junhuistotoroonesie

[junhuistotoroonesie]

' THE WAY BACK ' | c. seungcheol

synopsis : fans reminisce on your relationship with seungcheol pairing : rapper!seungcheol x gn!, actor!reader genre/s : mini smau, angst, fluff, some humor mixed in

part one : memory lane | part two : hopelessly devoted | part three : beginning, middle, the end

from reese, with love <3

highkey inspired by a vague memory of what my tl looked like when hyuna and dawn broke up and as you can see... this is a three-parter hehe. no promises on when the next parts will be out, but if you want to be tagged for the other parts, just send me an ask or reply to this post :) thank you for reading! i'd really love to know what you think for this one bec i had a lot of fun making it :> hope you're all doing well and taking care !

[junhuistotoroonesie]

knock on wood masterlist

♡ summary: moving into your new apartment by yourself was scary enough, but with three rowdy neighbors, you had no idea what to expect.

a/n: ignore all timestamps!! they do not matter!

pairing: yn x felix

started: 25.7.2020

ended: 28.9.2020

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[junhuistotoroonesie]

I Like It When You Love Me

➳ pairing — artist!the8 x wife!reader

➳ genre — broken marriage au, primarily angst, fluff, smut.

➳ word count — 6.6k

➳ synopsis — the canvas of your marriage with your husband, world known artist, minghao is seeming to tear apart. it wasn't always like this and you don't know how long you can hold on when you can't see a future for the two of you.

➳warnings — marriage troubles, cursing, drinking, anxiety, arguments, sickness(fever), medication, misunderstanding, lots of crying, allusions to cheating, pregnancy talk, unprotected sex(don't do this irl), emotional sex.

➳ playlist — i like it when you love me- oh wonder// wish- choi yuree// lie- sasha sloan//say you love me- jessie ware// lie again- seventeen// breaking down- ailee// hai cheng- the8// without you- seventeen.

It's late when your aching feet hit the cold floor of your home.

The wall clock reads 12 am. With a grunt, you head to your bedroom, annoyed at the thought that you didn't have many hours at home before you had to go to work at eight.

The past week has been extremely hectic and being the managing director of a leading private company does not help as more duties keep being handed over to you. But you aren't usually a pushover. You wouldn't have accepted all these works or spent all these stupid extra hours at work had you not been feeling this pain.

This horrible, diabolical pain that has you overworking just to numb it.

Minghao had returned from a five-day trip to Paris this weekend and you were so excited to have him back, eagerly awaiting to spend some quality time with him as he promised before he left.

Except, you got none of that. Minghao returned and then drowned himself in work, saying that he had to finish two pieces within this month for an important client.

Hurt would be an understatement for what his words made you feel. Disappointment, desperation, anger, sorrow and a million other feelings went through you and you wanted to smash things around and tell him to fuck off with his artwork.

Only you didn't. You just nodded and let him go do his work, creating masterpieces. Masterpieces that have now become far more precious than you, even though he once claimed that you were the most precious thing in his life.

That was a long time ago.

In the two years of your marriage, it wasn't always like this. It had started happily, full of love and understanding and all good things until slowly your husband gained popularity and were asked to attend a thousand functions at a thousand different places over the globe and create more and more artworks for important elites.

That was okay. It made you extremely happy that he gained the recognition he deserved. But what was not okay was the distance that started to form between the two of you despite your best efforts. At first, he asked you to come along with him, and see the world and however tempting that offer was, you had your life set here. Your job, your family and friends, the house that you two had just bought. So, you denied his offer and let him go on his way.

But you visited. During the second week of his month-long stay in Rome, you flew over to visit your husband whom you had missed desperately. Though after you arrived, you realized it was a bad idea. Your husband barely had time to eat with the numerous orders for paintings piling up and he spent all day locked up inside a room with only his paints and brushes. If he was happy to see you he didn't get to express it much.

Still, you stayed. You stayed a week and then a couple of more days just because you longed to be close to your husband, breathe the same air as him.

Eventually, you had to return home, to your work. Later, when he came back from Rome, you thought you'd finally have him all to yourself but how wrong you were.

Your husband was exhausted and he slept for a whole day straight. But you couldn't hold that against him. So you cooked for him, cuddled him and took care of all his needs. And then, a day later, everything was back the way it was as he left early in the morning for a meeting with a curator, throwing apologies your way.

It all went downhill from there. He was always with his work, breathing it in and out as it became the sun of his solar system; replacing the sun that was once you. His apologies stopped coming and you stopped expecting them because for one, they didn't change anything and two, they only made you feel guilty. Like you were holding your husband back from his success.

So you let him go. Let your marriage go. You stopped asking when he'd return home and instead said it was all okay and if he needed anything you'd be there.

But on days like today, you regret your decision. On long, exhausting days like today, you don't want to do anything but come home to your husband and let him hold you in the safety of his arms like he once used to.

But your desire stays like that, a desire, far from the reality in which you sit on the cold, empty bed that you share with your husband and weep.

-

You don't know if it's the alarm or the horrible thrumming of your head that wakes you from your slumber. Huffing, you shut down the noise and try to sit up, only to feel like your head might as well come off of your neck.

"Fuck." You hiss, rubbing your temples. You definitely can't go to work today with this headache.

With all your might, you manage to get yourself up and stumble towards the dining room as you desperately try to pour yourself some water.

"_____?" Someone calls your name.

You turn towards the direction of the voice and blink furiously, trying to focus through the numbing ache. "Hao?"

Your husband stands there, dressed for work as he sips a cup of coffee. You definitely didn't expect to see him as he always left for work before you.

"You alright?"

"Y-yeah." You breathe roughly and gulp down the glass of water you managed to pour yourself before you slump down onto the breakfast stool. "You're still here." You murmur, eyes closed as you rub your forehead.

"Yeah. I came home pretty late last night."

Pretty late. That means later than he already does.

"Do you have a fever? Or is it just a headache?" You feel him standing next to you.

"Headache." You murmur.

"Take some medicine then. Should I call Martha?"

Martha is your family doctor and despite her expertise, you can't tolerate her for more than a minute when she starts running her mouth. Which she always does and doesn't get the hint to stop anytime soon. You heavily doubt that's going to be helpful given your current condition.

"No. I'll just... rest." Your words come out slurred. You hear a sigh next to you before your husband puts a hand on your shoulder. "Alright, then. I need to get going. Call Martha if you feel too bad, hmm?"

You only nod and watch with blurry vision as your husband puts on his coat and heads out the door. The silence that follows is eerie. It stretches the gaping hollow inside your heart as you pathetically sit by yourself and let the silence wash over you.

For a little moment, you don't register the pain in your head. No, it is overtaken by the scathingly ache blooming in your heart as you realize your husband just left you by yourself when your head feels like it'll split into two, when you can barely see or walk straight.

You don't know what you had expected. Maybe a hug? A kiss? Words of reassurance? Or a promise of returning home as quickly as possible? Or to pick you up and tuck you in bed? Maybe heat something up for you? Maybe stay with you for a few minutes longer?

Tears burn your eyes as you sit and think about your miserable state. You are angry, frustrated, and in horrible pain but for the first time since this drought started between you and your husband, you feel hopeless.

There is no hope left for you. For this marriage. There cannot be when he saw you in pain and still chose to leave for work. And the hopelessness frightens you more than anything.

Your husband doesn't love you anymore. He doesn't care anymore.

The sound of glass shattering makes you realize you had just thrown it into the floor out of anger. And you can't bring yourself to care. You walk over the little pieces, breaking them further underneath your slippers as you head back into the bedroom and lie down.

Tugging the covers up to your chin, you close your eyes and cry silently, wishing you'd rather never wake up again.

But you do.

It's noon when you open your eyes again and this time it doesn't feel like you've been hit with a crowbar on your head. No, but it feels like you've been sleeping inside an oven, your skin covered in sweat and heat radiating off your face. As you press your palms to your head you realize you have a fever.

Great.

Sighing, you stand up on your wobbly feet and head to the kitchen to get something for your groaning stomach. Ignoring the shattered glass lying on the floor, you heat up the leftover rice and curry you found in your fridge.

Alone and miserable, you finish the food that now has lost its flavourful taste.

Much like your marriage.

Then you grab the medicine box and quickly swallow some pills before you sit on the large couch in your even larger living room.

The afternoon light pours in from the large windows, bathing the room in a beautiful, angelic shade of golden. The sunlight falls on a particular piece of artwork that hangs on the wall of the living room, painted by your dear husband.

The artwork is simple but vibrant, realistic and full of emotions, just like all the works of your husband. It's a painting of two hands, one holding the other, a beautiful ring adorned on the ring finger of the woman's hand. The woman is you and the man is your husband.

He drew this piece after he had proposed to you and then gave it to you as your wedding present. You remember being delighted and shedding a few tears at the marvelous artwork and remember being even more delighted on the day you tied the knot.

You thought you had found your happily ever after. That no matter what, you had your husband and he had you and together you'd get through anything the world threw your way. Only two years later, you now sit alone and feverish, in a large house that contains nothing but you the painful echos of your heart.

The memories once beautiful have now become bitter and before you start shedding more tears, you push yourself up and head towards the bathroom to take a bath. Once done, you retreat into your bed and let the wallowing grief swallow you whole once more.

It's nighttime when you wake up.

9:46 to be exact. Your headache is pretty much gone and the fever has come down a bit but you still feel drowsy and exhausted. You hear the shower running which makes you think you are hearing things.

But no. The wristwatch and wallet sitting on the dresser assure you that you didn't hear wrong and that your husband is home. Which is a record. He's never home this early. Well 9 pm isn't anywhere near early but comparing that to his usual 11 am or even later entrance, this sure is a record.

You sit up as you hear the shower stop. A few minutes later Minghao emerges from the bathroom, wearing a loose pair of pajamas.

"Oh, hey. You're up." He smiles. "How do you feel? Did you take some pills?"

You only nod as you watch his naked upper half. How long has it been since you saw him naked? You can't remember. The feeling leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.

"Good." He hums as he puts on a tee. "I ordered some vegetable soup for you. It should make you feel better."

Once again, you nod.

"Oh, I found some broken glass on the floor. Did you get hurt?"

"No, I dropped a glass by accident."

"Oh. Well, I've cleaned it up so don't worry. I'll get the table ready. Freshen up. Let's eat it while it's hot." He says as he heads out of the room. You sit in silence for a while, processing the situation before doing as he asked.

-

The silence at the dinner table is borderline suffocating. The air between the two of you is tense and it chokes you as you have trouble swallowing the warm soup. You wonder if it's you who only feels this way. Your husband, sitting opposite you, eats his dinner in a relaxed manner and you have no idea what is going on in his head.

As impassive as ever.

"When did we become like this?" You whisper, almost to yourself as a wry smile sets onto your lips. Minghao's eyes lock with yours as he frowns. "What?"

You sit straight and clear your throat. You need to get this over with. "When did we become like this, Minghao? Since when has it become so tense between the two of us? It has been months since we shared a meal— since I shared a meal with my husband and what are we doing? We're acting like strangers, like we're not fucking married to each other! Like.... like everything is fine!"

"Everything is fine. What are you talking about?" His voice is calm and it makes your blood boil.

"Fine? Everything is fine?" You scoff. "When was the last time we went on a date? Okay, never mind, when was the last time we had sex? Or hugged each other? Or kissed properly? You know what, fuck all that, when was the last time we, a married couple had a proper conversation or saw each other for more than two minutes?" By now you have stood up and are yelling, your fists banging on the table as you pour out everything bottled up inside you.

Minghao's brow knit into a frown as he hears you ramble. He gently sets down his spoon and intertwines his fingers as he sits and stares at the table in silence.

"You actually think everything is fine, huh?" You're baffled. "You have nothing to say."

"You know how busy I have been." His voice is quiet.

The audacity of this man!

"How dare you say that, Minghao?" You seethe. "You are trying to tell me that for the past eight months, you've been so busy that you couldn't spend a few minutes of quality time with your wife?"

He remains silent and you feel like you are tumbling down an abyss of dark despair. He doesn't seem even a little bit worried or regretful. Has he truly moved past you or, is it...

"Have you found someone else, Hao?" Your voice is tiny. His wide eyes land on yours.

"What? No! How could you say that?"

"When you barely have time for your wife, one can think that, no?"

His lips form a hard line. "No, ____. I'm not seeing anyone. I've so much work to do I barely have time to sleep."

"Yeah, that's it. Work, work and work. All you do is work. I look at you and honestly, I feel like you're the only person in the world who works. I've never seen someone as busy as you, so we all must be jobless, huh?" You sneer.

Fury blazes in his eyes as he abruptly stands up, making the legs of the chair scratch loudly against the floor. "You have no right to talk like that! Do you know how much pressure is on me? Do you know how much people expect from me? Do you think we'd be living in this huge fucking house and driving nice fucking cars without my hard work?"

"That's the thing!" You scream. "I never wanted a huge house or a fucking car! I've only ever wanted you! I want my husband to be with me. I want to come back home to my husband and I want to be his priority just as he's mine. I just want you, Hao." Your voice cracks, your arms slumping at your sides in defeat.

He keeps scowling at you, his jaw clenched. Moments pass by and you expect him to say something but instead, he walks away from the dining table and towards the hanger by the door, from where he picks his coat, slings it on his shoulder and walks out the door.

You stay rooted in your spot, absolutely baffled.

Moments pass by as your brain processes everything that has taken place in the last ten minutes. And then, the headache returns. Stronger than before. So intense that you've to sit back down on the chair and clutch your head tightly.

The pain is strong enough to distract you from the fact that you are crying. When you realize, you're angrier at yourself.

The last thing you should be doing is shedding tears. You did nothing wrong. You addressed the elephant in the room and it is his fault for running away instead of talking to you.

Gosh, when did it become like this? When did he become like this?

More tears gather in your eyes as you think back to the times when things were not like now, when you never imagined one day it could come down collapsing.

You used to be each other's world. Where did it go wrong? Did you not try enough? Or is it simply the fact that he doesn't love you anymore?

The absolute despair makes you want to rip your hair out and you're more annoyed by the stupid headache, making you feel pathetic and weak. Trying to shake the pain and the tears off, you stand up and drag yourself to the bedroom, locking the door behind you.

If he comes back, he can sleep in the other room. There's no way you're letting him in your bed tonight.

Switching off all the lights, you crawl into bed and close your eyes, trying to tune out the throbbing in your head and the events of this evening.

-

You wake up with cold sweat. The first thing you feel is your headache which has gotten significantly worse since last night. It feels like someone is pounding against your temples and it's going to crack anytime soon.

The next thing that captures your attention is the early morning sunlight, pouring from the windows and flooding the room, in turn burning your eyes. Who the hell drew out all the blinds?

Then, you feel something against your cheek, warm and soft. Confused, you blink repeatedly, which proves to be a hard job due to the headache and try to focus your vision. Tilting your head just a little you find a man sitting by the bed, one of his hands stroking your cheek with the softest touch.

It's your husband, you realize after a second.

He looks different. Very different than last night. The harsh lines on his face, the anger in his eyes, the hardness in his jaw are all gone. They are replaced with a soft, worried gaze, his brows furrowed in concentration as he gapes at you intently, his lips parted just a bit. The morning light floods in from behind him, casting him with an ethereal glow and you forget to breathe for a second as you simply take in his beauty.

"Baby? You're awake?" He calls, shifting closer to you.

Baby. It has been a long time since he called you that. The fondness and love in his voice are ironically unsettling.

Swallowing, you try to speak but no words come out. You lick your lips and immediately your husband reaches for the bottle of water by the bed. Helping you move your head, he holds it against your lips, tilting it softly. "Drink, baby. Slowly."

Once you are done he sets the bottle back down and sighs heavily, "Gosh _____." He shakes his head. "Why did you lock the door? Do you know how sacred I got when I came home and found the door locked and you were not replying?"

It takes you a while to process what he's saying and once you realize it, you feel a little guilty. You did it to keep him out not intending to make him worry.

"Thank god we had spare keys," he sighs, rubbing his forehead before brushing away the hair over them. Then his eyes set on you. "Your head hurts doesn't it?"

You only nod.

He once again, sighs loudly as he gives you a look that is akin to what a mother looks like at her bratty child. "Why didn't you take some medicine last night?" He scolds, reaching for the folded towel beside you and wiping your forehead. "You need to eat now. Then you can have your medicine." He announces as he stands up. "Let me bring breakfast here. Do you need help to go to the bathroom?"

Bathroom. Right. Your bladder is bursting.

Pushing the covers away you shake your head as a reply and gently get out of bed. Despite your response, Minghao stretches his arms around you in case you lose your balance as you slowly head towards the bathroom.

"Don't lock the door." He commands once you're inside and heads of the room to get breakfast. You do your thing and as you wash your hands your eyes fall on the mirror, almost scaring you.

You look gaunt, tired and messy and it makes you cringe. You splash water on your face repeatedly in an attempt to look a bit more refreshed before admitting defeat and crawling back to bed. Soon after, Minghao returns, with a small foldable table that carries your breakfast. A healthy heap of pancakes, yogurt and berries with orange juice.

"I can't eat all that." You whisper.

"Shush." He gives you a pointed look, setting the table in front of you and starting to cut the pancake into pieces for you.

You want to protest but you're too tired and it feels nice to be doted by your husband. So you opt to just watch him, wondering what could have happened that caused such a dramatic flair in his behavior.

Your head hurts too much to think so you put a pause on those thoughts.

Once done cutting the pancakes into bite-sized pieces, he doesn't hand the fork to you but stabs a few pieces and holds them against your lips. Like an obedient child, you open your mouth and let him feed you.

And so, in silence, he repeats this motion and you happily comply, too tired to even move. Once you are finished eating, he quickly reaches for the cold medicine and drops a couple of pills in your palm with a glass of water. Once you've taken your pills he gives you a soft smile with a pat on your shoulder before taking all the utensils and placing them on the table as he heads out of the bedroom.

You start to feel drowsy, your eyelids starting to feel heavy once again as your head lies against the headboard. A while passes by and you suppose your husband is doing the dishes. Or maybe he's having breakfast. Has he eaten? You forgot to ask.

Just as your mind begins to wander, he's back. "Feeling sleepy?" Minghao asks, a fond smile on his lips as he notices your sleepy eyes. You hum and not, shifting to lie down and he's quick to rush over, helping you lie down and pull the covers up to your chest. Then you watch him close the curtains, darkening the room so that you can fall asleep.

"Sleep for a while. When you wake up, you'll feel a lot better, trust me." He says coming back over to you and much to your surprise, he crawls into the bed with you. You're even more surprised when he pulls you into his arms, placing your head right below his chin as he hugs your body, whispering, "I'll lie with you till you fall asleep."

The gesture warms your heart and gives your stomach butterflies but you say, "Are you sure? I'm sick. You could get sick too."

"Mhmm." Is the reply you get.

There's a beat of silence as you lay still in his arms before you ask, "Have you eaten?"

"Yeah. Just before you woke up."

Another pregnant pause, this one longer than before.

"We need to talk, you know." Your voice is as soft as a feather. You hear silence for a while, which makes your heart drum loudly against your ribcage.

What is he thinking?

"I know." You hear him sigh. His arms wrap around your shoulder tighter as he speaks. "We will when you feel better."

-

True to his words, you feel a hell lot better the next time you open your eyes. The sky is shaded with hues of orange and pink and blue, indicating dusk has fallen.

The bedroom is empty and you can't hear any sounds from outside, wondering if your husband is at work. It is the most probable scenario, considering he had spent so much time looking after you this morning.

With a sigh, you head for the bathroom and start drawing yourself a bath, in which you soak for a long long time. When your fingers are all pruned and you start to doze off, you get off, drying yourself and putting on some nice clothes.

You take your time brushing your hair and doing your skincare with special care since it has been a while since you felt like yourself.

Once done and happy with how you look you emerge from the bedroom to find the apartment empty as you had assumed. For a while, you contemplate whether to call your husband and ask about his whereabouts but you decide against it, not ready to go back to the previous routine.

Instead, to satisfy your growling stomach, you look through the cupboards and gather all the essentials to make yourself some grilled cheese. You're pleased to find your whole pantry stocked and you realize your husband took the liberty of doing the groceries when you were sick. Though it's a simple act, it warms your heart and makes you smile.

As you are toasting the bread for the grilled cheese, the front door opens, making you frown. A moment later, your husband pads into the main area and upon seeing you, knits his brows in confusion.

"Hey," you give him an awkward smile. He looks more puzzled. "Hey. Why are you cooking? Aren't you sick?"

"I feel a lot better and I was hungry." You shrug. You notice he is wearing what he was this morning and it makes you wonder where he actually was.

"Let me do that. You should rest some more."

"No, I'm fine, Hao. I'm tired of lying in bed all day. I need to do something." You decline as you reach for a piece of cheese and carefully put it on top of the bread. You can feel your husband's eyes trained on you and clearing your throat, you ask. "Where did you go?"

"Downstairs. Studio. Had to tie some loose ends."

Minghao's studio is on the first floor of this condo since you both decided that it would be better if he had a separate space for his work and not somewhere that is too far away from your home. So when you two came across a space on the first floor, you rented it out immediately.

Nodding, you focus on grilling your toast. You expect him to leave you, maybe go freshen up but he stays immobile in his spot, quietly watching you.

You frown. "Would you...like one?" You motion towards your grilled cheese. He shakes his head.

"We should talk."

There's a heavy pause in the air. You watch him for a few beats, swallowing the lump in your throat before nodding softly. "Yeah, we should."

It's time to lay all your cards on the table.

Turning the stove off you put aside your snack and take a seat on the couch. Your husband follows you and sits down right beside you but maintains a few meters of distance.

The tension is crackling in the air and as much as you'd like to break it, you've said all you had to yesterday, so now it's his turn to speak. Hence, you wait patiently.

"I'm sorry." His voice is quiet. "For lashing out at you yesterday. For everything."

You stare at your lap where your fingers fidget with each other.

"I... really don't know what is the right thing to say. I know I've fucked up big time and I'm...scared I'll disappoint you more." He breathes, his wide, pained eyes trained on your face.

You heave out a sigh. "I'm listening, Hao. I'm here and I'm listening."

"Right." He swallows, nodding before taking a deep breath and starting. "I'm sorry. I...got my priorities messed up. I took you for granted and I never should have done that. It's just that..." He swallows, searching for the right words as you watch him with patience. "I got lost in work. I mean, one day I have barely any orders and suddenly I have so many clients and so many events to show up at. I got lost. I didn't want to disappoint them but instead, I disappointed you and I didn't even realize it." He shakes his head at himself.

You feel awful for him and your hand itches to reach out and cup his cheek, smooth away the lines of worry on his face. But you hold yourself.

"I'm so fucking sorry. I could never apologize enough. But know that you've always been the most important thing in my life and you always will be. I just... forgot that. But now I'm here, ____. I'm here and I promise to never let you down again. Just give me another chance." His desperate eyes search for yours, his hands reaching for yours and holding them tightly.

"Oh Hao," you whisper, a lone tear traveling down your cheek. "No, no, no." His hands immediately wipe it away as he says, "Please, don't cry. I know you're mad at me and if you want to be alone, I'll let you be. I just needed— "

"Xu Minghao!" You admonish him with a pout. "I'm not really mad. Not anymore." You whisper.

You can literally see the burden weighing on his shoulders lift.

"Really?" His voice is like a gleeful child's.

You nod, moving closer to him and snaking your arms around his neck, fingers playing with his mullet. "Though you still have to do some work to make it up to me— "

"I promise I'll do anything."

"And, make sure this never happens again, hm? Whatever happens, don't push me away Hao. We're in this together. If you're busy let me know. Call me. I'll do anything to help you, my love."

Your husband's eyes turn glassy.

"I know. I'm...so sorry. I'm such a bad husband."

You frown. "No, Hao. Don't say that. You're a wonderful wonderful man and I'm so lucky to have you."

"Really?" A small smile makes his lips twitch.

"Really." You smile. "We all make mistakes, love. What's important is to learn from them and not repeat them. And I know how much painting means to you. You finally had your big break so I suppose you got a little overwhelmed."

His hands reach out to hold yours as he nods shakily. "Yes, I did get overwhelmed. But not anymore. I've got my priorities straight." His eyes gleam as you clearly hear the promise in his voice. It sets your body aflame.

"Good because you should get working on making it up to me. You can start by taking me to bed and you know..." You give him the bedroom eyes as your fingers trail over his neck, teasing him with your touch.

There's a spark in his eyes that shoots desire throughout your body. "Anything you want, my queen." He gives you a teasing smile.

You bite your lip as he quickly pulls you with him, feet moving straight towards the bedroom. As soon as you step in, he pushes you onto the bed and quickly starts taking off his cardigan and then his tank top.

You watch with a lust-fueled gaze, your husband's beautiful body appearing in front of your eyes after a long, long time. Giving you an almost shy smile, Minghao takes off your top for you, leaving you half bare and then kneeling to take your pants off. You aid him in his work as he tugs it off with your panties and a flurry of embarrassment courses through you as you remember you haven't shaved in a while.

Just as you attempt to hide yourself, your husband catches on and gives you an admonishing look. "Uh uh. None of that, let me see my beautiful wife."

He takes off your pants all the way along with your underwear and wastes no time burying his face between your thighs.

The sensation is delightful as you throw your head back and moan loudly, unashamed. One of your hands moves to his head, grabbing his hair in a fist as you hold him against you, grinding on his mouth. You hear your husband moan, the sound muffled against your core and feel his hands trailing up towards your chest as he pinches your nipples.

Another loud moan makes its way out of you as your breath stutters and you gasp, the feel of his hands on your starved body sending shockwaves throughout you. "H-Hao...I won't last..." You croak, hand fisting the bedsheets tightly. The only response you get is a hum as he starts eating you out with renewed vigor, his tongue mercilessly flicking against your clit.

You keep grinding your hips against his face, desperate to feel him even more while your mouth remains hung open with the onslaught of pleasure. It all becomes too much when your husband wraps his lips around your swollen clit and sucks, hard, making you dive head first into your orgasm. A broken cry escapes your lips as he keeps the torture going throughout your high, before finally pulling back and standing up with a satisfied smirk.

You remain limp in the bed, breathing heavily and watching your husband with hooded eyes, his lips glistening with your arousal and a prominent bulge in his pants. Before you can ask him to take them off, he does so and with a mischievous smile moves on top of you.

"Ready baby?" He whispers, his hands moving over his shaft to lube it up with precum. You can only nod, pulling him closer by the neck and kissing him deeply. As you do so, he slips in and your body tenses up as you cry out in a pleasure so beautiful it's overwhelming.

He hushes you, kissing your forehead, waiting for a few moments to let you adjust. You can feel how tense his body is, how harsh his breaths are as he stays immobile to make you feel better.

"Move, p-please. I'm okay." You whisper, eyes searching for his. He swallows and nods, finally giving you a good thrust that makes the two of you moan out loud in pleasure. "Shit," he chokes, eyes screwed tight as he builds up a pace thrusting slow but deep inside you. "I'm not gonna last long." He breathes.

"Me neither," you whisper, your eyes only on him as your nails claw into his back. Even though your bodies are pressed against each other, that doesn't seem to be enough for you as you keep pulling him closer and closer, wrapping your body fully around his, your head resting on his shoulder.

The time away from each other suddenly washes over you, making you realize once again, just how much you truly missed him, his touch, his attention. So you cling to him like a koala as he builds up his pace and when you start feeling that particular tingle, that jolt of electricity down your spine, you warn. "Hao, g-gonna come."

"Thank fuck, love. I'm coming too. Come with me, I've got you." He whispers into your ear, holding you tightly in his arms as he delivers one final thrust and you see stars behind your eyelids as you come with a loud wail of his name.

It takes some time for you to come back to your senses fully and register your surroundings. Once you do, you find your husband lying next to you, arms around your torso, eyes closed as he breathes heavily. The stickiness of his come between your legs makes you wince and want to move but you decide against it, snuggling with your husband instead.

Everything else can wait. Now that you have finally got what you've been longing for, you simply let yourself relax and breathe in his scent, enjoying the moment.

As you both lie in silence, basking in the afterglow, your throat constricts all of a sudden and there's a heavy feeling settling in your heart. "Hao?" You croak. Your voice brings your husband to act immediately as he rests on one of his elbows and peeks a worried glance at you. "What's wrong, my love? Did I hurt you?"

A lone tear leaks down your eye at his tenderness. You reach up to his face, your fingers softly trailing over his gorgeous features. "No, no you didn't. I just— I really missed you, husband."

"Oh love," Minghao quickly wraps his arms around you, pulling you right into his chest and letting you breathe in his scent. It's your place of comfort and healing as you exhale a shaky breath, letting go of all the painful memories.

"I missed you too. And I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. Now all I'll do is make it up to you. Fuck everything else."

"What? No— your works... you have got a deadline. The Kim family asked you to — "

"They can wait. My only priority is you."

"Minghao," you try to give him a stern glare. "It's millions of dollars."

"And you're worth more." He shrugs, dropping a sweet kiss on your forehead. "Besides I've been needing a break for the longest time. I'm sure Mingyu will understand. I'm his friend, after all."

"Still...are you sure?" You whisper.

"A thousand percent. Let's go on a vacation, wife. Take a few days off, hmm?" He asks, hope brimming in his eyes.

You sigh as you rub your temples and give in. "Okay. I will. The past few weeks sucked. I guess I need a break too."

He smiles, blindingly beautiful and your heart soars with happiness. "How about Rome?" He whispers, trailing his lips over your jaw and down your throat.

