oneshots • nctdream x aespa

nervous 🐹🦋

Jisung is a little bit nervous. He doesn't think he's actually ready to start a new job in a completely unexplored city, so his hands keep trembling and his lips are about to be bruised from all that biting. He's terrified, but he knows that he will be okay because he has his best friend by his side.

Yizhuo is sitting next to him, bobbing her head to some kind of rhythm that is playing in her earphones and reading her favourite webtoon while smiling subconsciously. Really cute, Jisung thinks as he grins and shifts his gaze toward the window.

Both of them have been together since they were little kids, and they have become inseparable. Yizhuo was there when Jisung had experienced his first hangover; she was there when Jisung had been going through his first breakup; she was there whenever her best friend needed her to let him vent out and to make sure that he had a shoulder to cry on, and Jisung was eternally grateful for that.

So it wasn't that much of a surprise when Yizhuo decided to leave this city with Jisung, even though he had tried to change her mind, but it was like talking to a brick wall. Of course, he's glad that his best friend still wants to be with him because she means the whole world to him, but Jisung can't help but feel that sometimes he just makes her carry all of his burdens, not even relieving some of her own.

He's afraid that months later, Yizhuo might change her mind, might come into his room with tears welling up in her beautiful eyes, telling Jisung that she wants to come back to her friends and family, to the old times when it was much simpler. She might start apologising for coming here with him and leaving so soon, trying to assure him that she's okay, but everything is just a bit tiring. She might smile, but it won't reach her eyes.

Jisung is afraid of his friend being unhappy in another city and regretting her decisions.

His mind keeps racing as the thoughts try to catch up with each other, so he's a bit distracted, but then he feels someone tugging a string of his grey sweatshirt, and he turns his head back to Yizhuo, who has a clearly worried expression on her face and her phone and earphones now on her lap.

"I can hear you thinking really hard. Tell me what's on your mind," she pleads as she squeezes Jisung's hand, not breaking the eye contact between them.

"Just doing the math. Trying to figure out if I'll have enough savings to feed your mouth for a whole year since you eat like a pregnant woman," Jisung laughs and smiles fondly at his friend's cute pout.

"Hey, I do not eat that much!" Yizhuo tries not to laugh, but she fails as she smiles sheepishly. "I will find a job too, so don't you worry about me! I will be fine, and so will you."

"What would I do without you, Ning?" Jisung shuts his eyes and sneaks an arm around his friend's shoulder, gently laying his head on top of hers. It's strangely calming, and he just wants to spend the entire ride in this position, not worrying about the future.

"You would be okay. I know you're strong. Don't worry about the job or anything else. I promise I will be there for you if things get rough." Jisung can feel Yizhou's eyes on his face, probably searching for any discomfort that might give him away. Sometimes it stinks when your friend knows you a little bit too well.

Yizhuo smiles and places her other hand on one of Jisung's cheeks, turning his face so that they would be facing each other. Her bang is covering her eyes a little bit, but Jisung knows that they're sparkling and full of life like always. No one should be this beautiful, he thinks—no one that isn't his.

"I know you're probably thinking I will regret my decision later or want to stay in Seoul, but I would go anywhere as long as I'm with you. It's not home if you're not by my side." There's a thumb brushing against Jisung's cheek, so soft, so tender.

Jisung really wants to thank her for always being there for him, but those words won't just come out of his mouth, so he says something else instead. "I didn't know you were this cheesy."

Yizhuo laughs and closes her eyes while settling her head on Jisung's shoulder, trying to get comfortable. It probably isn't, but none of them move anyway.

"Thanks," he says it after half an hour, when Yizhuo is already asleep. "You're the only one who matters to me. I hope you know that."

Jisung stares a bit too long at his friend's gentle face, trying to stop his itching fingers from touching. He doesn't look away when Yizhuo's eyelashes start fluttering; he doesn't look away when her lips part a bit, releasing a soft snore. He doesn't look away when two patches of dark shades of pink start forming on his friend's cheeks, and he forgets to do that when there's suddenly a pair of warm and loving eyes staring back at him.

"I didn't know you were this cheesy, Jisung."

The black-haired man starts stuttering; he obviously wasn't expecting her to wake up, but then there are soft lips on his, clearing away all these thoughts from his head. Jisung leans into the kiss as he feels the surroundings fade away, so there are only two of them in their own world. He's glad that he's currently sitting right now, because it seems like his limbs are about to melt into a puddle.

"Why did you do that?" Jisung asks, breathless after the kiss, eyes widening flustered by Yizhuo's action.

"You interrupted my sleep, so stop talking or I might have to kiss you again," Yizhuo says as she backs away, grinning like a sly fox, and places her head on Jisung's chest now. "Your heart is beating really fast."

"I think it might have to do with my best friend kissing me." Jisung is still flustered, but his friend seems to be completely unfazed.

"Mmm, what did I say about talking? Or do you want another kiss?" she asked, not leaving the teasing in her tone.