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a-casual-kpopfan · 28 days

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Love Is... - Choi Yena

Damn, who thought I would come back to writing?

My first fic of 2024, I may be a few months late, but I hope you enjoy!

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The sound of the jingle from the front door plays through the speaker, the warm air hits you as you pass through the doors. You take a sigh of relief as you were able to get out of the cold while it was snowing outside.

It’s February, winter is in full swing, snowfall has become the regular in this region. And worst of all, it’s become couples’ season. You weren’t known much as a bitter person, but with all the hearts and couple promotions just brings an ick to your own heart. You were not against people in relationships, you yourself are not searching for a partner to even be with, but just the promotion of love just brings an extra level of bitterness out of you.

Not feeling to cook tonight, your goal tonight was to enjoy a nice and cheap bowl of ramen.

After all, the only thing that can make you happy is food.

You browse around the different flavours and seasonings of the instant ramen selections but then you end up with you usual and most generic pack, a pack of spicy ramen, shortly after you walk over to the cold foods section to add as your sides. Today, you felt adventurous, no one is around to ruin your mood.

Your goal in the cold section is to find a set of your favourite soy marinaded eggs. And there before your eyes, only one pack of two eggs are left on the shelf. “They must be low on stock.” Speaking to yourself as your hands grab the pack before anyone else can take it, on the way to the counter you decided to grab a cool oolong tea as well.

Before paying, you noticed a short individual walk into the store, wearing shorts and an odd white sweater with pink accents. “A little odd to be wearing shorts in winter.” You spoke a little too loudly to be saying it to yourself, the person took their hood off and gave you a little glare, although your attention was not about her hearing you.

Long strands of pink hair flow out in the wind, she almost looks like someone written out of a manga, an anime character you used to watch on Saturday mornings. “A little rude to stare.” The woman scoffed then walked by you. A little shocked but not surprised with her attitude, it’s not anything new to you.

“YAH, WHERE’S THE MARINATED EGGS?”

The person in the white and pink sweater made her way back to the front of the store and you’re now staring eyes with a pink haired bull. “YOU!” Pointing her finger straight at you, stomping hard towards you. Her other hand balled up into a fist, you swear her eyes have been lit on fire from the inside of her skull.

You look over to the employee at the counter and they seem just as confused as you are.

“Those.” She points to the pack of the marinated eggs. “I’m taking those.” Great, just another thing to add to your already over the limit bitterness due to this season. “How about no?” You put your hand up in front of her finger pointing at the pack and push it away. “I will pay for your dinner if you just let me have those eggs.” You look her straight in the eye, she’s dead serious with that statement.

“Jinja?” “Mm.” “Jinja?” “Mm.” “Jinja?”

“HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT?!” If this was an anime, you would picture this pink haired girl to light flames out of her head, ready to kill just for a pack of factory boiled eggs, marinated in a soy sauce mixture, who knows what other additives that could’ve been added to this.

All this for eggs.

“Nah, I think I’ll pass.” You said with a straight face, didn’t hesitate knowing you just destroyed the spirit of this young woman. She starts growling slightly her hands are in fists, looking like she’s shaking because she’s trying to prevent herself from punching you, but instead she started tearing up and squatted down, hugging her legs. “But… I really wanted those eggs…” She was whimpering, not something you saw coming.

“Shit.” You look over at the clerk again, all they could do is shrug, giving you a look that says, ‘it’s your mess, not mine.’ You scratched your head in frustration and gave in. “Look, I will split this pack with you if you stop crying.” The girl’s eyes point up to you, the waterworks are really going with this one. Not convinced of your off, she continued moping on the floor. You were left with no choice.

“Ugh and I’ll pay for your dinner.”

“Jinja?” “Yes.” “Jinga?” “Yes.” “Jinga?”

What is this girl doing to you?

You take a deep breath before nodding again.

A pack of instant ramen, a cold green tea and a couple onigiris later, you and this pink haired woman take a seat a table together, considering the circumstances, you found it appropriate to at least sit with this person.

“Thank you for the meal!” The woman clapped her hands together as in a praying motion before digging in the ramen that you ended up paying for.

“Choi Yena.” Confused from what she said, you question her.” I’m sorry, what was that?” Yena picks up the disposable chopsticks, breaking them apart before repeating herself. “Choi Yena, I figured you should know my name for buying me dinner.” Surprised but you told her your name before you did the same with your chopsticks.

Most of the night was silent other than the slurp here and there, the door opening for the occasional night owl popping for a snack. You had just met this Choi Yena about a half hour ago, having a midnight dinner with her, and had a fight with her for boiled eggs.

