AS WE ARE

Join us for the Chungdam High School Reunion!

AS WE WERE

We might be 25 now, but come as you were back then. Let’s have fun like we used to!

Flip for the venue address details!

Yours as always,
Cheer squad captain Haneul

It was stupid really. I didn’t know why I had even come. I had fallen out with most of the people here. Once so popular, now an outcast, a ridicule. How that had happened, I didn’t know. Ok, I knew. But I had not seen it coming. Maybe I should have.

But I was the one who had been wronged. And yet my whole cheer squad had turned on me a few years after we graduated. Such great friends, they were. I’m sure it was Haneul’s doing, all of it. Who else?

My so-called best friend, my cheer squad captain. I was her right hand. She was my greatest supporter. Heavy on was . If I had my way I’d never see her again. I didn’t even know why she invited me. Maybe to humiliate me even further.

So yeah. I didn’t know why I came. Well… I knew. But it’s not like that would happen, most likely. He must be so busy these days.

I tried to blend into the wall, uncomfortable with my short black and red cheerleading outfit. How did we find these comfortable to wear back then? At least something I could take satisfaction from, was that I actually still fit into my cheerleading outfit, unlike most from my squad. They clearly had to order new ones. The colors weren’t exactly right.

I had kept myself fit, because in addition to that and my studies, exercising was the only other thing in my life I felt like I had control over. Everything else had gone to shits. Including my relationships with all my squadmates.

I had come late, hoping to catch up with the few friends who I had outside of the cheering squad, one of whom was at the same uni with me. Thank gods they were here. Otherwise I might just have turned on my heels and went home.

I was making my way to the bathroom when I noticed most of my old cheering squad gathering at the entrance, swarming like bees to honey. Shaking my head, I went to the toilet, did my business and went to the drinks table.

I can’t do this while fucking sober. If any of them tries to start shit, I have to have some alcohol in me so I won't sucker punch anyone. Still might, but less likely.

Haneul and Beom-seok were at the centre table, some of the cheering and baseball squad pooling around them, all heart eyes and bro hugs over her baby belly. Third one. And we were only 25. At this rate they’d have seven when we’d hit 30. And she seemed to be over the moon about it. He, not so much. His issue tho, not mine. Not anymore.

I felt a slight stab in my heart. I was over it, I really was. But it still hurts seeing them, when I’d rather not.

My ex best friend, and my ex husband. My ex best friend, who he left me for. It was something he had the fucking audacity to blame me for. He just so happened to get her pregnant, when he was still married to me, and yet he tried to always blame me for his actions.

He had switched from me to her, because I didn’t want kids yet. The irony in that didn’t escape me now seeing him so unhappy with a third on the way. But even still, his words haunted me. My fault, because I couldn’t be what he needed, couldn’t want what he also wanted. I should have fucking left him ages ago. I should not even have married him. That, if something, was my fault.

My fault, because I married the cheater when he never had been too faithful to begin with. I had just turned a blind eye to it at first. My fault, because I had said yes when he proposed right after we graduated high school. My fault, because I had even taken him back after we broke up. I felt like I had to, because otherwise I might end up alone. Which I honestly now preferred. But only because it was also my fault, that I let him go.

I opened my beer that I had taken out of the cooler and made to turn back to the back corner table, where the two of my remaining friends weren’t at anymore. I saw them walking out, cigarettes on each of their lips already. Going for a smoke. Some things never change. Like them sneaking out to smoke.

I leaned onto the drinks table, watching everyone, just content in being a wallflower. Everyone had dressed up at least, to what we were in high school. Cheerleaders in their cheering outfits, athletes of different kinds in their game outfits, mostly just baseball, the cool bad kids with their leather jackets.

The heathers a.k.a the drama club who apparently had gone all out and co-dressed, the school band in their uniform, the debate club in their attire which was basically just business casual. The goths in their gothy things, and the small groups that made their ethnicity their entire personality. And can’t forget the stoners and brainy kids. Somehow even though they were wearing normal clothes, I still recognized who was who.

Everyone was still in their own cliques. Only odd one out was me. I was the one who had been outcasted.

Just this one additional beer. Or maybe one more. That’s how long I’d stay before I’d leave. I’d already said that once, now being two beers in, but who’s counting?

That’s how long I’d still keep the hopes alive of him showing up, before I’d return to my lonely life. My life where I spent all my free time just admiring and supporting him from afar, while all I wanted was to see him again, to banter with him like we used to. Among other things.

I downed my beer way too quickly, and turned to get another. Cracking the can open, I turned on my heels, taking a sip at the same time. Suddenly Haneul was in front of me. “Hey”, she said. Hey? What the fuck.

“No”, I replied, starting to walk away from her. She called my name after me. I kept on walking, but she grabbed me by the wrist. “What the fuck are you doing?”, I snapped.

“Sorry, I just… I saw you just standing here alone and was wondering if you want to join the truth and dare game we’re about to start. Just like old times”, she said, all bubbly and happy, as if nothing had ever gone down between us. Yeah, fuck that.

“And why on God’s green earth would I want to do that?”, I spat. “Jeez. You don’t have to be so venomous”, she said, lifting her hands. “I can be as venomous and nasty to you as I wish. I have a reason. Unlike you, when you turned our whole friend group against me.”

