When Hyerim signed up for her school's newsletter club and was placed in charge of sport photography, she didn't expect to form an unlikely friendship with the captain of the ice hockey team, Lee Haechan.
❆ High School Sport AU
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It had been three months since Hyerim and Haechan started their friendship.
In those three months, they had gotten closer than ever before. They frequently hung out, Hyerim attending every single one of Haechan's hockey games (on official newsletter business, of course). Haechan tutored Hyerim in multiple subjects now (and her grades were exceptionally good). Haechan had also lugged Hyerim along to many parties, not letting her touch alcohol or other men, and sticking by her side the entire time like he promised he would. Hyerim had also briefly met his mum and his three siblings, as well as his dog Wooju (whom Hyerim absolutely adored and since asks for daily pictures of Wooju).
In short, they became inseparable.
And the dating rumours of them continued. They only strengthened as Haechan kept posting Hyerim on his feed and story, not bothering to archive any of the posts. But the both of them didn't really mind anymore.
In fact, they sort of embraced it, making a joke out of it.
"What happened?"
"What do you think?" Hyerim grumbled, shoving a piece of her sponge cake into her mouth aggressively.
Haechan sighed, sitting back down in the cafe chair. "Did someone ask if we were dating again?"
The girl nodded glumly. "These bitches never learn."
"Maybe you should date me for real then."
She glared at the boy who was sitting opposite her. He shot her a wink.
"You say this every single fucking time," she complained, finishing her cake while he swiped some of the cream that was still left on the plate. "By the way, I still can't get used to your new hair."
Haechan had dyed his previously blonde hair back to black. He was complaining that his hair started growing the blonde out, and it was turning orange, so he showed up to Hyerim's apartment with two boxes of black dye and told her to help him dye it. They ruined around 3 shirts that night.
But Hyerim admits, he looks better with black hair. More polished. The black brought out his features much more than the blonde, which washed his complexion out a tad. He looked sharper with black hair, which Hyerim really liked.
"You're zoning out again."
The girl muttered an "oops", before standing up to return both of their plates to the counter. She had placed both of them down and was about to turn around and head back to Haechan, when she heard an "excuse me" behind her.
"Can I help you?"
The voice came from a teenage boy. He looked around her age, or maybe a year younger. He was tall, with black hair that had a middle part, and wore black round-rimmed glasses that sat on his nose bridge. Hyerim noted that he wore a uniform from a different school. He was the definition of conventionally attractive, someone that would fit the male Korean beauty standard well.
