What If It Was You? || aespa Winter x Reader

E2 || "Kim Minjeong."

ㅤSungchan could only groan and hold the temple of his head. Grabbing his chopsticks once more and slurping another bite.

ㅤ“Either way, she reached out first. She must have good intentions.” Eunseok said.

ㅤSungchan's gaze softener, giving another big sigh as he set his chopsticks beside him and looking at his phone again.

ㅤ“She’s respectful with it, clearly noticing that you two aren't anything — being friends, acquaintances, nothing really of the sorts — hence her response is valid.”
ㅤ“Despite the fairly formal response, I'd say she's playing it safe.” Eunseok smiled.

ㅤMy mind suddenly went into gear, making a hilarious image in my head as I chuckled and immediately flared my hands up in the arm.

ㅤ“I already see it. The news articles, RIIZE's Sungchan and aespa's Winter officially together!” I said, a big smile on my face as Sungchan sighed.

ㅤSungchan finished his bowl, went back to the couch with phone still in hand. He typed a couple messages by the looks of it before setting his phone down.

ㅤRIIZE looks at him confused, wondering why he was having mixed emotions. By the looks of it, he's both conflicted and also filled with unwanted fluster.

ㅤ“Sungchannie…?” I called out, his face looking at me confused.
ㅤ“Yeah?”
ㅤ“Are you sure you're alright with… you know… Winter?” I asked.
ㅤ“I—... I'm not. I'm not, really not.”

ㅤEveryone looked at him concerned now. The ones finished with dinner went to him while the others carried their plates.

ㅤ“How so?” Sohee asked.
ㅤ“It’s… It was supposed to be a secret because I wanted to move in private and surprise you all.” Sungchan said.

ㅤSuddenly, all of them except for Sungchan looked at me.

ㅤ“Don’t look at me! I don't know either!” I said defensively.

ㅤTheir gazes return back to Sungchan as he gave out a gentle sigh.

ㅤ“I have a crush on Giselle.” He said.
ㅤ“WHAT?” Everyone blurted out.
ㅤ“YEAH YEAH, OKAY!” Sungchan tried to calm us down.
ㅤ“What are you going to do with Winter now…?” Eunseok asked.
ㅤ“I–I don't know.” Sungchan said.
ㅤ“Wha— How— Since when? With Giselle.” I asked him.
ㅤ“It was near our debut. When they appeared to evaluate us, the judges and amongst them was Giselle.” Sungchan said, holding his nape.
ㅤ“Ever since then, I was kinda allured by her at first, then gradually became bigger then bigger then bigger. I haven't found a chance to reach out.” He said.
ㅤ“Not to dampen your mood but… your chances with Giselle might be a bit harder to gamble on now.” Anton said.
ㅤ“How so?”
ㅤ“Think of it like this. Girl code, your friend has a crush on somebody, you don't lay your hands on their crush. If Giselle hits you up while knowing Winter has a crush on you, that's their violation.” Anton said.
ㅤ“And with a bond like aespa, I doubt they're going to break that any time ever.” Eunseok added.
ㅤ“Argh… What do I do…?” Sungchan said, combing his hair with his hands.

ㅤEveryone stayed silent. The ones who weren't finished eating went to take care of their business at the counter. Sungchan, Shotaro, Eunseok, and I sat around in the living room.

ㅤ“Do you think Winter's pretty?” I asked Sungchan.
ㅤSungchan, surprised, said, “What kind of question—”
ㅤ“—Do you or do you not think Kim Minjeong is pretty?” I asked again.

ㅤSungchan sat still for a second, taking a breath in.

ㅤ“Yeah, she's pretty—BUT! In a sense that I understand her allure, just that my type really is Giselle.” Sungchan sighed.
ㅤ“That IS hard…” I thought to myself.
ㅤ“How about this,” Shotaro started.
ㅤ“Just go with the flow.” He said.