Please Say No

Chapter one: Cute leather jacket boy

It was 5pm and all Aria wanted to do was go home, start up her laptop and maybe watch YouTube videos until her mind was numb. First day of classes were always so draining and she couldn’t think past the mushy fog that was her train of thought.

I’m dropping out of Journalism and I’m going to marry a rich heir to a small country, she thought to herself, the prospect of going through another semester’s worth of work too draining to even contemplate.

It was at this precise moment, while she contemplated the age limit of said rich heir that Aria looked up and proceeded to trip over her own shoelaces.

Because in front of her stood the most attract boy she’d ever seen, clad in a leather jacket and ripped jeans. He leaned against the wall, scrolling through something on his phone while running a casual hand through his hair. It was styled artful and messy, spiked just a little, styled as though he didn’t really put in much effort but still managed to look breathtaking.

Aria’s eyes widened before she sped up her pace and practically flew by said cute boy while simultaneously fumbling with her phone in a panicked haze.

Once she reached a safe distance, outside the building on the campus courtyard, she dialed the first person she could think of.

“Oh my gosh, Ren!” she shout-whispered into the phone, “Cute boy! I walked passed a cute boy! He was so pretty! And he had the nicest leather jacket on!”

“Remember to breathe, biscuit! Slow down,” he chuckles, “Why are you shout-whispering?” Ren continued, amused at his friend’s antics. When she stopped speaking and he could hear her calm her breathing, he asked, “Where are you?”

“I’m on campus, just finished my Journalism lecture,” Aria explained.

“June and I are on your campus too, visiting Soran. We’re near the Student Centre, come here,” Ren explained, wanting to see a flustered Aria in person.

“Okay,” she said a bit breathlessly, ending the call and taking off around the campus building, using the longest possible route so that she wouldn’t bump into pretty leather jacket boy.

She spotted three familiar looking figures seated at the tables outside the Student Cafeteria.

Ren, beanie clad and bundled in an array of sweaters, spotted her as well, waving exuberantly as she neared them. Just before she could reach their table he launched himself onto her, crushing Aria’s slight frame in a tight hug.

“Biscuit!” He cheered, spinning her around.

“Hi, Ren,” Aria  greeted, voice muffled as he squished her face into his chest.

“Could you please stop killing the poor girl? She’s so fragile and tiny, you’ve probably broke ribs, Ren,” Soran scolded. He watches Ren and Aria with a brow c****d, trying to hide a smile as he attempts a glare at them.

“Hi Soran,” Aria greeted, chuckling as Ren set her down, a bashful smile gracing his features.

Ren was all angles and tanned skin, pointy nosed with a tiny pixie like face.

Aria had always told him he looked a bit like a naughty puppy. Soran was also mostly angles, with a wider face and small eyes, fox-like in features. They were both incredibly attractive as well, and a bit of self-indulgent staring on Aria ’s part had been done when they’d first met.

“Hi, Aria,” a soft voice greeted and Aria tried to push down the butterflies that always came with it.

“Hey June,” she greeted, as June ’s tall figure came around Ren, enveloping Aria  in another tight hug, this one warm and more gentle than the other boy’s. He pulled back and smiled at her, his eyes disappearing and her heart skipped several beats.

“Your cheeks are coming back!” Aria squealed excitedly, cupping his squishy cheeks in her palms and pressing down so that they mushed his face together even more.

She absolutely adored the little bit of fat that clung to his face and had been devastated when June  had lost a bit of their roundness last year, dieting for his dance final.

“You’re so weird,” He said, voice muffled as he let her have her way, knowing it would be futile to protest.

“Shush,” Aria says she let her hands fall.

“Your hands are also freezing,” June commented, bringing her hands together in his own and shoving them into the pockets of his hoodie. He was in full black today, casual but still managing to look like a model with his hair swept back in a black baseball cap and she tried to push away the disappointment of not being able to play with June’s black locks.

Aria tried, and failed, to stop the blush enveloping her entire face, thanking the heavens that her skin was dark enough to not see it. She couldn’t, however, stop the smile from taking over her entire face. Soran rolled his eyes upon spotting this but chose to spare the girl further embarrassment.

“Have you eaten? Ren and June wanted to get pizza once Lucas’s lecture ends,” he said, sipping on the coffee in his hands.

“Um, yeah sure,” Aria said, still a little flustered about the situation.

June had always had this affect on her since she’d met the group last year during the university’s society week. It had been her first year studying towards a degree, freshly out of high school and she had been terrified about making friends, being the socially awkward potato that she was.

