About Now*:・ﾟ| Chapter Eleven — False Not True Stop Speaking LIES

hiii im really enjoying until now and would like to be added to the taglistt <3<3 thank youu lovee !!💗

waoaoaoo ofc ofc<33

giggles

PLS THE TAGLISG IM ON MY KNEES

AAAAAA OFC<333

𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙯𝙞 𝙞𝙣 𝙜𝙤𝙨𝙚

hey y’all YOU GOT MY HEART BEATIN DUMB BRUH WHY IS THIS ACC MAKING MY HEART RACE GOD I NEED ROMANCE IN MY LIFE

IF THIS AINT MEEEE

the way i make myself giddy sometimes while making this HHHH @ god When

about now*:・ﾟ| chapter twenty one — the two outside perspectives

summary: a global pandemic paired with months of lockdown; you're pretty sure you're going stir-crazy. when you come across a viral chat-app, you don't even hesitate to join it. thus begin the chaos of meeting 14 random strangers and how they become a bigger part of your life than you thought they would.

alt: an au where you join an app that puts you into a groupchat of 15 people from different parts of the world

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join the taglist ?? :D

a/n: kinda packed update that i wrote at like 3 am and spent 2 hours editing all this🗿 and we got the longest appearances from chae and chan :]] !! *also swotvac is the week right before finals month start

taglist: @wooziujidoots @emilie0nicole @lynniac @wuriwoori @serenadesvt @seokgyuu @3sriracha @ktzuki @seungcheoluwu @justasoftstan @mythicalamphitrite @anothershorthuman @xxirxa21xx @lulpurp @introductionvert @icepandagirl @mingyuahjumma @spicy-hoshi

unable to tag: @berry-kyu ?? ):

I hope you find a cozy home in yourself instead of wishing you were more this or less that. I hope you see something in yourself worth loving and protecting. I hope you find something that brings you comfort and lessens the loneliness. I hope you go on long walks and drink your favourite tea. I hope you have books, daydreams, paintbrushes, music and other escapes to hold on to when you have nothing else. I hope you continue to try even when you’re tired and can’t see the end. I hope unexpected good things come to surprise you. I hope you meet someone who lights up your life and makes up for all the goodbyes and endings that came before. I hope you’re going through your day and feel a sense of lightness all over and wonder to yourself, maybe it’s all going to be alright. I hope you make yourself proud. I hope you make new memories full of warmth and peace to replace the bad ones. I hope your heart will be surrounded with flowers, trees and stars. I hope everything gets better for you.

TOMORROW X TOGETHER :: LO$ER=LO♡ER

about now*:・ﾟ| epilogue pt. 2

summary: a global pandemic paired with months of lockdown; you're pretty sure you're going stir-crazy. when you come across a viral chat-app, you don't even hesitate to join it. thus begin the chaos of meeting 14 random strangers and how they become a bigger part of your life than you thought they would.

alt: an au where you join an app that puts you into a groupchat of 15 people from different parts of the world

word count: 2.6k words

previous | masterlist | next

join the taglist ?? :D

a/n: this was supposed to be around 1k but i kinda went crazy sorz<333

“God, I feel terrible for straight up lying to him.”

Chaeyoung glances at your crumpled face as you put down your phone. A chuckle slips past her lips at the sight of her best friend complaining about lying—to a man nonetheless, she muses internally.

She was about to respond, before you shove your phone near her face, showing the notifications on your lock screen.

“He just wished us a safe flight and that I have fun with your family!” You grumbled while taking sips of your iced coffee in an effort to calm your rising emotions. “I know I wanted to keep it as a surprise but I literally had to pretend we’re going to New Zealand for weeks now. I hate not telling him things, especially big things like-“

“Like you spending an entire year in Korea?” Chan chimes in, dragging his luggage over next to yours as he plops to the seat to your right, a bottled juice in hand.

Chaeyoung snorts in response, “thank you for making her feel better, Christopher.”

You roll your eyes, ready to go on another spiel before Chan prods your cheek with the cold bottle, earning a squeak and a hard shove from you.

“You’re gonna run yourself into the ground at this rate, Yn.”

Chaeyoung reaches out to pat your head whilst slowly pulling you to rest on her shoulders, “Chan’s right, you’ve got nothing to worry about. I know meeting him for the first time is going to be weird—even if you’ve dated for a year.”

