"What's your problem?"
Jeongguk halts as soon as Lalisa pins her gaze on him. He stands still at the hallway, eyes wide and hands shaking (though he would never admit it). This is the first time he's seen her up close, like really close, since they last ate lunch at Panda Express two days ago, so it explains why he feels like he's about to pee in his pants right now.
"What problem?" He tries to play it cool, leaning against the wall to make it seem like he doesn't know what she's talking about. These past days have been incredibly difficult for him, running away from his roommate and all. "There's nothing wrong."
Lalisa rolls her eyes and stands up from the couch. "I'm not dumb, Jeongguk. You've been ignoring me for days now!"
Feigning shock, he lets out a dramatic gasp (which sounded very unlike him). Wrong move, damn. "Ignoring? How?"
"Mmm, okay, let me think. First, you leave the house at 5am every morning because you have this 'group study' and then I find out you're actually at Tae's."
"Tae is the person I'm studying with."
"Yeah, he really is, huh? Guess that explains why he's been complaining about you in Twitter." Oh, shit, Jeongguk hasn't thought of that. "His account is public, stupid. I know you sleep in his couch every time you claim to be studying."
Okay, maybe Jeongguk did make a mistake.
"Next, you haven't been talking to me lately. You always have excuses, you say you're going to sleep but then whenever I go to the bathroom I can hear you watching Netflix!" I should've used my airpods, the hell. "The walls are thin, Ggukie. I can even hear moans sometimes."
The way she's looking at him softly makes him want to jump into a hole and die.
Shoving his embarrassment aside, he says, "I have needs, Lali--"
"That's besides the point!" She waves her hands around in frustration. The little crease between her brows makes her look so adorable that Jeongguk smiles to himself. "Those are just some of the reasons. I'm here because I feel ignored and it doesn't feel good and I just want to know... what did I do to you?"
Well, shit. Jeongguk doesn't know what to say. "You did nothing wrong! It's just..."
Lalisa raises her brows. "It's just?"
"Nothing." Jeongguk sighs and turns around to head back to his room. He couldn't find the courage to tell her. At least, not now. "You did nothing wrong, I was just acting like a dick."
She notices him backing away and her mouth falls open. "Where are you going?"
"To my room. I have homework--"
"Are you seriously thinking about homework while I'm talking to you?" She scoffs, offended. Shit. Lalisa walks over to him in a terrifying speed that he instinctively moves backwards, hitting the wall. "Jeongguk, what are you hiding?"
"No, no! Nothing!" He immediately retaliates. Fuck, fuck, fuck! "It's not important, believe me. It really isn't."
"I don't care! I just want an answer. Why are you acting like this?"
"I'm not--"
"Just tell me!"
"No, Lali, it's okay--"
"God, Jeongguk! Say the--"
And Jeongguk, being the Jeongguk that he is, just had enough of the argument.
"Okay!" He screams over her before he could even think about it. "I'm acting like this because of the kiss, okay? I'm confused, I don't know what it meant, why you did it, why am I feeling a certain way and why..." he trails off, realizing that his roommate has quieted down. Fuck. "And that's it. Nothing more. Now, I'm going to go do my homework. Bye!"
His hand comes in contact with the door knob until Lalisa pulls him back to their previous position.
Distinctively, Jeongguk feels his heart doing somersaults in his chest. "What?" he asks, acting nonchalant to somehow calm the way he's so close to bursting.
"Gguk," Lalisa speaks softly this time. She stares at him, eyes glazed over and a sense of understanding in them. "Why are you confused about the kiss?"
Ah. This is worse than failing a physics test. "Well." He licks his lips and looks at everything but her. "I just... I didn't know what it meant. Like, did it mean nothing to you... at all? Or was it just me who... who felt something else entirely."
She nods at him to continue, a small smile blooming in her face.
He sighs. "I didn't want to assume, you know. It's just... I've been talking to Chaeng for quite some time, and I've come to the realization that..."
Okay, shit. I'm going to say it. Fucking hell. Okay.
"I've come to the realization that... I like you."
Oh, Lord, Jeongguk wants to melt.
Th next beats of silence become agonisingly painful as they try to let the words settle in between them. Jeongguk resorts to counting the ceiling dust, avoiding Lalisa's eyes that were may or may not be looking at him right now.
"Jeongguk," Lalisa speaks after a long while. He hums in reply, forcing himself to look back at her and damn. Her face was so red she looks like a tomato. Well, a cute tomato. "Do you think I'd kiss you if I didn't like you?"
If Lalisa was that red, he couldn't even imagine how he looked like right now. The sweat cascading down his temples aren't really helping his case either.
"Yes? No? I don't know." His shoulders slump forward. "You were being harassed, after all. Maybe you just need help."
"You are so fucking oblivious," Lalisa swears under her breath. "Jeongguk, look at me."
"Huh?"
Jeongguk raises his head to meet her eyes, only to be met with the familiar feel of soft lips against his.
Shit.
