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fyuyushia · 2 days ago

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Five Dates is Enough (To Be Yours) SJ x Reader Word count: 21.5K I might have gone a bit wild. Reccomended to read only if you're bored and ready to bear with my grammar errors because i am not a peak writer I fear

Or in which, Sung Jinwoo realizes he had a secret admirer all along with the help of a certain mirror. He wants to pay you back and the agreed deal is....Go on five dates together.

"Excuse me," timid hands carefully brought up mana crystals each the size of a finger. "How much can I pawn these mana crystals for?" He lays it down on a provided tray gently, as if afraid the meager crystal would break under the smallest of pressure. It glows dimly, it's light flickering, threatening to die out.

The cashier hums, her eyes widening ever so slightly as she stares at the dying crystals. She pauses, and he could feel her gaze sweeping over his dirty form. Though he no longer had the injuries that brought him near death marring his skin, the dirt and grime clung to his clothes even after the healing-evidence of his near death experience in one of the dungeons. Jinwoo clutches the sleeves of his hoodie, wondering if he made the worker uncomfortable with their presence. He was aware of how he looked. His appearance, when compared to the clean and elegant feel of the office, made him seem to be a beggar-and perhaps that's not far off what he really is.

He had picked up crumbs of the crystals the rest of the team didn't bother getting, hoping it would be at least worth something. Any amount would do, he'd be satisfied with chump change. This was his first dungeon run, and he couldn't afford to come back empty handed. He had a sister to feed, a mother at the hospital, and a house due for payment-he had to come back with at least something if he wanted to give Jinah a good life whilst both parents were out of the picture.

The worker walks away, taking the tray to be appraised. In the meantime, he stands by the reception, afraid of staining the provided seats with the filth that clung to him like second skin. Meanwhile, he plays with his fingers, lips curved into a frown. He awaits the appraisal with bated breath, praying for something-at least enough to buy his sister dinner. After all, she was still young, she needed food in order to grow up well.

His eyes water, but no tears leave his eyes. Instead his lips quiver, fingers desperately clenching around the other. Would he be able to make it through this week?

The receptionist soon returned with the crystals carried still on a tray. She places it on the desk, and Jinwoo swallows the saliva that gathers round his throat.

"So, how much?"

The receptionist curls her lips into a smile, the form slipping into a frown every now and then despite her attempts to keep it civil. Jinwoo's heart sinks at the sight, mistaking it to be disgust-he couldn't blame them, after all, he was dirty. "The mana crystals you've obtained can be exchanged for 73,000 won." The receptionist stammers, sounding almost unsure with her words.

Jinwoo doesn't pay it any mind, only focusing on the amount. He grins-it's not nearly close to what his other party members got, but it was something. Snd something was enough to make him happy. "Great." He smiles, relieved. "That's really great."

It's not big, not toothy, but it's there. It's a quiet smile, eyes crinkling just slightly, and the exhaustion that made his shoulders stiff loosens a bit.

"Would you like that in cash?"

Jinwoo nods, failing to notice the small tremble in your voice. The receptionist keeps its smile, and Jinwoo is returning it, albeit, more enthusiastically.

Jinwoo hears them clearing their throat and takes out an envelope. She slides it to him, crisp, clean, and fresh-he eagerly accepts it.

"The receipt and bills are inside. Please check if the amount is correct."

He opens the envelope, carefully counting each bill, ensuring the amount. When he finds that it's all correct, his smile grows wider, as if grounded by the fact that he really got this. He got it, this was his.

"I have enough to feed us now." He murmurs.

Turning to face the worker, he gives a bow a bit too low, still wearing the same smile. "Thank you very much."

The worker replies after a bit, hesitant in their tone. "We look forward to seeing you again, dear hunter."

"Hyung!"

Jinwoo hums, looking around the cave structured dungeon. "What?"

Jinho clutches the pickaxe in his hand. Though Jinwoo assured him he didn't need to do it, he stubbornly insisted, wanting to do something whilst Jinwoo did all the fighting-and his shadows did all the mining. "Well, we've already scavenged the gate for everything we can. Should we turn back now?"

Jinwoo quirks a brow. Looking around, he finds that, sure enough, Jinho's words rang true and the shadow soldiers had already mined every mana stone, as well as handled the carcasses of the monsters that littered around the dungeon.

All of the loots were lined up neatly. One side had grouped every mana crystal together, the other cores, the others fur-and more. Aesthetically and efficiently sorted, courtesy of Beru.

"Sure. Let's go back."

For a moment, his gaze lingers on the mana crystals. Not to gloat, but to remember where he came from. A stumbling, bumbling mess who picked up the leftover loot of the teams he joined. He could almost laugh at the irony-here he is now, getting a whole cart and more of them when he struggles to get even one proper ore back then.

"Hyung?"

"Let's go back." He pockets his hand, telling the shadows to stop and take the gathered loot out. "How many gates do we still have to go through?"

"Only two left. This one's an A rank-everyone's been avoiding this one because the last parties got wiped out. But the other's a C rank so we can rest easy there."

Jinwoo furrows his brows, interest piqued. "It's dangerously close to dungeon breaking." Jinho continues, recounting the information he's gathered about the gate. "Then we have to deal with it fast. Let's go."

"Yes, Hyung!"

You sighed, stretching your back languidly. Hours of facing the computer didn't do well for your posture-gosh you looked like a shriveled up shrimp by now.

"You look horrible." Your friend snickers, taking a peek through your cubicle.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, captain obvious." Disregarding her comment with a roll of your eyes, a small laugh escapes you despite your playful display of annoyance.

"So, how's being promoted to division lead of hunter support services feel like?"

"Horrible."

Rubbing your hand over your temple, you cringe at the thought of piled up paperworks and emails labelled as urgent you couldn't get around to answering just yet. "Gosh, I feel like I've aged thirty years already and It's only just been two months." You bang your head against your desk, already feeling your sanity slip away the longer you stay in this line of work.

Your friend hums, barely holding in a snicker. She takes a sip of her coffee, using it as a horrible cover up for her amusement at your suffering. "Well, fighting. You can do it! Just one more day before you finally get a day off!"

You look at your friend with narrowed eyes, nearing a glare as you scrutinize her form. She pays you no mind, only leisurely sips her coffee and even dares to wiggle her brows all the while keeping eye contact. You roll your eyes at her antics, but a small smile that twitches up your lips betrays your fondness for the eccentric woman.

As the conversation eases into quiet company, you busy yourself once more with your duties. She turns around, stands behind you with a hand on her hip as she finishes the last of her coffee.

"Still so hard at work, poor Cinderella. She saw the light and thought she'd find her happy ever after-only to learn the light wasn't salvation but the monitor screen shining during the ungodly hours at 1 am." She raises her plastic cup like it's a wine glass. "Who would've thought? It was actually foreshadowing the mountain of work you'd have-a warning if you will. Poor Cinderella didn't realize it at the time."

You stopped typing and glared up at her. "Are you here just to annoy me or what?"

She coughs and straightens up. "Ah, don't be so hostile! I came here to ask if you want to go eat dinner with me."

You quirked a brow. "Your treat?"

"My treat."

Another raise-higher than the last. "That's suspicious."

"What do you mean it's suspicious?"

"You and treat you in the same sentence? Sounds possessed."

"Hey!" Your friend huffs, playfully glaring at you. You giggle, eyes glinting with amusement. "You're saying that as if I'm super stingy with money."

"Oh? And you're not?"

She pouts, feeling half the urge to drill her knuckle on your head. "I'm not like that! Why are you mischaracterizing me."

You roll your eyes and give a half smug half smirk grin. "Oh really? Who are we convincing?"

She clenches her jaw and forcefully ignores your jab. "Are you going to come or not?"

You giggle, but shake your head no. With a resigned sigh, you look at your monitor like it was the reason for everything wrong in your life. "Unfortunately I can't go, I still have so much work to do. I think I'll have to do it overtime tonight."

"That so?" She hums, barely hiding her disappointment. "What exactly are you doing that takes so long? You've been overtiming for days already."

Heaving out a sigh, you grit your teeth and let out a humorless laugh. "Oh nothing, really. Just the paperwork backlog of a nation's worth of dungeon raids, appraisals, insurance reports, compensation claims, and a dozen angry calls from hunters who think the world owes them something because they didn't die this time."

"Oof. Sounds rough."

You groan. "Tell me about it." You slumped forward dramatically, cheek pressing against the cool desk surface with a heavy thud. "Do you think if I die here, they'll list it as a workplace casualty and give my family a pension?"

Your friend scoffed. "Please, you'd be reanimated by sheer guilt and unfinished paperwork."

Again, another groan mixed with a huff. "I was stupid. Blinded by greed. Now I see that the paycheck was an apology for all the nights I've lost dealing with irate hunters. Cruel business, luring in hope filled newbies with promises of promotion only to be thrown in a cage and forced to work like a show monkey without rest."

Your friend whistles. "Bit exaggerated, don't you think?"

You give her a glare. She raises both hands in mock surrender, a wry smile playing on her lips. One look is enough to convince her of your suffering, it seems. She pats you on the shoulders, encouraging you to brave through your battles.

"Fight on, soldier! You can do it. Want me to buy you coffee?"

You sigh through your nose. "Please do."

"Aye aye! Just be careful, too much caffeine is bad for your health."

"You're one to speak, coffee junkie."

She purses her lips. "Fair."

She hums, leaning down and taking a peek at your monitor, curious about what work you were currently busying yourself with. "What're you working on right now?"

"Nothing much, just checking and approving gate activities."

Your friend hums, a hand resting on your shoulder, the other on the desk. "Hunter guild, knights guild, white tiger guild-all big names, wow."

"What's so impressive about it? I'm just approving their requests to clear the dungeon, nothing more."

Your friend squints at the screen. You can feel the shift in her energy even before she says anything.

"Mmhmm. Sure. Nothing more."

You freeze.

She leans closer, the silence dripping with meaning. Then-"Oh. Would you look at that." Her voice is feather-light. Mockingly casual.

You don't want to look. You know what she's looking at.

"Ah... here we go again. The Ahjin Guild. That newly-formed, small independent guild with exactly the bare minimum amount of hunters. And would you look at that-mhm great-his application is stamped, signed, and processed before the White Tiger Guild's. Even though they submitted theirs first by one day."

You close your eyes, already feeling your soul wither at having been caught playing favorites. "Please go away."

"Nope. Not a chance. We're talking about this." She spins your chair around, hands on the armrests to keep you in place like a warden interrogating a very guilty criminal. "You bumped him up the list again, didn't you?"

You sigh, looking away and quickly reasoning yourself, "There was a timing issue, and it's an A-rank gate near break and Jinwoo's fast and efficient and better than-"

"Don't you dare act like this is about public safety." She points an accusing finger, you flinch a smidge. "You did this last week too. You act like you're just doing your job but you're literally giving VIP treatment to a guy who probably doesn't even remember your name. Unethical work ethics. You are the very embodiment of corruption."

"Rude." You grumble, the tips of your ears burning in both shame and embarrassment. "There's no particular ground breaking motive here. I'm just doing my job and considering who works fastest. For the safety of the citizens. And it's not all the time-just a few dungeons here and there."

You turn your chair around to face your monitor-your one true companion through your overtime.

"...right. and I'm the president of the hunters association." Her eyes narrow to form a glare.

"Just shut up and look the other way. You're not helping." You focus your attention on your work instead, trying to mute her out, knowing her choice of words was about to get lengthy. "I just want to help a poor soul out."

"And that poor soul is now one of the-if not the strongest S-rank hunter in korea. With a guild. And good looks-heavy on that by the way. I doubt he needs your help anymore."

"Well yes but-"

"But but-but what? He might need more?"

"Yes."

"His co-founder's a nepo baby, [name]. A nepo baby. He has enough help." Your fingers smash against the keyboard in frustration. She doesn't stop-only continues to grill you for your display of bias. "Do you like him or what?"

A pause. You flinch. Your friend's quick to notice your sudden freeze, and pieces things together.

"No way, you really do?" She gasps, hand on her mouth and all the dramatics. Your face burns, but you power through it and keep your attention on the screen.

"So what if I do? Just leave me alone." You murmur, voice trembling as you fight the urge to run away-you knew this crush was stupid. It's been years, and you still haven't gotten over that silly fondness you felt for the man, even after he's risen through the charts and became stronger.

"...oh my." She blinks, not having expected such forward admittance. "I..."

"I don't know what's worse, you liking that guy back when he was nothing more than a stick posing as a human-"

"That's rude. He was nice and tenacious. He was also hard working and selfless, always smiling and all."

"Uhuh sure sure." She ignores you, and you huff in annoyance. "Or the fact that you like him enough to make your life harder when he doesn't even know you."

"He does know me." You grumble under your breath.

"And that's only as that one nice miss receptionist who always handles his appraises! He doesn't even know you docked money from your own pay to make his own things worth at least something!"

"I don't expect anything from him!" You huff, raising your voice just a tad before sighing. You settle on a quieter tone, mindful of your current place. "I'm just happy to see he's doing well."

"Oh he's doing more than well alright. Have you heard of the rumors? Cha Hae-in and that same Sung Jinwoo might be getting a little too chummy with each other lately."

You pause. Your lips part slightly, but no sound comes out. You blink a few times, fast and uneven, like your brain is buffering. The words hit harder than you expect even when you knew it was coming, lodging somewhere in your throat. You try to laugh it off-something dry and short-but it catches halfway, turns into a small, deep inhale.

"I mean, it's just rumors," your friend adds quickly, her tone suddenly shifting when she catches the look on your face, doing a whole 180 from her teasing demeanor. "They always say stuff about Hunters, right? People ship anyone who-"

"Yeah," you whisper, and your voice trembles just enough to make her stop mid-sentence. You try to type again, but your vision grows blurry. Lucky for you, you already memorized the entire layout of the keyboard enough to be confident that you were typing the right thing even if you didn't see it. Perks of working too much.

"Of course. That makes sense. She's... She's amazing. Strong. Pretty. Actually relevant to his life. Unlike me. I just sit in my office doing boring stuff no one bothers to pay attention to."

"Wait-no, hey, you know I didn't mean-" she reaches for your shoulder, voice laced with panic as she feels her impending, feeling like an irredeemable villain for making her friend cry. "Gosh, are you crying? Oh no. No, no, no. Please don't cry. Not here-I didn't mean it like that, I swear!"

"I'm not crying," you croak, blinking rapidly as your lashes stick together. "I just-it's fine. I knew. I always knew. I was never-he was never-" Your words stumble and collapse even as you try to stay strong.

Your friend scrambles, digging through her bag. "Do I have tissues? I don't. Great. Wait-why don't I have tissues? I always have tissues. I swear this bag eats them right when I need them." She pauses looking around. "Here, here-take my sleeve. No, wait, that's gross. Sorry, I don't want to go about my day with snot on my sleeves-no offense."

She looks around again. "Here, use my scarf. Wait, that's expensive. No-actually just-just cry on me, it's fine. Just don't look like that, you're making me feel like the villain in a drama-"

You blink, watching her panic and stumble out words. He lets out a laugh, watery and small, and she exhales like she just avoided a total meltdown.

"Gosh, you really do like him," she mutters, voice gentler now as she puts a comforting hand on your back. "You idiot. You sweet, quietly heroic idiot."

You sniffle, wiping your tears aggressively. "Shut up. I know I'm hopeless."

Your friend huffs, shaking her head. "That so? I do hope your luck turns around and you find a nice guy out there."

"Thanks. You too."

The new A rank dungeon was a wonder. Admittedly, Jinwoo was fascinated by its workings. It worked differently from the rest, instead of only requiring brute force, it included testing your mental fortitude.

"I don't like this dungeon, it's gloomy and eerie." Jinho muttered, sticking close to Jinwoo so as to not get lost.

The dungeon was unforgiving, comrades were lost if one got too far apart, the most blocking your perception. Right when you're at your most vulnerable does it strike-taking the shape of the one you hold dear in your heart and with their face do they strike as you lower your guard.

Though he himself admitted to falling for it once as it took the shape of Jinho, the dungeon's gimmicks soon became obvious when he found his younger sister inside the dungeon when she shouldn't be, followed by the discovery of the very distinct mana signature the monsters specifically gave off.

The boss was even more curious. It was simply a large mirror with a faceless mask trapped inside the shards.

As they reached the end of the palace structure dungeon-the throne room, they expected a powerful foe. Maybe something like Igris, or a king and a queen-not a human sized mirror-not dozens of mirrors pointed to him, each peeking through his past and picking apart what they could use.

"Hyung! I'm gonna die! Please don't let go of me!" Jinwoo flinches, feeling Jinho cling to him tightly. "Calm down you won't die-there are shadows assigned to you, they'll protect you if things go wrong." He says chidingly.

"You can't be sure of that! Please let me cling to you just this once, Hyung!"

Jinwoo sighs, but pats his head nonetheless in wordless assurance. "Do what you like."

And so the battle began. The tricks were clever, it certainly would've worked on anyone other than Jinwoo.

As shards broke open and out came mangled monsters daring to mold their faces into perfect copies of the people he encountered, screeching as a neverending stream of black tears ran down their cheeks, his shadow soldiers began to work.

Beru and Igris made quick work of the mirrors that would duplicate like a cell doing mitosis-but they eventually managed to pierce through the very body-the very mirror that initiated such spells after, honestly? not long.

With a decisive strike of Igris' sword slashing down on the main body, the illusions quickly fell apart in one fell swoop. They crumbled like sand and merged with the ground, the mirrors fading away into mists before usurping back into the main body, now cracking and in tatters.

"I've...lost." the mask beneath the mirror murmurs, but its lips do not move.

Igris raises his longsword, preparing to deal the final blow. Jinwoo raised a hand to stop Igris.

The knight paused mid-swing, frozen in obedience.

The mirror pulsed, weakly now, its light flickering. From within, the faceless mask shifted ever so slightly, the faintest ripple crossing the surface of the shattered glass. The voice came again, not spoken aloud, but echoing inside Jinwoo's mind.

"Ask."

His brows furrowed. "Ask what?"

The mirror shimmered, threads of mana spinning like veins across the fractured glass. "Ask me anything. I will answer. It is your reward for clearing this dungeon... Brave warrior."

There was a beat of silence as the air stilled, Jinho behind him too shocked to breathe. Both mouth and eyes wide in surprise, he urges Jinwoo to come closer with a push. Jinwoo allows himself to be whisked along with a frown. The dungeon was strange from the start, and now this? How odd, truly odd. But curiosity stirred in his chest-dangerous, but irresistible.

"...Who made you?" he asked first, testing its truth, its willingness to share.

"I was born of collective yearning-a desire to know what cannot be known. A mirror not of flesh, but of the soul."

Cryptic, but...fascinating.

He tried again. "Why were you set here?"

"To protect the answers. To test who is worthy of asking."

"Then let's test this," he muttered, stepping closer to the crumbling mirror. He looks at the mask through cracked shards and asks. "Do you hear voices that tell you to kill humans??"

A moment, the shards flicker with light and build together. "We-[REDACTED]" the shards tremble, as if unable to bear the weight of the truth, and then split apart in several little pieces.

Jinwoo watches on with unease, disappointed to learn that the mirror was no different than the others despite claiming to answer his questions with nothing but the truth. Then again, it most likely isn't their fault, something was purposefully censoring key details, preventing him from learning the full truth.

He sighs, but he doesn't let it get him down in the mud. He pauses for a moment to consider another question, then again, what does he want to learn? Everything he wants to learn is kept hidden away from him, and there's nothing else that comes to mind.

He stares at the fractured mirror as its glow dimmed, faint pulses of mana still flickering weakly through the cracks, clearly reaching its end. This thing knew things-it showed things. Not necessarily everything, clearly, but enough to dig under his skin. Enough to make him feel eerie.

It had shown him faces. People he already knew loved him-family, Jinho. Obvious answers. Emulated their appearance down to the smallest details, copied their voices to their very own speaking quirks-it was clear that this boss was no usual monster. It utilized human connection, using their own bonds in order to make unsuspecting victims fall to their trap.

And so now he wondered—just how deep did its knowledge run?

Maybe it was the strangeness of the dungeon. Maybe it was the lingering quiet that came with not having to fight for once, with not needing to survive, just to ask.

Maybe he just wanted to test the mirror's limits.

He sends Jinho off to gather the materials.

Jinho, ever the obedient one quickly listens, reserving his own questions for later as he hesitantly walks away with a pickaxe in hand.

Jinwoo waits after he's a few feet away, and when he feels Jinho's presence is no longer as obvious, he finally asks. After a long pause, he murmured-not quite serious, not quite joking-

"Who loves me the most?"

A moment, and then the shards flicker in acknowledgement of his words. A beat, and the floating shards merge with one another to present him a clear picture of his family.

Painted in vivid image, was his family-simply going about their day-reflected in the mirror. A smile on their face, a laugh as it morphs to shift the scene into a present event.

Jinwoo's eyes widened, then softened. A small smile emerges from his usually straight lined lips. His family was fitting-and even if he knew it already, it still warmed his heart nonetheless.

Then he moves onto another, willing the reflection to fade and the mirror to go back to its own original shape.

He thinks for a moment, pondering what to ask next. Then, disarmingly, he asks a question he doesn't expect an answer to. Just for curiosity's sake and nothing more.

"Who loves me the most? Romantically."

The mirror whirrs, flickers, then the light fades. He expected that to be the end of it. However, after a second more, the shard stores once more and slowly connects with one another.

Light refracts, blinding him for a split second before a picture is formed and a face is known.

Surprisingly enough, it wasn't Hae-in who appeared-a woman he didn't know much of outside of his brief encounters with her-a woman who also admitted interest when she expressed her desire to join his guild-but another face took shape.

It was familiar enough to make Jinwoo's eyes light up with recognition, but also stranger enough to make Jinwoo doubt the authenticity of the answer.

Your image showed in the mirror, typing away at your cubicle. Unassuming, just doing your work, unaware that you were being peered at by a boss monster, unaware that he's watching you through it.

You?

He remembers you as a kind soul. A face he's come to know during his days as an E-tanker. You were nice, if not the very epitome of professionalism. You took him in even when he came at closing time to have his goods be appraised.

He remembers buying you a drink from a vending machine once whilst you were out-just a small thank you from him to you for always accepting him at your desk when others were reluctant.

But that was the extent of your direct contact outside of work. Any other time only included appraisals and applications to join certain dungeon raiding teams.

He never truly knew you outside of work.

And that made you showing up all the more surprising.

"Is this a mistake?" Jinwoo asks-not offensively, but moreso surprised.

After all, you were always professional, quick to the point. Sure, maybe you offered him a few encouraging words once, but you never pushed further.

You liked him?

The mirror doesn't stop its projection. Jinwoo stares at it, outwardly expressing no emotion.

He didn't know what to make of it, he had asked that question on a whim and now that he's gotten an answer he didn't account for, he's unsure how to tread now.

Come to think of it, he hasn't seen you much recently. You were no longer in the reception acting as a receptionist, and he hasn't been visiting the official office, preferring to pawn his loot somewhere else he could get much more worth from.

And yet to think it still showed your face...

He couldn't quite erase the thought of you on his mind now.

The last dungeon was an easy clear.

It was almost laughable how easily he defeated the boss and its lackeys. If the him of the past saw him now he'd surely be spell wondered.

As everyone began their rightful work with Jinwoo doing absolutely nothing for the most part, he walked around the dungeon with such laxness like it was his birth right to do so.

His hands are kept in the pockets of his coat, observing everyone as they diligently take everything of worth, careful to not damage any goods.

Jinwoo's gaze lands on the shadow soldiers picking the mana crystals.

For a moment, he pauses and just watches. And remembers the first time he went on a dungeon run.

He nearly died then. By the time the raid was finished be obtained nothing of worth.

He remembers picking up the little chunks left after everyone mined every crystal in the vicinity then, hoping he would get something from these sharp pieces of faded crystals.

He did get one in the end, didn't he? A silver lining after nearly dying, he had managed to exchange it enough for dinner and a little bit of something.

But...

Jinwoo walks towards the busy shadow soldiers. Everyone in the vicinity halts their actions and salutes their own monarch.

He pays them little mind, urging them to go back to clearing the dungeon before the gate closes and the cave falls apart.

He looks at the crystal vein, mostly cleared of everything except a few stray chunks here and there that were worth little to nothing. Jinwoo narrows his eyes, smiling a bit at the memory. This view was familiar, but he no longer needed to pick up the little pieces that fell off larger chunks to make money anymore.

Yet still he picks it up. Kneeling down to one knee, he picks up a small chunk-barely the size of his ring finger and lifts it up.

It dimmed faintly, the mana almost gone from the crystal. Strikingly similar to the same one he gave to be appraised, and, funnily enough, the very same person who worked on it was also you.

"Jinho"

"Huh? Yes?" Jinho stands up, his attention to Jinwoo.

"How much is this crystal worth?" He points his gaze to the one in his hand.

"Mana crystals? Well, with how much we got they're at least worth a couple million."

"Not that," Jinwoo cuts off. "This." He extends the crystal to Jinho. "How much is this worth?"

"Huh, that?" Jinho blinks, confusion gracing his features. He leans closer, observing the crystal.

"I don't think it's worth anything, the glow's dim and it's small too." He hums, brows furrowed. "But I guess it's just pocket change like ten thousand?"

Jinwoo blinks. "I see. So it's only worth that much, huh."

He stares at the fading crystal.

And smiles fondly.

The first time you met Jinwoo he was, to be blunt, pathetic.

His hair's akin to a bird nest, and that's not an exaggeration. Hoodie torn and filthy, you could tell from the start he was a struggling hunter. He entered late into the night, when no other hunters lingered and the time was nearing for the building to close.

He was an oddball, but then again, you've already encountered one too many oddballs during your time working here as a receptionist, so that was nothing new.

Still, unlike most hunters that reeked of arrogance, this one was meek, hesitant yet nonetheless determined. He held something close to his chest, both hands wrapped around a handkerchief that held something small-powder? Food? Money? You didn't know.

"Seriously? Who comes here during closing time!" Your coworker huffs, drained after a long day of dealing with irate hunters who thought they were better than they actually were and thus should be worshipped.

"Technically it's still not closing time." You reply, watching the meek hunter look around before settling on the receptionist desk.

"That's true too but still," they sigh, laying their head against the desk. "They should know that this window time is rest time before cleaning up time."

You roll your eyes at her theatrics, but laugh nevertheless. "Okay drama queen, I'll deal with it."

"Hurray! You're the best." She mutters, closing her eyes and grinning as she revels in peace. "The hard working award goes to you, definitely." You brush her off with a wave, heading back to your station to take the hunter's request.

With practiced motions, you greet the feeble looking hunter. With a customer service smile, offering him a tray in order to fulfill the purpose of his service.

He handed in broken chunks of mana crystals. Barely worth anything, you could tell at a first glance. As he parts with the very thing he kept close to his chest, you observe the dimming light of the crystals, heart panging with pity.

His hand trembles as he places it, and you take it back after he puts every last pebble on the tray. Your gaze flickered to the crystals then to the man-wide grey eyes looking down as his arms embraced himself.

Your eyes softened ever so slightly, and the image of the struggling hunter made your lips curl into a pitiful frown.

It started as a simple pity.

That was all it was.

When you learned all it got him was chump change, you cast another glance on the poor soul who waited with his back crouched and his hands clasped together in a prayer. One more look at the price, and you decided to add more.

"Sorry, can you add sixty thousand there? I'll pay for it."

The appraiser quirks a brow. "You sure that's alright, lady?"

"Mhm," another glance, and your reservations all but disappear. "The guy looks like he needs it."

He follows your gaze, and sure enough, the boy was in tatters. Unfortunate looking and just,,, sad. He shrugs then adds the value, and you pay him quick with cash.

"The mana crystals you've obtained can be exchanged for 73,000 won." You say, stuttering for a moment as you lied about the total.

You watched him gasp, then grin widely, a frown threatening to make itself known. You forced it down, keeping a professional persona as he rejoiced for something so little. Compared to his group that most likely obtained millions, what he got was too little in comparison.

And yet, despite the difference he still smiled at the amount. Sympathy hit you like a ten ton truck and made your heart clench for the man in front of you.

You pause, mulling over your words before eventually settling on a simple: "We look forward to seeing you again, dear hunter."

"M'finally off work at last." You groan, rubbing your shoulders to free it of its stiffness.

"[Name]!" Heels clacked along the marble tiles of the building.

You hum, fluttering your eyes open as you quirk up a brow. A girl, young-still unaffected by the gravity of the working world-bright and fresh approached you with a troubled look. She's also been a friend you made-that one moment you helped her deal with a prissy client really stuck and since then she's been following you around and talking with you when she had the time. You welcomed her of course, you weren't one to deny good intentioned people.

"What is it?"

"Uhm, there's someone in the reception asking for you specifically to handle their workings."

You blink. "But I don't work as a receptionist." Not anymore.

She bites her lip, fiddling with her fingers. "Yes but, they really insisted on having you do it."

Another long, drawn out blink. "Then turn them down. Get them out of the desk-tell them I'm no longer in the building or something."

She flinches, and averts her gaze. "Well, about that..." She looks around, looking for what words to use. "We can't exactly do that..."

"Can't? Why not?"

"Well it's..." She pauses, then sighs. "It's the new S rank-Sung Jinwoo requesting for you."

