#ateez fanficiton

[cheollipop]

one more rep

navi | taglist

pairing: jung wooyoung x model fem!reader x choi san

w.c.: 6.9k

tags: smut, some fluff, friends to lovers, woosan are reader's personal trainers

san got a little too excited watching you exercise in purple – his favourite colour – and wooyoung was nothing if not a tease. turning their attention back to you, they didn't expect to see you equally worked-up.

warnings: mean dom!wooyoung, soft dom!san, they're switches for each other though, wooyoung has a nipple piercing + a tramp stamp (hehe), san has finger tattoos, degradation (a little bit; reader gets called a slut/cockslut), praise (a lot), so much dirty talk, a hint of dacryphilia, nipple play (m & f), face sitting, oral sex (m & f receiving), face fucking, fingering (f), squirting, pussy slapping, overstimulation, handjob, mxm, spit kink (so much spit...), snowballing, cum eating/swallowing, unprotected sex (👎), multiple creampies, multiple orgasms, some humping, aftercare, nicknames (youngie, good boy; sannie; baby, pretty girl, good girl, sweetheart, darling), they're all idiots in love <3

A/N: so this has been brewing in my little kettle for a while and bam! my longest fic yet, and probably the filthiest... I put my heart and soul into this one, so I really hope you enjoy! ^^ (pls ignore any inaccuracies in the exercises,, I start wheezing after one flight of stairs)

nsfw under the cut - minors dni!! 🔞

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

San’s knees dug into the yoga mat under him, his hands – decorated with the black ink of his tattoos – secured around your calves, holding them in place while you finished up your last set of sit-ups. He could feel your muscles contract every time you pushed yourself up, relaxing momentarily as you laid back down on the mat. He often found his eyes wandering over the purple material hugging your figure, the way your shorts rode up your thighs each time you pushed yourself off the mat. With every powerful sit-up, he held his breath at how close your face would get to his – enough for him to breathe in the sweet scent of your perfume mixed in with the tanginess of your sweat, your soft exhale blowing over his face.

It had been years since your agency reached out to San’s company, hiring him and Wooyoung as your personal trainers. The three of you had developed an easy friendship, your sessions now packed with inside jokes and banter. Recently, however, you often found yourself looking at them differently – your heart racing whenever San’s hands brushed over your skin, skipping a beat at Wooyoung’s never-ending praise. As a model, you were required to remain fit, and despite the torturous exercises the pair put you through, you were glad you were able to see them regularly.

A gentle squeeze to San’s nape caught his attention, Wooyoung hovering over him with a coy smile on his face. One look over his shoulder and he could see the weights for the next exercise set up neatly in the corner.

“What’s got you so distracted? Can’t you see she’s barely making it halfway up?” Wooyoung’s tone was playful, but both your face and San’s flushed at his comment – you, because he’d caught you slacking off, and San, because he’d called him out for not paying attention.

You propped yourself up on your elbows, your chest heaving as the past two hours of taxing exercises caught up with you, sweat trickling down your temples.

“Cut me some slack, Youngie, I’m tiiired!” You whined, letting your head fall back, eyes shut while you caught your breath.

Wooyoung kneeled beside you, running his hand over the top of your head gently. “Yeah, yeah, take five minutes to rest then we’ll move on.” He smirked when you began complaining, pinching your cheek and pulling at the skin teasingly.

Looking back at San, Wooyoung’s smirk widened, teeth peeking out from between his lips when he caught sight of the man’s demeanour – his eyes moving between the two of you, hands still holding your legs, albeit slightly tighter than he had been earlier, his veins popping out while he shifted uncomfortably on his knees. Wooyoung’s eyes trailed further down, noticing the forming tent in San’s dark sweatpants, a scoff escaping his lips.

“What’s got our Sannie so excited?”

San’s whole body jerked at Wooyoung’s mocking tone – and the innuendo behind it – instinctively pulling his hands closer to his body and dragging your legs with them. You sucked in a breath when San’s hips pressed against you before immediately drawing them back, abruptly standing up and turning away from the two of you. You could see the bright red creeping up the back of his neck, San’s shaky hands scratching nervously at the heated skin.

“I-I-” San stuttered, roughly clearing his throat while he took quick peeks over his shoulder to attempt eye contact. “I-I’m so sorry- I don’t know why-”

Wooyoung chuckled, standing up and wrapping an arm around San’s shoulders, his eyes flitting down to his concealed bulge before he looked back up to speak. “Don’t worry about it, dude. I’m sure our (Y/n) understands, right?” They both looked back at you expectantly, and you nodded your head quickly. “See? Just take a walk and calm down. I’ll continue the session with (Y/n).”

Wooyoung let go of the flustered man, giving him a playful pat on his ass before turning around to face you again. His eyebrows shot up at the sight of you, taking in the way your thighs rubbed against each other, your eyes glazed over and fixed on San’s back. Wooyoung cleared his throat, startling you back to reality, and you instinctively relaxed your legs, giving him a full view of the darkened material at your crotch.

A wave of heat rushed to your face upon noticing Wooyoung’s gaze slipping down to your core, squeezing your thighs together again and sitting up. His head tilted to the side amusingly, a sly smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. He reached back to grab San’s arm before he had the chance to leave, twisting him around to face you.

“Or… Would our precious (Y/n) like to help Sannie out instead?”

--

You rolled your hips over Wooyoung’s face, gasping around San’s cock when the tip of his nose brushed against your clit. It took the man under you a few seconds to notice you grinding on his nose, soft whimpers vibrating over San’s cock as you took him in deeper, swallowing around his cockhead and revelling in the groans you drew out of him.

Wooyoung’s hands slipped under your ass, his biceps bulging as he adjusted your position until your clit was directly over his nose and his tongue at your entrance. Your eyes rolled to the back of your head when Wooyoung slipped his tongue inside you, curving it along your walls to press against the spongy spot that made your back arch. He could feel your thighs shaking around his face, moving it from side to side to nuzzle his nose against your clit, drinking up your arousal as it gushed into his open mouth.  

He pulled away, sliding his tongue over his bottom lip before speaking. “I know you love my nose on your pussy, but don’t you dare cum before San does.”

You hummed around San, hearing him grunt above you as he slid his cock over your tongue, a shallow thrust to remind you of his presence, but you couldn’t process the action when Wooyoung’s tongue was back inside you, mercilessly pushing into your g-spot, your orgasm rapidly building up in your lower belly. So you just sat there, rutting over Wooyoung’s face with your mouth stretched open around San’s throbbing cock.

San’s hands reached into your hair, the strands draping over his tattooed fingers as he gently tugged at the roots, throwing his head back when your moans vibrated against his length. He held your face and pulled you off him, bending at the waist to look at you with desperate eyes.

“(Y/n), darling, fuck- can I fuck your mouth? Please, I’ll be gentle, please-”

Yes, you wanted to say, but all that came out were gargled moans as Wooyoung tongued at your entrance, teasing your hole with the wet muscle, slipping it in and out as he pleased. He pulled off your cunt to speak, holding you over his face.

“You’ll let Sannie fuck your throat, right?” Wooyoung smirked against your skin when he saw you nodding frantically above him, San’s hands cupping your cheeks and his cock jumping in your mouth. “Be a good girl and open up then,” he tapped your thigh, bringing you back down on his face.

Between Wooyoung’s tongue ruthlessly prodding against your g-spot, your hips moving on their own to grind against the curve of his nose, and San’s heavy cock fucking into your mouth, you were left an incoherent, moaning mess with drool streaming down your chin.

“Fuuuck, baby, you feel so good-” A throaty moan ripped out of San, his fingers tugging on your hair to push you all the way down his length, his jaw slack as he watched your eyes well up with tears while you held back from gagging. “Shit- I’m not gonna last.”

You were a breath away from tumbling over the edge, thighs burning as you rode Wooyoung’s face, his tongue sending shocks of pleasure soaring through your abdomen. Strong hands wrapped around your hips, bringing you down on his face and wrapping his lips around your clit. It took two harsh sucks for you to fall apart, your whole body shaking with the force of your orgasm. You felt Wooyoung’s teeth brushing over your clit, giving the swollen bud a small nibble before pulling away and slipping out from under you.

San was in heaven, his cock twitching on your tongue as your soft moans sent waves of ecstasy up his spine. But then Wooyoung’s hands were slapping his off you, pulling you away from him to lay you down on the mat.

“W-wait! I was so close!” San complained, reaching his hand towards you only to have it brushed away again. “Just a little more, p-please-“

“You’ll have her back later,” Wooyoung gave him a stern look, and San backed away, wrapping his hand around the base of his cock with a defeated exhale. He settled down on his knees, watching as Wooyoung turned his attention back to you, your thighs still twitching with the force of your orgasm. His cock throbbed when he saw Wooyoung’s face, drenched in your arousal, his eyes ablaze with the purest forms of lust. San’s eyes moved to Wooyoung’s hand, veins protruding from the skin as he sunk two fingers into your sopping heat, leaning down to whisper in your ear. “You just had to be a little slut didn’t you? Was my mouth on your pussy and Sannie’s cock down your throat not enough for you?”

“F-felt too good, Youngie, I couldn’t help it!” You writhed under him, his long fingers ruthlessly pounding into you and building you up to a second orgasm.

“Aw, you couldn’t help cum before Sannie? All because my tongue felt too good in your cunt?”

“Uh-huuh- s-so good!”

Your eyes rolled back when Wooyoung’s other hand reached for your clit, rolling it between two fingers while he continued his tormenting.

“But I wanted to see you choke on Sannie’s cum,” he bit down on your jaw, slipping his fingers out as soon as your walls began clamping down on them, smirking when you looked up at him in shock.

“Youngiee, ‘wanna cum!”

You were too focused on Wooyoung’s face to notice his hand coming down on your cunt, the sharp slap reverberating in the empty gym. Your hips jolted off the mat when he landed another slap on your clit, your hole clenching around air.

“I don’t think you deserve it, though,” Wooyoung jutted out his lips in a faux pout, quickly turning into a smile when he saw tears running down the sides of your face. “Aww, you wanna cum that bad?”

You nodded desperately, angling your hips towards him, only to be met with another harsh slap to your cunt, letting out a strangled cry that bled into moan when Wooyoung’s fingers sunk into you again, continuing their rough pace. You felt pressure building in your lower belly, flashes of heat rushing through your body as Wooyoung drew out desperate whimpers from your lips, leaning down to press wet kisses to your skin. He trailed his tongue over the sides of your face, licking away your tears as you finally came undone on his fingers.

Wooyoung sat back on his heels, pulling his fingers out to watch as clear liquid squirted out your fluttering hole, your thighs shaking uncontrollably as you gushed all over the mat and Wooyoung’s clothed thighs. He couldn’t help himself, bringing four fingers down on your clit, delivering a sharp slap to your cunt, then again, until you were convulsing under him, pushing his hands off you as the overstimulation became too much.

Wooyoung pulled back, watching violent tremors pass through your body, your eyes shut as you basked in the aftershocks of your orgasm. His eyes moved to San, bending at the waist beside you to press a chaste kiss to your cheek, pausing to gauge your reaction before placing another on your forehead. The scene in front of him was sweet, intimate – despite San being naked from the waist down – and Wooyoung felt the insatiable need to disturb it.

San flinched when Wooyoung pressed himself to his back – so close he could feel the metal bar piercing one of his nipples brush against his clothed spine – hooking his chin over his shoulder and wrapping his arm around his small waist to press his palm to San’s hard abdomen.

“What are you doing?” San tried to ignore the shakiness of his voice, hoping Wooyoung didn’t notice, though the grin on the other man’s face told him he did.

“You said you were close,” Wooyoung sounded, his fingers toying with the hem of San’s compression shirt before sliding down to rest over his snail trail, the barely-there touch making the hair on San’s arms stand. “I thought you might need a helping hand.”

San didn’t reply, only sucked in a breath once Wooyoung’s fingers wrapped around the base of his cock, his eyes half-shut as he revelled in the friction the other man provided. He angled his head downwards, moving his tongue around in his mouth before letting it roll out, a line of his spit steaming down to meet Wooyoung’s hand, easing the slide over his leaking cock. San’s head lolled back onto the younger man’s shoulder, soft moans slipping through his lips while Wooyoung built a steady pace, squeezing around his base every time he drew his hand back.

“A-ah, fuck, ‘gonna cum,” San’s voice was strained, his chest rapidly rising and falling as Wooyoung twisted his hand around his cockhead, collecting the absurd amount of precum leaking from the tip and coating the rest of his shaft with it. “Don’t stop, I’m so close-”

“I didn’t know you could make cute noises like this, Sannie,” Wooyoung purred, his lips pressed to the shell of his ear, smirking when he felt San’s dick twitch in his hand. “Careful, I might end up making you squirt too.”

With Wooyoung’s hand avidly pumping his length, his warm breath blowing against his ear, the raspiness of his voice echoing in his head, San’s whole body shuddered as his high washed over him, hot ropes of cum painting your chest, some of it falling on your neck and chin. His heavy grunts were like music to Wooyoung’s ears, his hand squeezing out every last drop of San’s release until the older man was an overstimulated, whimpering mess, pushing him away from his softening member.

Falling limp on his knees, it only took San a couple seconds to zero in on your tits, following the cum sliding down their slope and leaving a translucent tint on your nipples. With two fingers, he smeared his release over your perked-up buds, taking one between his pointer and thumb and tweaking it until you were whining under him. San was awestruck, his body moving on its own, scooping up some of the cum on his fingers and bringing it up to your mouth – already open and waiting. He nearly moaned at the way your tongue circled his tattooed digits, your cheeks hollowing to suck them clean, prompting him to pull out only to collect more of his release and feed it to you.

Just as you were about to gulp down the bitter liquid, Wooyoung’s voice reminded you of his presence. A simple, “Don’t swallow,” and you were frozen in place, your mouth remaining open even after San pulled his fingers out.

Wooyoung was back on his knees beside you, leaning down to press his lips to yours, his tongue slipping inside to lick up San’s release, collecting it in his mouth before sitting back up. Twisting his body to face the older man, he grabbed his jaw firmly, squeezing it until his cheeks squished together and his lips parted. It happened in slow motion – Wooyoung’s lips pursing, tongue moving around as he collected the mixture of liquids before spitting it directly into San’s mouth and leaning down to connect their lips. San couldn’t process what had happened, but Wooyoung kissing him left him breathless, his eyes fluttering shut as he felt him graze the roof of his mouth. It was only when the other man’s tongue pushed the compound of spit and cum down his throat that his eyes snapped open, instantly meeting Wooyoung’s – already agape, lidded as they watched his blissed-out face.

Wooyoung’s other hand wrapped loosely around San’s neck, keeping his eyes fixed on his face, his teeth nipping at his bottom lip. Knowing exactly what the younger man wanted, San swallowed down his cum, maintaining a neutral expression as the tangy liquid washed down his throat. Wooyoung’s lips lifted after he felt his Adam’s apple bob under his palm, pulling away from San and letting his arm fall to his side, a triumphant smirk gracing his features.  

It was as if they had forgotten about your presence, emitting a small noise to draw their attention back to you. Two heads twisted to face you, eyebrows raising and eyes following your fingers as they carried San’s cum to your mouth, your tongue licking them clean. Your gaze was fixed on Wooyoung, taking in the sweat shining on his temples, his slightly parted lips – glossy from San’s spit – and finally, the tent in his sweatpants, throbbing at the sight of you. Your free hand reached for his shirt and tugged at the dark material, pulling your fingers out of your mouth to speak.

“Please, Youngie, w-want you,” you pulled at his shirt, finally breaking Wooyoung out of the trance he was in.

Throwing his shirt off, Wooyoung fitted himself between your legs, leaning down to mouth against your neck, the metal bar piercing his nipple cold where it pressed into your heated skin. “Did one little kiss make our pretty slut wet again?” He scoffed at the shy nod you gave in response, trailing his lips down to your chest and taking one of your nipples into his mouth, licking off the remnants of San’s cum. You arched your back, pushing your tits further into Wooyoung’s mouth and whimpering when he slid his leaking tip through your folds. “You’re so cute,” he brought his face back up to yours, the corners of his lips curled into an impish smile. “You want Youngie’s cock that bad?”

Just as you were about to stutter out a response, Wooyoung pushed his cock past your entrance, sheathing his whole length between your pulsating walls and groaning into your neck. “Fuuuck, you’re so tight for me, darling.”

Wooyoung gave you two seconds to adjust to the stretch before he began pounding into your sopping heat, his hands gripping your waist and his face buried into the crook of your neck.

“W-wait- hnnngh!” Your hands flew to his back, nails digging into the skin whole your body jolted upwards on the mat every time he slammed his hips into you. “S-slow down!”

“I thought you wanted me?” Wooyoung pulled away to take in your fucked-out expression, broken moans making his cock twitch inside you as he drove it directly into your g-spot.

“Y-yes, but-”

“So you’ll shut up and take me,” he held your jaw firmly, his other hand sliding down to your hip. “You’ll be my pretty little cocksleeve from now on, won’t you?” You felt a flash of heat shooting down to your core, your thighs twitching around Wooyoung, moans muffled as he squished your cheeks together, your lips parting as you stared into his eyes pleadingly. He used the hand on your face to give your head a curt shake, his chest heaving despite the stern look on his face. “I asked you a question.”

You nodded desperately, crying out a quick succession of yes and please. Wooyoung eased his grip on your jaw before pulling his hand away entirely, eying your parted lips momentarily before shoving two of his fingers into your mouth and hooking them behind your bottom teeth to open them further. You felt the hot wad of spit land on your tongue, mewling as it trickled down your throat, Wooyoung’s cock sliding against your walls deliciously, making the room around you blur so all your attention could go to the man ravishing you as though you were his last meal.

Knowing Wooyoung wouldn’t relent, you looked up at the man who would. San stared right back at you, his cock already half hard and twitching at the sight of you – thighs shaking violently around Wooyoung, sweat reflecting off your flushed skin, tears pooling in your eyes as he relentlessly fucked himself into you. San spotted the slight wobbling of your bottom lip, your tears now flowing down the sides of your face while broken moans and cries ripped through your chest, Wooyoung thrusting into you like an animal in heat, his own grunts muffled by your skin.

San slid himself behind Wooyoung and cupped his hips, hooking his chin over the other man’s shoulder to eye the drool leaking out the corner of your mouth.

“Look at her, all fucked out and sensitive,” San spoke softly, his hot breath blowing against Wooyoung’s ear, a shiver shaking the latter’s body. “Slow down a little-”

“Get off me, ‘don’t wanna slow down,” he interrupted, pressing his cockhead into your sweet spot and rolling his hips to drag his length further into you before returning to his unrelenting pace.

“But you have to, Youngie. You can’t break her yet, not before I’ve had my turn with her pretty cunt.” San’s fingers dug into the younger man’s hips, his biceps flexing as he used his strength to slow him down. Wooyoung resisted at first, but his eyes caught the way San’s hands gripped his hips – veins popping out and fingers turning white, making his tattoos look more prominent – and allowed him to guide his cock into you. “There we go,” San leaned forward to press a faint kiss to his jaw. “Good boy.”

His hands eased their hold on Wooyoung’s hips to travel up his body, feeling the muscles tense under his warm touch. San slid his cock over his perky ass, eyebrows raising and when he noticed the dainty butterfly tattooed over his tailbone, sensing himself getting harder. His fingers tweaked Wooyoung’s nipple, tugging at the metal bar until he was whimpering on top of you, biting down on his bottom lip while grinding into your clenching cunt. San brushed his thumb over the tramp stamp, smearing the precum that leaked from his tip over the black ink while rutting on Wooyoung’s ass.

The visual of San licking up the sweat off Wooyoung’s neck paired with the younger man’s heavy cock grinding into you was enough to push you over the edge again, your walls clamping down on him as black dots danced in your vision. You grabbed onto Wooyoung’s biceps, your hips frantically rolling to meet his languid thrusts while you begged him to fuck you through your high, breathing out a series of please and faster. Wooyoung’s hips picked up their pace, fucking into you as his own desperate moans escaped through his lips.

Your nails dug into Wooyoung’s skin when pleasure faded into pain from overstimulation, your toes curling and tears staining your skin, your body jerking every time he drove his cock into you.

“Just a little longer, shit, I’m so fucking close-”

San pressed himself to Wooyoung’s back, sliding his cock down his ass to brush over his perky hole, his cockhead pressing into the fluttering entrance – but not quite breaching it – while harshly tugging on his nipple. Wooyoung nearly saw stars, his eyes rolling back when he finally emptied inside you, warmth spreading through your abdomen as his hot cum filled you up, some of it leaking out while his cock was still inside you. He pulled his softening member out and flopped down on the mat beside you, his chest heaving as he recovered from his orgasm. Twisting his head to look at you, Wooyoung brushed a knuckle over your cheekbone to wipe away a stray tear, the fondness lacing his expression so gentle it sent a wave of warmth to your cheeks. Wooyoung looked like he was about to say something, but San was wrapping you up in his arms, and the words died on his tongue.

Gentle fingers smoothed down your hair and soft lips peppered feathery kisses over the tears drying on your cheeks. San’s hands slid over your arms, gentle fingers massaging the tense muscles. “You’re okay,” he muttered against your skin, “I’m here.” He brushed back the hair matted to your forehead, pressing a kiss to the slick skin before drawing back to study your face. A smile lifted the corners of his mouth at the peacefulness of your features, leaning back down to slot his lips against yours, fitting himself against your body – his shirt already off and thrown to the side – humming when your fingers ran through his hair. You parted your lips for him, allowing his tongue access to slip into your mouth, sliding over your front teeth before pushing against your own. You caged his hips in with your thighs, locking your ankles behind his knees to bring him closer, releasing breathy moans that San happily swallowed up.

“Sannie, ‘want you…” you mumbled against his lips, his own traveling down to press wet kisses over your chin and jawline.

“Are you sure, baby? You don’t need more time?”

Despite his concern, his tone was breathy, a subtle whine to his voice. Looking down between your bodies, you glanced at San’s cock – the tip red and angry, twitching when he caught you looking at it. So you shook your head, perhaps a little too eager.

“Want you now,” you insisted, sliding your hand down to grab him at the base, squeezing your fingers around him and relishing the groan it pulled out of the man on top of you.

San allowed you to guide him to your fluttering hole, dipping his cockhead into the stream of cum still leaking out of you before brushing it over your clit, your whole body shuddering under him. He angled his head down and spat on his cock, watching your ephemeral shock shift into arousal, coating his length with his saliva before dragging it back down to your hole. San’s mind fogged up when he finally pushed into you, his mouth hanging open as your searing heat enveloped him. Your sharp hiss brought him back to the present, promptly cupping your cheek and examining your face, landing one kiss after the other onto the flushed skin.

“I’m here, baby, does it hurt? Do you want to stop?” He glided his hand over your thigh, fingers digging into the plush skin before releasing it, his eyes soft as they took in your reactions.

You shook your head, using your legs – still locked at the ankles behind his knees – to push him further into you. “No, ‘feels good, Sannie,” you assured him, your nails scratching at his scalp.

“Yeah?” Aside from the cocky smirk curling the corner of his mouth, San looked absolutely fucked – lidded eyes, glazed over with lust, red spread out in splotches over his chest, heaving as he resisted the urge to thrust into you. “Am I making my pretty girl feel good?”

You nodded and rolled your hips into his, silently begging him to move. And taking one look at your teary eyes, San couldn’t help but oblige, drawing his hips back and thrusting into your heat, a harmony of moans ripping through the both of you. San felt so good, his cock brushing over your walls just right with every languid grind, fleeting touches to your skin only adding fuel to the fire burning within you. Using the hand in his hair, you pulled him down to close the gap between you, your tongues dancing in the middle before you began taking turns sucking them into each other’s mouths, slobber dripping down the sides of your face.

Firm fingers grasped your chin, startling you away from San and twisting your face to the side. Wooyoung was propped up on his elbow, looking down at you with a hooded eyes while he swiped away the spit leaking from your mouth.

