Prompt By: @kireitenshi

-Title: Too Little, Too Late

-Ship: TopBom

Characters: [MAIN] TOP/Choi Seunghyun (BIGBANG), Bom/Park Bom (2NE1) [SIDE] G-Dragon/Kwon Jiyong (BIGBANG), Seungri/Lee Seunghyun (BIGBANG)

Word Count: 1713

Warnings: Medium language; implied ual references

Summary: In which Choi Seunghyun is always the second choice.

A/N: highkey a vent, based off of actual reality :,) yes i'm bitter enough to use his real text (just changed pronouns) and yes i'm totally bitter enough to use real names. alex, will, if you're out there-

anyways i've tried a new writing style; first person instead if the usual third. you all like this better?? stick to third person? anyways it felt good to get this put lmao thanks for coming to my ted talk

[TOP's POV]

Earlier this year, I had a friend. Who was a girl. She was very pretty. Smart, kind, funny, anything and everything you could want in a person. It’s true she didn’t know how to work an Instagram, and often her Samsung, but I liked her anyways and found her cluelessness cute.

I ended up gathering up the nerve to ask her out.

She said yes, and then I freaked out, and refused to spend any time with her that day, as I had plans.

I went to the bookstore and then the movies with Kwon Jiyong and Lee Seunghyun (who, for some reason, we often called Seungri. I don’t remember how that nickname came about).

Two hours later, standing in the bookstore, watching Seungri look through the manga, desperately trying to find a o that wasn’t wrapped in plastic, I got a text from her.

“Look i know we just got together and all but i didnt tell u earlier because i didnt want to hurt ur feelings but i like another boy and he likes me back and i hope you understand and i hope we can stay friends im really sorry”

I understood. She obviously got along better with this guy, and I loved her, and wanted her to be happy.

I let her go.

Fast forward to three months ago.

I went to see a theatre show with Jiyong. I can’t remember what it was or who we knew was in it. The only thing I remembered about that night was her.

She sat beside me, to my right, Jiyong to my left. She turned to me halfway through the show, introducing herself as Park Bom. She told me,

“I was supposed to come here with my friend, but by the time I got here she told me she had been called in to work. And now there’s some creepy guy sitting next to me, who keeps hitting on me. Can you do me a favour? Pretend to be my boyfriend? You don’t have to do much. Put your arm around me? Walk me to my car after if you don’t mind? You’ll never have to talk to me ever again after.”

I agreed. I didn’t know her, but I didn’t want to see her hurt. Perhaps I care too much.

I put my arm around her, let her lean her head on my shoulder. I glanced over at the other guy, shot him an intimidating look, raised my eyebrows at him.

He didn’t bother her again.

After the show, Jiyong and I walked Bom back to her car.

We properly introduced ourselves, and even exchanged numbers, the three of us, just in case. We told her to text us when she got home to make she she got there safe.

Out of both of us, I was the only one to get a text back.

I prided myself in that. Felt as if I had won some sort of contest. How do you like that, Jiyong? She likes me more than you.

For awhile, we talked via text.

We talked about how our days were, what we did, how bored we were with classes and jobs, stuff like that.

Eventually, about a month later, I worked up the nerve to ask her on a date.

She said yes.

We went for milkshakes, walked a trail by the water.

We talked some more. About school, about work, about our homes and our families, about music, about ourselves, religion, our friends, the weird we’ve done; pretty much everything.

I felt like not only did I know her better after, but that I knew myself better.

For our milkshakes, I paid. She said she would make it up to me, and I said she didn’t have to worry about it, that it was only ₩10 .

That was our first and only date.

We talked about another. The mall, mini golf, the movies, but never went. Anytime we organized something, it fell through.

“I’ve got called into work.” “I’m not feeling that well.” “I’ve made other plans.”

Jiyong and I regularly frequented the theatre. Jiyong and I once even had jobs there. It was no surprise when we ran into Park Bom again. And again. And again.

The small “oh look, you’re here too”s soon turned into small, impromptu dates, sharing food we brought and asking strangers to swap seat tickets so we could sit together.

Last week, Jiyong and I went back to the theatre. Again, like usual, I can’t remember what show it was, who was it in it, what it was about. I remember her side profile, how close I stood to her, the way my hands shook.

