"Valentine's day is coming, do you have a date, y/n?" your friend asks while eating lunch at a cafe near your office.
"Nope." You look like you were about to cry. "twenty-five and still single. if this will go on I will end up alone. Sad and alone." You sniff as you sip your drink.
She scoots closer and pats your back "There, there. I know you would say that. don't worry I already set you up on a blind date!"
"Really?!" Your eyes shine as you hold your friend's hands together.
"Yeah! You're beautiful y/n and you have style. You just have to level up that confidence of yours!" She said with a smile.
"Anyway, as for your date... He's my childhood friend that's why I know what kind of person he is. you don't have to worry about anything."
"Thank you. You're an angel! I will not disappoint you this time," You pause when you remember a certain someone.
"It was all his fault! If he didn't bully me throughout high school, I won't lose my confidence." You grit your teeth as you grasp the glass of juice.
"Achoo!" Ran sneezes while hanging out with his friends in Koko's playroom. The room contains billiards, darts, a bar counter, pinball machines, etc. This is where they usually hang out when they got tired in crowded bars.
"Bless you," Rindou said while tapping his phone.
"I'll lend you my black card. Use them however you want just show up as my proxy on my blind date." Koko says in monotone while he drinks his bourbon.
"Blind dates are for high schoolers. we're fucking adults for fuck's sake. Why don't you ask this guy?" Ran points at his brother who's busy on his phone. "Or this crackhead?" His fingers shift at Haruchiyo who's busy with his favorite powder.
"Hey! who are you calling a crackhead?" Haru sits straight and glares at Ran.
"Whose nose is white?" Ran says nonchalantly.
"Pass, I have a date." Rindou answers.
"Just take her to dinner and send her home after. fuck her if she's hot. You've got nothing to lose." Koko slides his black card on the table, tapping them a couple of times like he's luring a mouse into a trap.
"Why didn't you reject the offer in the first place?" Ran took a sip of his bourbon but his eyes were fixed on the card lying on the table. he's already imagining the unlimited drinks he can buy with that card.
"Well, it was a setup from my childhood friend. She was so persistent. She didn't stop until I said yes."
"Wow, this is the first time you got persuaded by a girl, Koko." Ran said, tracing the lid of the lowball glass that he was holding.
"Shut up! Will you go on that blind date or not?"
"I might if you let me use your new Camaro."
Koko massages his temples and sighs. "Fine, just make sure to bring it back scratch-free!" He dangles the keys and Ran quickly snatched them.
"Sweet!"
❀
You went shopping after work to find a cute dress to wear for your blind date. While looking at yourself in the mirror, you suddenly remember your awful high school experience. The bullying you've experienced by that one guy that led you to change yourself entirely.
After high school, you applied to a faraway university. by far away you meant another country. You then started to learn how to use make-up and do skincare. You studied a little bit of fashion that made you survive college. You realize that people will not bother you nor make fun of you if you pass their beauty standards. A sad reality of life.
though most people adore you now... because of what happened in high school, you still have doubts about yourself that you ended up rejecting every confession you get. And before you know it, you're in your mid-20s.
"Fallen for who? y/n?" he scoffed. "I don't have any feelings for her! I just talked to her because I was bored. that's all! So you all better stop bothering her because I'm done with her!"
"Ah, Miss? do you want to try them out?" A sales lady tapped your shoulders, making you snap out of your deep thoughts.
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
Days have passed and valentine's day is here. You spent a lot of time in front of your vanity table to prepare so you'll look presentable and won't embarrass your friend who took her energy to set you up with someone.
You're a little early for dinner but that's okay, It's better to have a nice first impression so you'll have a higher chance for a second date. You texted your friend that you were at the restaurant and she cheered for you. After the little exchange of messages, you take a deep breath to calm your nerves.
Five minutes have passed and you saw someone walking towards your table, he's looking down while typing on his smartphone. He looks dashing, wearing a black suit that hugs his body well. He's tall and his hands are veiny. Oh, like those hands that I read in novels.
You smiled and was ready to greet him when his face turned your way. You immediately realized who it was.
"I just talked to her because I was bored." Those words echo inside your head while looking at him.
"Hi!" He greeted with a smile.
Wait, he didn't remember me? Ah, of course! Seven years have already passed. Why would he remember someone like me?
"Hi." You politely greeted back.
"I'm sorry that your original date can't come due to sudden important meetings. He feels bad if he suddenly cancels your date so he asked me to come here instead." He lied.