That is, until Lucas had spotted her Fairy Tail shirt in the crowd and they’d both proceeded to fangirl about how amazing the show was. They’d become friends instantly, bonding over a shared love of memes and anime and he had introduced her to Soran, who was also studying on campus.

Ren, June and another of their friends - Matt - followed a few days later, wanting to visit Lucas during his first week of university. The three were all Art majors, Ren and June in their second year of Music and Matt in his third, studying dance.

June had taken up dance last year as well, after much prompting from Matt. No one could really say no to Matt when he shot you a soft smile and looked at you with such hope.

“There’s Matt!” Ren exclaimed, shuffling over to help Matt with the trays of coffee in his hands.

“Matt!” Aria greeted, beaming at her friend.

 He shot her a knowing smile, eyes flitting to her hands in June ’s pockets for a second before looking back up at her, still flustered, face.

“Aria!” he greeted, giving her a one armed hug and a peck on the forehead, “I got you a coffee because I know you’ve just had Journalism and you need the caffeine.”

“You’re an actual angel,” she sighed happily, reluctantly taking her hands out of June’s pockets to hold the large coffee cup.

“Literal sunshine, light our lives and our hope,” Soran commented, already done with his first cup of coffee and reaching for the new cup in the tray Matt carried.

“Careful or Sola will think you’re trying to steal her boyfriend,” Aria  warned playfully.

“Oh please, Sola totally ships us,” Soran scoffed before smirking.

“When’s my baby coming? I miss her,” Matt pouted.

“Joon has a class until 6, so she’s gonna wait for him to finish and then meet us at the café,” Aria explained.

Sola, Aria’s cousin, went to the same business campus as one of Soran’s old university friends Jaehun, and had coincidentally met in their first year, three years ago. They’d both lived in the same city and had become fast friends.

Matt and Sola had first met at a party Ren had thrown last year, to commemorate Aria  and  Lucas’s first successful semester of university and had flirted nonstop for months before Soran had intervened and forced Matt to admit his feelings for Sola. Said couple have been attached at the hip ever since.

“Jin’s working, so I don’t think he’ll make it tonight,” June pouted, sipping on the drink Ren had handed to him.

 Jin was Jaehun’s boyfriend and a newly degreed chef who worked at the Korean Barbeque place near Jaehun’s campus. They’d met two years ago when Jaehun had spotted the pretty chef working there and had forced Sola to accompany him for study dates in an attempt to get cute chef’s number. Suffice to say, Jaehun’s persistence had paid off because they now shared an apartment together and had termed themselves official Mom and Dad of the group (“Of course I’m the mom,” Jin scoffed, “I’m obviously prettier than Joon, and I can cook.”).

“We could always grab dinner at Jin’s and then maybe he could join us after his shift,” Aria  offered, wanting to see the broad-shouldered man. She’d missed spending time with him and taste –testing his new recipes.

“You’re so smart, biscuit,” Ren nudged her, ruffling her hair, “We can stop by the BBQ once Sola and Joonie join us,” He continued, referring to the restaurant that Jin worked at.

“There’s no pizza at the BBQ,” Matt pouted.

“I’ll ask Hannah if we can come in earlier tomorrow and we can get pizza for breakfast,” Aria compromised, knowing Matt was being overdramatic but caving because he shot her his signature box grin before she finished speaking.

“Thank you, Aria,” he grinned, looking like the happiest puppy in the world.

“You have class at 8AM tomorrow, you can’t be feeding Matt pizza,” June commented, chuckling at the look of horrible realization that crossed Aria’s features.

“I want to drop out,” Aria whined, “I’m going to drop out and I’m going to marry some rich CEO.”

“You can just marry June when he ends up dancing in one of Beyonce’s music videos and becomes a millionaire,” Ren grinned.

“You’re ridiculous,” June playfully shoved him, the tops of his ears turning pink. Aria’s eyes had widened for a second before she looked down at her feet, awkwardly shuffling as she sipped her coffee.

“Obviously, Aria and Lee-Anne are going to end up alone. Lee’s studying medicine so she can support this little potato,” Soran added, hoping to draw attention away from his blushing friends.

“What about the cute guy you bumped into? Did he look like he was studying something that pays well?” Ren asked, his face completely serious.

Soran didn’t miss the way June had averted his eyes and looked down so no one would notice the frown now forming.

“Cute guy?” Soran asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Tell us everything,” Matt beamed, shooting Aria a mischievous smile.