“Hey, I’m sorry for that, ok? I don’t know why I did it. I was just feeling nasty, I guess. You know me, I have always been a bitch”, she said, shrugging her shoulders. This fucking bitch. “Yeah, clearly. Now excuse me but I want to be anywhere but in your vicinity”, I hissed at her, turning in my heels again.

“Aww, come on. I just wanted you to play with us, like we did at all the parties during high school. Some of the girls actually miss you. I miss you”, she then admitted. “Should maybe have thought about that before you fucked my husband”, I fumed, glancing behind my shoulder.

I passed the center table where some of our cheer squad girls and the baseball jocks had gathered. Yeah fuck this party. Fuck her. Fuck him. Fuck all these people. Fuck my life. Where can I yeet this beer can? I need to get out. I’m not going to suffer through one more minute of this sh–

“Hey, shortie.” I stopped in my tracks. I’d know that voice anywhere. Haneul walked past me, hand on her growing belly. “Oh yeah. Seungmin’s here too. Did I not mention that?”, she said, with a glint in her eye.

She knew how I had felt about him, still felt about him. She knew everything that had happened during high school. She knew all my secrets. Until the day I found out what a whore she was, I told her basically everything. So she knew. And I bet she was thinking that now that Seungmin was here, she’d somehow gain absolution by proving I wasn’t meant for my ex husband anyway.

Seungmin and I had dated in high school. It started as something silly, me wanting to annoy my then boyfriend Beom-seok, who I had broken up with because he had kissed someone else. And I knew Seungmin had a crush on me, and I liked him. He was cute, smart, polite, not cocky at all, more quiet than the other jocks, and basically everything Beom was not. Which I knew would annoy him the most.

So Seungmin and I had become a thing. And after a while, I realized it was much more than just to get back at Beom, to annoy him, to get him to beg me to come back. And then Seungmin and I fell apart because of a stupid fight over things I never clarified.

And I got back together with Beom, while still yearning for Seungmin. Haneul knew how I had wished Seungmin would have asked me to come back to him, and knew I would have, if he had.

In my wildest dreams I had imagined Seungmin and I getting back together. She knew about it. Maybe that was her reasoning why she didn’t see it as wrong when she stole my husband.

I wasn’t happy, true, and I had feelings for someone else the whole time I was married, but she did something unforgivable. So maybe this really was her trying to get absolution for what she did. In her twisted mind, all would be well if I got my Seungmin.

“Aren’t you gonna say hi?”, Haneul asked, sitting in between Seungmin and Beom. “Hi”, I said, still dumbfounded. He was here. Looking so fucking good in that baseball game outfit, cap backwards like he used to wear.

“You’re not gonna play?”, he asked. “You are?”, I asked, not knowing what else to say. We haven’t seen each other since graduation, and this is how we meet? All I’m able to say is ‘hi’?

“I thought I could for a couple of rounds. You know, for the old times. I do have to run quite soon though. You should stay, play a little. Still one seat open in front of me”, he replied, cocking his head to where the empty chair was.

I shouldn’t stay. I should go. But he was here. And I couldn’t help myself. Taking a deep breath, and exhaling, I replied. “Fine. Just for a few rounds.”

The game was just as idiotic as I remembered. But the only thing was that we weren’t horny teenagers anymore, yet most of “my girls” and the jocks were still acting as such. The bottle thankfully passed me with each round, and no one did any dares with me. Fine by me. But I was getting bored with the popularity contest.

My phone buzzed, so I fished it out of my small handbag, keeping the phone on my lap. My heart skipped a beat. Seungmin.

Hi

Hi

So you still have the same number

And you still have my number saved

Why wouldn’t I?

I hesitated for a moment before replying, stealing a look at him, only to find him looking at me already, his head tilted slightly in question. I looked back at the screen.

I thought you wanted nothing to do with me anymore

Again, why wouldn’t I?

Because of how things ended
Like… six years ago

I don’t hold grudges

I know
But it still didn’t end nicely
And we haven’t talked since
And you literally became an idol
A world famous one

What has that got to do with me not deleting your number?

I just didn’t think you’d have my number anymore
Not like you have a reason to
I’m just someone you dated for six months back in high school

Just someone…
What do you even know?

If you asked me this morning what I was going to do today, my answer would not have been texting with my ex who I regretted letting go back in high school, at our high school reunion, dressed up as the people we were back then, a cheerleader and a baseball jock. Like at a goddamn Halloween party. Except it was August.

I thought I would have just had my free beers and ditched the party. I definitely didn’t think I’d be texting like this with him. This is bizarre. What does he even mean?

Huh?

Nevermind

I lifted my head to look at him again, brows furrowed. He didn’t look at me though. But he did send another text. Which was even more unexpected than the start of the conversation.

Are you still as bold as you were in high school?

I debated if I should answer. But the game was so boring, and now I really needed to see where this was going. My tummy did its thing – a little somersault. What was even happening right now? Why was Seungmin texting me? I needed to find out.

Why?
Are you?

Yes
So yes or no?

Yes

Secret for a secret?

I’m in

I never deleted your phone number because I hoped one day you’d call or text

Is this real? Someone pinch me. I pinched myself. Ouch. It’s real. What the fuck is happening? What do I even reply? What’s my secret? I stared at the screen, not daring to lift my head. I knew he’d be looking at me now.