Silence. Cuckoo.

"Sorry can you repeat that for me? I think I misheard something."

"Sung Jinwoo is requesting for you."

You part your mouth, raise a finger, and tilt your head. "You're joking."

"I wouldn't joke about something like this!" She huffs, "I was shocked myself! He came here and suddenly asked for you!"

"Did he push for me?"

"No he said it was fine if you weren't around-but how could I reject a pretty face like that?!" You deadpan. "And I'm doing you a favor by helping you get in touch with him-you might end up together you know? You might end up together you know?!"

"Woah there, pause." You put a hand on her shoulder, "we are not getting together. He doesn't even know me!"

"But he asked for you."

"We don't know why."

"It's because he's interested in you."

"No it's not."

"What other reason is there?"

You shrug. "Anything but the one you're suggesting."

She frowns. "You don't know that for sure."

"And we also don't know for sure if he's interested in me."

"But he might!"

"And that's a big fat might." You pat her on the shoulder, squeezing it softly. "Now let's go, alright? We can't keep a man of his status waiting."

She opens her mouth to argue, but you keep it shut by putting a hand over her jaw. Turning her around, you drag her by the shoulder and guide her towards the reception desk.

"Off we go. Let's get it over with quickly so I can finally go home." You drawl, not expecting much from his visit.

As you reach the desk, the view finally becomes clearer and clearer.

And there did you see Sung Jinwoo for the first time since he ranked up. Tall, lean-with sharper features that made him look like an entirely different person. Innocence now faded from his eyes and was instead replaced with something colder, unreadable. There was a weight to him now-like standing too close to a cliffside and realizing the wind had teeth. You stopped, not out of awe or fear, but sheer instinct. Like your body knew before your mind did: this was someone to tread carefully around.

This was the Sung Jinwoo of now. No longer a withered stick with a bright smile, but a terrifyingly powerful man with the strength of a thousand men.

Your breath hitched. Finally seeing the man you've been helping behind closed doors in person admittedly made you feel a bit nervous, but it was nothing you could hide.

With a step as your friend skidded to the side, you took in a deep inhale and prepared to accommodate him.

It's been a few days since Sung Jinwoo discovered the truth through the answers the mirror had shown. To his dismay, he was unable to extract the monster and furthermore was left to deal with the answers alone. Mulling over it again and again, more than he admitted he did.

It wasn't that he was interested as well per se, but he felt a bit of confusion and maybe even a smidge of appreciation for your constant support.

And so, after a few more days spent thinking of you and your supposed interest, he finally made his move. If not to confess, then to put an end to this as respectfully as he could. Express his appreciation for everything you've done and pay back the favor, because if anything else, Jinwoo doesn't like keeping favors unreturned.

"Excuse me," Jinwoo approached the desk where you once stood, however, instead of your face, another graces him instead.

"Yes, how can I help you?"

He hesitates, wondering if he should push further. "Is anyone named [name] here?"

The receptionist blinked, then glanced down at the system. "Ah...[Name]? She doesn't usually work at the front anymore."

"I know," Jinwoo said, his tone quiet but firm. "But I'd like to speak with her, if possible."

She hesitated, clearly caught off guard. "Um-may I ask who's requesting?"

"Sung Jinwoo."

The name dropped like a stone into still water. Her spine straightened a little too fast. "Oh! O-Of course, please wait here-just a moment!"

She practically bolted into the back, heels tapping a frantic rhythm across the tile, leaving Jinwoo standing there with his hands folded behind his back.

He waits for a few moments before she eventually comes back, a familiar face in tow. Jinwoo's back straightened once he took in your presence, fixing his posture as you approached the desk with the trademark professionalism he eventually came to associate with you.

"Sir Sung Jinwoo." You nodded, uniform still somehow crisp despite just getting off work. "How can I help you?"

You were always perfection personified, speech not too fast nor too slow, a disarming smile, and the efficiency of an entire workforce. He smiles ever so slightly at that, ever so prim and proper despite everything. He doubted if you truly liked him based on your demeanor alone, all professionalism despite the quiet tire that you carry through your mannerisms.

"Sorry to have bothered you," he begins, facing the desk fully now. "Can you appraise this for me?"

He hands over a chip of mana crystal, barely worth anything, strikingly similar to the one he brought the first time he came. To the very crystal you kept in your home since the appraisers insisted on not needing such junk.

You look at the crystal on his hand, then back at him. His face doesn't give anything away, only infuriating nonchalance as he hands over the little crystal.

"Pardon?" You look at him, partly confused. A beat of silence, and you sighed and accepted the crystal. "Very well, I'll have it appraised."

Placing it on a tray, you hum and take it to the machine to have it appraised. People working here have it easy now-they have machines to appraise it now instead of waiting for a real appraiser to grade the goods. You barely managed to reach this time, having switched your line of work a few months after this new invention was created and used by the front desk.

The machine beeps after a few minutes, coming back with the saddening worth of 15,000 won. You look at the amount, then at Jinwoo who seemed to have a knowing glint in his eyes.

What is this man planning?

Despite suspicion crawling in your skin, you pay it no mind and offer it back to him. Showing no signs of your inner feelings. "The crystal can be pawned for 15,000 won. Would you like to pawn it?"

You tell him the price, no longer fabricating it now that you were sure he had enough money. He didn't need you increasing the amount anymore, didn't need your help anymore.

"Fifteen thousand?" You tense as he begins, confused on where he was leading this. "That's odd, I was sure it would be worth at least seventy thousand. Like before."

You stiffen at the mention, eyes betraying you and growing wide for a few seconds. You pause, unsure how to go about his words. A flicker of hesitation, and Jinwoo quickly grabs it and refuses to let go.

"I've been wondering for a while," Jinwoo said smoothly, gaze unwavering, "now that I have plenty of greater mana crystals I know what qualifies as good or bad. Enough to recognize that the ones I brought were more often than not unusable."

You stared. "It wasn't entirely unusable, the people and the machine recognized that."

Jinwoo ignores your words. "And yet still I managed to get enough to sustain myself as well my sister-barely."

You furrow your brows, heart picking up its pace as he slowly built up to the scenario you feared the most. "That's great then, Hunter Sung."

"I may not have the best memory but I know that what I've given was worth less than what I received.

You kept your face calm, neutral, with the clinical poise of someone who's talked down violent clients and survived six-hour meetings. But inside, your organs were having a full-on boardroom meltdown. Your brain tried to file through excuses like it was racing to clean the living room before guests arrived.

"I see," you trailed, carefully. Playing dumb to the best of your capacity. "So. You've come to accuse me of charity?"

Jinwoo's lips twitched. Not quite a smile, but something just barely amused. "You're not denying it."

"Only because denial would imply guilt," you shot back, lifting your chin, feigning confidence-something you did great. "And all I really did was slightly increase the amount to reflect the hypothetical value if it were perhaps... shinier."

"By several thousand won."

"Consider it an inflation forecast." You quickly retorted, barely bothering to think before speaking.

He laughed softly at that-nothing too drastic, just a smaller buckle under his breath brought by sheer disbelief. And so now you were really sweating internally. Though your face didn't budge-refused to budge-but the composure was barely hanging on by a thread and three paperclips.

"I wanted to thank you," he said, voice lower now, calmer, brushing off your earlier words. "for your help back then. I didn't realize what you were doing until later. You didn't owe me anything, but you still helped. Even without my knowledge."

You averted your eyes for a second. This was not how this entire was supposed to go. He was supposed to be clueless. Left unaware of your own deeds-ignorant and in bliss while you cheer him on at the sidelines.

"I see." You said after swallowing thickly. "Is that all?"

"No, it's not." He steps forward, leaning against the desk as he meets your gaze with his own grey ones. "I wanted to ask how I can return the favor. I refuse to leave any favors-even ones I don't know -to be left unpaid."

You blinked. Then, without thinking, blurted out: "Then let's have coffee before we delve into this."

"Are you a regular here?"

You nod, blinking once before facing him. The place you chose was quiet-tucked away in a corner of this lively city. Blanketed by the warm atmosphere and low hum of chatter from the other tables, you chose it a perfect spot to continue this conversation-it wasn't far too, just a few steps away which was an added bonus.

You sipped your coffee quietly, silence overtaking you and Jinwoo as you sat in front of the other.

Jinwoo's eyes flick over to you. Your posture straight, albeit, more relaxed than when you were on duty. Your lashes fluttered as you enjoyed the taste, savoring the good cup with a small smile.

He listens to the small hum of delightment you make as you relish the taste, and he finds his lips twitching to form a smile as well. He quickly restrains it, brushing off the urge as nothing more than a passing will.

He takes the time to observe you. Now you sat in front of him, free from the shackles of work, talking outside of your profession-outside of the roles the desk had set for the two of you.

Days had worn on you, exhaustion evident, yet you remain radiant all the same. You don't hold yourself with the perfection you've strived for in the name of great service, choosing to relax as if you were with a friend instead.

"First thing's first," you say as the cup meets the saucer-still half full-after deciding the silence stretched on for long enough. "I'll get this out of the way—I like you."

Jinwoo nearly chokes on his drink, taken aback by the suddeness of your announcement. He coughs softly, unaware of how to take your blunt admittance.

"I see." He mumbles, nearly stuttering at his own words despite how few there were. He knew you liked him, the mirror told him-but it was still different to hear it from the person nonetheless.

He breathes out a shaky exhale, not quite expecting you to be this blunt about the subject matter.

"I like you." You repeated, making sure he got the point, and consequentially making the tips of his ears red as he's rendered unsure how to tread this situation. "So I don't expect you to do anything for me. Really. Please don't feel indebted.,

"I'm sorry, I don't feel the same." He states, making that one matter clear, before moving onto the next topic. "But still, I want to repay you for your favor."

"It's not a favor." You murmur.

"Then your grace."

You still, look at him, then sigh. Heavily. Like you were already regretting this despite not signing up for it.

Jinwoo didn't like that.

"State your price—I'll give you anything. Anything that's within reason, at least."

"Anything?"

"Anything." He parrots with certainty.

You lean back on your chair. "That's a dangerous word you're just tossing around."

He doesn't answer, only keeps his gaze fixated on you with that same, rigid and serious expression he often wore.

Your nails tap lightly against the ceramic of your cup, eyes narrowing-not in malice or anger-in hesitant amusement.

"Then, entertain me." You take another sip of your coffee, made just how you liked it-and place it down. "Five dates."

"Pardon?"

"Dates. I want five dates with you. Not one, not two-but five."

He blinks, then furrows his brows in suspicion. "Dates? Just that?"

You reply with a nod, he leans back for a moment, surprised. "Even if I told you I don't feel the same?"

A shrug, and consider Jinwoo speechless. "You don't have to feel the same-just entertain this whim of mine." You rest your chin on your palm, carrying yourself with the same ease-acting as if you hadn't just blatantly asked him out. "But it's also fine if you don't want to. You can leave and still you won't owe me anything-no strings attached."

He's surprised by the calm you retain, but then notices the rhythmic tapping of your finger against your cheek, growing faster every second that passed with your request left unanswered.

"That's it?"

"That's it. You just have to bring yourself—I'll plan for everything. You don't have to like me back, but don't run away either."

He doesn't know if he should be honored or impressed by your insistence-no one's ever shown him this level of interest before. Well, perhaps one(Hae-in) but even she wasn't as bold as you-seizing chances whilst wearing the face of nonchalance.

"Deal. Five dates then."

A beat, and you allow yourself a smile. Small, mildly bashful yet not quite shy. Your lashes flutter, and warmth envelopes your cheeks. Head tilting to the side, you look at him like a smug cat.

"Great, I'll be looking forward to those, then."

And for a moment, he swears his heart pitter patters.

You must have gone insane.

That's the only conclusion you come up with as you arrive at your home, having mulled over the conversation a hundred times on your way home. There's no mistaking it-you really were insane.

You reach your bed, hugging one of the available pillows as your eyes remain wide and blank.

You're insane.

Hugging the pillow close to your chest, you wait for a few moments to load the fact that you're now in a safe place before finally-finally losing your mind.

You scream and bury your face against your pillow, rolling around to get rid of the nerves.

Scream. Then followed by a particularly harsh kick against your bed as you roll over to the other side. Another scream-followed by your hands letting go of the pillow and grabbing your head instead.

"I must be out of my mind. What was I thinking?!" You whined, face a grimace-a whole 180 from the nonchalance you showed to Jinwoo just a few hours ago. "Why would I-"

A sharp inhale, and then a silent scream. "Why would I say that?!?!"

"Five dates." You mimic yourself from hours prior, over exaggerated and overtly stuff as you cross your arms and put one leg over the other. "Go out with me for five dates or else....."

"Aaagh!" You groan, body heating up at the thought of it alone. "Stupid stupid stupid stupid! Why would you ask that?! Why would you even do that?! Are you stupid????"

You nearly cry from sheer embarrassment alone. There's an inexplicable urge to dig a 10 foot hole and bury yourself alive, hoping for the best(dying) and letting this matter go. "I should just die. Yes, that's right. I'll die. Mhm. I should die."

You sit up, trying to rationalize yourself, before falling back on your bed with a tumble. "You stupid idiot! Do you ever just stop embarrassing yourself?"

You toss on one side. "He probably thinks I'm some die hard fan now. A down bad creepy stalker who plans to make him feel indebted to do weird things to him-"

You screech, both a cry and and angered yell. A cry for help if you will. "No" you cry. "I'm not a weirdo-please trust me in this Jinwoo."

Burying your face against your pillow once more, you continue to lament for your dignity that crumbled like sandcastles thrown apart by strong winds.

"I'm not desperate either...."

You sniffle, already imagining your funeral-planning who would attend and who you'd blacklist.

After much regretting and sobbing and hoping Jinwoo isn't put off and wishing you died and stopping yourself from jumping off the rooftop, you finally dial for help.

Said help included your friend from work.

Calling her number, you wait for her to pick up with a kick of your feet. You haven't even changed yet-you're too busy going berserk to bother doing so.

She picks up after 5 rings(5 rings too long. What was she going to do if it was a life threatening situation?)

"Hello?"

You take a sharp inhale, and somberly croak out: "I'm going to die."

"Woah that turned up to 100 a real quick. What happened?"

You sigh like a victorian woman distressed. "I happened. Why was I even born? To be endless entertainment for the gods above?"

Your friend laughs, and you could practically hear her roll her eyes from the call. "Stop being dramatic, just tell me what happened drama queen."

You practically wail. You tell her your story-inputting your very important complaints about this version of you that just passed and continue to share it amidst random questions of what color your coffin should be.

By the time you finish, she's speechless.

"Woah." She gasps.

You sob harder into your pillow.

"Wait wait wait-" she exhales, a breathless chuckle echoing in your phone. "You asked someone out-"

"Yes."

"And not just anyone-but it's Sung Jinwoo. The Sung Jinwoo. The S-rank hunter Sung Jinwoo."

"Yes!" You weep, dramatically posing like a sick victorian child. Heavens bless you, you were most fitting to live in that time period considering how many poses you've striked in a similar manner as well.

She laughs. Laughs. This peasant dares laugh at your own misfortune-and not even the polite kind, she's full of breathless laughter. Loud laughter. Incorrigible laughter.

"Not just that you-" she takes a deep inhale, trying to hold back her cackle. "You asked-demanded he go on not one, not two-but five. Five dates with you with such calmness it unnerved him?"

She's howling with laughter at this point, clutching her stomach because laughing hurts a little too much now. Tears in her eyes from the sheer scandalous nature you possessed.

"Oh my gosh-"she giggles. "Okay okay-I was not familiar with your game. Didn't know you were smooth like that."

You groan, face hot enough to be in the running to be the next sun of the earth.

"Oh come on... I don't know what I was on when I said that."

"Girl that's what I'd like to know too-where'd you get the confidence?"

You huff, hand on your head as you contemplate your own worth. "I don't know I want to kill myself this is so embarrassing I can't face anyone like this anymore."

She cackles, entertained by your own suffering-how dare she?

"Now now, stop whining. You've already asked him-he agreed. Just view things positively."

"What's positive about this?! He probably thinks I'm a desperate fool-a despicable woman who forces things to go her way!"

"That's overexaggerating..." She retorts with ease, already familiar with your antics. "You managed to score five dates with the strongest man in Korea right now. That's not a fear anyone can achieve."

"I threatened him into it!"

"You asked him-he accepted."

"It was a bribe."

"He accepted your gratitude."

"Exactly! If that's not manipulative I don't know what is!"

"Oh stop drama queen-it's not like you expected him to suddenly get a massive glow up a few years later after you liked him and asked to return the favor."

"Still..."

"Stop whining, there's nothing you can do about it now." You sighed. Long, loud, full of shame.

"For now, let's just make the best of the five dates you have, okay?"

"Can't I just chat him and tell him I changed my mind? How about I tell him I want a cute coffin with cute designs and have him pay for it instead?"

"Don't do that you maniac. Just accept the fact that he accepted going on dates with you and use it as a chance."

"A chance?" You sniffle.

"That's right-a chance to make him fall in love with you!"

"Impossible." You huff, hugging a pillow. "He already told me he doesn't feel the same I just forced this on him because I was stubborn."

"He doesn't like you because he doesn't know you well yet. If we take these dates as a chance, who knows? You might be getting yourself a boyfriend right about a few months in the future."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Then you gasped, scandalized. "H-Hae-in! Aren't Jinwoo and Hae-in dating?!"

"Relax relax we don't have anything official...yet."

"Oh gosh-what if I-"

"Calm down! Jinwoo wouldn't agree to your terms and conditions if he was truly dating her. I think."

"But still! What if he felt obligated to?"

"Does he look like the kind of guy?"

"...maybe?"

"If we're not sure then don't jump to conclusions."

You let out a breath, thanking your friend mentally for grounding you whenever your thoughts wandered too much.

"Alright let's focus on the dates okay?"

"Okay... Help me plan the dates-I've no clue about love things." You plead, yawning.

"Eh? You know what? Fine." She shakes her head, half amused half exasperated. "Jeez, you're hopeless."

A moment, then she grins conspiratorially.

"Let's blow the socks off him."

The first date was at an aquarium. Easy, a safe choice for dates. The goal here wasn't to charm him -not yet. No, the goal was to get to know him, ease him into your presence before going with more dates. First impressions were important, and this would be the first time he'd know you outside work-you couldn't risk icking him out from the start.

You stand near the ticket booth, the perfect picture of calm. Cool. Chic. Your lips in a thin line, giving away none of your inner turmoil.

And oh you had a lot of inner turmoil to hide.

You're praying for a meteor to come and strike you, kill you so you don't have to be here and with Jinwoo on a date you forced him to attend. You have half the mind to run away and fake an incurable illness to get away from here as your organs all made some dissonant harmony from inside.

You check the time once every few minutes, movements smooth and easy. Definitely not the actions of someone losing their marbles every second that passed.

He's three minutes late. Only three minutes and yet you're already overthinking everything. Were you screwed? Definitely. What if he stood you up? What if he decides not to go and all your effort would be for nothing? What if-

"Sorry, did you wait long?" Your breath stills.

You turn your head, allowing your lips to curve into a small, measured smile. Not too formal but not too comfortable either.

"No, I just got here." You smoothly reply.

You sweep over his outfit. Nothing mind blowing, a simple outfit consisting of a black turtleneck and a coat, coupled with a dark grey trousers. It was simple-but when paired with his looks, it made him deadly. Made everyone else feel underdressed compared to him.

"You look nice." The words leave you before you even think, going on autopilot and refusing to let your worries make you too stiff.

Nice was an understatement. He looked good-too good you swear you could die. Oh good heavens I was not prepared for this level of attractiveness-is this really the timid boy I helped out before? Somebody catch me.

He sweeps his gaze over you. "Thanks, you too." He waits until you nod and offer him a smile before he starts again..

"You're early."

You hum, and chuckle softly. "Of course, you think I'd let someone I like wait for me?"

Jinwoo blinks in surprise, taken aback. He chuckles, small, quiet, but still there's a quirk up his lips. "Point taken."

Your grin stretches, but your hands betray your nerves as it trembles ever so slightly. Was that too forward?

"Let's get going. Do you have any vendettas against marine life?"

"None as far as I know." Jinwoo answers.

"Good. I was worried I'd have to throw myself to the shark tank to make things more interesting for you."

He pauses, stills for a moment and looks at you. He hesitates, half amused half concerned. "Is that a joke?"

You smile coyly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

He flinches, thrown off right off the bat. "Please don't."

"Oh? Is that concern I hear?"

"No, I just don't want to jump in after you to get you out."

"Ah," you click your tongue. "Chivalry and shark wrestling? Charming. I fear you'll ruin other men for me."

You bite your tongue discreetly, attempting to shut your running mouth that's flirting too easily for your own sanity.

He smiles, amused, exasperated, annoyed-you don't know. But you do hope it's positive.

You walk around the aquarium, exploring different tanks with him and exchanging light conversations here and there.

"You're bold." He comments, expression calm if not lighthearted.

You keep your gaze fixated on the fishes in front of you. "Of course, I plan to make you fall inlove with me after all."

Jinwoo nearly chokes on his own spit, and you feel yourself shriveling to dusk as your mouth keeps saying the most diabolical things one after the other.

You stare at the aquarium wistfully, tempted to dive in there and drown and let the fishes eat your remains. That seems like a nice way to go.

"Like I said, bold."

You laugh-and cold sweat drips down your back as you try to feign nonchalance(you were succeeding, but you don't feel it)

"I apologize." You say in between laughter. "We only have five dates, I can't waste the first one hiding behind fishes. I have plans to woo after all."

He sighs through his nose, his lips quirking up in a smile. You've noticed it stayed there more often than it didn't, that had to mean something, right? This embarrassment you were feeling had to be worth something, right?

"Or" you turn to look at him rather than relying on the reflection of the glass. "Do you prefer modest girls more?"

He blinks, acting as if he never considered the thought. He thinks for a while, but ultimately shrugs. "Not necessarily, it's just that I never expected this from you."

"That so? Do you hate it, then?"

Another pause. His eyes narrow, and his mouth closes shut as he ponders over your words.

"I'm...not sure. I've never been confessed to before-not this boldly, at least."

"Ah," your eyes narrow as your grin stretches again into that mischievous smile. "Then you'd do well to prepare if you're weak of heart."

He doesn't say anything at first, only looks at you in sheer disbelief, eyes slightly wide but warm and soft. "What if you fail at achievingyour goal?" He asks, tone softer, unsure if it was inappropriate to ask.

"Then I'll admit defeat." You put your hands on your back, leaning closer to him. You get close to his face, only a few inches apart. You see his adam's apple bob and then flick up to meet his gaze. "But for now, I'm giving it all that I have."

You pull away shortly after that, already walking off to the next display while he's left in the last one. His gaze burns on your back, and his hands twitch ever so slightly as one of them reaches to where his heart rests.

There's a warmth left in your wake that leaves his heart pacing. He's unsure if it's apprehension or exhilaration.

You walk a few paces away, blocking his view of your flustered look with your back, refusing to let it show.

Urgh... What's gotten into me?

A sentiment echoed by two people only a few distances apart.

The second date was at an art museum.

Another safe choice. As your friend told you: set the first two dates to be calm-the third chaotic, the fourth fun, and the fifth unforgettable. Enough to leave him craving for more.

Frankly? You didn't believe a single word of her idea. You weren't sold on her five act get him to fall in love with you plan-but it was all you had so you just took it without complaints.

If it didn't work then that's sad, but if it did-on the off chance it did, you would end up with him. That was a possibility you couldn't pass up on as someone with an S-tier crush towards him.

The museum, tucked away in the heart of the city, was your next destination. You kept yourself presentable, elegant and sophisticated looking with the help of your friend who had to deal with your mini tantrums as you prepared for yet another meeting with the man of your dreams.

And gosh did he look handsome. So handsome he could be in a magazine. Too goodlooking you've no doubts he would be in the running for the most attractive man internationally and nationally.

The museum date itself wasn't anything interesting-just an exchange of opinion as you pretended to understand the complexities of the art placed here.

"This one here, is my favorite piece." You say as you present the painting to him with a small flare.

It was a messy splash of black lines and squiggles here and there strewn about on the canvas.

He arches a brow in mock interest. "Interesting. It looks like a migraine."

"Exactly. It embodies what I feel on a daily basis."

"Does that include today?"

Your gaze fixes on him, before turning to the painting once more. "No, you're a soothing balm. Being around you purifies my bad mood."

Jinwoo coughs, recovering from your sudden flirt. "Ah, there it is."

You huff, grinning at his reaction. "Let's move onto the next art piece-it should be the last one."

You twist on your heel, its sole clacking softly against the wooden floor of the museum. Unfortunately, your new heels—heels that you haven't broken in yet-failed you and did you a disservice by breaking on its first day at work.

A step, and a sound followed:

Snap

Following the snap was a sharp pain to your ankle as you lose balance. Your foot twisted, heel crumpling beneath you and suddenly you find yourself being a little too close to the floor.

Jinwoo catches you before you can fall rather disgracefully and cause a commotion.

His hand slithers around your waist, securing your halt—but also brought you unbelievably closer to him.

You think you died when you got closer than six inches to him. Six. That was enough to smell him, enough to count every lash on his eyes—enough to really break apart his eye color—enough to send you into cardiac arrest and die a happy woman.

"...hi?"

"Are you okay?"

His eyes fluttered down to meet your gaze, hand still wrapped around your waist and his face impossibly close.

In a fairytale world that was far from this one, you'd say yes—wrap your arms around him and say no. You were not okay and he'd carry you bridal carry to the nearest bench take care of you and you'd fall in love.

In reality however, you had an image to keep and you couldn't afford looking crazed for him. You had to keep things calm, cool, smooth, that's the way to go after all.

So you swallowed the pain and smiled. Pretended your heart wasn't this close to just ripping itself out on your ribcage and force Jinwoo to make room for it.

"I'm fine. My heel just snapped."

"I saw that."

"Of course you did."

A pause, and you remain in this slightly uncomfortable—very romantic position, keeping your gaze locked with his.

"Are—" you stuttered. Disgusting. "Are you going to let go now or are you planning to be a display too?"

His gaze flickered to your eyes, to that squirmy smile and then to the slight curve of your brows. And a smile of his own quirks up on his lips.

He pulls away, only barely. His arms detach from your waist, lingering instead around your shoulder.

"Can you stand?"

You felt a sharp pain spike through your right foot—specifically your ankle right then and there. You winced, but you only allow it a split second before you fall into your pre-established nonchalant appearance.

"Of course."

"You sure?"

"Definitely."

You take a step—and hiss at the pain. It takes everything you have to just not fall to the ground and, I don't know, cry maybe.

"That looks painful."

"That's normal when you're wearing heels. Beauty is pain—haven't you heard of that saying, Mr. Sung?"

Jinwoo deadpans. Looks at you taking small steps comparable to that of an ant and sighs.

He doesn't let you detach yourself from him, instead wrapping his arms around your waist and another tucked behind your knees.

"Excuse me," he mutters before lifting you off your feet and carrying you in his arms.

You gasp, scandalized. "What are you doing?"

"Carrying you to the nearest bench because clearly you're not fine."

Your hands clutch his shoulders—very tightly you might've thought he proposed marriage. He didn't—but this is closer than you expected to get to him since the first time you liked him.

"I can walk."

"You were limping."

"That's a new fashion trend." He gives you a look. One that practically said what words couldn't. He might be oblivious about a lot of things but even he's not foolish enough to believe that.

"I was adjusting. If you just gave me a few minutes I'd be able to walk normally again."

He hums, your words going in one ear and out on the other. "You're human—don't joke." He adjusts his grip on you, squeezing your waist and you feel your soul practically fly away as you held in the urge to ask for his hand in marriage and take responsibility for making your heart do flips.

You sputter for words, but nothing leaves your mouth despite desperate attempts to fill the silence with something. Your cheeks flushed with warmth, heat creeping into your skin—you worried he felt it, but he didn't say anything if he did.

You sigh with your whole chest, burying your face beneath your hands.

"This isn't how I planned today to go." You say, practically whimpering out of shame.

He pauses his steps, taking a moment to look at your hand covered face. This would be the first time he's seen you act out of your element. Far from the professionalism you showed when at work, far from the cool you that you showed during the first date, just flustered and more genuine this time.

You don't even register it—you're just complaining, plans ruined and all because of this one mishap. And Jinwoo would be lying if he said he didn't find this even partly amusing.

"This is ridiculous." You huff, Jinwoo walks again with you still in his arms.

"What is?"

"This." Another sigh. Heavy. Full of weight and the hope you inhaled as you began this date exhaled in one single breath. "I had a fullproof plan. I was supposed to woo you. Act sophisticated, mysterious, charming, sly—"

"That's a lot of acting you're planning to do."

"Yes—and I had it all planned. I'd talk, you talk—I look at you lovingly and when you look at me you'll see it and I don't look away and maybe if I'm lucky we have a casual brush of hands I subtly seduce you and raise your affection for a considerable amount and—"

Jinwoo clears his throat, an awkward smile playing as the apple of his cheeks changes its tint just slightly. Very slightly. Mostly because he's really not used to bold proclamations of love.

"—Only for these stupid heels to butcher it up and ruin everything for me." You weep, lamenting your butchered plan.

"Subtly seduce?" He quirks a brow, half amused.