“There’s nothing to tell,” Aria rolled her eyes, “I passed a cute boy as I was walking out of class,” she shrugged.

“Did you talk to him?” Matt urged.

“Get his number?” Ren added.

“Yeah, we flirted and now he’s letting me mother his future children,” Aria deadpanned, “Of course I didn’t talk to him! I ran away and then called Ren immediately afterwards because I panicked.”

“Why didn’t you speak to him?” Ren pouted.

“Because she’s an awkward little potato with no social skills,” Soran rolled his eyes “Has Aria ever talked to any of the cute boys she runs into?”

“She talked to me,” a voice said from behind Aria and she turned to find  Lucas grinning.

“Because you’re not intimidating when you wear Adventure Time shirts and walk around campus looking for Pokémon,” Aria rolled her eyes.

“I beg to differ,” Hannah said, as she and Lucas joined the group, having finished their class, “Bunny Boy is the most intimidating out of all of you. Have you seen his muscles? He could lift buildings.”

Said ‘Bunny Boy’ grinned, big teeth showing and nose scrunching cutely.

“That’s not fair! Lucas spends all of his time at the gym. He basically weight lifts June for fun,” Ren whined.

“Hey!” June exclaimed, “Are you saying I’m heavy?”

“Yes,” Ren grinned, sticking his tongue out at his friend.

“He’s just jealous because you and Lucas look like Greek Gods and he looks like a noodle,” Aria commented, trying to ease her friend’s temper.

“A sexy noodle,” Ren shot back, smirking at her.

“Excuse me! Stop giving her your s*x eyes, they’re creepy,” June said, enveloping Aria ’s head in his arms, shielding her from Ren.

“Do we get drinks, too?” Hannah asked, puppy dog eyes directed at Soran and Matt.

“I didn’t know how long you’d be, so I didn’t order them,” Matt said sheepishly.

“It’s okay, I’ll go get them,” Aria offered, head popping out of the top of June ’s arms.

“I’ll go with you,” June offered, stepping away from her but grabbing her arms immediately after as he linked their fingers together.

Their group of friends watch them stroll away, matching expressions of exasperation on each of their faces, “They’re disgustingly sweet and infuriatingly oblivious,” Soran commented, watching them enter the Student Centre, “I’m going to lock them in a closet together and not let them out until they’ve made out for at least an hour.”

“They’re so pure, the only thing they’d do is interlock pinkies,” Hannah chuckled.

“Nah, June’s a kinky little s**t. A sinnamon roll with a capital S,” Ren chuckled.

“Sinnamon roll?” Hannah asked, eyebrow raised.

“A cinnamon roll filled with sin,” Lucas explained, mouth already stuffed with the sandwich he’d stolen from Ren’s bag.

“That’s my sandwich! Give it back!” Ren yells, tackling Lucas to the floor. Soran and Hannah watch them squabble around on the floor for a moment before turning to each other. Hannah launches into an animated monologue about her weekend and Soran listens intently, head nodding along to her words as the two boys continue to roll around in the dirt.

Aria and June joined the group a few minutes later, three cups in hand.

“Why does biscuit look like she’s going to stab you?” Ren asked as June handed the hot-chocolate mugs to Hannah and Lucas.

“She’s angry because I stole her bag and wouldn’t give her her card, so she had to let me pay,” June  shot said angry girl a cheeky grin before handing her the last cup, filled with coffee.

“You’re feeding her too much caffeine for such a tiny little body. She’s going to explode,” Matt chuckled.

“It’s the only way I know how to appease her,” June laughed, “Aria’s kinda scary when she’s angry at me.”

“She’s literally the fluffiest, least intimidating little blob on the planet, you’re just weak as f-,” Hannah begins, only to be cut off by Aria.

“Excuse me!” she narrows her eyes at the brunette, “You all make me sound like a little kitten. Can you not?” Aria asked, sarcasm lacing her tone.

“You’re not even that intimidating,” Ren chuckled, “kittens scratch sometimes. You’re like a baby panda.”

“Oh my gosh! Speaking of pandas, did she show you her panda onesie?” Hannah grinned.

“You have a panda onesie? I demand selfies,” June stated, attempting a stern expression before inevitably smiling.

“I have pictures on my phone,” Hannah said, “I’ll show them to you later.”

“Traitor,” Aria muttered into her cup.

