#d.o angst

[jinmindeulle]

twenty one petals | do kyungsoo

𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 commoner!do kyungsoo x princess!reader

𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 8.2 k

𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆 angst, romance | love at first sight, forbidden love

𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆 angsty, fluffy

𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 none

requested by @kyungseokie, thank you again! hope it's what you were looking for 🥰

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ 　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　 ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ ˚ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ ˚ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ ˚

Twenty-one had always represented more than just a number to y/n.

She could finally obtain her freedom to go out of the Palace with only one guard, have her friends over more often, begin her self-defense classes, and learn more about the women she admired the most. Of course, y/n had always had history lessons for it was of utmost importance for a royal like her to be knowledgeable of her roots and ancestry. However, there was one particular Queen whom she had the most curiosity about. No teacher had dared to tell the story of Jeon Mindae, a royal who had vanished after eleven years of rule, and no one ever talked about what had happened to her.

As much as she was joyous about all those new possibilities, y/n was also terrified. Turning twenty-one had also meant that she was of age to finally get married, and the King was well aware of that. Her sister, barely a year older than her, had been married two months after her twenty-first birthday. Consequently, y/n was not expecting any other future for herself.

A week after her celebration, y/n found herself looking out of the window of her chambers, wondering how life went about for people whom she probably would never see ever again. She liked to contemplate all those various faces and create whole identities and characters, imagining stories, often romantic, for each person that called her attention.

Y/n envied them sometimes. Their lives could be different, more challenging, and less privileged, but at least they had certain freedoms to enjoy, even if they did not realize it. They could go out and about whenever, wherever, and with whoever they liked, they could lead an independent life, and above all, they could marry the person they loved. Those aspects of life were what y/n yearned the most, and ironically, was deprived of them. Her only alternative was her newly gained escapades. And she desperately needed to go out. 

Even though she had been able to leave the Palace for a couple of hours already, the guard who accompanied her was pretty annoying and watched her every step. He made sure people knew who she was and made her feel out of place, which was the opposite of what she had wanted. So, this time, she had asked the King to send another guard with her.

“Sir Sehun must accompany me this time, Your Highness”

“Why is that so, Princess?”

“I do not intend for people to recognize me when I leave the Palace. Sir Taehun was not fit for that role”

“For I trust Sir Sehun, I will assign him this duty. Await him by the gates”

“Thank you, Your Highness”

The woman could not help but smirk as she made her way out of the Crown room. Sehun was a dear friend of hers and she knew he was both, laidback and protective. She was the safest and most confident under his care. 

Y/n had to laugh when, after some minutes of impatient little walks around the gates, Sir Sehun approached her with his thick right eyebrow raised “Ma’am, may I ask why I was requested as your guard?”

“Well, Sir Sehun,” she interlaced her left arm with the soldier’s right one as he was offering, and began their walk out of the Palace “Taehun is a prick” she let out once they were out of sight, and a good distance from the nosy masses of the royal community.

“Nothing new. You just want me to let you live, then” he dropped off the formalities, as they usually did when together and in private — or at least away from those who could not live a life as anything else than aristocrats. 

“You know me so well”

The walk to the Cherry Blossom Market was quiet but pleasant. They both liked the silence and tranquility that the forest offered, and it was well known between them that it had to be savored each time, as opportunities like those were usually scarce. Upon reaching the first stalls, y/n sent a smile in Sehun’s way. That was her call for him to just let her go around but always under his careful watch, as she had promised. 

The beauty that y/n found there, she was sure could not be found anywhere else. Just the sight of people all dressed up in colorful yet comfortable ropes, some simple, some fancy, brought a new wave of giddiness to her body. The thought of being able to walk with them, passing as one more of the commoners, was what made her the most thrilled. She could pretend, just for a couple of hours, that she was one of the people she usually fantasized about through the glass of her window. 

A pair of the prettiest shoes caught her attention, and she had to stop to just admire them. Soft peachy colored silk embraced the pair, both adorned with delicate pink cherry blossom petals on each side. Sadly, she could not have them. The guards would snap them away from her the minute she went inside for the check-up. Commoner things stay with commoners. 

A light breeze took her out of her thoughts, and as she placed the shoes back where they belonged with a small bow to the stall owner, her eyes met a wooden bridge, which went over a quiet river. Cherry blossoms surrounded the area, their petals dancing their way to the ground, mimicking a snowy afternoon. After taking a look back to Sehun, who was well aware of her movements, she enthusiastically skipped to the beginning of the bridge, feeling the glee that the soft petals caressing her cheeks provided her with.      

The walk to the viaduct was calmer, yet never less eager. The middle of the bridge had a smaller number of people, so y/n decided that that was the right spot to rest a little and contemplate the delicateness of the running water, and how the pink petals bathed in it as if tired of hanging from a tree.

Although her hood was bothering her sightseeing, she knew people would recognize her out of paintings and written records, so she had the need to hide her face as much as she could. The risk was high enough with her hood up. 

Noticing how someone stopped right beside her and leaned their forearms on the railing, she took her gaze away from the river and to her other side, pretending to observe the cherry blossoms dancing to the rhythm of the wind. When the woman was about to walk away, she heard the person speak.

“Is it not incredible that there are over a hundred varieties of cherry blossom trees?” 

The deepness and smoothness of the voice that she now knew belonged to a man, had her stood still in her place. A shiver ran down her spine and she felt how her cheeks imitated the color of the most intense pink petals.

“It certainly is,” she replied, clearing her throat, still giving her back to the stranger. Though she was aware of the hazard that that man could represent, she physically could not move from her spot. It was as if the man’s voice had put a spell on her. 

“Are these your favorite?” he asked, and y/n could not help but crack a smile. 

“Fortunately, they are” 

Her body was moving without her taking notice, and suddenly she was no longer facing the trees but the very man who had interrupted her alone time, away from royalties, away from turmoil. And the sight in front of y/n had her sigh. 

A round face, giving him a youthful and friendly appearance, was complemented by brown almond-shaped eyes, which seemed captivating, warm, and inviting. His well-defined, thick eyebrows framed his eyes and added character to his face. The man sported a small, button-like nose that went well with his soft jawline. Though she tried to avoid looking at his lips, it had become an impossible task. Plump, well-defined, heart-shaped. Flawless. She last noticed that his dark brown hair was up in a topknot, all secured by a simple linen headband.

“Have you ever seen the Shirotae variety?” when his eyes met hers, y/n felt what she could only associate with what her romantic novels described as love at first sight. If it existed or not, she couldn't care less. For her, a man like him talking about her favorite tree and flower, looking at her in what seemed to be undivided attention and care, had to be hard to find — and that had her over the moon in just a couple of seconds.

“I have never left the Kingdom” she admitted, finally able to unglue her eyes from his. Overly conscious, she looked down at her feet, hiding her face as much as possible with the gray hood.

“Hwanggeum is known for having them all, though it is true that the Shirotaes are well beyond our borders. Are you from here, Agassi?”

It was the first time that someone had addressed her as a commoner, and rather than displeasing her, it encouraged her to keep talking to the man. He had not recognized her after all.

“I am, Seonsaengnim”

“So you are well acquainted with the Pink Shell” his faint smile had her melting right on the spot, but she somehow managed to conceal it. 

“It might also be the reason why they are my favorite. Though I have read about the other varieties, I have not had the chance to see them in person yet”

“Would you like to?”

If it meant that he could take her away and hold her hand for the rest of the afternoon, she would have yelled ‘Please!’. However, the sight of Sehun waiting for her by the end of the bridge, right behind the enticing man, had her come to her senses “I am afraid my father is not very keen on me going out often, especially out of the city”

“That was not my question, Agassi. Would you like to?”

“I would love to,” she nodded, and with all her might, bowed to say goodbye “It was pleasant to converse with you, Seonsaengnim. Have a good rest of your afternoon”

Walking past him, she tried to reach her guard friend as fast as possible. Her efforts, no matter how big, were cut short by a hand around her unclothed wrist. The warmth he transmitted was able to soothe her uncontrollable heart, just a little bit, for his hand over her skin, was not something her heart was expecting to feel.

“I still do not know your name” he recited, not letting go. “I am Kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo”

“Pardon me Seonsaengnim, but I am not allowed to disclose my name” 

As if he sensed that that was all he was getting from her, the man she now knew to be named Do Kyungsoo let her hand go, and she was finally able to walk towards her guard. “Let’s go” she murmured over her breath, not stopping on her way back home. Sehun rapidly followed, not wanting to discuss what he had witnessed. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Do Kyungsoo stayed on her mind for the following two days, as if he had nowhere else to be. It was surprising how she could not just shoo him away. No matter how many classes she took, how many conversations she had or the piles of books she read, the man with warm eyes and plump lips would always come back. She was aware of the fact that the King would announce her inescapable marriage in the upcoming weeks, hopefully, months, and having met him, she did not want that day to come any time soon.

Three days had passed, and y/n could no longer bear it. She had to see Kyungsoo again, at least one last time.

“Indeed, Sir Sehun is available for you. Where are you heading to?” the King asked, and y/n raised her head.

“To the Cherry Blossom Market, Your Highness”

“Again?” With his eyebrows raised, he observed her every movement.

“I am truly in love with the cherry blossom trees, and these are the last days of their bloom. I yearn to admire them as long as I can”

A nod was the only permission she needed to perform a deep bow and leave the Crown room, looking for Sehun with her eyes. She spotted the guard standing next to the room’s entrance, already informed of his next duties. There was no need to say anything.

With her cloak on and hood already up, silence remained untouchable until they surpassed the main gates of the Palace. The discretion she continuously made sure to have had become sacred at that point. No one except Sehun could know about Do Kyungsoo. 

“Are you sure he is going to be there?”

“I am not, but this is the only way I can find out” she sighed, letting him walk by her side. 

“Why do you want to see him again?” he asked.

“Honestly, Sehun, I do not know,” the woman admitted “He has not left my mind ever since we met. The only certainty I have is that my heart is longing for him.”

“Do you like him?”

“It is hard to say. I have never felt this way, so I cannot compare it to anything other than what I read romantic in my novels”

“Not a great source, may I say” Sehun giggled, looking at her with small eyes. 

“I am sorry, Sir all-the-girls-love-me” her laugh synced with his, heading the conversation in a more relaxed direction. 

“Not only girls love me!”

Though tranquility had embraced her as they walked their way through the forest, the sight of the first market stalls made her heart race once again. He could be anywhere, but he was surely closer than before. 

When she felt Sehun squeeze her shoulder, she looked his way to find a comforting smile. She nodded. Words were not necessary between them.

Calculated but unconscious steps led her to the bridge where their heartwarming exchange had taken place. The trees were still there, now calmer than before. Petals were still falling, but their dance was more controlled and stable. The bridge itself had fewer people, and she thought that the stillness of the water could not be attractive enough for the masses. It was for her.

A deep breath was all she had to do to muster the courage and find the place where Kyungsoo had approached her. All she had to do was wait. But oh my! It was a true challenge. As she hummed a song that her sister had sung to her while she was little, y/n closed her eyes and let her mind wander around dangerous paths. His cute smile had popped up once again, and it was impossible for her not to smile back. The effect he had had on her in only a matter of minutes was incomprehensible. 

“Is it me that you are waiting for, Agassi?”

The feeling that her heart was about to jump out of her chest came back upon hearing his honeyed voice once again. Nothing could have prepared y/n for that moment, regardless of how many times she had imagined it.

“Yes,” she whispered, turning to him with rosy cheeks. Because she had expected to see his gentle smile, the seriousness of his expression took her aback “Oh… Is there something wrong, Seongsaengnim?”

“I now know why you did not want me to know your name, Your Grace”

Her surprise could not be veiled. How had that happened? Was she not careful enough? She would not have come back if she noticed any trace of recognition in his eyes. She could not risk her outings like that. 

“You are mistaking me for someone else” Her voice faltered, but her forehead was still up.

“I am not. You are Princess Y/n, daughter of King Younghee and sister of the future Queen, Princess Hara. I apologize for the boldness with which I addressed you the other day, Your Grace. It was only after our encounter that I realized who you were”

So that settled it. Her outings were over, her freedom was over. Seeing him was also over. She understood that good things only lasted for a short period, but she did not see the end coming so fast. 

“Why are you here?” y/n had to know at least that. Was he back to solely ask for forgiveness?

“I had wanted to see you again, Your Grace. I came back here the day following our meeting, but you were not here. That same evening, I traveled to the Grand Market to buy more merchandise to sell at the Market, and I saw the big portrait of your family at the entrance. How could I not know who you were?” the calmness with which he uttered his sentences had y/n in a trance. His eyes had not left hers, as if he had rehearsed for that exact instant together.  “After learning about your true identity, I knew I had to stop myself from expecting this encounter to happen again”

“But it happened” she murmured, feeling her chest expanding with a deep breath. 

“I genuinely tried, Your Grace” he shook his head, still not moving an inch from his spot “But it proved to be impossible.”

The silence that followed his statements permitted the woman to process her sentiments, one by one. There was nervousness. Uncertainty. Fear. But there was also expectancy. Excitement. Bliss. 

“We are not supposed to do this” he continued “A commoner can only dream of meeting a royal and give her the life she deserves. I know I am not able to do so. However, I am here. And you are here too, Your Grace”

“I needed to see you again,” she admitted, taking her hood away from her view. She had to see him in all his plenitude because it had to be the last time “only one more time. My mind was playing tricks and my duties could not be fulfilled if I had you in my head every hour”.

“I understand,” Kyungsoo nodded, and for the first time that afternoon, his fingers touched hers. Her lifetime seemed to pass right in front of her eyes as the caress of his warm skin against hers filled her senses. It was overwhelming, yet y/n wanted more. “I want you to have this. We cannot interact in person anymore, but I consider letters to be a very effective way to communicate. If that is what you want, Your Grace”

The eager nod she gave him made Kyungsoo show the first smile of the afternoon. His relief could be sensed, and that also gave her the reaffirmation she had been desperate for. With a discrete hand movement, she took the folded piece of paper, keeping it inside her cloak’s pocket. 

“I also know you will get married in the near future” his forehead furrowed, and y/n felt how her eyes welled up. That was a topic she was not ready to face, especially with him “Although that makes it even more dangerous and unfeasible, I am still willing to do this. Are you, Your Grace?”

Not following her heart was not an option. She would allow herself to be selfish this time.

“I am”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Your Royal Highness,

I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. I write to you with the utmost humility and respect, fully aware of the immeasurable distance that separates your world from mine.

Since the moment I first had the privilege of glimpsing your radiant presence from afar, my heart has embarked on a journey it had never before known. It is a journey filled with profound admiration, deep respect, and, dare I say, love that transcends all boundaries.

