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jmnjmnjmn · 4 years

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Celebrity Crush| part 1 | BTS x Reader mini series

Pairing: BTS x Celebrity!Reader

Key words: celebrity crush, singer, idol.

Word count: around 8,000

Masterlist

Okay, this one is just regular fluff, but it definitely has potential to become more juicy, maybe even angsty... I had many ideas when I was writing it, but decided upon cutting it where I did. Maybe there will be part two to this story, maybe not. If there will be it will also probably be able to functionas a totaly separate one shot. Also I couldn’t decide on a ship here! Initially it was supposed to be RM, but I kept coming back to JK (my bias xd). That’s where possibility of an angst story lays... Anyway tell me what you think of this piece!

“AH!” Namjoon exclaimed, dropping his spoon down into his soup.

“Hey, watch it! You’re spilling everything!” Seokjin yelled back at him as some of his friend's soup splashed out from his bowl.

“What happened?” Hoseok asked, sipping his soup slowly and looking at Namjoon with curiosity.

“It’s-It’s (Y/N).” He stuttered out, his eyes still glued to the screen of his phone. He was scrolling through Twitter when he noticed a tweet from his favourite female artist, (Y/N), announcing her world wide tour.

“What? Did she message you?” Seokjin asked him with a chuckle, knowing well that wouldn’t happen.

“I wish.” Namjoon scoffed and clicked on a link to an article some music site posted immediately after reading (Y/N)’s tweet. “(Y/N) has announced details of her long-awaited world tour.” He read out loud to his friends already feeling his heartbeat pick up. “The singer has continuously updated her fans on the details, promising them that she was working on the announcement. Now, via a short video on Instagram simply captioned ‘Hello world’, she has finally revealed when and where the No Limitations tour will be starting off. You can see the full dates, which she simultaneously posted on her Twitter account, below.” He quickly scrolled down to take a look at the dates and locations. His jaw dropped as he scanned down the list and noticed the Asia leg of the tour. “Soul is on the list.” He muttered. “In January. Seoul is on the list.” He repeated looking at his friends with wide eyes.

“Finally!” Hoseok exclaimed reaching across the table to pat him on the shoulder. “You can go see her then.”

“It hasn’t been announced when tickets will go on sale.” Namjoon said in panic as he frantically searched the internet for information about the tour.

“I’m sure our staff can get you in there without a ticket.” Seokjin said casually, but Namjoon took the matter very seriously. (Y/N) wasn��t just someone who’s music he liked. He also had a huge crush on her as a girl in general and he wasn’t about to pass on an opportunity to see her perform live.

“I have to talk to our PD about that.” He said in an excited tone and clicked his Messages app to draft up a passionate yet professional text saying how much he wants, no, needs to go to (Y/N)’s Seoul concert.

“Now?” Seokjin asked, taken aback a little by his fast pace.

“No time to waste. It’s (Y/N) we’re talking about.” Namjoon chuckled. “If all goes well maybe we could work on some music together.”

“Yeah and maybe something more.” Hoseok teased him, earning a loud laugh from Seokjin. Namjoon only smiled up at them from his phone, because among those who followed the news about BTS it was a well known fact that he had a thing for (Y/N).

Whenever they would get asked about their celebrity crushes in interviews he would say (Y/N)’s name. Ideal girl - someone like (Y/N). A song they could listen to on loop - (Y/N)’s latest single. Fashion inspiration at the moment - (Y/N). Favourite movie - that one (Y/N) had a cameo in for like three minutes. It would happen so much that ARMY’s started making compilations of him talking about her on YouTube called “Namjoon drooling over (Y/N) for 7 minutes straight” and so on. At first he was embarrassed about it, but after some time that awkward feeling turned into hope that maybe she’ll see it and fall for him as well. He knew it was wishful thinking, but he still liked to imagine the moment you would message him saying you would love to collab on a song.

“I’m going to go talk to our PD.” Namjoon said, as he took off the bright pink sunglasses with Happy New Year written on top of them in a silly font. He wore them for the small photoshoot they just had for BTS’s New Year’s Eve post on Twitter.

“Now?” Jimin asked him, raising his brows. He was still wearing his party hat he put on for the session. “It’s New Year’s Eve.”

“I know. I just-” He was interrupted by Taehyung’s loud cheer. “I’ll be right back.” Jimin just shook his head at his eagerness to find out whether (Y/N)’s staff has already answered BigHit’s request for letting Namjoon go to your show with a backstage pass as a celebrity guest of sorts.

Since they were already at the BigHit headquarters for the photoshoot and a little celebration for the beginning of the new year Namjoon had to walk just a couple of doors down to get to PD’s office. He took a deep breath before knocking on the door. After hearing a faint invitation he pressed on the handle and opened it.

“Oh, it’s you. Why aren’t you with the others celebrating?” The PD asked, obviously surprised to see Namjoon.

“Ah, yes. I’ll be joining them in a minute.” He said, remembering Jimin’s words. “I just came here to ask about the No Limitations show. It’s in January and since it’s already first of the month I wondered-”

“Ah, of course.” PD cut him off with a smile. “You're going.”

“Really?” Namjoon asked in shock.

“Yes, all of you are.” Namjoon must have looked very confused for a moment there, because PD rushed with an explanation. “We got an answer saying they were going to issue a formal invitation to the concert and an after party to the whole band anyway. Go and pass on the news to the rest of the boys. We’ll have a proper meeting about this next week.” Namjoon thanked him accesively and assured he’ll let the rest of the members know about the situation. As he walked down the hall he heard their voices from the dance studio they had the photo shoot in. He was speechless.

“It’s happening.” He thought, leaning on the wall to catch a breath before coming inside. After a moment he pushed the door open and joined his group members with a bright smile.

“Guys, guys. Listen” He called. “We’re going to (Y/N)’s concert!” He exclaimed and they cheered, gathering around him, smothering him with hugs and tugging on his cheeks teasingly.

“Look at him.” Jimin chuckled pointing at Namjoon who was pacing around the room. “So excited for the concert.”

“Of course he is. He’s going to meet his crush.” Seokjin added, also laughing.

The whole group was teasing him about (Y/N) all throughout January. It was seventeenth today, the day of her Seoul show and he couldn’t wait. They already got their hair and makeup done. They were dressed to the nines. All that was left was to get to the show.

“The car is here.” Someone from the staff announced and all the boys got up from their spots. As they walked down the hall together they all took turns patting Namjoon on the shoulder for encouragement.

“Do you think we’ll have a chance to talk to her?” Jungkook asked with excitement when they were all in the car together.

“Of course!” Hoseok exclaimed.

“No, but like, for real talk. Not just: nice to meet you, let’s take a picture, goodbye.” The youngest explained quickly.

“Hopefully.” Seokjin said, patting Namjoon on the thigh as that was something he was worried about. He would definitely be happy if he got even only a second with (Y/N), but he wished for more.

After a short drive the car stopped in an underground parking lot under the venue of the concert. As they got outside they could hear the cheers of the crowds gathered outside. Their staff took them on an elevator explaining once again how the night will go. First a before party with other guests, then the concert itself and after that the after party at a hotel. Namjoon repeated the sequence of these events in his head a million times already. Technically he was prepared, but practically he was a mess. His hands were sweating and his heart was racing like crazy. He looked around the small elevator at his closest friends and the familiar faces of BigHit staff who were accompanying them. Realising he has so many people around him for support eased his nerves a little.

“I can’t believe we’re in the same building.” Namjoon muttered under his breath.

“Yeah, she was also in the same building as us at the VMA’s and AMA’s and so on.” Yoongi teased him and everyone chuckled.

“That’s true, Namjoon.” Taehyung agreed with a grin. “You shouldn’t be so worried.”

“Easy for you to say.” Namjoon added right as the elevator door opened.

“Yeah, she already saw us perform at one of the award shows. She knows who we are. It’s going to be fine.” Jimin said in a nervous tone. Namjoon just nodded to himself trying to make the anxious thoughts go away as they approached the area where the before party was held.

They were all excited to see (Y/N)’s show and attend her after party, but with the tremendous enthusiasm also came the stress of meeting an A list celebrity from overseas.

“I can’t believe she’s still not here.” Namjoon whined to Taehyung and Jimin as the rest of the group scattered to chat with other invited idols and celebrities. “All the dancers and her band are here already.”

“It’s still early.” Taehyung tried to cheer him up. “She’ll show up any moment. I’m sure.”

“Definitely.” Jimin agreed with him energetically.

Before Namjoon could voice another concerned thought lingering in his brain everyone in the room started cheering and clapping. He looked around wondering what caused this reaction as he noticed the obvious reason.

“Thank you all so much for coming.” (Y/N) said stopping somewhere in the middle of the gathered crowd of celebrities and staff. “It means a lot. Really.” She put her hand to her chest as she spoke. “If all goes well the show will be starting in a couple of minutes. Wish me luck and have fun.”

“That’s it?” Taehyung asked as (Y/N) was rushed away by her staff to the stage entry. “I thought she was going to chat with everyone or something.”

“Do you chat with guests before the show?” Jimin asked. “That’s what the after party is for.” He explained and Namjoon hummed in agreement. Just the quick glimpse he caught of her was enough to leave him speechless.

“Let’s go watch the show.” Hoseok said approaching the three from behind with the rest of the group following close behind.

There was a big screen in the backstage lounge and a couple of smaller TV’s located at the stage entries for those that wanted to glance at the stage during the show to see the real deal. They watched the first half of the show in the lounge and later relocated to the left entry area. Namjoon’s eyes were glued to the screen as everyone around him chatted away. He tried to pay attention to the conversation and partake from time to time, but his focus quickly went back to (Y/N). She looked stunning singing and dancing on stage.

Suddenly a group of staff dressed in all black rushed into the area they were hanging out in with some other guests.

“Wardrobe change, left.” One of the staff said as she clicked on her earpiece.

Namjoon almost jumped out of his seat when he saw (Y/N) jogging down from the stage and into the swarm of her people from her team.

“Woah, that gave me chills.” Yoongi commented as (Y/N) passed by them surrounded by her wardrobe, hair and makeup team.

“Say something.” Hoseok whispered, elbowing Namjoon’s side.

“Like what?” He asked following (Y/N) with his gaze as she disappeared behind her dressing room's door.

“Great show, looking good. Anything really.” He encouraged him with a cheeky smile.

“No.” Namjoon shook his head, already feeling the blood rushing to his head.

“Do it. Do it.” The rest of the members repeated after Hoseok, but he only shook his head once again.

“She’ll come out any second.” Seokjin added in a warning tone.

He was right. The dance number performed by her backup dancers was getting to an end and (Y/N) should be running out onto the stage soon to sing the next song.

“Great show!” Jungkook yelled out in English.

All the boys’s heads snapped in his direction and then onto (Y/N). She was walking out of her dressing room in long strides. As Jungkook yelled out his praise she turned to look his way without stopping,

“Thank you!” She answered quickly before being escorted by her staff into the understage corridors.

All the boys started shoving and pushing the youngest member teasingly.

“Namjoon was supposed to say that. You took over his part. Jungkook, you’re so eager.” They yelled with laughter.

“What time is it?” Taehyung asked the group as most of the guests gathered in the backstage lounge to watch the encore of the show.

“It’s close to eleven.” Seokjin answered, looking at his phone.

“Before we finish off the show with this last song I just wanted to take a minute to say: Thank you so much.” (Y/N)’s voice echoed from the stage and through the speakers in the lounge. She was standing in the bright lights holding the mic to her lips. “Thank you for choosing to come see the show and spending the night here with us. I really can’t even begin to express how grateful I am for all of you, here in the audience and back at home watching and streaming my music and the shows. Thank you so much.”

“Ah, she’s so nice. Never forgetting about her fans.” People around muttered.

