You would have been the first to tell Seongwu that his idea was extremely sappy. But even so, you had to admit that, thinking back on your relationship was actually kind of fun. It made you realize of how amazing it was that your paths had crossed when they did. Because honestly, if the two of hadn’t met at that time, you probably never would have met each other. You actually weren’t even sure if you’d even be a manager if it wasn’t for meeting Seongwu. A lot of things, both in your relationship and your lives had come from meeting each other, influencing each other, and you had to admit, it was an interesting thing to think about.

As your wonderful boyfriend had instructed, you pulled the next envelope from the box and stared at it momentarily. You gently ran your fingers across the date that Seongwu had written on it, your mind wondering what you should do. You had considered reading it before work with your coffee like you had the last one, but strolling down memory lane almost made your late for work yesterday. So, even though it was what you wanted to do, instead of starting your day with the letter, you decided to save it so that you could end your day with it. On your way into your room to change you placed the envelope on Seongwu’s pillow, as a way to remind you to read it that night.

After changing and getting all of your things together, you found yourself back out in the living room, pulling on your shoes and squaring everything away so that you could leave your apartment to pick up the girls for their schedule. Before leaving you quickly pulled out your phone and sent a message to Seongwu, realizing that you hadn’t replied to his message from the night before. You let him know that you were having fun with his corny letters and that you couldn’t wait to see what the next one had in store for you when you came home from work that night. With that message sent, and knowing that you wouldn’t get an instant reply from him with how busy his own schedule was, you slipped your phone back into your pocket and headed out the door…

As expected, your day had been a busy one, but only because of the two back to back fan meetings that day. The girls were exhausted, sleeping the entire way to both events in the car, and you as a manager were also quite exhausted from having to keep a close eye on fans during both events. Most of the fans were pretty respectful, but there were definitely some that got a little handsy or who were trying to test their luck. Still, both events ended smoothly and you eventually found yourself at home, kicking off your shoes and just collapsing on your bed. You laid there momentarily before you rolled onto your side, looking at the empty space next to you. Ever since Seongwu had become a member of Wanna One, you had definitely been seeing him less. Before that, he would be over constantly, sometimes even home before you were. And as soon as he saw how exhausted you were, he’d wrap you up in his arms, and smother you in his hugs.

Lately, this had been happening less, and if anything, he was far more exhausted than you were. Whenever he’d stop by, you’d advise that he get some rest, even if all he wanted to do was to cuddle up and make you feel better, you tried to put him first. The thought made you a bit sad though. When was the last time you had seen him? He had been away for so long, only being able to stay for a couple of hours before he snuck out while you were asleep. It made your miss him greatly, his presence, his scent, his everything, but you supposed it would be a while before you could even plan something together now that he was overseas.

As your hand gently reached out to touch his pillow, your fingers touched something that felt like paper, and at that moment you remembered. His letter. You had left it here to read when you got home. Suddenly, you felt your fatigue start to wane as you reached over to the bedside table and flipped on the light. Once the room was lit enough, you settled yourself back against the pillow, and opened his letter, pulling out the white sheet of paper and slowly unfolding it, scanning its contents that read:

My love has made it to the second day of my shenanigans! I applaud you, and will probably owe you big time by the time you get through all twelve of these letters.

Anyway, do you remember that time, when the instructors paired us off to practice a couple’s routine because they kept saying that it would happen at some point or another during our idol careers? Everyone, of course, was trying to switch their partners around depending on who they like or who they didn’t like, but I still remember how lucky I was to get you to begin with. We were really close back then, and getting to do the dance routine with you really eased a lot of my concerns.

But also, I was glad because there was something that I wanted to tell you. I had been holding it back for a very long time but I had made it my mission to confess to you before the end of it all. You remember it, don’t you? In that practice room, late at night?