After four years of feeling lonely, after getting my heart broken, more so over the betrayal by Haneul than Beom… I felt hopeful. Excited.

He asked me if I was still as bold. I was. That never changed. So here goes nothing.

I wanted you to reach out first
But ever since that fight…
I have wished I had stayed by your side

I held my breath. For a moment, I didn’t get a reply. Just the blue ticks to show he had read what I sent. I couldn’t stand seeing it, knowing he now knows my secret and that he wasn’t replying. I lifted my head. His was still cast down to his phone. He was typing. I checked my screen.

The three dots appeared, signaling he was typing. But then they disappeared. He had removed what he wrote. Then they appeared again. And disappeared. Then, a message came through. One word.

Bored?

Maybe he wasn’t ready to talk about it all. And I didn’t blame him. So I just decided to play along, to humor him.

Yes

Wanna play our own little game?

What do you have in mind?

‘Well that escalated quickly’
Remember that?

Of course I do
3 questions like always?

Yes
And absolute honesty in replies
Rapid fire
No thinking
I’ll go first

Excitement pooled in my chest. What was he up to? I really shouldn’t be at this party anymore, but now that he was here, and he was talking to me again, even if it was just texting… I couldn’t resist. He was the one I let get away. I’d take what he’d give.

If you were anywhere but here, where would you like to be?

At a beach somewhere
Honestly just anywhere but at this table would work

Would you like me to be there with you?

I’d like that

Would you like me to be doing you while there?

Yes

What. Is. Life? Is this real? Does he actually want to do this? Does he actually want this to be our first convo in five years? Does he still want me like I have wanted him? All this time…

I like your bold honesty
You’re just as you were back then
Just more beautiful
Your turn

Just more beautiful? What has gotten into him? He’s a fucking idol. Is he not getting any and thinks I’m an easy target? Is he finally trying to get back at me for getting back with Beom when I said it wasn’t like that when we had the fight over why I was dating him?

He said he didn’t hold grudges but… This just all seemed too good to be true. Well, two can play this game. Let’s see if he’s all bark no bite.

Do you still think I look good in a cheerleading outfit?

Of course
You look amazing

Do you think I have panties on under it?

That got a reaction out of him. He lifted his head. I was already looking at him, brows raised. He wanted to know if I was still bold. Like he clearly was. No beating around the bush with him. Even if we literally hadn’t talked for almost six years. Well here you go.

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He looked back down to his phone. Everyone else was still playing, paying us both literally zero attention. It’s as if we weren’t even playing, or weren’t even there. Works for me. Probably for Seungmin too.

With how short that skirt is, probably
Are they white?

Nope

Black?

Try again

Red?

Ding ding ding
We have a winner

Please tell me they’re lacey like you used to wear back then

Of course they are
Last one
Would you like to take those panties off of me right now?

There was a pause in his replies. I really needed him to say yes. Because no matter if we hadn’t talked for years, with this little interaction, he had gotten me turned on. And I really needed him to do something about it now.

I was horny. I hadn’t gotten any for too long. We could talk properly after. Needed to, probably. But I really needed him to take the bait.

Yes

We both lifted our heads from our phones. Just then, Seungmin got hit with the truth or dare, the bottle turning to him. He selected dare. I wasn’t even listening. I was looking at him.

And all through someone, whoever it was, explaining the dare, he was looking at me. I didn’t hear what the dare was. All I knew is that Seungmin wanted me. Like I still wanted him.

He didn’t do the dare. He took the shot instead as the punishment, not even wincing at the hard liquor in the shot glass. And all I could do throughout, was watch him. With just a few texts, he had gotten me going.

He still had that power over me. Even back in high school, during the six months, all he had to say was a few words or look at me the right way and I’d be ready to jump his bones.

I was literally undressing him with my eyes. Remembering how he looked back then, how he felt… And knowing, from following his career, that he had just gotten all the more stronger.

He had grown. From barely an adult into a man. He had always been good looking, but now… he was breathtaking. My phone buzzed again.

If you don’t stop looking at me like that…
We’re actually going to have to go somewhere private

But you look so sexy when you wear that game set
And wasn’t that your point in wanting to play the escalation game?
You asked me if I’d want you doing me
I said yes
I asked if you wanted to take my panties off
You said yes
I thought somewhere private was were this was going

Bathroom, now

Oh

I need you to walk in front of me so I can see that ass

Yes, sir

I stood up. “Where are you going?”, Haneul asked. As if it’s her business. “If you have to know, bathroom. And then home. Thanks for the party, beer was decent, company, not so. Let’s not do this again”, I said, not even caring how bitchy I sounded.

I owed nothing to none of them. They had all abandoned me. When Haneul said jump, they said how high. Just like in cheering practice.

I started to walk towards the bathroom. “I’m going to get going too. I have a car coming to pick me up in a bit and I’d still want to say hi to some people before it. Thanks. Have a nice rest of the night, everyone”, I heard Seungmin say and get up, some of the guys getting up to shake his hand. “Don’t be a stranger”, I heard Haneul call after him. If I was still at the table I’d probably choke her. Baby or no.