I am but a humble commoner, a mere speck in the grand tapestry of your Father’s noble kingdom. Yet, as I go about my daily toils, I find myself endlessly enchanted by thoughts of you. Your delicateness, your kindness, your voice—all of these qualities have illuminated my every waking moment from the second you answered my inquiry.

Please understand that I harbor no illusions of grandeur, nor do I seek to intrude on your world. My affection is a silent and solitary affair, a secret held close to my heart, and now to yours. It is a love that has to remain unspoken, for I am painfully aware that my place in society precludes any dreams of an impossible union.

I am content to serve my kingdom, my family, and my fellow commoners with all the devotion and diligence I can muster. In doing so, I hope to honor the same virtues that have earned you the admiration and adoration of all who have had the privilege of knowing you.

May your days be filled with happiness and prosperity.

With the utmost reverence and eternal devotion,

DKS.

His neat calligraphy imprinted in liquid ink had perfectly accompanied what he had expressed in that letter. Kyungsoo’s well-thought-out words had her heart leap in excitement and yearning. The man had probably spent an afternoon ardently writing, employing careful words and admiring sentences. 

In return, she had to let him know what he had done to her as well. The impossibility of their reunion could not make their days heavy with misery.  

My Dear Kyungsoo,

I wish nothing but good health and spirits for you in return. Your words have touched my heart, and I am deeply moved by the sincerity and humility with which you express your feelings.

Your admiration and respect have not gone unnoticed. I am grateful for your kind words and the sentiments you have shared with me. It is rare to encounter such genuine devotion and honor in this world, and your letter has brought warmth to my heart.

I must confess that your unwavering dedication to our kingdom and your fellow commoners resonates deeply with me. Your commitment to serving our people is a testament to the qualities that make our realm strong and resilient.

It is with a heavy heart that I must acknowledge the realities of our respective stations in life. The traditions and responsibilities that come with my position demand a life of duty and sacrifice, which I am still unable to come to terms with. Your affection is a gift I shall cherish in my heart, but I also have to understand the limitations that bind us.

I encourage you to continue your path with the same steadfast determination and honor that you have shown thus far. Your devotion to our kingdom is a treasure, and I have no doubt that your contributions will be felt and appreciated by many.

Please know that I hold your words and your spirit in high regard. 

With the deepest respect and warm regards,

y/n. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

Weeks had passed, and letters had come and gone. What had first started as a timid and knowingly-impossible romance, was now a tragedy that only found its way to the surface through words of passion, endeavor, and selflessness. 

The only one who knew about their exchange was Sehun. Since he was made responsible for her outings, no matter where they were, he had soon suggested delivering the letters back and forth, as he had understood how hazardous their short encounters could be. Seeing each other from afar from time to time was not enough, but was the only thing they could do for their growing affection. 

When she did not go with Sehun, their letter exchange was not done over the bridge. The men had made up a system unknown to y/n, but extremely effective in turn. Despite knowing how she was putting herself at risk each time she hid her letter in Sehun’s sleeve, she trusted her guard. Because receiving Kyungsoo’s letter was the only time of the week she felt purposefully happy, she neither wanted to nor would stop.

But alas, as she had learned, everything came to an end. However, that was not the way she had wanted it to happen. 

“Kyungsoo was not there this morning” Sehun’s forehead creased, worrisome written all over his face.

“What?” she had to stop herself from actually yelling, and shielded her mouth with one of her hands “Not any trace?”

“None”

“He has never done this”

A knock on her chamber’s door startled both of them, and Sehun had to take a step back to allow her to reach the hatch next to him. She looked at him, puzzled, and with a deep breath opened the door. 

“Your Grace, Your Highness is requesting your presence in the Crown room”

“Is it urgent?”

“It is, Your Grace”

Thanking the maid, y/n closed the door behind her and hugged Sehun “I have a bad feeling about this”

Call it third eye, intuition, or merely understanding. The woman had not failed to see what was coming. 

“You are to get married next week, y/n. Everything has been settled, and I am glad to announce that your future husband is the best prospect I could find for you. You will meet him in three days when he comes to formally propose to you.”

When she squeezed her eyes shut, the tears that had shimmered them traveled down her pale cheeks. Y/n could only see Kyungsoo reciting his letters to her in his mellowed voice, promising her to find a way to be together, not caring about social boundaries anymore. She only wanted to hear his whispers, to feel his tender touch, and to experience what would be like to have his inviting lips caress her own.

But now, the King was taking that away from her. The possibility they had built through their letters had to remain impossible. 

“Why are you doing this to me, Dad?”

It was the first time in years that y/n had called the King dad. She had felt that he no longer deserved that title, no matter how painful it was to lack that figure in her life. After her mother’s passing, he changed. His anguish for his loss had duplicated hers and Hara’s. He had forgotten that he had two daughters who had lost a mother and had only started to care for his heartbreak. 

“You are more naive than I wished you were.” he declared, unmoved by her emotions “I could have waited some weeks, some months even. But your recent behavior was proof enough that you need someone to discipline you”

“What are you talking about?” a mess already, y/n felt how her future with Kyungsoo vanished little by little. The love they had both developed over months through words and glances from afar was coming to an end, and there was nothing she could do to prevent it from happening.  

“Twenty-one is the prime of your life, and albeit you are not becoming Queen, you have duties to fulfill. Disregarding that, you have been frequently meeting a commoner, y/n. Please, do not tell me that that is not accurate, because I have eyes all over my kingdom. The greatest way to get you back on track is to give your hand in marriage to someone who is well-versed in our world, and knows how to treat you”

“As a trophy? As garbage? As a scum?” 

“Has your sister protested like you are? How do you know you will be treated badly if you have not crossed glances with him?” his harsh tone would not scare her away.

“I do not have to do that to understand that he will make my life miserable. The one person who is able to make me happy is not him” Rage was getting into her quite rapidly. She had to fight for what she wanted. But how?

“The one person you are so sure about making you happy is no longer available. I am sorry, daughter, but this is your life.”

“What have you done to him?!” 

“Return to your chambers, y/n. That was all I had to say”

“Dad?! What have you done to him?!” 

The sorrow was unmeasurable. She had put Kyungsoo at risk, she had made him suffer the consequences of loving her. She had selfishly walked him to a dark place, which she did not even know what it looked like. Where was he? Was he even alive? 

The pressure that was building in her chest was somewhat relieved when Sehun went inside her room, with no knocking in between. He was the only one she had allowed to do that in case of an emergency. And God knows she was in need of what Sehun could provide to her, be it a hug or simple reassurance words. But luck was on her side — if one could say that after what she was about to go through — and he was there with more than just that.

“I know what happened” Taking her hands into his, he began to share the information he was able to gather “Taehun has been following us, and he was the one who told your father about Kyungsoo”

“That bastard!” y/n’s eyes flooded with tears as she squeezed Sehun’s hands harder.

“I have never liked him, but that just crossed the line” he admitted “The King sent his soldiers to capture Kyungsoo, and now they got him in the dungeons” “Oh my Goodness” the fear multiplied, and the sudden relief she had felt upon seeing her best friend disappeared to make room for that familiar pressure, this time coming back twice as bad.

“I have a plan” he nodded, placing his big hands on her shoulders “Jaemin is watching over him during the night shift… and he owes me”

Y/n could do nothing else than cry on his shoulder and thank him over and over again. She truly did not know what she would do without her loyal guard, without her Sehun.

—

With her fingers tightly gripping her dress sleeves, the princess followed the guard down the spooky stairs of the dungeons. Though not too far away from the Palace, they had to ride a horse to make it quicker — and she was not a fan of horses. However, this time, she did not really care. Kyungsoo was her only priority. 

“Why is this so smelly?” she whispered, coughing when the damp odor reached her nostrils.

“Do you think they would bother to clean this?” 

“Too busy standing next to the King, I guess.”

Just when the flight of stairs started to appear endless, y/n saw light coming from one of the corners, and she could finally breathe “He’s here, right?”

But the woman did not have to wait for Sehun’s response, because he was right there. Sitting with his back resting on one of the rusty cell bars, Kyungsoo looked drained. His face was pale and smeared with dirt and sweat. His clothes were ragged and mucky. Because his eyes were closed, she could only guess — and hope — that he was sleeping. 

“Stay back. I’ll talk to Jaemin first”

As Sehun walked towards the light, she could sense how the movement around him was slowly waking him up from his slumber. His eyes had lightened up when he recognized her best friend and a sense of easiness travelled down through y/n’s spine. 

“Come, y/n”

If Kyungsoo’s eyes had lightened up when he saw Sehun, the instant his gaze met hers he appeared to hold the stars and the moon altogether in his orbs. “You are here”

No time was wasted when the master key let him out of the cell. They embraced each other for the first time, and the relief that they both felt upon finally having their love in their arms was indescribable. Letters were incredible, but they lacked contact, they lacked tangible affection.

“I am so sorry” she cried, taking in the feeling of his arms around her waist, and how his left hand caressed the back of her head with soft strokes.

“None of this is your fault, my love” he whispered, and being able to hear his sweet voice calling her that endearment sent her heart jumping out of her ribcage “We were aware of the risks. And I am still delighted with the decision we made”

“How?” 

“Because I get to have you in my arms now” he let her go, only to place his hands on her cheeks, looking into her eyes as if they held the universe. “We will be fine”

“Why are you so confident about that?” y/n could not help but be hesitant about everything around her now. She had only questions in her mind, no clear answers in sight. 

“Because” he brushed her lower lip with his thumb, his eyes traveling down with it, and back to her orbs “what we have is not easily broken. They can try, but we fight back. And if it is not now, it will be then. We will be together, my love. Trust me”

And with that promise, Kyungsoo pressed his lips onto hers and sealed the deal. The initial surprise had her frozen, trying to figure out what was actually happening. But when everything was clear, y/n closed her eyes and let him in. His passionate way of kissing her was more telling of his love for her than any of his letters were, and that was a lot to say. He was an excellent writer. But when it came to kissing…

Their romantic moment was cut short when Sehun fake coughed in an attempt to get their attention. When their lips were mere centimeters away from each other, he was quick to intervene “I am really sorry to interrupt your… moment, but she cannot stay much longer”

“What do you mean stay?” the woman looked at her best friend, baffled by his statement “Is he not coming with us?”

It may have been a dumb question, but she did not see how they could not just let him go, at least to hide somewhere far away.

“That would be an overly bad idea” Kyungsoo uttered, interlacing his fingers with hers “That would get everyone killed. Me, Sehun, the other guard. We cannot risk it” he shook his head, and rapidly let her hands go to brush the tears running down her cheeks “We will find another way, my love”

“But…” she sobbed, suddenly feeling like a little kid in his arms “I do not want you to die, my darling” 

“I am not dying anytime soon. I have to become your prince first” he giggled, and that sent the butterflies in her stomach on a wild flight.

“Guys…”

“Sorry,” Kyungsoo apologized and pressed a kiss on her forehead “Go back to your chambers and wait for Sehun to tell you what to do next. Whether the plan takes a week, two months, or three years… we cannot know for sure. The only thing I know for a fact is that we are meeting again, and we will have our happily ever after. I promise you, my love”

y/n would recite those exact words for the following two years, be it aloud or in her mind. Kyungsoo’s vow was not to leave her soul anytime soon, and she decided to use it as a way to have him close to her heart every day. 

She had had to get married. She had had to share a room with someone she did not love. She had played the trophy wife role for too long for her liking. But Sehun had continuously reassured her that the plan was going smoothly, and if everything happened according to it, she would meet Kyungsoo in a short time.

“Hajoon wants me to become pregnant” she confessed, a halo of panic in her eyes “I cannot deal with this anymore” Her cheeks, very familiar with her tears by that point, wetted the beginning of her bluey sweetheart bodice.

“When are you heading to the tour around Hwanggeum?”

“In three days”

“Hold on for a week. We are getting there”

Do you know that feeling of time slowing down when what you only need is the wait to be over? That was what y/n was experiencing ever since she left Kyungsoo in that horrid dungeon, hoping that seeing him again would be a matter of days. Her heart was hopeful, but her mind was not so much so. She knew that rushing into what your feelings dictate never brings good results, but the urgency had become tangible as the months went by. 

He was in the back of her mind most of her days, but very much present when her husband pressed kisses on her forehead, and occasionally on her lips. Despite not liking him much, she had to admit that Hajoon was clearly not the worst. He had respected her boundaries and only touched her when she let him. She was suspiciously sure that he had a lover way before they had gotten married, and that was a strange relief for the woman. However…

“I truly wish things were different, y/n… but we have to produce an heir soon”

“It sounded like you really want that” she sarcastically replied.

“Your Father…”

“Of course” she nodded, putting her hairbrush away to look at him “I will tell him we are trying. A child is not part of my plans right now”

The only person in her plans was Kyungsoo, and the wait was becoming heavier on her. In order to relieve stress, she took the first book she could get from the history section of the library and headed out to the gardens. It was nice to just feel the breeze clash with her rosy cheeks, and just let it calm her nerves down. The copy she had blindly chosen was one she had never seen in the years and years she frequented the library, and that encouraged her to go through the yellowed pages before choosing a story. Y/n had to stop on page one hundred and thirty-six, one with its edge slightly folded. There, a sketched portrait of an elegant woman caught her attention. Her stern look was emphasized by a set of well-defined curls that framed her clear face, big eyes, and slim nose. Her lips were pressed in a soft line as if they had been like that for a long time.

Jeon Mindae.

The one and only secret that the royals were good at hiding, but could only conceal for so long. She had noticed how even after turning twenty-one, no one was mentioning her, not even to highlight the great advances that had happened during her short reign. But now, she was about to discover the truth.

In the annals of Hwanggeum's rich history, there exists a chapter of intrigue, love, and profound change that transcends the centuries. This is the tale of Queen Jeon Mindae, whose reign is forever etched in the hearts and minds of the people, for it was marked by an extraordinary love affair and a subsequent transformation of the kingdom's destiny.

Queen Mindae, known for her benevolence and wisdom, ascended to the throne during a time of prosperity and unity. Her rule was celebrated for the well-being and happiness it brought to her subjects. Nevertheless, behind the façade of a perfect queen lay a hidden love that would change the course of Hwanggeum's history.

Unbeknownst to her court and subjects, Queen Mindae had fallen deeply in love with Kim Beomseok, a commoner she had encountered during a secret exploration of her kingdom disguised as a humble citizen. Their love, while genuine, was forbidden, as royal protocol dictated that a queen must wed a nobleman from a neighboring kingdom.

