Jaehyung is what Wonpil would call the perfect in-between of a good boy and a bad boy. He’s too much of a dork to be a bad boy, always tweeting some dumb jokes or getting too fired up over some nerdy argument. But he’s also too much of a prankster to be called a good boy, either teasing Wonpil (always teasing her so much) or lazing the day away and not getting any homework done.

She doesn’t know how he managed to worm his way into her heart, maybe it was the other way around actually. All she remembers is that one second he was her new seat mate, and the next he was her best friend.

He tends to make fun of Wonpil for everything - be it her favorite sweater or her small height - but she’s come to realize that it’s his strange way of showing his love for her. She also knows how to counter him by now.

Jaehyung is holding her pack of band-aids in his stretched out arm, far above her reach as he’s cackling at her futile attempts to get them back.

“Jae!” She whines in frustration as she once again fails to reach them. “I will strangle you, if you don’t give them back!”

He pauses for a short moment before he grins down at her, his eyes glinting in mischief and Wonpil regrets ever having said something.

“Can you even reach that far up?”

She kicks him in the shin in retaliation.

 

 

For all his teasing and annoying habits, Wonpil still loves him a lot and is thankful for his presence. Especially in moments like these when Sungjin walks into the classroom with a new hair cut, greeting everyone and looking so handsome it hurts.

Unlike with Younghyun, she can’t take refuge in the library anymore, since the place is filled with memories of them together. She’s devastated and confused in such moments of what she should do to sooth her bleeding heart, but then Jaehyung is already pulling her aside and showing her some funny dog pictures on his phone.

She knows that he’s trying to distract her and Wonpil is so grateful for his presence.

 

“Have you thought about getting a job?”

Wonpil looks up from where she was sipping her tea to look at Jaehyung in surprise. They’re sitting in the elder’s favorite café and she was just talking about how she’s been unmotivated and down in her free time when he said that.

“You know, to help you feel more productive and to get over your-”, he pulls a face, “-heartbreak.”

She bites her bottom lip as she considers for a second. Honestly it isn’t a bad idea, it will distract her and she’ll even earn some money. It’s not like she has anything better to do in her newfound free time.

She smiles brightly at Jaehyung. “That a good idea, oppa! I will think about it.”

In return he tries to hide his smile behind his cup and Wonpil has to bite her lips to suppress her own grin as she can still see his red cheeks and curved eyes over the rim.

 

 

The bell chimes softly as the door opens and Wonpil looks up from her place behind the counter to see Jaehyung walking in with Jimin. She presses her lips between her teeth in a contained smile as she sees that Jaehyung hadn’t seen her on his way in while heatedly discussing something with the other girl.

They sit down at a table by the window on her right as she watches them choose from the menu in anticipation. To her disappointment it’s Jimin who comes up to her at the counter while Jaehyung turns to his phone, probably to tweet something again.
Jimin’s eyes widen in surprise when she sees her and Wonpil smiles at the other girl brightly.

“Hey Wonpil, I didn’t know that you’re working here.” Jimin smiles pleasantly at her and Wonpil wonders why she couldn’t have fallen for her.

“I just started some days ago.” She answers and Jimin hums in response. They talk for a bit more about small things until Jaehyung calls out to the other.

“Jimin, what’s taking you so long?” He asks without even looking up from his phone.

Said girl rolls her eyes in clear annoyance at him and Wonpil hides her giggles behind her hand before she asks what she can get for them.

When she finally walks over with their finished drinks on a tray, Jaehyung still hasn’t noticed her presence in the shop as he still seems to be arguing with Jimin about the topic from before.

She carefully sets their drinks down in front of them and smiles softly at Jimin when she thanks her. “Enjoy your drinks.”

She smiles warmly at them and tries not to laugh when she sees Jaehyung do a double-take before gaping at her in stunned silence. His mouth opens and closes a few times like a fish.

When Wonpil’s back behind the counter she can still see Jaehyung staring at her dazedly. She finally lets out her giggles behind her fist when Jimin starts to wave her hand in front of his face to snap him out of it, without success.

Her heart skips a light beat at his red cheeks. (Wonpil wonders if it’s normal for her to feel like this about Jaehyung.)

