𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗦𝗞𝗜𝗡 .. nct

sixty-seven

jiae made sure to park fairly far from her boyfriend's location and pulled her hoodie over her head before exiting the car.

as discussed, sm denied the claims that haechan from nct was seeing anyone, and that it was just a stunt to slander their brand during comeback time. it seemed to be working, as both of the it faces were hidden in the photos, but jiae didn't want to give the press any more chances.

shaking away any remaining nerves, jiae stepped into the open bar and looked around for her drunk boyfriend. she spotted him after a little bit of searching, finding hyuck sitting alone in a booth away from the entrance.

he must have heard her approach, because as she got closer, haechan glanced over the back of his seat and immediately lit up.

"my hero!" he called dramatically, letting out a fake sob as he slowly dragged himself out of the booth with his arms outstretched towards jiae.

jiae thanked the gods that this section wasn't very busy, because the way he hugged her would not pass as an employee relationship if they were caught.

haechan wrapped himself around her hooded form, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck, and sighed. "you smell like toasted marshmallows."

smiling behind her mask, jiae untangled herself from her boyfriend's hug and steadied an arm around his waist. "you are such a damsel in distress. come on, i parked this way," jiae said as she started making their way to the exit.

it took a few minutes, but together, they successfully make it to her car. luckily, most of haechan's motor function was still intact, it was just his speech that was slightly slurred and unchecked. jiae got him to sit in the passengers seat and quickly helped buckle him up before closing the door and jumping into the driver's side.

the moment she closed her door, a soft giggling-sound came from her right, and jiae looked over to find her boyfriend staring at her lovingly. the cute laughter drew a smile from her, and jiae shook her head at the boy. "what?"

haechan started at her a moment longer before sluggishly leaning forward. his lips were pursed dramatically, yet his movements were so slow that jiae had a few seconds to process the situation before slapping her hand over his mouth.

with her hand pressed against his face, mere inches away from hers, haechan opened his confused, dejected eyes and said in a muffled voice, "hmmph?" which probably meant, "ouch? why am i kissing your palm?"

blinking at her actions, jiae quickly pulled her hand away and held it momentarily at her shoulder before letting it fall into her lap. "i... um, are you okay?"

those eyes, still so confused and dejected and cute, stayed trained on her as a pout formed on hyuck's lips. "you don't want to kiss me?" he asked, and though he was drunk, jiae found his words so adorable that her heart melted into her stomach.

sweetly reaching forward to brush his hands away from his eyes, jiae inwardly cooed. "i'll kiss you when you're sober. i feel like i'm taking advantage of you like this."

at that, haechan's cheeks burned pink with, and he fell back into his seat. "aww," he mumbled sluggishly, "you love me. you care about me even when i'm drunk."

"of course i do. you're my hyuck." she said back immediately, taken aback slightly by her own directness. she started the car and slowly turned off the road and onto the highway.

in the seat beside her, haechan hummed. his eyes were closed as he head rested against the window. "i've met a lot of people who wouldn't have done that in your position." his voice was soft and full of sleep, but jiae's heart shattered.