I feel okay when I see you smile
The absence of any background noise made it easier to fall into an even more comfortable state, it was warm in her bed and her brain fleeted between the border of sleep and being awake.
Haeri was blissfully unaware of exactly what position she was in, tightening her embrace around whatever she was holding and snuggling further into the comfort surrounding her.
"Comfortable?"
The voice was slightly muffled by her sleepiness and the vibrations of it under her wasn't enough to fully wake her. She hummed sleepily, not pairing it together.
A few seconds pursued and suddenly it began to come together and her heart physically dropped.
Suddenly, she was wide awake.
What the fuck
In a split second, Haeri sat up and looked to the side of her with widened eyes, slapping a hand over her mouth.
Donghyuck looked startled by her sudden movements, unsure of why she was looking at him like one of them had just murdered several people.
"Oh my god," she uttered to herself, almost frantically and very uncoordinatedly became tangled in the sheets when she tried to get off the bed. The loud thud of her slipping off the bed paired with a pained groan only added to the list of reasons why Haeri wanted to end herself.
She slammed her hand over her eyes, wanting to start crying at how embarrassing her life was.
"Oh shit, are you okay?" Donghyuck was concerned as he knelt by her with his hand placing over her own that was over her eyes. "Did you hurt yourself badly?"
She murmured something but he didn't hear it, asking her what she said as he leant closer to hear her.
"I said, I'm sorry for falling asleep on you."
You must be the dumbest of the dumbest Haeri what the fuck, how could you fall asleep on him and end up cuddling him too?
I think I'm gonna throw up
Damn my back hurts so much
I genuinely can't even look at him
Can he just leave right now and pretend this never happened
There was a scoffed laugh and his hand pulled her own from blocking her eyes, the light from her bedside lamp blurring into her eyes, blinking to adjust her vision.
There knelt down beside her, leaning over to look at her was Donghyuck. The golden light got caught in the dark strands of his hair, illuminating his smooth honey like skin.
If Haeri wasn't already winded, she was now.
"Idiot, you hurt yourself because of that?" He asked, almost amused but he was still worried about her hurting herself.
"Really, I'm sorry." She apologised, grimacing as she thought about it again.
"It's okay." He assured. "Does it hurt anywhere?"
"Yeah, my pride." She uttered, in disbelief she had just fallen off her bed in front of him. She covered her face with both hands. "I can't believe this."
"Come on," Donghyuck said, patting her head. "I'll help you up."
Haeri peered through her fingers to see him holding his hands out and with deep embarrassment, she took them.
She must've underestimated how much she had hurt herself as pain struck up her back and she flinched from the feeling.
He must've noticed this, placing a gentle hand on her back and his expression furrowed with concern.
"Your back? See, you must've hurt yourself a lot. Is it bad?"
Haeri's face scrunched up in pain and she grasped his forearm, gaining his attention.
"This is embarrassing isn't it? Let's never speak of this."
"Which part?"
"Everything." She gave him a serious nod and he hummed thoughtfully.
"Why? I liked when you were hugging me in your sleep though."
Haeri's face fell at his words and he couldn't help but laugh, bringing her into a hug. One of his hands were gently on her back and the other holding the back of her head towards him.
"Okay sure...but it hurts doesn't it?"
"Yep."
↬
Haeri and Donghyuck were downstairs in her dining room at 9pm, sat opposite each other at the table whilst they ate the food they had missed earlier due to being asleep.
Her Father was still at work, her Mother was across the street at Yichen's house and her siblings were in their rooms.
"Wow, your Mum's food is always so good." Donghyuck praised, a content nod of his head.
Haeri smiled at how much he was enjoying a simple meal, she took a sip of her drink and questioned him.
"Are you gonna visit your family?"
He nodded in response.
"I went a few days ago, I'll probably go again soon." He shrugged, then turned his full attention to her. "How's university?"
Haeri sighed, giving a mere shrug.
"That bad?" He asked, eyeing her crestfallen expression.
"Just so many things to do, also exams coming up. I don't even know where to start you know?"
He hummed, noticing she had a lot of anxiety surrounding education.
"Why don't you start simple- make a list so you can go through them one by one?" He offered. "It might be better if you see if organised like that."
Haeri nodded at his suggestion, straightening her back as she put a hand on the middle of it with a slight grimace.
"Good idea, to be honest I keep forgetting to make to do lists."
His eyes trailed to where she was supposedly clutching her back.
"Does it still hurt?" Donghyuck asked and she realised she was holding the place she hurt.
"Oh- just a little but not a lot so don't worry."
There were a few seconds of quiet and Haeri glanced up from her plate to see him smiling to himself.
"What?" She asked, wondering what he was thinking of.
"I was going to say I should wrap you up in bubble wrap then I imagined you like fully wrapped in it." He laughed. "You'd look so cute."
