#itzy oneshots

[fantastic-bby]

Love is a Waiting Game (Teaser)

Pairing: Ryujin x Changbin, OC x Changbin

Word count: 1.9k

Genre: Slice of Life | Crack-ish | College AU

Seo Changbin has a bit of an odd life. He finds himself waiting quite a lot. Especially when he’s faced with Shin Ryujin, a shy woman with a love for bomber jackets and her eccentric group of friends who always seem to find a way to put her in strange situations.  But Changbin finds himself realising that there’s nothing that makes him wait more than love when he tries to get closer to Ryujin, who’s still struggling to find herself but also can’t seem to resist his advances.

Publish date of full fic: 5th August

Full fic details

Word count: 37k

Genre: Romance | Fluff | Angst | Slice of Life | Bittersweet | College AU

Tags + Warnings: Mentions of blood | Mentions of corpses | Past gang involvement | Violence | Marijuana usage | Alcohol usage | Themes of sexuality/asexuality | A bit of insecurity surrounding the topic of that

Masterlist | Full fic | Ao3 Link

Adventures of Campus Masterlist

...

“You guys want to get started on another one?” Jisung suggests, lollipop stuck in between his lips as he sits on the swivel chair sideways, legs dangling off of the armrest of one of them and his head hanging off of the other. His nonchalance seems to rub off on his friends from how calm and chill Jisung can get; the first example being how he’s currently sitting on the chair while he chews on a lollipop. 

Yes. 

Chews.

“Eh, what’s the harm in that?” Raisha shrugs from the couch with her bass in her lap. She’s been playing it to herself the past few hours while the guys busy themselves with lyrics and the actual mastering of the music. Well, it’s actually just Chan that’s mastering the track while Changbin writes lyrics. Jisung is lazing away in his chair and throwing suggestions left and right or picking up his guitar to play anything that he thinks fits the vibe of the track. 

“Let’s actually get the lyrics done on this one before we move on to another song,” Chan chuckles. 

“Changbin, how far into the lyrics are you?” Jisung asks as he allows his chair to turn to face him. 

“Not that far,” he sighs. “I don’t know what else to write. Nothing’s coming to mind when I listen to this track.” 

“Then write about that,” he shrugs. 

A moment passes before the both of them suddenly shoot upright and stare at each other with bright eyes. 

“An idea!” they yell at the same time.

“You’re a genius!” Changbin laughs excitedly as he starts scribbling down lyrics onto the page. Jisung grabs his own notebook as well, finally sitting in his chair properly, and writes down his own lyrics. Chan seems to have his own spark of inspiration from seeing the two of them while Raisha watches in amusement. 

“You guys really just bounce off of each other huh?” she chuckles. She only laughs more when they seem so immersed in writing lyrics that they don’t seem to have heard her and she returns her attention back to their bass to allow them the space to spew their creativity onto their notebooks. 

Another half an hour passes and Jisung’s the first to shoot from his chair with his notebook, “I’m done!” 

“You are actually sent by God,” Chan chuckles in disbelief as Jisung places the notebook on the table in front of him and he lets his eyes skim over it. “Run into the recording booth and let’s get it onto the track.” 

“Yes sir!” 

Changbin watches with a fake grimace on his face at how quickly Jisung has finished writing the lyrics, but it slowly fades into an, almost, proud smile. He isn’t entirely surprised since Jisung’s proven to be extremely fast when it comes to writing lyrics and he proved it the first time when Raisha dared him to fit a whole chocolate muffin the size of his fist into his mouth. Right after Jisung swallowed it, he wrote two verses and a new guitar riff in the span of half an hour. 

He glances at Raisha who watches Jisung with a small smile on her face as Chan starts the recording and he starts rapping. 

“He’s actually pretty damn good,” Raisha chuckles. 

“He’s fucking amazing,” Changbin corrects her with a laugh. He leans back on his arms and watches the way the lyrics flow out of Jisung’s mouth so effortlessly, the sound flooding through the studio monitors on Chan’s desk. 

“That’s perfect, Sung, thank you,” Chan praises when he pauses the track. “Get out here and give it a listen.” Jisung bounces in his spot for a moment before rushing out of the room. 

But right before Chan starts the track, there’s a knock on the door that has all of them turning their heads. 

“I’ll get it. You guys just keep working,” Changbin says and stands up off of the floor. 

After Jisung’s sudden appearance, the idea of someone knocking on the door of the music room in the middle of the night stopped being so surprising. 

Changbin opens the door and his eyes almost pop out of his skull when he’s faced with a woman who can’t be any older than Jisung. Her hair’s dyed dark blue and cut right above her shoulders as she looks at him with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her black bomber jacket. 

Holy shit, she’s gorgeous. 

“Is Raisha Lo here? One of my friends said that she’s usually in the music room at this hour.”

“It’s three a.m., but yeah,” he nods. “She’s in the recording room—c-come on in.”  Changbin closes the door when she walks past him and he feels like he’s going to pass out when she smiles at him. Music floods through the corridor of the room as he brings her down and into the recording room. “Raisha,” he calls once Chan pauses the track and Jisung lets out a bashful giggle at another praise from him.  

Raisha turns at the call of her name and she makes eye contact with the woman, eyes widening as she puts her bass down. 

“Oh god, I completely forgot you were coming,” she blurts out. “Sorry, Ryujin.” 

“It’s fine. I was actually considering cancelling because I was just at a party with one of my friends,” she claims politely, standing straight with her hands clasped in front of herself. 

Chan and Jisung turn around to see who’s entered the room and they wave back at Ryujin when she waves smally at them. 

“These are my friends; Chan, Changbin, and Jisung. We basically camp here every night, so you might just start camping here, too,” Raisha explains, laughing slightly when Ryujin smiles. 

Changbin feels his heart starting to flutter in his chest when she sees the way her eyes crinkle at the corner and her cheeks lift in a way where it looks like she has whiskers.

Oh my god, she’s so cute. 

He thinks his chest is going to fucking explode the longer he watches her. The back of her black bomber jacket has a red dragon printed along the width of it; starting at the sleeve of her left shoulder all the way to the right. 

“Who’s this?” Jisung asks, his hand raising to point directly at her. 

Which only earns a smack from Chan and a grumble about him being rude. 

“This:” Raisha starts as she stands beside Ryujin, “is Shin Ryujin. She’s a first year and she’s taking one of the courses from the media school. I’m her music mentor.” 

“Where’d you two meet? I didn’t realise we were doing mentors,” Chan claims as he looks between the two.

“Raisha’s friends with one of my seniors. He said that if I wanted a music mentor then to come to one of you guys and I figured she was the least intimidating out of all of you,” Ryujin shyly explains, voice soft in comparison to how loud her outfit is. 

“Well, you came to the right place,” he smiles. “We’re actually in the middle of recording something for a song of ours. So, you can take over the jamming room if you want some privacy or you can choose a spot here and just hang out with us.” 

She turns to Raisha with a questioning look but the bassist smiles and pats her back gently. 

“What if we just spend tonight watching these guys work?” 

“I’m alright with anything,” Ryujin claims.

“You wanna hear what we’re working on?” Jisung asks as he moves away from Chan for a moment. When she nods, he smacks Chan’s shoulder with the back of his hand. 

“You ask me nicely or I’m going to throw you through the window, Ji,” he grumbles. 

“Be nice,” Raisha snaps. He looks at her for a moment before pouting and turning back to the computer, grumbling something under his breath while trying to ignore Jisung’s smug smirk as Chan presses play on the track. “Come,” she quietly urges and pulls Ryujin to the couch where they both sit. 

Changbin returns to his spot on the floor where he picks up his lyric book and runs through what he has now, bobbing his head along with the music as he mutters the words to himself as the music plays. 

The music pauses after a moment and Changbin loses himself in his own bubble as he runs through the lyrics in his head, almost forgetting that Ryujin is now there, watching as Chan and Jisung start discussing what else to do with the track. 

Ryujin’s attention shifts to Changbin and she watches the way he mutters the lyrics as though he’s reciting something. Raisha’s arm nudges hers slightly, “talk to him.” She turns to the older woman with wide eyes, but she only nods and smiles. “He looks scary, but he’s really just a softie on the inside.”

“He’s on the rugby team,” Ryujin whispers, intimidated even by the mere idea of approaching him. 

“Yeah, because he likes rugby,” Raisha chuckles softly. “I promise, once you get to know him, he’s not as big and scary as he seems. Just give it a shot.”

Ryujin stares at her for a moment longer and takes a deep breath before nodding. She’s not sure what she’s supposed to be doing here anyway—Ryujin’s just here because she thought Raisha was sweet the first time they met and she wanted to get to know her more. Also, she’s genuinely interested in what she has to offer in terms of music, so she thought she’d give Raisha a chance. 

Changbin doesn’t even notice when Ryujin slides off of the couch to sit beside him, her hand hovering over his shoulder before she pulls it away and leans closer instead. 

“What are you working on?” Her voice practically pops Changbin’s bubble and he almost short-circuits when he realises that Ryujin’s talking to him. 

“O-Oh, just some lyrics,” he says while clearing his throat. “We’re trying something… about having a major creative block… because we all had a creative block. But if you give Jisung any topic, he’ll come up with lyrics or a melody right after he eats something sweet; it’s a thing for him.”

“Ah,” she hums.

“Do you… want to see what I have so far?” Changbin offers as he lifts his notebook slightly. Ryujin’s eyes lighten a bit and it sends his heart through the roof. 

“Sure,” Ryujin nods and leans slightly closer to read his notebook. Raisha purses her lips together when she smiles, standing from the couch to approach Chan and Jisung once she’s certain that Changbin and Ryujin are too preoccupied to notice. 

“Look,” she whispers, leaning down to Chan’s ear so that both of them can hear her. All three of them turn around to see the way Changbin’s bubble seems to have formed once again, only this time, Ryujin is in it as well. 

“Woah,” Chan chuckles, leaning back in slight disbelief. “She’s burst his bubble.”

“No, no,” Jisung shakes his head. “I think she’s in his bubble.”

“They’re kinda cute together, don’t you think?” Raisha points out. 

“Their styles look like they were made for each other.”

“And she reminds me of when Changbin first showed up here.” 

Raisha smiles at the way Ryujin laughs at something that Changbin says softly, his eyes practically turning into hearts when he sees the way she reacts. 

“He is so going to fall in love with her.”

[ryuttaeng]

could you do sub gp!ryujin whos being teased and overstimulated by reader and then crys from how good reader feels riding her?? 😵‍💫 i love your work btw!!

yall first of all i’m sorry for being ia 😭😭🤞🏻 university kinda sucks… also ty!

…ryujin’s whines muffled as you spoke, “so needy and desperate and that’s all for me only? look at you, poor baby…” you whispered in her ear, as your hand jerked her off but painfully slow. ryujin squirmed, wanting to break free from you but her hips bucking up every time your hand goes faster, makes it much more harder for her to think about anything actually. “nuh-uh, you’re not going anywhere. don’t you wanna me ride you?”

and there she is, ryujin’s hands are secure on your waist as tears cascade her face, her mumbling about how good you feel on her cock every time you slam down on her shaft. also her wiping away her tears, but every time she does that you slow down which makes her cry even harder 😭😭 poor baby is just so desperate to feel you and cum already for the nth time

[lth3auth0r]

Ryujin X Male Reader - Choose Love FF

Day 1:

I arrive at the location of the experiment I signed up for at it's first day.

As I get into the Lobby some other boys who have already arrived are looking at me.

"Hey, you must be Y/N I suppose." one of them says.

"Yes, thats correct." I say and we shake hands.

"Whats your name?" I ask him.

"My name is Paul and this right here is my brother Simon." he responds and points at the other boy sitting next to him.

"Nice to meet you." I say smiling.

"Pleasure is all mine." Simon says and we also shake hands.

We sit down at one of the big sofas.

"So, why have you guys signed up for this?" I ask them.

Both of them are thinking for a couple of seconds until Simon answers first.

"Both of us are tired of dating apps and when we tried to find somebody in public it always ended toxic." he says looking at his brother who nods.

"How about you?" Paul asks.

"I am single for quite a while now. My last relationship did not work at all, she just basically used me and we always fought until she cheated on me with my cousin. So, I hope to find a real and honest relationship here. Thats why I signed up." I respond.

"That is a hard story. Hopefully this works out for you." Paul says.

"I hope so too." I say.

Then a door opens at the host of the experiment comes in.

He looks at us smiling and clears his throat.

"Hello everyone, thank you for taking part in our experiment Choose Love. Let me quickly introduce myself. My Name is Mario and I am the host of this Experiment for the Male department. The rules of this are very simple. All of you will be seated in a room. The number of it will be chosen randomly. At the other side one of our Lady Candidates will be seated. But the point is that you will not be able to see each other. You can just talk to and get to know each other by hearing the voice of the other Person. You have to get to know the person as good as possible for the next three days and the target is to fall in love just by hearing each other. At the last day you will decide for one the candidate you like the most or you already have fallen in love with which would be the best and ask for a relationship. Then if the decision is made, you will be revealed to other Person. Are there any questions concering this?" he says and looks at us.

Nobody gives a response and Mario nods.

"Great, then you can come over here and introduce yourself quickly before choosing your room number. Who would like to start?" he asks.

"I can go up first." a boy says and gets up. He wears a red shirt and has longer black hair.

He looks at us and then starts his introduction.

"Hello guys, my Name is Robert and I am 24 years old. I have signed up for this experiment because I got a divorce not long ago and I would like to be happy in love again." he says and seems a little bit sad while talking about the divorce Part.

We start clapping and Mario offers him a box.

"Please choose your room number without peaking." he says and Robert puts one hand into the Box while looking into the other direction.

He pulls out a little paper and looks at it before sitting down.

Then the next one of our group stands up to introduce himself. He seems to be from Spain of Latin Amercia.

"Hello everyone, my Name is Fernando and I am 25 years old. The reason I signed up here is that I have never been into a healthy relationship at all and I would like to find someone to spend my life with." he says and we start clapping again.

He also pulls a little paper with a room number and sits down.

The next ones to introduce are Simon and Paul. They tell the stroy about their reason for signing up for the experiment which they have also told me before. I smile at them while they do their best to perform in front of us.

After they pulled their room number and sat down next to me again, Mario looks at me.

"And last but not least, we have this handsome young man here who would also like to introduce himself to us." he says and I get up to the front.

I clear my throat and take a deep breath.

"Hello everyone. My name is Y/N and I am 23 years old. I signed up for this experiment because my last relationship did not work at all and I would like to find someone to have a real and honest relationship with." I say looking at the others.

"Thank you for introducing, you may also please pick the only room number we have left now and then we will move on to the next step." Mario says and gives me the last paper in the box.

I sit down next to Paul and Simon and unfold the paper. It is room 1741. An interesting number what could that mean? I ask myself.

"Which room number do you have?" I ask both of them.

"We have not seen it yet." Paul asks while he and Simon unfold their papers.

"I have 2170. " Simon says with a bright smile.

"And I have 561. I am so curious how she will be" Paul says in a happy but also quite nervous tone.

Then suddenly Fernando and Robert appear.

"Is it okay if we have a seat?" Robert asks.

"Of course." I say and we offer them a space at the Sofa.

"We were just talking about our room numbers. Have you seen yours yet?" I ask looking at them.

Both shake their heads and unfold their paper.

"Mine is 9123" Robert says and looks at us.

"Interesting, mine is 2650." Fernando says while showing us the paper.

"Okay, boys are you ready for the next step?" we suddenly hear Mario's Voice behind us.

"Yeah, we definetly are. What will be next?" I ask him.

"Next you will be going into your rooms to meet the voices of our female candidates for the first time. If you may follow me." he says and we get up to follow him to the end of the Lobby where a big door is located.

"I hope you enjoy the first day, you all know your room numbers. If you have any questions or wishes, please do not hesitate to talk to me." Mario says before pushing a little button at the door. It slowly opens revealing a corridor with doors at the left side.

My heart is pounding faster as I look for my room number.

Then nearly at the end of the corridor I find the door with the room number 1741.

I look around to check for the others. All of them have found their room numbers.

Then the door shows a green light and you can hear a little clicking sound. I slightly push against the door which is opens and reveals a cozy little living room Design. Right in front of the Sofa I can see the part of the wall Mario has spoken about.

The door closes behind me and I sit down at the Sofa. I am still a bit nervous about what will happen next.

Then I suddenly hear a door sound behind the wall coming from the other side. Someone is entering the room on the other side of the wall.

The door on the other side of the room closes which means that the person is now inside the room. I hear footsteps behind the wall and a sound as if you sit down.

"Hello, who is there?" I start speaking first to gain the person's attention. I also take out my College Block to write down some informations the person will may give me. My heart starts to best faster as I still wait on the person to respond.

"Hi" the other Person suddenly says in a soft tone and I hear that she smiles. Her deeper voice sounds so soothing in this first Moment that I immediately want more of it. "Whats your name?" I ask smiling. "My name is Ryujin. And yours?" she asks back. I immediately write down this beautiful name. "I have to write your name down because it sounds so beautiful." I say before I get to the point. "My name is Y/N." I respond and Ryujin also seems to write that down.

In these first minutes I clearly feel that my heart wants to tell me something about this girl sitting on the other side of the wall in front of me, so I listen to it and take the iniciative.

"Ryujin, I have a question for you." I say while preparing what I want to say next in my brain. "Sure, go ahead." she responds. "I would like to know why you have signed up for this experiment." I say and Ryujin starts to tell me.

"So first of all, my previous boyfriend treated me unfairly. He did not listen to me, neither he talked to me normally. He was just ignoring me all the time. He took me to every Party and just talked to his friends while drinking with them." Ryujin says and I listen to her words. "I am sorry for that." I say. "Thats okay. Now he thankfully is out of my life since three months and I thought an experiment like this one can help me to find someone new." she says and I clearly hear how revealed she is to be away from this guy. "But what about you?" she asks me.

I think about if I should tell her the story about my last relationship which is the reason I am single for quite a while now. "You can tell me." Ryujin says behind the wall. So I take a deep breath.

"In my case, the reason that I am single for quite a while now is that my ex girlfriend cheated on me with my cousin. One day I came home and they were laying on the couch together playing with themselves." I say while remembering this awful scene. "Ugh, that is mean." Ryujin says. "Definetly, I will never forget how my cousin looked at me with that wide smile on his face what made me throw them out of my appartement." I say and a little bit of anger starts building up in me as the memories come back. "So thats why I signed up here." I finish my story.

"So we have something in common." Ryujin says and laughs. "Yeah, I really like that." I say smiling. "It is very nice that we can talk with each other in this open way." I say with a warm feeling inside of me.

The way she laughs also makes me feeling attracted to her even more. I always liked it, when a kind girl has a sense of humor and she definetly seems to have that. Can it get even better? I ask myself while taking some notes. I seriously would like to pinch a hole in that wall in front of me, just to see how she looks like.

I just hope that this experiment works.

"What are you doing for work?" I ask her then after a little break. "In a sense, I am musician. I wonder if you might know some of my songs." Ryujin responds. I think for a quick second but nothing comes to my mind. "No, unfortunately not but that sounds quite nice." I say, while imagining myself standing in a crowd of her concert but maybe it is even better if I do not know her music yet, so that makes this experiment more interesting. "You should listen to it soon." she says while I write down the Information about her Music. "But what about you?" she asks then. "I am working at the reception of a nearby 5 Star Hotel." I respond. "How do I have to imagine that? Ryujin asks quite interested. "You have to check your guests in when they arrive and check them out if they leave. And during their stay you are there for them to help when they have questions and sometimes they also complain about something they do not like. But that part really can let your personality grow because you gain a lot of experience through such situations." I finish my explanation. "That sounds quite exhausting." Ryujin says. "It definetly can be but let me add that you know what you have done after such a stressful day." I respond while still thinking about Ryujin's music thing. I really would listen to one of her songs.

Her voice is so lovely already, so her songs can just be masterpieces. Then I cannot bury my curiosity anymore.

"Would it be okay for you, to show me one of these songs?" I ask her friendly.

"Hmmmm, maybe.." she says in a playful voice.

Our chemistry gets better all the time and I start to feel something inside of me, the longer we talk. And that feeling grows within me. I think about if I should tell her but maybe it is a little bit early for that. On the other hand, to fall in love is the main goal of this experiment. But no, it is to early. What if she does not like me at all? Maybe because of my Job or something else? All of these questions fly around inside of my head and I do not have an answer to them what also makes my stomach cramp.

I already adore her so much that it is nearly scary. This deep voice is so soothing that I could listen to it all day. Her sense of humor and also her kindness mixed with the incredible knowledge of life. I more and more think that heaven sent her to me directly. But what if I tell her about what I think? How will she react? Oh come on Y/N, you have signed up for this, so you have to go a few steps closer to your target.

I take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds. That is harder than I thought.

"Ryujin.." I start my sentence.

"Yes?" she responds. Now I am caught in that situation of her waiting for me to finish my sentence.

"I just would like to tell you, that you seem very sympathic to me and it makes me really happy that I got to know you here." I feel my heart racing as she says quiet for some seconds which feel like hours.

"That is so kind of you and I must say the same about you in this situation." she then finally responds. My eyes get big since I do not thought that she would respond like this. "Thank you so much." I say while feeling like winning an award show. Ryujin just told me that she likes me. Can you believe that? A maybe famous musician just told me that she likes me. If this experiment works and we choose love, nothing will be left to oppose us. Everything will be ours and maybe we will create a song together, since I like good music as well. How good would that be?

I just want to say something as I hear knocks on my door. "Someone just knocked on my door, I just have to see who it is." I say and get up. "Sure, take your time." Ryujin says

I slightly open the door to look into Mario's friendly face. "The time is over for today." he says. "Oh okay, then let me just say goodbye." I respond and he nods. I get back into the room, packing my College Block. "Unfortunately I have to go. I will see you tomorrow." I say in a sad tone. "See you tomorrow then. It was very great to get to know you and I am looking forward to get to know you even better." Ryujin answers. "Same here." I say and go to the door.

Together with Mario I walk down the corridor until we reach the lobby where the others already are seated on the couches with glasses of Champagn. I also grab myself one and sit down next to Simon.

"How was your day?" I ask him while taking a sip of my Champagn. "Oh it was great. She is so cute, her voice is so angelic and the best is that she has experiences in living abroad. I love that. How about you?" he asks me. "I personally believe that this experiment works now. We kind of share the same story from our past when it comes to relationships. And she is a musician, how good is that?" I say with a bright smile on my face. "Yeah, that is really nice." Simon says and we look at the others energetically talking about their experiences. Then Mario sits down to us. "I am going to leave now, please enjoy the rest of your evening. I see you all tomorrow." he says and gets his coat.

We keep sharing our experiences until later in the evening. But then we get tired and make our way into the sleeping area. I change into my pyjamas and get to the bathroom to brush my teeth. During that Ryujin comes to my mind. Oh how I wish to be with her now. It would be just us laying on her bed and she would sing one of her songs into my ear with her soothing deep voice. Or we would just have talks and laughter together while cuddling.

Instead I have to share one big sleeping area with four snoring guys. And one of them is infront of the bathroom door right now. "Hey, Y/N open up. It's me Fernando, I have to do my Buisness and cannot hold it any longer." he says ripping me from my thoughts. I put my toothbrush away and slowly move to the door. "There you go, it's all yours." I say and get into the bedroom. After laying down I start thinking about tomorrow. What should I ask or tell Ryujin. Maybe some more sexual questions to melt her ice in that kind of topic. I would really love to find out more about her in that section of her mind. Maybe we also are a Match when it comes to that.

Day 2:

My Alarm is the first thing I hear in the morning. I slowly open my eyes just to see that I am the second one who is awake. Paul just occupied the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Suddenly I hear a yawn next to me and Fernando stretches his arma. "Good Morning" he says. "Good Morning. Have you slept well?" I ask him. "It was okay. How about you?" he says. "Never better." I respond and get up from the bed. After Paul gets out from the bathroom, I also greet him before starting my morning Routine. As soon as I am done with showering and getting my clothes on, I go to the breakfast area where a Buffet is served for us.

After we finished the breakfast, all of us get to the Lobby where Mario is already waiting for us. "Good Morning everyone." he greets us. "Good Morning." we all great back. "I hope you all are ready for day two of our experiment." he says and gets up from his chair. We all nod.

I feel how my heart beats faster when I think about hearing Ryujin's voice again today. The conversation I had with her yesterday were so great that I nearly would say get her to me, we are a match. But I have to stay patient, even though I slowly start to feel something inside of me. Then Mario starts speaking.

"I would like to tell you about the schedule for today. First you will get into your rooms again and you will have another 45 Minutes to talk to our girl candidates on the other side of the wall. Maybe you will get to know each other on a bit more deeper and intimite side because we all know that tomorrow is the day of the big reveal where you will going to see you for the first time in this experiment. And then you will see if you can be able to be together or not. The rest of today will be free time for you." Mario says and presses the button at the door to reveal the corridor with the doors again.

"Lets go." I hear Fernando's voice next to me. I wink at him. Paul and Simon are also stepping into the corridor again and I see how nervous they are to hear the voices of their potential girlfriends again. "I am so nervous to talk to her again." I hear Simon's voice shaking a little bit as he steps infront of the door with his room number.

I also reach my door with the number 1741. Like yesterday the little green light illuminates and I open the door to step in the room. My heart starts pounding again. I sit down at the sofa and take a deep breath. Then I hear the door opening at the other side of the wall.

"Good Morning." I say after hearing Ryujin's steps on the other side of the room.

"Hey, how are you today?" she asks. Her voice is so beautiful, I cannot wait until tomorrow when I am going to see the face of the woman with this soothing, deep voice.

"I am great, thank you. Did you had a good sleep?" I ask her smiling already.

"It was okay, sometimes I stay awake longer. But this is quite known to me, since I had this habit during my trainee days." she says and immediately has my attention.

"Sometimes I also have my struggles with that. What do you do, if you cannot fall asleep?" I ask, waiting for her response.

"Back in my Trainee days, I took long walks at the Han River to clear my mind. Somedays when the walks became longer, I watched the sunrise with one of my best friends." she says while being in her Memories.

"What was that training about?" I ask her interesed.

"It was all about dancing, singing and studying the choreographies from day to night. Sometimes 13 hours a day." she answers.

I start to imagine how she is in the training room with all the others competing in this program which seems to be hard for everyone. But the main thing for me is, that she likes to take walks, so I write that down immediately onto my College Block.

"Do you also like to go for a walk?" Ryujin asks. "Oh yes, I really do. Sometimes if I need to get my head free or just need some air, I go out for a walk. I often took my dog with me but he is now at a better place. My ex girlfriend and I went to a forest near our house when we had the time. It was beautiful." I answer while a Vision of me and Ryujin being together in this forest starts playing inside of my head.

Again I begin to think that we are a match and I would like to break this wall in front of me immediately.

"Maybe we could go on a walk together." I say hoping for a positive answer. "Oh yes, that would be so great." Ryujin says and I silently celebrate with a wide smile on my face.

"So Ryujin, what are you doing when you have free time at home?" I get on to the next question. "I really like to read while listening to music." she says. "The music of your group?" I ask her. "Not exactly. So, when I read I really like to listen to Jazz." she says making me smile again. "Oh thats so nice. Same here. It really calms me down and my concentration gets better when I listen to music like Jazz or Lo Fi." I say while writing down "Likes to listen to Jazz while reading" in big Letters onto my College Block page.

[kissablening]

SECRETS & WEBS — s.rj oneshot

pairings: spiderman!ryujin x roommate fem!reader

summary: your roommate, shin ryujin, turns out to be the citys superhero , spiderman but you are unaware of that..

warnings: language

wc: 827

note: oneshot debut👀👀 , lmk if yall want another part to this lol!!

IT was about 11 pm on a Sunday night, usually you’d be in bed, ready to sleep— but you had an important exam tomorrow so you used all the extra time you had to study for it.

You sigh at the thought of taking your exam tomorrow, it was infact a math exam and to your luck you were horrible at the subject.

Your roommate, shin ryujin aka the nerd of the house, promised to help you with studying today which was another reason you were still awake, waiting for her to return to your apartment even though it was late as hell.

You sat in silence, thinking about the answer to the 4th question on the study guide ryujin made you before she left, she made sure it was as difficult as the exam because damn, you were struggling on it too.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud coming from the front of the apartment, this freaked you out because usually, ryujin messages you 5 minutes before she arrives home. You quickly grab the bat sitting in the corner of your room before slowly opening your room door to go check what the thud was.

The only source of light was coming from your room since you earlier turned off any light you werent using to help the light bill a little. Rushing to turn on the living room light, the front door was still unlocked but the light to ryujins room was on.

Okay, what the fuck.

“Ryu, is that you? Are you home?” you call out, making sure it was her in her own room and not a intruder. You let out a sigh of relief after hearing her swear under her breath. You discard the bat somewhere on the sofas in the living room before walking towards ryujins bedroom.

You tried just walking into her room as you always do but the door was locked. weird. “ryu what was that thud about? are you okay in there?”

“Im fine yn, just dropped my dumbell on the floor.” she responds almost out of breath. weird x2.

“dumbell? since when did you have dumbells?” You question putting your ear to the door so you could hear her better, instead you hear her unlocking the door so you quickly moved away waiting for her to open it.

She opens the door standing in the door frame with a smirk on her face, yes you said she was a nerd, but she was still popular in school, played sports, basically your local f-boy with an actual big brain. “What do you mean since when did i have dumbells? do you think i just have these abs through genetics?” She taunts motioning her hand up and down her body. your eyes follows her hands eyeing her body, your eyes widened, “Like what you see? well you can always—”

“SHIN RYUJIN WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU, SERIOUSLY WHY ARE YOU BLEEDING SO MUCH!!! OH MY GOD I NEED TO GET THE FIRST AID KIT.” You panic after seeing the large bloody cut on the side of ryujins torso, running to find a first aid kit. Ryujin eyes widened and looked down.

Ryujin curses to herself in her head for forgetting to heal that spot, she expected You to be sleeping by this time, what she wasn’t expecting was her roommate finding the large cut a villain left on her, that she forgot to heal.

She slowly stops the bleeding on the wound, enough that you wont notice its stopped completely. She could hear your footsteps becoming louder.

Standing up straight placing her hand on her cut, she watched as you guided her to the dining table, sitting her down in the chair, placing the first aid kit onto the table.

“Seriously ryu are you an idiot? How the hell did u even get a cut this big?” You scold patting the cut down with alcohol wipes.

“Ahaha, its no big deal babe, i didnt even feel a thing.” Ryujin replies smiling down at the girl whose glaring at her through her reading glasses. “So, whyre you still up at this time, yn?”

“I was..waiting for you.” You say shyly , wrapping the wound in a bandage. “And all done, youre welcome.”

Ryujin ruffles her hair before standing up, secretly healing the wound in the process. “Awww, you were waiting for me?” She grabs yn’s cheeks.

Your cheeks heat up immediately, ryujin was always a flirt so why is this effecting you right now? “N..No! I was waiting for you to help me study ryujin. You promised..”

“Oh shit I did, im sorry ill help you study now.” Ryujin says grabbing your hand, leading you to her room to help you study. Letting out a sigh of relief that you didn’t bombard her with questions about why she was home so late.

“Oh by the way.. why were you home so late? its nearly 1 am.”

Shit.

⋆｡°✩🕸️🕷️✮⋆˙

[yvesettex]

*+ ☆: — ryujin as your possessive gf

— with your girlfriend’s arm around your shoulder, you leaned onto her head in the middle of a laugh- burying your face in the crook of her neck. the two of you were walking back to your apartment as the late night breeze made your bare legs goosebump and you pulled your borrowed jacket of hers over tighter. you could feel the slight intoxication you both had endured make your stomach turn in a blissful way and her breath was warm with the scent of minty gum and a slight alcoholic undertone as she whispered flirtatious nothings into your ear. you giggle and playfully slapped her side as you stopped walking to face her- her arm still snuggled around you.

“ryujin you can’t be serious,” you pointed your finger in her face, more drunk and slurring your words a slight bit more than she was.

ryujin rolled her eyes with a smile. “that dress you wore tonight is gonna make me act up i’m telling you y/n! ,” her face changed, “all the guys were looking at you and ughh,” she groaned and threw her head back, “it made me so mad.”

you cupped her face in your hands and kissed her cheek, “i wore this for you ryujinnie don’t get it twisted.” she flushed.

ahead was a two young men sitting on the stairway up to an apartment complex with a few glass bottles scattered around them and one was lighting a cigarette. ryujin side eyed them and pulled you to the opposite side of her to get some distance between you and them.

one of the men called after you, “hey baby you want a cig?” you both stopped in your tracks and you drunkenly wandered over to the man while ryujin urgently gripped your hand- trying to pull you away.

you took the cigarette he had handed out your direction between your two fingers and asked for a lighter while you giggled. ryujin’s mind was racing and it wasn’t good thoughts.

“here baby, i have a light in my pocket one sec,” she let go of your hand to dig out the lighter as you sat yourself down on the concrete staircase. the two men seemed grossly pleased and one put out his cigarette while leaning dangerously close to you. ryujin shot him a disgusted look as she pulled out the lighter.

“why couldn’t we stay longer at the club jinnie i was having so much funn,” you pouted as ryujin leaned forward to light your cigarette and took a hit- blowing the smoke to the side of you. ryujin beckoned her hand to assist you up but your eyes wandered to the man next you as he began talking.

after taking a drink of the soju bottle in his right hand he attempted to compliment you, “you guys were clubbing? damn i bet all the guys were staring at you huh?” he pointed to you and ryujin bit the inside of her cheek and grabbed your free hand.

