#lee minjun. ⟪ all ⟫

[mrkis]

you'll never find anyone like me — one. (l.dh)

PAIRING: lee donghyuck x afab!reader GENRE: college au, fluff, mature WORD COUNT: 14.9k

SYNOPSIS: you’ll never find anyone like lee donghyuck, and that’s what makes him so exciting.

CHAPTERS WARNINGS: slow burn(ish) type, so much plot & way too much dialogue, alcohol consumption, explicit language, a lot of mentions of donghyuck being obsessed, heavy tension between reader and donghyuck, mentions of parties & drugs, donghyuck comes across as very straight forward and also flirty, pretty people make reader nervous lol (especially donghyuck), tension between two main characters but no smut yet.

AUTHORS NOTE:: its finally here!! i'm so excited to start this series with you all, thank you for your patience!! also, for anyone new, this is linked to my 'NEO TECH COLLEGE' jaemin series 'the way life goes' although this can be read as a standalone.

[SERIES MASTERLIST]

It wasn’t exactly ideal enrolling into class halfway through the year, knowing you’ll have to go through that godawful stage of trying to make friends with people who already have chosen their own clique to spend the rest of their college years with.

You’re, unfortunately, the new student, the one that’ll be singled out during group projects or the one they pick last for the group because they didn’t want to choose you first… you really don’t know which one is worse.

Looking for a place to settle down was a close second to being one of the worst things to do after enrolling late. You didn’t have enough money to live by yourself and you sure as hell didn’t want to live with someone you hardly even knew, but you had to pick one, so you went with the latter.

Areum was actually the sweetest (and coolest) person you have ever met. 

She welcomed you into her two bedroom apartment with open arms and even helped get you settled into your new room by offering to unpack your boxes and decorate the way you preferred, allowing you to have all the creative freedom you needed to call this place your home too.

Areum had even taken time out of her own busy schedule to show you around, letting you know about all the best food joints, best places to go to get coffee, best album stores to get your preferred music and even the best hangout spots. 

It was, undoubtedly, a lot to take in. 

Areum even introduced you to Minjun, a childhood friend of hers who is a college dropout and now the drummer in a two-man band with his older brother. (They’re pretty good, even though the older brother scares the shit out of you). 

Minjun was the complete opposite of Areum yet they were alike in so many ways, it was easy to make friends with him just as it was with Areum. Minjun was sceptical of you at first though, but he immediately warmed up to you when you complimented his drum set to which he then showed you how to play. (You had no idea, but it was fun).

You cherish the friendships you have made with the two deeply even though you felt like you were intruding at the beginning, especially when you realised how long they have actually known each other and how close they are. But the pair happily invited you into their small friendship with big grins and playful jokes.

You were grateful to be starting something new with people who you felt instantly comfortable with, you were excited to see what your time in college had in store for you. 

“Shit!” You repeatedly curse under your breath as you hurry across campus grounds with your bag strap sliding down your shoulders and your phone held tightly in your grip, staring down at the time that shined angrily at you due to your lateness.

Being late on your very first day wasn’t exactly something you wanted to experience, but the pressure of getting everything ready and the stress of overthinking lead you to being exhausted and oversleeping—you wanted the ground to swallow you up when you received the mass texts from Areum asking if you made it to your class in time. 

You fix the strap on your shoulder as you rush into the building, eyeing the signs on the walls that would easily lead you to your music class and you groan when you realise it’s at the far end of the building, breaking out into another sprint and you’re grateful there’s no one around to see you make a complete fool of yourself as you run.

Glancing down at your phone, you wince at the time and you look back up to make sure you’re going to right way but you curse under your breath when you realise you’re heading straight towards someone’s back and you don’t even have time to stop yourself or control your speed, already bumping into them at full force which causes them to stumble forwards from the impact.

The person they’re with steadies them and you manage to get a quick glimpse at the girl who’s looking at you in shock before the victim spins around, his eyes angry and ready to curse you out but you don’t even notice how his eyes soften when he looks at you as you’re already profusely apologising to him.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going and I—fuck—I didn’t mean to fall into you like that, I’m just late and—”

“It’s fine.” The girl cuts off your rambling, sending you a reassuring smile as the guy continues to stare at you and you nod, mumbling another quick apology as you turn your head and see the door to your assigned class, quickly slipping through the door and letting it close shut behind you, heart racing rapidly in your chest at the full class of students who briefly glance at you before returning to their work.

The Professor looks up from his computer when you enter the room, gazing at you over the rim of his glasses and he gives you a welcoming smile, beckoning you over with his hand and you head straight towards him, getting ready to apologise for being so late but he’s already opening his mouth to speak first.

“I’m surprised you’re starting halfway through the year, but I’m happy to have you in this class. Welcome,” He smiles warmly at you and it instantly makes you feel better, your shoulders relaxing with a breath of relief as you smile back at him thankfully. “I’m Professor Kim Hongjoong. I’ll be your music Professor during your time here and if you need any help with anything, I’d be happy to give you some guidance… although, I have to encourage my students to ask one another. Team bonding type of stuff.”

“Noted.” You laugh lightly with a nod, adjusting the bag strap on your shoulder.

“Great.” Professor Kim grins up at you. 

He dismisses you to a seat at the far back of the class next to a boy whose face is shoved into his computer screen, chunky headphones resting on his head as his fingers dance across a piano keyboard, nodding to the notes that play smoothly in his ears and you pull out the seat to sit beside him, sliding your bag off your shoulder and letting it rest by the legs of the chair.

Capturing your seatmate's attention, he turns to look at you and gives you a warm and welcoming smile, pulling the headphones from his head to rest around his neck. He introduces himself as Xiaojun and he takes the opportunity to point out everyone in the room to let you know their names, and even though it didn’t exactly help and you sure as hell wouldn’t remember everyone's names, you were grateful at least.

“How come you enrolled in the middle of the year?” Xiaojun suddenly asks you and you give him a sheepish grin in response. He raises a questioning brow, “Wasn’t going to enrol or something?”

“Something like that.” 

“Interesting.” Xiaojun hums and he turns his head back to his computer screen while your attention is brought towards the classroom door that swings open, and embarrassment immediately washes over you when you recognise the guy that steps inside, the one you had forcefully slammed into on your way here.

You sink down into your seat in hopes to avoid him to keep your own dignity and your brows pull together in confusion when you see his eyes glance around the room, tilting his head to the side in thought and tongue prodding at his cheek as he scans over the row of seats before he finds you.

His lips curl into a smirk and his eyebrows raise in a way that has your heart thumping rapidly in your chest, immediately drawing your attention away from him when he drops down into a seat beside Yangyang, (a guy that Xiaojun had pointed out to you when filling you in on everyone’s names), who is too busy scrolling through his phone to notice his presence. 

“Donghyuck.”

“What?” You hum, glancing at Xiaojun when you hear him mutter.

“That’s Donghyuck, the one that just came back in/” Xiaojun tells you and you made a small noise of acknowledgment, taking another peek over at him only to avert your eyes away when you realise he’s already looking at you and you feel hot, a little embarrassed and awkward at being caught.

“Has he got a staring problem or something?” You catch yourself mumbling under your breath and your eyes widen when you hear Xiaojun snort, completely capturing what you had just said and you groan, leaning back into your chair with a frown as Xiaojun looks at you with an amused smile.

“Something like that.”

The class surprisingly goes by quicker than you thought and both Professor Kim and Xiaojun were kind enough to fill you in on what you’ve missed so far, and what’s coming up soon. Luckily, as you enrolled in so late, you were excused from the upcoming assignment but were given a side task to write down everything you had knowledge of, including the instruments that you’re skilled in playing.

You found it quite simple and you’re positive you can jot down everything tonight so you wouldn’t have to worry about it later on. You’ve always been eager to please, so there was no way in hell you were going to leave this until the last minute.

You rise from your seat and grab your bag, slipping the strap over your shoulder as you subconsciously peer over at the other end of the room, your heart thumping wildly in your ears when you catch Donghyuck’s eyes already looking back at you while talking to Yangyang, leaning back on the desk with his hands shoved deep into his pockets and leather jacket draped over his arm.

His deep and intense gaze makes you feel nervous and you find yourself fidgeting in your spot, unable to tear your own eyes away from him, locked under his stare and the smirk that he gives you sends goosebumps rippling down your spine.

It’s when he pushes himself off the desk that brings you out of your trance, panic flooding through you when it seems like he’s about to advance towards you but he stays in his place when a hand carefully touches your arm, causing you to quickly turn towards the person that wanted your attention.

Xiaojun’s smiling warmly at you, but you’re surprised when you see that he’s not alone and instead, there are two other guys standing with him.

One wears a green hoodie beneath a grey jacket and matching coloured jeans, a beanie on his head with blue strands of hair peeking from beneath. The round, thin framed glasses on the bridge of his nose makes him look cute, yet the boyish grin he gives you makes you feel a little flustered and you move your attention to the other boy beside him.

He’s a lot more quiet and awkward, opting to give you a tight lipped smile as a greeting and nodding his head to say he’s acknowledged you. You’re not surprised by his shy demeanour𑁋especially with how he’s refusing to make eye contact and how his fingers nervously fiddle with the bracelet dangling on his wrist. 

“This is Mark,” Xiaojun points to the one in the hoodie. “And this is Jihoon,” He points to the other before he turns to you and gives you a smile, “These guys are who I spent the majority of my time with, unfortunately”

“You love us, dude,” Mark’s boyish grin returns as he pats Xiaojun’s shoulder who playfully rolls his eyes and Mark looks at you. “You’re welcome to join us for lunch if you want?”

“Oh, thank you,” You smile appreciatively but it slowly drops when you realise what you had planned already. “Can I join you some other time? I have somewhere to be today.”

“Of course you can.” Mark’s grin widens as his hand removes off Xiaojun’s shoulder to gently knock yours and you grow nervous under the small contact, a shy smile spreading across your lips as you bid them a silent goodbye, brushing past the trio to get to the door and your mouth goes dry, your nerves amping up to a hundred as you once again meet Donghyuck’s eyes from his position next to Yangyang, how he watches you with a hint of intrigue and interest swimming in his irises. 

You miss the way his eyes snap towards your new friends with a locked jaw, tongue prodding at his cheek as you leave the room.

Watching Areum work has always been fascinating to you: in awe of the talent that pours out of her hands and the patience she has when it comes to sculpting certain objects and/or people for projects or just to pass the time, how every piece is precise and perfect𑁋a complete masterpiece.

It’s the look of determination and joy that seals the deal for you, how happy and content she seems to be whenever she’s in her zone, and having the opportunity to witness her working in the studio at college for the first time is definitely the highlight of your already long and interesting day.

You bite into your lunch as you watch her from behind get her hands dirty while sculpting her recent project, soothing out the curves of a woman’s body that she has been putting together while humming a tune that plays quietly from the radio on the windowsill beside her.

Areum takes a step back to admire her work, a sound of approval slipping past her lips before she decides to take a break, unzipping her black overalls halfway to take her arms out of the sleeves and tying them around her waist securely so the rest doesn’t fall down completely, allowing her tattooed arms to be freed and on show with her white shirt. 

“Did you make it to your class in time this morning?” Areum asks you as she leans against the open window, pulling her strawberry vape out of her pocket to take a drag and you shake your head, causing her to chuckle lowly. “I thought Minjun put an alarm on your phone before he left last night?”

“I slept through it,” You say bitterly, taking another bite of your lunch as she clicks her tongue against her teeth. “Thinking about today got me stressed and I overslept. Ended up almost being an hour late and not only that, I practically body slammed someone because I rushed to get to class. It was embarrassing.”

“Ouch,” Areum teases while scrunching her nose up, taking another hit out of her vape and blowing the smoke out of the window. You roll your eyes, twisting the cap on your bottle of water to take a sip. “Made any friends in your class though?”

You side eye her, “You sound like my mother,” She smirks at you. “Got to know this guy called Xiaojun. He introduced me to his friends Mark and Jihoon just before class ended. I only know those three so far.”

“Good,” Areum hums with an approving nod. “I know Mark and Xiaojun, I’ve bumped into them a few times… don’t know Jihoon though.”

“He’s kinda quiet,” You admit, remembering your very brief encounter with him. You smile, “He didn’t say anything but he seemed welcoming at least. They offered me to join them for lunch but I said I already had plans today.”

“You ditched them to hang out with me?” Areum looks at you with a blank expression and you nod, giving her an innocent grin as you finish off the last bite. “I don’t know whether to thank you or call you stupid.”

You swallow thickly, “I know you better than them so being with you right now is the safest and comforting option to me. I’d like to get to know them more eventually and hang out with them… but it’s kind of hard to do that when I get shy and awkward around people I don’t know.”

“You did well with me and Minjun,” She praises you and you feel your cheeks grow hot at that, trying to fight the smile that threatens to slip onto your lips. “But don’t worry, you got this. Take your time, there’s no rush.”

“I’m not going to rush,” You tell her, resting your chin on your hand as you look over at her, your other hand tapping a mindless tune on the wooden table. “I’m taking everything slowly.” 

It took you just over a month to get comfortable in your new college. 

You managed to remember everyone's names in your course and despite not talking to some of them, they had become easier to remember overtime. 

Xiaojun, Mark and Jihoon never left your side during classes and just like Areum and Minjun, they also welcomed you into their group with open arms and jokes that had you laughing until your stomach cramped up and tears pooled in your eyes. 

Jihoon became a lot more open with you as you did him. He was just like you—shy and awkward around people he barely knew or wasn’t comfortable with yet, didn’t want to speak up or take control of the conversation in fear of saying something silly, but when getting comfortable with the people it was non stop talking and cracking jokes, even pitching a few sarcastic comments here and there to make others smile.

Xiaojun and Mark were similar—outgoing and confident, striking up conversations and making friends as if it was the easiest thing to do, making others feel invited and welcomed although there was a few moments where you see their shy tendencies come through the cracks, noticing how shy Xiaojun got when being compliment on his voice when singing a song to himself under his breath and when Mark gets shy when he receives unwanted attention from others that compliment his work or his looks. 

Aisha, a girl in your class, was one of the people that would compliment Mark over and over again, making him flustered and cheeks grow red with each word and giggle that slips from her lips. She’s gorgeous, so it doesn’t surprise you that Mark gets shy easily when she comes near.

Aisha is one of the people you haven’t properly spoken to yet. Her sociable and popular presence leaves you a little intimidated. You’ve shared a few friendly smiles and some small words in passing, but you haven’t had the courage to speak to her fully. 

You, admittedly, like to admire her from afar. Seeing how confident and friendly she is, how she teasingly flirts and prettily smiles at others who conversate with her, how her delicate hands play with her healthy hair that cascades down her back, how her siren-like voices lures people in when she’s talking or even singing.

It makes you jealous, but not in a bad way. You could only wish you had the same confidence and likeness. 

Donghyuck is another person you haven’t spoken to yet. You feel nervous being in his presence, how his intense gaze leaves you speechless and unable to think properly. How his lingering touches on your skin leaves goosebumps running down your spine every time he brushes past you to either get to his seat or if he was just walking by in the hallways. 

He glances over his shoulder each time, lips curling into a grin, dark eyes piercing through you as he meets your eyes and takes in your appearance, tongue sweeping across his bottom lip before it tucks between his teeth as he takes in your outfit of the day. 

Even if you’re wearing something that completely covers you, he makes you feel bare. 

Xiaojun is the one that tells you to stray far away from Donghyuck, that he’s nothing but a ‘slut who loves attention and flirts with any living thing’. Mark did however clap back and told Xiaojun that he himself loves the attention too, which caused Xiaojun to jut out his bottom lip in a pout and turn away, but Mark mentioned how Donghyuck can be a little crazy sometimes and to try and not let his continuous stares and actions get under your skin. 

You agreed, saying that wouldn’t be the case, even though you’re lying through your teeth already.

He is getting under your skin, leaving his mark on you and truthfully, it’s interesting. 

You will never admit that out loud. 

“Why are you being so quiet?” You hear somebody ask you suddenly and you rip yourself out of your thoughts, blinking at you try to see where the source of the sound came from but you let out a huff as a weight is knocked against your shoulder, hissing as you turn your head to see Minjun who had dropped down to the sofa to sit beside you.

He’s grinning at you in greeting but mumbles a quick apology when he realises he’s hurt you, rubbing the sore area before pulling his hand back to pull his phone out of his pockets.

You stay silent for a moment, staring at him as he mindlessly drums his fingers against the side of his phone as he reads a text and you immediately recognise it as the new song that he and his brother have been working on, the corner of your lips stretching into a smile.

However, his drumming comes to a sudden stop when Byeol pounces up on the arm of the sofa on his left, staring at Minjun with his tail slowly swishing behind him before he steps down onto Minjun’s thighs to find the perfect spot to rest and Minjun clicks his tongue against his teeth in annoyance. 

“I hate this cat.” He grumbles under his breath despite raising his hand to pet Byeol behind his ears, loud purring noises rumbling from his chest. Minjun glances at you, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“What question?” You mutter as you reach over to pet Byeol too.

“About why you’re being so quiet.”

“There’s no reason,” You tell him truthfully, smiling as Byeol nuzzles his head into your palm. “I was enjoying the silence and just thinking about some things.”

“What things?”

Your eyes snap to him, teasing in your tone, “None of your business.”

“Ouch. You wound me,” He speaks monotone, pulling his hand away from Byeol to adjust the beanie on top of his head. “I have a show this weekend at Cherry Bomb, you’re coming right?”

“Obviously,” You hum. “Me and Areum never miss your shows.”

“Lucky charms,” Minjun grins, raising his hand with his pinky outstretched and you snort, wrapping your own pinky around his and squeezing tightly. “EJ and his girlfriend are coming too so we’re going to grab a few beers with them after it, yeah?”

“Sounds good to me,” You nod, retracting your hand from his to pet the cat who’s now climbing into your own lap, rubbing his face in the cotton of your shirt. You purse your lips in thought, “Can I invite people?”

Minjun raises his brow in interest, “Who?”

“Just these guys I’ve made friends with—they’re on my music course,” You briefly explain but you feel the need to go further as Minjun continues to stare at you. “They saw my Instagram post at your show a few weekends back and they asked about you, and they said they’d be interested in seeing you play and—”

“They can come,” He cuts off your rambling, grinning up at you and your brows pull together when he nudges your shoulder. “You don’t have to ask, you know. The more the merrier, right? Besides, Seungwoo will be happy to see some new faces listening to our music.”

“Is he giving you a hard time?”

“Just the usual,” Minjun shrugs. “Worried about the number of people showing up to watch, the amount of unfinished songs he’s written, stuff with our parents too… they’re not exactly supportive of me dropping out of college and him leaving work to pursue music. They say it’s a waste of time.”

“But you’re good at what you do,” You tell him truthfully with a kind smile. “Both of you. You’re booking out bars and performing in front of big crowds almost every weekend, I say that’s pretty impressive.”

The corner of Minjun's lips lift upwards, his head tilting to the side slightly as he looks at you, “You think so?”

You nudge his shoulder, “I know so.”

Minjun breaks out into a full smile this time and he nudges you back as a small gesture of a thank you before he shifts in his seat, getting comfortable leaning against the cushions as he resumes scrolling through his phone.

You relax into him, peering your head over his shoulder to watch the screen as he shows you his current Instagram home page filled with musicians, concert photos and the occasional selfie of those he follows. You hardly recognise any of them, apart from the few Areum had posted and EJ with his girlfriend, but you still wiggle your eyebrows suggestively and make flirty comments when you see the sexy mirror pictures posted by some. 

Minjun just rolls his eyes and tells you to be quiet, huffing as he angles himself away from you.

“Oh, I didn’t realise you were here,” You hear Areum’s teasing voice from behind and you crane your neck to see her make her way over to the both of you, a fluffy white towel wrapped tight around her body and another wrapped around her hair from her previous shower. 

She sits in the single loveseat opposite, crossing her legs beneath herself to get comfy and a smile slips upon her lips as Byeol meows loudly, jumping down from your own lap and to find comfort on hers, nuzzling himself in her towel and Areum holds him to her chest, stroking his fur and cooing softly.

“I’m always here.” Minjun gives her a grin.

“Unfortunately~” Areum hums, pressing gentle kisses on the top of Byeol’s head and Minjun rolls his eyes, clicking his tongue against his teeth as he shakes his head.

Areum grins, already feeling proud at already getting under her best friend's skin but you knew deep down that it was just a little joke, knowing first hand how they always bite at each other to try and get one of them to react and lose, adding another point to their mental tally chart.

She coos as she talks to Byeol, scratching below his chin and rubbing behind his ears as you smile at the sight, hearing his loud purrs resonate from where he’s sitting on her lap and Areum’s phone that’s been gripped in her hand vibrates loudly, causing her to pull away from Byeol for a moment to check her screen.

You watch as her brows raise slightly, a smirk spreading across her cheeks and her bottom lip gets caught between her teeth, thumbs quickly tapping against the phone before she raises her head up, looking over at you with an unfamiliar glint in her eye. 

Your face scrunches up, confused. “Why are you looking at me?”

Areum cocks her head to the side, “How do you feel about experiencing your first college party tonight?”

The sight in front of you is definitely… something.

