Status: Fin.

Say, "Aah."

Open Wide

The sticky substance slowly dripped its way down his digits and soon down his arm, the white liquid beginning to pool together around the tip of his elbow and occasionally splash onto the floor while he stared at the girl who sat across from him. Yugyeom could only stare as Carese's tongue would lick away eagerly at the strawberry ice cream cone in her hands, the ends of her lips curling upwards as she would savor the flavor and enjoy the taste of the sweet, chilled dessert.

She didn't even notice his gaze as she ate away at the cone, but Yugyeom's eyes were still locked upon her form as she did so until her eyes began to wander. His own pair then immediately looked towards the vanilla cone in his right hand's possession, most of it now gone thanks to having melted and dribbled down his forearm, and he silently cursed himself for being so focused on the way she had been eating her ice cream.

Stop being such a perv, stupid. He told himself, trying to quickly lick away at the ice cream and stop a bigger mess from happening.

As Carese's gaze landed upon him, she seemed to chuckle at his untidiness, asking, “Are you that much of a sloppy eater?” Grabbing a few tissues from the table's container, she scooted her chair over and handed him her cone. “Let me see it,” she sighed, and gently began to take care of cleaning him up.

That was the thing about Carese. She would poke fun at you and tease, but she was always there to take care of you. However, at times like these, Yugyeom was conflicted. Carese took care of him as if he were her younger brother, and he was afraid that that was all their relationship would ultimately amount to. They were close friends and had been for a while, but with their age difference of five years, the gap was always there and always apparent. Carese just never saw him as a man because of it.

As she finished cleaning him up, he smiled softly at her in appreciation, mumbling, “Thanks, noona.”

“Don't mention it,” she replied, not noticing the dispirited tone in his voice.

Taking back her cone, she finished it off with a smile on her lips and Yugyeom did the same, trying to hide how discouraged he was feeling. Once they had both finished, they got up from the ice cream parlor and decided to head off and walk around chatting.

“How've your schedules been going?” She asked him.

“Pretty good. Things have been getting a bit hectic because of our comeback, but it's nothing we can't handle.”

“That's good. Just make sure you get plenty of rest. I know how they can pack your schedule because of all the music shows and promotions you guys do.”

She was doing it again. She was playing the older sister.

“Yeah, I know,” he bitterly muttered.

“And what about the other guys? Is it true that Youngjae's dating someone?”

He stopped walking, his eyes widening a bit when he remembered about Youngjae. He was dating someone and their relationship was similar to theirs. He was in a noona relationship with Sydney and they were also a few years apart in age like them.

“Uh, Yugyeom?”

He looked over to Carese who was looking back at him from a few steps ahead, wondering why he had stopped walking all of a sudden.

“Sorry,” he apologized, quickly meeting up with her again, “just got distracted for a second. But yeah, he is.”

“Oh, really? Who is it?”

“You wouldn't know her, but she's a girl named Sydney. She's nice and hangs out with the guys sometimes. She's actually older than him by a couple of years.”

Carese whistled and her eyebrows raised a bit. “Wow, so she's a bit older than him then?”

“Yeah, it's just like us.”

“Yeah, but we aren't dating,” she teased.

The words seemed to escape him so naturally as he retorted, “Yeah, but we could be.”

The pair stopped walking, Yugyeom's eyes widening in slight horror at what he had just said and Carese's doing the same in shock that he had been so blunt about it. Slowly Carese turned to her friend and gave an awkward laugh, almost hoping that it would just roll off their backs like a bad joke.

Yugyeom looked at her laughing and clenched his fist, he didn't think it was the least bit funny, muttering lowly, “So is the thought of us dating that hilarious to you?”

Her tense smile fell and she shook her head adamantly. “Uh, no, it's not, Yugyeom,” she began softly, hoping that her response to the idea hadn't hurt his feelings too much. “It's just that... I'm older than you.”

“So what, Carese?” He replied, starting to come out about how he felt towards her. “I've liked you for so long now even though I could tell that you always saw me as a little brother, but... I don't like it. I've only put up with it because I didn't want to ruin our relationship or make it complicated. I didn't want to burden you with my feelings.”