“I really, truly appreciate you guys. I cannot imagine how this year would’ve gone if I hadn't spent it with all of you, all of the people on the stage and behind it. We’ve been away from our homes for so long.” (Y/N) voice got higher with nerves and sadness that came over her as she spoke about her home. “We’re coming close to ten months on the road now. That’s a long time.” She said, bringing her hand to her chest to show her gratitude. “Thank you so much for putting up with me.” She chuckled and the staff cheered. “I feel so lucky and so fortunate to be working with all of you and to be able to perform in front of all of you.” She sighed deeply, undoubtedly masking a cry. “So thank you. I love you so much. Thank you.”

The audience was shouting and applauding loudly as (Y/N) walked off the stage waving to them. As soon as she was out of the view she handed her microphone to one of the sound people and took a big gulp of water from the bottle one of the staff handed her.

“Thank you.” She breathed out. “I need to get out of this hair as soon as possible.” She chuckled tiredly as she walked into her dressing room.

“We’ve got about twenty minutes to get you ready for the after party.” Her assistant, who was waiting inside, spoke calmly as the beauty and wardrobe team gathered around (Y/N) quickly taking out the bobby pins from her hair and undoing the back of her dress. “There’s quite a lot of guests your manager would like you to talk to, at least for a minute.” She said and quickly moved on to listing all the most important people attending the party.

“Have any of those people been informed that I might want to reach out to work with them later?” (Y/N) asked, getting into her oversized sweatshirt dress with the help of some staff so that she doesn’t ruin her makeup.

“No, that’ll be done after tonight. Sometime this week though.” She explained scrolling through something on her tablet.

“What time is the flight to Osaka tomorrow?” (Y/N)’s voice sounded tired as she thought of getting on another plane.

“Actually, there’s been a change of plans.” Her assistant said casually. “You got surprise booked for a daytime show tomorrow, so we’re staying in Seoul for that for the whole day and flying to Japan the next morning. The crew will be already there setting everything up for Saturday.”

“Two days in Seoul?” (Y/N) was surprised.

“Mhm.”

“What’s the show?”

“King of Masked Singer. You’re going to be the surprise opening act. I’ll fill you in on everything tomorrow morning.”

“Perfect.” She said smiling at herself in the mirror as the hairstylist was fixing up her hair.

“Heels or sneakers?” One of the wardrobe girls asked.

“Heels.” (Y/N) answered without hesitation. She wanted to look her best when surrounded with so many new faces at the after party and pairing sneakers with an oversized sweatshirt didn’t seem like the greatest combination for that.

“Ready.” The head stylist stated as one of the staff helped (Y/N) get into her thigh high booties.

From there, accompanied by security, (Y/N) and her assistant walked to the elevator that took them to the parking lot located under the venue.

As (Y/N)’s car pulled up in front of the hotel a swarm of fans and paparazzi started yelling out her name and waving to get her attention. She stopped to get her pictures taken, walked up to a couple of fans to sign their albums or pictures and walked inside to get to the after party. With her assistant following her every step and the three body guards right behind them she took yet another elevator to the hotel bar rented for the occasion.

“Let’s do this.” (Y/N) whispered to herself as she pushed the bar door open.

When she walked deeper into the crowded room random hands touched her shoulders and unknown voices spoke words of praise directed her way. She smiled and thanked the faceless mass making her way towards the DJ’s stand.

“That’s her.” Hoseok whispered as (Y/N) passed by the group of boys.

“Woah. She’s dressed cool.” Taehyung gasped, eying down her figure.

When she stepped onto the slightly elevated stage the DJ stopped the music and handed her a microphone. A wave of cheers erupted from the gathered guests as everyone noticed the star of the night had arrived.

“Hi.” (Y/N) spoke sweetly into the microphone and let the crowd yell or whistle back at her for a moment. “It’s so nice to see all of you here.” She chuckled. “Eat, drink, have fun. It’s all on me tonight. Just tonight.” She joked and the crowd clapped and yelled in excitement. “I know you all came here after the concert, but it’s not all about my music tonight.” Her tone turned mysterious all of a sudden. “It’s actually a very special day for someone else as well. A very funny guy, an inspiration in the studio, a dance mastermind and a dear friend and coworker of mine.” With every endearment term she listed the cheers got wilder. “Johnny Campbell. Where you at?” She asked looking around the room.

“Here!” Someone called out in the front of the room.

“Johnny, this is for you.” (Y/N) said in a low voice and started singing a very sexy adaptation of the birthday song.

As she finished someone in the crowd whistled and Johnny joined her on stage.

“Happy birthday Johnny.” (Y/N) finished off her wishes and hugged him tightly. “Let’s party, everyone!” She exclaimed into the microphone earning a loud cheer from everyone gathered at the bar.

(Y/N) made her way to the bar, stopping to chat and take a picture with someone every couple of steps. More than twenty minutes had passed from the moment she got off stage to when she finally got to the counter and grabbed herself a glass of expensive champagne. She sipped on the bubbly liquid and chatted to members of her dance crew. Looking around the room she locked eyes with a guy she recognised from somewhere. It took her a minute to realise it was BTS’s Jimin she was looking at. She smiled to herself, remembering that his group was on her manager’s to-talk-to list. Being halfway done with her drink she decided to down it and get another one before walking up to the group of boys.

“Oh my god.” Jimin exclaimed. “(Y/N) just looked here.”

“Where is she?” Namjoon asked, feeling his panic and excitement blur into one.

“At the bar.” He answered through gritted teeth.

“She’s coming here. She’s coming here.” Jungkook said quickly as (Y/N) made her way towards them.

“Hi, guys. I’m so glad you could make it.” She said in a sweet tone. “I’m (Y/N).”

“We know.” Jungkook blurted out which would normally earn him a shove to the shoulder from the older members, but the sound of (Y/N)’s chuckle at his comment made them relax and join her with nervous laughter. “I’m Jungkook.” He added extending his hand.

“I know.” (Y/N) answered with a smile and went for a hug and kiss on the cheek instead of a simple handshake.

“You know?” He asked in shock.

“Yes, I saw you guys perform at award shows, your music is everywhere. I know BTS.” The members smiled widely as she explained and started greeting the rest of them in the same way one by one. The hugs were quick, but still sincere. “I’m so happy you found time in your busy schedule to come see my show.”

“We wouldn’t miss it.” Namjoon said, trying to sound cool and collected. He wasn’t going to mention that he practically begged their PD to get them backstage.

“Oh, thank you.” She smiled and Namjoon’s knees almost went weak at the sight.

“Yes, great show.” Jungkook added and the group laughed.

“Oh, it was you.” (Y/N) also laughed realising it was Jungkook who yelled the words of praise her way halfway through the concert.

“Yes, I… Liked your dance with… By Your Side.” Jungkook said slowly making sure he picked the right words. “Great choreography.”

“Thank you.” She answered, bringing her hand to her chest as she accepted his compliment. “It’s nothing compared to your routines though. Those look hard.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you. We work hard. A lot of practice.” They muttered with modesty.

“Honestly!” (Y/N) exclaimed. “I was trying to learn the routine for your song with Halsey with my girls… So hard.”

“Boy With Luv?” Jimin raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, but the foot choreo was killing me.” She complained jokingly.

“Hyung, ask her which member’s part she learned.” Jungkook asked Namjoon in Korean.

“He wants to know which member’s choreography you learned.” Namjoon explained.

“Yours,” (Y/N) pointed to Jungkook.

“Me?” He asked and she nodded energetically. “Hyung, say I can teach her the choreography.” He added in Korean with a wide smile, still shocked he’s talking to such a huge star. Namjoon and the rest of the boys laughed at the youngest member’s bluntness.

“He’s saying he’ll teach you.” Namjoon hurried with an explanation as (Y/N) looked confused by what they were laughing about.

“Watch out, ‘cause I’ll take you up on that offer.” She raised her brow at Jungkook cheekily who looked at Namjoon for a translation.

“She says she might take you up on that.” He translated to his friend and he laughed, feeling a blush creep up onto his face.

“I sang your song during soundcheck today.” (Y/N) stated and all the members raised their brows at her.

“Which one?” Jungkook asked.

“Sweet Night. V’s solo.” She said pointing to Taehyung. “It’s such a sweet song and you sound amazing in it.” She said, touching his shoulder.

“Thank you so much.” Taehyung smiled, bowing to her slightly.

Not in many moments Namjoon was glad that his members couldn’t speak English as well as he did, but right now he couldn’t be happier about it. They were all so excited to be talking to (Y/N) they forgot their tongues. The alcoholic beverages that they already consumed didn’t help either. They asked him for translations every other sentence, meaning (Y/N) needed him to translate for her as well, meaning he was talking to her more than any other member, meaning she looked at him more than at any other member. Despite the language barrier the conversation flowed so easily between them. He felt ecstatic.

“(Y/N).” Her assistant called her name and brought her to the side for a moment.” It’s showtime.”

By saying “showtime” she meant that it’s time for (Y/N) to perform a song or two to entertain the guests and keep the party going.

“I’ll be right there.” She answered her and walked back to the group of boys.

“V, could I borrow you for a moment?” She asked with a sweet voice.

Unsure of what she might want from him, but still excited Taehyung followed (Y/N) into the bar.

“You said you love Underneath and know the lyrics by heart.” She said, glancing at him as they walked side by side through the crowded room filled with chatter and music. Taehyung hummed in agreement, feeling his heartbeat grow faster and faster. “You know them well enough to sing it live with me now?”

“What?” He asked, almost tripping over his own feet.

“I’m supposed to perform a couple of songs now. Would you like to perform one with me?” She asked stopping and looked him in the eyes with hope.

“Of course.” Taehyung answered, giving her his signature box smile.

“Great!” She exclaimed and grabbed his hand to lead him backstage. “This way.”

“Where do you think she took him?” Seokjin asked as (Y/N) disappeared with Taehyung in the crowd.

“I have no idea.” Namjoon answered, also curious about the whole ordeal.

“She’s very nice.” Jungkook commented.

“Yeah, nicer than I imagined.” Yoongi added.

“We have to get a picture together.” Hoseok said and the rest of the boys agreed.

“Look, there’s (Y/N).” Jimin pointed towards the stage where the DJ’s booth was located.

“Welcome to the stage, the one and only, (Y/N) and Korea’s very own, V of BTS!” Announced the DJ and all the boys’s jaws dropped to the floor.

“What?!” They screamed in unison.

“Hi.” (Y/N) said in a low voice. “V and I have a very special cover for you tonight. Please enjoy, Underneath.”

The rest of the members sang along to the fast paced pop song as V and (Y/N) performed. The lyrics talked about hidden feelings and the tension that can build up if you don’t give them a way out. Even though (Y/N) and Taehyung never sang together before their voices blended perfectly in the duet. When they finished their performance the crowd applauded loudly. (Y/N) put her arm behind Taehyung and he did the same. Joined in this side hug they bowed to the audience.

After a minute or two Taehyung got back to his friends with the widest smile on his face.

“Can you believe this?” He was still in shock.

“Congratulations. You were so good. Woah.” All the boys chattered at the same time.

“I recorded you.” Seokjin added as he pulled out his phone from his pocket. They gathered around the small screen watching Taehyung and (Y/N)’s performance once again.

“Where is she?” Namjoon asked Taehyung as the video came to an end.

“Last I saw her she was talking to MAMAMOO.”

“Ah, so cool. She’s probably busy. We didn’t even take a picture together.” The group chimed. After a moment of sulking they went back to obsessing over the fact that they met (Y/N) and that one of their own members sang with her.

Surrounded by music, food and alcohol the time seemed to fly by very fast. Accompanied by their staff they left the party around two in the morning without having a chance to talk to (Y/N) one more time.

Mornings after concerts are usually pretty bad for both the audience members and the performing artists, but mornings after concerts combined with after parties, meeting new people and mingling with every music producer possible are even harder.

