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When Jumin Han announced that he was going to be throwing a Halloween fundraiser, you and your best friend, Zen started planning your costumes. For as long as you had known him, you and Zen had always dressed up together for Halloween, you guys shared a favorite holiday after all, why wouldn’t you? When you both first met, you went as countless pairs: Mr. and Mrs. Incredible, Woody and Buzz, Eric and Ariel, ect. As you became closer, you both still dressed in pairs but made them more creative. All your friends loved to bring up the time you guys went as Peter Pan and his shadow, Zen being the shadow since he was so much taller than you.
“So I was thinking this year that we went as a silent movie couple? Wear all black and white and paint our faces and hands white as well?” You caught up with Zen one night before walking into a get together at Saeyoung’s house.
“Or maybe Ant-Man and The Wasp? I think that would be really cool and I’d look amazing in that costume.” Zen said, swagger dripping from his words. He turned his phone towards you to show you costumes that you both could order off of Amazon.
Sighing, you both stopped outside of the bunker’s front door and texted Yoosung asking to be let in. “I don’t know, Zen. Money’s tight for the both of us right now. At least with my idea you and I could wear stuff we already own and just buy the body paint.”
“We always do what you want to do, MC. Can’t we do what I want to do for one year? I’ll even buy your costume and you can pay me back when you want.” Zen was rubbing his upper arm, something he did when he was anxious, which wasn’t often.
Grabbing his hand, you smiled softly at him. “I don’t think I want to do that. I’d feel really bad.”
“Then maybe I can just ask Jaehee if she’ll match with me instead.” Zen said, glancing at the dark haired woman as the door swung open. You felt your insides clench slightly. You’ve been picking up lately that Zen might be interested in Jaehee and every time you thought of that, you felt a pang of jealousy in your stomach. You were sure it was only because if Zen started dating Jaehee, he wouldn’t have as much time to hang out with you. Although, the rest of your friends knew the real reason you were jealous: you loved Zen and couldn’t bear the thought of him seeing someone else.
“Uh yeah..” you trailed off spotting Saeyoung sprawled across the couch. “I think I will ask Saeyoung if you don’t mind then.”
Zen looked taken aback for a moment before plastering a smile on his face. “Good idea. I’m gonna go catch up with Jaehee but I’ll see you later?” It wasn’t a question that Zen usually asked. You and him were always together. But with the halloween costume debacle, he didn’t know what to expect.
“Um, sure. Maybe. I’ll text you!” You said, anxious to get away. You felt like you were going to pass out, your head was swimming and it was getting harder to concentrate on what you were doing.
Zen cast his eyes down and turned to your shared group of friends milling about, smiling softly as he saw Jaehee waiving him over. You watched him walk away and ignored how you felt like a piece of you was leaving with him. Sitting down next to Saeyoung, you put on a forced smile as he greeted you. “How’s your day been so far?”
“It’s been okay. Hey, so Jumin’s halloween fundraiser? Have you thought about matching costumes with anyone yet?” Saeyoung looked startled and you weren’t surprised. You and him have always been a part of the RFA but were never super close; it has always been you and Zen.
“I mean, not really. Yoosung and I will probably put something together last minute if I can’t find someone else.” When he said that, Saeyoung coughed nervously. “I assume you and Zen are matching this year?”
Shaking your head you looked pointedly at your math partner. “Nah, he’s asking Jaehee to do a Marvel themed costume with him since we couldn’t agree on what to do. I was uh, wondering if maybe you wanted to do a couples costume with me?”
Saeyoung nodded his head eagerly. “I’d love to but I’ll warn you, I’m not super creative so we can really do what you want and I’ll just be happy to be paired with you.”
Blushing you swept a piece of hair away from your face. “What do you mean you’re not creative? You literally cosplay for fun?” You questioned the man sitting next to you and he shrugged nonchalantly. “But… Well I was thinking of a couple from an old black and white silent film?”
“That’d be so cool! We’d wear our nicest black and white clothing and then paint our faces and hands with white paint and line our lips with black or grey coloring!”
“That’s exactly what I was going for, this is gonna be great!” You exclaimed turning to the worksheet that was just placed in front of you. “We can meet up later this week before halloween to go buy the paint.”
After work on Friday, Saeyoung picked you up in his fancy car and drove to the nearest costume shop. “Hey I was thinking maybe we could do something other than silent film actors? Maybe something like a classic couple? Maybe Bonnie and Clyde?” Saeyoung said, shifting through some of the costumes. “We could go to the thrift store and get the costumes from there. I’m just not sure I’m feeling a silent film couple.”
You considered Saeyoung’s idea for a moment before agreeing. “Sure, as long as you’re Clyde, I know how you like to dress up sometimes.”
Grinning, Saeyoung grabbed your hand and led you out of the costume shop. “I’d look good as either, but I’ll put you out of the misery of being Clyde since I don’t think you can pull it off.”
“Hey! I’ll let you know that I could be a damn good Clyde if I chose to be! You’d just look really good in a fedora.” Even though he was teasing, you felt your chest ache. Zen wouldn’t have said something like that and you found yourself missing him a little bit more than normal.
Ever since you couldn’t agree on a costume pair, you two had grown apart, he was busy planning a costume with Jaehee and you with Saeyoung, there was nothing to talk about other than your days, but even that only left you with a few short minutes of conversation. So you pushed that pain to the side and focused on where you were currently, trying on long pencil skirts and old fashioned blouses until Saeyoung approved of one of the ones you had picked.
