Chapter Text
Everything that could go wrong went wrong tonight.
The tears streaming down your cheeks tell you that this was the last drop needed for you to break down. You weren't in the most comfortable position sitting on a bench at a playground at midnight, but you couldn’t care less about your back hurting when all you could think about were the mistakes that led you here.
You pressed your knees even closer to your chest, wrapping your hands around them as quiet sobs leave your mouth. Your eyes are gonna be so puffy the next morning, but that’s another problem you’ll have to deal with tomorrow.
As your head was laying low and your shaky hand was wiping your tears away, a voice sounded out, one you didn’t expect at all.
“I’d usually just continue my way but I can’t stand pretty girls ugly crying on a playground right in front of my window, kinda ruins my take-out night.” Looking up you’re met with a stranger, his lips are pressed together and only slightly curled upwards while looking down at you waiting for a response.
He understands that that response is yet to come when he just sighs looking at the side hesitantly and just invites himself to sit next to you. You notice something in his hand, a Subway take-out bag filled with something, food you assume. Your gaze is now on his side profile, a beautiful side profile might you add. The frown on your forehead is showing your confusion, you don’t know this man at all yet he stopped walking to stop and sit with you. Your sadness is somehow slowly being replaced for curiosity, curiosity for this handsome and nice-guy-looking man sitting beside you.
You sniff and wipe some more tears away that have stopped streaming down your face already, eyes locked on the stranger. He suddenly turns his head towards you again. “Do you like Subway? Cause I have just enough food to share and you know what they say; a Subway sandwich makes your problems go away.” He smiles. So brightly. You internally wonder why is he smiling at you when you’re clearly having your breakdown moment over here. Though you have to admit his smile is probably the prettiest one you’ve ever seen.
His eyes turn into crescent moons when he smiles.
“No one actually says that.” It’s the first thing you mutter to him, your voice raspy and kind of low from all the crying. He chuckles at your comment and it has you wondering how many girls crying right here he encountered in the past. And actually, who laughs at a girl that has been crying alone for the past hour? That’s mean. But for some reason you don’t find him, or even the whole situation, mean or rude. Maybe it’s his smile, though you’d never admit it, it made you feel slightly more at ease for some very confusing reason.
“You don’t know that. Maybe someone said that in the past. Hell even I just did so that means it’s true of course. Someone does in fact say it.” He leans in a bit closer to your face which causes you to lean a bit backwards to not be so close to this man that you don’t know, “That someone actually being me.” he says in a lower tone.
You found his voice soothing, something about his natural raspy tone made him sound heavenly.
“I could’ve guessed.” You reply, your face showing no emotion whatsoever.
“You seem stubborn. I like it.” His lips purse and he leans back to his initial position again. You then notice the mole he has on the left side of his face, right at the side of his nose. It looks kind of unique. Your brows furrow at his statement and he just tilts his head. “I was actually kidding about the ugly crying though, I’d look much worse, to be fair.” He looks like he really means it.
His comment makes you huff a little and you bite your slightly trembling lip to hide a small smile. He sure knows how to make out of pocket comments at times like these but you actually find it quite comforting. Again, you can’t find an explanation for this phenomenon.
“See there you go, that’s way better than crying isn’t it?” His eyes land on yours, and you can see some attentiveness in them.
“I guess.” You pin your eyes to the ground, suddenly feeling small under his gaze. At any other moment you would feel embarrassed at this moment, crying alone in a playground is kind of pathetic. Pair it with your messy hair and ruined makeup and it makes it ten times worse.
But for some reason, his presence doesn’t make you uncomfortable at all. There’s something very soothing that comes with him, his aura. From the way he speaks to his bright smile like you weren't just bawling your eyes out a minute ago, he seems comforting. And that’s something you really appreciate, especially coming from a man you’ve never met and at a moment like this.
“You know, it might be easier to speak about your problems with a stranger rather than someone you know.” He speaks again, this time looking ahead. You lift your head and eyes up from the ground and look at his side profile again, his hands were in the pockets of his jacket now, as it was getting even colder by the second. The subway bag looped on his wrist and dangled off.