I walked slowly to the bathroom, accentuating the sway of my hips as I did, knowing Seungmin would catch up to me in no time with his long legs. I opened the bathroom door, and as I stepped in, Seungmin stepped in right after, and clicked the door shut and locked it. He turned to face me.

The bathroom was really small. My behind touched the sink, Seungmin’s back was almost against the door. The toilet seat next to us was thankfully clean, and nothing smelled. At least Haneul had hired a cleaner here to keep things tidy.

I looked up at him, cocking my head to the side, not saying anything, baiting Seungmin to talk first. But instead of talking, he surged forward, clashing his lips on mine. I had a millisecond to react, but my hands shot to his hair, nudging the baseball cap from his head to the floor.

The kiss felt like years worth of longing, frustration, unspoken words and discussions we should have had were poured into it. Lips gliding on each others’, we searched for the bond we once had. My fingers weaved into his hair as I pulled him closer, needing the connection. One of his hands was on the back of my neck, the other on my bare waist.

As we broke for air, he held his forehead against mine. “I wish I could control myself better around you, but when I saw you in that cheerleading outfit, all I wanted to do is rip your clothes off and fuck you right then and there. It’s as if we were back in high school.”

My heart jumped at his words, hopeful for the first time since I remembered. “And you look even better in this baseball set than I remembered. I was literally undressing you with my eyes the moment I laid eyes on you, remembering how you looked underneath, remembering how you felt.”

Seungmin claimed my lips again, now sliding his tongue along my lips to ask for access, which I eagerly gave to him. He tasted like whiskey - so that was what the shot must have been. He pulled me closer to his body, his hand moving from my waist to my lower back. I felt his arousal through his pants, and my breath hitched. Bigger than I remembered.

Seungmin parted our lips, looking down at me with such hunger and desire in his eyes. ”You’re still so short even with platform sneakers on”, he said, a smirk tugging at his lips. I chuckled, shaking my head. ”Well put some inches in me then”, I replied, meaning every word.

“But first take my panties off. You wanted to, right?”

His tongue darted out from between his closed lips as he smiled, before letting it disappear back into his mouth. He bit his lips together, and then both of his hands moved. Sliding down my body, he went past my waist and hips. The pads of his fingers touched my outer upper thighs, making me shiver.

Looking into my eyes, asking, he waited for me to nod before sliding his hands up on my thighs, under my pleated cheerleading skirt. He looked for the waistband of my panties, and wasted no time pulling the lace fabric over the round of my ass, stopping them at the level of the hem of my skirt.

The sink corner had a basket of small towels. Seungmin reached for one, and as if hugging me, placed one behind me on the sink edge. Then, his hands found my waist. “Hop”, he said, and I did as told. The need in me was so vast I felt like I’d drown in it if I didn’t have him soon.

My ass landed on the thin edge of the sink, biting into my skin, but I didn’t care. One of Seungmin’s hands was already travelling down, under my skirt again. He carefully pulled my lacey hipsters off, holding me upright with his other hand. My hands were on his shoulders for additional support.

Looking at the lacey material and seeing the wetness already on them, he smirked. “Someone’s eager and excited to reconnect”, he said. I opened my legs for him, and he stepped closer, between my thighs.

I dropped one hand between us, palming his hard arousal through his pants. “Don’t act like you’re not as well”, I breathed. Seungmin put my panties into his pants back pocket. Little perv. And I mean this with all love. He still had the same habit, I see.

“Don’t let me fall”, I added before letting his shoulder go with my other hand too as I lowered it to his waistband. He grabbed my waist with both hands again. I unbuckled his belt, undid the two buttons, and pulled down the zipper, revealing his black boxers with a red waistband. I chuckled. He always liked to match his underwear with the pants.

I pushed his pants down past his hips, the need in me almost unbearable. Fill me up, Seungmin, like you used to when we were 18, to-be-19. I didn’t need us to be naked for this. Just enough to reveal our sexes.

Seungmin kept me sitting on the thin edge of the sink with one hand on my waist, and with the other he pulled the front of his boxers down, revealing his cock. Precum was smeared on his tip, having leaked into his boxers. He was just as desperate for this as I was.

”You still like it raw?”, he then asked, looking into my eyes, his hand sliding under my hem. His fingers brushed over my clit and my hips twitched. Fuck . My breath got caught up in my throat.

”Yes”, I managed to exhale as his fingers now slid through my folds, and to my entrance, feeling the warmth pooling there. I wrapped my fingers around Seungmin’s shaft with one hand as the other shot back to his shoulder for support.

A strangled groan escaped his throat. I moved my hand on him. “You’re bigger than I remembered”, I breathed out, aroused out of my mind. I need him inside me. Now. One of his fingers pushed into me, and I dropped my head back, letting out a low moan. “And you get wet just as quickly as I remembered”, he countered.

I lifted my head and looked down, and fuck me sideways if the sight didn’t turn me on even more. Just like in high school, multiple times during the six months we had been a thing, we were pleasuring each other, me in my cheering outfit, he in his baseball game day attire. His hand under my skirt, mine on his cock that was out of his pants just enough for this.

I had lost count how many times we had fucked in a small bathroom just like this because we were too horny to wait to get to either of our parents’ places, into our rooms. It’s as if we were teenagers again.