The house is a lot bigger than you anticipated, expecting to be brought along to a little apartment or even a club for your first official college party, but Areum had thrown you into a complete loop as she brought you to a not so little apartment or club that was already filled with drunk college students, some already even sprawled across the front lawn messily making out or even staring up at the sky giggling to themselves. 

However, you grimace a little when you see someone come stumbling out of the house with their hand clamped over the mouth, barely making it towards a bush before emptying out their stomachs with the most gruesome of sounds. 

A guy comes jogging out of the house shortly after with a water bottle in hand and his phone in the other, your mouth starts to feel a little dry, the attractiveness and confidence that oozes from him as he comes closer stuns you for a moment, the shyness taking over you when he grunts and squats down to tend to the drunken person with their head shoved into the bushes.

The tight black fitted shirt he wears shows off the muscles beneath, how they bulge and tense when he reaches out to caress the person’s back as they retch loudly and your eyes can’t help but shift to his thighs, how the pants are tightening around them which each movement and you gulp, pulling your attention away when you feel Areum slip her arm through yours.

“Seems like you got your hands full already.” Areum speaks first with a teasing tone that’s directed towards the guy and he raises his head, dark eyes glistening under the night sky as he grins at her.

“You got that right,” He chuckles softly, putting the water bottle down on the grass to run his fingers through his dark mullet, gazing at you. “You’re new. I’ve never seen you here before. I’m Jeno.”

You introduce yourself and he repeats your name back to you with a hum and a nod, then he smiles and wishes you a good time at the party before turning back to the person who had seemingly stopped throwing up, ordering them to drink the bottled water and saying how he’s going to call a cab for them to get home safely. 

Minjun, who had been quiet this entire time watching every thing unfold, gently pushes your shoulder to get you to walk and Areum pulls you towards the house by your arm, the loud music blasting inside already hitting your eardrums and you’re instantly hit with the smell of alcohol and weed when you enter. 

The inside is a lot more chaotic than the outside, you conclude. 

Sweaty bodies pressed against each other as they dance or makeout, some even fondling each other to which you immediately avert your attention away when they glance your way. Others are in small groups talking and even playing drinking games, you can just about see a group playing cup pong from where you’re standing at the entrance. 

Minjun leans down to murmur in your ear, “So, what do you think so far?” 

“It’s…” You pause, pulling a face. “Something. Very crowded. There’s people everywhere.”

Minjun’s chest rumbles with a laugh, “And this isn’t even the half of it.”

Your eyes widen at the possible fact of there being more people in the house, already feeling overwhelmed and Areum’s hand slides down your arm to take your own, lacing her fingers through yours as she helps weave you through the crowds, Minjun hot on your tail as he follows behind. 

You glance around while she leads you both to wherever she wants to go and you spot a couple lounging together on the sofa, the pretty blonde smiling at her boyfriend who’s gently tucking her hair behind her ears as he’s mumbling something to her and she nods, causing the boyfriend to grin and clink his drink against hers.

“Here,” Areum’s voice grabs your attention and your turn your head to look at her when you feel her hand slip from yours, noticing that she’s brought you to the kitchen where only a few partygoers are standing, nursing their drinks and chatting with friends. Areum opens the cooler and passes a beer over to Minjun who dips his head in silent thank you before turning to you, “Want a beer? A seltzer?”

“Beer.” You’re thankful she hands you one that you’re familiar with, the ones that the three of you have shared in your apartment during movie and game nights, immediately cracking it open to take a sip and the satisfying burn and flavour that that runs down your throat has you smiling.

It unfortunately doesn’t take long for you to start to feel out of place, your back pressed against a wall in the far corner of the kitchen as you watch Minjun smoke with a guy you overheard is called Sunwoo, a dopey grin smile spreading across his cheeks every time someone had waltzed up to him with money in their hand for one of his baggies that he takes out of his pocket to slip into theirs. 

Areum had politely excused herself from you a few moments prior to greet someone you somewhat recognise as one of her previous hookups, watching as Areum’s hand slips around her waist to hold her close to her body and the girl lets out flirtatious giggles, winding her own arms around Areum’s shoulders as they whisper in each others ears.

You sigh, pursing your lips as you take a glance down at the beer in your hand, shaking the can slightly to feel how much drink was left for you to drink and you frown when you notice it’s empty. You push yourself off of the wall and discard your empty beer in the overflowing trash can, opting to open the cooler and grab another to keep yourself preoccupied but you’re startled when another hand reaches in too, brushing against your own.

“Oh, sorry—” The voice pauses mid sentence and you glance up, your eyes widening in surprise when you see Xiaojun staring back at you with a similar expression. “It’s you!”

“What are you doing here?” You ask with a smile, excitement flowing through your veins as Xiaojun gives you a welcoming side hug, rubbing your back comfortingly. 

“I could ask you the same thing.” Xiaojun pulls back to adjust the backwards cap on his head, not before running his fingers through his hair. You take this moment to take in his appearance, surprised to see him out of his knitted sweaters and chinos which is replaced with a loose fitted grey tank top and dark jeans, showing off his physique which caught you off guard immensely, not expecting to see the muscles.

“My roommate told me to tag along,” You briefly explain to him, pulling your eyes away from his arms and he hums in understanding, handing you a beer before grabbing one for himself. “Are Mark and Jihoon here too?”

“Jihoon’s at home. This isn’t his, uh—” Xiaojun waves his hand around comically. “—type of scene, you know. Mark’s around here somewhere though, lost him when this girl tugged his arm wanting to speak to him in private.”

You make a small noise as you nod your head, assuming that it was another student proclaiming their attraction towards Mark as you have witnessed many times before, feeling bad every time Mark had rejected them even if he was sweet with his words. 

The confidence that people had to confess their feelings to the person they liked always made you jealous, wishing you had the courage to admit your own likeness towards someone but you could never get it out, knowing that the words would constantly get stuck on the tip of your tongue and the fear of rejection wasn’t exactly something you wanted to experience.

So you always held back on telling people how you felt, especially if you liked them. But yet again, seemingly lucky for you, there has never really been anyone that you’ve truly liked. You’ve had small mindless crushes that you knew would lead into nothing and you’ve been in the presence of a few attractive people that definitely make your heart flutter, but it’s never enough to make you want to confess. 

A gentle touch on your arm brings you out of your thoughts and you turn your head to see Minjun standing beside, a gesture to show that he was finally back with you and you couldn’t have been more happier to have more people at your side, giving him a smile to which he returns, the corner of his lips twitching upwards.

“Oh. You’re the guy.” Xiaojun speaks up, eyebrows raised to his hairline in shock as he points at Minjun who looks back at him, seemingly confused but he slowly nods anyways which makes you snort quietly, finding the sight comical. “The drummer from that band, the one on her Instagram—LŒV, right?”

“Yeah,” Minjun hums in surprise before he makes a noise of realisation, piecing two and two together. “You must be one of the guys she told me about, that wanted to come see us play this weekend.”

You zone out of their conversation when Xiaojun praises him for his musical skills, the pair diving deep into the music discussion which usually you would’ve participated in any of time, but you find yourself getting distracted as you watch Areum delicately stroke the back of another girl that she’s talking with, pulling her in closely to whisper in her ear and laughing when the girl pushes her shoulder playfully before tugging her back in. 

Your attention however pulls away from the pair when Areum places two fingers beneath her chin to bring her in for a kiss, feeling awkward to give them an audience and finding interest in a potted plant in the corner of the room, your lips quirking up into an amused smile when you see a drunk cradling it like a newborn, stroking the leaves and cooing.

The sight in front of you is hilarious and you would’ve taken out your phone to take a picture it if wasn’t for the fact you didn’t know this person, not really wanting to be caught and questioned taking pictures of someone you barely knew even if it would make a great memory… and definitely a great birthday card. 

But your eyes flit away from the drunk to the guy that you met outside. Jeno, you remember his name. He strides into the house with a dark wet patch over the front of his clothes and an empty water bottle. 

First, you grimace at the thought of that person he was taking care of outside throwing the water over him in a drunken fit, but then you feel a little warm and flustered when you realise that the water had made his shirt and pants stick to him more than it originally did, outlining his body perfectly, defining the muscles beneath the materials. 

“Why are you ogling Jeno?”

“I’m not,” You immediately defend yourself, attention snapping back to Xiaojun who's already staring back at you with an amused smirk, raising his eyebrow. “I’m not.”

“Pretty sure you are,” Minjun joins in this time and you harden your gaze at him, causing him to grin. “You like him?”

“No.”

“He’s attractive, for sure,” Xiaojun hums, taking a glance at him over your shoulder and watching him as he disappears up the staircase, probably to change out of his wet clothes. “I wouldn’t get too close to him though,”

Now that piques your interest, “Why?”

Xiaojun opens his mouth, ready to tell you what you’re surprisingly desperate to hear until he closes his mouth, brows rising in shock when you feel someone's arms slip around your shoulders to bring your back into their chest.

You immediately recognise it as Areum, the sweet citrus smell of her perfume overwhelming your senses and you turn your head to the side to see her already smiling at you, giving you a comforting squeeze before letting you go to stand beside you to greet Xiaojun.

Xiaojun seems hypnotised by her beauty just like many others are and it doesn’t surprise you, the beauty and the confidence that radiates off of her is enough to have your own heart thumping in your chest and feeling shy whenever she meets your eyes or gives you a pretty smile.

“I’m Areum,” She introduces herself as she reopens the cooler to fetch herself another beer. “Her roomie.”

Xiaojun whispers back in a daze, “Hi roomie.”

The look on Xiaojun’s face was comical when it slipped into conversation that Areum wasn’t interested in men, his eyes widening and mouth dropping open in shock as he profusely apologised, worried that his dazed look and minor flirtatious comments made her uncomfortable but she shook her head, laughing as she explained everything was fine and that he had no way of knowing her preferences. 

Still, the trio got along quite well and even Mark, who joined in a few minutes prior after complaining about how he was locked in the bathroom for five minutes, got along with Areum and Minjun too. It made you smile, seeing the people you liked getting along with each other and exchanging socials and numbers, it also made you miss Jihoon a little bit, wishing he was here so you could introduce them to your duo of friends. 

However, you did make a mental list to remind yourself to text Jihoon tomorrow morning and tell him you’d add him to the groupchat that Xiaojun was desperate to make.

It doesn’t take long for you all to split from each other too: Areum grabbing your hand to steal you away for a little while and you were surprised that Minjun didn’t follow behind like he usually does, but you were happy to see him so comfortable enough to stick around with Mark and Xiaojun who were happily discussing music techniques and even other bands they both seemed to enjoy.

Areum brought you to the living room this time where the music blasted from the stereo, making it a lot harder to hear what she was saying to you but you managed, opting to lean in close so she could whisper in your ear and you did the same. 

You’re feeling awkward and uncomfortable now though, nursing the third beer in your hand as everyone around you either dances or heavily makes out with the person they’ve come with or even just met, finding it hard to focus your attention on anything as in every corner you look, you see people wrapped up in each other.

A gentle touch is placed on your arm, “Are you okay?”

“Hm?” You hum, looking at Areum who is staring back at you worryingly. “Why?”

“You’ve gone quiet,” She points out and a frown makes its way onto your lips, “Want to go home?”

“What? No. It’s fine,” You quickly shake your head. “I don’t want to ruin your night.”

“You’re not ruining anything,” Areum chuckles softly and when her gaze flicks over your shoulder, you see the surprised look on her face. “Seems like you’ve got an admirer tonight.”

Her words have you making a noise of confusion and she nods in the direction of your so-called ‘admirer’ and you’re embarrassingly quick to whip your head around, not making your movements subtle at all which she snorts at in amusement. 

Your heart thumps loudly in your ears as you spot Donghyuck manspreading on the sofa a few feet in front of you, long dark hair hanging over his eyes and a joint resting between his lips which he inhales deeply, holding the smoke in his lungs for what seems to be an eternity until he exhales, passing the joint over to Yangyang all while staring directly at you. 

You feel hot beneath his intense stare, the dress you're wearing now seeming a little too tight and revealing that you subconsciously wrap your arms around yourself to cover up, not missing the way Donghyuck’s lips curl into a smirk before he brings a bottle up to his mouth, chugging the alcoholic beverage. 

You clear your throat, “That’s Donghyuck.”

“I know.”

Your head snaps towards Areum in surprise, “You know?”

“Yeah, of course,” Areum laughs lightly as she puts down her empty beer can on the windowsill. She presses her lips together as she leans back against the wall with her hands shoved into her low cut jeans. “Everyone here pretty much knows Donghyuck. He’s best friends with Jeno and that group.”

“Jeno…” You repeat the familiar name and you jab your thumb in the direction to where he’s standing, now dressed up in something completely different than last: wearing a white and dark grey ombre dress shirt with the buttons left undone, revealing his toned chest. You couldn’t look at him for too long without feeling flustered. “Him?”

“It’s his house—” She pauses, “Their house. They all live together, all five of them. But the sixth one recently moved out to live with his girlfriend.”

“Oh,” You blink, the curiosity inside of you building. “How do you know so much about this stuff?”

“They’re well-known,” Areum shrugs nonchalantly. “Some might say popular, I guess. Everyone pretty much knows everything about them… For starters, Jeno is the main guy that throws all these parties. He’s kind of a gym freak and he’s secretly really smart, he’s an engineering student. Jeno’s also one of those quote unquote ‘renown fuckboy’. He dated Miwoo for a long while—she’s the black haired one wearing a pretty black dress—but they broke up,

“Jaemin is one of the quiet ones, kind of mysterious in some ways too. You’ll hardly ever see him that much though, but he does appear every now and again to be around Jeno—they’ve been best friends for years. He’s a photography student who used to be in a serious relationship with a girl named Eunbin but they broke up. He did end up having a friends with benefits relationship with one of the girls in the group and then they got together, she’s currently away on a writer's trip,

“Renjun’s also one of the quiet ones, more of an observer. He sits in silence the majority of the time but he’s mean when he wants to be, plus doesn’t exactly take shit from anybody either so he can be kind of intimidating to some people. He’s an art student, some of his work is showcased on the walls in the art department. He’s also dating the pretty blonde that he's sitting with his arm around right now—Haru,

“Shotaro is the friendly and cute one that constantly smiles no matter what type of situation he is in. He’s pretty chilled out, carefree. He’s a dance student too… a really good one. He’s practically the baby of their group—everyone has a soft spot for him. He did however end up getting into a fight with Hyunjin because Yeji—Hyunjin’s ex—kissed him at a party. But even though Hyunjin was the one that threw the first punch, he ended up looking worse than Shotaro thanks to Yangyang who jumped in,

“Yangyang is another renown fuckboy, practically fucks anyone with a pussy between their legs. I’m almost positive he has slept with the majority of the girls in this room. He drinks and smokes weed a lot, and recently he’s been taking some harder stuff until he can’t physically function too. He once had a crush on one of the girls in their group—Jaemin’s now girlfriend—but nobody really knows what happened between them. I’m assuming he kept his feelings to himself considering Jaemin and her are all coupled up now, but anyway. Yangyang’s best friend is Donghyuck, you probably won’t ever see one without the other, they’re like two peas in a pod,

“Donghyuck… he’s interesting, I guess. A jokester, pretty dramatic at times but he can also switch into his serious mode which hardly no-one has ever seen. He parties a lot, definitely can outdrink anybody in this room. Smokes weed too and pops a few pills thanks to Sunwoo. He’s a little emo too which gives him a lot of attention—he’s attractive, he knows it. He sleeps around a lot and with anyone too, he plays both teams. But something kinda flipped in him after a while when he got a little obsessed with Aisha who actually rejected him not so long ago—”

“Isn’t, like, obsessed too much of a harsh word?” You cut her off with a frown, not liking the way she explained him to you. “Maybe he just had a crush on her or something? A big one?”

Areum laughs at that, clearly amused as she shakes her head. “No, sweetheart. When I say obsessed, I mean obsessed. The thing with Donghyuck is that he gets obsessed with people he likes pretty quickly… It’s like he gets infatuated with them, wants to give them his all and more.”

You can’t help but ask, “Is Aisha the only one that he’s been… obsessed with?”

“I doubt it. I heard that Donghyick was once obsessed with Jeno when they first became friends. It’s not that shocking, to be honest. Jeno is an attractive looking guy,” Areum explains to you as she pulls her hand out of her pocket, now holding a strawberry flavoured vape and placing it between her lips to inhale. She blows the smoke out of the corner of her mouth, making sure not to aim towards your face. “Donghyuck’s obsession with people can be pretty intense and sometimes I think Aisha made a lucky escape, although I’m familiar with how much she enjoys attention so she’ll probably want it back once she realises he’s got a new obsession.”

“A new obsession?” Your brows raise in surprise at that and you lean in closer as if what she’s telling you is about to be top secret. “Who is his new obsession?”

The smirk that spreads across Areum’s cheeks makes your body buzz and heart beat rapidly in your chest, growing even more curious but also nervous to know the answer as you watch as she takes another quick inhale of her vape before glancing over your shoulder.

“Well, with the way he’s staring at you over there with that look in his eyes, I think you’re the next target,” Areum’s eyes meet yours. “You’re his new obsession, sweetheart.”

His new what? 

“No I’m not,” A laugh forces its way out of your throat, a nervous one at that. You found it slightly ridiculous, really. There was absolutely no way that you could be his ‘new obsession’. It doesn’t make any sense. “He hardly knows me. We haven’t even spoken a word to each other… I think you’ve got it wrong.”

“Maybe,” She hums, eyes flickering over your shoulder once more. “But with the way he’s walking over here, I think I might be right on this one.”

He is what?

You’re glued in place, unable to turn around and see if she’s telling the truth or teasing you. The look on her face seems serious which makes you feel nervous, but the tone she uses is light which makes you think maybe she is playing tricks, wanting to tease you and see your reactions. 

But it’s the deep call of your name and the warm hand touching your upper arm is what makes you realise that she is, in fact, not lying. 

The nerves and the anxiety kicks in as you turn to face the person who had called out your name, your breath getting caught in the back of your throat as you meet Donghyuck’s dark eyes and that smile you have seen plenty of times before in class—the smile he always gives you when you catch his attention and when you meet his gaze. 

Having been this close to him, Donghyuck, without a doubt, is prettier up close and your tummy flutters at the proximity, almost wanting to take a step back just to put some space between you so you can breathe properly, to conjure up a thought or to even start the conversation as it dawns on you how long you’ve been embarrassingly quiet for.

“Hi,” You greet him, mentally kicking yourself for how silly your voice sounded. You open your mouth to speak again and you immediately regret what comes out, “You’re the guy from my music class.”

One of Donghyuck’s brows lifts in amusement, seemingly surprised but also enjoying how you’re pretending you don’t already know him but he plays along anyways, nodding his head slowly with that smile that makes your hands clammy. “I’m Donghyuck.”

“Donghyuck,” You repeat with a nod. His eyes darken at you saying his name, tongue coming out to sweep over his bottom lip to wet it. “I’m—”

“I know who you are.” He cuts you off and the embarrassment you feel amps up to a hundred, remembering how he called out your name a few moments prior. You’re unsure why you’re acting weird and awkward, maybe it was because he made you feel nervous. 

“I’m going to get us another drink,” Areum tells you, placing her hand on your shoulder to get your attention and you turn to her, eyes widening at the thought of her leaving you. “I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

The second Areum slips into the crowd to head towards the kitchen area, Donghyuck takes her place by the wall, leaning against it comfortably as his ringed fingers run through his dark locks, pushing his bangs out of the way and revealing his forehead for a split moment before his hair falls back into place, the tips almost touching his eyes that never seem to leave you. 

He finally asks, “Why did you pretend not to know me?”

“I don’t know,” You immediately reply, unable to stop yourself. “I didn’t mean it. I think I’m just nervous.”

The smile on his face widens before his bottom lip gets caught between his teeth, tilting his head to the side, “I make you nervous?”

“Big parties do,” You partially lie, clearing your throat. “People everywhere, you know… gets overwhelming.”

Donghyuck hums, “Right.”

“I’m serious,” You defend yourself for whatever reason and Donghyuck finds amusement in your voice and actions, eyes sparkling as you seemingly come out of your awkward shell for a few seconds, talking to him in a tone as you would with close friends and he even spots the corner of your lips twitching, almost smiling at him. “Being in a room crowded with people isn’t exactly something I enjoy.”

“I believe you,” He tells you softly. He wants to keep this conversation going, enjoying this side of you that’s slowly becoming comfortable with him already. He likes it, the sparkle in your eyes, the tone of your voice, the subtle peaceful expression on your face. He wants more. “Are you enjoying yourself here?”

That makes you pause. Are you enjoying yourself? You came with Areum and Minjun, two people who you enjoy being in the presence of. You stumbled across Xiaojun and Mark, two other people who bring enjoyment into your life and you were actually ecstatic when seeing Xiaojun for the first time earlier. The beer that was available in the cooler happened to be one of your favourite alcoholic beverages (you’ve had three of those already.) and the music that blasts from the speakers happens to be of a genre you listen to on the regular. 

You finally have your answer, “It’s not so bad.”

“Could it be better?” Donghyuck presses and your lips press together in deep thought before shrugging your shoulders, somewhat agreeing. Donghyuck leans in towards you, “Could I make it better?”