“Is it really?” You sound doubtful. Thinking about what he just said for a second, you realize you don’t even speak about your problems to the people you know. You always keep them to yourself, and that might be part of the reason you end up in situations like these so often. Bottling up your emotions has its consequences at the end of the day, more specifically midnight.
“You should try it and see for yourself.” He suddenly turns his head to glance at you again, eyes very open, parted lips and a fake surprised expression on his face. “Oh my God look at the coincidence, you’re sitting next to a complete stranger right about now.” He says in astonishment. “A stranger that is willing to listen if needed. Isn’t that such an amazing thing?”
His lips morph into a smile again. In the few minutes you’ve known him for, well not really cause you don’t even know his name, you know he smiles a lot. And his smile is contagious as fuck you have to say, because even you find yourself trying to stop your lips from curling upwards at a moment like this.
“And why’s that, stranger?” You ask, eyes on the ground. When did your tears even stop forming?
“Just because. I was once in the same position you are now, crying alone. Though I wasn’t in a playground, I was at a convenience store choking on my noodles while crying but-”
“Why were you crying at a convenience store?” You suddenly interrupted him, making him look at you again and furrow his brows in fake offense.
“Hey I’m the one asking you questions here,” he raises his tone just a bit, making it slightly high-pitched. That made you audibly laugh for the first time today. This man just sat here with you when you were in the middle of a crying session and made you laugh in under five minutes of meeting you. “though I could tell you later if you’re still interested.” He continued. “My point here is that when I was there crying alone, I just wished someone would ask me what was wrong so that I could use that as an excuse to trauma dump for that entire night, but oh well, no one did. Though I did notice the cashier laughing at my sobbing when I almost choked.” He glances at the side with a frown as if replaying that moment in his mind.
“The trauma dumping on a stranger at a convenience store sounds like a lovely experience. Such a nice guy that you are, huh?” The corner of your mouth quirks up and you imagine the scenario in your head.
“Oh so it’s the setting that you don’t like.” He pokes his tongue on the inside of his cheek. “Alright, there’s a convenience store right across the street, if you prefer it you could spill the tea in there.” His hand that was in his pocket is now out pointing to the side with his thumb, he then stands up as if already going to the store and you stop him mid way and tug on his jacket for him to sit back down.
It felt weird acting like this with a strange guy you just met, but oddly comforting too.
“The setting is not the problem. Why are you that invested anyways?” You swallow the lump in your throat. He sits back down beside you and this time crosses his legs under him on the bench.
“Because I told you, I know what it feels like and maybe talking to someone you don’t know right now might help. But of course not everyone might be comfortable with it.” and then for the first time his smile faded away just a bit, an honest yet not that serious look took over his expression. You understand he wants you to see his pure intention behind his words, and for some reason you believe him. His eyes transmitted honesty and warmth, just like his entire presence.
And just like that, you start talking. Talking like you’ve never done with anyone ever before. You usually just spoke to yourself in case you really needed to get something out, but this was completely new to you.
Throughout your entire story of how you broke up with my friend through a huge fight this evening, plus how you got a horrible grade at Uni, plus how your nail broke today, plus how there’s a nasty rumor about you all over the campus and much more, he just sits beside you and listens, almost as if he truly cares about all of what you have to say. Gazing at you carefully, eyes searching your face for something more, analyzing your features as they morph from disbelief at the audacity of some people, to anger, to sadness, to overall exhaustion.
You find comfort in his presence, it’s so odd yet you can’t complain.
At some point of the story where the tears threaten to spill again and your breath gets more erratic by the second, he places his hand on your knee to try to calm you down a bit, tracing slow circles on your jeans and looking at you like you’re something extremely fragile. The gest makes you perk up at first, as you didn’t expect it at all. But he silently asked you for permission with his eyes. So after a few seconds of the motions of his thumb on the fabric, you find it soothing.
Finishing your rant with a very deep sigh, you close your eyes and try to compose yourself again. “Can you at least tell me your name so that I can formally apologize to you for dumping all of this information you probably couldn’t care less about?”