She was sitting a few rows back, the second seat off of the end. I slid into the aisle seat, made some sort of joke at her, and she laughed.

“Listen, Seunghyun,” she said, suddenly growing somber. “I have something to tell you.”

I urged her to go ahead, felt my hands shaking and my knees going weak. I thought she had caught wind of something I had said about her to someone- the embarrassing nickname my friends had given her, something someone else had heard. Maybe she was asking me out, trying to make the two of us official. My heart leapt at the thought of that. I really liked her, I really did. I had a heart emoji beside her contact name and everything.

“I think you’re an amazing man. I really like you, don’t get me wrong. But I want to be honest with you. I don’t want to lead you on and have this spiral into something it’s not. But I wanted to tell you that I’m interested in someone else. But, I’m a woman of my word, so let me pay for your tickets or snacks or something.”

I was too in shock to say much.

I nodded, said it was cool, not to worry about it, it wasn’t the first time it had happened. I think I panicked and told her I was talking to another man anyways.

I let her lead me to the concessions stand, picked out the biggest candy bar I could quickly find it, let her ring it up, and quickly parted ways.

“I’ll message you.” Was the last thing she said to me.

As I walked back into the theatre, I couldn’t help but pass her aisle. I watched as she held the seat down for another man, who handed her a bag of popcorn, they smiled at each other and I stumbled back to my seat beside Jiyong.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked me.

“She said she was interested in someone else.” I said, dumbfounded.

I don’t remember much of what he said. He went on for a bit, and I think he said stuff about her not deserving me and there’s better people out there. She’s not even that pretty, he probably said. You’re way out of her league.

I sighed, tried to turn my attention to the show starting up. Distract myself, forget about what she said, the other man, her in general.

In the lobby, the theatre had a small area with a few tables and chairs. After the show, I sat in one of them, intending on having coffee with Jiyong, waiting for him to come back with them.

Bom and the other man came in, having more snacks (some sort of dinner, despite being way too late for it), spreading it out on the table beside me.

For a bit, I waited, pretending to be on my phone, trying not to eavesdrop on their small talk.

It was the same small talk we had made, and she made the same joke she had made one time, and he laughed the same way I had at it.

Jiyong came back with coffees, and I didn’t give him a chance to sit down. I immediately stood up, grabbed my coffee, and left.

Jiyong drove us over to Seungri’s. For some reason, Seungri had five different flavours of ice cream in his freezer, and spoons with our names engraved on them.

I didn’t question it. It wasn’t the most questionable thing Seungri had done, and I was too busy mulling over Bom to care.

I ate an entire tub of chocolate caramel ice cream as I watched Jiyong and Seungri take turns playing Detroit: Become Human, listen to them argue over options and Seungri scream in pain when Jiyong killed Connor for the second time.

I don’t even like chocolate caramel ice cream. Then again, I don’t like chocolate caramel bars, either, but I let Bom buy me one of those, and I ate most of it.

I can’t change Bom’s feelings. I can’t tell her how to think and feel, tell her she has to be with me instead of him.

I can’t deny he’s better than me. He’s taller, more confident, doesn’t get the shakes when he’s around her, better looking than I am. If I didn’t hold so much resentment towards him, I would’ve had a fat, gay crush on him. I could see what she saw in him.

Jiyong and Seungri continue to try and make me feel better about Bom. They’ve even hooked me up with some other girl and we have a date later this week.

I like her, I’ve met her a few times, but she’s no Park Bom.

I don’t know what I did wrong. Maybe I swore too much. Maybe she was intimidated by me. Compared to her, I came from a much better family, and had a considerable more amount of money sacked away. Maybe I really wasn’t funny, and she was just giving me pity laughs. Maybe I wore too many designer clothes or rubbed off on her in a bad way somehow. Maybe I was too clingy, or maybe I didn’t try hard enough.

I don’t think I’ll ever know.

I do know that I’m always someone’s second choice.

I do know that I didn’t do enough. I know that I’m now too late to still sweep her off her feet, really, truly impress her and win her over.

Nice guys finish last, they say. Nice guys my .

Too little, too late.

FIN