“Yugyeom, you could never burden me with anything,” she answered truthfully.

He stared into her chocolate brown eyes, slowly drawing nearer to her with Carese only being able to wait in anticipation for whatever he might do next. His hands that had been resting at his sides gingerly reached out to her own, taking her delicate fingers into his grasp and rubbing them, loving the warmth that was exuded from them.

Sighing, Yugyeom's eyes trailed down to her plump lips and then back up to her irises. Breathlessly, he murmured, “Carese, I just—”

A ringtone interrupted their intimate moment, the affectionate split second where there was nothing else in the world besides themselves now lost, and Yugyeom exhaled in defeat. His fingers lost their grip and Carese's hand fell from his own, the two listening to his phone alert him of an incoming call.

Digging into his pocket, he brought it out and walked away from her, putting it up to his ear after answering. “What?” He questioned flatly.

“Whoa, what's up your butt, dude?” Jackson laughed.

“What do you want?” He reiterated, not in the mood to joke.

“Geez, lighten up, man,” Jackson sighed. “We have to leave for The Show in a bit. JB says to either get back to the dorms right now or to just meet us there, so which are you doing?”

“I'll meet you there.”

“Aight, see you there, man.”

Hanging up the phone, Yugyeom was trying to gather himself. Things had not gone the way he had thought they were. He hadn't imagined himself confessing to his longtime friend and crush, nor had he anticipated being in such a close moment with her to only be hindered by his own schedule for the day.

This was one moment when he wished he wasn't an idol.

“I...” he began, a migraine ironically beginning to form, “I've gotta go. I've got to meet the guys for a recording.”

Carese didn't speak a word, only nodded as Yugyeom turned to look towards her and gave a soft sigh of her own. “Alright, good luck then,” she told him, it was the only thing she could think of to say at that moment.

He nodded, too frustrated with himself to say anything back and too afraid that he might say something stupid about their relationship. Walking to the curb, he silently hailed a taxi and turned to look at her, giving her a longing look that must have looked like he was pleading with her to do something – to say something – that might stop him from leaving with his emotions in such disarray.

She didn't.

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Let's go out for ice cream again on your birthday.
Try not to make a mess next time when eating yours though, okay?
- Carese


That was the text she had sent him a day or two later.

There was no mention of their previous discussion, and it was almost as if it had never even happened; and while he was disappointed, Yugyeom was also rather thankful. If he couldn't be with Carese as something more, than he at least wanted to remain friends with her. She meant a lot to him, and he would be happy just to have her in his life.

When he woke up on the 17th of November, his friends woke him up by serenading him with the annual birthday song and then slamming his face into a cake, the icing spilling all over his clothes and bedspread. As the members of GOT7 laughed and headed their separate ways, with Yugyeom still busting up over how his friends had woken him up, a text caused for his phone to vibrate.

As he got it out and read the message, his heart began to sink, his smile falling from his face as he took it in.

I'm sorry, but I can't make it today after all.
But happy birthday, Yugyeom!
- Carese


His brow furrowed together as he sent her back a reply.

Why?
- Yugyeom

I was an idiot and I accidentally fell down a few stairs,
and I ended up spraining my ankle and right wrist.
I can't really go anywhere or do anything
without it hurting like a bitch.
- Carese

Then I'll come to you.
I'll be at your place in an hour.
- Yugyeom

But it's only ten in the morning!
- Carese

And it'll be eleven when I get to your place.
See you then.
- Yugyeom


Rising from his bed, he sauntered into the bathroom to catch a quick shower and got out still smelling the rich icing from his birthday cake. He shrugged off the smell and proceeded to get dressed, tossing on a regular t-shirt and jeans before slipping on his shoes and heading out the door.

