chapter 1

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You hate summer.

You hate the beach, the saltwater, the sand that gets between your toes; you hate everything about summer, especially having to stay at your grandparents' place near the coast instead of enjoying time in the city with your friends.

Now, you are awkwardly scrunched up by yourself in the corner of a dinner party in someone's home (where you were told your presence was required). Everyone is laughing, talking to each other, and hell, even your soft spoken grandfather had his own drinking buddies. But you--you... you were clearly out of place.

Your grandma comes closer as you tug your uncomfortably short dress down by an inch, pushing you by the shoulders. "Y/n, you have to go talk to someone! There are kids here around your age, they're sat at that table." She points to the table in the other room that you can barely see. The only thing you can make out-- rather, the only person you can make out is a boy: Han Yujin.

Yujin was your childhood crush. You have spent every summer at your family beach house where he lived somewhat close to you. You were friends from ages seven to ten until he stopped going to his house to stay for summer break.

But suddenly he's back, and he recognizes you, you think. He stares at you as you pull the chair out from the seat across him (the only available seat) and sit down. You're about to click open your phone before he interrupts.

"Hi," he simply says, holding eye contact with you. Your eyes widen subconsciously; Yujin still knows you? You greet a small 'Hi' back, not sure if your voice is even coherent. He still knows you. Maybe these few months in the middle of nowhere won't be so bad after all.

He laughs and it sounds exactly like before. You remember being nine and being in love with Han Yujin, so much so that you followed him anywhere, did everything he asked you to do.

It shatters your hopes the moment he chuckles lightly and talks again. "Are you new here? I've never seen you before," he flashes you a smile, "I'm Yujin."

A muffled "Oh," is all you manage to spit out in disappointment. "I'm Y/n."

You thought he would remember you at least a little bit, and you found yourself frowning sitting in the back seat on the ride home

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You thought he would remember you at least a little bit, and you found yourself frowning sitting in the back seat on the ride home. How could you have expected him to remember, anyway? The last time you had seen each other was six years ago. Six years... how could you blame him?

Your grandpa notices this, and turns to you after he reaches an intersection stop light. "So, I saw you talking to that boy," he instigates, "wasn't that Yujin? He's nice."

You mutter quietly back, "I guess so." I wish he would've known who I was though.

"Nara and Gyuvin were there too, weren't they?" Your grandma chimes in, more aimed at your grandfather. He nods, "Yes. They're good kids, Y/n. Weren't you friends with Yujin for a little while when you were younger? How about reconnecting?"

Nara and Gyuvin were extremely nice to you throughout the evening; trying to include you in their conversation at the table, Gyuvin even nudging you to join in on what they were talking about. But you shut them down each time, simply humming in agreement with whatever. You didn't mean to be rude, but any kind of pleasantry you wanted to exhibit was held back by the thought of Yujin sitting right across from you-- with no idea who you are.

"Nice to meet you, Y/n." He holds his hand out for you to shake, which you reciprocate by a nervous handshake-turned-high-five gesture. He just looks at you for a few seconds before pulling his hand back, then taking out his phone.

Simply thinking about it gets you embarrassed. You're convinced your face got terribly red after that, because Nara mouthed an "Are you okay?" to you.

"We could become friends again, but I don't know where he lives now, and--" You reply to your grandpa's suggestion, the warning light turning green in the corner of your eye. He focuses back on the road ahead and before stepping foot on the gas, he looks your way through the rearview mirror. "No worries, I'll drive you to their house tomorrow."

You're screwed.

——

some parts of this i would rewrite but i have no ideas so we push through 📍💯 real

ALSO my bepler lineup (aka best bepler) (seungeon, jeonghyeon, keita, phanbin, shanbin, yujin, taerae, hao, ricky) is 4 days away from being confirmed so...

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