 

 

The next time she’s working, it’s a relatively slow hour when she notices a figure at the windows. She bites down on her lips to suppress a laugh when she spots Jaehyung looking through the front windows with his hands shielding his eyes for a better vision.

He rubs his neck sheepishly when he sees that she must have noticed him looking before he came in judging by the amused twinkle in Wonpil’s eyes.

“Hello dear customer, what can I get you today?” Wonpil asks teasingly as she leans lightly over the counter. Jae scratches the base of his head as he looks up at the menu before looking around the small displays on the counter. She takes a moment to watch him and sees that he’s wearing one of his over-sized hoodies that she had stolen from him sometimes. (Tries not to blush at how soft it had felt on her skin.)

He points at a small sign with their weekly special on it and Wonpil has to lean over and crane her neck slightly into his space to get a better look at it. A light blush rises on her cheeks as she reads what it is, and when she turns back she can see one mirroring hers on Jaehyung’s cheeks as well.

“One High school Sweetheart’s Milk tea coming right up!”

Jaehyung ducks his head sheepishly in answer and Wonpil silently laments the cheesy names for their beverages her manager is so adamant on keeping. (She actually loves them as well.)

Wonpil prepares the drink diligently and just when she’s about to set it down on the tray to bring it to Jaehyung, her eyes catch on the pink napkins. Chewing her bottom lip in thought, she smiles and thinks why not as she grabs one and a pen.

She draws a slightly crooked chicken onto it, and after a short pause encircles it in a big heart as well.

When she brings the tea over to where Jae is sitting, it’s with twinkling eyes and a badly suppressed smile as she sets it down in front of him.

“Enjoy your drink, dear customer!” She sing-songs in a happy tone and he raises his eyebrows at her suspiciously. “You didn’t put anything in my drink, did you?”

She chooses to ignore his question as she saunters back to the front grinning.

Jaehyung watches her leave with an exasperated expression before he turns to his drink. He’s about to take a tentative sip when he spots the pink napkin the glass was standing on. His eyes narrow in suspicion when he sees that something is drawn onto it.

He snorts at Wonpil’s bad drawing before shaking his head in fond exasperation. He turns to look out the window so Wonpil won’t see the badly suppressed smile he’s trying to hide. His cheeks are tinted a light pink and Wonpil feels her own cheeks heaten up as she bites her lips while taking a peek at him.

After her shift ends, Wonpil chooses to walk home instead of taking the bus to enjoy the warmth that has started to come with spring. The sky has turned a pretty shade of light pink as she’s walking past the playground near her house. She stops in her steps though, when she spots a familiar figure sitting on one of the swings.
Her lips curl into a small smile when she watches Jaehyung stare up at the sky dazedly. He’s sitting sideways on the swing, his cheeks red and his smile dopey.

Suddenly he’s grabbing onto one of the swing-handles and shaking it wildly as he grins brightly with his eyes squeezed shut. Wonpil watches in amused confusion and tries not to laugh as not to get detected by him. She takes carefully silent steps towards him until she’s right by his side, as he continues grinning like a fool unknowingly.

“What got you so happy, Jae?”

Said male lets out a yelp and almost falls off the swing as Wonpil laughs brightly at his uncoordinated moves. He scrambles back upward to glare at her without any heat behind it, his cheeks now redder than before.

“Don’t scare a dude like that, you twerp.” But Wonpil just continues smiling up at him as she leans forward with her hands behind her back. “Why were you grinning so happily, oppa?”

Her eyes twinkle as he avoids looking at her while scratching his nose. His cheeks are a bright red and Wonpil’s smile widens.

“Argh, it’s nothing! C’mon, I’ll bring you home.” Jaehyung takes a big step around her as he trudges towards the street, not looking back at her.

She giggles lightly at his clear embarrassment at having been caught, but stops when she notices that something fell out of the pocket of his hoodie.

“Jae, you lost something!”

Bending down to pick it up, her eyes widen when she sees what it is. It’s the napkin she doodled on, but now there’s a small bubbly bunny added next to the crooked chicken inside the heart she drew.

The napkin is promptly snatched out of her hands and she looks up with wide eyes at Jaehyung, whose whole face is a bright red as he looks at her. Her own cheeks heat up.

