jisung
do you have a korean name?

miles
what a strange questionnnnn

jisung
i am curious 🤔🫢🤯

miles
💓💞💘💘💓 kms|

miles
i dooo but it's embarrassing and i hate it

miles
no one knows except my very best friends

jisung
what is ittttttt 😝😝

miles
are you assuming that you're one
of my very best friends?? 🤔

jisung
yes 🤗😱😖🥶🤩

miles
okay fine

miles
but you can't tell anyone (chenle)

jisung
DEAL

miles
it's.
cheonsang

jisung
... your parents named you
chen cheonsang..?

miles
TECHNICALLY my mom didn't
want to give us (my brother and i)
korean names but our grandmother
refused to call us by our english names
when we visited her in korea

jisung
your name means heavenly

miles
yes i am aware

jisung
👼🪽🕊️

miles
🙂

jisung
i like it !

miles
you don't have to lie 😭😭

jisung
it's not a BAD name
it just doesn't suit you

miles
i'm not heavenly?? ☹️😩

jisung
not thatttt ugh silly

jisung
you seem more like a cheongsan

jisung
chen cheongsan sounds better
than chen cheonsang 👍💪

miles
did you just rename me 😭

jisung
yes

miles
hot|

miles
okay i like it

jisung
YIPPEEE

jisung
btw look at this alien i found

jisung

miles
you??

jisung

miles
💀

jisung
oki bue

miles
LMFAOO bye 😭👋

not everyone was able to make it to hyuck's last minute convenience store adventure proposal, but more agreed than he anticipated.

with jiae in the passenger's seat, her hand clasped comfortably in his, the couple went around picking a few of their friends up. the groups that weren't walking decided to carpool to save on parking spots, which meant haechan and jiae had to find every scrap of inner peace they had as miles, yuxi, and chenle clamored in the backseats.

"you smell bad," miles spat at chenle, who was sitting on the other side of yuxi. the poor girl was put in the middle to act as a barrier when the guys started arguing outside of the car, but they'd been shooting snide comments at each other as if she didn't exist.

chenle sat up, arms crossed defiantly over his chest as he glared at miles. "do not! if anyone stinks in this car, it's you!"

"at least i shower every day!"

"water waster!"

"smelly oaf!"

"ironic that an ugly person is calling me an oaf."

miles gasped. "you take that back! i'm gorgeous!"

"make me!"

and then, like the children they were, miles and chenle started smacking each other's arms, completely disregarding the fact that yuxi was screaming in the crossfire.

jiae felt a vein bulge in her temple as the pair continued bickering. her grip tightened on hyuck's hand, and his thumb brushed reassuring circles in an attempt to relax her.

yuxi shouted as miles leaned into her to better hit chenle.

"boys!" jiae turned in her seat to face the trio as she shouted, "both of you be quiet and sit your asses down, or so help me, haechan will turn this car around and make you walk!"

that seemed to do the trick. as jiae plopped back into her seat, rubbing her aching forehead with one hand and letting hyuck squeeze her other, the backseat quieted down.

stealing a quick glance in the mirror, jiae saw yuxi beaming happily in her seat as chenle and miles leaned against the doors, staring out the windows. jiae heard her boyfriend giggling, trying to muffle the sound by biting his lips.

she gave his thumb a pinch, and he didn't look away from the road as he pinched her back.

—

"and then jiae went all momma bear on us. it was scary!" miles dramatically retold the story of the car ride to jisung, renjun, and mark, who were the only three willing listen. the tale was twisted, miles making himself out to be the victim and chenle the evil villain, but the idols nodded along nonetheless.

jiae rolled her eyes as he wrapped the story up, but the smile on her face didn't fade. as dramatic and over the top as miles was, his stories were always the most entertaining.

once he was done, renjun slowly nodded and stood. "wow. that was... very nice. oh, sosuke, you called me?" he said, turning towards a very confused-looking sosuke who had been peacefully doodling in his sketchbook.

"huh?"

