Friends Who Seem Like Lovers • Day6 • Jae x Reader

BONUS #1

December, 2017

Jae was sitting right outside the fitting room, slouched low in a chair, leg spread wide, head leaned back, his eyes glued to his phone screen. As you pick up the black dress lying over the stool beside you, you take a deep breath, heart pounding with excitement. 

After three hours of dragging Jae all over the mall in search of the "perfect" outfit for the music department's Winter Senior Awards Ceremony, you had finally found the dress you were looking for. The dress that would transform you from a plain, behind-the-scenes, side-story character to more of a leading lady. And you already had someone in mind to be the leading man. 

As you slip the dress off the hanger, the silky black material rustling against your palms, you call through the curtain.

"Jae, do you remember if I still have those black stilettos Ji-eun let me borrow, or did I give them back to her already?"

You don't have to see Jae to know that his eyes have never left his game as he calls back to you. 

"Nope, you asked me to grab them for you last week, when I had to go back to the dorms to get my laptop. Pretty sure you gave 'em back to her already."

"Huhh," you sigh. That meant  before getting the jajangmyeon you had promised Jae for being your sidekick today, you were going to have to make a small detour to buy a pair of shoes. 

As you step into the dress, a long off-the-shoulder piece with a slight mermaid cut, you bite your lip and stare at the mirror apprehensively. When you'd first spotted the dress in the display window you stopped in your tracks, admiring the way it hung on the mannequin seamlessly. The cut was classic, just revealing enough to be sexy, but still classy. And the fit accentuated the small, less pronounced curves of the model perfectly. 

As you tug up the zipper and settle the material off your shoulders expertly, you're excited to see the same transformation take place. Giving yourself a sweeping glance starting from the floor and gliding up to your face, the smile lifting your cheeks immediately freezes in place. 

Whereas, on the mannequin, the dress fit snugly, contouring the plastic body in a way that was flattering, on you the dress simply looks limp and baggy. The neckline shows off your shoulders, but due to the disappointingly small size of your chest, you appear more like a little girl playing dress-up than a nineteen year-old college student trying on a formal outfit. To sum it up in one word, the dress looks horrible. 

Disappointment filling your chest, you tug the dress off, stepping out of it quickly. 

"Are you coming out or what?" Jae calls. "After dragging me all the way here, aren't you at least going to show it to me?"

Pulling on your jeans and tugging on your vans haphazardly, you rip open the curtain and tear out of the dressing room at lightening speed. Jae looks up and immediately jumps to his feet, stuffing his phone in his pocket hastily as he takes in the stormy expression on your face.

"Woah, Kaila, what's wrong? Where are you going?" he asks, his voice laced with concern.

"We have to go. Now!" you say marching through the store. 

Jae runs after you, his long legs bringing him in-stride with you in no time. 

"So, I take it the dress didn't fit," he says tentatively. You throw him a dirty look which causes him to raise his hands defensively.

"Okay, sorry, just asking. But I still don't understand why we're leaving. I mean, there are tons of dresses here. Don't you still need one?"

"No, I'm not buying a dress," you say stubbornly, continuing to surge forward at a quick pace. "I'm not going to the stupid awards ceremony. I'll only end up embarrassing myself because I forgot something," you huff, "I'm ugly." 

"What?"

Jae dodges in front of you, turning to face you so that he's blocking your way. As you come to an abrupt halt he places his hand on your arm and leans forward to search your face.

"You're ugly? What the heck are you talking about? All day you've been so excited for this, and now you're not buying a dress because you're ugly? Well, that's completely false, so how about you tell me what's really up." 

You turn your face away from him, your frustration building. But you know Jae well enough by now to know that he's not going anywhere until you tell him what you're really thinking. Sighing, you lift your eyes to his, feeling both embarrassed and relieved as your thoughts tumble from your lips. 

"It's just, I thought this was finally going to be it," you say quietly. "I thought that if I could find the perfect dress it would make me stand out, and Sungjin would finally notice me. Everyone in our major's going to be there. There's no way I stand a chance if I look like this," you say gesturing at yourself. "I mean, even though it's kind of dumb, all girl's want a Cinderella moment at least once."

As you speak Jae is nodding his head, but when you get to the word "Sungjin" you can see him visibly tense up. After you're finished he looks up the ceiling, letting out a big sigh before his gaze returns to you.

"You know that everything you just said is absolutely insane, right?" he says matter-of-factly. "I mean, I'm not a look-alike with Seon Joong Ki, but if you think I'm gonna let that stop me from attending something I've been excited about for weeks, that's crazy," he says seriously. 

"Kaila, who cares what Sungjin thinks? If that guy doesn't give you the time of day then forget him. You're worth twenty of him--no make that an infinity-- to me," he says gazing at you intently. 

As you bite your lip, nodding your agreement slowly, your anger from before gives way to a hollow feeling. Jae grabs your hand, turning around so that you and him are once again facing the same way. 

"Come on, let's go get something to eat," he says softly. 

The next morning you wake up to a knock on the door of your dorm room. Stumbling out of bed, you look outside and find a bag hanging off of the handle. Inside you find a box, and on top there's a photograph. The photograph is a picture of you from a month ago, early in morning when you met Jae at your favorite cafe. Your hair is piled on top of your head in a messy bun. Your face, without any makeup, is stretched in a wide grin as you laugh, holding up a stack of pancakes with blueberries the same color as your navy sweatshirt. 

Flipping it over, you smile as you read the words written in Jae's scratchy handwriting. 

"I like you best like this. You're beautiful enough to go to the Awards Ceremony in sweat pants, but just in case, my friend from the theater department said you could borrow this."

Opening the box curiously, you pull out one of the most beautiful dresses you've ever seen. And somehow, even without trying it on, you know it will fit. 

A/N: This is part one of the six bonus chapters I'm doing. Some are from the past, and others are a bit more ambiguous in their timing. Anyways, I hope you enjoy them. And if it's your first time reading and you find things too confusing, feel free to skip the bonus chapters or just read them at the end :)