You pause, deciding how you should kill yourself for saying something like that—but forcefully bring yourself back to reality. You've already said a lot of things around Jinwoo, what was another going to do?

"Yes. Subtle. Smooth. You'd never see it coming but you're already lingering in the spaces I occupied. Slow burn and all that."

He chokes back a laugh, your lack of filter amusing him. It was a breath of fresh air from all the convoluted conversation exchanged between people of power. This was casual, normal, blunt. Like he was a normal guy.

"You have a curious mind." You bite your lip and bury your face deeper beneath your hands. He sees it, and his lips twitches.

"If it makes you feel any better, I prefer this version better."

He sets you down on a bench just outside the museum, placing you gently with care.

You set your arms aside, resting in either side of you as your eyes follow him. "I'm babbling and complaining like a spoiled brat."

He hums, kneeling down in front of you. You blink, baffled when he raises your leg and takes off your heels. He massages your feet deftly, carefully ensuring he didn't press too much to your sprained ankle.

"You're being honest and real."

"I'm always honest with you." You furrow your brows. "I've been flirting with you since the first date."

He closes his eyes, his hold trembling slightly at the mention. "Not that." He says with a small laugh.

"The you who gets flustered." He lifts your leg higher, you hesitate, but ultimately let him do his thing. "This whole time I've always had this certain pedestal put on you."

"You were always professional, mature, calm. I found it hard to picture you as anything but that." He presses against your ankle, you hiss in pain but don't pull away. "Even in the first date you were just like that. This version of you seems more fitting. Easier to talk with."

"You're being awfully soft with me right now." Your head tilts down to watch him ease the pain in your foot. "Even massaging me."

"I'd hate to assume, but are you perhaps falling to my charms?"

He goes rigid again, hands stopping its soothing motions. He peers up at you, you meet him with a small smile while dying inside.

"It's too early for that." He says, flicking your forehead lightly.

You stumble back with a wince, nose scrunched up. "Ow, that was uncalled for."

"I don't want to give you any false hopes." He says after a beat passes where your complaint remains unanswered.

"Don't worry. I doubt any hope you give me could do me any worse than the copium I'm currently running on."

He doesn't choke this time—only sigh in exasperation, as if slowly getting used to whatever leaves your mouth without thinking.

"Is that so?"

"It is so."

Later that night, you made plans to kill yourself.

"I'm so embarrassing." You groan, crying over the phone as your friend listens to your real time crash outs once more.

"It's fine it's fine—you're doing great!" She cheers with a loud laugh, as if jeering.

"Are you falling to my charms?" You scream, punching the poor pillow to let out your shame.

"It's fine—charming! You're cute!"

She cackles while you break down.

The third date—the alleged, supposed, chaotic one, was in an escape room. Not just any escape room—but a haunted escape room.

People often say that love and fear are interconnected. One can easily mistake fear to be love and vice versa—two sides of the same coin.

You were relying on this very popular theory to charm him into falling in love.

There's only one thing you and your friend failed to account for: the man you were trying to woo was Sung Jinwoo. An E-rank hunter who definitely saw scarier things than just humans wearing cosmetics to look even remotely as scary as the monsters in the dungeons.

He was not affected by the jumpscares at all.

Meanwhile, you were clutching your chest and stopping yourself from bawling your eyes like a baby because you can't get out of the room when all you wanted to do was bolt out and run away and pretend none of this ever happened.

You were stupid. Why did you let your friend convince you into going to an escape room with him? Now both your and his safety is compromised because of the fear levels you feel spiking up in you making you act even more unhinged.

You took a step forward, the wall beside you split open and revealed a haunted figure. You screeched—then quickly cut yourself off and clung to yourself.

Ha. Easy peasy.

You were crazy scared. You could feel your soul jumping out of your body every three seconds or so—especially because of that wretched humming played by a hidden speaker.

The heebie-jeebies was at its worst.

You shrieked when something fell—it was a book. Just a book. But it shook your soul to the core nevertheless. Your eyes widened comically, and you

You were terrified to your core. Like seriously? Actual, stomach-turning, nerve-fraying, skin-prickling kind of scared. The kind of fear that made your brain scream, "Cling to him! Cling to Jinwoo! Grab his arm and never let go!"

But you didn't.

Because you had class. You were a woman of principle. And also crippling overthinking—but we don't talk about that. You don't dare grab ahold of his arm and latch yourself at him like a leech mid exorcism—because you were respectful.

What if he didn’t like being touched? What if he thought you were using the escape room as an excuse to be handsy? What if he thought you were weak? You couldn't risk losing what little affection you had garnered for yourself because of thoughtless actions.

No. Instead, you ought to be brave and face your fears and act the same. Cool, casual, smooth—not sobbing, crying, scared to the point of peeing yourself.

But dang was it hard. Every step you took you could feel yourself wither away and become one of the props in the escape room. A ghost. You were so close to being one you could feel it.

You hugged yourself through your fears, arms wrapped tightly around your torso as if you're your own boyfriend and squishy toy. Your shoulders were hunched, wary of everything inside the room as your lips turned into that twisted smile. I'm fine. I'm fine—peachy—totally safe.

A disembodied voice echoed as a speaker from who knows where suddenly played the audio, mumbling some riddle to solve and hints to make sure the players don't get stuck in the room with that breathy, demonic sounding voice. You gasped and flinched so hard you nearly fell on your butt and crashed onto the skeleton prop just behind you.

Jinwoo glances over your pathetic form—barely holding yourself together. "You okay?"

You nod—perhaps a bit too quickly. "Mhm. Fine. Cool—so cool." The way your voice goes a pitch too high to be your normal one betrays you. "I'm bored actually. So bored I could fall asleep standing."

"You're trembling."

"That's from excitement. Know the difference."

Jinwoo gave you a look. One, very obviously disbelieving look, and waited for you to retract your statement.

You didn't.

So he pushed and prodded. "Is that so?"

"Yes. I'm fearless. Very fearless. I could even do this with my eyes closed."

"And those eyes aren't closed because you're scared?"

You gasp, offended and take a step forward—only to step on some mechanism and cause a hand to suddenly spring up from the floor.

You scream, barely muffled and kept audible by your own pride.

He gives you an unimpressed look. You wither on the inside but puff up your chest in mock confidence.

"I was acting. I have a hidden talent in acting—I just wanted to show it to you. To make you fall in love more."

Somehow he doubts that.

"Alright, you go first then. You invited me—I want to see more of your 'fearless' side."

You freeze at his request, and stiffly look at him as if he's just betrayed you and did the worst crime to ever be done. His eyes narrow in amusement, but he doesn't outwardly laugh.

"I—"

"Go on."

You stare at him, mouth agape, planning to say something before shutting up. "I—fine!"

You huff, taking a step forward. The wooden floor creaks beneath your feet with everystep you take. You brace yourself for something, and when a whisper slithers through the air and to your skin, you scream out of pure terror.

Your hands clutch each other tightly as you flinch backwards. Your frantic steps back is blocked by a sturdy build. You freeze, dread for your life, and turn your head despite the fear ground you.

Much to your relief, it's only Jinwoo. You exhale a sigh—but freeze all again when he puts both hands on your shoulders and whispers—his face criminally close to your ear.

"I like strong women." Your breath hitched. His voice is low, steady, and sincere.

"But I like women who can admit to their faults too." He pauses, giving you a second to digest it before continuing with a more teasing tone. "Like being scared of anything haunted."

Your eyes widened, shivers running down your spine—and it's not because of the haunted room. You feel your face burn even as he pulls away and fixes himself to stand beside you.

"I'll go take the front. Stay close behind me."

You hum, though your sanity is barely there. Being flirted on while you were at a constant state of fight or flight wasn't doing good for your own health. You nod, breath shaky as you take deep inhales of air.

He doesn't pay any mind to your pathetic act at staying strong, working on solving puzzles instead while you linger behind him, fingers trembling and begging to cling to him.

"I-I'm scared." You finally mutter, eyes narrowed as you glare at the book that fell down the bookshelf earlier.

He hums, you take it as a sign to continue. "Really scared. I thought watching 10 horror movies in one day would help me prepare for this moment—but now I see it was stupid."

Jinwoo blinks, surprised by the sudden confession. Well, he didn't expect that. He coughs, but smiles as his hands fiddled with the lock at the door.

"That so?"

"Mhm. It only made me more paranoid. That was stupid."

He hums again, gaze flickering with satisfaction when the door opens. As you move onto another room, you follow closely behind him, counting every second you were stuck in this room with him.

You breathed out a shaky exhale, eyes darting around while Jinwoo solved a riddle involving books and other mumbo jumbos when suddenly—

"I'm watching you....."

You shriek, feet leaving the ground in a fearful jump as something breathed down your back. Your hands clench one another before finally latching onto Jinwoo with a cry.

Jinwoo flinches—only mildly. You don't register it, too wrapped up in your own terror to notice it.

Jinwoo blinks, looks down at you—crouched and five seconds away from crying, clinging to his arm with a death grip. His hand twitches, and he adjusts himself to allow you more grip to him.

"You alright?"

"S-someone was here—they breathed down my neck! Their voice was gargled!" You ramble, lips quivering as your eyes water.

He bites his lips to cover his laughter. It wasn't loud, but he assumes you wouldn't appreciate laughter so he keeps it restrained.

"Is that so?" You nod eagerly, he smiles—part amused part exasperated. "Then stay close, something might creep up again if you stay away."

"Are you inviting me to cling to you?" You sniffle. "Careful, I might enjoy that privilege a bit too much."

Jinwoo stiffens, looks at you like you're odd—and you are. You're scared witless and yet you still have the strength to flirt?

Your priorities sure haven't strayed despite everything. Atleast he knows you're loyal. He coughs to cover a laugh.

"I'm not sure what you mean but sure. If it helps you get through this without going into cardiac arrest."

You sigh, wrapping your arms around Jinwoo's arm, preparing for another batch of jumpscares.

"Then please don't mind if I accidentally rip apart your limb from pulling too hard."

"Eh?"

The fourth date—as your friend said—the fourth should be fun. Charming—a chance to let out your inhibitions.

Fun. Light hearted. Sweet—preferably all while you look cute and swoonable. And what better place would suit the description other than an amusement park?

Bright lights, loud music, the smell of fried sugar and delirium, highschool teens doing pda left and right and rides that goes against safety regulations—there was no other place to go than an amusement park.

You made sure to look presentable and ready to dazzle. Cute, comfortable, and easy to move in clothes while still looking decent.

But something changed this time. And you weren't just imagining it—you know that.

Jinwoo had arrived first this time, dressed in casual clothes that made him look boyfriend material. Gosh you want to wife him up one day.

"You're early this time."

He nods, tilting his head just slightly—making you absolutely lose your mind.

"I didn't want to keep you waiting."

You squeeze your eyes shut, count to five, and try to stop the urge to tell him I like you even if he already knew that.

"Is that so?" You position yourself to stand beside him, a bright grin on your lips. "Shall we get going then? We have a lot of attractions to go through today."

Another bob of his head, followed by a "sure" cams from him.

And thus the fifth date began.

Your gaze sweeps across the amusement park, and then lands on a small shop selling headpieces and accessories.

"Let's go there first." You point to the store, a relaxed smile—contrary to the one you forced during the escape room experience. "We ought to gear ourself up before we embark on a grand adventure."

You tug his sleeve—careful to only tug the sleeve of his hoodie and nothing more and drag him towards the desired destination with it.

Jinwoo paused, but allowed you to drag him without complaints.

His eyes land on where you held him. On the sleeve—tugging on it like wrapping your arms around his wrist would burn you.

There's a small tug at his heart at the sight. And then, snoothly—almost naturally, he detaches your hand from his sleeve and wraps it around his hand instead.

He does this in one quick motion you don't even register until you feel his warmth around the pads of your hand.

Your steps stall to a halt, shoulders turning stiff when you feel it.

"Why did you stop?"

You look at your now linked hands, then back at him and asked—almost shyly. "Are you, uhm, are you alright with this?"

"With what?"

"With—" you gesture to your linked hands. "With this. Holding hands."

His mouth makes an o shape as he processes your question.

"Do you hate it?"

You stiffen, and then shake your head—quite vehemently too.

"I didn't say that—" you squeeze his hand, then flinch and loosen it quickly, afraid of pushing boundaries. "I'm saying I like it too much I don't want to creep you out."

"You clung to me like you were trying to become one with me just one date ago. You're now bashful about hand holding?"

Your face burned at the mention. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was perfectly calm. The picture perfect epitome of calm."

"Is that so?"

"It is so."

He stares, you don't. You keep your gaze fixated on the shop while he keeps looking unimpressed. Five heartbeats later, he sighs(something he's been doing quite often around you) and relents.

"Let's go, we don't have all day."

And so you walked with his hand in yours, heart matching the pace of the upbeat music playing in the background.

You found your eyes fixated on one thing and one thing only. A bunny ear headband with the fuzzy fur and cute white and pink color scheme.

It would look so good on Jinwoo.

You feel it from the very depths of your core—Sung Jinwoo would look fantastic in a rabbit ears headband.

But the real question was—you bit your lip. Would he entertain your whims and wear it?

You look over to him, he's leaned over at a keychain stand, hand on chin as he ponders over something—expression unreadable.

He tilts his head up when he feels your gaze on him—almost as if he has a third sense. You flinch, eyes wide when he meets your gaze with his own unreadable one.

Nothing shows—but then his eyes shimmer with just a hint of something that makes your heart skip a beat. It crinkles at the edges as his head tilts slightly, expression morphing into a softer—that's criminal—a smile gracing his otherwise bland expression.

"What is it?"

You blank out for a moment, wondering if that softness really was for you or just your delusion making things romantic.

"Ah I—"

"I was wondering if you would—hypothetically speaking" you look at the headband section, fingers fiddling with each other. "Wear one of them if I asked."

Jinwoo follows your gaze to the row of fuzzy animal headbands. His eyes trail up from the baby-pink bunny ears, to the comically large cat ears, to the sparkly devil horns, then, back to you.

"Which one?" he asks, straight-faced.

You falter for half a second, then reach out—hand trembling just slightly like you're about to commit a crime against fashion and masculinity—and point to the softest, floppiest bunny ears on the shelf. "This one."

Jinwoo stares at it for a long moment. Long enough for you to reconsider your entire life.

Then, without a word, he takes the headband and slides it on.

Just like that.

You freeze. He meets your gaze. Your eyes are wide—both in disbelief and cuteness aggression.

"Oh my gosh."

He doesn't even blink, wears it on as if it was just a normal headband. His pride doesn't even seem wounded, he doesn't show a sign of embarrassment either—just compliance.

"Is something the matter?"

"Yes." You take a deep breath. "You're adorable."

"Adorable?" You nod. Clutching your chest, you grit your teeth as you restrain the urge to squeeze his cheeks and call him cute.

You force your attention on the headbands once more. Slightly trembling hands(trembling because you're holding back a big urge to baby talk to a grown man just because he's wearing bunny ears.)

Grabbing another headband—this time, a wolf eared headband with slick grey fur and perked up pointy ears and tugged it on.

"It's settled then." Your eyes darts towards the mirror in front of you—showcasing both you and Jinwoo. One rabbit and one wolf. "You're the prey—I'm the predator."

He quirks a brow and looks at you through the mirror. "My defenseless little prey—"

You shrivel and eat up your words when you see his amusement hidden very badly on his face. Brows arched, lips parted slightly and head cocked. He looks amused in the way one would look at someone who just dug themselves their own hole—and that might not be far off from the truth.

"I'm sorry that was horrible please don't sue me for sexual harassment"

Silence.

Not even a pin drop.

And then he laughs. Not a full blown laugh—but kept constrained to not lose his aura kind of laugh.

"You're...peculiar."

Your cheeks flushed as blood rushed to paint it with its color.

"Just say I'm weird, I can take it."

He hums, amused, shoulders shaking just enough to show he's still laughing at you.

"Did that failed flirt dock points off my tally?"

He tilts his head, the floppy pink bunny ears shifting ever so slightly. "I'll allow it. Just this once."

You dramatically exhale in relief. "Thank goodness. I don't want to end up in jail with wolf ears on."

He chuckles again, and then—almost casually—reaches out to adjust your headband, his fingers brushing your hair just briefly. "They suit you."

You blink, heart skipping a beat. Was he flirting? This is considered flirting, right? Ah, you might be dying—oh you might be dying. You might really be dying.

"Come on, predator." He turns around, already paying for the headbands without letting you have a say in it. "Let's see what other sorts of trouble you can get yourself into."

Then he smirks—oh my gosh he smirked. You had to physically take a step back to recover because that one sided grin could end nations if he wielded it right.

You walk around the amusement park with him, hand laced with his for security purposes. You might get separated after all(you have to physically bite your tongue to keep you grounded to reality.)

You land in a shooting stall—and you quickly take the chance to impress him with your skills.

The plushies hang in the back like grand prizes(they are)—small ones, big ones, and a stupid looking duck about the size of a human torso standing proud in the middle of the prize display.

You take out your wallet and slam it down on the table.

"Watch and learn, bunny boy." You huff, chest puffing out and smug as you take the gun handed over to you by the staff working on the stall.

"Oh?" Jinwoo gives nothing more but an amused raise of brow, watching as you position yourself.

You adjust your headband and crack your knuckles, bending over slightly as you focus on shooting the target. Your eyes are narrowed, dedicated to the game as your fingers circle the handle and the trigger.

He balanced his weight on one of his legs and crossed his arms, watching you expectantly.

You pull the trigger—hitting the ducks square in the head with quick motions. The way you murmur your own sound effects as you shoot down the duck targets one after the other isn't lost on him, and his hold on himself tightens for a few seconds and as he watches you shoot everything down—not a single shot wasted.

"Five shots," you say, almost too smugly. "All fired—none missed."

You turn to him expectantly, like a dog awaiting praise.

He claps. Not loud, but enough for you to hear. "That's impressive."

You fail to notice the mild sarcasm laced in his tone. "I'm aware."

The giant duck—the biggest prize the stall had to offer now laid in your arms. You paraded it around, walking to him in slow paces to further enhance the mood.

"For you."

Jinwoo's eyes flick down to the oversized duck cradled in your arms. Then back to your triumphant grin. Without missing a beat, he reaches out and takes the plush from you—his fingers brushing yours briefly, sending a tiny spark that you definitely notice.

"You really went all out."

"Of course, only the best for the guy I like."

His smile no longer wavers when you tell him you like him, as if adjusting to your blunt nature. You don't know if that's a good sign or a bad sign, but he hasn't pushed you away yet—so you hope it's good.

Without skipping a beat, Jinwoo slides the plush into his inventory. Like a magic trick done right, the very plush you had won him suddenly disappeared from his hands.

You gasp in sheer horror. "What did you do to Agent quackston?!"

"You named it?"

"But of course!" You clutch your chest as if you've been stabbed. "That was my mascot! The proof of my love! And—and you just murdered him!"

He flicks your forehead before you can go too far with your theatrics. You yelp, both hands covering the place his fingers just hit as you scrunched up your nose in disapproval.

"He's in my inventory." He pulls his hands away, face ever soft despite its sharp features. "We can't exactly go on while carrying a huge plush all the time, can we?"

"Oh."

That shut you up real quick. Your face flattens out, a cool look quickly molding over your initial horror once Jinwoo knocks some sense into you.

"That makes sense." You groan. "Overpowered menace."

His head tilts, looking from side to side before landing on a destination.

"Come, follow me." Once more, he laces his fingers through yours—too smoothly for your safety actually.

"Wh—" you're dragged away from where your feet were planted with ease as he exerts the smallest of force to get you moving. "Where are we going?"

The only response you get is a quick look and a small smirk.

You ascended to heaven.

You proceed to find yourself swallowed by a whole mountain of plushies 30 minutes later.

"Y-you're awfully good at this."

Your arms struggle to carry all the plushie he just won you at the claw machine, a strawberry shaped one blocking your vision with it's large body.

"You think so?"

A deadpan. "Not I think—but you are."

"I have talent, it seems," he says, voice light, almost teasing.

The strawberry plush is enormous, obnoxiously soft, and it’s wedged so firmly between your arms you can barely see past it. You shuffle awkwardly, trying to adjust your grip, but your vision is still completely overtaken by red fuzz and a pair of stitched cartoon eyes.

"Jinwoo," you groan. "I can't see. I'm going to die holding this fruit."

There's a brief pause coming from him—and then you feel the pressure ease. The strawberry is lifted from your arms gently, like a gift being unwrapped. And just like that, your vision returns.

You blink up at him, mouth half open in protest, but the words die on your tongue the moment you see his face.

He's holding the strawberry plush with both hands, cradling it against his chest like it’s something delicate. To make matters even worse—his expression is fond.

Not smug. Not playful.

Fond.

Eyes soft, mouth curved in the smallest, most dangerous smile you’ve ever seen on him.

"This one repays the duck," your knees buckle. "Now we're even."

You stare.

He offers it to you like a peace offering. Like a confession. Like it means something more. Did it mean something more? You hope it did.

You need something to keep your heart from breaking out of your ribs. You want to say something witty. Something charming. Something that won't give away how your brain is fully short-circuited.

But all you manage is: "Agent Quackston will be pleased."

Jinwoo chuckles, the sound sending goosebumps down your spine. "Good. I don't want to get on his bad side."

You clear your throat, clutching the strawberry tighter. "He's very territorial."

"I'll keep that in mind."

His eyes persist and remain locked on yours, refusing to waver. You try to meet it, refusing to back down. A poker face—a picture perfect poker face you honed after years of work crumbles beneath his gaze that dared to make you hope for something more.

"Give those to me—I'll keep them in my inventory for the time being."

You barely register his words beyond the rampant beating of your heart.

Unbeknownst to you, the very reason he could capture so many stuffed plushes was because he was using his ruler's authority without you noticing.

The rest of the day passes by in a flash. Failed flirts, playful banters, unraveling of character—you've tried both the rides and the overpriced foods here, a smile never quite leaving you all throughout. You found a haunted house amidst your search for exciting rides—you didn't dare try it out.

You learned your lesson from the last date. You avoided it like the plague, Jinwoo looked amused. And then the climax happened.

You sat in front of him at the ferris wheel, overlooking the entire city as you reached the highest peak of the circle shaped structure. The ferris wheel would always signify the end of the date. A quiet place where meaningful conversations could be exchanged.

"Why five dates specifically?" Jinwoo finally asks, breaking the bubble of silence that blanketed the space.

You look off into the distance, admiring the view you could only see from high up above.

"It's simple, really."

Though his eyes never leave your figure, your eyes never meet his.

"One's too fast, two's too fleeting, three's too abrupt, four might allow a spark, and five means we might be allowed a chance to go somewhere." Your hand touches the window, tone no longer as detached nor too emotional. "Six and more is too long. Even I know my limits."

Jinwoo leans back, arms crossed as the city lights flicker beneath his icy grey hues. He doesn't say anything, only linger in the answer you gave—look at you like you're a puzzle he wishes to solve.

"We're already at the fourth." Your hand twitches just slightly. "Nearing the end—time flies by so fast, doesn't it?"

He follows where your eyes lock on, watching the cityscape through the small window. "It does." He adds when the silence becomes too much.

"Only one more and you'll be free from my whims—" you take a sharp breath. "That must be a relief for you."

Jinwoo turns his gaze back to you slowly, his expression unreadable for a second too long.

Then—quiet, but firm—he says, "Leave the fifth to me."

Your body goes rigid, and then, with a speed Jinwoo worried would cause you a whiplash—turned your head to face him. Breathless.

"What?"

"The fifth date. Leave it to me."

"I—huh?" You blink, once, twice, thrice, four, five—not enough. "Why?"

"I want to make sure of something."

Butterflies flutter about inside your stomach as hope dares to make itself known to your chest.

"Make sure to dress nicely."

The fifth date, as Jinwoo insisted, was planned solely by him.

All you did was dress pretty. Cordial and decent enough to dine at fine dining restaurants—enough to pass as the daughter of a rich man.

"Isn't this too much?" You question as your trusty friend swipes lipstick across your lips like a professional. "I don't want to appear like I'm trying hard around him."

"My girl," she deadpans. "You've asked him out on five dates the first time you talked outside of work—confessed your intentions at date one, asked if he was falling inlove at date two, clung to him on date three, and called him bunnyboy at date four. You're desperate enough to do this much when he asks to let you leave the fifth date to him."

You pout at her words, she doesn't care—doesn't even bother to pretend to care.

"Listen here—make sure to remain calm okay?" She holds you by the shoulders, squeezing it gently. "This is your chance—don't you dare mess this up."

"I am calm."

You say that, but you carry yourself with the stiffness of a man going into a lion's den with steak on their hands.

"You're vibrating, stop that—I can't finish the look if you're trembling."

"Can you blame me? I'm emotionally compromised and in risk of cardiac arrest."

She doesn't answer—but she does do a deadpan. That alone told you everything about her exasperation.

After giving you one final once-over, she beams and puffs her chest smugly—proud of her work. Then came the doorbell ringing loudly for both of you to hear.

She lets you go with the face of someone sending their dearest soldier to war. You step out with the same vibes of someone going to war for the first time. Your nerves fray—nearing combustion as your palms clamp up with sweat.

As the door creaks open, allowing you exit—you're immediately met with Jinwoo standing just outside, waiting for you—all dressed to the nines with a dark suit and a bouquet.

He's unfairly handsome.

The 'polite boy with a mysterious about him that keeps you on your toes. Magazine looks and a k-drama star of a 100% rotten tomatoes rating series.' Meanwhile you looked like an overdressed fool preparing for an interview to become a court jester. The difference was astounding—you wonder why you haven't yet melted into a puddle on the floor and become fertilizer for a fresh set of life.

"You brought a bouquet?" Dumb question—clearly he did, in fact, bring one.

He wordlessly offers it to you, gaze dragging down to your form as he takes in your fit. From your coloured lips to your wide eyes full of static. You hold back the urge to shrink, gingerly accepting the small gift with clammy hands.

"This is for me?"

"No, it's for your neighbor." He retorts with a face you could only describe as serious. "Of course it's for you."

"...oh."

You clutch the bouquet like it might stabilize your heart, eyes darting to the floor in a valiant attempt to find an escape tunnel. Unfortunately for you, you find that there's none—only the sound of your pulse in your ears and the sharp, clean scent of the flowers pressed against your face.

"Right," you mumble. "Thanks. They're...nice. Really nice."

He raises an eyebrow. "You sound surprised."

"Who wouldn't be surprised? The guy I like comes and gives me a pretty bouquet—I need time to recover emotionally."

"Because of flowers?"

"Because of you bringing flowers while looking like a man who walked out of a commercial for heartbreak."

That gets him. His lips twitch, the faintest ghost of a laugh huffing through his nose.

"I'll try not to be less offensive next time," he says. "Come on."

He offers his arm, you stare at it stupidly as if it was an alien concept to wrap your own around it.

"Your hand." He gives you a deadpan. "Hold onto me."

You blink, look up, tilt your head, process his words, and then nearly shut down. "Wh—"

Jinwoo's expectant stare makes you comply without allowing yourself to mutter anything else. Latching onto him before your body starts protesting.

He leads you outside of your apartment complex, taking you to an open field.

"Where are we going?"

"Nature."

"Pardon?"

Jinwoo turns his head left and right, makes sure there's no obstructions, and calls upon Kaisel with a low mumble.

A large wyvern materializes out of his shadows, glinting blue against the moonlit night. Towering over both of you by several feet.

"Holy—"

It roars as it emerges from its sanctuary, flapping its wings as it adjusts to the chilling air of Seoul. It blinks once, glowing softly as the night highlights its phantom like structure. You're not sure what breaks your head more—was it the fact that he said nature and seemed to mean it? Or the fact that a wyvern just popped out of his shadow and ease into the ground in front of you.

"Is that a dragon?" You clutch the bouquet like it's a lifeline, shivers running down your spine as it flaps its wings once more—the pressure allowing for a gust of wind to breeze through you.

"A wyvern," he corrects, tone patient. "They're Kaisel—don't worry, they're friendly."

You swallow thickly. "Right. Sorry for the misidentification—but that doesn't make this any better, Jinwoo. That's still a mythical being we're talking about—and you birthed it from your shadow, Jinwoo."

Jinwoo doesn't respond, but his lips twitch again—twice in one evening. You're practically a miracle worker for making him show so much emotion with just a few well placed words here and there.

"Not birth—summon is a better word." Another correction, you click your tongue in response.

Kaisel lowers their head, wings folding neatly by their sides as if to say, yes, hello, I am your Uber for tonight. You blink up at Jinwoo, who's already turned toward you, holding out a gloved hand this time. "Have you ever flown before?"

"Not on a real life wyvern, no." You hiss.

He chuckles softly, his smooth baritone sending shivers that didn't have anything to do with the chilly wind down your spine. "Then today will change that, it appears."

With measured steps does he stand over Kaisel's back, gaze flicking back to you with an expectant look. "You trust me, don't you?"

The question is simple. Too simple. But it leaves you winded nonetheless.

Your eyes search his—calm, steady, waiting. And for all your drama, for all your plans and fears, your answer comes shamefully easily. "Yes, I do."

He smiles. Smiles. A full one this time. "Good. Then let's fly."

