balconies • seventeen

love & letter

Aso: Ultra Violet

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There are so many reasons to be happy, and one of them is you :)

Have a nice day!

For once, he's actually very grateful of his neat handwriting. It gives off a good impression. It's been a hobby of his these days; reading what other people's handwriting meant. Cursive writing is usually used by people who tend to think fast, while words with a lot of space in the middle means that the person needs a lot of space to him or herself.

His handwriting? Well, he's not sure either. It's just plain, neat totally-copy-pasted-from-computers kind of handwriting.

He likes to see other people's handwritings, especially in essays. Reading cursive writings in English are things that he loves to do most. Unfortunately, he's unable to speak or read in English to save his life. But that doesn't stop him from reading English cursive, though. It makes him look smart.

The string is lowered as he leans against the edge of his balcony, catching a couple of voices having a conversation; probably her and Jisoo? He didn't have any intention to eavesdrop though, whatever they were talking about, it was none of his business.

A slight tug on the string could be felt, signaling that she's got the letter. He looked down, only to meet a pair of eyes staring back at him. Brown eyes. Her eyes.

He backed the backity back off, startled, almost stumbling into the knicks and knacks he kept on his balcony. Well, what could he do? An eye contact from the person he likes could almost kill him. Timid.

He gets up and sighs. The fact that he's this shy makes him think that he's a pathetic man. Why can't he be like those heroes in k-dramas that he's been binge-watching, being able to state their love towards the heroine coolly, like, not scared to stare in her eyes, trapping her in a corner, and maybe kissing-

Okay, maybe kissing Areum was too much of a fantasy for Xu Minghao.

Well, what can he do? He's been living this life — this hopeless romantic lifestyle ever since he's entered highschool. Minghao's never crossed the line before, and the furthest he could go was only 'like'. What about Areum? He doesn't know either. It's somewhere between like and love... somewhere where she makes his chest tight and his heart flutter.

They've spoken before, once. Minghao's probably sure Areum doesn't even remember it. He's been around her, they took the same elevator. On that evening, Minghao remembers himself giggling happily as he carries his new inking supplies home, ready to ink a new chapter of the manhwa of his. He pressed the button to close the door, eyes too focused on his new supplies without noticing a shrill voice screaming for the doors to halt.

Minghao, being the clueless lamb that he is, dropped his supplies and grabbed her hands, dragging her into the elevator and unintentionally, into his arms.

When the doors closed, both of them sighed in relief. Minghao had noticed their awkward pose; and when he took a better look at the girl he noticed it was none other than the newcomer, Areum. Alarms were ringing inside his head, going off one by one. It was hard for him to imagine that those alarms were inside his head and not in real life, because he was sure that the beeps were so loud it was booming in his eardrums.

But the fact that it was Areum, it made him didn't want to let her go. It was a once in a lifetime chance. Why not? Okay, maybe it was a little mean for him to take advantage, but hey, better once than never.

It took Areum a few seconds to realize what the actual heck just happened, and so she glances at his arms, offering an awkward "hi".

Minghao quickly let go. Well, what else could he do? He didn't want to look even more like a creep; he was already one anyway. So many thoughts inside his head to the extent where it would make him dizzy, but if he probably counted, it's only been a few seconds since all of that happened.

"Are those inking supplies?" Areum asks him, bending down to pick up inks and boards of such, Minghao finally realizing a mess of his things on the floor. He hurriedly picked them up, ashamed at his clumsiness. Areum just thought he was cute.

And that wasn't just it, they took the same route to get to their schools. Since he's found out that Areum goes to a women's university, there was no chance he'd be in the same school as her. There was no chance of seeing her everyday. But being able to just look at her from afar on certain evenings was just enough for him.

She's never noticed him anyway. Minghao had always been he background. Always.

It was another one of his weaknesses, really, unable to stand out. Minghao doesn't talk much to people, ever since he was a child. Words had traumatized him in so many ways, he just learned to accept the thought that if he didn't speak, nobody would get hurt. If he remained as a background, it would be better for him and anyone else.

'Enough with the silly talk.' Minghao heaves a sigh, sliding his balcony door shut. He had shitloads of other things to do. His life doesn't just revolve around love and worries.

"Or maybe it does?" Minghao asks himself, sliding into his seat. His table was a mess of cut paper and inks, pens, pencils. At one glance you might think he's majoring in architecture; which is true, technically, but he publishes a manhwa, a romantic comedy one. Minghao isn't sure if its called romantic comedy since he doesn't even laugh at half his jokes, but most people found his manhwa funny. They loved it. Quite a big achievement for a Chinese boy who writes in copy-paste hangul all the darn time. He can't help but be jealous of those who have slightly messy hangul; it's so adult-like and so mature.

"Back to work." Minghao ruffles his hair, pulling himself towards the table, stretches, and reaches for his pen.

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I honestly think Minghao liking someone is the most adorable thing ever uGh

Nobody expected him to be sm00th lmao

Thank you for reading and have a nice day everyone ♡

- Cee