Haerin's POV
We gathered around the phone, about to host a Phoning Live. After that, we could eat.
Bunnies started joining up very quickly.
"Hey bunnies!" Hanni said.
Kitty_kang: who's that in the background? Bodyguards are getting younger as idols get younger?
Hannisplantpen: Stan Kim Cheol!
Minjisattention: How about Chanielle?
Not this again. For some reason, it makes me angry when people talked about Cheolie and Danielle together.
"Wah, looks like bunnies are really fond of Cheol!" Minji said, gazing at the comments. "Cheol, come here!"
"What is it?" He responded, walking over.
He leaned over us, looking at the comments.
Cheolie smelled so good. His scent was putting me in a trance.
"Haerin, why're you staring again?" Y/n asked, clearly bothered.
I snapped out of it and awkwardly went back to looking at the comments.
Tomatofrog22: he looks even cuter up close
Multistan169: Y/n? Someone's angry
Y/nbestbg: Y/n vs Cheol is needed
Cheolie laughed a little at the comments and left.
"I'll be in the dorm, shout me if you need me." He said.
After about an hour of chatting and replying to fans, we ordered food.
I sat on the sofa, and scrolled through my phone as we waited.
I saw edits of Cheolie already being made. It ranged from upbeat edits of him fighting off that guy from earlier to ship edits of him and Danielle. I started feeling the same negativity towards her as earlier.
Hyein scooted over to me, peering at my phone.
"Obsessed, hm?" She teased.
"It's nothing like that," I said.
"How come you haven't been talking to Cheol since he came back? I thought you missed him more than anyone." Hyein said. "Listen, I know Y/n wouldn't be happy with it, but you and Cheol should really catch up, it'd make things less awkward between you two."
"I don't feel like it." I shrugged.
The truth is, I really, really, really want to. Everytime we're close, I freeze up and I lose my breath. I forget what I'm going to say. Plus the interactions we've been having lately make me feel like it's better if we don't.
"What? That's it?" Hyein said.
"He doesn't like me." I said.
"Haerin, if you keep going on like this, you'll lose Cheol to Danielle. You have to show him that you still like him." Hyein said.
"You're right.. but what about Y/n?" I asked.
"Forget Y/n, I'm sure they'll understand and respect your wishes." Hyein said.
Our attention was redirected to a knock on the door.
"Food's here!" Minji yelled.
I opened the door.
"Hi, delivery order for Kim Minji?" The guy said. He was ridiculously buff for whatever reason.
"I'll take that, thanks." Minji said, shutting the door.
The delivery guy then put his hand on the door, stopping it.
"What's wrong?" Minji said.
"It says you haven't paid." He said.
"What do you mean? Of course I paid!" Minji said.
"Okay, you're not fooling anyone, come right in." Y/n said. "Put the food on the table, Hyein."
The delivery guy let himself in, and started attacking us.
"Cheol's in the bathroom, he says he'll be down in- What the fuck!?" Hanni yelled.
The guy slapped Minji and then tried to hit me.
Y/n grabbed the guy by the neck and choke slammed him.
"You okay?" They said.
"Look out!" I yelled.
The guy got up and tackled Y/n into the living room. We followed them, and watched as they exchanged punches.
The delivery man emerged victorious, using his raw strength to overpower Y/n.
He started strangling Y/n.
"Where is Kim Cheol?" He said.
"YAAAH!" Minji screamed, jumping on top of him.
We followed on, and he shook us all off.
"Where is Kim Cheol!?" He yelled. "You all are clearly powerless without him, so where's he hiding?"
We all stayed silent, coughing on the floor.
"Don't wanna tell me? Fine, I'll break the answer out. Starting with you." He said, putting his hands on my head.
A knee came flying into his chest.
"Took you long enough." Minji said.
"You good?" He asked me.
I stared at him, completely dazed.
The guy got up, and I was going to yell for him to watch out, but Cheolie lead on with a good hook kick to his face.
He squatted over the man.
"Ah, you again.. what should we do with you?" He said. "The boss send you?"
"I-I'm not telling you shit!" He said.
"Fine." Cheolie said. "Hand this guy into the police, maybe they can find out more when they look at his tattoo."
More guards entered, taking him away. I guess they figured something was wrong through the cameras.
"Wait! Nooo! I'll tell you! Let me go!" He yelled as he was being dragged away.
"Shut up, you're too noisy." A guard said.
"You knew that guy?" Danielle asked.
"He's from the same organisation I was in." Cheolie said.
"Yeoboseyo?" Y/n said, answering their phone and putting it on speaker.
"Ahem, I've seen what happened through the cameras, and I must say, Kim Cheol is an outstanding bodyguard. And the media loves you!" The manager said. "Y/n, step it up."
"What did I even do? I tried." Y/n complained.
"Sure, but we can all agree you and the girls would be dead if it weren't for Cheol, no?" He said.
"Yeah okay whatever, bye." Y/n said, sulking.
"Now, let's eat before the food gets cold." Minji said.
We all sat around the table, and I made sure I sat next to Cheolie. I inched my chair over a bit more.
"What'd I tell you. Kimbap and fried chicken is a great combo, huh?" Danielle said.
My heart was beating so fast next to Cheolie. And my eating speed got faster.
I swallowed a piece of chicken too quickly and started choking.
"Yah, you good?" Cheolie asked cautiously.
"Obviously not." Y/n said, rushing over to help me.
I subconsciously pushed their hands away from me and turned to Cheolie.