And before you can even take back your words and stay grounded on the very real, very nice pavement, he's already helping you up, lifting you as if you weighed next to nothing. Next thing you know, he has his arm wrapped around your waist as you stand by Kaisel's backbone.

"This is safe, right?"

"What happened to the trust you said you had in me?"

"Will be gone if you don't answer my question."

"Don't worry," he laughs, hand squeezing your waist almost subconsciously. "I won't let you fall."

You nearly faint right then and there. Badump, badump—you can practically smell his cologne from how close you were. He smells nice, like freshpine and something mysterious—ah you might be a bit too in danger if you keep sticking to him like this.

"Are you all settled now?" You clutch the bouquet in one hand, and his coat with the other as you nod. Slowly—very slowly—almost robotically.

Too late to back out now. With a powerful flap of their wings, Kaisel launches into the sky—and you scream. But it's short-lived, caught somewhere between terror and sheer awe as the world drops away beneath you.

You squeeze your eyes shut, feeling the air muss up your dignity Jinwoo takes you to the sky. You feel your balance shifting ever so slightly, and you quickly try to fix it by holding onto Jinwoo tighter.

"If I fall and die I'll haunt you—doesn't matter if I liked you when I was living." You threaten, voice whispery as your legs wobble, feeling the graze your skin.

He laughs, though it's covered by the loud gust of wind whispering in your ears as you soar through the skies with Jinwoo. "Open your eyes, it would be a shame to miss this."

"I might vomit!"

"You won't."

"But I might!" You huff

Jinwoo shifts behind you, his grip around your waist tightening ever so slightly—firm, secure, maddeningly calm.

"You won't," he repeats, like it's fact, a given and not a gamble. "You're too stubborn to let gravity win."

"Now I'm no scientist but I'm quite sure that's not how biology or gravity works!"

"Trust me," he murmurs, and somehow, the sound of it cuts through the wind like silk through chaos. "You're safe."

You squeeze his coat until your knuckles turn white. Risk one eye open, it swiftly forces the other to blink open as well and widen as you take in the sight beneath you.

The city is a kaleidoscope of colors all around, lights flickering as the buzz dies out into nothing but flickering murmurs until it becomes nothing at all. The cityscape glows in colors of gold, white, red, and more—fading into the distance the further the wyvern flies.

"Oh." Your breath hitches.

"See?"

You glance back at him. He's not just smiling—he's soft. The kind of softness that makes your lungs ache, like you've gone too high and forgotten to breathe. The wind wraps around you both in a cold embrace, the moonlight reflecting off your eyes as you peer up at the sky, lips parted into a frozen gasp. Kaisel glides above the clouds with ease, careful to not swivel too much for the passengers behind their back.

"This is..." You clutch the bouquet. "This is beautiful..."

He hums, eyes flicking over your admiring visage, silence encompassing you both before he eventually nods. "...It is."

Kaisel lands you somewhere in the middle of the forest with a wide clearing. As the flapping of their wings slows to a halt, their feet land back at the ground with a small thump.

Dust kicks off from the ground, and Kaisel stops moving.

Jinwoo's the first to jump back down the ground, unbothered by motion sickness as he offers a hand for you to take.

You accept it, no longer as reluctant as before. If he offered it, why refuse? There's no reason to. Absolutely none.

He helps you down the dragon, ever so careful, the very description of a gentleman. You look around, finding nothing but trees and twigs as far as the eyes could see.

Another bout of silence—nothing but Kaisel's purr as they relax and lay on the ground to interrupt it, a flame flickers from nowhere and comes to life. Not wild, not big—just a small ball of fire as it lights up a path. The balls of fire flickers one after the other, forming a passage for you to follow.

You flinch, expecting hostile creatures only for Jinwoo to take your hand through his own gloved ones and take you to follow it through.

"Where are we going?"

Jinwoo replies, "Somewhere nice."

The firelit path weaves through tall trees and crisp air, and every few steps the scent of pine, earth, and smoke sweetens—until you break past the last wall of foliage and enter a clearing.

Your jaw drops. In the center of it all—under a full moon and starlit sky—stands a table for two. A white cloth billows gently under the breeze, weighed down by elegant plates, polished silverware, and a single vase of fresh flowers in the middle. A pair of candles flicker beside it, impossibly tall and stubborn against the night wind.

"My liege—and his dearest lady." A shadow emerges from the depths of the trees. "We've been expecting you."

You flinch at the sudden voice, gasping as you take an instinctive step back.

An ant-like shadow stands before you, head lowered into a bow as its wings flick in small excited beats. "I am honored to be graced with your presence at long last." He begins, and Jinwoo already feels a headache forming. "Our king has told much of your grace, wit, and awe-inspiring intentions—it is with the greatest delight that I finally stand before you I am—"

"Beru." Jinwoo cuts off, brows furrowed, as he glowers at the pesky ant. "Stop talking."

The ant whimpers—it whimpered as Jinwoo issued the command like a kicked puppy. Its wings droop, and their eyes grow droopy at his liege's annoyance.

"I-I—of course! I apologize, I did not mean to intrude upon such a sacred moment—" he bows down, deeper and closer to the ground this time. "Please proceed to the table."

Jinwoo sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose as the ant skitters off somewhere.

"That was mean." You comment, allowing Jinwoo to walk you to the table. "I felt bad."

"You have to be mean to these kinds of shadows."

"Really?"

"Really." You raise a brow as he pulls your chair out, gesturing for you to sit. "Even the overly dramatic bug butler who just called our dinner a 'sacred moment'?"

Jinwoo exhales sharply through his nose, somewhere between a laugh and a groan. "Especially him. If I don't rein him in, he'll start composing sonnets about your eyelashes."

"...Has he done that before?" He doesn't answer right away.

"He has, hasn't he?"

"He's very devoted."

You laugh at that, taking a seat where he offered one graciously. He sits across the table, taking the bouquet and resting it on the table for you.

A tall knight comes your way, covered from head to toe with armor. They lean over, their armor clanking softly as they hand out what seems to be a menu to skim through. You quirk a brow, hesitantly taking the offered folder containing the list of provided services. They walk off with a small nod, you return it, bewildered by the random sight.

"Uhm..." A clap—one, two, and then shadows morph into figures—orcs, knights, each holding an instrument of their own. In the middle stands a particularly burly knight—skin glowing as the armor shuts down the light they emit.

Another orc—this one larger than the rest stands several paces back, an orb in hand. It murmurs something under its breath, and then the sphere glows softly—a stream of petals fluttering about out of nowhere.

You stare. The music begins.

Soft strings swell into the air, underscored by the low hum of a cello being plucked with surprising precision by a shadowy knight. A flute joins in—sharp and clear—held by what looks like a an orc in a tuxedo. The tune is gentle, romantic, almost hauntingly beautiful.

The burly knight in the middle opens their mouth and sings. They hum loudly, a mix of sounds that fit just right with the atmosphere currently set—their deep baritone suiting the mood just right.

Then the petals hit. First a few. Then dozens. Then hundreds.

They swirl down like rain, catching on your shoulders, your hair, your menu, Jinwoo's sleeve, and even, somehow, his very soul if the look on his face is anything to go by.

Jinwoo's eyes twitches.

You brush off a petal that got on your head, mirth shimmering within the shine of your eyes.

"They overdid it." He murmurs, a hand carding through his hair as he leans against the table. You laugh, finding entertainment where Jinwoo finds embarrassment.

"This feels cursed." You comment, watching them as they played the instruments with surprising skill. "Like a date with death itself or something. Low lighting, shadows as staff, eating dinner at a cliffside as the moon bears witness to this event—yep, cursed."

"But also," your eyes narrow as you stare at the hard working shadows. If you squint your eyes, you could see the ant—Beru scolding the big orc for overdoing the petal shower, if going by the way the orc frowned in what seemed like shame. "This is cute—though not conventional cute."

He nods, a sigh finding its way out of his lungs.

"I didn't know they were capable of doing cute things like this."

"What's cute about this?" He grumbles, and you only giggle.

"The view here is nice." You begin, "below you can see the forest from above. If you look up you have a great view of the full moon from here." Your gaze flickers to the shadows playing music, soft, slow, romantic. "And then we have good music to bask in to really get in the mood."

You open the book with unhurried motions, lashes fluttering as you scanned through the menu. "Though I didn't know what you had in mind when you told me to leave this last date to you, I certainly have no regrets."

You hum, fingers skimming through the names listed below. "This feels fitting for our final meeting. Thank you for putting so much effort into this, Jinwoo. Even if I had only dragged you along to satiate my selfish whims."

Jinwoo stiffens.

Somehow, someway, your words hit him hard. "You seem sure of it," he comments, taking a sip of the service water offered.

"About what?"

"About this being our final meeting."

"Ah." You follow him, taking a sip as well before laughing softly—a bit deprecating. "Am I wrong?"

He opens his mouth to say something in turn—something to disprove your words, but nothing leaves him and you're already calling the waiter, gesturing for someone. Another knight—this time, far taller than the rest and akin to a general appears from Jinwoo's shadow, standing in front of you with nothing less than a respectful bow.

"Uhm—I'd like to have the steak, please. Medium rare, the seasonal vegetables on the side."

"Igris...?" The knight shifts its metal body to face Jinwoo, head still lowered. "I'll have the same." Jinwoo mumbles once he blinks away the shock.

Igris nods, taking in your order with a respectful bow.

And then... Another round of madness began.

From one corner of the clearing, a portable cooking station is dragged into view by two lesser knights. It screeches faintly against the stones. A third knight strikes a match and lights the stove with all the solemnity of a sacred ritual. The fourth knight hands over a plain white apron. Igris solemnly takes it and dramatically flips it, tying it around him with all the flare of an 8 star chef.

You make noise—a combination of surprise and amusement as he stands before you with the kitchen in full view. You blink, and then Beru appears beside Igris. "Igris shall now prepare your meal personally," Beru says with hushed reverence, like this is a Michelin-starred rite of passage

A beat—a second spent with you looking pleasantly confused and entertained, and Igris gets to work.

He slices the vegetables with flare—beating the world record for slicing onions with ease. He's quiet, only the sound of metal clanking as he moves around the kitchen—performative but efficient. Flames leap with every toss of the pan, vegetables chopped mid-air, diced, tossed in full arcs and smoothly delivered to the pan with practiced ease. A symphony of sizzling sounds fills the area as the aroma wafts over the open clearing.

You're biting your lip, trying not to lose it. Jinwoo looks about ready to disappear into the tablecloth.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," he mutters, hands steepled in front of his mouth.

"What are you talking about? This is beautiful." You whisper, eyes glittering with delight. "This is peak art. I didn't know your shadows were so talented." You clutched your stomach, doing everything you can to stop the laughter that bubbles and threatens to erupt. "I don't know what I was expecting when I saw your soldiers on the news but—oh—gosh—"

You pause for air, laughing as quietly as possible, giving up on trying not to laugh because clearly that was a fail. "This is a pleasant surprise." Jinwoo lets out a defeated sigh, slumping in his chair like a man who's just lost a very serious battle—perhaps against dignity, or sanity, or both. You can't tell. You're too busy watching Igris precisely sprinkle salt from an unnecessary height, eyes glowing faintly with what can only be described as prideful culinary resolve.

Once the show is over and the food's finished simmering in his greatness, he presents them to you with pride, sliding the dishes over before bowing one last time—this one done to signify his exit.

You and Jinwoo both murmur your thanks—yours laced with awe, his with the dazed tone of someone barely surviving the secondhand embarrassment of being loved this hard by his own shadows. Igris fades away into the darkness, the apron still flapping slightly behind him like a victorious cape. A few shadows clap. One tries to throw more petals. Beru tackles them.

Silence settles again. You glance down at your plate. Perfect sear. Beautiful plating. Aromatic and savory in a way that immediately makes your stomach betray you with a low rumble.

"If this is my final date," you lift your fork with ceremony. "Then at least I'll die fulfilled. Being able to brag about eating a meal cooked by Sung Jinwoo's own shadow soldier is no achievement anyone can get."

Jinwoo huffs, shaking his head to rid himself of the secondhand embarrassment he accumulated over the course of watching his shadows make this the perfect date as Beru so insisted. "You're impossible."

And so the hour passes. The tunes, ever romantic and soft continues, humming faintly beneath the chatter you engaged with Jinwoo. Lighthearted and soft, you exchange jokes with a smile—a big step up from the first date wherein you force yourself to act nonchalant and cool.

"I was going to let this be the last one." Jinwoo begins, swirling the wine glass betwixt his fingers, watching the wine shift from one space to the other with faint interest. "I thought of it as nothing more than paying back what you were due."

Your attention is thrown to him as he begins to speak—much longer than the ones before. He begins it instead of continues, shifting the dynamics as he shares his own thoughts after keeping it hidden for the sake of entertaining you. He looks at you through the glass, vulnerability flickering beneath those usually rigid grey hues of his. "I figured it was nothing more than a passing whim. That maybe—as full of myself as it may sound, I could help you get over the heartbreak by letting you down in this manner."

"For that I'm ever grateful." You say softly—quiet instead of playful. Sincere, if not faintly sad. "I never saw myself going anywhere with you. But then I saw the chance and took it without thinking. I'm sorry for forcing you to play along with my selfish feelings."

He grits his teeth, but continues, wanting you to hear the end of it. "When I saw you in the mirror—I didn't know what to make of it at first."

"Mirror?" Ah—Jinwoo's eyes widen slightly. "It's how I learned of how you felt. Without it I would probably have never figured it out." You made an o-sound. But then furl your brows together again because he's still not quite clear. He laughs at your confusion, only briefly, but indulges you in your questions left unasked.

"It was a dungeon," Jinwoo clarifies, voice soft and distant. "One of the tougher ones. Hidden, even. I went in thinking it'd be a routine clear, but the final boss, it wasn't like the others." He sets the wine glass down, fingers curling slightly against the stem as he leans forward, eyes on you. "It was a mirror. A creature that doesn't fight with claws or spells. It dug through your very memories and used them against you—searching inside to learn what it could use against you."

You blink slowly. He continues. "At the end of the battle I was granted a chance to ask the truth. However, it gave me nothing I didn't already know." He sighs, reminiscing the memory as if it was just yesterday. "I asked it only because I expected nothing—I asked the question that led me to find out."

"Who liked you?"

He nods, tasting the wine on his tongue, lingering. "Close, but not quite."

He takes a sip, and places it down on the table with practiced motions. "Come to think of it—I never got to ask you, didn't I?"

Jinwoo raises his gaze, a playful question—but his looks betray his eagerness for an answer. "Why ddo you like me? I imagine I was quite undesirable back then. Certainly not desirable enough to deserve so much of your mercy."

You blink, face warming slightly as he asks the question—forcing you to answer because who could say no to a face like that?

You hum, playing with the rim of the glass as you try to explain it. "I don't quite get it myself."

"You were plain and scrawny and insecure and in a tight financial situation—I don't understand how it came to be as well." You huff, leaning back on your seat, scratching your head in annoyance.

Jinwoo closes his eyes, mildly amused and playfully offended by everything you listed—though he recognized it to be true so he couldn't fight back against the claims.

"But, thinking back on it now, it was probably because of the way you refused to give up." You looked down at the empty plate, smiling fondly. "Even if the world told you to give up—you refused. You'd smile when someone offered you even just a sliver of kindness and pretend like everything was fine. It made me want to cheer you on too. Even if I didn't know your story quite well—and then somewhere along the road of cheering you on it started becoming real."

You laughed bitterly, covering it up with a sip of wine to swallow down the nerves. "It scared me a bit at first. I didn't understand how I could be this attached to someone who didn't know me beyond my work, but then when you offered me a cup of canned coffee just when I got off work—I just couldn't stop myself."

Your fingers tighten slightly around the glass as the memory resurfaces—small, insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and yet... it clung. "I'd been having a hell of a day. Nothing was going right, I hadn't eaten, I was running on three hours of sleep—and then you were just there, holding out a can like it was some sort of peace offering." You smile faintly, gaze distant. "And you didn't say much. Just that 'You looked tired.' And that was it. So simple. But it ultimately made everything better for me."

Jinwoo watches you quietly, no smile on his lips this time—just quiet attentiveness. Like he's finally seeing it all clearly. The cracks. The quiet ways you fell.

"I guess you could say that I liked you because even when the world went against you and put you upon one challenge after another, you somehow still found it in you to care for other people. And it... It really stuck with me."

Jinwoo swallows hard, and for once—for once—he doesn't know what to say. The silence that stretches between you is full, but not heavy. He leans back in his seat, one hand lifting to brush through his hair as he laughs—quiet and breathless, a little disbelieving.

"I..." He begins, the words felt heavy on his tongue, but he wanted to say it still—"I don't want this to end just yet." You blink. "Pardon?"

"Five dates came to pass. Strictly speaking, everything will end after tonight." Your eyes flickered with a hint of sadness at his reminder.

"But not yet." He gulps down thickly, hands trembling just slightly as he continues. "You like me, don't you?"

"I—uh, yes?"

"Then let me be selfish." His index finger taps against the clothed table. "Five dates. I want five more dates with you. Just to confirm something."

"I—what?" Your voice reaches a pitch too high for your comfort, heart suddenly having a stroke as you try all you can to not misunderstand his words.

"The first five was your request. Now I ask the same." He leans closer, his eyes burning for the first time with a certain passion remiss throughout his life. It's subtle, but when you peer in his eyes you see it—the fire crackling beneath the depths. "You told me six and more is too long—I beg to differ."

"Entertain me, will you?"

"I—I—huh?!" He laces his fingers through yours, intertwining them and pulling it closer to him. His cheeks glow faintly of red, showing that even he is not immune to love.

You avert your gaze, pinch yourself, shake your head enough to make you dizzy—but nothing wakes you up from this. Was this truly reality? If so, then. "I'd go ten more if you'd like." You murmur, both a whisper and a scream.

He breaks out into a smile—wider than anything you've ever seen from him. "Then I'll greedily take twenty more."

#ᯓᡣ𐭩fyuyu's works #solo leveling x you #Solo leveling x reader #manhwa x reader #solo leveling x y/n #jinwoo x you #jinwoo x reader #jinwoo sung x reader #sung jinwoo x reader

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gojosoups · 2 months ago

Text

Gojo Satoru and Sung Jinwoo, just two pussy drunk men vying for your attention. And unfortunately for you, they have the biggest breeding kink.

Which is how you found yourself here, naked and sprawled across your bedsheets, with your legs spread wide open to accommodate their lengths.

You lay sandwiched in between their thick leaking cocks. Gojo's long fingers gripping the fat on your hips as he thrusts himself into you while Jinwoo plays with your sensitive perked nipples from below, his pace matching with Satoru's with each lift of his hips.

The both of them working together in sync, cocks grinding against one another in your greedy little pussy, their thrusts relentless as you try to milk their cocks, all while they compete with one another to be the first to get you pregnant.

a/n: this is probably the worst thing I've ever wrote, but I'm tired and sleepy af so enjoy lolololl <3 longer fic coming soon!!

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blackcat-star · 4 days ago

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Hi! I have a request idea for Jinwoo, if you'd like to write it.

So, reader really loves dragons and wyverns and other dragon-esque creatures, and they have for basically their whole lives. And they're dating Jinwoo, so he decides to show them Kaisel and they're just like 😲🤩 and they start askkng him everything about Kaisel and then become like besties with Kaisel. If Jinwoo's away and doesn't think he'll need Kaisel, he'll just leave him with reader so they can chill together.

I really love your writing 💖

Wyvern.

Sung Jinwoo (Kaisel) x Reader.

_______________

"-and that's why wyverns are actually more aerodynamically efficient than traditional four-legged dragons." you continued, quickly sketching a diagram on the paper. "You see, the arm-wing structure means better weight distribution, and their tails..."

Jinwoo looked at you with tired but gentle eyes, a small smile appearing on his lips. This was one of the few things that could make him forget his embarrassing performance in the C-rank dungeon: listening to his crush talk about wyverns and dragons with all your passion.

At least seeing your eyes light up every time you talked about your new discoveries about wyverns, the way you tried to describe them to him by drawing diagrams on paper and laughing genuinely happy when sharing your interests with him was enough to make him forget everything around him and just immerse himself in your voice and face.

You were happy, so he was happy. Although he didn't really understand what you were talking about. They didn’t capture his imagination as much as they did yours.

Because he was an E-rank hunter, even fighting small goblins or orcs seemed difficult to him and enormous, fire-breathing creatures like wyverns and dragons were impossible.

"You really did your research," Jinwoo said, wincing slightly as he shifted on the sofa. His ribs were still sore from the goblins beating him up, and he was being used as bait by his team members while stronger hunters fought. It wasn't much fun.

"Of course!" you looked up from your sketches, your eyes almost glowing with excitement. "You know how much I love dragons! Did you know that in most mythologies, dragons are extremely intelligent? They're older than time and have deep wisdom and-" you paused since you’d already uncovered all your thoughts. "Sorry, I sometimes get onto a rant again, don’t I?

Jinwoo gave a little wave with his hand. "No, it's fine. I like listening to you."

He tossed his black hair. "I just can't imagine wanting to meet something that powerful, especially after seeing the monsters in the dungeon. I'd die if I faced one!

Your expression changed, becoming more serious. "Think about it, Jinwoo! You've seen a lot of monsters, right? Mindless creatures driven by instinct and aggression?"

He nodded seriously, unconsciously touching his side where the claw marks were still healing under his shirt.

"Dragons are different," you said seriously, slamming your hands on the table. "In every story, they're described as intelligent!" Your eyes sparkled. "Imagine meeting such an ancient and wise being, one that can share knowledge from centuries ago! Wouldn't that be great?"

Jinwoo sweatdropped. No, that really wasn't clear to him. Coming face to face with a wyvern or dragon was the last thing he wanted to do, since only one blow could knock him out and he couldn’t fight back.

Jinwoo signed and continued to stir his almost cold cup of coffee. "To be honest, I'd rather meet something smaller. Less likely to eat me." He gave you a sad smile. "I've been beaten up enough by regular monsters."

You frowned, worry flickering across your face. "Jinwoo, you know you don't have to keep doing this, right? Being a hunter when it's too dangerous for you?"

"I need money," he said simply. "My mother, Jinah...we need money. Maybe someday I'll become stronger." Even as he said that, he couldn't hide the doubt in his voice.

You pondered, then placed your hand on his. "You know I'm always by your side, right?"

Jinwoo smiled affectionately. "I know. And I'm grateful for that."

__💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺__

He had spent many weeks planning the whole occasion, watching as you examined dragon mythology books and were always caught off-guard by wyvern pictures. Your apartment was filled with dragon statues, lots of fantasy books and drawings of creatures you had imagined.

Until today.

"I want to show you something," He gestured towards you with a small smile while leading you to the apartment’s rooftop. The sky above was covered with dusk-colored stars.

You wondered what the purpose was in being there, but you trusted his decision entirely. The whole day, he only acted oddly and the excitement seeping from him was easy to notice.

Rather than responding, he raised his hand and the blackness fell around his fingers as though they were holding smoke. "Arise."

There was a shimmer in the air and instantly the roof wasn’t empty anymore. There was a striking beast that came, its dark, shiny scales blending into the darkness, its wings painting rivulets of shadow on the ground and its eyes gleaming back at you with interest.

Your breath suddenly stopped in your throat. Your heart stopped. Then it started again, pounding against your ribs as you took in every impossible detail.

"This is Kaisel," Jinwoo said softly, carefully watching your reaction. "He's my shadow-"

You whispered "He's perfect" and stopped him from replying. Your eyes became moist as you watched the wyvern, loving the smooth arch of his neck, the shine of the starlight off his skin and his incredible strength. "Jinwoo, he's beyond perfect."

Kaisel tilted his massive head, studying you with an almost surprised expression. Then he leaned down slightly, bringing his massive head closer to you, a gesture that made Jinwoo's eyebrows raise.

"Can I...if I..." You looked between Jinwoo and Kaisel, your hands shaking slightly with excitement and fear.

Jinwoo nodded, his expression gentle and understanding. "He wouldn't hurt you. In fact, I think he's taken a liking to you."

You progressed toward it so quietly and carefully, as if it was sacred. When your hand touched his snout, the scales were gently warm and surrounded by a faint rumble that traveled through your body.

"Oh my," you sighed, running your fingers along his jaw. "Jinwoo, how fast can he fly? What's his wingspan? Does he breathe fire? Can he communicate with you telepathically? How long have you been partners?"

At every chance, you asked Jinwoo questions and his smile kept getting wider because you were so excited. Kaisel didn’t seem to mind at all; in fact, he leaned closer and allowed you to trace the patterns on his scales.

"We'll deal with one question at a time," Jinwoo told you as he came to stand by you. "He outpaces any plane, his wings are about forty feet across, he doesn't use fire and he relies on strength and speed. He understands commands, but we don't really talk.”

"That's incredible," you muttered, still stroking Kaisel's neck. The dragon closed his eyes, seemingly enjoying the attention. "But he seems so smart. Look at the way he reacts to me."

Jinwoo watched Kaisel lean into your touch, making that low rumbling sound again. "He seems to like you. I've never seen him so comfortable with anyone else." ('cause he hasn't met anyone else :) )

You smiled brightly, carefully running your fingers along the bridge of Kaisel's nose above his eyes. "You're just a softie, aren't you, handsome?"

It was the beginning of something beautiful.

___🐱‍👤🐱‍👤🐱‍👤____

Over the next few weeks, Kaisel became a regular part of your life.

Jinwoo would summon him for evening flights, taking you soaring over the city lights as you clung to his back, laughing with pure joy. You would spend hours just talking to the wyvern, telling him about dragon legends and myths while he listened with obvious interest, occasionally rumbling back or tilting his head as if he actually understood every word.

"I swear he actually understands what I'm saying," you told Jinwoo one evening as the three of you sat on the lawn, Kaisel's large body curled around you like a protective barrier.

Jinwoo watched Kaisel’s eyes follow your lively movements as you told him your favorite dragon stories. "He's always been smart. But I’ve never seen him pay this much attention to anyone before."

You began explaining about Smaug, Toothless, and Drogon, gesturing wildly as you spoke. When you got to the part about Smaug's arrogance, Kaisel snorted and turned his head away in obvious disdain.

"Look!" you exclaimed, pointing at the wyvern. "He just judged Smaug! You're too serious for that kind of behavior, aren't you, Kaisel?"

The wyvern roared in agreement, and Jinwoo couldn't help but chuckle at the interaction.

"Real dragons?" you repeated, eyes widening. "There are others?"

...

Jinwoo’s expression turned thoughtful. "In the world of darkness, there are creatures beyond imagination. Kaisel is just one of many, though he's certainly the greatest."

Kaisel feigned at the compliment, and you chuckled, scratching under his chin. "Don't let that make you arrogant, handsome."

The wyvern snorted and made a sound that sounded like laughter.

Soon, Jinwoo started leaving Kaisel with you when he went on missions that didn't require air support. For the first time, you thought it was a joke.

"You want to leave him here? With me?"

"He likes you," Jinwoo said simply, kissing your forehead. "And honestly, I think he'd rather spend time with someone who actually appreciates him than sit in the dark waiting for me."

Kaisel grunted in agreement and sat down on your apartment balcony like he owned the place.

Those days became your favorites. You'd sit outside with Kaisel, read to him from your collection of dragon books, share your lunch (he surprisingly loved barbecue), and just enjoy his company.

"You know," you said to him one afternoon, leaning into his warm hip as you both watched the clouds drift by, "I used to dream about meeting a real dragon. I never thought it would actually happen."

Kaisel turned his large head to look at you, his intelligent eyes warm with what you had learned was affection.

"I'm glad my boyfriend found you," you continued softly. "And I'm glad you like me enough to hang out with me. Even if I can't understand you directly, I feel like we understand each other."

Wyvern put his head against you, touching you as gently as he liked to. Hugging him as closely as you could, you put your arms around his neck.

After Jinwoo came home and noticed you and Kaisel asleep beside one another, with both of you looking truly happy, he just smiled. His shadow wyvern raised its head slightly, looking at Jinwoo with intelligent eyes before carefully shifting to make sure you were comfortable without waking him up.

The concern Kaisel showed you, the way he seemed to genuinely enjoy your company, told Jinwoo everything he needed to know. His shadow had always been loyal, but this was different, this was affection, freely given.

"You two are really attached to each other, aren't you?" he whispered softly, and Kaisel's soft whisper almost sounded like an agreement.

From that day on, Kaisel wasn't just Jinwoo's shadow, he was part of your little family. And every time you looked at him with the same wonder and joy as the first night, Jinwoo fell a little more in love with his mate, who saw magic in the world around them.

After all, it took someone special to befriend a wyvern. And you are the most special person he has ever known.

AWWWW THANK YOU SO MUCH 🥺💗

And sorry for keeping you waiting

Hope you like this, love you 💗💗

#sung jinwoo x reader #solo leveling #solo leveling x reader #sung jinwoo #sung jinwoo x you #sung jinwoo x y/n #jinwoo sung x reader #jinwoo #jinwoo sung

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tiredmamaissy · 2 months ago

Text

Alpha Sung Jin-woo helping me through my heat? Yes, pretty please.

