ᵕ̈ ೫˚∗: one day only | zh
summary | your friends make a bet that you and your boyfriend can’t spend one day without talking to or seeing each other, which both you and your boyfriend are convinced is untrue. so, you give it a shot—you just don’t consider whether or not the universe agrees with you, too.
genre | zhang hao x reader, established realtionship, fluff, short and sweet
wc | 1.3k
a/n: zhang hao heart eyes giggle giggle heart
USUALLY, WHEN IT’S COLD OUTSIDE, you hold your boyfriend’s hand to keep your hands warm. Today, however, it’s cold, wet, and you’re boyfriendless, which was three negatives with not a single positive to balance them out.
You shuffle through the streets of Seoul with what you could only assume was a negative look on your face, staring into the windows of shops and cafes wondering what you could do to entertain yourself. As much as you didn’t want to, the thought of “If my boyfriend was here” popped into your head every twenty seconds, which only proved your friends right.
About a week ago, Matthew jokingly said that you and your boyfriend, Hao, would die should you be forced to spend a day apart from each other, which had sparked a heated debate within your friend group until today, which was the fated quote-unquote “trial.” At midnight today, they had you block Hao and sleep at your parents’ house, and thus the clock started—you were not to see Zhang Hao until 12:01 am.
Part of you wanted to break it off, mostly because you were cold and wanted to go home, but you had a point to prove, and about 5 people and $100 counting on you not seeing Hao until tomorrow. And, you’d made a big deal about how you were going to take yourself on a date and have the time of your life, which was not going as planned.
Meanwhile, Hao, who supposedly hadn’t taken a stance (which was a lie, because, when Matthew originally sent the text, he agreed, which offended you) was likely living his day like he usually would—practicing the violin, cooking an extravagant lunch, taking a nap at 2.
With a somber sigh, you wandered into a trinket store with no goal other than escaping from the cold outside. It was big and filled to the brim with glass cases housing jewelry, glass figurines, and anything else that felt worth obscuring from people prone to breaking things.
Without thinking, you stumbled over to the kids’ area. It was somewhat like a mini toy store, with Lego sets lining the walls and action figures sitting in plastic cases. To your right, there was a small basket with the label “pre-loved stuffies,” which you thought was adorable. You also thought that Hao would love it, which made you want to start crying.
You walked over to it, picking up the teddy bear on the very top of the pile. You nearly scoffed at it, staring at it with malice in your eyes. In the teddy bear’s hand was a small violin, misshapen and squishy, but still recognizable.
“They made him into a teddy bear,” you whispered to yourself, almost laughing. Well, now you had to get it for him, you reasoned, immediately beelining for the cashier. She greeted you with a smile, taking the bear from your hands and scanning the barcode that they’d haphazardly placed on the back of the violin.
“We actually just received this one today,” she hummed, bringing out a light pink paper bag to put the bear in. “From a little boy who said he was too grown up for it. It was very sweet.”
“Awe,” you smiled, trying to imagine a little boy marching in with a bag of stuffed animals and insisting that he was too old for a teddy bear. “How old was he, do you think?”
“Eight or nine, maybe? He was sweet,” she replied. You tapped your card against the card reader, shoving it back into your wallet as quickly as you could. The cashier handed you the bag, saying, “Thank you!”
“Yeah, of course,” you replied, turning to leave the shop with your new present in hand. With more resolve, you decided you were going to give up the challenge—this was stupid, and you didn’t need to be forced away from your boyfriend for 24 hours to prove a point. You knew that you could last a day without him if need be, and you didn’t need to test the theory for anyone.
The moment you were back on the sidewalk, you took out your phone, marching towards the train station. You would admit it, with pride—you loved your boyfriend and didn’t like being away from him. That didn’t mean you were incapable of being away from him for a while, so you would tell your friends that, and you would deal with the ridicule until they found a new thing to pick on.
So, you pulled up Hao’s contact on your phone, getting ready to press the unblock button, when you walked straight into someone’s back. You gasped, taking a step back and exclaiming “I’m so sorry!”
And then, you hear a familiar voice say, “No way.”
You looked up, jaw dropped as you stared at none other than Zhang Hao and Sung Hanbin, standing side by side, right in front of you. For a moment, the three of you just stared at one another in complete silence, like you were seeing each other for the first time in decades.
“No fucking way,” Hanbin repeated, finally breaking the silence. “There’s no way. Like, no way.”
“Apparently, there’s a way,” Hao replied, staring down at you with a pretty smile. You practically swooned, resisting the urge to engulf him in a hug and tell him how much you missed him. “How’s your day been, honey?”
“Fine,” you replied nonchalantly, watching as Hanbin typed furiously on his phone. “I got you a gift.”
“You did?”
You held out the bag, and Hao raised an eyebrow, taking it from you. He pulled out the teddy bear, staring at it with an incredulous look on his face. “You found a violin-holding teddy bear? Just out in the open?”
“It was on the top of a ‘pre-loved stuffies’ bin at a little shop down the way,” you replied, suppressing your smile. “And, get this, they got it today. Some kid dropped it off mere hours ago, and then I happened to show up on my no-Zhang-Hao-allowed day.”
Hao turned to Hanbin, and you felt your phone starting to blow up in your pocket, meaning Hanbin had successfully let the group know that you ran into him, unplanned, out on the open streets of Seoul, a good hour away from your apartment. “Does this mean we lose?”
“I don’t even know,” Hanbin replied, exasperated. “I—what are the odds of this? You couldn’t have even planned it. We’ve been together since last night.”