Not that weird, right?

~~~~~

A couple nights later, you find yourself in the same spot. Going through the doors of the same convenience store, grabbing another pack of instant ramen. Once again, you’re in the cold foods section looking for the same set of marinated eggs that you enjoy so much, but to your displeasure, there’s none on the shelf.

“Damn, must be still out from last time.” Disappointed, you turned to see a familiar pink haired woman. “Well, hello stranger.” Yena there, smiling at you. She’s holding a shopping basket with her arm, and you notice she too had a pack of noodles, the same green tea drink and what seems to be the last pack of eggs.

“Choi Yena…”

“Looks like you’re having dinner again here?” Yena sticks her arm out with the basket, bringing it closer to you. “Let me pay you back, put it in here.” Yena points with her lips, gesturing to the food and drink that’s in your hands, you smiled and just followed along. “Since you’re paying me back, I might as well grab this too.” You grab a salmon onigiri off the shelf and quickly drop it in Yena’s basket, but to Yena’s amusement she rolled her eyes in a playful manner.

“Yah, is that it or is there more?” You chuckle and you look through the rest of the shelves, carefully looking at all the food. “Hmm, what else is good here?” Yena goes and slaps your shoulder and starts walking up to the front counter. “Don’t take your time!” You followed suit, walking just behind Yena.

After paying for the items, you and Yena start getting the ramen ready to be cooked. “What brought you back here?” You ask Yena while she’s opening her soup packets, you do notice with her lips how she pouts a little hard, almost like she has a duck’s bill. “Yena?” She was so focused on her noodles that she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings.

“Oh, yeah, sorry… What did you ask?” Yena looks at you with such an innocent look, you found it cute. “What brought you back here again?” Yena smiles and snickers a little while she pours her soup packet into the plastic bowl. “Coming here late at night helps me not think about my ex-boyfriend, we recently broke up and it was a little messy.” You were left speechless, not expecting an answer like that.

“Oh, I’m sorry, we barely know each other.” Yena tries to cut the awkwardness with a laugh although it didn’t last long. “I normally come here to be alone, coming here late at night with no one around brings me a certain level of peace… Until someone squashed that idea.” You look at Yena with a deadpan while gives you a quirky smile. “Oops, sorry.”

Silence has come between you two as you’re focused on putting some toppings in your ramen before pouring in the hot water, the same with Yena.

“Sometimes, it’s nice to eat with a friend.” Yena quietly speaks up, but you didn’t reply only continued with a little smile.

“Sometimes, not being alone is nice.”

~~~~~

“What’s on the menu today, Yena?”

You and Yena have been meeting at the same convenience store for several days now, it’s started to become a normal routine. You get home late from work, its nearly midnight, then you tend to run into Yena at the store. “I haven’t had tteokbokki in awhile, why not that and…”

“This!” Yena pulls a pack of precooked pork belly, ready to eat out of the microwave. “Isn’t that going to be a heavy dinner?” You questioned the choice, going with a high carb meal with a side of fatty meats. Yena went from a big smile to now a death stare towards you, annoyed with your reply, Yena answers back. “Are you trying to say something about my weight?”

You regret questioning her.

Yena goes on to the microwavable foods section to find something to add to your dinner for the night. “Then how about this?” The pink puff pulls out a bag of fish cakes, perfect side for a bowl of tteokbokki. “Let me go get the drinks while you set up the meal?” You suggested with Yena nodded happily.

Yena pays for the food before making way to the self serve area to get everything cooked so you two can have dinner. You took your time strolling to the drinks area knowing that the food would take a little bit to cook fully even though it’s just precooked frozen foods.

“Hmm, what to have tonight?”

While browsing around, you had thought about getting your usual cold green tea, but you decided to be a little adventurous tonight. You pull a strawberry milk and a mango flavoured green tea; Yena can decide which one she wants when you bring it over to her. A little smile grew on your face when picking the drink out, excited to try it, you quickly walked to the counter to pay for the drink.

Once paid for, you hear the beeping of a microwave from the other side of the store, making you think that the food was already done. Quickly taking the bottles of the counter, you walked over swiftly to see Yena placing a tray down on a table. She was placing everything on the table so carefully, the food being placed in the centre of the table.

Yena meticulously places smaller disposable platters on either side of the table, with chopsticks next to them on top of napkins. You couldn’t help but smile and chuckle on the side, your slightly snickering startles Yena, not knowing that she’s being watched. “Yah! You could’ve given me a heart attack!” Yena clenches her jaw and pretends to go for a punch with her fist.