“we have to go love it’s too cold out,” you frowned and stood up- stomping over your barely used cigarette and the two of you walked a few meters while she snugged the coat around you and flipped off the two guys on the staircase.

she scolded you lightly, “those guys were too drunk y/n, you have to be careful ok? i don’t want you getting hurt.” she continued her speech as you struggled to unlock the door to your apartment a block ahead. she took the key from your hand gently and was grimacing as she got the door open, “the way they were looking at you made me want to throw up…”

you got inside and you both kicked off yours shoes. she took off your coat for you and you faced her, sobering up to prepare to apologize before she got closer to you and gripped your waist, she tucked a strand your hair behind your ear, “i’m mad ok. not at you but at all those guys from tonight.”

you pouted, “i’m sorry baby i didn’t even notice they were weird i should have been more careful.”

she grabbed your cheek with one hand and said between kisses down your neck, “i want you to be mine and mine only.”

your eyes widened and your legs tightened together as you felt a warmth form below. you shuddered at the feeling of her bites and soothing kisses that had now reached your collarbone.

she took off her jacket and threw it to the floor of your entryway and then turned her attention to you- who had leaned against the wall as she held your face in her hands.

“say it y/n please..”

“say what love?” you asked with innocence and your eyes took in her features making you bite down on the inside of your bottom lip in lust.

her face moved closer to yours so that your foreheads were touching and she sighed “say you’re mine.”

your hands moved quick- one to grab her waist and the other found her hair as you moaned into an open mouthed kiss. ryujin’s urgency and need to make her yours was blatant and seductive with her lips as her tongue parted yours and let itself in. she groaned into your mouth as her hand snaked up your thigh and starting rubbing underneath your dress over your panties where you needed her attention most.

her lips left yours and she closed in by your ear, “say it for me baby.”

you threw your head back against the door and moaned her name followed by what she wanted, “i’m all yours ryujin. all yours…” your breath was shallow and pleading.

she crouched down, pleased, and pressed kisses up your thighs before slipping your underwater to the side and lapping her tongue at your core as she lifted one of your legs over her shoulder. you took in the side, her face buried in you with her hair a mess in her tie and button up. you swallowed and a mess of her name and curses came out of your mouth as her tongue circled your clit before it mouth south and her nose rubbed against your sweet spot. your chest heaved up and down as one hand held the doorknob behind you for balance and the other laced itself in her dark hair. she smiled against you, looking at your eyes as you let out a loud, dirty noise from the pleasure and you felt the vibrations of her groans against your core. you felt a warm and familiar feeling at the bottom of your stomach rise to the top of your head and all throughout your limbs as her pace quickened and you were coming over the edge of your breaking point. you mewed her name and cursed violently as your vision became blurry and your senses came back to you. she napped gently at you with her tongue- soothing your climax and letting you come down before pressing a kiss against you and and breathing heavily as she pulled away- rubbing a mixture of spit and your wetness against the back of her hand. she looked back up at you and grinned, sitting up as she gently set your shaking legs down. she held your waist to balance you and kissed you sweetly- you could taste your honey like essence against her lips.

you both heaved heavily and erupted into small giggles as she escorted you to your bedroom to change. you slipped your dress over your head and she pointed to the purple marks on your neck and held back a laugh as she slipped on and oversized t-shirt. you turned to the mirror behind you and frowned- rubbing your neck and starting at the marks, “jinnie what do you DO…?”

she hugged you from behind, moving your hair and kissing the other side of your neck that she hadn’t ravished. her arms wrapped around your bare torso and she smiled, “i’m just letting everyone know what’s mine is mine.”

[lynetianya]

The Comforting Embrace [ Ryujin X Reader ] 🔞

When Ryujin was tired and sought comfort in Y/N's arms, She couldn't hold back her lust to kiss Y/N.

GENRE : Smut 🔞

TYPE : One Shot

Ryujin had just finished another exhausting day of being a famous idol. Her bright eyes had dimmed after attending numerous events and dancing tirelessly on stage. She longed for the place she called home and, more importantly, she longed for Y/N.

Ryujin closed the door to her apartment gently, kicked off her shoes, and stepped inside. A soft, comforting aroma wafted from the kitchen, and she knew it was Y/N's handiwork. Y/N was someone who was always there for her, and Ryujin felt lucky to have them in her life.

With cautious steps, Ryujin sought out Y/N and found them on the couch, engrossed in a book. Y/N smiled upon seeing Ryujin, setting the book aside.

"Hey, you're home," Y/N said, their voice a soothing melody.

Ryujin rushed into Y/N's arms, wrapping them tightly around Y/N's. She buried her face into Y/N's shoulder.

"I missed you so much," Ryujin whispered, her voice filled with genuine affection.

Y/N's arms tightened around her, and they whispered back, "I missed you too."

In Y/N's embrace, Ryujin felt like she was in her sanctuary. It was the one place where she could truly be herself, away from the flashing cameras and screaming fans. Here, she was simply Ryujin, and Y/N cherished that part of her.

They stayed like that for a while, just holding each other, the silence speaking volumes. Ryujin's exhaustion slowly melted away, replaced by a profound sense of peace. Y/N's presence had that effect on her.

Then, she would nuzzle into the crook of y/n neck, her nose brushing against their skin. The scent of Y/N was intoxicating, a mix of their cologne and natural scent that was uniquely theirs. It was a scent that spoke of home, of comfort, of love. It was a scent that Ryujin craved, a scent that she couldn't get enough of.

She would take a deep breath, filling her lungs with their aroma. It was a scent that calmed her racing heart, that eased her tense muscles, that soothed her frazzled nerves. It was a scent that grounded her, that reminded her of who she was beneath the glitz and glamour of her idol life.

And then, she would press her lips to their neck, a soft, tender kiss that conveyed all her love, all her gratitude, all her affection. It was a kiss that spoke louder than words, a kiss that said 'I love you' in the most intimate way possible.

Y/N would respond by tightening their hold around her, their fingers gently stroking her back, their heartbeat a comforting rhythm against her ear. They would whisper words of love and encouragement, their voice a soothing balm to her tired soul.

This was their routine, their ritual, their moment. It was a moment that was just for them, a moment that was filled with love and comfort. It was a moment that Ryujin cherished, a moment that she wouldn't trade for anything else in the world.

Ryujin found themselves entangled in a web of desire. Their bodies pressed against each other, their lips locked in a passionate kiss.

Y/N hands roamed Ryujin body, exploring every curve and contour, igniting a fire within her. His touch was electrifying, sending shivers down her spine. Ryujin couldn't resist the power Y/N held over her, surrendering herself to his dominant presence.

As they undressed, the room filled with an intoxicating blend of their musky scents and the sound of their heavy breathing. Ryujin heart raced in anticipation, her body throbbing with desire. Y/N eyes glimmered with a mix of lust and adoration as he gazed upon her.

With a commanding voice, Y/N whispered, "Who do you belong to, baby girl?" Ryujin voice trembled as she responded, "I belong to you." The words ignited a primal lust within Y/N, and guided Ryujin towards the bed, positioning her just the way he desired.

Their bodies merged in a dance of ecstasy, moving in perfect harmony. Every touch, every kiss, every thrust was an expression of their forbidden desires. Ryujin lost herself in the overwhelming pleasure, her body surrendering to the waves of ecstasy that washed over her.

"Uhmm~♡ Nn~♡ hah~♡"

When the long kiss was over, Ryujin expression became faint. As they kissed, lust on Ryujin body began to eat away at her, and the numbing pleasure began to melt away her reason.

”Hahh, nmm, Ah…♡ An…♡, Y/N.....”

Once again, Y/N kissed Ryujin again, leaving her helpless. Y/N tongue licked Ryujin lips. As Y/N did that, Ryujin tongue touches the tip of Y/N tongue, as if lured by Y/N tongue that moves invitingly. Ryujin tongue is played with by Y/N tongue, and they become entangled violently.

The next thing she knew, Ryujin hugs Y/N back and they were hugging each other. At this time, Y/N hand also stroking Ryujin shapely ass. And Ryujin felt good just being stroked. Naturally, Ryujin deep kisses were heated and pleasurable.

When the kiss ends and their lips slowly part, a string of saliva is drawn. Y/N, who had moved to the side of the bed during the kiss, quietly pushed Ryujin gently to the other side of the bed.

As her body in heat, Ryujin reasoning was not working properly, and she could not resist the atmosphere of Y/N. In addition, the pleasure of being desired by an attractive Y/N was consuming Ryujin.

Then, Y/N covered Ryujin and took her lips again.

"Hah…♡ slurp…♡”

Ryujin, who was completely captivated by the deep kiss, desperately wanted Y/N tongue. While kissing, Y/N didn’t forget to touch her beautiful breasts that fit in the palm of his hand. As Y/N did that, Ryujin sensitive body reacts to Y/N caresses and she feels it.

”Hhm~♡ Hya~♡ Ah~♡ Don’t~♡”

With a skilled technique, Y/N pulled off Ryujin bra and carefully caressed her nipples with his fingers. And just by this, Ryujin moaned with great pleasure. She feels too strong stimulation when her nipples on both breasts are being rubbed repeatedly with the thumb and forefinger. When Y/N pinched her nipples, Ryujin turned her body towards Y/N in pleasure.

”Hnnnn~♡ not my nipples~♡ Ah~♡ Emmh~♡ Ahhhhh~♡”

Ryujin was engulfed in a wave of pleasure that was unthinkable under normal circumstances, and she climaxed, screaming uncontrollably.

It is impossible to think properly with thoughts that have been tainted by pleasure, and Y/N's caresses are driving Ryujin further and further into a corner.

Her secret parts were dripping with love juice, and her underwear was already wet. She could not help but let out a sweet moan when Y/N’s fingers rubbed her clitoris.

"I'm Cumingggg~♡, Ahhhh!♡"

After climaxed, Ryujin slumped down on the bed, her body weakening. Y/N then moves to give Ryujin even more pleasure without any effort on her side. He took off her panties, which he couldn’t resist, and ran his fingers over her stained panties, caressing the entrance to her wet pussy.

”Haa…♡ Hah…♡ Ah~♡ Noo…~♡”

Y/N lay down next to Ryujin and covered her mouth with a kiss.

”I’m going to insert it.”

”Okay~♡”

Y/n  cock is inserted through her slippery vaginal passage and deep into her vagina. Ryujin continued to look at the mirror, her back slumping in the thrill of the pleasure. Her face appeared in the mirror with the expression of a happy woman.

"Ahh~♡ Ahh~♡ its so deep~ i'm melting~♡"

”Let's have fun all night long Ryujin~”

”Uh~… ♡ That’s~… ♡”

Ryujin body trembled with joy as Y/N whispered to her ear.

”Ah~ ♡ Ah~ ♡ Nn~ ♡ Oh~ ♡ It feels so good… ♡”

After being pushed down on the desk, Ryujin who had been made to climax inside by Y/N, is being violated again in a different position.

All clothing has been removed when changing positions, and Ryujin is now completely naked. Y/N also stripped off all his clothes and was naked.

She grabbed the edge of the desk with both hands and thrust her hips toward Y/N, who shook her own hips with a lustful expression.

”I love the way you show a slut face Ryujin…”　

”Please don’t look at me… ♡ Huh~… ♡ Nn~ ♡ My nipples~ ♡ No~ ♡”

Y/N is having s*x with Ryujin as they both look at her in the mirror.

Every time Y/N thrusts up from behind, Ryujin rich breasts shake violently with each thrust. When Y/N fingers pinched Ryujin nipples, her vagina tightened up and felt even better.

Ryujin was also excited by her own naughty behavior.

”You can see what a naughty girl you are, don’t you? Shaking your hips by yourself…”

”Because… ♡ My vagina… ♡ Is aching… ♡ Ah~ ♡ There… ♡ That place… ♡”

”You like it here, don’t you? That’s you weak point Ryujin”

If Y/N pushes up the inside of the vagina with his p*nis, Ryujin will lean back and lightly climax while drooling from her mouth.

Y/N p*nis seems to know every part of Ryujin that feels good, and leads her to climax again and again. Ryujin is now a prisoner of Y/N big p*nis.

”I’m going to ejaculate again… do as I taught you earlier.”

”Yes… ♡ Yes… ♡ Oh, I’m cumming… ♡ Cummmmmmmingggg… ♡♡♡”

Y/N gives a last spurt.

The room is filled with the sound of hips slapping against each other and the nasty sound of water splashing. Ryujin also shakes her hips madly in search of a deep climax, hoping to get Y/N p*nis to plunge her deepest.

The p*nis thrusts in as if to gouge, and ejaculation begins. The heat of the semen was so strong that Ryujin head went blank as she climaxed.

She turned around as she had been taught and kissed Y/N on the lips. It was a great feeling to ejaculate into her vagina while kissing her deeply and feeling she had been conquered.

”Chuu~♡ Hah… ♡ Hah… ♡”

Ryujin slowly pulled her tongue away. Ryujin was still immersed in the afterglow of her climax, but the p*nis that Y/N had inserted was still hard.

Ryujin vagina tightens on its own as she continues to seek semen despite her climax, and she feels Y/N bottomless energy.

It’s amazing… ♡ It doesn’t wither at all even if he cum twice… ♡ Ryujin stares at Y/N with an entranced look on her face…

Ryujin body is still in heat from Y/N p*nis touch. She is stuck in an endless loop where she climaxes and then immediately goes into heat.

”Next, we will do it on bed”

When the p*nis is pulled out, Ryujin looks at Y/N as if it’s not enough. Y/N pulled Ryujin hand and went to the bed and lay down on his back.

Y/N p*nis had never wilted. Ryujin straddled Y/N waist as if lured by his attractive p*nis.

Ryujin thoughts were already occupied with the idea of feeling good.

”Ahhhh…♡ Y/N…♡ This position…♡ It’s so deep…♡”

Y/N put his hands on Ryujin hips, who reported her pleasure in a lusty voice.

”You can move as you like. You’ll feel good.”

”Yes… ♡ Ah~ ♡ Ah~ ♡ Good~ ♡ It feels so good~ ♡”

Ryujin began to move her hips up and down as Y/N told her to.

She changed the angle and moved her hips again and again to find the most comfortable spot. Ryujin breasts swayed boldly as she moved her hips up and down.

Y/N p*nis became more and more aroused by the spectacular view.

”It’s an amazing sight… too erotic”

”Don’t look at me… ♡ Please don’t look at me…♡♡”

Ryujin vagina tightens up as she feels Y/N gaze on her.

But Ryujin arms are still down and her breasts are swaying as if to say, “Look at me more!”

Y/N stopped trying to hold back his ejaculation at the sight of this nasty sight.

”Ah~ ♡♡ It’s coming out~ ♡♡ Inside me~ ♡♡”

Ryujin also climaxed while feeling the ejaculation deep inside her vagina as she pushed her hips against Y/N. She leans her body back, but when her climax subsides, she weakens and rests her upper body on Y/N chest.

While pressing her large breasts together, she kissed Y/N as if she were enjoying the aftermath.

Finally, Ryujin pulled back slightly, gazing into Y/N's face with a soft smile. "You have no idea how much I needed this, Y/N."

Y/N returned the smile, their eyes filled with warmth. "I'm always here for you love. You know that."

Ryujin leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on Y/N's lips, savoring the taste of their love. It was a simple gesture, but it conveyed all the emotions she couldn't put into words. Y/N responded with equal tenderness, and in that kiss, they shared their unspoken affection.

Over a cozy dinner prepared by Y/N, they talked about their day. Ryujin shared stories from her hectic schedule, and Y/N listened attentively, offering words of encouragement and empathy. Y/N's unwavering support was like a balm to Ryujin's weary heart.

As the night deepened, they moved to the living room, where Y/N had set up a movie for them to watch. They cuddled on the couch, wrapped in a warm blanket, and Ryujin rested her head on Y/N's shoulder.

The movie played in the background, but Ryujin found herself lost in thought. She traced patterns on Y/N's hand with her fingers, contemplating the depth of her feelings. Ryujin knew she was incredibly fortunate to have Y/N by her side, providing solace in the chaos of her celebrity life.

As the movie credits rolled, Ryujin turned to Y/N and whispered, "Y/N"

Y/N turned to face her, their expression curious yet filled with affection. "What is it?"

Ryujin took a deep breath, trying to find the right words. "I love you. More than I can express."

Y/N's eyes softened, and they leaned in, capturing Ryujin's lips in a tender kiss. It was a kiss that spoke of shared emotions, of love that transcended words.

"I love you too." Y/N whispered against her lips, sealing their love with another kiss.

In that moment, words were unnecessary. Ryujin and Y/N understood each other on a level that went beyond language. Their love was a sanctuary, a refuge from the world, and it was something they cherished deeply.

Ryujin's life as an idol continued to be demanding, but with Y/N by her side, she faced each day with renewed strength. Their love remained a constant source of comfort, and no matter how tired or stressed Ryujin was, Y/N was always there to hold her, to kiss away her worries, and to remind her that she was loved unconditionally.

END

My Masterlist

[yawnzzznnn]

Helloo, can you do a itzy x reader where reader also has anger issues like ryujin(maybe even worse) and almost starting a fight, how would the members react?(maybe you couls also include ryujin in this 😭)

Special thanks too: anon & ITZY & Dope Lovers by DPR IAN

Note: sorry this took so long to get done ive been a bit busy and I had requests backed up from awhile ago but it's here now so I hope you enjoy<3

TW: anger issues : arguments : could have a little bit of angst but leans more on fluff :

Words: 348

8-15-23

ᴄʜᴀᴇʀʏᴇᴏɴɢ

She doesn't really like fighting so once she notices your getting a bit more angry she will put an end to it and admit she was in the wrong even when she wasn't once you cool down she'll sit you down to talk about it

ʟɪᴀ

Once she notices you getting a bit more angry than what she considers the level amount and sit you down to talk she'll do what she knows calms you down rather it be petting your hair hugging you rubbing your arm/back

ʏᴜɴᴀ

Oh girl...she had an attitude she does so her attitude and your anger issues are not a good mix so when you two argue the members would have to tear you two apart and have you two talk it out once she realizes the actual issue at hand she'll put the attitude away and actually talk to you

ʏᴇᴊɪ

She sensed you were about to get angry so she dropped the argument or if y'all weren't having an argument and you getting game rage or road rage she'll take over and tell you to breath

ʀʏᴜᴊɪɴ

Ryujin is cocky that's not a secret but that means she'll rarely admit that she's wrong for her own pride on top of her anger issues and yours, you two would get in an argument and won't talk to one another for weeks till the members get tired of the attitude from her and "fix" your relationship

[knightyoomyoui]

ITZY Ryujin x M & F Reader - "Misa De Gallo"

This wasn't part of my plans at all, but since I was hugely inspired from listening to Ben&Ben's song "Bibingka" (give it a listen, it's a Filipino song but trust me, it's so good.) since it's Christmas, so I got to formulate a plot in my mind and give it an attempt to write it for another one-shot entry.

I originally wanted to add this on the TWICE x Reader one-shot book as a one-shot special but I already published the next entry on my line-up there few days ago so, I decided to instead place this here since I haven't get to update this book for a while now. And lastly, I picked Ryujin of ITZY to feature on this story because she's also another one of my biases from other groups aside from TWICE. Enjoy reading and Merry Christmas everybody!

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Ten minutes remained until the evening's last mass started. Before you explored, you parked your vehicle properly onto the vacant spot in the parking lot. As you entered the sacred area wearing your formal clothes of choice for attending a mass, you took in the cool, windy evening air that caressed your skin.

Looking around the sacred building and its surroundings, you saw a lot of people, probably less than the batch who were gathered an hour earlier, judging by the number of individuals who left and headed home as you showed up at your destination. That didn't seperated them for a difference that majority  of them wears a smile in their faces, it is unknown whether what's going on through their minds but certainly for sure you knew that they're glad that they got to experience having a Misa De Gallo with their loved ones.

Misa De Gallo or Simbang Gabi if you will translate it in Tagalog, is a part of Filipino culture, mainly influenced from the Spanish during their time of colonization in the Philippines, through their intention of implementing and propagating the religion known as Catholic to the Filipino people.

As part of the religious beliefs ingrained in Filipino culture, it is believed that if you attend evening mass on all nine nights—the ninth being known as Misa De Gallo—your one special wish for the upcoming year will be fulfilled. Aside from your enthusiasm to pray to God to express your gratitude and requests for guidance in life, that is precisely your intention for coming to this church. Over the previous several years, you haven't had the opportunity to complete the Misa De Gallo because, either at first, you weren't interested, or after you and your family attempted to go, you established a premise that primarily links your decision to participate to the availability of your family.

However, you haven't been able to experience Misa De Gallo for a long time because of some personal circumstances that they have been going through for the past two years following the lessened strictness of the safety guidelines for COVID a year prior to that, allowing people to attend with more freedom and caution. Not until today.

Knowing that your siblings won't be able to start over again that automatically brought your parents also to remain and check upon them, you've decided to do it alone this time. You're left with no option but to finish the nine night masses by yourself.

Entering the chapel, you could convey how serene and bizarre it is to experience this all by yourself regardless of the fact that you're still being a little bit sleepy along with the people present inside since it was still quite early in the morning when the sun hasn't risen yet. The unexaggerated noises of the crowd sufficient to keep yourself quiet while waiting for the mass to be prepped up, the dazzling decorations around the chapel and the graceful ambience of the holy structure says it all. About almost half an hour later, the mass is ongoing. The priest starts to pronounce his first prayer after the insightful sermon he just recited to the devoted crowd. You tried to admire the view of all of the people politely listening to the wise words from the Bible with grace and when you were looking around, a side profile of a very intriguing woman drew your attention for a while. Throughout the remainder of the time, your eyes never left on the woman sitting beside you, mesmerized at how beautiful her appearance was. Her presence almost created this strange vibe as if the people around became blurry and the only ones that exists are you and her in the midst of the glimmering lights from the divine chapel.

You walked home, successfully finishing your first single night mass with a smile on your face, astounded by it while being curious at the same because of encountering that woman.

On the third night, you were looking for some available seat when you unbelievably spotted again the same woman that you met from the first two nights. Yesterday you have got to see her but unfortunately she was on the other row of the aisle rather.

Noticing that she doesn't have anyone with her yet, you made the initiation on taking the opportunity to sat beside her.

"Let us offer one another a sign of peace." The priest extends his hands to the air, giving the signal for the crowd to follow. Everybody exchanged short messages of "peace be with yous" to those they can set their eyes for. You looked at each your sides, and for the first time; the girl has captured your gaze. "Peace be with you." She bowed at you and flashed her cute grin. You couldn't help but to smile in delight too at how contagious her display was, along with your own words in return for her.

You walked home, successfully finishing your third single night mass with a smile on your face, uplifted by it while being intrigued at the same because of encountering that woman.

On the fourth night, they have once again sat at the same chair, almost got you into wondering if this has became a fate that was casted for you as an additional christmas gift sent from God herself to often meet this woman. You and her both noticed the empty space between them as it was brought by the mutual shyness, prompting you into surmising that she may have started to find it suspicious now too. You could just hope that she won't take it a wrong turn.

A mother with her child appeared on their row, and you had no choice but to adjust yourself closer to her. You didn't look at her to get her out of thinking you may have stalking her everyday, but in your surprise, the woman talked to you for the first time.

"Aren't you the same guy I've seated with from yesterday and the days before that?" You finally heard her voice. It suited her alluring and hypnotizing looks, kind of deep and sultry.

You inclined your head, giving her the look of acknowledgment. "O-oh yeah, wait a second. You do are right.", fakely amazed as you pointed the obvious. "Now it got me wondering the same too."

The girl laughed and my oh my it was so pleasant to hear. "This is beyond just a simple coincidence now, I should say. It's our fourth straight in a row meeting at this point.", she mentioned through her impressive English with a hint of that Korean accent that you have observed, putting you into another observance that she's probably a foreigner too. "I wouldn't be surprised now if we did get to make it happen again for tomorrow." You chuckled. The woman shared the same sentiment and nodded at you.

Through that, it started to provide you a wider sense of recognizing each other praying and listening together respectfully to the entirety of the mass. You walked home, successfully finishing your fourth single night mass with a smile on your face, contented by it while being lucky at the same because of finally accomplishing that you get to communicate with that woman. On the fifth night, they have sat again at the same spot and made a deal that they'll continue this through the remaining masses before Christmas. This also marked your first exchange of greetings with her too, adding a more wholesomeness to it.

As the Our Father (or commonly known as Ama Namin in Tagalog) prayer began, you felt an unusual damp of touch to your free hand. You looked to the side and your eyes widened, realizing that the girl took your hand in her own will.

Your fingers slowly curled and clamped on her grip and nervously sang with her. In your mind was thoughts running in imagination that the heavens might probably singing together with them as they witnessed this lovely spectacle.

Before you and her parted ways, they both decided that in order to make their interaction more comfortable and welcoming, they decided started to get to know each other more at the conclusion of the mass.

Being true to their words, they have indeed continued to do so on the following 6th, 7th, and 8th nights. They've done it through exchanging social media accounts, and it has come to your knowledge that her name is Shin Ryujin, sharing the same age as you in 22 years and she is half Korean and half Filipina from her mother's side.

There were other times that you have done a more daring and challenging attempt to get closer on her, taking the time when you escorted her on her house after she noticed that there's no transportation available due to the stampede and traffic outside the church.

"I-I can take you home if you want to." You offered, remembering that you have your own motorcycle with you. Fortunately, only motors can pass through in this not so tight traffic.

"Y-you sure, YN?" Ryujin checked. "It must be embarassing for me to-"

You interrupted her words, wanting her to feel not shy and guilty that she may have pressuring you to do this. "No, I swear I'm being absolute generous right now, Ryujin. You said that your parents may have been looking now for you, and we don't want them to keep waiting longer in worry, don't we?"

Ryujin sighed and tightlipped. She lowered her head, still a sign of shame atleast that she just had somebody she just newly met had to accommodate and adjust for her sake. "You don't have to do this but... if that's what you want then I won't be resisting much more." She slowly nodded and frowned. "Sure, I'll come with you."

You are thankful for her trust that you have earned, and you have no intentions to ruin and waste it. Quickly setting up your motorcycle, you let her sit first before you do like a true gentleman. Starting your engine, you gripped onto the handles and fixed your helmets properly first before rolling the wheels.

"Hold on to me if you want to so that you may not fall, okay?" You gave her one more tip before leaving the chapel together and finding an alternate way to pass through the traffic.

You were busy on keeping your sight on the road until your body was sent into shivers and beats of your heart almost chasing the speed of your driving when you unexpectedly felt that Ryujin's body is pressed on your back, with her arms wrapped around your waist.

Through her directions, you and her reached her safe haven as you discovered her place for the first time also. Parking in front of her house, you hopped out first so that you can help her also hop out from her seat.

Removing your helmets, she looked at you and bowed down in gratefulness. "Thank you so much for taking me home, YN. I really appreciated sparing me from out there." She felt touched at your kind act.

"No problem, I couldn't just let you there be alone and feeling lost, especially that you haven't been familiar yet around there." You said.

"Take care on your way home, okay?" She patted you in the shoulder. "I still need to see you tomorrow."

You blushed and laughed at her silliness and heartfelt favor. "I will, Ryujin. We will meet again, don't worry."

You and her gave waves of goodbye to each other before you ride your motorcycle and drove all the way now to your home. You then found out on the 8th night that the reason she said that was to treat you for some street foods after the mass as her way of expressing her appreciation more for your kindness.

They made it together at the very end. on the 9th and last night before Christmas arrives, Ryujin detected a glimpse of your uncomfortable and sullen demeanor. She sweared that she could atleast barely see you smiling genuinely through the whole length of the mass, and she hated how you're easily making her sympathy for you without having to know the story behind of it yet.

That's why she decided to ask it straightforward to you, especially that she did felt something's wrong based from your lack of focus to your surroundings. It got interrupted shortly when you invited her to try this famous Filipino delicacy during Christmas season known as Bibingka.

You bought each one for you and her. She didn't ate it yet because of it's too much hotness since it was freshly cooked. You did the same, and Ryujin didn't want to spend another time being uneasy at the silence developing between you and her so she poured her confidence to ask you.

"What's gotten into you? You seemed quiet tonight." Ryujin spoke out her observings. You looked at her with that pale expression. "Cmon don't be like that, we literally just finished all the nine night masses. Do you have a problem? You can share it to me if you want."

Ryujin passed the wrapped Bibingka on the plastic back and forth in her hands to endure its heat before trying to place it on her clothed lap. You sighed and looked at her in sorrow, feeling bad for making her worry. "I'm sorry, I just had this realization since earlier this morning."

"Care to tell?" Ryujin pardoned.

"Well, you just said that tonight's the last Misa De Gallo, and now we're about to greet Christmas later." You said in a melancholic tone. "Doesn't it mean that this might be one of our last or... i don't know, exactly the last time that we'll get to share a moment like this?

Because I must say, it has become awesome for me. So much that I didn't want to end it yet, with you."

Ryujin stares at you, allowing you to speak what's boggling through your heart and mind. She did smiled at your note that you're enjoying her company throughout these 9 nights of meeting her.

"I'm not just speaking it as from what I experience from all those nights I've spent on getting along with you, this is me being the guy whom you managed you steal my attention since the beginning." You said to her, not leaving your sight on her while you sincerely releasing all of the sensation  she had caused that is lingering into your insides.

"I'm interested on you, Shin Ryujin."

Ryujin's eyes blinked rapidly, her mouth partly gaped and cheeks reddened on the spot when you declared your admiration for her. "I know it was a bit fast, that I only got to meet you for only less than 2 weeks, that's why I didn't fully recognized it already that I love you already or what, but I know i'll get there. I mean, it always comes to that way when you couldn't get to turn your eyes away at that one person right, and that is you for me, Ryujin."

Ryujin wheezed and scratched her forehead. She sighed and smiled at you. "And now you're trying to get through my feelings, I thought I wouldn't get to witness it at all, but now I did."

You gave her the opportunity to speak on her own behalf now, while albeit nervous at what she's going to say, brought by the fear that this may have cost your shortly built closeness with her.

However, it aged like a milk when her next words made you brought back everything you've thought it'll turn up to be.

"Funny how you just said it, so we're having similar impression stored within ourselves through all this time then?" She chuckled.

"Uhh can you elaborate for me?"

Ryujin knocked your head, making you rub your head at the stinging pain. "Idiot, I-I'm also interested with you too." she pouted and cutely hid her face away from you.

You stopped your movement as your senses malfunctioned after processing what you just heard from her. "H-huh what? You do?"

"Remember that first night? That's when I actually saw you for the first time." She recalled, revealing that she had already noticed you secretly too in the first night. "And I don't know why I can't contain myself to sneak glances at you. Then the second night came, I saw you again, there's a want in me that urged me to sit on you but sadly I couldn't. There's someone beside you already, so I went on to do some couple of watches on you again."

"And finally I got to do it when you sat near from me on the third night." Ryujin formed a satisfied curve on her lips before lightbulb popped in her mind, her face sprung wide and slowly turned towards you.

"Uhh what's with the look?"

"Aha! So that's why you did the first move to sit beside me huh!" She teasingly bumped you on the arm, smirking at your super ashamed state. "Very slick of you, YN."

"W-wait there was this mother and her son who wanted to sat with us o-okay? That why I adjusted myself!"

"But you were thinking of wanting to sit together with me too, don't you?"

You stammered before choosing to shut your mouth as Ryujin finally got you busted. She just laughed at your embarassed condition.

"That was funny... and very cute of you, YN." Ryujin gave a cheeky smile, making you blush intensely again. "Yeah, I'm not gonna make it longer and cheesier. I'm also interested in you, YN LN."

She laid her head on top of your shoulder and started to unwrap the Bibingka on her hand. "And I am giving you a chance to earn my heart more. I expect to see other things you can do for me, YN."

You respectfully took the opportunity she allowed to install on you wholeheartedly for the sake of the emerging love that has begun to develop from the first contact you had with her. "I'd be happy and honoured to introduce it all only for you, Ryujin. Thank you."

The two then happily continued eating bibingka together, with their anticipation for what's more to come between them arises.

1 year later, you and Ryujin attended another traditional Misa De Gallo but this time with their own respective families.

During the offering of peace led by the priest, they instead exchanged kisses to one another, a symbol of your successful and healthy 5 months of relationship with her.

But the most meaningful and unforgettable memory you will ever cherish is your hands holding tightly onto Ryujin's. Little did you know that the true and greatest christmas present you never thought you will be having last year aside from finishing Misa De Gallo without being alone, is her.

Through their desire of not wanting to let loose of their hands anymore after that very first Ama Namin and your intention to give her the Bibingka as a sign of claiming his destiny, they fortunately obtained what they deserved as it all manifested their wishes to come true in the end.

[wherethefireliliesgrow]

Feelings

Shin Ryujin x F reader

GENRE: fluff

TAGS: college love, friends to lovers

TYPE: One Shot

Inspired by: Feelings - Lauv

Ryujin was on a mission. She had grown tired of waiting for you to realize on your own that she was the one meant for you. After patiently biding her time for two years, hoping you would end things with the boyfriend who seemed to never make time for you, Ryujin finally saw her chance. However, it seemed that the universe was determined to see her fail. She had attempted to confess her feelings to you three times before, each time ending in failure. But they say the fourth time's the charm.

As cliché as it may sound, it was love at first sight for her.

During her first year in college, on one of her drunken escapades, she stumbled into a small coffee shop near her university. And there you were, greeting her with a warm smile despite the early hour and her embarrassing entrance of nearly breaking the glass doors with her head. You made her the most delicious cinnamon latte she had ever tasted. She joked that it was the sole reason she kept returning, but deep down, she knew she couldn't bear a day without seeing your beautiful face.

To her delight, she discovered that you were a fellow student at the same university and of the same age as her. She was desperate to get your phone number, even willing to give up her reckless drinking habits in favor of coffee, especially the coffee you made. It took her 17 visits to the coffee shop before she finally mustered the courage to ask for your number, although it didn't come from her own lips. Every time she tried to speak, the words would get stuck in her throat, leaving her gaping at you like a fish. It was her best friend and roommate, Yeji, who managed to obtain your number.

Yeji, with her eyes sharp like a cat, noticed the sudden change in Ryujin's behavior early on. Instead of dealing with broken-hearted girls leaving their shared room after one-night stands, she now witnessed a giggly and infatuated Ryujin. Yeji suspected that someone special had captured Ryujin's heart, and to her surprise, it was you, one of her group members in the economics class. On the 17th visit, Yeji dragged Ryujin to the coffee shop counter and boldly asked for your number.

You agreed, thinking it wouldn't hurt to make a new friend. After all, you were quite lonely, spending your days working at the shop and struggling through your studies. Little did you know that this was the beginning of two long years of Ryujin secretly pining over you.