"Oh." You paused and sighed. "Well then, we can cancel this date so we don't waste each other's time. It was not nice meeting you." You then take your bag.
"You've changed, y/n," he mumbles, making you halt.
"You remember me?"
"Of course, how can I forget those beautiful eyes."
You scoff and look to your side, gritting your teeth in anger before looking back at him. "You still have that flowery tongue of yours, Haitani."
"You can taste them if you want. I can do many things with this tongue" he winked at you with a mischievous grin on his lips.
You can't control yourself anymore and slams the table. You then lean close to him, too close that he avoids his gaze and gulp.
"I will not allow you to bully me again, Haitani. I am not the same person seven years ago." You then stand straight and walk your way out of the restaurant. The male was left there alone as his heart pounded so fast. He then covered half of his face with his hand to hide his blushing face.
Dammit! She still affects me like this.
"Oh, you're early. what happened?" Rindou said. Ran quickly snatched his brother's drink and drank them straight.
"Woah, That bad?" Koko asked. Ran tossed the keys back to him and Koko catches them.
"It's y/n."
"What?! y/n... y/n?" The three guys said in chorus, Ran nodded and poured himself another shot of bourbon.
Ran's flashback
"What are you doing with her things?" Ran asked, raising his voice.
"We just want to pull a little prank on her, like what you always do."
"Stop that!" Ran grabbed your favorite book away from the hands of your other classmates.
"What's this? Don't tell me, Ran you've fallen for her?" The other boy said with a mocking tone. Ran looked around and everyone is looking at him, waiting for his answers. He suddenly panicked.
"Fallen for who? y/n?" he scoffed. "I don't have any feelings for her! I just talked to her because I was bored. that's all! So you all better stop bothering her because I'm done with her!" Ran shouted at his classmates. Koko massaged his temples while Haru and Rindou shook their heads.
Ran looked to his side and saw you standing at the door. "Oh. I see, you just see me as a toy to ease your boredom. Nice one, Ran." You lifted your glasses up and wiped your tears. You walked towards your desk to get your bag and when you walked past him, you bumped his shoulders and exited the room.
"When will you be true with your feelings, Ran?" Rindou said as he tapped his brother's shoulders. Ran shrugged them off and walked away.
End of flashback.
Your crying face is etched on his mind until this day. If I only admitted my feelings back then, I maybe didn't lose you, y/n. If I could travel through time, I'll smack my head hard for saying those words. What a jerk. He thought as he drank his bourbon straight.
"Ahhhh! Stupid!" Ran grunted loud.
"Hey, your brother is losing his sanity," Haru whispered to Rindou.
When you reached your apartment, You threw your bag onto your sofa and marched to your room. You removed your earrings, changed your clothes and washed your face before you flop your body on your bed.
"What kind of sick joke is this? Out of all men in Tokyo... why him?" You pause and stare at the ceiling.
"I wish that I could relive my high school and fight back. I wish I could hurt him like the way he hurt me. He made me believe that he cares... that asshole." You're eyes suddenly felt heavy that you blink a couple of times to stay up.
"Seven years, we met again after seven years... My first love." You mumbled as you slowly closed your eyes.
❀
"y/n! Wake your ass up or you'll be late for school! are you reading those stupid comics all night again?"
"Ma! It's not comics, it's manga!" You scratch your head and sit on your bed. You tap your side drawer to get your glasses and put them on. Suddenly, something sinks in and you quickly open your eyes. "What school?" You look around and see that you're in your old room. Same decorations, same look.
Confused, you stood up and went inside your bathroom only to see yourself in the mirror younger than before.
"What the fuck?" You whispered as you held your cheeks. "Am I dreaming?" You then pulled them hard. You feel a sharp sting from the pull. "Ow ow ow! It hurts, which means this isn't a dream?" You stare at yourself for a good one minute before you open your mouth wide.
"MAAAAAA!"
"What?! What happened? y/n! Why are you screaming?" Your mother hurriedly went to your room to check on you. You slowly looked at her and sniffed.
"Ma! I'm young!"
"Cheesus." Your mother slaps her forehead then hit you with the ladle that she's holding. "You! You read too much fantasy that it starting to affect your brain! Of course, you're young! You're seventeen for Pete's sake!"
"Seventeen? I'm seventeen?"
Your mother sighed and stepped outside the bathroom, calmly. when she came back, she is now holding a hanger and hitting you repeatedly. "Here, so you can think straight!"
"Ow! Ow! Ow! I'm sorry Maaaaa!"
