Gift for babyaghase

Gift from ?????

Title of the gift: Sunshine on a Dark Alley

Pairing : Youngjae x OC

Word Count : 2285

Rating : Well..it's not M so...PG 13? 

Warnings : You might turn into a ball of mush because this is the fluffiest I've ever went. 

Note to my giftee: Hey, hi, hello... I hope this somewhat meets your expectations. I tried to do my best, and if I failed I apologize. But, this was really challenging for me, so I tried to do it anyway. I really hope you like it, and I wish you a Merry Merry Christmas ♡ 

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Sunshine on a Dark Alley

“Did you finish your Lab project?” Mark leaned over the counter and popped a cracker in his mouth, paying attention to the girl that was wiping glasses.

“Kind of?” She muttered, not really paying attention to him. Truth be told, she didn’t feel like doing much for the past couple of weeks, not even talk to her crush. And that says a lot.

Heaving a deep sigh, Mark dusted his hands and propped his elbows on the wooden counter, arching a brow. “Okay, spill it. What’s with you these days?”

The girl raised her gaze to him tiredly and shook her head, not really keen to open the subject. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does.” The male cooed and leaned closer, pinning the girl with his gaze. “Is it your mother again?”

“They are getting a divorce Mark.” She said tiredly and threw the cloth on the counter before making her way to the back. Mark had to close his mouth before hurrying to the girl, catching her just as she was taking off her apron.

“What?”

“Mom called it. Something about meeting someone new.”

“B—But your father…” the image of the nice man came to mind, and Mark could only shake his head. Her mother was the real problem, always a free soul and he knew just how troubled his friend was every time the woman stepped wrong.

She loved her child, no one could counter that. But she didn’t love her husband enough to stay, and in Byul’s eyes her mother didn’t care for her enough either. “Hey, listen.” Mark sat beside her on another chair, finally seeing the dark circles under her eyes, the tremble of her hands and just how skinny she got lately. “Nothing will change, they are still your parents.”

“Let’s not talk about that.” She gave him a tightlipped smile, and as if on cue the bell from the front door signaled they were having their first customer. She got on her feet, and so did Mark, not ready to drop it there.

However, he was shocked when he saw Byul taking the order, boringly, from the man she would literally drool for the second he would step foot inside. “Anything else?” She sighed and raised her brow, her eyes boring into his.

He noticed it too, the girl that would always flirt with him whenever he stepped foot inside the pub, leave notes beside his drink or simply wink playfully at him whenever she would pass his table. The man couldn’t say she wasn’t beautiful, or that the way she smile didn’t affect him.

It sort of didn’t until recently, when he saw her bobbing her head to the music one night, completely enticed by the song that played through the speakers. She was really pretty, so he hoped he would get the same treatment tonight after he came back from his vacation. “Byul right?” He started, the same friendly tone he started using on her from the last couple of times he went there. The girl nodded, clicking her pen. “You’re really pretty.”

She would’ve melted, and Mark gawked when she was still standing there unaffected. “It’ll be done in 5. Please make yourself comfortable at a table.” And with that she started preparing his drink.

Youngjae raised a brow, and it didn’t seem like he was the only one confused. He met eyes with Mark and saw the same feeling all over the other’s face. She cleared , noticing the exchange between the two and clicked her tongue. She wasn’t in the mood for flirting tonight, so she just focused on doing her job.

Mark walked to her and  gently tapped her shoulder, making her turn and glare at him. “I’ll take over this one.” He pointed over his shoulder with a knowing look. “Go in the back.”

And that it’s how Byul ended the night. She hid in the back, trying to think of ways, possibilities of her parents working this through. When she got home, there it was, the cold war she couldn’t stop even if she wanted to.

It only got worse over time, she went to university, work and straight home. She noticed that Youngjae will drop by the pub every other night, but with the chaos happening in her life she completely ignored his existence. One of those nights she was on her way home when a strong grip around her wrist stopped her.

She was forced to face whoever held her back, her eyes narrowing on the hooded figure. “Yah, let go…” She said tiredly with a sigh, trying to get her hand back. However, the grip only became tighter. A small wave of panic surged through her, seeing she couldn’t break free from the man. “I said let go!”

“My God, you’re loud…” The man heaved a deep breath and took his hood off. The familiar pair of dark eyes met her and Byul found herself scoffing. She snatched her hand back forcefully and massaged it, feeling the frail skin burning.

“What got into you? Do you usually go around holding people back?”

“Just pretty girls.” Youngjae chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, giving her a cheeky smile. “I thought we could hang out a little.”

“You thought wrong.” And then she her heels to leave. Seeing that this might be his chance, the man jogged in front of her and turned, now walking backwards with his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

“Just a drink.”

“Maybe some other time.” She tried to side step him and groaned when he continuously blocked her path. When she met his gaze, he smirked smugly at her and shrugged his shoulders. “Move, please.”

“Why so salty all of a sudden?”

“None of your business.” Byul was really tired. Both physically and mentally, and entertaining Youngjae was not on her list tonight. She managed to walk pass him and continued her way home.

Her replies might’ve been cold and she might’ve upset him, but she couldn’t care less at the time. What would be waiting for her home would be much worse.  

However, the next thing she knows, in the following days, before her shift she would find flowers on the counter, cookies, fresh coffee and sometimes even sweets too. She would roll her eyes when every time there would be a note accompanying those gifts. It was either a simple ‘Have a nice day’ or something more, like ‘Here’s my number, call me!’

But she never minded those, nor would she mind when he would come by and ask if she got his notes, nor did she bother to answer his constant question of ‘Why haven’t you called me yet?’ because Byul had other things to deal with.