Simp squad
Seola: GIRL Wffkfkfofkffodkdofofkfjffkkfickfkfkkfkfkfkkfkkdkfkif
Someone come to the company rn pls pls pls
21:46
Hey Seola what happened
Is everything okay
Seola: Omggg
Eunhye came here
And ran into this trainee girl who hangs w Jeno
And things just escalated major time
And Jeno is here trying to diffuse the situation and no one is listening to him or whatever
Then
The girls
BEGAN ARGUING ARGUING
OMG
THEYRE ABOUT TO SWING
SOMEONE UELP
oh shit what
Wait I'm with Donghyuck, do you want us to come?
Seola: omg ;)))
Wait yeah pls pls pls
I think they're about to legit punch each other
They're screaming
Sent a voice message
Yeonhee: WHAT
WHAT WHAT WHAT
I JUST WOKE UP FROM NAP
22:02
Seola: GIRLFOFFKDOKF
okay 2Hae I think they're here
I'll update u in sec
Haeri had never been inside the SM entertainment building, she would've taken it in more if it wasn't for the fact that Eunhye was in a fight.
She followed Donghyuck who lead the way after she told him where Seola said they were, the building seemed like a maze that he knew like the back of his hand.
There were people around, she thought a lot of them must've been trainees and some staff too, she didn't know so many of them were working so late and she could only imagine how hard it is training at night.
Donghyuck's hand grasped her wrist, pulling her with him to keep her close in case she got lost.
"Here, this way."
"I can't believe this is happening..." Haeri voiced, thinking about what Eunhye had told them. Did she find something out? What had happened?
"Yeah me too," He agreed, his hand loosening off from her wrist when they reached the elevator. "I wonder what happened."
It didn't take the two of them long to reach the chaos, there were a few people watching in shock as the shouting increased.
"Oh god." She muttered as they both approached, Donghyuck excused himself through the growing crowd with Haeri following closely.
Upon getting a clearer view of what was happening, Haeri was surprised to say the least. Eunhye and a girl were visibly infuriated with each other, the shouting match becoming increasingly aggressive.
"Yeah? Maybe you're just so controlling over your boyfriend that he wants to actually have friends other than you."
"Shut the fuck up, at least I'm not trying to flirt with someone who's in a relationship." Eunhye seethed. "Why don't you get your own boyfriend."
Jeno looked like he was at his wits end, trying to calmly coax his girlfriend to come with him and step away from the situation before it escalates.
"Babe-" he began, grasping her shoulders but was shrugged off.
"Are these the girls you keep hanging out with?" She turned to Jeno, furiously questioning him.
"What's with your rude ass tone, you need to fix your attitude really." The girl interjected, scoffing at Eunhye. "What's wrong with us hanging out with a friend? Is he not allowed female friends?"
Eunhye rolled her eyes.
"I'm not talking to you am I?"
"Babe please let's-" Jeno tried again.
"Maybe we're just more fun than you." Another girl muttered, amused at the situation. "Ever thought about the problem being you?"
The anger that built up inside Eunhye was overwhelming her, snapping at the comment.
"I''m the problem? You guys have no respect for our relationship- you cross the line really. He's my boyfriend, not yours." Eunhye stepped up to them.
Donghyuck and Haeri had made it to their side but were ignored.
"Then why are you so angry if he's all yours? Then again...is he really if it seems he's trapped with you."
"Trapped with me?" Eunhye scoffed. "Who are you to even be making comments on my relationship? You're all fucking jealous."
"Trust me, I'm not jealous of you." One of them laughed, shaking her head. "You know Jeno can hang out with anyone he wants right? Honestly..." she eyed Eunhye, leaning forward. "He deserves better than you, I wouldn't blame him if he feels suffocated with you. You're not all that pretty either, plus you're such bitch right now."
"Hey, what the hell-" Jeno began, clearly disgusted by the comment towards his girlfriend.
Eunhye was the first to initiate the fight, she slapped the girl across the face in an impulse of fury. A shocked gasp eliciting from the recipient.
"You fucking hit me?" The girl clutched her cheek with anger swirling in her eyes.
"Yeah, why- do you want more?" Eunhye lunged towards her but Jeno stopped her by standing in front of her.
"Please Eun, let's just go somewhere else okay?"
"No, Jeno- did you see what they said about me? Have you been saying things about me to them?"
"What? No, I didn't." Jeno's furrowed eyebrows and shake of his head was clearly not enough for the angered Eunhye.
"Hey," Donghyuck stepped in, hand on her shoulder. "Come on, let's just go somewhere and calm down a bit yeah?"
"She fucking slapped me because her boyfriend spends time with us." The girl scoffed. "Pathetic man. She should think about why he'd rather have us than her."
"You're pathetic," Eunhye sneered, pushing Donghyuck out of her way. "All you do is get touchy with him like you do to any guy you see."
"Hey," the girl glared at Eunhye. "It's not my problem if you're so insecure, it's not my fault if he likes us better than his insecure jealous girlfriend-"
Haeri wasn't sure how this happened but all she saw was Eunhye lunging towards them and Jeno failing to stop her in time. There were screeches and angry exclaims from them.
Seola was trying to stop the girls but her attempts were futile.
"All of you, stop it." Donghyuck managed to separate the two girl, hands on their shoulders to keep them apart. "You're all acting so childish right now."