Your brows pull together in confusion, “You can do that? How could you do that?”

Donghyuck can’t help but smile at that and you grow even more confused when he begins to laugh softly, shaking his head. You wonder if you said the wrong thing or if there was a certain meaning behind his question that you failed to pick up on.  

A frown forms on your face due to you feeling a little stupid, thinking that he’s laughing at you or your dumb response and Donghyuck immediately notices you rebuilding the walls, how that look on your face that he adores slowly starts to slip and he straightens up against the wall, toning down his teasing.

“I like your dress, by the way.” His compliment shocks you, not expecting it to come from him and you instantly look down at your dress. 

At first, you wonder what’s wrong with it. If there was a stain you didn’t notice or if there was a tear in the fabric, but then you come to terms with that fact there’s nothing wrong with the dress and, actually, it’s probably one of the best that you own. It doesn’t cling to your body uncomfortably nor does it seem loose, it fits you well. 

You raise your head to thank him, but your words are stuck in the back of your throat when you notice the way he’s looking at you. He’s drinking you in, taking in your appearance, gaze roaming over the length of the dress with a deep inhale before his eyes snap back up to yours, the dark look returning.

“It’s pretty,” Donghyuck exhales, leaning his head back against the wall while keeping eye contact with you. “You’re really pretty.”

You’re flustered now. The attention from him becomes a bit too much and you find yourself feeling hot under his intense stare and there’s an unfamiliar feeling swirling in the pit of your tummy, something you’ve never felt before and it shocks you, but you try to not bring too much attention to it.

You debate on whether to thank him or to compliment him back on his own outfit: a loose graphic white shirt of a band you recognised paired with denim ripped jeans with chains hanging off the sides and a pair of doc martens on his feet. His signature leather jacket, one you’ve seen multiple times before in class, drapes across his shoulders. 

He does look good (really good, but you won’t admit that part.)

As you open your mouth, surprisingly finding the confidence to compliment him on his own outfit choice, it gets taken away from you when Areum announces her return as she comes towards you with drinks in her hand, followed by Minjun, Xiaojun and Mark who decided to tag along. 

You smile when Areum passes you a fresh drink, completely forgetting about the other that had become lukewarm in your hand and you’re unsure on what to do with it until it’s plucked from your grasp and you turn to look at Donghyuck who had taken it from you, clinking the can against your own in a small ‘cheers’ before he pushes himself off of the wall, his shoulder brushing yours as he heads back to where he originally came from.

You’re a little confused on why he left, watching as he drops down on the sofa beside Yangyang who looks like he’s exhausted, slouching against the sofa cushions and nodding to whatever Shotaro—you remembered him from when Areum pointed him out—was talking about and Donghyuck takes the joint from between his fingers, leaning against Yangyang as he takes a drag all while watching you.

It’s almost deja vu, the whole scene reminding you of earlier when he was looking at you from afar before he came on over to introduce himself. You find him odd, extremely odd, but you can’t deny the fact how intriguing he is. 

“So,” Areum’s voice grabs your attention. “How was it?”

“Fine,” You quip, turning to face the four. “He seemed fine. Nothing about that conversation screamed ‘I’m obsessed with you’ so, I think you were wrong with that one.”

Mark almost drops his beer, the alcohol sloshing and spilling over his hands as it almost slips from his fingers as he stares at you in shock, mouth agape, “Dude… you’re the next target?”

You deadpan, “Can you stop calling me a target? It feels like I’m about to get assassinated.” 

Xiaojun frowns, giving you a look of sympathy as he steps in closer to pat your back comfortingly, “You poor thing… my condolences. Stay strong, soldier.”

"Be quiet."

An hour or two later you find yourself standing outside to get some fresh air alone, staring down at the liquid in your cup. You’re not sure how many you’ve had but you hate how you’re unable to feel the buzz that’s affecting those who are around you, glancing up at the few strays of people that are stumbling across the well-kept grass or are giggling to themselves as they stare up at the star filled sky. 

You wonder at first if the drink you have isn’t actually alcoholic, but from the reactions of your friends (who had been drinking the same brand with you the majority of the night.) they were already tipsy, or in Xiaojun’s case, drunk.

Maybe you just weren’t feeling it.

First college party jitters, Areum had called it when you had confided in her about the problem and you were undoubtedly embarrassed to hear her call it that, but she had reassured you that it was fine and that it was normal, and even she had experienced something similar when she came to her first college party at the beginning of the year. 

Still, it made you feel embarrassed.

With a heavy sigh, you finish the rest of your drink, pulling a face at the burn that trickles down the back of your throat as you turn on your heel to head back inside where your friends are but you crash into something hard, causing you to stumble backwards in shock and a pair of hands come out to grab your elbows, steadying you on your feet.

“Careful, princess.” The person speaks. Any other time, the pet name would’ve made you flustered, especially with that deep tone, but you barely acknowledge it as you try to shake yourself out of your startled state and you wince when you put too much pressure on your ankle, figuring you must’ve twisted it awkwardly when you bumped into the stranger. 

You curse under your breath as you feel the throb but you try not to pay too much attention to it as you finally meet eyes with Donghyuck who is already staring back at you, the grip he has on your elbows tightening slightly as you make eye contact with him. 

“I’m sorry.” You apologise instantly, “I didn’t see you.”

“It’s okay,” Donghyuck dismisses it with a shake of his head and his attention drops down to your ankle, his brows pulling together. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“Oh, yeah, just a bit. But it’s fine, honest—” 

The words get caught at the back of your throat as Donghyuck kneels down onto the grass to inspect the damage, cold fingers delicately touching your leg and trailing down to your ankle, the sudden action causing goosebumps to rise to your skin and you can just make out the corner of his lips twitching.

He traces the area with the pads of his fingertips slowly, suddenly aware of how close he’s leaning in as you feel his breath fan over your calf. His hand takes a hold of your ankle gently and carefully not to hurt you, the delicate strokes of his thumb sending a shiver up your spine and you wonder if he notices how nervous you’ve become.

Donghyuck presses his fingers down on a certain spot on your ankle and you hiss in surprise at the throb that comes with it, your hand instinctively slapping down on his shoulder in retaliation for the pain he caused but your mouth drops open in surprise while he glances up at you with a grin, eyes twinkling with amusement. 

“It’s not broken or anything,” He informs you before you could start to apologise again for your sudden actions, raising back up onto his feet. “You just twisted it awkwardly when you bumped into me.”

“Do you major in nursing alongside music or something?”

Donghyuck smiles at that, a laugh leaving his lips. “No. I’m just good at knowing my way around a body,” You immediately pick up the suggestive tone in his voice and your brows raise in surprise, feeling flustered and shy under his gaze that doesn’t waver from you. “You know, that’s the second time you’ve crashed into me—”

“Accidently.”

“Right,” He hums. “What’s that saying? Once is a mistake, twice is a coincidence—”

“And three times is a pattern,” You finish. “It’s not a coincidence or pattern. Both are mistakes. I don’t go walking around searching for you in hopes to bump into you.”

“Aw, that’s a shame.”

“That I’m not purposely bumping into you?”

“That you’re not searching around for me.”

Your face grows hot at his forwardness and your eyes flick downwards to a patch of grass you suddenly find interest in, the shyness that creeps upon you making it hard for you to look at him.

Donghyuck remains staring at you and the corner of his lips curl into a smirk, amused at how easily you seem to be flustered when it comes to him already. He basks in it, he loves knowing how much he affects you and it excites him even more when he dips his head to meet your eyes but you avert your attention elsewhere. 

He dips his hand into his jean pocket to pull out a singular pack of cigarettes, “Do you want one?”

“I don’t smoke.”

Donghyuck pauses, his fingers ghosting over the opening of the pack. “Do you mind if I smoke?”

You frown and that's when you look up to meet his eyes, confused. “Why wouldn’t I mind?”

“Some people don’t like being around smokers,” Donghyuck shrugs. “The smell and all.”

“I’m at a party where the air reeks of cigarettes, weed and alcohol,” You point out, a smile slowly starting to form on your lips. “I wouldn’t be here if I minded the smell. And besides, I can smell the weed on your clothes from earlier too and I haven’t said a word about it. I’m fine.”

He blinks once, twice, “Do I smell bad?”

“No,” You rush out to reassure him, shaking your head. “No, not at all. You smell fine.”

“Just fine?”

“You smell good.” You correct yourself.

The smirk returns as he tilts his head to the side, “Yeah?”

You come to a conclusion that he definitely enjoys making you embarrassed and flustered, and you let out a breathy laugh, tongue prodding at your cheek in slight annoyance at how easy it is for him to make you feel this way. 

If it was anyone else, you fight back. You always fight back. Being roommates with Areum and close friends with Minjun, Xiaojun, Mark and Jihoon had made you defensive, being a victim to their countless teasing and jokes you had learned over time to return it. 

But unfortunately there is something about Donghyuck that makes your words get caught in the back of your throat and your mind go completely blank, unable to think properly or even say something back.

“Whose is this?” Donghyuck’s already changing the subject, almost giving you whiplash at how easily he can switch to different topics without hesitating or missing a beat. His fingers reach out to touch Minjun’s jacket that’s draped over your shoulders, something that he had given you to keep you warm while you stepped outside. Donghyuck hums, brows pulling together. “You weren’t wearing this earlier.”

“Oh.” Your own fingers graze over the leather jacket. “It’s Minjun’s.”

Donghyuck drily asks, “Who?”

“He’s a friend.”

Donghyuck clicks his tongue against his teeth with a hum, “Yeah, well, your friend's jacket is covering this pretty dress of yours.”

The tone in his voice made your brows raise in surprise, the slight annoyance and disapproval of Minjun’s jacket covering—what he claims—a pretty dress was something you weren’t expecting, although it made your chest blossom with warmth and your face grew hot at the subtle compliment. 

He’s not speaking now, which makes you feel a bit awkward having to stand in silence with him, minus the music that’s blasting from inside the house and a few lingering people out in the garden that are having drunken conversations around you. His lips are pressing together tightly, jaw locking and unlocking as his brows furrow as if he’s thinking deeply about something, fidgeting in his spot with his fingers twitching around his own jacket after he retracted them from Minjun’s. 

You think maybe it’s time for you to leave, to say your goodbyes and find your friends so you can be free of the awkward tension you’re feeling. You want to stay with him though, not exactly eager to disappear away from him so soon just like how he practically walked away from you earlier when the others had come to join the conversation.

“Do you want another drink?” You catch yourself asking him before you could ever register the question in your head and your heart thumps wildly in your chest as Donghyuck slowly turns to look at you, “I mean, I noticed your hands are empty—and I want another drink too, so…”

Donghyuck stares at you for a moment longer before a smile breaks out onto his lips and he nods, agreeing to get another drink from the kitchen with you. But what you didn’t expect was Donghyuck to hold out his hand, wiggling his fingers enticingly in the air to coax you into taking his hand in your own. 

You’re hesitant to take it, not wanting him to feel how clammy your palms already are and you most definitely didn’t want to embarrass yourself for being so nervous during this entire interaction.

“I don’t bite, you know,” He says with a whisper and it sends shivers tingling down your spine at how close he leans in to tell you that. He tilts his head to the side as he smirks, “Unless—”

“DONGHYUCK!” 

The unfamiliar voice that shouts out his name startles you and your head whips around so fast you swear you hear a crack, immediately noticing a pretty, long haired girl stumble out of the backdoor of the house, almost tripping over her own heels before she collects herself, bringing her hand up to her forehead and squinting as she scans the garden for the boy in question. 

You slowly face Donghyuck again and he’s still looking at you, not even paying attention to the calls of his name that echo throughout the garden, not even flinching at the loudness. He’s still holding his hand out to you, waiting for you to take it so you could both go inside but you feel as if maybe it’s the wrong thing to do right now, looking back and forth between him and the girl.

You state, “Someone is calling for you.”

“I know, she’s drunk, ignore her,” Donghyuck dismisses it with a shake of his head and he reaches out further towards you, fingertips brushing over the top of your hand. “Let’s go get that drink, princess. Yeah?”

You don’t even get the chance to decide to accept or decline as the girl approaches you both and immediately throws herself at Donghyuck and punches his arm repeatedly, rambling about something that he had kept hidden from ‘the rest of them’ and she even goes as far as shoving her hand into the front pocket of his jeans.

You blink away awkwardly, unsure of what to do or even to say but you look back at the pair when she pulls out a small bag of weed with a wail of victory.

“I knew you fucking had it,” She hisses, landing another punch on his arm and he rolls his eyes, trying to snatch it out of her grasp but she pulls it away quickly out of his reach, almost bumping into you in the process and her eyes widen in surprise. “Shit, I’m sorry!”

You shake your head, “It’s fi—”

“Miwoo.” Donghyuck speaks her name through gritted teeth and it instantly rings a bell, remembering that she was one of the girls that Areum had told you about earlier, one of Donghyuck’s best friends exes. “Why don’t you take the weed and go share it with Yangyang? Yeah?”

“You’re really pretty,” Miwoo completely ignores Donghyuck to compliment you, eyes checking you out from head to toe with a smile that makes you feel a little flustered but it disappears, replacing with a grimace as she jabs her thumb back at Donghyuck, “Why are you talking to him?”

Donghyuck’s hand comes up to rub the bridge of his nose, seemingly getting frustrated with his friends words and you can’t help but smile at that, finding the situation a little comical and you watch as Donghyuck manages to get her attention, the pair getting warped into a miniature argument that has you trying to bite back your amusement, pressing your lips together tightly to try and not smile even wider.

Although, your watching moment is cut short when you hear Areum call out your name and you turn to look over your shoulder to see her beckoning your forwards and you nod, wanting to politely bid your goodbyes to Donghyuck and Miwoo but you decide against it when you them at each other's throats with petty insults, quickly making your escape to Areum who loops your arms with hers, tugging you back into the house where the others are patiently waiting for you.

Donghyuck notices your disappearance almost immediately and his shoulders drop with a sigh, glaring at Miwoo who isn’t the least affected by his darkened gaze as she dips her fingers inside the baggy to pull out a pre-rolled joint.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“I know,” Miwoo grins before she meets Donghyuck’s eye, “She’s really pretty.”

“Yeah, I know,” Donghyuck mumbles under his breath, tongue prodding at his cheek in annoyance as he rips the bag and the joint out of Miwoo’s hands. “Give me that. You don’t deserve it, asshole.”

The amusement on your face is obvious when Xiaojun and Mark step into the Dreamies Café, both dressed in oversized hoodies and wearing sunglasses to block out the brightness of the sun and the lights from burning their eyes, arms dangling at their sides as they drag their feet across the flooring towards the table where you and Jihoon are sat waiting for them. 

You arrived ten minutes before the two of them did and you were surprised to already see Jihoon sitting at the table with everyone's preferred drinks, and even when you tried to hand over the money for your own, he just looked at you as if you deeply offended him and swatted your hand away before pulling out a chair and telling you to sit.  

Xiaojun doesn’t seep a word as he slumps down in the seat opposite you, but he does gesture a quick thank you to Jihoon for the drink and he lifts the straw to his lips to take a long sip, chest rumbling with a satisfied hum as he relaxes into his seat, the ice clinking in his iced matcha as he continuous to drink.

“Hey,” Mark greets you both as he sits on the seat at the end of the table, fingers curling around the plastic cup of his watermelon ade as he glances over at Jihoon. “Thanks, man. I’ll venmo you the money.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jihoon dismisses with a wave of his hand. “It’s on me anyways. You paid for my drink last time we were here,” His gaze suddenly flicks over to Xiaojun, the corner of his lips twitching. “You look like shit.”

“I feel like shit,” Xiaojun grumbles, craning his head back. “But fuck those cocktails tasted good.”

“You know, you’re probably going to have to give Jeno the money back for raiding his stash.”

“Actually, it belonged to Yangyang,” Xiaojun corrects as he digs his hand through the front of his jean pockets, pulling out his phone and swiping up to get to his notification bar and he angles the screen towards the three of you with a grimace. “He dmed me on Instagram this morning telling me to pay him back but I’m not even going to open it.”

“Dude,” Mark gives him a pointed look. “You can’t do that.”

“But I can,” Xiaojun locks his phone and places it down on the table with a grin. “And I will.”

Jihoon murmurs, “But you drank his stuff without his permission.”

“He uses my laptop in classes without my permission!” Xiaojun argues back immediately, “It’s payback.”

“You shouldn’t have given him your password.”

“I didn’t. I gave it to Donghyuck because he wanted—” Xiaojun suddenly pauses, blinking a few times as he registers his own words before smacking his lips together with a nod, exhaling deeply through his nose. “Yeah. That’s my fault. Should’ve guessed Donghyuck wouldn’t keep his mouth shut about that.”

The mention of Donghyuck has you thinking back on last night and a subtle smile makes its way onto your lips, twisting the straw of your coffee in between your teeth as you go over the interaction in your head.

The smirk he always has, the tone of his voice as he speaks to you, the way he always keeps eye contact and doesn’t even falter once when something else is going on around him. His somewhat flirtatious comments and his lingering touches is what surprises you the most, but you tell yourself that maybe that’s just his personality. 

He’s like that with everyone, he must be.

“What’s got you smiling over there?” A teasing voice breaks you out of your thoughts, startling you as your head shoots up and you see Xiaojun grinning at you across the table, chin resting on the palm of his hand as he waits for you to explain the reason for your smiling but you remain tight lipped, causing his grin to drop. “Don’t be like that.”

“Don’t be nosy.” You fire back jokingly.

A soft call of your name makes you turn your head to Jihoon, “Did you enjoy the party yesterday?”

“It was fine,” You nod your head. “Didn’t get as drunk as everyone else did, but it was fine. College parties can be kind of overwhelming though,” You scratch the back of your neck awkwardly as you admit, “I don’t know why but I didn’t expect that many people to be there…”

“Yeah, Jeno is pretty well-known,” Mark hums as he takes a sip through his straw, leaning back in his seat comfortably. “Don’t get me wrong, like, that entire group are pretty much well-known but it’s mainly Jeno that gets the most attention and rallies everyone up for parties.”

“Areum kind of explained everything to me about them last night,” You say. “They’re an interesting group, I think. They also come across as a little intimidating apart from Shotaro… he was just smiling the entire night.”

“Shotaro’s sweet,” Mark agrees, nodding his head. “Also, once you get to really know them, they aren’t that intimidating—”

“I don’t know about that. Renjun still makes my skin crawl.” Xiaojun interrupts with a shiver.

“Renjun’s just not a people person,” Mark explains with a shrug of his shoulders. “He’s actually really nice if you have a one on one conversation with him,” Mark then turns his attention back on you, “But seriously, none of them are that intimidating once you get to really know them or be around them. Take Yangyang and Donghyuck for example, we don’t find either of them ‘intimidating’ since we share a class with them.”

“They’re just annoying,” Xiaojun chimes in again with a grimace on his face. “Especially Yangyang.”

You can’t help but chuckle at that, “What’s your problem with Yangyang?”

“Yangyang likes to annoy people a lot,” Jihoon is the one to explain to you as Xiaojun rubs at his temples at the mere thought of Yangyang. “He enjoys getting on people's nerves and, fortunately for him, Xiaojun reacts to everything he does so that just makes him do it even more… although, he hasn’t really been doing anything lately. He’s just been kinda numbed out.”

You hum, “Areum also mentioned that he indulges himself into some hard shit, alongside the weed and the alcohol.”

“That’s heartbreak for you, I guess.” Mark mumbles under his breath with a frown, tone sullen and your brows pull together in confusion, wanting to question it a little bit more but you struggle to find the opportunity when another topic is brought up.

“And obviously you know so much about Donghyuck already.”

“No I don’t,” You snip, sending a hard look Xiaojun’s way as he bats his pretty eyelashes at you. You repeat, “No I don’t”

“You were outside in the garden with him for quite some time last night~”

“I’m surprised you even remembered that considering when I walked back into the house, you were on your eighth shot dancing with one of the kitchen chairs.”

“Hey,” Xiaojun points his finger at you, “I may have been drunk but this brain of mine remembers everything.” He then smiles at you, “What did you guys talk about? Did he mention that you’re now his new obsession?”

Jihoon almost spits out his drink, “You’re his new obsession?”

“Why do you all call it that?” You huff with a frown, leaning back in your seat with your arms crossed over your chest. “It sounds mean—and wrong.”

“It’s kinda the truth,” Mark gives you a sorry expression. “Donghyuck does get obsessed with people and I’m almost positive he even knows it himself… He falls for people hard and he becomes so infatuated with them until they say they want nothing to do with him, and he just… stops.”

“He was into Aisha before,” Xiaojun states but you already knew that from Areum’s previous explanation. “He liked her a lot and I’m pretty sure she was into it for a while considering she flirted back and there were even rumours that they hooked up, like, once or twice… but I guess she got bored with that so she made up a lie and told Donghyuck that she was dating Mark—”

“Me. Of all people.” Mark points to himself in disbelief and shakes his head, the expression on his face being enough to get a laugh out of you. 

