Title: Not So Bad
Pairing: Namjoo x Luhan ~HanJoo~
Requested By: shortmemory

+picture credit to owners c:

Namjoo and Luhan weren't as serious or fancy as other couples. They weren't the type to go on formal dates or have romantic walks upon the beach as the sun set on the horizon. They were more on the laid-back side. Dates consisted of sitting in bed together with a tub of icecream as they watched movies, or experimenting with recipes and eating the outcome even if it tasted bad. Therefore, when Luhan decided to ask Namjoo out on a formal date one night, it was quite a surprise.

"Really?" Namjoo looked at Luhan, baffled at the idea of trying something new. She really wasn't the one to easily get accustomed with changes, and she very much preferred staying in her comfort zone.

"Really. Let's try something different. Who knows, you might like it." Luhan coaxed. He was reluctant about the idea too when it first entered his mind. He decided though, that it wouldn't hurt to try.

Namjoo bit her lower lip in deep thought. She didn't like the idea at all, yet she didn't want to reject Luhan's offer, "Well..." She started.

"Come on, Joo. Do it for the experience." He pleaded.

Letting out a deep sigh, she averted her gaze elsewhere, "I don't know, Lu..."

Luhan took a step closer to her, placing his hands on her cheeks to make her look at him, "Please? For me?" He watched as the female pursed her lips, still unsure. Leaning his forehead against hers, he gently uttered another quiet "please" beneath his breath.

Namjoo finally offered a small nod in response, finally giving in. A joyful laugh escaped Luhan's mouth, and he clumsily bumped his lips against hers for a kiss.

Pulling away moments later, he took a hold of both her hands, "7 pm tomorrow, okay? I'll pick you up. Wear something pretty-- A dress preferably. And it's formal, don't forget!"

Namjoo laughed softly, "Mhm, I got it. You too, okay? Wear a tux or whatever."

"I will, don't you worry." He grinned, "Anyways, I better get going. Don't want to ruin your beauty sleep for tomorrow."

He kissed the back of her hand before letting go and heading towards the door. Namjoo soon followed after him.

"It's still pretty early though." She told, causing Luhan to shrug his shoulders before he twisted the knob of the front door and walked out.

"That doesn't matter."

Namjoo smiled, shaking her head at him, "It matters to me."

Turning back to look at her, he grinned, "Joo, shh. If you talk too much, you might tire yourself. Then the next day, you might not have enough energy to go to the date."

Rolling her eyes, she leaned against the door frame, watching as he continued his walk to his car, "Mhm, whatever, Lu. See you tomorrow."

"See you too, Namjoo. Can't wait." She heard him say before he entered his car. She blew him a kiss before watching the car exit the driveway and disappear into the distance.

Finally retreating back into her house, Namjoo walked into her room and slumped onto her bed. Nervous. She was very nervous about tomorrow.

---

Namjoo awoke the next morning, anxious for the date that would happen later on. She was looking through her closet, trying to plan ahead on what she would wear, but she could find nothing to fit the occasion. Everything she owned was casual-wear or unworthy, in her opinion, to be worn to a formal place. She let out a frustrated groan as she ran her hands through her hair. She had looked through her whole closet, and she couldn't find a single thing appealing. What was she to do?

She lay down on her bad, covering her eyes with her arm as she allowed complete hoplessness to devour her. She was on the verge of tears before an idea suddenly occured to her. Quickly sitting up, she grabbed her phone. She quickly tapped in a number before holding the device to her ear. She listened intently as the phone rang on the other end of the line.

"Hello?"

A female finally answered.

"Naeun unnie, you need to help me."

---

Luhan stared at his black tuxedo in deep thought, silently rubbing his chin. The suit looked too plain for his liking, and he was wondering what he could do to add a bit of color to it. Perhaps he could have a nice red bowtie to spice things up, or maybe he could add a flower to the pocket. If he wanted, he could even do both... Did he really want his bowtie to be red though? And if he were to add a flower, what color and what type would it be? Did he want the flower to have a special meaning? Or did he just want the flower to sit in the pocket and be pretty?

