[#1] boy next door :: im youngmin

chapter twenty-eight

Three weeks after Youngmin came up to Seoul, it's three of them who went down to Busan during a long weekend break because of a sudden holiday, and Yerin didn't come because she went home to her own city.

"Are you really going to drag me down to Busan every time you want to see Youngmin?"

"Don't complain, I paid for your tickets-"

"Isn't that what you said to Yerin so long ago-"

"Why did you even know that-"

"Because I know it'll backfire on you-"

"Guys." Donghyun suddenly interrupts their little banter, pulling off his earphones and twisting around to look at them. "Keep it down, will you?"

So Woojin and Yuna constantly text each other the things they have to say even though they're sitting right beside each other because they don't want to disturb Donghyun. They do hit each other occasionally, though, as the train speeds by places Yuna doesn't bother to remember and Woojin doesn't bother to point out.

Little do they know that Donghyun is just taking photos of himself in the seat in front of them.

When the train pulls up at Busan station a few hours later, Woojin shouts something incoherent to Donghyun then runs off on his own to catch a bus, leaving her confused and staring at Donghyun because she doesn't know what just happened.

"Where is Woojin going?"

"Home." He shrugs and puts his arm around her, "Come on, I'll take you to Youngmin's dorm. I'm pretty sure he gets out at two, so we better run if you want to see your boyfriend-"

Yuna quickly says, "He's not my boyfriend."

Yes, they're not officially together yet. Youngmin says he doesn't want them to get together as a couple before she graduates high school because he says that if they get together, then the whole free youth thing concept of high school will be lost or whatever. He says he doesn't want to be the reason for her feeling like she's being strangled or something. She doesn't really understand it either, to be honest.

Donghyun rolls his eyes, "Fine. We better run so we can see your boyfriend-but-still-not-official-boyfriend."

Within thirty minutes, Yuna feels really lost so all she does is follow Donghyun around wherever he goes like she's his puppy. She doesn't even know how he knows Busan so well when he isn't even a local, but then she remembers that he's really close with both Youngmin and Woojin who are from Busan but-

A few meters away from a gate, he quickly grabs her arm and turns her around, "Do you want to go get some food first?"

At this point, it's strange but something inside her is telling her that yes, she should definitely go get something to eat with Donghyun, but her mouth says otherwise. Like it always does.

She tilts her head, "I'm not hungry."

"Uh, how about a drink? Do you want iced coffee? I can buy you some from the nearby store."

She's suddenly observant of the way his eyes keeping looking around even though all the words his mouth says are for her. He looks nervous and he keeps biting his lip. Again, she doesn't know why she notices all this now.

When she shrugs off his hands off of her shoulders though, she realizes why he's like that, and she just stares for a long time, at the two figures standing near the gate. From his shadow and his physique, even if she can't see his face, she immediately knows it's Youngmin. She can spot him in an instant no matter where they both are, but the person with him is not familiar at all.

And Yuna would love to go up to both of them right at that moment to take Youngmin's hand and pull him into a hug or a kiss or whatever, because even if they aren't official yet, she still feels some sort of attachment towards him and no, she is definitely not going to let some girl flirt with the guy she has adored for years.

However, she can't move, and Donghyun just takes her by the arm, whispering, "Yuna, let's go somewhere else-"

"Yah, Im Youngmin!"

Sometimes, Yuna wonders if there's actually something wrong with her head every time it's something related to Youngmin because she's embarrassed herself so many times before in front of him already and it just keeps happening again and again.

She watches as Youngmin looks around, confused, before his gaze lands on them both and his lips immediately rip into a wide, beautiful smile as he raises his hand to wave at them both, tugging his other arm away from the unknown girl. The said girl glances around for a second before patting his shoulder and reaching up to peck his cheek once before she leaves.

Yuna can see Youngmin's eyes widen even from afar as he quickly runs over to her.

"Yuna, I swear that was nothing, I don't know why she did tha-"

"Don't worry about it." She says, forcing a smile and lying through gritted teeth. "We aren't even together, right? Why would I even care if someone else kisses you, right-"

"Yah," Donghyun whispers urgently, "Why are you like this-"

"Yuna, I promise you I had nothing to do with that, she's the only one who likes me, I don't like her back or anything, she's just my partner for a project and-"

"She's a bitch?" Yuna says flatly.

"No, it's not that, she's nice, I tell you, but-"

"I shouldn't have come to see you, then? I just really wanted to see you in person so bad, it's been damn weeks, and the first look I take at you is... That. It's sad, you know. I really love you."

"And I love you, too, but-"

"But."

"Yuna-"

"Yuna, come with me for a while, I think I need to buy you something so you can talk rationally, you're not normally like this." Donghyun keeps talking, whispering to her as he's holding onto her arm and leading her away slowly from Youngmin, whose mouth is opening and closing alternately.

He takes her to a bench somewhere and makes her sit down, then sits beside her. She's not speaking, she doesn't know what to say; she's probably acting like a child right now, but she did not expect this. For real.

"Are you okay?"

It's a stupid question, but she nods, and leans against his arm, closing her eyes and crying. Ironic.

__________

this story is pretty cliche dont you think?
a

lso, dont kill me pls i was internally screaming and crying so much while writing this :'(