It’s been days. A couple of weeks even. You weren’t entirely sure by now. It was such a busy time for you since it was nearly the end of the term. Even club activities were starting to take a toll on your already hectic schedule. Thankfully, this gave you a reason to hang out less with your friends. With Mingyu. You needed your spare time to catch up and focus with school-related things. Mingyu and his confession could wait…

…was what you had in mind. Mingyu thought differently. Although you weren’t able to see much of each other at school, he made sure to talk to you even if you hardly replied to him at all. Expectations and goals are just taking up too much of your time. However, one night, you just felt like your brain turned to mush. You needed a breather. And it came.

You smiled. No matter what your situation is with him right now, he never failed to make you feel better at the right time. You placed your phone down and prepared yourself for another round of studying when you felt it vibrate on your desk.

It was him.

“Why are you calling?”

You heard Mingyu sigh and you can just picture him smiling. “I missed your voice.”

You bit your lip stopping yourself from smiling. 4 words was all it took and your brain felt like mush again. You held your breath, not daring to say anything before you calmed yourself.

“You’re busy right? Cause then you should be sleeping by now.” He said, his voice as low as ever. You loved that about him. His voice was just so calming and chill. But right now, it just made you realized how much you missed his voice too.

Making sure you’re breathing properly now, you replied, “You know what? I think I miss your face too. No one’s been annoying me for so long now. It’s getting kinda boring really.”

“Of course!” he said. “Anyone would like to see this face of mine at least once a day.”

You let out a soft laugh, just enough that you felt the tension of tiptoeing towards him melt away. “I’ll go and study now. Go to sleep but don’t grow any taller okay?”

“Alright. Don’t stay up too late.”

“I’ll try. Bye.”

Silence passed but neither one actually hung up.

“Kim Mingyu.”

“Hmm?”

“You kind of need to hang up for me to actually go, you know.”

“Mmm.”

You sighed, letting the moment go on. The silence was nice. You didn’t felt the need to fill it with words to feel comfortable. “Alright. I’ll hang up for real now okay?”

“Y/N?”

“Hm?”

You felt a bit of hesitation from him before he spoke again. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

The next day, however nice you felt that night, it didn’t compare to the happiness you got knowing that the worst part of school is done. The week was almost over. No more tests. No more exams. No more stress. All that’s left are the future projects that you’ll be scheduling with the club.

Luckily, the day ended without much work, giving you a well-needed breather before you go home and finish club-related activities you have left. You were left alone in the club room and so you decided to take advantage of the peace and quiet you badly needed, laying your head on the table and taking a well-deserved nap. That is before you heard footsteps entering the room and walking towards your direction. You heard the chair near you move, the following seconds passing in silence.

“Hey,” the low voice that you haven’t heard for a while in person whispered. It was him. “Are you asleep? Like ‘totally-can’t-hear-me-asleep’?”

I don’t know. I’m dreaming. Probably. Maybe.

“Good. Cause if you are, then this will be embarrassing; more embarrassing than my confession last time.”

As if waiting for a reply, Mingyu was silent for a moment. What was he even talking about?

“Okay.” You heard him exhale deeply. “Here goes.”

Silence again. What now? Is he going to tell you that the confession was actually a prank? Just thinking about that made you feel angry. Ever since he confessed, you haven’t been able to take your mind off of him. Whenever you see him, you’ll feel really embarrassed and lose concentration. Although he toned down the skinship, the looks he gave you were enough to make you a blushing mess.

“Honestly,” he started, “I wanted to apologize to you.”

Please. Don’t…

“I’m sorry I gave you unnecessary attention from other people because of me. I’m sorry if, and there were probably were a lot, of times when you felt embarrassed because of me. I never intended to make you uncomfortable. I just really…” he let out an exasperated sigh.

By the sound of it, he really felt sorry. But why were you feeling disappointed? Didn’t Jihoon acknowledge it himself that Mingyu did like you? Just then, you felt his fingers lightly caressing your hair.