For years, Queen Mindae and Beomseok carried on their love affair in the shadows, yearning to be together openly. The burden of the crown and the expectations of the kingdom stood as barriers between them.

The climax of this tale came during a grand ball in the palace, held to celebrate Hwanggeum's prosperity. On this fateful night, Queen Mindae mysteriously vanished, plunging the kingdom into a state of chaos and confusion. Wild rumors swirled about her fate, from kidnapping to assassination, as the people sought answers.

The official proclamation, issued by the royal council, declared that Queen Mindae had forsaken her throne to elope with Beomseok, her commoner lover, relinquishing her responsibilities. Her disappearance was thus presented as a voluntary act. Hwanggeum was left in the hands of Princess Miyoung, a distant cousin, who was chosen to rule in Mindae's absence.

Yet, the official narrative failed to quell the suspicions and doubts of the kingdom's citizens. In secret gatherings and hushed conversations, the people of Hwanggeum rejected the notion that their beloved queen would willingly abandon them.

The queen's true location was never found, and a network of loyalists worked tirelessly to erase Queen Mindae of Hwanggeum’s history. However, the people of Hwanggeum yearned for her return, not to rule, but to be a symbol of love and unity. 

To this day, the last of us are patiently waiting to get a glimpse of her once again, to see her next to her beloved Beomseok, and to thank her for her transparent and wealthy rule. Queens like her are not made any longer. 

She had to be more sensitive than usual because as she read each word, the tears were uncontrollably running down her face. It was like seeing herself in the mirror, but only seeing one difference: she had been unable to run away with her true love. 

How had been Jeon Mindae’s life after vanishing? Had she been happy?

She truly hoped she was. She knew the feeling of loving someone who you are not supposed to and fighting for it to be alive even after years of waiting. It was exhausting, yet worth it, if by the end of the line she got to see him again.

Y/n kept the book pressed against her chest to the third destination of their tour, as a way to keep Jeon Mindae’s story close to her heart. If what Sehun had promised a week before was true, she was about to see Do Kyungsoo after two desperate years of sharing a bed with a stranger, pretending not to die a little with each passing day. That was not the life she had wanted for herself, but what could she do? 

Just wait, said her best friend every day. So she did just that.

But now, seeing the premises of Gyulcheon, it was like the sun was finally shining for her. Its citizens were slowly gathering around their carriage, waving at her and Hajoon, who had sported the same fake smile for the last five days. 

The city center was prepared to receive them, and the line of people who had gifts for them kept on growing as they got closer to the Palace’s entrance.

Her husband leaving the carriage first, y/n waited for Sehun to open the door for her once it was safe to do so. High-end families and generals bowed at her as she walked all the way to the Palace’s porch, and she could only smile at them with faked enthusiasm. Hajoon, awaiting her at the first step of the staircase, took her by her elbow and led her to the seatings decorated with golden and ancient figures. For the next two hours, they met Gyulcheon’s citizens who had to welcome them with gifts and offerings, a long-held tradition which the princess found pointless. Why would rich people need presents from poor, unprivileged ones? How was that even fair?

“I have to apologize My Prince, but I was only able to afford an honorable gift for My Princess”

The voice she had longed to hear for so many days, months, and years, reached her ears in an unexpected place. Her gaze pinned to her lap slowly raised to meet the eyes she had yearned to see, and the knot she had had in her throat ever since that night in the dungeons, tightened. He was as beautiful as she remembered, like time had stopped as soon as they met. Fighting back the urge to throw her arms around him, she bowed at him with her head and took a deep breath.

“You do not have to worry. I am content if my wife is.” and with that, Hajoon turned to the next peasant, who was offering him a wrapped-up gift.

“Thank you, Seongsaengnim” In a murmur, she took the laced box from his hands, trying to at least brush his fingers with hers. The shiver that she felt traveling down her spine was a sign of how strong her love for him was, even after all those years.

“Please try them as soon as you can, Your Grace. I would be devastated if they did not fit you”

His low buzz had her dancing in a cloud of her own. However, the guard that was next to him made it clear that he had to move quickly. More people were waiting behind. 

“I will, Seongsaengnim. I thank you again. It was nice to meet you” Pressing the box to her chest, she bowed at him once more, Kyungsoo copying her with an even deeper one. When they slowly rose, it was as if they had already blended their thoughts. “I love you” was whispered from both ends and a soft smile graced their faces when the man departed. 

Later that day, and alone in the chambers she was offered for her stay, she quickly headed to the corner where all their offerings had been placed. Hajoon was in a meeting, so she had time to find the only one that mattered. The laced box was hidden under the hundred packed gifts, so she had to make a big effort to retrieve it once it was on her radar. Once in her hands, waiting was no longer an option. Not even taking her time to appreciate the decorations around it, she removed the cover and tore through the white tissue paper wrap. What she found took her back to that afternoon, the afternoon that had changed her life.

The pair of shoes she had caught sight of that day were in her hands. She would never forget that soft peach silk that embraced the pair, and how those pink cherry blossom petals adorned them so delicately. With a cheeky sigh, y/n concluded that he had seen her from the moment she had set foot in the Cherry Blossom Market, when she had run to the stall, too entranced by the shoes to even care who noticed her. 

His words from the morning popped up in her mind as she ran her fingers around the shoes, and she rapidly put them on the floor to try them on. She knew he had meant something with it — the plan had to be resumed. As soon as she put them on, a relieved giggle left her lips. They were about to be together, once and for all. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ───

“All set?”

She nodded to her husband and took Sehun’s hand to step into the carriage. Once inside, her best friend winked at her, and she had to suppress the smirk she wanted to give him in return. Nothing could make her happier than seeing him ride his horse by her window, Hajoon too preoccupied with his book to even spare her a glance.

Their long conversation was interrupted when the carriage made an unexpected stop, and her husband looked out of the window for the first time in hours “What is happening?”

As Sehun yelled “Ambush!”, everything seemed to occur in slow motion. Half a dozen men all covered in black from head to toe surrounded the wagon, one of them violently opening its entrance door as the rest engaged in physical fights with the horsed soldiers, less in number and not so much prepared to respond to such a sudden attack.

The man who opened their door was quick to take her by the arm and shove her out, not even caring to check if her clumsy fall had caused any harm to her body. Indeed it had, but she was too busy screaming for help to even notice that her wrist had twisted under her weight in her landing. “Please!” she yelled as the stranger dragged her to his horse and effortlessly sat her on its saddle. 

“y/n!” She heard Hajoon’s voice muffled by all the swording around them. When she looked behind her, the stranger had already taken his own weapon out of his scabbard, waiting for her husband to get closer. However, he was never capable of doing so — another one of the ambushers had his blade pressed to his throat. 

“Do not move.”

“Hajoon!”

Her cry was followed by her kidnapper gracefully jumping on his horse, slightly adjusting his position in front of her. Triggering movement with his heel, the brownish animal began his race right into the woods, the carriage quickly disappearing from sight. 

It was only about half an hour into their ride that y/n let herself breathe in the fresh air. His addicting scent reached her nostrils in the process, and a chuckle escaped her lips as she strongly wrapped her arms around the man. 

“I missed you” she whispered to his ear, and he squeezed her hand in his. 

“I missed you too, my love”

[jongbross]

Exo reaction making their s/o cry??

xiumin: i think he doesn't care at first. like, when he looks at you and sees your eyes tearing up he wouldn't be that fazed. he would bother though as the tears starts to fall, the expression on your face telling him he had gone too far. his heart falters, and he sighs because he knows he screw up. minseok might not apologize right away, but he'll do it the next morning or something, just give him time to also process his feelings.

suho: this is kinda tricky. junmyeon can either react by giving you the cold shoulder and letting you cry because you also hurted him (and he might cry himself), or by pulling you to his chest as soon as the tears starts falling and apologizing straight away. i think it depends on what's the reason why he made you cry - was it something stupid he said? he will apologize in a heartbeat. was it because of an argument that you two had and he still thinks you're being unreasonable? he will let you cry, sorry.

lay: "please, stop crying" is the first thing ypu hear once your eyes get wet - not because yixing is mad at you or anything, but because he can't stand the sight of you crying. it doesn't matter the reason, if you two were fighting, even if he's right about the argument; he hates seeing you cry, and the moment he does, it's all gone for him. he even forgets what he was going to say, what his point was, whatever. can't tell which one is hurting the most, you (who are crying) or yixing (who has the saddest eyes ever as he watches your tears roll down your face).

baekhyun: he has a soft, soooft heart. baekhyun can't stand seeing people cry, it breaks him too, so it wouldn't be different with you. let's say you two had an argument, and things escalated kinda quickly; firstly, baekhyun is the one to start crying, even though he tries to hold back as much as he can. secondly, the moment you start crying as well, he shuts up and reaches for you. he uses his thumbs to caress your tears away, not saying a damn word and fighting the urge to kiss you to make you calm down.

chen: another tricky one. jongdae can be kind of a fucker and not care if you're crying IF what you said back at him hurt him too. as he doesn't cry so often, maybe you won't know that you've hurted him, but if you did... you can cry all you want, he thinks it's only fair (as you don't know the damage you did inside him). but if not, if he messed up something "small" but that it still mattered to you, jongdae will sit beside you and talk about what he can do to show you how sorry he is (and he really is).

chanyeol: actually you're the one who's making him cry, shame on you (because i honestly think chanyeol is the most sentimental one out of all the members and he tries to be careful with his words because he knows the damage they can make).

d.o: kyungsoo is very logical about things, i think. i picture him as being the type of person to let you cry as you need to put it all out of your chest, but once you're done he will approach you and hold your hand as he apologizes, probably not for what he said/done but for hurting you, and say that if he's hurting you then maybe you two should think about your relationship because "i love you and it isn't supposed to be this way. are you sure i'm good for you? am i not doing the opposite of what i should?".

kai: it will all depend on what happened, to be honest. jongin is very soft hearted, but he will stomp his feet and not give in if he believes he's right about something. if he's not, then he will try to hug you and apologize, bu he won't like if you push him away because it's eating him up the fact that he was the one who got you messed up like that. jongin will pout and say things like "please, don't do that, i'm really sorry". i don't think it's that healthy, but that's something he has to work on.

sehun: he doesn't know how to react. sehun doesn't know if he should reach for you and take you into his arms, or if he should give you some space to deal with your own feelings. some emotions can make him uncomfortable, and it's not necessarily his fault, he just doesn't know what to do. but sehun is a mature guy - more than we think, actually -, so he will find by himself the balance between respecting your space and trying to apologize, which is actually learning how to read you and your body language. if you're crying silently, then he knows you might want him to make it up for you asap; if you're crying and swearing, not at him, but at the world in general, then he knows that you're just trying to settle your emotions down and that maybe it's better if you two don't speak for the rest of the day.

[multiphandomunnies]

exo

reactions

idol gf has a wardrobe malfunction

*T* gf has self harm scars

bf decked out in merch at fansign

Mc makes fun of idol gf

how would exo cuddle

*T* gf comes out as F to M

college au

you send an inappropriate photo as they’re at practice

imagines

xiumin

winters promise

boyfriend xiumin!

half asleep

single dad!

falling in love

suho

lay

bf! lay

baekhyun

blushing

pantone 18-1018

chen

christmas special

chanyeol

falling prolouge

snapdragon

bf! chanyeol

instagram

kyungsoo

morning kisses

kai

(*M*) first time

tulip

bf! kai

sehun

orchid

jealous

luhan

don’t wait

tao

unexpected

[archernarbeta]

On the Floor,

✴︎ pairing : Kyungsoo x Reader

✴︎ genre : angst, mystery, I don’t know 😭 Kyungsoo is an idol tho

✴︎ warnings : mentions of suicide, description of smoking

✴︎ wc : 750

✴︎ a/n : I guess this is loosely inspired by smoking Soo from Room No.7? I’m honestly not sure.

“You’re staring again.”

He stated in a matter-of-factly manner. The dim lighting of the living room illuminated his skin too well, giving it a soft glow even though the rest of the space was pitch black. Nevertheless, his was special. He’s like those people you could easily see in the middle of a crowd, always so glowing that in the darkest night, he’s all you see. The little light reflected the moles on his face. A few on his cheeks, the ones on his chin that is always covered by makeup and a little one on his lips- the less prominent one people like to miss.

“You’re spacing out, stop that” he quipped, “I don’t like when your eyes go blank like this.” he sighed before picking up another cigarette from the pack. He lit it up and brought it to his mouth, inhaling a deep breath of nicotine before puffing out a heavy wisp, covering the room. You stared at him wordlessly, gazing at him and the filled ashtray, remnants of the nicotine sticks crowded the tray with bits of ashes falling down dirtying the floor.

“You picked up smoking, again.” It was now your turn to state a matter-of-fact opinion. You hated this habit of his, smoking. No matter how much he mentioned how smoking helps him stay sane, you refused to understand. Because with each puff, you felt him slowly chipping away just like the smoke coming out from his lips.

There were times where you got into fights because of his habits, commotion filled with yelling and screaming due to the deadly little sticks. Both of you were too young then, too foolish and obviously way too naïve to be playing house with each other.

To think about it, you were willing to do anything to bring those heated moments back. The never ending bickering filled with so much raw emotions. You’d do anything to redo it all over again, anything but this. Staring into each other, silently killing each other inside wordlessly in the darkness of once a vivid living space.

He held his gaze at your figure and the way that the hollow of your cheeks becomes visible each day broke him more than he’d like to admit. But to be fair, he knew a part of it was his fault anyways. He gave a low hum as if he wanted your attention. It was a stupid move knowing that you wouldn’t care, you stopped caring about him a long time ago.

“I can’t do this.” He took another huff and stared at the ceilings, paying little to no attention to the fact that the room was nearly pitch black.

“Neither can I.”

Something inside of him snapped as if your response pushed his buttons, “Stop that. Stop trying to respond to me.”

“Isn’t that what you want? For me to respond- talk to you?” You countered back almost immediately, a sharp tone coming out of you.

He sighed and ruffled his hair out of frustration before taking another cigarette out from its box, lighting his nth stick. He lit it up slowly, in contrast with the hold he has on the stick, you reckon he’d crush the cigarette soon before having a whiff from it with that hold.

“It’s not like you could,” he replied while kissing the toxins with his plump lips.

“Then what are you doing now, Soo?”

“Fuck. I- I don’t know. Maybe I’m angry? That you’re suddenly dead but I’m still fucking here walking in circles. Life’s already shit and now I need to wait for something half as good as you?! Hell- maybe I should be angry y/n. You should’ve gave me a heads up, you know? Something along the lines with, ‘hey I might take my own life tomorrow?’ would be fucking great! But maybe I’m scared that I’ll miss you? I know I’ll fucking miss you, I’ll get hooked by cigs again and half of it- is your fault! Do you know how fucking unfair this is? For God’s sake… why did you do this?” Kyungsoo huffed and puffed before exhaling an exhausted breath.