🔞mdni🔞

alpha!jinwoo x lycan!shadow reader

Warnings: smut, p in v, masturbation, dubcon, heat cycle, dom jin, virginity loss, profanity, disgusting filth, creampie, alternating female + male povs, i.e your pov vs jins

a/n: a fair warning I was ovulating while I wrote majority of this ok? So it’s just kinda filthy I apologize. I’ve been thinking about Jinwoo helping us through heat for quite a while and this was the only way my brain could conjure up a situation to make that possible lol I also alternate povs between yours and then jinwoos so we get an idea of what hes feeling too, so I’m so sorry if this is a tad weird 😂

w/c: 7k

your pov

Aside from my notably pointed ears and canines, there isn’t much else that sets me aside from the humans. Yeah, my hair looks silver in some lighting but my body is pretty identical to that of a human. Well, for the most part. I do have…extra features.

I thought that being a part of the master's army would change those things—you know, being dead and all. Yet, things are mostly the same aside from the overwhelming urge to serve Master Jinwoo in every way possible. He’s the better king, anyways.

My father comes nowhere near him. He made me suffer most months, throwing me in the dungeon in the basement of the castle and letting the moon shove a double edged sword through my body as I cried out in agony.

I thought that was all over.

One would assume that existing in this…form would mean no pain and discomfort, or even emotions and needs. But I feel everything like I would back in the castle with my shitty excuse for a father.

But I just…never expected this.

Another wave ripples through me, tearing me from my thoughts and bringing me to my knees. The other shadows take notice in this little bubble that we float in until the king summons us. Some turn their heads to look at me, while others turn their heads to ignore me. I suppose we all still have most of our free will.

I clench my thighs together and will the cramp to radiate down and out my extremities. I seal my lips tight but a little whimper still escapes them, and it shocks even me. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. It’s only been a few hours and it’s only getting worse. Just like it used to. At this point, father would be locking the door and throwing away the key.

But I refuse to let this happen in front of the others. At least in my dungeon I had the privacy to suffer and squirm and squeal on my own. I keep my focus on my bruised knees and force the muscles in my thighs to relax. Maybe I can get my own bubble or something.

I am the only girl here.

“What’s wrong with her?” I hear a whisper behind me, and the sound of shuffling beside me.

“She kind of…smells.” Another voice fires the words like an arrow through me.

Not fair. I can’t control that part of this.

I peek up through my lashes and catch a glimpse of the blockhead called Iron dramatically pointing at me in dead silence. He looks as if he just discovered new land or something. I open my mouth to give him a piece of my mind but an armored hand gives his wrist a satisfying smack.

“That’s rude.”

It’s Igris, my favorite shadow in the army. Not that I really know the others anyways. He’s the quietest of the lot, and is seemingly master's second in command. I’m not exactly excited for him to see me like this, but there isn’t much I can do about it. I look away and curl into a ball to soothe the dull ache in my core.

“What’s the matter?” Igris takes a knee beside me and looks me over. “Are you in pain?”

Gods, what do I even say? Nothing, that’s what. I give him a slight nod and bite my cheek to stifle the groan trying to escape from me too.

“She smells good.” Iron speaks like a caveman, inching his way closer to Igris. Igris extends a hand behind him and halts Iron with a shove, forcing him to keep a distance from me.

“Give her space.” Igris says sternly, a little louder than needed. I guess that message was for everyone. My cheeks heat up. Shit. I tuck my head down to hide my flushed face and that throb down there worsens.

Igris tenses. I can sense it—he’s strung taut like a bow ready to snap. I can’t help but wonder if it’s me making him that way or if he’s just being his usual self. Regardless, I can’t bring myself to look back at him right now. Not when I’m making a little mess in my panties. No, that would be shameless.

Igris clears his throat and his armour clanks as he lowers his face next to mine. “You are part Lycan, correct?”

Igris speaks for only me to hear. It sounds as if there’s a hidden question disguised behind that one. Whatever it is, I don’t answer. He sighs slightly and allows the uncomfortable silence to pass between us. After what feels like an eternity, Igris pulls back and straightens his spine.

“I’ll inform the king.”

Suddenly we’re being sucked out of this bubble and my heated skin is on the cold tile. It feels like I’m sizzling against it’s surface, and the feeling is delectable. I wonder if my master will let me stay here for a while longer. Just until it’s all over.

“Inform me of what?” Jin-woo stands before me, yet he’s looking at Igris beside him with his arms crossed over his chest.

I feel like we’re in trouble or something, especially with him standing like that. It’s making me nervous but the sensation deep in me isn’t allowing the nerves to take over. I can’t get up even if I try. I tighten my grip around my knees and my fangs descend and throb in my mouth.

I hate this.

“She’s…in pain.” Igris speaks with uncertainty in his voice, like if it were a question rather than a statement. Jinwoo shifts his focus on me, looking down at me with a cocked brow. I guess he’s never had issues with one of his shadows like this.

“Pain?” Jin-woo sounds almost intrigued. “What happened?”

Igris doesn’t answer right away, he’s giving me a chance to speak for myself but I don’t take it. I’m feeling more embarrassed than anything right now.

“I am unsure, master.” Igris finally says and I look up to meet the glowing eyes of my creator.

Jinwoo is kneeling in front of me. The king himself, kneeling, before me. My face flames and my thighs rub against one another. I show my submission and look down, how dare I look into his eyes when he’s on his knees?

“Speak.” Jinwoo commands me, and the instinct to obey rides me hard. I surprise myself when I glance over at Igris, and then back to my master. And just like that, Jinwoo waves Igris away and he fades into a black mist.

“Forgive me, you’re my first female shadow. I know privacy is important.” My king speaks to me with his hand extended. He’s urging me to take it. Oh, gods. I obey and take it, and suddenly I’m being carried across the room and lowered onto what I can only assume is his bed.

“Now, talk to me.”

Now I have to say it. There’s no escaping it. He himself is demanding an answer, here and now.

“Um…” I begin, breaking eye contact to look down at my feet. They feel heavier and I have way more color than usual. I almost look…alive. And with this annoying ache, I almost feel alive too. Jin-woo angles his head to catch my gaze and what feels like my heart bursts through my chest.

“Just something…Lycan.”

“Something…Lycan.” Jinwoo repeats slowly, nodding slightly as if he understands what I mean. “Right. So will it fix itself? I don’t know if the system has—”

“Yes! Yes.” I answer him quickly, calming down when I realise that I’ve totally interrupted him. “It’ll go away in a couple days. I just need, uhm—”

“You need…?” Jinwoo draws out the word as he waits patiently.

“My own bubble.” I speak with feigned confidence. This is my chance and I’m determined not to let the other shadows see me like this.

“Your own…bubble?”

Master seems confused.

“Yes.” I say, and give my best smile. “Please.”

His brows furrow. Master is definitely confused.

“I need…privacy.” I use the word he did.

“Ah.” Jinwoo nods, and looks at me with an unreadable expression. It’s that same expression someone makes when they're trying to solve one of those oddly shaped puzzles. “Okay. Understood.”

Perfect. I’m getting my own bubble, and I don’t need to worry about anything else other than just getting through this shit show.

“But I can’t give you your own…bubble.”

What? Didn’t he just say ‘okay’? That he understands?

“Instead, you’ll stay here.” He motions to his room and for the first time I take it in. The grey paint on his walls. His wooden wardrobe. The flat screen t/v mounted to the wall. His bed that I’m sitting on.

He wants me to stay here?

“You said, what? A couple days? I have more than enough mana to keep you here.” Master speaks so casually about allowing me in his personal quarters. Unbothered, he stalks towards the door and reaches for the handle. He opens the door and lingers in the frame, back turned to me. “Take the bed. I’ll take the couch.”

Absolutely not.

“No! M-Master, you can’t. I will take the couch, o-or even the basement! I really don’t need much space. Even the floor is fine.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Jin-woo casts me a glance over his shoulder. “I’ll be tending to a few matters and won’t be here most of the time, anyways.” He walks through the bedroom door, collected and composed. “Make yourself at home.”

The door closes softly behind him and I’m left alone in a room that smells like him. Every part of this place smells like him. His sheets. His pillow. Even the curtains are stained with his musky scent.

I feel like I’m floating, being led by my nose like a predator to prey.

And when I come to, I’m curled up in a pile of his laundry in his bed, stripped buck naked. I don’t quite remember how I got in this position, but I’ve never felt more comfortable in a nest before. All my previous nests have been made of my old blankets, and whatever linen my father throws down in the basement.

This one is perfect. And it smells exactly how it should. I tug a fat pillow towards me and embrace it with all four limbs, inhaling deep and holding it. Heat bubbles in my tummy and I moan into the pillow’s cushioned surface. It muffles it just right.

My toes curl and my thighs grip the pillow, shimmying it closer and closer to the place where it aches the most. The pressure is sublime. I shove my hand between me and the pillow and my fingers strum at my slippery clit. I bury my face into the pillow and my eyes burn when that hot sensation zings through me.

“Ahh!”

sung jin-woo’s pov

I never thought I’d have to deal with one of my shadows being in heat. I got the notification as soon as I summoned her and Igris.

Notification: [Lycan Shadow] is in heat. Do you want to help her? ☐Yes ☐No

Of course I chose yes. What kind of master would I be if I didn’t help one of my loyal shadows? It’s my responsibility. Plus, she��s female.

But that doesn’t change the fact that I had no idea what it really meant to pick yes. I’m not an idiot—I know what a heat is, especially for a Lycan. I thought giving her some privacy would be enough but now the system seems to be urging me to do a bit more than that.

Notification: [Lycan shadow] will peak in her heat in 8hrs35mins12secs. There may be a penalty if the quest isn’t completed.

Quest? Penalty?

I shift to my side on the couch—I don’t remember it being this tough. The annoying screen follows me and I wave it away. I don’t have time for this. Just keeping her here in this condition is draining my mana quicker than I expected.

But a penalty? For what?

I’ve kept her here, let her in my room, in my bed. Isn’t that enough? What more does she need from me?

Her scent alone was enough to make my head spin. If I didn’t get out of that room when I did I would have lost my shit. I can’t say for certain exactly what would have happened, but she smells like something I’ve never smelled before. She smells like a feeling.

She smells ripe.

Fuck, what am I thinking? Ripe? Like a fucking fruit? I toss over to my other side and smack the pillow a couple times. I need to buy a new couch. Imagine if I let her take this piece of plywood that I’m laying on? Or the floor in the basement? I don’t even have a basement. I live on the top floor of an apartment complex. It makes things easier for me when it comes to Kaisel.

Anyways—is that what her father did? Throw her in the basement when her heat came on? I should’ve made that fucker’s death a slow one.

I huff a sigh and spring up into a sitting position. I eye the floor, maybe it is the better option. I bury my face into my hands. I have a couple commitments for the hunters association tomorrow but those will need to wait for now. I need to deal with her first…however that may be.

I wonder if she’s okay right now. She didn’t look great at all. And her aura was very off. She felt weak to me, like she was injured and fragile, despite her being a shadow. It made my protective instincts go haywire for a moment. I know Igris felt it too. Couldn’t he have taken the weight of some of this for me? They both exist on the shadow plane that she likes calls a ‘bubble’.

Cute. Very cute.

I see what she meant by needing her privacy, though. With a scent like that I can’t trust my soldiers to keep to themselves. I know Igris wouldn’t allow any funny shit to go down but females like their privacy. Jin-ah made me realize that long ago.

I know that checking on her now would be an invasion of that. So why do I want to? This badly, too? There’s something deep in me urging me to get up and make sure she’s alright. It’s not just my protective instinct. It’s something more. Something primal.

And the idea unnerves me.

I stand and begin pacing in my living room to cool off a bit. But my head won’t clear. My thoughts go from obligations I have to get done, to her. Everything about her. The pink on her cheeks that appeared once I started pouring mana into her summoning. The shine in her silver hair when the moonlight caught it just right. The way she squeezed her thighs together and that scent of hers grew even stronger. I bet that’s where it’s emitting from.

Fucking hell. Get your shit together, man.

Whatever she’s going through is affecting me too. That’s clear as day. And now I’m standing in front of her door. My door. Well, it’s her door for the next couple of days. Fuck. What’s wrong with me? This is creepy behaviour. I lean in, tilting my head to press the shell of my ear to its wooden exterior.

Very creepy behaviour.

So why can’t I stop? I strain to listen, and my hand rests on the door handle. What am I doing? I rip my hand away from the metal and clench my jaw.

“Ahh!”

Shit. Go in there and check she’s safe.

No. She’s fine. She’s safe. She’s in my room. I’m here, guarding her. I need to calm down and get myself together, this is ridiculous. She’s a shadow for Christ sake—

“Mmm~”

Oh? What was that?

“Ngh!”

Yep. That was definitely a moan of some sort. I wonder if I’m actually immune to heart attacks, because it feels like I might be having one right now. Or maybe all the blood is just rushing to the wrong head.

“Mmph!”

Christ. Forgive me.

I palm my crotch, I can’t help it. My hard on hurts. My boxers have no stretch to them.

Her little sounds are picking up now. They’re muffled but these walls are thin. I want to know what she’s doing in there to be making those noises.

I need to know.

My hand goes for the door handle again but I reign it back in. I force myself to step away from the door all together. I’m not doing this. This is a line that I won’t cross with a shadow. I take a few more steps back, turn and head straight for my bed made of concrete. I slip under the blanket and rest my arm over my forehead.

I force myself to close my eyes and concentrate on getting some sleep and ignoring those delicious sounds coming from my bedroom. Right, ignoring them. I opt to listen to the electricity from the fridge, the ceiling fan, the clock—anything. But nothing distracts me from those sweet, sweet noises she’s making.

Fuck.

I’m as hard as this couch. Rock solid. I haven’t been this hard since high school for fucksake. I try to ignore the branch in my pants and turn over to go to bed. But nothing’s working.

My hand slides under the band of my boxers and I grab my cock with a vice-like grip. I want it to go down—go away. There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to admit what I’m feeling.

My shadow is making me unbelievably horny.

Her sounds. Her scent.

God, help me.

My hand moves, up and down. It hurts, so I loosen my grip. I can’t stop my own movements. Just the thought of her in lying in my bed possibly doing things to herself to be making those noises is driving me over the fucking edge. I look over at the door, it’s still shut.

Good. I can’t have her catching me. This is already crazy as it is. I feel like I’m sneaking around, like I did when I was younger. My hand moves faster. Shit, I’m gonna come already. I can hear her moans from here now, they’re getting even louder and longer. Whatever she’s doing in my room is about to come to a finale.

And fuck, so am I.

“F-Fuck!”

“Oh, fuck.” I groan a little too loudly for my liking and explode in my cupped hand.

I can’t remember the last time I came this fucking hard. I fumble into the kitchen and clean myself up, fixing my boxers and taking a moment to gather myself. I’m going to pretend like I didn’t just cum to one of my shadows and head to bed.

I’ll deal with this heat thing tomorrow.

— —

It’s been a few hours and I still haven’t slept. Nor have I calmed down either. I’m getting a little concerned. How many hours need to pass before I see a doctor about having a hard on again? It won’t fucking go down and it’s got its own heartbeat. But how could it when her scent is leaking through the cracks of the door frame? It’s literally seeping out the room in a light tangible mist.

I don’t know how much more I can take. Her sounds are definitely not helping either. They’re so much louder and desperate—raw and primal. She is most certainly fucking herself in there. And I’d be the world’s biggest liar if I said I didn’t want to be the one in there fucking her. All she needs to do is say the words, and I’d shove my cock in her little cunt so fucking deep.

I catch my breath. How long was I holding it for? I’m sweating like I’ve climbed a hundred stories and I swear my muscles are swelling. I slip my shirt off, it’s way too tight. The timer says there’s about two hours left until this peaks but I can’t last that long. I’ll have to take Kaisel out to get some fresh air or something.

Or I’m going to fuck her.

Shirtless, I grab a coat and bolt to the front door.

“...M-Master.”

Fuck. She’s calling for me. Fuck. I need to leave now.

“...oh!...please.”

My hand grips the door handle and I watch myself turn it. Wait. This isn’t the handle to the front door. It creaks open and her intoxicating scent bursts out and hits me like a ten ton truck. My head spins and my vision blurs for a second. Shit. I blink to focus my eyes and—

Oh, god.

She’s bent over on all fours in a bed of my linen and laundry, sticking her pussy up in the air. Right in front of my face. Presented on a silver platter for my enjoyment. Swollen and bright pink, and ultra glossy from her heat.

Fuck, that is where this delicious scent is coming from.

It looks like it’d be so warm and gooey inside. I need to find out–to be inside. My cock throbs at the thought and I adjust myself. She begins rocking back and forth, thrusting her pussy into the air and then onto my very soaked pillow. Has she been using that thing to get off this whole time? No wonder this has lasted for hours.

I glance down at her face and the expression etched into her soft features sends a pang through my chest. She’s been suffering, unsatisfied and desperate for a proper release this entire time. I’ve left her here this long because of why again? I can’t remember, but it doesn’t matter. Because I’m going to make this all better.

“You called.”

your pov

I don’t think I’ll be getting any sleep tonight. Not that I’m necessarily surprised or anything, but it still sucks. King Jin-woo’s scent is making this way worse than it usually is. My body probably thinks that a male is here to mate–or whatever my aunt says about Lycans in their heat. Father never allowed that of course, so it quickly became just a bedtime folklore for me.

But shit, now that it’s happening…everything is so much more intense.

I rock back and forth. Harder. Faster. It aches, a constant throb of need, pulsing in my womb, in my pussy. I yearn to be filled. By him. By my master, my king. My body craves him, his scent.

My head feels like it’s stuffed with wool and I can’t concentrate to form a coherent thought. A moan splits my lips and I’m head first into the pillow, arching my back and sticking my pussy in the air. I can feel how swollen I am, and I’m dripping everywhere—down my legs, onto his sheets, his blankets, his clothes.

My hand mindlessly wanders between my thighs, again. Jokes on it, because nothing it or this pillow can do is going to make it go away. I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve rubbed at that little bump down there. But I know it’s enough to make it really puffy and sensitive. I feel my fingers press little circles into it, and my tears start flowing again.

I’m crying like an idiot. Thank the gods that I’m alone. The sensation is so overwhelming. It’s too much yet nowhere near enough at the same time. My body is craving more than my fingers can give. Something big enough to reach deep inside me and get rid of that itch I can’t ever reach. My back bows even more and my toes strain and sink into the bed.

I’m presenting my pussy to nobody.

Because no one’s coming. There is no male.

My knees drag forward and I hardly bring myself to mount his pillow again. It’s wet from the times I’ve used it to make myself cum. I’m so sore and weak but I can’t help myself. This is truly pathetic, and I ought to be ashamed of myself. But I’m not. I’m really not. I want to call out for him, my master.

My alpha.

He’ll make this better, he’ll make the ache go away.

“...m-master…alpha…” I hear myself croak and another cramp rattles me. “...oh! please...”

I rock again, sinking my pussy down onto Jinwoo’s pillow and then shoving it back into the air.

A gust of wind makes me shudder and I hump the pillow another time.

“You called.”

Masters’ deep voice envelops me like a cool breeze on a humid day. I didn’t even hear him come in. It feels like my ears are stuffed with cotton, too. My hips thrust my pussy even harder into the air.

What’s happening to me?

It’s never been this bad.

“Please.” I barely manage to get out. He should know what I’m asking for, he’s the male. My hips rut my mound into his pillow, pressing my hard, sticky clit into the wet fabric. His footsteps come closer, and I can feel his overpowering presence behind me. It’s so domineering, I feel like I’m suffocating.

“Please, what?” His voice is thick with restraint.

But why is he resisting?

“Please, help me.” I sob the last two words, dismounting his pillow and shuffling back until my knees are at the edge of the bed. “I can’t take it a-anymore, alpha.”

“Alpha? That’s new.” He lets out a husky chuckle and his fingertips brush against my outer thigh as he positions himself behind me. I whine from his touch and my back sinks even lower. “I guess you could say that I’m your alpha, sure.”

“Yes, alpha. Please, a-alpha. It’s h-hurting now.”

I’m blubbering. Nothing makes sense. Nothing feels right. I can’t think clearly, I can’t stop my tears, I can’t stop my body. I’m scared, but also excited and aroused. His fingers sink into the fat on my thigh and drag themselves up to my hip, seizing it with force. He tugs me onto him, pressing his clothed bulge against my swollen pussy.

“Fuck, love. Your pussy is weeping.” He groans, gripping my other hip to hold me steady. I’m not going anywhere. I need this. “Is that how badly she wants me? Enough to cry?”

He’s speaking about my pussy like it’s got a mind of its own. I mean, it feels that way right now. It’s throbbing for him, leaking clear beads of this sticky liquid it won’t stop making onto his pants.

He needs to take those off, how will we do this if he doesn’t?

Master yanks at my hips, ramming me back onto him suddenly–roughly.

“Answer me.” He growls and a sweltering heat floods my cunt.

“Yes, alpha.” I whisper in anticipation, spreading my legs a little further to make space for his huge figure.

He is alpha.

“Good girl.” I feel him pluck at the string on his pants and tug them down his legs. “Now, you want me to help you? Yeah?” Jinwoo’s voice is rough and it’s doing things to my body. His hand slips to my inner thigh and his fingertips barely brush against my puffy clit.

“Mmm—mhm!” I hum and nod, chasing his fingers with my hips. Why is he teasing me? “Please al-pha.”

“You know, you’re a well-mannered shadow when it suits you, princess.” Jinwoo lets out a subtle chuckle, arching over me until he’s cheek to cheek with me. His cock is prodding at me but in all the wrong places. He needs to be inside.

“Say the words. And I’ll do it.” His voice lowers to a whisper and he’s putting more and more weight on top of me. “Tell me exactly how you need me to help you.”

I don’t understand how any of this is possible but I don’t care. I’ve never felt more alive than at this moment.

“Inside. P-Put it inside.” I whimper shakily and my hips stutter to notch him at my opening. It’s becoming obvious that he’s doing this on purpose and I can’t understand why. “H-Hurry please!”

“Tsk... Put what inside, love?” He tsks, and a menacing smirk tugs at his lips. His knees sink into the mattress behind me.

“You, alpha. You.” I answer desperately, and he remains stockstill. “Your…cock.”

“Oh. This?” I feel him tug down his boxers and his cock springs out. It’s hot against me, twitching and pulsing between my pussy lips. I nod like an idiot and my bottom lip quivers.

Why is he doing this to me?

“Inside where?” His smirk morphs into a little grin and he lets go of my hip to guide himself exactly where he’s supposed to be. “Here?”

Gods, yes. Yes. Right there.

“Come on. Tell your alpha.” Jin-woo growls the order.

“Yes. Want you in my pussy! Ple-ase!” I cry out and back up on him, and I hear him chuckle again. What’s so fucking funny? He needs to hurry or I’m going to lose myself completely.

“God, it's taken everything in me to hold back for this long, you know that? You’ve really been fucking with my head.” Master grumbles, rubbing his cockhead up and down along my slick opening. “Just keeping you here in this form is using most of my mana, princess. I don’t know how much patience I have left in me.”

In this form? What form? I don’t care. He needs to move.

“Don’t you feel it?” He whispers, catching himself just right at my softest, most sensitive spot. He pushes, gently, slowly. It’s huge. Oh, no. No, he won’t fit. But he needs to. He has to. I spread myself even more, meeting this pressure half way.

“Don’t you feel…alive? Or is your heat fucking with your head too much for you to notice?”

What the fuck is he on about?

Smack.

Fuck. Oh fuck. Oh, fuck.

A high pitched noise rings my ears and I think it might be me. My body tenses and my mind goes blank. The burn is divine but he might actually be splitting me wide open. He’s so big, so deep—so fucking deep. Pushing an exquisite pressure right into that tender, itchy part inside me. It hurts, but it hurts so good. I had no idea that this is what I’ve been missing for all these dreadful months.

Jinwoo huffs next to my ear, stilling himself inside me. “You okay?”

sung jin-woo’s pov

Easy, Jin. Slowly. Let’s not break her.

I’m pumping mana into her so her form is more real than shadow. From her soft curves down to each strand of hair on her head—I know she’s feeling every little thing as if her heart were actually beating. I don’t think she’s realized though, she’s way too out of it.

“Don’t you feel…alive? Or is your heat fucking with your head too much for you to notice?”

I attempt to breach her and meet pure resistance. God, she’s tight as fuck. I heave a breath and roll my hips forward, breaking that resistance little by little until I feel a sudden pop. She squeals and her pussy clamps down on my cock, fuck—not good. Not. Good.

The compulsion to sink myself all the way inside is entirely too overwhelming. I try my best to fight it but my hips stammer against my will and whatever strength I have left goes right into forcing my cock inside her tight little cunt in one hard thrust.

Holy fuck, yes.

Her pussy isn’t anything near what I imagined. It’s everything and more. And it didn’t give easy. She’s so warm and sticky and soft inside. She’s hugging every inch my cock so fucking tight.

I grit my teeth so I don’t spray my load inside her. I need to calm down, keep a level head. Make sure I don’t do anything I shouldn’t—like spray my load inside her. But she’s so tight and tense, she’s going to snap my dick in two if she doesn’t ease up.

She feels like a virgin.

Shit. I didn’t even consider the fact that this might be her first time.

“You okay?” I huff, desperately trying to resist the urge to rut into her and work her little pussy open for me. If she is, I’ve probably hurt her. “Don’t tell me I just stole your virginity, princess.”

She whimpers and nods her head into my pillow. Shit. I did. I should’ve been gentler—stayed in control. Eased her into it, stretched her first.

“S-shh—‘m sorry. Does it hurt?”

She does a series of nods and shakes, like she’s entirely unsure about how she’s feeling right now. But her eyes say it all, they’re puffy and glisten from her tears. I make sure not to move at all, I’m as still as the statue that once killed me.

“Breathe. It’ll stop hurting soon.” I coo and force myself to loosen my grip on her hips so I can trail my fingers along her spine. She backs up onto me and I glance down.

Dear God, why did I look down?

Her pussy is stretched thin on my cock, it actually looks like it's sucking me in. Gratification swirls deep in my belly when the dangerous realization sinks in.

I’m the first cock to ever be in this pussy.

This cunt belongs to me, and only me now. A flame ignites within me that’s all consuming. It’s a feeling—a feeling of something that’s been imprinted into my being from the very beginning—an instinctual urge that I must satisfy.

The urge to claim this female underneath me, to make her pussy mine and to stain her womb with my seed.

Control yourself, Jin. Look away.

I fling my head back because there’s no way that I can willingly tear my eyes away from the sight of her virgin cunt stretching so beautifully around my cock. I eye the popcorn ceiling and follow the blades of the fan as they spin.

Focus, focus.

The urge to look again rides me. I grunt and fight it, I have more restraint than this. I clench my jaw. Fuck, I don’t know if I can hold out. I can feel her pussy relaxing and tightening around me.

Then she rocks on me.

Back and forth, back and forth. Like she did on the pillow that’s completely drenched with her cum. A low rumble comes from her, she’s growling her impatience, trying to fuck me. I look down and god, her pussy is quivering, drooling strings of her sweet, sticky nectar on my cock.

She rocks against me harder and lets out a broken groan, and her thighs start to shake. I think she’s gonna come. Fuck yes, she’s about to come on me.

“Don’t tell me. Is my little virgin princess about to come?”

My instincts dominate me, and my hips buck against my volition. I’m totally out of control. How in the world is she doing this to me? I'm behaving like a goddamn animal.

Thrust.

Please, God.

Thrust.

I can’t stop myself.

She nods frantically and meets my brutal thrusts with desperation and need. I growl and piston my cock inside her pussy, hard. She moans loud and long, and her cunt squeezes me so hard that I get a headrush. Her pussy pulses, coating me in a thick slick.

She’s cumming. Fuck, she’s cumming.

“Yes, cum on my cock.” I encourage her, hunching over her petite frame. The skin on the back of her neck looks so soft—so delicate. “So pretty.” I want to bite it. Mark her so everyone will know that she belongs to me. What the fuck? No. I won’t do that. I can’t.

But I want to. And my cock is already kissing her womb so why can’t I exactly?

She’s my shadow, that’s why. She’s not in the right frame of mind. That’s why.

But I’m not either.

your pov

Whatever pain I felt is long gone, replaced by an overwhelming sensation of good, and right—how things should be.

Bright white stars twinkle behind my closed eyes. Waves of raw pleasure smack into me and make my legs tremble uncontrollably. He’s filling me so good that I have no other choice but to take his cock and his every thrust.

“Yes, cum on my cock. So pretty.” His words are a hot mist against my neck and I feel his weight shift on top of me.

Yes. Mount me.

“Fuck, why do I want to bite you so bad?”

I don’t know but he should. I show him my throat and whine low, spreading my legs for him to fuck me again.

“Do it.” I moan, and my hips rock again. I want him to pound me, and then fill my empty womb—it aches. “Please. Bite me, fuck me.”

He tenses behind me, resisting again. I don’t want him to.

“I didn’t know such filth could come from a princess’s mouth.”

Jinwoo’s dark, monotonous voice sends a spasm through my pussy. His fingers grip my jaw and he tugs my head back, exposing my throat. His hot tongue drags along my pulsating jugular and he shuffles from his knees to the balls of his feet.

“I don’t understand exactly how you’re doing this to me, but I hope you can take it.” He growls a warning and I break out into a shiver. “Because I don’t think I can hold back anymore.”

He pulls out of me, leaving his mushroomy cockhead notched right under my pelvic bone. The empty feeling makes me mewl and my hips search for him.

