[ B A N G   Y O N G G U K ]

they say actions speak louder than words

              “What?!”

              “Come on, don’t be such a wuss~”

              “Yeah, we did our dares!”

You could only gulp nervously as two of your friends towered over you threateningly, their dazzling, shiny smiles too blinding when they subtly cracked their knuckles. Their perfect synchronicity reminded you just how terrifying twins could be. Your other silent friend chose to continue seeping her tea calmly beside you, her eyes closed as she let out a dainty chuckle, and you briefly wondered how the hell was she able to make such noise sounded elegant—and where did that cup of tea come from?! (Ah, the wonders of a rich young miss.)

                “Please be reasonable…” you refuted weakly, putting your hands up to your front as if to push them away. It didn’t help that the prickling redness you were painfully familiar of slowly rose up from your neck to your face. It would be over for you if both of them saw the blush on your cheeks since it meant—

                “AHA—!”

—you would be too flustered to even put up a fight. You sighed as they excitedly stole your phone from your bag and handed the device to you. Their satisfied smiles didn’t go unnoticed.

You eyed the phone warily. Oh, how you felt such intense regret for ever agreeing to join their friendly game of Dare and also Dare (since truths were overrated—people lie, you know). You were dutifully doing your assignments in the library with your quiet friend peacefully (wait how could she even bring tea inside the building what) when the other two showed up, hastily slamming their crumpled papers, writing utensils and unfinished reports on your table. You could only roll your eyes as they laughed awkwardly and joined you.

Thirty minutes later you found yourself in this predicament, surrounded by creepy laughter demanding encouraging you to perform your dare (“hehehe” “hihihi” “fufufu”)

                “You guys,” you began hesitantly. “He’s probably busy.”

                “The more reason why you should call him!”

                “Come on, why do you think we gave you this dare?”

                “I agree, it would be best if you were to contact him. It has been a while since you last talked to him, correct?”

                “But our assignments—“you cringed as one arm—whose, you had no idea—lashed out and swiped off every single paper product off the table. Amazingly, the young miss swiftly lifted her fancy glass coaster 0.005 seconds—with poise and grace—before the vicious swipe.

                “Alright, alright!” you gave in, right hand slapping on your cheek and dragging it down in exasperation. The twins whooped in delight and the voice of reason in your group calmly pointed out the stink eye the librarian had been giving to all of you since the start of the pointless game.

You continued to pout, the blush still evident on your cheeks as you pressed the number 3 on the virtual keyboard of your phone, followed by the call button. Well, of course he would be on your speed dial.

Your friends eagerly anticipated as you put on the loudspeaker (it was in the dare). The sound of the phone trying to connect to the other end matched your frantic heartbeat, prompting you to fidget in your seat and biting your lip out of worry.

If they thought you were shy in your hushed relationship, then they wouldn’t believe you if you claimed he was even shier than you. Your phone calls with him were always brief—it wasn’t only because of his tight schedule, but neither of you could hold a conversation with each other for more than five minutes. By the fourth minute both of you would stutter and attempt to find something to say, anything to talk about but failing because you were simply too flustered in each other’s presences (though not physically, since meeting him in the flesh was even rarer than the weekly or monthly phone calls).

Even though you both mutually agreed you didn’t mind the lack of communication, you couldn’t help but to miss hearing his deep chuckles, miss hearing his comforting voice addressing you directly from the other end, for you were growing tired of having to listen to albums to relieve your yearning for the man with that brilliant smile.

Your heart skipped a beat when someone answered the phone.

“Yongguk, you got a call.”

Even when you heard the rustling noise of the phone being transferred over to another person, his voice didn’t reach your ears. Instead, a boyish whine made itself known, and you couldn’t help but smile as you identified the male.

“Ah, but we’re practicing our moves…” Daehyun protested, as the leader comically danced his way over to the manager, reaching out for his phone. He didn’t think too much of it.

                “Is he walking away?” one of the twins muttered, leaning in to focus on the slowly fading voices of the other group members.

“We need to finish this first,” Himchan agreed, staring at the back of Yongguk’s head. Jongup, however, merely blinked and shrugged his shoulders. It didn’t really matter to him.

“Our practice is done after we finish this, though.” It wasn’t like they were going to miss much. The routine was fairly simple. But of course, he was one of the main dancers in the group.

The lead singer seemed to accept this, as he turned back to face the mirror wall and sang casually to the song they were currently practicing.

Yongguk paused in his ridiculous dance the moment he read the caller ID on the screen. Almost too quickly, he shuffled away from the others to the corner of the room. The action didn’t go unnoticed by everyone. The youngest member of the group raised an eyebrow.

“What is he doing?”

You didn’t realize you were holding in your breath until he muttered,

“Hello?”