"Mhmm," you only him, eyes falling close at the sensation.

"Also...there's something I wanted to propose to you." He pulls back to focus his eyes on you, his voice suddenly serious. You raise a brow at his sudden change in demeanor.

"It's about time we start working on making a baby, no?"

Your eyes widen at the proposal before heat spreads throughout your face. "H-Hao— " You're too stunned to speak.

"It's okay if you aren't ready, my love— "

"No! No! I'm ready! I'm ready." You fling your arms around your husband's shoulders. "I just... didn't expect you to bring it up. I thought you wanted to wait longer...?"

You hear his soft chuckle as he wraps one arm around you while cradling your head with the other. "As I said, I'm getting my priorities straight."

You can't help grinning like a goofball. "This better not be a split second decision, Xu Minghao. It is no easy feat to raise a baby." You try to sound stern. He nods solemnly, "I know, love. But I'm ready." His fingers lace with yours. "I want this. With you."

You pretend to release a dramatic sigh.

"Then let's get started, shall we?"

a/n: ik this was a rather plain fic but I thought I should write something simple for a change. i feel like the plot of this was a realistic one, even though it might be simple and predictable. we often overlook these storylines due to its simplicity but I believe they have their own charm. hope you enjoyed reading this and your feedbacks are highly appreciated!

[junhuistotoroonesie]

Bird Is the Word

Synopsis: A series of drunk texts leads to one of the best and worst things that has ever happened to you. Or, Han Jisung is never going to let you forget the time you forgot the word ‘bird.’ College AU. Not a text fic but does include some texts.

Warning: alcohol, a lot of bird puns

Word Count: 8.1k

Pairing: fem!reader x Han Jisung

2:23 AM [Me]: sOS SOS SOS SOSOSOS 2:23 AM [Me]: I NEED HELPPPP 2:23 AM [Jisung Bio]: You okay?? 2:23 AM [Me]: YOU SMART HELPPPPP

2:24 AM [Jisung Bio]: Do you want me to call the police?? 2:24 AM [Me]: WHAT ARE THE FLUFFY ANIMALS THAT GO FLAP CALLED 2:24 AM [Jisung Bio]: Is this a code word? 2:24 AM [Me]: THEY GO FLAP AND EAT SEEDS 2:24 AM [Jisung Bio]: Do you mean birds? 2:24 AM [Jisung Bio]: Are you drunk?

2:25 AM [Me]: [blurry_photo_of_your_window.jpg] 2:25 AM [Me]: HERE LOOK 2:25 AM [Me]: YES BIRDS 2:25 AM [Me]: THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH 2:25 AM [Me]: LOVE YOUUUUU

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[junhuistotoroonesie]

sweet like chocolate

pairing: non-idol!elementary school teacher!seungkwan x gn!elementary school teacher!reader

prompt: hot chocolate.

word count: 1.0k~

warnings: food mention!

daisy’s notes: tell me seungkwan wouldn’t be a cute teacher tbh.

Seungkwan was almost positive you’d be a little annoyed with him by the time he got back with your cups of hot chocolate.

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[junhuistotoroonesie]

Honestly I love it when fanfic authors write the most devastating chapters, where they rip my heart out and make me bawl my eyes out

And then they have a little note under the chapter that says “thank you for reading! have a nice day <3” like they didn’t just tilt my world out of its axis

[junhuistotoroonesie]

sympathy subtraction ;; vernon chwe

But I can see us lost in the memory August slipped away into a moment in time ‘Cause it was never mine

pairing: chwe vernon x fem! reader | feat. ot13 genre: childhood friends to lovers, college au | fluff, humor, angst, slice of life, coming of age, slow burn wc: 40k warnings: mentions of alcohol and drugs, implied sexual activity, slight panic attack, the slow burn is very bad, mention of food and eating, vomitting, a lot of swearing, my dramatic ass popping off at the end, DISCLAIMER: all members of seventeen are the same age in this universe :) -> listen to my carefully crafted playlist for this fic! <-

The story of two best friends growing into adolescence. While your paths are no longer identical, you promise to never leave the other one alone. With that promise being broken, you can do nothing but miss him. And even in the few moments you have with him, heart heaving with the comfort you feel, you know you’ll have to miss him again. It’s a sad recognition, but it’s one you have to make- because Chwe Vernon will always find a way to silently slip away from your life, creep outside and keep the door shut. 

a/n: thank you to @multi-kpop-fanfics zeta bby (my svt mum) for being a constant help and mental support as i was writing this fic and also for introducing me to seventeen. a huge thanks goes to @aliceu and @delicatewerewolfsoul for hyping me up <3 i love y'all you hoes

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[junhuistotoroonesie]

i am never going to recover

the soulmate service

❛ pretty at every hour of the day but especially prettier under the glow of the sunset. ❜

word count | 31.0k (31,023) genre | fluff, angst, soulmate au, summer break au, (one-sided) rivals to lovers ━ matchmaker!vernon, older brother!soonyoung

the soulmate service has one purpose: to help those who drew the short end of the stick and ended up without a person to live their forever with. after the heart wrenching realization that the boy you’ve loved since you were thirteen isn’t the one meant for you, you put your love life in the hands of vernon chwe — which, now that you think about it, is probably a very bad idea.

★ warnings | ambiguous/open ending, mentions of unrequited love, lots of bickering between vernon and reader, pining (?), there’s angst but it’s minimal

THE RED STRING, more commonly known as The String of Fate, appears on an individual’s finger at the exact minute they turn eighteen. The string may either: (1) turn gold if the individual falls in love with their soulmate by 24 hours after first contact, or (2) be cut if said person and their soulmate fail to fall in love.

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[junhuistotoroonesie]

˗ˋˏ Red Horn ˎˊ˗ | 18+ Only

synopsis: devils are contract workers - simply offer them a payment that they can never refuse, and your problems would be taken care of. the only thing is, what could a mere human possibly offer to a devil?

pairing: devil!jeonghan x innocent!reader (gn afab)

genre: fantasy, supernatural | smut, pwp

tags: flirting, food mention, office | bondage, light choking, creampie, dirty talk, fingering, oral, pet names, pnv, praise, if there’s a term for jeonghan fucking you with one of his devil horns please tell me, reader wears lingerie, reader’s first time, multiple orgasms…

wc: 5.4k

message from nu: this took me super long to write, but this has to be one of my favorites. special thank you to xan @aceofvernons and june @junkissed for keeping me company while I worked on the fic. I hope you all enjoy reading - nu <3

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[junhuistotoroonesie]

thirst | wen junhui

member: wen junhui - seventeen

content: comedy, vampire! junhui, reader who does not believe in the supernatural

summary: junhui can’t let anyone know about his darkest secret, and luckily even when staring directly at it, you refuse to believe in silly things like vampires.

word count: 1.2k

warnings: description of blood and drinking blood, language (cursing), hospital setting, mentions of masturbation, somewhat suggestive

ahhhh thank you so much for 100 followers! this is a quick drabble i wrote just to say thank you (and also ever since limbo came out i’ve been itching to write about vampire junhui)

Jun drank hungrily, feeling drips fall down his cheek. He wiped at the corners of his mouth, greedily licking up every last drop. God, there was something so humiliating about it all. The hiding in the shadows, the stealing, the thirst, the bloodlust. Yet, as he finally quenched his ever growing thirst, Jun couldn’t find it in himself to care. All he wanted was to drink, and in the storeroom of his local hospital at 4AM, that was what he was going to do. 

He knew he was getting sloppy. Every so often a pained moan would slip from his stained lips, or blood would fall to the floor, staining the carpet. He wanted to hiss at every wasted droplet, but all he could do was drink with more and more fervour.

“What the fuck?”

That was, until the lights of the hallway shone onto him, hunched over several empty bloodbags, with crimson lines along the sides of his mouth, and you staring at him in disgust. 

“I swear, it’s not-“

You rolled your eyes, pulling on your gloves before stepping into the closet, grabbing at the empty bloodbags. “Three bags? C’mon man. You better be donating loads to make up for this.”

Junhui’s eyes were wide at your behaviour, and he licked his fingers, wiping away at the blood on his cheeks, swallowing a moan as he got one last taste of the sweetness. 

“Aren’t you… scared?” He whispered, only for you to groan, jabbing at his shoulder with a pointed finger.

“You’re really committing to this bit, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

“Come on!” You walked over to the bin, dropping the bags in the liner, and closing the lid. “You were moaning as if you were mid orgasm, in a hospital. During your shift, I might add. I mean, I know not much happens in graveyard hours, but still.” As you spoke, he got closer and closer, still hazy from his latest feed. And the fact that he was interrupted before he could finish. And now you were right there. “It’s like you wanted to be walked in on. Honestly, I thought you were jacking off.”

“WHAT?”

“Get over yourself, what I saw is even weirder.” Junhui knew he couldn’t argue that. His composure was weak, threatening to slip away entirely. Your scrubs were fairly form fitting, but you had one pair that was just one size too big, and those just happened to be the ones you had picked out today, leaving your collar and neck particularly exposed. Junhui wondered what would happen if he trapped you in a corner. What noises you would make if he just…

“Stop staring at me like that you weeb. God, are you still horny?”

He gasped, taking a step away from you. “I am not a weeb!”

“Oh? Then what are you?” You challenged, your tone bored. Junhui was filled with rage. You should be terrified! 

“Isn’t it obvious?” He asked, stepping towards you, flashing you a look of his pearly, sharp teeth. You didn’t step back, but you didn’t exactly make a move to get any closer either. 

“Junhui, I don’t know what you think people are into, but the whole gamer aesthetic, never goes into the sun or eats fruits and vegetables, and uses cheesy lines like ‘stay away’ is really old. You’re not from twilight.”

What. 

“It’s not a bit, wait, I go out.”

“I’ve literally never seen you when it’s not pitch black. And you’re so pale.”

“It’s a skin condition!”

“Yeah, sure. Tell yourself that. Just get out and get some vitamin D, please.”

You moved towards the door, and Junhui’s bruised ego almost let you, but he was filled with a sudden determination, and slammed the door closed before you could let yourself out. He couldn’t let you go, not after what you had just seen. And you smelled oh so good…

“I’m not letting you leave so easily.” He whispered huskily. He waited for your reaction, for the swallowed gulps, the whine, the whimpers, the- wait why were you rolling your eyes again?

“Again, Junhui, this isn’t really my thing. You’re like two seconds from putting cat ears on me and nibbling on my neck.” 

Junhui couldn’t stop himself. He wished he could, but it slipped so easily. 

“Did you just… moan?” Junhui was so fucked. “Oh my god! Do you like me or something? I’m not gonna lie, you’re hot and all, but you’re so fucking weird, man. Stop drinking blood to make yourself seem emo.”

“I’m not doing this to seem emo!”

“Fine, goth, whatever. Just let me leave please, I have a long shift and I don’t need you humping my leg.”

He slammed his hand above your head, trapping you between him and the wall. “It’s not to seem emo. I need to feed.” You were silent. Junhui smirked, he had finally gotten you to shut up. That was, until you started giggling. 

“Hahahaha, wait, are you saying- hmmhhhh- that you’re a vampire? HA! Hahahahaha!” You could barely speak through fits of laughter, doubling over to hold your stomach. If he was human, Junhui would have gone red in the face. 

“Stop laughing!”

“Oh my god, I’m going to start crying.”

He hit his hand against the wall in frustration, which of course, only made you laugh more. You began chewing on your bottom lip to control your giggles, but if you kept doing that, you were going to break skin. Two minutes ago, Junhui was scared he was going to do something that risked exposing him, not something that instead risked your teasing laughter and his ever growing sense of humiliation. He dropped his head so it was aligned with your neck, that shook and bobbed as you laughed, taking a sneaky whiff.

“Stop smelling me, loser. You’re not gonna convince me you’re a vampire.”

“Shut up.”

“You shut up! You occultist.”

The closer he was to you, the more his hunger grew, and the more your laughter frustrated him. Junhui swore, four more seconds like this and he was going to do something he would regret. With all the strength he had, he pulled himself away, off the walls, allowing you space to leave.

“Aww, are you embarrassed now?” You laughed. “Serves you right for stealing all that blood. You better find some B- donors soon.”

Junhui kept his gaze trained on the floor, trying his best to let his bloodlust subside. Your giggles slowly died down, and you moved away, patting his shoulder sweetly. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about this.” You told him, and he looked at you in surprise. “Yeah, weirdly enough, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen one of you interns drinking blood. Soonyoung, in pediatrics, I caught him doing the same thing.”

Junhui smirked. How have you seen this multiple times and remained so blissfully ignorant of his true nature?

“Promise?”

You nodded, and quickly leaned towards him. His breath hitched as you placed a delicate kiss on the corner of his mouth. If you were more observant, you would have tasted the traces of blood still there. You winked at him, walking out of the closet, closing the door behind him. 

How sweet.

i’m not entirely sure what this is or what it’s turned into, but i hope you enjoy!!

[junhuistotoroonesie]

art project

=͟͟͞➳❥ member • art major grad student bf!minghao x fem reader

=͟͟͞➳❥ genre • smut. maybe fluff at the end kinda

=͟͟͞➳❥ word count • ~2,800

=͟͟͞➳❥ warnings • dom!minghao, sub!reader, reader has a vagina and breasts, unprotected sex (use protection irl!!), use of paints (they're safe dw), breastplay (?), choking, an ounce of humiliation (and i mean it there's barely any), reader begs him to cum inside, creampie, reader falls asleep for the aftercare but there is indeed (some) aftercare, use of pet names: good girl (1), darling (4), baby (3). if i missed any lmk!

=͟͟͞➳❥ notes • lowercase intended. partially based on this ask from @sluttyminghao. dedicated to alicia i hope you enjoy suffering :) also thanks to @duhnova for proofreading ily -💒 june

minors dni. you will be blocked.

join our taglist here!

“what do you need me to do?”

your soft voice snaps minghao back to attention, and he looks up at you, laying on a couch in the center of the room. completely naked.

his hands shake imperceptibly as he grips the pencil, keeping his eyes firmly on the canvas in front of him.

he knows it’s part of the curriculum to do an anatomy study—which, of course, involves studying the human body. he just didn’t expect it to be your body he has to study. and he definitely didn’t expect to be fighting a hard-on the entire time he’s trying to sketch.

and he’s trying not to, this assignment is due at midnight and he’s just barely started, but how is he supposed to be expected to focus on this assignment when his gorgeous partner, the love of his life, is sitting so innocently yet so lewdly in front of him? patiently waiting for him to finish his assignment so you can spend the rest of this gorgeous sunday afternoon with him?

minghao has a feeling he’s not going to get much work done today.

“do you need me to pose, or something?” you call out, a hint of nervousness in your voice at the prolonged silence in the studio.

he stands up from the chair at his easel and tentatively walks over to you.

“can i…?” he breathes, reaching out to touch you.

you bite your lip and look up at him, nodding. “mhm.”

it would be a lie to say you weren’t incredibly turned on being minghao’s model. something about the thought of being completely revealed to him while he sits fully clothed, scrutinizing every inch of your body so he can immortalize you as one of his masterpieces, makes you rub your thighs together against the couch in anticipation.

his slender fingers trace up your side absently, his eyes fixated on your breasts and he gently turns you towards the light shining through the open window.

“tell me what you need, hao,” you whisper, and you’re positive that both of you know you’re talking about more than just you posing for his portrait.

with him standing in front of where you’re laying, your gaze is directly level with his thighs, the obvious tent in his pants just within reach.

you look up at him, your eyes silently asking permission before you reach out to rest a hand tentatively on his thigh.

he shudders, and you smile, moving your hand on top of his bulge and just barely applying pressure.

he groans at your touch, then grabs your wrist, stilling your hand. you pause, waiting for him.

“assignment—first,” he says breathily. “let me finish first.”

you curl your legs behind you on the couch, leaning back. “you could always… finish first,” you grin mischievously.

he steps back, barely out of your reach, but enough that your hand falls back down to your side.

“better hurry then,” you say. “you’re gonna have quite the mess to clean up. i’m dripping all over this sofa.”

you’re teasing and you know it. but you figure this is payback for all the essays and assignments that he’d interrupted so he could spread you out on the twin bed in his cramped dorm your first year together.

he turns suddenly and hurries to a cabinet on the other side of the room.

while his back is to you, you decide to have a little fun– if you weren’t already having fun riling him up.

you slip your hand between your thighs and spread your legs, the cold air hitting your sensitive area and making your shiver. you push apart your folds, slowly dragging one finger up and down to spread your wetness around. you whine when you finally slip the tip of your index finger inside, just barely to the first knuckle. not enough to give you anything, but enough to make minghao mad.

and mad he is. when he turns around from the cabinet, the look on his face isn’t surprised at your bratty actions, but rather, a sadistic kind of excitement. he narrows his eyes at you playfully.

“did i tell you you were allowed to do that, darling?” he says, walking back towards you. his shyness from earlier is gone, replaced with the usual hard persona that you’re used to seeing from him. which is exactly the reason you decided to misbehave.

“mm, no,” you admit. “but so what?”

he scoffs. “if you’re done being a brat, i have work to do on this assignment.”

you finally notice the tubes of paint in his hand, and your heart speeds up in exhilaration.

“here.” he tosses them to you, colorful pinks and blues and yellows. “if you’re going to touch yourself, use the paint. give me something pretty to look at while i draw, hmm?”

you turn one of the tubes over in your hand, studying the label.

“they’re body safe, don’t worry,” he adds, his faux-displeased look falling for a minute into the sweet, shy boyfriend you’re used to. “i, uh… got them special for you, in case you wanted to try them.”

you smile, grateful for his thoughtfulness. your eyes never leave his as you snap open the cap of one of the bottles and dump it onto your chest, almost daring him to make a move. bright orange liquid spills down your breasts, covering you in paint.

minghao steps forward and runs his finger through the paint, collecting it on his finger before smearing it roughly across your cheek. “there,” he says, turning and walking back to his easel as if nothing happened. “now you look like art.”

you giggle suggestively and open another bottle, squirting a glob into the palm of your hand. you rub your hands together to thoroughly coat them, then slap your hands against your thighs, leaving bright pink handprints along the skin just below your dripping cunt.

minghao sits at his canvas, sketching nonchalantly as you make a mess on the couch.

you think he’ll give in soon and come fuck you like you want, but he’s firm; at least half an hour passes without so much as a smirk in your direction. he’s so focused on his work, that you don’t think he even notices when you start fingering yourself again, hands still covered in paint as you roll your clit between your fingers and buck your hips off the couch in desperate search for more.

“hao,” you whine, getting impatient. “are you done yet?”

“brats don’t get what they want,” he reminds you sternly. “and you haven’t been behaving very well. now sit still so i can finish this, or you won’t get fucked at all today.”

you moan and lean back against the couch again. despite all the playing, you know this assignment is worth a big part of his grade, and he needs to get it done– tonight.

you’re almost starting to drift off when you hear chair legs scrape against the floor loudly. you look up, tired, and see minghao walking towards you with a satisfied grin.

“it’s finished?” you ask, stifling a yawn. the afternoon has gotten later, and the sun still shining through the window has gotten darker.

“enough. you still want me to take care of you, baby?” he breathes.

you nod and whimper, starting to wriggle in your seat. some of the paint on your skin has dried, and it cracks and flakes off at the movement. the half-full bottles lay on the seat next to you, and he picks one up, turning it over in his hands.

“you know how this works, darling. need to hear you say it out loud,” he chides.

you moan and adjust in your seat. “yes, please. hao, please,” you groan out.

“that’s my good girl,” he smiles, opening the bottle and pouring some into his hand. his long finger swirls the liquid around in his palm teasingly.

“please,” you whine again.

“i’m not sure you deserve me, after how you behaved,” he frowns, but he begins tracing his paint-covered finger along your collarbone. “get my pants off, then, if you want me so bad.”

it’s humiliating, but you swear you’ve never moved faster in your life, hands flying to the loose buttons of his pants.

his hands are now completely covered in paint, so you help him shrug off his cardigan, leaving him in a low cut tank top. you admire the way his skin glistens with sweat, before either of you have even done anything strenuous.

suddenly he presses both palms flat against your chest, leaving pretty purple handprints over your breasts before lifting his hands. you groan at the cold feeling of the paint on your nipples, watching his own harden beneath his shirt.

the muscles in his arms flex as he slips out of the last of his clothes, leaving him exposed in front of you. you know he must be painfully hard by now, having had to sit and watch you writhe on the sofa for nearly an hour.

he grabs you and flips you over with ease, manhandling you into the position he wants you. you don’t struggle, letting him toss you into whatever pose he pleases.

“since you couldn’t sit still earlier, maybe you’ll sit still once you’ve got my dick in you,” he grunts through gritted teeth.

you’re flat on your back against the seat cushions, minghao standing over you with one leg planted on the back of the couch.

you whine out his name, and finally you get what you want. he starts pushing into you, meeting zero resistance from how wet you’ve been for the past hour combined with leftover paint that dripped down to your cunt.

you sigh, head lolling back against the armrest as he enters you inch by inch, giving you the delicious stretch you’ve been waiting for all day.

your breathing falters as he slowly pulls most of the way out before slamming back into you, giving you little time to adjust.

the different colors of paint smear down your skin as he thrusts into you, the force of his thrusts making the paint pool at your breasts and collarbones.

he slows down for just a second to grab another color and slop it on his palm, before his hand slides up to your neck. the pressure is just barely there, but it’s more than enough to make you dizzy.

“mingha–ao,” you gasp as he continues snapping his hips against yours. the pads of his fingers tighten against your neck, and you’re sure he can feel your racing pulse beneath his fingertips.

“look at my beautiful masterpiece,” he coos, his hips never letting up as he speaks. “my work of art. covered in all these pretty colors, just for me.”

you let out a whimper at his words, involuntarily clenching around his cock.

he curses and tightens his grip around your neck. “squeezing me– ah, so beautifully, darling. ‘m not gonna last long if you keep doing that.”

“don’t care,” you blubber, eyes starting to fill with tears from the constant pressure building in your pussy. “cum in me, hao, please– need you, baby, need you to cum in me–”

“you think you’ve earned it?” he scolds, reaching down with his other hand to grab your breast, smearing more paint across your dirtied skin. “you think you’ve earned my cum?”

“m–please, hao, please,” you sob. “please!”

he lets go of your breast and reaches down to play with your pussy, slowing his pace a little so he can rub tight circles over your clit. you try to squeeze your legs shut, but he keeps you spread open with his knee.

“co-coming,” you gasp, struggling to catch your breath as every muscle in your body contracts. his fingers on your clit move faster and suddenly you cry out, wave after wave of intense pleasure hitting you with such force your vision goes dark for a split second. your ears are ringing; the only sound you can focus on is the sound of minghao’s soft grunts as he continues plowing into you.

when you finally regain control of your limbs, you reach out to grab his arm, the paint still on your own hands leaving smeared colors along his bicep.

he pulls out completely, and you whimper at the loss before you see him bend down, his head level with your pussy. he looks up at you for a second, wordlessly making sure you’re still okay, and once you nod, he spits roughly on your hole, saliva dripping down your used cunt.

you moan at the feeling of your body slick with paint, sweat and now spit. minghao quickly shoves two fingers into your cunt, giving you no warning before thrusting them in and out, over and over again.

but just as quickly as he began, he removes his fingers, wiping them on the inside of your thigh.

“need you to– cum in me, hao, please.” you whine, reaching out for him, but your arms are too sore to move very far, and the effort is futile.

he holds the base of his cock in one hand, gently guiding it back into you as his other hand comes forward to meet with yours. he interlaces your fingers, the paint on both your hands combining one last time.

he gradually speeds up his pace until he’s thrusting into you so roughly, you have to cover your head with your other hand to stop yourself from slamming into the armrest.

“give me one more, baby,” he growls, adjusting his leg propped up on the couch so he hits at a deeper angle. “i’m c-close,” he adds when you moan in response.

you shut your eyes tightly, feeling the familiar knot in the pit of your stomach begin to tighten. you squeeze minghao’s hand and feel him squeeze back, until his hips stop abruptly and he shoves his cock fully into you, letting out a high-pitched moan, and you know he’s coming.

at that moment you let go, your cunt gushing around him as you work through your second orgasm of the night.

you can’t tell if the warm sensation between your legs is from his cum or yours, but what you do know is that every inch of you is sore from sitting on this couch all day.

he slips out of you and runs his finger through your folds one more time, making you shiver with sensitivity as he admires his work.

he stands and walks back to the cabinet from earlier. you can’t see what he’s getting from your position on the couch, but you can only hope it’s something soft and comfortable.

“wipes,” he explains as he comes back to kneel beside you. “gotta get you cleaned up, darling.”

you whimper and let your eyes fall shut as you give yourself up to minghao, allowing him to take care of you. the cold, wet feeling of the wipe across your chest is uncomfortable, but you know you can’t stay covered in paint forever.

he wipes slowly along your body, being careful not to be too rough around your neck where he held you and between your legs. you feel yourself drifting off, the world becoming quieter and quieter as you relax into the gentle feeling of his arms around you, tenderly cleaning the paint off your skin.

when you wake up you’re no longer on the couch. in fact, you’re no longer at minghao’s studio.

you sit up, rubbing your eyes to see the inside of minghao’s apartment. you feel a blanket over your lap, and your hair is wet, though you don’t remember washing it.

you hear footsteps behind you, and you turn to see minghao carrying a tray with fruit and a cup of tea.

“you’re awake,” he smiles warmly.

“how long was i out?”

he sets the tray on the table next to you and shrugs. “maybe an hour? you were snoring in my car, by the way.”

your face heats up. “i was not!”

he laughs. “well, you were. anyway… got you in the shower, put all our clothes in the laundry–”

“did you finish your assignment?” you ask.

he smiles. “yeah, while you were out. only time you’d sit still long enough for me to draw you,” he teases.

you pout, shaking your head in disagreement, but accept his snacks.

“so… the paint?” he asks cautiously.

you take a sip from your tea. “what about it?”

“did you… um, like it?”

it’s your turn to smile. “i did. it was fun, we should try that more often. you’re sexy when you talk about art.”

the lighting in his living room is dim, but you can still see the way his cheeks flush at your words.

he sighs, reaching over to tuck a strand of your hair behind your ear. “my beautiful masterpiece,” he says softly. “all mine.”

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feedback and reblogs are always appreciated! :)

[junhuistotoroonesie]

now or never pt. 1

xu minghao x fem!reader

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 (finale)

word count: 7k

synopsis: when you make a chance encounter with your ex, you end up saying that you're engaged to your estranged neighbor xu minghao. when you find out your ex is coming to your friend's wedding, you've only got a month to become a convincing couple.

warnings: (almost) strangers to lovers, fake marriage, shitty ex!joshua, scenes with enclosed spaces (only in this part), angst, a tiny bit of fluff.

notes: hi omg! my first series!!! i repurposed this first part from something I was writing for another fandom forever ago and it inspired me to make it into a series! hope you enjoy it!! tag list: @venusdaisies @mangogyu @idyllic-ghost

You didn’t want to admit that you were having a terrible day, but it was getting ridiculous at this point.

You managed to almost miss the train, get stuck on said train for an hour, and break a heel the moment you arrived at work. Luckily, you had a pair of tennis shoes on standby at your desk, but that pair of heels happened to be one of your favorites. You silently mourned your shoes and questioned your will to live throughout the day, praying that your luck would turn around. 

However, that wouldn’t happen. 

When you were sure the day couldn’t get any worse, you somehow lost your train card on the way home. Of course, you didn’t notice until you stepped into the station. You internally cursed yourself for fucking things up once again today, but you had to focus. You didn’t want to give up any more money for a new card, so you begrudgingly made the 40 minute walk back to your apartment.

Naturally, you weren’t expecting any more obstacles. You wanted the universe to spare you so badly and your body was spent from all the mishaps you handled throughout the day. You felt as if your body was floating as you walked into the apartment building, closing your eyes the moment you stepped onto the elevator. The ride to the 5th floor wasn’t nearly long enough, and the chime signaling your destination jolted you awake. You were almost at your apartment door when you heard a voice call your name.

“Y/N? Is that you?” The man’s voice called out excitedly, convinced that he knew you despite your back being turned. 

You slowly turned around, your eyes widening at the sight of the man in front of you. It was your ex-boyfriend, looking almost exactly the same as when you two dated. With the exception of a different hair color, his presence brought you back to the tumultuous points of their relationship. 

“Joshua! Hi! Yeah, it’s me,” You clutched your tote bag tightly out of instinct. Of course you see your ex when you looked and felt like shit. 

He still looked like the human embodiment of a golden retriever and now he had sandy blonde hair to match. It was actually unfair that he looked so well adjusted, so normal after all this time. He was just so happy and it lit a fire in the pit of your stomach.

You watched his eyes scan your body up and down, taking in the sight before him. “It’s crazy, I haven’t seen you since everything happened.”

“Yeah, since you cheated on me,” you responded with a sly grin. There was no reason to pretend with each other, especially since things ended so abruptly. You had spent too much time crying over him to not enjoy this moment.

“Yep,” Joshua replied quietly, clearly not prepared to be confronted with his past behaviors. 

“So I assume you’re still with her, then?” you asked.

“Yes, we actually moved into the building a few months ago,” Joshua softly smiled, seemingly trying to cut the tension between you two.

“That’s great,” You mustered the smallest bit of compassion for him, trying not to let your resentment rise to the surface. His new girlfriend was pretty enough, and it didn’t surprise you that Joshua had moved on to someone who eerily looked like you. If you had learned anything from that disaster of a relationship, it was that he definitely had a type. 