“Look at our pretty cockslut taking Sannie so well… I bet he’s been waiting so long to have you, haven’t you, loverboy?” Wooyoung cooed, directing his gaze to the man on top of you and blinking innocently, a wicked smile on his lips.

It took San a few seconds to process what the man had said, the haze of pleasure clouding his brain. His hands flew to your ears when the words became coherent – an attempt to shield you from the feelings he had repressed behind locked doors, feelings he was willing to shroud so long as he was by your side, content to simply exist in your presence. His ears turned bright red, the tint spreading to his face and all the way down his chest. San’s heart slammed against his chest and into yours, its rapid pace almost alarming.

“Ya! S-shut up!”

“What? You don’t think everyone already knows about your little crush?” Wooyoung twirled a strand of San’s hair around his finger, mockingly pouting his lips at the flustered man.

Just before San could retaliate, delicate hands cradled his face and brought his gaze back to you. He nearly melted into the floor, mooning over the softness in your eyes – wide and glimmering – as they looked up at him. Mouthing “it’s okay,” you gave him quick, reassuring nod, a certain promise cloaked behind the glint in your eyes.

It was as though the weight of the world had lifted off San’s chest, his eyebrows raising as he fully took in the insinuation in your expression, eyes tearing up for a few seconds before he dropped his head down to connect your lips once again. The kiss was desperate but gentle, soft nibbling on your bottom lip, San’s hot tongue pressing against your own before pulling away to trail his lips down your face to your neck.

“You’re so perfect,” he mumbled against your pulse point, “so beautiful.” He revelled in the airy moans you breathed out while he sucked a bruise into your skin, then another, before licking a stripe up your neck to lightly sink his teeth into your jaw.  “Want everyone to know we’re the only ones who can have you like this.”

We – the pluralism sent the butterflies in your stomach on a rampage. Before your attention could shift to the neglected man to your side, San drew his length out until only the tip was left inside you, your walls desperately clenching down on it while you whined at the loss. But then he was pushing back in, finally fucking himself into your weeping cunt, your arousal mixed with Wooyoung’s cum squelching every time San’s cock pumped into you.

“Let me know if it’s too much, sweetheart,” San’s tone was so gentle, and yet you couldn’t ignore the growl in his voice while he basked in the flaring heat of your walls, his attentive eyes full of want.

“More,” you pleaded, your eyes never leaving San’s while he adjusted his position.

Wooyoung’s hand suddenly gripped the underside of your thigh and pulled it towards him to spread you out for San, leaning down to press a chaste kiss to your cheekbone. San dug his knees into the mat, pushing further into you and remaining still for a few seconds until you began whining again. With a breathy chuckle, he began pistoning his hips into you, praise rolling off his tongue as your walls contracted around him. The world around him faded away until only you remained – the sweet succession of his name, the pleasure painting your features, the gentle tugging against his scalp where your fingers tangled in his hair. San couldn’t focus on anything else.

Until rough fingers made their way between your bodies, sliding his arm behind your knee to reach the place where you were connected. Making a ‘v’ shape with his fingers, Wooyoung hooked them around San’s cock, nearly moaning when he felt the way it stretched you open. A rough “ah” ripped through San’s throat, thrusting inside you to feel your cunt squeezing down on him then pulling out to revel in the glide of Wooyoung’s fingers around his slick base.

When he thought he couldn’t get any harder, Wooyoung leaned in to whisper in his ear – low and sultry while his fingers dipped lower to cup his balls. “How does it feel to fuck my load into her, Sannie?”

With a flabby squeeze to his sack, Wooyoung felt it empty as San finally came, his whole body shuddering as his orgasm washed over him, emptying his load deep inside you. San cursed under his breath, slowly fucking his cum into your used cunt while it spurted out of him, his cock throbbing at the sight of you writhing with the need to come. Wooyoung’s hand slipped off San when he moved to pull out, moving to spread you out again and watching the other man’s cum mix with his own while it leaked out of your gaping hole. He eyed how you clenched around nothing for a few seconds before San’s fingers slipped back inside you, the black ink adoring them turning glossy with your arousal.

“I’ve got you, darling,” he leaned down to pepper your face with soft pecks, his fingers hammering into you and curling into your g-spot. “Will our sweet girl give us one more?”

You nodded desperately, tears streaking down your face and moans slipping through your lips without restraint. Wooyoung’s hand kneaded your thigh, his eyes fixed on your swollen clit, visibly contemplating something in his head. You were too busy relishing the tender kisses San dropped on your heated skin to notice Wooyoung’s hand dropping on your pussy, the sharp sting making your body jolt under San. The pain from Wooyoung’s slap paired with San’s fingers mercilessly hammering into your cunt made your eyes roll to the back of your head, your thighs shaking rabidly as the pressure building in your lower belly released, sending you tumbling into your orgasm. You nails dug into San’s biceps and your hips simultaneously pushed to meet his thrusts and pulled away from them, delirious after being dragged over the edge so many times.

San’s fingers slowed as you came down from your high, tapping against the spongy spot along your walls and taking in how your hips jerked at his ministrations. Just as he pulled out of you, Wooyoung’s hand landed another sharp slap to your clit, making you cry out from the overstimulation. But before San could berate him for it, it was like a dam broke within you, hot liquid squirting out of your fluttering hole.

The two men simply watched the scene unfold before them for a few moments before San's body began moving on its own. With a hand to the back of his head, San dragged Wooyoung down to your cunt, taking in how his mouth opened on its own to catch everything you had to give him. San’s fingers tugged at the younger man’s hair, pushing his head into your mound and observing how his tongue rolled out to lick over your entrance, taking the concoction of San’s cum and his own into his mouth and swallowing it down.

You watched as Wooyoung sat back up, taking San’s hands and slipping the fingers that had been fucking into you inside his mouth, hollowing his cheeks and sucking them clean. San eyed him with lidded eyes, studying the slide of the younger man's tongue over his trimmed nails. Before he could process Wooyoung’s head moving closer, he had already sealed his lips against San’s, sliding his tongue into his mouth to give him a taste of all of you combined. An unpleased whine rumbled through San’s chest when Woooyoung pulled away, his glossy lips forming a pout when he gave the tip of San’s nose a kitten lick and shot him a playful wink.

Wooyoung’s attention was back on you before San could even blink, spreading out beside your worn-down body and gliding a gentle palm down your side. San did the same, flopping down opposite to Wooyoung and brushing the hair off your face, leaning over you to press a tender kiss to your forehead.

“Is a five minute break enough before we start the next rep?” Wooyoung joked, giggling when you swung a limp arm into his chest.

“You’re insufferable,” you laughed, noting how San’s chest vibrated against your shoulder with his own giggles.

Wooyoung pressed his lips to your cheek, holding them in place for a few seconds before drawing back, only to plant a series of kisses down your neck and to your collarbones. “Are you feeling okay? Was it too much? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Your eyes softened at the concern lacing Wooyoung’s tone and you smoothed down the furrow of his eyebrows with a gentle thumb. Shaking your head, you brushed the hair off his face and spoke. “You didn’t hurt me, Youngie. I-I really liked it... all of it,” you mumbled the last part, a faint blush warming your cheeks at the admission. You could see Wooyoung's worry dissipating, a witty comeback at the tip of his tongue.

“(Y/n),” San drew your attention back to him before Wooyoung could tease you, noticing his burning ears and the fiddling of his fingers at your waist. “Earlier, you…” he cleared his throat, and you fought the smile off your lips while watching him struggle to express himself. You saw him gather up the courage to pry open the door he’d welded shut long ago. “I want you,” he blurted out, “a-and I don’t mean only in this way,” he flailed his hands between your bodies before reaching down to lock his fingers with yours, his anxiety turning into panic and making your heart swell with fondness. “I want all of you, I want to make you happy and-” he sucked in a deep breath before continuing. “I-I guess, all I’m asking for is a chance.”

“San-”

“You’re playing dirty, you dickhead!” Wooyoung interrupted, wrapping a protective arm around your waist. “Don’t try to steal her away for yourself!”

Your eyebrows raised in shock, trying to process the situation brought on by the two men bickering on either side of you, arguing about who would get the princess when the princess herself was unsure of what she wanted. Your infatuation with San was undeniable, every fleeting touch left your skin burning for days, every smile directed towards you had the butterflies in your stomach going rabid, eating at the insides of your stomach. Everything about Choi San was warm – his eyes, his words, his expression, all were laced with scotching heat, leaving you burning from within.

Whatever it was you felt towards Wooyoung was fiery, fervent, leaving you dazed and confused – what was it about him that drew you in? Perhaps it was his playfulness, or was it the way he changed up on you? One second Wooyoung was a friend and the other he was dropping subtle hints – a flirtatious wink, or a hand on your hip that held its place for a second too long for it to be friendly. You’d simply assumed him to be a flirt by nature, though one peek at his interactions with other women and you were proven wrong: Jung Wooyoung only treated you this way – as though you painted the clouds on the blue sky with your bare hands – and you found yourself rejoicing in that fact. Perhaps you’d already made up your mind, and it was simply your denial and cowardice that had held you back this whole time.

“What if-” you began, both men ceasing their banter and turning to look at you. You swallowed nervously, your mouth dry and your heart beating wildly against your ribcage. “What if I wanted… both of you?” You looked between their shocked faces, your voice small as you uttered the next question. “Is that too much to ask?”

“No!” They replied in unison, the intensity of their voices startling you.

Relief rushed through you and you closed your eyes to revel in the moment, the two men back to speaking over each other, going on about how they would do anything make you happy – “happier than a child at Disneyland,” San specified. The squabbling persisted even while they cleaned you up and helped you into your clothes, San shouting back at Wooyoung while he guided you through your cool-down stretches, the other man cleaning up the floor and wiping down the equipment.

As boisterous as they were, you found yourself smiling adoringly at the two men fighting over who would drive you home – matters that were trivial to you, but somehow meant the world to them. In the back of your mind, you knew you had a lot to talk about and discuss to ensure everyone was content, but right now, you couldn’t help but savour the pleasant feeling in your stomach, the soft fluttering of butterflies as two men you thought the world of doted on you. Their eyes were full of adoration, fingers twitching with the urge to hand-pick the stars from the night sky to make into a necklace for you, hoping it would come close to shining as bright as you do.

apply for my tag list here (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡

[atinytokki]

Orbit

Summary

Notorious space pirate Kim Hongjoong has turned himself over to the authorities in return for clemency for his crew. His execution is set to be an intergalactic spectacle telecast live across the galaxies. ATEEZ are left adrift, but they aren't giving up. This will be their greatest heist yet: stealing their captain back. 

Originally written for the 8 Makes 1 Family Fest and cross-posted to ao3 and wattpad. First chapter here!

Comment if you'd like to be tagged in future chapters :)

[barnesbabee]

𝕯𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖑'𝖘 𝕶𝖎𝖘𝖘 - 𝕱𝖎𝖛𝖊

ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ'ꜱ ᴋɪꜱꜱ ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ

ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ - ꜰɪᴠᴇ - ɴᴇxᴛ

ATEEZ ꜱᴇᴏɴɢʜᴡᴀ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

“Then fucking do it. Please.”

In a blink of an eye (and you're not sure how), the two of you were standing in your bedroom, his wings spread out in your home once more and adrenaline rushing through you, as he pushed you onto the bed and ripped off whatever was left of his grey shirt.

Seonghwa slowly got on the bed and hovered over you, carefully watching the way your body reacted, and stopped once his face was leveled with yours. Seonghwa grabbed your chin and caressed your bottom lip with the rough skin of his thumb.

"I want you. Badly. I don't think I've ever wanted anything as much in the thousands of years I've existed, but it's dangerous for me to take you."

His words, mixed with the alcohol, lust, and adrenaline rush, only made you want him more. No man had ever referred to fucking you as 'taking you', and only now were you understanding how powerful words (and a pair of wings, apparently) could be, and how easily they could control you and lure you into doing insane, unthinkable things.

"I don't give a fuck." You replied, anxious for his touch.

However, his hands did not budge. One kept on holding your face, and the other was steady on your hip.

"I don't think you're understanding, doing this will solidify our bond and anger many powerful entities, the consequences might heavily outweigh the benefits."

You responded by grinding your hips against his and bringing his face closer to yours, so his lips were painfully near yours.

"Just shut up and fuck me please."

There were no warnings left to give you, nothing else he could tell you to make sure you wouldn't regret it, and, consequently, nothing that could stop him.

Seonghwa kissed you feverously. His hands grabbed your ass harshly and brought your hips upwards, so you could feel his hard-on rubbing against your crotch. Your hands were tangled in his hair and you could tell what he was into from the get-go, as his moans got louder the harder you tugged on his hair. He slapped your ass, getting a moan just as loud as his from you.

Your hands undid the button of his tight jeans, and you slid one hand inside his underwear. Seonghwa's mouth fell agape and a sigh escaped his lips at the pleasure your simple touch gave him.

"Hm... This mighty and this desperate. Cute." You mocked.

Seonghwa leaned his forehead against yours briefly and stared into your eyes before letting the hottest breathy laugh you'd ever heard.

"Don't mistake my desperation for submission, hm?" He calmly warned you, as he slowly wrapped his large hand around your neck and squeezed it slightly, always watching out for your reaction.

Seonghwa wrapped his fingers around the hem of your panties and brought it down, finally revealing what he wanted to see.

He grabbed his cock and stroked it a couple of times, before aligning it with your hole.

"I've seen millions of people throughout my life, but you are, by far, the most beautiful I've ever seen." He whispered in your ear, before carefully entering you.

Seonghwa wasn't stupid, he was 90% sure he would be able to stay away from you after you met (for your protection), however, he still made sure to get some practice sex here and there while hiding away from you, in case the 10% won over and he got to be with you. He didn't want to waste his chances by doing a shitty job: Seonghwa wanted you wrapped around his fingers.

He snapped his hips against yours at a rhythmic pace, trying his best to hold back as the feeling of being inside of you along with the sensation of your fingernails digging on the skin of his shoulders started becoming overwhelming.

The angel would often look at your face, looking for any signs of discomfort, as he didn't want to accidentally hurt you.

As the adrenaline built up in him and his orgasm neared, his features changed: the dark veins came back or his arms, neck, and partially on his torso, his eyes became fully black, his teeth grew sharper, his wings spread out even more and his feathers became frizzled.

You weren't sure if it was Seonghwa's body, his looks, his shamelessness, the danger of his being or the pure rush and adrenaline of the situation, but you came faster than ever, with a loud cry for his name and arched back.

Seonghwa was glad he didn't have to hold any longer and pulled out as he came on your stomach.

"You could've... done it inside." You shyly told him, slightly out of breath.

Seonghwa sat on his heels, waiting to come down just enough to retract his wings.

"So you're into that?"

"Might be..."

The angel laid next to you once his wings finally retracted and pulled you close, as you slowly fell asleep to the sound of his deep voice whispering sweet nothings in your ear.

Taglist: @seiiblue​ @potaeto-writes-on-wp@songsoomin@whatudowhennooneseesyou @hjys99 (DM or send an Ask if you want to be added)

[midnightseonghwa]

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 | 𝐤.𝐲𝐬

𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐮 - 𝟒

✕𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: Merman!Yeosang x Drowning!Reader  

✕𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Mermaid, Halloween Au, fluff 

✕𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 4.5k+

✕𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭: Arms crossed over your heart, you’re ready to fling yourself off the edge of a cliff but good thing Yeosang is there to save you.  Alternatively: “To hold a love that knows no elements.”  

✕𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: Strong langauge, mentions of death, suicide and drowning. Yeosang is shirtless (he’s a merman...). He’s quite fascinated with you, slightly obsessive themes and stalkerish themes.

✕𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬: Unedited

✕𝐀/𝐍: Remember that this is fiction. Enjoy! Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist. Leave a comment under this post or message me! Here is the mernman Yeosang...oh boy...how exciting! I hope you like it! I watched his v live where he wore the pumpkin hat and oh my god! He looked so cute with his little ponytail. This took me wayyyyyy too long to write and I know many of you were excited and stuff but like I’m not very satisfied with how this turned out? I will revisit this once I’m done with all au-s. 

✕𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: @pancakes-for-teddy​

✕𝐀𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜: Here 

The waves crashed into the rocks under you as you peeked down at the sea with dried tear stains on your cheeks.

"(Y/n)," a voice called out from the back and you closed your eyes, not wanting to hear your brother's voice for a second longer.

"G-go...go away, Seonghwa," you said, your voice tight and scratchy. Hiccups escaped your mouth, each one making the bruises on your chest hurt more.

The ocean wind whipped at your hair, making it stick to your wet cheeks and the snot running down your face.

"(Y/n), you're being stupid again. Step away from there, now," he said and walked closer with his hand stretched out.

"That's all I am for you anyway. Stupid," you spat but your voice got lost in the wind, your sobs overpowering and breaking each syllable.

"Come on, (Y/n)..." Seonghwa huffed in distress and reached out further for you.

"You don't have to do this. Please, just think it through."

His words fell on deaf ears, every thought leaving your head empty and spiralling.

"I've thought about it enough, Seonghwa. It's time for me to take action."

With that, you crossed your arms over your thumping heart and threw yourself off the cliff, every regret leaving your body.

You were finally free.

Silence surrounded your shivering form as you floated through the blue abyss. It felt as if someone had stuffed cotton in your ears. The water felt smooth and silky and left every part of your skin caressed with the hands of the ocean.

The salt stung your eyes as you managed to open them. The world above you looking blue through the lens with the refracted rays of white sunlight hitting your form. Trying to desperately blink away any sort of illusion, you felt a burning feeling rise in your chest.

The fire was so great, spreading through your entire body before you started struggling, pushing yourself up with your hands but no matter how close you thought you were to the surface, you never seemed to reach it.

That's when you realised...you were going to die.

You had wanted it, standing above sea level, ignoring your brother. But now, all you really wanted was...air.

Were you really free?

Your hands thrashed around the water, trying to grab onto anything that might provide you with aid but the quiet hum of the ocean waves above you reminded you that there was nothing.

You were alone, just as you had been your entire life.

The pain in your chest started subsiding to a dull throb and you felt your eyes grow heavy, the liquid weighing down on them. Forcing them to stay open, you thrashed around with the last of your might but to no avail, you started fading.

Eyes fluttering close, you felt your throat close up, the last bit of oxygen leaving your body. With an impending sense of doom, you closed your eyes, hoping that the ocean would spit you out instead of swallowing you whole.

You coughed. Once, twice and a third time until you shot awake, salty water flooding out of your system, each hack paining your lungs and causing your body to shake. Your hair was stuck to your face, every strand, dead and dry as reached up to wring the water out of it.

The ground under your limbs was hard and cold. Icicles shooting up your legs, rendering them numb and disabled.

"You...you're awake," you heard someone call and take a breath of relief. Whipping your head around, you squinted and examined your surrounding trying to figure out if you were already dead or not.

"Purgatory sure is shit," you muttered and took a deep breath of the salty air before stopping and looking around again.

"Is purgatory under the ocean?" You asked, completely bewildered, feeling even more lost when a certain figure attracted the attention of your eyes.

"Who...?" You trailed off and rubbed at your eyes, the reminiscent salt making your eyes sting, scratching it raw.

The figure was looking at you with narrowed eyes. His skin and hair as pale as snow, the upper portion of his body completely...naked. His porcelain skin was almost glinting in contrast to the onyx rocks as he sat with his arms crossed across his chest.

"Who are you?" The question tumbled from your lips before your brain had even registered your situation.

"Kang Yeosang," he said and you heard a bit of splashing in the water below.

Curiously, you let your eyes drift down and almost screamed at the sight of a tail instead of legs. Pushing yourself against the hard rock wall, you swallowed the gasp that was threatening to bubble up your throat and clapped a hand over your mouth. Eyes roaming, you studied his tail. The rich blue scales glistened as the little light reflected off it and his fins curved in, delicately, a translucent blue. The scales looked as if they were sequins made of the finest sapphires and were sewed in by the most skilled hands.

A bit extravagant for a Halloween costume.

"You have a tail," you stuttered out and crawled forward to the edge of the rock platform you had been placed on. The water beneath you was a dark murky blue, the depths of it unfathomable as the creatures lurked underneath.

"You're stating the obvious," the male snorted and pushed himself off the rock, swimming towards you with an offhanded curiosity that glittered in his eyes.

Approaching your figure close to the jagged edge of the rocks, he held his hand out and you found yourself slowly leaning towards him, eyes wide as you got lost in his, the dark brown surrounding you with a sense of normalcy.

His touch was soft, unlike his narrowed eyes and snarky look. Dainty fingers traced your jaw as they tapped along your cheeks and played with your hair strands.

You observed all his sharp but delicate features as they matched the energy of the sea, every wave like his unflickering eyes. Before you knew it, you were leaning closer to the water, closer to where he was before he jerked you back by the shoulder, the tip of your nose almost touching the water.

"For a species that's supposed to be smart, you sure are stupid," Yeosang said and checked you over once before swimming further into the water. Resuming your position against the rock wall again, you brought your knees up to your chest, wiggling your toes to get rid of the freezing numbness was that was taking over.

"You humans have such odd features," Yeosang commented as he swam around a bit before resting his arms and head on the rock platform. His platinum blond hair stuck to his forehead as some of the strands came down into his eyes.

"And what do you know about humans?" You asked and narrowed your eyes a bit, getting oddly defensive at his careless comment.

"Nothing actually. I've always heard about them from my brothers. You're the first one I'm seeing up close."

Gulping, you crossed your legs and leaned against the rocks, the pointed edges digging into your back, making every small move uncomfortable.

"When can I go home?" You asked to no one in particular but Yeosang just snorted and flicked some water at you.

"The one I caught drowning, now wants to go home?"

There was a certain sarcasm in his voice that just didn't sit right with you. He had stabbed you right where the festering wound was and you bit your lip, swallowing every bit of abuse and inhaled the salty ocean air instead.

"Can you at least tell me where I am?"

Yeosang looked around, the moon had now risen on top of you and was visible from a tiny hole in the rocky walls.

"An island a couple kilometres from where you jumped," he said as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

You looked around once more, seeing nothing but saltwater dripping from onyx coloured rocks and more pointed edges.

"How do I get out of here?" You said Yeosang gave a bit of a sad look.

"Why would you want to leave? Just live here! You didn't want to live anyways so you can think of this as your fresh start." Yeosang rushed before his face turned a bright red and he ducked his head into the water.

The words that flew out of his mouth were fast and didn't quite register in your head until you went through every letter he had uttered.

"Huh...?" Were the only words that left your mouth until you heard a huff from Yeosang who had now begun to swim away. It was strange to you that a half fish-man would have any sort of fascination with you even if it was purely just scientific.

But then again, you are the first human he's ever seen up close.

You watched with a confused face as Yeosang's blue tail flipped on the surface before disappearing into the blue abyss again.

Yeosang swam through the reef as he came face to face with his older brother, Hongjoong.

"Where have you been?" He asked, the red scales on his tail resembling a fiery colour.

"Somewhere," Yeosang replied and tried to move past his brother when a hand caught him.

"Wooyoung said he saw you lurking by the surface again, says that you've brought a human into the ocean."

Hongjoong's voice was cold and hostile. In entire merfolk history, never has a human ever been intertwined with their kind and for good reason. Humans were simply just too extreme for their own good. See something pretty, they'll hunt it until it's extinct. See something foreign and they'll alienate it.

"And what if I have?" Yeosang bit back with a snarl in his voice getting defensive about the human he had been observing for a while now.

"What's so special about this human," Hongjoong said and Yeosang found himself thinking back to the first day he saw you.

You had been sitting on one of the rock clusters near the beach, crying. Bleeding from the strange fingers that you had attached to your lower body as you furiously wiped at the blood with seawater, only for it to sting some more.

Absolutely fascinated by your odd state, Yeosang found himself lurking by the surface often, just to catch a glimpse of you.

He heard those other humans call you by your names, (Y/n) and what a pretty name he thought it was. Prettier than any of the pearls he would collect from the sea.

