and the timing's never right
temporary fix
luhan/nana
He’s typing up a reply to an email sent to him weeks ago (I would like to apologize for this late reply. I forgot the password to my account. Again.) when someone knocks on his door. It’s 8:04am according to the clock he keeps hanging above the television and it makes him wonder who’s outside this early. He opens the door and a woman he’s never seen before is standing on his doorstep. Luhan could be wrong but from the looks of it, the woman just woke up and rolled out of bed. Her hair is tied in a loose bun, she’s wearing a white shirt about two sizes too big for her and pink flannel pajamas with yellow stars printed on it. Oh, and she’s holding a silver travel mug.
“Hello,” he says tentatively.
The woman gives him a small smile. “Hi. Sorry to bother you but do you have any coffee?”
Luhan just stands there, not knowing what to say because the situation he’s in is rather unusual. So he asks, rather dumbly, “I’m sorry?”
“Do you have any coffee?” she repeats. “I just moved yesterday and I can’t find my coffeemaker in any of the boxes. I could go to a café but the nearest one is about two blocks away from here and besides, I don’t really want to go outside yet because it’s so early? But I really need a cup of coffee before I start working so…”
“Oh,” he replies while scratching his head in confusion. “Okay. Yeah, I have coffee. Why don’t you come in? It’s in the kitchen.”
She beams at him before following him inside. Luhan’s becoming vaguely aware now that a woman is in his apartment and he’s only slightly thankful that he already washed his face and changed out of his boxers.
“I’m Jinah, by the way. I live across the hall,” she says, holding out her travel mug towards him.
He nods while pouring what’s left of the coffee he made earlier. “Luhan. Welcome to the neighbourhood, I guess.”
“Thank you. I swear this won’t happen again,” she says with a smile-she does that an awful lot, doesn’t she?-before stepping out.
(She lied. It happened again, and again.
And a couple more times after that, it was almost a normal thing, Jinah in his apartment.
“Do you have any cereal?”
“No.”
“You should buy some. And milk too. You’re all out.”
“...”
That’s why Luhan always has a fresh pot of coffee ready in his kitchen now, no matter what time of the day it is.
She gets cranky without caffeine, anyway.)
this is what it takes
vernon/dahyun
It is the middle of November and it’s getting chillier every day. Hansol, having an extreme dislike of the cold weather, has put on three layers of clothing before going outside. He has a shift at the convenience store about a block away so even though it’s Saturday, he has to be up before 9am.
“Jisoo, I’m going,” he says to his roommate in the next room.
Hansol only got a few grunts as a reply and he adjusts the scarf around his neck one more time before stepping out the door. He takes his earphones out and blasts the mix he made a week ago instead of doing his Math homework.
He’s at a street light, bobbing his head to the second track of his mix when someone walks up next to him. It’s a girl and out of the corner of his eye, he can see that she was only wearing a thin shirt and denim shorts. Isn’t she cold? It’s almost winter, for crying out loud! Even with a sweater and a coat on, Hansol can still feel the chill of the air. He shivers on her behalf. The light is still red so he glances at her for a second, noticing that her nose is turning pink from the cold and that there are goose bumps running down her arms every time the wind blows.
Hansol sighs, pulling out an ear bud. He takes off the scarf he’s wearing and offers it to her. “Here. You look cold.”
The girl only looks at him with wide eyes, like she’s torn between saying what are you doing? or who are you do I know you??
“Take it,” Hansol insists. “Your nose is almost red from the cold.”
The girl reaches for her nose instinctively. “Oh,” she mutters, taking the scarf being given to her. “Um, thanks.”
She wraps it twice, loosely around her neck and Hansol couldn’t help but notice the pale pink and orange streaks in her hair. It looks nice, he wants to say but he realizes he’s running late. The light turns green then so instead he shouts, “Next time dress more warmly!” while he runs. The girl lets out a small laugh and gives a small nod in reply.