He quickly turns around after he shoved the napkin back into his pocket, taking hurried steps as he calls out in a shrill voice. “Hurry up, Wonpil!”

She blinks for a few seconds before she runs after him with a rapidly beating heart.

 

 

Wonpil wonders how she hadn’t noticed before.

Jae hates talking about his romantic interests and hates it even more when Wonpil is the one talking about hers. She had just stamped it up to him being uncomfortable or simply disinterested in the topic. That is at least, until Sungjin walks up to her in the short break between English and History.

She’s sitting at her desk, doodling in her planner when somebody clears their throat. She looks up and is taken back when she faces Sungjin looking down at her with a soft smile.

“Sorry to bother you Wonpil-ah, but can you give this to Mr. Park later, please? I have a student council meeting and you’re the only one I trust with this task.” He holds out a stack of documents to her and Wonpil blinks down at them with wide eyes.

Her heart clenches at the familiar way he had addressed her and at his heartfelt words. But she shakes herself out of it and reminds herself that they’re friends now after all. She gives him a small smile. “Of course, oppa.”

He smiles at her gratefully and Wonpil reaches out to take the papers. Before her fingers can even touch them though, they’re already being ripped out of Sungjin’s hand. They both turn to look in shock at Jaehyung as he puts the documents down onto the table rather forcefully.

The smile he gives Sungjin is strained. “I will look out that she does so, no worries Sungjin.” He say from between clenched teeth.

Sungjin’s eyes are unreadable as the two look at each other in silence, but then something shifts in his eyes before he gives Jaehyung a clip nod. He turns back to give Wonpil a small smile, and for a moment she thinks there’s a flash of sadness. “Thank you, Wonpil-ah.”

Next to her Jaehyung clenches his fists as she watches Sungjin walk away before she turns to the taller to hit his shoulder. “That was rude, Jae! I thought you and Sungjin get along well!”

The elder snorts as he leans back in his chair and rubs the spot Wonpil had hit with a pout. “I just don’t like the way he’s talking to you after everything.”

Warmth spreads through her body as she realizes that Jaehyung was angry for her, but still he didn’t have to act the way he did, even if it was for her. She watches him look out the window with red cheeks and a sudden thought strikes her.

“Jae, are you perhaps je-“ She doesn’t get to finish because there’s a hand suddenly covering as Jae leans forward to squint at her. “I can already feel your stupid thoughts from over here, not everything is about yoARGH DID YOU JUST MY HAND!?”

He pulls his hand away in shock and looks at it with disgust before he turns to Wonpil. She glares at him before sticking her tongue out petulantly.

“Yah! Kim Wonpil! Apologize for defiling my poor hand!” In return she chooses to hit his shoulder instead and he looks at her scandalized. “Have the short people declared war now?”

Oh he asked for it is all Wonpil can think before she unleashes a parade of punches against the taller’s shoulder as he lets out yelps at her weak hits.

“Stop it, you shorty!” Jaehyung catches her fists as he suppresses a grin while trying to look stern.

Wonpil tilts her head up to look petulantly at him but then her breath hitches when she comes to see that their faces are only a few centimetres apart.

Jae seems to see it too, as his eyes widen behind his glasses. His grip on her wrists becomes softer and suddenly her skin feels like it’s burning from the point of contact.

They spring apart when the teacher walks into the classroom, both their cheeks a fiery red. Wonpil momentarily forgets her thought from before as she tries to calm her rapidly beating heart.

 

 

She gets to come back to it though just two days later as they’re walking along the hallway. It’s an oddly familiar scene as she’s walking side by side and joking around with Jaehyung, when suddenly someone’s bumping into her shoulder and shoving her to the side.

She stumbles and all her papers fall onto the floor. She looks up to see Younghyun looking down at her, but this time he quickly bends down to help her gather up the notes. “, sorry Wonpillie! Are you hurt?”

He scans her quickly for any injuries before he looks at her with wide eyes. He let’s out a relieved sigh when Wonpil shakes her head with a small smile to show him that she’s fine. She doesn’t even realize the familiar way he addressed her until someone else is kneeling down next to her, quickly gathering up all her notes and snatching the remaining ones from Younghyun’s hands.