And oh, how his heart almost stopped when he saw you floating alone in the empty ocean. He had seen you enough to understand that you couldn't breathe in water. You didn't have the gills he did at the side of his neck. You needed that foul-smelling air to survive.

"I saved that human," he replied watched as Hongjoong's eyes widened before narrowing distastefully.

"Where are you keeping the human?" He asked in a clipped tone and Yeosang's shoulder dropped before he told his elder brother of the small island he was keeping you on.

"Return this human to the surface, Yeosang. And make sure we never hear of this again."

With that, Hongjoong swam away, his red tail flicking aggressively as he pushed himself through the water disappearing from Yeosang's view.

Yeosang watched as his elder brother swam away with sad eyes. He had only begun to exchange a few words with you and his brother was already telling him to return you to the surface. But he knew the truth. Yeosang knew how much you hated the surface, there was nothing for you there! At least under the sea, you'd have him and maybe even his brothers after they come around.

Sinking to the ocean floor, Yeosang let out a few tears fall out of his eyes and watched as they turned to sea glass, hitting the sandy floor before getting washed away with the slow current.

He's going to have to return you to the surface.

You coughed. Once, twice and a third time until you shot awake, salty water flooding out of your system, each hack paining your lungs and causing your body to shake. Your hair was stuck to your face, every strand, dead and dry as reached up to wring the water out of it.

The ground beneath you was soft and warm and you were reminded of the warm sun that would often soak your bones as you played with Seonghwa in the backyard of your childhood home. It was different that time, the chilling cold of loneliness never cracked at your bones and you were satisfied with your, completely wholesome.

"You...you're awake," you heard a voice say as you sat up, clutching the back of your head in pain. You were half expecting the half fish-man to greet you again but instead, you saw Seonghwa's piercing gaze looking down at you with furrowed eyebrows.

"(Y/n), don't you ever do that again," he said as he collected you in his arms and held you close.

You bit back the feeling of sadness that bubbled up in the back of your throat. You never wanted to see Seonghwa again, your elder brother who had made the recent past of your life a living hell but yet, he tried to talk you down and then was also the one to find you.

You had every reason to be grateful to an extent.

"Seonghwa, just..." you trailed off and pushed your brother off you slightly, dusting the sand that clung to every crevice of your body.

A lump of green caught your eye as you moved to lift yourself up from the sand. Clutching the small parcel like thing, you unwrapped what seemed to be seaweed to find small pieces of translucent sea glass that thrummed under the sweltering sun of the beach. Each one had a blue-ish colour and the familiar blue hue of the half fish-man's tail crept into your head. Shaking your head, you wrapped the seaweed again and tucked the small parcel into drenched clothes.  

"Let's go home, (Y/n)," Seonghwa said as he pulled you forcefully towards town.

Looking back over your shoulder one last time, you blinked as you saw a mop of platinum blond hair bop in the ocean. Just as you snatched your hand out of Seonghwa's to go closer, the ocean stilled again, leaving you with nothing but the curling waves.

"You're thinking about that human," San, one of Yeosang's brothers stated with a sigh as he settled next to Yeosang on the rock.

"No..." Yeosang trailed off and watched the fragments of sea glass drift away into the ocean current that glittered under the sunlight.

"Yes, you are," San pushed and Yeosang just sighed, ripping one of the seaweeds out of its roots and tearing it apart in frustration.

"I'm just so fascinated by (Y/n). There's something about that human that calls to me, San," he said and pouted at the fish that floated through the coral reef.

"Then go to them," San concluded with a determined tone and Yeosang just looked at his brother with narrowed eyes.

"Hongjoong would never allow that," he said and flicked the end of his tail,  losing all hope and sulking.

San sighed in frustration and grabbed Yeosang by the arm, dragging him through the ocean by his arm, inching closer to the surface.

Breaking through the water surface, San and Yeosang settled near a cluster of rocks, the wind whistling and mixing with the ocean sunlight.

Human littered the shore, some walking their dogs and others just sitting on the sand. Yeosang's eyes searched for yours but in a crowd filled with strange limbs, he never saw yours.

"(Y/n)'s not here" he sighed and dived back into the ocean, San following.

As Seonghwa dragged you through town, you found yourself cowering under the gaze of all the individuals you thought you had left behind. The stares and the whispers, isolating you from the world just as they had before.

Seonghwa didn't stop until he had reached your room and pushed you inside of it.

"You're going to stay here until I deem it safe for you to go out again. What do you think mother and father would've thought if they saw you now, huh?" He demanded and you hung your head in shame.

The sound of Seonghwa exiting the room and locking the door echoed through the drab grey walls as you sat on the single bed with white bedsheets wallowing away in your self-pity and loneliness as you had in the past.

Days passed and you found yourself teetering on the edge of insanity, with nothing but the grey walls staring back at you.

Trying your luck for the fourth time today, you banged your hand against the door as the sound of footsteps shuffled closer.

"Seonghwa...please...just please let me out. I'm going to crazy in here," you cried and banged on the door one last time before your brother's face appeared in front of you.

"(Y/n)," he sighed and pushed a plate of food into your hands before closing the door again.

Only this time, you jammed your foot in between, preventing your elder brother from closing the door.

"What-" he started but wasn't able to finish as you thrust the plate of food into his hand, shoving him aside and running towards the front door and throwing yourself to the wind.

Seonghwa watched with frustration in his eyes as you ran, barefoot through the town.

This time, he'd have to let you go, his little sister.

Yeosang yelped with peaking curiosity and a racing heart as he saw a human sitting on the same cluster of rocks he had first seen you on. Said human was bleeding from their toes, scrubbing at them with saltwater furiously.

The merman found himself thinking about you again as he inched closer, hoping it was you.

Ripples formed in the water under you, causing you to look up and squint into the distance. A familiar blue tail diving into the distance caught your attention as you hurried to your feet, diving into the ocean again, trying your best to follow the tail.

The gashes on your feet stung with the salt being rubbed in the wounds but you wanted to catch the blue tail. Your lungs burned, the lack of oxygen reaching your head, making you dizzy.

Before you knew it, a hand reached to grab your ankle, pulling you close and into their chest. You opened your eyes, eyeball stinging as you saw Yeosang in front of you, his platinum blond hair sticking up in the water.

You opened your mouth in shock, a rush of bubbles leaving your mouth as Yeosang drew you close and pressed his lips to yours.

There was a sense of urgency in the kiss, desperation that you had never felt as he moulded his lips against yours, air entering your system, flooding it to life.

You pushed yourself away from him, feet kicking as you tried to reach the surface, clawing at our throat to rid the closing feeling.

Yeosang rubbed at your arms in an indication to calm down.

"(Y/n), just calm down and take deep breaths," he said and but you shook your head and continued to struggle, pulling away from him with thrashing arms.

He was trying to kill you.

"Just please, let me go. I'll find a way to go back to the island you had held me on, I don't want to die like this," you said and breathed in only for Yeosang to chuckle and stroke your cheek.

He found you so impossibly endearing that his brother's words felt like some sort of blur in his mind.

"You can breathe fine," he said and let you go, only for you to freeze up and take another breath just to make sure you weren't dreaming.

Your throat opened up and found yourself taking deeper inhales just to put Yeosang's theory to test.

"Holy shit," you whispered as you stared at the blue-tailed boy in front of you.

"How did you...what did you?" Your lack of words made Yeosang smile as he swam towards you slowly, pulling you by the arm and leading you deeper into the water,

The water shimmered under the sunlight that reached the surface as the bottom morphed into an inky blue. Fish of different colours swam by you as they tickled your skin, giggles escaping you at the sensation.

Yeosang stayed quiet as he watched you marvel at everything his world could offer.

If only he was a human or you were a mermaid, maybe he would have an actual chance at winning your heart. This thought made Yeosang frown as his heart dropped to his stomach. His sensitive scales bristled against the water due to his sudden mood change and you felt the water around you get colder.

"Are you okay, fish-man?" You asked and drew your eyebrows in with concern.

Yeosang shook his head and scoffed lightly, trying his best to change his mood and divert your attention to another topic.

"My name isn't fish-man. It's Yeosang, I've already mentioned it to you before."

There was a tone of annoyance in his voice and you couldn't help but give him a playful smile which he happily returned.

Swimming further, Yeosang led you back to the small island where you had first woken up.

Hosting yourself up onto the rocks, you looked around at the drab atmosphere and inhaled, feeling good to have some oxygen in you.

"Isn't there any vegetation here?" You asked and Yeosang just tilted his head in confusion.

"This is the only part that's connected to the water. You can try and find a way out but I won't be able to help you," he said and brought the tip of his fins out of the tail, flicking some water at you.

"Oh, alright," you said, slightly disheartened at the reminder that Yeosang wasn't human like you.

Yeosang must have seen the drop of your expression as he quickly swam up to you and hoisted himself up so that he was at the same level as you.

"You'll never be alone, though," he said and pushed some of your wet hair out of your face.

"You're still a stranger to me," you whispered back and he smiled.

"You're not one to me and I'll try my best to not be one to you either. Although now that I've saved your life twice, I would say we're past the stranger phase."

You gave a dry laugh and squeezed some of the water out of your clothes causing the seaweed wrapped sea glass fragments to fall out.

You reached up to tuck it back into your clothes when Yeosang's hand grabbed it first.

"You...you found this?" He asked and you nodded, slightly scared he was going to accuse you fo stealing something precious.

"What is it?" You asked, voice pitchy as you tried to hide your growing panic.

"My tears," he said and you found all panic fade as sadness replaced it instead.

Silence lingered in the air as you stared at the translucent blue glass pieces.

"I'm sorry," you whispered and he just shook his head.

"It's alright, I left them with you for a reason. I just didn't think you would find them, let alone keep them," he finished and pushed himself back into the water.

"They're very tragically beautiful," you said and laid them out in front of you. They had faded in colour a little but they still no doubt resembled Yeosang's blue tail.

"My brothers just don't understand my fondness for you," he sighed and pushed himself below the water before raising his eyes to meet you again.

You pushed your legs forward, just enough to dip your toes into the water.

Yeosang swam around in circles before stopping in front of you.

"Hey, (Y/n)," he said and cocked his head like a little puppy asking for a treat.

You hummed in response, completely ignoring the fact that he knew your name even though you never told him.

"Who's that human that always makes you sad? He was there when I saw you jump from the cliff."

The question made you stiffen and stare at your toes as they dipped in and out of the water.

"His name's Seonghwa...he's my elder brother," you said and Yeosang just nodded, oddly watching your legs.

"I don't like him," he concluded like a small child and you laughed, tilting your head back and Yeosang swore it was the prettiest sound that had ever graced his ears.

"I don't either," you said and rested your chin on your folded elbows that were rested on top of your knees.

"I can sacrifice him to the sirens, if you want," Yeosang suggested and you laughed again.

"That's so romantic," you said and smiled at the way Yeosang's face lit up.

"Anything for you," he said and your heart soared at the declaration. This half fish-man wore his heart on his sleeve and it seemed as if it was for you.

"Thank you, that'd be nice."

Silence once again engulfed the atmosphere as you watched Yeosang play with the water. It was comforting to hear the water drip from the jagged edges of the rock.

"Hey, (Y/n)," he asked once again and you raised your head.

"Yeah?"

"What are those strange things attached to your lower body?" He asked with a certain childlike innocence that made you want to coo and stroke his hair.

"You mean..." you sniggered and pulled your legs closer.

"My legs?" Your lips curled up into a smile as you broke out into the heartiest laughter that ever racked your body.

"Oh, they're called legs. What about those small fingers?" He said and touched one of your toes, swimming back slightly when you wiggled them in his face.

"They're called toes," you said and watched in inhumane curiosity as Yeosang inspected them, only to bring his face close and sniff them.

"What are you- no! You're not supposed to put them in your mouth! Yeosang, stop!"

The waves crashed onto the shore as you peeked down at the sea with a smile on your face.

The sun was bright above your head as the cool wind blew through your hair, making you close your eyes and reminisce in the feeling.

"(Y/n)," you heard a voice call and you giggled at the smooth tone of the voice that was calling your name.

"Are you ready?" Yeosang called and you smiled, crossing your arms over your chest and jumping into the water below, squealing due to the pure delight.

Landing in the water with a gush of bubbles, Yeosang wrapped you in his arms, pulling you close for a kiss as he gifted you with the ability to breathe underwater.

"Let's go," he said and you nodded, letting yourself be pulled by Yeosang as you watched his blue scales twinkle in the ocean and his tail flicker seamlessly along with the current.

You were finally free.

[xxsanshinexx]

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Special~ Happy Easter lovelies

Characters: Jongho x reader

Words: 2432

Genre: Fluff

Summary: Jongho wasn’t the biggest of fan of Easter. Especially when his hyungs send him on a childish egg hunt.

~

“Jongho!” Mingi’s voice rang through the practice room, calling for the youngest who was stationed in the studio. He was loud enough to even reach Jongho’s ears through his headphones. The youngest shook his head with sigh and paused the music he was rehearsing, stalking towards the practice room. All of the other members were already there, and typically that meant they were going to make Jongho do something.

“Why did you call me in here?” He asked, rubbing his eyes at the change in lighting.

Thankfully he didn’t see his members sly grins. Hongjoong stepped up first, doing his best to keep a smile from his face, “We have a surprise for you!”

Jongho raised an eyebrow in suspicion. They never just had “surprises” laid out for him. “Did you break something of mine? Did Mingi eat the food in the fridge?”

“Why do you always suspect me!” Mingi cried indignantly, crossing his arms and turning away from the maknae.

‘You usually cause most of the messes.” Yeosang agreed from his spot on the floor.

Hongjoong just laughed at their banter before shushing them all, “No, for real, we have a surprise for you.”

To say Jongho’s interest was peaked was cutting it short, “What kind of surprise?”

“It’s not a surprise if we tell you, now, is it?” Yunho grinned and Jongho had a feeling this little surprise wouldn’t turn out the best for him.

“You have to figure it out first,” Seonghwa chuckled, a joyous twinkle in his eyes, “We’ve set up a little hunt for you.”

“A.. hunt?”

“An egg hunt!” San screamed from behind him, and his hand slammed something down on his head. Jongho stumbled forward a little before reaching up, feeling a headband with plush ears. “We’re sending you on an egg hunt!”

“Hyungs…” He muttered with a sigh, “You’re sending me on an egg hunt? Isn’t that a little childish?”

Wooyoung laughed, holding out a basket for Jongho to take, “Lighten up Jongho! It’s easter!”

“I know.. But that still doesn’t mean I want to do any egg hunt of all things,” Jongho stared at the basket in slight distaste, eyes trained on the single egg already placed inside, “Couldn’t you have just given me a candy bar and called it a day?”

“Oh just open the egg for God’s sake!” Mingi cried and Jongho obliged, taking the small, plastic egg out of the basket. He cracked it open in one and fumbled with the paper that was concealed inside it.

He furrowed his brows at the words, “Head to where you just were? Why are you sending me back into the studio?”

“Just do what the egg tells you to do!” They all cried and Jongho held his hands up in surrender, before following the directions that the pink egg had given him. As soon as he had walked out of the practice room, he noticed flour rabbit footprints leading up the stairs.

“You guys are doing way too much!” He called behind him but followed the footsteps nonetheless. As the egg had said, they led him towards his studio; however, there was more than enough detours on the way. He entered the room without a second thought, entering into the room he had been in seconds before. Nothing had changed except now there was a little blue egg sitting in the ear of his headphones. Scoffing to himself, he walked over and opened the egg; a similar piece of parchment falling out of the crack.

“Go back.” He read and sighed, head hanging forward. Now this seemed like something the boys would do. Send him in circles all night until he exploded with frustrations. He complied with the eggs wishes though and stomped out of his studios door, taking the blue egg but leaving the note. Once again, after stalking through the entirety of the KQ building, he made his way back into the practice room. None of the boys remained and in their stead was a large egg, laid in the center room.

Jongho casted a glance from side to side in suspicion before approaching the outlandishly orange egg. Inside was yet another piece of parchment but this time a small leaf accompanied it. He twirled the leaf in his left hand as he read aloud the words on the paper, “Go to that one special spot…. What the hell hyungs?”

He knew what it meant. The leaf gave it away easily, but he never thought his members knew about the small place he cherished so much. He placed the leaf and egg in his basket, readjusted the ears that were a size to big and then set out for the park a few blocks away. Thankfully, the members had been nice and done this odd hunt at the dead of night. At least no fans or onlookers would have to see him, dressed like a child, walking through the streets with a basket full of eggs and a lost look on his face.

The park was practically abandoned at this late hour. Sure, there were a few outcasts walking the trails in the dead of night; but they fared no better than himself. He was careful not to be seen as he snuck along that trails till he came to his familiar spot. A giant tree, one that had been there for long enough that the branches dangled and provided nice shade in the summer. Besides the tree he loved so dearly, was a garden, full of flowers he couldn’t pronounce and memories he loved to remember. Just a glance at the rose bushes was enough to put the thought of you in his mind.

You. It had been a little while since he had the pleasure of seeing you. While he lived his idol life, you had taken a chance to study in Jeju and fulfill your dreams along the coast. He was happy for you really, you both had taken the paths to success you wanted and soon enough you would be near each other again. He wondered how the members had pinpointed such a location to make him feel so happy and so desperate at the same time.

Upon reaching the tree, he noticed a familiar outline amongst the shadows, “Yeosang? Why are you out here?”

“Had to make sure no one stole this little plastic egg of course,” He rolled his eyes as Jongho approached him, the ears on his head now flopping over. “You look adorable by the way.”

“Give it a break,” The youngest frowned and Yeosang smirked, holding out a green egg which was a similar size to the rest.

“I was in charge of the next clue.” He chuckled as Jongho impatiently took the plastic and broke it apart, the paper inside immediately in his hand. “You’re taking a liking to this game, aren’t you?”

“Yes, the humiliation is quite great.” Jongho replied sarcastically as he unrolled the small paper, “But… to be honest… this location is throwing me off. Why here?”

A sly smirk spread across Yeosang’s lips but he said nothing on it, “I thought it was pretty; and I wanted you to walk through the streets with those ears on.”

“Ever the comedian you are,” Jongho frowned as his eyes skimmed over the words on the paper, “To the dorms?”

“Pretty straight forward.”

“Do I go with you? Or is there a car or something?”

“I get the car and you get to walk.” Yeosang winked and Jongho could barely make it out in the dark, “It’s all been planned out. Now get a move on.”

Jongho sighed and nodded, but turned once more to Yeosang before he departed, “Why are you doing this?”

Yeosang shrugged, but a smile played at his lips, “You’re not the biggest fan of easter… especially not with your little lover gone. We’re trying lighten up your mood.”

Jongho felt mixed emotions at Yeosang’s response. He knew he hadn’t been in the best of moods since y/n had left for their studies, but he didn’t think he was that awful. To think the members could spot that shift in him easily appalled him, and it was the reason he turned and left Yeosang without another word.

Yes, he wasn’t a fan of easter. Yes, he wasn’t in the best of moods all the time now that you were across the country; but he couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that his members were going out of their way for him. Especially with something like this. The thought made a small smile break out across his face. Yeah the whole thing was dumb and childish in his mind; making him trek through the city with rabbit ears and a basket, but it had made him feel a little more than normal. Now his heart felt warm by how much effort his little family was putting in for him, and he stepped up to the dorms door with excitement in his heart.

He unlocked the door and shut it behind him, taking off his shoes as he scanned the room for anything suspicious. Right in the middle of the room, was an Hongjoong, looking like he could barely contain his excitement. In his hands was now a yellow egg, which he cradled like it was a chick itself. Jongho walked up to him and chuckled at his leader, “You all are really into this whole egg hunt.”

“Of course we are!” Hongjoong grinned and thrusted the little egg into the youngers hands, “We haven’t had any fun like this in a while.”

Jongho nodded in agreement as he took the egg and split it in two, taking the piece of parchment in his hands gingerly. He looked up at Hongjoong with a raised eyebrow as he read, “You sleep here? You couldn’t have come up with anything more creative?”

“We didn’t want to confuse your brain,” He grinned and began to push Jongho in the direction of his room eagerly, “Now go to your room!”

“Yeah,” Jongho snorted and moved towards his door on his own now, “whatever you say dad.”

Inside, there wasn’t anything exceptional. It was still his room, with a messy bed and pillows thrown about. The only difference was that now, in the midst of his uncleanness, was a giant golden egg. He stalked up to it and split it open without a second thought. This was probably the last egg he would have to hunt and he was a little saddened at the thought.

The egg held nothing inside but a small paper and Jongho frowned at that. He figured that something would have been hidden inside of it, instead of just the papers which had been leading him around town. He smoothed out the little paper with his thumb and cocked his head at the words written.

“Go get the door?” As soon as he spoke, three knocks sounded at the front door. His heart began to speed up in anticipation, especially as he heard small giggles as he entered the living room once again. This was way too well planned out for the members to have accomplished. He stalked slowly towards the door, reaching up so he could look through the peephole; but whoever was on the other side covered it entirely. Taking in a deep breath, anxious to whatever was on the other side of the door, he opened it.

He almost passed out on the spot. There you stood, with your brilliant smile on your face and excitement in your eyes. It had been a few months since he had last seen you in person, and he almost didn’t believe it was you until you laughed. So sweet, so melodic and so very you. The very sound he was so infatuated and in love with; and it moved him out of shock and into tears.

“You’d make a cute Easter bunny.” You chuckled and he let out a shaky laugh, before wrapping you up in one of the tightest hugs you had ever shared. It being second only to the hug you shared after his debut stage.

He wrapped you up in his arms, picking you up slightly from the ground and burying his face in your neck. His hands dug into your waist, not painfully more like he couldn’t believe that you were real and here; snaking your hands up and around his shoulders. Tear drops could be felt against you neck and held him a little closer, brushing your hands threw the hair you missed playing with.

You leaned your head against his, a happy smile on your face as you dragged your fingers lightly across his scalp, “I didn’t think you’d cry over me.”

“God i’ve missed you, y/n.” He mumbled, his hot breath against your neck sending small shivers down your spine, as he loosened his grip on your slightly.

You pressed a light kiss to his temple and he straightened up, taking a look into your eyes. Now you could see his eyes, brimming with tears and some streaks lining his cheeks; contrasting with the beaming smile on his face. He pulled you close now, so your foreheads touched and there was barely any air between you two, and he grinned. “Don’t I get a real kiss? I mean you did make me trek across town for this little hunt?”

You frowned slightly and furrowed your brows, “Across town? I told the boys to keep it in the dorm?”

Jongho laughed, and shook his head. Of course they would pull something like this. They were never satisfied with the bare minimum. “Of course you did.”

You smiled along with him and closed the gap between the two of you. The kiss was certainly was you two wanted, after being apart of for so many months. It was more a smile against smile than a real kiss, the two of you unable to contain your merriment.

.“Yes! We got it! That’s going in the wedding book for sure!” A chorus of voices broke the two of you away from each other. Both you and Jongho shook your heads as you looked back, all of the boys now behind you and filming the scene. Jongho gave them a small glare and they laughed, before backing off though they gave plenty of teasing stares.

Jongho laughed a little more before turning back to you, pressing a chaste kiss to your forehead that made you smile, “I suppose I can come to like Easter a little more.. Especially if it’s like this.”