A smile graced your lips as you thought back to that moment. After you had helped Seongwu pass his first choreography evaluation, he had tried to make it up to you. He had offered to buy you lunch or even a couple of cups of coffee, but you had turned them all down. You told him that you didn’t do it to be repaid, but because you wanted him to do well. You let him know that a lot of the girls were hoping he would pass, to which he made a joke about his looks. Though you would normally find this to be a bit conceded, he did so in a way that kind of poked fun at himself, and that was a bit endearing to you.

After that point the two of you started spending more time together, doing more than just greeting each other when you ran into each other. You started to talk, and your friendship grew from there to the point where you were practically inseparable. You spent a lot of time together, and though you didn’t think much of it at first, you soon realized that there was something else there. You weren’t sure what it was, but you knew for a fact that you were definitely starting to see him as more than just a friend, and that was always dangerous territory.

Thing was, apparently it wasn’t just you that was starting to see this. The other trainees, particularly your friends, were seeing it too. They would comment on how happy you seemed after talking to him, or about how you could sometimes seek him out if you had a question about something. They also said that Seongwu did the same to you, and said that they were jealous of your blooming relationship.

“I wish that one of the guys would take an interest in me in the way that Seongwu takes interest in you…” Miyeon said one day when your and the others were just sitting around trying to pick out a song to learn for your vocal evaluations.

You looked up from your list after having crossed out some songs with raps in them, raising your brow at the younger female sitting next to you. “What are you talking about Miyeon?”

“Oh come on, unnie. Seongwu-oppa obviously likes you. He’s so flirty with you,” she insisted.

“Flirty how?” you countered. You had felt it too, but you just thought you were seeing things.

The young girl thought about it for a moment before speaking again. “I mean like you know how he’ll come up to you and gently tap your shoulder to get your attention? He doesn’t do that with anyone else. Or the way that he’ll wait for you to show up before he joins everyone in the practice room. He definitely feels something for you,” she hypothesized, taking a sip of the smoothie in front of her.

“We’re just friends,” you replied, though you had noticed the shift in Seongwu’s behavior as well. Or the way that he would bring food for the two of you to share on nights when you were practicing late, even though you knew that he had finished early.

“I have to agree with her. There’s something going on and if it’s anyone that’s not noticing it, it’s you,” Eunbi interjected, but you waved the idea off, going back to take another look at your list before you realized that it was time for your couple’s dance practice with Seongwu…

Your practice was the same as it always was. Dancing with each other felt easy. It felt… right. Though, you’d be lying if you said that you weren’t thinking about the things that your friends had said earlier. Was he really nicer to you? You didn’t think so, but they seemed to think there was something up. And truth be told, you would have been okay with it. You actually did like him, but you could never tell how he felt about you so you kept it to yourself for the most part. But it would have been nice to get a sign as your friends had seen though. It would really just give you the push to say something yourself.

About three hours later the two of you collapsed on the group in complete exhaustion. About two hours in the two of you finally managed to get through the entire routine. It was still full of mistakes of course, but now you could work on ironing those out. A week of hard work was really doing amazing things for both of you. Progress was really showing. Though, honestly, couple dances were hard. Not only did you have to learn your moves, but you also had to learn to dance in sync, or to complement your partner. It would be a lie if you said that you and Seongwu hadn’t crashed into each other more than a hundred times during this entire endeavor. It had been worth it though.

Also, just dancing with Seongwu… it was different. You hadn’t really understood what your friends were talking about until that night. Though you told yourself that Seongwu only held you the way he did because it was a couple’s dance about a couple, you definitely felt something. And the way you felt about him also made it hard to think clearly at times.

“I think if we keep this up, we can definitely have this routine polished by the time we have to showcase it,” you said with a small smile, your head resting against the hardwood floor. It felt cool against your skin, and it was a welcomed feeling after how much energy you just spent.

Seongwu nodded. “Yeah, I think if you just work a little harder, we’re going to be great. I mean, because I’m obviously already perfect,” he said matter-of-factly. You knew he was only teasing, but you still rolled your eyes at him, something that you weren’t sure if he caught as he was also on his back looking up at the ceiling.  

