Dreamcatcher Imagines

𝗴𝗮𝗵𝘆𝘂𝗻 | younger again

Reader Is: Same Age Non-Member
Categories: Fluff
Summary: The reader reconnects with her old classmate Gahyeon.

♡

It had been quite a while since Lee Gahyeon saw you last, but that didn't hold true the other way around.

The last time that she saw you, she had long black hair and a lot less piercings. She wore a plaid uniform skirt and modest top, often carrying a backpack as she brushed past you in the halls with a shy smile. You had dressed the same and were just as bashful, something that hadn't changed with your new bolder style. Around Gahyeon, you'd still be a giggling mess.

You were aware that she had debuted in Dreamcatcher. You still saw her on TV sometimes and heard her on the radio. Her angelic voice was just as you remembered, gentle smile just as beautiful – and it was still just as hard to think about her.

Every time, you kicked yourself for never asking her out when you first saw her. It seemed that your chances had disappeared the day that she debuted in the rock group. After all, why would a celebrity want anything to do with you?

Being around her in school after her debut was even harder than it had been when she was just a trainee. It felt like you were sharing something personal with the world – but she had never been yours to begin with.

Perhaps having the same hair color that you had in school was what allowed Gahyeon to recognize you, even after all those years, when you quite literally ran into her on the street one day. Whatever it was, you thanked your lucky stars that she remembered who you were.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she quickly apologized, stumbling apart from you. Then a gasp made you look up after fumbling for your falling purse. Her voice saying your name seemed to echo loudly in your ears.

"Gahyeon-ah," you replied softly. "It's been a long time."

"Too long," she asserted.

You had never been particularly close with Gahyeon during your school days. You were classmates, in truth nothing more than acquaintances. So, when she threw her arms around your neck and pulled you into a tight hug, it was safe to say that you were shocked.

Then you melted into her embrace.

Something about it was so filled with craving that you wanted to give her what it seemed that she sought: a moment transported back in time, a refreshed memory of childhood.

When she sighed against your neck, you knew that she had found it.

You fought a shiver that threatened to race down your spine at the feeling, trying to focus on anything but the way that her heartbeat felt as she simply hugged you in the middle of the side street that you were on.

You couldn't recall a time when you had been so close to Gahyeon. Had she always smelled so wonderfully, like vanilla and oranges that were reminiscent of a sweet summer day? Had she always been so tiny, snug in your arms? Surely, she had always been so beautiful, even with her new blonde waves and playfully youthful style.

When she finally pulled apart from you, she was sporting that signature grin you remembered so well. It still made your heart flutter to see, which almost saddened you. You weren't over her after all, yet she had completely moved on with her life.

Or so you thought, until she spoke. "I've missed you. I always regretted that we didn't get to connect much when we were in school. I guess that I was a little intimidated by you," Gahyeon giggled, covering her mouth with one hand shyly.

You were already doomed to stumble over your words thanks to her flustering sentiment, but they were suddenly taken right out of your mouth entirely.

The silver ring that you had given her at graduation – a gift that had taken all of your courage to hand over – still rested on the middle finger of her left hand, right where she had put it that day.