(Y/N) woke up with a headache and a bitter taste in her mouth. From her bed she walked straight to the bathroom to take a shower. When brushing her teeth she scrolled through her Twitter feed reviewing every other caption or photo on the endless string of posts from last night she was tagged in. She liked a couple of tweets posted by her friends and was about to lock her phone when she noticed a simple caption.

“Great show #정국” (Y/N) pressed on the picture to see it whole. She immediately recognised Jungkook, one of the members of BTS, a band she met last night. He was standing in front of the big monitor backstage with her tour logo on it, making hearts with his fingers and smiling at the camera. She smiled to herself remembering how easily yesterday’s conversation flowed with the group of boys.

“Ah, I wish I had his number.” (Y/N) muttered. “I could take him up on that dance lesson offer.”

(Y/N) rushed to open her hotel room’s door to the room service. The hoteboy brought in the big breakfast she just ordered minutes ago and set it on the table. As she got ready to dig into the scrambled eggs her phone started vibrating. She looked at the called ID and quickly picked up as she saw it was her assistant calling. She gave her a quick rundown of the day’s events and informed her she’s free to rest and relax until three in the afternoon.

“That’s when they’ll pick us up for King of Masked Singer.” She finished explaining.

“I have one more question.” An interesting idea popped into (Y/N)’s head. “Is there a way you could get me the number of BTS’s Jungkook?”

(Y/N)’s phone chimed as she was finishing up her breakfast. She picked it up reading the message she just recieved.

“I got it.” As she read the message from her assistant another one appeared on the screen. This time it was a string of numbers.

“Ah, what should I say?” (Y/N) pasted the number into her contacts and waited a minute before pressing the dial button. The phone beeped a couple of times before going silent. Jungkook didn’t pick up. “Hm. Let’s try again.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Jungkook was hanging out with his friends in their shared apartment. He was typing something up on his phone when the screen lip up with an unfamiliar number.

“Hyung, do you know this number?” He showed the ringing screen to Taehyung sitting beside him on the couch.

“No. Pick up.” Jungkook just shook his head at his answer.

“I don’t pick up unknown callers.” He rejected the call and went back to what he was doing. “This person is calling again.”

“Pick up.” More preoccupied with switching through TV channels, Taehyung encouraged him tiredly. Jungkook swiped right to take the call and put it on speaker.

“Hello?” He asked in Korean.

“Ah- Hello.” Jungkook and Taehyung locked eyes in surprise and curiosity as the person on the other side spoke in English. “It’s (Y/N). From yesterday.” Taehyung almost screamed in shock. Jungkook felt all his blood rush to his head.

“Ah, sorry. Hello. Sorry.” He stumbled over his words, trying to explain why he didn’t answer her call at first ring. “I don’t pick up if I don’t know the number.” (Y/N) chuckled on the other end of the line.

“It’s fine.” Her voice was sweet and calm. “Actually, I’m calling, ‘cause I’m still in Seoul-” Taehyung stood up from the couch covering his mouth with his hands, still in deep shock. “-and I was wondering- I was thinking about what you said last night, so…” Jungkook scrunched his eyebrows, trying his hardest to remember what he said that made (Y/N) call him the next morning. “If you have time we could meet and dance together.” Taehyung gasped. “You could teach me the Boy With Luv choreo and-” Jungkook couldn’t control himself and answered her before she could even finish asking the question.

“Yes.” He blurted out. Taehyung jumped back on the couch and pushed his shoulder with a huge smile.

“Really?”

“Yes, yes.” He assured her.

“Should I come to your-” Eager to see her he cut her off again.

“You can come to our studio. I will text you the address.”

“Great. I’m free until three in the afternoon so text me the time as well.” She added.

“Okay.”

“Okay. I’ll see you there.” (Y/N) added after a moment of silence.

“Okay. Bye.”

“Bye.”

“AH!” Jungkook threw his phone, which felt red hot in his hands right now, on the other side of the couch.

“What was that?!” Taehyung yelled, shaking on his shoulders. “How did she get your number?!”

“I have no idea!” Jungkook felt his body relax as he was no longer on the phone. “Oh my god. I have to text her now!” He reached to dig his phone out from under a stack of pillows and blankets on the couch. “And I have to go see her!”

“You’re doing great.” Jungkook praised (Y/N) with laughter as she jokingly overdid the moves and gestures in the choreography. “Like that.”

“Okay, but in all seriousness how did I do?” She asked, cutting the jokes short. Jungkook raised his thumbs up with a smile and she chuckled again.

“Let’s do it again and record it so we can review. You vs me.” He set his phone up on the floor by the mirrors in the studio space at BigHit.

“Teacher vs student.” Jungkook just hummed in agreement before playing the music.

Tired after practicing Boy With Luv for an hour and freestyling for almost two more (Y/N) and Jungkook sat down on the floor of the dance studio panting. She stood up to get herself some water and immediately regretted it.

“Ah, my legs.” Jungkook smiled at her words. Although (Y/N) danced in her music videos and during live performances her routines were far more relaxed that BTS’s regular dances. Their moves were sharp and strong and her’s more sexy and slow. Chucked her emptied water bottle back into her bag and turned to face Jungkook again. “Are you hungry?” He raised his brows, knowing what will come next if he says he is in fact hungry.

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go eat something.” Her proposition was so blunt and free. He could not refuse her, but the excitement that filled his chest at that moment didn’t overshadow the fact that the rest of his group would be so bummed they didn’t get to eat with (Y/N) as well.

“Ah, can I do this to them?” He whined in Korean. (Y/N) gave him a confused look since she didn’t understand a word he just said. “My members will be jealous.” He explained with a slight smile.

“Oh, I didn’t think about that. Should we invite them?” That Jungkook wasn’t expecting.

“You want that?” He asked to make sure he didn’t just hear something wrong. (Y/N) smiled sincerely at his unsure expression.

“Yeah, why not?” Jungkook quickly got up from the ground and dug his phone up from his pocket.

“I’ll call them. Wait a second.”

“Okay.” (Y/N) answered as he walked out of the studio to call his friends.

Jungkook dialed Namjoon’s number, knowing he was at the apartment right now enjoying his day of rest. The line beeped a couple of times before he finally picked up.

“Hello?” His voice was low and sleepy in contrast with Jungkook’s, which was excited and fast paced.

“Hyung, listen. Get the rest of the guys and put me on speaker. I have something to tell all of you.”

“What is it?”

“Are they all there?”

“Wait a second.” Some shuffling and name calling was heard on the other side of the line before Namjoon spoke up again. “Okay, go.”

“So I’m with (Y/N) right now. We just got done dancing and all that and… She’s invited us all to lunch.”

“What? Oh, wow. Really? How cool.” The group erupted in chatter as they heard Jungkook’s news.

“Yeah. Can you come?”

“Of course. Yes. I can’t.” Another bundle of statements was heard.

“Who can’t?” Jungkook asked, saddened.

“Yoongi.” Seokjin said.

“I already have plans with our producers, but you all should go.” Yoongi explained, still encouraging the rest of the boys to go out.

“You sure?” Namjoon asked.

“Yes, go.”

“We’ll take a picture for you.” Hoseok joked.

“What are we going to eat?” Taehyung asked out of the blue.

“I don’t know.” Jungkook answered, not really having thought about that yet.

“Since we know Seoul maybe we should pick the place?” Seokjin proposed thoughtfully.

“Good idea. I’ll tell her that. When will you come here?”

“Thirty minutes? We need to get dressed.” Namjoon said and murmur of agreement was heard.

“Okay, okay. Don’t overdress though, we’re both in sweatpants.” Jungkook added with a chuckle. After exchanging goodbyes he hung up and sighed deeply, letting his shoulders relax a little before going back into the studio.

When he opened the door he saw (Y/N) stretching her legs in a sitting down position. He joined her on the floor before speaking.

As Taehyung pulled into BigHit’s parking lot Jungkook and (Y/N) were already waiting outside. Both dressed in large black puffer jackets going over their knees, they stood beside one another. Jungkook was looking over (Y/N)’s shoulder pointing to something on her phone.

“Now you can add a picture.” He said, swiping his finger on her screen. (Y/N) nodded and pressed on the camera option.

“Take a selfie with me.” She asked, raising her phone up to take a picture of the two of them.

Jungkook smiled shyly and pulled his mask down half way. (Y/N) did the same before snapping a cute picture to set as her contact photo. Jungkook quickly pulled his mask back up to cover his cheeks that started to turn bright red. He glanced over her shoulder as she manipulated the photo to fit both of their faces into the small square.

“And synchronise your contacts, so I will be there.” He added as she finally accepted the placement of the picture.

“Oh, great.”

“Yeah.” (Y/N) pressed on the ‘synch contacts’ button before looking up at Jungkook.

“Thank you.” She said sweetly and pulled her mask back over her nose.

“You’re welcome.”

Taehyung noticed the two of them standing in front of the building exit and slowly pulled up. As he got closer he rolled down his window.

“Hello!” The sudden greeting made them jump up slightly.

“Hi!” (Y/N) called back sweetly.

“Come in!” Shoulder to shoulder they walked towards the car after Taehyung's invitation.

Namjoon was already sitting in the passenger's seat making it so that Jungkook and (Y/N) had to sit together in the backseat.

“How was dance practice?” Namjoon asked them.

“What was it?” (Y/N) tapped Jungkook’s arm. He whispered something to her and she clapped her hands in realisation. “Daebak.” Namjoon and Taehyung laughed at her harsh pronunciation.

“It was good. Great.” Jungkook added after the chuckles died down. “Where are the other guys?” He asked Namjoon in Korean.

“The rest of the guys will meet us at the restaurant.” He explained in English, so (Y/N) could understand. She was still doing something on her phone when he glanced at her from the front seat.

“Jungkook.” Her shy tone echoed in the car. “I synced the contacts, but you’re not here.” She showed him her phone with a concerned expression. “Look.”

“Maybe I will just add my number like normal and then it will be saved in the contacts.” (Y/N) hummed in agreement, giving him her phone.

“What are you doing?” Taehyung asked in Korean, eying the two in the rearview mirror. Jungkook glanced at him, thanking god that (Y/N) doesn’t speak their language.

“I made (Y/N) a Kakao account.”

“And you’re putting your number in?” Taehyung continued in a teasing tone. Jungkook smiled at (Y/N)’s screen and typed in his ID.

“It’s not like that.”

The boys picked out a traditional korean diner with private rooms and floor level tables. They ordered mountains of meat to fry and tons of side dishes, soups and rice. At first (Y/N) widened her eyes at the amount of food concerned there will be leftovers, but within thirty or forty minutes she realised that those six boys’s stomachs can intake much more food that she can.

The conversation within the group flowed swiftly and comfortably as it did the night before. There even was some talk about possible musical collaborations. No one was looking at the clock, but at two o’clock sharp (Y/N)’s phone buzzed.

“Ah, it’s my assistant.” She announced with deep sorrow in her voice. “Unfortunately I will have to get going soon, guys. I have a TV appearance this evening.”

“TV today?” Seokjin asked in English. He seemed really shocked. When he spoke again he directed his words to Namjoon and spoke in Korean. “She shouldn't have eaten so much noodles and rice. She’ll be bloated and puffy. That’s very bad.”

“He says noodles and rice is bad for TV, ‘cause you might get puffy.” Namjoon explained to (Y/N) who just waved him off and chuckled.

“Ah, I’ll be wearing a big dress and a mask anyway.”

“What show are you on?” Namjoon asked, curiously.

“Something called King of Masked Singer.” The boys started talking over each other in Korean and patting Jungkook on the shoulders. After a moment of that Namjoon translated the jist of it to (Y/N).

“Yeah, so JK also was on that show.” (Y/N), who was sitting opposite to the youngest member of the group, looked up at him with a smile.

“Really?” She asked after swallowing another sip of hot soup. “What did they put you in? What costume?”

