PHONING... Birthday.

PHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ birthday.

Over the years, you’ve become jaded of your dream to find a love that would provide a home for your heart. One chance encounter is enough to change those days forever.

જ⁀➴♡ wc 2k ✧ fluff , huening kai x reader

As a child, you would drift in and out of libraries filled with dead poets and their musky scent. Pages upon pages filled with musings of love long lost, only immortalized on those pages that began to yellow and fade with time.

Most people found themself drawn to poems about love, searching for the words to describe what they all longed for— true romance.

Unlike them, you often found yourself fixating on the books that held the passage of time. Maybe there was something that the authors knew, something that would make it all make sense.

You held them in your hands and breathed them in wanting so much to be part of their world. To understand and learn from them— to find something to fight for.

The books told you one day your poetry would be whispered on the lips of your lover, that time would slow and all that would remain was your love.

It was within these pages that you found yourself believing that was the only thing time could never take away.

With this came the yearning and soon your birthday wishes were replaced with something of a much heavier weight.

Overtime, you grew to dislike your birthday. It wasn’t always like that, though.

One year you would love it, others you would hate it.

One thing that always remained was the feeling of loneliness, even while surrounded by people smiling and clapping.

Somehow your birthday felt excruciatingly long but never long enough.

The existential dread that would come with facing the fact you were getting older and empty self-made promises.

The ritual of blowing the candles, the cutting of the cake— the mess of cream and sponge in your mouth.

Always your favorite, never changing flavors overtime because who was it for, if not you?

The taste was sweet and familiar, like a newly formed wish, fashioned from all the ones you've made before.

Cake began to be the only thing you looked forward to as you got older, until eventually you stopped eating it altogether.

You don't remember the wishes you made in sequence or the things you ask for.

You only recall the ones you wanted the most, like the f/c scarf you saw in a shop’s display window when you were thirteen.

The admiration for how perfect the mannequin seemed to wear it, partnered with a perfectly coordinated outfit.

How deeply you yearned to wear it as flawlessly as it had, maybe then someone would see you and fall in love just how you did in that moment.

How deeply you felt its’ absence when you sat and stared at the litter of torn wrapping paper, empty new possessions littered around as you waited for the next one— only for it to never come.

And even though it was trivial to everyone else, your heart ached at its’ failing.

You found yourself wondering what the cause of such heartache was.

The books said that the greatest heartache came from loving another soul, beyond any doubt or reason.

It was with realizing this, you called yourself lucky to have never been in love with anyone as much as you’d been in love with that scarf.

As long as your love was directed towards the minuscule things, you would be safe.

Yet deep down, a part of you still yearned for someone to look at you and convince you to take that risk. So you would try over and over again, despite the promise of heartache, to find what you wanted.

To have someone to spend your birthday with.

After all, what was more poetic than one’s birthday?

A day spent celebrating your life and your future, reflecting on the past and wishing for your future.

Or facing the inevitable end, remembering your final destination.

And even though it wasn’t death you feared itself, the idea of facing it alone seemed devastating.

Your wishes always changed.

Like the year you turned fifteen and your best friend's mother got really sick.

Despite all the stories your friend had shared with you about their relationship, when you found her breaking down at the news: you felt that heartache again.

All you wanted was for her to be okay again.

It was that year you learned that shooting stars were either a blessing or a curse, depending on what you wanted to believe.

In your case, for that year, it seemed to be a curse.

On your seventeenth birthday, you found yourself falling in love for the first time. Or at least, you thought so in the moment.

Walking out of your front door anxiously fidgeting with the bottom of your shirt as you made your way to his car, only for him to meet you halfway.

Standing on the sidewalk where he brought you red roses and a promising smile.

“Happy birthday.” He said.

When he broke your heart, you cried for days.

Many birthdays came and went.

One by one, you loved them and just as easily, they were lost to you.

Somewhere amidst the carnations and mistletoe you slowly learned more about love than the books ever told.

Love was messy and almost unattainable. Love was seemingly temporary, but inevitably painful.

Little by little, your heart that was once a bouquet of hope and ecstasy blossomed into one of tenderness and betrayal.

You wondered if you would ever be able to shed that loneliness that came every year, always the same day.

Then you met him.

Your meeting was clumsy and unusual, just like him as he flashed you a friendly smile and uttered a quick apology.

You stood in the doorway with the box of a now crooked birthday cake, dumbfounded.

It wasn’t until he waved his hand in front of your face and asked if you were okay that you had snapped out of it.

“I’m… okay.” Your voice was hesitant, unsure of how to proceed.

Everything in your heart yelled at you to keep the conversation going— to say anything to keep him here, in this moment.

“I’m not so sure about my cake, though.”

Looking down to realize the cake that was once decorated with intricate roses and beautiful cursive lettering was now lopsided and smudged, he furrowed his eyebrows.

“We should fix that then.” And he smiled, signaling for you to follow him back into the bakery the two of you had collided in front of.

The two of you had waited in the line to the register to explain the situation and see if there was any hope for you to get a quick replacement.

A face straight out of a magazine, it was a miracle you hadn’t recognized him. Longing glances and the sound of whispers nearby should have tipped you off but to you, everything besides his voicr was simply white noise.

Holding your breath next to the handsome stranger, you found yourself hoping that the line would never move.

“Huening Kai, by the way.”

“Huh?”

“I said Huening Kai, that’s my name.” His voice was patient and even bubbly.

“Oh.” Was all you could say.

“I really hope your friends’ birthday doesn’t get ruined— I should have been watching where I was going, haha…” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and you found yourself falling further into his boyish charms.

You felt much younger than you were, that feeling of your heart fluttering you only felt once when that boy had given you roses.

How special he must have been to give you that simply by smiling.

“It’s… my birthday, actually.” It took you a moment to admit and he must have noticed with how he nodded.

“Well, I hope I didn’t ruin your birthday then.”

“It’s really no problem, I’m not doing much anyways so… there really isn’t any need for you to get me a replacement.”

Pulling back on the idea, he seemed to pick up on the slight embarrassment you had.

“It was a beautiful cake, but it’s fine. Really.”

“A beautiful cake for a beautiful girl, right?”

The blood rushed to your cheeks and you swore you could have stumbled over from how lightheaded you became. And he simply laughed, quickly apologizing for his teasing.

“Haha I’m sorry, I just don’t know your name.”

In that line you stood, dressed in a messy accumulation of whatever clothes you could find in a rush out of your apartment and your hair tussled about.

You certainly didn’t feel beautiful but you found yourself believing his words, despite it all. Maybe you were the tiniest bit hopeful.

“Huh? Oh, it’s Y/N…”

“Right. Happy birthday, Y/N!”

You weren’t sure if he knew it then but in that moment, all of those wasted birthdays seemed worth it because you had endured them to get to that moment.

The moment he came into your life, the best birthday gift you could ever ask for.

Without even knowing who he was prior, Huening Kai was the first man you fell in love with, completely and beyond reason, beyond any shadow of doubt you knew. You finally understood was the books spoke of.

He brought you dandelions each date.

You asked him why, if he thought they were pretty.

“They’re as pretty as you~” He’d joke.

The real reason, you later found out, was so you would never want for wishes.

Even on birthdays, he began to bring you that weed.

Somehow, you found the weed more romantic than any flowers you’d been given before simply for the meaning behind it.

A secret meaning just for the two of you.

It wasn’t a long time before the two of you had given yourselves to each other completely, jumping in head first.

It was your first birthday with him.

