There are people who are allergic to skinship, shrinking back and probably running away after sensing one. Then, there are those who simply don’t care. But there are people who can’t live a day without skinship. Whether it’s romantic or platonic, they need a way of showing people affection. Kim Mingyu is the third type. 

Due to unknown forces, you are friends with him and for some reason, he always does skinship with you. But you never saw it as something romantic, even though your friends thought otherwise and they never forget to remind you two. You were both always teased especially since you get annoyed easily, making you an easy target for laughs in your group.

Countless times you have to pry him off of you as he keeps on resting his chin or elbow on top of your head, emphasizing how small you look when next to him even though you were, in fact, older than him.

You were with your friends when you felt something rest on top of your head and felt the presence of another person behind you, his arms slowly encircling your waist.

“You have three seconds to get your head off mine or else I’ll step on you” you said soullessly.

“But I get to hug you still?”

“No. 1…2…”

“Alright, alright” he said, untangling himself from you. “We have basketball practice in a while and I can’t afford to have a broken foot.”

“Seriously Mingyu, don’t you get tired of this?” a guy from your group asked while laughing at him.

Mingyu looked down at you while pouting. “But, she’s just so –”

“Finish your sentence with that word and I swear Kim Mingyu I'll–”

“Wait wait, wait wait”, he said putting his hands in front, in an attempt to keep you at bay. He clearly knew you were already losing your patience but still, he seems to be enjoying the attention. “Fine I won’t,” he said stepping back, "but your annoyed face is really cute!” He dashed across the field to escape.

“YOU’RE DEAD KIM MINGYU!!” you shouted at him.

Under normal circumstances, being called cute would’ve made any girl blush. But it’s Kim Mingyu. He does that to everyone. It just happens to you a lot because he always hangs out with his cousin, even when she didn’t want him to, exactly like when you first met.

It was lunch time and you were in the cafeteria with her when he sat down beside her. “Who the hell…” you thought as you watched him. Surprisingly, your friend didn’t budge. “Maybe they know each other” you thought, which was kind of annoying because he was being veeeery affectionate with her. And before you could even ask, your friend answered it for you. “I know you don’t like it but this tall kid here is my annoying cousin” she said as she pushed his face away.

“Your handsome, smart, and kind cousin” he said as he took his cousin’s hand away. “And hey,” he continued, “I’m only here cause I’m still hungry and I don’t have any lunch money left.”

So they were cousins. Still, they he really shouldn’t be that comfortable around strangers. You looked at the two of them, bickering as to who gets the big chunk of caramel bread pudding. Well, he is a growing kid, you thought, getting annoyed once again how you’re not the one growing. Maybe if you ate more, you thought, you’ll start growing too. You were so concentrated in eating, you didn’t noticed that you were ignoring them.

“…uh”, Mingyu said, pushing the pudding towards you, “You want some?” he asked with a confused and amused expression. You looked at him, equally confused as to why they were both looking at you like that. “What?” you asked. “What are you guys looking at?”

“Looked like you were eating the remains of your enemies. I’ve never seen anyone eat so intensely before” he grinned.

“Who was?” you asked, looking around you for that person.

This time, they both laughed. “You are!”

You looked down at your tray and surprisingly, you almost finished everything, considering how much of a slow eater you are. “..Oh,” you managed to reply. “I was just…I was thinking maybe…” you looked at Mingyu, your brows creased. “How tall are you?”

“..185cm”

“Dang it” you muttered. “That’s a whole foot taller than me” you clenched your spoon and fork as if you’re ready to throw it to someone anytime.

“Uh I don’t know what’s going on but don’t worry. You’re still cute even though you’re small” he said as he stood up and patted your head, messing your hair in the process.

Those words and gesture got you looking at your friend with disbelief. “Did he really just said and do that?” you said as you fixed your hair. “Am I one of his friends??”

Your friend laughed as she drank her juice. “Looks like he found a new person to annoy.”

“What do you mean?” you watched as she tidy up her tray of food and did the same.

“Oh you’ll see soon enough” she smiled knowingly.

That was the start. Every time you saw each other, he’ll either pat you on the head or put his arms around your shoulder. At first it was tolerable (assuming he didn’t pointed out ‘how cute and adorable’ you are) but then the skinship got even more…touchy. He started back hugging you, resting his head on top of yours, and so on. Worse, he does it even when there are other people around…which is kind of a problem this one time since he did it when you were talking with this kid in one of your classes named Jihoon, whom you might have a sliiiiiiight crush on. Okay maybe a huge one. You don’t really know but you do know that he is definitely your type.

“So are we good this Friday?” Jihoon asked packing his things in his school bag.

“Yeah. 5pm at the old diner, right?”

“Yep. Are you sure your friend can’t make it on that day?” he asked looking at you innocently.