[zenyye]

I just read through about every ateez fanfic I know of so if anyone has recs help a shistar out 😔

[whattodowithkpop]

ATEEZ Masterlist

                               Scenarios

* When You Want A Puppy [Lio]

fluff

                      Hongjoong

* Hiding [Lio]

fluff

                        Jongho

* Budding Relationship [Ju & Lio]

fluff | flowershop au

* Puppy Kisses [Lio]

fluff

* Tiny Whispers [Lio]

fluff | dad!ateez

* Wearing My Shirt [Ju]

spice | husband!ateez

                  Mingi

* Numb [Lio]

fluff

* Wait, Don’t Pull Away, Not Yet [Lio]

fluff

* What is Personal Space? [Lio]

fluff

                            San

* Bank Heist Part I [Ju]

spice | thief au

* Bank Heist Part II [Ju]

spice | thief au

* Don’t Pull Away [Ju] 

slight spice

* No, Not the Panties [Lio]

humor | spicy

                      Seonghwa

* Cold [Lio]

fluff

* I Look Forward To Holding You Close In Bed Soon [Lio]

humor

* Like A Ticking Clock [Ju]

fluff | slight angst | soulmate au

* My Love And The Sea [Ju]

angst | mentions of death | siren au

                   Wooyoung

* Do You Want Me To Kiss It Better? [Lio]

spice | fluff

* Say It [Lio]

fluff | slight spice | song fic

                   Yeosang

* Kisses Like Medicine [Ju]

fluff

* You don’t need to leave so soon [Lio]

fluff

                      Yunho

* Bad Days [Ju]

fluff | slight angst

* No, Like... It’s Just... I I Cant’ Believe You’re Actually Wearing My Clothes [Lio]

fluff

* Not The Panties [Ju]

humor | fluff | slight spice

* Thunder and Lightning [Lio]

fluff

* Shirtless Cuddles [Ju]

fluff

* When The Sweater Paws Come Off [Lio]

fluff | spice

MAIN MASTERLIST

[cheollipop]

lovesick

navi | taglist

pairing: choi san x fem!reader

w.c.: 2.6k

tags: smut, fluff, san is in LOVE

back-to-back schedules meant san barely had any time to eat, let alone see you. after feeling your skin against his for the first time in weeks, he couldn't hold himself back anymore.

warnings: a smidge of plot, softest dom!san, high stamina!san (like crazy high), praise, dry humping, cunnilingus, face sitting, unprotected sex (wrap it up kids), multiple orgasms, creampie, breeding/impregnation kink, overstimulation, nicknames (sannie; baby, pretty, love, darling...), dirty talk, aftercare

A/N: this is dedicated to @toxicccred <33 I have not been able to stop thinking about lovesick sannie since we last talked about it, so I really hope you enjoy this! ^^ no but seriously, this had me feeling some typa way. the delulu came out for this one oof...

nsfw under the cut - minors dni!! 🔞

⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ㆍ✿ㆍ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹

I'll be home soon.

11:38pm, read the timestamp.

You eyed the clock on the wall across from you, the small arrow pointing to three. San was late at practice, and you struggled to keep your eyes open to greet him when he eventually walked through the front door. You hadn't seen him in over two weeks, his schedule packed with his new comeback coming up.

Lying down on the couch, your body succumbed to its exhaustion.

You startled awake, unaware that you had fallen asleep in the first place, when they front door clicked shut, making out a blurry San toeing off his shoes. He noticed your figure – half-sitting down on the soft cushions, eyes squinting to make him out in the dark room – and gave you an apologetic smile, a whispered sorry breaking through the silence. You got up, walking towards him and wrapping your arms around his figure without saying a word. He quickly reciprocated, engulfing you in his warmth and eagerly fisting his hands in your shirt, drawing you closer to him. You inhaled the scent of an unfamiliar body wash, his wet strands an indicator of the shower he took before coming to you.

"I've missed you, Sannie," you mumbled against the warm skin of his neck while he peppered the side of your face with soft kisses.

"Me too," he muttered between presses of his lips against every patch of skin available to him. "So much." He cupped your cheeks, moving your face back to admire it with fond eyes. "But I'm here now."

San pressed his lips to yours, your head jerking backwards at the momentum. He pulled away just as quickly, bringing you closer to his body again, nuzzling his nose into your hair. Your chests were flush together, rising and falling at the same rate. You placed a line of kisses over his exposed collarbone, your palms rubbing comforting circles over San's back, scratching at the skin and eliciting pleasant hums from the man.

You felt something begin to poke at your hip and you pulled away slightly to look down. Your cheeks flushed at the sight of the forming tent in San's sweatpants making a bridge between your bodies. You looked up at him, eyes still bleary with sleep.

"San?"

His cheeks were coated with a bright red, eyes looking anywhere and everywhere but you, nervously fiddling his fingers at his waist.

"I just- I missed you s-so much," his pout muffled his words, his gaze flitting over to you before stepping closer and burying his face into the crook of your neck. "I-I couldn't help it, I'm sorry."

His hips slowly rolled against your hipbone – perhaps involuntarily – and you could feel the familiar tingle of arousal rushing through your body. You grabbed onto his shoulders, trying to pull him away to look at his face, but he didn't budge, the rate at which his hips were moving now relentless while he panted against your ear.

"San, let me-"

"Please, (Y/n). I couldn't stop thinking about you all day, I had to rub one out in the bathroom between schedules – a-ahh – b-because I was so excited to finally see you," he turned his head to rest against your shoulder, looking up at you from the corner of his vision. His hands grabbed at your hips, moving them to match his continuous ruts against you. "We don't need to do anything, just – ah – I'll finish s-soon. Please, can I just-"

San's lips parted, breathing out airy, needy moans onto the side of your neck before attaching his lips to the skin and nipping at it. You leaned down, cupping San's cheek and bringing your mouth to his, lazily moving your lips together while he desperately rutted against your hip like a bitch in heat.

"Sannie, I want you too," you whispered against his lips, watching his eyes glaze over as they took in the redness of your cheeks.

One of your hands reached down to his ass, grabbing at the clothed skin and urging him to thrust harder against you. He groaned into your neck as he came, his hips stuttering while his body shuddered against you, his release soaking through his clothes and darkening the material around his crotch.

Breathing heavily while he recovered from his orgasm, San's hands gently wrapped around the sides of your neck, his thumbs caressing the skin under your ears. He placed a few fleeting kisses to your lips, pushing his hips back into your palm as you squeezed at the flesh of his ass.

"Your turn."

--

San's fingers dug into your hips, bringing you further down on his face. Your hand stumbled to grab onto the armrest above San's head where he laid horizontally on the couch, your thighs shaking around his face as he pulled orgasm after orgasm out of you with his tongue.

"San, wait-"

He pulled at your hips again, his tongue placing kitten licks against your swollen clit. "Sit down properly."

"I don't want to hurt you," your knees dug into the cushions, your body curling in on itself as San brought you to the edge of yet another high.

"I can take it." His eyes fluttered open to look at you, his hands bringing you down fully over his face, your thighs squeezing against his temples. "There you go," he whispered against your dripping folds, his tongue licking up from your pulsing hole to your clit, before running his teeth over it and watching you whimper as a shiver ran through your body.

San flattened his tongue against your clit and your hips began to move on their own to ride his face, chasing your second orgasm of the night.

"Ah, Sannie. Fuck," your thighs tensed around his head, his tongue lapping at your pussy like it was his first meal of the day, humming pleasantly as he swallowed up your sweet arousal.

"Taste so good… I could eat your pretty pussy all day," he muttered against your clit, your body jolting every time his lips pressed against it. "Can you give me one more, sweetheart?"

You shook your head, lifting your hips off San's face. He reluctantly let you go, watching as you slid down his chest to straddle his hips, his bottom lip jutting out to form a pout.

"Want your cock," you breathed out, still recovering from your orgasm.

San's eyebrows shot up, nodding his head like a madman, his eyes rolling to the back of his head when you ran your dripping folds over his cock, standing red and angry against his belly. You shuddered when he brushed against your clit, moaning against his skin before taking one of his nipples into your mouth, running circles around it with your tongue while tweaking the other between two fingers.

"Fuck, (Y/n), please just- please fuck me already," he moaned, his eyes teary and pleading as you continued to roll your hips against him. "Please don't tease me, baby, your teasing is like torture. Please. I want you so bad, I feel like I'm losing my mind."

He withstood two more glides of your pussy against his throbbing length before wrapping an arm around your waist and flipping you over, hovering over you while his other hand lined him up with your entrance. "Can I? Please, please, please-"

"Yeah, fuck me good, baby," you answered hastily, grabbing at his biceps for support when he finally breached your fluttering hole.

"Fuuuck, my pretty baby, so tight for me," his hand grabbed the underside of your thigh, opening you up for him to shove his entire length into you in one go, his pelvis flush with yours. "A-ahh, taking me s-so well," he stuttered when your walls clenched around him, adjusting to the stretch.

You brought one hand down to San's ass, grabbing a handful of the flesh and urging his hips to move. San groaned into your neck, licking a stripe from your collarbone to your jaw before sucking on the skin under your ear.

His hips began to move, starting with shallow thrusts before drawing more of his length out and stuffing it back into you with a firm thrust, rolling his hips into yours when your pelvises met.

"All I could do these past two weeks was think about you," San brought his lips up to yours, his cock pumping into you and pressing directly against your favourite spot, your head thrown back as bolts of pleasure ran down your spine. "Hongjoong even scolded me yesterday because I kept getting the choreography wrong. Do you know why?" His voice was breathy and jagged as pleasure soared through him with every thrust, your pussy squeezing him so deliciously he was struggling not to fill you up already.

"Uh-uhh," you shook your head, your voice melting into a high-pitched moan when San's hips slowed down to a measured grind, feeling his cock throb inside you where it pressed on the ragged spot along your walls.

"Because I couldn't stop thinking about how badly I wanted to fuck this tight pussy full of my cum," he growled, his hips picked up their pace again, pounding himself into your sopping cunt.

"W-want Sannie's cum," you moaned into his ear, your nails scratching at his back.

San brought his fingers down to your clit, rubbing harsh circles around it. Your back arched, nipples brushing over San's as your orgasm washed over you. Your lips were parted while a drawn-out moan escaped you, your knees shaking and your hips jolting every time San brushed his fingers over your sensitive clit.

He didn't give you time to recover, swiftly flipping you over to lay you flat on your stomach before sheathing himself inside you again.

"S-san!"

"I'm not done with you yet," he pressed his lips against the back of your neck as he pistoned his hips into you, propped up on his forearms by your head.

Your fingers grabbed at the cushion under you, your whole body convulsing as San's cock pounded mercilessly against your g-spot.

"Wait- i-it's too much – hnnnngh," tears flowed freely from your eyes to form a dark spot on the couch under you as pain mixed with pleasure every time he thrusted back into you.

"Give me one more," he took the shell of your ear into his mouth, his body stretching over yours while the sound of skin on skin echoed in the room. "You can do that, can't you? Can my darling cum for me once more?"

He knew he got you when your pussy squeezed around him, a smirk stretching the corner of his mouth before his teeth bit down on your shoulder, his tongue licking over the bite mark he'd left.

"Wanna see you," you slurred, too fucked out to focus on anything but the glide of San's thick cock between your overstimulated walls.

San was quick to change positions, pulling your limp body over his to sit you down on his lap before sliding his length back into you. He set his feet down on the floor, thrusting up into your abused cunt. You threw your head back at the new angle before leaning in to slot your lips against his, wrapping your arms around the width of his shoulders. The kiss was mostly teeth and spit, but neither of you minded, the pleasure shooting through you too intense for either of you to care.

"Gonna fill you up," San muttered against your lips, his fingers gripping your hips so tight he was bound to leave bruises. "Have you full of my cum for days."

You nodded fervently, eyes rolling back when San took your nipple between his lips, giving it a harsh suck. "Want it, w-want it. Please!"

"Yeah?" He smirked, his fringe stuck to his slick forehead, one of his hands coming up to your mouth and shoving two fingers inside. He watched as your lips closed around them, sucking the digits into your mouth and circling your tongue around them. "My baby wants my cum? Want me to make you a mommy? Hm?"

You nodded, letting out muffled moans around his fingers and a series of yes, please, give it to me's as you felt the tingle of your impending orgasm. "W-want to carry Sannie's children," you breathed out, sliding a hand between your bodies to press your palm into your lower belly, feeling the swift glide of San's cock inside you.

San pulled his fingers out of your mouth, bringing them down to your sopping cunt and circling your clit eagerly. His lips parted while throaty moans escaped him freely at the feeling of you rubbing his cock from the outside.

"H-hah- a-ahh, San, I'm so- I'm going to-"

"Go ahead, my love," San rubbed calming circles over your back, bringing you closer to his chest as waves of mind-numbing pleasure rushed through you – your legs shook around him, loud moans spilling out of your swollen lips, your eyes blown wide. "That's it, cum for me."

The tight squeeze of your walls around his throbbing cock was enough to send him over the edge with you, throwing his head back as he spilled rope after rope of cum into your cunt. "Fuuuuuck- take my cum, baby, take all of it," he shuddered as he came. San stilled his thrusts, allowing you to rock your hips over his cock, riding out your highs together with soft moans and grunts into the other's skin.

Your hips ceased their movement, your pussy warming his cock while he continued to spurt his seed into you. It was so much. You felt so full – you actually believed you would get pregnant.

San wrapped you up in his arms, bringing you closer while he peppered your face with kisses before tucking you into his chest.

"I love you," you whispered, placing a tender kiss on his collarbone.

San smiled, his eyes forming nearly-perfect crescents. "I love you so, so much, my darling. My pretty (Y/n)."

San squeezed his arms around you once before releasing you. He secured his hands under your thighs before getting up, giggling at your surprised yelp while he carried you with him to the bathroom. Setting you down next to the sink, your legs continued to twitch where they dangled off the counter while San adjusted the water in the shower. He smirked at the trail of cum you left on the counter before guiding you under the warm water, washing off the sweat and grime from your previous activities. San scratched at your scalp, rubbing the shampoo into your hair, hearing you hum pleasantly into his chest. He kissed you under the warm stream, reveling in the soft touches you left all over his body – your palms rubbing against his back, nails scratching at the skin every now and then, your lips trailing down his chest before going back up to leave gentle pecks all over his face. San didn't think he was insane, but the more time he spent with you, the more he thought he was about to be.

Wrapping you up in the fluffiest towel he could find, San penguin-walked with you to your bedroom, his arms wrapped firmly around your middle while his chest pressed against your back.

Sliding into bed, the early birds already awake and singing outside your window, you inhaled the soft scent of San's body wash. He hummed faintly into your ear, your eyes beginning to droop before finally falling shut. Your hand – rubbing small circles against San's back – ceased its movements, falling limp over his waist.

Lulled to sleep in San's tender embrace, you realized that missing him was worth every second when he finally came home to you, tucking you into his arms while he showered you with all his love and kisses.

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[cheollipop]

chicken rice porridge

navi | taglist | pt.1

pairing: choi san x gn!reader

w.c.: 2.2k

tags: FLUFF, seriously so fluffy I could cry, non-sexual nudity (<;3)

After catching his cold, San laboured to make sure you didn't have to lift a finger, holding you so tightly in his warm embrace that the sniffles had no choice but to go away.

A/N: I cried, giggled, blushed, then threw up writing this. Also, thank you so so so so so much for all the love you guys gave me on pt.1, I appreciate you all sm! I hope you like this one as well! :")

───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰ ───✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰ ───

The bags crinkled as San hauled them through your front door, knuckles white as they bore their weight. He nudged the door with his hip, waiting for it to click shut before slipping his shoes off and turning the corner into the living room. 

"No, no! What are you doing?" He whined, rushing to the kitchen and dropping the heavy bags on the island before speed-walking towards the couch where you sat, working on the document your boss had sent you earlier. "Babe, you need to rest!"

"I'm almost done," you kept your eyes fixed on the screen, bloodshot and teary, burning as the bright light hit them. "Wait-" You gripped the width of the device as San ripped it off your lap. 

"No. No more working." 

"Sannie, please. Just five more minutes," you pouted, tugging the laptop towards you; his grip around it did not budge.

"You already took the day off, you can do it when you feel better." 

You huffed, knowing that he wouldn't relent, and your fingers eased around the laptop, allowing San to slip it out of your hands. He quickly saved the document before shutting the lid, gently setting it on the coffee table, away from the pile of tissues you had been collecting. 

He had felt guilty for making you sick, but seeing the soft pout adorning your lips, he felt slightly better. You were so cute. Taking your appearance in – greasy hair tangled and disheveled, red nose sniffling while you wiped at your teary eyes, lips cracked and dry, your tongue peeking out to wet them every so often – he couldn't help but smile. Even now, he still found you beautiful. It was almost sickening how infatuated he was with you. 

"Let's get you washed up," he spoke, voice sweet as honey, a fond smile on his lips.

–

Submerging yourself into the steaming bath, your muscles relaxed as warmth engulfed your body. Your head rested on the edge of the tub, San behind you, hands running over your shoulders and softly squeezing the soft skin. You hummed contently, sinking further into the water, your eyes fluttering shut. 

San worked silently, palms rubbing up and down your arms, then back up your shoulders, massaging the back of your neck, gently digging his fingers into the stiff muscle.

"Feels good," you muttered, melting into his touch.

San leaned forward and pressed his lips to your temple. He turned on the shower head and pressed it to your scalp, waiting until the water saturated your hair before turning it back off. With one hand running through the wet strands, his other reached for the shampoo bottle next to him, opening it and squeezing some into his hand. Rubbing the shampoo between his palms, he watched the suds form before spreading them onto your hair, the floral scent permeating the air around you. Your eyes remained shut as you breathed out a sigh, reveling in the scratch of San's blunt nails against your scalp.

You didn't feel yourself slumping down until his breathy chuckle echoed in the room. "Babe, you're going to drown." 

You pulled yourself up, giggling as you rested your head back, safely situated in the tub again. He held your face in his hands, thumbs brushing against your cheek and coating them with the leftover soap before leaving you to grab the shower head again. He turned the water back on, making sure to flush out every last bubble, running his fingers through the now-clean locks. He placed a tender kiss on your forehead, your eyes opening to meet his, cheeks blushing at the way he was looking at you – the corners of his eyes wrinkling, dimples peeking out to greet you, his smile so warm it made the bath water feel icy against your skin. 

"Don't stare too hard, you might fall in love," he teased, dimples sinking further into his skin, eyes almost forming perfect crescents. 

"It might be a little too late for that," a shy smile tugged at your lips and his finger booped your nose, pinching your cheek gently before pulling himself up.

He simply stood there to admire you, hands at his hips with nothing but fondness gracing his features. You instinctively curled in on yourself, suddenly feeling exposed. San picked up on your timidness, letting his head drop so he could hide the grin splitting his face. You were so cute. He chose not to comment on the bright red coating on your cheeks, moving towards the door after placing a fluffy towel next to the clothes he'd set out for you. 

"I'm going to change your sheets," he put his palm out to dodge your incoming complaints. "Call me when you're done, I'll be happy to help you dress." The wink he sent your way almost gave you a heatstroke. With a breathy chuckle and dimples on show, he walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. 

You sat up, sighing and slapping your hands against your heated cheeks. Sickness was nothing compared to having to deal with your boyfriend. Choi San will be the death of you.

–

Walking out of the stuffy bathroom, dressed in a clean set of clothes – a hoodie you'd stolen from San and a pair of sweatpants – you made your way through the apartment, peeking your head into the kitchen where you’d heard your boyfriend clattering around. 

San stood behind the island, hands working on tying the apron strings behind his back, ingredients scattered over the marble. Your eyes zero in on the rather huge knife – your sharpest one – sitting on the wooden cutting board in front of him. 

"Sannie?" 

His head jerked upwards, features easing when he saw you practically swimming in his clothes, a smile instantly curving the corners of his lips. "Feel better?" 

You nod, stepping towards him slowly, eyes fixed on the knife. "What… are you doing?" 

"Making porridge for my sweetest (Y/n)." 

Your heart did a little jump at how easily the words rolled off his tongue, heat rushing to your cheeks. You got distracted by his words, too busy calming the butterflies in your stomach to notice him reaching for the knife. It scraped against the wood as he lifted it, startling you back to the present. 

"No!" Your hands reached out to hold his wrist, untangling the knife from between his fingers and safely depositing it back on the wooden board. 

He looked at you, eyebrows raised and his mouth forming a surprised 'o'. "Baby?" 

He had seemed so excited to cook for you; you almost gave in and left him to do as he pleased. But then you remembered the last time he wanted to make you a meal, having to evacuate his apartment as smoke took over the rooms; he had to buy a new stovetop. And the time he decided it would be a great idea to use the biggest knife he could find to chop an apple and had to get seven stitches. Moral of the story: Choi San should not be allowed in the kitchen. 

"Let's just order in." You wrapped your arms around one of his, feeling his biceps flex against your chest. 

His bottom lip jutted out, eyebrows drawing in. "But I want to cook for you. I even asked your mum for the recipe." 

Your heart clenched so hard at the visual of San putting his phone on speaker to write down the recipe your mother was dictating to him, his tongue poking out the corner of his lips in concentration. You almost doubled over simply imagining it. Looking up at him, your heart did that funny thing again as you met his sulky expression – eyes staring off to the side, wrinkles between his eyebrows, fiddling his fingers where they sat on the island. You wanted to kiss his pout away but held yourself back – you didn't want to start a cycle of germ-sharing (again). Deciding to spare him from the harsh truth – that his cooking might send you to the afterlife before any virus could – you tell a little, white lie.

"But I reeaaally want tteokbokki," you mirror his pouty lips, tugging at his arm. "I haven't craved anything in days, Sannie, pleease?" 

You smiled to yourself, sitting on the couch, huddled between three different blankets, pillows surrounding you from every direction. San shut the front door, carrying the bag of takeout into the living room and setting it on the table in front of you. 

"Okay! Let's eat." He rubbed his palms together, untying the plastic bag and taking the containers out.

He sat on the table in front of you, breaking apart the chopsticks and balancing the container on his knees. Scooping up a rice cake, he rolled it in the sauce and brought it to your lips. "Open up." 

He looked overjoyed, like a puppy who finally got to go on a walk after having to wait all night for his owners to wake up. You did as he said, biting on the chewy rice cake, sighing as you swallowed, warmth spreading through you.

"Sannie, come sit next to me," you patted the cushion next to you, tugging on his sleeve from where you were, drowning between the fleece blankets he had wrapped you in. 

"But I want to feed you!" He complained, already working on grabbing more food with the chopsticks, stuffing it in your mouth before you could argue.

"Fine," you pouted as you chewed. "But you should eat too," you spoke, words muffled as San continued to shovel tteokbokki into your mouth. 

He only smiled, grabbing his own chopsticks and taking a bite from his portion, turning back around to feed you like God himself had ordered him to. 

"Shlow down-" You sucked in desperate breaths through the food blocking your airway, almost choking, San rubbing your back until you swallowed it down. You smacked his arm and he yelped, rubbing over his bicep. "I can't breath through my nose, are you trying to kill me?"

He muttered a quiet sorry, but the restrained smile on his lips, threatening to erupt into a whole-hearted grin, made you believe otherwise – that he wasn’t as sorry as he had claimed to be. But you couldn't be mad at him, secretly enjoying all the attention he was so generously giving you, not allowing you to lift a finger, showering you with his never-ending love. How could you ever complain? 

After San finished feeding you your portion of tteokbokki – and half of his – you finally managed to pull him onto the couch with you. His arms circled around your shoulders, pulling you into his chest. The Greatest Showman played on the TV across from you, and you settled on listening to San’s soft voice as he hummed along to the songs, his chest vibrating against your temple. His fingers ran through your now-dry hair, the back of your neck tingling at his ministrations.

Your eyes began to droop as the credits rolled in, blinking quickly to stop yourself from falling asleep. San twisted his neck to peek at you, trying his best to remain still in case you had fallen asleep. He breathed out a laugh through his nostrils, squeezing your shoulder and effectively pushing you closer into his chest. 

“Does my darling want to sleep?”

You hummed, nuzzling your face into his neck, the skin warm against the tip of your nose. "Just want to cuddle," you slurred.

San's smile threatened to split his face in half. “Not that I’m not enjoying being your pillow, but I think we’d be more comfortable in bed.” He poked at your sides, making you squirm in his arms.

“Shhh, you’re hurting my head,” your fingers pawed at his face, trying to manually shut his lips, only to be met with his toothy smile.

