Aeri's writing ideas go wild as soon as she meets Na Jaemin, the perfect character.
However, she's so focused on painting him as perfectly as possible that she ignores the furry of fiery hair that takes her to night walks and shows her secret places...
I find myself walking towards the basketball court, hoping that I could find whoever I was looking for. If I had been in love with Jaemin, my heart wouldn't have hurt this much right now. If I had feelings for anybody else, I wouldn't feel like somebody ripped my chest open. How could I be wrong, how could I possibly be wrong, when I am so used to analyzing everybody around me and foresee all the possible cases? How could I lie to myself like this?
A basketball rolls down to my feet and I pick it up, looking in front of me, only to be met with the sight of a mess of a fiery hair, staring back at me. I feel tears stinging my eyes and I step towards him, leaving only two steps between him and I. After inhaling deeply, I throw him the ball and he catches it perfectly, with his incontestable basketball skills. He dribbles it a few times and I could've sworn my heart was beating almost as loud as the thumps of the ball.
"Why did you write that?" I ask silently, trying to look into his eyes.
He wasn't confused. He knew all too well what I was talking about and that only made more tears gather behind my eyes. I knew I couldn't be wrong. Not this time. Not regarding this.
"I felt like it," he answers, shrugging and I feel like screaming, frustrated at the fact that he can control his emotions so well, unlike me.
"You felt like it? You f-felt like it, Chenle?" I let out a small whimper. "You wrote about all of that just because you felt like it?"
He shrugs and I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I was the wrong one and still I was the one asking for explanation from him when it should be the other way.
"I... Miss Kang asked me to read your essay because she thought it's the best one out of the whole competition. She asked me to grade it. I... I couldn't," I sigh. "Maybe I'm selfish to find myself in it so much but... I do? All the late night walks and evenings spent in fun fairs or reading comics on the floor of the library... we d-did that, didn't we? We did all of those, hell we did much more... w-why couldn't I understand earlier..."
"You confessed to Jaemin," he speaks and my eyes widen.
Of course Jaemin told him.
"There was... nothing to confess," I say softly. "I thought I had feelings for him, but... I guess you were right. It has never been him."
He looks at me and sighs, before averting his gaze.
"Look, Aeri, it's really not my business, I shouldn't have said those things, but..." He sighs, shaking his head. "Thank you for reading my essay-..."
"Chenle!"
He looks at me, a little bit startled by my loud voice.
"A-All this time..." I start "it has been you," I sniff. "Not Jaemin, not Jem, nor any other imaginary prince charming, nor anybody else. It has always been just you. You... you make me feel so happy and... and alive... I have always taken you for granted and realized how important you were to me just after you left... B-Because I'm freaking stupid a-and... all I know is to create scenarios in my head and drown in them... until I can no longer tell what's fantasy and what's... real..."
He looks at me but I can't figure out his expression because of the amount of tears in my eyes.
"I am s-so sorry, Chenle," I try to say but my voice comes out as a whisper. "You have all t-the rights to hate m-me..."
"I wrote that because you inspire me to always do better and never give up on my dreams," he says instead, tqking me aback. "You... you work so hard for yours and you..." he lets out a heavy breath. "You make me feel. Everything. I think... that's how I could write that essay, I was thinking about you the whole time. All the feelings that I put in it... you made me feel them. Aeri..."
I look at him, quickly wiping the tears that were rolling on my cheeks already.
"I'm in love with you."
I feel myself taking a deep breath and letting out the sobs that I have swallowed for so long. I feel two arms engulfing me into a warm hug and the familiar scent of soap and mint taking over my senses. I bury my head in Chenle's chest as he caresses my back gently as if I was a frightened cat. I wasn't far from being one though.
"Is it that bad?" He asks gently and I chuckle but it comes out more as a chocked sob and Chenle laughs.
Loud, bright, genuinely. Exactly how I love him.
"Okay gross, you're ruining his T-shirt, crybaby," I hear Hyuck saying behind me and my friends' giggles following after.
"You're next, fucker!" I say in a dry voice and Chenle laughs once again.
He was not perfect. He was far from being perfect. But somehow, all the imperfections that were part of him made him be perfect in my eyes. He was more than what I deserved to get and I was more than thankful to the heavens for dragging him into my life. I had always tried to be perfect, to write, to act, to speak perfectly. But he has showed me that there's beauty in imperfection. There is perfection in imperfection.
And he is the living proof for that.
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~The End~
Thank you to everyone who read this story, I really really appreciate you guys taking your time to check it out! I hope it felt like a small comforting hand, at least for a short while, and I hope you enjoyed it!
Honestly, I love these boys so much I can't even describe it in words, they deserve to have so much art created with them as a source of inspiration!<3
Thank you once again for embarking on this short imperfect journey! I hope it was worth it!