By the time she left work one night, a déjà vu crashed her senses. The tight grip around her wrist, the hooded man. This time she wasn’t scared, because she memorized Youngjae’s frame better than when she would’ve spent hours ogling at him. “What is it Youngjae?”

The tiredness in her voice didn’t go unnoticed by the male. This time when he pushed his hood off, his brows were knitted in a frown. “What is it with you lately?”

“That’s none of—”

“Cut that…” He stopped her, gently tugging on her wrist to pull her closer. “I don’t care if you don’t flirt with me anymore, or don’t write your phone number on the napkins, but you haven’t been smiling at all lately.”

“And what has that to do with you, hmm?”

“Everything…” He was the one taking a step closer this time. “You aren’t your cheery self anymore.”

“You don’t know me…” The girl muttered under her breath and adverted her gaze somewhere else, the cold night sending a shiver down her spine. “Don’t act like you care.”

“But I do.”

“No one does.” She scoffed and wanted to tug her wrist free from the trap of his hand, but she failed. Youngjae pulled her closer, his narrowed eyes staring meaningfully into hers.

“I do…you shouldn’t stop smiling.” Gently he cupped her cheek and surprisingly she allowed it. Her doe eyes looked up at him, the urge she had to leave subsiding slowly when she found herself bewitched by his deep eyes. “Let’s go out tonight, hmm?”

“I’m tired Jae…” Byul placed her hands on his chest in order to detach herself  from him, but he wouldn’t have any of that. A secure hand was now resting on the small of her back, the same hand that held her wrist moment ago. She was trapped in his arms, and for the first time after weeks, her heart started beating faster, just like when she would see him step inside the relaxed pub.

“Then let’s go for a walk.”

And they did. It was nerve wrecking for Byul, but she was tired of saying ‘no’ when he kept asking her to go out, or to call him. She tried convincing herself that it’s not so bad, after all, all they were doing was walking through a park close to her place. In silence. With Youngjae holding her hand. Yeah, maybe it was a little awkward.

“I wanted to ask,” And she wanted to thank Heavens for him breaking the silence, a silent thankful sigh escaping her lips. “You’ve been really gloomy lately. Before I left everything was alright. How about now?”

“Now things are complicated. I don’t think I need more added to my plate.”

“And going out with me would’ve been too bothersome.” He scoffed mockingly, rolling his eyes. Byul couldn’t stop the small tug at her lips when she saw the dramatic grimace, and decided to advert her gaze instead.

“I don’t know…” She said honestly. It’s not like she didn’t like him anymore, it’s that her interest in almost everything fell, and now she felt like an empty shell. Not even Youngjae could fix that. Could he? “Look, I don’t want to be mean, but my life is complicated enough as it is without dating.”

“How do you know dating is complicated?” And again that smug look of his. Sometimes Byul wanted to slap the smirk off his face, sometimes she just wanted to pinch his cheeks. And that only proved her theory, everything about this man  was complicated.

“I just know.” She shrugged, but was stopped when Youngjae halted in his track, making her face him.

“Look, Star Girl, I’m not the type to go out of my way to get someone’s attention.” Her eyes bulged out when his voice dropped and his body was suddenly too close to her. “But I’m also not the type to stand by and watch the girl that used to smile 24/7 get absorbed in depression.”

She flinched back when his hand cupped her cheek, and despite the weather outside, his hand was warm and comfy, and she found herself leaning more into his touch. “Let me change that. Let me make you smile again.”

And before she knows it, his lips are resting carefully on her forehead. She was too dazed to realize when he stepped back, but her big eyes were shamelessly begging him to do it again. Warmth sped through her cheeks, making the cold bit rosy skin turn even redder; and he couldn’t help himself. Leaning down, his lips pressed on the tip of her nose, then moved to her cheek, and then, oh so gently, he kissed just under her jaw, making the girl lean back with a squeal.

He smiled when he saw her getting giddy, and he figured it must be because she was ticklish, so he continued, this time pressing his lips right under her ear. A soft chuckle parted her lips, Youngjae’s eyes filling with a renewed motivation. He wanted to hear that more, he even wanted to hear her laugh.

So, as if having a mind of their own, his hands moved to her side and started tickling her. Byul took a step back, yelping, before the helpless laughter made her lips break open. “Yah! Stop it!”

He laughed too, his eyes sparkling with enjoyment when her adorable laughter filled the silence of the park. The man stopped and held her hands in his, gentle smiles resting now on their faces. “Just let me prove it.”

That night, after a very long time, Byul went to sleep thinking that saying the small, little ‘Okay’ to Youngjae wasn’t a mistake. He took her home and kissed her forehead again, with a promise of dropping by the pub tomorrow.

Hugging her pillow, she stared at the picture beside her bed from when she joined the Halloween party at work. There was Mark, the boss -Jinyoung-, a few customers and right in the corner was Youngaje that didn’t wear a costume. Byul smiled, a gesture that she though to be long forgotten, but he made her do it again.

Maybe, just maybe, Choi Youngjae was the sunshine on her dark alley. And just maybe he will lead her towards a brighter path. Maybe Byul should give herself a chance and not live for her parents’ problems. She was young, and she had her own life.

And the adorable man that wanted to look like a tough guy, ended up bringing the most happiness in her life. Mark made a reminder to himself to give the man a beer when he comes by, for changing his best friend back to normal.

As grossed out the male was whenever he caught them kissing outside when Youngjae picked her up from the nightshift, or when her saw them holding hands, Mark couldn’t help but smile when he noticed her happy attitude returning.