Your hand dropped onto the shoulder opposite to the one your head rested on, eyelids falling shut despite your attempts at fighting your drowsiness. Inhaling the soft scent of bergamot diffusing off San’s skin, his fingers never ceasing their ministrations in your hair, you felt yourself slip into much-needed slumber, the fatigue encircling your body fading away as you lay within San’s embrace.

San felt as your body slumped against his, the steady rise and fall of your chest. He unfurled his fingers from your soft locks, wrapping his arm around your middle-back. With the other secured behind your knees, he rose to his feet, cradling you against his body and making his way to your bedroom. He made the fatal mistake of looking down at your resting face, noticing the smudge of tteokbokki at the corner of your parted lips, soft puffs of air blowing against the cotton of his shirt. He stood there, head tilted back with his eyes squeezed shut, holding himself back from smothering your face with kisses.  

You were so cute.

San forced himself to move, walking into your room and setting you down on the mattress. He pulled out a wet wipe from your drawer, wiping the remnants of your dinner from your lips, his eye twitching as he stopped himself from placing a kiss against the plush of your lips. Climbing into bed with you, he moved you into his arms again, wrapping you up in his warmth and pressing his lips against your forehead. San relished the feeling of the warm puffs of air against his neck, inhaling the floral scent of your shampoo while sleep tugged at his eyelids. He held you tightly, nuzzling his cheek against yours as he felt himself being dragged into slumber, hoping to meet you in his dreams.

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[atinytokki]

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Chapter 11: Call to Action

The sun was a few hours off from sinking, and reflected brightly off the water when Eden glanced outside to starboard.

Maddox hadn’t spoken to him aside from the bare minimum needed for orders in the past few days.

Eden knew he was processing everything as well as he could— reuniting the crew, Hongjoong being alive, supernatural occurrences— but still he sought him out when he felt the air had grown too tense and gave his quartermaster an outlet to take things out on.

“The wind is with us today,” he remarked casually, sneaking up on Maddox where he stood at the railing and watched the ship’s wake flow continuously alongside them.

“A good sign,” Maddox agreed, eyes still fixed below. When one too many moments of silence passed by, he finally turned to look at his captain. “Did you come to give orders?”

Eden shook his head and let Maddox slowly realise he had come just to talk.

“Strange, isn’t it?” The quartermaster finally said, restless. “Look at us. In our prime and sidelined from the fight for our existence.”

“It feels familiar,” Eden acknowledged. “I don’t like it.”

After all, he had been useless on the Mystic’s island for months, and self-isolated in the east for even longer. It was time for that to change.

“This isn’t like it was back then,” Maddox sighed, searching his face before explaining. “The pirate islands are more than unified, they’re fervently preparing for battle. Sure, they rallied around you before. But this…”

“Hongjoong renewed that hope?” Eden finished for him, no hesitation colouring his voice. He knew what his former apprentice was capable of.

Maddox nodded and a fond smile was on his face. “They’ll be singing anthems for him. His whole crew, really. They’re survivors, all of them.”

Eden had only met them for a short time what felt like ages ago now, but they had the same drive that connected them even then. It made sense that they had found each other.

Sometimes, when he thought of Hongjoong he thought of the orphan on the beach, a hollowed out husk who had thought there was nothing left for him in life.

It was hard to imagine a person he’d seen grow firsthand becoming a symbol practically overnight.

“I’m sorry I didn’t let the world know he was alive sooner,” Eden confessed, slowly and heavily as the implications washed over him. “We need to find him.”

“No,” Maddox cut him off, and it stunned him for a moment, but he let the quartermaster go on. “His crew needs to find him. They will settle for nothing less. I’ve felt their pain and, at the same time, it surpasses me. They have a connection so deep I can hardly understand it, Eden. One closer and stronger than ours.”

The captain wanted to protest, but he knew Maddox was right. “We split up because we didn’t feel like a crew anymore,” he tried to explain for his quartermaster. “With Hongjoong gone, I thought I had failed. And even when I heard news of a Pirate King… I realised that you were right all along. By taking him under my wing, I both saved him and ruined him.”

Everyone had known the Dread Pirate had been in a dark place ever since the fire ship ambush, but Maddox had missed his final abandonment of the Stardust crew when he was imprisoned on that island by the Navy.

“I knew you were alive, thanks to Youngsaeng’s letters,” Maddox recounted, cold eyes accusing him. “But I was left behind, Eden. I don’t like being left behind.”

The truth was trickling out bit by bit, like sand grains poured out of a bottle.

“I want it to be like it used to,” he continued, gaze on the western horizon where the sun was nearing the water. “When we had Hongjoong with us.”

Eden had felt the same way when he encountered the ATEEZ. Hongjoong wasn’t a boy anymore, but it had been strange to be under his authority instead of the reverse. He’d been through so much, more than he had the last time Eden saw him, and every moment of loneliness, every scar sustained between those meetings had a profound impact on who he was now.

Eden knew he needed to speak with him again, whether Hongjoong wanted him or not.

“He has his own crew now,” he reminded Maddox. “I don’t like being left behind either, but we can still be there for him. Just maybe from the sidelines this time.”

He would make it up to him. He would make it up to his whole crew on the ATEEZ, as well as his own. His absence had brought them about, it was only right that he respond to their bravery the way that dozens of captains had decided to on Geobugi; by being present.

As if in answer, the shrill call of a hawk approaching from the southeast reached their ears.

“A messenger bird!” Youngsaeng called, collecting the hawk when it swooped toward him in the rigging and landed gently on his arm.

It carried a message from the ATEEZ, and Eden hurried to read it.

Quickly skimming the page, he interpreted the coded instructions and turned to report them to his crew.

“They’ve run into trouble,” he said simply. The nature of that trouble was unclear, but they had made a promise and it was time to keep it.

“Change our course, we’re going to Ama.”

___

“So how do we get to Ama, exactly?”

Yunho kept protective arms over the charts as he sat in the longboat, bobbing gently up and down with the waves as they worked along side the hull of the ATEEZ.

He motioned to the map in response to Jongho’s question and replied, “I’m hoping this will tell me, given all the trouble we went through to get it.”

“Pass me three gripfast nails,” Seonghwa interrupted, holding out a hand expectantly and keeping the other one in place where he’d positioned a plank to take the place of a damaged one.

Mingi’s sailing in the currents had done a number on their hull.

“Which ones are those?” Jongho asked, flustered, as he pawed through the piles of  supplies they’d brought in the boat with them.

“No, use ringshanks! They’ll hold better!” San called down from the main deck, where he was walking around the ship with Mingi, trying to readjust his leg to the motion.

“Why don’t you come down here and do it yourself, then?” Seonghwa whined, loud enough to be heard on the deck but not really expecting a response.

“I happen to be occupied at the moment!” San shot back before his head disappeared and he resumed his stroll with Mingi.

“I don’t know what a ringshank is either,” Jongho deadpanned, moving out of the way when Seonghwa simply reached over and grabbed the nail San had suggested.

“Does anyone have the slightest idea how to set a course for such a tiny island without missing it?” Yunho sighed as he looked up at his two longboat companions, both of them blank-faced.

It seemed everyone was trying to do everyone else’s job, and all their hands were full.

Not for the first time, Yunho wished they had their missing members. He would have to apply himself in order to get the ATEEZ to its destination, and hopefully find them soon enough.

“No, but Mingi might,” Jongho pointed out. “Didn’t he do some navigation work with Hongjoong before Yeosang came on?”

“Mingi needs to heal, let him rest,” Seonghwa scolded quietly from where he drilled boards into place methodically, focused on his work even as he listened to the conversation around him. “I can take a look if I must. Yeosang showed me his charts a few times.”

Desperate for help of any kind, and always at ease when Seonghwa was guiding him, whether it was his area of expertise or not, Yunho gladly scooted over on the bench and braced for the boat to rock as his hyung stood from the bow and moved to where he held maps.

“Patch this up, will you?” Seonghwa requested, handing Jongho the hammer and nails as he passed him.

“Right,” Jongho smacked his lips before turning to the hull and trying to figure out how best to  continue fastening the planks on effectively.

“I believe this is where we are,” Yunho updated the boatswain quickly, pointing to the surrounding atoll and then to the plot on the map. “In terms of time, that’s two days off or thereabouts from Ama. But any  deviation even a point to one direction could send us wildly off course, even with the stars to follow.”

He pulled the star map out next, letting Seonghwa take a good look and shifting it to the side when he nodded.

“It’s a bit more difficult to correctly aim for such a small place on the map when all we’ve had to do thus far is head due south.”

“How did you manage to get from the mystic’s island to Namhae?” Seonghwa asked, setting the charts side by side.

“We argued about it,” Yunho summarised with a snort. “And then we prayed and hung on while the storm blowed us towards the island. It’s like Hongjoong always says—”

Seonghwa swallowed and looked away.

“Well, said ,” Yunho corrected. “Sometimes the ocean wants us to get somewhere, and sometimes it doesn’t.”

“And when San left the inn at Namhae without any charts, stole a boat, and escaped the Navy?” Seonghwa pointed out. “How did he manage that?”

“He kept the coast in view the whole time,” Jongho supplied as he drove a nail into the plank with relative ease in one powerful stroke. “And he sailed too far south, in fact. Right into Haemin territory.”

“Do I hear someone slandering me down there?” San’s voice called, and again he poked his head over the rail and looked down at them, Mingi mirroring him.

Seonghwa changed the topic quickly as soon as he saw the quartermaster.

“Oh, Mingi! You’re good at arithmetic,” he pointed out, standing with the charts and tucking them under his arm so he could climb up to the deck. “Would you mind helping with some calculations? Otherwise we might end up missing the island entirely.”

Yunho watched him go, relieved, and then simply sat back and folded his arms. The burden of navigation was off his shoulders for now.

The call of a seabird disturbed his peace when he let his eyes drift shut as the boat rocked gently.

It landed on the water some distance away and Yunho watched it dive below the waves and come back up swiftly, something in its beak.

“There’s a school of fish over there,” he remarked dully to a distracted Jongho, still pounding away at the hull of the ATEEZ.

Yunho’s suspicions were confirmed when another pair of birds dived in and caught fish for themselves. The flock was growing and Yunho continued to watch with mild interest as the ecosystem of this particular lagoon was on display.

“Bad news,” said Jongho succinctly after sticking his head underwater to check the lower damage. “There’s a cut below the waterline. It may be leaking into the crew compartment, I don’t know.”

“I think they would’ve come complaining if it was,” Yunho snorted. “Hongjoong’s failsafe layer must’ve worked.”

Just like Seonghwa, Jongho pursed his lips and avoided Yunho’s gaze at the mention of their captain.

Yunho had no chance to insist to them both that it was fine to mention Hongjoong’s name, that acting like he never existed was only serving to hurt them all more. Jongho charged ahead and started explaining, “We can fother a sail over it, which may or may not work and will certainly take up time. Or I can swim down and patch it up myself, which, considering the fact that I can breathe underwater, wouldn’t waste resources and wouldn’t be too difficult.”

Yunho sighed through his nose at Jongho’s textbook method of deflecting his emotions with rational observation, the way he always did, but considered the idea nonetheless.

The flock of birds attacking unseen fish had increased in size and the entire cluster was floating their direction.

“Seonghwa won’t approve,” came the obvious objection. “It’s turned into a full-blown feeding frenzy over there. There might be sharks.”

“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” Jongho smirked, and the smile was such a brief flash of the mischievous boy Yunho remembered from before that he couldn’t bring himself to protest further.

Yunho just wanted to see him happy again.

If they weren’t being attacked with sea creatures and enemies, they were tearing themselves apart on the inside.

“Alright, be careful,” Yunho gave his permission officially, knowing Jongho didn’t need it and might have gone ahead regardless.

Without another word, Jongho pocketed a fistful of nails and dived below the waves, board in hand.

Now Yunho was alone to watch anxiously from the boat and wait for the job to be done. The flock of gulls was steadily advancing on their longboat’s position, and he could now see the dark mass under the waves, undoubtedly a school of fish being picked off one by one.

“Jongho, hurry,” he muttered, knowing the master-at-arms wouldn’t respond anyway.

Yunho was leaning over the edge of the boat to see, tipping it accidentally and then jerking back to avoid falling in, and his straw hat fell off and disappeared below the waves. Unfortunately, unlike Jongho, Yunho did not have the supernatural ability to breathe underwater.

A moment later, the hat shot up from the water and was tossed toward the longboat. Yunho caught it and turned to see Jongho surface and climb into the boat again, rocking it a bit too much for comfort.

“Are you alright?” Yunho asked quickly, checking for any sign of injury, whether a breathing issue, collision with the boat, or animal attack.

“Fine,” Jongho waved off his helping hand. “You’re starting to sound like Seonghwa.”

“You know he’ll blame himself if anything happens to us,” reminded Yunho gently as he packed the supplies away. “Clearly he hasn’t stopped shouldering responsibility for everything since Hongjoong—”

“I see what you mean,” Jongho confirmed with a subtle nod, hearing Seonghwa approach and look down at them from the deck.

“We have our heading,” the boatswain informed them. “Are the repairs finished?”

“Yes,” Yunho called back. “But I don’t think we want to stick around and explore the lagoon.”

When Seonghwa tilted his head, not knowing what he referred to, Yunho pointed out at the flock until Seonghwa took note of the feeding frenzy.

“I’d rather not be lowered a few pegs on the food chain,” he quipped to keep the boatswain from panicking.

“Right,” said Seonghwa curtly before turning to the crewmen presumably on the deck behind him. “Haul them in.”

As they secured the ropes to the longboat and allowed themselves to be pulled up and swung over the rail, Yunho and Jongho gave each other a meaningful look.

Anxiety and dogged pursuit were taking over, and it wouldn’t be long before things reached a breaking point.

“Were there rocks visible near the lagoon entrance?” Seonghwa asked as he helped them out of the boat.

“Not that I saw,” Jongho answered, not divulging the fact that he’d gotten a look from underwater as well as above.

“Let’s leave tomorrow at high water then,” Seonghwa suggested, eyes on the horizon. “Just in case.”

___

It was deathly quiet.

Neither the calling of birdsong nor the crashing of waves reached Hongjoong’s ears as he lay in the sand, hot sun scorching his closed eyes.

He kept them screwed shut as fragments returned to him, pieces of the events that had led to his waking here, somewhere eerily silent.

And still, this was too familiar.

It had been three times now. Three times that he washed ashore, having lost everything.

Once on his side with a bleeding head, the morning after his parents had drowned in the typhoon. A second time on his face, the afternoon after the Stardust had been sunk with the navy’s fire ships.

From the sound of things, Hongjoong had washed up again on yet another deserted beach, but not deserted by choice.

His memory began to return as a few fingers twitched to feel the ground beneath him. This time he was on his back.

It had been the wave.

Such a sudden force of nature had required his full attention and teamwork from the soldiers.

As his thoughts turned to Wooyoung and Yeosang, Hongjoong’s eyes wrenched open.

The sky was still that blinding blue, though a pair of hazy clouds stretched across it. No trees filled in the edges of his peripheral vision.

He wasn’t on the deck of the Black Crow, which meant he had been washed away from it and somehow survived.

If Yeosang and Wooyoung were trapped below—

No.

No, they couldn’t be…

History would not repeat itself a third time.

Throat dry and strained, he tried calling out their names.

It took a few tries, but rolling over onto his knees, Hongjoong pushed himself into a kneeling position and glanced around to catch sight of them.

There was nothing, no one. Complete and utter destruction, as far inland as the jungle that stretched through the middle of the island.

Hongjoong’s jaw dropped as he took stock of it; structures toppled, boats washed inland, trees bent sideways, and the silence—

The silence was deafening.

As long as he looked for it, he found no sign of human life other than his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Underneath him was grainy dirt, not sand, and it was with growing dread that Hongjoong realised he hadn’t even washed up on the beach.

There was no beach.

Finally staggering to his feet, Hongjoong turned towards the jungle, hoping the Black Crow was hidden there amongst the trees— the only trees still standing within a mile radius.

Anything else was either flattened, or under the surge of ocean water that no doubt would begin to recede in the coming hours.

Pushing through the pain of straining an already exhausted body, Hongjoong searched under every boat wreckage he found, so many of them smashed to bits that any of them could be part of the Crow without his realising it.

More than a few lifeless faces stared back at him when he uncovered their dead bodies, quickly moving on while pushing away the thought that Yeosang or Wooyoung could be next.

The ocean dare not take anyone else from him.

With growing frustration, Hongjoong ripped a cabin door off its hinges and peeked inside, finally discovering the bodies of their Haemin captors. It seemed they’d had the same idea to put to sea in another boat, only setting out much too late and being caught in the second surge.

He tossed the door to the side and moved on.

Past the first few trees, a coughing sound caught his attention.

He wasn’t alone.

“Hello?” He called back, willing his legs to carry him up the hill before they gave out. “Who’s there?”

Though they didn’t seem to hear him, the person coughed again and, rounding a corner, Hongjoong finally found the source of the voice.

“Wooyoung!”

There he was laying in the dirt on his side, racked by a cough that looked painful, jostling his healing ribs.

The gunner gasped in surprise at Hongjoong running up and hugging him, partially from the suddenness of the affection and partially from relief.

After a moment, he lifted his arms to return the hug before asking in a gravelly croak, “Where’s Yeosang?”

Hongjoong shot back and searched Wooyoung’s face before admitting, “I haven’t found him yet. You were together, right?”

Wooyoung nodded and painfully sat up. “We tried to escape the flooded decks, but water rushed in through the hatch and we… we must’ve floated out at some point…”

Resisting the urge to bite his lip anxiously, Hongjoong swept his eyes over the surrounding area. “We need to find him. Can you walk?”

“I think so,” Wooyoung answered, clearing his throat and accepting his captain’s hand before being helped to his feet. “He was ahead of me, so the water must have pulled him out first. He should be back on the beach.”

“The beach is underwater,” Hongjoong reported gravely, starting back in the direction of the sea nonetheless. “Maybe he… maybe I missed him when I was looking in the debris.”

Wooyoung saw his uncertainty and his eyes welled up, lower lip beginning to wobble at the prospect that he’d lost Yeosang after all.

“No, Wooyoung, look at me,” Hongjoong drew his attention, placing firm hands on his shoulders before he could crumple to the ground. “We’ll find him. Whatever it takes.”

Throughout the following hour there were more than a few scares as others called out for help, the number of conscious survivors slowly growing but only by a few.

The black water of the surge began to recede, and took with it both bodies and wreckage. Hongjoong and Wooyoung needed to pick up the pace.

Wooyoung refused to split up, searching the debris himself but always within view of Hongjoong, afraid that anything could separate them again.

A strangled gasp from his direction sent Hongjoong returning to his side to see what he’d found. There was a smear of blood across a destroyed plank, connected to a trail that led down the beach.

“It’s fresh,” Hongjoong confirmed. Already of the same mind without needing to discuss their plan of action, the two set off to follow it, fighting down the dread of what they might find at the other end.

The owner of the blood had been moving down the shoreline this direction, but the trail began to run cold as spots on the sand grew infrequent.

Just as he was about to assure Wooyoung that this was a positive development, that it meant the person had gotten the bleeding under control, Hongjoong rounded the corner and nearly tripped over Yeosang.

“Yeosang!”

He and Wooyoung exclaimed in unison, reaching down to lift their navigator off the  ground where he appeared to have fallen and checking him for injury.

A large gash ran down his forehead, his own hand pressed there to stop the flow of blood, and there was a dazed look in his eye.

“You’re alive!” Yeosang choked out, standing to greet them, albeit unsteadily.

“We’re all alive!” Wooyoung gasped in excitement, the sheer joy on his face standing out in contrast with their bleak surroundings.

“We’re alive!” Hongjoong repeated aloud, suddenly giddy at the near miraculous outcome of such an experience. “I’ve no idea how, but—”

“We’re all alive, and we’re together…” Yeosang pointed out, taking each of their hands in his and holding on tight.

The tears in his eyes welled up and spilled over, catching on like they were contagious, so the three of them stood there laughing hysterically all while crying harder than they’d allowed themselves to in months.

“The ocean lost this one!” Hongjoong snickered, detaching himself to run to the waterline and give the shallows a weak kick. “Take that!”

Following after him, Yeosang and Wooyoung each gave the sea a punishing slap, quickly turning their frivolity into a game of splashing each other.

Until Yeosang stumbled and needed to be led back to solid ground, all three engaged in a bout of lighthearted tomfoolery, not caring that the moment was approaching when they’d have to grapple with the future and simply being drunk on their own survival for a moment.

“I didn’t see the second wave coming,” Hongjoong admitted in a daze as soon as silence had fallen.

“No one did, captain,” Wooyoung tried to console him, unable to keep from laughing at the absurdity of it all. “It was behind the first wave.”

Yeosang chuckled and opened his mouth to add something, but found himself blinking blood out of his eyes again and stopped.

“Your head…” Wooyoung remembered, sitting beside the navigator to get a better look at it. “We ought to do something about it.”

“Perhaps there are supplies somewhere, or something laying around that we can use to bandage you…” Hongjoong trailed off, looking around the immediate area and finding little of use.

“It doesn’t hurt too badly,” the navigator tried to reassure them, but both Hongjoong and Wooyoung had been imprisoned with him in Namhae. They knew this was a reopening of the old head wound he had sustained in the torture there, and that much more dangerous as a result.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Hongjoong, and when Wooyoung glanced over he saw blood coating his hand. Not Yeosang’s blood.

“What—?”

Cutting himself off, Wooyoung watched Hongjoong open his jacket and reach a hand inside only to find more blood.

His wound from the execution had reopened.

With only the slightest expression of annoyance, the captain dropped to the sand next to Yeosang and heaved a sigh.

Wooyoung looked more nervous now, and pressed his fingers together anxiously.

They weren’t broken anymore, but thinking of the days in that cold prison cell brought back the phantom feeling. Pain and loneliness.

He was running a mantra through his head; they won’t leave me, we’re going to be alright.

Hongjoong put a hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s just… rest for a moment.”

___

“Seonghwa!”

One voice broke through the fog of panic that had descended on his brain. Hongjoong’s voice.

“Here.”

A hand reached out towards him, and finally Seonghwa turned from the ledge of crumbling floor tile he was clinging to and tried to reach back.

“You’re too far away,” he muttered, trying to keep the shaking of his voice to a minimum. Any moment now, he’d lose his grip, and Hongjoong was too far away.

Dark, cold eyes landed on him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Seonghwa knew he’d only dredged up a memory, but he waited patiently nonetheless, fingers brushing Hongjoong’s as he climbed lower and strained to reach him.

Distantly, he registered the scene playing out; others below yelling at them to stop, Hongjoong instructing Seonghwa to jump.

Grunting with effort, he released the wall and pushed off, flying for a moment as freely as he had that first day he set foot on the ATEEZ, before Hongjoong’s hand found his and he was snatched from the jaws of death just in time.

Hongjoong cried out as he caught him, the sudden pressure on his arm reopening the gunshot wound in his shoulder.

“What— you were shot,” Seonghwa heard himself say aloud while he tried to stop from swinging back and forth.

He was slipping on Hongjoong’s blood again, falling through his fingers no matter how hard the other tried to pull him up.

“Don’t let go,” Seonghwa cried, a different plea than he had made in the moment. Any rational thought was now banished at the sight of sticky, trailing blood, primal fear invading his senses as he felt himself slip again.

The blood won out in the end, and Hongjoong lost his grip, but this time they didn’t swim through murky water and crawl their way out to the sunlight.

Falling through the abyss while the scream was snatched from his lungs, Seonghwa snapped awake and stumbled out of bed.

His hammock swung gently in the dark from the momentum and the boatswain tightened his grip on it to calm his breathing.

The floorboards were cold and a glance outside the stained glass windows at the night sky explained why. It was snowing.

A sharp gasp from the bed on the other side of the cabin distracted him, and Seonghwa found his feet moving of his own accord, going to see who had made the noise.

There was Hongjoong, muttering in his sleep as he thrashed around in a nightmare of his own.

Knowing by now that there was nothing he could do until his captain awoke, Seonghwa silently padded to the galley and began preparing the tea.

