Chapter Text
Walking towards the elevator, you nervously held onto your bag. You were heading out, and not for anything you were particularly excited to be doing.
The echoing sound of thunder could be heard faintly as you walked down the hallway. Part of you hoped the storm would make it impossible for you to get to where you were headed. But you knew that was rude of you to think. Maybe this would turn out a lot better than you thought.
Standing in front of the elevator, you watched as it seemed to stop at every floor. Then you reminded yourself of the storm. Most people would be coming inside, not going out. Maybe you really should cancel?
'Don't you dare' you could hear your friend's voice in your head as you let out a soft sigh.
As the elevator finally made it to your floor, you stepped back as a few people began to get off. As two people were slowly separating as they said their goodbyes, you waited patiently outside of the elevator for them to move.
Glancing around the elevator your eyes suddenly locked with a pair of unfamiliar eyes. He was already looking at you and you felt a jolt run up your spine. He was very attractive and appeared to be around your age. His gaze was soft, yet intense, a soft smile passed his lips as your eyes met his.
As the people blocking the door, seemed to finally notice you, they parted and you stepped inside the elevator, your eyes glancing at the man, who seemed to still be watching you. Was it your outfit? Did you look bad? Did you look good? Or did he just have a staring problem?
As the elevator continued on its path, you felt the man look over at you. You held your gaze firmly forward, uncertain if you should acknowledge him.
When the elevator stopped and opened, two more people got on. The elevator was small and could only hold about five people comfortably, so you stepped back to give the others and yourself some room.
Doing this, caused your shoulder to brush the mans. Shyly you looked over, ready to offer an apologetic smile, but you stopped short as your breath seemed to dissipate. He looked over at you and smiled brightly an understanding smile on his face.
You gave him a shy smile as you looked away, suddenly focusing on the conversations of the others as they complained about having to go to another floor to use the communal laundry rooms.
Your chest felt warm as you were very aware of your closeness to the attractive stranger. When the elevator doors opened again, you let out a relieved bath as you stepped away as all the other people in the elevator exited.
Now, you were alone in the elevator with him and suddenly the air felt thick. Why were you so nervous? You watched the elevator slowly creep down to the ground floor. But suddenly, the lights in the elevator flickered as a short jolt rocked the elevator.
You and the stranger both grabbed the handle at the back of the elevator and shared startled looks. You may not know this man, but in that moment you both knew you were thinking the same thing.
As the elevator let out a sharp ring as the lights went out and the elevator jolted to a stop, silence hung heavily in the air. You blinked a few times as your eyes adjusted to the now dark elevator. You could still see the man beside you, but his features were clouded.
"Did that seriously just happen?" His cautious and dumbfounded voice called out.
You nodded but quickly realized he probably couldn't see you. "Unfortunately." Reaching out you pressed the call button a few times, but nothing happened, you sighed. "The power must have gone out because of the storm" you noted.
Maybe someone was listening when you momentarily hoped the rain would stop you from leaving. Though now you weren't sure if you should be grateful or not.
The elevator was suddenly lit up as the man pulled out his phone. You watched him as he made a call. And after listening to his side of the conversation, you figured out as much as you needed.
As he hung up, he let out a sigh. Leaving the screen of his phone on, he lit up the elevator and looked over at you.
"It's not just our building, apparently the whole block is out of power. They don't know how long it will take to get it back on. But at least they know we're in here."
"So we're stuck until God knows when?"
He nodded, "Look's like it."
"Great" you said with a soft scoff. "Good thing I'm not claustrophobic." You glanced over at him. "Are you?"
He let out a soft breath that almost sounded like a laugh, "No."
"Good."
You leaned against the back of the elevator, looking up at the ceiling. Silent tension slowly built up before you shyly glanced over at the man. Seeing his eyes quickly dart away from you, you felt your ears heat up.
'Oh boy' you thought to yourself. 'This is gonna be something.'
After a short silence, both of you seemed to relax as you introduced yourselves to each other, hoping to destroy the awkward tension. Introductions lead into questions, which lead to conversation.
Now, having been stuck together for nearly forty minutes, you were both sitting on the floor of the elevator, talking.
You had learned his name was Hongjoong, he worked in music and lived with a few roommates, who were already sending him teasing messages about him being stuck in the elevator. And, he lamented how he was now late to an important dinner meeting.
Shyly, you told him about yourself as well, which he seemed far more interested in than you would have expected. The way he stared adamantly at you as you spoke made you feel more timid than usual.
You clicked your toes together as he watched you silently before speaking. "Where were you heading?"
Looking up, you met his eyes a and cleared your throat "I had a date."
Hongjoong's eyes widened a bit, and he felt alarmed at the way his chest tightened. Was he jealous? Or just disappointed that you had a partner? Shaking the thought away he nodded in understanding.
"Did you tell them what happened?"
You nodded, "Yeah I sent him a text."
After watching you for another moment, he almost smiled "You don't seem very upset by it."
You smiled sheepishly and his smile only widened.
"It was a blind date, and I honestly wasn't really looking forward to it."
"Then why were you going?"
"I owed my friend, and she set us up"
He nodded and let out a soft hum. "And he doesn't seem like...your type?"
You shook your head "Not really."
He hummed again and you felt like he wanted to ask more, but he tapped his fingers on the ground as he looked away instead.
"Do you...live here, in the building?" You asked softly and his eyes shot back to you.
He smiled softly and nodded "Yeah."
"Huh. I'm surprised I've never seen you before." You said casually and he nodded.
"I was thinking the same."
"Though it is quite a large building, so I guess it makes sense."
He nodded again in agreement, "We must have different schedules for our paths to never cross."
"That's probably it."