Luhan clenched his jaw in irritation.

Why did he have to be so indecisive?

---

Namjoo found herself at the mall, standing in one of the many dress shops. Dresses of different styles and colors were being held against her body. Namjoo's bestfriend, Naeun, worked at the shop, and Namjoo had called her in hopes that she could quickly choose a dress that would suit her. Dress-choosing, however, was not a quick task at all. Naeun, being the "expert" she was, kept being picky.

"This one has too many ruffles." Naeun said as she tossed the dress back over her shoulder, "And this one has too many sparkles." She added after looking at another dress.

"Unnie, please. We've been looking for nearly two hours." Namjoo whined, "Just pick one so I can leave already."

"Nuh-uh. For my bestfriend, I have to pick the best of the best. You need to look stunning for tonight. Take his breath away-- that's what you should do." She answered, putting the previous dresses back onto the rack and taking out new ones.

"I'm sure Luhan will find me stunning in anything. He is my boyfriend after all." She retorted, crossing her arms.

"Shh, you're making this take longer than it needs to be--"

"I'm not doing anything though--" Namjoo started, but was quickly cut off with a loud "Ahah!"

Namjoo watched as Naeun pulled a dress from the rack again. It was the prettiest dress Namjoo had ever seen, and it made all the other dresses look ugly in comparison.

"This one," She heard Naeun say, eyeing both the dress and Namjoo's body, "is perfect."

---

Luhan found himself standing in front of his mirror.  He was adjusting his bowtie until it suited his liking. Once he was pleased with the outcome, he then move on to his empty pocket. He had bought a whole bouquet of flowers just so he could match all of them with his tuxedo and see which one would fit it best. He couldn't decide betwwen a pink rose or a red one. After much debating and heavy thinking, he settled with red to match his bowtie.

Now glancing at his watch, he read the time out loud, "6:59."

Repeating the time again in his head, he felt his eyes widen. He was going to be late!

He could have sworn it was only 4:30 just a minute ago though...

Running out of his house after quickly pulling his shoes on, he clumsily stumbled into his car. He half-sped down the street, hoping that he wouldn't get pulled over or that he wouldn't be late by a lot.

Finally arriving at Namjoo's front door, he stopped to catch his breath. Afterwards, he rung the doorbell and waited for Namjoo to come out. Once she did, Luhan's breath hitched.

"Oh, you're here." Namjoo mumbled, stepping outside and locking the door behind her. Turning back to look at him, she continued, "You're a bit late."

Luhan stayed frozen in his spot. Namjoo dressed in a much more different style than he was used to, and the change took his breath away.

He hadn't realized he had been staring until Namjoo cleared , "Lu, you're making me uncomfortable."

"Ah, right." He said, rubbing the back of his neck as he smiled sheepishly, "It's just... you look amazing."

Namjoo grinned, punching his arm lightly, "You don't look too bad yourself."

"Eh? What part of me looks bad?" He questioned, looking down at himself.

"Hair." She responded, reaching up to flatten down some of the strands that were sticking out.

"Oh, right... I was in a bit of a rush..." He said, his voice fading out towards the end of the sentence, "We should probably get going now..."

---

When Namjoo and Luhan arrived at the restaurant, Namjoo refused to go inside. She was standing infront of the building, reluctant to enter. It looked so fancy. She didn't think she would be able to fit in.

"Come on, Namjoo. I've been holding the door open for at least 10 minutes now." Luhan sighed.

"Then let go of it." She stated, still not wanting to go inside, "...Can't we go to McDonald's instead?"

"Don't be silly." Luhan said, waling over to her and grabbing her hand, "This place is much better."

---

When Luhan and Namjoo had finally been seated at a table, Namjoo was too busy observing the place to flip through the menu. She noticed that the restaurant was decorated very expensive looking, and she wondered how much Luhan was paying for just to make their date happen.

"You can look around later, Joo." She heard Luhan say. "For now, pick what you want to eat."

"Err, right... You pick for me." She mumbled, "Just get me the cheapest thing they have."