Ever since Jongho had joined with his tempestuous dreams and disturbing prophecies, the infirmary had sleeping draught in stock to coax him back from the edge of nightmares, although now the stores were dwindling as they ambled north to rid him of his curse.

Admonishing himself for spending everything on hearty foods and warm furs for the arctic instead of buying more ingredients in Geobugi, Seonghwa returned to the cabin with a steaming cup of tea, sleeping draught mixed into the chamomile.

Sitting on the edge of the bed and watching Hongjoong finally jolt awake, a realisation began growing in the back of Seonghwa’s mind that he was, in fact, still dreaming.

He refused to admit it to himself, and placed the teacup in Hongjoong’s hands as he sat up and froze in surprise.

“What… what’s this?”

“I made myself some tea,” Seonghwa lied offhandedly. “Didn’t feel like finishing it. You can have the rest.”

Too frightened to express any concern verbally, he sat there until the cup was drained, taking it from Hongjoong’s hands before he dropped it and guiding the captain’s head to rest on his shoulder when it was clear the draught had begun taking effect.

“That’s not just tea,” Hongjoong mumbled while he fought the pull of sleep. “It’s the medicine, Jongho’s medicine, isn’t it? We’re almost out of it and he’ll forget you next, you shouldn’t have…”

Seonghwa shushed him and pulled the blanket up again. Hongjoong wouldn’t remember it in the morning, and even if he did, he couldn’t stay angry for long.

A chill swept through the curtains and despite Seonghwa’s efforts to warm them both up, the body beside him was growing increasingly cold.

He could feel himself waking up, and again he refused.

The room was becoming hazy, the dream bleeding away into waking life but Seonghwa held on, tears filling his eyes in distress.

“How many times will I have to lose you?” He whispered hoarsely, knuckles white as he clung on to the fabric of the blanket, to the feeling of his dream. There was a pounding noise somewhere outside that slowly registered as knocking.

Hongjoong tilted his head, shifting it from Seonghwa’s shoulder in confusion. He was only a figment of his imagination who didn’t know he was disappearing even now.

“You could never lose me.”

The tears spilled over and Seonghwa was suddenly afraid he would die again right then and there, that perhaps it was the tea that poisoned him, Seonghwa who had killed him—

“Don’t… don’t close your eyes,” he begged, voice raw with pain that had been buried for months. “You have to live, I can’t take care of them on my own!”

Hongjoong shook his head and chuckled at him, as if amused that Seonghwa would ever think he needed to take care of the crew by himself.

This ghost from the past had no idea what he’d done to them in the present, not even when the knocking grew and Jongho’s voice sounded from the door.

“Hyung?”

“No!” Seonghwa protested angry now. “No, I can’t do this! Please!”

“Hyung!”

He opened his eyes and Jongho was shaking him.

“There you are,” the younger boy sighed when he finally met his gaze. “Are you alright? You were screaming.”

It was night still, and Seonghwa was drenched in sweat and tears, slowly sitting up to console Jongho that things were fine.

“Just a nightmare.”

Still hardly able to breathe, he shifted the focus off of himself with a question, “What are you doing up at this hour?”

No one else was in the captain’s cabin, with Mingi confined to the infirmary at night on the doctor’s orders.

“It was my watch,” Jongho answered simply, slowly as if he were speaking to a child. “Yours is next, that’s why I’m here.”

Usually Seonghwa would scold him for his sass, but tonight he said nothing and walked away, throwing on a robe and stepping outside the cabin.

That was the signal to Jongho that something was wrong.

“It was a bad dream, wasn’t it?”

He followed the boatswain belowdecks to the galley where he began making tea out of habit, treading carefully with his words.

“Not particularly,” Seonghwa answered, but his heart wasn’t in the response, regardless of the fact that it was technically true.

He’d had worse nightmares since that day.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Pausing where he hung the kettle over the fire, Seonghwa considered it but decided against. All the guilt and anguish accumulated since the execution were neatly packed away to deal with on his own, and the fact that they burst through the seams in his sleep didn’t mean he was losing his grip on his emotions.

“Is everything alright?” Jongho asked again, quieter this time, when Seonghwa neglected to answer the first question. He seated himself at the table and folded his hands patiently, ready to listen.

“Things are fine,” Seonghwa brushed it off, pouring hot water into his cup as soon as it was ready and listing all the reasons when it became apparent Jongho wouldn’t accept his answer. “Repairs are underway, everyone’s injuries are healing, the messenger bird has been sent to the Stardust, and soon we’ll be meeting them at Ama.”

Outwardly, things were actually improving for once and no trouble had found them in their secluded lagoon.

Inwardly, it was a different story.

Seonghwa felt lonely. There was a chasm in his heart and it ached terribly.

“You don’t have to hold everything together you know,” Jongho pointed out with a gentle hum, already more aware of the real issue than he should be.

“I couldn’t if I wanted to,” Seonghwa scoffed, still trying to divert the younger’s attention. “The ship breaks apart at the drop of a hat. It’s like she’s… unhappy.”

“You know that’s not what I mean,” Jongho cut him off, firmness in his gaze even while his tone remained soft. “What’s been going on with you?”

Finally dropping into a chair and downing half of his tea in one swig, Seonghwa accepted the inevitable. There was no getting out of this conversation. Jongho was too observant.

“It’s the dreams, Jongho,” he sighed heavily. “They’re not like the ones you used to have, they-they don’t come true. Sometimes, I wish they did. Just so I could speak with him again.”

Shaking his head with frustration at himself, Seonghwa hid the tears springing to his eyes behind another gulp of his drink.

“That’s not a burden you need on top of so many others, hyung,” Jongho argued, persistent in his attempts to make eye contact with the increasingly agitated Seonghwa.

Hot blooded anger coursed through his veins, bitterness at Hongjoong for abandoning him like Mother had years ago. Like it seemed everyone always did, even when he promised himself not to get attached.

This was why he never settled down. This was why he held everyone at arm’s distance now.

“Can anything be heavier than the burden I already bear?” He ground out hoarsely, finally looking up and into Jongho’s deep brown eyes, terrifying him deeply. “I was there that day Jongho. I was there and I let him die, alone.”

Jongho couldn’t keep his eyes from watering at this admission, and needed a moment to turn away and breathe deeply before scooting his chair closer to pull Seonghwa into his arms.

Ever since he’d joined the crew, he wasn’t one for initiating physical affection, but slowly his walls had been broken down as he’d received more and more, especially from Seonghwa. There was nothing else for Jongho to do now, except to hold him tightly in return and fight to keep the tears out of his voice.

“You’ve been so strong,” he whispered. “So strong, hyung.”

A sob was caught in Seonghwa’s throat as he clung on, suddenly feeling very small again.

“But I failed.”

“No one believes that,” Jongho insisted. “Please listen to me; this wasn’t your fault. Guilt will consume you like it consumed me when I thought I had killed Wooyoung and Yeosang, and I can’t bear to see it. You don’t deserve this pain.”

At this Seonghwa cried, finally releasing the emotions he’d fought so hard to keep from showing around the others. There was still the smallest worry in his mind that Jongho would think less of him for letting it out, but the younger boy simply rubbed his back and muttered quiet assurances.

“You don’t need to pretend for our sakes, I mean that,” Jongho’s voice broke through gently.

“It’s been so long,” Seonghwa hiccupped, blinking red-rimmed eyes as he looked up at Jongho. “Why can’t I move on?”

“I don’t think any of us have moved on,” came the response, honest and raw even though it appeared in a lost whisper. “We’re doing our best. Please, say you’ll be here, together with us.”

Jongho needed him. All the officers did. They were traumatised, each of them, and Seonghwa wouldn’t leave them alone to the darkness of their minds. There was no chance of overcoming those feelings by themselves.

And so he nodded, and wiped Jongho’s budding tears for him before the favour was returned.

“He visits you in your dreams, doesn’t he?” The younger boy asked, a knowing lilt to his voice.

Seonghwa nodded. A shadow at least, often only the image of him, sometimes haunting and sometimes merely a memory.

“Me too. We have to cherish it, hyung,” Jongho declared, cupping Seonghwa’s face in his hands. “The fact that we can be together somewhere, if not in waking life.”

___

Yeosang wasn’t sure how long he’d dozed off when he opened his bleary eyes to see the grey world around him. He was in someone’s lap, and Hongjoong was stroking his hair and humming something mindlessly.

At least, he thought it was Hongjoong. A few blinks later, he realised he was correct.

The captain’s white hair had dried and the buttons of his navy uniform were undone, but it was most certainly him and when he noticed Yeosang was awake, he stopped singing and smiled down at him.

“Welcome back. Feeling alright?”

“Hm,” Yeosang tested out his voice before responding, a bit hoarse. “Better. You?”

Hongjoong pressed his lips together and looked away, merely humming in response.

Yeosang exhaled through his nose and let his eyes fall shut again. He hadn’t been entirely truthful, as the light was still bothering him, but the lessened pain could be attributed to the fact that the sun was setting, and he’d now slept the day away.

Again, Hongjoong’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Are you shivering?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Yeosang frowned, even as he realised he was, in fact, trembling quite violently. “I’m soaked to the bone.”

Regardless of how long he’d slept there, the dampness of his clothes hadn’t lessened. Perhaps because they were lying in the shade, under one of the last palm trees left on this stretch of beach.

“Wet officers’ uniforms will get us nowhere in enemy territory,” Hongjoong pointed out, unfastening his collar and peeling it away.

“So shall we use palm leaves to make new ones?” Wooyoung snorted, entering Yeosang’s field of vision briefly and squeezing his shoulder.

“No, I don’t think we’ll want coats now anyway,” Hongjoong muttered, knowing the question was in jest but answering anyway as it raised another problem. “It’s entirely too hot.”

A moment of quiet passed by, and Yeosang’s eyes almost closed of their own accord again. The pounding in his head had started to return, and even though Hongjoong’s hand continued to card through his hair rhythmically, there was a stickiness in it that made Yeosang wonder if his head wound was bleeding again.

If he faded into the memory, it was Wooyoung’s hand wiping away the blood and dirt— his good hand, not the broken one— and Hongjoong was absent from his cell, being interrogated someplace where his cries wouldn’t escape the stone room. Guilt settled in the pit of Yeosang’s stomach and he began to understand why his captain had played the piano and filtered out his own screams.

If he let himself relive the dungeon on Namhae, his mind was again wholly consumed with the dread of seeing Admiral Kim next, when the lieutenants tired of beating them, unable to glean any information whether they flogged, drowned, or starved the pair. And in the end he had been freed, and Wooyoung with him, because of one little mark on his skin that once had branded him an outcast and now set him apart as untouchable.

Yeosang forced himself back to the present, where voices were creating a plan. As much of one as they could create in the middle of nowhere with next to nothing.

“We should hide in the jungle,” Hongjoong said regretfully, as if he had considered all other options first and come up empty. “The Crow is here somewhere. I don’t fancy being recaptured.”

A chill passed through Yeosang again, not from the damp uniform this time, and Hongjoong held him tighter until it was gone.

The Crow was here somewhere. Admiral Kim was here. Either alive or dead, and Yeosang much preferred the latter.

The thought of spending his days in the musty depths of that ship again was a harrowing one. Yeosang had no idea how Hongjoong had survived alone down there for months before he and Wooyoung had come, but he’d rather not repeat the experience either way.

Surviving on their own, washed up on a foreign island that had been stricken by the ocean almost upon their arrival, was likely the better alternative.

At the very least, they knew they would have Hongjoong’s experience to help them.

“Can you walk?” The captain asked, and Yeosang nodded in answer, head merely shifting up and down against Hongjoong’s chest, before confirming with his body.

Sensing that he had agreed prematurely, Wooyoung came to help him stand and, supported between the two of them, Yeosang got to his feet and steadied himself.

Murky seawater was draining away, and the ground grew firmer as they moved uphill. Trees were more densely packed and the smell of the earth intensified.

Yeosang’s senses heightened as they fully entered the jungle, the sight of the ocean behind cut off from view for the first time since he’d left his mansion at Bundam.

“Let’s get that coat off you,” Hongjoong offered, passing most of Yeosang’s weight to Wooyoung and helping him out of the jacket before removing his own and throwing the three of them over a tree branch, where they hopefully wouldn’t be seen.

The sound of fabric ripping came from beside him, and Yeosang turned to see Wooyoung tearing the sleeves of his blouse off. He handed one to Yeosang and one to Hongjoong.

“To use as bandages,” he explained like it was obvious when the pair looked at him in confusion.

Yeosang flashed him a grateful smile while Wooyoung secured the cloth around his head, soaking up the blood and conveniently keeping the sweat out of his eyes as he advanced into the trees.

“Alright, you’re next,” the gunner attempted to convince Hongjoong. “Shirt off, let me bandage you.”

“No, it’s alright, really,” the captain tried to argue back. “We should save the sleeve for when Yeosang soaks through the one you just gave him, he’s bleeding much more than I am.”

While the two went back and forth, Yeosang continued into the jungle, remaining in earshot but curious to see if he could balance on his own.

Using the tree boughs to support him, he moved uphill at a steady pace, concentrating his strength as best as he could.

He glanced back at the others and informed them he was ready to go on, but they were too wrapped up in their conversation to notice.

Yeosang kept moving anyway.

His head was clearing the further he went, perhaps because the constant noise of rushing water was absent.

Instead, there was the quiet hum of forest, not completely unlike the woods back home near the mansion, but wilder in its unfamiliarity and more mysterious the deeper he ventured.

Something caught his attention when the sound of voices had drifted away.

A pile of uniforms, hung over the branch of a tree.

Had he gone in a circle?

When a wave of dizziness hit him the longer he stared at it, he leaned against the tree to catch his breath and considered how he must have arrived there.

Wooyoung and Hongjoong weren’t standing beside it as they had been when Yeosang walked away, and though he couldn’t be certain he’d only walked for a few minutes, there was no way they could have disappeared that quickly.

Inspecting the uniforms closer revealed something unexpected.

They were lieutenant uniforms, decorated with medals and sashes that the lower ranking soldiers didn’t have. So, unless Yeosang had hit his head harder than he thought, these weren’t their uniforms and this wasn’t the same tree.

He sucked down a panicked breath. The officers had survived and were here somewhere. While that was likely good news for the stowaways, it meant the Admiral could be alive as well, which was decidedly not.

“Where is he?”

“Yeosang! Which way did you go?”

Muffled shouts came from the brush behind him, but Yeosang soldiered on without responding, following the trail of discarded clothing— hats, shoes, and blouses littering a newly beaten path through the jungle— and hoped Wooyoung and Hongjoong would follow.

It was like his head was full of cotton, detached from himself and somehow feeling none of the pain as he wandered in the direction everything pointed to. Even the palms were bent away as if beckoning him.

Just up ahead, a particularly large tree had met its match but not fallen. There, cradled in its boughs, were two ships that bled into one as Yeosang blinked the fog away. He must be hallucinating.

A man-of-war had been washed up and stranded there by the tsunami, and as Yeosang stepped closer hesitantly, still hiding behind a palm frond in case he was seen, he caught a glimpse at the colours she had been flying and the name written on the aft.

It was the Black Crow.

___

Taglist: @spoiledmilknoreos @knucklesdeepmingi @serendipityunho @atzjjongbby @ley-writes

A/N: Hello crew mates!!! I’ve just returned from a lovely week by the ocean which helped me get this chapter done so I can finally focus my efforts on the one you’ve all been waiting for (the next one) where all the angst, longing, and situational irony just might come to a head 👀 there are some surprises in store, I promise you that ;)

PSA: If you would consider joining a platonic fic fest, a really cool one called the 8 Makes 1 Family fest is happening this summer (info) and it would be super cool if we got a lot of participants ^^ Let’s birth some new works into the world (myself included)…

Otherwise, thanks so much for waiting and reading this chapter. Only one more in this volume and then on to the LAST!!! 12 chapters in the Treasure series. I’m going to be very emotional. Let me know your favourite part(s), predictions, headcanons, and any other thoughts you have on this chapter in the comments or my twitter and have a nice day/night :) ttyl~

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[cheollipop]

Sorry if I’m late to hard hours. I was trying to think of a prompt and then I was just reminded of this video:

https://twitter.com/intimatespaces/status/1637351238625886209?s=46&t=pEx9ML_AFTWts7to9JdO2w

Reminds me of San bc I feel like he can get so desperate like this that he just hoists you up like this to get right to it. And he’s got the muscles to do it 🥴

nsfw link

first of all, how dare you do this to me. I saw this in the morning and everytime I spotted a solid, vertical surface my mind wandered back to this ask. DO YOU WANT TO FIGHT????

ahem, anyway.

nsfw under the cut—minors dni!

barely through the front door, san threw his keys onto the small table by the entrance and turned around to crash his body into yours, your lips painfully pressing together in a messy battle of teeth and spit.

"sannie, wait," you tried pulling away, but the arm he had around your waist held you flush against his body, his free hand undressing you hastily. "let's go inside first-"

"can't wait. 'need you right now," he mumbled, trailing his lips down to your jawline to suck a bruise there, his hot breath blowing heavily over the skin.

a small squeak escaped through your lips when san's hands gripped the back of your thighs and lifted your bare body. before you could wrap your legs around his waist, he continued hoisting you up his torso until your thighs enveloped his head and your legs dangled off his shoulders, back pressed into the wall.

your fingers instantly gripped his black locks, your body swaying in his hold before he tightened his his hands over your hips.

"s-san, I'm gonna fall!" you protested, trying to keep still.

"you won't fall," his words vibrated on your skin as he pressed feathery kisses over your inner thighs. "trust me, baby. can you do that for me?"

at the sight of his feline eyes looking up at you—all wide and pleading—your head moved on its own, the small nod enough to drive san's face further between your legs.

his lips parted to latch onto your clit, sucking harshly to draw out a surprised moan from above him, his tongue flicking over the hooded nub before pulling away, the hands on your hips sliding down and tightening just under your ass to spread your legs apart. the fingers in his hair tightened, unintentionally pulling him off you as you scrambled to keep your balance.

he looked up at you through lidded eyes, an unamused expression on his face after you'd interrupted him. "I asked you to trust me, didn't I?" a shiver ran through your body when the deep baritone of his voice hit your ear, an embarrassed sound of agreement reverberating through your chest. "you're safe, jagi, I promise. let me make you feel good now, yeah?

"okay," you whispered, and san's lips were on you again, pressing a harsh kiss onto your clit before dipping lower.

his tongue poked out to taste your arousal, groaning deep in his throat before rolling it out fully and licking a stripe up your slit. "taste so fucking good. 'could barely hold back from fucking you in front of everyone at dinner," he mumbled into your cunt, his tongue pushing past your clenching hole the second the last word slipped through his lips.

glimpsing down at the man, his face buried between your legs and his tongue stuffed into your pussy, guttural groans vibrating inside you as your arousal flooded his tastebuds. your eyes trailed over his shoulders, the muscle bulging through his shirt and making way for the strong arms holding you up, the fabric stretched thin around them.

at the brush of his tongue over your g-spot, your eyes rolled to the back of your head and you quickly forgot how high up you were being held, rolling your hips into san's face with the burning need to cum. you were already pent up, san's fleeting touches throughout dinner and on the drive back home enough to have you gushing into the pretty lace panties he'd recklessly stripped you of the second you'd stepped into your shared apartment.

but now his nose was pressing into your clit, his tongue curling inside you until your thighs began to shake around his face. 'cum for sannie,' you could hear him say as he looked up at you, fluttering his eyelashes while he pushed you over the edge.

you came with a cry, your fingers tugging harshly on his hair while he encouraged you to ride his face, strong hands holding you firmly over his shoulders. so you rolled your hips over his tongue—all desperate and needy, pleasure dimming the world around you and sending sparkling waves of heat up your spine. san stayed still and allowed you to take whatever you wanted from him, his cock straining painfully against the material of his pants as he felt you clench around him. when your hips slowed down to a stop, his tongue slipped out of you and moved back to your clit, the small kitten licks he placed over it making your body spasm in his hold.

"one more," you heard him whisper.

staring down the man while he eagerly lapped at your overstimulated cunt, his cock undoubtedly hard and leaking all over the inside of his tight dress pants, your eyes fluttered shut as he guided you through a second orgasm. your body shuddered forcefully in his hands, curling in on yourself as twinges of pain mixed with shockwaves of burning pleasure, violently rushing through you and making you see stars. san's tongue moved slowly over your clit, dipping lower to swallow down the arousal gushing from your pussy before finally pulling away.

you instantly recognized the glimmer of want in his eyes—this was going to be a long night.

[barnesbabee]

𝕯𝖊𝖛𝖎𝖑'𝖘 𝕶𝖎𝖘𝖘 - 𝕾𝖎𝖝

ᴅᴇᴠɪʟ'ꜱ ᴋɪꜱꜱ ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ

ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ - ꜱɪx- ɴᴇxᴛ

ATEEZ ꜱᴇᴏɴɢʜᴡᴀ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

The morning after was much like every other moment with Seonghwa: a mix of confusion, with panic and interest, along with an odd sense of magnetism that pulled you to him.

When you woke up Seonghwa was still asleep, so you shook him awake. His eyes peeled open slowly and he covered them slightly with his arm, to protect them from the sun shining through your white blinds.

"Oh, good morning." Seonghwa said, before shoving his head on the pillow to sleep some more.

His naked back was exposed, and you could see the red marks where his wings grew from. Your fingers traced the marks lightly, curious about the angel's details. You saw something odd, something you had never taken notice of. There was a number on the back of his right shoulder, almost on the bottom of his neck. It was the number 70, and it seemed like it had been burned on his back with burning metal. Your fingers trailed up his back and just when you were about to touch it, he grabbed your wrist.

His arm was twisted in an uncomfortable way, but he still managed to slowly back your hand away from his skin, before letting go and flipping his body around to face you.

"You really don't want me to sleep, huh."

His sleepy smile and half-closed eyes were adorable, and you couldn't believe that was the guy that scared a grown man out of your house the night before.

"What is that? The 70."

"It's my number. Each of us has a number, as a way to identify ourselves, I'm 70."

Seonghwa played with a strand of your hair as he looked up at you with a little spark in his eyes.

You had been drunk the night before, but not drunk enough to not remember the ecstasy he brought you. However, you also vividly remembered his warnings.

"So uh... We're like, bonded now? What does that mean?"

"It means you've been marked by me. If another celestial being were to come down and were near you, they would be able to smell me in you. It's a little odd I know but it's a way of telling them what I've done. It also means angels will be out looking for us soon enough..."

"What!?" You yelled, springing up from the bed.

"There's shit like you coming after me!? A-are they gonna kill me!? Punish me!? Please I just started being able to work again and-" Tears started forming in your eyes and your breath quickened.

Seonghwa stood up slowly and embraced you.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You're safe. You might have a little scare but it will be wiped from your memory right after. We can lie and say you didn't know what I was, I'm the one who's fucked."

You pushed him away just enough so you'd be able to look him in the eye.

"You risked getting punished just to be with me for a while?"

Seonghwa scrunched his nose and nodded.

"Stupid move huh?"

You giggled as he wiped away your tears.

"Yeah, a little."

Seonghwa smiled and kissed your forehead softly as he pulled you closer.

"Every second of it is worth it though."

You slapped his chest for being corny and took him to the kitchen. He offered himself to cook but you didn't really trust someone who had just recently learned how to work a stove to make pancakes.

"So uh..." You started, as you poured down the batter to make your first pancake "What are you, exactly? You said you weren't evil but your wings..."

"I'm neutral. As I told you, my wings became 'stained' when I came down here. I'm not considered a 'good' angel or a bad one. I'm sort of like..."

You looked at him. He averted his gaze and scratched his head. You could tell he was embarrassed to say whatever it was.

"Just say it!"

"Fine, I'm called the Prince of Hell. I'm not a dark angel or whatever, I just command 26 legions of demons. Or did... I doubt they'll let me go back to that. My actual name is Seere, I picked a name that kinda sounded like Seere 'cause if I fucked it up and told someone my name was Seere I could just say it was my nickname. Kinda wanted to blend in... But please don't be scared, I'm not a demon, I just do my job." He pleaded, slowly approaching you with his hands up, as if surrounding himself to you.

