𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 | csc

𝙭𝙭𝙞𝙫.

Aerin rubbed her eyes as she woke up only to feel warmth behind her. She couldn't really remember where she was nor why she was there; everything was fuzzy for her. All she knew was that someone or something had just let out the most appalled yell so appalling that it drew her heavy-sleeper-ass from dreamland.

"AERIN WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK." It took a moment for the words to register in the freshly awoken mind of aerin, but once they did, she jolted up from the bed and met the face of her cousin + 3 other knuckleheads looking straight at her as if they just got told seungcheol would be moving out of the dorms or something absolutely shocking like that.

"what? why? what?" she asked, yawning in the process. All her cousin could do though was motion to something next to her and as she looked to where his hand was pointing, a loud yelp came out from her.

"HOLY SHIT" due to her shock, she jumped out of the bed where a sleepy seungcheol was just barely waking up. Aerin looked completely petrified. The pillow that once separated the two was thrown to the floor and somehow they must have ended up intertwined.

No wonder the members were shocked as hell.

"it's not what it looks like!" Aerin said as Jihoon walked up to her with an unreadable expression.

"what does what look like- OH SHIT WHY ARE YOU GUYS IN MY ROOM and why's the pillow on the floor?" It seemed that Seungcheol had just come to his sense as he abruptly stood up from his spot on the bed.

"You two. Come with me." Jihoon low key scared the two of them and everyone else in the room, even seungcheol who in the end had more authority than the producer did.

"Ji i told you it's-"

"come. now. i have questions that must be answered in a proper environment."

"so the proper environment is the practice room?" seungcheol asked after they made the long, awkward, and reluctant trek to seventeen's practice room. The three of them sat criss-cross apple sauce with seungcheol and aerin together and jihoon in front of them. Aerin was most definitely getting preschool flashbacks she didn't want to get, but at least the coffee in her hands was calming.

"Yes hyung, yes it is." Seungcheol scowled at the man before finally rolling his eyes and taking a sip of his own coffee.

It was silent for a few seconds before a loud groan was heard from Jihoon, shocking the two across from him.

"You guys are driving me insane do you know that?" The two silently sipped their coffees.

"what's going on with you guys? Don't think i haven't noticed your meetups." His last statement made the leaders freeze. They looked at each other briefly, silently hooping one would say something so the other wouldn't have to deal with the burden.

"what do you mean ji?" As much as Aerin tried to play dumb, neither Jihoon or even herself was buying it. She clearly needed to work on her cover-up skills if this was how shitty she was under pressure.

"Don't bullshit me-"

"WE'RE UH DATING." what.

"Yup yes that is why it's because we're dating." Aerin snapped her head towards seungcheol who had a sudden outburst with her eyes wide open and jaw dropped.

WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL

JIhoon looked just as shocked as Aerin did and how Seungcheol would look if he lost his cool for even a second. He turned to Aerin for a second and tried his best to assure he he got it through a measly facial expression which to the girl next to him was most definitely not comforting.

"Well that's unexpected." The producer's face was stunned and he seemed to be trying to process everything. It wasn't like them dating was a problem, but it was literally at the bottom of jihoon's speculation list.

"Yup! Now you have your answers we're gonna get going!" And before the man even had a chance to respond, Aerin had dragged Seungcheol all the way out of the room and into a vacant hallway.

She brought her hand to her forehead in an attempt to soothe both her stress and shock.

"What the fuck was that!"

"I'm sorry but did you want me to tell him our whole fiasco?" he said, defending himself yet keeping himself from getting to worked up. He knew he was in the wrong but for some reason he didn't want to admit that.

"no but! but- i don't know you could have like said we were friends or something! Like we are!" Aerin raised her voice a bit as she spoke to seungcheol.

"Do friends sleep together and literally go out of their way to meet each other every fucking day, talk every fucking hour and make out with each other!?" He needed a breath after his sentence. It was completely out of nowhere yet he had no regrets.

"why are you bringing that up? Jihoon didn't see anything except for us quote on quote in the same bed which is a mess because he's misunderstanding us right now. . ." Seungcheol softly held onto Aerin's shoulder, increasing the tension-filled proximity they shared. Aerin held her breath.

"so what? It still happened Aerin. . .what about us? I don't even know what we are right now."

"me. . .me neither." she let out her breath yet refused to look the man straight in the eyes.

"What do you want us to be?"

"I don't know. . .but this isn't our priority right now, we aren't my priority, making sure Ji gets a clear narrative whatever that may be is because right now he thinks we're dating when we really aren't! We're literally feeding him a lie" She couldn't even look him in the eyes. Pure lies were all that spewed from her mouth and internally, she was ashamed.

They were her priority and everything else was truthfully at the back of her mind.

"Who cares what that narrative is? What happens if he thinks we're dating?"

"Are you serious right now?"

"Deadass." Aerin sharply inhaled as she leaned against the water dispense to her left.

It was silence before Seungcheol said something that made the girl's jaw completely drop to the floor.

"Fine then. Will you let me take you on a date?"

"what!? Why- why would you ask that!?"

"You said you don't want Jihoon to think we're dating when we aren't right? Then why don't we date for real?"