#i blame nct for this stucking in my head

[solardrop]

I'm being tormented

[ppangjae]

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SUMMARY. You’d be considered lucky to have computer science genius Jeong Jaehyun as your TA, but not for academic reasons. 

GENRE. college!au | e2l!au | fluff 

pairing. comp sci TA!jaehyun x fem!reader

word count. 2.0k+ words

author’s note. i blame nct for my endless pain. that is all. happy (prob not so happy because writing this gave me pain) reading!

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Code. Breathe in. Breathe out. Quick sip of your double shot on ice. Repeat.

Fourth year of undergrad. Scratch that. Last year of undergrad. You just can’t wait until you’re out of this hell hole. Your fingers that type and code without end seem to have a mind of their own, only halting to a stop to rub your eyes that get too dry from staring too long at your laptop screen. What time is your tutorial again? Your mind is all over the place.

You pull up your timetable, eyes scanning the somewhat crumpled up paper to find the time of your first tutorial of the semester. You have roughly an hour to kill before your tutorial, but that’s not what’s catching your eye. What catches your eye is the printed name of your TA.

Jeong Jaehyun.

You scoff. Well, fuck.

“Welcome everyone to the first tutorial session of the fall semester!”

It’s quite shocking to see everyone present in the tutorial room. You’ve never seen anyone so eager to attend a tutorial session. There’s a flock of female compsci majors sitting right at the front of the tutorial room, making sure to fall within Jaehyun’s line of sight. You wonder how early they arrived in the tutorial room to get the closest seats to him. Just a minute late to the session, you crack a few knuckles and head to the only seat unoccupied near the back. As if you feel a burning stare on your side profile, you glance to your right to met eyes with—

“My name is Jaehyun, I’ll be your TA for the semester.”

Holding in a scoff, you plop yourself down onto your seat. Pulling out your laptop, you look up from your loading screen to meet eyes with him again. There’s a small smirk spread across his lips. You don’t pay much attention to it. 

“Let’s get started, shall we?” Jaehyun begins, turning his back towards the class to pull down the projector screen.

As he’s setting up, you take the chance to examine him. He’s sporting a grey hoodie with a navy blue shirt on top. It looks like he had just woken up from a power nap and remembered that he had a tutorial session to teach. You could be right, especially when he lets out a small yawn and rubs his left eye. 

“Have you all started on your assignments? I think Professor Kim posted the instructions.” Jaehyun asks to start a conversation. All the students answer in all different forms, from I barely even started! to We have an assignment? but you just sit in your seat, finishing the last few bits of the assignment itself. 

If there was one thing you learned in the past three (and a few months) of undergrad, it was to stay on top of your shit. No relationships. No dates. Just you and the comfort of your laptop and twin-sized bed covered by a shit ton of pillows. Sure, your social life only consisted of your best friend slash roommate Mark Lee and your childhood friend Kang Mina. But you think two friends are more than enough to drain out your social battery. Maybe that’s why you’re graduating on time. Maybe that’s why you’re always on the Dean’s list. Maybe. 

“Alright, so here’s the problem set I want you guys to work on for the next ten minutes. Solve it. Collaborate with your peers. If you’re stuck, just give me a shout and I’ll come over to help.” Jaehyun projects the screen of his laptop. 

“Will our answers be marked?” One of the girls at the front asks.

He nods his head. “Correct. You have to submit your answers to me by the end of this tutorial so that I can mark it as attendance and also as part of your overall fifteen percent in this tutorial.”

Everyone gets started. A guy sitting in front of you turns around to face you. He places his paper onto your desk and clicks his pen. You quirk an eyebrow. “Have you already started?”

You slowly nod your head. “I think I already got the answer. Do you want to double check with me?”

From the corner of your eye, you can see Jaehyun walking around from table to table. He’s sneaking glances at every paper on each desk, nodding his head when he thinks they’re on track and tilting his head when he thinks they still need to go over their answer. When he finally reaches the back of the room, your classmate finds the answer. 

“I got this. What did you get?” Your classmate questions.

You show him your answer and you both compare. Eyebrows furrowing in confusion, you look at the two completely different answers. “I got a completely different answer…”

“Any issues, guys? Stuck?”

You look up from your paper to see Jaehyun. You and your classmate share a look. Your classmate clears his throat. “I actually got a different answer from her.”

Jaehyun bites his lip. “Do you mind if I see what you both did?”

Jaehyun takes your classmate’s handout and scans his work. He quirks an eyebrow before glancing at you. Your eyes meet his and somehow you see a fire ignite in them. He nods at you. “Do you mind if I see what you did?”

“Sure.” You say, handing him your paper.

For a brief moment, if you weren’t overanalyzing it, you swear you felt Jaehyun’s fingers lightly graze yours when he takes your paper. You try to stop yourself from scoffing. He looks at your work, eyes focusing at the top of your paper before scanning from left and right down the paper. He slowly nods his head before giving it back to you.

He nods his head at you. “Y/N’s right.”

“Oh, I guess I have to try again and see if I get the same answer.” Your classmate says sheepishly. “Or Y/N could explain what I did wrong.” 

Jaehyun smiles at you. “Nice job, Y/N. It usually takes undergrads a while to complete a problem set like this. It seems you finished it in no time.”

You glance up at him, flashing him a small, timid smile. “Thanks.”

He looks at you a bit longer than he should before he moves onto the next desk. It’s almost as if he’s trying to communicate to you with his eyes. You tear your gaze away from him, beginning to explain your work to your classmate. Sneaking a quick glance at him, you feel yourself freeze in your seat when you catch him looking back at you. His eyebrows slightly raise, as if he’s been caught red-handed, before turning his head back around to talk to your peers sitting a couple of desks in front of yours. 

Jeong Jaehyun was known throughout the faculty for being a computer science genius. He looked young, charming, and handsome. A young, charming, and handsome genius, the majority would say. They weren’t wrong. It was extremely difficult to be assigned into his tutorial section. It almost felt like a lottery. 

You’d be considered lucky to have computer science genius Jeong Jaehyun as your TA.

But solely not for academic reasons.

“I think he’s interested in you.”

You let out a snort, looking through the vinyls in the R&B section of the store. Your childhood friend, Kang Mina, is celebrating her birthday back in your hometown and you decided to gift her new vinyls for her LP turntable that you had gifted her for Christmas. Music is your great escape. Listening to music was the only thing you did outside of school. That was why you and Mark became great friends, you both bonded over music. If there was someone who knew music and listened to music best, it would be you. And Mark. Mina was becoming like the both of you.

“He is not interested in me.” You chuckle. “What makes you think that?”

“Jaehyun’s in the same fraternity as me, Y/N. I hope you remember that.” Mark says on the other line.

You roll your eyes. “And how is that related to him being interested in me?”

“If there was someone out of the two of us who knew him more, it would be me. You guys seem to match each other in terms of personality. I think you guys would suit each other, actually. I think he’s interested in you, and in this essay, I will prove—”

“Funny.” You fake a laugh. “Ha ha ha. Wait, how did you know that Jaehyun’s my TA?”

Mark grins. You can hear him grin on the phone. “Because he told me. He knows that we’re roommates.”

“Disgusting.” You mumble. “Ah! I found it.”

“You found what?” 

“Blond. Frank Ocean’s vinyl.” You answer. “This album is always sold out. But when I got an email about the restock, I came running just to get it. This album sells out fast right after restocks.”

“Oh, shit really?”

“Oh, I’m quite lucky today, I should buy myself a lottery ticket!” You exclaim, pulling out the last vinyl of the album they have in stock. “It’s the last one in stock.”

“Oh, that’s funny because—”

“Excuse me, do you happen to have this album in stock?”

You freeze at the familiar voice. Slowly looking over your shoulder, you spot none other than Jaehyun standing a couple of metres from the store entrance, talking to an employee. The employee points in your direction and your eyes widen. You quickly look away, making a beeline for the checkout desk.

“Y/N? You went silent for a second there. Are you okay?”

You almost choke on your spit. You place your vinyl onto the desk and meet eyes with an employee. She smiles at you, looks past your shoulder as if she spots Jaehyun in the store, and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sorry, I’ll call you back, okay? Hi, yes, I’d like to buy this.”

Jaehyun follows the employee’s direction. The employee points towards the R&B section of the store. “I think we have two left in stock? But it’s been a couple of hours since we opened the store so there might be only one left. You could go over and check, if you’d like.”

Jaehyun smiles. “Thanks. I’ll go check it out.”

He makes it to the R&B section and begins to look through the vinyls. Blond. Frank Ocean. Where is it? It’s been a while since he wanted to get a vinyl for that album. It’s always sold out. He hasn’t been quite lucky getting a copy whenever the stores restock. He finally reaches the O section of the shelf and looks closely for the album. Nothing. It’s sold out again? 

“Are you perhaps looking for Blond?” One of the employees asks. It’s a woman, almost around his age. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. 

Jaehyun nods his head. “Yes. Is it still in stock?”

She shakes her head. “Unfortunately, we had just ran out of stock.”

“Ah, that sucks—”

“That’s funny because the customer who took the last copy was just here.” The employee says softly, looking towards the door and gasps. “Oh, there she is. She’s the one who bought the last one we have in stock.”

Jaehyun turns around and looks at the door. A familiar woman is heading out with the vinyl he’s been looking so hard for just to get. His eyes squint and he excuses himself, dashing towards the door. When he steps out of the store, he finds you already a couple of metres away. 

“Y/N?” He calls out.

You almost stop in your tracks when you hear Jaehyun’s voice calling out your name. But you play it off, continuing to walk down the sidewalk as if you didn’t hear him. He doesn’t call out your name a second or third time, and you sigh with relief when you turn a corner. Your phone vibrates.

“Hello? Mark?”

“Y/N, do you mind meeting me at the cafe? I’m on my way. I just finished studying and I’m in need of caffeine.” Mark says. “And you didn’t call me back! I thought something bad happened.”

“Ah, sorry, something came up. I’ll meet you there. Are we going to the usual?” 

He hums in reply. “Yes, at the usual. I’ll see you.”

When you hang up, you turn back around to head to the cafe before bumping into someone. From the sudden impact, it makes you stumble backwards. Looking up, you meet eyes with—

“Frank Ocean’s Blond, huh? Long time no see, Y/N.”

[vanillelace]

Stole Your Car.

⟡ ⠀warnings : swearing

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⟡ ⠀pairings : park jisung x female reader, kind of some snippets of haechan x female reader

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⟡ ⠀genres : fluff, a bit of comedy if possible, and a few sad moments, not many though. some of it is based on ‘stole your car’ by charlotte lawrence.

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⟡ ⠀theme : college!au, ft. dance major!park jisung, music major!reader, friends to lovers!au.

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⟡ ⠀word count : 8,543 words!!

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⟡ ⠀synopsis : your ex broke up with you, and boy, it wasn’t pretty. you decide to take revenge on him by stealing his CAR. turns out, you get caught by park jisung, a shy at first ambivert. being kind at the moment, he assists you, but then blackmails you into tutoring him in his least favorite subject, english. what happens when you start going from acquaintances to friends to lovers? FEATURES OTHER MEMBERS OF NCT — WAYV, 127, DREAM + MORE GROUPS & IDOLS!

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⟡ ⠀playlist (i.e. what i listened to whilst writing this) : https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6U8EP7w2Xef4bYFuHwpZos?si=nOig1UfYT12M2dYQGPhrAQ

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⟡ ⠀a small note : the header used isn’t mine, and i couldn’t find the credits </3 i’ve tried to make the college theme as good as possible since i do not go to college right now. also the beginning seems a bit ten and haechan fixated but i swear it isn’t, i just want a backstory lol. have fun reading!

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⟡ ⠀taglist : @aehyei @moonsclover <3

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→﹒look at what you started, now you can't blame this on me . . .

YOU knew it. eventually this day would come.

the day you would end up broken.

broken because of YOUR BOYFRIEND’S CUTENESS!

WHY WAS HE SO CUTE IT HURT?

you could go on and on, rambling about your boyfriend, ten lee. he was the most sought after boy in your college, Eros University.

now, your college name was not, in fact, named after the greek god of love. oh, no, no, no, the founder wanted to name it after asteroid 433. as wikipedia states, “asteroid 433, discovered in 1898, which comes at times nearer to the earth than any celestial body except the moon.” you would be the most taunted students if you went to a uni named after love. it’s a shuddering thought.

back to your boyfriend. he was thai, but he changed his name from chittaphon leechaiyapornkul to ten lee, which, as he said, “was easier to pronounce and more minimalistic”. he had this really pretty grey-black hair, mainly a VERY dark shade of grey, which just made you want to run your hands through it. he had pretty and bright, dancing phoenix eyes in a shade of hazel, and thin, pink lips. he had multiple piercings along his ear, thereby increasing his attractiveness. you never knew when he had the guts to ask you out, but he did, and now, you had been dating for 7 months.

at some point, you knew the relationship wasn’t going well, but you kept moving anyway. you loved him, he loved you, that’s all that matters, right?

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you shook yourself awake from your dream when you heard the doorbell of your dorm ring. you opened it, the gap small enough for you to peep out and see who disturbed your thoughts. you had an assignment given by your music teacher, and eventually one or the other way you ended up thinking about ten.

a voice rang out behind the door in an opera-like voice, shaking you, once again, from your thoughts. you instantly recognized the voice. “HYUCK!” you yelled, happy to see your best friend. “wait a second, i’ll unlock my door,” you muttered, frustrated with your doorknob. it kept getting stuck, and you were sooner or later going to complain to the head of dorms.

you just needed the guts to do it.

“Y/N!” lee donghyuck, known on campus as haechan, yelled back. “stop flexing your vocals on me, we all know you’re the top of our batch, so shut the fuck up.”

donghyuck clutched a hand over where his heart would be, and dramatically began, “hey! that hurts. i’m not flexing, just proving i deserve the role at top,” and sat down on a barstool chair in your kitchen-slash-dining area, pretending to faint of agony that you didn’t believe in his modesty. “not flexing MY FOOT. you should’ve taken drama, that would’ve made it easier for me to move up one place to the first rank. and you would’ve excelled anyway.”

“ding, ding, ding! guess who gave an extremely accurate answer.” you rolled your eyes at his words, and walked over to the kitchen counter to make him his usual favorite — mixed fruit jam and CHEESE. “i still don’t get how you like this shit.” you said, and haechan grinned. “what? in my defence, i’m weird too.”

“can’t argue with that.” you told him, and he punched you playfully. you guys had been best friends before coming to Eros, and met in high school. you shared a love for music and a hatred for science, so you got along pretty well. you teased and insulted each other, but you also had each other’s backs.

he was handsome, to say the least. full, crimson lips, round eyes, short, caramel hair, and a baby face. he had his own group of friends, but still he loved your company as you did his. he was famous in the school and knew it.

you handed him his sandwich, and grabbed a m&m’s chocolate bar from the big box of chocolates your parents sent you from where they were traveling. according to their recent letter, it was uae — united arab emirates. after you went off to university, they decided to visit a list of places they had seen with you before, in what you believed to be an attempt to reminisce what had been before you decided to pursue your dreams of being a singer-songwriter, but they said that it was because they “wanted to see what they missed the last time”.

to be honest to yourself, you hoped they were lying about it, and that you were right. you missed them, but you knew that if you wanted to do what you really wanna, you had to make sacrifices.

at least you were lucky enough to have a friend, a best friend at that.

“heeeeeellllooooooooooooooo??”

haechan’s voice snapped you out of your messed up feelings. “sorry, i zoned out a bit. want a bit of my chocolate?” you offered haechan, who promptly broke a piece out of yours. he laughed, the sound a beautiful melody to your ears. you smiled, the right side of your lips turning upwards, as they always did when you genuinely smiled.

you spent the rest of the evening talking about the most recent gossip and scandals of uni, and waved as he left.

ah, how you enjoyed his company.

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you lived in your dorm room alone, since you had opted for a room for a single person. you liked what you had done with the place. it had a coat of paint in the shade of beige, and looked vintage, yet cozy. everyone knew you to be a natural at decorating and styling. everyone was jealous about your sense of style, and always asked you for tips on their own rooms and aesthetics.

you began on your night routine for your skin, carefully washing your face. once the 30 minutes long drill was complete, you threw yourself on your bed, a gorgeous shade of peacock blue. opening your phone, you went through your messages. ten had sent you a text 15 minutes ago, asking if you were free at the moment.

you immediately responded, because he had punctuated his sentence correctly. as far as you knew, ten NEVER EVER did that.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀Ten 😸🤍

Hi Y/n, are you free right now?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀yes, i am. what’s up?

So.. I want to break up.

you looked up, staring blankly at your wall, where a framed picture of you and ten rested. you sighed, and knew that this was it.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀Ten 😸🤍

Hi Y/n, are you free right now?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀yes, i am. what’s up?

So.. I want to break up.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ok

That’s.. it?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀yea

Wait, fr?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀mhm

What the fuck is up?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀this wouldve happened anyway whats the point

Oh

Can we stay friends?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ok

No, seriously, are you okay?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀Yes

Since when are you this dry?

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀since the breakup, duh u dumbass

I’m…

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀i doubt a friendship will work out but sure let’s be besties‼️

ok gn y/n

you changed the contact name from Ten 😸🤍 to Ten 💀

you played your playlist on spotify, tears running on your face, leaving wet streaks behind. no. you wouldn’t cry. you knew this would happen, then why did it hurt so much?

you blindly dialed haechan’s number, and he picked up immediately.

“hello? y/n?”

you sobbed in reply, and he exhaled on the other end of the call.

“i’m on my way, i’ll get you some popcorn, tissues, some more chocolates, the sad shirt, and a movie.”

he disconnected the call, and you smiled through your tears. he always knew you, and you had never been more happier to call him your best friend.

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haechan sighed. no matter how strong you pretended to be, he saw through it, because he liked you, like, REALLY liked you, but you could never take a hint. he got his hopes up, but they crashed down around him. he grabbed the things he promised from the store on campus, and the sad shirt. he ran over to your dorm, ringing the bell. he watched footsteps come closer underneath the door, where a small amount of light showed the shadow of your small, fur-slippers covered feet. he patiently waited for you to unlock your door, staring at you when you did.

you always looked pretty, and this time wasn’t an exception. your brown curls with honey blonde highlights looked even messier than usual. although your face was streaked with dried tears, your usual pink cheeks remained. haechan grimaced at your pained state, and walked in, closing the door behind him.

“thanks, hyuck. what movie did you bring?” you asked, managing a watery smile at him. his grimace increased, if it were possible. “welllllll… i brought my laptop, so we can watch netflix? some series for teenagers that’s sure to make you cringe? or i don’t know, laugh..?” he replied, and you smiled. “alexa and katie!”

he laughed, opening netflix on his laptop, offering you the chocolates and sad shirt that he brought over simultaneously. alexa and katie had always been your favorite. haechan left you with the laptop, going to the kitchen to pop some popcorn. slipping the sad shirt over your head, you grabbed a few of the tissues, rubbing your face til the dried lines of tears were cleaned up, and sat in thought.

“haechan, what if i stole his car?”

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“NOW WAIT A DAMN MINUTE— WHAT? WHOSE CAR? WHAT’S GOING ON??”

haechan screamed in fear, running into the living room with oven mittens on, and a cooker full of just-popped popcorn. “can we like, explain what happened before we do something we regret?” haechan spoke, as though he was explaining how 1+1=2 to a cranky 3 year old.

you knew it made 3 though — 1+1=3. no one could change your mind on THAT.

“well, ten broke up with me over text,” you began, and haechan’s eyes began to light up. ‘NO. SHE WAS BROKEN UP WITH, YOU DON’T FEEL HAPPY, YOU FEEL SAD. YOU DUMBASS.’ he mused to himself, and you continued, “so now maybe i should steal his car. you see, i was listening to this one song by charlotte lawrence, and the lyrics GOT to me. you know?”

haechan blinked at you several times. “okay. firstly. you don’t get inspired by songs. you listen to them, and then enjoy it.” “even if it’s ‘dreams come true’??” “yes.” he replied, and continued. “next. THAT FUCKING DICKWAD BROKE UP WITH YOU OVER TEXT?” you started snickering.

“DICKWAD? SERIOUSLY, HYUCK?”

you doubled up with laughter, giggling til donghyuck was sure you had completely lost it. “MY POINT,” he began again, “IS THAT YOU ARE MOST DEFINITELY NOT GOING TO STEAL ANYONE’S CAR, EVEN IF THAT COMPLETE PIECE OF SHIT BROKE UP WITH YOU OVER THE FUCKING PHONE.”

“hey! don’t insult him, he may be a jerk, but he was a nice jerk anyway.” you scolded him, and hyuck rolled his eyes again. “i- did you not comprehend the subject of my numerous sentences?” “stop acting like you’re a scholar in english, we all know you barely scrape through. and yes, i did, but i choose to ignore them. i feel RECKLESS. it’s like the breakup has granted me FREEDOM, you know? i can do whatever the fuck i want without having to think about what ten will think. he was nice, but i was getting stressed out about his reputation. we shall see who had the real post-breakup makeover.”

“THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A POST-BREAKUP MAKEOVER THOU-“

you held up a hand, and he rolled his eyes. “I MADE IT UP, OKAY? back to the point, we shall go out and steal his car NOW.”

he ran a hand through his hair, then realized he was still wearing his oven mitts. his frustration slowly turned into surprise, and his face followed the same transition. you bit back a laugh, looking at his horrified state as he noticed he still held a hand over the cooker filled with buttery popcorn, whose scent was tantalizing.

“it’s okay, you can laugh.” he said in annoyance, and you giggled like a 6 year old who just got an ice cream. he smiled at your happiness, satisfied to be the cause of it.

damn, was he whipped.

“fine, we’ll steal a car tonight. but first, please, just please, let’s watch alexa and katie with the popcorn i spent a lot of time making?” he pleaded, and you grinned, nodding.

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after watching two episodes of alexa and katie as promised, you unhesitatingly jumped up to get ready. haechan unwillingly left your room to get ready in his own dorm. you put on a black full-sleeved turtleneck along with black trackpants, and black sports shoes.

okay, maybe you were being overdramatic, but it’s FINE.

you met haechan at his dorm, where he too had matched with you. you blinked at each other, and then laughed at the same time. “can’t believe we’re matching AGAIN.” he said, still clutching the stitch that occurred due to laughter. you beamed, and beckoned to him to follow.

you walked to the parking lot, where you saw ten’s love of his life.

the most beautiful jeep you had ever seen in your life.

you smirked at haechan, whose eyes widened. “look, wait- Y/N!” he raised his voice a bit, and you shushed him, stopping in your tracks. “what?” “we should think about this, you could go to fucking jail.” “…your point?” “jail, you dumbass, JAIL.” he said, irritated by your casual behavior. you rolled your eyes, and you continued moving ahead, haechan right beside you, each trying to prove their point.

“FUCK-“

three voices rang through the night, and those three knew — they had screwed up.

big time.

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footsteps could be heard, coming ever closer. nursing your injured ankle, you pulled the other two, one being haechan, and one being an unknown human.

“wait, i can convince them about what you idiots were doing. just don’t be so sketchy.” the stranger whispered as lights flashed on the three of you, throwing some brightness on the person’s face, whom you recognized to be a friend of haechan’s.

park jisung.

“JISUNG? HAECHAN? Y/N? what the actual fuck is going on?” a classmate of yours, also a part of haechan’s group of buddies, na jaemin, enquired, an eyebrow raised.

“i was walking, but then ran into these two blind idiots. i swear to god, if i’ve broken something, i will be eliminating someone.” jisung said angrily, and your eyes widened. damn, this guy’s good.

“oh. well. you guys should get back. luckily it was me who found you and not any of the seniors. they’d have you guys grounded or some immature shit.” jaemin muttered, and smiled apologetically. “sorry for being so panicky, i was just worried, i heard a sound of pain. you guys alright?” he asked, and you three winced, and nodded. “alright, good night. i’m off to my dorm.”

jaemin waved, and you smiled back, waving. immediately after he was out of sight, jisung turned to face you and haechan.

“care to explain what you had been doing?”

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after a sip of hot chocolate, you began explaining everything to jisung, who haechan assured could be trusted. jisung was a wonderful audience, reacting to your dramatic retelling with all the right responses, gasping in the right places, rolling his eyes in the right places, wiping pretend tears from his eyes too. after you explained why he found you and donghyuck attempting to steal a car, jisung calmly placed his mug aside.

with a straight face, he asked, “well, nice story. beautiful, really. the rollercoaster of emotions i just went on,” — he clutched a hand to his heart — “painful. anyways, i’d like something in return for my silence. what are you willing to sacrifice?”

you blinked at haechan accusingly.

“BITCH? YOU SAID HE CAN BE TRUSTED —“ you began, picking up your own half-filled mug of steaming hot chocolate, fully intending to throw it at his face. alarmed, he ducked, and jisung just sipped air.

you then proceeded to scream at haechan, who raised his hands protectively in front of his face. “I’M TOO YOUNG TO LOSE MY ATTRACTIVENESS!” he yelled at you, and jisung began grinning ear to ear. this had been the best k-drama he had ever seen, and HE was a part of their group of pals, nct dream.

“FUCK YOUR ATTRACTIVENESS, BITCH, YOU BETRAAAAAAYED ME, AND I KNOW YOU’LL NEVER FEEL SORRYYYYYYYY…”

“STOP BRINGING MUSIC INTO THIS.. I NEVER SAID HE WOULDN’T OFFER A FEE OR SOMETHING.”

you both turned to jisung, and he pointed to himself. “why are you looking at me like i’m an imposter or some shit?” he muttered, backing away. you turned to haechan, just as he turned to you.

“GET HIM!” you shouted in chorus.

“STOP BEING SO IMMATURE! MY FEE IS THAT Y/N TUTORS ME IN ENGLISH!” jisung yelled, just as you both jumped at him, only to begin tickling him. “STOP THAT HURTS HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA-“ jisung began crying with laughter, and you and haechan retreated to stare at him.

“so.. you were this dramatic to get me to tutor you?” you asked in a deadly undertone. jisung’s eyes grew slowly wider in fear, and haechan put a hand over his mouth, a pure act of drama. you grimly smiled, and said, “STOP GETTING SO SCARED, I’M NOT THE ONE WHO SPEAKS FLUENT DRAMA.”

jisung gave you a true look of ‘i’m-about-to-commit-a-crime’ and rolled his eyes. “do you agree, or not?”

you and donghyuck began discussing in whispers, as though you were planning something fatal. “we’re hyping this up for no reason, aren’t we?” hyuck asked you, and you nodded. “we need some advantages since it’s our secret and my fault we ended up here, besides it’s just a tutorship, what could go wrong?”

oh, a lot could go wrong.

but we don’t talk about that.

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your classes began at 9 AM. since you lived on-campus, you had a variety of on-campus dining options. however, you always grabbed a coffee with haechan’s friends, who called themselves nct 127, at the café, where haechan, and mark, one of the members of nct 127, worked after college.

your usual schedule was café at 8:30 AM, where you’d meet 127 squad, class from 9 AM to 12:45 PM, after which you had your lunch at the restaurant at Eros, classes again from 1:15 PM to 3 PM, and then homework from 3:30 PM to 5 PM. however, what with your tutoring, you had to move around your homework schedule. so you ended up holding the tutorials at 3:30 to 4:30 PM, and homework from 5 to 6:30 PM, leaving a bit of time for your dinner.

life just got a hundred times more confusing.

“what coffee do you want, y/n?” mark asked you, and you jumped. “oh- errr… maybe… a vanilla and caramel latte?” mark looked at you as though you were the weirdest person he’d ever seen (which was, most probably, true) and enquired, concerned, “what? you sure?” you nodded, “very sure.” and went to sit at the 127’s table.

“hey y/n!” the fake youngest waved enthusiastically, moon taeil. “hii taeil! how are you?” “we’re all fine, are you though? i know about it.”

your eyes immediately grew to the size of plates, and you turned around to haechan, who shrugged. “i have no idea what they’re talking about,” he said. you fake smiled at him, and turned back to taeil, asking, “know about what?”

“the breakup, dumbo.”

oh.

OH.

“OH. yeah i’m fine, i already knew it would’ve happened anyway.” taeyong nodded approvingly, and smiled at you, the smile reaching his eyes. “that’s the super-strong y/n we know and love!” you grinned, and you 9 began chattering about everything and nothing until mark brought over your orders.

after slurping down the coffee, you reached the main building, a beautiful place, inspired by ancient greek architecture. yes, Eros didn’t use the idea of the greek god, but many people believed the founder was bluffing when they said they named it after an ASTEROID.

there were intricate engravings into the pillars that stood tall, and they were painted in different shades of elegant colors, with the etches outlined in bright, glittering gold paint. even though it had been months since you first saw them, they always instilled a feeling of awe in everyone who saw the prettiness of the place. shaking your head to remember what you come here for, you walked off in the direction of your first lecture that morning — maths, one of your best and favorite subjects.

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after a delicious lunch of rice with a side of stir-friend vegetables, and a chocolate lava cake washed down with a glass of grape juice, you were stuck in your last lecture of the day. science.

why did you take science? good question, something even you can’t answer yourself.

you rolled your eyes at the teacher, a 46 year old misery. no offense to her, but you, for one, were getting sick of her monotonous voice. you knew that if this went on for another 15 more minutes you’d be fast asleep. you couldn’t do that though, you had barely been passing science with a B+, if you fell asleep in class your teacher would NEVER let you get off the hook. she may as well give you a F and let you enjoy your last days at Eros Uni.

lost deep in thoughts, you didn’t realize that the old woman had been calling your name MANY times. “MS. Y/L/N! ARE YOU UNABLE TO HEAR, MY DEAR? OR MORE LIKELY DROOLING OVER BOYS. DETENTION. 3 TO 4. UNDERSTOOD?” you groaned audibly, and if it were possible, the teacher looked even madder. “yes, ma’am,” you hastily replied, before you could get in more trouble.

there goes your perfect schedule.

you followed the teacher after class to the detention room. this wasn’t your first time in this room, you had been caught writing down song lyrics, daydreaming, texting in class, and a lot of other stuff. and it was mainly the science lecturer who gave you detention, and you were, to be honest, getting tired of it.

after you had taken your seat, she said, “look, we both know you will end up sneaking in something to keep you from getting too bored. so save us the drama, and do what you want. as long as it’s appropriate, i’m fine with it. i’d give you an essay, but we’re bored of that too, so,”

you cringed at her words. is that what she really thought of you?

“nope, i’ll do the essay. what’s the topic?”

the teacher smiled — something you hadn’t seen till now. it mesmerized you, the way she suddenly transformed into someone 20 years younger.

“write an essay on your personality. no word limit, just express yourself.”

you grinned at her, getting out your pencil. essays were a piece of cake to you — this one shouldn’t be any tougher.

although you were the top in english, you found yourself genuinely thinking as you looked at the blank sheet of paper. you realized it was difficult to write about yourself on the spot. did you even know yourself, like you claimed to?

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after the invigorating discovery that you didn’t really know yourself, your science teacher had helped you out with what she saw you as. her answers surprised you. it wasn’t until you had finally reached your dorm after mending your relationship with your teacher that you realized it.

YOUR TUTORING SESSION. WITH JISUNG. suddenly realizing that it was 4:30 PM already, you hurriedly unlocked your dorm room.

you screamed.

jisung and haechan were standing in your kitchen, and screamed when they saw you.

the three of you screamed till you had the sense to stop. they weren’t burglars after all. they were JUST the two dunderheads jisung and haechan, who decided it was a good idea to enter your dormitory without letting you know about it first. you gave them a fake smile, grabbing the nearest broomstick. you ran after haechan, who kept screaming “extra keys for what” and “i didn’t know you weren’t here”, and began whacking him with the broomstick.

jisung began giggling, enjoying the scenes as always. “MOMMYY I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!” haechan cried, and you rolled your eyes. “okay, fine, i’ll stop,” you said reluctantly, and placed the broomstick where it belonged. “anyways, i got detention, sorry, we can have the tuition now, i guess,” you muttered, throwing your backpack on the barstool, removing the homework you had gotten.

you groaned in annoyance. you had literal STACKS of homework to be done, not to mention dinner. haechan and jisung stared at your homework, and haechan grinned. “happy to not have taken science!” he cheered, and helped himself to a coke from your fridge, settling on a barstool across you. you sighed, knowing you brought this on yourself.

“i can help you with your science work, then we can do the tutoring. i don’t mind really, i just need to pass english to go ahead with my dancing,” jisung offered, and you looked at him as though he were an angel from heaven.

haechan didn’t like it one bit. “i’ll do your math homework!” haechan excitedly offered, and you raised an eyebrow at him. “you, excited, to do math? woah. consider my mind officially blown,” you told him, sarcasm dripping through your words. haechan’s determination to prove to you he waa equally helpful now reached the peak of his patience. “watch me,” he said, and began furiously reading through the homework. grabbing your math textbook, he proceeded to surprise both you and jisung by scribbling down multiple formulas.

you and jisung blinked at each other, and got down to work.

by the time it was 5, you three had finished off everything except the computer sciences homework. surprisingly, it was simple enough for you to finish in 15 minutes. once you set the pen down, you let out a breath of relief. “thank you guys, i’d have most definitely struggled if i hadn’t had your help, so thanks. now, as per our deal, let’s do this tuition!” you pumped your fist in the air, and the boys winced in second-hand embarrassment.

“what?” you asked, pouting, and they cringed even more. “FINE. I GET IT, LET’S MOVE ON, haechan you can leave now, thanks for proving that you indeed are good at math, and that you are just lazy, and so won’t work hard enough on it.” you told him, and he looked at you blankly. “am i not allowed to be here? i swear, i won’t do anything. i’m gonna sit in your living room! okay bye!” he said in one breath, and ran at top speed to the couch.

you sighed, and turned to jisung. “fine, what do you have a problem in understanding?” “well, i don’t get vocabulary, mainly, like, i confuse homophones and homonyms, i misspell words, and i don’t find the right words either.”

and so your tutoring officially began, featuring haechan steaming with jealousy.

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eventually haechan gave up on sabotaging your tuitions, and he grew grumpy. every time you tried to talk to him about it, he always shook you off.

“just put us all out of our misery and admit it already. you like her.” jaehyun confronted haechan at the usual 127 meeting. “no i don’t.” haechan folded his arms. “you’re in denial.“ yuta offered, “i am not in denial!” haechan exclaimed.

“sure..” yuta narrowed his eyes, and doyoung rolled his eyes. “look. you like her? TELL HER. even an idiot can tell you like her, so we aren’t stupid,” he said, and haechan sighed. “jisung and her are getting all buddy-buddy, and i don’t like it.”

“so you’re willing to sacrifice y/n’s happiness for your own?” jungwoo questioned, in the midst of eating his favorite, super-hot, super-spicy bowl of noodles. everyone’s jaws dropped. since when did jungwoo begin to actually use the talent he had in making such deep, meaningful lines?

“what? don’t look so shocked to see i actually use my brain, alright?” he stated, exasperated. “anyways, think about it haechan,” johnny said, and haechan realized he had never actually thought about it that way. was he really hurting y/n by attempting to ruin her tuitions?

he loved seeing you happy, and he never wanted to be the cause of your unhappiness.

“i guess i’ll have to think of a way to show her my love for her,” he said.

‘or maybe i should just move on,’ he thought privately. no one would ever know, anyway.

and so he did. he got together with a girl, yoo jimin, known on campus as karina. she was popular, along with her group of friends, aespa. your friendship with them blossomed, and soon you were well-known all over campus, even more than you already were.

haechan still facepalmed internally every time you friendzoned him, but he couldn’t blame you anymore.

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meanwhile, things were going BRILLIANT with you and jisung, unpredictably. you weren’t friends yet, but were getting to know each other. you held your tuitions at the café, and you had never noticed how charming and cozy the café actually was.

the tempting aroma of fresh coffee was distracting, and so was the constant opening and closing of doors. the coffee was a welcome diversion nonetheless, after all, you were tutoring an attractive boy. the staff at the café constantly called out other students’ names every time their order was ready, causing your teaching to be interrupted. whispered conversations went on around you, ranging from the coffee to how you were hanging with so many of the most sought-after boys around university, and you rolled your eyes at the latter. to be honest, you had had enough of it, but it wasn’t like you could particularly tell them off for it. gossip is gossip after all.

nevertheless, jisung could tell the frequent whispers were getting on your last nerve. “hey, i know they annoy you, but we need to put up with it. i’m quite frankly tired of it too, i don’t want to be called “most sought-after” anyway. i’m so sorry that my association with you is leading to this gossip, y/n,” he told you, hugging you one especially tiring day, and you sighed, smiling exhaustedly. “well, jisung, i guess so. it’s not your fault you’re cute anyways,” “wait— did you just call me cute?” he smirked at you, breaking the hug, and you rolled your eyes. how cliché, the girl lets slip she finds the boy attractive.

“yes, i did, got a problem?” you replied, still reeling over the sudden hug. he laughed, and you had never noticed how deep his voice was. like damn, boy, you literally turned 19 some time ago—

these days, you had been noticing the littlest things about him. the way he looked down and gave a small smile every time you complimented him, how his hair kept bouncing every time he had a spring in his step and made you want to ruffle it, how he rolled his eyes and the sides of his lips turned down when he was annoyed, how he pouted when he was sad, how his eyes smiled when he genuinely was happy, and a lot more stuff you could probably write an essay about.

do you like him? yes, yes you did.

did he like you back? probably not, but what did it matter?

you liked him, so maybe one day you’d make a move.

maybe.

one day.

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you were scanning through three books at the same time when jisung found you, and he blinked. what were you doing with three, old, thick books?

light reading.

light reading to write a song.

light reading to write a song for your assignment.

you usually had a lot of creativity, but what with your struggle to teach (which, by the way, you would not have been able to do before the deal was made,) and to catch up with homework, you were struggling. jisung helped you as much as he could, but haechan had been avoiding you. that was a problem for another time, you decided.

it hurt, but it was fine, right?

anyway, jisung studied your figure, bent over the books, sipping coffee every two pages in the three books. one which he recognized to be a dictionary, one that looked strangely like one of the books from the harry potter series, and one which, again, seemed to be ANOTHER dictionary. now, he was no genius, but he for sure knew you didn’t require two dictionaries to do anything.

or was he just stupid?

yeah, he probably wasn’t, he concluded, you were just probably showing off or being yourself. he walked over to where you were seated, and thumped the table. when you didn’t show any signs of noticing, he decided to thump your back.

that, he later thought, was the moment he’d travel back in time and kick himself in the fucking face.

just as his hand hit your back, you took a huge gulp of coffee. the only bright side was that the books were safely out of the way. you spontaneously began choking on the super-hot coffee, and he panicked. he thwacked your back even more violently, and you held a hand up to stop him. “j-jisung, stOP.” you managed to speak, and he obeyed. after about 5 minutes of the whole library looking at you, not bothered to help, you finally calmed down.

“jisung, did you seriously have to do that? you could’ve just called my name,” you muttered through tears of pain and humiliation. “oh, sorry. didn’t think of that,” he replied guiltily. “it’s fine, i’ll just clean the table up, and get myself a glass of water.”

he waited patiently for you to get back, and once you had done all that you mentioned, he sat you down on the chair. “what were you even doing with those books?” “oh, me! i have a simply delightful project — write a song based on anything,” you replied, going back to the books. “look, just look around you. you’ll get the perfect idea, and if you know that idea well, you’ll get the right words too.” he suggested, and you looked at him in a whole new light.

“damn, jisung, thanks,” you told him, surprised, but thankful. “anyways, any reason in specific you were here?” you asked him, and he nodded, saying, “oh yeah, you know how haechan has been avoiding you? well, i think i have a reasonable explanation for that.” he told you, and you gestured him to go on.

“i suspect he likes you.”

you again spit out your coffee, which this time succeeded in burning your tongue. “fuck, i’ll go clean the table and get you some water,” jisung mumbled, running at full speed to do what he offered. meanwhile, you processed what he had just told you.

no way.

right?

‘well, i mean, he had dropped subtle hints, but i guess i dismissed them?’ you wondered, and asked jisung about it. “well, i’m sure he likes you. just talk to him, i’m sure you’ll have resolved everything soon!” he gave you a thumbs up, and you smiled at him.

“wanna be friends?” you asked him, and he nodded. “yep, let’s be friends, y/n y/l/n.”

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with jisung’s encouragement, you slowly built up courage to talk to haechan. it had been one week since the iconic conversation at the library, and you were currently standing outside haechan’s dorm. you knocked, waiting for donghyuck to open the door. you bounced on the balls of your feet, biting your lip in nervousness, when you heard the door open — finally.

“what do you wa- oh. hi, y/n.” he said, and you smiled. here goes nothing.

“look, do you have a crush on me?” you asked, and he looked at you weirdly. “i did, but it was time to move on, y/n,” he said wearily, “you didn’t like me back, so what was the point? don’t worry, i’m over it, i swear,” he added, and you grinned. “okay then, tell me why you’ve been avoiding me.”

“i didn’t know what to tell you, y/n. i’m sorry.”

“well, you don’t need to. hang out soon?”

“OF COURSE, BITCH. no need to get sentimental, i’ll get ready right now. where to?” he asked, and you smiled smugly.

“meet me at the café, i’ll tell you more there.”

after haechan got there, you smiled innocently at him and said, “let’s go ice skating!”

he looked at you unfazed. “and what made you think i’d be super scared to go ICE skating?”

“because where i’m taking you is absolute hell.”

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by the time you reached the place you were describing, haechan was wailing like a baby, screaming at you to back off and not take him, that he would do anything you wished for except this.

it was none other than the rink owned by his parents.

“y/n, please, i will do whatever you tell me to, but please, PLEASE, NOT THIS PLACE, I WILL CRY.” he pleaded, and you smiled. “cry then. this is what you deserve for ignoring me for WEEKS.”

dragging him out of the car, you met up with some of your friends, known on-campus as wayv. “hey guys! help me with this moron,” you grunted, and they smirked at haechan. kun and yangyang lifted him up, whilst you went to meet up with haechan’s mom.

“hey, mrs. lee! you should have fun with your son!” you said, hugging her. she laughed, and walked off towards where her son and wayv were arguing about some nonsense, which you definitely didn’t want any part in.

sighing with relief at having your best friend back, you turned to your next problem. solving your feelings for jisung.

to speak of the devil, you saw jisung hanging out by the corner of the rink awkwardly. you smiled, looking at him ruffling his hair as though he was trying to look coolly bored. biting back a laugh, you skated your way to him. “spying on me, huh?” you laughed, and his eyes grew wide. “wh- what? no..” he said, cringing at himself.