You held the spatula closed to your chest, and your face revealed that you were very clearly worried.

"I mean, I trust you, I think that if you wanted to you'd already been killed and you sacrificed yourself to be with me basically but it's still scary."

"What if I do this?"

Seonghwa pouted, puffed his cheeks, and poked them with his index fingers.

Your eyes grew big and you couldn't help but laugh at the big scary angel acting cute for you. Seonghwa smiled and laughed along with you, as he stared at his hands with a blush on his cheeks, embarrassed at his antics.

"It feels stupid but I saw on the TV some dancing guys do this and there were girls screaming. Of happiness, I presumed." He explained.

"It is kinda stupid, but you looked cute."

Seonghwa wrapped his arms around your torso and pulled you close.

"Well not to brag, but the humans do describe me in your sacred texts as a very beautiful man."

"Sounds a lot like bragging to me..." You joked and kissed him softly.

"Hey I've never eaten these pancake things but are they supposed to be black around the edges or?" Seonghwa asked, as he glanced and pointed at the pancake you had forgotten about.

"Oh shit-"

Seonghwa chuckled as you hurriedly removed the pan from the heat and threw the pancake out.

He bent over behind you, so his mouth would be leveled with your ear and whispered in a cocky tone.

"Good thing you didn't let me make them, hm? Wouldn't want to ruin them."

Taglist: @seiiblue​ @potaeto-writes-on-wp@songsoomin@whatudowhennooneseesyou@hjys99 @sansmilkbread (DM or send an Ask if you want to be added)

[atinytokki]

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐥𝐥

Chapter 10: Crossroads Pt. 1 

(Warnings: Violence and blood)

The morning sunshine that filtered through the trees was much softer than the light that blazed through the porthole of Yunho’s room back on the ATEEZ.

Still, he found himself wishing he was waking up in his own comfortable hammock instead of this massive net that dug into his sides and made his neck prick with aches and pains.

As Yunho carefully shifted to stretch his leg, a soft groan from next to him reminded him to check Eden’s wound.

“Is he awake?” Jongho’s whisper from across the net startled him but he shook his head in response.

“I don’t think so. His pulse is so weak.”

It made Yunho bite his lip with worry. Blood had soaked the netting underneath Eden and dripped onto the ground far below. He wondered if it would attract more predators.

“There’s... nothing we can do...” Jongho hiccuped, tears freely rolling down his cheeks.

His gaze was locked on Eden’s face, pale as a sheet with a layer of sweat covering it. The older pirate was unmoving and barely breathed.

So much blood had been lost, it was a fool’s hope to think that he might survive, even if help arrived this instant.

“Eden? Eden, please, just stay with us a little longer,” Yunho shook him gently, paling at how lifeless he was. The bandages had soaked through with blood, even as he rushed to clamp his hand down on the wound.

There was no telling how long he had left.

“I’m sorry, so sorry...” 

Eden’s tired mumbles went on until his eyes twitched open, a faraway look deep within them. “I’m sorry for hiding the truth...”

“What’s he talking about?” Jongho wondered aloud, freeing his limbs from their positions and trying to move closer.

Yunho could only shake his head helplessly. “No idea.”

“It’s alright, Eden,” he directed his words at the fading pirate. “W-We forgive you.”

Jongho was shaking Mingi awake and scrubbing at his face. He wasn’t sure why exactly he was crying so hard. He barely knew Eden, it wasn’t as if he was a particularly sentimental type. 

Mingi stirred from his sleep and quickly pieced together what was happening.

“How do we explain this to Hongjoong?” He said quietly after a few moments had gone by and Eden had fallen unconscious again.

Yunho swallowed his fear and met his gaze, eyes shining with worry nonetheless. 

“Oh, not you lot again.”

An annoyed voice from far below broke their melancholy spell. It was the woman they had come here in search of, crossing her arms and glowering up at them. She looked exactly the same as she always did, beautiful and ageless, with a glint of amusement in her eyes. “What are you doing up there?”

Jongho spluttered and craned his neck to catch a glimpse of the witch. “Well, excuse me, but—”

“Thank the heavens,” Yunho cut him off, gripping the net with one hand and clutching Eden with his other. “We really need your help.”

... 

Wooyoung bit back the instinct to complain as he hoisted San’s unconscious form onto his back for the trek to the old seaside carpentry shop.

He and Yeosang had confirmed that the old couple’s house was above it, just as San said it would be, and the least dangerous way to get San there was to knock him out and carry him with them.

So Wooyoung kept his grunts to a minimum and led the way up the dirt path.

He and Yeosang were again elected to be the spokesmen for the little group, and with a deep breath, Yeosang drew up to his full height and knocked to the door.

Whatever this was, it had better work.

“Just a moment! I’ll be right there.”

The voice of a young woman floated down from the second story and Wooyoung’s shoulders relaxed. This must be his sister.

The door squeaked open to reveal a bright-eyed lady probably around their age, who immediately took on an expression of horror at the sight of a sleeping San draped across Wooyoung’s back.

“Oh my, is he alright? Can I help at all? Would you like to bring him inside?”

Her rush of concern had Wooyoung wishing he had a quicker tongue or at least a backup plan and then throwing a questioning glance back at Hongjoong.

Hongjoong tilted his head.

It was almost imperceptible, but to Wooyoung, it was a clear order.

Don’t bring him inside. There’s too much at risk.

Wooyoung cleared his throat and smiled at her before taking a slight step back.

“Actually, I’ll stay out here with him. The, uh, the sea air will... benefit his health.”

It was a poor excuse and Wooyoung had to strain to keep the cringe off his face but the woman nodded seriously and opened the door wider for the others.

Yeosang smoothly took over the talking. “You must be surprised to have a group of strangers turn up like this on your doorstep! We don’t mean to intrude, but San has always talked about going back to see his sister and—“

“Sister?”

Yeosang faltered at the pure cluelessness in her voice. Had they come to the wrong house?

“You’re San’s sister, aren’t you?” Seonghwa asked quietly.

For a moment, recognition washed over her face and then she smiled, leading them upstairs to a living room area and motioning for them to sit while she explained.

“Oh! No, no I’m not. I’m the new owner of this shop, I’ve been planning to turn it into a bookstore actually. But I was warned by the old couple who lived here prior that a certain Choi San might drop by one day. None of you would happen to be him, would you?”

Yeosang’s mouth opened and closed until Seonghwa swooped in again to save him. “Pardon me, but, was there a young woman with this old couple? Did she move off the island too?”

The lady took a seat and a thoughtful frown formed on her face, brows pinched together as she tried to remember.

“No, actually... there was a young lady but...” Here she looked up at them and shook her head. “That lady died. Her death was the reason they sold this place.”

Yeosang felt a chill wash over him.

San’s sister was dead then.

He exchanged a warning glance with Seonghwa and Hongjoong both before politely smiling and getting to his feet.

The young woman started after them, stuttering something about offering them tea, but Yeosang gracefully cut her off.

“My apologies, we really don’t want to bother you,” he turned on his most charming smile and bowed as the others exited behind him. “The person we were looking for seems to be gone.”

“I’m sorry,” the woman said, sincerity shining in her eyes as she bowed back and showed them to the door. “Feel free to come back if you need anything at all.”

The moment the door was shut, Yeosang couldn’t hold back his sigh.

Wooyoung had been waiting, and quickly stood, pulling up a semi-conscious San who had been laying on the grass next to him. “Finished already?” 

Seonghwa cleared his throat and answered him even as his eyes lingered on San.

“We have some bad news.”

...

The temple looked exactly as Mingi remembered it.

Reddish-orange wood beams masterfully assembled into a high pagoda, a bright beacon that stood out in contrast to the surrounding foliage, and the majestic waterfall that stole their glances to the cliffside. It was as breathtaking as it was when they had been there last, a group of six.

Nothing about this place had changed, but Mingi felt as if he were different.

“How have you been?” He asked awkwardly, clearing his throat when the woman didn’t seem to hear him.

“Well, as good as can be expected. One of my cats was killed last night.”

Jongho blinked as he realised what the mystic was hinting at.

“So the jaguars are yours?”

She turned around and smiled at him. “They protect the island, yes.”

“You have magical powers,” Mingi scoffed, mostly to himself. “What do you need guardian beasts for?”

The woman’s smile fell and she ascended the steps gracefully, ushering them in. “My eyes are often elsewhere,” she said simply.

She gestured to a sofa in the main room and went about gathering things from the adjacent pantries while Yunho laid Eden down as gently as he could, trying not to jostle his leg. He listened for the shallow breaths he had come to recognise and exhaled with relief when they came on schedule.

“I’ve been following the proceedings of the royal family from my watchtower,” the woman mentioned. “I didn’t know of your arrival here, so I apologise for the hasty actions of my cats. Although, to be fair, it’s been a long time since anyone has taken the eastern path.” Here, she stuck her head back out to smirk at Mingi.

“Why are you here, boys?” She finally asked, returning to them with all her medical herbs and supplies.

Mingi and Yunho glanced at each other, thinking the same thing. Where do we even start?

“You remember San?”

The mystic hummed in agreement, even as she whispered some chant and rubbed an unfamiliar substance into Eden’s wound. He didn’t stir from his slumber.

“Well,” Jongho took over the explaining. “He’s possessed and we need your help banishing the demon.” He went to hand her his little book of incantations but it was waved away while she continued to sprinkle a mysterious powder over the wound.

“He showed no interest in dark magic when I saw him last, as a new officer on your ship,” she responded, still somewhat distracted with Eden. “What happened?”

Jongho sighed and turned the small book over in his hands. “He got mixed up with Babylon’s spellbook and summoned the demon accidentally.”

“I’m surprised you don’t already know about this,” Yunho mumbled. “What with your crystal ball and your prophecies and your watchtower and everything...”

“Demons are exceptional at disguise,” she tossed back over her shoulder as she stirred various wild plants and substances into a jar. “I knew Babylon was stirring up trouble, I didn’t know about this particular development.”

“There’s a chant in here,” Jongho explained, bringing forth the book again. “None of us can read it so we thought to ask you...”

“Why didn’t you simply bring him here?” She interjected.

Mingi sighed. That would have been the preferred alternative, but this was their best chance, he had to keep reminding himself.

“The demon was threatening to kill him,” he said softly. “San bought us some time by setting out for Namhae. They’ll arrive in about a week and a half.”

The mystic halted her stirring and sighed, mumbling something to herself. “I’ll search for him later,” she decided, transferring the contents of the jar into a mug and motioning for Yunho to prop Eden up. “Make sure he drinks all of this. He’s been on death’s doorstep for a few hours now. It’s a miracle death hasn’t come to collect him yet.”

Yunho nodded and watched her bandage the leg wound with clean cloth. “There are rooms for you to rest in through there,” the woman pointed out past a balcony to an upper wing of the temple. “Rest while I gather my resources. What you ask of me is no simple magic trick.”

All three of them nodded and graciously thanked her before following her directions, Yunho keeping an eye on Eden should he regain enough consciousness to drink his medicine.

There was a balcony with a view to the waterfall, and its misty spray was sweetly scented in a way that reminded them of their island in the east. An unclaimed utopia they could lose themselves in.

Jongho sunk into one of the plush beds that waited for them, his long, uncomfortable night in the net catching up with him. Still, something was on his mind.

“Why does it feel like we’re sacrificing San for Eden?”

Mingi looked up from where he was emptying his bag. He had found it hard to ignore the same thought, but sighed and resumed unpacking. “We’re still days ahead of the ATEEZ, don’t worry.”

“And besides,” Yunho smiled over at him. “We can trust the mystic. She’ll do what she can for both of them.”

The trio quickly learned that time worked differently on the island. A few hours’ nap lasted until sunset, and Mingi was startled to have slept the entire day away in what felt like no time at all, but the woman reassured them when she entered with plates of food that it was normal to have to adjust to the fleeting notion of time. 

Still, it made him anxious to know what had been discovered about San while he was out like a light.

“It was easy to find San due to the concentration of mystical energy around him,” she reported, settling in a chair and watching Eden intently. He still hadn’t woken. “But I can’t cast a spell on him if he’s not in one place.”

Yunho froze in the middle of chewing his bite of fish. “You... what?”

“He’s currently in motion,” she tried to explain, sighing at the difficulty of it. “Sending a spell to someone while he sails... it could go terribly wrong. It has in the past.”

“So this was pointless then?” Jongho moaned, the bread fisted in his hand looking decidedly less appetising.

“No, there is still something I can do,” the woman smiled at him and tilted her head towards her watchtower. “I’ll call up the incantations now, remotely, and when the time is right they will come into effect.”

Yunho scoffed at this. “When the time is right?”

“Yunho, is it? Clearly you know nothing of the rules of sorcery. Rarely are solutions so simple,” she shook her head with amusement. “I need the cooperation of whatever part of San is left. This spell locks onto human emotion, and if San regains enough control over his emotions to activate it, the demon will be banished from him.”

Silence stretched over them. Somewhere deep down, they all knew it would come back to San.

He had summoned the demon, and it was his responsibility to drive it out.

But Yunho would not let this trip be in vain. “San’s emotional enough, that’s for sure,” Yunho smirked, trying to raise their spirits with a pinch of optimism. “He’ll present the right opportunity soon.”

But this meant they had to wait. And waiting was not something they were good at.

It was a week and a half of flipping through books that didn’t make much sense to them, watching Eden sleep and waiting for him to wake (the mystic said he had to be convinced), exploring the immediate area of the island but pointedly avoiding the “cats”, and sleeping off as much time as possible.

Time was swinging over their heads as anxiety pounded into them.

Every day, the mystic checked San’s position, and every day the answer was the same; at sea. No development. It was a blessing and a curse.

Until one morning, when the mystic shook them awake and summoned them to her watchtower. The crystal ball pulsed on the table in front of her.

“I’ve found him. He was sleeping soundly for awhile but has last awoken. Now his soul is... it’s in agony.”

Mingi spluttered at the choice of words. “What? Agony?”

“He is experiencing extreme sadness, the strength of which is temporarily overpowering the evil entity in his body,” the woman returned like it was obvious.

“You can overpower a demon with negative emotions, too?” Jongho whispered, fascinated, before quieting again so the woman could continue.

“If both of us try hard enough,” the mystic promised, eyes glazing over as she prepared to begin. “Yes.”

...

San didn’t know what to expect, but it was not this.

Wooyoung’s face appeared, separating the fog in his mind, and his lips were moving. The sound reached San but he blocked out the rest of it because he did not want to know what followed those heartbreaking words.

More heads popped up, Yeosang’s concerned eyes and Seonghwa’s pained expression, but San couldn’t focus over the ringing in his head.

Someone was screaming and it sounded like the voice of the demon, but when he paused he noticed his voice was raw.

It flashed white hot and then burned him, a molten pain that ripped his insides apart. He was separating the demon from himself.

A new voice came to him, whispering in his head, and he was tempted to throw it out too but he hadn’t heard this one before and it was a friendly, encouraging presence.

I’m with you, she said. Keep fighting, you’re almost there.

When he opened his eyes again, Hongjoong was in front of him, pulling him off the main road and into a cluster of trees. His eyes darted around, afraid someone would hear screams and be curious.

“It’s... I’m almost...” San choked on his words, inhaling sharply at another pain in his head. “He’s almost gone.”

He didn’t see their reaction to this declaration, eyes rolling back in his head as the fight in his mind intensified.

The demon was being snuffed out, his resistance weakening and his assets spread thin. 

His trembling voice promised everything San could ever ask for if he only let him live, let him stay. Simultaneously, San could feel him trying to jump out and into someone else even as his presence was ground to dust.

San clung on to whoever’s hand was in his and remained firm. The blackness drained from his veins as he hammered down again and again on the demon. He wasn’t banishing it, he was destroying it.

Aided by a sudden surge of energy, the help of an outside spell being granted to him, he swung his blade down on it one last time, the agony of its dying scream escaping through his own mouth and the pain rendering him unconscious.

Yeosang rubbed his arm until he awoke.

Tears were on his face, and they flowed freely as he grasped each of them in a hug. Save for his own sobs and the gentle ambiance of the seaside, things were quiet. San had never been so grateful for the quiet in all his life.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Seonghwa whispered into his ear as he held him tightly, blindfold cast into the wind without a care.

San could only nod against him and cry harder. He had missed everyone, more than he could bear.

“Drinks are on me,” Hongjoong said with a bright smile as he pulled away. The road back to the inn was quiet but bursting with joy. San was among them again— mind, body and soul. The serene contentment that had settled over them would not be disturbed. Not for now, at least.

It was one thing at a time when they pulled up their chairs around the table they had claimed in the corner of the pub. San was famished, probably thanks to the demon stealing any of his enjoyment out of the food he had consumed while possessed. 

When he slowed down enough to look around at the faces of the people around him, it gave him pause.

“Everything alright?” Wooyoung prompted carefully. He kept looking at him like he was afraid he might get struck by lightning suddenly. That probably wasn’t going away any time soon.

“Yes, I was just remembering,” San responded after a moment. “Drinking together after your promotion. We were wasted but you told us your story, and I told you mine.” It seemed like ages ago now.

His face fell as he let the loss of his noona wash over him again.

“Haneul... she’s really gone, isn’t she?”

Yeosang met his eyes and hummed in response. “I’m so sorry for your loss. The woman living there says your grandparents moved away. Maybe we can track them down somehow at least...”

San’s eyes misted over and he gazed forlornly into his cup. “I think I’ve known for a while, deep down. She was marked for death ever since I was a child, but... but why couldn’t she have waited for me? I got the money for her medicine now, maybe she would have survived.”

Seonghwa rubbed his back tenderly as soon as tears began to roll down his cheeks again. “It wasn’t your fault,” he soothed him. “You did everything you could, San.”

Everyone at the table agreed.

When San crawled into bed and Yeosang and Wooyoung both crawled in with him, he finally let the floodgates of his emotions open.

A small smile remained on his face as he drifted off. It was a messy outpour of feelings, but he hadn’t felt anything in so long, he would allow himself this night. 

...

It was nearing midnight, but Yunho felt compelled to open his eyes.

It wasn’t because of San. The mystic had assured the trio that he had won his battle and vanquished the demon, so that couldn’t be it.

“It’s Eden,” her voice floated to him from the other side of the room as he rose and groped for a robe to cover himself with. She was so calming somehow that she hadn’t startled him by answering his silent question, but she beckoned him over just as urgently as she’d awoken him. “He’s awake.”

“What took him so long?” Jongho whispered as he rose.

“Eden is still young in body, but his soul is old and wearied. I think part of him wanted to keep sleeping.”

“Why now, then?” Mingi asked, scratching the back of his head. The three approached Eden’s bed quietly but full of anticipation.

The mystic turned to him and smiled. There was a twinkle in her eye, even through the blue veil of midnight.

“Your presence gives him hope.”

With that, she swept away to mix another drink for her patient, and the boys directed their attention on Eden.

His face contorted with pain as his eyes blinked open. Yunho rushed to offer him the drink, and Eden relaxed as he sipped it and strength gradually returned to him.

“We made it?” He finally croaked out.

Jongho chuckled and slapped Mingi on the back, a little harder than he was bracing himself for. “Mingi saved you,” he explained. “And defeated the beast.”

Mingi blushed at the praise and Eden’s eyes on him. “It didn’t do much for you in the end. We were stuck in a net the whole night.”

“I remember,” Eden hummed softly as it came back to him. “How long have I been out?”

“Just over a week,” Yunho sighed. “Although it doesn’t feel like it. Time passes strangely in this place.”

Eden nodded. He had visited before and the hazy blend of days was no surprise to him.

“When we came with Hongjoong-hyung we barely stayed a couple of hours,” Mingi pointed out.

“San? Is he...?”

“Taken care of,” Jongho told him quickly. “The demon was destroyed and he’s himself again. We were only waiting on you.”

A flash of guilt passed over his face and he sunk lower into the cushions. “You did well,” he finally said, a heaviness to his voice. His eyelids drooped lethargically and in a moment he was asleep again.

A universal sigh was released as Eden stilled and returned to his dreams. They had never even broached the subject of whether he would be able to walk again, but there was some comfort in the fact that he was alive and with them.

Fireflies glowed in the air outside the balcony and Yunho peeked behind the shade to watch them float, sailing up and down invisible waves of their own.

While it was this peaceful, Yunho couldn’t help but wonder what was on the horizon.

...

Just like usual, Hongjoong was half asleep on the floor with a hand on his gun concealed by his pillow.

Something twinged in the back of his mind, tickling his senses and sending him bolt upright. Immediately he conducted a headcount.

San, Wooyoung, and Yeosang were all tangled up in a mess of limbs, squeezing onto a single bed having fallen asleep holding each other.

Hongjoong didn’t resist the small smile that appeared on his face as he watched them breathe deeply, lost to the world but safe in slumber.

Then he looked for Seonghwa.

His bed was empty. 

Silently, Hongjoong stood and approached it, just to be sure. The blankets were all disheveled, as if they had just been thrown off for a trip to the outhouse or a midnight snack.

Seonghwa’s bag was still there, leaned against a small table. So he intended to return.

But his gun was missing.

Hongjoong didn’t want to pry, not when it came to Seonghwa’s brother and his complicated heritage. But he had taken his gun and gone alone. Which meant he might need help.

He holstered his own gun and crept downstairs to see a single attendant waiting, half-asleep, at the desk for late night travellers. 

“Did a member of my company leave just now?” He asked, approaching the desk and suppressing his smirk at the way the man started awake and stared at him in surprise.

“Oh, y-yes, a young man your age. He took a room key and said he would be back.”

Hongjoong had figured as much, so he nodded and retreated back upstairs to wake the others.

What was Seonghwa thinking, sneaking off to meet the crown prince when he knew the others would support him and come if he asked?

Hongjoong didn’t get a chance to consider it any further before half a dozen bullets blasted through the window, shattering it with a deafening bang and tearing holes in the curtains.

Hongjoong pressed his back to the door and drew his weapon. A few more steps and he would’ve been riddled with holes himself.

With a whirlwind speed, Wooyoung tumbled out of bed and drew up next to the window, out of sight of their unseen enemies, but close enough to return fire.

Hongjoong mirrored him on the other side of the window, but not before checking that San and Yeosang were alright.

They had dove off the other side of the bed and hurriedly loaded their own guns.

“How many?” San called, poking his head up over the bed. It was impossible to tell who was even firing at them through the mess of cloth and glass that was the window.

Wooyoung grabbed the bottom of the tattered curtains and yanked, pulling down the entire rod and leaning out of the way of the bullets that shot through, embedding themselves in the wall.

He swivelled and returned fire. Both shots missed, but they hadn’t been meant for anyone in particular. He turned back around once he had seen what he had to.

“Fifteen.”

San blanched. “Who sold us out?”

“I paid all the dock hands off,” Yeosang insisted. “It can’t have been any of them.” 

“I don’t think you paid them enough, Yeosang,” San quipped, vaulting over the bed and joining Wooyoung.

The sudden motion was detected and another wave of ammunition was fired through the hole that was the window.

Yeosang leaned out from behind the bed and fired three rounds blind in quick succession. Judging from the screams, at least one hit its mark.

“Well done,” Hongjoong praised, impressed that Yeosang’s marksmanship had improved so much. 

“Seonghwa?” Yeosang asked haltingly as soon as he had surveyed the room fully.

“He just left the building,” Hongjoong reported, taking aim at the right flank of men he could see from his vantage point and firing. “I asked the innkeeper.”

“Seonghwa...” Yeosang repeated, a lilt of realisation in his voice. “It was him, he must have been seen leaving the inn. Why else would they choose now to attack us?”

Hongjoong jumped to deny it, but he had a point. The Admiral would never have waited to pounce. The moment he knew they were in his grasp, he would catch them. They had enough of of a history that he knew not to play with them.