“Okay, king of choreography, I’ll work harder so that we can both be perfect. You don’t have to clean up those messy steps of yours in the middle at all,” you retorted, making Seongwu burst out in a fit of laughter at your seriousness. His loud guffaw only made your laugh in return and the two of you just laid there, laughing at your ridiculousness when you were together.

Once your laughter died down, the two of you continued to lay there in silence, just glad to have a moment to relax in your busy lives as trainees. You had other talents that you had to get better at and oftentimes, you didn’t get any downtime as you had now. This was nice, and it was nice lying here together.

Seongwu however, was the first to break your comfortable silence. “Hey, can I tell you something?” he asked. His tone and words were usually rather silly, but today, he was taking a more direct approach. What he had to say was important, and he knew that hiding it behind a joke was only going to make him seem insincere.

“Of course you can.  You know I’m always here to listen. What’s up?” you asked, your eyes still fixated on the low lights hanging from the ceiling.

“I like you,” he said honestly. His words were simple and straightforward. He didn’t bury them in a joke or give a long drawn out speech. He just… said it.

Truth be told, even with everything your friends had been saying, you didn’t think much of Seongwu’s statement. He had implied that he liked you as a person before and you thought this was just another one of those moments. So instead of being surprised by his statement, you gently rolled onto your side to look at him. “I like you too, Seongwu,” you said, parroting back his works to him.

But Seongwu wasn’t satisfied with your answer. He knew that you didn’t quite understand what he meant. So, he rolled onto his side as well, the two of you now face to face, only a couple inches from each other, your eyes locked in a gentle stare. “No, silly. I like you,” he said again, emphasizing the word ‘like.’ And though it seemed silly, his emphasis on the word caused something to click in your brain, and a pink tint crept onto your cheeks as a result.

“Wait, you what?” you asked, now feeling extremely embarrassed being so close to him and also being a bit slow on the uptake. Your friends had been right after all.

Seongwu, seemingly amused by your reaction pulled himself a little closer to you, never quite taking his eyes off of you. “What, do I have to say it in another language or something? I said I like you,” he repeated himself, very relaxed with his words. He didn’t make a fuss with them. They were just there as if they were just an everyday statement. He liked you.

Though his confession had indeed registered to you, it seemed that your brain was still trying to work through it all. “But, since when?” you finally managed to ask, your words finding their way back to you.

He chuckled, finding your confusion endearing. You always seemed so strong, so level-headed that it was rather cute to see you fumbling with your words. Though your question was not one he had a good answer to. “I mean, I’m not really too sure myself, but does it matter? I just know that I like you. Isn’t that enough?” he asked softly.

“I mean… you feel the same… don’t you?” he added. “Unless I’ve been reading your signals incorrectly this entire time…”

Oh, he had definitely been reading your signals right. And everything settled in for you at that moment. It settled in that this boy in front of you liked you, seemingly as much as you liked him. He was confessing to you, and it would be wrong for you to leave him hanging. “You caught me. I like you too,” replied with a smile.

Seeing that smile on your lips filled his heart with a certain warmth, and throwing caution to the wind, he gently leaned towards you, his forehead against yours, your noses gently touching. “I’m glad,” he whispered quickly before giving you a gentle kiss, expressing his emotions in a way that his words couldn’t seem to…

While you laid quietly in your bed, you couldn’t help but think back to that kiss. It was so soft and tender, so gentle. He just effortlessly leaned in, in a way that only he could to make the butterflies in your stomach rise. And every kiss with him since would often evoke this type of feeling within you. It didn’t take a lot to make you fall for him, and you still felt that way about him now.

The subconscious thought of his lips against yours brought your fingers to your lips as you gently traced the area where his lips would normally occupy. And as expected, when you went to bed that night, you couldn’t help but think about him… and just how much you missed his lips against yours…

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A/N: I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter. I actually had a lot of fun writing this one, so I'm really happy to finally share it. Do feel free to let me know what you think ^^