“I bet you would be the cutest panda,” June ruffled her hair, eyes disappearing even more as his smile grew wider. Aria looked up for a second before looking back down at her cup again, another blush overtaking her.

I need new friends who don’t give me heart palpitations every time they smile at me, she thought to herself.

“So Ren told us about your little adventure with the cute Asian guy,”  Lucas smirked, and the smile on June ’s face fell instantly.

“What did he look like?” Hannah asked.

“Like Shang in a leather jacket,” Aria said in all seriousness.

“You’re so overdramatic,” Soran rolled his eyes.

“But she’s such a hopeless little bean,” Ren huffed, “she didn’t even talk to him.”

“I’m probably never going to run into him again, Ren, “ Aria  rolled her eyes, “there are, like, twenty thousand students on this campus.”

“What if he’s your soulmate?” Ren wailed, “You wouldn’t know because you don’t even know his name!”

“Oh please, her soulmate is Lee-Anne. Have you seen how clingy those two are? I’m waiting for the day they come out and declare their undying love for one another,” Soran scoffed.

“We’re best friends, you ass,” Aria  rolled her eyes at the older boy’s comment.

“Yeah, they’re like June and I,” Ren declared.

Oh no, you and June are definitely secret boyfriends,” Aria laughed, “You’re my ship.”

“What? No, not you too, Aria,” June whined, burying his face in his hands. Aria noted the pink tips of his ears as he hid the rest of his face in his hands. She grinned mischievously.

“Yeah, I’ve written fanfiction and everything,” she smirked.

“Is it smut?” Ren asked, a smirk donning his face now.

“Ew, don’t corrupt my ship with all your weird kinks,” Aria grimaced while June  shoved his best friend.

“You’re so gross, I don’t know why we’re friends.”

“Because I give great cuddles,” Ren beamed.

“I give better cuddles,” June smirked.

“Actually, Soran gives the best cuddles because he’s so soft and squishy,” Aria added. They all turned to her with wide eyes, shock painting all of their faces while Soran leaned back, cocky smirk overtaking his features.

“I don’t want to think about you and Soran cuddling,” Lucas shivered, as though trying to shake the image away.

“You’re only supposed to be cuddling your Asian soulmate,” Ren quipped.

“I’m Asian,” Soran deadpanned.

“Yeah, but you’re not her soulmate,” Ren huffed. “I’m going to find this Asian Prince and I’m gonna wingman the hell out of this situation and then I’m gonna score you a date.”

“Ren, don’t meddle,” Aria warned. 

“You can repay me by naming one of your children after me. The cutest one obviously,” Ren grinned.

“One of my children? And who exactly am I having children with?” Aria asked, voice raising a few octaves.

“With Asian Prince, obviously,” Ren scoffed, “And you’ll have at least five children so that I have the cutest little army of minions.”

“No, Ren! Having children is not a concept I want to think about! Like, ever!” Aria almost screeched.

“But they would be so cute!” Ren whined. Aria buried her face in her hands, shaking her head at Ren’s words.

“Your kids would be really cute,” June  chuckled and the rest of the group burst out laughing as Aria  shot him the most betrayed look she could muster while obviously trying to hide how flustered she was.

“Don’t encourage him!” She whined.

“Guys, Jaehun sent me a text,” Lucas glanced up from his phone, “they’re leaving campus now.”

“We should get going then,” Aria said immediately, hoping to change the subject.

“Fine,” Ren huffed, “But this conversation is not over.”

“It’s just Aria and I, so I can take two people,” Hannah shot in quickly, looking over to see the look of quiet distress slowly overtaking Aria.

“Could you take Ren and me?” June asked politely, shooting her one of his charmingly shy smiles.

“Yeah sure,” Hannah smiled back.

“I call shotgun!” Ren exclaimed and they all rolled their eyes at him.

“Yeah sure,” Aria relented, knowing she wouldn’t win this argument.

“Okay, then I’ll take Matt and Lucas,” Soran stated, and they all get up from the tables and set off in the direction of the parking lot.

The ride to the café had been pleasurable, Ren and Hannah belting out lyrics along to the Frozen soundtrack that Hannah had in her car. June and Aria  sat in the backseat, giggling at their friends and joining in occasionally, to the lyrics they knew. Once they’d reached the café, the group had found Sola and Jaehun sitting at the far end of the shop, conversing quietly.

“Sola!” Ren shouted, flinging himself onto the unsuspecting girl as they both dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“Hey, Ren,” Sola had greeted him.