“you don’t know how to skate, do you?” you asked him, and he nodded in reply. pulling him by the arms, you said, “then i take it upon myself to teach you.”

he opened his mouth to speak, and indecisively shut it, his awkwardness slowly turning into fear. “Y/N,” he began, but it was too late — you had already pushed him away from yourself, and his arms flailed in an attempt to maintain some composure.

it failed.

he flopped on to his back, and groaned in pain. you skated your way to him, and helped him up. he rolled his eyes at you in irritation and became determined to perfect this activity. you found joy in the way he was trying his best to learn by himself, but he was not faring well. your eyes narrowed at his terrible posture, and you put your arms on your waist, skidding to a stop before him.

after about 15 falls and 40 minutes of skating, jisung was beginning to get the hang of it. you watched him as he skated about the enormous rink, and smiled in self-contentment. you couldn’t take credit, but you at least rolled the dice to help jisung start learning ice-skating.

as you were humming contentedly to yourself, out of nowhere, jisung attacked you from behind with a hug. “thank you, y/n,” he murmured to you, and you went pink at the sudden contact. “uhm, you’re welcome!” you said, smiling at him, and continued, “wanna challenge me to a match of elegance?”

“sure!” he said confidently.

off you two went, and you spun around gracefully on the ice. you had been taught by none other than sunghoon, a true legend in your university when it came to ice-skating. he took classes for you and his friends, enhypen.

meanwhile, jisung managed a typical backflip, and landed on his feet perfectly. “what? don’t look so surprised, hey!” he grumbled, and you laughed, continuing to turn a beautiful pirouette. he rolled his eyes at you and continued struggling — that is, coming up — with different moves.

in the end, you won anyway. but it was worth it, jisung believed.

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your tutoring was going to end in a week, because tests were the next thing on your school schedule. the next and almost-final objective to pass. all the students in your uni were stressed out, and you were too. but you cheered yourself up, so that you were as relaxed as possible.

jisung, on the other hand, was more calmer than you expected him to be, especially in english. it was suspicious, but who were you to question it?

you, you decided, were y/n l/n. and you would most definitely question it.

when he arrived at your dorm for the tuition, you let him in, allowing him to settle himself comfortably on the couch. narrowing your eyes at him, you asked, “can i ask you two things?” “sure, but i hope the first question was a part of the two questions you are gonna ask me,” he said, drawing double quotation marks around ‘two questions’. you smiled, nodding, and continued, “why are you so relaxed about the tests? especially english?”

you watched as his eyebrows furrowed, and he put a finger to his head. “well, i figured the best way to battle stress would be to stay calm, right? plus, you’re the one who’s teaching me english. you, the legendary music, math, english student, y/n l/n.” he said, and your cheeks heated up. was that what everyone thought of you?

a legend?

“anyways, let’s begin.” you said, proceeding to explain the excerpt from Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, which, your english lecturer said, had a 90% possibility of being in your tests.

“hey y/n, do you know what’s william shakespeare in the past tense?” he asked, and you smirked, replying, “william shookspeare.” with a hundred percent confidence.

“you’re wrong,” he began, and continued, “wouldiwas shookspeared.”

“oh my god, jisung, no.”

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it was the day.

the beginning of your tests.

the first one was music, which you were sure you were gonna do well in. you had worked hard all year, and it paid off. next came science, and luckily you seemed to be prepared. you wrote and wrote, and decided you had done the paper justice. each assessment passed by, and finally came math.

you decided you weren’t gonna make your usual mistakes, and so thoroughly checked your paper four times. concluding you couldn’t possibly find more mistakes, you handed it in.

the examiner smiled at you, gesturing you to leave the hall. grabbing your bag, you sat at the café in-uni. it was time for your one week break, before the valentine’s dance, and before classes began again. waiting for the rest of your friends to arrive, you scrolled through your phone.

after about 10 to 15 minutes of waiting, you heard a loud noise. without looking up, you shifted to the side to let the whole of nct to get seats. jisung sat beside you, and you looked at him expectantly. “well?” you asked him, and he looked pensive. “sorry y/n.” he said, and your eyes broadened in disappointment. “but maybe i’ll come in the top 10 at least, for the english test,” he finished, laughing.

you hugged him impulsively, proud of your only student. he hugged you back, squishing you in his embrace. the rest of nct raised an eyebrow at you both, and you two raised your eyebrows at them back. “what?” you chorused, and laughed.

ordering coffees, you guys chatted about everything and nothing. one week of freedom, one week of peace.

or you hoped it’d be peaceful.

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you and jisung spent a lot of time together, touring around the university, going to amusement parks, horror houses, and a lot more. you wouldn’t call it dates, but even jisung had to admit sometimes, they felt like dates sometimes.

you and jisung were slowly falling in love with each other, but both didn’t want to ruin the relationship you had going. what if one rejected the other? would you still stay friends? those were the worries hoing on in both your heads.

slowly, the vacation passed. it was sunday, the day of the valentine’s dance. it was mandatory for all students, although you had no idea why. you guys all knew it was stupid to make it a compulsion. the teachers, on the other hand, said it would “level up your social skills” and “teach you how to make friends”. you called it bullshit.

however, you had no option, so why not eliminate the competition by dressing up ravishingly, you thought.

after getting ready, you looked at the mirror, satisfied. you had slipped on a sequined, sparkling wine-red dress that reached just below your knees, hugging your figure comfortably. to honor valentine’s day, you put on long, dangling earrings that showed cupid on one, and an arrow of love on the other. you put on your watch, and put on a bit of makeup, that is, red lipstick, and a choice of a smokey shade of eyeshadow.

pulling on your black pencil heels, you inhaled deeply, grabbing a bite of chocolate to calm yourself. you had no idea why you were this nervous, it wasn’t like you had a date.

right?

you heard a rap on your door, and you opened it. you were met with an awe-struck jisung, who stared at you up and down. “y/n.” he said, and it sounded more like a question than a statement. you grinned questioningly, and asked, “what are you doing here?” “i don’t know, haechan told me to meet him at your room… oh.” you turned your eyes up to the ceiling, facepalming yourself. of course, he’s shipping you two.

“well.. do you wanna come with me to the dance?” he asked, and you nodded, getting a bit shy. “sure, jisung. let’s go!” you said, grabbing your phone and dorm keys. he waited for you to lock your door, and making sure it was locked well, he guided you to his car. it was a dark green jeep, not unlike ten’s, but jisung’s was built for rough, bumpy roads.

as he started the vehicle, after opening the door for you, you looked at him closely. he was wearing a black suit, which unsurprisingly complimented his light brown — grayish hair. the jeep didn’t suit his outfit however.

the ride to the venue of the dance was filled with small talk, and you never realized how easy it was to talk around him. after parking his jeep, he helped you out of his car, opening the door for you. helping you get off, he locked his jeep, following you into the small hall that had been rented out for the dance.

you both headed straight for the food, you heading for the desserts, and him heading for the savory stuff. you didn’t want to dance, but he did. he didn’t want to dance with just anyone. he wanted to dance with you. he pouted at his thoughts, chewing broodingly on his mini-sandwich, because he knew you didn’t like dancing much. he didn’t want to seem selfish.

after 5 minutes of staring at you, looking zoned out, he decided to ask you to dance. he marched up to you meaningfully, and said, “y/n! dance with me!”

he meant it to come out tough, but it sounded more like a request. it worked, though, because you snapped out of your thoughts and hummed. “oh… sure, jisung.”

internally punching the air with joy, he took your hand, clapping at the dj to play a slow song. you put a hand on his shoulder, as he put his own on your waist, your other hand grasping his. slowly swaying to the music, you closed your eyes. you couldn’t have hoped for this in your dreams, but here you were, dancing with jisung with romantic music on.

“you know, i was nervous to ask you out on a date before.” he said suddenly, as though he had been in serious thought about it, “but.. do you maybe wanna go on a date?”

“yes, jisung, i’d LOVE it,” you replied, and you looked at him, his eyes sparkling. you two leaned in to kiss, your lips meeting in a soft touch. jisung smiled in the kiss, and you smiled back. you couldn’t have imagined this to happen at all. you felt like you could fly, you felt so light. his kiss felt like a pretty sunset, the rainbow that came just after the storm ended. it felt like that feeling you get when you go on rollercoasters, and you have that swooping feeling in your stomach. it reminded you of some of the most happiest memories you had, evoking sweet nostalgia in you. you reminded jisung of cotton candy. you were the wind to his sea. you were like the sun falling on his face, a blast of warmth from when the day began. he had the iconic shyness he rarely felt, making the moment a hundred times more remarkable.

finally breaking apart, you gripped his hands, your fingers twirling around his. “so.. when’s that date?” you asked him softly, and the rest of nct wolf-whistled around you. “well, i won’t take credit, but i KNEW this was going to happen!” ten said, and you rolled your eyes at him. you two were back to being friends, so that history was OVER, thankfully.

haechan smirked at you, throwing you a thumbs-up. you shook your head at him, smirking back. “how about tomorrow?” jisung asked you, and the sides of your lips turned up, “yes, jisung, i’ll look forward to it,” you said.

and that was how you got your happily ever after.

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THE END.

[papergirllife]

First Love

Lucas Wong / Yukhei

"They say first love is a special experience that one would always hold a special place in your heart. Wong Yukhei was your first love in high school, but along the way, you had to say goodbye to him in order for him to achieve his dream of becoming a star in Korea. Yet fate and destiny plays its role in paving the two of you an intersection once more, will the two of you and up together at the very end?"

Warnings : smut, unprotected sex, mild angst, a child (pregnancy not described), tooth rotting fluff (all in that order, kinda)

A/N : this is one of my most heavily devoted works I've ever written, so please, of you're comfortable, drop a feedback to tell me if you guys like this writing style, thank you!

Lucas Wong of NCT and most importantly his own fixed unit, Wayv, the man who garners attention and love wherever he goes, that dazzling smile is sure to be captured by numerous cameras of awaiting fans.

But to you, Lucas was never Lucas, to you he was Yukhei, and more significantly, your ex from high school. Yukhei was your first love, you remember when the two of you had first met in Year 9, Yukhei was known for being a class clown and more of a klutz, girls would always have a soft spot for him even if they didn't like him in that way.

Yukhei was your desk mate for Year 10, the thing got you on your nerves about him was that he never took group assignments seriously, and was never at school on time, his uniform was wrinkly from rushing out of his house to catch the bus and always had a stationary missing, which means he had to borrow yours.

You never hated him, hate is a strong word, things were very neutral with him, most times, he unintentionally annoys you, but he'd always make up to you by bringing you a small bottle of apple juice the next day. The only time the two of you really fought was when he had not spoken up when his friends snatched your book away from yours to copy you off, brushing it off as a small matter.

You were quite an immature person back then, and no one can blame you, you were just a teenager, and being said that, you had refused to lend Yukhei a ruler when the math teacher did a pop quiz, so he had to use the dust pan as no one, other than you that is, brings an extra ruler.

It's not your fault, you thought back then, he shouldn't have depended on you to bring his share of stationaries. The next day, you walked into class to see his group of friends waiting at your desk to apologize to you, and as for Yukhei, he had yet again brought you a bottle of apple juice, with the addition of your favourite bar of Cadbury.

It was only in Year 11 when Yukhei had confessed to you, saying that all those annoying things he did to you were just to catch your attention, of all the girls he could've liked, he chose the one who was the most unattainable, go figure.

The next year, when the two of you were looking to apply to the same college, Yukhei broke the news to you that he'd be packing his bags for Korea, that the audition he had joined just for fun accepted him as a trainee in a large entertainment company in Korea that everyone in Hong Kong knows, SM.

At first you didn't approve of his decision, that his education was important as well, that he had a life here, with you. But Yukhei had given very valid reasons to you, that he wouldn't have passed the college entrance exams if it weren't for your tuitions until late at night in the public library, that he didn't really have an interest in studying. His most valid reason was that he didn't want to take a toll on you when you’re in college, he can't have you sacrifice your sleep and attention for him just to have him attain passing grades.

So you let him go, saying your last farewell to him at the airport as his girlfriend and ex girlfriend.

That was the last time you saw him, choosing to not stay in contact with him as you poured your soul into university life, studying like your life depends on it, you had a few boyfriends here and there, nothing serious, nothing that made you felt like your first love. Maybe you had trouble moving on, or maybe it was just stress, you thought back then, shrugging the thought off casually before diverting your attention else where, this cycle carried on until you came out to work.

Fast forwarding to March of 2019, you had unintentionally came across of a news online that Yukhei had finally been placed in his own fixed unit that would be promoting and performing in Chinese, which isn’t surprising, even the Thai member, Ten, was of Chinese heritage. What made your eyes widen was the fact that they were coming to Hong Kong.

At the day of the fan meet, you had took the day off from your boring low paying job at the law firm, so much for studying your ass off for bar exams, you’re just filing on a daily basis.

Before the day of the fan meet, you had lived off of instant cup noodles for a few weeks just to buy the album and their light stick. When you first listened to the album, you were proud of Yukhei’s rapping skills, you still recall the days when he’d struggle with his mandarin oral tests, the teachers there must be much better than you for him to improve so much, smiling fondly at the old memories.

You waved the light stick and sang along just like the other fans beside you, mesmerised by the performance that the boys are putting up, but your eyes were mostly on Yukhei, you would’ve never thought the once clumsy giant like him would dance as fluidly, executing the moves just as well as the other smaller sized members.

You watch as Yukhei introduces himself and his non Cantonese members in his mother tongue, a feeling of familiarity settling into your mind.

You are quite a confident person, but queuing up to the long table where Yukhei sat at the corner was nerve wrecking to you, what would he say to you? Would he recognise you? It hasn't been that long, but the two of you had done some changes to your looks.

The other members had greeted you with a friendly smile and a few casual questions like have you eaten, but they seem a bit taken aback by the lack of fan girl attitude that most of the fans in front of you had.

When you had got to Yukhei, he had dropped his marker on the floor, his head ducked out of sight to retrieve it, but when he came up to apologise, the words were stuck in his throat, as his eyes opened as wide as saucers. He coughed to mask the surprise on his face.

“Hi, how are you?” He asked as he took your album into his hands, scribbling something down.

“Good, how have you been?” although his hair is coloured, his eyes had contacts, and he wasn't in his messy uniform, the smile on his face never changed.

“Great, it's nice to see you,” to other fans and the staff beside him, they might think it's just one of the standard answers, but you knew Yukhei like the back of your hand, registering the twinkle in his eyes.

Soon, he had placed the album back into your hands, your fingers grazing gently as tiny sparks flew up your tips, eyes never breaking contact until the staff tells you to leave.

When you had sat down at a nearby cafe to get a cup of coffee, you took out your album and flipped to the page where Lucas had written something.

‘Hilton hotel, 9pm,' and his number under it.

At nine sharp, you waited by the hotel’s sitting area, not many people at that time as usually stores in Hong Kong open rather late, patiently you waited for Yukhei. Just as you were scrolling through posts on Instagram, a tall figure approached you.

A call of your name rolled off his tongue naturally, a wave of nostalgia hitting the both of you.

“I bought you a little something before I got here,” you said as you stood up, letting him guide you to the elevators.

“What is it?” Yukhei lets out a flustered laugh, scratching the back of his nape when he realised he didn't get you anything in return.

“Roast goose and Cha Siew, are they still your favourite?” you asked, hoping his taste hasn’t changed over the years.

“Yeah, man, I remember how we'd always get quarter of both after school at Uncle Chan’s,” Yukhei said, remembering how the boss of the restaurant had hung a photo of two of you on the wall, deeming the two of you his most loyal lovebirds.

“This is from Uncle Chan’s,” you told him as you followed him into his room, looking around, expecting him to be rooming with someone.

“Don't worry, I told Yang Yang to sleep with Ten for the night,” Yukhei said when he saw you looking for someone.

“Oh, that's really nice of him,” you said as you set out the food, the smell of Hong Kong's famous delicacies wafting in the air.

“Man, I really missed this,” Yukhei said as he pulls the arm chair that was a few feet away close to the desk, directing you into it and situating himself in the not so comfortable wooden chair.

“I missed this too,” you said mindlessly, eyes avoiding his before you ate a piece of meat.

“I missed you too,” Lucas confessed, yes there are many pretty girls in his industry, and Korea itself, but no one would be able to replace you, you were his rock all his life, other than his family of course, it's hard to build a connection with someone just as strong when things between the two of you never really ended, in a way.

Leaving on too good terms and without much closure for both of you kept one another thinking of each other. The two of you know, that after tonight, things would go back to normal, Yukhei would be Wayv’s Lucas, and you’d remain as his past, there would never be an outcome from whatever happens tonight.

So when the two of you were recalling memories and troubles the two of you got in school on the oh so comfortable bed, you couldn't help it, hooking a leg over Yukhei’s waist, just like how it started at the night of the graduation party, the night where the two of you lost your virginities to each other.

“I’d be gone tomorrow, we shouldn’t, I shouldn't do this to you,” Yukhei said, a firm believer that it's always the girl that is on the losing side, like he's taking an advantage of you, ever the gentleman.

“I want this for myself, Yukhei, it's not like it's our first time,” you said, trying to convince him.

“I still feel guilty about our first time, I left a few months later after that night, and tomorrow would be the same, I'll be leaving you once more,” Yukhei said as his big hands caressed your cheeks, eyes wide like a puppy, pupils reflecting an image of you, a perfect representation of his universe, you.

“I don't care, I’ve moved on from you as your girlfriend all those years ago, moving on from you after tonight won't be a challenge for me,” you said in a firm tone, one that Yukhei knows all too well, he knows you won't give up when you sound like this.

He could possibly break two hearts if he chooses to act on his impulses, but he missed this, he missed you, and so he threw all caution out of the window when he smashed his lips desperately against yours, chewing on your bottom lip with little force, it was something that would easily get you worked up back then, and to his delight, it still worked, letting him dominate the kiss easily, he let his tongue slid in your mouth, tasting the beer the two of you had just now with a mixture of strawberry lip gloss, you were still using the Nivea one you used all those years ago, this only fuelled his desire for you, his hands leaving your cheeks to locate your waist, pulling you closer to him.

When you were out of air, you broke off the kiss, reaching the hem of your shirt to pull it off, then waiting a few seconds for Yukhei to admire the red lace on your skin before unclasping your bra, letting your blossoms free, all the while as Yukhei looks on, like he was in a trance.

“I missed these,” he commented before taking a mound into his mouth, sucking on your nipple diligently while his other hand comes up to roll it in between the pads of his fingers, the pleasure from the action making you throw your head back, a slip of his name in between your whimpers.

You let Yukhei push you back, letting you fall onto his bed, you felt his hands wander up your skirt, his huge hands around your thighs, squeezing the flesh in his palms, feeling you, but stopped when he reached the hem of your panties, detaching himself from your chest, looking at you for confirmation.

You nodded at him, putting your hand over his to guide him higher, stopping at the curve of your cheek, pushing his hand beneath the clothe, dangerously close to your core, heck he could even feel your arousal already, eyes rolling back at the thought of getting you so worked up.

“Take it off, but you can leave the skirt, for old time’s sake,” you said.

Yukhei looked at you, confused at what you’re trying to say, until he realised you were wearing a pleated checkered skirt, just like the ones you wore back in high school, memories of the two of you sneaking around, having a quickie with your skirt flipped up immediately made blood rush southwards at the thought.

“Fuck, you expected this to happen?” Yukhei asked, shaking his head in disbelief, he was always the troublemaker at school, but oh how the tables have turned now.

“Didn't you?” you asked before getting up to put yourself in a doggy position, shaking your butt, taunting him.

Yukhei chuckled to himself before doing as you say, taking off your panties to reveal your slick covered pussy, dripping wet for him on display.

Yukhei spreads you open by pulling your cheeks apart to lick a stripe up your slit, making you shudder at the warm muscle that was intruding but very much welcomed.

Yukhei allowed himself to fully stuff his face there, inserting his tongue into your core, thrusting the wet muscle at a moderate pace before adding a finger to the mix, then two, stretching you open to let his tongue delve deeper inside, he then adds a third finger, the fullness finally hitting you, soon he did a come hither movement once he had located your sweet spot, his tongue and fingers rubbing against the roof of your walls deliciously, you would’ve lost your balance if it weren't for his hand supporting you by your left hip.

The constant pleasure that Yukhei so willingly inflicted upon you would've soon come to an euphoric end if he hadn’t halted all movement, pulling out his tongue and his fingers, which made you whine his name pathetically, something you wouldn't have done if it weren't for the fact that your mind was reduced to a ball full of cotton.

“Chill, I worked you up so I wouldn't hurt you with my dick,” Yukhei said as he positions himself at your entrance, his hand coming up to your face to tilt your head to his direction, zeroing on your lust filled eyes and the plump of your lips, swollen because of him.

“Are you sure you want this?” Yukhei asks you one last time.

“Yes, please,” you said, pushing yourself back to lightly grind on his length, a little bit of your arousal getting onto his cock, his dick getting so hard it's starting to hurt.

“Ever so eager, aren't you?” Lucas said before biting his lip at the sight.

“Just put it in!” you whined, tired of his teasing.

“Okay, okay,” Yukhei said before bracing himself for your tight walls, he's never nervous when it comes to others, but you? You always held a special place in his heart.

Yukhei spreads your cheeks once more before aligning himself to slip in an inch, eyebrows furrowing at how tight you were, he could tell you were clenching up, just like you did the first time when you were nervous.

So he bends down to your back, placing gentle kisses along your right shoulder blade.

“Don’t tense up, there’s nothing to be nervous about, we did this before remember?” Yukhei said in his most gentle tone ever, you nodded your head at his words, adjusting yourself to let yourself lose in the comfort of his touch, reminding yourself that although it's been a long time since you had someone as big as him, you’ll be fine in his hands.

Once Yukhei felt yourself unclench, he pushes in furthermore, you felt yourself arching your back to allow him to fit himself easier, before he comes to a halt, you felt so full, you haven't felt this way in such a long time, it was somewhat overwhelming, but it's the most complete feeling ever, a feeling you've never felt with any other.

The initial stretch was slightly painful of course, but the pain soon turned into pleasure, and being the gentleman Yukhei is, waited for you despite the huge urge to move, waiting for your green light.

When you told him he could move, he felt like the gates of heaven just opened, pulling out slightly to give you a shallow thrust, just to test the waters.

Even with that experimental thrust, you felt like you had a taste of heaven, eager to drown yourself in this new found pleasure that you were once so familiar with.

Yukhei grasped his large hands onto your hips, setting a moderate pace, still restraining himself from snapping his hips, but from how much slick you were dripping, soon you'd be begging for more.

Once you felt yourself familiarise with his big cock, the pace that Yukhei had set wasn’t enough, you wanted him to let loose, you wanted him to rail you, be damned if you can’t walk tomorrow.

So in the midst of all the pleasure, you let out two desperate words breathlessly, “ruin me”.

Yukhei had to do a double take, pausing his movements entirely just to check if that was his mind messing with him or it was really you, but one look at your desperate face, revealed to him that was in fact your words.

Yukhei allowed the animalistic side of him to take over, holding onto your hips that would sure leave bruises the next day, but you didn’t mind, not when you felt a sudden surge of pleasure coursing through your body. He angled your body higher, arching your back for easier access, thrusting harder and faster.

You could only submit yourself to him as your toes curled and your fingers dig into the linen sheets, you’re sure if his members were next door, they'd be able to hear every single sound you make, the sound of your ass cheeks clapping against Yukhei’s hips and your high pitched moans were flowing freely, but you didn't care, not when this could be the last time you'd ever be with Yukhei.

Soon, you could feel yourself getting closer to the edge, your legs were trying their best not to fail you, and you could tell your arms were getting sore from propping yourself up as the cord in your abdomen threatened to snap, you panted out the word ‘close’, and Yukhei immediately understood, fucking into you at an inhuman pace, you could feel yourself losing your mind as spit drips from your mouth, sanity slowly slipping away from you as you felt your impending orgasm, it started from the tip of your toes, your body convulsing as you screamed his name, succumbing into the pleasure, your core bursting, the strongest orgasm you've ever felt, making your whole body sag in defeat as you let Yukhei help you ride out your orgasm.

Just when you thought it was all over, Yukhei gently flipped you over, and that’s when you realised he hasn’t cum, so you lifted your legs higher to let him enter you once again, he was using you like his personal doll, and you love it a little bit too much to be considered normal, you struggled to keep your eyes open as you fought through the slight pain from the overstimulation, hearing Yukhei’s mumble of appreciation and endearments.

“Can you give me one more, babe? Just one more,” Yukhei said before circling his fingers around your clit, making your eyes snap open when you realise he wants you to cum once more, your hands coming up to push his hand away, but his other hand grasped onto yours.

“Just one more, please,” Yukhei begged with those puppy eyes of his, and how could you say no?

So you stopped struggling, nodding your head at his request before he quickens the pace of his hips and the ministrations on your clit.

Soon, you could feel Yukhei’s cock swelling inside you before he let out a groan of your name, thrusting in one last hard thrust before he painted your walls white, his lips capturing yours to silent you as you came once more, your nails digging into his shoulders, your eyes fluttering shut as you felt Yukhei ride out both your highs.

Once he was done, Yukhei crashed onto the bed beside you, his arms wrapping around yours, kissing your lips to distract you as he pulled out, hopping into the attached bathroom to bring out two towels, taking off your skirt before he gently cleans you up, when he was done he wiped the juices you left on him, your eyes growing big when you knew it was from when you squirted on him.

“Sorry, I didn’t realise I squirted,” you mumbled behind the hands that you had covering your embarrassed face.

Yukhei laughed at the cute sight, throwing the towel aside before climbing into bed again, removing your hands away from your face, kissing you deeply before looking at you in the eye.

“I loved it,” he said before pulling you closer, and almost instantly, you were lulled to sleep by the beating of his heart.

When you woke up, Yukhei was still snoring beside you, sleeping like a baby, you gently removed his hand from your waist, stepping out of the bed before gathering your clothes, putting them on, smoothing out the creases of your skirt.

Walking to the door, you glanced around once more at the sight of him, your heavy heart begging you to stay, to talk, and so you walked over to the night stand, ripping a piece of paper of the note pad and grabbing the pen next to it.

‘Goodbye and thank you for everything.’

You placed the piece of paper beside him on his pillow before kissing his forehead as a parting gift, closing the door as softly as you could when you left.

You knew this was the right thing to do, you made this decision once when he left for Korea the first time, you can't be in his way this time around, not when he's this far into his career, you can’t be selfish, he belongs on this path, he deserves it and you’re not going to take it away from him, you've stood on the side-lines all this time, he shed the limelight on you for one night, and that's all you should have, he's better off without you.

Yukhei felt himself grow cold when he couldn't feel the warmth of your body, jerking up to check if you were in the bathroom, only to find the door wide open, the room empty.

That's when he had spotted the piece of paper with your goodbye message, his heart clenching in pain, crashing onto the bed once more.

He didn't know what to expect, you had sent him off once, and now you left him without saying goodbye. He thought he could at least say goodbye.

Pushing his thoughts away, he gathered his things, packing up to leave for Korea.

His members could tell something was terribly off, they thought he was just in it for a casual hook up, but his expression tells otherwise.

The usual cheerful Yukhei was nowhere to be found, which meant Yang Yang and Hendery had to keep the mood light throughout the journey home, everyone knew to not say anything, only speaking when crucial.

It took Yukhei quite a while for him to get back to his goofy self, but even then, Kun, being the most observant one, saw a tightness in his smile, a faraway look in his eyes, whoever he had seen that night must've meant a lot to him, but he dare not to press, he knows Yukhei would open up when he's ready.

It was a normal Tuesday night when he had received a request to face time from you, without thinking much of it, excited to hear from you, he accepted, your beautiful face coming into view as he got comfortable on his bed.

“Hey, this is unexpected,” Yukhei said, not knowing what else to say.

“Yukhei, there’s something I need to tell you,” you said, eyes avoiding his.

“Yeah, what's up?” he asked, rubbing his nape, a habit he does whenever he's nervous.

“I'm um, I’m pregnant,” you said, choosing to not beat around the bush.

You could see Yukhei's face pale when he processed your words. Is it his? It's definitely his, it's almost a month since the two of you slept together, unless you slept with someone else?

“It's mine?” a dumb question, but he needs to know for sure.

“Yeah,” you said before the two of you come to a piercing silence.

“You could get an abortion, maybe?” Yukhei suggested after contemplating in his head, there’s no way he could be in the child’s life, and that's the best option for your sake, raising a child in Hong Kong is the most expensive thing to do, equivalent to buying a house there.

“I decided to keep it, Yukhei,” you said, glancing up to see the disbelief on his face.

“You can’t, you know I can't be there for you and you’re still so new in your job, you can't risk your life for this!” Yukhei said, not comprehending on why you'd do this to yourself.

“I already decided, Yukhei, and I don't expect you to take responsibility, this is my choice,” you said as tears threatened to flow.

“That isn't fair, it's not fair for the child! A child needs its father! You don't know what you're doing! Being a single mum is next to impossible in Hong Kong! You're putting the child in a horrible situation just for your selfishness!” Yukhei said before pushing his hair back, the feeling of an impending headache forming.

“How dare you say that?! I’ll raise this child perfectly on my own, I was just calling you to inform you of it, but since you don't want anything to do with it or me, I guess this is goodbye and don't call me anymore, I won't change my mind,” you said before your face disappeared from his phone screen.

Yukhei tried calling you immediately after, a day later, several weeks later, but you never picked up. Then he started stressing about his career, what would happen if someone were to find out? But he knows you as a person, and being a tell-tale is not one of your characteristics, yeah, he can just act like nothing happened, like he had never received this call.

He knows he's running away from his problems, but what other choice does he have?

Fast forwarding to July of 2021, Yukhei is home after his filming of the popular Chinese reality show in China, Keep Running, he feels at ease when he sees his family, finally reuniting with them, but only for a short two weeks time, before he has to leave for Korea once more.

It was a Friday night when his friends from home took him out for a drink, he was not so familiar with the clubbing scene in Hong Kong, but with the knowledge he has of this area, he knows many rich and young people often here, just like the girl kissing up his neck now, her soft hands running up the expanse of his thigh, getting dangerously close to where he wants her to be.

Yet Yukhei doesn’t remember her name, was it Candy? Apple? Some sort of name that had to do with food, he just remembered that she told him that she was an up and coming model, or trying to be anyways.

Just as she suggested to go to some hotel, Yukhei suggested for a quickie in the bathroom first, and so here he is now, being pushed to the door of a stall, her hands trying to unbuckle his belt.

Yukhei reached the back of his pocket for his wallet, opening it, looking for the condom he had placed there, but cursed when he realised he must've dropped it when he paid for drinks.

He told her to go back out and wait for him to get some, leaving the club and the musky smoke filled place behind him, the summer breeze blowing his hair all over, he brings the hood of his jacket up as he scans for a nearby convenience store, locating one at the street across.

When he got in, the scent of curry immediately greeted him, it was your favourite food, everyday after school, no doubt you'll drag him into one of these shops, just to share a bowl of curry fish balls, one of the most famous snacks here in Hong Kong.

He pushed the thought away, trudging to the aisle that was on the most right, where the condoms were at, hidden away from children. He took a box and made his way to the counter, opening his wallet to take out a few notes.

The cashier turned her back from stocking the cigarette shelf, scanning the box wordlessly.

“That would be 30,” she said when she looked up, but her hand immediately dropped the box when she saw who it was, and that's when Yukhei truly opened his eyes to see who it was, at first he was just miffed not knowing why the cashier froze, then he sees you, in the worn out 7 Eleven uniform, was you, the last person he’d be expecting.

“Why are you here? What happened to your job at the law firm? Why...” Yukhei didn't know how to ask, he didn't know if he deserved the right to ask, yet there's so many questions he had swarming in his head. Where is his child? Did you abort it in the end? Did you give it up for adoption? Were you fired from your job because of it?

“It's my shift right now, and you seem to be getting lucky tonight,” you said stiffly, holding up the box for him to see, sliding it across the counter

“It's for my friend actually,” Yukhei said, eyes avoiding yours, but immediately looking at you straight in the eyes, remembering how you use to be able to see right through him whenever he didn't do the revision work you've given him.

“Right,” you said, resisting to roll your eyes.

“You haven't answered me, why are you working here instead of the law firm?” Yukhei pressed.

You sigh at his persistence, not knowing what to say to humour him, so you didn't say anything, getting back to rearranging the shelves.

Yukhei bit his lip, not knowing what to say to you, but a million questions in his head, desperate for answers.

“Please leave if you're done with your purchases,” you said, you had a long day, and the thought of entertaining him was not something you want to add on your plate.

Yukhei looked around the store once more, grabbing a bowl of instant noodles from the shelf before making his way once more to the cashier.

“I’d like to have this here,” Yukhei said before pulling out some spare change from just now.

“Yukhei, what are you trying to do?” you asked in an exasperated tone, there's no point making small talk when there's no way the two of you would ever cross in each other’s lives ever again.

“I'm hungry, I want to eat noodles,” which wasn’t really a lie, all the alcohol he drank before gave him an appetite.

You sighed, turning your back to him, soundlessly waited for the water to boil before pouring it into the cup, sealing the top for it to cook. As you worked, Yukhei was having déjà vu, this was an all too familiar sight, nights at the convenience store studying till late at night in groups, you'd always share noodles with him as you taught him some dumb math formula that no one uses in their life after school.

He takes his bowl of noodles, opting to sit at the place closest to the counter, just looking at you, eating as slow as humanly possible.

When it was around three, you received a call.

“Hello?”

“...”

“You think you have a stomach ache? Celine jia is asleep? Okay, mama’s coming home okay?” you said frantically before shutting off the stove of the food at the counter, running to the back for a pack of meds, depositing some money into the register. You looked at Yukhei, frozen at his seat, cursing at yourself for not going into the back room before picking up the call.

“You need to go, I have something to deal with,” you said as you grabbed your bag, turning off all the switches in one go, making the place pitch black other than the lights from the lamp posts outside.

“Is that my child?” Yukhei asked, he can't allow himself to act like it never happened before, he ran away once, it's time to man up and shoulder on his responsibilities.

“No I fucked another guy before you and it's his child,” you deadpanned.

You walked down the street to flag for a taxi that is always parked there to get their club goer customers, Yukhei hot on your heels, you turned back to look at him questioningly.

“This is none of your concern, don’t follow me,” you said in a rather seething tone, you didn't mean to sound like that, but if he's going to be in the way of your child, then he’s not a friend.

“That's my child too, I want to know how they are, I have a right to do so, you studied law, you should know,” Yukhei retorted in the most friendly way possible, he knows he's in the wrong, but he wants to ensure his child’s safety.

“For fuck’s sake,” you cursed aloud before stepping into the taxi, leaving the door open for him.

You told the driver your address, sitting back to think of what's the problem, the kindergarten shouldn't be the culprit, it's a school with a good reputation, which also burns a hole in your wallet, but you don't mind, and it's not like you have much of a choice, education is deadly expensive here.

About 20 minutes later, you've reached home.

“That'll be 150, miss,” the driver said.

“What?!”

“Fares are different after midnight, miss,” the driver reminded you.

Before you could check if you had enough money on you, Yukhei paid for it wordlessly.

You got out of the car, rushing into the building and running up the stairs as quick as you can, unlocking the door, jabbing the keys into the rusty lock.

Taking off your shoes before you made your way to your room, spotting your son crouched in the corner of your bed, hands around his stomach.

“Hey, mama's home, I'll get you a glass of water to take your medicine okay?” you said before hurrying out, Yukhei passing you a glass of water at the kitchen.

“Thanks,” you mumbled before making your way back inside.

You open the package and passed you son a tablet, but looking at the size, you knew he’d panic to swallow something this big, so you broke it in half, telling him to drink a big gulp of water to wash it down and it'll be fine.

All the while, Yukhei was watching with wonder leaning by the door frame, even in the dim lights and the fact that he's still quite young, he could still identify his eyes on his son, the strong genes in his family, his father and brother all had those eyes, this boy is most definitely his.

The boy diligently does as you told him, taking a big gulp of water, so obedient, and from the way the two of you communicate, very mature for his age, nothing like the usual three year old.

When he was done, he noticed Yukhei’s presence, tugging your sleeve to whisper into your ear, eyes trained on him.

“That's a friend of mine, love, be polite, say hi to Yukhei gogo,” you urged.

Yukhei took this as a sign to get closer to his son, squatting down to meet his eye.

“You’re a handsome boy, what's your name? I’m Yukhei and I’m 22 this year, how about you?” Yukhei asked as he reached out his hand for the little boy to shake.

“I’m Wenghei, 3 years old. Why have I never seen you before gogo?” the child asks, looking at him with curious eyes, he's met some of your friends, but he's definitely haven't met him before, most people aren't as tall here, or not in his mother's circle anyways.

“Get some rest, love,” you said, tucking him into bed.

“Okay,” he said, a yawn coming out from his mouth.

You closed the door behind you, directing Yukhei to the small living room area, serving him a glass of water.

You walked to the trash bin, opening the lid to check its contents, a scowl on your face when you saw the root of your son’s stomach ache when you spot the plastic container that contained the two day old pizza from the freezer. Your roommate, Celine, must’ve gave him some as dinner, usually you'd leave some money for Celine to buy him dinner, but she must've been tight on money again, trying to find ways to squeeze in some spare change, you've warned her of her spending habits, always splurging on albums of her favourite stars, which reminds you.

“You have to go, I’m living with a roommate and I'm sure she's going to recognise you,” you said, a hand gesturing at the door.

“Wait, did you find out why he had a stomach ache?” Yukhei asked.

“Yeah, he ate something he shouldn't have for dinner, you have to go, I need some rest for tomorrow,” you said, struggling to keep your eyes open.

“Do you have anything on tomorrow? Can I see you, perhaps?” Yukhei asked, he didn't know what he wanted to talk about, but he just had to see you again.

“I’m tutoring a student at a coffee shop tomorrow, you can come right after,” you said, thinking that he just wants to know more about his son.

“Okay, goodnight then,” Yukhei said awkwardly as he walks towards the door.

“Goodnight,” you said, feeling a weight on your chest, dreading tomorrow’s meeting.

When Yukhei arrived at the café, he could see you sitting at the way back, a teenage girl sitting in front of you, back facing him, he sipped on his latte, observing you silently.

Your hair is much longer than it had been in high school, the bag hung by your chair very much worn out, and your eye bags were heavier than on days where Yukhei would stay up to prepare for promotions.

Soon, the student was packing up, leaving the table, Yukhei took this as a sign to move to your table. You had stood up to greet him, and that's when he saw, you had lost lots of weight, and he's not meaning it in a fitness way, he recognised the jeans you are wearing, you had these even back then, they used to be a perfect fit for you, that's why they were your favourite, but now, you were wearing a belt to hold it together, and still he could see how loose it was.

“Hey, you didn't order anything?” Yukhei asked, noting that the cup of coffee he saw just now belonged to your student.

“I got a coffee in my flask, cheaper that way,” you said as you packed up your stationaries.

“What did you have for breakfast? How about I order you a piece of cake?” Yukhei suggested, looking back to see what they have today.

“It's alright, I'm not hungry, why don't we get straight to the point? What is it you want to ask about Wenghei?” you asked, noting the time on your watch, you have to leave around noon to fetch your son from pre school.

“I, how about you? Why did you leave the firm? And how’s your parents?” Yukhei started off.

“Well, they said I would’ve been an embarrassment to the firm, you know, pregnant and unmarried, so they told me to leave, it's not like filing could be done with a big weight in my stomach, so I did as they said. Now I tutor kids English and work the night shift at the convenience store, and as for my parents, they kicked me out,” you said, laying down the cards, no point avoiding his questions, especially not when you're in a hurry.

Yukhei nodded at your words, registering the fact that he had a fault in ruining your hot shot lawyer dreams and completely destroyed your sensitive relationship with your parents, how is he ever going to forgive himself?

“I’m sorry,” Yukhei said, he didn't know what else to say, how could he make it up to you and your son? Will you let him even if he could?

“Don't be, this is on the both of us, are you going to ask about the share custody stuff? If so, I don't think we should continue this conversation, Wenghei doesn’t know who you are, and maybe that's the best case scenario, what point would be made if he knew you were his father but you're not in our lives? It'll break his heart. You've seen him now, maybe you can reconnect with him when he's older, I think you should just say goodbye before you go, if you want,” you said, saying these harsh words aloud wasn’t easy, you’re not entirely a cold hearted bitch, but it's for the best that your son didn’t know about his father, no one wants to know the fact that their father abandoned them twice, some truths are better to be untold.

“Can I see him one last time, maybe tonight? For dinner? I'm leaving in two days,” Yukhei said in a defeated tone.

“Yeah, sure, I'll take the shift off tonight,” you said, eyes avoiding his, you could just tell he’d have those sad puppy eyes on his face right now, you don't need anymore guilt in your heart.

“Hey man, where were you?” Jackson asked Yukhei, who was waiting for him at the harbour, they were going to Macau for a day trip today, his friend isn't late for the boat, but they did schedule to meet 15 minutes earlier.

“Something came up, and I need to head back around 7, there’s some people I need to see,” Yukhei said as they boarded the boat.

“So that leaves us 5 hours, should be enough,” Jackson said, checking his watch.

“I’m sorry about this, man, it just came up suddenly,” Yukhei said as they took their seats, apologetic because they have been talking about this trip for a long time now.

“It's okay, dude, but what's up? You look really stressed,” Jackson asked, taking in Yukhei's clenched jaw and furrowed brows, a stark contrast from his usually carefree expression.

“It's a long story,” Yukhei said as he mindlessly watches the sea from the little window of his seat.

“Well, if you don't mind, this is a 45 minutes journey, maybe we'll be able to find a solution together, what are friends for am I right?” Jackson offered, he wouldn't press his friend if he didn't want to tell him about it, but the two of them have been close ever since going on knowing brothers, coming from the same home country and everything.

And so Yukhei, for the first time, told his friend his long love story.

“You know, I think I have a solution for you, but let me ask you one thing first, do you still love her?” Jackson asked as he ate his pork chop bun, Macau’s famous local snack.

Yukhei pondered over his friend’s question, yes the two of you agreed to break up, but all the girls he dated after you, all had similar features or personality traits to you, he had dismissed it as just a type, but now that he had seen you again, he realised that the hole in his heart was always emptied for you, you were the missing puzzle piece all along.

“You don't even have to answer me, your face tells all man,” Jackson said, an oily finger wagging at the direction of his face.

“Yeah, I think I do,” Yukhei said with a sigh, “but even if I still love her, that doesn’t mean she loves me back, and what if we do love each other? We're living oceans apart,” Yukhei said in a defeated tone.

“Now here comes my solution, so you said she got fired from her law firm and is now tutoring kids and doing the night shift at 7 E, and got kicked out by her shitty parents, so she really doesn't have anything else here for her other than her son, why don't you suggest get to move with you? To Korea? It'll be way easier for the two of you to raise your son, even if the two of you don't get back together, I mean, at least you'll be able to financially support them, that is what you're willing to do right?” Jackson asked, hoping that his friend would uptake his part of the child support.

“Yeah, of course I want that, I just don't know what she'll say, or if she'd be willing, she doesn't speak the language and it's an entirely different environment,” Yukhei said, thinking back the days where he had a tough time adjusting.

“From what you told me, she sounds like a tough nut, but of course, this is all up to you, but just so you know, I would really like to be his godfather, and as for your doubts of her love towards you, she did name him after you, isn't it the same Hei?” Jackson said with a hearty chuckle, he could just imagine the fun they'll have together, he was always fond of children.