Now it’s his turn to chuckle, he breaks a smile again and huffs a few laughs looking down and shaking his head, his hand is still on your knee and you glue your eyes to it. His hand decorated with silver rings, his long slender fingers resting on you.
The stranger looked back at you, “Lee Seokmin. And you, stranger?” You almost laugh at the silly nickname you gave each other, but instead you bite your lip again and lock your puffy and tired eyes on his.
“Nara. Thank you Seokmin.” You tried to place as much honesty as you could in your voice, for him to see that you really appreciate what he did. It really helped in an unexpected way just being able to talk to someone who doesn’t know any of the people you have problems with, and also doesn’t know you.
Seokmin, the not so stranger anymore, tilts his head to the side and nods. “Don’t thank me. You want me to give advice or you’re fine with just having me know all this?” You think about his question for a second. Do you want any advice on your current situation?
Truth is you’re not sure, but you don’t even know what advice he could possibly give you. You don’t think there’s anything you can do right now about anything you mentioned.
“What are you thinking of?” You lift a brow and look at him expectantly. This time, you take some time to really pay attention to his features. He sure has a beautiful smile that he’s obviously not afraid to show everyone. His brown eyes look so expressive, almost like he wants you to read his thoughts through them. His lips are thin and look amazing paired with his slim face and very prominent cheekbones. Overall you dare to say he’s one of the most beautiful men you’ve ever seen.
“Well, to begin with your friends are all total assholes, though I don’t know them personally, from what you’ve told me the separation is for the better for you. I think you should focus on yourself right now.” Seokmin put his feet back on the ground and looked down. “Trust me, you will come to realize you’re much better without them anyway.”
Well that was deep.
That last line was said a bit quieter, he looked like he really meant it. You had no other option than to believe him.
In your defense the guy seems very trustworthy.
You let out a sigh into the cold night air and looked up at the dark sky full of gray clouds that threatened to tear at any moment. “You seem to know a lot.” You commented, still looking up.
He hummed in response. “I would normally disagree but I can’t let such a compliment from you slide, so I’ll just say I know.” And there it is again, he has you smiling.
“I want noodles.” He says after a few seconds of oddly comfortable shared silence. This makes you frown and shift your gaze towards his face again to find him already looking at you. You then glance at the bag of Subway take out he still has and when you find his eyes again, a question mark is all over your expression. “I got bored of Subway, this is my fourth time eating it this week.”
It’s literally tuesday.
You shake your head in disbelief as your lips curl and you’re forced to look down to try and hide it, but you’re more than sure the effort was in vain.
“So, wanna hit the convenience store? I promise I won't choke on my noodles like last time.” It was to come out as a joke, but something told you he might actually be serious. His brows lifted and his eyes were almost shining, his grin so prominent.
You don’t even have time to agree or barely think as he is already standing and giving you his hand to help you stand up too. You bite the inside of your cheek and look at him, his eyes are expecting your next move, hoping you take his hand and let him lead you to the store that’s open 24 hours.
After a few seconds of eye contact with your skeptical squinted eyes, he tilts his head to the side, purses his lips and gives you the puppy eyes. Any other day, you would laugh at anyone’s similar attempt. But you decided to take his hand and stand up from the cold bench. You think you almost froze your ass off there.
Seokmin’s fingers felt warm against your skin, contrasting with his cold silver rings. His touch gave you the comfort you yearned for, especially now.
In the middle of your thoughts you had to stop yourself. Nara you just met him. How can a stranger comfort you by taking your hand in his? Truly you don't know. You only know that your hand felt warmer in his.
God, you speak of him in your mind as if you were falling in love.
You know nothing about him, the thought itself is scary, but you still cannot deny the fact that his presence was comforting. That’s just his persona. Though you had to force yourself to slowly let his hand go once you started walking, to not get too attached as the probabilities of seeing him again someday were quite low.
Unless he asks for your number…
No. You really have to stop with the what ifs. Damn you were really going delusional.
“Something interesting you’re thinking about in there?” Seokmin’s voice pulls you out of your train of thoughts. Thoughts about him. You shake your head and blink a few times.
