"Is this too much?" you stared at your reflection in the mirror as you held up two different dresses against your body. "Should I even wear a dress? If I'm helping him, should I just dress like normal?"
You wanted to call Seulgi and ask what she thought, but then she'd just tease you about your "date" and get your hopes for no reason. Getting your hopes up was something you did so often, you'd be rich if you had a dollar for every time you did.
Finally, you settled on a nice sweater and black jeans. It was formal enough but also casual. For fun, you put on a touch of makeup, making sure to flex your eyeshadow skills. On top of your lid, you made sure to draw on some winged eyeliner and smiled at the finished product. You still looked like you, but you had just enhanced your features.
Your phone buzzed with a notification,
Yuta: Hey, I'm out front :)
Every time you thought about being in the vicinity of him, your heart pounded wildly. You fanned your face to try to get the strong red color in your cheeks to disappear, but as soon as you sat in the passenger seat of his sedan, YOUgave up on trying to hide her blush.
"You look good! It's nice seeing you outside of the lab," Yuta grinned. "So is udon okay?"
How can he say something so casually? You nodded. "Udon sounds great right now."
Yuta laughed to himself as he twirled the udon onto his fork, and you looked at him questioningly.
"Sorry, I just remembered earlier today when you tied my hair back. I really need to get it cut, don't I?"
You shook your head. "I kinda like it long. Anyways, what did you need help with? We're isolating RNA from some bacteria tomorrow, so what questions did you have?"
Yuta sighed. "To be honest, I'm not here to talk about lab stuff. I, um, wanted to address something."
Immediately, a panicked feeling settled in, and your heart started racing for different reasons. Somehow, he knew. He knew everything. You could see it in his eyes. Everything you had seen in him before, you'd now be forced to forget. Whenever you were around him, he would be a reminder of your once again unrequited feelings. But this time, things hit differently. You'd never clicked with someone better, and part of you didn't want to lose him altogether. You prepared yourself for the worst, staring at the floorboards of the udon restaurant with newfound interest.
"Why do you look like that? Suddenly you look dejected," Yuta pointed out. "I haven't even said what I wanted to say, yet."
You smiled sadly. "You don't have to tell me. I understand. I'll try to disappear for you. Sorry."
"Maybe I should start from the beginning. I, um, heard your conversation in the stairwell earlier. You feel comfortable around me. I remind you of a cozy winter day. Just sitting next to me in silence feels so perfect."
You sunk in your chair, your expression defeated. He knew everything. You should have never said what you did in such a public space. There were eyes and ears everywhere, and the wrong person had just gotten hold of the wrong information.
"I should probably get going," you said quickly, grimacing at your half-eaten udon. Standing up, you began making your way towards the entrance, but Yuta grabbed your wrist as you passed by.
"You haven't even given me a chance to say anything," he spoke up sadly. "But, I respect your decisions. See you at work tomorrow."
And when you opened your eyes the next morning, you had never dreaded going to work more. Your head ached from staying up the whole night worrying and then catching only two hours of sleep. But when you showed up to the office, you were surprised to see Yuta in worse condition than you. Before today, you didn't know he was capable of having dark circles. His complexion was paler than normal, and his hair stuck up weirdly in spots as if he had just rolled out of bed.
"You sleep okay?" he asked in a groggy voice, and you tried your best to calm your beating heart.
"Yeah. Um, did you?"
Yuta shook his head. "Not a wink. I stayed up all night thinking about how you didn't even give me a chance to tell you I liked you. I didn't know you hated me that much all this time."
Your eyes nearly popped out of your head. "You l-l-l-like me?"
"Y-y-yes I like you," Yuta mocked you. "It's okay. I didn't tell you so that you could try to like me, or anything. I just wanted to let you know how much I truly admire and look up to you. And you always help me out, and we get along fine. I became more interested in you over time and knew I would regret if I never told you."
You had no idea what to do with this information. Your brain could hardly process the words coming out of his mouth, but you smiled.
"How about we grab red bean paste buns tonight and I tell you a funny story about me misunderstanding your intentions?"
Yuta grinned. "Steamed buns it is! I'll pick you up sharp at 7."
You beamed. Nakamoto Yuta was standing right in front of you, no longer a faraway fantasy.
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A/N: Ahhh, sorry for the delay on part 2! Writer's block is a real pain in the back, but here it is! I'm getting closer to finishing a huge project that I'm excited to share soon, so stay tuned!
Question of the imagine: What kind of content would you be interested in seeing for new NCT imagines? No R-rated fanfics or smuts, please! I've messed around with superheros and scientists and video gamer imagines, but if there's something you really want to see, either comment here or feel free to message me! With that... REQUESTS ARE NOW OPEN!