“Yeah, I’ll persuade her on this,” Yukhei said, he could already feel himself getting nervous for tonight’s dinner, it can’t be that much of a coincidence that his son’s last name resembled his right? Or is he and Jackson just being delusional?

“Now that's my buddy, now come on, finish your food so that we’ll make it in time for the next batch of Portuguese egg tarts, I remember they have a fresh batch around 4,” Jackson said, mouth salivating at the thought of more food.

When you arrived at the restaurant, it was fancier than what you had expected, feeling underdressed among the rich elite of Hong Kong in your old dress that you wear for every special occasion.

You asked if there was a reservation under your name, since Yukhei said he had it booked under you, and almost immediately, since not that many people can afford places like these, the waiter led you in.

“Mama, what is this place? We've never ate here before,” your son asked you.

“It's a French cuisine restaurant, we’re meeting gogo here, remember him? Or were you too sick that day?” you said as you placed him on the baby chair you had requested for.

“Yeah, I remember,” your son said as he looks around in awe, registering the pretty chandeliers that look so sparkly.

When the waiter handed you a menu, someone had joined your table, his hoodie pulled up so no one would recognise him, pulling it down when he saw that there wasn't any other customers around.

“Sorry, am I late?” Yukhei asked with a sheepish smile, a hand lifting up to check the time.

“No, we’re just early, say hi to Yukhei gogo, love,” you directed the last part to your son, patting his little hand to get his attention, smiling immediately when he lands on the tall figure.

“Gogo, you're here,” your son said excitedly, making grabby hands at him, letting his father carry him with a large smile on his face.

“Hey, buddy, don't you look excited to see me?” Yukhei said before blowing raspberry at his neck, making the young boy giggle.

What you didn't expect was to see someone coming up behind Yukhei, a little bit shorter and smaller in built, but when he pulled his hoodie down, you instantly recognised who it was.

“Jackson Wang?” you asked, blinking your eyes a few times to see if you were hallucinating.

“Hey, it’s nice to finally meet you, you look lovely tonight, and you must be little Wenghei, aren't you adorable, how about Jackson gogo take you out to buy toys, huh? I saw a big toy store just across the street, but only if your ma says yes of course,” Jackson said, giving you a side eye to Yukhei.

“Yeah, sure,” you said, it's not like the Jackson Wang is going to kidnap your son right?

“Don’t worry, I’ll watch him with my life,” Jackson said as Yukhei passes his son over to him, leaving the restaurant with his hood up once more.

“Is there something you'd like to say?” you asked Yukhei after he had taken the seat across you his hands were shaking slightly as he holds up the menu.

“I... I still love you. And I know I must sound like a jerk to you, hell I’d go back in time just to hit myself for running away, I'm really sorry for that. What I did was inexcusable, my career just stabilised at that time, and I was under immense stress from SM, you have every right to be mad at me, but I want to be apart of your life again, apart of Wenghei’s life as well, if you could let me have this second chance, I'll do anything to make the both of you happy,” Yukhei said in one breath, reciting what he had practised over and over again with Jackson in the car.

“Yukhei, I,” you were lost for words, you thought you were saying goodbye once more, that Yukhei and you would always end up in goodbyes, but now here he is, saying he loves you.

“Yukhei, you can't just say you love me for the sake of our son, and neither would you need to take responsibility for him, I chose to have him, and as for love, we can never be together, you’re an international super star now, and you're living in Korea, I don't think I have the energy to be in a long distance relationship with you, that would take a toll on Wenghei too, how am I going to explain to him that his father is in another country? He’ll always question your love for him and I don't want that,” you said, trying to hold in the tears that had built up in your eyes, your throat closing up, the cold facade you built for yourself crumbling down before his eyes.

“You can move to Korea, both of you, we can be a family,” Yukhei pleaded, his hands reaching forward to hold yours, his eyes searching yours.

“We can’t, what if we break up? What if your so called love for me, is just something you feel as a result of our child? You can't uproot the two of us when there's so many uncertainties, especially our emotions,” you said, you don't want either of you to be stuck in a relationship for the sake of raising a child, no one would be happy in the end.

“Love, you don't understand, I've never had a serious relationship after you, I tried, I really did, but I’d always think of you instead, how badly I wanted you instead of someone who reminds me of you, the thing is, I’ve always loved you, and I think you still love me too, or you wouldn't have named our son after me, am I right?” Yukhei hoped, why else would you come up with that name right?

Damn it, you thought to yourself, he saw right through you, maybe you shouldn't have named your son after him.

You looked at him and looked away, darn those puppy eyes, you’re sure you’re crying now, and Yukhei reaching over to wipe away your tears just confirmed it.

“I love you, it's always been you, only you,” Yukhei confessed.

“I, I love you too, Yukhei, and I was never mad at you for running away from us, I know how tough that industry is, but what if your fans find out about us?” you asked, slightly worried that he might lose it like last time.

“Then so be it, true fans would stay,” he said in an affirmative tone, reassuring you.

“You promise?” you asked, holding out your pinky, it would’ve been a funny sight to see if anyone saw the two of you now, crying and smiling at the same time.

“I promise,” Yukhei said before hooking his own pinky to connect with yours.

“If you leave us, Wong Yukhei, I’ll murder you in your sleep,” you said as threatening as you could sound.

“I plan to see our son grow up, so I'll value my life,” Yukhei said in utmost sincerity before grabbing a napkin to wipe away all your tears, you’re glad that you didn't wear any mascara today.

Just when Yukhei wiped away the tears in his eyes, Jackson was back with your bubbly child, his arm had bags digging into his flesh.

“Oh my god, that's too much, Wenghei why did you get so many, this is Jackson gogo’s hard earned money,” you said, lecturing your son.

“It's okay, he's an angel, this was all on me, and I guess things went well?” Jackson asked, eyes darting to your connected hands.

“Yeah,” you said, the biggest smile you had on your face.

“That's great to hear, I always wanted to be an uncle, now if you’ll excuse me, I don't think I should crash this family reunion any longer,” Jackson said giving his best friend a hug before leaving.

“So... What do you like to eat Wenghei? How about we get crème brulé,” Yukhei asked, pointing at the menu with childlike eyes, reminding you of the days where he’d get ice cream with you, splitting it on half for you to share.

“Sounds delicious.”

You let Yukhei order everything, sharing between the three of you while the three of you talked, Yukhei mostly directed the questions at his child, asking about his interests, his favourites of everything, ranging from colour to ice cream, eager to make up for loss time.

“How about we talk about where you'll be staying?” Yukhei asked after ordering dessert.

“Oh, I don't know what I'll be able to afford, I'll probably get another convenience store job again, so the rent can't be too high,” you said, dreading the thought of needing to learn a new language quickly for a job.

“Hey, you don't need to work anymore, nor pay rent, I already looked it up, there's an empty unit in our condo, the soundproofing might be a bit lacking, but that wouldn't be a problem if you don't sing in the shower like Dejun, we had a few noise complaints because of him,” Yukhei said, laughing at the fond times he had at the dorms.

“Yukhei, I know housing is really expensive there, are you sure you want to do this?” you asked once more, you don't want him to resent the financial burden the two of you would add onto him.

“What did I say to you just now? I said what I meant, I want the two of you to be in my life, forever. And don't worry about money, I saved up plenty and there’s many more jobs coming up for me, and moving out of the dorms would be the next step of adulthood to me, and we’ll get to spend so much more time together, right Wenghei?” Yukhei asked, pinching your son’s chubby cheeks teasingly.

“We’ll be living together, Yukhei gogo?” your son asked, a confused expression on his face, he had his attention trained on some pink fong video, something about dinosaurs.

“Yeah, Wenghei, we’ll be moving out of our little room, are you excited? We're going to a new country. Remember the dramas I watched with you? Korea has that big outdoor theme park you said you always wanted to go, and snow, you'll get to make snowmen during the winter,” you persuaded, hoping he won’t fuss too much about the move.

“Really? There’s snow in Korea?” your son asked, excited about the winter scene he’ll get finally see in real life.

“Yeah, real snow, not the bubbles in Disney land, are you excited?”

“Yeah, is Jackson gogo going to stay with us too?” your son asked, eyes darting to his new goodies before looking at you expectantly.

“Well, Jackson gogo has his own house and we have ours, but we can always visit him,” Yukhei explained.

“Hehe, okay,” your son said before getting distracted by the crème brulé set in front of him, digging in immediately.

“When do you want us to make the move?” you asked, thinking of all the things you have to pack, which isn't a lot, but you might have to courier some of your clothes over first.

“Whenever you want, I'll get our home ready as soon as possible, is there anything you need in the house? Other than the basics of course,” Yukhei asked, uncertain of any needs you have as a woman or maybe for your son.

“Can we have a study room for Wenghei? With a desk and shelves? We love to read, and he'll need a proper desk when he's older,” you asked, hoping it wasn't too much.

“Yeah, sure, I'll be sure to get it done,” Yukhei said, noting it down into his phone.

“But it's no rush on the study room part, he's just three after all, before I go, I have to apply visas for both of us,” you said, dreading the thought of filling up paperwork, you haven't done much of that ever since you left the law firm.

“Call me if you need any help on that, I'm sure my manager knows how to,” Yukhei said.

“You’re going to tell your company about us?” you asked, knowing how strict Korean entertainment companies are.

“They can't let me go just because of having my own family, they didn't let Jongdae, my senior, go, so we’ll be fine, I promise,” Yukhei said, reaching a hand over to hold yours reassuringly, his eyes looking into yours, filled with love and adoration.

“Okay, now how about we walk around the complex until 10? Wenghei doesn't have school tomorrow,” you suggested.

“Yeah, sure, we could even stay out later if you want,” Yukhei said enthusiastically, getting up slightly to call for the bill.

“You have a flight to catch tomorrow,” you reminded him in your motherly voice, which you regretted almost instantly, cursing yourself, reminding yourself to act more like an actual 22 year old, but Yukhei didn't say anything about it, hiding his smile by nodding deeply, almost like a bow.

“Okay, I just wanted to spend more time with the two of you,” Yukhei said, stopping when he saw the waiter coming back with the credit card machine, paying with just a glance at the bill.

The three of you spent your remaining time shopping and at the arcade, playing games with your son, Yukhei had insisted on getting you a new pair of sneakers, but you shot him down when he wanted to buy more stuff, especially toys for Wenghei.

“You can buy him toys when we’re there, it'll cost even more to ship more stuff over, and there's a risk of damaging the toys as well,” you said.

But of course your son threw a fit at the shop, all for some legos.

“Hey, buddy, I'll buy you lots the next time I see you, okay? I'll buy you one that's even bigger than this,” Yukhei said, squatting down next to his son, and even then he wasn't eye level with him, sometimes you forget how tall Yukhei actually is until you see a scene like this, or when you stand really close to him.

When it was 10pm, painful goodbyes were exchanged with a promise of face timing everyday, your son cried, and held onto his father dearly, and you haven't even told him Yukhei was his dad, but their bond is evident.

Yukhei held onto you and your son until his taxi came, and you waved until you couldn't see the taillights.

It's been a month since that fateful reunion, and Yukhei has squeezed in face times, calls, and texts in between schedules, giving you and your son time despite his busy career.

His company wasn’t too happy about it of course, but was somewhat glad that you weren't one to babble your business to gossip outlets.

You're now packing your things, one last time, you've been to the post office multiple times before to courier out your stuff to Korea, and every time a box reached his address, Yukhei would take a photo of it, telling you the stuff arrived safely.

Progress on your new home was quick, since it was already a fully furnished unit, Yukhei only needed to buy some furniture and things that cater to your son’s needs, he even picked out a pre school that teaches mandarin, perfect for your son’s adjustment in such a foreign country.

Tomorrow you'd be flying to Korea, a new country, a new start, but there was something clouding your mind, something you've been dreading, but today is the day you’ll tell him.

“Wenghei, can you come to mama for a second?” you asked, soon hearing your son’s tiny footsteps nearing you.

“Yes, mama?” your son asked, a hand around his precious teddy.

“There's something I need to tell you,” you said holding him close to you, letting him sit onto your lap.

“Remember how you asked me why you didn't have a baba while all your other classmates did?” you asked, trying to word it as nicely as possible.

“You said my baba had a really big responsibility, that he couldn't see us because of it, that he'll come back when he's free,” your son answered you, struggling to remember more details.

“Yes, good job, Wenghei, your memorising skills are getting better. Well, your baba is actually Yukhei gogo, he’s back now, and we can finally be a family again,” you said before holding in a breath, not knowing how he’ll react.

“Baba is Yukhei gogo? That's why we’re going to Korea?” your son asked, confusion written on his face.

“Yeah, do you like that he's your baba?” you asked, this could be the most important question ever.

“Yeah, mama, do you love baba? Does baba love you as much as I do?” your son asked, which very much surprised you, but expecting this sort of maturity from him.

“Yes, we love each other, and both of us love you as much too,” you said with a pinch of his chubby cheeks.

“Do we ever have to be separated from baba again?” your son asked, scared of losing his newfound father.

“No, never again, and can you do me one favour, Wenghei? I think the next time when you see your baba, you should run up to him and say hi baba, he’ll be very happy to hear you call him that,” you suggested, imagining the look on Yukhei’s face.

Your son giggled at the thought of making his father happy, agreeing immediately.

“Okay, now go to sleep, it's going to be your first time flying tomorrow,” you said, ushering him onto the bed.

“Okay, goodnight, mama,” your son said to you, just like he did every other night, he seemed to have accepted it very easily, maybe it was due to his age, but some day he might ask his father about his departure personally when he understands more, but that’s a hardship that’s reserved for another day.

The flight was relatively short, though it was rather hard for Wenghei at the start because of the pressure he had experienced in his ears, the crying and whining got you plenty of dirty looks from passengers around you, but you paid no mind to it, you’ve been through worst so this is nothing that can faze you.

When you got there, you saw a lady holding up a plaque with your name on it, her phone in her hand, checking all the moms who came out of the same lane as you.

She had a friendly smile on her face when she saw you, introducing herself in mandarin, being one of Wayv’s staff, a trusted one, according to Yukhei.

She talked to you about Yukhei in general, even giving your son a bar of mini KitKat, praising him for being brave on the flight after she had asked you how was your flight.

Around half an hour later, you've reached your new home, a nice looking condominium that looked about a few years old.

Unloading took quite some time, even with the help of the staff, but what surprised you was the person who was waiting for you inside the lobby.

“You're here!” you said surprised at the sight of the giant.

“Yeah, I am, wanted to give you a surprise, sorry I couldn't be outside, some crazy fans camp outside, can’t let them bring you and Wenghei any harm,” Yukhei said as he carried Wenghei, spinning in a small circle, looking at him with full of love.

“I understand, don't worry, I'm not a teenager girl anymore,” you said as you checked out the place, the sitting area had a couch set and free WiFi, this is a 180 from the living conditions in Hong Kong.

“Baba, did you miss me?” your son asked when he had stopped giggling from his father’s spins, which instantly ceased to a halt, eyes growing as wide as saucers.

“What did you call me? Say it again,” Yukhei said with the biggest smile on his face, all of his teeth were showing.

“Mama said you were my Baba,” Wenghei said like it was as simple as two plus two.

“Yeah... I am your baba, and you're my son,” Yukhei said before holding his son even closer, you could even see the tears at the corner of his eyes.

“Why don't we go see our new home Wenghei?” you suggested, seeing that some people have came out from the lifts, typical going to work hours.

You walked a feet away from Yukhei, not wanting to draw attention, holding onto the lift for Yukhei to bring all your luggage in.

Once you were at your level, you started loosening up, noticing that no one was around.

“This is my members’ unit,” Yukhei said pointing at a door, “And this is ours,” Yukhei said before opening the door for you, welcoming you into a warmly decorated home, every piece of furniture was placed and chose to accommodate your child, all the corners were covered with this e rubber safety stickers.

He showed you into Wenghei's room where the bed had all his favourite characters in the form of a plushie, his bed was soft when you sat down on it, and the blanket he had picked out was a soft fleece material, perfect for the cold weather.

Your son was going around every corner, awing at everything his father had gotten him, especially the Lego sets that were on his desk.

“Thank you, it's beautiful, his room,” you said when Yukhei wrapped an arm around your waist, bringing you closer to him, god how much you've missed his warmth.

“Go take a look at your room,” Yukhei said before pulling your hand into the direction of the master bedroom, welcoming you into a room with a king size bed and silk linen sheets, an aesthetic looking vanity that you've always wanted as a teenager, now as well of course, and a little reading corner just for you by the window.

“It's all I've ever wanted,” you said in disbelief, not knowing how could Yukhei pull this off in such a short time.

“You like it? I got some help from my members, especially Kun for the kitchen, you should check it out afterwards, you always wanted a big kitchen area,” Yukhei said as you laid on the bed, giving your stiff body a rest from the journey.

“Lay down with me for a while, I’m a bit tired from the flight,” you said, making grabby hands at him.

“Nah, I shouldn’t, this is your bed,” Yukhei said, looking flustered.

“Wong Yukhei, I’ve had your child and now you're acting all innocent?” you asked in an accusing tone, playing with him, which made him lay down next to you immediately, he didn't like getting you angry, thinking back all those days when you had lectured him just like that when he forgot to do his homework.

“You want me to sleep here?” Yukhei asked carefully, observing your expressions.

“This is our bedroom, where else do you want to sleep?” you asked, but was promptly cut off by Yukhei's lips on yours, smiling as he kissed you, gentle but expressing all his love for you, a hand lingering on your back, guiding you closer than him.

Many mistakes that had to be made had guided you here, but you've never regretted, for if it wasn't for the hardships and the crossroads, you wouldn't have found a home with the man you'll cross oceans for.

The end.

[doderyscoffee]

watch me burn | w.kh

old habits die hard and who are you to deny that fact? as a young adult full of tricks up your sleeve, you are faced with a life full of opportunities many would kill for, but there is only one thing you want to do: burn.

PAIRING: drug dealer!wong kunhang x waitress!fem!reader

CHARACTERS: ft. nct, clc, and red velvet members

GENRE&AU(S): very light fluff, angst, friends to lovers, slow burn, family extermination, dystopian!au, simulation!au, sci-fi!au, waitress!au, drug dealer!au

WARNINGS: language, use of drugs and alcohol, Y/N runs into some men in a dark alley, sexual harassment, implied sex trafficking(?), minor and major character death, murder/manslaugher, accidental arson (twice), betrayal, running away, sexual innuendos(?), sexual fantasies (but no actual smut), mentions of vomit, mentions of kidnapping, nudity, Y/N gets stripped down, mentions of torture (not descriptive), disassociation, Y/N hits her head, mentions of wanting to die/suicide, guilt, self-blaming, near death, death, blood, body mutilation, Y/N gets shot with a tranquilizer, depictions of a burned body, please tread lightly if any of these topics are triggering to you, and let me know if i missed anything!

LENGTH: 21.5k (oops...)

AUTHOR’S NOTE:      this is my part for @127-mile​‘s stuck in the simulation collab. i’m very excited to finally share this piece, so i really hope you guys like it as much as i loved writing it. as stated in the warnings, please tread lightly if the warnings are triggering to you. this is on the darker side. as always, please let me know if you enjoyed it! feedback is very much appreciated <3

TAG LIST:      @127-mile​ @neowritingsnet​ @carat-per-cubic​ @90sgatsby-jjh​ 

Eunbin blew out a puff of smoke into the night air. She looked bored as she watched the smoke disappear, and kicked her legs over the side a little more. Her brown hair was pushed back behind her ears, and her black sweatshirt sat comfortably on her shoulders. She looked at peace.

You leaned back on your hand, mimicking the way her legs moved, and stared up at the moon. It had been full for days now, and you wondered if something was wrong with the rotation of planet Earth, but gravity still worked the same, so you guessed it was okay.

“Don’t you think it’s odd that the moon hasn’t started to wane yet?” you asked.

She looked up at it and shrugged. “No. It doesn’t really matter.”

“Yeah.”

The lighter tucked in the pocket of your sweatpants was heavy, and you pulled it out. It was an old, rusted thing you found on the streets back when you were a kid, and you had kept it safe by your side ever since. It was like a lucky charm, something that you knew would always be there. And you felt the rust under your fingers now. It was a shame that you couldn’t restore it to its former beauty.

“Why do you ask?” Eunbin didn’t tear her eyes away from the smoke hanging in the air.

“I don’t know,” you said. “I just read somewhere that it’s only supposed to stay for a day, but I guess it was wrong.”

She nodded, and the comfortable silence returned.

You rolled the lighter’s wheel under your thumb and pressed the button, but nothing happened. The thing had stopped lighting years ago. You pressed the button again before giving up and swung the lighter like a pendulum from its base. You were careful to not let it slip from your fingers. If it did, it would fall down four floors and shatter on the pavement below.

“Do you want some?” Eunbin held out her cigarette to you, and you took it.

“Thanks,” you said and took a drag. The smoke filled your lungs and you coughed. Tobacco was not your favorite thing. You handed it back. “I don’t understand how you smoke this stuff.”

She shrugged. “Habit.”

“I know.”

She took another drag. “Mom’s getting worried.”

“About what?”

“You.”

You bit the inside of your cheek. “Why?”

“You’re almost twenty,” Eunbin said. “How much longer are you going to live with us?”

“Until I get enough money to rent an apartment.”

“That job you have at the diner isn’t going to cut it. You need a real job.”

“And what about you?” you asked rather defensively. “You’re eighteen and are smoking cigarettes that you bought from your mom’s paycheck.”

She turned her head to meet your eyes. They were dark brown, like mud after a rainstorm. “I’m still in school. When I graduate, I’ll get a job and help pay rent.”

“So your mom wants me gone?” You turned your attention back to the sky. The stars were bright tonight, and it was a pleasant change. Usually, they were outshined by the city lights that sucked your electricity dry.

“No. She wants you to learn to support yourself. Mom’s not always going to be around to save you.”

“I know.”

Eunbin sighed and took another drag. “You should probably talk about this with her,” she said, blowing out an O-shaped puff. “She might be able to find a spot for you—”

There was a loud creak from behind you. The wind had picked up, and goosebumps lined your arms. You tried to get the lighter to spark when the footsteps grew louder, but it was a failed attempt. Sometimes, you forgot it didn’t work anymore.

Your breath caught. Who could be coming up the fire escape this late? Had one of your neighbors heard your conversation? Were the police trying to find the underage smoker with her legs dangling off the roof? But when the owner of the footsteps finally reached the top of the roof, your shoulders slumped.

“Chill. It’s just me.”

“Hendery,” you sighed.

He smiled. “The one and only.”

“You scared the shit out of us!” You raised your hand to hit him, but put it down when he took a seat beside Eunbin. “What are you doing here?”

“What?” He grinned and nudged Eunbin with his shoulder. “Can I not visit my favorite clients?”

“You smell like shit,” she said. “Have you showered at all?”

He side-eyed her and clicked his tongue. “You’re getting kicked out, Y/N?”

“No. Why were you listening? Are you a spy or something?”

“I might be.”

Eunbin pressed the tip of her cigarette on the ground behind her and tossed it onto the street below. “I’m heading inside. I have school tomorrow.”

“Sleep well,” Hendery said and blew her a kiss. She flipped him off and disappeared down the fire escape. “What’s with her?” he asked, scooting closer to you.

“I don’t know. The usual, I guess.”

He narrowed his eyes. “What’s with you?”

“Nothing.”

He sighed and slumped his shoulders. “I can never really know you, can I?”

“No.” You pushed yourself up to your feet. “I should get going, too. I have work tomorrow.”

“So do I. Sit with me a little longer.”

You sighed and did as he said. The night air seemed to be growing colder, and the goosebumps from before refused to go away. You rubbed your arms. “What do you want to know?”

The question seemed to take Hendery by surprise. “Oh.” He glanced down at his shoes. There was a faint stain of red at the bottom. Was that blood? “I don’t know. We’ve been friends for years, so I would like to know something.”

“You already know something.”

“Not everything.”

“Nobody knows everything.”

“There you go with that mysterious shit again.” He dragged his hand over his face. “It’s pretentious.”

“Then leave.”

“Damn it, Y/N!” he groaned. “Why are you like this?”

“You should go.”

Hendery didn’t say anything. He just sat there and crossed his arms. 

You sighed. “I’m going. Don’t stay up too long.” You pushed yourself to your feet once again and headed towards the fire escape. At the first step, you paused, wondering if you should say a formal “good night”, but shook your head and left him alone on the rooftop.

The uniform you were forced to wear was the most hideous thing you had ever seen. You were shoved into a pink dress with a white collar, and your hair was tied up in a ponytail with a white ribbon to resemble some chick from the ‘60s.

“Can I get you anything?” You tried to make your voice cheery, but the words still came out monotone. Luckily, your customers didn’t seem to mind.

“I’d like a burger and a shake, please.”

You scribbled the order onto the notepad that barely fit in your hand. “What type of shake?”

“Uh, strawberry, please.”

“Got it.” You looked at the other man. “And you?”

“The same, but make the shake chocolate.”

“I’ll go put this in,” you said, and turned on your heel.

The Pinks’ Diner was the only place that was hiring when you applied four years ago. Although it wasn’t the most desirable job, it paid good money with and without the small tips you made on the daily. People knew how much a penny was worth, even if they didn’t have any spare change in their pockets. You guessed they just wanted a taste of the “old life” they saw on TV. You were pretty sure it was just a made-up genre anyway. There was no ‘60s. There was just then and now. Who gave a shit about the year number?

“Order!” you called to the chef over the bustle in the kitchen. You seriously wondered how they didn’t go deaf in there.

“Bring it over here!” replied his gruff voice.

You held your breath and dared to enter the kitchen. It was unbelievably hot, and there was little to no walk room with all the carts carelessly parked near the sinks. Chef was in the very back, tucked in his corner that everyone knew not to enter without permission. There was a knife in his raised hand, and he brought it down on the poor slab of meat like a lumberjack to wood.

“Here, Chef.” You handed him the order and he dismissed you with a grunt and a wave of his hand.

On your way out, you stole one of the carts and some rags, and wheeled it out to the floor. Bussing tables was the worst task you had at the Pinks’ Diner, and it was the one that took the longest. But, you sucked it up and pushed the cart to the right side of the restaurant.

You started with the table a group of girls had just left and silently cursed them for the mess they left behind. As you stacked all the plates together, a new group was seated at a booth a few feet away. They were dressed way too nicely to be from the left city with their polo shirts and khakis. You watched them from the corner of your eye as you wiped down the table and threw the remaining trash in the bottom of the cart.

“This is interesting,” the man in a red polo shirt said as he raised his glass of water to his lips. “I wonder where they got the ‘60s theme from.”

“A documentary probably got leaked into one of their channels,” said the man in purple who sat across from him.

Leaked? What got leaked? You slowed your movements, placing down napkins at a snail’s pace.

“Oh well,” the woman in a blue pantsuit sighed. “It’s not something relevant to them, so might as well give it to them as entertainment.”

The man in red shrugged. “It’s not like they’re going to figure it out.” He picked up his menu and gave it a flick to straighten it out. “What should I order?”

“How should I know?” asked another woman in a yellow dress. “What are you in the mood for?”

“I’m in the mood for you to shut your mouth.”

“Hey, relax,” said the purple man. “You don’t need to make a scene. We’re out of place as it is.”

“I know, I know.”

The woman in the blue pantsuit ran her finger over the sandwich section. “We should just get this thing over with.”

“I want that as much as you,” said the purple man, “but we don’t even know how to find these people. They have to be good at hiding themselves. This city is dangerous for them.”

“We have some profiles,” the woman in the yellow dress added. “Their addresses are on there, too.”

“And you didn’t mention this before?” The red man sounded upset with this new information. “That would’ve saved us the week we’ve already spent in here!”

She shrugged. “Sorry.”

“So who are the subjects?” asked a man in green that you hadn’t noticed before. He had been silent until now, but one look at his face told you that he had been piecing everything together, connecting the dots to make a plan.

“Uh…” Yellow dress reached inside her purse and produced a beige folder and flipped it open. “The first person on this list is a young man named Liu Yangyang. Twenty-one. Telekinetic.”

Telekinetic? Like the power that lets you move stuff with your mind? What kind of bullshit was this? Were they mental? Did they know you were listening and were toying with you?

“Where can we find him?” the red man asked.

“He lives in an apartment in the main city. His family is one of the wealthier ones,” reported yellow dress.

“We wouldn’t be able to bribe them shut then.” Blue pantsuit ran a hand over her face.

“We could,” said green shirt. “They’re still poor. They’re just not as poor as the others.”

“Perfect.” Purple shirt clapped his hands together. “We’ll go for him first.”

The green man shook his head. “No, let’s go for the poorer ones first. They’ll notice if an upper class boy goes missing. We should go for someone in the slums.”

You paused. Someone from the slums? What if these people captured one of your friends who supposedly had powers? Even though this was crazy to you, the idea of someone you know being taken was very real. You continued to set the table.

“How about this one?” Yellow dress licked her thumb and index finger and flipped the page. “Kim Yerim. Twenty-two. Botanokinetic. She works in a greenhouse near the left limit.”

“Any family?” The green man took a small sip of his water.

“A younger sister.”

“The sister may need her.”

“The sister is twenty-one. She’ll be fine. And we’ll return Yerim after we run some tests. She won’t be gone long.”

“Alright. Let’s go for her first, but we need to make sure that no one will notice that she’s missing. Bribe her coworkers and sister. Say she’s extremely sick if you have to,” said the purple man.

Yellow dress nodded and put the folder back in her purse just in time for their waiter to come take their orders. You quickly finished bussing the table and pushed the cart back into the kitchen before Chef could yell at you for letting your order go cold, which you didn’t know was possible considering it was an inferno in there.

“Thanks, Chef,” you said, balancing the dishes on a tray and heading back out to the floor. When the food was placed on the table, you slid the tray under your arm and headed back into the kitchen, getting one last glance at the odd people in the booth.

You could see your breaths hanging in the air, and you slipped your hands inside of your sweatshirt’s sleeves. It was supposed to be warm out. Summer had yet to end, and still, the weather dropped to just above freezing. Well, that was an exaggeration. It was still semi-warm during the day. Still, it was odd to you.

“Watch your step,” Hendery said as he grabbed the railing of the stairs behind the Neo NightClub. It looked like they would come crashing down under his weight, and you shook your head.

“I’m not going up.”

“It’s safe. I promise.” He stomped his foot on the next step to prove his point, but the loud creak only made you more wary.

“It’s okay,” you said. “I’ll stay down here.”

He crossed his arms. “It’s not safe down there. You could get seriously hurt by yourself. Come on.” He took a step. Then another. You could just make out the smirk on his face when he was halfway to the club’s rooftop and finally felt the weight of your cautious steps. “Thatta girl,” he said.

You rolled your eyes and kept a tight hold on the railing. The steps groaned under your feet, and you sucked in a deep breath.

“You’re almost there.” Hendery smiled down at you from where he stood at the top.

“I’m not a child,” you grumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” 

You wiped your hands on your jeans once you reached the top. It was colder up here, and you pulled your arms closer to your torso.

Two men stood on the other side of the roof, both wearing parka coats that cost more than your family’s apartment rent. Where were all these rich people coming from?

“Hendery,” greeted the man on the right. “You’re late.”

Hendery shrugged. “Had to ditch the cops.”

You resisted the urge to scoff. The cops? What cops? Hendery seriously needed to stop his theatrics.

“Who’s the girl?” The man on the left jerked his chin towards you.

“This is Y/N.” Hendery moved his hand from you to the men. “Y/N, this is Yuta and Sicheng.”

You stuck out your hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Pleasure,” said Yuta, but didn’t move to shake it. You dropped your hand back down to your side. Sicheng didn’t speak.

Hendery stuck his hand into the pocket of his grey zip-up sweatshirt. “It’s not much, but it was the most I could grow.”

“How much?” asked Sicheng, already sticking his hand into the pocket of his parka.

“Fifty.”

“For that little?”

“Take it or leave it.”

Sicheng let out an annoyed huff, but pulled out his wallet and handed Hendery two twenties and a ten. “There.”

Hendery handed him the bag of weed, recounted the money, and stuffed it in his pocket. “Heard anything interesting lately?”

“Yeah.” Yuta shoved his hands into his pockets. “There’s talk about weirdos going around. I want to find one just to see if it’s true.”

“What?”

“Apparently, there are people who can do freaky shit.” Yuta shrugged. “I heard one kid from the main city can move stuff with his mind.”

Hendery rolled on the balls of his feet. “Tell me more.”

“There isn’t much else to tell,” said Sicheng. “There are people poppin’ up with these powers that no one has ever seen before. It’s freaky.”

“What do you mean?” Everyone turned to look at you. It was clear they had forgotten you were there. You cleared your throat. “Are they a threat or something?”

“Who knows.” Yuta exhaled and his breath floated in front of his face. “No one’s heard of them attacking people, but better safe than sorry, you know?”

“Yeah.”

“I think I saw one,” said Sicheng. “I was washing my hands and saw a girl waving some water around with her hands outside my window.”

“That’s bullshit,” Hendery scoffed.

“How old was she?” you asked.

“Probably eight.” Sicheng narrowed his eyes. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious. It’s not every day that you hear about weird people.”

Yuta nodded. “Well, we should be off. Thanks for the stuff.”

“Yeah.” Hendery ran a hand through his hair. “Let me know when you want more.”

Yuta emitted a grunt of acknowledgement and the two men descended down the stairs.

“They’re friendly,” you said once they were gone.

Hendery shrugged. “They’re a little cold.”

“Yeah,” you scoffed. “A little.”

“Do you want to go home?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll walk you.”

You and Hendery went down the same way you came with a little more ease than before, but your mind was stuck on what the men had said. People with powers? A boy who could move things with his mind? A girl who could manipulate plants? A girl who could wave her hands to make water move? It was all so… bizarre.

“You don’t believe them, do you? About the whole… power thing?”

“Not really, but people will believe what they want.”

“Isn’t that dangerous, though? People could get in actual trouble over this.”

“It’s not affecting you, is it?”

“No—”

“Then don’t worry about it.”

You bit the inside of your cheek. The odd group who came into the Pinks’ Diner the other day were talking about the same thing. You remembered two names from their conversation: Liu Yangyang and Kim Yerim. Yuta and Sicheng must have been talking about the Liu kid, the one who could move stuff with his mind.

“You don’t find it odd?” you tried again.

“No. Drop it.”

“Who pissed in your tea?”

“Shut up.”

What was with him? Hendery never talked like this. He was always cracking some joke, making some light-hearted remark. Why was he being so blunt? So… cold?

“Is something wrong?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

The street lights flickered when you walked down a particularly creepy alley, and you moved closer to him, scared to look over your shoulder in case some assailant came barreling down the sidewalk in search of some spare change.

“Relax,” Hendery said. “I’m right here.”

“I know.”

You rounded a corner and your apartment building came into view. Hendery walked you to the steps and waited until you disappeared behind the door before he left. You watched him through the window at the top of the staircase, pursing your lips. Something had upset him. But what was it?

God, why was it so cold? Your breath hung in front of your face like an unmovable fog, and the goosebumps on your arms refused to go away no matter how tight you held yourself. Your teeth chattered, and you sucked in a deep breath and readjusted your backpack.

Even though you had walked this route many times to and from work, you always hated making the journey home. The street lights flickered, never staying lit for more than thirty seconds, and the rats that made home in the alleyway dumpsters constantly squeaked and thrashed their tails against the sides of the bins. You glanced over your shoulder. No one. 

Keep moving.

Your fingers flexed around your backpack straps and you chewed on the inside of your cheek. You had looked for that odd group again, but of course, they weren’t there. They had probably found that girl already. The one who worked in the greenhouses. The one who could make plants grow and bloom.

How many names were in that folder? How many innocent people would they take? What were they even testing for? You remembered the men on the roof the night before. Sicheng had mentioned a little girl who lived near him that could move water. No matter what Hendery said, you didn’t believe him. These people existed.

You looked behind you. No one. Keep moving. You had to keep moving. You had to move then, and you had to move now. If you didn’t move, you died. You shuddered. You hadn’t died yet. Keep moving. Your breath caught in your throat. This was it. You were almost home. You just had to get past this alley.

You peered around the corner, hands braced against the brick of an apartment building thats tenants’ lights had already dimmed. It was clear. You took a deep breath and stepped into the alleyway. It was even darker here than it was on the main street, and you had to squint to see one foot in front of you. You stuck your hands out like a zombie and began to move further into the dark.

The hairs on the back of your neck raised, and an eerie cold surrounded you. Your footsteps echoed and your breaths sounded like screams. It was quiet. Too quiet.

You didn’t dare to stop moving. It felt like you had walked into a death trap, and you would not fall prey to whatever lurked in the dark because you decided to stop and take a breather. Still, you couldn’t walk fast enough.

You whirled around when you heard rustling behind you. You tried to squint, but it was no use. You couldn’t see and you would die for it.

Keep moving.

Slowly, you turned around and began to start moving again. You could just see the flickering streetlight at the end of the alleyway, and it gave you a sense of hope. Your steps quickened, and you began to break into a run. Then, you fell.

Above you stood four men, although two of them were blurry. Two reached down to you, pulling you up by the collar of your ugly green sweatshirt. You shook your head. There were two men now, and one was dangling you above the ground like a rag doll.

“Oh, she’s a pretty thing,” he said, and you could barely make out his features. His dark hair was a mess atop his head, and his skin looked translucent, like a ghost. How hard had you hit your head?

“Let me see,” said the other man.

Your feet hit the ground, and you were turned around to face him. He tilted your chin up with his thumb and whistled. “We could get good money with her.”

“Let me go,” you gritted out.

“Oh, oh, oh.” He smirked. “She’s got a mouth on her.” He retracted his hand and nodded to his accomplice. “Search her bag and bring her with us.”

“What? No!” You squirmed against the other man’s hold, but his grip was like iron. You cried when he pried your backpack off your shoulders and tossed it to the side. “Stop! Let me go!”

“Shut up,” he hissed, leaning in to whisper in your ear, “or I’ll make you shut up.”

Your heart pounded so hard that you could hear it in your ears, and you closed your eyes. You needed to calm down. For this to work, you needed to calm down.

You could feel your heartbeat return to normal despite the man feeling down your back, slipping his cold fingers under your clothes. There was a spark in your stomach, like the strike of flint against steel, and heat burst out of your palms. Your eyes flew open.

The man behind you froze, and you seized the chance to spin around and push your hands out. The fire started at the hem of his leather jacket and began to crawl up, up, up. He screamed, furiously patting at his coat to get the flames to cease, but you curled your fingers, and the flames spread faster. You turned to find the other man, but he was long gone. It would be no use to try and find him. You needed to go.

With one last glance at the burning man, you brought your hands down and grabbed your backpack from the ground. You slipped the straps over your shoulders and scanned the alleyway one more time. Clear. The man was still burning. Good. You ran.

Your legs ached. Your heart pounded. Your breaths were shallow.

Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.

The street light was still there, flickering on and off as if a child were playing with its light switch.

Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.

You heard the soft thump of a body crashing down against the pavement and the scream from his friend who had come back to save him.

Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.

Your legs threatened to give out, and somehow, you made yourself run faster.

Just a little more. Just a little more.

You broke through the light, nearly collapsing onto the street. Your head lolled, and everything blurred into one mass of purple, blue, red, and green. You didn’t try to stand. You knew you would pass out if you did. So, you sat and waited.

Eventually, your vision cleared, and you sucked in a deep breath even though your lungs protested. You coughed. Where were you?

It took you a minute to gather your bearings, and you sighed in relief when you realized you were in your neighborhood and the brick building just across the street was your apartment building. Slowly, you got to your feet and crossed the street, still wobbly from all the running.

You climbed up one step, then the other, and when you opened the main door, you fell face first into black.

The TV screen in front of you was black, although there wasn’t really a purpose for it. The old thing only had one channel, and it was strictly for government announcements that were mandatory for everyone to watch. Usually, Aunt Joohyun would sit on the couch and stare at the wall while the president droned on and on about something, and you and Eunbin snuck up to the roof.

Now, you stared at your reflection, disheveled and drunk. There was a beer can in between your hands and a pile of empty ones on the floor. You don’t remember what time you had started drinking, but you did know that your brain felt numb and there was nothing but you, the booze, and the sense of peace it gave you.

“Okay,” Hendery sighed, taking the can away from you. “That’s enough.”

You didn’t even know when he arrived at your apartment, but his presence was a comfort. Although his unnecessary taking of your drink was not.

“Why don’t we go for a walk?” He put the half-empty can in the fridge. “Get you some fresh air?”

“Whatever.”

You hadn’t been outside since the incident that happened a week ago. The day after your run-in with the thieves, you had called out of work feigning sick. Your employer didn’t ask any questions, only wished you a speedy recovery, and left it at that.

“Come on, lazy.” Hendery held out his hand to you, and when you refused to take it, he pulled you to your feet. “You’ll feel much better after a walk.”

You brushed off his touch. “Fuck off.”

“Woah, grouchy.” He held up his hands. “I’m just here to help.”

“I don’t need help.”

“You’ve drunk five beers since I got here two hours ago. I think you need help.”

“Where’s Eunbin?”

“Not here.”

“Where is she?”

Hendery ran a hand over his face with a sigh. “She went out.”

“Where?”

“To school, maybe. I don’t know.”

“Okay.”

“Will you go for a walk?”

“Sure.”

You slipped on your shoes at the door and followed Hendery down the stairs, holding on to the railing in case your vision blurred and you slipped. He waited for you at the end of the staircase, and when your feet were firmly planted on the ground, he led you outside. It was a sunny day with no clouds in the sky, and it seemed too pretty to be real. You held your hand over your eyes.

“Where are we going?”

“Wherever you want to go,” Hendery replied.

“I want to go home.”

“Anywhere else?”

You thought for a moment, but it was hard with all the booze you had downed. “I want to get weed.”

“You’re already drunk enough.”

“Shut up. I’m not that drunk.” You tried to think of another place, but came up empty. “Take me wherever.”

“Okay.”

He started down the street, and you stumbled to catch up with him. The sun shone generously on him, illuminating the beauty of his side profile and making the black of his hair shine. You wondered when you began to find him attractive, or maybe it was the alcohol, but something made you want to run your fingers through his hair and pull at the strands while you breathed out his name. Hendery, Hendery, Hende—

“What are you thinking about?”

You blinked. “What?”

“You look dazed,” he said.

“I’m drunk.”

“Right. Let’s get coffee.”

“Okay.”

There was one cafe in the left city, and for a small shop that mainly served poor people, it did a pretty good job staying afloat. Its exterior was not the nicest thing to look at, but inside, it was pretty decent. There were a few tables scattered around the floor, and there was a singular plant in the corner. The menu was written on a chalkboard that hung from a hook on the ceiling, and the options were color coded by category. It amazed you that someone took the time to make it pretty when the cafe’s customers were nearly penniless and couldn’t care less if something was decorated or not.

Surprisingly, the line was short today, but you weren’t complaining. You hated waiting.

“Hi. What can I get for you?” The barista was a short blonde with a charming smile. Her hand was poised over the register, and she cocked her head slightly to the side, waiting for one of you to speak.