“How have things been for you?” Joshua asked, giving you almost no time to make a plan to respond. 

Would you tell Joshua the truth about your life? How you had been single ever since the breakup and hadn’t been able to quit your dead end job? Absolutely not. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted your neighbor Minghao. You didn’t want to resort to anything crazy, but the situation required it. If you were going to lie, you would have to go all in. 

“I’m with Minghao,” you said it loud enough to catch the man’s attention. He stopped next to you, the confusion evident on his face. 

“What?” Minghao took out his headphones, staring at you as if you had two heads. 

“We’ve been together for a few years, actually,” you looked at him with a mix of desperation and kindness, silently hoping Minghao would play along for a few minutes.

He seemed to catch on pretty quickly, leaning on your shoulder and smiling fondly at you. Despite the minimal amount of contact you had with Minghao in the past, he was quick on his feet. 

“That’s great! Are you getting married?” Joshua pointed to Minghao’s silver band on his ring finger. He smirked at you, clearly interested in how you would dig yourself out of this.

“Yes, we are,” you smiled and squeezed Minghao’s hand softly. He put on a small smile, but his eyes were dark with anger. You figured he would be upset, but you didn’t have many options. You were honestly shocked that you were still relaxed at all.

“Congrats! Y/N, why aren’t you wearing a ring then?” Joshua inquired. You silently resented Joshua with every passing second. You knew he was just curious, but it was almost too much now. 

Before you could respond, Minghao interjected. “She cut her finger pretty badly, so she hasn’t worn it for a little bit. So clumsy, I can’t leave her alone for a second.” Minghao had grabbed your hand, intertwining your fingers together. He started laughing, looking back at Joshua who matched his energy. 

You were lost for words at the moment, but ultimately thankful that Minghao knew how to keep up appearances. There were too many things about the interaction that made you question it, but you didn’t have time to think about it. That exhaustion was starting to catch up with you again. 

“We should go, but it was good to see you,” You replied carefully, trying not to reveal the extent of your tiredness. 

“No worries! See you around,” Joshua waved and began to walk away, a cue for you to grab Minghao’s hand and start running towards your apartment. You didn’t hear any objections from him as you unlocked the door, likely not to raise suspicion around Joshua.

As soon as you locked the door behind you two, Minghao pulled his hand out of your grasp.

“Do you mind telling me what just happened?” Minghao was so confused that it was almost to the point of anger.

“That was my ex. I had to make something up,” You didn’t have the heart to look at him, so you focused on taking your shoes off instead.

“Okay, but why am I involved? You could have just asked someone else who actually knows you,” Minghao replied with an unsatisfied tone.

“You started to go along with it! Plus I just really needed a way out.” You pointed your bag in his direction, quickly placing it down in frustration. None of your friends would have done it anyway, not to impress someone that broke your heart in the first place.

“I had no choice, you looked at me like you were gonna shit yourself,” Minghao stood decidedly at the front door, refusing to step into your space more than he had to. You thought it was slightly immature, but he had already done more than enough for you today.

“I just needed you to help me out. That’s all.” 

“Well, it sounds like this isn’t gonna end anytime soon, so what’s in it for me?” 

“Anything you want,” you noticed Minghao’s smirk and continued, “within reason. I’m not a millionaire.”

“Honestly, rent money would be nice. It’s the only reasonable reward for getting involved in all of this,” Minghao was stoic throughout his reply, his mood not letting up at all.

You cursed under your breath. It made sense since rent definitely wasn’t cheap, but it didn’t mean you were jumping to commit to it.

“Remember when I said I wasn't rich 20 seconds ago?”

“Yes, but I’m not doing this for free. So you can pay me or else you don’t have a fiancé,” Minghao turned to open the door and your desperation kicked in.

“Fine, okay. I’ll give you rent money,” You sighed deeply. Minghao turned to face you once again, content with his demands. 

“You really must be desperate, huh?” Mingaho beamed.

“Shut up,” you rolled your eyes.

“I’m helping you out, so I’d be nice if I were you,” Minghao leaned against the doorframe, his smug demeanor coming off strong even from far away.

“He cheated on me, so I think there's a bit of incentive to do well.”

“Shit. I’m sorry, you don’t deserve that,” Minghao fixed his posture at your statement. 

“Thanks. I shouldn’t be this petty, but he is truly the worst,” you admitted. After you initially broke up with Joshua, you learned that he had been cheating for months. You hated that you didn’t find out sooner, but you couldn’t have known. You didn’t want to think the worst of someone you loved.

“Well, I’m happy to be as petty as you need,” Minghao responded with a softer expression. You almost felt that his words were sincere, but you wouldn’t delude yourself into thinking it was anything serious.

“I guess I should give you my num-” you began.

“I don’t need it,” Minghao interjected. He was being a bit elusive, but you weren’t in the mood to talk him down about it. 

You sighed deeply. “How am I supposed to talk to you, then?”

“Just come to my door. My apartment is 524, I’m right down the hall.” Minghao unlocked the door to leave, and you didn’t feel the need to stop him. 

“Whatever. I guess I’ll see you around then.”

“Bye,” Minghao closed the door behind you, leaving you with your own thoughts. You didn’t like the idea of being alone, not when you just put yourself in such an impossible situation. 

You needed to talk to someone before it got too late.

-

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I’m so fucking stupid,” You felt the tears stream down your cheeks, quickly closing your eyes to stop any chances of blurry vision.

“You’re not stupid,” your friend Chan reassured you, gently stroking your hair. You both laid haphazardly on his bed, full from pizza that you brought from your place. You allowed him to cover you in a blanket in an effort to relax but to no avail.

“I am. I told Joshua that I’m getting married to Minghao, but we barely know each other and I was just so tired I didn’t know what else to do,” you babbled until you couldn’t speak anymore, your tears covering up anything else you wanted to say. 

You got a bit too drunk and decided to call Chan after wallowing in your own sadness for a few hours. You were always an emotional drunk, leaving Chan to make sure you didn’t cry yourself to sleep.

However, once he saw how devastated you looked, he couldn’t be angry. Chan also lived in your apartment building, a coincidence that quickly turned into an inside joke between the two of you. It came in handy when you needed comfort from each other, tonight in particular. 

“You just did what you thought was best at the moment.”

You scoffed. “I’m in a fake relationship with a guy who doesn’t know anything about me. I wouldn’t say that’s the best thing.”

“You don’t have to figure everything out right now. This literally happened today on top of an already bad day. Give yourself some grace,” Chan’s comforting words seemed to melt into your skin, alleviating your anxieties of making the wrong decision. 

“You’re right,” you sighed, “but I just don’t know when I’m gonna talk to him again.” 

“I’d give it a few days,” Chan offered.

“Ok, that means I’ve got the whole weekend to think then.” Since it was a Friday, you could plot exactly how you would approach Minghao over the next few days. 

“You’re gonna think too much, I already know it,” Chan giggled.

“Oh god, you really know me too well,” you sat up and grinned at him. It shouldn’t be too complicated, but you didn’t know what to expect with him at all.

“That’s my job.” Chan smiled in reply and you sat in silence for a moment. Chan swiped a stray tear from your cheek, instinctively grabbing your hands soon afterwards. “You’ll be fine. Plus I’ll be coaching you, so you’re not going through this alone.”

“Yeah,” you looked down before meeting Chan’s eyes again. “You’re not gonna let me fuck this up, right?”

“Of course not. We’ve gotta make sure you two are actually convincing as a couple, but that’s something we can figure out later. For now, I just need to make sure you’re not gonna cry yourself to death,” Chan replied sweetly, but his tone was halfway serious.

You smiled weakly. “I’m good, I swear.” Chan’s eyes lingered for a moment, but he chose not to press the issue. You didn’t know if that was for your own good, but you figured it was best not to question it.

In the lapse of conversation, you decided to check your phone. Your notifications were filled with the usual Instagram and Twitter interactions, a few spare work emails you hadn’t seen during the day, and texts from your friends.

However, your eyes landed on one notification: a reminder for your friend’s wedding. Your heart nearly stopped. You clicked on the email to find a digital version of the invitation that you received in the mail months ago. 

You remembered putting it on your refrigerator alongside other photos and postcards of events coming and going, and you visually acknowledged it every day. It couldn't be coming up too soon, right? You scanned the invitation once again, and the date stood out. 

The wedding was only a month away. 

How did you possibly forget your friends’ wedding? You wanted to blame work, and that was a fair response. You had been focused on your job more than usual, but this shouldn’t have slipped your mind. 

“Wait, Mingyu’s wedding is really in a month?” you asked nervously.

“Yeah, I’ve been doing groomsman stuff for a while now. Did you forget?” Chan responded uncritically.

“Yeah, I’ve just been so fucked up with work lately and it went completely over my head. I don’t have a date or anything,” you answered without thinking.

Chan gave you a knowing look. “Yes, you do.”

“Fuck, we really do have to be a couple,” you sighed loudly. Minghao was no longer someone you could ignore, he was an active and important part of your life if only for a short period of time. 

“Now you really need to talk to him.” 

“I might as well do it tomorrow and stop dragging it out.”

“Maybe that’s true, the sooner the better,” Chan cleared his throat before continuing, “and I think Joshua’s girlfriend is going to the wedding.”

“What? How do you know?” you asked frantically. 

“Let’s just say I did some quick guest list snooping and I saw her name. I can only assume that means Joshua is going too,” Chan tried to break the news gently but it was no use.You were frustrated that there was no way to escape Joshua, even when you were supporting your friends. 

You had to go, you had to face the past with your unwilling future partner next to you. 

Yet, it didn’t make the thought of going any easier. You loved Mingyu, but you also cursed the fact that your friend group was so small.

“I’m so fucking tired of people knowing each other in this city,” you finally stood up from the bed, channeling your drunken energy into picking up stray clothes off the floor. Chan cautiously watched you shove clothes into the hamper. 

“I don’t want to see him, I don’t want them to get in the way of me being at my friend’s wedding. I’m not supposed to be this fucking upset over someone who didn’t even love me!” you exclaimed. Chan could only watch you, not wanting to interrupt.

You didn’t want to feel defeated, not by someone who had been out of your life for years. You were better than that, you had done the work to heal the wounds from that relationship and move on. It just didn’t make any sense.

“Was that everything you needed to say?” Chan asked.

You nodded with a defeated expression. You didn’t want any more anger to bubble up, and it had already taken too much of your energy.

“Well, clearly I’m not going home tonight,” Chan resigned. You made your way back to the bed once again, hugging Chan’s side.

You couldn’t be alone tonight and thankfully Chan recognized that.

-

Saturday morning crept by, and it was already noon by the time you decided to get up. Chan left a few hours prior, citing an errand he needed to run. He also talked you up with some encouraging words about the Minghao encounter, but the thought of it still loomed over the rest of your day. It calmed a few of your anxieties, but a pep talk could only do so much.

After eating and trying to come down from your slight hangover, you made yourself get ready to go to his apartment. You didn’t know what would happen. Would Minghao still be at home? Would you look like an idiot knocking on his door with no reply? You wouldn’t know until you got out of your own head and just left your apartment.

You approached 524, making a mental note to keep connecting it to Minghao. If you didn’t remind yourself, you would probably forget the moment you stepped away from the door. You mentally prepared yourself one last time, taking a deep breath before knocking.

“Coming,” you immediately heard Minghao’s muffled reply. It was quiet for a moment before you heard footsteps approaching the door. 

The door opened to a very comfortable looking Minghao. It was a much different image of him than you were familiar with, his style had a sort of ease that you could only dream of pulling off. Thus, him in an oversized hoodie and sweatpants definitely betrayed your fantasy of him. He leaned against the door frame, eyeing you for a moment before speaking. 

“Hi. Any reason why you woke me up?”

“We need to talk,” You immediately regretted the way you responded, sounding a bit too angsty.

Minghao chuckled. “It sounds like I’m getting punished.”

”Not exactly, but I feel like you won’t like it.” 

“Just tell me. I won’t bite,” Minghao stated, his expression unchanging. You didn’t really believe that, especially since he could give people hell if it was necessary. Well, at least from what you remember Chan telling you. 

“You’re my date to a wedding. It’s in a month, but we need to prepare for it,” You decided to be direct with him instead of just asking. It wasn’t optional, he needed to accept.

“So we’re actually getting to know each other?” 

“Yeah. Joshua is going, so I want us to actually be prepared.”

“Right, so you won’t look clueless like last time.” Minghao raised his eyebrows. 

“I just think it’d be fucked up if I went to a wedding and my fiancé can’t tell someone a single thing about me. That shouldn’t be weird of me to want that,” you deflect.

“And I actually need your number. This isn’t a joke, we need to be in contact,” you moved your concentration to opening your phone contacts to a new page, impatiently handing Minghao your phone.

Minghao grabbed the phone from your grasp. “Whatever. Just don’t text me anything dumb.” He entered his name and number quickly before handing the phone back.

“But you are the dumb thing I’m texting,” You grinned widely as you took your phone.

“Okay, anything else before I shut the door in your face?” Minghao retreated back into his apartment.

“Just that you’re doing me a massive favor and I’m extremely grateful for you,” you smiled again, the words rolling off your tongue far too easily.

“You’re an idiot,” Minghao promptly slammed the front door shut. 

You sighed as you made your way back into your own apartment. Well, at least you had Minghao’s phone number. You could only hope that he didn’t delete it two minutes later. 

——

The weekend passed far too quickly for your liking, and you were back in your cubicle before you knew it. The only difference was that now you couldn’t stop thinking about Minghao. The image of his black hair, the way his eyes creased when he smiled widely, every little detail of his face permeated your typical thoughts. 

It was pathetic, you knew it was. You were equally anxious and eager to see him again, secretly wanting to understand why he acted the way he did. You wanted to organize the way that you approached this “getting to know you” thing, but Chan insisted on leading both of you in mediated sessions. 

You told Chan that he didn’t have to go this far, but it was no use. Chan would be thorough with his plans no matter what, but you wanted to meet Minghao on your own before all of the fanfare started. 

You just needed an excuse to see him again. You decided to text him on your lunch break during a particularly slow Tuesday.

you

hi! what’s up 

fake fiance

who is this

you

of course you didn’t save my number …

fake fiance

I'm kidding. I did or else you would’ve killed me

what do you want 

you

I need you to propose to me 

fake fiance

…okay

you

well I’m not gonna let you keep wearing that plain ring if I don’t have a ring

fake fiance

don’t judge my taste

you

we should do it tonight

fake fiance

you didn't respond to what i said but ok

do you want me to make you dinner?

you

yes I can just come to your apartment

fake fiance

okay

any preferences

you 

something good 

fake fiance

well obviously

come over at 9 pm

You glanced at his texts again, your mind going blank. How was tonight even supposed to go? It’s not like you had much to go off of, especially since you hadn’t spent time with Minghao in years. You were acquaintances in college, both connected through Chan. You each had your separate friend groups, but Chan always kept him in your orbit somehow. 

You didn’t even remember what happened to make the two of you stop talking. It was just enough to stop interacting with each other altogether.

Your friends didn’t understand why you wouldn’t just communicate like real adults, but it soon became futile to convince you two to interact. There was just some level of passive aggressiveness that evolved into resentment over time. 

Thus, it didn’t make things any better when you found out Minghao lived in your apartment building. You mostly never saw each other, but that currently wasn’t the case. 

You pondered what Minghao would possibly do, but nothing emerged. When you still couldn’t settle your daydreaming on the commute home, you figured you needed someone to talk you down. 

“If you were gonna fake propose to someone over dinner, how would you do it?”

“Just say you’re talking about Minghao.”

“Soonyoung, I need help, ok? This isn’t just some random guy, it’s my fake fiancé,” you cradled your phone in the crook of your shoulder.

“Well, Minghao probably wouldn’t even care. Isn’t this supposed to only last a month anyway?” 

You stopped in your tracks. “We haven’t talked about it.” 

“Maybe you should do that,” Soonyoung replied.

“And he would care. He’s way too observant,” you pouted, making your friend sigh in frustration.

“Look, you need to relax. Minghao likes something simple and meaningful, so obviously he’s gonna treat you right.” Soonyoung responded calmly. He was right, Minghao probably wouldn’t fuck you over, even if he wasn’t your biggest fan. Considering that he knew Minghao far more than you did, you weren’t really in the business of ignoring his advice. 

“You’re right. I’m not gonna be weird about it.”

“Exactly. He even told me he was looking forward to tonight!” Soonyoung answered excitedly, but you didn’t want it to go to your head. 

“Did he? That’s good at least.”

“He did. Now go get ready, I don’t wanna hear you say you didn’t have enough time to prep.”

“Thank you, love you, bye,” you hung up after hearing Soonyoung’s goodbye. You glanced at your phone once again to check the time. It was only 7, but you decided not to procrastinate and actually get dressed early. 

It would take you ages to figure out what you wanted to wear. As you examined your closet, you slightly regretted not asking Soonyoung for outfit advice before hanging up. You always had too many clothes to choose from, so you needed at least an hour just to decide on your outfit. 

Eventually, you settled on a simple black dress. It was slightly out of your comfort zone for a date, but this was your proposal after all. Once you put it on, you admire yourself in the mirror for a moment. You hadn’t dressed up in a while, much less for a romantic encounter.

Sure, the night would mean nothing in the long run, but nothing would stop you from making sure you looked good during it.

Unsurprisingly, you were out of the apartment and knocking on his door at 8:59. When he opened the door, Minghao seemed shocked that you were right on time.

You noticed the way Minghao eyed your figure for a moment, a slight blush spread on his cheeks from the sight of you. It did give you a little satisfaction.

“Hi, um-,” Minghao started, but silence overtook him once again.

“If you wanted to stare, you could’ve just said that,” you replied, turning up the charm in Minghao’s moment of weakness.

“I’m not staring,” Minghao looked down at the floor before quickly glancing up again. You stepped past Minghao into the apartment, taking in your new surroundings for a moment.

For the record, you thought Minghao looked good too, but you were just better at hiding it. He was dressed in a black suit, a bit plain but it fits well for the circumstances. His black hair was styled neatly, a few strands left out framing the sides of his face. You actually noticed it was around mullet length, making him look even edgier than you originally thought. You decide that it suits him.

He looked a bit like a model, one of those who you’d buy magazines just to see his ads and put them up on your wall. It made your heart tense, but that certainly didn’t mean anything.

He locked the door behind you and walked closer to you, anticipating your initial reaction. His apartment was surprisingly cosmopolitan, the walls adorned with art pieces that look gallery ready. You noticed small trinkets placed around framed photos, it all seemed so intentional that it took your breath away.

“It doesn’t look half bad in here,” you downplayed your reaction. Minghao laughed at your observation as your gaze finally met him again.

He put his hand over his chest in mock defense. “I’m sure your apartment looks much worse,” he replied with a smirk. “You should be lucky I even agreed to this. I was just gonna give you the ring and call it a day.”

“But where’s the fun in that?” you responded, sitting down at the dining table. You looked at him expectantly, noticing how he stayed concentrated in the kitchen.

“I guess you’re right. I made ramen, but it’s a bit more fancy. Do you want wine too?” he held up a bottle and you nodded, prompting him to fix your plates. 

“I’m expecting a lot from you,” you teased. 

He sighed loudly. “Of course you are,” he replied with a small lilt in his voice. He carefully brought over the plates of food, placing a dish in front of you before setting down his own.

A bit fancy was an understatement. You were sure he wasn’t a cook, Soonyoung would have at least told you that. Yet, the presentation looked far more professional than you were expecting. It seemed more like the five star ramen places you saw on TV which made you decide that yes, Minghao probably did care about aesthetics more than you realized. 

He shuffled back to get the wine bottle on the counter, placing it on the side of the table. You looked amused at the sight of him scurrying around and watched him sit down across from you.

“Please eat, so I can know if you hate it,” he mentally prepared himself for any response you might give. You lifted your chopsticks, pulled up a mound of noodles and took a surprisingly large bite. You immediately nodded in approval.

“It’s really good, actually,” you said between your bite.

He could have cried at that moment. “Oh thank god,” he took a similar sized bite himself and sat back in his chair.

“Have some class, oh my god,” you joke, pouring yourself a glass of wine. He tried not to laugh as you took a sip.

“This is my apartment, let me look stupid.”

He heard the shutter of a phone camera and looked up. You took photos of him while giggling, looking back down at your phone to edit something that he clearly wasn't allowed to see.

“If you send that to anyone, I’m gonna kill you,” he rolled his eyes at your antics. 

“I’m just setting it on my phone screen so I can have one of those weird candid boyfriend photos of you.” 

“Oh, that’s actually kinda cute.”

“You also look stupid so that helps.”

“Guess I need to ask Chan for some bad college pictures of you,” he smiled.

“Shut up,” You took more bites of your ramen, stuffing your cheeks to deflect the attention off of you.

You sat in silence for a bit, finishing your food without making eye contact. It was definitely awkward, but when was it not? You never had comfortable experiences with Minghao, not even in college. The jokes could only take you so far. 

You finally decided to break the silence between the two of you. “So where's this ring?” you announced, placing your hands on the table. 

“Right,” he frantically looked around for a moment before meeting your glance, “I’ll go get it.” 

He looked nervous. Why was he nervous? It’s not like this was serious or anything.

He came back to the table, looking at you expectantly. “Can you stand up, please?” 

You wordlessly stood up, waiting for him to make the dreaded move.

He got down on one knee and you suddenly remembered the gravity of the situation.

“Y/N, we’ve barely known each other for years now and this entire situation is wild to me. It’s my fault because I don’t love you or even halfway like who you are-“

“You’re not convincing me at all,” you chuckled.

He sighed. “But apparently I’m the only person who would ever do this for you. So, will you fake marry me?” He opened the box to reveal a simple diamond ring with a silver band. It wasn’t anything flashy, but it was good enough for this situation. 

You eyed the ring for a moment before replying. “I’m paying you, so obviously yes,” you stated plainly.

“Okay then,” he pressed his mouth into a line and stood up again. You weren't sure what you expected, but you weren't exactly surprised. 

He took your hand, trying not to notice the way it slightly tensed up from his touch. This was the most physical contact you’ve ever had, at least since before your conversation with Joshua. 

He carefully placed the ring on your finger and watched you examine it. “This is pretty good for someone who doesn’t like me,” you added playfully.

“Trust me, I didn’t spend money on that. It was a gift to one of my friends. They gave it to me after hearing about all this.” He decided to clear the dining table, collecting the used plates and utensils as he replied. 

You walked towards the kitchen, observing him balance the dishes in his hands with no intention to help. “I was certain that you had something worse just for me.”

“I didn’t, but I knew you would want something like that,” he spoke a bit louder over the running water, washing the plates without looking up.

“I’ve been going too easy on you if you’re so confident about me,” you retorted.

He laughed and set the plates down in the sink. He turned off the faucet and faced you. “Go ahead, then.” 

“What?”

He closed the distance between you and lowered his voice. “Don’t play dumb with me. If you wanna degrade me so badly, then do it.”

You stood your ground, your face stone cold despite his persistence. He saw the cracks in your facade though. 

“You’re annoying,” you started, your voice barely above a whisper.

“Keep going.” He stared at you, silently prodding you on.

“I hate that Chan ever introduced us because you’re insufferable,” your words were laced with venom, but he couldn’t help himself from smiling. 

“And why am I insufferable, brat?” You felt his breath on your ear, his aura seemed to shut down most of your senses. It didn't make sense that he had this much of an effect on you.

“Because you’re uptight, controlling, and a perfectionist,” your voice faltered, your eyes closing for a moment.

“Anything else?” he asked. His question was only met with silence, and your eyes searched for any sign of a reprieve. 

“That’s what I thought.” he kissed your cheek lightly before retreating back to the sink.

You let out a shaky breath, barely audible over the running water. You didn’t expect Minghao to get you so riled up.

“Can I go home now?” He heard the question and looked at you, clearly still flustered.

“Yeah. You can let yourself out.” He didn't ignore the way your shoulders were tensed up, and your face was painted with disdain. Your wide eyes were noticeably duller than usual. He wondered for a moment if he went too far with the teasing, if the kiss on the cheek crossed a line that you weren’t ready for. 

“Great,” you muttered, slamming the door as you left the apartment.

Once you got home, you decided that the night definitely could have gone worse. 

Honestly, you were just relieved that Minghao gave you a good ring.

-

You expected the rest of the week to continue without any contact from Minghao. He didn’t text much anyways, but it made sense considering the way Tuesday night went.

Wednesday was nothing special, and the monotony of the workday took up any brain space you might have had. You thought about texting Minghao but decided against bothering him.

However, you spotted Minghao leaving your apartment at the same time on Thursday, blissfully unaware of your presence.

Minghao looked up at you with a quick glance. Your eyes shot nervously towards him, leaving you with an urge to walk away before you could regret it.

He caught your arm before you could get away. “Can we talk please?”

“About what?” you sighed and faced him halfheartedly. 

“Don’t do this, you know what I’m talking about,” he tried to search your eyes for any kind of response.

“It just caught me off guard. That’s it,” you started walking again, forcing him to keep up with you. He stepped in front of you to block your path.

“Ok, I barely even know you and I know that’s a lie.” he gave you a pointed look. You only furrowed your brows and stepped around him. 

“I said it’s nothing, why are you trying to push this?” you focused your eyes on the elevator ahead of you, pressing the downstairs button.

“Because I know you’re lying to me,” he insisted. The elevator doors opened and you stepped inside.

“I thought you said you don’t know me?” you retorted, visibly amused at his feeble attempts to defend himself. The doors began to close, but he stuck his arm out before it could fully shut.

The doors lurched open again, and Minghao stood next to you. “True, but at least from our interactions you don’t seem like the type to lie to someone, especially someone you don’t like.” 

The hum of the elevator filled the brief silence. “I don’t owe you anything. Fake married or not,” you kept your eyes trained ahead of you, waiting expectantly for the doors to open.

The elevator suddenly came to a halt, the jolt shocking both of you. Minghao pressed the floor buttons hoping for any movement, but to no avail. You were definitely stuck.

“You can’t be fucking serious,” you chuckled to yourself before sitting on the ground.

He exhaled and proceeded to call the emergency line. He figured that you were too angry to do it, and someone needed to let emergency services know what happened as soon as possible. After a muffled yet brief conversation with the fire department, he had a clear answer. 

“They said it’ll be two hours before they can get us,” he turned and sat on the opposite side of the car, adjusting his posture so that he wasn’t completely slumped against the wall.

“Of course. It’s not like I had shit to do today or anything,” you replied with an irritated tone. He watched you run your fingers through your hair, sensing the stress in your movements.

He was obviously worried too, but he needed to be somewhat relaxed to deal with this. It was the only way you’d both make it out of here without killing each other.

“God, this is not what I needed right now,” he sighed to himself and closed his eyes, trying to block out the fluorescent lighting of the ceiling panels.

“It wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t follow me in here,” you replied under your breath.

“Maybe not, but maybe you can actually talk about what happened the other night,” you opened your eyes and looked at Minghao.

“You know what, fine. I didn’t expect you to fucking kiss me and I felt overwhelmed, is that what you want to hear?” you stood up, your voice growing louder. 

“It is, actually! I could’ve appreciated you saying anything at all,” he exclaimed.

“But you did it anyway because you knew you could get a rise out of me!”

“Maybe I did, but remember the part where I asked you if you had anything else to say? If you were that mad at me in that moment or afterward, you could have said something but you didn’t. You walked out of my apartment,” he ranted.

“I was flustered! What else was I supposed to do?”

“Just talk to me,” he finally decided to stand up to face you, “I can’t read your mind, you know.”

You couldn’t respond. Your face was wracked with guilt, your previously confident demeanor was now deflated. You knew that he was right and you definitely needed to set clear boundaries if this was going to work.

“If you can’t even tell me about a kiss on the cheek, how are we supposed to be convincing people that we’re getting married?” his voice softened. 

Minghao looked you in the eyes and it threw you off for a moment. You didn’t expect Minghao to look so vulnerable, especially since he always seemed so sure of himself. 

“You’re right,” you put your hands on your cheeks before looking at him. “I can definitely do better. Can you at least ask me before you try to kiss me, though? So we won’t make each other uncomfortable again?”

He simply nodded and processed your response. You both stood there silently for a moment, and you contemplated holding his hand. 

You wanted him to comfort you somehow, even though you were the one apologizing. It didn’t make sense, but the entire situation didn’t make sense either. 

“That’s fine. I just don’t want you to feel scared to talk to me,” he admitted.

“Same. I’m not that scary, am I?” you smirked. 

“You are kinda scary, brat.”

“Is that our thing now? The nickname thing?” You sat back down, deciding to take off your shoes. You figured it would take way longer than expected for someone to come get you, so you might as well get comfortable.

“It can be. What’s my name then?” He followed your lead, sitting down carefully next to you. You tried not to notice the lack of distance between you, but his cologne hits your nose and it feels like a bit too much to bear.

“I have to think about it. What about Hao?”

“That’s normal. That’s what anyone would call me. Make it special,” he challenged.

“Is idiot good enough?” You suggest. He squinted his eyes, taking a moment to judge if it was suitable enough.

“Not special, but it’s around the same level as brat, so I’m not completely against it,” he decided.

“Works for me,” you sigh. You realize just how hot it is in the elevator once you stop talking. It was probably hotter while you were yelling at each other, but now you could really feel it as you were sitting still.

“Can we agree to nap until something happens?” You look at him and he nods solemnly. 