You continued smiling like an idiot, walking up to the table bringing the drinks to the pink haired menace. “Choose one.” Presenting both drinks, she looks at each bottle, back and forth, thoroughly thinking which one to drink. “I choose this one!” Yena points at the mango flavoured tea, you nodded and put the strawberry drink on one side, then opening the mango drink for Yena.

Both of you sat down on your respective sides of the table, Yena starts picking up the tteokbokki with her chopsticks. “So how was work today?” Throughout spending more time with Yena, you found out that Yena is a professional photographer and is renting a studio nearby, which is why she comes by this convenience so often.

“Aish, the models that my clients keep hiring are so thin, they look like they never eat.” Yena continues ranting about her day, you sat there watched her eat the tteokbokki with some aggression while you were eating slowly but getting your share of the food.

“What about you, how was your day?” Yena puts down her chopsticks, leaning her elbow on the table, holding her head up with her hand. She looks at you with such interest, wanting to know how your day went. Both eyes are on you and only you, her ears are open for listening to you and only you.

You couldn’t stop the muscles in your face from forming a smile, you were happy. You were happy that someone is there to ask you about your day, someone interested to find out how you are doing.

“Damn you, Choi Yena.”

~~~~~

“I can’t believe he would just walk out! These models are becoming so sensitive with constructive feedback!” Yena screamed over the phone, you’re currently driving your way back from work and Yena decided to give you a call as she has a late photoshoot. “What did you even tell him?” You were happy to hear Yena’s voice, you were beginning to think that you wouldn’t see her tonight because of the photoshoot.

“Ahhhh, I told him that he looks bored, that he needs to put some emotion in his posing!” Yena continued with her story as you’re driving back, you just drove and listened. You loved hearing the sounds of her voice, you were never too busy for Yena, and she was never too busy for you.

“Do you still have any more shoots to do tonight, Yena?” With the intentions of getting late night dinner again with the photographer, you change lanes to make way to the convenience store instead of home. “Yeah, I still have a few more shoots to do. I’m not sure what time I would even be done.” You can hear Yena sigh. Her frustration can be felt through the sound of her voice.

Yena continued ranting until her next model arrived. “Yah, I’ll call you later. My next victim is here.” The two of you said your goodbyes and hung up, though little does the photographer know that you’re going to be stopping by tonight to greet her with her favourite late-night dinner.

Shortly you make it to the store, quickly you gathered all the normal food both you and Yena would have. You make it to the clerk and wait for him to scan everything for you to pay, “You’re not with your girlfriend tonight?” Your heart skipped a beat, you were hesitant to pull your card out of your wallet. “Eh, you really think that’s my girlfriend?”

“That pink haired photographer, yeah.” The clerk finished scanning everything, putting everything in a plastic bag for you. “You two are here together almost every night for the last three months. I always thought there was something between you two.” With that, you couldn’t stop your lips from stretching into a smile. The grin stretched from one ear to the other, you were uncontrollably happy.

With that, you paid and quickly drove over to the studio without Yena knowing you would be there tonight. You park your car in the respective spot, not too far away from the entrance but close enough so you won’t be too cold from the weather. You pull your phone out to call Yena before entering the studio.

“Choi Yena, are you still doing the shoot?” Clearly, you’re playing stupid as you slowly walk through the main building’s door. You can see flashes of light emerge from the hallway, faint sounds of music playing. “Yeah, I’m probably going to skip dinner tonight if I have to finish the rest of the shoot tonight.” Yena struggles to hold her phone up with her shoulder while she takes a photo.

“What if dinner is brought to you tonight?”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

You end the call, Yena is genuinely confused, disregarding that she’s in a middle of the shoot.

“Choi Yena!”

You yell the photographer’s name out getting her to turn around to see you holding up a pair of bags with food and drinks. “Yah! What are you doing here?” The pink photographer couldn’t stop herself from smiling, carefully placing the camera down on a nearby table she runs towards you with her arms opened, which ultimately ends with her hugging you.

“I didn’t want you to skip dinner, so I thought to bring it to you.”

After a few minutes, you got dinner set up with Yena but also had brought snacks for Yena’s photography crew and models.

“Thank you for the meal!” Yena was overjoyed, you were happy to see her like this. Looking around the room with everyone talking and enjoying their little break from this late shoot. You begin to eat with Yena, the tteokbokki you had bought today tasted a better than it usually did, you felt happier today than you had in the past, butterflies start take off in your stomach.

You were confused on what this feeling was, this feeling that’s being built up inside you. The way Yena eats, the way she smiles at you, the way she speaks to you.

You love it all.

Love?

You were listening to Yena ranting about how her day went up to this point, how you were the one good thing to happen tonight. You were mindlessly listening, eating, the only thought that’s going through your mind is how perfect would it be if Yena could just end the session now and go home with you.

Stuck in your daydream, a sudden sound snaps you back to reality.

The buzzing from Yena’s cell phone disturbs your dinner, it seemed important to Yena as she immediately puts her chopsticks down, asking for a minute so she can pick up the call. “Go ahead Yena.” Getting up, you watch the distance between the two of you grow, you hated this distance.

You wanted Yena to be next to you all the time, you wanted to be with Yena as much as possible.

“What is wrong with me?”

Patiently waiting for Yena to return, you could only think of what the two of you could be doing on your days off, what type of dates she would like to go on with you. Nothing goes through you mind but Yena.

“Should I confess?”

“You look like you’re in deep thought.” Yena giggles as she has appeared before you, flustered from her sudden appearance, you try to recollect yourself.

“What was the phone call about?” You try to get Yena’s attention off you for being so unaware that she had returned. “Oh, nothing… My ex-boyfriend tried to meet with me, I told him to screw off.” Something inside you had suddenly dropped, like as if your heart and other inner organs had been pulled out of you.

“The two of you still talk?” You had a sudden loss of appetite, you were now only poking at the food, not looking to consume anything at this point. “Sometimes, he still gets on my nerves quite often, he wants to get back together, and I don’t think it’s a good idea for us.” Yena takes her drink and aggressively chugs a large amount after speaking about her ex, you on the other hand sighed slightly in relief.

“I do enjoy the single life again, not having to be shackled to another person, I get to live with my freedom!” Yena jumps up on her feet and stretches her arms and legs, you couldn’t get a word out or say anything but just smile with Yena. “Anyways, I think I should get back to the shoot, I don’t want to stay here all night.”

You agreed with Yena, deciding to clean up after the two of you so you can let Yena go back to the studio floor. “I’ll see you soon, okay?” Yena waits for you to get back up to give you a hug before running off to the studio.

“Damn it.”