“I’ll have an Americano,” Hendery said before looking at you. You shrugged. “She will, too.”

The barista nodded and pushed some buttons, making your total pop up. Hendery fished out his wallet from his back pocket and handed the girl a twenty. Then, she disappeared behind the coffee machines and began to make your drinks.

It looked as if she were working alone, and you wished you had brought some money to tip her. You poked Hendery on the arm, and he leaned down.

“Give her a five,” you whispered into his ear. He nodded and pulled out another bill.

You glanced around the cafe as you waited, even though you knew the interior well enough to build an exact replica. When the girl came back with your coffees in hand, Hendery handed her the tip, and the two of you exited the building. He led you down another road as you sipped on your coffee, feeling the bitterness slip down your throat to meet with the booze sloshing around in your stomach. You felt the urge to throw up.

Hendery didn’t say anything until you were in front of your building. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” He playfully nudged your shoulder.

You shrugged. “It was alright.”

“Just alright?” He feigned offense. “I bought you coffee.”

“I bought your weed.”

“Fair.”

“Do you think Eunbin’s back?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

“She’d kill me if she saw how much I drank.” You opened the front door and made your way to the stairs. “Help me clean it up.”

“Okay.”

The apartment was void of your flatmates, and you and Hendery cleaned the place without saying a word. He handed you a trash bag full of the beer cans you had stashed under furniture and behind cabinets in an attempt to hide them from your aunt and cousin, and told you to take it out while he scrubbed the toilet clean of your vomit. When you came back, he held another trash bag out to you with a grimace.

“It was gross,” he said.

“It’s vomit.”

After the house was as clean as it had come, which wasn’t very clean to begin with considering the living conditions of those with your status, you slumped onto the couch. Hendery took a seat beside you, running a hand through his hair. “I’m going to take the beer home,” he said. “Don’t drink anymore.”

You pulled the thin blanket off the backrest of the couch and tucked yourself in. “I just started drinking.”

“You’ll get addicted, so stop it.”

You propped yourself up on your elbow. “You’re a drug dealer. You want people to get addicted.”

“Yeah.” He pushed you back down. “I want people I don’t know to get addicted. Not you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I know you.”

“You know your clients.”

“I do.”

“What’s the difference?”

“The difference—” You emitted a snore, and Hendery paused, but when you didn’t stir, he added, “... is that you’re my favorite.”

It was getting colder. The moon was still full. Something was wrong, but you couldn’t tell what, and part of you didn’t really care. You pulled your hands into the sleeves of your sweatshirt and exhaled, releasing a cloud of smoke into the night air.

Beside you, Hendery brought a blunt to his lips and inhaled. He paused for a moment, tilted his head back, and breathed out. His shoulders slumped and he dropped his head forward with a smile. He laughed.

You looked at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said.

You narrowed your eyes, but didn’t prod him for an answer. You wished you could say something, anything. Ever since the drug deal, something had been off about him even though he hid it well. It was almost as if you had the old him the other day, although there were moments like this: awkward and irritable.

You scooted closer to him. “Is something bothering you?”

“Just the usual,” he said.

“And that is?”

Hendery nudged your arm playfully. “Don’t get nosy.” His smile dropped and he met your eyes. “What’s been up with you? You’ve been… different.”

You tore your eyes away, bringing them to stare at the city lights that were now flickering. “Nothing,” you said.

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t believe you, either.”

He sighed and took another hit. “I haven’t heard from my clients in weeks. I’m starting to worry if the cops caught on.”

“The cops don’t come here.”

“They might.”

“They won’t.”

Hendery shrugged, but didn’t say anything more. He looked good tonight, dressed in a simple grey sweatshirt and matching sweatpants. His black hair was ruffled and fell perfectly around his face. You wanted to run your fingers through it, to calm him, to sit in his lap. Hendery, Hendery, Hendery. You pinched your thigh. What was wrong with you?

You dropped your head with a sigh. “I keep hearing about these people. The ones that the men talked about during the drug deal.” You chewed on the inside of your cheek. “It’s scaring me.”

“They’re not real,” Hendery said. “You know that, right?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, it’s fake.”

There it was again. You had lost him. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with that.” His tone was harsh, and he started to raise his voice. “It’s nothing, you hear me? Nothing! There are no people with magical abilities. There are no people with powers. It’s bullshit!”

“You’re an ass, Hendery.”

“And you’re delusional.”

“I’m going.”

“No.” He sounded panicked when you pulled your feet back onto the roof, and his hand shot out to grab your arm. “Stay. Just a little longer.”

“Okay.”

He dropped his head and removed his hand. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I just—This whole thing…” He shook his head. “It’s nonsense, Y/N. Just drop it, okay?”

“What if you see one? Will you believe it then?”

“I haven’t seen one.”

“But what if you do?” You thought of that night in the alley, in the pitch black with no one and nothing to save you from the monsters that lurked in the dark. You thought of the fire that had exploded out of your hands, of the way it came to life under your command. Would Hendery stay with you if he knew? Would he keep your secret?

Finally, he said, “I’ll believe it if I see it. But until then, it’s bullshit.”

“Okay.” You turned back to the city, and dropped your blunt onto the street below. The city had gone completely dark. You rubbed your eyes to make sure your brain wasn’t playing tricks on you. Still dark. “What the fuck.”

Hendery pursed his lips. “Maybe the generators went out.”

You looked down at where the streets should’ve been. There was nothing. “I want to go home.”

“There aren’t any lights there, either.”

“I know, but at least I’ll know what’s in front of my face.” You tried to stand, squinting your eyes in an attempt to see the edge of the roof better, but your eyes failed you, and your foot slipped off the edge.

Hendery’s hand shot out, grabbing your arm and pulling you back to safety. You landed on your ass. “Be careful,” he said.

“Thanks.”

“Do you want to go home?”

“Yes.”

He sighed. “Okay.”

Slowly, he stood, feeling his way around the roof with his foot. He found you in the dark and smacked your arm, and you took his hand. He pulled a lighter out of his pocket and lit it, holding it out in front of his face like a shitty flashlight.

You patted around your sweat pocket in search of your lighter, and when your fingers wrapped around it, there was a sense of peace that shot through your body.

Hendery led you down the fire escape, testing every step with his foot first and trying to see more than a foot away from his face. The lighter proved to be essentially useless, and when you reached your landing, he killed the flame. 

“Go in,” he said.

“Stay the night.”

“Why?”

“You won’t get home. You’ll have to wait until morning.”

“But—”

“They’ll understand. There’s a blanket on the couch.”

“Thanks.”

You opened the window, wincing when it squeaked, and stepped through. The apartment was eerily quiet. There wasn’t even a snore from the bedroom. You bit the inside of your cheek and took a tentative step forward, nearly jumping out of your skin when you heard a sound akin to nails on a chalkboard. You whirled around to see Hendery’s silhouette behind you, and what looked to be his hands on the half-open window.

“Shh.”

His lips broke into a sheepish grin. “Sorry,” he whispered.

Somehow, the two of you managed to navigate yourselves through the dark with little to no damage to yourselves or the furniture. You helped Hendery feel around for the couch, and then the blanket that was draped over the backrest. When he was all tucked in and whispered his good nights, you slowly felt your way to the bedroom at the back of the apartment.

The door was wide open, and you traced your fingers over the frame as you stumbled inside. Your toes hit the end of the mattress, and you fell to your knees, feeling around for another body or two. There, just about a few inches away from you, was a blanket-covered limb. You let out a relieved sigh and slid into bed, feeling the warmth of another pushed up against your arm.

“You smell like weed,” Eunbin grumbled, and shifted onto her side.

You flipped her off, and turned in the other direction. Through the window, you could see the moon, and you swore you saw the craters move to make a smile.

There was never a blackout again. They fixed the generators and stopped leaching off of the little power the left city had. Everything seemed to go back to normal, except for the ever-growing cold and the unchanging moon. You heard that those in the main city had heaters now, and they cuddled up in their apartments, watching TV with special channels that only they could afford with hot coffee and a fireplace.

Unfortunately, you were not one of those lucky families, and you, Eunbin, and Aunt Joohyun continued to freeze. Even the shower water was ice cold, and the three of you avoided taking showers at all cost, knowing that your hair would never dry and your teeth would never stop chattering. To say that you stunk was an understatement.

“Why don’t you make a fire?” Aunt Joohyun had asked you one night, cuddled under a blanket with you and Eunbin.

“I don’t know how to control it that well,” you said. And that was the end of that.

After a few more weeks of eavesdropping on conversations, you told Eunbin and your aunt about the hunt for people like you: people with powers. They agreed to keep you safe, as they had promised when they first took you in, but now, their sealed lips were the key to your survival.

Now, you laid awake, tucked under one heavy blanket that covered your torso and legs, and the thin one from the couch was wrapped around your feet. You had asked Aunt Joohyun if it would be worth it to start looking for another blanket, but she had shook her head and said that the landlord was raising the rent and they needed every penny to pay it off. You picked up more shifts at the Pinks’ Diner to help, but she refused to take your hard-earned money despite your protests.

The first thing you felt was the cold as you slipped out of the blankets and carefully tucked them under Eunbin. You tip-toed to the living room and slipped on your shoes and grabbed a coat. Then, you left the apartment.

A dim light illuminated the stairwell, and you shoved your hands into your coat pocket to keep them from freezing. The night air bit your cheeks, turning them a rosy pink, and you were beginning to regret sneaking out every night to light some dumpster trash on fire, but if you could find a way to safely keep your family warm, you would learn how to do it.

You stayed on the side of the road that had streetlamps as you made your way to the end of the neighborhood. You rounded a few corners until you reached the last apartment building and slipped behind it. There was charred paper on the ground and the dumpster had black marks from a fire gone wrong. Luckily, you were able to put it out before it spread.

Carefully, you climbed onto the side of the dumpster and gathered the cleanest junk you could find. Papers, scraps of wood, and a cardboard box were thrown onto the ground, and you jumped off. You kicked the paper a few feet away and moved the wood and cardboard to the side. Then, you backed up a few steps, took a deep breath, and took your hands out of your pockets.

The cold instantly flocked to the new flesh, and you curled your fingers to keep them from losing feeling. You closed your eyes and focused on the little warmth spreading through your body, slowly making its way up your torso, down your arms, and to your fingers. You willed the heat to grow and then you felt it: the strike of flint against steel. You felt the lick of the flames against your palms and fingertips, and when you opened your eyes, you let out a sigh of relief. You were getting better at summoning it.

You focused on keeping the fire alight as you held your hands out in front of you, and you felt rather silly with both arms fully extended like a zombie. You sucked in a deep breath and imagined the flame leaving your hands and spreading to the paper a few feet away. Your fingers went cold. You kicked a pebble and it bounced off the wall of the building.

You pursed your lips and tried again. This time you didn’t focus on keeping the flames alight, didn’t imagine the fire leaving your hands. Instead, you pushed your hands forward, felt the heat spreading through your body like an uncontrollable wildfire, and then, the edges of the paper began to blacken and flame caught hold. You watched the fire consume the paper until it was nothing but ash scattered on the pavement, and when there were only a few sparks left, you walked over and stomped it out.

You picked up the wood, placed it where the paper had been seconds before, and returned to your spot. You called the fire to your hands, embraced the heat that took hold of your limbs, and let it go. Just like the paper, the edges of the wood darkened, and tiny flames began to spread. They started blue, then grew red, then orange. You smiled. You had done it not once, but twice.

The wood didn’t break under the heat, but only charred. It held the flame and urged it to grow. You held your hands out again, felt the cold and the hint of warmth, and drew it to you. The fire slowly left the wood and came back to your hands. You dropped your arms.

From the corner of your eye, you noticed a black shape peek out from the shadows, and a crushed soda can rolled across the alley. Your breath caught in your throat. Shit.

“Who’s there?” you called, trying to keep the quiver from your voice.

There was no answer, so you took a cautious step forward. It could be a trap, one set by those people from the diner, waiting to catch you. Maybe your name was one of those in the file, and they had known all along that you were there, and they had planted a seed of fear in you from the start. Then, he stepped out of the shadows.

“Hendery,” you breathed.

“Hi.”

“What the hell are you doing?”

He looked at the ground and the burned piece of wood. His eyes flitted from one piece of black ash to the next, and he let out a shaky breath. “What are you?”

“I’m nothing,” you said, making your way over to him. He took a step back.

“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”

You noticed the fear in his eyes, and you realized that he really thought this was the end of his rope. You shook your head. “No.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“Nothing.”

He was quiet for a moment, and you saw the gears turn in his head. Finally, he said, “You exist.”

“Yes.”

“But…” He scratched his temple. “You said you were scared.”

“I am.”

“Of what?”

“Of being caught.”

“Will you be?”

“Only if you tell.”

“I won’t.”

“I don’t trust you.”

The words stung him, and you watched the way he recoiled into himself. You wished you could take it back, but you meant what you said.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because of what you said.”

“I take it all back now.”

“Prove it.”

“I’ll help you.”

“What?”

He pointed to the junk you burned. “I’ll help you train.”

“What if you sell me out?”

“I won’t. I’ll protect you. Let me prove it.”

“Okay.” You bit the inside of your cheek. “But if you betray me, I’ll burn you.”

Hendery chuckled. “Deal.”

“Help me clean this up.”

The two of you threw everything back into the dumpster and you kicked the ashes under it. Then, Hendery walked you home, but neither of you said anything. You couldn’t think of anything to say. When the two of you turned the corner onto your street, he stopped you.

“I believe you,” he said.

“I know.”

He pursed his lips. “I promise to—”

“I know.”

He slowly nodded. “Okay. Good night, Y/N.”

“Good night, Hendery,” you said and headed up the steps to the building’s door. You turned around. “I will burn you.”

His signature smile broke out and he chuckled. “I know.”

You smiled back and went inside.

You met Hendery on a street corner a few blocks away from your apartment building. When he saw you, he took the parka that was draped off his left arm and handed it to you.

“Where’d you get this?” you asked, slipping your arms through the sleeves.

“Sicheng,” he said.

“These are expensive.”

“I know.”

“Do I want to know how you got it?”

“A coat for weed.”

“Seems like a fair trade.”

He shrugged. “I was cold. He wanted to get high.”

The two of you took the same route that you always did to get to your makeshift training space. Neither of you spoke, too afraid that you would catch the attention of an unwanted ear. You stuck to the shadows now that Hendery accompanied you, but despite his presence, you still looked over your shoulder every five minutes.

You turned into the space behind the apartment building and climbed onto the dumpster. “Help me out,” you said, and Hendery came to stand behind you. He held up his hands, and you gave him the small collection you had dug out. There wasn’t much diversity from the things you trained with at the very beginning, but at least there was consistency—and consistency you could work with.

“All right.” Hendery clapped his hands together. “What should we do today?”

“We?” You laughed. “You’re going to shoot fireballs out of your hands now, too?”

“No, but—”

“Just tell me what to burn first.”

He scratched his right cheek and pushed a cardboard beer carrier onto the burn spot with his toe. You sucked in a deep breath and drew your hands out of your pockets. You had burned lots of cardboard in your months of self-taught training, and you felt the familiar spark in your stomach and the surge of heat to your hands. You let it go, and the tiniest spark leapt from your palm to the bottom of the carrier. Then, the flames took hold.

From where he stood near the dumpster, Hendery clapped. “Okay,” he said as if he were your mentor. You resisted the urge to set him on fire. “Try to bring it back to you.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

He shut up, and you took another deep breath and closed your eyes. You focused on the cold that surrounded your hands, but not quite touched the skin, and you searched for the next source of heat. You wiggled your fingers as if you were greeting the flames that had made the cardboard carrier a pile of black chunks, and called them back to you. It was as if a sigh of relief went through your body, and when you opened your eyes, the flames sat in your hands like a loyal dog who had been called home.

You smiled, turning to find Hendery in the dark. “I almost don’t need you anymore.”

“It was decent.” He waved his hand in a so-so motion. “Could be better.”

“You do it, asshole.”

“I can’t shoot fireballs out of my hands, remember?”

“I’ll burn you right now.”

He made a show of zipping his mouth shut and throwing away the key. Then, he very carefully removed the cardboard from the burn spot and replaced it with some crumpled papers. He returned to his spot next to the dumpster.

You repeated the process of summoning the heat and setting the papers on fire. But this time, you focused on making it grow. You curled your fingers just like when you had the run-in with the man in the alleyway, and the flames began to reach towards the sky, mimicking your fingers in an attempt to grab something they couldn’t reach. You opened your palms again, and it was like a rocket: the flames shot up, and when you tilted your head back, you saw that they almost reached the roof of the building. You curled your fingers again, and pleaded with the fire to come back down. It did no such thing.

“Y/N,” you heard Hendery say in warning, “bring it down.”

“I can’t,” you said, unable to hide the worry in your voice.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“Curled my fingers.” 

The flames began to inch higher.

“Then what?”

“What does it look like?”

He glanced at your open hands and the way your fingers were pointed upwards. Then, he said, “Turn your palm down.”

“What?” You threw him an incredulous look.

“Just do it,” he said.

You sucked in a deep breath and the heat inside of you grew. Fire could not live without oxygen. You were feeding yourself. 

You held your breath and turned your palms downward, and slowly, the flames began to shrink. You curled your fingers into your palm, and the fire went out. You opened your mouth and coughed.

“Holy shit!” Hendery ran over to you and wrapped his arms around your doubled-over figure. “Look at that!” he exclaimed. “Look at what you did!”

You swatted him away as puffs of smoke came out of your mouth. “I saw.”

“You’ve come so far, Y/N.”

“I know.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“Nothing.”

His face fell. “What?”

“What is there to do with it?” You straightened yourself and tensed your shoulder blades, hearing the calming sound of your back cracking, and relaxed. “I’m being hunted for having it.”

“I know, bu—”

You narrowed your eyes. “But what?” Hendery shook his head. “That’s what I thought.”

“Are you done for the night?” he finally asked after he safely squished the ash into the cracks of cement.

“No.”

He glanced up, eyes meeting yours. “No?”

“Bring me more paper,” you said.

“Okay.” He picked up three pieces of paper, crumpled them, and put them on the burn spot. “Go at it.”

You pushed your hands out, curled your fingers, pushed your palms down, curled, out. Again. Hands out. Fingers curled. Palms down. Fingers Curled. Out.

“Again.”

“You burned it all.”

You looked over at where the pile of junk should have been, but there was only Hendery. You bit your cheek and shoved your hands in your pockets. “How’d I do?”

“I think you know the answer.”

You allowed yourself a simple dip of your head and a small smile. “Should we head home?”

“Yeah.”

You and Hendery emerged from behind the building and slipped into the shadows. Time was a concept that was now long gone to you, and naturally, a quick glance at the sky would be no help. You didn’t even have to wonder if anything changed.

“So…” Hendery kicked a pebble into the street, eyes trained on his shoes. You noticed the red stain you had seen months ago, but never asked what it was. Maybe you would ask now.

“What’s that on your shoe?”

“Huh?” He paused and picked up his right foot. “Oh…” He put his foot down. “I don’t know.” You knew he was lying, but you didn’t pry any further. He cleared his throat. “How did you get your powers?”

You bit the inside of your cheek. The source of your ability was not something you liked to talk about, but he was helping you, so you guessed you owed him an explanation. “I was born with it,” you said.

“Did your parents have powers or something?”

Your fingers curled into the fabric of the pocket. “I don’t know,” you muttered.

“How did you hide it for so long?”

“I didn’t use it.”

“Why—”

You stepped in front of him and grabbed the front of his parka. “How many questions are you going to ask?”

“I was just curious—”

“Stop being curious.” Your grip tightened. “It’s none of your busi—”

“Y/N,” he breathed, “your eyes—”

You released him and he took a step back. You blinked. “Forget it,” you said, and began to walk.

“No.” He jogged up to you, falling into step. “What the hell just happened?”

“Forget it.”

“Stop it!” He held his arm out in front of you. “Just answer my questions, alright? The answers are safe with me.”

“You see me train. You know I have powers. That’s enough.” You pushed his arm out of the way.

He stuck it out again. “What happened to your parents?”

You paused. Hendery had really stepped over the line now. “They’re dead,” you spat. “Happy?”

“No.” He rubbed his face and dropped his hand. “You really don’t trust me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I haven’t seen my parents in years.” He glanced up at the flickering streetlights as if they held the key to get back to his family. “I have three older sisters, and I don’t even know what they do. If they saw me now…” He chuckled lightly. “... they’d probably tell me how horrible of a son I am. My sister, Crystal, was going to be a jeweler, you know. Fitting, right? Crystal. A jeweler.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

Hendery’s eyes met yours. “Because I have nothing to hide. Do you?”

You opened your mouth, but quickly closed it. Hendery was the only person you trusted outside of Aunt Joohyun and Eunbin. Hendery was the only person who had stayed by your side for years. Hendery was the only person you wanted to hold and be tangled with at night. Hendery was the only person you had nothing to hide from.

“I don’t have parents anymore,” you said.

“Oh.” Hendery’s eyes flitted to the hem of your parka before he met your gaze. “I’m sorry.”

You shrugged it off, not knowing what to say and not wanting to say anything at all, but you needed to say something in order to ease his mind. You knew from the look on his face and the way that his eyes shined that he blamed himself, and part of you wanted him to know your discomfort stemmed from his curiosity, but the other part—the stronger part—yearned to see him smile again.

“Walk me home,” you said.

He nodded. “Always.”

The two of you headed back the way you came, and when you reached the front steps to your apartment building, the first rays of morning were breaking through.

“Make sure to get some sleep,” he said.

“You, too.” You took one step, then another, yearning for the feel of light blankets wrapped around your body. When you heard his footsteps recede, you turned around. “And Hendery,” you began, and he turned to face you, “... thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said.

Eunbin came home with a smile on her face. She dropped her backpack in the entryway and made her way over to where you stood in the kitchen, scrubbing clean the dishes that had been left in the sink the night before. She hopped up onto the counter and swung her legs.

“What’s up with you?” you asked, not taking your eyes off the soapsuds.

“Nothing,” she said, but there was an excited lilt to her voice. “Will you do something with me tonight?”

“It depends on what it is.”

Eunbin was never one to be this excited coming home from school. In fact, she was rather stoic, and you were beginning to believe she was drugged.

“It’s a party in the main city. Do you want to come with me?”

You paused. The main city? Since when did Eunbin do anything with kids from the main city? You put the plate back in the sink. “The hell are you doing with people from there?”

“There’s only one high school, you know.”

“I know,” you said, “but why are you hanging out with… them?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why are you making them sound like they’re different from us?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because they’re richer.”

“Come with me. It’s not like you have anything better to do.” She pushed herself off the counter. “If you’re not going to come, don’t tell Mom. She’ll be worried sick.”

You looked at her over your shoulder. “Are you okay? Nobody drugged you or anything?”

Eunbin crossed her arms. “I can’t be happy for once?”

You bit the inside of your cheek. “I didn’t say that.”

She waved you off and disappeared into the bedroom.

When night fell, you slipped on the nicest outfit you owned—which probably looked frumpy to those you were about to throw back shots with—and grabbed the parka Hendery had given you. Eunbin was waiting in the living room, dressed in a crop-top one of her friends probably lent her and ripped black jeans. She wore a thin coat that Aunt Joohyun had bought years ago.

“Take my old one, too,” you said, picking it up off the rack and handing it to her.

“Thanks.” She put it on over hers and zipped it up. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Mom’s working extra late tonight so we’ll probably be back before she is.”

You nodded.

“Promise me you won’t get too drunk.”

“Only if you promise the same.”

Eunbin nodded and the two of you pinky-promised on it. Then, you exited the apartment and locked the door behind you.

You followed Eunbin to the high school even though you had walked the path a little more than a year ago when you were still a student. It was a shame that you hadn’t gone to college, but the damn thing was expensive, and even though your grades were good enough to get a cheap scholarship, you didn’t take it. If you had, would your family be a little warmer than they were now?

Eunbin led you past the street where the Pinks’ Diner was. Now, the two of you were entering unfamiliar territory.

The city lights were different up close and ten times more beautiful than the view from the rooftop. The streets were filled with pedestrians all wearing similar coats to the one you donned. They wore smiles on their faces as they chatted about light-hearted things like crushes and what their mom made for dinner. You felt out of place, as if you had stepped into an alternate universe.

“Follow me.” Eunbin grabbed your arm and pulled you towards the center of the square. 

There was a beautiful water fountain that spewed streams of clear blue in the middle of the square, and at the bottom of the basin were discarded coins. You wondered how anyone could throw away something so valuable for something so silly as a wish, but these people had money to spend, and if they wanted to chuck it in a fountain, that was up to them.

“You act like you’ve been here before,” you said, falling into step with her.

She shrugged. “Once or twice.”

She continued to lead you further into the main city until you came across a building that looked as if it pierced the sky. She ushered you inside and the two of you made your way to the other side of the lobby to the elevators.

“This is a casino,” Eunbin explained when the doors slid open. “The gambling floor is down that way.” She pointed to the hallway on the right side of the lobby. “We’re going up.”

The ride was thrilling. Surprisingly, you loved the way your stomach lurched when the elevator jerked and began to ascend. Beside you, Eunbin seemed unphased, and you had a growing suspicion that she had been here more than just “once or twice”. But, you didn’t press her, and followed her onto the floor when the doors opened again.

Music and shouts filled your ears, and you were immediately bathed in strobing blue, red, and purple lights. Solo cups were held high in the air, and neon green glow sticks were wrapped around people’s necks like collars. You grabbed Eunbin’s hand and followed her through the crowd.

“Don’t worry!” she called over the music. “I won’t leave you!”

“You didn’t mention it would be this crowded!” you shouted back, but your voice was drowned out by the hoots and hollers of those on the dance floor.

Eunbin finally stopped when she reached a small group of girls huddled next to the snack table. She poured herself a cup of suspicious pink punch and poured you a cup as well. “Here. Drink this.”

You carefully took it and brought it up to your nose. There was no off-putting scent, so you brought the cup to your lips and drank. A fuzzy feeling bloomed in your chest when you finished the contents, and you poured yourself another serving.

“Remember what you promised,” Eunbin whispered in your ear. You didn’t know when she got so close.

“You, too.”

“I’m going to go say ‘hi’ to more people. I won’t be long,” she said. “Stay here.”

You nodded and gave her a thumbs up, and she was swallowed by the mob with the rest of her friends. You downed the cup once again and awkwardly stood next to the snack table. You reached for the punch ladle, but decided to honor your promise and stay somewhat sober, so you put the cup down on the table and pushed your way through the crowd.

Cheap perfume filled your nose and you gagged. How anyone could spray themselves with that shit was beyond you. When you pushed through the last few people that flocked to the middle of the room like some crazed herd, you sucked in a deep breath of clean air. Here, there were only a few people lining the walls and they looked rather bored. Some had their faces illuminated with blue light from their devices while others made out in the privacy of… well, nothing.

You made your way to an empty corner and rested your back against the wall. The people on the dance floor were making this massive wave while a string of drunk teens paraded around the dance floor with their hands on each other’s shoulders. You were about to leave your safe corner to go join the train when you heard a familiar voice.

“What are you doing here?” Hendery came to stand beside you.

“Eunbin dragged me here.”

“How does she know people from here?”

“She said she goes to school with them.”

He nodded. “Makes sense. Do you like it?”

“It’s alright,” you said. “Very loud.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Parties tend to be. Do you want to get out of here?”

“And go where?”

“Anywhere.”

You bit the inside of your cheek and nodded. “Yeah. Let me go tell Eunbin.”

“You’re not going to find her,” Hendery said. “We can come back and get her later.”

You crossed your arms. “I can’t just leave her.”

“She left you, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, bu—” Hendery fixed you with a questioning glare, and you sighed. “Alright. Lead the way.”

He took your hand and slid his fingers between yours. His touch was electric, and you wanted to pull him towards you and crash your lips against his right then and there. You shook your head. This was your best friend you were talking about for Christ’s sake. Get it together!

The two of you weaved through the drunken mob, and you accidentally bumped into a boy with red hair who ended up spilling half of his punch on your parka. Hendery pulled you away before you could give the little shit a piece of your mind.

When the two of you finally made it down the elevator and outside, he released your hand and stretched his arms above his head. Then, he turned to you. “Want to get some Chinese?”

You furrowed your brows. “What’s Chinese?”

He opened his mouth and closed it again. “It’s… uh… a food style,” he finally said.

You shrugged. “Okay.”

The two of you walked back towards the square with the water fountain, and all you could think about was his hand in yours. His skin was so soft, and you wanted to trace the lines on his palm with your fingers and leave soft kisses on his fingertips. You must’ve drank one too many cups of punch.

“Hey, Dery?”

“Yeah?”

“How do you know the main city so well?”

Hendery rolled his shoulders. “I have clients up here,” he said.

“Should’ve guessed.”

He threw you a smirk. “It’s my job, sweetheart.”

You immediately turned your face the other way in an attempt to hide the heat that had flown to your cheeks. Why did he have to unknowingly torture you like this?

“Maybe you should get a new job,” you said once you composed yourself. “Get one that isn’t illegal.”

He frowned. “But there’s no fun in that.”

You rolled your eyes. “Where’s this Chinese anyway?”

“Just down the street,” he said. “We’re almost there.”

You had only seen a few cars in your life, and when it was time to cross the street—something easily done in your part of the city—Hendery offered you his hand. “We have to wait for those lights to turn green,” he said, pointing to the red lights across from you.

“Why?”

“So we don’t get hit.”

“Oh.” You mentally hit yourself for not figuring that out considering the fact that cars were racing by in front of you.

When the light turned green, he led you across the street, and you felt like a child again. You hated how you weren’t used to this way of life, with all their fancy technology and lights that controlled when cars went and stopped. What was it even like to be in a car?

“Here we are!” Hendery announced when the two of you stopped in front of a shop at the bottom of another super tall building.

“It smells good,” you said.

“Ladies first.” He stepped aside and held the door open.

Your first step was timid, and your shoulders didn’t relax until you felt Hendery step in behind you. With confidence you couldn’t muster, he approached the counter and ordered two cartons of something called lo mein. He handed over some cash from his pocket and joined you under the TV.

He nudged you with his elbow. “What do you think?”

“I like it. It’s… different.”

“Yeah.” He nodded his head. “It sure is.”

You glanced up at him, forcing yourself to breathe when you took in his jawline. “Where should we go next?”

“Wherever.” He shrugged. “We could just walk around if you’d like.”

“Okay.”

You and Hendery ate at one of the few tables next to the window, and when you were done, you threw the cartons away and waved goodbye to the cooks. Then, you set off down the street. The air was slightly colder now, but the parka kept most of the wind at bay.

“The lights are pretty,” you said.

“They are.”

“I want to live here.”

Hendery nodded. “Me too.”

The two of you turned a corner, and the beginnings of the left city came into view. You turned around. “We should go get Eunbin.”

“Okay.”

You heard footsteps behind you as you began to retrace your steps back to the nightclub. The footsteps grew louder, and you turned on your heel, ready to scold Hendery for being so goddamn obnoxious when—”Hey!”

“Grab his wallet!” a boy ordered one of his companions, pointing to Hendery’s wallet that must’ve fallen out of his pocket when they pushed him over.

You were on your feet in seconds and lunged at the boy reaching down for the wallet. Your arms wrapped around his torso as the two of you fell to the ground, and you held back a cry when your fingers came in contact with the ground, crushed under the boy’s weight. From the corner of your eye, you watched Hendery get up and grab his wallet. Then, he took off running.

You pushed yourself off of the boy and chased after him. You could hear your heartbeat in your ears, and your breath caught in your throat as you pushed your legs to move faster. 

Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.

Hendery ducked into an alleyway, and you followed after him, glancing over your shoulder before joining him. The air was damp, and you huddled next to him behind a dumpster, pressed against the warmth of his arm. You were panting, and you watched the rise and fall of his chest in an attempt to calm your breathing, but it was no help: he was breathing as fast as you were.

“This way!” you heard one of the boys shout.

Cautiously, you peered over the dumpster, ducking at the sight of the first boy. You pressed your back to the cold bite of the bin, holding your hand over your mouth just in case your breaths were loud enough to attract them. But their footsteps passed the alley and receded further down the street, and you slumped down, resting your legs on top of Hendery’s.

“Are you okay?” you asked.

“As okay as I can be,” he said.

The two of you sat in silence, catching your breaths, and you rested your head against the dumpster. It was awfully dark in the alleyway, and the ground under you was damp. You didn’t want to know what had been spilled on the pavement.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Are you okay?”

You bit the inside of your cheek, then nodded. “As okay as I can be.”

“We should head back.” Hendery made an attempt to stand up, but you pulled him back down with a shake of your head.

“Give it a few minutes,” you said.

“Okay.” He sat down.

“I’m tired of this.”

“Tired of what?”

“This. Constantly running and hiding. Looking over my shoulder just in case I get jumped. I don’t want to live like this anymore.”

“You can leave, you know.”

“How?”

“With your gift,” he said. “There has to be other places outside of here. You could run.”

You shook your head. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“My life is here. My family is here.”

“Bring them with you.”

“And go where?”

“Anywhere.”

You rolled your eyes. “Sure. I’ll run and find a way to scale the wall.”

“Oh. Right.”

You laughed. “Don’t tell me you forgot about the wall.”

“How could I forget? It surrounds the city.”

“I know.” You looked over the dumpster and rose to your feet. “Let’s go. It’s getting late.”

“Yeah.” He shoved his hands into his coat. “I don’t suppose you want to stay in the main city any longer.”

“I just want to get Eunbin and go home.”

“Okay. I’ll walk with you.”

“You always do.”

“I know.”

The employee locker rooms were empty when you finished bussing, and you changed in silence. You slipped your uniform onto a hanger and untied your hair, bending over to ruffle it back to its normal style. You put on your parka, closed the locker, and exited through the back door. You fished out the keys from your backpack and locked the door, tugging on it to make sure it wouldn’t open, and headed to the front of the building.

Hendery was waiting against a streetlight, hands shoved in the pockets of his coat and breath fogging in front of his face. He turned to face you when he heard your footsteps and pushed himself off the pole. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey.”

“All done?”

“Yeah. Are you walking me home?”

He nodded, and the two of you set out. He was quiet for a while, then he cleared his throat. “I’m leaving,” he said softly.

You looked up at him. “What?”

“I’m moving.”

Were you hearing him correctly? He was moving?

“Where?”

“Away.”

“Why?”

His feet suddenly became of interest to him. “I got a job elsewhere.” His voice was quiet, as if he were trying to lie and failing horribly.

“You got a job elsewhere?” You repeated slowly. “There is no elsewhere, Hendery. Are you moving to the main city?”

He shook his head. “I mean I’m leaving, Y/N. I’m leaving this city.”

You laughed. “You’re funny.”

“I’m not joking,” he said. “I’m really going.”

“You can stop lying. You’re horrible at it.”

“Why do you think I’m lying?”

“Look at this place.” You waved your hand around, motioning to the deserted street and flickering street lights. “There is no leaving it.”

“Then I’m doing the impossible.”

You shook your head. “I don’t believe you.”

Hendery sighed. “You don’t have to.”

“Okay.” You stifled another laugh. “Say you are leaving. Where are you going?”

He pursed his lips in thought. “I don’t know,” he said. “Wherever I’m told to.”

“Exactly.”

“You were the one who told me to get a legal job,” he pointed out. “I’m doing just that.”

“What’s this new job of yours, then?” You made air quotes at the word “new”.

“A chemist.”

You raised a brow. “You’re going to become a chemist?” You laughed. “Yeah, right. Do you know anything about it?”

“I know a lot, actually,” he said defensively. “I’ll make good money. I’ll send you some.”

“I don’t need your money.”

“You need my weed.”

“Weed makes you enough.”

“Sure,” he sighed. You walked in silence for a little while before he said, “You could come with me.”

“This again?” You pinched the bridge of your nose. “I told you that I can’t leave my family.”

“I know, but we could come back to get them.”

“You’re delusional, Hendery.”

“Am I?”

“Yes! Nobody has ever talked about leaving before. Nobody has ever mentioned other places because they don’t exist. Maybe you’re doing too many drugs. It’s ruining your brain.”

“We could start a new life,” he tried again. “We could start over.”

“Again, Hendery, we can’t. There is no starting over. This is our deal in life and we have to live with it.”

“You said yourself that you want to get out,” he pointed out.

“Yes, but I know it’s not possible.”

“But it is,” Hendery said exasperatedly. “You have to trust me on this one. I know things that you don’t.”

You stopped and turned to face him, crossing your arms. “Like what?”

“I can’t say right now,” he said, “but trust me. There are other cities just like this one. Maybe even better.”

“You’re lying.”

“When have I ever lied to you?”

You bit your lip. He had a point. He had never lied to you, never misled you. You sighed. “Never.”

“Exactly. I love you too much to lie to you.”

You paused. Love? Hendery loved you? You shook your head. This was all bullshit, love included.

“You love me?” you asked incredulously.

“Yes,” he said. “I do.”

“Love as in love love? Like you want to kiss me kind of love?”

“Yes.”

You shoved him. “And you’re telling me this now? Right when you’re leaving?”

“I’m telling you because I want you to come with me!”

“To go with you to your fantasy land? That’s bullshit!” You didn’t care how loud your voice was. He was making no sense, and if his declaration of love was true, then you were mad that he had kept it from you for this long.

“I want to start a life with you! We can do that if you come with me,” he pleaded.

“I can’t listen to this anymore. You’re breaking my heart.”

“Why?”

“Because you can’t accept the truth.” You wiped away the tear that trailed down your cheek. “I’m going home.”

“Let me walk you.”

“No.” You shook your head. “If you follow me, I will burn you. Just… stay away.” You turned on your heel, but paused when you heard him call after you.

“I’ll take your family with us! I’ll come back for them. Believe me, Y/N, we can leave.”

You didn’t move, didn’t turn around. Part of you wanted to keep walking, to pretend like he never said anything, to pretend that he would still be here. But the other part, the part that longed for him, wanted to believe him, even if deep down you knew his words held no truth. You turned around. “When do you leave?”

“Next week,” he said. “I’ll give you that time to decide.” You nodded, biting the inside of your cheek. “Please choose me,” he added softly.

“I’ll let you know. But I can’t make a choice right now.”

His eyes lit up with a new hope. “So you might come with me?”

“I might,” you confirmed. “But don’t get your hopes up.”

He nodded a little too eagerly. “Okay.”

“I’m going home now,” you said. “Don’t follow me.” You knew that he would anyway, and that thought brought you comfort. Hendery would never leave you, or at least you hoped. But this… this idea that he could leave to become a chemist of all things. He would kill himself trying to get over the wall. You shook your head. He had to be smarter than that. But what if he wasn’t? You didn’t want to think about it, so you turned around and made the walk home.

In the end, you didn’t say no to Hendery’s offer. When you had told him two days before he was meant to leave, he kissed and hugged you like you were the most precious thing to walk the planet. It made your heart throb at the inevitable fact that this “new life” would be short-lived.

That night, you kissed Eunbin and Aunt Joohyun on the cheek, making sure not to stir them. Eunbin only turned on her side, and you wondered if she noticed the cold spot where your body had once been. You had tucked the blankets under her so she wouldn’t freeze, but you knew that when she woke, she would sense your absence right away.

You decided not to leave a note. It would only worry them further, and they would probably figure that you were murdered some time when you were walking to and from work. It wasn’t uncommon for girls to go missing at the hands of crazy men and thieves. Hell, it almost happened to you. So, you’d let them believe that.

You took your parka and shoes, leaving behind anything that would seem suspicious if it weren’t in its usual place. Your lighter was tucked safely in your pant pocket, and you wrapped your fingers around it to ease your nerves. It only helped slightly.

Hendery was waiting at the spot the two of you used to meet at when you snuck out to train. He was also dressed in a parka with a simple sweatshirt underneath. His hair was ruffled as if he had no time to brush it after he got out of bed, and there were dark bags under his eyes.

“Are you ready?” he asked when you approached.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Let’s go.” He offered you his hand and you took it, reveling in his soft touch just in case it was the last time you would ever feel it.

The two of you walked most of the way in silence. At every sound, the two of you hid in the nearest alleyway. “It’s better to be safe than sorry,” Hendery had told you even though you were sure there was no one there.

“It’s not too late to go back,” you said when you were about to reach the main city. Hendery had said that you had to go past the main city, and through the right city thats residents were a little better off than you. “We can still go home.”

He shook his head. “It was too late the moment we left your apartment building.”

You didn’t like the sound of that. “Are you trying to bind me to you or something?”

His signature grin spread over his face and he nudged you with his shoulder. “And what if I am?”

“Then I’ll happily be your prisoner.”

His face fell. “Don’t say that,” he said. “Don’t you ever say that.”

“Okay,” you said, but there was an uneasy feeling brewing in your stomach at his words.

When you reached the main city, Hendery pulled you closer to him. “Keep your head down and don’t make eye contact with anyone,” he told you. “There are people who might want to hurt us.”

“Why?”

“They want this job,” he said.

“You’re scaring me.”

“I’m sorry. Don’t worry, okay? I’ll protect you.”

You rolled your shoulders. “I’m starting to regret that I agreed,” you muttered under your breath. If Hendery heard you, he didn’t say anything.

There were many people walking the streets, probably going to nightclubs or pleasure houses or going to hang out with their friends. You couldn’t help but think that this could’ve been the life you lived if you went to college, lived in a dorm, and made friends. But the opportunity for that was long gone. Now, you were on the road to disappointment.

You reached into your pocket, wrapping your fingers around the safety contained in your broken lighter. You ran your fingers along the wheel, pressed the button, did it again. Slowly, your nerves began to ebb, but you knew they would return once you reached the wall.

The main city seemed to stretch on, and you realized that you had underestimated its size. The lights shone brightly, but not as bright as they used to when they stole the little power the left city had. They were still beautiful, though, and your family still had lights at night.

“What are you thinking about?” Hendery asked after a while.

“Nothing,” you said. “Everything.”

“How can you think of nothing and everything at once?”

“You just can.”

The two of you reached the end of the main city, and you looked over your shoulder. It was ethereal with its skyscrapers and blue lights and cars and citizens. Your old little neighborhood was nothing compared to it, but what if Hendery was right? What if the two of you could make a new life elsewhere? Somewhere… better?

“Remember what I said,” he reminded you and pulled up his hood.

You reached to pull yours up, too, but he stopped you. The hood dropped back onto your shoulders.

Hendery led you through the right city as if he’d been there before, but he probably had: he had clients everywhere.

The streetlights were much brighter than the ones back home. There was a sense of peace here, and you wondered if any of the residents had to worry about being abducted on their walks back from work, or if their lights might go out, or if their family might freeze to death. You knew that this place wasn’t financially better than the main city or worse than the left city on the other side of it, but smack dab in the middle.

“I’m going to need you to listen to me,” Hendery said when the two of you were in the middle of the right city—or what you assumed was the middle of it. “You’re going to have to keep a lookout for me, okay?”

“A lookout?” You bit the inside of your cheek. “Why?”

“I’ll tell you later,” he promised. “Just tell me if you see anyone, okay? And tell me quick so we can hide.”