“I was…” He wanted to tell her everything in English, but was missing the most crucial word. “Hyung, how do you say fencer?” He asked Namjoon who looked confused for a second before answering him with a shrug. Jungkook reached to his pocket and pulled out his phone. “I’ll show you.” He typed the right words into YouTube and passed (Y/N) his phone. As soon as she looked at the moving screen she nodded in realisation.

“Ah, fencer.”

“Fencer, yes.” Namjoon agreed. (Y/N) skimmed through the video listening to Jungkook’s clear and beautiful vocals in the cover of BIGBANG’s If You.

“Woah, this is good.” She said, looking up at him.

“Thank you.” He accepted the compliment as she passed the phone back to him.

“You know what you will have?” Hoseok asked.

“What I’ll be dressed in? Yeah, I’m singing Beauty and the Beast, so I’ll be a princess.”

“Ah, cute.” Seokjin called out with a chuckle as (Y/N)’s phone buzzed once more.

“Ah, I really have to go.” She sighed deeply as the boys whined at her early leave. “I have to get myself intact before going to the studio.” She said gesturing to her laid back outfit. Since she was meeting Jungkook earlier for dance practice she was wearing a pair of branded sneakers, high waisted sweatpants and a hoodie - an outfit most of the boys in the room thought of as very pretty, but to her it was just workout gear.

“Do you need a ride?” Jungkook asked, all of a sudden realising she drove here with them and might not have a ride back to her hotel, but (Y/N) shook her head.

“No, my security is already parked outside.” The boys nodded at the professional sound of that statement. She was an A list celebrity after all and couldn’t just run around town by herself.

Everyone stood up from the table as (Y/N) slipped on her shoes and jacket.

“It was so nice to see you again.” Namjoon started as (Y/N) turned towards them before going out the door of the private dining room. She smiled sincerely and swung her backpack onto her shoulder.

“I’m so glad we got to hang out.” She looked at them with a shine in her eyes before going in for a hug with each of them. “And that we got to dance.” She added stopping in front of Jungkook. He smiled and chuckled as she hugged him goodbye.

“Yes. Me too.”

The group exchanged a couple more words of goodbye before (Y/N) walked towards the sliding door. As she was about to close it behind herself she slipped her face mask down and smiled at the group once more.

“Hopefully that’s not the last I see of you.” She added and the boys erupted with negating statements and chuckles.

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retrievablememories · 4 years

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crush on you | johnny

title: crush on you pairing: johnny x black!reader genre: fluff request: “Do you think you could do a scenario about Johnny coming home to Chicago and seeing (black) reader from his hometown and confessing his crush on her” word count: 3.6k warnings: some cursing, some kissing lol a/n: this southern girl don’t know a thang about chicago so i had to do some research here, don’t eat me up y’all...i’m trying to experiment with writing from multiple POVs so idk if it makes sense but you can tell me if it doesn’t lol

“Ah, it’s cold,” Taeyong rubs his hands together and puffs warm air into them, though it doesn’t do much to take the chill away.

“It’s that Chicago weather.” Johnny chuckles, largely unphased by the temperature outside. With their recent time off affording them a trip to Johnny’s hometown, Mark, Johnny, and Taeyong decided to visit the Chicago Botanic Garden; though it was mostly Johnny’s idea, since the others are still fairly new to the city.

Every year around this time of the season, the Garden has a light show for the December holidays. Johnny saw it as the perfect opportunity to have some fun while sharing more American festivities with Taeyong and Mark. The other members can never get enough of finding something new and exciting to do whenever they’re overseas.

As they walk through the brightly lit landscape, Johnny catches a glimpse of a familiar face, and his laughter at one of Mark’s jokes trails off. He watches to make sure he’s seeing things correctly; yes, the two girls a few feet away from them. He’s not familiar with the other one, but the first girl is undoubtedly you, someone he remembers from his high school days. Same bright smile, pretty brown skin, and recognizable laughter, though you’ve obviously matured since then.

He tries not to be obvious about staring, but his gaze trails after you like he’s afraid he’ll lose track of you forever. He didn’t really expect to see you again after you both graduated high school, but here you are.

“....you know what I mean?”

“Huh?”

“You totally missed what I said!” Mark sighs. “I’m not telling the joke again—what are you even looking at? You’re completely distracted.”

“A girl,” Taeyong snickers, ducking his head and shoving his hands in his pockets. Mark’s eyebrows rise up to his bangs at that, and Johnny sighs.

“Oh, word? Who?”

Before Johnny can answer, you glance backwards, and the both of you catch eyes. You’re equally surprised to see him, but there is definitely recognition there. He’s almost shocked you remember him; but of course, he’s part of a famous kpop group now, so it’s not impossible to know who he is.

“So it is you,” you say. Your friend gives a knowing grin, and Johnny figures she must’ve been the one to notice he was there. Have you told her about him before? Maybe she’s even a fan of the group.

“You remember me?” Johnny asks, smiling slightly. The 3 men walk up to you and your friend and stop in front of you.

“Well, yes…” you answer. “You aren’t exactly the kind of person one forgets.” Johnny isn’t sure if that’s a good thing or not, but he is admittedly happy that he’s stuck in your mind all this time.

“I could say the same about you.”

You smile politely at that, though you feel a little embarrassed, too. You’re unsure what to say next, and your friend has to come in to save the day once again.

“You can walk with us if you want, the tour’s more fun in a group anyway.” The guys look at each other as if trying to decide if this is a good idea or not, though Johnny seems to have made his mind up already. Still, he leaves it open for you to decide when he says,

“I mean, if you really want us to come. We wouldn’t wanna disturb the good time you’re having or anything…”

“Dude, they’ve already invited us,” Mark snorts.

“Stop playing hard to get, you’re not very convincing,” Taeyong says in Korean, shaking his head at Johnny’s posturing.

Your friend giggles to no end, and all you can do is shake your head at her. “Yes, it’s totally fine. Come on!” You pull your friend along and wave for the other guys to follow.

Soon, though, your friend ends up hanging back a little with Mark and Taeyong as you and Johnny talk, walking through the colorful gardens.

“How long are you gonna be in town?” you ask, studying the small glittering lights all around you.

“A couple weeks,” he answers. “We got some time off, so…I wanted to come back home.”

“That’s nice. I can imagine it would get a little lonely being away from home all the time.”

“It can be, but you get through it…what about you? How’s life been treating you?”

“I’ve been fine...working and just living life and all that. I’m thinking about getting another degree or something, you know, just to feel more accomplished with myself...I mean, nothing as extravagant as being a worldwide star,” you say, laughing as you look at him, “but it’s life.”

“It’s great to be able to do that, though! You should be proud. If you decide to.” Johnny talks excitedly, almost like he thinks there won’t be enough time to say whatever he wants to. You nod at his words, grinning slightly at his fast talking.

“I think you’re right.” You look out across the way to see the tiny snowflakes that have begun to fall more rapidly. They’ve been coming sporadically for the past hour or so, but they’re falling more frequently now.

“Oh, you have one on your eye...” Johnny points to your face and you look at him quizzically. “A snowflake.” You let him get closer to brush it off your eyelash, though it quickly melts under his body heat.

“Thanks,” you say, your body warming from his actions.

Before you know it, your little group has walked around much of the gardens already, and the air is getting cold enough to make your teeth hurt from the chill. “Well, I guess we should be heading home soon,” you say, glancing over to your friend who looks to be having the time of her life with the other 2 men. She pouts at your words.

Johnny nods solemnly. “I’d like to talk to you again, especially since we haven’t seen each other in a while...could I get your number?” Your friend giggles behind you, and you have to resist the urge to give her a look.

“Is that a good idea? I don’t want your managers coming after me with pitchforks or something,” you say jokingly, but you’re partly serious about it, too. Johnny waves his hand, smirking as if it’s not important.

“That’s not a problem. They’re our managers, but they can’t run every aspect of our lives.” Taeyong gives a skeptical look at that but says nothing.

Biting your lip, you decide to take a chance with it. After swapping numbers, you say your goodbyes, with you nearly dragging your friend away as she takes her sweet time smiling and waving. “Girl. If you can manage to calm down on the way home, I’ll find a way to set you up with Taeyong or something, but chill!”

“Girl...don’t say that lightly, I’m holding you to it.”

Johnny lies on his bed in his childhood bedroom, scrolling through his phone. He looks through your Instagram page to see what you’ve been up to for the past few years. Maybe he should feel like more of a creep about it, but Instagram’s contact syncing feature made it ridiculously easy to find your profile, whether he was actively looking for it or not.

Mark already knows what Johnny is up to, and his interest is instantly piqued. “Hyung, how long are you gonna stalk her IG from your private account? This is like the 500th time in 3 days. Just call her if you miss her that bad.” Mark giggles mischievously as he says this. He tries to look over the other man’s shoulder, but Johnny shifts away from him, trying to shield his phone.

“It’s not the 500th time,” Johnny argues, his ears turning pink at being caught red-handed.

“You’re right, it’s the 501st time,” Mark says, making a grab for the older man’s phone. Johnny twists away from him, but he’s not quite fast enough to miss Mark’s swipe. His phone gets knocked out of his hand, though it thankfully hits the bed instead of the floor. Him and Mark end up wrestling around on the bed, with Johnny putting the younger boy in a headlock. Taeyong watches in amusement as the two fight.

“You’re doing too much,” Johnny says, rolling his eyes after letting Mark go.

“I’m doing too much, but you’re the one choking me out,” Mark huffs, fixing his disheveled hair.

In the mad scramble for his phone, Johnny realizes he’s accidentally liked one of your photos and he feels the back of his neck burn with embarrassment. Will you notice it and wonder who the faceless account liking your pictures is? “Fuck,” he blurts out, wondering if he should unlike the photo. You would’ve already gotten the notification for it, so what’s the point?

“What’s wrong?” Mark asks, unable to resist the urge to peek over Johnny’s shoulder again. Johnny elbows him away, and Mark yelps when he gets caught in the stomach.

“Dumbass, you made me accidentally like a photo...one from 2 years ago.”

“It doesn’t matter. I doubt she even cares or will notice it.” Taeyong pipes up from his spot across the room.

“Are you sure? Who isn’t gonna notice a weird ass private profile liking a 2-year-old post?” This time, Mark rolls out of the way before Johnny is able to cuff him upside the head.

Taeyong sucks his teeth. “It really doesn’t matter. You already have her number! Who cares about accidentally liking an Instagram post? She won’t know it’s you either way. Like Mark said, just call her and stop freaking out about it.”

“The fact that she gave you her number at all means she doesn’t see you as a total weirdo, so you have a chance of everything working out,” Mark says, lying back on the bed with his arms behind his head.

“Somehow, I’m not sure if that makes me feel worse or better.”

It doesn’t take Johnny very long to lure you out of your home once you start texting each other. On Friday, you get a message from him that reads:

12:02 P.M. Johnny 🧸 Do you wanna hang out somewhere?? Like today?

12:03 P.M. Very last minute of you, lol. Depends on where you’re gonna take me

12:03 P.M. Johnny 🧸 🙃 I know a spot

12:04 P.M. Where would that be?

12:04 P.M. Johnny 🧸 Do you trust me??

12:04 P.M. ?! Trust you? I’m scared. Where are you even taking me lmao

12:05 P.M. Johnny 🧸 Somewhere cool. But you gotta trust me first. I can show you a whole new world

12:06 P.M. Please. You’re such a cornball :( But okayyy, I’ll go

You give him your address and go to get ready afterwards. You’re unsure what to wear, but it’s always freezing cold this time of year, so you figure you’re safe with bundling up no matter where you’re going.

Johnny comes to pick you up not long after, and you go out to meet him in his car, which is idling in your driveway.

“You look really cute,” Johnny says after you get into the car, his lips curling into a little cat-like grin.

You try to play it cool, though you can’t stop the smile that spreads on your lips. “Mmm, thanks.”