You close your eyes and try to accept the rollercoaster of events that just happened. You were angry with Minghao, and you mutually set some boundaries. You made up and now you have nicknames for each other, albeit they don’t actually have any real meaning. 

It was a lot of progress for one elevator ride.

You still knew virtually nothing about him but this was fine, right?

Couples did things like this in days or weeks, so maybe this was just a way of making up for lost time.

There was practically no time for you to really know him, but you had to make it happen. If today was any indication of how the next month might go, you were already bracing yourself. 

It would make your life a little bit more interesting, you knew that for sure.

[junhuistotoroonesie]

I high key made myself sad thinking about strangers to friends to lovers to strangers again situation with Wonwoo, where the two of you meet in high school, become sweethearts and just slowly drift apart when you guys try long distance in Uni. Even more so if it’s like a right person wrong time situation 😭

it feels like goodbye when he kisses you at the airport.

wonwoo holds you like he’s trying to memorize the way you fit in his arms, but the way your lips touch, you can feel him counting the seconds until his boarding group is called and the moment dissolves. 

your heart thrums at his touch, the same way it did when you kissed under the dollar store prom lights, when he picked you up and swung you around at graduation, when you first ditched class with him to sit around in the chem lab, shyly holding hands under the table.

and he’s cradling your cheeks, telling you he promises he’ll call when he lands, and you feel like crying but you’re not sure if it’s because you know you’ll miss him or because it already feels like he’s slipping through your fingers, irrevocably.

“hey. hey, look at me,” wonwoo says, thumbs on your cheeks. he does that when he knows you’re tearing up; fuck, it’s so stupid how he knows you so well, better than you know yourself. his hands have his trademark slight tremble to them, but this time it feels like if you kiss them like you usually do, you’ll crumble up and blow away instead.

and before you know it, wonwoo’s gone. you watch the plane become a speck in the sky, and your head swims with all of the words you wish you told him instead, until he’s swallowed up by clouds. 

on the drive home, you touch your cheek and notice it's wet, stained with the tears wonwoo was trying to wipe away.

—

you catch yourself looking for traces of wonwoo in the eyes of your poor, oblivious date from your brit lit class.

“liking what you see?” he smiles, confident, disarming, but it's clear he knows your mind's elsewhere.

“shut up, jeonghan.” your hand curls around your coffee cup, nothing short of a dazzling smile on your lips. "i think someone needs to take you down a peg." 

"and that person is you?" 

it's a good first date, great even, but a small, evil part of you feels guilty, reluctant to let yourself fall in love again. 

it's a tired memory, the one that plays when you think of wonwoo.

his pretty, somber eyes, aflame with the taunting dance of the candlelight. i think we should stop seeing each other, he had said. 

you talked about it, he paid for dinner, and then you left in separate cars.

and you weren't really upset — you couldn't be.

you think, if you didn’t lose him that cloudy saturday morning he boarded that plane for university, you surely lost him in the missed calls, the stilted text messages where you tried to recount the events of the last week to him. you knew something was different when you played the voice memo he sent you — "is now a good time to call?" — as you cradled the speaker to your cheek, searching for his voice in the swell of the frat party you were at — and you only felt frustration in the pit of your stomach. 

frustration that you couldn't touch him, that you had events at different times and could never call, that he always sounded more faraway than you ever thought possible, so much more distant than the times you were sitting in his lap, content to listen as he read a book to you, murmured poetry in your ears like you were his muse. 

and you stop thinking about him. 

wonwoo's not on your mind when jeonghan first laces his fingers with yours, so, so tenderly as to erase the look you gave him when you mentioned your ex for the first time. wonwoo's not on your mind when you kiss jeonghan, when he's pressed like a second skin over you, hands, legs, intertwined.

wonwoo isn't on your mind either when jeonghan breaks up with you the summer before senior year. 

i can't reach you. it's like you're so far away, even when you're right here, he had said, and it's only when you sit in your car and cry again when everything that happened three years ago comes rushing back, like fate was trying to make an example of you, forbid you from ever falling in love.

—

"mom, i can't believe you've done this," you groan, fiddling with the hem of your too-short, too-revealing dress as if that would make it longer. 

"there's nothing wrong with seeing old friends." she tsks at you before launching into another spiel about how she hasn't seen wonwoo's mom in a blue moon and what do you possibly have to be embarrassed about?

well, little did you know, everything.

when you see wonwoo for the first time, you swear your heart positively stops. 

broad shoulders, legs for days, and his awfully charming smile that feels like it's on the edge of being achingly familiar. looking at him makes you feel dizzy, and you're not sure why. 

despite this, you're surprised by your urge to fall into him like a habit, grab his hand that's so casually resting on the table like you always did, steal a kiss on his cheek to feel the blush bloom against his skin. as your mom continues to interrogate wonwoo about being in law school, you wonder what lucky soul gets to push his glasses up his nose, like you once did, many years ago (no one, you soon learn, as his mom chastises him for being single).

 "law school, huh?" you ask him as you walk to the ice cream parlor you used to frequent. you naturally fall into stride, and you wonder if he feels something akin to whatever funny feeling you're getting in your head. 

"i guess i grew a little too fond of our conversations." you recall the glitter in his eyes as you debated over some impossible hypothetical, illuminated by the neon of the film they were playing that week at the drive-in. the same drive-in where wonwoo called you his person. just say you’re in love with me, you replied, teasing, and he quite simply said, i am. that was the first time you said you loved each other.

now you walk side-by-side, even nervous to brush shoulders because it somehow feels too intimate. but when he meets your eyes, his own ever so steady and clear, you somehow feel that he's not searching for anything anymore, not the way he was when you sat across from each other and broke each other’s hearts.

and when he smiles at you — warmly, faithfully  — it feels although you've started anew. 

[junhuistotoroonesie]

Hii! Its me again! The anon who requested the Jihoon x perfect reader. I perfectly understand and I don't blame u at all! It's ok if u don't want to write it anymore. But if u ever decide to finish writing it, here are some of the parts I requested (Tbh, I don't remember much of what I requested):

- Jihoon and the reader are academic rivals

- They get paired up for a project (because they are the top of the class)

- The project makes them closer. Close enough for Jihoon to crush on the reader

- Because he saw her (or them. Depends if u want to write it in a gender neutral pov) with another classmate, he sorta gets jealous

- This leads to him exposing his crush hehe

Tysm for taking the time to read this! <33

Green Tea Latte

Pairing: Jihoon x fem!reader (ft. Wonwoo and Soonyoung, mentions of the rest of Seventeen, mentions of Red Velvet's Joy aka Park Sooyoung :))

Synopsis: Jihoon is not the jealous type, but you make him green in more ways than he can handle.

Genre: Fluff, crack, more angst than I was intending, jealous!jihoon, perfectionist!jihoon, hardworking!reader, kind of E2L?, high school!au, FACS class, mild baseball!au

Warning: Use of profanity, mentions of parents passing away 😕 (reader lives with her older brother), food, one joke about polyamory, improper childcare of a doll, jealousy, insecurities, unedited (I apologize . . . I couldn't find a beta reader and I wasn't gonna go back and read all of this because my own work makes me cringe - I'll fix it some day T^T), inaccurate portrayal of high school, jihoon is quite crass at the beginning - I think that's it? Please lmk if there's more!

WC: 9.7K

Permanent taglist: @nanamioo @bibinnieposts

A/N: Anon who requested this 😭😭😭 My sincerest apologies for finishing this so dang late! Thank you for requesting Jihoon btw! Initially, this plot was set out for Jeonghan, but I figured. just maybe I could spin it for Jihoon :) I've struggled for a long time to find a good concept for him, but alas, here we are! I hope it lives up to your expectations 💙 I also apologize in advance - I'm a tad of a masochist, so if the ending isn't what you were expecting, I'm sorry 😅

“And last, but not least, we’ll have one group of three: Y/N, Jihoon, and Wonwoo,” Ms. Choi announced, quickly slapping his roster shut with one hand. His eyes scanned the classroom for any signs of confusion. “If there are no other questions, please find your partners and come check out one of the infant dolls. I’ll also give you the packet that contains all the instructions and worksheets for this final project – please review it tonight and have questions ready for class tomorrow.”

With the clap of her hand, students all around you started shuffling around the room to make way to their partners. You, on the other hand, remained seated in your desk in the third row by the open windows, eyes trained on your hands clasped in front of you. The spring humidity seemed to grow increasingly uncomfortable and no amount of fan or breeze could stifle the sweat sticking your hair to your forehead. Was your uniform jacket always this itchy and heavy?

Slowly, you craned your neck to look to the other side of the room to see if he was making his way over. When you caught a glimpse of him, Jihoon was sitting sideways in his seat, one arm resting on his desk and the other slung over the head of his chair. His facial expression, his eyes narrowed at you with the slightest crinkle in between his brows as if he was glaring at you. 

His backpack slung loosely over his shoulder, Wonwoo collapsed lazily into the seat in front of you. Despite the loud scraping of the chair against the white tiled floor, you paid no mind to him. A heavy sigh left Wonwoo’s lips as he leaned back against the window and glanced over, pushing up his black-rimmed glasses to better follow your line of sight. 

Wonwoo already knew: The final project for Family and Consumer Science was going to be interesting. 

Lee Jihoon hated you and he never tried to hide it. The whole senior class, even some of the teachers, knew that he had a strong distaste for you. Jihoon was never really a people person; he was stoic and kept to himself. If not in school, most of his hours were spent on three things: studying, baseball, and music. His only true friend was Soonyoung; everyone else, he was either acquaintances with or good teammates at best. Even then, Jihoon and Soonyoung’s friendship was questionable as the former seemed annoyed half the time they’re spotted together. 

You were special, however – to put it nicely. Ever since you skipped the latter half of your first year of high school and joined their class, their second year of high school, Wonwoo had never seen Jihoon so peeved by someone before. Wonwoo had an inkling it had to with the fact that you persistently knocked him off the podium as the number one student in all the courses you shared. 

Calculus? If Jihoon got a 98%, you got a 99%. 

The competition for Mr. Jung’s creative writing class? If Jihoon got second, you got first for best story – granted, only the two of you and Joshua had entered for extra credit. 

Ms. Park’s impossible biology lab practical? Jihoon was happy with his A, until he heard you aced it. 

To put it simply, the two of you were academic rivals and never had to work together on group projects until now – with Wonwoo, of course. 

“Hi,” Wonwoo cleared his throat. This was his first time interacting with you. He had always seen you around in classes the two of you shared, but never made an effort to befriend you either. It wasn’t that you were cold, most of their classmates got along with you well – similarly to Jihoon, Wonwoo preferred keeping to himself as well. People watching high school students was a rather fun pass time. 

“So,” Wonwoo awkwardly tried again when you didn’t respond. He glanced over to see if you were paying any attention to him yet. He frowned and nudged your hand when he noticed your eyes were still lingering on Jihoon. You perked at the brush of his finger against your knuckles. 

“Hi,” Wonwoo greeted you again. 

“Hey,” you said softly. 

Wonwoo scratched the back of his head, “Class is going to end soon – should we go talk to him?”

“Uh, y-yeah, sure,” you muttered. Robotically, you slipped out of your desk and began walking down the aisle, weaving in between desks to get to Jihoon. Wonwoo followed in suit, though not as gracefully, jutting his hip into the edge of a few brown desks every now and then. 

You didn’t even have a chance to greet Jihoon, however.

“I’m going to ask Ms. Choi if I can do this assignment individually,” Jihoon deadpanned. Shoving his hands into his pants pocket, he stood up in front of you. His eyes flitted between Wonwoo and you. “You guys can be parents to your own stupid doll – I don’t have a problem being a single dad.”

. . . .

“This is stupid,” Jihoon spat, tossing the packet across the table. Wonwoo slowed the chewing, nervously lowering his red bean bread bun into his lap. He shared a knowing glance with you. 

“It is,” you sighed, nodding once. You reached over to the packet and flipped it open a couple pages. “But we have to do it to graduate.”

Jihoon paid no mind to your comment, still clearly upset that Ms. Choi wouldn’t let him do this final FACS project on his own. 

“The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to the challenges and collaboration of parenthood and raising children,” Ms. Choi insisted sternly. 

“There are single parents out there, you know?” Jihoon had shot back.

“Lee Jihoon,” Ms. Choi warned. 

He lowered his guard and cleared his throat. 

“I well-aware that there are single parents out there, but there are not enough infants–”

“They are dolls,” Jihoon interrupted. 

“There are not enough infants for students to do this assignment individually,” Ms. Choi continued, ignoring the teenage boy’s snark comment. 

“Can I at least trade partners then?” Jihoon asked. 

“It’s important for you to learn how to work with others,” Ms. Choi straightened a stack of papers, clacking the short edge against her desk. “Even if you don’t get along with them. You do not exist in a void, Mr. Lee. Wonwoo and Y/N are good students – give them a chance, you might be surprised.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes when Ms. Choi turned back around. 

“Is there anything else you want to clarify about this assignment, Jihoon?” Ms. Choi asked, a stern hand on her hip when she turned around. 

“No,” he grumbled. 

“I’ll see you in class tomorrow then,” she dismissed him. Her eyes flitted to the awkward pair of students standing in the doorway behind Jihoon. “I believe your partners are waiting for you.”

And that’s how Jihoon found himself here: Sitting at a cramped table in the dinky convenience store down the street from school that is always out of Diet Coke because the three of you didn’t get time in class to discuss the project. 

“Essentially, we just have to take care of this baby for a month,” Wonwoo fingered through the packet, his eyes skimming over the thick of words, “Do the things on this checklist, discuss our experience as a group, and then turn-in a paper or diagram of our choice documenting our experience?”

“Yeah,” you agreed. You twiddle your thumbs, your eyes occasionally flitting to Jihoon sitting kitty corner to you. You were well aware he didn’t like you and that made you nervous. 

“Our experience should be interesting,” Wonwoo commented. He reached for his banana milk and took a long sip.

You furrowed your brows together in confusion. “Why?”

“Because it’s a polyamorous parenthood, duh,” Jihoon answered for Wonwoo. The former choked on his banana milk, coughing up a fit. 

You blushed, shrinking back into your seet, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable between the boys. Wonwoo eyed you nervously, noticing the way you clasped your thighs together, sticking your hand underneath your thighs, and shifted nervously in your seat. 

“Dude,” Wonwoo warned.

Jihoon shrugged. “Am I lying?”

Wonwoo sighed. Indeed Jihoon disliked you, but did he have to be borderline harassing you like this?

“Don’t say shit like that – It makes it uncomfortable for all of us,” Wonwoo chastised him, not trying to single you out. His gaze flickered to you briefly. You gave him a small smile in thanks for trying with Jihoon. “It’s just a group project – let’s get this done, graduate, and get out of here.”

“How do you want to split up the work?” Jihoon ignored Wonwoo, asking the group instead. His eyes flashed down to his phone. “I gotta get to baseball practice soon, so hurry.”

“We can just switch every day in a pattern? Me for one night, Wonwoo for the next, then Jihoon?” you offered. “We don’t have to worry about the baby during the school day since Ms. Choi said we can return them to her room.”

It was a reasonable suggestion, but it still bothered Jihoon. 

“First of all,” Jihoon started, “It’s a doll, not a baby. Second, that’s dumb and inconvenient.”

You winced. Your patience was suddenly running thin. He didn’t like you, but did he have to be so crude? What the hell was his problem?

“I don’t think so,” Wonwoo frowned, also starting to get annoyed with how stubborn Jihoon was. 

Jihoon glared at Wonwoo – why was he suddenly siding with you? Did the shy anime-like boy have a crush on you?

“I’m busy,” Jihoon said as if it was obvious. “I have baseball practice nearly every day after school as we’re getting closer to the end of the season, which means sections? Competition is hot – I can’t be hauling that thing around the field.”

“Then you take it during the weekend,” you blurted, finally having enough of his crap. He was the one being unreasonable – as if you and Wonwoo weren’t busy either. 

“That’s not –”

“Isn’t it though?” you challenged. “If you’re too busy to do your part during the weekday, the weekend is the least you can do? Wonwoo and I can split the work during the week.”

“We have to spend time together too – as parents with the baby,” Wonwoo piped up, reminding the two of you about the other requirement he spotted. “At least once a week.”

Jihoon groaned, muttering a few curses underneath his breath. 

“Let’s just meet on Fridays then and use that time to discuss and gather info and do the reflection,” you suggested. 

“Why are you making all the scheduling decisions here?” Jihoon asked accusingly. “You’re not the only one here, Y/N. We have lives outside of school, you know? Fridays are usually baseball games for me.”

“Fine,” you relented, crossing your arms over your chest. “What do you propose?”

Jihoon mirrored your posture, leaning back into his seat. “There’s three of us and seven days of the week. One day, we’ll meet together, so that leaves six. You take the stupid doll for first two days, I’ll take him for next two days, and Wonwoo the other two.”

Your phone buzzed in your lap. 

Sooyoung: Where are you?

Sooyoung: Hyun is starting to wonder where you are – hurry!

You quickly shot your co-worker a text that you would be there soon and glanced up at Jihoon and Wonwoo who were still in discussion – though it was more of Jihoon talking at Wonwoo. 

“Two days for each person with a third for us to meet together sounds fine to me,” you announced when the chatter died down. You pointed towards the door, rising out of your seat. Your hand wrapped around the navy blue and yellow carseat, holding the infant. “I need to go – I’ll take the baby today and tomorrow, and hand it off to Wonwoo on Wednesday. Text me if you need anything.”

“‘I need to go’,” Jihoon mocked you. He scoffed and sank down into his seat. 

Wonwoo frowned. “Why do you dislike her so much?”

Through the convenience store's glass window, he watched you cross the empty street. Your ponytail swung back and forth behind you like a horse’s tail, the keychain of the white character with the glistening eyes and pink cap clipped to your black backpack mimicking the same motion. 

“I . . . don’t know,” Jihoon muttered. 

. . . .

“What if it’s because you’re jealous, my friend?” Soonyoung pointed his dripping cherry red popsicle at Jihoon. The sun was already setting after a long three hours of baseball practice. Rather than going home right away, Soonyoung somehow convinced Jihoon to go hang out at the park, where the latter ended up venting and recounting his day, updating his best friend on the situation with the FACS final project, finally ending with Wonwoo’s incredibly stupid question. 

“What? Am not,” Jihoon protested.

Soonyoung smirked, his tongue, a matching shade of red, flicking out to lip the droplet that was about to drip onto the pavement underneath the swings they were sitting on. “Are too – literally, you were top of the class since middle school until she came along and stole your thunder.”

“Impossible,” Jihoon refused to believe his best friend. 

“Justin Bieber said, ‘never say never,’” Soonyoung glanced over at Jihoon and nodded, knowingly. 

Jihoon refused to believe though – he knew himself best, right? And he knew he wasn’t the jealous type. He never cared about competition and winning. He was the type to just do his own thing, worked hard, and ended up at the top – until you, obviously. 

“Well, why else would you dislike her so much then?” Soonyoung probed. The last small chunk of cherry popsicle slipped off the stick and splattered on the blacktop underneath him. It melted quickly into a puddle on the hot surface.

“What if I don’t dislike her?” Jihoon proposed. 

Soonyoung gasped – Jihoon assumed it was just a delayed reaction from dropping the last of his frozen treat, but his next words took Jihoon by surprise. 

“Does this mean you like her?” Soonyoung asked, eyes wide. “You’re pulling a tsundere – like, like . . . Kyo Sohma from Fruit Basket or Tsukishima from Haikyuu!”

“What the – no!” Jihoon exclaimed. In his swing, he pulled away from his friend trying to loosen his grip on his arm. “That’s not what I meant, Soonyoung. I don’t like her, but I don’t dislike her – she’s just a person . . . who I find annoying.”

Soonyoung sat back down into his swing, letting out a brisk ‘tsk.’ He slumped his shoulders forward, his hands wrapping around the rusted chains. His lips placed in a pout, his eyes flickered quickly to Jihoon before they turned back to focus on the black top underneath them. “She’s not really though . . .?”

Jihoon’s face hardened, furrowing his brows together, narrowing his eyes at his best friend. What did Soonyoung know about you that Jihoon didn’t know?

Shifting uncomfortably under Jihoon’s intense glare, Soonyoung started pushing himself back and forth on the swing with the toe of his sneaker. “Y/N’s . . . She’s actually . . . uh, really nice? And helpful.” Soonyoung nodded, content with his description. 

“And I’m not?” Jihoon asked bluntly. 

Soonyoung pointed a finger at his friend. “I didn’t say that – see, you’re being jealous right now.”

Jihoon shook his head. “No, please – just enlighten me. What’s so nice and helpful about her?”

“One time, walking into school, I tripped and spilled my papers everywhere,” Soonyoung straightened his shoulders. “No one helped me pick up my stuff, but Y/N saw and helped, and asked if I was okay.”

How pathetic, Jihoon thought to himself. Soonyoung was such a soft person – so easy to please. 

“Soonyoung, that could’ve literally been anyone –”

“But no one helped me, did they?”

“It’s one incident.”

“She had chemistry with me that semester,” Soonyoung continued to explain, hoping Jihoon could see the better side of you. “I messed up my experiment and she stayed behind to help me.”

“Okay,” Jihoon tilted his head, “I guess that’s kind of nice.”

Soonyoung let a beat pass, carefully observing Jihoon’s reaction. 

“If you weren’t so peeved by her, I might’ve . . . tried to be her friend more,” Soonyoung sulked. 

“Are you blaming me, right now?” Jihoon asked in disbelief. 

“Yeah – a little bit. She’s cute.”

“Cute?” 

Soonyoung straightened his spine in the swing, refusing to look at Jihoon out of embarrassment – And Jihoon knew. Jihoon knew that sulking, childish look better than anyone. It was that look Soonyoung gave him when Jihoon made fun of him for being a SHINee fanboy when they first met. It was that look that Soonyoung gaven when Jihoon came to pick him up from detention their third year of high school and didn’t talk to him the whole bike ride home. It was that look Soonyoung gave when Jihoon didn’t pay enough attention to him and ignored Jihoon for a whole week. 

He was annoying, but Jihoon couldn’t help but cave in because that damned look made his heart ache a little. And as much as he hated to admit, high school was a little lonely when Soonyoung wasn’t around. Jihoon didn’t have that many friends, frankly. Taking in a deep breath with his eyes closed, knowing he had to calm down and approach this carefully before Soonyoung threw another fit. 

“D-do you . . . did you . . . like her?” Jihoon finally choked up. He side-eyed his best friend who was hiding his face in the shadow of his baseball cap. 

Eventually, Soonyoung gave a small nod that if Jihoon wasn’t watching him like a hawk, he would’ve missed it. 

“Fuck,” Jihoon whispered under his breath. “Do you still like her?”

“I dunno,” Soonyoung shrugged in defeat, “She’s cute and she was really nice, but I haven’t talked to her long enough to know.”

Pressing his lips into a tight line, Jihoon got up from his swing and awkwardly made his way over to Soonyoung. His hand hovering over his best friend’s shoulder, he hesitated for a moment, eventually clamping down. 

“There, there,” Jihoon muttered. 

“Give her a chance,” Soonyoung said after a moment, “For me?”

He peered up at Jihoon again – those damn shining eyes. 

“Fine.”

. . . .

So . . .

Maybe Soonyoung was right. 

You weren’t that bad. 

Most importantly, you did your part of the project and you did it well. Unlike most of his peers he had been in groups for projects, not only were you diligent, but you were thorough – even if it was just FACS class. You paid attention in class and took notes on how to care for infants. You studied them after class and put the skills you learned into use. He watched you swaddle Haeyoung, the name the three of you, mostly Wonwoo, decided to name the doll, with care and feed it the plastic bottle with white-colored fluid that didn’t come out of the rubber nipple as if it was your own child. You didn’t even grimace when you had to change its brown diaper (yes, this doll was programmed to poop – wild). When Wonwoo almost dropped it on its head, it was you who saved it and placed it properly back in his arms. You didn’t even get mad at Wonwoo as Jihoon almost did – you just . . . laughed and told him it was okay. 

You were never friendly with Jihoon as you were with Wonwoo, but at the very least, you were courteous and professional. That was enough for Jihoon. He wasn’t expecting the three of you to be best friends at the end of this project anyhow. The things the three of you decided to do was starting to become . . . fun – kind of. Jihoon wasn’t big on ‘going out,’ but morning walks in the park, afternoon coffee shop hangouts, and dinner at Wonwoo’s house were becoming bearable. Jihoon had always chalked this up to Wonwoo being present and serving as a buffer between you and Jihoon. However, one particular afternoon in which your third member couldn’t join the two of you, made Jihoon question the reality of your situation. 

Sitting in the uncomfortable wooden chair of the coffee shop, Jihoon played with the straw of his iced coffee, waiting for your arrival. He peered at his watch wondering where you were. It was almost 5PM – you had agreed to meet up half an hour ago. 

The bell hanging above the entrance of the cafe clanged as a new customer walked it. Shortly after your voice, a little breathless, called out to Jihoon from afar, “Hey!”

Jihoon looked up, tilting his chin in your direction as you made your way over to his table. You looked rather frazzled. Your hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail and you sported a white t-shirt with faint, but questionable splotches of yellow and brown. 

“Took you long enough,” Jihoon muttered. 

“Sorry for being late,” you cleared your throat, not hearing Jihoon’s snarky remark. You adjusted Haeyoung’s car seat in the chair next to you. “Um . . . family stuff came up.”

“Sure,” Jihoon replied. He leaned over, setting his elbows on the table. He watched you unzip your bag and pull out a red spiral notebook. Fringes from paper being ripped out of it stuck out on the edges. “Did you want anything to drink before we start?”

You stared at Jihoon blankly. You were thirsty admittedly, but you also knew you probably couldn’t afford anything here. Knowing your situation, Wonwoo had usually offered to buy you something, even if you refused. 

“No,” you shook your head and flipped open to a fresh page. 

“You sure? You don’t want to get your usual green tea latte?” He pointed at the cashier counter.

You froze in the middle of uncapping your blue pen. “H-how . . . how did you know that was my go-to order?”

Jihoon shrugged like it was no big-deal. “Wonwoo always buys it for you when we come here – and I remember you said once you don’t like caffeine.”

“Uh . . . I’m good – I don’t need any today,” you cleared your throat, positioning your pen over the blank piece of paper. “Let’s just get this over with and go.”

“Okay,” Jihoon replied, repositioning himself in his seat. No matter how hard he tried, however, he couldn’t shake off the weird turbulence swarming in his chest. 

. . . .

With some time before dinner, the two of you opted to walk around town with Haeyoung to make up for “family time” that your group didn’t spend last week. Indeed it was awkward, you were two enemies walking around with a fucking doll for heaven’s sake. However, it was oddly comforting walking around mindlessly without feeling the pressure to talk or listen constantly.

Unfortunately, his peace was interrupted sooner than expected. 

“So,” you started slowly, “What were you doing before the meeting today?”

Give her a chance.

Soonyoung’s word echoed in Jihoon’s head as he walked with you shoulder-to-shoulder.

“Just . . . some conditioning,” Jihoon grunted. 

Your eyes widened slightly. “For baseball?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon replied. He cleared his throat. 

“That’s . . . some intense training – no rest,” you commented. 

“If you want to be good, it’s what you gotta do.”

The conversation fizzled out pretty fast afterwards as neither of you were sure where to go from there. 

“How about you?” Jihoon managed to croak as the two of you crossed the street. He shoved his hands into his black joggers. 

“Hm?” you hummed in confusion. 

“W-what . . . where were you before the meeting,” Jihoon clarified, “You were . . . uh, late, you know?”

Annoyed that he had to bring that up, you side glanced at him before answering. “I was at work.”

Jihoon raised his brows in surprise. “Oh? You work.”

“Yeah,” you replied curtly. 

“Where at?” 

“M-my . . . older brother’s restaurant.”

“Your family owns a restaurant?”

You shook your head, swallowing your saliva nervously. “J-just . . . my brother.”

“Do your parents work there too?” Jihoon asked bluntly. Genuinely, he was confused. Assuming your older brother wasn’t that much older than you, most young adults didn’t have enough money to own a restaurant at this age. 

You stopped walking altogether, your chin dipping into your chest as your gaze fell onto the pavement before you. 

“Are you okay?” Jihoon asked curiously, dragging out each word. 

“I . . . don’t . . . my parents aren’t around anymore,” you finally answered him. 

Shit. 

“Oh,” Jihoon scratched the back of his head, “I-I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” you muttered immediately, “Don’t feel bad . . . they’ve been gone for a while – it’s w-whatever. I just . . . try to help out my brother when I can and he pays me some so I can . . . have money . . . for stuff.”

Jihoon let out a soft hum. His stomach flipped out of guilt. The two of you continued to walk in silence a little longer, the afternoon sun casting a shadow across town. It was almost supper time, most of the streets empty as people have lingered into nearby restaurants or driving home. The soft hum of engines sounded in the distance. Did Jihoon try to make conversation with you? Does he just keep walking in silence? If he talks to you, what does he talk about? Certainly not your parents. 

Thankfully, however, you seemed to answer his questions for him. 

“So . . . um, baseball,” you started, your grip tightened on the stroller. It was now Jihoon’s turn to side glance at you. “H-how’s the season going?”

“Good,” Jihoon replied simply, “Ish.”

“Ish?”

“I mean, it could be going better, but we’re working through it and nothing is set in stone yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“We had a fair amount of wins, but also losses,” Jihoon explained, “I’m . . . not sure if we’re going to make it to sections.”

“Um . . . what are . . . sections?” you asked stupidly. You didn’t play sports – not competitively at least. You didn’t have the time nor money for it. 