Wonpil turns to look at Jaehyung glaring at the ground before he directs it at Younghyun. “She’s fine, no thanks to you.” Younghyun returns his glare full force and Wonpil is confused with what is going on. “I don’t remember asking you, beanpole.”

She doesn’t need to look to see Jaehyung bristling beside her. So before an actual fight can break out (which she knows the taller will lose), she takes the stack of papers from Jaehyung’s hands and stands up with a wide smile.

“It’s okay, Younghyun oppa. No need to worry.” They both follow her lead begrudgingly and Younghyun interrupts his staring contest with Jae to smile softly at her. Before he can say anything though, Jaehyung is already pulling Wonpil aside and briskly leading them down the hallway.

“W-Wha-Jaehyung!” Wonpil tries to glance over her shoulder to smile apologizingly at Younghyun but ultimately fails because the older is pulling her along too quickly. From her point she can’t see Jaehyung’s face clearly so she doesn’t understand at all why the taller is so angry at Younghyun – he did apologize and help her this time, after all.

She pushes her feet against the ground and pulls at their hands, effectively stopping the elder. When he turns to look at her with an unreadable expression, Wonpil glares up at him defiantly as she pulls her hand free.

“What is wrong with you? You didn’t have to be so rude to Younghyun!”

In turn the elder’s eyes widen as he looks at her incredulously. “Me? Rude!? He was the one who just called me a beanpole!”

“That’s because you were mean to him first!” She is quick to retaliate. But that seems to only frustrate Jaehyung more as he pulls at his hair before he throws his hands up in exasperation.

“Why are you even defending that guy!? He broke your heart, Wonpil!”

Her breath hitches at his words and her heart hurts for a short moment, but she is too overthrown with confusion as to why he is so bothered by it to pay it more mind.

Then she is suddenly reminded to the incident with Sungjin a few days ago, and her heart is too busy beating rapidly than to hurt anymore.

“Wait, are you jealous?”

Jaehyung lets out what sounds like a shriek of panic before he starts laughing with a strained voice.

“Jealous? Me? No way! Why would I be jealous of Younghyun!? I don’t want to date a stupid twerp like you-OW! That hurts, Wonpil! Wha-Stop it!!”

She has her eyes squeezed shut as she pounds her small fists against his chest continuously. “Meanie! You big, stupid meanie! Why do you always have to be so mean to me!?” She cries out as she continues to hit him, ignoring his complaints. The words had hit her right where she is insecure and somehow it hurt her more than usual when Jaehyung teases her. “You’re so mean! Even though I like you so much!!”

Then the elder is suddenly catching her wrists in a tight grip. Wonpil looks up at him with slightly teary eyes and only has a short moment to be reminded of a few days ago, when there is suddenly a pair of lips covering hers.

Her eyes widen in shock and before she can even react, he’s already pulling away. Jaehyung looks at her with equally wide eyes as he let’s her wrists go. “, Wonpil, I di-“

Before he can finish his sentence though, Wonpil is already grabbing him by his lapels and leaning onto her tip-toes to kiss him. There is a short second in which the elder seems to be shocked into standstill, but then he’s winding his arms around her waist and pulling her even closer.

Jaehyung kisses her like a starved man yearning for her touch. At first she’s taken back by his passion but then leans into him and melts, completely forgetting that they’re still in the hallway at school where everyone can see them.

This time when she’s the one to pull away, Jaehyung is the one to lean forward as he chases after her lips. This time the kiss is shorter and less searing, more sweet.

Wonpil giggles up at him after they part. “You don’t want to date a stupid twerp, huh?”

In return the elder rolls his eyes in fond exasperation before he leans back down again with a soft smile. “Oh shut up, will you?”

And Wonpil gladly does so as he kisses her again, his arms around her a warm comfort.

(She completely forgets the person watching them ruefully down the hall.)

 

 

For their first date they go to Lotte World.

Wonpil waits in front of the gates for Jaehyung to show up, excitedly brushing imaginary dust off her skirt. She has put some - in her opinion – cute flower shaped clips into her hair in the hopes of receiving a compliment from the elder.

When Jaehyung’s trademark beat-up sneakers appear in the corner of her vision, she looks up and is shocked for a moment. He’s not wearing his glasses like usual and his fringe is slightly parted at the side so she can see his eyes clearly.

