CRUSH || evnne

twenty six.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX: THE VISIT

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3rd person pov!

"holy fucking shit akari. i'm never letting you go home alone ever again." anthonny sighed.

of course that would be the very first thing an older brother says to his hospitalised younger sister when he sees her. 

"anthonny i am fine, there's no need to worry. i'm recovering quickly. i'm not dying." akari sighs.

the entire friend group is there. keita, hanbin, jeonghyeon, seungeon, yunseo, junghyun, jihoo, kamden, anthonny and jongwoo are visiting her, and once again, her older brother is nagging at her. with love. of course.

keita squeezes her hand gently. "next time i'm walking you home. i swear, when i find the person who did that..."

"its okay ita, don't worry. i'm fine now. i'm recovering. and it was probably an accident anyway." akari smiled, trying to be positive. the boys all exchanged looks, knowing that it could very well be something plotted by you-know-who (not voldemort).

"take care of yourself, okay noona?" jihoo gave her a pat on the head. akari was slightly surprised since she never really talked to the youngest in the group, but her heart melted at his words. this friend group was really so nice and she was happy she had them/

"okay jihoo! anyway, don't you have school tomorrow? you guys should go soon. don't worry about me. the doctor told me i should start by going on short walks and that ill be able to be discharged by february tenth." akari said cheerfully, as usual.

"sure." jeonghyeon smiled at the girl. "but it's so close to the valentines' dance..."

"it's okay, i just won't go. ita, you should find someone else to go with you..." akari sighed, looking away from them. hanbin started to protest. "hey, but he-"

"no." keita interrupted. "i'm not going if you aren't. ill just accompany you."

after talking for a while more, all of them left. all of them but keita. keita usually stayed behind after visits to talk to her and always brought her food and small gifts. she'd collected three mini plushies and one bracelet from all his visits, and she'd also had a lot of good food. the day  before, he'd come with a bowl of hot ramen and the bracelet, which he'd made to match with his own. which was really cute.

 today he'd given her a little heart keychain. it was one of those phone charms that akari loved to use, with little beads and hearts and butterflies on the short chain. he'd made it himself, which made her love it even more. keita had attached it to her phone for her, and it matched perfectly with her phone case. it made her so happy.

"hey, akari?"

"yeah?"

"since the doctor said to start with short walks, do you want to go on one now? just us?"

"sure." she turned away and pretended to drink water for a moment, her face heating up really quickly. oh my god keita wants to go on a walk alone with me...

"akari? let's go..." keita extended a hand to her, which she gratefully took.

as soon as they stepped out of the ward, the nurse on duty raised an eyebrow. "i assume you're going on a walk and he's accompanying you. be back by the next hour, okay? don't stay out too late, miss iinuma. otherwise it'll take even longer for you to recover."

"okay, nurse sim. thanks so much." akari replied with a smile on her face.

the two walked in a comfortable silence. keita slid his hand into akari's, a gesture that both of them were used to by now. the hospital grounds were actually quite pretty and the weather was cooling. they headed towards the gardens, akari's favourite area.

"the moon is beautiful tonight, isn't it?" keita broke the silence with one of those smiles that never failed to make her heart flutter. this time, it was even worse. why? two reasons:
1) he was speaking in japanese.
and 2) "the moon is beautiful tonight" was basically a love confession in japan.

akari said nothing, but stared at him.

they'd reached the small playground area of the gardens. keita didn't reply, but sat down on a bench, so akari followed suit, settling herself right next to him. after a minute, she finally spoke. "i know there's a full moon tonight but-"

"you know that's not what i meant." keita swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing. "akari, i like you. i always have. but i never admitted it. i didn't want to. but after the accident, after everything... i realised that i'd fallen for you. hard. and now... the thought of losing you scares me. i just..."

akari reached a hand out, placing it gently on his shoulder. "ita."

he turned his face towards her.

"oh. akari. i'm so sorry for ruining our friendship, i-"

"let me finish. ita, you're one of the best people out there. you're talented, kind, considerate, funny, and caring. and i like you too, ita, i always have."

"i- you're not just saying that?"

"no. terazono keita, i love you."

keita blinked, not knowing what to do. both of them were very close, facing each other, breaths intertwining. he placed a hand on her face. "can i..."

akari nodded slightly, her gaze fixed onto him.

slowly, he closed the distance between them, his mouth covering hers in a soft, sweet kiss. time seemed to slow down. she wrapped her arms around him, reciprocating the kiss, smiling with all the butterflies in her stomach gone. she could only think about him. keita. how soft his lips were. how he was probably just taking it slow for her. how he always put her first.

and for the first time, she felt like she was in heaven.

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NOTES !

tee hee 

IM SORRY FOR THE EXTREMELY AGONISINGLY SLOW UPDATES LIFE IS BUSY I HAVE SCHOOL 😔😭

but hey they finally confessed and kissed after a whole 26 chapters! yippee 

also tysm for 8k reads on this mess 🤡🤡 love yall