~~~~~

“I’ll see you at our usual spot?”

The text you got from Yena earlier that evening, it’s almost essential that the two of you meet every night at the convenience or even at her studio now. It’s been almost a year of this same routine, of seeing each other majority of the week. You miss her when she’s not around, all you can think about is Yena, how is doing? What is she doing?

You try to keep your distance in respect of her, but you try to walk on a line between just being friends with her or confessing your feelings to her.

“You fool, you should just come clean, otherwise you’ll just be hurt again.” You try to motivate yourself to finally confess to the photographer Choi Yena. The little pink haired woman who happens to walk into your life, over marinated eggs of all things.

“Hey!”

“You’re here!”

“I’m so excited to tell you what happened today!”

All you can hear is her voice in your head.

All you can think about is you and Yena being together.

Today must be the day you tell her.

You pull up to the parking lot of the convenience, but you don’t see Yena’s car anywhere, she probably hasn’t arrived yet. “Great, gives me time to think.” You took a deep breath and shut off your car and stepping out.

Slowly approaching the door, you can recognize a certain someone through the windows looking around for food. Instead of a vibrant pink that you were so used to, you instead see a velvety red colouring, standing out a lot more than the usual pink.

The moment you were about to push the door open and walk in, your heart shatters in pieces.

You see a man put his arm around Yena’s shoulder, while Yena dips herself into the man’s embrace. The two can be seen talking through the window, she’s smiling towards him while the man is happy to be there with her.

“Ex-Boyfriend, huh?”

You slowly backed away from the door, you weren’t ready to face this. You didn’t want to face her in this state. There were no tears, but you felt like the world had just come crashing down on you.

What a fool you were, to think that you can find someone to be with.

“Who am I to think that I would be able to have a chance with someone like her?”

Walking back slowly to your car, getting in, and starting it, to get away from this place as soon as possible.

*Bzzz, Bzzz*

“Choi Yena”

She was calling, looking for you, but why would she want to be finding you in the first place?

You pick up the phone regardless.

“Hey! Are you close by?”

“Hey Yena! I’m sorry but I have to stay late at work tonight, I have a last-minute project to get started on right away.”

It was your first time having lied to Yena, you didn’t want to, but you needed to.

“I’ll call you when I can see you again, okay?”

“Oh, okay… I’ll see you soon then.”

The call ends abruptly after that, you dropped your phone in the passenger seat, ready to drive off home… Or wherever you can get to.

Just anywhere but here.

“I’m sorry Yena.”

Some things were just not meant to be, you and Yena just happen to be one of those things.

Love is... Isn't for everyone.

#Choi Yena #Yena #kpop fic #idol x reader

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