𝗚𝗢𝗔𝗟 𖥻! seonghwa

( 5 ) the contract

THE THURSDAY BEFORE the official last practice on friday, the team got ready for the team party, showering in the locker rooms and changing into nicer clothes.

seonghwa was still oblivious that chaerim found out about the party, even when she, too, was freshening up and fixing her hair in front of her locker. she had even changed into a decent outfit — a skirt, a pretty blouse, and tall brown boots — not something you just put on to go home and chill.

but he would find out soon enough. chaerim was the one to knock on his front door with wooyoung, yeosang, and san behind her. she couldn't wait to see the look on his face.

seonghwa opened the door and sighed, "you."

"me!" she grinned and walked past him before he could say any more, making sure to bump his shoulder oh-so kindly. yeowoosan gave seonghwa awkward smiles and broken eye-contact as they slipped in after her.

she grabbed a seat on the couch and her friends followed suit. seonghwa groaned, "that was my seat, kim!"

"mine now. haha!" her voice was teasing, making seonghwa angrier by the second.

"can you two stop fighting for like one second? here, just take mine." groaned hongjoong, who stood up from his seat which was conveniently right next to chaerim. he made a face at the rest of the room, saying 'can you believe those two?'

"no way i'm sitting by her," said seonghwa.

but hongjoong shook his head at this, gripping seonghwa's shoulders and forcing him into the seat. "don't be dramatic. it's a seat, hwa." i guess he was the only member on the team that could talk to seonghwa like that (without getting berated) because of his age.

their skin was burning at the contact of each other's thighs and knees, but they couldn't move since the couch was so crowded.

"scoot over," said chaerim lowly, and seonghwa growled back, "can't. you scoot over."

"aww this is so cute, look!! chaerim and seonghwa are warming up to each other," teased san.

they both looked away from each other and muttered, "no we're not."

"take a picture! this is a huge moment!" suggested yunho, and of course wooyoung whipped out his phone. after a flash, they were officially posted on woo's snapchat story for all to see.

while everyone else was laughing about the picture and talking about it, seonghwa and chaerim felt like they were alone, only with each other. the burning turned into incinerating into absolute singeing and scorching — but neither moved, maybe out of stubbornness or something else.

"this is a lot different than our constant fighting," she said, "we're tolerating each other."

"yeah, tolerating." he emphasized, acting all tough, yet his cheeks were flushed red, "i still don't like you."

she tilted her head slightly, and sarcastically teased, "sure you don't."

he didn't respond, but kept the eye contact with her. goosebumps slowly began to appear on his skin.

chaerim stood up and walked off, hoping to find the kitchen. seonghwa let out a breath of relief that he didn't know he was holding. a few seconds later, he popped up too and followed her.

she was innocently grabbing a sprite from the fridge when seonghwa barged in. he looked determined and didn't spare any small talk before pinning her against the cold, silver fridge, hands on either side of her head.

he leaned forward and stared her down, and chaerim just wanted to know what he was thinking. she knew she had struck a nerve with him, and she was proud.