You never explained to him your distaste for your birthday but it didn’t stop him from encouraging the two of you to celebrate together.

Until then, it had always been the same every year. As soon as the first match was struck, the smell of burning takes you backward through your memory.

It stopped you right at that moment on that warm night, after your first heartbreak where you watched the first trickle of melting wax hit the icing and you found yourself crying for the love you thought you had lost.

Now there you were, the wax melting ever so slowly again, pouring down to deface the beautiful cake he had ordered for you. Combing through your memory, you tried to find something to wish for.

Something new or something old, it didn’t matter.

But you couldn't think of a single thing you had wanted— because he was standing there, in the lickering light, asking you to make a wish.

Messy blonde hair in his face as he leaned into his hoodie with that smile, the one you fell in love with had you holding your breath in the candlelight.

You looked deep into his eyes and saw the very best of yourself reflected back, all with love.

And you knew: he loved you, beyond reason, beyond doubt, and with no hope of salvation.

You knew your being happy was an anomaly and no one knew you better than he.

But for once, your resolve was firm and without avoiding his gaze, without crossing your fingers behind your back; or the other things you did when speaking untruthfully—you told him you were happy.

On your birthday, warm in the candlelight where your heart felt as if it were floating away.

The rain doesn’t discriminate between day or night and either will hold its own light and dark, you had learned over the years.

Through years of crying in bedroom closets, office cubicles and club bathrooms: the rain never discriminates.

You smiled nervously, feeling almost guilty for not having a wish. Despite this, you blew out the candles.

But as you went to confess your strange lack of want for anything materialistic or otherwise, he cut you off in that same playful voice.

“I love you, Y/N.”

And it was then you knew in your heart, you would always look back on that time-not without a sense of melancholy— that it was the happiest in your life.

Birthday or not, it didn’t matter anymore as long as you were with him.

After that, he never pressured you to celebrate again.

Some years the two of you had your cake and others, when your anxiety of mortality crept up on you, the two of you would treat it the same as any other day.

Of course it was the same as any other day but not without the extra caresses and gentle ‘I love you’s.

Kai hadn’t completely changed you or somehow healed that broken part of you by gifting you dandelions and pinky promises but that didn’t matter.

And now this was the year you were sure you would spend the rest of your lives together. The two of you had fallen completely in love, for the first and last time with each other.

This year where there weren't any candles— just the two of you walking late at night through the city streets with your heart in each other’s hands.

How thankful you were that you had given yourself to the first stranger who called you beautiful on your birthday.

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ

PHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ ghost town.

Thinking back on the nights spent with you, Yeonjun realizes that he didn’t quite appreciate what you had until it was gone.

જ⁀➴♡ wc 1k ✧ fluff , angst

Yeonjun’s life was messy: this was something he became well aware of in the early stages of pursuing his career.

Similarly to his life, his mind had become a mess as well as he did his best to rationalize any situations he had to face to navigate through life.

At first, the last thing he wanted to do was meet at some company holiday party he hadn’t been all that interested in going to but had been dragged along by management anyways for the sake of ‘keeping up appearances’.

Catching each other’s eyes rolling in distaste, a smile made its way onto your face.

And anyone in that room could have seen on his face he was completely enamored by you. Outfit prim and proper for the occasion, soon to be ruined by a careless boy with wine he had never sipped from.

That's why he kissed you: he thought you were cool enough to.

At least, that’s what you had convinced yourself. Someone so captivating as him had given you the time of day and in turn, you’d given him whatever he wanted.

From that night on Yeonjun was sure that you were the one he’d spend his life with, but he wasn’t sure if you felt the same way.

Anytime he tried to bring up the question of your status, you shied away from his touches and laughed at the idea of any ridiculous proposal he could have made.

With time you became tethered together, tied in knots around each other’s ankles like cinderblocks.

The lingering question of just what you were hung over the both of you.

Not nothing, but something.

A new feeling that would never get old, never changing as time attempted to fade the two of you out. Because despite all odds: it was always the two of you in the end.

It was one of those nights that he was not altogether sure really did happen. There was no photographs, no receipts, no scrawled journal entries. No traces of you but the lingering scent of your perfume left to haunt him.

Just the memory sitting in his mind, like a half-blown dandelion, waiting to be fractured, dismembered.

Waiting to be picked apart and overanalyzed from front to back until there was nothing left to decode.

Waiting to disintegrate into nothing with the wind.

As he closed his eyes, the pictures played like a blurry montage. Instinctively he found himself humming along to the song you sang.

The lines framing your smile as you dramatically serenaded him, hands waving around wildly while thrashing in your seat. Absorbed in the music, some trashy synth pop and falling into your own world while taking nothing seriously in the moment.

What was a joke to you at the time was very serious for him, completely ignorant to the fact that he was falling in love with you that moment.

And he could see you driving for hours, the wind coming through the windows as you tapped along to songs and called out the strange sights you had seen.

The moniker of strange mom and pop shops the two of you would never stop to explore together. Alarmingly out of place mascots lining outside of chains that their designs never quite sat right with you.

Pointing at a lopsided display of a wooden carved penguin— a strange mascot for a cafe in the middle of nowhere, far away from the arctic and going ‘oh, Huening Kai!’ In the most amused tone.

All this while he just laughed and agreed, refusing to admit that he hadn’t been focused on what you were saying when you were just too breathtaking.

Until the street signs grew less familiar— the darkness that had overtaken you both with entering the tunnel and the one moment of silence the two of you had shared when there was nothing more for you to describe to him.

Where were the two of you going those nights? He couldn’t remember, maybe the destination hadn’t mattered that much in the first place.

When he finally opened his mouth to say something, some smug comment that he was sure would have you falling head over heels— you were already out of the dark.

The flickering lamplights gave away to stars as you confessed something.

“I missed you, Yeonjun.”

Those words alone had his throat running dry and for once in his life, he had been rendered speechless.

So he laughed, looking over to you in the passenger seat for a second— he swears just a second as he reached over, entwining your hands over the transmission and raising it to his lips as his eyes fell back to the road.

In his opinion, his lips never looked as good as they did when they were worshipping you.

Your presence made him feel helpless and lost, he would have it no other way. Driving down an endless path with no near destination in sight.

He found himself somehow liking the bumbling mess you had created out of him, letting his mind become completely misty in your company.

Mist should usually signal for some sort of danger, an impending doom or a mark of the calm before a storm.

The trust he placed in you, he allowed himself to get lost in you anyway.

Perhaps the mist never fully dispersed and this was why the memories were so cloudy, new parts seeming to insert and remove themselves with time.

Leaning back in his chair with an entertained smile, he sat across from you in that quiet, little cafe you had discovered. Your hands pushing the plates aside, reaching across for his.

The conversations you had about everything and nothing. And walking out of the door, hands ghosting against each other once more as you hesitated to say goodbye.

Not wanting to say goodbye and instead kissing you.

Pulling away only to lean into your ear, “wanna go for a drive?”

He remembered that.

‘One of those nights’ seemed to become every night spent with you. Nights that his mind still couldn’t be sure of if they were real.

His mind wondering if he was ever there at all in a moment so pristine, with a person and love so perfect.

Because how could you be real and still look at him with such love? Maybe it had all been some cosmic joke, maybe in knowing him you had somehow fooled yourself into thinking he was someone else. Someone who deserved your love.

But when he found himself thinking back on those nights sprawled out on your couch, entangled together as some movie played long forgotten on the screen in front of you— your voice had always pulled him back from the mist.

And in his heart, it is as though he never left.

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ

PHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ carnival.

