Kep1er 999! One-shot collections [Slow Update]

Forever - YoungChae

The campus always looked softer in the late afternoon— warm golden light or what many people always called 'magic hour', slipping between buildings, the hum of students fading into something quieter, more personal. It was their own time.

Youngeun sat on the steps outside the library, laptop open but untouched, her eyes scanning the walkway instead. She didn't need to check the time. She never did. Because right on cue—"Found ya."
Chaehyun's voice, warm and familiar, slipped into her world like it belonged there.

Youngeun looked up, already smiling before she realized it. "You're five minutes late."

Chaehyun gasped dramatically, dropping her bag beside Youngeun before plopping down right next to her—close, always instinctively close. "I had a meeting. Important future diplomat things, you wouldn't understand."

"Mmm," Youngeun hummed, closing her laptop. "You tripped over your own words again, didn't you?"Chaehyun nudged her shoulder, cheeks puffed. "Hey. I only did that once."

"Three times to be exact," Youngeun corrected gently.

Chaehyun blinked. "...you were counting?"

"Sure."

There was a beat. Then Chaehyun smiled—soft, fond, a little too knowing.

'Of course you do.

'She didn't say it out loud, but Youngeun heard it anyway.

Because that was their thing.—

They had been like this for years.

Close enough that people stopped asking if they were dating and just assumed they were.

Close enough that they knew each other's schedules better than their own.

Close enough that silence never felt empty.

But not close enough to cross that line.

Not because they didn't want to.

But because they did. Too much.—

"Did you eat?" Youngeun asked though her hand already reaching into her bag.

Chaehyun leaned her head on Youngeun's shoulder without hesitation. "Ani. The meeting kept me starving." Chaehyun answered with a slight pout.

A small sigh left Youngeun's lips—not really that annoyed, just... expected.

She pulled out a neatly packed container, opening it and placing it in Chaehyun's hands. "Chicken. Extra spicy this time."

Chaehyun lit up instantly. "You remembered!"

"You said last time it wasn't spicy enough."

"That was like... three weeks ago." Youngeun just shrugged, pretending like it wasn't anything.

But Chaehyun watched her anyway.

Watched the way Youngeun always noticed.

The way she remembered the smallest details— how Chaehyun liked her coffee, how she got quiet before presentations, how she rubbed her wrist when she was stressed.

Youngeun never missed anything.

And she never made it a big deal.

That was the problem.