"coming!" renjun darted into the open seat beside the long-haired boy.

after renjun absorbed himself into sosuke's sketches, mark took that as his cue to stand as well. he faked a yawn and pointed at the wall behind him before waving goodbye and walking away, leaving the three remaining people blinking.

jiae watched as mark leaned over the check-out counter, where eunjin and jeno were helping haechan's sister restock some snacks and drinks. it didn't take long for him to pitch in, and jiae smiled softly before turning her attention back to jisung and miles, who were now staring at something on jisung's phone.

she took that as her cue, brushing herself off as she looked around the crowded store for someone to chat with. when she found yuxi sitting in a corner on her phone, she approached and gently tugged at the girl's beanie.

yuxi looked up in surprise to see jiae standing behind her and smile brightly. "jiae, look at what yangyang drew!" she said before pushing her phone into jiae's face. taking a second to adjusted, a wide smile split across jiae's face as she recognized the two stick people in the cute digital drawing.

"you and yangyang as superheroes?" she guessed with a laugh, and yuxi nodded her head.

"aren't we so cute?! look, he even gave me butterfly wings since we're the zoopals!" yuxi let out a little squeal as she brought her phone back to her chest. "oh, now he wants to play kart rider. sorry, jiae! i have to crush him."

jiae completely understood. "make him cry."

"oh, i will," yuxi said with a devilish chuckle.

meanwhile, on the other side of the store, chenle and soyi were making the last packet of ramen, agreeing to share since it was their favorite flavor.

as they waited for the noodles to cook in the hot water, chenle decided to strike up some conversation. "so, our chicken date. what happened with that?"

soyi scoffed and rolled her eyes, hoping he thought the blush dusting her cheeks was due to sitting beneath the air conditioner. "it was nice. we had a fun, respectable time."

"and will there be another one?"

soyi's heart fluttered in her chest. "depends. you tend to disappear right after we plan dates."

"i'm back now," he said, and soyi could feel him looking at her as she stared ahead at the ramen.

she rubbed a hand over her arm, daring a quick glance to the right. chenle leaned forward to catch her eye and blinked at her expectingly.

with a sigh, soyi let her head roll to the side, resting her cheek against her shoulder as she looked at him. "welcome back. did you have something in mind?"

chenle thought for a moment and rubbed a hand gingerly over his stubbly chin. "not exactly, but i'll have some free time this week."

"this week, hm?" soyi looked into the distance, placing a finger to her lips as she pretended to think. "i suppose i could move some things around. no chicken this time, though."

shaking his head, chenle opened his mouth to tease her back, but the alarm on his phone went off, signaling that the ramen was ready. he uncovered it, mixed it around, and broke a pair of chopsticks apart for soyi to use.

she took them with a small thanks and scooted her chair closer to chenle so that she could more comfortable reach the ramen. together, they smiled as they shared a meal in playful silence.

"we can't paint the cabinets green," hyuck argued with a little laugh as jiae continued showing him images of room decor she saved from pinterest.

"it would look so nice, though! your place is too monochromatic, babe. i love it, but we need some color to liven it up."

haechan sighed and continued swiping through jiae's photos, occasionally shooting her some rather judgmental looks at what she'd found. "sweetheart... a minho shower curtain? do i want to ask?"

jiae snatched her phone away. "you weren't supposed to see that one."

"wh-why not a lee haechan from nct curtain?!"

"because i already see your face enough, duh!" she giggled back, leaning forward to kiss his pouted lips.

haechan humphed. "fine. what about a custom made rhee jiae curtain, huh?"

jiae grinned and brushed a stray bang out of her boyfriend's eyes. "now that, i can get behind—"

"psst. jiae!" somebody whispered obnoxiously behind her, and jiae glanced back to see miles standing there with wide eyes and flushed cheeks. she turned to hyuck, who had clearly heard the loud "psst" sound, but being secretive was never miles's strong suit.

"uh, yes, miles?" she asked in her normal speaking voice. soyi came trailing behind him, her face rather pale. jiae furrowed her brows and stood as miles gripped her hand and practically dragged her into the bathroom.

once both girls were in, he locked the door and shook his hands out as he faced them. jiae couldn't help the nerves creeping under her skin, causing her heart to speed up. "what happened?" she asked quietly. "is everything alright?"

then, a large, beaming grin spread across miles's face. "jisung touched me. on my leg. my thigh. is he in love with me? is this his love confession? does he want me or have i completely lost it?!"

jiae fought the urge to laugh, more in relief than humor. she looked to the side, but soyi was not listening, her mind clearly elsewhere. miles shot the younger girl a look of indignation. "why aren't you saying anything?! freak out with me!"