Ryujin adored everything about you. She loved your gentle nature, your patience, and even your dad jokes. She even grew to love your pet guinea pig, Cough Drops, despite its weird name and tendency to pee on her hand. The only thing she couldn't stand was your toxic on-and-off relationship with your jerk of a boyfriend. For the past two years, whenever you broke up with him, she would try her best to sweep you off your feet. However, her efforts often went unnoticed as you mistook her genuine kindness for her naturally flirtatious personality, considering her just a close friend.

But that didn't mean you didn't feel the butterflies whenever she appeared at your apartment door, her hair tousled from riding her motorcycle, dressed in a leather jacket, and wearing a charming smile. There was definitely something more between you two when she kissed the top of your head before bidding farewell. Still, you always dismissed those feelings, attributing them to her reputation as a player. Ryujin had dated many girls and was known as the biggest flirt on campus, a fact you were well aware of.

Time and again, Ryujin patiently waited for you to end things with your boyfriend, hoping that you would finally grasp her true intentions. The first two times she mustered the courage to ask you out, you brushed it off as a joke, hiding your own flustered state. Deep down, you feared that she had noticed the way you looked at her with longing, just like your friends always teased you about.

"Love knows only broken ends," you told her, trying to convince yourself as much as her. "We're the best versions of ourselves as friends."

And so, you returned to your boyfriend, unknowingly shattering Ryujin's delicate heart even further. She was never one to give up so easily, and she knew that the best version of her was when she was with you. 

On that fateful third attempt, Ryujin had everything planned out to finally express her feelings to you. With a bottle of champagne in hand, she intended to celebrate the last day of class before winter break and confess her love to you sincerely and without hesitation. She even bought a bouquet of sunflowers, knowing they held a special place in your heart. However, when you opened the door, she was taken aback as you pulled her into a tight embrace, your tears soaking into the fabric of her shirt.

“Cough Drops died.” You had managed to muster out between sobs. 

Ryujin had closed her eyes and cursed at the Fates from above, they really didn’t want her to find happiness. Even though she had dreamt of being with you for years, she still prioritized your feelings over anything. The timing wasn’t right, and that was okay. She could wait for you forever. 

Ryujin, determined to give Cough Drops a proper farewell, embarked on the task of arranging a small funeral for your guinea pig. Finding a suitable burial place proved challenging, but eventually, she settled on utilizing one of Yeji's large potted plants. Fortunately, Yeji had already returned to her hometown for Christmas, sparing her from witnessing Ryujin's unconventional handling of her precious plant babies (she had received a huge scolding telling Yeji after, and had to clean the dorm for two months straight). She held you close as you sniffled and cried, laying the sunflowers she had bought for you on top of Cough Drops before covering them with dirt. She even sang to the guinea pig, per your request.

Oh, the things she would do for love.

Which brings us to the final and fourth attempt. Ryujin was beyond nervous, meticulously arranging a romantic picnic at the park and even persuading Yeji to make her special spaghetti, knowing it was your favorite. She had made up a sorry excuse of wanting to take a walk after class, and you gladly accompanied her without any hesitation. 

"Something on your mind?" you asked, gently tapping her arm with your fingers.

Ryujin shook her head, offering you an unconvincing smile. "Nothing. I'm just glad you're here."

You leaned against her shoulder, interlocking your hands with her clammy ones. "I'm glad you're here too, Ryujinnie. I'm lucky to have you as my best friend."

The word "friend" made Ryujin flinch, but she held onto hope that she could change that today. However, before she could take you to the location she had everything set up, a downpour along with thunder ruined her plans. 

Drenched and frustrated, she walked you back to the door of your room, feeling defeated. 

"It's okay, Ryujinnie. I still had fun," you tried to cheer her up. "It's always fun when I'm with you."

She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket and sighed in defeat. 

"Do you want to dry off in my room and watch a movie?"

Ryujin shook her head, running her hands through her dripping hair. "I've ruined my chance."

"What chance?" Confusion filled your voice. When she brought you to the park, you thought she simply wanted to change your usual Friday movie nights for something different.

Ryujin took a deep breath, looking into your eyes. It was now or never. "I have feelings for you," she blurted out. "I always have."

"Ryujin..." You were taken aback. You too had feelings for her, but the fear of losing her if things didn't work out had held you back.

"We're better off as friends."

Ryujin stepped closer, grasping your warm hands in hers. "Why?"

"Because love only knows broken ends."

"You don't know that." Ryujin pulled you closer, their breath brushing against your face. She was warm, so close. All it took was leaning forward a few centimeters, and your relationship would be forever changed. 

“Tell me, do you feel anything for me too?”

“I-” You looked everywhere but at her. “I don’t.”

“Are you sure?” Her lips softly caressed  your cheeks, making your heart go in a frenzy.

You gulped, struggling to maintain self-control. "Yes."

"If you're sure, I can leave," she murmured, her breath mingling with your hair, a slight smile forming on her lips. She could feel your defenses breaking down.

"Don't go." Your hand tightened around her jacket.

"Then give me a chance." Ryujin gave you that smile capable of winning countless hearts, the smile she reserved only for you. "Let me change your mind."

"Okay." Unable to resist any longer, overwhelmed by her scent and proximity, you pulled on the collar of her jacket and brought her lips to yours.

She smiled, finally having you like this in her arms and getting the chance to kiss you after years of waiting. The kiss started off slow but quickly became passionate. Both of you had too many unspoken feelings hidden beneath the facade of friendship, and now they rushed to the surface. It was a kiss unlike any you had experienced before, making your head spin. You yearned to explore more of Ryujin, wanting to mold yourself into her and be enveloped by her warmth every second of the day.

As your tongue traced the outline of her lips, she pulled back, panting and blushing. Her heart raced, and the sight of you—lips swollen, hair disheveled, and dazed—made her feel even more.

Ryujin laughed contentedly, knowing that all the waiting had finally paid off. 

"I'll change your mind," she whispered in your ear before gently pushing you into your room for another long-awaited makeout session.

And she did.

[winter-dayz]

Anonymous

Pairing: Hwang Yeji x Reader Secret Santa Genre: Fluff Words: 856

Masterlist | 12 Days of Ficmas Masterpost

Taglist:  @soobin-chois

You had absolutely no idea what you were going to get Yeji for Christmas. You had hoped to get literally anyone else for your work’s game of Secret Santa, but there you were walking around the mall looking for a gift for the girl you’d been crushing on for months now.

Feeling the pressure of finding the perfect gift for Yeji, you wandered through the bustling mall, desperately trying to come up with ideas. Your mind raced with thoughts of what might impress her and make her finally notice your feelings.

You decided to stop by a trendy boutique, thinking that a sweater or scarf might be a safe bet. The store was filled with stylish options but nothing seemed quite right. You mulled over the choices, uncertain about how your fashion tastes compared to hers.

After some contemplation, you decided to take a different approach. You remembered Yeji mentioning her love for music and how she enjoyed discovering new artists. This sparked an idea, and you headed to a nearby music store. As you browsed through the CDs and vinyl records, you stumbled upon an album from one of her favorite bands.

Passing by a jewelry store, you noticed a dainty necklace in the window. You couldn’t help but picture Yeji in it and the next thing you knew, you were exiting the store with another gift in hand.

🎄

Suddenly, you were thankful you’d gotten another gift at the mall the other day. As you worked on a last minute project at your desk, you overheard how Yeji had received the vinyl album from a friend the other day and she absolutely loved it.

Which was good and bad because it meant you actually did do a great job at shopping, but also sucked because it meant that it was no longer a viable gift option. The office Christmas party was later that night, and although the necklace was lovely, you worried it wasn’t enough.

On your lunch break, you found a nearby store and wasted thirty minutes of precious eating time on trying to find a replacement gift. You aimlessly wandered the store, searching for anything that would be good enough.

Just as you were prepared to give up and leave, you came across a set of stuffed alpacas that just somehow made sense.

🎄

You sat in the parking lot of your work, trying to neatly wrap the gifts inside the tight confines of your car. You’d clasped the necklace around one of the alpacas and settled for using a gift bag and tissue. You wrote a quick, sweet, anonymous message on the card.

It took you another twenty minutes to work up the nerve to go inside.

As you entered the office Christmas party, you couldn't help but feel a mix of nervous excitement. The festive atmosphere enveloped the room with colorful decorations and holiday music. Spotting the beautifully adorned Christmas tree, you carefully placed your gift underneath, making sure it blended in with the others.

You kept an eye out for Yeji, too nervous to talk to her yet. When they announced it was time to open gifts, you felt like you could throw up in anticipation. It was finally her turn; you held your breath, hoping the alpaca and necklace combo would bring a smile to her face.

Yeji opened the gift, and a look of delighted surprise crossed her face as she pulled out the alpacas. She giggled about how cute they were, holding one under each arm. The small, fluffy creatures seemed to captivate her, and you couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief. Then, her gaze shifted to the necklace, and her eyes widened in appreciation. You noticed a hint of a blush on her cheeks, and your heart skipped a beat.

The party continued with laughter, music, and festivities. You found yourself engaged in conversations, trying to act casual, all the while stealing glances at Yeji from across the room. The knowledge that you had managed to find something that she appreciated filled you with a warm sense of accomplishment. You watched with adoration as she carried around one of the alpacas tucked under her arm.

🎄

When the night drew to a close, you debated whether to reveal yourself as her Secret Santa. However, the anonymity added an extra layer of excitement to the whole experience. You decided to cherish the moment, savoring the fact that you had made her Christmas a little brighter without her knowing.

You paused as you were about to enter your car, noticing a note tucked into the driver’s window. You plucked it from its temporary home and opened it up.

“Thank you for the gifts, Y/N. I know you were trying to keep it anonymous, but I couldn’t pretend like I didn’t recognize your handwriting. Merry Christmas and call me - ♥️ ###-####”

Your heart pounded inside your chest, and you glanced around. Across the parking lot, Yeji smiled brightly as she entered her car. She waved slightly and then drove off. You stood shocked for a moment longer before getting in your own car and heading home.

[c-liffy]

teach me how to love (again)

Princess!Yuna x Soldier!Reader

Notes: Mentions violence | Implied murder| Reader has gone through some stuff | Yuna is a sweetheart | (wc: 3249)

You can vaguely remember your childhood. Some days it felt closer than tomorrow and others it felt like another lifetime. It comes in droves, when your consciousness draws in after a deep sleep, and when you least expect it.

Mostly when you’re reminded of her. Yuna; Princess Yuna.

You never liked the royal family in the past. You were a mere child growing up on the streets, and from what the others had told you, they were the reason you were out here. From what little knowledge you had, you were able to piece together the fact that your father was formally in the army and killed during battle. 

But they never gave you anything. Only repossessed your house and belongings once you realized that they would not accept blankets or old clothing in place of taxes. The only thing you had were the clothes on your back and whatever you could steal.

Or, in layman terms; fast legs and a will to live. And, at least in your kingdom, that was enough to survive. While most children grew up learning to read and write, you learned how to steal and fight. Which was good enough.

Until you got caught. 

You’d been tucking fruits and vegetables into your satchel throughout the Spring Festival Market and for every time prior you’d been successful. You grasped your hand around an apple and hid it away before feeling another hand grab your shoulder,

“You can’t take that!” A high pitched voice accused, “It’s not yours!” You turned to see a girl about your age with a frown on her face,

“Sure I can,” You shrugged, “I need it more than the shopkeeper will,”

“Why can’t you pay for it?”

“I don’t have any money,”

“Well why can’t you just ask your parents for food?” You raised an eyebrow at her. This girl was either incredibly clueless or dumb. Perhaps both,

“I don’t have any parents,”

“Oh,” She paused for a moment, “Well can I give you some?”

“I would, but I don’t like following people I don’t know,”

“I’m Yuna!” That’s where you’d heard the name before; she was the princess of the kingdom. You eyed her skeptically, suddenly hesitant to answer to someone that you weren’t supposed to like, “I’m Y/N, where do you get your food?”

She paused before answering, “I don’t know. Usually I just ask for it and someone brings it to me. So I guess I’ll ask for something and just bring it to you,”

And that began your long friendship. You used to climb the apple trees that lined the outer wall of the castle and hop into the courtyard. Yuna would bring you something and you’d sit together and eat. Sometimes you would leave together and go on adventures or stay in the courtyard or do nothing at all. 

Mostly, you’d sit together behind the flower beds that concealed the two of you and weave the stems together into anything you could. 

There were a few times you snuck out into the forest that faded the kingdom into what you thought was the real world.

You would sit and watch the stars together at the edge of the forest and let your eyes wander over the sweeping hills and vast green land,

“Someday,” You’d start, “I’m going out there,”

“Silly,” Yuna would faintly reply, “I’m going to be in there. So you can’t leave,”

You wouldn’t respond. Despite your longing to leave, or even the fact that you could at any time you desired, you never left. You would only go as far as Yuna ever wanted you to. But that was alright with you, as long as she would tuck her head into your neck and mutter sleepily about another world where you two went wherever you so pleased. You liked her stories and her presence enough. So, you stayed.

And, as time would have it, you grew; you and your royalty friend. Soon you were swiping more just apples and carrots. Once you’d figured out, and perhaps with Yuna’s help, what money actually was, you began to steal more than just what you needed.

Necklaces, books, alcohol, and other high value items could be often found hidden away in that same leather satchel that you grew into more and more.

Though, with the more you aged, you seemed to see Yuna less. Your regular nights of sitting together while you quietly munched on whatever she’d decided to surprise you with were becoming more and more sparse. It was increasingly common for you to eat alone, hiding in the same flower beds that you used to be small enough to duck into.

When you did see her, she passed it off as ‘royal duties’ which you believed. From how she described it, being the sole heiress to a throne sounded absolutely exhausting. You found yourself less and less jealous of the children that were forced to attend school.

You still sat with her at the edge of the forest. The only thing that changed there were the stories she told. The first time she ever told of something called ‘love’ you nearly sputtered out laughing. The act of caring for someone unconditionally just because of a way they talk or spoke? That sounded absolutely egregious. Especially having to ‘love’ somebody else.

Yuna looked at you with a curiously horrified glare and you stopped laughing. You’d seen people in the village kiss and hug and go on outings together. It all looked so terribly saccharine that it made you grimace.

She then promptly explained to you that there were many different kinds of love. Like how her parents loved her because she was their daughter.

It was then, you decided, that you loved Yuna. 

After that night, even if you ate alone, you’d always take your switchblade and slice an apple blossom from a tree and leave it on the window sill she’d sneak out of. Neither of you mentioned it, but it was always gone by the time you’d come back the following night. 

And now you’re back at the same edge of the forest. It’s all just trees at the front, but you can tell it's the same forest. You’ve been dreaming about this for years; being welcomed back to your home, victorious and being accepted with open arms.

But you’re back now, though you’re not quite sure if you’ll be welcome or not.

Before you know it, you’re at the castle again, but at the gates this time. Even though you’re as big as you’ve ever been, the gates have never seemed so large to you,

“Traveler? State your business!” You whirl around on your heels to see a group of guards standing behind you,

“I’m here to visit the,” You catch yourself and take a breath, “The queen. She’s requested my presence,” They seem to look at one another; the guard at the head looks at you, then down to your uniform insignia before nodding curtly,

“Understood, you may pass,” He raises his hand in signal and the doors begin to recede with a disturbing screech. You pass through them and look up at the wooden arch that sags without the support of the gates. 

The exterior of the castle looks almost unrecognizable. Usually you’d enter through the side after scaling the wall; the front looks so foreign you wonder if this is the same place you used to spend every night. You continue into the entrance and find yourself inside a grand foyer. The floors are marble and click under your shoes. There’s crowning that goes all around the walls and the wood paneling still looks just as classic as it did when you used to dance around the halls with hushed laughter,

“Y/N,” You raise your head and there she is. She’s older, you can see how she’s aged into a true woman now. And she looks even more radiant than ever. Even through the downcast moonlight that pours into the dark room, she nearly lights up the entire space just from the corridor,

“Yuna,” A smile attempts to etch itself onto your face, though her’s doesn’t crack. She keeps a stoic look over you, one that makes you almost squirm in your spot. This is new; she’s never been cross with you since you’ve met her,

“You’ve been gone,” You nod,

“I have,”

“You never told me,”

“I didn’t”

“You know I’ve been waiting for you since you left,”

“You have?” Your eyebrows knit together as a confused look washes across your face, “I was half expecting a king to be here, or some other little royals. You’ve always talked about having a family,”

“I was waiting for a particular knight to help me with that,” She mutters and you can just barely hear her voice,

“What?”

“I said I’m still upset you left,”

Biting your lip, you silently curse yourself. You should’ve accounted for this; leaving her. You knew then it would hurt her a lot more than it did you. At least you were doing something you’ve yearned for since you knew how to want,

“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you or,”

“Yeah! You really should��ve. You know how long I spent here alone? I’ve grown up alone so you can play ‘Warrior of the Woods’?” You frown. You’ve changed too; you’ve matured and grown up,

“But I wasn’t ‘playing’, Yuna. I did real things. I helped entire kingdoms, and I fought against bad people,” She leans against one of the walls and something like concern flickers in her eyes,

“Fought?”

“Yeah, fought,”

“Does that mean you killed people?”

“It does,”

“Innocent people?” You bit your lip. Yuna was a good person; a pure soul at that. She hated violence and used to clasp her hands over her ears and protest loudly whenever you’d bring it up. She wouldn’t like your answer. You can still remember your first kill.

“And you’re sure?” You looked up the Lieutenant,

He nodded, “Go for it, Private,” You smiled at the nickname, but it sunk after a quick moment. Turning back to the clearing you stared at your enemy with an unsure gaze,

“I’m nervous. I don’t want to feel bad about this,”

He reached down and grabbed your hand, “Here’s how I see it,” His free hand began searching for something on his belt, “I’ve got a wife and two kids back at home,” You hear a button popping, “And I’d hate to see them starve just because a private couldn’t take her shot,” He puts something in your grasp, “So, take it,” You look down to see a small dagger placed in your palm.

You take a deep breath at his reassurance. He was there for you always, just like that. In some ways, you could see him as the closest thing you could get to a parent; at least from how Yuna would describe how her parents loved her.

You tighten your grip and steady yourself. He places his hands on your shoulders before pushing them slightly. You rushed the doe with unsteady legs and a shaky slash.

That night, you sat by the fire and stared into the roaring flames with an empty stare. The fire did little to warm the cold feeling that’d set in your heart once you saw the caracas of the doe laying in the clearing,

“Chin up, Private. You look like you’ve been through hell,”

“I just feel bad,” You confess, avoiding eye contact with the Lieutenant

“Don’t, we needed this. Plus, she would’ve been someone else’s dinner no matter what,” He hands you a piece of the meat and you take a small bite.

You held it in your mouth for a second before chewing and letting the flavor sink in. The way you grew up, meat was seldom available. You could count on one hand the amount of times you’ve ever bitten into it. You took another bite and the steaming meat did wonders to quell the numbness in your heart.

The Lieutenant was right, you decided. If you wouldn’t have killed the deer, surely, someone else would have.

“Why would you hurt anyone?” Her countenance was one so akin to another you’d seen under an apple tree so long ago. Though you can’t remember exactly why, it pains you for her expression be directed at you,

“I had to help other people. Innocent people, like our people,”

“My people,” You purse your lips and nod,

“Your people,” You parrot, albeit in a hushed whisper that sounds more of a confession than a confirmation.

And then silence falls again. It’s tense, but not unfamiliar. Your eyes wander over Yuna, grown from a naive and curious princess to an eloquent and resolute queen. You can only wonder what she’s done since you’ve been gone, if the same gang of street kids still hang around and swipe produce from market stands, how your home has changed,

But you know that Yuna has probably moved on, and that your former gang is probably grown up now and off the streets with jobs, and everything has changed.

Afterall, that’s what you did,

“I just don’t understand why you left,” A huffing sigh comes from her, and it sounds more exasperated than anything else,

“Because I had dreams, Yuna. And I accomplished them. And now I’m back here,” You explain, advancing closer to her. She either doesn’t notice or doesn’t make any pronounced movements to retreat,

“Was I not one of them?”

You pause, startled, “What?”

“Your dreams; was I not a part of them?”

“You said you had to stay here. Almost everything I wanted was out there,”

“So you chose that over me,”

“Yes, I did. And I don’t know if I regret it,” Her head snaps up to let her eyes train on your face,

“You don’t regret leaving me?” With each word, her composure seems to ebb away,

“I said I didn’t know,” You take in a deep breath in an attempt to stay steady,

“What about us? What about loyalty?” You scowl.

 

You picked up another fern and let it bobble around your hand,

“You heard about the General retiring?” The Lieutenant looked through the fronds to your face,

“Yeah. Makes sense though, you can only be away from your family for so long. Most other armies are stationary too,” He watched as you began picking the small leaves off of the stem,

“You ever considered leaving?”

“Not really. I can see why he would want to though,” Your mind drifted to a certain princess still locked away in a castle,

“I’m content here. You have a chance elsewhere though,” You lift your head to see his eyes boring into yours, “You’ve been moving up through the ranks pretty fast. Major General was last month?” You nod and he pulls his gaze from yours to look around, “Feels like just yesterday I was teaching you how to hunt as a private just yesterday. This very forest,”

You hadn’t realized it, but he brought you to the clearing where you first killed the doe. You don’t know how you missed it seeing that the image had been displayed at the back of your mind since then,

“Right. Well, it’s been a bit longer than that,” You cleared your throat and adjusted the rank-loop around your sleeve, suddenly feeling tense,

“I’ll be General soon, no more of this Lieutenant business,” His stare shoots back to your face, almost feeling as if he were scanning it, “I’ll be leading,”

“Yes, sir, you will,” You set the stem on the ground and instead buried your hands in the plush grass, “You’ll be at the helm, like you’ve wanted,” Even at your younger age, you could see the sparkle in his eyes when someone recognized his leadership,

“You won’t have an issue with that?”

“I don’t see why I would,”

“You’re Major General, and I’ve heard a few whispers about you outpacing me,” He stepped towards you, eyes never leaving your face,

“I surely haven’t said anything about outranking you,” Your grip tightened on the grass below you,

“You sure? I wouldn’t be surprised if you were sniffin’ around for a higher rank,” You froze at his tone and it nearly knocked the wind out of you,

“No,” You stuttered and widened your eyes, “No, Sir,”

“You lying, girl?” He sneered with a grudging edge to his voice you’d never heard before,

“No! I’m not! I swear I’m not!” You exclaimed, jumping up to wave your arms in protest,

“Oh yeah?” He unclipped his scabbard and clutched the hilt until his knuckles were white, “And how should I know that?”

“What are you saying? You know me; I don’t lie,”

“You’re ambitious, Private. I know that for damn sure. How do I know you aren’t undermining me? Gonna stab me behind my back?” His hand moved to rest around his grip,

“I’m not!”

“Be quiet! It doesn’t matter; one of us is going to become General. It just depends which one of us can get outta here alive,” The following morning, you watched with tears in your eyes as a new Insignia was sewn onto your uniform.

“Loyalty is a double-edged sword, Yuna,” Your cold tone even surprising yourself, “And in this world, you’ll find that one edge is sharper than the other,” You let your hand clutch around the pommel of your sword,

“And love? Whatever happened to that?”

You still never fully understood love. The only people you’ve ever loved were the Lieutenant and Yuna. You thought loving Yuna was like basking in the sun on a spring day, but after your final icy encounter with the Lieutenant, you figure that maybe it’s best to shade yourself from whatever feeling ‘love’ brings,

“Love is,” You start, “It’s,” You pause because even after years in the army where you seemingly surrounded yourself with lifelong friends, you still didn’t know why people felt it.

It was apple picking in the darkest of night. It was trying to label each color that painted the dawn sky. It was actually bringing someone there because it was truly indescribable. It was crying so hard you couldn’t stand because you just couldn’t fathom leaving someone. It was picking a flower blossom every time you saw one. It was sitting around a campfire and telling stories with people you didn’t even know. It was holding someone’s hand while they guided you through something they’ve mastered. It was them helping you master it too. It was leaving your dreams behind because of someone. It was leaving your home behind for someone.

Love was complicated. And you couldn’t put a word on it,

“I don’t know,” You finally said, “It hurts?”

“Why does it hurt?” She melts from her tense posture to look at your with a wondrous look,

“Love hurts, I think,” You state,

“It can,” She nods and then it all clicks for you and you let your hand fall from your sword,

“Love hurts me like it used to hurt you,”

“It does,” You looks up at her through rivulets of tears, you don’t remember when you started crying, and let yourself smile,

“Yuna, I think I want to learn how to love again,” She finally steps forward and wraps her arms around your neck. You take in the sweet scent of her and the breath makes your heart swell,

“I’ll help you; I’ll teach you,” 

And you don’t respond. You just let her hold you.

[fantastic-bby]

Love is a Waiting Game

Pairing: Ryujin x Changbin, OC x Changbin

Word count: 37k

Genre: Romance | Fluff | Angst | Slice of Life | Bittersweet | College AU

Seo Changbin has a bit of an odd life. He finds himself waiting quite a lot. Especially when he’s faced with Shin Ryujin, a shy woman with a love for bomber jackets and her eccentric group of friends who always seem to find a way to put her in strange situations.  But Changbin finds himself realising that there’s nothing that makes him wait more than love when he tries to get closer to Ryujin, who’s still struggling to find herself but also can’t seem to resist his advances.

Tags + Warnings: Mentions of blood | Mentions of corpses | Past gang involvement | Violence | Marijuana usage | Alcohol usage | Themes of sexuality/asexuality | A bit of insecurity surrounding the topic of that

Masterlist | Ao3 Link

Adventures of Campus Masterlist

i.

Changbin’s head jerks backwards when he falls too much to the front, his hands scrambling across the table and accidentally scrunching up the many sheets of paper in front of him as he tries to stabilise. He looks around the room with his eyes narrowed and his eyebrows furrowed.

Chan is fast asleep in his swivel chair, baby blue neck pillow protecting his head from swinging too far to the side while Raisha is passed out on the music studio’s couch with a fuzzy green blanket draped over her. 

Changbin runs a hand over his face in an attempt to wake himself up and as he tries to remember why the hell he’s in the music studio at—he checks his watch—why the fuck is it five a.m.?! He lets out a small groan and leans back in his chair. 

His muscles are fucking killing him. Why did he agree to overnight at the studio in the first place?! 

Chan and Raisha aren’t even awake when they’re the whole reason Changbin’s here in the first place. Chan thought it would be a ‘fun idea’ to pull an all nighter at the studio to try and finish a song they had been working on in the past two months or so. Raisha is honestly just there as moral support since she isn’t directly involved with the technicality of music, but she’s there to lend them her dark green bass whenever they need it. 

Changbin lets out a soft sigh as he turns back to his laptop screen to see Logic Pro opened up with the few tracks that they had recorded. It’s not a lot, but the three of them were proud of how much they managed to get since most of what Chan had to do was splice and repeat the tracks. 

God, they’re not even doing this professionally, but Changbin thinks that this is one of the most exhausting processes that he’s ever put himself through. Despite that, he’d still gladly choose to do it willingly. He thinks that the process of making music is more tiring than rugby and he’s broken three of his limbs playing rugby. 

“Oh fuck!” Raisha exclaims when she accidentally rolls off of the couch and lands on the floor with a thud, the sound scaring Chan awake and causing him to fall out of his chair as well. Changbin turns around to see them looking around in confusion as they try to take in their surroundings. 

“Fucking hell,” Chan groans, “I thought I was dreaming when I remembered I was still here.” He climbs back onto his chair and screams into his hands when they cover his face at the realisation that the three of them are still in the studio.  He lets out a loud sigh, sucking in his breath through his teeth right after as he stares at his own DAW on his PC. “Come on, I just need one sound in this to make it better.” 

“Chan, we’ve been at this for hours. How much longer are you going to stare at the screen until you get an idea?” Raisha whines softly and buries her face into her pillow as she lays on the carpeted ground without making much of an effort to climb back onto the couch. 

“It’s just one more, Sha,”  he whines as well. 

“Dude, you said ‘one more’ four adlibs ago,” Changbin sighs. “And that was seven fucking hours ago!”

“Hmmm, four adlibs in the span of seven hours… I wonder if it’ll take another two for you guys to figure out another one,” Raisha jokes. 

“Can we sleep first and then finish the song?” he suggests, turning to Chan with hopeful eyes, but the producer’s already closed his eyes. 

Only for them to snap back open upon hearing Raisha calling his name. 

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Chan yawns. “I don’t think I can think of anything else to add to this song yet.”

“We can just get back to this later when we’ve had dinner and we’ve slept,” Raisha hums and returns to her spot on the couch, head flush against the soft cushion that she purposefully leaves in the studio for whenever Chan decides an all nighter is a good idea. 

“You mean ‘breakfast’,” Changbin corrects her lazily. 

“Yeah, whatever,” she grumbles and closes her eyes. Chan looks at her with a fond smile before he reclines his chair the furthest it can go and lays down. He grabs the blanket laying on the floor and drapes it over himself, making himself comfortable before he closes his eyes. 

Changbin looks between the two and sighs as he turns back to the sheets of lyrics on his table. Something’s suddenly bugging his thoughts and he finds himself not sleepy at all. 

“If you can’t sleep, just take some of the sleeping pills from my bag,” Chan mumbles, making Changbin turn to look at him. “I always carry a few around with me.” 

“Thanks, but it’s fine,” he shakes his head. 

“Suit yourself.”

Changbin turns back to his laptop, pen tapping against his arm as he stares at the program. Sometimes, his creative block is so big that he could be staring at his screen or his lyrics for weeks before he’s able to write something that sounds good enough for him. 

He glances at Chan and the way he’s already knocked out. 

Surprising, Changbin thinks. 

Chan is someone that Changbin’s known for the past few months. They’re both part of the music club, but they’re also the ones that are camped in the music studio since Chan had basically planted his PC in there and claimed it as his own. Which no one really minds because no one else seems to want to use the studio when they could make use of their own rooms. 

Chan, however, decided that the music studio is his room now. He’s spent the past two years producing and perfecting his skill in mastering his own music. So when Changbin had joined the music club, it was just their luck that he had a knack for writing lyrics that have the power to melt hearts. 

Raisha, on the other hand, isn’t a producer nor does she master music in her free time. She does, however, slap the bass like she was specifically born to and Chan had fallen head over heels for her sweet and kind personality when she joined a band for a one-time performance and blew everyone’s minds. While he wasn't part of the band, he ended up spending a lot of time with her when she was in the jamming room with the rest of the band and they ended up spending more time together camped in the studio until the early hours of the morning. 

The main reason that Changbin finds Chan passing out so easily surprising is that Chan’s insomnia is, to quote him directly, ‘a blessing and a curse’. Whenever he can’t sleep, he’s usually hit with a wave of inspiration that has him playing around with his 25-key MIDI keyboard and shitting out half of a song as though it’s such an everyday thing. Other times, Chan’s insomnia only gives him and everyone around him one of the worst headaches of his life, but Changbin usually tries to stay as understanding as possible. 

Until Chan’s therapist started prescribing him sleeping pills that he, willingly, refuses to take because he claims that they block his creative process. To which, Changbin doesn’t argue because Chan’s mental health can be a bit of a finicky thing to work with. 

Raisha’s sleeping schedule is only slightly worse than Chan’s only because she happily chooses to stay awake until the ass crack of dawn for the sake of keeping them company whenever they’re working on songs. Chan had tried, at first, to get her to sleep whenever he saw hours and hours of work ahead of him, but every time Raisha sweetly told him ‘no’ and Chan practically fell to his knees for her. 

Changbin is pretty sure that they’re in love with each other, but if you were to ask the both of them, Raisha would politely shake her head while Chan would turn into a blushing mess while sputtering anything to deny it. But Changbin once caught them staring at each other for a few seconds longer than what’s considered normal and he concluded that if they didn’t realise it, then someone would definitely tell them. 

Either way, Changbin’s pleased with his situation now. He loves his friends, he loves music, and he loves rugby; all of which surrounds him constantly and keeps his blood and brain moving at a rate he’s happy with. He genuinely feels like he isn’t exactly missing anything. 

The only problem is that Raisha, Chan, and Changbin are in a spot where they feel… somewhat incomplete. Their dynamic is fantastic and their synergy when making music is honestly something otherworldly, but they three of them have spoken about it before and it feels like they’re just missing something; or someone that could help their music process move a bit faster and smoother. 

But for now, Changbin’s more than happy to work with just Chan and Raisha because he’s comfortable with them. It didn’t feel like a chore trying to get to know either of them since it seemed to happen so naturally. It also doesn’t help that they both act like a happy wife with her very disgruntled husband, so it honestly felt like Changbin was adopted by the both of them… which makes him wonder how they both don’t realise how ‘in love’ with each other they are. 

He lets out a small sigh as he crumples up another sheet of paper and tosses it into the, almost, full metal waste bin right underneath the white desk. Changbin leans his head onto the table and shuts his eyes. All he needs is writing material and then he can let himself sleep. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

“I feel like shit,” Chan claims, voice coming out as a mumble and his head almost hanging forward and smashing into his place of rice. 

“The new semester is starting soon—maybe we can get new guys to come in and work with you,” Raisha suggests right before she sticks a spoonful of the noodles into her mouth. “You never know how talented they can be,” she shrugs once she’s done swallowing. 

“That doesn’t seem so bad,” Changbin hums. He had finished his place of chicken chop way before, but he’s also always had a habit of eating faster than both Chan and Raisha.

“The new kids are all extremely scared of us because we’re their seniors and we actually work on music,” Chan points out. “It doesn’t matter how many times we try encouraging them to hang out, the only ones that do are the second and final years.” 

“You think we could just kidnap some of them and drag them into the music room at midnight?” he jokes. 

“Changbin,” Raisha scolds while shooting him a glare. 

“It’s really not a bad idea,” Chan laughs. He shrinks when he sees the same glare from her being directed at him instead, making Changbin laugh to himself. 

“Or would you rather we wait for someone to approach us instead?” Raisha suggests. “None of the other music club members or the committee actually use the music room since they know that Chan pretty much lives there and the only people that use the jamming room are me and some of the band kids.” 