“You’re so fucking noisy.” He huffs, annoyed, teeth scraping against my skin. “So goddamn needy.” His fingers tighten on my jaw, and he plunges his cock back inside me. I see more stars, more fireworks. I yelp out, and my tears trickle down my cheeks again.

“Quiet, princess. The floor under us will think I’m doing something you don’t want.”

And then he bites me.

He sinks his blunt teeth into me, locking his jaw when I begin to squirm from the feeling of being claimed—marked. The fingers wrapped around my jaw quickly slip down my throat and muffle my shriek.

Gods, it’s too much. Too much.

“Yes—yes!” I gurgle, and he bites down even harder. I’ll be bruised for weeks but that’s okay.

He grinds into me, grunting while he’s shoving all he can inside as deep as it’ll go. He works me open, and I feel him deep in my tummy. I guess I’ll be bruised there too, and that’s definitely okay. I want to feel him in me for weeks, until the moon shows me her wicked face again.

Alpha releases me from his bite and he kisses the double crescent mark. I feel him pepper kisses down my shoulder, and he tastes my skin there too. He’s not moving anymore, just staying really deep inside me, hunched over me, breathing hard and loud. I whine loud and suckle on his fingers.

“Mmm, fuck. Hush.” He snaps at me, breathless. “You want alpha to make it better?”

I nod again, my tears and saliva dribble onto his hand, down his wrist. I see his eyes glow bright in my peripheral vision. He’s going to wreck me and I can’t wait.

“Then be a good girl for me, won’t you?” He growls and smacks into me.

Once, twice. Thrice. Again, and again. Brutally, cruelly. His thrusts are bloodthirsty, like he’s the beast and not me. He holds me firmly in place, his grip is unrelenting—I can’t get away even if I tried. I’m forced to take each unsparing strike and stroke.

That heat whirls in my lower abdomen again, and I feel like a matchstick about to burst into flames. His cock is ramming right into that spot super deep, filling it, swelling it. I bite down on his fingers to stifle a guttural moan and he hisses, picking up his pace as punishment. I clamp down on his cock and—

I’m gonna come.

“Not yet.” He grunts, pulling his fingers out of my mouth and shoving me onto my stomach.

He yanks his cock out of me and strokes himself with one hand while he uses the other to toss me onto my back. Now he’s looking down at me with an intoxicated expression, bullying his thick frame between my trembling legs. He’s back on the balls of his heels, folding me in half, pinning my legs back so my knees graze against my pointed ears.

“I want to see what you look like when you come, princess.”

His cock prods at my sore pussy before he catches it just right and drives himself back inside me with an urgency. He lets out a depraved groan, one that makes me a little nervous, and I swear he goes even deeper than before.

“M-Master…Al-Alpha…” I whisper as best as I can in this position and my bottom lip juts out. “‘s s-so deep.”

“Isn’t that what you want, hm?” He uses his strength to push himself into me and his heavy balls press into me. I squeal from the pressure and jolt back but he keeps me where he wants me. “...what you need?”

My head spins and I start sputtering, switching between mumbling and trying to catch my breath as his weight punches the air out of my lungs.

“You look so fucked out right now.” He withdraws from me and plunges into me again, putting all of his weight on me. “So drunk on my cock. Yeah?”

I whimper shakily and electricity bolts up my spine.

“Ooh, fuck. Let me see how pretty you look when you come, love.” He smirks and fucks into me hard and fast, staring deep into my eyes—taking my soul for a second time. “Come on—” He’s growling all his words, his hips striking me with purpose and intention, vicious smack after smack—coaxing my orgasm out of me. “Let your alpha feel your little virgin cunt.” My face screws and I sob when my release takes over me, sending my body into a frenzied convulsion underneath him. “Yes, that’s my pretty girl. Good girl.” He pants and presses his forehead into mine, and his movements falter. “Gonna breed you so deep, so hard, fuck—”

Yes. Breed me.

He lets out a sudden, loud grunt, and then I feel it. A harsh throb that isn’t mine, and a heat flooding deep inside me. His hips buck and rut in an uncontrolled manner, and he groans lengthily, darkly. His breath is heavy and fast, and he’s still looking me deep in the eye. I feel myself fade, the dim lights in his room darken some more and my breath won’t stop hitching. I’m satiated and so full—so happy.

I’m exactly where I should be.

sung jin-woo’s pov

I watch her eyes unfocus and her eyelids droop—she’s slipping away. I ease up off of her and throw her leg over to her side, and tuck myself behind her. I stay inside her, making sure not a single drop of my seed is spilled. If I could plug her full of me, I would. My head is still quite foggy, but I can feel that it’s starting to clear now. Her scent is less potent, and her body isn’t as hot to the touch.

Is it over?

Notification: [Secret Quest: A Lycan’s Heat] is complete.

I breathe a sigh of relief. Her heat has broken. I dismiss the blue screen and glance over to my bedside clock—6:47a.m. An orange hue illuminates behind my grey curtains, and my eyes grow heavier. My mana is dangerously low, but I’ll let it run out completely.

I don’t want this to end just yet.

1K notes · View notes

st3f13ily · 2 days ago

Text

You Ruined Me

• Yandere Sung Jinwoo x Reader

• He was just gonna have some important talk or something with the chairman. But why? Why do you have to suddenly barge into his life and ruin him?

• First encounter/ Sung Jinwoo POV

• Reader is Korean

Before I became a monarch, I was invisible.

Even now, with the world at my feet, I still move like a ghost.

I don't remember most faces I pass in a day. They blur together—hunters, guildmasters, enemies. All of them are temporary. Forgettable.

But you weren't.

You were just standing in front of the Hunter's Association counter, tapping your pen nervously against a clipboard. Dressed plainly. Not flashy.

I looked longer than usual, making sure I wasn't seeing things, making sure you were there to begin with.

Making sure you were real. Human.

I had come in to meet with Go Gun-Hee. Official business. Something important or whatever to discuss. But my eyes… they got stuck.

On you.

You dropped your pen.

It clattered to the floor, rolling near my feet. You turned, and for one second—one second—you looked up at me with the warmest smile I've ever seen.

"Ah—sorry! Could you…?"

I picked it up.

That should've been the end of it.

But when your fingers brushed mine, soft and warm, something inside me shattered—or maybe clicked into place.

I didn't speak. I just stared.

You tilted your head and laughed softly, nervously. "Thanks… uh, wow, you look familiar. Have we met?"

No. We hadn't.

But I would make sure we did again.

On that very same day, I asked someone and learned that you just got back to Korea again after living in another country for three years. And ever since you have been awakened, you decided to move back here to try to protect this country.

And that moment, my world shifted. My thoughts twisted. I followed your steps without moving. Find out which guild you joined. What raids do you go on? Who you spoke to? Who made you laugh?

And I hated them all.

Because that smile is mine.

That softness. That light.

You ruined me, [Y/N] And you didn't even know my name.

But soon… You'd know everything about me.

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mullermilkshake · 2 days ago

Text

A recipe for... something.

Part 15 <- Part 16 -> Part 17

Making dinner for four shouldn't be this emotional.

Yandere!Jinwoo Sung x Fem Hunter!reader Tags - DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT, References to prenatal depression, Anxiety, Body effects to pregnancy, Smut, NSFW, Vaginal fingering, Cunnilingus, Smut in the shower,

<<< For more Dark/Yandere content, click this link to go back to the Masterlist! >>>

<<< Or back to this fic's Master list. >>>

I have only watched the anime and haven't gotten round to reading the manhwa yet. Please refrain from spoilers.

TAG LIST REOPENED -> ONE SPACE LEFT

DISCLAIMER - I am a writer who likes to push the boundaries in my writing when it comes to realism, the amount of research I do for the things that I write doesn't even scratch the surface, but it's real, and can be triggering for some. The tag for Prenatal depression is only scratching the surface of the ideas that I have. This is why my works are usually DDDNE, so going forward, please make sure you're reading the tags.

PSA over - enjoy!

“Okay… So when do I add the green onions?”

You could cook just fine, but a meal for the Chairman was something else entirely.

“Right at the end or they’ll wilt otherwise. Add the sauce halfway in and the sesame seeds last.”

Jinwoo’s mom had been a bigger help than ever. After meeting her for the first time, though it didn’t go too well, but she was smitten with you according to Jinwoo. Every so often, you called her, like little catch up sessions until you were comfortable going to see her on your own.

Despite His mother and Jinah finding out about the engagement on television, they were both quite accepting. More so than yourself, and you were the one engaged. Jinah called Jinwoo in the morning, saying all sorts over the phone that Jinwoo just chuckled at and reassured her.

Then came the scream down the phone line for congratulations.

“Okay.” You made notes, writing them down quickly and messily before Jinwoo got home with your grocery list. “So, I cook the meat on medium, for…”

“Three hours, dear. It’ll make it tender but lets it keep its shape.”

“Right.”

She called your name sweetly. "You’ll do just fine. Jinwoo will be with you, anything you need, you know he’ll get it for you. He’ll take good care of you.”

“I know. He’s been really good to me… Mom.”

You’d never get used to addressing her as ‘mom’. The thought never crossed your mind, ever. She was to be your mother-in-law, Jinah, your sister-in-law.

It’s all happening so quickly.

You’d catch a shimmer of the moonstone on your finger from a light source, like your own personal reflective surface and stand there thinking what the hell kind of direction has my life gone in?

Pregnant with twins, engaged and living with a man you were still coming to terms with and whether a relationship was something you really could afford to bet on.

“He’s a good boy, he always was. Though if anything changes, you’ll let me know, won’t you?”

Jinwoo was an incredibly successful hunter, strong, kind, it was almost like he had no bad bone in his body. He could support you and the babies on his own, he made it clear despite your protests.

It was just that his overprotectiveness was suffocating.

You put this down to your pregnancy hormones, they way the twins made you so uncomfortable after sitting on your bladder or fluttered about so much it made you vomit.

“Yeah, of course.” You blinked away tears you didn’t know existed, sniffling away the sudden wave of sadness from your throat. “Of course I will. Look, I need to go, Jinwoo will be back soon and I need to prep the kitchen. Thank you for the advice, I’ll call soon.”

The longer his mom sat on the line for, the quicker the tears turned into a twisted stomach. Working yourself up for nothing made the sensation pulse like it was alive and ready to strangle you.

“Okay then, dear. I hope the night goes well! I’ll call tomorrow."

“Bye.”

You raced to put the phone down, bricking it to the bathroom as fast as your legs could carry you, cautiously holding your belly to stop it from jiggling.

“Sorry babies-” That’s when you threw up, mid sentence, head in the toilet bowl like you were searching for gold.

Eye’s handmaiden appeared so much that it was practically visible twenty four seven, it never left its usual posture tucked away in the corner. You were always in pain with something or other, and even then, it wasn’t as effective anymore.

The twins really were draining your mana, your energy, your life force. It was hard to see them as babies sometimes and not two little extraterrestrial beings using your body to incubate themselves so that they could return back to their home planet.

Maybe baby aliens aren't so unbelievable? Look at Jinwoo, he’s on another level than any of us in South Korea.

He’d definitely make a great father, even while vomiting and listening to the most attractive echoes of retching while gasping for breath, you could see the wood for the trees. It was just the thought of doing something so impressive, raising two little people to be functional adults sat shivering in the back recess of your brain just out of reach.

Were you being maternal? The advertisements and shows never did it justice or presented any other alternative to being extraordinarily happy and glowing. Because you weren’t. Your skin paled more than anything, and you didn’t know what to think or when to think it, sailing by and holding out on that poorly crafted life raft.

When they’re here, things will be different.

That didn't go to say that you weren’t getting little bursts of the maternal side Jinwoo’s mother told you about over the phone. Now, it was definitely there, and you knew that these babies were yours. You were making them yourself in your own body, but this feeling wasn’t constant, it flickered on and off like a candlelit room.

One moment, you would cling to that glow for warmth knowing soon you’d hear their little voices, getting fiercely protective over two little blanket wrapped babies that couldn’t protect themselves. Then, in another, you just wanted your body back, so much it would bring you to tears and the idea of asking for the association's help looked more tantalising by the minute.

The whole idea made your stomach churn, because what side would win when the babies arrived? You’d never know until the time came.

“I’m home! Are you alright?!”

You perked up at Jinwoo’s voice, forgetting that Igris was eerily floating somewhere nearby watching your every moment. He probably reported back to Jinwoo, though he couldn’t speak- well he never spoke to you, but sometimes you tried catching him out.

Jinwoo rushed into the bathroom and never missed a beat, getting down on the floor with you to push your hair out of the way from the toilet bowl. “I’m sorry, I never meant to be this long, I just wanted to stop by the bakery to get your favourite and there was the longest queue- Baby, I’m so sorry.”

There was a twinge, a twitch behind your eye, like you were helpless. “I’m not frail, I can look after myself, Jinwoo.”

He stopped immediately, letting go of you and he moved his mouth but knew better than to say a word. The two of you sat there in silence until you could move yourself and clean your face.

“Look… I didn’t mean to snap, I just-” sounded like a massive prick? Yeah. With the remnants of vomit on your lips. “I’m feeling pretty low, right now. I don’t know what to do, and I feel really claustrophobic… Everything is happening so quickly and I can’t keep up with it.”

There wasn’t a hint of upset in Jinwoo’s body language, but he hesitated touching you though you let him tuck your hair out of your face. “It’s been a lot. I apologise for steaming ahead, for putting more on your plate when all I want is your happiness, and health.”

“My hormones are all over the place. One minute I’m happy, then I’m crawling the walls because the apartment just isn’t right. Igris carries everything I want to move, then the next day I want the sofa back on the other side of the room. We’re going to have to decorate the spare room soon and I know exactly what I want, but then I don’t at the same time. Most days, I want to eat the entire house, and then I’m not hungry at all… I eat the most disgusting combinations of food and I love it…”

Your shoulders dropped when he said nothing. “And then I do things like that, and I’m horrible to you… I like you Jinwoo, I think I really really like you, but I’m not the nicest person to be around in any capacity. Then I get– I get moment’s like this-”

That was it, you started sobbing like you’d just been read from a will after someones passing. “I’m such a mess!”

“Shh, shh, baby. It’s alright.” Jinwoo held you, rubbing your belly as though it was a magic lamp, probably hoping it would get you to stop wailing into the palms of your hands. “The doctor said it was going to be bumpy. I’m sorry I sprang all of this on you, the dinner, having the Chairman over. I wasn’t thinking.”

“No- no. It’s fine.” You hiccuped in his arms, wiping the wet away with your sleeves. “It’ll be alright, I just- I just need to clean myself up.”

Jinwoo held you tight, resting his head on yours and gently rocking you. “You want to take a shower together?”

It wasn’t the worst idea. Since the babies were growing, having a bath wasn’t exactly practical, especially since you enjoyed steaming hot water. Something the doctor advised against. That white hot sting scratching an itch your skin just couldn't satiate itself hit the spot after a long day training or raiding a dungeon, covered in mud and god knows what. You settled for a mildly hot shower instead.

Jinwoo’s body heat set any tepid water steaming. More of a comfort, really. But then again, you’d received some of the most intense orgasms whilst the shower water sprayed everywhere.

An orgasm wouldn’t go amiss right now. Might calm me down.

It would make any pain go away, being a natural painkiller. So if anything, it would be beneficial to the shooting leg cramps or back aches you were getting.

“Would you-” you stopped before you made yourself sound desperate.

“Hm?” it was as though Jinwoo already knew what you wanted to say, he just wanted you to say it. “What do you want, baby?”

There it was, his little crooned words that drawled in your ears that set your cheeks on fire. His eyes watching you in a way that made you want to back away before he pounced and ate your pussy like his last meal.

A talent of his, actually.

“I want…” You could have just kissed him, that would have given him the message. You hadn’t brushed your teeth yet. “I want you to…”

He knew what you wanted, you could tell by how he closed the space between you, his eyes flickering down to your lips as he subtly licked his own. “Tell me what you want.”

Oh lord. “I want you to eat my pussy until I can’t stand up.”

“You’re getting so much better at using your words, aren't you?”

Before he could kiss you, you looked away. “Jinwoo, I haven’t even brushed my teeth-”

“Don’t care.”

Before you could protest, he chased your lips, lazily biting down on your bottom lip and cupping your chin before you disappeared from his grasp. How he managed you up from the floor and never breaking contact with you was something you wouldn’t ever understand, he did with ease and stripped each item of clothing from your body before his own.

The man was a master multitasker in and out of the bedroom, from making your favourite meals and setting up your favourite new show on the television, to turning the shower on, slowly rubbing your sensitive clit and stripping himself off.

In that order.

He had you moaning his name before a single drop of water touched you from the spray of the open shower door, the perfect temperature, wide spread and splashing over you which intensified the need for his body close to yours. Pressed up against you and his two long fingers working their way inside to that spot which drove you crazy enough to grip onto his hair.

“Jinwoo- Jinwoo, oh my god.”

His coo’s and undeniably filthy words of praise were far more steamy than any shower could have been. Jinwoo’s wrist moved in such away, that you were sure you would discover a new colour at any moment. Being pregnant changed your body in odd ways, yet how he sucked your nipple the way he did almost pushed an orgasm out straight away. So sensitive, unruly and needy.

“You want me to make you feel good here, or on the bed?” He said in your ear once he let your nipple leave his lips with a pop.

“Here- here. Fuck, do it here, I can’t hold it any longer. Fuck, Jin- please make me come.”

It was that little husk in his voice when he laughed, the one he reserved for when he woke up, half asleep. The same husk that drove you insane until you were sitting on his cock, bouncing on his hips until all the room heard was the vicious slapping and stifled moans from your throat.

“That’s my girl.”

You had screwed your eyes shut, focusing way too much on your orgasm and not the logistics of your tummy bump, not that it stopped Jinwoo. His tongue found its way to your clit with no trouble at all, game over for you. Jinwoo hooked your right leg over his shoulder and held you there in suspended animation, sucking your tingling clit like it was going out of fashion.

Jinwoo gripped your ass with his fingertips, pinching the plush fat between his fingers as he ate. His tongue swirling with purpose in the right angle, matching the pace of the slashing water on your back, soaking your hair as wet as your pussy was. You were embarrassingly close, a perk and curse of pregnancy, getting to the delicious centre of a gooey sweet and feeling the emptiness of finishing it too quickly.

“J-Jinwoo, don’t go too fast, I’ll come too quick- Shit, shit!”

He licked faster, sucked with the desperation of a stranded man looking for water, inserting his fingers inside you. His hair dripped and soaked onto the floor, on to your feet and in between your toes that curled over the edge and no grip.

You came, with no real guess of what your body was doing. So early, so blind in orgasmic bliss that you weren’t sure of the noise your throat howled out, like a desperate animal. Jinwoo never stopped shoving his head between your thighs, fingering you past your orgasm until it made your legs shake and ready to give out had he not held you tight in his grasp.

“I think that’s a personal best.” He said, when he came up for air and pulled you as close as he physically could. “Hey, c’mon, look at me.”

Blushing at him seemed to humour him, embarrassed at how quick you came despite it’s calming effects on your mood. Jinwoo kissed your lips softly, caressing your cheek until you made eye contact.

“Ask any time, I’ll give it to you. It doesn't matter how quick. If you’re enjoying it, then I’ve done my job.”

When he put it like that, it made sense.

Still, to redeem yourself, you let him make you come one more time. You held out longer by two minutes.

Oh dear.

“Did you find the recipe you want to use tonight?”

“Yeah, I have it on my phone, hold on.”

You left Jinwoo in the bathroom to dry himself off, you padded off towards the kitchen in your towel that barely fit around your baby bump. Your phone sat where it was on the kitchen counter, just as you left it, with the call log open.

So why was there a giant fucking insect in the living room watching television like it was the most natural thing in the world?

“Oh my god!” You screamed and backed away right into the wall.

The bug thing jumped up from the sofa and mirrored your movements like a weird puff of smoke and cracked mirror.

“What’s wrong?! Where are- oh…” Jinwoo just stood there.

Was it one of his shadows? It could have been, not that you could have been reasonably logical the way your heart beated in your throat.

“I never introduced you to Beru… did I?”

Part 15 <- Part 16 -> Part 17

UPDATE - So as some of you might know, my health is in a bit of a decline, and it's dipped more with some unforeseeable things I have no control over. Well, as it goes, I still plan on writing and uploading as regularly as I can, but for the time being, some uploads may come slower than they have been.

I hope you all understand and continue to enjoy what I have in store for you.

ALSO I guess we're getting surprised for who the babies are, and I'll leave it to chance and input the data on a randomiser so it's a surprise for me too! 🤗

But there's one other thing that I want to put to a vote.

Edit - Sorry I should have specified 🫣 let’s keep it to Korean name suggestions if you can, thank you!

Tag list - @bubera974 @snowy-violet @sky2lar @starrynights23x

@yessirr7 @aussie-boys-wife @yihona-san06 @mashiromochi @daiyanomochi

@justatimidcreator @alia-17 @otomegamesforlife @m00n-estelle @towomatos

@stormnightingale @johnnysactualgf @solarisstarrsolomonsbeloved @johnnysactualgf @notleclerc

@minkuro @misakicchi @lovingyeet @soft-dots @gina239

@sabrina-senpai @tsukimoon-chan @afkmylajah @livelaughlovekuni @keiva1000

@delusionillusion322 @dreamingoftomorrow @gina239 @blxuqueenie @stardust0709

@chahaezii @athanasia10 @crutoyu @thetruepair @lostpsycho13

@dragoonsuki @sashagaming1012 @maria-trisha @dyavorange @mommydelicious5272

@shortchubbytat @celesteelysia @forgotten-moon94 @sleepyamaya @applepi405

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circeyoru · 18 hours ago

Text

Inhumans Among Humans _ Part 1: Long Desired Companions

[Sung Jinwoo x Alter AU Shadow Monarch Female!Reader - Romantic | Monarch Change AU] Request Base ― Teaser/Prologue ― Part 1 (here)

“This isn’t… I want… I want to live too…! Why can you all live while I die? Why must I die for you to live? If I can choose… I chose me!”

After waking up from the disastrous Double Dungeon Incident, there was one change that turned your life around. You had woken up to a screen painstakingly close to your face that welcomed you to some program to become strong. You thought you were dreaming and gave it a try, only to find that you weren’t dreaming at all. First up, these screens were only visible to you. Secondly, these screens interact with you as if it was sentient. Thirdly, these screens actually work. By that…

You cut down another wolf and swung your sword to remove its blood from the blade, and an exhale escaped from your lips as you stared at the fallen pack before you. Words of congratulations and notifications of your level-up popped up beside you.

You meant that it actually made you stronger than ever. Once you were an E-Rank that was mocked by the world as the weakest and you could never imagine tanking a dungeon alone. Now though, with this newfound strength you gained, you managed to clear the dungeons provided by the screens. All thanks to the mysterious screens that entered your life from that point onwards.

At a certain point, you started to call it ‘System’ and it responded in kind. Ironically, it acted more like a doting family member than what you had now, or friends who would joke and help you at times of need.

! ALARM [YOU ARE ADVISED TO TAKE THE <JOB CHANGE QUEST>.]

“Aw, but I wanted to be more prepared, you know?” You looked away as you collected the loot you gained from the defeated monsters.

[YOU HAVE BEEN PUSHING THIS QUEST BACK FOR TOO LONG.]

[OVERQUALIFICATION WILL HINDER YOUR GROWTH.]

You pouted and eyed your status window. Each stat was well over 100, and your weakest was vitality, then strength, since you prioritized your agility and sense over all five stats. Now you’re questioning if you should invest more in strength.

[YOU ARE ADVISED TO TAKE THE <JOB CHANGE QUEST> NOW!]

“Ahh! Fine! If I die, it’s your fault, System!”

! ALARM [YOU CANNOT LEAVE THIS DUNGEON UNTIL YOU HAVE CLEARED IT.]

! ALARM [IN THIS AREA, YOUR POTION AND SHOP ABILITY IS RESTRICTED. ON LEVEL UP, YOU DO NOT RECEIVE STATUS HEALING.]

! ALARM [ITEMS SAVED IN YOUR INVENTORY CAN BE USED.]

The moment you finished reading the messages from the System, the battle had begun. You were ambushed from everywhere, removing your ability to hide in the shadows and assess before acting. At first, you were flustered, but you soon got the hang of it as you changed from long-range attack to melee combat. While your raw power left much to be desired, your overpreparations made up for what you lacked. Had you actually taken the quest when you first got it at level 40, you would have struggled immensely, but now you were level 50. It was a cheat, but then… Life’s not fair.

You hummed happily as you picked up the rewards from the fallen knights and animals, equipping yourself with gears and accessories that boosted your stats. The plus side was that they turned invisible after you wore them, and they weren’t even touchable, so there was no hindrance at all. Not to mention, you look pretty stupid if someone could see them on your form.

That wasn’t the main point. You have yet to face a challenge that would be considered as such. Your mind thought back to the System’s nagging and sweatdropped; perhaps you should have listened earlier on. You stopped before a gigantic pair of doors, an ominous aura creeping through the narrow cracks. You took a deep breath and exhaled with your eyes closed. It was a routine action of yours, but one that got you into the zone as you saw it. As childish as it may be, you called your other self that was perfect for dungeon fights above you.

When your eyes opened, your gaze sharpened, and the previous carefree aura you had was gone like a candle flame blown out by the wind. You took out your twin daggers from your inventory and swiftly kicked open the doors, you slipped in through the gap and surveyed your surroundings. Flames atop the pillar lit up one by one, illuminating the giant hall. You quickly ran up the pillar and kicked away the plate with a flame, you watched from a bird’s eye view. There was an empty throne at the end of the room, no enemy in sight.

A chill ran down your spine when you heard clanking metal before you saw it. A knight dressed from head to toe in red armour, a window displayed overhead in red reading [Knight Commander: Igris the Bloodred]. Even with your level raised to 50, this enemy was still red, meaning the odds weren’t in your favour.

Immediately, you switched weapons to your infinite quiver and bow. Just as you drew an arrow to fire, Igris moved at lightning speed. In a panic, you fired, only grazing the side of his helmet instead of the eyes you aimed for. The pillar you were perched on was cut through like butter and proceeded to collapse on you. You jumped to the next pillar, in midair, you turned to fire again at his eyes but this time he blocked it with his sword.

How is he that fast?! The second your feet touched the pillar, Igris had already cut through it again. You didn’t get a moment to boost yourself to another pillar and started to fall. Igris met you halfway and swiped his sword directly at you. You had used your bow to defeat yourself with its [Shield] effect but you were still knocked back into the wall. You coughed and fell to the ground, you looked behind you to find a crater created where you landed on the wall. Weakly, you looked back at your enemy. You knew this wasn’t a fight you could easily win. You couldn’t fight with hand-to-hand combat, it was impossible. Or is it?

You put away your quiver and bow. Instead, you took out two pieces of clothing to tie around your hands. If you could destroy his sword, that would— Huh? You watched in mild confusion as Igris discarded his long sword, even the daggers behind his back. You gulped, this was an enemy that could switch techniques mid-battle?!

There was no time to think as you immediately went into for a punch while Igris appeared to be still shifting gears. You were dead wrong as Igris punched you in the gut, well, he would have if your agility was low. You darted to the side and then behind him, kicking him in the back to make him stumble. There was barely one with his larger form, but you continued the assault. The only weakness you could find was his head, particularly his eyes. Though he must have know where you were targeting since every time you were anywhere close to his head, he’d knock you far away.

What you needed was to limit his movements.

In secret, you wore your clawed metallic fingertip caps and nimbly went from pillar to pillar. It didn’t matter if Igris was destroying them or not, but you just needed him to follow you while you laid the groundwork for your trap. From time to time, you had to avoid his grip that would attempt to grab your ankle as you gained higher ground, so you weren’t swung into the wall. It was more complicated than you’d like since your fatigue meter was increasing bit by bit.

“Ha…” You stopped at the center of the raised platform to admire your work at play. Igris was now immobilized, the thread glistening under the flickering flames. Steel threads, a weapon that strengthened with each snap. You had continuously broken it so that it could come back stronger and stronger, it took a while but now it was unbreakable. Not wasting anytime, you pulled on the threads and they constricted him until eventually they cut through his armour and turned him into pieces of metal.

You collapsed on the throne behind you with a sigh and leaned your head on the back of the throne. If you hadn’t taken this as you were now… You might have died. Now you knew you needed to focus on your [Strength] stats. If your weapons weren’t right and you lacked raw power… You would have died. Period. You glanced back at Igris’ fallen form. This time, you won by sheer luck, it was a mere fluke.

! ALARM [YOU LEVELLED UP!] [YOU LEVELLED UP!]

[RED KNIGHT’S HELMET] [DOMINATOR’S TOUCH] [LEATHER POUCH] [HEARTHSTONE] HAVE BEEN OBTAINED.

[THE JOB CHANGE QUEST WILL BEGIN.]

“What!? But, System, I haven’t checked my rewards!!!” You flinched at the notice. Within seconds, several dark swirling vortexes appeared around you and the fallen knight commander. You glanced back at Igris and then the vortexes, “Don’t tell… Knights are going to come out any second…”

[THE LONGER YOU LAST, THE MORE POINTS YOU CAN COLLECT THAT WILL PLACE YOU INTO A HIGHER-TIER JOB.]