At this point, you were pretty sure you were already a melted puddle of goo because this guy really is your type. “Ah…yeah. She said she had something that came up and she wasn’t available for a study group that day…” And she definitely, absolutely and completely planned this because she knows I like you but of course I won’t say that. You smiled at him, hoping that you weren’t red as a tomato when you felt a chill run down your spine.

"Sooooo” said a voice that was unfortunately too familiar with you. “My best friend and my cousin’s friend out on a date this Friday?” he said as he stood right next to you, resting his elbow on your shoulder.

Jihoon looked up and smiled when he saw that it was Mingyu. “Yeah it’s called a date with homework Kim Mingyu” Jihoon grinned as he fist bumped with Mingyu.

“Ohhh I see. I thought for sure you guys were going on a date” he said as he then circled his arm around your shoulder.

Feeling a bit annoyed with all the teasing, you took off his arm from you and looked at him. “What do you want now?” You saw a flash of hurt on his face but decided to ignore it. It was his fault you’re feeling even more embarrassed now.

“Nothing. I just wanted to annoy you, that’s all. Have fun on your date!” he said as he walked away.

Dumbfounded that he was the one who got irritated, you looked at Jihoon who was just smiling like nothing happened. “What is wrong with him?”

Jihoon chuckled, shaking his head. “I don’t even want to know. I’ll go ahead ok? See you Friday” he said as he stood up from his seat.

“Yeah…see you.”

It’s been two days since you’ve been Mingyu-free. No annoying tall guy who suddenly hugs you or messes your hair or does whatever skinship possible there is that exists to annoy you…which is kind of weirder than normal. Don’t tell me he’s still annoyed? I mean,

“I should be annoyed!” you said out loud unintentionally…in the library. Faces suddenly turned to your direction, some confused, some annoyed, and a few that were amused. Among the amused, a few tables from yours, was his face…Kim Mingyu. You locked eyes with him, kinda happy to see him, kinda annoyed because he made that happen, and kinda missing him. He was about to get up from his seat when you heard a voice next to you.

“Hey.” the person whispered.

"Huh?” you turned to the voice, surprised that Jihoon was there.

“You know you’re not supposed to make a noise in the library right?” he sat down on the chair across you, grinning. “Good thing I was the one on duty today or else the librarian would’ve kicked you out,” he said, resting his head on his palm, facing you.

Under normal circumstances, you would’ve melted for the nth time now seeing how you saw him again and how you made him laugh with your stupidity and of course, how he’s currently looking at you. But you remembered Mingyu and turned to look at him only to see that he was now back to whatever it is he was doing with his classmates.

“Hey,” Jihoon whispered, “you alright?”

Great, now I’m ignoring my crush for this stupid tall kid. “Yeah, I am” you smiled at him.

Friday afternoon. It was only a few minutes after 4 but you were already at the café. You made sure that you looked date-nice, even if that date really was with your homework. “Wow I got here too early I have nothing to do…”

“Why don’t you do your homework instead?” a voice said behind you. You turned and there he was, not exactly frowning but not smiling either. It wasn’t Jihoon. It was him; the guy you’ve been thinking of since Monday because he was so annoying: Kim Mingyu. He then moved to sit in front of you and looked through the menu in front of him so nonchalantly like he hasn’t been ignoring you for the past few days. It was dumb too cause you should be happy that he’s stopped annoying you with the skinship stuff but him being annoyed at you for no reason at all is even more annoying!

“Really, Mingyu? Are you spying on me now? Don’t you have anything better to do?” you said as you rearranged your stuff on the table. No response. “And you’re back to ignoring me. Right. Ok. Whatever. Do your thing. Just don’t interrupt us when we start studying.” Still no response. IS THIS GUY FOR REAL???

“You’re making an ugly face now you know? Oh and he won’t be showing up. There was an emergency with his girlfriend and he told me to meet you instead. He says he’s sorry for not contacting you himself blah blah blah…”

Silence.

“Wow you managed to make an even uglier face than earlier” he said putting the menu down. His eyes widened at the sight of you getting teary-eyed. “Hey…are you…”

“How stupid. Really stupid.” You scoffed, looking out the window. “I got excited all by myself. I even dressed up for this. And to make things worse, you’ve been ignoring me for a whole week like I’ve done something wrong!” Your eyes stung, feeling the tears coming. Why am I crying over something this stupid, you thought as you covered your face with your hands, attempting to in all the tears that are on the verge of falling.

“Hey. Are you alright?” he asked as he took your hand to see your face.

“Mingyu…” you lightly chuckled in disbelief, covering your face with your other hand, “don’t embarrass me any further. Please. People might see. Just give me a moment. I’ll be fine” you said as you put your head down, with Mingyu still not letting go of your hand.

You sensed him stand up and sat beside you. "Alright. Take your time. I’m blocking their view so just cry if you want.”