The girl shot a glare at Eunhye, fixing her hair then looking at Donghyuck. Her hand trailed to reach his own that was on her shoulder.
"Hey, she was basically calling me a whore Donghyuck- did you even hear her?"
Donghyuck sighed, looking between the girls.
"Just all of you...stop and-"
"You're acting like such a victim." Eunhye muttered towards the girl.
"There she goes again." Another girl interjected.
Haeri could see how agitated Jeno had become, reaching his limit with his patience as his girlfriend kept shrugging him off. He hated how it resorted in violence like this when it could've been talked out.
Haeri grasped Eunhye's arm, forcing her to turn in her direction away from the girl.
"Hey, come with me okay?" Already pulling the girl towards her.
Making eye contact with Donghyuck, she gave him a reassuring nod, allowing him to deal with the others as it looked like he knew them already.
Jeno followed behind silently as Haeri and Seola entered a room with Eunhye.
It was quiet for a moment before Jeno spoke up.
"...can we just talk alone please?" He directed to the other girls.
"No," Eunhye began. "I really don't want to hear you lecturing me about this all- you'll probably take their side in this won't you?"
"Why would I ever do that?" He became exasperated, fingers moving through his hair. "Why do you not trust me? What have I done to make you think like this? You keep bringing up my friends again and again and I swear that it's never been anything other than being friends- you never believe me. I don't even spend that much time with them, only when I'm around the boys too."
"You'd rather spend time with them than your own girlfriend."
"That's not true."
Seola and Haeri looked at each other, deciding to leave the two to talk it out.
"God...things are really serious aren't they?" Seola murmured once in the hallway.
"Yeah, I really hope they can sort it out." Haeri frowned.
"Hey, you okay?" Donghyuck asked when he approached them, seeing Haeri's expression, he placed a hand on her shoulder in concern.
"Yeah," she nodded, looking past his shoulder to see no one else was there. "Everything okay with them?"
He shrugged.
"They were pissed but they've gone back to their practice room I think."
Seola sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Thanks for coming guys, I should probably go and see what's happening over there."
The two of them parted ways with Seola, glancing towards the door leading into the room Jeno and Eunhye were in.
Donghyuck gently pressed his hand on the curve of her back.
"Come, let's just let them talk it out." He suggested, urging her to walk with him.
She complied, walking through the hallways with him in the building of his company.
"So...this is where you spend a lot of your time then?"
"Yep, pretty much. Do you want me to show you around?" He offered, glancing at her as she raised her eyebrows.
"You want to give me a tour of SM?" She couldn't help but smile. "Alright then tour guide, lead the way." She motioned ahead of her, a smile making its way to his own lips.
"Of course Milady, follow me."
↬
Liked by DoYeonhee__, Hyunjaee, Wooyung00, Seonheee04 and 801 others
Kang.Haeriii so cold outside 💔
—————————————————
K_Jiyeon girl why are u not at home 😟 I miss u come back
Kang.Haeriii 😔 I'll be back soon I promise
DoYeonhee__ mmm I see I see 😋 ur so hot even if it's cold 😍
Kang.Haeriii 🤨 see what? YOU are so hot 😘 thanks babe
DoYeonhee__ now u know damn well 😏
Hyunjaee god damn 😩😩😩 ur so sexy
Kang.Haeriii ily thank you gorgeous
Mei_Yin02 Haeri you're so beautifulll girl ❤️
Kang.Haeriii thankyouu pretty ❤️
Iseul_01 model vibessssss love it so pretty
Kang.Haeriii thanks lovee
Yichenn_ who u out with hm 🤔
LimYenaa 👀 Haeriiii?
Hyunjaee me obvss
Wooyung00 damn girl I'll warm u up anytime
DoYeonhee__ gtfo 😭
Kang.Haeriii 😭 your comments Wooyung pls
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Jeno loves Jisung
Hyunjae: okay so what the fuck happened
23:03
Jisung: Haeri and Donghyuck were hanging out at the company 🤯
Hyunjae: no babe that's not the most surprising thing of the night
Renjun: is it true
Seola: yeah
Jisung: what?
Hyunjae: things just went down at the company between Eunhye and some girls
Chenle: u mean she got into a fight with some girls over Jeno
Jisung: 😰 what
Jaemin: how did that even happen? Is Jeno still there do you know
Mei: I mean Eunhye is home now
Wooyung: NAH SHE GOT INTO A FIGHT???
What's been going on with Eunhye and Jeno though
Jaemin: let's not talk about it okay let's let them sort it out between them
Is Jeno picking up anyone's calls
Yeonhee: nope
Renjun: no
Seola: no I saw him leave tho a while ago
Hyunjae: I'm worried now where did he go
Is Eunhye okay
Mei: yeah kinda
Mark: yo wtf happened
I leave the country and the kids are getting hurt?
Hyunjae: yeah daddy 😥 your kids are sad over here
Mark: dude.