“I mean, I would believe it,” Jihoon shrugs his shoulders, causing Mark to look at him incredulously. “Come on, you once walked out of a bathroom with her at a Halloween party with your spider-man costume unzipped and your mask gone—”

“I had to fucking piss really bad and I couldn’t get out of the costume because I was drunk so she helped me,” Mark immediately defends himself, a pout forming on his lips. “Besides, it was hot, I wasn’t going to wear the mask all night.” He then fires back up, “I wouldn’t fuck someone in dingy club’s disgusting bathroom, dude!”

Xiaojun blinks, “You lost your virginity in a cheap motel room with your ex-girlfriend.”

Mark bites back, “You lost yours in your grandma's basement, shut up.”

“Okay, wow, uncalled for.”

“Don’t argue…” Jihoon sighs, rubbing his forehead at their raised voices and your brows raise as the pair both turn to look at Jihoon with blank expressions before they speak in sync.

“You lost yours in the college janitor closet and got caught.”“Wait, really?” You gape at Jihoon in shock, not expecting someone like a quiet and socially awkward Jihoon to do something so scandalous on campus grounds. But your shock dies down and morphs into shyness when you realise the trio are now looking at you, expecting you to chime in with your own embarrassing virginity story but the problem was, you had none. Your virginity is still intact.

“Do you not have one?” Mark questions after a few minutes of awkward silence and you shake your head, avoiding his eyes. He questions genuinely again, not a hint of teasing in his tone as he whispers quietly. “Are you a virgin?”

You nod.

“Aww…” Xiaojun coos softly, causing your head to snap towards him as he smiles sweetly at you, “That’s cute.”

Your face immediately burns with embarrassment as you sink further down into your seat, a deep frown settling on your lips, “Don’t ever call my virginity cute again.”

“Wow… I’m immensely impressed,” Professor Kim mumbles under his breath as he slips the headphones off of his head after listening to a little recording you had made on your computer, his lips curled into satisfied grin as he places the headphones down on the table and you beam happily, glancing between him and your computer screen. “I’m also really impressed that you finished this today. I was expecting you to show me the finished product by at least next week… I’m grateful that you take this class seriously.”

“I enjoy music,” You tell him honestly as you tap your fingers nervously on your desk, “Is there anything I need to change or to work on?”

“There’s nothing you need to work on, it sounds great,” He compliments yet you prepare yourself for the rest, “But for changes? I would like to encourage you to partner up with some of the other students in the class, work together on a piece and let your music styles blend together to see how well it compliments each other, or even try and create something new.”

“So, like a group project?”

“Exactly,” Professor Kim nods. “Like I said, you’re impressive. You’re an amazing guitarist and pianist, your music is incredible when you’re solo. But I would like to hear it within a group too. Yangyang is an incredible bass player that you can maybe add. Xiaojun and Aisha are amazing vocalists, Donghyuck too and he’s also great at the guitar. Jihoon is talented with the keyboard and Mark can do just about everything. Seriously, think about it. I would love to hear how you sound within a group.”

With a kind smile and a gentle pat to your shoulder, Professor Kim excuses himself to go talk to another student, leaving you alone to think about his words.

It’s not that you didn’t want to work in a group. You’re almost positive that working with your friends will be a fun type of chaotic mess that will have your stomach cramping and tears streaming down your cheeks from laughing so much.

It’s just that you didn’t know how to work in a group. You’ve always been independent in some sort of sense, especially with your own creations. You preferred sitting alone with your headphones snug on your head, testing out different sounds and techniques all by yourself, choosing what sounds best and what suits your needs.

But working in a group? Settling on one thing that will make each of you happy? That is foreign territory… that is stressful.

“So, what did he say to you?” Jihoon asks with a gentle nudge at your shoulder to get your attention and you pull your eyes away from your laptop screen to give him a tight lipped smile.

“He liked it. He just wants me to try out group work,” You almost start pleading, “Got any room in your group project for me to fit in?”

“Sure,” Jihoon nods with a kind smile, “Although I feel like I should probably warn you by saying that sometimes it’s not just me, Mark and Xiaojun working together… Donghyuck and Yangyang sometimes come back and forth, especially for Mark.”

Your brows raise in surprise, “They’re in your group too?”

“Not exactly. It’s more like them coming to us when we’re working to borrow Mark for their project,” Jihoon explains to you as he nods over at Mark who’s currently leaning on a desk with Donghyuck and Yangyang at his sides, peering over his shoulder to look at his laptop screen. “Mark pretty much floats in and out of other people's groups. It’s what you get for being an allrounder I guess.”

“Professor Kim mentioned something like that.” You mumble as you watch the trio, the corner of your lips twitching upwards in a slight smile as Mark scoffs at something Donghyuck says, swatting him away with his hand as Donghyuck grins mischievously and murmurs something in his ear, causing Mark to push at his head this time and Donghyuck stumbles back with a laugh.

Yangyang remains silent, idly drumming his fingers on the desk and rubbing tiredly at his sullen eyes beneath his hood. He seems to stop when turning his body towards you, as if looking your way to which makes your back straighten up, especially when Donghyuck’s head whips around at a mumble from Yangyang, looking directly at you. 

From across the room, Donghyuck smiles that crooked grin of his and his eyebrow quirks up when he sees that you’re already staring back at him. You can feel the warmth rising to your cheeks at being caught, and though you try to suppress the shy feeling that creeps in, you know he can already tell exactly how you’re feeling as his eyes twinkle with amusement, tilting his head to the side as if to tease you even more.

Donghyuck’s eyes never leave you as you turn away, trying to busy yourself with something else as your heart thumps wildly in your ears, feeling too overwhelmed to glance back at Donghyuck despite seeing him in your peripheral vision.

“You really have caught his attention,” Jihoon mutters beside you with a chuckle and you whip around to face him, eyes wide. “I thought that maybe Xiaojun and Mark were teasing you… but I guess Donghyuck really has started to take a liking to you. You are his new obsession.”

[pepperonidk]

the kids are alright || l.c

pairing: dad!lee chan x mom!reader warnings: reader goes by mom word count: 1362 summary: parenthood is chaotic, but things will come out alright in the end

a/n: i’ve been binge watching modern family and i felt bad for my latest jihoon angst so i thought i’d offer some tooth rotting fluff as an olive branch

main masterlist || taglist

“Okay,” you let out a sigh as you plopped down on the sofa beside your husband who was slipping his socks on. “That’s all three ready for school.” 

“Really?” Chan looked down at his watch with an impressed look. “With 6 whole minutes to spare. That’s gotta be a record.” You rolled your eyes playfully at him.

Before you could bask in the glory of mastering your kids’ morning routine however, a shrill voice called your name from upstairs. “Mom, I can’t find my biology project.”

Chan sucked in a breath and shook his head. “Spoke too soon,” he teased. You playfully shoved him as you stood from the couch and headed towards the kitchen. You and Chan had spent the better part of last night helping your daughter Jia with a diorama for her biology class (read: you and Chan did all the work). 

“It’s in the kitchen,” you called back as she came down the stairs. “Do you have everything else?” 

“Yeah,” she replied, grabbing the project off the counter and rushing behind you to the fridge to grab a water bottle. “Oh, one of the gremlins said they need cash for something at school today though.”

“Honey,” you chastised. “Don’t call your siblings that, it’s not nice.” By the end of your warning, she was already in the living room asking her father for a ride to the mall after school. 

“She called us what?” Minjun, one of the twins, asked as he entered the room with his jacket halfway on and his lunch box halfway unzipped. You rushed over to help him, letting out a sigh.

“Nothing,” you answered him before calling on your husband when you realized one of your kids had yet to make it downstairs. “Chan can you grab Minji? She’s still in her room.” 

Chan quickly replied a quick “Sure,” before running up the stairs to grab the other twin. It wasn’t until you heard Minji squeal as he literally grabbed her and picked her up that you turned your attention back to Minjun.

“Jia said you and Minji needed money today?” You questioned him as you inspected him to make sure he didn’t forget anything else. 

“Yeah,” he replied, ruffling his hair. “We have a class trip next week that we’re supposed to pay for.”

“A class trip?” you echoed back. “I didn’t know you had a class trip.”

Minjun shrugged his shoulders in response. “Minji and I told dad about it last week,” he explained.

You looked up at your husband coming down the stairs with your daughter riding on his shoulders. “Chan?” you questioned with your hands on your hips.

“Right,” he responded sheepishly. “I think I have the permission slips in my briefcase.” He set Minji down and quickly went to his study to find the slips. He returned and handed one piece of paper to each twin, only for Minji to groan.

“Ugh, dad,” she complained. “You gave me Minjun’s.” She and her brother swapped papers before stuffing them in their backpacks without a care and you cringed at the sight of their papers crumpling in the mess.

“Whoops,” Chan ran a hand through his hair. “Does everyone have everything?”

“Yes,” all three called in response.

“Alright, team,” he clapped and began with a cheery voice. “Happy Monday.”

It wasn’t until the kids were all dropped off that you and Chan were able to actually have a minute to yourselves. It was a rare day that you were both off from work and an even rarer day that the kids weren’t home. Although you very much loved your kids, it wasn’t hard to admit that it was nice to have a break from them every once in a while.

You and Chan had taken separate cars to drop the kids off so you could stop by the grocery store to pick up some things you were low on and by the time you finally made it back home, Chan was curled up on the couch watching a kids’ cartoon. You smiled at the sight of him clad in his old pajamas and with Minjun’s Spider-Man blanket only covering a small portion of his body.

“Hey,” he greeted you quietly before sitting up. Once he noticed the grocery bags in your hands, he stood up to grab them from you before heading into the kitchen to help you put the groceries away.

“How was drop-off?” he asked you as he put the produce in the fridge.

“It wasn’t too bad today,” you shrugged. “I got to the twins’ school before the typical traffic jam, so you know… a happy Monday indeed.” You smirked at Chan, feeling proud of your small win for the day. “What about you?”

Chan let out a sigh, now folding up the emptied grocery bag. “Jia made me drive at like half the speed limit,” he glared at you as you laughed at his misery. “She said that her diorama was precious cargo and then went on a tangent about how her whole future is on the line and blah, blah–”

You swatted him playfully. “Honey, I’m pretty sure it’s illegal for us as parents to blah blah our kids,” you joked.

Chan simply scoffed. “Show me where in the parent rulebook it says that,” he replied as you rolled your eyes. “I did what she asked, anyway. Took us almost 30 minutes to get to the drop-off area, but I did it, because I’m an amazing father.” He leaned back against the counter while you finished putting away the last box of cereal.

“You definitely are,” you agreed with just a hint of sarcasm in your voice as you walked back to the living room with your husband hot on your heels.

“Hey,” he stuttered, and without even turning to look at him, you knew his lips were pushed into a pout. “I am an amazing father.”

You laughed as you plopped down onto the sofa where he was earlier and took the small blanket for yourself. “I never said you weren’t,” you replied impishly. “But remember that time when you forgot Jia–”

Chan cut you off by sitting down next to you and poking your side, eliciting a squeal from you. “I didn’t forget her,” he corrected. “I was teaching her a lesson about being independent. I only made it to the parking lot before I remembered.” The last part came out mumbled and you let out a laugh. 

“Well what about the time Minjun asked for ketchup on his fries and you accidentally put sriracha sauce on it instead?” Chan retorted.

“Hey,” you chided, poking him back on the side. “I was also teaching him a lesson.”

“Yeah?” Chan teased, grabbing your hands to stop you from retaliating. “What lesson were you teaching him? That sriracha is scary?”

“No,” you retorted. “That uh… that sometimes moms make mistakes.” You pouted at the end of your sentence and Chan chuckled before pulling you onto his lap.

“Aw, sweetheart,” he cooed and you buried your face into his neck. “At least it was a funny mistake.” You poked him in the rib one last time as he let out a pained chuckle. He tightened his hold around you and the two of you stayed quiet for a beat with only the sound of the cartoon playing in the background.

“Chan,” you called his name softly. “Do you think the kids are gonna be alright?”

He hummed thoughtfully before replying. “Of course,” he replied softly and with seriousness. “We’re good parents.”

“Even though I fed my 3 year old son sriracha?” you asked.

“Yes,” he answered. “And even though I almost forgot a 7 year old at the store.”

You laughed against his chest. “How do you know that?”

“Because they have parents who love them and will love them no matter what,” he pulled away from you to look into your eyes. “And even if we make mistakes along the way, we don’t stop trying to do better, and neither will they.”

“The kids are lucky to have you,” you replied before leaning up to meet Chan in a soft kiss. “And so am I.”

taglist: @yksthings @iamxelia @coveyland @xuimhao @sana-is-ms-rmty @gummymintae

[neowinestainedress]

Hey love ur writings! Could you write a shot with Mark the way u wrote for doyoung pls? The needy doyoung and wife trying to find privacy to do it lol

w!: aged up mark (28yo) but only if you care enough to do the math, outdoor teasing, fingering, oral (f receiving), unprotected s*x, romantic (i guess?)

a/n: dad!nct is making me feel things ngl. anyway, thanks, and hope you’ll like this!

You and Mark have a long story. You had been dating for five years when he decided to pop the question. And now, five years of marriage and two kids later, you’re still as in love as you were when you first met.

And if love is still in the air, the same thing can be said about passion. Mark is still as clingy as he was ten years ago. He will never help you cook (for the safety of the family, he washes and dries the dishes) but he will always make sure to tease you, wrapping his hands around your waist and kissing your neck while he whispers things to your ear, at times innocent, at times things that would make you want to have him right there and then. And you’d do it if only it weren’t for the little ones running around the house. 

He even dares to tease you when you’re outside, busy taking care of the garden. “You used to be braver when we were younger,” he pouts when you slap his hand away, looking around fearing the neighbours might see. “Exactly, we were younger.” 

“Oh, so the rumours are true,” Mark chuckles, “you can’t take me anymore?” 

“Oh, please, shut up, Lee,” you say, playfully kicking him with a swing of the hips. 

“You sure you can?” He teases, kissing your neck while his hands wander on your body, this time cupping your right boob with no impediment. 

Your breath falters as you try to keep your focus on the plants, and you hum in reply. 

“The neighbours are out,” he whispers, dibbling your neck after moving your hair to the side. “We can have a bit of fun.”

You let out a low moan, head rolling back while the hold on the watering can loosens. “Mark,” you whimper when his other hand reaches down, moving on your clit through the fabric of the long dress you’re wearing. 

“Mommy! Daddy! Minjun is drawing on the wall!” Minseo’s scream immediately makes Mark pull away and you drop the can from your hands, splashing it all on your clothes. 

“I can’t do this anymore,” you sigh exhausted, looking at your husband in disbelief. 

Mark chuckles, kissing you briefly. “Get changed, I’ll take care of the modern Pollock,” he says before running inside with your oldest daughter.  

You wish this wasn’t a constant, but it is. Every time you two have some moments alone, something happens. You don’t get mad, after all, Minjun is only two years old and wants to explore the world, especially now that he learned how to walk. But you miss those old days when he would spend most of the time sleeping or playing in the playpen. 

“Mommy!” It’s a Friday afternoon when you think you might finally have the opportunity for something to happen, after Minseo comes back from school with your husband with a big smile on her face. 

“Hi, honey. How was school?” 

“Great! A friend invited me to her place tonight. Can I go?” She asks, swinging her body side by side as she waits for your answer. 

“Of course, you can,” you reply, smiling back. “Come on, let’s go prepare the bag.” 

Getting Minjun to sleep is harder than usual, and you fear that night won’t go as you exactly planned. But you still succeed to make him fall asleep before Mark comes back from dropping Minseo, and have time to get ready. 

You forgot how it felt to slip into lingerie and admire yourself in the mirror, and you can’t wait for Mark to see it. 

“Fuck,” it’s the first thing Mark says when he sees you as soon as he enters the place. “You look — shit — you look perfect.” 

You giggle, finding endearing how his reaction is still as awkward as always. 

“Where’s — uhm — where’s the baby?” He asks, looking around. 

“The baby’s asleep,” you smile, walking toward him in your high heels, studying his face, and watching him gulp with each step closer. “We have all night to ourselves.” 

“If he doesn’t wake up,” Mark whispers, but his eyes are running on your body, stopping on your chest that’s pressed up by the bra and then moving down where the lace lingerie is basically see-through before falling on your legs. “I — I’m speechless.” 

“I forgot it takes nothing to impress you,” you chuckle before pulling him in for a heated kiss. 

“Nothing?” He asks through the kiss, struggling to catch his breath as you hurry to get him out of his clothes. “It’s you,” he says before lifting you up and walking upstairs. 

Once you’re in your bedroom, he lays you on the bed, swiftly getting out of his pants and underwear to be on top of you and kiss you again. You both needed this like air, and it’s clear in the way you are both so harsh and greedy with your hands and lips. 

“You’re so wet,” he whispers when his fingers reach between your legs and he starts moving them in circles on your clit. You don’t reply, not like he needs your verbal confirmation, and not like you’d be able to give it to him anyway. You feel on fire, and so close already. Probably it’s because Mark is really good at this, pushing his fingers in and out, curling them right where it makes you tremble, and sucking your clit until he leaves you breathless, or probably because your body has been left starved for so long, too long. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter, and you don’t care you come so easily. 

“Fuck, babe,” he murmurs, trailing up to kiss you while he keeps pumping his fingers to ride your orgasm. “Missed me much.” 

“So fucking much,” you mumble, pulling him down by his nape. “Need you inside me, Mark,” you whisper, but when he doesn’t obey, you feel your patience wear thin. “Now, Mark. I need you, now!” 

“Damn, alright, darling,” he giggles, pulling out of you before positioning between your legs. “Keep quiet if you want this to last.” 

“He won’t wake up, just fuck me alright.” 

Mark doesn’t say a word, just grabs the base of his dick to push into you slowly, whimpering as he sinks into you and your wet, warm pussy wraps around him. “Fuck,” he breathes out, voice shaky, “it’s been ages.” His hold on your hips tightening as he starts moving, rubbing on your soft skin. 

“Come here,” you beg, wrapping your arms around his neck as soon as he leans closer before doing the same with your legs on his waist. “Needed you so much,” you whisper, running your hand on his back, enjoying the sensation of his soft, bare skin. 

“Me too, honey,” he moans, throwing his head back as he starts picking up a rhythm. 

“More,” you cry out. “Please, Mark. Faster,” you plead, fingers running in his blonde hair, pulling at it until a louder, deeper moan rolls from his lips. 

He utters a curse before his hips start moving faster against you. “You feel so fucking good, shit,” he breathes out. “Won’t last long.” 

“Don’t,” you reply breathlessly, “fill me up, please.” 

Mark would love to make this last more, but he can’t resist you. The way your pussy is gripping him and dripping is making him go insane, not to mention how beautiful you look with your head thrown back, overwhelmed with pleasure while your parted lips let out the prettiest moans he has ever heard. He should remind you to keep it quieter, but he’s too lost in those sounds to care. 

“Mark, please,” you cry out, pushing him closer again. And in that messy, needy kiss, you both lose it, the orgasm hitting you hard, leaving you trapped in a panting mess. 

He stays on top of you for a while, leaving small kisses all over your face and whispering how lucky he is to have you, making your heart burst with joy. But when his arms don’t hold his body up anymore, he’s out of you, rolling to the side, with his arm resting on his forehead as he tries to take deep breaths again.

“Wait,” Mark says, watching you climb on top of him, “what are you doing?” 

You smile smugly. “Minjun didn’t wake up,” you say, grabbing his dick and aligning to your entrance, slowly sinking on it. “I told you we were going to have all night to ourselves.” 

© neowinestaindress; all rights reserved. do NOT repost, modify, or translate any work from this blog on any other platform and claim it as yours. you can find my works on ao3 (neowinestaindress) and wattpad (winestaintedress_; currently inactive).

[pinkbrries]

JUNE’S CELEBRITY CRUSHES

june’s masterlist

MIN YOONGI — BTS ♡

*pretends to be shocked*

june talks more about yoongi than she talks about jungkook😭 and that’s her WHOLE BEST FRIEND

minjun has had this crush since she met yoongi for the first time. she always thought he was so cool and handsome, and he was always really kind with her everytime she saw him

someone asking her ideal type? watch her reply with “suga sunbaenim” in a heartbeat. not even a single ounce of doubt in her voice

imagine little june meeting rookie yoongi being all cool and kind, she was like 🥰 oppa is so cool

he’s like ‘that best friend of your older brother (aka jungkook) you have a crush on’ kinda thing

she loves the rap line, but for her? min yoongi is such an awesome person🫶 (hobi is lowkey resentful it’s not him😕 JZKSJS)

yoongi knows about this crush tho, and he finds it funny and adorable lol

jungkook is always teasing june about it, but does she care? no❤️

NAM JOOHYUK — ACTOR ♡

okay but can you BLAME HER??? LOOK AT THIS MAN!🫶

she saw him for the first on ‘moon lovers’ and she was all ❤️_❤️

listen, she’s a simple woman: she sees an amazing actor with amazing visuals? she’s sold

she even had him as her lockscreen😭😭 dating rumors were made up and she literally turned live just to show everyone her lockscreen like 🧍‍♀️📱”this is nam joohyuk sunbaenim??? wish he was my bf tho

nam joohyuk is her favorite actor, she hopes she can meet him in some near future

let’s hope for the best minjunnie🤞

KIM HONGJOONG — ATEEZ ♡

oh man… she developed a crush back during her mixnine era

she was like ?? hello??? he’s so talented and attractive???

she tried befriending him back then but he was so shy and kinda quiet,,,, so she just befriended jongho and wooyoung. she’s kinda acquaintances w him tho

when they debuted she sent all of them a congratulatory message, and she just became an atiny because !!!!! ateez is so COOL man🫶 (stan ateez for a better life)

again, she admires the rap line (bc mingi is so cool too<3 she met him through wooyoung lol) but for her? heart eyes for kim hongjoong❤️

LEE JIEUN — SOLOIST ♡

there’s something jungkook and june share beside being besties, and that’s their love for iu HEJWJS

she loves LOVES iu like fr, that’s one of her celebrity crushes and role models right there!!!

her first audition ever for sm was an iu song….. imagine for how long june has admired her omg

june is always playing iu’s songs whenever she has vlives or she talks about her songs whenever she has the chance. she’s always like !!! iu sunbaenim !!! an ICON!!!!

she legit cried when she got an autographed album by her (courtesy of yoongi when he worked with her<3 shootout to him. the only man ever!!)

she’d literally fight ANYONE that tries to come in contact with that damned album because it’s such a prized possession for her (sunghoon got biten because he tried to touch it… deserved)

she dreams of becoming a great producer or songwriter so maybe she could make a song with her in some near future, go follow your dreams my little june!!