“You clean?”, he muttered, pulling his finger out of me just to insert two instead, making my breath hitch. “Yes. Tested and clean. You?”, I exhaled. “Same”, he replied, looking at my hand moving on his arousal, jerking him off, making him ready for me. “Then fuck me already. It’s been too long”, I whispered, and lifted my eyes.

He looked at me with such lust that I felt like I’d burst into flames. His eyes searched for any hesitation, any second thoughts. There were none. And I didn’t see any behind his eyes either. “What are you waiting for? We have to be fast”, I asked, letting his cock go and grabbing his cheeks, pulling him into a feverish, sloppy kiss.

He moaned into the kiss, and then withdrew his fingers from inside me, making my pussy clench. I need his cock inside me right this second.

I felt him move his hand between us as he kissed me back, grabbing his arousal and spreading my wetness from his fingers on it, making it slick. Then he stepped closer, closing the minute distance between our bodies. Guiding his cock with his hand, he went under my skirt and positioned himself on my entrance.

My breath shuddered as he thrusted, his tip entering me. Seungmin grabbed my behind, one hand splayed on each ass cheek, as he sheathed his cock inside me, burying himself into my inviting warmth to the hilt. I placed one of my hands on his shoulder, the other hugging him to me, my hand on the nape of his neck. “Oh fuck”, I breathed out, the feeling so intense.

“You feel just as tight and warm as my cock remembered”, Seungmin muttered, his face buried into my chest. “I can feel you all the way in my lower abdomen. I missed that feeling”, I admitted, as he began to thrust. I placed my legs behind him, not wrapping around him, but pulling him closer.

Seungmin lifted his head, his lips hovering over the sensitive skin on my neck, not stopping his thrusts. His pace wasn’t quick, but he thrusted deep, giving me insane friction with each push of his hips between my thighs.

“You still like to be kissed here?”, he asked, placing his lips right under my ear. “Yes”, I admitted just as he thrusted even deeper, licking the spot on my neck with his tongue before kissing it again. “Ahh shit. That feels so good”, I moaned.

He quickened his pace. We both knew we couldn’t occupy the bathroom forever, so we needed to get this quickie over with. We needed to get this out of our systems. Then maybe… If I wasn’t hoping for too much, maybe he could come back to mine. Maybe we could talk. And do this again.

One of his thrusts hit my cervix as he changed his angle just a little, making my eyes roll back. I pulled his head up to kiss him. He slid his tongue inside my mouth right away, making me shiver with the memory of how his tongue felt on me, a bit lower.

The memory made me clench around him, and he groaned onto my lips. “This is going to end way too soon if you do that again.” I clenched again, now on purpose. “Isn’t it the idea of a quickie to be quick?”, I quipped, smiling as he chuckled before kissing me again.

Grabbing my ass tighter, he began to pound into me, his hips snapping with such fervor I was afraid the sink might break. “Oh, fuck. Seungmin. Ahh. Just like that”, I moaned, dropping my head back as the intense pleasure washed over me, making my abdomen draw in. I’d not last long.

“You like that, shortie? Like how those extra inches feel inside you?”, he breathed out, not letting the rhythm of his hips slow down. Every thrust was now hitting me so deep, the hardness of his length so deliciously veiny as it rubbed against my sweet spot every time he pulled back. “Yes, yes, gods Seungmin, yes”, I whined, feeling my release so close. 

“You’re going to make me come in record time”, I added, lifting my head up again. He thrusted deeper yet, and I wasn’t sure how, because I already felt him so deep, poking at my abdomen. I let his shoulder go and pressed my palm on my lower stomach. I felt him move under it, thrusting up. “Fuck”, I moaned and shot my hand back up to his shoulder.

“I’m gonna–”, I managed, as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, burying my face into his neck as my orgasm suddenly rushed through me. It felt all the more intense as I struggled not to moan, keeping all my sounds of pleasure trapped inside my throat.

“Baby I’m gonna need you to tell me if you want my load inside you or not in the next second because I’m gonna–”, Seungmin grunted, and I knew he was trying to hold back. When we had quickies back in high school, he’d always come right after me, when I started to clench and throb around him.

“Inside, I’m on the pill”, I breathed out, still riding out my high with Seungmin continuing to thrust. “Thank the gods”, he exhaled and then I felt him release, his cum filling me up as he thrusted the final three times. He sought out my lips as he shuddered inside me, his cock spurting his warm desire into me.

I kissed him, feeding on his loud exhale. If someone didn’t hear that, it’d be a miracle. If someone didn’t hear us in general, it’d be a miracle. With only six bathrooms in this place, I wondered how no one tried to come in. Maybe we had been really fast, even if it felt like we were in here for so long. A short eternity.

He kept his cock inside me, trying to catch his breath, leaning his forehead against mine. I decided to be bold again, needing to know where this would now leave us. “Is there any chance you’d want to do that again but at mine tonight?”, I asked.

After a moment, he huffed out a laugh, shaking his head slightly as if he didn’t believe what he was about to say. “There is.” I felt a tingle of hope deep in my stomach. So I decided to throw all caution to the wind. For better or for worse.

He pulled out of me, some of his cum spurting out at the same time, mixed with my own desire. I felt it start to trickle down towards my ass. He reached for another small towel, quickly wetting it under the sink behind me.

