around you | nct

PROLOGUE

_

yoon chewed her lip erratically as she moved up the café line, making silent prayers in her head as she eyed the last strawberry pastry that sat in the glass case across from her.

two spots away, she thought to herself, surveying the pale blue head of hair in front of her. the girl in front of him collected her coffee and muttered a thank you to the barista before walking away from the counter, high heels clicking away in what sounded like music to yoon's ears.

one person left. please don't take the pastry.

the boy with the blue hair walked up to the counter, greeted the cashier and looked to the glass case. the strawberry pastry looked lonely in the otherwise empty case, all the other pastries and breads for the day had been sold out.

yoon awaited his order with baited breath, her heartbeat in her chest so loud she was afraid he would hear.

"can i get...a large americano with four extra espresso shots."

yoon released a sigh of relief.

"and a strawberry pastry."

"NO!" she screamed without realizing it.

the boy in front of her slowly turned to face her, his expression frozen in shock.

"wait! i'm so sorry. it's just, i've been craving that strawberry pastry all morning. i didn't mean to yell that, it was supposed to stay in my head." she rambled, face growing red from embarrassment. after the silence became too much for her to bear, yoon instead chose to look down at the shiny tips of her shoes.

kura and choa would never let me live this down, she thought, imagining the teasing she'd have to endure if they'd witnessed this in person.

suddenly a loud laugh interrupted her from her thoughts and she slowly looked up. her eyes were met with the sight of the boy now laughing, his bright teeth peeled in a grin as he looked at her with almost tears in his eyes.

it was only then that yoon realized how attractive he was. with his pale blue hair combed carefully on his forehead and soft features that were accentuated by his sharp jawline, he could definitely be an actor.

"you have it."

"huh?" yoon was shaken from her observations by the boy's voice. she watched as he turned to take the paper bag with the pastry from the cashier and shoved it into her arms.

"it's yours. have it." he repeated softly, swiping his card swiftly before tucking it back into his wallet.

"you really didn't have to," yoon says, her mouth already drooling at the prospect of finally getting to eat her beloved strawberry pastry.

"it's fine, my pleasure, really." he assures her, trailing away from the counter and towards the door.

"wait!" yoon calls, a lot more quiet than earlier.

he turns around, looking at her with a confused expression. "yes?"

"can i have your instagram?"

he blinks at her.

yoon realizes that he must have misunderstood her intentions and she began to shake her hand. "wait, no. i didn't mean it like that."

the boy cocked his head to the side, his expression blank. "mean it like what?"

"like i was hitting on you." yoon winces, aware of how embarrassing it sounded out loud.

he chuckled quietly. "i never said you were."

"anyway! i just meant that i'd like to repay you sometime, maybe we could get coffee."

he doesn't respond for a minute, his eyes hovering over her face as if debating on whether or not to say yes. "i suppose that's fine. give me your handle."

yoon releases a worried breath, how embarrassing would it be for him to outright deny her in front of everyone. especially after he paid for and gave her the last pastry. she gives him her handle and he types it into his instagram search bar before pressing follow.

"25k," he muses, "impressive."

yoon grinned at the praise. "thank you, i try."

his phone suddenly begins to ring, shaking them both from their conversation. he glances down at the caller id before sighing. "i really have to get going now. it was nice meeting you, songmi." he says, smiling at her apologetically before striding out the glass doors.