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Finale Part 1- Pop The Question

2k words

Time never seemed to like anyone.

Which is why as desperately as you wanted to contemplate your raging emotions, schoolwork and sleep ate up the rest of the time you had left, and the next twenty-four hours flew by like a summer vacation, leaving you stuck in Jiyoung's chair while she curled your hair into little spirals, getting you ready for the big night.

"Hyunjin has already picked up Seungmin and they're on their way as we speak and- did you pick a barrette like I told you to?" She babbled on, glancing up into the mirror to see your downcast face. "Are you even listening?!"

"Huh?" You snapped back to reality, shaking your head slightly and wincing when the curling iron tapped your head. "Oh yeah, I picked the silver one."
"What's got you spacing out? You've been doing that all night," she asked, letting another curl fall to your shoulders before winding it back up with her finger.

There it was, that guilt knocking at your door again. You were supposed to be giggling and squealing over getting dolled up with Jiyoung, obsessing over lip gloss tints and eyeshadow, but here you were, worrying about things that you couldn't change. No matter how much you tried to take your mind off him, Minho kept working his way back into your mind, making your stomach twist with nerves at the thought of him.

"Just nervous about the dance," you answered, eyeing your dress across the room through the mirror. Jiyoung knew you were holding back what you were really thinking though, so she decided to probe a bit further.
"Are you nervous about...Hyunjin?"
"What? No," you laughed, meeting her gaze in the glass. "Why would I be nervous? The hard part is over, now we just go and have fun-"
"You aren't nervous that he might kiss you?"

"Jiyoung," you hissed, tapping your head against the curler and wincing again.
"Whaaaaaat? You were the one daydreaming about it a month ago," she cackled, releasing another curl from the iron.

Funny. You haven't done that in a while.

She fluffed your hair with her hands, letting the ringlets fall over your shoulders before bracing her hands on them.
"Did you still want it in an updo?" She asked, eyeing the mess of pins on her vanity. She already had her hair in a similar style, her dark curls held atop her hair with a sparkly pin.

"Actually..."

...

"...and I know Jiyoung wanted to have matching hairdos, but I tried it this morning and I don't think I look good with all of my hair up like that..."
So that's why your hair looked curled, Minho thought to himself, finding that he especially liked the way your hair played with the top of your blazer today.
"What about a half-and-half hairdo," he suggested, taking a swig from his water bottle.

"You mean like..."
You tugged a hair tie off of your wrist, keeping it between your teeth as you gathered the hair at the crown of your head, then using the band to tie the locks into a loose ponytail. "...this?"
Minho admired the look on you for a moment before clicking his tongue, leaning over to you on the bench.
"Maybe if you pulled some hair out to frame your face," he trailed off, reaching a hand out to tug some of the hair out of your ponytail.

Your eyes almost naturally fluttered shut at the feeling of him sweeping your hair away from your eyes, and then gently tucking a lock behind your ear, sending your nerves into a tailspin at the simple action.

"Yeah," he said quietly, "Yeah that looks a lot better."

He made the mistake of letting his hand linger there for a second, but then he didn't want to pull it away, and he had to force himself to drop his hand from there instead of letting it slide to your chin, and pulling you towards his face.