He brought the towel under my skirt, cleaning me up of the cum that had escaped before cleaning himself. He rinsed the towel, wringed it dry and threw it into the basket full of used towels under the sink.

”So are you now going to admit that you still like me, gangaji?”, I asked, using the old pet name I had used for him in high school. Puppy. He stopped buttoning up his pants, looking up, before dropping his gaze back down, buckling his belt. ”What’s there to admit when that accusation is not true?”

I put a hand on his chest to push him back so I could hop off the sink. ”Liar. You called me baby like you used to”, I countered, looking up at him. Seungmin looked into my eyes. His phone buzzed in his pocket. ”Shut up”, he replied, but he didn’t look annoyed. He picked up his cap, putting it back on his head, and leaned his back against the door, crossing his arms.

”Defensive about it too. Are you actually in love with me, grumpy?”, I smiled. He shook his head, rolling his eyes. ”As if. Just because I agreed on going back to yours to do that again doesn’t mean I like you, dummy.”

I smiled, cocking my head to the side. ”If you actually meant that you’d call me idiot or delusional. I think I’m right, am I? You still like me. After all these years you still do.” I needed him to admit to it first, before admitting I, in fact, still liked him too. I never stopped liking him. Loving him… I just did it from afar, thinking I could never have him again.

”You’re insane”, he scoffed. I smirked. “See, you’re not even denying it”, I said, and lifted the toilet seat and sat down. “What are you doing?”, Seungmin then asked, turning his head away from me, a blush creeping up his neck.

“I’m going to pee. You know I need to. Don’t go all shy on me now when you literally just had your cock inside me. You’ve seen me pee countless times back in high school.”

“I know but… Whatever. My ride's here. Just do your business and then we’ll go. He’ll take us back to yours”, Seungmin huffed, looking at his phone he fished from his pants pocket. “Will you give me my panties back?”, I asked.

He smirked. “I don’t think I will. You can handle a few steps and a car ride without them even in that short skirt. Not like you’ve not done it before with your panties in my back pocket.”

I scoffed. “Unbelievable. First you get shy seeing me pee in front of you after fucking me, then you say I need to walk with you to your car without my panties and go commando for the ride back to mine.” Seungmin just scrolled his phone, giving me a quick smirk-y side eye.

I stood up after wiping myself clean, making sure with a wet wipe from my small handbag that had managed to stay on my shoulder through the quickie, that none of his release was running down my thighs. All good. I washed my hands and turned to face him.

“Let’s go”, he said. Before he unlocked the door, I stopped him. “Do you wanna go out first and then I’ll come a few minutes after to find you outside?”, I asked. He shook his head. “Nope. We’ll go out together.”

“I don’t give a shit if someone thinks we fucked. We did, but it’s none of their business. I don’t owe most of these douches and douchettes anything anyway. Only a few people have actually stayed in touch after I went to become a trainee, and they’re not here today. And from what I saw there, you don’t really like them either anymore.”

He took my hand in his, holding it tightly as he opened the bathroom door and walked us out. I tried to walk so that everyone would not realize I’m actually not wearing underwear under the short skirt. I glanced at the direction of my old cheer squad. The truth or dare was still ongoing. Haneul noticed me, and he nudged Beom’s arm. He scowled. I smirked, grabbing Seungmin’s arm as we walked out. He didn’t even glance back at them.

Not that I cared what they were thinking, but it gave me some sort of closure, knowing at least Beom was unhappy with Haneul, even after getting the kids he wanted with her. And seeing him still not liking the fact that Seungmin got me, again… Yeah. I liked that.

There was a black SUV in front of the building. A man with a facemask was standing next to it, opening the back seat door right as he saw Seungmin approach. Seungmin let me hop in first, before climbing in after me. “Your address?”, he asked, and I said it loud enough for the driver to hear. He let the driver know we’ll both be going there.

We stayed silent. The driver lifted up a privacy screen - it slid up from the console that was behind the front seats. Oh. A fancy car. Then, as the privacy screen reached the car’s roof, Seungmin spoke up, sending my entire world spinning.

”Fine. I don’t like you. I don’t, because I might still be in love with you like the sucker for you that I am.” Love? What? He was in love with me?

He never once even said it during the six months we were together, even though I had said it. Maybe at a bad time, because I had confessed during the fight. Which also made him not believe my confession. It broke my heart back then.

I sucked in a breath. Exhaling, I replied. ”Since when, though? You never said it to me.” I turned in my seat so I could see him better. He turned his eyes to meet mine. ”Since forever. Since you paid attention to me at that one high school dance to annoy Beom-seok, my worst competition in baseball, the team captain, your boyfriend.”

”Oh… I didn’t know. Why didn’t you say anything?”, I asked. I suddenly felt bare. I didn’t know what to say or do. I knew what my feelings for him were, but after seeing him for the first time in such a long time, after a quickie in the bathroom, I didn’t think this would be the conversation we’d be having. But I guess, just like I still was bold as ever, he was too.

”Because… Even if we dated for just a few months, you still returned to him after we had that bad fight, when I stupidly accused you of dating me just to get back at him, when I didn’t believe it when you said you loved me. And then you and Beom became high school sweethearts. Senior year prom king and queen. You looked so happy.”

Yeah. I had been. For a moment. Artificial happiness, while still longing for Seungmin.

