𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐲 || 𝐤𝐢𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐣𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐠.

9

"so are you gonna tell her?" seonghwa asks, taking a bite of his sausage. hongjoong shakes his head at his friend who always seems to have a bajillion snacks to eat for lunch. "well, i don't know. i don't wanna overwhelm her, you know? i mean i admit i have accepted the feelings i have for her for quite some time now but i don't want her thinking that this is merely a passing infatuation. i want her to know that i really like her so i guess i'll wait a bit."

"hm, yeah i understand. just don't be acting all obvious, mr shy guy," seonghwa smirks at his best friend, finishing the last of his sausage. hongjoong chokes on his water, coughing. "she told you?"

"yeah, i managed to get her to tell me. but she did tell me it was cute so i guess you can keep it up? i don't know just uh, don't scare her off. based on everything you've told me about her and everything i know about her," he pauses, smacking hongjoong on the back. "she's a keeper."

-

and so a few more weeks go by, the two teenagers growing closer every single day and hongjoong making progress with his studies.

"okay so i've marked the tests i gave you last week and i'm so proud of you, joong! you're making super great progress!" dahee unconsciously hugs the boy next to her, squeezing him tight out of pure happiness. she places the papers on his dining table and he eyes them all. his face lights up, seeing that he scored well for them all.

"so now you're all okay with all of last year's topics, we'll start this year's topics next week, cool?" hongjoong nods at this while scanning his test papers with a huge smile.

"you know what this calls for?" he glances at the girl, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "ice cream! let's go out for some ice cream!" he cheers, eyes disappearing into crescents. he stood up, pulling on her arm to drag her out his apartment excitedly. "come on!" dahee smiled at this, seeing how childish the boy really is. it was like seeing his inner child breaking out. the more time she spends with this boy, the more he drives her crazy.

the dahee from two months ago would be disgusted by herself for falling for a cliche bad boy like him. but that was two months ago. that was when the boy didn't care about anything at all. that was when the boy's behaviour repulsed her. his shameless flirting towards her, his nonchalant attitude towards his studies or his cold manner of rejecting even the sweetest girls that showed interest. that hongjoong repulsed her.

but two months have gone by and though he still shamelessly flirts with dahee, he's doing so well in his studies that sometimes seeing him work hard was motivation for dahee. maybe not in terms of studies but life, in general. he keeps her going though almost every day is living hell for her.

but what dahee didn't know is that the only reason hongjoong puts in so much effort is mainly for her. he wants to make her proud and he thinks that if he changes his behaviour, maybe dahee would give him a chance. well, he's not wrong.

"joong, i can pay for my own ice cream, you know?" the girl complains after they sat down on a table with their ice creams. "sweetheart, why would i let a girl pay? and please, i pay for our food all the time. i've told you many times that that's my payment for your tutoring." the boy huffs, shoving a spoonful of his cookie dough ice cream into his mouth.

"yeah, but i feel bad all the time," she pouts, looking down at her cup of ice cream. "princess, don't worry about it. my money's not running out, okay?" he lifts her chin up, smiling when she looks at him. the girl almost lost it right there. hongjoong was acting like a whole boyfriend and she can't help thinking what it would be like if he really was. stop playing with my heart like this, kim hongjoong.

-

"thanks for the impromptu ice cream and arcade date, joong. feels great to wind down after weeks and weeks of studying nonstop. can't wait for you to start on organic chemistry next week," she jokes as they both stood in front of her building. hongjoong laughs as he takes her backpack off his shoulder, handing it to her.

"please don't remind me of that. let me get through this weekend stress-free," he throws his head back, groaning dramatically. "stress-free? what are you talking about, joong? it's not like you'll be studying it this weekend." the girl says, a teasing smile playing on her lips.

"hey, i do study when you're not around!" he exclaims, getting defensive. dahee laughs, slapping his arm lightly. "okay, okay, chill. i was just kidding." she tells him, making him pout. "cute," the girl didn't even realise she blurted that out until hongjoong's expression changed into a teasing one.

"what did you just call me, princess?" he smirks, stepping closer to her. dahee felt her face flush and she nervously fiddles with the hem of her jacket. "nothing, i didn't say anything." she plays dumb but hongjoong had heard it clearly.

"well, that's a shame. because i think you're cute too. really cute," his tone seemed to be teasing but it was the truth. he likes dahee and he obviously does find her cute. "y–you what?"

"yes, dahee, i find you extremely cute." he pinches her cheek, grinning at the surprised look on her face. "and if you haven't noticed yet, i like you." and her eyes grew even wider, making hongjoong chuckle. if he could, he would take a picture of the priceless look on her face.

"w–wait what? y–you like me?" she's shocked at his sudden confession. "yes, dahee. i thought i've made it really clear to you all this while." he says. she really thought the flirting was just him being himself, she thought he was just playing the whole time. well, apparently not.

she couldn't believe it. she couldn't believe that the boy that's been on her mind almost 24/7, the boy she didn't think she would fall for, the boy that makes her days a teeny bit better, really did like her back.

"wow i– i actually like you too.." she admits shyly, looking down as she plays with her sweater paws. "you're joking," she looks up at the boy who has a frown on his face. "you're joking, aren't you? no, you don't really like me back. you just feel bad, don't you?" he was just really afraid the girl wasn't sincere. if they were going to get together, he didn't want to be the only one in love.

"no, i'm serious. i– i've liked you for a while now." she tells him, looking him in the eyes. "god, same. you have no idea how many times a day i think of us being together. we'd be perfect girlfriend and boyfriend." he holds both her hands, maintaining their eye contact.

"we really would," she replies, smiling up at him. hongjoong's eyes light up at this. "then why don't we?" he suggests, wiggling his eyebrows at the girl. she smacks him on the arm, laughing at him. "why don't we what, joong?"

"why don't we be girlfriend and boyfriend?"

-
a/n: yall i'm so sorry for the late updates i'm having major writer's block and though i have the plot and everything thought out already i jUST DON'T KNOW HOW TO WRITE THEM AJXHSJDH anyways if you feel like things are moving too fast it's because i'm planning for this to be a short story. this book isn't gonna be as long as airdrop is, prolly just like 20 chaps or less so uh not a long journey (winkwink)