“They’re like . . . when you play against teams from different cities, not just other schools in your district,” Jihoon nodded, satisfied with his explanation, “So like . . . we played Bangtan High, but in sections, we might play a team from Anyang.”

“Oh,” you hummed, the pieces starting to come together. 

“You don’t play much sports, do you?” Jihoon found himself chuckling. 

You shook your head. 

Give her a chance. 

Soonyoung’s voice echoed in the back of his mind again. An idea started to form in Jihoon’s mind. You were making an effort to talk to Jihoon, perhaps not as friends, but . . . acquaintances – and perhaps this was a good chance for Soonyoung. Admittedly, Jihoon did feel bad for preventing him from being friends with people he wanted to be friends with. 

“You should come to one of my baseball games,” Jihoon suddenly offered. 

Heat traveled up your back and colored the tips of your ears. You felt warmth spread across your cheeks, immediately, tearing your gaze away from Jihoon. You thought he hated you; now, he was suddenly offering you to come to one of his games? 

He didn’t seem to notice, however, his mind still lingering on Soonyoung. 

“You should come,” Jihoon repeated himself, “The next one’s on Tuesday – I can get you a ticket. First experience on me.”

Jihoon turned to you, the corner of his lips twitching up ever so slightly. 

Jihoon was smiling at you. 

Lee Jihoon, your unintentional rival, your arch nemesis, was smiling. At. You.

When his single dimple on his left cheek peeked through, it sent your heart in a flutter. 

What the actual fuck was happening. 

. . . .

Soonyoung was ecstatic to see you. 

He was nearly bouncing off the walls of the dugout when he saw you in your bright blue t-shirt, sitting in the front stands. Typically, the boys weren’t allowed to leave the dugout before the game started, but a few members have already stalked off to the audience to greet their significant others. Since it was your first game and Soonyoung would not stop gushing about your presence, Jihoon decided to go greet you, indeed raising a few eyebrows. 

“Hey,” Jihoon called, catching your attention. He raised a hand to wave at you, Soonyoung trailing not too far behind. “You made it.”

You got up from your spot on the bleachers to meet him at the fence. With a nervous chuckle, you replied, “I did – didn’t want a free ticket to go to waste.”

“Where’s Haeyoung?” Jihoon asked. Typically, you took the doll on Mondays and Tuesdays. 

“I handed her off to Wonwoo,” you told him, “We traded days – figured a baseball game wasn’t quite the place for an infant.”

“Plastic infant,” Jihoon corrected. 

Surprisingly, a soft chortle escaped your lips. Prior, these kinds of comments annoyed you whenever Jihoon referred to Haeyoung as fake. 

“Hi Y/N!” Soonyoung interrupted. 

You turned to the excited and lanky boy. You smiled, “Soonyoung, right?”

“You remember!” the said man exclaimed. 

“Long time, no see,” you greeted him, “How have you been? You play?”

“I do,” Soonyoung replied, “And I’ve been doing pretty good.” He eyed Jihoon for a moment. “I heard you and Jihoon are working on a project together – I hope he’s not giving you too hard of a time.”

“Hey!” Jihoon protested. 

Your smile transformed into a grin as your gaze traveled down to your shoes. “He’s . . . quite alright actually.” You nodded. “He does his part.”

“I’m glad,” Soonyoung smiled. He stared at you a while longer. Though you didn’t seem to notice, Jihoon could’ve sworn there were stars shining in his eyes. 

“This is . . . my first baseball game,” you told the both of them shyly. 

“Oh?” Soonyoung replied in surprise. “Jihoon didn’t tell me that.”

Said boy grit his teeth and elbowed his friend in the ribs. “I . . . got her the ticket.”

“Oh?” Soonyoung said a little louder this time, surprise lacing his voice.  

“He did,” you confirmed nervously. You gripped the canvas strap of your satchel. 

“Boys!” their coach called. Jihoon looked back to see him gesturing for the ones at the stands to return. 

“Well,” Soonyoung shrugged, “Enjoy the game, Y/N – I’ll . . . see you later?”

Jihoon tugged at his elbow, carefully watching your reaction. Eyes wide, you blinked twice, a look of surprise gracing your face. He wasn’t sure if it was just the sun or if you were blushing at Soonyoung’s request.

“Uh . . . yeah,” you replied softly, “See you later.”

Soonyoung’s face immediately lit up, his lips curling into a pleased smile – the kind that caused his eyes to disappear. Jihoon and him jogged back to the dugout, though it was only Soonyoung who excitedly waved back at you. 

. . . .

“It’s a homerun! Kim Mingyu saved Sebong High with a winning homerun in the last minute!” the sports announcer exclaimed. The crowd around you erupted into a loud cheer as the ball soared out of the field. Boys dressed in white and blue streamed out of the dugout onto the fields, hugging the tall batter.

Never been at a baseball game before, you assumed it was a good thing. Awkwardly, you got up from your spot in the front and joined the crowd in standing, though you weren’t cheering – you weren’t the type to celebrate loudly.  Your eyes flickered at your classmates and a few parents hugging one another and jumping up and down, hard enough you could feel the vibrations through the metal bleachers. You were so lost, you failed to notice the enthusiastic player running in your direction. 

“Kwon Soonyoung!” you heard some girls nearby squeal. They rushed to the fence, grabbing on tightly to the black railing, waving at him. 

He didn’t pay any mind to them, however – his eyes were trained on you. 

“Y/N! Y/N! Hey!” he called, jumping up and down. The girls threw you a dirty look as you carefully made your down closer to him. 

“Congratulations,” you greeted him. 

“We won! We won!” he cried cheerfully. 

You let out a hearty laugh at his child-like excitement and nodded. 

When he calmed down, he smiled shyly and let out a sigh of relief. He took off his cap and placed it back on his head so it was backwards. “Hey, if you aren’t busy,” he looked back at the team, now throwing Mingyu up in the air, “We’re going out to pizza after if you want to join.”

The smile on your face fell. 

“Only if you’re comfortable though,” Sooyoung added, noticing your nervous expression. 

“I . . . uh, that’s sweet, Soonyoung, but I wouldn’t want to intrude,” you replied softly. 

“You won’t be!” Soonyoung protested, “The team members bring their significant others all the time.”

Your cheeks grew aflame immediately. 

“Not that we’re dating or I’m interested in you in that way or – err, I mean!” Soonyoung ran a frustrated hand over his face, “Uh . . . I mean, I am, but also . . . I just want to . . . it’s your first game and I wanted to invite you along – as a friend.”

“I . . . are you sure?” was all you could croak out at this time. 

“Yeah,” Soonyoung replied in a small voice. He pointed at a black-haired beauty in the crowd. “Jeonghan is Seungcheol’s friend and he tags along all the time – albeit, I’m not sure if it’s because he actually wants to hang out or he just wants free food.”

Being the weirdo who skipped a grade, you never quite fit in anywhere. You hardly had any friends your age because you didn’t have classes with them. The older kids you did have class with didn’t quite welcome you either. It was the first time anyone from school was asking you to hangout for fun and you did take the evening off from work to come to this – and Soonyoung mentioned free food?

“Please?” Soonyoung begged. “It’ll be fun.”

With your hands clasped in front of you, you sucked in a sharp breath and nodded. “Sure,” a nervous chortle escaped your lips, “Why not?”

. . . .

And that was how you found yourself wedged in between Jihoon and Soonyoung in a tight booth at the local pizza parlor. Nibbling on the tip of a slice of sausage pizza and your cheeks puffed and full, you while carefully the rest of the baseball team run loose. The boy that Soonyoung had pointed out to you earlier, Jeonghan, had challenged Mingyu to a pizza eating contest, the two disgustingly stuffing their faces. Seungcheol, the team captain, sat at the edge of the booth opposite to you, watching the two with an uncomfortable expression on his face – somewhere between a grimace and a grin. In the booth behind you, you could hear the younger members of the team, Chan and Seungkwan, bickering about whether or not frozen yogurt was the same thing as ice cream. 

“Sorry,” Jihoon grumbled next to you.

You gulped down the remnants of pizza in your mouth. “It’s fine.”

He slumped over, resting his head on his hands. “They’re . . . usually this loud. You get used to it.”

“Yeah?” you asked, dabbing the corner of your lips with a napkin. 

“But . . . it’s kind of fun, you know? To watch,” Jihoon continued to explain. “Are . . . you doing okay?”

You nodded while taking a sip of your Coke. Shyly, you tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear. Jihoon ignored the way his heart skipped a beat at the small gesture. “I’ve never been out like this before,” you admitted in a small voice. 

“Huh?” Jihoon got up from his position on the table, supporting his chin with his fist. 

“Yeah,” you drew your bottom lip in between your teeth. “I don’t really . . . ‘hang out’ with people from school.”

“Oh,” Jihoon frowned. “That sounds a little lonely.”

You shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal. “You get used to it.”

“What do you like to do for fun then?” Jihoon inquired further.

You opened your mouth as if you were going to say something, but then closed it right away again. Peering down your half-eaten pizza, you curled your shoulders forward and trapped your hands in between your thighs, and muttered, “I don’t really do much outside of school and work to be honest.”

Jihoon remained silent for a moment. Before he could register the words that were coming out of his mouth, he asked, “You wanna watch a movie with Soonyoung and me this weekend?”

. . . .

For the next few weeks, you find yourself spending more time with Jihoon outside of your group project – the movie was just one of many hangouts to come. Typically, you spent your lunch hour by yourself, doing work in the library rather than in the crowded cafeteria with the few acquaintances you knew. It was quieter and it gave you a little extra time to study. It was also less claustrophobic, giving you more room to breathe and be comfortable, not always on guard. Before you knew it, however, according to Jihoon at least, upon Soonyoung’s insistence, the pair of friends started joining you in the library for lunch. It was certainly weird at first because you weren’t used to someone talking to you so much, but you grew accustomed to their company. Listening to Soonyoung babble was fun and admittedly, his banter with Jihoon every now and then was entertaining. Through these talks, you found out Soonyoung lived only a block away from you, and Jihoon a few blocks away from Soonyoung. You never thought you would be one of those girls, but you found yourself bathing underneath the spring afternoon sun on the white bleachers at the baseball field, waiting for them to finish practice to walk home together. Indeed, the many admirers who came to watch them regularly eyed you curiously, but you pretended not to mind, opting to read your textbooks or work on the calculus homework instead, while they did their thing. Truthfully, you still didn’t quite understand the game despite the number of times Jihoon tried to explain it to you. 

Sitting in the library in the early morning, earbuds plugged into your MP3 (yes, you still had one of those), trying (key word, trying), to revise your final paper for your modern literature class, you wondered how the last few weeks of high school came down to this: Hanging out with your high school rival and his best friend. At this point, were the three of you acquaintances? Friends? Gripping the red pen in your hand, you shook your head of such thoughts, reminding yourself to focus on the missing commas in the paper in your hands. Suddenly, sweet guitar strings started playing through your earbuds, Justin Bieber’s voice coming through, “One touch and you got me stoned, higher than I’ve known . . .” 

You smiled softly to yourself, biting the inside of your cheek at the sound of the song. It was yet another change you weren’t expecting: You actually liked Justin Bieber’s music now because of Jihoon. Had it been just a month from now, you would’ve rather eaten bricks than listen to his music. The memories of the walk home when Jihoon introduced you to the artist trickled into your mind. 

“What do you mean you don’t like Justin Bieber?!” Jihoon exclaimed. Immediately, his hand already flew to his back pocket, searching for his phone. 

“Here he goes again,” Soonyoung chuckled. 

“C’mon,” you rolled your eyes, “The last time I listened to him, the lyrics of Baby weren’t that deep.”

“He’s evolved – grown,” Jihoon defended childishly. His eyes were glued to his phone, scrolling through his Dotify playlist. “And admit, as terrible as the lyrics were, Baby was legendary.”

“He’s a big fan,” Soonyoung leaned over and whispered. You nodded in acknowledgement. 

Jihoon paused in his stride and unzipped a side pocket of his bag, digging for his earbuds. Pulling out a tangle of white wires, he ran his hand through a loop and straightened it, plugging one end into the audio port of his phone. Placing one bud in his ear, he offered you the other side. 

“Here,” Jihoon insisted. 

“I don’t think you’re gonna–”

“Just listen!” he protested, already trying to shove the piece in your ear. 

“Okay! Okay!” you giggled. You adjusted it and crossed your arms, waiting for him to hit play. 

The look on your face was priceless. You winced back in surprise, the devilish grin wiped off your face. You had stopped walking altogether, Jihoon and Soonyoung watching you curiously. 

“It’s good, isn’t it?” Jihoon sniggered. 

You nodded slowly. “He’s definitely . . . grown since Baby.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “Admit it! It’s good!”

You shrugged and handed the earbud back to Jihoon. “It’s not what I expected from Justin Bieber, but yeah –”

“Sucker!” Jihoon screeched gleefully. 

The memory was interrupted with the loud plop of a plastic cup in front of you. Green liquid filled the clear container, condensation forming droplets on the outside,  the clinking of ice sloshing against one another seeping through your headphones. You looked up to see Jihoon waving at you. 

“Ice green tea latte with oatmilk because you’re lactose intolerant – just like you like it,” Jihoon announced when you pulled out your earpiece. 

Hesitantly, you reached for the cold drink and brought the straw to your lips. You peered up at him through your lashes. “T-thanks.”

He pulled out the wooden chair across from you and collapsed into it with a loud groan. “You’re welcome. I figured you might need it,” he pointed at the paper, “You said you were still working on the paper when I texted you last night at 11.”

The heat that creeped up your spine came faster than you could register. Had it been anyone else, you might have not thought much of it, but this was coming from Jihoon. He remembered you were working on your paper, remembered your drink of choice, and bought it for you knowing you would be tired. It was Jihoon. You shouldn’t be this flustered. 

“Thanks,” was all you could muster to say again. 

Jihoon nodded and reached for your MP3. Eyes wide, you lunged for it, but he snatched it before you could get to it. A smirk spread across his lips. 

“Justin Bieber, I see?” he teased. 

“Shut up,” you mumbled, ripping the device out of his hands. 

“I’m culturing you, Y/N,” he sang. 

“It’s one good song,” you retorted, “Does not mean I like Justin Bieber as a person.”

“Didn’t ask you to,” Jihoon shrugged, “He just has nice music.”

“You just like sad boy music,” you shot back. 

��And if I do?”

“What are you doing here, Jihoon?” you asked, starting to get annoyed by his presence. 

“Oh right,” Jihoon sat up in his chair, “Soonyoung was wondering if you wanted to come to the baseball game on Friday.”

“Oh?” you perked up, setting your drink on the table, “I was planning on it anyhow.”

Jihoon held up his finger. He ignored the nagging voice at the back of his head telling him to do something different than Soonyoung asked. “It’s the last game before sections.”

“Sections . . . playing other cities?”

Jihoon nodded. “Which means it’s an important game.”

“Okay,” you dragged out the last syllable, not sure what he was getting at. 

The boy shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It’s tradition to ask someone special to wear their jersey to the last game.”

Your mouth fell agape slightly, the heat returning to your face. 

“Soonyoung,” Jihoon continued slowly, carefully observing your reaction, “S-soonyoung wants you to wear his jersey.”

When you awkwardly agreed, Jihoon couldn’t help the way his heart dropped to the pits of stomach. 

He was supposed to dislike you, not feel like this. 

. . . .

And that was how you found yourself standing at the front of the bleachers wearing Soonyoung’s jersey, his last name printed in large white block letters, ‘KWON’ and the number ‘05’, on the back. You tucked it into a pair of jean shorts, a matching blue cap covering your face upon your co-worker and friend, Sooyoung’s insistence. She had also tagged along for today’s game. 

“You look cute,” Sooyoung commented, holding onto the railing. 

You tugged at the front of the jersey. “Thank you.”

She linked arms with you. “Don’t be so nervous.”

You couldn’t help but be with all the fans staring holes into the back of your head sitting behind you. “I-I’m just . . . not used to this.”

“Soonyoung asked you to wear it for a reason,” she reassured you, “Wear it proudly.”

“Sooyoung,” you started slowly, “W-why did he ask me to wear it though? And . . . not Jihoon.”

A look of surprise crossed her face. “Wait –”

“Y/N!” Soonyoung’s cheerful voice cut off your friend. 

You both turned your attention to the tall boy running and waving your way, this time Jihoon trailing behind him. You and Sooyoung clambered down to the black railing. 

“Soonyoung,” greeted him softly. You gestured to your friend next to you, “This is my friend Sooyoung – she goes to a different high school, but wanted to tag along today.”

Sooyoung waved cheerfully at the pair of friends who returned the gesture. Soonyoung let out a small chuckle. “Wah, our names are almost the same – different by one letter.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Jihoon snorted. 

Sooyoung frowned at the shorter boy. 

Nevertheless, A satisfied smile graced Soonyoung’s face. “You look nice.” He was looking at you.

“Thank you for letting me wear your jersey,” you told him. Your eyes flickered momentarily to Jihoon who was standing silently behind Soonyoung. He paid no mind to you whatsoever, looking off in the distance, perhaps at the score sign. 

“Thank you for wearing it,” Soonyoung replied. “To be honest? I was kind of worried you wouldn’t.”

You knitted your brows together. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Soonyoung let out a nervous chortle and looked away. “Y/N . . .”

“Let’s go back,” Jihoon grumbled, tugging at Soonyoung’s arm. The latter frowned, but Jihoon returned it with a stern look. “Focus on the game, Kwon.”

Soonyoung turned back to you momentarily. “I’ll see you – y-you guys after the game?”

You nodded. 

“Win or lose, pizzas on us,” Soonyoung smiled. 

“Good luck,” you told them, though Jihoon didn’t seem to acknowledge you. 

When they stalked off, your friend turned to you, her eyes wide as if she was about to explode. 

“What?” you asked dumbly. 

“You seriously don’t know why he asked you to wear his jersey?” Sooyoung deadpanned. 

You shook your head slowly. 

Sooyoung collapsed into your side, burying her face into your chest. “Oh you, sweet summer’s child.”

. . . .

It had been a week since the baseball game and a week before graduation. 

Since then, Jihoon has been extra bitter around you. He was curt and short with answers. When you asked him to study together for other classes, he was quick to turn you down, explaining that he had to practice even more for sections. You had chalked it up to him just being stressed with baseball and the end of the year coming up, but you couldn’t help but he was avoiding you. Thus, you did what any rational, young adult would do: you confronted him. 

Jihoon had invited you and Wonwoo over to finish up the reflection for FACS class. Wonwoo had curfew and headed home early. He had left Haeyoung behind with the two of you since it was Jihoon’s to take the doll anyhow. Seated at his desk, Jihoon was bent over his phone tapping away at a game of SUPERSTAR Pledis. 

“Hey,” you called, pushing yourself from your lying position on his bed. 

Jihoon let out a nonchalant hum. 

“Are you . . . mad at me?” you asked. 

Jihoon paused his game and let out a scoff. He spun around in his desk chair, irritated. “Not everything’s about you, Y/N.”

You frowned. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not mad at you,” Jihoon continued with a roll of his eyes, “Why would I be?”

You shrugged. “You’ve just . . . been kind of distant.”

“Maybe because I have other things to do that don’t involve you?” 

That’s when the mechanical cry of Haeyoung started to sound. 

“Look what you did,” Jihoon grumbled. Using the toe of his sock-covered foot, he reached over and began rocking the car seat. 

You couldn’t give a damn about the doll at this moment, absolutely taken aback by Jihoon’s rudeness. “That was uncalled for . . . Look, I don’t know what happened or what I did, but if you could just, I don’t know, be mature, and tell me, maybe we can talk it out and work it out? You’ve been upset since the baseball game and I’m just trying to understand why. I thought maybe it was the end of the year coming up, but that clearly doesn’t seem to be the case.”

Despite the doll’s cries, Jihoon stopped rocking the car seat and turned to you. “Mature? I’m older than you, Y/N. What do you even know about me?”

“Does that matter when you’re acting like a child?” you exclaimed. 

“Do you always have to be better than me?” Jihoon exploded. He stood up from his chair, unable to contain his discontent anymore. Truthfully, he knew you were right about him being cold towards you, but it had nothing to do with you and everything to do with him. 

He didn’t realize it then, but the more he dwelled on it, Jihoon was jealous. And what made it worse was that he wasn’t just jealous of you this time, but he was jealous of his best friend, Soonyoung, when that should’ve never been the case. As much as he wanted to deny it, Jihoon had feelings for you and he was sure Soonyoung did too – he wouldn’t have just thoughtlessly asked you to wear his jersey at the last game. It was a tradition reserved for couples, or couples who were to be. Unlike Soonyoung, Jihoon didn’t have the guts to ask you to wear his jersey, and when he finally did, it was already too late. He was always like this: one step behind in everything he wanted, you included. 

“Y/N wins this, Y/N got the highest score that,” Jihoon mocked, continuing out of fury, “You’re so irritating, you know that? Ever since you joined our class, you know how annoying it has been trying to compete with you? I tried to keep my distance, but you slowly started seeping into my life with this project – fuck, even my best friend is whipped about youn now. What’s so great about you, anyways?”

You shrank back in his bed as each and every word pierced you. You had thought just maybe high school wouldn’t end so terribly after all. These past few weeks with Jihoon and Soonyoung were fun. Even if it was fleeting, for once, you had friends: People who get you and enjoy your company. But alas, you were wrong; everyone was the same. Like you feared, you got too attached to what was a façade, trusted too much, and got hurt. 

“Do you really think I enjoy being in this . . . this made-up competition with you?” you started. Standing in the middle of his room, you clenched and unclenched your fist, boring holes into Jihoon’s forehead as he leaned awkwardly against his wooden desk with his arms crossed over his chest, one hand clutching the elbow. His narrow eyes watched you carefully, his expression was blank and unreadable, as it always has been. 

Only then did Jihoon finally notice that Haeyoung had finally quieted. It was quite ironic. The silence was all the two of you desired after hours of the stupid doll child crying, yet it made the air thick and suffocating.   There was no hint of relief or relaxation like he had imagined - the tension was like a rubber band pulled taught on the verge of snapping to its separate ends. All the words he wanted to tell you at the tip of his tongue had evaporated into thin air. He didn’t have to be told to know he really went too far this time. 

Your lips crumpled into a bunch, your chin wrinkling in the process. Jihoon was truly frustrating. A man of few words, holder of the best poker face you’ve seen, he hid his heart hidden in the depths of school uniform. You tried to be understanding - not everyone was as honest about their feelings as you. It didn’t mean he made you any less upset, however. All you wanted was him to communicate with you clearly. You just wanted one word from him. You just wanted him to answer your question. One minute his actions were pulling at your heartstrings, the next he was throwing you under the bus to be rolled over. Perhaps you didn’t know him as well as he had led on. 

One flutter of your lashes and the first tear escaped your lower lid and rolled down your cheek. You let out a small cough to hide the whimper in your throat. You’ve had enough. You couldn’t do this anymore.  

“I’m done, Jihoon,” you relented, your voice barely above a whisper. “When this assignment is over tomorrow and after we graduate this weekend,” you sucked in a sharp breath, “I hope we never meet again.”

Jihoon had half-expected you to storm out of his room in a dramatic fashion. Instead, you silently dug into your bookbag and fished out a clear plastic case covered in blue and pink stickers, ‘Jihoon’s Sad Boy Mixtape’ written in bold black marker across the front. His heart sank as you dropped the cassette onto his navy blue sheets and turned your back to him.

Your hand rested on the cool stainless steel door. You pulled it open a crack before you paused. You knew it was unrealistic, but you had a sliver of hope he would come after you. Yet Jihoon stayed put by his desk. Alas, it was only a moment for the films. 

“Goodbye, Jihoon,” you said. 

The shake in your voice was the last straw for him, but Jihoon was too late. As he lunged after you, hand outreached, you stepped out of his room. He could hear your footsteps rushing down the hall, then slapping down the stairs of his home. 

Jihoon was always one step behind you. 

Today, he was one hundred steps behind. 

. . . .

Graduation was anything but fun. 

Standing out in the overgrown grass of the football field, the blades tinkling their ankles, with the sun beating down on them in their black gowns absorbing every ounce of heat – it was unbearable. Yet, for Jihoon, it was worse with you sitting next to him throughout the whole ceremony, not a single word falling from your lips. Your expression was unreadable: From the principal’s introduction to the class president’s fruity speech to tossing your caps in the air. At the end of it all, you silently left in search of your brother while all your classmates cheered and hugged. 

Jihoon knew better than to chase after you today, but he did anyway. He wanted to make things right – he couldn’t bear the thought of you having a grudge against him moving into the next chapter of your lives. His hand wrapped tightly around your wrist just as you neared the parking lot, Jihoon jerked your back. 

“Hey,” he greeted you. 

Your gaze only hardened, though you didn’t fight back. 

“C-can we talk?” Jihoon asked.  

“I can’t imagine what you have to say to me, Jihoon,” you said coldly. 

He didn’t either. He didn’t prepare for this, but here he was. 

“I’m . . . sorry,” Jihoon muttered. His eyes dropped to the asphalt burning under his leather shoes. “I shouldn’t have said all those horrible things to you – y-you’re . . . my friend, b-but . . .” He let out a frustrated sigh, unable to say what was on the tip of his tongue.

I like you.

It wouldn't make sense to tell you - at least not now after he told you you were annoying.

Your heart sank. As much as you wanted to forgive him then and there, your desire to save yourself from the pain of disappointment was greater. You cleared your throat and pulled your hand from his grasp. Jihoon peered up at you, melancholy clouding his eyes. 

“Congratulations, Jihoon,” you said, you pressed your lips into a tightline and looked away briefly. You saw Sooyoung and your older brother searching for you in the distance. “Good luck in college – I’m sure you’ll do great.”

Those were your last words before you walked out of Jihoon’s life. 

. . . .

Or so he thought. 

College was never a topic that either of you discussed, choosing to talk about lighter things from complaining about your math teacher to the kind of music you liked to listen to. Jihoon did not expect to see you here in the flesh, standing in front of the university student union, let alone holding hands with Wonwoo. 

“W-what are you guys doing here?” Jihoon stuttered, unable to keep his eyes off your intertwined fingers. He noticed the way you adjusted your hand to hold Wonwoo tighter. When did this happen? You and Wonwoo didn't even seem close when you did the project together. Were you friends with benefits? Dating? For how long? So many questions ran through Jihoon's mind.

“Jihoon - hey,” Wonwoo started. He tucked his free hand into the pockets of his jeans. Briefly, Wonwoo’s eyes flickered to you as if to silently ask if you were doing okay. “You go here too?”

Jihoon nodded, his eyes traveling up to your face. Though, you refused to meet his gaze, opting to stare at the pavement instead. “I do . . . uh, aerospace engineering major . . .”

Wonwoo’s eyes widened in surprise. He pointed at you. “Y/N is too.”

You already knew. You just decided to keep your distance, in hopes you could go through college without having to interact with him. That would not be the case as fate would have it. 

“Hi,” Jihoon raised his hand slowly to greet you. The corner of his lips twitched up into an awkward smile – that damned dimple on his left cheek that made your heart flutter all those months ago made an appearance, still sending your heart surging through your chest. “It’s been a while.”

Instinctively, you inched closer to Wonwoo before replying to him. “Yeah – long time, no see.”

Silence, then a beat. 

Wonwoo cleared his throat. “Uh, well, we’ll see you around then, Jihoon? We have a class soon.”

“Course,” Jihoon replied softly. Wonwoo waved 'goodbye,' while you quickly jogged to his side. A pang shot through his chest as he let out a heavy sigh.

“See you around . . . Y/N.”

[junhuistotoroonesie]

Jeonghan’s Guide to Insurance Fraud (And Falling in Love)

reader x jeonghan

summary: your best friend offers a way for you to get your wisdom teeth removed without going into debt. the only catch? you can’t fall in love

genre: fluff, angst, non-idol au, elementary school teacher!jeonghan, f2L, fake relationship

warnings: swearing (jihoon needs soap), one suggestive joke?, mentions of insecurities??? (is that a warning)

wc: 11.2k

a/n: this story (probably obviously) is based on the fact that i have aged out of my parents dental and i still have my wisdom teeth and this gives me anxiety - if you live somewhere with actually decent healthcare what’s it like 😭 (we can call this 100 follower special sure yeah uh huh)

“Marry me.” 

You eyed Jeonghan from across the couch. Having been friends with him since childhood, you knew what it looked like when he was going to say something completely insane. The corners of his mouth would turn up (as if even he knew how ridiculous what he was saying was), his eyes would glint with mischief, and when he was really messing with you, he’d sit back and fold his arms. 

The thing was, he wasn’t doing any of that now. 

It’s only because you knew him so well that you realized he was actually nervous, blinking just a little bit more than usual and popping his knuckles. 

“You’re serious?” You finally said. 

He shrugged, feigning nonchalance as he leaned back against the arm of the couch. “It’s a solution.” 

“It’s marriage, Jeonghan,” you said. “It’s not something you do on a whim.” 

“It’s not a whim,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I thought it through. You’d be able to get your teeth out without going into debt.” He poked your left cheek, almost to your jaw, as if he could reach your teeth. 

“But marriage? That’s like—a whole commitment and everything,” you sputtered. “You don’t just marry someone for insurance!” 

He shrugged. “Why not? It’s half the reason I took this job and my wisdom teeth have already been taken out. I need to make full use of it!” He knocked his knee against yours. “We’ll get divorced as soon as your teeth are fine. Don’t you want to do something fun and stupid?” 