Her heart skips a light beat.

Wonpil bounces forward happily and is just about to open to greet him cheerfully when she is suddenly stopped as he holds out his hand. She blink a few times at the single slightly crushed daisy in his hand.

With her cheeks dusted a light pink, she takes it out of his hand carefully. Wonpil cradles the flower close as she grins up at Jaehyung brightly, the colour of his cheeks mirroring hers.

“Thank you, oppa! It even matches me today!”

At her words he takes a closer look at her and Wonpil tries not to preen as she puts the flower into the front pocket of her blouse and brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. The hair clips shimmer lightly in the sunlight and Jaehyung’s throat dries as he is reminded of her eyes.

When she peeks up at him bashfully, he quickly averts his gaze and takes her hand - like they have already done so many times before.

“Come on, before the queue gets too long.” And he leads her towards the ticket counters while studiously avoiding eye contact.

Jaehyung doesn’t compliment her, but the red hue rising high on his cheeks is enough for Wonpil to tell.

 

Their date is somewhat the typical movie cliché date at an amusement park. They share a big portion of cotton candy and Wonpil even manages to persuade Jaehyung into wearing cute matching headbands with her. (It wasn’t really persuading and more her just buying them and putting it onto Jaehyung’s head before taking a quick selfie.)

They both studiously ignore the big Ferris wheel looming over them as they make their rounds through Lotte World, both knowing what the Ferris wheel indicates.

It all goes smoothly, the elder teasing her like usual and her in retaliation attacking him with her aegyo. That is of course until they reach the giant roller coaster. Wonpil looks up at it with apprehension, even more so when people’s screams reach her ears, and protests vehemently when Jaehyung tries to pull her towards its entrance.

But then he winds an arm around her dainty waist and gives her one of his winning smiles. It may be the lack of his glasses or the warmth of his hand at her hip, but one look and squeeze and Wonpil gives in. Jaehyung usually rejects her hugs and doesn’t like to show affection, so Wonpil is weak when he does skin ship like this.

In the end it’s Jaehyung though whose hair is in total disarray and his skin pale when they get off of the roller coaster. She tries to guide him towards a bench to rest but before he can sit down, he’s already running off to a nearby trashcan and throwing up.

Wonpil soothingly rubs his back as he’s bend over and she thinks she hears him murmur about how uncool he must look, before he’s already retching again.

After downing a whole bottle of water he flops down onto the grass and just lays there motionlessly with his arm over his eyes. Mindful of not creasing her long skirt, Wonpil sits down next to him.

“Ugh, you must think I’m an idiot now.”

The words prompt a giggle out of her and she smiles down softly at the elder as he peeks through his arm. “Oppa, I already knew you were an idiot the moment you sat down next to me in tenth grade and compared my hair colour to a lobster.”

The elder snorts at that and Wonpil moves his arm away so she can properly look at him. “My hair dye wasn’t even that red back then.”

The sun shines down brightly onto them, the light catching in Wonpil’s hair and making the flower pins in her hair glitter. Jaehyung’s breath catches at the sight as Wonpil reaches out and softly brushes a strand of his own hair behind his ear.

“Now we match.”

She grins down brightly at him and he touches his ear to feel the daisy he had gifted her tucked behind it.

Warmth explodes in her chest and when he reaches out for her, she automatically leans down to him. Before their lips can touch though, the elder has stopped her with a hand between their faces. “My breath still stinks from throwing up.”

His face is red as he avoids eye contact and Wonpil can’t help but laugh.

At the end of the date they actually manage to ride the Ferris wheel, knowing exactly what it would entail, and Wonpil gets her kiss after all. Jaehyung even goes so far as to carefully lifting her onto his lap, mindful not to jostle the cart too much as he does so. Wonpil had squeaked and slapped his shoulder playfully at his raised eyebrows before he kissed her lovingly.

Jaehyung didn’t compliment her that day, but Wonpil didn’t mind.

 

 

Their personalities are drastically different so they clashed a lot, which is why their friendship has mostly consisted of them poking fun at each other. But it worked, since they have a mutual respect and understanding of each other.