You two make casual small talk on the way to your destination, talking about what you did that week, what you plan to do next week, and the weather—which is cold, cold, and more cold.

You sit up straighter once you finally get to where you’re going, your eyes widening a bit as you look out the window. “The Museum of Contemporary Photography? I don’t think I’ve been here before.”

“Even better. It’s always fun to have a brand-new experience.”

“I’m a little surprised though, you made it sound like we were going on some dangerous mission,” you say laughingly as you both walk into the museum. There’s already a decent amount of people present, lingering around and looking at the exhibits. “Do you live for drama or what?”

“Drama, excitement, it’s all the same thing. It’s what makes life interesting.”

You and Johnny walk through an exhibit from a photographer with a wealth of city and natural scenery photos, though there are a few portraits scattered throughout. Most of them are in black and white, with a smattering of full-color pictures grouped together.

“I haven’t been to a museum in a long time,” you sigh, tucking your hands into your pockets as you walk along a wall of monochrome photos. “I forgot what it’s like to sit back and appreciate art. Sad, huh.”

“Maybe not sad,” Johnny says, trailing after you. “Sometimes life just gets in the way and you can’t do everything you want to.”

“Doesn’t it? I’m sure you’re familiar with that, though...it really has been a while since I’ve been able to actually enjoy something simply for the sake of enjoying it.”

“That’s why I’m here!” Johnny says this cheerfully, his eyes twinkling like he’s just found the answer to all your problems. Or your biggest one, at least. Your face cracks at his goofy grin, and you duck your head while holding in your laughter. “Really, though. What if it was fate that we met up like we did, not even knowing we were gonna be at the same place?”

“Then I’d say the universe has a funny way of operating,” you say, observing a photo of a nighttime skyline.

When you get to the end of the exhibit, Johnny holds his hand out to you. “There’s something I wanna show you.”

You glance at his eyes, which are achingly sincere, and look away when you find you’re too nervous to hold his gaze for long. Though you hesitate for a moment, you take his hand, which is calloused and warm in your own. “Lead the way.”

He takes you further into the museum, eventually leading you to an exhibition room filled wall-to-wall with images of flowers. Your senses are a little shocked by the barrage of colorfulness, a sure contrast to the other artist’s work. Some of the images are big enough to take up half the wallspace, and they’re detailed enough for you to see even the tiniest lines in the flowers’ petals.

“This is amazing,” you whisper, walking closer to see the images in their full glory. You’re not sure if it’s weird to still be holding Johnny’s hand, but he hasn’t let go, so you figure it’s okay.

“I remembered you really liked flowers when we were in high school, although I couldn’t remember which kind…you always wore this one flower pin on your backpack, though.”

“The same one I eventually lost.” You frown a bit at that. It was long ago, but the memory still bothers you; you never found it after it went missing.

“Yeah. I felt kinda bad back then because you seemed pretty upset about it, so…” Johnny shrugs. “I know it’s not the same thing, but…”

“I can’t believe you remembered all that. Or even noticed it, really.” Your heart beats a little faster, though you try to ignore it. This can’t just be a nice gesture between old classmates, right? “Thank you, really. I appreciate this.” You squeeze his hand a little tighter in yours. Johnny smiles at you and squeezes back.

“Are you hungry?” Johnny asks when you get back in the car. You stretch your hands in front of the air vents and shudder at the warm air on your palms, and Johnny’s heart skips a little beat at the cute display.

“Sure. I don’t know what to eat, though...what about you?”

Johnny taps his fingers against the steering wheel. “Hmm, I know a place.”

You glance out the window as the museum’s scenery fades out of view and gives way to the roadway again. It’s not that late yet, but the sun is already looking heavy in the sky—one of your least favorite things about winter. “You seem to know a lot of good hangout spots,” you say teasingly. “But I’m not surprised. You were quite well-known even back then.”

Johnny laughs, a bit embarrassed. “I don’t know about that.”

“Oh, please. A lot of people liked you. Girls, especially.”

Johnny wants to ask you the question that’s just popped into his mind, but he decides to save it for when you get to the restaurant, instead biting his lip and turning your words around in his head.

Johnny ends up taking you to a charming little restaurant that has just about anything you can imagine on the menu, which changes almost daily. You’re not sure how they pull that off with being a little local spot, but you’re not complaining.

The two of you take a table and talk more as you wait for your food to come, moving past the small talk and delving more into your school years. You spend a while there talking and eating, and the hours pass before you’re aware of it.

Johnny watches you sip at your smoothie as the last rays of the evening sun spread across your face, illuminating your eyes and coily hair with their warmth. If he stares any longer, it’ll probably get weird, but he doesn’t want to stop looking. The same feeling that’s got him unable to look away compels him to finally just say something, so he doesn’t think twice when he tells you,

“I’ve always liked you, you know.”

You blink, turning from the window to look at him.

Johnny looks bashful after speaking, which you’re a little surprised about, because you’ve hardly ever seen him look hesitant or afraid about much of anything until today. You stare at him with your eyes incredulous and your straw halfway to your mouth.

“What?”

Johnny chuckles a little, though he feels a little less confident even though he hasn’t received your answer yet. “I like you. When we were in high school, I—yeah. I had a crush on you. Have, I mean—I still do.”

You’re initially unsure how to take this big reveal, especially knowing he still likes you after all this time has passed. Maybe you suspected it from his behavior over the past few days and today, but it’s still a little hard to digest when you know he has thousands of girls throwing themselves at him.

“Why didn’t you say anything while we were in school?” is the first thing you can think to ask.

He shakes his head, looking at his hands. “I don’t really know,” he says weakly. “I thought, maybe, you wouldn’t be interested in me. We weren’t even in the same social circles.”

“Wouldn’t be interested in you...?” you repeat, clasping your fingers together and trying to steady yourself. Your heart is definitely racing right now. “Johnny, I…”

“You don’t have to give me an answer now,” Johnny rushes out. “O-or ever? I just...wanted you to know, I guess...since we’ve met up suddenly and I don’t know if we’ll have this chance again—”

“I...I like you too.”

Johnny’s quiet for a few seconds, registering what you’ve just said, and then he grins widely. “Aww, you like me—that’s so cute!” He grasps your hands as he says this, and you give him a disbelieving look.

“Wow, really?! You’re the one who just confessed to me!” You can’t stop yourself from giggling, though, as he brings your hands to his lips and kisses them all over. “How am I gonna deal with you?”

“You’ll just have to figure it out, ‘cause I’m all yours now.”

The moon is out by the time Johnny takes you back to your place. He insists on walking you to the door even though it’s only a few feet away, and you indulge him on it because you definitely like the extra time being in his presence.

“I’m glad you came out with me today,” he tells you, his eyes warm.

“I’m sure you are, you got a whole girlfriend out of it.”

Johnny smirks at that, leaning into you. “Does this count as our first date, then? Because if it does, there’s something else I want to show you...”

“And what would that be?” you ask Johnny, leaning closer to him in answer to his increased proximity. His response is to close the gap between you, his lips meshing themselves with yours. He kisses you like that for a while, not wanting to let you go, though you eventually have to part to catch your breath.

“Your lips were cold! Felt like I was kissing a vampire at first.” Your breaths puff out in front of you as you say this, laughing lightly. Johnny leans forward and you think he’ll kiss you again, but he tucks his face into the side of your neck, pulling your scarf down, and places a kiss there. You shiver a little at your neck being exposed to the cold, but also for reasons more related to the sensation of his lips on you.

“Does this remind you of a vampire, too?” Johnny murmurs, kissing his way up from the side of your neck to your cheek.

“You’re crazy.” You push his chest, though he pulls your arms to keep you close to him. “You’re gonna get us arrested for public indecency. Have you had enough yet?” You giggle, giving in to his efforts and wrapping your arms securely around his neck.

“Not yet,” he says, pecking your lips again with a smile. “Gotta make up for lost time.”

#nct 127 scenarios #nct 127 imagines #johnny scenarios #johnny imagines #johnny suh #nct imagines #nct scenarios #nct 127 fic #nct fic #ambw #ambw kpop #ambw scenarios #ambw imagines #johnny fluff #ambw fluff

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lovestrucked-again · 5 years

Text

Planes Pt3 - Shawn Mendes

Summary: Unaware of who the handsome boy seated next to you is, the two of you start talking…

Part 1, Part 2

You sit in your seat till the very end. Till everyone around you is slowly shuffling out, gossiping with one another still humming in excitement. The security guards are ushering people out as cleaners file in, collecting all the rubbish left behind. The security guard who led you in before comes to your aisle.

“Miss?” he says, signalling you out of your daze. You look at him, stand up and follow as he begins to walk back the way he came from. The corridors aren’t as busy anymore, people are chatting in groups talking about the successful night. You’re led back to Shawn’s dressing room and the guard knocks twice against the door before opening it and stepping back. Your stomach fills with butterflies and your head is buzzing with questions. You falter in your steps as you walk through the door, it was empty.

“Shawn will be here in a few minutes, his just talking with his manager.” The guard informs, “your welcome to take a seat and wait for him.” He leaves the room, shutting the door behind him and leaving you alone.

Your still in shock a little when your phone beeps in your pocket. Picking up your phone you see a notification from your mum but you ignore it and click into Instagram searching up Shawn Mendes. His account pops up with the blue tick icon beside it. 42million followers. Immediately you begin scrolling through his photos of his stages from the UK, Austria, France and all over Europe. The excitement and energy flickering beneath his eyes was mesmerising to you. So this is his passion.

“Hey,” You almost drop your phone in surprise before looking up.

“Hi,” you mumbled out. Shawn’s still dressed in his stage outfit, hair a complete mess but still managing to look just as attractive as the few hours before.

“Did you enjoy it?” he asks, sitting down across from you.

“Yeah, I did.” You sort of just stare at him, then the room, then your hands, then back to him, and back to your phone. Your eyes were darting everywhere from the build-up of your nerves.

“Sooo…. you’re a singer?” you ask

“Yeah,” He responds, and you nod. “Do you hate me?” The sudden question threw you off a little and you almost choked.

“Why would I hate you? I admit that I’m a little shocked but I don't hate you,” you quickly defend the idea.

“I’m sorry I didn't tell you properly but it was so nice just to be seen as a stranger.” You understood where he was coming from but now that you knew who he was, you were a little more self-conscious of your posture, your outfit, your words and everything else.

“You’ve got a really nice voice,” You say, realising that you haven’t commented on his performance yet.

“Thanks, it comes in handy when I’m trying to serenade someone.” He jokes, giving you a wink. You blush and awkwardly look away, trying to laugh it off.

“Shawn! Are you planning to wear your stage outfit home?! Come and change!” Someone yells.

“I’ll be right back,” he says. You take the chance to breath in as deep as you can and breathe out. You can’t help but smile and your stomach sinks in or at least, it feels like it. Your hearts still racing and you start to think about everything you just said, worried about your expressions. You worry that you laughed too much or looked too awkward.

“Do you wanna get some dinner?” he asks, walking back into the room.

“Sure, I’d love to!” You exclaim, suddenly standing up. And then you realise your standing awkwardly so you sort of just scratch your arm and play with your bracelet as his packing his guitar up.

“What do you feel like? Maybe you could suggest something since you know the area.”

“We could go to the city,” you say without thinking.

“That sounds nice.” Shawn replies. He knows that it’s technically out of bounds to be in the city whenever his on tour but he didn't want to risk ruining anything. So he chose to take the chance and hope for the best.

_________

“So this is what its’ like to be famous?” You laugh sitting cross legged around the table facing Shawn.

“It’s a hard job,” he chuckles, opening the pizza box and spreading out the food across the table. Fans had managed to find Shawn in just 30minutes once you both had left the arena which forced you two to go into hiding. Shawn offered for you to join him for dinner at his hotel instead to which you gladly agreed on. He was apologetic the entire ride saying how he wanted to treat you to something nice as an appreciative gesture for the night before. However, you weren’t dressed for anything nice so you were thankful for just eating casual.