You noticed you were already almost there, he matched your pace as you were walking much slower, obviously in your own mind. “Oh, no. Sorry, did you say something?”
“No, but I was just thinking that you have the face of someone who prefers regular ramen to the spicy one, you give off the vibe. Just a random thought that popped.” He grinned.
Your brow quivered in curiosity. So that meant he was also thinking of you? Okay, stop right there. Forcing yourself to shove it away, you clear your throat and speak; “Now, I take great offense in that nonsense.” You stopped right in front of the door to the store and his hand was already on the handle to open it for you. You crossed your arms over your chest in a petty position as he gazed at you in curiosity and smiling. “For your information, I love spicy food and my spice tolerance is higher than average.”
You squinted your eyes with a stubborn expression. At this, Seokmin laughed and dropped his head down. You opened your mouth in disbelief. The audacity.
“Hey, I’m being for real!” You half shout out as the man in front of you keeps chuckling.
“Usually anyone who says that is exactly the opposite.” His eyebrows lift and he rolls his lips into a line, hand still on the handle.
“Well I should demonstrate then.” You lift your chin up as in a daring motion but he just stares back grinning. You place your hand right under his on the vertical door handle and pull it. His hand stays there as he holds it open too and you have to bend a little in order to go in under his outstretched arm. You hear him huff a laugh behind you and enter right after you.
Thirty minutes later you find yourself sitting next to Seokmin by the window, watching him laugh at you for choking on extra spicy ramen when he himself was the one who caused you to laugh and choke in the first place. Rude ass.
After you calmed down and were no longer fearing for your life for a packet of processed fire noodles, the thought from earlier found its way into your mind again.
“It's not fair.” You suddenly said out loud, staring at some teenagers across the street from the window. Seokmin by my side, who was still finishing his corn dog as it was still too hot, turned his head towards you mid-bite. The sight was funny. You almost laughed at how silly he looked.
Swallowing his food faster, he responded with a confused tone, “A lot of things aren’t, but what are we talking about here?” His brows furrowed and you put your chin in your hand that was leaning on the table.
You bit the inside of your cheek and sighed, “You know a lot of things about me as of now. Probably even more than some people that have known me for years, yet I only know your name, the fact that you apparently love Subway and you once choked on some noodles at a convenience store while crying. Oh, and also that you let some random people at parks trauma dump on you with no problem.” You purse your lips and finally look at him properly.
Seokmin is smirking at you, corn dog in hands, he points at me with it. “All of what you just said is actually correct.” He puts his food down on a napkin on the table, crosses his arms over his chest, turns in his chair to face you completely, leans back against it and squints. “Ask away. What do you wanna know, stranger?”
You hum and think about it for a few seconds. “Would you rather be bald or have the hair you have right now but not be able to wash it ever again?”
It takes Seokmin exactly four seconds as he stares at you in disbelief with his lips parted to start gasping for air as he laughs and bangs his hand on the table. It makes you form your lips into a small smile seeing his reaction to your very serious question. You patiently wait for his laughter to come to an end and hear his answer.
Eventually he stops banging his hand on the table, and then his laugh slowly dies down. “So you’re telling me the first thing you’ve been waiting to ask me is that?”
“Yes.” You respond with all the confidence in the world. “It’s a really important question, you know?” You give him a deadpan stare.
“Oh, is it?” Seokmin tilts his head and places his hands on his thighs. “And what can you figure out about me with the answer to it?” Good question.
“Well, I can figure out if you care more about your looks or hygiene.” You look to the side trying to hide the fact that you just got that response from up your ass ‘cause that question caught you off guard.
“Sure… Well answering you, I think I could actually pull off being bald pretty good, you know? After all, I do look good in pretty much everything. You just haven’t seen me wearing a no sleeve tight shirt cause damn I look good in-”
“Oh come on now. Aren’t you so full of yourself?” You gave him a skeptical look and he just chuckled in response.
“I promise you even if I am, I’m not lying. I do look good in a tight shirt.”
Suddenly your mind goes to imagine it and for some reason you can see it so clearly, in your head he does in fact look so damn good in a tight shirt. Though you quickly force yourself to shake those thoughts out. God what is wrong with you tonight.
