Chapter Text
Leather Jackets and Bad Decisions Mood Board: Act 1
Seonghwa's POV:
Seonghwa
Oh my god, he’s here!
My fingers shook as I waited for Yunho to respond.
Yunho
Who exactly?
Seonghwa
My brother’s friend. He’s staying over for the weekend.
I sighed as I heard San and him laughing in the next room. I didn’t think I’d ever see him again after that frat party over a year ago — the one where I had to pick up my idiot little brother because he was too drunk to drive himself home after trying to impress Wooyoung by downing five tequila shots in under two minutes. That night, I saw him putting on his helmet beside a black Honda CBR. The streetlights made it hard to see his face properly, but that jawline had carved itself permanently into my memory. He wore a black compression shirt stretched over broad shoulders, paired with army-print cargo pants and a killer smile as he waved goodbye to my brother before driving off. I’ve thought about him ever since.
Yunho
Damn, is he hot though? San makes a lot of friends with questionable backgrounds. I’d tread carefully if I were you.
Yunho’s reply made my stomach tingle.
Seonghwa
I don’t think he’s like that. He said ‘hey’ to me earlier and I swear he did it with a smirk.
Yunho
You are really ignoring every warning sign here, Seonghwa. I know you have a thing for men who look like DPR Ian, but with guys like that it’s always hit or miss. Is this the biker guy?
As always, his comments hit way too close to home.
Seonghwa
Yes its Hongjoong and
I was about to send a follow-up when another message popped up from a number I didn’t recognize.
****
Hi Seonghwa, good evening. San and I are about to grab McDonald’s. Wanna come with?
I nearly sank to the floor.
****
This is Hongjoong btw. Make sure to save my number ;>
My eyes stayed glued to the message for a full minute. I genuinely couldn’t process what had just happened. Everything suddenly felt like it was moving way too fast.
I had asked San about him the morning after that drunken disaster of a night, but apparently he barely remembered anything besides the fact that Hongjoong was a mutual friend of Mingi’s and studied Engineering. Then Yunho and Mingi started dating, and I got too shy to ask again. It wasn’t until a week ago that I heard San mention reconnecting with old friends through League of Legends. A few days later, I opened our apartment door and there he was.
I paced around my room, trying to come up with the most casual reply possible while hearing him laugh with San in the living room. I typed out responses only to delete them over and over again.
Calm down. It’s just a harmless crush. You shouldn’t be acting this frantic.
But apparently, I was exactly this frantic.
Maybe it was because my love life had become painfully boring. You’d think being an art major while modeling on the side would mean I’d meet someone eventually, but no. Having a preference for men already narrowed the pool enough, and my horrible tendency to fall for the “bad boy” type only made this whole situation feel more dangerous. And exciting.
Seonghwa
Hi there. I won’t ask where you got my number, but sure, I’m down for a midnight snack :)
God, I’m so cringe. Please save me.
I was just about to hit send when Yunho’s call flashed across my screen. I picked up immediately, already bracing myself for whatever nonsense was about to come out of his mouth.
“Hyung, report back immediately. What happened?”
“He has my number. Freaking San probably gave it to him, but honestly, at least that saves me from asking first.”
“OH MY GOD, that was fast. And he messaged first? What did he say? Send screenshots.”
Like hell I would.
“He asked if I wanted to grab food with them. Horrible timing, honestly. I already have my pajamas and face mask on.”
“So you declined?”
“Of course not. Why would I do that?”
I could hear two people giggling through the call while I finally sent my reply to Hongjoong.
“Yunho, are you calling Seonghwa right now?” Mingi yelled from somewhere in the background, loud enough for me to hear clearly.
“Yeah. He’s getting ready to go out with San and Hongjoong.”
A second later, the camera turned on. Both of them stared at me through the screen with identical grins.
“Hyung, I didn’t know you were into Hongjoong-hyung like that,” Mingi said. “I would’ve set you up ages ago.”
“I’m not,” I shot back immediately. “You’re getting infected by Yunho’s delusionism. I’m not some stalker. I only saw him once before, and that was forever ago. I barely even got a proper look at him until today.”
“And how was the view?” Yunho asked smugly. “Done stalking his socials yet? Because I’d bet money he’s exactly your type.”
Heat crept onto my face as I remembered opening the door earlier.
Under proper lighting, he looked unfairly attractive. Black leather jacket. Silver chains and zippers. White tank top underneath. Sleek black pants tucked into combat boots. Sharp eyes and the same devastating smile. His voice carried this effortless swagger that almost sounded cocky at first, but after overhearing him talk with San, I realized he was actually sweet. Apparently, he tutored juniors regularly and treated them to dinner whenever they were struggling.
So he wasn’t just hot.
He was nice too.
Which was honestly worse.
“Sure, hyung. Sure.” Yunho snorted. “But shouldn’t you change into something a little more eye-catching?”