He caught a cab to a small convenience store that was located a block or two away from her apartment, heading inside and buying a pint of strawberry and vanilla ice cream before heading into the pharmacy section and getting some bandages and cold compresses. When it was all paid for, he hustled his way over towards her flat and knocked upon her door, the door slowly opening with Carese hobbling back down the small hallway and towards her living room.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Yugyeom quickly dropped the bags to the floor of the small corridor and closed the door with his foot as he went to her side, slinging her left arm over his shoulder and helping her towards the couch. “You okay?”

“I'll be fine when I sit down,” she chuckled. “Thanks for the help, but it's really not that serious.”

“Just sit here, 'kay?”

“Wasn't planning on getting up again,” she confirmed with a small smile.

“Good,” he grinned, heading back for the supplies and ice cream he had abandoned.

Once he had brought everything over and retrieved a few spoons from her kitchen, he got out the bandages first and began to wrap up her ankle and then her wrist, his fingers gliding over her soft, toffee-colored skin, admiring its exotic look and how her touch always sent a surge throughout his being.

He subtly shook his head. Stop thinking like that, idiot.

When her wrist was finally wrapped up, his fingers gingerly raced over her skin once more before setting it down upon her lap. He reached inside the bag and pulled out the cold compresses, applying them over the bandaging before nodding.

“There,” he sighed, “you're all better.”

“Thank you, Doctor Kim.”

“It's my job to take care of my patients,” he played along. “And as your attending physician, you need to eat some ice cream to feel better.”

“You bought ice cream, too?”

“Of course,” his eyebrow wriggled suggestive, causing for Carese to laugh to herself and for Yugyeom to smile, glad that he had been the one to make her do so.

He retrieved the pints of ice cream and then opened up her strawberry one, sticking in one of the spoons and beginning to hand it to her, but realizing she'd have a hard time eating it with only one hand available.

“I don't need to eat the ice cream right now. You can go ahead and put mine away. I'll eat it later when I can use my other hand. You eat yours though, okay?”

“Don't tell the birthday boy what to do.” Yugyeom then grabbed the spoon and held it up to her mouth. “C'mon, open wide.”

Hesitantly, she did so, and as Yugyeom pulled the utensil from her mouth, she smiled and appreciated the gesture and the taste of the treat. “Thanks, it's really good.”

As they looked to one another, their eyes were caught in each others' and they silently adored the other for a few seconds. There was a sort of intensity within their gazes, the air carrying a bit of static and their heart beats unknowingly synchronizing the longer they stared.

Carese's tongue licked her lips clean of the bit of excess strawberry flavor they had on them, and Yugyeom took notice of the act, making him gulp to himself and scoop more of the dessert into the spoon for her.

As he brought the spoon close to her lips, he licked his own and whispered, “Say, 'aah'.

A bit of color flooded her cheeks as she did as she was told, “Aah...” her voice barely managed to get out.

As she ate the bit of the ice cream that was on the spoon, Yugyeom stuck the spoon back into the container and looked to her again as she savored the taste.

Again, their eyes met, but this time, Yugyeom decided to act upon the moment, his hand placing itself upon her cheek falteringly, caressing her skin and then cautiously bringing her towards him. Their breath mingled as they grew closer, their lips no more than a few inches apart, their eyes darting about feverishly as they both could feel the desire welling up within themselves.

“Carese,” he whispered her name tenderly, “I'm sorry that I'm not old enough for you, but I still love you way too much to want to remain just friends with you.”

“Your age was never really a problem, Yugyeom,” she told him breathlessly. “I just didn't want to get too serious with you since you were still underage. That's all.”

He seemed to smirk to himself as he placed the pint of ice cream onto her coffee table, using his now free hand to grip onto her waist. “Then what's your gift to the birthday boy?” He breathed out raggedly.

“I'm sure I can think of something,” she replied.

“Well, I know I can,” he answered, smashing his lips onto hers and savoring the taste of her lips and the faint flavor of strawberries that resided there.

“Happy birthday, Yugyeom,” she sighed through their feverish kisses.
♠ ♠ ♠
I hope you enjoyed it, Carese! ::tehe: I can't wait to see you!

Here's some Yugyeom for you as well!

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