“You’re seeing my vision now, aren’t you!” He suddenly stands up, pointing an accusative finger at you as you open your mouth. He claps once as if he accomplished something and chuckles at your expression. “Admit it, you were imagining it, weren’t you?” Seokmin sits back down and leans in to say that last phrase a bit quieter.
Yes, you were. “No, I wasn’t!” Liar.
He laughs again and just leans back. “You’re also a bad liar, you know that?”
“I’m not a liar nor am I a bad one either. I was just… thinking about other stuff.” You drift off.
“Yeah?” That sounded so attractive for no reason. “Like what, huh?” He quivers his brow while smirking and at that moment you’re very tempted to smack that damn attractive smirk off of his pretty face.
“Like what questions to ask next, idiot.” You roll your eyes, lying again. You were totally imagining him with that shirt on. Nonetheless, Seokmin just purses his lips, clearly thinking you’re still lying -rightfully so-, but nods and continues speaking.
“And what did you think of?”
“Well… what are you studying or working?” You muttered the first thing that came to mind. A pretty normal question to ask someone you just met.
“I work for a business company as a manager, I guess you could call it that. It’s only been one year since I started working there, though.” Interesting, to be fair he does have the face of a businessman. “What about you, Nara? That’s something I don’t know about you either, so spill.” He then resumes devouring his corn dog that has been neglected on the napkin for a few minutes while he was laughing his ass off earlier.
“I’m majoring in law but I’m also a dance teacher, I work at an academy nearby.” You conclude, crossing one leg over the other. Seokmin seems interested in that. He leaves the corn dog again and speaks.
“Damn, you don’t look like a law major.” Seeing your questioning eyes, he proceeds to explain himself, “I mean, I would’ve guessed you were an art major.” That left you slightly confused.
“How's that?”
“I don’t know, you were just giving me those vibes. Though I’m more than sure you’ll make a great lawyer.” He reassures you and a small smile makes its way on your face, I look to the window again as he takes another bite.
You’ve talked for so long after that, both of you losing track of time completely. Throughout your conversations you learned quite a few things about Lee Seokmin; he used to be a vocal coach a few months ago but had to leave that behind because of his busy work schedule. He also likes dancing though he never tried it professionally. He loves animals, pizza and he’s an aquarius. Seokmin also has two roommates, Soonyoung and Jeonghan, who have been his best friends for a long time now.
Overall, Seokmin seems like a ray of sunshine in anyone’s gray day. As he also called himself; ‘a happy virus’. At which you laughed but couldn’t argue with, because at least today he demonstrated exactly that. Thanks to him, you went from bawling your eyes out on a lonely playground to eating ramen and laughing next to someone in less than an hour.
It was no doubt for you that he wasn’t lying about being a happy virus. His smile was already contagious enough. You also learned that he considers himself an introvert even if he has a lot of friends and a very large friend group.
Seokmin’s company is probably the most comfort you’ve had in a long while. He just makes jokes all the time, makes you laugh even when you don’t feel like it and just overall makes you feel at ease no matter what the subject of your conversation is. How did you get here when barely three hours ago neither of you knew about each other’s existence?
It’s funny if you dwell on it for long enough, or if you have a couple of beers too.
“I think short hair would also suit you. If that’s really what you want, go for it.” He says at some point of the night when you already walked out of the convenience store and are now just walking around his neighborhood when you mentioned that you wanted to cut your hair.
You understand that at some point soon you’ll have to get a taxi to drive you home, but you so don’t want that moment to come. You want to enjoy this night next to the talkative and hella attractive businessman you just met as much as possible, even if that means staying out in the streets until five in the morning.
“I might just go grab the scissors right now. Trust me I’m more than capable of that.” You point a finger at him in a warning manner while squinting your eyes a bit.
Seokmin lifts his hands in playful surrender and parts his lips, “Oh I don’t doubt that.” His lips break into a smile and so do yours. He’s just so easy going you can’t avoid feeling the same. “You know what?” Seokmin suddenly says when you resume your walk.
