she grabbed his hand quick, dragging him away from the vending machine he was about to put his money in and forcing him to sit next to her in the lobby—which was empty because it was late. yuna actually was supposed to be in bed right now.
"do i really like him?" she asked bluntly, leaning back further into the soft couch. he seemed to know more than she did, and any more thinking might give her a nosebleed. this wasn't even the only issue, she's also been having an identity crisis lately.
they were at a senior's class trip to a small resort in the mountains. it might've been to give them time to think about what they wanted to do after they graduate—but that was at the bottom of the list of things on her mind. the number one was the fact that she thought she was crushing on her best friend's almost-boyfriend? she didn't know what to do, but luckily, there was someone who was listening—someone that was, strangely enough, easy to talk to.
"think about it," choi yeonjun, one of the chaperones for the trip said, "does he really make your heart beat that fast?"
he wanted to tell her—he really did, but he wanted her to figure it out for herself. hanging around people who struggled to say their thoughts and feelings made him perceptive, making it easier to understand what others were going through. that came in handy; he probably understood yuna more than she understood himself. funny, they've known each other for a while now but they've only really talked when he agreed to chaperone this trip.
okay, she'll admit it: he was attractive. she may or may not have had a "slight" crush on him, her friend's older, cooler friend—but he was a dream. you don't go out with dreams because they aren't real. he was old enough to chaperone after all. that wasn't a secret to him though; in fact, she had said it in front of his face once.
"i don't know?!" she exclaimed, confused. did it? she covered her face. "i don't know anything anymore..."
was taehyun really that great? well, for chaeryoung he is—obviously...
this girl, he realized after a moment of watching her frustration, was never going to get it unless he told her.
"quit the guessing game," she continued, shifting to face him better. "just tell me."
"it might be bad for me."
"why would it be bad for you?"
he sighed, running a hand through his hair. she might be a bit dense, but her strongest and most admirable point easily cancelled it out. at least to him anyways.
"you know," he started, giving in and successfully dodging her question, "i'm friends with people who have kind of a hard time expressing themselves—it's gotten better, but it still takes a lot to know what their thinking sometimes. it's probably why i can read you so well."
he smiled when she narrowed her eyes, obviously questioning if that might've been an insult.
"it's not that hard—you're an open book. so i can tell that you love chaeryoung a lot."
she was trying to look ahead to see where this was going, but it didn't work. if she loved her best friend friend, why did she like the guy she does? when had she started wanting what was hers in the first place?
"and i can see that you love her to the point where you're wanting to see what's so special about taehyun—to see what she sees in him in order to judge for yourself if he's good enough. that's why you caught yourself changing to see things the way she does," he continued, looking her in the eye this time when he finished:
"you love with your whole heart, yuna, and not a lot of people have the ability to do that."
the realization hit her like a truck, and her eyes were "almost" pooled with tears. not quite. there was a short silence where she carefully processed every word that came out of his mouth.
"...say it again."
"do you have hearing problems?"
"yes—yes i do. actually, say it twice. just in case my ears fail me again. say it in english too."
he chuckled, looking at her with something she had never seen before. her heartbeat began to pick up, and she realized something else:
"wait," she started, remembering his hand still in hers, "why would this be bad for you?"
a smile—the kind that was about to tease the crap out of somebody, the kind that you make when you know something, made it's way onto her face. her eyes lit up like a spark. he looked away for a moment with a flustered sigh.
"why do you get smarter when it comes to other people?"
"well why did you let me hold onto your hand this whole time? answer that first," she replied with a giddy smile, holding up their intertwined hands.
"i don't know..." he trailed off, averting his gaze again. he didn't fail to notice that he really liked the feel of his hand in hers, "i don't know everything—geez."
yuna held back the laugh when she caught sight of his slightly red cheeks.
"you want me to tell you??~ c'mere," she teased.
he stood up quick to leave when she stopped him, yanking him back down. she started laughing when he tried to use one of the cushions to wedge in between their too close faces.
choi yeonjun doesn't get flustered—he just doesn't. but over time, her flirty remarks had an increasing effect on him before he could try and stop it.
she was making a weird, over the top kissy face.
"kiss me—isn't that what you're supposed to do after saying something sweet like that?"
leaning forward, her lips met the cushion. hiding behind it was someone who had never been this flustered around a girl before. it wouldn't be his first kiss in the least. to distract her from noticing his red face—like it was going to work—he started hitting her with the cushion.
"go to bed!!" he exclaimed, ignoring her laughter. it was getting late and he might get in trouble.
soon enough, when she was sure yeonjun wanted to knock her out and drag her into her room, she convinced him to do something for her. a deal and an eye for an eye...
she tapped her cheek, pretending not to look at him and trying to hide her smile. she's smiled a lot today.
yeonjun sighed, doing his best to play this cool.
"fine," he grumbled, arms crossed. "you're going to bed right after."
she nodded her head in response, almost exploding when he kissed her cheek. he was still trying to play it cool, even when she gave him one in return. hopeless, but he was stubborn about it.
of course, they were too busy thinking about each other to sleep.