Essentially becoming a shut-in due to your extreme fear of crowds, your friends are determined to take you out and show you how much fun things can be.

selected: [ kai's song.] replay? ✧

જ⁀➴♡ wc 1k ✧ fluff , humor , comfort

As you inch closer to the front of the line, the rhythmic clinking of the cars ascending and descending fills your ears.

Standing before the entrance, the worker looked at you expectantly before glancing at the boys behind you. You turned to face them and they all gave you an encouraging smile, each one as sweet as the one before.

“So, who’s it gonna be?”

Looking at each of them, it felt almost impossible to pick just one. The feeling that everyone was waiting on you made you even more anxious, the idea of annoying the people around you getting your nerves up even more.

“Hey, Y/N it’s fine. Take your time.” Taehyun commented.

The small smile he gave you was enough to have you letting out a sigh of relief. Turning your attention to Kai who had been fidgeting with his Molang you both had won earlier, you held out your hand to him expectantly.

“Kai, do you want to come with me?”

He seemed a bit surprised before flashing you a toothy grin and nodding, stepping towards you.

The two of you step onto the gondola, feeling a thrill of anticipation.

Kai wasn’t a fan of the fairground rides himself but considering the speed of the ferris wheel, he wasn’t as anxious as you.

The attendant secures the safety bar and gives you both a friendly nod.

With a lurch, the Ferris wheel begins its slow ascent, the ground falling away beneath you.

You blow air out that you had been holding in as you hesitantly let go of the bar and brought your hands up to your face.

“Do you want to hold Molang?” Kai offered, sensing your growing anxiety.

“Oh, for sure. Yes, I do.” Almost snatching the plushie out of his grip, you quickly took it and squeezed it.

He laughed, “jeez, Y/N. It isn’t going anywhere.”

As you rise higher and higher, the carnival below has its’ colorful lights twinkling like stars.

Unlike you, Kai finds himself focusing his eyes up towards the sky.

“Y’know, I had a dream about you last night,” he spoke up in a playful tone. You assumed that he was trying to help calm your nerves a bit.

Turning towards him with a small smile, you raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, yeah?”

“Well, us.” The way the word ‘us’ had rolled off his tongue so naturally made your chest tighten.

Maybe it was the fact that he had always been the one you felt most comfortable with, despite how much time you had spent with them all.

“In my dream you and I were standing on the surface of Jupiter's moon.”

“The moon? So, not even Jupiter? Isn’t that kind of strange?”

“Not really, maybe we’re just capable of reaching even bigger heights than others dream of.”

“Maybe… you’re so optimistic.”

“I try to be,” he paused for a moment, finally bringing his gaze down to the scene of the carnival with an unreadable expression. He almost seemed sad for a moment.

“I really admire you for today.” You searched his gaze as he faced you, seeing the sincerity shining through.

“Admire? For what?”

“You did really well today, I know you’re probably gonna say it wasn’t that big of a deal but it should be.” His voice was full of warmth and affection and you found yourself sinking back into the seat.

That weird, fuzzy feeling he always gave you returned and you couldn’t bring yourself to fight him on it.

“I… thanks, Kai. I’m kind of proud of myself, too?” It came out as more of a question and he frowned slightly. It had always been difficult for you to acknowledge your own small victories.

But then you smiled, “I don’t think I could have enjoyed it as much as I did without you guys.”

Kai felt himself grow more at ease with your words and your presence bringing a familiar comfort. With a yawn, he looked back up to the stars and brought a hand up to point toward the sky.

“…In my dream, we were floating. It was really weird but we were weightless, I guess. But we were free together.”

Just like before, the word together had you holding your breath.

“I think it showed me what I already knew, though.”

“What is that?”

His finger that was pointing at the sky had been brought down slowly, pointing towards the two of you in a back and forth motion.

“That we’re tethered together here, too.”

The drum in your heart seemed to be reaching its crescendo in the moment, feeling as if your heart was trying to jump out of your chest and climb in to hug his.

“Y-You think so?”

Kai nodded, a comfortable smile on his face. You found yourself focusing on the crease by his mouth and how much you liked it among all his other features.

Everything about him was so perfectly crafted.

“When I met you there was a feeling of… inevitability? Maybe I was hoping that there was, hoping for that moment when you would look at me in a certain way and we would be something more.”

“Did it ever come?” His eyes caught yours and saw the same hope reflecting back at him, motivating him to breathe out the words he had echoing in his mind.

“I think this is it, don’t you?”

The sounds of laughter and music drifted up to meet the both of you, mingling with the gentle creaking of the wheel as it turns.

“I… think so too.”

Even though there wasn’t any need to say it, even though there was already a mutual understanding, Kai couldn’t help but say what he had been waiting to for so long.

“…I love you, Y/N.”

“Really?” For a brief moment, he had worried if there was ever a moment he had made you feel unloved. Worried if he had ever given you a reason to doubt him.

“Truly. I think you were always meant to know me a little better than everyone else,” he started with a small laugh.

“And I think I was meant to make sure everyone else knows you too, because you’re something too precious to be hidden.”

Coming into your life, Kai was taught a love he wasn’t sure he would experience in his life— and he thought, there was a sense of ownership in knowing.

Kai had let you in and you claimed parts of him— unknowingly flying your flag over uncharted territory like the pioneer you had always been.

And in knowing him, you knew that the two of you melted into each other, from then onward ceasing to belong wholly to yourselves and instead sharing custody of the others’ hearts.

“I feel the same way.” Your heart had been going almost too fast for your mind to catch up, bringing the Molang plush up to your face as you let out a silent scream.

Kai laughed at this, tugging on it to pull it away from your face.

“You can’t look at me now?”

Your eyes met and all the embarrassment on your face was replaced with pure admiration seeing Kai with a backdrop of stars. How perfectly at home he seemed among them.

“I love you too… Kai, really.”

He hummed, poking your cheek. “I’m relieved.”

Suddenly he let out a nervous laugh, “really relieved, actually. I think I was more nervous about this ride than you.”

“Yeah, right..”

There was a moment for silence as the wheel began its descent, the music growing louder and louder as it went down.

A part of you wished you had the ability to freeze the moment forever, to stay with him.

“Y/N, let’s promise to go to Callisto in this world too. Together. Then our feet never have to touch the ground.”

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ

PHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ carnival.

Essentially becoming a shut-in due to your extreme fear of crowds, your friends are determined to take you out and show you how much fun things can be.

જ⁀➴♡ wc 4k ✧ fluff , humor , comfort , txt ot5 x reader

The carnival bursted at the seams with life under the moonlit sky. If your eyes had lost focus for even a moment it would fade into a kaleidoscope of lights over the bustling crowd.

The ambience was almost overwhelming to you, someone who didn’t know the world could be so loud outside of the safety net of your headphones.

Amidst the laughter and music, your group of friends had somehow found you waiting by the entrance pathway awkwardly. And suddenly, the scent of cotton candy and popcorn became the backdrop for your exciting night.

You found yourself anxious for what the night would bring, unaware of just how excited they were as well.

You, who walked the earth freely without your feet ever truly touch the ground. To anyone who passed by it seemed as if you floated by with the wind.

Many hands would reach for you but you, who were completely unaware, remained unanchored.

Belonging to no one, to nothing, to nowhere. Existing only in a world of music, your own little world.

It seemed that you only awarded your attention to people who you thought truly deserved it, so when you had agreed to go to the carnival with the group of boys they’d been ecstatic.

