<aside> 🌃 21 년 12 월 10 일

</aside>

The friend zone. A place a friend puts you in when they don't see you as a romantic partner, or maybe they don't mean to put you there and miss your advancements, but it doesn't make it hurt any less. The friend zone was the perfect view to see the person you loved, but it was painfully close seats, seats you wanted but at the same time didn't, because you had to sit so close to something you couldn't have, or rather, someone you couldn't have.

However, Seyoon was okay with it. Normally these seats were even more painful because you had to watch someone else take the main lead that you sought after, but for him, his friend had never casted anyone like that in all the time he'd been with her. He had a front row seat to all her accomplishments, her successes, and even some of her low points. Needless to say, sitting up close to the stage makes you fall harder for the love interest you watch perform.

He assumed she had placed him in the friend zone deliberately, giving clear signals that she only liked him as a friend. However, this wasn't the case. Unfortunately, Seyoon had one of the most oblivious friends in this play we call life. She never noticed his signs of attraction and endearment, she assumed it was him being friendly. How wrong she had been. Another unfortunate fact was she hadn't thought of him in that light. It wasn't that he wasn't attractive in her eyes, she was just biased, seeing him as her childhood friend blinded her to the man he had become after they graduated high school. Who knows what chemistry they'd have on the stage if she noticed him that way or if he'd make a move to give her a chance to see that side of him.

The comedic ways of broadway gave them both that opportunity. She didn't realize her friend auditioning for the main lead, not until a certain moment blossomed between them. The two were supposed to meet for lunch, a lunch that involved all their close friends from high school, friends that they always met with on a regular basis to stay in touch. Her and Seyoon lived in the same apartment complex, so it was common for them to travel together when going anywhere at the same time. It was walks that they both adored, but both for different reasons.

They had keys to each other's apartments. Their friends insisted for safety reasons, especially her best friend. Once her best friend moved out to move in with Donghun she gave Seyoon the spare key so he could watch over the apartment. Thus, when she came to get Seyoon for their lunch, she let herself in, taking in the familiar feeling of Seyoon's apartment, loving the scent that wrapped itself around her as she entered.

She checked his common areas. He had a bedroom that he turned into his own little art studio, canvases covered the walls while paints were organized in bins on a table in the corner. He spent most of his time in this room, leaving her surprised when she didn't find him there. She checked other rooms, but with no luck she decided to try his bedroom. She approaches the door, knocking on it twice before entering.

"Seyoon, are you in-."

Her sentence was cut short when her eyes landed on her friend. His baggy sweatpants hung low which often you couldn't tell. But she had caught him as he was changing his shirt. The blue button up dress shirt was being hung over his bed, his torso bare and reveled to her eyes. She let out a small gasp, closing the door, but careful not to slam it, hoping he hadn't actually seen her.

Her heart pumped in her chest and her vision went unfocused as the picture of his skin burned into her mind. She knew he worked out, but she wasn't ready for his toned body. His chest was wide, solid, nothing could push it with how much strength hid behind the muscles of his chest. His stomach showed the lines of his abdomen, showcasing how hard he had worked for the body she just saw. How was he so beautiful, and how had she never noticed?