“Fun and stupid is for people that didn’t lose their parents’ dental insurance,” you said with a sigh that even you knew was dramatic. 

“And this is a solution to that!” Jeonghan paused. “You really won’t even consider it?” 

You turned to him, seeing how earnest he was. For whatever reason, he really believed in this. “Why? What does this do for you?” 

“Contrary to what you and Seokmin think, not everything I do is give and take,” Jeonghan said. He placed a hand on your wrist, warm and familiar. “Yn, you are my best friend, and I want to help. I can help, I have a legitimate solution. If you want.” 

For the first time, you actually contemplated it. Fake marrying Jeonghan wouldn’t change anything. He’d still be the idiot you met in elementary school that somehow convinced you for an entire year that humans came from Mars, and who had talked you into joining the Shakespeare Club in high school before abandoning you to join the soccer team. And he’d still be the first person you’d called when your first boyfriend had broken up with you and you needed a shoulder to cry on, the person who kept you up all night so you could write your final paper last minute your senior year, the first person you hugged when you finally graduated college. 

“I’m not marrying anyone that doesn’t ask properly,” you said, not quite able to hide your smile. It was quickly wiped away when he slid off the couch, kneeling in front of you and scooping your hands into his. He looked up at you without a hint of a lie, his smile hesitant and nervous. 

“Yn, my love.” He paused for dramatic effect. It wasn’t the first time he’d called you ‘my love,’ but it was different when he was immersed in the act of a man in love, making your heart skip a beat. “Would you please consider marrying me?” 

You were tempted to say yes right away, your heart beating much louder than it should have considering it was just Jeonghan and not an actual proposal. You opened your mouth to answer, but the door flew open and Mingyu walked in. You whirled around to see him, Jeonghan’s hands still wrapped around yours. 

Jeonghan’s roommate clearly had walked in without looking, now frozen with his bag hanging in his hands and one shoe half off. “I can come back.” 

“No need!” You said, as he tried unsuccessfully to wiggle his foot back into his shoe. “Jeonghan was just proposing.” 

“Oh, is that all,” Mingyu said. You were tempted to keep the joke going but you were a little worried at Mingyu’s frown, a mixture of shock and concern. 

“He’s just trying to marry me so that I can get my wisdom teeth out,” you said. “It’s just insurance fraud.” 

“Oh, is that all,” Mingyu repeated, sounding rather disappointed. He finally shut the door behind him, tossing his bag into a corner and taking his shoes fully off. “Don’t let me interrupt.” You watched him cross the room, barely glancing at you and Jeonghan, and disappear into his room. 

Jeonghan squeezed your hands to get your attention again. “So? How about it?” 

You smiled. “Sure. On one condition.” 

.

.

You would have had a lot more fun if the waiter wasn’t still staring at you. It was starting to get uncomfortable. Since you sat down, you hadn’t felt him look away, his eyes burning into you throughout the entire meal. 

You wondered if Jeonghan even noticed, sitting across from you and frowning at the menu. You tapped his foot under the table and he finally looked up and smiled at the man. 

“Are you ready for dessert?” The waiter took his eyes off of you and you finally felt like you could breathe again. Some of it was your own fault. As Jeonghan ordered, you decided that it had been your idea and you couldn’t really be mad at him for being oblivious to your discomfort. It wasn’t like you were actually on a date. 

“Anything else?” The waiter turned back to you and you tried your best not to squirm under his gaze. It felt like he was trying to undress you with his eyes. You wished you had worn a jacket and less form-fitting clothes. 

Jeonghan reached across the table and squeezed your hand, making the waiter shift his eyes away from you for a moment. You glanced at your fake date and he smiled. 

“We’re good, thank you,” you said, not taking your eyes off Jeonghan. You waited until you heard his footsteps leading away before you sighed in relief, letting go of Jeonghan’s hand. 

“What is up with that guy?” You muttered. 

“We’re almost out of here,” Jeonghan said. “We can bail if you want, though.” 

You shook your head. “I want to see the look on his face when we walk out of here.” 

Jeonghan laughed. That was why you were best friends. You understood the little voice in his head that whispered about petty comebacks so well because it sounded a lot like yours. 

“So,” he said louder. You realized he was starting, fixing any stray hairs that had wandered into your face and sitting up a little straighter. “We’ve been together for a long time.” You nodded, smiling and finding it easy to pretend to hang on to every word as if you were in love. “Yn, you have been by my side through the most important parts of my life. I can’t imagine my future without you in it. Even before we were dating, I always knew it was going to be me and you.” 

He paused, stepping out of his chair to kneel on the hard tile floor, reaching into his suit jacket and pulling out a box. He opened it, revealing the simple gold band you had picked out together. With his free hand, he found yours, squeezing your fingers gently. 

“Yn, will you please marry me?” 

Your hand flew to your mouth, as you stood up, sputtering his name, trying to pretend like a flustered date, buying time so you could blink out the real tears in your eyes. Teaching those children was making him too good of a liar. 

“Yes,” you finally said. “Of course yes.” His smile was so big as he slid the ring onto your finger that you knew you had the entire restaurant fooled, maybe even yourself. There was applause when he pulled you into a hug, and you wondered if you were supposed to be this excited about a fake marriage. 

You caught a glimpse of a uniform out of the corner of your eye and had a terrible idea. You pulled away until your face was only inches away from his, playing with the lapels of his suit jacket while his hands came to rest at your waist as if this were natural. 

“You wanna kiss?” You asked softly. You were, perhaps, a little too entertained by how wide his eyes got, his hands suddenly tight. “It’ll be funny,” you said, leaning a little bit closer. “And I think it’ll look really weird if we don’t do it now because it really looks like we’re about to kiss.” 

He stared at you, glancing at your lips then back to your eyes. You realized that this was the closest you’d ever been to him, in all your years of friendship. Your breath hitched as he leaned forward, and you closed your eyes. 

Just when you were beginning to think he chickened out, you felt his lips on yours, a gentle and chaste kiss that was supposed to end in a heartbeat. Your hands curled into the fabric of his jacket as you leaned closer, chasing him before he could pull away. For a moment, he didn’t react. Then he was kissing you back and you forgot what you were supposed to be worried about.

You were both breathing heavily when he finally pulled away. You felt a little light headed, grateful he didn’t let go of your waist as you tried to remember why you had been kissing your best friend, and why it felt so good. 

“I can’t wait to marry you,” he said, reaching a hand up to brush some hair out of your face. Right. Marriage. Fake marriage. You finally pushed out of his arms, sitting back in your seat, though you kept your dazed smile. 

“Congratulations,” the older couple sitting at the table next to you said. “You two make a lovely young couple.” 

“Thank you,” you said. 

“Take it from someone who’s been married for fifty-one years,” the man said, “the only right way to do marriage is to find someone that loves you and hold on to them.” 

You smiled at them, feeling a little guilty that you weren’t really getting married. You did love Jeonghan, though not in the sense that he meant. 

“It’s been fifty two years, dear.” 

The man frowned. “No, I counted this morning.” 

“Well, you counted wrong.” 

You turned back to Jeonghan as they continued to bicker, raising your eyebrows. He smiled, picking up your left hand that now bore the “engagement” ring, running his thumb over your fingers. The kiss was messing with your head, that was why your heart was pounding at such a simple movement. 

You sat in idle silence as Jeonghan laced your fingers together and you both eavesdropped on the fighting couple next to you. For a couple moments, it was nice, and you let yourself pretend you really were engaged. You wondered what it would be like to be so certain in your love that you would commit to every day with them. Maybe you were just young, but you couldn’t imagine the strength of that love. Except maybe you could, because you knew for a fact that your future held Jeonghan. And Seokmin, and Seungcheol, and Mingyu, and all of your friends. They were fixtures in your life even if it was a different kind of love. 

Jeonghan tapped your hand, bringing you out of your daydream. “Free dessert incoming.” You turned around and saw a waiter, not the one who had been staring at you, carrying a large slice of cake with a candle in it. 

“Congratulations!” He said, setting it on the table. “Please enjoy your dessert complimentary as a sign of our hope your love will be everlasting!” His enthusiasm was fake but the free dessert was all you cared about anyways, the entire reason you had Jeonghan propose a second time. 

You cut into the cake, excited to see if it really was as good as the reviews said. The fork was halfway to your mouth before you paused, smiling at Jeonghan. He seemed to know exactly what you were thinking, rolling his eyes but opening his mouth. You leaned over the table, delivering the cake directly into his mouth. You tried not to think about his lips as you pulled the fork back, remembering how they felt against yours. 

You quickly cut your own piece, focusing on the sweet chocolate. It really was delicious, definitely worth the fake engagement. You savored each bite, not daring to look at Jeonghan for fear of your thoughts betraying you again. 

The cake was finished quickly, leaving you full and suddenly nervous with nothing to look at other than Jeonghan. Since when did he make you nervous? 

Because you weren’t looking at him, you didn’t notice him lean forward, and nearly jumped when his fingers brushed against your chin, thumb rubbing against the corner of your lips. 

“You had some chocolate on your face, idiot,” he said, dropping his hand and leaning back. It’s because you haven’t been on a date in a while, you decided. That’s why the simplest actions from Jeonghan were making your heart flutter. 

“Thanks,” you mumbled, trying to see if the waiter carrying a check was headed your way. 

You hoped the awkwardness would go away after a few minutes, but even after Jeonghan paid (and stared down the waiter) and you both walked to his car, you couldn’t think of anything to say to break the awkward tension. It was as if you had forgotten everything you had ever spoken about, your mind completely blank. 

You sat in the front seat of his car, tapping your fingers on the armrest and looking anywhere but at your best friend. You tried to remember the last time you had been with him and didn’t have anything to say. How did you normally act around him? Make fun of his driving? Tease him about…Well, usually about his lack of a love life but you were definitely not bringing that up now. 

You were relieved when his phone rang, saving you from spewing any of the awkward conversation starters you were coming up with. Jeonghan answered with his fancy steering wheel button, making you reminisce about the days when you would have to answer for him. Sometimes you missed his old car, as beat up and shitty as it was. 

“You bastard.” You grinned at Jihoon’s greeting. 

“Hi, Jihoon, my night is going great, how’s yours?” 

“Hi Jihoon!” You said so that he’d know you were there too. 

“How dare you fucking leave me?” Jihoon said. “You heartless, spineless, dickless, motherfucker.” 

Jeonghan laughed. “I see the dance went well.” You stifled your giggle. You’ve met Jeonghan’s work friends a couple times, though this is the first time you’ve experienced Jihoon’s full wrath (Jeonghan has told you many times how scary the man could be and you’ve seen firsthand that he has not skipped gym day in years). 

“I sent Joshua,” Jeonghan said. “It couldn’t have been that bad.” 

“Yeah that bastard is next, he switched too,” Jihoon said. “I had to chaperone with motherfucking Seungkwan.” 

“Oh come on, it couldn’t have been that bad,” Jeonghan says. “Seungkwan is nice.” 

“You better have a good goddamn excuse.” You could hear Jihoon’s glare. “Any second I wasn’t dealing with a kid crying bc they couldn’t get a goddamn muffin or pissed their pants I was listening to that fucking idiot gush about how cute the kids are. I haven’t had a second to hear my own fucking thoughts.” 

“Stop laughing!” You said. “Green light, dumbass!” Jeonghan wiped a couple tears from his eyes and stepped on the gas before the cars behind you honked. 

“Yn?” Jihoon seemed to finally realize you were there. 

“Yeah, I’m with Jeonghan, he’s driving,” you said. 

“Are you the reason that motherfucker ditched me tonight?” He asked. You wondered if it was safe to answer the question, but, catching a glimpse of the ring on your finger glinting under the passing streetlight, you realized you had a perfectly good reason. 

“Well, we did get engaged,” you said. 

Jihoon was silent. Jeonghan’s head whipped to you for a moment before turning back to the road. When you winked at him, it took him a moment to return a smile. 

“Took you long enough,” Jihoon finally said. 

“It’s not an actual engagement,” Jeonghan said, rolling his eyes at your groan. “Yn just wanted free dessert.” 

“You canceled on me because you scammed a restaurant?” Jihoon sounded pissed again. 

“We could have kept that going so much longer,” you muttered as Jihoon began to curse him out again. Jeonghan pulled into your driveway, leaving the engine on. 

“I’ll see you on Monday, Jihoon,” Jeonghan said. 

“Yeah, looking forward to it,” Jihoon said. You frowned as the call disconnected. 

“I think he might be planning your murder,” you said. 

Jeonghan laughed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll just call Joshua and make sure he’s there to witness it.” 

“I’m pretty sure it’ll just end up being a double homicide,” you said. “Is it weird that I’m a little scared of him?” 

“It’s a common reaction,” he said. “You get used to it, especially when you see him with the kids. He’s an entirely different person.” 

Just like you, you thought, barely catching yourself before you said it out loud. You saw Jeonghan exactly once at school, picking up a work paper he’d accidentally taken with him when he was grading at your dinner table, and immediately forgot to be mad because you got to spy on him teaching in front of a bunch of eight year olds who were actually listening to him. He might have been your best friend, but even you couldn’t deny the way he could make the entire class burst into giggles with just a wink was at least a tiny bit adorable. 

You looked at him now, dark hair getting so long it was falling over his eyes. As he reached a hand back to try (and fail) to tuck it behind his ear, you remembered how they pressed into your waist when you kissed. You pushed the horrible thoughts away, realizing you had been quiet for way too long. 

“I’ll go inside now,” you said, opening the door. You turned around as you got out, facing him. “Thank you for indulging me tonight.” 

His eyes flitted between the ring on your finger and back to your eyes. “You know I love free food just as much as you.” 

You laughed. “Thank you anyways.” You chewed on your lip for a moment before adding, “Seriously, thank you. I… I really don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

He blinked before smiling. “You’d probably let Soonyoung pull out the teeth with pliers.” 

“Oh my god, I totally would,” you said, covering your mouth. “You’re saving me from complete mutilation!” You both laughed, though it faded quickly and you found yourself lingering at the door. 

“Goodnight, yn,” Jeonghan said softly. 

You take a step back, returning his smile. “Goodnight, future husband.” You closed the door on him, though you didn’t miss how he rolled his eyes. 

He waited for you to get inside before he finally drove off, headlights flashing in the windows then disappearing as you watched him drive down the street. You stayed standing by the window for too long, staring at the street long after his car was gone. 

.

.

You found yourself in the front seat of his car again, clutching the piece of paper. It felt… flimsy. You turned to Jeonghan, who had been about to start the engine. 

“That was ridiculously easy, right?” 

He shrugged. You agreed to dress up today, and Jeonghan had decided to wear a suit which made it very hard for you to look at him and think properly but you were doing your best to ignore that. 

“It’s not like it’s a green card marriage,” he said, turning the key and starting the engine. “Plus we’ve been friends for so long I don’t think they’d be able to ask anything we couldn’t answer.” 

You sat back against the chair, still unsatisfied for some reason. A courthouse marriage wasn’t exactly romantic, but you reminded yourself this relationship wasn’t romantic. Still, you thought being married would feel different. 

“So, what do married people do?” You asked. 

“Seatbelt,” Jeonghan said, tapping your leg. You ignored the shivers that traveled down your spine. He turned back to the wheel, though he didn’t put the car into gear until your seatbelt clicked. “I don’t know, get groceries? Run errands?” 

“We do that all the time anyways,” you said, frowning. 

“You do remember that this is a fake marriage, right?” Jeonghan asked. 

You rolled your eyes. “Yes, I am well aware of that. I just thought that this might feel… I don’t know, different.” You held up the piece of paper. “Even if it isn’t actually real, this still legally links us together and that’s kind of monumental.” 

“Are you getting nostalgic on me already?” 

You stared out the window, watching the trees pass by. Maybe you were. You couldn’t help but remember when Jeonghan first got his license, six months before you could get yours. You spent so much time in the passenger seat of that rundown vehicle, seeing him nearly every day. 

You both had grown up. Well, Jeonghan had, with an actual adult job (complete with benefits!). You were still working a part time job and struggling to figure out what you wanted and spending every day terrified that you might never find out what that is. Sitting in his front seat, you wondered if you would ever know. 

“I don’t know,” you finally said. “I just want to do something fun today.” 

“Don’t tell me you want to scam another poor restaurant,” Jeonghan said. “We’ll never be able to go there again.” 

“I didn’t say anything like that!” You said. 

“Then what is something fun?” Jeonghan asked. It was a Monday and he had gone straight from work to the courthouse. You realized he was probably tired and wanted to go home and be done with the day. 

“Laying in bed and taking a nap?” 

“We’ve been married for like twenty minutes and you’re already trying to get me in bed?” Jeonghan whistled. “That’s low even for you.” 

You smacked his arm. “I literally said taking a nap.” 

“Well if you’re not going to suggest anything, then I will,” he said. You frowned at him, but it quickly turned into a grin when you heard his suggestion. 

An hour later you were wearing cheap plastic armor and held a phaser to your chest. You glared at Jeonghan from across the room. He raised his eyebrows and you knew he was saying, good luck with that. 

It had been a little concerning how quickly you and Jeonghan were able to round up friends for laser tag. It was always a struggle to find a date to meet up with everyone but a random Monday afternoon and a last minute invitation somehow managed to bring over half your friends together. 

On your team was Seungcheol, Jun, and Chan, while Jeonghan had Mingyu, Jihoon, and Soonyoung. A fair enough split, in your opinion (you learned years ago that as long as Jeonghan and Seungcheol weren't on the same team it was fair). Chan and Jihoon would both have to prove themselves, the only two invited that hadn’t been friends with you and Jeonghan since high school.  

The “safety instructor,” a kid that couldn’t be older than seventeen, finally finished explaining the rules and the group split up on opposite sides of the arena to begin the battle. 

“Okay, listen up,” Seungcheol said, rounding the group up. His competitiveness hadn’t changed since high school. “I’ll die before I lose to Mingyu and Jeonghan. Keep your eye out for them, Soonyoung is Soonyoung, we don’t have to worry about him, but Jihoon is a wildcard and I don’t trust him, he looks like he’s wielded a gun before.”

“Is it really this deep?” Chan asked you a little too loud. Seungcheol rounded on him. 

“Listen up kid,” he said, ignoring Chan’s protest that he was only a couple years younger. “This is about honor. Respect. This is war, and I’ll be damned if I lose.” 

“Did he watch Braveheart last night or something?” Jun whispered in your ear. You shrugged, adrenaline already pumping through your veins. It had been so long since you’ve gotten to do something fun. 

“Alright, yn and I should split up since we’re the only ones who have a chance at taking down Jeonghan, so Chan, you’re with me, Jun either stick to yn or find high ground.” 

Chan yelped as Seungcheol dragged him to the far entrance. “Why am I with you?” 

“I don’t trust you not to die,” Seungcheol said. 

“Dude, we met today,” Chan said. 

You glanced between Jun and the bickering boys. “Should I save him?” 

He shrugged. “He looks like he can handle it.” 

“You’re still mad that he finished the popcorn when I invited him to movie night.” 

“If he can handle Seungcheol’s wrath he can be invited again,” Jun said. “Otherwise I don’t trust your ‘work friend.’” 

“Oh my god, I can have friends other than you guys,” you said, pushing him to the middle entrance. “Go be a sniper, I don’t want to deal with your sulking more than I’ve already had to put up with.” 

Jun laughed, letting himself get pushed into position as you took the opposite side, already mapping out your plan of attack. From the little map they gave you, it hadn’t changed much since the last time you had been here, though it had been years. You smiled, remembering the last time you had dominated the competition. Jeonghan had been on your team that time, and there was a huge argument about whether that team was unfair. 

You took a deep breath as the countdown dropped to five seconds. You had a reputation to uphold and a husband to destroy. 

Three. 

Two. 

One. 

You were moving as soon as the doors opened, blinking through the machine-generated fog and advancing down the right side of the arena, to where you knew an outpost would be. You could hear Jun’s light footsteps in the catwalks above you, though they soon vanished as he turned to the middle of the map. 

You peered into the darkness, looking for any flash of the green light that signified your enemy but found nothing. You got to the tower, pulsing white light that you shot down before it could damage you. Your armor blinked once, twice, then faded, and a two minute timer began counting down on your phaser. Two minutes of invisibility. You grinned. 

You crept along the side, taking extra care to be quiet. Finally, you caught your first glimpse of a victim, a flash of green light a few paths to your left. You ducked behind a pillar to follow, stepping out and taking a shot. Your phaser buzzed with victory, and you darted back before your victim could spot you and expose your invisibility. 

You moved quickly, glancing at your phaser to see you had gotten Soonyoung. An easy kill, but it made you smile anyways. You were nearly across the arena now, and decided to climb up and see if you could get a better angle for the arena. You knew there was another outpost nearby and heard the unmistakable clanging of someone fighting it. After a couple seconds it stopped, and you guessed it meant someone else had a power too. 

From above, you spotted another green light, taking the shot before it could vanish and feeling the satisfaction of another buzz. You heard Jihoon curse and smiled, ducking behind a wall before he could see you. 

“Fuck you, yn,” he said. 

“Language!” You called back, laughing as he cursed at you again. 

You started to cross a bridge but froze when Jun appeared from the other side, pointing behind him. 

“Jeonghan has unlimited ammo,” he said, ducking behind a barrier. You step behind a wall just as Jeonghan comes into sight. He didn’t see you, but he must have known you were nearby from Jun’s warning. 

“Oh yn,” he called in a sing-song voice. “I know you’re out there.” You still had a chance. He knew you were there, but he didn’t know that you were invisible (for 30 more seconds), which meant he was looking for a blue light. You figured it would give you a couple seconds of surprise and maybe you’d get a good shot off before him. 

You heard Jun groan as he got shot and knew this was your only chance. You stepped out raising your phaser before you spotted him, aiming at nothing- nothing- nothing- then at the bright green light at the end of his phaser as he turned to face you. 

You didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. 

You felt the buzz of your phaser and cheered as Jeonghan’s armor blinked. 

“All these years and you still can’t beat me,” you said with a laugh, crossing the bridge to gloat over him. He rolled his eyes. 

“I can’t believe you’re using the same strategies,” he said. You passed him, walking backwards because you didn’t dare turn your back on him. 

“And yet they still work!” You grinned, until you felt a new buzz, your armor blinking. You whipped around, finally finding Jihoon standing below you with a smirk. 

“Oh fuck you,” you said. You ignored the laughter you heard from both Jihoon and Jeonghan, retreating to hide until your armor recovered and you were back in the game. 

You could hear Seungcheol and Chan bickering from somewhere to your right, followed by Mingyu’s shout as they apparently managed to take him down. Once your armor was glowing blue again, you ventured out, taking extra care to be aware of your surroundings. You stayed on the floor, making sure to check above you for any green light. 

You were able to take out Soonyoung two more times, Mingyu once, and you nearly got Jihoon a second time but Jun got to him first. Though there was only a minute and a half of the game left, you were determined to catch Jeonghan one more time, listening for his laugh, then for his coughing as the fog machines billowed out giant clouds. 

You were all the way around to the entrance you had come in through, the fog making it difficult to see any farther than a couple feet in front of you, which seemed like a safety hazard to you. You moved slowly, trying to pick out any light in the darkness. 

“Hands up.” His voice came from behind you. You cursed, raising your hands in the air. “Turn around.” 

“Just shoot me already,” you said. 

“I want to see your face when I beat you,” he said. “Come on.” 

You turned to face Jeonghan, rolling your eyes at his satisfied smile. “Are you going to shoot me yet?” 

“No, I’m going to enjoy this moment,” he said. You knew he was running down the clock so that you had less time to get revenge. It didn’t make it any less annoying. 

“You’d really shoot me?” You gave him your best betrayed look. “When we were married today? Only a few hours ago?” 

“Save it, you didn’t hesitate when you shot me,” he said, phaser trained at your chest where the blue light gleamed. You caught a glimpse of something behind him, a flash of blue light. 

“I regretted that,” you said, stifling a laugh. “Give me a chance to redeem myself.” 

Jeonghan paused and for a moment you thought he was actually considering it, eyes turning soft. “Fat chance-” 

His armor buzzed and flashed. 

“Who the-”

You bursted into laughter with Seungcheol as Jeonghan turned to face him. You had caught a glimpse of him while begging for your life and somehow managed to keep your face straight until he was in range. Chan trailed behind him, smiling but looking slightly concerned at the pure glee that you and Seungcheol shared. 

Jeonghan glared at you, turning the corner without a word as you high-fived Seungcheol. 

“I owe you,” you said. 

“Ready to hunt down the rest of them?” He cocked his head to the arena. “We still have a minute.” 

“Sure, I could go for a new record with Soonyoung,” you said. 

“Take the right side again, Chan go up and meet up with Jun, I’ll take the left,” Seungcheol said. Chan saluted him, though you didn’t miss him shaking his head as he climbed the stairs. He’d fit right in. 

You got Mingyu one more time just before the timer ran out, then all of the lights on your armor flickered and turned off, the arena lights turning on. You grinned at him, bumping your shoulder into his. 

“You nearly got me that time,” you said. 

“Whatever,” he said. “I still don’t think it’s fair that you got to team with Seungcheol.” 

“Would you rather me and Jeonghan were together again?” 

Mingyu hesitated. When you turned to face him, his brow was furrowed. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“You and Jeonghan are really married?” 

You held up your left hand, gold band still sitting. You hadn’t taken it off since the night he proposed. “Apparently.” 

Mingyu was quiet as you walked beside him, still frowning. 

“Okay, spill.” 

“Spill?” 

“Whatever’s wrong,” you said. “Clearly you don’t approve of me and Jeonghan, so tell me why.” 

“It’s complicated,” he said with a sigh. You stopped him just before the exit. 

“Jeonghan said it was fine, but if it’s messing up something in his life, I want to know.” You waited until he met your eyes. “He’s my best friend, you know I wouldn’t want to do anything that hurts him.” Mingyu stared at his feet and didn’t answer you. 

“Is there someone else? Someone he should be dating for real?” You were surprised at how difficult it was to say, the words leaving a foul taste in your mouth. 

Mingyu tilted his head. “Something like that.” 

It was your turn to frown. Jeonghan had dated plenty of people before and it had never bothered you. You even liked most of them, until things inevitably went wrong. Why did the idea of him having feelings for someone feel so… wrong? 

“Oh.” 

“Are you lost?” You heard Seungcheol shout. You followed Mingyu out, trying to find your smile again. Even when you saw your name at the top of the leaderboard, it was hard to really smile. 

“As expected,” you forced yourself to gloat over Jeonghan, dropping beside him on the bench. He was taking off his armor, and didn’t react to your shoulder pressed against his.  

“You’ll get ‘em next time, champ,” you said, patting his knee. He shook his head, watching Seungcheol and Mingyu argue. 

“Hey,” you said. He turned to face you, and maybe it was the way the sunlight filtering through the windows made him glow or maybe it was just the way he looked at you, but you forgot what you were going to say. 

“What is it?” He asked with a little frown. 

You blinked, trying to push the weird feelings away. “You’re a simp.” 

Jeonghan scoffed. “Since when?” 

“Since you had an easy shot and let me live,” you said. “Seriously, marriage has made you soft.” 

“You think that’s why I didn’t shoot?” He asked. He laughed at your frown. “Oh, yn,” he said, throwing an arm over your shoulder and pulling you close to him. “You may have won the game and you may have beaten me, but you betrayed your husband, and for that you at least owe me dinner.” 

“You’re so full of it,” you said, but you didn’t push him off. “You would have executed me.” 

“I’m hurt,” he said, patting his chest. “You shot me, right here. It still hurts, I’d never do that to you!” 

You rolled your eyes but you leaned into his embrace, tucking your head onto his shoulder. You remembered what Mingyu said, about his heart belonging to someone else and it sent a pang through your heart. Whoever that person was, they were going to be very lucky. Once you got out of the way. 

.

.

Your teeth hurt. Actually, your whole face ached. You struggled to open your eyes, finally managing to pry them open only to squint them closed because the lights were so bright. 

“Ah, you’re awake,” a calm voice said. You frowned at the blurry shape standing over you. “I’ll get your pick-up person.” The nice voice disappeared, leaving you to blink alone. 

They weren’t gone for long, returning with another figure that was familiar. 

“Jeonghan!” You tried to say, except there was gross stuff in your mouth making it difficult to make sounds. 

“Hey toothless,” he said, stopping beside you. He glanced at the nice-voice, who you were pretty sure was some sort of nurse since they were wearing bright green scrubs, then picked up your hand and held it. “How are you feeling?” 

“Mouf hurt,” you said. Jeonghan laughed, squeezing your hand. 

“We’ll get out of here and pick up your prescription, how’s that sound?” 

You nodded. You couldn’t tell if the tingly feeling spreading through your body was the anesthesia wearing off or from Jeonghan beside you. You stared at him, studying his face, eyebrows, nose, jawline, everything. Had he always been so handsome? 

You didn’t turn away when he caught you staring. He seemed to think it was funny, smiling down at you. Since when was his smile so sweet? 

The nice-voice nurse returned. “Okay, yn, you should be good to go, we just have a little paperwork for your husband to fill out.” 

“Huthband?” You tried to say. “I don’t have a huthband.” 

The nurse laughed. “I’m sure you can’t forget marrying someone like him.” You followed their finger, pointing at Jeonghan. 

You frowned at him for a moment, then laughed. “Jeonghan ithn’t my huthband.” 

You frowned at him as he shook his head, patting your hair. “I guess we know how well you handle anesthesia, dear.” 