It had been a shock, in all honesty. Not for a lack of interest: you had been friends with them all for a long while, but you weren’t too keen on loud blowout events such as these and instead shied away from them. Your willingness to try and enjoy the night with them had them feeling grateful.

Soobin and Taehyun had been the most understanding initially, preferring much quiet nights in themselves with their own tendency to get annoyed by the recklessness of those around them.

Beomgyu understood but he had brought it up a few times before you had agreed, insisting that he would win you all the prizes on the fairgrounds if you came.

Kai hadn’t pressured you about it all considering he wasn’t a fan of the rides himself, not really wanting to go at all but tagging along to win some new plushies for his collection.

Yeonjun had bugged you, much more often than he would ever admit, but he couldn’t help it seeing as he just needed his best friend to come or the night would have been ruined.

Considering your distaste for these kinds of overwhelming events, you were fairly hard for the boys to make plans with. They were almost always busy doing something so when they did try to spend time together, it was usually doing fun stuff like this.

When they met you though, they were quick to recognize you for what you really were— a free spirit, a wandering star. Hard to pin down.

Yeonjun’s arm fit right on your shoulder like he was made to be there. And Kai’s grip on your sleeve didn’t feel like any extra weight, it somehow felt like an extension of you.

Taehyun’s laugh had become your favorite sound, along with the company of Soobin and Beomgyu’s constant teasing and bickering.

You grew to love your friends, any and all parts of them— you were sure that you would love them always, no matter where you were scattered throughout the galaxy.

And you had showed them what it means to hold something you can never really hold on to, always managing to slip away just in time before their confessions could stumble out.

“Looking good, Y/N! For someone who didn’t want to come you look like you put some effort in for me.”

His arm found its’ home on your shoulder as always, shifting his weight onto your frame and you rolled your eyes.

“For us?” Taehyun emphasized, waving to the other boys who followed.

Yeonjun’s eyes left you as he looked back at them and pouted out his lips with an annoyed look. “Eh.”

Confused, you gently pulled his arm off of you and turned to face him fully, leaning against the fencepost you stood at.

“I didn’t do anything different, you’re delusional.”

“Ignore him, he’s teasing you.” Soobin said before flashing you a small smile, hands placed in his pockets. “You do look nice though, like usual.”

Maybe it was the endless chatter of the people around you or the fact that said people who were rushing past you could probably hear the heartfelt compliments that had you flustered.

“Ah… thank you.”

Beomgyu fake gagged, hitting Soobin’s shoulder. “You guys aren’t subtle at all…”

Kai nodded in agreement. “It’s making me sick and I haven’t even had any cotton candy yet.”

Yeonjun’s eyes widened and he quickly waved at Beomgyu, “Eh— yeah and no way you’re gonna!” It was almost like he immediately entered himself as a substitute for their parental figures in that moment.

You found yourself hiding behind your hand as you laughed at his bewildered facial expression.

“Remember the last time? You spewed that junk all over me, I went back home looking like a troll!”

The topic of food had your mind wandering for a moment as you felt your stomach growl. Memories of going to fairs with your family as a child had hit you as you remembered what you used to enjoy before you shut away.

“…I’m kind of craving fried dough, actually.”

Taehyun turned to you, “we should get snacks, then.”

About to accept his offer, you nodded only to be cut off by Kai.

“No way, games and rides first and snacks later.”

Soobin shrugged, “why don’t we just get snacks halfway through the rides?”

Yeonjun let out an annoyed huff at your lack of attention, “yeah, yeah… fine. Let’s go.”

The six of you began making your way in, the colors bursting to life like a technicolor dream. In your opinion, it was all too much but the vibrant tents and swirling rides did pique your interest.

Taehyun snickered from beside you, “worried Beomgyu’s gonna get into a cotton candy coma again, huh?”

Beomgyu almost seemed embarrassed by what he was talking about as he turned to you with an expression of what seemed like mock offense. “It was’t that bad!”

“Tell that to my hair...” Yeonjun grumbled, nudging Soobin to switch places with him at your side.

“Whatever, your hairs fried to hell anyways!” Beomgyu said in a teasing tone.

Soobin gave Yeonjun a smile and instead turned toward you next to him, causing him to pout.

“Hey, why don’t we test our luck at the ring toss?“

You thought about it for a moment, glancing over at the tent to inspect the rewards. “For what? A goldfish?”

He shrugged.

Seeming as you ultimately came up with nothing of value from that tent, you turned your attention to the one next to it and smiled.

“Look, there’s a huge penguin plush. Kai needs it!”

Kai perked up at the mention of himself and looked over to the tent, eyes widening a bit at the size of the prize you were looking at. Despite that, he laughed.

“What? No he doesn’t, he’s practically drowning in th—“ you rolled your eyes at Yeonjun’s arguing.

“Wow, Yeonjun… don’t you want to make Kai happy? What if that penguin plush is the final one he ever gets? What if a meteor hits us right now? And we all die, sad and alone with no penguin to accompany us at our bitter end.”

You moved in front of the group of boys and grabbed Kai’s hand to lead him toward the tent.

“He doesn’t need it, Y/N. There’s a difference between need and want—“

“Okay, mom.” Beomgyu snickered and Yeonjun’s cheeks heated up out of embarrassment. All he wanted was to spend time with you, not do whatever this was.

“I do. I need it, or I’m gonna die.” Kai said, playing along with you. “Sad and alone.”

Putting on a panicked tone, you jumped back and pulled Yeonjun forward, pushing him in front of you as you shoved him toward the booth.

“Yeonjun!! He’s gonna die! Hurry, hurry! To the basketball booth!”

“Yah— Hey! Stop shoving me! And stop being so morbid!”

Next to you, Kai leaned on Yeonjun as he let out a dramatic groan. “Ugh… Y/N I don’t think I have much longer…”

Your eyes widened, “oh, no! Kai?! Nurse!! Nurse—!!”

Finally giving into your shenanigans, Yeonjun couldn’t help but crack a smile as he pushed Kai off of his shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. Just stop yapping, you’re gonna get us dragged to the medical tent before Beomgyu even overdoses.”

“I’m not overdosing this time!!” Beomgyu called out behind you three.

When the six of you reach the tent, you wait patiently for the other patrons to leave with their prizes before you stood, motioning for Yeonjun to go. “You’re not gonna try?” He asked.

You laughed, “yeah. No way. Never, actually. Never been good at sports, don’t even wanna try.”

“Y/N… the hoops right there. It’s not even that far of a distance.” Soobin said.

Shooting him a glare, you motioned toward the booth. “Fine then, you try.” He jutted out his lips for a moment as if in deep thought then shrugged, situating himself next to Yeonjun.

The carny handed them their first basketballs before activating the rig, the hoops suddenly moving across the board in front of them.

Kai shot you a look and you shrugged.

Yeonjun was fairly confident that he could get some in, considering that he was arguably the best out of them at basketball.

Even with Soobin’s height, he was sure he could beat him.

Unfortunately for Yeonjun, your cheers of encouragement found him a bit too determined to try hard and impress you and he completely missed each shot, losing to Soobin by one single goal.

One that only fell into the hoop because Yeonjun’s ball had hit it directly into it.

That definitely hurt his ego a bit.

“Ouch! Cringe shot…”

“Thanks, Beomgyu.”

“You’re welcome!”

“So… what was the strategy there? Just wild flinging?” Taehyun asked and Yeonjun just let out a nervous laugh. “I guess I’m just off my game today.”

“Well… guess I’ll die.” You giggled at this and turned to Kai, raising your fist. “We’ll get you one of them later, promise.” He smiled and bumped his fist with yours.