They all shared their’ hellos’ before claiming two more tables and ordering another round of hot drinks to warm them up before they set off for the BBQ.

“Guys, Aria has found her soulmate!” Ren exclaimed.

Aria caught the short glimpse Sola had given June  before Ren launched himself into explaining the situation, dramatic action included. They shared a knowing look and Aria shook her head slightly, hoping Sola would understand.

“Oh my gosh, Ren,” Aria sighed, “He didn’t even look at me, stop telling them that it was love at first sight.”

“Shush, I’m telling the story,” Ren stuck his tongue out.

“Leave her alone, Ren,” June sighed, “you’re obviously making her uncomfortable,” his tone held a bitter edge to it and Aria shifted in her seat as she felt all eyes turn to her.

The table fell into an uncomfortable silence after that before Lucas scooped a little bit of cream onto his finger and proceeded to wipe it onto Ren’s face. Laughter broke out and the group went back to mindless chatter, talking about how each of their days went.

When it came time to leave the café, they split into groups of three: June going with Hannah and Aria while Jaehun, Ren and Lucas accompanied Soran with Matt  and Sola having a car to themselves.

They’d reached the restaurant at around 8pm, and Jin greeted them all with a huge grin and warm hugs.

“I get off at 9:30, we can have drinks on the roof,” he had explained after taking everyone’s orders.

“Have you eaten?” Jaehun asked, worry lacing his expression.

“Yes, Joon,” Jin had chuckled before pecking his nose and leaving to prepare the orders.

They were loud and jovial as they ate, sharing stories about their holidays.

“Lucas, June and I basically lived at Aria’s for a week,” Ren said through a mouthful of burger, “We had an Overwatch marathon.”

“And then June complained that he was no good at it and made me watch cheesy romcoms with him,” Aria had nudged the now blushing boy.

“You enjoyed them as much as I did,” June  mumbled.

Jin would stop by at random intervals when he wasn’t busy, to chat and catch up with everyone.

“Jaehun’s been the clingiest since going on holiday because he’s been so bored at home,” Jin would roll his eyes affectionately and Jaehun would shoot him a bashful smile, dimples appearing and melting the mock-annoyed look off of Jin’s face.

“And when Jin’s at work, Jaehun would come over to ours and mope around like a sad puppy,” Soran rolled his eyes.

At around 9:30pm, Jin appeared with an array of drinks and a tired smile.

“Let’s go to the roof, it’s a lot quieter,” he explained and the group made their way to the stairwell.

Once atop, the wind hit them, crisp winter air making teeth chatter.

“I think my nose is frozen,” Lucas complained, cupping said appendage.

“It’s so cold,” Ren complained, “biscuit, come here.”

Aria rolled her eyes affectionately at the whiny boy before walking up to him and wrapping her small arms around him.

“I want cuddles too,” June complained a moment later and Ren had pulled him into their bundle of warmth.

“Aria and I have been cuddling since we were little, I get cuddle privileges,” Sola scoffed as she wormed her way into the pile.

“Hannah, do you wanna join?” Aria asked, voiced muffled by the arms around her.

“Yes please,” Hannah answered before she also wormed her way in. Soon enough, Lucas and Matt joined the slowly growing cuddle pile, pulling a grumbling Soran with them.

“We have the strangest children,” Jin sighed, shaking his head as he sipped from the steaming cup in his hands.

“Yeah, but I think it’s too late to give them back,” Jaehun sighed, wrapping his arms around Jin from behind, watching their friends with an amused smile on his face.

They’d all said their ‘goodbyes’ at around midnight, before parting ways.

 Aria had bid Hannah a tired “goodnight” when they had arrived at her house, Of Monsters and Men softly playing in the background. It had been a long and tiring day but spending time with the people she cared about always made Aria feel warm and content.

 She’d gotten ready for bed in a tired haze and had flitted into a peaceful sleep after sending goodnight messages on the group chat they were all a part of.

The next morning, Aria woke up and checked her messages, bleary eyes attempting to adjust to the bright light. There were a few good morning messages and one picture from Soran in the chat they all were a part of. Underneath he had typed out a question.

Soran: Hey Aria, is this the Asian guy you saw?

Aria blinked confusedly before flitting back to the picture. Her eyes widened in shock as realization set in.

In the picture Soran had sent, there were two people: Soran, smiling up at the camera and another man, the same one Aria had seen the day before, the cute boy in the leather jacket, smiling back at her.

“Crap,” Aria said, letting the phone fall out of her hands as her head fell back into the pillows.