Luhan furowed his eyebrows, but did what he was told anyways.

When the food arrived, Namjoo stared down at the bowl of ramen that was placed before her.

"Ramen? I could have made this at home." Namjoo said quietly as she picked up her chopsticks and stirred the noodles.

"Well you asked me to order the cheapest thing, so I did." Luhan blinked, scanning the disappointment on Namjoo's face.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it though." He heard her say.

Why were women so confusing?

Pushing his own plate of food towards Namjoo, he frowned, "Eat this instead then. It's much more appetizing."

Turning her face away from the platter, she sighed and sat back in her seat, "I'm not hungry. I'm too unfamiliar with this place to eat."

---

A while later, after Luhan had been able to get Namjoo to eat at least a little bit, he planned on paying for their bill and finally leaving. He didn't think the date was much of a success since Namjoo felt so uncomfortable with everything. He felt so disappointed, and he just wanted the date to end already.

They were just walking out of the restaurant when an announcement sounded. Something about a couple dance starting. Luhan stopped in his tacks causing Namjoo to bump into his back from the sudden halt.

"Why did you stop?" Namjoo asked, confused.

"A couple dance." He answered, "Let's try it out."

He grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the space that was cleared for the people to dance. He placed Namjoo's hands on his shoulders before he put his own hands on her waist. He stared down at her, his lips curving into a small smile as he waited for the music to start.

"I really don't know how to dance." Namjoo whispered, suddenly feeling self conscious again.

"Don't worry. No one will care. Everyone here is minding their own business anyway," He assured her, "Just follow my lead, okay?"

Namjoo nodded, staring down at his feet so she could watch his steps. As the music started, she ended up stumbling after Luhan as she tried to mimic his steps. She was quite slow at getting the hang of new things, so when the fifth song started and she was still lost, she asked Luhan if they could just sway around instead.

"It's too hard." She commented, looking up at the male with a pout. "I wasn't made to be a dancer."

A chuckle escaped Luhan's lips as he pecked her pout, "That's okay. You don't have to be a dancer to be my girlfriend."

Namjoo nodded, leaning her head into his chest. "Glad to hear that. I would've had no chance with you if that were a requirement."

Luhan smiled, knowing she was right.

It was quiet between the duo for a while as they continued swaying to the slow and steady paced music. After a while, when Namjoo still had not lifted her head from his chest, Luhan glanced down at her to see if maybe she had fallen asleep. Luhan was confirmed wrong when Namjoo lifted her head up moments later. She hadn't fallen asleep after all.

"I was just thinking..." She started, gazing up into his eyes, "What did you think about today?"

Luhan stayed quiet, thinking about what to say.

"It's just... I noticed you were a bit annoyed with me always being uncomfortable, and I just wanted to apologize..." She continued, snaking her arms up and around Luhan's neck. She tiptoed up to kiss him passionately. Luhan blinked in surprised, but kissed her back anyways.

When they pulled away, Luhan pressed his forehead against hers and cupped her cheeks in her hands.

"Honestly, I was a bit upset with you at first, but after what happened right now, I'm mad no longer. I thought this formal date thing was a failure, but now I'm realizing it wasn't so bad after all." Luhan chuckled, giving Namjoo's cheeks a gentle pinch before releasing them.

Namjoo rose a brow at him, "So if I didn't kiss you, you would still be mad?"

"Hey, it's not like that..."

Namjoo laughed, "I know, I know. I was just playing with you."

She wrapped her arms around his torso as she nuzzled her face into his neck.

"Do you think we can do this again some time?" She wondered.

"Definitely."

Author's Note: I haven't updated since last year-- ahaha. /smacked. Yep. Sorry for the long wait. HanJoo is finally updated though! Thanks for being patient with me. <3 Feel free to comment any pairings you want. Requests are open after all. Not sure when I'll be able to post JaeJoo (Sungjae&Namjoo), but I'm hoping it'll be soon. Please continue to support me! And comments, subscribers, and upvotes are very much appreciated. /sends all of you my sarangs/