“Plus, it’s not Yeonjun’s fault. Soobin just has such good luck when it comes to games, right?” You asked, following behind them as they started to walk.

“Or I’m just the best!” Soobin called after.

The scent of fried delights and sugary treats was thick in the air once more, the smell of more savory things than sweet making you wonder if you were now approaching the actual food area.

The mechanical whirring of the rides had you raising your voice as you all talked, “what about that?” You called.

They followed your eyes to see a few game machines lined up, you making your way over there.

“She’s doing really well,” Taehyun said happily.

Yeonjun nodded. “She is, isn’t she?”

Standing in front of the carnival games "Whack-a-Mole Madness," you poked at the buttons before realizing you had to enter a quarter.

Embarrassingly enough, before you could scramble around in your bag, Taehyun had come up and inserted a coin for you. You smiled sheepishly and gave him a quick thank you as he nodded, moving to the machine next to you.

“I wanna try,” Beomgyu exclaimed, rushing to the machine on your other side. “Here.” Taehyun reached over you, handing Beomgyu a coin as he thanked him.

The three of you grabbed the foam mallet and the machine began to ding wildly, colors flashing as you were tasked with squashing pesky mechanical moles as they popped up randomly from their burrows.

It was fun for a few moments before you found yourself growing irrationally annoyed at the moles that you kept missing. “Teach them a lesson, Y/N!”

With each successful whack, lights flash, bells ring, and the mole retreats into hiding, only to pop up again in another spot. You were doing fairly well, or so you thought, until you turned to Taehyun to see him expertly wack each one back down with ease.

Your eyes widened a bit, “you’re so good at it?!”

He raised an eyebrow at you. “You think so? Here, I’ll help you—“ Taehyun put down the mallet on his machine as moles began to pop up all over, similarly to yours had while you’d been distracted.

Taehyun moved behind you but before he could grab your hands to show you, the two of you were distracted by a loud dinging sound.

Beomgyu threw the mallet down hard at the machine, whacking every single mole at a feverish speed. The dinging came as the time limit ended and he laughed loudly, throwing the mallet. “HAH! I WON!”

You laughed as he jumped back to the other boys, cheering as Soobin gave him a high five.

“Nice, Beomgyu!”

Satisfied with the bragging rights that come from being crowned the (unofficial) Whack-a-Mole champion of the carnival, Beomgyu kept the smile on his face as he dramatically spun on his heel to face you. “I think you know what this calls for.”

You raised an eyebrow at him but before you could ask, he cut you off. “Cotton candy.”

Yeonjun’s eyes widened, almost in horror. “Aw, man…”

Soobin snickered, “it was doomed to happen eventually.”

“Eh, whatever. His body, his choice. You’re gonna be the one giving him a piggy back ride when he complains about his stomach.”

“Nope. Not it. Kai.”

“What?! Why me?”

“Your piggy back rides are the best.” Soobin said in a matter of fact tone.

“So? Don’t sign me up for that.” Kai argued, though everyone was well aware that if anyone actually needed it, he wouldn’t hesitate to pick them up.

“I am a grown man.” Beomgyu said with a straight face.

“With the stomach issues of a teenage girl.” Taehyun added.

Soobin gently tapped you on the shoulder, causing you to turn toward him. The smile he gave you was so sweet, you almost lost your appetite for anything else. “You wanted fried dough, right? I’ll get you some,”

Growing a bit worried at your friends beginning to separate, you grabbed onto his sleeve. “You’re all going?”

He shook his head and laughed, ruffling your hair. “We’ll be back in a few.”

Scrunching your nose up in annoyance, you began to flatten it back down. Kai lingered back as they went off, not wanting to leave you alone.

Grateful for this, you grabbed his hand and gave him a small smile. He gave yours a squeeze in return.

The two of you trailed after the others just a bit to meet in the middle, stopping at a new game booth curiously.

Soon, the others returned to see you and Kai standing side by side, armed with water guns and a shared determination. The look on the two of your faces was priceless as Beomgyu took multiple pictures with an itchy trigger finger.

The two of you were too locked in, bursting as many balloons as possible before the clock eventually ran out.

The colorful balloons bobbing and swaying on the rotating platform, you were determined to make yourself up to the Carnival Gods.

You and Kai raced against each other, trying to outshoot and outscore the other.

When the bell signaled the end of it and the final balloon burst you happily threw the gun back onto the counter and cheered. The memories of your shared fun were cherished long after the last balloon had burst.

“Yeaaah, that’s it Y/N!” You didn’t have to turn to see it was Yeonjun who had always cheered for you. Suddenly you found yourself embarrassed by how freely you expressed your excitement.

Yeonjun stood munching on a churro with a panda plush in his hands that you assumed had been the reasoning for their prolonged return.

Soobin handed you the fried dough and you gave him a quick smile of appreciation before biting into it, the warmth elevating the taste in your mouth.

Turning back to the booth, the carny stood with an expectant look on her face and you felt your face heat up once again.

“Oh! S-Sorry! Um.. prizes, right.”

Your eyes scanned them all, unfortunately not finding the particular animal you were looking for. “Hm…”

“Molang!” Kai called out, pointing to exactly that. A single Molang plush tied up by the wire in the upper corner of the booth. “They’re trapped…” You said breathlessly before motioning towards it. “Yeah! Molang!”

She laughed, pulling out a stepping stool to untie it for you and handed you the giant Molang which immediately found its’ home in Kai’s arms.

The night went along like this, fairly smooth without many slip ups. The occasional bickering between members occurred as usual but it was all in a playful manner. You found yourself feeling eternally grateful that you had come out for this night with them.

Everywhere you looked, there were games of skill and chance, beckoning with promises of prizes and fleeting glory.

In a place where thrill-seekers and romantics alike lost themselves in the magic of the moment, swept away on a whirlwind of adrenaline and wonder: all they could do was focus on you.

It wasn’t as if the group didn’t know of their shared feelings for you, in fact it had become a common topic of conversation in the hangouts they all had in Yeonjun’s room.

They all liked you: that was obvious to everyone but you.

What was even more obvious, though, was the fact that they couldn’t all confess to you. That would be much too overwhelming and confusing so rather than doing that, they all agreed to stay friends with you until they got their own moment.

Even with their feelings for you, they refused to argue over you. Besides some small jealousies here and there, they still loved each other dearly and refused to let any feelings ruin their friendship with their brothers.

Finally, it was time for the rides.

Striding towards the towering roller coaster, a mix of excitement and nervous energy coursed through your veins.

Yeonjun must have noticed and he nudged you, “it’ll be okay.”

You wanted to believe that but seeing how he himself had nervously gulped, you gave him a deadpanned expression and hoped that the ground would open up and swallow you whole.

The line snaked its way through a maze of metal rails, each twist and turn bringing you closer to the heart-pounding thrill—or rather, the fear awaiting at the ride's entrance. The distant screams of riders echo through the air, heightening the adrenaline.

Soobin seemed to pick up on Yeonjun’s inability to comfort you and made his way over from his place beside the line.

“I can sit with you if you want, Y/N. That way you can hold onto me if it gets too much.

The thought of clinging to him, as embarrassing as it was, did seem comforting.

As if clinging to him would somehow keep you grounded hundreds of feet above the ground.

Considering Soobin wasn’t initially going to even get on the ride, you tilted your head slightly. “Are you sure?” He just nodded with that same smile. You found yourself admiring his teeth.

