beaming | keith kogane

XXVIII | thank you

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"THANK YOU," She suddenly said, making me turn my head up quickly. "For what?" I said dumbly before cursing my one brain cell internally. She laughed softly and looked at me, the fond look in her eyes returning as she smiled at me. "For saving my life, Keith. On countless occasions, nonetheless," 

My brows furrowed. "I barely did anything, Y/n. If anything, Haneul was the most useful—" She shook her head again, countering my argument and sparing a glance out the window before turning back to me. "That's where you're wrong, Keith. Those arguments and the day at the mall," Y/n's smile grew, making my heart flutter. "They meant a lot."

I opened my mouth, "I like you." 

Her grin broadened, tears pooling in her eyes. "Do you know how many times I imagined you would say that?" I shook my head with a slight chuckle, teasing her with my next retort. "Maybe more than once?" She laughed at that, looking at me sweetly. Y/n took in a breath, sighing afterward. "I'm sorry for not telling any of you guys earlier."

I raised a brow, tilting my head. "Don't feel sorry. It's something personal and if anything, we're just glad you're okay. It was a whole crying fest last night after we heard that you were okay." She seemed almost shocked that we were so concerned in the first place and I could feel her surprise grow, "Really?" I just nodded in response as a familiar voice spoke up.

"No shit, babo. You're not worthless, I thought I told you that." 

He was back; bitter, but back. He had his arms crossed, but a boyish grin playing on his lips. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she outstretched her arms, ignoring her IV. "Haneul, I'm so sorry," She blubbered as he rolled his eyes, walking into her hug. Taking a good look at him, he seemed a lot better than before. His skin was regaining color and his eyes were brighter.

His bandages were on his arms again too. "Don't feel sorry and drop your arm, you might pull out the IV drip," He let out a relieved sigh as soon as he fell into her arms, sighing into the crook of her neck. I watched them interact, feeling happy that they were both okay. They really have such a close bond, huh?

Haneul looked at me, letting go of Y/n briefly. "And you," He started and I looked at him wearily. "Thanks for saving babo back there." He seemed almost embarrassed to say something like that. With his slightly cocky behavior, I wasn't surprised that that was the way he chose to thank me; pink lightly tinting his cheeks as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

I smiled back, "It's no problem." I could tell that Y/n was going to speak up about what I just said, but I made eye contact with her before looking over at Haneul. "She'd do the same for us, wouldn't she?" Haneul blinked at me, as if recognizing something as he grinned widely. He chuckled softly, glancing at Y/n.

The two shared some kind of secret message through their gaze, but I didn't bother to find out. "Well, I'll let you rest up for now. I'm pretty sure the others will be here soon." I reassured her as Haneul looked at me, brows furrowed. "This late?" I guess he didn't check the clock? Y/n spoke up, looking at the clock from across the room. "It's eight in the morning."

The blond looked at me briefly, a surprised expression on his face. Y/n looked up from her fiddling hands, distracting me with her pretty eyes instead. "Anyways, I guess we messed up karaoke night for the rest of them?" I blinked furiously before shaking my hands frantically. Why am I like this around her?

Even if it was a simple conversation, I felt nervous and so self-conscious. "N-No. We didn't mind coming here for you, y'know? We can always have another celebration anyways." Haneul clicked his tongue, a cocky smirk shaping his lips as he leaned against the window to the right of Y/n. The bed was what separated us, but if I could, I would've smacked the smirk off his face.

Something in my gut told me his next few words would be embarrassing. "Oh my, did the famous emo really stutter?" He teased as my cheeks turned pink. As I was about to retort, Y/n stood up for me. Her e/c eyes darted to Haneul as she puffed her cheeks out like a bunny. Cute. "Didn't you thank this guy earlier with a similar expression?"

The blond looked away, huffing and disappearing in a mist of red. Y/n laughed, looking over at me reassuringly. "Just ignore him," I grinned back at her, resting my hands on my knees as I stared at her. "Duly noted," I replied, making her laugh a little bit more. Her happiness was all I wanted; I just wanted her to be happy.

Seeing her smile like this and watching her eyes light up in such a long time was satisfying to me; it made my heart thump louder all the same but in a different way. I felt warm and fuzzy just by looking at her. "You've been staring for a bit, Keith. Are you good?" A flush of pink ran over my cheeks as I blinked wildly.

"I-I'm fine!" I waved my hands awkwardly. I could tell she'd broken down my walls and although part of me felt insecure about it, I had to accept it for what it was or she might get hurt again. Y/n joked, "Maybe you should be in the hospital instead of me?" I rolled my eyes at her lame attempt to make me laugh, smiling all the same. 

I sighed, looking at her. "Should I get you something? It seems like you've barely touched your food anyways." Y/n scrunched her nose, shaking her head. At the mention of the food, she seemed to inch further away from the nightstand that held a pudding cup, half-drunken bottle of water, and what looked like soup.

"Hospital food is disgusting."

I smiled, "I'll buy something else and be back then." I reassured her as I got up, heading for the door as I heard her call my name once my fingers touched the doorknob.  I looked over my shoulder as her face turned pink, her fingers mending together in an anxious mess as she refused to make eye contact. "Yeah?" I responded nonchalantly.

Her lips upturned into an innocent smile as she stared back at me.

"I like you too."