A Little Sweetness

A Little Sweetness

Noh Yiyoung had had enough. Right after practice was done, she had left After School's dorm to go for a walk. She was upset, enough so that some of the other members noticed. While a part of her felt bad for worrying them (they didn't deserve her ire, after all, it was the company she was upset with), she knew that she had to cool down mentally before she could be around them any longer.

Eyoung had never been the most popular member of After School, and quite frankly she was okay with that. Normally a quiet girl, she was not too fond of the limelight. However, that didn't mean that she would reject all attention that she could possibly get. At the very least, she wanted her talent to be recognized. Instead, most of the time she was thrown to the side or back haphazardly in performance routines, and she was given very few lines in songs. Even "Time's Up", the song that had part of an original composition from her in it, featured very few of her vocals. To add insult to injury, a song that she had spent whatever free time she had on, a song that she composed in the hopes that it would be featured on the First Love album, was denied from the track list. Now, she could only hope that it would be used elsewhere for them in the future.

It was her dream to compose music for After School. She loved the group, she loved her members, she loved performing, and she loved her fans. Why, then, was her company denying her a chance to prove her worth to the world? She worked just as hard as everyone else, but received very little promotion in comparison to the other members. Eyoung cringed as this thought entered her mind. She knew that she shouldn't be jealous of her friends, her family, but she couldn't help these feelings that were piling up.

As she walked, her feelings of anger began to fade to sadness. With all of these thoughts having consumed her, she felt that maybe she was destined to this kind of treatment. Maybe she even deserved it, if she was going to let her feelings get in the way of her work. The girl sighed quietly as she came to a stop in front of a small café. Reading the mini menu outside, she decided that hot chocolate would be a good pick-me-up, even if the weather was sizzling as of late. Aside from her array of instruments, chocolate was her go-to form of healing for days like this.

The café was surprisingly empty, despite it being early in the evening. In places like this, students would often stop by for caffeine breaks before hitting the books for the rest of the night. Instead, there were only a few couples inside taking up most of the two-person tables. This was a lucky thing for Eyoung, simply because she had a lesser chance of being recognized, and she wouldn't have to fake a smile for the time being. Not that anyone would recognize me, though, she thought bitterly, a scowl threatening to appear on her face. When the man behind the counter asked for her order, she immediately put on a happy facade and requested her hot chocolate. The man didn't even give her an odd look from her drink of choice, something she appreciated. She put the order under her real name, for simplicity's sake, and found a seat at one of the remaining couple's tables near the back of the café.

As she waited for her drink, she began to pick at her nails, a bad habit that she had.

"Is it so bad that I want just a little bit of attention for myself?" she murmured to herself. Kaeun, the maknae and newest member, was already receiving more promotion than Eyoung had received since she first joined After School. Kaeun had gotten to sing many lines in their Japanese album, and Eyoung received even less than usual. Eyoung shook her head lightly, willing the thoughts to leave immediately. No. Kaeun is one of my closest friends, and she deserves this attention. Besides, she's the only one of us that's totally fluent in Japanese, she tried to reason with herself. But, the jealousy just kept returning to the forefront of her mind. She sighed yet again, and stopped picking at her nails only to start playing with her hair. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to let the negative thoughts exist in her mind for a while, in the hopes that she would be able to push them out after she had had a chance to actually think things through. She sat like this for a minute or two, whilst twirling her hair, before her musing was interrupted.

"Noh Yiyoung? Your hot chocolate is ready," the man behind the counter spoke, signaling her chance to finally, finally begin her mini healing session. She stood up from her seat and was about to take her first step towards the counter, when her jaw dropped slightly at what she saw. A guy was in front of the counter, and clearly taking the drink labeled in sloppy handwriting "Noh Yiyoung", her drink, before she had time to even get to the counter. She was about to speak up and let her now-revived anger be known, but the stranger turned around towards her, two drinks in hand, and walked over to her table, a small smile on his face. She quickly closed and sat down slowly, still wary of what he was doing.

"Sorry, I just figured I would get your drink for you, since I was up there anyway," the stranger said. He was handsome, she had to admit, and she thought his eyes were the most interesting shape. As a bonus, she thought he looked generally friendly too, which eased some of her anxieties. She stared at him for a few seconds too long before she realized he had been talking to her, and she blushed lightly as she tried to recover.

"Thanks. You didn't have to do that," she said, as he set her hot chocolate down on the table for her. He shook his head with that nice smile still on his face, saying it wasn't something to worry about.

