oneshots • nctdream x aespa

a rose a day 🐹🦋

A little under two weeks before her and Jisung's one-year anniversary, which is twelve days, to be exact, Ningning walks into her 8 a.m. class ready to set someone on fire.

That doesn't actually have anything to do with their anniversary coming up. It's just that taking an 8 a.m. class is awful.

But when she finally sits down, drinks what feels like a metric tonne of coffee, and peels open her eyes to actually see what's in front of her, Ningning notices a red rose sitting on her desk. She blinks.

The rose, thankfully, does not blink back.

"Chenle," she calls to the boy next to her. "What is this?"

Chenle cracks open one eye before closing it again and flopping on his desk. "It looks like a flower, you idiot."

"Well, duh," Ningning says, and if she were any more awake, she'd shove him. But Ningning doesn't think she currently has the motor functions to even grab the flower, much less do anything about it. "But what is it doing on my desk?"

Minjeong rolls into class, looking far more put together than any college student should at eight in the morning. Seriously. Chenle is wearing sweatpants, and Ningning is bundled up in her sweatshirt. She sleepily glances down.

Correction: She is bundled up in Jisung's sweatshirt.

Either way, Minjeong approaches just minutes after 8 a.m., but still earlier than their professor, and grins. "Awww," she coos, noting the flower. "Jisung's being romantic this year?"

Chenle peeks his eye open for that. "Jisung? Romantic?" he snorted and leaned back on his desk again. "He isn't romantic."

Ningning snorts. "I mean, this would be a little lame for even Jisung. I don't think he'd do this."

Minjeong scowls at both of them before slamming her hand down. Ningning's coffee mug teeters precariously. "Just because you think it's cheesy doesn't mean it's not romantic!" she exclaims, and Chenle burrows his head even further into his arms. "What have you done for Jisung lately, Ning? Or what have you done for your girlfriend, Chenle?"

Ningning sits back, feeling a little guilty, but Chenle halfheartedly waves a hand. "I gave her one of my jerseys," He says with a yawn. "So she can wear it at one of my games."

Minjeong says nothing for a moment before huffing and stomping to the back of the room to sit next to Jaemin when their professor finally walks in the door.

Looking down at the rose, Ningning feels a little guilty but shakes her head and attempts to focus on the lecture.

•

As the weeks progress, Ningning starts to think that Minjeong might be on to something.

Roses start appearing in her 8 a.m. Monday/Wednesday classes and in her 12:30 p.m. Tuesday/Thursday classes, with Renjun winking at her when she walks in for the second day to find a rose at her table. It is starting to get a little weird, but what is weirder still is that during the weekend, Ningning heads out to spend time with friends and notices a rose just outside her door.

It gets even weirder when Jisung feigns ignorance about the entire thing.

Jisung can't lie. He's terrible at it. His eyes can't lie, or something like that. When he does, he flushes and fidgets with his side hair and feels super bad, and Ningning can give one look at Jisung, who will crack under pressure. So when she stares him down, mentioning that she's been getting a bunch of roses during her classes, and Jisung just shrugs and says he has nothing to do with it, Ningning feels perplexed.