ATEEZ Imagines

JONGHO • I'VE ALWAYS BEEN LISTENING

[Synopsis] Jongho has been your high school crush all these years, but has he been yours? Does he deserve to talk to you like you've put no effort into the relationship?

It was you and Jongho's senior year of high school.
Throughout the years, you guys have been in the same chorus class since freshman year. Jongho was considered to be more of a popular student since he was a phenomenal soccer star. Despite being in chorus all these years, his singing abilities have been severely overlooked. Not only was he a popular kid due to his athletic abilities, but he was an all rounder overall. Students and teachers also gave him credit for being a mastermind at games, an ambitious student, physically strong, and is a great person since he is always so sincere, kind, and funny.

Interestingly enough, year after year of being together in this class, the teacher would always assign you and Jongho to sit together. Obviously you had to because you both were a soprano I and all voice parts have to sit in the same section together, but it was funny how you guys were always assigned to sit right next to each other. This situation reminded you of a video you saw on social media of teachers addressing the suspicion of whether or not teachers purposely assign certain students next to each other because they ship them together. It made you curious to know if your teacher shipped you and Jongho together all these years.

"Good morning everyone! Before announcing the names of those who earned the solos for our winter
choir performance, I would like to thank everyone who auditioned this year!" The teacher announced to the class.

You were a shy person and closed off, but this year you really liked the song that your class was going to perform and you also thought that it suited your voice well. Therefore, you wanted to audition for the solo part, especially since it was your last year and you didn't want to graduate high school with the regret of not at least trying out.

"Without further delay, I have decided that the solo part will go to... Y/N and Jongho!"

The class cheered and clapped at your success, looking at the two of you. You were shocked over the fact that you actually gotten the part, and with your crush at that. "One thing that I wanted to change about the solo parts is that during the outro of the song, the lyrics repeat again from the beginning, so I thought that the song could end with a duet of you guys if that's ok." The teacher asked. You looked at Jongho for his approval. "We're fine with that." Jongho said, nodding to you.

It was now the end of the school day for you and you were outside of the school heading home, hearing hurried footsteps behind you. "Y/N!" You turned around to see that it was Jongho short of breath.

"Oh, hey, Jongho... do you need something?" You asked surprised. Despite being in chorus together for a few years, you and Jongho acted like good friends since you guys would study together and play games during your free time in chorus. In reality though, you didn't know much about him and he didn't know much about you. You even had his number but every time you texted him, he would either respond with short messages or not reply at all, showing uninterest. Additionally, he never talked to you outside of chorus class, supporting your conclusion further that he didn't have any interest in you. Since you didn't want to come off as annoying and desperate by being the only one trying to continue the relationship, you stopped trying to talk to him outside of chorus.

"Since we both earned the solo parts and our teacher added on a duet, I was wondering if you were willing to practice together for our concert outside of school." He said, catching his breath still. You were baffled by his question. But at the same time, you knew that Jongho was an overachiever and took things like this seriously. "Yeah sure. I'd be willing to practice outside of school." You replied. "When are you free?" You asked. "As of now I don't have anything to do. Nor anything to do afterschool." He answered. "I'm not busy after school today either.
Do you want to start practice now then?"
"Sounds good. Do you want to come to my house to practice?" He asked. "Sure." You smiled at him. He smiled back at you and replied, "let's go then."

Surprisingly, Jongho was quite chipper on the walk home together. You two are both introverts so you guys did not converse much, but he did sing the entire way home. It was nice since it was like you had a personal concert all to yourself, making you happy, and being able to endure the harsh winter a little bit better.

Although the mood had soured once Jongho made a comment saying, "you know we really should've talked to each other more over the years. Why did we never try?"

This may have been an immature and jealous response, but it made you angry that he never seemed to find your previous efforts in trying to talk to him outside of school as a way to get closer to him.

Therefore you snapped saying, "you know, Jongho, I don't really like how friendly you're acting with me right now. It takes two to make an effort in a relationship." You said bitterly. After that, the walk home was awkwardly silent and the happiness that warmed you earlier from his singing died, making you shiver in emptiness.

Two weeks had passed since you and Jongho have practiced for the winter choir performance. Jongho had given up quite a few soccer practices in order to practice for the performance, and hang out with you.
The relationship between you two was still a bit cold, but today Jongho decided that he wanted to end the iciness, and would do something to make it up to you since secretly, he liked you too. One night after practice, Jongho wanted to send you off with a few things before you left for the night. "Let's end our practice here." You said plainly. "You're right. Do you want to hear something first before you leave?" Jongho asked. You hesitated before replying, "it's kind of late, maybe tomorrow?" You said, trying to be nice.

"Ok then, have a nice night." He said, starting to play the piano and singing loud enough for you to hear. You were about to leave before you realized what song he was playing. It was your favorite song from your favorite TV show, which meant a lot to you personally because you could relate to all the lyrics, feeling comfort in the message. You stayed in the practice room until the song had ended.

"I can't believe you still remember my favorite song that I told you about a few years ago. Why are you playing this now?" You asked suspiciously once he finished the song. Jongho stood from the piano seat to walk around and stand in front of you, with his hands behind his back. "Well, I felt sorry about the comment that I made that day. I realized that my words were inconsiderate and thoughtless, because I know that you have always made an effort to talk to me and build a relationship with me. But I never reciprocated that effort, and for that I'm so sorry for hurting your feelings." He said guiltily, looking at the ground. "And also," he continued with a shy smile on his face, "I wanted to return this to you." He said, pulling his hands from behind his back towards you, holding out a jewelry box.

"Return?" You questioned softly.

"Open it." He gestured.

When you opened the box, you found your mother's wedding band that you had lost last year. Last year during chorus, you opened up to Jongho about it, because as your seat mate, he noticed how unfocused and distraught you were that day. He asked you what was wrong, and not caring what he thought, you just said all that was on your mind, revealing that your mom had died a few years prior and you wore her wedding band on a necklace as a reminder of her. "I remembered that you told me you last remembered having it on when you went to your favorite restaurant, and you went back searching everywhere for it, you even described what it looked like to me." He said. "Well, I went back to that restaurant yesterday and saw that the owners young daughter was wearing it. She said she found it last year underneath a table and took it as her own.
Luckily, she was willing to trade another piece of jewelry so that I could get it back to you."

At this point you had started tearing up, some tears escaping your eyes. "Thank you, Jongho." You croaked, suddenly hugging him around his neck. Jongho was taken aback by your sudden display of appreciation, but he wrapped his arms around your waist, holding you tightly for a while. You weren't exactly sure why he was doing all this for you, but this definitely assured you that Jongho had always been listening to you over the years. "Since it's nighttime, why don't I walk you home?" Jongho's eyes pleaded for you to say yes. "I'd appreciate that."

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End

Thank you as always for reading!