You turn your head to get a better look at his face and find him staring ahead of you as you walk ever so slowly, maybe he’s also prolonging this moment just as much as you are. It makes you wonder, does he enjoy your company like you do? You hum telling him to continue.
“I feel like I know enough about you to say you’re my type.” That sentence kinda caught you off guard. You stopped your legs from moving for a few seconds, hands in the back pockets of your jeans to try and get some warmth as you processed what he said.
From your reaction, you could hear Seokmin chuckle. When you start walking again and reach him in almost no time, a smirk dangles on your lips as you this time start walking backwards in front of Seokmin to look at him when you speak. Hoping not to trip and crack your head open in front of such a handsome guy, you speak; “I never thought you’d admit it to be honest. All the flirting back at the convenience store had me wondering…”
His eyes are glued behind you, as if making sure nothing is bothering your way given the fact that you can't see shit of where you’re going. “Well you were wondering the right things then.” He mirrors your smirking expression and now makes eye contact. “Anything else you were wondering tonight?”
You purse your lips and hum in thought. Though there were a few things, you didn’t really want to voice them out at the moment. So you just shook your head no and turned around again to match his walk as before.
Seokmin chuckled and his eyes turned into crescent moons again. You found it so endearing you couldn’t help but stare at his eyes. “Liar.” He muttered in a very low voice, almost as if he didn’t want you to hear but you did and you know damn well he wanted you to.
“Take that back right now! It’s like, what? The third time you call me a liar tonight?” You point your finger again and your face expresses offense. Well he was not too far away, you did have a few questions in mind, just didn’t want to bother further.
“I know for a fact you were picturing me with that no sleeve shirt back at the store! Just admit it, Nara!” Fuck him and his people reading skills.
Were you really that obvious? God you really need to work on your facial expressions for when you decide to imagine something in mind.
“You’re absolutely delusional! You should admit you just wanted me to imagine it, idiot!” You bite back, and you know you were right too.
He scoffs in response but his grin is still evident as he rolls his eyes and tries to look unbothered. “You know what?” You sent him a daring glare that told him to continue. “I will in fact admit it because I’m not a liar like some.” He mocks me scrunching his nose.
Well, at least he’s being honest, you’ll give him that much. Green flag, right?
Now it’s your turn to scoff and roll your eyes playfully. You hit him in the arm with almost no force at all. “Knew it.”
“I’m telling you, you have to see me in that shirt to believe me. I just look too damn fine.” He states smugly. You’re aware he says that as a joke to appear a little self centered but you know he’s not actually that narcissistic. Not to mention you actually believe that, the picture you have in mind is pretty clear.
“Okay, let’s not get over ourselves here.” You laugh and look down at your feet.
You suddenly reach a stop, a stop because a yellow taxi is right in front. Your smile slightly fades at the thought this night is over. And you find yourself wondering how this turned out this way and if it’s ever going to be repeated.
You felt a pair of eyes on your side profile and you pressed your lips into a flat line, tilting your head to look back at the man standing beside you, one hand touching the back of his neck while the other one dangled at his side.
“I should go home.” You’re the first one to speak.
“It’s really late. Do you have classes tomorrow?” Seokmin asks. You have to think about it to remember.
“Yeah but thank God it’s only two and they’re in the evening.” You really find yourself thanking the change of schedule from last week. Your gaze lingers on his a little too long, but none of you seem to complain.
“I’d like to do this again. With you.” He suddenly admits, voice quiet, not like usual. And you quite like it this way too, he sounds more honest, almost intimate in some way. Though you’re aware it’s impossible because of how little you’ve known each other for. It’s even ridiculous, you dare to say.
You nod and give him a tight smile that threatens to spread even wider at the thought. It’s good to know you weren’t the only one feeling this.
Then you suddenly frown and look to the side in thought, watching with the corner of your eyes as Seokmin seems confused at your sudden change of expression. “Wait, which part though? The trauma dumping on a bench while I sob, the convenience store me choking on ramen or the walking around the neighborhood at three in the morning part?”
Now understanding your expression, he lets his head fall back in laughter and you watch as his Adam's apple is more prominent when he does that. You yourself smile too, fuck you don’t even think you’ve ever smiled this much in the span of three hours in your whole life. This man was truly something else.