You're brushing your arm while drying your hair in front of your vanity table. "I kinda miss that familiar feeling, though it still hurts." You whisper to yourself and smile a little. "At least, I can see mom with this overflowing energy. There's a bright side if I really travelled back in time."
I wish I could relive my high school and fight back. I wish I could hurt him like the way he hurt me.
You slammed your brush on your table and looked at yourself. "No, No, my wish came true? No way! What?!" You then close your eyes and take a deep breath several times to calm your nerves.
After a minute of clearing your thoughts, you opened your eyes. "If this is real, then I will use this opportunity to change my future." You smiled and removed your eyeglasses.
"Fuck! I'm blind. I need to buy contact lenses first." You put the glasses back on and start to put on light make-up and tie your hair up.
You reached your school and went straight to your class. A lot of memories came rushing inside your head when you saw your old classroom. No! This is not the time to think of my sad past. Today, I'll start to relive my high school life! Make lots of memories and change my future. Determination fills your eyes as you put your bag to the side.
You then looked to your front and saw him talking to your classmates. Your eyes widened upon seeing him again with his long braided hair. It's been seven years and you can't deny the fact that your heart still skips a beat. He's your first love, after all.
He's the social butterfly of your class. Everyone knows him because he's friendly and popular. His eyes met yours and you glared the hell out of him.
looking back to the past... You instantly blush when your eyes met. but now, you're strong. You can now control your emotions and hide them. seven years of life experience as an adult mold you to be like this.
Ran averted his eyes first then cover half of his face with his fist. Wait, are my eyes tricking me? did he blush? but then again, my eyesight is not at its best right now, maybe they're playing tricks on me.
You shrugged them off and took a book from your bag. You then started reading a book while waiting for your homeroom teacher. Ah, I forgot how it feels like to be stress-free about adult life. Since some gods are bored and granted me my wish, I will enjoy my high school life this time.
"Your hair." Ran said as he leaned on the desk beside you.
You sighed and closed the book. "What about it." You looked at him straight without breaking eye contact and after a few seconds, he averted his eyes again. This is the same reaction he did at that restaurant. I don't remember him acting this way before.
"It doesn't suit you. I like your hair down. The one that covers your ugly face."
"And who are you to tell me that?"
Ran snapped his head faster than the speed of light, his eyes widened like he didn't expect you to rebut like that. "I—" He mumbled and scratched the back of his head. "I tell you, it doesn't suit you! Your forehead is too wide!" He then marched his way out of your sight.
You scoffed. "What the hell was that?"
❀
"Don't you think that y/n is acting a little bit different now?" Rindou asked his brother.
"She looks cute when she ties her hair up, you can see her eyes," Haruchiyo added.
"She still looks ugly." Ran paused. He felt a bit irritated when he heard Haru complimented you. "But yeah, she can look at me now straight into my eyes without stuttering. It's weird."
"Maybe she hit her head and realize what a big dick you are and decided to fight back." Koko laughed and watched Ran turn his face sour. He's too obvious with his emotions.
"Hey! I'm not that bad. I'm just teasing her a little bit to spice up her boring life."
"If you say so." Koko tapped Ran's shoulders and stood up to play his pinball machine.
At first, Ran was just bored. He always sees you sitting alone during lunchtime, reading books while munching bread. So he decided to make fun of you. Teasing you here and there.
Then after months of teasing, one day in your vacant period, he sees you smiling while reading a book. The wind blew your hair and for the first time, he saw your face with a beautiful smile painted on your lips. His heart skipped a beat.
After that incident, he started to watch you from afar, waiting for your smiles again. Sometimes he finds himself just staring at you. The more his feelings grew, the more teasing he did just to get your attention.
You're busy reading your book as usual when you feel someone pull your hair tie, making your hair fall. "What the hell?!" You quickly looked back and saw Ran swinging your hair tie in his finger.
"I told you, it suits you better when your hair is down."
"Give me back my hair tie, Haitani."
"Ohhh— what happened to Ran-kun?"
You clenched your fist and glared at him. "Give me back my hair tie!"
"I'll give this to you if you can reach it." He raised his hands up and dangled your hair tie. Though your heart pound so fast, you control yourself not to give in to his charms. This is my second chance and I will change my fate by not falling for him.
You scoffed. "You're asking for this. Don't say I didn't warn you, Haitani." You marched towards him and held his waist. You then hit his balls with your knee, making him kneel in front of you. You heard gasps from students and a loud grunt coming from Ran. You then snatched your hair tie from his hand.