“Do you know that for all the times that you started hating life, you started to despise me, I never stopped loving you? Fuck- not an inch of me isn’t filled with love for you. Do you know how much I love you?” He spoke into thin air.

He took another draw before staring at your lifeless body. It was apparent that his eyes were again brimming with tears. He sobbed like a mad man when he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

The fact was, Do Kyungsoo had been crying for the past 2 hours. During that time, a confused and lost Do Kyungsoo had finished a pack and a half of cigarettes.

He had found you in the dark after work, not breathing, soulless in the corners of what he called home. Much like your soul, his sanity had left him the second he saw you. He hesitantly held your hand once in a while, checking if the warmth of your body was still there. He knew he probably had his screws loose by now.

After his last cigarette, Kyungsoo had his last straw. He finally fished out his phone and jammed the numbers of the emergency line, something he supposed to do hours ago.

“911? My girlfriend took her own life.”

“OD. Two and a half hours ago.”

“Lifeless, on the floor.”

“I- I don’t know… I don’t think have any reasons to call sooner? She- she was already dead…”

[kjms]

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐊 IN-PROGRESS

𝐃𝐎𝐇 𝐊𝐘𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐒𝐎𝐎 / 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑

in the intricate dance of a friends-with-benefits arrangement, you and kyungsoo’s connection began as a wordless symphony of passion. however, once emotions started brewing beneath the surface, you knew that you could not come out of this relationship unscathed.

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄: friends with benefits, angst

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 7.3k

𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: mature

ONE / TWO / THREE / FOUR / FIVE / SIX / SEVEN / EIGHT / NINE

WARNINGS: infidelity, sexual content, lots of angst

[inspired-by-the-music]

Sudden Rain, Chapter 3

Kyungsoo's POV

When I woke up the next morning, the clock on the bedside table told me that it was 9:00. The sky could have fooled me, though. I peeked through the white lace curtains to watch thick gray clouds roll across the sky. After shoving my dead phone into my pocket, I made my way out of the room. 

I tripped over the pile of folded clothes outside my door. From a glance, I could tell that the clothes were too large for me. The black hoodie and sweatpants must have belonged to Chanyeol. The gesture seemed too kind to ignore. Besides, I thought any change of clothes would be an improvement from my damp jeans and button-down shirt from yesterday. 

. . . 

“Looking good!” Chanyeol whistled at me when I walked into the dining room. 

“You too,” I said, noticing that his yellow polka-dotted apron matched his grandmother’s apron. I asked, “Where’s Eunbi?” and hoped nobody noticed how my voice tightened around her name. 

“Probably snoring in her room,” Chanyeol suggested. 

Ms. Park explained, “She has never been a big fan of breakfast,” as she filled a plate with her pancakes from her skillet.

“She never joins us,” Chanyeol griped, “no matter how hard I work!”

Ms. Oh had pulled her graying black hair into a bun. Her trembling hands were arranging sunflowers in the vase at the center of the table. She looked up from her work to tell Chanyeol, “That’s a good thing! As long as she doesn’t ruin her appetite, she’ll be able to finish a slice of my strawberry cake.” 

I asked, “Do you make her a strawberry cake every year?”

Wrinkles formed around Ms. Oh’s smile. “Oh, yes! Ever since she met my little Sehun, I’ve made a birthday cake for Eunbi.”

“That’s very kind.” Ms. Oh seemed to appreciate the recognition, especially when I said, “I look forward to trying it.” 

“Hey.” Chanyeol nudged my ribs as he set the table. “Maybe instead of flirting with Ms. Oh—who is happily married, by the way—you could flirt with my sister.”

Blinking, I muttered, “I thought you said she was sleeping.”

Chanyeol shrugged. “What do I know?”

“Chanyeol!” His grandmother hissed, and he stiffened. “Let Kyungsoo enjoy his breakfast.” She motioned to the head of the table, where she had set a lace placemat and a plate piled high with pancakes. 

I didn’t have much of an appetite, but the gesture seemed too kind to ignore. As I swallowed, I realized that this breakfast was the first meal I hadn’t spent alone or with Junmyeon in months. The sweetness of the maple syrup felt the same as the warmth that spread through my chest. 

I imagined that warmth was proof that the block of ice in my chest was melting. 

. . .

By the time I finished breakfast, the rain was falling in full force. I stood outside of Eunbi’s door with my hood pulled over my head. 

I knocked once to no answer. 

I knocked twice to no answer. 

The third time I knocked, Eunbi answered. 

Her voice preceded her. Faintly over the sound of the rain, I heard her say, “Chanyeol, I’ve told you that I never want to see you before eleven o’clock. If you want me to try your pancakes so badly, just leave some in the fridge, and I’ll eat them for lunch!”

She opened the door wearing only a towel. Keeping my eyes fixed on hers, I said, “His pancakes are actually rather delicious.” 

Eunbi screamed, “Oh my God!” and slammed the door. 

I turned around, blinking, and tried not to laugh. 

The next time she opened the door, she was wearing a yellow sweater over a white dress. While pinning her hair back, she said, “I’m so sorry for opening the door like that.” She motioned for me to enter her room. “I swear, Chanyeol has been knocking on my door every day since he learned to cook, begging me to try his pancakes.”

I sat on the edge of a pale gray armchair in the corner. “I heard you’re not a big fan of breakfast, but you should try his pancakes sometime.”

After closing the door, Eubi sat on the small wooden stool in front of an easel. “That’s what everybody says, but I’ll hold onto the mystery a little longer.” She looked at me for a few moments, and I looked at her. She said, “I thought you would leave first thing this morning.” 

Shaking Junmyeon’s nagging voice out of my mind, I said, “I told you that I wanted to speak to you.” Given the weather, it seemed likely that the flight would be delayed or canceled anyway. 

“I know,” she said, “but people often say things they don’t really mean.”

I told her, “I don’t do that. I don’t say things that I don’t mean.” 

She told me, “I don’t either.” We smiled at each other. 

“I’m glad you brought me here,” I said. “Everybody is very kind.” 

Eunbi nodded. “I’m glad you like it. Most of the guests are friends Grandma has made over the years. I know she’s happy to serve somebody new.”

“She’s very energetic,” I remarked. “Ms. Oh is a character too. She can’t seem to go long without mentioning her grandson.”

“No, she can’t.” Eunbi blushed as she said, “Sehun is her pride and joy.” 

I asked, “Have you known him a long time?”

“Oh, yeah,” she nodded. “We met during auditions for a play in elementary school. He’s a few years older than me, but we always got along well. I guess he’s my best friend.” 

“You guess?” I asked. 

“It’s hard to keep friends as an adult,” she said. “At least, it’s hard for me. I guess things got complicated after we tried and failed to be more than friends.” 

When she frowned, I frowned. I told her, “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay.” Her smile seemed forced. “Maybe sometimes you’re meant to love people forever, even when things don’t work out as you think they should.”

I said, “Maybe.”

I envied Eunbi’s ability to fake a smile. More than that, I envied her ability to love Sehun despite the heartache. I thought I would have liked to love Soo-Ah at least for the memories we shared. As time went on, though, I started to fear that I had never loved her at all. That seemed far worse than to have loved and lost.

Eunbi turned to face her canvas, and I asked, “How long have you been painting?”

“In general? Or are you asking about this piece specifically?” She angled the easel to show me a scene of lovers near the Fountains of St. Peter’s Square.

A harsh wind blew through the block of ice in my chest. I winced at the memory of walking through Rome alone, pretending that Soo-Ah was beside me. At the time, I didn’t think much about her decision to stay home while I traveled for writing inspiration. She had a career of her own, family, and friends to tend to. I couldn’t fathom that she also had another lover to tend to. I couldn’t imagine that while I was eager to return to her, she was happier in my absence. 

I wasted many sleepless nights wondering if our fate could have been different if she had been beside me in Rome. For some time, I imagined that we somehow would have been immortalized by tiptoeing through those eternal streets. Gradually, I came to believe that Soo-Ah would have looked out of place among those ancient buildings. Our story would have unraveled more quickly far from home. 

Realizing that Eunbi was expecting a response, I said, “Both.” 

“I’ve been painting since, well, always,” Eunbi answered. “I’ve been working on this piece for about a month.” 

“It’s amazingly realistic,” I said. The painting wasn’t realistic in the way that a photograph is realistic. The painting was realistic in the way that a beautiful song can capture the feelings of a long-lost daydream. I asked, “Would you like to see the Fountains at St. Peter’s Square?”

“Oh, that would be a dream!” Eunbi pulled a piece of paper from behind her canvas and handed it to me. “I keep a list of all the places I’d love to visit, and a Roman holiday is right there at the top of the list.” 

I read the list and asked, “Is that what you’d like for your birthday? We could go to Rome.” 

“You can’t possibly mean that,” Eunbi said quietly. Before I could argue, she added, “And who told you about my birthday? Was it that big mouth, Chanyeol?”

I shook my head as I returned the list. “Your grandmother told me. She invited me to your party.” 

“There’s going to be a party?” She said, “We should start preparing ourselves for Ms. Oh’s strawberry cake.” 

Realizing I had ruined the surprise, I blushed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know—”

“It’s not really a surprise,” Eunbi assured me. “Chanyeol, Grandma, and the ladies at the inn plan a party for me every year. It’s sweet that they still treat it like a surprise.”

My blush slowly faded. I asked, “Why do you eat Ms. Oh’s cake if you don’t like it?”

“I don’t dislike it,” Eunbi said through a lopsided smile. “It’s just a little too sweet. I’d eat it even if it was awful, though. My birthday only comes once a year, you know, and the gesture is too kind to ignore.” 

“That makes sense,” I said. Then, I asked again, “Do you want to go to Rome?”

Staring at her painting, Eunbi stuttered, “I could never repay you for something like that, Kyungsoo.”

I said, “People don’t typically pay for their own birthday gifts.” 

“That’s too expensive, though,” she sighed. “Besides, if I’m not here, who will help Grandma around the inn?”

I could have said that Chanyeol seemed to be a great help, but I decided not to say anything like that. Suddenly, I felt very much like a stranger. By chance, I had stumbled upon Eunbi while she was in the middle of life. I knew that life meant responsibilities, obligations, and prior engagements. Still, I wanted to hear her say that she would go on a Roman holiday with me even if we were only sharing daydreams that could never come true. 

“We’ll go to Rome some other time, then,” I promised. I tried to memorize her smile. “What do you want for your birthday?”

She said what almost everybody says: “I don’t want or need anything.” What made Eunbi different from almost everybody else was that she seemed honest. 

I wanted to be like her, but I could think of at least one thing I wanted. I almost leaned over the arm of the gray chair to kiss her, but I decided against it. When it came time for me to leave, I didn’t want to abandon her with any complicated feelings. When it came time for me to leave, I wanted her to remember me fondly. 

It seemed inevitable that we should fall out of touch. As soon as I left her room, that day seemed to loom in the visible future. When that day should come, I wanted her to smile while wondering what we could have been if somebody had been bold enough to cross that line. 

It seemed obvious that we wouldn’t amount to more than an unexpected “what-if?” I desperately wanted us to be happy with that. 

. . . 

I found Chanyeol at the front desk and asked if I could borrow his phone charger. His charger was incompatible with my phone. 

“Here.” Chanyeol shoved his phone into the pocket of my (his) hoodie. “You can borrow mine. If some girl claiming to be my girlfriend calls, tell her I’ve changed my number.”

I tried to tell him, “I just need to make one call,” but he had already walked past me to help the ladies prepare for the party. 

No matter how many times I called Junmyeon on my walk up the stairs, he wouldn’t answer. His voicemail inbox was full, so I texted him. 

Me: “This is Kyungsoo. My phone died, and nobody at this inn has a compatible charger, and I can’t go out to buy a charger in this storm. If you need anything, call me at this number.” 

Junmyeon: “You have to be kidding me! Are you this desperate for an extension?”

Me: “I don’t need an extension!”

Junmyeon: “Then are you this desperate to cancel your book tour?”

Me: “No. A one-week delay won’t completely derail the schedule.”

Junmyeon: “ONE WEEK?”

Me: “Apparently, when it rains around here, it pours.” 

Junmyeon: “And where exactly is ‘here’?”

I sent him my location. 

Junmyeon: “You have got to be kidding me! How did you manage to get stranded in the middle of nowhere during a storm?”

Me: “I don’t know. If you recall, traveling wasn’t my idea.”

Junmyeon: “How could I forget when you’ve dragged your feet every step of the way?”

I didn’t know how to respond. It seemed improper to quit via text. I paced down the hallway. 

Junmyeon: “At least get some writing done while you’re stranded.”

I huffed. Although it wasn’t the type of writing Junmyeon wanted, I did have an urge to put pen to paper. After locking the door, I lay on my stomach on the bed and wrote in my notebook: 

To Eunbi, Regarding our Roman Holiday

Whenever we find ourselves in Rome, I’ll show you a secret. If you look through the Aventine keyhole, you’ll see a scene from one of your paintings: St. Peter’s Basilica. Supposedly, nobody knows if this view of the Basilica was purposefully designed or if it was a coincidence. You should try to believe that the keyhole exists just for you to imagine that you’ve fallen into one of your paintings. 

I’m starting to think that you don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but you should try gelato anyway. There’s a blueberry cheesecake flavor that I think you’d like. It’s not too sweet. I don’t think you can find anything like it outside of Rome. 

Are you a fan of Romantic poetry like I am? Even if you’re not, we should visit the Keats-Shelley Memorial House. When I was younger I used to lay awake at night thinking about how, tragically, a storm prevented poor Keats from experiencing the warmth he craved before death. In all the times I’ve visited Rome, I’ve never had the time to visit his preserved bedroom. I wonder how he would feel about strangers invading his private space; I wonder if we’ll feel like intruders when we visit. 

Then, under the cover of darkness, let’s toss a few coins into the Trevi fountain. Somebody once told me that tossing one coin means you’ll return to the Eternal City, tossing two coins means you’ll return and fall in love, and tossing three coins means you’ll return, find love, and marry. You don’t have to give me any spoilers, but I wonder how many coins you’ll toss into the fountain. 

I hope you have a very happy birthday, Eunbi. I’m enchanted to have met you during this April shower. Whenever we find ourselves in Rome, I hope to see you among the May flowers. 