"chenle and i kissed," she breathed.

"... oh, girl, you win. tell us everything now."

"i..." soyi blinked a few times and slapped both hands on either sides of her pink face. "somebody punch me. not actually!" she added when miles reached forward.

the oldest in the room tried not to smile. she'd silently been shipping chenle and soyi for some time, but the former seemed very conflicted. "do you want to talk about it?"

a ghost of a smile curled against soyi's lips. "we were planning another date, teasing each other, and when i was looking up some popular date locations, he kissed me on the cheek—"

miles let out a groan. "the cheek? girl, that doesn't count!"

"yes it does! i think. i don't know!" soyi couldn't keep the laughter from her voice at miles's exasperation. "my feelings are a mess right now!"

the boy rolled his eyes. "you like him. he likes you. can i please plan the wedding, now?"

but soyi's smile didn't quite reach her eyes, and when jiae saw, she placed a comforting hand on the younger's shoulder. "what's going on, so?"

soyi let out a shaky exhale. "i'm just... scared. we've been friends for so long, and i don't want that to change if we start dating and it doesn't work. he's so busy and travels all the time, and i'm really happy working with lin and going to school. i don't want us to change for each other, but i don't want to lose him, either."

miles opened his mouth to argue, but but his tongue after seeing the sharp look on jiae's face. she patted soyi on the shoulder, understanding her frustrations after dating a popular idol for some time.

"it can be... a lot," jiae admitted softly. she had nights where she couldn't sleep, worried about haechan or obsessing over the last time they spoke. she learned to accept that part of him, the idol part, and though she didn't love him because of it, she learned to love him for it. "it took me a while to admit to myself that i wanted more than friendship, and i'm honestly so glad i did."

soyi let out a shaky exhale and subconsciously rubbed her arm. "but what if i'm not like you? what if i can't learn to accept that? i miss him when he's gone. i worry that he's going to find someone more courageous about their feelings than i am. i—" soyi cut herself off with a sad little scoff. "why am i talking like we're already in a relationship?"

jiae wasn't sure what to say, and it made her feel guilty. hyeyeong would know, even sosuke, but all jiae could think to do was squeeze soyi's shoulder in comfort.

she was going to try for some kind words when miles suddenly raised a hand. "did i mention that jisung blushed and looked away after he caught himself touching my leg..?"

the three, deciding they'd been in the restroom for far too long, exited and split up. soyi and miles went to cheer yuxi on as she beat yangyang in mobile games, and jiae returned to haechan, who was now chatting with jaemin and lin.

when jiae saw the two, she smiled. "oh, i thought it was date night tonight?"

lin had her arms wrapped loosely around jaemin's as she nodded. "we finished dinner early and thought we'd stop by!" then she leaned forward for only jiae to hear as she asked, "what is up with mr. attitude over there?"

following her gaze, jiae realized she was referring to chenle, who was slouched sulkily over his phone, and swallowed the urge to laugh. "i'll tell you later," she mouthed.

"jerry!" jiae heard, turned towards the sound of her boyfriend's voice. when she spotted him, her posture fell as a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth when she saw him holding two melon bars.

bidding a quick farewell to lin, she approached and took the popsicle extended to her with a small thanks. "let me guess. they're the last two?"

hyuck winked at her before taking a step closer, his fingers grazing hers. "just like old times."

jiae nudged him with her shoulder and took a bite of the melon bar. she watched him smile as she intertwined their hands. "just like old times."

sosuke
fuck everyone in here except renjun

sosuke

sosuke
twice here i come 

•
guys... the end 😭

JK!! i won't say much but their stories don't end here! there's more to come... 👀🤭

anywayy i want to thank you all for sticking with this looooooong ass journey haha. i definitely didn't expect it to take all this time, but life is strange like that! i'm happy with how jiae and hyuck's relationship is, and i hope you guys are as well! let me know if there's anything you wish we could have seen... ;)

i have nothing but love for all of you, and hope you have the most amazing days in the future! please stay safe and healthy 💗💗 elle