JEON WONWOO — SEVENTEEN ♡

june has it bad for him since his pre-debut era

she was curious about ‘seventeen project’ back in 2015, and she just… fell in love with jeon wonwoo

LISTEN!!! she was like? 13-14 y/o and she was so mesmerized by every single svt member but for her, jeon wonwoo had something different

nonetheless to say, seventeen is one of her favorites groups and jeon wonwoo is one of her ultimate bias

she was the happiest when she had the opportunity to attend svt’s first japanese concert and she saw this dude

imagine little june holding a banner with wonwoo’s name on it to show her support😭 SOBBING BRB

she lowkey hopes she can become closer with him since they practice in the same building (and since some of the svt members have adopted june as their daughter already lol)

IM CHANGKYUN — MONSTA X ♡

okay, i think we have established something here: minjun has a thing for rappers and for people that joined survival shows

changkyun is no exception okay,,,, she would watch “no.mercy” but when she saw him joining mid-competition, she couldn’t help but feel bad abt him:// like WHY IS EVERYONE SO RUDE TO HIM?>:(

after he debuted, she was like !!!! deserved king !!!!

she loves his deep voice and the way he raps like 🧎‍♀️ he’s so talented bestie?? HELLO???

she finally met him during that midnight idol interview and she was so heart eyes😭 AND LITTLE GIGGLES AND STUFF HELP

she blushed so hard when he said that minjun was really pretty, watch stan twitter post the video and being “same june” JXKSJS

leave her ALONE! im changkyun is literally so attractive and kind and talented and 🫶🫶🫶 we love changkyun in this house

PERMANENT TAGLIST: @ateezjuliet @alixnsuperstxr @nvmbheart @sunflower-0180 @smh-anon @mingis-wrld (if you want to get added send me an ask or fill this form !!)

[equalv]

South Korean tv shows with lgbt* characters

Because so many people liked my post for german tv shows with queer characters, I thought I‘d compile lists for other countries as well.

A-Z

A First Love Story (2021) (mlm) | YouTube

Jaesung (Kim Hyeongwon)

Mingyu (Jung Jaewoon)

Blueming (2022) (mlm, wlw) | IQIYI

Hyeong Daun (Jo Hyukjoon)

Cha Siwon (Kang Eunbin)

Cha Siyeong (Moon Hyein)

Choco Milk Shake (2022) (mlm) | YouTube

Jungwoo (Ko Hojung)

Choco (Lee Jaebin)

Milk (Kim Seonghyuk)

Uncle (Park Seungbin)

Girlfriend Project Day 1 (2022) (wlw) | YouTube

Ahn Gain (Park Hyunwoo)

Song Heeram (Bing Hyejin)

His Man (2022-) (mlm) | IQIYI, Gagaoolala | reality tv

Season 1

Kim Changyu

Kim Seonyul

Jeon Eunchan

Lee Jeonghyun

Kim Changmin

Leon Hyukjun

Lee Hyeon

Hokeep

Season 2

Shin Sungho

Oh Minsung

Kim Yoonghee

DABIT

DAENYOL

Lee Junseong

Yang Hyunjin

Joon Seonwoo

Jazz for Two (2024) (mlm) | IQIYI, Gagaoolala

Han Taeyi (Ji Hogeun)

Yoon Seheon (Kim Jinkwon)

Seo Doyoon (Song Hangyeom)

Lily Fever (2015) (wlw) | YouTube

Kim Kyungju (Kim Hyejoon)

Jang Serang (Jung Yeonjoo)

Love Class (2022-) (mlm) | Viki, Gagaoolala

Season 1

Cha Jiwoo (Han Hyunjun)

Lee Roa (Kim Taehwan)

Kim Namjun (Yoo Hyukjae)

Season 2

Lee Hyun (J-min)

Shin Maru (Lee Kwanghee)

Oh Minwoo (Woo Hyowon)

Kim An (Kim Yongseok)

Yoo Joohyuk (An Jeonggyun)

Kim Sungmin (Jung Woojae)

Love for Love's Sake (2024) (mlm) | IQIYI, Gagaoolala

Tae Myungha (Lee Taevin)

Cha Yeowoon (Cha Joowan)

Chun Sangwon (Oh Minsu)

Ahn Kyunghoon (Cha Woongki)

Love Tractor (2023) (mlm) | IQIYI

Seon Yul (Do Won)

Suh Yechan (Yoon Dojin)

Kwon Inseo (Yang Seungbin)

Merry Queer (2022) (mlm, wlw, trans) | Gagaoolala | documentary

Kim Minjun

Park Bosung

Yoo Taeyoon

Lee Minju

Im Garam

Lee Seungeun

Our Dating Sim (2023) (mlm) | VIKI, Gagaoolala

Shin Kitae (Lee Seunggyu)

Lee Wan (Lee Jonghyuk)

Semantic Error (2022) (mlm, wlw) | VIKI, Gagaoolala

Jang Jaeyoung (Park Seoham)

Chu Sangwoo (Park Jaechan)

Choi Yuna (Song Jioh)

She Makes My Heart Flutter (2022) (wlw) | YouTube

Gangseol (Byun Jihyun)

Jung One (Park Somi)

Yubin (Choi Jiwon)

Sarang (Kang Nayoung)

Leera (Ahn Yeonsun)

The Eighth Sense (2023) (mlm) | VIKI

Seo Jaewon (Lim Jisub)

Kim Jihyun (Oh Juntaek)

To My Star (2021-2022) (mlm) | VIKI, IQIYI

Season 1 & 2:

Kang Seojoon (Son Woohyun)

Han Jiwoo (Kim Kangmin)

Our Relationship Ended Before It Began (2023) (wlw) | YouTube (only Ep 1 and 2 are available for free right now, but I still wanted to share this series (Link))

Yoonah (Park Hayoung)

Kim Ahyoung (Park Sanha)

Note: For this list, I decided not to add a symbol for shows that center queerness, because in a way all of these shows do that and at the same time almost none actually do. Queer characters and their love stories are featured in every show in this list, but most of them do not address any other queer aspects of their lives and only some address the fact that they are queer at all. This is not a critique of South Korean shows, but just an observation of their current media landscape and added as context, in case you are interested in watching.

[svajonesblog]

Look at my eyes ➶۪ ｡˚

Characters : Lee Minho x gang member fem!reader

Tw : gang activity, Minho is written as a softie drugs angst knives blood happy ending, swearing a lot of it

Minho is addicted to you he knew he was the way he will trace over your touch never taking off the necklace you gave him, waiting for your texts ،staying up late with you on the phone , and he loves how you spoiled him you will never say no to him he was such a softie around you wanting to be taking care of by you only you he never liked feeling like he was owned but to feel owned by you that’s a feeling that he will die for

. You are so fucking. good at what you do

Ever since Minho met you 2 years ago ,a rush was added to his life you made everything so much more fun so much more energetic, he found himself easily comfortable around you. Everyone did his members his family his friends you were just that type person you know ? everyone had fun around you ! You’re full of life you were doing what you love the most

He met you at a park when he ran away from society after a long day of work, he sat at the park bench at 2 AM thinking about life

when he heard a unfamiliar voice ,He looked up feeling his breath catching in his throat you were stunning , your hair was down you were wearing jeans sports bra and a cropped sleeveless jean jacket showing your stunning figure and was covered in tattoos all over your arm and neck your cap hiding most of your face and he could tell how much of a jewelry lover you were judging by the amount of chains rings and piercings you had . It was summer the weather was so hot outside yet this rush of cold air hit him in the face when you spoke “ are you okey dude ? You shouldn’t be out at this hour by yourself yk ? “ you said walking closer to him “ i could ask you the same “ he said backing away “chill I’m not going to hurt you that’s not what I do to pretty boys “ he could help the blush that crept to his face “ I’m just thinking about things “

“Damn life is being a bitch and fucking everyone up lately huh ?”

He chuckled at that “yeah that’s one way to put it “

“ wait… aren’t you that Lee Minho dude for the band stray kids “

“Y-yeah that’s me “

“ holy shit are you just going to set there you’re lucky I wasn’t some crazy person that will make one hell of a news headline “

“ didn’t really know where to go “

“ fellow me there is a bar I work at across the park I’ll keep you company until you need to leave “

Usually he would have been on his way by now but something about just didn’t let him leave just yet he fallowed you with so much ease it scared him you entered the bar and sat in table that was far away from the others and went ahead and ordered some drinks for the both of you “ hope you like the place “ taking a look around it was quite empty people probably left already the music that was playing was early 2000s songs the lights were off just some led lights here and there “ yeah it looks nice “ just as your drinks were there taking a sip of his own ( after looking at it for a while to make sure it had nothing in it ) he jumped hearing you y’all at the guy who was on the dj set “ you better not mess my shit up minjun drink you fruity drinks in the bar “ as fast as you spoke the guy ran back to the bar stools “you play music here ?” He asked “yeah funny enough I used to want to be an idol “ and your conversation sparked from there he went home at 6 am that day (after fighting with you over the bill that you paid for at the end ,he found himself coming back to you every night after that even tho he always thought to himself that this is bad he can’t be seen with you you’re so much different from him fans will freak out if they saw him with you but the way you just took care of him made him weak in the knees he just had to be around you

every sign of the “ tough Lee Minho “disappeared he was just your soft cat/dance/food loving friend,well …he eventually leveled up to be your boyfriend

Back to today:

On Fridays you don’t work so you spend all day at home relaxing as you told him before so usually when he gets home at 10 pm he’ll find you there waiting for me today he wanted to surprise by coming home at 8 but to his surprise he doesn’t find you there

“ well that’s weird she didn’t text me she going to be out “

he texts you and wait around changing his clothes and getting comfy in your couch staring out of the huge windows that had a full view of the city your cat “ace” on his lap watching tv until the clock hit 9:50 pm he heard the sound of the code to your apartment being punched in he looks at his phone seeing that you haven’t read his texts so he reaches to the front door only to find you holding a cloth over your hand blood all over it you mouth had a cut in it to “ Minho ? What are you doing here ? “ you said as you finally noticed him “the fuck happened to you “ he said leading you to the kitchen taking the aid kit and helping you clean up “it’s just a couple of bruises and cuts baby boy I’ll be fine “ you said trying to make him feel at ease “ y/n you’re bleeding what do you mean it’s nothing ?!” He yelled at you you kept quiet and headed to shower as he waited for you he saw your duffel bag sitting by the door he doesn’t know what got to him but he went and started going through it and he wish so bad that he didn’t it was filled with cash , racing gear, drugs,pocket knife , bags of pills that’s didn’t have names on them cigarettes he looks down in horror at all of them “y/n what actually are you” he heard the water stop and he runs back to his spot on the couch next to your cat you come out of the shower in long black shorts and tank top you head your kitchen first grabbed a shot cup filled it with alcohol and put it on your eyebrow piercing a part from your routine for it to not get infected you could feel his eyes on you since your kitchen and living room where in the same space “ why are you looking at me like that ?” She asked leaning on the kitchen counter “what are you ?” He asked the “tough “ side of him was put in use for the first time around “ y/n? your girlfriend remember?” The reply only got on his nerves more actually “ no I mean what ARE YOU ? What do you actually do y/n ? You’re not just a dj are you ? “

“ min baby what are you sa-“

“Don’t lie I saw your bag “

“You went through my bag”

“Yes now answer “

The room fall silent for a few minutes

“ I’m in a gang okey ? but listen it’s not as bad as you think it is ”

“ how the fuck is being in a gang not bad ?”

“ listen it’s just what my share of life was okey? this is what’s best for me ”

“What’s best for you is doing illegal shit ? Getting in trouble with the law ? I thought you want to art school?”

“ yeah i did go to art school b-“

“ I thought you wanted to make music but I guess that’s a lie too !”

“ no it’s not I actually like what I do baby listen let me explain to you “

“Explain what ?! that all this time when I thought that you are just busy in the bar I thought you were safe thought that you were loyal thought that this relationship was actually something! You were actually out there doing god knows what it is you do ? ”

“What does me being in gang have to do with anything about our relationship “

“ It has everything to do with it !!! Y/n I showed you everything that I am I let you do whatever ever you want with me I was like an idiot giggling like a fool when you were around me I trusted you! my friend my members my family trusted you I can’t believe I didn’t notice sooner you’re coming home late at night so I thought you were working but the bar is closed in the morning so I don’t what the hell you were out doing the bloody tissues in the trash, the new cuts everyday you said it was just an accident at work I believe because you worked around drunk people ,you smelling like cigarettes ! the money! did you steal the gifts you gave me ? Did you even love me ? You played me like a fucking fool for 2 years ?!“

“Can you just shut the fuck up ?” He was caught off by the sound of glass shattering as you threw the cup to the floor. “ I’m sorry ok? I’m sorry that I’m a fuck up . that I didn’t have anyone to love me and guide me to do better,but don’t you say that I never loved you ! I loved you more than love it self you think I want this, you’re a fucking idol I’m in a gang i wanted to tell you but I lied to you because I didn’t want you to leave me i couldn’t lose you i lied knowing this was going to be your reaction you can leave me if you want I’m not stopping you but just so you know I was real with you ! Yes I lied to you but besides this lie ? every kiss hug compliment every moment and even when we mad love that shit was real Minho

Storming to your bedroom and slamming the door behind you Minho sat there in shock from you yelling at him sat there with the guilt of you actually being right you never hurt him you were so good to him gifts dates late night drives all of it you did it All for him you made love to him so sweetly he was left feeling like he is floating after words your there for him during shows interviews tours you’re proud of him for just breathing you found and made him one of your own

He looks at the clock in the kitchen and sees it was almost mid night “shit have we been fighting that long?” He grabs his stuff and leaves hoping that some space will clear both of your thoughts he leaves a note behind him tho informing you that he just wants a moment and he doesn’t want this to be the end and loves you and is sorry for what was said

Thank you guys so much for reader the first part of the “look at my eyes story “ I want to make a different ( I think ) plot were the reader is the mafia / gangster character the second part will come out in couple of hours <3

[diorkyeom]

‘✷’ : CHAPTER SEVEN “the seokmin version”

<< prev chapter | ao3 fic | next chapter >>

chapter word count: 5.7k+

chapter warnings: none

summary: "lately, seokmin had come to a realisation. joshua hong, seokmin thought, was a little bit of an enigma." - in which seokmin has known joshua for years, but he's always been a bit of a mystery to him. and as the days go by, he finds himself falling further and further for the enigmatic man, wanting to find out who the real Joshua Hong is behind his polite smiles and warm eyes and sweet words.

notes: every time i post a new chapter it ends up being my new favourite

"I'm leaving right away today," Seokmin declared to the literature office the moment he stepped inside after finishing his last class. "No staying late to do marking for me."

"Good for you," Yuna said drily. "Go away, then. I have fifteen students who handed in work late. And I need to mark it by tomorrow."

Hayoung groaned. "You and me both. But I actually only have three kids, so I'll probably be out in another hour or so."

Minjun stormed into the office at that moment, carrying a stack of papers and huffing. He slammed his papers down on his desk with a loud thump, drawing the attention of all the other teachers. 

Yuna blinked, eyes widening at the black, inky mess. "Minjun, is that—"

"The printer," Minjun said, "is broken. Really badly. And the IT department have already fucking left. I'm gonna have to stay behind to fix it, because apparently no one else on this floor is competent enough to do it, and you're all gonna help me."

There was a beat. 

"Well, I guess that's my cue to leave," Seokmin chirped, and then beamed brightly, grabbing his bag and backing out of the door. "See you guys tomorrow!"

"Lee Seokmin, you come back here!" Yuna screeched, but the door was already swinging shut, and Seokmin skipped down the hallway with a laugh, on his way to find Joshua. 

It had been a few days since their late-night discussion under the streetlamp, and things were still pretty much normal between them. 

Seokmin still grinned and chattered and occasionally stumbled over his words, and Joshua still nodded and listened and watched Seokmin with that soft, soft gaze, adding in his own teasing remarks and letting Seokmin ramble as much as he wanted. 

Joshua was still the Seokmin version of himself, the version he put on when he and Seokmin bumped into each other at school, or when Seokmin popped over to their house to say hi to Jeonghan, or simply whenever they were in public, in broad daylight. It really must have been hard for him to switch it off, Seokmin mused, but he was okay with that. 

Joshua was understandable now. He was still rippling and changing and effervescent, but Seokmin could identify what all the different colours were. 

Seokmin thought briefly that maybe Joshua would never cease to be an enigma. That he’d always be confusing and elusive and endlessly pretty, all at once. 

It didn't really seem like a bad thing. 

He hummed to himself as he walked down the Music corridor, before poking his head into the classroom that Joshua was working in. His eyes widened, and he quietened his steps as he took in the scene before him. 

Joshua was sitting at the piano in the corner of the room, a student sitting on the chair beside him, and he was going over chords and playing around with melodies for her. His voice was calm, carrying gently through the empty room as he played a few chords, spreading them out and explaining his process. 

"—really, really lovely," he was saying. "Honestly, diminished seventh chords work really well, but maybe you might want to try some ninths? Something that sounds sweet and dramatic, and the arpeggios would work really well for that."

He demonstrated, improvising a melody on top of the accompaniment, and the loveliest, most delicate sound floated through the air, all pale warmth and swirling leisurely through the room, before making its way to Seokmin at the doorway.

Joshua continued to thoughtfully glide his way across the keys, eyes following the movements of his fingers, the music singing under his touch, glass-smooth and pretty and golden, and Seokmin’s eyes were wide as the melody slowly trailed away, resting still and calm under Joshua’s fingertips.

“Something like that?” Joshua suggested to the student next to him, all casual, as if Seokmin’s heart hadn’t started hammering rapidly in his chest from the display of such gorgeous sounds.

The student nodded eagerly, listening intently as Joshua began to explain the overall idea of a piece that she should aim to achieve, and that was when Seokmin decided that maybe he should wait outside of the classroom until he was finished.

Once he was out in the empty corridor, he put a hand to his forehead, sighing. 

That was weird. Seokmin didn’t normally start feeling dizzy whenever he listened to Seungkwan practise his musical theatre songs, nor did his heart start racing when Soonyoung showed him the new song he’d made Jihoon compose for him. It was just music, after all. Just his friends belting out notes, sometimes nonsensically, oftentimes obnoxiously. It wasn’t anything special.

But Seokmin thought about Joshua’s eyelashes fluttering as he traced watercolour patterns across the keys, the gentle, pensive expression on his face as the shimmering softness unfolded before the silent room, the way his own heart was still beating abnormally loud in his ears simply at the memory of Joshua playing the piano.

He closed his eyes, fingers finding the strap of his shoulder bag, grasping it tight. 

That hadn’t just been music. It had been something far too beautiful for words.

“Seokmin?”

Seokmin’s eyes flew open, and he turned to see Joshua leaving the classroom behind the student, who shouldered her bag and turned back round to give a last quick wave to the music teacher.

“Thanks so much, Mr. Hong! I’ll see you next week!”

Joshua smiled, returning her wave. “See you, Yerin.”

And then the girl was off, speeding out of the Music department, and Joshua turned back to Seokmin, the endeared fondness of his expression changing into something sweeter, fluffier, softer. It made Seokmin smile, in spite of himself, because that smile? That was Joshua’s ‘Seokmin Smile’.

“Shua hyung,” Seokmin greeted, shouldering his bag and pushing up his glasses in one motion, missing the way that Joshua’s eyes brightened at the greeting. “I heard you talking with that girl a few moments ago.”

Joshua hummed, popping back into his classroom for a moment to grab his bag and his coat, before promptly reemerging and walking beside Seokmin down the corridor. “Yerin’s normally very good with her compositions. She just has trouble getting the ideas in her head down onto paper, but once she cracks that, she’ll do really well.”