“The band kids camp in the jamming room at every chance they get. There was a really weird agreement that we had, but because I’m always in there, no one seems to want to intrude on the studio part of the room.” 

“Channie, you practically live in the studio. The first time Changbin came in, he agreed that it felt like he was going into your bedroom,” she deadpans. 

He stares at her for a moment before his cheeks redden and he looks at his food, the grains of rice suddenly becoming so interesting to him.

“It’s not like we ever leave the room at night, anyway. Maybe, if we’re lucky, someone would come to the room and ask to hang out,” Changbin says with a shrug. 

“Can we just hope?” 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

ii.

Changbin finds himself crashed on the floor of the music studio once again. He feels like his head is going to fucking explode while Chan lays beside him, the both of them staring at the white ceiling blanky. 

“What the fuck are we supposed to do?” Changbin mumbles. 

“I don’t know,” Chan sighs. 

“You guys could always, you know, take a break,” Raisha suggests from her spot on the couch, her eyes glued to her iPad perched on her knees as she plays a rhythm game on it. 

“Isn’t that what we’re doing right now?” Changbin laughs tiredly, the sound coming out breathless and almost hoarse because the three of them don’t know how to stay hydrated or keep each other hydrated. 

“You guys are staring at the ceiling while trying to think about how to make the song better. That’s not resting,” she mumbles absentmindedly while keeping her focus on her game. “Yes!” Raisha finally puts the iPad away when she finishes the map and looks at the two men, “now, if you guys really want to take a break, you guys can just walk around campus instead—smoke a little just to clear your heads. Maybe I’ll think of something, too.” 

“A smoke break sounds amazing,” Chan groans as he sits upright with Changbin mimicking his movements. “Oh fuck, wait—I can’t smoke. I’m going home tomorrow and I can’t have the stench of cigs on me.” 

“Back to staring at the ceiling it is,” Changbin sighs and lays back down. 

Raisha’s elbow rests on her knee, her chin perched on her palm as she stares at them. 

“Then? You guys just want to rot in here?” 

“What else are we supposed to do? Chan can’t smoke and it’s five a.m.,” Changbin grumbles. 

“Nothing’s open and I don’t want to use my truck tonight because I have to save up on the gas for tomorrow,” Chan adds. “I’d also rather not walk around the campus at three a.m. sober.” 

“And no one’s having any parties because the semester just started,” he sighs. 

“I feel like I’m watching a sped up version of that bouncing DVD logo bouncing off of the sides of the screen, only, the walls are you two and the DVD logo is negativity,” Raisha teases. “Can’t you guys think of anything positive?” 

The two of them look at each other for a moment before shaking their heads at the same time, with the same exact movement. 

“Stare at the ceiling and rot, is it then,” she chuckles and slides onto the floor right beside Chan, laying down beside him as she stares at the ceiling as well. 

“Do you think… if I add more piano… would it sound better?” Chan asks suddenly. 

“What kind of piano are we talking about?” Changbin questions without turning his head. 

“EDM piano?”

“Dude…” 

“Less EDM, more heavy bass,” Raisha states. 

“That’s easy for you to say. You’re a bassist,” Chan snorts. 

“Bass is a natural sound for me,” she hums. 

The conversation fizzles out as the three of them simply stare at the ceiling without a single thought in any of their heads. Surprisingly, Changbin can actually feel his muscles starting to relax the longer he stares at the ceiling as it starts to become more and more hypnotising. 

Until he hears snoring come from beside him. 

Changbin’s head whips to his right and he sees Chan fast asleep with Raisha cuddled up by his side. His eyes narrow before he sighs and returns to staring at the ceiling. There’s something peaceful about the silence that fills the room and surrounds him, the only sound in the room being the whirring of the air con and the occasional creak of the table. 

And then the door knocks. 

Who the hell is knocking at the door at five fucking a.m.?!

Changbin rises from his spot and he stares at the door, wondering if he’s going crazy. It knocks again and that’s all the confirmation he needs to know that there must be someone on the other side, making him stand up from the floor and run a hand through his hair as he makes his way towards the white wooden door. 

He swings it open and it reveals a guy standing there in a black hoodie, his hands stuffed into the front pocket of it with a guitar bag hanging from his back.

“Dude, it’s five a.m.,” Changbin states.

“Yeah, I know, but I’m like… really fucking high right now, man, and I just wanna shred.” The guy’s voice slurs, words mumbled and jumbled together as he stares at Changbin with bloodshot, half-lidded eyes. He eyes the guy up and down for a moment before letting him in. 

The moment he walks past Changbin, he’s hit with the strong mixture of cologne and the musky, earthy smell of weed that makes him stumble backwards and almost choke from how strong it is. 

“The jamming room’s the second door to your left,” he mumbles while pointing towards the door. “The recording studio’s straight ahead, but my friends are pretty knocked out, so you won’t get much entertainment out of being in there.” 

Changbin’s always loved the way the music room was laid out. It felt like a professional music studio with a jamming room to the left and the office straight down the hallway that they just called the recording studio since the actual recording booth was connected to the room with a glass separating the two rooms to show the inside of it. 

“It’s fine. I’m just here for the amp,” the guy claims as he makes a beeline towards the jamming studio.

Changbin watches him through the window that looks into the jamming studio, but decides not to linger any longer and makes his way back into the recording room where Chan’s eyes are fluttering open. Raisha had, presumably, rolled away from him a few minutes prior, which is why her back is now facing Chan. 

“Did someone just come in?” Chan asks, sleep lacing his voice.

“Yeah, some guy with a guitar. He said he was high, so I just let him in since he said he just wants to use the jamming studio,” Changbin explains softly in an attempt to not wake Raisha up from how soundly she’s sleeping. 

“I keep forgetting that there are people on campus who don’t want to disturb their neighbours,” he chuckles. 

Changbin opens his mouth to say something only to be interrupted by the sound of a guitar solo ripping into the room. His eyes widen and his jaw drops just as Chan does the same, the both of them staring at each other in shock as the solo goes on for the next few minutes. 

“What the fuck?” Changbin scrambles to his feet to rush out of the room. 

“Is that the guy?” Chan joins his side as they both watch the guy from before shred on his guitar with his eyes closed, his fingers moving along the fretboard so naturally and so easily that it practically mesmerises the two. “Holy shit,” he breathes out in awe, his eyes glued on the way this guy leans back every once in a while when he bends the strings. “And you said he was high?” 

“Chan, if he’s this good high, then I don’t know what the fuck kind of God he is when he’s sober,” Changbin mutters in disbelief. 

The two of them stand there, complete in awe with the guitarist and unaware of when Raisha seems to join them upon hearing the guitar. 

“Woah,” she gasps, eyes snapping wide open when she sees just how effortlessly the guy plays. 

“I know right.” 

“Who is he? And why is he here in the middle of the night?” 

“He said he’s really high and just really wants to use the amp, so I let him in,” Changbin explains, but he’s almost completely unaware of the fact that Raisha’s just woken up and is standing beside him. He’s, honestly, just answering a question that was thrown into the air. 

“He’s amazing,” Chan breathes. “How is he so good?” 

“I don’t even think he realises we’re here,” Raisha chuckles. 

As if on cue, the guy stops playing and his eyes snap open the moment she speaks, making direct eye contact with all of them. He blinks a few times, but it takes a while before he seems to process what’s happening and watches as the three of them allow themselves into the jamming studio. 

“Where the hell did you come from?” Chan laughs the moment they’re inside. 

“I grew up in Incheon,” the guy states. “That’s… good to know. I meant, where did you learn how to play the guitar that well?” 

“Oh, sorry… words aren’t translating to me right now,” he chuckles while wiping his forehead with his index and thumb. “I started playing when I was nine or ten… so I’ve been playing the guitar for ten years… I think. I can’t remember how long it’s actually been. But it’s fun for me and it feels nice. In my body.”

“Dude, you’re amazing,” Changbin claims with a laugh. “We’ve never heard anyone play that well before.” 

“I would be way more thankful if I wasn’t high out of my mind, but thank you,” the guy laughs. 

“I’m Changbin—by the way. This is Chan,” he jerks his thumb in Chan’s direction, “he produces music. This is Raisha,” he turns to Raisha who smiles and nods, “she’s our bassist. We’re in an unofficial kind of music group.” 

“That sounds so fucking cool,” he slurs with a lazy chuckle. “I’m Jisung, but my friends call me Han when I play because they think it’s cool if I performed with a stage name. A lot of people call me ‘Ji’ or ‘Sung’, so just choose whatever floats your boat.” 

“Y-You perform?” Raisha repeats. 

“Yeah, I have major insane social anxiety, though, so I’m usually playing on stage when I’m high.” 

“That’s completely fair. I agree with that logic,” Chan chuckles. 

“It’s a coping mechanism,” Jisung claims softly as he smiles. “Oh, wait, if you guys are down for it—” He sticks his hand into the pocket of his hoodie and pulls out a metal casing that he holds out towards them. 

Changbin eyes the casing, hesitating for a moment before he takes the case from Jisung. Chan and Raisha watch from over his shoulder as he pulls the metal casing open to reveal another six rolled blunts on the inside of it, the smell of weed practically exploding into the air of the jamming studio. 

“Holy shit,” Raisha laughs when she sees the blunts. 

“I rolled them myself yesterday,” Jisung giggles proudly when he sees the look on all of their faces. “I got the weed from a friend of mine out of town. We meet up almost every month so I always have a fresh stash.” 

“Fuck not smoking cigarettes—I’ll just burn these clothes before I head home,” Chan laughs as he pulls one of the blunts out of the case.

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“This is better than staring at the ceiling,” Changbin chuckles. Raisha had come up with the wonderful idea of Chan driving the four of them out of campus and to the abandoned parking lot a few minutes up campus where it overlooks the entire city, and with the newly discovered set of blunts, Chan just couldn’t resist the idea of getting high in the parking lot and watching the sunset—especially with the way Raisha was fluttering her pretty eyes at him.  

The musky odour of the weed surrounds them as they hotbox his truck, smoke completely filling the entire car and making the outside world almost invisible to them; especially in the state they’re in. 

“I would take this over masking the smell of cigarettes from my family anyday,” Chan chuckles lazily. He takes a particularly long drag from his blunt, the end of it glowing red, before he throws his head back against the driver’s seat and blows out the smoke with a content sigh as he passes the thin, brown roll to Raisha. 

“You guys are cool as hell,” Jisung hums. “All I wanted tonight was to shred on my guitar and then pass out in my room, but this is way better.”

“Seconded,” Raisha giggles right before she takes a drag. “Are you new, Jisung?”

“This is my first year,” he nods. 

“What course are you taking?”

Jisung opens his mouth to speak, but quickly cuts himself off. 

“You know what? I don’t remember,” he laughs. 

“I don’t remember mine either, so you get a pass,” Changbin laughs. 

They’ve really only spent the past hour or so with Jisung, but there’s something so special about this guy that has them all watching him with so much adoration. He reminds them of a very excited puppy with so much life in his eyes that’s clouded with so much fucking weed that they find it even more adorable. 

“Do you want to start hanging around the music club more often? Chan and I barely leave the studio, so you could come in at the same time every night and we’ll most likely be working on music,” he chuckles. 

“Only at night?” Jisung glances at him with an eyebrow raised. 

“I’m in the rugby team, so I usually spend my days on the field.” 

“How was I not expecting that?” he laughs. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Changbin scoffs, laughing as he turns to look at Jisung who only shakes his head, barely able to control his own laughter.

“You’re built like you do something hardcore; I don’t know why I didn’t expect it to be rugby.” 

“Changbin’s one hell of a rugby player,” Chan claims. “You should see him in a game. He barrels through the opposing team like they’re made of paper.” 

“I’d love to see you in a rugby game. I’m not one for sports, but I’d watch to support,” Jisung says right as he takes a drag and leans back. 

“Oh—oh, the sun’s rising,” Raisha points out while smacking Chan’s arm frantically. 

“Hey, I see it, you don’t have to hit me,” he chuckles right before he unlocks the car doors and steps out, moving to the side to help Raisha out as Changbin and Jisung help themselves out. The sudden ventilation makes the smoke poof out of Chan’s truck and fills the surrounding area, hazing over almost the next few feet. 

They stare as the Sun creeps over the horizon, pink, golden, and blue hues blending together throughout the sky and creating an even more ethereal experience from just how much weed they’ve been smoking in the past hour. 

“Wow,” Changbin breathes out in awe, leaning against Jisung as he keeps his eyes on the sky. 

“This is so fucking cool,” Jisung laughs breathily.

The four of them stare at the sky without saying anything and simply admire the way the Sun slowly gets higher and higher into the sky until it’s completely peaked over the horizon and the sky has turned pink and orange. 

“Hey, Ji,” Changbin nudges him slightly. Jisung hums in response without paying much attention to him. “How do you feel about joining Raisha, Chan and I? Officially?” 

“Shit, I’d fucking love to, dude,” he smiles and turns to look at him.  

“Great,” Chan grins as well. “Camp in the studio after this and shred on your guitar like you did just now. Maybe we can add it into the track we’ve been working on.” 

“God knows we need help with their most recent track,” Raisha teases while nudging his ribs with her elbow, making him yelp and swat at her arm. 

“I’d love to—I’m sobering up right now, man,” Jisung jokes. 

“The weed somehow feels like it’s wearing off while getting stronger. I don’t know what the fuck is happening anymore,” Changbin chuckles as he turns around and starts heading to Chan’s truck. “I want to pass out. Chan, can we just sleep in your car until the weed wears off?” 

“I doubt I can even drive us back. If I ever drive high, kick me,” Chan nods as he slings his arm over Raisha’s shoulders and starts guiding her back to the truck as well.

“You wouldn’t even need to ask.”

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iii. 

Having Jisung around has definitely changed the vibe in the music room drastically. The three of them find themselves feeling a little lighter whenever he’s around—which is all the time since he’s decided that he never leaves the room either. The four of them have spent an ungodly amount of time together in the past week only because of how they’re always in the music room at night. 

Unsurprisingly, Jisung has more of a filter when he’s sober, but he still has an extremely bright and sprightly personality that has his older friends giggling with glee whenever he makes a joke because he’s also a pretty funny guy. 

“Holy shit, I’m done with the track,” Chan lets out a loud sigh and throws his arms into the air. “Fuck, how did we finish that so fast?” 

“Fucking finally!” Changbin cheers from his spot on the floor. He’s sitting cross-legged on the floor with his laptop opened right in front of him and with his lyric notebook in his lap. 

“You guys want to get started on another one?” Jisung suggests, lollipop stuck in between his lips as he sits on the swivel chair sideways, legs dangling off of the armrest of one of them and his head hanging off of the other. His nonchalance seems to rub off on his friends from how calm and chill Jisung can get; the first example being how he’s currently sitting on the chair while he chews on a lollipop. 

Yes. 

Chews.

“Eh, what’s the harm in that?” Raisha shrugs from the couch with her bass in her lap. She’s been playing it to herself the past few hours while the guys busy themselves with lyrics and the actual mastering of the music. Well, it’s actually just Chan that’s mastering the track while Changbin writes lyrics. Jisung is lazing away in his chair and throwing suggestions left and right or picking up his guitar to play anything that he thinks fits the vibe of the track. 

“Let’s actually get the lyrics done on this one before we move on to another song,” Chan chuckles. 

“Changbin, how far into the lyrics are you?” Jisung asks as he allows his chair to turn to face him. 

“Not that far,” he sighs. “I don’t know what else to write. Nothing’s coming to mind when I listen to this track.” 

“Then write about that,” he shrugs. 

A moment passes before the both of them suddenly shoot upright and stare at each other with bright eyes. 

“An idea!” they yell at the same time.

“You’re a genius!” Changbin laughs excitedly as he starts scribbling down lyrics onto the page. Jisung grabs his own notebook as well, finally sitting in his chair properly, and writes down his own lyrics. Chan seems to have his own spark of inspiration from seeing the two of them while Raisha watches in amusement. 

“You guys really just bounce off of each other huh?” she chuckles. She only laughs more when they seem so immersed in writing lyrics that they don’t seem to have heard her and she returns her attention back to their bass to allow them the space to spew their creativity onto their notebooks. 

Another half an hour passes and Jisung’s the first to shoot from his chair with his notebook, “I’m done!” 

“You are actually sent by God,” Chan chuckles in disbelief as Jisung places the notebook on the table in front of him and he lets his eyes skim over it. “Run into the recording booth and let’s get it onto the track.” 

“Yes sir!” 

Changbin watches with a fake grimace on his face at how quickly Jisung has finished writing the lyrics, but it slowly fades into an, almost, proud smile. He isn’t entirely surprised since Jisung’s proven to be extremely fast when it comes to writing lyrics and he proved it the first time when Raisha dared him to fit a whole chocolate muffin the size of his fist into his mouth. Right after Jisung swallowed it, he wrote two verses and a new guitar riff in the span of half an hour. 

He glances at Raisha who watches Jisung with a small smile on her face as Chan starts the recording and he starts rapping. 

“He’s actually pretty damn good,” Raisha chuckles. 

“He’s fucking amazing,” Changbin corrects her with a laugh. He leans back on his arms and watches the way the lyrics flow out of JIsung’s mouth so effortlessly, the sound flooding through the studio monitors on Chan’s desk. 

“That’s perfect, Sung, thank you,” Chan praises when he pauses the track. “Get out here and give it a listen.” Jisung bounces in his spot for a moment before rushing out of the room. 

But right before Chan starts the track, there’s a knock on the door that has all of them turning their heads. 

“I’ll get it. You guys just keep working,” Changbin says and stands up off of the floor. 

After Jisung’s sudden appearance, the idea of someone knocking on the door of the music room in the middle of the night stopped being so surprising. 

Changbin opens the door and his eyes almost pop out of his skull when he’s faced with a woman who can’t be any older than Jisung. Her hair’s dyed dark blue and cut right above her shoulders as she looks at him with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her black bomber jacket. 

Holy shit, she’s gorgeous. 

“Is Raisha Lo here? One of my friends said that she’s usually in the music room at this hour.”

“It’s three a.m., but yeah,” he nods. “She’s in the recording room—c-come on in.”  Changbin closes the door when she walks past him and he feels like he’s going to pass out when she smiles at him. Music floods through the corridor of the room as he brings her down and into the recording room. “Raisha,” he calls once Chan pauses the track and Jisung lets out a bashful giggle at another praise from him.  

Raisha turns at the call of her name and she makes eye contact with the woman, eyes widening as she puts her bass down. 

“Oh god, I completely forgot you were coming,” she blurts out. “Sorry, Ryujin.” 

“It’s fine. I was actually considering cancelling because I was just at a party with one of my friends,” she claims politely, standing straight with her hands clasped in front of herself. 

Chan and Jisung turn around to see who’s entered the room and they wave back at Ryujin when she waves smally at them. 

“These are my friends; Chan, Changbin, and Jisung. We basically camp here every night, so you might just start camping here, too,” Raisha explains, laughing slightly when Ryujin smiles. 

Changbin feels his heart starting to flutter in his chest when she sees the way her eyes crinkle at the corner and her cheeks lift in a way where it looks like she has whiskers.

Oh my god, she’s so cute. 

He thinks his chest is going to fucking explode the longer he watches her. The back of her black bomber jacket has a red dragon printed along the width of it; starting at the sleeve of her left shoulder all the way to the right. 

“Who’s this?” Jisung asks, his hand raising to point directly at her. 

Which only earns a smack from Chan and a grumble about him being rude. 

“This:” Raisha starts as she stands beside Ryujin, “is Shin Ryujin. She’s a first year and she’s taking one of the courses from the media school. I’m her music mentor.” 

“Where’d you two meet? I didn’t realise we were doing mentors,” Chan claims as he looks between the two.

“Raisha’s friends with one of my seniors. He said that if I wanted a music mentor then to come to one of you guys and I figured she was the least intimidating out of all of you,” Ryujin shyly explains, voice soft in comparison to how loud her outfit is. 

“Well, you came to the right place,” he smiles. “We’re actually in the middle of recording something for a song of ours. So, you can take over the jamming room if you want some privacy or you can choose a spot here and just hang out with us.” 

She turns to Raisha with a questioning look but the bassist smiles and pats her back gently. 

“What if we just spend tonight watching these guys work?”

“I’m alright with anything,” Ryujin claims

“You wanna hear what we’re working on?” Jisung asks as he moves away from Chan for a moment. When she nods, he smacks Chan’s shoulder with the back of his hand. 

“You ask me nicely or I’m going to throw you through the window, Ji,” he grumbles. 

“Be nice,” Raisha snaps. He looks at her for a moment before pouting and turning back to the computer, grumbling something under his breath while trying to ignore Jisung’s smug smirk as Chan presses play on the track. “Come,” she quietly urges and pulls Ryujin to the couch where they both sit. 

Changbin returns to his spot on the floor where he picks up his lyric book and runs through what he has now, bobbing his head along with the music as he mutters the words to himself as the music plays. 

The music pauses after a moment and Changbin loses himself in his own bubble as he runs through the lyrics in his head, almost forgetting that Ryujin is now there, watching as Chan and Jisung start discussing what else to do with the track. 

Ryujin’s attention shifts to Changbin and she watches the way he mutters the lyrics as though he’s reciting something. Raisha’s arm nudges hers slightly, “talk to him.” She turns to the older woman with wide eyes, but she only nods and smiles. “He looks scary, but he’s really just a softie on the inside.”

“He’s on the rugby team,” Ryujin whispers, intimidated even by the mere idea of approaching him. 

“Yeah, because he likes rugby,” Raisha chuckles softly. “I promise, once you get to know him, he’s not as big and scary as he seems. Just give it a shot.”

Ryujin stares at her for a moment longer and takes a deep breath before nodding. She’s not sure what she’s supposed to be doing here anyway—Ryujin’s just here because she thought Raisha was sweet the first time they met and she wanted to get to know her more. Also, she’s genuinely interested in what she has to offer in terms of music, so she thought she’d give Raisha a chance. 

Changbin doesn’t even notice when Ryujin slides off of the couch to sit beside him, her hand hovering over his shoulder before she pulls it away and leans closer instead. 

“What are you working on?” Her voice practically pops Changbin’s bubble and he almost short-circuits when he realises that Ryujin’s talking to him. 

“O-Oh, just some lyrics,” he says while clearing his throat. “We’re trying something… about having a major creative block… because we all had a creative block. But if you give Jisung any topic, he’ll come up with lyrics or a melody right after he eats something sweet; it’s a thing for him.”

“Ah,” she hums.

“Do you… want to see what I have so far?” Changbin offers as he lifts his notebook slightly. Ryujin’s eyes lighten a bit and it sends his heart through the roof. 

“Sure,” Ryujin nods and leans slightly closer to read his notebook. Raisha purses her lips together when she smiles, standing from the couch to approach Chan and Jisung once she’s certain that Changbin and Ryujin are too preoccupied to notice. 

“Look,” she whispers, leaning down to Chan’s ear so that both of them can hear her. All three of them turn around to see the way Changbin’s bubble seems to have formed once again, only this time, Ryujin is in it as well. 

“Woah,” Chan chuckles, leaning back in slight disbelief. “She’s burst his bubble.”

“No, no,” Jisung shakes his head. “I think she’s in his bubble.”

“They’re kinda cute together, don’t you think?” Raisha points out. 

“Their styles look like they were made for each other.”

“And she reminds me of when Changbin first showed up here.” 

Raisha smiles at the way Ryujin laughs at something that Changbin says softly, his eyes practically turning into hearts when he sees the way she reacts. 

“He is so going to fall in love with her.”

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“No fucking way!” Ryujin laughs as her head falls backwards, her hand raising to cover her mouth. 

“I don’t know what the hell I’m doing and it’s honestly a fucking miracle that I’m graduating next year,” Chan laughs heartily. 

“Dude, I’m in my first year and the concept of graduating feels so far away,” Jisung groans. 

The three men had finished with working on their track and with Ryujin’s newfound company, Jisung had held back on pulling any of his weed on in favour of trying to break her shell naturally. Which leads them to their current situation of sitting in a circle while they play truth or dare. 

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing—shit, I’ve been here for a month and I have no idea what course I’m even taking,” he laughs.  

“How do you know what classes to go into?” Ryujin laughs. 

“I go to whichever one I feel like. Attendance isn’t compulsory, so I’m just going to attend the exams—If I know which ones to go to, that is. I think I’m just going to wait until someone sends a schedule to one of the group chats and I’ll be able to guess which ones I’m supposed to attend.” 

“I really don’t think that’s how university works,” Changbin teases. “But I’m going to trust that your method’s better than the guys who don’t attend the exams at all and end up dropping out because they decide they can pay their way out of it.” 

“Yeah, fuck the rich!” Chan whoops. Changbin lets out another laugh and lays down on the floor. “Okay, Changbin. Your turn.”

“Truth,” he sighs without sitting upright. 

“What are your plans in the future?” 

“Fuck, I feel like I should be high to answer a question like that,” Changbin laughs as he sits up once again. “I… I don’t know,” he confesses while rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. “It’s either I work harder in whatever we have going on now or I get into professional rugby.” 

“No other options?”

“You get one question per round,” he raises his eyebrows at Chan who only laughs. “And no, I don’t have any other options that I’m interested in, so those are the two that I’m trying to work on.” 

“Completely valid,” Ryujin blurts out right after sipping on a box of Milo that Jisung had given to everyone in the room. “I don’t know why the hell I’m in the media school, but here I am anyway. I have no idea what I want to get into, but I might try working for an internship in film production during Summer break.”

“Film production, huh? You could try talking to some of the film kids if you want to try that,” Raisha suggests. 

“I could do that. I just don’t know what else to do and film production was one of the only things that I would think about,” she hums.  

“Maybe you could try film production first and then branch out for other internships to see what sticks,” Chan suggests. 

“That’s one of the best advice you’ve ever given throughout the entire time that I’ve known you,” Jisung snorts. 

“Chan gives really good advice when he’s not basically trying to sweat music out of his body,” Raisha laughs. 

“She’s right. Chan becomes the worst person alive when he’s producing music. Other than that, stand up guy,” Changbin jokes. 

“You’re both assholes,” Chan clicks his tongue in annoyance, looking away from them before smiling. “‘Music producer’ me is too sleep deprived and too filled with Monster energy and Redbull to want to be sweeter.” 

“The only person he’s nice to when he’s sleep deprived is Raisha, and even then, it’s because she’s the one providing the Monster.” 

“I’m nice to you whenever you bring snacks, okay?” He claims while rolling his eyes. 

“I bring snacks every night, Chan. It doesn’t change the fact that you’re still an asshole when we’re in this room.” Changbin grumbles. 

“Bring me Monster and instant ramen and I’ll marry you,” he jokes. 

“You should’ve told me that the first time we met instead of letting me spend an entire year trying to figure out how to woo you.” 

“‘Woo’?” Ryujin laughs loudly. “Who still uses that term?” 

Changbin’s face heats up immensely when he hears her laughing, but he isn’t even embarrassed that she’s teasing him. 

He’s honestly more flustered at the fact that she’s laughing at one of his jokes despite it not being that funny. The past few hours that he’s spent with her, Changbin really finds himself keening at any and everything she’s been saying because he’s so fucking infatuated with her. 

Chan crosses his arms over his chest when he sees the way Changbin’s eyes seem to turn into fucking hearts again. There’s something about Ryujin that just seems to reel him in and it’s so very obvious to his friends because they’ve never seen him this into someone upon meeting them. 

“A friend of mine said that Chan’s considered one of the most wanted men on campus,” Ryujin claims. 

“What the fuck—really?!” Changbin bellows with laughter while Chan’s eyes widen immensely, face turning bright red while Raisha and Jisung stare at him in disbelief with their jaws dropped. 

“There’s something about the mysterious senior who spends all of his time in the music room that just makes the first years fall to their knees for him!” she claims with a gleeful laugh. 

“I-Is that really what they think?” Chan stammers.

“Oh my god,” Raisha gasps, her hand flying to hold onto Chan’s shoulder and making him turn to her. “That’s why that one table of students kept staring at you the other day in the cafeteria.” 

“Holy shit, you’re right!” Jisung gasps as well as he lets his hand slap over his mouth. “What do they say about him?” He turns to Ryujin who only shrugs in response with a cheeky smile on her face.

“Apparently, everyone in my class is head. Over. Heels. For Chan. He’s all they talk about! They call him the ‘buff music club guy’ and every time they talk about him, they’re always so frustrated that he’s only ever in the cafeteria with Raisha and Changbin.” 

“Why don’t they ever approach me then?” he laughs. 

“Because they’re terrified of Changbin and they think you and Raisha are dating.”  

“We’re not dating,” Raisha says before Chan even has the chance to say anything. Changbin laughs at that, but decides not to say anything; not even when he sees the way Chan’s smile falters for a split second only for him to let out another laugh. 

“You guys sure act like you are,” Jisung huffs. “You’re all so lovey dovey with each other that I’m not that surprised everyone who sees you thinks that you’re dating.”

“I think the both of us are just extremely affectionate with each other,” she laughs and dismisses the topic with the wave of his hand. 

Changbin spares a glance at Chan, but he still avoids saying anything when he sees the obvious discomfort on his face at her statement. Ryujin notices the shift in the air and quickly changes the topic upon seeing the way Chan’s smile fades once again and he faces the wall. 

“A friend of mine is on the baseball team and apparently they throw pretty big parties,” Ryujin claims as she re-adjusts her position and pulls her knees to her chest. 

“Oh, yeah,” Changbin nods. “They’re parties are the best because they’re all so nice. Chan’s usually one of the sober ones when he’s there.” 

“I don’t really like drinking as much as some of the other guys do, so I’m usually hanging around and staying sober just in case anyone needs anything.” Chan pulls his phone out of his pocket and opens his gallery to show them a picture of some of him and the final year students at a party; all of them except for Chan looking obviously cronked. “Plus, I get to experience whatever bullshit they decide to go on with.”

“Do you drink, Ryujin?” Raisha asks while leaning towards her slightly, her head tilting curiously as she looks at Ryujin. 

“I do, but I’ve never been to a party with alcohol before,” she confesses softly. “I’m not really a party… kind of person, but I’ll go if my friends invite me.”

“Don’t take her to the baseball team’s parties. They’ll just give her some form of alcohol poisoning,” Chan warns. “Especially with that one new kid. I don’t know what he’s on, but Felix downs alcohol like it’s water.”

“I haven’t gone to any of the parties by tbe baseball team, but I am curious to know about his alcoholic water,” Jisung chuckles. 

“There’s really no harm in checking it out. The baseball team hosts nicer parties than the football team because a good portion of them are actually sober during it all. Example A: Chan,” Raisha jokes as she holds her hand out right underneath Chan’s chin to show his face off. He closes his eyes and smiles with his teeth at the gesture, laughing when he pulls away slightly. “But they’re really sweet about it. You could approach any of the baseball team members and they’ll try to keep you safe if you ask them to.”

“Hell, half of them would walk you back home if you asked them to,” he claims. “Their team members are also known for only taking in people who they trust or think are good. So, if they turn out to be complete assholes or are really creepy, the team members kick them off of the team before their coach can even do anything. They’re really cool guys!” 

“I’ll think about it, but I’m not the kind of person to go into parties on my own.” 

“You can come with us if you’d like,” Changbin offers almost instantly, which earns a few looks from Chan and Raisha specifically. “I’m not one for parties either, but sometimes, it’s nice to just let loose.” 

“He has a point,” Chan nods. “I’m usually there anyway, so you can always drop by and there’ll be someone you know there.” He smiles when Ryujin turns to him and it makes shoulders drop slightly, her body relaxing at the idea of going to a party knowing someone. 

“I’ll be there for the next one, then.” 

She turns to Changbin and smiles when he does. Only his is an awkwardly pursed-lip smile at the realisation that now he has to go to a party. 

Oh well, the things you do for cute women who show up at your recording studio. 

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iv.

Changbin finds himself alone in his bedroom for the first time in a few weeks. Chan went home for the weekend, finally, and Jisung’s been M.I.A for the past few hours, so Changbin isn’t exactly hoping to spend the night at the music studio with him. Raisha has her own things to worry about, and this time, Changbin realises that he hasn’t hung out with her without Chan. 

And then he realises that she probably spends so much of her time with Changbin only because Chan’s with him almost always. 

But tonight, Changbin’s actually alone. He isn’t sure whether it’s more of a blessing than it is a curse, because now he’s just plagued by his thoughts. He sits at his desk with his laptop open, the glow of the screen being the only source of light for the entire room as it reflects off of his face. 

There’s something about being alone that Changbin has a love-hate relationship with only because he truly would rather force himself to swallow a sock rather than think about what kind of unresolved emotions brew from within. But whenever he’s alone, Changbin finds himself thinking over his relationships and emotions in a pace that’s easy for him to process; which is the only thing that he likes about being alone. 

Changbin hasn’t thought about his past in a while. It’s something that he’s… not entirely proud of and that he hopes never becomes a topic of interest for anyone. His phone dings beside his laptop and he glances at the lit-up screen.

Ryujin (the pretty one from the music studio): Hey, Changbin! Are you busy rn? 

Changbin (the quiet guy from music club): Not rly  Why?

Ryujin (the pretty one from the music studio): Some friends of mine are going for a joyride  You wanna come along?

Changbin (the quiet guy from music club): Depends on who’s going 

Ryujin (the pretty one from the music studio):  Felix from the baseball team  (Y/n) and Yeji from the cheerleading team  It’ll just be the four of us

Changbin (the quiet guy from music club): Ah sure  I don’t know what else I’d be doing anyway 

Ryujin (the pretty one from the music studio): Great!  We’ll come pick you up from your block then See you in 15

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“Any destinations in mind?” Changbin asks as he squeezes into the backseat, right beside Ryujin. He desperately tries not to think about the fact that his thigh is squished against hers from how little space there is in the car and how Yeji is on the other side of her, but Changbin can feel his heart trying to pop out of his chest. 

“I’m just going to drive down the road until we feel like turning back,” Felix chuckles as he pulls out of the drop-off zone. “This is the only time you’re going to be in my car. I’m not bringing it back here after this because I know you guys are just going to make me drive you around the place.”