“Why do we need to hide?” What had he dragged you into?

“I promise I’ll tell you everything when we’re gone.” He pulled you into a hug and kissed your forehead. “Come on.”

Your walk turned into a jog, then into a run, and you could make out the wall in the dark. It was a tall thing that stretched up, up, up. How the hell were you to get past it?

“Okay,” he said, slightly panting. “Turn around and watch for me.” He scanned the area before reaching into his parka and producing a red card with a silver V on it.

“Hendery,” you said slowly, “what is that?”

He only smiled. “The key out of here. Now, turn around.”

You did as he said, glancing back to see what he was doing. He traced his fingers along the wall until one of the bricks slid back the tiniest bit. Then, he placed the card in the dent, the silver V shining brightly in the night like a tiny beacon made just for the two of you.

You were not ready for the blinding light that took hold of the street seconds later.

Hendery grabbed your hand, and you were pulled inside before you could scream. There was a boom, and you closed your eyes tight. Was this heaven? Had you been shot? You didn’t feel any blood or pain anywhere, but you heard that it usually doesn’t start until the adrenaline wears off.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Slowly, you opened your eyes, blinking once, twice. In front of you was a wall similar to the one you had been in front of seconds before. The only difference was that this one was completely shut, as if a passageway hadn’t just been there. You turned around. In front of you was a silver door, and there were racks lining the walls full of parkas, shoes, backpacks, and… bags of weed?

“Where are we?”

“Base,” he said. “Come on.”

He grabbed your hand once again and held the same card to a scanner. It blinked green and the door slid open. The two of you ran through.

Hendery’s “base” was a labyrinth of long, white hallways. Everytime you came to the end of a hall, he would stop and cautiously peek around the corner. Then, the two of you would run again.

You were too tired and out of breath to demand answers, but you trusted Hendery enough to let him blindly guide you through what looked to be the hallways of heaven. Your legs were beginning to grow tired, but he didn’t seem to have any plans to stop anytime soon, so you sucked it up and followed.

He stopped at another corner and stuck his head into the hall, swiveling it back and forth. Then, he took off to the right. You were halfway down the hallway when a door swung open and two familiar faces walked into the hallway. They froze when they saw you.

“Kunhang!” exclaimed the man you remembered to be Yuta. “What are you doing back?” He turned to face you and slowly asked, “And why is she with you?”

Hendery pulled you behind him, but it was too late for you to be shielded from Yuta and Sicheng’s view. “Uhm…” He smiled sheepishly at them, and they stared at him, waiting for an explanation. “I… was bringing her in.” His smile changed to a victorious smirk.

“Bringing me in?” You tested the words on your tongue, your mind running a thousand miles a minute. He had lied to you. You let go of his hands. “You’re turning me in,” you said, taking a step back. “You… You…” The words died on the tip of your tongue, and you couldn’t hold back the tears that welled in your eyes.

Hendery turned around and shrugged. “Sorry,” he said, but you could tell he didn’t mean it. He looked almost proud. “Welcome to your new home, Subject 4.”

You took another step back, and another, then you turned on your heel and ran. You didn’t remember which way he brought you, and all the hallways were the same: white, white, white. There was no difference, and you were sure you were running in circles, but you couldn’t stop now.

Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.

You turned another corner. Still white. Another corner. Just as pristine as the last. Where were you? You didn’t know. The one thing you did know, however, was that you wanted to go home, to Eunbin, to Aunt Joohyun, to your shitty apartment and the cold.

Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.

There, just ahead, was the silver door. You had made it! You pushed yourself to run even though your legs were screaming for a break, no matter how short, but you couldn’t afford it. If you stopped, God knows what would happen.

Keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.

Your fingers just brushed the door knob when you felt the needle shoot into your back, spreading throughout your torso like a poison. You fell, but couldn’t move your hands to break your fall. It felt like your head split, your breaths were ragged and you could hear them in your ears. You tried to wiggle your fingers, to crawl, but it was no use. You were paralyzed.

“She’s a fast runner, Kunhang,” said a man’s voice that you didn’t recognize.

“I know, Johnny,” Hendery replied in a bored tone.

Johnny picked you up and heaved you over his shoulder. He didn’t bother to remove the needle he shot into your back, only pocketed the gun in his belt after you were secure on his shoulder.

“She’s the pyrokinetic?”

“Yeah. A powerful one, too.”

Johnny laughed, and it reverberated through his body. “Nice catch, man. Maybe you should catch the telekinetic next. Heard he’s a tough one. Moves stuff with his mind, you know?”

“Yeah.” Hendery shrugged. “Maybe.”

You couldn’t see where Johnny was taking you, but by the amount of turns he was making, you assumed that he was headed towards the same place Hendery had tried to take you. He walked behind Johnny, not meeting your eyes. Was it possible that he felt ashamed? No. No, it wasn’t. If he felt ashamed, he wouldn’t have planned to turn you in. What a new life he had promised. You closed your eyes. He didn’t deserve to be looked at.

Johnny’s arm shifted and his shoulder dipped. You heard the jingle of keys and you opened your eyes. Cells lined the walls, and inside them were people who mirrored what you felt: miserable and scared. They were stripped down to their undergarments and were chained to cages that seemed to be accommodated to their powers. You saw the girl that the group was talking about in the Pinks’ Diner. She was chained to the wall, hands resting uselessly by her feet, surrounded by sand. You recalled her name to be Kim Yerim. The botakinetic. What a shame, you thought. She was a pretty girl worn down by the tortures that came with being these sickos’ subject.

You were heaved off of Johnny’s shoulder, and he and Hendery removed the needle and stripped you out of your clothes. You couldn’t even find it in you to try and yell at them, to feel disgusted, to feel hatred. All you felt was numb. 

They lowered you into a large, pentagon-shaped tub. The water was cold against your skin, but you had grown used to its bite from your many nights freezing your ass off under the thin blankets your family owned.

They lifted your arms and shackled your wrists to the chains that rested under the water. You glanced down at them. You felt nothing. They were just there—a measure to keep you from escaping.

“What’s her information?” you heard Johnny ask, but his voice was distant, as if he were a thousand miles away.

“Name is Bae Y/N,” Hendery replied, voice equally as faint. “Twenty. Pyrokinetic.” From the corner of your eye, you saw him lead Johnny out of the cell. “I’ll tell you the rest when we log her in. From now on, she’s Subject 4.”

It was too bright, and you were beginning to get a headache. The chains around your wrists and the cold water that rested under your breasts were no help. You had never felt as helpless as you did now.

You did your best to turn on your side. The bars of your cell kept you from seeing a good part of the hallway, but you could clearly see the botakinetic across from you. She hadn’t seemed to move an inch from the night before when she had returned from her experiments, and she still sat in a corner of her cell, hands by her feet, eyes locked on some drawing she made in the sand. You were too far away to see what it was.

You pushed yourself up and mimicked her position. The lip of the tub dug into your back, but it was considerably more comfortable than laying against the cool floor with your head just resting atop the surface.

From down the hall, you heard footsteps. The guards were making their rounds, although you thought the precaution was silly. Everyone was locked up in a cell that ensured their powerlessness. It felt more like a taunt than anything.

Two men stopped at your cell. You recognized one to be Johnny, the man who had shot you with a tranquilizer and locked you up in here—with the help of Hendery, of course. Or maybe his name was truly Kunhang, like what Sicheng, Yuta, and Johnny had called him. Whatever it was, you didn’t care. You didn’t even want to think about the amount of foolish trust you put in him.

“This is the new one,” Johnny said to his companion, a man you didn’t recognize.

“She’s pretty,” the other commented. “Kunhang brought her in?”

“Yeah.” Johnny chuckled. “Put up a good chase, that one.”

You got a good look at the other man now. He was shorter than Johnny by a good few inches, and looked a few years younger, too. He had dark brown hair that framed his forehead, and round eyes that seemed to hold a curious sparkle to them.

“Don’t you think she looks miserable, Johnny?”

Johnny shrugged. “Once we find out what we need to know, she’ll be back home.” He turned to walk away. “Let’s go, Mark. There are other ones you need to see.”

The two men disappeared down the hall, but you could still hear their voices as clear as day. You wished you could say that you felt embarrassed that two men you didn’t know stared at your nearly naked body like you were nothing but an object. But you were far past caring about that now. You brought your knees up to your chest and wrapped your arms around them.

Mark and Johnny made their way back around, stopping at Yerim’s cell.

“I don’t like how sad they look,” Mark said.

“Don’t be soft, Mark,” chided Johnny. “You signed up for this job.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t know that the SCIs treated them so inhumanly.”

SCI. What an odd word. You continued to stare at the tiles at the bottom of the tub.

“Keep talking like that and you’ll get fired, kid,” said Johnny. “You have training now. I’ll walk you.”

You didn’t look up until they were gone. Your eyes returned to the botakinetic. You wished you could call to her, to talk to her, to apologize for not finding her and warning her sooner. Would she hate you if she knew that you were in the diner at the exact same time that the group of SCIs planned her abduction? You didn’t know. You wished she would. You deserved it.

Your chains rattled against the sides of the tub as you tried to reposition yourself once again. No matter which way you sat in this godforsaken thing, it was never comfortable. The lip always dug into your skin, leaving a red mark, and your legs felt as if they would break off at any applied pressure. This was torture enough let alone the hell that came when you were carried out of your cell by Johnny and some other asshole to a silver room with no windows and only one way in or out. You shuddered, and this time, it wasn’t from the cold.

Gingerly, you pushed yourself to stand, hands braced against the lip of the tub. Your feet slipped out from under you, and you screamed when your head hit the lip. Your vision blurred and your breath was loud in your ears. You could feel the beat of your heart reverberate through your body like a slow, consistent thump.

Slowly, you sank deeper into the tub. Was that blood in the water? You closed your eyes and dove deeper into the cold. It was a comfort—not in the way that you felt when wrapped in a blanket in front of a fire with your mother, but the kind that came with the promise of numbing the pain. You didn’t want to resurface.

As you were making peace with the end, something grabbed you and pulled you up, and your lungs filled themselves with air. The chains fell from your hands and clinked against the floor as you were dragged onto the white tiles. You turned on your side and coughed up the water you had inhaled, and when every drop was out of your mouth, you fell onto your back.

“Are you trying to kill yourself?” a familiar voice demanded, but you couldn’t tell who was speaking. Your vision was still distorted, and now, your ears were buzzing to the point where you could barely hear at all.

The person dropped down to their knees and rested their hands on your shoulders. His face came into view, and you wished you were still in that tub, drowning in that promise of release.

“Shit.” Hendery ran a hand over his panic-stricken face before returning his eyes to you. “Y/N, talk to me.” You didn’t answer. The edges of his figure were beginning to blur. “Talk to me, god damnit!”

You stared straight ahead. Were the ceiling tiles beginning to swirl? And was the light getting brighter?

“Hold on. Stay right here. I’ll be right back.” His voice was so distant you could barely hear him, but from the tiny space he held in your peripheral, you watched him get up and run.

It took all the energy you had to turn your head just the slightest bit, and your cheek landed in a pool of warmth. Black dots spotted your vision, and the light was slowly creeping up on you, getting faster and faster. What a lame way to die, locked up in a cell as a test subject. What about your family? Would they ever get the news? Would the SCIs search for another like you? Someone who could make flames dance at their command?

Hendery burst into your cell, dragging a scared-looking young man—who looked more like a boy—with him. “Heal her,” he ordered. The boy hesitated, eyes flitting from you to Hendery with a confused look. “Heal her!” Hendery yelled, and the boy quickly turned around.

He raised his hands, and there was a new type of warmth, one that felt like the hug of a mother welcoming you home, like the kiss of a lover after a long day, like the laughs you shared with a friend over a drink. It spread through your body, and you swore you were glowing yellow.

Slowly, the light began to retreat and the black dots disappeared. You blinked, and you could clearly see the grey of the cell bars, the bottom of Hendery’s white lab coat, the man in front of you dressed only in his underwear.

The buzzing in your ears faded. The pounding in your head subsided. You felt alive again. You screamed.

Your savior crawled backwards when you shot up, tears streaming down your eyes as you stared at the halo of blood that had surrounded your head, the spots of red in the bathtub, the man you wanted to kill, and the innocent one who was just trying to help. You would spare him, but Hendery you would not.

Hendery had the audacity to look relieved. “Thank you,” he said softly, placing a hand on the nearly naked boy’s shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Can I go home now?” the boy asked shakily, looking up at Hendery with sparkles of hope in his eyes.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Hendery promised, “but I can’t guarantee anything. I can promise that you’ll be rewarded, though.”

The boy nodded and turned back to you. His eyes shone with fear. “Don’t overexert yourself,” he warned. “You’re not fully healed yet. Give it a few days.”

You didn’t speak. Hendery cautiously approached you, and when you didn’t turn him into a pile of ash, he chained your wrists. Then, he helped the boy to his feet and escorted him back to his cell, not forgetting to lock you in once again. When he returned, you could clearly see the lines of worry etched on his forehead.

“I know you hate me,” he said from where he stood outside of the cell. “I know you want to kill me.” He paused, waiting for you to confirm his statements, to speak, but you kept your lips sealed. “But I really did not mean for you to be locked up here. I can promise you that.”

“I don’t believe you.” Your voice was hoarse from a week of silence.

“I know. And I know you won’t ever trust me again, but believe me on this one, Y/N.” He grabbed the cell bar, but didn’t dare to take a step inside. He knew you would kill him. “I’ll tell you everything, just tell me where to start.”

You eased yourself back into the tub. “The beginning.”

“Right.” He chuckled softly, and you wanted to cry at the glimpse of the Hendery you knew. “I should’ve thought of that.” He sat down and crossed his legs, then he took a deep breath. “I’m not a drug deale—”

“I know.”

“Right.” He scratched the back of his neck. “I work as a SCI. It stands for Simulation Control Investiga—”

“Simulation?”

“You lived in a simulation, Y/N. Simulation V.”

You bit the inside of your cheek. Was that what the odd group was talking about in the diner when they mentioned something about a ‘60s documentary being leaked? Was it originally not from your world, but from the world that supposedly had the strings to yours? Or what about the moon and dropping temperatures? Was that something controlled by Hendery’s friends, too?

“For twenty years, simulation subjects have started to display powers since birth,” he continued. “We don’t know what or how or why, so we were sent in to investigate. None of this…” He gestured to the other cells. “... was ever supposed to happen.”

“But it did.”

“It did.”

“Everything I’ve ever known about you is fake.”

He sighed and dropped his head. “Yes.”

“And everything you know about me is real.”

“Yes.”

You spat, and the spray of saliva landed just in front of the cell bars. “You asshole.”

He didn’t say anything, didn’t even look up.

“Keep talking,” you said.

“A group of SCIs was sent into every simulation. There are twenty-three of them in total. And Sicheng, Yuta, and I were some of the SCIs who got sent into yours.”

Everything was starting to click now. “That’s how you got the parkas.”

“Yes.”

“And that was why you asked them if they heard anything new.”

“Yes.”

“Your drug deals were how you traded information.”

He looked ashamed. “Yes.” He ran a hand through his hair and met your eyes. “I never used you for information. I hung around because I wanted to. I stayed because I—”

“Don’t. Don’t say it.”

“Okay.” He sighed. “We were only supposed to go in and out. No one was ever supposed to be taken. It wasn’t even in the original plan. But then, we got new orders… and we started taking people. Believe me, I tried to protest! I was just never listened to.”

“I saw a woman in a yellow dress at the Pinks’ Diner,” you said. “She pulled out a file full of people and read their information off to her coworkers. That’s how they got her.” You pointed your chin at Yerim, and Hendery turned to look at her soulless body.

“They took her in broad daylight?” he asked when he turned around.

“I think, or they planned to anyway.”

“Shit.” He laughed, but it was one of disbelief. “They were only supposed to be taken…” He sucked in a deep breath. “... during the black outs.”

Your face fell. “You said those were the generators.” Damn you and your trust in him.

“I lied.”

“No shit.”

“We only did one black out for your simulation,” he said. “And I think ten were taken. I wasn’t part of it. I was with you.” He picked at the hem of his coat. “When we saw the utter confusion and outrage from those in the cities, we promised to not do a black out again. We didn’t want to attract attention to anything.”

“What about the moon?” you asked. “Or the cold?”

“We didn’t think anyone would pay attention to the moon,” he explained. “I think you were the only one. And as for the cold, I don’t know. The group running your simulation might have got lazy or something. Or maybe they were testing for something new. Maybe to see if there was a factor of weather that impacted your powers. That’s how they found you.”

“What?”

“At night when you would sneak out. There are cameras everywhere. We see everything. And you gave yourself up.”

“You promised you would keep my secret! You promised me!” You tried to lunge at him, but the chains held you back, and the tub was large enough that you fell into the water without hitting your head for the second time.

“I know,” he said. “And I did my best.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s why I tried to get you out.”

You froze. “You actually tried to help me?”

“Yes.”

“So why did you tell them that you were bringing me in?”

“To save both of us.”

“This is saving to you? Look at me, Hendery! I’m shackled to a pool of freezing water in a goddamn cell, and you want to say that this is saving me?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Because it is easier to get you out.”

You returned to where you were originally sitting and pulled your knees up. “I don’t understand.”

“It’d be easy to say that I’m taking you to testing, but actually be sneaking you out instead.”

“Aren’t there cameras in here?”

Hendery smiled, and you knew him well enough to know that it meant he was up to no good.

“You turned them off,” you said quietly.

“I did.”

You laughed, and to your surprise, it wasn’t forced. For just a second, you were just a poor girl on the roof of her apartment building with her best friend. “You little shit.”

“I’m going to get you out,” he promised. “And I mean it this time. When I get you out, I’ll get your family out, even if it means I get fired or die trying.”

“That’s a little extreme.”

He winked. “I am extreme.”

“How do I know you’re not going to break my trust again?”

“If I do, you can burn me.”

“I’d do that already.”

“I know, but I am begging you to burn me if I break your trust.”

“Okay.”

“Do you trust me?”

“No.”

“Will you give me this last chance?”

You bit the inside of your lip, then met his eyes. “Yes.”

Hendery sighed. “Okay.”

“I have one condition.”

“What is it?”

“What’s your name? Your real one.”

“Kunhang. But you can call me Hendery.”

The lights dimmed. Night must’ve fallen, and now, you had to wait.

Hendery had said that he would come to the cells three hours after lights out with a bag full of your belongings and some supplies for the journey. It was clear that he couldn’t just sneak you out to the real city that was outside of the laboratory: you would be too easy to find. No, he had to get you somewhere else, somewhere far, far away.

You had asked him how he would get Eunbin and Aunt Joohyun out, and to that, he didn’t have any answer yet. But he promised you he would, and although your trust in him was not fully restored, you knew that he feared for his life, which was currently in your hands.

You wiggled your wrists, and the chains opened up and silently sank to the bottom of the tub. Hendery had loosened the cuffs the last time he visited so it would be easier for the two of you to slip out without raising too much suspicion. He was also able to disconnect the camera that used to have its sight on your cell, and now, the footage was on another empty cell down the hall. How the people working in surveillance didn’t notice the switch was beyond you.

You crawled out of the water, and the drops slid off your skin, eager to be reunited with its body. You sat just behind the bars of your cell. Across from you was Yerim. She was still wide awake and her body was shivering from the cold. They didn’t bother to manage the temperature in this hallway.

“Psst,” you whispered, trying to get her attention. She didn’t budge. “Hey.” Nothing. “Yerim.”

Her head snapped up, but she didn’t speak. You could barely make out the silver trail that slid down her cheek. How long had it been since she last heard her name?

“How long have you been here?” You did your best to keep your voice as quiet as possible, but you needed her to hear you.

She scooted an inch closer to the cell bars, but it was as far as her chains allowed her to go. She drew a big “I don’t know” in the sand.

“Can you talk?”

She froze for a second, as if she were contemplating something, then she opened her mouth. You had to clasp your hand over your mouth to keep yourself from screaming. Her tongue was gone.

“They cut it out,” you said slowly. She nodded. “Why?”

She wiped her hand across the sand and wrote “Threatened to tell”.

“Yerim.” A tear rolled down your cheek. “I’m so sorry.” You didn’t know what else to say or how to comfort her. This was all your fault. If only you had warned her.

She shook her head and wrote “Don’t cry”.

You took a deep breath and did as she said. Your tears probably did not help how she felt.

“You have a sister, right?” you asked when you got yourself under control.

She nodded.

“She’s younger.”

Another nod.

“Is she like us?”

Yerim shook her head.

“Okay.” You didn’t know what else to say. What else was there to say? She couldn’t even speak, could only communicate through the sand at her feet. She was more miserable than the rest of you locked in here. They could talk, they could scream. You heard them. But you never heard her. She would never be heard again.

You sat there, and even though you were separated by two cell bars and a hallway, you had never felt closer. Her eyes met yours and she smiled. It was a sad one that complimented the wet shine in her brown eyes. You wondered if she thought she would die soon, if she would finally find peace outside of this hell. For her sake, you wished she would pass before the morning. She deserved it, no matter how grim that fate seemed. She was too good to live like this.

Had her life in Simulation V been a good one? Was she able to find happiness in the left city with her sister and friends despite the shitty life she was born into? Did she have a lover? Did she have plans or wants to start a family? Did she want to grow old huddling under a blanket with a cup of coffee that would cost half of her rent and a young child next to her? Thinking about it made you want to cry.

Thankfully, you were not alone with her much longer.

Hendery’s footsteps were quiet, subtle, and he stopped in front of your cell, a black duffle bag in his hand. Yerim dropped her head at the sight of him, even though he was not dressed in his usual white lab coat. Instead, he was dressed in civilian’s clothes—a red sweater, blue jeans, and a pair of black sneakers. He unlocked the cell door and stepped inside. He silently motioned for you to go to one of the back corners on the further side of the bars.

“Change,” he whispered. “Quickly. The guards should make their rounds in about an hour.”

You placed the duffle on the floor and rummaged through it. You found a pair of sweatpants, a camisole, and a blue sweatshirt and put it on. Then, you zipped up the bag and slung the strap over your shoulder. “Ready,” you said.

He nodded his head towards Yerim. “Will she tell?”

You shook your head and pointed to your tongue. He sighed and nodded. He held out his hand. “Follow me.”

For a second, you hesitated. The last time you placed your hand in his, it led you straight to this cell, but now, there were the tiny building blocks of trust that he was starting to build again. He made sure your chains came off easily when your hands wiggled, had warmed the temperature of your bath, and even delivered you your meals himself. And despite what happened weeks before, you cautiously took his hand.

You followed him out of your cell, standing awkwardly in the hall as he locked the bars shut and led you down the hall. Like the first time the two of you had made your way around the laboratory labyrinth, Hendery was in front, cautiously peeking around corners before making a decision whether it would be best to go left, right, or straight.

“I need you to promise me something,” he said, turning to face you. He clasped both of your hands in his, and you could see the uncertainty in his eyes that either of you would make it out alive. His life was not only in your hands, but at the hands of risk, too. “If there comes a time where you have to go on without me, I want you to run without looking back. Can you do that?”

You sucked in a shaky breath. “N—”

“The answer is yes,” he said sternly. “Say yes.”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He removed one of his hands from where they rested atop yours and placed it at the back of your head. You stiffened, but relaxed into his touch, and his lips met your forehead. “You’re going to live,” he whispered against your skin. “I’ll make sure of it.”

He separated himself from you and dropped his hand back to his side. He squeezed your fingers before continuing to lead you down the hall.

You looked over your shoulder at every turn. There was no way you were risking another run-in with Sicheng, Yuta, or anyone again. 

Hendery stopped, looked both ways, and the two of you continued walking.

At the sight of a big silver door, your jaw dropped. You were actually going to make it. Hendery glanced over his shoulder and met your eyes. His lips quirked into a smile before he turned around and reached into his pocket.

The hallway went red. A siren blared. You were caught.

Slowly, you turned around. A group of five men had crowded the entrance to the hallway, preventing any possibility of escape, and behind you, a too-familiar metal bar dropped down in front of the doors. The group had guns in their hands, poised and ready to shoot, and were dressed in bullet vests and black hazmat suits. Hendery cursed under his breath, and you slowly raised your hands.

“Put your hands down!” ordered the scientist in the front. “Put them down on the count of three or I’ll shoot.”

“Do what they say,” Hendery told you under his breath. His voice was defeated. There was no escaping this.

“One,” the scientist said. 

You moved your hands down an inch.

“Two.”

Another inch.

“Three.”

Your fingers curled, and the tiny spark you had lit on one of the scientist’s hazmat suits burst into a full-fledged flame. They screamed, desperately trying to stomp it out, and two others flocked to help them. You pushed your fingers upwards. The flames caught.

“What are you doing?” Hendery hissed, taking a step closer to you as the two other scientists turned to watch their friends go up in flames.

“Buying us time,” you said. “Find a way to lift the bars.”

“Put it out.”

“No. We can run for it.” You dropped your hands and touched his arm. “Come on.”

“No.” He didn’t budge.

The smoke had reached you now, and it was only a matter of time before the fire alarm went off. You were losing time. 

“Put it out,” he repeated.

“Hendery.”

“Now.”

You bit your lip and faced them again, but not before hearing something akin to a herd of elephants coming down the hallway, and what looked to be an army of scientists in yellow hazmat suits crowded into the space behind the five in black.

“Now, Y/N,” Hendery ordered.

You shakily raised your hands, turning your palms face down. You began to curl your fingers, and the flames slowly began to recede down the legs of the scientists. But then, you heard the warning shot.

“No!” Hendery yelled.

You turned your hands palm up, curled your fingers, and shot them up. Now, the flames spread along the scientists until they were a mass of burning suits. The smell of rubber filled your nose, and you curled your fingers again.

“Y/N!” Hendery gripped your shoulders and turned you to face him. There were tears in his eyes, voice cracking as he pleaded, “Stop.”

“I’m saving us, Dery,” you said softly, bringing your hand up to cup his cheek. He flinched away.

“You’re killing them.”

You ignored him, whirling towards the burning mob when a bullet scraped your arm, just barely missing its mark. There, in the far right corner was a scared boy in a matching yellow hazmat suit holding a gun in his shaking hands. His round eyes were shining with fear. Mark, you recalled him to be. He was new. You would’ve spared him, but then he went and tried to shoot you.

“He’s new,” Hendery said, still pleading. “Spare him, please. Don’t do this.”

His voice was just another thing shoved into the back of your mind as you turned to face Mark directly. Once again, you curled your fingers, starting the fire from his feet up, and it didn’t take long for his hazmat suit to burn, too. His cries joined those of the others.

Hendery grabbed you by the shoulders once again. “Put your hands down,” he commanded sternly, like a general to a soldier.

“Don’t betray me, Hendery,” you warned.

“I’m saving you.”

“Get away from me!” You pushed your hands out, only realizing what you’d done when his shirt caught, and his wide eyes met yours. “No, no, no!” You shoved your hands out again, but you had lost control of your flames, and in your haste to put it out, you made it worse.

Hendery’s skin began to blacken and he cried. Tears streamed down your face as you desperately tried to extinguish the flames, but your emotions took hold and the wildfire started, coursing through your veins until they burst out of your hands.

The light bulbs above your shattered, landing on the ground and flying across the floor from the impact. The ceiling caught fire and the alarms finally went off, spraying water in vain as they tried to douse your inferno.

Hendery crumpled to the ground in front of you, burnt to a crisp. His skin was charred and his clothes were nothing but ash sprinkled over his body. You fell to your knees, not bothering to suppress the sobs that ripped themselves out of your chest. You could barely see through your tears, and even though you knew nothing could save him, you violently shook his body, praying that his eyes would fly open and oxygen would return to his lungs. Of course, it was no use.

More screams could be heard from the cells and wherever else the staff were. The fire had spread and the walls were beginning to catch and the ceiling creaked, warning you that it would bury you alive if you didn’t get out. You forced yourself to leave Hendery, burned the lock on the bars, and placed your burning hand on the scanner. It exploded under your touch, and you pushed through with your shoulder before running out the door that would’ve been the only thing standing between you and your new life with Hendery.

Once you were a good enough distance away, you turned around to watch the destruction you had caused. I’m a monster. The thought was the only thing in your brain.

Monster. Monster. Monster.

From somewhere behind you, you could hear sirens. You wiped away your tears, took three deep breaths, then held out your hands. You focused on finding the fire, which was easy considering the fact that it was burning right in front of your face, and turned your palms downward. Slowly, the flames began to shrink, and when you curled your fingers, they died down completely, leaving nothing but ash and the framework of what used to be the lab.

Burnt bodies were scattered across the layout, starting at the entrance, to the cells, to the staff quarters, and randomly around the halls. The land was barren, empty, and from where you stood, you could see the entrances to the twenty-three simulations miles away. Through your tears, you noticed tiny people flooding to peer through the large hole in the walls, staring out at the true night sky, screams erupting from their throats at the sight of not only freedom, but death. They screamed at the sight of you.

“Y/N!” cried Aunt Joohyun as she ran towards you, Eunbin standing behind her, hugging herself tight as tears streamed down her face. “Oh, thank god you’re alright.” Aunt Joohyun picked you up, and your teddy bear fell to the ashy ground.

She bent down and picked it up. “You never let this go, okay?” She handed you the bear and you cradled it tight. You tried to look behind you, to the burning house and your parents who laid lifelessly in the family room. “No, sweetie,” Aunt Joohyun said softly, cupping your cheek to bring your eyes to meet yours. “You never look there again, do you understand?”

“Yes, Auntie,” you sniffled, and she wiped away the tears under your eyes.

“Let’s go home, okay? If the police ask you what happened, you tell them that you don’t know. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Auntie,” you repeated.

Aunt Joohyun carried you back to where she had told Eunbin to wait. She extended her hand to the little girl, and Eunbin took it. Then, Aunt Joohyun led you both back home, and despite you telling yourself not to, you cried more.

“It’s alright,” Aunt Joohyun said. “You just keep moving, okay? If you keep moving, you’ll forget all about it.”

And forgot about it, you did. You never looked back, never thought about the reason your house caught fire, never cared to visit the area it had once stood on… until now. And you burned it all again.

[4dtk]

@miyoung07: “Hello, how is everything? I saw that your orders are open and I think your writing is so cute, could I order one? Could you be a picture of Na Jaemin ( NCT Dream ) please? With drabble hand in hand: 1 and 39 / Hug: 8,17 and 24 / Kisses: 19 and 44 and lastly Moving: 22, 25 and 26. They will for an art exhibition, and then return by car at night (They had time together after a long time). I'm sorry if it sounds too much if I can't do it right! If you have any questions you can ask me, and if you want to reduce something you can also do it any way you want! Thank you, take care!!!!! :) 💖( sorry if my english is not good )” your english is perfect fine, honey! thank you for the request, hope you enjoy :)

ps, no specific art museum i’m focusing on, but the piece that i’m mainly talking about is called can’t help myself by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu! i’ve seen this all over tiktok (and maybe some of you have too!!) and while i may not relate that much to what people’s interpretation of it are, it’s a beautiful piece nevertheless

hand-holding, 1 & 39: tiny hands in big hands, holding hands in a museum to pull them to the next exhibition

hugs, 8: hugging while walking

kisses, 19: forehead kisses

touching, 22, 25 & 26: falling asleep on the other’s shoulder, stroking the other’s arm soothingly, kissing the top of their head

i removed a few numbers, hope that's okay with you hun <3 under a cut bc this intro is a little long! take care too ❤️

“do you think that’s an ass or a face?” jaemin asks intuitively, looking at the complicated painting before him. you couldn’t blame him, per say, seeing how the artist fused his colours together to the point where you couldn’t tell whether you were staring at a butt or the curvature of a face.

“ohhh… it says here that it’s intentional~!”

you suppress a laugh, “no way, really?” you lean into the artist’s information beside the painting, scanning the lines for any mention of it that you don’t realise jaemin’s walked away from you already. he has hands stuck in his pocket, looking like a lost kid while he walks around nonchalantly.

“h- hey!” you call out to him as you leave the other painting. jaemin laughs once he’s found out, cooing like he would to a kid as he makes fun of your gullibility.

“baby, you really gotta stop believing everything i sa- ack! ow!” his baby voices is interrupted by his laughter when you slap him on the shoulder, failing to keep the stern look on your face. you only get his teasing when he sees your frown turning in a smile, reaching down to grab onto your hand that fit perfectly in his.

“c’mon, let’s move on,” the look in jaemin’s eyes subsides into one full of love, a slight smile pulling on his lips before reaching forward to peck you on the forehead. you have no time to sort out your surprise before he’s pulling you to the next one and to the next one and to the next one as well.

“oh. oh, this one. oh man, i’ve seen this all over tiktok,” jaemin gets pulled this time from a sculpture to a big glass set-up, with a mechanical arm desperately cleaning a red gooey liquid. you’re stuck in a trance looking at it with jaemin by your side as it continues to make more mess over the one thing it’s programmed to do: clean up.

you’ve read about it, seen comments about it, but nothing compares to viewing the frantic movements in real life. where the mechanical arm has its erratic movements, you can see the compare it to that of panic and distraught.

jaemin watches over you while you sniffle, a hint of a tear lingering at your eyes when you subconsciously squeeze his hand.

“look at it, jaem…” you turn to him with a sympathetic expression, heart breaking over a piece of metal.

it doesn’t take long for your lover to match your expression, “oh, honey…” jaemin lets you watch the exhibition for a bit longer, watching how you react as the ‘blood’ is stained and splatted on the white of the walls.

it’s a sullen mood when you exit the museum with you pressed up against jaemin’s side, quietly walking towards the car where a staff member waited. you both know that it’s due to the saddening exhibition, but you blame it on your fatigue as well.

you exchange a small smile with the other when you pile into the car, letting drowsiness taking over before your head meets the space between his neck and shoulder. it finds its home there, ignoring the way jaemin compares your hand in his.

each finger taps against his and you can feel the rise of his cheeks on your head. you keep your eyes closed, hanging onto the last bits of consciousness even as his other hand traces your forearm gently.

“stop it,” mumbling was all you could do, adjusting your position to get as close to your boyfriend as possible. his body heat warms you right up in the coldness of the weather and you’re thankful for the staff’s stable driving that allows you to snuggle comfortably.

“sorry, baby. you’re just too cute,” jaemin whispers and grins together with you as you respond to the kiss on your head with a widened smile, taking his place in your side embrace and in your heart.

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

BRB (I'll answer asks once I get home!) because I'm still on campus dfhafdjk but I've had these ideas stuck in my head so here enjoy!

[Main Masterlist] | [Prominence Masterlist]

Random Prominence!YNSH Things

Seonghwa has a tendency to hug (Y/N) at the back when they're around each other, it started as him naturally standing behind her, but it evolved into back hugs haha

Speaking of standing behind her, prior to their Dispatch reveal, there was a clip that trended for a while of (Y/N) adjusting her dress at MAMA but cameras will be cameras so Seonghwa casually walked in front of her. That coupled with (Y/N) glaring at the camera man behind him (Starting the "(Y/N) Hates Men" meme) and Seonghwa's worried look, the number of memes that spawned from it were insane. It was a grand time on Twitter, all the memes, the praises, it was great.

Little did they know-

They buy food for each other all the time, the ATEEZ dorms would occasionally get delivery people holding carriers of coffee or boxes of cake and, likewise, ANiMA would get things too

Every possible thing that could've gone wrong went wrong when Seonghwa met (Y/N)'s parents, but they oddly took it well.

During their first anniversary, Mars had a little trip of his own, moving between the NCT Dorms and ATEEZ dorms occasionally. And once getting lost on the way because he chewed up another leash. Poor Winwin.

(Y/N)'s really good with kids and Seonghwa has to remind himself to wait until they're financially stable and not in the public eye-

When Seonghwa first adopted Mars he did not think that he would be such a handful, he blames it on (Y/N) since Mars spends the most time with her.

Prior to the Dispatch reveal, they used to visit each other on film sets, they have a couple of interesting stories about almost getting caught in their makeshift "disguises."

Prior to the Dispatch reveal, Seonghwa used to send her secret messages and gifts under the name "Your Secret Admirer" (Yangyang gagged every time he saw this but this isn't about him)

Mark was the first to know about their relationship outside of ANiMA. (Y/N) told him in confidence since she had been canceling on plans to meet NCThree to hang out (he understood well). He just said that as long as she's happy then he was too and that she had his permission to cancel any time for Seonghwa. She later asked how that would help and Mark said that he's very persuasive (sure Mark, sure)

Doyoung was the last (he was very upset about that). No one told him because he didn't ask. He was very surprised to see Seonghwa sitting on the common room couch and quite literally went "who the hell are you?" and (Y/N) came in just in time to explain.

All of ATEEZ knew immediately when Seonghwa started dating because he kept humming love songs

Not saying they did record something, but if they did it would likely be a cover of Dream (Suzy+Baekhyun)

When ANiMA and ATEEZ attended KCon they did a random dance battle and (Y/N) got Deja Vu, as soon as the hip move came on Seonghwa took his jacket off and covered the lower half of her body, leading to much too many teasings and the birth of the iconic YN line "But babe my hips don't lie." He knows.

They once did a "Who will Mars run towards first?" thing for fun. They stood next to Mars and took off in both directions. Mars looked between them both before laying down on the ground and rolling on his back.

They've read fanfiction together.

Prior to the Dispatch reveal, they used to tease each other by sending ship edits with different idols. (Y/N)'s favorite was one she had with TXT's Soobin because it was just so well edited and she couldn't fathom how real it looked. Seonghwa retaliated by sending one of him with Soobin and they had a debate on which one looked better.

Once when asked what would happen if they broke up they both said, in unison, "we won't." Seonghwa added that it's because their lives revolve around each other too much at this point. (Y/N) quickly said after that the rest of ATEEZ would cry if she left and if Seonghwa didn't get her back one of the others would. (Mingi said this in the back: "IT'S NINE MAKES ONE TEAM NOW YOU CAN'T LEAVE US." Yeosang would quietly add: "we wouldn't let you." Followed by various "huh?"s and "what?"s)

[hinaaspanda]

tall, blonde and gorgeous! | khw

Pairing: Volleyball au! Kim Hyunwoo/Baekseung + Fem! Reader

Warnings: Swearing

Genre: Best friends to Lovers, Angst, Crack, Fluff

Word Count: 10,393 oh my

Now, like a waking nightmare, you’re stuck getting flustered over your best friend. Dawning his new and improved image, now complete with the new hair he won’t shut up about, your heart can’t seem to catch a break. Kim Hyunwoo was glowing up too fast, and you couldn’t handle it.

a/n: hi! i’m here with my first non-nct dream fic! i decided to write about my epex bias, hyunwoo! expect morre fics about other idols in the future~ i had alot of fun with this and i hope you enjoy! make sure to check out epex and their music too, it’s great!

a/n again: also i know i said this was a volleyball au but the sport really isn’t that important of a plot point lolol oh well :DD

...

“I can’t believe you actually did it.” You barely managed to spit out, a sweet blend of shock, disappointment, and pure horror taking over your tone. You scoff, cocking an eyebrow as you watch Hyunwoo take a seat before you within the fast food place. His hand, lined with the excitement of a sugar-rushed child, brushes through his now golden blonde hair. You could only laugh. Out of all the changes your best friend could’ve gone through, this was definitely not on your list.

“For your information, I actually quite like this new style, I think it suits me!” Hyunwoo let out with a huff, nestling his back onto the back rest of the fast food bench. Confidence oozing out of his frame as he crossed his arms, only earning an eye roll from you. He brushes another hand through his hair, an unfortunate habit you already saw forming before your eyes. “Man, I’m gonna bag so many dates with this!”

Your eyelids fell into a ‘disappointed but not surprised’ themed glare, an eyebrow cocking upwards as you toss a fry into your mouth. Of course that was his motive, his ultimate goal. You couldn’t help but blame yourself, you should’ve known better when you first caught your best friend staring at the blonde box dye at the supermarket last week. You toss another fry, giving him a cold, unassuming stare. Maybe you needed to put him back in his place. 

“Really? You think you’re gonna get girls while looking like some french fry? Good luck, buddy” You pushed a scoff from your chest. 

Hyunwoo hisses out in exaggerated pain. “Harsh. But I don’t think that’s gonna work on me, y/n. Just look at you! You can’t even take your eyes off me!” 

As if on cue, a sudden sensation of heat creeps up to your cheeks as your head hangs low in embarrassment. He was right. Until now, your eyes have been laid on nowhere else but Hyunwoo’s frame. And you would rather die than admit it, but he looked good. A little too good for your liking, you might add. 

Hyunwoo was wrong about one thing, though; It wasn’t just the new blonde hair that you couldn’t get over. 

This new phenomenon only began a few months ago: last summer, to be exact. Kim Hyunwooーyour one and only childhood friendーhad spiked in height tremendously, easily surpassing the likes of full grown adults in mere weeks. And with his sudden urge to tone his frame with workouts miraculously lining up with his growth spurt, Hyunwoo easily landed a spot in your highschool’s volleyball team the following year; starting line up, no less. It was a sight to behold, how lucky this aspiring athlete had gotten in such a short timeframe. 

Anyone could imagine how fast the highlighter head’s ego boosted the moment his life began to fall satisfyingly into place. He grew more confident, more bold. Nothing stood in the way of this highschool freshman anymore. And while you thought you never found an over-confident persona too attractive, your stubborn, fast pacing heart and riled up cheeks obviously had other things to say on the matter. 

Now, like a waking nightmare, you’re stuck getting flustered over your best friend. Dawning his new and improved image, now complete with the new hair he won’t shut up about, your heart can’t seem to catch a break. Kim Hyunwoo was glowing up too fast, and you couldn’t handle it. 

“Y/n? Y/N!” Hyunwoo jolted you awake from your questionable inner thoughts, your limp fingers dropping the fry that was once suspended in them. 

“Yeah?” You pushed a lump out of your throat.

“Relax! I was just kidding, idiot.” Hyunwoo effortlessly stole one of your precious fries, plopping into his mouth before continuing. “No need to space out or anything.”

“God you’re so annoying.” You muttered a half-assed snapback.

“And you’re so in love with me, just admit it!”

He shoots you a wink, setting you aback in pure shock. Hyunwoo shoots up, heading for the exit. He hastily shoves his hands in his pockets before finally turning to your stunned figure. “Hurry up, I got practice tomorrow!”

You scrambled to gather your belongings, too trapped in a state of shock to utter a single word back. Anyone else would’ve found it suspicious at your sudden loss of words, or basic breathing skills, for that matter. Anyone else would’ve taken a hint or two, but not him. Despite switching up his entire character all last summer, one thing that never failed to stay constant was his complete dumbassery. And for once, you appreciated his annoyingly dense head. 

In love with you? You wish!

...

“We literally have a final in two days!” You helplessly squabble the force of your now ecstatic lab partner, pulling you rather harshly to the volleyball gym’s main doors. Your chemistry notes moments away from flying off into the abyss with every sharp turn you and your partner take down the halls. “Yejun, We have to study!”

“Who cares about chem?? I need to see that Yewang wasn’t bullshiting me about Hyunwoo!”