“I guess it was just fate,” you shrugged, crossing your arms. “And, for your information, I can easily spend a day without Hao.”
“Aw,” Hao said, wrapping an arm around your shoulder. You finally felt warm again, and you felt a little embarrassed that this was happening. “Well, for your information, I’ve been complaining about missing you from the moment you left.”
“He has,” Hanbin agreed, holding up his phone. “Let me take a picture, ‘kay? I need to send it to everyone.”
You gave the camera a thumbs up, finally giving in and smiling (not for the picture, but at the fact that you were reunited with your beloved boyfriend). Hao, in the most Hao way possible, leaned his head on yours, also holding up his thumb.
“You and I were fate,” he chuckled, and Hanbin snapped a picture, memorializing this moment into history.
thank you for reading !
541 notes
·
View notes
something i love so dearly about yuzumako is how the lesbian coding of their relationship is so healing, rather than self-destructive?? by that i mean, so much queer coding is filtered through the lens of, here is this character whose queer identity is so fraught that it often leads them to lashing out and misery, & you always think how much happier they'd be if they could make peace with themselves..... but with yuzuki and makoto, the safety and peace they feel around each other always serves as the anecdote to their struggles, ESPECIALLY with boys.
in ch 20 yuzuki is disappointed with boys endlessly complimenting her painting w/o looking at it—seeing her as a romantic conquest rather than caring abt her as a person. the same chapter, it's makoto who actually cares about her painting & yuzuki's artistry EXACTLY how she hoped. the loneliness & resentment yuzu experiences is directly tied to heteronormativity, with boys assuming that they can disrespect her boundaries since she's a pretty girl to be "won over"—only for makoto's actions to parallel the same set up BUT she always demonstrates a truer understanding of yuzu as a person & friend throughout the process, and every time it brings yuzu such a sense of safety & comfort that she NEVERRRRR feels around boys pursuing her!!
there's such an intense lesbian coding to yuzu's avoidance of male romantic advances as opposed to how she leans into not only female friendship but specifically to makoto's own feelings for her shining through—and again, i love this because it's so positive & warm. rather than queerness being a source of anguish, makoto brings yuzu more joy than heteronormativity ever does.
next, after mako's date that she calls a battle, it's yuzu who says she looks cute & cheers her up! mako ALSO decides she doesn't care about being boyfriendless bc yuzu makes her so happy which is sooooo baby lesbian like are you serious! the same as the scene with yuzu's artwork, makoto's date with a boy that only brought her discomfort & feelings of unworthiness is followed by joy & affirmation found in yuzu's company—again, queerness & female connection shown as the anecdote to comphet/mako forcing herself to present hyperfeminine to fit what's expected.
also of note is makoto's recurring jealousy of yuzu's beauty—even though this is a negative emotion, i love how it's ultimately overpowered by her affection for yuzu. also the lesbian pipeline from i want to be her -> i want to kiss her is alive & well for makoto. so so obviously.
then finally, probably the crowning example of my point is yuzu's arc of being set up on a date w her new classmate against her will! as an aside these chapters depict such a common lesbian experience, where to avoid being socially isolated, we give into comphet & just go along with boys' feelings for us, thinking it's best if we don't cause issues & eventually we can get ourselves to reciprocate, giving them what they want at the expense of our repressed identities—yuzu is taught that her feelings don't matter; her beauty was made for male consumption.
now in high school, yuzu decides to speak up for herself & reject the role she's been placed into, again as a beautiful prize to be won—it's common for closeted lesbians to think they can convince themselves to like men back, but yuzu won't go along with this forced set up again. after she rejects this boy, her classmates make yuzu feel like SHE'S the one who has done something wrong & don't take her discomfort into account—it's hard for them to understand why, as a pretty girl, she isn't willing to just go along with men's attraction. ENTER MAKOTO!!!
sorry makoto is frankly so smooth for this. when yuzu leaves school early & makoto hears about her date, she brings yuzu pudding & tells her that she wants yuzu to be honest with her about when she's feeling down, even though their experiences are different. when reading both characters through a queer lens, it's very interesting to see how they've had different experiences w heteronormativity & gender up to now—yuzu is constantly fighting comphet demons whereas makoto feels less than for not being as feminine or gorgeous as yuzu.
but even though their experiences with lesbianism & girlhood have been different, makoto wants to hear how yuzu truly feels and comfort her. once again, after seeing the horrible pressures & pains yuzu has experienced through heteronormative dating & misogyny, it is her incredibly queer-coded friendship with makoto that makes her feel safe enough to cry openly in front of her!!!!! yuzu's peers, but particularly boys, show a disregard for her emotions, and then we see makoto fill that role of support & care so easily. like the dream boyfriend she is :)
there's a lot more i could say about yuzumako & their individual arcs, but to tie everything up, it is so common in lesbian (or queer coded) media for a character's lesbianism to be something that brings them nothing but pain and suffering, either in its repression or awareness—so i absolutely love how skip & loafer showcases (through yuzumako but also the ENTIRE cast) that embracing your queer identity can be so healing & positive. the story doesn't shy away from presenting a lot of the pain that closeted lesbians go through, like struggles with their gender & how socially ingrained heteronormativity is—but these struggles are always followed up by such intentional examples of yuzumako's connection (+ lesbian yearning) being so comfortable & happy to them! i love angst too but seeing them, time and time again, know exactly what the other needs & be able to be that for each other is soooooo rewarding!!!
happiness in queer media does not need to erase the struggles of our lives, but rather showing authentic queerness not as the problem but as the SOLUTION is unbelievably impactful. long live yuzumako
395 notes
·
View notes