"You are a weirdo. One moment you’re ignoring me and now you’re being nice. What’s wrong with you?” you said, as you continued to wipe your tears.

“Yeah. I’m weird. I’m sorry.”

“Jerk.”

“Shorty.”

“This kid,” you said as you jerked your hand away to hit him but failing, realizing that he was still holding your hand. With all the skinship he did to you, he never held your hand before. And strangely, it felt nice.

“Hey…” still holding your hand, you felt Mingyu move closer, “are you still crying?”

“No dummy. Of course not.”

“…”

“I know it’s a stupid thing to cry about but let me just mourn my short-lived fantasy okay? Ugh. I hate crying…” you said wiping your tears with both hands and looked at Mingyu. “Okay I’m good now. How do I look?”

Mingyu turned to face you and was silent for a few seconds. “Do you really want me to answer that?” a soft smile forming on his lips.

You felt your cheeks feel warm and shook it off. “Never mind. Just get me out of here since you’re my substitute ‘date’ now.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be working on your homework?“ Mingyu said, now grinning from ear to ear.

"I just got ditched by my pretend date and got my embarrassed for crying in public. I’m not in the mood for homework, tall guy.”

“Alright.” Mingyu got up and offered his hand. “Where do you wanna go?”

You and Mingyu spent the day together just walking around the streets. You went to the neighborhood market for street food, played a round of games in the arcade and stopped by the pet store to look at puppies for adoption. Like a date. A real one.

“Awww he looks so cute. I like him.” you ran to a brown toy poodle.

“Just like me?” Mingyu asked, standing beside you.

Not really paying attention, you hummed in approval, still looking at the dog, not noticing a red Mingyu who had his eyes locked on you.

You and Mingyu finished buying snacks and ate them on the way home. It was a bit past 8 in the evening when you got back. For that, he decided to be a good guy and insisted on walking you home.

“You know, for the first time today since we met, you seem like a normal nice guy. You weren’t annoying me to death with your random hugs and messing with my hair and stuff.” You smiled finishing the cheese sausage you were eating.

“…do you hate it?”

“Hm?”

Mingyu stopped walking and stood, his eyes on you. “Me. Doing skinship with you. Do you hate it?”

Not noticing, you continued down your street slowly. “Well, not really. It just surprises me most of the time. Also, of course it’s embarrassing whenever you do it in front of other people. It gives me unnecessary attention from people, you know? Especially those girls in your ‘fanclub’. They think I’m stealing you from them. Mingyu?” You stopped and turned, finally noticing that Mingyu wasn’t walking beside you anymore. “You okay? Did you forget something?”

Mingyu stepped forward and walked in silence towards you. He stopped just in front of you, his eyes searching yours and hugged you tight. It wasn’t like those playful hugs that he usually does. And suddenly, you were conscious of him. Of everything. How tall he was. How his arms fit perfectly around you. His scent that smelled like sweets. How he’s suddenly not the cute and sometimes hyper kid but is an actual proper guy. You then felt your heartbeat. Can he feel it? Can he hear it? It’s beating so hard you felt like he probably could. Then you realized that you were, in fact, out in public.  What if somebody you know was watching? Your house was just a few feet away. What if they saw you?

“Mingyu. Hey.”

He stood still, hugging you still.

“Then,” you heard his voice near your ear, “is it alright to do skinship with you when it’s just the two of us?”

“Huh? What are you even–“ you felt him hug you tighter.

“Then, what if I say that I’m doing all of that because I like you so much?”

At this moment, you weren’t even sure if you were hearing things. Your increasing heartbeat didn’t help much either.

“I’m not asking you to date me now. All I’m asking is for you to give me a chance. Consider me. Look at me properly as a guy. Not just an annoying kid.” He said as he loosened his embrace. In spite of your previous thoughts, you had to fight off the urge to have him embrace you again. Because at that moment, you felt comforted. Safe. Content. Loved. Like nothing else mattered. He looked at you, his eyes surveying your every feature. “That’s all I want.”

“Mingyu. I –“

A soft song filled the quietness and you realized it was coming from your bag. You fumbled for your phone and saw who it was.

“이지훈”

“Of course.” Mingyu muttered to himself.

“Hello? Jihoon?”

“Hey. I’m sorry I only got to call you now. I had to take care of an emergency.”

“Yeah. So I’ve heard.” You looked at Mingyu, who seemed suddenly interested with the ground.

“Well, that’s all. Sorry again about today.”

“No, no. It’s alright.”

“Okay. See you at school. Bye.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

You placed your phone back in your bag when Mingyu patted your head and smiled. “Just think about it, okay?”

Not getting any response, Mingyu started walking backwards, his hands in his pockets. “Go in now. See you at school.” He smiled and turned, walking and slowly disappearing out of sight.