Hyunjae: what ur our dad init
Yeonhee: GIRL 😭 stop this ain't the time
I'm dead
Mark: yo wait she got into a fight is she okay
I'll try calling Jeno too
Channie 😡: it was crazy ngl
He's not answering? Me and Haeri saw him talking to Eunhye after it went down but we didn't see him after
Renjun: are u guys still at the company
No, we left a while ago
Do you think he'll be okay?
Jaemin: I'm sure he'll be okay don't worry
Channie 😡: let me spam him
No one could get ahold of Jeno and it was becoming increasingly concerning. It was midnight and now Haeri was taking over her shift at the store. She had dropped Donghyuck at his building on the way home a while ago.
She was messaging him for any updates about Jeno, also messaging Mei about Eunhye. She wanted them both to be okay but it seemed like emotions were high.
Haeri wondered what the two of them had talked about, how did it go? What happened?
The girl sighed, leaning her chin into her palm as she looked out the window. There was no one roaming around this late at night usually but a figure slowly walking past the store caught her attention.
He was wearing the same jacket Jeno was wearing earlier and her heart jumped, immediately rushing around the counter towards the door.
She wasn't wearing a coat due to being inside the store so when she opened the door, the cold air harshly attacked her.
"Hey!" She called out, not wanting to yell out his name. She wasn't even sure if it was him.
He had definitely heard her, stopping his steps and Haeri remained in the doorway of the store.
"...hey, are you okay?"
When he turned, Haeri was relieved to see it was actually Jeno.
Despite the fact he had majority of his face covered, his body language showed how disheartened and upset he was.
"Come inside, it's cold out here." Haeri smiled, nodding her head towards the inside of the store.
At first, Jeno didn't make a move to comply as he stood there but she still waited there, anticipating him to come inside. She had a warm welcoming smile on her lips and Jeno could see the gusts of cold air was affecting her through the slight shaking of her arms.
Wordlessly, he began walking towards the store and Haeri stepped inside to let him in.
"Are you hungry? I just restocked the readymade meals and everything." She motioned to the back of the store.
Jeno must've been out in the cold for a while, letting out a few coughs with a weak nod. He followed the girl to where the food was,
"Thank you." He gave a nod, walking further in the aisle. Haeri watched him from near the seating area, by the table her and Donghyuck sat at. Jeno seemed to be somewhat out of it, distracted as he stood in front of the shelves with no attempt to actually grab anything.
After about three minutes of him standing there, Haeri took it upon herself to approach and point at one of the new items, beginning to describe how good it was and how he should give it a go. She directed towards the drinks too, asking if he ever had those children's ones years ago.
He did converse with her but it lacked enthusiasm and he seemed tired. When Jeno began to eat, she left him alone to return to the front of the store- unsure of what to do.
She messaged Donghyuck that Jeno was there but judging by how he said he was tired earlier, she wondered if he had fallen asleep. It was likely as Donghyuck looked fatigued earlier.
There was a silence in the store apart from the music in the background, she felt bad about the whole situation and hesitantly walked over, taking a seat opposite him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She offered, her eyes studying him. His eyes were casted down at the table in front of him, lips slightly turning downwards at her question.
"Do you think she deserves better than me?" He questioned, his voice a little hoarse. "Am I a bad boyfriend?"
"No, of course you're not Jeno. What happened?" She frowned, watching him from the other side of the table.
He sighed heavily, clearly feeling very emotional about it all.
"I don't know," he muttered. "We've been arguing a lot lately. I don't know what to do."
"What have you been arguing about?" She asked, wondering if he would open up about it and it seemed he was hesitant due to his silence but eventually, he spoke.
"She wants to go public with our relationship and I don't." He summarised, leaning forward with his elbows on the table and hands covering his face. "I really don't want to..."
Jeno continued as Haeri listened.
"You know, we've been together basically four years and that's a long time and we always spend time together but she wants more and obviously I want more too but it's difficult. Whenever we hang out, I ask her what she wants to do but it's limited to watching movies, cooking together and stuff like that. I understand it's annoying to be limited in the things we can do but she gets sad when I bring stuff like that up to do, she thinks I don't want to spend time together. We get into the same argument when she comes over and we just end up not really talking for the rest of the time."
"Is that why she's bringing up going public, so you guys can do more things together?" She questioned and he nodded, hands down in his lap as he stared at them.
"I can't." He voiced quieter, shaking his head. "I know she's bringing it up now because of Mark and Yeonhee and how it worked out for them...but even with them things are hard and Yeonhee still gets so much hate and stuff. Plus, our relationship isn't the same as theirs you know? Going public isn't a decision to take lightly and to make just because we've been together for a long time- I don't know." He blinked quickly, possibly the growing tears away.
"I understand, it must be hard especially because you've been in the public and you know how they are. What does she say when you tell her?"
"She gets sad- angry sometimes- of course because I'm turning down something she thinks would elevate our relationship. Honestly, I'm scared. I don't want her to get hurt Haeri, these people are not just fans- they're harmful." He spoke seriously.
"Eunhye is right though, the time we spend together doesn't feel special anymore. She deserves more, I know she does but I can't go public, is that selfish of me?"