“Are you allowed to do this?” you ask, “I mean like, should I be here?”

“Yeah why not?” he gives you a questioning look.

“Isn’t it bad for show?” You didn't know how to bring it up but you thought there was something more than just friends. Nothing serious but just something out of the ordinary. The hand-holding he always started which would make your heart race but thinking back now, he didn't really seem fazed. Maybe it was normal to him.

“Fans will probably assume I’m meeting with an old friend in LA if they see us,” he says casually. You nod in reply, keeping your eyes on the pizza slice in your hand.

“So what do you do here? Are you a student?” he asks.

“Yeah I’m a student in first year doing science and arts.”

“Ohh cool, I was never a sciencey student but definitely more towards the arts.” You both laugh a little. Eventually the food gets cold as your conversation continues about his music career, how he got into music, how you got into science and arts, and all the little details about your lives. You both moved from the floor to the couch, sitting next to each other and leaning against the backing as you talked. You got the chance to ask about his tattoos and he explained them to you. He turned to sit facing you cross legged on the couch, and you copied him. He showed you the tattoos on his hands last, grabbing your hands at the same time.

Your eyes scanned his tattoo briefly but took the opportunity to look at his hands. His hands were soft but slightly calloused. His nails were cut short and the veins on his wrists to the backside of his hands were prominent. You stop when you notice his watch. You notice the time on his watch. It was 3am.

“Omg it’s 3am,” you whisper, not realising you had cut him off mid-sentence.

“Oh,” Shawn says, just as surprised as you. You look up at him from his hands and he looks a little stressed, like his debating in his head. “If you want to, you can stay here the night,” he offers.

_______

You hear sounds in the shower and naturally curious, you lean against the door, ear against it. He’s singing in the shower. His voice was smooth and clear and quiet yet powerful. It was soothing. And I know you don’t commonly call a guy’s voice beautiful, but his was. You sit down on the floor, back against the door reading the one book from the bedside table and gradually you learn the tune, humming along with him. You hear silence for a bit but don't bother moving, thinking that his most likely changing or still occupied. The book you were reading turned out to be quite appealing and the short chapters felt like you were going through the book extremely fast.

“Y/N y-,” he opens the door and you fall back suddenly, dropping the book beside you. He tries to supress a laugh but lets it out when he sees you go red in the cheeks. His got a towel around his waist and water dripping down his hair to his body.

“I-I was just listening to you sing.” You stutter out, still on the floor. “I haven’t even tried charming you yet but I guess I was a born natural.” He chuckles as his giving you a hand to help you up. You smack him against the chest trying to defend yourself without words. If you said anything now, it would definitely embarrass you more. He laughs at your defence and walks over to his suitcase, pulling out a shirt.

“Here,” he says, chucking the shirt at you. “You can wear this after you shower, its clean.”

“Thanks,” you say before quickly disappearing into the bathroom. Your shower process is relatively slow in comparison to him. You wanted to procrastinate and rehearse all possible lines if things got awkward. You took the chance to text your 2 best friends about the situation, obviously not mentioning the guy was Shawn Mendes. They were like the angel and devil voices for you, one completely supporting you to just stay the night and ‘see where it goes’, the other telling you to go home immediately.

You slip on his shirt over yourself and it reaches down to your mid-thighs. You were debating whether to wear your denim shorts to sleep but seeing the length his shirt went to, you couldn't be bothered. You dry your hair roughly with the towel and you can smell the slightly vanilla scented shampoo Shawn uses. You keep a mental note of the brand and walk back into the bedroom. The lights are out already and you can make out his figure in the bed. Fuck this is crazy.

You walk over to your side of the bed and pull the sheets back slowly. You can’t tell if Shawn’s asleep but his completely still, facing the middle. You carefully crawl into the queen sized bed and pull the covers up to your chin. You face the ceiling, not wanting to seem creepy by looking at him or rude by turning away. How am I meant to fall asleep like this? You sigh internally and roll over to your side, back facing Shawn.

A hand lazily rolls over on your stomach and you suck in. He wraps an arm around your body, gently pulling you closer to his bare skin. Despite the unsettling nerves in your stomach, it flutters at the feeling of his body against yours. Slowly, you sink into the warmth of his body.

__________________

@gangofhoes @sweetcoldpeach @damselindistressanu @suckerformendes @to-the-road @maddigriffin @perfectywrong @thatpersonwithissues @thecraziestcrayon @bieberxmendes @wholesome-mendes @courage-means-angel-wings @kinglyhemmings @kaybee87 @sofjariv @marvelousmendess @shawnsassymendes @fanatic-af @marvelfanatic02 @sadsonofabich

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes cute #fanfiction #imagines

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crystaleyedgirl · 7 years

Text

6 minutes- Ch.2

Pairings: Daniel x Ophelia

Warnings: a sad daniel

WC: 1.1k

**********************************************

Daniel:

Sunday, August 5th 7 p.m: He looked at himself in the mirror breathing in and out slowly. He could hear the screams of his adoring fans faintly in the background, it's something he never really could get used to. He ran a hand through his light brown hair before taking one final glance at himself. He saw a familiar curly haired boy come up behind him "Are you okay?" he asked Daniel concerned as he tilted his head to the side slightly.

Daniel nodded his head softly "Yah, there's just a lot of people here tonight." he said offering a light smile.

"Don't worry Dani you'll be fine" he said placing a hand on Daniel's shoulder. Daniel nodded his head and followed the boy to what he could only assume would be the meet and greet. Jack Avery was Daniel's best friend in the band called Why Don't We, Jack was Daniel's rock he helped keep him grounded and sane during the craziness of the tour. The band was on their first national tour they had been to multiple different cities each more amazing and intense, tonight was no exception. They were performing in Denver, their tenth show in their nineteen show tour. To say the boys were getting tired was an understatement. Throughout the show, the boys noticed Daniel being a bit distant and not his usual out going and quirky self. The fans were also starting to take it into account, even Daniel himself felt almost out of place singing up on that stage that night. He tried to push back his feelings as he knew he owed it to his fans. The show slowly started to wrap itself up and it was time for the after party, after some amazing tunes brought to you by Eben himself Daniel was slowly starting to come back to himself, however, he still couldn't shake off the feelings that sat in the back of his head. Soon enough the show was over and Daniel couldn't be gladder, all he wanted to do in that moment was hop on the bus and cuddle into his soft blankets he wasn't feeling today in the slightest. As the boys climbed onto the bus Daniel headed straight to his bunk and flopped on his bed pulling out his phone. He scrolled through his twitter and began to cultivate a series of tweets.

11:01 p.m: Daniel • WHY DONT WE @seaveydaniel: Thank you Denver you guys were awesome!

11:05 p.m: Daniel • WHY DONT WE @seaveydaniel: been feeling some type of way lately :(

11:07 p.m: Daniel • WHY DONT WE @seaveydaniel: i miss you

Daniel through his phone on the other side of his bed and climbed under the covers as he pulled off his shirt and threw it in the ever growing pile on his bed. Daniel slowly closed his eyes and hoped that tomorrow would be better than today.

Ophelia:

Sunday, August 5th 11 p.m: Scarlet pulled her small rust bucket of a car into Ophelia's wide driveway. She parked it near the tall willow tree where Ophelia had her first kiss when she was fourteen. Ophelia still remembers that cold summer night that she shared with a boy who lived down the street, his name was Kai and to this day he is still one of Ophelia's very close friends. Scarlet and Ophelia sat in silence for a few moments soaking up the quietness of the night. Ophelia looked over at her best friend the pale light of the street lamp illuminating her face slightly. "Thanks for today, I had fun" she said smiling at the dark haired girl sitting across from her.

Scarlet smiled as her eyes focused back on to Ophelia "Anytime" she said giggling an playfully hitting her in the shoulder. "See you tomorrow and you better not be late this time!" Scarlet said as Ophelia made her way out of the car, she slammed the door shut and held up her middle finger as she climbed the steps to her house. She could hear giggles escape her best friends lips as she drove out of her driveway. Ophelia smiled to herself as she leaned her skateboard against the grainy exterior of the house; she fumbled around for her keys in her backpack, grasping on to the cool metal she unlocked her door and headed inside. Ophelia b-lined straight for her somewhat small bedroom on the second floor of her house. She slid off her shoes and hopped on her bed, taking out her phone asshe leaned her skateboard against the grainy exterior of the house; she fumbled around for her keys in her backpack, grasping on to the cool metal she unlocked her door and headed inside. Ophelia b-lined straight for her somewhat small bedroom on the second floor of her house. She slid off her shoes and hopped on her bed, taking out her phone as she had just received a text.

Scarlet

S: 9 o'clock tomorrow at my house! pls dont be late this time lmao

O: i make no promises Scar lol

Ophelia rolled her eyes, she couldn't understand how Scarlet could be such a morning person. But then again she and her best friend couldn't be more different. Ophelia was more of a tom boy she loved skateboarding, video games, and camping whereas Scarlet loved makeup, shopping, and puppies. Don't get Ophelia wrong though she loved all of those things too just not to the same extent of her best friend. Ophelia rolled on her back raising her phone above her head scrolling through Instagram and then through her twitter. She noticed Scarlet retweet a tweet from some random guy.

Scarlet Moore and 2 others retweeted

Daniel • WHY DONT WE @seaveydaniel: i miss you

Ophelia scrunched up her nose, 'who is this guy?' she thought to herself. She'd just have to ask scarlet tomorrow when she saw her. Ophelia stood up from her bed, walking over to her to her closet to grab a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. She quickly changed and hopped back on her bed pulling out her laptop and of course started to watch some pirated movies online. She pulled out her phone and went back on her twitter.

11:21 p.m: Ophelia Rose @opheliarosexo: Happy

She smiled as she typed those words, it was true lately for some reason she had just been almost content with her life and that brought her so much happiness. She placed her phone on her nightstand but not before setting almost five alarms. She really wanted to be on time tomorrow for once in her life. As the credits came rolling on the screen in front of her Ophelia closed her laptop and placed it underneath her bed, as she snuggled into her comforter; slowly beginning to fall asleep.

#wdw band #wdw imagine #wdw #wdw imagines #why don't we imagines #why dont we #why don't we #daniel seavey x reader #daniel seavey

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wsmith215 · 4 years

Text

On Behind The Racquet, Noah Rubin brings tennis players’ mental, emotional struggles into focus

“This sport has a way of making you feel irrelevant while at the same time giving you this sense of entitlement … Chances are if you were once ‘talk of the town,’ that will quickly diminish over time.” — Noah Rubin, Behind The Racquet

AS THE CLOCK crept toward midnight and the winds blew off the Mediterranean and into the Puente Romano Tennis Club, Noah Rubin hunted for an escape. It was March 2018. Rubin had just lost his fifth straight professional tennis match, a disappointing two-and-a-half-hour roller-coaster ride that was a microcosm of his career.

The grounds of the chic club, founded by Bjorn Borg on the Spanish Riviera in 1979, had long ago emptied. Groundskeepers had switched off all the lights except for the ones for the court where Rubin had just lost. Security closed and locked up the café. Rubin, more than 3,500 miles from his New York home, gathered his belongings and headed into the darkness. Four courts away, he found a set of empty cement stairs. He sat down. And began to cry.

Fifteen months earlier, there had been another walk, onto the famous blue court of Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena for a second-round Australian Open match against Roger Federer. Rubin threw everything he had at Federer that sweltering January afternoon. After breaking Federer’s serve in the third set, he instinctively pumped his fist and screamed “Come on!” The outburst irked the tennis great, and Federer stared through Rubin during the subsequent break.

2 Related

“I was like, ‘I pissed off Roger Federer,'” Rubin said. “How amazing is that?”