Yours, 

Kyungsoo

I considered passing the letter through the floor, but I decided that it would be better to deliver it face to face at the party.

[haespoir]

break your rules: mkl.

“break your rules; cross that line and start with me first.” 

⨯ summary: johnny’s younger sibling is finally home, and they have one rule: never date their brother’s friends. unfortunately, mark lee makes this rule extremely difficult to follow. in fact, he seems hellbent on making them break it. 

⨯ genre: fluff, humor, maybe angst if im bored 

⨯ style: mixed social media and writing; non!idol au... they’re just some guys idk what to tell you 

⨯ featuring: mark + y/n (sorry you’re now yn babes) & other idols.

⨯ song inspo: break your rules, the boyz / lowkey, niki / i’m gonna love you, d.o 

⨯ profiles: the neo bois / yn's harem

⨯ posts

one. baby suh comes home two. settling in three. the schemes begin four. night out on the town five. the morning after six. lover boy seven. tbd...

⨯ taglist: @luvvsnae @liliansun @sstarrysshit @qghosty @95cheols @makiswrld @brownsugarbaybee @mxnhoeuwu @21nainai @sirtaehyunsalot @artstaeh @lcvehyvck @mowchiie @kittydollzz @n0hyuck @rosabella1009 @minghaossv @ujisworld @dreamzenwrld @chaoshoranghae @venmntl @cas104 @electriccrimsonudon @jinsoul-gf @morkiee @gl1tt3ry @hyuk4ngel

[jinmindeulle]

twenty one petals | do kyungsoo (preview)

𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 commoner!do kyungsoo x princess!reader

𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆 angst, romance | love at first sight, forbidden love

the story i originally intended to be short, turned out make me write 5k+ words, so it's taking longer for me to write. in the meantime, this is the preview i can give you! @kyungseokie, thank you so much for your request. it will be up in the next couple of days!

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ 　˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚　 ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ ˚ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ ˚ ＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ ˚

Your Royal Highness,

I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. I write to you with the utmost humility and respect, fully aware of the immeasurable distance that separates your world from mine.

Since the moment I first had the privilege of glimpsing your radiant presence from afar, my heart has embarked on a journey it had never before known. It is a journey filled with profound admiration, deep respect, and, dare I say, love that transcends all boundaries.

I am but a humble commoner, a mere speck in the grand tapestry of your Father’s noble kingdom. Yet, as I go about my daily toils, I find myself endlessly enchanted by thoughts of you. Your delicateness, your kindness, your voice—all of these qualities have illuminated my every waking moment from the second you answered my inquiry.

Please understand that I harbor no illusions of grandeur, nor do I seek to intrude on your world. My affection is a silent and solitary affair, a secret held close to my heart, and now to yours. It is a love that has to remain unspoken, for I am painfully aware that my place in society precludes any dreams of an impossible union.

I am content to serve my kingdom, my family, and my fellow commoners with all the devotion and diligence I can muster. In doing so, I hope to honor the same virtues that have earned you the admiration and adoration of all who have had the privilege of knowing you.

May your days be filled with happiness and prosperity.

With the utmost reverence and eternal devotion,

DKS.

[kjmcotton]

✧*ૂ༄bee’s masterlist

PN: ❀ fluff ; ☾ angst ; ♢ sad ; ✩ for adults ; ♤ smut ; ♡ request

For any request ,please,check the guideline

✧ EXO

✧ Kim Junmyeon

December on the couch ♤

✧ Byun Baekhyun

Metanoia ✩ ♡

Commitment issues ☾ ♡

Unexpected gift ❀ ♡

✧ Park Chanyeol

What we did in the library ♤

A good action can change your life ❀ ♡

✧ Kim Jongdae

coming soon…

✧ Kim Minseok

coming soon…

✧ Kim Jongin

coming soon…

✧ Oh Sehun

Have a soft spot for me ❀♡

✧ Zhang Yixing

Ray of sunshine,the clouds are vanishing ❀ ♡

✧ D.O. Kyungsoo

coming soon…

✧ Specials

Halloween advent calendar🎃

[jiminiesfavouritecolourisblue]

Harbouring a Hybrid - Part 5 Jimin Au

Jimin Hybrid au ft the EXO members for this chapter 3K words, italics are the past. Trigger warnings: grievous bodily harm, illness, self inflicted harm, mentions of torture, blood, angst, wounds, death.

“I found him, over,” you buzz into the walkie talkie, approaching the figure cautiously. 

“What’s your location Echo? Over,” but you ignore the question, brows furrowing as you take in the hunched figure in the abandoned building development. The wind was cold but that wasn’t what caused a shiver to go down your spine, it was the laboured breaths you could hear coming from the hybrid.

“Hey,” you call, ignoring your instincts to run when goosebumps prickle your skin. 

You stumble back when he turns suddenly, the red of his glazed eyes on your form like lasers. There’s a deep growl, completely inhuman resounding out of his chest like a warning. 

You freeze like a deer in headlights, fitting since the lion hybrid in front of you looked ready to devour his meal. 

“What the fuck…” Jeongin joins you, cautiously standing beside you, his arms out as if to appease the hybrid in front of you both. He wasn’t in lion form but he didn’t look human, you hated the thought but he looked like a monster. He sniffs the air, the presence of another male in his territory sets him off, the low growl he emits isn’t the only warning. You can both guess what’s about to happen when he recoils back, not in surrender but poised to attack. 

“Run!” You barely hear yourself with the roar thundering through the air stirking you both with a terror you’ve never felt in your life, but Jeongin must’ve heard you or at least had some sense if he didn’t. The pair of you witness a glimpse of the lion hybrid lunging towards you, but you don’t look back to check whether he’s chasing you, the sound of his feet slamming on the ground with each step tells you that. 

“D.O we have a problem!” Jeongin screams into the device, forgoing the usual ending term as you both run fearing for your lives. 

“Kai hold on,” you both hear your leader's voice through the static, the sound muted as the blood pumped through your ears. 

“Shit…” Kyungsoo watches you both running towards him as he walks out into the middle of a cross junction between the shells of half built buildings. The weapon in his hands feels heavy, but he doesn’t have the heart to put a bullet in the hybrid, even as he begins to shift into a half beast. The sight is gruesome, half his face shifted, one leg, parts of his arms and chest, as if a demon had inhabited the body and was trying to get out. 

The pair of you screamed at him to run, the lion catching up to you both albeit slowly, his half shifted form causing him to stumble in his gait, unbalanced but unable to consciously change completely. Kyungsoo raises his gun ready to take the shot to save them all but you yelled at him not to. That weapon was to protect the hybrids if they were to encounter hybrid patrol, it was a last resort.

“There’s still a chance!” Your lungs burned, but you refused to give up on whatever creature was chasing you. 

“We can capture him in the van!”

He hesitates, Junmyeon could decide what was best, they needed to find him. He starts running, the rifle still in his hands. He waits for you both to overtake him before he picks up his speed, making sure if the lion was to succeed in his attack he would go first, giving you time to escape. 

From a distance the sound of sirens blare into the air, growing louder and louder. The lion freezes, halting in his chase. You look back, seeing a glimpse of recognition in his eyes. He loses interest in you all, and against your survival instincts you stop running. 

“We need to go, that’s hybrid patrol!” Kyungsoo instructs, pulling on your arm as he passes you, trying to get you to keep running. 

“We can’t leave him!” You yell back, pulling him back to stop.

The man in the beast lets out a distraught scream, the sound drowning the sirens momentarily before he grunts. 

“Why is he doing that,” you whisper, the pair of you watching the hybrid tear into his own flesh with his claws and teeth, as if he knew what the sound of sirens meant for him. 

“Y/n,” Kyungsoo tugs at your sleeve again, his voice suddenly thick. You look at him, he knew what was happening, the sorrow in his eyes told you that. 

“Get in the van!” Your leader shouts as he runs towards you both with Jeongin by his side, taking your hand when he reaches you but one glance at the bleeding hybrid has him staggering in his step.

“Seokjin…”

—

“Where is he?” Junmyeon says in place of greeting the second he’s through the door. Sehun engulfs the older male into a hug, feeling the stress radiate off him like a siren the same as Jeongin.

“In the basement,” he replies, the bags under his eyes turning purple. It had been a week since their phone call and seemingly in that time everything went from bad to worse. 

Neither male could sleep when their nights were filled with louding distraught wailing coming from the feline hybrid they were hiding under the house. 

“He’s got a temperature and no appetite, but I can’t smell anything yet,” Sehun informs the leader, trying his best to be helpful. “He’s been in and out of it, he keeps calling for Y/n whether he’s awake or asleep.”

“It’s just hybrid flu, right Hyung?” Jeongin asks cautiously, his heart hammering for Jimin. “It’s been a week, it has to be.”

“Or it’s phase one.” He didn’t have to elaborate.

—

“There’s nothing we could have done,” Junmyeon announces quietly to your sombre heads hanging low in the back of the van. Kyungsoo glances at the rearview mirror at you all, feeling the guilt and defeat radiate off of you and Jeongin like waves. Junmyeon, aka Suho, and he had been doing this for far longer than you rookies, they learnt to deal with the grief of being unable to save a hybrid. 

“Why was he like that?” you finally break the silence you had been holding since the journey back began, looking up at the leader of your rescue team with watering eyes, unable to get the sight of that hybrid out of your mind. 

“That wasn’t hybrid flu,” Jeongin pipes in, his voice heavy as he refuses to look at anyone.

“Chen got the intel wrong,” Suho sighs, referring to Jongdae, the missing member of the ‘animal shelter’. “It’s difficult to differentiate between hybrid flu and…” 

“And what?” you press. “What was that?”

There's a pause in the air, the two older men trying to find the words to explain to you the disease that you witnessed first hand. 

“Intracranial hybrid deformation,” Kyungsoo breaks the silence unwillingly, but someone had to tell you. “A chemical imbalance caused by extreme emotional distress, it inflames the cerebrum before eating away at the grey matter, it makes them feral.”

“I’ve seen feral hybrids before Hyung,” Jeongin says sternly as if D.O was trying to trick him, “that was something else.”

“Worse than feral,” Suho explains. “They’re like zombies, there’s nothing there, no thought process, just instinct and violence, to others, to themselves.” 

“There’s no cure?” 

“If you haven’t noticed, the world isn’t thinking about healing hybrids,” Kyungsoo says with angry sarcasm, his hands gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turn white. He sighs at the silence that follows after his harsh words, but none of you were here to enjoy yourselves. You were a small minority trying to do the right thing in a disgusting world. 

“There was nothing we could’ve done to save him?” You ask, your bottom lip trembling as you remember the traumatising scenes.

Suho shakes his head solemnly. 

“Hyung you recognised him,” Jeongin mumbles, timidly glimpsing at Junmyeon to make sure he didn’t cross a line. 

“He’s a… friend I’ve been trying to save for a while,” he confesses, his face scrunching in pain as he tries to dissociate himself from the situation. “I thought he was alright, I thought…”

Suho exhales a shaky breath, looking to the front of the van as his tears fall, grieving the loss in private. 

You sniff, turning away from him so he wouldn’t see you cry either. All you wanted to do was go home to Jimin, hug your hybrid as hard as you could and never let him out of your sight. 

—

Something inside of him wasn’t right since you left, it all felt wrong. His head hurt so much, he blamed it on all the crying he couldn’t stop. When was the last time he had something to drink when it wasn’t being coaxed into him by Jeongin or Sehun. Or something to eat. 

This was all your fault. You left him. You broke your promise to never leave him. He feels a sudden flare of anger overtake him at his intrusive thoughts. The pounding of his head is almost crippling but he still manages to stagger off the bed, falling unceremoniously for a feline on the floor. He’s so out of breath he’s almost panting, eyes glaring at the stairs that led out of this prison. They locked the door, they kept him in here like an animal, and you trusted them to keep him safe. 

Just like he trusted you. 

As if the room could hear his anger, it responded with a groan, the door opening revealing a shadow at the top. Whoever he was, he looked like an angel peering down into the depths of Hell, Jimin wondered if his time had come, if all your sacrifices ended in irony. The figure takes a step down towards his inferno, each step echoing against the walls and reverberating into Jimin’s skull. 

When Junmyeon reaches the bottom, his eyes meet the feline crouching pitifully on the ground, his hands on his head as if cradling it, like it was too heavy to carry on his shoulders. There isn’t an ounce of trust in either of their eyes, there were too many consequences to trust. Both men learnt that the hard way. 

“Jimin,” Junmyeon greets him, keeping his distance. Sehun stood by the door listening, just in case. “My name’s Suho, do you remember we’ve met?”

“That’s your codename,” Jimin hisses, unable to get the words out any other way with the current weight crushing his skull from the inside. “I know who you are.”

Jimin does remember, years ago when you saved him, Junmyeon visited when you took him in. He was the one that provided you with all the scent blockers to hide him, all the rules to keep you both safe. Well those rules failed, in Jimin’s eyes the man to blame was standing in front of him. He should have known, he should have kept a closer eye on you, especially if he knew who your parents were. 

“Then you’ll know the predicament I’m in,” he sighs. “It’s my job to keep everyone safe, and right now no one is.”

“She won’t tell them anything,” Jimin mutters through gritted teeth, eyes closing as his head pounds, unable to even say your name any more but he still comes to your defence. 

“You don’t know how far they’re willing to go…” he replies honestly, his eyes never leaving the hybrid’s form. What he wants to say is on the tip of his tongue, but he fights with himself whether it's a good idea. Does he make the hybrid aware of what could potentially happen to him? Does he tell him about trying to get you out to give him some hope to hold on to, but if they failed…

His whole intention of meeting the feline again was to ascertain his health, the signs Sehun and Jongin would miss. The signs Junmyeon wishes weren’t glaringly obvious. 

“Jimin,” he doesn’t know what compels him to say it in the end, pity? Or maybe the hope that maybe the hybrid could hold on. “We’re going to get her out.”

Despite the overwhelming pain of doing so, JImin looks up at the man in charge, the man who without, you would not have been able to save him all those years ago. There’s a flare of longing in his chest that wants to believe him, but he’s too afraid to.

Maybe he was right to hold back his trust, Junmyeon doesn’t tell him they’ve already tried and failed, but they wouldn’t give up.

—

You’ve lost count how many days it had been, every room you inhabited was dark, isolating, cold. Delirious didn’t even begin to describe what you were feeling, it was dangerous to feel so out of control, you were trying so hard to get a grip, to make sure you kept your mouth shut. You were terrified you had already let something slip, in that state between consciousness and sleep, what if you had told them everything?

The door opens, the creak of the metal echoing across your prison. Weakly you lift your head to greet your next battle, watching the familiar shadow of a man approach you. 

