let me love you ✶ girl groups

half blue • uchinaga aeri

prompt: Still a long way to go, he told her once, so she keeps waiting. let's act like giselle trained for more than she did

pairing: giselle x male reader.

genre: angst

word count: 1165

2015

to: uchinaga aeri

happy birthday! have a good day and be healthy^^

"I heard we share a birthday" was the first thing he said to her. She was standing outside the toilet, waiting for Somi when he passed by. They had seen each other around before, but this was the first time he ever talked to her, aside from exchanging polite greetings.

To someone like Aeri, who hadn't been around that long yet, Y/N wasn't someone that she could just walk up to and say hi. He was someone she would watch from a distance and wonder how deep his thoughts could go when he lied down in his bed at night, or would he just fall asleep right away?

"I heard that, too," she replied, flashing a polite smile that hid her two large front teeth. She didn't even know how he found out about her birthday.

"Let's have a meal together some time," he offered with a tight lipped smile, then added: "With the others."

Somi came out then and blinked at the two of them. Aeri maintained her smile. "Sure," she said. With the others.

2016

to: uchinaga aeri

happy birthday! your high school days will soon be over!

"Congratulations on your debut," she told him when they ran into each other in the hallway. It was two weeks before the big day when things were starting to get frantic for him.

"Still a long way to go," he said in reply. "Soon it'll be your turn." She doubted, but didn't tell him that.

The night of the music video release, she stayed up and watched it on Cecelia's laptop. He was wearing clothes that she never thought she would see him wear, and his hair was all styled up. It felt as though the Y/N she knew all this time and the Y/N in the video were two different people, then she realized she never did know him that well. It felt like the distance between them grew before she ever got the chance to do anything to close the gap.

2017

to: aeri

happy 18th birthday! we're hitting the 20s soon ~

It was Yuta who told her that the comeback was not happening, and NCT would probably be scrapped off. They weren't getting as much popularity as the company had expected, and since they were just an experimental group anyway, something else would be planned for them.

It was Karina who told her that there was going to be a new group. They were cooling off in front of a fan, sweaty after just a short trip to the convenience store. Y/N was a full fledged idol last summer, but she's not so sure now.

She saw him one day through the glass window on the door of one of the practice rooms, staring at his own reflection in the mirror. She couldn't see his face. She wondered what was going through his mind then, if he was as excited to debut again or if he felt more burdened.

Maybe a part of her wondered what he would say to her if she had walked in. Would he say kind word as usual and flash that tight lipped smile, or would he honestly tell her his thoughts?

Then again, why would he tell her his honest thoughts?

She continued walking.

2018