"To be honest, you didn't look like you were very happy, so I figured I would do you a favor," he said, rather sheepishly. Then, he pointed to the chair opposite Eyoung, "Mind if I sit here?" Eyes wide, Eyoung simply shook her head. He sat down, and took a sip of his own drink, as she stared at him.

"Was it that obvious that I was unhappy?" she asked, feeling embarrassed. As an idol, she wasn't supposed to be an open book in public places. The man gave her a smile as a response, one that seemed to say "sorry, but yeah". She felt her face heat up yet again in embarrassment.

"Not to pry, but you're After School's Eyoung, right?" his question shocked her. Rarely was she ever noticed without the rest of the group around her, and here comes this cute guy who knew her immediately.

"Y-yes, I am," she said quietly, trying to make sure she didn't bring too much attention to herself. "But, how did you recognize me? No one else ever does," she said, the last part becoming more of a bitter muttering than anything else. His smile switched yet again to an amused one.

"Well, the day I debuted, you guys started your flashy 'First Love' promotions. You were hard to miss," he said, making her heart skip a beat. Then, a realization: he's an idol and I didn't even realize it!

"Wait...you're from BTS right? Suga?" She said, feeling like an idiot. He chuckled lightly and nodded. "I...I'm so sorry, I was so caught up in my thoughts that I wasn't even paying attention to who I was talking to!" she said, trying to fix her mistake. He waved it off, a bigger, brighter smile forming on his face. She noticed that he smiled often, and she found that it was something that she thought was very charming. With the day she'd been having, she admired how happy he seemed at the moment.

"Don't worry about it, I don't mind," Suga said. Eyoung's mouth still drew into a thin line anyway as she still felt bad. "Really, it's not a big deal!" he said, trying to emphasize his point. She allowed herself to relax a little, trusting the expression on his face and it's sincerity.

"Sorry, it's just that, well...nevermind, I don't think you want to hear about my trivial problems," she said, looking down at the floor. Suga's smile disappeared for the first time since she laid eyes on him.

"If something is making you feel bad, then it's not trivial," he said seriously, causing her to look up again. "You can tell me, if you want. I might be able to give you some advice." Eyoung just blinked for a second, before thinking his offer over.

I don't really know him, but since he's an idol as well, maybe he can relate a little bit. I suppose it couldn't really hurt to tell him...besides, I could use an ally in this kind of situation, she thought. "Alright," she paused, "well, basically I just feel...underappreciated at my company. I feel like, while I work as much as everyone else, they just don't let me have the chance to show off my skills. But, at the same time I feel ungrateful for even thinking that, you know?" she finished, feeling a little lost in her own explanation. As she spoke, she had felt her unhappiness creep over her again, making close up and keeping her from speaking too much on the subject for fear of crying. Speaking her thoughts aloud made her feel exposed, and if possible, even worse than she had already felt. Although, at the same time, it felt slightly nice to get the thoughts out of her head for the time being.

She suffered through moments that seemed like eons as Suga mulled over what she had said. She was about to try and retract as much of her statement as she could and leave with her hot chocolate when he finally spoke again.

"I don't think you should feel bad about that," he said, looking her in the eyes. "I think that kind of feeling can become a part of the job description sometimes, especially for someone as talented as you." Eyoung blushed ever so slightly at the compliment. In the back of her mind, she knew it wasn't exactly a secret that she played multiple intstruments, and that she was capable of composing music by herself, but she still thought it was odd that he had brought up that kind of thing, even if it was flattering.

"But, isn't it selfish of me to think like that, especially in comparison to the other members?" she asked. After School was her second family, and she didn't want to hurt them in any way, even if it was through private thoughts. Suga shrugged.

"The way I see it, everyone has their own individual desires and needs. You may want to please everyone around you all the time, but every so often you have to take care of yourself, too," he said. Eyoung nodded slowly, taking in his explanation. For a brief moment, she couldn't help but think that she was in the middle of a therapy session. Not that she was complaining, in fact this seemed to be helping her a little bit. Having someone, a stranger, tell her that her worries were valid, and not something to worry about in and of itself.

"Have you ever felt like that?" Eyoung asked, knowing that she was asking a personal question. She thought that he wouldn't mind the question, and she was right. Suga nodded, not looking surprised from the question.