Seokmin grinned, nudging Joshua with his elbow. “She’ll do even better now that she has you, I just know it. You’re really good, hyung.”

“Aw, thank you,” Joshua said with a chuckle. He pushed open the doors to the Music department, letting Seokmin leave first. “I should hope so, though. I’ve been playing music for several years now. It would be a bit worrying if I wasn’t.”

“You know that wasn’t what I meant,” Seokmin insisted, half-whining, before smiling as Joshua looked up at him, eyes twinkling. “You should play something for us at some point, Shua hyung. Maybe at the next Game Night. It’d be fun!”

Joshua tilted his head, and they finally stepped through the school’s front doors, entering the cool late afternoon air. The slight breeze ruffled Joshua’s hair as he adjusted his coat in his arms, gaze sliding away from Seokmin’s and out into the distance. “You want me to play for all of you?”

Seokmin thought about it for a moment. “Maybe just for me?” he suggested. “If you’re uncomfortable with showing everyone.”

For some reason, his words made Joshua’s posture stiffen before easing a millisecond later, shoulders relaxing as he continued to look forwards, before finally his eyes found their way back to Seokmin’s. 

He smiled, irises sparkling in the faint sunlight. “Maybe.”

And then he shook his head, so his hair was no longer in his eyes, bumping against Seokmin lightly with his shoulder.

“I haven’t seen you all day, though. Tell me about your day?”

Seokmin immediately brightened, leaping at the chance to ramble to his Shua hyung, launching into a full, exhaustive run-down of what had happened to him throughout the seven hours in which he’d been at work.

Joshua had gone back into full gentlemanly polite mode again, wearing his pretty, courteous colours once more, all soft cotton candy and not-quite within Seokmin’s grasp. It really did seem to be his daytime default, to infuse one of his personalities into him at all times, but Seokmin could see how they genuinely were always just Joshua too.

He cherished these moments, where it was just the two of them, walking to work or back from work or just randomly bumping into each other at night. It felt special, when no one else was around, when Jeonghan’s rippling gaze was no longer fixed on them, when Soonyoung wasn’t creating the latest distraction just within their line of sight. It was just them.

Just Joshua and Seokmin.

And Seokmin especially cherished those random night visits, where they suddenly spotted each other walking on opposite sides of the road, or where they wordlessly decided to come back to that one bench beside the river that Seokmin had first seen Joshua on his nightly walks. There was something more precious about them, more delicate, vulnerable.

Joshua was more himself, then. He smiled more easily, talked more easily, asked Seokmin questions but also answered them too, straight-on with no elusive dancing around. He was, all in all, much more comfortable when it was just them, and it was something that Seokmin felt almost honoured to witness. 

With every nightly meetup, Joshua seemed to relax even more, and for reasons unknown to Seokmin, it made him feel all happy and fluttery inside whenever Joshua’s eyes softened into gold and the cotton facade all but melted away.

───────────── ‘✷,

“I get what you mean,” Seokmin said thoughtfully, pushing up his glasses as he frowned down at his own book, “but I think saying that Achilles was dealing with ‘the everyday gay traumas’ isn’t going to sit well with the examiners.”

The students laughed, and Seokmin smiled, blinking wide-eyed at them.

“Don't get me wrong, I agree wholeheartedly. If you can somehow manage to fit that analysis in with the themes in the Iliad, I'll personally bake you a cake."

There was a clamouring of noise, the students excited by the idea of being able to get sugar. 

"Mr. Lee!" one boy called out. "Isn't 'love' one of the themes in the poem? Wouldn’t it be really easy, then?"

Seokmin paused, looked down at his book, and then looked up at them again. "I'll bake you a cake if it makes sense within the context of the essay question," he amended, and then waved his hand. "Okay, okay, shh! Please discuss the passage we just read with your partners. Please don't make me talk about baking cakes. I'm not very good at it."

"Oh, come on, Mr. Lee! That can't be true!"

“My sister once set the oven on fire while baking a cake!”

“Can I bake a cake for you instead, Mr. Lee?”

"Mr. Lee! What's your favourite cake flavour?"

"Please just finish this task," Seokmin begged, half jokingly, tapping his pencil against his copy of the Iliad. "If I talk about cake, I'm gonna want to have some when I leave work."

"Why is that a bad thing, sir?"

A phone alarm went off, and Seokmin looked over at his desk, turning off the alarm, before looking back at the students and snapping his book shut. “Oh, dear, looks like that’s the end of my book study session. You guys have to go home now, without finishing the incredibly riveting extract analysis task I prepared for you.”

There were varying degrees of cheers throughout the room, and Seokmin smiled and shook his head.

“I am, however, going to be setting it as a mini task for you to complete for next week’s session, okay? Because we were meant to do it today, but we had no time.” And then he waved his hand at them, gesturing for them to quickly leave. “Now shoo. Go home and rest. I’ll see you all later.”

There were choruses of “goodbye”s and “thank you”s as the students left, and Seokmin watched them go with a slight fondness on his face. 

Hayoung had asked if he’d be willing to start a book study session for the literature students who were in their last year of high school, and of course, Seokmin had been more than eager to say yes. It was a session that included a mixture of his, Hayoung’s and Minjun’s students, since they were the teachers with classes for the older years, and Seokmin had taught all of these students at least once during their time at school. Of course he was going to say yes to giving them study sessions so they could do their best in their upcoming exams.

What could he say? He had a soft spot for memories.

Once the last student had exited the room, Seokmin gave a soft sigh, pushing up his glasses and sat down at his desk, checking his phone, and then tilting his head at the text that flashed up on his screen.

[ jihoon hyung !! ]

your demo sounds incredible by the way

it’s been finalised and everything and the other producer really likes it too

you could seriously have a career in singing if you wanted, seokmin.

Seokmin shook his head, scrunching his nose to prevent his glasses from sliding down. He sent a quick “i’m glad it’s been approved!!” back to Jihoon, but just smiled at the last message, setting down his phone and standing up once again, pushing up his glasses with a finger. Maybe he needed new glasses. These ones weren’t sitting properly.

He hummed to himself as he began to tidy away the room, adjusting chairs and tucking back the curtains, the melody of Jihoon’s new song finding its way inside his head.

‘To You’, the song was called, and Seokmin was certain that it was one of Jihoon’s most heart-wrenchingly beautiful songs to date. Shining, warm, hopeful and romantic, and also utterly wonderful to sing aloud.

The room was entirely empty, and Seokmin’s voice steadily grew louder as he sang along to the melody inside his head, spraying the whiteboard with a cleaning spray and then wiping it down.

In this swirling day

You’ve given me a small piece of happiness

You’ve given me all the smiles of the world in my hands

So even if I run out of breath on a steep road

Even when I lost my path on a cold day

We’re still holding hands with warmth

Seokmin paused then, the main melody echoing around in his brain as he gripped the cleaning spray dramatically as if it were his mic, and belted out the ad-libs and countermelodies, pouring his heart out into the harmonies that, in the safety of the empty classroom, no one would hear but him.

To you, to you

The story I wanted to express

To you, to you

I want to say more things like this

Oh-oh, in this swirling wind on this day

If an eternal love exists

Then that is what you are.

Slowly, dramatically, still basking in the heartfelt afterglow of Jihoon’s incredible new song, Seokmin lowered the cleaning spray and lowered his head, scrunching his nose so that his glasses didn’t slip off. 

It was a beautiful song, about loving someone who was understanding, gentle, caring, even when they didn’t say a word. About being loved in the most precious way.

“Seokmin?”

Seokmin flinched sharply at the sudden voice, so suddenly that he squeezed the spray too hard and sprayed himself in the knee. “Oh, shit!”

He whipped around, looking around the classroom to see who had come in and hoping against all hope that they hadn’t heard him singing, only to see—

“Shua hyung?”

Joshua was leaning against the wall at the back of the classroom, smiling. He stepped away from the wall when Seokmin turned around, and his eyes were glowing with something so, so gentle as he walked through the tables to get to where he was standing. “Hello.”

“Um.” Seokmin stood there, awkward, attempting to smile and give a wave. “Hi? How long have you been standing there?”

“Sorry, I came in halfway through,” Joshua said, chuckling a little. “I came here to, you know, walk home with you. And I didn’t want to interrupt your singing session, so I was just kind of standing at the back by the door, waiting for you to finish.”

Seokmin looked down at his hands and then hastily set everything back on the desk, wiping his knee. “Oh. I see.”

“Wait, let me help you with that,” Joshua said, noticing the wet patch and immediately grabbing a few tissues, before kneeling down in front of Seokmin to press the tissues against the spot. “Sorry, I guess I startled you a lot, huh?”

“No, it’s fine, I’m just a scaredy cat. Plus, when I sing I sound really, uh, weird.” Seokmin swallowed, his earlier surprise at Joshua’s sudden appearance now beginning to wear off. But as Joshua looked up at him, eyes caramel gentle in the light of the afternoon, he wondered vaguely why his heart was still beating so fast. 

Joshua rose to his feet so he was eye level with Seokmin. “You sounded so pretty,” he said, and he said it so sweetly and so honestly that Seokmin found himself blinking rapidly, cheeks heating up almost instantly. “The song sounded so nice. You have such a beautiful voice, Seokmin.”

There was a definite blush on Seokmin’s face now, the embarrassing kind of blush that went from his ears right down his neck, and also rendered him absolutely incoherent. Joshua was still smiling at him too, damnit, and it made it all the more difficult for him to focus on scrabbling a few syllables together to give a response.

“It’s not mine,” he blurted out, a little too loudly, and Joshua blinked in surprise.

“Not… yours?” Joshua’s brow creased in confusion.

“The song,” Seokmin elaborated, and then scrambled for his phone to unlock it and bring up an audio file. “It’s Jihoon hyung’s. He’s made a new song, and he asked me to record the demo for it.”

Joshua’s eyes widened at that, amazed. “You’re the person that Jihoon asked to sing in his demo? Do you know how incredible that is, Seokmin?”

Seokmin shrugged, bashful. “Not that incredible? It’s just a demo, anyway. Hyung offered to pay me, but I said it’s okay.”

Joshua shook his head. “That’s still amazing. Jihoon never lets people look at his things until they’re finalised.” He looked down at the audio file on Seokmin’s phone, the cover-less ‘To You’ file staring up at him. And then he looked at Seokmin with a small smile. “Could I… listen to it?”

Seokmin stared at Joshua for a long, long moment. Joshua smiled back, and it occurred to Seokmin that the elder was smiling more and more these days, his face becoming more relaxed, his eyes more willing to curve into their pretty little crescents at the things that Seokmin said.

And then he decided, oh, what the hell. If his Shua hyung wanted to listen to it, then Seokmin would let him listen to it.

So he sat down on the floor and beckoned Joshua to sit next to him, and then pressed play.

It was the first recording that he’d done, running straight through after practicing the melody a few times with Jihoon, and his pitch was off in some places and he came in late in others, but Joshua listened intently, eyes fixed on a random spot on the floor as Seokmin’s voice rang out through the speakers of his phone. Seokmin wanted to cringe, wanted to turn off the audio and wrench his phone away because it was embarrassing, especially when it was Joshua listening, but every so often the elder would lift his eyes up to look at him, and his eyes would be so wide and awed that he couldn’t bring himself to do anything else but stare right back.

The recording finally finished, and Joshua sat back, pressing his lips together. Seokmin watched him, anxiously, finding that he really was nervous of what Joshua’s opinion was.

“Pretty,” Joshua said simply, and then his face softened even further as he smiled. “It all sounds so pretty.”

Seokmin blushed again, looking away, pleased. “Really?”

“Yeah! I really love how your voice sounds, and I think this type of song suits it really well,” Joshua said, and Seokmin’s heart swelled with something warm and pink and happy. “I love the song, too. I want to learn the chords so I can play it.”

“Jihoon hyung will be happy to hear that you love his song,” Seokmin said, beaming. “You can ask him for the finalised audio once he manages to get the boy group to record it, if you want. I’m sure he’ll be willing to give it to you.”

Joshua just hummed, tilting his head. “I don't know. I think I like the Seokmin version better.”

“The Seokmin version?” Seokmin repeated, biting his lips to prevent himself from smiling too widely. It sounded… nice, when Joshua said it like that. Like Seokmin’s recording had meaning.

“The Seokmin version,” Joshua confirmed. He nudged Seokmin with his elbow. “Hey, maybe this can be the piece that I play for you one day. Maybe you can sing with me too. How about that?”

Seokmin couldn’t help it. He beamed, the giddy happiness evident all over hstopped biting his lips and beamed, and the giddy happiness was evident all over his face but he couldn’t help it, knew nothing would be able to prevent him from grinning widely, oddly thrilled at the idea of having some sort of singing duet with Joshua.

“I think I’d like that a lot.”

───────────── ‘✷,

“I don’t think I like that. At all,” Seokmin sulked, and Soonyoung sighed.

“Seokmin, you made this demo. Demo. It’s an example piece that’s gonna be heard by loads of people! It’s literally what it’s designed to do. Be heard.” Soonyoung stabbed a finger on the table, and then pointed at Jihoon’s laptop. “Your voice is gonna be heard by so many people, and you’re not gonna know most of them. But that’s what’s meant to happen.”

Seokmin shuddered, displeased, and Jihoon tapped his fingers against his laptop. “I don’t think you’re helping the situation, Soonyoung.”

“But he needs to know!” Soonyoung protested as Jihoon just shook his head. 

“Seokmin,” Jihoon started, “You’re willing to let Soonyoung hear it, yes?”

Currently, Jihoon, Soonyoung and Seokmin were sitting at the dining table in the latter two’s apartment, and Jihoon was playing the demo for them all to hear, Soonyoung was talking incredibly loudly and Seokmin was sulking.

He crossed his arms, pouted, and avoided their gaze. “I guess,” Seokmin muttered dejectedly. “Didn’t know that so many other people would hear it too.”

“Seokmin, it’s meant to be heard—”

“We’ll only let the relevant people hear it, obviously,” Jihoon said, talking over Soonyoung. “So that’ll be me, the other producers, Soonyoung, and the idols. Is that okay?”

“Also any other choreographers they bring in—”

“Is that okay?” Jihoon repeated, pointedly ignoring Soonyoung, making the choreographer huff petulantly. The other kept his eyes on Seokmin, however, calm and patient. “We won’t do anything that you’re not comfortable with. We won’t show it to anyone, if you don’t want to.”

“Actually, we kind of have to, ‘cause that’s what a demo is for,” Soonyoung said, before Jihoon shot a glare in his direction and he widened his eyes innocently. “What? I’m right!”

Seokmin shook his head, putting his elbows on the table and squishing his cheek against his palm. “I suppose that it’s true,” he said. “I just… I’m still not sure if I was all that good.”

Soonyoung smiled sympathetically. “You have really bad self-esteem issues, Seokmin. Your voice is so, so incredible.”

Instantly, Seokmin’s brain conjured up a memory of Joshua’s earnest smile and that gentle, melodic voice saying “You have such a beautiful voice” all golden and lovely and he blushed, rapidly dispelling the thoughts before they showed on his face.

“But other than the people at the company, we won’t show anyone else,” Jihoon promised, giving Seokmin a small, reassuring smile. “In fact, you don’t have to show anyone else either. No one in our friendship group even has to know.”

“Okay,” Seokmin said, and then smiled a little. It was touching, how sincere Jihoon was being about all of this. And then his eyes widened. “Wait, but if I do tell someone, like, right now, is that okay?”

Jihoon blinked, and then frowned. “Um, technically no, but if it’s someone in our group then we can tell them not to talk about it anywhere.” 

“Why do you ask?” Soonyoung added. “Did you show it to someone?”

Seokmin took his elbows off the table, nodding. “Just Shua hyung. He heard me singing, so I showed the recording to him.”

Soonyoung blinked. “Shua hyung?”

“Joshua hyung,” Seokmin said helpfully. “It’s a nickname for him.”

“No, I got that part. It’s just…” Soonyoung trailed off, and he and Jihoon shared a significant look, one that Seokmin couldn’t decipher. “Anyways, that’s okay. Just tell him not to tell anyone else, you know?”

“Moving on, though,” Jihoon said, swiftly changing the subject, a slight twinkle in his irises, “I have another track I’m making right now, Seokmin, and I was wondering…”

“Oh, hell no. One is enough for me. Get Seungkwan to do it!”

───────────── ‘✷,

Seokmin flopped down onto the sofa, breathing out contentedly as he wriggled around amongst the mess of cushions until he was more comfortable.

“Ah, this is so nice.”

“I’m so glad to see you making yourself at home on my sofa,” Jeonghan remarked drily, coming into the room carrying a plate of biscuits. “Also, move over or I’m not giving you any cookies.”

“Cookies!” Immediately, Seokmin shot upright again, zeroing in on the plate as Jeonghan set it on the coffee table, grabbing one and stuffing it into his mouth. Around the mouthful of crumbs, he said, “Thanks, Jeonghan hyung!”

Jeonghan just laughed, selecting his own biscuit and curling up on the sofa. “Of course, Seokmin. I love feeding my cookie-loving gremlin every time he decides to barge into my house and steal all my snacks.” Before Seokmin had a chance to protest at the description, he shoved another biscuit into the teacher’s hands. “Anyways, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

“Just ‘cause,” Seokmin said brightly. “Also Soonyoung hyung’s at the studio, and being at home by myself is so boring.”

“I’m being your surrogate roommate, hm?” Jeonghan teased. “Well, you’re in luck, because my housemate has disappeared too. Joshuji’s at church, so it’s just only lonely me, all by myself.”

“Not anymore, though!” Seokmin chirped, and then threw himself into Jeonghan’s personal space, cuddling up against his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Jeonghan hyung! Seokminnie is here!”

Jeonghan laughed and let Seokmin squish himself into his side. “Lucky me.”

There was a short silence then, as Seokmin squashed himself as close to Jeonghan as possible, and Jeonghan focused on nibbling his way through his biscuit. It was a lazy day, a calm day, but Seokmin’s thoughts were running, racing through conversation threads even as Jeonghan seemed content to just sit in silence for hours until Seokmin decided to go home.

But Seokmin couldn’t go home without at least trying to talk Jeonghan’s ear off.

“I’m gonna set my seniors an essay on the Iliad next week,” he said suddenly, his brain latching onto any old thought thread it could find and running with it.

Jeonghan laughed. “Your students are going to love you for that.”

“They will!” Seokmin insisted, pulling away from Jeonghan’s side to sit up properly. “It’s on the theme of ‘love’. They’re all obsessed with that theme in this book. Which is weird,” he added thoughtfully, “because I thought that they’d be more interested in the war and the anger and the moral struggles in it.”

Jeonghan shrugged, leaning back and gesturing dramatically with his half-eaten cookie. “What is love if not the biggest moral struggle of all?”

Seokmin laughed, flopping back down so his head was resting on the armrest, nestled amongst the cushions once more. “You’re right, though. Especially with Aphrodite being the main cause of the Trojan War. She’s basically the reason behind all their problems.”

“Really?” Jeonghan said. “And I thought the goddess of love was meant to be kind.”

“Kind?” Seokmin repeated. “She’s horrible. Unpredictable. Definitely an inconvenience, and mostly a nuisance.” He paused, and then continued, “But that’s what love is, I guess. You can’t pin down love. Sometimes it’s beautiful, and other times it’s painful, almost heart-wrenchingly so, and you can never be prepared for it.”

Jeonghan watched Seokmin talk, an almost parental fondness colouring his gaze, like a mother watching her child explain something they were incredibly passionate about.

“Love is often confusing, too,” Seokmin said. He wasn’t looking at Jeonghan anymore, directing most of his thoughtful musings to the ceiling, hands waving around. “And can be confused. With desire, lust, anger, hatred. There’s a very fine line, you know?” He lifted his head up to look at Jeonghan. “Maybe that’s why love and war are such prominent themes in the poem.”

Jeonghan just smiled. “Really?”

“Yeah! Loving brings a desire for safety, for comfort, and sometimes, people can be so desperately in love that they’ll do anything to have that comfort,” Seokmin said. “And other times—well, most of the time—people are willing to be soft for that love. They turn soft, craving that gentleness and reflecting it in the way they act around the person they most want to be loved by. And if that person disappears… well, then you harden your heart, and find you don’t want to love anyone ever again.” Seokmin clasped his hands together. “That’s what Achilles does, by the way.”

“Wow. That’s so fascinating,” Jeonghan said, nibbling at his cookie again. “Tell me more.”

And Seokmin did. It was nice, to analyse aloud, but also to analyse aloud with Jeonghan. The elder didn’t provide much to the conversation, simply sitting there and smiling and asking Seokmin to tell him more, but it was nice. 

It made his thoughts drift to Joshua, just momentarily. Thinking of how Joshua would have listened to him talk. Of how Joshua’s eyes would have followed his every move, how he would have smiled and hummed interestedly and let Seokmin talk, and talk, and talk, and talk.

An hour later, Seokmin was still talking, and as Jeonghan continued to blink unmovingly at him, he wondered whether the elder had managed to fall asleep with his eyes open.

“—so I think it’s only logical that Seungcheol hyung is Zeus,” Seokmin finished. “Jupiter. He’s a scary, scary guy, but also everyone loves him and knows about him ‘cause he’s so huge.”