Eventually, it was your turn to climb aboard. Taking your seat in the streamlined car, you felt the unfamiliar click of the safety harness locking into place, securing the two of you for the adventure ahead.

“It’s really not all that scary,” it almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself now and you wanted to laugh.

“You’re already high off the ground so obviously it’s not much for you.”

He raised an eyebrow at you, shooting you a judgmental look. “I’m not that tall.”

You rolled your eyes, “sure.” Beomgyu reached from the car behind you, grabbing onto your shoulders which caused you to jump as you turned back to him.

Half expecting him to make a joke about the situation, something about the railway coming undone or something. Instead he gave you a gentle smile, similar to the one he would give you at the end of a long day. One filled with comfort.

“You got this.” And somehow, you believed him.

The attendants give a final thumbs-up, and with a jolt, the coaster lurched forward, leaving the platform behind. You instantly closed your eyes as you felt a rush of air hit your face and the butterflies overtook your stomach.

As the coaster began its ascent, the world fell away beneath you, the clatter of the tracks drowned out by the pounding of your heart.

“I cannot believe you guys got me on this damn thing.” Finally prying your eyes open, you turned to glare at Soobin finding him already shooting you that goofy smile with those irritatingly cute dimples.

“It’s not our fault you’d do anything for us!” He called out.

With each passing second, you climbed higher and higher, the anticipation building with every foot gained.

“Plus, who would want to miss this view?”

At the peak, you paused for a moment, suspended in mid-air, taking in the breathtaking view spread out before you.

And you wanted to argue back, tell him that you regretted getting on the ride and regretted coming altogether. But you couldn’t because as you looked down at all the neon lights flashing in the darkness and how beautifully they blended together, you realized he was right.

The sight was beautiful, but it was even more beautiful because you were seeing it with them.

The wind rushed past, tugging at your hair and clothes, as you braced yourself for the exhilarating descent.

And then, with a sudden plunge, you were off, hurtling down the steep drop at breakneck speed. Your screams quickly turned into laughs that mixed with the others.

The world blurred around you as the coaster twisted and turned, banking sharply around curves and rocketing through loops.

Despite your fear being overtaken by joy, you still found yourself clinging to Soobin’s arm as you laughed. His face held a strange look of pride and admiration for you— not that you had looked to notice.

The force of gravity had you both pinned you to your seats, adrenaline coursing through your veins as you surrendered yourself to the wild ride.

As the coaster finally screeched to a halt back at the station, you found yourself breathless and exhilarated, a wide grin plastered across your face.

The rush of adrenaline was still coursing through your veins as you and the others stepped off the ride, pumped up and ready to take on whatever thrills the carnival had to offer next.

Approaching the carousel, it greeted you all with the enchanting melody of its whimsical music. You found yourself drawn closer with each playful note.

It was certainly a step down from the roller coaster but you still insisted on going on it. They didn’t bother to argue, just glad you were enjoying yourself.

“This is like going on the zip line and then going straight to the teacups.” Beomgyu commented as you inspected the vibrant carousel horses, each one adorned with intricate details and bright colors.

“Don’t be a hater. I just want to admire their ‘timeless dance’.” You said jokingly as you pointed to them simply moving up and down.

“We can just make a ‘timeless dance’ by ourselves,” he argued, grabbing your hand and you shook your head, pushing him back from you gently with a laugh.

As you all stepped onto the platform, the air was heavy with the scent of freshly painted wood. You chose a random white horse, running your hand along its smooth surface and felt the cool, polished wood beneath your fingertips.

In truth, you mostly wanted to ride the carousel to admire the art of it. It’s true that you had a fear of these dramatic rides but this was the exception, it was something nice and sweet that reminded you of your childhood somehow. It felt nostalgic for all of you as you all climbed aboard.

With a graceful sweep of the floor as everyone lifted their feet to stabilize themselves, the carousel began to spin. The platform beneath your feet started to rotate, and you leaned your head on the pole you clung to, turning to Beomgyu.

“I think I might fall asleep on this thing.” He said.

“Thanks for coming, anyways.”

He paused for a moment at the sincerity in your voice, looking you over as you blinked anticipating his response. “Nah, no way I can sleep now.” He said simply.

“Not when you look at me like that.”

Pausing for a moment as his words hit you, you brushed it off with another laugh as you hid your face in your hands and turned forward to the others conversing as they rode.

Around and around you went, rising and falling in time with the music, the wind whipping past and you found yourself laughing.

The cheerful chime of the carousel's music box almost sounded like a symphony.

You caught glimpses of the carnival unfolding around you: children with sticky fingers were clutching oversized lollipops, couples stealing kisses beneath the twinkling lights, and families laughing and smiling as they shared the magic of the moment.

It made your heart swell as you came to realize exactly what you had been missing and how lucky you were to have friends to help you come out of your shell.

And then, all too soon, the carousel began to slow, bringing your ride to a gentle stop. Slightly disappointed, you furrowed your eyebrows together.

Beomgyu excitedly jumped down and held his hand up for you to grab as you climbed down.

In that moment, a sense of contentment washed over you, lingering like the fading strains of the carousel's music.

With a smile on your face and a skip in your step, you stepped back into the bustling carnival, carrying with you the memories of the ride.

You all stepped into the queue for the Ferris wheel, anticipation hanging thick in the air. The towering structure loomed above, spokes reaching for the sky, promising a bird's-eye view of all the chaos below.

Looking up, you found yourself growing as anxious as you were excited.

“Huh…?” While staring, you realized that the ferris wheel had only seated two people, like the roller coaster.

Unlike the roller coaster though, the seats were separated with quite a distance between each other, meaning that you and whoever you sat with would be alone.

For some reason, your heart jumped at this. The idea of being alone with someone so close.

“There’s only room for two people?” You asked, even though you knew the answer.

Taehyun laughed and nodded, “you didn’t know?”

Frowning, you shrugged. “I thought that maybe it would be one of those big ones that sat everyone…”

He shook his head, “sadly not.”

As you inch closer to the front of the line, the rhythmic clinking of the cars ascending and descending fills your ears.

Standing before the entrance, the worker looked at you expectantly before glancing at the boys behind you.

You turned to face them and they all gave you an encouraging smile, each one as sweet as the one before.

“So, who’s it gonna be?”

[Choice 1: Soobin.] ★ [Choice 2: Yeonjun.] [Choice 3: Beomgyu.] ★ [Choice 4: Taehyun.] [Choice 5: Kai.] ★ [Choice 6: None.]

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ

PHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ Café au lait.

A new face visiting your favorite café haunts you for days afterward as you imagine what could have been if you’d said anything. Little did you know that he was experiencing just the same.

જ⁀➴♡ wc 2k ✧ fluff

There was this man who drove you crazy— a man that you knew absolutely nothing about aside from the way his eyes widened behind the rims of his glasses and the dimples he had when he smiled at you.

This man who drove you absolutely mad, to think he saw you— as his eyes passed over you and if only there had been some small mishap in that pivotal moment.

A spilled drink, a stumble through the door—his hand reaching out to steady you and it would have happened.

In the perfect world in your mind, it happened.

And in this perfect world, a whole new world would have opened up like a vortex to swallow you both into blissful delirium. The smile he gave you would be one of pure love and in that moment, in his mind, everything had clicked— you were the one he could never let get away.

But that didn’t happen. Instead, you turned away, out of shyness or indecision and by the time you turned back to stutter out an introduction, he was gone.

The first and only time you had ran into him, you were in a rush to leave carrying a tray of drinks for you and your friend as your phone continued to buzz in your pocket with questions of your whereabouts.