“You’re just giving us more reason to convince Chan to take us out,” Yeji chuckles. 

“Yeah, make him take you out, not me,” Felix laughs. “Can any of you guys actually drive?” 

“I know how to drive, but I don’t have my licence,” Changbin nods. 

“Parents taught you when you were young? Mine did that, too,” you hum. 

Changbin blinks a few times before nodding, “uh… yeah. Something like that.” 

“I was supposed to take driving lessons in a few months, but I don’t think I’m going to get the chance until Summer break,” Yeji explains. 

“Great. When you get your licence, you’re driving everyone around,” Felix deadpans. 

“Hey, Bin,” you glance over the back of the seat and Changbin hums in response. “When did you learn how to drive?”

“Fourteen,” he states. While the information isn’t exactly the most harmful thing in his eyes, it’s not entirely something that he wants to dive on because it’s tied to his past. 

“Ever ridden a motorcycle before?”

“I’m pretty damn good at it,” Changbin chuckles. 

“Where’d you learn that?” Felix laughs, glancing at him through the rearview mirror. The question makes Changbin realise that he may have just dug his hole a little deeper than he had intended. 

Ryujin spares a glance his way when she feels the way his body seems to tense and he avoids looking Felix in the eye. 

“H-Have you guys ever seen that video of Felix trying to one-shot a bottle of fireball?” she quickly asks. 

“What?!” Yeji laughs and slaps her hand over her mouth in disbelief. 

Changbin turns to Ryujin hesitantly and he feels himself relax slightly when she scrunches her nose up slightly to give him a reassuring smile.

“Oh shit! I almost forgot about that!” You pull your phone out of your pocket and laugh as you look through your gallery. “Every time Felix and the baseball guys host friend-parties, he ends up throwing himself further down the drain than whenever they open it up to the entire university.”

“You just joined the baseball team. How in the world did you convince them to let you make the drinks?” 

“They asked whether anyone has experience in making cocktails and I told them that I used to bartend. I made them drinks and they said ‘yes’ as long as I don’t kill someone,”  Felix explains with a chuckle. He begins his story on how he had gotten bartending experience, but Changbin starts to tune out. 

He’s starting to realise that becoming friends with new people means having to explain his fear of new people in general. But Ryujin nudges him slightly with her shoulder and it makes Changbin turn to look at her. 

“You okay?” she asks, voice soft enough that even Yeji doesn’t catch it from how loud you and Felix are laughing. 

“Yeah,” he mouths. Changbin notices the way Ryujin seems to double-check with how she nods slightly and raises her eyebrows questioningly. “I promise. Thank you.” She raises her phone right before typing at it, only for Changbin’s phone to vibrate in his pocket. 

Ryujin (the pretty one from the music studio): I’ll change the topic if you get uncomfy  I found out I’m pretty good at it lol

Changbin (the quiet guy from music club): Dw  I won’t bother you with this forever haha  But thank you

Ryujin (the pretty one from the music studio): I’ll do it whenever you need it  :D 

Changbin doesn’t reply to the message. Instead, he turns to her and smiles, mouthing another ‘thank you’. Ryujin nods before turning her attention back to the conversation between the three of you. 

Changbin feels as though a large weight has been lifted from his chest. There’s something about knowing that Ryujin can catch his discomfort that just makes him feel… safe. And for once in his life, Changbin can actually feel the security that she gives him, which honestly makes him also feel like his heart is about to fucking pop straight out of his chest and slam into the windshield—but that’s a feeling that he’ll push to another day. 

His crush on Ryujin isn’t something that he wants to address, at least not right now. 

There’s bigger things on Changbin’s mind that he needs to think about.

“Get out of my car!” Felix announces as he parks the car, tearing Changbin out of his thoughts and making him look outside to see nothing but what looks like an abandoned building. 

“Is this where you murder us for laughing?” Yeji jokes as she climbs out of the car. “Jesus, Felix, where the fuck did you take us?” 

“It’s nice—I promise,” he chuckles and pops the trunk of his car open to pull out a few bags that clink around, earning a few suspicious looks from the rest . You walk ahead of the group and enter the building without much hesitation while Ryujin, Yeji, and Changbin watch; extremely unsure of what is happening or where they are. “You guys are going to love it, honestly. It’s a nice place to just hang out.” 

“Felix, when I made that joke yesterday about wanting someone to ‘take me out’,” Yeji starts, “I meant on a date.”

“This can be your date!” Felix laughs as he slings his arm over her shoulders. “Just… you know… be nice about it when you tell Hyunjin.” 

“Oh, Hyunjin doesn’t care—we’re not like that,” she reassures him, allowing him to pull her into his side. 

Changbin lags behind as Felix and Yeji walk ahead, Ryujin slowing her footsteps as well in order to walk beside him. 

“Have you known Felix long?” she asks. 

“We’re… somewhat friends,” Changbin shrugs. “I was at a party with him once. I’m not exactly that close to him, but I trust him.”  

“He’s easy to talk to,” Ryujin claims while nodding her head slightly. Even in the dark, Changbin’s still able to note that she’s wearing the same bomber jacket she wore the first time that they had met. He wonders where it came from; it could easily be her favourite since he actually sees her wearing it constantly whenever he is wandering campus. 

“How do you know him?” He glances at Ryujin. 

“Yeji and I share a few classes. Becoming friends with her was like joining a network, almost—she’s more than a social butterfly… almost like a social… spider… or something. She’s practically sewn together with Hyunjin, she hangs out regularly with Felix and (Y/n)—who, by the way, are also almost a part of each other—and she makes good connections. She has multiple circles and she just jumps in and out of all of them.”

Ryujin lets out a small sigh as she watches the way Yeji laughs when she pulls away from Felix to smack his arm. 

“I’ve always wondered what it’s like to be that extroverted, but that’s just something that I’m not able to do,” she chuckles. 

“Introvert?” 

“Very much so,” Ryujin groans slightly. 

“You didn’t seem like one that night in the studio,” Changbin teases, chuckling when he turns to look at her. 

“If I have at least one person that I know, it’s a bit more bearable,” she claims with a laugh, “god, the first day of orientation? I felt like I was actually going to go into cardiac arrest; my heart was beating so hard and I felt like I was actually going to have a panic attack.” 

“Panic… do you get those often?” 

“Not as often as you’re thinking,” Ryujin reassures him. Her lips curl up slightly upon seeing the concern on his face, “it’s not something that happens a lot, but you know how it is.” 

Changbin purses his lips together and nods, albeit hesitantly, just as he hears Felix laughing loudly from ahead of them. He looks up for a moment to look at him and Yeji, but she’s only looking at him in slight shock at the volume of his laughter. 

“If you’re going to be looking out for me, then I’m gonna have to start looking out for you, too,” Changbin claims. 

“You don’t have to. I just do it because I’ve been there,” she glances at him, but all he does is shrug in response. Ryujin sighs softly and smiles, “fine, but I don’t know what triggers these panic attacks, so you might just have to pay really close attention to me from now on.”

“Now, that, I would’ve gladly done in the first place,” he chuckles. Ryujin’s eyes widen and her cheeks flush red at the comment. 

Her brain almost goes into overdrive at him and she turns her head to look ahead just as they enter the building. Changbin lets out a laugh, soft enough that Ryujin wouldn’t hear, as they continue to follow Felix as he blindly leads his friends into the dilapidated building. There’s gaps in the walls and the ceiling looks as unsafe as everything else in the abandoned building with the amount of broken concrete and shit that piles along the walls. 

Weirdly enough, everything’s been pushed to the side to allow some form of a pathway that leads them further and further into the building until they stop at one of the rooms. 

Felix pushes the door open to see you proudly standing there with your arms open, fairy lights strung along the ceiling and the room looking surprisingly clean and dirt-free. There’s a pile of sleeping bags neatly laid out along the floor and a projector in the middle of the room that casts what looks like Youtube on the left wall of the room. 

Changbin’s jaw drops. 

What the fuck?!

“Welcome to (Y/n) and I’s cave!” Felix announces as he places the plastic bag on the floor gently, glass clinking together on the inside. “We found this building a few weeks ago and we turned this room into our own little cave of wonders!”

“Couldn’t it have been anywhere else that didn’t look like a serial killer’s lair,” Yeji chuckles softly, but she looks around the room in awe. 

“We usually come here to get away from the university and to have time alone where no one would actually bother us. So, turn your phones off, choose a sleeping bag, and let us have a drunk slumber party!” 

“Felix thought it would be nice to bring you guys here since you wanted to go on a joyride,” you chuckle. 

Felix nods ecstatically and starts pulling various bottles of alcohol out of the bag, handing one out to everyone in the room. 

“Won’t it get hot in the Summer? I doubt the electricity’s working,” Ryujin comments. 

“That’s a story for when Summer happens. Now, it’s Autumn and it’s really not that warm,” he smiles gleefully right before he turns around and slides himself into one of the sleeping bags. 

Ryujin and Changbin exchange a look, but he gives her a reassuring smile and chooses the sleeping bag right at the end, so she chooses the one right beside him. 

“This is the beginning of one of the weirdest slumber parties I’ve ever been to,” Changbin laughs as he gets comfortable. Well, as he tries to get comfortable. 

The sleeping bag can only do so much to cushion his body against the hard and cold concrete floor of the room, but Changbin will take what he can get. 

“This is the beginning? Felix parking in the lot was already the beginning for me,” Ryujin snorts. 

“Let’s just agree to not talk about what happens tonight ever,” Yeji hums, sliding into the sleeping bag on the other side of Ryujin. You’ve gotten comfortable in the one right beside Yeji while Felix isn’t even inside of the bag—he’s just sprawled out on top of his on the far end. 

“We’ll be fine,” Felix reassures everyone with a laugh. 

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“I told you,” Changbin chuckles.  

He has his head stuck out of one of the windows with a cigarette stuck in between his fingers while Ryujin rests her arms on the windowsill right beside him, her own head sticking out slightly as she looks out at what seems to be a vast, open field that hasn’t been touched by a single soul. 

He pulls the pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and holds it in her direction, but Ryujin quickly shakes her head. 

“I don’t smoke, but thank you.” Ryujin turns away for a moment and looks out at the view once again.

There’s a cold breeze that gently blows into the room, but no one else is awake to actually appreciate the weather or the—actually really shitty—view. But the weather alone is enough to send the both of them back into a bubble that only seems to contain them. 

“Can I ask you something?” 

“Shoot,” Changbin nods. 

“It’s about the motorcycle.”

Changbin’s body seized for a moment. There’s a part of him that tells him not to, but another part of him says that she’ll find out eventually. If it isn’t the scars that litter his face and arms, then it’ll be something else where he’ll most likely end up telling her anyway. 

“I used to be in a gang when I was in school. Wasn’t my proudest moment, but it kept me safe.” 

“And that explains the…” 

“The scars—yeah,” he nods. “There’s more than just the ones on my face, but they’re also worse. If you’re wondering; I wasn’t coerced into it. I joined because I wanted to. I left when I turned seventeen because it was getting sketchier than it already was. Too many things from it were starting to stick with me and I thought I’d be better off not trying to indulge.”

“How bad was it getting?” Ryujin asks further, her eyes practically glued to Changbin’s face to gauge his reaction, and she’s about to stop asking when she sees the way he pauses and his jaw seems to harden. 

“I’ll never forget half of the shit I saw.  It was getting… horrible. And that’s my sense of horribleness in comparison to what they were doing before that, but I knew that I wouldn’t actually be able to turn my life around if I stayed.” 

Ryujin nods without saying anything else as she finally turns away from him. 

“I try to avoid telling anyone about this, but sometimes, there are exceptions,” he claims lightly. “Even if I do, I try to keep away from the actual details of it. People usually end up running away from me when I do.” 

“Tell me.” 

Changbin’s head whips to look at her, but Ryujin only turns and meets his eyes with no form of judgement or fear in her own. His mouth opens and closes repeatedly when he realises that there doesn’t seem to be any form of negativity behind her eyes, and it makes Changbin sigh while nodding. 

“Corpses don’t look like what you think they do in the movies,” he states as he turns away. “None of them were by my accord, but there’s a different kind of feeling that runs through you when you see one knowing that it wasn’t ‘natural causes’,” Changbin says while quoting with his left hand. “The first time I saw one was when I realised that I needed to get out.” 

“What led you to it? You don’t seem like the type of person who would just happen to join a gang,” Ryujin chuckles lightly. 

“I was bullied in school because my mother’s in prison. I don’t know why people decided that her crimes were mine and they would beat me up over it. A few of my seniors offered to protect me in exchange to join and I agreed to it. I didn’t even hesitate—I just didn’t really care anymore. But when I reached my final year in high school, my father offered to send me to university if I wanted to and I took that as a ticket to leave.”

“And they just let you go?” 

“They didn’t have a choice. I told them I wouldn’t report them and I said I just wanted to get a degree and get away from it all. I don’t think they saw me as a threat, so they didn’t really seem to care at the time,” Changbin explains, taking a drag from his cigarette right after. “I think that if I told you about what my mother did, I’d take it that you’d be a bit wary of me, too. I wouldn’t blame you,” his laugh comes out bitter, a sigh leaving right after. 

“Your mother’s crimes don’t define you, Changbin,” Ryujin sighs. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I was just curious about you.”

“Isn’t there a saying against curiosity? ‘Curiosity killed the cat’—or whatever.”   

“Yeah, but satisfaction brought it back,” she hums. 

Silence settles between the two as Changbin allows Ryujin’s words to process in his mind. He feels realisation sparking within him and what she was implying and he turns to look at her with the side of his mouth lifted. 

“So, what does the cat say to what I just told you?” He angles his body to face her completely while she smiles and does the same. 

“I think you’ve brought it back.”  

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v.

There’s something about becoming friends with Ryujin and her friends that seems to have opened up doors for Changbin. He’s already in the at the end of his first semester and he feels like he’s seen way more than what Chan and Raisha had taken him on the past year. Ryujin’s friends are… eccentric… to say the least. 

They’re more adventurous than Chan and Raisha are, but their influence seems to rub off on the entire group, which is something that Jisung also seems to do; his influence, however, only ever leads to getting high at 5 a.m. and staring at birds while they think of new songs to write. 

“Wow,” Changbin breathes out in awe upon entering the dimly lit bar. 

There’s a bright neon orange sign hanging off of the brick wall with some cheesy quote that he’s pretty sure they got either off of Pinterest or Tumblr, but it looks nice in the current ambience. A wooden bar covers the left side of the long room and a stage right at the end that has bearably bright stage lights directed towards it. 

“A few of my friends come here often just to hang out, so I know the owner,” Jeongin claims as he leads them towards one of the booths opposite the bar. 

Chan and Raisha had decided to tag along as well since they were stuck around, but Jisung had decided to stay in his room since his social battery was melting faster than he could charge it and the idea of going to a live show made him feel like he was going to die. 

“What do you guys want? Lix and I will bring them from the bar,” he offers once everyone’s piled into the booth.

“I actually want something nice that won’t put me into a coma; so the blueberry fizz looks nice,” Changbin chuckles. 

“I pegged you as someone who only drinks rum and coke,” Ryujin teases while nudging him with her elbow, to which he responds by swatting her arm away with a groan. “Get me the strawberry fizz.” 

Felix and Jeongin nod and turn their attention to Raisha and Chan… who are too preoccupied with Raisha’s polaroid camera to realise what the two are asking.

“Alright, you two get your drinks yourselves—I’m not waiting for this,” he sighs and turns around to leave with Felix. 

“Let’s go take pictures at the stage!” Raisha excitedly says as she holds onto Chan’s wrist and practically drags him away, leaving Ryujin and Changbin together. 

“What happened to your jacket? The one with the dragon. I thought you always wear it,” Changbin points out, gesturing to the plain black bomber jacket that he’s been seeing her wear quite often recently. 

“The sleeves are tearing,” she sighs, “it’s such a shame. That jacket’s lasted me so long and it’s only now tearing apart.”

“Ever thought about getting a new one?” 

“None of them really catch my eye, you know? The ones that I really want are almost impossible to get.” 

Ryujin turns away for a moment to watch Raisha and Chan while Changbin all but nods as he turns away. 

“Do they bring you out on these often?” he asks.

“They’ve invited me a few times, but these events seem really daunting,” Ryujin confesses softly. She looks around the venue nervously, hands rubbing together as her elbows rest on the table. 

Changbin reaches over and places his hand over hers, making her whip her head towards him.

“If you need to leave, I’ll walk you back to campus,” he reassures her. 

“I’ll be fine. Thank you,” Ryujin nods. Changbin smiles and pulls his hand away, but leaves it resting on the table as they wait for Felix and Jeongin to return. “Do you come to live gigs?”

“I used to go to these quite a bit,” Changbin nods. “But that was last year and Chan drove us. It wasn’t this bar, though. He had another place that he’s more into, but they closed a few months ago, so there hasn’t been that much live music for us.”

“Jeongin seems to be really into these things,” she claims with a hum. They both turn to see the way Jeongin and Felix talk to the bartender, seemingly getting along well as the woman makes the drinks. “He’s always trying to get me more out and into these sorts of scenes, but I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea of hanging out in these spaces.”

“What made it different this time?” 

Ryujin turns back to Changbin and she shrugs. 

“You said you were coming.”  

Changbin’s entire body stops moving. Completely. He doesn’t even blink as he stares at Ryujin, eyes almost completely blank and face void of any expression that she can read. Until she waves her hand in front of his face and he blinks a few times, the colour flushing to his cheeks and burning his face. 

“Y-You—uhm—wow, I don’t—I don’t know what to say to—uhm—that,” he nervously babbles while Ryujin watches in pure amusement. She rests her chin on the palm of her hand with a coy smile on her face before letting out another laugh when Changbin fails to actually make out any other coherent sentences before he stands up abruptly. “I need to go to the bathroom,” he squeaks, scrambling away and tripping on his own feet as he rushes to the bathroom. 

“What’s up with him?” Jeongin laughs when he and Felix return with the drinks. 

“Was I right?” Felix asks coyly. 

“I think you might be,” she sighs, staring at the spot Changbin was last visible to her. Ryujin turns around and her smile fades almost instantly. “Which isn’t good for me.” 

“You know, if you just explain the whole asexuality thing to him, he’ll definitely understand,” he reassures her. 

“What’s the deal here?” Jeongin looks between the both of them, his lips already snug around the straw of his cocktail. 

“Ryujin has a thing for Changbin, but she thinks that her sexuality’s gonna get in the way,” Felix says, almost too nonchalantly and a bit too loud for Ryujin’s liking. 

“Dude?!” she gasps and reaches over the round table to smack his arm, “could you say that any louder? I’m pretty sure Changbin couldn’t hear you from the bathroom.” 

“Bin’s a pretty neat guy, I’m sure he’ll understand if you talk about it to him,” Jeongin ignores her comment towards Felix and shrugs his shoulders. “If he really likes you, you might just end up being one of those couples who just don’t have sex.”

“Yeah, but some people need that sort of intimacy, Yeni,” Ryujin rolls her eyes.

“You never know. Maybe Changbin’s one of those guys that doesn’t need the intimacy,” Felix insists. “Talk to him. Maybe he’ll be okay with it.”

“I don’t even know how much I like him yet. What if I just dive head first and find out that I’m not even that into him?” 

“Follow your gut, Ryujin,” he quickly says when he notices Changbin returning to the booth. “And don’t pressure yourself into things you don’t want to do. You’re asexual. Don’t have sex with anyone if you don’t want to.”

“That was a quick one,” Jeongin teases Changbin when he sits right beside Ryujin. His face has returned to its natural colour, but his ears are still slightly pinker than usual.

“Just wanted to clear myself before we start drinking because God knows I piss a lot when I’m drunk,” he chuckles, voice wavering slightly when he makes eye contact with Ryujin. 

“Hey,” Chan returns to the table quickly. “Could someone help take some pictures of Raisha and I?” 

“God, rub your relationship in our faces—we get it, you’re dating,” Jeongin groans but stands up nonetheless and follows him. 

“How are they not dating?” Ryujin chuckles, her voice coming soft as if it was supposed to be directed to herself. 

“Chan doesn’t think Raisha likes him back. Raisha doesn’t think Chan likes her back,” Changbin sighs as he watches the way Jeongin takes pictures of the pair with Raisha’s camera as they pose in front of the stage. 

“It’s so fucking obvious, though,” Felix scoffs, taking a sip from his drink. “There’s no way they don’t feel it at least.”

“They function a bit differently,” Changbin shrugs.  

Chan and Raisha return not long after, only, instead of Chan’s arm usually wrapped around her shoulders, his arm is now snugly wrapped around her waist as they smile widely. Jeongin quickly slides himself into the spot right beside Felix and clasps his hands together onto the table.

“What’s up with these guys? Why do they look so happy?” Changbin chuckles. His question makes everyone’s attention move to the couple who purse their lips together to try and hide their smiles, but the flush on their cheeks is enough to give away something.

“Oh my god, you guys just got together,” Ryujin gasps with her hands flying to cover her mouth. 

“What the fuck?” Felix leans back with his jaw dropped.

Raisha shyly places a polaroid picture at the edge of the table and slides it to the middle, “we both realised that there was no way we didn’t like each other back if we were looking at each other like this.” 

Ryujin is the first to pick up the picture while Changbin looks at it from over her shoulder. It’s a simple candid photo that Jeongin must’ve taken when they weren’t paying attention because there’s no way that they would’ve looked at each other this way if they knew what he was doing. 

“Finally gathered the fucking courage, huh?” Changbin chuckles softly as he turns to the pair. “You guys took almost a year and a half before realising that maybe you were into each other.”

“I still don’t understand how it took you guys this long. You both look at each other like you’re completely in love with each other,” Jeongin teases. 

“Shut up,” Chan grumbles and shoves his shoulder lightly. 

“Let’s take tonight to celebrate then,” Felix suggests as he raises his glass. “Come on, guys! Raisha and Chan have finally gotten together!”

“I’m down for that,” Jeongin agrees and raises his glass.

“No, no, guys!” Raisha starts shaking her head. “No! You guys really don’t have to!”

“I’m perfectly fine with celebrating this,” Ryujin laughs and raises her own. Changbin joins in quickly while Raisha and Chan continue to decline profusely, but their friends are insistent and they’re already drinking before they can do anything to stop them. 

While Ryujin and Changbin only take sips out of their glasses, Jeongin and Felix simply one-shot the entirety of their drinks and slam them onto the table. 

“Fuck yeah!” Felix cheers, energy suddenly pumping through his veins, “let’s fucking celebrate!” 

“How much do you wanna bet he’ll be blacked out before the band even comes on stage?” Changbin whispers towards Ryujin. 

“All of my money,” she chuckles. They watch the way Felix gives Chan a bone crushing hug while Raisha stands at the side with a wide smile on her face. 

Until Felix pulls her into the hug and her face contorts in surprise at how sudden the action is… and now Felix has her face squished against Chan’s arm as he jumps excitedly, which practically crushes the couple together. 

“Felix… Felix,” Jeongin laughs as he starts to pull the business student away, “ you’re going to suffocate them before they’re able to actually kiss each other for the first time.” Felix stays giddy as Jeongin manages to pull him away, his bottom lip caught in his teeth to stop himself from showing how extremely happy he is. 

“Why don’t you guys order some drinks for yourselves,” Ryujin suggests, glancing at Jeongin as he nods and keeps Felix from shooting from his seat to hug them or get more drinks. 

“Yeah, we’ll go do that,” Chan nods. He glances at Raisha who nods and wraps her arm around his waist as they start walking towards the bar.

“And spend some time alone together at the bar before Felix gets drunk!” Changbin jokes, laughing loudly when Raisha laughs and nods.

“Can I please at least get another mojito?” Felix asks with his lips jutting out into a pout as he looks between the three of them. 

Jeongin looks at him before sighing, “okay, but you come back straight after and you leave Chan and Raisha alone.” 

“I promise! I just… the bar is right there…” 

“Go,” he nods and lets Felix go, the man excitedly rushing towards the bar upon being unrestrained. “Are you two getting more?” 

“Still working through ours,” Changbin chuckles and gestures to his still mostly full glass. “I’m not really into the idea of getting too drunk tonight.” 

“Neither am I,” Ryujin claims while shaking her head. Her fingers trace the rim of her glass as she speaks, “are you getting anything else?”

“I’ll probably just get something else, but that would be the last one. I have an early class tomorrow, so I’m not going to risk the hangover.”  

“Smart choice,” he chuckles. 

“Yeah, so I’m going to the bar because Felix is being weird with them and I’m also going to get myself another drink.” Jeongin stands up with a sigh while Ryujin and Changbin’s eyes follow him. 

Only to see the way Felix has both of his arms slung over Raisha and Chan while he’s in between the both of them. 

“Oh my god,” Ryujin scoffs, laughing slightly when she sees the way Jeongin grabs the back of Felix’s shirt and drags him away without saying anything. “He’s unbelievable.” 

“He has his quirks,” Changbin laughs and brings the metal straw to his lips, “some, a little bit stranger than others, but the others are pretty nice.” 

“I like his quirks more when he’s less drunk,” she jokes as she watches him down two shots from the bartender, “how the hell does he do that?”

“Felix, for some reason, has a lot of experience. Sometimes, whenever he talks, it sounds like he’s lived multiple lives in the past four or five years and it’s insane.” 

“I should talk to him sometime. Actually get to know him better,” Ryujin simpers as she turns to look at Changbin with a smile that makes him want to hold her hand forever. 

But Changbin will wait until he’s certain. He doesn’t want to go head-first into it when he’s only thinking that he only has a little crush on her. 

So, he’ll wait. Changbin smiles back and he nods, teeth showing from his smile as he turns away from a moment in an attempt to hide his blush; which is a horrible attempt because Ryujin catches it. 

She smiles as well, but dread fills her heart at the realisation that Felix is, unfortunately, so fucking right. Which only makes it harder for her as well. 

Because she likes Changbin so fucking much. And Ryujin can’t bear the idea of being the one who would break his heart. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

“Thank you for walking me back,” Ryujin thanks nervously. Her hands are dug into the pockets of her jacket as she tries to find more warmth from the hot packs that are currently gripped as though her life depends on it. 

Changbin’s breath comes out as fogs as he smiles, standing outside the building of her apartment just across from campus. 

“It’s no problem,” he reassures her with a smile. “I don’t think it’s safe for you to be walking around alone this late at night after a few drinks, so just think of it as me looking out for you.”  

“Thank you, for looking out for me then,” Ryujin grins. “I appreciate it, Bin. I really do.” 

“Hey, if you ever need anything, just text me, okay? I don’t live that far. Even if it’s a bug in your bathroom; I’ll come help out if you need me to.”

“That feels a little overkill, but thank you,” she laughs.

“Just let me know if anything comes up,” Changbin smiles. Ryujin nods once again and starts towards the entrance, where she turns around to wave at him once again, before disappearing behind the door. 

Changbin stands outside for a moment longer and lets out a small sigh once Ryujin’s gone. He looks up at the sky only to see the snow starting to fall from the sky and gently flutters to the ground, melting as it hits his face and head. 

He smiles for a moment, bliss running throughout his veins as he thinks about what he could possibly get Ryujin for Christmas. Or would that make him seem too eager? Either way, Changbin’s getting her a gift and he doesn’t care how it might appear to everyone else. 

But Changbin hopes that Ryujin won’t be too off-put about it. The last thing he would want is to make her uncomfortable. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

vi.

Felix had dragged everyone to his house for secret santa. No one was exactly complaining since his house has an actual living room and most of his housemates were out for the holidays, so everyone was a little more accepting of the idea. 

Changbin leans back against his arms and laughs when he sees the look on Chan’s face when he opens the bag to find a car air freshener. 

“Okay, are you serious? My car doesn’t smell,” he scoffs and looks around the room with a tired look on his face. “It only smells because Jisung keeps getting high in it.” 

“Hey, I just like smoking,” Jisung chuckles, obviously slightly faded from the way his head lolls backwards a little too fast and too much for his liking. 

“You smell like burning rags when you smoke, Sung,” Raisha rolls her eyes and leans into Chan’s side, earning a collective gag from you and Felix. 

“I hate that they’re so lovey and cutesy now,” you grumble.

“Better than hearing Chan cry about it every time,” Changbin snorts. 

“Who is it from anyway?” Chan asks, ignoring Changbin’s comment. 

“Are we telling? I thought the whole point of secret santa was the ‘secret’ part of it,” you chuckle. 

“Not in my house,” Felix grins. “And you’re welcome, by the way.” 

“Fuck you,” he laughs as he tosses the crumpled up ribbon at him. 

“Ryujin, you’re up next,” Hyunjin says as he pushes the box with her name on it in her direction. Changbin feels his heart drop to his fucking ass. 

He had practically begged Jeongin for Ryujin’s name and he was really fucking hoping that he would stay anonymous to her because he has a feeling he’s going to explode the moment he sees her reaction. The entire time Changbin had been shopping for his gift, he kept wondering whether she would like it. What if she doesn’t? What if Ryujin fucking hates it and now she’s never going to end up using it?

Changbin’s starting to majorly regret his decision on getting something so much louder than what Ryujin had originally been using. What if she thinks it’s too much? Or worse—what if it’s not loud enough. He nervously watches as she gingerly peels the wrapping paper off of the box and pulls the top of it off, her face falling slightly when she sees it staring back at her. 

“What is it?” you ask and lean over her shoulder to look at the jacket neatly folded inside of the box, the white dragon print spread across the back of the leather. “Holy shit,” your eyes widen. 

Ryujin runs her hand over the leather of it before her head looks up and her eyes immediately find Changbin’s nervous ones that watch her from the other side of the circle. 

“It’s… a leather jacket,” Ryujin says as she picks up the jacket and unfolds the golden sleeves for everyone to see. “A leather jacket that I’ve been wanting for months.”  She turns it around to see the symmetrical dragon prints on both sides of the jacket and lets her eyes trail down the golden stripes on both shoulders. 

Changbin feels so much relief flooding through his veins. He doesn’t know why he would doubt his decision for a second knowing that the jacket is perfect for Ryujin. 

Ryujin pulls off the jacket she’s wearing and slips her arms into the sleeves of the dragon one, standing up to show the back to the group. 

“Wow, that is gorgeous,” Raisha breathes out in awe. She sits upright slightly to look at the print closer, her jaw dropped as she lets her eyes scan over the dragon. 

“It can replace your old one,” Hyunjin claims as he leans against Yeji’s shoulder. 

“Yeah,” Ryujin chuckles breathily and turns back around to sit cross-legged on the floor. 

“Who is it from?” you ask and look around the circle, trying to figure out who could’ve given Ryujin the very jacket she’s been wanting, but no one seems to say anything. 

Until Ryujin looks up and makes direct eye contact with Changbin. He feels his face heating up from the eye contact before he nods and clears his throat. 

“It’s from me.”   

All eyes fall on Changbin and he swears that he’s never wanted the Earth to just swallow him up more than now. 

“Holy shit, Bin,” Jisung breathes out a laugh. 

“Didn’t you say this jacket was limited edition,” Yeji asks Ryujin. 

“I—yeah, it is,” she nods. Her eye contact doesn’t waver for even a second as she looks at Changbin with so much adoration in her eyes. 

“Who’s next?”  Yeji asks as she leans forward to look at all of the boxes.

Ryujin comfortably pulls the jacket around herself as everyone continues picking out their gifts, her eyes practically glued to the Christmas tree in the corner of the room in an attempt to avoid any eye contact with Changbin. Her hand absentmindedly runs over the leather sleeves of the jacket and she smiles slightly to herself when she realises that Changbin wouldn’t have gotten her the jacket if he didn’t like her at least a bit. 

Changbin, however, can’t seem to keep his eyes off of her. He thinks the jacket suits her way more than he had originally thought it would and he doesn’t even care if anyone catches him staring because his mind is purely filled with Ryujin. Which sounds cheesy and extremely cliche, but Changbin literally doesn’t care. 

He only cares about the way Ryujin’s smile seems to linger with a different kind of fondness that he and his friends usually see. It sends a warm feeling throughout Changbin’s chest, pride filling his heart at the realisation of how much she likes the jacket. 

The rest of the night goes by as a blur. Changbin’s more preoccupied with seeing how nicely the sleeves of the jacket fit on Ryujin’s arms than he is about what Jisung had gotten from you; which was probably a new case for his blunts since his old one was falling apart after Chan accidentally drove over it a few weeks ago. 

And by the time everyone’s indulging in Felix’s cocktails closer towards midnight, Changbin finds himself with Jisung in the garden with cigarettes in their hands. 

“That jacket you got for her was great, dude,” Jisung claims as he exhales, smoke blowing past his lips and into the cold night air. Snow freely falls from the sky and gathers on the ground, but the heat from their cigarettes seem enough to keep them warm. 

“She needed a new one, so I settled that for her,” Changbin shrugs, voice soft as he lets out a small hiss from the cold that bites at his ears. 

“But a jacket that she’s just so happened to want for a while? That’s a bit much,” he chuckles. 

“She mentioned it a few times before,” he says softly. 

“How did she win your heart when that one guy from the debate club failed?” Jisung laughs. 

“Ryujin’s… different.”

“How so?” 

“She doesn’t care about what I did back then. The guy from the debate club ran away the moment I told him my mother was in prison, but Ryujin… she actually makes me feel like I can forget my past,” Changbin explains. 

“That’s fair,” Jisung hums. He takes one final drag from his cigarette before putting it out against his case and tossing it into the garbage bin right beside them. “Come inside before you freeze, old man.”

“Fuck you, Sung,” he laughs. “Chan’s the old man.” 

“And I remind him every chance I get,” Jisung laughs as well right before he disappears behind the sliding door, leaving Changbin to his own company with the cigarette keeping him warm along with his puffy black winter coat. 

It’s what Changbin likes to call serenity among chaos; which is basically his fancy way of finding peace and silence whenever he’s with his loud and rambunctious friends. His serenity typically includes times whenever he gets to smoke outside in anyone’s garden or balcony, giving himself time to process whatever his friends had put him through. 

Ryujin slides out from the door and steps out into the cold, her feet slipping into her shoes clumsily as she steps onto the snow that covers the garden. 

“Am I interrupting?”

Changbin turns around and he’s about to put his cigarette out when Ryujin shakes her head and places her hand on his arm gently.