You found yourself frozen, gaping at the phone like a confused fish before you were nudged sharply in the ribs. You jolted and turned to your friend to frown, but she narrowed her eyes and immediately pointed to the phone, reminding you just who was on the receiving end of the phone call waiting for a response.

Jeez, you thought sullenly. It wasn’t like I was doing it on purpose. I-I just…

“Y-Yongguk, hello,”

you greeted him, trying your best to level your voice so it wouldn’t crack much out of nervousness. He hummed in response, and you couldn’t help but feel that stupid butterflies-in-stomach cliché spreading all over your insides. Hearing the distant wails of his group members, you asked,

“How are you? Are you in a practice?”

“Yes, I’m practicing of course.”

The male smiled when he heard your curious voice. It was always pleasant to receive calls from you, and he cherished every single one of them. He felt bad you had to be the one to initiate the communication, given he almost had no time even for himself, so he greatly appreciated the effort. It didn’t matter if you just wanted to say hello or talk about the weather.

 If it was you, he would always make time.

Yongguk rocked back and forth on his heels, his free arm resting across his waist. Recognizing the body language (because he only did that when he was on the phone with that person), Youngjae squealed cried out in excitement (or exasperation since they were so close to finish practice) and fell to his knees on the tiled floor. Daehyun deadpanned at him.

“You really are too much…” 

You could be telling him so, many things right now. You could complain to him about you getting roped into not doing your assignment or you wondering how your friend could materialize tea out of thin air or asking him if he was doing fine if he was taking care of himself if he was writing any new songs if if—

But you didn’t, you couldn’t, because you only had one thing in mind that you wished for him to know.

“Yongguk?”

“Yes?”

You smiled softly. So you did just that.

“I miss you.”

Even though the two of you were already pursuing a romantic relationship, he couldn’t help but blush involuntarily at your sudden declaration. Yongguk himself would admit he was the bashful one between the two of you, and he would avoid giving out words of affection if he could (but you understood, for Yongguk got easily embarrassed over matters like this, contrary to the passionate song composer of Best Absolute Perfect during their performances).

But just because he was horribly shy didn’t mean he wouldn’t return your affectionate words. Nearly stumbling in his words, he muttered,

“I miss you too, of course.”

Still blushing, you stifled a laugh. He said ‘of course’ twice.  

Not a second later after his response, you and your companions literally had to lean away from the vibrating phone on the table as the two lead vocalists screamed and hollered in disbelief in the background.

“Is it the angel again?” Jongup offhandedly commented, finally taking notice of who was on the other end of the phone call.

Yongguk wasn’t the only one who had to shush, as the four of you apologized to the glaring librarian.

The male sighed as he saw their manager subtly pointing to his wristwatch, indicating that he were to end the call soon.

“We don’t have much time left…”

“That’s alrigh—ah, I’m most probably intruding on your practice. I’m sorr—“

He quickly assured you it was fine.

“We’re almost done.”

“Is it the angel again…” Jongup drawled out lazily, repeating when no one answered the first time he asked. Nobody responded because the same thought crossed their mind.

Who else?

Ignoring the exaggerated choking noises near him, he asked quietly,

“So where are you…”

“AAHH what are you doing in the middle of your practice?!” Youngjae rolled on the floor, hands thrown in the air in his act of throwing a tantrum. Yongguk merely shot him a Yoo Youngjae Pls look.

Unfortunately, he missed it.

“I’m in the library with my friends, they—“

                “Okay that’s cute that’s nice you talking to him and all but the dare.”

                “Calling him isn’t just the dare~”

                “I am truly ecstatic to see the outcome.”

You paled as you remembered, and the blush that was slowly diminishing from hearing his soothing voice hit your cheeks full force as you recalled the complete task you were dared to perform.

But before you did such embarrassing act, you told him quickly (while the mood was still there),

“…Hey,”

“Yes…?”

“When will I see you again?”

Yongguk momentarily paused, and he smiled. His eyes softened as he could feel all the exhaustion of practice, composing lyrics, performing, being an idol leaving his body at the thought of being in your presence.

Closing his eyes, he gripped his phone a little tighter—as tight as he was holding on to the shared bond between you and him—as he replied,

“Just wait a little longer, I’ll…”

He didn’t manage to finish. His friends were screaming at how “overly romantic and cheesy and ugh get out” he was being.

He didn’t manage to finish. You cut him off by making him absolutely flustered when he heard you and well—for whatever reason you had to make such sounds, he had to return whatever affection you gave him right?

Blushing and swiftly pivoting his body to hide away from obviously prying eyes, he took a deep breath and cupped his free hand above his lips and—

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!” everyone else screamed as they listened.

Dare: Call Bang Yongguk and catch him off guard by making cute kissing noises~

but the quiet words we share speak volumes