a/n - no flames please, I have a soft spot for these two (: inspired by this:

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He didn’t know when the last time they were this close was. He did remember, he thinks he did, distinctly that his stomach hadn’t decided to do several backflips upon a single, accidental, brush of her hand against his. No, he hadn’t been dreaming them. He somewhat wished he had, along with the hammering of his heart that was sure to follow.  

He took a sideways glance at her, she was seated just to his left—her eyes were observing yet somewhat unfocused.

She was bored. And he could tell.

He coughed slightly, getting her attention. “How are promotions going?”

She looked thoughtful—“They’re not. We’re preparing for Japan.”

“Oh,” He mentally slapped himself, “How’s Japan?”

“I haven’t been, we’re only just preparing…”

Okay, so opening his mouth for some light conversation didn’t seem the brightest idea anymore. He nodded in silence, choosing to just quietly curse himself for not thinking before he spoke.

An awkward silence fell, felt by him and any other bystander who had been watching what was going on. She didn’t seem to mind it, as her face reflected her bored expression again.

He, of course, felt obliged to try and change it. So, disregarding his earlier forewarnings, he opened his mouth to engage in some light conversation yet again—

“How’s school?” Ugh. He hated how lame that came out.

She turned her head to meet his eyes, her eyebrows scrunched questioningly, “How’s School?”

. “Sorry, yeah, I know—it was a stupid question, I—“

“It’s tolerable these days,” She cut off, her tone mildly irritated as she thought of her Alma matter “Just can’t wait to graduate, you know?”

Oh. “Really?”

“It gets tiring”

“I can imagine, having to juggle schoolwork with promotions”

“It’s not that,” She paused, thinking about how to phrase her words “I enjoy learning. It’s just that… the boys are…”

He leaned in towards her interestedly, “boys are…?”

Her eyes fell down to her hands, her brows creased slightly in thought.

“Annoying.” She finished

His mouth parted slightly—a failed attempt at trying to stop his jaw from dropping—and his eyes widened. He felt his stomach fall a hundred feet below when he heard her say the word. She found boys annoying? Then, what about him?

He coughed again, gaining composure. “And me?”

She looked thoughtfully at him, eyeing him up and down—“Not too bad, I’ve encountered much worse” she teased

If it wasn’t for her teasing grin, he would have stiffened at her words.

“Oh?” He decided to play along, genuinely curious of what her answer might be. “And why is that?”

She chuckled, “We’re friends, I can’t lump you with those idiots”

“Friends?” Oh, right. They were label mates and spent a substantial amount of time together. He remembered their fun times in the training rooms, forgetting for a short moment that the two of them were something akin to best friends before their schedules decided to put miles between them.

She cocked an eyebrow, “We’re not friends?”

His heart seemed to decide it was time to hammer again as he returned her accusing almost-glare with his own slightly dumbfounded look. It seemed to take forever for him to compose his face and will his rapid heartbeat to slow.

“I…” And he didn’t even know where he plucked the courage, but it managed to bubble out of him as he blurted, “I want to graduate too… with you…”

She tilted her head in honest curiosity, her features softening, “Graduate…?”

“From being friends.”

They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, simply sitting on the grass as they looked at each other. None able to tear their eyes from the other.

He saw the sea of questions that flitted through her eyes but she remained silent, searching his eyes for the answers instead. He felt the heat creep up to his round cheeks and he knew he must’ve been blushing.

Still, he kept his gaze on hers, letting her search into his soul. Hoping she would see his meaning and the sincerity attached. He himself didn’t know when it started but somewhere in between, he felt being friends wasn’t enough. He wanted more. And he had realized it the moment he told her.

It seemed his body seemed to act on its own accord before his mind could react, which was usually the case as he blurted out and did things usually without having the chance to process anything. Now was no different, as he leaned in closer towards her, his breath hitting her lips that now parted just slightly. Her breath hitched at his nearness.

Was that relief he saw in her eyes?

Before he could dwell much on it, he saw her nod, ever so slightly.  

And then his heart soared—did that mean she agreed? She wanted to be more than friends, too? Or was she simply nodding to let him know she acknowledged his feelings? Giddy as he was, at just a simple nod from her, his mind tugged at him to think more of the situation at hand.

He noticed her lips tug up into a small smile, her eyes drifting to his lips as she tilted her head just a tiny bit.

He felt his blood rush in excitement. It was all he needed in confirmation and relief swelled through him.

He leaned even closer, ready to close the electrifying distance between their lips. He found himself growing dizzy in anticipation.

BANG

He jumped at the sound of the start gun firing, thoughts flying out of his mind for a second at the shock of the noise. She smirked, quickly pressing her lips to his before pulling away as the avid cheers and screams started.

He stared, shocked, at her, his mouth gaping.

She turned her head, small smile in place, to the tracks in front of them and quickly joined the crowd in cheering as one of their fellow team A mates raced across the track towards the goal mark.

She stood to her feet and he quickly followed suit, his shocked expression and eyes still glued to her.

“I—you—wha—?” he stammered

Her eyes fleeted to catch his, a playful smile reflected in her bright ones.

“Congratulations, Yang YoSeob” She said, taking his hand in hers in a shake. His expression was even more confounded, if that was even possible. “On your graduation, that is.”

She laughed at his expression and swiftly turned to walk away, hiding her wide grin, heading towards her group members huddled on a spot center field.

It took a moment for him to snap back into reality and immediately, he jogged to her retreating figure. His usual goofy grin goofier, and toothier, than ever.

“Sohyunie~!” He called, “Wait up!”

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