Pull yourself together Y/n, you have to keep Jimin safe.

But your determination drowns as your guest utters his greeting, maybe your worst fears were right, maybe you had told them everything unwillingly. 

“Hello Echo.”

You cost Jimin his safety. 

Your heart leaps to your throat in shock as your mind tries to navigate you. The figure in front of you sways, mirrors of his image dispersing into his surroundings like a raindrop hitting calm water. It takes you a second to focus but in that second you have a thousand incoherent thoughts. 

—

“You’ve been quiet since you got back,” Jimin mumbles into your hair. 

You were both on the sofa, lying on your sides, cuddling. Jimin wasn’t complaining, not in the slightest, but the way you had buried your head in his chest had his worry turned to overdrive. Your arms hold him tighter around his waist at his words, and he knows then something was really wrong. 

The feline hybrid obviously knew of your ‘second job’ at the ‘Exo - animal shelter’, it was how he came into your life, but that didn’t mean he liked it. It was an awful guilty feeling, knowing that you were doing the world good, saving people like him, but he couldn’t stop thinking about your safety. What if you got caught, not all hybrids were friendly, what if you didn’t come back, what if something took you away from him? What if you found another hybrid and wanted him out, what if you fell in love with someone else? What if you got hurt?

He tried not to spiral every time you went on a mission but he couldn’t help it, the least he could do for you was hold his thoughts back, and welcome you with open arms when you came home. He always knew when it wasn’t good news, whenever you managed to save someone you came home with a smile of victory on your face. But when you failed, you turned into a zombie, expressionless, silent, and withdrawn. Normally Jimin had to coax you back to him, back into his arms until he could soothe the trauma away, but today you sought him out first, your eyes shining the way they did after you cried. 

“Y/n?” he tries to see your face but it's hidden from him, he gets a glimpse as you shake your head against his chest. You didn’t want to talk about it, and he wouldn’t press you. His arms wrap around you as if he could protect you the way you did him. He would keep his human safe, no matter what. 

—

“Jongdae…?” You breathe, recognising the familiar face that grins despite his eyes glancing at every single one of your wounds with worry.

“They really did this to their own child,” he remarks quietly, the sick feeling in his stomach turning into rage. Evil didn’t do the description justice, your parents were something else entirely.

Jongdae was their informant, the one closest to the firing range, in the most danger living in the Devil’s mouth undercover for Exo, but he was also the reason your rogue team was able to save so many. He was far more important to the cause than you were which is why you were panicking about his presence.

“You can’t be here,” you harshly whisper, eyes on the door, flickering to the cameras, knowing it was too late, whoever was watching must have figured it out. 

“I’ve looped the feed, relax,” he says softly to calm you down, watching you wince with every movement you made. “Tomorrow we’re going to get you out of here.”

“You can’t,” you shake your head desperately despite it causing your vision to blur and spin, only one concern burning through your mind. “They’ll hunt Jimin, no-”

“Shhhh, listen,” he doesn’t have much time left, your parents would be back soon. “Just trust us, we need to get you out of here, Jimin-”

He hesitates, not knowing if it was wise to tell you, but if he didn’t you might resist their rather daring and suicidal escape plan. 

“Jimin what?” the panic in your eyes changes, your gaze no longer blurry but focused on the man in front of you. “What’s wrong with Jimin?”

Your breathing shallows but grows heavier by the second, a dull ache spreads across your chest. You did this to save him, you sacrificed your life for his, he had to be okay, he has to be.

Jongdae watches you hyperventilate, knowing what he was about to tell you would make it so much worse, but you deserved to know. 

“He might have intracranial hy-”

“No.” You’re shaking your head again, refusing to listen to his words as if that would stop it from being true. “No, Jimin’s strong, you’re wrong.”

“He’s starting to get symp-”

“It’s the flu,” you disregard him, an awful violent sick feeling making its way up your throat. “It's not- no.”

A heart wrenching whimper leaves you, bottom lip wobbling so hard as you begin to cry with the realisation of what you had done, what the consequences of your so called heroic actions were. He doesn’t have the heart to tell you why, he can’t tell you you’re Jimin’s mate.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Taglist : @unicornbabylover @imjustreadingig @sweeneyblue1 @​​effielumiere @jimijimificrec @canarystwin @youngbloodslut @thelazylemur @dif-imagines @nlost21 @pb-n-juju @needyomnivore @lvpersona @marvelfamily3000 @love2lovesworld @halesandy @dreamamubarak @deepseavibez @mikymouse0729 @barnesrogerslover @itismochirice @mwitsmejk @minswife4life 

[starillusion13]

Please! Listen to me

Pairing: college student! Jaehyun x college student! Reader (mention of NCT Jaemin x reader)

Genre: Angst, Romance, fluff, slice of life, university au, non-idol au, a very emotional au (read with caution) W.C : 3.5k

Warnings: Isolation, depression, past traumas, death of loved ones(major character which will really make you sad and am sorry) and Jaehyun’s dimples with his cutest smile(major warning)

Summary: “Will you listen to me?”, looking upward with a soft look on the face , eyes searching for the answers deep inside the opposite brown orbs which are staring directly to her. “You really thought I was joking back then? I meant every words honestly and trust me, you are the MOON amid my ocean of star”, confessing the heart out with a adorable smile revealing tiny dimples which causing the eyes to twitch tightly.

I recommend you to listen to ( That's okay by D.O.)

Taglist: @mymoodwriting @justhere4kpop @vvshere

Well this story was supposed to be something else but now it ended up a bit different from the original plot because I didn't feel okay with writing that plot.

I hope you kindly show some love with reblogs and likes and feedbacks are always appreciated.

*under the cut*

The streets are lonely just like the heart of yours. The street lights are not illuminating the place much as needed similarly just the way you always put up a smile on your face which is not enough to decrease the ache in your heart. ‘The people around me are so happy even if they had a rough day at least they could go back home in a relief to get back to someone’s warmth.’ They enjoy the warmth and can rely on it to ease themselves. Well unlike you who has to face a cold world when you return back to your place after a long day which you can’t even call it a ‘home’ anymore. The place which once seems a warm paradise to you is now like a cold abandoned Hell.

No one is going to listen to you anymore.

Once for you coming back home was the best thing ever you desired. Coming back to see the smile which erase your every tiredness from your body. The warm hug which made your home a paradise and then “How was your day my love?”. This was enough for you to calm down from a stressful day and forgetting all the problems in your life and just focusing on HIM.

Today is different from those days. It’s now similar to the days you are spending for last 6 months. LAST 6 MONTHS AFTER HE LEFT YOU. Now you longer want to go back home early. No longer the surroundings feel fresh and enchanting to you which once you both cherish a lot. The surroundings are to your likings full of flowering plants and open fields with some old trees which give a place a soothing and calmness. But now you feel suffocated passing through it because its no longer the same to you without him by your side. The park came into the view and a sad smile appeared on your lips oblivious to your sense. “I MISS YOU” this park is the place where you both first met and shared so many memories which you didn’t thought back then to be the sad ones later. Tears welled up in eyes but you didn’t bother to wipe them away. At least the tears were warm unlike other feelings in your life.

Standing in front of the apartment still you don’t feel like to enter into. ‘If I go back today, Will he be waiting there for me just like those days?’ But deep down you know no matter how long you wait, he wont ever come back to even if he wants to.

Unlocking the door, you are welcomed by the cold darkness of the living room. You didn’t even bother to switch on the light rather turned towards your right and entered the bedroom and switched on the bed light. You placed your bag on the study table and chose to fresh yourself to brush off your mind. It took almost 20 minutes to complete yourself drying off after the shower and plopped on the bed. You don’t know why suddenly all your past thoughts are flooding your mind today.

It was supposed to be a usual day like other but the batchmates ruined your day by telling

“You, ugly bitch is not the one to be loved you know.”

‘Yes, I know and that’s why parents left me when I was too young as well as he.’

This is the reason you felt so low with your emotions. Six months back when you finally realized that he won’t be back in your life ever, you never felt the warmth in yourself. You tried to move on, to forget about your past life but somehow you still miss him.

‘Wish you could have died in that accident too with him.’

People around made you such an emotional mess with their consolations which sometimes seemed fake to you. You tried to move to a different place and to start a life from a fresh beginning but his smile reminds you that this apartment is the only last place you can feel him. You isolated yourself from the outside world even skipped meals but you know all these could never give you anything else other depression. So without getting involve in any conversations you put up a smile every time you went out and try to keep yourself busy in your part time jobs so that you have to come back home late and keep your mind off of HIM.

Unfortunately for you, his brother JUNG JAEHYUN is in same university and some of the classes with you in your university and that’s why classmates pick on you even more.

“You, bitch look at him. How you have killed his brother and left him all alone.”

‘Really, I guess I should have died in his place at least he would not have to lose his brother.’

JUNG JAEHYUN and NA JAEMIN, they are not brothers by blood but step-brothers. They are of three years apart in age but the bonding between the brothers were beyond anyone can imagine. No one can even have a doubt that they are not real brothers. Jaehyun’s parents adopted Jaemin when the younger one’s only parent, his mom died due to a chronic illness. Since, then they are brothers and were being called JAE BROTHERS.

Starting of the university, you fell in love with Jaehyun because of his heart laugh and dimple smile with a kind gentleman personality. You didn’t tell him about your feelings scared to get rejected and then bullied by those mean classmates. You and Jaemin were in the same year and were best friends. He had a sneaky personality but a gentle one like his elder brother. Jaehyun was one year senior than you both and you all often meet in the cafeteria or in the common classes. One day Jaemin asked you about your feelings for his brother.

“Y/N, tell me honestly.”

“What?”

“Do you like Jaehyun?”

You didn’t know what to reply like if it is right to say that to him. What will happen if he tells this to his brother and then the next everybody in the college will somehow know about it.

“I don’t know….”

“Look don’t try to hide it from me at least when we are like…..best friends.”

“See I don’t-”

“You are afraid to get rejected and then bullied because of the rumours that will be spread.Right?”

“Hmm…” You no longer denied your true self in front of him when he knows you more than yourself.

“I knew it!!!” He smiled at you and added “Well I have a silly idea that we can work out and please don’t deny because to know your feelings for him, you have to do this. I know my brother very well and how much he likes you so its better I try this plan to better solve the problem between you two.”

It was a shocking news to know from him how his brother loved you every moment you three met at your usual spots but neither of you ever let the other to know about your feelings.

“I don’t trust your ideas but I give it a chance. So what’s the idea?”

Jaemin again gave you his heart smile and in return you smiled at him.

“Jaemin please come back……I can’t handle this without you….Please…..I am lost…..I don’t know what to do anymore….Should I give up?...” You glanced to the bed side table and took the phot frame in your hands and the tears rolled down your eyes. You sat up and looked at the picture. The two brothers enjoying their day for their weekends. It was the last picture he had clicked before that day. Jaehyun clicked him that picture so that he could send you.

Who thought it would be the last time. The last time to be the part of the game you both started to make Jaehyun realise his feelings which you both didn’t realise to have turned into a reality. Yes, starting the game, you both were enjoying it as best friends but eventually you both started dating officially when one day you both get to know that Jaehyun has to take over the business so parents won’t allow him to date now so that he won’t get distracted. You were heartbroken on hearing that but Jaemin was there for you.

He was always there for you. He is still there for you but just you can’t see him, touch him, feel him and say your every problem to him. There is now no one to listen to you.

The daylight is so strong for your view that you have to twitch your eyes often. You have noon classes today and you are making your way towards the building. ‘My day is no longer special without you.’ Last night you cried a lot and you don’t remember when you fell asleep but found the frame you were still holding in your grasp when you woke up. ‘I will try to be happy for you, you always wanted the best for me. And I will prove you that how a strong girl you have made me.’ Crying the whole night you realize its better to keep his soul and pay off his hard works he did for you back then. You smiled today, a genuine smile.

“Y/n?” you were lost in your thoughts and didn’t realise that someone has approached you and calling you. But the second call broke your thought.

“Jae…Jaehyun? Oh hello…I will be going to my class…Bye” you avoided his eyes and turned on your heels when he suddenly grab your upper arm and faced you towards him.

“Why?” this is the first time you both are having a conversation in six months after the incident. You ignored his gaze as much as you could because without Jaemin you didn’t have the confidence to face him and after his death, you think he will blame you for all the cause. Somehow you have felt his longing gaze always following you in class and he was upset whenever the classmates bullied you. Whenever he tried to speak, you thought he will cause more scene so you ran away.

“Why what? Leave my hand Jaehyun. I am not in a mood today to be bullied again. I came early so that I could sit in the front so that I don’t have to sit around those girls so please leave.”

He held you even tighter when you tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

“Why are you ignoring me?”

“I am not ignoring YOU but the scene you will create for blaming me for your brother’s death.”

“I don-”

“I know you will blame me for everything. It was really a stupid idea to start the game who knew the consequences would be like this.”

“Why will I blame you?”

“Because like everyone else you also think, I am not a person to be loved and I should have died that day instead of him.” You are crying mess now because standing in front of your first crush and speaking about a cursed day…..without Jaemin by your side.

“So, you really think I will blame you. Even if I should, I can’t blame you, I can’t leave you now. You are suffering like this for past six months and you think I will leave you knowing how broken you are.”

“I am okay. I know how to take care of myself…Everything is okay.”

Jaehyun tried to speak when you both heard approaching footsteps down the stairs towards the hallway so he pulled you to a nearby empty classroom which only used for some major student project works. When you both entered, he hugged you tightly seeing how badly you were crying and not even trying to control the tears.

“That’s okay. Let it out to me. Just don’t say to leave.”

“Why?” now its your time asking him the reason for being so affectionate to you because he should blame you for his death as if you both didn’t went to have the date then everything could have been fine.

“Please Y/n let me...let me hold you…I- I don’t want to lose you again…please” he is still hugging you and could feel him snuggling in the crook of your neck. You slowly picked up your right hand and patted on his back while the other hand was still crumbled on his shirt. You have stopped crying now and waiting for him to explain what does he meant now by not losing you again.

This is the first you and jaehyun are so close with each other and you could feel the heat his body was radiating.

“Jae, what do you mean? Why are you suddenly like this? I-” You broke the hug and went to nearby bench to sit on it. Shaking your head you spoke again,

 “I don’t understand why are you suddenly listening to me? Why are you even speaking to me? Are you feeling pity for me? Please let me remind you I don’t need any of this. We should go in our separate path.”

“I should have listened to you before Y/n… I should have listened to him before.”

“Jae….”