The two of you finally reach the doors, subtly slipping through them as you scan your surroundings for any available seats. You stop to catch your breath, the reality of the short distance from your classroom to the gym serving as a cruel reminder of your poor athleticism. You shoot a curious stare at your lab partner. “Hyunwoo?”

“Yeah, I heard he dyed his hair or something. And I gotta see it for myself!”

  A scoff escapes your lips. It was astounding how fast Yejun’s mood had changed from a pessimistic corpse throughout your fourth period, to this ecstatic puppy currently before you. And it was all just for some dyed hair.  Hyunwoo really did have that effect on people, didn’t he? 

Like you could say anything on the matter.

The two of you finally settle down on a set of bleachers, gazing at the volleyball team before you; Captain Dawit, Yewang from chem, their teammates Donghyun, Minwoo, Kyungmin, Jaeho, and of course Hyunwoo. Most of them were your actual good friends, one was even your own brother. However, watching them thrive in the court, even you couldn’t deny that they embodied celebrities. They were untouchable, like valuable artifacts at a museum. And as the growing crowd of students and onlookers would suggest, you weren’t alone in that opinion. 

Maybe it was the bright highlighter hair, or the mere fact that he easily towered over everyone else in the room, but all eyes were on Hyunwoo. Of course, you were no exception. Your eyes settled into his figure as he tossed the volleyball into the air, smacking it down with overwhelming force as it traveled to the other side of the gym. His blonde locks swimming in the wind as he jumps to smash another loose ball above him. He was in his element, and you just couldn’t bring yourself to look away.

“So Yewang wasn’t kidding?” Yejun spits out in pure astonishment. He turns to you, wide eyed and gleaming with excitement. “He actually looks pretty good! How much you guys wanna bet Hyunwoo gets his own fanclub after this?”

Hints of bitterness ghosted over your shoulders as Yejun uttered the last bit of his baffling sentence. You definitely weren’t used to this sensation and nor was your body, evident by your shoulders curling inwards as an immediate response. The tip of your tongue grew sour at the very thought of a dedicated Hyunwoo fanbase. It doesn’t make sense to you, how that french fry looking freshman could pull the hearts of one girl, let alone enough to form a club. In your eyes, he was a child, the same child who always bugged you for food or to play outside. In your eyes, he was just your best friend.

“Are you kidding me? This is Hyunwoo we’re talking about, right?”

Hyunwoo was your best friend, not some highschool celebrity. 

He was yours.

Your eyes grow wide, your heart finally leaping back into your chest after choking your throat with that very alarmingーand very wrongーhot take. You shake away that intruding thought, your vigorous head jolting your ecstatic science lab partner. In what world did Hyunwoo belong to you? An unfamiliar, burning sensation crept up your frame like a disease. A disease even healthcare professionals couldn’t pinpoint. What was going on with you?

A sudden shifting of the bleachers behind you shook you awake from your daydream, or more accurately: your nightmare. You really needed to watch yourself. You’ve been taking your attention away from reality more frequently, as of late. The presence of a few girls plop up right behind you. Their chatters, while quiet, are just loud enough for your ears to perk up in curiosity. 

“Is that Hyunwoo? He looks cute with that new hair color!” One giggled out. You couldn’t help but grow annoyed by her voice. 

“Oh my gosh! You’re totally right!” Another gasped. Her voice, just as distasteful in your ears. 

“I think I’m gonna ask him for his number!” The third rang out, ticking you off a little more than you expected. Her words ignited a flame in your heart, leaving the logical side of your brain to suffocate in the disease of jealousy. You wanted to scream, cry, wail, and you didn’t even know why. All you knew was that the thought of Hyunwoo leaving your life for good, was not a thought you could live with. 

You couldn’t keep going like this. This wasn’t right. Hyunwoo. Wasn’t. Yours. Were you going crazy??

You suddenly shot up and out of your seat, your breaths running short as you tried to hide your crisis from a stunned Yejun and the three girls behind you. The three girls who were able to successfully set your world ablaze. 

Nevermind. It was pretty evident who the true culprit was. 

“Hey y/n?” Yejun finally peeled his eyes off of the practice game below, setting his attention to your suspicious, standing figure. “You good?”

“Yeah!” You chirped, your voice almost cracking under the pressure. “I just remembered… I really gotta study!”

“For chem? You’ll be fine! Just stay an-”

“Nope! No thanks!” Your voice was peeping so high, dogs couldn’t hear it even if they tried. “I really need to go, ok yeah bye!” 

You zoomed out of the gym doors, catching your breath as you reached the school hallway. You really hated how your excessively beating heart couldn’t even be blamed on exhaustion anymore, not with Hyunwoo plaguing your mind like that.

It was official. Kim Hyunwoo was the one and only source of your inner turmoil. You were sure of it.

...

hyunwoo the french fry <3 [7:43 p.m.]: yo i saw you at practice today

hyunwoo the french fry <3 [7:43 p.m.]: why didn’t you say hi? >:(

hyunwoo the french fry <3 [7:45 p.m.]: y/n?

You couldn’t bring yourself to reply to his frantic texts as you lay in your bed that night. You couldn’t bring yourself to do much, actually. All of your energy was saved for burying your face into your pillow, contemplating how insane your heart has gotten just now. 

Now, it was 8 in the evening. The breeze was faintly pushing through your window, yet your skin was still suspended in flames. 

You didn’t know what came over you at the volleyball gym earlier that day. The sensation felt foreign to you, like dipping your toes into a freezing cold pool after basking in the summertime heat. It was disgusting, seeing how fast your own mood switched the moment some girl showed interest in him. It made you sick to the stomach. Not to mention how ridiculous that random spasm of your heart was. Hyunwoo had every right to go off and date the next fangirl in his view, and you definitely had no right to stop him. He was only your best friend, afterall. 

You could handle that, right?

It didn’t matter though. If your questionable jealous spasm this afternoon taught you anything, it was that your feelings, whatever they were, needed to be stopped. ASAP. You couldn’t let yourself continue like this. Besides, if Hyunwoo was just gonna leave your life eventually, might as well beat him to it. You weren’t overreacting, this was needed. In order for your heart to heal, you needed to get away. You knew it was cowardly, but it had to be done. 

“So, let me get this straight,” Yejun’s voice peaked through his mic as you, him, and Yewang continued your conference call through the night. Yejun’s brows furrowed in confusion, trying his best to untangle the mess of your heart. “You’re tryna distance yourself from Hyunwoo because… you’re jealous of other girls?”

“No, you completely missed the point!” You huffed. “I need to distance myself because I don’t want to be jealous! He’s my best friend, I don’t own him or anything!”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to distance yourself a little,” Yewang chimed in through a mouthful of chips, each crunch poking your ears with irritation. “But, with how jealous you’re suddenly feeling, shouldn’t you just cut the crap and admit you like him?”

That familiar heat creeped up your cheeks once again, the same sensation from everytime your childhood friend would send a wink your way, or call you beautiful out of the blue. There went your heart again, quickening in pace every time you thought about that stupid highlighter head. The idea of falling for best friend had crossed your mind before, but it was just a stupid dream. You couldn’t fall for Hyunwoo, you wouldn’t be able to live with yourself. 

“Yewang’s right. Why can’t you just tell him how you feel?” Yejun suddenly spoke.

A sigh heaved from your chest. “Like I said, he’s my best friend, Yejun. I’m not allowed to like him. I can’t like him.”

A blanket of awkward silence fell on top of the three of you. It was the type of silence you dreaded the most. You needed something to serve as a distraction from your heightened heart, and the sounds of crunching chips and the miscellaneous cough weren’t exactly what you were looking for. Yejun gazed at your eyes through the video call screen with pursed lips. 

“Look, we’ll help you with this distancing thing, alright? But just think about what we said.” Yejun nagged. 

“Maybe telling him won’t be as bad as you think!” Yewang added on, hoping to cheer up your pitiful frame in any way possible. “Hyunwoo seems too nice to reject you, if that’s what you’re worried about. Anyways, I gotta log off, my mom’s gonna kick my ass if I’m late for practice again!”

The three of you bid your farewells before ending the midnight call session. You shut off your monitor, immediately greeting your rather rough reflection. Maybe stressing over some 6’1” lanky volleyball boy wasn’t too good for your complexion. It didn’t matter though, as much as you love your friends, you cared for your heart more. From now on, Kim Hyunwoo will be out of your life. 

And you could forget about confessing your feelings. It would never happen in this lifetime, you could definitely count on that. 

...

Call it pure luck, or the gods above pitying your love life, but distancing yourself from the highlighter head has been astoundingly easy so far. Every morning and afternoon, the athlete was bombarded with volleyball practice, which gave you easy access to slip away. You allowed yourself to spend time with Yejun and your other friends more, letting them become a successful shield and distraction from that walking french fry. Slowly but surely, you were piecing your life back together, all without Kim Hyunwoo in your view. 

And today would have been another successful day of avoiding him, if it weren’t for your annoying older brother. 

You ambled through the school halls as a faint buzz jumped from your phone. Grabbing the device, you watched as ‘Dawit’ appeared on your screen. You heave out a sigh as you reluctantly answer the call. It hurt like hell trying to sit through fourth period chemistry, and all you wanted right now was to collapse on your bed at home. Dawit definitely had some explaining to do. 

“Yeah?”

“Hey, have you seen Hyunwoo?” 

You choked. “What?”

“Hyunwoo. That idiot’s late for practice again, and coach’s all over our asses about it. Do you know where he is?”

You could feel your mind drawing to a blank, Hyunwoo washing over your head once again. “Uh- no, sorry.”

“Really? Shit, alright. If you don’t know where he is, I guess no one else will. If you find him somewhere just text me, kay? I gotta go.” Dawit hastily dropped the call, most likely to receive another lecure from his coaches. You pitied him, really. Having to go through bootcamp level training just to play for a highschool team, not to mention how cruel those coaches seemed. You felt sorry for your brother and his team. 

However, you didn’t feel too bad for Dawit. There was no way in hell you’d go out of your way to meet up with Hyunwoo, not with your progress on the line. 

Shoving your phone back in your bag, you continued on your way through the halls. A sigh escaped your lips. Deep down, you missed him. You missed being able to waltz into his house without a care in the world, spending every afternoon clowning him and his poor sharp-shooting skills on the t.v. You missed your late night strolls to the convenience store on weekends, procrastinating on your endless amounts of school work. You knew this whole distancing plan would come with a price.

You missed Hyunwoo, your best friend for basically your entire life. However, you had no remorse for this newer Hyunwoo. This highschool, volleyball celebrity, stealing the hearts of girls left and right. He was a stranger to you, and you certainly didn’t miss him. 

You approached the last stream of lockers before the exit, two figures leaned up against them like magnets. You couldn’t recognize them at first, and your exhausted frame only told you to simply ignore them, but as a familiar blonde shadow came into the frame of your peripheral vision, you knew you had to stop in your tracks. 

Giggles emitted from the scene before you. A girl’s back faced you, twirling her hair between her fingers as she looked up at the boy in front of her. The boy in question, gripped his gym bag strap, suspending it against his chest as he shot a smile towards the girl. With his free hand, he brushes through his blonde hair. Kim Hyunwoo’s habits never really changed, didn’t they?

“Do you think we could hang out sometime?” the girl suggested, a horrendous amount of flirtation riddling her tone. “I’m free this weekend, if you were wondering.”

That familiar flame lit atop of your heart again, your breaths growing shallow as you burned your eyes onto the scene. Your skin grew hot, palms slowly drenching in sweat. You gripped the strap of your bag with immense force, not giving a damn when your knuckles turned white. This was all automatic at this point, and you hated it with every inch of your being. It was obvious: no matter how far you ran away from them, your feelings for Hyunwoo would never leave. 

“This weekend?” Hyunwoo stalled, a hand reaching behind to scratch the nape of his neck. His eyes wandered around as you, off to the side, held your own breath. “I’ll think about it-”

The head of the blonde figure whipped to your direction, eyes widening as far as your peripheral vision would allow. As if it were a planned act on stage, he inched away from the girl, who now dawned a confused and offended expression on her face.

Fuck.

Without hesitation, you whipped around, retracing your steps down the hall. Anything to undo time, anything to get away from him. He was the last thing your tense, fired-up heart could ask for. He would only make everything much, much worse. Your steps grew quicker once you heard his trotting right behind you, leaving that girl to fend for herself. The pulsating heart encased in your chest was beating so hard, you were convinced it would explode right then and there. 

Of course you tried to get away, but your little stubs were no match for Hyunwoo’s lanky legs. Of course he was able to catch up in mere seconds. 

“Y/n! Wait up!” He hollered through the hallway, catching the attention of various teachers and students passing by, but never yours. You never gave him the light of day as you glanced away, definitely not expecting the move he was about to pull next. 

A hand suddenly tugs onto your wrist rather harshly, whipping you around to face his chest. You could almost laugh at how much he towered over your figure. If you had the courage to look up at his gaze at this very moment, you were sure your neck would crack under the pressure. Your cowardly eyes, however, could only gaze downwards, taking in the musty view of the ground. Hyunwoo dips down, trying his best to meet your eyes. Mere centimeters suspend between your faces. 

“Hey, is something wrong?”

Your words stay choked up in your throat. Your breaths grow shallow as your eyes scan for anything outside of the blonde silhouette before you. Hyunwoos eyes, drenched in worry, scan your figure hastily. 

“N-no-”

“Where are you headed?” A familiar jumpy attitude lined his tone. It was foolish of him to think that was all it took to calm your flaming heart. 

“Home-”

“Let me walk you home!” Hyunwoo began, his stupid face lighting up in excitment. “I haven’t seen you in a while-”

“No!” You rebutted, your voice peaking higher than you would’ve liked. It shook Hyunwoo to his core, his grip on your wrist slowly loosening, but never fully letting go. You softened your tone. “You have practice right now, Dawit’s looking for you, and..”

You trailed off, still refusing to meet his eyes. “I wanna walk home on my own right now, so let me go-”

You finally gathered up the courage to swat his hands away before whisking your figure off into the horizon of the hallway. Your heartbeat never slowed down to your liking as your breath hitched upon finally pushing through the school exit. Your skin still felt hot to the touch despite brushing against the chilled wind. You didn’t care about the slacking athlete you had just abandoned, the health of your heart mattered much more. 

You thought back to the nervous Dawit stuck in volleyball practice, probably facing another lecture against his own will. You didn’t care about him either. He was your older brother, he could fend for himself. 

You, however, couldn’t. 

...

Hyunwoo knew he was gonna mess up at some point. But he never knew it would go this downhill. 

The highlighter head stood still in the now barren hallway, the offended gasps coming from the other girl behind him never grazing his attention. He couldn’t afford to lay a simple glance on that girl, not with your figure escaping his fingertips, waltzing away through the halls. His knuckles grow white as he grasps at his gym bag strap, heaving out a sigh deep from his chest before pivoting to the volleyball gym. 

The lectures from his various coaches flew out of his ear as swiftly as they flew in. His mind was too occupied to function during practice. It was filled to the brim with anguish. How could he be so stupid?

Hyunwoo never wanted to hurt you, he wanted the opposite, really. All he wanted was for you to finally see him, notice him amidst a crowd. To finally view him as more than a friend. He wanted your eyes to only look at him. He did everything in his power to get your attention: joining the volleyball team, changing his appearance, even flirting with you. Instead, he got the eyes of the entire school following his every move, while yours never gave him the light of day.

All this time, he wanted to move on from being your childhood best friend. He wanted to be something more. Never in his life did he expect to lose you entirely. 

“So she just walked away from you? Without saying anything?” Minwoo questioned before taking a swig of water from his water bottle. The air between the two athletes was mostly silent, safe for the miscellaneous shoe squeaks bouncing off the gym walls.

“Yeah,” Hyunwoo slumped on the gym bench, a towel draped sorrowfully over his head, isolating his vision to the speckled floor before him. 

“God, how did I fuck up so bad?”

“Maybe just cut the playboy act and tell her?” In front of him, Kyungmin scoffed. His fingertips catching the volleyball mid air with ease. His lanky figure casted a shadow against Hyunwoo’s frame as he pestered him further. “It’d be so much easier for the both of you.”

The distressed french fry yanks the towel from his head, shooting a 

glare at the volleyball player before him. “I didn’t ask for all of this, alright? I didn’t want all those girls to talk to me. All I wanted was for her to notice me!” 

A snicker jumped from the right of him. “Well she did notice you- OW!” Minwoo blurted out, rightfully earning a swift jab at the shoulder by Hyunwoo’s irritated fist. “Piss off, Min.”

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding! But seriously, just try and talk to her. Kyungmin’s right, this whole act isn’t working out.” Minwoo shot up, aligning himself with Kyungmin as the two gaze before the lovestruck athlete. Hyunwoo, on the other hand, drills his head into the comfort of his palms. A loud groan fills the air in the gym, startling the poor innocent rest of the team in the process. “How can I do that if she hates me? She wouldn’t even look at me back there!” 

“Y/n? I don’t think she hates you.” Dawit, the team captain interrupts. His attention swiftly discards the ball he sent flying through the air, shifting over to Hyunwoo’s suspicious looking trio. “Though it was a little weird that she didn’t know where you were earlier, did you guys fight or something?”

Hyunwoo itched the nape of his neck, looking up at the line up of volleyball boys shielding him from the light. “Nah, it wasn’t like that.”

He was just some big, fat idiot who couldn’t think straight. 

He can’t ever think straight when it comes to you.  

Hyunwoo grew silent, confusing the team captain even more.  “Uh- okay?” Dawit’s brows furrowed together, fumbling with a volleyball between his fingertips. “You could always come over if you wanna settle things or something.” 

“That’s it! Visit her on the weekend! What’s she gonna do, leave her own house?” Minwoo jumped as if he was electrocuted. “You could tell her how you feel then!”

It was as if the world froze by the command of Minwoo’s words. The miscellaneous highschoolers scattered across the gym laid trapped underneath a sudden wave of silence as the curious and perplexed eyes of his teammates burned through his frame. Dawit’s eyes, in particular, spilled out of their sockets, his brows grazing his hairline. That’s it. He’s done for. Hyunwoo would’ve been lucky to make it out of this practice alive at this point. 

“Tell her how- Wait-” The team captain recuperated, scratching his head. “You like my sister?” 

Everyone gathered around, their eyes never peeling from Hyunwoo as he stuttered out a response. He didn’t know where that stutter came from, though. He knew the answer. He's known since the Kwak family first moved in next door way back then, since he first met you. 

Who was he kidding, it was more than just a crush now. He was in love. 

“Yeah,” Hyunwoo’s eyes stayed glued to the tiled gym floor. 

“I like y/n.” 

Everyone's ear piercing howls raged through the volleyball gym, teasing the highlighter head in love. Even Dawit, to everyone's shock, cradled an arm around Hyunwoo’s shoulders in support. Their booming auras startled the outlying teammates who never earned the luxury of joining the french fry’s melodrama. One teammate, Donghyun, rushed towards the crowd, waving a hand to frantically shut them up before they could endure the wrath of their coach once again. 

“Hey Yewang? You good?” To the left of the bustling crowd, the team’s clueless youngest, Jaeho, shook the shoulder of his practice partner.

Yewang stood amidst all that chaos, stricken to the core after processing what in the ever living fuck he had just heard. Too stunned to even grasp the stray volleyball between his finger tips. The calls of his name were no match for his overwhelmed mind. Overwhelmed with probably the biggest revelation in his entire highschool career. 

Holy shit.

...

yejunnie :) [2:28 p.m.]: ok fine yewang and i are just gonna go without you then, i think he had smth to tell us?

yejunnie :) [2:28 p.m.]: i can’t believe you're ditching us 

yejunnie :) [2:28 p.m.]: hurry up and get better loser <3

Your eyes couldn’t help but roll in amusement as you snuggled into the living room couch, basking in the sunlight on that Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t entirely your fault you couldn’t make it to Yejun’s poorly planned group study session. As much as you loved him, he always came up with outlandish ideas at even more outlandish time frames. Texting the group chat about a study group approximately 45 minutes before said study group was mundane by his standards. And besides, you weren’t feeling too well, anyways. 

A sharp ache pierced through your head the moment you woke up this morning, and it hasn’t disappeared since. After countless home-remedies only leading to a dead end, and after your useless brother couldn’t help you, you were at a loss at what to do as you mindlessly watched t.v for the rest of the day. 

It didn’t matter though, you would rather get a measly headache over fretting over Kim Hyunwoo any day. 

Although a few days have already passed since that day in the hallway, that weird incident never seemed to escape your brain. The athlete’s actions were peculiar, to say the least. His attention switching from that random girl to you in an instant, was more of a riddle than anything found within those puzzle activity books you grew up with. Not to mention how easily you broke your own progress, heating up in jealousy the moment your childhood friend is facing someone else. Disgusting. 

Your feelings for Hyunwoo were too stubborn to leave. It was useless to run away, so you opted for the next best thing; lying to yourself. And that’s exactly what you continue to do, hiding within the walls of your own home. Blaming your crappy state on a mere headache, when anyone could call you out easily. 

Your eyes never peel away from the screen, fully engrossed in the drama unfolding before you as the doorbell shakes your reality awake. With a groan, you shuffle to the door, not giving a care in the world for how horrendous your disheveled hair and cheeto-dusted shirt currently appeared. You regretted it almost immediately, though. You could’ve taken the slightest bit of your appearance into account when coming to face the 6’1’ walking french fry straight from your nightmares. 

So much for hiding.

Hyunwoo stood before you, a nervous expression lining his face quickly swapped out for a warm and welcoming one the moment his eyes met yours. With a smile and a tilt of his head, he lifts up a plastic bag into your view. His eyes quickly meeting the gravel below the two of you. He clears his throat with a loud boom before continuing. 

“Hey! I heard you weren’t feeling too well-” Hyunwoo trailed off, still struggling to meet your eyes. Even you were growing restless as you crossed your arms. “I- uh- brought some snacks for you! Can I come in?”

“How’d you-” Your interrogation was swiftly interrupted by Hyunwoo’s abrupt entrance, most definitely from old habits back then, when your heart could actually withstand being near him. He passed you the plastic bag, encasing millions of dollars in convenience store sweets in your hand, as he shuffled inside and made himself at home. You heave out a sigh as you watch him plop onto your couch. It was baffling how normal he was portraying himself to be, all while you were currently dying inside. 

You retire into the kitchen, an occasional glance or two sent in your guest’s direction. Judging by his more nervous than usual expression lining his frame as he fidgets with his fingers, Hyunwoo wasn’t here just to check on you. You knew that french fry was probably dying to find out why you lashed out the way you did. Unfortunately, though, you’re currently dying to find out the same thing. You rearrange the sweets into bowls before heading back into the living room. 

Despite plopping relatively close to his figure, with only a third of the couch suspended between you two, the tension fogging the air around you made Hyunwoo’s figure seem distant. You desperately waited for the t.v audio to miraculously peak, anything to break the tense silence. 

You were a fool to call yourself lucky before, that's for sure. 

...

“So Min and I stormed into the locker room, right? Without knowing that the coaches were doing inspections that day! You should’ve seen the looks on everyone’s faces! I’m surprised your brother didn’t kill me then!” Hyunwoo snorted, his chuckling figure flying to the back of the couch as he recounted his story. You shot a forged grin as you continued to listen in. It was easier that way, to hide safely behind a haphazard conversation, instead of acknowledging your stupid feelings.  

“I heard Dawit whooped your asses, though” You recalled, a soft chuckle rumbling through your chest. You’ve gotten pretty good at this facade, even fooling him into thinking you weren’t currently at the brink of a crisis at the moment. 

“Yeah, for the following week too. Now Minwoo rarely fools around in practice when Dawit’s around. The dude scared him to death!” 

“What about you? Too tough for my brother?” You snickered.

Hyunwoo shot a smile. “Nah, I think he was softer on me.”

You cocked an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“Probably because of you. Guess he didn’t wanna hurt someone his little sister was close to, or something.”

An awkward pit stirred within your stomach, your cheeks flushing red at his words once again. Everything out of his mouth had this flirtatious undertone, and it had you wrapped around his finger. You hated how predictable your heart became, reacting to Kim Hyunwoo’s every little move. It sickened you. 

You knew how stubborn your feelings were, it's been made clear since the say he dyed his hair that stupid shade of blonde. However, one thing that’s been made even more clear, shoved right into your face, was the very fact that you couldn’t fall for him. It was forbidden to hand your heart to your childhood best friend. You knew that more than anyone. And yet here he was, holding your heart in his own hands. 

Now you’re back, ready to rip it away from his grasp, no matter how cruel you go about it. 

You let out a scoff, eyes plastered on the tv and away from him. “Dawit wouldn’t care about that. And besides, we’re not the only ones close, I’m friends with Yewang too.”

You could feel the highlighter head's eyes burn through your skin, interrogating you. Sure, your words hurt, but it was the only way to shut it all down. You would rather die the most gruesome death imaginable, than to ever let Hyunwoo in on who had stolen your heart. He can never know.

His presence sinks beside you. “I- I guess so, yeah.”

A blanket of sheer tension flows atop the two of you again, choking your airways as you struggle to breathe. No matter how normal your afternoon seemed in the beginning, no matter how close the two of you grew once he stepped foot into your living room, you had to put your foot down. Draw the line to push you too apart. It was cruel, and deep down, your heart ached to go back to how it was before, but this was crucial. Without this, your heart and your delusions were sure to go wild. 

He can never know.

The warmth of a hand jolts you awake as you dig for the remaining pieces in the candy bowl. Your cheeks light ablaze, as they always do, while your eyes shoot up. You knew exactly where to look: at the puppy-like eyes gawking right at you. And you knew exactly what to do: pull away immediately and move on. It was just a mere accident, this was nothing.

Except, you found yourself sitting still, your trapped hand not moving more than an inch, and your eyes stuck in a trance. 

Your breaths grew shallow, your chest heaving as it encased your trouncing heart. It was pathetic, how obviously infatuated you were. Your body reacting to his each and every move, your heart peaking the moment he’s near you. Anyone with two eyes and cohesive brain cells could piece it together: You were in love with Kim Hyunwoo. 

This can’t do. He can never know. 

You rip your hand away, the ghost of his skin still fresh on yours. Sure, it was a simple graze of two palms reaching for the same snack, but it was enough to set off all the alarms ringing in your brain. Your eyes, which were just captivated by his gaze, peels away right after. It didn’t matter, though. You only needed your peripheral vision to notice Hyunwoo’s eyes still plastered on your frame. 

“Sorry-” Hyunwoo stuttered out. You knew you were brutal for shutting him down like that. Why couldn’t he just take the hint already? Why couldn’t he run away, finally leave you?

Before you could fall in love with him even more.

The two of you sit silent for the rest of the evening, that cursed blanket of tension choking your throats the whole time. Yes, it was intentional. With such an uncomfortable atmosphere clouding your vision, Hyunwoo was bound to leave, right?

Right?

...

  Maybe his beloved captain was setting him up for failure the moment Hyunwoo exposed his feelings. Why else would Dawit invite him over to talk to you, when you clearly were in no mood to talk? Now, Hyunwoo sat downcast amidst the tv’s intense glare, with your snoring figure basking under the same light right beside him. 

Hyunwoo couldn’t tell you why he stayed at your house, when it was made quite clear that he was uninvited the moment you shunned a wall of silence between your two frames. It was even worse now, his presence boring you so much that you had fallen asleep in front of him. Hyunwoo shoves all the candy wrappers onto the coffee table below. Maybe it was to torture himself a little further: a proper punishment for being too weak to leave the friendzone. Who was he kidding? Was this even the friendzone anymore? 

He leans back, his eyes catching a glimpse of your dozing figure. It summons a small smile to curl up in his lips. Not all was lost, though. Your peaceful frame still sent butterflies ripping through Hyunwoo’s stomach. 

With the remote in his hand, and a handful of wrappers in the other, Hyunwoo shot up from the couch, shutting off the tv in one swift click. He figured he should make his way soon. It was getting late anyways, and he didn't want your father on his tail either: the sight of being alone with his sleeping daughter didn’t exactly look that safe by any standards. He shuffled into the kitchen to toss the wrappers before trotting back into the living room to pick up his things.

His mind rewinds back to the day at the hallway, when you shunned a cold shoulder his way before. Maybe it was his pride taking the better of him, but he wouldn’t accept Kyungmin’s words back then. He knew that whole playboy act seemed counterintuitive, but he always planned on bouncing back. Coming clean before it was too late. Now, it was perfectly spelt out for him: He already was too late, you were done with him. 

Hyunwoo pushed a sigh from his chest. Guess it was time to come clean. At least he didn’t have to worry about being judged that harshly, with you not listening and all. He plopped beside you on the couch. 

“You probably hate me now, don’t you?” He went on, his eyes never leaving your tranquil state. 

“I guess I have been an asshole to you, we don’t hang around anymore and I’m always busy with practice and those girls who won’t stop bugging me. You have every right to be mad.” He heaved another sigh, fidgeting with the ends of his hoodie. “Truth is, I did it all for you. I didn’t want you to see me as your childhood best friend anymore. I wanted you to notice me for once.” 

He glances up at the streetlight glaring through your living room window. “Guess you did take notice, but not in the way I had hoped.” His voice trails away, his heavy heart sinking to the floor. Hyunwoo brushes a hand through his hair, shooting up from the couch. “Don’t worry though, I’ll drop everything. I’d rather us be friends than anything less.” 

He looks at you one last time, sleeping so innocently, it was as if you weren’t currently shattering his heart into pieces at the moment. He wiggles out of his sweater, draping it over you. You looked so snug, so safe and sound. Even now, you still sent a creeping blush onto his cheeks. It was fascinating, really. How easily you captivated his heart. He adjusts the sweater on your sleeping figure, before reaching up, meeting your face.

Hyunwoo sends a swift peck on the crown of your head, an action he knew would send you into a flustered frenzy if you had been awake to witness it. Think of it as a goodbye of some sorts, goodbye to the delusions of ever thinking you could return his feelings. A soft chuckle escaped his lips. 

“Goodnight, y/n.” He whispered, shooting up from the couch right after.

...

“Christ, Hyun. Could you make practice any gloomier?” Minwoo whines, tossing a loose volleyball in the lovesick player’s direction.

“Cut him some slack, the poor man just had his heart broken!” Kyungmin comes to save the day, picking up the volleyball before launching it back at the cruel teammate. “You’d understand once you go through the same thing, Min.”

“So she rejected you? I thought you didn’t have the chance to tell her how you feel at all?” Minwoo questioned, his brows furrowed. Dawit plops beside them, fitting in perfectly with this council of Hyunwoo’s tragic love life. 

“Basically, I didn’t need to hear it from her. It was pretty obvious back there.” Hyunwoo’s head hung low. His somber presence sent airwaves through the rest of the teammates, the air within the volleyball gym growing mournful in a matter of minutes. 

“I don’t get it, though. My sister isn’t the type to break someone’s heart like that-” 

“Well maybe she’s changed!”

Hyunwoo’s voice boomed, shocking everyone within the volleyball gym wall. The captain at the other end of Hyunwoo’s outrage stood frozen, jaw mere inches from the floor. Others stay as still as trees in a forest, their eyes practically falling from their sockets. Hyunwoo pushes a lump out of his throat, taking himself aback with his own一suddenly vicious一tone. His eyes quickly duck down, avoiding any attention thrusted in his way, which was currently a lot, way more than he could handle. “S-sorry, cap.”

“Don’t worry about it-” Dawit was once again interrupted as Hyunwo stormed through the crowd of volleyball players. His lanky legs pounding harshly at the wooden floor made it obvious how aggravated his heart was at the moment. Only you had this effect on him. 

After a few minutes pass, the sudden creek of a storage room door jolts the entire team back to reality as they watch their highlighter head teammate emerge from the shadows. Disheveled would be an understatement when it came to his appearance: his hair drooping onto the front of his face, his shoulders sunken low to the ground, and his heart smashed into pieces. 

Hyunwoo wasn’t too miserable, though. He knew he’d accept it all at some point. It would just take some time, right? You wouldn’t leave his life forever, wouldn’t you? After all, you were just his childhood friend now, nothing more. You’ve made that clear to him countless times.

“I’ll, uh, head out now. Just tell coach I’m not feeling too good.” Hyunwoo choked out. He didn’t care about the endless train of lectures he’d get by skipping today, he wasn’t in any condition to practice. He’s in no condition to do anything, really. Not with his pride shattered into pieces. 

...

You never thought you could hate an article of clothing as much as you hated that damned sweater. 

Your eyes never found themselves glancing away at the navy blue fabric tousled roughly onto your desk chair. How stubborn was he? Even leaving a piece of him behind when you made it indisputable that he was no longer welcome. 

It riddled you with guilt that you had to let him go so harshly that night, severing years worth of friendship just for your measly heart’s satisfaction. You never wanted to be cruel. Deep down, your feelings never left. If anything, you were out for your own blood. Your own heart tortures you to it’s content with it’s crude games. Although, with the presence of Kim Hyunwoo finally gone, you could feel your heart lighten up just the slightest bit. Maybe just for now, you could forget this stupid act. 

Your limbs all moved on their own as you strolled to your desk chair, the fabric encasing your fingers in a pool of warmth and comfort. You held it up to your chest, your nose immediately catching its smell. It wasn’t fresh by any means, probably worn 2 or 3 times before last night. It wasn’t fresh, yet you still found yourself hugging the fabric tight, basking in its warmth. 

You missed him. 

You knew it was all your fault, but you couldn’t deny the Hyunwoo shaped hole in your heart. Whether it was as your best friend, or something more, you missed his presence. You felt empty without him. 

A gulp shot down your throat as you dropped the sweater from your hands, regaining traction with reality. You weren’t going to let your feelings ruin your progress. You couldn’t fall in love with Kim Hyunwoo, you just couldn’t. 

“You should just tell him the truth, y/n.” Yejun posited, taking you by surprise and freezing your frame in shock as you began your crucial conference call for the night. 

“Are you insane!?” you gawked. It was as if a blade sliced through the small of your ribcage. Yewang, and Yejun, the two friends you had confided in the most, now stabbing your back, ripping any last sliver of trust into shreds.  “Haven’t you listened to anything I told you? That's the exact opposite of what I wanna do! I shut him out for a reason, Yewang. I can’t just-”

“Have you ever listened to yourself?” Yewang scolded with a booming voice. Even Yejun showed visible awe, the white of his eyes spilling out of their sockets through the screen. “You’re out here lying and hiding your feelings, you’ve never even thought about giving him a chance!”

“Why would I give him a chance if I already know the answer!?”

“You might not even know the answer!” 

Yewang’s words deem you speechless, your jaw just grazing the top of your desk. Your brows weave together in confusion the moment your brain actually finished processing what your chemistry classmate had said.  

“What do you mean by that?”

Yejun and Yewang grow silent, guilt lining their faces, while suspicion lines yours. The air flowing through their computer mics became stuffed with tension, the two sending each other glances of worry amidst your perplexed presence. 

“Just return the sweater to Hyunwoo tomorrow, and make sure you talk to him, too. Whether you tell him the truth or not.” Yejun quietly diverted, his stoic demeanour leaving no room for you to retaliate. Yewang nodded in alliance, backing you into a corner. Guess your friends were finally putting their foot down, too. Grumbling under your breath, you turn to steal a glance at the midnight-stained fabric draped on your chair. 

That sweater was such a pain in your ass. 

...

The air felt heavy as you hauled open the volleyball gym doors. Like fog clouding up the evening atmosphere, it blurred your view of the athletic scenery. You could do this. You heaved a deep breath. Just hand him the sweater and leave. Don’t talk to him. 

Like a magnet, you effortlessly pulled the eyes of the other volleyball players in your direction. The plastic bag holding the navy fabric swung against your every step as they continued to follow your every move. It wasn’t long before, with an army of pupils burning your back, you reached the towering figure of your final destination. 

Hyunwoo fiddled with a spare ball before turning to face you, your eyes meeting with a defeated and bitter glare. You winced, the grasp of the plastic growing tight as you braced for impact. You knew this would happen: Hyunwoo had every right to be angry, every right to feel this way. Your harsh words, or lack thereof, could only brand yourself as guilty. A weighing sensation plagued your heart. You glanced away from his gaze, swiftly handing him the bag. Your guilt, your emotions were beginning to wash over you- you had to get away now. 

“Y-you left this.” You hardly stuttered out, nimbly shoving the plastic bag to his chest. Without peeling your eyes from the ground, you continued. “I washed it, so you don’t have to worry about-”

“Wow,” Hyunwoo scoffed, interrupting your useless blabbering. “So you can’t even look at me anymore, huh?”

You choked. “W-what?”

“Was I so insufferable back at your house that you can’t even look me in the eye anymore? Are you that disgusted with me?” Hyunwoo practically hissed aloud, alarming the others. 

You felt yourself heating up in anger, your head losing focus. “What are you even talking about? You’re not insufferable!”

“Then why ignore my texts, ignore me in the halls? Not to mention that stunt you pulled at your house!? If I’m not insufferable, then what even am I to you?”

Your brows wrinkled in response, your heart letting go of any of its past motives. Inside you, a bomb ticked. “I’m not the only one responsible for all this, you know! You just had to go out of your way and become the school’s celebrity, leaving me all alone!” 

“Why would it matter to you? You clearly don’t care since you couldn’t even bother to reject me properly!” Hyunwoo jeered, his booming voice bouncing off of the walls.

Tears of frustration begin to well up in your eyes as an alarmed Dawit jolts up. You, however, don’t take your attention away from Hyunwoo as the tears begin to stream down your face. You were too late, there was no stopping your heart now. 

“It matters cause I miss you! I miss the old Hyunwoo, the doofus that's been my best friend since we were kids. Not this new, hotshot Hyunwoo that everyone loves! You’re like a stranger to me now, and I want the old Hyunwoo back!”

You grow stunned by the overwhelming silence of the volleyball team, most notably Hyunwoo, who was piecing together your words like a 1000 piece puzzle. A blush crept onto your cheeks at the realization that you had just tipped your hand out a little more than you had desired. Maybe now, it was best to rip off the bandaid as harshly as you could. Maybe Yewang was right, you just had to tell the truth. 

“And I couldn’t reject you with words cause… I’d be lying.”

As if on cue, Hyunwoo’s eyes grow wide, his jaw dropping to the floor. The flock of players that surround you follow suit. You gain a sense of reality as you swab the tears away from your cheeks before glancing up to look at him. “I’m sorry, Hyunwoo.” 

Your heart could implode right then and there. You had to leave. You had to get away, you couldn’t take it anymore. 

Dropping the plastic bag at his feet, you hastily spat out your final goodbye before storming out of the gym, speeding past the other players. Hyunwoo runs after you, but can only get as far as the door frame before Dawit and Kyungmin stop him in his tracks. You were running away from him once again, and you left him dazed, confused, and once again missing you. 

“Come on, Hyunwoo. Coach will be here any minute.” Minwoo reminded, holding back the stricken highlighter head from running after you at that very moment. 

...

“It’s been days, y/n. This won’t do.” Dawit nagged, perched nonchalantly on your door frame. He grimaced at your loathing figure, engulfed in your own bedsheets. “Come on, I’ll take you out! Fries always cheer me up!” 

You tried your hardest to refuse, even shooting a pillow at your pesky brother’s head, but it was no use. Within minutes, you were hauled out of your bed, practically held at gunpoint by Dawit’s cruel stare as you sauntered down the stairs. With about 4 hours of rest and the promise of fries being the sole thing motivating you, you didn’t expect much when you made your way into the kitchen. You didn’t expect much, but a certain highlighter head, with a medium serving of french fries in hand, sitting anxiously on your dining table, was the last to ever cross your mind. Kim Hyunwoo. 

Your body froze, slowly stumbling backwards. Away from him. You weren’t ready to face him. You weren’t ready to endure the guilt and shame. The consequences of falling for your best friend. And you were sure he wanted nothing to do with you, now that he knows the distasteful truth. 

So why is he here?

A hand shoved you further into the kitchen, in Hyunwoo’s direction. “Talk to him.” Dawit muttered, sending a knowing glance and a nod at his teammate before wisping away. 

Hyunwoo shot up, quickly closing the gap between your two figures. You could hear his hitched breath as he approached you, his pupils shaking. Your figure stood frozen before him, trapped in his presence and unable to escape. He slowly glanced up at you, his eyes gleaming with a determination you’ve never seen before.

“I won’t stay too long, I just need to know-” Hyunwoo cuts through his words with a sharp breath. “Was what you said at the gym true?”

You winced, palms curling up into an uptight fist. You’ve accidentally let out the truth before, why couldn’t you do it again? Even if it was against your own will, when your heart selfishly took control. There was no point in running away anymore. 

“Yeah” You barely muttered a whisper. “I’ve liked you for a while and I know how weird that must sound for you and I didn’t wanna ruin our friendship so I … lied.” 

“What?”

You glanced away. “It’s stupid, I know. I shouldn’t have hid it from you but I couldn’t help it! You were already busy with being the highschool’s celebrity and everything, I was worried that if I told you my feelings I would only lose you more.”

“Wait-”

“I was selfish, and I couldn’t control my feelings around you, so I distanced myself but it didn’t do-” 

“Y/n!”

It all happened too fast. His restless hands quickly discarded the food it once held before swiftly cupping your face. With his eyes fluttering shut, Hyunwoo locks his lips into yours, capturing you, holding you hostage in his grasp. Stunned to the core, you grip onto the fabric of his shirt. Anything to pull you back down to reality, to keep your sanity. Your stomach flips into itself, butterflies taking over your gut as you finally give in. Your eyes flutter shut, pulling him closer, finally relishing in the warmth you so stupidly denied yourself for months. 

To your detriment, Hyunwoo finally pulled away, snapping you back into the real world. You flee into a state of panic, your eyes spilling out of their sockets as your slow brain finally realizes what you just did. Hyunwoo lets out a soft chuckle, instantly calming your nerves. He looks down, his eyes still locked with yours. “Are you gonna listen to me now?”

“But- you-”

“You don’t have to worry about losing me, y/n.” Hyunwoo began, his hand softly clasping around your shaking ones. “I like you, too! I’ve liked you for years now. Losing you is the last thing I want!” He let out a sigh. “I just wished you told me sooner, you know.”

You were still frozen in shock, too stunned to comprehend his words. You thought back to Yewang’s words, his and Yejun’s suspicious reactions to each of your questions. A scoff travels through your lips. It all clicked. They knew. They knew about his feelings, didn’t they? He hums softly, grabbing your attention once again. 

“Will you finally accept me, y/n?”

You picked at the skin on your lips, your breath hitching. “What about our friendship? Won’t it get ruined?”

Hyunwoo shines a smile. He keeps a hand cupping your cheek as another arm snakes around your waist. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take, if it means I get to be with you.”

Heat rushes to your cheeks at the command of his flirtatious words. He was always such a smooth talker, you knew that for a fact. However, you found yourself tolerating them, even enjoying them this time. You couldn’t seem to wipe that stupid grin on your face. Butterflies danced in your stomach as you decided to give him a proper response; a taste of his own medicine. 