Once he dropped you off at your apartment, you grinned at him through the passenger’s window. “I’m so excited to see how you’ll make the bloodstains look real. I can’t wait. Thanks again for doing this!”
With a faraway look in his eye, Saeyoung waived you off before driving away and you found yourself glancing at your phone to see if there was anything interesting you had missed. No text from Zen. Sighing, you pushed your phone back in your pocket and headed up the stairs to your apartment, already planning on making some halloween cookies once you got settled.
Saturday night was the night of Jumin’s halloween fundraiser and you were buzzing with excitement, picking nervously at an invisible thread on your costume. Saeyoung had helped you pick out a costume, made some alterations to make it look like there was blood spatter and bullet holes on it and you looked amazing in it but you hadn’t seen his costume at all. He said you’d be surprised though.
When a knock sounded on your front door, you jumped up and opened it to meet Saeyoung in all black. “Hey, uh. Where’s your costume?” Saeyoung escorted you to the car and you were surprised when you looked in the back and saw a cardboard PacMan. “That doesn’t look like Clyde. Saeyoung, what’s going on?”
Saeyoung had a soft smile on his face as he backed out of your driveway and headed towards Jumin’s house. “You’ll see when we get there.”
The rest of the car ride was quiet, leaving you very confused. You had no idea what was going on and you couldn’t be Bonnie without a Clyde, no one would understand.
When you arrived at Jumin’s you got out of the car and patiently waited as Saeyoung put on his cardboard version of PacMan and you both walked into the fundraiser together. “MC!” You were pulled away from Saeyoung as soon as you walked in, Jumin pushing a drink into your hand. “I thought you and Zen weren’t going as a pair this year?”
You furrowed your brow as you took a sip of the punch that had yet to be spiked, most likely by Zen. “We aren’t. I was supposed to match with Saeyoung but he showed up at my door with a PacMan costume today. Now I look like a fool.”
“Evening, Bonnie. Don’t you look wonderful tonight.” You turned around and saw Zen standing in a Clyde Barrow costume, tipping his hat towards you charmingly. Jumin laughed lightly at the blush spreading on your cheeks.
“Mr. Barrow,” you responded, playing along with Zen’s introduction. “Fancy seeing you here in that.”
“Jaehee persuaded me to go as Clyde and said she’d be Bonnie. Much to my surprise, she showed up on my doorstep in a vampire costume.”
“It seems that Saeyoung and Jaehee planned this,” you noted. “Hey look I’m sor-”
“MC, I should apologize. I was a jerk and didn’t take into consideration your feelings about your money situation and what you wanted to do for halloween. Ditching you wasn’t cool.” Zen was rubbing at his arm again and you grabbed his hand, rubbing soothing circles into the palm of it with your thumb.
“Forgotten and forgiven. All that matters is that we’re here now and we ended up matching in damn good costumes, if I do say so myself.” Zen started leaning closer to you, his breath starting to brush over your lips and you felt your heartbeat pick up.
“MC! Zen! They’re about to announce the couple costume winners! You guys should go over because I heard that you two have a good shot. The winners get to choose which charity the money goes to this time!” Yoosung pushed his way through the crowd to get your attention, his purple PacMan costume slightly bent out of shape, and Zen leaned back and cleared his throat, gesturing towards the semi-tipsy blond.
“You heard the man, we should head over there.” Zen grabbed your hand and led you through the crowd, your heart feeling like it was floating over your head as the steady grip of his hand never left yours.
“The winners were voted by the crowd for the couples costume,” Jaehee paused as she pulled out her phone and Zen’s hand squeezed yours a little harder for that second. “Is MC and Zen as Bonnie and Clyde!” Zen pulled you to the front of the crowd so that you both could accept the envelope with the card in it, explaining all the charities that the money you won could go to.
“I suppose I owe you a congratulations, although everyone else’s costumes are boring compared to yours.” Jumin, who was dressed as Doctor Frankenstein, shook both of your hands and you couldn’t wipe the goofy grin off your face. “Did you want to make a speech?”
Zen was notorious for speeches, all of the RFA joked that the only reason he gave them was because he liked to hear his own voice and you weren’t entirely convinced that wasn’t true. “I don’t think so. I think this’ll speak for itself,”
Zen pulled you closer to him and you looked up questioningly at him. “Zen, what are you-”
Your best friend cut you off by placing his lips on yours. Shocked at first, you didn’t know how to react but once you realized what was happening, your arms wound around his neck, accidentally knocking his hat off in the process, and your eyes closed, you fully melted into the kiss. “I’ve been wanting to do that for about as long as I could remember.”
Pressing another kiss to his lips, you played with his hair that was put into a bun to hide under his hat. “I’m glad you did.”
Pulling away from Zen, you turned to all your friends who were watching this interaction quitely. Once they saw you both were done with your small moment, they erupted into cheers. “Finally!” Someone exclaimed and you laughed, bending down to pick up Zen’s fedora off the ground.
Placing it back on his head, he leaned down and kissed your lips again and brushed his fingers across your tinted pink cheeks. “If I haven’t told you already tonight, you look amazing, Bonnie.”
Putting your head in the crook of his neck you smiled, breathing in the scent that was so incredibly Zen that you had no other way to describe it. “You look pretty charming yourself, Clyde.”