Haeri could understand how Jeno feels, it must feel really scary knowing that if they go public, Eunhye could be hurt.
They spent another twenty minutes talking about the worries he had. She noticed it was the end of her shift when her coworker entered, relieving her of the work.
Haeri was thankful no customers had came in. She offered to take him back to his dorm which he refused but Haeri was concerned about him walking back home with his emotions all over the place.
She told him her car was at home, not far at all so he accompanied her on the walk home. They didn't really say much on the way to her house, the cold air was nice at calming him down.
"It must be nice living at home." He voiced when she grabbed her keys from inside and returned with it. He was stood by her car waiting for her and she hummed.
"Yeah...does your family live close?"
"Not that close." He shrugged, the two of them entering her car as she heated it up.
"This reminds me of when you picked us up when we were drunk." Haeri commented, laughing at the memory.
"Oh yeah." He chuckled, remembering how talkative she was.
The roads were mostly clear as she drove to his dorm, the radio was playing and Haeri looked over to see Jeno staring out of the window.
"You okay?" She asked, concerned and she turned the volume down a bit. Jeno nodded, glancing in her direction.
"You're a nice person Haeri. Thank you for listening to me."
"It's okay, I know it can be nice to just get things out. You know, I mean you can always talk to me if you wanted to have someone listen." She offered a smile.
"Thank you...same goes for you."
They were coming up near the dorm and he advised her to go into the private parking at the back of the building, saying it was where the members now got dropped off to avoid anyone hanging around outside.
They were allowed inside due to Jeno having a card on him, Haeri watched and wondered how bad the sasaeng situation must've been.
She parked up near the entrance from the car park, turning to look at Jeno who was taking his seatbelt off.
"Do you want to come in? I feel bad that you came all this way to drop me off only to go back again..."
Haeri was about to decline, feeling anxious over the fact the members were there and she'd be intruding. However, she reminded herself that these were Donghyuck's closest friends and it would be nice to just be comfortable around them.
Although it was very late. Nevertheless, Jeno offered some food they had at the dorm as he realised she must not have eaten much.
She complied, still anxious about the others' reaction but she followed Jeno into the entrance. Once in the elevator, he spoke again.
"You and Donghyuck are close right? I'm glad he has you to rely on...I'm just worried about him lately- he doesn't seem like he's really okay but he doesn't ever tell anyone you know?"
"Yeah, I'm worried too if I'm honest. I wish he would open up more."
"Honestly, just push him to open up and he will eventually."
Following him out of the elevator, Haeri stopped behind him when he began to insert the code to his door. It opened and it seemed like the boys must've been waiting as they had stood up and approached the open door.
When Jeno walked in through the doorway, they realised Haeri was there as she was awkwardly stood there unsure of what to really say about showing up at 1am.
"You found him?" Jisung questioned, surprised and Jaemin ushered her inside with a smile on his face.
"Thank you for bringing him home Haeri."
"Oh, um it's no problem honestly."
Jaemin turned around to check on Jeno, following him to his room to speak to him. Haeri heard the front door close behind her and she glanced at Renjun and Jisung who were also stood there.
There was an awkwardness in the air between the three of them but Renjun offered her to sit down.
↬
"Jisung, you're colouring outside the lines- are you a child?" Renjun huffed, glaring at the boy who looked a little scared from being scolded about colouring.
Haeri wasn't sure how they got here, seated around the kitchen island with a colouring book each and an assortment of pencils in the middle of them.
She glanced up, looking over at Jisung who made eye contact with her and she couldn't help but smile in amusement at how angry Renjun was over it.
"I'm not even doing a bad job." Jisung defended himself.
"You said you draw right?" Renjun directed to Haeri and she hummed, concentrating on filing the white spaces.
"I used to a lot more in school, haven't done recently though."
"Oh- you and Donghyuck went to the company right? You saw what happened?" Renjun asked, curious.
"Yeah...I hope the two of them can sort it out." She frowned.
"They've been arguing for months." Jisung muttered. "Relationships seem hard."
"They are." She replied. "I mean...not all relationships obviously."
"Wait," Renjun paused. "You're in a relationship right now?"
"Um, no- why?" Haeri was confused as to why he was questioning her about it but he shook his head.
"Oh, no- it's nothing."
"So...are you and Haechan hyung just friends then?" Jisung asked, eyebrows raised in surprise. "I thought you two were..."
There was a light smack to the back of Jisung's head. He winced and help the spot in pain as Jaemin scolded him.
"Don't pry into other people's business."
Jaemin's scowl turned into a smile when he looked at Haeri.
"Wow, that looks really good!" He complimented.
"Thank you." She smiled.
Jaemin took the seat next to her, making eye contact with Renjun who nodded at him questioningly- most likely about Jeno. Jaemin in response shook his head.
"I'm glad you found him Haeri, thanks for taking care of him."
"It's okay really, I was just worried about him walking about at night in the cold. Is he feeling any better?" She asked, hopeful.
"He'll be okay." Jaemin assured with a smile.
