jongho held her hand in his. they were having a simple date after school, just eating and stopping by random stores. hyejin felt happy. truly happy.she lightly squeezed his hand. jongho glanced at her with a fond smile.
"we've been walking for ten minutes. are sure you don't want to go home? it's already 8" jongho asked. hyejin thought for a while before poking his cheek.
"can we stop at my favourite cafe first please?? then go home. pretty pleasee" hyejin asks, poking out her lower lip. jongho laughed at her attempt.
"the cafe mingi hyung works at?"
hyejin nodded her head happily. "yes yes!"
the boy lightly pinched her cheek. "of course, babe. come on"
hyejin's cheeks flushed at the nickname. jongho didn't see it as he was busy leading the way.
soon, they arrived at the said cafe. the two walked in together. they stopped in tracks when they bumped into a familiar pair.
"minhee? hyunjin?" hyejin blinked. hyunjin and minhee widened their eyes at the two, struggling to form an explanation.
"uhm you see-"
"it's not what you think-"
"they are dating now. there. you're welcome" a new voice interrupted.
the four glanced at the voice's owner and saw mingi at the counter, staring at them boredly, with his chin resting on his palm.
"once a coward, forever a coward" the cashier deadpanned.
jongho and hyejin looked at each other before bursting in fits of laughter. hyunjin and minhee on the other hand turned red of embarrassment.
"congratulations to you two!" hyejin teased. "we'll leave you two alone now. bye cowards" hyejin said, before pulling jongho away from the new couple.
they headed straight to the counter where the tall boy was lazily stood.
"welcome to aurora cafe. may i have your order" mingi asked, looking at them with a straight face. hyejin giggled.
"cheer up, hyung. why the long face?" jongho teased, earning an eye roll from the elder. "yall be dating around and here i am, stuck in a fucking cafe"
"but it's my favourite cafe" hyejin pouted. mingi blinked. his eyes softened. before returning to his bored look. "okay, sweetheart. now give me your orders please"
"one iced mocha, iced americano and two cupcakes" hyejin grinned. "oh! and cookies please!"
"coming right up"
the couple then made their way towards a seat by the window. after a while of comfortable silence, jongho spoke up.
"you know, you weren't being so quiet about staring and admiring me" he smiled, lightly rubbing his thumb on the back of her palm. her cheeks turned red. "you stared at me for almost ten minutes at the school's garden until beomgyu interrupted you"
"you knew?!" hyejin shrieked. the boy giggled at her panicked state. "like i said, you weren't being so quiet about it"
hyejin whined, before hiding her face onto the table. jongho ruffled her hair.
"oh come on. if it weren't for you being obvious, i wouldn't have noticed you in the first place" jongho said, attempting to cheer her up.
hyejin lifted her head, a pout on her lips. jongho tapped her lips teasingly.
"i'm glad i took interest in you" he said truthfully. she smiled.
"let's stay like this forever" hyejin grinned.
"of course"
hyejin eyed him suspiciously. "prove it"
he stared at her for a moment before leaning towards her and puckering his lips expectantly.
"oppa- we're in public.." hyejin glanced around frantically.
"nah no one's here, sweetie. now come here baby" he said, before puckering his lips again.
hyejin was hesitant for a moment before slowly leaning in. just as their lips were about to touch, a plate of cake was slammed onto their table. the two instantly distanced themselves from each other before glancing awkwardly at an 'innocent' looking mingi who was holding the rest of their orders.
"ooh did i interrupt something?" mingi asked with an innocent smile on his face.
jongho sighs. "no. no you didn't"
hyejin nervously laughed as mingi placed their drinks and cookies before them.
"do not ever break up, you hear me?" mingi asked, sounding more like an order.
"sir yes sir" jongho playfully replied him. the other two giggled at him.
and that is how they spent the rest of their night, laughing and teasing each other, feeling complete in each other's comfort. hyejin was thankful she never did move on from him. turns out, she's not much of a coward after all.
how about you?
the end!
yippieee sorry for leaving yall hanging hhhh thanks for reading this although my writing sucks 🥺💞 gonna miss this book.
check out my another ateez story :) and i promiseee it's full of ateez members 😔✋🏻

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admirer • jongho
Fanfictionin which hyejin could only admire her senior from afar because apparently she's a coward +lowercase intended +short chapters, which explains the total 80 chapters +tw/ suicide mentioned +cringey yikes