Rubin lost in three sets that day but won the belief he belonged. A little more than a year later, after this first-round qualifying loss on the ATP Challenger Tour, tennis’ version of the minor leagues, the swagger was gone, replaced by anger, embarrassment and a plummeting sense of self-worth.

“I just didn’t feel I was worth anyone’s time,” Rubin said.

The story is a common one in tennis. Young star tastes the big time but struggles to escape the clutches of the game’s proving grounds. It’s a grueling climb, one athletes rarely discuss publicly until it’s over. Their competitive shield is too thick, the fear of vulnerability too strong. Rubin believed he had the talent — and work ethic — to be a top-50 player and build a comfortable life playing the game he loved. But he couldn’t crack the top 150 and was barely breaking even.

“I could just sort of feel my soul slipping away,” he said of that night in Spain. “I just sat there thinking, ‘What am I doing that I’m so upset and so miserable on the tennis court?’ It was my lowest point. It was also a beginning.”

“People forget we aren’t robots. People see this fantasy world and guess that everything is kind of perfect. There are true struggles that each and every player deal with that are far more important than winning or losing.” — James Blake, Behind The Racquet

NINE MONTHS AFTER the disappointment in Spain, Rubin sat in his childhood bedroom in Long Island, jet-lagged from his most recent trip to the Australian Open. It had been another up-and-down stretch for Rubin. He temporarily numbed the pain of six straight losses with an August 2018 upset of fellow American and then-No. 9 John Isner. But he then began 2019 with a second-round qualifying loss in Melbourne.

“He was down on himself and struggling, big-time,” said Tallen Todorovich, Rubin’s agent. “He was this blue-chip recruit who thought he would show up and have immediate success.”

Noah Rubin defeated Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, among others, on his way to the 2014 boys title at Wimbledon. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

As the clock pushed past 3 a.m., Rubin scrolled through Instagram while watching “Inst@famous,” a Netflix documentary about social media influencers. He thought about “Humans of New York,” the social media project turned New York Times bestselling book profiling random New Yorkers blurred in the shuffle of the largest city in America. He wondered about applying a similar concept to tennis players lost in the pursuit of their on-court dreams.

The idea was simple, combining his passion for tennis, photography and journalism. Athletes would pose for a picture hiding their faces behind the strings of their racket. Then, in their own words, they would reveal the human struggles behind chasing greatness. Within an hour he had a name, “Behind The Racquet.” He quickly registered Instagram and Gmail accounts and purchased the URL https://bit.ly/2LKyq8l for $750.

On Jan. 19, 2019, Rubin posted the first picture for the project. It was a shot of himself, his face slightly blurred by the lime green strings of his racket. Below the photo, he revealed his greatest fear: letting down the people closest to him. It was an emotion he felt from an early age in a tennis-loving family. Rubin’s grandfather, a self-taught tennis star, passed the game on to Noah’s father, who put a racket in Noah’s crib when he was 1.

Noah’s dad was his coach early on, and Noah saw him lose work after his boss would give him an ultimatum about choosing the boy’s tennis tournaments over his work commitments. He saw his mom, who worked in education, sacrifice her summers to work at a local sports facility so Noah and his sister could receive free lessons. Then he saw his parents’ marriage fall apart. They divorced when he was 12.

“I always felt this yearning to pay my parents back,” said Rubin, now 24. “I would ask myself, ‘Am I doing enough for all their time and effort? Is all this worth it for them?’ Tennis is one of the most financially grueling sports. We were not wealthy. We were fine. But they used basically hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for this. That’s tough.”

To the outside world, it all seemed worth it. By the age of 7, Rubin was beating kids five years older. By 12 he was competing internationally as one of the top-ranked players his age. Then at 18, with his dad watching from the stands, Rubin won the Wimbledon boys’ championship. Lawrence Kleger, the director of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy, tagged Rubin the best player to come out of New York since McEnroe himself.

It all led to a young man growing up fast. A young man sitting in his childhood bedroom on that January night in 2019 still trying to process it all. His place. His purpose. An understanding of what happiness and contentment actually looked like. Why was the game he loved making him so miserable? He’d begin to find answers through sharing the struggles of others.

“Throughout my life, I was always the youngest to do things, which added hype that I didn’t want. … I was just lost. I was confused and overthinking if this was what I wanted or what others did. It took many moments sitting, thinking and crying.” — Coco Gauff, Behind The Racquet

IN THE 16 months since launching Behind The Racquet, Rubin has shared more than 135 stories while building a following of more than 40,000 people on social media. The posts have shown the human side of sport, shining a spotlight on everything from eating disorders and speech impediments to the death of a parent and battles with depression and anxiety.

“These are humans. They have pitfalls,” says retired American tennis star James Blake, who has contributed to the site. “It’s great for young players to get that perspective. In the past, it was all kept secret. But this will help so many realize they’re not alone. It’s OK. And it’s a positive to get help.” Blake believes the pressure in tennis and other individual sports is unlike any other.

“That’s why some of the best talent isn’t always the best performer,” he said. “Every tennis player can tell you about a guy who beat them in practice but couldn’t put together the results when it came time to perform.”

Rubin does the interviews for most of the posts, then paraphrases those conversations into the subject’s voice. In one of his early interviews with his friend Darian King from Barbados, Rubin discovered that King had lost his mom in 2010 to pancreatic cancer, which he did not previously know.

“I stopped the interview,” Rubin said. “I just felt so sorry. I felt like an awful friend. But it wasn’t on him or me. It was on everybody. There just isn’t a platform to feel comfortable talking about things like that.”

Noah Rubin has featured Coco Gauff, Madison Keys, Petra Kvitova and other stars on Behind The Racquet. Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

In early 2019, Rubin connected with Jolene Watanabe, who upset Jennifer Capriati in the 1997 Australian Open. Watanabe was fighting appendix cancer and wanted to spread a message of hope and resilience. Rubin planned to run the post a few weeks later. But then he received a message from Watanabe’s husband, Sylvain Elie. The couple had just returned from the Mayo Clinic, and the news was not good. Doctors told Watanabe she had two weeks to live. She was saying her final goodbyes. Elie asked Rubin whether he could put her on Behind The Racquet before she died.

“She was basically bedridden,” Elie said. “She wasn’t using her phone that much. I told her you might want to check Behind The Racquet. She was emotional about it. It meant a lot to her.”

Added Rubin: “Here’s this dumb idea I had jet-lagged, and it becomes one of someone’s final wishes. I can’t even compute and articulate what that means. If anything, it just shows I have to keep doing this.”

In April, L’Equipe, the daily French sports newspaper, included Rubin as one of six active players in its list of the 20 most influential people in tennis. The other five: Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams. The paper referred to Rubin as a “lanceur d’alerte,” a whistleblower.

There’s now a Behind The Racquet podcast, merchandise and long-term talks of a docuseries and a tabletop book. Rubin hopes to share the stories of athletes in other sports while also connecting with Talkspace, an online therapy platform, and developing mental health camps through the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

“It’s grown into something far bigger than I could have imagined,” Rubin said.

“It always affects me when people judge without any thought. It is one thing to argue but to think your opinion is the best never makes sense.” — Daniil Medvedev, Behind The Racquet

IF THERE’S ONE thing all professional athletes know, it’s that everyone has an opinion. For Rubin, it started with the passive-aggressive comments of neighborhood parents when he would miss a birthday or bar mitzvah for a tennis tournament. As a professional, it’s become the gamblers, who Rubin says reach out on social media with everything from “Your mom should die in hell” to “Hitler should have killed your people.” “The most racist, homophobic, sexist, anti-Semitic comments you can imagine,” he says. “It’s incredible.” Now the topic is Behind The Racquet. There are those who insist Rubin is complaining because he is not good at tennis, others who suggest Behind The Racquet is a distraction getting in the way of his tennis potential, and still others who insist just the opposite, that tennis is getting in the way of Behind The Racquet and his mental health work.

“Everything changes depending how I played that day,” he said. “I’m always like, ‘Just pick one, people.'”

Ignoring some fans’ wishes, Rubin intends to continue pursuing both his tennis passion and his work in mental health awareness. Barrington Coombs/Getty Images

For now, Rubin’s plan is to pursue both lanes. It’s become normal for Rubin to compete at a tournament and have a competitor tell him that he appreciates the site or that he’s thought about how he would share his own story.

“On the most basic of levels, it’s gotten people to think about these things, maybe even speak to others about them,” he said.

Rubin has spent the coronavirus pandemic back in New York with his girlfriend, practicing on the streets while using his free time to focus even more on Behind The Racquet. He says he has more than 30 interviews in his queue.

On a personal level, he has finally found a balance of happiness and contentment. His game is as strong as it’s been, he insists. And even when he does inevitably struggle, he has learned how to handle it better.

“It’s become an extreme form of therapy,” he said. “You have these deep conversations and begin to understand there is more to life than tennis. There’s more to tennis than tennis. And you can’t give up your happiness to get to the top.”

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babylon-bitch · 7 years

Text

Just Friends ~ At Least A Fake One (part 44)

Harper White is best friends with Luke Hemmings, they always have been. Not only is she friends with the rockstar, but with the rest of 5 Seconds Of Summer, as well as a really nice girl named Erika.

Harper has a few secrets, she can play all the instruments the boys play and many more. It’s a talent she has kept hidden, only very few people know.

What will happen to the six teens, wondering around the world together?

***

Luke’s P.O.V.

I’m a mess, everything I see reminds me of her, I would say she’s ruined everything for me, but I did that. All of these emotions I’m feeling, I am the main source. I can’t even look at myself without seeing her. Can’t listen to my favourite songs, can’t watch my favourite t.v. shows, can’t wear my clothes, can’t even fucking see my friends without seeing her.

Every time I go to listen to my favourite song, her face flashes before my eyes, and I get flashbacks of memories. When we were in some random shop in town, the song came on and we looked up at each other with a huge grin, then started dancing to it together, not giving a single fuck about the people around us.

Whenever I attempt to watch my favourite t.v. show, my mind goes back to the endless amount of times we’ve cuddled up together in my bed, the rain pouring outside, me playing with her hair, whilst watching it and just being content with life.

I go to put on some clothes, yet all I can think about is her laying on my bed, in just my shirt and underwear, scrolling through her phone and laughing at something I said or showing me some random photo from her camera roll. Her possibly telling me some anecdote from a memory we’ve shared. Us just chilling out and reminiscing, undoubtfully cuddling as well.

If I look at or even just hang around with the whole group, she’s there. Not in a hallucinating kind of way, just memories keep playing in my mind, good and bad. How I used to be touching her in some type of way, or she would rest her head in my lap, my fingers tracing random patterns on her sides, almost like a reflex.

A small smile adorns my face whenever these flashbacks happen, but then a wrecking ball comes and I slip into reality again, it feels like the wrecking ball hit me and my smile has been demolished.

I’m trying to find it again, or at least a fake one.

I’ve even got her fucking name tattooed on my body. I wonder if she will get her’s lasered off or covered up. I’m not gonna get it removed, she was in my life for such a long time, and she was so important to me. It’s not as if I get the piece of art removed, I won’t hurt anymore and it’s all forgotten.

I sometimes wish I never even knew her because then I wouldn’t be in so much pain. Then again, I’m glad I knew her, because she made me so happy and I’ve got so many fantastic memories with her. It’s bitter sweet really.

I haven’t seen her since the break up, I’ve seen her few tweets, and fan’s posts about her. I still have her post notifacations on, on all social media platforms. A few tweets here and there and one instagram post. They’re not any subtweets or anything to cause drama, she’s not into anything like that.

I’m pretty sure the boys or girls haven’t talked to her. They are very aware not to even mention anything about her, which I’m kinda greatful for, but I do want to know if she’s actually okay. We may not be dating anymore, but I still care a fuck ton about her. She might not feel the same way about me, but I’m okay with that. It’s always gonna be a painful chapter to tell, but I don’t regret the time we had together. I deeply regret the thing I did to cause this all, but our time together I won’t ever regret.