↬
"Wait, what do you mean you went to the dream dorm last night?" Haeri heard the surprised voice belonging to Donghyuck's emitting from her phone speaker.
"I told you, Jeno came to the store- so I drove him home." Haeri was sat at her vanity, doing her makeup quickly when he called. It was 11am the morning and yet she was still half asleep.
"Wow, you're having all the fun without me."
"I mean, I was literally panicking so much though. Like I was worried they'd think it was weird if I just showed up at 1am." She ruffled her hair out after finishing her makeup.
"Why don't you show up at my place at 1am?" He asked as if she was committing a crime for doing it to his friends but not him.
He heard her scoff incredulously.
"We do hang out at that time, at the store." She reminded him.
"Hm, okay fine. What are you doing today anyway?"
"I have uni until three, nothing else really."
"Oh yeah, you're back at university...my break is nearly over too."
"Already?" She asked in shock, grabbing her bag. "That was not a break what the hell?"
"Yeah..." he laughed although it seemed more tired than usual. "The comeback is soon."
"That's so unfair on you though." She frowned. "Are you even feeling any better?"
"I'll feel better if you come hang out with me after you're done at uni, I need some company or I'll cry- you don't want me to cry right?"
"You're so dramatic Donghyuck." She chuckled. "But okay."
"Yeah?" He asked, perking up in tone as he didn't expect her to agree.
"I mean you invited me to hang out didn't you?"
"Yes, so you better show up."
"Alright...I should probably head out now though."
"Okay, I'll see you later then Sunshine."
"Yeah, see you then." She ended the call, rushing around to get her things and get out of the house as quickly as she could, trying to ignore the jitters.
When she got to university, she found Iseul and Yena waiting outside the lecture hall to be let in. When approaching them, she realised she hadn't seen them in a while. They hadn't been in contact in the break.
"Hey." She greeted with a smile, they equally greeted her back.
"Hey Haeri."
"Hey, did you just get here?" Iseul asked and Haeri nodded.
"Yeah, not looking that forward to it though."
"Me either girl, the lecturer just reads off the slides it's so annoying." Yena complained.
"Oh my god!" An excited girl rushed over to Iseul and Yena, grasping their hands. "I got the tickets for us!"
The two girls were excited, completely disregarding the fact Haeri was there as they freaked out over the tickets they got for the music show- the 127 comeback.
There was a bitter feeling that came across Haeri but she knew it was a frequent thing they'd make plans without her, after all it's not like Haeri invited them to her plans either.
The comeback...it will be Donghyuck's first performance back from his break
Haeri was stood there watching the three of them talking in excitement, deciding to remove herself from the situation and turn to see if she knew anyone around to catch up with.
Thankfully, she saw Yichen and Sehun walking together towards the lecture hall.
She perked up, walking over to them with a smile.
"Hey guys."
"Oh Haeri- hey, what's up?" Yichen wrapped his arm casually around her shoulder. "You seem to be busy with a certain someone lately huh?"
Haeri flushed, nudging his arm away from her as she turned to face the two boys who were looking at her with amusement.
"Saw him leaving your house the other day." Yichen added and Haeri rolled her eyes.
"We were just hanging out."
"If you say so." He teased.
"I'm surprised you're here today." She directed towards Sehun who shrugged.
"Yichen forced me to come."
"Yeah man, you're always skipping."
People began to disperse into the lecture hall, the three of them following in with Yena and Iseul ahead of them as Haeri had left their side.
They sat separately, not necessarily on purpose but it just happened. Haeri was seated with the boys and Hyunjae spotted her and came to sit with her.
From a few rows ahead, Iseul and Yena were surprised to see how close Hyunjae and Haeri were. They were laughing and whispering to each other about something, Hyunjae was clinging onto her arm and rubbing her head against Haeri's as she got annoyed at her.
"What are you doing later?" Hyunjae asked, beginning to take notes as the lecture started.
"Not much, I'm gonna go and see him later just to hang out."
"You seem to be hanging out a lot, I'm loving it."
Haeri nudged her lightly, shaking her head.
"I can't believe the break is almost over...it wasn't long at all."
"I know, he's not even recovered yet." Hyunjae said quietly. "Hope he's okay."
↬
"You're just in time," Donghyuck stated as he let the girl in, she began to slip her shoes off along with her coat, confused. He held his phone up. "I was just about to order food- I didn't know what you liked though."
She followed him into the dorm, the two of them settling on the sofa in the living room.
"Hm, I'm not too picky." Haeri replied, taking the phone he was handing to her to look through the menu.
"Have you spoken to Jeno?" She inquired and he hummed, pushing his glasses up a little. She watched him do so, admiring how well they suited him.
"Yeah, not for long though- I think he's still upset. Eunhye isn't talking to anyone either, Mei said she missed uni today."
Haeri frowned when knowing this.
"Really? I should go and see her later, I feel really bad for them."
"Yeah me too, it seems really serious from what Jeno told me. He said he talked to you about it too."
"Yeah he did, I understand both of them though...it's a hard situation you know." She handed the phone back to him when she was done selecting. "I can send you half the mon-"
He gave her a deadpanned look which made her close her mouth.