He said this while I was halfway through peeling off my sleeping mask. I guess sleep could wait when someone was actively asking for my company.
“I think my pajamas are eye-catching enough,” I replied with a laugh. “But I’m changing into this cashmere sweater instead. I’m pairing it with the only dry sweatpants I have left. Does it look tacky?”
Mingi answered first.
“It’s fine, hyung, but don’t you have something warmer?”
“He won’t need extra layers when he’s already this hot and bothered over ‘biker guy,’” Yunho yelled from somewhere off-camera.
Immediately, I felt heat rush to my face.
“Could you please shut the fuck up and go bother your roommate instead, Mingi? I swear,” I muttered. “And since nobody said ‘tacky,’ this outfit is staying. Besides, I’m used to the cold.”
I turned my camera off while changing, though I could still hear them whispering and laughing through the call. Yunho’s annoying ass kept saying something about me acting like “Princess Elsa” tonight.
I hated how much that made me laugh. They were exhausting, but honestly, I appreciated how supportive they were being. Most people would probably judge me for spiraling this badly over a man I’d technically only met once. After slipping on my shoes, a knock sounded against my bedroom door almost perfectly on cue.
“Seonghwa? Are you almost ready?”
Hongjoong’s voice came through the other side, softer than before. Hesitant, almost.
“Yeah, just a minute,” I replied quickly.
I stuffed my wallet into my pocket before grabbing a tube of lip gloss from my desk. Just a little. Nothing dramatic.
Unfortunately, the movement didn’t go unnoticed.
“OH MY GOD, ARE YOU PUTTING ON LIP GLOSS?” Yunho screamed through my phone speaker.
“I hate all of you.”
“Please update me with every juicy detail later or I will personally come for your ass,” he threatened dramatically.
“You’ll be the first to know,” I sighed. “Bye, idiots.”
I ended the call before they could embarrass me further and finally opened my bedroom door.
Only to find Hongjoong still standing there.
Wait.
He’d been waiting outside my room this whole time?
Butterflies erupted violently in my stomach. Why did I suddenly feel like a middle schooler with their first crush?
He looked up from his phone the moment the door opened.
God.
That smile again.
“Sorry for the wait,” I said, trying very hard to sound normal.
“It’s okay. You weren’t taking that long.” He slipped his phone into his pocket. “I’m just glad you decided to come with us.”
His expression shifted slightly after that.
“Although… San seems to have gotten himself into a bit of trouble.”
That explained the weird tone earlier. I turned toward the living room only to find San surrounded by papers and his laptop, typing like his life depended on it.
“Seonghwa,” he said nervously, not even looking up properly. “This is super last minute, but do you mind accompanying Hongjoong-hyung instead? Ordering takeout is taking forever, and he said he still needs to stop by the convenience store for a few things.”
He clasped his hands together dramatically.
“I have a deadline I completely forgot about, and if I don’t finish it tonight, my professor is actually going to kill me.”
Of course this would happen now.
Before I could answer, Hongjoong spoke first.
“To be fair, I think I’m partly responsible,” he admitted with a grin. “We were being kind of loud.”
“Very loud,” I corrected automatically.
He laughed.
God, that was dangerous.
“Either way,” he continued, “you should finish your work first, San.”
Then he turned toward me.
“I don’t mind going with just you.”
Dangerous. Extremely dangerous.
“We’ll just take the car then,” he added casually. “Hand me the keys.”
San suddenly froze.
“Ah… about that.”
Never trust that tone.
“Dad picked the car up this morning for maintenance,” he explained sheepishly. “Oil change.”
Silence.
Then his grin slowly widened.
Oh no.
“I was originally planning on taking my bike to McDonald’s with Hongjoong-hyung, but since I’m stuck here…” He looked between us mischievously. “You can just ride with him instead.”
There it is.
“You don’t mind, right, hyung?” he added innocently. “Don’t worry. He’s a safe driver.”
“SAN.”
My voice came out significantly more horrified than intended.
“Why would you phrase it like that?” I groaned. “You’re actually insufferable.”
Because now all I could think about was being alone with Hongjoong on his stupidly attractive motorcycle while holding onto him for balance like some cliché romance drama lead. This night was becoming increasingly more insane by the second. Somewhere out there, God was definitely laughing at me.
“Of course I don’t mind,” Hongjoong said smoothly.
I looked at him again.
Big mistake.
He was smiling.
“I think it’ll be fun.”
San immediately scrambled to grab something from the couch.
“Oh! Use my spare helmet, hyung. The intercom still works too.”
I wanted to pass away on the spot.
Hongjoong, meanwhile, looked entirely too pleased by this information.
“Perfect,” he said. “I’ll need to communicate properly with my navigator.”
He said it so casually. So naturally. Like he had no idea what that smile did to people. My heart skipped hard enough to physically hurt. There was absolutely no way this man was real.
Was he flirting with me?
No.
Surely not.
But if he was…
Then maybe I could flirt back.