“You know that I don’t mind,” she chuckles. Ryujin buries her hands deep into the pockets of her new jacket and lets out a contented sigh as she looks up at the sky. “It’s really nice out tonight.”

“It’s perfect for a smoke, actually,” Changbin says with a small laugh. 

“I see why you guys are always trying to smoke when it’s snowing. I really don’t blame you guys—it probably feels really nice for you.” Ryujin turns to him, the same smile that makes Changbin’s heart pound adorning her face. “I didn’t get a chance to thank you just now, so I thought I’d take the chance now; thank you for the jacket, Bin. I love it.”

“I’m glad you do, Jin.” Changbin puts his finished cigarette out against the snow before flicking the butt into the garbage bin, “I couldn’t resist the opportunity.” 

Ryujin turns away from him and looks up at the sky, her eyes closing as she basks in the comforting feeling of the snow as it flutters and melts on her skin. There’s a different kind of warmth that fills her whenever it snows despite how cold it gets, but it’s more than enough to get her more than happy with her environment. 

Changbin watches as she does. There’s a different feeling that he gets whenever he’s around her as compared to all of the crushes he’s had before and he’s starting to think that what he feels is definitely love. 

“If I asked you out on a date, would you say yes?” 

“What kind of a question is that?” Ryujin laughs as she lowers her head. 

“A curious kind,” Changbin chuckles nervously. 

She turns to him and gives him a small smile. The dread that had been filling her for the past few weeks is starting to overcome every other feeling in her body as she realises that the time has come. 

“I’m asexual, Changbin,” she claims softly. “And I’m still trying to figure some things out, so I don’t know how well it would turn out if I dove into a relationship now.”

Changbin’s eyes widen slightly at the confession. It wasn’t exactly what he was hoping for, but it also isn’t exactly a complete rejection. 

“What if I said I would wait for you, then?” 

“I can’t stop you if you’re willing.” Ryujin turns to him and Changbin nods, avoiding eye contact with her as he thinks it over. A moment passes before he nods once again, more sure this time, and smiles. 

“I’ll wait for you, Ryujin.” 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

vii. 

It’s a strange game, Changbin thinks. His third year has already begun and Ryujin still hasn’t seemed to have acted on anything despite constantly being close with him. He truly doesn’t mind the closeness and he knows he has more than enough patience to wait for her, but it also feels like it’s killing him from the inside waiting for some kind of an answer from her. 

His waiting has actually also included an, slightly embarrassing, accumulation in his browser history of questions that he hoped could help him just a little bit.

Just so that he can try to understand more of how to approach Ryujiin’s sexuality in the perspective of someone who has had plenty sexual experience and someone who honestly enjoys sex quite a lot.

Raisha and Chan had graduated and with a few tears, Chan had asked Changbin to just wait for as long as his heart allowed him to. Jisung, on the other hand, stays as cooped up in his room as he always is, and with the second year load coming in, Jisung still doesn’t seem any busier than he was the year before. 

Time oddly moves extremely quickly when Changbin’s preoccupied with his studies, music, and trying to cope with his feelings, but he doesn’t seem to mind how quickly it’s moving. The only problem he really has is that he’s scared of if he graduates before Ryujin can actually comfortably make a decision; which actually sounds really bad considering that she’s making him wait all this time, but Changbin doesn’t care. He’ll wait for her for as long as it takes and he knows she likes him back. 

She just needs to settle some of her own issues. 

And he’s fine with it. Hell, Changbin’s been taking the opportunity to write sad, cheesy love songs that at least gives him, Jisung, and Chan some kind of musical content. 

“I thought I said you didn’t have to,” Ryujin sighs as she pulls the door open, unable to hold back the smile that makes its way onto her face. Changbin stands at her doorstep with a plastic bag of takeout and a few drinks, a toothy grin on his face.

“It’s my treat,” he hums.

Ryujin doesn’t have the heart to decline when he’s made the effort all the way to her apartment; which is also something that’s kept her from rejecting him completely. She thinks that if he’s willing enough to wait until she can settle her thoughts, then she’ll let him. Ryujin can’t exactly stop Changbin from doing what he wants and the only time she stopped him was when he was going back on old habits. 

And Changbin had never been scolded so hard before in his entire life. 

“No classes today?” Ryujin asks as she closes the door behind the both of them. 

“I just had a few—nothing too tiring. I did also end up in the music studio for most of the evening with Jisung, but we ended up playing with whatever Chan sent us last week.”

“Is he still working on the same track?” 

“Doesn’t seem like we’re making any breakthroughs with that anytime soon,” Changbin sighs, placing the plastic bag onto the kitchen counter and pulling the plastic containers out of it. 

Truthfully, Changbin has the lyrics to make the song come together. He just doesn’t want to show it to Chan or Jisung because he’s pretty sure they have a bet going on about when his next love song for Ryujin will come about. And he doesn’t exactly have an ego strong enough to go through watching whoever wins because Chan and Jisung have their own ways in embarrassing him whenever the three of them are together. 

Raisha doesn’t take part in their bets, though. She usually sits on the sidelines, curled up to Chan’s side as she tries to reassure whoever’s the topic of the bet that he’s just friends with an asshole and that she’ll put in money whenever it’s Chan’s turn to be bet on. 

“Last time I spoke to Raisha, she said that Chan was banging his head against walls trying to finish one of your tracks,” Ryujin chuckles. 

“That’s an exaggeration,” Changbin corrects her with a laugh. “He’s only ever banged his head against the table.”

“That does not make it any better,” she laughs. “Come on. We can eat in the living room and watch something. Yeji is letting me use her Netflix account.” 

“Netflix and chill?” Changbin raises an eyebrow jokingly, earning a snort and a smack from Ryujin. 

“The safe for work version.”  Ryujin grabs a pair of glasses from her cabinet before taking two of the soju bottles from the bag and making her way to the living room with Changbin following.

Ryujin’s apartment isn’t that big. It’s honestly perfect for a university student in a one bedroom apartment. She has enough money to actually afford something slightly bigger than a studio since she does actually cook on her own time and enjoys the view from her balcony. 

It’s small and it’s cosy; which is something that Changbin came to appreciate after Ryujin had been more open to him being in her apartment. It took a few months of them knowing each other before she actually invited him over. Just him. 

Changbin revels in the fact that Ryujin’s becoming more and more comfortable with his presence—albeit slowly—and he loves being able to be around for her. He honestly knows that he would much rather be friends with her than to lose her over something as minute as heartache. 

Ryujin has also outwardly told him so many times that he doesn’t have to wait around and hang out if he doesn’t want to, but Changbin proves to be as loyal as ever. He thinks he can make it through without sexual intimacy, so he’s willing to try if it means he gets to be with her. 

“Oh,” Ryujin hums just as she sits on her couch, “I forgot to show you this just now. I thought you’d find it interesting.” She picks her phone up from the coffee table and hands it to Changbin. “We haven’t gone to a live show since last year. I thought maybe you’d want to check this one out, but Felix doesn’t bring his car around to campus anymore and Chan’s not here, so we’d probably have to walk or catch a bus there.”

“A live gig?” He looks at the phone for a moment before passing it back to Ryujin. “Send it to Jeongin. He and Seungmin seem more into these things than we are.” 

“More fun when Chan and Raisah were around?” 

“Chan and Raisha were more mediators than they were doing anything. Raisha was Chan’s enabler, but she also made sure we didn’t do anything too stupid,” Changbin chuckles. He plops himself on the other end of the couch, legs comfortably crossed beneath him as Ryujin starts scrolling through her Netflix. 

“Raisha is lovely,” she hums absentmindedly. “I think if she hadn’t been around that night, I wouldn’t have actually become so close to you guys.” 

“She really is something else.” 

Changbin glances at the way Ryujin settles on her couch, a large hoodie hanging from her shoulders in a way that seems to engulf her completely. She always seems to find a way to appear as cosy as everything around her seems; something that Changbin thinks he adores the most about her. Ryujin has a way of making everything feel comfortable—something in her energy just calms whatever goes raging from within him and puts out whatever fires he has going on.  

“What are you going to do after you graduate?” Ryujin asks after the first ten minutes of Frozen. 

“I might take my masters here, actually,” Changbin answers with a shrug. “It feels worth it. I could specialise in something that can help out with our music.” 

“As long as you’re happy with it,” she hums. 

Silence settles between the two as the sounds of the movie fills the air and lights up Ryujin’s, otherwise, dark living room. Changbin has found himself in this situation a lot recently and it’s a scene that he finds the most comforting in the past few weeks. 

A movie playing, food in their hands—just the two of them. 

Sometimes, Ryujin would move over to his side of the couch to cuddle up into him; which had led to a few talks between the two where she would clarify that she’s asexual not aromantic… which also gave Changbin a few things to look into before finding out that an asexual person doesn’t necessarily mean they’d turn away romantic intimacy. 

Which is actually happening right now as Ryujin puts down her empty container onto the coffee table—right beside Changbin’s—and moves onto his side of the couch to cuddle with him. Changbin accepts the act and wraps his arm around her shoulders as they continue watching the movie in relative silence.

“Can I ask you something?” Changbin’s voice fills the soft air of the living room and it makes Ryujin hum in response. “Are you… open to kissing?” 

Ryujin blinks a few times before she turns her head and pulls away slightly to look Changbin in the eye, only to be faced with the bright red shade of his cheeks and the avoidant gaze of his eyes at the question. 

“I-I mean, there are non-sexual kisses—romantic gestures, I mean. So, I wouldn't necessarily be turned away by that idea.”  

“Does that mean… I’m allowed to kiss you?” 

Ryujin doesn’t think she breathes for the next few seconds as she stares at Changbin with the widest fucking eyes he’s ever seen in his entire life. He’s about to take the question back when he sees the way her face turns as red as his and he stumbles over his words as his back straightens, shooting upright to try and take whatever he’s asked back in fear of having made her uncomfortable. 

But Ryujin quickly shakes her head and holds onto his hand to calm him down slightly. 

“I-It’s fine!” she squeaks as she sits slightly closer to Changbin. “It— It’s a valid question. I’m actually glad that you’ve asked instead of going straight for it.” Her fingers push back her straight hair behind her ear before she looks at Changbin and smiles reassuringly. 

Ryujin swallows nervously, hesitantly leaning forward before placing a quick kiss against Changbin’s cheek; the action so quick that Changbin feels as though he barely even felt it and she had already pulled away. 

She avoids eye contact with him as a whole after kissing his cheek, sitting on the couch as a sense of embarrassment and sheepishness fills the air. Ryujin hadn’t done it because Changbin had mentioned it—god, no. She knows better than that, but she did it because it’s something that she’s been wanting to do for a while. It isn’t a lot, but it’s somewhat of a way for her to tell Changbin that she’s ready to progress a bit further. 

“Y-You—” Changbin’s hand flies to the cheek Ryujin had kissed as he stares at her with wide eyes. 

“It’s… I didn’t do it because you asked. I-I did it because I wanted to,” she blurts out, wanting to reassure him as much as possible because she knows that Changbin has a tendency to worry about her decisions.

“T-That’s not—I’m sure you—uhm—” Changbin coughs awkwardly—almost too violently—that causes him to actually start coughing because now his sad little smoker lungs are suffering. 

Ryujin panics from beside him as he, oh so desperately, tries to stop his coughing, hand reaching out for the glass of water on the coffee table to chug water and ease the irritation in his throat. 

“I’m fine,” he croaks out when he sees the way her hands basically scramble to hover over him. 

“Are you sure?” she questions softly.

“I’m fine,” Changbin repeats to reassure her as he puts the glass back down onto the table. “I-I just wasn’t expecting it.” He lets out a sheepish laugh afterwards, hand rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly before he clears his throat and looks at her. “C-Can you do that again?” 

“W-What?” 

“The kiss.” 

Ryujin’s face turns an unimaginable shade of red that has Changibn’s own skin flushing as well. But she leans in once again and kisses his cheek once again, lips lingering against his skin for a moment longer than before, and she pulls away. 

“That’s… that’s nice,” Changbin confesses with a nervous laugh right after. 

“Y-You think so?” Ryujin smiles slightly, her lips lopsided at his confession. 

“Yeah. I like that.” 

Changbin smiles widely when Ryujin’s own smile grows, his hand reaching out to pat her head gently and coax her back into his arms as they continue watching the movie. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

viii. 

Binniezz 🖤: I’m outside your building apartment  Should be up there soon

Jinz 🤍 : Alright  Jeongin gave me some leftover mac n cheese btw  So we’re having that for dinner

Changbin’s regular routine of visiting Ryujin’s apartment every few nights for movies and dinner has turned into something that he’s extremely happy with. Occasionally, he would end up sleeping over; which has also led to Ryujin clearing out some space in her closet for his clothes so that he wouldn’t always have to make the trip back to the house he shared with Felix in the dead of night. 

It also gives Ryujin more freedom in actually inviting over at night whenever she decided she didn’t want him to go so soon. So, here Changbin is: walking towards Ryujin’s apartment building at eight p.m. when he should really be at home trying to finish one of his assignments. 

Spring is quickly coming around, which means that Changbin’s graduation is only getting closer and closer, but he really doesn’t want to leave just yet. He takes the moment to look up at the building for a moment as the idea of graduating comes across his mind. 

Changbin really doesn’t want to graduate. 

He has the chance to apply for his masters at his current university, but he also knows that doing that would mean he’s taking it just to stick around a bit longer for Ryujin. 

He lets out a sigh as the building gets closer, but a familiar sound makes Changbin halt in his steps. 

Smack

“P-Please, I-I’ll pay you back soon!” 

The pleads are followed by another bone crunching smack that makes Changbin lift his head at the alleyway ahead of him; right beside Ryujin’s apartment building. The sound’s too familiar for him to want to make any sort of other explanation because someone is definitely being beat up in that alley. 

He takes a step forward to see three men crowded around another who sits on the ground. Even in the darkness, Changbin’s able to note the cuts that ooze blood down the guy’s face, dripping onto the concrete floor as one of the three men pick him up by the collar once again and spit directly on his face. 

Changbin shouldn’t get involved; he knows he shouldn’t. If he knows anything about gangs or these sorts of groups it’s that they never want anyone getting involved when they shouldn’t. But as Changbin stands there, he starts feeling sorry for the poor bastard being beat up. 

His hand nervously curls and uncurls by his side before he decides that, maybe tonight, he’ll play a hero for the poor guy and give him more time to do whatever he needs to. 

“Leave him alone.” 

Changbin takes a full step into the alley and all three of the men turn to look at him. 

“Who are you?” one of them sneers.

“Doesn’t matter. Leave the poor guy alone. You can get your money back another time,” Changbin says calmly as he looks the guy in the eye. 

“Pack your ego and get the fuck out of here.” 

Now, Changbin knows that they could’ve easily done this any other way. 

But he’s been in way too many ‘kill or be killed’ situations to want to settle this any other way, so before Changbin can even think, he’s punched the first man in the stomach. Everything happens so quickly—when he manages to get the first man to the ground, another comes and punches him square in the face. 

The attack is so quick that Changbin’s head is thrown backwards for a second, the dull aching in his nose starting to become more and more present as blood slowly starts to drip down his lips and onto his chin.

“You fucking dumbass,” Changbin scoffs before he grabs the man by the collars and brings him down to knee him directly in the stomach before slamming him against the wall. The third and final of them charges towards Changbin, but the rugby player’s had too much experience with people charging towards him that all he does is charge back, arms wrapping around his waist and tackling him to the floor. 

He briefly looks up at the man who’s cowering on the floor and jerks his head at the entrance of the alley, the man not hesitating to scramble to his feet and dash out at the opportunity. 

“Fucking beating up a helpless guy, huh? You think it’s fucking fun?” Changbin seethes as he repeatedly throws punches to the man’s face. 

The feeling of his fists slamming against the guy’s face sends a rush of adrenaline through Changbin’s veins that he hasn’t realised he’s missed so. Fucking. Much. The feeling of bones crunching by the actions of his hands makes him feel a sense of power that he never knew he felt like he needed. 

Even when the man stopped moving, body limped underneath Changbin’s pure will, he didn't stop. Even when he stops fighting back completely, Changbin doesn’t stop. 

It’s too satisfying. It’s too fucking powerful. 

And he keeps going; blood covering his knuckles and splattering up to his neck and face the more he goes. All Changbin smells is the scent of blood; the familiar scent of what is probably already a corpse filling the air and surrounding him. There’s no sense of stopping in his body. 

He doesn’t even realise how long it’s been until a familiar voice snaps him out of his trance and Changbin can feel his whole world crashing down.

“Changbin?” 

His entire body stops moving. His arm is halfway into the air when he hears her voice ringing in his ears, voice echoing off of the brick walls. 

Changbin’s fucked up. 

He’s suddenly hyper aware of the way he’s breathing as he slowly turns around to see Ryujin standing at the entrance to the alleyway, hands limp by her side as she stares at him with, what he can only describe as horror, on her face. Changbin finally looks down at the man and he feels his blood running cold when he sees what he’s done. 

“Fuck,” he shakily breathes out, jolting away from him. “F-Fuck, Ryujin.” Changbin turns around and his arms reach towards her but she stumbles backwards instead. 

“W-What the fuck?”  Ryujin scoffs, shaking her head and turning around. 

“Ryujin, wait,” Changbin scrambles off of the ground and chases after her. “Ryujin! Please, let me explain!” He stops in front of her and she stares at him in disbelief. “Please, let me explain. T-They were beating him up a-and the poor guy was harmless!”

“Did you throw the first hit?” 

“W-What?” 

Ryujin crosses her arms over her chest and takes a deep breath.

“Did you throw the first hit, Changbin?” 

“I-I… Ryujin, you don’t understand…” he breathes out. “I-I had no choice.” 

“He wasn’t moving. I understand if you were trying to save that guy, but Changbin, you probably just killed someone.” Her hands flail about to emphasise her point and she takes a step closer to him as she does. “You were the one who said that you were trying to turn over a new page. You were the one who said that the thing that scares you the most about yourself is your ability to kill.”

“I didn’t kill him!” Changbin defends quickly. 

“Even if you were protecting someone, why did you keep going even when he stopped moving?” 

He doesn’t say anything, only staring at Ryujin as he realises how deep of a hole he’s just dug himself. 

“Were you enjoying it?” 

Changbin’s lips purse together and he looks away from her. Ryujin lets out a soft sigh. She’s less mad than she was before because now she’s honestly just disappointed. 

And seeing it in her eyes is what makes Changbin feel even worse than he already did before. 

“I-I don’t know what happened. I just knew that he needed help and that I was right there. Even if I hadn’t thrown the first punch, they would’ve started the fight anyway.” 

“You being the person who threw the first punch goes against you not wanting to go back on your old habits, Bin,” Ryujin claims softly. “You said you were going to try and move forward from your past. I never judged you for what you did then and you know that I wouldn’t try to question any of your choices now. But Changbin…” 

“I know. I-I pushed too far. I knew he wasn’t moving, but… I couldn’t stop myself. I-I’m sorry—I know it doesn’t mean anything, but I really didn’t mean for any of this to happen. And I’m sorry that you had to see that.” 

She stares at him for a moment, thinking of the next thing to do before her arms uncross and she lets out a softer sigh. Ryujin reaches out to hold onto his hands, lifting his knuckles up so that she can actually see the damage on his skin, thumb brushing away some of the blood and over the splitting ends of his knuckles. 

“Come on. I have a first aid kit in my bathroom that we can use,” she gently urges while guiding Changbin towards the entrance to the building. 

The next hour or so happens quietly. Ryujin brings Changbin up into her apartment and sits him on the couch as she cleans up the blood and wounds on his knuckles before he disappears to wash the blood off of his entire body and changes into something clean; something that he had left in her closet. 

As Changbin sits on the couch, silently listening as Ryujin shuffles around her kitchen, he’s partially prepared for her to tell him that she thinks it’s horrible that he did what he did. He’s waiting for her to tell him to leave after tonight because she’s scared of him. 

But all she does is place a bowl of heated up mac n cheese on the table along with a can of Sprite before sitting beside him with her own bowl in her hands. 

Changbin stares at her in a moment, almost in awe at the realisation that Ryujin’s simply going to carry on. 

“If you’re wondering,” she speaks up after a few minutes of feeling his eyes boring into the side of her face, “this is only a hiccup in whatever journey you’re on—whatever journey that we’re on. You had good intentions. You just wanted to help him.”  Ryujin pauses for a moment to stick a spoonful of the pasta into her mouth before she turns to Changbin and smiles softly. “You still have a long way to go and I’m not leaving you anytime soon.” 

Changbin doesn’t say anything at first. He reaches over to pick up the bowl off of the coffee table and leans back on his side of the sofa as he processes Ryujin’s words. 

He smiles and nods, “thank you, Ryujin.” 

Silence settles between the two as they continue watching whatever Ryujin had put on until her bowl is empty and she stands up to make her way to the kitchen. Instead of going straight from her side, however, Ryujin rounds to Changbin’s side of the couch and drapes her arm over his shoulder. She leans down and presses a kiss to the side of his head. 

“I’m proud of you for trying to help,” Ryujin says softly against him before disappearing into the kitchen, leaving Changbin flustered as he sits on the couch. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

ix.

“Here,” Changbin says as he places the USB right next to Ryujin’s laptop and takes a seat across from her at the table. 

“Thank you,” she hums absentmindedly while clicking away at the keyboard. 

“Why don’t you just get a new one? I thought you needed one anyway,” Jisung asks just as he sticks a whole chocolate chip muffin into his mouth, cheeks puffing akin to that of a squirrel. 

“I just need to clear some space on my hard drive, but I need a USB now. I thought I’ll just clear it out next week after I’m done with this project and then I won’t need to buy a new one at all,” Ryujin explains as she takes the USB and holds it up into the air, “this way, I get to save on some cash for a trip to the beach.” She smiles at the two before sticking it into the pocket of her bomber jacket. 

“You know what? We could probably convince Chan to pick us up and spend a few days at the beach. Rent a nice place or a hotel if we have enough cash put together.” 

“That’s actually not that bad of an idea,” Changbin claims as he lifts his head to look at Jisung. 

“We could just see if Chan and Raisha are free for a few days and just ask them if they’re down.” 

“Oh, Raisha loves the beach, so it won’t be that hard to convince Chan if she wants to go,” Ryujin laughs. “We could probably do this weekend. It’s not like anything’s stopping us.”  

The three of them exchange a look before racing for their phones. 

“Let me ask him first! He’s nicer to me!” Jisung practically begs as he pulls up Chan’s contact number. 

“Hold on—at least let me get Raisha on this first!” Ryujin argues, hands fumbling with her own.

“Fuck it. I’m making a group chat with everyone and that’s how we ask both of them,” Changbin laughs. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Somehow, the group chat was the most effective method out of all of them because Changbin had managed to tag Raisha almost immediately which didn’t leave Chan that many options because he simply can’t say no to his girlfriend. 

Which leads Ryujin to her current situation; cramming in the last few bits of her project so that she can actually have the weekend off without thinking about any work. She’s been pushing it to some of the final moments rather than slowly making her way through it the way she naturally would, which means that Ryujin’s not given herself that Jisung had chosen one of the worst possible times to decide he wants to go to the beach. 

But the project isn’t going to stop Ryujin from going to the beach. She’d really rather rip her hair out than miss a trip because she knows that she can do this on time.

Changbin snores away in her bed as she stays hunched over her laptop at her desk, thumbnail caught between her teeth as she plugs his USB into her laptop and opens up the files. 

She pauses for a moment. 

♫ The Universe Hates Me ♫ 

Ryujin breathes out a laugh. Of course Changbin would name his music files something like this. It would probably keep people away, but Ryujin stares at it as curiosity fills her. She peeks over her shoulder and at Changbin, his snores only seeming to get louder the more he stays asleep, before she turns back and clicks open the file. 

An array of notepads fill the file; half unlabelled while the other half labelled with titles that sound more like Changbin’s thoughts as he wrote them down. 

Lyrics (important)

Lyrics Chan wants by the end of the week

Jisung’s a fucking psychopath who wrote this within an hour

Work on this, you bitch 

Don’t forget

!!!!!!!!!!!!!DON’T FORGET THIS ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m having a stroke making this 

Ryujin smiles to herself as she scrolls through the files until one catches her eye. 

Sorry I love you question mark

The file opens up to a notepad of lyrics, but they make Ryujin’s smile drop the more she reads it. A sense of sadness washes over her the more the she reads, especially with the date the file was last edited. 

It wasn’t long after they had met, which means that Changbin had these lyrics locked away in his vault for the past year or so. The further into the lyrics she gets, the more Ryujin feels her chest constricting. Is this how he had felt the entire time? She hadn’t realised just how much Changbin liked her in the beginning and she assumed it was a small crush. 

But to see it written out as lyrics? 

He had written a whole song for her. 

And the only reason Ryujin’s certain it’s about her is because Changbin was smart enough to leave her name at the end of the damn thing. 

I’ll wait for you, Jins. I promise

Her hand raises to cover her mouth when she feels her eyes starting to sting. Even now, Ryujin actually doubts how much Changbin likes her because she’s absolutely certain that he would be turned down by the idea of her not wanting anything sexual. 

But it seems that he really doesn’t seem to mind it at all. 

And Ryujin doesn’t know if that relieves her or makes her heart ache even more. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

“Don’t be a dick—come on!" Jisung whines as he chases after Chan and into the water, waves crashing against them as they wade further into the water. 

Chan had been ever so sweet to take Jisung’s phone with him and charge towards the water while Raisha stays comfortable on the beach mat while she rubs sunscreen onto herself. 

“Chan! You haven’t put on any sunscreen!” she calls when she looks up, sighing at the realisation that Chan’s already in the water and that his sunburn will later on become her problem as well. 

“Why does he think that’s a good idea?” Ryujin chuckles as she leans back on her arms with an umbrella shielding her body from the Sun. 

“Chan thinks it’s funny; not a good idea,” Raisha corrects her with a laugh. “And when he accidentally ends up dropping it into the water, Jisung’s going to go berserk and Chan’s going to buy him a new phone instead.”  

“How predictable is that?” Changbing laughs, overhearing their conversation as he approaches them from the house that they were staying in over the weekend. 

“Chan’s more responsible than that,” she hums. Raisha watches fondly as Chan races out of the water with Jisung following closely behind, hands flailing towards him as his attempts to retrieve his phone fail repeatedly. 

“Chan, please! Be careful with it!” Jisung whines as he watches Chan sprint to the other side of the beach. “Raisha! He’s being mean!” he whines and turns to Raisha with a big pout on his face and his feet kicking the sand like a child. 

Raisha sighs and looks at Chan who sticks his tongue out at Jisung. 

“Chan, have a little compassion for the poor boy,” she chuckles loudly enough for her boyfriend to hear. He turns to her and scoffs, frowning and pouting before he obliges. Chan begrudgingly makes his way over to Jisung and hands his phone back before trudging towards Raisha, plopping himself beside her to let her towel dry his back and arms. 

“She has you on a leash, doesn’t she?” Ryujin giggles when she sees how frowny Chan is being. 

“Fuck you,” he grumbles while Raisha gently rubs the sunscreen onto the skin of his broad back, earning a smack from her. 

“Be nicer, Channie,” she scolds, earning yet another grumble from the man. 

“Yeah, ‘Channie’,” Jisung mocks. Chan throws a glare in his direction but the younger man only giggles mischievously and hides behind Raisha. 

The five of them had gotten extremely lucky when Raisha’s friend had offered to let them stay at his beach house for the weekend, claiming that it should get some form of use since he wouldn’t be there for another year or so. And Raisha had accepted without much hesitation because she’s the kind to not turn down offers as long as they don’t come with favours, and she had known her colleague long enough to trust that he was offering them his house without any sort of underlying reason. 

Especially since he had met Chan at a handful of work events and the broad shouldered man, who typically glares at anyone who tries to approach Raisha, is more than enough to scare off anyone who would even think to harm his beloved darling. 

Changbin slings his arms over Ryujin’s shoulders as they stare at the ocean, letting Chan grumble inaudibly to himself while Raisha continues to slather him with sunscreen and Jisung continues to tease him because he knows that Chan can’t do anything about it. 

“What if we buy a kite?” Ryujin suggests suddenly when she feels the wind blowing rather strongly. 

“We could probably find someone selling a kite here. Kids love flying kites on beaches,” Chan mumbles. 

“I’m borrowing your car,” Changbin says as he stands up and grabs the car keys out of Raisha’s woven bag. “Come on.” He extends his hand towards Ryujin who watches him, eyebrows raised from underneath her sunglasses as she does. 

“What? No, you’re not taking my car,” Chan whips his head around. 

“Let him take it. They barely check for licences here and I doubt that these two would be going anywhere far,” Raisha says motherly as she leans forward to kiss Chan on the cheek, the action making him melt almost instantly. 

“Fine. Just don’t do anything stupid.”

At Chan’s permission, Ryujin agrees with less hesitation. She holds onto Changbin’s hand and allows him to pull her up as she grabs her t-shirt off of the mat and throws it over her bathing suit. 

“We could probably find a place nearby with kites and other things to play with on the beach,” Changbin hums as they make their way towards the house to grab their bags and climb into Chan’s black pickup truck.

“Could we get some snacks, too?” 

“There’s a barbecue bench outside of the house, right?”

“Saw it on the way to the beach, yeah.”

“Then, let’s get some food for a barbecue, too.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

“Let’s go!” Jisung giggles loudly as he watches Chan do pushups while Raisha sits on his back. 

“Five more, buddy, come on!” Changbin encourages, clapping as the oldest of them continues to push through as though his girlfriend truly weighs nothing as she proudly sits on him. 

“Thirty pushups with Raisha on my back: done!” Chan cheers as Raisha climbs off of him. 

“I told you he could do it,” she giggles. Her hand reaches underneath his jaw to guide him towards her where she presses a kiss against his lips. “Good job, darling.” 

Chan’s entire face turns red as he lets out a bashful giggle at the praise. 

“God, everything this woman says to him has his dick shooting upright,” Changbin snorts as he slings his arm over Ryujin’s shoulders as they sit on the brick bench. 

There’s more drinks in Jisung than the two of them combined, but they’ve both created a silent agreement to stay the most sober of the bunch considering how much Chan and Raisha drink when only the five of them are together. 

“Oh, please, like you don’t get the same reaction whenever Ryujin touches your face,” Chan slurs and points his finger lazily at Changbin. 

“Don’t say that, you’ll make Ryujin uncomfortable,” Raisha scolds and smacks the back of his head lightly. 

“It’s not like I’m making these kinds of jokes about her!” he whines loudly. 

“It’s still sexual, Chan!”

“But it’s not directly about her!”

“Should I say something?” Ryujin laughs while glancing at Changbin. 

“No, no, let them be,” he chuckles with a wave of his hand. 

Changbin stands up after a moment and turns the meat over on the grill, Ryujin standing as well with the plastic plates for him to move them onto once they’re cooked. They would’ve asked Jisung to help out, but he’s managed to blaze himself up almost completely in the past hour or two and he doesn’t seem to be able to do anything else other than make teasing comments at Chan and giggle away with a can of beer in the other hand. 

“Come on, guys, the meat’s ready,” Changbin announces as he piles them onto the plate in Ryujin’s hands. 

“Meat!” Jisung excitedly exclaims as he shoots upright. He grabs a plate and grabs a few for himself before she can even put the plate down, eyes widening in shock at how sudden Jisung moved. Chan and Raisha grab their own servings and sit down on the ground together. 

“We should do more barbecues together and make Changbin grill,” Jisung claims with a mouthful.  

“You’re right,” Chan agrees the moment he sticks a slice of the beef into his mouth. “This is so fucking good—holy shit.” 

“Yeah, eat that shit up, guys. It’s a rare occurrence,” Changbin chuckles. 

“Not if you’re Ryujin,” he huffs. 

“Asshole happily cooks for his girlfriend, but not for his friends,” Jisung scoffs in agreement. “I could never convince him to actually do something like that for me.” 

“That’s because Ryujin treats me with love and care. She gets special treatment,” Changbin argues with a mocking tone. 

“Aish, don’t do that to him,” she quickly scolds softly and places her hand on his bicep, which makes his face soften immediately.

“My god, she’s the Raisha to your Chan,” Jisung’s jaw drops. 

“No, she is not,” he scoffs.

“We’re less responsible than those two are,” she quickly nods. 

“Those two fuck like rabbits, too!” 

“I don’t even like sex, Jisung!”

“Holy shit, I hit a nerve,” Jisung’s eyes widen as a small piece of meat falls out of his mouth and onto his plate. “Jeez, you guys really just… wow, okay.”

“I miss drunk Jisung. He’s sweeter and more thoughtful of his words,” Ryujin scoffs. 

“I miss when Jisung would only get high. He was funnier back then,” Changbin clicks his tongue in annoyance. 

“Now that he’s mixing weed and alcohol together, it’s not as fun,” Chan grumbles.

“You guys just don’t like this version of me,” Jisung groans right as he takes a drag from his blunt, “if you guys can’t handle me now. Then you don’t deserve me when I’m sober!” He lets out a loud grunt before chugging the rest of his beer right after. 

Changbin and Ryujin let out a sigh at the same time as they turn to look at each other, unable to contain their giggles as they continue munching away at their meat. 

The meat quickly disappears and Changbin puts the grill out while he and Ryujin usher their friends back into the house to sober up, the both of them taking their time to clean up the area. 

“I keep forgetting that they get drunk when it’s just us,” Ryujin chuckles as she stacks the used plates. 

“Chan can drink a lot when he doesn’t have to be the responsible one,” Changbin claims with a small laugh. “It surprised me the first time, but I realised that it probably means that he’s comfortable enough around us to let loose. He’s the kind of person who doesn’t know how to not take care of people, so knowing that he’s comfortable enough to let us handle ourselves is quite nice.” 

Ryujin breathes out a laugh and shakes her head slightly as gathers all of the plates. 

“I’ll get these cleaned up and then we can watch a movie with them,” she says softly. 

“Dude, I doubt they’re even awake,” he snorts loudly. “We can just spend the time watching a movie together.” Ryujin gives him a look and Changbin smiles sheepishly at her before leaning in to kiss her forehead gently, hand brushing down her hair that now brushes the middle of her back before he takes the plates out of her hands and walks towards the house. 

