notice me | jung wooyoung

✎chapter³⁵

she swears, she thought of infinite number of possibilities. infinite number of ways to ask him out.

but she never thought that this was the way she was going to. it wasn't so bad though.

no nervousness, no anxiety. it came naturally. she felt at ease.

not bad at all.

"um, was i not clear?" (y/n) chuckled at the dumbstruck look on his face.

"no, i mean, i-i understood. but.. why?" he couldn't help but wonder.

"no reason. so, are you coming?"

"yeah, of course. but let me go change, i really don't want to show up wearing a hoodie... unless you want me to"

||

"i wonder where (y/n) is.. texted her a while back and she still hasn't responded" the worry in mingi's voice was obvious.

"she didn't pick up my calls, should we- hold up, what the fuck?" yunho cussed, surprising mingi. following the his line of vision, mingi immediately understood why yunho looked tensed.

there stood jaehyun, with adeline. his hand around her waist.

"oh, for the love of everything, how could this get any worse?" mingi pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to surpress his anger.

yunho walked towards the pair with a glass full of fruit punch. he "accidentally" spilled it on adeline's dress. she screamed in horror, fortunately the loud music dimmed out her high pitched screech.

"oops, didn't see you there. sorry, my bad." yunho chuckled.

"dude what the fuck?" jaehyun scowled at yunho, hand raising to punch him.

"nope, no violence here." a stern voice said, holding jaehyun's fist back.

jaehyun widened his eyes at the voice, he knew who it was. he took a step back, and made a beeline to the exit with adeline following him behind.

"thanks, jongho." mingi said, and yunho patted jongho's back. jongho shrugged, saying that it wasn't a problem.

"hey, look. (y/n) just texted." mingi said.

(y/n) : hey mingi, don't be too surprised (or worried), i'm coming with wooyoung.

mingi : what- how? when? why?

(y/n) : long story

||

while they were walking towards the venue, (y/n) suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"something wrong?" he looked at her in confusion.

"well.." she looked hesitant to elaborate.

"hey, you can tell me. if there's anything i can do to help, i will" wooyoung gently probed her to continue. something was obviously bothering her.

"i guess, i'm just a bit nervous.." she chuckled awkwardly.

"if this is because of that son of a b- i mean, cow, then you don't have to. you definitely dodged a bullet." wooyoung affirmed.

"thank you, wooyoung." she smiled softly at his attempt of comforting her.

but that wasn't the issue. she remembered the days where she used to be bullied for liking wooyoung. so many people told her that she wasn't worthy enough. and now she's about to be seen together with him by a lot of eyes. unlike her usual self, she felt a little self conscious.

"is it okay.. for us to go in?" (y/n) asked, a hint of worry laced in her tone.

"oh, you don't want to? that's okay, we can just leave-"

"it's not that.. everyone will know.. that we're here together. are you okay with that?" she added. she didn't understand why she was having thoughts like these. this wasn't like her.

in the past, opinions only mattered when they were from wooyoung. or anyone else she held dear in her heart, like her family and friends.

"what is there to not be okay about?" he was genuinely confused, where was this coming from?

"i don't know.. in the past, you never even wanted to be seen next to me" (y/n) blurted out.

guilt consumed his heart and he looked visibly upset, not because of her, but because of his past self.

"hey, nevermind that. i'm just being a little out of character right now.. sorry about that" (y/n) forced out a small laugh.

suddenly, he stood infront (y/n), surprising her. he hung his head in shame.

"you're allowed to be upset, (y/n). that's not out of character. please don't invalidate your own feelings by saying that. and i'm really sorry to have treated you so badly in the past. it would be worse than selfish to ask for a chance now, and it's okay if you don't want to forgive me. but i want you to know that i feel so lucky and happy to be here with you."

(y/n) gasped at his words. her heart was beating fast. it's the anxiety, she thought. or surprise. or maybe both.

when wooyoung looked into her eyes, her heart started to beat fast.

"i wouldn't want to be here with anyone else, (y/n)." he confessed. the world stilled for a moment. suddenly, everything seemed to stop. the loud music from the hall wasn't audible anymore.

all (y/n) could hear was the sound of her own heartbeats, and the echo of his words in her head.

she snapped out of it when she noticed him extending his hand towards her. he looked visibly nervous, afraid of her rejecting his offer to hold hands.

(y/n) took a deep breath. she believed in second chances, only for the people who deserved them.

not thinking anymore, and only guided by her instincts and perhaps, even her heart, she took his hand.

and they walked in together.

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