“I don’t know. I wanted you to let you know. I wanted to show you that I really liked you. It was hard at first, of course. I honestly thought that you hated me. I was scared that you would even start avoiding me. It was all thanks to my cousin that I was able to get close to you and be your friend. But even then, I can only do as much since I didn’t know how you felt towards me.”

Mingyu continued, his voice sounding dangerously closer.

“Hey.”

He was so close you had to fight the urge to shrink back.

“You liking me might be one of the most impossible things to happen ever. You probably think that I’m a no good kid who only plays, but I’m not. And I’m going to prove it to you. I’ll work hard until you see me as a guy who will be able to give you strength. Even if you still like Jihoon-hyung, it’s fine. Even if you come to hate me and get annoyed with me, as long as I could protect you even from afar, it’s fine. I like you. I like you so much, you have no idea. If only I could tell you this…”

The school bell rang and Mingyu muttered something under his breath. You heard the chair scrape against the floor and his footsteps growing faint as he walked away. Calming down a bit, you noticed that your eyes were moist and as gross as it sounds, your heart might’ve been crying too. That confession was probably the most touching thing you’ve ever heard. It was bittersweet how he was worried about those things that you can’t help but feel bad about the hurtful things you might’ve said or did towards him.

“I don’t deserve him,” you said to yourself. “I really don’t.”

A hand suddenly grabbed you wrist, making you look up to who it was.

“Mingyu?? Why – I thought –”

Mingyu tightened his grip and pulled you up into a hug. “You heard me?” he asked holding you tightly. “You heard everything, didn’t you?”

“I did. I – I didn’t mean to –” you started.

“No, it’s fine. It’s fine” he said, relief in his voice.

“Mingyu please. Stop. I don’t deserve you.” You said, still not moving nor hugging him back.

“You’re right. You don’t deserve me.” He said, pulling away, his hands placed firmly on your shoulders. “You don’t deserve someone like me because you deserve someone better. But I told you didn’t I? I’ll work hard until the day I can properly be of strength to you. I know I’m lacking in a lot of things so that would probably take a while. But I just need a chance. I promise. I’ll make you happy.”

In spite of the serious mood and your eyes starting to get moist again, you found yourself smiling from his statement. He was really cute. He’s always been. And maybe, that’s why you never really got annoyed with him. He thought of himself as a kid but in reality, he wasn’t. Not always. He had his moments when he didn’t seem like someone younger and right now, it is definitely one of them. And you knew. He wasn’t just a younger brother that you adored. He wasn’t just any friend that you had fun hanging out with. He was more than that.

“Hey tall person,” you said, pushing his forehead with your fingertips, “you talk as if I’ve already admitted that I liked you too.”

You watched his eyes widen, his mouth opening wide with it in surprise. “Does – does that mean you like me to??”

“What? No. That’s not what I said,” you said feigning ignorance.

Mingyu looked down, his ever animated face now in a cute frown.

“Ahhh seriously,” you said as you encircled your arms around his neck. “Are you sure I’m the dense one?”

“What?” Mingyu asked getting more confused. From your words or your actions? Probably both.

You smiled at him, stood on your toes and placed a light peck on his check. “Don’t think this is it okay? You must court me properly or else my brother will kill you. No pressure.” You said letting go and smiling deviously at him.

“You have a brother??” Mingyu asked in disbelief.

“Yeah. And his name is Seungcheol,” said a voice behind Mingyu.

Mingyu turned towards the voice and saw a guy standing just outside the door, his jacket on his shoulder. Even though he, Seungcheol, was shorter than him, Mingyu knew that he’s not someone anyone should mess with.

Seungcheol walked in and grabbed your bag. “Let’s go. Mom and dad doesn’t want you walking home late again.” Seungcheol walked past Mingyu and being the protective brother that he is, glared at him, probably sizing him up, and walked out.

“Good luck.” You patted Mingyu on the shoulder, smiling at him before walking out of the room.

After catching up with your brother, you heard someone running.

“I WILL DO MY BEST!” you heard Mingyu shout.

Seungcheol looked at you and smirked. “Let’s see him try.”