Hearten Me ∵ woojin

X;

"I need to tell you something."

Nerves invade my body and I gulp at his sudden seriousness. I haven't seen him like this since the times we were just getting to know each other. It was bizarre and caught me off guard, especially because his voice dipped down to the deepest octave I've heard it.

"Oh- uh, couldn't you have waited until I got back?" I asked, genuinely curious. It must have been serious if he had to do it here, outside the bathrooms.

"I'd be more comfortable doing it here." He says and I nod, unsure of how to respond. He takes my silence as a sign to continue. Woojin sighs again and closes his eyes before slightly tilting his head and opening his eyes again.

"Jaeeun," He pauses and I swear the suspense is going to kill me, "I-I like you."

My mind goes blank at his statement causing me to miss the fact that he also spoke with his Busan accent out of nervousness. I can only focus on the disbelief I was in just hearing that Woojin, the guy I liked, liked me too. This had to be a joke? He had to just be saying it in a friendly way.

Who was I kidding, who suddenly tells somebody they like them as a friend in this kind of situation.

"Hey, are you okay?" He hesitantly holds onto my left shoulder, shaking me out of my thoughts. I must have been silent for a while if he was compelled to do so. I nod and he slightly smiles in relief, but I can tell he is still tense as he waits for my response to his confession.

"I don't know what to say," I mumble and I see him frown, my heart drops at the sight. My eyes widen at the action, assuming he took my response as a rejection.

"No! That's not what I meant!" I say and hold my hands up in protest, hoping he wouldn't be disappointed any further, or even leave. He looks at me in confusion, urging me to continue.

"I like you too, Woojin." The words shyly roll out of my lips as heat rises to my cheeks. I never imagined myself saying such words in my life. I wasn't one to usually confess my feelings to the person I liked but it was happening, and much faster than I expected.

I see complete relief flush over his face and he instantly smiles, presenting his iconic snaggletooth.

"So, would you like to go out with me?" His eyes are hopeful as he watches me intensely, I shrink under his gaze but nod. How could I not say yes?

A breath is released from his lips at my response. He holds onto me for support as he falls forward, leaving his forehead on my shoulder. I laugh at his reaction and pat his back comfortingly, though my action is hesitant. It would take some time to get used to this, but I was okay with that.

"I'm so glad you said yes. You don't know how hard this was for me." He says as he speaks into my shoulder. We stand in that position for a while longer until Woojin finally decides to stand upright, smiling contagiously at me. My heart skips a beat at the sight.

"Shall we head back?"

"Yes, I think the guys will be wondering where we are," I say before we walk back to the lounge together. The three others are sitting in their exact positions, however, they are watching us as we approach them. It is almost as if they are expecting something, and it is not until Youngmin speaks when I realize why.

"So... How'd it go?" I hit Woojin's chest when we sit next to each other on the same couch Donghyun and I were previously sitting at alone. He flinches and pouts when I do so. When I see his adorable jutted lip, I only wonder if he always acted this cute.

"They knew about this?!" I ask and he smiles sheepishly at me before I turn to the others who are smiling at the news. I probably knew about everything that was going on, he was too observant not to. But I was surprised that the others knew as well.

"Of course, we've been trying to get this guy to do something for weeks!" Youngmin groans as if he was annoyed at his own statement, "It was only now when we pushed him to tell you he finally had the balls to confess."

I blush at the fact Woojin has liked me for weeks, and find it cute he was too shy to do anything. He reminds me of myself.

"Hyung, don't expose me like that!" Woojin whines and instinctively places his hand on the end of my thigh. I am not sure if he notices, but I sure do. I can't help but stare down his hand, not used to this kind of feeling. It is a comforting feeling.

"I think Jaeeun deserves to know. It is almost embarrassing how nervous you were to even speak to her today!" Daehwi says and Woojin only glares at the younger boy, however, he doesn't stop talking. He continues to speak until Woojin walks over and covers his mouth with his hand, straddling over the boy to quiet him down with physical force.

"Yah! Woojin, don't kill him that won't be a good look for your girlfriend." Woojin glances up for a second to look at Donghyun, who had spoken, and I sitting innocently on the couch.

After a moment, he walks back to us and sits next to me again. I am endeared that he followed Donghyun's comment, it seemed as if he wanted to make himself look good for me. Although I knew the extent of his personality, he wasn't perfect, but that was the reason why I liked him.

The conversation continues casually, slowly shifting from the topic of Woojin and I to the boys' next scheduled plans. MXM had a bit left to do in their promotions as it was only a pre-release single they had put out. Their schedule wasn't as demanding yet they did have a handful of things to attend.

Wanna One's schedule was a mess compared to MXM's. They had various lengthy events to attend each day varying from commercial filming, reality show filming, interviews, recording in the studio, and practicing.

I felt pity for them as I knew they were already most likely exhausted from their demanding schedule. However, Daehwi and Woojin seemed to be content simply with the fact they would be debuting and promoting with such a large group.

Just seeing the excitement in Woojin's mannerisms as he explained what they were doing for their debut made me smile. It was hard not to, seeing him so passionate and content made me feel the same way. It was contagious, he was contagious.

Eventually, I had to be the first to leave. The others practically had the whole day off while I still had to practice and train. It was a shame I would be leaving the four boys so early as it seemed like just a minute ago I was greeting them at Youngmin's vocal room.

"Woojin why don't you join her? We don't need to leave until the evening anyway." Daehwi suggests when I stand up after announcing I need to practice. The thought of Woojin and I spending more time alone made me excited.

He glances up at me as if looking for my permission. Unable to resist, especially with how puppy-like he appeared, I eagerly grab his arm and pull him up to join me.

"Woah there, Jaeeun. Take it slow here." Youngmin teases at the aggressive action. I smile sheepishly and look down to the ground. However, Woojin takes the attention off me as he suddenly locks his hand with mine and speaks.

"We'll be going now, I'll text you all later!" He smiles brightly and pulls us off in the direction of the vocal rooms. We hear the faint sounds of the other boys sending us off as we walk further and further away from them. Though, I don't pay attention to their voices as I am too focused on Woojin's hand in mine.

The feeling is nothing I have felt before, in a positive way. I feel comfortable and relaxed, overjoyed and endeared, just at the feeling of his warm and soft hand.

It feels right. He feels right.

-

an update bc mxm debuted!!! i am very proud :)

have you all listened to unmix yet?? in my opinion, i LOVE all the songs (especially 일단 나와) what's your favorite?

also, school just started today so updates will be sporadic, please understand and be patient! thank you!