"There, I reached it. Now leave me alone!" You said in a firm tone and walked away. Everyone was quiet while looking at you as you exited the room.
When you were gone, Haru started clapping but everyone looked at him with a confused expression. Rindou then smacked Haruchiyo's head. "Idiot, we're not in the movies."
"Oh."
"That was a fatal blow. I'm sorry for the loss of your future babies." Koko said as he reached his hand to his friend.
"Shut up, Koko," Ran grunted as he accepted Koko's hand. "When did she learn that?"
"Maybe she enrolled in taekwondo class or something," Haruchiyo said while rubbing his chin.
"Just stop messing with her. Obviously, she can fight back now." Koko said.
"No, I want to see more of that expression. She's cute."
"Ah head over heels, I see," Rindou said with a smirk.
"No! What?! No! I'm not."
"Just admit it. you were obvious after all," Koko said.
"Whatever. I will make her confess first!"
"Dude, she literally kicked you in your balls. How can you make her confess?" Koko furrowed his eyebrows, thinking if his friend already looses his screws.
"Just see! Just watch and see!"
❀
A week has passed and you manage to ignore Ran. When he's teasing you, instead of looking down and accepting the words he says, You fight back. You enjoy watching his vein pop on his forehead. Ah, I love this feeling.
You got out of your trance when you felt someone throws papers at you. You looked around to see where is this coming from and saw Ran beside you, pointing at the crumpled papers.
"What?" You whispered.
"Look at the papers." He said without a sound. You just read his lips.
"Shut up!" You ignored him and went your attention back to the class. Ran gritted his teeth and wrote something on the paper and threw them again, this time it's a bit harder it hurts your face.
You clenched your fist, took your eraser, and threw them at his face. It was so hard that the place on his forehead where the eraser hit became red.
"Just read my letter, goddammit!" He forgot to control his voice and said them out loud.
"Haitani, to the disciplinary office, NOW!" Your teacher shouted. Ran stood up from his seat and exit the room. After he left, you picked the paper up on the floor and opened them.
Meet me at the soccer field after class. was written. You sighed and thought that this is the best way to end things with him. Though your heart pounds so fast every time you see him, you still manage to calm yourself. In your head, this is much better than falling for his tricks for the second time.
"What do you want, Haitani?" You said in an annoyed tone.
"y/n! I like you, please go out with me."
Rindou, Koko, and Haru who are watching from afar smack their foreheads in unison.
"So much for making her confess to you first," Koko said while chuckling as he laid his palm in front of Rindou and Haru. The two get some bills from their pockets and put them on Koko's palm.
"How did you know that he'll eat his words and confess first?" Rindou asked.
"Just a hunch." Koko shrugged his shoulders as he counted the money in his hands.
"Look..." The three guys lean closer to hear what you were about to say. "I don't know if this is your new way of teasing me but I'm tired. We're graduating in the next few months and I was hoping to spend the remaining days of my high school life peacefully so take your fake ass confession somewhere else, I will not fall for them twice."
"Twice? What do you mean?" Ran shook his head and looked at you with serious expression. "You judge me already without giving me a chance. I am not messing with you this time, y/n. I am serious."
"Why? Because my appearance suddenly changed? Because I suddenly fought back?" You scoffed. "You're shallow."
"I—" Ran paused and looked away like he's shy to admit things. "I fell for you way before you changed your appearance or fought back. That one sunny day when you were reading your favorite book. The wind blew your hair and I saw your beautiful smile. Then slowly, I saw myself staring at you unconsciously, wanting to see more of those smiles... I didn't know that I'm falling for you. I teased you more so I could get your attention."
"Fuck! that's romantic of Ran it gives me goosebumps," Haru whispered.
"Just leave me alone, Haitani. I want to change my future and to achieve that. I need to forget you." You slightly bowed at him. "If you're finished then I'll go ahead."
"You may not trust me right now, y/n because I teased you too much but I will prove myself to you. I'll court you until you develop your feelings for me."
"Do what you want. I will not fall for your fake ass." You said nonchalantly and walked past him. Rindou, Koko, and Haru flinched when you looked at them before walking away.
When you made sure that you were far from them, You clenched your chest tightly.
"You're making things harder for me, Ran." You whispered.
❀
Ran did what he promised. He courted you openly that it became a huge gossip in your year. He waited outside your house every day just to walk you to school. He also waited for you until your club activities are done and walked you home. He randomly gives you gifts just to appreciate you and not gonna lie, every time he does things to prove to you how serious he is, you feel butterflies all over.