A soft silence lingered between you again and you chastised yourself for being so bad at small talk. Most of the time you could find a reason to excuse yourself. But not when you are stuck in a five by five elevator with another person.
"Have you ever played twenty questions?" Hongjoong asked, and you blinked a few times.
"Like the guessing game?"
He nodded "I think of an object and you have to guess what it is within twenty questions."
"I've played before, yeah."
He smiled "Want to play now?"
You let out a soft chuckle, glad that he was better at filling silence than you. "Sure, what else am I gonna do?"
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You giggled as Hongjoong let out a groan as he leaned his head back against the wall.
"Why am I so bad at this?" He asked with a pout as he failed to guess your object for the third time. "What was it?"
"Trampoline."
He groaned again "I was so close!"
"How is tractor close to trampoline?" You asked dumbfounded.
He met your eyes with a blank stare before he laughed at himself "I was close in spirit."
You chuckled and shook your head. He grinned as he watched you, feeling warmth in his chest as his eyes lingered on your smile.
From the second the elevator doors opened on your floor, Hongjoong was almost entranced. And now as he was getting to know you, he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of you. He wanted to know everything there was to know about you.
Hearing your phone go off, you checked it, and he saw the smile on your face drop.
"What is it?" He asked softly, not sure if he should pry.
You glance briefly at him "Uhm, just my blind date. He wanted to know if the power was back on yet. He is willing to wait to go on our date once the power comes back on."
Hongjoong watched as you bit your lip.
"I thought he would have given up by now." You admitted softly.
You had been in the elevator with Hongjoong for nearly an hour and a half. You had honestly forgotten about the blind date, assuming he had gone home. You were so caught up in being with Hongjoong, no one else had even crossed your mind.
Hongjoong felt that familiar tightness in his chest again. What were you going to do? And why did he care so much? That was stupid, he knew why he cared. The longer he was around you, the more he was becoming besotted with you.
"What are you going to do?"
You stared at your phone for a moment. "I don't know. He seems nice, but I'm just not interested."
"In him or in dating?" Hongjoong surprised himself with the question, as it slipped out quickly.
You met his eyes briefly and wondered why he was asking, as you picked up on something in his tone that seemed different than before.
"In him."
For a split second you thought you saw relief wash over his face as he almost smiled, but he quickly nodded before looking down at his lap.
"Do you think he'd believe me if I said the power wouldn't be turned on until midnight?" You asked with an almost pained face "Or is that mean?" You sighed, "Maybe I should just tell him not tonight"
'Not ever' Hongjoong heard himself thinking before he pushed away the urge to say it out loud.
"But then you would still to go on a date with him later on though."
You groaned as you leaned your head back "I know."
Hongjoong watched you for a few moments before his own phone went off. Reading the message, he felt his chest clench.
"The power should be back on in a few minutes" He said softly, not really hiding the disappointment in his voice.
"Oh" you muttered softly as you looked back down at your phone.
It wasn't that late yet, maybe you should give in and go on the date? Quickly glancing at Hongjoong who seemed to be watching you, you felt your neck grow hot. Now that you met him, you felt even more averse to the date.
Suddenly, Hongjoong reached over and took your phone from your hand. You watched him curiously as he typed out a message before he smiled and handed it back to you. You blinked a few times, stunned, before you looked down and read the message he had sent.
'I don't think the power will be on for a while, it'll be kind of late then. Maybe we should just re-schedule?'
"Oh. Yeah, that works." You muttered, feeling a light sting as he referenced the future date. Did that mean he wasn't interested?
After getting a reply from the blind date telling you he was okay with that, you looked back up at Hongjoong.
"Why'd you do that though?"
He smiled almost playfully. "Now you have time to get a better excuse not to see him."
Light relief washed over you. "What excuse should I use then?"
Still smiling at you as though he was hiding something, he pulled out his phone and called someone, you watched him curiously.
"Hey, it's Hongjoong. Yeah, can we re-schedule the meeting for another day?" Yeah, yeah let me know, okay. Bye."
"I thought that meeting was really important?"
He grinned at you "I have something else I want to do."
You quirked your brow, but before you could say more, the lights in the elevator suddenly turned on, you felt your heart jolt as you and Hongjoong shared a look.
He smiled over at you and stood up before reaching out his hand for you to take. Letting him help you stand up, you were caught off guard when he spoke again.
"Want to go get dinner?" He suddenly asked and you felt your heart flip.
"Wh- dinner?"
He nodded "Yeah."
"You canceled your dinner meeting because you wanted to have...dinner?"
He let out a soft laugh, "The difference is one is a dinner with you. Which is the part I wanted."
"Oh" your voice was almost a whisper.
He leaned forward a bit, "And if it goes well, you'll have a good reason not to go on that blind date."
"I will?" You asked curiously, with a light playful tone.
He nodded, "Why would you go on a date when you are already dating someone else?"
As surprise and realization crossed your face he grinned. Before you could reply, the elevator door slid open, and his hand was suddenly in yours as he pulled you from the small box.
A few workers were waiting, asking if the two of you were okay. You smiled and spoke with them briefly, trying to ignore the heavy pounding of your heart, as your neck and ears burned hot. Hongjoong's hand was still wrapped around yours as you began walking towards the front doors.
"It's not raining anymore!" He said cheerfully as he finally looked back at you.
Seeing you were still stunned he let out a soft chuckle as he pulled you to his side so you'd walk beside him.
"What do you feel like?" He asked as he looked down at you softly.
You met his eyes before a smile spread across your face, "I'm up for anything."
You shared an amused laugh as you both walked out into the cool evening air. Both of you uncertain how your evening's managed to change so drastically, but both of you glad they did.