A bullet grazed Wooyoung’s ear while he reloaded and he sunk lower with a gasp. That was too close.

“We can’t take them, Captain,” he asserted. “There are too many and we’re sitting ducks.”

Hongjoong knew he was right, but he returned fire and took out three of them consecutively before addressing it.

“San, do you still carry Babylon’s spellbook pages?”

San fumbled through his pockets until he felt the edges of parchment in his fingers.

Slowly, he nodded. He had promised himself never to use them again, but he had no choice but to grasp them and flinch at the familiarity.

“Is there anything in there that might help us?”

“You’re going to call for help,” Yeosang realised, ducking when a volley of fire sent a particularly large glass shard his direction.

“Yes, I can do it,” San confirmed, leaning over Wooyoung to take out the soldier who grazed him. “Not in the middle of this racket, though.”

“Then run,” Hongjoong ordered. “Get out of town, and get it done. We’ll cover you.”

San bit his lip and glanced at the other two, who nodded him on without hesitation.

This was the only option.

So San holstered his gun while Hongjoong and Wooyoung unleashed fire on the men below and swiftly crossed the window, moving so quickly he was barely a visible flash before he was gone.

“Don’t get shot!” He yelled back, closing the door behind him.

...

The crown prince’s temporary residence was at the highest point on the island, but it was only a short walk from the inn.

Seonghwa didn’t question his luck when the entrance was only guarded by a chatty pair of men who didn’t notice the shadow slipping past them, but he kept his footfalls silent and his senses alert when he reached Junhee’s bedroom.

He had done his fair share of stealthy break-ins as a teenager.

A curtain separated the sleeping prince from the rest of the world.

Seonghwa silently slid the door shut behind him and cleared his throat quietly. He didn’t want Junhee panicking and summoning the guards on him.

This adventure would be ended quickly if that happened.

“I’ve come home, hyung,” he whispered.

The curtain swung open suddenly and Junhee gaped at him. “What is the meaning of this? Guards—“

“No, wait!” Seonghwa leapt forward and covered the prince’s mouth before he could say any more. “Listen to me first.”

Junhee threw him off and backed up into the curtain. “You’re addressing the crown prince,” he sputtered. “Show the proper respect.”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Seonghwa sighed, hands raised placatingly. “But you’ve been looking for me, haven’t you?”

Junhee’s brow furrowed and his hand stopped where it had been reaching for his sword. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s me,” Seonghwa whispered, surprised at how the words choked him. He hadn’t practiced but then again, this wasn’t the kind of conversation you could practice for. “It’s your little brother.”

Junhee’s face darkened. “You think you’re the first to come claiming to have been stolen from the palace? You’re lying.”

“I’m not, I swear,” Seonghwa pleaded with him, falling to his knees to show he meant no harm at all. “Why do you choose this moment not to see what you’ve been looking for, when it’s right in front of you?”

“I followed his trail,” Junhee said bitterly, tears gathering in his eyes. He backed away even more, as if scared of the person who knelt in front of him. “He died at sea, on a merchant’s ship.”

“No, he survived,” Seonghwa cried, reaching out his hand. “He’s right here in front of you.”

Something shone in Junhee’s eyes. Something that said he wanted to believe it.

“Show me,” he said.

Seonghwa swallowed. He had been stolen at five. There was hardly any knowledge only he could have of his brother or the royal family. He had grown up a commoner with his nurse for his mother.

And then he remembered something she had told him.

“You gave me this scar, hyung,” he gasped, pushing up his hair for the fine line on his forehead to be visible. “You crept into my room when I was an infant, dropped me accidentally, and only three people know. The nurse who stole me, and the two of us.”

Junhee sunk to his knees and took Seonghwa’s face in his hands. He only briefly glanced at the scar, lingering instead on his little brother’s eyes.

“It is you,” he whispered. “It really is.”

Junhee knew what it was like to not be believed, but he had clung to the truth. And that truth had returned to him, crying tears of joy as he entered his arms.

The reunion was interrupted by gunfire.

The brothers pulled back in surprise and Seonghwa stood and went to the window. 

“What’s going on?” Junhee muttered, wiping his tears. “Has a fight broken out?”

Seonghwa didn’t even have to look. He knew who it was and his stomach dropped at the flashes of light coming from its direction.

“The inn.”

...

Taglist: @serendipityunho @celestial-yunho @nightynightnyx 

A/N: Yay!! I’m done with another term at university :) which means more frequent updates (hopefully) for you guys. This volume is wrapping up, but I have another (at least) in the works and plenty of other stories for you to check out if you so desire. Also I hope the two timelines weren’t too confusing for you. They’ve merged into one now, so everything is happening in succession. Don’t forget to reblog and comment if you enjoyed <3

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[atinytokki]

Paradise

ii. Namhae

San was expecting the island to be smaller (a grassy hill, rimmed by sand, with a cluster of palm trees and his grandparents’ house at the top, just like the pictures in storybooks). But at least there was more to explore this way.

He wheeled Haneul off the ship and looked around in awe. The docks were vivid and teeming with activity, the busiest part of town by a long shot.

Up the road he could see the main town, and past the hills, the beginnings of a neighbourhood stretched away.

San and Haneul waited by the docks just as they were told and took in the sights of their new home.

Many houses and shops were right on the water, with the ocean interwoven into everyday life. From what the ship captain had said, there was another port on the opposite side of the island, with the road connecting them and a grassy grove at the top of the hill.

His grandparents lived on the other side, the eastern face of the island, in a house that overlooked the ocean and the eastern town.

San started to worry that they had forgotten them. All the other passengers had disembarked and he and Haneul waited alone for a carriage to come into view.

He hadn’t seen his grandparents in a long time, but San hoped they would at least recognise him so that he wouldn’t have to spend the night here, on the docks.

Suddenly the men tying up the ship and walking to and fro around the marina looked a lot scarier.

Just in the nick of time to save San from his overactive imagination, an old man in a straw hat pulled up in front of them, eyes glinting beneath the brim.

“What have we here?”

The man’s voice, San recognised. Grandfather used to tell them stories when he visited and this was the same man with his fuzzy beard and his deep chuckle, even if San had to drag the memory up from his earlier days.

“It’s us, Grandfather!” Haneul giggled when the old man squinted at them and hummed low.

“Oh I don’t think so,” he said with a shake of his head. “My grandchildren were much smaller last time I saw them. You two are far too big to be my Haneul and San.”

“It’s us, Grandfather!” San laughed, insisting further when the man pretended to start turning his cart around. “It really is.”

Grandfather finally gave up the act and threw his head back in a bout of laughter, dismounting and pulling both children into a fierce hug. “Come here, you scallywags.”

San’s worries melted away. He and Haneul may have changed, but Grandfather hadn’t.

“How was your first ever voyage?” The man asked amiably once they were both settled in the back, cushioned on a bed of hay. Haneul’s wheelchair was stowed next to her, and the two of them drank in the gorgeous views as they ascended the hill.

“Not at all like I thought it would be,” San admitted, inhaling the salty air that would soon become familiar to him. “The trip was very short and we didn’t see any pirates.”

“Pirates?” Grandfather barked out a laugh and turned back to wink at him. “Oh, you won’t be seeing any of them around here, don’t you worry. The Navy is constructing a garrison on Namhae some time in the next year or two. Isn’t that exciting?”

The Navy.

They had been a presence in his home village, too, and all San really knew about them was that they defended the eastern coastline fiercely, expanding their fortifications with each passing year. The sea must be really dangerous.

One of San’s friends had an older brother that was what he called “pressganged”, forced into the Navy in a low position that practically made him cannon fodder for pirates and other enemies. It sounded like a horrible experience and San wondered distantly if the Navy might try to get him to join, too, as soon as they moved in.

“San?”

San’s head shot up and he realised his attention had drifted. “Right, of course!” He answered. “That’s exciting.”

Silence settled over them and only the rattling of the cart and the crashing waves sounded. Eventually, Grandfather asked another question.

“What do you want to do when you grow up, San?”

Not be killed by pirates, San almost said, but he thought of something else instead.

“Well, maybe I’ll become a doctor so I can help Haneul.”

Haneul smiled at him and tilted her head, looking like the comment had touched her deeply. “You already help me, San, just by being here.”

It was a sweet sentiment, but San felt like he could be doing more. Standing around idly was never an attractive option to him, even as young as he was. Eventually, he would have to grow up and make a living doing something.

“So I suppose you won’t want to look around the carpentry shop,” Grandfather sang as they slowed to a stop in front of a quaint little three story house.

“Carpentry shop?” San pouted. He had never been in one and he wasn’t about to throw the option out.

“This is where I work and your Grandmother and I live,” Grandfather announced, helping them both out of the cart while a servant came and took the reigns to drive it to a stable. “You’ll be staying here, too. How do you like it?”

It was bigger than their old house on the mainland and more colourful, still smelling of fresh paint that had been spread on earlier in the day. They were trying to make it fun and welcoming, and San appreciated it.

Grandfather was happily pushing Haneul up the dirt path in her wheelchair, where the door squeaked open and an old woman emerged. “There they are!” She cooed as she planted kisses all over Haneul’s face.

“Sannie! My sweet boy,” Grandmother pinched his cheeks as he tried to smile, but it only came out halfway thanks to the grip she had on him

Grandparents and their obsession with pointing out the growth spurts of their grandchildren. She hugged him so tight her chuckles passed on to him, and led him upstairs into the main house while Grandfather carried Haneul up behind them, taking special notice of the way San’s eyes shifted around to scan the carpentry shop.

“I’ll give you a proper tour tomorrow,” he promised with a warm smile. “Maybe I can even put you to work.”

As San sat before the feast Grandmother had prepared for them, savouring her cooking and the fact that he wasn’t eating alone like he used to, he realised maybe this arrangement wasn’t so bad.

“The other boys will be excited to meet you when you start at school,” Grandmother said as she led him to his new room. “And your Grandfather and I will be very happy to have you around.”

She tucked him in and gave him a kiss on the forehead before blowing out the candle. It was so tender it made him miss his own mother even though he had no memory of her.

There was a window next to his bed with a view to the backyard. San gazed outside and took inventory of what was there.

A couple of trees, a small bench situated next to a stone wall covered in ivy that separated their property from the neighbour’s. No real garden, but plenty of space for one.

San lay back with a smile. There was potential here, even if he was nervous about meeting new people.

It was a big island but still a quiet town. Everyone knew everyone.

Tonight to San, it was a golden egg with unknown treasures hidden inside for him to crack open. He would start tomorrow, but first, he let the washing waves lull him to sleep.

...

A/N: Short but sweet :)  More chapters are on their way, and of course more of my other works too. Let me know what you thought and have a nice day <3

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[barnesbabee]

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ - ᴡᴏɴᴅᴇʀʟᴀɴᴅ

WONDERLAND MASTERLIST ⇜ ᴘʀᴇᴠɪᴏᴜꜱ - ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ-  ɴᴇxᴛ ⟿

CHARACTER LIST: White Rabbit - Choi Jongho Absolem (Blue Catterpilar) - Kang Yeosang Cheshire Cat - Kim Hongjoong Mad Hatter - Choi San Haigha (March Hare) - Jung Wooyoung Tweedle Dee - Song Mingi Tweedle Dum - Jeong Yunho Bloody Red King - Park Seonghwa

ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ: @myunvillage @mirror-juliet @jess-1404 @earth-to-leiki [Send me a DM, an ask or comment to be added to the tag list]

"Teach you what?"

"How to be a better man, how to have mercy, and compassion."

Unbeknownst to you, a little purple and pink cat watched every step you took. Of course, it wasn't because he cared. Cheshire (unlike many other Wonderland villagers) genuinely wasn't affected by your presence, or lack there of, but the Hatter had asked him, in exchange of a hefty reward, of course, to keep an eye on his beloved Y/N.

While watching over you Cheshire just did a whole bunch of growling and nose scrunching. He hated the sight of the King, and even worse, was the sight of such a man in love.

"Such a shame to be the bearer of bad news dear friend," Cheshire said, not at bothered by the fact that he had bad news to tell "but it seems as if Y/N will be our new Queen."

The cat twirled a strand of his coloured hair around his index finger, as he fell down onto one of the many chairs along with the Hatter's never-ending table.

The Hatter's eyes widened and so did his toothy smile.

"She's carrying on with the plan! She will decapitate him herself and become our Queen! Oh but I'm so happy I could dance the Futterwacken again!"

He clapped feverously and suggested a toast, clearly missing the meaning of Cheshire's words.

"I'm afraid you missed what I meant, Hatter. She will be our Queen, because she will be marrying the King."

The atmosphere suddenly became silent, eerie even. The Hatter's green, sparkly eyes transformed into an ugly, rage-filled, yellow. The man gripped the teacup on his hand so hard it broke, but the rage, disappointment, and growing heartbreak fogged his brain to the point where he didn't even notice the pain, nor the blood trickling down his palm.

The Hatter was rarely angry, but when he was, it was enough to scare poor Cheshire, who didn't hesitate in disappearing into thin air. Or he tried to. Before every bit of his body could be gone, the Hatter grabbed Cheshire's hair, making the cat groan in pain, and threw him on the ground.

"What has he done to her!? Was it a curse!?"

Cheshire caressed his head and stood up to look at the Hatter.

"It wasn't a curse Hatter, she fell in love. After you deceived her and the King showed her nothing but truth and love, the choice was pretty evident."

The reasonable explanation seemed to calm down the Hatter, whose eyes morphed back into their greenish colour. However the dread and panic in his face were still evident. Cheshire, still quite upset at Hatter's tantrum, could see on his friend's face an expression of someone about to spew a terrible, terrible idea.

"We must get her away from the Palace. It's gotten into her head. Let's get her back to us!"

The man-like cat floated back to his usual place in the air, twirling in the process. He chuckled audibly, showing his sharp canines in the process.

"Hmm yes, let's steal her away from the man she's come to love, so she could be with us, the people who lied to her for our own benefit. Sounds like a party if you ask me..."

"A party!?" Haigha exclaimed, his left eye twitching as he smiled widely at the mention of his favourite hobbie.

"That's where the King's behaviour comes in our favour," the Hatter said, patting Haigha's head so he'd sit back down "once he sees her take her beloved Queen away, he will show his true colours, Remember how scared and freaked out she was last time we saw her? She said he seemed really sweet while talking to her until he eventually snapped. Once he snaps, he will freak out and bring out the tyrant's behaviour and scare her away."

It was hard for Cheshire to admit, but his mad friend's plan wasn't so mad after all. It was possible to accomplish what the Hatter suggested, and there was nothing to lose, you already hated them anyway.

The Hatter slapped his thighs and stood up, fixing his big top hat in the process.

"Shall we go?"

Haigha was already standing up from his seat when Cheshire stopped them.

"Perhaps we should discuss the plan further... Something tells me we might need some help from Absolem and Bayard..."

Sneaking you out past the Card Knights would take a lot of help, and Cheshire had already worked out in his head the escape plan. It would take a little pressure on Absolem, as he managed to care even less about the people around him than Cheshire did, but the cat was sure he could get a shrinking cake out of the blue catterpillar. After shrinking you and hatter down to the size of a strawberry, Bayard (the loyal dog friend of Hatter's, that Cheshire tried his best to keep a distance of) would bring you to the White Rabbit's house, as it would be too obvious to come back to the Hatter's cabin.

The cat had no intention to help you, but he did like to see some drama and commotion in Wonderland once in a while, and this was his chance.

Whilst all of the furious planning went on on the greenlands of Wonderland, in the Palace you and the King sat opposite of each other on his bed, gossiping like two high schoolers.

"And then my best friend at the time, Anna, slept with my boyfriend and said it was 'because of a dare'. I forgave her because we had been friends for so long but then she told my crush that I smelled so I stopped being her friend."

The King nodded along and listened attentively (trying his best to cross his legs just like you, but failing miserably) to your story.

"Hm yes, yes, I understand. My best friend ate one of my tarts so I cut off his head."

You couldn't help but scoff at the way he compared the situations, although you reprehended him right after for the heartless act.

He had asked to know of your previous life, how it was back in your world, and so you sat there reminiscing your past for hours on end. Most people in Wonderland came from other places, but Seonghwa had never been elsewhere, as he was born in the Kingdom.

"So this establishment you call 'school', was it like a club you went to where you reunited with your peers?"

"No, no. School was a mandatory thing for all kids, we went there and a bunch of teachers taught us about different things."

"Hm, but all you've told me so far were anecdotes about these friends of yours, what were these classes like?"

You blushed slightly, realizing that in fact, you didn't remember shit from school, aside from past dramas.

"Well, they told us many things about earth, about what makes the world move, about how society works, and what makes things work. We learned about gravity, about numbers, about stars-"

"Stars!?"

The King's eyes lit up as if he was a child whom you had promised ice cream to.

"Yes, stars. Why?"

Seonghwa stood up from the bed in such a violent manner, he nearly fell. The man ran over to his closet, from where he retrieved an old book. The hard cover was beginning to tear, and the once white pages had become a weird mix of brown and yellow, but you took it in your hands nevertheless.

"This book once fell into the Wonderland when I was a child. I was alone most of the time, so it kept me company. I can tell from the images it talks about the stars, and I think I learned a lot from it since I stared at them a lot, but I cannot comprehend the alien language."

The King leaned against the headboard, and you laid beside him, placing your head on his chest, so you could hear his now nervous heart beating fast from the contact. Out of instinct, the King placed his arm around you and pulled you closer, as you opened the book.

You chuckled slightly, after seeing the author of the book and opening its pages.

"Seonghwa this isn't an alien language, it's Italian. Well, I guess it's an alien language to you, but it was funny that you said it that way... The person who wrote it was very influential back where I'm from, he taught the people of Earth many things about our space."

The male listened carefully as you tried your best to explain the things in the book as best as you could.

"This here is what we call the Solar System. It has nine planets, but only one of them has people, this one, where I live." You told him, pointing towards Earth.

Seonghwa noticed how your posture changed, after you remembered once more that you would never return home again, and panicked for a second. He disliked many things, but your tears had definitely gone up to his number 1 on the list.

"How about I ask for a picnic to be arranged in the garden, and at night we can watch the stars."

You turned to face him and smiled as you nodded. Seonghwa's thumb caressed your arm, and you couldn't help but to place a soft kiss on his lips, as a 'thank you'. No matter how many times you did that, the King never seemed to get used to it. He would always feel butterflies in his stomach and fireworks exploding on his chest. Sometimes you felt perverted, thinking of how he'd react if one day you decided to take it... further. You imagined how pretty he'd look... But you decided to take your time. Baby steps...

The King couldn't wait for dinner time, and you could tell from the number of times he had gone up to the window and pushed away the blinds to see if the sun was finally setting.

As he was staring out the window, you came behind him and wrapped your arms around his figure.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

Seonghwa looked around, to make sure no one was nearby eavesdropping. He wouldn't want your secret to being known.

You tiptoed so your lips could be leveled with his ear.

"You're adorable."

Once you got back down and looked into his gleeful eyes, you smiled.

"Let's keep this secret between us!" He joked along.

"Yes, I wouldn't want the other ladies to know and steal you away."

Seonghwa held your face and lovingly placed a kiss on your forehead.

"The other ladies don't stand a chance next to you princess."

Your cheeks heated up and you slapped his chest out of embarrassment. The King's face grew worried and confused.

"Why did you hit me? Have I done something wrong? It was meant to be a compliment I'm sorry I compared you to-"

You grabbed his face and squished his cheeks, making him form an adorable pout with his red lips.

"Seonghwa, it was a good thing. I slapped your chest because I was embarrassed, I was really touched by your compliment."

Once you let go of his face, the King tapped his chin with his index finger, in a pensive manner.

"I have much to learn about our future interactions, I do not understand many things."

You just chuckled and took his hand in yours.

"We have many years ahead of us, you will learn someday."

The small acknowledgment of your future made Seonghwa very happy. Never in his pitiful life had he even thought of being this happy over small actions... Last week the only thing that brought him joy was the sound of a traitor's head hitting the concrete floors of the palace's main area, but since you arrived, a smile was all it took for his cold heart to start beating again.

It didn't take long before one of the frogmen knocked on the door to inform the picnic was ready. Seonghwa didn't let go of your hand as you walked outside, to sit among the red roses.

You had finally come to terms with Wonderland's weird food. You had no choice really...

"Have you never been attracted to anyone, Seonghwa?" You asked as you munched down on a sandwich of... whatever it was.

Seonghwa's expression faded a little.

"Once. I had just become King and I thought that the next step would, logically, be the find a Queen. Every woman displeased me. All but one. She was beautiful, hair as dark as the night sky, tanned skin from the sun, and a beautiful mole under the eye. But she was cold, evil... I thought that it was a perfect match. After all, I wasn't the most caring person. But she would treat me like a servant. Our relationship was purely to serve a purpose to the Kingdom, nothing else. We slept in separate rooms and spent the day apart. We only dined together, but since I saw the same behavior from my parents I thought that that was love. Our wedding had been scheduled long before she moved into the castle, we were simply waiting for the preparations to be finished. Everything was custom made, from the clothes to the flowers on every table. The day before the wedding I walked to her bedroom and found her laying with a servant of mine. You know, back when they weren't... Frogs. I had them both decapitated, of course. And I swore off love forever. That is until you came along."

You flashed him a sad smile and set down your food. He looked awfully confused as you climbed onto his lap, but he didn't protest.

You brushed his dark hair away from his eyes. Both of them. He suddenly felt very exposed and insecure, but you kissed his cheek, reassuringly.

"Ever since I came down here you've shown me nothing but love, and honesty. You didn't try to sugarcoat who you are, or what you've done, and I appreciate your honesty. My place in Wonderland is with you."

The male smiled, and kissed you, a little more passionately than all of the previous times. The male's hands trailed down your ass, and pulled you on top of his growing erection.

"For someone who has never been with anyone you're quite good at this."

"Well I... I lied. I had a fiancé after all, and we laid together but we didn't get far. There was no kissing involved, she just wanted to get it over with since I was the one who suggested we should... do it. But she made fun of me for not being good at it and I became... insecure. I was insecure and for the longest time I've wanted to try it with you, because you give me those special butterflies but I was afraid I'd disappoint you."

"What a cold, heartless bitch!" You thought to yourself. No wonder he was so bad at human interactions, every relationship he had was a trainwreck!

You grabbed his face and placed a long kiss on his lips.

"Well then, let me lead at first. If you start feeling more confident, you can take the lead, if not, I'll stay in control, okay?"

The King simply nodded and kissed you once more. This time deeper than he had ever kissed anyone. Tongues fighting so intensely the King nearly missed the way your hand expediently undid his trousers. Your hand slipped inside his boxers and took out his length. You looked down at the dick in your hand and widened your eye.

"Well aren't I a lucky girl."

You spat in your hand and kissed him again, as your hand worked up and down his shaft. The King was surprisingly very vocal, and he didn't try to hide or suppress any of his pretty moans (and for that you were thankful.

You stopped your hand, right as he was getting riled up.

"Ready for something better?"

The King watched you strip from your panties, and he cursed the frilly dress that covered your womanhood, but as soon as you sunk down on his cock, all of his worries and anguishes washed away. It was automatic, the way he gripped your hips and made you bounce on him as he snapped your hips against yours was something he did naturally as if he truly knew what he was doing. You brought out something different in him, and the King was simply doing was his body was telling him to do.

You gripped his shoulders, overwhelmed with the feeling of having him inside you.

"S-shit Seonghwa, you're good, r-really fucking good."

"Oh yeah?"

He flipped you two around, so he could pound into you with all the strength he had. Your words of encouragement were all he needed.

Your consistent (and loud) moans got him on the edge quickly, and he knew he wouldn't last long.

"Y/N forgive me, but I don't think I can last much longer."

Your hand reached down and began circling your clit, so when he came inside you, filling you up with his cum, you came right after, with a loud cry for his name.

Seonghwa laid on top of you, his face nuzzled on the crook of your neck, trying to regain his breath. You ran your hand through his hair as you did the same, looking up at the sky.

"The stars sure look beautiful today."