You pull him closer, locking lips with him once again. You grow more confident, wrapping your arms around his neck. He hugs your waist in response as you feel him smile into the kiss. It was the stuff of fairy tales. 

“Of course.”

...

“How many times do we gotta say we’re sorry?” Yejun grumbled as the three of you stood right outside of the volleyball gym, sending you an annoyed glare. You shunned it effortlessly, though. Your attention barely gave them the light of day while Yejun and Yewang groaned in unison. Yewang whined. “You figured it out, anyways. You don’t even need us!”

“It would’ve been nice to know sooner, you know.” You muttered. 

“I did tell you, though!” Yewang rebutted

“Not clearly! Like what am I supposed to do with ‘yOu miGhT NoT KnOw hiS aNsWEr’??? That was so vague?”

“Yewang!” A voice called out from behind, interrupting your heated debate. The three of you pivoted around, your synchronization making it seem like you weren’t just stupidly arguing two seconds ago. Hyunwoo came running from behind, his cheeky grin beckoning a similar one to grow on your face. He approached the three of you, his attention on Yewang, but his arms immediately wrapping around you. “Captain’s looking for you! And you better hurry, he’s starting to get pissed.”

Yewang sent a nod in Hunwoo’s direction, swiftly turning to leave. Yejun sends one glance at the cringe-inducing couple before him, grimacing before turning away in Yewangs direction. “I’ll go with him, I don’t wanna third-wheel you two. Gross.”

The two of you leave Yejun alone, basking in each other's presence and sending each other heart eyes. Hiding your relationship wasn’t exactly a part of your plan, and it’s safe to say that a lot of people noticed. 

Eyes were burning through your figures, eyes of every girl in your vicinity. It didn’t take much to know how bitter they were, how jealous they were of you to win the heart of the highschool celebrity. Puffs of steam practically exploded from their ears and their faces were beat red. Each girl gave you sour glances before filing into the volleyball gym, finally leaving the two of you alone. 

“Awe man,” Hyunwoo muttered, catching your attention. “I was hoping to kiss you in front of them to piss them off!” 

You send a slap onto his shoulder, dumbfounded. “Hyunwoo!”

He grinned, flashing you a wink. “It’s fine though, I like it better when we’re alone!”

Instantly, a blush forms on your cheeks as you hit him again. You really hated his way with words. You shake your head, hoping that would whisk the embarrassment away. “Don’t you have to go? The game starts soon!”

Without warning, Hyunwoo dips down. Swiftly, he locks his lips with yours, a hand cupping your side. Stunned, you smile into the kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck as if you’ve done this countless times before. Well, you have done this countless times before. 

You pull away softly, your eyes never letting go of each other. “I know, I just came to do that.”

“Pfft, why?” You cover your lips with your hand. 

“Isn’t it obvious? You're my good luck charm!”

You let out a loud snort. This dork. 

...

[otptings]

Spa Day

✏︎Idols: Zhong Chenle & Park Jisung

✏︎Requested: yessss by my fav Heyyy ive just been feeling really lonely lately so could you just write something about jisung and chenle just wanting to cuddle and watch a movie with the reader cause it’s been a really stressful week so they just want a self care day with the reader like face masks and the reader makes them food her dad used to make her when she was little ( coxinha ) and they eat the food while watching a scary movie hopefully I’m not making you too busy haha thanks in advance

✏︎Genre: Fluff, Bestfriend!Chenji

✏︎Word Count: 1k+

✏︎Warnings: None

✏︎Synopsis: Your best friends deserve more credit then you give them, especially when they force you to take a well deserve spa day.

✏︎A/n: Cute shit, was mainly written without a script. Correction, attempted to write the script but ended up writing over half of it instead in one go. It's short but I really didn't want to overwhelm this fluff. It's really cute, and I love it so much, I just love Chenle and Jisung's friendship, so writing them extend that friendship was incredibly cute 🥺if you liked this please reblog, like, or donate to my Ko-Fi in my bio. If you liked this requests are open for NCT, SVT, Treasure, and Enhypen (few slots open).

“Why are you two always dragging me around?”

Jisung and Chenle ignored your whining as they forced you to sit on your couch. You were trying to work but the boys walked into your apartment - kinda regret giving them the emergency key - and dragged you away from your desk. Jisung saved your work but then proceeded to place your laptop on a shelf that only he could reach unassisted, sealing your fate of not being able to work.

“Don’t move.” Jisung ran off somewhere down the hall while Chenle watched you over, presumably to make sure you didn’t move.

“What if I want to?” Chenle only stared at you with dead eyes and you quickly smiled, ignoring the fact that you felt kinda threatened. “Nevermind.” Mumbling you grabbed one of your decorative pillows, playing with the tassels while Chenle sat on his phone.

“FOUND IT!” You both jumped at Jisung’s yelling, confusion setting in at what he could’ve found. Your question was answered two minutes later when Jisung turned the corner, three fluffy spa headbands in one hand and three of your paper face masks in the other, a bright smile on his face at his find.

“Why were you looking for them?” Chenle snatched your phone from your hand, placing it in his backpack before you were even able to complain. “Hey! Why do y’all keep taking my stuff?”

“We’re having a spa day.” You were sure you weren’t good at hiding your expression if the way Jisung’s face went red had anything to do with it. “You’ve been working a lot. We haven’t been able to hang out often.”

Your face softened at that realization. One look at Chenle and you saw that the feeling was mutual.

“We miss you. We’re idols with busy schedules, but you’ve been so occupied that we haven’t even been able to see you. You don’t join us on the game, join our face times, and you barely respond. Plus you look skinnier as if you haven’t been eating, and I know you haven’t been sleeping properly.” Guilt flooded you at Chenle’s concerned expression. You hadn’t realized they noticed your disappearance that badly, just assumed that since they were in the middle of a comeback it would be swept under the rug.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Now we’re here to take care of you.” You hadn't realized Jisung had crossed the room until he placed a hand on your shoulder. Sighing you nuzzled your cheek into his forearm.

“Thank you.” Chenle visibly grimaced at the sweetness, instead grabbing the masks from Jisung.

“Yea, yea. Let’s just get this over with.” It took ten minutes for the three of you to stop arguing over who got which masks - Jisung was determined to get the mask with the puppy on it, Chenle said he had Daegal so he deserved the puppy mask - and actually properly place them on the two. Chenle won the argument, much to Jisung’s displeasure so he got the puppy mask while Jisung was stuck with the panda mask. It didn’t matter because by the time all three of you had your masks on - you were graced with the bunny mask - you were giggling so hard at how funny you looked that they barely stayed on. Since none of you had your phones on you, you were doomed to just make fun of eachother until the masks dried and you had to peel them off of your face.

The doorbell rang as you threw the masks away. Jisung practically pushed you out of the way to answer it, “Go pick out a movie with Chenle.” Ignoring his strange behavior you decided to follow his advice, heading back to the living room and plopping down on the couch. To your surprise Chenle picked the movie you suggested, a movie that all three of you had watched on one too many occasions. It wasn’t until you were both on the couch, covered with one of your fluffy blankets that you realized Jisung still wasn’t back.

“What is he doing?” Chenle only shrugged, pausing the movie before nearly deafening you as he screamed for Jisung.

“Wait. You’re so impatient.” Jisung mumbled while he walked back into the living room, holding a tray covered with snacks. The center of the tray however held something you didn’t even know they were aware of.

“Where’d you get this?” As Jisung placed the tray on the coffee table you leaned closer, making sure that you were seeing it right. Coxinha. How did they even know about it? You’d mentioned it in passing months ago while talking about your dad when you were home sick. You didn’t even think that they’d remember it, but here they were, set up nicely on one of your plates.

“I found a place that makes them specially. Though you’d like them?”

“You’d talked about them before, and you’ve been so down lately so we ordered some.”

“Do you like them?” Glancing between the boys, both who looked nervous you couldn’t but burst into tears. If your heart wasn’t so filled with love for your best friend you would’ve laughed at their panicking, Chenle placing blame on Jisung, who struggled to pull out tissues to gently wipe away your tears.

“I love them.” Both of them let out a sigh, glad that they didn’t mess up the day specially meant for you.

“Why are you crying?” Chenle smacked Jisung, starting up another argument between them. Shaking your head you pulled both of them into a hug.

“I love you guys.” If you looked up at that moment, you would’ve seen the great, unmovable Chenle’s face go bright red as he was left speechless. Jisung was no better, but he was easy to fluster. Both of the boys awkwardly wrapped their arms around you until your cries were only sniffles. When you looked back up with swollen eyes, and tear tracks staining your cheeks both of them felt the same warmth fill their hearts, grateful that they were able to make you happy.

“Love you too.” Chenle halfheartedly muttered, before playfully pushing you away from him. The three of you spent the night curled up on the couch, watching cheesy comedy movies, and eating all of the snacks they brought. Your heart stayed full, warmth flooding your body as you thought of how grateful you were to have the most thoughtful best friends in your life.

[jenosslut]

water fountain

pairings: lee donghyuck x reader, na jaemin x reader

genre/s: suggestive, angst

warnings: suggestive content

word count: 0.8k

a/n: a little surprise lolol, hope you enjoy!

tags: @neowritingsnet @czennienet @kpopscape @nct-writers @culture-cafe @ultkpopnetwork

—

Stars glow bewitchingly under the noxious night, enchanting anyone under its gleam. In the serenade of late night’s dim glimmer, the stars act as a choir; singing in infinite patterns.

The extravagant Chevrolet Corvette stays parked exquisite, allowing heads to steal glances as it appears deluxe; proving that luxury is a definite thief of scrutiny.

Graciously, Donghyuck grabs you by the hips; pulling your delicate body in as you fall breathlessly onto his figure. The Lee catches your plumped lips in his after brief departure, despising any loss of physical contact. He repeatedly leaves honeyed whispers into your ear, allowing your breath to get stuck up your throat in bewilderment.

Donghyuck holds your body tighter inside his arms, guiding your body towards the Chevrolet Corvette’s back seat as it is more spacious in comparison to the passenger seat.

Your hands find their way towards his soft locks, plunking them eagerly as your lips move together messily; not exactly in concurrence. Donghyuck’s hands continuously travel on your exquisitely breathtaking body, feeling every inch of it on top of his own.

“My phone-” You whisper breathily as the bothersome noise of your phone ringing agitates you both. Donghyuck lets out a groan in grievance, stretching out his arm in order to reach for your phone; acknowledging that it could be extensive.

“Who is it?” You ask as he stares at the caller id, letting out a chuckle afterwards.

“Na is calling, cute.” Donghyuck states as a smile out of mockery commences to play on his face.

“Did you have a date or something?” He questions gravelly, dropping your phone onto the passenger seat as his lips find their way back onto yours.

You throw your head back as his lips come in contact with your bare neck, one of his hands rests on your hip as the other fiddles with the hem of your top.

You hardly succeed in letting out a “Yeah” since Donghyuck’s lips sucking on your neck don’t exactly allow you to put together meaningful words.

“You’re bad.” Donghyuck whispers on top of your lips as he reaches towards your phone once again, switching it to silent mode.

“Tell me about it.” You roll your eyes, stating one last time before the phone is long forgotten.

The two of you focus all of your attention on each other for the night inside the Chevrolet Corvette, bodies pressed tightly onto each other. You feel exceedingly captivated by the burnette, much more than you would like to admit. From the way his body delicately dances on top of yours to the way your name easily slips between his lips. Everything about Lee Donghyuck is more than enchanting and you seem to lose yourself under his spell even more as time passes, melting into every touch.

Though, things don’t feel as euphoric for the Na. A bouquet of dazzling red roses sit loosely inside his grip, about to fall any moment. Jaemin stands still in front of a water fountain, the water fountain you had told him to meet up with you just hours prior.

His expression is dull, no emotion seems visible yet he feels as though tears can stream down his face any second if someone ever slightly touches his figure.

Na Jaemin is absolutely broken. He blames himself for falling in so deep to the point where he has no idea how to get up.

You were the one who reached out. You were the one who told him to wait for you by the water fountain, where you had first confessed your love for him.

Oh, Jaemin swears that he would give up anything and everything to go back to those times. To the times where you visibly held so much adoration for him. To the times when his love received some type of reaction, some type of response.

I guess this is the reality of life, he whispers the bitter truth to himself as the tears he had been holding in for so long finally escape his eyes, coming in contact with his cheeks.

By now, Na Jaemin drops the bouquet made of alluring red roses onto the ground. He is crying, he really is crying because of you. The Na feels pathetic, absolutely pathetic. Yet he can’t seem to help it. He can’t seem to put a stop to the tears falling from his eyes.

That day, his hope gets destroyed. His plans of confessing the amount of adoration he holds for you get crashed.

Na Jaemin couldn’t tell you he loved you by the water fountain, though his tears sure were an accompaniment to the water falling out of the fountain.

After all, water fountains are always crying. How could he have expected to live through a pleasant experience with you in front of a broken water fountain?

[ithinkilikeit-reactions]

NCT 127 “They realise they love you”

NCT 127 masterlist                                              Group Masterlist

Not requested, but I needed some fluff in my life ♥ 

Taeil: 

(I’ve been so attracted to Taeil lately) 

It started off with simply sitting in the same room and listening to music as you both worked on your computers. But it progressed quickly, singing along to the random tunes on the radio. Moving on to standing and dancing around to them, quite horribly. 

Grabbing onto Taeil’s hand and spinning into his chest, making him laugh. You couldn’t help but do the same as you wrapped your arms around his neck. Taeil tucked his face into neck and started swaying you back forth, slow dancing to fast music because you could. 

Taeil realised he could be as weird as he wanted with you and that you were just as weird him and he loved you for it. 

Johnny:

(I am mad that this hoody is not in my posession) 

Walking between the aisles, Johnny was looking for you attentively after he found the drinks he was looking for. He spotted you in an aisle, standing on your toes and reaching for something on the top shelf. You were just too short to reach. 

“Need help?” He asked, placing his drinks in your shopping cart. “That would be great.” You answered, smiling at him. He reciprocated a cheeky smile before crossing his arms. “Hmmm, tell me that I’m the best man in the world first.” You snorted at his words, needing to stifle a laugh. “You know what, I got it.” You told him, placing your feet on the lower shelves to reach the item you needed. Jumping down with it in your hands, you shook it at him triumphantly making him laugh. 

You weren’t shy to put him in his place with his bad jokes when you needed too and you were completely dependant on him, it made him absolutely love you. 

Taeyong: 

“It’s going to be a late night again.” Those seemed to be the words you had been hearing a lot lately, but it didn’t bother you. You were understanding that his job wasn’t like a regular 9-5 job, you knew that when you said you would date him. This time wasn’t any different for you, you accepted it and simply watched your show until you were tired. 

However it was diferent for Taeyong this time, he felt guilty for not being there and it was evident when he came home to find you simply watching your show. Taeyong walked over to you and hugged you tightly, catching you off guard. “Thank you for always understanding when I need to work. Thank you.” He felt the need to tell you, even if it was out of the blue. 

He realised every time he came home to find you still there, he loved you. He loved that you understood and that you never blamed him for his schedule. 

Yuta:

Yuta was feeling the need to be productive, tidying up the house slightly and doing some of the general housework while you were out. But when he got to your room, he found some interesting reading material. It was all about Japan, recipes, popular things to do, important culture information. This was normal, but what stood out to him were the sticky notes placed on the pages. Places he had mentioned being fun and food he had mentioned being good had little notes written by them. 

“Oh you found my book.” You remarked, looking at him from the door frame. “Yeah, what are all these notes?” Yuta asked with a smile. You moved to sit down by him and took the book from his hands. “These are places you have talked about, things you said you enjoyed doing and eating. Because well, I want to learn about what you love and what you enjoyed doing and stuff we can do and try together in the future.” Your words made Yuta smile even wider. 

You wanted to know about his interest, you cared enough to study on these things and make future plans. He loved you for it. 

Doyoung: 

The little projector in his room was perfect for movie dates, broadcasting your movie onto his wall as you both laid in bed and watched. Doyoung’s commentary was witty, the movie not really being that good... quite bad actually and deserving some harsh commentary. 

There was a lul in the film, making you slip your hands under the hoodie he was wearing, not for any other reason than he was nice and warm. Doyoung knew that and accepted your touch. “This acting is so-” He stopped midsentence once he looked at you. Seeing that all you needed was his body heat to get you to fall asleep. His lips curled up into a smile and wrapped his arms around you tightly. 

It was a small action of dependency on your end but it made Doyoung’s heart swell. He loved that you were started to depend on him, because well, he was depending on you too. 

Jaehyun: 

The record store had music playing softly in the background when you both entered. It really had a nostalgic feeling, old records filling the racks and old band posters lining the walls. You both spread out through the store, taking your time to look at records and cd’s. You were great at spending time together but not necessarily needing to be right next to each other. 

Jaehyun looked at you from across the store, simply watching you flip through the records with a little smile on your face. You looked up and locked eyes with him, waving softly once you noticed he was staring. Jaehyun laughed to himself and looked away, only to find himself staring at you once again. This time you were oblivious to it and simply flipping through cd’s. 

You always caught his attention, you were effortlessly beautiful to him even doing the bare minimum. It was something he loved about you. 

Winwin/Sicheng: 

Sicheng had noticed you had been studying something over the course of the last few weeks. That your nose was stuck in your books and it was clearly a subject you were interested in. one day, curiousity got the better of him and he couldn’t help but flip through your study books. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were learning Chinese?” Sicheng asked you, holding your books. “I was going to surprise you. I know you’re more comfortable speaking Chinese and I want you to be completely comfortable with me.” You said softly and you could see his ears turning red. “That- I- I want to help you then! Be your teacher!” He stuttered, trying to hide how happy it made him. 

You wanted him to be incredibly comfortable with him, you wanted to be able to communicate on the fullest level and it was something he really cherished. 

Jungwoo: 

“Shhh you don’t want to wake anyone up.” You said, looking at Jungwoo’s face as you tiptoed through the dorm. “You shhh, this was your idea.” He laughed and you raised your fingers to your lips, trying to stifle your own laughter. You both made it to the kitchen and turned the lights on. Jungwoo went to the fridge and opened it quite agressively, a bottle of juice rolling out and hitting the floor with a loud thud. 

You both couldn’t hold back your laughter anymore, your adventure for a midnight snack being nothing short of a disaster and comical. Jungwoo grabbed what he was originally looking for from the fridge and handed it to you to turn around. “What are you two doing?” Taeyong asked, arms crossed and staring at you both. “Nothing.” Jungwoo quickly said, brushing past the older male and sending you into giggles. Once you both reached his bedroom with your snack you broke out in a fit of laughter. 

Jungwoo looked at you as you settled in his room, still laughing. He loved that he could make some lighthearted trouble with you. He loved that he could laugh with you. 

Mark: 

You had been considering asking him for the longest time, but you knew Mark was very busy and probably didn’t have the time too. But you still wanted to learn, so you finally took the step. “Mark... can you teach me how to play the guitar?” You asked, holding his guitar by the neck gently. The question caught him off guard, making him look up at you with wide eyes. “I didn’t know you wanted to learn how to play.” Mark said, gesturing for you to sit by him.

“I’ve been wanting too, but you’ve just been so busy. I didn’t want you to feel like you needed too.” You explained, allowing the guitar to rest in your lap. Mark wrapped his arms around you after moving the guitar. “I mean I don’t need too, but I want too. It would be really fun to play together.” Mark said and you smiled not being able to contain your own excitement. “Ahh thank you!” You hugged him tightly, making him turn pink. 

He loved how excited you got over small things and how eager you were to learn something new. It was just so endearing to Mark. 

Haechan/Donghyuk: 

You had both made yourselves comfortable, laptops and gaming computer ready to go. It was you and Donghyuk vs. Johnny and Jaehyun and you were both not planning on losing. “Y/N’s like impossible to kill!” Johnny said in frustration and you simply laughed, bouncing around the map happily. Donghyuk laughed, taking out Jaehyun as you swiftly did the same to Johnny. 

“There we go! That’s my baby!” Donghyuk cheered, knowing that the fact that you two won meant that you wouldn’t have to pay for snacks that night. Annoyed, the two older guys left to go pick up the order while muttering things under their breath. “I keep telling them to stop challenging us as a duo, but they don’t learn.” You said, settling into Donghyuk’s bed. He joined you with a small laugh and rested his head on your chest. “You’re right, we’re just too good.” You both laughed and allowed your fingers to toy with his hair. 

In that moment he realised that you and him had so much in common, even in teasing it made him realise he was head over heels for you. 

[sly-merlin]

KILLING ME -11 |N.Y

pairing : law student!reader + yuta

genre :    angst , mafia au/ arranged marriage au.

warnings of this chapter : cursing, explanatory mention of a pistol!

words :: ~5k

summary : “life’s never fair y/n. realise it as soon as you can . it is the only secret for living a regretless life.”                                  

or              

“  curiousity got the cat hitched”

taglist :: @kpop-choco​ @moon-yuta​ @kawaiiayasan​ @btm-taeyong​ @exfolitae​ @lanadreamie​ @cheersskznct​ @hyuckiesgf​ @theworld-accordingtocasey​  @yiyi4657​ @sorrywonwoo​ @sillywinnergladiator​ @suhweo @minejungwoo​ @leesalts​  @mal-nakamoto23​ @ro2424​ @itlittlefangirl​​ @nctzens-world​​ @bl--ankhaeji​​ @simplybree​​

 networks :: @kafenetwork​ @neowritingsnet​  @nct-writers​

K.M masterlist

K.M 10     next

a/n :: header was made with detailed instructions from lovely @cirrus-lily​ (thank you so much for your patience).

Previous night , taeyong’s office.

The thick, heavy unnatural silence was breached by the phone call. Taeil’s muffled words didn’t reach anyone’s ears but taeyong’s reaction was enough for an estimate!

“what did taeil say?”

Taeyong glanced at yuta’s hopeful yet helpless face. Taeil's order was far from what yuta's eyes sought. The past ten minutes were spent listening to the unsynchronized ticking of the clocks and some random whispering of the younger ones from the living room. And now, several pairs of eyes were asking for the answers.

“you will be stationed in nice, f-for two months.”

Yuta’s face hardened at his words. He gulped and opened his mouth to say something but stopped. The words stuck on his tongue would not be able to convey what he wanted to, he thought.

“with johnny?" Jaehyun uttered.

“no yuta is replacing him" taeyong mumbled, hiding his face in his hands.

Yuta snickered , “ as expected.” as much as he didnt want to sound bitter, his senses were not cooperating with him too much.

“this is not about you or johnny. It’s better if you both stay away fr-

“did taeil tell her the truth?” yuta coldly cut him off.

“i don't know about that!"

“then I'll have to do it myself." Yuta stood up, alerting everyone.

“do not stretch this yuta. This can end right here. Your absence woul-

“you got it wrong taeyong!” yuta cackled , “I'm dying to leave this place but don't you think she deserves to know that she's wrong here.”

“please yuta. For last time. trust taeil. this is the last thing I’m asking from you. You’d get the chance to explain. Ju-just not yet.” Yuta scowled at taeyong’s hollow pleading.

He inched forward slamming his palms on the table , “ since when did you start playing with wrong players taeyong? you are supposed to be the smarter one here. Who are you fooling here? you think I don’t know why she’s here or jaemin, jeno, jungwoo, chenle, jisung, mark, they don’t have a hint?” taeyong eyes danced around the room avoiding any contact as yuta continued, “Don't stretch this taeyong. this can end right here. without hurting another one and right before they can get attached. I hope when i come back , you would have sorted this mess out or you won’t have time to regret this time”

Scoffing at taeyong’s hunched figure, he smacked the table once before leaving the room.

Doyoung  followed soon , leaving Jaehyun and Taeyong alone.

Panic engulfed jaehyun’s entire being as he pondered over yuta’s words.

“he’s right. You saw her today. She’s getting worked up over a stupid misunderstanding and you saw the way taeil is acting! This was never the plan. She’s not timid. You cannot possibly make her agree to anything at all. Taeil would never let that happen. Heck! Yuta’s getting weirder these days. Let her go. We can wait unt-

“We. Can’t .wait. I know my limits, Jaehyun and two months are enough..” Taeyong whisper yelled “ I care about her more than you’d ever do so get the fuck out of here. You don't get to tell me what I should be doing.”

Jaehyun leered at the older man, muscles in his jaw twitching at his words  “you have lost it taeyong. if we fail this time, you’d be the one to blame.”

Perfectly ironed shirts were wrinkled as yuta threw them into the case. doyoung was ready to accompany but he refused all the assistance proposed to him. He left nothing. from t-shirts and pants to jumpers, he packed as if he was going for a one way trip to france.

He groaned , jumping on the suitcase, trying to bury the clothes deeper into the case so he could zip it. Once finished,he pushed the cases out of the room and into the hall. locking the door, his running and hurried eyes fell on the opposite room. It was bare of any presence. This was his first time peeking into your room. He was merely looking from afar but the very next second he found himself going through the album resting on the bed covers. a perfect normal photo album was calming enough to subside his inner turmoil.  

yuta scrunched his nose at the small girl who was either frowning or crying in most of the pictures. the family of three looked quite happy. But the girl didn't seem to resemble any of the adults. He almost let out a laugh at your wailing form in every other photo. Just looking at the pictures, anyone with two eyes could tell that you were a spoiled kid. No wonder you were full of attitude and ego, he thought.

closing it, he glanced at the room, simple and plain. Not that his own wasn’t but he couldn’t find anything that had prompted you to lock your door for the whole day. He left the room to lock his own but when he pocketed his keys, they met with something at the end of his pants pocket.

A grunt left his throat at the sight of the screws. He had placed them in his pocket to follow your fuming body, the reason of which he didn’t know back then. He was about to throw them on the bed when the album caught his eyes again. He cursed at himself for being so indecisive. Pacing back and forth , he noticed how composed he had suddenly become. He wasn’t feeling anger, just some traces of irritation for the whole drama that had unfolded.

Before he could convince himself otherwise, he took a paper from your desk, scribbled with a trembling hand and left it on the counter.

All while hoping taeil was actually being reasonable , just this once.

12:30 p.m

Looking through the power window, you stared at taeil’s arriving form, hands full with brown food bags. He hit the car door with his one knee prompting you to open the door from inside.

“when I say you are no better than others ,I really mean you are NO better than them!” taeil chortled as he shoved a bag into your lap.

“what did I do this time?” you rolled your eyes as you anticipated another moral lecture from him.

“nothing. you are making an old man to get food for you!”

“and I had suggested the said old man to enter the drive thru!”

“and drive thru is no fun, duh! The vintage the better!”

“just like someone I know! you exclaimed chewing the burger.

“very funny. You know highway stops are all about breathing in fresh air while stretching your arms, yawning so widely that you have to hide your face in your stretched arm to save yourself from the embarrassment. The first step out of the car after hours of driving feels like restoration of something that was denied to you for such a long time. and the second phase of happiness comes at the engine purring, the feeling is like no other, I’m telling you. but someone lost their chance to experience it .”

“you sound poetic taeil but you lack facts. The fresh air you just inhaled is what we consider a polluted one.I’ll prefer to sit inside and miss all that instead of going out and dying. So let go of the  fancy peace thoughts and develop your perceptions according to the changing world. The sound of this vintage engine is a source of headache and not happiness.Now lemme eat. IN PEACE”

“we’ll see whose perception changes” taeil mumbled munching on the fries.

You both ate in silence for 20 minutes. As the drive continued ,the stilled milieu took you back to the uncertainties you were trying so hard to suppress. When taeil had knocked at the door in the morning, which was beyond expectation at first, he gave you the liberty to question his actions but you had passed that opportunity, precisely to show that you weren’t that greedy. But you were! The endless queries were now making you anxious. Why did taeil come with you? what was the reason behind his pleasant behaviour, how could yuta agree to go like that? sure he liked your presence not more than you did but was he the kind to bow down so easily! Or was he designing something under the colour of acceptance. taken together ,you ended up being the ruthless one here. But the leading one was why did yesterday happen! Multiple stolen glances at Taeil were fairly noticeable; you were waiting for him to just start something. And he perhaps was waiting for you to initiate. Dilemma remained unsolved and you arrived in seoul just like you had left it, but visiting your parents had lessened the encumbrances weighing you down.

You were about to retreat after thanking him when he finally spoke up,

“b.n at 6! No exemption. And instead of racking your brain, just ask. it’s simpler than you make it to be y/n.”

Slamming the door shut , you dragged your feet for the apartment, shaking your head at the man.

Of course he knows everything! And maybe could ask him someday to get your own answers.

10 days later

The gun went off with a bang which if it hadn’t been for the ear protectors and the noiseless sheets, would have deafen your ears. Fingers pointed at the target, eyes coloured with impatience, jungwoo didn’t move. After he was done with his dramatic action, the glass shield slid and he entered inside.

“this is target A. this one is B” he asked for a confirmation with his wide eyes which you nodded at.

“right. so!” he walked circling the dry grass to stand between two targets, “so when I say hit at A, you should be firing at A, precisely aiming anywhere in this space.” he explained again, hand moving in front of the said space.

“I hit at the center jungwoo! The fucking center! For the first time in two weeks.”

“yes. You did hit the core but of the wrong target.”

“how does it matter? It's a perfect shoot”

Jungwoo blinked multiple times focusing on your puzzled face. He wasn’t sure if you were purposely trying to annoy him or you seriously lacked a few braincells to understand where you were wrong!

“at the wrong target.” he pressed.

“but I still hit-

“Ok. listen to me carefully now. Lets assume A is taeil hyung and B is a killer. If i shout to you that kill B and you mistakenly shoot A instead then you’d end up killing taeil hyung instead of the killer and then you’d be a killer yourself and even if the shot was perfect it was targeted wrongly thats why when i say hit A, hit A and when i say B, hit B. understood now?” dumbfounded, you stared at him bobbing your head a few times to indicate you understood. But you really hadn’t.

“You are not lying right?”

“Dont accuse me of lying!”

“Oh! So you still don-

“hey beautiful!”

Your heads jerked towards the owner of the voice who had just interrupted the bickering.

“johnny” you whispered.

“I meant jungwoo y/n.” jungwoo sticked his tongue out at you as he jumped forward to hug johnny.

“When did you come back?”

“just now. I flew directly to Japan from nice. didn’t he inform you all? And why is nobody at home?”

a small smile graced your face while jungwoo started explaining to him about some business event. You felt like jungwoo won’t shut up anytime soon so you turned around from the scene and made yourself busy with the magazine. As you were counting the rubber bullets to fill the magazine, a pair of arms touched your both shoulders.

“wh-

“how are you y/n.”

“you done talking to your prince.”

Jungwoo groaned approaching you with a stern look.

“you’ll have plenty of time to chatter. Focus on your job instead!”

“ugh. You are so annoying. I’m done for the day.” You announced handing the pistol to him.

“wait! what am I missing here.” Johnny's eyes shifted , not knowing what was going on in his absence.

“yuta hyu-

“I know all that. I’m asking about the bullets!”

“Taeil told me to learn some basics to defend myself and jungwoo is my assigned teacher who don’t seem to appreciate my skills at all”

“liar!” Jungwoo screeched and continued, “she’s poor at shooting, hits anywhere but the point I’m indicating at an-and she never listens to me.”

Snorting dramatically at the end, he glares at you. you welcomed his complaining speech with a toothy grin which seemed to annoy him more. One thing you had learnt in the past two weeks had been that jungwoo was frustrating when he was hungry and during the time he was supposed to teach you, no food was allowed in the basement, making him a hunger monster.. Johnny watched the exchange with an amused smile, just like you were doing a few minutes ago.

“alright. You both need to chill. Jungwoo, she's not a professional so go easy on her and you! you should listen to him. or if you want I can be your tutor instead!”

“don’t hijack here. she's my student and I was chosen because I am the softest and the sweeter one her-

“who is a second away from having a breakdown!”

“no go out. You are not invited anymore. nobody is allowed here from 6 to 7:30 .” Jungwoo announced as he started pushing Johnny out the door.

‘”yaa! Jungwoo. I’m go- don’t push me you rascal. I am going. Bye y/n. I’ll be waiting upstairs.” He shouted and waved in the air which you, for no reason, found yourself returning even if he wasn't going to see it.

As johnny was gone, jungwoo pressed the switch again to close the partition. Coming behind you, his arms embraced you and he placed the gun in your hand as he ducked himself to reach your height with another try to improve the hand-eye coordination. Occupied with each other, you both missed the pair of eyes watching you both  in a very unpleasant manner.  

“how’s your research going?” johnny asked with a mouthful of meatballs.

“it’s meh! The library is under construction so I can't properly look through books and besides minjun is too whiny to let me do anything. I can’t leave that kid alone so we're always hanging out after 1. I’ve some resources saved so I’m fine for now” you replied.

“seems like that minjun guy makes you very happy. Is he the one?” jaehyun took your attention as he pinched his neck. You narrowed your eyes at his unnecessary remark.

“my happy pill is not minjun but you jaehyun dear. I haven’t seen you in like 5 days i guess? So that eliminated all the reasons for my unhappiness. Your absence is my elixir jae. ” You grinned. Jaheyun pointed his chopstick at you but before he could utter anything, taeyong spoke up.

“woah. Don’t you two start now.” he cried.

“he’s the one that starts everything! I just continue his shit for it-

“well I won't initiate if its not for that stinky tongue o-

“Shut up before I lock both of you in a room.”

Hearing several snickers, it seemed like taeyong was the only one getting annoyed, everyone else seemed to be enjoying it.

Just when you were about to pour more juice, everything else finished and left the table. it seemed strange as how fast they were done with their dinner.

“how can you all eat so quickly?” doyoung seemed to be more perplexed as he asked taeyong.

“don’t you both know?” you settled your chopsticks on the plate as taeyong proceeded, “the last two to finish cleans the dishes.”

You instantly scanned the whole dining table and the instant regret of eating like a sloth washed over your face. There were only three left and next second there were only two. Jungwoo shot up from seat with his stuffed mouth, waved and left. Taeyong didn’t waste any time before he also scurried away.

“this was a conspiracy y/n.” doyoung murmured.

“I know right. they knew it. w-we have to wash for 14 people.”

“look at the brighter side, we don’t have to hurry now.”

You shrugged at his words, filling your glass with juice again.

“you should not be drinking juice at nighttime.” He lectured

“then why is it on the table?”

“aish! You are impossible.”

“so are you.”

You continued bickering with doyoung until both of you were finished. Like everyone else, you too had started to find joy while annoying doyoung. The responses from him were always a treat. He was also awfully similar to you. the nit-picking in almost everything, forever sceptical body language and lastly the  identical frown you both wore all the time. but you were not the one that detected the similarities, it was doyoung himself.

It was not just doyoung! With exception of jaehyun, it seemed like everyone was trying to make you a part of their daily lives. The day after the incident, you had hesitated to knock the door, scared of their reactions towards you but the dark cloud of worry had floated away with the warmest hug jungwoo had welcomed you with. You detected no rejection, no unpleasant remarks, instead you were strictly instructed to not to leave the premises without having dinner. And that one day became two and two a routine. You were confused as you were the reason someone dear to them was somewhere he wasn't meant to be at the moment and yet they treated you like you were their own! For first few days you were at edge, the affection not digestible. Feeding your suspicions , you tried to choke something out of mark who was also your designated driver but all he unveiled was his endless jokes and contagious giggles weaved with the various stories. Each day he recited a new one, sowing the seeds of intimacy with his family which, you couldn’t deny, were sprouting into something unprecedented. However vague it was, you liked it. You liked this unsought acceptance, being included like a family, taking you back in the time. But you never had the luxury of an easy life. Was this worth trusting? Were you ready to return their affection by placing them on the pedestal as same as jungkook and yugyeom. But this house wasn no more reeking of any resentment and you were more than fine with that for now.

"Stack the glasses, I'll pick up the plates"

"This is so tiring" you complained while scraping the sauce on the plates.

"You'll get used to it." Doyoung deadpanned.

"Tell me why i agreed to this!"

"You know the rules. And don’t you remember because of you, I washed for 20 people that day! You deserve the suffering woman!”

You chuckled at the memory. A few days ago, You, doyoung and hyuck were the last ones remaining.  And you had won the rock paper scissors. Though the last two were the supposed cleaners, hyuck had ditched the poor boy, leaving him with extra load.

"You carry some heavy dark clouds on your head man. I don't know how you manage to end up with dirty utensils!every fucking single time" Doyoung glared at your remark and you both continued washing and wiping the dishes side by side.

"Where are the spoons?"

"On the table. Wait , I'll be back in 2 minutes!"

Carrying the cutlery you made your way back to the kitchen but chanting of a familiar name froze you in your steps.

"He's acting like a child johnny! Had he called you after you left?" It was taeyong speaking in a hushed manner, but he was not doing a very good job in whispering.

"Nope. He just took names and contacts of all the whistleblowers and that's it. But i can’t understand the need for that taeyong! I had everything in control. What do you wanna achieve with your stupidity!”

"Jaemin, hyuck and jisung are in constant contact  with him but only to receive the codes he's sending. He's just unreachable and I'm not just talking about his cell network johnny. I'm losing him. He- taeil thought it’s for the best. They won’t see each others face for sometime an-

“And everything would be fine? Right? Sounds very legit. Goodluck with daydreaming princess.”

Hearing some shuffling, you trudged for the kitchen, not wanting them to be aware of your eavesdropping.

Stretching the hem of your knee length skirt with your hands, you kicked your feet in the air to get the non existing elasticity to work. chances were not less but anybody could see you so while cursing at chelin for the tight skirt you made your way inside the office. Your bag made contact with your right hip as you walked into the office corridors. You entered the security doors through the pass that was generated online for first day entry.You never wanted to enter this side of the famous company but with minimum options available you had no choice but to associate yourself with this branch, infamous for saving culprits of money laundering, false accusations and what not.

“ms. y/n?” a receptionist shifted your attention to her tall frame. You affirmed with a nod and she extended her hand asking for the documents.

“I’ll place your original documents in our custody room. No need to worry, this is a mere formality as we don’t make interns sign confidentiality papers. As you already know , you can end your internship with a three weeks prior notice and when we receive that application, your document would be handed back. And in case, you become an associate, and that would depend on your performance, you’ll get them at the promotion.”

You followed her steps as she stopped at a desk and gave you the papers back.

“change the folder to a chois file. And sign this receipt. I’ll give you a copy and don’t lose it if you want your degree back.” You blinked drinking each and every word she said. You again nodded like  a lost child and completed the formalities. After a few minutes you were shown to your small desk that was decorated with a pyramid of legal files.

“do I have to work on these” you voiced your fear. Even if it was a stipend based internship, nobody would take up that work load.

“oh no! actually I forgot that you were joining but I’ll get it cleaned in the evening so you can adjust for today right?” before you could respond the sound of her heels faded away in the distance.

“Welcome to the great chois y/n” you mumbled to yourself, picking up a random file to pass the time until further orders.

A week later

To keep your mind off the distasteful look painted all over mr. kwang’s face, you chose to look at his new assistant. The clicking or rather banging of the keys of the computer combined with the occasional scratch of her nails was highly uncomfortable but not more than the man sitting beside her. Your professor didn’t find it amusing that his favourite free fund student was asking for her permitted leave.

“how much have you progressed with the thesis?” he scoffed, respectfully dumping the application  on the table.

“I’ll be working half day. I’m not supposed to accompany them to the hearings so I’ll be back in the university in the late afternoon to research on that.”

He sighed, clearly not satisfied by the answer, “you want to skip lectures for an assistant job!”

“I would be promoted shortly so it’s acceptable sir.” A lie slipped out before you could stop yourself.

“what about getting distinction in thesis?”

“I’ll be surrounded with experts so it’s not a big deal sir.  I’m getting late. I’ll see you in Friday’s lecture.” In sync with his eyeballs, he rolled his chair to face the other way. Picking up the paper you bowed to his back and left the staffroom , a grin of content bedazzling your face.

"He did what?" Johnny tried hard to control his laughter but the scenario you were narrating was too humorous for him to keep his hands stable on the wheel.

"I'm not kidding John. Yugyeom seriously forgot kook  at Busan. But he did go back to get him though but I won't blame gyeom for this error!"

"Oh yeah! Just because jungkook slept in the gym doesn't justify his mistake girl. The driver should count the passengers before taking the wheel. Look at me, i never forget anyone no matter what!"

"Stop blowing your own trumpet. Don't forget you are driving a stolen car!"

Johnny rolled his eyes at the comment , "no, borrowed from mark so I can spend more time with you. stop lawyering and tell me what you did in the break. Apart from flirting with jungwoo of course."  

You shook your head at him as he repeated the same you-flirt-with-jungwoo mantra again but this time decided to follow the lead , "so what if we flirt! He's teaching me to save myself from predators , abductors and he’s very gentle with me. Have you seen his eyes! I want to drown myself in the depth of those brown sea-

"Oh my god I'm so sorry! I'm never mentioning that again but please stop. You are awful with words." His laughed again, you joining him soon. " Now seriously tell me how were your holidays"

"Umm nothing new except that everyone was on university funded trips leaving me with minjun , his camera and the plants. We explored botanies and flower shops an-

He had lied. You were not sounding awful but he just hated how quickly his heart beat at someone else's mention from your lips. He consumed each and every word like he could be tested on the said information later on. His eyes were glued to the road and his ears to your voice. He wanted nothing more than to be the only one you’d see. He wanted nothing more than to be subject of your talking but the voice in the back of his mind said fuck it johnny, you are already asking for too much. He hated how he lost control over his senses whenever you were near him but he was slowly getting used to the dilemma. But the trance he was trapped in quickly broke down when you mentioned something. Abruptly stopping the car by the trees, he faced you to confirm.

"You are doing what?"

"I'm interning. Don't look at me like I stole your candy John. I need money." You innocently replied not aware of the reason behind his sudden dumbfounded expression.

"Shouldn't you be focusing on masters!n yuta is supposed to pay for you so why do y-

" I can work for my money johnny." Frustration made its way to your face as you continued,"drop me home johnny!" You weren't sure whether it was for his mention or him questioning your ability to feed yourself but you were offended.

"Yeah I'm sorry. I won't mention that again" a hollow apology and the car sailed again.

Hiding himself in his car seat, Johnny's fingers hovered over various contacts. Taeyong, taeil, Yuta, jaehyun! He wasn't sure what he wanted to do or whose side he wanted to take. He just wanted to be with you and no one else! but he couldnt do that !

Kicking harshly at the brakes, he screamed. The voice reaching no one’s ears but his own.

Was he asking for too much?

i wanted to add more to this chapter but i dont find enough time to write due to some commitments! but i’ll update one more chapter before this beautiful year ends. and all the smut chapters would be uploaded again sans the adult stuff for the minor readers! and there are few more chapters left. masterlist says 12 chapters bcs i’m lazy（￣︶￣）↗　

HAPPY DECEMBER EVERYONE. HAPPY HANUKKAH AND MARRY CHRISTMAS. BE THE SANTA OF YOUR LIFE AND SPREAD HAPPINESS!!