Dear? You kept staring at him but the nurse handed him paperwork and he seemed to think that meant it was the end of the conversation. He let go of your hand to fill out, which made you frown even more, reaching a hand to rest on his arm. He glanced at you and shook his head at your pout. 

He scribbled on the paper, frowning a couple times but finally put the clipboard down, turning to you. He smiled at you, a warm, fond smile. Is that how married people looked at each other? You tried to return it but your swollen, gauze-filled mouth made it impossible. 

“Let’s go,” he said, returning his hand to yours. You let him pull you to your feet, leaning into his shoulder until the dizziness passed, and then you kept leaning on him because it felt nice. He didn’t protest, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and gently massaging your shoulder as you left the suite. He handed the clipboard to the nurse with a smile. 

“I see you’ve remembered your husband,” they said, winking at you. You glanced between Jeonghan and the nurse. You remembered Jeonghan—he was the boy who sat next to in second grade that never shut up about the World’s Worst Jokes (literally, it was his favorite book), the boy you finally decided to call a friend in fifth grade after he helped you catch up your schoolwork because you missed a week with strep throat. He was the boy you were no longer allowed to pair up in assignments with in middle school after you were dubbed the ‘demon duo’ by all your teachers (it was affectionate, but the Lollipop Incident of seventh grade could not be forgotten), the boy you followed around all through high school because your senses of humor just matched. 

You remembered spending countless university nights beside that boy as he kept you awake until your essays were finished, more than once saving you from the back pain of sleeping slumped over a table by forcing you into a bed. That boy had been your roommate, until a year and a half ago, spending nearly every second at your side, bickering with you about how many holes are in a straw and holding you while you cried over everything from bad grades to heartbreaks. 

You thought you would definitely remember marrying that boy. 

“I couldn’t ever forget him,” you finally said. You wished your words weren’t turned to mush by your mouth. You looked up at Jeonghan, who was smiling down at you again, squeezing your shoulder. 

He thanked the nurse, pulling you outside. You waited until the doors shut before lifting your head off his shoulder. “Are you sure we're married?” 

He laughed at your frown. “Last time I checked.” He lifted your left hand and held it with his own, matching gold bands knocking against each other. 

“Such boring rings,” you said. It was a lie; you loved the simplicity. It just seemed right for you and Jeonghan. 

“I’m never going to let you live this down,” Jeonghan muttered with a crooked smile. He walked you all the way to his car, letting go of your shoulder to open the car door for you. It was strange to see him opening doors for you, but maybe you really had forgotten dating and marriage, and maybe this was normal. You fell into the seat, exhausted from the short walk, barely working up the energy to pull your seatbelt across your shoulders. 

You felt fingers brush against your forehead and you opened your eyes to see Jeonghan brushing a strand of hair out of your eyes. He held your gaze, fingers lingering on your brow. 

“Get some rest,” he whispered. “I’ll pick up your prescription and take you home.” You nodded, the movement finally causing him to drop his fingers. You could feel the ghost of their light touch against your brow, just as you could still feel his fingers laced with yours, even as you watched him drive, both hands gripping the steering wheel. 

You closed your eyes, resting your heavy head against the seat. You were not going to fall asleep, your mouth hurt too much for that, but for once Jeonghan seemed to be avoiding the potholes so it was at least a smooth ride. You wanted to ask him about your marriage, about how you could forget crossing the line between friends and lovers. 

Somehow when you opened your eyes, he was on your street. You definitely remembered him moving out, so why was he taking you back here? 

“If we’re married, why are we going back here?” You asked as he pulled into the driveway. 

Jeonghan fought another smile. “Are you asking me to move in together?” 

“No, I’m asking why married people don’t live together,” you said. He left the car, walking around to your side and helping you out. You leaned on him again as he walked you to the door, feeling exhausted. 

“Maybe we don’t have a happy marriage,” he said nonchalantly. He pulled the keys, your keys, out of his pocket and let himself in, half-carrying you to your room. “I mean, you literally forgot we are married.” 

You shook your head as you crawled under your blankets. “No, I don’t think so. I’m really happy we’re married.” 

He pulled the blankets over you, tucking you in. “Why’s that?” He paused over you, dark hair falling into his eyes again as he looked down on you. 

“I really like you,” you said. He leaned over you, and all you wanted was to melt into those beautiful brown eyes, but your eyelids were getting heavier with each heartbeat. The last thing you remembered was Jeonghan pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead. 

.

.

You watched Jeonghan at the bar. He was getting drinks but he had been stopped by some girl whose name you couldn’t quite remember. You turned to look at the dance floor; Jeonghan could talk to whoever he wanted, you didn’t have any right to care. 

The rest of your friends were scattered around the dance floor at different tables, being normal humans and socializing. Mingyu had tried to drag you into a conversation, but Eun Woo was at the table and there was no way you would deign to be anywhere near that man. 

However, that left you alone at the table your group had claimed when you arrived together, watching everyone else having fun. Names floated around your head, occasionally matching the faces of the people wandering around. Thankfully, no one you didn’t know came to say hi. 

Just last year you had been excited to go to your first high school reunion, tracking down all of your friends and making sure they kept the night free. That had been before you realized everyone else had grown up and gotten adult jobs, leaving you and your part time job to feel tiny and more than a little bit like a failure. 

Your friends got their revenge and dragged you to this year’s reunion. The worst part was, you were stuck. Because of the incident last year (which had nothing to do with you and Jeonghan and the intercom system), your former student body president (turned CEO) decided it would be best to host your reunion at a hotel under the guise of promoting safe drinking habits. They’d booked rooms for everyone and even had free (cheap) beer. You’d be impressed, if you weren’t suspicious that half the funds were from the embezzling scandal you’d heard his company had gotten caught in. 

You found Seungcheol chatting with a couple members of the baseball team. You debated joining him, but they were probably reminiscing about the games they’d played and you’d only gone to a few, so you doubted you’d be able to really contribute to the conversation. 

Seokmin and Soonyoung hadn’t left the dance floor since you arrived, though that surprised no one. The only difference between high school and now was that the alcohol in their system was legal. You were much too sober to think about joining them. Plus it had only been a couple weeks since your surgery, and though you were technically allowed to do physical activity, you used any excuse you could to avoid the chaos of Seokmin and Soonyoung on the dance floor. They were a hazard to society. 

You stood, seeing Jun walking towards his ex, but Mingyu roped him into his conversation. You glared at Eun Woo, as you were now standing awkwardly. 

A quick glance told you that Jeonghan was still stuck in line at the bar, still chatting with the same girl. Not that it bothered you. Maybe you should join him. 

You took a step, but a voice made you freeze. “Who left you all alone?” You spun, finding Minghao standing in front of you, hands buried in the pockets of his jacket. He managed a nonchalant expression until you threw yourself in his arms. 

“You came?” You half shouted with your arms around his neck. 

He laughed, catching you before you toppled him over. “Miss me?” 

“Don’t even joke! Of course I did! You left me with a bunch of idiots!” You took a step back, though you didn’t let go of his hands. Minghao. He’d gone abroad after high school and never came back, leaving a hole in the friend group that could never be replaced. Mingyu liked to call it losing the only braincell you had ever known. 

He caught your left hand, lifting it and raising his eyebrows at the gold band. “I will confess that part of the reason I came was to see if the rumor Seokmin was raving about was true.” 

You let go of his hands, leaning against your seat. “Yeah… A lot has happened since you left.” 

“Clearly.” Minghao raised his eyebrow. He scanned the room, picking out your friends, pausing at Jeonghan at the bar before turning back to you. “It’s good, though. I’m, and don’t you dare make fun of me, happy for you.” 

You frowned. “What are you talking about?” 

“I mean, Jeonghan has things figured out. Like, he has the stability that you need, he’s got a real-life job and everything, and he’s just good for you.” 

What had Seokmin told Minghao? Did he think you were married for real? 

“I’m not saying that you need to change or anything,” Minghao said quickly. “I just think it’s good for you to be with someone that isn’t… figuring out his life still.” 

“Yeah,” you said. You slid into your chair, trying not to think about how even though Minghao lived thousands of miles away, he could still see you struggling. 

“I can’t believe you didn’t invite me to the wedding,” he said, still standing beside you.  

“Oh, we just had a courthouse thing,” you said. You don’t know why you didn’t tell him the full truth. “It wasn’t a big thing.” 

“Well, when you have the real party, I better be invited.” 

Despite feeling like your heart had been crumpled into a ball, you rolled your eyes. “Minghao, you’ll be my best man.” 

He nodded. “I’d better be.” You managed a few more minutes of small talk before he slipped away to find the rest of your friends. 

His words rang through your head. Maybe you really shouldn’t be with Jeonghan, fake or not. Minghao was right, he had his life figured out; as much as he complained about his job, you knew he loved the kids and he was going to spend the rest of his life teaching. You could barely decide on what to wear every morning. Figuring out your future was something you just weren’t ready for. 

You liked Jeonghan. You knew that. You remembered your anesthesia induced dream, where you managed to tell him your feelings, the soft kiss he placed on your forehead, but it was just a dream. He didn’t feel the same way, no matter how much you wished it could be true. There was someone else he pined for, and if it was anything like the feelings that were threatening to overwhelm you now, you couldn't help but pity him. 

Your feelings didn’t matter, you decided as you watched Minghao join Soonyoung and Seokmin with a backflip in the middle of the dance floor. You wouldn’t mess up Jeonghan’s life any further. You would ask for a divorce. Tomorrow. 

Jeonghan finally returned, setting a drink in front of you and laying an arm over your shoulders. “Bear with me,” he whispered into your ear, lips almost brushing against your ear. “I can’t remember her name but she’s been flirting with me all night and even when I told her we’re married, she wouldn’t leave me alone, so, you’re stuck with me for the rest of the night.” 

You nodded. You hoped you were looking serenely on your friends, but Jeonghan gently tapped your arm until you turned to face him. “What’s wrong?” 

You shrugged. “Tired.” It wasn’t technically a lie. You were tired, but that wasn’t why you didn’t want to be here. 

He pulled his chair a little closer, resting his chin on his shoulder. You knew he was just putting on a show to drive away girl-whose-name-was-a-mystery and that the way he was looking at you now wasn’t real. It didn’t make it any easier to bear his gaze. 

He tilted his head to the side and smiled, eyes twinkling with the familiar glint that you knew meant trouble. “You want to get out of here?” 

You felt your face flush. “Stop joking around.” 

He cocked his head and you followed it to where the girl (whose name you thought started with a S) was still eyeing Jeonghan. “If we disappear into a hotel room for a couple hours maybe she’ll get the point.” He’s right, but you can’t stop yourself from imagining what he was implying, making your blush deepen. 

“You said you’re tired, you can just hide up there for the rest of the night if you want,” he said, apparently not noticing your embarrassment. “Or you can sit here and avoid everyone for the rest of the night and we can pretend like that girl isn’t eye-fucking me.” 

“Let’s go,” you said, standing. Jeonghan took your hand in his, pressing a kiss to your hand that sent shivers up your arm before tugging you across the room, playing the part of a lovesick husband perfectly. You weren’t as good, but you kept your eyes on him and found your smile wasn’t as hard to force as you expected, letting him pull you back into his embrace as you passed through the doors. You cast one glance at S, who looked rather offended. You grinned at her as the doors swung shut, winking even though she probably couldn’t see it from across the room. 

Though the show was just for her, it wasn’t until you were alone in the elevator that he finally disentangled himself from you. “Looks like it went pretty well.” 

You nodded, staring at your feet rather than facing Jeonghan at your side or in the mirrored walls of the elevator. “She looked sufficiently shut up.” 

The doors dinged open and you followed Jeonghan. “We’re rooming together, by the way.” Seungcheol had been in charge of the rooms, setting everyone with roommates and even dropping off bags. There was no reason to think that he would mess anything up. 

No reason until now. 

“There’s only one bed,” you said in a tiny voice. The door clicked shut behind you, Jeonghan at your side. You stood in the hotel room, bathroom door to your left, closet to your right, king sized bed right in the middle. “I’m going to kill Seungcheol.” 

“Actually, it was probably Mingyu,” Jeonghan said, sounding not nearly as unsettled as he should have been. “He called about our rooms and probably mentioned we were married. People I don’t even know were talking to me about it.” 

“I’m going to kill them both.” 

“It’ll be fine,” he said. “It’s not like it’s the first time.” He’s right, you had shared a bed before, when you were thirteen, and there were four other people shoved onto the bed because having twenty people in one sleepover meant you slept where there was space. “If it really bothers you, I’ll sleep on the floor, or crash with Mingyu and Seungcheol.” 

You shook your head. “No, it’s fine, they’ll just make fun of me, and you’re right, it’s not like it's the first time.” No, it was nothing like then. Your heart didn’t pound when he was next to you back then, you never looked at him and wished what was fake could be real. 

You flopped onto the bed, legs dangling off the side as you laid on your back. Your heart was beginning to ache thinking about Jeonghan, so you thought about what Minghao said instead. Most of the time you could pretend you were okay with watching everyone you knew move on with their lives and grow into actual adults, but a night like tonight made you feel small. Insignificant. You were yn. Just yn, and normally that was enough, but not tonight. 

You felt the bed dip as Jeonghan sat next to you. “Do you want to talk about it?” Of course he knew something was wrong. You turned your head towards him, studying his frown which had concern etched into every crease on his forehead. 

You didn’t think you were choked up, but when you said, “No,” in a tiny voice, tears were suddenly threatening to spill onto your cheeks. You turned your head away from Jeonghan, sure that you would fold under his gaze and start crying. 

“You should just go back down,” you said. “I’ll be fine.” 

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, voice gentle but firm. “You’re stuck with me.” You felt a tear slip away, angrily wiping it off the side of your face. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I won’t leave you alone, yn. I—I won’t.” 

Why? Why did he have to be so kind, and sweet, and loving, and the perfect best friend, fake fiancee, fake husband? Why did he make it so hard to do anything but love him? 

Love wasn’t fair, you always knew that, but it felt cruel now. You couldn’t stop the tears now, turning fully on your side though it was too late to hide them from Jeonghan. He slid next to you, pulling you off the mattress and into his arms, and you knew it was dumb to sob into the arms of the very person that was making you cry but you did it anyway because maybe that’s what you were doomed to suffer. You clung to him, even as your heart was breaking. 

.

.

You woke up to the sun in your eyes. You frowned as you opened your eyes, blinking against the light. Usually you closed your blinds so that you could sleep in. It took another moment for you to remember that you were in a hotel room, not your bed at home. That didn’t explain why Jeonghan was wrapped around you, his arm acting as your pillow. Your frown deepened as you met his eyes, finding him staring down at you. 

“Why are we cuddling?” 

He snorted. “I should be asking you that, since I clearly remember telling you this is my side of the bed last night.” You lifted your head off of him enough to see that you had indeed crossed onto his side. But he wasn’t innocent either, with one arm tucked under your head and the other wrapped around your waist, holding your bodies together. You decided not to mention it because you didn’t want him to let go just yet. 

“How long have you been up?” You asked with a yawn. 

He shrugged, shoulder lifting your head. “I don’t know, maybe twenty minutes?” 

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” You said, gently slapping his chest. 

“You looked peaceful,” he said. You looked at him, peering down at you with a soft smile. The morning sunlight that fell through the window cast a halo around him, making his dark hair glow. There was something in his gaze, something you had seen so many times but suddenly felt new, and for the first time you let yourself wonder what it would be like if your feelings weren’t unrequited. Maybe you were still dazed from waking up, but you thought maybe it wouldn’t be very different from how he was with you now. 

“Jeonghan,” you said slowly. “Mingyu mentioned something to me.” 

“Oh boy.” 

“About you.” Your heart was pounding as you forced the next words out. “About how there’s someone that you want to date. For real.” 

He was quiet, though he didn’t break your gaze. Finally, he said, “Yes.” 

It took all of the courage you had in you to say, “Who?” 

He stared at you and because it was Jeonghan, you knew he was trying to figure out what to say. You could practically see the gears turning in his head as he tried to get the words out. The longer it took the more your heart sank. 

“We should get divorced,” you said, turning your head to stare at the window, the wall, anything but those damn eyes. “Teeth have been successfully removed, I’m not in debt, and there’s no other reason to stay married.” Especially not when there’s someone else. You couldn’t quite bring yourself to say it. 

You peeked at Jeonghan and found you couldn’t decipher the frown on his face. It felt wrong to not know what he was thinking. But maybe it was your own fault. You had been keeping things from him yourself, bottling up the emotions and pretending the love you felt wasn’t head over heels idiocy. You couldn’t be hurt that he was so far away when you had built the distance yourself. 

“I love you,” you whispered. “I’m in love with you. I know that there’s someone else, and I’m not saying this to try to win you over or anything, but I think you should know. That I love you.” 

 You’ve seen Jeonghan speechless three times in your life. The first was in elementary school when he was wrongfully accused of stealing candy from the teacher, the first time he found out there were consequences for his “harmless” pranks. The second was when his girlfriend dumped him, the only time in your entire life that he didn’t tell you what happened. This was the third time, opening his mouth and trying to answer but unable to get any words out. 

“I’m an idiot, I know,” you said. “Who falls in love with their fake husband?” Even as the final stake was driven into your heart, you tried to joke. You started to push off his chest, fully prepared to run away and avoid Jeonghan for the rest of your life, but his arm tightened around your waist, pulling you even closer. 

“It’s you,” he sputtered. “There’s no one else, it’s you that I want to be with, that I want to date, that I want to marry, one day. Yn, I have loved you for so long, I don’t know what to do, so please, just give me a second?” 

It was your turn to be speechless. “It’s me?”  

He laughed, face finally breaking into a wide smile. “Of course it’s you, who else could it be?” 

“Maybe one of those moms that Mingyu says are always flirting with him, or one of your coworkers, or anyone that’s ever met you because, seriously, how could anyone not be in love with you?” You rested your head back onto his shoulder. 

“Well, it’s you. It’s always you.” He leaned a little closer, brushing his nose against yours. You swallowed, remembering your first kiss with him. You wondered if your second kiss would be as good. 

“Can I kiss you?” You asked when he didn’t move any closer. He nodded, though the movement caused your lips to brush against one another. You leaned into it, arm snaking from his chest to his neck, feeling his hand digging into your waist, trying to pull you impossibly closer. You don’t know how long the kiss was, feeling like a lifetime had passed when you finally pulled away. 

“Not quite as good as the first time, but it’ll do,” you said, grinning at Jeonghan’s frown. “You have stinky breath.” 

“You have stinky breath,” he said, “But if you’re talking about the restaurant, that wasn’t our first kiss.” 

You thought back, trying to remember any other kiss. There was none during your fake marriage (other than the anesthesia-induced dream that you were beginning to think might have been real) and nothing had ever happened before that. Except… 

“When we were twelve?” You laughed. “That does not count.”

“A kiss is a kiss,” he said. “In fact, I remember you saying it was your first kiss.”

You slapped his chest. “It was your first kiss too!” 

“So you admit it!” Jeonghan was laughing, clinging to you as you pretended to push him away. He wrapped both arms around your waist, tucking his chin onto your shoulder. He waited until you met his eyes. “I love you.” 

You kissed his nose. “I love you, too.” You didn’t run away when he pulled you close again, sliding cold fingers to the back of your neck and pressing his forehead to yours. You were certain he was going to kiss you again. 

“We really do need to get divorced, though,” you said, laughing when he sighed. “I want to do things in the right order, date you for real.” You kissed him again, just because you could, watching the smile quickly return to his face when you pulled away. 

“I do want to marry you, one day,” you said, resting your head against the pillow for the first time. You held up your left hand, studying the way the gold caught the morning light and seemed to glow. 

“You better not say that in front of Joshua,” Jeonghan said. “He’s had our wedding planned since he found out I was in love with you.” 

“Wait, he knows?” You frowned at him. “How long have you been in love with me?” 

Jeonghan’s eyes wandered to the ceiling as he scratched the back of his head. “Been in love? No idea. Too long. But when I realized, we were still living together, and ever since then I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you.” 

“That’s why you moved out?” You wrapped your arm around his waist, tucking yourself onto his side. 

He nodded. “I needed to know if I was actually in love or just spending too much time with you.” He played with your hair. “I am in love with you. And I’m sorry I was too much of a coward to say it sooner.” 

You found yourself staring at the ring again. It was such a simple thing, just a band of gold that you and Jeonghan had agreed on with the intent to return it when the ruse was up. You really had only gotten them because you were worried someone might call out the insurance fraud. 

“I don’t want to take it off,” you confessed. 

“Then don’t,” Jeonghan said softly. When you looked at him, he was without his usual smirk, eyes serious. 

“Five minutes and you’re already proposing?” You asked. 

“Well, I already got you into bed,” he said with a grin. “But seriously, I don’t want to take off my ring. I’m going to marry you, someday.” 

“I think that sounds nice,” you said, tucking your head back onto his chest. “So, Joshua is our wedding planner? Do we really trust him?” 

“You know, if you told me a year ago, I would have said ‘fuck no,’ but he’s dedicated. He has a pinterest and everything, a color scheme, a list of the best rated bakeries and catering services, photographers, videographers, venues, anything you can think of, he has it. I can’t prove it, but I swear he has a date reserved already.” Jeonghan continued to describe his friend’s vision for your wedding, but you found yourself staring at him, watching him talk. 

 Jeonghan has been by your side for most of your life, your best friend. You knew everything about him, from the way he liked his tea to his obsession with tiny utensils. Still, being friends and being lovers were two very different things. You should have been scared at how much was going to change, but in the little bubble of your hotel room and the magical glow of the morning sun, you felt nothing but hope.

a/n2: thank you for reading!!! I hope you had fun, I truly love this story <3 enjoy this meme I found after i came up with the idea and couldn’t find anywhere to throw it into

a/n3: i am incapable of letting this story go so here are some snippets of stuff that didn’t make it into the story/after the ending 1 //

[junhuistotoroonesie]

Love Me Again

❥ pairing: kim seungmin x female reader ❥ genre: one-shot, angst, fluff, exes to lovers, summer camp!au ❥ warnings: mentions of food & mentions of violence (briefly), shirtless Seungmin in one scene, water balloon fight (let me know if I am missing something) ❥ word count: 7.5k ❥ requested! ❥ summary: Coming back to summer camp was something Y/N was eager to do. But what happens when her ex is also there working as a staff member as well? ❥ A/N: Hello, how are you today? Ok, so I didn't expect to enjoy writing this one-shot so much. Makes me want to write in this au more often, for some reason, I feel like the possibilities are almost endless. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and as always, happy reading!

Your heart jumped from your chest as the bus got closer to the summer camp. This would be your first year as a staff member and you couldn’t be more excited about it. Ever since you were young, you had made it your goal to continue spending your time here, and if it wasn’t as a participant, it would be as one of the responsible ones.

When the bus started to slow down, you stood up from your seat and looked at the group of students behind you, all excited about the adventures that they were about to live, already chatting with each other and trying to make new friends.

“We must keep an eye on those two,” Changbin whispered to you, gesturing with his head to a couple in the back, smiling at each other. “They will try to sneak out into each other cabins and I am not looking forward to that.”

You turned to look at him and patted his shoulder, smiling playfully as your eyes met his.

“Are you ever looking forward to anything?” He didn’t answer. You shrugged and turned your attention to the crowd and your smile widened. “Everyone! We’re here!”

You clapped as they cheered excitedly. Changbin rolled his eyes and exited the bus, and you continued to give instructions to the crowd.

“Changbin and I will be the ones responsible for you so anything you need, you can talk to us. Please, grab your bags and head to the entrance where you’ll be briefed and taken to your cabins. Are you excited?!”

More cheers and claps from the small crowd. They probably thought you were embarrassing, but it didn’t matter. You were just thrilled to be back here even if this time you had more work in store than fun.

After leaving the bus, you were quickly greeted by the fresh breeze of the woods and you saw the summer camp in front of you.

“Ah, it’s nice to be back!” You closed your eyes briefly and took a deep breath, smiling.

The summer camp was located near a small lake where the participants could participate in a couple of activities. It was surrounded by tall trees, making it the greatest place to be during the hot summer days because there was always a soft breeze blowing. At night, things got a little chilly, but that was why you had bonfire nights to keep you warm and to have a good laugh.

“Let’s go.” You looked at Changbin who gestured to your bag next to him. “I want to see if our cabin is as good as they promised it would be.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s not as bad if you have me as your company.” You bumped your shoulder to his and saw him shaking his head.

“I’m already regretting my decision.”

You rolled your eyes and watched a smile appear on Changbin’s face. He liked to pretend he didn’t care and that he was always making you a favour, but you knew he enjoyed your company. He’d softened up eventually, you knew that. Seo Changbin can’t hide his smile for too long, and you enjoyed it when you saw your friend smiling.

The two of you started to walk side by side towards your cabin. It was located near the lake, and it had a privileged view of the big square where most group activities took place. There were a couple more cabins in this area, all belonging to staff.

You waved at some acquaintances and some of them came to greet you with a quick hug, asking you how you were doing, what you had been up to. They were all people you had met throughout the years and all of you were here for a different experience this time. In the distance, you recognized someone you didn’t expect to see around here.

“I can’t believe he came…” You mumbled under your breath, watching as Seungmin greeted everyone with a charming smile, laughing. Changbin quickly stopped what he was doing and lifted his eyes to look at him.

“There’s a story between you two I should know about?” He glanced at you, curious. “Or is he the only person on earth you can’t smile at?”

“We dated. And we broke up. That’s the story.” You cleared your throat and smiled at Changbin.

“Let me know if you’d like me to punch him. Might be fun, who knows? I’m sure I’ll get tired of singing motivational songs by the bonfire and making friendship bracelets at some point so I might resort to violence.”

“Please, tell me you’re joking.” You crossed your arms, slightly concerned. “One of the rules is that under no circumstance should we resort to violence. This is not that kind of place.”

“I am joking, Y/N.” You took a deep breath and he opened the door to your cabin, looking back at you. “But you never know. Too much positivity can make you turn evil.”

“That’s not a real thing. And why would you punch him?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he shrugged and entered your cabin and you followed him, carrying your bag.

“It’s nice.” You scanned the small place and Changbin closed the door, placing the keys near the front door.

The cabin was small, but it had what you needed. A bathroom you’d both have to share, a small living room with a TV with a couple of decoration books, and one bedroom with two beds.

After setting everything at your cabin, the two of you left and started to walk towards the main square of camp where the opening ceremony would happen. You looked at the top of the trees, feeling the sun creeping through the branches, kissing your skin softly.

“Look at the ground, Y/N,” Changbin warned, hands in his pockets. You glanced at him, an eyebrow raised.

“Why-”

You tripped on a fallen branch and lost your balance, struggling for a few seconds before falling to the ground, your knees having an unfortunate and somewhat painful meeting with the dirt. Slowly, you sat on the ground and looked around, your cheeks blushed from the embarrassment.

“Please, tell me no one saw it,” you begged to no one in particular, wiping the dirt from your hands, disappointed that a great outfit had been ruined.

Next to you, Changbin was trying his best not to laugh. You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms, looking at him upset.

“So this makes you want to laugh? This is what you find funny?” He didn’t answer, his laugh only grew louder. “Stop laughing, Changbin. It’s embarrassing.”

“No… No…” He lowered himself next to you, tears leaving his eyes from laughing too hard. “You… You should’ve seen your face, ok? You were all enchanted by the view and then…” His eyes widened in shock and he replicated how you fell, adding as much dramatic flair as he could.

“Ok,” you said, laughing as well. His laugh was contagious, after all. “If that was how I fell, it was pretty funny.”

“It was hilarious, Y/N. Hilarious.” He took a deep breath and tried to contain his laugh, taking a good look at you, smiling softly. “Are you ok, though? Did you get hurt?”

He reached a hand to you, and you leaned on him to stand up, wiping dust and dirt from your outfit, checking all your body parts that had been in contact with the ground earlier.

“I’m… good. My knees might get bruised, but what’s new?”

He softly wiped some dirt from your cheek, avoiding looking into your eyes. You gulped, taken aback by the sudden change in Changbin’s behaviour. He caught a glimpse of surprise in your eyes and gulped, stepping away from you, lowering his eyes.

“You had some hm… dirt on your cheek.” You nodded and watched as he looked to the path behind you, his cheeks turning a soft shade of pink, a shy smile greeting his lips.

Your smile widened as you looked at him, wondering if that smile was because of what had happened or something else. But when you followed Changbin’s gaze, you saw him smiling at someone else, who returned his smile shyly.

And then you saw Seungmin as well. He wasn’t smiling when his eyes found yours, and you recognized that look too well. Regret.

The same look he had given you when you broke up was the same look he was giving you now.

“I’ll get going,” you said to Changbin, your eyes lingering on Seungmin for longer than they should. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

Without waiting for a response, you left his sight and walked towards the main square at a fast pace, your eyes looking at the ground so you wouldn’t trip and fall again, so you could keep as much distance as you could from Seungmin.

At the end of the day, everyone went back to their cabins, but you decided to stay by the bonfire for a little longer. You and a couple of other staff members stayed behind to get everything ready for the next morning, and you enjoyed chatting with them all and getting to know people you didn’t know that well. It was great discovering you had things in common with people who just a few hours ago were strangers to you.

After you were done, you decided to go for a small walk before heading back to your cabin. It had been a good first day, even if it was tiring, but it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be.

The paths near the camp were softly lit by small floor lights and all the signals were brighter than anything else around you. There was one with a couple of indications and a map of the summer camp and you noticed how big this was. As you glanced at it, you remembered some of your memories here from previous years.