I told my family a couple days ago, they wanted to know why their son is an absolute car crash. They were honestly very shocked to hear, I guess it was the last thing they expected from us, especially me.

I keep constantly texting her, at least twice a day, it’s always a really heavy apology and just questions like how are you? Or solid statements where I tell her I’ll be waiting for her, wheather it’s days, weeks, months, or years. I’ve called her a couple of times, but they just go to voicemail, in which I’ll leave one whilst tears fall down my face, sometimes my voice cracks every now and then, my sobs interrupt my words. She probably can’t even understand what I’m saying at times, I just spill my feelings out to her, even though it’s very much one sided. I kinda find some sort of comfort in the fact I can just talk about what I’m thinking, it’s kinda like a diary. I know for a fact that she’s reading these texts and is listening to the voicemails, I’m not sure what kind of emotion she is finding in them, but I know she’s receiving it all.

I’m not sure if she is even still across the road, she might be in Africa for all I know.

“Hey, Luke.” A voice interrupts my thoughts.

Looking up, I see the whole group saunter into my house. “Uh, hey.” I sigh.

“How are you?” Maddie asks as she sits next to me, placing her hand on my back. “I’m fine, thanks.” I give her a small nod.

“Good.” She gives me a small smile.

“Where have you guys been?” I ask.

“We were round Erika’s.” Calum answers for everyone.

“Cool.” I nod.

“What have you been doing?” Ashton asks.

“Literally nothing, I’m just waiting till we go on tour again I guess.” I shrug.

“When is the actual date again?” Erika questions.

“Um, well it’s in two days.” Michael answers.

“When do you guys come home again.”

“I can’t quite remember but not for quite a few months.” Calum informs.

“Awe, I’m gonna miss you guys.” Erika pouts.

“Me too, Erika bear.” Michael coos.

“What about me?” Maddie whines.

“What about you?” Ashton questions.

“You’re fucking mean, Irwin.” Maddie moans.

“You love it.” He winks.

“Results show differently.” She mutters.

“Holy fuck, um Luke?” Michael nervously asks.

“Uh, yeah?” I question confusedly.

“Where is your phone?” He asks, trying to keep calm.

“Um, not really sure, my mum took it away from me last night.” I confess.

“Why did she take it away from you?” Ashton asks.

“I got too uh, upset, so she took it away from me so I could go to sleep.” I explain.

“Well, I-I’m pretty sure your phone has been hacked or something. Because, don’t hit me, but pictures of you and Harper have leaked, and some are quite uh, revealing, especially from you.” Michael confesses.

“Fuck, uh, where?” I sigh, trying not to panic.

Michael passes me his phone and I look at what it shows. Some update account, with the caption: looks like someone leaked they’re photos. Please don’t do this, no one deserves this. Love you both xx

The first picture is of Harper, she’s kneeling in front of a mirror, in some of my favourite underwear on her, and in my flannel.

The second one is of me, no shirt on and I’m just wearing my jeans, sporting a hard on.

I deleted all of the nude ones, from both of us, just some revealing one’s left. I’m just gonna be honest, she looks stunning, absolutely blindingly beautiful, I’m not gonna lie. That side of Harper is for only me to see, at least I wish that is the case nowadays, but now it’s out for the whole world to see.

“Fuck, I need to speak to her,” I huff and pass Michael his phone back, who passes it to Calum.

“Damn,” Calum laughs, “Harper is looking good.” Calum comments and I give him a death glare.

“Oh, sorry, you too Luke,” he snickeres and passes Michael’s phone to Ashton.

“I didn’t know Harper was capable of looking like that.” Ashton says in amazement and Calum and him high five.

“Say one more fucking thing like that about her, I will not hesitate to hit you.” I threaten.

“Sorry, man.” They apologise.

We may not be dating or in contact any more, but I’ll always be protective or her, despite the situation.

“Oh shit, Luke, they’ve leaked more, they’re not as uh… revealing. Here.” Maddie passes me Michael’s phone.

“Okay, geez, when can I have my phone back? Everyone has had a look now.” Michael whines.

I ignore Michael’s whinging and look at the newly leaked photos. It’s just a few selfies of us, one of us kissing, one of me kissing her cheek, her doing the same to me. Another one is just us swimming together a couple months back, she is clinging onto me whilst I’m swimming around. There’s one where we’re talking to some adult I can’t quite recognise, we’re listening intently, dressed up all fancy, one of my hands is on her waist/small of her back, and we look happy, despite still having a serious face on.

In all of them we look happy, genuine, happy smiles.

This all hurts too much.

“How do I stop this?” I question.

“I don’t know, Luke, but you should probably talk to her. I’m not sure where she is.” Michael tells me.

“Should I go to her house or is that too much?” I ask.

“Is she even still in Australia?” Erika speaks up.

“I think you should go over to her house and just get some confirmation on where she is.” Calum states.

“Uhh, but what if she told them what I did, and they don’t like me anymore?” I nervously question.

“It might be a little awkward, but I can’t see them being hostile to you, you’re like their fourth child.” Michael explains.

“We’ll wait here for you, bud.” Ashton smiles.

“Okay, uh, bye, for now.” I wave and make my way towards the front door.

I hear them all say bye and then start to talk about the leaked pictures. I pull my hood up and gently put it on top of my hair, part of my quiff is poking out.

Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I make the all too familiar trip to Harper’s house. As I walk up the driveway, memories flood my mind, all the late nights I’d help her sneak into her house. Trying to be quiet, but we’d just keep laughing, and I’d just have my hand on her waist the whole time.

Nervously knocking on the door, I wait for someone to open the wooden door. 10-15 seconds later, I hear the door open so I spin, being met by her mum. “Oh, uh, hey Lucas.” She smiles and pulls me in for a hug.

“Hi, Sarah, um i-is Harper here?” I ask, while playing with my fingers behind my back.

“No, she’s gone back to England for uni, she said that she had to be home by the 12th.” She explains.

“What? She told me she had to go back by the 19th or 20th or somthing.” I tell her and I see her sigh.

“Oh dear. Do you wanna come in.” She offers.

“I really need to talk to Harper, but thanks for the offer, Sarah. I’ll see you around.” I smile and give her a hug, before walking down the driveway.

“Bye, Luke.” She waves and closes the door.

I rub my face and let out a big sigh. She’s never gonna pick up to me, plus, she’s probably sleeping right now. What am I even gonna say to her? I’m sorry, our nudes leaked, bye?

I bet this is always nice to wake up to.

Making my way back towards my house, I open the door and close it behind me. “So?” Maddie asks.

“She’s gone back to England.” I huff. “She’s never gonna pick up to me, she hasn’t picked up or returned any of my calls of texts.”

“How about you call her on my phone?” Maddie suggests.

“Yeah, that might work. Has she talked to any of you since the break up?” I ask.

“No, not at all really, she liked my tweet the other day.” Ashton speaks up.

“Can I borrow your phone then, Maddie?” I request.

“Yeah, of course.” She smiles and pulls it out of her bra.

“Ewww,” I whine as I take it from her hand. “It’s still warm.”

“Love you!” She calls as I walk away.

I shake my head and go into her contacts, scrolling through names, some I recognise, some I don’t at all, until I reach Harper’s name.

My finger shakes as I hover over the little phone icon. This is my one shot to talk to her, I can’t miss it because I couldn’t bring myself to talk the only person I actually want to talk to.

Biting the bullet, I press it and bring the phone towards my ear, listening to all the in sync rings, until it gets to the final one.

I guess she’s not talking to the others either, she may be asleep though.

Making my way into my parent’s room and going into my mum’s bedside table, going through some random shit, until I find my phone. Walking out and going into my room, before laying on my bed. I turn my phone on and it seems to work perfectly, it’s a bit laggy at the start but other than that it seems to be fine.

Going into my texts, her name is on top of the list. It’s been in at least the top five, ever since I’ve had a phone. Holding the phone to my ear, I listen to the all too familiar rings.

“Hey, babe, I was kinda sleeping, but what’s up?”

My stomach sinks and it feels as if my throat has swelled up. Its been so long since I’ve properly heard her voice, only through YouTube videos and videos on my phone.

“Uh, H-Harper?” I stutter.

“Oh shit, fuck.” I hear her mutter.

“So um, I r-r-really need to talk to you.” I state.

“If it’s another f-fucking apology, I swear to God Luke.” She says.

“No, but I am sorry.” I slip it in.

“Luke,” she warns.

“Sorry, uh, have you got a minute to talk?” I ask, finally finding my voice.

“Well considering it’s the middle of the night, I’ve got loads of time.” She sighs.

“Okay, it’s not my fault, at least I don’t think I could’ve prevented it. When I was on tour, and we both needed some… content let’s say, they’ve leaked, so one has hacked into my phone or somthing.” I explain.

“So what you’re saying is that our nudes have leaked?” She way too calmly asks. “You clearly needed more than that though.” I hear her mutter and I roll my eyes, although I can’t disagree with her.

“Basically, yeah. I deleted the actually nude ones, there’s just pictures of us in our underwear.” I tell her.

“Why didn’t you delete them all?” She raises her voice.

“I don’t know, I didn’t think this would happen. Just have a look at them, it’s bound to be trending on Twitter.” I sigh, a harsh undertone on my voice.

“Give me a minute.” She huffs and I hear her shuffle, a cute little yawn escaping from her. Listening to the sound of the keys on her laptop and her sighing every now and then. “Holy shit, Luke.”

“You okay?” I ask, going into boyfriend mode.

“What do you fucking think, Luke? I have to actually face people at school, who you can bet your ass will see these. We have all these fans that will see this. It’s even trending Luke, number six on the list.” I can hear the panic in her voice.

“Harper, babe, calm down, so it’s a few pictures of us, it’s not the end of the world.” I tell her.

“It’s not the end of the world? They’ve invaded your privacy, they’ve leaked pictures us, and you come and tell me it’s not the end of the world. And now I’ve just seen they haven’t just put out our nudes but private pictures of us. What do we do? We obviously can’t ignore the elephant in the room, we need to tell the fans somthing, we can’t just leave it. This is all for you to deal with, you should’ve delete those pictures.” She blames.

“No fucking way, Harper, you can’t pin this on me. So you’re telling me you don’t have any pictures of us in your phone? Shows how much I mean to you.” I say.

“A picture doesn’t define how much somone means to you, Luke. I try not to look at my camera roll because it hurts too much. You’ve done this all yourself, all this mess, you fucking cheated on me, I’ve done nothing wrong. You’re going to tell the fans, about the pictures and that we broke up. I can’t keep getting all these comments about us on my posts, it hurts to see and I feel as if I’m going insane. You don’t have to tell them the reason why, but I can’t deal with this all. I wish this all never even happened.” She harshly informs and the line goes silent. “Do you regret dating me for nearly a year? Do you regret being best friends with me for 18 years? Has this all meant nothing to you? I’ve put my heart and soul into our relationship, so to say you wish this never happened is fucking low. I’m hurting as much as you are, you can’t just say those things-”

“Luke, you fucking cheated on me, how can you say you put your heart and soul into the now non-existent relationship? That relationship clearly didn’t mean a lot to you if you fucked somone else. I do wish this never happened, say what you want. If we didn’t know each other, I would probably be fine and happy, not hurting and down. You’ve caused all my sadness, all I wanted was you but you clearly didn’t want me, and now I wish I didn’t spend all my time working on a useless relationship for my whole life.” She cuts me off and my heart shatters all over again.

“Harper, listen, I’m so sor-”

“I don’t love me, and I see why you don’t either.” She says in a weak voice. “Bye Luke, maybe we were meant to be, maybe we weren’t.”

“Harper wait. No, I still love you.” I begin to cry and she hangs up on me. “I always will, we promised we would,” I whisper to myself.

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