“I— You’re the one that got away and I didn’t want to cause issues for you by confessing too late. And when I gathered my courage, I found out you had gotten engaged to him. Only two months after graduation. And then you married him six months later. You actually got married to that jerk.”

He turned his face back to front, and slumped in his seat, as if he’d be deflated like a balloon. I guess that was natural, now knowing he had been keeping this in for years.

”Oh Seungmin… If I had only known”, I said, still looking at him. My heart was breaking for us. We could have had it all… ”I— huh?”, Seungmin reacted, now turning his face to me again, but staying slumped in his seat.

”If I knew how you felt, I wouldn’t have married him. I wouldn’t have said yes when he proposed. I was so crazy in love with you”, I admitted.

“After six months of dating, I was so desperately in love with you that I’d have come running back to you if you’d just given me an inkling of hope that you weren’t permanently done with me.”

His eyes kept searching mine in the dim light of the car. What was he trying to see in them? If I was telling the truth or lying? ”What do you mean?”, he then asked, his voice quiet. He wanted bold, right? So have my entire truth, then.

”If I had known how you felt, I wouldn’t have ever gone back to him. But I didn’t, so I went. I took him back. I said yes. I married him. And spent two miserable years of being married to him while he fucked through my whole cheerleading crew. He never changed.”

“I started to date you back then originally to annoy Beom-seok. But in that short period of time… I fell for you. And when we got into that fight because you accused me of just being with you to get back at Beom… It hurt me. And like the immature selfish brat I was back then, I figured that if that’s what you think of me, then why don’t I just go back to him then.”

“But I kept waiting. I wanted you to ask me, to beg me to come back. But you didn’t. And my pride was hurt too much to come crawling back to you when I didn’t even know if you wanted me anymore. You stopped talking to me. You dropped baseball because your injury wasn’t getting better, and went to become a trainee and then this world class superstar idol.”

“You became so busy for senior year I barely even saw you. I was crowned prom queen and you weren’t there to see it. We graduated, and you left the ceremony so early I didn’t even get a chance to say hi. I looked for you, but you were gone already.”

“And so I got engaged. I got married like a fucking fool to a guy who never once was faithful to me. I waited for you. I waited for you to reach out, to tell me I shouldn’t have said yes to him when he proposed. I would have called it all off if you did.”

“I still waited for you, stupidly romanticizing my wedding day as one where you’d turn up and sweep me away. But you didn’t and I accepted my fate in becoming a baseball star’s trophy wife. I tried to just bear with it all while he played ball and fucked around.”

“Until he got not only one but three of my so-called friends pregnant, Haneul included, and ran away with her. Yes, shocker, the baseball captain got the cheerleading captain after all, and now they’re on baby number three. I as the co-captain was never the one he actually wanted, but he stuck with me until Haneul broke up with her ’oppa’.”

“We’ve been divorced for four years now. And seeing you today made all the memories flood back in, and I realized that I really still am in love with you. I knew I was, but the fact of it just hit me in the gut like a freight train today. I know it’s been years but I am. I never stopped. I even followed your career, silently supporting you and thinking you could have been mine.”

Seugmin looked dumbfounded, flabbergasted. And for once, for someone so word-ready, he was speechless. The car stopped at an intersection, waiting at a red light. ”You could have reached out too, you know? I know I could have too, but…”, he then said, quietly.

”I know, Seungmin. Believe me I do. I regret every day I didn’t. I’m sorry”, I cut him off.

I felt Seungmin’s hand search for mine in the darkness of the car. I took it, and he locked our fingers together, his between mine, mine between his. ”I’m sorry I let you slip away. It’s my greatest regret in life”, he suddenly admitted.

The hope that had sparked inside my tummy earlier spread to my chest, blooming into a field of wildflowers. He pulled my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles.

I didn’t know what to say. He didn’t say anything either. But somehow nothing also needed to be said. We both knew where this left us. He still loved me. I still loved him.

After six long years of not even talking to each other, we still loved other. We had just been stupid enough to not talk sooner, to reach out.

The car stopped in front of my building. Seungmin got out of the car, holding the door open and a hand out for me to take. I took it, and stepped out. He closed the door and rapped his fingers on the front seat window. The window rolled down. “No need to pick me up later tonight. I’ll call tomorrow. Cancel my morning vocal lesson, please.”

He turned to me. “After you”, he said, and walked behind me to the apartment building entrance, no doubt watching my ass again. The thought made me smirk. Even after the heartfelt confessions in the car, I couldn’t help myself.

“Are you looking at my ass again?”, I asked, looking back over my shoulder as I reached the door. “You know I am. I was always weak for it. Still am. You look amazing”, he admitted, reaching me, his hand sliding to my waist. “As do you.”

I lived on the 10th floor. I normally took the stairs. Now, I pressed the elevator button instead. The doors pinged open right away. I stepped in, Seungmin following me. As soon as the doors closed shut, his hands reached for me, and he pulled me into a scorching hot kiss.

The elevator doors opened, and we parted our lips for air. His looked swollen and pink, and so, so soft. Just as badly I needed his cock inside me earlier, and again now, I needed those lips on my clit.

Seungmin kissed me again, holding me to him from the nape of my neck and lower back. One of my hands held to his arm and the other fumbled for the lock on my door as I walked us backwards towards it.