Your lips tug into a small smile at that. You still can’t believe that the man you harboured feelings for, despite only knowing him through a screen, has you falling completely in love with him. Now, two years later—one being spent in a relationship—the two of you are still going as strong as ever. Even the fact that you’ve been dating for a year still makes you smile giddily.

“But knowing you two, you’ll break the ice in no time and you can finally do all the things you’ve been wanting to do together.”

A certain bittersweetness tinges your heart. Despite being overjoyed that you were mere days away from finally being able to be physically near him, the built up longing and gloom from the distance still weighs on you.

Celebrations—whether big or small— where you just wanted to bring him into your arms and spin him around, hearing his surprised giggles echoing near your ears. Days where things just don’t work out, it pained you to see him break through a screen and not being able to wipe his tears yourself. Sleepless nights when he’d sing you the sweetest lullabies, watch parties in rainy evenings, lunch dates. Everything that you’ve yearned for still claws deep in your heart, and you wonder when the dull ache would cease. Would it vanish in his presence? Or would it slowly inch deeper as each day passes, knowing your departure looms over your time together?

“Flight number KE072, to Incheon, South Korea, please proceed to the boarding gate.”

Broken out of your reverie, your two friends start to gather all of your belongings together. Everything passes through you in a blur and before you know it, you were seated on a plane; flying to the place where the other half of your heart resides.

——————————

“Layovers fucking suck, dude.”

“Cheer up, I literally just bought you ice cream.”

“I’m not some 4 year old you can just appease with a sweet treat, Chae,”

“Well, it worked for a good ten minutes.”

“You’re terrible, I wish you were the one asleep and not Yn.”

A snort escapes you, alerting the bickering duo that you were in fact, not asleep. You lift your head up after resting it on your arm, blinking your fatigue away.

“How come I didn’t get any ice cream?”

Chaeyoung lightly flicks your temple with her finger, “you’re literally dead asleep, babes. You even got marks on your forehead.”

Rubbing the spot she flicked, you griped indignantly, “and flicking it is supposed to help?”

You raised an arm to retaliate, but before you could pounce on the grinning girl, a ding from your phone caught your attention.

The texts exchanged within the group-chat elicited a snicker out of you, preoccupying your attention and rendering you unaware of the fond looks both Chaeyoung and Chan are sending your way. Nevertheless, the prolonged silence eventually caught your attention. You looked up at the two, growing queasy under their stares.

“Why are you guys looking at me like that?”

Chan snorts at your accusatory glare, waving it off with his hand, “we’re just glad that you finally get to meet your friends who makes you this happy.”

A certain warmth blankets you, heart so full of love and gratitude for the two friends beside you, sporting the same tired yet beaming smile. You didn’t know where you’d be without them—certainly not South Korea, a place that has only been a distant dream until the day they broke the news of your trip.

“Well, it is thanks to you two,” You paused, before hurriedly adding, “I’m also just really happy that we’re on another trip together.” Immediately turning away from the two, you pretended to be engrossed with the stores around that are… closed.

“You’re such a sap, Yn,” Chaeyoung replies with a teasing lilt to her voice.

You chose to stay quiet while looking away, unwilling to let the face-splitting grin be seen by the two cooing at you.

“Look at her smiling, she’s so happy that we helped end her dry season—”

“Bang Christopher Chan!”

——————————

“You’re way shorter than I’d imagined you to be,” you muttered. Or well, tried. Your voice is muffled as your face is still shoved against Miki’s sweater, only barely decipherable mumbles escaping.

“And just like that I’m kicking you out of here.”

The two of you had met up at Jeonghan’s place, agreeing that staying out of the public’s view would decrease the chances of ruining the surprise you worked terribly hard on. After getting lost for 20 minutes and having both Miki and Jeonghan yelling at you over phone, you finally arrived at the quaint apartment—before promptly getting pounced by the Japanese girl you had gotten close to over the past two years and is now one of your dearest friends.

“Hey, no you’re not. I haven’t even gotten the chance to bond with the gremlin since you’ve hogged her from the start, ” Jeonghan’s voice rang out from the kitchen, where you assumed he’s preparing the lunch he ordered. “Let the girl breathe, honey.”

