STUPID CUPID ✶ choi soobin

eight.

the two 19-year-olds walked side by side, the occasional laugh coming from one of them as they walked towards yumi's apartment building. wooyoung looked down at their hands, which were only centimeters apart, trying to find the courage within himself to just intertwine them. come on, he thought to himself, man up and confess already. what do you have to lose? with a sad glance down at her smiling face, wooyoung sighed quietly, our friendship. i have that to lose.

"hello?" yumi waved a hand in front of his face in hopes that it would bring him out of his thoughts. "is anyone in there?"

"oh, sorry," he apologized, before returning his quiet state again.

"what's on your mind?"

noticing that they were getting closer to her apartment building, wooyoung turned and placed a hand on her shoulder, "can i tell you something?"

"yeah, what's up?" yumi smiled to assure him that he had her full attention.

"to be honest, i-" he blew out a breath, trying his best not to avoid her eyes, "i- uh-"

please tell me he's not going to confess, yumi bit her lip in anticipation, her eyes growing worried.

"i lo-"

her phone began to ring, cutting wooyoung's potential confession off. quickly grabbing her phone and holding it to her ear, yumi answered, "oh, soobin!" thank god for soobin.

"when are you coming home?!"

yumi could barely hear him over the blaring noise in the background. pulling the phone from her ear slightly, she asked, "where are you? it's so loud."

"i'm at home, silly!"

slowly turning to look up at the floor where her apartment was, the sight she saw made her jaw drop and eyes widen in horror. on her floor, lights were flashing, people could be seen on her balcony. random people, who she's pretty sure she's never seen before, considering yumi only knows maybe three people at most in seoul.

hanging up the phone, she ran into the building, leaving wooyoung by himself. he watched her until she disappeared behind the glass doors of her building, then stuffing his hands into his pockets while releasing a despondent sigh. there's always next time.

yumi nervously bit at her lip, a bad habit she had picked up back in high school, as she rode the elevator up to her floor. once the doors opened for her to step out, her blood ran cold. there were people everywhere. and from what she could see, they were all pouring out of her apartment. as she walked into her house, that was after struggling to get passed the gross couples and drunkards standing in the hallway, yumi felt all of the things she did to try and calm herself down had gone down the drain.

stomping up to where the music was plugged in, yumi ripped the plug from the wall, causing everyone to stop and look around in confusion.

taking the silence as her chance to end the disaster, yumi said in a low voice, "everyone. out. or i'll call the police." at first, no one made a move. they all just stared at yumi, who's anger was rising as the seconds went by. "i said GET OUT!"

everyone began filing out, and within two minutes the apartment was only occupied by the two who actually lived there. entering the living room, soobin adorned a pair of sunglasses as he danced around, "yeah- wait, where'd everyone go?"

"are you insane?!"

wincing, soobin frowned deeply as he quietly looked down at yumi's fuming face. she looked so angry that you could practically see the steam pouring out of her ears.

she pinched the bridge of her nose in hopes that it would relieve the raging headache she had. "what made you think this was okay?" he still didn't talk, and instead let his head hang low as he was scolded, "are you even listening? take those glasses off─"

soobin slowly pulled down the glasses, which revealed his teary eyes and slightly wet cheeks. "i'm sorry, i- i just wanted to throw you a birthday party.. i thought you would like it."

yumi looked away, her heart immediately clenching in her chest. look what you did, yumi. you made the poor boy cry, her heart argued, but her mind quickly retaliated, well, he shouldn't have trashed the apartment. "why in the world did you think i wanted a birthday party? and what's more, one with a bunch of people i don't know?"

"i promise i didn't mean anything bad by it─ i asked my boss how to throw a birthday party, and he told me to invite as many people as possible," soobin explained, his tears coming down more and more, "i really didn't mean to make you mad."

"i'm not mad─"

"yes you are."

"i just want to know why? why did you want to throw me one?" yumi asked, her voice exasperated as she gestured around the apartment.

"because," was all yumi heard, before soobin mumbled the rest of his sentence.

leaning closer, yumi furrowed her brows, "huh?"

"because, i like you!" taking a step back, yumi's eyes widened. "i wanted to make your birthday perfect and unforgettable. i guess i only achieved the latter." when yumi hadn't said anything, soobin spoke up again, "so?"

taking a couple more steps back, yumi shook her head, "you don't."

"i don't?"

"i'm going to pretend i didn't hear you," walking towards the hallway, yumi only looked back once more to say, "please clean up this mess. that can be your birthday present to me." soobin flopped onto the couch, with his hands over his face. now that he thought about it, this entire idea did really seem stupid. he couldn't believe he thought a recluse like yumi would enjoy something like that. after a few moments of sitting silently on the couch, a small voice called out, "soobin?"

"hm?" he quickly stands up, facing the direction yumi's voice came from.

"thank you," she blew out a breath and offered a tight-lipped, yet genuine, smile. "i appreciate the thought."

soobin nodded, returning the smile, though it was a bit sad, "happy birthday, yumi." after she turned to leave, his smile slowly widened. there's always next time.