[00:00:00]

[GOOD LUCK.]

“Points…” You eyed the voxtexes and immediately wore your gloves with metallic clawed fingertip caps. Threads came out from the clawed tips and surrounded each vortex like a spider web.

[EVEN THOUGH YOU MIGHT NOT NEED IT.]

As you suspected, knights walked out of the vortexes and immediately walked right into the steel web you had set up. The first few had their armour cut into shreds. The others halted and those with shields came forward to try and overpower the threads, only to be cut as well. You let out a small grin, the threads may look weak and fragile, and they were when you first got them. Though that’s not what they are now.

“Hold still a bit while I get back my rewards, please.” You hummed as you glared at thin air. Sure enough, the window screens of your rewards came back.

[ITEM: LEATHER POUCH] HAS BEEN OPENED. - YOU HAVE RECEIVED [1,500,000,000 GOLD].

[TOTAL: 4,829,572,924G]

“If only this can be used in my daily life as well… Then I wouldn’t have to be making camp in the forest…” You looked to the side. “Then again… It’s hard to afford for an apartment…”

[ITEM: RED KNIGHT’S HELMET] ITEM CLASS: S TYPE: ARMOUR +15% PHYSICAL DAMAGE REDUCTION +20 STAMINA, +20 STRENGTH

“Help me wear it, System~~” You chimed at the window screen, your fingers twitched and wiggled to emphasise your point. “My hands are a bit tied up at the moment, thanks!” While that was going on for you, you weren’t aware that your slight movements sliced up a few knights crowded at your threads.

[RUNE STONE: DOMINATOR’S TOUCH] TYPE: RUNE STONE - A SKILL CAN BE OBTAINED BY BREAKING THE RUNE.

“Oh, drop the stone at the threads! It’ll break that way, right?” You jumped at the chance to gain another skill, its name touches ominous vibes, but also an empowering title all the same, so you were eager to have it. You watched as the rune stone was dropped onto your threads and broke. Immediately, you felt something within you and read the new screen.

[SKILL: DOMINATOR’S TOUCH LV.1] ACTIVE SKILL NO MANA REQUIRED - YOU CAN CONTROL OBJECTS WITHOUT TOUCHING THEM.

“So… Telekinese… Basically.” Your head tilted at the description. The no mana part was something you keyed in on since you didn’t have to watch your mana, using this skill would be very useful in battle. If your guess is correct, you’ll have to level it up to move objects bigger and heavier. “Alright, last one.”

[ITEM: HEARTSTONE] TYPE: CONSUMABLE - A QUEST-EXCLUSIVE ITEM. IF YOU BREAK THE HEARTHSTONE, YOU WILL INSTANTLY LEAVE THE DUNGEON. IF THE JOB QUEST ENDS, THE DUNGEON IS AUTOMATICALLY DESTROYED. CANNOT BE STORED.

“What?!” You watched in slow motion as the stone was dropped from thin air. If it drops and breaks, your quest ends! You immediately discarded the hold on one of your hands that controlled the threads to activate {Dominator’s Touch}, catching it before it could touch the ground and break in any way. “Why can’t it be stored?!”

The knights came at you with the threads gone from their vortex entrance. You placed the stone in your pocket for safekeeping before trying to reinstate your threads again. However, their distance was too close, and you couldn’t pull on them for the same effect. You abandoned your plan and ran at them, exchanging your gloves for daggers as you swiped at them any chance you got until you made it to the walls and ran up. You stabbed the daggers into the walls to serve as your footholds, and you pulled out your bow and quiver of arrows, shooting at any that came close to you.

The unusual aspect of this situation was the absence of a level-up notification. While the healing after levelling up would be restricted, the level-up function was still active since you had levelled up after defeating the knight commander. You observed the crowded knights and spotted a few clothed figures that were set apart from the knights. Why haven’t the mage been attacking you now or when the threads were still present? Were their magic that weak or…

“Summons.” You aimed an arrow at one and they disintegrated into nothingness, leaving only a pendant and their cloak behind. A number of knight armours broke down and fell to the ground in pieces.

[YOU HAVE SLAIN A MAGICIAN.]

[SKILL: ‘DEAD SHOT’ HAS BEEN LEARNED.]

“That’s confirmation enough.” You took out more arrows and aimed. The vortexes are the mages’ spell, the knights are the summons that continuously come out of them as long as the vortex’s active with the mage’s survivability. Kill the root of the cause, kill the knights.

[EFFECT: ‘BIRD’S EYE VIEW’ HAS ACTIVATED.]

A holographic eyeglass appeared over your dominant eye as a clear view of the crowd came into view, the view moved as it followed your line of sight. So you searched for the cloaked hooded figures within the crowd. There are five mages remaining, so you have five targets. You let your arrows fly, but they only hit two of them and the other three had the intelligence to use the knights around them as shields to deflect your arrows.

[YOU HAVE SLAIN A MAGICIAN.] [YOU HAVE SLAIN A MAGICIAN.]

You moved quickly when the remaining three got together on their knees for what appeared to be some form of larger spell. You abandoned your bow back into your inventory and took your daggers out of the wall as you fell to the ground. You reached out your hand and curled your fingers inwards to your palm. Using {Dominator’s Touch}, you grabbed onto the neck of one of the mages and and squeezed it tight until the notification popped up.

[YOU HAVE SLAIN A MAGICIAN.]

Though the spell was completed. The remains of the fallen knights merged together as a neon purple glow turned them into a larger and stronger form as a golem that towered over everything in the room. It stomped its feet at you as if trying to crush a bug, but with your agility, you were far superior in speed. Merging the knights wasn’t a smart move since you had more space to act. You used {Dominator’s Touch} to give yourself a boost as you dragged yourself right into the magicians’ summoning party. You slashed your daggers at them and that was game.

[YOU HAVE SLAIN A MAGICIAN.] [YOU HAVE SLAIN A MAGICIAN.]

You turned your head to make sure your enemies were all defeated. The knights all dropped dead to the ground, even the golem collapsed back into the pile of knight armours it once was. You breathed in and out, in and out, catching yourself as you calmed your heartbeat. You glanced to the timer, “Is it over, System?”

[00:29:21]

[ALL THE MONSTERS IN THE ROOM HAVE BEEN SLAIN, THE QUEST WILL END NOW.]

“So hey… I didn’t exactly last a long time… Given that the digits are in hours too, but does that mean I’ll be in a low-ranking job?” You nervously asked your nice companion.

[YOU WILL BE GIVEN A CLASS BASED ON THE PERFORMANCE YOU HAVE GIVEN DURING THE QUEST.]

[A JOB WILL BE GRANTED AFTER THE PLAYER’S ACTIONS HAVE BEEN ANALYSED.] - PLEASE WAIT PATIENTLY.

You hummed as you waited. Your mind replayed what you did. You went straight to the point, analyzed the situation, and acted without delay. You could be placed into an assassin class, a spy, maybe, or a ninja? If there were such a thing available. You don’t see yourself as tank or mage at least. You could understand a ranger with your mastery over the bow and the use of threads, and a fighter since you did rely on your daggers.

[WHEREVER THE PLAYER GOES, THE REAPER FOLLOWS.] [THE PLAYER’S PATH IS LITTERED WITH CORPSES, THE SMELL OF BLOOD, AND CARNAGE.] [AS THE PLAYER POSSESSES STRENGTH, SHE DOES NOT LEAVE ANYTHING TO HER TEAMMATES, AND OVERCOMES EVERYTHING WITH HER OWN STRENGTH AND INTELLIGENCE.] [YOUR DESIRE FOR POWER BURNS STRONG ENOUGH TO CALL THOSE WHO WANDER THE VALLEY OF DEATH, AND THE ARMY OF THE DEAD WHO FOLLOWS YOUR COMMANDS SHALL CREATE A PATH WHERE YOUR WORD WILL BE THE LAW AND YOU WOULD NEVER NEED OUTSIDERS’ HELP AGAIN.]

[YOUR JOB IS “NECROMANCER”.]

“Huh?” You blinked at the windows with their cryptic messages. “Are you sure that’s me? I’m not that scary… Am I?”

[YOU ARE.]

“Hey now…” You chuckled. You stared at the window that displayed your result. A necromancer is a magic sub-class, and while you have increased your [Intelligence] stat to master your various weapons and their unique skills, you don’t focus much on magic. Could it be because of your continuous use of {Dominator’s Touch} during the quest?

A grim magician that summons an army of undead to do their bidding. Wait, summon? You eyed the fallen knights and mages around the room. If you did have companions that helped you like the System, then you could earn more money no problem and make life easier. Plus, these undead should be loyal beings, right? They would be betraying you and follow your commands, they would be practically immortal as well, as long as you were alive.

You really wouldn’t need to rely on another person. You chuckled bitterly and smiled with your eyebrows furrowed. How pathetic. Are you that desperate for companionship that you would take a job like this? To be friends with your own power? You pushed it to the back of your mind. Who had the right to judge or question you. You had been on your own for too long. If being a necromancer was the only way you could surround yourself with trusted beings for your own good, then so be it.

True, you’re not sure about whether the undead you summon would be able to grow stronger, but you could. The stronger you grow, the stronger your summons as logic would point to. In time, you’d be able to clear dungeons alone with relative ease. Either way, you can grow stronger and so can your future companions.

! ALARM [WILL YOU ACCEPT YOUR JOB?] YES NO

“No need to ask, yes.” You smiled.

[YOUR JOB HAS BEEN CHOSEN.]

[BASED ON YOUR PERFORMANCE AND POINTS, YOU WILL BE GIVEN A CHANCE TO PROMOTE TO A SUPERIOR CLASS.]

[YOU HAVE OVERACHIEVED THE EXPECTED PLAY TIME.] [POINTS WILL BE ADDED.]

[YOU DID NOT USE A HEARTSTONE.] [POINTS WILL BE ADDED.]

[FINAL HEALTH IS ABOVE 80%.] [POINTS WILL BE ADDED.]

[ALL ENEMIES HAVE BEEN SLAIN.] [POINTS WILL BE ADDED.]

[THE TOTAL POINTS HAVE EXCEEDED THE FEAT LIMIT.]

[YOU WILL BE PROMOTED FROM ‘NECROMANCER’ TO ‘SHADOW MONARCH’.]

Shadows swirled and came at you, instead of devouring you or overwhelming you, it felt like a blanket over your form. It clung to you and cloaked you with a refreshing chill. Exhale and you could see your breath for a few seconds before it disappeared. “Woah…”

[YOU HAVE LEARNED A JOB-EXCLUSIVE SKILL.]

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED BONUS STATS.]

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED THE TITLE ‘THE ONE WHO OVERCAME ADVERSITY’.]

Your head turned to the screams and cries you heard all around you, your eyes glowed as you spotted the faint shadowy whisps from the knight armoury.

[SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET.] [SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET.] [SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET.] [SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET.] [SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET.] [SHADOW EXTRACTION CAN BE USED ON THIS TARGET.]

“So it’s more like turning corpses into summons than randomly summoning stuff…” You remarked aloud after understanding the System’s windows. You blinked and turned to the first and hardest opponent you faced, you skipped over the knight armours to what remains of the knight commander Igris. You only had a hard time when you faced him, if he was your companion…

[PLEASE SELECT YOUR COMMAND PHRASE FOR SHADOW EXTRACTION.]

“Wakey wakey~”

[ARE YOU SURE?]

“....Get up?”

[LAST CHANCE.]

“Fine fine…” You gave up and offered your hand to Igris, your eyes closed briefly before reopening with a purple hue. Like you were possessed by some force or destiny, the word came naturally to you. “Arise.”

Shadows shifted at your word and chilling tone, the black smoke twirled and twisted from the gaps of the armour. The translucent state slowly formed a solid figure you recalled moments ago. Only this time, he wasn’t plated in blood-red armour but pitch-black from head to toe; the only colours were the ponytail at the top of the helmet that flowed down to his back, and between the gaps of his armour were neon blue, even his eyes.

[SHADOW’S LEVEL WILL BE 7.]

[SHADOWS HIGHER THAN RANK KNIGHT CAN BE NAMED.]

“A name…” You hummed at the knight commander, frankly you have no talent for naming and his old name had a ring to it so… “Igris. You are simply Igris now.”

[IGRIS LV.7] RANK: KNIGHT

[YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY EXTRACTED THE SHADOW.]

“Let’s call on other companions to join you. Can’t be a commander without soldiers.” You shifted your attention to the piles of armour. You had more than enough space to extract more Shadows into your army of the dead. You had to thank yourself for waiting a while before doing this quest, since if you had done so when you level and stats were lower, you might be able to accomplish much. “Arise.”

[SHADOW INFANTRY LV.1] RANK: NORMAL

[SHADOW MAGICIAN LV.1] RANK: ELITE

[SHADOWS ABLE TO BE EXTRACTED: 37/50]

[REMINDER: YOU CANNOT RECALL SHADOW SOLDIERS THAT HAVE BEEN SENT TO NOTHINGNESS.]

You smiled at them as they all bowed to you, your eyes glowing blue, “Let’s enjoy our time together, my faithful comrades in arms.”

Note: Now, Jinwoo won't be appearing a while, so don't go asking where is Jinwoo and such in the comments section or my inbox. There's a lot to cover before Jinwoo appears and the story moves on. As polled before, this story is now a romantic one between Jinwoo and Reader, the ending of this story will be before the Jeju Arc, meaning Beru and the JP Hunters onwards won't be appearing in this series. All parts are around this length, around 2800-3000+ words, so it'll take a while to update. Please be patient.

With all that out of the way~ I'm happy to officially kick start this series!!

Guys, please tell me you got the reference near the end!!!! I laughed my head off at those. If you didn’t, shame on you (just kidding). Just check it out below with the links

English VA for Jinwoo Threatens Haters Recording for “Arise” ― Animation Version

Hope you guys like this and won't be too bored since Jinwoo won't be appearing for a while~ Enjoy guys~~

𝕮𝖎𝖗𝖈𝖊 𝖄.

My Works: MASTERLIST *(regarding requests, check the Masterlist to see if it’s opened or not and other info related before sending one. Thanks.)

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#Circe's Nighty Writings #Circe's requested writings #Solo Leveling #Only I Can Level Up #solo leveling x reader #solo leveling insert #solo leveling jinwoo #sung jin woo x reader #sung jinwoo x reader #sung jinwoo #sung jinwoo x you #jinwoo #Monarch Change AU #shadow monarch #Inhumans Among Humans

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raspberripop · 3 days ago

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headcanons !

(i dont know actually)

what would Sung Jinwoo and Choi Jong-in do when reader accidentally gets stuck in a red gate (formerly a C-rank gate) and manages to come out alive but is wounded heavily?

He doesn't hesitate to shadow exchange his way to where you are, he obviously has one of his shadows and he will not hesitate to come save you whenever you're in danger you can't handle.

He wouldn't let you go to a gate without a shadow in you so he'll be at your side whenever what dangers you couldn't face, he'll protect you from the danger.

My liege! The queen has been trapped in a red gate!

Beru's shouting snaps him in a daze as he barely manages to dodge one of the boss' attacks due to Beru's shouting in his thoughts

Igris, take my place.

Jinwoo ordered Igris, immediately not wasting another second as he disappeared from the boss' vision, a Igris emerging instead with a group of knights along with him

"Are you alright?" Jinwoo asked, Beru emerging along with him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, Jinwoo." You thanked him, Beru and the rest of the shadows were already getting to work through the gate.

"It's fine, I don't want you hurt after all."

Though when you come out of the gate and go home looking too wounded, he'll have Beru to heal you and he'll apologize that he didn't protect you and give you a bath and tend to your needs (That accident will rarely happen cause he's either by your side or Igris / Beru is.)

He wouldn't notice if you were in a red gate when he's not there, so when a staff of the Hunter's Association notify him how a gate you entered turned red, he'd finish his work quickly or he'd leave it there in his desk for him to do tomorrow.

When you come out completely wounded, only 1 or 2 of the members of your team alive, he'd immediately call for a healer and heal your wounds first, he'd ask if you're still able to walk on your own and helps you walk if you say no.

He will do all of the chores so you don't have to do it yourself considering how much you've been through a red gate, hes glad that you were still alive, he wouldn't know what to do when you're dead.

He'll tend to your needs, making sure you aren't anxious about your surroundings, he'll even stay by your side till you fall asleep, he'll bring you out to a date to a place which you like the most and spoil you, he'll apologize at the end of the day because he wasn't there with you.

"How's it? Did you have fun?" Jong-in asked, leading you back to his car by as you went into his car along with him in the backseat, your form leaning on him.

"It was fun." You spoke, feeling his fingers rubbing soothing circles on your arm as the car drove off to your shared place.

"Alright, I'm also... Sorry for not being there, I could've protected you when I was with you." He apologized, pulling you close to his side as he rested his head on yours.

"No, it's completely fine, don't go worrying yourself when you still have work to do." You reassured him, leaning closer to him.

"Alright then, just be careful." And with that, his lips slowly descended to meet yours.

I'm like 2% as I finish writing ToT

have a great day / good night !

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thewritetofreespeech · 7 days ago

Note

Could I request Jinwoo's doctor lover fussing over his injuries?

------------------------------------------------------------

“Tsk!” Jinwoo hissed as well as flinched when the alcohol touched the cut on his leg.

“Awww….is the big bad hunter not a fan of his medicine?”

Jinwoo frowned at [Y/N]’s teasing. “It really hurts.”

[Y/N] chuckled and put a bandage over his leg. Cleaning up the first aid kit. “Is nii-san going to be alright?” Jinah asked as she peaked around [Y/N]’s shoulder to check on him.

“Yes. He’ll be fine. Just some cuts & bruises.” The hunter flinched again when [Y/N] flicked his scuffed up knee.

“I told you I was fine.” He insisted.

“Yes, but you also could have gotten yourself killed.” They told him. “You need to be more careful.”

[Y/N] had warned him about this before. Since getting his ability, and the more powerful he became, Jinwoo was taking more and more risks in the dungeons. He didn’t think he was invincible or immortal but, maybe, there was a part of him that thought he was unbeatable. That is until he got this very firm crash of reality down to Earth.

“Jinah, can you get Jinwoo some tea so I can give him some meds?” The younger Sung nodded and hurried off to the kitchen. Alone, [Y/N]’s face fell into something more serious. “You need to be more careful.”

“I know.”

“I’m not kidding Jinwoo. It was minor this time but a few of these were a close call.” Their face fell further into one of sadness. “I’ve had too many hunters on my table. I don’t want you to be one of them.”

Jinwoo saw how upset they were and reached out (carefully, because his shoulder was messed up) to hold them. “I’m sorry. I promise I’ll be more careful.”

“Good.” [Y/N] muttered into his chest. “I should just let you die next time. That will show you.”

“Yes. It certainly would.”

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heyimkana · 2 months ago

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Come Home to Me (2/2)

Read Part 1 | Read it on AO3

Pairing: Sung Jinwoo X Female Reader

Genre: Marriage AU, fluff, smut, hurt/comfort

Summary: Your husband notices how worried you are about him going on another raid, so he stays for a bit longer to convince you that no matter what happens in the future, he will come home to you.

Word Count: 8K (I wrote too many banters I'm so sorry)

Content Warnings: Semi-public sex, swearing

“Beru, take my daughter inside. I need to be with my wife. Alone.”

The sudden solemnity that befell your husband’s face and the way his voice, low and heavy, resonated in the air around you smeared goosebumps upon your skin. His tone carried a breath of possessiveness, imbuing life to the slumbering butterflies within your stomach.

“Certainly, my liege,” came the shadow soldier’s immediate response. Shortly after he performed a deep bow, Beru walked into the house with your daughter held tight in his arms, closing the front door behind him to offer you the freedom to speak what your heart truly felt—except you couldn’t. You were scared for a thousand different reasons.

The sun had sunk low enough below the horizon for the darkness to gather, a stroke of purple hue tinging the vast orange sky, ready to wrap the stars with its velvety quilt. Jinwoo might appear nearly transcendent under the evening sun, but nothing embraced him better than the night’s cloak, a fitting companion to a man who carried the undead within his steps. Standing before him in this quietude, you felt like you slowly returned to your old self. Abashed, nervous, losing your tongue in front of a man so handsome, he made your heart ache.

Jinwoo turned to you, his face unreadable, guarded, but there was undoubtedly a gleam of concern residing in his deep blue eyes. He took a stride toward you, his movement soundless against the marbled floor of your porch, the same way death approached those who wished to harm the only person he could call home. “What is it?” he began in a voice so soft, it was almost zephyr-like. His lean fingers circled your wrist like a bracelet, cool to the touch. “You’ve never looked this perturbed before. Did something happen?”

“No,” your answer—your lie—came almost instantly, flawless to anyone’s ears. “Nothing happened.” Behind your clamped teeth, your mind endlessly screamed the words your tongue was itching to say, a desperate plea you tried to veil with everything you had.

Don’t go, Jinwoo, please, just this one time. I have a terrible feeling about this, and I know I can’t prove to you why, but it’s eating me alive. I feel it stronger today, this fear of losing you, of losing the other half of me. I know you want me to bid my farewell with a smile the way I always do, and I’m trying my best to do it even now, but there’s only so much I can keep to myself. I don’t want to say goodbye to my husband, not knowing if it will be the last time I can see his face. So, please… Please stay… Don’t leave me. Don’t go. I don’t know what I’d do without you.

Although these thoughts remained unspoken, in Jinwoo’s eyes, they manifested vividly on your face. But he wished to hear them directly, to see them flow past your lips, so he could capture each sentence and turn them into words of comfort.

“Sweetheart,” he repeated, his voice tender yet authoritative at the same time. “Don’t make me leave you like this. Don’t make me worry about you more than I already do. Tell me. Tell me so I can help.”

He’s right, you thought. Keeping this from him will only make him worry. He can’t afford to get distracted, not now. But when you still kept your lips pressed tight, trying to collect the words, his two fingers framed your chin, leaving you with no choice but to meet his scrutinizing stare.

He seemed upset. No, more than that, he looked… angry.

The air seemed to shimmer around him as his emotions slowly climbed to the surface, his gaze darkening as his desire to protect you gripped him like a vice. “Did someone hurt you?” Jinwoo questioned you, his voice a deep rumble, crossing through the nearly infinitesimal space between your lips and his like an impending storm.

You fidgeted. “N-no—”

He tilted your face higher, not letting you break free from his gaze. “I would be able to tell in a heartbeat if someone laid a hand on you, but if there was something that I didn’t know, some clues that I missed, someone who made you feel even slightly unsafe.” His eyes began to gleam; the shadows beneath his feet trembled in fear in the presence of his restrained rage. “I want their names. Now.”

You gulped. This side of him never failed to make shivers crawl down your spine. Jinwoo had always been so gentle and loving with you that it was easy to forget just how vicious and merciless he could be when his protectiveness over you took form. Your husband had killed for your sake before, more than you could possibly count, and he’d take another hundred lives within a blink of your eyes should you ask him to.

As you released your shuddering breath, you twined your fingers around his wrist. “No.” You tilted your head to the side just enough for your lips to press a soothing kiss against the blue and red rivers of veins under his pasty skin. “It’s not like that. No threats, nothing. I’m safe.”

Relief washed over him, albeit only faintly. “What is it, then?”

You tarried, trying to mince your phrases as best as you could. “I know you can handle anything,” you only began, yet your voice was already cracking with emotions. “I know that, and I believe in your strength. But I saw you, Jinwoo, just like everybody else. I saw the way your enemy stabbed your heart and tore open your chest. You survived. By some miracle, you did. But the sight of it… It haunts me."

You took a breath before you continued. "I find it impossible to sleep at night when you’re not next to me. My mind keeps drifting back to you no matter what I do, wondering if you were fighting for your life again, trapped in a battle you couldn’t win. Sometimes I look at you and…” You laid your hand above his beating heart, your fingers tracing over it as your eyes grew vacant. “I remember the way the beast’s claws pierced through your chest, right here, all five of them. Your body may have healed, and there are no traces of those wounds left on your skin, not even a scar, but… I can still see them. I’m still scared of them. And I can’t help but think… What if it happens again? What if your luck runs out this time?”

Jinwoo continued to stay mute, listening to you intently as if you were the only voice in the universe. He only reacted once quivers ran through your fingertips, seizing your hand and pressing it harder against his chest, as if to remind you that beneath those translucent scars, his heart still remained the same—still alive, beating, racing, because of you, only for you.

You curled your fingers, still couldn’t wash away the dread. “I know you can’t change who you are,” you continued, your voice laced with tears. “And I know you have no other options but to do your duty, which is why I always try my best not to stop you from leaving. But today, for some reason, I feel anxious. It almost feels the same as how I felt on the day I almost lost you. It’s probably nothing, but… Right now, it’s suffocating me.”

The tension was palpable between you, leaving you to ponder whether you had spoken too much. Perhaps it would’ve been wiser for you not to speak at all. You blinked back your tears, wiping the ones that already crossed the edges with the heel of your palm. You felt mortified for baring your feelings out in the open, for being so theatrical about it.

“I’m sorry. I’m being so dramatic, aren’t I?” You forced out a laugh; the desire to flee the scene was almost too tempting to refuse. It didn’t help that he hadn’t spoken a word, leaving you shrouded by your own perception of his feelings. Have you upset him? Troubled him? Or maybe even hurt him in some way? Just the thought of it brought more fresh tears to emerge in your eyes.

“I—” You cast your face to the side. “I should go check on our baby—”

Your husband caught you by your wrist, stopping you before you could escape, his touch firm but far from painful. His eyes were hidden underneath the curtain of his raven strands, but the way he pressed his lips so tautly together, enough for them to grow white, clearly indicated how much he took your words seriously.

“I’m scared, too.”

His confession, spoken barely above a whisper, left you stunned. Out of all the things you thought he’d say at this moment, that was never one of them.

You pivoted around to face him. “Jin… woo..?”

It took him a moment to compose his words as if he lacked the bravery to come clean, to showcase his vulnerability. It was as if he had spent an eternity trying to keep these words all to himself, fighting back all the intentions to reveal this frail side of him to you, afraid of how you’d react, if he’d sadden you with it.

“I’m terrified, Sweetheart,” he repeated, quiet, almost breathlessly. “Not of death, but leaving you.” The lines of his face were strained, filled with consternation. “I know how it feels to lose those important to me. No matter how strong I get, no matter how hard I try, I still can’t protect everyone. I’ve lost my friends in battles. I’ve lost my father. And I nearly lost my mother and my sister, too. I know exactly how it feels, and it haunts me every day more than you could imagine.”

His face twisted in sadness, almost in agony at the recollection of the precious lives that slipped through his hands, but that amount of pain felt small in comparison to how he felt when he added, “But you…” His fingertips trailed an invisible path down your cheek. “You and our daughter… You’re beyond that. You’re not just my family; you’re fragments of me. The hardest part of my mission is never about dealing with my enemies. It’s this moment right here, right now, bidding you goodbye and watching you smile back at me with your heart breaking in your eyes, thinking that you’d never get to see me again. You’re constantly on my mind, Sweetheart, every second of every day. And I always worry that something will happen to you while I’m gone. That you won’t be here to meet me at the door when I come home. That I’d be too late, and I wouldn’t be able to find you, to save you, even if I searched the whole world for you.”

His throat felt parched, his voice so close to shattering. “With my power, no matter where you are, no matter how far you are from me, I can run back to you the moment I sense danger around you, but it will take me a second, and a second could change everything. You saw what happened with Jinah, didn’t you? I managed to save her right on time, but if I had arrived only a second later, I would’ve lost her. And if I… If you were in the same position… And I was a second too late on my way back to you… If I lost you forever…” He took one last step toward you, and he crumbled, his body sinking forward, his head falling to your shoulder. “I wouldn’t know how to live my life anymore…” A shaky breath escaped him. “Not without you…”

The amount of fear that radiated through his body was almost appalling. It was hard to believe someone so strong could tremble like this at the thought of losing you.

Jinwoo lifted his head, gathering your face in his hands, his eyes carrying the weight of a broken man. “I know it’s hard for you to watch me leave…” He pressed your foreheads together, his eyes closed in the sliver of bliss from being so close to you, but his eyebrows remained furrowed, tense from the pain and the horror of being separated from the other half of his soul. “And I will never make light of your feelings, but you also need to know just how unbearable it is for me to walk away from you…”

You squeezed your teeth together behind your lips, your vision blurred by your tears. You could only offer a shaky nod in response, afraid you’d be sobbing if you let a word slip out of you.

“It tears me apart just to kiss you goodbye, Sweetheart.” He returned the small distance between you, gently brushing your tears away with his thumb. “Every single time I leave, it’s like cutting off a piece of me, and you don’t know how much, just how much I want to stay and be with you right now—to spend every second of my life with you, so I can stop you from looking at me with those eyes. So I can put your heart at ease.” He lifted your face just enough to meet your crystalline eyes. “Don’t ever think I want to choose my duty over you. You are always, always, the most important thing in my life.”

It was the first time you saw him so fragile, so exposed, and you could feel just how much your presence in his life affected him. You were his weakness, his only weakness.