Then Jeonghan’s head turned. “Okay, are you talking about the god or the planet here?” he asked. Definitely not sleeping, then, Seokmin concluded, pleased. That meant his entire rant about which god each of their friends were hadn’t gone unheard.

“Both,” Seokmin said cheerfully. “Seungcheol hyung is both the planet Jupiter and the god!”

Jeonghan chuckled, leaning back. “If you say so.” He pursed his lips, thinking, and then tapped Seokmin on the knee. “You’re the sun god for sure, though.”

“Who, me?” Seokmin tilted his head, and then beamed. “Aw, thanks hyung. Also, did you know that Apollo is the only god of the classic pantheon to have the same name in both Greek and Roman mythology?”

Jeonghan smiled. “I don’t know what that means. I do know, however,” he added, “that you’re as bright and lovely as the sun, and fill up the entire room with light the moment you walk inside. Everyone gravitates towards you, attracted by your energy, and people always love being with you.”

Seokmin blinked, not expecting such a sudden onslaught of compliments from Jeonghan. “Really? You really think so?”

“Of course.” Jeonghan’s smile turned a little knowing, a little devious, eyes glittering like ripple waves on a lake. “And you know what you said about love before? I think the Sun would want a gentle love. Where someone softens themselves in the Sun’s presence.”

Seokmin hummed contemplatively, sitting up. “A gentle love? Who’d love the Sun like that, though?”

“A Venus,” Jeonghan said, smiling wider. “I think the Sun would be best loved by a Venus.”

That made Seokmin pause, frowning thoughtfully, before a slow smile spread across his face. “I like your thinking, hyung! I guess you really were listening to me while I was talking, huh? I’m impressed.”

Jeonghan pointedly ignored the jab, and simply shrugged. “The Sun would love Venus very much, too,” he said. “And the Venus would love you as easily as breathing. Because Venus is basically the god of love, right? They’d love you a lot.”

Seokmin blinked once, and then twice, before his eyes widened. “Wait, are you still talking about me? I thought you were doing general analysis!”

“I’m talking about anything you want me to talk about,” Jeonghan returned, adjusting himself on the sofa. His ass was starting to hurt from sitting in the same position for too long. “But I think the Sun would dote on the Venus and think they’re incredible, and the Venus would love the Sun immensely and devastatingly gently.” 

Seokmin’s face was contemplative for a moment, thinking over Jeonghan’s words. Jeonghan could almost see him trying to figure out what was going on, what Jeonghan meant, where all this was going. Eventually, though, he seemed to give up, his gaze becoming unfocused and the corners of his lips turning wistful as he wondered.

Jeonghan wondered who Seokmin was thinking about.

“Do you really think so?” Seokmin asked, turning to Jeonghan, and his eyes were wide, voice hushed, like he couldn’t even believe it.

At that moment, the front door opened, and there were a few moments of rustling sounds before Joshua peered into the living room, back home from visiting the church, and Jeonghan watched as Joshua’s eyes softened almost instantly and Seokmin’s entire being lit up as they made eye contact, and he smiled to himself.

“Yeah,” he said, but no one was listening to him anymore. Joshua and Seokmin were already in their own world, as Seokmin leapt from the sofa to bound over and ask the elder about his day. Jeonghan just smiled even wider. “I do think so.”

taglist (send ask to be added): @fairyhaos @atinycupofpositivitea @my-moarmy-heart @weird-life-of-a-closet-fangirl @lilsafsafbooyah @stqrrgirle @bittersweet-folder @weird-bookworm @ultrara-re @tianakings @bangantokchy @tiinkerbell @ahuiahoe @leigh-darling

[writingforstraykids]

Minho | Lee Know Masterlist🖤

Fluff: 🌹 / Angst: 💭 / Smut: ❤️‍🔥

Work Count: 6

More Minho content here: Collection of Masterlists

do not repost, translate, or plagiarize my works in any way here or on other platforms. ©️writingforstraykids 2024 -

All the times you fell in love with Minho - 🌹💭

Falling for Minho has happened in small stages, and some moments stuck out: helping you learn Korean, picking you up when it rains, showing you around his hometown, and many more...

Always back to you series (male reader) -ongoing

Chapter One - 🌹💭

Balancing his career and personal life as a single dad of a toddler isn't exactly always easy for Min. Luckily he has you, his assistant and the only person his son lets close enough. Minho couldn't be more grateful for your presence in their life.

Chapter Two - 🌹💭

Minho and you grow closer over time as he watches you handling his beloved son with such ease. Minjun's innocent question, asking you to stay with them, changes the dynamics a little. One day, you're taking the trust Minho offers you regarding his son a little too freely, and it ends in a mess...

Chapter Three - 🌹(💭)

Minho and you slowly find your way back together once he's released from the hospital. Minjun's birthday party brings you both closer than ever before ...

Scenarios / Drabbles / etc.

Minho wants another kitty - 🌹

Anon request (title says everything)

Soft thoughts for Minho-🌹

Anon request (title says everything)

Hard thought Minho (omorashi)-❤️‍🔥

Anon request (title says everything)

[saturnznct]

d-20; making christmas cards for members | lmk

➸ word count; 1023 words

➸ lucas; aged 10, noah; aged 8, maeve; aged 4

➸ alternative names used; hyungjun (lucas), minjun (noah), yeoreum (maeve)

dadmas masterlist | nct masterlist (lnks will be added later)

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

‘Wow, Mae, you really captured Uncle Doyoung’s spirit there,’ Mark grins.

Maeve holds up her Christmas card for Doyoung proudly, showing off the rabbit with a Santa hat she’d drawn on the front with ‘Merry Christmas Doyoung Samchon’ written in messy toddler handwriting on the front.

‘Although, I think we need to work on your Hangul. You wrote Samchon in English..’

Maeve just looks sheepish, putting the card into the finished pile and grabbing another plain one to start.

This was a Lee household yearly tradition. The kids would sit down at the dining table, cover it with pens, glitter and whatever crafting materials they could get their hands on, and make cards for family and friends.

When it came to the sheer amount of NCT members, it was a full on operation. The members had been randomly assigned to each of your three children, who would make their cards. You and Mark would write the inside messages once they were finished and all the glue and or paint had dried. 

‘Wait, why does Maeve get Uncle Johnny?’ Noah whines once he notices Johnny’s name on Maeve’s list. 

‘It’s random, No,’ you explain, ‘it’s fair that way.’

‘But I wanted to make Uncle Johnny’s card,’ he pouts.

‘Buddy, the card will still be from you, and Uncle Johnny will know that,’ Mark rubs Noah’s back with his hand, ‘how about you make a really pretty card for Uncle Taeyong, huh? I bet he’d love a really glittery one!’

‘Daddy, can we come to work with you and give Uncles their cards?’ Noah asks, wanting to see his beloved Uncle’s reactions to his work. 

‘Of course, how about you and mummy/mommy drop me off tomorrow, and we can give them to Uncles then?’

‘Yay!’ Noah cheers, accidentally knocking over a pot of silver glitter.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

‘Uncle Ten!’ Maeve runs into the practice room, barrelling towards the first member she sees.

‘Mae!’ He exclaims with equal excitement, wrapping the small girl into a big hug.

‘Sorry to interrupt your practice, guys,’ you apologise, knowing that all of the members are gathered to rehearse for their end of year project. 

‘It’s all good,’ Jungwoo, the closest person to you grins, ‘it’s nice to have a break.’

He catches Maeve’s eye, his face suddenly lighting up, immediately dropping to his knees to offer a hug, ‘and to see my Yeoreum!’

‘Ah, Minjun-ah,’ Jaemin squats down to greet Noah, ‘what’s that you’ve got?’

Noah holds out the envelope with both hands, a messy ’Nana’ scrawled across the front. 

‘Ah, thank you,’ Jaemin always saves his aegyo for his favourite nephews and niece, his Mark’s children.

‘This one’s for you, Uncle Yangyang,’ Maeve hands Yangyang his card.

‘Wow, thank you MaeMae, you’re so kind,’ Yangyang, who has crouched down to her level, peels the envelope open, laughing when he sees the sheep with the Christmas hat drawn on it.

‘I like how the sheep is pink and glittery,’ he adds, pulling her into a hug, ‘I love it, thank you Mae.’ 

The members fuss over the kids, each giving very exaggerated but genuine reactions to their individual cards.

‘Ah, Hyungjun-ah, thank you,’ Chenle fist bumps Lucas, ‘you write in Chinese so well.’

‘It’s from the lessons you gave me,’ Mark chimes in teasingly, and the two men laugh as Lucas huffs.

‘Yeoreum-ie, your art is so good!’ Yuta fusses over Maeve, who blushes and squirms at his compliment over her drawing of him next to a Christmas Tree.

‘Don’t get all embarrassed!’ he teases, poking her side, before turning to Sicheng who’s standing beside him and commenting, ’so cute.’

When Lucas notices Johnny holding his own card, he walks over to talk to his favourite Uncle.

’Tell Jude-hyung that I’ll give him his card the next time I see him,’ Lucas tells Johnny, ‘I don’t want him to think I’ve forgotten about him when you bring that one home.’

‘Will do buddy, I’m sure you’ll see him when the school holidays start.’

‘Are you guys not going to Chicago?’ Lucas tilts his head in confusion.

‘Not ’til the twentieth,’ Johnny explains, ‘you guys should arrange to hang out. In real life, not just on the Xbox or whatever it is.’

Lucas just shrugs, embarrassed at being called out, and Johnny chuckles.

‘I’m just messing with you, go on, go give Uncle Seunghan his card.’

‘They’re so sweet, Hyung,’ Jisung remarks, watching the scene alongside Mark, ‘so crazy I’ll have one of my own in a few months.’

’They’re a handful,’ Mark shakes his head, still smiling, ‘but I love them more than anything.’

At that moment, Noah runs up to Jisung, clutching Jisung’s own card. 

In a corner, several members are gathered comparing cards, Doyoung throughly enjoying Maeve’s rabbit drawing while Xiaojun praises Noah’s reindeer.

‘Thank you, Noah, I’ll keep it forever,’ Taeyong reads the message inside of his card, on which Noah has drawn a polar bear wearing a lime green (’NCT colour!’) scarf.

‘Will you really?’ Noah gasps, shocked that his Uncle would treasure his creation for so long.

‘Of course, because my Minjun-ie made it for me!’

Eventually, all of the cards are distributed, and the three Lee children sit against the mirror and watch as the members go through their dance performance for the year. 

‘What did you think, Mae?’ Hendery bends down to ask, face showing a picture of pure joy when she begins bouncing on her feet and enthusiastically chatting about what she likes about the song and the choreography.

‘Come on kids, say goodbye to your Uncles. We’ll get out of your hair now, leave you to practice,’ you start gathering up your things, leaving the three of your children to say goodbye to all of the members.

’See you when you get home,’ you give Mark a quick hug, pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek as to allow him to avoid unnecessary teasing from his members. 

‘Bye bye little Lees,’ Ten and the rest of the members wave you all out of the room.

‘Now, kids,’ you announce once you’re fully in the corridor, ‘let’s go and harass Uncle Minseok.’ 

[lgcmanager]

WORKSHOP OPPORTUNITY 001

SCHEDULE TYPE: VARIABLE RESTRICTIONS: see below

the selected muses have been called to a one on one meeting with either KWON SOYI ( for the female trainees ), JANG INSUNG ( for the male trainees ), or the mentors’ respective managers.

BAEK BYEONGKWAN | @lgcbk

CHEN MAYLIN | @lgcmaylin

CHOI JUNKYU | @lgcjunkyu

HAN NOEUL | @lgcxnoeul

HAN ROWON | @rowonlgc

JO EUNWOO | @lgceunwoo

KANG MINJUN | @lgcmjun

KANG YOOJOON | @lgcyoojoon

KIM JINSEO ( MENTOR ) | @lgcjinseo

KIM SEYOON | @seyoonlgc

KURAMOTO MISAKI | @lgcsaem

KWON HYUNTAE | @hyuntaelgc

LEE YUSHIN ( MENTOR ) | @lgcyushin

OH EUNHYE ( MENTOR ) | @lgceunhye

PARK CHAEKYUNG | @lgcchaekyung

PARK HYUKJAE | @lgchyuk

PONGSAK TEE ( MENTOR ) | @lgctee

SUNG HANEUL | @lgchxneul

TAKANASHI ASAMI | @lgcasami

YOO HYUN | @lgchyun

( important note: as noted in the previous mentor workshops post, all of the mentors participating in this will NOT be allowed to do NOTORIETY TIERS for FEBRUARY ).

TRAINEES & MENTORS ARRANGEMENTS

during the meeting, the coach/manager will inform who they have been assigned to. for this event, the arrangements were based on the workshops that the mentors have pitched along with the trainee’s responses to this event ( eg. what skills they would like to improve on, gigs that they would be interested in taking, etc ). listed below are who has been assigned to who and the basic information related to the workshop:

KIM JINSEO - COMMERCIAL ACTING FOR BEGINNERS ( TIER LEVEL 3 )

SKILLS GAINED THROUGH THIS WORKSHOP: MODELING, ACTING, PERFORMANCE

TRAINEES: BAEK BYEONGKWAN, HAN NOEUL, HAN ROWON, KIM SEYOON

LEE YUSHIN - YUSHIN’S R&T: RAP & THEORY ( TIER LEVEL 2 )

SKILLS GAINED THROUGH THIS WORKSHOP: RAPPING, SINGING, MUSIC COMPOSITION

TRAINEES: CHEN MAYLIN, KANG MINJUN, SUNG HANEUL, YOO HYUN

OH EUNHYE - ADAPTING THROUGH VARIETY SHOWS ( TIER LEVEL 3 )

SKILLS GAINED THROUGH THIS WORKSHOP: VARIETY, MCING/HOSTING, ACTING

TRAINEES: CHOI JUNKYU, KANG YOOJOON, KURAMOTO MISAKI, KWON HYUNTAE, PARK CHAEKYUNG

PONGSAK TEE - HOW TO LEARN CHOREOGRAPHY EASILY AND NAIL IT ( TIER LEVEL 1 )

SKILLS GAINED THROUGH THIS WORKSHOP: DANCING, CHOREOGRAPHY ( STREET ), PERFORMANCE

TRAINEES: PARK HYUKJAE, JO EUNWOO, TAKANASHI ASAMI

each of the mentors can post details about their workshops for all of the trainees to know in a separate post. if you have any questions related to the workshop that the mentor is teaching, please message the mentor mun!

IMPORTANT ( IC ) DETAILS ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS

whenever both the mentor and trainee(s) have free time in their schedules, they will meet up and have 2 hour workshops that will span across 2-3 months ( aka this term ), depending on the mentor’s schedule ( but most of the time these workshops are scheduled during SATURDAY and mentors are expected to schedule at least 6 workshop sessions ). these workshops can be categorized as one on one lessons ( so mentor + 1 trainee ) OR smaller group sessions ( mentor + 3-5 trainees ). smaller group sessions are used to let the mentor teach the theoretical and fundamentals of their workshop while one on one lessons are used to evaluate the trainee’s progress and see what needs to be worked on or focused in future lessons. all of these workshops will be done in one of the empty classrooms or practice rooms in the lgc building.

by the MIDPOINT of the workshop program, MENTORS will be having a meeting with JANG INSUNG ( for the male mentors ) or KWON SOYI ( for the female mentors / EUNHYE ) where they will be discussing each of the trainee’s performances at the beginning and present moment. in this meeting the mentors will be asked to be honest in their feedback because this feedback will aid the trainee coaches in deciding what the trainees need to work on ( individually and collectively ) and whether they are ready to debut in their desired path ( idol/actor/model ). by the end of this meeting, both the MENTORS and the COACHES will come to an agreement over a possible ‘final’ evaluation prompt that would determine whether the trainees have learned the skills and concepts assigned to them.

after this meeting, the MENTORS will announce to the TRAINEES about the final evaluation prompt and will be spending the remaining time preparing for that until the EVALUATION days ( scheduled sometime around MARCH ), when all of the MENTORS, JANG INSUNG, and KWON SOYI will watch every single performance and give their feedback and thoughts to the trainees.

seeing that this is the first time that we’ll be doing this, here are the final evaluations prompts ( either listed on the form OR decided based on the workshop’s description ):

COMMERCIAL ACTING FOR BEGINNERS: on the day of the evaluation, the trainee will be picking an object from jinseo’s “magic box” and each one has to act like they’re in a commercial for whichever item it is that they got from his box ( examples of items inside this box are: chicken, pizza, skincare, snacks, a bottle of pocari sweat, a bottle of elysium perfume, chips, the logo of a video game, a rubik’s cube, a bag of coffee beans, etc ).

YUSHIN’S R&T: RAP & THEORY: each trainee will be given a lyrics sheet prior to the evaluation day that they will have to memorize. the lyrics will be pertaining to songs that the trainee has never heard of ( these could either be lyrics or melodies created by the MENTOR or samples borrowed from the lgc creatives team, but ooc wise, the songs will have to be ones released before JANUARY 2022 ). on the day of the evaluation, trainees will listen to the first couple of seconds to the melodies of their respective song for the first time. then they’ll have to rap and/or sing their lyrics to the song.

ADAPTING TO VARIETY SHOWS: on the day of the evaluation, the trainee will pretend to be a part of weekly idol and asked to describe themselves in the most entertaining way possible ( a plus if you can get the mentors and/or coaches to laugh ). through the segment, they will introduce themselves and show off two talents not relating to singing/dancing/rapping within a 10 minute period.

HOW TO LEARN CHOREOGRAPHY EASILY AND NAIL IT: each trainee will be assigned a 1 minute song ( song can be determined by MENTOR and/or the TRAINEE mun and all must be different songs ) that they will have to create an original choreography to. on the day of the evaluation they must present the original choreography to the mentors and coaches.

( important note: whenever the evaluation prompt mentions “each trainee”, it’s in reference to the trainee that is taking that workshop. )

once the evaluation is done, the trainee will meet up with their coach ( KWON SOYI or JANG INSUNG ) to discuss their honest thoughts about the workshop, what lessons they’ve learned from the experience, and if there are any new skills or aspects that they would like to work on in the near future. 

POINT REWARDS

as shown above, each of the workshops are given tier levels ( 1-3, 1 being the lowest and 3 being the highest ). this is determined based on the skills the mentors have chosen along with their notoriety and can be changed in the future depending on how many mentors and trainees sign up. for both the MENTOR and TRAINEE, the tier levels will also reflect the number of maximum points one can get for completing the task(s).

TIER 1  ( FOR JO EUNWOO, PARK HYUKJAE, PONGSAK TEE, TAKANASHI ASAMI ): completing one of the writing requirements listed below will earn you +10 POINTS IN THE SKILLS CHOSEN ( please refer to ‘skills gained in the workshop’ section to see which skill(s) you can put the points in ). since there are multiple writing prompt options for both the mentor and trainee, you can complete up to 3 WRITING PROMPTS. however, you can only do the writing prompt once ( for example, if you wanted to do a thread with another trainee, you can only do it once so the other two writing requirements will have to be about something else ). if you complete 2 of the writing requirements, you will earn +20 POINTS IN THE SKILLS CHOSEN OVERALL. similarly, if you complete the maximum ( 3 ) writing requirements, you will earn +30 POINTS IN THE SKILLS CHOSEN OVERALL ( please refer to ‘skills gained in the workshop’ section to see which skill(s) you can put the points in ).

TIER 2 ( FOR CHEN MAYLIN, KANG MINJUN, LEE YUSHIN, SUNG HANEUL, YOO HYUN ): completing one of the writing requirements listed below will earn you +15 POINTS IN THE SKILLS CHOSEN ( please refer to ‘skills gained in the workshop’ section to see which skill(s) you can put the points in ). since there are multiple writing prompt options for both the mentor and trainee, you can complete up to 3 WRITING PROMPTS. however, you can only do the writing prompt once ( for example, if you wanted to do a thread with another trainee, you can only do it once so the other two writing requirements will have to be about something else ). if you complete 2 of the writing requirements, you will earn +30 POINTS IN THE SKILLS CHOSEN OVERALL. similarly, if you complete the maximum ( 3 ) writing requirements, you will earn +45 POINTS IN THE SKILLS CHOSEN OVERALL ( please refer to ‘skills gained in the workshop’ section to see which skill(s) you can put the points in ).

TIER 3 ( FOR BAEK BYEONGKWAN, CHOI JUNKYU, HAN NOEUL, HAN ROWON, KANG YOOJOON, KURAMOTO MISAKI, KIM JINSEO, KIM SEYOON, KWON HYUNTAE, OH EUNHYE, PARK CHAEKYUNG ): completing one of the writing requirements listed below will earn you +20 POINTS IN THE SKILLS CHOSEN ( please refer to ‘skills gained in the workshop’ section to see which skill(s) you can put the points in ). since there are multiple writing prompt options for both the mentor and trainee, you can complete up to 3 WRITING PROMPTS. however, you can only do the writing prompt once ( for example, if you wanted to do a thread with another trainee, you can only do it once so the other two writing requirements will have to be about something else ). if you complete 2 of the writing requirements, you will earn +40 POINTS IN THE SKILLS CHOSEN OVERALL. similarly, if you complete the maximum ( 3 ) writing requirements, you will earn +60 POINTS IN THE SKILLS CHOSEN OVERALL ( please refer to ‘skills gained in the workshop’ section to see which skill(s) you can put the points in ).

just like some of the side events, completing none, some, or all of the requirements ooc wise can have some positive or negative consequences for your muse so it’s up to you whether the muse would participate ( except for mentors who are required to do it anyways ).