“Maybe we should just change the order next time. Something like getting drunk on soju at a convenience store, then going for a walk and sitting down on a bench to cry and tell each other some shit no one else knows.”
When trying to figure out if he’s being completely for real, you find yourself repeating that last thing he said. Tell each other some shit no one else knows.
That’s something you said to him back at the playground, he was now the only one who knew how you really felt about certain things and how certain people or situations affected you emotionally. Shit no one else knows about you.
It’s an oddly soothing thought that there’s finally someone who knows what you’ve been bottling up for years now. Even if it’s a complete stranger that found himself interrupting his lovely take-out night to listen to the rant of a girl who decided to have a breakdown next to his house.
Sounds lovely.
With the widest grin possible, you answer. “I’ll consider it, but only if you’re the one trauma dumping next time. It doesn’t seem fair if I’m the one bothering again.”
“You weren’t bothering.” His response was immediate, which kind of took you off guard because of how sure he sounded, no joke behind it. And you really hoped it was true, cause you truly hate bothering people with your own problems.
“That’s reassuring, thank you Seokmin.” You bit your lip and your gaze was set on his.
“You’re always welcome, Nara” His eyes bore into yours, his words transmitted some comfort to you. One that you haven’t felt in a long time, let alone with a stranger. Though you should probably stop calling him that if it’s not a joke, because this man really knows more about you than some people you’ve known for years do. Far from a simple stranger in your perspective.
“Miss, are you taking the taxi?” You almost jumped as you heard the voice of the taxi driver, a voice that wasn't Seokmin’s, for probably the first time of the night.
You swallowed and bent a little to look at the driver through the window that was a few feet away from where you were standing. “Uhm, yes just one more second please.” Looking back up you’re yet again met with Seokmin’s smile, though now it was a bit different. It was more like a goodbye smile, that had you internally praying it was actually a “see you again” smile.
“Did you really mean it when you said you want to do this again?” Guys usually say that just to get away, like the ‘I’ll call you back’ bullshit.
Yet Seokmin doesn’t hesitate as he nods in affirmation. “I enjoyed your unexpected company, so why not?”
Unexpected company.
Sounds ironic.
“Then I should probably give you my number-” You took your phone out of your back pocket to give him your number but as you did so, his hand came clutching over yours, fingers still as warm as you remembered from earlier tonight.
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll find my way to see you again.” He smiled and you frowned. What did he mean by that? Does he not actually want to see you again?
Thinking that that must be the case, you look down in disappointment and decide not to bother him further. He already did enough, maybe he felt pressured to say he enjoyed your company and wanted this to happen again.
There's just no other explanation as to why he refused to get your number. How was he planning on contacting you again? You don’t even live in the same neighborhood.
Those thoughts were starting to send you into a spiral so you just shoved them away and gave him a half-forced smile that you hoped looked genuine in order to hide your disappointment. But you could tell by the way his smile dropped slowly and concern took over his features that he somehow saw it on your face. How? You have no idea. Up until today you were so convinced you were the best actress ever.
He was just good at reading people, you guess.
Shoving the disappointment down, you started walking towards the taxi. He followed right behind you as soon as he saw you moving. His fingers wrapped around your forearm and pulled you back lightly, so that you were once again facing him. His grip still on you.
He towered over you with his height, which forced you to tilt your head up when looking at him. “Nara.” Your name rolled off his tongue. “Are you okay?” He now looked very concerned, brows knitted together and pursed lips.
You swallowed and nodded. “I am. Why’d you ask?” He stares into your eyes for long, analyzing every part of them, almost as if he was trying to see what was further, trying to figure you out.
Then, instead of answering your question, he decides to reassure you once again what was already said; “I said I’ll find a way to see you again, and I mean it.”
You still weren't sure what he really meant with that, but nodded nonetheless, trying not to dwell on it for too long. At least not in front of him, you had the entire ride home to do that and overthink which you were already planning on.
After you got in the taxi, your thoughts were filled with that last sentence. Did he really?