Stray Kids Imagines

I Don't Know (Lee Know)

"No way!" the group shouted in unison, and Felix nodded.  

"Yep, it's true!  And she's on her way over right now.  Oh, and don't be too shocked, but she's the same age as Lee Know."

Chan playfully pushed Felix away.  "Why didn't you tell us earlier?  She must have been so lonely all by herself."

While all this commotion was happening upstairs, Lee Know was returning to their dorm after picking up some food for the group.  If they did well on their radio broadcast, he promised he'd buy them all chicken, and they could play games all night.  Now, it was time to fulfill that promise.  He turned his music down a little when he noticed a girl wandering around the perimeter of the building.

He tapped her on the shoulder, startling her.  "Are you looking for someone?"

She had dark hair, but her features looked somewhat familiar, especially the light spray of freckles splayed from cheek-to-cheek.

"I'm supposed to be meeting my cousin, Lee Yongbok.  I guess he goes by Felix.  Do you know where I could find him?"

Lee Know nodded.  "Sure thing.  I'm actually in the same group as him.  What's your name?"

She shyly tapped her foot and pushed a stray lock behind her ear.  "Lee Arim." 

Without a doubt, she was breathtakingly pretty.  Lee Know figured she was one of those girls who didn't realize their inner beauty and always doubted themselves.  Her shy outward appearance gave it away.

"That's a nice name," Lee Know smiled.  He led her upstairs to the room, and Felix squeezed her into a hug when he saw her.

"I haven't seen you in years, Noona," Felix sighed into her shoulder.  "How have you been?  Any cool stories about being an adult?"

Arim plopped down on the floor and gestured for the other boys to gather around.   "One time, I got off work early and had this strange motivation to cook, and so I came home to experiment.  And then I suddenly realized I have a passion for cooking!  Look, I even took pictures of the stuff I've made."

She passed her phone around and giggled at the members' shocked reactions.

Lee Know stared at the girl who lit up the room and smiled to himself.  "You should cook for us sometime!  We'd love to try your food."

Her gaze was fixated on him, and she felt her breath grow uneven.  It was the guy who had led her up to the room.  She hadn't even caught his name, but what was caught were the words in her throat.

Arim forced herself to peel her eyes away as she smiled warmly at her younger cousin.  

Felix held up a box.  "Let's play a board game!  Let me warn you, Arim.  We get very competitive, so I hope you're prepared."

The girl placed her hands on her hips.  "Oh, I'm more than ready to risk it all."

The other members "ooh"-ed at her heated reply and laid down the rules and pieces.

She focused harder on the game than she had on anything else in her life.  Biting the corner of her lip, Arim carefully rolled the dice, trying to calculate in her head the best angle to throw it at so that she'd land on a six."

Lee Know was absorbed in watching her, barely minding the fact that he'd been eliminated in the first round.  His eyes were drawn to her, and once she won, she drifted her gaze to him, and they locked eyes for a moment too long.  

"I never introduced myself.  I'm Lee Know," he said suddenly.  

Arim nodded her head in a small bow.  "Oh, wow, would you look at the time?!  I have to go grab dinner."

"I haven't eaten yet," Lee Know smiled.  He then proceeded to glance down at the food splayed in front of them and coughed.  "This isn't enough for me.  And it must be boring for you to eat alone.  Since we're the same age, we can talk over some food about things only our generation would understand."

Jeongin pouted.  "You make yourself sound so old."

Lee Know stuck out his tongue.  "I am, silly.  Come on, Arim."

He showed her to his favorite sushi restaurant, and they bonded a little more over dinner.  Afterwards, he insisted on dropping her home.

"I know you must be used to it, but it's not safe for a young lady like you to walk home alone at this hour.  I don't mind walking you," Lee Know said as they walked down the sidewalk that led to her neighborhood.

Arim grinned.  "Thank you.  That means a lot.  Do you mind if I get your phone number?  I don't have too many friends here in Korea since they're back home in Australia, but now that I'm staying here permanently, it'd be nice to make new friends."

And exchange phone numbers they did.  Within months, the two of them had become best friends.  Lee Know had always been the member who never cared about his phone.  Usually, he never knew where it was, and at the end of the day, he'd come home to a crap ton of notifications.  But nowadays, he checked his phone constantly for messages from his crush Arim.  

Felix, in the meanwhile, knew everything on Arim's end.  She had admitted to him one day when they were hanging out that she had developed a huge crush for Lee Know.  And of course, that prompted the nonstop teasing.

They were all warming up backstage one afternoon when Felix overheard an interesting conversation between Chan and Lee Know.

"I really like her, but I'm scared of what Felix might think," Lee Know sighed.

The freckled boy walked up to them and slung an arm around his nervous hyung's shoulders.  "Felix says don't be scared, and go for it!  You have nothing to lose.  If you want, we'll even help you confess?"

"You will?" said Lee Know in shock.

Chan's eyeballs nearly popped out of his head.  "wE WiLL?!"

Felix nodded.  "We will.  Tomorrow, tell her to meet us at the amusement park."

Arim was nervous.  She checked her reflection in the mirror before heading out.  Was she too underdressed?  No, this couldn't be a date or anything special if she was meeting the whole group.

But just in case, she sprayed the tiniest bit of perfume behind her ears and left her place.  She spotted the boys easily because they were jumping up and down and waving like crazy.  Immediately, they dragged her to the roller coasters, forcing her to sit next to Lee Know.  During one of the rides, they had grabbed each other's hands, and Arim thought her heart was going to burst from the rush.  

But finally, the sun was setting and they decided to ride the ferris wheel.  Lee Know and Arim boarded their passenger car and breathed in the view as they circled to the top.  Once they reached the peak, Lee Know slowly slipped his hand in hers and flashed that warm smile that made her knees feel like jelly.

"Arim, I really hope what I'm about to say doesn't mess anything up, but I really like you.  Once I met you, I understood what love felt like.  I always look forward to texts from-"

She cut him off with a kiss, and he moved closer to her to deepen it.  Her fingers automatically flew to cup the sides of his face, and he tangled his fingers in her soft hair.  

Arim blushed and looked away, unable to fix her giddy gaze on the person she loved so much before her.

"I don't know what spell you've cast on me, Arim.  But I love you."

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A/N: AHHHH this one has me going crazy!!  UWU so wholesome and sweet!  Thanks LeeArim for requesting this!  I loved writing every word of it  :)

Question of the imagine: Have you ever met someone who makes you feel like you can do anything?  Or makes you see something in yourself that maybe you didn't notice before?  I met someone a few months ago who helped me realize that I'm a little too hard on myself and don't give myself much credit where it's due.  What about you all??