With a light push, Miki detached herself from you, opting to hold your face between her hands, resting them on your cheeks.

“Jihoon is so going to lose his mind when he sees you.”

You snorted in response, “that’s not very reassuring, Miki.”

The girl only rolled her eyes, “trust me, if you really are wearing the outfit you showed me last time on call, he is definitely going to fall in love with you all over again.”

Heat immediately rushes to your cheeks, reddening them in embarrassment. Rendered speechless, you were only capable of spitting out incoherent words whilst Miki enjoys it all with her head thrown back in laughter.

The sound of a door opening interrupts the two of you, along with the shout that came afterwards.

“Where is my lovely Yn-ie?!”

The booming voice that you used to hear over call rings louder in real life, and you could only chuckle as the silver-haired man came into view.

“Hey, Soonyoung—”

“Why does it look like the two of you are about to kiss?”

“The two of them are what, now?” Jeonghan stepped into the living room; a plastic bag full of food on one hand and a kitchen knife on the other.

The sight brought you to yell in jest, “Holy shit dude, I’m not going to steal your girlfriend, put the knife down.”

Echoes of laughter encompassed the room as the four of you shuffled towards the dining table, enticed by the promising smell of good food. Light chatter ensues as you catch one another up with how travelling was, and their future plans while staying here.

“The rest genuinely have no idea that you’re all here,” Jeonghan smirks as he pops another fried chicken in his mouth.

Soonyoung only cackles with glee, “I can just imagine all of their shocked faces tomorrow, oh I’m so excited!”

You pause mid-way of taking another bite, “how did the guys manage to book a whole bar, anyway?”

Everyone only shrugs while Miki chimes in, “Gyu’s a loaded youtuber and Wonwoo’s a loaded streamer.”

You choked on your rice.

Jeonghan snorts before gently shoving her shoulder, “it’s Seokmin’s parents’ bar, dumbass.”

A collective “oooh’s” sounded out, before settling into another food-induced silence.

“So, how are you gonna congratulate the big man on his album release party, Yn?”

“Now why the fuck would you ask her that, Hosh?”

——————————

To say you were nervous was an immeasurable understatement.

“I feel like I’m shitting bricks.”

Chaeyoung tuts you. “Okay one, I did not need that visual image, and two, you look banging! If Jihoon doesn’t drop dead at the sight of you then leave him.”

“She’s right, Yn, but also you’re insane if you think that the guy wouldn’t drop dead when he sees you, regardless of what you look like.” Chan’s voice rang through the speakers.

You could only chew your bottom lip in silence, knowing that what your friends’ said was true, yet too agitated to listen to sound reasoning. Only the humming of the car and the occasional crackle from Chan’s voice call occupied the quiet air and the nerves were eating away at you. You felt like you could lose your mind.

Chaeyoung’s hand grasps yours, her thumb tapping against yours in a rhythmic beat.

You take a deep breath, exhaling. Looking over, you smiled at her gratefully. Even with her eyes on the road, you notice the small smile tugging at the corner of her lip.

The speakers crackled to life once again as Chan interjects the silence, “Oh, Yn, text us later yeah, if you need one of us to pick you up.”

You only hummed noncommittally, the prospect of the night going awry and having to be picked up by your friend is not a scenario you necessarily would like to dwell on.

“Looks like this is the bar,” Chaeyoung muttered.

The car slows down as the two of you try to peer in the seemingly empty bar—which would usually raise suspicion—but you knew that only your group and a couple of other people from Jihoon’s company were invited. You could see some people shuffling about inside, and your body goes timid, frozen in distress.

“I—”

“I did not just drive you all the way here only for you to chicken out, Yn.” Chaeyoung reprimanded you sternly.

“Chaeyoung’s stingy with gas, Yn!”

“I will beat you up, Christopher.”

Recognising a figure walking towards the bar, you tapped Chaeyoung’s arm, interrupting her squabble with Chan.

“I see Miki coming with Jeonghan, so I think I’ll go down now…?” you mumbled hesitantly.

After a blur of cheers and some words of encouragement later, you’re out of the car; whisper-yelling to the couple walking in, catching their attention.

“Why the hell are you hiding behind a tree like some fucking meme?”

“Did you really just compare me to Shaq?”

Miki chuckles in disbelief, “is this really what’s important here?”