Barely holding onto the tray in your arms, one side tucked under your chin for extra protection you reached into your pocket to check the screen.

(11:35 AM) Na-gyung ♡: Tourney starting soon!!

There, stumbling about in frustration as you attempted to unlock your phone, you failed to realize the tall figure walking directly towards you.

Instead of the two of you walking into each other and causing a head-on collision outside of this quiet cafe, the worker behind the counter quickly took notice of the impending incident and cheerfully called out a warning.

The two of you looked up from your phones, startled and locked eyes standing right in front of each other.

His eyes cast down towards you and he gave you a small smile, weaving around you with a quick apology as he made his way to the counter to place his order.

His eyes kind behind thick rimmed glasses, you somehow had decided in that moment that those eyes were the ones that you wanted to wake up to every morning.

How ridiculous you were to believe in love at first sight.

Unlike him, you stood for a moment mentally cursing at yourself for almost running into him. And then mentally screaming at yourself for how attractive you found him.

Berating yourself for how desperately you wished that worker was instead focusing on the bubbling foam in their hands rather than the chime of the bell.

Later that day, you tried to explain the encounter to Na-gyung as she gave you a small laugh and a dismissive wave of her hand while reaching for her coffee.

“Sounds like you missed your ideal man… sorry! That’s a bummer, Y/N. But hey, at least you have your café au lait.”

There was no way to explain it without sounding completely unsound, you were sure of that as she put her headphones back over her head with a laugh and straightened her back, focusing her energy to the game she was playing for.

Too distracted by the man you had seen then, you sat back and watched the colors flashing on her monitor, mind drowning out the chatter around the both of you.

There was no way to explain it and yet, it was all you thought about.

That click you felt when your eyes met his, like the switch of a train track, transporting you for one miraculous moment, to what could have been.

Even though the ride to the convention hall had you drowning in imaginary scenarios with this man you knew nothing about, wondering if it was some sort of cosmic sign— reality was quick to intervene and with a shake of your head, you told yourself to stop chasing shadows.

Thoughts of him popped up every now and then, passing faces on the street that seemed the slightest bit familiar had you turning back.

You wondered if he had thought about you too, conveniently giving yourself an excuse to wonder about him more.

Giving yourself the benefit of the doubt and allowing yourself to imagine that this stranger had fallen as deeply into you as you had him.

You were sure what you felt was real— and you found yourself subconsciously always listening for that click.

Imagining it was the sound of your fate beckoning or somehow the voice of your destiny.

Eventually, you decided that it sometimes would only call once.

Meanwhile, Soobin leaned against the wall of the practice room, doing his best to steady his breathing after the intense choreography the group had to endure.

“Tired already?” Taehyun asked with a slight amusement to his voice. Soobin shot him a glare and he just laughed, patting him on the shoulder.

Yeonjun seemed relieved that their practice was over as he made his way to him, wiping some sweat off of his face.

“You’re not too tired to go out, are you?”

Soobin shot him a look as if to ask if he was insane, his heart beating out of his chest. The five of them had been practicing almost everyday between any scheduled appearances or meetings that they had, barely affording them any time to go out.

Normally, Soobin didn’t mind being busy as much using their fans as a source of encouragement or energy but these days he found himself growing a bit resentful at this busy schedule.

Not for any particular distaste for his job, he was forever grateful to be where he was and do something he was so passionate about.

It was because of you.

Whoever you were, that was. He’s seen thousands of faces, some more memorable than others but none as indelible as you.

The split second that he saw you, the bell chiming behind him as you both froze in front of each other at the call of caution.

The brief eye contact and the way your eyes widened as he gave you a small, awkward smile.

And though the moment happened in a flash, for him it felt as if time had frozen altogether and in that split second he had memorized every feature of yours a million times over.

He found himself thinking back to you, wanting to see you again for whatever strange reason.

Soobin had gone back to that cafe a few more times after that, never finding you but somehow always feeling as if he had just missed you.

The perpetual motion of a spinning ballerina trapped inside a music box.

The gentle tune of a piano, delicate fingers pressing down on every key.

A complete stranger who had made the most devastating impression on him simply from existing.

You were the zigzag in his straight line, something new thrown into his life to keep him on his toes.

The absence in his direction.

Anytime the bell would chime, any greetings called would fall on deaf ears as his eyes scanned the area only for him to be faced with the slight disappoint.

“Excuse me for asking but— you always seem like you’re looking for someone.” The girl behind the counter said hesitantly as she worked to make his drink.

Soobin looked up from his phone beside the counter, eyebrows raising a bit in surprise.

Then, his cheeks heated up with the embarrassment of being caught in the act of daydreaming.

“Sorry! I wasn’t trying to call you out or anything— actually, there’s this girl that comes here too around the same time so I was just wondering if…”

She paused, focusing on placing the top securely onto the cup.

Soobin opened his mouth to answer before a yelp sounded behind the girl, the boy behind her calling for as he quickly grabbed paper towels from under the counter.

“You— seriously, Jake?! The milk frother again?!”

The girl handed him his drink with a rushed apology behind spinning on her heel and going to help the boy who gave a nervous chuckle, standing back from the mess to let her take over cleaning.

Since then, Soobin had gone back whenever he had the time hoping that it was you.

Overtime, reality began to sink in as he found himself questioning why he had gone back in the first place.

If he saw you, what would he even say?

“Yo! Earth to Soobin,” Yeonjun shoulder checked the taller boy, successfully bringing him out of his fit of disassociation.

Beomgyu snickered, “he’s probably daydreaming again about cafe girl again.”

“Was not—” the defensive tone was clear to all of the guys as they shared knowing glances toward each other and Yeonjun just laughed as Soobin shrunk into himself.

Letting you slip up one day in a conversation with him, Beomgyu hadn’t let him live his infatuation down.

It wasn’t that he thought it was childish— even though they both knew it was, he was simply entertained to see Soobin so passionate about a stranger.

There was a few times Beomgyu had gone himself, searching the patrons for someone who fit Soobin’s description of you but none seemed quite perfect enough.

“Well, whether you were or not… I’m feeling like an iced americano. Why don’t we go to that cafe that you’re definitely not obsessed with?”

“Very smooth, Yeonjun.” Taehyun added.

That was how he found himself walking in, his members trailing behind him like some sort of posse.

The large cafe now felt much smaller and he began to realize just how much attention they had garnered being so close together.

The chime of the bell behind him went unnoticed as he engaged in conversation with his members tiredly, running a hand through his now freshly washed hair.

“I’m not saying that you’re an obsessed loser, what I am saying is—“

“Uh, Soobin—”

“I’m not obsessed, it’s just— actually, no. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“Have to? No. Do I want you to? Well, yes!”

“Soobin—”

“I gotta side with Beomgyu on this one, I never thought of you as some hopeless romantic, y’know? Your dedication is definitely cute, though.”

“What? I’m not— it’s not cute, it’s just… I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just—”

“Soobin—!”

Growing annoyed at his older friend’s bickering and blatant ignorance of him, Kai finally nudged Soobin to gain his attention and motioned toward the line they had previously occupied.

Begrudgingly, Soobin’s eyes trailed to where Kai had pointed only to freeze for a split moment.

And all over again, he remembered exactly what you were.

You were every turn taken when racing through a hedge maze, against the setting sun.

You were the tide that came in and out, like the breath of the wounded. The blood that flowed between his heart and head.

The book that was not yet written, the sentence that was not scripted.

You were the words he wished he could have said that day.