Ryujin stays frozen in her spot with her face and neck red, and her eyes wide. The grill is already clean and there’s no other trash on the outside, so there really isn’t anything else to do, but Ryujin doesn’t feel like going into the house just yet. 

She still has Changbin’s USB with her and she hasn’t been able to get the lyrics out of her head ever since she read them. Ryujin sits on the brick bench and picks her jacket up from the jacket, looking up at the moon as she thinks of how she’s going to approach Changbin with this. 

“Ryujin!’ Changbin calls as he steps back out of the house and approaches her slowly. “You coming?” 

She lets out a sigh and turns to him just as he stands beside her. Without saying anything, Ryujin pats the spot beside her and Changbin obliges in a heartbeat. He takes her hand in his and places it on his lap, his thumb gently running over the back of her knuckle, as her head turns back up to look at the sky. 

“I know about ‘sorry I love you question mark’,” Ryujin confesses after a moment. 

Changbin’s thumb stops moving for a moment. But instead of having any sort of a negative reaction—like she thought he would after invading his personal files—he breathes out a chuckle and sighs softly. 

“What do you think of it?” he asks. 

“It was a lot to take in at first,” she chuckles, her tone lacking the same lightness as Changbin’s. 

“Well, I was stupid enough to sign it off with your name at the end of it. So, I’m sorry if it made you feel too pressured or overwhelmed.” 

“Stop that,” Ryujin states and squeezes her eyes shut as guilt fills her heart. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You hadn’t done anything wrong in the beginning—you don’t have anything to be sorry about because it’s not something that you have complete control over.” 

“Then don’t feel sorry about my love,” Changbin says. He turns to Ryujin and smiles. “What I feel is my burden to bear and you have nothing to be sorry about. I feel what I feel because of my own heart. It’s not your fault that I fell in love and it’s not your fault that I’m in love with you as much as I am. I wrote ‘sorry I love you question mark’ when I was scared that I would overwhelm you and we were doing so well together as friends. I didn’t want to risk losing you as my friend.” 

He brings her hand up and presses the back of her palm against his chest. 

“Everything I’ve done up until now was to be with you. That was my decision. You make me feel like I can actually be better, Ryujin. And that’s something that I really appreciate. I love the way you make me feel and I hope that you can feel the way I do when I’m around. I want you to make you feel as loved and adored as I do.” 

Changbin smiles when he sees the way Ryujin’s eyes start to gloss over and her lips part slightly. 

“I love you, Ryujin—like a serious fucking amount. It’s insane,” he laughs. “And I’m happy with the place that we are at now.” 

“Are you sure that you can deal without the sex?” Ryujin asks softly as she looks at the way their hands are intertwined when Changbin lowers them to her lap. 

“I want to be with you enough to want to try,” Changbin claims. 

Ryujin feels warmth spreading throughout her chest as she looks at him. Her bottom lip quivers slightly as her eyes fill with more tears that slowly start to spill down her cheeks. 

Changbin smiles softly and reaches his hand over to wipe them away with his thumbs, “why are you crying, love?”

She only cries harder at the question. And it isn’t the cute kind of crying you get in movies because Ryujin fucking bawls with her cheek pressing into the palm of Changbin’s hand. It’s the kind of crying that sounds as ugly and snot-filled as it looks, but it only makes him smile as he wraps his arm around her and pulls Ryujin into his chest.

“Okay, okay,” he chuckles, hand brushing down her hair repeatedly to help calm her down, “cry it out, my love. Just keep crying it out.” 

“I-I love you, Changbin.” she wails against his chest loudly, sniffling and snorting right after. 

“I love you, too, Ryujin,” Changbin smiles. 

“Is that all it took?” Jisung mutters as he stares from the second floor window. Raisha and Chan are both looking from over his shoulder at the way Ryujin cries against Changbin, loudly confessing her love for the entire world to hear. 

“This is so cute,” Raisha coos as she watches the way Changbin seems to pepper the top of Ryujin’s head with gentle kisses. “Ugh, I love how sweet they are together.” 

“Only took them two years,” Chan snorts as he leans away, finally deciding to give the two their privacy. 

“How long do you think they’ll last?” 

“Jisung!” 

“What?! We bet on you guys! I feel like it’s fair that we give Changbin the same treatment!”

“They just confessed to each other, Jisung!” Raisha scoffs. 

“Changbin and Jeongin had no problem betting on you guys the moment you met!” Jisung defends. 

Chan shakes his head and continues to argue while Raisha sighs with her arms crossed over her chest, the two of them bickering away with Jisung as he tries his best to defend himself and start a bet. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

x.

Changbin stares at himself in the mirror. His entire body is exhausted, chest heaving as he tries to gather his breath. Sweat drips down the side of his face and he feels frustration creeping underneath his skin, crawling around his body as though a million spiders are trying to break free. 

He thought he could do it. 

He tried really fucking hard. 

But Changbin’s been feeling as though his heart has been missing something for a while and he didn’t realise what it was until he accidentally walked into you and Seungmin in the showers at the sports building. 

And as he stumbled out, the only thing he could think of is how sexually active the two of you are and how much he fucking misses the closeness of it. The last few nights that he’s spent at Ryujin’s apartment has made him feel like he’s going crazy. 

The amount of love inside of him that he struggles with showing her without doing it physically is killing him way more than he initially thought. 

But as Changbin stands in front of the mirror after trying to furiously wank his hard-on away in the past hour or so; it’s starting to become a bit of a problem for him. It hadn’t bothered him this much until a week ago and Changbin’s trying to figure out whether his suddenly raging libido is caused by something else or if it’s just the fact that he’s a really horny fucking guy who hasn’t gotten laid in the past year or so.

He lets out a frustrated sigh and wipes his hand down his face, staring at himself in the mirror as he puffs his cheeks out with air. 

Changbin needs sexual intimacy. It’s one of the only ways he can actually pour his love out. He needs to have sex. 

And it makes him feel disgusting. 

It makes him feel like he’s going against everything he had been reassuring Ryujin through the past year. How could he do this to her? How could he have spent so much time telling her that he’d be fine with it only to realise that he isn’t?! What kind of an asshole does that make him?! 

Changbin can’t do this to her. Not when they’ve already broken through their wall of fears together. He runs his hand into his hair and grips at it, pulling at the roots. 

Maybe he’s just a little stressed out with his masters. That’s definitely it! Right? He doesn’t need sexual intimacy as much as he thinks he does—he’s just overreacting! Right…?  

Changbin’s going to wait it out for a bit longer. Maybe it’s just a phase and he’ll get over his crying boner in a while. He just needs to give himself time. Maybe this is a sign that he needs to be in his own space for a bit. 

He takes a deep breath and washes his face with cold water. 

Changbin can wait. 

And he will. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

“Dude,” Jisung nudges his arm. 

“What?” Changbin finally turns away from his laptop to look at him.

“I asked if you wanted to get dinner,” he claims. 

“Oh. Sure,” he nods and starts to close his laptop and clear his stuff into his bag.

“What’s up with you? You’ve been stand-offish the entire week,” Jisung mutters and gives Changbin a weird look. 

“I’ve just… had some things on my mind,” Changbin shakes his head and gives him a reassuring smile. Jisung lets his gaze linger for a moment longer before he slips his bag strap over his shoulder and heads towards the front door of the music studio.

Changbin stays seated for a moment longer as he tries to let his thoughts settle. Jisung leans against the wall right outside of the recording room, his head bumping against the wall lightly as he tries to figure out what’s been bothering his friend. Changbin had been acting odd for the past week and it’s been making the entire balance in the studio go off the rails. 

Nothing’s been properly made, Chan’s been bugging the two of them trying to figure out what’s wrong while Raisha plays the sweeter, more motherly card and gently asks Jisung whether something had happened since Changbin’s been M.I.A from their group chat ever since he started acting weird. 

“Come on,” Changbin hums as he brushes past Jisung, the younger man sighing before following after him. 

Changbin thinks that Jisung has a bit of an idea as to what’s going on because he’s been trying to cheer him up through basically everything; smokes, blunts, alcohol. But the dead giveaway was when Jisung offered to buy him a fleshlight, playing it off as a joke when his laugh came off as awkward and… sympathetic. Which makes Changbin feel only a little bit worse. 

But the guilt he gets from leaving Jisung in the dark is still overwhelmed by the pain he feels every time he sees Ryujin running towards him with the biggest smile on her face. It’s so fucking cheesy but Changbin swears that the entire world stops moving whenever he sees her smile. 

He thinks that nothing else matters more than her happiness. 

Speaking of which, Changbin hasn’t actually spent that much time with Ryujin in the past few weeks—claiming that he has some things he needs to think about and asked her not to worry. But, Ryujin being Ryujin… of course she worried about Changbin’s sudden shift in energy. She’s been trying to give him his space by not messaging him too often, only sending a few at the end of the day to ask how he’s doing and to wish him goodnight.  

But Changbin’s time alone has just made his realisation come by faster and it’s made it crash into him way worse than he thought it would: 

Changbin needs sexual intimacy. 

And Ryujin isn’t able to offer what he needs nor will Changbin ever ask of her to. 

“Changbin,” Jisung calls loudly. 

“What?” 

Changbin turns to him, but upon seeing the look on Jisung’s face, he realises that he must’ve gotten lost in his thoughts again.

“I asked what you felt like eating. We can grab the bus since it’s going further into the city tonight,” Jisung suggests.

“What would we eat in the city? There’s a lot of options in town,” Changbin answers with a shrug. 

“The city has nice views,” he hums.

“Can I invite Ryujin?” 

“To leave me as a third-wheel?” Jisung lets out an exaggerated gasp, jaw dropping and hand flying to his chest, before he laughs a moment after and nods, “of course you can. She’s nice.” 

“Okay, then let’s go into the city,” Changbin says as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Jisung feels like he physically wants to die. 

The air has been so. fucking. awkward. That Jisung feels as though he’d really rather be in another universe than this one. 

Ryujin and Changbin are sitting beside each other, opposite of Jisung at the table, as Changbin stares at the food while Ryujin eyes him with concern. 

She turns to Jisung questioningly, but he only shrugs and quickly sticks his cheeks with food to avoid having to explain any questions that she asks. 

“Changbin?” she calls gently while placing her hand on his shoulder, the act making him jolt slightly as he snaps out of his trance and turns to her. “Are you okay?” 

“Y-Yeah,” Changbin nods quickly. He immediately picks up his spoon and starts digging into his own bowl of noodles. Ryujin’s hand curls up slightly at his reaction, but she doesn’t really want to put Jisung in any more of a weirder position and instead decides to continue dinner despite knowing that something is bothering Changbin. 

Ryujin lowers her hand to the table and starts eating. Every so often, she glances at Changbin, but he’s too busy stuffing his face with food to actually say or notice anything; or so it seems. Jisung’s also trying his hardest to not be involved with whatever the hell is going on between the two as he sticks his cheeks full and stays preoccupied on his phone where he’s spilling about the entire encounter to Chan and Raisha privately. 

ShaSha: ?? Maybe he’s tired???  You know how Bin can get 

Channie: Yeah  He burns himself out really easily  Sometimes he doesn’t stop it  Just keep an eye on him for a while

Sungie: Okay???  But that literally doesn’t help the fact that he’s not even reacting to RYUJIN  You know?? Shin Ryujin??!!  The love of his life!!  The girl he wrote like half of our songs about!!!!  He’s not even LOOKING at her

ShaSha: Hmm

Channie: Just give him some space, Ji Try not to invade too much 

ShaSha: You don’t think it has something to do with Ryujin ? 

Channie: And that’s none of our business if it is!! 

ShaSha: Channie, I know you’re all about staying out of peoples’ business But these guys took SO LONG to get together  And Changbin obviously loves her sosososososososo much  I would hate it if something happened between them and we at least didn’t try to help them get through it 

Sungie: I think it is…

Channie: ?

Sungie: Yk how she’s  Asexual Right? 

ShaSha: Yeah  Changbin said he didn’t have any issues with that 

Sungie: Yeah but  Changbin’s not exactly active like  Yk Seungmin and (Y/n) 

Channie: Yah Changbin can’t have sex with people he doesn’t have an emotion Oh Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

ShaSha: Oh no… 

Sungie: I think he finds it weird having sex with people he has no romantic attraction to But he has the romance with Ryujin Just not the sex

Channie: Shit That’s  Not sounding good 

ShaSha: What if he needs it more than we all thought he did

Channie: Then that means that Changbin really needs to do some thinking  Or he’s going to have to break up with her because she can’t fulfil his needs

Sungie: But that sounds so Mean…

ShaSha: No Jisungie You shouldn’t stay in a relationship with someone who can’t offer what you need And if Changbin needs that sort of physical intimacy with her  And he can’t  Then it means that he shouldn’t stay in the relationship or he’s going to have some major mental breakdowns

Channie: Some people can ignore the lack of sex  But some people need that intimacy bcs they need the physical touch yaknow  So I wouldn’t blame him if he needed it, it’s not his fault  And I wouldn’t blame Ryujin either  But I just hope that it works out okay between them

Sungie: … Do you think he’s only realising this now?

Channie: I think we should just let them play it out  And if Changbin needs us  He’ll tell us 

ShaSha: I don’t think there’s anything we can do in this situation, Sungie… Let’s just hope for the best

Jisung frowns before putting his phone away and finally looks up to see Changbin muttering something softly to Ryujin, to which she responds by hanging her head slightly closer to his. 

“Can we talk after this?” Ryujin questions, her voice soft enough to hide from Jisung’s ears. 

“Of course,” he nods. “I’ll walk you back to your apartment.” 

Jisung looks between the two when Ryujin pulls away slightly and smiles. Changbin returns the smile, but it’s quicker and almost… not as genuine. Which makes her smile slowly fade. 

And Jisung slowly sinks further into his seat as he wants nothing more than the Earth to just swallow him up. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

The walk back to Ryujin’s apartment from the bus stop right outside of campus is… more than awkward. It’s mostly silent between the two despite how desperately both of them want to break the tension. Changbin doesn’t know what he’s even supposed to say. 

And Ryujin already has a feeling she knows what he’s going to say. It’s not as if she didn’t see it coming, honestly. She was awake the night that Changbin was crying in the bathroom, staring at the door as her heart felt as though it was shattering into pieces at the realisation that Changbin can’t do it. 

Admittedly, the only reason that Ryujin had woken up that night was because Changbin wasn’t beside her like he usually is. She finds that she sleeps much better when she can subconsciously feel his arms wrapped around her as they sleep, the feeling of his warmth embracing her, sending a sense of comfort that she’s truly never felt before in her entire life. Just knowing that Changbin is there is enough to make her feel safe.

She doesn’t blame him and she’s trying so fucking hard to not blame herself. Despite the silence and the awkward energy, Changbin still holds onto Ryujin’s hand in silent reassurance. He really doesn’t want her to blame herself and he would hate if he was the reason for her feeling shit, so he’s trying to do this as gently as he possibly can. 

They reach her apartment and Changbin throws his jacket onto the couch, standing in the middle of her living room as he watches Ryujin move around her apartment to turn the lights on. 

“Balcony?” she suggests softly. 

Changbin blinks a few times before he smiles slightly and nods. 

God, this is horrible. 

He gets onto the balcony first and welcomes the air as it meets his skin. Changbin shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to compose himself as much as possible. The last thing he would want is to make himself cry because he knows that it would make it harder for the both of them if he did. Changbin takes the moment to himself to try and gather what he wants to say—which is quickly thrown out of the window when Ryujin steps out onto the balcony, still adorning the bomber jacket that she, so very, loves. 

The same jacket that Changbin had gifted to her. 

And somehow, knowing that Ryujin’s wearing it even now, Changbin feels as though everything within him is crumbling; ever so slowly—ever so painfully. 

The moon is high up in the sky, casting its glow onto the both of them as they both figure out how to talk. Changbin's thoughts are going a mile a minute as he tries to think of the best way to approach this. He opens his mouth, only to close it, and then opens it again, but sighs when he can’t seem to bring the words to leave past his lips. 

So Ryujin speaks first. 

“This isn’t working… is it?” Ryujin chuckles softly, her tone bittersweet. 

Changbin looks at her and forces out a laugh, “it’s not. I… I need to be able to share sexual intimacy. Not being able to do that feels like it’s eating me from the inside out.” He talks slowly. He thinks through his words carefully. But he knows that, at the end of the day, Ryujin will understand what he’s trying to say. 

“I know,” she sighs and turns to look at him. “If I can’t offer what you need, Bin, then this isn’t going to work at all.” 

Silence settles between the two. They’re sad—of course they fucking are—but the air isn’t as thick as Changbin had initially thought it would be. There’s something else that lingers. 

Acceptance.

“You know…” Changbin starts and turns to look at the Moon instead, “I think you’re the first person I’ve ever, truly, loved. And no matter what happens, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget you because you’ve managed to engrave yourself into my heart. I love you—like a lot—and I’m so glad that I stuck around.” 

“I love you, too,” she whispers, following his gaze at the sky, “thank you so much for being there. You didn’t have to, yet you still did; and for that, I will forever be grateful for you, Changbin.” 

“I’ll forever be grateful that you let me,” he laughs and turns to her. “Come.” Changbin reaches for her hand and pulls her into him, his hand gently resting at the back of her head as he kisses her forehead. 

He allows his lips to linger while Ryujin closes her eyes and relishes in the moment. It’s the last time they’ll ever be this close—this intimate—before their chapter has to close and a new one will be forced to begin; one where they will no longer be written together.

“I need to clear my stuff from your closet,” Changbin says as he finally pulls away, hands holding both sides of her face as he smiles and looks into her glossy eyes. 

“Okay,” Ryujin nods. He presses one more kiss against her cheek before he steps back into her apartment, Ryujin following behind and watching as he pulls a duffel bag he had left in her closet to start packing his clothes. 

She stays at the doorway as he does, willing herself not to cry and telling herself that this is nothing more than a step in her life that she has to take in order to grow. 

Everything happens for a reason, Ryujin thinks, as she watches Changbin stick the last of his hoodies into his bag. When he’s finished with the closet, Ryujin follows him out into the living room where he picks up one of his spare speakers from the coffee table and places it in his bag, before Changbin starts pulling his magnetic sticky note pad off of the fridge as well. 

The entire time, Ryujin follows almost aimlessly. She doesn’t know what else to do other than follow Changbin around as he clears her apartment of his belongings. 

Until he stands at her front door with his bag slung onto his shoulder, and that’s when she realises that that’s it. That was all of it. Changbin’s done and once he steps out of the apartment, it’ll be the last time that they will be together. 

“So, you’re finally leaving, huh?” Ryujin manages to joke, laughing slightly at how ironic it had been. She had been telling him the entire time that he wouldn’t need to stick around, yet, when they had finally gotten together, that’s when Changbin realised he simply couldn’t. 

“For once, I don’t think I can wait any longer,” Changbin laughs. 

And a bittersweet feeling overcomes Ryujin’s entire body. 

He takes a step towards Ryujin and pulls her into his arms for one last embrace. Her hands grip the fabric of his shirt before she pulls away and leans in to kiss him. 

For the first time in their relationship, she had decided to kiss him on the lips. 

And while Changbin thinks it’s funny, but cruel, that the first time they’ve properly kissed each other, it would also be the last time. 

“I love you, Ryujin,” he breathes against her before pulling away. 

“I love you, too, Changbin,” she whispers. 

They pull away from each other and Changbin gives her one last smile before he leaves, Ryujin’s hand raising to wave smally as he closes the door behind him. 

Once the door has closed, Ryujin feels her legs give out beneath her and she falls to the ground as the tears finally break free. She chokes out, almost wailing, as she clutches her chest. Her heart feels as though it’s being ripped in two—as though it’s being ripped straight out of her chest and being stomped on right in front of her. 

The world is cruel, Ryujin thinks as she sobs on the floor; completely helpless. But she wonders how she had been so fucking lucky to have been granted the chance to love Changbin, even if it was for a brief moment. She wonders what she had done for the world to have given her the opportunity to feel Changbin’s love, even if it wasn’t meant to last. 

And she cries like she never has before as she realises that she’ll never be able to love him the same way ever again because their parting was almost inevitable. 

They’re just not meant to be. 

On the other side of the door, Changbin slides down the wall. His face contorted with pain as he listens to Ryujin cry from within her apartment, hands covering his face as he tries to stay as quiet as possible. His mouth hangs open in a silent cry, chest heaving rapidly as he tries to compose himself to some extent where he’s able to carry himself back to his own house. 

He wonders why the world has to be as cruel as it is. Why couldn’t they have their stories written together? Why do they have to start a new chapter away from each other? Changbin’s heartbreak feels so fucking physical, pain spreading throughout his entire body as he brings his knees to his chest and hangs his head between them, arms wrapped around his head as he cries on the floor. 

And while Changbin thinks the world is cruel, he still thinks that love is even worse. Because while the world has decided to tear him away from Ryujin, the amount of love that he’s gathered for her should be inhuman. 

And he thinks that while his love for her taught him patience,

He also thinks that it’ll be the same thing that has the power to destroy him.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

xi.

Two years. 

That’s what it took for Changbin to finally feel… okay. He had gone through the rest of his master’s program on autopilot, running on pure redbull, alcohol, smokes, and weed to keep his body moving while his head felt so fucking empty. 

Jisung had been kind enough to provide whatever coping mechanism he could, but even then, he knew that there was only so much that he could help Changbin with. The most he could do was honestly just be there just in case and provide whatever was happening to Raisha and Chan to keep the two updated. 

And even when they had all graduated and started going to live gigs and professionally working on their music, Changbin still was trying so hard to heal himself. He didn’t know how else to handle it other than trying to just process everything. But even then, it was taking him an extremely long time to properly process that Ryujin is someone who was only meant to help guide him for a moment in his lifetime. 

He had gotten significantly closer to Jisung throughout this period because of how much time they spent together since Changbin started to neglect the idea of being alone. He didn’t want to. He simply couldn’t bear the idea of being alone because he knows that it was harder processing his emotions and his memories alone when he could talk to Jisung about it or project everything into his music instead, and Jisung had also gained a secret ability which helped Changbin out greatly once they had graduated; bringing his daughter around more often to keep Changbin preoccupied with the toddler rather than thinking about Ryujin.

And after a year, Changbin had actually been able to finish Sorry, I Love You. Chan hesitated when he had asked the song to be released, but obliged anyway and released it onto Spotify. By far, it had to have been their most popular track on Spotify despite still being a very much underappreciated group, but Raisha had encouraged them that they just needed to be patient if it was something they truly loved.

Which almost sent Changbin spiralling because it felt so painful to have to be patient with his love yet again. But from his experience, he thinks that he can tell himself it’ll be worth it in the end; so Changbin waits patiently as they continue to work on their songs. He’s also patient with himself as he heals day by day with the help of his friends who surround him constantly, taking care of him when he feels he can’t. 

Changbin’s never been more grateful for the three of them than when Chan had come to his apartment at 4 a.m. to bring him food when Changbin couldn’t bring himself to leave his home for almost a week. He couldn’t have been more grateful for when Jisung had ran from his apartment twenty minutes away because he knew that if he had taken a taxi or the train, it would’ve still taken him longer. 

And when Jisung had arrived, his signature bright smile on his face when Changbin had asked why he was over. When in truth, Jisung had thought that Changbin’s message carried a slightly more concerning tone than usual and had decided to come over as fast as possible to provide comfort for him. 

But now, Changbin’s finally feeling better. He feels his shoulders are lighter than usual as he walks through town with the intention to buy himself a new leather jacket for Hyunjin’s engagement party. He had also just gotten his paycheck, so he thought why not splurge on something a bit pricey for once. 

Changbin steps through the glass doors of the store and looks around at the array of clothes as he tries to gather some form of bearing before he’s able to spot what looks like the mens’ jackets. He makes a beeline towards it and browses through the hanging garments, pushing each hanger to the left as he tries to find something that seems to fit his style. 

He hums along to the song playing through the earbud stuck into his left ear as he does, pulling out two leather jackets that seem to look nice. Both of them are nice, but the collars differ only by being rounded and folded over. 

Just as he’s about to put one of the jackets back, something flashy seems to appear in the corner of his eye and it makes Changbin turn to look at it. 

He feels his entire body halt. 

A dragon prints the back of the golden sleeved jacket, the woman with her back turned to him and her straight, dark purple hair cut right at the top of her shoulder blades.

It can’t be. 

Changbin turns his entire body to face the woman as his breath grows shaky. She looks so much like her. 

The woman browses through the rack of clothes while Changbin’s legs carry him before he can even think, approaching her before he could even react to what he was doing. 

“R-Ryujin…?” Changbin calls as he stands behind the woman, but when she turns around, Changbin feels his heart cracking into a million pieces. “O-Oh,” he flinches back and quickly sticks his hands into the pocket of his hoodie, “sorry. Wrong person.”

“It’s okay,” she reassures him with a polite smile before turning her back to him once again. 

Changbin can’t breathe. He thought he was okay. 

He leaves the store empty handed and walks aimlessly through the town until he finds himself standing outside his apartment building. He had moved into the same building as Raisha and Chan a while after he had started earning more money, thinking it would be more convenient to be closer to them after the time Chan drove almost fifteen minutes to get to his apartment when Changbin told he was slipping. 

Chan is nice. He acts like a father to the two of them and with Raisha by his side, it feels like they’re some sort of a wonky family. He really tries to look out for Jisung and Changbin while Raisha makes sure to keep Chan from tipping too far over the edge as well, which creates a nice balance between their group’s typically chaotic dynamic. 

And Changbin knows that Chan can’t be there all the time, so whenever he can’t and he worries a bit extra, he would ask Raisha to keep a close eye on Changbin and Jisung. 

Which includes sending Changbin food whenever she can because sometimes he has a habit of skipping dinner when he gets too caught up with work. 

Or whenever he’s starting to spiral just like he is now. 

Changbin slams his front door shut and mindlessly walks into the living room where he sits on the couch and pulls his phone out to look at his old pictures. He comes across the exact picture that he’s looking for. 

Christmas. 

The day he had given Ryujin the bomber jacket. 

It was taken in the living room of the house that Changbin had moved into in the final year of his degree and lived in throughout his master’s program; one of the first few selfies that they had taken with just the two of them that also seemed to kickstart their relationship. 

Ryujin looked so happy. 

And Changbin covers his mouth with his hand as he stares at the image of her smiling so widely, teeth showing, the whiskers of her cheeks, and the crinkles in her eyes; it’s all too familiar. He starts sobbing into his hand the longer he stares. 

Oh, how he’s missed her. 

Changbin had felt as though his heart was being torn slowly; small pieces being ripped away bit by bit the more time he spent away from Ryujin. He hasn’t spoken to her much ever since they had both graduated because he was trying to heal in a way that didn’t include constantly talking to her. 

But now… now all he wants to do is call her and cry. All he wants to do is tell her how much he misses her and how much he wishes things had been different. He wants to try again. He’s in so much pain that he thinks that he could completely neglect his sexual needs for the sake of Ryujin’s comforting embrace wrapping around his broad frame. 

Changbin, right now, is truly willing to do anything if it means he can return to the familiar feeling of Ryujin’s hands running up and down his back whenever he needed comfort. 

He just wants her back. 

That’s all Changbin wants. 

He’s so lost in the image, hyperventilating, choking, sobbing—wailing—that he doesn’t hear his doorbell ringing before the door unlocks and Raisha steps in. 

“Changbin!” she calls brightly as she steps into his apartment, her movements immediately stopping when she sees the way he looks at her with so much pain on his face, bawling loudly as he stares at her. 

Raisha drops everything in her hands and slams the door shut as she races to Changbin’s side in pure panic. She doesn’t know what’s going on and from her point of view, Changbin had looked as though he was in so much pain that he could’ve easily been dying. 

Because that’s what he feels like is happening. 

Raisha looks at his phone and pulls it aside before wrapping her arms around him. Her words are blurred together as Changbin wails loudly against her, his throat turning raw from how loud he cries, hands gripping onto her bicep for support as she holds him against her. 

While she’s been friends with Changbin for almost five years, Raisha’s a bit lost as to how to handle his emotions. It’s rare that she’s the one who would help with his spirals because Chan would typically be the one to take on the position of Changbin’s emotional support buddy, but with how busy he had been getting lately, none of them had actually discussed how to properly care for Changbin. 

The most she knows is: Don’t pry. Don’t force it out of him. Be there. 

So that’s what Raisha does. 

She rocks Changbin back and forth, whispering soft assurances to him as she keeps her arms securely wrapped around him. 

But the touch only does more wonders to Changbin because it’s also been so long since he’s ever felt anything that he could relate to motherly love. And with the way Raisha hushes him, the way her tone is so gentle as she brushes her hand down his back. She wonders what Chan would do in a situation like this, but she also has a feeling that Jisung is better at handling Changbin’s spirals from the way he talks about it. 

Changbin can feel the rapid beating of his heart calm, his wails slowly turning into cries that further turn into soft sniffles as Raisha keeps him in her hold. 

He thought he had accepted it by now; the fact that the end of the relationship was inevitable. But Changbin feels the pain as though he had broken up with Ryujin all over again—the same pain that he had felt the night he had left her apartment and heard her sobbing. He feels as though he’s stuck in the memory of that night as he plays in his mind as clear as day, repeatedly to the point where he can’t escape the pain that comes with it. 

He thought he had already gotten over it—over Ryujin. 

How wrong he really is. 

Changbin doesn’t know if he’ll ever actually get over her in the way that he’s hoping. He can just hope that he can find a way to cope with his love for her in a way where it turns into something less romantic and more of simply adoring towards her to stop the kind of heart wrenching, chest constricting, feeling that creeps into him whenever he even thinks of her. 

“You’re going to be okay,” Raisha soothes softly, her movement never wavering as she steadily keeps her hands running up and down his back and her body swaying his. 

“I-I don’t know…” he mumbles, voice cracking and throat raw from crying. “I don’t know, Raisha.”

“You will be, Changbin. This will pass. It may take a while, but it will eventually pass as all things do,” she reassures him. “And you know that we’re all here for you. Just say the word and at least one of us will come running to your call.” 

“Thank you,” Changbin whimpers as he presses his face into her shoulder. Raisha smiles softly, knowing that she’ll have to let Chan know about this once she can get Changbin a little more stable just to update her boyfriend. 

“Come on,” she urges as she pulls away slightly. “I dropped the butter chicken to the floor, but I hope the container is still intact. Get some food in your system and get your mind off of this.” 

Changbin takes a moment before he obliges and stands up with Raisha’s help. 

“Thank you for coming,” he whispers as he follows her to the kitchen. 

“Thank you for letting me in.” Raisha turns to him and smiles just before she picks the container off of the floor. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

It takes a few more days of lying lifelessly in his bed before Changbin decides to leave and wander around for some fresh air. He had basically called in sick for as long as he possibly could to give himself time away, and he’s lucky that his supervisor is kind enough to understand that his spirals would get barely any work out of him and allows him some time to take care of his thoughts. 

So he lets his friends know that he’s going out and gets dressed before he leaves the comforting hole that his apartment is and starts wandering around the city in search of anything to clear his mind. 

There’s no actual destination in mind as Changbin walks through the streets, watching as people go about their days; walking past him, bumping into him and mumbling apologies. He walks along shop lots and watches as people live their lives on the inside, laughing, talking—living. 

For once, he decided not to use his headphones as he walks around. He wants to take in the sounds of the city and the life that powers the heart of it, appreciating the sounds of the cars and busses that drive by and the people that laugh and talk as they walk past him. 

Changbin’s filled with a sense of sonder when he stops outside of a café and stares through the large glass window. He doesn’t care whether or not people notice him. He only realises then that everyone around him has places to go; people to meet—people to be. He wonders whether he’ll finally find a place for him to be at. 

He’s realised that, without Ryujin, Changbin feels as though he doesn’t belong anywhere. He feels alienated from the rest of the world. When he was with her, he felt as though whatever energy had shone from her was bringing him into the mix by reflecting off of him in a way that made him feel like… a person. She had taken the effort to look deeper into his life and thoughts to know who he was rather than dwindling him down to something that he was cursed to be associated with. 

And he has a feeling his colleagues fear him because of being his mother’s son. But Changbin doesn’t let the thought of his mother really bother him as much as it used to. Somehow, he had grown to accept that she’s simply a part of his life. The same goes for his past. He had learned to just grow and accept the fact that it was something that he did and that it’s a chapter of his life that he had closed long ago. 

Now, Changbin can actually look back at parts of his life with more ease. 

Which he definitely thanks Ryujin for—because he knows that if she hadn’t accepted him that day, Changbin would’ve probably spent more time trying to cope with his past on his own.  

He lets out a soft sigh before stepping into the café, deciding to order himself a coffee before he continues on his adventure. 

Changbin takes a seat at one of the tables after he’s ordered and goes onto his phone, texting the group chat of his day and what he’s been up to. He’s typically not as active as Jisung or Raisha are, but sometimes, he knows that they appreciate it whenever he tells them what he’s up to; it lets them know how he is. 

He wonders what direction he’ll head on to next. There’s still a lot to the city that Changbin feels he hasn’t explored yet with how much has changed in the past decade or so, which leaves him with quite a few options as he looks at whatever meme Jisung has granted him with today. 

“Excuse me?” 

Changbin looks up and is faced with a woman standing opposite of him, right behind the empty chair as she smiles politely. 

Oh my god, she’s fucking gorgeous. 

“I saw you from the other side of the café and I couldn’t help but notice that your shoes are really nice,” she says. 

Changbin blinks a few times before he looks down at his sneakers. It was a pair of white sneakers that Raisha and Chan had gotten commissioned to cover with various album covers; truly one of a kind from how they had gotten it personalised to Changbin’s taste. 

“O-Oh, thank you,” Changbin says as he looks up and meets her eyes once again. A rush of emotions runs through as he realises that he’s only felt this once before in his entire life and he doesn’t know what would come out of this. “My friends got it commissioned for my birthday a few years back,” he continues when she doesn’t say anything. “So… a really rare pair of shoes.” 

“They’re pretty,” she smiles, her teeth showing this time. “May I?” She gestures to the seat opposite of him and he nods, watching as she sits down. 

