trapped // hwang hyunjin ✔️

chapter twenty-three

are we okay

choi luna

"luna, i don't know about this." jules speaks through the phone. i had excused myself from hyunjin's apology party to call her and explain everything to her.

"i know it seems sketchy, but trust me, i know him better than anyone. he truly is sorry, and i know the warning signs. if it starts up again you'll be the first person i call." i reassure her.

"please just be careful."

"i will, i promise."

"i love you, bestie."

"i love you more." and with that we hang up. i quickly make my way back into our apartment. seeing hyunjin now cleaning up the kitchen. "hey let me help." i tell him, grabbing the dishes off the island.

"no, you go sit down i have one more apology present to give to you." he grabs my shoulders and turns me around, pushing me lightly towards the couch. i giggle slightly, but do as he tells me. comfortably sitting on the couch while hyunjin quickly cleans up the kitchen. "close your eyes!" he yells from behind. i close them.

"they're closed." i respond. i hear him pick up a bag and he walks closer to me. i can tell he crouches down in front of me by the way his knee cap lightly grazes my shin.

"open." he says. i look into his hands and he holds a birthday gift bag.

"it's not my birthday." i furrow my eyebrows.

"look inside." he smirks. i carefully pull open the bag and begin giggling like a little girl at the bottle of tequila wrapped in brown paper, just like he always used to do.

"you're such a nerd." i gently push his shoulder and take out the bottle.

"you love it." he smiles brightly at me.

"unfortunately." i tease as i crack open the bottle. he chuckles.

"i'll get the shot glasses." he says, placing the gift bag on the table before standing up. he comes back with the two shot glasses we had bought for ourselves, jokingly labeled 'prince' and 'princess' in regards to our high school nicknames, the ones we still occasionally call each other.

"i'd like to make a toast." i say, making my voice sound as if i were some sort of announcer.

"to what?" he chuckles as he pours the shots.

"to the day you finally get over your commitment issues." i joke, grabbing my glass and lifting it to him. he snorts.

"that'll be the day." he says before clinking his glass to mine. we both tap the table in sync before taking the glasses to our lips, downing the shot in seconds. "my turn to make a toast." he says quickly pouring more shots.

"to?"

"to seventeen year old me who was brave enough to bring a condom to your party. and sixteen year old you who for some reason, i still don't know why, let me take your virginity that night. i don't know where we would be if i hadn't met you." he says, a light smile covering his face as he gets sentimental.

"stop you're gonna make me cry." i joke, but honestly feeling extremely nostalgic. he's right, i don't know where i would be without him, but i was sure i would be significantly less happy. we clink our glasses together again, tapping them on the table and bringing them to our lips. downing the liquid instantly.

"thank you for being my best friend." he leans his forehead against mine.

"and thank you for being mine." i reply happily, gently rubbing my nose against his. and before i know it, we were kissing. i had kissed this boy probably a million times, his lips were anything but foreign to me. but this kiss, this kiss was different. it was soft, and chaste. of course we had shared soft kisses before, but this one was setting off alarm bells in my heart. we love each other of course, but actual love had been out of the question. i wasn't sure if it was because the feelings i had for him, or if this kiss was truly different. but in that moment, i could have sworn i'd fallen in love with him.

i wanted so desperately for things to go back to normal. but this was not normal, it was completely new territory, and i didn't even know if he felt the same way. i had this itching feeling that things wouldn't remain this blissful for much longer.

-

"guys it's been so long!" i cheer happily as hyunjin and i enter chan's house. seungmin let's out a flirtatious whistle as i stand in front of them. i wore white ankle boots that gave me a few extra inches, a black tennis skirt and a large black sweater tucked into the front of the skirt.

"nice skirt, do you mind picking up the remote off the floor, behind you?" seungmin smirks. i roll my eyes at his flirty comment.

"you've been spending too much time with jeongin." i tell him. earning a laugh from all of the boys.

"how have you been luna? last i heard you were flirting with bartenders to get free alcohol." chan laughs.

"i'm better now, it was a moment of weakness." i say smugly.

"still working on finding your true love?" minho asks, i don't fail to notice how his hand is rested on a nervous jisung's thigh.

"i'm kind of just going with the flow right now." i say, i can't help but look over to jeongin who smiles at me. i smile back at him, feeling a blush cover my face. "how about you?" i ask, motioning to his hand on jisung's thigh. jisung's eyes go wide but minho's expression remains calm.

"same here." he lightly squints his eyes at me. i smirk, but nod and change the subject.

"changbin." i call him. he responds with a hum.

"i heard you went on a date."

"you went on a date?" felix suddenly yells causing everyone to look over at him with wide eyes at his sudden outburst. he clears his throat. "i mean... you went on a date?" he says, this time with his usual deep voice.

"yeah, but i don't think there will be a second one." he answers. i swear felix sighed in relief.

"why not?" hyunjin asks, looking as handsome as ever in a black t-shirt and gray sweats.

"she kind of scared me a little bit." he chuckles.

"did her name happen to be bri?" jeongin asks. hyunjin and i hold back a laugh.

"yes actually." changbin answers, causing hyunjin and i to no longer be able to hold in the laugh.

"no way!" jeongin laughs with us.

"note to self, stay away from bri." chan says, causing everyone to laugh harder.

"hey, where did minho and jisung go?" felix asks, looking to where the boys were once sat.

"maybe to check on jisung's dog?" i suggest, remembering how minho had to help him with that once.

"jisung doesn't have a dog." seungmin answers.

"that's weird, minho said he did." i reply. there's a moment of silence before all of us widen our eyes in realization. and with that, we burst into laughter once more.