You, on the other hand, did your best to make him give up. You made him your errand boy, commanding him here and there but not once did you hear him complain about it. This goes on until the last few days of your senior year.
After the graduation ceremony, Ran suddenly disappears so you look for him all over the campus. You feel like saying goodbye for the last time before you move on with your life. You halted when you saw him sitting on the grass of the school field, looking at the view.
"When will you stop this madness?" You asked as you sat beside him, giving him a bottle of juice.
"I will not stop, y/n and even if you become my girlfriend, I won't stop pursuing you." He said in a sad tone and opened his drink. "Did you already made up your mind about studying abroad? I cannot stop you?"
"Yeah, I'll be leaving tonight."
"I see..."
You stared at him for a while. He's a different person than before, everything that had happened until now is different from what happened before. did I change my future?
"Tell me, y/n." Ran looked down and played with the bottle that he was holding. "What did I do for you to hate me like this?"
You sighed and looked up, leaning to your back as your two hands supporting your body. "Once, I fell for this guy. He's the same as you. He kept teasing me, pranking me, he's arrogant but everybody likes him because he's friendly and easy to approach. After a long time of bullying, we suddenly became close. He... He suddenly treated me as his friend. Then one day he confessed. It made me so happy because the guy I like liked me back." You chuckled and paused for a while. "He made me believe that he likes me too but when asked if he fell for me by our classmates, do you want to know what his answer was?" You looked at him straight into his eyes.
"He said... I don't have any feelings for her. I just talked to her because I was bored." You said almost in a whisper because your voice was about to crack. "So yeah, I'm sorry if I can't trust yo—" You didn't have the chance to finish your sentence when he suddenly pulled you close and hugged you tightly.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, y/n. I don't know why I'm apologizing but I'm really sorry." He buried his head in the crook of your neck as you felt his grip tightens.
It took you by surprise. Your heart becomes a lot lighter upon hearing his sincere apology. You then slowly lifted your hands and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Ran." You whispered with a smile.
"I really like you, y/n and I don't want you to leave."
"When we reached twenty-five and we meet again on a blind date, I will be your girlfriend." You mumbled and suddenly, everything became white.
You open your eyes from the sound of your alarm that echoes inside your room. You look around and see that you're back in your apartment.
"Ahh... a dream, I knew it was too good to be true." You said and took your phone to turn off the alarm. You saw the date and it's February 14. "Huh?"
Confused, you started your day. Everything you did feels like a deja vu. Even the text messages you received, The food you ate, and the preparation for your date. "This is weird,"
As you sat at your table, waiting for your blind date, you texted your friend saying you were at the meeting place. "If she cheers on me, then I repeated this day." Then your phone chimes. Hands shaking, you opened her reply and saw her message, cheering for you. "Oh my god."
Five minutes have passed and you saw someone walking towards your table, he's looking down, typing on his smartphone. He looks dashing, wearing a black suit that hugs his body well. When he looked up it was him... It's Ran.
"Hi." He greeted you with a smile.
Does he remember what I said on our graduation day?
"Hi." You greeted him back, waiting for him to say something.
"y/n?" He stared at you for a while to make sure. "It's you!"
"Ran Haitani."
"I'm sorry that your original date can't come due to sudden important meetings. He feels bad if he suddenly cancels your date so he asked me to come here instead."
He doesn't remember. Maybe it was really a dream... That I never changed the future. He is still the one who broke my heart.
"Uhm... "Well then, we can cancel this date so we don't waste each other's time. It's nice meeting you again." You then took your bag and started to walk away.
"You said seven years ago after our graduation..." You halted when you heard him speak. You quickly looked back and he walked towards you. "When we reached twenty-five and we meet again on a blind date, I will be your girlfriend," he repeated those exact words that you said to him seven years ago.
"So I waited, clinging to that promise hoping to see you again then it happened... I met you again... on a blind date." He chuckled as he held your face with his gentle hand. The warmth of his palm made you realize that this was not a dream.
"Then, it's my turn to fulfill that promise... I will be your girlfriend. Thank you for waiting for me, Ran."
Ran chuckled as he couldn't let any words out from his lips. He's too happy to say something so he just tucked your hair behind your ear and cupped your face. He then leaned close to kiss you lips.
"Finally... You're mine."
End
Hi guys! This oneshot was inspired by the manhwa Marry my husband and the movie 13 going on 30 but in reverse hehe. I thought to make a simp Ran oneshot for a change.
ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ
I hope you guys like it! ᵔ ᴥ ᵔ