Changbin can’t help but think how fucking beautiful this woman is. 

With her now sitting directly across from him, Changbin seizes the opportunity to actually take in all of her features. Her hair is dark brown, lighter streaks of brown and blonde running down the length of her hair and a pair of thin framed glasses sit on the bridge of her rounded nose. Her skin is tan, but in a sense that it’s almost literally golden. 

“I’m Changbin; Seo Changbin, by the way,” he introduces himself and extends his hand across the table. 

“Kaia,” she smiles and takes ahold of his hand. 

“It’s a beautiful name.” 

“Thank you.” Kaia’s face heats up, a dark red glow catching on her tan, full cheeks as she lowers her head sheepishly. “So, what brings you to this café all alone?” 

“I’m… getting over someone,” Changbin states. 

Kaia nods, and for a moment, Changbin thinks that she’s going to be weirded out by the situation. Instead, she smiles and rests her elbows on the table. 

“Tell me about them.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

xii. 

Once again, Changbin’s fallen in love. Kaia seemed to have been sent by some divine being because she was practically perfect. There was truly nothing about her that seemed to deter Changbin. She was fucking gorgeous, dressed similarly to how he does, and she had practically won the hearts of his friends after one night when she looked Chan in the eye and told him that he acts like an old man. 

They hadn’t actually fallen in love as quickly as Changbin had fallen in love with Ryujin since he was technically still hung up over her, but Kaia was nice enough to stick around and be with him. Which, he was extremely grateful for because he had kept her waiting for quite a few months before realising that he no longer loved Ryujin the same way that he did in university. 

And he realised that, somehow, Kaia had helped him grow out of that love and instead made him direct his love to her instead. It was a slower form of falling in love while she had stayed by his side, making sure that he was staying healthy, eating his meals and staying hydrated. She made sure that he was okay, stayed with him when he spiralled until he just… stopped spiralling whenever he thought of Ryujin. 

Which is when Changbin realised that he had fallen in love with Kaia. Because instead of the adoration and fondness, he realised that she gave him a form of warmth and joy that was stronger than what he had felt towards Ryujin. Kaia brought him light that seemed to glow brighter than he thought was possible.

But with love, comes the process of learning about Kaia’s life. She was raised in a more conservative household and there were a few practices that she held onto despite not being exactly religious. However, Changbin had taken the liberty to learn about more of it for her, knowing that, while it doesn’t really matter to her whether or not he does, it would matter to her family. And he wants to make her feel important, so what better way than to try to be more involved in her culture? 

“Oh! My parents are also flying in next week, by the way. They’ll be staying somewhere nearby my apartment and I told them that… I’d introduce them to you,” Kaia says as she moves away from her vanity.

“Y-You—what?” 

Changbin’s eyes almost bulge out of his skull at what Kaia’s just told him and he honestly doesn’t know how to respond. 

He’s meeting her parents next week?!

“They really want to meet you. I asked them if we could hold it off until we were more… you know… certain. But they insisted,” she explains sheepishly. 

“I-I can meet your parents,” he nods nervously. 

“We’re not allowed to touch each other at all in front of them. So, no holding hands, no hugs, no skinship, and definitely don’t kiss me in front of them.”

Changbin blinks a few times as he processes the information before nodding, gulping anxiously. 

“I-I can do that.”

Kaia purses her lips together before she sits beside him once again and takes both of his hands into hers, resting them on his lap as she smiles reassuringly. 

“My father will be intimidating—that’s his job—but I know he will love you, Changbin.” 

“You’re my girlfriend, you’re supposed to be nice about it,” he jokes. 

“Of course I am,” she smiles teasingly and raises her hand to pinch his cheek. “But you’re my darling boyfriend and I know my father. He will love you.”

“Aish,” Changbin huffs and swats her hand away. “Is there anything I’m not allowed to talk about?” 

“Well, we have the basics: sex, drugs, alcohol—just try to be as conservative as you think you can be.” 

“How am I supposed to dress?” 

“The way you dress is already fine,” Kaia claims. “Changbin, my love, you will do perfectly fine.” 

“O-Okay,” he nods. “I believe you.” 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Changbin feels like his head is going to explode the longer Kaia’s father stares at him from across the table. He knew that actually going through the event of meeting her parents was going to be extremely nerve wracking—especially when he had come out of the shower to see that Kaia was already dressed up in an outfit that was more modest than what she would typically wear. 

While he thought he would be able to handle it, he realises now, as he sits in the restaurant with Kaia and her parents, he realises that it’s going to be a bit more pressuring than he thought. 

“Changbin,” his father starts and leans closer, making Changbin’s back straighten way more than he thought was possible. “I understand that you’ve taken a liking to our daughter and we appreciate that you’ve chosen her to want to be romantically involved with—however, do you understand what you have to do if you wish to marry her?” 

“Dad!” Kaia glares at him. 

“He must already be thinking of marriage if he is so willing to meet with you and your ma, Kaia,” her father says sternly as he looks at her. 

“Stop that,” her mother scolds her father with a laugh. “Don’t worry, Changbin. We understand if you’re not ready for marriage yet—it’s a very daunting topic.” 

“While it is daunting, we need you to fully understand that Kaia has religious and cultural practices that go into marriage,” her father continues. 

“Can we please not talk about marriage now?” Kaia whines and slumps in her chair, face contorted into a cringe as she avoids eye contact with her parents. 

“I-I understand that Kaia has some practices and lifestyles that she needs to follow,” Changbin nods, “and I understand that I need to learn these practices in order to marry her.”

Her father stares at Changbin for a moment before he smiles. 

“I’m willing to learn. If it’s for the sake of being with your daughter, I will learn the right way to do this and I ask that you both help guide me in this as well.” 

Kaia lifts her head slightly and smiles when Changbin turns to look at her, nodding slightly when he silently questions whether he’s doing it right. 

“Kaia, where did you find this boy?” her mother chuckles, almost in disbelief at how Changbin seemed to have impressed the both of them so easily. 

“Just because he says he’s willing to learn doesn’t mean that it’ll happen so easily,” her father scoffs, yet he still smiles as he looks Changbin in the eye. “So, what do you do for a living, Changbin? Kaia has mentioned that you are an artist.”

He feels his chest lightening slightly at the topic of his music and he smiles widely as he starts talking about what he, Jisung, and Chan have accomplished. Every once in a while, Kaia laughs and places her hand on his knee underneath the table to send him reassurance when he gets flustered at something her parents have said, which makes him feel so grateful that she’s there. 

Eventually, the dinner comes to an end and they bid Kaia’s parents goodnight as they stand outside of the restaurant. 

Changbin smiles widely as he looks Kaia’s father in the eye, but his lips part and his eyes widen slightly when he takes a step closer and places his hand on Changbin’s shoulder. 

“You keep her safe, okay? Make sure she doesn’t walk around alone at night and make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. Kaia seems smart, but sometimes she can get lost in her own head.” 

“Dad, I’m not a child,” Kaia huffs from where she is next to her mother. 

“You must truly be a blessing,” her mother chuckles as she turns to Changbin, “her father has never accepted any of her boyfriends this easily before.” 

“I never said I accept him,” her father laughs, but quickly notices how tense Changbin is slowly becoming. “But I trust that you will treat her well. Let us know if you ever decide to visit her home; we’ll be waiting with open arms.”

“I don’t think we’ll be home anytime soon, but I’ll make sure to bring him over whenever there’s time,” Kaia says as she hugs her mother. 

“Bring him over when you’re engaged,” her mother quickly says. “Snatch him up before someone else comes along.”

“Ma!”

“I don’t think anyone else will be coming,” Changbin laughs upon seeing how Kaia pouts and takes a step closer to her. “I really care about Kaia. I’ll keep her as safe as I can.”

“I’m also trusting that you know how to fight since you… look like that,” her father claims as he gestures to the scars on Changbin’s face and hands. “And while I don’t condone violence, if you need to protect her, you protect her with your life.”

“I will.” 

“May God bless you, Changbin. My wife and I should be getting back to the hotel; we’ve had quite a long day.” He holds onto her hand and smiles as Changbin and Kaia nod. “You two walk safe. Kaia, text your mother when you’ve gotten back to your apartment.”

“Okay, dad,” she chuckles. “Make sure you let me know when you guys are at the hotel! If you need anything, just let me know.”

Her parents nod before they start walking down the street in the direction of their apartment. Kaia turns to Changbin and smiles as she laces her fingers with his once she’s certain her parents won’t be able to see. 

“You did a great job, Binnie.”

“Your dad… likes me, right?” Changbin asks, almost in disbelief at how smooth the entire evening had gone—a wide smile adorning his face as he looks at her. 

“Very much so,” Kaia grins and kisses him on the nose. “Let’s go home.” 

They start walking in the other direction, hands locked together and swinging in between them as they set a leisurely pace. It’s calming and comforting for Changbin knowing that Kaia’s parents like him because now it’ll make their relationship even smoother. 

And, maybe, he thinks that he really does want to marry her. Changbin glances at Kaia as they walk and hearing the way she hums softly to herself makes his smile turn fonder. 

Yeah.

He wants to marry this woman. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

xiii.

A year later, Changbin finds himself at Hyunjin’s wedding reception, laughing away as they watch Jiwon take the bottle of champagne away from Felix. 

“Felix! You’re twenty-six—Hyunjin said you’d calm down your drinking by now!” she scolds and practically holds onto his entire face with her left hand to keep him away. 

“You guys got such nice champagne tonight, though!” he whines, voice muffled by the palm of her hand. 

“I’ll give you an entire unopened bottle if you stay civil for the rest of the reception!” Jiwon argues and pushes him away, Seungmin pulling on Felix’s arm to force him back onto his seat. 

She blows air out and pushes a stray hair back into the braided bun of her hair before smiling. 

“I hope you guys enjoy this wedding. Hyunjin and I spent a lot of money on this and we planned it, so please tell us it’s nice,” she smiles just as Hyunjin walks up behind her and wraps his arm around her. 

“Hello, my darling wife,” he hums as he rests his chin on her shoulder. 

“Yes, yes, we’re married forever now,” she giggles, the fondness showing despite her less affectionate demeanour. 

“Now, be nice to our friends, my love. They came to watch us get married and I even got Felix a special bottle of rosé,” Hyunjin chuckles, winking at Felix when he sees the way his eyes seem to sparkle. 

“This is a really nicely done wedding hall,” Kaia claims as she raises her hand to gesture to the ceiling, the rose gold engagement ring reflecting light off of where it sits snugly on her finger. “I’m loving the ceiling decor.” 

“You can thank Raisha for that. She’s truly the best wedding planner that we could’ve considered,” Jiwon chuckles as she smiles at Raisha, who blushes deeply and leans closer to Chan’s side. “You two should really think about getting her to plan your wedding. She’s wonderful to work with and keeps it amazingly professional.” 

“It also makes it easier because she already knew our tastes,” Hyunjin adds. 

“You guys just give me your budget, a few Pinterest photos, and I’ll try to bring you the wedding of your dreams,” Raisha winks at Changbin and Kaia who laugh and nod. 

On the other side of the table is Ryujin and her own fiance, laughing as they watch the way Felix tries to sneak his hand towards the neck of the bottle that Jiwon is still holding onto. Only for her to hiss and shove him away again, putting the bottle in Seungmin’s lap instead. 

“Keep it away from him. I don’t want him getting hammered before the actual party begins and Hyunjin and I’s parents leave,” she orders. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Seungmin chuckles, sticking his tongue out at Felix while you smile from beside him. 

Changbin had thought it would be awkward meeting Ryujin again after how long it took for him to actually get over her, but instead, he’s filled with a sense of nostalgia when he saw her again for the first time in about four years. 

She looks almost the same as she did back then, only now, the years that she’s aged have started to show a bit more on her face and made her look more mature than she did in university. 

Kaia has been by his side for the entire evening, knowing how nervous he must’ve been knowing that Ryujin would be at the reception after the both of them simply not being able to meet at any other of their friends’ weddings or parties because of their schedules not lining up properly. 

So whenever Changbin was at a wedding or a party, Ryujin wouldn’t, and it seemed to be working vice versa because they just never crossed paths at all until now.

“I need to take a piss,”  Changbin says as he stands up, meaning it to simply let Kaia know than to announce it to all of their friends. 

“Oh, I need to as well,” Aki says as he stands up and presses a loving kiss to Ryujin’s head. “I’ll be right back, baby.” 

He follows Changbin, the both of them walking side-by-side as they try to navigate their way out of their hall and to the restroom. 

“Where the fuck is the restroom in this place?” Aki questions softly, voice more to himself as he looks around the hall while Changbin does the same. 

“They just had to choose a place with a confusing layout, huh?” Changbin laughs. 

They start walking down the hall, following the signs that have the restroom symbol on it, hoping that it’ll just lead them to it eventually. 

“You know, Ryujin talked about you a lot when we first met,” Aki starts. “She… really cares about you, man. You know that jacket that you gave to her when you guys were in uni?” 

Changbin freezes and turns to him, “the black bomber jacket—”

“With the golden sleeves and the dragon,” he finishes for him and nods with a small laugh. “She loves that thing so much it’s almost like she loves it more than me. She even packs it in separate plastic bags whenever we go travelling so that it’s properly protected in her bag.” 

“It’s lasted this long? I would’ve thought it would start falling apart after two years,” he chuckles softly and continues walking. 

Changbin really doesn’t want to make it obvious, but knowing that Ryujin’s taken such good care of the jacket despite them no longer being together just… makes him feel so fucking happy and warm. He knows that he no longer loves her the way that he used to, but with how his love has changed into something more admiring towards her as a friend and as someone who helped him grow; Changbin just can’t help but smile slightly to himself.

“She takes such good care of it. I used to think it was really funny, but then I realised that Ryujin seems to take care of things that mean something to her. And she talks about you so highly that I always wondered who won my fiance’s heart when she was in university.” 

“Well, you have him right here,” Changbin hums. “Man, I used to be so in love with her back then.” 

“She told me about how you guys broke up. She never blamed you.” 

“Yeah, I know. I never blamed her either. We just weren’t meant to be together, you know?” 

“Yeah, which is partially why I kinda wanted to talk to you.” 

Aki stops walking and Changbin turns to look at him questioningly. 

“Thank you. For being there for her when she needed someone. She talks about how easy you made it for her when she was studying because she knew she had someone she could rely on—and I just want to thank you for helping her grow into who she is today because I love her so fucking much, man,” Aki laughs in slight disbelief. “I’m so fucking in love with her that it’s actually fucking insane.” 

“She has a way of doing that to you,” Changbin jokes. “I was like that, too. Back then I used to think she was the most perfect person alive, but I think she was only brought into my life to help me get through some things.” 

He’s honestly trying to hide how genuinely bashful he’s currently feeling. Aki made him feel so appreciated just by thanking him and with Changbin being thanked for helping her grow… he almost feels as though he doesn’t deserve it. 

“You deserve it,” Aki says as though he’s just read his mind. “Ryujin had to go through a lot of shit after you guys broke up, but she never pushed the blame onto you. I don’t know the exact details of your relationship, but I can tell that you really fucking helped her.”

Changbin smiles warmly. He can feel his eyes starting to sting with tears and he takes in a shaky breath as he laughs slightly.

“Thank you for being kind to her, Aki. If there’s anything that I know about Ryujin it’s that she loves unlike anyone I’ve ever met. I’m glad you two are happy together and I hope you two continue to live a happy and healthy life together.”

Aki chuckles and pats him on the back, “thank you. Now, stop crying because Ryujin will kill me if she thinks that I made you cry.” 

Changbin laughs through the tears that start to stream down his cheeks, pure joy overwhelming his entire body as he wipes them away. 

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆　　 ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Kaia moves from her seat to take the now empty one right beside Ryujin, smiling when she gives her a questioning look. 

“I’ve always wanted to meet you,” Kaia claims softly, leaning closer to keep their conversation more private from the rest of the table. “When I first met Changbin, he was still hung up on you, you know?” 

“Shit, really?” Ryujin laughs awkwardly, wondering where this conversation was heading and fearing for the worst.

“Yeah, and I could see that he really did love you so much that when I started liking him, I was worried that he would still be in love with you,” she chuckles, trying her best to keep the air light because she doesn’t mean any harm in bringing it up to Ryujin despite how awkward it could seem. “But the more I got to know him and his past, the more I realised that he loved you so much because you were willing to help him. You gave him the chance to grow when he needed it most and, right now, I’m thanking you for it.”

Ryujin doesn’t say anything as she stares at Kaia, an overwhelming amount of emotions rushing throughout her body as she does. 

“You’re really important to him, Ryujin. Thank you for taking care of him back then because you were there when he needed it and I’ve fallen in love with the version of him that knew you,” she continues and takes Ryujin’s hand in hers. “Thank you so much for helping him to become who he is now.”

“Wow,” she laughs. “I’ve never had an ex’s new partner thank me for them before.” Ryujin looks down and she can feel the familiar sting of tears filling her eyes. “I guess Changbin managed to find himself someone who could take care of him more than I could. I’m sorry we had to wait this long to meet, but I was still in love with him up until I met Aki and I was scared that meeting Changbin so soon would bring back all of those… messy fucking emotions.” 

“He was scared of that, too,” Kaia chuckles.

“I’m glad to see he’s found a way out of that.” Ryujin angles herself so that she’s looking at her properly and rests her other hand right on top of Kaia’s. “I wish you and Changbin a happy life together. If there’s something that I know about Changbin it’s that when he loves someone, he truly does everything in his power to show them that he loves them, and I’m so glad I got to experience that.”

“Oh, he is such a gentleman,” she gushes with a laugh. 

“Does he still cater to Raisha, Chan, and Jisung when everyone meets up? He used to always stay sober so that the others could have a chance at letting loose. He would pretend that he would never do it again, but you’d always find him in the kitchen.” 

“He does! It’s so sweet because I really don’t think Changbin actually likes cooking that much, but if he knows that his friends are coming over, then he’ll be in the kitchen for hours! He can be so doting towards them, but he’ll get so embarrassed whenever they try to point it out.” 

“Yeah,” Ryujin laughs. “Nice to see that he still has some habits from uni.”

“He seems to have held on a lot from when he was in uni. You did a really good job,” Kaia hums. 

Ryujin suddenly can’t seem to hold her emotions at bay for any longer and covers her mouth with her hand, crying with a laugh as she wonders why she’s crying at all. 

“Oh no…” Kaia’s face drops. “No, no! Don’t cry! Oh god—Changbin’s going to kill me if he sees you crying! No! Ryujin, it’s good! You did such a great job with helping him grow and I’m so thankful!”

“I know!” Ryujin cries as she nods, still smiling widely when she moves her hand away. “And I’m just—I’m so overwhelmed. Thank you for telling me this!” She sobs against the palm of her hand, ignoring everyone around the table who asks what’s wrong or looks at Kaia for answers. “I’m sorry. This must be really shocking since this is the first time we’re meeting.” 

“Oh, it’s fine,” Kaia quickly reassures her. “You can’t control your emotions, so it’s nothing to blame yourself for. You’re amazing, Ryujin, and believe that when I say it.” 

The assurance only seems to make Ryujin cry even more as she nods and while Kaia wishes that she could calm Ryujin down before both of their fiances return, she isn’t as lucky as she hoped. 

“Ryujin?” Aki rushes over when he sees that she’s crying. 

“Why are you crying?” Changbin asks, panicking as he looks between both of the women. 

“Kaia is so nice!” Ryujin sniffles as Aki sits beside her and pulls her head to his chest. 

“You’re… crying because Kaia is nice…?” Changbin repeats, only for her to nod against her fiance. He looks up at Kaia who shrugs and laughs. 

“I just thanked her for some things and she started crying because she’s overwhelmed,” she explains while giving him a reassuring look. 

“I doubt you’d do anything to her,” he chuckles and makes his way to Kaia’s side, leaning down to press a kiss to her head just as the lights and the music in the hall seem to shift into a more romantic ambience. 

“Oh! Oh!” you gasp and shoot up, grabbing Seungmin’s wrist, “they’re slow dancing, Min—come on!” He doesn’t get the chance to say anything before he’s dragged away from the table, Raisha and Chan exchanging a look before following the two of you to the dance floor; which leaves Jisung and Felix staring at each other as they try to figure out whether or not they’re supposed to start slow dancing with each other since they’re the only ones without any dates. 

“Where’s Via?” Felix asks when he realises that both Jisung’s son and best friend are nowhere to be seen. 

“She has her own things to attend to, so I left the kid with her since I had a feeling someone would be getting drunk,” Jisung chuckles, earning a bashful giggle from Felix.

Ryujin sniffles as she pulls away from Aki and cups his cheek gently as she breathes out a laugh, leaning forward to kiss him. 

“Is it okay if I take the dance with Changbin?” she asks softly, thumb running over his cheekbone. 

“Of course, baby,” he nods. “I trust you.”

“Thank you, Ki,” she smiles and turns to Changbin who glances at Kaia. 

“Just go,” she urges. “You know I wouldn’t stop you. But I feel like it’s not fair if you two dance together and that it’s only fair if both of your fiances get to dance together, too.” 

“Go ahead,” he chuckles just as she stands up. Changbin leans forward to kiss her cheek gently. 

He turns to Ryujin and extends his hand towards her, helping her to her feet and bringing her to the dance floor where couples dance together as slow music plays through the speakers. 

“What did you guys talk about there?” Changbin asks as he places one hand on her waist and the other holds her hand. 

“She told me about you,” Ryujin hums, one hand on his shoulder. “She told me about what you’re like now and… she told me that you were still in love with me then.” 

“I really was,” he chuckles. “I didn’t know what to do with myself back then, but Kaia basically helped me handle my emotions in a way that was good for me.” 

“That’s good,” she claims. 

“It’s funny actually. Aki was telling me about you when we were heading to the restroom. He said that you talked about me a lot and that you wrap the bomber jacket I gave you in plastic,” Changbin teases and wiggles his eyebrows. 

“No,” she groans and grimaces, a blush spreading across her face. “Why did he tell you that?” 

“Because he said you love the jacket more than you love him, and as your loving fiance, Aki’s job is to embarrass you,” he jokes. 

“Of course it is,” Ryujin scoffs, rolling her eyes but smiling nonetheless. “I’ve missed you, you know. I think I missed your company the most.” 

Changbin sighs and nods. 

“I did, too. I think getting over the fact that we weren’t seeing each other so often was the thing that was the hardest for me to come to terms with,” he mutters. “But I’ve grown and I know now that getting over you was something that I just had to do.” 

“Yeah?” she hums. 

“Yeah.” Changbin smiles. 

It’s nice, he thinks, being able to see and feel Ryujin again. But it isn’t in the way that he used to want. 

No, this feeling is different. 

Changbin thinks it’s nice being able to finally see Ryujin again after all of the years that have passed because he can now, properly, tell himself that he’s truly gotten over their relationship. He can tell himself that he’s healed from the heartache and that he can see and talk to Ryujin in a way that’s not painful for the both of them. 

And it’s honestly the best fucking feeling in the world because, now, Changbin thinks it’s finally time to try and be friends with her again. 

“He’s a lot like you,” Ryujin says after a moment. Changbin hums questioning in response and she turns to look at Aki and Kaia as they dance a few feet away from them, “Aki.” 

“Is he?” 

“I feel like you two would get along quite well. I think the only difference between you two is the fact that he’s not you.” 

“And the fact that he also doesn’t have sexual desire?” 

“Yeah,” Ryujin huffs. “It’s funny to me; Aki reminded me of you a lot when we first met and I was worried that I was falling in love with his habits that mimicked yours, but… I ended up falling in love with him. He’s so sweet and he always tries to pick me up from work so that I don’t have to walk home alone. And he can be so fucking funny,” she laughs. “He knows exactly what to say, when to say it, and he knows exactly when it’s time to order pizza.”

“Hey, I think that’s the best trait to have,” Changbin jokes. 

“How’s Kaia like? I can see that you love her a lot and she seems so lovely.” 

“She’s fucking amazing. Kaia’s actually fucking perfect—I have no idea how I was so lucky to have met her,” he gushes almost instantly. “She dotes on me a lot, but—holy shit—if I accidentally do something stupid, she will not hesitate to smack some sense into me.” 

“That’s good. You do a lot of dumb shit.”

“Significantly less than I did in university,” he corrects, amused. “She reminds me of you in the sense that she encourages me to be better; to grow. I think that’s one thing that I love about her the most really. It’s the fact that I know Kaia’s there whenever I need some support.” 

“She sounds like the perfect hype man,” Ryujin chuckles, leaning her head against Changbin’s chest. 

“She really is.” He raises his hand to rest on the back of her head as he basks in the feeling of being around her again. But Changbin doesn’t want to do anything more than this; nothing more, nothing less. “Thank you for everything, Jin. I think that dating you was something that helped me with being with Kaia. You helped me through a lot and I’m forever grateful for that.” 

Ryujin pulls away and smiles as she looks Changbin in the eyes, her own glossing over once again. 

“You made my university life so precious, Changbin. Thank you so much for being so sweet, so kind, so loving—you helped me be more accepting towards myself,” Ryujin claims softly. “Thank you. I hope that you and Kaia live a healthy and happy life together.”

“And I hope the same for you and Aki.”  

Changbin smiles as he looks at her, his hand ruffling her head gently as he does, to which Ryujin smiles toothily as he does and pushes him away slightly. 

Even though he doesn’t love her the way he did then, he still loves her now, but again, in a different sense than how he loves Kaia. As Changbin holds Ryujin, he’s finally able to convince himself that he’s closed the chapter on their romance and is able to start a new one.

One where they’ll be able to continue living their lives separately, but happily.

[ryuttaeng]

omg omg please do mafia yeji as your girlfriend hcs !!

mafia!yeji as your gf hcs

my first thought was that she would probably have problems with expressing her emotions to you. on the other side, it helps her on her job, which is mob boss obv

you’re kinda not interested in all that crime stuff and actually don’t care abt it. you were oblivious of any gangs in your city, so you almost burst out laughing when some dude in front of you explained that you just bumped into mafia leader.

you looked behind him, taking a proper look of the person you bumped into, and, to your surprise, she was stunning… yet, you thought she was about to kill you, her gaze was so cold it almost made you shiver? 😭 anyway… the woman just showed away that guy and she apologised for not watching where she’s going. jokes aside, it made you feel guilty because you were obviously the one who bumped into her and you started apologising too.

she would not hesitate to get to know you, but she just has no clue how to do that properly 😭 she will ask her followers to watch you and will ask them to protect you eventually, as the time goes. well, you could tell that some people that just appear at the same place as yours is weird, and when you were about to yell for help, they reassured you that everything is fine and explained the situation to you. “why can’t she approach me herself then?” you ask, out of curiosity. “our boss is just very humble person.”

you convinced them to make an appointment with her, and when her people told her that she’ll have an appointment with you she lowkey freaked out 🤞🏻😭 she just stood there 🧍🏻‍♀️ for whole two minutes not even blinking, her followers even started to get nervous but their boss just started mumbling something to herself, mentioning your name 😭

on your appointment date mob boss herself wore a dress, which is quite rare sight to see! she finally tells you her name and since that day you start to get to know each other better.

mafia!yeji as your girlfriend would be such a gentlewoman it makes me pull out my hair tbh… she’s very attentive and cares about you so much, she’ll send her followers to protect you from weirdos and just her enemies every day you go to work, and when she has some stressful situations or days and she hears her follower say 'miss y/n is outside, waiting for you.' yeji becomes most happy person to ever exist. she just loves when you visit her during her working hours and you also make her food, making sure she ate today 😭😭

lots of presents, very expensive ones, it always makes you either gasp or cry. she’ll be like “why are you crying honey? is it bad-“ “no! yeji, darling, its just so expensive!” and she’ll assure you it’s not when we all know the truth 😭 yeji also cries when you make her some expensive or huge presents, she’s very careful w them, because she cherish them 😭🤞🏻🤞🏻 my cutie patootie

yeji will be overall just most sweetest, supportive and caring person ever in relationship with you, which quite surprises her followers ‘cause she always has that cold face expression when she’s on work. but she’ll often will have struggles with showing her emotions, but you surprisingly very patient w her at those times and yeji is very thankful to you for that 😭😭😭

[chaesvoguerice]

the right shade // ryeji

“So, that means you like it?” 

“Babe,” Yeji deadpans, eyes glued to her lover’s lips, “you’d better buy that.”

“Yeah? What about the other-”

The older’s grasp on Ryujin’s waist tightens. “Buy it. Now.”

“O-okay,” Ryujin stumbles, hurrying to the checkout line.

Yeji watches her as she leans against one of the black couches in the Olive Young, a toothy grin laid on her face as Ryujin glances back at her every few moments. She nods her head to the beat of some new group’s song playing loudly in the streets outside, crossing her arms expectantly as she waits.

Ryujin’s new shoes tap quickly on the hard floor as she waves the lipstick in the air. “Got it.”

“Good,” Yeji mumbles, grabbing her hand and dragging her outside, taking a brief moment to make sure Ryujin didn’t get hit by the door. And when they get out of that store, is when she can’t control herself any longer…

[hollywrite]

˚୨୧ W.I.P. LIST ୨୧˚

unnie pleaser - g!p seulgi x reader x g!p karina (s,f, a.p) 20%

bad maknae - g!p ot5 itzy x reader (s, a.p) 10%

just like aniamals - hybrid!siyeon x reader (s, f, a.p) 0%

backstabbed - momo x reader; sana x reader (s, a, a.p) 0%

celibate - g!p dahyun x reader (s, a.p) 3%

monster lives forever - irene x reader x seulgi (sp, s, a.p) 20%

ice cream cake - g!p seulgi x reader (s, a.p) 5%

petals - rosé x reader (a, s, a.p) 0%

dead inside - irene x reader (sp, s, a.p) 3%

bad girls go backstage - g!p ryujin x reader (s, a.p) 20%

overneath the court eyes - sana x reader (s, a.p) 0%

all the things she said - kazuha x reader (a, a.p) 15%

teacher's pet - taeyeon x reader (s, a, a.p) 10%

last update: 04/27/24

- holly.🍒

[lynetianya]

Gym Buddies [ Ryujin X Reader ]

Ryujin, a famous idol known for her beauty and charisma, unexpectedly falls for a gym-goer with a cute personality and a gorgeous body. As they become workout partners, Ryujin's admiration for her new friend deepens.

GENRE : Fluff

TYPE : One Shot, All Gender

Ryujin was used to the spotlight. As a famous idol, she had fans who adored her from all corners of the world. With her striking looks and charismatic presence, she was undoubtedly one of the hottest celebrities around. But little did she know that her world was about to change when she encountered you, a seemingly ordinary person who possessed a special charm.

It all started one sunny morning at the local gym. Ryujin had always been a fitness enthusiast, and she rarely missed her workouts. On this particular day, she arrived at the gym, dressed in stylish activewear that showcased her enviable curves and toned physique. Her presence turned heads as usual, but what caught her attention was you, a regular gym-goer who had a cute personality and a gorgeous body that was hard to ignore.

As Ryujin began her workout routine, she couldn't help but steal glances at you. Your dedication to your exercises was admirable, and your friendly demeanor was infectious. It was as if your presence had a magnetic pull on her, slowly breaking down the walls she had built around herself as a celebrity.

Over the next few weeks, Ryujin and you found yourselves working out together more often than not. It started with a casual conversation about your workout routines, and before they knew it, you were inseparable gym buddies. Ryujin was amazed by your strength and determination, and she couldn't help but admire you from afar.

One day, she mustered up the courage to ask you if you'd like to work out together. Your eyes lit up with excitement as you agreed, and from that moment on, your gym sessions became a joint endeavor. Ryujin, who was used to being the center of attention, found solace in the fact that you treated her like any other person.

As the days turned into weeks, your bond deepened. Ryujin was drawn to your cute personality, and she found herself sharing her thoughts and dreams with you. She realized that she could be her true self around you, without the need for the mask of a famous idol. And you, in turn, were enamored by her kindness and down-to-earth nature.

Ryujin had always been known for her fashion sense, and she loved buying clothes that accentuated her curves and muscles. However, she discovered a newfound joy in helping you pick out stylish workout gear. You were surprised by her willingness to help, but Ryujin insisted that it was her way of showing appreciation for your friendship.

Shopping trips with Ryujin became a regular occurrence. She would carefully select outfits that she thought would enhance your natural beauty. The two of you would spend hours in boutiques, trying on different styles and laughing together. It was during these moments that Ryujin realized she had fallen for you, not just as a workout partner but as something more.

Ryujin was not just a gym buddy; she had become your confidante and best friend. She had a unique way of making you feel special, both inside and out. She showered you with compliments, reminding you of your beauty and worth. She called you her baby, a term of endearment that made your heart skip a beat.

Whenever you faced criticism or negativity from others, Ryujin was there to lift you up. She would hold you close and reassure you that their words didn't matter. She reminded you that you were strong, beautiful, and deserving of all the love in the world. With her by your side, you felt invincible.

Ryujin couldn't contain her feelings any longer. She had fallen deeply in love with you, and it was evident to everyone around her. She would brag about you to her fellow idols and the staff, proudly declaring that she had the most loving and protective girlfriend in the world.

One evening, as you both sat on the rooftop of her apartment building, watching the city lights twinkle below, Ryujin couldn't hold back any longer. With a nervous yet determined smile, she took your hand and looked into your eyes.

"Y/N," she began, her voice trembling with emotion, "I can't imagine my life without you. You've brought so much happiness and love into my world. Will you be mine, officially? Will you be mine?"

Tears welled up in your eyes as you nodded, your heart overflowing with joy. In that moment, under the starry night sky, Ryujin leaned in, and your lips met in a sweet, passionate kiss.

From that day forward, your love story with Ryujin continued to blossom. You were no longer just gym buddies but soulmates who shared a deep and unbreakable bond. Your relationship was a testament to the power of love and how it could break through the barriers of fame and fortune.

And as you held hands and walked through life together, you both knew that your love story was the most beautiful adventure you had ever embarked upon. Ryujin, the hot idol, and you, the one who had the ability to make her mask crumble with your cute personality and gorgeous body, were destined to create a love story for the ages, one that would be cherished forever.

END

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