Jeonghan waves her off, “Ok, so what’s your game plan here?”

It was nearing 8pm, half an hour after the celebration started, and the three of you were huddled against a wall, near to the entrance of the bar.

Miki groans, “can’t you just walk in and like, I don’t know, announce your existence?”

“Honey, I love you, but you have no flair.”

You huffed, tuning out the quarrelling couple, while eyeing the entrance.

“IS THAT WHO I THINK IT IS?!”

A boisterous shout jolted all of you into silence, the prime suspect of the noise comes in the form of a Boo Seungkwan dashing towards you.

“My least favourite people gathered together! How the hell are all of you here?”

You gasped in faux anger, “this is our first meeting and that’s how you greet us?”

Seungkwan laughs while placing an arm around your shoulders, side-hugging each of you in turn.

“Well, what are you doing outside? Come on, let’s go inside!” He starts slowly pushing you towards the entrance.

“Might as well, we don’t have any ideas anyways,” Jeonghan shrugged.

Sighing, you acquiesced and let yourself be dragged, “okay, at least let me hide behind you all.”

——————————

Maybe Jihoon is kind of... an unobservant dumbass.

You’ve been standing inside the bar—with him standing just across the room from you—yet you’ve still gone undetected.

Or, maybe, everyone is an unobservant dumbass.

Only Seungcheol and Wonwoo has spotted you; the latter visibly surprised at your presence. They both sent you supportive grins and a thumbs up whilst nodding their heads towards where Jihoon is.

Nerves start to crawl under your skin again, doubts clouding over your thoughts. The bar was dim and although he was across the room, you could barely make out his features. Even so, your heart races uncontrollably, and everything you had planned to say crumbled at the tip of your tongue.

“Just go up to him, everything will work out.”

Mingyu’s low voice brings you back down from your head. You whipped your head to him, waving lightly as a greeting that he returned with a pat on your shoulders. With Seungkwan tangled in his arms beside him, they were both smiling at you softly, and he gently whispers, “Trust yourself, and in your relationship, you’ve got this.”

You heave a breath, taking in everyone’s words and fuelling yourself to walk over to where you felt your heart tugging you towards.

Jihoon is leaning against the bar counter, clad in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up—and you had to reprimand yourself not to stare too long. The red light frames his face into something akin of an artwork, but you beg to differ. Seeing all the different sides of Jihoon from the past two years, you’d argue that every side of him is just as captivating. You find that when it comes to Lee Jihoon, you are completely enamoured by his mere existence.

Step by step, you get closer. A million of scenarios run through your head, different greetings you could say, and how he would react. Yet, nothing could prepare you as you stand an arm’s reach away.

Seokmin, who was talking to Jihoon, gasped loudly and widened his eyes comically. Confused—and mildly concerned—Jihoon swiftly turns his head back, sparing you a glance.

Jihoon did a double take.

At this point, Seokmin—joined by Seungkwan and Mingyu—cheered on theatrically, catching everyone’s attention. Yet, neither of you ever averted your eyes away from each other.

Offering him a shy yet nervous smile, you took a step closer, whilst he’s still taking you in as if he can’t believe you were standing there, existing in his vicinity. Jihoon’s eyes blink wildly, mouth agape, and body still. He was convinced he was dreaming.

A mischievous glint flashes in your eyes and at that second, Jihoon knew instantly that this was real, the same girl he fell in love with—and has been in love with for the past year—is standing right in front of him, and he prepares himself for whatever quip you’ve prepared.

You copied his earlier stance, leaning against the bar and resting an arm on the table. Throwing him the sleaziest smirk you can, you manage to blurt out between your giggles.

“Hey, you come here often?”

extra a/n: v sorry for the cliffhanger LMAO

taglist: @wooziujidoots @lynniac @wuriwoori @serenadesvt @seokgyuu @3sriracha @ktzuki @justasoftstan @mythicalamphitrite @anothershorthuman @lulpurp @introductionvert @icepandagirl @mingyuahjumma @w8nuzone @caratgether @berry-kyu @hadaises

unable to tag: @emilie0nicole @seungcheoluwu @xxirxa21xx @spicy-hoshi

lmao YIKES it's out ok im gonna run away now

just finished proofreading today's update but my designated-beta-reader-friend is asleep Ruh Roh