"I feel bad."
"Then don't feel bad." He said simply. "I'm paying."
She would've argued with him but there was no need because he was too stubborn as it was.
"Do you think they'll go public?"
"I don't think so." Donghyuck answered. "It's a big deal you know? I mean Mark and Yeonhee going public was a big thing so...I guess Eunhye feels more confident about them getting through it but Jeno doesn't want to risk it. I guess it is hard dating when one of you is famous."
"Have you been in a relationship while being an idol?" She asked, a little curious as to if he could relate to Jeno.
Donghyuck snorted softly, humoured by her question.
"No." He looked at her. "Have you?"
"Have I ever dated an idol?" Haeri furrowed her brows and he rolled his eyes, tapping her forehead.
"No idiot, in general."
"Ohh, yeah I have- few years ago though."
Donghyuck was expecting it, I mean she had lived her whole life not under the spotlight so it was more likely for her to do things that was considered normal for their ages.
Sometimes he felt like he missed out on a lot of things growing up.
"Was it your first relationship?"
"Yep," she nodded, humming with an indication that it wasn't so positive. "It was like for 5 months or something when I was like 17 18 ish."
"Was he a shit boyfriend?" He asked, judging by her body language and tone.
She looked a little surprised but nodded nevertheless.
"Yeah, guess so." She laughed softly, lightly playing with the hair tie on her wrist.
"How come?"
"He wanted more than I was ready to give. Honestly though, he wasn't really that caring towards me- you know when you're younger and you think your first relationship is going to be the one. I thought most relationships would be good you know? I mean looking at my parents and all, so yeah he was nothing like what I thought a boyfriend would be like."
"He sounds like a prick." Donghyuck stated, clearly disliking the ex boyfriend just by a brief description. "That's not what someone should be like in a relationship, I'm glad you're not with him anymore."
She looked over at him, nodding in agreement as his gaze lingered a little longer on her soft brown eyes catching in the sunlight through the window.
"Me too, I ended it and never saw him again." She shrugged.
Then she sighed, leaning her head back on the sofa and looked up at the ceiling.
"It feels like a lot relationships are falling apart, romantic or not."
"Really?" He asked, wondering what was bothering her and she nodded.
"I'm worried about my parents...they're arguing more than their little silly arguments. It's pretty serious now, I'm just scared...they'll end up splitting up or something." She must've been thinking about it a lot, she was frowning and had a sadness in her gaze. "And I don't think my friends that I've been friends with for years like me as much anymore. We've drifted I know but...I just, I don't know. It's just sad. I wish things were better with everything."
There was a comforting hand placed over hers, making her look over to see Donghyuck lightly tugging her hand towards his direction, opening his arms out to her.
"Come here."
His presence was so comforting and despite the urge to panic and run like she had been doing so lately, she gave into the overwhelming temptation of being close to him.
Donghyuck may be irritating and annoying when he jokes around but he was a complete sweetheart too, bringing her into his side with his arm around her.
Haeri leant into him and his hand patted her head.
"It's okay, your parents are strong enough together to get through this. Don't worry okay? They'll be okay. I know it hurts to drift away from people but you have a lot of people who like you and who love having you as their friends. Focus on hanging around them, you'll feel better. Are you okay?"
He spoke so softly and caringly while gently cradling her head to himself.
"Don't ask me that, I'll start crying or something." She muttered.
"You can cry," he reassured, taking her joke with seriousness. "I'll cry with you don't worry."
She smiled at his words, his hand moved from her head to remaining around her. His other hand grasped hers that was resting on her leg. Haeri watched him lift her arm up a little, his finger grazing over the hair tie.
"Why do you always wear the same one?" He asked, noticing it for a while.
"I don't know, I just got used to it I guess."
He tugged it a little further down her wrist, the slight indentation in her skin that he brushed his thumb over, sending shockwaves up her.
"It must hurt though."
"It doesn't." She shook her head. "I barely notice it."
She took the few seconds of silence to ask him something, leaning slightly away to look at him.
They were a little closer than she expected to be, not close enough to cause a scene but he turned his head and his piercing gaze made her a little more nervous than she was.
"How are you?" She asked, cursing herself a little for sounding awkward. He raised an eyebrow catching onto that. "I mean...really really."
He didn't really say much at first and she sighed, tilting her head a little, disappointed that he might try and joke his way around it.
"Come on Hyuck, please just be honest with me this time."
He was stunned- no Donghyuck was rendered speechless.
His lack of reply made her grow increasingly irritated, narrowing her eyes. Noticing her anger towards him, he shook his head to get himself together.
"Sorry, that just really caught me off guard." He stated, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Say it again."
Haeri's expression fell and she was about to move away but he kept her in place and promised he would be truthful.
She remained there, listening to what he was going to say. It looked like he was hesitant to open up, Donghyuck was just too used to keeping it in and being there for others.
It made him nervous, anxious really- the fact he was about to just tell someone how he felt without it being a doctor or someone professional.