A little while after the first hour on his shift, it dawns on him that he gave away his scarf to a stranger so he’ll probably never get it back. I never really liked it anyway, he thinks.
late night
kai/seulgi
Seulgi’s vision is starting to blur and she can’t seem to quite figure out if the door she’s seeing leads outside the bar or to the bathroom.
“I think I had too much to drink,” she mumbles to no one in particular because Seungwan left her alone hours ago.
She stumbles and holds on to a chair to keep herself steady. Her head is starting to whir and she keeps thinking how do I get home can someone please come get me when someone walks up to her. The person is saying something she can’t really hear but this person looks an awful lot like Lee Taemin, the fucker who made her lose her internship earlier-can you really fire interns?-just because she brought him the wrong coffee. She feels upset and angry all over again; she’s not even sure if this person really is Taemin but she hits him with her purse anyway and the stranger is clearly surprised.
“You!” she spats while she hits him again. “Why are you so heartless? I made one little mistake. One! And you...my internship...I needed that you know?”
“Um, okay. Just-”
“No. Go away,” Seulgi slurs, shrugging off the hand that was steadying her.
She looks around, trying to find the door she saw earlier. Her surroundings start to spin after taking three steps and she brings a hand to her head before everything turned black.
She opens her eyes and its morning, Seulgi can’t be sure and her head feels like it’s about to split into two. She groans and rolls around in bed for a while and-wait, she doesn’t own any Star Wars sheets and are those anime posters on the walls? It now dawns on her that this room isn’t hers and just as she starts to panic, someone comes in and she throws a pillow at the door’s direction in panic.
“Woah,” the stranger says after his thigh got hit by the pillow. “I see you’re still quite feisty even in the morning.”
Seulgi frowns because she really doesn’t need this now, not when she’s suffering from a major hangover.
“Where am I? And what happened last night?”
The stranger walks over with a glass of water and some pills. “Before anything, you might want to take these. They’re for your headache.”
She takes them, even though she slightly freaking out that she stayed the night in some stranger’s room.
“Thanks,” she mumbles.
“Sure. Well now, let’s see. Last night,” he says thoughtfully while he stood at the foot of the bed. “You were quite drunk so I tried to help you since you could barely walk, but out of nowhere you started hitting me with your purse, screaming about your internship and stuff? Then you passed out. I couldn’t just leave you alone and I didn’t know where you lived so I took you to my place instead.”
Seulgi can feel her cheeks heating up in embarrassment as she recalls in pieces last night’s events. The urge to bury her head under the ill-printed sheets was very high but she resists, in an attempt to save the last remaining bit of her composure.
“I-I’m sorry about that. But, um, you really didn’t have to...” she trails off awkwardly.
The stranger smiles in response and-oh, his smile is nice.
“Your way of saying thank you is weird,” he says, cocking his head to one side like he's trying to figure her out.
Seulgi just looks away, suddenly finding the poster-covered walls very interesting compared to the gaze directed at her.
“Do you want to wash up or something?”
“Um, yes, that would be nice.”
“Well then, bathroom is that door over there,” he motions at the right side of the room. “There should be a fresh towel in there. You can use that. And I can lay out some clothes for you to wear, if you want.”
She wants to say that it's not necessary but after a sniff of the pullover she was wearing (it reeks of soju and barbecue smoke), she gives him a small nod.
“Okay, I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything,” he says while walking towards the door. He stops and looks back before he can step outside. “I'm Jongin, by the way. Kim Jongin. Thought you might want to know that, in case you want to turn me over to the cops or something.”
She laughs at that. “I'm Seulgi. And I won't call the cops, I swear.”
Jongin laughs too before finally stepping outside. Seulgi makes her way into the bathroom thinking how Jongin's laugh is even nicer than his smile.
you're my butterfly
jungkook/yeri
★ for raeyoo, it's a mess and i could've come up something better with the prompt you gave me but i hope you still like it
Jungkook sips at his warm cup of coffee while he looks out the glass windows. It was a lousy day to be outdoors, he thinks while noticing the darkening clouds overhead. It looked like rain was about to pour soon so he leaned back in his seat some more. From the looks of it, he won’t get to be elsewhere anytime soon.