I lifted the security code cover, blindly entering my code. Seungmin let my lower back go to open the door, and he walked us inside, still kissing me. He pulled the door closed behind us.

I kicked my sneakers off, and he did the same with his. Our height difference became bigger as I lost the extra height I had gotten from the platforms. I dropped my bag to the floor. On my tiptoes, I walked backwards to my kitchen, Seungmin’s lips still sliding against mine, his tongue prying its way to my mouth.

My back hit the counter, and I winced. That’ll leave a bruise. Seungmin caged me in with his long arms, leaning onto the counter while I wrapped my arms around his neck, weaving my fingers into his hair once more.

Seungmin reached for his back pocket, and pulled out his phone and a small card wallet to put them onto the table, probably not wanting them to fall while we undressed. But he kept my panties inside his other back pocket.

We parted for air, both panting and I glanced down, finding him so deliciously aroused again, the front seam of his baseball pants barely containing his bulge. But what I also noticed was a small polaroid photo on the ground.

On instinct I crouched down to pick it up, Seungmin standing straight to allow me. ”What’s this?”, I asked, realizing it was a photo… of us. Looking at each other. I had the brightest smile on my lips, and my eyes were full of happiness, and love.

He looked down at me, with the same emotions mirroring back at me. His arm was visible in the photo. He had clearly been holding the polaroid camera.

”This is us from that day”, he replied. ”That day?”, I asked, still looking at the polaroid. ”The day two months after my injury when you took me to a DAY6 concert. The day when you told me one day it’ll be me out there on stage. You encouraged me to chase my dreams.”

I smiled, now remembering. ”Oh. I remember that day. I remember how happy you were. I didn’t remember we took this polaroid, though.” I looked up at Seungmin, and he was already looking at me. ”We did. So yeah. This is us from that day. I’ve been holding on to it.”

I looked back down at the polaroid, before looking up at him again. ”We’re gazing at each other with the brightest smile in the world, aren’t we? I know that look on me. I remember it. I used to look at you like the sun rises and sets with you. And you used to look at me like—”, I started.

”Like you hold my entire universe in your eyes. I still look at you like that though.”, Seungmin completed my sentence. Not exactly what I would have said. But the artist he is, he of course found a better way to say what I was thinking, making my insides melt.

He took the polaroid from me, tucking it securely into his wallet. I felt him hesitating, but then he spoke up, sweeping me off of my feet. ”Could we maybe… try again?”, he asked, all of his vulnerability bleeding into those few words. He had left his heart open for me. To either crush it, or to protect.

”You still want to? After all this time?”, I asked, needing confirmation. I wanted to. I wanted nothing more in my life than to have him in it again. It was something I hadn’t even dared to dream of. And yet I wanted it, desperately, with no hesitation. He replied.

”Yes. Having you by my side made it possible to hold on through those tough times, when I got injured. You gave me the courage to follow my dreams. Having you by my side would ensure I’d not fall into that dark place again, like I did when I realized I had lost you. I almost gave up on being an idol. But I became one, thanks to you. I thought I had lost you for good. Never in my wildest dreams did I think tonight would lead to this.”

“We could be as happy as we were back then, those few precious months”, he finished. “So what do you say?” I looked into his eyes, my eyes brimming with tears I did not want to shed. I was happy. I didn’t want to cry over this. But I failed.

I nodded. Seungmin lifted his hands to cup my face, brushing my tears away with his thumbs. “Is that a yes?”, he asked, needing me to say it out loud. “Yes.”

He kissed me, his lips claiming mine like never before. Suddenly he crouched down to grab my thighs, and he lifted me up, hugging my thighs to his front, keeping them together. I leaned down, kissing him like I could gain back the six years we had lost, before resting my forehead against his.

He put me down, sitting me on my kitchen counter. A thought popped into my head. I blamed the polaroid. ”Hey Seungmin?”, I asked. “Yeah?”, he replied.

“Before we rip our clothes off and fall into my bed and try to make up for the six years we could have had together… Wanna be petty with me and annoy Beom and Haneul by posting a picture in the reunion insta group chat they created for the cheer squad and baseball team?” Seungmin grinned. ”Ohh, hell yes.”

We took a mirror selfie. The picture almost threw me on a loop – it looked so similar to the selfies we had taken when together during high school. The ones I still had saved in my iCloud.

Him hugging me from behind, an arm wrapping around my bare waist. One hand tilting my head up and back, to meet his lips behind the phone. Me in my cheering uniform, him in his baseball attire. His cap turned forward so our faces weren’t visible. As we were, back then.

No. As we are, now, too. Back together again. As long as we stay, the love we had held onto for years will never go away. We’d stay, through all seasons and storms.

Through spring’s vibrant green, summer rains and burning sun. Even when in autumn the trees would shed their colorful costumes, our love would never fade. In winter, even when snow falls, and the wind is so strong that my whole body trembles, I’ll hold on to him. And he’ll hold on to me.

Even if we’d fight again, we’d not let the storm break us like it did back then. We’ll spread our roots, stretch our branches, and wait one more day for the storm to pass. Because waiting that one more day, even after the storm had left us in ruins, is what eventually led us back to each other.

As we were, and as we are.