She was patient though, she had an encouraging look in her eyes which eased him. Donghyuck hummed before he began, rubbing the back of his neck.
"It was happening progressively really...my condition just kept getting worse. Physically, I couldn't keep up with anything the way I was able to before. My body just hurt a lot, I guess I over did it a lot." He cleared his throat, she noticed he wasn't looking at her but looking at the blank screen of the tv.
"Honestly...I would do a stage and collapse right after backstage. Sometimes I would just...just get home and barely move around from my body being exhausted."
Hearing this made her breath hitch in her throat, the actual reality of it dawning on her. She began to imagine it, how bad it must've gotten.
"I was tired but most of the time I really couldn't sleep either, I don't know I still can't sleep well even on the break. I don't know if it's because I keep thinking about the tour that's happening right now. I just can't relax properly, I feel on edge- weak even while on my break. That's why I came to the store so often at night, I was awake for hours and it felt suffocating hurting in the dorm."
"Donghyuck..." she trailed off, shocked by what he had told her. There was obvious concern towards him and sadness in her eyes, her lips beginning to tug downward and he grasped her chin. His thumb and index finger lightly pushed her cheeks upwards.
"If you start crying over me I'll have to return my wallet."
"But-" she began, grabbing his hand away from her face so she could talk. Both of her hands clasped over his one, holding it there in between them. "I didn't know it was that bad...you must've been in a lot of pain. I wish you weren't overworked like this, it's unfair. You shouldn't be dealing with that much pain you know? Have you seen anyone to talk about not being able to sleep even now?"
"I'll be okay," he began to reassure and brush off but she shook her head defiantly.
"No, you need to sleep properly to rest your body too. I can't believe they're making you go back to promotions, it's not even been a whole month yet." She was beginning to get angry.
Donghyuck smiled, reaching out to fondly pat her head.
"Okay, I'll try to from now- don't worry okay?"
"How am I not supposed to worry?" She muttered, the doorbell going off cut through the air.
"That's the food." He perked up, getting up from the sofa and happily going over to retrieve it from the door but Haeri still felt worried for him.
She wished she could help him feel better, somehow get his pain to stop.
"Hey Sunshine, are you coming to eat or not?" He asked, bringing the bag of food into the kitchen, calling her over.
↬
Haeri wasn't sure what time it was exactly, all she knew was that it was dark outside.
They hadn't even moved from the living room, now she was huddled on the end of the sofa with a blanket he had given her.
She was intently watching the game of Mario cart he was playing next to her, connected to the tv.
"Did you see that?" He exclaimed, overtaking another player.
After that round, he handed it over to her and she was so concentrated on winning that she was playing while stood up. He laughed at her anger towards the other players.
"Come on sunshine, you got this." He clasped his hands together, watching in anticipation as she was in second place.
The winner sign flagged up on the screen and Haeri gasped happily, turning around in excitement to Donghyuck who was equally excited. Through the height of the victory, they hugged to celebrate her win.
It was brief but obviously knowing their luck, they were caught right in the middle of it.
Clearly the two were unaware that anyone had even entered the dorm, who would even when the members were away?
"I knew it- I told you they're dating!"
Haeri and Donghyuck's excitement drained too quickly, parting immediately to see the three figures that were stood there.
There were two boys and a girl, the girl in the middle of them smiling widely. The resemblance of them all to Donghyuck made her heart drop.
It's his siblings
Oh god im going to die
No
Why is this happening
Not again
"What are you guys doing here?" Donghyuck asked, bewildered by the fact his siblings just showed up.
The boy on the right held a bag up, slightly awkward in the situation.
"Dad told us to bring you cake from the wedding we went to."
There was a slight few seconds of silence before Seonhee couldn't hold it in and broke through her grin.
"I've seen you around a lot!" She directed towards Haeri. "At uni. I've always wanted to talk to you but he told me not to bother you. I'm Seonhee by the way."
"Oh really," Haeri was surprised that she had seen her around. "Hi, I'm Haeri." She smiled.
The boys were stood a little awkwardly, making eye contact with their eldest brother who equally was unsure of what to say.
"Is the cake all you came here to give? Don't you have university and school tomorrow, you should get some rest guys." Donghyuck began but the youngest- Kyungmin caught sight of Mario.
"Oh cool, you're playing Mario." He spotted, walking over to take the discarded controller. "Let me play then."
"If you're not eating the cake I'll have a slice then." Yejun shrugged, turning around to take the bag to the kitchen.
"Oooh! I love your outfit." Seonhee grasped Haeri's arm lightly. "You're so pretty."
Donghyuck was stood in the middle of the living room, absolutely stunned by his siblings. He made eye contact with Haeri who was being dragged to the other sofa so his sister could talk her ear off.
"Hey, I can't see- get out the way." The youngest directed towards Donghyuck, huffing as he was in the way.
Donghyuck narrowed his eyes at his little brother, baffled by the way he spoke to him.
"Hey, where's your manners- I'll tell Mum."
"I'll tell her about your girlfriend then too."
8k words long DAMN
SHE CALLED HIM HYUCK
I see the rising tension 🫣😩