You continued your walk through some of the activity rooms where they taught dance and art classes, and a new space where they could play some videogames. You’d have to pass by here some other day to see what all the fuss was about.

Finally, you reached the lake deck and walked towards the end of it, seating near its edge, watching the water that merged with the darkness around it, the trees’ shape contrasting with the starred sky above you. Here, the stars shined the brightest and their beauty was captivating. You sighed and laid down on the deck, trying to identify the constellations above.

This had been the place Seungmin brought you often when you were dating last year. The two of you would lay next to each other and talk for as long as you could before getting caught. Of course, you always found ways to sneak out and meet here late at night.

Part of you missed the old you. The one that wasn’t heartbroken, the one that didn’t long to be loved again. The one that was naïve and that didn’t know much about love, but that was willing to try anyway. You were silly and madly in love, but you forgave yourself. After all, people end up getting their hearts broken sooner or later.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, trying your best to not think too much about it. This year, you wanted to have fun and create great memories, you weren’t looking forward to having another bitter year like the last one.

Behind you, you heard steps that slowed down the closer they got to you. You opened your eyes and sat again, looking back to find Seungmin scratching the back of his head, avoiding your gaze on him.

“I didn’t know you were here,” he said apologetically, stepping back and forward, unsure of what to do. He took a deep breath and looked at you, studying your expression. “How have you been?”

You pulled your knees close to your chest and looked up at him. He was taller and he was also more handsome. One year makes a difference on the outside, but inside you were still struggling with your breakup.

“Fine. You?”

“I’m not doing that great.” He sighed, a sad chuckle escaping his lips. You could tell he was struggling with whatever was bothering him. Even if you wanted to turn a blind eye to him, you couldn’t. You may not be together anymore, but you still cared about him. You’d always care about him.

“That’s why you came here? To… unwind?”

He nodded and you moved to the side, giving him space to join you. Slowly, Seungmin walked towards you and sat down, his eyes looking at the distance, but you couldn’t avoid looking at him. It was the first time you were alone with him since your breakup and that hit you like a ton of bricks.

A soft sigh escaped your lips and you turned to the lake in front of you, wondering if you should leave or not. Part of you missed this, the comfort, the safety of being in his presence. You had looked for it in other people, but no one ever made you feel like he did.

“I… didn’t think you’d come back here…” You whispered under your breath, your heart sinking in your chest.

“But I did,” he admitted, turning his face to look at you, hope in his eyes. “And so did you.”

“That was expected, though.” You stretched your legs and leaned back, supporting your weight in your hands. “I love this place. Good things happened here.”

He nodded, a soft smile on his lips.

“What we had was great, wasn’t it?”

You gulped, trying your best to hide your true feelings, to hide that you weren’t still over him, to hide how painful it was to be this close to him and have to accept the fact that he was no longer yours. But when he looked you in the eyes, all that build-up strength came crashing down.

“It was more than great,” you started, your voice failing you. “It was… wonderful.”

You shared so much with him and when you looked at him, as much as you wanted to despise him for breaking your heart, you couldn’t. It just wasn’t in your nature.

“I regret that, you know?” He took a deep breath, eyes focusing on the soft waves around the deck. “The way I… ended things. Seeing you again… I wasn’t expecting to feel sad. Part of me wishes I could be the reason behind your smile and that thought kept coming back to me today.” Seungmin shook his head. “I’m… sorry I’m saying these things to you. I… I’ll get going.”

You nodded and watched as he stood up from the ground, fixing his shorts and jacket afterwards. Part of you was taken aback by his words, by his vulnerability. After you broke up, you never thought you’d get to glimpse him in this light again, to be the one he’d be honest with, share his raw feelings with.

“Don’t go.” The words escaped your lips, surprising you and him. You cleared your throat and stood up, wiping your hands on your clothes. “I… should be the one going. You need this more than I do. Goodnight.”

Slowly, you made your way out of the deck, your eyes looking at your feet, your thoughts stuck in your throat, demanding you to let them out. You shook your head and took a deep breath and stopped, turning around to look at Seungmin. He was looking right back at you, lips slightly parted.

You couldn’t do this. You couldn’t just walk away like this as if you were ok with what was happening. With fast steps, you walked back, stopping in front of Seungmin. Now, you were close to him. You had to close your fists so they wouldn’t go towards his neck and pull him closer to you.

“I am struggling… too.” His eyes found yours and you didn’t look away. “I thought I’d come here and that I wouldn’t… be reminded of you, of… us. But the truth is, I loved what we had. I loved it to the point where I still hold onto it, to the point where I hope that maybe it will come back, or that I’ll find it with someone else, but I don’t, I don’t think it will. I also want you to be the reason why I smile, Seungmin. But right now, you’re the reason behind my tears.”

When you realized what you had said, your fists relaxed, and calmness took over you. Those were your honest, raw, vulnerable feelings all on display for him to witness, for him to know. You didn’t have to hide them anymore, you didn’t have to pretend you were fine. You weren’t.

Seungmin opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out of it. Instead, he just looked at you in despair, probably mirroring your expression, looking for something he didn’t find. He shook his head and slowly walked away from you, scratching the back of his head, shoving his hands on the pockets of his jacket, not stopping when he reached the beaten path back to camp.

Maybe this hadn’t been the right thing to do or say, but it sure felt freeing. And right now, you’d try to focus on that while you wiped the silent tears that fell from your eyes.

If there was one event you enjoyed participating in during summer camp it was the summer games Olympics. It was an activity that lasted for the entirety of the last week of camp and everyone participated in what they considered to be the best at. You always avoided participating, since you didn’t consider yourself particularly good at anything, but you found ways to help and cheer for everyone. This year, however, Changbin decided to surprise you.

“I signed us up for a water balloon fight.” He raised a finger before you opened your mouth to protest. “We’ll be playing against Seungmin and his… partner.”

“What happened?” Changbin simply shrugged and passed you a helmet. “Weren’t you hitting things off with her?”

“She just wants a summer fling, I want something serious.” He looked at you struggling with your helmet and shook his head. “Let me fix that for you.”

“Tell me this isn’t to make her jealous. I am tired of that.” You crossed your arms and looked at Changbin as he carefully adjusted your helmet to your head. Afterwards, he looked at you and winked. You raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What was that for?”

“Seungmin was looking. Thought I’d spite him a little bit so I can laugh more when they lose.”

“We’re no longer together, Changbin. And please, don’t make it more awkward than it has to be.”

“You’re not on good terms yet?” He asked, studying your expression. “I thought things were moving in a positive direction.”

“They are…” You took a deep breath and looked at Seungmin, his eyes narrowed on you and Changbin. “But there’s still a lot of… feelings here.”

Changbin nodded and moved away from you, causing Seungmin to change his gaze to you. He gulped as he looked into your eyes, and you tried to smile, but it came out too forced.

Truth was, Seungmin and you were trying to at least be cordial with each other. But what you had shared was still far greater for both of you to ignore. Sometimes, you’d find yourself admiring him, or leaning his way, or wanting to grab his hand and kiss his cheek only to realize what you were about to do which caused you to panic slightly. He still made you feel comfortable and safe, despite everything. You thought those emotions wouldn’t be there, but they still were.

Someone blew a whistle in the distance and you and Changbin walked to the line in the middle of the field and Seungmin and his teammate did the same.

“I’m going to repeat the rules,” the arbiter said, glancing between both teams. “You can’t hit the head. You can’t use an opponent or team member as a shield, and you can’t throw more than one balloon at once. The game ends when there are no more balloons or when a team calls it quits. The team that has been hit the least wins. Questions or concerns?” Everyone shook their heads, and the arbiter blew the whistle again. “Get to your places. Remember, you can’t pass the red lines on the grass.”

“Got it!” Changbin started to walk away, and you looked at Seungmin one last time, and he smiled at you.

“Good luck.”

“You know I suck at this, so I appreciate it.” You placed your hand on his shoulder and smiled. “If you wouldn’t mind, let Changbin win. He is trying to prove a point.”

“I’ll consider your request. But that means I’ll aim at you only.”

“Then we’ll lose because I’m not great at dodging or running away.”

He laughed and your smile widened. Suddenly, you realized what was happening and you cleared your throat, taking your hand from his shoulder, looking away from him. Seungmin chuckled.

“You’re pretty good at running away from your feelings, though.”

You looked at him with an eyebrow raised and watched as he walked away, glancing back to look at you.

“Y/N!” Changbin called and you got back to reality.

“Coming!”

At a fast pace, you made your way back to Changbin who extended you a water balloon, a worried look on his face.

“What did he tell you? You know, you should never talk to your opponents before a big game, Y/N! That’s such a rookie mistake!”

“We’re going to win,” you said to Changbin, certainty in your voice. “So we can prove them wrong.”

“And what are we going to prove Seungmin wrong?” He raised an eyebrow but you didn’t answer him.

“What’s the plan?” You felt the weight of the water balloon in your hand. “Do you focus on one of them or…?”

“I’ll focus on Seungmin and you focus on her. Got it?”

“Got it!” The two of you got into your positions and you rolled back your shoulders, warming up your neck area.

Even if you didn’t win, you at least hoped you could hit one of them with a balloon. That would make you proud and satisfied with all of this.

“Ready? Set? And…” He blew the whistle.

Quickly, everyone around started to cheer and scream, waiting to see what would happen. You got stuck on your feet and didn’t move. You watched as your opponent threw a balloon at you, hitting your feet.

“One point for the blue team!” The arbiter moved the counter and the opposite team now had a point.

“Y/N!” Changbin called, frustrated. “Move, please. Don’t just stand-“

He didn’t finish because Seungmin also hit him with a balloon.

“Two points for the blue team!”

“I thought you were going to hit me,” you screamed at Seungmin who shrugged.

“Maybe he wants to hit on you, Y/N.” Someone screamed from the sidelines and laughed, causing your eyes to widen in panic.

After a deep breath, you took a few steps forward, so you got closer to the line and threw a balloon, hitting Seungmin in the arm when he was distracted high fiving his teammate. He looked at you shocked and you shrugged.

“Guess my aim got better.”

Changbin didn’t waste any time and threw another balloon, hitting Seungmin once again.

“That’s what I’m talking about, baby!” He said and high fived you, grabbing a new water balloon from the basket.

“Two points for the yellow team, both teams are tied!”

The game went on for a while and you got better at it, but you also got hit a couple of times. The one that seemed to excel at this was Changbin who effortlessly dodged all balloons and whoever he aimed at, was never able to escape.

“There’s a tie!” The arbiter announced and you looked at your basket where only a couple of balloons remained.

“May the best team win,” Changbin said and extended you the last balloon, a devilish smile on his lips. “Put all of you into this last throw.”

“That sounds a little dramatic and excessive.”

“Well, all of this is a bit dramatic and excessive, don’t you think?” He winked at you and you simply rolled your eyes, walking back to your position.

You were all covered in water from head to toes, the clothes sticking to your bodies, but drying quickly under the hot sun. After this, you needed a swim at the lake because the cold water would be so refreshing. It was too hot today.

Changbin signalled at you and you followed his advice, putting everything you had into this throw. You aimed for Seungmin once more, your eyes looking into his for a brief second and when the water balloon left your hand, it hit him on his torso with a strong impact. He fell with his hands on his stomach, a painful look on his face.

“Seungmin? You ok?”

“Let him be, Y/N. He’s exaggerating!” Changbin said and rolled his eyes, throwing his last balloon, hitting Seungmin’s teammate.

“Two points for the yellow team! They’re currently winning.”

You kept your gaze on Seungmin as he laid on the ground, screaming in pain.

“Time-out!” You asked the arbiter and ran towards Seungmin, lowering yourself next to him. “What happened? Where does it hurt?”

Slowly, you helped him sit, your eyes going over his features, looking for any signs of distress. Maybe you had put too much of yourself in that last throw.

“I’m… fine.” He tried to take a deep breath but bit his lower lip in pain. “It hurts.”

“Where?” You tried not to panic, but your voice gave it away. “Do you want to go to the infirmary? I can take you.”

“And the game? Don’t you want to win?”

You shook your head. “Winning is not important. Can you stand up, at least?”

He shook his head and you waved at Changbin who reluctantly joined the two of you.

“What’s up?” He asked, glancing at Seungmin. “Is he ok?”

“I need your help. Can you help him get up?”

“Me?” He pointed to himself and you nodded. Changbin took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. “Are you seriously buying into his crap? Y/N, it was a water balloon.”

You rolled your eyes. “Can you help me or not?! If not, I’ll just go get someone else.”

Changbin crossed his arms and looked down at Seungmin. He kept his frown on when Seungmin looked at him with pleading eyes.

“Just help me stand. Y/N can…” he closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath, “she can take me to the infirmary.”

“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” You opened your mouth to protest but Changbin rolled his eyes, signalling you to calm down. “I’ll help the sensitive prince up.”

“Why are you being such a brat?” You asked Changbin. He ignored you and glared at Seungmin before placing his arm around his shoulder. With his other arm, you did the same and slowly, you helped Seungmin up.

Changbin got rid of him as quickly as he could and looked at you as you tried to balance yourself with Seungmin next to you, an arm around his torso as his arm was around your shoulders.

“Call me if you need anything,” Changbin said, looking at you. “And I’m not being a brat, I am just… looking out for you.”

“Thank you.” You smiled at him. “Let me know if we won, will you?”

“Of course.”

Slowly, you and Seungmin started to walk out of the field, everyone’s eyes on you. You passed by the teen that had made the hit on you comment and glared at his playful smile.

“I am helping you as a friend.” You didn’t believe a word you were saying, and you knew he didn’t either. Seungmin could easily tell when you were lying.

He stopped and you stood next to him, waiting for him to catch his breath. His eyes were still on you, but you avoided them by looking at your surroundings like the top of the trees, the cabins in the distance, the pavement below your feet.

“Say it to my face, then.” He spoke softly and you turned to look at him, your heart sinking in your chest. “Say that… you’re doing this because you only see me as a friend and nothing more.”

“That’s not what I said, though. I said I am helping you as a friend. Which I am.”

Even though you said it looking into his eyes, part of you couldn’t help but want to say more, to add to what you just said, to answer his question. But what would that do?

“It’s almost the end of the summer camp,” you whispered, glancing at his lips. “If anything happened right now, it would end in a couple of days, just like last time. You said it yourself, you don’t do long-distance relationships. Can we keep walking?”

Why would you bring that up? It had nothing to do with what you were talking about, with what he was asking you. But maybe, in that statement was the answer he wanted, the answer he didn’t expect. You might have not said it word by word, but he could read in between the lines.

He slowly nodded and looked away from you, hurt in his eyes. “Sure. Let’s go.”

You sat at a bench outside the infirmary, watching as every attendee of the summer camp waited to enter the cafeteria and have lunch. In between your fingers, you twirled a small flower you had caught in a nearby bush, plucking its petals one by one to pass the time and to distract yourself from your thoughts.

A soft breeze greeted your skin and you shivered, the clothes on your body still wet from the water balloon fight. You thought about going to your cabin to get changed but opted by staying here and waiting for Seungmin.

After what felt like a long time, the infirmary door opened and he walked outside with his shirt over his shoulder, his chest bare.

“How bad?” You asked, seeing a soft red bruise over where his stomach was. “I’m sorry I did that. Might’ve gotten too invested in the game.”

“They said I’ll be fine, that what I felt was momentary, but that I should be vigilant.”

“Good to know.” You stood up from the bench and looked at him. “Do you need anything else?”

“I’m good now. Thank you.”

“Ok, then.” You slowly started to walk backwards, keeping your eyes on him. “I’ll… get going, then.”

When he didn’t answer, you took a deep breath and turned around, head looking at your feet so you wouldn’t trip on any fallen branches again. It was fun the first time, but it would be embarrassing if you fell again.

“Y/N?”

“Yes?” You turned around to look at him, your voice a little anxious. He took slow steps towards you, never breaking eye contact.

“I was stupid for breaking up with you.”

“Let’s not go there again, Seungmin.” You shook your head, worried. “I thought we were over this.”

“But are we?” He chuckled. “I don’t think we are. We are constantly diminishing ourselves in each other’s presence afraid we’ll do something wrong because we still care for each other.”

“We care for each other, Seungmin. But we don’t love each other anymore. Those two feelings are different, they are not the same.” You tried to keep calm, but everything inside of you crashed violently the more you stared at him.

“But I still love you, Y/N. Can’t you see that?!”

“Seungmin, don’t do this to me. Just don’t, ok?” You shook your head trying to make sense of what was happening. “You tell me this and then when summer camp is over, what will you do? Because last time, you told me we would last outside of this place and then what happened? That’s right. You broke up with me.”

“I was dumb, stupid, a reckless fool. I didn’t know what I wanted. I… I thought it would be for the best.”

“And do you know what you want now?” You crossed your arms, your mind dizzy. “What do you want, Seungmin? We’ll never be like how we were before. That innocence we had, that excitement, that… love… All of that changed now. We’ve changed.”

“You know what being apart from you taught me?” He took a few more steps towards you, fixing the shirt resting on his shoulder. “I’d rather be away from you knowing we’re together because no matter how far away from each other we are, I would always love you.”

“Seungmin…” You gulped, hoping that the sob building up in your throat would go down but instead you were left speechless. Right now, nothing made sense to you. Why would he say this to you, didn’t he know how much you had suffered because of him? You didn’t want that again.

“I want us to try again,” he whispered, his eyes getting watery. “That’s what I want. More than anything else.”

“I…” The words didn’t come out, no matter how much you tried. You loved him too and you wanted to try as well, but you were too terrified, too scarred from what had happened in the past.

Nothing could guarantee he wouldn’t break your heart again. You could tell he meant it but until when? As far as you knew, he could change his mind on the last day of summer camp, telling you that it wouldn’t work. And then, what? He wouldn’t be the one dealing with your broken heart, you would have to make it whole again.

“Give me some time to think. Please.”

“I will,” he nodded. “Take all the time you need, I’ll be waiting. And know that I’ll respect your decision, no matter what it is.”

“Thank you.”

Without exchanging any more words, you parted ways with him and walked back to your cabin to get changed and tried to make some sense of where your true feelings stood.

The final event at summer camp was your absolute favourite and now that you were a staff member, everything was even better. The cafeteria had been changed for the small dance party with the tables against the walls with all kinds of food and drinks for the participants.

The walls had been decorated with fairy lights that gave the entire space a mythical feeling where laughs and conversations filled the room with loud music. Near the DJ booth stood a board where participants went to leave small messages about their time here and what they had enjoyed the most. You loved going over them and reading what had stood out to each of them, a smile greeting your lips when you remembered the moments mentioned.

“Your turn,” Changbin extended a piece of paper and a pen your way, smiling. “I already wrote mine, so now you have to write yours as well.”

You bit your lip and shook your head. “I’ll write it, just… not yet.”

“I don’t trust you on that.” He grabbed your hand and put the piece of paper and the pen on top. “Write something, like I enjoyed my cabin partner or, I threw a water balloon and won a game against my ex! Something fun and exciting.”

“That is so fun and exciting.” You rolled your eyes and opened the pen, scribbling something down on the paper. When you were done, you turned it and showed it to him. “What do you think?”

“Looking forward to working here again next year? Really, Y/N?”

You shrugged as you grabbed two pins to hang your pieces of paper next to each other on the board.

“You forced me to write so I wrote the first thing that popped into my head. And for all its worth, I will be here again next year. You?”

“You bet!” The two of you high fived and laughed afterwards. “I like it more as a staff member than as a participant. I get to do more things and I can sleep with whoever I want in the cabin.”

“You only slept with me in the cabin, though.” You looked at him, concerned. “Right?”

He shrugged. “There were instances where you weren’t in the cabin…”

“Changbin… are you serious?” You crossed your arms, appalled. “Is there anything I should know for tonight?”

“I’m kidding, Y/N. But next time, I’ll make sure to let you know.” He winked at you playfully causing you to roll your eyes. “Let’s go dance. We’ve been walking around for too long.”

Following Changbin’s suggestion, the two of you walked away from the board and went to the dancefloor, slowly enjoying the music and laughing at each other. Your eyes scanned the crowd and you looked for Seungmin, to no avail. He wasn’t near the board, or suggesting songs to the DJ, or even enjoying some of the food. And on the dance floor, you didn’t see his face.

“He’s not coming,” Changbin said over the loud music and you stopped dancing.

“Seungmin’s not coming?” He shook his head.

“He said he wasn’t feeling it and decided to stay at his cabin.”

“Oh.” You were disappointed, to say the least. After all, you had dressed up nicely and expected to enjoy this final night with him and tell him your answer. “I’ll go find him.”

Without paying attention to Changbin’s protest, you made your way out of the cafeteria, the cold and the darkness of the night taking over you. Quickly, you made your way to his cabin and knocked on the door, glancing through the windows to find the entire place with the lights off.

“Seungmin?” You called his name after knocking again. “Are you in there?”

No response. You tried calling him on your phone, but it went to voicemail. After knocking on his door a couple more times, you decided to look for him somewhere else.

The deck near the lake.

In the dark, you kept a fast pace as you walked, the crickets and the night breeze clashing with your thoughts and footsteps on the beaten track. You didn’t slow down, and at some point, you realized you were running.

Finally, you reached the deck and saw Seungmin’s figure in the distance, throwing rocks into the water. You stopped to catch your breath, your heart jumping in your chest.

This should’ve been the first place you should have looked for him. He always came here when he was stressed or worried, and you were sure that was the reason why he was here right now. After all, tomorrow everyone would go back to their homes and you still hadn’t given him an answer.

You fixed your outfit and took a deep breath, walking slowly towards him. Even if you wanted to be silent, your steps echoed in the wood below your feet, some of it creaking as you stepped on it.

Seungmin threw one more rock before slowly turned around to find you walking towards him, lowering his arm when he recognized you.

“I came to look for you,” you said when you were close to him. “You weren’t at the party…”

“I didn’t feel like going,” he admitted, his eyes looking at you from head to toes, a soft smile on his lips. “You look beautiful, by the way.”

“Thank you.”

You walked closer to him and stopped by his side, looking at what was presented in front of you two. The darkness was overwhelming, and it reminded you of the unknown, of what you wanted to know, but didn’t dare to question.

But that was about to change.

“One year ago, you… broke up with me at that party. I had never felt anything like it. I didn’t understand it. If what we had was good, then why ruin it? I was willing to do everything, I had even talked with my parents about organizing trips to go and see you. But then you… said what we had wasn’t worth it and I was gutted. Devastated.”

You turned to face him, seeing the sorrow in his expression as you tried to contain your own.

“I tried to… be with other people. To find what we had somewhere else, to give my love to someone else. But I realized that I was still hung up on what we had. Because what we had was the best I ever had. And when you loved me, you loved me so well. And I have been longing for that love ever since I stopped having it.”

Seungmin was uncertain of what to do. His mouth was open as to speak, but he didn’t say anything. He moved forward with his arms slightly raised but stopped, returning to his original position. You wiped the tears from your eyes and tried to smile.

“This summer I was looking for closure. I came here to close the cycle, to allow myself to finally move on, and to… to come to terms with the fact that what we had was great, but it wasn’t coming back, that you had moved on and so should I. But then you told me you wanted to try again. That you wanted to give us another chance. And I was terrified that we’d end up in the same place we were last year. Breaking up and drifting apart.”

“I wouldn’t let that happen again, Y/N,” Seungmin whispered as he moved closer to you, his hand finding your cheek, caressing it softly. “I wouldn’t let that happen.”

You nodded, your hand finding his on your cheek, your heart picking up the pace. It had been so long since you’d been this close to each other, since you felt his touch.

“How can you be so sure of that?” You asked, afraid of the answer. Words came easy to Seungmin, but actions were something entirely different.

“Because I’ll give you everything I’ve got. Everything.” He licked his lips and stepped closer to you, glancing at your lips before meeting your eyes. “I won’t quit on us. Not while I believe we can work, not while I know that we’re both committed to making this work. I know it won’t be easy, but this time I won’t tell you I don’t want to try. Right now, that’s all I want. For us to try, for us to be together, for us to… love each other again.”

“And how would we do this?” You gulped. “We would still be apart, Seungmin.”

“I’d go and visit you,” he started, certain of his words. “We could facetime every other day and text each other. And you could come and visit me as well. I… I have been thinking about this for a while. We failed because I quit before giving our relationship a chance. Let’s not do that again.”

Even though you wanted to answer him, there were no words to express what you were feeling. You were staring back at him, and you saw hope in his eyes, the pleading nature of his expression. He wanted this. This wasn’t just Seungmin saying things for the sake of it. He meant all of it. He believed in what he was saying to you.

He believed you could love each other again. And right now, you believed that too.

“Let’s… try.”

He took a deep breath, a relieved smile reaching his lips.

You took a step closer to him, feeling his body against yours, the familiarity of it all surrounding you in warmth. He leaned his head closer to yours and you kissed. Even after being apart all this time, you still remembered the taste of his lips on yours, the softness and care with which he kissed you, how his hair felt in between your fingers, how his hands held your waist and pulled you closer.

“I missed you,” he whispered in between your kisses, glancing at your eyes. “I missed you so much.”

You pulled him closer and kissed him again, your hands going down the back of his head towards his neck, resting on his shoulders. When you pulled apart to catch your breath, you couldn’t hide the smile on your face.

“Let’s go.” He let go of your waist and you extended him a hand and he held it, intertwining your fingers.

“Where?” Seungmin asked as you walked away from the lake and towards the cafeteria.

“I won’t let you skip the party. It’s the most important event of summer camp.”

He laughed and you leaned closer to him, a bright smile on your face. You had missed this as well. You had missed looking at him and seeing the world in him, you had missed being able to hold his hands and call him your boyfriend, you had missed Seungmin a lot.

But now, now you had the chance to love each other again. And you weren’t going to quit this time. You were going to give him your all as well. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be worth it.

Please, like/reblog this if you enjoy reading it and let me know your thoughts, I’m always appreciative of your feedback! ©mxxndreams 2021 Copying, reposting, translating and/or modifications of my work is strictly prohibited. Moodboard images from Pinterest. I do not own the rights to any of them, credit goes to rightful owners. If any of the images featured is yours, please reach out to me so I can properly credit it or remove it.

[junhuistotoroonesie]

joshua is the kind of best friend that acts so boyfriend like he’s even got you questioning what the hell both of you are. let’s talk about it.

like. he knows your order at almost every place you stop for food. always carries scrunchies on his wrists if you need them, and keeps a small polaroid of you in his wallet that he shows off to everyone no matter how many times you roll your eyes in equal parts embarrassment, exasperation, and fondness. and he keeps bandaids next to it because you can be a little clumsy at times.

he eats off your plate if it comes with something you don’t like, will drape himself over you mid conversation and act like he isn’t a distraction while you struggle to focus on anything, and almost never lets you hold anything if he can help it—whether it be books, bags, or doors.

he also likes rushing to open your car door for you, and you’ve learned to let him enjoy it. if the the crestfallen look he’d given you once he realized you’d walked out on your own counted as a lesson. instead, you wait patiently as he jogs over to your side to greet you with a goofy grin and a cheesy after you.

he’s even pretended to be your boyfriend on multiple occasions, from creepy guys at bars not knowing how to take no for an answer to bailing you out of sticky situations entailing prying friends and family. so for all anyone knows, you’re practically a happy couple.

so when a fairly new friend of yours asks if your best friend was single when he leaves your group to order for them all, and your other ones look at you in varying degrees of curiosity, you can’t help but spit out something along the lines of no, he isn’t. you’re only soothed by the smile he reserves for you when he returns, but you can’t help but scowl into your fries as you hear the newbie flirt with him despite your words.

you don’t even know why it’s affecting you so bad. this—whatever you had with him—was making your head spin, and it’s not long before he catches on to your sour mood. (he knows you. your heart aches.) he rattles off an excuse for the both you, sweet in sound, and to your extremely petty and childish delight, smoothly declines the newbie’s number when they slyly offer it to him.

ha.

but he still makes your heart flutter and your stomach sick when he reminds you to buckle in, moving to reverse out of the parking lot before you reach out to stop him. he’s so close, looking at you with the utmost care in the world as his eyes search your for any reason for your discomfort, and your eyes squeeze shut before blurting your heart’s contents.

you’re met with silence for a little more than you expected and your heart sinks sixty feet into the ground. you’ve ruined it for sure. now you’ll have to convince your parents to move away and relocate somewhere unknown and assume a new identity and—

you peek an eye open at the muffled sound of laughter. embarrassment rises tenfold when he looks like he’s been laughing—but he also has the decency to look a little shy himself.

“i did this all backwards, huh.” what?

joshua’s the kind of best friend to show you he loves you rather than tell you, i feel. like a real life prince charming. he knows all your secrets and you know his.

except for the itty bitty one detailing him being in love with you for as long as he could remember. you know, like you should have known all this time.

you’re left staring at him, open mouthed, as he talks about it like you’re discussing something as simple as the weather, and you lean back against the seat winded as you retain the new… information. your silence makes him pause momentarily, hands squeezing yours, and he laughs when you regard him with wide eyes once more.

“you don’t have to say anything or return the feelings just because i’m telling you,” he muses, voice soft as his fingers tracing over your knuckles. “i like being there for you. taking care of you. i do it because i want to, so—don’t think you have to like. force yourself to do anything you don’t want.”

joshua’s so selfless, sometimes, often at the expsense of his own feelings. you can only give him the most exasperated, squinty-eyed look you can muster while your heart still beats the drumline of a death metal song in your chest.

“i like you, too, you idiot!”

“what?!”