“Hmm… I think I am the real stupid one here. I didn’t understand what was he trying to say to me and what was he trying to do but still chose to believe my other self that I should become an intruder in his happiness.”

Jaehyun looked at you with a sad smile but now holding an eye contact with you. You never imagined to spend such a time with him all alone without him. He is really looking so down and broken unlike the other times when you three used to meet and he would be the one to be the brightest among you three and whenever he used to laugh on his brother’s joke, your heart skips a beat. Today it’s different it’s no longer that happy meet but a sad and confused one. You thought all these months that you are the one affected by his death but what about Jaehyun. He lost the most precious part of his life, they both were not close enough with their parents and usually always stick by each other. How is he feeling all these months? How is he keeping him off of this empty space in his heart?

“That day…That day when you both returned from the club and I called Jaemin for an important purpose. I got to know about the truth between you both. Jaemin was too drunk to listen about the business stuff and suddenly he rambled on the things between you both.”

Now your full attention is on the boy standing in front of you. You never knew all these months that Jaehyun knew about your feelings for him but he knew, he knew but still he kept it hidden but why.

“ He told each and everything since the first day you both started the game and how he tried to make me jealous. But the last thing he told me really was not expected.”

“What did he say?” You are hoping to hear how he had begged his brother to understand him with false accusation or made another horrible plan one with his brother.

 “He loved you but you still love me. It really used to hurt him to see the one he loves to always have feelings for someone else. He didn’t realise when playing the game when he got attracted to you. That’s why I fake a problem of my parents and business deal. I wanted him to get the happiness he deserves.”

“Why did you joke about protecting me every time I will be in need. You will never let my world to be shattered in pieces like this. You were drunk that day. It was another reason I was ignoring you all these months you know.” Tears again rolled down your eyes but now you didn’t make any sound.

“I want to listen to you Y/n. The same way Jaemin used to listen to you. I have already so many regrets within me and now losing you will add up to it” he took your hands in his and make you stand up. He gave a gentle squeeze and said “Please, Listen to me and trust me I craved to listen to your voice and you to share your problems so that you don’t have to face this harsh reality all alone.”

“Will you listen to me?”, looking upward with a soft look on the face, eyes searching for the answers deep inside the opposite brown orbs which are staring directly to her. “You really thought I was joking back then? I meant every word honestly and trust me, you are the MOON amid my ocean of stars”, confessing the heart out with an adorable smile revealing tiny dimples which causing the eyes to twitch tightly.

This smile gave you the warmth you were missing all these days, all these months. All these years you thought Jaehyun to ignore you only for his brother’s happiness. Jaehyun’s eyes are shining the same way you saw stars in Jaemin’s eyes. No matter how much Jaehyun loves you but his every move is reminding you of Jaemin. You can see yourself the brightest star in their life.

‘You were Jaemin’s sunlight who left you in the dark and now you are Jaehyun’s moonlight who will show you the light to your life again.’

“Please let me continue your life where he left it. I don’t want you to start from the beginning but to hold onto the string where he left. He was a wonderful chapter of yours and I don’t want you to forget about it. The rest will be you and mine’s chapter. Please let me hold your hand forever.”

“I don’t know Jae. I don’t know what to do anymore. What to feel anymore. Everything is shattered within me. I am barely holding within myself.”

“That’s why I want to be the support. I want to be the one you can trust upon and I want to listen to you just like the way he did. I want to be the warm place in your life. The warmth you lost the day he left us.”

“Jae……I trust you…” Just this is the only thing he wanted to listen from you. He suddenly crashed his lips on you. Your hands were in his one hand and the other one holding your neck gently. Your free fingers take hold of his shirt and squeezed it. The kiss was sudden but not rough, it was gentle and passionate and for a second you thought about kissing jaemin when he suddenly broke the kiss.

“I’m sorry….I’m really sorry…” he closed his eyes but you both were still in the same position. His forehead was resting on yours.

“That’s okay Jae. Let’s give it a chance. He did so much for us at least we could be together.  All these years of my university were special because of him. He is a precise and wonderful piece of my life. But Jae, you can be the one whom I can share my memories with him. He would be happy to know that his plan worked.”

Jae hugged you again, “I’m really happy that my brother got someone like you. He deserved to be loved by someone like you. I hope you both get each other forever in your next life.”

“Let’s first continue this book. You have started my book, he had made me realize the things and to feel them in a different way and then he left. Suddenly you came into it again and promised to continue till the end.”

Both of your classes are long forgotten. You can catch up with your topics some other time but you can’t give another chance to reduce the weight of your heart like this like here and with him.

“No. He has never left us, he is always with us that’s why we are here together standing like this. We were always three and will be three until the end. His smile and his soul is always between us keeping us warm.”

“Thank You Jae.”

“I love you Y/n. I know you can’t forget him but at least we can take small steps.”

You hugged him tight and loose a bit to look into his eyes. He smiled at you and gave you a peck on lips.

“I love you.”

‘I’m sorry Jaemin but I want to continue rest of the book but remember you are still a part of it.’

You and Jaehyun finally smiled a genuine smile today in all these months. Maybe somewhere Jaemin is also smiling for you two are together now.

Your world is again warm and also you three are together.

[kjms]

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐊 [ 𝐈 ]

𝐃𝐎𝐇 𝐊𝐘𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐒𝐎𝐎 / 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑

in the intricate dance of a friends-with-benefits arrangement, you and kyungsoo’s connection began as a wordless symphony of passion. however, once emotions started brewing beneath the surface, you knew that you could not come out of this relationship unscathed.

𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄: fwb to lovers, angst

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 2.5k

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: infidelity, sexual content, lots of angst

𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: mature

like i said on my other fic i'm originally posted this on my old account in 2018 and then i deleted, so now i'm slowly reposting all of my old fics. so, if this seems familiar, please know that i didn't plagiarise anything. but, seeing as i've developed as a writer, i did rewrite it to fit my current writing style, but the content is the same.

Casual.

Some would say you were friends with benefits, but you were hardly friends to begin with. There was no room to question the depths of your relationship, because it was purely physically. Greetings, sex, formalities, and then you went your separate ways.

At the beginning, there was an irresistible attraction that had drawn you together, locking your eyes in a magnetic embrace. You moved as one on the dance floor, his hands firmly grasping your waist, foreheads touching, your breath intermingling as your gazes delved deep into each other’s souls.

He’d told you that this behaviour was out of character for him, but Kyungsoo’s actions afterwards contradicted any notions of shyness. His boldness had no limits, as he pulled you into his lap, teasingly brushing his thumb against your thigh before capturing you in a breathless kiss.

Somewhere along the line, though, things shifted, at least on your end. His kisses that once only made your brain slightly foggy, began to ignite a fire within your chest. His touches felt like electric shocks, each graze sending shivers throughout your body.

You found yourself falling in love with tiny facets of him—the deep laughter that came forward whenever you cracked a corny joke, the crinkling of his eyes as he looked down, attempting to suppress laughter.

Among these memories, one image stood out: the intensity that overtook him as he hovered above you. Muscles tensed with each thrust, and every so often, he would whisper sweet words, his lips brushing softly against your neck. With each encounter, a new part of him captured your heart, yet whether you loved him entirely remained a confusing mystery that you were not willing to solve.

Nonetheless, as his lip traced your collarbone, your stomach churned, a turbulent mix of excitement and emotional turmoil. He had a hold on you like no other, a grip that left you questioning whether it was healthy for you to feel this way.

His tongue traced a path up your neck, pausing at the jawline before leaving light kisses on the corner of your lips. You held your breath, waiting for him to kiss you with the same passion that always put you at a loss for words. Instead, he stared into your eyes, sliding your bra strap down, a small smile forming on his face.

“What?” Your voice barely rose above whisper. You’d intended to ask a follow up question, but gasped as his teeth grazed your neck, followed by a tantalising swirl of his tongue.

He withdrew once again, fingers threading through your hair, lips meeting your forehead. “You’re beautiful,” he murmured. “Lie down.”

When it was all over, you lied there, a heaving, sweaty mess, your thoughts scattered liked leaves in the wind. Yet, amidst the chaos, one thought remained—how different your chest felt this time, how your stomach was tangled knot of emotions. You looked at him, his breathing ragged, and your unease deepened when he smirked, reaching up to caress your cheek.

Another thing to love: the way he looked after sex. His hair clung to his forehead, his chest heaved, eventually settling into a calmer rhythm as he fought to keep his eyes open.

It was sight you’d witnessed many times, and you cherished it more than words could express. But something felt strange, as if something was missing, but you couldn’t figure it out. You were content with your arrangement, excited even. It was a new experience that you loved.

You sighed and found comfort in the shower’s hot water, attempting to calm to your nerves. It offered some comfort, though not enough to get rid of the odd feeling in your chest. You stepped out, grabbed the towel that he left for you, and walked back into the room, water still trickling from your body as he sat on the edge of the bed in his boxers.

His intense gaze, reminiscent of your first meeting, held you captive. It was the same gaze that had made him even more alluring in your eyes. Yet now, it felt different—more like he was scrutinizing you, but not in a purely sexual way.

"What's wrong?" he asked, tilting his head. "You're not say much, or anything at all."

"I'm just not in the mood for talking. It happens," you liked, though it was obvious he was unconvinced.

"Is it?" He rose, positioning himself behind you, so close you could feel his breath on your neck. Moments later, he wrapped his arms around you, swaying gently as your towel loosened. "I don't know much about you, but I've gathered enough in these past four months to know something's on your mind."

His sudden closeness exacerbated her internal turmoil. Their intimacy typically disappeared as soon as the physicality ceased. If you were lucky, he might tap you shoulder before you left. But now, with him so near, his electrifying touch trailing up and down your arm, your heart raced uncontrollably.

"Come on, you can tell me what's bothering you." His voice turned soft and tender, an attempt to coax you into sharing. The problem was that you hardly understood your own emotions, let alone how to articulate them.

"Nothing, I promise," you replied too quickly, and he sighed, releasing you. "I'll be gone soon."

He observed intently as you dried yourself, put on your clothes, her movements slower than usual as you fought to regain your composure. His hand suddenly rested on your shoulder as she stashed her phone in her purse.

"Would you like to stay a little longer?" he inquired.

His question had a seemingly suggestive undertone, prompting you to make a joke out of it in the hopes of convincing him you were fine. "God, you've got the stamina of... well, whatever animal has a lot of endurance."

"I think humans technically have the highest endurance on average, but that's not what I meant," he sighed, scratching the back of his head. "It's nothing sexual, honestly."

You arched an eyebrow, puzzled by what other intentions he might have, given your past four months had been exclusively devoted to physical encounters. "Then what?" you asked.

"I might as well get to know the person I've been regularly having sex with," he shrugged.

You nodded slowly, taking a seat on the bed, arms crossed as you looked at him. A small smile graced his lips as he joined you one the bed, turning on the TV. Your focus wasn’t really on anything, except for the smile on his lips as he scrolled through movie options.

He loved movies, something that you realised immediately. He mumbled comments about each film he passed. “Boring… Cheesy… Stupid… Good, but not for now.” Your lips curled slightly at the sight of his slightly widening smile when he landed on a particular movie. “What kind of movies do you like?” he asked, turning his head towards you.

“I’m not picky, but I have a soft spot for romance,” you replied with a shrug.

He edged closer, raising an eyebrow, still perusing the movie choices. “I wouldn’t have guessed that,” he mumbled.

Confused, you asked, “Why’s that?”

“Well, because you seem comfortable with casual sex,” he shrugged. “But then again, you can’t judge a book by its cover.”

He had a point, but your current situation only started by chance. It had taken a month before you even decided to put a label on your relationship and lay down a few rules. Before that, it had been pretty much the same, but neither of you had been comfortable enough to discuss the circumstances.

He glanced your way for a split second, still navigating through movie options, and asked, “What’s your favourite food?”

“Pasta,” you answered. The smile on his face grew wider, making your stomach churn.

“Me too,” he declared. “One day, I’ll make some for you.”

Something dark gripped you, and you couldn’t help but voice your uncertainty. “What makes you think we’ll continue seeing each other much longer? I mean, you and I both know there’s nothing actually keeping us together.” As much as it hurt to acknowledge, your lack of emotional connection meant that he could easily drop you in favour of something or someone else. And since seeing Kyungsoo had become part of your weekly routine, it was a bit terrifying to think about.

He flashed a confident smile, countering your doubt. “Just a gut feeling.” His attention shifted to the movie poster on the screen, a vintage silhouette of two lovers. “Have you seen this movie before?”

A shake of your head confirmed your unfamiliarity with it, and he continued to deliberate while you tried to maintain a respectful distance. Not out of disgust to avoid becoming a shaky mess again. Your nerves had somewhat settled, and you wanted to keep it that way.

“I think you’ll like it,” he spoke softly, his voice carrying a tenderness. “Well, based on the little I know about you. It actually made me shed a tear the first time I watched it.”

You rolled your eyes playfully, shaking your head. “You just want to see me cry,” you mumbled.

He countered playfully, “Nope. I’d rather make you moan.” A chuckle escaped his lips, his full attention now on you. Jokes like that were common between you, and each time, they had a way of making you face hot. His gaze flickered back to the TV screen before returning to you. “Do you want to watch it?”

“Yes, but aren’t you going to ask more generic questions? Like my favourite colour, or my… favourite number?” Your words stumbled out, partly because you couldn’t think of any other generic questions he could ask, and partly because his smile momentarily stole your breath.

"Pink, and you don't have a favourite number," he replied almost instinctively. "You always have some shade of pink on you. If it's not in your clothes, it's in your underwear, sometimes even as simple as a hair tie." He paused, explaining his assumption. "You hesitated about your favourite number, so I figured it was a trap. No matter which number I picked, I'd be wrong. Of course, I could be completely off the mark."

You smiled, your heart quickening once more. "You're right about my favourite colour, but my favourite number is four," you confessed, giggling when you saw his mouth open. "Well, you got one right."

"I’ll take it" he grinned. "Now, let's watch this movie."

You focused on the movie but also monitored his every move, overwhelmed by his scent. It wasn't the most pleasant blend—latex and sweat—but knowing why he smelled that way stirred a whirlwind of emotions. It took a moment to refocus on the movie, and you were glad you did.

He was right again; the movie was breath-taking. By the end, you found yourself in tears, though that wasn't a rare occurrence, especially with romance films. You loved watching the intricate dance of people falling in love, but it was a double-edged sword, evoking your own longing for something similar. Yet you knew there was no room for love in your current arrangement.

Sighing, you wiped your tears as the credits rolled, feeling his pull as he drew you closer. His warmth, his scent—it intensified your emotions, and you couldn't explain why. A weight settled on your chest, and you knew you had to shake it off.

