NCT Imagines (Requests Open!)

Embers of Envy (Yuta)

Having a crush was so stupidly painful.  Whenever you developed a new one and told your friends, they got excited and promised to cheer you on, of course.  They would exchange glances with you whenever he was around, and initially you'd feel bubbly and weightless inside.  But after a month or so, those feelings faded and were replaced.  Your crushes were slow burns that controlled your emotions for half a year minimum.  The person that once made you smile eventually made you sad and wistful.  The crush you had once celebrated was now something you'd come to dread, and it tore you up inside.  

"I should have never gone to that event with him," you confessed to your cousin Hana who lived halfway across the world.  She was studying abroad, which made talking hard due to the time difference.  Yet, she knew your tendencies when it came to romance and always offered an ear, no matter what time of day.

"You can't let these feelings take over you, Y/N.  You're engaged," Hana reminded you.

Engaged.  The step right before marriage.  Just hearing the word sent shivers through your body because you couldn't imagine spending the rest of your life with someone you didn't love.  All because a stupid sign on your arm showed up one night, you had to get married to Taeyong.  He was a nice guy–always polite, always friendly, always perfect.  He was incredibly handsome with a good sense of fashion and humor.  You'd known him through college, and right before graduation, a moon emblem had engraved itself in either of your forearms.  Your soulmate sign.  

Taeyong was nice, so you went along with it.  Soulmate signs ran society because if the universe couldn't predict who was perfect for you, then who could?  But you couldn't help but be drawn to someone else.  Someone a little less perfect with rougher edges.  

"Forget all about Nakamoto Yuta and go on a trip with Taeyong.  I know Yuta and you grew up together, but see if you can think of him as a brother instead."  It was easy for Hana to say.  She didn't understand your complicated feelings.

True, Yuta and you had seen all sides of each other since you'd known each other most of your lives.  But that made your feelings burn even hotter.  You watched him grow up and find himself.  You'd seen him at his lowest point, and he had comforted you with his own subtle actions whenever you were down.  You couldn't help but think that he was the one.  He was perfect for you.  Maybe the universe was wrong.  Maybe it couldn't see everything as clearly as the world believed.

Last night at his product launch event for his line of men's cologne, he'd invited you.  And you'd seen him dressed up in a fancy suit with one of those Italian silk scarves tied loosely around his neck.  You could only think of running your fingers through his luscious hair while soaking in the scent of his new cologne.  He'd grown up too well.

"I'm gonna ask him if he wants to grab something to eat.  I'm kinda craving trashy fast food," you rubbed your growling stomach.  You knew it was just an excuse to invite Yuta out and see him again.  Hana saw right through you, but she knew you were going to do whatever you wanted in the end.

"Remember what happens to those who ignore their soulmate signs, okay?  I understand how painful this is, but I don't want you to get hurt."

You rubbed your forearm, thinking of the stories.  To go against the universe meant rejecting the forces that governed your world, and the universe would set your sign ablaze, burning you to the ground until you were just a grease spot.  You would be considered a mistake–a failure.

Yuta replied to your text immediately, craving spicy, cheesy chicken tacos with queso.  He met you at your favorite food truck even though it was the middle of the night.  You ate in his car, inhaling your midnight snack without any words.  You ignored the remnant scent of his cologne and the way his messy brown hair spilled out of his hoodie and fell over his forehead.  You wondered how warm and cozy his hoodie would be.  Wait, a hoodie?