There tiredly rubbing your eyes, you gave your order and stepped aside with eyes cast down as you typed away at your phone unaware of the people around you.

Unaware or uninterested, he couldn’t tell. What he could tell was how exhausted you seemed, yet even in that state you were just as distracting as ever.

Maybe it was just because it was you.

And how you were standing there, in front of him. After slipping just out of reach so many times, he was finally looking at you again— and you were so, so beautiful.

All those times he thought about seeing you again, thinking over everything he could say and only coming up empty at the thought of your eyes alone.

Finally in front of him— no longer a sad reflection of a dream once lost, he realized why his heart had sent him to search for you in every street.

He realized he didn’t want to go a day without your smile. Without telling you things and hearing your voice back, no matter what you said.

Then, that first day searching for you had arrived and with it, the disappointment. It was so damn hard but the next was harder.

That sinking feeling of disappointment every time he had walked in was gone— it had gotten worse, and he was convinced he wasn't going to be okay for a very long time.

To experience all of this over a stranger, he was sure he had gone completely mad.

To lose you wasn’t an event— it didn’t happen once. It happened over and over again, every time he scanned for you in those walls only to come up with nothing but the lingering scent of your perfume.

He lost you every time his eyes trailed that familiar menu; knowing in his heart his order would never change.

Standing and studying it to buy some time as if that would somehow will you to appear behind him.

Whenever that one song he remembered from that day played on the cafe’s playlist, or when he would hear that bell chime all over again.

To lose you— to lose something that was never his in the first place.

But he wanted you to be. Without any rhyme or reason, he felt like he had to find you and never allow himself to grieve the loss of you again, if you would allow him to.

Always going back to that moment of brief eye contact and that ‘click’ he had heard in the back of his mind, as if all the gears in his heart stopped working— only for that split second.

He lost you every time he thought of kissing you, holding you, or wanting you.

Going to bed at night and wishing the two of you were walking down cobblestone streets instead, wishing you could tell him about your day.

Wishing he knew your name and aspirations, what small habits you had that he would grow to love like he had grew to love the scent of that cafe.

Simply for the fact that your memory— and in turn, you, existed within those walls.

“Order for Y/N?” The familiar voice of that one employee you never seemed to remember the name of— embarrassing, considering how often you had occupied the cafe— rang out and you paused your typing, looking up with a smile only to find someone else had grabbed your drink.

Your eyebrow quirked up in irritation, already exhausted from a long day as your eyes followed to see who dared to grab it out of your reach only for your heart to skip at the sight.

Those same glasses, that same smile.

Now he stood in front of you, holding out your drink of choice with that same small smile he gave you the first time you had ran into each other and you could have sworn you had seen the admiration you only dreamed of.

Maybe you weren’t crazy to believe in love at first sight, or maybe he was just as crazy as you were.

“Café au lait?”

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ

PHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ carnival.

Essentially becoming a shut-in due to your extreme fear of crowds, your friends are determined to take you out and show you how much fun things can be.

selected: [ soobin's song ] replay? ✧

જ⁀➴♡ wc 1k ✧ fluff , humor , comfort

As you inch closer to the front of the line, the rhythmic clinking of the cars ascending and descending fills your ears.

Standing before the entrance, the worker looked at you expectantly before glancing at the boys behind you. You turned to face them and they all gave you an encouraging smile, each one as sweet as the one before.

“So, who’s it gonna be?”

Looking at each of them, it felt almost impossible to pick just one. The feeling that everyone was waiting on you made you even more anxious, the idea of annoying the people around you getting your nerves up even more.

“Hey, Y/N it’s fine. Take your time.” Taehyun commented.

The small smile he gave you was enough to have you letting out a sigh of relief, though the beating in your chest was still as fast as ever.

“Um… Soobin!” You said a bit loudly, almost like a cheer.

“I win!” Soobin said causing Yeonjun to roll his eyes with an annoyed huff, watching as he made his way toward you.

The ride attendant quickly got the both of you situated and gave a thumbs up before moving onto the next passengers.

With a lurch, the Ferris wheel began its slow ascent.

As the ferris wheel raised, Soobin sat comfortably, seemingly without a care in the world and you couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

His calm demeanor was a contrast to everything around you, the excitement of the lights below taking up your attention.

Even though he was introverted, he did so well at huge events like these. You’d almost be jealous if you didn’t admire him so much for it.

Soobin’s eyes were focused on you, your eyes sparkling with the reflection of the colorful carnival.

“What can you see?” He asked.

“What do you mean?” You turned to him, only to find him staring at you with a look that almost seemed like he was lovestruck.

Rather than answering his own question, he looked down and began retracing your footsteps throughout the night over the landscape, as if he was following a map.

In truth, all he could see was remnants of you.

In the gentle sway of the carriage, he nudged you, pointing down toward the carousel the group had previously been on.

From high up, it looked so small yet you could still hear the gentle chimes if you focused hard enough.

And if you closed your eyes, you could still see all the small details on that horse.

“I’m really glad I came with you guys,” you started swept up in the moment.

The lights down below began blur with a magical glow over the shared space.

“I’m glad that you’re here, especially.”

Soobin’s eyes widened a bit behind his glasses as he fixed them with a smile. “Yeah?”

Maybe it was the enchantment of the lights down below or the stars above, but your mind had been yelling at you to come clean to him in the moment.

The scariest part of the moment wasn’t him but how unwaveringly certain you had been in choosing him.

“I like you.” You mumbled, words carried on the breeze between you.

In the moment of vulnerable honesty, he responded with a hum.

“Well, I love you.” His voice was nothing but kind and certain. Your eyes widened, quickly turning to face him in surprise at the sudden confidence.

Soobin laughed, his admission breaking the serene silence as you were carried higher, above the world below, over the rainbow lights.

“You had to one up me?” You asked, nervous if he was joking.

Soobin gave you an almost judgemental look, sensing your apprehension in believing him.

“I'm not asking for a grand declaration of love back. If you just like me a little, that’s fine.”

Embarrassed, you looked away. He smiled, putting his arm around your shoulder, pulling you in closer.

“I'm not asking for promises or tenure, I just want you to know that you’re the hand I reach for at my breaking point.”

In the way he wanted to become your home; you had become his island. A place of solitude he could wander to when seeking comfort.

“I reach for you too,” you started quietly. “I think you’re just better at words than me, but I do love you too..”

“I’m not good at words, at all actually.”

“Dude, you just recited like… some romantic poem or something as a confession!”

Soobin stared off into the distance, lips jutted out slightly in thought before he shrugged.

“Hm? I don’t think it sounded like anything too special, it was just the truth.”

Burying your face into his shoulder, you refused to look at anything else as you sighed.

This made him chuckle again as he began pointing things out to you to get you to look down.

The small sights of couples play fighting and your friends conversing down below somehow calmed your aching nerves.

In truth, it had been to calm the both of you down.

Even if he did a good job at not showing it in the moment, the internal freak out he had on ground in the wake of being picked by you had shook him quite a bit.

Not that he would admit it, the last thing he needed was you making fun of him.

Regardless, the words he had been waiting to tell you for however long had finally been spoken, a wave of contentment washed over him.

Soobin, who would always speak your name with gratitude, knowing it was the mantra of his soul.

Forever grateful to know you in any way you would allow him.

The man who would leave markers for you at every turn so if you had ever gotten lost, you would know where to return to.

Soobin who could find pieces of you in everything that caught his breath.

Somehow, you had never felt more loved than you did at this moment.

“Y/N, you’re special to me in ways that I can’t describe. You are love at its most inexplicable.”

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