"It's alright," he whispered, his fingers trailing through your hair. "The way you're crying, you'd think this movie didn't have a happy ending." Laughter erupted from him, causing the bed to bounce with each burst. "But I don't blame you. It was beautiful, wasn't it?"

You nodded against his chest, sniffling as you tried to wipe away the remnants of your tears. Instead, he took it upon himself to perform the task, his thumb brushing against your cheek with gentle tenderness. He exhaled softly as he cradled you closer.

You couldn't figure out the source of this newfound intimacy, but you revelled in the warmth of his bare chest, the rhythm of his heart beneath your fingertips, and the sensation of his touch electrifying your body. It was a nice change from just sex. Sex was undeniably amazing, but spending time like this with him made you inexplicably happy.

Still, your chest remained strangely tight, especially as his thumb continued its soothing caresses. You sighed and pulled away from him. "It's late. I should go now."

He nodded and rose from the bed. "Did you have a good time?" he asked, studying you as you got out of the bed. "Overall, I mean."

You nodded, smiling at him. "Yeah, you always know what to do. The movie was really good too." With that, you left the bedroom, Kyungsoo following in your wake. “Black and twelve.”

“Huh?”

You turned around, smiling as he raised an eyebrow. “Your favourite colour and number. You’re always wearing black, and I think you mentioned that your birthday is on the twelfth of January. And you don’t really put much thought into stuff like that, so you just say twelve is your favourite number for that reason alone.”

He hummed. “You’re right. You’re very observant.”

You nodded and continued walking, then paused at the door to put on your shoes, and turned to follow through with your regular procedure—a wave, a goodnight, and leave.

However, this time was different. He pulled you in by the waist, drawing you so close that your bodies melded into one another. His hands then climbed to cup your face, his gaze penetrating yours with soulful intensity.

As your heart pulsed in your legs, you sensed that he felt it too. His smirk conveyed his awareness. You hadn't prepared for this, so you weren't surprised when your body responded with a surge of nerves.

"You're really beautiful," he murmured. Before you could fully process the compliment, his lips met yours with a fervour that left your knees trembling. His lips were as soft and plump, and his kiss transported you to another realm. It erased your thoughts, leaving only the fluttering of your stomach and the relentless pounding of your heart.

Even after he broke the kiss, your mind remained a whirlwind. You marvelled at the breath-taking sight of his smile, his hands still at your waist. One hand reached up to tenderly brush his thumb across your nose, and an unintended noise escaped your lips.

He released you, opening the door. You stumbled out in a hurry, yearning to put as much distance between yourself and the perplexing intimacy as possible, eager to regain your composure and return to the façade of normalcy.

[andimoon]

Unknown Thoughts (Part 1)

Genre: Angst / Fluff / Romance / Eventual Smut

Warnings: Angst and mild depictions of depression.

Word count: 1.9k

Prologue

Through the darkness Ginger heard a muffled voice, was it a woman? Her head was hazy, the sharp sting of a migraine taunted her as the voice grew louder, “Ise… Eloise!” that name sounded so familiar but the headache stopped any thought in its tracks, “Eloise!” Was this woman calling her? But her name wasn’t Eloise. Was she still alive? With a gasp Ginger sat up, a woman with long brown hair sat in front of her on a large bed. Her green eyes fixed on Ginger with worry, “You’re awake, thank the gods. Are you alright? Wait, let me get the doctor.”

She was awake? Not only that, she was in such a nice place. “Am I dead?” Her voice came out in a small shutter and Ginger took note of how different she sounded. Had she been hurt that badly? Finally daring to get a good look around as the unknown woman ran to talk to someone beyond the chamber’s door. The furniture looked like that in a historical drama she’d seen on tv. Nothing modern but still beautiful. Her clothes stuck to her skin in an uncomfortable sweat and her heart raced, her head ached. “What happened? Did I get run over?” She must be in some kind of hospital.

 When the relieved green eyes met Ginger’s gaze once more Ginger felt nauseating fear fill her body, her fingers trembling as she drew her knees close to her chest. What if this woman was responsible for almost killing her? “Who are you? Where am I?” The woman faltered at her questions and what looked like sadness filled her gaze. She opened her mouth to speak when the doctor ran into the room and straight to Ginger, checking up on her condition.

She called me Eloise.. Why does that name sound so familiar?

Wait, isn’t that the name of the main character in Rise of Bliss?

That confirmation came when the doctor was speaking with the woman at the door after finishing his inspection, the woman he addressed as Lady Ruell. Vivian Ruell, the fiancee of the male lead in Rise of Bliss. Eloise’s love rival and the villain of the story. Eloise was Vivian’s maid and the Lady was understandably upset by Eloise’s advancements on her fiance. Ginger always agreed with Vivian’s actions in the book even if they were against the protagonists. She lost everything to her maid, anyone would be upset. When they were left alone again, Vivian turned her attention back to Ginger who visibly flinched on the bed, the softest smile on the brunette's lips, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

The book always described Vivian as a harsh woman with a short temper, but it said briefly that Vivian and Eloise had once been close, as the maid was the person Vivian trusted most in the world. Her best friend. Not only that, Vivian gave up some of her lifetime for Eloise to live past her own. Which made her betrayal all the worse. Ginger saw Vivan with admiration, but with her reputation, this moment left Ginger with fear and queasiness. How far were they in the book? Was this that moment? Was Eloise supposed to die? Is that why Ginger was here? As a second chance? “Eloise,” the woman spoke softly and eased back onto the soft mattress next to Ginger, “Do you remember me? My name is Vivian Ruell.” 

Should she play along? Would Vivian kill her if she told her the truth? That her best friend was gone and a stranger took her place. She was never a good actress, not to mention she couldn’t imagine living as someone else. She might not have had the strongest self-esteem, but the risk of losing herself to a fictional character.. ‘Would that really be that bad? Living as someone else. Someone better, who will accomplish a lot. Someone stronger.’

Her chest ached at the thought, but was unable to find a reason against it. She had the chance to be the main character she always wanted to be. At the cost of who she truly was, but she was no one anyway.

“I,” her voice sounded so small, Ginger found herself wanting to cry, “I remember you.” Emerald eyes so warm and glistening with tears as the woman pulled Ginger into a hug.

“I’m so glad,” She held Ginger so tightly. The same way her sister used to hold her when she was afraid. The thought broke her heart and she couldn’t stop the weeps as they came flooding out. Mourning her life, her family and friends. Herself.

Resenting whatever cruel entity had done this to her, Ginger cried for days. She tried to resume Eloise’s daily tasks, she tried to care for Vivian as she was supposed to, but the Lady reminded her so much of her sister every single day. She missed her. She missed her parents. Her barista. “Eloise?” The brunette’s gentle voice drew Ginger out of her thoughts. Locks of brown hair halfway combed through a brush. She had stopped working, a recurring problem she had as Ginger struggled to keep up with Eloise’s occupation throughout the last week.

“Yes? M-My lady?”

“What did you say?” Vivian instantly turned around to face Ginger, confused and.. Angry? “Why would you call me that?” Had she offended her in some way? She took a step back, chest tightening at the aggressive tone Vivian took. She knew. She knew Ginger was a fraud. Would she hurt her? With a small sigh and a retreat back into her seat, Vivian’s voice softened, “I’m sorry… Just... After all we’ve been through, please call me Vivian.”

“... I’m sorry… Vivian.” 

Another soft sigh and the Lady gazed at her maid through the vanity mirror, “How have you been holding up since the Transfering? If you need to rest, you know you have a comfortable place to do so.” The noble woman’s offer had been placed multiple times before, but sitting alone in a large room with nothing but her thoughts and her memories. It was a recipe for disaster. 

The Transfering she spoke of was a type of procedure available in this world. Every person is born with a number embedded in their skin, the number of the age they will pass away at. Eloise had been born with a simple ‘19’ while Vivian had been given ‘96.’ After growing up together and being so close, Vivian had given up some of her long life for Eloise to live for another 30 years. A decision she comes to regret by the end of Rise of Bliss. 

“Thank you, my–” her gaze hardened in the mirror and Ginger swallowed down the last of the title in fear, “Vivian. But I prefer having something to do.” The protagonist’s voice was often so much softer than Ginger’s voice used to be, even for someone as shy as her. This world was so quiet, so cold and looming. The only semblance of warmth came from Vivian when Ginger was on her good side. Silence filled the room as Ginger continued brushing the Lady’s hair.

“If that’s the case, I want you to come with me today, Eloise.”

The morning passed so quickly and before she realized what had happened, Ginger was sitting beside a dolled up Vivian in a carriage on their way to god knows where. To her own surprise, despite being a maid, Eloise didn’t need to work as hard as the other staff. Maybe it was because she was supposed to be recovering or maybe it was a benefit of being Vivian’s best friend. Regardless, Ginger appreciated the leeway and was able to get a good look at this world for the first time since she arrived, and it was breathtaking.

 A world yet unknown to pollutants and humanity’s cruelty. So green and so alive. The view had a way of calming every thought running in Ginger’s mind, it reminded her so much of her hometown. She now regretted not visiting when she could. “It’s beautiful. It’s been so long since I went to the countryside.” 

“What do you mean? We came here less than a month ago, Eloise,” Her voice lowered just above a whisper, “Are you still having laps in memory since the Transfering?” It was an excuse Ginger used to get away with not having any of Eloise’s memories, but enough knowledge about this world she got thrust into. Or at least what this world would become in the future. She couldn’t bring herself to lie to Vivian so she simply nodded. “Do you know where we’re going?” another small headshake and the noble sighed softly, “We’re going to see Duke Do. He’s an old friend of mine.” 

The Duke. He was the childhood companion of Lady Ruell and Prince Byun, a big brother figure for Vivian and the only character in the book to take her side as the villain. He was described to be stone faced and bitterly straightforward, but other than that Ginger knew very little about him. Her insides burned and her stomach churned as they neared the castle-like estate, rows of staff stood bowing and waiting like mannequins at the entrance. It could hardly be called a house as they were escorted through the halls into a nearby drawing room, nothing but few paintings decorated the elevated walls and their footsteps echoed loudly on the marble floors. She felt so small and insignificant in that manner. Ginger definitely didn’t belong there, but she did her best to hide her unease. Any action she made or didn’t make would reflect on Vivian.

“Your Grace, Lady Ruell is here to see you.”

“Let her in.” His voice was deep and rich. Even muffled by the giant doors, it gave Ginger a sense of familiarity and she lowered her eyes to the ground as she followed Vivian into the room, too afraid to look as they entered. Their greetings were formal yet, it felt different from everything else Ginger had experienced. There was a sense of comfort as the noblewoman took a seat across from the duke. “Miss Eloise. It’s so nice to see you’re doing well.” His voice was prominent and her name sounded lovely coming from his lips. With the urge to finally look at his face came a wave of something she couldn’t describe, as she locked with those familiar brown eyes and the softest smile on his lips. He looked exactly like her sweet barista, so calm and confident and gentle.

The wonderful image was quickly destroyed as her last memories of his face haunted her vision. The fear on his face as he held her in his arms during her final moments. Ginger couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, and the room fell silent. Unable to stop the tears as they ran down her face or the quiet sobs that left her lips and she rushed to cover her face. Lady Vivian quickly rushed to her side, holding her, “Eloise? Are you alright?”

This was a cruel joke her mind was playing on her. There was no way he could be there with her. It was her subconscious dying to see him one last time. That had to be it. She needed to get a hold of herself. Vivian held her as Ginger rushed to get ahold of herself. He wasn’t who she thought he was. He was fake, a character in a book. 

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@makemedoitlikedis @kawaii--mommy @soobadnoonecanstopher @colognedecigarette @doitsosweet @shewantsmeshesgotme @ira-itzel @nadiecomonadia @mgg-81 @scentlacigarette

[hwangyeddeongie]

Intro :)

hello! my name is maya (she/her, 18+, 🇰🇷🇨🇴) and I write Kpop imagines! yeji and ryujin biased I speak Spanish, English, and a bit of Korean

masterlist

my stan list:

itzy twice bts enhypen txt newjeans skz

other groups/soloists I like but don't know that well:

iu day6 red velvet (g)idle aespa nmixx somi kard snsd mamamoo seventeen D.O sunmi lee youngji lesserafim ive

who I will write for:

itzy (ot5) twice (ot9 but mostly j-line and jihyo) bts (ot7 but mostly jungkook and taehyung) enhypen (ot7 but NO SMUT FOR NI-KI) txt (ot5) new jeans (ot5 but NO SMUT FOR DANIELLE, HAERIN, OR HYEIN) skz (ot8)

currently I am only writing for itzy, but I may consider writing for any of the groups listed in my stan list. I am also in the process of writing a hunger games ryeji au, so I may take some time in responding to asks

my ships:

I will write for all itzy ships, but my ult ship is ryeji. also ship chaerlia, chaerji, yuchae, and basically any poly with ryeji.

what I will write:

fluff, smut, angst, headcanons, mtl, fem reader and gn reader, idol x reader, member x member, member x reader x member, group x reader, mommy/daddy kink, g!p

what I will not write:

male reader, smut with underage members, watersports, non-con or dubcon, abuse, drugs, ageplay, petplay (using 'kitten' and 'puppy' as a petname is okay), any extreme kinks. (I will add on more if I see anything I don't like)

don't be afraid to leave asks! I love to chat :)

[dks-smut]

Hi!! Hope you are doing fine.

I am loving your work. So, I am just asking.....

Can you do a D.O. X f! Reader X Sehun fanfic? Maybe casual threesom or friends with benefits, with loads of smuts!? 😈 (Tbh I find this sexy due to their height difference 😌)

Or if you are not comfortable with it, then maybe kind of love triangle, angst and smut?

Okay, this shit is hot! I never thought of this combo. It’s warping my mind right now. Thank you!

I have three scenarios. Let me know which I should write.

#1

Best friends with Kyungsoo and Sehun

Kyungsoo likes you more than a friend.

You get too friendly with Sehun

Kyungsoo gets jealous and shares his feelings

Sehun walks in on you and Kyungsoo

Threesome ensues with Kyungsoo being very possessive

#2

They are your best friends

Late night hangout ends in threesome

Kyungsoo has liked you more than a friend since the beginning

Kyungsoo gets jealous when you’re close to Sehun

Sulky and angsty Kyungsoo until he finally tells you how he feels

Sexy times with Kyungsoo

#3

FWB but they don’t know you’re fucking them both

Sneaking around and lying

Kyungsoo and Sehun find out

They teach you a lesson in public

They take out their anger on you for lying

Ask who fucks you the best