You quickly collected yourself, desperate to assure him. “I know…” Speaking in your softest voice, you reached out to touch him, to cup his cheek, to do anything you could to soothe him even when you, yourself, were so close to breaking. “I know how much you care about me—about us—and I’m happy, Jinwoo. You don’t know how glad I am to have a husband like you. So strong” —you brushed a featherlight kiss on his cheek—“yet, so kind”—on his jawline—“and so, so gentle.” You planted the last one on his lips, as soft and tender as how you whispered his name. “And yes, of course, I understand how hard it is for you. This is why I didn’t want to say anything at first. I didn’t want to make you feel this way. I didn’t want to make you worry more than you already did. And I’m…” You caressed his cheekbone with your thumb. “I’m sorry for speaking my thoughts out loud just now. I shouldn’t have said anything, at least not now when you’re about to leave.”

He let out a sigh under your comforting touch, almost yearning. Covering your hand with his own, he sank his face further into your palm like a child leaning to his mother’s touch. “No, don’t be sorry,” he shook his head, his lids shutting at the feeling of your warmth seeping into his pores. “I’m glad you could be honest with me. Thank you. I can breathe easy now, knowing that you’re safe.”

When he stared down at you, your smile for him was the softest, the sweetest it had ever been. It reminded him almost of his mother’s, the way it carried so much love, affection, adoration, and, most importantly, appreciation. As someone who held nearly limitless power, the constant efforts he made to save the world were never overlooked. Still, more often than not, people chose not to express their gratitude, saying he was merely doing his job as an S-Rank Hunter, taking everything he did for granted. You had seen just how cruel the public voice could be when they spoke ill of him, not long after the Jeju Raid ended.

Hunter Min Byung-Gu’s life could’ve been saved if Sung Jinwoo had appeared sooner! Yeah, where the hell was he anyway? Why didn’t he join the raid from the start? Was he scared? Hey, hey, I heard he refused to join the raid at first. Does he not realize his responsibility as an S-Rank Hunter? Embarrassing, right? S-Rank Hunters are supposed to be selfless heroes! Sung Jinwoo is not one of them!

Your husband never let these derisions get to him, but they got to you. It pained you, angered you to see these words spreading online like wildfire, but you couldn’t do much to change their opinions, and even if you could, it wouldn’t have mattered. Jinwoo never cared about them. He cared about you, about what you think of him, and fortunately for him, you were always there to appreciate every little thing he did. He didn’t have to save the world to impress you. You were already grateful for his presence, even just by seeing him plant a little kiss on your daughter’s head.

“Thank you, Jinwoo,” you softly said, “for making the world a better place for me and our daughter to live in. But more than that, thank you for all the efforts you made as my husband and as the father of our child. For making time for us even when you were losing sleep, drained after all the raids. I’m sure your baby is grateful, too, for all the tea parties you had with her.”

He laughed a little, still carrying a hint of melancholy. “She can be quite demanding sometimes.”

“Yes, she can, but you’re always patient with her, and I adore you for that.” You stroked his cheek. “You’re a hero to us in more ways than one. You’re everything we want you—need you to be, and for that, I’ll always be grateful to you.”

His jaws clasped together like a floodgate, preventing his emotions from bursting beyond control. He nodded once, a bit bashful but visibly delighted by your lines. With a quiet giggle, you kissed the tip of his nose. “What, getting shy now?”

He responded with a chuckle, pretty roses blooming in his cheeks. “No, I’m just happy. You always know what to say to lift the weight off my shoulders. And I wish I could say something to ease your mind, too, but…” He broke away from your touch, returning your gaze. “I don’t know what the future holds for me. I can lie to you and tell you that nothing could harm me, but I know you wouldn’t want that. So, all I can offer you right now is my promise.” He brought your hand closer to his face, his lips engraving the words directly to the bumps of your knuckles. “I promise that I will do anything, everything within my power, to come home to you.”

Your heart still splintered, but it wasn’t nearly as agonizing anymore. Perhaps it was all due to his vow. Or maybe you’ve learned how to withstand the pain, to welcome it as a part of you, knowing it was something you couldn’t chase away, something that would only be repeated in the future. “Jinwoo—”

A pair of soft lips captured your own, your face held, your words stolen. The sudden kiss was chaste, almost innocent, just pure romance beneath the bitterness of a farewell. Jinwoo pulled away but only barely, the tip of his nose still grazing your cheek.

“I love you,” he whispered, his warm breath, sweet and intoxicating, fanning your lips. “I love you so much, Sweetheart, more than I could bear.”

You looked up at him, your heartbeat roaring in your ears. “I love you, too.”

Another kiss, another soft touch from a man you’d sworn to love unconditionally. But the gentleness of your colliding lips, the innocence of it, could never last long, always replaced by something more arduous. A hint of his longing for you, his craving, showed in the way he molded your lips beneath his, and within seconds, his kiss turned deep, controlling, consuming. His arm slithered around your waist, pressing your body close against him, tight enough for you to wonder if you could just melt into him, be a part of him. Perhaps then, you could be wherever he was. A world where you don’t have to bid him goodbye… Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

His breathing turned uneven by the time he ended the kiss, enthralled and far from satisfied. And just like him, you couldn’t do much but stare at the shape of his pretty mouth in your haze.

“You asked me if I’d let the world burn for you.” His voice turned raspy, hoarse with need, his eyes watching the way his thumb glided over your slicked lips. He pressed down on your bottom one, and you parted your mouth in response, an act so natural, it made his gaze heavy with lust. “I’d do it,” he said, stealing your breath with it. “I’d watch the world burn to the ground just to be with you for a second longer. All you need to do is say the words.”

Your eyes turned round, your heart thrashing inside your ribcages. You could see the conviction in his eyes, giving you as much joy as the fear that dawned upon you.

The safety of the world did not lie in Sung Jinwoo’s hands. It was in yours.

Your ardent love, intense and overflowing, rushed to your hands, crumpling the front of his coat as you brought him back to you for another taste of his lips. You pulled your husband down to you, to where he belonged, to where he should stay, your mouth meeting his in a searing kiss. You were the gravity that pulled him in, the spark of fire to reignite the flames within him. And you wanted to kiss him forever, to have his hands on your body, to be close enough for you to—

Jinwoo suddenly stiffened in your arms, breaking off the kiss so abruptly that it left your mind reeling for a second. A frown sketched over the lines in his forehead, irritation glinting in his eyes.

Your heart plummeted, unsure of what you did wrong. “W-what is it?”

“Nothing,” he sighed exasperatedly, massaging the bridge of his nose. “I just heard Igris talking in my ear, reminding me of my schedule. What time is it now?” He lifted his wrist, glancing at the silver watch. “Damn it.” He clicked his tongue; his vexation doubled. “I guess I really have to go.” But his eyes, like always, found their way home to you, and he took you in once more, this breathtaking view of you with your face flushed, your lips all red and bruised and glistening with his spit. “And it’s probably better if I leave now before I get, umm…” He noticeably swallowed, trying to rein in the desire to take you here against the wall. “Carried away.”

With flames kissing your cheeks, you tossed your stare to the floor. “Y-You’re right. Sorry.”

“‘Sorry?’” Jinwoo tittered, the sound soft and wonderful in your ears. Lifting your face by the chin, he tilted his head slightly to the side, adoring you. “It was my pleasure, Sweetheart.”

His smirk, his voice… He seemed so effortlessly sexy when he said it that it turned you sheepish. You removed yourself from him. “S-so, umm… When will you be back again exactly?”

“Six days from now. A week, maybe.”

Your shoulders sagged. He could’ve said six years, and it would probably sound just as torturous. “Okay…”

“Come on, baby,” he smiled softly despite his heart breaking just the same. “Don’t be like this.” He rubbed his knuckles against your cheek before he poked you lightly with his finger, making you giggle from it. “I’ll make it up to you once I get home, okay? Anything you want me to do—anything at all—I’ll do it.”

“Anything?”

His previously impish smile fully morphed into a devilish grin. “Anything.”

“Hopefully, it’s not something sexual,” you narrowed your eyes playfully at him.

“Hopefully, it is.” His chuckles didn't last long, followed shortly by a heavy sigh. “Can I hug my wife one last time?”

You stilled, your breath caught in your throat. “It’s not the last time.”

He blinked before he understood his mistake, sadness coating the soft bow of his lips once he did. “Sorry. Poor choice of words.” He spread his arms wide, waiting for you to return to his warmth with the softest smile on his face. “I mean, can I hug you one more time before I go? And touch you endlessly once I get home?”

Contentment suffused you at once, and you answered him by carving the shape of your smile against his lips, your fingers coiled against the front of his coat. You made sure to keep your kiss light, not wanting to repeat the same mistake of drowning in desire. You weren’t sure you could escape it should it happen again. But even so, when you parted from him, you couldn’t deny the tension between you. Like magnets, you were drawn together. Just the slightest brush of your skin meeting his could turn it into a force beyond your control.

You tried to distract him—or rather, yourself. “H-hey, you said Igris talked to you before. Does that mean he… saw what we were doing?” This was the first time it happened, as Jinwoo had always been careful in the past not to let his shadow soldiers witness your intimate acts. Whenever you two were together, your husband would always command his army to shut down all their senses for a moment, to give you the privacy you needed. You weren’t sure why Igris could see you now, but the thought horrified you. “I’ve always been awkward with him because he doesn’t talk much and seems so… noble. If he saw us kissing like that, I… I don’t think I could face him again. Especially after…” You kept on rambling, driven out of shame, submerged at the thought of seeing the dark knight again after he witnessed everything that happened between you and his master.

Unbeknownst to you, Jinwoo’s eyes darkened, completely lost in the view. Seeing you like this, standing so small and fidgety before him, looking so flustered that you couldn’t handle meeting his eyes when you spoke—

God, I want to ruin her.

I want to make her all mine again.

His nails scraped against his palm as he tried to find restraint, his throat burning with the desire to claim you, to taste you, to drink everything you give him. You were asking him a question, weren’t you? Something about Igris. Fuck, he couldn’t remember it. He couldn’t pay attention to any of the lines you said, watching how your mouth shaped the words but not registering them. Your voice was a whisper in his ear, easily drowned by the filthy thoughts that grew even more vehemently with each second passing by.

“Honey?”

At your call, he averted his gaze. One more second looking at you, and he would’ve succumbed to his needs. “Hmm?”

“I asked you if Igris saw us.”

“Huh? Oh, right. Yes, they saw it.”

“Wait—They?”

“Yeah, the entire army, basically.” Though he wanted to seem apologetic, his grin betrayed him. “I was too absorbed with you that I forgot to tell them to close their eyes.”

You gaped, colors draining fast from your face. “Jinwoo! ”

He laughed quietly at your reaction, catching the little punches you threw to his chest. “Baby, relax. So what if they saw us kissing? You’re my love.”

Your stomach somersaulted at the word he chose. He could’ve just said my wife instead of my love. It would've been easier for your heart. “Well, I don’t want them to see that…” Another pout, another wild urge he had to chase away before he bruised your lips with his own. You exhaled. For some reason, you felt exhausted. “Though it’s… sweet how Igris tried to keep you from running late. That should’ve been my job. Did he just pop up, tell you to go, and then disappear again?” The vision of it looked funny in your head because surely, he must’ve been embarrassed seeing us like that, right?

“Actually, he told me to stay.” Your husband wound his arms around your waist, drawing you closer before he rested them on your curves. “He said that I should just send him there and let him take care of the gate for me. So I can be here with my queen.”

“‘Your queen?”’ You repeated, couldn’t help but feel amused even though you were touched by how caring the dark knight was to your family.

Scarlet tinged his cheek. “His words, not mine.”

“I see. So, I’m not your queen, then?”

The shade deepened as he tossed his face to the side. “Of”—he cleared his throat, his voice reducing to a mumble—“Of course, you are.”

You giggled, and your husband softened into another smile, staring at you affectionately. He seemed glad that you’d rediscovered the strength to throw a jest or two.

“Well, as much as I don’t wish for my king to go,” you dawdled with your words, building expectations as you glided one hand up his chest. You could feel the ridges of his lean, taut muscles underneath his shirt. A wave of desire pooled inside your stomach, threatening to resurface if you weren’t being careful. “The world needs him. Even if I keep you to myself now, you’re bound to leave for another mission sooner or later. I’ve come to realize that…” You paused to gain control of your emotions, your hands fixing his collar in your attempt to seek distraction. “The best way to deal with this is by getting myself used to it. Get used to this feeling that you leave me when you kiss me goodbye. I have to teach myself to be patient, as it will only be a matter of time before my husband returns. I think that’s what I have to do,” you smiled at him, shy amidst the mischievousness that you previously displayed. “As your queen.”

His heart thawed at your lines, cradling you close enough by the shoulders to bury his face in your hair, breathing in your scent, memorizing it so he could recall this sense of peace you gave him when he was miles away from you. Even without words, you could tell just how proud he was of you. “Thank you,” he murmured against your temple. He kept you this way for a moment, his nose nuzzling against your strands until he remembered how time would never be merciful to him. “I really have to go, baby…”

“I know…”

But when he pulled away, he couldn’t find the strength to detach his gaze from you, caught in a conflict between his feelings and his responsibility. “I’ll be…”—he traced your cheek, his gaze falling to your lips—“back soon, okay…?”

You nibbled at the corner of your lip, causing him to nearly groan at the sight. You didn’t mean to entice him; you were just nervous under his hooded gaze, your body brimming with anticipation. You knew he wanted another kiss, another touch, and you wanted thousands of them, but— “Okay…”

Jinwoo moved closer, as close as he could be, his face hovering merely a few inches from yours. Nothing but desire resided in his eyes, his voice low and husky when he spoke, “Don’t miss me too much…”

It was like the air crackled between you, invisible hands drawing you together. Your fingers twined a little tighter around the front of his coat, itching to tug him down and erase the millimeters of space separating your lips. “I’ll try…” You replied with shivers in your breath, and in a moment of weakness, your gaze cascaded to his lips.

And seeing that, he snapped.

All shadows. Leave us. Now.

“Jin—mmph!” You were pushed back against the wall, your body lifted to your toes, and your lips devoured. He couldn’t do it. Whatever battle he was fighting inside, he lost it the moment he realized you wanted him just the same, and he didn’t care. You were still his prize to claim, your taste was his to consume, your warmth was his to take, and he drowned in you almost instantly, his fingers possessively grabbing your face, leaving you with no choice but to accept his kiss, to accept whatever it was he planned to give you.

Without wasting a second, he wedged his knee between your legs, parting them open and having his thigh pressed firmly against your core. You gasped against his mouth, your body clinging onto him, shuddering at the thrilling sensation. “J-Jinwoo—”

“I know,” he replied shortly, almost in a growl, breathless against your mouth. “I need you, too, so just—” He pressed your body tight against him, his lips placed upon yours again with such urgency as if being separated from you for merely a second deprived him of all the oxygen he needed.

The last thread of restraint in your head forced you to place your hands on his chest. Despite your aching need to rub yourself against his thigh, you voiced your thoughts aloud between lustful kisses. “Wait—we shouldn’t—mmph—”

With a grunt, he removed your hands from him, pinning them against the wall as he ceaselessly devoured your mouth. He kept you that way, trapped and caged within his hold. “Y-you have to go,” you managed to whimper out, your body tensing as he trailed open-mouthed kisses down your throat.

Jinwoo finally broke away, his face flushed, painted over with nothing but ardor. “Want me to stop?”

Your heart thrashed wildly inside your chest. The huskiness in his voice, the way his breathing turned heavy at the sight of you—what women would say no?

“Come here.” You pulled him back to you, begged him for another kiss, a wish that he was so eager to comply. Struggling to match his pace, you found yourself clawing at the back of his trench coat, one of your legs hooking around his thigh as he pushed your dress up to your stomach, revealing more soft skin and supple flesh for him to grip and sink his nails into. He grunted against your neck, a string of expletives among sinful praises, and you shut your eyes, head thrown back at the thrill of having him act so needy, so desperate for you.

You couldn’t care about anything, not anymore, but your memory recalled the sour look he made when he checked on his watch a moment ago. How much time do we have until he really needs to go? “Jinwoo—ah—” You felt his teeth grinding not so gently against your skin, marking you as if he wanted to leave something for you to remember him by, to ache for in your wake. “W-what time should you be leaving—”

His fingers circled your throat, holding you dominantly in his grip. “Ten minutes ago. Open your mouth.”

He deepened the kiss as soon as you parted your lips for him, moaning at the burst of your taste on his tongue. You welcomed his taste with a gasp, your hands now crawling up his nape, his hair, making a nest out of his strands the same way he made a mess out of you. His tongue delved inside, begging for a sliver of your sweetness, but you wanted to give him everything, and you did, your tongue sliding against his own, kissing him as if this was your last time to remember just how amazing he felt against you, lips to lips, tongue to tongue, body to body. All the fear you had over his departure, all the love you held for him, they dissolved into one, into this burning ache that permeated your core, the need to have him close.

And God, you wanted more, wanted him so badly, it felt like torture.

“Fuck,” Jinwoo groaned, followed quickly by a low moan of your name. He was really trying to hold back, to only settle down for a kiss or two, but— “Why do you have to be so goddamn irresistible all the time?”

He was suffering just the same, one hand slamming against the door to maintain his distance, to keep him away from crushing you, from becoming one with you. It balled into a fist, evidence of what was left of his self-control; his fingers clenched so tightly that it painted his knuckles white and his palm crimson. His other arm snaked around your waist as his mouth sucked bruises on your collarbone, his nails clawing against the fabric of your dress, eager to tear it apart right then, right there. Rough, sinful noises continued to stream past his lips as you brought your lower half even closer to him, the sound low and deep; it was almost primal.

“Ngh, baby, please—” He pleaded with his eyebrows sewn together, his jaw slackening at the sensation of you pushing your hips back, grinding on him. You could feel just how hard he was beneath his pants, the contour of his cock nudging deliciously against your clothed heat. It excited you, your heart swelling in satisfaction at how fast you could turn the most powerful man in the world into a desperate lover with only a few touches. Only you had this power over him, and he made sure to worship you for it.

His body reacted instinctively, rocking his hips against yours, quickly taking over control. Somewhere in the labyrinth of your mind, a voice reminded you to stop, he’s already late as it is, and you can’t do this here, not outside, not for everyone’s eyes to see, but when Jinwoo caught your earlobe between his teeth, his voice dangerous and guttural when he said, “God, Sweetheart, you don’t know how much I want to be inside you right now,” all you could think was—

Yes, please.

You smashed your lips against his, your fingers tugging hard at the roots of his hair, robbing another shameless moan out of him. He welcomed your burning passion, reciprocating it by doubling the intensity. None of you gave a damn where you were or what time it was; none of it mattered, not anymore. You just needed him, and he needed you. Not just want. Need.

Jinwoo unclasped his belt with one hand while keeping hold of your face with the other; his movements rushed, lacking the usual grace that he normally exuded. You were sure he didn’t mean to tear your lingerie apart, but even if he did, it would’ve only added more fuel to the shimmering flames inside you. Now that your bottom half was bare and exposed, he took himself out of his confinement, holding his length in one hand, his tongue gliding over his bottom lip as he rubbed his tip against your protruding clit.

You shivered, your hips swaying on their own, begging him to just ram it inside. “Jinwoo, please.”

“You’re gonna make me lose my mind,” he growled, lifting your body higher on the wall, making you hold on to nothing but him to fight back gravity. “Arms around my neck,” he commanded, his mouth hot against your jawline. His coat slid off his shoulders as he positioned himself over your entrance, pooling around his elbows.

But then, Jinwoo slowed down amidst the heat of your passion, just for a moment. Even as his desire consumed him from within, your consent remained a top priority. He needed to make sure that he wasn’t hurting you or, worse, doing anything you didn’t want him to. Your husband took a second to look at you, wanting you to give your permission out loud even when all his heightened senses and perceptions had found their answer a while ago. “Can I have you?”

Your reply came in the shape of you carding your fingers through his locks again, your mouth colliding with his as you spread your legs a little wider. “Yes,” you breathed out. “I need you, please—oh!”

You felt him pushing himself inside the second your plea left your mouth, stretching all of your walls at once.

“Ah, fuck,” Jinwoo groaned deep and loud, slamming one hand against the wall, the vein in his neck popping from beneath his pale skin. His reaction was almost as if he’d never experienced such pleasure before, his body trembling at the feeling of your heat tightening around him, so drenched inside that you could take him—his everything—all in one go. “God, you feel so good.” He locked your lips together again, moaning at the feeling of being shrouded by your warmth. He moved his hips tentatively to ensure your comfort, but he surrendered immediately after the first try. “Sorry, Sweetheart, I don’t think I can—ngh—hold back—”

He began to move, his teeth nibbling on the skin of your shoulder to contain his grunts, his hips thrusting fast and rough, sliding himself in and out of you in the desperation of a heated beast seeking a release. Just like him, you were feeling it much more than anything you’d ever done with him. Maybe it was the place, the sensation of doing something so indecent, so out in the open. Maybe it was because you were both trying so desperately to comfort yourselves, to forget your upcoming separation, even only for a moment. Or maybe it was simply because you loved him so ardently, the same way he did about you.

Now that the sun had sunk entirely below the horizon, the night was nearly pitch black. No stars were in sight, as if they grew too shy to witness something so obscene. Detecting the darkness around you, the lights around the house switched on automatically, illuminating the entryway and the lush garden around you with a warm, romantic glow. The magical view of the scenery usually brought a sense of serenity to your heart, but no, not that night. Not when you were stuck in a very compromising position with your husband. The worst one of all was the three pendant lights shining brightly above you, dangling from your high ceilings, exposing the way your bodies rocked together in rapid, rhythmless motions for the whole world to see.

You couldn’t help but be distracted by them, your body tensing. If anyone were passing by, with the way your husband had you pinned against the wall, your heels digging to the small of his back, your fingers tugging on the roots of his hair, they would discover you in a heartbeat.

“J-Jinwoo—wait—the lights—”

With his lips sucking hard bruises on your neck, Jinwoo lifted one hand in the air and clenched his fingers into a fist. All the lightbulbs shattered at once, their sounds piercing the air, stealing a surprised yelp out of you, which he silenced immediately with his mouth. The same invisible force shielded you from the pieces of glass raining down from the ceiling, leaving your heart rattling in your chest but your skin uninjured.

You were embraced by the darkness again, though it was never as thick as you would love it to be. The silver moonlight still bathed your skin, and the golden shine of the bollard lights surrounding your garden remained bright enough for you to discern your husband’s features, but at least, you no longer felt like you were standing under the spotlight. You still couldn’t entirely chase your anxiety away, however, and noticing that, Jinwoo captured your face, his fingers pressed firmly on each side of your jaw.

"Focus on me,” he said, palm plastered against the front of your throat. Although pain was absent from his touch, his hold on you was firm, controlling, his voice commanding. “I don’t want you to think about anything else. Keep your eyes on me. Focus on how I’m making you feel right now.”

And it felt good. He made you feel so damn good that by the time he plunged himself deep into you again, you found yourself crying out against his mouth, clutching onto him like a lifeline. Jinwoo was just as deep in rapture as you were, unintentionally ripping the top buttons of your dress in his desperation to taste more of your skin. He was beyond aggressive, unrestrained, and impatient, and God, you loved it. You couldn’t remember the last time he was like this, and the feelings brought you quickly to ecstasy.

You were close, your pleasure building up faster than it ever did. “Jinwoo, I’m—”

“I know,” he moaned against your shoulder, his teeth just one pressure away from sinking into your flesh. “I’m close too, angel, just a little bit… ngh… more…”

He quickened his pace, taking his cock completely out of you only to drive himself back to the hilt, each thrust hard enough to knock the breath out of your lungs. You fell over the edge with your lips parted in a silent moan, your nails scraping against the back of his shirt, your legs shaking, tautening around him as you reached cloud nine.

The sensation of your walls closing in around his cock was almost too much to bear, but he needed that one single push, just one sweet moan from you in the shape of his name, to make him grasp that vigorous wave of euphoria. “Sweetheart, please—”

Knowing exactly what he was begging for, you embraced him closely by the neck, gripped his soft locks beneath your fingers, and whispered the words he’d been dying to hear right against his mouth.

“I love you, Jinwoo.”

He shuddered, his skin breaking into goosebumps, and he finished inside you with a deep, gravelly groan erupting from the back of his throat. His hips stuttered, slowing down but not yet stopping until he finished spilling everything inside. His breaths came out raggedly, hot against your neck. His left hand was still glued to the wall beside your head.

As your tremors began to dissipate, your husband carefully placed you back on your feet, holding you close until you could stand on your own. Your legs felt like jelly beneath your weight, your strength leaving you after experiencing what might be one of the most mind-blowing orgasms you’d ever had.

“That was… intense,” Jinwoo tittered breathlessly, his hair all tousled, his face the prettiest shade of pink. It mesmerized you just how stunning he looked like this, and it satisfied you more than anything to know that you would always be the one—the only one—who could see this side of him, who could bring this side of him into view. Little did you know he was thinking the same thing about you. The way you stood there, gazing up at him with your starry eyes slightly watery from your orgasm, your dress torn and crumpled, your skin marked and claimed. He could easily go for another round—or three—if you let him.

“You okay?” He asked as he swatted the stray strands out of your eyes, helping you with your dress before he fixed his own attire. You nodded a bit drunkenly, and he let out another chuckle before planting a soft kiss on your temple. “I’m sorry for ruining your dress.”

“And my panties,” you added, snatching the torn fabric away from your heel. You stared flatly at it, your tone monotonous when you said, “Unbelievable. This is the third time, Jinwoo. Three times you’ve done this to me."

He was embarrassed by it. So cute. “I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not sorry,” you teased him with a poke on his cheek. “Buy me another one? The dress, I mean. I don’t trust you with my lingerie after what you bought me last time.”

He laughed softly at the memory. “I’ll buy you the prettiest one. Promise.” Brushing a light kiss on your temple, he spoke his worry once more. “How are you feeling? Did I hurt you?”

The genuine concern in his tone caused your joy to unfold. In all honesty, yes, he did, but every pain was welcomed—no, every pain was desired, and you wished you could have more. More consuming kisses that left your lips swollen. More love bites on your neck that would last until he returned home. More bruises on your hips and thighs from how hard he was holding you. It felt nice to be dominated, to be owned, to be so wanted by your husband that he lost control of himself, of his mind.

“What?” Jinwoo raised a brow, looking at you funny. “Why are you smiling like that?”

“Nothing,” you replied with a sheepish smile, stroking his cheek. But with him looking at you with such confusion in his eyes, you felt like you owed him the truth. “I just realized you never fucked me this way before, and it scares me just how much I enjoyed it.”

He blushed at your words, so fervently that you wondered if this was the same man who had just mounted you like a beast in heat a moment ago. But then he laughed, the sound so delicate and pretty in your ears. “I was going to apologize for being carried away, but…” He bent his head down, bringing himself to your eye level as a smirk crept up his lips. “If that’s what you’re into, then I have so much more in store for you.”

You swallowed, your skin tingling with excitement at the thought. “W-we can try that after you get home. Don’t you have a plane to catch?”

“Shit, you’re right.” As unbelievable as it was, he had truly forgotten about it. Jinwoo hastily rummaged through his pocket for his car key, racing against time. “Okay, I’ll be leaving now.” He kissed you quickly, almost making you stumble from how fast he was grabbing your face. “Goodbye, love. I’ll see you soon.”

“Jinwoo, wait,” you giggled, tugging him back by his arm. “You got my lipstick all over you.” You rubbed your thumb over his lips, trying to wipe off the red stain. “And your hair’s mess. Do you have a comb with you?”

“It’s all right, I love it like this.” He tossed you a boyish smile. “It feels like I’m carrying a part of you with me, like some kind of proof that reminds me of what we just did.” He then continued in a whisper, his smirk grazing your earlobe. “The same way you’re carrying a part of me… inside you.”

You grew mortified, all due to his words and the feeling of his essence seeping out of you. You could feel it trickling down your thigh before you squeezed your legs together, face aflame. “Leave. Now.” You whirled his body around, shoving him forward. “And tell your shadow soldiers to help me change the lights. I can’t believe you used your skill for that.”

He tossed you a grin over his shoulder. “Gotta make the best use of what I have, Sweetheart.”

“I don’t think Igris would be happy to know that you’re using Ruler's Hand for sex.”

“Oh, baby, trust me, if I were planning to use Ruler’s Hand for sex, bursting lightbulbs would be at the bottom of the list.” His smirk carried the promise of something lewd, something naughty. “And also, if I’m happy, all my soldiers are happy, Igris included. And I’m definitely happy right now, all thanks to my sweet girl.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” you snorted despite heat filling your cheeks. “Now go before Jinho kills you.”

He chortled softly, “Yes, Ma’am.”

You watched him stride away with your hands on your hips, sighing despite the way your lips curved up in amusement. You were going to miss these little banters you have. Some parts of you still refused to let him go, but when Jinwoo rolled down his window, giving you one last smile with one hand on the steering wheel, all you could say was, “Come home to me, darling.”

“I will, baby.”

And as he drove into the night, disappearing from your sight and leaving your heart lamenting in your chest, you knew you had no choice but to put your faith in him. This wouldn’t be the last time you see him. It would never be. Jinwoo would make sure of that.

Because if he had to watch the world burn for it, for you, then so be it.

Heaven or hell, Gods or the Devils, I’ll destroy them all.

As long as I can come home to you, Sweetheart, nothing else matters. ***

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