WRITING REQUIREMENTS

FOR TRAINEES

as a reminder, you just need to complete ONE requirement to receive the minimum number of points possible but can do a maximum of THREE to receive the maximum number of points.

write a 4 replies ( minimum 8 lines, two posts per mun ) thread with another trainee taking the same workshop as you about learning about the workshop or practicing on the assignment/evaluation.

write a 4 replies ( minimum 8 lines, two posts per mun ) thread with your assigned mentor about the workshops ( small group sessions/one on one lessons ). in this thread, it must mention at least one struggle that the trainee is having difficulty with regarding the workshop.

write a 250+ word solo about the trainee muse working on the skills related to the workshop.

write a 250+ word solo about how your muse handled their assigned evaluation.

write a 300+ word solo or headcanon post about the trainee having a discussion with the coach ( KWON SOYI or JANG INSUNG ) talking about their thoughts related to the workshop. the coaches might ask questions such as, “what did you consider the easiest/hardest part(s) of the workshop?”, “were there any critical topics left uncovered? if there was, what topics do you hope to learn in the future?”, “how would you rate your overall satisfaction with the workshop?”, “what was the most valuable part of the workshop for you?”, “would you be interested in a follow-up or advanced workshop on the same topic?” you only need to answer at least THREE of the questions mentioned.

FOR MENTORS

as a reminder, you just need to complete ONE requirement to receive the minimum number of points possible but can do a maximum of THREE to receive the maximum number of points.

write a 4 replies ( minimum 8 lines, two posts per mun ) thread with one of your assigned trainees about one of the one on one lessons. in this thread, it must mention at least one struggle that the trainee is having difficulty with regarding the workshop.

write a 4 replies ( minimum 8 lines, two posts per mun ) thread with one of your assigned trainees ( must be a different muse than the one above ) about one of the group sessions. you can talk about helping one of the trainees with a particular task given to them, teaching them a concept related to the workshop, etc.

write a 250+ word solo about the mentor preparing for one of the upcoming group sessions or one on one lessons.

write a 300+ word solo or headcanon post about the mentor having a meeting with the coach ( KWON SOYI or JANG INSUNG ). possible topics to think about for this meeting are: their thoughts about how they feel as a mentor, the trainees’ progress, possible evaluation ideas ( do note that what was mentioned in this post is the final evaluation prompt that the mentor and coaches agreed upon ), and/or what they could do to improve the workshop. the post must cover at least three of the topics mentioned and you can include additional questions related to the topics if you wish.

write a 250+ word headcanon post ( this would be written similarly to a form of a journal/feedback report ) discussing the mentor’s thoughts about their assigned trainees comments and criticisms with their final evaluation. you could do it in terms of discussing each of the trainees in their group and what the mentor thought about their performance OR you could do it by picking one or two trainees who did the best with the evaluation prompt. 

make sure to tag all your threads with lgc:workshops. to validate your skill points and collect your notoriety points, please submit the following form ONCE on the points blog before MARCH 30, 2024 11:59PM EDT.

MUSE NAME ∙ WORKSHOPS ( Q1 2024 )- PROMPT #1: +( 10, 15, OR 20 ) ( skill points chosen for the workshop ) [ LINK ] - PROMPT #2: +( 10, 15, OR 20 ) ( skill points chosen for the workshop ) [ LINK ] - PROMPT #3: +( 10, 15, OR 20 ) ( skill points chosen for the workshop ) [ LINK ]

[aajjks]

TC!dad!JK

“dragon approves of you too, papa” ayra says as she holds the green gecko in her stiny palm and smiles; looking just like her mother. yes, aura favors more of you than jungkook, except she possess his dimples unlike the rest of her siblings. and for her to be a five year old, she’s very tiny compared to her sister ji-eun.

when jungkook brings up a brother or sister, ayra takes a minute to ponder about what she wants. she loves ji-eun but she’s a little mean to her sometimes and jaehan and jawan are too rough. “hmm” she says, placing her left finger on her chin to mimic a thinking pose. “i think i want another baby sister. boys can be rough sometimes” and it’s so hard not to coo at his little five year old who’s being very honest right now. as her mother says, boys give cooties.

“i want three more baby sisters so i can dress up and-and play tea-time with them!” yes, ayra loves all of the “girly” things you can imagine which is funny since she has a strange fascination with scary animals and an ear that could rival mozart’s. “what do you want, daddy? do you want a boy or a girl?” ayra asks jungkook.

“oh! oh! guess what? the man we bought dragon from said he’s mommy’s best friend but you know what i told him? i said you’re mommy’s best friend”

“his name is..uhh..mr. minjun? yeah, mr. minjun! he’s really nice. you should meet him papa” ayra says with a smile on her face.

“your highness?” says dr. lee, the man who delivered your twins and saved jinseoul’s life. “i wanted to inform you that princess ji-eun has a stomach virus. she’s doing just fine but i strongly advise you and the queen to stay far from her until the princess is feeling better. especially since the queen is pregnant, we don’t want to risk the fetuses or queen y/n’s health”

~🫧

Jungkook nods, and the doctor bows before leaving, and Jungkook is suddenly concerned about two things.

1: who the fuck is this minjun

2: how are you going to stay away from your sick little baby girl?

“Okay baby… time for you to join your siblings- daddy has got to go to mommy yeah?” He says as he presses a kiss to her adorable pink hued cheeks and watches her run off with a young court lady.

The Gecko is surely going to keep her occupied, Jungkook sighs as he gets up and makes his way to your shared chamber- you must be there because he strictly ordered you to keep on bed resting.

He really hopes that you’re not in the garden- it’s really cold. Also he’s a little concerned about jieun. Jungkook clears his throat as the eunuch right before your door announces his arrival.

There you are sitting with jinseoul and ae-cha, laughing away, with your hand resting on your pregnant belly. “Hi.” He smiles.

“Jinseoul? AeCha? I’ve to talk to your mother- so, feel free to leave.” Jungkook says and your children so well behaved that they bow their heads in respect to you and him before leaving.

You try to get up and Jungkook quickly stops you. “No no honey.” He tsks before rushing to you and he sits down on the couch next to you.

You ask him what’s wrong and he sighs. “Nothings wrong Just.. Dr. Lee came to visit and he updated me on jieuns condition, she’s got a small viral stomach infection and he told me that you need to stay away from her given your condition, absolutely necessary.” He says, taking your have in his as he squeezes it.

You’re such a great mother, he knows you’re going to argue with him about this because your child is sick and you’re not going to sit here while she suffers.

“Also ayra told me two things.” He cuts you off- you begin to ramble, angrily speaking but it’s not good for you. “She wants three more sisters and…” he looks at you, his smile disappears.

“Who the fuck is minjun? I’m your everything yn- your husband, your lover and your best friend! Not him!”

[idolpyre]

⠀ ⠀★⠀NA JINJI⠀·⠀CALICO BRITISH SHORTHAIR⠀·⠀THREE

⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀minjun's best friend and the true leader of the no spin boys, this feline is truly at her happiest when she's curled up in minjun's lap at his desk. she's the highlight of any VLIVE that takes place in the dorms, stealing the hearts of INSPO from all over the globe. while she certainly looks grumpy, jinji is incredibly easy going and tolerant of just about all of the chaos that takes place at home. you can pick her up and throw her around, she doesn't mind, as long as you give her some chin scritches and a treat. ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀upon minjun's death, rumors have it that hak jiwoon took the feline in as his own, while other's say that lee yunjin was the one who fostered the cat. either way, it is safe to say that her M1 family is taking care of her upon her father's death.

[ox1-lovesick]

if your moots were playing the protagonist in your favourite romance movies, which idol would you pair them with as the love interest?

these are all k-dramas since i haven't watched too many romance movies 💀 I've excluded moots who are on a hiatus rn for this one,, i may add them in later though! i hope these are accurate grr

✧ @yv17 : Extraordinary You - Boo Seungkwan

Plot: Eun Dano (Kim Hye-Yoon) is a student at a prestigious high school. Her family is wealthy, but Eun Dano has a heart disease. Her fiance Baekyung (Lee Jae-Wook) attends the same prestigious high school. She likes him a lot, but he does not like her at all. Suddenly, Eun Dao has short-term memory loss and she can see what will happen in the near future. She gets confused by her symptoms. Then, Taeri, from the school cafeteria, tells Eun Dano that she is a character in the comic "Secret" like everybody else there. Eun Dano learns that her character is not even a main character, but rather an extra and she doesn't have much time to live. Eun Dano is stunned, but she decides she wants to find her own true first love and not someone written by the comic writer. One day, she falls down the school stairs. She feels her back touch the back of another student, among a group of male students. Her heart suddenly starts to flutter. Eun Dano wants to find the male student who made her heart flutter. She eventually finds the student (Ro Woon) and he is her classmate. He is a character that doesn't have a name. They get close and Eun Dano names him "Haru"

MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE KDRAMA EVER OML nora as dano??? seungkwan as haru??? sign me tf up. they'd be the absolute cutest. although seungkwan is quite different to haru with his personality being a lot more lively he'd still go really well with this plot! although it has a bit of a sadder (?) ending it's such a good drama. seungkwan would screw himself over again and again for nora because he's head over heels. not matter how much trouble it gets him in he'd do anything for her and vice versa 🙁 i can see vernon playing taeri and jun playing baekyung as well it fits so perfect

ㅤ

✧ @haknom - My Love From The Star - Park Sunghoon

Plot: Do Minjun, an alien who came to earth 400 years ago, begins a romance with the stuck-up A-list Korean actress Cheon Songi.

songi and minjun ARE LITERALLY THEM the minjun vibes sunghoon gives are uncanny. kayla would definitely bring sunghoon out of his shell just like songi does minjun and they'd be the most adorable couple. i see them stargazing a lot together just like songi and minjun did, sunghoon would also be such a tease and play games just like minjun 💀

ㅤ

✧ @platform553 - Suspicious Partner - Choi Yeonjun

plot: The series is about Noh Jiuk (Ji Changwook), a prosecutor, and Eun Bonghui (Nam Jihyun), a prosecutor trainee, and how they work together on a mysterious case involving a sly psychopath murderer. They find out how deeply connected they are by their past. A forgetful killer can be a dangerous thing. Attorney Ji Eunhyuk (Choi Taejun) is a longtime family friend of Jiuk who betrayed Jiuk by cheating with Jiuk's ex-girlfriend. Much similar to Bonghui's current situation after her ex boyfriend, Huijun, cheats on her. Bonghui continues to curse at Huijun and his current girlfriend, singing a rhyme saying she will kill him whenever he passes her by. However ehen Huijun really does end up dead in her apartment, despite her innocence Bonghui suddenly finds herself as a suspect.

here's your ceo yj fic lirin 💀💀💀🫶 as hectic as this kdrama is the fact that jiuk sacrifices EVERYTHING for bonghui will never not bring me to tears. his job, career, reputation and even his own life??? the literal description of ceo yj. he's known for being ruthless and cold, emotionless sparing no sympathy for anyone in his court so when you finally break down his walls, he's bending over backwards to prove your innocence. even though he has to question his morals, he ultimately does what's right, because he loves you

ㅤ

✧ @tzyuki - Cinderella And The Four Knights - Yang Jungwon

plot: Eun Hawon (Park Sodam) is a bright high school senior who dreams of becoming a teacher. Unfortunately, she loses her mother in a tragic accident. When her father remarries, her cruel stepmother moves in and steals Hawon's college tuition. She is forced to take on part-time jobs to make payments for her mother's memorial and her college tuition. She meets an older man, chairman of large corporation who convinces her to move into his mansion with his three grandsons who are heirs to his family fortune. Between the rebel-minded loner Kang Jiwoon (Jung Ilwoo), playboy money machine Kang Hyunmin (Ahn Jaehyun) and the super-sweet singer Kang Seowoo (Lee Jungshin), Hawon finds herself in the middle of the hottest love quadrangle to ever befall a modern fairy tale. Rounding out the mansion's chaebol lifestyle are Lee Yoondung (Choi Min) who serves as the cousins' handsome bodyguard, and Park Hyeji (Son Naeun), a girl who has been neighbors and in love with Hyunmin since childhood.

ej and jw 🤭🤭🤭 they just fit so perfectly in this drama??? idek what else to say tbh. hyunmin would 100% be jay, with seowoo as sunoo. the love triangle would be the most interesting thing ever since all three guys have completely different personalities along with different feelings towards ej. i can see jungwon being completely hostile at first but ej would melt his heart eventually falling 🙁 it'd be the cutest thing ever i need a remake with this lineup

ㅤ

✧ @lov3niki - Business Proposal - Park Jongseong

plot: Shin Hari (Kim Sejeong) goes on a blind date after she accepts to replace her friend, Jin Youngseo (Seol Inah), whose father had arranged it. The plan is to have Hari 'getting rejected' by her prospective partner. However, it goes awry when her date turns out to be Kang Taemoo (Ahn Hyoseop), CEO of Go Food, the company where Hari works. Taemoo, who is being pressured by his grandfather Kang Dagoo (Lee Deokhwa), the chairman of Go Food's parent company, to go on blind dates with suitable marriage partners, decides to marry his blind date partner to avoid going on the rest of the dates, without knowing she is the fake Jin Youngseo or that she is his employee, which she assiduously tries to hide. However, Hari's fake identity, but thankfully not her employment status, is soon exposed after the real Jin Youngseo gets into a parking accident with Cha Sunghoon (Kim Minkyu), Taemoo's secretary, who was acting as Taemoo's driver at that moment.

KIM AND JAY I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. literal embodiments of hari and taemoo like ??? ceo jay 😻💪 jay would be a bit more cold than taemoo me thinks but just as inlove 🫵 would literally do ANYTHING for kim would buy her food from Woolworths en alles 🙀🙀 malva pudding elke dag 🫶 he'd be Hannah Montana with the way he switched up in the office vs at home. all clingy and cuddly and then back to cold emotionless ceo at work 🙀 would probably blush every time kim breathes in his direction 😻💪

[pinkbrries]

[ 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ]

DISCLAIMER. all of my works are fictional, any resemblance to reality is pure coincidence, i do not intend to offend nor define artists’ personalities. if you see someone reposting or stealing my work/my edits, please let me know.

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[ 𝐇 𝐀 𝐍 𝐍 𝐀 𝐇 ] 𝐍𝐂𝐓 𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

Hirata Hanan (in japanese: 平田花南), known professionally as Hannah (hangul: 한나), is a japanese-american rapper, model, songwriter, actress and dancer born in San Francisco, California on October 4, 2000. She debuted with South Korean co-ed group NCT in 2017, mainly active as a member of the korean-based unit NCT 127 and NCT DREAM since 2017, she’s also a member of the South Korean supergroup SuperM. 

↳ 𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧

[ 𝐉 𝐔 𝐍 𝐄 ] 𝐄𝐍𝐇𝐘𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

Lee Minjun (in hangul: 이민준), known professionally as June (hangul: 주네), is a british-korean singer, rapper, model, dancer and former fencer born in London, United Kingdom on October 14, 2001. She is best known as a member, main dancer and main vocalist of co-ed idol group Enhypen, who made their debut in November 30, 2020.

↳ 𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧

[ 𝐈 𝐙 𝐀 𝐁 𝐄 𝐋 𝐋 𝐀 ] 𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐙 𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

Park Izabella (in hangul: 박이자벨라) or also known under her korean name as Park Chaewon (in hangul: 박채원) is a new zealand-korean actress, rapper, singer, model, songwriter, producer and dancer born in Auckland, New Zealand on December 23, 1998. She is best known as a member, main rapper, singer and main dancer of co-ed group Ateez, who made their debut in October 2018.

↳ 𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧

#OTHERS

my carrd ¨̮

[mgufm]

10 AM  —  SEPTEMBER 1, 2022 fall semester school assembly @ the auditorium

at the semestral assembly, both school dean and student council president speak gently of son jisoo's death. after a brief remembrance and a call for cooperation in the ongoing investigations, the program proceeds. freshmen are welcomed with fanfare and short performances. recognition is awarded to outstanding students across different departments. and finally, the red and green club are called onto the stage—presented as the cream of the crop, the best of the best, shining paragons of talent for all to aspire to.

while they stand on stage, the dean announces the school of visual arts' annual fall exhibit—a highly anticipated, week-long gallery show held at the geumjanhwa gallery every fifteenth of september. a pre-cursor to the mugunghwa arts festival held at the end of fall. every year, students hope and pray for an exhibition space on the floor of the first day.

cheers and groans fill the auditorium as the dean gives each member of the red and green club an exhibition space for the first day. the club, as a whole, receives another day-one exhibition space for a commemorative piece about jisoo. recipients of the remaining four spots are announced before the program concludes.

event specific info . the exhibit takes place on september 15-19. while the exhibit is ongoing, fairs and booths are set up across the campus by students from all departments. some advertise clubs and programs, while others sell goods and services. you can write about your character manning or visiting these booths. the campus is alive with students practicing for the exhibit. if you would like your character to present at the fall exhibit, message the main blog with the day you would like them to present. there are twelve vacant exhibition spaces each day. students can present a maximum of three days. ic, these exhibits are vetted by teachers. the exhibit is an annual event and joining yields significant grade incentives (even instant A’s), so its likely that visual arts students have been preparing for it as early as last year (of course, there will always be procrastinators). non-visual arts students can present on the last day. day one  . son jiyeon, jung miyoung, nam minjun, kim mina, liu mingze, anikka ‘nika’ chaiyon, song siyeon, the red and green club, vacant, vacant, vacant, vacant day two  . day three  .   day four .   day five  .  han junjae/lee muyeol

this is optional. feel free to write about your character’s exhibit. what are they presenting? what media are they using? what do most people think of it? you can also post pictures, edits, playlists or any media you prefer. you can also write about the process they went through to get to the exhibit, either in threads or solos. was their initial work rejected for presentation, or was it smooth sailing all the way? where did they get their inspiration?

check on your art major friends! they probably won’t be sleeping for the first two weeks of the semester.

ooc info . plot drops, covering specific scenarios and involving specific characters, will be posted at random times. a plot drop about the exhibit will be posted later on. tag event-related posts with #mguacti. it’s possible i missed some details, so if you have any questions just ask!

[lusts1n]

i quick run down on mi-sun before i head over to mobile for the night BUT ♡

she's an m1 artist as well & a victim of jiwoon ....

prior to her death , she was in a girl group with fellow idol lee nari ( @wolfsing ) ; she was also very close friends with both cindy moon ( @idolshe ) & na minjun ( @idolpyre ) , whom later included her as a featured artist on his album .

in her final moments before being taken , the entity felt her rage & need for vengeance ( very spirit-esque) & made her a deal : i'll give you the man who stole everything from you if you kill for me , to which mi-sun agreed happily .

in the idol world & as a killer she was known as the green fairy , but both were for heavily differing reasons . prior to the fog , this nickname was given to her in reference to her whimsical spirit & love of fairytales/magical aesthetics as well as her love of nature & garden/flower motifs in her stage outfits/regular attire/& more . in the realm however , it is inspired by the nickname for absinthe ( also the inspiration for her url ) , the green fairy , given said name for it's tendency to cause psychosis & psychedelic episodes ; it's incredibly deadly & toxic , yet it's name misleads you to think it's rather safe & unassuming .

her main ability is hallucinations & spurts of flight .... the hallucinations can cause the affected survivor(s) to see fellow survivors as the killer until the hallucinations wear off ... not sure how she would cause the hallucinations yet ... ( power idea/concept heavily influenced by this gif set )

she possesses green , tattered fairy wings upon her back that are rather large which she can use for momentary bursts of flight to scan the map for survivors before using her secondary attack/ability connected to her weapon .

she uses a combat cross as a weapon ( see here ) ... she throws the sharp end of the chain mid-flight & spears you death slinger style ; you have the chance to wiggle free of the chain as she drops to the ground as long as she isn't too close to you . if not , & she hits you , you go into the dying state .

as for her ability , it works similarly to that of the doctors hallucinations . she has a marked radius of ground affected by her powers that once you get within the radius of , will cause varying levels of hallucinations the closer you get to her . her base terror radius then would probably be 24 meters with the base movement speed of 4.3 m/s ( one point slower than the regular base movement speed with that terror radius ) when grounded , & when in flight it gets bumped to 34 meters whilst her movement speed is boosted too 4.6 m/s . i'll flesh out the effects of the hallucinations in stages one & two in the morning , BUT by stage three/once you're on top of her in game , the survivors affected will no longer see each other as their chosen character but instead as mi-sun herself . the effects wear off the farther away from her you get .

the longer she spends in the realm , the more & more unhinged mi-sun begins to become . she enjoys her kills more & more over time , thinking of it all as a game , preparing her to kill the man who stole her life & those of so many others . very himiko toga vibes ( if you know , you know . )