"What the heck?" Y/n said.
"Cheol, help her!" Hyein yelled, discretely winking at me.
He smacked me on the back, and the piece of chicken came flying out.
He held me steady with both hands. Feeling Cheolie's touch for the first time in so long felt heavenly.
"You alright now?" He asked.
"I-I'm okay," I said.
He immediately took his hands away from me and continued eating.
Cheol's POV
While I was eating, Danielle kept eyeballing me. I kinda feel like she's getting the wrong idea. She's really angelic, but my heart is still set on Haerin. I just don't want to ruin what Y/n and her have got going on. I don't know how to act when I'm around Haerin nowadays, I'm afraid I'll fuck up and ruin everything.
I sit down on the couch after I'm done eating and turn the TV on.
"What are you watching?" Haerin asked, sitting down next to me.
I scoot a few inches away from her.
"I don't know yet," I said. "What do you want to watch?"
"I don't really watch TV," she said. "I listen to music a lot though."
I turned off the TV.
She pulls out her phone and earphones.
"Here, w-wanna listen?" She asked, offering me an earpiece.
I took the earpiece and put it in my ear.
"What music are you into?" She asked. "I'm into all sorts, our songs are pretty good too, don't you think?"
"I don't know, I rarely listen to music." I answer.
"Okay, then we'll listen to a few and tell me which ones you like, okay?" She said.
The music starts playing, and I look at her phone to see that it's a song called "Ditto".
The song turns out to be really good, and Haerin's voice stands out to me.
Our heads stay close to each other, as I'm afraid the earphones will fall out or stretch if I move too much.
"How was that?" She asked.
"It was alright," I said.
"Well, we've still got many more songs." She said.
"When did Haerin get so talkative again?" I heard Hanni whisper.
"I don't know, but it's been a long time since she's spoken this much." Minji whispered back. "Leave her be, she usually talks loads when it's about something she likes a lot."
We listen to the rest of their songs.
"Which one did you like the most?" She asked.
"I think.. the one called Hurt," I said.
"Really? I always feel like it's under-appreciated by bunnies!" She smiled.
"Haerin, why are you two so close?" Y/n said. "Come back here."
"Huh? Me?" Haerin said. "But I don't want to."
Y/n stood up and walked over to us.
"What's going on?" I said.
"You and Haerin are getting way too close for comfort. Stop it." Y/n said.
"I'm sorry, my fault." I said, getting up and moving away from Haerin.
Haerin hugged my arm and pulled me back, not letting go.
"Don't go, Cheolie." She said. "Y/n, I.. I still like Cheolie, please leave us alone. Cheolie hasn't done anything wrong."
"One of you better relax before this gets out of hand." Minji warned.
Y/n swung at my face, and I dodge it, standing up.
"Hey, chill out." I said.
"Oooouuu, Y/n vs Cheol rematch!!" Hanni teased.
"What are you talking about?" Danielle said. "Obviously Cheol's gonna win."
"What are you doing this for?" I asked Y/n.
"Ever since you came back, you've been taking things from me. The manager's been giving me shit, and you made it worse. And now, you steal Haerin!"
Y/n yells.
"I'm sorry, I'm just doing my job. We can still calm down and figure this out." I said.
"I've been holding in my feelings for way too long, now is the time for me to let it out. You should've just stayed dead." Y/n said, throwing a punch.
I dodge their punch.
"I'm trying to tell you, stop it!" I yelled.
Y/n throws a kick at me, I block it and punch them in the face, knocking them out.
"Daaaaaamnnnn!!!!!" Hanni shouted.
"Someone help Y/n up," Minji said. "Just take them to the bedroom to rest."
I sit back down next to Haerin and she stares at me.
"I'm sorry." I apologize.
"What for? You didn't do anything wrong." She said. "We were hanging out, and Y/n interrupted."
"But you and Y/n are dating." I said.
"I.. I still love you, Cheolie." She cried, slowly turning red and digging her face into my chest. "You have no idea how much I thought about you, I really thought you died!! Why'd you leave me like that?"
"I'm sorry. I thought it would be less of a hassle if I didn't show up anymore after seeing my grave and cause more confusion." I said.
"Of course not, idiot!!" She cried. "I wanted to see you again more than anything!"
My shirt was getting wet, but I didn't care.
-
"You guys got any spare pj's?" I asked. "I'm not sleeping in a suit."
"Yeah hold on, I'll go get you one," Minji said.
She returned with a larger version of Haerin's pajamas. A white shirt and bright blue plaid pants.
"Here, you two lovebirds can match." Minji said, looking away from me.
I don't know if what happened that night with Drunk Minji was genuine, but if it was true, Minji was really good at hiding it and controlling herself.
During bedtime, Haerin seemed to be having another nightmare.
I kissed her on the cheek and it seemed to stop.
"Cheolie... I visited your grave every month.." she said quietly.
"I know, I saw," I said.
"You were there?" She whispered. "Why didn't you show yourself?"
"I'm sorry again, Haerin." I whispered.
She climbs further up the bed and lays on top of me, kissing me on the lips.
The feeling of Haerin's lips on mine were ethereal. She likes to do this thing where she takes her shirt off and climbs up into my shirt, so we're sharing a shirt kinda.
"Oh- okay," I thought to myself.
"We can still do this, right?" Haerin asked.
"Why shouldn't we?" I whisper.
I could feel her heartbeat and breathing. I don't think we've ever been this close before. The pressure felt weirdly good.
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