"I think my whole group has felt like that, at one point or another. We're still pretty new, after all, and we have a long way to go before we catch up to others in popularity," he said. He didn't even sound sad about it; he talked about it like it was a simple fact of life. The two fell silent after this, and Eyoung realized that she didn't feel awkward in this silence. She felt comfortable with Suga already, even though they had just met. She absentmindedly took a sip of her hot chocolate, and noticed it was nearing its end. She twirled a lock of black hair, a little disappointed that she would have to leave the café, and thus Suga, soon. Her members were going to wonder where she had gone if she was out for too long.

"Thank you Suga," she said suddenly, breaking the silence. "I appreciate you listening to my problems." This time a sweet smile replaced Suga's serious expression.

"Anytime," he said simply. She liked the way his eyes looked when he smiled. She couldn't help but stare at him for a moment again, before she stood up from her chair, her empty hot chocolate cup in hand. A bittersweet smile appeared on her face.

"I'm afraid I should leave now, everyone's probably wondering where I went," she said. She walked to the nearest trash can and threw her empty cup away, unaware of the slight look of panic on Suga's face as he realized she was going to leave.

Eyoung managed to take a few steps out the door before Suga managed to decide his next action. He got up from his chair, not bothering to push it back under the table, while leaving his still-full cup of coffee on the middle of the table. He grabbed a napkin from the counter, and asked for a pen from the man behind the counter, tapping his foot on the floor impatiently as the server looked around for a pen. Does this guy know how important this is? Suga thought. After an eternity, he finally had a pen. He scribbled something down messily on the napkin, and rushed out the door to try and catch Eyoung.

He ran to catch up to Eyoung, grabbing her arm to turn her around when he got close enough, instead of calling her name from afar. He immediately let go of her when he felt butterflies tickling his stomach from what he was about to do.

"Eyoung," he said, trying to slow down his breathing and his heartbeat again. He liked the way his tongue felt when he said her name. She blushed, surprised that he had grabbed her arm a moment before. Then, instead of saying anything else, he handed her a paper. Not a paper...a napkin? she questioned his choice of writing material for a brief second before she realized what he had actually written on it. In rushed writing, Suga had written a phone number down.

"Suga...?" She trailed off, not entirely sure what she was trying to ask in the first place. This time, it was his turn to blush.

"For the next time you need someone to talk to," he said, a lopsided smile gracing his face. "That...and I figured we could get a drink together again sometime?" That's his best smile yet, she thought quickly, before smiling back at him and nodding.

"I'd really like that," she said, her smile growing a bit bigger. "By the way, you can call me Yiyoung if you want." With what they had talked about already, she figured she'd make it even more personal. Suga's smile grew brighter at her words.

"And you can call me Yoongi," he said. The two settled into another comfortable silence for a few seconds as they smiled at each other, with Eyoung ending it first by turning around halfway.

"Well then I'll talk to you soon, Yoongi," she said her smile touching her eyes at the end. Suga, not trusting his voice at this point due to the nervousness caused by her smile, simply waved while returning a smile as best as he could. He waited until she walked a few steps further before he turned around to head home.

Eyoung clutched the napkin tightly, thinking she would text him soon or something, even if it was just to say "hi". As she walked back to the dorm, the negative thoughts that she had earlier in the evening didn't return. Her members, once she returned to the dorm, were surprised at her change in attitude, not that they were complaining. They were all happy to see little Eyoung happy again.

As she got ready for bed later on, Eyoung couldn't help but think, A little sweetness from a stranger can sure go a long way! Little did she know that Suga was just as happy as she was, and their smiles as they fell asleep mirrored each other. They dreamt of meeting each other again, and of how sweet it would be.


Well, this turned out.....okay in my own opinion. I wanted it to be more fluffy than this, but I suppose I'll have to work on that skill. And, I'm not really happy at how the dialogue turned out :/ it's really awkward isn't it? ESPECIALLY THE ENDING BECAUSE I'M SUPER BAD AT THOSE Hopefully it wasn't horrid for anyone to read! At the very least I hope it was enjoyable!

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lotusaoi #1
Chapter 1: This fict explains my feeling about Eyoung! Nice one ^^
Kiki-SSH
#2
Chapter 1: I really loved it!I hardly see any eyoung fics and lol I didn't imagine eyoung to be shipped with suga not that im complaining.Well written!
ceo_14
#3
Chapter 1: this is a very good story i love it!
cocoaLuv
#4
Chapter 1: I love it!! hehe honestly speaking i can ship Eyoung with almost anyone hehe.. Sometimes i also wonder whether she felt unappreciated in real life. And their your writing skills is beautiful and this story is very very lovely!! Please write more ^^