[himitsu-luna]

Umbrella

♪~ Now playing - Love Song, by Nct 127 ~♪

Warnings: none

Pairing: Doyoung x reader

Genre: fluff/ friends to lovers

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— "Ohh great! It's raining!", you say out loud, standing in front of the small convenience store you've just left, while watching huge water drops hitting the ground. This ordinary statement may look harmless, but you were able to make it sound almost like a curse.

You hate when it rains. The thunders scare you, your feet get all soaked inside of your shoes, the traffic turns into a mess of impatient beeping cars, the bright and warm sun is gone, the day loses its colors and becomes gloomy, and you see your mood instantly turning gray like the sky.

Your plans were simple, easy, error proof. Step one: walk to the convenience store, ten minutes away from your home by foot. Checked. Step two: buy ingredients to bake the chocolate chip cookies you woke up craving this morning. Checked. Step three: go back home, prepare everything, and eat the cookies while watching a good drama. Big fail. You now are stuck, unable to give one step out of your shelter. You blame yourself for not having an umbrella. But who would imagine that the beautiful clean blue sky could unleash such a massive waterfall today? "Well, all I can do now is wait" - you finally say to yourself, tired of giving the rain angry glances and accepting that this is a much better option than throwing a tantrum.

After five minutes of a boring waiting, you see from afar a familiar lean and elegant figure walking towards you, under a enourmous black umbrella. You heart skips a beat when the man gets closer and you visualize better the perfect shaped features of his face. It's Doyoung.

Doyoung and you are acquantances since high school, and now you're taking the same course at college. You say "acquantances" because you could never consider yourself close to THE Doyoung. Even though you two interact quite a lot, Doyoung is like an untouchable legendary being. He is the crush of half of the campus, and just because the other half still didn't have the opportunity to meet him. You, of course, is part of the first group.

— "Hey! Y/N!! Hello!! – you see Doyoung waving his slender free hand at you, while approaching more and more. "Hi Doyoung!", You answer, when he is already in front of you, near enough to be able to hear your shy voice. "What are you doing standing here?", he asks you, leaning a bit to get to your eyes' level. "Ah, I'm waiting for the rain to stop, so I can go home. I have no umbrella, you know, hehe". Doyoung straights his back again, and looks at the sky, showing off his long and gorgeus neck, to which you give a quick glance before looking down, timidly. "Hmmm.." – Doyoung stars talking again – "This rain won't stop anytime soon, you know?... Do you... Want me to take you home?" . You freeze for a second, still processing his proposal. You're about to refuse it though, because you don't want to bother him, but he just pulls you under his umbrella and you walk away side by side, arms touching, stepping on the wide water puddles on the street – "Let's go! I can't just let you here", he says with his soft voice.

–"Oh my God, what is happening? Please heart, you're going to give me out!", you think, still not believing you are so close to Doyoung. You walk some blocks in silence, when he suddenly asks you if he can carry your shopping bags for you. You refuse a million times, but he is as stubborn as you, and manages to snatch it from your hands. He steal a glance at its inside, and gives a little chuckle -"Ohh y/n! I see you still like these sour candies no one likes! hahaha". You could feel offended, but you got happily surprised. You didn't know that such a trivial and random fact about you was known to him. Actually, not even your best friends knew about your eccentric taste in candies. You can't help but feeling flattered somehow, trying to hide a fool smile from him.

---

1st year of high school

Doyoung was a new student at the school. He knew no one, and was wandering alone through the school building, looking for something to eat at the break time. He saw a little vending machine in a dark corner near the stairs, and he went there to buy some chocolate. For his disappointment, the machine was mean. It stole his money and gave him no candy. Looking defeated with a empty stomach, he turned around to go back to the class, when you suddenly appeared, slaping the machine at some specific place, making it spit a chocolate bar right away. Doyoung grabed his prize and looked at you. He immediately noticed two things. Your warm, kind and pretty face, and a half eaten green sour candy in your right hand. His heart started beating faster as he introduced himself to you, and yours was in the same state as his, as he showed you his cute gummy smile.

---

Still walking your way to your house, you sneakily try to look at his face, but, for your surprise and shock, he is looking directly at the top of your head. "You... Changed your shampoo?", he asks you, with a curious look in his eyes. "Oh yes! After years using the same brand, I decided to change it! But wait, how do you know that??", you reply, and the confusion is clear in your tone. "It's just... not the same smell. But I still like it". His poker face is really difficult to read, although you can swear you saw some hint of red tinting his pale cheeks for a second. However, all you think as an answer is a plain "Thank you", before you fall in silence again.

---

2nd year of high school

Doyoung and you were lab partners at Science classes. Doyoung loved it, since he got the opportunity to be close to you. You never noticed his amused sparkling eyes looking at you while you excitedly explained him the subject. In one of these blessed classes, while paying attention to a glass filled with a purple liquid in front of you , you two got so close that the scent of your hair mightly hit Doyoung's senses, inebriating him. "Apple". That was his only thought until the conclusion of the class.

---

– "We are almost at your house, right? We just need to turn left there and you'll be safe and sound!" , Doyoung said, in a strangely melancholic way. "Yes! That's right! That's... Right. Oh, so you know where I live?". You were confused. You've just noticed that you never told him where your house was, and he literally guided you there without any instructions. He seems startled by your question, as he answers it, scratching the back of his neck: - " ahh..this... I saw you leaving your house once. So yes, I know." You keep in silence again, but this time you can feel his body becoming warmer and warmer through the few layers of clothes that keep your arms from really touching each other.

---

3rd year of high school

Doyoung was on his way to school, when a gorgeous tree, loaded with pink blooming flowers, grabbed his attention. He stopped to give a good look at it, but suddenly his eyes decided to focus on a beautiful figure, your figure, the one he knew so well, leaving the yellow house in front of the big tree. He was hypnotized. Thousands of petals were dancing over you, guided by the soft spring wind. It was almost like the winter snow, even though your bright sunny smile at the sky reminded him of a happy summer day, and the increasing warmth inside of his chest felt like the cozy Autumn. With that vision he got the confirmation. He was completely in love with you.

---

You stop in front of your house. Now you're facing each other, still squeezed under the black umbrella, the rain insistently pouring over you. It's time to say goodbye, but the farewell just refuses to leave both of your mouths. You, then, finally say, getting your bags back from his hands -"Well, I need to enter now. I'm baking some cookies." "Are you going to put some walnuts in your cookies? I know you love them!", Doyoung says, innocently, getting you by surprise again. "Doyoung, I'm actually really admired! I... I didn't know you knew so many little details about me. You must be a really observant person!", you wrapped your phrase like that, talking more to yourself than to him, trying to not be delusional about it.

Doyoung takes a deep breath. For a minute, he keeps his eyes shut. When he finally opens them, you see their tenderness filling your soul, as he starts to speak :"y/n, I'm only observant when it comes to you. I know a lot of things about you. I know you scrunch your nose when you don't like something; I know you bite your nails when you're feeling anxious; I know your favorite color is orange because your favorite fruit is also orange; I know you're bad at remembering dates, so you have them all written down in your notebook; I know you dislike horror movies, cry at sad movies and get excited over hero movies; I know you speak while sleeping, but only when you're too tired; I know you have this little moon shaped birth mark at your shoulder, and you are proud of it ." He stops to take a breath. Your heart is pumping faster than ever. He moves his free arm and reaches for your hand, intertwining his slim fingers with yours. At the same time, he gives a short step towards you, reducing the distance between your bodies to almost zero. His face slowly gets closer and closer to yours, and you can feel his mint breath as he start talking again: "And I know... I know you like me as much as I like you." This being said, Doyoung, all of sudden, drops the umbrella that was protecting you two, and cups your face with both of his hands. While you get drenched by the rain, your lips land on each other's and melt into a sweet, slow paced and long kiss, full of affection and passion. He carefully breaks the kiss apart, and gives you a cheeky smile, while moving his hands to your waist : "I also know you hate when it rains, and you hate to get soaked, so I'm sorry for this". You laugh lightly, replying before pulling him for another kiss : "I guess you finally got something wrong. I actually really love when it rains".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~°• taglist - @starrdustville

[babiesdreams]

Hi, can I request an nct (you can do Ot23 or a specific unit, that's up to you!) reaction to you self harming? 👉👈🥺 If you don't want to write it, that's ok, of course ❤️❤️ Thank you!!!

I can. But as I always say, please if you feel represented by this, get help, reach out to someone to talk about this issues and remember that there’s always an option. Feel free to message me and find this blog as your safe zone. Everyone’s welcome in here.

Self harm +18 (Because of the topic, not sexual things involved) Ot23

Warnings: Mentions of blood, self harm, mental issues, angsty stuff.

Taeyong 🌹 :  He notices before it’s too late. He knows the process you normally go through before doing it, so when he notices, he quickly stops you. He gets you out of the bathroom and talks to you, calming you down with his words, trying to make sense of his and your messy thoughts. He reminds you how much time you’ve been without doing it and how he’s proud of you. 

Taeil 🌕 : His eyes can’t get off your hand, holding a sharp pair of scissors, looking at how blood comes out from your recently cutted skin. Tears fall down his cheeks, as he stays still, unable to move a single muscle. “How... I-” His stutter makes you drop the scissors onto the floor. You start crying along with him, regretting absolutely everything. Taeil’s mind is stuck in a “What did I do wrong?” mindset for a while, thinking he should have done more. 

Johnny 🐱 : He screams as soon as he sees you “Stop!” You can basically hear his heart breaking, and that kills you. “I- I-” You try to explain yourself, but there isn’t really an explanation to your habit, so you stutter, not knowing what to say or do. “You don’t need to say anything, I’m here, everything will be alright okay?” He hugs you for a long time and makes sure you never get to that stent again.

Yuta 🐙 : “Why is your... What happened?” He doesn’t quite understand at first, as it’s something he never pictured you to be doing, ever. You have to explain everything to him, calmed down and as racionally as you possibly can, and he’ll be cuddling you for a long while. 

Kun 🐻 : “What’s this?” He asks brushing over your recent scars. You can’t hold back your tears while explaining what you were doing. He listens to you patiently, trying to calm you down as much as he can. He comforts you and makees sure you get the help you need.

Doyoung 🐰 : You are the one who tells him. “Why would you...” He tries speak his mind but prefers to keep some things to himself to avoid hurting you. “Just know you can trust in me okay? Everytime you feel like doing it come to me and we’ll talk, just... Don’t ever do it again please” 

Ten 🐱 : “What are these bruises babe? Did someone harm you?” You felt ridiculous, how were you gonna explain to him that you were basically beating yourself up? How are you supposed to explain that? “I- um” After you explain him the situation he would get concerned about your behaviours, even if you didn’t think it was that important, it’s still a form of self harm. “You need to get help before this get worse. Even if I’m here, you need a professional”

Jaehyun 🍑 : “We need to talk” His serious tone has you wishing he won’t break up with you or something like that, but when he brings up the topic, you wish you were death, under the ground, just not there. You get how it’s something important to talk about, but it’s also embarrassing to feel exposed like that. “I’m not judging you babe, I’m just worried because you’re not seeing a problem in here”

Winwin 🐥 : He’s sad about it, but he hides it so damn well. He keeps calm and stays serious, in ways you never seen him before, but when you’re not watching he cries rivers. The simple thought of losing you is just too much for him and he can’t hold back tears. 

Jungwoo 🐶 : You let the overall fall into the ground, revealing your naked body, along with your scars and cuts. You never felt so exposed in your life, but you were also happy it was him you showed it to. “I’m glad you decided to stop doing it and being so brave to show me baby, just thank you for trusting me” 

Lucas 🦁 : Drops the bags he was holding and runs towards you. “What did you- Baby, no- Stop this has to stop. What do you need? Whatever it is I’ll get it for you just don’t please-” He’s so heartbroken. You’re everything for him and seeing you at your lowest just breaks him.

Mark 🐆 : “No hey, hey stop” He says when you start crying out of nowhere. “What happened? Tough day?” You shake your head, not knowing how to bring the conversation up. “I-” You simply say, showu¡ing him your recent cuts, starting to heal. “What’s wrong? Why didn′t you talk to me baby? Were you scared of my reaction?” You simply nod and hug him, letting your feelings explode suddenly. “Just, We’ll get some help for you okay?” 

Xiaojun 🦕 : “I know I can seem cold, but don’t you trust me enough for this baby? I wouldn’t even judge you, I just wanna help you. Will you let me?” His words get you feeling even more emotional, as if you were doing something wrong. “I will, trust you Xiaojun, it’s just, I’ve never told anyone before and..” You are not able to finish your sentence before you burst into tears. “I’ts alright sweetie” He says hugging you tightly.

Hendery 🐴 : Asks you a lot about it. “Why did you do it? But when did you get that thought? Can I do something to help?” He’s truly helpless but the way he tries makes you feel better about it. He makes you realize you do need help, and proffessional one, people who will understand it even better than you. And his cuddles just brush the pain away.

Renjun 🦊 : He’s worried about your health in general, as you barely eat, don’t take care of yourself and basically sleep all day long. He’s concious of the risks of this kind of live, and it makes him wonder how far it could go. He basically talks it out with you and helps you get back to your normal self. It’s a tough path but having him besides you makes it better. 

Jeno 🐶 : “Okay, first let’s get bandaids, and then we’ll talk okay?” He takes care of your injuries, keeping his calmed nature. “There’s nothing to worry about baby, this will never happen again, because I’m here okay?” You nod, still frowning uncontrollably. “Come here” He says pulling you into a hug. “Calm down okay? calm down” He whispers while drawing patterns on your neck.

Haechan 🐻 : Silence feels the room, as both of your eyes look at each other. The intense exchange is really scary to you. He’s just too broken and the fact that you did it with your own actions, kills you inside. “I can explain-” You say. But the tears falling down the boy’s cheeks stop you from talking anymore.  “Never again please” are the only words he’s able to say while you embrace him. “I promise” You whisper in his ear. “Pinky promise?” He asks and you nod, repeating his words. “Pinky promise”

Jaemin 🐰 :  You were sleeping on his chest and, in between carresses he finds out some recent scars on your skin. At first he’s terrified, not knowing what to do. But after searching for info on the internet he decides to confront you. He makes a whole plan on how to tell you, gives you different phones from mental health clinics nearby, buys you chocolate and all your favourite snacks and tries to make some positive memories out of it, to give you some hope about your future.

Yangyang 🐑 : “You said you needed to talk?” He asks scared. You nod at him and try to keep calm as you expose your concerns and alarming recent behaviours. “I just thought you needed to know..” He nods, still processing your words. “You know I’ll be here, no matter what happens, so don’t be ashamed or reserved about your feelings okay? I won’t judge you” 

Shotaro 🦦 : You talk to him, why you’ve been hiding your body lately, why you felt so bad, so not you, so ugly and terrible. And even if he gets upset by the words you use to describe yourself, he tries his best to understand your feelings. “I also feel like that sometimes Y/n but this is not the way. Please just don’t ever do it again”

Chenle 🐬 : “Did you burn your hand cooking something?” He asks and you inmediately start sweating. It’s not how people usually see self harm so it was easier to lie about it, but why would you lie to him? So after a long time thinking, you tell him about it, making sure he understands your concerns and why you did it and everything. He tries his best to get your point but recommends you to talk it out with a professional rather than himself.

Sungchan 🦌 : “Okay so you’re not eating, barely do anything, hide yourself from the world and you want me to think you’re fine? I’m not stupid Y/n, you can trust me you know?” You look at him in the eyes and sigh, knowing he’s right. “Okay, but it’s not that important...” He would be hugging you the whole time.

Jisung 🐹 :  He’s shaking, scared of what he’s seeing. He can’t belive you did that. He can’t believe he didn’t notice before. He blames himself for hours, there’s no way he did the right thing. He was supposed to be your support and instead he didn’t notice you were harming yourself. “I’m so sorry baby” He would say before hugging you.

——————————————————————

Masterlist –requests open– How to request?  Check out your score.

[simpsiren]

hellooo! I love your writing style!! hope everything is going well for you. if it’s possible, I would like to request a chenle imagine where the reader is also an idol and they do a collab then eventually get into a relationship? thank you!!! <33 stay safe and take care of yourself!!!!

genre. angst, fluff

word count. 2.4k~

warnings. none!

a/n. i hope you’re doing well too! omg this req is certainly adorable and i couldn’t help myself to just make this so fluffyy anyways i hope you’re staying safe as well and enjoy readinggg!! <3

“So...”

The air between us was thick. The silence was extremely uncomfortable. I didn’t think that working with NCT’s Chenle for a collab would be anything like this. I didn’t like how I got the request to do this so suddenly, and I didn’t have the right to reject since my manager kept forcing it on me.

We were stuck in the conference room. Everyone that’s part of the collab have already left and told us to get the song started. Chenle was seating on the opposite side, head hung low as he twirled his pen between his fingers, staring down at a blank sheet of paper. “Why did you suggest that we composed the music ourselves? It would have been much easier if we didn’t have to.” I said, shaking my head and leaning forward, an elbow on the table as I pinched my temples.

Chenle sighed and lifted his eyes off the paper and onto me. “I’m sorry for wanting to be original?” He retorted back, lifting his free hand up to run it through his hair and shaking his head, his fluffy hair following.

“I know we don’t want this. So let’s just tell our managers to call it off.” I stood up from my seat and headed to the door. Just when I had my hand on the door handle, Chenle slammed his pen on hard on the table, the sound pierced through my ears, flinching a little due to shock.

“I already accepted it and unlike you, I don’t have the heart to let people down.” His eyes intimidatingly trailed from the paper and to me. Our eyes locked and we had an intensive staring competition to what fet like almost a minute. “So sit and help me write the lyrics.”

I huffed with frustration, stomping back to the chair and sitting down roughly. “We can work on it next week. Does it have to be now?” I asked with annoyance.

It was late at night. I didn’t have the mood to do this. And I bet neither does he. It’s only been hours since we met in person and we’re already having such tensions. It’s probably my fault that we got off the wrong foot, but I’m just that way. My manager knew me well enough to know that I don’t like doing collabs with other idols. But here we are. And Chenle is giving me zero chances to back out.

“You know what? Fine. We can stop here. But I better have some sort of idea from you.” He breathed out, clearly sounding annoyed as well. He pushed his chair back and grabbing his belongings. After cleaning the table, he went to the door. After glaring at me and rolling his eyes, he left.

I placed a hand on the table, leaning my body as I faced the door. I scoffed, glaring as if he was still standing there.

“Why did Mister Koh make me do this?” I whined out angrily, slamming my head on the table as I groaned out.

I was informed to meet Chenle at a recording room. And when I got there, I was met with an extremely intimidating Chenle. I don’t know what he’s pissed about. But he was looking at me as if he’s staring into my soul. Or perhaps it was just his resting bitch face. Either way, I did not like that look on him. Is he only like this towards me?

“I’m here. And I did come up with a few ideas.” I sat down on the chair beside him. He was sitting in front of a piano. He spun his chair around to face me. “You’re late.” Chenle stated with a firm tone.

I nodded my head. “Yeah. Not my fault. I had a recording session.” I simply replied, matter-of-factly. I began putting my bag down and taking out my notebook that had my ideas along with a pen. “Did you come up with the melody for it as well?” Chenle asked. He got closer to me, peeking at my notes. I closed it and pulled it away from his eyes.

I gulped, realising just how close he was to me. The two of us looked at my notebook that was in the air before making eye contact. I didn’t know what happened, but we didn’t bother moving back, or pulling away from each other’s gaze.

I cleared my throat, shaking my head as I placed the notebook back down and flipped to the pages where I had my ideas. I slide the notebook to Chenle. He grabbed it and allowed his eyes scan through the notes. “I liked the one you cancelled out.” Chenle said with a shrug. He moved his chair to the piano and began playing a few notes.

I read over what I cancelled out and remembered why I did. “You weren’t suppose to read that.”

“But I did. And I like it.”

“But I don’t.”

The two of us looked to each yet again, his brows cocked up while I blinked my eyes. “Let me try something.” Chenle started pressing on his piano again, switching from key to key like trail and error. He then cleared his throat and propped my notebook in front of him. He leaned forward to read the lyrics and began singing. I was able to note a few things from just watching him for fifteen seconds.

One, his voice was beautiful. Of course, that’s true to all idols in the world. But his was unique. For the first time in a long time, I felt goosebumps forming on my skin when I heard it for the first time. I mean, to be honest I never listened to NCT which is why I’m so unfamiliar. Again I blame Mister Koh for dragging me to work with someone I have never known about but that’s besides the point. His voice is the kind that could put you to sleep, one that puts you at complete peace no matter the situation, it makes the world slow down and revolve all its energy around him, and only him.

Second, he’s fast. Very fast. In terms of being able to sing my lyrics with a melody together with a piano. I realised how he was able to note the feelings the listeners should get from my lyrics, and bringing it out with the piano. He sang it very well. I loved it, as much as I want to deny due to Chenle.

“How’d you even-” I asked, gasping weakly at the end. Chenle gave a warm smile. A new smile that lit up his entire face, not the expressionless one that gives off bitchy vibes. He was truly happy, that I could instantly tell. It was a smile that’s entirely different from last week. I kind of felt my heart softened at the sight.

“Let’s work with this.”

It’s late at night. Very late into the night. The two of us had long schedules today but yet we had to meet at the recording studio to finish up the song. We’re almost finished with it. 

“We can end it off with the chorus but sing it in a different key. And back it up with some high vocals.” Chenle suggested, looking at me. I nodded my head, rubbing my eyes and forcing them open, trying my hardest to not fall asleep on sight. “Want to try recording the high note?” Chenle fiddled around with the controls in front of him. I never knew how that thing worked. I took in a deep breath, swallowing after.

“I can’t do high notes. I mean I used to but it’s not my thing anymore.” I let out, resting my cheek in the palm of my hand. Chenle sat there in silence, not knowing what to reply. He seemed tired as well, seeing how long he took to process my words. He eventually hummed but shook his head. “I want you to try. I think it’ll sound good.” Chenle insisted, standing up to open the door that lead to the recording booth.

I frowned, lazily shaking my head. “Please we can just use your voice for that part.” I tried flashing him my puppy face, eyes batting in his direction as my brows sunk and I deepen my frown, to which he responded with a scrunched up nose and face, scrutinizing me up and down. “Don’t ever do that again. It looks horrible on you.” Chenle dryly commented, his bead jerking towards the recording studio. 

I sighed and pushed myself off my chair, walking towards Chenle. I flared him a glare with feigned exasperation. Chenle chuckled softly and closed the door as soon as I entered. Chenle went back to his seat in front of the control panels. After seeing him adjusts a few more things through the glass, he leaned forward.

“I’ll start playing from the end of verse two. You can try singing your part of the bridge if you’d like.” Chenle spoke into the mic after I placed my headphones on. I hummed and nodded my head. After a few seconds of warming up my voice, I gave him a thumbs up and I signal to start the music.

It began playing in my ears and I took in a deep breath before singing. I took Chenle’s advice offering to sing a note or so higher than I usually do. It felt uncomfortable which made me stop singing for a moment as I got nervous. 

“It’s okay. Keep going. It was nice.” Chenle whispered calmly. I felt myself being soothed and calmed by his voice yet again. I turned my head to him, who was looking back at me with hopeful, gentle, and sweet eyes. He dipped his head down slightly as a way to urge me to keep going. 

I puffed up my cheeks and huffed quietly, waiting for my part to come in. At that moment, I couldn’t take my eyes off Chenle, and neither can he. We locked eyes and time paused. In that split second, I took a picture of the moment in my head. I didn’t know why, but I wanted it to be remembered. A simple thing like holding eye contact with Chenle had my stomach churning and butterflies being produced. I couldn’t possibly be falling for Chenle, right?

I continued to sing, my eyes still fully locked on with Chenle. I flashed a soft smile after I finished. Removing the headphones, I placed them down and walked out the recording booth. Chenle immediately stood up from his seat and run up, pulling me to him and hugging me tightly. 

“That was amazing! Why didn’t sing like that in your other songs?!” Chenle shouted with excitement. I stood there frozen, not being able to move an inch of my body. I felt my heart skipping a beat, heat rushing up to my cheeks. Why am I feeling like this? As if I had always hoped for something like this to happen over the times we’ve spent together.

Chenle notice how I wasn’t hugging back. I was so stiff. He pulled away, bringing a hand up to rub the back of his neck, breathing out a soft chuckle. “S-Sorry about that.” He whispered. He had his head up, was looking everywhere but me, which made me tilt my head in awe.

“Thanks. It felt weird at first.” I interlocked my fingers in front of me. “Should we order food? I’m hungry.” I asked, trying to change the subject so we wouldn’t have to face this weird gap between us. Chenle nodded firmly and quickly, grabbing his phone out of his sweatpants. “Let’s see what they have.”

I looked at the time. 3:02AM. We just finished eating and we were sitting silently on our phones next to each other. I yawned loudly, covering my mouth to excuse myself. I felt my eyes closing and my brain switching off. I was this close to falling asleep. But I knew we still had to record the full song.

“You tired?” Chenle whispered, not looking at me as his eyes were kept glued to his phone. I hummed softly, my head hanging low as I kept jerking myself awake. “A little. Just let me sleep for a little while longer before we record again.”

Suddenly, I felt a hand lightly pressing on the side of my ear. It was Chenle’s, slowly guiding my head to rest on his shoulder. ��Was just trying to get you comfortable.” He blurted out, he tilted his eyes down on me before quickly switching back to his phone, coughing lightly. I chuckled. “Thanks.”

I closed my eyes fully, smacking my lips as I moved my head around a little to find a comfortable spot on his shoulder, which eventually ended up being the crook of his neck. Absentmindedly, I breathed in his scent. He wasn’t wearing any perfume but it smelt like he was. I sighed calmly.

I felt his body moving, His arm was placed around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. I felt my heart beating faster as I realised I was laying on top of him, his chest going up and down as he breathed.

“Are you okay with this?” Chenle asked politely, his hand going up to my head and stroking my hair gently, his touch ever so light and fragile. “Oddly enough, I am. I’m just too tired.” I rest my head on his chest, my eyes were now back open since I cannot shake the fact that we’re in this state. Why am I enjoying this so much? What’s Chenle doing to me?

I was the first one to wake up. He sleeping figure still below me. I slowly lifted up my hand, my fingers traced the features of his well made face. I moved my hand up to his hair, ever so lightly running my fingers through them as I took the time to admire its softness, twirling them in my fingers.

“Enjoying my hair?” Chenle said, voice low and raspy. I gasped lightly, looking down from his hair and my eyes met his. He had a slight smirk on his face. I scoffed and pulled away, sitting up straight and folding my arms. “Didn’t.” I felt his hand on my wrist.

Out of the blue, he pulled me back down in an instant. He smiled softly. “Again.” He simply said. I raised a brow. “What?” I questioned, utterly confused. He guided my hand back up to his hair. I blinked my eyes rapidly. Chenle didn’t speak a word after, closing his eyes as I assumed he was going back to sleep.

I bit my lower lip in nervousness, playing with his hair again as he hummed in satisfaction. I laughed and shook my head. “Cute.” I whispered.

“You more.” Chenle wasn’t asleep.

[beenbaanbuun]

NCT 127′s reaction to their S/O fainting during an argument

This got really personal for me in some places (literally all of what I wrote for Doyoung) , I don’t even know why. 

TAEIL

You glared at each other, neither of you standing down. You were extremely angry at him; how dare he accuse you of being selfish when you took a week off of work to see him on tour. You needed that money, especially since your landlord put your rent up, but you were throwing it away to spend time with your boyfriend.

“Have you thought about the fact that I might be too busy to see you? You can’t just spring this on me because that makes me the bad guy when I can’t spend time with you.” You shook your head at him in disbelief. You might not be able to afford to pay for your house this week, yet all Taeil could focus on was the fact that he wasn’t expecting you to be there. 

“If you’re going to be like this, I’ll go and find another hotel to stay at for the week. I can’t believe you Taeil.” You pushed yourself away from the hotel table, ignoring the dizziness you felt; you were too angry to think about it. Taeil just watched you grab your coat, and begin to storm off. You didn’t reach the door before you started to get black spots in your vision, and within a few seconds, you were on the floor. Taeil didn’t know what to do; this was his fault after all. He felt like crying, but he couldn’t do that, especially when you were lay on the floor needing his help.

“Wake up, baby. Please.” He knelt beside you as he spoke, worry showing through his words. He gently shook your shoulders, trying to wake you up, but it wasn’t working. All he could do was call an ambulance and ask for them to help. It was about 5 minutes later when you woke up, your head in Taeil’s lap as he spoke on the phone. Your throat felt dry, so you didn’t want to speak. Instead, you lifted your hand, tugging on his clothes. The look of surprise on his face when you got his attention almost made you laugh, but you were cut off by Taeil pressing his lips to yours.

“I’m so sorry, but please, never scare me like that again.”

JOHNNY

“Are you actually taking the piss, Johnny?” You glared at him, a fire burning deep inside of you. He’d skipped the date you’d organised to spend a day with Mark. Normally this wouldn’t upset you too much, but then again he normally let you know if he couldn’t make it. When Johnny came over the next morning to see you, you couldn’t control your anger, and neither could he.

“Well maybe I just wanted one day without you clinging to me. As far as I was aware, I was allowed to see my friends.” Shock was the only emotion you felt. He thought you were clingy, and that was enough to make you want to leave the conversation. You wanted him out of your house until he apologised. “What? No comeback to that? You’ve finally shut up.” He watched as your face turned redder and redder withe every word he spoke.

“Shut the fuck up and get the fuck out of my house.” You weren’t sure whether he heard you or not; your voice was quiet and he stood there for a few minutes. He just watched your face, trying to see if you were being serious. After a few minutes you’d had enough of him not leaving, so you stood up, about to force him out of the house, but as soon as you stood up, you fell. Johnny managed to catch you, his eyes widening in shock when you fell.

“Oh god. No, no, no.” He began to mumble to himself, slowly laying you down on the floor. He didn’t know what to do, his eyes flicking around the room searching for something, anything that would help. Nothing stuck out to him, so he sat on the floor with you, his heart beating faster than it ever had before. His hand rested on your head. As soon as your eyes flickered open, he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. We can go on as many dates as you want. I love you.”

TAEYONG

He didn’t mean to get angry, but all he wanted to do was sleep, and when he got back to the dorms to see you in his room, he snapped. He quite clearly didn’t want you there, and honestly, if he was going to act like this, you weren’t sure you wanted to be there either. That being said, you were stubborn, and you weren’t leaving until you’d won the argument.

“I just don’t see why you have to come here when I say I’ll be home late. I’m quite clearly tired and I don’t want to have to stay up and listen to you talk about insignificant shit.” You were taken aback by what he said. You never knew that he though what you told him was insignificant. As far as you were aware, he enjoyed hearing you talk about your day, but apparently not. A sigh left your mouth as you stood up from his bed.

“Well I know when I’m not wanted, Taeyong.” You were sad, so you put the pain you felt in your head down to the fact that you were holding back tears. Taeyong regretted shouting at you, but as he watched you leave his jumper that you wore on the way here on his bed, choosing to leave the dorms in just a thin t-shirt, he realised nothing he could say would make things better. He sat on his bed, listening to you say goodbye to a few of the other members who were sat around, until he heard a bang and shouts from the members.

“What’s happening?” His voice was loud as he walked into the living room to see you sprawled out on the floor, Mark staring at you in shock. Tears began to gather in Taeyong’s eyes and he couldn’t help but blame himself. Maybe if he hadn’t chased you away, you wouldn’t have got so upset and this wouldn’t have happened. He sank to his knees next to you, just in time for you to open your eyes. You were confused to say the least; you were lay on the floor and your boyfriend was crying next to you, of course you were confused. Any feeling of confusion vanished as soon as he kissed you though, and a feeling of comfort spread through your body.

“You’re staying here tonight, and I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

YUTA

“Maybe if you actually told me things and didn’t hide everything away from me then we’d both be happy.” He’d showed up at your apartment late at night, only to find you crying in your living room. At first, the discussion was exactly that, a discussion, but soon it turned into an argument when you refused to tell him why you were so upset. It wasn’t like you were never going to tell him, but at that exact moment in time, you weren’t in the right head space for it.

“If you’d just listen to me, I’ve told you several times now that I will tell you, just not now.” Yuta still didn’t understand why you weren’t telling him, horrible things running through his head. He began to wrack his brain, trying to come up with solutions as to why you wouldn’t tell him what was wrong, but he never found anything that stuck out to him.

“Well I don’t think secrets belong in a relationship. If you don’t feel the same, then maybe we shouldn’t be together.” Silence fell across the room as he said those words. Neither of you had ever mentioned breaking up before, and as far as you were aware, it wasn’t even on the table. You were shocked, you couldn’t deny that, and suddenly it felt like you couldn’t breathe. You were trying your hardest to take air in, but your head began to spin, and soon, your vision went black.

Yuta watched you tumble to the floor, not being able to move due to his own shock from what he said. He’d taken the argument too far, and he regretted everything he said. As soon as he heard the thump of you hitting the floor, though, he was broken out of his trance and soon got to work with helping you. When you woke, you were in your bed, being watched by a concerned Yuta. He watched as your eyes flickered open, a relieved smile making its way to his face when they opened fully.

“Tell me whenever you want, (Y/N). I’m willing to wait forever if I have to.”

DOYOUNG

You didn’t even know what you were arguing about anymore. It had started well over an hour ago, and neither of you would back down. At first, he accused you of not liking his friends, but now, he was picking out all of your flaws, trying desperately to find something to hurt your feelings and win the argument. Although, it’s not like you were doing any different.

“You know, not as many people like you as you think, (Y/N). You’re annoying and you need to grow up a bit. It’s like having a child around me constantly.” That was the last straw before you completely broke down into tears. It wasn’t like you even meant to be annoying or childish, that’s just how you were and you thought that he loved you the way you were, but evidently not. Doyoung expressed no regret, on the other hand, his face stony as he watched you cry.

“Why are you with me then?” Your voice was barely above a whisper, but Doyoung seemed to hear, and was quite clearly shocked by what you said when he let out a small ‘what?’. “If I’m so childish, why do you even want to be with me? Surely you can go and find someone more mature, if you really wanted to.” At that moment, you decided you were finished with the argument, but you only took a couple of steps before your vision went black and your body crumbled onto the floor.

“(Y/N), no.” Doyoung’s voice was desperate as he sank down onto his knees, reaching out to touch your face as he did so. He was scared and confused, and he couldn’t hold back the tears. He wished he could take back every word that he’d said; maybe then you wouldn’t be in this situation right now. It took a few minutes for you to open your eyes again, and when you did, all you heard was Doyoung crying. His face was buried in your neck, and you could feel his tears dripping onto your shoulder, wetting it. The sound of you shushing him made him bring his head up, his eyes red as they looked into yours.

“I’m so sorry, (Y/N). I’m so, so sorry.”

JAEHYUN

Jaehyun was being childish now, and you couldn’t quite believe how he was acting. You’d had a tiny argument earlier in the day about him not helping enough around the house, and now everything he did, he did to get a reaction. He’d got himself a sandwich and left the kitchen a tip. He took his clothes off in the bedroom and left them on the floor in a pile. Now, he’d spilt his water and just left it on the table.

“Are you fucking joking?” Jaehyun turned his head to look at you, a petty smirk on his lips. He knew that what he was doing was driving you insane, but he didn’t seem to be bothered by that. “Clean it up.” Your voice  wavered as you spoke, letting Jaehyun know that you were close to the edge, but he thought he’d push you a little bit further. It couldn’t hurt, right? He shook his head, watching a frown take over your face. His smile only grew, making you want to tip your drink over him, but you decided to be the bigger person.

You stood up from the sofa and began to walk to the kitchen, muttering yourself the entire time you were walking. You felt a little dizzy, but you pushed the feeling away, putting it down to your anger. The truth was, you were exhausted from picking up extra shifts at work and then coming home and cleaning up after your boyfriend. When you reached the kitchen, your dizziness got worse, making you double over as you reached for the towel on the side. Soon enough, Jaehyun heard the sound of something hitting the floor come from the kitchen.

As soon as he saw you on the floor, he felt sick. He knew you were stressed, yet all he did was push you to your limits, and apparently, break you in the process. His immediate thought was to call Taeyong for help, but all Taeyong did was call him an idiot for not calling an ambulance, which he did immediately after Taeyong hung up. It was dark outside when you woke up, and you were in a hospital bed, Jaehyun holding your hand that didnt have an IV in. His face was pale, and he looked more stressed than you’d ever seen him, but as soon as he saw that you were awake, his face lit up.

“You’re on bed rest until I tell you otherwise, missy. You’re not collapsing on me again.”

WINWIN

Winwin hadn’t said a word to you since he’d come home from the party, and it was starting to bug you. You could tell he was bothered by something, but you couldn’t quite place your finger on it. Eventually, you decided to ask him, but that was a bad mistake. As soon as you’d finished, Winwin began to talk, but his voice wasn’t his usual calming tone; he sounded furious.

“You were the only girlfriend not at the party tonight. It’s like you never make an effort.” You sighed, taking in everything he said, but not quite believing that he’d said them. You made him lunch every day, drove him to work when he stopped at your flat, picked him up from the dorms at stupid times in the morning whenever he wanted to cuddle, and yet he had the balls to say that you made no effort? Truth be told, you really were looking forward to the party, but you’d been feeling ill all day.

“Are you joking, Sicheng?” Part of you thought that he actually was, but when you looked into his eyes, you saw no sign of lightheartedness. “You know what, if you’re going to be like that, you may as well go to the dorms. You’re not spending the night here if this is how you’re going to act.” You stood up to head to the bedroom, but you must have done it too fast, because as soon as you’d stood up, you fell to the ground.

Sicheng was quick to follow your body to the floor, his eyes checking over you to see if you were hurt. He remembered you telling him you didn’t feel good, but it hadn’t occurred to him that it was this bad. He began to tug at his hair, panicked about what to do to help you, but no solutions came to mind. He just sat, watching you, hoping to see the slightest movement. After a few minutes, he did; your eyes began to flicker open, making him gasp. You’d barely woken up before he wrapped his arms around you, holding you tightly to him.

“I’m so sorry, baby. You never told me you were this ill.”

JUNGWOO

Jungwoo wasn’t talking to you, and you weren’t sure why. At this point, you weren’t happy with him. If he was mad at you for something, he should tell you. Trust is what you’d built your relationship on, and you wanted him to trust you enough to tell you what was wrong. It was a few minutes before he spoke up, asking you to pass him his phone that was resting on the table beside you.

“So you’re talking to me, now?” Jungwoo sighed, hearing the edge to your voice. He was just tired, and when he got tired, he got quiet. He just sighed, deciding to ignore your comment. “Of course not.” You grumbled, slumping down in your seat. His eyes rolled into the back of his head in annoyance.

“I’m not ignoring you, I’m just tired, and you’re annoying me.” To hear that he wasn’t ignoring you made you relived, but the fact that he called you annoying sparked up a new wave of anger. You picked up your phone and left the room, deciding to go elsewhere so that you didn’t ‘annoy him’ too much. Profanities left your mouth the entire time as you muttered to yourself about how selfish Jungwoo was being. In fact, you worked yourself up so much that you begin to feel dizzy, and when you realised you had nowhere to sit down, you held onto the wall, hoping you’d be fine. You weren’t; your knees gave way, and you slid to the floor, your vision reducing as every second went by.

Jungwoo heard a loud noise, and thought it was you throwing something, so he decided to diffuse the situation. He left the room, only to see you lay on the floor, and he seemed to go into shock. You’d never fainted before, and its not like you showed any signs of exhaustion or illness, so what were you doing lay on the floor. Part of him thought you were playing a joke, but after he called your name a few times, and you never so much as moved a finger, he confirmed that you had indeed fainted. When you woke up, you were in your bed, Yuta and Jungwoo at the end of your bed. Coughing, you got their attention, and Yuta gave a quick wave and left.

“You scared me, baby. I even called Yuta to help me move you onto your bed.”

MARK

You knew as soon as the argument started, it was going to get childish pretty soon. Mark couldn’t stop laughing at everything you said, getting you more and more annoyed. Honestly, you couldn’t tell whether he was just being a bit dim, and hadn’t actually realised you were upset with him, or if he was just doing it to annoy you. Either way, it was driving you up the walls.

“Can you shut up for one second, Mark?” A scowl rested on your face as you watched Mark desperately try to contain his laughter. He’d always said you were ‘cute’ when you were angry, and that’s why he laughed, but you certainly didn’t feel cute. The heat you felt radiating from your face told you it was red, and you knew you weren’t cute when you shouted, so why was Mark laughing? “You know what? I’ve had enough. Come and talk to me when you’ve grown up.”

You stormed out of the room, feeling as though you were going to burst a blood vessel if you didn’t calm down soon. Mark’s laughter had stopped, probably realising you weren’t joking around with him. He’d genuinely upset, and honestly, he wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. Sure, he’d comforted you plenty of times, but never after he himself had upset you. As he was thinking, he heard a thud. He knew that sound; you’d fallen over. A small chuckle left his mouth as he walked over to where the sound came from, wanting to check if you were okay.

When he saw your body on the floor, his first thought was to call Johnny; he’d know what to do. Johnny agreed to come over and help Mark take care of you until you’d woken up. He made sure to rip into Mark about upsetting you to the point where you fainted as soon as he’d lifted you onto the sofa and gotten a glass of water for you when you woke up (as well as one for a very stressed Mark). In fact, the first thing you heard was Johnny’s voice. It was calm, but he still sounded angry when he spoke. You felt bad for Mark, even though he’d upset you, so you made a sound, getting everyone’s attention.

“Oh my god, (Y/N). I never thought you’d go this far to make me grow up.”

HAECHAN

If there was a way to win in an argument against him, you would have found it by now. But you hadn’t, so there wasn’t. Every argument with him led to the two of you going around in circles with Haechan being his usual petty self. Most arguments would lead to the two of you going into different rooms until one of you broke first and went to the other for comfort. 

The argument had upset you, so there you were, sat on your bed. Something boring was playing on your laptop, but you were too busy getting worked up over the argument. Donghyuck had said some pretty hurtful things, not that you’d been any better. You regretted it, of course, but he started the argument, and he was the first one to use insults to win.

Overthinking was your worst trait. You weren’t even bothered about what your boyfriend said, more worried about whether you’d upset him or not. You’d not heard him in a while, meaning he was cooling off too. Your head was full of thoughts that were only upsetting you, making you more and more stressed as the minutes ticked by. You ended up sat under the quilt, your chin tucked into your knees as you cried, feeling sick about everything that you’d said. That was when your vision began to get splotchy, black patched appearing here and there, until your whole vision was clouded.

Donghyuck felt just as bad about what he’d said to you, but all he wanted was your arm’s wrapped around him and your forgiveness. As much as the two of you insulted each other, you couldn’t go long without seeing each other, or cuddling. He made his way up to your bedroom, opening the door to see a mound under the quilt. He smiled, thinking you were sleeping, but when he shook your body to wake you up, you didn’t. His heart began to beat faster as he tried more and more ways to wake you up. Eventually he gave up, choosing to sit next to you on the bed, watching for any movement. The moment your eyes began to flicker, he pounced on you, holding you tightly against him.

“Don’t you dare pass out on me again. I love you too much.”