Not Your Boyfriend (2PARK✔️)

Lesson Twenty-Four: Embarrassing

this is a longer chapter because i feel bad about the last two only being 2500 words each

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"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Woojin grasps my hand in his, the sun arcing up over the skylight of the Incheon International Airport and allowing the shadows of landing planes to crawl across the floor beneath us. Woojin is stiff beside me as we read the landing times display board, the flight from Vancouver to Seoul on Korean Air set to land ten minutes ago blinks yellow with a slight delay.

Of course, I'm not sure about any of this. Inside, I'm shaking until my knees give out and my lungs burn with air I can't let escape. But I stand still at Woojin's side anyhow, reading over the unchanging words on the display board. "I'll be fine," I say quietly, glancing over at my boyfriend in despair. "But... Well, they're not gonna hit me too, are they?"

Woojin's lips quirk up on one side, bordering on a grimace as he glances at me. "They shouldn't, I don't think."

I don't sigh in relief. My stomach has tied itself into several knots and has overtaken most of my body's basic functions. The ability to breathe has dropped every second. With every blink of that yellow 'DELAYED', I feel my heart beat slow and my world lilt further over the edge.

I hear our third party member shift awkwardly behind me, my eyes scrunching as my lack of comfort intensifies. "Please tell me why he has to be here," I whisper up at Woojin, glancing over my shoulder at the familiar head of black hair cropped over wide brown eyes.

"My parent's miss him," Woojin answers carefully, shooting me an apologetic smile to soften the blow. "They've known him for almost a decade, Jaehwan was one of their best employees."

"And he's your ex-boyfriend," I point out, puffing my cheeks out in slight frustration.

Woojin finally cracks a genuine smile, letting go of my hand to wind his arm round my waist and hold me to his side. "Tell me you're not getting jealous again over something like this," he whispers, pressing his lips to my ear.

I flinch away from him, my cheeks flushing as I glance around to make sure nobody is watching us. "Don't get me riled up in public," I grumble, intertwining my fingers with his hand at my hip. He chuckles, squeezing my hand in his before sighing. I tug in a nervous breath, my heart stuttering in my chest as the yellow words all begin flipping to green. "They've landed," I whisper.

"I'll head over to baggage claim to wait for you all," Jaehwan announces, patting both our shoulders in parting. Woojin waves over his shoulder at Jaehwan, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. I can feel his shoulder tense against mine as the board changes completely and begins displaying new flights soon to arrive.

"Should we head to the arrival gate?" I ask carefully, glancing around for the right path to take. Woojin merely nods, turning us himself towards Gate E. The sign is a bright blue with several arrows instructing where to go. The sign's color matches Woojin's jumper, the fabric a washed out blue that almost makes me sick if I glare at it too long.

"Are your parents huggers?" I ask curiously, thinking back to all the times my mother would greet a new friend of mine from school, or when I would take Sungwoon along on trips home. She was always ready with open arms and a bowl of dumplings.

"Not for a first meeting," he replies absently, glancing around for the next overhead sign to tell us where to go. "They might hug you goodbye, or goodnight. But a hello-hug is nothing for you to worry about."

"What about a handshake?" I ask, my nerves rising as Woojin gets visibly agitated. His neck cranes and turns every which way as he searches for the path to take. "It's this way," I say quietly, pointing towards the large blue sign to our left.