Wonpil would unleash her aegyo onto the elder, he would say something mean to make her stop, Wonpil would sulk and Jaehyung would roll his eyes before silently offering her something from his snacks. And with the beginning of their new relationship nothing much had really changed.

Jaehyung would still cringe at her skin ship and Wonpil would still pout at his teasing. But now the elder would lean down and peck her lips when she’s sulking to calm her down - Wonpil still gets some of his snacks of course.

(She knows that Jaehyung secretly loves her aegyo.)

 

 

The girls next to Wonpil are deafeningly loud as they scream their lungs out, and she has to try not to wince as she cheers for Jaehyung next to them. It seems to be some reoccurring theme that Jaehyung and Sungjin will end up playing against Younghyun and Dowoon in their basketball matches.

Even from her spot on the bleachers she can see the fire burning in the elder’s eyes as he seems determined to finally win a game against the others. That doesn’t stop him from being his crowd-entertaining and goofy self though, as he once again runs past the stands for a row of high fives.

Wonpil cheers loudly when Jaehyung manages to score a point. And when he turns to shoot finger guns at her coupled with a cheesy wink, she can’t help but laugh.

(Behind Jaehyung, someone watches them sadly, bitter that she has once again returned to cheering for somebody else.)

 

When it’s just a few seconds until the game ends, Jaehyung positions to throw for a three-pointer. Wonpil holds her breath as the ball flies a round arc through the air and circles inside the ring. The gym is silent for once, and the sound the basketball makes as it falls through the ring and bounces off the ground is loud. Jaehyung and Sungjin finally manage to win with a one point difference.

Next to her even Dowoon’s fan club is reduced silent as they don’t know how to react, but then Wonpil is springing up with a loud cheer. Jaehyung turns towards her with a wide unbelieving smile, his eyes shining behind his glasses.

Her heart flutters as she hops down the bleachers and runs past Younghyun, Sungjin and Dowoon, careening straight into Jaehyung’s arms. He catches her with a loud laugh, but Wonpil must have miscalculated his strength. Because even though Wonpil is pretty small and delicate, Jaehyung is still as thin as he is tall, and he only manages to spin her around once before they’re both crashing to the ground.

Jaehyung groans loudly as he rubs the hurt spot at the back of his head. His glasses are crooked and Wonpil bites her lips to contain her wide smile, before she leans down to kiss the elder softly in congratulations.

There are a few cheers and wolf whistles (probably from Jackson), but Wonpil doesn’t pay them attention as she feels Jaehyung’s heart beating in sync with hers.

 

 

Wonpil thought their relationship would work well, just like their friendship did. They already knew each other’s ticks and personalities and the bond between them is already strong from their friendship.

And honestly, Wonpil thought that nothing much would change from before, except for the more romantic aspect between them now.

“Oh god, please change.”

Wonpil’s smile drops slightly as she stepped aside to let Jaehyung in, her hope for a kiss as a greeting vaporizing. She looks down at her sweater-skirt combo self-consciously.

“What’s wrong with this outfit?” Honestly, she had thought she looks cute and hoped the elder would think the same. But Jaehyung just looks at her like it’s obvious what he’s talking about.

“Really, Pirrie? That sweater is a fashion crime.”

Wonpil fiddles with the hem of her favorite pink sweater as she is reminded of Jaehyung’s grudge against it. It has always been an inside joke between them and she had never really thought much about it. Normally she would just hit his shoulder playfully or annoy him by acting overly cute before their normal banter would start once again.

But now she worries her bottom-lip in thought as she averts her gaze. Does he really mind it that much? Does she really not look good in it?

Her eyes start to sting a bit and she murmurs a quiet, “Okay, I’ll change.”, before she’s quickly running back into her room to do so.

Some things become different in a relationship after all.

(She misses the stunned look Jaehyung gives her before it quickly turns into one of regret.)

 

 

It’s slightly windy outside as Wonpil waits for Jaehyung in front of the café she works at. Her shift has just ended and he had texted her that he would pick her up for a spontaneous date, much to her delight.

After the sweater incident Wonpil has become more aware of Jaehyung’s brash nature. It’s not like she hadn’t known about it before, it’s just that she has become more sensitive to it now. She tries not to think much about it, it hasn’t bothered her in their friendship before, so why should it now?