the spaces in betweenㅣtaeyong

13 ; fear none

When I walked into the kitchen a little later, everything that I had been thinking about abruptly disappeared as Aera came up to me, an irritated look on her face.

"Dohyeong!" She hit me on the shoulder, making me wince.

"Wha—"

My brows pulled together in confusion as she interrupted, "You seriously don't have Hyeokjae's number?"

"What are you talking about?"

She just took a deep breath. "He called me and asked for your number around an hour ago,"

"Wait, he has your number?"

This just earned a scoff from her. "We both know you weren't going to ask him,"

"But why would he ask for my number?"

"I don't know, what were you both talking about outside last night?" She transitioned easily, making me laugh nervously.

"Touché."

"Just take this," She got my attention again by holding out a small piece of paper that I took gladly, holding onto it with an unstoppable grin.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Aera,"

She snorted. "Believe me, neither do I."

--

That's how a half an hour later, I finally hung up the phone after a long talk with Hyeokjae. I was beyond excited with where this had all turned out, seeing as my crush of a few years had finally asked me out. Even the angel seemed happy for me, his normally flat expression less, well, flat.

When I told Aera about it, she seemed even more excited than I was. But, before I could even explain everything to her, she sat me down, telling me to wait as she said she was grabbing her enormous makeup bag.

"You need to look like a princess, Dohyeong."

When she came back, I was astonished as she began pulling out a bunch of products that I didn't recognise. I might never do anything more than some concealer and my brows, but I still knew makeup.

Yet all the things she pulled out made me feel clueless.

As I began to question my sanity, I said, "You don't need to do this, it's not like we're going anywhere extravagant,"

She hummed. "It's not like I'm doing anything crazy. I'm just aiming for something to get him to do a double take when he sees you, you get me?"

"Yeah, but you still don't have to do this,"

"Oh, believe me, I know. Because there are so many other things I have to do," She joked, making me smile as she continued, "But, I want to, so be quiet and close your eyes,"

After Aera left me with the final product and wish of good luck, I stared at myself in the mirror, slightly sceptical. She was true to her word and didn't do anything insane, but seeing this twisted version of my face was still an abnormal experience.

The thumbs up the angel gave me when I met his eye did little to calm my thoughts, but definitely evened out my nervously thumping heart a bit.

"I guess I'm doing this," I mumbled to myself, still unable to take my eyes off my reflection.

I tore my eyes away and this time, I was the one wishing myself luck.

—

We had agreed to meet at the entrance to the beach right by the dunes, and, true to his word, he was standing there, hands in his pockets, when I walked up.

"Hyeokjae?"

He looked up, unplugging his headphones as his eyes landed on me. "Dohyeong. Hey, how are—"

He paused, blinking, indeed doing the double-take Aera had been so insistent on happening.

I couldn't help a smile, nodding.

"I'm good,"

But his look was still lined with confusion, making me think the double-take he'd done maybe wasn't in good spirits.

"Oh, is there something on my face?" I asked, reaching up to feel for any mishap.

"No, there's not. I just," he paused again, seeming to force a smile as he said, "You look really nice, Dohyeong,"

"I know it's really different," I responded sheepishly, making him look up again, "But Aera insisted."

"Ah, that makes more sense. I was wondering," he joked, the normal feeling of his eyes returning as he said, "It's not a normal look, but it's a good one,"

He then put his hand out.

"Flaunt it with me?"

I grinned, my nerves dissipating once again at his nonchalant speech.

I took it. "Of course."

--

AN: oof i just want to let you guys know that I've actually put multiple hints in here as to what her 'problem' is.

and, sorry, though this chapter is relevant to moving the plot along, it's more of a filler