I.

If anything, a dating auction was definitely not part of Kim Yugyeom’s plan. Precisely, not in the very beginning. Yet, they still managed to end up at one. How?

It all started with one comment.

“Do you think I look fat?” his petite girlfriend whimpered as she stared at her reflection in the mirror, checking herself out in the pretty yellow summer dress that she had picked out for herself.

An alarm immediately went off in Yugyeom’s head who was sitting on a chair in front of the changing room, looking totally out of place in the all-ladies store. Since it was his first ever serious (and hopefully long-lasting) relationship, he didn’t want to mess things up and belittle the girl’s problem or else, he would find himself without a girlfriend for one little joke. He already had experience with that and thank you so much, he didn’t want to go through Hell again.

So he tried to man himself up and put on his best serious face ever – being the comforting one was never his favourite role.

“Of course not!” he rose from the slightly uncomfortable chair because he was unable to watch longer as Chungha was frowning at the sight in the mirror.

As far as he was concerned, he reckoned that Chungha was anything but fat. She could still get some meat on her as she was so lean – not worryingly because she also had some muscle due to all those years of dancing – but she was pretty thin according to Yugyeom (and his eyes that could never leave the gorgeous features of his girlfriend).

Kim Chanmi – given the nickname Chungha by her friends – was like a piece of art; delicate, unforgettable and one of a kind. Whenever he caught sight of the subtle smile playing on her rosy-coloured lips or her cute cheeks that were tinted pink by embarrassment or shyness, he felt like he was the luckiest person on Earth. Who would think that Chungha would like someone as dumb and slightly ert as him? He was sure one lucky guy.

“You are slim and I’m not saying it because I’m your boyfriend but because that’s the truth,” Yugyeom came up to her, hugging her from behind. In real life, it wasn’t that Korean drama-like scene because he was tall as a skyscraper and she was short as an elementary student, so he had to bend his knees in order to hug her without touching anything sensitive. (Aka her s. Oops… sorry, not sorry.)

“And what about all those freckles on my face? And my acnes?” the girl exclaimed frantically as she looked into the mirror once again, just to come face-to-face with those dratted dots on her face. “Oh gosh, I’m so ugly! How could you even be with me?” she continued on rambling which he thought was actually adorable. The way she pouted like a little child or puckered up her lips was way more than adorable.

He knew that she hated her acnes so much that when they were on their first holiday together, she made sure to put on a face-mask every single day one week prior to their departure, just to make sure that she would look good on their photos. Not to mention the time when she didn’t want to move out of her flat because of her stomach cramps, so they stayed at home, Chungha doing her skincare routine on him and Yugyeom trying to do her make-up like in those Youtube videos. Guess who ended up looking worse? Not him for sure.

Little did he know that his (intentionally encouraging) remarks would lead to even more unfortunate twists.

“First of all, you are not ugly! You are one of the most gorgeous females on Earth,” he prattled gleefully and boosted a complacent grin to make her fall for his words. In contrast to his beautifully imagined scenarios, Chungha merely rolled her eyes at him, irritation clearly written on her face.

“Only one of them?” she inquired facetiously as a mischievous spark filled her chocolate-brown orbs.

“My mother would kill me if I didn’t consider her the most gorgeous one,” Yugyeom was quick to come up with a counter-attack, his cheesy words earning a snicker from her. “Secondly, I’m not choosing girlfriends on appearance. Not like there’s anything wrong with you because I love your freckles and all your acnes but I’m with you because you are witty, intelligent and hard-working. Plus, you are a badass dancer and I totally love watching you dance,” he babbled without halt, so he almost choked on his saliva by the end because he was so out of breath.

His girlfriend couldn’t feel empathy towards him though. She clicked her tongue like she always did when she was up for some sassy attack and challengingly raised her eyebrows.

“Drooling over my booty shaking, hah?” she endlessly, small wonder why Yugyeom had to bit his lip if he didn’t want any profanities to fly out of his mouth.

“Babe, I’m not that kind of boy,” he whispered into her ears instead of swearing and couldn’t hide his content smile when he saw her petite body slightly shaking due to their intimacy.

“Babe, I’ve seen you staring last time,” she pointed out scornfully and broke out of his grip, leaving him with his mouth agape.

He had a little time to re-collect his thoughts and come up with the best possible reaction until she turned around to face him again. Even though he at containing his (hypothetically polite) manners when it came to defending himself, he made an attempt to try his best this time.

“I should probably be mad at you but I’ll let it slip this once,” he cooed and flipped his hair like he was one of those cheesy heartthrobs pulled out of a movie. “You are probably on your monthly, so I don’t want to piss you off,” he reached out to caress her cheeks like a grandmother would do to her grandson but she didn’t feel like playing the good girl’s part. She swatted his hand away in a not-so-gentle manner and crossed her arms in annoyance.

“I’m not on my monthly, Yugyeom. It’s my usual self speaking,” she corrected him idly. He looked at her like she was a riddle that he couldn’t solve but deep down, he was sure that she still wasn’t over her thoughts filled with self-hatred.

“You don’t believe me,” he let out a disappointed sigh, his features becoming solemn for the first time that day. Chungha wearily shook her head and let her arms drop by her side.

“Nope.”

“What should I do to make you believe that you are a beautiful human being whom people would die to meet?” he tried to solve the problem by using another method, one that would work for real. If the girl could tell what would make her feel more confident about her looks, he would do anything to grant her wish.

To his great disappointment, she didn’t even give a proper answer. She did what she did best; came up with something that would leave him with no choice but to give up.

“No one would die to meet me,” she muttered under her breath as she was staring at her fingers like she had found some invisible dirt on her nails. “No one would even bid a single dollar on me,” she added sadly, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

“I would,” Yugyeom confessed honestly and not until he said those two words out loud, did she actually avert her eyes back to the boy; the boy who wanted to protect her and take care of her all day long.

Being together for a year already, they had both ups and downs but from the moment they met at the dance studio one and a half year ago – him joining her crew after moving to Seoul for his university studies −, an unfathomable bond sparkled between them. Both of them were bold and sassy yet caring and hard-working. Both of them were fierce and fought until their last breath. Both of them could love passionately but also hate passionately. That’s why it was difficult for Yugyeom to convince her; she was just as adamant as he was.

“Whatever,” she shrugged absent-mindedly and went back to the changing room, closing the door behind her.

Hey lovely readers,

How did you like the first part? What do you think about Yugyeom and Chungha? Do you like their characters?

I'm really curious, so don't be afraid to share your thoughts with me. *-*

Thank you for reading! <3

Take care,

restless_maknae