love.

one

a/n: i do not write poetry for a reason... you'll see why soon. 

they're having a picnic... kind of? they're in the courtyard, because it's a nice day, blanket spread out with some kimbap jaebum made and watermelon juice that seulgi brought from her shift at the summer magic cafe. seulgi wanted to people watch, mainly for some art inspiration, and practice drawing certain poses and gestures, while jaebum was just bored.

seulgi appreciates that even simple dates like this is enough to make her heart flutter. she makes herself comfortable, leaning against jaebum as she sketches. he watches her silently, feeding her some kimbap and sharing the juice with her as she works. she treats this like a character study, drawing a bunch of faceless figures doing different poses based off of who she observes. one person is standing by the fountain, there's a couple hunched over an ipad to their left, another guy with a camera to his face taking photos of the sky. 

she takes a break when her hand starts cramping up, stretches out her limbs and sits up, turning to look at her boyfriend. "didn't we have a date here three years ago?"

"yeah, our first kiss was under those trees." jaebum replies.

"you remember that?"

"yeah, do you not?"

"i remember a bit... but you can remind me. tell it like you're writing a story, i like when you do that." 

jaebum wraps her up in his arms, her back to his chest and he rests his head on her shoulder. "okay, sure... " he takes a second to think about how to begin before settling on a standard opening, "it was a bright autumn day, the weather was a bit cold, but the sky was clear. jaebum was nervous, it was his third date with seulgi, a girl with hair as bright as her smile, and with the first two dates having their mishaps, he was worried this one wouldn't fare well."

"i can't believe you dated me with orange hair... and the excessive blush i piled on to offset said hair, ugh."

"it was cute."

"no, you were cute, with your very normal red hair."

"mark said it made me look like a vampire."

"i like vampires, i was team edward! so i liked it on you ... but continue with your story, i'm sorry for interrupting."

"they had first met when he ran into her at the campus bookstore, immediately becoming smitten. their first date was for coffee and jaebum embarrassed himself by spilling said coffee all over her new eco bag."

"my icebear bag!" seulgi giggles, "it still hasn't fully recovered." she had just gotten that bag, a white canvas one with the polar bear from the cartoon we bare bears. it's now forever tinted the color of stale coffee.

"on their second date, they went bowling... and seulgi smacked jaebum in the face after scoring a strike, giving him a nosebleed."

"... we were such a mess."

"jaebum was prepared for the worst to happen on their third date. maybe food poisoning? maybe an random storm? maybe confirmation that they were a disaster waiting to happen." jaebum tightens his grip on seulgi, his hands finding hers to hold. "but the gods must have taken pity on them, because it turned out to be perfect. they shared rice balls and fruit, talking about their worries. seulgi was undecided about her major, not knowing what she wanted to focus on. there was graphic design, visual arts, art studies, rhetoric and composition arts, digital arts, and commercial art. jaebum, who chose the rhetoric and composition because he wanted to be a writer, tried to sway her his way, but ended up helping her discover that maybe art studies was the safest bet."

"then you wrote me a poem!" seulgi gasps.

"i thought you weren't going to interrupt." he nudges her head with his own, making her giggle.

"i got excited because i remembered it. do you remember the poem?"

"not really. wasn't it something lame? like roses are red, the skies are blue, i like you a lot and i hope you like me too?"

"our first two dates were disasters, lots of stumbles, but this one is going good, despite the mumbles. we're getting to know each other, it's slow going, but i'm having fun, and it's flowing... flowing like the waterfall to our right, howling like the trees above our knees... this poem doesn't make much sense, will you just kiss me, please?" seulgi recites the rest, laughing as she does so. jaebum groans, embarrassed that he said those words out loud once upon a time.

"i don't know what's worst... that poem or the fact that you still remember it, and can use it against me when i become famous."

"i wouldn't do that to you... plus, i quite liked that poem. after all, i did kiss you, didn't i?"

"that you did... and then became my girlfriend and stayed for three years."

"i sometimes think about what would have happened if you wouldn't have run into me. would i even had chosen art studies? what if i would have bowed out, and ended up choosing something boring like... business?"

"business major seulgi? oh, the horror." jaebum teases, "i guess it's a good thing my contacts dried out and i couldn't see where i was going. i wouldn't have bumped into you, and probably wouldn't have had the courage to write for that competition that i won last year."

"i guess so, but i do worry whenever you start a new pack of contacts that your vision will get suddenly better and you'll drop me for some other hotter girl in the campus bookstore."

"no worries, you're still my favorite bookstore babe." 

"weird how this courtyard suddenly means so much to our relationship."

"yeah... but i'm not complaining."

"your first book should be about this. two lovers who grow an attachment to some boring old courtyard, because some of their best memories stem from it. i'd read it... the story of two people who met somewhere, fell in love there and then kept going back in different stages of their lives, but still as in love and happy as ever."

"how would you design the cover?"

"i don't know... maybe just a couple lounging like we are. it's natural, gives off the vibe the love story would."

"i'll write it, dedicate it to you, and then when it sells millions of copies, i'll quote this moment as inspiration." 

seulgi turns in his arms, her chest pressed to his so she can face him, "do it... and i'll buy the first five signed copies and all it's translations, and design each new cover for it as it's republished over and over." she leans forward, pressing a kiss against his lips. 

another a/n: a cute, short, sweet, opening to this series of random oneshot fics. :)

 also, i know i told you all to follow my twitter already, but i'm doing another shameless plug because i got requests but then twitter refused to show them for me to accept them? so i unlocked it and it's a free for all for a week or so and then i'll lock it again haha. 

but yeah, come chat with me @hi_defseul.