His summer vacation ended a few days ago, when he went back to Seoul from his stay in Busan. He barely gets to come home anymore so the 2-month stay was definitely welcome. His roommate, Hoseok, has yet to return from his trip so instead of holing up in his room, Jungkook spends his time in a café near the university. It’s a good place to hang around, especially today. Incoming freshmen keep stopping by the café before going for enrollment and it’s been fun for Jungkook seeing them all tense and doe-eyed.
He listens to a couple of girls in the next table, checking off their requirements while they sip at their frappes. He can’t help but think that the around the same time last year he was another innocent freshman, eager to start a new chapter in his life. Jungkook masks his chuckle by taking another sip of his coffee. The door opens then, a small breeze coming in together with a new customer.
Even over the music softly playing and the talking in the next table, Jungkook hears iced coffee being ordered and he glances towards the counter curiously because the voice sounded somehow familiar. Too familiar.
He sees her face when she turns around to look for an empty table and he recognizes her instantly. Jungkook contemplates for a moment if he should wave her over so they share a table, still looking and not taking his eyes off her. He almost smiles because years after, she still has the same effect on people-on him. She sees him first before he can make up his mind and she’s now grinning at him while she walks over.
“Jeon Jungkook? I thought that was you.” she says light-heartedly. “Mind if I sit?”
He shakes his head and gestures to the empty seat in front of him. “No, yeah. Go ahead.”
While she settles down, Jungkook can’t help but notice that her hair is now a light shade of brown and she’s even wearing makeup. It’s been more than a year since he last saw her; back then she had tacky side bangs and laughed too loud whenever she heard a joke.
“So, what brings you around?”
“Well, enrollment and all that. I’m an incoming freshman.”
“Wow,” he says with a small laugh. “Kim Yerim in college. Weren’t you set on becoming an idol? What ever happened to that?”
“Yeah, that fell apart, surprisingly. I’m going to be a boring college student instead. Like you,” she replies teasingly.
Jungkook's retort is cut short when her order comes. She starts asking about how college life is when the staff left and he answers her questions one by one, like what general courses not to take and if there are any clubs that are worth signing up for. He notices that Yeri's phone buzzes a few times while they're talking but he ignores it since she didn't seem to mind. Instead, he asks her about their high school, what changed since he graduated and who else in her year would be enrolling in the same university as them.
If he's going to be honest with himself, there's a question he really wants to ask but he holds back, unsure if he's in any position to pry. But in the end, his curiosity won him over.
“So, are you...dating anyone right now?” Jungkook says carefully, making sure his tone was casual.
Yeri laughs awkwardly and she takes a sip of her drink. The flush in her cheeks is evident but he doesn't say anything about it.
“Actually, I-”
She pauses when someone calls out her name. They both turn to see a guy heading over their table, bleached hair looking disheveled from the wind outside. Up close, Jungkook observes that he's quite thin and has necklaces on his neck that makes a sound whenever the pendants clink together.
“You ready to go?” he asks Yeri in accented Korean.
She gives him a small nod while she stand up in her seat. Jungkook eyes the way the guy's hand clamps over Yeri's shoulder, like if he loosen his grip someone might take her away. In another lifetime, Jungkook might grab her by the hand and make her stay but in this one, he just smiles.
“I guess we have to go. See you at school soon, yeah?” Yeri says before walking away with the guy in tow.
“Yeah. See you at school.”
Jungkook stares at the two of them until they step out of the café's door. He downs the rest of his coffee and wonders how she always manages to fly away whenever he thinks he's finally getting close.
- these were short but i actually had trouble finishing it all lol
- i really want to write more but whenever i start, my motivation is always at 10% goodbye
- btw the guy in you're my butterfly is bambam lol i obviously don't know how to describe him not a got7 stan so