’re about to brush your lips against his - you instead pull him into a tight hug
you bury your face in his chest. his hands stuck stiff at his sides
“im not going to kiss you until you promise me one thing kun”
you can feel his heartbeat and yours, both rushing - louder than the thunder outside
“wh-what?”
“if we do this - whatever this will be - you have to promise you’ll still hangout with my cousin. he really thinks you guys are best friends.”
after a bit of a pause you feel his chest rumble with laughter
which you take offense to as you pull out of his arms - “hey don’t laugh! im being seri-”
“this is why i want to be near you by the way.”
he looks at you and for the first time it isn’t cold or accompanied by a sneer, the warmth in the deep browns almost makes you coy
“the guy you’re enemies with tells you they like you and you go ‘whatever, just keep being nice to my cousin’.”
you cross your arms, “family before boyfriends.”
kun cocks an eyebrow, “boyfriend? you move fast.”
“qian kun you’ve seen me naked. you better be ready for commitment.”
he loops his hands around your waist and you yelp a little at the sound contact - hugging and all is one but now he is pushing you up and against him
“im ready for anything if it means i can see you naked again.”
after that - everything shifts
naturally it does, you do start dating the guy you swore you’d hate till you died but that’s not the only thing
you are also dating the most sought after guy in your town and while most of the other people your age go green with envy - your parents and cousin (surprisingly) are over the moon
your parents you get, but you thought your cousin would hate the idea - when infact he confesses that he’s happy you like kun now - you all three can hangout easier for the rest of his summer here!
you’re all having dinner one time and your mother asks what made you finally realize you liked kun
you fluster, and kun quips that he just had to sneak through your window a couple of times to end up sneaking into your heart
your parents laugh - oh qian kun would never sneak through a window, only bad boys do that!
you almost choke on your peas
you won’t lie - you have insecurities and worries in the beginning, kun could still be pulling a fast one on you. or maybe you two just will never get over the competition between each other.
but that all proves null, you and him can be sarcastic and joke around all you want it doesn’t stop the feelings that grow tenfold through the summer 
that feeling that when you are with him, there isn’t anyone else around 
and kun really is the best at everything (you don’t say it out loud though)
but he does have the looks, the brains, the popularity and boy does he know what he’s doing with those hands of his 
safe to say that he might have seen you naked first but you definitely saw him as well
you joke about it and your cousin is like ok. nevermind. this relationship between yall is GROSS jkjk
and then - like all things, summer ends, and your cousin is back off to his hometown 
and when you’re saying goodbye - he goes up to you and leans in to whisper something so no one else hears
“that’s not going to happen!”
you exclaim when he leans out, but he just shrugs and says “just promise you will.”
so you do promise. 
when you comeback to join kun he asks what the promise was about and you roll your eyes, muttering that it’s unrealistic so it doesn’t matter.
the only issue is - it is very realistic
because ten years later you are sending out invitations to you and kun’s wedding
he’s sitting at the dinner table beside you and watching you handwrite the notes, cutely testing out your cursive 
he teases your mistakes and you swat at him, he leans down to kiss the side of your cheek when he looks at the invitation in your hand
it’s addressed to your cousin and kun reads it out loud: 
“hey cousin, im keeping my promise from the past - the promise that id invite you to me and kun’s wedding.”
kun looks at you and you can’t believe the look makes you blush - even as a damn adult
kun keeps reading;
“and the other promise - that ill dance with you right after i dance with kun.”
kun chuckles, “you might not keep that one - because im not letting anyone else dance with after me. you’ll be mine that night.”
you scrunch up your nose, “dummy - ill be yours forever.” 
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